Noblesse Oblige: Maria Crawford vs. Emily Nelson

[BlackAkuma]

Maria settled in and squeezed tight, making sure the hold was locked in and secure. She made sure to monitor Emily throughout, though, taking care to let up on the pressure ever so often and give the Scot some breath. It wouldn’t be right to just knock her out and call it a day, after all. Not before they had a little talk.

”You know, Emily,” She wrenched the rebellious Scot from side to side, putting down some of her resistance. ”Easy, easy girl. I was going to extend an invitation to you. Me and some of the other Angels are making a sort of…union. Something to help advance our interest in LAW. I thought you could be a part of it.”

Maria brought her lips to Emily’s ear, whispering and letting her tongue slip out for the occasional lick, tickling the fine hairs. ”But now? I’m not so sure. You’re like a rabid dog. Untameable, uncouth, undesirable. And you know what they do with rabid dogs, don’t you?”

As if to answer her own question, Maria started applying more serious pressure, giving Emily the full choke and threatening to squeeze the life out of her all at once.

[Underdoggo]

"Hhhhegh...hyaaagh..." Emily's teeth were clenched as she grabbed for Maria's arms, trying desperately to pry them loose from around her throat. Maria's hold was masterfully locked in, bending the Scot's back painfully, forcing her head backwards at a sharp angle even while depriving her of oxygen. A part of her wanted to cry out in pain from the way Maria's sleeper clutch was contorting her spine; at the same time, though, she felt herself growing weaker and weaker from oxygen deprivation. Her grip on Maria's arms began to slacken as her fellow Briton wore her down.

And then she felt Maria lean in against her, teasingly licking at her ear as she told her how she had wanted to invite her to a little group of hers...but that now she wanted to do nothing more than break her like a rabid dog. She, a scion of of English and Scottish nobility, a woman with more good breeding in her right pinky than Maria could ever claim, a rabid dog.

Oh, Emily was not going to stand for that.

With a hiss of escaping breath, Emily tried to get her knees under her. If she managed that, then she would try, slowly but surely, to push herself upright, slowly but surely getting up to a standing position. As she did so, she would grab for Maria's wrists and make a much more concerted effort, slowly but surely twisting sideways in the other woman's grip, trying to unwind the chokehold and turn around to face Maria.

And then, if Emily managed all of that, she would try to clamp her arms around Maria's waist, trapping her arms behind her back and returning the favour with a crushing bear hug!

[BlackAkuma]

Maria should have just finished Emily off, here. Should’ve just clamped down and knocked her out. End the match, get the win, and cement the win by placing her foot right in the middle of her opponent’s chest.

She could’ve done that, perhaps…but that wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying if she didn’t rub things in. She knew Emily and her proud pedigree. As bad as the hold was, it wouldn’t hurt near as much as the name-calling, insulting the proud Scottish pride of hers. Why settle for simply stabbing someone when you could twist the knife?

Maria wanted those words to be the last thing that Emily heard before he faded out, and for a second, that seemed to be the case…until the Scot began to surge.

”No.”

And rise.

”What are you-”

And stand.

”Put me down, put me-”

With the kind of strength that bordered on mythical, Emily forced her way up, defying one of Maria’s best holds and hefting the dominatrix up with astonishing ease. Knowing the danger she was in, she tried to squirm her way off and regroup, but she was too slow on the draw, and the Scot’s arms snapped her up and brought her in tight. Too tight.

Maria cried out as their bodies mashed together, and not in the pleasant sort of way that she would’ve enjoyed. Emily’s full power came to bear, crushing her waist with an unrelenting pressure, one that had her feebly pushing at the enraged woman’s shoulders in a desperate attempt to escape.

[Underdoggo]

She had done it. Somehow, through willpower and a lot of physical exertion, Emily managed to get to her knees, and then, slowly but surely, managed to twist around in her opponent's grip. Maria was certainly no lightweight in the strength department: she was proving that again and again in this match. But when it came to raw, physical force, Emily had just that much of an edge over her fellow Briton: enough of an edge, at least, to twist out of her foe's fiendish grip. The act of doing so drained Emily more than she cared to admit, but all the same, she refused to remain entrapped for much longer.

Pouring out all of her reserves of strength, Emily wrapped her arms around Maria, and squeezed. The act compressed their chests together, crushing at her ribs, stifling the air in her lungs. Maria was squirming to escape, gasping and crying out in pain. This close, Maria would have seen the grimace of concentration, effort, and focused fury on Emily's sweat-streaked face.

"As...ye...wish..." Emily hissed through clenched teeth. And without further ado, she would arch back suddenly, aiming to drive Maria head-first into the mat in a brutal back body suplex!

[BlackAkuma]

”You bleeding ape!”

This was bringing Maria back to her earlier days in wrestling, in the worst way possible. Back when she started, she’d often found herself in positions like this - trapped in some buff woman’s grasp, crushed in the middle, squeezed out like a stubborn tube of toothpaste. She’d worked hard to leave that life behind, and she’d always thought she was long past those days where she was a weak squeeze toy.

Apparently not.

She was about to thumb Emily in the eyes and get free, when the woman beat her to the punch and sent her careering overhead, launched with a massive suplex. Maria came down on her shoulders, rolled once, and only stopped when she hit the corner, coming in upside down, no less. She slumped off a moment later and flopped to her side, where she took the time to writhe and massage her spine.

[Underdoggo]

THOOM!

That was the sound the mat made as Maria and Emily both collided with it. The moment she released Maria, Emily collapsed onto her back, lying just opposite from her battered foe. Her chest heaved, and she stared up at the arena lights as she caught her breath. It had taken a lot of effort to break free from Maria's grip, especially after enduring that excruciating hold of hers. Maria had been putting up a fierce fight: Emily had honestly expected nothing less. That simply meant that the Scot was going to have to win this match, and soon.

Taking a deep breath, Emily rolled up to her feet. "Get UP," she hissed, grabbing onto Maria's hair with both hands. Ignoring the warnings of the ref, Emily dragged Maria up to her feet, before ducking low, one arm wrapped around Maria's thigh and another around her shoulder, before lifting her up onto her shoulders, hoisting her like so much dead weight in a fireman's carry.

Battered and sweating, Emily nonetheless stood tall with her fellow Briton draped across her shoulders...before she would suddenly tilt, swinging Maria head-first downwards, aiming to nail her with a brutal piledriver and keep a hold of her leg for a sit-out pin!

[BlackAkuma]

Breathing heavy, everything heavy, mind racing - yes, Maria was definitely reaching the end of her rope. They both were. She had felt Emily’s sweaty body when they were pressed together, sensed the rapid pace of her heart. They were both on the edge of pure exhaustion, worn down by a surprisingly demanding match, and the only question was who would give into all the stress first.

Maria was determined for it to not be her, but as time dragged on, it seemed less and less like she would have a say in the matter. She struggled as Emily grabbed her by the hair and lifted her up, but she wasn’t able to provide any real resistance beyond ineffectively pushing at her and twisting about.

She was hoisted up in a fireman’s carry, a position she enjoyed for only a scant second before she brought hurtling down, hitting the mat head-first with devastating impact. The blow sent shockwaves through her body, head to toe, and made her easy prey for the following pinfall.

”1…!”

No movement at first. Not even a twitch. Maria laid still as her body tried to reset, processing the pain coursing through it.

”2…!”

Still nothing. At ringside, Zero ducked her head in under the bottom rope, prepared to leap in at a moment’s notice.

But it never came to that. Just as the referee’s hand came down for the final count, Maria had a spastic fit of a kick, saving herself with a quick burst of movement before she flopped down again. An impressive saving throw, but it was about all she could manage, the last spark of a fire that was on the verge of dying out.

[Underdoggo]

Shockwaves rippled through the mat as, for the second time in less than a minute, Emily and Maria both collided with it violently. Emily hat been keeping her grip around Maria's thigh locked tightly as she had let gravity take its course, and now, leaning down against her fellow Briton, she used that leg to fold her over, keeping her shoulders pressed to the mat as she got a pinfall locked in.

At first, it even looked like she was going to do it. The first count went by, then the second...Emily held her breath, waiting for the third one...

...and then, out of the blue, Maria twisted sharply, unbalancing Emily as she narrowly managed to get a shoulder up in time! Dropping down onto her butt, Emily slapped the mat in frustration. She absolutely hated to give Maria any kind of credit, but the Englishwoman was a lot, lot tougher than Emily had been expecting. At this rate, Emily had no idea what it would take to defeat her.

Well, no, that wasn't true: Emily knew exactly what was needed. Her own neck and upper back still throbbed from Maria's earlier submission hold: it was time to return the favour.

Rolling up to her hands and knees, Emily would push the jacketed ENglishwoman over onto her front. Standing up, she would try to interlock Maria's boots under her own legs, trapping her leather-strapped legs. Unless Maria somehow had enough energy to interrupt again, Emily would lean forward to grab a hold of Maria's wrists: if all went according to plan, Emily would then drop backwards, lifting Maria above her with her signature ceiling hold finisher, the Highlander!

[BlackAkuma]

To the rest of the world, it might’ve seemed like Maria was tough, fighting hard, valiantly holding on in the face of defeat. Even with her tactics, they would have to respect her tenacity, the sort of woman who could take punishment as well as she gave out.

Really, though, it wasn’t anything like that, nothing so poetic. Maria just didn’t want to lose to a stuck up Scottish bitch of all people.

That stubbornness gave her the strength to hold on and fight, even as her head was still busy ringing for that hellacious hit. But she wasn’t in a position to do much other than survive, and as it would turn out, Emily had plans for her.

”Wait, wait, what are you-” Maria made her protests known as her legs were trapped, the clear beginnings of a ceiling hold. She tried to crawl away, hoping to reach the ropes, but her efforts were in vain as Emily promptly grabbed her by the arms. No stopping it, now. She was going up.

Maria shrieked as she was lifted up into the ceiling hold, her body bent over and stretched, her legs extended, her weight working against her. It was one of the worst, most underrated holds in wrestling - painful, simple, but nigh-impossible to escape. The only real way to get through it was to hold out until your opponent just grew tire of the move, and with a body like Emily’s, that wasn’t happening anytime soon.

[Underdoggo]

Emily clenched her teeth as she dropped back, keeping her boots tucked under the back of Maria's knees even as she kept the Englishwoman's ankles tucked under her own knees...all the while, of course, having to keep a firm grip on Maria's wrists. A ceiling hold like her Highlander was not an easy hold to execute, Emily knew from experience, but when one managed to apply it the effects could be devastating. And, as Emily dropped onto her back and managed to elevate Maria above her, she knew that the Englishwoman was finding that out as well.

"Give it up, Maria!" she shouted up at her opponent, even as Maria's purple hair trailed downwards to tickle at her face. She had been tempted to add a choice epithet like "bitch" or "slag" or any other of a range of colourful words, but she wanted to maintain at least some level of decorum in her moment of victory. At it looked like it would be her moment of victory: her ceiling hold was contorting Maria above her, bending in in a way that had to be absolute agony on her spine. There was zero chance...

Emily froze at that moment. Zero

Even as she maintained the hold, Emily looked left and right, suddenly realizing she had forgotten about Maria's diminutive henchwoman, and frantically trying to spot the green-haired terror at ringside...