[Standard Match] Charlotte Ravel' vs Angela Belti - Up to the top (Apex Qualifier Match)

[skip-stop]

Charlotte was in a semi-conscious state. She had been unable to breathe properly for too long. From the moment she left the ring, everything went wrong. Literally every second made her situation worse and no matter how hard she tried, she could not break this series of failures.

Lying on the mat like a rag doll, the pink-haired woman could only groan softly from pain all over her body, especially in her back after Angela's truly devastating attack. Even the slightest movement was like torture at that moment. A memory flashed before the Frenchwoman's eyes. Or was it something else? Even she couldn't tell. Everything was a blur. It seemed to her that she had felt such pain in her back before... story... ladders... the biggest defeat in her life, because at that time she lost everything for which she had worked for so long...

Was it true, or was it just a figment of her imagination? It didn't matter. The only important thing was that after such a successful series of attacks, the Italian woman decided to reap the benefits. She lay across Charlotte, which caused a painful spasm on the Frenchwoman's face.

What was going to happen next was obvious. Angela grabbed the Sand Lizard's far leg and pinned her securely to the mat. The referee did not take long to wait, after a moment she lay down next to the women and slapped the mat.

"ONE!"

If there was no difference for you between this pin and the previous one, then most likely you don't know anything about pro wrestling and martial arts in general. They were completely different things. At that time, Angela used the pin to take away Charlotte's strength. This time she used the pin to get the win. At that time, Charlotte had the opportunity to rest for a few seconds. This time Charlotte was forced to literally fight with herself.

"TWO!!"

Feeling almost completely devoid of strength, the pink-haired woman felt the taste of decay in her mouth. It was like a copy of the match against Amy. Except for the fact that at that time her opponent used not a pin, but a submission hold. Just like that time, the Sand Lizard's body literally refused to move due to exhaustion and pain.

Opening her eyes slightly, Charlotte saw the referee raise her hand for the third time. At that moment, time seemed to slow down. The last second. She knew that she was only one second away from defeat. How did she lose last time? She lost consciousness due to the fact that she didn't have a single drop of strength left.

Amy had more endurance. That's why she has a grueling series of workouts, adding at least a second or two to her limit every day. No... she wasn't ready to lose. Not yet. The Sand Lizard gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. The referee's hand began to descend and at that moment the Frenchwoman's body tensed. With a painful groan, she jerked to the side, throwing her right arm up. For a moment, the arena was silent.

"Only two!" The referee said, raising her hand and showing two fingers.

Maybe it wasn't 2.99, but it was definitely around 2.88. Accompanied by the cheers of the audience, Charlotte, lying on her left side, was breathing heavily. Every breath reminded her about the chop, she still felt a burning pain in her lungs. But this pain also reminded her of who she was. She was a fighter. And as long as she has at least one drop of strength, she will continue to fight. She worked on herself every day not to lose today.

[BlackAkuma]

While Angela didn’t want to be overconfident and underestimate her opponent, she had to say, she had some confidence. Yes, Charlotte was far from a weak opponent, showing more power than she’d expected from someone in the middle weight range. She wasn’t sure if it was natural toughness, training to resist pain, or if the woman was just supernaturally stubborn, but whatever the case, it was working for her. She was one of the hardest opponents Angela had ever put down.

But she had been put down. Effectively.

The superplex was an easy thing to mess up, but Angela could already feel that wasn’t the case. She’d sense the impact when she came down, so powerful that the impact even left her back aching. She couldn't dream how bad it was for Charlotte, but either way, she was ripe for pinning. As Angela laid herself over the prone woman, she took position on her lifeless body, felt the way it seemed robbed of energy. That had to do it.

On the first count, all things seemed good. Angela kept a solid position, ready for a sudden kick out, but the chances of that seemed slim.

The second count went well, too. Angela held her breath, clenched in tight, prepared for the final drop, and-

Kickout.

It was a close one, close enough that the referee almost lost her balance to avoid the final count, but yes, she escaped. Angela rocked back to her knees, looking on with no small amount of shock. The crowd clapped, giving their heroine some well-deserved support, and she had to fight the temptation to join them. Strong woman. Impressive.

Angela was still determined to put her down, though. Looking to keep things moving, she reached over, pulled Charlotte and captured her in a tight headlock, once more trapping her under the arm. She forced the smaller woman to stand and began to march forward, getting her towards the edge of the ring.

[skip-stop]

The audience made such a loud wave of noise and applause that it filled Charlotte's ears. Hardly anyone noticed, but after that the corners of her lips slightly lifted. She wasn't used to complaining about her life, but after she was kicked out of the family, she felt little support in her life.

LAW changed that. She never intended to build a real career in the ring, so at first it was unusual for her to see such a huge number of people watching her matches. But she still remembered how she felt their support for the first time. Since then, she felt a strange warmth in her chest every time she heard them shout her name and applaud her.

But although the Sand Lizard managed to break the pin, she remembered that nothing was over yet. The hardest part is still ahead. Yes, she stayed in the game, but she was honest with herself and she was well aware that after all the attacks of her opponent, her condition was terrible. This was also understood by Angela, who did not give Charlotte a single extra second to rest.

Literally right after the Frenchwoman broke out, Angela grabbed her and pulled her up. And as soon as the pink-haired woman was on her feet, her opponent grabbed her head with her left arm. Charlotte's head was pressed against Angela's torso. It was difficult for her to stand on her feet and so she used her right arm to wrap around her opponent's waist.

Without hesitation, Angela headed for the ropes, literally dragging Charlotte with her. The pink-haired woman was still dizzy, and her whole body was soaked in pain. However, she understood that if she didn't do anything, it was unlikely that she would be able to survive another series of attacks from her rival. Besides, this time the situation was a little different. If earlier Angela showered Charlotte with continuous attacks, then this time the Frenchwoman had a window.

"Pfuuuuu..." air whistled into her lungs thanks to a deep breath.

The martial arts master intended to abruptly put her left foot forward in order to stop the movement of her opponent. And immediately after that, she was going to turn sharply to the right in order to give her left arm additional speed by spinning. What was it for? In order to maximize a left hook aimed at Angela's core!

Charlotte was fully aware that before she could do anything significant, she needed to stun Angela for at least a second. That's why she wanted to start with that hard hook. And if she had been successful in this, only then she would reach her left hand to her opponent's left thigh. She wanted to hook that thigh while her right arm was still wrapped around the purple-haired woman's waist.

Perhaps someone thought that Charlotte was only capable of punches and kicks mixed with light throws and submission holds from time to time. But now the Sand Lizard was going to remind that even though she was a middleweight, there was enough strength in her muscles to knock the spirit out of even a heavyweight. Holding her breath, the martial arts master intended to strain her whole body, and then lift Angela above the mat. But only in order to sharply lean back and rigidly ram the nape and the upper back of the Italian woman into the mat with the help of a belly-to-back suplex!

[BlackAkuma]

Angela Belti’s shoes were hard to fill, and it wasn’t just because of the size difference. Dizzy had tried to look back at a few of her mother’s matches, hoping to pick up inspiration from them, but it was like trying to base herself on a completely different style of wrestling. It wouldn’t matter if she lifted hard weights for years on end, she was just never going to be able to wrestle like her Mom could, would never have that kind of raw power.

But as she watched Charlotte wrestle and hold her own, saw her surviving no matter how many times she was put down, she started to wonder if there was maybe a little more to it. While she had no intentions of taking up this MMA style anytime soon, she could respect the tenacity of the Sand Lizard, the way she kept fighting even as the odds piled up against her. She could respect the spirit, if nothing else.

She was not the only one thinking similar things, either. Angela herself had built up a thorough respect for her foe throughout this match, still carrying aches from attacks she’d taken after the bell rang. She was fully conscious that, if not for her size and strength advantage, this might be going a whole different way, could easily see how smaller foes wouldn’t be able to withstand the kind of punishment she’d taken and come back offensively.

It was an advantage she could see taking her all the way to the win, and as she gripped Charlotte tight and marched her back, that was exactly what she had in mind. Her opponent, as it turned out, had different ideas.

Angela didn’t think that her opponent was so hurt that she couldn't throw a punch, but even if she had, she didn’t think it would be strong enough to do any real damage. In this instance, though, she was wrong - Charlotte could put some real power in her blows, enough to make the Perfect Woman cry out and stumble, if only for a moment.

And a moment was all Charlotte needed. Angela felt the arm around her waist, the grip was tight, and even though she knew well what was about to happen, she couldn't do a thing to stop it. She was lifted up, hurled back, and came down for a hard crash on her shoulders, rattling the ring with her impact. She rolled back and flopped towards the corner, where she grabbed the pads and used them for support to stand up, but getting back to her feet was slow going even with their help.

[skip-stop]

Charlotte wasn't going to deny that her pure physical strength wasn't perfect. However, the pink-haired woman knew how to use her body. Yes, muscles play a key role in the force of a blow. However, if you know how to give an additional acceleration to a blow, then the force of this blow increases many times. That's what brought her success.

By directing extra speed into the left hook, she managed to literally paralyze Angela with that punch to the stomach. The Italian woman let out a short painful cry, and her body seemed to freeze. It didn't last long, but it was more than enough for the Sand Lizard.

Holding her opponent by the waist and thigh, the martial arts master lifted Angela above the mat, and then leaned back. The purple-haired woman's body crashed into the mat with such force that the ring seemed to shake. The arena was filled with the screams of the audience, who clearly liked the fact that the scales began to shift again.

However, despite the efforts that Charlotte made, her rival did not stay in place. Literally immediately, Angela rolled away. And by the time the Sand Lizard got up on one knee, the Italian woman also started trying to get to her feet, using the turnbuckles' pads for that.

"Stubborn..." thought Charlotte.

This woman's fortitude was truly admirable. Charlotte's body was covered in bruises, and her breathing was still heavy. She was well aware that despite the fact that it was Angela who had recently held the lead in the match, she was also not in the best condition. And the fact that she was trying to get to her feet as soon as possible immediately after the punch in the stomach and the hard suplex made the corners of Charlotte's lips barely lift.

Pushing off from the mat, the Sand Lizard ran forward from a low start position. Even though she felt respect for her opponent, she wasn't going to let her emotions affect her. It's a match. And she was going to win.

The pink-haired woman intended to take the maximum possible speed as far as the condition of her body allowed, and then push off from the mat again. Charlotte wanted to make a leap and put both knees forward at the same second. With this double knee strike she wanted to ram Angela's nape to make sure that this time her opponent would not find the strength to immediately start getting to her feet!

[BlackAkuma]

As much as Angela hated to admit it, there was a bit of an expiration date on her in this match. While she was in good shape, the sad fact was that age was starting to take its toll on her body, withering it down bit by bit with each match. She hadn't noticed it so much at first, but ever since she came to LAW, the ravages of time were making themselves more and more apparent. She wasn’t as fast as she used to be, not as strong, not as hardy, she grew tired faster and stayed tired longer. The shorter this match was, the more it worked in her favor. The longer it dragged on, the worse it would go.

So there was a tangible need to draw this match to a close in the near future, but the Sand Lizard was far from done, as her rallying proved. Her move had a lot more impact than Angela was expecting, and her reflexes were the only thing that saved her, as she went tumbling towards the ropes and created space. A good move. But would it be enough to save her?

No. Certainly not.

The Sand Lizard moved true to her name, coming in swift and steady, staying as she closed the distance between them. Angela was only just getting her bearings straight, trying to recover enough for a counterattack, but her foe was on before she could even dream of getting the hit out. She was wide open and about to pay.

Angela tried to get her arms up as her opponent flew, but it was too little, too late, and she wound up taking both knees against her chest, hitting with a solid impact that knocked the wind clean out of her. Not only that, but her position worked against her, with the blow packing enough to force to send her off her feet. She went over the ropes, and came close to tumbling to the floor once more.

She was able to grab the ropes by some small miracle, but that was only enough to save her from the full fall. She still found herself laid out on the apron, prone and gasping for air as she rubbed her aching chest.

[skip-stop]

Even though Charlotte partially regained control of the match, for those who closely followed her career, it was not a problem to see that the Frenchwoman was tired. Speed was definitely her best quality. But she became slower. The best proof of this was that Angela managed to turn around before the Sand Lizard overtook her.

The pink-haired woman saw that she would not have time to hit the back of Angela's head. However, at the same time, Charlotte understood that it would be an unforgivable mistake to stop now. She had been in a similar situation before. At that time, Amy was in Angela's place. At that time, Charlotte knew that she would not have time to hit her opponent in time, but she decided to take a chance anyway. This time it was different.

Taking a sharp breath, the martial arts master increased her speed. Yes, she knew she wouldn't have time to hit the back of Angela's head, but she wasn't going to let the purple-haired woman defend herself. Pushing off from the mat, the Sand Lizard rammed Angela's chest with such force that the Italian woman almost flew out of the ring between the ropes. Charlotte, in her turn, unable to land on her feet after such a strike, fell on her back.

"Pha... pha... pha..." her heavy breathing could be heard.

And although it was she who was working as the first number, this time Charlotte did not get to her feet as quickly as the previous time. Despite the successful attack, the Frenchwoman quickly realized one simple thing. Her body began to approach the limit. Her skin was covered in sweat, even her hair began to stick together. Endurance has never been her strong suit. And although she did a good job on herself after the previous match against a heavyweight, she did not become a terminator with unlimited endurance.

Charlotte turned her head to the side and was surprised to see that Angela grabbed the rope, thereby avoiding falling to the concrete floor. Charlotte gritted her teeth. The last time she tried to move the match outside the ring, it ended in a real triumph for the Italian woman. But now…

Now Charlotte has a chance to rehabilitate herself. So she started rolling to the side until her feet landed on the concrete floor. The referee immediately waved her hands, saying that the Frenchwoman should return to the ring otherwise she would have to start counting. However, the Sand Lizard was not going to obey her.

Instead, she intended to wrap her left arm around Angela's neck, thereby locking her in an inverted facelock hold. And if Charlotte had not met resistance, it is unlikely that anything prevented her from taking a step to the side, which would have led to the fact that the entire upper part of Angela's body was above the concrete floor, while her butt and everything below remained in the ring. By raising her right fist above her head, Charlotte intended to cause an uproar from the audience, she knew they wanted it. And then she was going to turn 180 degrees, simultaneously bending her right arm at the elbow and starting to fall. Yes, that's right, she wanted to hit Angela right in the chest with a spinning headlock elbow drop, thereby not only knocking all the air out of her lungs, but also forcing her upper body to crash into the concrete floor!

[BlackAkuma]

Even with the trouble Angela was in, some part of her brain still worked on reflexes, doing the most optimal thing in the heat of battle. ‘Ring awareness’, as people often called it, being able to operate around the squared circle despite taking heavy damage, the kind of spatial control that only came from years of practice. She’d never tried it before, but she wagered that she could operate around the ring blindfolded, if need be.

When she was sent sailing through the ropes after that hellacious hit, it kicked in straight away and took her body to what she deemed the safest place, grabbing the ropes and holding her up on the apron. Movement, pacing, control - those were key in any match, but never more than with an opponent who kept up the pace like this. If she kept still, Charlotte would just run her over with that superior speed and those deft techniques.

Out here, though, things were more even. While Angela wasn’ a ringside brawler at heart, she could handle herself outside the ropes better than Charlotte, as their last encounter out here proved. This area was in her favor, and she figured there was a chance that her opponent might even hang back with that knowledge in mind, giving her a much needed reprieve.

It was a fair assumption. It was also wrong.

As she gathered her bearings, she looked back into the ring, expecting to find Charlotte there, and only seeing the referee in the middle of starting a count - never a good sign. Sure enough, her opponent was on the move, and Angela discovered her position in the worst way possible.

”What-” She gasped as her head was seized and pulled off the apron, with the rest of her body following suit. She hung over the floor, a precarious position, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. It was a bad situation that was about to grow exponentially worse.

The guillotine fell in the next moment, and Angela was driven hard into the floor with a devastating force, an impact that sent her rolling away in spastic fit. It was a brutal crash to suffer, and it looked every bit as bad from the outside, as Dizzy’s shriek nearby attested. ”Holy-” She had to stop herself from getting vulgar with a quick hand to her mouth, as she peeked around the corner. ”Mom! Mom, are you okay?”

No. No, she very much wasn’t.

[skip-stop]

Was it cruel? Yes, absolutely. Did Charlotte feel any remorse about this? No. Everyone can relate to this in different ways, but she did not consider herself a cruel person. She was strict and disciplined. She had a clear goal. She wanted to be an example for all future generations of fighters. And she believed that you decided to enter the ring, then there should be no doubt in your heart.

That's why Charlotte didn't hesitate at the moment when she dropped her elbow on Angela's chest. She thought it would be disrespectful to hold back against such an experienced and strong woman. She wanted to prove that she was capable of fighting at the same level as Angela. And she was ready to give her all for this. The Sand Lizard slammed Angela into the concrete floor with such force that the purple-haired woman even rolled away, bouncing off the hard surface.

"ONE!" The referee started counting.

Charlotte got up on one knee and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She felt a burning sensation in her muscles and lungs. Time had never been on her side, but now time clearly started to play against her. She knew she had to do as much damage to Angela as possible while they were out of the ring.

"A familiar feeling..." she thought.

Last time, she had to start acting at the limit of her abilities in an attempt to surpass Amy. However, her strength dried up faster than her rival's. Charlotte had drawn conclusions from this and now she intended to dispose of the remaining strength more rationally.

"TWO!"

The Frenchwoman got to her feet. But the moment she took a step towards Angela, she heard Desdemona's voice. Charlotte stopped and looked at her rival's daughter. For some reason, the pink-haired woman was sure that she would never have a child of her own. And although lately she felt a lot of support from her friends and fans, she could only fantasize about what it would be like to have such a close person worry about you. When it came to fighting, Charlotte tried to leave all emotions somewhere very far away. But this time she couldn't help but smile, even if it was a very light smile.

"THREE!!"

The Sand Lizard took a step towards Angela and bent down to grab the purple-haired woman by the elbow. She intended to pull her up in order to get her to her feet. And although Charlotte understood that Angela was unlikely to be able to stand on her feet now, she was determined to help her in this if necessary. Although, of course, there was no good intentions.

As soon as the Italian woman was in a more or less vertical position, Charlotte was going to place Angela's head between her sweaty thighs, and then to slip her hands under her rival's arm in order to close her in a double underhook hold. At this point, the audience would probably start to build up the noise. And they had a reason for that, they knew what Charlotte was preparing for.

The Sand Lizard intended to strain every part of her body, and then straighten up to her full height, thereby lifting Angela above the concrete floor and turning her over. It wasn't the first time Charlotte had used this move, but this time it was much harder for her because of her opponent's weight. Therefore, she would not hesitate and as soon as the Italian woman was upside down, Charlotte would let go of her rival's arms. But only to grab her waist and pull her down sharply. Spreading her legs to the sides, the Frenchwoman intended to fall into a sitting position and smash Angela's body into the concrete floor! Most people knew it as a double underhook powerbomb, but it was also one of the heaviest moves in Charlotte's arsenal and she called it the lizard's adaptation!

[BlackAkuma]

”Uuuuuh hi.”

Dizzy made sure to keep her distance from Charlotte, stepping back with her hands in the air, the universal sign that she wanted absolutely none of whatever this woman was packing. She’d seen enough of this match to know that, if she tried to go up against this woman, things would go quite poorly for her. Ragdolled, mostly likely. ”Don’t mind me, just observing, all hands off.”

She stepped back as the combatants went about their business, making sure to keep her distance, a fact that Angela was quite glad for. She had been attacked by ringside watchers enough times in her matches to know that other might suspect the same of her daughter, no matter how little of a threat she might’ve seemed at the time. A good thing, and one less problem she had to worry about. Lord knew she had more than her fair share of those, right now.

Charlotte was on the move again, coming and grabbing her arms before she had the chance to pull away, getting her into the unique
double-underhook position. A worrisome state to be in for any number of reasons, but she couldn't think of any move that Charlotte could try like this and stay within her style. She’d never struck her as the type for power throws, but then, maybe the difficulty of this match was pushing her outside of her comfort zone.

She didn’t have to wait long to figure out what the next move was, as she could feel Charlotte’s body starting to strain. Her eyes widened as she was lifted up, quite a feat given their disparity in size. She was hefted up, spun around and brought her down with a thunderous impact on the concrete.

To say it hurt would be an understatement. The move sent pain rippling down her spine, and Angela went flopping away as if she’d landed on hot coals, crying out and kicking her legs and massaging her back.