Lacey Whitman vs. Zhu Chao-Xing

[CaptainL]

Match Type: Standard Match
Rules: Victory by pinfall, submission, or knockout

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It was time for Lacey to once again return to LAW to give it the old college try. Her last few outings hadn't gone the best for her, but maybe the third time really was the charm. Her matches against both Reiko and Arizona had led to defeats, yes, but in both cases she'd been able to befriend her opponents, and they had helped push her to reach for success. She felt like she'd been able to learn something from the two of them. But Lacey couldn't help but be disappointed even still. She was hoping that getting signed to a major promotion would help shoot her to success, and yet it seemed no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't measure up. After a while, that sort of thing was bound to get discouraging.

But at the same time, Lacey needed to stay optimistic. As long as she was still at it, there was a chance she'd be able to turn it all around. And today, she was going to take that chance! The fans were still counting on her to go out there and do her best, so she needed to send them home happy. And if that was the motivation she needed, she was going to win it for them. She had to try, at least!

"The following contest is scheduled for one fall! Coming first to the ring, from Oklaholma City, Oklaholma! At 5'6, weighing 145 pounds, Everybody's Best Friend, LACEEEEEY WHITMAN!!"

Spoiler

Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY9m2sHQwLs

Whatever turmoil might have weighed on Lacey's mind prior to the match, there was none of that on display now. When the upbeat tones of her theme music started playing and she came skipping through the curtains with her hands held high, she was smiling just as bright as ever, and she waved to all the fans she passed by on her way to the ring. She slapped high-fives with the fans reaching over the barricades, and as she came to ringside, she stopped by one young girl in the front row to pull her into a hug, which only drew her even more cheers.

Even as she turned to climb onto the apron and up the ropes, Lacey stopped when her feet hit the middle rope just long enough to look back over her shoulder and point out toward the crowds, nodding her head. "This one's for all of you!!" she cheered, before she pushed off the ropes to do a front-flip into the ring, putting her gymnastics skills to good use - and the fans could only cheer louder, in awe of her efforts when she stuck the landing perfectly! At last, she bent at the knees, getting herself into a stance and limbering up in preparation for her opponent. The fans were going wild, and that was enough to tell Lacey she still had them on her side. She just hoped she'd be able to live up to their expectations...

[ReticentCone]

Zhu walked to her theme immediately.

She was in her typical attire.

https://img86.pixhost.to/images/351/353 ... 1jipnz.jpg

She was also furious. A fighter of her calibar, being made to face a inexperienced, un worthy little girl like Lacey, was utterly infuriating. Her nature allowed her to partially conceal that rage, but anyone knew her would recognize her as beinf catstrophically angry, as she headed toward the ring without posing for or playing to the crowd whatsoever.

Next to the ring, from Macau, Chins! At 5'10, weighing 160 pounds, the Crimson Lotus, The Maiden of Macau, Zhu Chao-Xinnnnng!!"

The announcer did absolutely nothing at all to slow Chao-Xing's pace. By the time the announcement was finished, the Crimsom Lotus was just about at the steel steps and climinng them, staring at Lacey as she stepped into the ring.

She'd watched tape of this girl, she knew this girl's small bag of tricks and she fully intended on embarassing her with them, showing her how nasty a real fighter could make every one of them first hand. Then, when she was done with her, she'd destroy her, not just beat her. The higher up's in LAW needed to know, that if they put her up against one of their barbies, she'd break them.

Now in the ring, she waited for the match to start. Whenever the official signaled for the bell to be wrung, she'd attempt to hit Lacey with side kick to the abdomen to fold her, if that was successful, she'd pounce towards her, aiming to ring her bell with a jumping right knee strike to her face.

[CaptainL]

Lacey had gone into this match like she would've gone into any other - and for her, that was a statement. She wanted to show the world that no matter what luck she might've had in her previous matches, or how the odds might've seemed stacked against her, she didn't want that to get in her way. She couldn't let that keep her down! She wanted to put herself out there, showing her best face to the world, and give her fans something to go home happy about. And when she heard the cheers of the fans rallying behind her, for a moment, she could feel their energy energizing her. Knowing that she could be the ray of sunshine all these people needed was enough to cheer her up, and it was with a smile on her face that she planted her hands on her hips and stood a little taller, ready for anything!

At least, she thought she was ready for anything.

When Chao-Xing entered the ring, Lacey tilted her head to her a moment. She could see the scowl on her face, and how starkly austere her entrance had seemed in comparison to hers - it made her wonder, for a moment, what was on her mind. But she didn't have any frame of reference as to what to expect from the Chinese woman, and she didn't know how she thought. Just like she would do any other opponent, Lacey held her hand out to Chao-Xing, offering a shake to start the match off on a friendly note.

That was a mistake.

As Lacey was about to find out, Chao-Xing was anything but friendly. As soon as the bell rang, she would make that known - and before the green-haired girl so much as had a chance to prepare herself, her leg snapped outward, catching Lacey in the stomach! She coughed and sputtered as the air was knocked out of her by the impact, causing her to double over forward clutching at her gut. And that put her right in range for Chao-Xing to lunge, spiking her knee right up into Lacey's face!

A crack rang through the air at the impact, followed by a scream ripped from the American's lungs. Lacey was flung back in an arc, her hands shooting up to cup her face as she went staggering back a few steps, only for her balance to give way a moment later as she dropped to her back. Her teeth clenched in a grimace, her whole body throbbing and sore. Her whole face felt numb. All she could do, for now, was rub at her face to try and quell the soreness, whining in pain and kicking her legs in the air as she thrashed back and forth. The brutality Chao-Xing was showing toward someone who had endeared herself to the fans had garnered her no shortage of boos - but what she was going to do next was anyone's guess!

[ReticentCone]

Chao-Xing was absolutely undeterred by what the 'fans' thought of what she was doing to Lacey. They'd be out of breath by the time the match was over if they were going to react to her like this. The Crimson Lotus wasn't here to crowd please, she was here to win and make a statement. If anything, the fact they were so disgusted was a good sign.

The scream was an even better sign, there was no substitute to the reaction of an opponent to getting hit. The reaction included pained whining and indiciplined kicking on that mat. It was almost as if the girl had never been hit before? Well, the Maidam of Macau would make sure she'd let this girl known what it felt to get hit by an actual fighter.

Taking advantage of the girl already on her back, Zhu decided to keep things simple, she'd quickly make her way toward the girl, then mount her, driving her knee into her sides. If succesful, she'd ground pound her with a series of powerful punches, eager to go at Lacey's face until she slipped her way out herself on the official ordered her off the smaller woman, the Macau's woman's face caught in a merciless sneer.

[CaptainL]

The match had barely started, and already Lacey was in a world of pain. She'd made the mistake of thinking that Chao-Xing would be just as a agreeable to a friendly competition as her last two opponents had been - but the Chinese woman didn't have the same sort of mercy to spare. Within seconds, she had landed a volley of blows that met their target faster than Lacey could even keep track of what was going on, but nonetheless left her face numb and her head throbbing as she came crashing down onto the mat. She desperately tried to rub at her head and face, trying to will some fight back into her. But Chao-Xing was far from done - in fact, she was already getting set up for her next move. And it was one that would only rattle Lacey all the more - when the green-haired girl looked up, it would be to see that her opponent was looming right on top of her, ready to strike!

She let out a yelp, turning and raising her hands to try and shield herself, but it wasn't enough. Chao-Xing came crashing down on top of Lacey, landing with a thud as she drove her knees into her sides. The girl's whole body buckled under the landing, causing her hips to buck and her legs to kick, but weighed down as she was by her opponent, she could barely budge. The shock of the impact had caused Lacey's arms to flop at her sides, leaving her face unguarded. And Chao-Xing would just as quickly launch an even more ferocious assault on Lacey, as she laid into her face with punch after punch!

Every strike that landed tossed Lacey's head this way and that, sending the sound of a crack rippling through the air. The sound of the punches was enough to make many a fan cringe, to say nothing of the screams of pain that were being ripped from Lacey's lungs. No matter how hard she tried to twist and turn away, she always seemed to end up in the path of another punch, and no matter how loud the fans booed, Chao-Xing showed no signs of slowing down even a little. But eventually, it dawned on Lacey. She couldn't just sit here and take it. Sooner or later, she would need to take matters into her own hands. If she was going to get out of this...she needed to do it herself!

Biting down on her lip to try and quell the pain, Lacey reached out, attempting to grab hold of Chao-Xing's arm. Holding as tightly as she could to her wrist, she tried to push her arm away. Hopefully, that would be enough to slow down her punches, at least enough for the green-haired girl to roll her weight to the side and slip out from under her foe!

[ReticentCone]

Chao-Xing had hammered away at Lacey's face with just about the closest thing to glee she'd muster in this match: A a spiteful-self satisfaction. The boos, from the fan's, her opponent's screams, the sound of her fists impacting Lacey's face over abd iver again, all it didcwas encourage her to contibue the assasult. Frankly, if the referee didn't intervene or the green-haired girl coukdn't escape, she'd just punch her until she stopped moving and perhaps one ir two beyond that.


Unfortunately, Lacey did manage the latter, it came in the form if a desperate grab of one if her arms to somewgat restrain the punch, followed up with rolling out from underneath the Macau woman. This was the closest Chao-Xing had gotten from beung somewhat impressed with tge force Lacey brought to bare to roll out, but it was still a product of her desperation.

Chao-Xing quickly got to her feet, while still right by Lacey. If the girl dared to get to her knees to get up, Zhu would try to greet her with a powerful kick to slam her shin across Lacey's chest to stun her, before attempting to bend down to grab both of her hands, then pull her arms up and out, before slamming the bottom of her right boot into Lacey's face, to perform her signature Drag-and-Kick!

[CaptainL]

It was only narrowly that Lacey had managed to escape - she'd gotten her hand up at the last minute, catching Chao-Xing by the arm and holding back the onslaught of her punches for long enough for her to roll out from underneath - but escape she had. As she rolled a few feet away from her foe, she came down on her stomach, stopping to pant and gasp a few times to get the air back in her lungs before she readied herself to get back into the fray. Her face was still numb, and she shuddered with a hissed breath from behind clenched teeth when the pain caught up to her as she started to push herself back up. But, she reminded herself, she couldn't let that slow her down. She was determined to win this - to prove to all her fans she could! Gritting her teeth, she took in a deep breath before she pushed herself back up onto her knees...

And the second her eyes settled on Chao-Xing, she had already struck.

Suddenly, her leg swung out with a crack like a firing cannon, and it caught Lacey squarely in the chest. At once, all the bravado and energy she had filled herself with in preparation for the next round was driven out of her once again. She let out a scream, her hands shooting up to grab at her chest in order to dull the pain as she began to fall forward. But she wouldn't even reach the mat before Chao-Xing once again grabbed her - this time, catching her by the arms, and reeling her inward!

Feeling herself being pulled along, Lacey looked back up at her opponent with a gasp. But she hardly had the time to contemplate her fate before Chao-Xing struck again. Just then, she swung her leg right into the path of her jaw just as she came into range - and with another crack and another scream, Lacey reeled from the pain! Her hands shot up to grab at her chin, rubbing at the sore spot, but she fell forward onto her face, her knees still bent beneath her and her hips raised in the air. All she could do was whine and moan. Everything hurt.

[ReticentCone]

Despite the brutality Chao-Xing had been attacking with, there was still some trchnqieubto her attacks, it was not unrefined brute force alone. Part of her held out home that Lacey would show some merit at all. That perhaps she wasn't completely worthless. So far, there was little of the sort to be seen. She took the blows, but that was just abou it. The Crimson Lotus would, therefore, take the opportunity to go for a higher stakes test.

She'd bend down in an attempt to lift the young woman up and on to her shoulders, provided that she couldn't fight back enough. If sucessful, Zhu would quickly stomp her way over to the nearest side of the ring and whether or not she fought back, attempt to toss Lacey over the ropes in an effort to make her land on her head.

[CaptainL]

Lacey was definitely starting the match off on the wrong foot. Chao-Xing had blindsided her with her aggression, and in the face of her hard-hitting blows, the green-haired girl could hardly keep up. Before she knew it, she had found herself slumped against the mat, her head spinning as she panted and groaned; her whole body throbbing with aches and pains. But what was hurting just as badly as her body was her psyche. Every blow she took, and every setback she faced, could only dig deeper into her spirit and her confidence. It only seemed to remind her that she was doomed for disappointment - that she didn't have what it took to make it in this League, if she couldn't stand up to Chao-Xing. And nothing scared her quite as much as the threat of failure.

But things were about to get even worse! Suddenly, Lacey found herself jerked up into the air, as Chao-Xing hoisted her off the ground. She let out a yelp as she rose, but she was powerless to resist, as sore as she was. All she could do was watch as Chao-Xing stormed closer and closer to the ropes, bringing her along for the ride. Her whole body was tense and her teeth were locked in a grimace. Surely, she thought, she had nowhere to go from here but down. And for all of her high-flying exploits, she never felt quite as high above the ring as she did right now...

Wait. That was it! It struck Lacey as clear as day. This didn't have to be the end. She was a former gymnast, after all - if anyone knew how to fall, it was her! She might have been facing an uphill battle, but she still had a chance to turn it around! She just needed to strike when the time was right, but if she pulled it off...

When she felt herself lifted into the air, her heart skipped a beat and her body went tense. But as she began to fall, Lacey suddenly kicked out with her legs, aiming for the ropes. If she could get them around the ropes, she could at least stop herself before she came down on her head! If successful, she would try and pull herself up into a seated position on the ropes. She'd need a moment to catch her breath to calm her racing nerves. But if she could, she'd waste no time - she would spring off the ropes to throw herself toward Chao-Xing, swinging her knee outward to try and slam it into the Chinese woman's jaw!

[ReticentCone]

Chao-Xing's efforts did not go as planned, but it wasn't really a disappointment. She'd wanted to break the green haired girl, dure, but if Lacey wasn't capable of putting up any resistancez it wasn't an ideal showing. Hence her idea to drop the girl on her head, at least the match coming yo a shocking end would send its own message.

But, the experienced girl saved herself, wrapping her legs around the ring ropes, hanging in there rather than falling to her doom. Now, Zhu probably could and in hindsight should have taken a step back and kicked the girl off the ropes, which would have led to a nasty fall in its own right, but The Crimson Lotus wanted to be flashier, a big mistake.

She quickly turned around and ran toward the opposite set of ropes to bounce off to gain momentum, intending to build up momentum to knock her victim of the roped Instead, she'd be met with a flying knee to her jaw, knocking over flat and in shock!