A Raid into hell! Ashley Morgan VS "The Raid" Lisa Vazquez

[Afterhoursclub]

Standard Match:
Ashley Morgan VS Lisa Vasquez
Rules: Victory by pinfall, submission, or knockout.

The air in the locker room was charged with anticipation and expectation. Ashley finished lacing her boots, a sour expression on her face, more so than usual. Non dared say a word to the redhead, knowing better than to go near Ashley when she was in a bad mood... or any mood in general. But this time she had good reason. Her last few outings hadn't gone exactly the way she'd wanted. However, she wasn't feeling sad, nor had she begun to doubt herself or her abilities as a fighter. No. What Ashley felt was something far more powerful, a feeling that felt very familiar: an unwavering rage.

Gritting her teeth as she finalized the last details of her outfit, the Red Menace craved a chance to unleash her pent-up frustration and aggression. A chance at redemption— not for the audience, not for the fans, not for LAW management and their silly rankings, but for herself!

She would not rest well unless she found a new opponent to test her might against, to dominate and to utterly destroy. That's what the Red Menace had in mind the moment she stepped into the squared circle again. A few weeks passed by with no luck for the fuming redhead. The wait only made Ashley's anger grow even more. Not even countless gym hours could satisfy her hunger for confrontation-

All that changed tonight,

Ashley was finally booked to wrestle again, a standard singles match against another wrestler called "The Raid". The British gal did not care for any aliases or nicknames; however, she had only one goal in mind: To make -The Raid- regret her life choices.

She kept her mission deeply engraved in her mind from the moment she stepped through the curtain, Enemies by Eleine blaring through the arena speakers for the first time in a while. The redhead made her way through the ramp and toward the ring. A serious gaze on her face the whole time, an icy stare for anyone who crossed her sight.

The announcer's voice filled the arena: "Entering the ring first, from Cambridge, England - Weighing 175 pounds - Ashley Morgan"

Ashley Morgan

She rolled herself under the bottom rope and stood up almost right away, circling the squared circle a few times, getting familiar with the space again. She's done this a thousand times before, and tonight was not gonna be any different. The Red Menace was in her element.

Ashley slowly walked to her corner, leaning her back against the ring post, both arms resting over the ropes at her sides. Waiting patiently for her opponent to show up and staring straight at the ramp.

[BlackAkuma]

Woop-woop, that's the sound of da police!
Woop-woop, that's the sound of da beast!

Lisa Vasquez had been waiting to hear

for almost a year. At least.

More specifically, she had been waiting to hear it from LAW’s loudspeakers, blasted out over the crowd, signaling her first entrance into a LAW ring. She had hoped to hear it not long after she first arrived in Japan, and that didn’t seem to be an unreasonable expectation. While her employers didn’t have any specific match lined up at that moment, they assured her that something was coming and that they would have some opponents for her to take on soon enough.

Bullshit.

Lisa had spent enough time in interrogation rooms to know when she was being bullshat, and their promises reeked with the stuff. They could’ve gotten her a match any time they pleased, but she suspected that some of them were skittish about putting her against some of their more breakable wrestlers, especially when she was a new project. That meant that she wound up spending the bulk of the year sitting idle, waiting to be called. Most people would’ve been okay with getting paid for nothing, but that could never be Lisa. She had come here to fight, she wanted fights.

But, after months of waiting, it seemed that they finally found someone: Enter Ms. Ashley Morgan.

Lisa came out from the curtains with her head held high and her eyes focused on the ring, never losing sight of her opponent and marched her way. She had done a little homework on this woman, enough to the pertinent details—a strong wrestler with no shortage of experience, hailing from the Galaxy Wrestling Association. Silly name, but the woman she faced was anything but. While the two of them were of similar height, Ashley struck her as the more robust woman, with no shortage of power on display, whereas Lisa focused more on speed and agility. Which way was better? That would be determined shortly.

Never one to mince words or start with a handshake, Lisa promptly made her way up the steps, slipped through the ropes, and took a second to spy her opponent from across the ring. She looked her over for a moment, testing her, analyzing her, before she broke away and sauntered over to her corner, a hand on her hip and a placid gaze across her face. She proceeded to lean up against the pads and do a few quick stretches, as she waited for the bell to ring.

Reporting for duty.

[Afterhoursclub]

Ashley raised an eyebrow and peeled her eyes the moment her opponent's theme exploded through the speakers:

"What... is this...?"

Musical taste was such a subjective matter that Ashley didn't really care to discuss it with anyone else, ever. But she definitely was not a fan of what her ears were hearing to at full volume right at that moment. However, any personal discussion about music became an afterthought when she saw The Raid walk out through the curtain:

A tall, fit woman with a strong physique and a serious gaze. Dark hair tied up in a ponytail, walking purposefully towards the ring while keeping her gaze fixed on her. She wore a skimpy attire, which only accentuated her remarkable condition.

"Hmph!" Ashley smirked, watching her opponent enter the ring, both girls crossing stares for a few seconds.

"The hell are you looking at?" the Red Menace shouted out. Getting no noticeable response from the brunette, it didn't matter. "Let's see if she can keep quiet after I bash her face!" she thought to herself.

A few moments later, the unmistakable sound of the opening bell was heard; the match had begun.

Ashley took a few steps forward, leaving the corner and carefully approaching her opponent. She had to battle the urge to just rush in and start beating her right away, but she had learnt the hard way that it was not the best choice in most cases. Eyes locked on The Raid, waiting for the opportunity to make her move as she raised her arms in front, with her palms open...

[BlackAkuma]

Lisa kept her lips tight for the moment, even after Ashley called her way, goading her. Loudmouth, this one. She knew the type. She’d put down more than her fair share of Ashley’s in her time, people who acted tough, talked all the trash, then folded like a deck of cards when they received some pushback. She didn’t hold out too much hope that this woman would be any different, but they would see in short order.

The accent was interesting, though. English, she was fairly certain. Good to know she wasn’t the only one far away from home.

Lisa tightened her gloves, rolled her neck, and got as loose as possible, right before the bell rang. Her arms came up on cue and she dropped into her fighting stance, thinking that Ashley would rush her out of the gate, but that turned out to not be the case. The big girl was taking it slow, cautious, not playing to her stereotype. Surprising, that.

Lisa, however, had no qualms with kicking this match off in explosive style. She waited all of two seconds before she came bursting out of the corner, closing the distance with Ashley in a flash, entering her personal space without an ounce of fear.

She lashed out the second she was in range - first a low kick aimed at the woman’s knee, trying to wreck her base, before she fired off a jab and right cross towards her face, looking to drive her back with the bread-and-butter combo.

The Raid was looking to apply pressure. Set the pace. Control the flow.

[Afterhoursclub]

The bell rang, and Ashley began her approach.

Careful and calculated, something unusual compared to her recent matches, the redhead had to learn from her mistakes at some point. One false step and this fight could start badly. That's when she saw The Raid charging in with a sudden burst.

Ashley instantly raised her guard. Seeing her opponent approaching fast, Ashley gritted her teeth and clenched her fists tightly, holding her arms up. However, her opponent's first move came from where she was not expecting: a kick to her knee.

The attack connected, a loud smack was heard as Ashley grimaced and stumbled a step, but her guard wasn't broken. The first kick was a surprise, but what came next she expected- Two strikes aimed at her face, which were blocked by the redhead; however, they carried enough force to rattle her a little. "Gosh! This bitch hits hard!" She thought, annoyed at the fact that she was being forced to play defense so early.

After blocking the second punch, Ashley had had enough, quickly raising her leg, aiming to hit the Raid on her chest with a Big Boot before she could continue her offense.

"Get off me!" She applied as much force as she could on the kick. Ashley would quickly run toward The Raid with a hefty clothesline in mind if it connected and could create enough space between them.

[BlackAkuma]

Lisa couldn't read minds - not that she would care to with Ashley’s - but judging by the way she responded, she hadn't expected her to take offense from the get-go. If that was the case, then she only had herself to blame - after all, what else would you expect from a person nicknamed ‘the Raid’?

True to her title, Lisa was upfront, offensive, and blunt, launching into Ashley with no fear, laying into her straightaway. The kick was a rousing success - she felt that feedback, sensed the connect, nice and clean - but her followups were less so, striking the guard but staying well away from her intended target. The benefits of a well-constructed guard, and the first hint that there was some real skill under the gothic exterior.

Not a problem, especially if Lisa could keep up the pressure. Unfettered from having her strikes blocked, she moved in and reeled back, preparing to lash out with a right hook to tickle her opponent’s ribs, but that idea was killed in the crib by a boot, of all things. Ashley’s heel shot into her chest, and while it wasn’t enough to bring her down, it did make Lisa stumble all the way to the ropes. If she wanted space, she had it.

She wouldn’t enjoy it for long. ”Make me.”

Lisa spat off to the side and charged in again, rushing in as Ashley did much the same. A clothesline was coming her, but she waited until the last second, the last insant to dodge it, ducking under and coming out behind her opponent. Knowing her window was small, she leaped up, spun about in mid-air, and swung her leg through the air in a wide arc, attempting to kick Ashley in the face with a gamengiri.

[Afterhoursclub]

Ashley's boot connected squarely with Lisa's chest, sending the brunette flying back to the ropes. However, she didn't fall, further evidencing her opponent's remarkable resilience. If Ashley was going to win this, she still had much work ahead of her. It didn't matter; The redhead was happy to dish out as much punishment as was necessary to bring The Raid down.

"With pleasure!" Ashley shot back as she began her run toward Lisa, aiming to take her head clean off her shoulders with a violent clothesline. They were mere inches away when Ashley fired her arm forward; however, this one only met with empty air. The Raid was gone, Ashley spun around, carried by the momentum of her own attack, she looked back searching for her adversary, but the moment her eyes caught a glimpse, a flying boot was coming straight to her face.

-THUD!-

She caught a foot right on the side of her head, spit flying out of her mouth as she was pushed back, dazed by the impact, her back meeting the ropes. She grabbed onto them to try and stop the world from spinning, keeping her blurry gaze on her opponent.

[BlackAkuma]

Connection.

Lisa felt the strike land flush, felt the recoil surge through her body. Solid, impactful, effective. It would be more than enough to bring Ashley down, and from there she could start to work on the woman’s body. In particular, she wanted to focus on the lower extremities, do something about those admittedly impressive thighs, and then…

”...oh.”

She landed after the gamengiri, spun about, and found that her opponent was still standing. Stunned, yes, but she had managed to take a kick to the face - one of her best kicks - and keep on two feet. No small accomplishment. This woman was tough, and dealing with that toughness was going to be a real challenge.

But she was going to deal with it. There was no question.

Instead of going straight to Ashley, Lisa popped up and dashed away from her, to the opposite side of the ring. She hit the ropes, bounced off, and came racing towards her opponent with full momentum, moving at her top speeds to close the distance.

The moment she was in range, Lisa leaped up and used all that momentum to fly through the air as she shot her leg forward, attempting to clobber her opponent with a running knee to the face.

[Afterhoursclub]

Still groggy from the kick received, Ashley hung to the ropes, one hand over her head, trying to soothe the pain while the world still spun around. The redhead kept her gaze on her opponent, even though The Raid was nothing more than a blur in her vision at the moment. "Damnit!" Ashley cursed. A dark scowl on her face.

Suddenly, Lisa's blurry image began running toward her at full speed once again, and Ashley's eyes gleamed briefly. She was gonna teach her a lesson about rushing constantly in a match. The British woman waited until Lisa was close enough, she caught a glimpse of her jumping at the very last second, aiming to hit her with a knee strike, that's when Ashley swifly shifted to the side, The Raid's knee coursing right past her, the Brit quickly wrapped her arm around Lisa's leg and held her in place, showcasing her strength to the crowd. However, Ashley's intention was not to gloat; she needed to get into position for her next move. With her free hand, she covered Lisa's entire face and, with a determined motion, slammed her down onto the mat with a violent Spinebuster, carrying enough impact to shake the entire ring.

Staggering a few steps after the impact, Ashley shook her head. Finally, she regained her focus. She looked at her opponent before bending down to lift her up. "What's the rush, Darlin? Got somewhere to go?" she joked before adjusting her grip on Lisa. "Then let me help you!" She ran towards the ropes, her opponent in tow, looking to throw her over the top rope and right out of the ring.

[BlackAkuma]

Strike fast, strike hard, strike sure. A simple enough way of fighting, but effective, in her experience. It might have been cliche to say that the best defense was an overwhelming offense, but in wrestling, that worked well. Lisa could batter her opponents from the offense, she could - and had - end matches before they even began, executing a decapitating strike. It was a good enough play with Ashley, and it was having success.

Right up until the moment it didn't.

That moment came now, as she was leaping through the air. While she didn’t think this woman was slow, she figured the Brit wouldn’t be able to keep up, that she would be able to overwhelm her from the onset. But as she went flying for the knee, she saw how wrong that notion was - Ashley shifted. A slight motion, but enough to tell Lisa that something was about to happen, and it would be painful.

She was right. Ashley proceeded to snatch her clean out of the air and brought her down for a hard landing, spiking her with the spinebuster and piefacing her in the process. The impact knocked the wind out of her, left her stunned, making her easy to manipulate for what came next.

Up she wanted, hefted with ease, before Ashley spun her about and sent her flying out of the ring. Instinct save her, here, as she was able to twist in mid-flight, grab the ropes to spin about, and came down on her boots, so she avoided a hard crash on the apron, but she was still in a bad way. She dropped to her knees, then hurriedly pushed up to her feet, needing the apron to lean on as she did. Dizzy and dazed, she staggered to the side and shook her head, as she struggled to regain her momentum.