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

[Afterhoursclub]

Ashley's lights turned off, figuratively speaking, anyone else just a bit less thick-skulled would have been ready for the ten count. Still, the attack had left her dazed, stunned, and utterly defenseless. The arena was spinning in front of her eyes. As if she were on some sort of crazy roller coaster ride. Ashley's whole being fell limp onto the canvas.

The redhead had trained her body to be a tank; she knew speed wasn't her strong suit. So she focused on building a solid defense to tip the balance in her favor, withstanding her opponent's offense and overwhelming them with ruthless power. A sound strategy, in most cases, and one that gave Ashley an intimidating aura among her peers. Still, a hard hit to the head was something that one could not really prepare for, and even the fiercest could fall victim to a well-placed strike.

And that was exactly what Lisa had done: The 240 was a brutal maneuver, and Ashley just ate it, head-on.

Time passed in slow motion after that, every sound coming from the crowd becoming a blur. The Brit opened her eyes again, the bright arena lights blinding her, but she was able to recognize a striped figure right next to her. "What was it?" The figure moved what appeared to be an arm, quickly hitting the floor with it.

"2...!"

Ashley's instincts kicked in, even before she could fully identify the referee; without thinking, one of her arms shot up into the air. Like a corpse coming back to life. Ashley's torso rose, her shoulders losing contact with the ring canvas as she rolled onto her side. Her breathing was labored.

[BlackAkuma]

Lisa knew a finished body when she saw one, had more than enough experience with taking down opponents like this. She could say, with no small degree of certainty, that Ashley was utterly finished. She laid her body across the Brits, could sense her heartbeat, the rising of her chest, the slackening of her body. She wasn’t unconscious, but she might as well have been. The match was over.

And then Ashley kicked out.

More specifically, she raised her shoulder. Not quite as dramatic as the alternative, but no less impressive and no less irritating, at this point. For a few seconds, Lisa just sat there, gazing at her foe in utter disbelief. What was it going to take to make this woman stay down? A firing squad?

No. No, don’t do that, don’t beat yourself up. Just focus, eyes forward. Get the job done, officer.

So, what next? When in doubt, Keep It Simple, Stupid. Lisa pushed Ashley over to her back, straddled her waist from behind, then reached down to wrap her arm around the woman’s throat and her legs around her waist, pulling her in tight for a sleeperhold. Lisa was just fine with with a knockout victory.

”Go to sleep.” She hissed in Ashley’s ear as she upped the pressure.

[Afterhoursclub]

The British woman narrowly escaped the pin. The match almost slipped out of her hands in a matter of seconds. Still, Ashley was in a desperate situation; she hadn't yet recovered from Lisa's kick and was now open to The Raid taking advantage of her helplessness. Something that didn't take long to happen. The redhead felt her body being lifted, Lisa dropping behind her, in the blink of an eye, she was trapped in an expertly applied rear-naked choke. Lisa's arms coiled tightly around her neck, and both of her legs crushed her torso while she was being squeezed into unconsciousness.

"Gaahh..." gurgling noises escaped Ashley's lips while she desperately fought to break free. However, it all seemed to be in vain, Lisa was not going to let go, and The Brit was not gonna power her out of the hold.

Oxygen was starting to run out, as were Ashley's options. The redhead had only one thing left to try.

Before she completely passed out, she raised her arms and moved her hands behind her head, searching for Lisa's face. She tried to use her claw-like nails to pinch The Raid's eyes, scratch her cheek, do everything she could to damage her and force her to let go. She had voluntarily busted herself open earlier in the match with those desperate headbutts; she wouldn't mind bleeding a bit more, right? Ashley hoped to cause enough damage to free herself quickly before the referee came to scold her.

This being her first actual fault in the match, the redhead hoped to get away with just a warning this time- Something she could live with. A loss against Lisa at this point and after so much effort... not so much.

[BlackAkuma]

This woman. This stupid, stubborn, amazing woman.

As much as she hated - truly hated - to admit, Lisa had to concede that she was impressed with Ashley’s grit. She was a crude, crass woman, sure, and she reminded Lisa of the kind of punks she dealt with far too often when she was on the force, but there was no denying her resilience. Really, she should’ve been grateful - this was exactly the sort of opponent she needed for her debut in LAW. Someone who could take her to the limit, someone she could bring her best against.

Yes. As frustrating as it was to have her finisher kicked out, this would all end well. And end soon, too. Just a few more seconds of oxygen deprivation, that was all she needed.

Desperation was the mother of innovation, however, and that maxim applied in the ring just as much as it did anywhere else. Lisa didn’t think much of Ashley’s fumbling fingers at first, thinking them to be nothing more than the futile gestures of a losing opponent, but she changed her tune when the woman’s nails racked hard across her eyes.

A hoarse, horrid shriek rang out as Lisa abandoned the hold and flopped away to rub her face and correct her damaged eyeballs, checking for any serious injury. There wasn’t, not as far as she could tell, but they were watering up and hurt like crazy. For the moment, all she could do was stay on her knees and blink rapidly, taking a few precious moments to clear her vision.

[Afterhoursclub]

"Hey! Another trick like that and I'm calling this match off, Morgan!" the referee was not pleased.

"Yeah... yeah... whatever..." Ashley replied, holding her neck with one hand, as she drew short breaths, slowly getting up from the floor until she was on one knee.

"I'm serious, Ashley- Listen to me!" the referee continued, scolding the redhead while this one stared back, seemingly focusing on his words. In reality, Ashley's eyes were glued on the figure behind: Lisa's kneeling form, the brunette was momentarily blinded by Ashley's stunt, and this gave her the opening she needed-

The Brit quickly rushed past the official, without listening to any more of his ranting, and sprinted in Lisa's direction. The moment she was close enough, Ashley would fire a hard right hook aimed at The Raid's jaw. Nothing fancy, nothing spectacular for the fans to cheer and applaud -Just a hard and well-placed strike fueled by rage.

If Ashley was lucky, Lisa wouldn't see her coming, and this maneuver would not only buy her some more time to recover from the choke, but would also open the door for her to regain the advantage in the match.

[BlackAkuma]

One might have thought that Lisa would be perturbed about Ashley breaking the rules, but one would greatly mistaken in those thoughts. Given her background, she was the last person to criticize anyone for a little rulebreaking, despite what the shield on her chest would lead you to believe. If anything, she applauded the effort - a little rulebending was necessary, at times. Perfectly understandable.

Granted, you would also be forgiven for thinking she felt otherwise judging by all the shrieking and cursing she was doing at the moment, but that was the pain talking. She was pushing past it, though, focusing, knowing she had a window of opportunity to take advantage of. She pushed up, blinked a few times, and turned towards her foe with mostly clear vision.

What she found was a fist, heading for the side of her face. Instincts kicked in and she tried to block, but it was too late - the blow crashed into her cheek and sent her staggering away towards the ropes. Her back hit them, pushed her forward, and she came back at Ashley with a punch of her own - a clumsy, sloppy, messy punch, one that she couldn't even probably aim with her world spinning about like this.

[Afterhoursclub]

Lisa was a dangerous opponent. She was proving to be one of the most complicated match-ups Ashley ever had in her career here in LAW so far. The Raid had taken every chance to counter and turn the tables on Ashley throughout the entire encounter. The reason why the redhead had to take any small advantage she could get. To get out of her comfort zone, for she realized quickly into the match that raw strength alone might not be enough to overcome this foe. That's why she was willing to bend the rules, that's why she was going to push through the pain, that's why she would not let Lisa rest even for a single second, regardless of how exhausted she might be.

It took everything Ashley had to throw that punch, but she was willing to give that and more if it meant getting the upper hand. Feeling it connect with Lisa's face was a victory in its own, and it felt good. However, Ashley was not about to let her guard down. Not until Lisa was down and out.

She saw the brunette bounce back against the ropes and charge toward her, looking to retaliate. But Ashley's eyes met with an unusual scene, rather than a coordinated strike, like any other she had thrown so far; this time, Lisa's attack seemed... reckless... almost clumsy...

Ashley watched confused at first, having mostly recovered from the RNC suffered earlier, and jumped into action right away:

Lisa was trying to hit back with a sloppy punch that would never reach The Brit, for Ashley was already waiting for The Raid to get closer, raising one foot high in the air and aiming a savage Big Boot at her opponent's jaw.

The Big Boot

[BlackAkuma]

World spinning. Steps clumsy. Breathing erratic. Lisa was in a world of pain, her brain a cluttered mess as she tried to focus and make something resembling an actual attack. She knew she was in a bad spot, but she was hoping that Ashley was in an even worse one. The two of them had put each other through hell, and while she was proud of her performance, it wasn’t enough for her to simply ‘do her best’. No, she wanted victory. Needed it.

But needing something and actually getting it were two wildly different things, and as she lashed out and her sloppy punch soared through the air with nothing to show for it, she knew the latter was out of her reach. The end was coming, and there was only question - where from?

She learned in the next moment, as a foot came soaring through the air. Lisa saw it at the last second and tried to turn away, to dodge, to counter, anything, but her reflexes were simply too slow. The boot crashed into her chin, right on the jaw, her head went flying back, and the rest of her body followed after a moment later.

She came down hard, right on her upper back, hitting the canvas with a dull thud. While she wasn’t out all the way, she was about as close to it as anyone could be without crossing threshold - glassy eyes, faraway look, lifeless limbs, the whole deal.

[Afterhoursclub]

-SMACK!-

Ashley's whole leg shook as her boot connected straight onto Lisa's jaw, causing a cloud of spit and a few traces of blood to come out of The Raid's mouth. The momentum of her own attack almost took Ashley down to the floor with her opponent, but she managed to remain standing on both feet, if barely. The redhead was exhausted. It had taken everything he had to get to this point—to render an opponent as mighty as Lisa defenseless—but Ashley wasn't out of the woods yet, she needed to take advantage of it. For even a single wasted second could give Lisa an opening to get back into the game.

Fighting through the fatigue and pain, Ashley walked toward her downed opponent. She brought both hands down and grabbed hold of The Raid's head. She pulled the girl up. Her go-to finisher proved ineffective last time she tried, and she could not risk Lisa recognizing the move and trying to counter it. Ashley had to try something different, something new...

Ashley crouched in front of the seemingly still dazed Lisa and slid one arm in between her legs, while she wrapped the other around her shoulder. If Ashley were successful in her attempt, she would lift The Raid up and rotate her to hold her upside down in a piledriver position.

[BlackAkuma]

This wasn’t the end. This couldn't be the end.

Lisa was stunned, sure, but she still had some life left in her body. She’d survived everything Morgan had thrown her way so far; she could survive this. She only needed a few moments to gather her breath, recoup, and she’d be back into the fight.

Morgan, however, seemed to realize that and had no intention of letting her have the space she required. She had only begun to sit up when the woman swept in with all the subtlety of a swooping hawk, descending on her with startling alacrity. Her head was seized, she was being lifted up, and while she did struggle and try to pull away, none of it was going to amount to much - she didn’t have enough energy to overpower Ashley at the moment. Not even close.

She was being lifted up and held upside down, the telltale prelude to a deadly piledriver. She knew what was coming, but knowing and stopping were wholly different things, and all she could was weakly squirm as she waited for the ball to drop.