School of Hard Knox - Maddie Knox vs Muriel Spencer [Standard]

[Parker]

Madison straightened from the wreckage she’d just created, brushing hair from her face as the crowd buzzed from the sight of Muriel sprawled and shrieking by the steel steps. The blonde’s chest rose and fell with exertion, though her expression was more of mild annoyance than fatigue. The referee’s count carried on behind her, a grating reminder that time mattered, though Madison’s expression was one of mild irritation rather than urgency as she rolled her eyes.

“Yes, yes, I hear you,” she muttered under her breath, giving the official a glance like he’d just asked her to hurry up folding laundry.

She started forward, boots clicking against the floor as she walked right past the very steps she’d suplexed Muriel onto. She barely spared them a glance; they were just another part of the ring to her, a tool no different from the ropes or the turnbuckles. If anything, she seemed annoyed that she had to take the long way around them just to get to her opponent. Her greenest eyes shifted to Valerie in response to her cries to wait, obviously far to late to stop what was in motion, but her friend was still giving her time to explain. It was clear by Madison’s expression she didn't understand the point of what Valerie had said. The steps, Muriel's safety as a fellow competitor, didn't amount to much to her.

Rather than address it directly, she shot Valerie one of her sweet little smiles, the casual act of cruelty that preceded it tarnishing some measure of its polish. She reached up with a hand, gesturing as if placing a pin on an invisible board, a signal she would touch on whatever this was in just a moment. For now, Mama Maddie had some things to do.

Bending down, Madison fisted a handful of Muriel’s hair and yanked her up, ignoring the teacher’s cry as she hauled her toward the apron. With a firm shove, she rolled her back under the ropes like she was tossing garbage into a dump truck.

Instead of following immediately, Madison lingered at ringside, turning toward Valerie. She made the effort, despite the referee count, to awkwardly hobble herself to her friend. Her sharp smirk softened into a more playful sweetness, the contrast almost disarming. She leaned slightly on the apron, her voice honeyed.

"Look, Val… I’d love to get a picture, take a cute selfie, whatever you’re after.” She flashed a wink, as if to reassure her. “But it’ll have to wait until after class is dismissed, yeah?” Madison reached out to put a hand on Valerie’s shoulder, her thumb lightly brushing a crease out of the t-shirt she wore. “Looking forward to my victory sushie, babe.”

With that, she turned back to the ring, slipping under the ropes with a flick of her hair. Rising smoothly, she brought a leg up to almost casually stomped down hard on Muriel’s back to keep her flat. Then, wasting no time, she bent low, snaring Muriel under the arms and heaving her up from behind. With practiced ease, she laced her fingers behind the woman’s neck, locking her hands tight and wrenching her shoulders back into a punishing full nelson. Madison flexed her arms, cranking the hold while dragging and thrashing Muriel about toward the middle of the ring, away from any chance at escape.

[BlackAkuma]

Okay, Valerie hadn't seen that one coming.

Things had been going good, better than she’d hoped, actually. Maddie had a bit of a rough start, but she’d kept the faith that her friend would pull through and fall into her stride, and now that prediction was coming to pass. She was definitely getting a better feel for the Golden Girl’s style now - she wasn’t the biggest, the fastest, the hardest of hitters, but she had a lot of cunning and patience, something Valerie herself could have used more of.

When she found a weakness, she went after it with laser focus, and while she had some style to her moves, she never let it get in the way of doing what she had to do. There were some lessons to be learned here, and as the fight spilled to the floor, she kept a safe distance and took notes.

That was when things got a little…hairy.

She saw the setup for the suplex, and her first thought was that Maddie had misjudged the distance and didn’t notice where the steps were. Halfway through, though, she realized the distance was too perfect, the targeting was spot-on. No, she was trying to suplex Ms. Spencer onto the steel steps, and she did so with pinpoint accuracy, her back hitting right on the edge. Valerie winced along with the crowd as the older woman went tumbling away, landing in a broken heap.

It was brutal. Not cheating or anything, well within the rules, but definitely dirtier than Valerie would’ve ever thought of going, even with someone she didn’t particularly like. It left her stunned for a few moments, and she only really snapped out of it when her friend came over and clapped her on the shoulder, reassuring her with her little jokes.

Valerie put on a weak smile and laughed along with her, trying to brush it off. ”It’s, it’s a…” She cleared her throat with a cough and straightened up. ”It’s a date!” She gave Maddie a playful pat on the butt. ”Go get her!”

She stepped back and breathed deep as Madison made her way back into the ring and picked up the offense, giving Ms. Spencer a hard stomp in the back to keep her down. She hauled her up and started dragging her towards the center of the ring with the full nelson, likely thinking her foe would be easy to control - a safe bet, given what had just happened, but not necessarily true. The older woman had a surprising amount of fire left and struggled every step of the way, eventually bringing her heel down on Maddie’s instep and jerking down hard at the same time, attempting to wrench free all at once.

[Parker]

Madison had Muriel cinched tight, fingers laced behind the woman’s neck, arms flexing as she dragged her battered opponent out of the ropes and toward the center of the canvas. Every muscle in her body felt the teacher’s resistance, but Maddie’s grimace was wide and determined. She’d already done most of the heavy lifting, literally, now it was just a matter of grinding opponent down.

She murmured loud enough for the cameras, her lips curling in mock sweetness. “Class isn’t over until I say it is.”

She wrenched hard on the full nelson, forcing Muriel’s shoulders back, parading her as if she were showing off a trophy. The referee hovered nearby, but Maddie was in no mood to release. The crowd was a mix of cheers and jeered, but she was far too focused to register either.

That’s when Muriel struck.

The older woman’s heel came down hard on Madison’s instep, sharp and sudden. Madison hissed through her teeth, her balance rocking as the pain shot up her leg. Muriel seized the moment, yanking down and wrenching herself free, pulling forward out of Madison’s clutches.

For a heartbeat, the crowd erupted in cheers. Madison leaned on one leg, gritting her teeth as she favored the sting in her foot, irritation flashing across her face.

Her hand shot out, grabbing to tangle into Muriel’s hair, trying to punish her with a vicious yank. With a snap of her hips and all the power she could muster off her good leg, Madison ripped her backward, trying to throw her down to the canvas as roughly as she could. Maddie herself would stumble back a step, catching the ropes for balance as she tested her weight on her sore foot.

“How the hell are heels like that not illegal? Come on referee, do your damn job!” the blonde growled, brushing her hair back with a flick of her head to feign composure. She took a tender step from the ropes but thought better of it when the weight made it reward her with a sharp pain. Muriel had brought herself a moment to recover as Madison hung by the ropes, stewing intensely.

[BlackAkuma]

The crowd was quick to cheer when Muriel made her hasty escape, always ready to rally behind her in situations like this. It came with being a Rumble Rose, she supposed - many of LAW’s fans were old fans of the promotion, with gilded memories of its halcyon days, and there hardly passed a day that she wasn’t asked to sign some little piece of memorabilia. She kept a marker on her at all times, simply for such occasions.

While she appreciated the support, it was, in this case, a touch premature. Muriel’s gambit with the stomp may have paid off, and she had escaped the full nelson, but it was far from the end of her woes, a fact that Ms. Knox amply demonstrated in the next moment.

A hairpull. No matter how many wrestling matches she had, no matter how many times it happened, Muriel could never truly get used to having her hair yanked in such a way, and this was not the exception. She yelped at the blazing sensation in her scalp, before she was roughly pulled away and went tumbling to the side, flopping hard on her back - a back that was still hurting from the abuse she’d endured outside.

It was more of an annoyance than anything, though, far from the most damaging thing that could’ve happened in such an instance. As such, she was able to roll over to her chest and observe her opponent as she took a moment to come her way, still feeling the pain in her foot. The Ankle Lock was still paying dividends, a worthwhile investment.

As much as it hurt her back to do so, Muriel pushed up to her feet as her foe came her way. Though it was tempting to try some grand offensive, some intricate move, Muriel found it best to err on the side of caution in such instances - a suplex would more than suffice.

She pushed up, rushed in, and wrapped her arms around Ms. Knox’s waist to slam their bodies together in a stiff embrace, like a lover clutching her long-lost paramour. Whatever intimacy could be found in such a position would be fleeting, however, as her next move was to lift, arch her aching back, and send Ms. Knox flying away with a belly-to-belly suplex, flinging her hard towards the center of the ring.

[Parker]

Madison lingered against the ropes, one hand gripping the top strand as she leaned her weight into it, her chest rising and falling in controlled rhythm. The sting in her foot still pulsed, a reminder of Muriel’s crafty escape, but she wasn’t about to let a limp or a pang slow her down. When she saw the older woman push to her feet and start her approach, Madison braced herself, squaring her shoulders.

As Muriel closed the gap, Madison’s lips curled into a sneer. She pivoted, drawing her elbow high, and with a sharp snap downward she tried to drive the bony point into Muriel’s shoulder, hoping to halt her momentum before it could build.

But Muriel was already too close, her arms threading in low and quick. Madison’s strike clipped against her back but did nothing to stop the sudden crush of bodies. The Golden Girl found herself cinched tight, arms pinned in Muriel’s clasp, their torsos pressing flush together. Then the world tilted.

Madison’s boots left the canvas. She was wrenched skyward in one clean motion before being flung across the ring in a belly-to-belly suplex.

Her body slammed against the canvas with a thunderous crash, bouncing once before rolling with the force of it. The impact rattled her spine and sent a jolt bursting down her limbs, the sheer force, paired with her own weight, worked against her, the throw leaving her sprawled nearer to center-ring. Her blonde hair splayed in wild strands across her face as she rolled to her side, one arm clutching her midsection, the other braced against the mat as she tried to stop the world from spinning.

[BlackAkuma]

Hm. As a dedicated fan of suplexes, Valerie had to admit, that was a good one from Ms. Spencer. Nice heft, good follow-through. She really dedicated herself to the move, 100, and that was the trick to making the move high impact, in her experience. She herself tended to put too much raw power into the move when she should’ve focused on the proper technique. Ms. Spencer’s execution could only be described as textbook. Picture-perfect. She should’ve been taking notes.

Maybe she would, too, if it wasn’t her friend being used as a demonstration. As much as she wanted to enjoy the match from a technical perspective, it was a little hard to do that when she had so much invested in the outcome, and seeing Maddie take such a hard crash at the center ring, the wind fully knocked out of her for the time being.

Ms. Spencer had been thoroughly rocked by her time on the outside, and she was still showing it as she stood up and caressed her back, wincing hard at the spot where she’d made contact with the stairs. As iffy as she was about how they’d gotten there, the weakspot was too juicy too ignore, and Maddie could make good use of it…if she had the chance.

Judging by the determined look in Ms. Spencer’s eyes as she stormed Maddie’s way, that wouldn’t be coming for a while if she could help it. ”Maddie, heads up!”

Ms. Spencer rushed in, homing in on her own weakspot to target - namely Maddie’s ankle, the one she had twisted up a few minutes ago. She reached down, wrapped her arm around it, and pulled it up along with her as she forced her opponent over to her back, letting her loom large above her.

After a quick breath, Ms. Spencer kicked her leg out, fell to her back, and brought Madison’s ankle along for the for the ride, hyperextending it for an agonizing instant with a Leg DDT.

[Parker]

Madison was only halfway upright, one knee planted on the canvas, when Valerie’s shout cut across the ring. She barely had time to glance over before Muriel dove in low, her arms locking snug around Madison’s leg.

The sudden yank ripped the Golden Girl backward, pulling her knee off the mat and pitching her face-first to the mat with a sharp grunt. Her palms smacked the canvas as her chest mashed up against the canvas, her trapped leg wrenched high behind her. Muriel gave another savage tug this time to the side, rolling Madison over like a sack of flour, flopping her onto her back and leaving her staring up at the lights.

Her blonde hair spilled across the mat in a halo as she writhed, both hands reaching for her captured ankle, just as Muriel struck. "W-wait wait-wait!"

CRACK!

The Leg DDT drove Madison’s leg back down to the mat brutally, in an instant, undoing the few careful considerations Madison had made to be light on her ankle. Her body jolted in time with the spike of searing, a pained yelp tearing from her throat, her arms clutching desperately at her leg as she rolled side to side. The pain shot hot and fast, twisting her features, scattering her polished composure as tears welled in her eyes.

She kicked at the mat with her good foot, shoving her face into the crook of her elbow to muffle what would have been a piercing wail and a sob. Chest heaving with ragged breaths as the agony radiated up her calf. Every scuff of her boot against the canvas told the crowd just how close Muriel had come to breaking her down completely.

[BlackAkuma]

If Muriel had to pick one flaw out of her numerous ones that cost her in wrestling, it was her lack of what Ms. Welsh had so delicately labeled, ‘killer instinct’. While she didn't lack in skill, she could sometimes falter when it came to dishing out the heavy damage on her foes. It was a liability against younger opponents, where she fell back on her more nurturing aspects as a teacher, and it cost her a match or two, including one particularly harrowing battle against Makoto Aihara.

She had worried that might be a concern elsewhere in this match. Perhaps it would’ve been, until the woman dropped her back onto the edge of those steel steps.

Needless to say, being nearly bisected somewhat colored her temperament. While targeting the woman’s ankle was a standard wrestling tactic, she did it with more aplomb than usual, enjoying some small measure of satisfaction from evening the scales. Of course, doing so had come at a small, unavoidable price: Her back.

Executing the move required Muriel to come down on her back, a less-than-pleasant experience, so Ms. Knox would find some similar companies as she rolled about in her anguish. The ex-teacher kicked her legs about and rolled to the side so she could massage her battered spine, as little good as that would do.

As much as she wanted to lie about and wallow in her pain, she knew that wasn’t an option - she needed to get up and press what little advantage she had. Gritting her teeth, Muriel rolled to her chest, pushed up, reached over to grab her foe by the head, and stood, getting them both back on their feet. As much as she would’ve liked to execute another suplex, she had already pushed her back too much for the time being and needed to ease off the slams for a moment. It hardly meant she was without options, however.

With standing behind Ms. Knox, she spun about while she gripped the woman’s arms, turning around to face away from her foe. She held the arms down, forcing her opponent to bend over in awkward position, precisely where she wanted.

Muriel jumped up, dropped to her knees, and attempted to ram Ms. Knox’s face into the ground with her unique variant on the facebuster - her signature move, the Rose Hip.[/i]

[Parker]

One trembling hand clawed at the mat, nails dragging furrows into the canvas as she pulled herself inch by inch toward the ropes. She couldn’t use both legs to crawl, every time she tried to push on her right foot, a bolt of fire lanced up her body, forcing her to fold with a sharp yelp. So she shuffled awkwardly, dragging herself half-sideways, her free arm and her good leg doing the work while her injured one trailed uselessly behind. Her hair spilled across her flushed face, strands clinging to the sweat at her cheek, as she panted her way closer to safety.

The crowd seemed to swell, rallied behind her for a change, perhaps out of sympathy, stamping feet and clapping hands, but the sound dimmed when Muriel’s shadow fell across her. Madison froze mid-crawl, eyes wide, breath catching in her throat as the older woman’s hand slid under her chin and forced her upward. Her ankle buckled the moment she was dragged vertical, Madison’s knee trembling, her balance saved only by Muriel’s iron grip on her arms.

Her body bowed forward against her will, arms forced down and back in an awkward twist that left her chest heaving and her hair brushed across her face. “Nnngh-!” Madison groaned, her voice sharp with agony as her ankle wobbled beneath her unable to really combat being twisted around like this in her current state. She could barely brace herself before Muriel jumped, the sudden weight dragging her down in a violent snap.

Her face slammed against the mat with a brutal THUD, the Rose Hip connecting flush. Madison’s body jolted with the impact, her arms flinging out wide as her legs buckled beneath her. She flopped onto her stomach with a gasp, her hands pawed weakly at the canvas. Her cheek pressed to the mat, blue eyes fluttering glassy as she lay sprawled, breath hot and uneven against the canvas, the teacher’s signature leaving her rocked and vulnerable in the middle of the ring.

[BlackAkuma]

”Madison!”

Without thinking, Valerie started to run towards the ring when Muriel executed the Leg DDT, drawn in by her friend’s cries. She stopped herself before she could do anything truly stupid and unsportsmanlike, earning a cautious look from the referee in the process, and she stepped back with her hands raised. The absolute last thing she wanted to do was have the officials thinking she was that sort of wrestler.

But she couldn't help worrying as she watched her friend getting tortured like that, having to watch Ms. Spencer target her limb. The pain had to be excruciating, and judging from the look in the ex-teachers eyes, she had no intention of easing up on the pressure.

Valerie didn’t recognize the move she was going for, not at first - it was a more elaborate setup than anything in repertoire. But the goal was made clear when she dropped into a sit, smashing Maddie’s face into the canvas with her full weight behind the brutal blow. The Golden Girl was stunned. Easy prey.

Ms. Spencer didn’t waste a second. She whipped about, grabbed Maddie’s shoulder, rolled her onto her back, leaned on her chest and pulled up her leg to secure the pinfall, drawing in the referee for the count. Valerie clenched her teeth and hammered the apron, as if she could snap her friend back to reality with it.

”1…!”