[Hell-Bound Train Match] Astrid Arvidsson (c) vs Piper Sherwood for the LAW World Openweight Championship

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Damn it. Astrid had never felt so strange before. Yes, she was exhausted more than once at the very end of the match. Yes, she was barely able to stand more than once at the very end of the match. But it had never happened before that she was forced to crawl somewhere, unable to get to her feet. This fact perhaps best emphasized how tough and uncompromising today's match was.

However, the openweight champion was not going to give up. Taking as deep breaths as possible, she crawled towards her title belt while trying to get to her feet. Of course, so far her progress has been extremely dubious, but at least she has continued to move forward. Focusing as much as possible on her goal, she didn't even pay attention to the crowd on either side of her. And maybe it was her mistake, because if she had listened to them, she might have heard that they were getting louder.

For one specific reason.

“Aaaaahhhh!!" Astrid suddenly screamed.

The reason for this was Piper's nails digging into her knee. Before the Norwegian woman could do anything, she collapsed to the floor with her whole body. Of course, in another situation, neither Piper nor anyone else would have been able to make her fall so easily, but the Golden Dragon was truly exhausted at that moment.

She once again caught herself thinking that her opponent was an amazing woman. Yes, nasty, lousy, but still amazing. Even after everything they had been through, this lightweight was still able to keep going. Just like now. As Astrid collapsed to the floor, Piper continued to crawl towards the title belt. This made the descendant of the great Vikings grit her teeth.

“Over my dead body!” She said very clearly, albeit in a hoarse voice.

Throwing her left hand forward, she intended to grab Piper's right ankle. Yes, Astrid had very little strength right now, but even that would probably have been enough for her to pull the lightweight back. If she had succeeded, she would have tried to grab Piper's head with both hands, then tritely pull it up and then down in an attempt to slam her opponent's face into the floor. It probably didn't look much like a wrestling match, more like a barbaric catfight, but if it gave Astrid the opportunity to start crawling further towards her title, then she didn't care what others called it.

[Bare]

Piper was so close, so, so close to her goal. The open weight title, she could see it and there were only two problems. The first was the absolute wrecked state her body was in as a result of the absolute war she'd had with Astrid so far and how difficult it was making it for her to claw her way to victory. However that also brought her to the other, far more dangerous problem. That being none other than Atsrid herself.

Still awake, and still alive, fighting her way to the belt just like Piper. The only saving grace here being that the larger blonde was in a physical state nearly as bad as Piper's own. Managing to claw her way towards the woman Piper would manage to further pain the champ by clawing at the back of her knee, hopefully to stall her long enough for Piper to try and get just a little ahead.

Thankfully for a moment it worked. Piper had gotten almost her whole body length ahead of Astrid before suddenly feeling her foot grabbed making her eyes widen in shock and fear. 'Oh no.' Piper thought to herself, unable to do anything as Astrid then pulled her backwards! "Damn- NGH!" Piper started to yell at first in frustration only to then scream in pain as her head was bounced off the mat like a basket ball!

"Ngh...." Piper groaned out in pain, laying there for a moment, completely out of it for a second. Trying to get her hands under her for a moment and blink the stars out of her eyes. 'Damn it...' Piper thought to herself, laying there for a moment before desperately trying to inch forward again, using what little semblance of consciousness she had in her to fight her way forward.

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Even as a big hardcore fan, what was happening was not something that the Golden Dragon liked. Even in hardcore matches, she preferred to act in a more civilized manner, relatively speaking. However, today there could be no question of any civility. To defend her title, she was ready to scratch and bite if necessary.

But it hasn't come to that yet. Even through the pain, she managed to grab Piper's ankle and pull the contender towards her. Unable to do anything that would really be related to pro wrestling, Astrid, like a caveman, grabbed her opponent by the head and harshly sent Piper's face into the concrete floor. At this point, the audience around them on the platform gasped loudly.

After a painful groan, her opponent's body went limp, which gave the champion the opportunity to start crawling forward again. Leaving a trail of blood behind her, the descendant of the great Vikings inch by inch approached the pedestal with her golden belt. At one point, she was forced to stop due to dizziness. The blonde's will was strong, but her body was exhausted.

“Grrrr... grrrr...” the sounds she was making were somewhere between painful moans and wild growls.

Standing on all fours, she looked ahead. Shit. She hadn't even covered a third of the way... a quarter at best. Because of this, she gritted her teeth in annoyance. She was covered with wounds and it really annoyed her because she hated feeling weak.

Fueled by these emotions, she took several deep breaths in a row, and then pushed herself off the floor with her hands, thereby rising to one knee. Even a blind person could see that this was true agony for the Golden Dragon. However, she was a champion for a reason. Pain is not an obstacle that could stop her. Biting her lower lip, Astrid forced herself to stand up completely. At the same moment, she staggered violently and had to put her palms on her knees to keep from falling. But it didn't matter anymore. A faint smile appeared on her bloody dry lips. The champion intended to start walking towards her title.

[Bare]

Piper groaned and struggled on the floor after the brutal bounce it had off the floor as if her skull were a basketball and everything hurt. Looking up through the stars in her eyes Piper saw that the woman who had dribbled her head was on all fours, and looking as if she working the will up to get up all the way to her feet.

Immediately this cut through the haze and pain in her mind as sheer urgency flooded it and quickly turned to desperation the more Astrid began to rise up. 'Shit! No no no! The second she's upright its fucking over!' Piper thought to herself as she urged her body to pump as much adrenaline through her veins as possible.

This was it. The pinnacle of LAW, just feet away from her and all that was in her way was a big bitch who didn't know how to stay down but could barely walk. She could do this, she WOULD do this, even if she couldn't move for a week afterward, hell even if it killed her she WOULD be the first lightweight to hold the open weight title!

"Guhhh GRAHHHH!!!" Literally screaming in effort Piper would lift herself up on her arms and tuck her head in as she pushed herself forward with everything in her legs to try and put herself into a tumble, relying on years of cheer leading experience to save her in this hardcore match! Rolling forward with the tumble and trying to get her feet under her in the process Piper would push up with her legs to try and get to her feet all at once!

It was a desperate ploy and Piper would need to keep her feet moving under her to stay up right lest the momentum that got her up took her back down again. But if she could stick it the payoff would be worth it since not only would it put her on equal footing as Astrid, but it would also help close the gap that had widened between them while Piper was down.

Out of my way!" Piper cried out desperately as she swiped at Astrid, a little too close to Astrid for her own comfort and hoping maybe the swipe would stall the woman even a little bit as Piper focused on just trying to keep one foot in front of the other to keep moving towards the title, desperate to grab it!

[skip-stop]

Astrid wasn't in the habit of being proud of any little things, but this time she was willing to make an exception. Considering her condition, the fact that she was able to get to her feet was indeed a feat. Still bleeding and staggering badly, she took a step towards her title belt.

As soon as her foot touched the concrete floor, the audience around gasped in surprise. It even surprised Astrid to some extent. Of course, there were many who supported her, but this step was hardly a sufficient reason for such a reaction from the crowd. No, something was wrong here, and deep down the Golden Dragon knew what exactly it was.

Gritting her teeth in annoyance, the champion glanced over her shoulder. Just in time to see Piper rolled forward and then jumped to her feet. This fucking runt definitely didn't know when to stop. The descendant of the great Vikings was even ready to growl out of wild irritation, but she didn't have enough time for that, because in the next instant Piper hit her hard right in the face.

“Uuuuuummmhhh!!!!!”

A punch in the face wasn't something a woman like Astrid couldn't handle, especially if it was a lightweight's punch. But this time the punch in the face was more than enough for her to stagger violently and then fall to one knee. A few fresh drops of blood fell from her face onto the concrete floor, while her vision began to blur again.

Now Piper was the one who took a step towards the title belt. At that moment, Astrid really wanted to repeat her opponent's trick, namely to roll forward and jump to her feet. However, she doubted that she would be able to just stand up straight at the moment. It might seem like she didn't have any options at all, but...

“Why...”

Instead of getting up from one knee, the Golden Dragon threw her left arm forward, the distance between her and Piper still allowing her to do so. Astrid intended to grab the contender by the belt and thereby force her to stop. Only after that, the champion intended to get to her feet and take a step towards the contender, at the same time pulling Piper by the belt, thereby forcing her to turn to face the Golden Dragon.

“Why the fuck won't you just die?!”

With these words, the descendant of the great Vikings was about to swing her right hand to send a hard uppercut right into the center of Piper's stomach. She had no idea how much longer she would last, but she was still ready to fight for every step towards her title belt.

[Bare]

So close. Piper was so close to that belt she could practically feel the cold metal on her palms. Looking up she could see it was just a few feet away. Literally only a few wide strides away that would have been no problem if she could walk right and wasn't stuck to hobbling like a old woman.

'Damn it just a bit.. more.' Piper thought forcing her legs to carry her faster, with more effort, not knowing how much longer she had left to stay on them, but even if she collapsed it'd be worth it if she fell while clutching that belt for dear life.

But then she stopped. Not by her own choice mind you. No her legs were trying to move but she was being held back by something behind her, holding her belt... no. "No. Nononono! Let go!" Piper screamed and cried out thrashing for a moment to try and loosen Astrid's grip!

It'd be for naught however as the champion got back up and forcefully turned Piper around before delivering a massive uppercut to the smaller blonde's stomach! 'UGAH!" Piper cried out in pain, her eyes immediately losing focus as she was lifted off her feet softly, feeling as if she'd throw up any second.

But then she dropped back to the earth. Wobbling back and forth for a moment, gasping for air desperately, trying to get a sense of where she was and what should do until she started to tilt forward, seemingly about to collapse to the mat....

Or so it looked. At the last second her eyes sharpened into focus as she reaffirmed her feet under her, one of the blondes hands going behind her back to her long braids, the ones that had made a difference so many time already in this bout.

Twisting her hips and turning her torso Piper brought her arm about, using the chain of her body to its maximum to WHIP the tail end of the wire embroidered braid directly into Astrid's stomach with all the force that she could muster and in doing so release a sharp, loud echo that reverberated violently throughout the station as it connected!

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The Golden Dragon was definitely not a woman who was easily driven to despair. Her main credo in life was that nothing is impossible and that even if she couldn't handle something the first time, she would definitely do it on the second try. Astrid never doubted her strength for a second and always kept going forward, not intending to stop even if she had to fight alone against the whole world.

But Piper definitely managed to shake the confidence of the descendant of the great Vikings. Every time Astrid violently attacked her, this lightweight either stayed on her feet or found the strength to get to her feet again and again. Piper might be very different from Clara, but those two women definitely had a lot in common. These two were living proof that no one has the right to question the strength of the lightweight division fighters.

The champion felt that her strength was rapidly leaving her and that the adrenaline flowing through her veins was almost gone. Therefore, she tried to put as much power into her uppercut as possible in the hope that it would finally force her opponent to stay down. It might even seem that it worked more than successfully. The punch was so powerful that for a moment Piper's feet lifted off the platform. The lightweight's eyes widened, and it was clear from her face that she had to restrain a retching impulse.

When Piper's feet touched the concrete floor again, she staggered back as if she would fall backwards in a moment. At the same moment, the champion put her palms on her knees as she could barely stand on her feet. Because of this momentary weakness, she was distracted. She lost her concentration. She lowered her guard. And so, after a moment, goosebumps ran down her spine.

It wasn't just that Piper had taken a step towards her. The reason was that the contender grabbed her incredibly long braid and swung it. The Golden Dragon straightened to her full height while trying to take a step back. She knew exactly what her opponent intended to do. And she knew for sure that she had to avoid it at all costs. However, Piper's determination left her with no chance.

“KIIIIIAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Astrid's agonized screech filled the ears of the audience around her.

However, even her deafening scream seemed like a whisper compared to the click that rang out at the moment when Piper's braid came into contact with the blonde's flesh. This whip strike was like a real thunderclap during a raging storm. A red line formed across Astrid's bare stomach, and several thin trickles of blood flowed down her abs.

Due to the indescribable pain, Astrid even lost the ability to see, a white veil formed in front of her eyes. She had to deal with this before. She and her best friends usually tried not to get too carried away during sparring sessions. But one day, she and Nerissa went too far. When the Native American woman used the exact same attack against Astrid, she found herself thinking that she had never felt such pain before.

The champion's legs trembled treacherously, hinting to everyone that she was ready to fall down. She clearly understood that there was probably only one drop left of all the adrenaline in her body. What is one drop compared to the ocean? Is it possible to extinguish a fire with just one drop? No, of course, no.

But what if it's not a drop of water, but a drop of fuel? Then it changes absolutely everything. After all, just one drop of fuel is more than enough to ignite a flame that can light up the whole world. The Golden Dragon's chest began to rise and fall heavily and rapidly. With each new breath, she felt a flame ignite inside her.

Her legs stopped shaking, and her vision partially cleared. Just in time for her to see Piper preparing to turn around and head for the podium. No, she wouldn't let that happen. Astrid didn't just believe that she was capable of making the impossible possible. She was living proof that it was true. When she joined the federation, she went from an impudent upstart to the first openweight champion. No, today is not the day when her story will come to an end. Today is not the day when the dragon sleeps forever.

Throwing her left hand forward, the champion intended to grab Piper by her braid and squeeze it with a death grip. At the same time, the blonde's right arm tensed so much that her veins were ready to burst. Raising her head, she looked at the contender with a bright flame in her eyes. She was no longer Astrid Arvidsson, now she was a real Golden Dragon. Flames seemed to dance around her, and at the same moment she pulled Piper towards her.

“RRRRAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!” The roar of a wild beast rang out.

Those who had already seen it knew exactly what it meant. This meant that Piper became one of those who were able to take the champion beyond her capabilities. This meant that Piper was one of those who managed to wake up a real dragon. It was something that a fighter can rightfully be proud of. But at the same time, it was a death sentence, because Astrid intended to take a step forward, at the same time aiming her right fist directly at her opponent's head. Perhaps skeptics would say that it was just a common right cross punch. But at that moment the Golden Dragon's body was enveloped in a bright flame capable of incinerating everything in the champion's path. It wasn't just a punch. It was a punch in which she put not only all her strength and speed, but also all the determination with which she continued to move forward even in the most desperate times. It wasn't just a punch, it was her Muspelheim!

Muspelheim

[Bare]

Piper was well and truly on the last dregs of her stamina, the massive toll of the match beginning to take hold of her body and leaving the blonde gasping and fluttering in pain, her legs buckling and every inch of her nervous system burning in pain and agony to the point she felt she could collapse.

Yet despite that, despite how much she hurt, despite the injuries that were surely riddling her body right now, despite it all she was fighting still. Desperately, savagely, without restraint for one thing, the LAW Open weight championship. The title that mattered the most to her and she was so close to getting it, just a mere few few feet and it would be hers, the ultimate symbol of her climb from jobber rookie to champion level fighter. It could be hers, no it WOULD be hers.

The only thing that was stopping her was the figure behind her, the woman who held the belt, the one hot on her heels doggedly pursuing her to keep her from that gratification. With the little bit of strength and stamina she had left and the whip woven into her braid she had lashed out with her literal secret weapon, a massive whipping across the abs of the woman across from her that actually caused her to recoil massively!

Smirking softly at this Piper couldn't help but feel as if Astrid's scream of agony was like a symphony of joy to Piper's ears, especially as the smaller blonde saw the massive red welt forming across the soon to be former champion's stomach.

Turning Piper would aim to dash forward, trying to close the little bit of distance between herself and the podium that held the gold. Reaching out Piper felt as if she could practically feel the belt just a bit out of her reach! Only juts before she could, she was stopped, again. "No..." Piper gasped out.

"No! No! No! No! No!" Piper screamed out as she was yanked backwards by Astrid, forced to turn around and as she was a fist was driven hard into her face with what felt like a raging inferno that utterly embroiled her and took her off her feet and literally flipped the blonde through the air and down to the mat with a massive impact.

"Ugh... Uh...." Piper gasped out in pain, face lying to one side and gasping in pain, eyes fading in and out of consciousness as she looked around, trying to push herself up only to fall.

'No... No... I'm so... So... close....' Piper thought to herself, looking up and through her hazy vision managing to see the leg of Astrid just ahead of her... within reach. The last chance she had possibly... It didn't matter if it would or wouldn't work, she had to try, had to do something. Even with that massive finisher punch she refused to let it be the end.

Crawling forward Piper would reach out, grabbing Atsrid's boot and reach forward, opening her mouth and biting down on Astrid's calf. A weak bite mind you. One that would barely be felt by someone in the peak of their game, but it was all Piper could manage, the mots fight she could put out now, it was weak and she was barely conscious while doing it, but damn it if she wouldn't go out fighting!

[skip-stop]

The moment Astrid grabbed her opponent by the braid, she put absolutely everything on the line. In the punch that she intended to send in Piper's face, she put not only all her remaining strength, but also her whole soul. At the same time, she knew well that if the contender somehow miraculously managed to evade this attack, then for sure everything would be over for the blonde. So when her fist was moving towards Piper's face her heart seemed to stop, no, the whole world seemed to stop for her at that moment.

And then her knuckles slammed into the contender's cheek.

Those with a rich imagination could probably see how flames engulfed Piper at that moment. The power that the Golden Dragon put into her punch literally sent the American woman down. As a result of this rapid fall, the contender crashed onto the concrete floor with a deafening bang.

The audience around them cheered, certain that this was the last time the tables turned in this thrilling match. However, Astrid couldn't share their joy. For a few seconds she froze like a statue, even her fist remained in the exact spot where it collided with Piper's face. And then her arm dropped lifelessly down like a rag.

“Pha...phaa... phaa...” the champion's breathing was weak and ragged.

She was so exhausted that she even felt like vomiting. Damn. None of her title defenses were easy, but not every one of the contenders managed to take the Golden Dragon beyond her capabilities. With a touch of irony, Astrid caught herself thinking that Piper was the second lightweight who had given her a hell of a match.

Feeling how much her legs were shaking, the descendant of the great Vikings forced herself to take a deep breath. Her vision was blurred, but she clearly saw the podium with the title belt in front of her. Three steps forward and she will confirm her right to be called the strongest woman in the world. Trying to focus on this simple thought, the champion headed forward.

But as soon as she took the first of the three steps, she felt something strange. It was a slight painful sensation, but this pain was so insignificant compared to all the pain she had experienced in this match that Astrid did not even immediately pay attention to it. It wasn't until she tried to move her left leg forward that she realized something was wrong because she just couldn't move that leg.

Astrid looked down and her eyes involuntarily widened as she saw what she least expected to see. Piper bit into her calf. It wasn't a vicious bite, as if the contender was trying to rip off a piece of flesh from her. It was a kind of... protest...

“Gods...” Astrid muttered, her voice hoarse from exhaustion. “Let me go, Piper...”

But Piper didn't obey. She couldn't even move, let alone get to her feet. However, she refused to unclench her teeth and let Astrid go. Then the blonde tried to move her leg forward again. But even after that the American woman did not back down.

“Let me go!”

If Astrid had been full of strength, she probably could have kicked Piper to get the other blonde to let her go. But right now it was hard for her to even breathe, let alone take any active action. Therefore, Astrid bent down to put her hands on her opponent's head and try to remove Piper's head from her leg. After a few seconds of trying, Astrid realized that it was useless.

“Fucking... motherfucker...” she growled with almost undisguised annoyance in her tired voice. “I said let me go!”

She removed her right hand from the contender's head and clenched her fist. Yes, she literally didn't have any strength, so now her punch will most likely be like a pleasant stroke. However, given Piper's condition, a few such punches would probably be enough to make her finally lose consciousness. But then... why was Astrid frozen in place like a statue again?

“You...” she croaked, while her fist, which she had prepared, began to shake. “Stupid... stubborn... cunt...”

These words were certainly rude, but even a deaf person would have heard that Astrid put a much more sacred meaning into these words. No matter how much Piper annoyed her, she just couldn't help but admire this woman's resilience and determination. Even that fucking bite was a symbol that she was willing to fight until the very end, even when the situation was hopeless. Astrid was the same. She had not many defeats, but she remembered every one of them. When Katherine caught her in an armbar hold, she refused to give up and tried to break out even at the risk of her own body. If the referee hadn't stopped the match then, she would surely have broken her arm.

“Aaaaaahhhh!!!" Astrid growled resignedly, unclenching her fist and lowering her hand down. “Fuck you!!!...”

Seeing Piper's tenacity even in such a situation, she just couldn't start hitting this woman. The Golden Dragon straightened to her full height and turned her head towards the pedestal. Well... then there was only one way for her. Gritting her teeth and trying to breathe as deeply as possible, she began inch by inch to move towards her title belt, literally dragging Piper with her.