Graduation Day

[BlackAkuma]

Charlie wasn’t the only one struggling at the moment. As Freezer clenched the sleeper, she observed her student as much as she could through the wriggling and keeping an eye on her for worrying signs. She had used this move enough in the past that she had a reasonably good hold on how to do it without causing lasting damage, but all the same, she was taking care not to knock Charlie out and risk serious injury. If it looked like it might come to that, she would promptly abandon the hold and put an end to things.

That was where the faith came in. It wasn’t something she was accustomed to having in others, but her students - her girls, her little pack of cubs - were showing her the way. She believed in them. She wanted to see them succeed in a way she had never felt for another human being.

Freezer rooted for Charlie, even as she squeezed the life out of her, hoping she would see the way. As the woman’s body began to shift and move, an excited thrill went through her, even as all of her instincts as a wrestler warned her of impending danger.

If there was one lesson that Freezer hoped to impart to her girls before this was all over, it was the importance of leverage. Size wasn’t unimportant, but what mattered more than anything was how you used that size. Yes, Charlie was small - 120 pounds, give or take - but that weight, properly applied, could put down anyone. It was simply a matter of finding the right angle, the proper leverage.

And there, at the eleventh hour, Charlie Turpin found it.

Freezer realized what was happening as she kicked off the turnbuckle, but knowing and being able to do anything about it were two different things. Momentum and gravity came together as Charlie flipped back, and Freezer was brought down to the canvas, with her student dropping down on top of her, clenched tight, covering her and pinning her shoulders.

Perfect. It took a moment for Zelda to click in, but she did, and down came the fall.

One.

Two.

Freezer gritted her teeth, planted her feet, and put her all into breaking out of the hold, bursting free to break the count whether Goti bothered to count past two or not. She flopped away and rolled over to her chest, breathing heavy at first, but her trademark smile quickly wormed its way back in. Perhaps a little wider than usual.

She pushed up to a knee and extended a hand towards the bravest of them, offering to help her up. ”Well done, Charlie.”

[HotWheels]

Charlie’s entire world had narrowed to the overwhelming force of Freezer, and she lost all track of time and space.

The STF had been the first real shock: Freezer’s body sliding over hers, hips pinning her down, leg hooked and twisted until Charlie’s ankle felt like it might pop clean off. Sweat had dripped from Freezer’s hair onto the back of Charlie’s neck, cool at first, then warm where their skin met. Every breath she took tasted like the older woman’s skin, and that made her stomach flip in ways that had nothing to do with pain.

Then the camel clutch. Worse since there wasn't as much skin contact to distract her. The arch had been brutal and had her spine screaming, neck wrenched back until she could see the gym lights upside-down and spinning. Freezer’s breath had ghosted over her ear, low and steady, almost soothing even while it broke her in half. Charlie had hated how much she liked the weight, the control, the way Freezer’s heartbeat thudded slow and sure against her own frantic one.

The sleeper should have been the end. Vision tunneling, black creeping in at the edges, lungs burning. She had felt herself slipping, body going loose, the horrifying floaty feeling right before everything went quiet. Part of her had wanted to let go because it would have been easier. But she had never opted for easier and she hated to disappoint anyone. So she’d stayed awake. Barely. And done the only thing that made any sense to her.

She landed chest-to-chest with Freezer, arms hooked tight, rolling through sheer momentum until the bigger woman’s shoulders hit the mat and her hips snapped skyward. She almost forgot the count as every muscle in her body pressed down on the parts of Freezer she could hold onto, and she felt a huge wave of disappointment when she only heard Zelda reach two.

Freezer exploded out at two-and-three-quarters, shoulder popping free, rolling away with a huff of breath that might have been laughter. Charlie flopped onto her back beside her, staring at the ceiling lights, chest heaving so hard her ribs felt cracked open. She thought she had failed. That had to be her last chance, and she couldn't breathe, she couldn't-

The noise hit her all at once.

Bobbie’s wild whoop, half scream, half laugh. E’s sharp, delighted bark of Russian that Charlie didn’t need translated. Zelda’s low, guttural “Scheisse, yes” followed by a fist pump that nearly took out the ringpost.

Charlie tried to sit up and managed about three inches before her arms gave out. What were they so- What had she-

It only clicked when Freezer said it. She'd only needed the two. She had gotten it.

And they were all mauling her for it. Someone picked her up, someone grabbed her around the waist, and someone almost put her in another sleeperhold. That one felt like Zelda. Charlie squeaked in fear through her blossoming joy.

“Hold- hold on-” she wheezed, voice shredded. “Still- can’t breathe- gimme a sec-”

Everyone obeyed, and then Freezer’s hand appeared in front of her face. Charlie stared at it for a second, then grabbed it with both of hers, letting herself be hauled upright on wobbly legs. The gym spun once, twice, then settled.

She managed a crooked grin, sweat dripping off her chin, and rasped out the only thing that felt right. "I... I was first!"

[BlackAkuma]

Freezer stepped back as Charlie’s teammates proceeded to maul her, coming at her with love from every angle. It was good that they focused on her and paid almost no attention to their teacher, whose eyes were watering most uncharacteristically.

As they smothered Charlie’s little body in adulation, she wondered if they realized how lucky they all were. While Freezer had friends during her training, they were always at a distance. They were future competitors, after all, and with wrestling being such a cutthroat sport, people were hesitant to create ties. There was always only a limit, an unspoken wall in the way.

But not here. Charlie’s teammates came to her like family, giving her the quick celebration she deserved. It might not have seemed like much, but she’d set the bar and shown the others the way. She was their bright, little beacon, and if they followed her example, they would all reach the promised land.

Together.

Freezer had managed to get herself together by the time she pulled Charlie up, though she didn’t bother hiding the look of pure pride in her eyes. She could tell this meant the world to the little one. The joy was all over her voice. ”Yes, you were.” She brought her hand to the young woman’s chin and gently grasped it. A light touch, as if she were holding priceless china. ”Have a little treat.”

As this was the Katakura Kiss Club, there was only one real way to reward her pupils - aside from the recommendations she was offering, naturally. She leaned in and pressed her lips to Charlie’s for a featherlight kiss - brief, quick, but electric, with the slightest tip of her tongue thrown in. Freezer's cool breath slipped into the Canadian’s throat and worked its way through her body like a chill, permeating through every pore. Not much, but time wasn’t what made a kiss great - no, it was the love, the passion, and Freezer had no shortage of that Charlie.

She let her enjoy the sensation for a few seconds longer, then gave her a pat on the head to snap her back to reality. ”Now, let’s move on. Charlie, you’re on referee duty this time. Zelda…” A wild curve took her lips as she brought her gaze to the German bruiser with a side-eye.

”...you’re next.”

[HotWheels]

Charlie's assumption was right - Goti had put her in a chokehold.

She wrapped her arm around Charlie’s neck in what was supposed to be a celebratory embrace but worked just as well as a sleeperhold considering the size of her arms. It wasn't until the frantic, strangled gasps for air reached her ears that Zelda realized she was helping to finish off the victor. She stepped back, probably dropping her a little too quickly, and looked down at the gasping Canadian. Honestly? Zelda had thought Charlie had failed. She herself might have tapped to the first two holds herself; she had the muscle to fight it, sure, but she didn't have as much flexibility. And the finish? Zelda would have tried to power out, pushed back into Freezer, and likely gotten herself into an even more dire situation. But Charlie's being a pipsqueak helped.

“Not bad, runt,” Zelda muttered so almost no one else could hear her as she leaned back into the Canadian's space. She delivered a slap and squeeze to Charlie's deltoids - the highest praise she knew how to give. For a fleeting second, the resting bitch face Zelda wore like armor cracked, revealing a rare, small smile.

She let the others take over then. Bobbie vibrated with energy, singing a chorus of “I told you so’s” and “Did y’all see that’s,” while E practically dissected the physics of the pinfall in real-time, trying to get Charlie to focus on the technique to use it in the future. Zelda just stayed quiet, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn't need to add anything.

Then, Freezer stepped in. Zelda watched their mentor grab Charlie’s chin. She saw the softness in Freezer's eyes and knew what came next. A reward for Charlie's success. Zelda’s jaw tightened so hard her teeth creaked. A hot spike of jealousy pricked at her chest. They had all come together too long ago for that jealousy to actually matter, but no doubt the whole group felt the same way. The kiss also nearly finished Charlie off. Dreamy-eyed, she staggered back into Zelda, who lazily held her upright.

As they all started, Freezer turned. The tenderness evaporated, replaced by a wild, sinister curve of the lips. A side-eye that promised violence. Zelda knew the next name before Freezer uttered it. The jealousy vanished, replaced instantly by the adrenaline rush she lived for.

Zelda let out a sharp exhale through her nose as the others dragged the dazed, swooning Charlie to the ropes to try and revive her to do the ref work. Good. Clear the decks.

She brought her thick hands up and rubbed them roughly over her face, distorting her features, dragging the skin down, scrubbing away the friend and waking up the fighter. She needed to be ugly for this. She needed to be mean. She slapped her own biceps, the stinging pain sharpening her focus.

Charlie was the little engine that could. Zelda? Zelda knew exactly what she wanted to be in the ring. An obstacle. She wanted to prove she was just as big of a monster as the woman standing across from her.

She stepped into the center of the ring, her boots heavy on the canvas, invading Freezer's personal space until they were nose-to-nose.

“Finally,” Zelda growled, rolling her neck until it popped, and when she felt sufficiently tingling and charged all over, she stepped back and nodded her readiness. Charlie stumbled into place and seemed to forget everything about calling a match, but she recovered enough to at least go ding ding ding, sending Zelda into an amped, ragged circle.

[BlackAkuma]

Oh, Freezer had been looking forward to this.

Not to downplay her excitement for any of the others, of course. She was looking forward to taking them all on, and was going to give them her 100%, every time…but she would be lying if she said that Zelda didn’t tickle a remarkably reptilian part of her brain. Of the four, she had shown the most raw ability from the start, having come from a lifestyle that made her more than comfortable with physical violence. That gave her a headstart over the others in a way that simply couldn’t be duplicated. In fact, of them all, she would say that Zelda was the most likely to be able to beat her in a straight fight. There was a wildness to her that Freezer could see overwhelming her, especially in an enclosed setting.

But wrestling was not fighting. The ring was not the streets. This was a lesson Freezer had always sought to teach Zelda, and today she was going to hammer it home. It was high time she tamed this proud, wild mare.

As Zelda warmed up, Freezer did the same, closing her eyes with her hands on her hips. She rotated her shoulders, twisted her core about, balanced on the balls of her feet. Doing a quick inventory of her body, making sure everything was in working order. Limiting them to only needing a two count wasn’t simply for their benefit, it was also for hers, since it made sure the matches wouldn’t drain so much of her stamina that she wouldn’t be able to give the others her best match. While she wouldn’t say she was 100% after her match with Charlie, she was confident she would have more than enough to satisfy Goti.

Now, whether or not she would have enough for E and Bobbie after Goti was through with her, well…they would see. One step at a time.

She kept her eyes closed, even as she felt thunderous steps coming her way, only opened them when she felt the German in her personal space. She found herself staring deep into Goti’s crazed gaze, leaving no doubt as to her readiness. A little intimidation display, and it wasn’t a bad attempt. While Freezer was slightly taller than her, the busty rocker had a solid weight advantage. If she didn’t know Zelda, she might actually have grave concern.

But she did know her. As the woman backed off and Charlie finally remembered how to speak, she already knew the best way to handle this. More than the others, Goti lived for the thrill, the blood, the pain. She wanted to be in the thick of it. She wanted to brawl. So, to kick this off, she was going to give her exactly what she wanted.

Charlie had barely finished saying the final ‘ding’ before Freezer took off, charging across the ring and closing the gap in an instant. The moment she was in range, she spun about, lashing out with her arm, and fired a powerful, precise backfist at Goti’s face - her signature move, the Ice Breaker, something that any Freezer Katakura fan would recognize. But would Zelda know how to deal with it?

[HotWheels]

Adrenaline surged through Bobbie’s veins like moonshine. Seeing Charlie - once tiny, trembling Charlie - take down the boss lady lit a fire under Bobbie’s tail that had her itching to jump the ropes and start swinging. She bounced on her toes, knuckles white as she gripped the top rope, fully prepared to cut in line until a sharp tug on her top's strap hauled her back to reality. E stood there, hooking Bobbie with one finger and dragging her toward the apron, a silent command to settle down. Shit, right. Order of operations.

Together, they finally placed the Canadian where she could best referee the next match. Bobbie resigned herself to the role of spectator, though she kept her energy high. Zelda didn't need a cheerleader - the woman looked like she chewed glass for fun and washed it down with motor oil and somehow acted even more menacing than that. One-on-one she could no doubt beat any of them in almost any match type, meaning she proved the best match for Freezer. But Bobbie never let silence hang when she could fill it with noise. She leaned over the ropes as the German prowled the ring, her voice cutting through the tension.

“Give ‘em hell, Goti! Tear the house down!" As the bigger woman prowled, Bobbie had to admit her eyes settled on one feature that just kept moving. "And keep them heavy hitters tucked in! We ain’t trying to flash the front row before the main event!”

A sharp slap stung Bobbie’s bicep. She glanced over to see E frowning at her and muttering something about pots and kettles, her eyes darting pointedly to Bobbie’s own precarious neckline.

Bobbie just grinned, rolling her shoulders back to give the view a little extra prominence.

“Oh I know,” she drawled, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial purr. “And you like it, so shut up.”

E’s gaze dipped, lingering on the cleavage for a beat too long before she snapped her head back to the ring. Bobbie’s grin widened into a victory smirk, but the sound of canvas crunching snapped her attention forward.

Freezer moved like a bolt of lightning. She crossed the ring in a blur, spinning with terrifying precision to unleash- oh shit, an Ice Breaker. That backfist had knocked heads clean off shoulders in the past. All of them would know.

But Zelda didn’t blink. She didn’t dodge. She didn't block.

Bobbie’s jaw unhinged as Zelda simply dove forward. Not the fist, but the upper arm connected with Zelda's cheek, but the German drove forward through the pain, lowering her shoulder and burying it deep into Freezer’s midsection at the same time. The two biggest women in the room collided with the force of a head-on collision. Zelda wrapped her arms around the mentor’s waist, tackling her with zero regard for technique and one hundred percent focus on violence even as her own head snapped to the side.

“Yep,” Bobbie breathed, watching the titans struggle for dominance. “That tracks.”

[BlackAkuma]

After launching the Ice Breaker, there were only three ways Freezer saw things going.

One was that Goii dodged it. She rated this as the least likely option. While the German wasn’t the slowest wrestler she had ever seen and could even take you off guard with her explosiveness, she wasn’t Charlie. Avoiding damage in such a way simply was not her thing, nor would it ever be.

Two, she blocked it. More likely. She was familiar enough with this strike, she might’ve been able to must the reflexes needed for that.

Three, she took it. Most likely. Zelda had never met a punch she wouldn’t take. The woman wasn’t a masochist, not exactly - she reveled in pain, used it like a fuel. But she was still human, and a shot like that would stun her long enough for Freezer to follow up. As tough as her student was, she needed to learn the lesson that there were blows you just could not take.

And she would learn that lesson. Just not today, and not from her.

It wasn’t a direct hit, not exactly. Her forearm caught her, not the fist, but it was still a serious impact that should’ve slowed her down. Should’ve. The reality was wholly different. Not only did Goti take the hit and keep coming, but Freezer swore that it actually made her speed up. It was a harrowing sight, and she hardly had the time to process it before they collided.

It was a human car crash in so many ways. Freezer boots shrieked as they were dragged along the canvas, with her rapidly backpedaling to keep herself vertical. There was real panic in her movements, too - the last thing, the absolute last thing, she wanted was to be on the ground with Zelda on top of her.

What she got instead was better, but not by much. Instead, her back crashed against the pads, pinning her there as Zelda gored her, driving hard. A good start for her student, yes, but not without its problems. A big one? With her driving hard and catching her in the stomach, it presented Freezer with a big, broad back to target.

Elbows. Freeze brought arm up dropped it hard into Zelda’s shoulder, targeting the tender part where it connected to the arms - the rotator cuff, if she remembered her anatomy correctly. Another sharp blow to the same area would soon follow, as she tried to give her opponent ample incentive to back off and rethink her position. With Goti, however, there was no guarantee she would take the hint, so Freezer buckled down and prepared for more.

[HotWheels]

E possessed a morbid fascination with the geometry of submission holds - the lever, the fulcrum, the precise application of pressure until the human will capitulated. She didn't enjoy seeing her friends in pain, exactly, but she respected the science of it, at least when she applied the holds. What Zelda brought to the ring, however, was not science. It reminded her more of natural disasters and their aftermath. E didn't know many professional wrestlers outside of their immediate circle, wrestlers Freezer fought, and the tapes Freezer gave them to study, but she felt confident in her assessment that Zelda beat almost all of them on toughness and style. Most fighters, even the brave ones, fought to avoid damage. Zelda seemed to metabolize it. E watched the German move into and absorb the backfist - a strike that would have concussed a normal human who didn't prepare for it - and saw a woman unperturbed.

The memory of a sparring session from weeks ago flashed unbidden through E's mind. She had connected with her best roundhouse kick, a strike that hit Zelda flush in the cheek. It have crumpled Bobbie, whom E considered quite tough to go with her stupidity, for at least a two count. Zelda had merely dropped to one knee, roared like a wounded bear, and proceeded to nearly decapitate E with a rebound clothesline that sent the Russian tumbling through the ropes.

That same unstoppable force flared before her. E watched, mesmerized and slightly horrified, as Goti blunted the momentum of Freezer’s Ice Breaker by moving into it. She saw the spit fly from Zelda's mouth, saw the thick muscles of her neck torque violently, but the forward motion never ceased. Zelda used her upper body like a battering ram, driving their mentor all the way across the ring until they hit the turnbuckles with a sound like a car crash.

Zelda remained there, bent at the waist, ready to drive her shoulder into Freezer’s midsection.

“Still say she could crack a walnut with those cheeks,” Bobbie drawled, leaning dangerously far over the apron to ogle the way Zelda’s leather pants strained against her backside.

E didn't dignify that with a response, though she felt the heat rise in her own cheeks as she steadfastly refused to look, trying to stay focused on the fight, mostly because Freezer looked less like a victim than anyone she had seen Zelda wrestle before. E watched the veteran’s elbows rain down on the soft tissue between Zelda’s arm and shoulder, surgical strikes aimed at the nerve cluster. It worked, momentarily. E saw Zelda falter, her grip on their mentor and on the ropes loosening as the pain forced her to hunch deeper, her posture breaking.

“That is sma-,” E whispered, half to herself.

She didn't finish the sentence. Zelda didn't back off. Instead, she coiled like a compressed spring and exploded upward. Abandoning the grapple, Zelda whipped her shoulders at an angle, launching a vicious back elbow aimed directly at Freezer’s jaw.

[BlackAkuma]

When Freezer came to LAW, she had to choose. Unlike most women who were too deep into one class or the other, she was on the precipice between being a light heavyweight or a heavy middleweight, enough so that all it would take was a week of focus on the treadmill or the weight benches to push her one way or the other. This did matter. While LAW was generally fairly loose in mixing the classes, they tended to put their wrestlers against women within their range.

So far, Freezer hadn't fought anyone significantly bigger than her. She had no qualms about it, but she would be lying if she said she hadn't grown accustomed to being the bigger woman in a match. It suited her style. But she knew, eventually, she would find herself up against someone who flipped that around on her.

Today was that day, so this would be good practice for her as well. Better than most, even, because Zelda was a great deal more aggressive than even most of the heavyweights tended to be. There was truly no exaggerating how wild and ferocious her assault was - she drove into Freezer’s stomach as if she could break her in half, as if her real target was the turnbuckle and Freezer’s body just so happened to be in the way.

It was a bad spot to be in, and she had a growing panic every moment she spent pressed against the pads. This corner was bad news.

Down came the elbows, precise and destructive. As tough as Zelda was, those muscles were connected by soft tissue, and that was where she struck. More than hurting her, it would sap away at the woman’s substance power, making her a little easier to deal with over time, and it had the desired immediate effect of making Zelda back. A little. Enough that Freezer could finally exhale.

She wasn’t able to enjoy that breath for long, however, before Zelda’s elbow came rushing from below. Though she saw the blow coming, at this range there was simply nothing to be done about it, and it connected clean on the jaw. Freezer’s head snapped upwards like a pez dispenser, and when it came down, she tasted something coppery on her tongue—a little trickle on her lips.

Blood. Goti had busted her lip. Not a major cut, but noticeable, and she hoped the woman was proud of that - Freezer certainly was. The look on her face wasn’t one of pride, however. It was a feral, maddening grin, as she summoned a part of her that she didn’t often indulge in. Zelda clearly wanted to brawl. So, they would brawl.

Freezer threw her head back, then jerked forward at high velocity, smacking their skulls together for a vicious headbutt.

[HotWheels]

Charlie barely possessed enough oxygen in her lungs to keep her standing, let alone to officiate a collision between two freight trains. Between the crushing pressure of the sleeper hold earlier and the lingering heat of Freezer’s lips still tingling on her own, her senses felt overloaded. And she had to play referee to a natural disaster.

Charlie felt less like an official and more like a squirrel trying to cross a highway during rush hour. She scrambled backward as Zelda bulldozed their mentor across the ring, the canvas shaking under their combined weight. She barely retracted her foot in time; one of Goti’s heavy boots stamped down inches from where Charlie’s toes had rested a split-second prior while the two exchanged hits in the corner.

How did she even ref it at all?

The sounds made her flinch - wet, heavy thuds of flesh striking flesh, the grunt of exertion, the slap of leather against skin. It sounded agonizing. It sounded awesome. Even Bobbie, usually the conductor of the chaos train, had fallen silent behind her to watch and oooh and ahhh and wince. Charlie risked a glance and saw the Southerner leaning over the ropes, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape, rendered mute by the sheer brutality of the exchange.

Charlie turned back just in time to see Zelda’s elbow connect, snapping Freezer’s head back. She opened her mouth to issue a warning about fighting in the corner, but the sound died in her throat as Freezer retaliated.

The sound of skulls colliding echoed through the empty gym like a gunshot. Charlie squeaked, a high, involuntary sound that vanished into the rafters. She flinched violently, clutching her own forehead as if the blow had split her own skin. Sympathetic pain shot through her temples. That had to be a concussion. That had to be the end.

Zelda reeled back, staggering on unsteady legs, her thick hands clutching her forehead. She looked dazed, wobbling like a tower about to topple. But then, the hands dropped.

Zelda's eyes looked wild, crazy, beneath her bangs. Charlie was the only one who could see it.

Charlie felt a shiver of pure terror - and a strange, fluttering admiration - run down her spine. Zelda planted her feet. She twisted her torso, winding up her body like a oversized torsion spring, stretching back until it looked like she spanned the entire width of the ring.

“Oh no,” Charlie breathed.

Zelda unleashed the tension. She threw a punch that started from her heels, screaming through the air to bury itself deep into Freezer’s abdominal muscles.