Putting to the Test

[SRG]

While Astrid certainly had the brawns, Nashi on the other hand had speed and craftiness on her side that could even the odds against the former champion. This would end up working in Nashi's favor as after she broke headscissor she was able to roll away with such fluidity it would've gotten some cheers from an audience if there was one other than Yukino. It also had left Astrid breathless giving Nashi the perfect opportunity for her to strike while the beast was down.

Nashi grinned proudly as she charged at the kneeing Astrid lifting her arm up hoping to send her blonde rival flying! However, things don't go the way you think.... Nashi was close but right as she was approaching, Astrid used this as the perfect opportunity to counter by sending a surprise knee kick deep into Nashi's chest!"GAPFFFFMMMPPP!!!" Nashi eyes squinted as Astrid's knee sank into her stomach like a knife as all the idol could do was stand there as Astrid would eventually pull her knee out. Once she did, Nashi dropped down to her knees and then on her hands as if she were a dog letting out deep pants of breathe."Uh...." She said as her stomach was heaving in and out as she slowly looked up at the blonde heavyweight Infront of her wondering if Astrid will let Nashi recover or if she'll strike while the puppy is down, if it was the latter then all she could do was pray she could find a way to escape.

[CaptainL]

Nashi knew there was no way she could've stood a chance against Astrid if they had compared their strength pound for pound in a contest of sheer physical prowess. But Nashi had something else on her side - her quickness and agility, and her willingness to use whatever she could to her advantage! She'd already proven she knew how to use those traits when she caught Astrid in the headscissor. But Astrid had commendable traits as well - namely, her endurance. She was someone who could keep fighting on for a long while, in spite of the odds, and even though Nashi was doing her best to stifle her in the headscissor, Astrid was able to outlast her, and pry herself free! As Nashi disentangled herself from Astrid and dropped down behind her, the Norsewoman had a moment, however fleeting, to catch her breath and get her bearings. She was starting to see Nashi's strategy come together - and she made a note to herself that she was going to need to prepare herself for it!

Sure enough, Nashi was going to use her speed once again as she came charging toward Astrid as fast as she could - but Astrid would be ready for that! Just as Nashi came close, the Norwegian swung her knee up - and Nashi had no choice but to run directly into it, flattening the air out of her lungs! When Astrid stepped back to survey her handiwork, she saw Nashi drop to her knees, crumpled before her and gasping hopelessly for breath - a sight that could only stand as a testament to how hard she'd been hit!

"I see what you're doing," Astrid began, cracking her knuckles. "You've figured out that your speed is the best thing you have to offer, and you're tailoring your offense around that! That's good - you can best exploit what you know you're already good at, and you're devising the style that works best for you, yeah? However...sometimes, you have opponents who won't get out of the way because they know you're coming right into their trap!"

Now that Nashi was down, Astrid wanted to teach her a lesson about what happened if she came charging blindly into trouble. The idol may well have been able to outrun Astrid, but Astrid wouldn't need to keep up in order to get her where she wanted her - all she needed was to strike at the right time. And now, Nashi had delivered herself right into Astrid's arms! The blonde bent down to throw her arms around Nashi's waist - and there, she hoisted her up into the air, where she would turn her over in place, leaving her head pointed toward the mat. If Nashi didn't do anything about it, Astrid would have her in the perfect position for a vertical suplex!

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX5VL8k3g5Y

[SRG]

Nashi was between a rock and a hard place as she was at the complete mercy of the Norwegian blonde as she is able to decide either giving Nashi time to recover but at the same time she had enough strength to slam Nashi into the next year! She groaned and winced in pain trying to recover her as Astrid began to speak bit something she said caused Nashi to gasp with fear looking up at the blonde. She released she was now caught in a trap and tried to pull her body back but when she did she felt the aftermath of the knee strike still there as when she pulled her body back the stretch caused a surge of pain to come from her stomach! "AHHH!!!" She stopped dead in her tracks as she leaned forward with her eyes twitching with her gasping for air. "WOAHHHH-OMMMMPFFFF!!!" Even though Nashi was trying to recover Astrid set her plan into motion grabbing onto the pinkette and lifted her up in the air with Nashi shaking her body before being slammed down hard on the mat with a loud thud echoing throughout the room!

"Uh...."" She let out as her legs collapsed to the mat leaving her in a pin position for Astrid."I.... can't... loose...." She let out weakly as her body was heaving in and out as Nashi tried to break up a chance for a pin by raising her shoulders before the count could start! If successful Nashi would try and roll away to get some distance as she rested her head on the bottom turnbuckle as she had a prayer in the back of her head Astrid will give her time to recover.

[CaptainL]

Nashi was still recovering from the blow Astrid had landed against her stomach - but the Norsewoman wasn't about to give her the time for that. While she was still reeling, Astrid was able to scoop her up - and turned her upside down in the air, suspending her high above the ring! As Astrid took a moment's pause, Nashi had only a few short seconds to realize her predicament, but not enough to avert it. Astrid left her hanging for just long enough to realize how far she would have to fall - and then, Astrid slammed her down against the mat with a brutal suplex!

Nashi hit the mat so hard, it caused Yukino to wince and shy away from the site of the impact as the ring shook. But she saw that Astrid had Nashi down - and that put the pink-haired girl in the right position for her to go for a pin. Sure enough, Astrid had begun to reach for her opponent's shoulders. Yukino leaned in closer, raising her hand and readying herself to count the fall - but before she could even announce the first count, Nashi managed to force Astrid back, breaking the pin and rolling away from her!

Astrid turned to look off after Nashi as she slipped away, rising up to her knees. "Impressive tenacity..." she mused to herself. Astrid had long been known for her endurance, but if Nashi was proving herself capable of taking this much punishment and still being able to bounce back from it, she could see the same in her foe - that, or Nashi was just determined enough to not let it get to her! Still, Astrid was going to see how much she could bring that out of Nashi! She dusted herself off, rising to her feet to set her sights on the pink-haired girl, and then took off after her, lowering her shoulder to ram into her with a shoulder charge!

[SRG]

Nashi couldn't believe it, after taking a brutal knee strike and a suplex, she found the strength to roll away from Astrid before she can even go for a pin attempt. The pink-haired girl was certainly proud of herself, but she couldn't think about that for right now as she rolled away to lean against the bottom ropes with her stomach heaving in and out as she looked up at Astrid with one eye closed still recovering from the drop she took.


A brief smile appeared on Nashi as she heard Astrid's praise for her tenacity and even saw a proud smile from her tag partner but it couldn't for long as Astrid wanted to keep up the pressure on Nashi by going for a shoulder charge!"Not this time..." The Idol muttered as she gripped the ropes tightly and right when Astrid was close enough, Nashi went to pull herself away so Astrid would be diving in between the ropes to crash outside! If successful Nashi would try to roll away from that corner to make it next to Yukino and slowly but surely push herself up to a standing position."Since your the ref do you want to count out Astrid?" Nashi asked as she turned to her partner wondering if they would include that rule since it was a spar but if Yukino did Nashi would lean against the ropes taking breathes in and out to start getting herself back to full strength knowing this wouldn't stop Astrid this early on.

[CaptainL]

Nashi had managed to dart out of Astrid's way before the Norsewoman had a chance to go for the pin. But, as Astrid picked herself back up and shook herself out, she let out a huff nonetheless - that wasn't going to stop her! She just turned on her heel and took back off at Nashi as quickly as she could, her shoulder raised to make impact with her. But, just as Astrid had observed, Nashi had realized that her speed and mobility was her greatest asset in a matchup like this - and she was going to make use of that now! Right as Astrid was about to catch up to her, Nashi swung over to the side - and Astrid had nowhere to go but forward, falling through the ropes! The confident grin on her face gave way to a gasp of shock as her footing gave way and she went hurtling out of the ring, with nothing ahead of her but the mats beyond. But there was nothing she could do to stop herself now - and she came down with a hard thud, face-first onto the floor!

Yukino could hardly believe what she had seen; she held a hand to her mouth as she let out a gasp. Had Nashi been able not only to outmaneuver Astrid, but take her out of the ring at the same time? The pink-haired girl was clearly catching up fast! Even if she'd been assigned referee duties for this spar, she was so struck that it slipped her mind what she was supposed to be doing - at least, until Nashi reminded her. "R-Right..!" she said with a nod, stepping closer to the side of the ring and holding up her fingers. "One! Two!"

Astrid wasn't about to let herself be taken out that easily, though! The landing had left her dazed, and the world around her was spinning, but she had still vowed to give it her all, and she had no intention of going back on that. Sucking in a breath, she reached up and grabbed for the ropes, giving them a forceful yank to lift herself up to her feet. If she could get that far, she would try to clambor onto the apron, where she'd close in on Nashi - and if that was successful, she would lock her arms around her waist, attempting to hoist her off her feet and throw her back into a German suplex!

[SRG]

Nashi was able to avoid the Norwegian blonde as she pulled out at just the right time for Astrid to be sent through the ropes and crashing face first! Nashi couldn't believe it, she was star structed that she managed to dodge it and it seemed to have left it's mark on her rival. With this in mind it would only be a matter of time before she got in so she had to tell Yukino to begin the count. While that happened Nashi walked over to the other side of the ring and began to rest up a bit so when Astrid got back in she would be able to fight her at full strength again.

When Astrid got back in it felt like a wake up call for Nashi as she knew Astrid was still going strong despite the bump she received. When the blonde brute came charging in, the pinkette was still recovering as she grabbed tightly by the waist."Ugh...." She groaned as she tried to shake herself out but to no avail as she was lifted overhead and sent hard down to the mat!"OWWWWWW!" She screamed in pain as Nashi was sent over until her body hit Yukino's legs."Sorry Yukino...." She groaned as she scratched her head trying to get back up to a standing position before Astrid could try her next move.

[CaptainL]

Nashi had definitely caught Astrid off guard in dodging her charge and sending her sailing out of the ring under her own momentum, but it had been enough to show Astrid what she was dealing with. The pink-haired girl knew that in order to keep up with Astrid, she was going to rely on her speed, her quick wits, and her reaction time. It seemed like that would form the backbone of her new strategy in the ring. But the sparring session was far from over, and Astrid still had plenty of trials in store for Nashi to see how effective it could be! When she slipped back into the ring, she threw her arms around her - and Nashi didn't have the chance to respond before Astrid had tossed her overhead and slammed her into the mat with enough force to send it rumbling!

Yukino let out a yelp as Nashi tumbled over and bumped into her, but she soon shook herself out and looked back down. "No, uh, it's okay..." she began. But the suplex was only the first part of Astrid's plan! As she got back up and turned around to face Nashi, she smirked to herself as she dusted herself off. "Back on your feet already, yeah? Not bad...if you can take a suplex like that and get back up, it speaks to your resilience," she explained, before sinking back into a stance. "Now, the question is...can you handle this?"

"Nashi, look out-!" Yukino warned, jumping out of the way. Just then, Astrid would take off running toward Nashi, drawing back her arm as she prepared to hit her with a clothesline! She wanted to test how quick Nashi's reactions really were - and how well they could hold up after a landing like that one!

[SRG]

Nashi was throbbing in pain from the recent suplex she was on the receiving end of. She was scrambling to her feet to rise and thankfully Astrid permitted her to rise without interfering. Once she fully rose she gasped as Yukino shouted her name out and heard the stomps of Astrid charging at her like a bull. They were in a short range but Nashi had to try and escape! She would try and duck so Astrid would run into the ropes, if successful Nashi would try and grab her head and went to fall down to her knees to perform a stunner!


If the idol was successful she would try and cover up the blonde heavyweight by pulling back on her legs for a pin!”COUNT!” She yelled hoping the stunner would be just enough to win!

[CaptainL]

With Astrid barreling toward Nashi at full speed, Yukino winced, her eyes glancing nervously back and forth. If the Norsewoman rammed into her, she was sure it wouldn't be pretty. But Nashi still had her agility and her quick wits on her side. Only seconds before Astrid could hit her, she ducked down - and Astrid kept on running straight past her, heading right for the ropes!

The heavyweight let out a gasp as she saw herself about to make impact, but it was too late to do anything about it! With all her momentum driving her, Astrid crashed into the ropes, causing the ring to vibrate as she stumbled backward toward Nashi. And when she did, Nashi was waiting for her - she jumped up to grab Astrid by the head and pull it onto her shoulder, dropping down to slam it against her jaw as she fell to the mats!

The stunner landed with a crack, and Astrid dropped to her back with a heavy thud, still clutching at her chin. Nashi wasted no time in climbing on top of her and hooking her legs - and Yukino, seeing her cue, fell into place at her partner's side! "One!" she counted - but Astrid was tough, and it was going to take more than that to keep her down for long!

Just then, Astrid kicked up her leg to break free of the pin. Then, she would roll aside, getting onto her knees and rubbing at her jaw as she picked herself up to her feet. "Nice counter," she said, "but I want to see if you can keep it up!" With that, she swung her leg out, hoping to aim a kick at Nashi's face while the idol was still on the ground!