A I R A vs Cecilia Lombard - Apex Qualifiers

[LowDefinition]

Aira stayed on all fours. She held onto her arm which was still stinging in pain from Cecilia's nail digging deep into her flesh. She was made aware that Cecilia would pull those underhanded tactics to get on top of her. She glanced at the referee and wondered if she should make the referee aware about it. But no, her pride and drive to overcome her opponent made her believe that she can beat Cecilia even if she cheated. A decision that would soon feel like a mistake to her...

Aira tried to push herself up but she was then driven down to the mat with a stomp on her back! "Guhhk!!" Aira let out, her face grimaced in pain as she writhed under Cecilia's hold. She then waved her arm forward as she looked to the nearest rope but before she could do so. Her wrists were grabbed, she was held back on the canvas. "Nnnggghhuu..." She groaned out as she felt that heel digging onto her spine. And what comes next was a hold where she'd find herself helpless...

"Ahhh!!!" She screamed out, her eyes widening as she was pulled back and hoisted off the mat with her lower spine being grounded with Cecilia's foot. Her legs kicking away desperately as Cecilia pulled her into the surfboard hold! Her shoulder joints were being pulled apart... Combined with her spine being put onto a harsh pressure. "No!!! Augghhh!!!" Aira let out screams of pain as she desperately looked around for ways to escape this hold, or at least to force a rope break so that Cecilia would have to release her.

[CaptainL]

Cecilia brought her foot down hard against Aira's back, knocking the wind out of her lungs. As her opponent reached for the ropes, frantically trying to work her way to freedom, all she did was chuckle to herself. Little did Aira know, the worst for her was yet to come - as Cecilia would soon grab her by the arms, giving them a sharp tug back to contort her spine against the heel of her boot! Not only would this keep Aira's hands just short of the ropes, depriving her of her last chance to save herself, it would also do damage to her back and shoulders in the process - and from the sounds of her screams, Cecilia knew well that it was working.

In a position like this, many wrestlers would choose to lean back further, transitioning into a ceiling hold. If Cecilia did that, she could easily have brought Aira to a submission at the rate things were going. But there was no fun in that. Cecilia couldn't forget that she was in the running for Apex as much as Aira herself was. An early victory might have been proof of her capabilities, but it was only scratching the surface of what she was capable of. If she was to prove herself worthy of the World Openweight Championship, she wanted the judges to know that she knew far more when it came to holds and locks, and how ruthlessly she would pursue dominance over her foes - and she wanted them to know that Aira would have no chance of making it, not even if she gave her the opportunity.

The American looked back at the judges with a smirk crossing her face, making sure she had their attention. Then, rather than roll back, she would bring her foot higher, planting it on the back of Aira's head as she held firmly to her arms. In one motion, she let go of Aira's wrists while delivering a hard stomp against the base of her skull to hurl her face-first toward the canvas!

"We're only getting started..."

[LowDefinition]

It hurts... But Aira need to focus more on escaping from this hold as she was trapped into the surfboard hold. She screamed in agony and pain as she was pulled back painfully with Cecilia's foot planted on her back. Her knees kicking around as she shook her head. "Gghhhh... Aaaah!!!" Aira let out, her eyes slowly starting to show her desperation. Though, she was awaiting for Cecilia to pull her into the ceiling hold... She guessed that if Cecilia goes for that, Aira could have a small window to escape. But, apparently that didn't come at all. It got her curious on what Cecilia had planned for the next movement...

When that foot was lifted off her back. Aira couldn't really escape as her lower back is aching. And when she felt that foot planted on the back of her head. Her eyes widened as she knew what was coming next... But she was powerless to fight it! Her head was then driven down to the canvas with a harsh stomp! Her upper body recoiled as she turn around and laid on her back after the stomp! She quickly covered her face and kicked around on the ground.

"Aaaah..." She groaned out in her agony, she turned her attention towards the ropes and started crawling towards it. She needed to get some distance and some time off to recover. Her expression shows her desperation to escape, not wanting Cecilia to torture her further and minimizing her chance in fighting back.

[CaptainL]

Cecilia could feel Aira struggling underneath her even as she tried to press her weight into her spine to exert the pressure of the surfboard hold, and her eyes narrowed in a glare as she clenched her teeth in frustration. Even if her efforts were doomed to failure, the Indonesian girl was being annoyingly persistent - so much so that Cecilia could only be reminded of how much she wanted to crush her beneath her heel and hear her cry out in agony, just to know that she had her dealt with once and for all. But any struggling Aira might have done would only prove a momentary setback in Cecilia's pursuit of victory. Soon, she brought her foot forward to stomp Aira's face against the mat, and as she cried out in pain, Cecilia's smile grew wider across her face, the thud of her body against the canvas bringing her a sense of satisfaction.

She crossed her arms with a smug look, stepping off Aira's back to look on at her side. She could tell how much that had to hurt, which was certainly a plus for her. But Aira was still flailing her legs in the air and trying to crawl away, and that made Cecilia's eyes narrow. If Aira still had any fight left in her, that meant she hadn't gone far enough. Luckily...if that was the case, Cecilia was happy to correct the matter.

"Going somewhere?" she teased, taking a step closer to her fleeing opponent. As Aira kicked out with her leg, Cecilia would bend down to grab it, looking to pull it in between her own and bend it into place before she fell to her back, applying a figure four leglock! She wouldn't let her escape that easily!

[LowDefinition]

Aira knew that if this goes on further, she wouldn't have a chance to fight back and is going to be at Cecilia's mercy. Which was her reason on retreating for now. Crawling towards the ropes... She could almost reach that ropes before Cecilia took her ankles. Aira turned her gaze back to Cecilia as she was then turned to lay on her back. Shaking her head as her legs put up not much of a struggle as Cecilia put her leg in and bends it around and locks her into a figure four leglock.

"Gaaaaah!!!" Aira quickly shot her body up and screamed out loud as she felt her own leg is pressuring her kneecap when Cecilia fell to her back. Her upper body twisting around as her hand slammed the canvas in frustation. The referee checked on her "Give up?" She covered her face and wag her finger towards the referee as she grits her teeth, showing that she don't intend to give up. But she knew a way to reverse this. "Nnngghh...ghhii..." Aira grunted out as she endured the hold for quite a while...

And as she sees a window to reverse, Aira jerked her body to the side and used all her might to turn both her and Cecilia back to lay on their front. Reversing the hold as Aira quickly placed her elbow to the canvas and desperately crawled out of the hold. Quickly grabbing the ropes and starts working on her recovery back to her feet.

[CaptainL]

That look back over her shoulder, as Aira realized she was caught, was what pleased Cecilia most of all. The corners of her lip turned upward into a sadistic grin as she pulled back at the girl's legs, dragging her away from the ropes just before she could claim her freedom. It wasn't just that she was hurting Aira's body - the notion that her opponent had seen her chance to make it to safety, only for Cecilia to stomp that out in front of her, made it so much sweeter. She had shot the icy dagger of hopelessness straight into Aira's heart, and now she could only dwell on her impending doom. It was delicious.

The Indonesian thrashed around and pounded at the mat, but to no avail. Cecilia crossed her arms over her chest, lifting her head up from the canvas to lock a glower on her foe. "Well? What will it be?" she snapped, echoing the referee's question in coarser terms. The submission would come any minute now; it was only a matter of when.

...Or so she thought. Her eyelid twitched a little. If Aira was fighting this move so much, and refusing to tap, she was depriving Cecilia of the victory she was sure she'd earned. It was frustrating how much she had in her, and it only made her want to crush her that much more. "Rrgh...come on already-!"

But Aira wasn't going to give up - suddenly, in a burst of strength, she was able to flip herself over, rolling the two of them onto the mat! Cecilia gasped, not expecting her to still have the will to do that at a time like this - and, as the two of them hit the canvas with a soft thud, the crowd let out a cheer in Aira's favor! The sensation of having her own hold turned back on her caused Cecilia to groan, shrinking back away from her aggressive strategy, and as she eased the tension on her legs, her opponent had the chance to pull herself free of the hold.

As Aira pulled herself up on the ropes, Cecilia rolled to her back, catching her breath as she shot a glare over at her opponent. "Stubborn little brat..." she muttered to herself as she rose to her feet. Nevertheless she dusted herself off, lowering herself into a stance once again. Aira wasn't going to get away from that so easily - and, as a matter of fact, Cecilia already had plans.

Just then, she took off in a charge, hoping to catch up to Aira while her back was turned! Coming off the leglock, she was sure her foe would be slowed down - and that could only work in Cecilia's favor as she looked to slam her knee against Aira's back, hoping to knock her forward against the ropes!

[LowDefinition]

Aira wasn't going to give up, not here, not this soon. Even with the match flow is going against her so much in the start. She flip herself over in the leglock and quickly retreated as Cecilia eased off the hold. Hearing the cheer in her favor made her know that she should overcome this. Bringing her drive to fight back even more. She rose to her feet with the help of the ropes. Turning herself around to see Cecilia charges immediately at her, she gasped out as she stumbled backwards in a hasty retreat to dodge that knee aiming towards her. Following the ropes and backed to the corner.

Barely dodging it, the crowd let out another explosive cheer as her expression showed slight disbelief at the support she drew from this move. But she had to take this moment to get onto the offense! The Indonesian then darted off the corner and ran straight onto Cecilia, raising her foot up high when she gets near and immediately thrust it straight onto Cecilia's face with a running big boot to put her counterattack in motion!

[CaptainL]

Cecilia had hoped that by driving her knee against Aira's back, she could slam the girl's chest and stomach up against the ropes, which would surely leave her reeling and buy more time for the American to secure her control. But Aira was just barely too fast for her to keep up with - and right as Cecilia was about to make impact, she slipped to the side, causing her to crash into the ropes instead!

The impact rattled Cecilia, and she fell forward off her feet, draped over the ropes where she landed with her arms dangling out of the ring. For a moment, she needed to shake herself in order to clear her head when the world around her was spinning. But soon, Cecilia lifted her head to look out at the crowd - and, as she heard them cheering on Aira's escape, she scowled. These people were almost too predictable; you would have expected Aira to have won the Nobel Prize with the reception she got, not just happened to be in the right place at the right time! It was no matter - soon, she'd show them how weak and hopeless their idol really was.

But Cecilia would soon realize this was no time for standing around. She needed to stay on her guard, and sure enough, Aira was already springing back toward her with her next attack! Cecilia turned around just in time to see her opponent close in on her, foot outstretched, and she knew she only had seconds to act. But she too would try to use the opportunity to counter at the last minute. She would duck down, attempting to roll herself between Aira's legs to get behind her, and in the process leaving the girl to charge into the ropes so that the momentum would spring her backward!

[LowDefinition]

Aira had to emphasize on this attack to get the condition back to her favor. As such, she went all out on her attack with the boot aimed straight towards Cecilia's head! But at the last moment, Cecilia managed to roll under her leg. She couldn't halt her momentum at all that she ran straight to the ropes and her leg went through the ropes. Her body colliding with the ropes right after!

Catching herself right at the ropes with the sudden halt to the momentum. Aira took a breath as she realized her foot had missed Cecilia. With one of her legs stuck on the middle rope. She immediately unhook her leg from the rope and reenter the ring. It was unfavorable for Aira that she had to took some time in recovering from her missed attack. And when she turns around to face Cecilia once more... She may have not enough moment to dodge the next attack that Cecilia would put in action!

[CaptainL]

As she rolled out of the way of Aira's attack, Cecilia thought to herself that she was letting herself get too cocky. Aira was proving herself to be a more capable opponent than she had given her credit for - if she'd been a few seconds slower, her last move could have gone far worse for her. It was all the more frustrating to know that this girl was actually making her work for her success. Nevertheless, she still had control for now, as Aira's charge sent her straight into the ropes, trapping her leg. That gave time for Cecilia to get back up and stretch herself out as she turned back around to face her opponent - as well as to plan out her counterattack.

As soon as Aira was closing in on her, Cecilia was ready. A smirk crossed her face, but that was the only warning the Indonesian girl would get before she swung herself around, her foot aimed toward her jaw in a powerful roundhouse kick!