Clara Gaster vs Nerissa Labong III — Fight Pit Match

[Vc0m]

With Clara finally managing to fight back against Nerissa's attacks, knocking Nerissa aside with a toss. The Brit's aim was clear at the moment. A good couple of shots from Nerissa's kicks would definitely knock the Brit for a loop, if not out of the match. As such, Nerissa's ability to kick effectively had to go. And that started with kicks of her own...

First, Clara would approach Nerissa, trying to stun her with a hard Superkick to her jaw!

Then, the Shadow Lord would grab Nerissa's leg that she trapped earlier and attempt to drop onto her back, driving her leg back into the canvas to both damage her foot and wrench at her leg with a Foot DDT. Swiftly getting up, Clara would then attempt to trap Nerissa's legs around her own leg in a 4 shape...before dropping back to the ground, driving one of her legs into the other with a Figure 4 Leglock!

[skip-stop]

If Nerissa hadn't wasted her time at the beginning of the match, she might have had more strength by now, but now she was forced to reap the consequences of her own mistakes. She might have missed the advantage once again, but she thought she could take Clara by surprise with a quick attack. Perhaps she really would have succeeded, but no one would know because the Echidna underestimated the damage her knee got.

After the first step, she dropped to one knee, hissing painfully as her muscles and joints failed her. Clara, in her turn, immediately took advantage of the vulnerable position of the Native American woman. The Shadow Lord quickly approached her and sent a superkick straight into Nerissa's face.

“GUUUUAH!!”

A white flash ran before Nerissa's eyes, and she fell backwards. The wounds on her face reopened and blood began to drip onto the mat. It took her a few seconds to get her mind in order, but of course her opponent wasn't going to just stand there and wait. Grabbing Nerissa's already injured leg, the British woman abruptly leaned back. The Echidna's foot slammed into the mat with such force that a great resonance passed through her leg, which she felt with every bone.

“AAAAHHHH!!! She screamed in agony.

She turned on her side, clutching her knee. Damn. She hated these tactics. Of course, many fighters prefer to focus their attacks on one specific part of their opponent's body, but Nerissa was not a proponent of such methods. Although she was considered a tough enough fighter, she was well aware that such tactics could lead to serious injuries and even she wasn't that cruel.

“Guuuuhhhh... guuuhhhh...”

Breathing heavily, she tried to pull herself together, but at that moment her condition left much to be desired. Clara hastened to take advantage of this, launching her fourth attack in a row. Grabbing Nerissa's leg, she turned around on her axis, which made it clear exactly what she was up to. The eyes of the Native American woman opened wide, she tried to push off the mat to prevent the brunette, but she did not have time. Clara fell onto the mat, closing Nerissa's legs in an extremely painful submission hold.

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!”

A sharp, even throbbing pain shot through Nerissa's legs. After Clara's attacks her knee already was in a really bad condition, but now the situation has become really critical for the Echidna. Writhing on the mat, she tried to somehow weaken her opponent's hold, but in fact she only aggravated her situation because she did not have enough strength to do something meaningful. This prompted the referee to approach them and lean over to the Native American woman.

“Nerissa, you give up?”

If she taps now, it will be over. She will no longer have to experience all these doubts and act against her will. It was definitely the easiest way for her. But on the other hand... if she loses today, it won't just be a defeat in the match, it will be a defeat in their rivalry. Nerissa knew that well. Did it matter to her at that moment? Hard to say. Yes, she didn't want to participate in this match, but the truth was that she didn't want to be the loser in their rivalry.

“N... no!” She said through clenched teeth.

Summoning her willpower, she pressed her palms to the mat and tried to take a deep breath to forget about the pain for at least a moment. And then she jerked violently to the side, simultaneously pushing off the mat with her hands to turn herself onto the stomach. That way she wanted to turn the Shadow Lord onto the stomach too, thereby reversing Clara's submission hold!

[Vc0m]

Unfortunately for Nerissa, for Clara, tactics like that were her bread and butter. For as nice as the Brit could be out of the ring, there was a reason why she was still "the Shadow Lord", even without the mask and the character. Clara utilized her holds to the best of her ability, even if it made her a bit of a "villain" in the ring...

Clara could see the damage that her attacks were doing to her rival. The blood caused by the superkick, the screams of agony that her limb work...the referee asking if she quit.

"Don't...", Clara would say her thought outloud. In truth, she didn't want Nerissa to give up, not yet...she knew Nerissa had more in her, as much as she didn't want to fight in this match. She wanted to drive her to that "more"...

...and as Nerissa muttered her refusal to give up, Clara smiled...right up until Nerissa started to move around, Clara feeling her strength growing, as she started to turn the two of them onto their stomachs, Nerissa reversing the pressure of the hold onto Clara's legs!

"GYAAAAAAAAAGH!!!"

Deciding not to pursue the hold any further, Clara scrambled, trying to get out from the hold, gritting her teeth and hissing as she tried to rise back up to her hurting feet!

[skip-stop]

At the cost of pain, sweat and tears, Nerissa was able to find the strength to roll over on her stomach with her rival. Even in this position she continued to feel agony in her joints, but at least now she was not alone in this. Clara screamed in pain and after a few seconds she decided that the best option would be to break the hold. Nerissa felt her opponent's legs relax first, and then their legs became untangled.

“Ghhh... ghhh... ggghhhh!!!”

Over the past few minutes Nerissa had received so much damage on her right leg that she hardly felt it, as if her right leg had been cut off and only pain remained instead. She couldn't even rule out the possibility that her knee joint was really injured thanks to Clara's fucking efforts.

The only good news was that there was the cage wall right in front of Nerissa's face, so she threw both hands forward, clutching the metal mesh to pull herself up and get at least to one knee. And as soon as she was in a more or less upright position, she immediately turned over her shoulder to look at Clara.

Most likely, a large number of such active actions took a lot of energy from the brunette because she noticeably slowed down. By the time Nerissa got up on one knee, Clara had only gotten up on all fours. Breathing heavily, Nerissa found herself thinking that in this match the brunette was many times tougher than she was, or rather it would be more accurate to say that today Clara was many times tougher than Nerissa was in any other match.

It seems that not only the Native American woman did not want to be the one who would be the losing side in this rivalry. Being an outsider, Nerissa knew for sure that in case of defeat her rating would go down to the baseboard level. Clara was not in danger of this, but instead, in case of defeat she would surely lose her chances of getting to the woman she so badly wanted to meet again. The woman who was sitting in the front row right now.

“Goddamnit…” Nerissa muttered, once again thinking about how much of a shitty situation she was in.

Realizing that she had no right to let the Shadow Lord get to her feet, Nerissa pushed herself off the cage wall with force. She had to bite her lower lip to stifle her scream of pain, because the moment she put her right foot on the mat, it was as if she had been stabbed with thousand knifes. The pain was unbearable, but she needed this step to then push off the mat and soar into the air. Trying to catch her opponent off guard, Nerissa intended to take advantage of the fact that Clara was on all fours. Bending her right leg at the knee, Nerissa then intended to straighten this leg with force in order to kick the back of the brunette's head and thereby smash her face into the mat with a curb stomp!

[Vc0m]

Some wrestlers gave their holds up immediately the moment there was even a hint that they weren't working. Others would not give up their signature holds no matter what, committing to focusing their holds to hurt a limb of their rival. Clara wasn't committed to either strategy, typically switching whenever was comfortable for her. For someone like Nerissa, however, the former approach was better suited. She already had a solid knowledge of escaping holds...so switching strategies like that was for the best to keep her guessing.

Still, it was clear that her Figure 4 alone did quite a number on Nerissa, as the Echidna struggled to get back up to her feet, all the while Clara was already on all 4s, legs slightly sore, but seemingly able to get back to the stable base back on her feet.

With Nerissa still on her knee, Clara grew confident, carefully making her way back to her feet and catching her breath to get ready for another round of fighting...

And as Clara stood up, and felt something pushing into the back of her head. The last coherent thought before her face smashed against the mat was realizing how dumb she was for taking her time.

SMASH!

"OOOOOOOOH!!!"

Clara's vision went black for a moment, her head bouncing off the canvas, and landing on it's side with her mouth agape. As Clara's vision came back in a blurry, colourful mess, one colour was predominant above any other one, especially as it made it difficult for the Brit to keep her eyes open...

Red.

"Blood..." was the only thought Clara could make after the impact of the curb stomp...

[skip-stop]

Smashing Clara's face into the mat, Nerissa groaned painfully and staggered so hard that she almost fell. The pain in her right leg was so intense that she just couldn't ignore it. However, it would be fair to say that this pain was worth it, because right now the brunette was lying on the mat without any movements. Taking a deep breath, the Echidna forced herself to concentrate and looked at her rival.

And as soon as she did, she immediately saw something red where the Shadow Lord's face was in contact with the mat. Nerissa closed her eyes for a moment, not feeling any pleasure about it. But on the other hand, Clara was the first to shed blood at the very beginning of the match, slamming Nerissa's head into the wall of the cage. So now, in a sense, they have become even.

Realizing that the match would end only with the defeat of one of them, the Echidna took a step towards her opponent, limping on her right leg at the same time. Last time, Clara prevented her from doing this, but this time the Native American woman had a much more impressive preparation, so…

Nerissa intended to bend down and grab Clara's head, then pull her up and make her take an upright position. Nerissa accepted her rival's terms, but that doesn't mean she started feeling good again. On the contrary, for the first time in her life, Nerissa had to go against her own nature.

“Shit... shit... shit...” barely moving her lips, Nerissa cursed everything in the world.

The Native American woman was going to stick the Shadow Lord's head between her thighs, and if last time they were only slightly wet, now they were covered in thick sweat, which clearly signaled how much effort Nerissa had expended in this match.

Resisting the pain in her leg, Nerissa intended to wrap her arms around the British woman's waist and then pull her up, thereby turning Clara upside down. Yes, last time she wanted to use it just to finish the match as quickly as possible, but now it was different because this time Clara forced her to put in a lot of effort for this moment.

If her opponent had been unable to resist, Nerissa would have joined her hands between the Shadow Lord's legs and then jumped as high as her injured leg would allow. The Echidna was going to fall into a sitting position and drive Clara's head into the mat with her major finisher, the Echidna's burrow!

Spoiler

[Vc0m]

Clara was literally seeing stars in her eyes. It was a weird feeling, every time it happened. The sudden, painful moment was so short, and all that remained was a throbbing ache in her head...and the feeling of simultaneously being asleep and awake. Her mind understood that everything around her was real...and yet, everything in her eyes moved as if it was a dream.

Adding to that feeling was some of her blood getting into her eyes, making it difficult to see...and what she did see had a harsh red filter to it...

As Clara blinked, and suddenly her head was lifted off the canvas. One more blink, and she was looking down, feeling Nerissa's thighs to her sides...one more blink, and she was upside down, blood dripping down to the canvas from her wound, her vision becoming slightly clearer...even if her mind was still in disarray, and unable to escape her situation.

That was to say, unlike the last time Nerissa attempted this, there was no way Clara was avoiding the Echidna's Burrow.

Clara flew up...

And then she was driven on her head, everything going dark.

[skip-stop]

The moment Clara's head hit the mat, the entire ring, including the metal cage around it, shook. The audience filled the arena with a deafening scream, while Nerissa involuntarily relaxed her arms and thereby released her opponent. Clara's body collapsed lifelessly onto the mat and the British woman remained lying motionless, face down. However, she wasn't the only one who ended up on the mat.

With heavy breathing, the Echidna leaned back. Her eyes were open and she was conscious, but at that moment it seemed to her that she did not have a single drop of strength left. Who would have thought that she would get so tired in a match that she didn't even want to participate in. The Native American woman wiped the sweat from her forehead with her palm, but before she could do anything else…

“ONE!”

The referee's voice reverberated through the arena like thunder. Nerissa even had to blink a few times to figure out what was going on. Due to fatigue, or maybe because of the huge amount of thoughts in her head, she forgot about the conditions for winning this match. Right now, both she and her opponent were lying on the mat, which meant they were actually in a knockdown state, which prompted the referee to do her job.

“TWO!”

If she gets back on her feet right now, she'll win the match, right? There is no chance that after this finisher Clara will get back on her feet to continue their fight. Thinking about it, Nerissa felt like laughing hysterically. No, that's not true. She might not have spent much time with this woman, but she was confident that Clara would not lose. Whatever happens, this brunette won't let Nerissa win their rivalry. Perhaps the chance that the Shadow Lord will rise to her feet is not too great, but this chance exists, which means…

“THREE!!”

Gritting her teeth, the Echidna rolled over onto her stomach and put her palms on the mat. Her body felt like it weighed a ton, or maybe even more, but she pushed off the mat, first rising to one knee, and then straightening to her full height. She staggered due to fatigue, but managed to keep her balance. If there's a chance that Clara will get back on her feet, Nerissa should prepare for it. And she had an idea for such a case. Staggering from side to side, she headed for the nearest wall of the cage.

“FOUR!!”

Nerissa grabbed the metal mesh. At that moment, she wasn't paying any attention to her opponent, instead, she intended to start climbing up. If she was wrong and Clara was really going to stay lying on the mat, then Nerissa would be grateful for that. But if the British woman finds the strength to start moving, then the Echidna will use one last movement from the platform at the top of the cage to finish it all.

[Vc0m]

"ONE!"

The moments that came the toughest to Clara were the ones when it came to make a decision - staying down and fighting the other day...or continuing to fight to her last breath, damn everything that would come afterwards. Something that Nerissa reminded her of her treatment earlier in the match, when she went easy on her, was that the choice early in her career was incredibly easy...

"TWO!"

Giving up. She would always give up, no matter what. When the going got tough, when she feared of getting hurt, any moment when she started bleeding, she quit, she tapped out, she let herself be pinned, even if, at times, she thought that she could summon strength to continue...but several of her foes scared her into quitting then and there, losing matches that, even though small, she had a chance of winning.

"THREE!"

All that changed with the match against a woman who she would call her best friend today. GASTER and Chika fought in a match. At first, Chika was mad at Clara for not taking her seriously with her comedic character...before the Raven Knight got even madder at her. She was mad for not taking wrestling, the sport as a whole seriously. Once Clara was about to let Chika pin her for the 3...the Joshi herself would break the fall, screaming at Clara for giving up this easily.

"FOUR!"

From there, Clara tried to survive the angered wrestler, with Chika herself making it difficult after she sandwiched Clara's head between the ring post and her leg. With a massive headache caused by her first ever concussion, Clara attempted to survive Chika to the best of her ability, managing to roll her up for 2.9 a few times, catching her with armbars and kneebars as blood visibly dripped from underneath her mask. Eventually, the bell rang, signalling a draw by time limit for the match...

"FIVE!"

She was proud of herself that night. This was when it started to click. In the aftermath, Chika apologized for her outburst, but Clara would thank her new friend for teaching her a lesson, even if it came at a cost of missing a few weeks of bookings. Clara and Chika became regular sparring partners from there, and slowly, but surely, Clara was building up her confidence as time went on, leading to LAW, to fighting for the Lightweight belt, to coming back, into the toughest challenges of her career...

"SIX!"

...right into challenging for the LAW Openweight title.

"SEVEN"

The mental image of the belt would finally stir the Brit, as the more clear picture of what was right in front of her eyes appeared...despite the fact that it was swimming and splitting into twos and threes. She could definitely still fight against Nerissa. She could still prove herself the better woman in their rivalry...proving herself worthy of a rematch from Astrid.

Her hand pressed against the mat, right where a small puddle of blood formed underneath her face. Taking a deep breath, Clara pushed upwards:

"EIGHT!"

And stumbled right back to her knees. Another deep breath, another attempt to pull up...

"NI---NO!"

And finally, she was back up to her feet. The image would stablize in her eyes as she looked up, seeing Nerissa on the upper platform. Though up to her feet, this required to summon all the strength for the moment...but she didn't care. The person that Clara was was dead. There will be no giving up from the Shadow Lord even when it seemed like a loss was inevitable.

Taking a deep breath once more, Clara would let out a shout, directed at Nerissa:

"COME ON!!!"

She would motion with her arms, challenging Nerissa to jump at her to take her down!

[skip-stop]

Panting and snuffling, Nerissa climbed up the wall of the cage. In fact, this wall wasn't too high, but due to the fatigue and the massive amount of damage her body had taken in this match, the height of this wall seemed truly colossal to Nerissa. But the Echidna was not going to stop, especially considering that she did not hear any noise from the audience, which clearly hinted that her opponent was still lying on the mat.

Finally, the Native American woman climbed to the top of the cage, ending up on the platform. She had to take a second or two to take a few deep breaths, after which she got to her feet. It was at this moment that the arena was filled with noise. It might seem that this was how they decided to support Nerissa, who was able to climb to the top of the cage, but deep down she knew that the reason was different. A moment later, she heard a voice behind her.

Turning to face the center of the ring, the Echidna looked down. Clara stood on her feet with her arms wide open, urging the Native American woman to jump on her. Funny. Very funny. Even now, Clara acted as if she knew from the very beginning, from the very first second of their acquaintance, that Nerissa would not win their rivalry no matter how hard she tried.

Nerissa closed her eyes and sighed heavily, after which she opened her eyes and shook her head negatively, making it clear that she was not going to jump. Instead, she nodded her head at the opposite wall of the cage, saying wordlessly to Clara, “Climb up, we'll end this here.”