[Standard Match] Charlotte Ravel' vs Angela Belti - Up to the top (Apex Qualifier Match)

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Good to know. Of course, there was still the possibility that Desdemona would decide to help her mother not only with words, but also with actions. There is always even the slightest chance. However, Charlotte did not believe that everything would be exactly like this. Not only because Desdemona herself said she was just observing, but also because Charlotte had a strong impression that Angela had raised her daughter properly.

Therefore, nothing and no one prevented the pink-haired woman from closing her rival in the hold, and then, accompanied by loud screams from the audience, lift her above the floor. Yes, indeed, kicks and punches were her bread and butter. However, that wasn't the only thing she was capable of. Charlotte has always strived for versatility. And when she discovered pro wrestling for herself... it took her to a completely different level.

When Angela crashed into the concrete floor, her scream drowned out the screams of the crowd. There was a real agony on the Italian woman's face. Charlotte did not hold her opponent's waist, as a result of which her body bounced off the hard surface. She kept screaming while her feet kicked the floor. Even in the ring this move was extremely destructive, but now, when they were outside the ring, the effectiveness of this move increased many times.

"Pf... pf..." Charlotte gasped for air.

Pure physical strength was not her best side, besides, the weight of the Italian woman was a serious obstacle in her way. Even though it was a very hard move, it took too many resources from her. Her breathing was so heavy that for a moment she heard a squeak in her head, which was a clear sign that her body was starting to work on credit.

"FOUR!!" The referee didn't let anyone forget that Charlotte and Angela were outside the ring.

The Frenchwoman was forced to grit her teeth and get to her feet. It was not difficult for her to understand that she had spent too much strength again. Angela turned out to be no less a tough opponent than Amy. They both forced Charlotte to work at an extremely high pace, which wasn't the Sand Lizard's style. However, it didn't matter now. It was important for Charlotte to make a decision now. Will Angela be able to return to the ring before the count of ten?

"FIVE!!!"

With a deep breath, the Frenchwoman took a step forward. She wasn't going to check if her opponent had enough strength to return to the ring. Even if Angela could not get back on her feet, the martial arts master didn't want such a victory. Most of the fighters here believe that victory is victory. This damn principle leads to the meanest things. Low blows, using gaps in the rules, mean things, and so on. But for the Sand Lizard, only a crystal clear victory mattered. Because only such a victory she considered worthy.

"SIX!!!"

Therefore, she intended to grab the Italian woman both elbow and wrist. Even if she had to hold all of Angela's weight, she would do it. And as soon as her opponent was in an upright position, Charlotte would take a step to the ring. Still holding Angela's elbow, she intended to grab her far shoulder in order to throw the Italian woman on the ring, thereby forcing her to roll under the bottom rope.

Charlotte's actions would surely have caused a reaction from the audience. Yes, it wasn't the first time she had shown such unconventional behavior, but now she didn't really care. The Frenchwoman intended to follow her opponent by rolling under the bottom rope, which would force the referee to stop counting. However, it wasn't for long. Why?

Because literally immediately, the Sand Lizard intended to lie across her rival, pressing her chest against Angela's. Charlotte was going to hook Angela's far leg and thereby press her securely to the mat. Yes, that's why the referee would have to start counting again, but this time because of the pin attempt. The striped shirt quickly lay down next to the women, and then slapped the mat.

"ONE!"

[BlackAkuma]

Angela Belti was in a world of pain.

That might’ve seemed like an obvious statement to most, nothing too spectacular - after all, she’d just been slamming into an ungiving floor, some pain was to be expected. But there was really no underselling just how much that move had utterly wrecked her. While she was in good shape for her age, she had still been wrestling for decades, taken hundreds of hard hits, maybe even thousands, and her body never truly shrugged off all that damage. She could deal with it most of the time, but a blow like that had a way of reigniting old wounds.

With an impact like that, everything came roaring back all at once. Angela would be feeling that one for days, weeks, even months. But as much as she was hurting, she still wasn’t totally done, not just yet. Given enough time, she could get to her feet and make some kind of rally. This couldn't be the end.

As she came around, she could hear one of the worst sounds in any wrestler’s life - the call of an approaching count, as the referee made her way to four. Angela groaned and rolled over to her hands and knees, starting to rise up, hissing all the way. Hating life in general and knowing it wasn’t about to get any better.

Getting back into the ring would’ve been a task, but luckily - or unluckily, depending on the view - it wasn’t one that she had to shoulder alone, as her opponent seemed set on getting her back in the ring, no doubt wanting a clean victory. While she’d only just met this woman she could already tell she was the type to eschew countouts, and she could respect that, even as she was on the receiving end of the abuse.

Angela was brought up, held to her feet and rolled back in the ring, coming inside and breaking the count with a few seconds to spare. And that wasn’t all, either, as she seems to be of a mind to finish this off. She came over, draped across her body, and the referee started up the count.

”2…!”

The referee was halfway to bringing down her hand a third time when Angela’s hand shot up, breaking the count and keeping her in the fight…for whatever good that would do her.

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Already at the moment when Charlotte reached out to her rival, she knew that the pin would be useless. Yes, of course, there was no doubt that Angela's condition was not the best. However, the Italian woman began to get to her feet, and this was a sure sign that there was no point in the pin.

However, Charlotte did not want to look like an idiot and stop in the middle of the way, so she decided not to change her plans and return Angela to the ring. Throwing the purple-haired woman under the bottom rope, the Sand Lizard hurried to cover Angela, although, of course, she already knew that this was just a formality.

It was no surprise to the martial arts master that after the second count, Angela raised her shoulder above the mat, breaking the pin. The only surprising thing was that she didn't get to her feet right after that, because that's exactly what she was trying to do a few moments ago.

"Lock her..." Charlotte mentally ordered herself.

This was the best solution, considering that the Sand Lizard didn't have much strength left. Her breathing was still heavy and so she wasn't sure if she could make another heavy throw or an effective series of strikes right now. Therefore...

Charlotte was intent on grabbing Angela's right leg while getting to her feet at the same time. Trying to act as quickly as possible, she was going to step over the purple-haired woman, thereby turning her over on her stomach. Charlotte hoped to deal with this before her rival finally came to her senses.

And if she had succeeded, Charlotte would have stretched Angela's right leg over her nape. Having fixed this leg with her left hand, she also intended to grab her opponent's right wrist, depriving her of another limb. In an attempt to further limit the possibilities of the Italian woman, Charlotte would try to put her bare left foot on Angela's right cheek. And after that, the only thing left for the Sand Lizard to do is to start pulling the trapped leg, putting pressure on both Angela's leg and back with the help of a dangerous stretch muffler!

[BlackAkuma]

Angela’s arm shot up just in time to break the count, avoiding the fall by only a few precious seconds. A close thing, she’d only managed to avoid defeat by a narrow margin, and she could feel that gap drawing closer with each second. Her energy was waning, her body was starting to fail, and she knew herself well enough to say that she was a big move away from defeat. A perilous position to be in.

But she wasn’t done. Not just yet.

Angela kept her position after she broke the count, not wanting to expend more of her precious energy than need be, but she knew Charlotte wouldn’t be apt to let an opportunity slide. If her opponent had made one thing clear, it was that she would make use of any and all opportunities, and she had a golden one laying at her feet.

Angela had just started to recover when her foe grabbed hold of her leg, seizing it and using it to roll her over with a tight grasp. She tried to pull it away, thinking that she might get free if it was something as simple as, say, a boston crab. As it turned out, the move was a lot worse.

She cried out as her legs were strung over her opponent’s neck like a piece of jewelry, pulling her into a deep stretch muffler. Her tendons tested, her muscles compressing, all she could do was make a desperate crawl forward to the ropes, reaching out with flailing hands to grasp them.

[skip-stop]

Charlotte was not sure at that moment that the submission hold would bring her victory. Yes, there was a chance, but for the most part she just hoped to weaken Angela even more. Somewhere in the depths of her soul, the Sand Lizard felt that this was not the end. And although both of them had lost most of their strength, they still had to find out which of them was worthy of victory in this tough confrontation.

Therefore, the Frenchwoman tried to do everything possible to strain her arms as much as possible. Holding her opponent's leg and arm, she hoped that the pain would overshadow Angela's mind. However, in this the pink-haired woman was mistaken.

Despite the screams and painful convulsions, the Italian woman quickly pulled herself together and began to crawl to the ropes. Some might say that there was nothing surprising in this. However, Charlotte was well aware that Angela was not in the best condition. In addition, she used only one arm and one leg to move forward, because the rest of the limbs were held by the Sand Lizard.

"Grrrr!!!!!" Unable to contain her emotions, Charlotte growled through gritted teeth.

She knew she couldn't stop Angela. She could have started jerking that leg violently in an attempt to really injure the joints, however, she considered it a dirty tactic. Therefore, she only leaned back, trying to maximize the pressure on the Italian woman's leg. If enough pressure was applied, the purple-haired woman's muscles would lose their working capacity, Charlotte knew that.

"Rope break!" The referee said. "Let her go!"

Damn. Charlotte didn't even notice that Angela had already reached the ropes. However, she wasn't going to use a gap in the rules and wait for the referee to start counting. Instead, she broke her grip and let go of the purple-haired woman.

"Ça mérite le respect..." she muttered quietly.

With a painful groan, Charlotte got to her feet, and then backed away. She stopped only in the center of the ring, placing her palms on her knees. She felt like she was going to spit out her lungs. Every breath burned her from the inside out. The sweat on her skin became so thick that some might have thought that Charlotte was covered in oil.

The Frenchwoman took a deep breath and straightened to her full height. Clenching her fists, she raised the right one to the level of her chin, and the left one to the level of the middle of her torso. Yes, that's right. She intended to give her opponent all the time she needed to get to her feet freely. And after that they will start the last round, which revealed the winner of this match.

[BlackAkuma]

Charlotte was no fool. She knew the great advantage she enjoyed here, and she was clearly out to maximize her time, making sure Angela had to pay for every inch of progress she made on the mats. Never the most flexible type, she was pushed to the brink, her legs stretched to their breaking point, and her struggles to free herself only made matters that much worse.

She’d never been in the stretch muffler before. She had used the move a few times, but no one had ever thought to try it on her, no doubt thanks to the common size difference between her and her opponents. It would’ve been a struggle for most women to get her into it in the first place, to say nothing of actually maintaining it for any real length of time.

And yet, here she was, crawling for her life while Charlotte threatened to pull her leg clean off. It wasn’t the best look.

It was a hard crawl, but she did make it there eventually and grabbed the ropes, holding on for dear life as she gritted through the pain. To her opponent’s credit, she didn’t hold the submission for long, didn’t milk it - the referee called for her to let go, and she let go. Angela didn’t speak much French, but she got the general gist of what was said, and nodded her appreciation. ”Molto apprezzato…”[/i]

It was a noble gesture, and it wasn’t over. Angela fully expected her opponent to press her advantage, she was ready for her to start striking again, but no - she moved up and made her way to the center of the ring, giving her all the time she could ask for. Surprising as it was, she wasn’t about to say no to such a generous offer, and she pushed up to her feet after taking a quick second to catch her breath, ready to start again. Ready to finish.

Angela moved towards her opponent with her arm raised and eyes forward, trying to be cautious as they began the final phase. Once she was near enough, she lunged out in the hopes of catching Charlotte in a tie up, hoping she could overpower the smaller woman and press one of the few remaining advantages she enjoyed.

[skip-stop]

Despite the fact that Charlotte could speak several languages, she knew Italian only at a basic level. However, fortunately, her knowledge was enough to understand what Angela said. Barely noticeable, but the corners of the Frenchwoman's lips lifted.

The Frenchwoman still remembered the words that her rival said a few seconds before the bell rang. The neglect she heard back then didn't please her. But, apparently, everything that happened in this match was more than enough for Angela to change her attitude. And it really pleased Charlotte, who hated it when someone considered themselves the winner even before the match started.

The Sand Lizard nodded briefly after the purple-haired woman got to her feet. They both knew it was the finish line. Both women were tired. The bodies of both were covered with bruises. It was the last respite before the match would come to an end. And in order to get the victory, each of them will have to give absolutely everything to each other without a trace.

Taking a deep breath, Charlotte moved towards her rival. Angela was approaching her with her hand held high. The Frenchwoman's eyes narrowed slightly. It was obvious that the Italian woman hoped to tie up with her. However, she was sure that there was some kind of catch. However, she was wrong about that, because as soon as the distance between them was reduced, Angela made a dash forward, trying to grab Charlotte.

"No..." the Frenchwoman thought.

Her body reacted on the level of instincts. The Sand Lizard made a pendulum movement with her torso, simultaneously taking a diagonal step forward and to the left. In this way, she not only wanted to evade Angela's grip, but also to disappear from her field of vision for at least a second.

Charlotte had almost no strength left, she felt it with every cell of her body. And that only meant that she should have removed all limits. It's either her or Angela. Charlotte made a choice at the moment when the air whistled into her lungs thanks to another deep breath.

The Sand Lizard intended to throw her left arm forward with a wide arc in an attempt to send a powerful left swing punch in her opponent's head. This punch was slower than the others, but its power was truly colossal. Charlotte was sure that if Angela didn't have time to defend herself, it would stun her. However, even if the Italian woman managed to throw both hands up for protection, it would suit Charlotte perfectly. Why?

Because as soon as her fist connected with the purple-haired woman's head or defense, the martial arts master would turn to the right, raising her left leg in order to hit the knee joint of Angela's injured right leg with a low kick. Thus, she wanted to make her opponent lose her balance and weaken her defense. And then...

"SHANNAROOOOO!!!!" Charlotte would have let out her battle cry.

At the same time, she was going to swing her left leg again, this time in a much wider arc. This time she was going to send a roundhouse kick straight to Angela's head, thereby completing her signature combo, which she called the hungry lizard!

[BlackAkuma]

Trying to catch Charlotte in a tie-up at this stage might have seemed desperate, but Angela saw it as a sound strategy. After all, brute force was still the one advantage that she could count on in this match, the single that would be on her side without fail. Charlotte had matched or exceeded her in other spots, preserving with her toughness, outmaneuvering her with speed, outfoxing her with technique. Raw power was the most reliable well she’d drawn from in this match, and as it drew to a conclusion, she was more than ready to go for it one, last time.

But even now, her opponent moved quickly on her feet, reacting with impressive agility that took Angela wholly off guard. Just before they could make contact, she took a deft step to the side and vanished from her vision, leaving her to stumble forward and nearly fall to her knees. She managed to stay standing, but she was far from okay, having lost total sight of her opponent. With someone like Charlotte, that was fatal.

”Look out!”

Dizzy’s voice pierced through the crowd’s din, but it was too late. Angela turned around just in time to get hit in the head with a solid punch, a blow that left her jaw sore and head spinning. It was hard, too, harder than she would’ve expected from the smaller woman at this stage in the match. Where was she finding this power?

Angela brought her arms up, expecting a followup on the same level, and that played straight into her foe’s hands. Instead of the head, she took a blow on the knee, striking right at the side of the joint and making her buckle. She cried out as she was brought down, coming just short of dropping all the way.

The final kick was what did it. A roundhouse kick crashed into Angela’s skull and came close to knocking her head clean off, turning her world into a haze of flashing lights. She dropped down to one knee with her hands at the sides, coming dangerously close to fall all the way, blinking and wheezing while she tried to gather her bearings.

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A month ago, Charlotte probably wouldn't have succeeded. She was tired and she felt that her body wasn't working as it should. However, she managed to evade her rival's grip. It was the result of her training. Sparing no effort, she trained in order to improve her endurance. And although her limit hadn't moved too far forward, it was still enough to say with certainty that she had become stronger.

Dodging Angela's hands, Charlotte launched an attack. Her muscles seemed to be screaming from the pain caused by fatigue, but she couldn't stop. She needed a victory. The pink-haired woman's fist smashed into Angela's jaw. And although the Italian woman was certainly stunned, she was able to orient herself and raise her hands in order to protect her head from new attacks. It was her mistake.

With a low kick to the knee joint, the Sand Lizard caused the purple-haired woman to lose her balance. And this opened up an opportunity for Charlotte, which she needed so much. Taking advantage of a gap in Angela's defense, Charlotte sent such a powerful kick to her head that when the foot came into contact with the skull, there was a deafening click.

Accompanied by the screams of the audience, Angela's eyes seemed to become empty. The mighty woman went down on one knee and even the most optimistic person was not ready to say that she remained capable of opposing Charlotte.

"Pha... phaa... gha..." the Sand Lizard gasped.

If she doesn't finish it right now, then everything will happen again. If she doesn't finish off Angela in one move, then everything will end the same way as it was in the match with Amy. Therefore, the pink-haired woman gritted her teeth and took a step forward in order to get around Angela. She didn't manage to do it last time. Last time, Amy wouldn't let her use this move. She lost last time. But this time…

Charlotte intended to wrap her left arm around her opponent's neck, thereby closing her in an inverted facelock hold and forcing her to arch the back. Using her right hand, the Sand Lizard was going to grab Angela's right wrist and pull her arm out to the side. Under the loud applause of the audience, Charlotte intended to hold her breath, and then straighten up to her full height, thereby lifting Angela from her knee.

"RAAAAA!!!" This time it wasn't a battle cry, this time she just couldn't contain her emotions.

Turning a hundred and eighty degrees like a corkscrew, the Sand Lizard intended to create an incredible torque. And the last thing she was going to do was abruptly fall on her back in order to transfer this torque to her opponent, sending her head into the mat with one of the toughest moves in her arsenal, which many called a rolling cutter. Although Charlotte had another name for it, she called it the dexterous lizard! She hoped that all the efforts she had made in order to become stronger were not in vain. Charlotte knew how to check it. She intended to turn Angela onto her back and just lie on her for a pin attempt.

[BlackAkuma]

The Sand Lizard was a hard hitter, a fact that Angela was grasping better and better as this match progressed. She hadn't expected a light touch from the woman, but having suffered her attacks over and over, having take her best shots, she was truly appreciating the raw power that her foe could bring to bear. SHe might not have seemed like the hardest foe Angela had fought at a first glance - there were bigger women, more obvious bruisers, living tanks that she’d managed to dismantle in her time. But as she stood there, weary on one knee, a strong gust away from getting toppled, there was no denying the impact of her foe’s attacks. She was getting outclassed.

But she wasn’t done, not yet. The kick rocked her, but she could still get her senses back if she marshalled herself. She just needed a few moments to gather her senses, and then-

Charlotte was all over her, moving fast, swooping before she had the chance to get away. She wrapped her head up in an inverted facelock, and panic ran through Angela’s mind, knowing the wealth of moves that could be done from this position. All of them dangerous, but with such a wide array, it was hard to know what she needed to prep her body for.

She wouldn’t be left wondering for too long, however, when her right wrist was seized and she was forced to stand, put at an awkward angle. She was sent spinning before she could process what was going on, a spiral that only came to an end when her face connected with Charlotte’s shoulder at high velocity. A wild, powerful version of the classic cutter.

It was a more than serviceable attack, one that sent Angela rolling away from the point of impact. She tumbled, head over heels, only coming to an stop on her back, and found herself staring up at the lights, completely open.

It was an opportunity that her foe wasn’t going to miss. She swooped in quick, reached over, and pulled her in for a tight pinfall, one that the referee was quick to move in for.

”1…!”

At first, Angela couldn't move, though not for lack of trying. She willed her body to move, but it disobeyed her orders, not having the energy for it. All she could manage was a weak twitch, nothing much to go on.

”2…!”

The second try was better. Much better. Angela dug deep, summoned some of the last vestiges of her power, pushed hard, and managed to power out at the last second, throwing her arm up to break the count with less than half a second to spare.