Better Late than Never

[CaptainL]

Some time ago, Astrid Ostberg had been invited to the Rodouko Gym to take a look around, show off her title belt, and maybe even get involved with some of the classes there. Unfortunately, some things didn't go according to plan. The same day Astrid arrived, the members of Cyber Legacy had decided to storm the gym in an attempt to claim it for their own, and a brawl had swiftly broken out. Luckily, the Norsewoman was able to arrive in time to drive them off, but it was still clear that any plans she had would need to wait. She'd always had intentions of returning to the gym some day - but between a mounting schedule, with her status as a champion demanding publicity appearances and media tours around the world in addition to her need to train, and her becoming reunited with her long-time boyfriend William Ashworth, those plans had gotten away from her.

Now, though, it was finally time to make good on her promises. With Astrid becoming a prominent trainer for LAW's Young Lioness Program, it didn't take long before the Rodouko Gym realized that the Norsewoman could show its members a few pointers. She remembered everything she had discussed with the folks behind the scenes, and she was more eager than ever to finally do her visit justice - not to mention to check in on the gym's members, when she knew that a lot had happened since her last visit.

Now, Astrid had taken point on the gym mats, addressing two of the Rodouko Gym's most noted names - Jenny and Rose, who had formed the tag team Sweet Lust together. She was arranged to join them for a spar, and now it was time to get things underway. "All right," Astrid explained, standing tall with her hands on her hips, "let me just say, I'm glad to be back. It's been a while, but I see you've kept the place in good working order..."

In particular, Astrid's attention drifted to Jenny. Out of everyone, she had perhaps faced the most changes of all. Since Astrid's last visit, Hitomi Rodouko, the manager of the gym, had suffered injuries against Kathleen Hendricks that forced her to retire, and now Jenny, her daughter, had to shoulder greater responsibilities than ever before. Just thinking on how Thereisa was up to her old tricks again made the Norwegian grimace, her body going tense. But her eyes rested on Jenny with a look of concern. She knew she had to be going through a lot and was surely under a lot of pressure to live up to what her mother had started, and she could only hope she was handling them okay.

"So..." Astrid said, clearing her throat, "Are we ready?"

Spoiler

[Lederface]

After her last fight for the Apex qualifiers, Jenny had been stressed to the limit, everything that had to be organized and not to mention the problems that had arisen due to some of her classmates, had left Jenny with her mind unable to relax, but her friends clearly wouldn't let her be in that situation, That week they had all done something to help her, from taking the admin job for a few days to giving her a massage, but the surprise came when on unexpected notice, Miss Ostberg would show up, which seemed odd given that last time she had been in a situation that was anything but pleasant, but this time, without the danger of any faction trying to attack him, Jenny could smile at the sight of the reigning heavyweight belt champion and someone Hitomi always spoke of as a source of virtue and will, so seeing her take the time to come and give the fight that Yukari had gotten them, Jenny smiled at that happily, so then she would put on her new fighting outfit that she had already taken a liking to wear, soon her friends followed her, and so the 3 girls would appear and walk towards Astrid's place.

Miss Ostber..... I love that you took the time to come here so we could finally have that fight.

Jenny

totally, after a long time I was hoping to see if we could manage to take you down.

Rose

Totally girls, Astrid if she's a champion, it means we'll have to give her our biggest.

Nadia

said the 3 girls excited and ready to see to what extent they could stand up in a fight against the champion Astrid, but most of all to test themselves as a team and how well they can be a team.

[CaptainL]

Looking at Jenny, Astrid winced a little when she thought to herself about how much the blue-haired girl had to go through in the last few months. It must have been a lot to deal with - not only having Cyber Legacy invade the gym, which would surely leave her concerned for her safety no matter where she turned, but also having to see her mother taken out of action, and now having the responsibilites of upholding the Rodouko name heaped onto her shoulders. She thought to herself about asking her how she was doing, just to check in - but the smile on Jenny's face as she looked back at her made Astrid breathe a sigh of relief. No matter what happened, Jenny was ready to bounce back from even the greatest of hardships, rising to whatever challenge she needed to - in the ring or out. It was a spirit she admired, and it was a spirit she was sure was going to take her places.

"Oh, believe me, it's a pleasure," Astrid said, nodding her head to Jenny with a smile on her face. "And let me be the first to say, I love the new outfit!" She then looked over at the other girls - not only had Jenny's long-time tag partner Rose come to join in, but she also had Nadia Fortune with her, after the three of them had formed a new tag team, WNG. Astrid had never really gotten to meet Nadia before, and she was happy to have the opportunity now, as she stepped toward the girl to extend a hand to shake. "And Nadia, is it? It's a pleasure. You must all be excited to take to the ring as a team. It can take some effort to make a three-woman team work with cohesion, but from what I've seen of you, you've got it in you!"

Then, though, Astrid bent at the knees to sink into a stance, pounding one fist into the palm of her other hand and cracking her knuckles. "Of course, nothing's going to compare to seeing the three of you apply your skills first-hand, and that's why I'm here today! I'll leave this in your court, yeah? Come at me with your best shot!"

[Lederface]

Each of the 3 WNG girls had a different idea of how this would end, and the comments they made from each showed that they felt this even if they won or lost would be a great thing, so when she showed the closest thing to having a final boss, even Nadia could swear she was hearing a battle theme, but none of them were panicking, so then they would be in the ring, making some conversation between them, Rose would stand before her first, with Jenny and Nadia outside ready to support their friend if the situation called for extra support.

Although they overlooked it, Nadia was the only one who noticed the arrival of more gym members to watch the fight, several really hadn't seen Astrid in person, and to see her fight 3 of the most important fighters of the Rodouko gym? This would be kind of cool, especially for a certain woman who was watching them.

I'd say I'm a heavyweight..... But I'm still missing weight for that, but well..... Time to give you a Show!

So she would take a stance with her arms ready to face Astrid.

[CaptainL]

Astrid raised an eyebrow when she saw Rose step forward, with Jenny and Nadia staying by the sidelines. She had expected the three of them to team up against her, and she was ready to face them all at once - she would have thought they'd have an easier chance of measuring up to her that way, when she easily outweighed any one of them in terms of size, let alone experience. But the redhead had to have had plenty of confidence if she was ready to go toe-to-toe with the champion, and in particular, Astrid leaned in with close attention when she heard Rose describe herself as a heavyweight, even if she didn't meet the requirements of the class. "Oh, is that so?" Astrid asked. "Well, there's only one way to find out how you measure up!" Whether Rose could back up her claims or not, she definitely had a lot of faith and confidence in her abilities. And that made Astrid all the more eager to see what she could do when she was put to the test!

The Norsewoman steadily moved in closer to Rose, her hands extended toward her for a lockup. She could already see that Rose had pride in her strength, and she was looking forward to putting that to the test. As they came near, Astrid would try to grab for Rose's wrists in a test of strength, leaning in closer to force her weight against her and try to steer her back with all her might! All the while, she watched her closely, anticipating how she would respond.

[Lederface]

When Rose saw how Astrid seemed more than willing to fight a duel of strength against Rose, the red-haired girl smiled.
Well, I'm a little short of heavyweight, but even I know this would be a great opportunity!!! , so then Rose in one swift move, Rose would move to directly face Astrid by placing her hands against hers, but while the 2 of them were fighting, Jenny and nadia had seen a little hand movement that Rose let them, so knowing what they would have to do, both girls would move discreetly, while their friend was clearly losing strength with every moment that the grip worked, Rose was willing to play a little to buy time for them.

[CaptainL]

Astrid nodded to Rose, her gaze never straying far from the redhead's eyes. She could see that her opponent had a lot of confidence, and she had no reason to doubt her - if anything, the Norsewoman wanted to see what such a challenge would bring out of her. As someone who knew how much a good challenge could push her to even greater heights, Astrid knew she couldn't underestimate her foe!

Even now, with the two of them locked in a test of strength, Rose was holding her own well, despite Astrid's strength advantage. The champion grit her teeth as she leaned forward, trying to summon more force behind her push with which to steer Rose back. Yet every time Astrid gained ground, Rose was still able to even things out, pushing into Astrid and bringing the two of them back to a neutral position. Astrid's eyes widened as she looked her opponent up and down - she couldn't help but be impressed to see that Rose was able to keep the pace!

However, Astrid could also see that Rose's grip was growing weaker. As Astrid's arms flexed and her muscles rippled, she was able to draw on more strength than Rose could, and little by little she could feel the girl's hold slipping as she spent her stamina. Soon, Astrid thought, she would be able to break through Rose's defenses! Going for another forceful shove forward, Astrid attempted to close in on Rose enough to throw her arms around her sides in order to lift her for a bodyslam. However, she didn't realize what Jenny and Nadia were setting up...

[Lederface]

Rose was losing, and she was doing it consciously, it was more than sure that Rose would never have beaten Astrid in a duel of that kind, but that was a part of the plan, she had to show that at a certain point they could not fight the champion alone, but they would not fight alone at that moment.

So Rose when she knew she was about to lose everything, she stopped pushing, so all Astrid's attack could turn against her, and Rose letting it happen, would lead both of them to stagger and fall on the canvas, where Rose would try to free her hands from Astrid's grip and go quickly for Astrid's legs.

[CaptainL]

When it came to physical prowess, Astrid was all but second to none. As the champion of a division rich in powerhouses, she had a solid claim to being the top powerhouse in the company. However, when it came to mind games, the Norsewoman didn't fare quite as well. She was a sportsman at heart who came to expect everyone to play fair unless they'd proven themselves to be truly disreputable - something that could, at times, come back to bite her. When she was pushing forward into Rose's side of the lockup, powering through any resistance the redhead could offer, Astrid smiled when she felt her opponent's grip weaken. She was sure she was about to claim the dominant position. But she had no idea that Rose already had a counter ready!

When Astrid practically had Rose bent over, when she was ready to close in and sweep her foe up in her arms...Rose suddenly stopped. Now, Astrid was putting forth all the momentum, and there was nothing to stand in her way! The blonde's eyes went wide with surprise as she felt Rose's advances suddenly grind to a halt. And she felt that just moments before the realization set in that her advances hadn't - a second later, she fell over forward, plummeting to the canvas!

The two of them landed with a thud; even Astrid winced from the sensation of her own body dropping into the mat, and she moved to rub the aches out of her side. Rose, meanwhile, had created a diversion, and she was quick to capitalize on it. She closed in on Astrid's legs, going to grab at them. But Astrid looked back over her shoulder, already sure that Rose had something up her sleeve in store for her. Clenching her teeth, she attempted to twist her body back and forth, rocking her hips from side to side and bucking them up and down to try and throw her off. She wasn't going out without a fight, and she'd try everything she could to try and keep Rose from gaining ground!

[Lederface]

Rose's plan worked, a little better than she had speculated, with Astrid and her on the ground, Rose had the opportunity first, so without thinking she would look to grab Astrid by the legs, since there weren't many other options, she had to make sure they could get her trapped.

And it didn't take Rose long to realize that this would be more difficult than she expected, Astrid was putting up a lot of resistance and it was clear that she wouldn't be able to catch her, so releasing Astrid, Rose would take a few steps away from her, so soon she would jump and try to crush Astrid's head with her butt, she might not be the most skilled and strongest at hitting, but she had good skills, and they were not just for looking pretty.