Strength from Numbers: S+M vs. Arlise Christiaens

[Winter]

After Dark Tag Team Match; No Disqualifications

Arlise Christiaens had made two eerily similar calls in the past few months for eerily similar reasons.

Fortunately, those two similar calls did not amount to her having regressed after her... therapy with Dr. Takemi. Arlise felt that, finally, she had begun to break some of the mental shackles that had held her so captive when locked in combat with the many dominant attitudes that filled LAW's ranks. She hadn't enjoyed total success, but she felt in control and competitive again. That feeling had lifted her to a high that had carried her into a tag team match with her sister, who had promptly abandoned her and left her to struggle in a one-sided match she had no chance of winning.

And her confidence had faltered again, even while she had managed to put up a good fight. Arlise knew she shouldn't think less of herself for the effort - few wrestlers could handle a handicap match for more than a few seconds - but as "Titania," she had a reputation to uphold, one of a woman who could handle any and every circumstance without faltering. She had certainly faltered, and the fans could see it. She avoided social media, but she couldn't avoid the chatter. That chatter threatened to act as another albatross around her neck.

But this time, she could see the problem forming in her psyche, and she wanted to address it early.

As she strolled toward a quiet room with a solitary ring, a tech rushed past her, saying something over his headset about the readiness of the cameras and giving Arlise a thumbs up. She summoned a smile and nodded to him. The room, dim and imposing, invited her in with only a dim light streaming onto the ring, and she moseyed her way over, checking to see if her opponents - yes, opponents - had arrived. It did not seem that they had, and she entered on her own, beginning some stretches as the ref lingered in the corner, minding her own business.

Her idea, some might call foolish. She wanted to test herself. A few contacts in LAW had mentioned to her that they knew of a pair of wrestlers who matched her need for a challenge to overcome any anxiety she had over being outnumbered - specifically, outnumbered by two with an interest in turning a match sensual. With her exposure to the After Dark setting and that knowledge in mind, Arlise had contacted them, asking them if they would like a private match - albiet with cameras rolling - so she might learn some ways to present a stronger fight when circumstances or cheaters saw her at a huge disadvantage.

They had accepted. And they had seemed pleasant enough in the exchange, like her contacts mentioned.

Still, Arlise tapped her toes on the canvas and leaned over the ropes as she finished her stretches, anticipating their arrival with some degree of excitement to go with the nerves.

Spoiler

[BlackAkuma]

The room they’d set up was a spacious one, as it had to be, serving as a devilish marriage between a dugeon and a wrestling ring. It had all the expected accouterments. The walls were lined with various bondage toys - handcuffs, chains, paddles, whips, crops, gags, ropes of every size. Vibrators? In several different colors? Blindfolds? A tight, strapping one and a soft satin, for those with delicate skin. Nipple clamps of every variety, from the small and playful to the large and menacing.

It even had the expected furniture. Manacles hung from the ceiling like medieval instruments, and someone had gone to the trouble of lining the walls with actual torches - while they did little to aid the ambient light of the room, they gave the entire area a menacing air, as if this was a place of arcane torture, something ripped straight from the most twisted minds.

The centerpiece of it all was a great, ornate luscious queen-sized bed, one with black sheets and ropes sticking out at every end, waiting for some poor soul to be strapped to it. It had a massive wooden headboard, one carved with all sorts of hellish images, demons writhing about and circling each other in a profane orgy. A striking image, but more importantly, a large one. Large enough for two women to hide behind, as Sabine and Morrigan had been doing for the past few minutes.

It was Sabine who suggested they come earlier than their foe and hide in the shadows, wanting to give their opponent - or ‘victim’, as she liked to call her - a surprise. The Morrigan, as always, would’ve been happy to just come in, start brawling, and drag poor Arlise to the bed, but she eventually gave up to her partner’s whims after a little coaxing. They were professional dominatrices, after all, and a little bit of theatre always came standard.

Now, with Arlise in the room and settled, they emerged from behind the bed and made their presence known, with Sabine come around one side with a sultry strut, while Morrigan made her way on the other with a commanding march.

The Morrigan

The Red Baroness

”Oh me, oh my.” Sabine spoke first, filling the room with her dulcet German tones. Her eyes scanned the pretty young thing in the ring before them. A cute thing, with a fetching outfit that showed her fine form and fine, long red hair that rivaled her own. Sabine was already undressing the woman with her eyes, and she could tell from Morrigan’s hungry look that her thoughts of something altogether more aggressive. ”What do we have here? It seems like a little fly has wandered into our web.”

”That’s one big fuckin’ fly.” The Morrigan’s thick Irish brogue shook the room, as she hopped up onto the ring and looked over the ropes, a lioness preparing to pounce. ”Easy on the eyes, too. If a little scrawny.” She had quick chuckle, then pulled her way into the ring, leaping over the ropes and landing near Arlise with a heavy crash.

Sabine, for her part, daintily made her way up and slipped through the ropes, one leg at a time, to join Morrigan as they circled their target for the night. The women passed around her, in perfect sync, staying close enough to be a threat but far enough to give Arlise some room to move, if she so wished. ”I wouldn’t say that. Her body looks quite delectable, to my eyes. Though I do wonder…” She tapped her chin and idly gazed off to the side, before she brought her focus back when it belonged. ”Does she know what she’s in for? What she’s walked into? It’s quite a daunting task for one woman.”

”Ready or not, doesn’t matter.” The Morrigan stopped her circling and moved at Arlise from the front, getting into her personal space and staring the smaller woman down. She pressed forward, threatening, with a hyena’s wicked grin. ”She’s gonna get it.”

[Winter]

Enraptured by her thoughts, only once Arlise had settled on the ropes did she scan the dimmer, firelit corners of the room for more features than merely the ring. She found herself squinting past those lights, trying to give shape to whatever lay between them and realizing the room had more space than she initially realized. While she knew the nature of After Dark and had not at all mistaken the implications of what these two individuals she planned to wrestle did for a living, at first her mind flew so far afield of the true nature of what surrounded her that it all looked like formless mosaic like she had first assumed.

She only began to piece it together when she whirled and followed the ref's gaze. A... bed? Did she see... chains hanging from the ceiling? Arlise squinted harder and leaned out of one corner of the ring to peer at the sights, and a sensation both cold and warm tickled her senses when her brain processed that those chains possessed clasps, and that beyond that lay not filigree in carved walls but objects of every sort with clasps and cuffs of their own.

That sensation coursed through her so thoroughly when an unseen voice spoke out that Arlise could have fallen out of the ropes. Her body shuddered nonetheless, and she forcibly calmed it while she whirled.

She could not see them fully at first, not until they drew closer to the ring, but Arlise didn't need a searchlight or telescope to tell her that the first voice belonged to her opponent - a voice with words dripping that could have left Arlise dripping. Damn... damn damn. Do not start this way, she demanded of herself as she eased her way closer. The other one - not such a pleasant voice. Aggressive. But Arlise's eyes went to this darker figure first before she peered at the other one. She had done her homework, yes, to avoid the dangers of surprise.

But she could not have prepared herself for the two figures entering the ring with her.

It took all the dignity and pride in her not to stare at them with the same schoolgirl's pathetic perplexion that had greeted Dr. Takemi's first hour with her, and her full chest heaved with calming breaths. Everything she saw threatened to creep down her shapely form toward a spot that demanded no composure, but she steeled herself as they circled her. Keeping her lips sealed did not prove a challenge - in fact, she pursed them to keep from betraying her racing thoughts until Morrigan filled her space. She peered up at the woman with all the defiance she could muster until the exact words she needed came to her, and that defiance became the slightest gratification.

"I did ask for it."

The ref, unperturbed by the scene, rang the small prop bell to signal them that they could begin, and Arlise lurched back into a defensive stance, almost forgetting the purpose of all this pageantry.

[BlackAkuma]

Sabine liked Arlise straightaway, without a second thought. The woman’s look had something to do with, as her outfit put her striking figure on full display. Every curve was accentuated, and every muscle was on full display, show enough skin to be tantalizing but not sacrificing function for form. A body like this needed to be explored, savored, enjoyed, and she was glad to have such a rare opportunity.

But, more than that, she was impressed by the woman’s spirit. Most would have shied away at the prospect of taking on two women at once, even in such a sensual setting. While there was some understandable apprehension in Arlise’s shimmering eyes, it was quickly replaced with determination and defiance as the woman stood tall despite Morrigan’s looming presence.

The act made Morrigan’s smile grow even wider, and she licked her lips with anticipation. For a second, she even contemplated moving in and taking Arlise for a wild kiss, but she decided against it. No need to take that step just yet. Save it. ”Yeah. Yeah, you did.” The Morrigan finally stepped back and gave Arlise some space, ready for the match to start. ”Hey, Sabs? Take a powder. Me and Red are gonna have some private time.”

Sabine pouted at that but let it go with a shrug - she knew how sulky Morrigan could get when she was denied, and there was no harm in letting her have her way at this juncture. The match could hardly have been more pushed in their favor, victory was a foregone conclusion. ”As you wish. Though do be sure to save some of her for me. Greed is unbecoming, dear.”

The Morrigan rolled her shoulders and bounced on her heels, getting nice and loose as the bell rang. ”No promises.” With the match officially underway, she wasted no time - right out of the gate, she came surging at full pace, bringing out all the speed her bulky body could muster. She got it close and swung her arm hard at Arlise’s head, trying to take her off guard with a lariat.

[Winter]

Yes. Yes she did.

Should she consider herself a fool for doing so? If they had both rushed into the ring and began pounding her head into the canvas, she supposed she might have in hindsight. Nonetheless, she trusted the source of her advice - Lucy, who had endured her own gauntlet of sensual predicaments at LAW and had begun to learn the inner workings of the roster - and, against the odds, trusted these two... if only because of the way she could see the other redhead gazing at her. Arlise shifted, though not like a wilting wallflower... simply as a woman with curiosity.

The other one - Morrigan, she imagined - remained much more blunt, but she caught that the two would have at her one at a time, at least to start. Her stiffened pose relaxed, and Arlise, not realizing how much her words and tone might have painted her as the vulnerable doe among hungry wolves - a message she often sent inadvertently, unbeknownst to her - nodded her head in appreciation. "I suppose I can thank you for a sporting start," she coyly told the woman in the ring with her.

She did not foolishly believe the woman offered any sugar and rainbows, however, after... after what she had spotted in the room. One glance at the woman would mark her as intense, too, and Arlise did not fail to anticipate the oncoming rush. She reeled back onto her heels and raised both hands, thankful that the woman, while sudden, did not move so quickly that Arlise could not mount a defense. She could see the arm rising to meet her in the chest, partly because she favored those charging moves herself, and she managed to shift away and grasp at the arm before Morrigan could catch her with it.

Holding on dear life, she tried to swing around using Morrigan's momentum while trapping the arm against her chest, hoping to hold onto it long enough for a brief bend of Morrigan's elbow in a standing armbar.