Thread: Blood, Sweat And Tears (Ragnarok and AlluringEnigma)

As Aida entered the ring, she saw her opponent coming up to meet her in the preliminary discussion, her bright eyes quickly sweeping over the other woman from top to bottom. She didn't look concerned, or even make eye contact with her soon-to-be foe, far more focused instead on getting a feel for the woman's height, reach, musculature and posture. She was clearly a fighter, not just a sub looking to get her jollies in the ring. In fact, from the way this woman was eyeing her, Aida had little doubt that this smug bitch was already picturing her victory lap, and Aida's eyes narrowed a little at the implied disrespect. As much as the Valkyrie enjoyed winning for its own sake, she was starting to think she'd take a particular pleasure in stripping some of the sass from this cunt's eyes with a nice, long 'post-fight celebration' together. But she didn't let herself grow distracted by the numerous things she wanted to do to this smarmy bitch, instead putting all of her focus in comparing their stature. Aida was fairly certain she would have a few inches of reach on this bitch, perfect for a striker. As they returned to their respective corners and took some time simply staring at one another, Aida began to once more force herself to see what could happen if she lost... only now it was this bitch, this 'Sheriff,' who was the deliverer of her humiliation, the one laughing and groping and beating her, taking away her prized winning streak. And there was no way in fuck Aida was going to let that happen. The Fear was replaced with one absolute certainty. She was going to enjoy this. It was then the bell rang, the crowd's voices raising in encouragement as both fighters sprang into action. Fists pounding together once, Aida came out, guard up and ready, toned body moving with the smooth precision of a machine. Because that's what all that training, all the practice and physical conditioning had made it. Her hard, muscled form acted as pistons and pulleys, driven by her core, and as much as she let Fear take its place in her mind, she would not allow her body to succumb to any weakness, any pain. She wasn't composed of flesh, or blood. She wasn't vulnerable. I'm going to fucking ruin this bitch... Deep in her self-imposed state of focus, Aida was a bit surprised to see just how eagerly Ava was charging in- most of her opponents, even the hardened fighters, usually preferred to circle at a safe distance and test defenses- but pride and hotblooded zeal drove Aida to match it in kind, expression unreadable as she closed in. Her mind was focused, senses heightened, and even as the two women came together in a hard grapple in the ring's center, causing the crowd to erupt in a loud cheer she was measuring her opponent's movements. Aida could see the body language, the glances to size up the Valkyrie's balance and footwork, Ava's preference for lower strikes or sweeps... this woman clearly wanted Aida on the ground. As that typically meant she was dealing with a wrestler by trade, Aida's assessment of the woman's threat level rose sharply. Naturally, Aida had trained in defending herself from that kind of assault- she would have been a pisspoor fighter if she couldn't at least break out of a grapple- but when it came to the offense, she was paltry at best, and all her victories had come by knockout or submission under a beating, never from a control hold or an armbar. She didn't have the patience, or quite the proper amount of flexibility, to really go toe-to-toe with the best grapplers, and because of that most of her wrestling training focused on how to escape holds, and ideally how to regain footing from a half or full guard. Still, she knew she'd be at a disadvantage if she let things go to the canvas, and wasted little time shoving hard at Ava's arms, breaking their hold on one another. She took a quick step back to evade an attempt Ava made to take her out at the knees and quickly slipped back into range, throwing a few snapping jabs to test her opponent's defenses said defenses were certainly solid, as her punches either missed or glance off of Ava's deflecting arm, and Aida quickly had to duck her head to one side to avoid a retaliating strike. Even as the punch whistled past her ear, she saw just enough of an opening to land a short-range under-handed right hook, catching Ava in the side. Aida was shocked to find the other girl's body as hard and unyielding as her own, her blow lacking the wind-up necessary to get any real power behind it, and things grew even worse when she felt Ava's hand hook around the back of her head. The missed punch Aida had evaded had turned into a grapple, and Aida grunted as she was yanked forward, stumbling half a step before folding under a hard knee strike to her belly. Instinctively, her abdominal tensed just before the impact to absorb the worst of the impact, but it still rocked her to her core, a hiss passing from between clenched teeth. Her arm came up, wrapping around Ava's shoulders, and for a short time they pressed together like weary boxers, straining and pushing back and forth. That all you've got, you little whore? Aida growled stubbornly in Ava's ear, her hot breath puffing on the other woman's face as she panted softly. She could feel her foe trying to force her down, hook her leg, trip her up, but she held the grapple stubbornly, sheer willpower and strength buying her enough time to trashtalk You're in my ring, bitch... and when I'm finished tenderizing that pretty little face I'm gonna make sure everyone's watching when I sit on it. She even threw in a little, mocking kiss on Ava's cheek, before giving her earlobe a soft suckle and much harder nip between her front teeth. She was in serious danger of losing her footing though, and so Aida finally gave her opponent a hard shove, stepping back at the same time to buy herself a little breathing room. Ava was close behind, though, clearly smelling an advantage, but this time Aida wasn't taking anything for granted, and as the other woman went for a shot to Aida's ribs, the Valkyrie twisted her body to one side to let the punch glance off, trapping Ava's striking arm beneath her own. She didn't want to maintain the grapple for too long- certainly having no intention of turning this into a wrestling match- so she held it only long enough to give her foe a hard yank of her own. Ava, clearly seeing this coming, was already pulling back to resist the pull, but just at the moment the Sheriff was pulling away, Aida reversed her momentum and rushed in, body stooping low to catch Ava in the belly with a shoulder tackle. Her strength was so immense she lifted Ava bodily into the air, legs pumping like a rampaging bull as Aida drove her opponent back, back, and into the edge of the arena, the loud metallic rattle of the fence as the Sheriff slammed into it greeted by louder cheers from the fans watching. The moment they reached the wall, Aida's feet planted on the ground, letting Ava drop back to a standing position rather than trying to hold her up any longer, though she remained bent over, stubborn shoulder grinding into Ava's abs. Ignoring the hammer blow that thudded across her back as best she could- fuck, this woman was strong - Aida slammed a fist of her own into Ava's side once, twice, thrice, trying to get in a kidney shot. Unfortunately, the bitch seemed to have the presence of mind to cover herself up, and so the Valkyrie quickly went for a headbutt straight to Ava's gut, both hands grabbing the fence so she could pull herself into the strike. It landed, and Aida felt her opponent's densely muscled abs give way, just a little. Straightening up, wanting to take advantage of whatever momentum the strike had gotten him, Aida then did what she did best stood toe to toe with her foe and swung jackhammer punches, looking to take advantage of any opening she could find as she kept Ava trapped up against the fence. Her opponent was turtling up very well, with uplifted arms that were able to fend off the worst of the punishment, but as Aida mixed up the angles and types of strikes, throwing hooks, jabs and uppercuts she was fairly sure she managed to slip a fist between the other woman's guard, here or there. Unfortunately, it wasn't proving to be nearly enough to drop her, or loosen that stubborn guard. Most of the time, this was where the fight ended Aida's opponent would be overwhelmed by the sheer ferocity and precision of the strikes, and many were foiled when they tried to drop their guard long enough to counter-attack, only to get clobbered senseless. But Ava didn't seem to be dropping her guard, apparently content to ride out the impacts, and as much as Aida didn't want to admit it, she couldn't keep up this kind of frantic pace forever. Before her muscles could start to burn too much, she threw one last hard knee towards Ava's ribs- knowing it would in all likelihood be blocked, but at least still drive the other woman up against the fence again- before beating a quick withdrawal, her footwork meticulous as she slipped back towards the center of the ring. Once there, she began to lightly hop from foot to foot, limbering up, lifting her hands briefly to prompt a cheer from the crowd. She even gave Ava a cocky grin of her own, mockingly lifting a brow and gesturing with a hand for her to get back into the fight- prompting laughter to titter through the masses- but inside, she was far more wary her gut had a dull ache from that early knee, and her early gamble had cost her a fair bit of energy. To top it all off, this woman was definitely the biggest challenge she'd had in at least the past year... She could only hope that she had landed in enough shots to do some damage of her own.