Libby "Liberty" Vella (C) vs. River Styx - Walk Tall

'Quick' wasn't a word people would often use to describe River. She was a big girl, and she came from the 'Terminator Walk' school of advancing on her opponents. Mighty Glacier. Take your time, bulldoze them into the ground, work them over, and look like a badass while you do it.

But with a little boost from the ropes, she could get some surprising things done, and this was a good example. The clothesline dropped Liberty like a sack of potatoes, and just like that, the hardcore champ was all hers to play with.

River brushed her shoulder off like a pimp and made her way over to the poor girl's fallen form, coming to stand over it. She dropped down to one knee with the hardcore champ between her legs, and reached down. "Love your hair, by the way." One hand gripped those strands tight to hold her head in place, while she started throwing punches into Liberty's face with the other. Working her over, one blow at a time. "Me, I keep it short. Makes stuff like this harder. But you're rocking it."

Liberty sensed she was in trouble as Styx stood over her, but she was still recovering from that clothesline and would have to take whatever she was given. When her big opponent knelt down over her chest and grabbed a handful of her hair, though, she knew that this could get nasty.

“Ungh!” she groaned, head whipping to the side as her face took the first punch. Her hair kept her painfully in place, though, setting her up for repeated punches.

She groaned some more as the second and third hit. Her head was spinning, probably more than normal due to the PPV damage. That should have served as a warning to Liberty, but the floored girl was more pissed off at the casual way Styx was dominating her, slow and methodical, while commenting on her hair.

At the fourth punch, the crowd began to wince, as it almost looked the champ was destined to be a punching bag for the duration of the fight. By this point, though, Libertyâ€s aching brain began to cast around for a counter. She wanted to punch Styx right back in the face, but couldnâ€t reach from her straddled position. What she could reach, though, was Styxâ€s crotch, her foeâ€s legs helpfully spread right above her. Liberty balled her fist and fired it upwards. She didnâ€t have room for a proper swing, but hopefully the sensitive nature of her target would offset that.

River wasn't about to tell her, but she had actually been keeping up with Liberty's matches for a little while. The hardcore matches in AFW were few and far between, but she made it a point to watch them when she could, and she'd seen the current hardcore champ in action a few times. Enough times that the way she took the punches seemed a bit off, in River's eyes. She'd punched plenty of people in the face before, too, so she had expertise in this area.

She didn't have time to really contemplate why that was, though. Few things distract you like a punch in the cunt.

She squawked and stood up, getting off of Liberty and backing away while she nursed her crotch. The predictable laughs came out from the peanut gallery. "Oh, fuck you all!" In hindsight, she probably should have seen that one coming. Her crotch was practically hovering in Liberty's face a moment ago, she was begging for it. Live and learn, live and learn.

Liberty sighed with relief as Styx got off of her. The sound of audience laughter told her Styxâ€s reaction to the crotch shot, so she knew it had been successful. Rubbing her bruised face and holding a hand to her sore scalp, Liberty staggered to her feet, already looking a little unsteady.

“Sorry, honey, shouldnâ€t have fucked with my hair,” Liberty grinned by way of hollow apology, as she eyed Styx up.

Both fighters were slightly distracted right now and nursing injuries, although Liberty had had the worst of it. Part of her wanted more recovery time, but letting up would benefit Styx more than her. Also, letting up would be boring.

She took a few steps and then ran forwards, wildly swinging her boot in the direction of Styxâ€s stomach. If she was lucky enough to connect, then her opponent would be educated about her steel-tipped boots to match the elbow pad.

River rolled her eyes back at Liberty, but she couldn't help a little chuckle. This...this was fun? It was fun. It was the most fun she'd had since she came to Japan. The most fun she'd had doing something legal, at any rate. It had started out about the belt, but she would have been willing to do this even if Liberty wasn't the champ. "In my defense, your hair is all over the place. It's hard not to fuck with it."

Her cooch demanded vengeance and River was quite happy to oblige. She started to storm Liberty's way again, but the champ was a little lighter on her feet than she bargained for and moved in, swinging her leg out and driving her steel into River's stomach. Spittle flew from her mouth as she bent over, more than a few droplets landing on the champ, and she stumbled back while she cradled her gut, wrenching with pain.

But she never stopped smiling.

Instead of standing up straight, River stayed bent and plowed forward, looking to slam into Liberty's chest and drive her towards the ropes on the other side of the ring. Maybe even through them, if that's what it came to.

Liberty gave a snort of satisfaction as her foot struck Styxâ€s stomach, causing the short-haired girl to bend forwards in pain. She felt Styxâ€s spit spatter a little onto her skin, pleased that she was having an impact.

“Like that, huh?” she shot in a challenging tone. Her confidence faltered, though, when she glimpsed the maniacal grin on Styxâ€s face. Shit, maybe she did like it…

“Fuck!” Liberty exclaimed as Styx barrelled forwards, charging into her body and forcing her backwards. She grunted, frantically back-pedalling as she tried not to lose her balance, only to find herself falling back against the ring ropes.

She hurriedly grabbed the ropes in an attempt not to fall out of the ring altogether. Gripping the top rope for support, she would try and bring her knee up into Styxâ€s body, wildly attacking with her legs and feet as best she could. Liberty was close to going down, but would fight it all the way.

"Oh, yeah, I'm having a ball, most fun I've ever had with all my clothes on." Styx let out a harsh laugh as she drove Liberty back, steamrolling her to the ropes. She was the taller one between them, but only by a little bit, maybe an inch or two, and Liberty was more well built than just about anyone Styx had run into - she thought they would be pretty close to equal, power-wise, but it was oddly easy to overpower her. "You?"

She got her to the ropes, but getting her over was a challenge and a half. She broke into a crazed frenzy and became a little ball of Italian fury, striking Styx hard in the gut. She spit to the side and planted her feet down hard, securing her place. If Liberty wanted to stay in the ring, they'd stay in the ring.

"Up and over." She suddenly pulled back instead of pushing forward, grabbing Liberty by the waist, yanking up fast, and tossing the hardcore champion over her shoulders towards the center of the ring.

Libertyâ€s eyes widened as the rough-voiced blonde laughed through the pain and enthused about the fun she was having. There was a nagging sense of doubt in the championâ€s mind now, the feeling that she might have bitten off more than she could chew with this one. She needed to be at peak fitness to hold off this battle-ready berserker… but she wasnâ€t, and that weakness could spell disaster for her.

Still, Liberty would be damned before she admitted anything like that, and took some solace in the solid gut-kick she managed to inflict, holding her ground at the edge of the ring and avoiding a painful fall onto the hard arena floor.

“This is okay…” Liberty replied to Styx, licking her lips as she panted heavily. “Needs more of your pain,” she added, like a chef sampling a recipe.

She wouldnâ€t get it, though, as Styx countered by grabbing her waist. For a second she was completely wrongfooted, having been defending against being pushed out of the ring, not tossed back into it.

Disoriented, Liberty flipped over Styxâ€s shoulder and thudded painfully onto her back, laying dizzy in the centre of the ring. She willed her legs to move her out of this vulnerable position, but her spinning senses were dreadfully sluggish after that slam.

Styx got some impressive hang time on her throw, putting all the strength she had into hurling Liberty away. She was too busy stumbling around and getting her balance back to see the crash with her own two eyes, but she sure as hell heard it. Damned satisfying, and from the look on Liberty's face and the drowsy way she was moving, she wouldn't be getting up for a little while.

"Oh, I couldn't agree more. By all means, lay it on me." She shook off the daze and walked back over to Liberty's fallen form, prone and ready for all sorts of abuse. She kicked her long mane out of the way and dropped down to her knees above the champion's head. She grabbed her by the ears, squeezing them tight enough for a good grip, and pulled her head into a rear naked choke. Stxy powering down hard on Liberty's throat, flexing her muscles and tightening up.

"Gotcha." She pratically growled the word out, her hot breath blowing into the unkempt champion's ear.

Styxâ€s invitation to lay it on her infuriated the floored girl as it highlighted her helplessness. As much as she wanted to make the other girl suffer, she knew she wouldnâ€t get that chance right now.

Instead, Liberty was forced to squeal a little as her head was yanked up by the ear, a cruel and unusual transition into the rear naked choke.

She quivered at the tight grip on her throat, constricting her airway, as she felt Styxâ€s breath on the side of her face, her low rasping voice right in Libertyâ€s ear. That previous self-doubt was getting stronger, as she sensed the malice in this opponent.

The championâ€s frustration soon became more frantic, as she found herself struggling to breathe in the harsh choke. She squirmed and kicked her legs as desperation began to set in. Poor Liberty looked the picture of helplessness right now, laying in Styxâ€s lap with her head and neck enmeshed in the bigger girlâ€s arms. Her face was a grimace, and the first hints of red began to colour her pale cheeks.

She spluttered incoherently as she began to rock from side to side, trying to loosen the chokehold before it made her any weaker than she already was.