The War in the Ward

Lydia breathed a sigh of relief, or as close as she could get to one with the feverish pace Colleen was setting. She'd expected a fight, but even she hadn't accounted for how aggressive the seemingly serene woman could be. It was a weird sort of switch. With their clothes on, Lydia was clearly the wilder of the two, but once everything was stripped away the claws came out. Colleen had a very sharp set.

But she was surviving, for now. That was something. If she wanted to win - and a quick glance at Lorenza reminded her that she did - Lydia would have to do more than just get along, though. She needed a game changer.

She barely had time to react as Colleen came in with her overhand, high and dangerous...if it hit. She was too close for an effective move backwards, but watching Lorenza taught her that wasn't the only option. Lydia moved towards her rival as the punch came over, coming into her danger zone with a vicious uppercut, shooting right for her stomach.

Colleenâ€s whole body was pulsing with adrenaline as she went after Lydia wildly, trying to catch the tattooed woman and finish her off in the minute which remained in this first round of their little sparring contest. Colleen threw a hard, overhand punch at Lydiaâ€s chest as she chased after her retreating opponent, trying to knock her flat on her back, but Lydiaâ€s retreat abruptly came to an end, and she instead surged forwards, letting Colleenâ€s punch simply skid across her shoulder as she would deliver a vicious uppercut right into the lighter-haired womanâ€s gut.

Colleenâ€s eyes widened as her stomach was squashed underneath her opponentâ€s glove, and a spray of spittle emanated from her mouth, splattering across Lydiaâ€s face. Colleen sagged backwards, doubled over, gloves together in front of her as she tried to recover from that powerful uppercut.

Lorenza, meanwhile, had gone from profoundly worried to immediately elated as Lydia managed to inflict some damage and back her opponent up, rather than the other way around. “Yeah! There you go!” Lorenza called out.

Lydia was glad that Lorenza was glad, but she was having a little bit of trouble sharing in the overall enthusiasm. She was managing a solid offense for the first time, but anyone could get that for a moment or two. Even in Lorenza's matches, there were times when her challengers had some advantages. Occasional glimmers of hope. Lorenza had beaten them, regardless.

It was Carmen's turn to be worried now. Colleen didn't look like a woman who'd been dominating the fight so far, she looked like someone who was on the imaginary ropes, and about to end up on the imaginary canvas if she didn't watch out. "Incoming!"

She blurted out the warning just as Lydia moved in, going straight for the kill. She didn't risk anything fancy, just threw a solid 1-2 combination. A quick left jab followed by a hard right, both aimed at Colleen's lowered jaw.

Lorenza would temper her excitement with a little bit of added advice: “Keep the pressure on her! Donâ€t let her get away! Keep punching!” Lydia had not had a chance to throw very many punches in this spar so far. Now was the time to change that. Lorenzaâ€s lover would not disappoint her.

Meanwhile, Carmenâ€s lover was reeling, trying to recover from a hard shot to her gut that had all of a sudden put a halt to her dominance of the match. Colleen was far from out of it, but she had gotten something of a taste of her opponentâ€s power, and knew that she had to be careful or else Lydia really could do some major damage, and put her out flat on her back. As Lydia came in, Colleen would get another taste of Lydiaâ€s leather, feeling that left jab slam into her chin, sending her stumbling back again. But, heeding Carmenâ€s warning, she got her gloves up in time to absorb the hard right jab. With Lydiaâ€s arm outstretched, Colleen would try to sneak in a punch of her own before Lydia could bring it back to guard, launching a hard left straight over her opponentâ€s arm, aiming for her cheek.

There was no crowd to cheer Lydia on, but that was fine. She didn't it. Lorenza's words had more encouragement than an entire faceless stadium could provide. Having someone so strong and fierce egging her on was an extreme rush, made her feel like she had the tigress' spirit infused within her. Every punch she threw was their punch.

As Colleen blocked her last strike, Lydia pulled back to deliver another one, a quick follow-up. She threw her hard left out, looking to snake it around Colleen's guard and tag her in the face, but as soon it launched she caught a mirror image of the same blow coming towards her own. No time to dodge. Only to wince.

Colleen's blow landed and made Lydia grateful that they were wearing protective gear. Her head jerked back and she took a couple of steps back, immediately bringing up a tight guard and peeking at Colleen from between her arms.

Carmen pumped a fist Colleen's way. "There you go!" She'd done a good job of putting a stop to Lydia's push before it could get too out of hand, giving them even ground as the final seconds ticked away.

Colleen was reeling, but she knew she could come back. They were less than a minute removed from a time when she was thoroughly dominating Lydia, just as thoroughly as Lydia had, for the last thirty seconds, been dominating her. Carmenâ€s encouragement was all that Colleen needed as she threw a hard left straight over Lydiaâ€s arm, trying to smack her backwards with the powerful blow.

At the same time, Colleen saw a mirror image of her own punch hurtling towards her face. It was coming in too fast for her to do anything but brace for impact. The punch slammed into Colleenâ€s face, rattling her and making her bite down hard on her mouthguard as her head snapped back. She would mirror her opponent as both would take a couple of steps back and raise their guards. Colleen stared hard at Lydia from between her gloves.

“Keep it up!” Lorenza called out to Lydia, happy to see her punch land, though she knew that Lydiaâ€s momentum had been halted and the two were now on even ground for the final few seconds of the first round.

Colleen would try to make those seconds count. She stepped forward, ready for one last exchange of blows with her counterpart, throwing a quick jab at Lydiaâ€s guard with her glove, then immediately pulling it back into her own guard. She would throw a second jab, then, quickly, as the three minutes elapsed, she would throw a hook towards Lydiaâ€s side, hoping to get in one last hit before they went back to their “corners.”

“Time!” Lorenza called out.

Carmen winced as they had an even exchange, one of the nastier things to take in any match. The worst time to get hit was always when you were trying to throw a punch, and Colleen could probably make a very educated guess on why that was.

So could Lydia, for that matter. She was still dazed as Colleen came in, looking eager to make every second they had left count, which meant the Tattooed Lady could do no less in return. Fists tight, eyes forward, do your best.

The first two jabs barely hit, so Colleen was probably preparing for something hard and mean. Sure enough, a hook followed them and slammed into Lydia's side, completely unseen all the way. It was tempting to just fold up and spend what little time she had left backing away. A tactical retreat. But no, no...Lorenza wouldn't do that, which meant she couldn't do that.

Lydia surged forward and tried something a little tricky - a fake. She threw a false jab, cutting it short long before it could hit Colleen, then threw out the real punch. A hook, aimed for Colleen's head.

Lorenza called the bell before Lydia could really see how well the blow connected, and she moved back to her lover, much sweatier and a tad more bruised than when she'd left. She was panting hard, her hair a matty mess all around her face. "How do you do that for a living?"

Lorenza was experiencing a little bout of dÃjà vu, harkening back to the boxing match she and Carmen had fought with each other a few months earlier, shortly after each had arrived at AFW. Both matches, this spar and that fight, had seen an even exchange at the very tail end of the first round, with neither woman emerging with much of an advantage when the bell rang. It had been true for the two true boxers, and it seemed to be true for their two lovers, as well.

Colleen dove in towards Lydia as the last few seconds ticked away, throwing first a couple of jabs which bounced relatively harmlessly off of Lydiaâ€s guard, then throwing a hard hook right into Lydiaâ€s exposed, tattooed side. For a second, Colleen thought her opponent would back off and let time expire. But, no. Lydia came back at her, jabbing at Colleenâ€s face. Colleen tightened her guard. But the jab was never intended to hit her. It was a fake, and the real punch, a vicious hook, slammed into the side of her head and sent Colleen spinning, stumbling back towards Carmenâ€s bed as Lorenza called the end of the first round.

Colleen was cursing and spluttering as she would sit down on the edge of Carmenâ€s bed, sliding her mouthguard out and shaking her head. “Wow…damn it, my headâ€s ringing. I canâ€t believe you do this all the time,” she would say to Carmen.

Meanwhile, Lorenza was fielding a similar question from Lydia. She didnâ€t have much of an answer, though. “Eh…you get used to it, I suppose.”

Ah, the first round of a rookie. Carmen remembered hers quite well, especially the part where she nearly collapsed into her corner. Training was one thing, you could do it all day. But nothing could prepare you for the demands of a full round. Three minutes made your body feel like it was going for three hours, taking an insane toll on your stamina. Colleen - and Lydia, too - were doing well, though. There was some amorous energy in the air, no doubt adding to things and spurring them on.

"It comes with being too stupid to know when to quit. Genetic thing." She pointed to a complementary pitcher of ice water on the table, a little something the nurses left. Carmen and Lorenza had been so busy with their board game battles that they'd barely sipped at it. "Drink up, replenish, most important thing." She spared a quick glance at Lydia, as the sweat started to drip off her ass and pool on the floor below. "And make sure she gets a cup, too, okay?"

Might as well keep things friendly, if they could. Though she was rooting for her lady, both of them had fought an impressive round.

Lydia rubbed her jaw as she took the mouthguard out for a moment, glad she could breath freely. "I'm not sure if that impresses me or scares me. Probably both. In good ways." She dropped to a knee and laid her chest against the bed, bringing her head closer to the tempting tigress. "Any advice?"

Colleen nodded, still panting heavily after that first round, her body dripping sweat onto the floor and onto Carmenâ€s bedsheets. When Carmen recommended she get a glass of water, Colleen would grunt in the affirmative and do so, grabbing the pitcher and one of the two glasses and pouring the frigid liquid into it. Then, after hesitating for a moment, she would hand the glass across the divide to Lydia, before grabbing the second one and filling it up for herself. She would drink thirstily, thankfully, before turning her attention back to her Puerto Rican paramour.

“So…how did I do? Any thoughts?” she asked.

Meanwhile, as Lydia took a knee and rested her head against the side of Lorenzaâ€s mattress, the Tijuana Tigress tried to think of something sage to say to her lady before they began the second round. “She was very aggressive. Youâ€ll want to exploit that—make her pay for every shot she lands. Feel free to be more aggressive yourself, too, but be sure not to give up any easy shots for her, or things could get ugly.” She sighed and smiled. “You are doing great, though, mi reina.”