Wrestling with equality (for Caroline)

"I know, though if you do have a real match it wouldn't hurt to know going in what it would feel like." She would suggest to Caroline. "You would want to be prepared right? Well, back to work" she smiles at her and looks ready to continue. When they get back in the ring and continue to she tells Caroline that she wants to show her something she was working on. She says she won't hurt her as she looks like she might put her in a sleeper hold of some kind and intentionally, but make it looks like an accident, knock off her goggles. She stops what she was going to do and goes to get them, but then stops as she going to hand them back. She instead goes to the other side of the ring and puts them in one of the corners before moving in front of the corner by a few feet. "I'm sorry Caroline but sometimes in this sport you don't get a choice. I will be nice and tell you that your goggles are directly behind me. If you want them come get them. Even if you know very little, use what you can. All you have to do is get past me and grab them."

Most of the students that were there saw what Jesse did and at least half of them knew what she was trying to do. One of them even sounded a bell that was close by. She wasn't trying to be mean, she felt that she had to push her here. She would let Caroline make the first move. While she would not wrestle with the intent of preventing her from getting them back for good she wanted to see her work under pressure. She did not know what kind of style she would end up using given how sudden this was. One of the other students tells Caroline from the side even if she has to grapple with Jesse as if they were new comers practicing high school amateur wrestling for the first time, who knows what might happen. Jesse did tell her where she is and while not a yell but at semi-loud volume tells Caroline to come at her.

Wes sees what is going on the ring, with the girls facing each other and everyone else surrounding the ring. He stays quiet but keeps a close eye on things.

Caroline didn't have any reason to suspect something was up, and allowed Jesse to put her arms around her. Until Caroline felt something push hard against the side of her head, sending her goggles tumbling to the floor. Now, the young wrestler may be a bit naïve, but she wasn't dumb; she wore her goggles tight for the fear of losing them, and there was no way that Jesse had brushed them off by accident. “What are you doing?!” she demanded an answer, bending down to recover the eye wear but finding nothing.

As Jesse explained things, Caroline's heart started thumping hard in her chest, while her body twitched anxiously. Even though she didn't want to show it, she was clearly scared to death of having all the student's eyes on her, to say nothing of what she would try to do against an experienced pro in the ring. Her fear of public exposure was a definite (if less noticeable) problem for the girl, since AFW matches took place in huge arenas with lots of cheering onlookers, so this pseudo-match in front of her peers would probably help her in the long run, though she certain wasn't thinking about that right now.

Moving slowly and deliberately, Caroline edged forward with her arms extended out slightly. She wasn't being asked to fight Jesse, just get her goggles, so the girl was going to play as defensive as possible and try to just get around her to recover them. She couldn't see without her goggles, only vaguely aware of a grayish blob where Jesse was standing, so she would need to listen for her feet hitting the canvas to know when to react.

The students on the outside begin to slap the edge of the mat repeatedly a few seconds after Caroline started moving, even if it wasn't much movement. Some said nothing while some encouraged her, even a few of them were wanting Jesse to really give it to her. Jesse would then go to lock up with Caroline, which she did go into it strong, not as strong as she could have but enough to send Caroline a message that she was serious about it.

After letting Caroline have a couple of seconds to get a good feel of the lock up Jesse would break the lock up and go to lift Caroline up and drop her with a body slam. She knew that Caroline knew that this was a legit move since it was something they worked on, and while it isn't hard to protect oneself while receiving it the impact can still take its toll. The thundering of the rest of the group pounding on the mat would stop once Caroline was lifted up. If they were in a normal work out Caroline would have time to get back up on her own, but this time around Jesse would follow up with an elbow drop to the upper chest of Caroline. If she wasn't quick enough after hitting the mat Jesse would have hit her target. When Caroline was lifted up for the slam Jesse knew what she wanted to do as soon as it landed and did not waste time in executing.

One thing Wes mentioned to Caroline a day or two ago timing can sometimes mean the difference between winning and losing. Reacting too slow or too fast to certain situations can be troublesome, and even the best can guess wrong, but over time he knows Caroline will know when to pace herself, when to react fast, and in some cases when to go for that big risk. Even though Jesse's test was just beginning Jesse knew this was something she had to do right here and now. Even if this was a small challenge sometimes the key steps in life are the small ones.

Caroline's anxiety intensified when the students around the ring started pounding on it. Whether intentional or not, the noise was giving Jesse a perfect cover to move in and start attacking her, and for the blind young girl, that was a big problem. “Hey, stop it, you guys!” Caroline told the students, politely but more forcefully than her usual tone. Unfortunately, it would probably not work for some of them, since it would take more than a girl complaining to stop their excited pounding.

When Jesse moved in and seized Caroline in a lockup, the girl didn't notice and yelped as Jesse pushed her back, unopposed for a second before the young girl finally brought her arms up, intertwined them with Jesse's, and pushed back. Alas, just as she was starting to get a feel for the lockup, Jesse moved her arms to grab the lighter girl and lift her effortlessly for a bodyslam. Caroline knew what was coming and curled her body to save the back of her head from impact, but the slam still stung her back pretty harshly, leaving her dazed.

Suspicious of a followup attack, Caroline tried to scoot herself backward, but Jesse's elbow drop came down too quickly, and struck her stomach. Coughing from the impact, Caroline rolled onto her stomach, with her hands clutching it. She would start getting up in a couple of seconds, but that would give Jesse enough time to bear down on her while she was prone on the mat.

Jesse did not feel bad that it didn't make her initial target since it did catch enough of Caroline to make feel unpleasant for a moment. As Caroline was getting back up Jesse would fire in a kick from the side, in the direction of Caroline's stomach. She wanted to continue to work on Caroline's stomach as she would follow up by pulling her back to her feet by the hair, lifting her up for a suplex, but instead of dropping her just straight up and over she would turn her body a bit and front suplex her the upper rope, having her bounce off and be suplexed back first towards the middle of the ring.

Everyone watched as Jesse would go to her and proceed to lift her up again, not by the hair this time but she did pull her up with some authority.

As Caroline got up on all fours and tried to right herself, the girl uttered a scream as Jesse's foot came, seemingly from out of nowhere, and struck her stomach sharply. The impact shot her up briefly and left her prone on the mat again, coughing and sputtering in an attempt to recover from having the wind knocked out of her. Her scream had been from shock as well as pain, however. The fact that Jesse was literally kicking her while she was down had come as a surprise to her, and thus the move hurt her psychologically as well as physically. Her “teaching style” was just about the opposite of Kei's, as she seemed to favor breaking newbies in by breaking them down first. Either that, or Jesse just didn't like her that much...but probably the first one.

Caroline gave a telling whimper as Jesse tugged her up by the hair. It would be apparent, to Jesse if not to all the students, that her strength was getting drained pretty quickly. Jesse would lift her up, eliciting some tortured groans from the young girl, who knew what was coming next. The tougher woman brought her down on the top ring rope, causing her body to bounce uncomfortably off of it before hitting the canvas even harder than she would have otherwise. It was a lethally effective maneuver that left Caroline writhing on the mat in pain. Jesse really wasn't pulling any punches with her, and the fact that Caroline felt this weak and sore so soon into a match was scary for her. Still, she wouldn't give up, as the fear of being pitied or dismissed as a wrestling contender scared her even more. She would keep fighting until she physically couldn't move...at least, that's what she thought now. There were a lot of painful maneuvers in wrestling, and the young girl couldn't be sure that her will wouldn't be broken by one. She was particularly worried about the possibility of being trapped in a submission hold, as she had never experienced one before, and if Jesse did that, she might be forced to give up and admit defeat.

In the meantime, Jesse pulled Caroline up again. The young girl came up ready to strike back, although her options were limited by how weak she already was. Forcing herself to hold her breath for a moment, Caroline listened carefully for the sound of Jessica inhaling and exhaling. Once she heard it, the girl shot an arm up and tried to wrap it around the source of the noise, hoping to grab Jesse around the back of the neck and tug her head down. At the same time, her other arm shot up to hopefully deliver a solid uppercut to the woman's chin.

Jesse had the thought of working on Caroline in one of the far corners, but before she could attempt to send her there she was taken back a bit by Caroline's uppercut. She didn't like what Caroline did but at the same time was glad that she wasn't going down quickly. Still, after being taken back from the shot she would take a second to reposition herself before going for a running clothesline.

Around that moment Wes was finished talking with Kei on the phone and goes closer to the action.

Caroline felt a pang of hope surge through her system when she successfully struck Jesse for the first time. It was a puny accomplishment, however, and one that didn't last for long. Before she knew it, Caroline felt Jesse's forearm strike her throat, causing her to cough violently for a second as the impact knocked her off her feet once again and left her on her back. It surprised her that Jesse had been able to muster so much force even though she hadn't had much room to get a running start. Facing the fact that a simple strike hadn't done much to the woman, Caroline decided to try something more substantial, and more drastic. As she rose to a crouching position, the young wrestler fired a punch at where she believed Jesse's legs to be, hoping to strike her knees or crotch to stun her for a moment. Following that, Caroline would scoot herself forward and place her head between Jesse's thighs, grasping them with both hands to keep them secured around her.

Finally, the young girl summoned every ounce of strength she had and attempted to power herself up to a standing position, intending to lift Jesse clear off the mat, atop her shoulders. If she could successfully get this far, Caroline would fall backwards, slamming Jesse face-first into the canvas. It was an extremely risky move, particularly for a novice like her. If she failed, she would simply become trapped between Jesse's legs, and the fact that she had placed herself there would make it embarrassing as well as painful.

“I'm...not beaten yet!” Caroline growled as she struggled with Jesse's weight. The woman was a savvy wrestler, so no matter how determined Caroline was, it would take a some luck for her slam to succeed.

If Jesse would have went after her right away maybe it might not have happened but she took a couple of seconds to feel if her jaw was all good, and when she went for Caroline she felt herself being lifted up.  Everyone watched looked amassed as Caroline was in fact getting Jesse off the ground.  Even though she got Jesse up it didn't feel stable as Jesse was squirming.  Jesse wanted to do something to counter it but could tell both of them were going to go down and it wouldn't be a soft landing for either of them.  As they fell she attempted to shift herself so Caroline would somewhat break her fall.

It took her a few seconds to get her head back into the game after the landing and she was looking a bit angry.  "Get up you wreckless cunt." She tells Caroline in a semi-barking manner as she pulls her up, if she wasn't doing that on her own, and sends her to one of the corners.  She didn't notice right away that it was the corner with the goggles and while laying against the turnbuckles if she moved her feet at all she might have felt them.  Jesse headed towards her and gives her a few knife edge chops, wanting to leave an imprint of her of palm across the upper part of Caroline's chest.  She didn't care to see how big of a mark if any she was leaving but then went low and gave her a few quick shoulder thrusts.
After the last one she would notice the goggle by Caroline's feet from the corner of her eye. She panicked a tiny bit and went then to choke her with her boot.

Wes said nothing as he watched, wondering what to make of this.  Jesse then gets told by a student from another corner that her foot choke was could have been longer than the allowable five count, to which she would turn and ask the student who made them ref. They have a small verbal exchange and one of the students that is directly behind Caroline climbs up on the apron, reaches into the ring and chokes her from behind while Jesse is distracted.  Wes sees this and feels like stepping in. He looks he is about to when the other student releases and shoves Caroline away from the corner, hoping she would fall facing the middle of the ring or at the very least stagger closer to Jesse.

If she fell Jesse would hear this and turn around and see her laying there, wondering if it was just a delayed reaction on Caroline's part.  If the latter the two would just finish their exchange of words and she would turn and see her moving closer to her.


Either way some of the students took exception to what was done.  Part of him questions his own actions, but he doesn't respond to those who call him out on it.  Wes looked back in the ring and wondered how  Caroline would fair now that it appears to be two on one, even for for a few seconds.  One of the other students found a chain near by and picked it up and looked like she wanted to nail Jesse with it.  Wes stopped the student from getting in the ring, who got close enough to put a hand on the bottom rope. It seemed like this was even more of an uphill battle for Caroline but he had a feeling she could pull off something.

Caroline felt elated at her continuing success, but her power move wasn't nearly enough to keep Jesse down, and the fuming teacher came back at her hard. As she was being hauled up, Jesse snarled at her with a venom that chilled the smaller girl to her bones.

“What did you call me?” Caroline spat incredulously, though the woman's only answer was to throw Caroline into the corner, leaving her prone against the turnbuckles. She tried to move back into the open, but Jesse cornered her and sent her reeling with a slap that struck her chest like lightning, sending a shock through her heart and down to her stomach. Then she did it again...and again...and again. As she tenderized her prey in the corner, moving on to some blows to Caroline's exposed stomach, the young upstart coughed out a rather pressing question in between her groans of pain. “You're the one...ugh...who forced me...oof...into this fight. Why...ahh...are you mad that I'm fighting b...*ack*?” Caroline's last word turned into a startled cough as the sole of Jesse's boot pressed itself against her neck, crushing the girl's windpipe and sending her into a panic. She whimpered and wheezed as she flailed helplessly against the ropes behind her, trembling with fear as each agonizing second of the choke passed.

Just when Caroline didn't think her situation could get any worse, one of the students behind her had the gall to sneak in a cowardly choke of his own on Jesse's behalf. At that moment, as the student shamelessly strangled her from behind the ropes, something in Caroline's demeanor changed. Suddenly, she didn't care why Jesse and the students were so angry at her. The answer to that mystery wasn't relevant right now; what mattered was that Caroline was stuck in this fight, and she would see it through, no matter how many odds were stacked against her.

Keeping this decisive thought in her head, Caroline rose from her slumped position, completely missing her goggles as she stood back up. Right now, Jesse was a higher priority to her anyway. The woman needed some comeuppance for her brutal assault earlier, and Caroline would not hesitate to deliver it. As one of the students surprised her with a rough shove back into the arena, the young woman tried to use the momentum in her favor, attempting to close the distance between her and Jesse while the latter was distracted. Upon reaching her target, Caroline swung her arm forward, aiming low at the very center of Jesse's histrionics to wallop the woman's groin with her forearm. It was a dirty move, but Caroline's opponents weren't playing by any rules. Neither would she, not if she wanted to stand a chance in this fight.

Whether or not her crotch shot landed, Caroline would try to drag Jesse to her, locking up with the fierce woman by seizing a couple handfuls of her hair. Clenching her hands tightly to keep Jesse's head in place, Caroline would rear back and strike her with the hardest headbutt that the girl was capable of, regardless of the pain it would inflict on her. Then, grasping Jesse's head tightly, Caroline would jump into the air and attempt to bring both of them down to the mat, with Jesse's chin landing hard on top of Caroline's head.

As Caroline contemplated further attacks, the girl suddenly noticed the noise of a student behind her. It was a girl, and whoever she was, she was shouting to Caroline that her goggles were in the corner she had just left. Apparently, Caroline had some fans of her own, to even the playing field against Jesse. Upon hearing this, Caroline did the unthinkable and sprinted back into the corner that Jesse's supporters had attacked her in. She knew that going near the edge of the ring could let them attack again. Yet, she proceeded to sit down with her back to the ropes. The girl got to work, quickly sweeping her arms around swathes of the canvas to locate the missing goggles. Unfortunately, this whole process took several seconds, giving Jesse time to recover and go back on the attack. To make things worse, Caroline's limbs and her hair were all within grabbing distance for the students, giving them a chance to interfere as well. In Caroline's furor, her adrenaline was compelling her to do some very risky things.