Natasha Han vs. Valley Doll - It's a Long Way to the Top

Somewhere between the time it took for Valley to launch her punch and the moment where Natasha retaliated, she realized that she was trying to brawl with someone who hit a good deal harder than she could, and that a pretty powerful punch would be coming her way in the foreseeable future. She raised her guard, tensed up and prepared for the blow she knew was coming.

She managed to block Natasha's punch. It hardly mattered.

The hook cracked Valley's shell wide open, knocking her hands away with scarcely any momentum lost, and she took the brunt of the force right to her cheek. It traveled throughout her body and forced her to spin around, twisting about in a full circle before she fell down to a knee. The entire left side of her face was nothing but numbness, along with a raw, aching pain that seemed to cut into her teeth. A dentist appointment was going to be in order soon.

But she couldn't think about that sort of thing now. She was down, and knowing Natasha, Valley figured she had exactly half of a second before she did something that would make her stay down. She had to get up, whether her body wanted to or not.

"7...!"

Valley let out a feral scream and burst out of the crouch, charging towards Natasha and throwing herself into the Russian with a shoulder tackle. She couldn't put much force into it, but she kept plowing and drove forward with as much energy as she could spare, trying to drive her hard into the ring apron.

That was satisfying. Sending Valley down to knees with such a blow made Natasha feel good. At least, it would have felt good if she actually had the time to think about feeling good. The referee's counting was getting dangerously close to it's ending, and Natasha knew she needed to make a quick choice: get back into the ring or go after Valley again.

Forget the ring. She needed to keep Valley hurting.

The Russian took a step towards Valley, lifting her arms to reach out for the woman, but as she drew closer, the Slamazon suddenly exploded towards her. Natasha didn't even have time to register what was happening before the blonde slammed into her, driving her shoulder into her midsection and forcing her backwards and up against the ring. Her body jerked about as the Russian felt her spine slamming into the apron, Natasha getting sandwiched between the ring and the blonde. The air was driven straight from her lungs, and it felt to Natasha like her body was on fire.

"8...!"

Another count. That wasn't good for Natasha, but for the moment there wasn't much she could do about it. She needed a moment to catch her breath, but she couldn't risk Valley attacking her again, and she couldn't risk trying to fight back until she had recovered from that nasty tackle. Without even thinking about it, the Russian's hands drew inwards, trying to grab Valley by the sides of her head, her fingers running through the woman's long hair, gripping her tightly. Not enough to hurt, but enough to try and hold her steady while she hissed out a message to her.

"Nn...we should be getting back into ring, da? Hate for match to finish like this..."

Somehow, Valley had really hoped that the shoulder tackle would knock Natasha down, at least for a few moments. Then she could scramble back into the ring, beat the count, and win the match. It wouldn't have been an ideal win, and ending such a match with a countout would leave a bad taste in her mouth for weeks. But, frankly, with an opponent like this, she couldn't afford to be picky.

But that didn't happen, of course, and she really shouldn't have been surprised. Natasha Han simply was not going down that easy.

She pushed hard and braced herself, expecting an axe-handle to come down on her back at any moment, so she was surprised and relieved when, instead, all she got was a simple grab, as Natasha pulled her up for a little talk. What she said made sense - they were both on the edge of a double countout, maybe the first in both of their long careers. She could even hear a few fans calling for them to get back in the ring, wanting a clear win for this match. Valley had to agree.

"9...!"

"Likewise." Valley nodded. "Okay, cease fire."

She broke away from Natasha, trusting her not to pull any funny stuff, and slid back into the ring as fast as she could with her aching legs. Valley rolled to the center as the fans cheered them on with a quick round of applause, and she tried to stand as soon as she reached the middle. Rough going, but she was ready for a reset.

As soon as she heard Valley agreeing to her temporary truce, Natasha let the woman go and spun herself around. There was no funny stuff from the noble Russian. She wanted to get a clear, decisive winner for this match, too.

Before the ref could even open her mouth for the final count, the Russian was sliding back into the ring. Whereas Valley rolled to the center of the ring though, she stayed near the ropes, lying on the mat for a brief moment before starting back up to her feet. It was slow going, and she had to use the ropes for support, but she began to make her way back up to a standing position. Her legs were shaky, and she felt like shit. Her breath was heavy and her chest was heaving, but she was ready. Ready to move into the final act and put Valley down, ready to claim her victory, just as she had planned from the start.

She leaned against the ropes and looked up towards Valley, panting and looking the Slamazon over. She looked to be in rough shape too. That was good. That was very good. That was exactly what the Russian wanted.

She took one more deep breath, then pushed off the ropes, turning towards Valley, meeting the blonde's gaze. She stared intently into her eyes, and gave her slow nod of approval, lifting her arms up in front of herself.

"Ready when you are, kukla..."

The crowd's cheering was growing loud enough to be painful. The end was coming soon. They could feel it. For a standard match on a regular Friction, this had gone on for quite a while with an incredible amount of intensity and passion, and an explosive finish was the only way it could possibly end. The only question was which blonde would be standing when the debris settled. Or if either of them would be.

She tensed her legs as she managed to stand up without the rope's help. Her back was still burning in pain, and probably would be for the next few days, but it would be workable so long as she didn't take any more big slams. Legs ached, but nothing terminal. Valley guessed she had one, maybe two, solid moves left in her before her body closed shop for the day. She'd simply have to make them count.

Valley stared back at Natasha as she approached and matched her nod. She did a quick hail mary while she took a deep breath, calming her nerves. Just a little more. She could do it. I was born ready, Han."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Valley took off like a shot and bolted towards Natasha. She was nowher near her full speed, but even wit the reduction, she was was still plenty quick, hopefully quick enough to take the Russian by surprise. She ducked before they could collide and tried to slide past Natasha, hoping to keep up the momentum and make her way to the ropes.

The moment the Slamazon dashed in towards her, Natasha's own feet left the mat, the Russian lunging back in towards her buxom opponent. She wasn't moving as fast as usual either; she was hurting, and tired, and just generally in pain, but she still had the energy to keep going. She had the strength for one or two big moves of her own, which in her mind would be more then enough to put down Valley and claim her win.

As she approached the Slamazon, her arm flew up, turning as stiff as iron again for another clothesline. Her last one had done the job nicely, and Natasha couldn't think of a more reliable way to send Valley back down to the mat. All she had to do was connect with it...

...but that wasn't going to happen. Valley ducked beneath her arm, catching Natasha completely by surprise. The Russian's eyes went wide, and she quickly turned to face Valley again, finding herself both shocked and taken aback by the Slamazon's quick dodging.

Legs running, muscles burning, heart pumping, hair flying. The adrenaline was surging, but she knew it would run dry soon. Just a little more.[/color]

The clothesline whizzed over Valley's head as she ducked, and she swore that it was close enough for her to [i]feel the power radiating from it. If it had connected it would have lain Valley out for the rest of the match, left her wide open, and started her on the path to a sure loss. That was how tight this thing was as it came to a head. Any slip-up was almost a guaranteed ending in the works.

Valley bounced off the ropes and came back at Natasha will full momentum, twisting her body around as she approached as her hair trailed around her head in a golden circle. She brought her leg up and around, swung her hips into the move, and came at the Russian's head with one of the fiercest spinning heel kicks of her life, even letting out a short scream as it took flight.

As Valley leaped into the air and spun around, arcing her leg towards Natasha, a hundred cameras went off around them, their lights flashing as the audience and the officials took pictures of the kick. This was the moment, the moment that would give Valley her win, and everyone knew it. Both of the women were drained and tired, but there was no way that Natasha would be able to keep going from a blow like that, no way in hell. The Russian was done, and it was obvious to everyone that was watching.

Even Natasha seemed like she knew this was the end. She stood there in shock, as Valley jumped towards her, extending her long, powerful leg in the Russian's direction. She felt her mind go blank, her body refusing to move or do anything, and then...

Crack.

Valley's boot smashed into Natasha's skull, and the Russian went down.  There was no stumbling about, no crying out or recoiling from the hit. Valley's kick connected and Natasha fell into a heap against the canvas. She was still, and unmoving, and the entire audience let out a collective 'ooooooh!' as they watched her fall. They began to cheer and yell for Valley, thinking that this match was truly over, their cheers for the fan favorite blonde starting to escalate and grow louder.

The hit connected like clockwork, as countless hours of training culminated in a flawless execution. Even through all the pain, her body knew what to do, when to do it, and just how to make it work. The result was one fine spinning heel kick that landed with massive impact. The crack of her boot on Natasha's skull even made Valley wince.

Natasha went down. Valley went down, too. Her legs had enough in them to finish the kick, but supporting her afterwards proved to be a bit too much, and she instantly collapsed to her knees. She would've loved to pump her fist to the crowd, rally them behind her, build up some anticipation and work them up some more, but she simply didn't have that in her. Right now, her main concern was finishing this match in one piece.

With that in mind, Valley scooted over beside Natasha, grabbed her around the knee and pulled it up for a tight leghook pin. The sheer alacrity of the whole situation almost took the referee by surprise, but she hurriedly dropped down and started the count, slapping the mat hard as the audience counted along.

"1...!"

"Come on, stay down, stay-"

Natasha's world was black. She stared upwards through mostly closed eyes, and all she could see was a black haze around her. The crowd sounded like it was miles away from her, despite how loudly they were screaming at the two women. Her head hurt. It felt like Valley had cracked it in half. All she could feel was an intense, splitting pain coursing through her skull. Her body wouldn't move. It refused to obey her, refused to listen to that voice in the back of her mind that was screaming at her, trying to be heard through the thick fog that was the Russian's mind right now.

Even when Valley dropped onto her, and the referee began to count, Natasha couldn't pull herself together. That kick, that damn spinning heel kick, was one of the hardest kicks that the Russian had ever felt. It had practically killed her. She couldn't get her thoughts together, she couldn't find the energy to even lift a finger up. This match was over. Valley had won.

"2..!"

No! It is not over!

Somehow, the referee's second count awakened a spark within Natasha. That inner voice grew louder, finally loud enough to pierce through the Russian's clouded thoughts. It wasn't much, but it was enough, enough to remind the Wrestle Angel of what she was holding at stake in this match.

As the referee's hand dropped downwards towards the mat, the girl ready to scream out the final count and declare this match over, Natasha moved. It wasn't much of a movement, but it was enough, just barely enough. Her body jerked to the side, pushing Valley up, her shoulder coming off the mat to break the pin. Then, it dropped back down, touching the mat once again.

The referee jumped back up to her feet, and shook her head. The match wasn't over yet. The fight would still continue.