Etzlicoatl vs Belinda Northman

Standard match, one fall.

As AFW returned from an ad break, the viewers watching at home were treated to the ill omen of Etzlicoatl standing in the middle of the ring, music blaring, arms spread in a beatific gesture and - horror of horrors - microphone in hand.

"Cease playing my music!" she bellowed into the microphone, bringing the whole tableaux to a halt and replacing "Quetzalcoatl" with the very mixed reaction of the fans.  There was a reasonable smattering of cheers and boos all around, and it was over these that the triumphant luchadora began, uh, promo-ing, but it was definitely leaning slightly negative simply because having to listen to the cloud cuckoo land demagoguery that would no doubt ensue.

"The denizens of AFW have, for too long, doubted the majesty and power of the Sanguine Serpent Etzlicoatl.  But BEHOLD--" and here she raised her cape dramatically with both arms, "--for who emerged victorious in the Horde Match at Avalanche?  It was I!  I stood against five adversaries and I--STOP LAUGHING--and I smote them with the might bestowed upon me by the solar hummingbird!  And as our flayed lord turned his gaze upon Mongolia, I stood triumphant with my hand raised!  The sole survivor!"

This was dubious, and the crowd knew it.  On the one hand, her victory at Avalanche had been technically impressive and her abilities were not at all in question.  On the other hand, the manner in which she'd won - arriving last, basically stealing the battle royale via count-out, and then bailing - had been cowardly enough to briefly turn Diabolica of all people face.  

"And now that you have all learned proper respect for a hierophant of my caliber," she continued, shrugging off her cape and throwing it to a waiting technician at ringside, "the time has come to once again dazzle you with prowess like the glorious sunlight!  A challenger approaches, and will fall for your amusement just as the past five fell in turn!"

She stretched forth a hand, beckoning toward the entryway.  "Bring forth my adversary!"

To be honest, the crowd wasn't totally sure if they were about to see a wrestling match or if a man in a jaguar mascot suit was about to emerge and be beaten up.  You could never really tell with Etzlicoatl.

Spoiler:

Belinda witnessing the act of Etzlicoatl as she stood in the gorilla position and awaited her cue for entrance, she was told to wait until after Coatl had done her schtick and the way it had been presented to her was as if it was a jest or the like. Belinda however was interested and seeing where it would go...while she watched it on the hanging TV that projected the same things that the titantron did, the couldn't help but scratch her head a bit. It was certainly an amusing little show...though she couldn't get why the fans weren't more swept up with it.

Belinda figured that perhaps it would be fun to try and play along with the events that were unfolding and attempt to help this girl out with her role as it were. Besides, it could certainly be fun to do so. Besides, if there was anything Belinda could help out with without causing a major determent to herself or the people she cared for, then she'd do it....though who knew, if she played into this then perhaps the crowd would boo her too, so far she had been met with fairly positive reactions.

When Etzlicoatl finally called for Belinda to be brought out, the blond's music started playing out of the speakers. However, when Belinda came out onto the ramp, she held a microphone in her hand. She walked a few steps before she brought the microphone up, slowly her music started to fade as Belinda would raise her other hand and point it towards the ring.

" Sanguine serpent!" Belinda shouted out into the microphone, a somewhat serious look on her face as she did. She awaited the crowd's reactions to die down a bit as she looked from left to right, they seemed confused by this turn of events...it wasn't very often that Belinda played into these kind of things. " You think your blessings from some ancient god will help you ? " Belinda asked as a smile started growing on her lips. She felt somewhat embarrassed but also quite excited.

" You might be right in that..." Belinda let out as she'd start to walk down towards the ring, once she reached it, she'd climb in and step up into the center of it. " Tonight however, no godly blessing, no divine favor and no tricks will save you." Belinda let out as the crowd started to buzz again. " For you see, in every great legend. There is always a great hero who comes and defeats the crocked and evil gods, as well as their servants." Belinda spoke out, her heart was pounding, she had to bury every bit of embarrassment playing this whole thing up brought her, though she could steel feel how fun this sorta was.

" That hero is here." Belinda let out as she'd point to herself, with her free hand. " She who prevailed against all other competitors in the Lighting Tournament, so while you might have brought the power of a horde and a feathery solar bird. I bring the lighting and the strength of Vikings! Think of me as the new Thor." Belinda called out loudly, the crowd was...confused to say the least...though they were starting to get slightly more into the odd banter. Especially odd for AFW.

" This will be a battle to shake the foundation of the world, but in the end. Heroes always triumph and the vile ones always fall. Get ready for your downfall Etzlicoatl." Belinda spoke out as she'd throw the microphone to the side. Stepping up a bit closer to Etzli to give the girl a smile and a quick light wink of the eye.

As always, Etzlicoatl was bombing on the mic - at least when it came to being taken seriously, since most of the reactions she tended to get involved bewildered laughter. It was frustrating. Her 'real' self, the girl who'd done the whole journeyman thing back home and gone totally unnoticed, was too boring to be noticed as anything more than enhancement for bigger, 'better' stars, and so the whole Etzlicoatl persona was something of a shield against that. A vehicle to get airtime. In that respect, she supposed, it was working, but this really wasn't the kind of consistent response she'd been hoping for.

Deliverance arrived a minute later and, to the considerable relief of the crowd, it was not a man in a jaguar suit.

Despite her initial cockiness, the luchadora was caught entirely off guard by Belinda's response. It...wha...was she actually playing along?! She was! The crowd was admittedly still puzzled by all these shenanigans, but at least now somebody was putting themselves out there with her, and Etzlicoatl felt an uncharacteristic surge of embarrassed gratitude. "R-really?" she exclaimed as her opponent climbed into the ring, then caught herself and coughed. "I mean, uh...SO BE IT! Let the runes fall where they may, and we will see who has the power to leash the fates to their whim!"

There was something in the back of her mind saying Belinda was probably making fun of her with this whole thing, but she'd been through enough now to know that throwing a tantrum about it would only make her look worse. No, her only hope was to just say 'screw it' and go all in with this thing.

"Sound the bell! Let our righteous contest commence!"

She was already circling before the bell could ring, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet with nervous energy and shaking out her shoulders. Even that didn't last particularly long, as within seconds of the match's official start, Etzlicoatl was advancing to the center, looking to lock up with Belinda and kick this thing off.

Of course everyone was fairly confused by Belinda playing along with Etzlicoatl's act, something that caused quite a stir in the crowd as they had to check with each other if they had missed something...though they seemed a bit more entertained in this little play when both of them were into it...though at first it seemed that Etzlicoatl was as confused or more so than the crowd as Belinda joined in on the fun. After a few second though the luchadora seemed to catch on to Belinda's manners and act.

Now that they were in the ring face to face with each other Belinda couldn't help but want to get a bit more into the act. " Speaking of runes huh ? Looks like even you know that a Viking hero will win. Cause we don't need to leash the fates, we break fate!" Belinda spoke out as she'd finally throw away her microphone.

If there was one thing that one could be sure of it was that Belinda was not messing of screwing with Etzlicoatl. The girl was far to kind to want to do that, she simply wanted to help out the girl's act as much as she could...and even if it was embarrassing....she had to admit it was fun, it reminded her of play-acting as a kind.

Belinda nodded her head at Etzli's final comment as she would drop down into her wrestling stance and start to circle her opponent, she had a small smile on her face and a faint tint of red on her cheeks...as she went round and round with Etzlicoatl, until they finally moved forward into the center and locked up with each other. Belinda went in to lock in a collar and elbow tie up and as soon as it was locked in she'd attempt to use her strength to try and push Etzlicoatl back, attempting to force the girl into the corner!

Well, regardless of circumstances (fortuitous or otherwise), it was on now. With challenges issued and accepted, the two girls wasted little time sizing each other up and clinched in the center of the ring. Despite their bewilderment over all the leadup, the fans were always pleased to see some action, and a rousing cheer went up as things got off to a quick start.

Etzli pushed hard with her knees and lower back, trying to overpower the other girl, but it quickly became evident that Belinda had the power advantage, and she found herself being shoved back step-by-step towards the corner. It wasn't that much of a surprise; she was used to being the underdog in terms of strength. Speed and cunning were the Sanguine Serpent's allies in the ring.

Either way, it wouldn't do at all to get backed up into a corner - sure, it wasn't much of a tactical disadvantage, but she would look like she'd lost the initial exchange in the eyes of the fans, and that was unacceptable. They had to be shown why they should respect her! Etzlicoatl, bolstered by this creeping insecurity, tried a different tactic than simply shoving forward - she let herself be pushed backward and, abruptly, dropped over in a backwards spin, holding onto Belinda's arm for the classic armdrag. It was a clever trick that used an opponent's momentum against them, known to all luchadores worldwide.

If she was successful, she'd at least be in a position to hold on and try to ground the other girl, but there were many unknown factors this early in the match. Risky business indeed.

The two young wrestlers met in the center of the ring and locked into the a heated struggle...at least that was what everyone expected after that pre-match banter and hype that the two ladies had gone through, despite either of them ever having met before. They assumed that this lock-up would be a show of equal strength and skill...though they were met with an entirely different sight than their expectations had portrayed it in their minds.

Belinda pushed hard and succeeded in getting Etzli to move back, step by step, second by second she was pushing the girl back further and further. Something that the blond cutie couldn't help but smirk a little bit about, she could use that to her advantage and should they go into more of that fun banter...she did have another attribute to flaunt besides being the winner of the Lighting Tournament.

She continued pushing, working hard to get Etzlicoatl back towards the corner...though about halfway there she was met with a change of tactics of the luchadora. Whom shifted around, taking a hold of the Swede's arm and soon sent the blond flying over her, crashing down onto her back. " Gah!" Belinda yelped out in surprise as she impacted on the mat by that classic armdrag, leaving herself slightly vulnerable after such a surprise hit.

Cunning and speed, Etzlicoatl's eternal allies. With a graceful midair twirl, the Nahuatl girl launched Belinda over herself in an armdrag. She paused just long enough to admire the brief look of confusion on her opponent's face - "Heh." - and then it was off at full speed, a million miles per hour. Etzlicoatl dashed across the ring, hitting the ropes. She wasn't really thinking much about strategy at the moment; when you had enough lucha libre experience, certain techniques and arrangements just kind of came naturally. Muscle memory, like riding a bicycle if riding a bicycle entailed doing a bunch of flips and not landing on your head in the process.

She thankfully managed to do neither of those things, and instead went to the classic technique of showboating and mounting offense at the same time. On her way back across the ring, Etzli threw herself forward and twisted in midair, landing a picture-perfect corkscrew flip over Belinda's downed form. It drew a collective gasp, particularly when she landed on her feet and just kept on running.

There was a price to pay for her peacock nature, though. Spending all that time on the elaborate rope-running sequence had given Belinda more than enough opportunity to get to her feet, and as Etzlicoatl came charging back for a flipping senton, it was very possible that she'd have a nasty surprise waiting for her.

Belinda was down but she was far form out, though it seemed as if her opponent was going for something huge. The blond turned her head only to see Etzlicoatl run towards here, only in the last minute Belinda saw the girl jump up and flip over her....in a rather impressive manner. Though she hadn't been hit. Instead her opponent flew over her and landed on her feet. Belinda blinked in confusion for a few seconds before she looked on at Etzlicoatl and saw how her opponent jumped again, this time aiming for her.

The blond cutie decided that she had to act fast to some extent, if she didn't want to suffer both a hit and showboating at that! She quickly attempted to fold up her legs so that her knees were pointing upwards. Attempting to have Etzlicoatl crash right down onto those knees with her back as she performed the senton!

Should she be able to do that, then Belinda would quickly roll to the other side of Etzli and attempted to get up to her feet. " Tricks won't help you against me, nor won't any divine help from your cruel gods." Belinda let out, a small smile on her lips.

Fighting like a jaguar warrior wasn't just about winning. There was a certain ceremony to it, you had to win well and show your martial prowess. Back in the old days, they didn't just offer anybody to Huitzilopochtli. If you sacked a city or something you didn't bring the housewives to the top of a ziggurat and cut out their hearts, you did that with the prisoners who had fought the hardest and best, the ones truly worthy of that kind of honor. Winning with style was just as important as winning at all.

None of this knowledge made Etzlicoatl any less annoyed when, after her elaborate flipping senton, she ended up crashing right onto both of Belinda's knees.

It wasn't exactly a crippling blow, but a kidney shot like that, particularly with all her momentum, really sucked. Especially this early in the match. Etzli landed with enough force to bounce herself off the bigger girl, letting out a short gasp of pain, and ended up staggering forward and landing on one of her knees. She'd pushed herself back up a second later, powering through the pain of the moment, and whirled in place just in case Belinda was charging in for a follow-up attack.

No such attack came, though. Her nemesis was content to issue another challenge, showing off with a familiar flair, and despite her initial misgivings it brought the faintest hint of a smirk to the Sanguine Serpent's face.

"...Hrm," she exclaimed, circling again and shaking out her arms to relieve the impact of a few moments ago. "I see we are evenly matched. Perhaps I misjudged you."

Belinda smirked as she saw that light smirk on the Sanguine serpent's face, she couldn't help it. This was actually pretty fun so far. Something that made her want to continue with this little play acting. She nodded her head as she watched Etzlicoatl relive the pain in her back by shaking her arms in that manner. The blond cutie though would nod her head yet again at the girl's words. " Oh ? Evenly matched ? It's far too early to say that Etzlicoatl! We've only just started." Belinda let out as she kept that smirking smile on her face.

Now that they were both up on their feet, facing each other. It was about time to start things. Belinda would attempt to move in, attempting to close the distance between her and her speedy opponent. The blond cutie would attempt to move in and at the last second try and slip around her opponent to the side of her opponent. Should she be able to do so then the young blond would try and wrap her arms around Etzlicoatl by her side and attempt to hug her in close, before attempting to throw herself and her opponent backwards for a belly to side suplex!