Alicia Wells vs. Valley Doll - Kicking It

As Alicia went into sheer panic mode and bolted for the ropes with every fiber of her being, Valley couldn’t suppress a slight smirk. Not because she took any pleasure in hurting the younger wrestler, but because she could read her thoughts like a storybook. The initial fear as excruciating pain shot through your leg, the first instinct to tap, the silent debate that raged across your mind, the split-second decision to go for the ropes and risk it. She’d been there before, and she’d be there again.

In a way, this was just another lesson for Alicia to learn: the Importance of Rope Breaks.

Valley didn’t have long to milk the hold, but she didn’t really need too much time. Even a few seconds in the kneebar was accomplishing her goal, and she made sure not a single second was wasted, gritting her teeth and hunkering down hard.

The exact instant Alicia touched the ropes, Valley let the hold go and rolled back, giving Alicia some space before the referee could instruct her to. This wasn’t about doling out some punishment to burgeoning wrestler for what she did to Gallium, it was about showing her what the AFW could be at the best. That meant being on good behavior, all the time.

Valley stood up in the center of the ring and waited for Alicia to get up as well, as the referee created some space between them. As much as she wanted to keep rushing in, she didn’t mind this, either - it would give her a good chance to assess how badly Alicia’s leg was hurt, and get a good feel for how ready her own was.

It would have been easy to hate Valley for this. Well, hate was a strong word but when you were on your back, your knee joint feeling like the Spanish Inquisition would be an easier choice and the ropes feeling like a lifetime away, the urge was always there to resent the person putting her in this position. Alicia didn’t. Certainly, no part of her was enjoying this but at the same time this was what she lived for. Going up against someone who could challenge her, press her to her limits, and the pain she was currently feeling was… kind of the unavoidable side-effect of that.

Not that she was thinking anything like that. Oh no. Her thoughts were occupied with two things. Clawing her way to the ropes as fast as humanly possible and the absolute agony radiating out from her knee all through her leg. Alicia’s legs were sculpted muscle, honed from years of exercise to the highest standard possible. But it really didn’t matter. However powerful they were, they still had knee joints and a hold like the kneebar was perfectly designed to wreck those in moments.

A dim and very distant part of Alicia’s mind was thanking any god she could name that Valley wasn’t also twisting her foot.

This was also the first time that the big redhead had stopped smirking since the match started. Even through the leg DDT that preceded it, she’d had a twisted grin on her lips. Now?

Not so much.

It was anyone’s guess how long it’d been but it felt like a lifetime before she felt the rope under her fingers. Valley, like she herself had done earlier, broke instantly and the kickboxer quickly curled up to nurse her abused limb for a moment. Then she started to stand, using the ropes to haul herself back to standing slowly and gingerly. The damage to her knee was bad enough. But the thigh muscles were cramping too, meaning that it hurt to straighten the leg even before she planted any weight on it.

This was seriously bad news, at least for the next few minutes, maybe for the rest of the match. And it showed very clearly as Alicia took her first careful step away from the ropes.

She could still pull some kicks, so long as she used her good leg for support. Scissors?

Forget it. For the immediate future, there was just no way she’d get anything like the pressure she’d need. It’d get better but she’d have to survive until then.

But there was still grim determination in her eyes and the set of her mouth as she limped carefully forward to meet Valley, her fists coming up in a fighting stance and her good leg planted forward.

The match wasn’t over and she was going to make Valley fight for every single second she could.

Valley took the time after releasing the hold to take stock of her own body, feel things out. Her leg still hurt a bit, but she could pull off some of her better moves so long as she didn’t get too wild with it. Some aches in the middle, problem areas she’d have to watch out for. Definitely not out of the woods, yet - she’d have to be mindful of her target areas even when she was on offence.

Valley thought she’d have more time to assess, though, so she was a bit surprised when Alicia was back on her feet not long after she’d done the same. Clearly hurting, the kneebar had done it job on her just as it had done on the Slamazon a couple of minutes ago. But the mixed martial artist’s body and face were telling different stories.

Her leg was showing weakness, clearly aching and cutting down on her options for the next little while.

But her face was solid iron. This unyielding determination that 99% of the AFW roster didn’t come close to. The kind of will that could get her to the top of the ranks if she was even given half a chance.

Valley liked that, respected it, admired it. She felt like she was watching the beginnings of an early star in the company, and she was brought to be around for the foundation laying.

But it didn’t mean she was going to let Alicia win. Not today. Not even close.

With a quick, flash of a smile that mirrored Alicia’s own, Valley moved back in and started hunting the hunter. Her eyes switched between looking at Alicia’s leg and eyes, giving no pretense on what the situation was. The only question was how she’d take advantage of it.

The crowd found out a second later, as Valley moved in and went to work. She moved around Alicia and swung her leg low, looking like she was trying to go for the hurt leg, but that wasn’t the real target. Instead of trying to hit a leg that Alicia was protecting too well for a solid hit, Valley yanked her leg back, then lashed out again without ever letting her foot touch the floor. This time her kick was higher and faster and harder, as she aimed a fierce blow at her opponent’s head.

Keep her guessing, keep her guessing.

Right now, just moving was about all Alicia could manage. The cramp, she knew, would ease first and that’d help a lot. But for the moment, even putting her full weight on that leg was going to risk it just collapsing under her at exactly the wrong moment. Ideally, therefore, she’d like to have her bad leg forward, her good leg back to brace her weight.

But that would be so incredibly stupid she never even considered it seriously. Right now, she needed to make absolutely certain Valley didn’t get another shot at that leg or knee in particular until the stiffness had seriously started to abate. Much more in the way of offense directed that way and she’d be limping for the rest of the match or worse.

But Alicia also knew that she couldn’t just surrender the initiative. If Valley had her beat in speed to start with, that advantage was suddenly magnified until she recovered. And it really wasn’t her style anyway.

Her eyes remained fixed on Valley’s face, showing no intimidation – they both knew what Valley’d be looking to target, but Alicia wasn’t going to make it easy for her.

There was a pause as the veteran wrestler moved into range. Under any other circumstances, there’d be a kick waiting for her, but Alicia’s bad leg wasn’t in any condition for to play support and she wasn’t going to risk either putting it in the firing line or – worse – letting Valley get her hands on it again.

She gritted her teeth and waited… But not for long.

Coming into her own range, the blonde feinted low, went to kick high… It was like a mirror of her own earlier move, so Alicia automatically presumed the high kick was another feint and Valley’d be going for the knee again – she’d seen this sort of low-high-low kick before. So she tucked that bad leg back a bit further, dropping her guard to protect it as best she could…

Only for Valley to follow through on the high kick like an absolute pro, delivering her foot into the kickboxer’s head with aplomb.

Great, she’d just managed to out-think herself.

Alicia was forced to stumble back, the force of the kick snapping her head around and leaving her feeling like a bomb had gone off inside her skull. But the knee Valley had just been hammering had been just as unready to take her weight as she’d worried, turning the already unsteady stumble into a tumble to the canvas as the leg just gave out under her.

Not good, not good at all, particularly given that Alicia’s scrambled thoughts didn’t leave her much room to even try defending herself from whatever was coming next. Instinctively, she went to roll away to any safety she could find.

”Bullseye.”

Valley whispered under her breath as her kick worked out far better than she’d even hoped. She expected it to land, sure, banking on the leg to slow her down and negate dodging. But she thought Alicia would block at least some of it and mitigate the damage.

Instead she managed to land a clean hit on the Scissor Queen’s head, hitting with enough force to scramble a few brain cells. ”Ooooooo!” The crowd collectively winced at the impact, as the sound of her kickpads connecting with Alicia’s skull echoed throughout the building like cannonfire.

Down Alicia went, tumbling away and wisely trying to make some space. Some wrestlers would’ve just laid there and made an easy kill, but this one had good instincts. A moving target was hard to hit.

Hard, but not impossible.

Valley stepped after her as she rolled, not wanting to cede a second to her opponent’s recovery that she didn’t have to. Attacking her like this was risky - Alicia might see it coming, and she could always mess up the timing. Either way, mistakes would be harshly punished.

But letting Alicia breath would’ve been a bigger risk. She was just too young, too strong, and too driven. Even on offense, Valley knew her chances dwindled as time went on. She either struck while the iron was hot or she didn't strike at all.

So she went for it, full throttle. As Alicia rolled away, Valley tried to anticipate where she was going to be. She waited until Alicia was turning over to her chest, and then she went into action, leaping forward and committing to a move. Her head went down, her body went into a tumble, and the Slamazon attempted a move that she’d gone for in their spar: a somersault leg drop, this time aimed for the back of Alicia’s neck.

With any luck, it would work better than it did last time.

Being down on the mat with a wounded leg and Valley still standing wasn’t exactly Alicia’s idea of a great position. It wasn’t critically bad yet, because the blonde wasn’t hitting her or locking in any more holds on her leg, but the ‘yet’ in there was something very definitely on her mind. The part of that mind not presently shaken, rattled and rolling after being introduced to Valley’s boot, that was, meaning her scramble to put distance between them was more ingrained instinct than anything planned.

For that first second, anyway. Alicia’d been kicked in the head before, by professionals, and while Valley’s hit was definitely up there in the top ten, it wasn’t exactly a new experience to her either.  So, her head was starting to clear, the fog starting to lift. And she was starting to think rather than react.

Valley wasn’t just going to let her go. She was going to try something and there wasn’t any point in trying to work out what. Right now, the best thing was to keep moving – keep moving, make it harder to hit her, make it more likely that she’d miss if she tried anything fancy.

What she needed right now was time. The longer she had to recover, the more likely she’d be able to pull out something to stop Valley’s momentum dead. But for that, she needed to shake off the rest of the fugue from the kick and not have her leg buckle under her.

In retrospect, she didn’t have any clue what it was that tipped her off. Valley’s footsteps? The noise of the crowd? Something she’d seen in the corner of her eye?

Alicia didn’t know. Maybe it was just instinct, something in the air, something she’d seen in a video or- it didn’t matter.

Something did though. As she came over, the tall kickboxer twisted as hard as she could, tucking her head down and doing everything she could to get out of the way of whatever it was Valley was throwing her way.

The split-second was always the worst part of Valley’s Doll’s riskier moves. That one, golden instant when her feet left the ground, and she was flying about and she had absolutely no clue whether her target would even be there where she came down.

Contrary to what people thought. It wasn't the crash itself that made missing so bad - Valley could `handle that, and many of her attacks even called for her to wreck her own body if they were to properly work. It was missing a target and having zero time to prepare for it. That part sucked and would always suck, no matter how many times it occurred.

But Valley had confidence that this attack would hit. So, when it didn’t, well…not pleasant.

She crashed down right on her butt. Obvious jokes aside, there wasn’t nearly enough padding down there to stop the pain. It just hurt, sending lighting from her tailbone all the way up her spine. She sat up and clenched her teeth, trying her best to block out the pain and not doing the best job.

The worst thing? She could feel the momentum slipping from her hands, and all because she’d underestimated just how finely tuned Alicia’s instincts were. The moment she’d taken the kickboxer less than 100% seriously, she’d paid for it.

While her heart had been in her mouth for a second as she wondered whether she’d make it in time or if the next thing she’d know was waking up after the match, she somehow managed to get out of the way. While her opponent didn’t make any sound, there was no way that the crash that followed could have been at all pleasant for her.

Sneaking a glance over confirmed that.

While Alicia’s leg still felt like it’d had a bear trap trying to take chunks out of it, her head was clearing rapidly enough to see this was likely the best chance she’d be getting. Valley’s botched move had put them both on an equal footing and she needed to try and keep her on the ground. That way, she’d have a chance to rest her leg and it’d stop the blonde using her mobility to pick her apart. It’d been luck mostly that she’d dodged that attack and she really couldn’t dare count on dodging another one.

The other bit of luck she’d got was that Valley wasn’t facing her. Moving as quickly as she could, Alicia spun around to get behind the acrobatic blonde, trying to get her arms under Valley’s and link them at the base of her neck. Interlacing her fingers, she’d then push forward, applying pressure to the neck as well as letting her control the blonde’s arms. The Full Nelson by itself wouldn’t ever get her a submission and her leg wasn’t recovered enough for the scissors, but it wouldn’t feel good on Valley’s spine after that missed drop.

Or her neck. And it’d let Alicia regroup, let her leg recover and give her a chance to get some offence going.

Valley could feel time slowing around her, coming to a crawl as the pain began to fade and senses returned. She had time - a brief burst of a second - to take stock of her situation, and she wasn’t terribly pleased by what she came away with.

She’d messed up - obviously - which was bad enough by itself. But she’d done so in a way that left her open and vulnerable to Alicia. Alicia, who wasn’t a complete idiot, but a well trained and energetic fighter. Alicia, who clearly wanted to win this match and come out victorious. Alicia who’d knocked another woman unconscious in the middle of the ring without flinching.

Yeah. More than a little worrying.

Valley instinctively started to squirm when she felt Alicia’s arms worming their way around her body. She didn’t know what the redhead was going for, and she didn’t want to know. It would likely involve squeezing the life out of her, and that was plenty of reason enough to escape. But she was still stunned, still hurting, and not quite fast enough to escape the deadly embrace this time. ”Nonono-” Alicia locked in the full nelson, and the pain began.

There were worse moves Valley could’ve been put in by Alicia - this one didn’t involve her legs, after all - but it was far from comfy, and worse yet, it kept her immobile and made her waste energy. She twisted and bucked and kicked, but there was no getting out of the larger woman’s grasp. The only chance was the ropes, and those were too far away to even think about in a position like this. She was stuck like this until Alicia let her go or moved onto something better. Probably the latter.

The least she could do was make it difficult. Valley tried to twist her lower body around, move it to Alicia’s side, so wrapping those thunderous thighs around her midsection would be quite a bit trickier. Not much of an improvement, but she’d take it for now.

The Full Nelson by itself wasn’t really a submission hold. It wasn’t great on the neck, and Valley’s already twinging spine probably didn’t like it, but it really was just letting the redhead slow things down a bit. Her opponent was thrashing and tugging but every advantage was on her side here. She was bigger, probably stronger and had more leverage.

She was just tiring herself out.

As far as Alicia was concerned, Valley could twist her own legs around all she liked. It wasn’t going to do her any good in getting out of the Full Nelson and she still didn’t have any interest in going for the scissors.

Scratch that. She’d love to get her thighs around the squirming blonde’s midriff and see if Valley could wiggle her way out of that one. But she wasn’t stupid enough to try, even if Valley had been giving her the opportunity. No, Alicia was quite happy to stay behind her, keeping her well away from the ropes and focus on doing as much damage to the blonde’s neck, shoulders and arms as she could.

The cramp in her leg was almost a thing of the past now and the roaring agony in her knee had started to damp down to a dull throb. So long as she didn’t try much, that was, or she’d put herself right back where she started.

So, for the moment, she’d stick to working Valley with her arms. Once she’d burnt some more energy out of the blonde, Alicia was thinking about looking for a Dragon Sleeper. It was a newer move, one she’d learnt since joining Friction. The choke part was good, but more importantly it’d give her more time to rest her own leg and a chance to work that neck and spine a bit more. It was another way to try and steal some of the high flying stuff out of Valley’s arsenal.