Meet the Fans!

While she expected it’d felt considerably longer than thirty seconds for Chris, Alicia decidedly didn’t agree. It didn’t feel anything like that to her, and it took her a moment to unlock her hold because of it. Not because she was trying to squeeze in any extra pain but simply because her first instinct was ‘thirty seconds? Already?’.

Still, she released immediately afterwards and scooted backwards to give the bigger wrestler some space.

For a moment, she had to admit to being a tiny bit disappointed she’d not got a tap. That would have been fun, but any dissatisfaction dissipated the second she caught a glimpse of the way Chris just keeled over. Turned out, as Alicia had already known, her holds worked plenty well enough on a larger opponent.

The big redhead chuckled slightly, leaning back on her hands as she surveyed the wreckage she’d turned the big blonde into after just thirty seconds.

”Not to sound like I’m twelve, but you did kind of ask for it,” She noted, over the wheezing, ”And thanks.” Given her tone, she clearly meant it.

After a moment longer to make sure she hadn’t overdone it, her violet eyes flicked up to regard Valley.

”So, seems like it’s your turn. Where do you want me?”

Well, really, it was down to the fans to decide what hold Valley got to use but Alicia wasn’t standing up just to sit back down again. So, until told otherwise, she remained lounging on the mat like a lioness with a fresh kill, one long leg thrown very casually over the other.

Or, it would have been if she wasn’t twitching it unconsciously in a slightly self-satisfied fashion, the muscles flexing with every little pump.

Valley just gave Alicia a sly grin, looking down her way as the fans deliberated. She broke into some light stretches, getting her legs nice and limbered up, knowing she’d be needing them quite soon. After all, as much as she hated to admit it, she was sort of looking forward to this after getting squeezed like an empty tube of toothpaste by Alicia in her last bout. Valley’s legs could deal out some heavy damage, too, and she was eager to show the redhead what they were capable of.

With a little twinkle in her eye, Valley sauntered over to the ropes, as it looked like the fans had come to something of a consensus. She leaned over the top rope, as one of them spoke for the majority, and their decision turned out to be…

”...a torture rack?!”

Valley stared down at them, the surprise clear on her face, and threw a quick look back at the woman sitting in the middle of the ring. The woman was a fair bit taller and bigger than she was. Who had at least forty pounds of solid muscle on her. Valley was a fit, solid wrestler with a good repertoire of moves, but that didn’t mean she could do all of them on everybody.

”You guys do realize I’m not Chris Morgan, right?” She flicked a finger towards her fellow blonde. ”She’s over there. I’m Valley Doll.”

But, no, they knew who was next, and their choice was clear: ”Torture Rack! Torture Rack!”

”Fine, fine.” This was her idea to start with, so she had to see it through. Valley let out a deep, resigned sigh and made her way back to Alicia, rolling her shoulders as she approached. She looked down at Alicia with a weary smirk and blew a few hairs away from her face. ”Just, ah...stand up. Turn your back to me. I’ll handle the rest. It’s simple enough in theory, at least.”

Given the way things had been going, Alicia too had been expecting the figure four. Clearly, Valley had been, given the way she was stretching and grinning – so it caught the big redhead almost as much off guard as the blonde when the response…

Wasn’t the figure four, whatever Valley called it. It was the torture rack. Where she was lounging, the kickboxer raised her eyebrows.

What the hell was a torture rack when it was at home?

Alicia was learning a lot more about pro wrestling holds than she’d known when she started in Friction but the torture rack was new to her. That said, clearly this wasn’t what Valley had expected and… there was something in her response that bothered Alicia.

The blonde had seemed pretty confident right up until the point where the crowd had picked their hold and then she’d been… Worried? Clearly, this wasn’t going to be simple. Oh well. Thankfully, it was only going to be thirty seconds, whatever it was.

Yippee.

”Ok,” Her response was cautious but the big redhead rose to her feet and turned her back to Valley as requested, rolling her shoulders and trying to anticipate what this was going to be about. Some sort of bear hug thing, maybe? It sounded like something strength based or something that Chris was better known for…

Well, she was about to find out very shortly. No point in worrying about it now.

Valley was fairly certain she could’ve done squats with Alicia on her shoulder, if for some reason she’d been inclined to. While her legs weren’t quite as thick and sturdy as the redhead’s, they still packed some great power for her size. The simple act of supporting a bigger woman wasn’t beyond her.

But there was a marked difference between doing squat reps and supporting a large - larger than her, at least - struggling woman for thirty seconds. Valley could do it, she was mostly sure, but…

Oh, well.

”In for a penny, in for a pounding.” When Alicia turned around, Valley reached down and began to work her way through the redhead’s leg, reaching out to the other side, taking it slow. From the way Alicia responded, she had no idea what this move was about - understandable, since it wasn’t exactly something you’d see in an MMA match. Ever.

”Okay, basically, I’m going to put you on my shoulders and bend your spine. It’s…a little weird, I know. It’s really more like something Chris would be doing to me.” She huffed. ”That being said, it does hurt, so get ready. 1, 2…”

On three, Valley just ducked down, lifted Alicia up between her legs with one hand, seized her chin with the other and straightened, standing tall, holding the Briton like she was taking home a prized kill. So far, it was working out well enough - Valley had her legs spread wide enough, maintained a solid base. Not the easiest thing in the world, but she wasn’t about to fall over. Hopefully, that would last.

With the hold locked in as much as it reasonably could, Valley went to work, jerking down and giving Alicia a few hard jerks, bouncing her about to add to the pain.

When Chris heard the hold that the crowd was calling for, she pulled herself to her feet with a laugh.

"Can you even lift Alicia?" the American asked with a dubious glance at the redhead's way. "No offense Val, but you're not exactly known for your overwhelming strength."

However, a few moments later she found herself raising an eyebrow as Val managed to lift and hold Alicia in the torture rack. It reminded Chris of an ant, lifitng something greater than it's mass....

"Wow, I did not expect that to work..." she mused as Val began to work the hold...

Her first clues about the hold came as she felt Valley working her arm through her legs. The redhead definitely didn’t follow that but it was better than the worry she felt when Valley explained the thing. Suddenly, the confusion made sense and, while Alicia knew the blonde was definitely strong, she really wasn’t sure this was anything she wanted to be part of.

But it was too late to say anything as there was counting and all she could do was try and brace herself before she felt her feet leave the floor.

Somewhere nearby, she heard Chris say something and then Valley yanked down and… Well.

Alicia hadn’t been sure this would work either, but she was in far too much pain to really snark about it. It was bad enough with Valley just standing there but the bouncing-

She’d meant to hold as still as possible, aware that this couldn’t be a secure hold with the size difference, but the pain sparking up and down her spine had her thrashing and moaning before she realised it.

In all likelihood, the height difference was playing against her, leaving more to drape over Valley’s shoulders and putting more pressure on her back. But she really wasn’t thinking of anything more than wanting this to be over as soon as possible. A particularly sharp jolt jarred her and she squirmed harder.

Thirty seconds. That was all. Thirty seconds.

So began thirty of the weirdest seconds of Valley’s life.

Maintaining the hold would’ve been hard enough if Alicia was a lifeless dummy - aside from the fact that Valley hadn’t even attempted this move in years, much less used it to gain a submission, there was the little problem of her back having to support the redhead’s weight. A back that had been thoroughly squeezed by Chris Morgan only a minute or so ago.

But Alicia was squirming, too. Valley was carrying a large woman on her shoulders, one with legs like tree trunks, who was now thrashing around like madwoman.

The phrase ‘hot mess’ came to mind.

The first problem was balance. From both her career as a cheerleader and a wrestler, Valley had picked up a great sense of balance, and she direly needed it here. Every moved Alicia made had to be corrected and worked for with the proper support, with her feet constantly shifting. It wasn’t just for her safety, but for Alicia’s as well - she didn’t want to drop her relatively new friend on her head, after all.

The second problem was, again, the weight. Alicia was no kawaii, and Valley was feeling every pound of her weight, bearing down hard and pushing her back to the brink. It almost seemed as if they were both in a submission hold at once. Weird sight, to say the least.

”Chris!” Valley called out, managing to blurt between gasps and grunts. ”How much longer?!”

Chris watched as Alicia began to struggle within the torture rack, concern starting to mount. Carrying a perfectly still burden was one thing, but one that was thrashing and shifting it's weight around was something else entirely. Quickly, she moved slightly behind Valley and Alicia, ready to spot her friend and maybe stop the redhead from taking a nasty tumble if she she fell from Val's shoulders.

When Valley called for a time check, Chris quickly called back "Five seconds...!" having kept an approximate track of the countdown. Was it accurate? Probably not, but Chris was willing to cut this a few seconds short before Valley either strained something or worse, dropped Alicia on her red maned head.

"Ok! Time!" Chris called a few short seconds later, bringing Alicia's time in the torture rack to an end!

”Five seconds.” Valley huffed out, as she continued to teeter and totter and teeter once more. ”Fivesecondsfivesecondsfiveseconds-”

By this point, Valley was really on the edge, hanging on her fingernails, on the verge of falling off and slamming Alicia with an involuntary Samoan Drop. She was counting down the seconds until it was over, because in six seconds her body would make the decision on what to do all by itself.

When the time came, Valley immediately dropped down to one knee, then the other, and dropped Alicia as gently as he could...which wasn’t that gently, really, but it was the best she could do. The second she was off, the Slamazon plopped forward and landed right on his chest, laying on the floor as she breathed. Hard. Heavy.

”KInd of wished we’d just had a match.” Valley grumbled and rolled over to her back, staring up at the ceiling as she laid in a growing pool of sweat.

Thirty seconds. It felt like-

She didn’t know. A lot longer and the less than elegant way Valley dropped her on the mat at the end didn’t help. Not that Alicia could actually blame her but…

The big redhead hit the mat with a thump and groaned, immediately and instinctively trying to curl the other way and hissing as the pain shot through her abused body.

Her legs and arms were fine. So was her neck. Her back…

That hurt in a way that she just wasn’t used to and could do without experiencing again.

She’d have loved to give a coherent, meaningful answer to the blonde’s thoughts about just having a match – which would have been her preference too. Right now, she just had to settle for a noise of agreement.

At which point, Alicia realised something.

They’d started off with Chris getting Valley, then her getting Chris and now Valley getting her. Theoretically, that made it Valley’s turn again with her on the giving end.

Right?

Or was it her turn to take Chris’ abuse.

She wasn’t honestly sure.

Either way though…

”Give me a minute,” the crimson-haired Brit croaked, rolling onto her back and staring at the lights. And, you know, trying to ignore the fact her spine hadn’t liked being bent that way one little bit.

A minute might be optimistic here.

After a moment, she managed to turn her head enough to eye Chris, the only woman in the ring who was still standing.

”Hey Chris, mind murdering whichever idiot suggested that hold?”

Brief pause.

”Please?”