PHDoom vs. River Styx - Aggressive Expansion

Styx, a woman already not known for her legendary patience, was quickly losing what little of it she had left.

PHDoom was fast. Not the first fast opponent Styx had ever dealt with, but definitely one of the hardest hitting, the most precise, the most vicious. Most of the speedsters she’d come across before were too busy taunting and joking to use their speed the right way.

Not this one. She just kept coming and coming.

Styx’s bald held fit nicely under PHDoom’s arms as she was caught in the front facelock, snatched up nice and tight. In three seconds, she probably could’ve pushed herself out of it and gotten in some real offense on her surly opponent. Problem was, PHDoom only needed two for what she had in mind next.

Styx’s head hit the mat with a hard crash as her opponent nailed the DDT, even earning some brief cheers from the well-executed move. Her skull was thick, thicker than most, but it still gave her a wicked headache.

Needed a moment. Just a fucking moment.

With a muttered curse, Styx rolled under the nearest ropes and spilled out to the floor. She came down on her feet and stumbled over to the barricade, one hand on her head every step of the way.

The ring echoed through the arena, a loud pounding sound as Styx's head hit the mat hard and heavy. Doom could feel the force of the impact come off the mat, reverberating through her spine as she came down behind her opponent.

"As if you appreciated that, plebians!" Doom sneered at the fans, spitting in the face of their brief moment of appreciation. The drooling fanboys weren't the priority, however, as irritating as they were. Styx was the only person in the ring even slightly worthy of Doom's time, here, and Doom planned on giving her plenty.

Doom knew that her advantage here was a considerable one, and any slip up would cause her to lose it. A lesser wrestler might have taunted, here, or tried to set up a harder slam or strike. Doom, however, was anything but a "lesser wrestler." Doom was keeping herself at work.

With Styx platned on the mat, Doom kept the head on. The brawler kept her grip on Styx's head, sure that the fight hadn't gone out of her so quickly, even if the DDT was likely to have left her stunned. So, Doom got right back to work. Turning her more slender body, Doom kicked a leg over Styx's figure, shifting her grip until her hands were tucked beneath the larger woman's chin.

From this position, Doom was able to plant her boots on either side of Styx, with her bottom sitting comfortably on Styx's lower back. From here, Doom shifted back, and began to wrench hard on Styx's chin. It was a modified camel clutch, applied more for speed than effectiveness. Doom felt it would have been naive to expect a submission from Styx this early, not without working her over some more. More than that, however, Doom simply wanted to see how her opponent would react, from here.

Styx thought that PHDoom might give her a moment to collect herself here, that she would do a little showboating. She kind of struck her as the showboating type, after all. Sure loved the sound of her own voice enough, and people rarely followed up on DDTs with anything but a pin attempt, which never worked.

Nope. No rest for the wicked. PHDoom went right back on the attack, like the feisty fucking pitbull she was rapidly turning out to be.

Styx very quickly found herself in the spiky-haired woman’s grasp, being yanked back into a sloppy kind of camel clutch. It wasn’t the least bit pleasant, but there was a tiny problem, here.

The camel clutch tended to work best when the one applying it was the same size or bigger than her opponent.

Though they were fairly close in height, Styx was considerably heavier than PHDoom, with a hulking frame and all the advantages that came with it. She languished in the camel clutch for all of about five seconds, before one hand grabbed the bitter brawler’s wrist, the other arm wrapped around her leg, and Styx started to stand up. With PHDoom still on her back.

She let out a boisterous, booming roar as she got her legs under her and stood out of the camel clutch, summoning her full strength to power out of the hold. Once she had both of her feet on the mat, the next step was simple - she just backpedaled at full speed, looking to sandwich PHDoom’s slender body between her back and the turnbuckle.

Doom mounted her foe with flair, ready to take her to the clutch for all she was worth. Doom was looking to make a show of the move, to punish Styx in a very public way and show these mouth-breathing fanboys the kind of competition PHDoom was aiming to bring to the AFW!

That display would be a short-lived one, however, as Styx began to stir, then stand. The larger woman got her center of gravity beneath her, and then beneath Doom, lifting her off of the mat and into the air above!

Thinking fast, Doom began to scramble for a counter. Styx had her held tight, which at least meant the bitter brawler didn't have to worry about falling to the mat quite yet. From here, Doom knew she had some options. Cheap shots, hard elbows, there were options. Against another opponent, Doom might have gone for a simple eye rake, or to hook the mouth- moves designed to hurt, but mostly to disrespect. However, Doom felt such tactics were beneath this contest.

Instead, the brawler scrambled to get her arms around Styx's thick neck, thinking she could lock in a sleeperhold on the larger woman. It wasn't the best example of the move, but if Doom could get the move locked in, she would have plenty of chances to tighten things up.

Styx wasn't going to give Doom that chance, however. Doom felt the two women barreling backward, careening into the corner! Their bodies hit the turnbuckles with a thunderous impact, shaking the ring ropes. The fans let out a loud cry, impressed. Doom, however, backed off. The impact was enough to force her to release her arms, which she let fall back and drape over the ropes. The air was knocked out of her lungs, leaving her winded and wounded, clutching to the ropes to keep herself from falling to the mat.

For a moment, things were actually looking kind of bad for River Styx. She was a strong, boisterous, bad-ass bitch, but even so, she was still a human being. As such, she needed to do pithy human things on a regular basis. Things like blinking. And eating. And breathing.

PHDoom seemed the most concerned with putting a stop to that last one, as her arms, slender and strong, closed around Styx’s windpipe and clamped tight. If she’d been on her knees, this would be a major problem.

But she wasn’t. Not anymore. Styx was standing. She could move. As PHDoom was about to learn, that could be a dangerous thing.

Styx crashed into the corner and, sure enough, PHDoom let go after the impact. Now free, she stumbled forward, gasping and gagging for a moment, before she turned towards her opponent with a death glare, hissing through her teeth.

”My turn.”

Styx reached out with both hands and tried to wrap them around PHDoom’s neck. Not a hold, not some move with a fancy name. A straight up, no frills, illegal, barehanded choke. Dangerous under normal situations, but from a woman her size, with the power she could bring…

Doom shook her head out, her upper body coughing and spasming as she tried to replace the wind that Styx had just crushed out of her lungs. Despite the turnbuckle cover, Doom could feel the corner post digging into her spine. It was a simple counter, driving Doom back against the ring post, but Styx had the perfect mix of size, power and viciousness to really make it count.

Just as Doom opened her eyes again, however, Styx was back into it. Doom didn't see the hands extending in time to counter or evade, even if she were in shape to do so. Styx had the choke hold locked in, and was wringing the smaller woman's neck like a rabid dog!

Doom knew how bad this could be, for her. Styx had knocked the wind out of her, and was now in a position to completely stop Doom from trying to replace it. The ref was on her quickly, threatening a count out if Styx didn't release the hold. So strange, from Doom's perspective, seeing the official actually taking her side, for once.

"Hhhrrk!" Doom grunted, "Inn~nnngh!" Possibly, the ref might have Styx counted out or pulled away before the brawler lost consciousness. Possibly. But that wouldn't do, for Doom. A disqualification win wasn't something Doom could just allow, for herself. Doom's boots dropped to the mat. Gritting her teeth, trying to conserve whatever air she had left, Doom leaned back into the turnbuckle. Then, quickly as she could manage, the brawler braced her arms on the inside of Styx's. Locking hands, Doom tried diminished best to form a wedge that would alleviate some of the pressure on that choke hold. The choke hold that, locked in as it was, was forcing everything in Doom's vision to go black, and everything in the arena- such as the referee's count- to suddenly sound very underwater.

Styx reached out and touched PHDoom. With both hands. In the most brutal, violent way imaginable.  Powerful hands, attached to powerful arms, driven by powerful shoulers, with a powerful body pressing against them - all coming down on the bitter brawler’s neck.

It was enough to knock anyone out in short time, and Styx would’ve loved to watch it happen. One problem, though.

”Hey!” The referee called out, tugging at Styx’s shirt from behind. ”Illegal hold, ease up, Styx! 1! ”

Styx groaned, an annoyed, exasperated sound that she hadn’t made since her school  days. The referee's squawking was a dim reminder that there were actual rules in this match, that it wasn't the hardcore, free-for-all fracas she preferred. She ignored the count, only taking her cold gaze away from Doom for a moment before she centered back on Doom.

”2!”

”That’s right.” Styx whispered, a slim smile creeping along her lips as she felt the match turning back her way.

”3!”

”Go to sleep, bitch. Go the fuck...to…”

The referee stopped counting, but not because Styx let go - at least not becuase she let go willingly. PHDoom was fighting her way out of the hold, slowly but surely, resisting Styx with everything she had and doing a decent job of it. The choke had already been lifted, and in a few seconds, she would be free.

That is, she would’ve been free if Styx hadn’t suddenly jerked forward and smashed their skulls together with a savage headbutt.

The later numbers in the ref's count were sounding more muffled and muddy. PHDoom was on the ropes, dominated by an illegal choke hold. A situtation completely new to the brawler, unfortunately, and one that she wasn't resolving nearly as quickly as she wanted.

Doom's lean body trembled, as she tried to wedge Styx's hands off of her throat. Everything in Doom's field of vision was growing dark, until all she could see where the dark shapes of Styx and the referee, and the piercing lights of the arena.

Finally, however, between the incessant droning of the referee and the impertinent demands of Styx, change finally happened. Doom's wedge finally managed to pry Styx's hands off of her throat, allowing a sudden rush of air to enter her throat! Doom gasped, allowing some color to return to her face, as the brawler shook her aching head. Which, she thought, was only right- Doom excelled in all things, including not getting choked out!

Styx wasn't quite done, however, and before Doom could fully recover and get herself back into the fight, she was rocked hard into the corner with a stiff headbutt! Doom could hear a loud cracking sound, and her head rocked back into the turnbuckle! "BAH!" Doom grunted, pained and frustrated.

Hanging from the top rope, Doom's head lulled lazily from side to side. She squinted her eyes, opening them repeatedly, trying to keep herself from succumbing to the heavy blow. Stubbornly, Doom braced her arms against the top rope, lifted her boots, and tried to sink them into Styx's midsection, fighting to push the larger woman off of her and force some room between them.

The sound of coconuts colliding echoed through the ring as Styx rammed her bald head into PHDoom’s skull, using the body part in a way it was never designed for. It just sort of came naturally, really. She couldn’t use her arms, couldn’t use her legs in this position, so she got the most out of it that she reasonably could. As reasonable as you could consider a headbutt to be.

But fuck it, it worked. Doom was stunned. Granted, so was Styx, but yeah, came with the territory.

”Fucking shit-” She shook her head, clearing out the cobwebs, but the second she got things clear was the same second that PHDoom went back into action, kicking Styx in the stomach with both of her heavy duty boots. The bald brawler stumbled back, grasping her stomach and leaning over. When she back up, however, her teeth were clenched in tight rage. This cat-and-mouse shit was getting old.

With a war cry fit for the battlefield, Styx ducked down and charged forward like a stampeding rhino, looking to drive PHDoom back into the turnbuckle with a fierce tackle, throwing her full weight into the attack.

Doom's head was swimming, after the loud impact of Styx's skull against her own. The attack itself was a bold one, not the sort of thing that Doom would have expected out of the usual AFW competition. Of course, Styx had shown from the opening bell onward that she wasn't what Doom would expect out of usual AFW competition. Powerful, both physically and mentally. Styx seemed to have the instinct that seperated a real fighter from a simple brute. And now, she was using that instinct to tear away at PHDoom.

Doom grunted, as she felt her legs flex under the strain of shoving Styx off of her. The simple kick was far from skilled or clever, not particularly deft or even impactful. But, it put space between Doom and Styx, and that was enough for now. Doom breathed deeply and steadily, not allowing herself to panic as she replenished the air that Styx had so completely deprived her of. Hanging from the corner, Doom tensed, gripped the rope. She could feel some of her strength returning, but her head was still swimming with the punishment Styx had been dishing out.

Looking up, Doom saw that Styx wasn't letting up, yet. In part, Doom was glad for it. She would have been disappointed if such a half-hearted kick had been enough to really stymie the powerhouse. More immediately, though, Doom was forced to react, as Styx came barreling into her vulnerable body once again!

On instinct, Doom lifted both knees. The tackle was coming in hard and fast, faster than Doom could have dodged in her current state. Either way, the brawler was going to be taking the powerful shoulder of her powerful opponent right in the midsection. However, with her knees coming up in time to slam into Styx's chest, maybe Doom could take some wind out of the sails of her foe, and possibly sap some of that impressive momentum!