AV 16: Melody Serperior vs. Lena "Tracer" Oxton

Tracer was preparing to end Melody with the dropkick, but her opponent expertly moved at the last second, with the brit whiffing the move. Dropping like a sack of flour, she landed directly on her spine, screaming from the impact. Clutching a hand to the base of her back, she rolled as far away as she could before making a grab for the ropes, attempting to drag herself up.

Melody saw as Tracer crashed, and now attempted to roll away towards the ropes.

Melody wasn't going to let this moment escape, as she would run towards Tracer and jump, planning to land her elbow in her opponent's stomach to take wind out of her.

As if the slam on her spine wasn't bad enough, just as Tracer reached for the bottom rope, she caught a sharp elbow to her stomach. The woman's body spasmed, her arm releasing the ropes. Unable to simply lay there and take the punishment, the British Bullet balled up her fist, driving it into the side of Melody's temple to knock her back.

Melody's elbow managed to hit the intended target. "Alright", she thought, "Back on track".

However, she couldn't stand up from her attack fast enough as Tracer managed to punch her in Melody's head

"Ugh". She stood up right away, going away from Tracer while holding her hurt temple with her right hand, allowing Lena chance to recupperate.

Seconds...precious seconds. That's all she asked for. With Melody reeling, Tracer might finally be able to steal this win. Holding onto the ropes like they were here only lifeline, she dragged herself inch by inch back to her feet. It wasn't easy though. Short of breath and an aching back made the climb a bit difficult, but she had to put the pain aside if she had any hope of pinning Melody.

Taking a few moments to breathe in the much needed oxygen her lungs craved, Tracer would run under her opponent;s guard leaping up in a neat backflip to nail Melody right in the temple with her boot, in her patented Slipstream Signature!

Melody saw Tracer running at her. Despite the throbbing at her temple, she could still retain control of her offense.

As Tracer stood up to her feet and ran at her, Melody would prepare to try and punch her opponent in the head to daze her, hoping to follow up with a big attack of her own.

That was not to be as, just as at the start of the match, Tracer slipped just below Melody's arm. Melody quickly turned to see Tracer leaping as she went for a Pele Kick.

Melody barely managed to bring her right hand to her right temple to block it, but the kick did connect, and the force of it caused Melody to lower to her left knee, open for Tracer's follow up attack.

The fans cheered when the Pele Kick struck true, flooring Melody and swinging the momentum of the fight firmly back in Tracer's favor. The brunette took a moment to compose herself, reaching out to grab her opponent's head. Getting to her knees, Tracer stood, aiming to drag up the beaten Melody to finish her off for good.

Melody once again lost control of the match, Tracer preparing for a follow-up attack. And with how hard the woman was hitting so far, she hated to think that it wouldn't be long before she wouldn't get up for the pin

As Tracer was approaching Melody to follow up, a mental image passed through Melody's brain.

1-2. That was her current win/loss record. She already lost her chance to show herself as great after losing to one of the tag team champions. Melody was determined not to lose this opprotunity to prove herself.

Time slowed to a crawl for Melody.

She glanced at the weapons again. This wasn't just a No-DQ match, it was a hardcore match. Weapons weren't just provided, they were encouraged. So management planned for them to be used in this match.

Melody's conscience tried to convince her to not use the weapons. She promised that she could beat her without using anything of the sort. Well, this was already broken as Lena was going to finish her off.

But the reason why she was in this match to begin with was likely because management thought that she might be too dangerous for a regular match, her conscience argued. Well, she was now in this match, and losing will only show them that she isn't good enough, her mind argued back.

She was going to win within the rules, and rules allowed weapons to be used.

As Tracer tried to get Melody to her feet, she formulated a plan of how to get to the weapons as fast as possible.

Before anything, she said to Lena, without any trace of malice: "I am sorry", before she slammed her knee into Lena's crotch for a low blow.

Assuming Tracer was going to be shaken by pain and surprise from the attack, Melody would try and get her hands around her opponent's back, hoping to incapacitate her for a few seconds with a Butterfly DDT.

Tracer seemed to have a handle on Melody by now. The Pele Kick was able to knock her opponent flat, and seemed to, for the moment at least, keep her dazed and on spaghetti legs. Dragging her up, she was prepared to prop her up for the finishing touch, when she could hear the apology spilling from Melody's lips.

"Wha-?" Tracer began to ask when Melody violently brought her knee up against the Brit's crotch. The young brunette screamed, releasing her foe for the moment in order to cradle her injured groin. But the low blow opened her up for the butterfly DDT, a equalizer from Melody to even the scales. The impact spiked Tracer directly on her head, and her body slumped on the canvas, one hand covering her forehead, and the other cradling her crotch as tears welled up in her eyes. She fought against them, unwilling to let them see. Still the pang of betrayal felt by her was stronger than any physical pain.

The crowd was mixed as well, some simply gasping while a few fans started to boo Melody's heel like actions.

As Melody heard the boo of the crowd, she started to somewhat regret her choice of going for cheapshots.

But, now that she did, she couldn't waste any time. She left the ring as soon as possible, leaving Tracer on the mat to grab some weapons. She didn't have any malice towards her opponent, so, for now, she was going to use the bare minimum of what a hardcore match allowed. She saw a steel chair in a corner near the barricade, with a kendo stick on it. Perfect, she thought.

Folding the chair and grabbing the kendo stick, she entered the ring, to see whether Tracer recovered from her earlier attack.