[ONE] Round One Match: Melody Serperior vs Makie Akamatsu

Although Melody didn't usually end the matches with her Impaler, she thought she could make an exception this time. She scrambled towards the lying Makie in order to turn the woman on her back before she hooked her leg and pinned her!

The audience was in an uproar as Melody nailed Makie with the impaler, a blow that left Makie stunned and twitching on the mat. After seeing Makie in control for most of the match, this sudden turnaround by Melody was both unexpected, and shocking in how devastating it was. Makie showed no response as Melody crawled over to her and draped across her, hooking a leg for the pin. In an instand, the ref girl began the countdown.

"ONE! TWO! THR--"

A split second before the countdown could finish, Makie's body jolted to the side, getting a shoulder up. The crowd went even more wild at this. With Makie hurt and Melody battered after a long match, it was anybody's guess who would win this now.

"I won...it's finally over..., Melody thought as ref hit the mat for 2. And just before ref hit for 3, she knew that she was moving on in the tournament...

"THRE---NO!", ref said, as Makie jolted to her side, breaking the count.

Melody went wide-eyed, before looking at the ref:

"Three...?"

The ref girl shook her head.

Melody let out an audible growl. She turned away from the ref and towards Makie. The match was still going, but Makie was visibly almost done. With an angry expression on her face, she pulled the woman to her feet by her hair....before jumping, getting her hands around Makie's head, and falling to the mat backfirst, simultaniously driving Makie's head into the canvas with her finisher - Leaf Blade!

Everything hurt. Makie's spine, Neck, and the back of her skull were all a single mass of pain, and it spread out to her shoulders and knees. She couldn't move, couldn't find the strength or willpower to resist as Melody rolled her up for a match winning pin.

Well, that wasn't quite true. She always had the willpower. And it was this willpower that forced her body to move despite the pain it was in, breaking the pinfall at the literal last second.

As Melody rolled off of her, Makie groaned and tried moving, rolling and flopping over onto her front. Almost immediately after, however, her scalp burned as Melody grabbed her by the hair. Gasping, she was pulled up to her feet, her legs wobbling underneath her and threatening to give way, her arms flailing as she tried to right herself.

Then she was thrown forwards, and her head collided violently with the mat. Colours exploded across her vision, and then Makie went limp face down on the mat, seemingly knocked out.

As she layed on her stomach after performing her finisher (to a massive pop from the crowd), Melody would stop for a second to look at Makie. Her opponent seemed to be completely out. And really, truly seemed that the match was over.

She dragged herself over Makie's body. If she pinned her for 3 this time, then this would've been the biggest win in her short career to this day. If she didn't, then it would be unlikely for Melody to hit Makie with something that powerful again, and Melody would likely lose the match:

"Please...Please don't get up, Makie!, she pleaded in her head, her heart beating non-stop in her chest from the wait. The few moments ref took to get towards the 2 already seemed like an eternity. And the 3 seconds separating Melody from her win or loss would be even more painful...

Makie's fans were howling in disbelief at this point, some of them yelling at Makie to get back up. Makie, though, didn't seem to hear them as she lay facedown on the mat. As she was rolled over onto her back, the audience could see that her eyes were closed as though asleep. Without a doubt, Makie definitely seemed to have been KO'd.

The crowd was on the edge of their seats as Melody wearily covered Makie for the pin. In an instant, the ref girl started the coundown, the audience stomping in their seats as they counted down with her.

"ONE!"


"TWO"


"THREE!"


The bell rang, signalling the end of the match. The audience was unable to compare their excitement. After being almost completely dominated all match, Melody had just pulled out a massive upset over Makie for a last-minute win!

"THREE!"
 
DING! DING! DING!
 
Melody gasped as she heard the ring of the bell, making her second solo victory in the promotion official. Not only that, by a victory against a veteran like Makie!
 
In shock, she barely noticed as ref helped her up, and raised her hand for this victory. For a second Melody smiled...
 
...until she turned towards the titantron screen, and read what was written on the card below the screen:
 
 
Immidiately, Melody's mood soured: "That's right... I have 2 more matches tonight if I am to win this...damnit..."
 
For a moment, she wasn't sure whether she would be able to make her way down the ramp for the next match...let alone fight. The wrong strategy for the match has hurt her dearly, almost costing her the match, and makin her more tired in the long run...but for the current hour, she won, and the road to her possibly getting her first major accomplishment in the company looked bright.
 
As she turned to pose to all sides of the ring, she glanced at Makie. She seemed out for the moment. The woman definitely made this Melody's toughest match to date. And she respected her all the more for the challange.
 
Melody would approach Makie, right as referee would check on her condition: "H-hey, you alright there?"

Makie dimly heard the ring of the bell in the background, past the haze of her vision and the ringing of her skull. At first, she was too dazed to even realize what that meant. Everything was reduced to just a faint background noise as she began the slow slide into unconsciousness.

A gentle tapping at her cheek, though, brought Makie back to her waking world, blinking rheumily up at the arena lights. Her head was vibrating like a drum, and she heard the excited roar of the crowd in the background. Slowly, everything clicked into place: she had lost. Here, in the first round of a tournament, she had lost.

She shut her eyes, again, wanting to drown out the sound around her, wanting nothing more than to just disappear right now. A voice caused her to open her eyes again. Melody was standing over her, a look of genuine concern on her face as she extended a hand towards her.

Slowly, Makie accepted Melody's hand. "I've had worse," she slurred, conscious of the fact that she probably didn't sound very convincing. "Nothing some...aspirin...won't....fix..." Several bottles of aspirin, if Makie had to be honest.

Melody has offered Makie her hand to help her up. Although Makie, accepting said hand, said she had worse, Melody still felt that she overdid it in the match. Her style targetted her opponent's head so much that it's a miracle that her opponents didn't have a concussion after their matches...

"Sorry about that...", she would reply to Makie.

Melody would not only help Makie up but also lift her hand into the air in a show of respect for her opponent, to the massive ovation from the crowd.

Makie stumbled a little as Melody pulled her to her feet. She was still feeling woozy, and right now all she wanted to do was lie down somewhere. "Nah, don't apologize," she said, clutching her head as she stood to her full height. "You won fair and square. Hell, I think you earned this after the way you just wouldn't quit in this match."

As Melody raised Makie's arm in a gesture of good sportswomanship, Makie smiled and gave Melody a gentle hug. "Good luck with the rest of this tournament. And maybe you and I can battle again sometime. Or at the very least I can buy you a drink at some point."

She blinked a bit, feeling lightheaded all of a sudden. "If you'll excuse me, though, I think I should go do something about this killer headache."