Full Squared Circle

"ngh... damn it!" Alaina groaned as she felt Valley hit the ropes and surge forward! Alaina's grip did not hold at all and she was running straight at the ropes! This wasn't good at all, this was Valleys realm she was in. As Alaina rushed back she knew Valley was going to try something. Alaina had to foil it somehow. Anyhow.

With a loud scream Alaina jumped up and flew at Valley parallel to the ring in an attempt at a cross body block! It wasn't the most graceful nor powerful way to counter this but it was just what popped in Alaina's head at the time. She could only hope this didn't backfire terribly in her face...

Valley could feel the blood pumping through her veins now, as the momentum started turning towards her favor. She still had a ways to go to catch up with Alaina’s strong lead, but things were definitely on the right track, as she freed herself from the headlock and sent the Amazon off running, she just had to capitalize on things.

She saw her chance as Alaina came running towards her and leaped into the air, going for a clear but deadly crossbody block. There was no way for even someone with her speed to dodge it at this range, and there was zero chance of her catching the larger woman. That left only one option: counter.

As Alaina flew towards, Valley opened her arms to take her in. Instead of trying to pick up the Amazon, though, she kicked her legs up and backflipped as Alaina crashed into her, eating away at the impact. If all went to plan, she’d flip around while her opponent came to the mat, turning the crossbody into a moonsault slam...or she’d fail and wind up flattened. No guts, no glory.

Alaina jumped and felt the contact.. but not the impact. Before Alaina's mind could process what had happened she slammed down onto her back hard! "Arrrrrgh!" Alaina cried out, gasping for breath as she laid on her back with Valley on top of her. Alaina kicked the mat weakly from the pain and surprise of the reversal, making it that much harder to process just how she ended up where she did.

As much as she wanted to get right and and keep swinging, that just wasn't the reality of her situation. The amazon was down, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath and recover.

If there had been a crowd in the room, they likely would've been surprised by Valley’s counter to the crossbody. Frankly, she would've been right there with them.

It had been a while since she pulled that one off, and that was certainly the first time doing it with someone Alaina’s size. There were so many ways it could've messed up and just made her situation so much worse…

Couldn't think about that. She had Alaina in position for a pin, and even though she highly doubted it would work, there was no reason not to try. Reaching over, she lifted up the former champion’s leg, pressed their chests together, and started up the count herself.

”1…!”

Alaina was still as she laid on her back gasping for breath. The one count came and went with the amazon not moving. The second count came and with it a loud scream from the amazon as she thrust a shoulder up as forcefully as she could to break the count! Alaina tried to get her arms underneath Valley to shove her away to create some distance.

To create more distance Alaina rolled to her side and worked her way up to her feet, knowing that to stand a chance she had to be vertical. If she was laying there motionless someone like Valley could do a thousand things to make her pay. That was not what Alaina wanted at all.She knew how hard Valley could kick, who quickly she could move and how high she could fly. Just the same Valley knew her power. Even though it was a spar Alaina felt like she had to do something outside the norm to be able to pull out a win.

Problem is, what could she do that Valley didn't expect?

Valley was expecting Alaina to kick out, but she wasn’t anticipating the energy that she wound up using for it. The yell, the wild movement, it would make for a great bit on the highlight reel...or would, if this was a real match. Here, Valley saw it as a waste of energy.

But she was more than content to let Alaina do it, knowing she’d have plenty to spare. Case in point: the Amazon didn’t stay down for long, promptly rolling away and working her way back, almost before Valley could do the same. She was smart, getting back on her feet as soon as possible. She wouldn’t be staying that way for long if she had any say on the matter, but the effort was nice.

Valley moved in, this time coming low with a shin kick aimed at the side Alaina’s knee, cracking hard against the bone. Attacking the base was always a good idea with the strong ones, in her experience. Deliver the pain and chip away at some of their best moves.

Alaina was back up but Valley Doll was already on the move. As Alaina moved in close to strike Valley was already a step ahead of her! Alaina felt the sharp kick hammer her shin and she let out a groan as she dropped down to a knee! That pain surged through her leg and this was a very bad sign of things to come if the amazon wasn't careful!

Alaina began to rise, but the pain in her shin forced her back to a knee as she slumped back down! She winced and reached forward as she landed, almost like a pathetic attempt to grab at Valley, the ropes, anything really. All Alaina knew was that she was in a dangerous spot against Valley.

Valley was wary of Alaina’s arms. She’d seen what they could do, watched as they crushed opponents and whipped them around with ease, and she had been on the receiving end more times than she cared to admit. She knew to give them a wide berth, so when the Amazon reached out with a deadly hand, she wisely jumped back, just out of reach.

That hardly meant she couldn’t use it, though. Before Alaina pulled back, Valley reached out and grabbed her by that outstretched wrist. She ducked under, spun about, then pulled her way back up to her feet, trying to lock the larger woman into an armwringer. Not the sort of thing you won matches with, but it would wear away at Alaina’s best weapon and sap her stamina. Important targets.

Damn. Double damn. Alaina was caught and feeling the pain in her arms as Valley again was proving to be the smarter woman in the ring! Alaina grunted as she was stuck and instead of using a more technical means of escape she tried to use her legs. She figured if she could walk them both over, and reach out with her foot to get the rope that was her best bet at escape.

If Valley stopped her or put her into something else worse in the meantime? Well that would be a different story, a story Alaina didn't want to read let alone be a part of! Valley could hurt her in a lot of ways and Alaina needed to at the very least free herself before trying to mount offense of her own.

The armwringer was a simple move, but one that Valley felt was overlooked in favor of flashier fare. It wasn’t about to make Alaina submit, but it was doing its simple job well. Every moment the Amazon struggled, another moment passed where Valley wasn’t being whipped around like a ragdoll, more time for her to recover and regroup. She was deeply thankful for that, simple as it was.

Against someone of this calibre, though, it was only going to get her so far, and she ultimately couldn’t stop Alaina from reaching the ropes.

Valley waited until the count was close, then released the hold and moved away with her hands up. She stepped back to the center of the ring and hunched over, blowing some stray hairs away from her eyes as she did. ”You move a lot faster than I remember.”