SS 17 Entropy Title - Valley Doll (c) vs. Alicia Welles (Total Victory Match)

The dropkick. Simple. Powerful. Effective.

That was exactly the sort of move Valley would need a lot more of in this match, and therein lied part of her problem. While she had a library of wrestling moves to choose from thanks to her years of experience, she had always styled herself a part performer, part competitor. She liked to show off, and that worked fine for most of her foes. But Alicia? She was a different breed. She had a potential to end matches faster than most opponents Valley had ever taken on, and that left little room for error.

Luckily, Valley had ways to work on that. For instance, while the typical dropkick would’ve forced her to fall flat on her butt and waste a couple of seconds, she had a rarely used version that wisely got around it - the dropsault.

Instead of just falling, Valley flipped  herself back after the successful impact, twisting through the air in a way few could, using the force to tumble backward and down on a foot and a knee.

While Alicia, on the other hand, was already starting to get back up.  Moving fast, yes. But not quite fast enough.

Perfect. ”Heh.”

Without a single breath wasted, Valley made a beeline towards Alicia at full speed, looking like she might just run straight into her for a moment. Instead, she lunged towards the Briton with her leg raised, aiming a running knee strike at her head. Or chest. Or really any spot on her upper body. She wasn’t picky.

The dropsault earnt Valley a good pop from the crowd, and would have impressed Alicia too.

If, you know, the redhead hadn’t been busy toppling over backwards. Which made seeing let alone appreciating the feat of acrobatics somewhat tricky.

Nor was she given much time to ponder. Halfway to her feet, which wasn’t bad going, the redhead found herself confronted with a blonde hurricane headed her way once again.

To be fair, Alicia hadn’t expected Valley to try ramming her bodily. With a healthy 30 lbs weight difference and two inches into the bargain, there was no way that’d end better for the blonde than for the redhead.

But it looked exactly like that and, for a moment, the big kickboxer did indeed wonder if that was what Valley had in mind.

It wasn’t, of course. Instead, the veteran went for a knee strike, one that connected solidly with Alicia’s upper torso – only luck and instinct and Valley’s readiness to accept it preventing a direct hit to the head.

Still, Alicia was by no means ready for it and the big redhead went sprawling once again, a hiss escaping her as she did so. She really didn’t want to be stuck on the floor when Valley was standing but it was hard to get back to her feet when the blonde was on hers.

To that end, she snapped a kick of her own off, looking to either force Valley to back off or to take the blonde’s feet out from under her. She really needed that distance.

”Yes!”

Contact. Sweet, sweet contact.

Granted, it wasn't the best case scenario - ideally, her knee would've made contact with Alicia’s head for heavy damage and maybe, just maybe, knocking that flaming head of hers so loopy that she could've gotten a surprise early pinfall. A far chance, but stranger things had happened. Especially in wrestling.

The consolation prize was decent, though, as Valley scored another hefty blow and dropped Alicia twice in under ten seconds, a feat she doubted many would repeat. All of the sudden, a novel strategy was forming in Valley’s head: don't let Alicia get up. And she seemingly had the momentum to make that happen.

She moved in, raised her leg for an axe kick, and…

...was promptly dumped on her butt.

She hadn't seen the kick coming until it was too late to dodge, and now she was paying for it. Valley rolled on her shoulders and popped back to her feet, but the damage was done. She wound up coming to her feet several feet away from Alicia.

Valley tensed up and took a step towards Alicia, but she held off instead of charging in again. Take it easy. Hold back a second. She listened to her instincts and kept the space open, wanting to see how her fearsome foe would react.

Alicia was relieved, if she was honest.

Going for the legs had been a gamble. Against, say, Dmitri, it’d have been far less so because he was basically a grounded fighter who kept his feet on the mats. Valley, however, was as likely to be airborne as anything and that meant she could be almost anywhere. Not necessarily where Alicia had aimed her scything kick, in short.

There was no guarantee she was going to hit anything except air – though even that might be enough if Valley had to dodge.

But she needed Valley off her and this was her best option. And it worked. Which was nice.

She didn’t get a good look at what was going on but, given the way she only encountered one leg, Valley had been about to kick her again.

Instead, Alicia felt the leg give and heard the blonde drop to the mat. Immediately, the redhead scrambled to a crouch, then to her feet even as her opponent kipped back up to standing. After all, if she sat around and waited, she might as well not have bothered.

This time, the redhead didn’t keep back. Instead, she sprinted forward, closing the distance with shocking speed for her size and aiming to return the favour with a thunderous rising knee to Valley’s belly.

This time, she was looking to take the wind out of her slippery foe.

High risk, high reward. That had been the philosophy of Valley Doll’s wrestling style since day one, and even as she grew older, she didn't deviate much from it. It was all about punishing mistakes and getting punished for her own, and she was no stranger to the pain of a turning tide.

This was that kind of scenario.

Valley could’ve pressed her attack and she could've retreated, could've dove in or backed off altogether. Instead, she went for a middle ground, looking to hold her position and react to whatever Alicia threw her way. And, oh boy, did Alicia throw something her way.

In theory, it was a similar move to the one Valley had launched just a moment ago. Aimed at a standing target, sure, but similar. In practice, it was the difference between a pistol shot and a shotgun blast. Alicia’s blow rammed her chest hard and had enough force to lift Valley into the air, making her fly a whole foot before her feet touched the canvas again.

For a second, it looked like Valley might actually stand - she was hurt, clearly, you could tell that from the way she wrapped her arms around her stomach and heaved, but she was on two straight legs. They didn’t stay that way for long, though, as one gave way and brought the rest of her down with it, forcing her to a knee.

It wasn’t a gambit but there was no way for Alicia to be certain that her strike was going to connect. Since their first meeting, she’d had a great deal of respect for Valley’s ability to not be where she was aiming and knew she couldn’t count on anything. Had to be ready for anything.

As it happened, this time she didn’t need to be so worried. Her knee rammed home hard enough to physically blast the other woman back a not-inconsiderable distance and – after a moment – drop her to one knee as if she was genuflecting before the curvy kickboxer.

Not that Alicia imagined any such thing but the volley of flashes from the cameras promised others did.

There was also an appreciate hum from the crowd, not a cheer by any stretch of the imagination but still an approving noise – ok, admittedly one that was chiefly drowned out by the booing of the Valley Doll fans in the audience but still…

Not that Alicia cared, of course. Nor did she stop to admire the dramatic effect her knee had had on her opponent. No, unsurprisingly the big redhead wasn’t resting on her laurels. Even as Valley slumped to a knee, the British fighter closed the distance. One hand went to tangle itself in Valley’s hair, Alicia looking to use the handhold to jerk the blonde’s head back so that the knee she was bringing up could crack solidly off the veteran’s chin.

She didn’t necessarily imagine she could get the knockout here but stunning her speedy foe would be an excellent way to render Valley vulnerable to all sorts of nasty holds.

This time, Alicia had every intention of slowing the blonde down to a more manageable speed as soon as she could manage.

The art of the moment was obvious to everyone in the arena, as hundreds and hundreds of cameras caught the sight of a champion kneeling before her challenger. Quaint, cute, but Valley was little too busy doing more important things. Like trying to breath. And clear her head. And not get pounded around the ring by Alicia Wells and her thunderous thighs.

She was not so out of it that she didn’t notice that little undercurrent of support for Alicia, brimming underneath the larger din of her own fanbase. Good for Alicia. She knew the redhead didn’t care about such things, but she saw it as a good thing for the business as a whole. Talent should be appreciated. The Briton might not have cared if she was recognized or not, but that didn't mean she wasn't deserving of it.

She just didn’t want it recognized at her expense.

It was a topic she’d love to talk with Alicia about afterwards, assuming both of them were capable of coherent speech when this was through. For now it was all about business, as Alicia moved closed in without a moment of pause and grabbed Valley by the hair. One of the Slamazon’s biggest pet peeves, and one that she’d hoped would stop when she cut her hair shorter. Sadly, that just was not the case. So long as she was a wrestler, she wasn't going to go two weeks before somebody tugged on her scalp.

Valley had little time to dwell on the pain from her yanked scalp before a knee crashed into her face. Her body shot upwards from the impact, and she stumbled back, back, back towards the corner. She almost certainly would’ve fallen flat on her back if the turnbuckle hadn’t saved her.

‘Saved’ being a relative term. She was on her feet, but barely, and she was leaning in the corner while she rubbed her jaw and tried to get her brain in order. Not a good place to be with anyone, least of all an opponent like this.

Well, that hadn’t quite gone to plan.

The knee had hit home with all the force Alicia could have hoped. No question about that. But she’d planned for it to either leave Valley where she’d been, using her grip on her hair, or levelled flat on her back where Alicia could have gone for a submission.

Instead, rather impressively, it’d taken the champion from her penitent position back to standing and catapulted her back into the nearest corner. Possibly, if not for that, she’d have been flat on her back as the redhead had wanted. But the turnbuckle had been there, Valley was standing and that meant a rapid change of strategy.

After all, the last thing Alicia wanted was to just let Valley take a breather, get her head back in the game. She wanted Valley to take control back, if she was going to do so. Earn it. Make this the match the redhead was hoping for.

So, no rest for the wicked (or the champion).

Charging in like a battering ram wasn’t Alicia’s style though; for all her aggression, the redhead liked to play it more controlled and measured than that. Also, she wasn’t falling for the oldest trick in the pro book.

So, while she didn’t linger, she didn’t charge in either. She marched in, guard up. As soon as she was in range, the kickboxer twisted as if in preparation for a kick…

Only to snap her elbow out at Valley’s jaw, a vicious strike she rapidly followed up with a brutal stomp of a kick aimed at the blonde’s knee.

Pretty? Certainly not. Effective, oh, she certainly intended it to be effective.

There was a rhythm to fighting everyone, Valley found, and part of her style was learning to work with that rhythm and breaking it at just the right time. She thrived on openings, taking advantage of the short seconds of vulnerability to swing things in her favor, and most of the time that wasn’t a problem. There weren’t too many moves in the wrestling repertoire that she didn’t know some kind of counter for, or at least knew the best way to react to.

That was the difficulty that Alicia presented - the difficult that came with anyone using her style, but that she was the prime example of.

As Valley leaned in the corner, she kept an eye open for some way to slip past the bruiser and take her off guard. She couldn’t find one, and by the time Alicia was close, it was too late, anyway. She started to bring her guard up for the kick, and instead wound up taking a rocking blow to the chin, rattling the same spot that Alicia had struck with her knee just a moment ago. It did not help her addled brain, and it very well might have been to bring her down.

Not that it mattered, because Alicia had some insurance in that regard. A follow up kick crashed into her knee, took her feet out from under her, and gravity did the rest. Valley fell forward, down to her knees, and only just managed to get her hands up at the last second to keep from coming down right on her chest. That was where she stayed, too, gritting her teeth hard to keep from crying out as the pain ran its course.

The crowd began to clap, trying to rally behind her and get her back into the game. She appreciated the thought, but claps weren’t what she needed right now. Valley needed a plan and one wasn’t forthcoming at the moment.

People expected the kick. Or the knee. Legs like Alicia’s, it was no surprise at all. But Alicia was smart enough to know that and to use it to her advantage from time to time. And this time, it went to perfection.

Specifically, when Valley went to block the kick and instead took an elbow to her face for her pains.

And that rocked her enough for Alicia’s follow-up stomp to take the veteran down to her hands and knees.

But everyone from the referee to Alicia to the fans watching knew that the match could turn in an instant. It was far too early to count Valley out.

No, she needed to keep the pressure on.

If they’d been centre-ring, Alicia would have followed up by going for a submission. But they weren’t. And even when she knocked Valley flat, the blonde would be getting an near-instant rope break. What was the point? It’d just give Valley a break. So no, no submission just yet.

Instead, towering over the veteran, Alicia brought one boot up and went to stomp on the small of Valley Doll’s back. She still wanted the blonde down, but instead of a submission, she’d follow up with a heartless series of stomps aimed at Valley’s leg. Yes, the one she’d just hammered already.

Again, she wouldn’t be able to do it for long, she was familiar enough with the rules of the ring now to recognise that. But she felt she could get more mileage out of it.