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

So. To recap.

Valley had started off fairly strong, but hadn’t gotten too far out of the gate before she ran into the living wall that was Alicia Wells’ offensive game. Now, her main concern was getting back in the game and surviving long enough to turn things around. This was the pinning round. This was supposed to be hers to take, and she was the one in the corner, struggling as her foe poured the pressure on.

She needed to get control of the situation. She needed to stand, more than anything. She grabbed the ropes with that idea in mind, starting to pull herself up…

...before Alicia’s boot crashed into her back and planted her on the floor again.

Valley hit hard, flopping down on her chest with her arms flailing outward, hissing as a raw pain shot down her spine. That move would’ve been enough by itself - painful and more than a little degrading. But Alicia wasn’t done, something she made clear when she started hammering Valley’s knee under her boot.

The Slamazon cried out and thrashed for side as the blows came crashing down, backed by those indomitable legs of hers. It was all she could do to grab the ropes for succor and hold on until the referee intervened, hoping it would be fast enough to keep the damage from mounting too high.

Smart move. Smart, but nasty.

Whatever Alicia had picked to do to Valley, unless she’d just backed off, was going to be greeted with a rope break. And, whether Valley knew it or not, the moment the referee told her she was infringing the rules, Alicia was going to back off.

She didn’t milk rope breaks unlike some of those around Friction.

So that was why no submission hold. As it was, she was able to dole out several stomps to Valley’s knee and thigh in rapid succession, including one final one as the referee intervened. It hadn’t been deliberate, her foot had already been in motion when the woman made her presence known.

Still. It was all grist to the mill as the saying went. She didn’t know how much of an effect it would have but it was all worth trying.

One thing she had picked up from their earlier matches was the importance of keeping Valley’s speed to a minimum. And this was a good way of doing just that.

With the rope break enforced, Alicia backed up to near the centre of the ring, giving the blonde plenty of room to stand and breathe. Not ideal but those were the rules and she didn’t think it’d make much odds anyway.

So, for the moment, the big redhead stood waiting, not in a fighting stance but ready to assume one at a moment’s notice when the occasion demanded it. Her eyes were fixed on Valley, focused on every movement the veteran made.

While you certainly couldn't tell it from the way she cried out and the pained grimace on her face, Valley didn't begrudge Alicia for getting in that quick damage on the back of her leg. While it was definitely not a  ‘Nice Girl’ move - something the booing crowd was adamant about - it was still a legit tactic, and to the redhead’s credit, she didn't milk it as long as many would have. The referee asked her to break, she broke.

Nothing personal.

It wasn’t the easiest thing to remember that as her leg flared up and all-too familiar pains returned. After years of having her legs targeted, you might’ve thought that she would be used to it now, but no - the agony was hard to bear each time. Attacking her legs was the obvious choice, and each time she had to deal with the pain, it seemed worse in some new way.

But just because it was an obvious weakness didn’t mean it was a slam dunk. If beating Valley was as simple as attacking her leg, she would never have done this well in her career, would never have touched gold. The Slamazon had pushed through it before, she could do so again.

The referee backed away and Valley took a ginger step on the battered leg, hissing when the weight came down on it. It hurt, there was no hiding that, but she was able to take one step, then another. Could probably manage a decent kick. It wouldn’t be anywhere near as good or quick as it should be, but it wasn’t at the point where she’d need to hobble around the ring. Not yet.

Valley was still in this, and to prove that, she moved towards Alicia and raised her arms, seeing if she could goad the woman into a lockup. She had other moves besides kicking and flying about, and it was time she put them to good use.

It would surprise nobody much to know that Alicia didn’t pay any attention to the crowd booing her. In fact, she didn’t even notice. Her attention remained fixed entirely on Valley Doll, watching the champion stand and work through the pains.

The referee cast the occasional glance her way, but the British fighter kept a respectful distance and let Valley get herself back together.

It didn’t take long, after all. But Alicia still noted the noise the blonde made and the slight hesitance to put weight on that leg. It was a start at least.

To what exactly, she didn’t quite know.

Watching her opponent draw in for a lock up, the kickboxer was less than content though her smirk didn’t flicker. She wasn’t and never had been all that keen on those.

Not that Alicia felt she’d lose to Valley if the two women did go for the full Test of Strength. She had the edge in size and almost certainly both upper and lower body strength. No, she was just firmly of the opinion that it was a stupid move to open herself up like that.

But Valley was old enough to know better – if she wanted to take a knee to the chest just for the sake of showmanship, that was her call. Alicia wasn’t about to let her get away with mistakes and she didn’t think the blonde would want her to anyway.

So, with a mental shrug, the big redhead stepped in and raised her arms in turn, signalling she was ready for the lockup.

And set herself to deliver a knee the instant the blonde’s guard opened enough to allow it.

Timing. It all came down to timing.

On surface, what Valley was about to do was a bad idea. Hell, underneath it was a bad idea. Sure, locking up was a wrestling mainstay, but typically at the start of the match. Right at the beginning, when you were fresh and faster and your leg wasn't aching and you wanted to test things out. Not against a woman you were giving up nearly forty pounds to, with legs that could make grown men scream.

They'd been down this road before, and Valley knew where it would naturally end. She had a good idea how to change course, though. An idea.

They met and moved in for the lock up,squaring off with the classic collar and tie. Sure enough, Alicia brought her leg to knee Valley in the breadbasket, like a good MMA maven. Valley had a surprise, though.

As the knee came up, she raised her own foot, planted it right on top of the raising leg, and jumped straight off of it, shooting upwards. At the same time, she raised her other leg up and gave Alicia’s face what the redhead had meant for Valley’s stomach: a stiff, unforgiving knee, guaranteed to make her see stars.

In MMA, it probably had some simple name. In wrestling, it was called a Shining Wizard.

Timing. It all came down to timing.

Going in, if someone had somehow been able to pause time and ask her, Alicia would have insisted that she wasn’t underestimating Valley.

And she would genuinely believe that. At the end of the day, Valley Doll was a wrestler. That wasn’t exactly an insult, at least not in Valley’s case, but the blonde veteran was at least as much into putting on a show as fighting.

Alicia? She was a destroyer. She enjoyed fighting purely for fighting’s sake. And she was of the opinion that what she was about to do was the sort of thing that people like her did, not people like Valley.

Also, to be quite frank, she wasn’t thinking about the time that they’d done this before.

So the two women closed in. Locked hands. There was just enough of a beat for the two to strain against each other, biceps and abdominal muscles flexing as they pressed.

And then Alicia’s knee started its inevitable rise. Valley’s arms were thoroughly out of position, and if she tried to block with her legs, well…

It’d be her battered leg and she couldn’t see Valley pulling that one.

Therefore, Alicia was caught thoroughly offguard in turn when the blonde promptly used the kickboxer’s own rising knee to boost herself up. Hands still intertwined, the big redhead had a perfect view of Valley’s other knee coming up on a collision course with her face.

Just enough time to do her best to brace herself before it slammed home, turning Alicia’s expression glassy and those solid-steel legs watery.

Sagging down towards the mat, there was every chance that she’d be taking Valley’s weight on her as the two landed as well.

Maybe she had been underestimating Valley after all.

Valley liked Alicia, at the end of the day. She wasn’t exactly the brightest, happiest person, sure, and there were times when the woman seemed a wee bit crazy, but overall she found the redhead to be pleasant company. She certainly didn’t mean her any ill will.

She couldn’t lie, though - there was something supremely satisfying about kneeing her in the face like this. The look of surprise on her face when she saw it coming, the way her heart kneepad collided with said face and brought crushing force along with it, the way she toppled over below Valley when it all came together - it all made for an awesome, delicious moment that she’d be savoring for months to come.

The crowd seemed to agree, too, erupting as the two came down with Valley Doll on top, toppling the tower of power and winning their little exchange. Cameras flashed, fists shot into the air, and the replay was already going on the big screen.

But Valley knew better than to drink in the moment, even as she raised up over a fallen and stunned Alicia. She had a moment of opportunity - a moment. If she wanted any more than that, she needed to get her cute butt off the floor and continue attacking before the Scissor Queen got her bearings back.

With that in mind, she gave her hurting leg a slap, summoned her resolve, and planted her hands just above Alicia’s head. She rolled forward and popped up to her feet in one swift motion, taking care not too put too much pressure on her bad leg as she did.

Valley didn’t even bother standing all the way back up - the second both her feet touched the ground, she was already launching herself backwards in arc, flipping through the air with her legs tucked in, so she could come down on Alicia’s exposed stomach with both of her knees, driving into those hardened abs with all of her weight.

On her part, Alicia held no ill will towards Valley either. She respected the blonde, liked her better than most of those around Friction and that had absolutely nothing to do with their fight.

And if Valley had let it affect her, Alicia would have been near-mortally offended.

So, in one way, she was glad that Valley wasn’t pulling her punches.

On the other, this was going to suck – even for someone built like the redhead.

While it would be doing Alicia a disservice to imply she was in any way fat or flabby, nor was she exactly rocking six pack abs. She was a big woman, solidly built, with a flat stomach but the powerful muscles of her core were hidden.

Still, hidden or not, those muscles could take a fair deal of punishment.

Having Valley drop her weight on them… Might not have done the job. Having her drop her weight on Alicia’s core on the smaller surface area of her two knees, with the momentum of the moonsault behind it. Oh, that did it.

Alicia’s body jack-knifed, her top and legs coming off the mat as she tried to fold into herself to shield her abused midsection. More immediately, the sudden intrusion of the champion’s sharp knees saw the expulsion of all oxygen in the redhead’s lungs.

Left coughing and spluttering, Alicia did her best to roll onto her side, doing her best to shield herself and reluctant to stay down any longer than necessary.

Of course, the chief reason was because her body literally wouldn’t do much else but, hey. It was the thought that counted.

This was going to suck. Not for Valley, obviously, but for Alicia.

For Valley, it was a relatively simple sort of maneuver.  She’d been doing moonsaults since the first day she stepped in the ring, arguably longer than that if you counted her cheerleading days. Busting one out of the crouch, even with her hurting leg, was absolutely no problem. Adding enough rotation to it that landed on her knees and not her stomach was easy enough, too.

It was just a matter of wanting to do it, to make her move that much more dangerous. Usually, Valley wouldn’t go so far to harm an opponent, knowing the vanilla moonsault would be enough to get the job done. Not with Alicia - she would have to throw everything at the redhead to score this pin.

In a way, it was a compliment to Alicia. She doubted the Briton could really appreciate it while she was rolling around in pain, though.

In fact, Alicia might’ve been too winded to do other things. Like, say, kick out.

Sensing her chance, Valley made a mad scramble towards Alicia as she rolled onto her side, crawling fast along the canvas. She pressed her head into the redhead’s chest to force her onto her back, then tried to wrap her legs around one arm while she pressed the other down with her hands, going for a crossbody pin.

The referee slid in, going for the three count. ”1…!”

It was fair to say that, in her current state, Alicia wasn’t appreciating much with the possible exception of the luxury of breathing again.

It was amazing how much that simple pleasure could be a true treat after a move like Valley had pulled on her.

Still, for all that, Alicia’s brain was fully functional – while the knee to the face had certainly shaken her, that daze was starting to clear, leaving the lack of breath as her chief issue.

For the moment, that was enough at least until a warm body planted itself over Alicia’s upper torso, trapping her arms and forcing her shoulders down to the canvas. Then something slapped the mat near to her head.

It wasn’t as if Alicia was in ideal shape, certainly. She was wheezing like a battered accordion, her brain was still feeling considerably sore and the roar of the crowd was irritatingly distracting from what she actually wanted to think about.

Like their match. Of course, the stunning effect of the knee and the battering her midriff had taken were further distractions and, if this had been their first match, Valley might have stolen the pinfall.

Was she winded to the point of not recognising a pin?

”2…!”

Yeah no.

With a snarl as the movement aggravated already tenderised muscles, Alicia planted her feet flat on the mat and went to bridge and bridge hard. If possible, she wanted to just throw Valley off her, garnering herself a breathing space to regather something in the way of oxygen.

But mostly she just refused to let the first round end already. Oh no.