Isabella meets The Juggernaut

Isabella attempted to retract her leg, but suddenly, it got caught by her opponent. She was surprised. She thought all the boxer had in her arsenal was punches, but here she was taking her down to the canvas. She underestimated her opponent, forgetting about the strength advantage the boxer had over her, realising that she couldn't risk something like this later in the match, or it could lead to her inevitably losing.

Shortly after being taken down to the mat, she looked down, and saw her opponent attempt to kick her outstretched leg. This was bad. Isabella needed to think of a way to get her foot released from the black-haired lady. But she wasn't able to in time. The boxer stomped down hard on her knee-cap. "Ahh!" Isabella yelled in pain. It really hurt, and she couldn't take her mind off of the pain in her leg. She needed to get her leg free from the boxer, or else she'd be risking more serious damages to her leg. She attempted to kick the boxer's hand with her other leg, trying to break the hold she had on her foot. If this is to succeed, Isabella would then retreat to the ropes, attempting to use it to help her get up off of the mat.

The woman kicked at Cicilia's hand, managing to scrape the boxer's grip off her boot. The German grunted, pulling her hand away and advancing as the woman scrambled back for the ropes for support, trying to get to her feet again with a wounded leg. Sure, she didn't take her out in one hit like she said she would but what did it matter? Her ability was damaged now at least in one leg. It was tempting to attempt a spear and throw this woman through the ropes and out of the ring but then... there was the risk that if she messed up, Cicilia would be in a bad spot out there herself... It wasn't worth the risk.

Instead, as she approached the woman trying to get to her feet, her hand right hand would shoot out in a powerful straight, attempting to black her out with a powerful strike to her jaw. It wasn't her strongest punch by any means but that didn't mean it wasn't strong... by any means. From where she stood, there wasn't many kicks the woman would be able to throw, requiring distance to put any real amounts of power behind them. Good... this meant a powerful weapon of hers would be crippled... and they WERE powerful weapons.

Whether her punch didn't knock her to the canvas immediately or she somehow dodge it, Cicilia would try to keep in close as best she could, throwing a variety of quick jabs and upper-cuts to the woman's face and body, doing her best to keep her pinned to the ropes. If she attempted to slip around the boxer, Cicilia would step in whatever direction she was going, attempting to block her escapes.

Isabella was desperately trying to get up, using the ropes to help her, but then she looked up, and saw it. She saw a punch coming her way from the boxer. She needed to dodge it, or atleast try to. But she couldn't. She didn't see the punch fast enough. She tried to move out of the way, attempting to duck under the punch purely out of instinct, but she wasn't able to. The punch collided onto her cheek, causing her head to jolt back. After the punch collided, she instantly let go of the ropes, collapsing down onto the floor.

Isabella was laying down on her stomach. She was dizzy, completely confused as to what's going on. She's been punched in the face before, but it was never as hard as this. In fact, her punches were even harder than Amelia's. She tried getting up off of the floor, but she fell down again. Her legs were still weak; they felt like jelly. There was no way she was getting back up any time soon. She was at the mercy of the boxer now. But despite having an injured leg, and almost getting knocked out, Isabella still didn't want to admit defeat. She still wanted to fight the boxer. Isabella tried getting herself up off of the mat, but she collapsed again. "Crap.." she said weakly as she fell back down onto the mat. She didn't have the strength to do anything. She couldn't even get up. She rolled onto her back, breathing heavily.

Just one punch. One punch is all it took and the rival woman fell to the ground, all the fight taken out of her. Cicilia had lived up to her promise after all, draining all her stamina and one blow and dropping the girl to the mat with a thud. She saw no more need to continue attacking, satisfied that this girl knew just what kind of threat she was dealing with. She thought she was tough-shit? Well now she knew just how wrong she was... Cicilia let out a loud huff of effort as she reigned herself in, quite uncharacteristic of a juggernaut to stop going while she was riding high. Perhaps Sayumi's gentle and sweet influence was influencing her more than she thought... When she looked down at the girl, cursing, trying and failing to rise, the German felt almost guilty... Seeing how broken she was after just one blow caused a certain memory to flash behind her eyes:

Her older sister slammed Cicilia to the ground with just one, mercilous punch, taking down the juggernaut without a word, without stopping, with no sense of regret... One calculated, game-crushing punch that made the boxer's strength look like a child lifting slightly more than her classmates... The pain... the humiliation... all that felt just as real now as it did then those years ago... and now... this woman seemed to reflect her...

Why...? Why did she have to look so much like her...? Sure, they shared no features besides the obvious ones, but she acted so much like she did... She HATED THAT SHE COULDN'T HATE HER and she didn't even know why.

"Ugh... look. I'm sorry for whatever I did to piss you off." She conceded, sounding a tad sour. She rolled her eyes and offered the girl a hand for whatever that was worth though her stance remained ready. Some people were sore losers. "Stop trying to fight me and I'll stop hitting you." It was certainly better-a-deal than what her sister gave her... She was trying to be better.

Isabella recovered a little from the last blow, and she managed to get herself up onto one knee. "Ouch.." she held her cheek, and poked it a little, checking to make sure nothing was broken. Isabella punched the mat. She was frustrated. She let her anger get the best of her; she wasn't thinking straight during the fight, and now she had to pay for it. She lost fair and square. She looked around at the crowd surrounding the ring, and none of them seemed too surprised to see Isabella lose. Isabella sighed. She hated losing, and she dreaded the thought of it. She has only ever lost to one other opponent in her career and she hated it. She was so disappointed in herself. She couldn't defeat the boxer, despite being so sure of herself. She punched the mat again in frustration.

Isabella listened to what the boxer had to say, looking up at her as she was talking. She still had a tad bit of anger left within her, and she still wanted to fight her. But then the boxer offered her a hand. Isabella sighed again. She desperately wanted to get up off of the mat and attack the boxer, but she couldn't do it. She had some of her pride left, and it wouldn't allow her to attack the black-haired girl. Even though she wanted to get back up and challenge her again, she knew the boxer didn't want to fight again. Isabella sat down on the mat, not accepting the boxer's hand. "You remind me of a friend I had in the past" Isabella said, whilst staring at the floor, making no eye contact with the boxer whatsoever. Isabella wasn't planning on apologising to the boxer. She still felt as if her response to what she saw the boxer doing was perfectly justified.

By now the crowd had begun to disperse, seeing that the show was over. None of them appeared shocked at all that the newcomer had fallen so easily and why should they have been? Nobody had been able to stand up to her before now. The woman seemed just as sour about losing as the boxer seemed angry she had to admit she was wrong... At least they were both united in their mutual distaste for their current situations. Cicilia scoffed bitterly as the girl openly refused her invitation for help, instead raising herself into a sitting position on the canvas floor. Hmph. Whatever. She was about to head off out of the ring to return to her punching bag before she overheard the woman's mutterings, that she reminded her of an old friend she had...

What...? She had her attention...

Cicilia walked back to the center of the ring, sitting down with her even if she wouldn't meet her eyes. She didn't need to her too anyway... Just needed her to talk...

"Who was she?" The girl questioned, resting her hands in her lap. "Was she a jerk like me?" Her voice seemed softer now, gentler, as if trying to coax an answer out of the woman. she didn't want to be her friend now by any means, but she could be gentle if she thought someone deserved it. After the beating she received? yeah she deserved a softer hand.

The crowd now disperced, leaving Isabella alone in the ring with the boxer. Isabella was sitting on the floor, defeated. The boxer that she had a match with was about to leave the ring, before deciding on coming back to Isabella. Isabella was confused. She was expecting to be left alone in the ring, alone to her own thoughts, and she knew the boxer didn't like her. Well, at least she thought she didn't. Isabella continued staring at the mat, carefully listening to the black-haired girl's movements, until suddenly she sat on the mat with her. She looked up at the girl, puzzled. She wasn't going to ask the boxer to leave, but she wasn't going to do anything rash either. She just accepted it.

Then the boxer asked her two questions, two questions about her long lost friend Amelia. Isabella smiled. "Her name was Amelia" she said. "And well, she was a jerk alright." Isabella was thinking back to her memories with Amelia. She rested her hands behind her, and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know, she probably just had some things going on. I never asked her." Despite Isabella's sole purpose behind coming to AFW being her wanting to prove that she was better than Amelia she didn't hate her. Amelia was the only friend Isabella had. She wasn't going to give that up over a match that they had. Besides, Isabella understood that everything that happened in the ring, stayed in the ring. It was something that was taught to her from a young age, and she still tries to follow it. She still thought of Amelia as a good friend, and enjoyed the time they spent together. "We both loved fighting" Isabella continued "Our love for fighting was what made us friends, as different as we both were." She continued smiling, and continued staring at the ceiling. Deep down, Isabella still hated that Amelia was able to defeat her, and still wants a rematch against her, but now wasn't the time to complain about that.

The girl answered Cicilia's question with fondness, showing just how easily two different people could get along so long as they had the will to try. The German listened in interest s the woman told her story, seeming much less like the other women that came into this place with each passing minute. She seemed like a genuinely good person is what she was trying to get at, that her anger and frustration might've just been in the heat of the moment instead of who she was really. Cicilia could respect that... maybe even assume it was true for the sake of keeping things nice.

"So what happened to her?" The boxer questioned, tilting her head to the side. So far she had been talking about her like she'd disappeared... Was that what happened?

Isabella heard the girl's question, and her smile faded. She was now asking her about what happened to Amelia. This was something she was still pretty torn up about. On one hand, she was friends with Amelia, and wished that she was okay. On the other hand, she wanted to prove that she was better than her. Isabella loved fighting. It practically controlled her life. Due to this, she has never spent much time thinking about what could have happened to Amelia, or even attempting to find her. She just spent her time training in order to become better than her.

Isabella looked at the mat again, placing her hands down in front of her. "I don't know, she just disappeared one day, and I don't know why." she clenched one of her fists, and looked at it "I guess I was too addicted to the fighting to ask her why" she un-clenched the fist, still looking at it. She missed Amelia. She missed her so much, but she didn't want to admit it. Isabella just wanted to make it in AFW so that the pain of losing to Amelia could go away. She wanted to once again be known as the best. She hated that she was seen as the inferior one between her and Amelia. Especially if the way it was decided was in a fight where they were essentially neck and neck. "We had a fight one day, which I unfairly lost." Isabella sighed "I lost by one point, and I got really mad about it. Soon after that, I never saw Amelia again." Isabella placed her hands back down onto the mat.

Cicilia tilted her head, a sympathetic from falling across her expression. Poor girl's friend vanished without a trace, huh...? Sometimes it sucked to be right... She imagined it would've been better for them to have had some kind of brutal and ugly breakup, something that would've justified their seperation rather than this sudden disappearance. She couldn't say she knew what it felt to lose someone in this way, but she did know what it was like to not have a relationship you wanted. If her pain felt anything like that than the boxer pitied. her.

"Perhaps you'll find your friend." The boxer offered, reaching out slowly to place a hand on her shoulder. Underneath all that brovado and hot temper, the girl seemed actually rather kind. Perhaps even a friend if she'd let her try and help.

Heh...

Sayumi's teachings were really getting to her, weren't they...? Never before had she been able to reach out like this... She never wanted to...

"Can you tell me what she looks like? Where she lives?"