AV 18 GASTER vs. Silver Ace

The world around GASTER after the Ace Crusher was blurry, spinning and ringing, as the Shadow Lord laid on her back. Cutters were uncommon moves...mostly because even the simplest varieties were devastating enough to end the match in an instant...and this was evident from how unmoving the Shadow Lord was after the move, Ace simply lowering herself to back pin the smaller girl. The crowd counted along with the ref for the cover:

"ONE!"

"TWO!"

A keen eyed observer, however, would notice some movement underneath GASTER. Whether conscious or not, one could not be sure...but the result of it was seen by everyone right before the 3rd count occured.

GASTER would weakly press her right arm at Ace's left shoulder...and, with the use of her leg, both her trapped and free one, would turn herself onto her side! The placement of both her arm and her previously hooked leg would lead to the Canadian's shoulders to be pinned against the mat as she was trapped in an impromptu Crucifix Pin by the Shadow Lord!

"THR----!

ONE!"

Ace had been leaning back, the facepainted warrior and former champion secure in her impending victory...but found herself suddenly leaning back, facing up at the ceiling in surprise and confusion!

"TWO!"

"THREE!"

Just like that, before Silver Ace could attempt to kick out, could even begin to understand that she was trapped in a crucifix pin hold, leaning over The Shadow Lords body, her legs folded over her head...it was over, the bell already ringing, referee separating the two to raise Gaster's hand.

...She had lost.

Once the girls were separated, Ace rolled over to her knees, breathing heavily as the ref girl checked on her masked opponent, still trying to come to terms with what just happened. Even Gallium looked shocked, the pink haired girl slowly entering the ring to check on her friend.

DING DING DING

As the bell rung, GASTER was still completely dazed from the cutter, holding her hurting head as the world kept spinning around her. She laid flat on her back, not even aware that the match had concluded.

"GASTER? Are you ok?", the ref asked, as she lowered herself over the Shadow Lord

"Uuuuuuuugh...I...I don't know...", the Shadow Lord replied, as the ref slowly helped her up to her feet, the Brit still holding her hurting head with her right hand...still confused over why ref helped her up, right up until she heard her theme song playing on the PA, and the crowd still roaring with surprise:

"W-wait...did...did I win?", she asked the ref, as the woman in a zebra striped shirt nodded towards her, GASTER quickly shooting a look at Ace as she was still confused over what had transpired...and thankfully the replay on the titantron was around to help her realize that, practically on instinct, she managed to suddenly roll up Ace!

"O-oh! Oh my God!", she let out, in both shock and happiness, covering her masked mouth with her hand as she turned towards Silver Ace...

"I...I lost? You...You gotta be kidding me!" Silver Ace exclaimed, looking shocked as Gasters hand was raised in victory, Gallium running up to her. "Ace! You alright? What happened!?" she asked, to which the former Hardcore and Entropy champion, who pounded her fist on the mat in frustration. "Damnit! She caught me...with a lucky roll up...how could I let this happen..."

Shock began giving way to anger, Silver not at all happy with this turn of events. She had failed again. Once again, she had been beaten by some dirty heel. River Styx attacked her friends and defeated her, Jessica joined in and took her title away, then this girl hurt Gallium, and beat her too, all of them getting away scott free...

No. Not this time.

"H-Hey you!" Ace yelled towards the masked Shadow Lord. "This isn't done yet! You hurt my friend, I'm not gonna forget that just because you got lucky!"

As Gallium just ran up to Ace, all the women in the ring, sans the ref, were shocked by the outcome of the match...and Clara even more so than the 2 Canadians.

Behind her mask, she was smiling...but in the back of her mind, she was still too shocked over what had just transpired. Part of her felt like she was on top of the world...and another part of her felt guilty.

This, the crowd cheering in shock, ref raising her hand in the air, the look of shock on Ace's face as she won...

...this was supposed to be her punishment for her hurting Gallium's arm.

And Ace didn't forget that fact either as she stood up, shouting angrily at the Shadow Lord.

The winner of the match immediately looked smaller in the face of her defeated opponent...

...until she lifted her head up, and spoke:

"I...I'm sorry. For Gallium's arm, I mean. I...really didn't mean to do what I did last match. It was just...spur of the moment, and anger over wanting to win. I never meant to hurt your friend", the masked girl sounded genuinely sorry:

"But...if you still want a rematch...I will not refuse...", she would calmly, and rationally finish...

Ace had been hobbling forward, starting to raise her fist, seriously about to attack the victorious Shadow Lord, when the girl...apologized...which, after her constant over the top hammy boasting and declarations was...quite surprising.

The brief pause in Ace's movement was enough for Gallium to catch up with her, Ace turning to her friend, who nodded in response. "I told you! It really was just an accident! She's not like WAR or Styx or anything like that, I'm certain of it!"

Well...shit...

After a minute of standing in silent thought, Silver Ace let out a deep sigh, patting Gallium on the shoulder before turning towards Gaster. "...I...apologize. I've...been under a lot of stress lately...I guess I just...got the wrong impression. I guess...I can look past all this..." she said, Gallium grabbing her wrist and pulling it out, forcing Ace to offer her hand out in a handshake. "Alright you two, let's make peace, shake on it!"

As Clara stood looking at the still angry Silver Ace...she saw surprise in the Canadian's eyes, taken aback by the Shadow Lord's apology, with Gallium piping in to confirm to Ace that there was no malicious intent in her actions.

What would take Clara aback, however, would be Ace's own apology, before the pinkette would grab her friend's hand and pull it towards the Shadow Lord, egging the two rivals to shake hands, something that Clara was more than up to do...albeit slightly cautiously.

Clara nodded at Gallium as her gloved hand before turning her head at her friend, the Shadow Lord's hand approaching Ace's, their palms touching as the Brit's fingers gently closed on Ace's hand...

Silver Ace hadn't been expecting that Gaster would be willing to shake hands, much less that Gallium would be forcing her to do so. Honestly, she couldn't remember the last time she actually shook an opponents hand post-match, and while she was starting to realize Gaster wasn't really the cruel heel she had come into this match thinking of her as, she hadn't really accepted it yet.

But, Gallium seemed very confident that she was right about the masked woman, and very insistent on them making peace...so, with a sigh, she closed her fingers around Gasters hand as the Brits fingers did the same, and they shook. "Congrats on your win. You caught me good there." she said, trying to be friendly, while Gallium smiled and patted her friends arm, clearly glad she prevented more violence.

Despite the tension being incredibly palpable between the two women, it would immediately dissipate the moment the two finally shook hands on their match, all sides willing to bury the hatchet. Clara would sigh in relief as she looked at both Ace and Gallium.

"Thank you! You are as tough as people say. I'll look forward to a rematch in the future!", she would say, smiling under her mask.

Once the handshake was done, Clara would nod one last time at her opponent and her friend, before rolling under the ring, and taking her leave, posing menacingly in her victory on her way backstage...

The Silver Ace smiled as she shook hands with her victorious opponent, giving her a thumbs up as she left the ring, the crowd applauding the show of respect between the two, Gallium beaming with pride at her older friend, the pink haired girl patting her shoulder before leaving the ring herself, intent on following the masked Shadow Lord backstage...

Ace however, took longer to leave the ring, and when she did, the smile left her face, her head hanging low. Whatever the circumstances, she had still lost. Another defeat. She was starting to feel...lost, in her career. Her attempts to combat WAR and avenge the attacks on her friends ended in defeat, years wasted, she had lost her title, picked a fight she didn't need to pick, was getting so aggressive and angry in the ring all the time...and all for nothing.

The Canadian sighed, slowly heading to the back, uncertain just her future held.

GASTER wins via Pinfall