Cancelled

Match type: standard
Victory conditions: pinfall, submission, knockout, disqualification

What kind of noise is THAT!?

Cicilia winced as her opponent's theme arched over the stage like the grinding of nails upon a chalkboard, the twisted cries of the chorus combined with the head-throbbing beat of the drums already replicating the impact of fists upon her temples, The German's teeth grinding down on one another as she GLARED out from backstage. Without even seeing this woman's face or having the chance to pound it yet, Cicilia already knew she hated her. WHAT TERRIBLE TASTE in music this woman had... and once she stepped out into the slight... Cicilia would know why

...Oh lord, she was a blonde. A big one at that, her height rivaling and actually succeeding Cicilia's by a remarkable couple of inches... possibly being her sibling's height or taller. She had that kind of look on her face, the one that would TRULY establish one's future place in one of the 9 circles of hell for absolute FUCKING arrogance. Even from here, where the zombie-noise of Astrid BEAT down on her like the baseball bats of Margaux's men, Cicilia could read that look of invulnerability, the look of someone who had never lost in their fucking life! God, had she seen enough of that worthless overconfidence from her Older Sister, she who thought herself invincible with her bloody spotless record, she who thought herself a goddess because both men and women worshiped at her feet like she deserved it! What a fucking joke... Cicilia was going to have FUN beating some humility into this girl. Once the Lead-Zeppelin of the Norwegian crashed and burned like all airships do, Cicilia's own soundtrack would play, something far more worthy of a battle than the screeching wails of an overrated rock-band.

Spoiler:

Already having shed her jacket backstage, feeling that she didn't need to make an eventual slaughter seem any more cinematic than it was already going to be. Standing taller than Astrid, Cicilia would compensate with the sheer weight of her presence, her stoic, heavy steps as she walked down the ramp, arms swinging firmly at her sides, her sanguine eyes burning with anticipation. Elfrida herself might've currently been beyond Cicilia's reach, but a woman that shared that same, flawless face, that expression untainted by the inevitability of loss...? She would make do with her. The Juggernaut couldn't STAND how fucking jovial she was, toying with the fans, owning them like she was the master of those feral dogs... Pictures, autographs... she might as well have calculated her win already and was only now preparing for it, just to make that moment sweeter! Oh, how it GROUND Cicilia's gears like the dust beneath her boots. She would take distinct, vivid pleasure in crushing her flawless record.

Stepping into the ring, the Juggernaut would stand comfortably in her half, not at all wanting to take any chances getting in close for a handshake, squaring up, whatever. For all the vitriol feeling seemingly bleeding out of every pour of the boxer, jealousy chief among them, Cicilia didn't trust that this girl was as ignorant and pure as she set herself up to be. One cheap shot at the start was enough to invoke the beginning of the end when it came to the professionals and damn it if she was going to let Astrid strip this victory from her.

Astrid would greet her flatly, seemingly perceptive of the look she was being given. So, she finally noticed through that utter haze of euphoria the crowd cast over her, huh? She wondered if it normally took friends, family, opponents, business-partners to glare daggers in her direction in order to bring her back down to earth, this Blonde so deserving of everything cast upon her, so divinely reveling in her accomplishments as if the reward was the reason for even attempting them in the first place. Judgement radiated from the Juggernaut like heat from an open inferno, flaring over the arena like an oppressive gravity crushing down upon all within its range.

"Whatever."

While they paled in the implications the name De'Reignhardt commanded, it would still be difficult to escape the numerous articles, both newspaper and magazine, that toted Astrid as the next big fighter. "Norway's New Golden Girl" this, "The World's Rising Star" that, all propaganda playing to the utterly fake or, more terrifyingly, honest narcissism the audience ate up so readily, most likely. She had enough belts under her name to likely draw the attention of the true master of combat, a snack for her perhaps but more than Cicilia had achieved in her career. Martial Arts beyond both boxing and wrestling were deemed "mastered" under the name of the Golden Dragon, some Cicilia had heard of... and others she hadn't. Her matches, from what Cicilia had researched, were not born out of simple technique, speed or muscle, but a frustratingly coherent fusion of all three, Astrid almost seeming to mirror Elfrida's movement in sheer grace and placement of blows.

...Just thinking about it made Cicilia sick... and not in a way that empowered her to CRUSH her.

Despite the German's abrasiveness, Astrid would make one final attempt at civility, stepping to the center of the ring with her fist outstretched, seemingly awaiting a response. The Juggernaut was actually... somewhat disarmed by this gesture, a politeness that seemed neither forced nor deceptive. While there was a determined leer in the eye of her opponent, it was nothing new for anyone with even a hint of drive. What, even after Cicilia's aggression she would still attempt to quell the ever-mounting pressure?

...Surprising... Especially after having her seemingly inflated ego attacked by the Juggernaut's indifference. Well... Even if she despised the neon glow of utter fame the radiated off this woman like she walked out of Nagasaki, Cicilia couldn't very well reject this... generous offer and feel right with herself. Perhaps... Even guilty? Cautiously closing the distance as well, the German would extend her hand and quickly, perhaps even forcefully pound her fist against that of the Golden Dragon, finding it TEETH-GRINDINGLY FRUSTRATING that Astrid was making Cicilia's perception of her complicate with her actions!

Together, the two would step back, Cicilia's arms held in front of her in her standard orthadox right-handed boxing stance, Astrid seeming to mirror her slightly, fists raised and body leaned in akin to a predator ready to pounce. An additional pressure of tension would fall over the ring, further condensing the air within it into the consistency of molasses. Hearts pounded in ears, the voices of the crowd would begin to blend and faze into the background, Cicilia's eyes flicking around Astrid's body, picking out targets...

*DING*

Cicilia would LUNGE at Astrid with a feral ferocity, peppering her with punches like shot from a blunderbuss! Her blows, powerful and MIGHTY, shrapnel assured of being lethal upon meaningful connection, would be somewhat uncoordinated, sacrificing preciseness for speed and sheer killing power!

Cicilia's punches were like motar shells, heaps of raw devastation hurled with just enough accuracy to cleave holes the enemy, not quite enough to decimate a singular, moving target. Astrid embodied Cicilia's weakness, her movements very much resembling the eastern manifestation of her namesake! Like the flying serpent she had named herself after, the Golden Dragon bobbed and weaved around the German's blistering shots, Cicilia only managing to cleave through the woman's flowing, curling locks, the remnants of where she once stood! It would only be the air that came with the boxer's blows, a mere shade of the strength that came packed within, that had touched Astrid's face, a warning of what was coming to her, a telegraph that convinced her opponent to play possum at the start. Not at all an uncommon strategy when facing the full might of the German War-machine, to scramble and skip, to give up space and control in favor of increased agility. Almost everyone the Juggernaut fought was compelled to battle her this way, too afraid to stand against her unrelenting might, too fearful to try and match her in an outright battle of wills! It was disappointing that one such as Astrid would fail to meat the German's challenge but not at all unexpected.

The first few punches would be met with a fluid defense, Astrid flowing around incoming defeat as if she were made of water but the third would suddenly be matched by a SWIFT counter, the Golden Dragon ducking down low beneath Cicilia's fist and instead launching her own dead-center in the boxer's face! A loud POP would shoot out across the ring as Astrid drew first blood, SLAMMING her fist across the boxer's jaw in a light, but forceful jab, enough to show she could tag the Juggernaut when she wanted to while keeping her defenses strong! Cicilia's sanguine eyes blinked and narrowed, her jaw cracked and clenched... and the German stalled... then advanced, forever pushing the Norwegian back, determined to dominate this ring with her utter presence! ...However... It was extremely hard to pressure someone like this, to encroach on a moving position when you're constantly within their firing range when they aren't in yours! Specifically, Astrid towered a good few inches over the German Juggernaut and, as a result, had the reach to PUNISH Cicilia's rush-down tactics! Cicilia depended on wars of attrition in a lot of ways, of grinding herself against a foe until they had nothing left to resist her incomparable might!

...But Astrid's punches weren't easy to shrug off... and just as hard to actually PUSH into!

...Fuck... This isn't working!

Realizing that her typical modus-operandi would fail to make any kind of progress against her foe, Cicilia would do the one thing she rarely did: She would break off the engagement. She quickly attempted a retreat but, like Cicilia herself, Astrid wouldn't let the German go so easily now that she had her in her grip! Stepping in WIDELY to the right, Astrid would attempt to FLANK Cicilia, bringing her arm around complimentary to her step in a POWERFUL hook... One that would colide with the German's FOREARM and upper-arm as they SHOT UP between Astrid's fist and it's target, barely raising in time! Another explosion of sound as Astrid poured GREAT amounts of might into this blow, an aftershock of pain FLASHING through the German's muscle and bone... further punishing her for such an arrogant plan of attack! Cicilia wouldn't succumb to the universe's concept of justice, however, TURNING on a dime to face Astrid and grabbing the woman's arm, attempting to YANK her in close! Should she succeed, Cicilia would bring her knee up in a mighty SLAM into the gut of Astrid!

Cicilia's retaliation was fearsome, but not quite as utterly debilitating as she wanted it to be. Sure kicks and similar leg-blows were hardly the German's forte, but she had enough experience to know that they packed sufficient strength to break weaker women in half. It was a testament to the Golden Dragon's durability that she was able to sustain such a dead-on, well-placed and piercing blow without doubling over, the blonde still standing and managing to retain the air in her lungs even after such an awesome force blasted through her belly! Suffice it to say, the German was beginning to really understand who she was dealing with here. Titles and reputations were one thing, fit only for stroking the egos of those that wore them willingly, but it was completely different when they started to live up to those legends. Few had been able to take Cicilia's blows head on and still stand, even fewer were able to take them as cleanly as Astrid had! A sense of insecurity began to seep into the German's blood, constricting her muscles, forcing her into a ridged stance. Cicilia had grown used to being the strongest, most durable one in the ring, that her role would be as absolute as her ability to crush smaller opponents. She had grown comfortable to being the center-control of the ring itself, the one everyone ran-from only to take their potshots in hit-and-run attacks!

...Astrid seemed just as content to fight Cicilia close up as she was at a distance! To prove it, she would cock back her free fist and shoot it UP under the boxer's jaw in an utterly MONSTROUS uppercut, one that SNAPPED Cicilia's head back at a SHOCKING speed! Cicilia's eyes would shoot wide, her balance would began to tilt back, the Juggernaut's chin ACHING from the sheer vengeful counter of her opponent-

SUDDENLY, Cicilia's other hand would shoot out and SNAG Astrid's arm, the German having grabbed both around the wrists, JERKING them in an agonizing twist DOWN to force her opponent into submission! Like the torque of a catapult, Cicilia would WRENCH and WRENCH her taller opponent's arms, forcing her shoulder's, her elbows, her joints to twist with them as a consequence of her bold counter-attack! Just as quickly as her head had snapped back, Cicilia's head would JERK forward again, aiming to CRASH into Astrids' face in a MIGHTY headbutt, SMASHING those model-level features of hers into a flat, distasteful paste... as well as stun her into a state of uselessness! Should Cicilia achieve this goal in keeping her opponent off balance, it would only be then that she would release her grip upon Astrid, instead cocking an arm back and hurling a TITANIC straight DEAD into the woman's jaw, aiming to send her CRASHING to the ground! Cicilia would be lying if she didn't admit to covering up Astrid's face with that of her older sibling. To live in a world where Cicilia didn't have to fear her, to have the power to stand on her own without Elfrida's shadow threatening to drag her to her knees...

...It was what Cicilia was fighting for more than anything.

Without consequences...? No. Just not enough to stop her. Cicilia had learned from an early age what pain was, how debilitating it could be when one didn't make it their strength, how crushing to one's resolve it was if the afflicted didn't make it work for them first. Being beaten down, broken and effectively tortured under the guise of training had taught Cicilia a number of things from how she should fight to what the meaning of family was... But most importantly, it honed her resolve into an iron will of insurmountable anger! Cicilia had taken the analogy of the human body being a working machine to its utmost extreme, transforming her fighting style and mindset into a refinery for such an emotion, extracting the adrenaline that came with it and using her emotions left over to empower her savage attack! As her physical form was fueled with her reserves brought forth, her mind was reinforced, a fortress of towering flames, an inferno of never-ending depths that would do nothing less than press in an assault! No matter the battering, regardless of damage, Cicilia De'Reignhardt was nothing less than a Panzerkampfwagen V in the midst of a world war, a MIGHTY tank that commanded anyone's respect and inevitable surrender upon the battlefield she shared with them!

Cicilia's headbutt was like a shell fired from a cannon CRASHING DEAD CENTER into the forehead of her foe, the sickening CRACK to twin skulls bashing together like a pair of pachycephalosaurus! Two behemoths of battle CRASHING head-first into one another, the blonde appearing to buckle under the pressure, collapsing to the ground! The other, Cicilia... did not immediately brush off this blow either, however. She was not prepared to clash with the hardest part of the human head having aimed for the softest, the German letting out a low grunt as she stumbled back, her hand shooting up to cradle her face as her teeth bared in an agonized snarl! Wetness rested where her fingers touched, hard to tell whether it was blood or not when the world seemed to tilt at an uncomfortable sideways angle! Her stomach didn't exactly sit well with this utterly devastating mistake either, her second brain (as they say) SCREAMING in nauseating protest, sending WAVES of sickly discomfort SHOOTING up her spine and neck! Her vision faded, half-doubling in and out, growing more steady each time! Cicilia had been called hard-headed by more than just her abusive family and the opponents she had faced learned the true epitome of that phrase...

...But Astrid...? Damn it, she didn't give much at all! Damn head might as well had been a rock for how tough it was!

Steam almost seemed to blast out from between the German's teeth as she huffed heavily with fury, her sanguine eyes BLAZING as the seering burn leveled into a pulsating throb, her hand retracted to reveal no red. That very same hand came back in a retraction arch, building strength steadily as it was cocked back! As if reloading the mighty weapon of the war-machine, Cicilia fully drew back her fist... putting as much power into it as she could harness! Yes, it would hurt when this punch connected, enough strength in it so that the kick-back might actually damage herself... But rationality mattered not in this moment! Her rage FLARED as the pain of impact empowered her!

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAA-.... GGAAAHK!"

Cicilia's triumphant roar would suddenly be brought to a crushing halts as Astrid gave Cicilia back EXACTLY what had been delivered upon her, a BLISTERING headbutt that caused the boxer's jaw to DROP in sheer shock, the impact sending a SHOCKWAVE down her spine! The strength Cicilia had gathered dissipated rapidly, the German's eyes shooting wide and blinking rapidly at the utter power she had been subject to!

"Nnnngh..." She groaned lowly, one eye snapping shut as the brunt of sharp agony blazed through her brain and across her cranial structure, her vision FLASHING a blinding white before fading into a blurry, nearly indecipherable image! ....Nearly. Cicilia had the pleasure of watching Astrid rear-back again as she got her bearings, the Norwegian's arms SHOOTING up to snag Cicilia's in revenge as she prepared a conclusive additional headbutt...

"GRRRRRRR!" Cicilia ROARED, her engine REVVING up as her right arm RIPPED out of Astrid's grasp, SHOOTING up to SNAG her throat before her skull could come CRASHING in once again, the boxer's expression a seething mass of anguished anger, contorted in an almost animalistic snarl! With a furious hiss, the boxer would STEP into Astrid's space invasively, her leg stepping behind hers and SWEEPING it out from under her SHOVING the woman downwards into a BLITZING Chokeslam!