SS21 World championship - Alaina Sanders (c) vs Charlotte Ravel

"Ghhhhh..." Charlotte groaned, forcing herself to her feet.

Perhaps this was the worst start to the match for her of all time. After two successful moves, she took so much damage that even now, she still felt problems with her endurance, not to mention pain. The young woman staggered, forcing her to grab the barricade in order to stay on her feet. If she had at least a minute of rest, then perhaps everything would not have been so bad. But in such a match, one could not dream of rest, so the only thing left for her was to keep moving, despite the pain and fatigue.

The martial arts master snorted in disappointment when she saw that her opponent was already starting to climb the ladder. And, given that Charlotte was far enough from the ring, as well as her battered body, she perfectly understood that she would not have time to get to Alaina in time, she simply would not have enough time. The Frenchwoman felt a prick in the region of the heart. It was a feeling of deep disappointment.

"Pull yourself together," she thought.

The Sand Lizard's gaze quickly darted around the surroundings. She has to come up with something. And very quickly. Otherwise, she will not only lose this match, but will do it like the very last layman. However, her search did not last long. The only object that could catch her attention was the ladder lying near the ring. In a different situation, she would most likely never take advantage of this opportunity. But since it was a ladder match, her conscience would sleep well.

Biting her lower lip even harder, Charlotte ran to the ring, trying not to pay attention to the pain that Alaina kindly gave her. There is never enough time. Now this statement was more than relevant. The young woman grabbed the folded ladder and placed it on the edge of the ring. Her plan was not the best, she knew it, but she could not come up something better.

She had to use the bottom rope in order to get up to the edge of the ring. The lack of respite was clearly taking its toll on her. Perhaps it really was the worst start to a match of her career, which in itself was very symbolic. But she would be damned if she let this American woman win tonight. Charlotte took a deep breath in order to oxygenate the blood, and then she raised the ladder, turning to the Amazon.

Previously, she relied only on speed, but when it became obvious that this was not enough, she spent time on additional muscle mass. And now the martial arts master could only hope that this would be enough. Because right now she was going to put the strength in her arms and throw that damn ladder right at Alaina like a spear! Charlotte was not a sniper, but she tried to aim at her rival's head. Even if it didn't make the champion fall down, she hoped it would give her some extra time.

"Bull's-eye..." Charlotte whispered softly.

She hadn't expected her plan to go so well. But the facts spoke for themselves. The ladder she threw, albeit by great effort, crashed right into her rival's head. And, apparently, this not only made the Amazon fall, but also left an open wound, because blood was visible on the American woman's forehead. This did not give the Frenchwoman any pleasure, but such a match could not go without blood, she knew this from the very beginning. More precisely, she was sure that such a match could not end well. The ending of a story always carries with it the greatest consequences. And this ending could not be an exception.

But now, when she managed to bring down Alaina's pace, Charlotte felt a little relief. After all, this meant that Charlotte had not yet completely lost her only chance to win the gold belt. In another situation, she would gladly take a little time to rest. But, realizing that in this case, she risks again facing the unstoppable power of the Amazon, which has used her as a punching bag for last minutes, she had no other choice. She had to continue the offensive. The young woman slipped between the middle and top ropes, returning to the ring again.

Trying to climb the ladder in order to take the belt would be the highest measure of idiocy. Charlotte knew better than anyone that Alaina is strong enough to get back on her feet and regain her advantage if the Frenchwoman gave her the opportunity. Therefore, the choice of the Sand Lizard was more than obvious. She was lucky that the ladder, which the champion climbed a few moments ago, remained standing still. The pink-haired woman was going to take advantage of this.

Even though the pain didn’t do anywhere, she must to keep attacking. And that was what she was going to do. The martial arts master concentrated, took a breath, and began to run forward. And then she jumped forward and up. She intended to put her foot on the third rung of the ladder, and then push herself even higher in order to soar into the air.

The Sand Lizard wanted to take maximum height in order to enhance the effect of her attack. Any oversight was unacceptable now. After the unsuccessful start of the most important match, she must to show everything that she had in stock. She needed to weaken Alaina and she was going to do it. The challenger intended to bend her legs and push her knees forward in order to fall on the chest of the champion with a diving double knee drop!

"Pfft..." Charlotte breathed painfully, falling onto the mat.

Aerial techniques are never painless, but at least she was sure that her opponent took a lot more damage. Now Alaina was writhing in pain and now she no longer looked so sure that she would defend her title without any problems and go further down the list. This attitude of the Amazon always annoyed Charlotte. She did her best not to show it, but the fact that this woman always looked at her from high, always thinking that she was the best, literally tore Charlotte from the inside.

And although it was not very good, because she tried to abstract from negative emotions, now she felt a slight satisfaction. She may have picked up this trait from her Norwegian friend, who, more than anything else, loved to shove people's egos in their own asses. Victoria did everything possible for her wards to spend time with each other and exchange experiences. Well, it seems she did it great.

Charlotte got up on one knee, now she was breathing heavily through her mouth. After receiving so much damage, it was very difficult for her to maintain a fast pace. This required either perfect control of breathing, which was impossible in this situation, or additional expenditure of energy. The Frenchwoman wiped the sweat from her brow and rose to her feet. She could not stop now, she must attack as long as the champion remains lying down without any signs of movement. The martial arts master looked away and an idea came to her.

But for this she needed to move the champion to the corner. And because of every second counts., the Sand Lizard could not afford to simply drag her rival to her destination. No, instead, she grabbed the American woman's hand, yanking her upward and forcing the champion to her feet. She didn't want to get a sudden punch in her face, so she didn't let go of her rival's hand. The Sand Lizard was about to take a step to the side, twisting Alaina's arm over the head with an arm wrench. She briefly looked into the champion's eyes, and then took a step behind the American woman's back.

"I didn't go forward to be defeated today," Charlotte thought.

She slightly bent her knees and released Alaina's hand. Instead, the Frenchwoman's arms were wrapped around the champion's waist. She needed to move her opponent to the corner without losing pace. And she had a solution to this dilemma. Besides... an eye for an eye and the like. Lifting Alaina was never easy, but Charlotte was willing to go to any lengths to achieve her goal. With a growl, she intended to stand up to her full height, lifting the champion's body as high as possible above the mat in order to take the widest angle possible. And then, leaning back to send the champion's body right into the corner with a German suplex!

Charlotte wasn't going to hold her rival, she unhooked her arms to achieve the maximum effect of the suplex. She heard a loud collision sound that indicated success. The pink-haired woman rolled onto her stomach and then got up on all fours. She raised her head, while trying to control her breathing, a real fighter must control his body in order to save all available strength.

The champion was now in a semi-seated position, her head and upper back pressed against the corner. It was clearly noticeable that Alaina was not doing very well now. The bruises on her body and the painful grimace on her face suggested that at least Charlotte would not cement her reputation as a cheap punching bag in this match. It was already good, but it was still not enough. The Sand Lizard came here only to win. She perfectly understood that she would not have another chance to take this belt and therefore any other result, except for victory, was unacceptable.

The Sand Lizard rose to her feet. Now her rival was exactly where she needed. And she was going to take advantage of it. She was going to take risks again. The first time, it ended up with the champion taking the lead and starting to beat her like a child. But this time, the Frenchwoman put in a little more effort to weaken the Amazon. So she hoped things would end differently this time. With these thoughts, the martial arts master took the ladder, which she had recently thrown at Alaina's head.

Approaching the champion, she was going to put the ladder on the lower ropes on the sides of Alaina. If she had no problem with this, then the ladder should have been somewhere at the level of her rival's chest. Charlotte heard a noise in the hall, it seems that the audience began to guess what she was up to. And for those who have not guessed yet, everything will soon become clear. The Sand Lizard's eyes flashed, and then she turned and began to run in the opposite direction from Alaina.

She picked up speed, approaching the opposite corner. The currents of air pleasantly blew her face. Charlotte could not be distracted by looking around the hall, but she knew that Victoria and all the other women from their small team were now watching her, except Astrid and Karen, who could not stay for the last match of this event for obvious reasons. Not only Victoria gave her words of support today, Margarita was also able to hook Charlotte in the morning in order to support her. Perhaps the Frenchwoman could not see them in the hall, but their faces seemed to be in front of her eyes. The corners of the Sand Lizard's lips lifted slightly.

"I will win, today," she thought, mentally addressing those who supported her with all their hearts, "I promise."

Charlotte jumped forward, resting her foot on the middle turnbuckle in order to push herself off and turn in the opposite direction, maintaining the speed. And she was going to use everything she had in order to rush off the spot and head towards the champion. For a few moments, Charlotte turned into a dark burgundy blur due to her speed, and then she took another jump forward. Sending all the impulse to the legs, she was going to hit the ladder with a supersonic dropkick in order to crush the reigning champion!

Collapsing to the mat, Charlotte was forced to take a few deep breaths. But her attack was successful. It might have been a little too harsh, but she knew that her rival would stop at nothing to prove her superiority over the Sand Lizard. And although Charlotte was devoid of vanity, she had pride. Therefore, from the first meeting, she set herself the goal of surpassing this woman. Not in order to prove for everyone that sooner or later the veterans must retire. And in order to make the gap between veterans and newcomers a little smaller. And each time the degree of tension in the matches increased.

Broken ribs, knocked out tooth and broken nose in the last match were proof of this. And so now the martial arts master was going to use every opportunity in order to avoid losing today. And although she was not going to stoop to outright meanness, in her understanding, the use of the ladder was more than justified today. She knew that she should not hold back in the last match of this rivalry. The world title match was the perfect culmination of this story. After that, all that remains is to write a denouement, but more on that later.

The young woman rose to her feet, glancing briefly at the champion. She did not take pleasure in seeing her rival in such a state. And although no one noticed, Charlotte did not make the most of this situation. She could have placed the ladder at the level of the American woman's face, and then the ladder would have done a lot more damage.

But, be that as it may, the martial arts master did not want to leave behind irreparable injuries, so she tried to control the choice of her attacks. In addition, apparently, this was also more than enough, because now the mighty Amazon looked almost completely incapacitated.

Perhaps she should have taken advantage of this, getting the champion out of the ring and letting her take even more damage. But let those things be done by those who want to get the hardcore belt, Charlotte was here for a different goal. And right now she turned towards this goal. She lifted her head, glancing briefly at her belt. She remembered the words of Sintharia. These words helped her find a goal in life. And now she was close to that goal.

"Taking this belt, I will never hear your voice again, sister," thought the young woman, "I will be free."

Charlotte slightly moved the ladder that Alaina had recently climbed, and then the Frenchwoman began her ascent up. She had to make accurate movements, since the ladder were hardly stable. But she confidently moved up in order to remove the belt hanging over the ring and prove her right to call herself a worthy champion. There must be a story behind every title. And she will be remembered as a real fighter who deserved it with her hard work and unshakable moral principles. It remains only to get to the belt and take it.