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

In this situation, Charlotte saw only one way out. She should beat the champion until the American woman fall off her feet. This exchange of blows took too long and the pink-haired woman felt terribly tired. Muscles began to turn to stone, and this only meant that the match began to move into the final stage. Not wanting to lose, she was determined to put all her strength and speed into this series of blows.

Failure. The left fist crashed not into the head of her rival, but into her defense. Charlotte clenched her jaw in exasperation, but managed to maintain her composure. At least she managed to push Alaina back a little, this gave her a small window to continue the attack. She couldn't deny, though, that an unsuccessful first hit was a bad sign. No, she shouldn't think about it, she should continue the attack.

Failure. The martial arts master's low kick did not find its target. The Sand Lizard's foot passed a few millimeters from her rival's leg. The young woman's heart sank. Why can't she do anything? Why today? Why did she feel like during their first match, when the Amazon literally destroyed her? It was very rash, but she didn't stop. She should have understood that this attack could not be continued. But emotions overwhelmed her at that moment, she wanted to prove that she was capable of taking this match. Her right leg began to rise to kick the champion's head.

Critical failure. Charlotte's foot went over Alaina's head, who ducked in order to avoid the attack of the martial arts master. It seems that she had just lost the right to call herself the Sand Lizard, which had the ability to adapt to any environment. Now her rival was the one who had learned to read the attacks of the Frenchwoman. The force Charlotte put into the kick pulled her body further, leaving her open to whatever Alaina had to offer now.

"Aaaaaahhh!!" the pink-haired woman cried out.

The knee strike to the spine became for her a real discharge of electric current, which went through her whole body. She felt in all its glory how her muscles frozen, depriving her of the ability to move. And this is what led to the fact that she did not have time to do anything. Only her eyes widened to the moment when at the last moment she saw the approaching boot of her rival.

No scream. No a single sound. The head of the young woman was thrown back and along with this the body was thrown back too. The Frenchwoman collapsed onto the concrete floor and remained lying motionless. Her head was turned to the side and blood was flowing from her mouth. She just lost another tooth. At least the dentist will be happy with a bit of new work. She was still here, her eyes were open, but her gaze was empty. Before her eyes there was nothing but fog. And in her ears there was nothing but an endless squeaking sound like after a grenade explosion. She did not see or hear the jubilant crowd that greeted the Amazon, who not only won the exchange of blows, but apparently completely proved that she is the only worthy champion here.

The young woman blinked several times, her mind gradually beginning to return to her. And almost at the same time, she felt three things. It was an incredibly awful pain throughout the body, especially in the head. It was a mouth almost completely filled with blood. It was almost complete inability to move. The Frenchwoman let out an exhausted groan. Because of the hard kick in the head, she didn't even immediately understand what really happened. But now the latest events became clear to her.

Ones of the few things in which she never lost ware punches and kicks. It can be said that it was thanks to these skills that she had the right to call herself a martial arts master. But now she was lying on the floor bleeding. She lost in the area that was her bread and butter. It was difficult to imagine an even more disastrous situation, now the young woman felt like a useless piece of shit. She just lost the right to call herself that way.

She couldn't bring herself to move to get to her feet. The only thing she had the strength to do was spit the salty red liquid onto the concrete floor. Something else flew out of her mouth along with the blood. It was that knocked out tooth. Charlotte closed her eyes, trying to put her thoughts in order, she needed to gather strength. But her rival, who was getting an undeniable advantage, did not give her time for rest.

The body of the pink-haired woman looked like a rag. And she offered no resistance when the champion lifted her to her feet. She offered no resistance when the champion put her on the edge of the ring. She offered no resistance when the champion pushed her back into the ring. Charlotte looked completely shattered for a number of reasons. Only at that moment, when her rival again began to raise her to her feet, the young woman tried to clench her fist and raise her hand. But almost immediately her hand went down, she did not have the strength to do anything.

She remembered a conversation with Margarita that had taken place a few weeks ago. Even then, she thought that she was not worthy of calling herself a martial arts master. The master is always responsible for the students. She was the master for Margarita, but the Danish girl still hasn't won a single match. Charlotte knew this Summer Splash would change everything. Or she will rise to the top. Or she will fall to the very bottom. And now, when the mighty Amazon lifted her exhausted body onto her shoulders, the result seemed pretty obvious.

Charlotte knew what awaited her. The spine has never been her strong point. And it looks like her rival knew it too. The Frenchwoman understood that she had to do something, but her body seemed to be chained. And at that moment, when Alaina began to bend her spine, the only thing she could do was emit a drawn-out stifled groan.

"Gggggghhhhhh..." she didn't even have the strength to scream loudly.

She was ready to swear she heard her spine crunch. The pain spread throughout the body in rolling waves. Tears began to flow from the eyes of the Frenchwoman. It would be fair to say that if this was a different type of match, she would tap now, aloud accepting that she is giving up. Alaina has already proven that she is worthy of this belt and this victory. But this was not a match where Charlotte could tap.

The pain became unbearable. Her groans grew louder and louder. Any pain threshold has limits. And now the mind of the young woman began to send signals to all parts of the body in an attempt to do at least something to stop this damn pain. She could not resist, but her body began to twitch convulsively. This happened absolutely independently of her will, just the body could no longer cope with these painful sensations. Perhaps this would made it difficult for the Amazon to keep the submission hold, but she didn't even think about it. She just wanted this pain to end.

Despite the fact that Charlotte did not even try to escape, somewhere in the depths of her subconscious, she hoped that due to the involuntary twitching of her body, the champion would not be able to hold her on shoulders. But that was too naive. Her rival's grip did not weaken for a second. The incessant pain was so intense that the young woman's brain was ready to move on to the last remedy that could help relieve the pain. A white fog began to thicken in front of Charlotte's eyes, she was ready to pass out due to the torture that the Amazon gave her.

And at that moment, when she thought that it could not be worse, the reigning champion began to move. The pink-haired woman's vision was out of focus, but even that didn't stop her from realizing that her rival was approaching the ropes. What was she going to do? Throw Charlotte's lifeless body out of the ring? It didn't matter. She wanted to hit Alaina with her elbow, but her body refused to obey orders. The strength almost completely left her and she could not bring herself to clench her fists even for the sake of salvation.

She really thought the champion would just throw her on the concrete floor again. But at precisely those moments when you think that it cannot be worse, it turns out that it can. And now the Frenchwoman has received indisputable proof of this. Alaina was not going to throw Charlotte out of the ring. Instead, she jumped onto the middle rope and then leaned back.

Instead of a scream, blood burst from Charlotte's mouth. She was crushed by her rival's body and gravity. Her eyes widened so much that they were about to pop out of their sockets. Although she didn't make a sound, there was a heartbreaking scream inside her head. If earlier her body screamed because of pain, now it was her mind. Step by step she walked forward. She was confident that hard work, faith in herself and self-improvement would help her win this rivalry and become a champion. But now the fire in her heart and soul was so weak that it could hardly be called embers.

If Alaina's weight hadn't been pressing on her now, her body would probably have continued to twitch convulsively due to the damage she received. But now she lay perfectly still. Due to pain and fatigue, she could not even breathe normally. Her breathing was so weak that it was difficult to know if she was breathing at all. Charlotte didn’t even notice that at some point her hair tie had come off her head and now her long pink hair was loose. Her empty gaze was directed upward. And through the white spots she saw a silhouette. It was a belt hanging over the ring.

“You thought the previous victories were important. You thought that they made you stronger and better,” sounded in her head, “and what now? Stumbled at the last step. Congratulations, sister. Now you are not only a disgrace to our family. Now you're a disgrace to martial arts."

As much as it pains to admit. It sounded like the truth. Despite her views on life, which was built on self-improvement and the belief that a person controls their own destiny, she could not deny that she would have lost this match twice if her opponent had chosen other conditions. She almost never lied. But sometimes she didn't tell the whole truth. And when Margarita confessed to her that she felt that her dream was eluding her, Charlotte said that she understand the Danish girl, although in fact she had never felt such a feeling before. But now she perfectly understood the former actress.

Until recently, she read on social networks that her victories are nothing more than luck. In a sense, this point of view was understandable. Where have you seen that a newcomer came to the company and entered into a confrontation with a real veteran? Charlotte tried her best to refute all these claims. And only after the second victory, she felt that the poisonous comments became a little less. But now it was becoming more and more clear that these comments had a foundation for existence.

When her opponent got to her feet, the pressure on the Frenchwoman's chest eased and she was able to take a deeper breath. Although it was important, it was not pleasant. As her body began to receive oxygen again, her mind began to clear. And along with this, the pain intensified many times. She thought that her body could not be more beaten than it was in the previous match, but she was wrong about that.

She would like to jump to her feet now and return to fight. But the pink-haired woman found that she still couldn't even move her hand. Only her fingers obeyed her now, but this was clearly not enough. No matter how hard she tried to force herself to move, she remained motionless. It was only now that she realized that tears were flowing from her eyes. And it was hard to tell if it was due to pain or frustration. There must always be a winner in a match, there is no doubt about that. But how painful it was to realize that she was unable to overcome this final frontier and win this rivalry.

Jaws clenched, she turned her head to the side. And even that was insanely difficult, which was a very bad sign. But she had to find out what the champion was doing. She decided to go for the belt? No, she was not moving towards the ladder. Alaina was moving towards the corner of the ring right now. And it seems the young woman guessed what her rival was planning to do.

"Move... move, damn you!" she mentally ordered herself.

But it was all useless. Her soul was striving for victory, her soul demanded that the young woman do something in order to stay in the game and win this match. But her body refused to follow these mental impulses. Her right shoulder condition deteriorated markedly after Alaina crushed her. Although now the whole body of the Frenchwoman looked like one big bruise. She hadn’t felt so helpless in a long time. But most of all, she was upset by the fact that until recently she believed that she was capable of surpassing the veteran. And now the gap between them seemed an insurmountable. And this led only to the one thought that dreams about the belt will remain only dreams.

They say that a person is most afraid of something unknown. But at the moment when Alaina made the jump, Charlotte knew perfectly well what awaited her. A shiver ran down her spine. Or was it just another wave of pain? No matter. A voice in her head said it was time to admit defeat. defeat in the match. Defeat in the rivalry. Defeat in striving to surpass this woman. This voice was so hateful to Charlotte that she could feel ashes in her mouth.

She bit down on the left edge of her lower lip. Her entire chin was already covered in blood, so the fact that she had bitten through the skin was not even noticeable. But it helped her take her mind off the pain in the rest of her body. All her life she felt useless. All her life she has been behind more successful people. And it was killing her. Here, in Japan, in AFW, she wanted to stop looking back. She wanted to win the right to respect herself. But she can never achieve this unless she defeats Alaina today. She just can't lose. In Russia, she heard one interesting phrase. There is nowhere to retreat, Moscow is behind us. In Charlotte's case, she had nowhere to retreat, because there was nothing behind her. The young woman let out a painful groan and pulled her legs up to her chest to make the champion fell not on her body, but on her hard knees.

"Mmmmmmm..." came a long groan through clenched teeth.

Even though it was a defensive move, it was extremely painful. Alaina's body collapsed on the knees of the Frenchwoman and immediately after that she turned on her side, hugging them. She tried to stop the shaking, but she couldn't do it. Her legs were very strong, but this was not enough to compensate for the gravity and Alaina's weight. Unable to contain her emotions, Charlotte hit the mat a few times with her fist.

Of course, if she had not found the strength to raise her knees, then everything would have been over. But now it didn't look like she had completely flipped the tables. After everything she went through in this match, she did not have the strength to jump to her feet in one movement and launch a quick attack. But at least she bought herself some time. However, this time had already begun to expire, because behind her she heard the sounds of movement. There was no doubt that her rival had already begun to try to get to her feet.

"Get up. Get up. For all who believe in your victory," she told herself mentally.

She understood that if she won't force herself to get up now, then everything was in vain. Barely holding back the pain, she rolled over onto her stomach and got up on all fours. Her long hair fell over her face, but that didn't stop her from seeing that the Amazon was really trying to get to her feet. It looks like she received about the same amount of damage as the Frenchwoman, as instead of getting to her feet right away, she also only tried to get on all fours.

Charlotte clenched her fists, glancing at her rival. She had always admired the woman’s tenacity, but now, for the first time in a long time, Charlotte was painful to look at her. Despite the fact that Charlotte never threw loud words and never said that she would emerge victorious from this rivalry anyway, she always believed in it and she always strived for it. But in this match she saw something that she had not seen before. And because of this, her heart was filled with pain. Did this feeling mean that she should give up, letting the Amazon put the final point now?

No. The fire of the soul of the pink-haired woman was stronger than everything else. And even if she could not keep the promise that she would never lose to this woman again, she was determined to keep the promise that she would continue to get up and attack until she could even move a finger. She could not cope with the pain and heaviness in her body, but she was determined to act.

Pulling her hair back, Charlotte pushed away from the mat. If there was just one chance that her rival could not get to her feet at the same time, she was determined to take advantage of it. They were still close to the ropes and the young woman had one idea of ​​how she might try to keep Alaina under control.

Without stopping, Charlotte intended to wrap her left arm around the champion's neck, fixing a front facelock. The sweat on her body mixed with the blood that was still dripping from her mouth, making Charlotte's body gooey, like it was covered in oil. She was terribly tired and took more damage in this match than ever before. But it wasn't over yet.

"I can do this. I can do this," she kept repeating to herself in her head.

Doubts always been a part of her life. She entered this rivalry with doubts. And even now, when this rivalry was coming to an end, she could not get rid of them. But she was going to forget about any doubts forever after she would beat the champion today. And so Charlotte intended to go around Alaina. Holding her breath, the contender was going to place one foot on the bottom rope, and then the other foot on the middle rope. This will be match, this will be her victory. She had to believe it. And with these thoughts, she was going to push off the ropes in order to take acceleration, turn her rival, and only then pull Alaina down in order to crush her on the mat with a tornado DDT!