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

The young woman felt pain in her knuckles. This was a good sign, as it meant that her fist had found its target. She hit her opponent with the uppercut right to the chin. And through the darkness before her eyes, she saw her rival slipping off the step. At that moment, the Frenchwoman's heart almost stopped. She even believed that now the champion would collapse on the mat. She even believed that now she would win this rivalry. She even believed that now she would become a champion.

No, of course, no. The words of her rival summed up the line, after which nothing could be changed. Yes, it was true, she can't allow Charlotte to win. It couldn't be otherwise. And the young woman was too weak to do anything at the moment when the Amazon found her balance again and her hands reached out to Charlotte's head.

Feeling the grip on her head, she felt something else. She felt it before. At that time, during the Avalanche, she could not explain what it meant. After the winter match, she thought she understood the feeling. She decided that the feeling meant the ending was approaching. But she was wrong. Only now did she fully understand what that feeling was. It was the feeling that no matter how hard she tried, she could not change the outcome. That despite all the efforts and aspirations, she was not destined to become the one who would prevail.

"It just couldn't have ended in other way..."

It was her thought the moment the champion jerked her head down. Charlotte's face slammed into the metal top of the ladder. CRUNCH. Drip. Drip. Drip. Large red drops began to fall on the mat. A red pool expanded under Charlotte's face and her blood dripped onto the mat, seeping through the gaps of the ladder. Her nose was broken again, and her head twitched convulsively several times. These were the only signs that she was still conscious. Her left foot slipped off the step. But she didn't fall down from the ladder. For one simple reason.

Her hands were still gripping the ladder posts tightly. But it didn't make any sense. She felt agony. She felt pain. But she did not feel the strength to even raise her head. She grabbed onto the ladder posts only because her spirit hadn't given up yet. Her soul was still striving for victory. But her body could no longer do anything. With this hard blow, Alaina crushed the last reserves of strength of the Frenchwoman.

"Get... up..." she muttered to herself barely audibly, being somewhere between the real world and the world of dreams.

She knew that she would not succeed. But she refused to give up. The young woman tried her best not to let it end like this. And her fighting spirit tried to make her find at least some strength. Through pain, through hopelessness. Charlotte tried to turn her dreams and aspirations into reality. All she had to do was raise her head, clench her fists and make one blow. She felt that exactly one blow separates her from victory. And will she really not be able to find the strength in herself to make this blow?

A few weeks ago, when she was training Margrita, the Danish girl told her that she felt like Icarus. A beautiful but sad story. And now Charlotte could understand the feelings of her already former student. Her dream was right over her head. Just one short step. Just one flap of wings. And her wings were burned. And no matter how hard she tried, she could not find the strength in herself to raise her head and strike.

There are not enough words to describe the state of the Frenchwoman now. Not physically. With that, everything was clear. Emaciated body, covered with bruises and blood. But the way she felt defied literary language. What can a person feel who was confidently walking towards a goal, but who screwed up at the last second? What can a person feel at the moment when he realizes that the path has been done in vain? What can a person feel at the moment when he has failed to change at least something?

Charlotte was barely conscious the moment the champion grabbed her. Due to pain and fatigue, she could not concentrate her gaze, she saw only white and black spots. The pain from a broken nose made her face throb, but it didn't help her. She guessed what was happening, she felt that she was again on the shoulders of her rival. The soul of the young woman was striving for victory. And she wanted to keep fighting. She wanted this more than anything. How she wanted to prove herself. How she wanted everyone to understand by her example that young and talented fighters can defeat established veterans. But it was too late. It was too late to think about it. Nothing will change, not now, not ever.

The wind whistled in the pink-haired woman's ears. She understood that in a second she would completely lose consciousness. It was physically impossible to withstand the finisher of her rival from the height of the ladder. Yes, it was pure truth, at that moment the Amazon got rid of everything. Now there will be no ghosts around. Now her championship will not be contested. Now no one will turn their tongue to say that she is unworthy. She was now the only champion. There were no more obstacles in her path. She put the last point in this story. She won the match. She won the rivalry. Charlotte had no choice but to admit it. The obvious could not be denied. But how much she was wrong about what awaits her after the fall. It would be fair to say that she has never been so wrong before.

Her body did not collapse onto the mat. The entire upper body of the young woman crashed into the folded ladder. It was not that one powerful blow that would just make you pass out. Any uneven surface was dangerous to land on. And the folded ladder consists entirely of cells that create roughness.

At that moment, when the body of the challenger collided with the ladder, falling from an incredible height, two things happened. One of these things could be seen even with the naked eye. Her right shoulder. Anyone could see that the structure was broken. The area near the shoulder joint looked too unnatural. The young woman received too many blows to the shoulder during the match. But this bomb put an end to it. Her collarbone could not stand it and now Charlotte's right collarbone was broken. But if those who at that moment covered their mouths with their hands thought that this was the worst thing that they would see, then it was a big mistake.

The young woman's lower back landed right on the step. Of course, there was no sound, but at that moment Charlotte was ready to swear that she heard a crunch. For an instant, her spine arched unnaturally, and then the moment came. Pain. This word could not describe how she felt at that moment. And this time it was not about her emotions. She thought she would pass out from this fall, but that was not the case. Charlotte's entire back involuntarily arched itself into a bridge. She could not pass out, the pain was so unbearable that it kept her consciousness. But the worst thing about this sight was her face. Charlotte opened her mouth wide, and her eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. All the muscles in her body tensed, as if the signals that were coming to them had gone mad. Several vessels burst in her eyes due to tension.

"AAAAAaaaaaaaa!!!"

But it was not Charlotte's cry. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't. It was a cry of Victoria, who simply could not look at it. And while the manager began to make her way through the crowds, screaming heart-rendingly about the need to call medical staff, Charlotte's body went limp. She collapsed on her left side. Her eyes were empty. And her body was twitching convulsively. The former challenger whined softly as every cell in her body was in agony. Her right hand lay lifeless on the mat, while her left hand covered the place of the collision of the young woman's lower back with the ladder.

"Mmmm... mmmm... mm..." most of all her sounds sounded like a puppy hit by a car.

That's all. How she wanted to lose consciousness, if only for the sake of not feeling this pain. How she wanted to fall asleep and not wake up again. How she wanted to forget that she did not have the strength to win. Miraculously, Charlotte saw her manager breaking through the crowd. She let her down. She let them all down. Tears ran down Charlotte's face. How she hated herself at this moment. The feeling was so intense that she took her hand away from her lower back. She pulled the shaking hand forward, and then tried to push off with her legs. Then she realized that... her legs would not help her. She wanted to howl like a wounded animal. But instead, she used a single movable body part. Using only her left hand, she began to pull herself to the ladder centimeter by centimeter. To the belt. Her legs and right arm looked like rags, like a dead weight, completely useless and completely motionless.

And the truth was that she herself did not understand what she was doing. It was nothing more than the last spark of her fighting spirit. Charlotte closed her hand at the bottom step of the ladder. It was the end of the road, of her path. There was simply no road further. As much as she wants to. And no matter how much effort she put in. It was the end. Her spark flashed into a beautiful tongue of flame, and then Charlotte's light was extinguished. Her body was left not only by her strength, but also by her will. The former challenger's head collapsed onto the mat, and her eyes closed. And only her left hand continued to grip the bottom step, even though she lost consciousness.

While the audience cheered loudly for their champion, Charlotte continued to lie lifeless on the mat. No one even noticed her last spark, no one noticed that even in an unconscious state she was still striving to win. Her hand was still gripping the bottom step of the ladder. But it didn't matter anymore. History is written by the winner, not the loser. For the next week, none of this was important for the Frenchwoman. She will spend three days in the world of dreams. And for another four days, she will wake up only for short periods of time. And only after that, she fully realizes that she lost this rivalry. And that everything remained the same as it was before she tried to prove that it was not necessarily a seasoned veteran in order to become a champion.

Victoria finally made her way through the crowd of spectators. She joined the medical team as they hurried to the ring. She glanced briefly at Alaina, who had already left the ring. She was just a manager. And she had to keep a cool head, she was the face of their team, and she didn't have to make anyone look bad. But how much she wanted... no, she shouldn't. Victoria entered the ring with the medical team.

"Be careful, turn her onto her back. Damn, she hold on the step, someone, untie her fingers," said one of the medics.

The Englishwoman could hardly hold back her tears, she could not believe what had happened. She truly believed in Charlotte. Perhaps Astrid was indeed one small step ahead, but that did not negate the fact that the Frenchwoman was not only the strongest, but also the noblest of all in their team. Victoria knelt down and bent down to the head of her ward. Her voice was trembling, but she hoped that the pink-haired woman would hear her.

"Charlotte, please," she said, "let it go, it's okay, just let it go."

The young woman's fingers relaxed as Victoria's voice woke her up. She even tried to open her eyes, but she hardly understood what was happening. The doctors turned her over, at that moment she moaned painfully through clenched teeth, and her upper body twitched several times. It looks like it was very serious. The medics laid her down on a stretcher and secured her body with straps to prevent accidental movement.

"What with her?" afraid of the answer, Victoria asked.
"Apart from the broken collarbone? Apparently a spinal injury," the medic leaned over Charlotte, "can you feel your legs?"

But Charlotte said nothing. She did not even understand the essence of the words, she was somewhere between the real world, the world of dreams and the world of pain. The medics realized that they would not receive an answer, so they took a stretcher and lowered the body of the former challenger from the ring. Victoria tried to keep up with them. She also came down from the ring. The medical team began to move towards the curtains as the manager squeezed her charge's hand. She couldn't see Charlotte like that. She understood that it was possible that the young woman's whole life had just ended.

“Everything will be okay, everything will be okay, everything will be okay,” she repeated like an incantation or prayer.

Their entire team was gathered around the curtains, except for Astrid and Karen. In the last moment, Charlotte's hand tensed slightly, and her lips barely perceptibly moved. Victoria bent down to the face of the Frenchwoman. Victoria stopped and Charlotte's hand slipped out of her own. Victoria remained standing still and now tears were streaming down her face. The medics took away the former challenger. Defeated. Broken.

"What she said?" asked Lunara, who was trying to calm the sobbing Margarita.
"I'm sorry," Victoria said in a voice shaking from tears, "she said I'm sorry."

They all bowed their heads. No one had an answer to that. And even Lily, who almost never showed emotion, was now depressed. The question now was not that the one they respected lost the match. The question now was not that this loss drew the line in rivalry. The question now was not that this failure put an end to Charlotte's pure aspirations. The question now was whether she would be able to recover from this at all.

"I have to go to the hospital," Victoria said shortly and walked after the medical team, "I have to be with her."

Then there was only silence. None of them paid any attention to the audience who greeted the American woman who retained the champion belt. Indeed, now no one will doubt her. Now she had a way open for all subsequent matches. A worthy victory for a decent price. Charlotte never thought it would end like this. But it couldn't have ended in any other way. Only later will she understand that her attempt to change something was nothing more than a pathetic dream, which will forever remain a dream. But a bad ending for one is always a happy ending for another. The Amazon got what she always wanted, which means it was not in vain. At least for her.