To Wrangle a Reaper: Maria Castillo vs Liz Page

Maria's mind was so fuzzy, that it took some time for her to realize just how long she and Lily were staring at one another, even when she was released from the choke, leaving her gasping for breath and collapsing on the apron. Her limbs twitched and convulsed, her face slightly slack as her chest heaved with rattling gasps. This was no more stiff than her endless fights in Mexico, but she wasn't uses to such a one sided beatdown here.

A breath was stopped in her throat as large hands snaked around her neck, choking the fight out of her. Her hands fell to her sides, her body raised high up to display, before being driven down hard into the center of the ring. Her limbs flopped lifeless, the veteran laying spread eagle at her feet. Only a small twitch was any sign of life as the foot pressed none too gently on her chest, with the ref sliding in to begin the count, "ONE!!!!!"

Lily was again leaning against the apron, her head practically stretched in beneath the bottom rope to get a better view. It was so easy to do permanent damage to someone's throat and she was anxious to see some proper sign of life from the luchadora. Not that she wasn't very happy that Liz was in there living her best life, but she was a safety and solidarity first kinda girl.

Liz had none of these concerns, or at least not nearly as worried as her manager. These were the risks they signed up to take and she wasn't going to go easy on weaklings for fear that she might break them. With her foot still on Maria's chest she took the time to pose, flexing her arms above her head as arrogantly as she was able. "Psh, after all that tough talk just look at you. As my daddy used to say: All show and no stay. Pathetic."

"Two!"

Maria's arm lifted up, before falling pathetically at her side not long after the count of one. In her mind, that voice was all the louder. It whispered in Lily's voice, snaking around her tired mind to tease that urge that began to rise inside her.
Just lay down....let them count to three....its what you really want isnt it...deep down...your dirty little secret?

For a brief moment, her body visibly relaxed, the moment the ref counted to two. Even as she watched the ref raised the arm for the final blow to her chances of victory, she didn't move. Liz was flexing, smirking triumphantly, and the crowd was on the edge of their seats. Was Maria done?!

NO!

At the last possible moment, her body tensed, and her shoulder jerked up suddenly, enough to tilt Liz off balance and break the pin, much to the astonishment of all. Her spirit, hanging by a thread, burned bright one final time to turn the tables on her foe!

Lily watched this moment unfold through the camera display on her phone, getting both shots of Liz looking like the glorious hero as well as Maria crushed under her foot. Although, one could be forgiven for thinking she was just taking weird feet pics of Liz as this was not out of character for her either. A playful smirk played across her lips as she recognized the peaceful resignation on Maria's face as she lay out on the mat, nearly surrendering the match in its entirety. Very interesting.

Considerably less amused by the turn of events, Liz stumbled backwards as Maria surged to life just before the final count. The flattening of her expression into a mask of annoyance made it clear that she did not appreciate the luchador clinging on for life when she ought to just stay down like a good girl. "You really must be dumb as a box of rocks, just lookin' to stay in the ring and get tossed around some more. Well, if that's how you want it... With another short burst forward Liz hopped up to drop her perfect ass on the luchador, a fitting punishment for being a pain in the ass.

Maria used the few seconds of shock to summon enough energy to put a makeshift plan into action. The MOMENT Liz leaped into the air, Maroa threw all her weight into a side roll, ignoring the stinging of her body all the while. Nothing was broken, and she could still fight through the pain! Growling, she pushed her battered form up to deliver a harsh kick to the chest the moment Liz was down on her ass!!!!

The giantess was certain that Maria was on her last legs, an easy target for a high-risk move. Or at least for what Liz considered a high risk move since her ass wasn't climbing up any ring posts anytime soon. Much to her surprise, however, the luchador had enough gas in the tank to avoid being crushed under her ass, leaving Liz to land hard on her posterior. Her back arched as the pain shot up her tailbone drawing a hiss passed her clenched teeth. She'd not even had time to reacquire her target when a hard kick struck her across the tits, bowling her over and onto her back.

Instinctively her arms came up to her chest to shield her sore spheres as she lay out on the mat, her knees up but momentarily stunned. All of those eye catching lifts had taken a lot out of her as well, and she wasn't particularly quick at getting back to her feet at her peak.

Maria's kick was true, managing to knock the cowgirl senseless and leave her curled up on the canvas. Though it took her a good moment to recooperate from the savage beating she had endured at Liz's hands. After all, she wasn't invincible, either physically or mentally. She very nearly lost this by willingly submitting to her. No...end this quick before Liz slammed her again.

Groaning, she made a grab for Liz's chin, dragging her up slowly before laying into her with chops that echoed throughout the arena!

Liz was still pushing herself back up when Maria was on her again, a hand grasping her firmly by the chin and pulling her to sit upright. Then came a barrage of hard chops to her upper chest, each one striking flesh with a loud slap causing the big American's body to jerk. Her eyes, staring up at the Azteka Champion, narrowed with pain and anger as she tried to hide her wincing. Her flesh was left bright red before she was finally able to plant her hands firmly upon the mat and with a heave shove herself backwards and away from Maria once more.

Still reeling and sore she scrambled backwards to get herself some space, rolling over onto her hands and knees to try climbing back to her feet but turned her back to her opponent in the process.

Chop after chop after chop, the fiery comeback from the champion was blazing brighter than ever! Every impact of her hand to flesh emboldened her fighting spirit, feeding off the crowd, who seemed to roar with delight at a babyface showing off her warriors soul!!!

The luchadora stumbled a bit when Liz managed to push away, but in the process made the fatal error of showing her back to Maria! With a scream. Maria CHARGED forward, leaping up to deliver a hard dropkick to Liz's spine!

Liz needed a second to regain her bearings, that's all, and then she'd go back to crushing her opponent. She just needed that second to turn the tides. Planting one foot on the mat she pushed herself up, rising on one knee just in time for the luchador to come flying through the air and plant both feet on her back. With a cry of pain Liz was toppled forward again, her knees striking the mat as she reached out desperately to hook one arm over the middle rope as not to lose all ground gained.

Sprawled out and dangling by one arm off the ropes, Liz squirmed and arched her sore spine with a low groan of pain. Her free arm twisted back to uselessly place a palm on the impact zone.

From the apron Lily watched on, conflicted as to whether she should be upset about this turn of events for Liz or happy to see this fire from the pretty luchadora. Then again, watching Maria getting crushed wasn't too bad either.