Nikolette Tessla Vs. Cassie Elliot

The crowd was hushed as they awaited the next match at the AFW arena. The matches so far had been pretty good and the next one on the card would hopefully prove to be a good one as well. Nikolette Tessla, a non-wrestling employee of the AFW had become somewhat of a sensation. Though she had a loosing record, her grit and determination along with her jovial personality and good looks had the crowd rooting for her. What she lacked in experience she made up for in tenacity and ingenuity.

Meanwhile her opponent, Cassie Elliot, had only one match so far but her showing was a statement maker, winning with relative. ease. The girl seemed to already be experienced and looked like she could make a name for herself. Cute and charming, the crowd was pleased to see a competitive battle between two young and talented faces.

As the lights dimmed, Nikolette's entrance theme began to start up. The song played for several minutes, almost completing the first loop before Nikolette stumbled through the back curtain, nearly tripping as she held her chest, panting. "Darnit!" She exclaimed. "I ain't no janitor! I fix cars not clean up puke. Don't these people know I got a match tanight?" She shook her head and looked up. She grinned and waved to the crowd as she strolled down to the ring. "Heya everyone!" She said moving over to the sides of the ramp and slapping a few hands with her fingerless gloves. She was dressed in her usual outfit. Grease stained brown overalls with a bulky white t-shirt underneath. Big clunky boots and an aviator's helmet and goggles.

She marched into the ring and made her way to the corner, gripping the top rope and pulling on it as she stretched. She turned around and faced the arena entrance as she awaited Cassie a big smile on her face. She was excited to get into the ring with this girl. Lately Nikolette had been looking over all of the new members that came in and knew instantly who she was fighting when she was given Cassie's name.

Cassie wasn't quite as nervous for her second match as she was for her first. Everyone she'd met since arriving at the AFW had been so super nice and she was having such a great time that she was even starting to feel at home there. Except... for the crowd.

She still didn't quite have a handle on dealing with the crowd. They just made her so self conscious. She worried about her appearance and about the crowd watching what she did and cameras and it was all still pretty overwhelming. Once she got focused on competing she'd be fine. Probably. Hopefully she'd get in the zone before she made a mistake and lost the match.

She had no idea who she was facing, but she hoped she was as awesome as her last opponent. She decided to represent and try out her Canada-themed suit: a red and white long sleeved leotard with a red maple leaf across the chest and tall white boots. Since they allowed gloves in competition she couldn't pass them up, and had on her red gloves that were pretty grippy, though she'd cut off the loose part and sewn on an elastic strip and a velco wrap so they stayed in place really well.

She was standing just behind the curtain, trying to focus and get her head together when [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMqmWFzJhYY:3d0xli6w]her music[/url:3d0xli6w] hit. She held off for a few seconds, as long as she could before the anticipation overwhelmed her. She pushed through the curtain, put on a big smile and waved to the crowd while she started down the ramp. The cheers she was met with stopped her dead and she blushed hotly. Suddenly she wanted to run back behind the curtain. But she continued on down the ramp, her nervousness gradually melting away leaving a big, beaming grin in it's place.

The lights and the crowd and the ring and the noise and her opponent standing in there waiting for her, it was so exciting she wished her friends were all there with her. After a moment soaking it all in, grinning up at her opponent, she crawled up the ring steps on her hands and feet and slipped into the ring. One last wave to the crowd and she marched up to the middle of the ring.

"Hi!" She said to Nikolette with a goofy smile and her arms at her sides. "I'm Cass!"

Nikolette watched Cassie as she entered the ring. She beamed at her. "Wow. That girl definitely likes Canada." She chuckled to herself. Nationality was a bit of an issue for Nik. Where she came from she couldn't exactly go spouting off what she was without possible violence. But that thought never crossed her mind as Cassie came down the ramp and got into the ring. Nikolette stepped forward when Cass did and she held out her hand, hoping to give Cassie's gloved hand a good hard shake. She smiled at the Canadian and gave her a quick two fingered salute with her free hand. "Name's Nikolette Tessla but you can just call me Nik! Pleasure ta meet ya!" She said.

"Though yer definitely a lot cuter than the pic indicates." She said in a friendly manner. "I hear yer a real toughie though. I'll try an put in my best effort but don't be too disappointed if ya kick my butt! I ain't got much experience all I got is my noodle." She said pointing to her head. She would then turn around and take her aviator goggles and helmet off. It was at this moment the ref saw the wrench in her back pocket that was partially covered by a greasy rag. She was scolded and pouted at her admonishment.

"When yer bein rushed in a billion directions ya don't remember if ya put yer wrench away, alright? You should be used ta this from me anyway! I ain't never wrenched no one once since I've been in a match ya hear?" She tried to look past Cassie and wave it off. "Don't worry about that ok? I really didn't remember. I aint no fink, ya got that? I play by the rules!" She hoped Cassie would understand.

"Oh, um, thanks." Cassie said, a little embarrassed and a little confused that every person she came across seemed to know things about her. Still, it could've been a lot worse. She gave Nikolette an encouraging smile. "I bet you'll do great! But... just for a little bit. Just make sure you tap before something breaks." Her encouraging grin turned into more of an apologetic smile. She mostly didn't have the guts to talk trash to someone's face, but she did believe in her abilities, and what to her is candid might seem brash or conceited to someone else.

Cassie's eyes widened when she saw the wrench. "At least it wasn't a knife." She joked, but didn't laugh. "Oh, um, yeah," She stumbled at Nikolette's apology. "I forget wrenches in my suit all the time." She looked around her midsection and picked at the hem on her hip to look for a place to hide a wrench. There wasn't one.

"Good luck!" She called and backed to her corner. When the bell sounded it was time to go, and she came back out all business. Her goofy, smiley friendliness was apparently gone and replaced by single minded focus. Her second match said as much about her as her first, and she was representing a lot being in there. Her family, the gym, home, not to mention herself, she wasn't going to let any of them down. She was going to try to be a little less nice this time, now that she'd experienced a hard fight and been knocked around herself and felt what she needed to do to stop someone. She wasn't focused on hurting her opponent, just on competing and doing what it took to win.

She came quickly to the middle of the ring and briefly motioned for Nikolette to come get her.

Nikolette nodded at Cassie's words and gestures, still grinning. When the bell rang, she put on a slightly less serious face than she had on previously. Still had a smile but it was dulled a bit as she focused a little. She circled towards Cassie.

most people would lock up at first but I gotta feeling it's not going to work with this girl. Nikolette thought as she crouched lower to the ground. She looked over Cassie's body trying to get a feel for her stance and taking pictures of her body in her mind, gauging any possible weaknesses. She couldn't just rush in, she had to be cautious. Cassie was a lot smaller than Nikolette so there must be something more to her. The mechanic would probably win in a contest of strength but she also wagered that Cassie knew that as well. She brought her hands up in case there was a lock up or a test of strength but also if she needed to use them quickly.

Cassie didn't quite know what to make of her opponent.

That wasn't entirely true, she knew exactly what to make of her, but she had trouble thinking of something to call it that didn't sound condescending. She looked... rough. Maybe... unrefined. Judging by the way the girl approached her, or more accurately didn't approach her, she figured that she had seen her match against Hitomi. She felt proud that her performance made people take notice, but it would make her job a little more difficult.

Cassie was sure enough that this girl didn't have much grappling experience. So with Cassie being the smaller, shorter, presumably quicker of the two, she decided to use something that she never got to use when sparring other grapplers. She stood just inside of range long enough to make the girl guess what was coming next and kept her eyes locked with Nikolette's to keep her attention high. Then she dropped down as fast as she could and her hand darted out to try to snag Nikolette's ankle and lift it up to waist level to steal her balance and make her ripe for a takedown. She was having fun already.

Nikolette did focus on Cassie's eyes as the two circled around each other. When She saw Cassie go low, she tried to hop backwards to keep Cassie from grabbing her but she was unsuccessful. When Cassie pulled her leg up, she was extended enough that she couldn't reach out with her hands to perform any type of grab. But there was one move that came to her mind that she saw more athletic wrestlers perform in this sort of spot. Quickly she reacted, allowing herself to give away her own balance in favor of letting Cassie dictate when and how she lost it. She'd bring her big boot upwards to try and give the sprightly Canadian and Enzuigiri kick. Though her speed was lacking, if it connected it could be pretty effective. It seemed like the most probable move in the situation. Nik just hoped she could pull it off.

Cassie pressed forward with Nikolette's leg in hand, ready to sweep the girl's other leg out from under her. Except something was different, that she hadn't expected. Immediately after Cassie had got upright again, she was knocked sideways by the girl's shin slamming into the side of her head. She stumbled a step and dropped, landing on one hip and rolling to her back.

Ow. Were she more clear headed she might've thought about the embarrassment of being blindsided so quickly, but all she was concerned about at the moment was where her opponent was and what she needed to do defensively. She stayed down, laying on her back with her head picked up off the mat so she could see and with legs coiled up and ready to throw up kicks if her opponent followed her down. She wasn't at all worried about being on her back, that played to her strengths, it was getting hit in the head more that she was worried about.

Nikolette rolled away when the kick hit, happy to have avoided getting caught up. Maybe that wasn't so bad of a maneuver. She'd have to remember it, or rather, she was thankful her superb memory and recollective prowess had already filled it away fro such an occasion. She got to her hands and knees and turned and looked at the Cassieball that was close by. She could guess what would happen if she got in close. She'd be kicked like a mule and be forced to defend. But she didn't want to give up the advantage.

Her eyes darted around and she looked at the ropes. She scrambled backwards to her feet and fell against the ropes to try and give herself some momentum so she could lumber towards Cassie at a pace faster than a walk. Cassie might be up by now but if that was the case then she would go for a clothesline to send her back down, otherwise she would try and use her momentum to springboard over Cassie's legs and drop an elbow on her.

Cassie took her time. She was in no hurry to get back up as long as it was on Nikolette's terms. She watched the girl back up to the ropes and used her feet to turn herself so that she faced her opponent, with her feet closest to her. She figured what was coming when she saw her take off running.

Nikolette jumped and Cassie braced herself. She kicked up hard and speared Nikolette's midsection with both feet, catching her for a moment before letting her fall to the side. That was as good a time as any to get back up. She shook her head again to clear it as she popped back up to her feet.