Odessa Brock vs. Lumi Sarn

“Nnnnyh…!” Odessa groaned, as Lumi continued to hold her up in this painful ceiling hold, despite Odessa’s best efforts to break free. Any momentum Odessa might have had before this hold was surely gone now. Even if she was able to break free from it without submitting, she and Lumi would be, at best, on even footing. More likely, Lumi would have a slight advantage. Odessa would need to find a way to fight back, despite her aching, exhausted state…

All of that, of course, would be predicated on whether or not she could escape from this hold!

She could feel Lumi’s arms trembling as they held her up. The French woman was tired, too, then. Odessa saw an opening through which she could try to escape. Her slapping had been ineffective, but a more concentrated blow might be more convincing. Clasping her hands together, Odessa would bring them down hard in a hammer blow on Lumi’s upper left arm, hoping that it would finally give out and she could free herself. “Let me go…!”

Lumi's body shivered as she kept Odessa suspended in the air. Just a few more seconds, surely, and Odessa would finally submit to Sarn, and everything would be right in the world. Just a few... more...

And then, Odessa brought both hands down onto Lumi's arm, making the French Diva hiss and start, twisting to the left and dumping Brock onto the floor. Damn it! She rolled away, dull pain echoing in her arm--she was pushing her body to its limits. This was a frustratingly difficult first match. Sarn clambered to her legs, panting, covered in sweat, feeling worn out. She could barely get to her feet.

"Ah... well..." She began, than shuck her head. She needed to conserve her energy for fighting, not talking.

Odessa somehow managed to free herself from the ceiling hold. She hit Lumi’s arm and felt it buckle. She spilled over onto her side, sweaty ebony body bouncing across the canvas. Slowly, she would roll over onto her hands and knees. Seeing Sarn clamber up onto her feet, Odessa would do the same. She was panting, her body dripped with sweat, and she was shaking. She was on her last legs.

She would raise her arms and beckon to Lumi, moving forward slowly towards the other woman. “Come…Lumi…one more test of strength. Either your body or mine…shall break,” she would intone, as she moved forward, arms outstretched as she waited for Lumi to join the duel.

It was France versus England, ebony versus ivory. They were a study in both similarities and opposites, and now, one of them had to prevail over the other!

"Very well, Oessa..." Lumi grunted, normally beautiful face twisted into a grimace of effort. Now that, that was a shame. Her audience, her lovely, manipulable audience, was seeing her sweat and struggle in her first match--they were seeing past any facade that she had been trying to construct, right at the diamond core of Lumi's determination. It was making her unhappy, to say the least. She would much rather control every aspect of what they received of her personality, rather than let them see anything genuine.

Still, though, she might be able to turn this to her advantage. All she had to do was play her cards right after the match and build off whatever image they were getting from her now. Something to do with an iron will, perhaps? Graceful normally, but unbent by pressure? She could think about it after she won. If she won. No, no, that was bad talk, After she won.

"One last lockup it is..." Lumi felt like lead, but it was lead she could control. She lifted her arms up, sweat running down her pale, ivory form, and pressed her ahands to Odessa's, grunting as she shoved against her British opponent, struggling with all her strength to overpower her in this final, most critical of duels.

“One last lockup before I finally break that…wonderful body of yours…” Odessa would reply, glad that Lumi had agreed. Odessa didn’t know if she could keep the fight going in any other way—whether it be punches and kicks, or slams and throws, or pure submissions, Odessa’s body would have protested. Lumi was pushing her, and she wanted to finish this decisively. A test of strength would prove which of them could outlast the other. After all the damage they had both dished out, only the one who was truly stronger could win this engagement.

And Odessa knew that she had to be the stronger of the two of them. She would accept nothing less from herself than a victory tonight. She wanted the profound satisfaction of conquering a woman as beautiful, as smart, and as strong as Lumi.

And she would have it!

“Rrrn…” Odessa grunted softly, as her hands interlocked with Lumi’s and both of them began to push. Odessa held nothing back this time. There was little strategy. She threw everything she had into overcoming Lumi, pushing as hard as she could as the exertion caused her brow to become more and more slick with sweat. She pressed it against Lumi’s head, staring into the French woman’s eyes as they warred.

"Nnnh..."

Lumi panted softly, her elegant hairdo having fallen into complete disrepair, sweat staining her rather frilly outfit, body aching from the hurt of the fight. All she could bring herself to do was shove against Odessa's body, and wait to see what happened next.

"The problem is, Odessa..." She said, softly, as they locked heads together, her piercing blue eyes staring into Odessa's green ones. "Is that I really can't lose my first match. How would that look? I simply cannot allow it..."

Despite all that, she could feel herself falling apart. Even her failing strength seemed to be mirrored by Odessa. How had this fight been so equally matched? Had neither of them gotten any advantage at all? It felt like fighting herself--this was ridiculous...

Just a few more seconds, perhaps...

Odessa’s forehead slipped and slid a little against Lumi’s, with both of them sweating profusely, ruining the airs of elegance and untouchability that they had both been putting on since the beginning of the match. Odessa couldn’t care too much about appearing elegant, now. She huffed and puffed and groaned as she pushed against Lumi, feeling both her and her opponent’s strength slowly deplete in equal measure.

“Oh, Lumi, I’m sure a woman as smart as you could figure out a way to spin it…” Odessa would reply, smirking at her opponent. After a second’s pause, she would continue: “Why don’t—rrrf—you use it as the origin of some grand quest of…of self-betterment and, ultimately, revenge? You mow through the ranks of lesser fighters until you’re ready to face me once again…”

“The only flaw is that I don’t intend to let you win that time, either. Now won’t you be a good girl…and fall?”

Odessa would throw her whole body forward, trying to put all her weight into pushing. It was a last gasp, really. If it didn’t work, then she didn’t know what she could do. Lumi hadn’t moved back an inch. Neither had she herself, but if she couldn’t move forward, there could be no victory…

"Oh no... after you, I..."

Lumi felt a shiver run through her body, and suddenly, unable to stop herself, she took a step back. She didn't even feel pushed--just kind of floaty, legs aching, body giving in. She blinked in surprise, feeling herself falling backwards, and put another foot behind her, steadying herself.

"...insist."

And then the diva fell, as if in slow motion, toppling regardless, falling into an exhausted heap onto her back.

Well, Odessa did it. She made Lumi fall, at long last, and the French woman certainly seemed to be just about out of it.

The only problem was, she had used up every last bit of her own energy—tapped into every last reserve of strength that she had left in her body—in order to do it.

Odessa felt her legs quivering, shaking, threatening to buckle. That last test of strength…how long had it gone on? Ten seconds? A minute? Five minutes? She suddenly realized that her brain was getting rather fuzzy about even something as obvious as that. She was really at her limit. Her pushing stopped and her body swayed.

If there was any small victory in it for Odessa, it was that she fell forward rather than backward. But fall she did. She landed alongside Lumi, her head about even with the French woman’s lovely, ivory, white lingerie-clad breasts, and, as she turned her head to the side, breathing shallowly, she saw them, through bleary eyes, their sensuous curves serving to comfort Odessa a little as she was almost overcome by pain and exhaustion.

Lumi glanced over at Odessa. It was pretty much all she could bring herself to do. Just... lay down for awhile, maybe. Get up in a few minutes. But the show couldn't go on like this. She could hear the crowd murmuring. Who had won? What had happened?

The referee hesitated, but acted decisively. "Since both contestants are unable to continue battling... this match is a tie!"

The Winner of the Match Is: Nobody. It Was A Tie!

Lumi stared at the ceiling. A tie. Well. At least it was an exciting one, judging by the crowd...