Lu Jiao Jocelyn Vs. Yi Lan

Jocelyn's eyes widened when Lan's punch connected with her stomach. Her body was tensed but a punch there never felt good, especially with the hard punch Lan threw and where she tried to place it. Jocelyn was forced to double over enough so her head rested on Lan's shoulder while she threw her arms around Lan to try and wrap them around the girl's head, holding her in a loose hug against her chest the way they were positioned.

<Understand... what!> Jocelyn growled, not really understanding Lan's words.

Lanâ€s punch connected hard with Jocelynâ€s solar plexus, and that seemed to stymie the dark-haired girlâ€s attack. She flinched a little as her opponent fell against her, laying her head down on Lanâ€s shoulder. The close contact only caused her further embarrassment. As Jocelyn wrapped her arms around Lanâ€s head and pulled, the blonde would try to resist, but after a few seconds she was pulled facefirst into her opponentâ€s chest. It felt soft and warm.

“Guaaah…” Lan panted. She tried to pull herself away from Jocelyn. <I…I want to…I mean…I want to understand…y-you…>

Even more embarrassed now, Lan would swing a leg forward and try to kick Jocelynâ€s legs out from under her. She needed to start really trying to win this match. She had been so confused so far, and it was only making her look weak. It seemed that Jocelyn wouldnâ€t respect her if she looked weak. She needed to look strong…

Jocelyn paused when she heard Lan's words. She was thankful they were in Chinese but she just couldn't understand them. She looked visibly stunned, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open until Lan kicked her feet out. Jocelyn groaned and toppled to the mat, instinctively trying to pull Lan down with her by yanking on the short, ashen locks.

<I don't get it!> Jocelyn growled in Mandarin, just trying to wrap her legs around Lan to keep her from following up with any more offense. She couldn't even really think of a way to attack Lan right now and just tried to keep the Chinese girl pressed up against her own body.

Lanâ€s words seemed to stun Jocelyn. The blonde Chinese woman blushed and turned her gaze away from her countrywoman, not knowing how to deal with her opponentâ€s surprise and confusion. She just wanted Jocelyn to figure out what she was trying to say without her having to say it. She just didnâ€t have the gumption to say what she was thinking out loud.

Looking away, Lan would kick Jocelynâ€s legs out from under her. She would succeed, only to be brought down as well by her ashen locks. “Ow! Ow!” Lan cried out, as she fell down on top of Jocelyn. She groaned as the girlâ€s legs locked around her midsection, preventing her from moving, either offensively or defensively. Hesitantly, she looked back into Jocelynâ€s eyes.

<Just…I want to be friends…p-please think about it…> she asked, before slowly grabbing onto Jocelynâ€s legs and trying to pull them apart.

Allison's face hardened into a stone mask while she silently watched the fight unfold. She didn't understand a word of what was said between the two girls, but she didn't miss that whatever Yi Lan was saying had got inside Jocelyn's head. She didn't think that the pathetic, stuttering little girl would be trying to antagonize Jocelyn... But it was possible that she knew what she was doing. Jocelyn was emotionally weak, and it would be easy for a seemingly earnest, sweet girl like Lan to take advantage of that.

That wouldn't do at all. She strode around the ring until she was close to the girls, and leaned on her elbows against the ring apron.

"Jocelyn, you understand that by refusing to fight properly, this girl is not only taking the match away from you, and so much of your career, your livelihood, but she's also taking me." Her emerald eyes stared unflinching at Jocelyn like they could do more damage than any kick from Yi Lan. "Most important, she's taking away your position. Is that what you want?"

Jocelyn struggled to try and maintain a tight scissor lock on Lan. She grit her teeth and tried to exert as much strength as she could, all while holding onto Lan's hair. Jocelyn shut her eyes when she met Lan's gaze, her back arching as if she were trying to force herself away from Lan by going deeper into the mat, only bringing part of their bodies closer and not relieving the closeness of their faces.

Lan's words, however, froze Jocelyn again, leaving her thighs to be pushed open. She just wanted to be friends? But Jocelyn had only tried to make her life miserable. Her mouth quivered, dangerously close to Lan's lips until she heard Allison's smooth and dangerous words. The Chistralian's head ticked to the side like a it was set upon clockwork gears and she stared mystified at Allison. She heard the words and the silky, yet stern British accent felt like it was slowly peeling away her very soul. Allison had given her everything. What had Lan given her? Her heart ached at the thought of losing that horrible woman.

Jocelyn's face slowly began to twist from shock and disbelief to hard stone. Was she right? Lan was just trying to separate them. Wasn't that her plan all along? Now she was forcing Jocelyn to chose between the woman she loved and admired and some girl who flaunted her blood all over the mutt Jocelyn. Whispering those timid lies like a hungry spider!

Mercy, meanwhile, had been watching the match with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. The action hadn't been too enticing. The girls were hashing out something between them in a way that seemed more like a tea party than a fight. It was a little ridiculous but Mercy could suffer through it. Lan had smartly gained the psychological advantage and, even if Mercy didn't understand most of what was being said, she was surprised the timid girl was actually able to do it.

And then... Allison showed up. Mercy had to exert all her effort to try and remain as apathetic as possible to the Brit's arrival. She disliked that woman for many reasons and wanted nothing more than to just beat her down. Unfortunately, she'd seen what she had done to actual fighters as well as how cruel she could be when she wasn't just using her strength.

But, while she couldn't hear most of what Jocelyn and Lan were saying, Allison's smug words echoed crisply in her ear. She was taunting her charge, telling her that if she lost, they'd be finished. At this, Mercy's eyes lit up and a devious smile crossed her face. Would she really STICK by her words? Mercy slowly began to ease herself out of the timekeeper's seat and try to make her way near the ring as stealthily as she could. If SHE could help Lan along a little bit, she might just create a chink in that Brit's armor. All she'd have left was Jamie and Mercy wondered how she even managed to dress herself in the morning. It was a shame she didn't have backup because, as her heart started to pound, she realized she might just be about to do the most stupid thing in her life.

Lan watched as Jocelynâ€s face went through several different stages of intense emotion. Shock, disbelief, stoic indifference, anger…each and every one of them flashing across the Chinese-Australian girlâ€s pretty face in what seemed to be heartbeats for Lan. The girl from Guangzhou kept watching her opponentâ€s emotions change, hoping desperately that, when this crazy roulette stopped, it would stop on understanding. Jocelyn would understand what Lan was trying to convey to her all this time, and then the two of them could be friends.

Unfortunately, Allison was there to screw things up. The tall, gorgeous European womanâ€s words distracted Jocelyn, and they seemed to turn her cold. Lan managed to push Jocelynâ€s thighs open and free herself from the scissor hold, but that ultimately only solved her immediate problem. Not the one that really mattered. She looked at Jocelyn, then glanced over to Allison. Without Allisonâ€s presence, she might have stood a chance. With Allison being there, Lan didnâ€t know how she could win—even if she won the match, it seemed, she would lose…

Jocelyn's feet planted against the mat once her thighs were pushed apart. Her knees pointed tot he ceiling and Lan lay against her form, almost gently if not for the tight grip on the girl's pretty ashen locks. Jocelyn's head was still tilted towards Allison but she closed her eyes and lifted up enough so that she was not able to see the Brit of feel her stern and deadly gaze upon her face. She knew it was right there, though. Watching her, waiting to cut her off like a gruesome razor-sharp pendulum.

As she moved, she felt Lan's lips brush against her cheek and Jocelyn's fingers eased their grip and slipped through Lan's hair, lightly brushing it and tracing the edges of her face.

<I... don't know what to do...> The Mandarin words were almost pathetic sounding as Jocelyn's finger tips left Lan's face. The Chistralian knew she could not put her faith in the forgiveness of the woman she served. However, maybe she could have faith that Lan's seemingly endless reserves of patience and kindness were just that.

Jocelyn's hand quivered as she drew it away from Lan. She turned her head, opening her eyes as her and Lan's lips faintly brushed together. She then balled her fist as she stared into Lan's eyes with a helpless look and swung her fist as hard as she could to try and bash Lan in the skull with it.

Lan held her head still, her body rigid atop Jocelynâ€s prone form. She didnâ€t know what to do right now. She would have tried to pin Jocelyn, but she worried that the Chinese-Australian girl would have taken that as a sign of duplicity and of betrayal. She still needed to win the match, though…she just needed to do it without Jocelyn taking it the wrong way. And that was going to be difficult…

She remained still as Jocelyn wiggled beneath her, the darker-haired Chinese girlâ€s cheek brushing across Lanâ€s lightly quivering lips. She felt Jocelynâ€s grip on her hair loosen, and the girlâ€s hands run along the sides of her face gently. <I…> Lan started, trying to say something when she heard Jocelynâ€s sad, quiet lament. <B-b-be…my f-friend?> Lan suggested hesitantly, before their lips brushed together. That kept happening, and every time it caused Lanâ€s heart to stop and skip a beat. It seemed to have the opposite effect on Jocelyn. The Chinese-Australian girlâ€s fist drove into the side of Lanâ€s head. The blonde girl felt as if her skull had been caved in, and she flopped down onto her side, both hands clutching at her temple. Tears streamed down her face, and she was whimpering softly.

"Hm."

Allison raised an eyebrow and clicked her heel on the floor before turning away from the ring. At the time keeper's table, she spotted her little pink haired friend Mercy, and gave her an eerily inscrutable smile on her way back up the ramp and out of the arena.