Lady Phantom vs Dmitri

"That's right! Squirm!" sneered Lady Phantom, laughing. "Squirm more, you pig!"

She kept her hold just like that for a few seconds, before gradually began to push on his back harder to stretch him further. He's still holding out, but how long would it be until he finally break? Even if he didn't, she would probably have weakened him significantly. A win-win situation for the masked girl.

"You wanna quit? Or you'd rather end your career on your debut?" she threatened Dmitri to play a twisted mind game with him. "Maybe a desk job would suit you better..."

Ironically, he was actually considering quitting before she said something - but her taunt lit a fire under him. Invigorated him. She was just like boss, all the upper management, always holding him back, always hoping he'd just give up and go home and stop trying to get out of the line. Sure, she was a lot ruder about it, but at the end of the day, it was the same shit from a different mouth. And he was entirely sick of it.

Not want to waist his breath on it, he simply shook his head, in pure defiance. Not giving her the satisfaction. Not this easy.

"No...?" Lady Phantom confirmed before she grinned wider. "Good~ I'm not done with you either..."

She yanked his arms further for a second before releasing them and shoved his back with her foot roughly. If he didn't mind being tortured further, then nothing she could do about it, right? Lady Phantom just shrugged and sat next to him, leaning to the side to put some of her weight on his back. She would then try to wrap her arms around his face next in order to apply a crossface hold next. Would this one break him?

Honestly, he liked the last hold better. That one was painful. This one was excruciating.

It felt like she could rip his neck off, and he was, again, left to wonder where she drew all this strength from. A sharp pain was growing at the base of his head, and he knew there'd come a point when he would risk serious injury - and it was coming soon, too soon. He reached up and tried to pry away at her arm, fighting for even a little alleviation from the agonizing hold.

"Oh? Still stubborn, aren't you?" taunted Lady Phantom as he began to pry her arms from his face. "I wonder if you're actually enjoying this... being hurt and dominated in front of the crowds... isn't it better to just give up and get over with it? You have no chance to beat me," boasted the masked girl smugly.

She tried to keep the hold for a bit longer, before slipping her arms away from him and shove her opponent down to the mat again. What should she do next? His had, arms and back was already put in quite a stretch. That left her with his legs. Grinning wickedly, Lady Phantom rolled off him and went behind his legs to take one of them, so she could apply an ankle lock on it.

"Well, if you like the pain that much, how about another one?!"

He thrashed in the hold, flopping back and forth - this was it, she'd break him to pieces at this rate. He'd hate quitting, but he'd hate being in the poorhouse even more - if he took an injury now, on his first match, the chances of him getting back in top shape in time to pay his bills would be low. Too low to deal with. He could recover from shame - hell, he'd done that his whole life. Broken bones would be a lot harder.

He threw his head back, closed his eyes. "Fine, fine...I quit!"

Lady Phantom laughed as he finally gave in and said the magic words, loosening her hold little by little. She did tightened the lock again for a second just because she could, before releasing him completely. Normally she'd love to humiliate her opponent even more despite already winning the match, but she felt that he might break into pieces after all the painful holds she put him through.

"Hmmph!" the masked girl sighed as she stood up and put her foot on his back to make a victory pose. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

For some reason, Dmitri's memories went back to a bully in his first grade class - a big, annoying guy with a name he couldn't remember. The only reason he even stood out was because of the time he stole his lunch, flushed it down the toilet, and Dmitri was forced to go hungry for the rest of the day. Very embarrassing. Very painful.

This was like an adult version of that. Times ten.

He didn't even respond to her - he just stayed still, looking down at the floor, hiding his shame as best he could. "Just...go away."

"What's with the attitude...? Loser should behave like a loser!" chided Lady Phantom as she stomped his back lightly before walking away. "You're lucky that I'm in a good mood tonight... So I'll let you off easily."

Posing for the crowds once more, the masked girl would eventually slip out from the ring and headed to the exit. The start of her career here went smoother than what she expected. Four opponents so far, and she could handle them single handedly. Sooner or later, she's probably going to take on the tougher fighters, which should be exciting. Until then, it's celebration time yet again for her.

It was a few minutes before Dmitri made his way out of the ring - not because of the pain. Not the physical pain, anyway.

He hadn't been expecting to take the AFW by storm, but that? That was extremely disappointing, and he was a man used to disappoint. As much as he hated to admit it, Lady Phantom had been right about a few things - if he was going to survive here, it was clear he'd have to rethink his approach - even rethink whether he should make that approach at all. Otherwise, he'd spend a lot of his time under someone's heel - in a literal sense, as opposed to the figurative one from his old job.

Winner: Lady Phantom