Taylor Parker vs Dixie Clemets: Camel Clutch Challenge!

"What? You submit?"

Taylor's arms quivered with the effort as she tried her very best to break Dixie in half. She owed the girl that much. The greatest respect she could give anyone in their line of work was to give everything she had to try to kill them. It was kind of funny.

"Long Island punk rock girl, Taylor Parker, against impossible odds!" She cried, as if narrating her own match. "Against a sea of troubles, rose up to overcome opponent after opponent, setback after setback, until finally she came face to face with the former champ, the Three-Count Cowgirl, the Texas Suplex Queen, Clyde, Thunder Thighs Gastin!" She was breathing heavily. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore her body's pleas for rest. "And after an epic battle, the only words Dixie had left to say were..."

Dixie tried to outlast Taylor. She really did. She was big and tough and strong but Taylor had the camel clutch locked in so tightly, so expertly applied, and she had managed to weaken Dixie beforehand in just the right ways. She knew that she was trapped, and this time there would be no escaping, and as she listened to Taylor's words, to the younger girl boastfully narrating things to herself, she finally broke. She knew that Taylor wasn't going to let go until the cowgirl gave in, and the strain and the pain was just too much for her, her back and her spine hurting just too damn much.

Dixie began to tap her hand against Taylor's leg, as the words the punk so desperately wanted to hear exploded from within.

"Nnng! I s-submit! AAAH!"

Before the referee could even tell Taylor to let go, Taylor leapt to her feet and threw her arms in the air with a girlish squeal. Her grin couldn't possibly have been any brighter under the lights.

"YEAH!"

A little wobbly from taking shots to the head, but still brimming with energy nonetheless, she rushed to the corner and leapt up onto the ropes, leaning out toward the crowd. She raised her fists high in the air and screamed.

"MY LIFE ROCKS!"

She hopped down and rolled her shoulders and stretched her back. She was going to need some ice on that... Goddamn.

"Reaach for the HIIIIIGH-EST, glooory, moeru sunrise!" She sang at the top of her lungs. She wasn't a good singer, but she could sing, maybe a little better if she weren't out of breath and jittering with excitement. "Raainy naaaaamida mo, keshite yuku!"

She ran in a big circle around the ring and came back to Dixie. Still smiling as bright as the sun, she offered a hand down to the former Rumble Rose. She was holding back, but she was on the verge of tears.

As soon as Taylor let Dixie go, the cowgirl collapsed forward, her face and upper body striking the mat with a soft impact. She lied there, groaning, as one hand reached around, gently rubbing at her lower back, listening to Taylor celebrating above her.

She couldn't deny it. The girl was good. She had a big mouth, sure, but the girl was damn good.

When Taylor ran back around the ring and towards the big blonde, she looked up at her, a tired, but friendly smile crossing her face. She reached up to take Taylor's hand, letting her help Dixie back up to her feet. She stood up, wavering slightly on unsteady legs, but clasped Taylor's hand, lifting it up into the air and pointing towards her, getting another loud roar of approval from the cheering audience.

She looked down at Taylor and gave her a quick wink. "Guess ah can't say ya can't back up yer words, huh girl?"

Taylor faced the crowd as Dixie raised her arm, and clutched her fist tightly to her chest. In that moment, while the crowd cheered for her and one of her pro wrestling role models propped her up, that maybe she had kept her head down for too long. She had been so focused on the work, the dangers of life in AFW, the risks and the cost of failure, that she had neglected to stop and realize exactly how incredible her life had become.

She was overwhelmed. All she could do in response to Dixie's words was latch onto her in a tight hug, burying her face in her shoulder, though it barely reached. Dixie stood almost a full head taller than the pigtailed punk.

"Thank you," she said, her voice muffled by Dixie's shoulder. She stepped back, and looked her in the eye. "I can't wait to get my new hat."

Dixie seemed a bit taken aback by Taylor's sudden hug, her face turning a faint shade of red as Taylor wrapped her arms around her. She did the only thing she could do in response, raising her own arms up and around the girl, hugging her tightly against herself.

She then let her arms slip down, letting Taylor step back from her, and gave her a soft chuckle, staring right back into Taylor's eyes. "Alright, alright. Ah guess ah can part with a hat." She grinned again. "Jes' make sure ya don't wear it out here or anything and get yer ass kicked with it, alright? Ah'd hate fer ya to make me look bad!"

"Bitch," Taylor said with a smirk. "How could I ever look bad?"

She was worn out, and it showed, but still she bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet. Two matches in one night, back-to-back, had taken their toll. She skipped off to the ropes and pried them apart for Dixie, sitting on the middle one and pushing the top one up on her shoulder.

"After you, old timer," she sang. "And, hey, like... so I have to get my hat anyway, but like... Drinks are on me? I'm starving. Do you wanna, like..." She just couldn't bring herself to say it. The pressure was too great.

"I ain't that old," Dixie called back towards Taylor, stepping forward to step out of the ring. She passed through the ropes and stepped out onto the apron, turning back to look at Taylor, an amused expression on her face.

"Get something to eat?" She answered, finishing Taylor's question for her. "Ah ain't too sure about that. Don't ya think it's be embarrassin' to be seen out on the town with an old woman like me?" She leaned in, and gave Taylor a playful punch in her shoulder.

"Sure. Ah'd love to go get something. Nothin' makes me hungrier then a nice, hard match, and ah'm startin' to think they don't come any harder then you, girl."