Rachel Carin vs Amy Poford- Unstoppable

Amy grunted as an elbow found its way into her side, and groaned as Rachel really ground it in. She looked over her shoulder, bewildered. That was a thing you could do out of a Boston Crab? Rachel had contorted herself into a very uncomfortable looking position to hit her with, at best, an uncomfortable attack. It was reckless, to be sure, but, despite its less than stellar strength, it was painful enough that Amy would have to let go if it went on.

Luckily, Amy had just learned a counter to Rachel's counter in her previous match. Taking a page from Blaise's book, she stuck Rachel's ankle under her armpit to secure it, then fell bodily backwards onto Rachel's back, pressing her chest into the mat. Finally, she used her free arm to reach around and hook Rachel's chin. The resulting hold placed strain on both her lower back and head and neck. It was tough on Amy- she had never done this move before, only seen the replays- and she wasn't sure how long she could hold it. But, since they were both pretty close to the ropes now, it might not be something that she would learn today.

This sudden change of holds caught Rachel off guard, and suddenly grabbing the ropes didn't seem like such a bad idea. She was still suspicious of the idea that her opponent was genuinely helping her out, but as she was now she felt like she was going to split in two, or more, pieces. At first, all she could do was flail her arm around, feeling for the ropes as she screamed in agony, until she used her free leg to scoot a bit farther forward and grasp onto the bottom rope.

"Break!" The ref stood above the girls and motioned outward with her hands. Amy immediately let go, but stayed atop Rachel's back for a moment, drinking in a couple deep breaths before rolling off and getting back to her feet. She took a second to cradle her ear- Rachel's screams had erupted right next to it- before bouncing on her heels again, fists at the ready. Amy didn't know the precise rules of the rope break, but figured it would be safest just to wait until Rachel found her feet again before attacking.

For a short while, Rachel took her moment of solace to just rest and take a quick breather, her limbs sore and already feeling worn down. As Amy got off her back, though, she started to climb to her feet, not wanting to get attacked while she was down. Doing so was easier said than done, though, as her left leg, which was unnecessarily worn thanks to her own efforts, could barely support her, and she almost collapsed a few times while trying to stand.

Amy saw the wobble in Rachel's leg and made a mental note. Attacking weaknesses was just good strategy. But man, Rachel wasn't doing too hot. Amy felt as though she'd been doing all of the attacking. And it wasn't like her match with Blaise, where he'd bounce back after a gauntlet of hits and come back with a surprise reversal; no, Rachel looked like she was out on her feet. There was still fight left in her eyes, but that body looked like it was struggling even to stand.

The voice in the back of her head grew ever slightly louder.

But Amy didn't want to lose, especially not because she'd underestimated her opponent. The safest course of action was to keep on, so keep on she did. She approached slowly, guard up, wary of a surprise attack, then leapt forward with a mighty right hook, looking to push Rachel into the ropes.

Rachel saw her opponent moving towards her, but she had few options to react with. As a last-second decision, she threw her arms up in front of her face, deflecting the brunt of the blow from her face, but knocking her back into the ropes, which she used as a support to stay standing.

Good block. Amy smiled grimly. She was glad that Rachel was able to deflect that shot. It settled her mind a bit; she didn’t know why.

But now that Rachel was against the ropes, Amy was not going to be stopped. This is where Amy lived- with an opponent wide open and with no escape. Rachel’s guard was high, so she let loose a cascade of body blows, crashing quick hooks and uppercuts all over Rachel’s slim abdomen.

Each punch that landed in Rachel's stomach caused her to moan a little more loudly, making it that much more difficult to stay standing. As a particularly hard blow landed right in the middle, her weak leg lost it's footing, and she slipped down to one knee, coughing and panting while she still held the ropes for support.

When Rachel slipped down to a knee, Amy finished off her barrage with a massive right into the side of Rachel's face, looking to knock her down into the mat. But she wasn't happy. Where were Rachel's counter attacks? She was just absorbing her hits like a sponge and giving nothing back. Had Amy read her wrong? The voice was shouting now, and nearly impossible to ignore. Amy backed off for a second, guard still up, watching Rachel moan on the mat.

As the last punch collided with Rachel's head, she lost her grip on the ropes and fell to the mat, curling up around her abused stomach with a weak moan. After a few deep breaths, she grabbed the bottom rope and got closer to a sitting position, looking up at Amy with fire in her eyes. "I may not be the best fighter," she remarked, taking deep breaths between her pauses, "but if you... if you wanna hear me beg, you got another thing coming."

And with that, she pushed herself off the ropes, lunging for Amy's legs in an attempt to take her down.