Emily Nelson vs Natasha Han

Emily was breathing heavily now, crying out as another jolt of pain shot through her body as Natasha tightened her hold. Her head shook, beads of sweat glistening on her face. "N...n-no!" she gasped, desperately twisting her body to the side as far as it would go. She was determined not to lose, not in her first AFW match.

She stretched out her arm, doing her best to ignore the searing pain in her back as she angled her body to reach for the ropes. Her back and legs felt like they were on fire, and the pain was almost unbearable. She clenched her teeth shut and endured it as best she could, reaching forwards inch by painful inch before finally hooking a few fingers over the bottom rope....

When Emily managed to get her hand onto the rope, a single, harsh word passed Natasha's lips.

"Shit!"

With great relunctance, she released Emily from the hold, rolling to the side of her and starting to stagger up to her feet. She was tired, dripping with sweat, and quite annoyed that she had let Emily get to the ropes like that.

With an inward sigh, she stepped back, allowing Emily the space to try and rise, as she took a moment to recover a bit, breathing in and out slowly.

Gasping in relief as Natasha loosened the hold, Emily slowly rolled to the side, breathing heavily. Sweat shone through the clear V-cut of her outfit as she draped her arms against the ropes. Slowly, she began to pull up on the ropes to get to her knees, looking even more exhausted than Natasha after enduring that painful hold. Her legs were throbbing painfully, especially at the knees-- she had to admit, the Russian knew how to do a painfully effective leg lock.

She was in pretty bad shape right now, she knew, but she wasn't about to throw in the towel just yet. If she was going to lose, then she was going to make Natasha fight for that win.

Natasha nodded at Emily as she got back up, smiling lightly at her. She was still enjoying this, and part of her was glad that Emily had escaped her hold, glad the match would continue.

Still though, she was pretty damn exhausted too, and knew that fun or not, she needed to end this soon. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself again, waiting for Emily to rise up completely while debating her next move with herself.

Finally pulling herself up to her feet, Emily wearily turned to face Natasha. The Russian was eying her carefully, seemingly contemplating her next move. Slowly, she pushed herself out of the corner, slowly edging towards Natasha with her arms raised in a guarded position.

"Seems like y'had a reputation in Wrestle Angels fer a reason," she said with a wry smile, trying to mask her weariness. "We should have fought sooner." And with that, Emily rushed forward, ducking low to wrap her arms around Natasha's waist and tilt back, hoping to ram the Russian face-first into the mat.

"I am wishing we did fight sooner..." Natasha muttered back at her. She watched Emily a moment longer, perhaps too long, because as Emily rushed in she wouldn't respond quick enough, getting rammed right into the mat with a loud shout.

"Gotcha," Emily said with a wry, albeit weak grin. Kneeling next to the downed Russian, she'd grab at her knee, hoping to trap Natasha's ankle between her thighs. If she was successfuly, then she'd lean forwards, her body stretching against Natasha's as she'd grab for the Russian's chin and, holding her breath, would pull back to execute a STF.

Emily seemed to be turning things right back around on Natasha. The Russian let out another cry, her body bending back into the STF, Natasha wincing and growling up at her. "Let...let me go!" She forced past her lips, trying to withstand the hold as long as she could.

Emily clenched her teeth, feeling Natasha's blonde hair against her cheek as she pulled back on the Russian's chin. "Give up, first!" she replied. By this point, the match had taken a lot out of both of them, but Emily doubted she could maintain this hold very long-- her legs still throbbed with pain from the figure four earlier, making their grip on Natasha's own leg a loose one that she wouldn't have difficulty kicking out of. Added to this was the fact that they weren't very far from the ropes. Holding her breath, Emily kept the hold going as best she could.

Natasha viewed the ropes as her best bet, soon trying to extend an arm out towards them in a desperate move to break the hold.