Taylor Parker vs. Silver Ace (Complete)

Even with Taylor pulling her, Ace was barely able to get up, nearly out on her feet.
She gave no reaction as Taylor posed and showed off for the crowd and the calendar, the photographers getting more than a fair share of shots.
Lifted upside down, Ace's arms dangled under her head as Taylor taunted her one last time.

"Ngghh.."

In way of reply, Ace groaned and moved one leg back, her thigh weakly tapping against Taylor's face with no real force behind it.

It was weak, but it was one last act of defiance from Ace.

"Sounds about right."

Taylor paced a small semi-circle around the ring while carrying Ace upside down against her body. She could still feel the throbbing in her head and she felt pressure in her face under one eye that told her she'd need to get some ice to keep from looking like the end of Rocky IV, but she was carried along, half in control, by a mix of adrenaline and head injury and the thrill of impending victory. Whatever hurt could wait until later.

She with a short jump, she dropped down onto her butt again, and drove Ace's head into the mat with another crack of the ring, and an electric "Ohhhhhhhh" from the crowd.

Ace didn't even feel the impact this time, passing out upon her head hitting the mat. Her body bouncing from the impact in inch or so upwards before falling to the mat. Her arms and legs would be splayed onto the mat, head turned and her eyes closed.

She actually looked sort of peaceful, completely knocked out, her breath coming in small, barely audible, breaths.

The entire crowd was on their feet, cheering and chanting Taylor's name. Ace had failed, being outmatched and K.O.ed by the Punk.

The ref girl came in close, checking on Ace's condition and ready in case of a pin.

Taylor remained sitting, her legs splayed out in a V with Ace's head almost in her lap, and took a moment to look at the crowd. They held nothing back, screaming and cheering and chanting and whistling for her. In and out of the ring, Taylor never held back, never backed down, and it was her dream for that energy to infect other people. Maybe a match with Silver Ace wasn't the same as a match for the Friction title, but this was everything she wanted.

And it wasn't over yet. She got up and shoved Ace onto her back, and then stood over her and leaned down to get in her face. She slapped her lightly on the cheek to rouse her. "That was for this," she said, pointing to the purple mark under her eye where Ace's heel had knocked her out of her mind. "And this... This is to make sure you leave my mom alone."

She grabbed an ankle and a wrist and dragged ace a few feet closer to the corner. She skipped to the turnbuckle and leapt up on it, first the second rope then the top, then turning around to face her opponent. She stood up tall, high above the ring, higher above the floor, glowing under the lights like a rockstar, like something more than human and bigger than normal.

She bent low and pulled her arms back, and then leaped forward, high up in the air, and turned a spectacular backflip three-fourths of the way around. She splashed onto Ace's body with a heavy, breathless, ring shaking impact, bounced up slightly, and then grabbed a leg and turned onto her back against Ace's chest to roll her up into a tight pin.

To say Ace "woke up" would be incorrect. More like her eyes opened, awake while K.O.ed.

Taylor's splash actually woke Ace up, as the impact caused Ace's legs and arms to shoot upwards at once before falling limply to the mat.

Groaning, Ace lay under Taylor, legs hooked, unable to move as the ref girl began her count.


"One!"

Taylor held on tight. Her splash had knocked the wind out of her too, but she only had a couple seconds until she could fall over and wheeze to her heart's content.

"Two!"

She knew Ace was done. If the rookie managed to get up from this, Taylor might as well just concede the match to her. But... she wasn't getting up.

"THREE!"

Taylor let Ace's leg flop back down and got up to her knees. She threw her arms up triumphantly and gave a little wiggle of her hips with a bright grin that was as relieved as it was elated. She leaned down to Ace for a moment, and patted her on the cheek to see if anyone was home.

"Not bad, rookie," she said, and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Had me going for a minute there." Ya know, when you knocked me the fuck out.

Then she got up to bask in the glory of the moment, and soak up the crowd's adoration. When she looked at Junko, her face bore a special kind of pride. "Hey, how'd I do?" She beamed. She glanced down at Ace, who was probably not going straight home after the beating Taylor had given her, and brushed aside her concerns. She'd be fine.

Aching and bruised but with plenty of energy to spare, Taylor leapt up in the corner, standing on the middle ropes and leaning out over the turnbuckle toward the crowd. She raised her fist in the air like a victorious soldier, and the crowd cheered. She held her arms out to the crowd, and she could tell her fans by the ones that hugged her back.

Ace stayed on the mat for a few minutes after the bell rang, catching her breath.

She had lost. She had given her best effort, but Taylor had outmatched her completely. It was a strange mix of feelings, trying to feel pride in putting on the effort of one's life, but having to know that effort wasn't good enough at the same time.

Ace rolled out of the ring, stepping off the apron and gasping as she fell, her hurt leg finally giving out on her after her pushing it so far. Grabbing the apron, she pulled herself up to her feet and limped to the guardrail, holding on to that for support as she limped her way towards, and eventually up, the entrance ramp.

She kept a hand on her neck, which seemed to burn and tingle at the same time, while the shiner on her face still stung. She didn't look back at Taylor though, nor did she interact with the fans in the front, who mostly ignored her as well. This was Taylor's moment to celebrate with her fans after all, and she deserved to do so. Ace wasn't going to interrupt that.

One of AFW's trainers came down to assist her, though she quickly shook him off, not wanting assistance as she limped her way behind the curtain. She was going straight for the medical wing of the Arena, and going home after that. When she would come back...she didn't know.

Taylor Parker wins via Pinfall