While Making Other Plans

"No ya d-brrgh!"

Nikolette sputtered as her still recovering nose was bashed with the back of the hooded girl's head. She was rattled enough to let the menace wriggle free.

Marching down the corridor, Alicia was still uncertain of what she was going to do. Demand answers? Pummel the hooded girl? She hadn’t actually done anything yet but still – given what she’d got up to before – it was still pretty suspicious to see her hanging around right before the redhead’s match. Nothing she’d heard around made it sound like this girl showed up except right before she pulled one of those stunts like burning the ring or ambushing Abattoir.

It was like they said – no smoke without fire.

To a certain degree, her dilemma was resolved as Tessla got the hooded girl into a hammerlock and asked Alicia to help her keep her pinned. Well, that she could do. The kickboxer picked up her pace, covering the distance quickly though not quickly enough. Before she could quite reach the struggling pair, things happened fast.

Tessla went for the mask but got a headbutt instead. The masked girl wriggled free and tried to make a run for it except she picked the way that led right past a certain big Brit.

Oh no she didn’t. Alicia wanted some answers. And, come to think of it, finding out who was under that hood suited her too. She didn’t want to work in a company where someone could set the ring on fire or beat up a competitor backstage and just get away with it with impunity. And the idea of whoever this was hiding behind a mask grated at her almost as much as her nagging theory that she’d been next.

Either way, she wasn’t about to just stand there and let the hooded girl escape to cause more havoc.

As the girl in the hood went to make her escape, Alicia swept one leg up, aiming to bury her boot in the masked menace’s belly hard. The force of the hit combined with their momentum ought to take a lot of the fight out of her…

"GUUH!"

The hooded girl nearly folded in half over Alicia's boot before dropping to the floor in a gasping, wheezing heap. She wrapped both arms around her midsection and curled up on her side, unable to move at all while she struggled to breathe.

"Hah... Ngh..." She panted against the tile floor, turning herself face down and keeping her head low. She began trying to crawl her way to the other side of the hall, away from the other two girls.

Whether because the hooded girl was only any good at ambushing people and couldn’t really fight or just because she’d been caught off guard when Alicia popped up in front of her, the boot slammed home just as planned. It drove the wind right out of the girl, leaving her to crumple to the floor of the hall like all the bones had just been magicked out of her.

That’s what happened to people on the receiving end of Alicia’s kicks. Breathing suddenly became a lot more difficult.

But to give credit where it was due, breathless and battered or not, the hooded woman seemed like she still had plenty left in the tank. At least, she was making a determined effort to get away which… Well, with both Alicia and Tessla in the vicinity and on their feet, doomed was a kind way of looking at it. But she was trying.

Of course, Alicia didn’t feel like letting her get very far let alone away.

Stepping over the smaller girl, she went to plant her curvy butt square in the small of her back, going to grab for that chain-wrapped fist with one hand with the firm intention of yanking it up and behind the hooded girl’s back in the same sort of hammerlock Tessla had used.

At the same time, the redhead went to loop her other arm around the girl’s neck and yank back in a crude but definitely immobilising choke.

Shit shit shit!

As the Brit's thunder thighs came down on her, the hooded girl showed some impressive awareness and grappling ability by twisting her hips to the side enough the Alicia didn't flatten her on her stomach. She also showed some flexibility in her shoulder as she managed to squirm just enough to keep her arm from being mangled, and then Alicia's choke lacked the angle to really be able to choke her.

Sudden, unexpected, maybe impressive defense, but at best just a stay of execution unless she could get the big bitch off of her.

"Rrrrrrrrgh..." She growled from the floor like a wild animal.

As Alicia took the hooded girl down and sat on her, Nikolette moved forward. She loomed over the two and watched the menace struggle mightily, expertly in Alicia's grasp.

"There ain't no where for y'all to go. It's over." Nikolette hissed. She looked at Alicia. "Alright. We don't need her unconscious, we need answers. Let go of the choke. She knows she ain't goin anywhere."

Nikolette looked at the hooded girl. "Start talkin." She barked. More to hear more than just grunts and muttering from her too. "And no more of this." Nikolette said and reached down for the hoodie once more.

Well, scratch that theory. Unless this girl was incredibly lucky or just a plain natural, she’d been taught how to grapple. It might not have been obvious to Nikolette looking on, but all Alicia was doing at present was keeping the hooded girl still. Whoever this was, she’d managed to keep herself off the ground – which was something a lot of people wouldn’t think to do. The hammerlock was keeping that chained fist out of play but it wasn’t biting probably, she could feel that too, and the angle on the choke was all wrong.

Someone had some game.

Now she was really curious who was under the mask, though Alicia was ninety percent sure that the face wouldn’t mean anything to her. The name might possibly but probably not.

That said, Alicia was a big, strong and well trained grappler in her own right and, if she couldn’t sink her holds from the present angle, she was more than happy to shift around until she found one that worked. So that’s what she tried, doing her best to flatten the hooded girl out with her hips and looking to tighten her hold into a real choke. She was actually on the verge of rolling the girl over and giving her a good squeeze when Tessla protested.

Alicia’s grappling instincts told her to hang on to it – she wasn’t choking the smaller girl and she wasn’t sure how good a grip she’d have if she did let go.

But fine, she wanted to know too. Grudgingly, making sure she wasn’t in line for a headbutt, the redhead loosened her failed choke and instead went to swap her hammerlock for a Kimura instead.

Wriggle out of this one, she thought.

"Ghhk..."

The hooded girl grit her teeth behind her bandana as her shoulder's flexibility was tested again. She took a breath, tried to relax, and then Nikolette's fingers reached for her hood again.

Her free hand, the side she was laying on, flashed up to grab onto Nikolette's hand, and left her with less to support herself with and made her hang somewhat from Alicia's kimura hold. She breathed through her teeth and ignored the pain while she singled out Nikolette's middle finger and bent it back, far enough to send the message loud and clear.

FUCK. OFF.

"Ahhhhhh!"

Nikolette yelped as her finger was nabbed and folded back painfully. With how quickly it was done, she was sure it might have been dislocated, but even as she grabbed her finger with her free hand, she planted her foot and snarled. The Serb then swung her other boot upwards sharply at the hooded girl's face. Hood or not, wanting answers or not, she couldn't help but lash out at the girl for the finger.

"Agh!"

The hooded girl immediately let go and turned her head face down. She pulled at the end of her hood and used it and her hand to cover her face.

Fuckin' hell, man.