Dark Angel vs Cassie Elliot

Cassie honestly didn't know anything about her opponent that she hadn't learned from being face to face with her in the ring the other day. Now that she was active again in the ring, she had put down her journalistic responsibilities with the AFW website and blog, and she hadn't kept up with newcomers to the roster. She didn't think she was in for any surprises, really, just a match against a girl her own size, which was so awesome! Not being undersized was a rare thing for her, and she was really looking forward to trying to put moves to use that she wouldn't otherwise have the strength for.

She was [url=http://i54.tinypic.com/dqg089.jpg:1wpeydfz]suited up[/url:1wpeydfz] in her yellow and white leotard, white boots and yellow gloves, with her matching cape trailing along behind her. Her short red hair was adorably tousled as ever. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMqmWFzJhYY:1wpeydfz]Her music started up[/url:1wpeydfz] in the arena, and she took a deep breath before flinging herself out onto the entrance ramp. It was like getting in a cold pool, you just had to jump in.

She was greeted with bright lights and a crowd, the grandeur of the arena and the daunting walk down to the ring. She knew no one was there to see her, but that didn't matter. They were going to watch her in the ring, and she wasn't going to let them down. She threw her arms up over her head and grinned, and then gave the crowd a big wave before making her way down the ramp. She pulled her cape tightly around herself, partly because the proximity of all those fans made her self conscious about being dressed in sleek, bare-legged spandex.

She climbed the ring steps and ducked under the middle rope, took her place in the middle of the ring and bowed respectfully to each section of the crowd. She gave her cape a flourish on her last bow, turned and struck a superhero pose on one knee, with as intense a face as she could muster before breaking into a grin. She bounced in place excitedly while she waited for her new friend.

Angel was uncharacteristically nervous as she waited in a back room for her match to start. Unlike some of her other opponents, she actually had experience with Cassie. Unlike the orange-haired girl, however, this almost felt like a bad thing. She knew what Cassie was capable of. She felt a slight pain in her arm. It may have been psychological, but it was still an important reminder to Angel what she had to worry about. No matter what, she couldn't let the jujitsu master get the better of her. She would have to stay on the offensive and mobile, and never let the girl get her into anything she couldn't escape from.

Angel was wearing her Shinto priestess robe over black tights. She had similar black elbow and knee pads, along with black boots. Her trademark Kitsune mask was already on as it always was for her matches. Luckily, it always hid her face whenever she was nervous. But to some level, she believed it helped her opponents in at least making them feel less guilty about hurting her. Removing it, of course, was not an option. She had no intention of letting anyone know who she was, not even her old friends. Not that Cassie was one of those friends of course.

As her [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg92QpjRcJk:9xexacqs]music[/url:9xexacqs] started up, Angel breathed in really fast several times. Despite how nervous she was, the girl wanted this match. She wanted a chance to get back at Cassie and knock her down a peg. She almost felt an obligation to everyone else to beat the cheerful, almost naive girl to a pulp. As the song got to the instrumental part, Angel walked into the arena. She took a moment to look around at the crowd. There were very few cheers as expected by now. She laughed to herself, now appreciating the silence that always seemed to follow her. She could hear her theme music clearer thanks to it.

Angel jumped to the edge of the ring and entered between the second and third ropes. She looked across the ring at Cassie and proceeded to not break eye contact. The masked girl paced around the ring, always looking at her opponent as if staring through her.

Cassie watched excitedly as her opponent climbed into the ring. She bounced in place and stretched out her arms and her wrists, stretched her arms over her head, twisted her upper body back and forth, and stretched down to reach her toes with her head against one knee, then the other. She couldn't wait! It had been a long time since she'd competed, and in a few hours she turned twenty years old. What a great way to celebrate her birthday!

The thought that she might not win had honestly not even crept into her mind. Despite her record being an even 2-2, she didn't have any fear of her masked opponent. It was a fair fight, they were the same size, and it was reasonable to believe that she didn't have the skills Cassie did, based on what she'd seen of the roster. She was going to be sure to be very nice about it, though.

"Hi!" She exclaimed, and waved. She returned Angel's stare with an equally unwavering friendly smile. When it looked like they were getting ready to start off the match, she stepped forward to the middle of the ring and stuck out her hand.

"Good luck! Fight hard!"

Cassie's excitement actually made Angel smile. It reminded her of herself back when she was...well...bad at this job. She cared far too much about her opponents then just as Cassie appeared to now. Angel learned her lesson and wasn't about to spare Cassie the same experience. She took off the lower section of her robe and the loose arm sections as well, revealing her tights. She threw the heaping pile out of the ring and onto the floor below. Cassie reached out to shake her hand, but the girl just stared at her. Once again, she had no interest in shaking her hand. She wasn't about to put her arm at risk just for the sake of good sportsmanship, especially when it never helped her in the past. So Angel just stared almost blankly into Cassie's eyes. But something else clicked in her head.

She reached out to shake Cassie's hand. Instead of grabbing her hand, though, she grabbed her by the wrist. With a sudden tug, she pulled Cassie toward her while kicking right at her abdomen. It was a cheap shot, no doubt, but Angel couldn't care less about such things at this stage of her career. She just wanted to hurt Cassie.

Cassie's good intentions were short lived. She looked up at Angel in shock a split second before the girl's foot slammed into her stomach, doubling her over. She dropped to her knees and elbows, crumpled up and gasping for air. The shot had taken her completely by surprise, and she knew it was all her fault.

"Wh...why?" She panted as the bell ring. The referee tried to reprimand Angel, but with the match officially underway, there was nothing she could do.

As Angel foot collided with Cassie's stomach, the girl smiled sadistically under the mask. Just like that, all her anxiety melted away. The girl was human after all, and everyone had their weaknesses. Angel made it her duty to exploit Cassie's. She gently shoved the referee out of the way and wasted no time in taking out her anger on the orange-haired girl. She approached Cassie from the side and tried to kick the girl hard in her lower rib cage to flip her over. Even with the advantage, she suppressed the urge to say anything to taunt Cassie. If anything, she felt the silence would make it worse for her.

"Unnh!"

The next kick threw Cassie onto her back, and her face contorted with pain while her arms wrapped around her hurt midsection. Her legs pressed together and pulled up so her knees were almost in her chest.

Somehow, all of her training and expertise seemed useless when she was already getting beaten up, and when she never had the chance to defend herself properly. She reached a hand out to the side and tried to turn over and get back to her feet.

Angel stood above Cassie for a second to look down at the hurt girl. She felt a certain connection that disgusted her. The image of an innocent, naive girl groaning in agony on the mat once again reminded her of herself. But at the same time, there was no mercy from her opponents then. Just like there was no mercy from Angel now. As Cassie reached to try and turn herself over, Angel shook her head and stomped down at the fingers of her right hand as if trying to break something. Without any shortage of ideas for the girl, Angel would then reach down to pull the girl's right arm up before dropping down to her butt. She'd pull Cassie's arm between her legs and kept it straight while her thighs and calves pushed off the girl's chest and midsection to try and bend the arm in an armbar! Once again, the girl remained silent apart from her breathing which was picking up as she increased the tempo of the match. All her focus was on neutralizing the threat that was Cassie.

"Aagh!" Cassie cried out and yanked her hand into her chest. She shook her hurt fingers and clutched them in her other hand. She bit her lip and looked around for Angel, to see what was coming at her next. She was afraid to think of what part of her body was the next target.

Dark Angel grabbed her arm and pulled on it, and without thinking Cassie instantly reacted. She clasped her palms together as tightly as she could to keep Angel from straightening her arm. Without even looking at her, Cassie could tell the flaws in her technique as the girl attempted her armbar. She twisted so that her arm bent up with her hand by her head and her palm facing up, and kicked off the mat to roll with it, ending up kneeling at Angel's legs and suddenly out of danger.

The whole thing was so smoothly executed that no one expected it, not when Cassie appeared so helpless. She shoved Angel's legs to the side and dove on her upper body, flattening herself against her in something like a pin, if only to buy herself some time, or maybe to wait for the girl to react so that she could capitalize on more shoddy technique. She was already breathing hard from the beating her midsection had taken, and sweat beaded on her forehead both from exertion and nerves, but now that she had her hands on her opponent she didn't feel at all like a fish out of water.

As Angel set up the armbar, she had expected Cassie to be sufficiently worn out to let her get away with a faulty armbar. For the first time, Cassie's skill and experience with these kind of situations was coming through. Angel had never even pictured such a counter before in her head and it caught her more than just a little off guard. "What the-" she said as she suddenly found Cassie jumping on top of her.

But Angel was angry, she didn't really care about Cassie's well being. After the technician jumped onto her, she reached up and grabbed the girl by her hair and pulled up viciously, trying not only to cause pain but also to throw the girl off her either to the left or right. She may be a submission expert, but all that training couldn't prepare her for dirty moves like this. Angel pulled left and right in with the girl's orange hair tightly in grasp.