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💀 NO MERCY WRESTLING LEGENDS 💀

Fiona had insisted to the medical staff backstage that she'd be fine, that she just needed some time to cool off and recover. Being able to lean against a wall for support and close her eyes, just breathing, helped quite a bit. The sounds of the crowd ramping back up for the next match echoed down the hall. Fiona wondered when she'd next get a chance to show them what she could do. Two weeks? Three? If she was going to get the spotlight of opening a show again, would it just be so everyone could see her get taken out by some other experienced heel?

Stop, she told herself. This isn't the end of the world. I can't beat the odds every time. I still gave it everything, and that will resonate with fans, even if I came up short.

Gordon's voice snapped her out of her stupor. Fiona opened her eyes to see him alongside Kendra and Keysha Wayne, who looked ready to go for a match. Instantly Fiona's body language became a bit guarded, turning to face them but still keeping a hand against the wall for support against the dizziness. She was wary of Keysha at the best of times now, and certainly didn't like meeting her when she was exhausted and fresh off a painful loss in the ring.

"Um... thanks," she said to Keysha, feeling left out of the loop. She took a drink of the gatorade her Defiant Dream partner handed her while Gordon and Keysha began to explain. She wasn't sure where the icepack was needed the most, but ended up settling on her back after all those stomps from Elina.

"So what did I miss?"

💀 NO MERCY WRESTLING LEGENDS 💀

Fiona had kicked out of Elina's first two pin attempts, but there was absolutely no doubt about the third. The swift combo of a facebuster right into a facebreaker left Fiona motionless on her back on the mat save for her exhausted breathing, her eyes closed. Elina didn't need to hook a leg, simply crawling over the top of Fiona and pressing her shoulders down against the mat with her hands. A swift three count later, and Fiona had suffered her first defeat in NMW by pinfall.

Elina shoved Fiona's face to the side, getting a weak groan out of her that was entirely drowned out by the crowd. She'd given it everything to stay in that match as long as she did, but despite all the back and forth and reversals, Elina still seemed to be in decent condition, while Fiona was barely moving. In the end, it felt like a pretty decisive defeat.

"Here is your winner!" the ring announcer shouted. "Elina Zamoooraaa!"

Fiona's head was spinning as Elina basked in the adoration of her fans. She rolled onto her side and tried to hide from the lights. It had been months since she'd been forced to endure her opponent's music blaring down on her after getting beaten in a match, but it never got any easier. Especially not when the opponent was someone like Elina Zamora, who spent a good part of the match taunting and belittling her.

If she hadn't wasted opportunities disrespecting me, she could've pinned me in half the time, Fiona thought, trying and failing to keep the negative thoughts from creeping in. She'd put on a great show, a great match to start the night, but anyone paying attention had seen that Fiona Chevalier wasn't yet on the level where she could seriously compete for a title.

"Stay with us, folks," Dan Rich commented to the TV audience, "we've got more fierce battles like that one coming your way right after these messages."

The celebrations went on well into the commercial break, The Sonoran Rose's debut a wild success, while Fiona couldn't seem to shake off the dizziness, and needed assistance from staff to get from ringside to backstage. Plenty of Elina's fans mirrored her attitude on her way there, taking the opportunity to jeer and mock and laugh at Fiona.

There were nights like her debut, where she felt on top of the world, unstoppable and on the verge of stardom. And then there were nights like tonight, where she felt like she had an eternity still to go.

💀 NO MERCY WRESTLING LEGENDS 💀

It seemed like Fiona had gotten under Elina's skin, rather than the other way around, just by continuing to stay in this match. She felt like she was on a ticking clock, though, bordering on exhaustion and unable to put up much in the way of defense. It wasn't going to take much more to keep her down for the count.

Elina was clearly focused on making it hurt, inflicting two agonizing chops against the exposed skin of Fiona's upper chest, leaving her reeling and still trapped in the corner. Then her arm was stretched around the rope, Elina holding her in place with a boot against her midsection, easily getting a scream out of Fiona as she felt like her arm had been set aflame. The referee started the count to force Elina to stop, but of course she got the full four-and-a-half out of it before releasing her. Fiona leaned back against the corner turnbuckles, clutching her wrist against her chest. Come on, one more push, everything I've got...

When Elina moved back in, Fiona was ready this time, using the corner to heft up both legs and snap them shut around the luchadora's head. Fiona let gravity carry her out of the corner and executed a clean hurricanrana takedown, throwing Elina out into the center of the ring.

"And Fiona takes Elina down again!" Dan Rich exclaimed, transfixed on this critical stage of the match.

Rhonda had a wide grin on her face, though she too seemed disbelieving. "There's just no quit in this girl, and here we go!"

Fiona had gotten Elina to her feet with her left arm around her neck, guiding her to the opposite corner. Stepping up onto the ropes, she used them to backflip over the top of Elina and slam her down hard on her back for a shiranui, the same move she'd used to get the pinfall against Ada in her debut.

"What an impact!" shouted Dan Rich. "She's going for the cover, could it be...?"

Fiona caught Elina's leg as it came up after the slam, sliding down on top of Elina and trying to keep her shoulders down. The referee came down with her in a smooth motion, hand smacking the mat.

"One! T-"

But Elina kicked out hard, and got free right away. Fiona knelt at her side, breathing hard and unable to keep the disappointment supressed. Not even a two count... okay, what now? How do I play this? She was really running on fumes now, and had to find some other way to keep the pressure on Elina, keep this offense going, and turn it into another finisher. She ruled out a submission, knowing Elina's experience would win out there, and going straight for an aerial wouldn't work, she'd already delayed too long.

"What a match this has been!" Rhonda commented. "A fantastic showing from both of these women."

Getting to her feet, Fiona grabbed Elina's arm at the wrist and hauled her up with her. Pulling hard, Fiona aimed to Irish Whip her into the corner and continue her offense.

💀 NO MERCY WRESTLING LEGENDS 💀

Fiona couldn't seem to maintain any momentum in the match. Every time she escaped or countered something from Elina, she couldn't land more than a hit or two before it was turned right back around on her. She thought her monkey flip might've hit Elina hard enough for her to keep it going, but the luchadora was back on her feet just as fast as Fiona, avoiding her charging clothesline and snaring her again. She fought against a suplex only to get spun around and pulled hard into a lariat right into her throat.

She dropped to the mat flat on her back, coughing and stunned. Elina disappeared from her peripheral vision, and Fiona couldn't get herself to move before she saw her opponent soaring gracefully through the air. She came down right on top of her, slamming across Fiona's midsection for a devastating moonsault, the crowd going nuts at seeing her nail the move she'd whiffed earlier in the match.

Fiona couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't stop Elina from securing her leg and going for another pin attempt.

"One! Two! Th-"

Again Fiona kicked out, digging deep and refusing to let this match go just yet. That got a couple boos from the crowd, though it was matched by just as many cheers that wanted to see more action between these two. While she'd kept the match going, Fiona was in rough shape now, gasping for breath and clutching her belly and throat. Elina had spread the damage well, from her head to her neck to her back to her midsection. By comparison Fiona felt like she'd failed with her own hits to do inflict any lasting pain on Elina, unless she was just better at hiding it.

"What a gorgeous moonsault that was," Dan Rich commented. "Not enough to end this match, but Elina looks to be in total control now."

Elina leaned back on her knees next to the downed Fiona, seeming unfazed by her second failed pin. She still isn't taking me seriously, and why should she? She's got me right where she wants me. Still struggling to get her breathing under control, Fiona winced and whined when Elina seized her by the hair and dragged her up to her feet. Her legs were unsteady and wobbly, and while she had no defense, Elina chose not to strike, letting Fiona waver in place until she fell to a knee. The luchadora laughed and turned her attention to the audience instead, posing and waving her hands about.

"Well this is just disrespectful," said Rhonda.

"Elina clearly making the most of her debut with this crowd, which is heavily on her side," added Dan.

"And who can blame her?" asked Brent, as Elina continued to waste time. "She's got Fiona well in hand, and now she's looking to make a statement, put the whole NMW Women's Division on notice. Elina Zamora is here, and she's ready to destroy-"

"Wait, watch out!" Dan Rich interrupted.

As Elina finally turned back to deal with Fiona, she found a strong uppercut waiting for her, catching her right under the chin. She wasn't the first woman to taunt Fiona and expect no repercussions, and she wasn't the first to pay for the mistake either. Either she hadn't done her homework on her opponent, or she thought she was just better than the likes of Ash Weathers and Keysha Wayne and others who had underestimated Fiona's grit.

She surged forward as Elina stumbled back, finding some new strength partially from the time she was given to breathe, and partially just out of spite. She spun into a backfist strike, smacking Elina in the face again and turning her around to face the ropes. Not thinking, Fiona ran forward and jumped onto the middle ropes, springboarding backwards into a moonsault of her own. It was incredibly risky against a standing target, but Fiona managed to make good contact, taking Elina down to the mat.

"Wow!" Dan Rich shouted, disbelieving. "What a combo that was!"

"Absolutely fearless by Fiona!" Rhonda agreed.

She still hit the mat hard herself from the imperfect landing, though, sending a fresh wave of aches through her torso, and for a moment both Fiona and Elina were downed. Come on, get up! She pushed up from her face down position, then tipped over and rolled onto her back towards the ropes. Shit, shit, shit... The ropes were within arm's reach, so she used them to pull herself up while her own strength wasn't enough, soon finding herself up on her feet, but with her back against the corner.

Hanging on to the top ropes on either side of her, Fiona saw that Elina was already back on her feet and stalking towards her, and she did not look amused anymore.

💀 NO MERCY WRESTLING LEGENDS 💀

And Fiona still had a lot of fight left in her. She couldn't stop Elina from putting her in a rear chokehold, but she did manage to get a hand around her opponent's arm to keep it from being locked in fully, giving her just a little bit of breathing room. It saved her from needing to tap or being put to sleep, but Fiona still needed to fight her way out. Her head quickly started to pound from the pressure, and she could barely breathe.

The sharp motions from Elina were effective, worsening the pain and increasing the pressure. The crowd was muffled at this point for Fiona, but she knew they were rooting for Elina to put her away, or just enjoying the struggle. Some probably wanted to see the match keep going, though, and Fiona did her best to oblige them.

As Elina started tilting back, Fiona was able to shift slightly, getting a good enough angle to throw her left elbow back hard and catch the luchadora in the midsection. It was a solid strike, loosening the hold and allowing Fiona to slip free. She grabbed Elina's right wrist on the way, spinning around to face her and then dropping to the mat on her back for one of Kendra's favorite moves. Fiona lifted up her right foot high as she fell, pulling Elina's face down hard into the bottom of her boot for an Eat Defeat.

"Nice reversal!" Rhonda shouted. "Now, can she get something going here?"

Fiona had to get back to her feet fast, knowing that wouldn't keep Elina stunned for long. She had the dizziness to contend with as well, but for the moment Fiona was able to keep it under control. Striding over to Elina as she got back to her feet, Fiona hit her with a big boot to the chest, sending her stumbling backwards until she hit the corner turnbuckles. Breaking into a run to cover the short distance, Fiona hopped up onto Elina's thighs and closed her hands around the back of her head, aiming to tilt back and launch her with a monkey flip.

💀 NO MERCY WRESTLING LEGENDS 💀

Again Fiona went for too much, too soon, and this time she paid for it badly. Elina moved swiftly from one brutal attack to the next, seemingly knowing exactly what she wanted to do. Her crossbody left Fiona reeling long enough for Elina to pull her up and land a vicious kick to her midsection, then dropping her with a DDT before she knew what was happening.

The crowd loved it. Fiona couldn't remember a fight where so much of the crowd was hoping to see her face down on the mat, and it wasn't making it any easier for her to shake off the DDT and get up. That left her wide open to half a dozen merciless stomps to her back. Fiona felt the vitriol in every one, like Elina had taken personal offense to Fiona daring to fight back in this match.

She was lucky the referee stepped in to break it up, but with the sudden massive aching across her back, Fiona struggled to rise. Elina helped her with that, tugging the straps of her top to roughly yank her into a shaky stand. Got to get out of this fast... But she wasn't as decisive as she needed to be, unable to land an elbow strike or shove her off before she was walked to the ropes and subjected to a second DDT, the springboard giving this one much more force.

Fiona actually was lights out for just a moment as she lay face down on the mat again, but her senses returned as she was rolled over, the lights hitting her eyes filtered through the dark hair strewn across her face. She felt Elina on top of her, Fiona's right leg hooked and pulled up, her shoulders down...

"One! Two!"

Fiona kicked out at two, getting her right hand up, and then hearing the jeers of Elina's fans. She groaned in pain, laying back to the mat and brushing the hair out of her eyes, her other gloved hand instinctively finding her lower back, still aching from those stomps. Shit, this is bad. The two DDTs were giving her a lot of dizziness to fight through, too much for Fiona to handle at the moment.

"Did we learn nothing about counting Fiona out too early, Brent?" Rhonda asked after the kickout. "Still, that was as brutal as it was stylish. Elina really showing Fiona why she's a former champ."

What had been an even fight not long ago had now swung heavily in the luchadora's favor. Fiona wasn't going to be put away by that early of a finisher, but for the moment she was still completely vulnerable to Elina continuing the assault. Gotta keep calm and focused. If she gives me a good chance to counter, I can't afford to miss it...

💀 NO MERCY WRESTLING LEGENDS 💀

Fiona had to remind herself to stay calm and not get desperate. She knew she needed to build the match's energy and get herself and Elina running, but she had to find a way to stun her a little first, otherwise she'd just get stopped cold, like Elina just did with a double-boot to the body.

That being said, the double-boot didn't properly stun Fiona long enough for Elina to attempt a middle rope moonsault, an overconfident move from the luchadora that heavily underestimated Fiona's toughness. She rolled backwards, letting Elina slam herself to the mat right in front of her, taking the wind out of her and getting the first real cheers out of Fiona's own fans for the match.

"Fiona dodges!" Dan Rich exclaimed. "Here's the opening she's been looking for."

She came up behind Elina, who was getting back to her knees, slipping both arms underneath the luchadora's. With the double underhook applied, Fiona went for the suplex again, this time landing it cleanly, smacking Elina's head onto the mat and flipping her over onto her knees again. Getting to her feet, Fiona followed up by bouncing off the nearby ropes and coming back in with a sliding clothesline, driving her extended arm into Elina's upper chest and neck area.

"Beautiful sequence by Fiona," Rhonda commented excitedly. "She just needs a small opening, guys, and she can make you pay for it. I think we've got a match on our hands here."

Getting some real hits in on Elina felt great, but Fiona was eager to really capitalize on the advantage while she had it. Grabbing Elina's wrists, she hauled her up to her feet and then sent her running for the ropes. As she rebounded and came charging back, Fiona went into a spin, taking her eyes off her target for a moment to generate as much power as she could on a strike aimed right at Elina's painted-on mask.

💀 NO MERCY WRESTLING LEGENDS 💀

Fiona was completely unprepared for Elina to convert her suplex attempt into a sit-down slam, breaking out of her grasp to flip over the top and pull her crashing down onto her back. Her head hit the mat hard, and unlike the side slam, that one wasn't so easy to shake off. How the hell did she even do that?

The crowd erupted at what even Fiona couldn't deny was an awesome move. Elina had plenty of time to press her advantage while Fiona was on the mat cradling the back of her head, but instead she chose to be insulting by dismissing and ignoring her, to the delight of her fans.

It was confidence bordering on arrogance. Elina could've been hitting Fiona hard, instead she allowed her to get back to her feet, rolling her shoulder to try to loosen up the sudden tension in her upper back. She wouldn't be the first woman to make the mistake of writing me off too soon...

She had to find a way to open up her defenses. Engaging Elina again head on with a high grapple, Fiona managed to get her wrist again, this time pulling to send her running with an Irish whip towards the corner. She intended to charge at her afterwards for an elbow strike to the head, trying to find a big enough hit to let her build any kind of momentum.

Metropolis of Superheroes

Haven't been sure how to word this, but I think I'm probably out after all on this RP. I'm not super interested in everyone sorta sharing GM duties, and judging by the lack of other people jumping in for weeks now, I'm guessing I'm not the only one?

💀 NO MERCY WRESTLING LEGENDS 💀

Elina had impressive quickness and agility to avoid getting slammed by Fiona's arm drag, and she was just as quick to rush back in and lock her in a full grappling situation. Fiona wasn't prepared for it, and Elina was easily able to gain leverage and navigate into a side hold, her arms closing around the midsection.

Fiona was lifted quickly up off the mat, turned, and slammed down, the crowd roaring at the well executed takedown by Elina. It wasn't the heaviest of hits to start off the fight, though, and Fiona was able to throw back an elbow at Elina to keep her off her. Twisting around onto her back, she shoved with both boots at Elina's chest to force her away, then got back to her feet.

"Great recovery from Fiona there," Rhonda commented. "Not easy to keep your composure after getting taken down like that."

Fiona went in again, ducking under Elina's next grapple attempt and getting around behind her, closing her hands together around the luchadora's midsection. Planting her feet, she attempted a German suplex, trying to lift Elina up and over to slam her down onto her head and upper back.