“Mom, I’ve gotta go. I have a lead to follow tonight.”
Pacing around her apartment, Lori Sherman glanced at the clock. The young journalist was impatient to get on the move.
”I just wish you would reconsider, dear. You’re so beautiful, you would be a perfect fit with the new ad campaign.”
“I don’t wanna be a model, mom,” said Lori, with a sigh.
”Well, if you change your mind...best of luck with your lead, dear.”
“Bye, mom.” Ending the call and tossing her phone into her handbag, Lori quickly grabbed her notepad and double-checked her information. She was a naturally gorgeous blonde girl with a hunger for chasing stories. Lori did not necessarily disagree with her mother’s words. She knew she was attractive, and she did love to be seen. It was a trait etched into her ever since her childhood, being born to parents who both worked in modelling and television, and taught by them to use the natural gifts she had been blessed with.
Her latest lead came about as she looked into a large new construction effort on the outskirts of town, which had no clear backers or purpose. Anybody snooping for information was very quickly stonewalled, but Lori was able to glean some details from a photographer she had known since high school. The site was to be a new venue for legally-gray competition of some kind, and it did not take much for Lori to deduce what kind of sport would be found inside.
Deep down, Lori did want to be seen, but she wanted the attention to be about more than just her body. As a writer and journalist, she sought not only to report on stories, but also to lose herself in them. Lori wanted to find another role in the greater story of her life. While she was an intelligent researcher and a strong writer, each lead also gave her a chance to try fresh and new experiences.
While there was a chance that Lori could work her way into the devoted audience of the new structure’s events, gaining entry and seeing things first-hand were much easier when she decided to present herself to its staff as a different kind of interested party. Closing her bag and heading to the door of her apartment, Lori paused and looked at herself in the front hall mirror.
“You’re really going to do this, huh?”
---------
As her reflection stared back at her with nervous wide eyes, Lori realized she was also smirking.
“Making her way to the ring, a ravishing rookie with a million-dollar smile...Little Lori Sherman!!”
Hearing her cue, Lori turned away from the locker room mirror and jogged towards the arena entrance. As she crossed the threshold, a roaring crowd and bright spotlights greeted her in her debut as an underground combatant. The small blonde girl grinned widely and raised an arm as she strode down the ramp that led to the ring.
Lori was able to easily secure attendance to the first event at the aptly-named Wrestletorium when she contacted its organizers as an interested local fighter, rather than a snooping agent of the press. With a physique still fit from years of highschool cheerleading and a short resume of basic training, Lori found herself in a thrilling and dangerous new position. The pro-wrestling pageantry of the venue’s tone kindled something within her soul, despite the knowledge that she was a green a fighter as can be, and the rush of her entrance was the first time the natural-born model felt a form of attention that satisfied her. Lori was no exhibitionist, and the idea of fighting in front of a crowd gave her pause even as she got changed in the locker room. But when she saw the image of herself in her old cheer squad jacket in the mirror, she felt ready to be seen.
Rolling under the bottom rope, Lori walked a lap around the ring in the black leather jacket, patting the blue stars embroidered on the sleeves before taking it off and hanging it over one of the corner posts. The young journalist was dressed in a white sports bra and black drawstring jogging shorts, her blonde hair swishing over her shoulders as she looked around and took in the sight of an arena of combat from the perspective of a fighter.
“Well, here I am,” she thought, exhaling a long breath as she bounced herself lightly against the ropes. Lori looked down at her own bare feet standing on the mat, and tapped a sole against the fairly rigid canvas. “Time to see what it’s like to be in the ring.”
---------
When she arrived at the venue and made her way into the locker room, Lori was surprised at how little attention any of the fighters paid to her. She was prepared to defend her attendance, but instead found a silent form of acceptance. Watching other combatants change and prepare, Lori could not work up the courage to strike any conversations with people she could potentially fight later that night, but there was an overwhelming sense of release and belonging to those who were to do battle of their own free will.
Once she found an empty corner, Lori dressed down to her fighting attire. Pulling off her shoes, the feeling of the cold floor under her feet was the first reminder that she too would be a combatant that night. The next reminder was the feeling of the arena’s air-conditioned breeze against her bare arms and legs. Once she pulled on her jacket to give her the boost of confidence for her walk to the ring, Lori’s final reminder was when she saw herself in the mirror, and then heard the announcer introduce rookie fighter Lori Sherman to the crowd.
---------
“And her opponent, the deathmatch champion of the east...Angela Steel!!”
Walking down the ramp, Angela Steel was an tall raven-haired amazonian woman in a red bikini with matching tassels tied around her biceps. Her muscular body was covered in tattoos, and she had a star-like design painted around her right eye.
Hearing her opponent described as a ‘deathmatch champion’ made Lori freeze in place, before the roar of the crowd brought her back into the moment. Watching Angela pound on her own face and roar before entering the ring, Lori realized that while she found a sense of belonging throughout the locker room, some fighters clearly came to find respect as a dominant force. And her very first match as a pitfighter was going to be against one of those forces. Lori found herself locking eyes with the taller woman that stood across from her in the ring. She gave Angela a winning smile, and the amazon responded by stepping forward to offer a handshake. Lori reached out, and a few seconds later she returned to her corner staring at her hand and wondering how someone could squeeze so tightly.
Upon hearing the bell, Lori turned and darted towards Angela, preparing to fight as hard as she could. The amazon was right there to meet her, scooping the oncoming blonde girl right off her feet. Angela turned and used Lori’s momentum to swiftly powerslam her into the canvas, before hopping up to her feet and walking away to play to the crowd. Lori lay stunned and wide-eyed on her back, winded and shocked after being thrown to the ground for the first time in her life. She blinked and remembered that she was in a ring, scrambling to stand up and fight. Angela stood several feet away, arms crossed before she extended a hand and beckoned Lori to attack her.
The journalist ran forward and threw a high kick that slammed into Angela’s chest. The amazon took the hit, giving Lori a moment of hope before grabbing the blonde girl’s leg and trapping her. Lori hopped on one foot, waving her arms to try and stay balanced as she tried to figure out what to do next. Angela saved her the trouble, clubbing a lariat against the side of her head. Lori crumpled in place, laying upside-down in an awkward heap as her opponent kept a hold on her captured leg. A hand clasped over Lori’s throat, before Angela lifted her straight off the mat by her neck and leg and into the air. The blonde girl choked loudly, squeaking before Angela threw her back down onto the canvas.
Lori had no time to compose herself after she bounced off the mat, as Angela immediately pulled her back to her feet. The amazon lifted her opponent up under one arm, carrying the struggling girl for a few seconds before dropping her over a knee. Lori cried out as she took the backbreaker, and then moaned as Angela pushed down on her chin to continue to abuse her spine. The blonde girl began to claw at the hand on her chin, and was quickly shoved back to the floor. Twisting slightly to roll over, Lori was audibly shocked by the ongoing pain that filled her lower back. Before she could finish wincing, a hand grabbed her throat and forced her to stand up. Lori croaked as she grabbed Angela’s wrist with both hands, gritting her teeth as she threw desperate kicks into the amazon’s body. After three loud smacks, Angela smirked as she saw Lori’s expression grow crestfallen. Then, she lifted the blonde girl up into a military press position. Lori cried out in fear as she was raised into the air, kicking her legs wildly. Angela began to lose her grip on the wriggling blonde, so she dropped Lori down onto her shoulder before slamming her into the mat.
It took Lori much longer to turn over and crawl away than she had planned, as her body grew harder to move. She made it onto her stomach before Angela’s arms wrapped around her midriff. The journalist gasped, clawing and kicking at the mat as she tried to crawl away. Angela let her struggle in place for a moment before she lifted the girl up, flipped her over, and dropped her back onto the floor. Lori arched her back up off the canvas, moaning and overcome with pain. Angela grabbed her throat with both hands, making Lori stand up while simultaneously choking the life out of her. The journalist’s mouth gaped for breath as her opponent lifted her off her feet, carrying her a few steps forward before finally letting go. However, that meant Lori’s body was thrown heavily into one of the corners of the ring, rest unevenly against the turnbuckles.
“I-I knew I’d get beaten up,” thought Lori, gasping loudly as she tried to stay standing in the corner, “thought maybe I’d get some licks in, but...but not this…” The young journalist had expected a fancy fight club, where a bruised rib and black eye would allow her to write about the life of combat from a truly personal perspective. Instead of having a scrap in a cage with another local fighter, she was a plucky little rookie stuck in a ring with a seasoned powerhouse. The rush of adrenaline was still matching her growing fear with a sense of thrill, but as she saw her opponent begin to approach her again, Lori could only think, “I...I dunno what to do…”
Seeing the blonde girl cornered and fighting just to stay standing, Angela smiled. Lori began to raise her hands, but the amazon’s slow approach suddenly sped up before Angela’s shoulder crashed into Lori’s gut, folding the girl in half for a moment. Angela watched her opponent crumple forward onto the mat, and followed her as she tried to crawl away. Every few inches, Angela stomped sharply into Lori’s back, causing the blonde girl to bounce in place with a small cry of pain each time. Once they approached the center of the ring, Angela knelt down and pushed a knee into Lori’s back, as she pulled the young journalist’s head up into a merciless chinlock. As a long cry that grew more shrill as her head was pulled farther back, Lori clawed helplessly at Angela’s hands. And then, she began slapping at the mat in surrender.
“Giving up?” said Angela, looking down at Lori’s hand as it then began slapping against her arms.
“Y-yuh,” stammered Lori, still trapped in the hold. “G-give uuAAAAUH!!”
After cranking her opponent’s neck back, Angela gave a cold reply. “You’re all out of strength. Well, I have plenty to spare, and our audience paid for a show. Why don’t you help me give them one?”
Lori’s face was suddenly slammed down into the canvas. She could barely move, even as her opponent got off of her back. Hands clasped around her head, forcing her tired body to slowly get back to its feet. The young journalist began to panic, no longer able to think of a plan of action now that surrender was not even an option. Angela pulled her into position for a vertical suplex, punching the blonde girl once in the ribs before lifting her up. Lori kicked her legs weakly as the blood began to rush to her head, and Angela held her upside-down for several seconds to worsen the effect. Once she was finally suplexed down into the mat, Lori twisted and writhed as her back felt like it was on fire.
Taking a handful of her opponent’s blonde hair, Angela dragged Lori around until the weary girl was able to crawl to her knees. The amazon reached down and hoisted the young journalist up onto her shoulders, and carried the squirming rookie fighter to the center of the ring. Then, with little effort, Angela gorilla-pressed Lori and roared triumphantly as she held the blonde girl prone overhead. Lori’s heart raced as she stared down at the long drop with tired wide eyes, shaking her head as she whimpered fearfully. Her opponent was using her like a ragdoll, displaying her body like a trophy just to show off her strength, and Lori’s face grew red with shame as she heard the crowd cheer in response.
Satisfied that she had shown her dominant power, Angela dropped Lori behind her, hearing a satisfying bang as the blonde girl’s body smacked into the mat. Curling into a ball as she gasped for breath, Lori quivered in a heap at her opponent’s feet. Angela sneered, reaching down to collect the young journalist off the floor before raising her body onto her shoulders once again. Lori’s head was swimming as she felt herself flip over, and then she cried out as she was put into a torture rack hold. Angela bounced the blonde girl in the hold several times, grinding and bending Lori’s beaten body. The wailing fighter desperately began slapping her hand against Angela’s chest in surrender, and for a moment she felt reprieve. Then, Angela swivelled her around into a horrifying accordion rack hold, jerking on Lori’s neck and legs as she bent the young journalist forward around the back of her head. The blonde girl’s eyes nearly bugged out as she shrieked, her spine suffering more abuse in one minute than it ever had for entirety of her life prior. Lori briefly saw her own bare foot enter her vision before it was forced to repeatedly kick against the top of her own head with every agonizing pull of the submission hold. Then Angela simply pushed Lori’s head and feet together, holding her body bent in a shuddering C-shape as her spine began to creak and pop.
Lori blacked out mid-scream, losing consciousness for a few seconds as her senses went into shock. With her eyes glazed and mouth agape, the young journalist was almost entirely limp as Angela released the hold and swung her body around to drape over one shoulder. Reaching up with both arms, the amazon locked in a brutal canadian backbreaker hold, and began shaking and wrenching the blonde girl until she came back to life. Lori’s body jiggled as Angela crushed and ground her back against a shoulder, and the young journalist’s arms and legs mostly dangled and flailed in the air as she screamed hoarsely in a dazed agony. Her back continued to crackle and pop, and she felt a terrifying numbness in one of her legs. A soft crunch caused her to suddenly stiffen, eyes going wide as she made a choked noise.
Angela dropped Lori to one side after she heard the audible injury. The blonde girl lay facedown, barely moving for several seconds. Then, she slowly began to stir, crawling forward towards the ropes. Angela reached down and took hold of the back of Lori’s neck, and then lifted her straight up to her feet before walking her back to the center of the ring. Lori put up no resistance, her legs rubbery as she stumbled along the canvas. Her lip quivered as two tears ran from her eyes, a sob causing her chest to shudder as her arms hung heavily at her sides. She knew that she was about to be finished off in front of the Wrestletorium’s hungry audience, and heard in their cheers how much they desired to witness her domination at the hands of a clearly stronger opponent.
Lori’s head was yanked down and clenched between Angela’s thighs, before the amazon reached down and lifted the blonde girl into position for a powerbomb. Angela grabbed hold of Lori’s hips, raising the young journalist even higher into the air as the crowd erupted in anticipation. Lori’s body glistened with sweat as she was held up for all to see, her eyes wide and tearful as she stared out into the crowd with a lost and defeated expression. Finally, Angela whipped Lori’s body down into the mat with a thunderous noise. The blonde girl flopped twice in place before coming to a rest, spread-eagled and out cold. Her tongue hung out of her gaping mouth, and her body softly spasmed every few seconds with a muted gasp.
With her smaller opponent sufficiently destroyed, Angela walked over to retrieve the cheerleader jacket that still hung hopefully on one of the corner posts. Returning to her fallen foe, Angela looked down at Lori’s body and tossed the jacket over her face like a shroud. Then, the amazon stomped one foot down hard onto the jacket and into Lori’s face, causing the blonde girl’s body to flop in place. Angela went on to make a show of dropping one elbow down into Lori’s heart, forcing the unconscious rookie flop once again. Angela lay on top of her after the elbow drop, motioning to the crowd to help her count to three.
Lori lay deathly still as Angela celebrated her victory, spreadeagled and motionless other than the irregular breathing motions of her bare midriff. Ringside attendants eventually came out with a stretcher, leaving the jacket over her face as they wheeled her body into the back.
---------
With a sharp gasp, Lori pulled the jacket off of her face and looked around in a dazed panic. She found herself in a sparse and unkempt recuperation room, lying on a cold bench and feeling pain in every part of her body. She slowly pulled her jacket on and staggered back to the locker room, sitting down heavily near her things and staring at the floor as she tried to comprehend what she had just gone through.
Men and women came through the locker room, some celebrating, some unconscious on a stretcher, some looking fresh from a workout, and some brutally beaten. Lori looked at herself in the mirror as she sat on the bench, seeing her scuffed and reddened skin, her sweat-matted blonde hair, and her bruised and bloodied face. She saw the marks of hand-to-hand combat splattered all over the pretty little would-be model that her mother wanted her to be.
In the ring, she felt exhilaration like never before. Excitement and adrenaline, along with panic and fear. When her will finally broke against her opponent’s superior might near the end of their encounter, it was the first time in nearly a decade that Lori had shed tears. As she finally began to pull on her street clothes, Lori felt like she was coming off the apex of a massive internal release like none other.
---------
Back in her apartment, Lori had begun to write about the unspoken camaraderie of the locker room, where those about to beat each other to a pulp respected the solitude of each other’s space outside of the ring. Some would be victors and others would lie defeated beneath them, some came to deal out pain while others simply wanted to live in the moment of the fight, but all were there to be a part of the same shared experience.
That was where her writing had left off, before she began to dig through the internet and find footage of her own match. From her excited entrance to her brutal defeat, Lori once again felt the same unique sort of attention that she had felt when she walked down the ramp to the ring. She re-lived the thrill of combat, and the adrenaline high of her battle with the amazon. Returning to her article, she began to stare at the words and wonder if she wanted to go back to being Lori Sherman as she once was, or embrace the new role of rookie pitfighter Little Lori Sherman.
Her article ended with her answer.
“As for me? I’ll be in the ring.”
Pacing around her apartment, Lori Sherman glanced at the clock. The young journalist was impatient to get on the move.
”I just wish you would reconsider, dear. You’re so beautiful, you would be a perfect fit with the new ad campaign.”
“I don’t wanna be a model, mom,” said Lori, with a sigh.
”Well, if you change your mind...best of luck with your lead, dear.”
“Bye, mom.” Ending the call and tossing her phone into her handbag, Lori quickly grabbed her notepad and double-checked her information. She was a naturally gorgeous blonde girl with a hunger for chasing stories. Lori did not necessarily disagree with her mother’s words. She knew she was attractive, and she did love to be seen. It was a trait etched into her ever since her childhood, being born to parents who both worked in modelling and television, and taught by them to use the natural gifts she had been blessed with.
Her latest lead came about as she looked into a large new construction effort on the outskirts of town, which had no clear backers or purpose. Anybody snooping for information was very quickly stonewalled, but Lori was able to glean some details from a photographer she had known since high school. The site was to be a new venue for legally-gray competition of some kind, and it did not take much for Lori to deduce what kind of sport would be found inside.
Deep down, Lori did want to be seen, but she wanted the attention to be about more than just her body. As a writer and journalist, she sought not only to report on stories, but also to lose herself in them. Lori wanted to find another role in the greater story of her life. While she was an intelligent researcher and a strong writer, each lead also gave her a chance to try fresh and new experiences.
While there was a chance that Lori could work her way into the devoted audience of the new structure’s events, gaining entry and seeing things first-hand were much easier when she decided to present herself to its staff as a different kind of interested party. Closing her bag and heading to the door of her apartment, Lori paused and looked at herself in the front hall mirror.
“You’re really going to do this, huh?”
---------
As her reflection stared back at her with nervous wide eyes, Lori realized she was also smirking.
“Making her way to the ring, a ravishing rookie with a million-dollar smile...Little Lori Sherman!!”
Hearing her cue, Lori turned away from the locker room mirror and jogged towards the arena entrance. As she crossed the threshold, a roaring crowd and bright spotlights greeted her in her debut as an underground combatant. The small blonde girl grinned widely and raised an arm as she strode down the ramp that led to the ring.
Lori was able to easily secure attendance to the first event at the aptly-named Wrestletorium when she contacted its organizers as an interested local fighter, rather than a snooping agent of the press. With a physique still fit from years of highschool cheerleading and a short resume of basic training, Lori found herself in a thrilling and dangerous new position. The pro-wrestling pageantry of the venue’s tone kindled something within her soul, despite the knowledge that she was a green a fighter as can be, and the rush of her entrance was the first time the natural-born model felt a form of attention that satisfied her. Lori was no exhibitionist, and the idea of fighting in front of a crowd gave her pause even as she got changed in the locker room. But when she saw the image of herself in her old cheer squad jacket in the mirror, she felt ready to be seen.
Rolling under the bottom rope, Lori walked a lap around the ring in the black leather jacket, patting the blue stars embroidered on the sleeves before taking it off and hanging it over one of the corner posts. The young journalist was dressed in a white sports bra and black drawstring jogging shorts, her blonde hair swishing over her shoulders as she looked around and took in the sight of an arena of combat from the perspective of a fighter.
“Well, here I am,” she thought, exhaling a long breath as she bounced herself lightly against the ropes. Lori looked down at her own bare feet standing on the mat, and tapped a sole against the fairly rigid canvas. “Time to see what it’s like to be in the ring.”
---------
When she arrived at the venue and made her way into the locker room, Lori was surprised at how little attention any of the fighters paid to her. She was prepared to defend her attendance, but instead found a silent form of acceptance. Watching other combatants change and prepare, Lori could not work up the courage to strike any conversations with people she could potentially fight later that night, but there was an overwhelming sense of release and belonging to those who were to do battle of their own free will.
Once she found an empty corner, Lori dressed down to her fighting attire. Pulling off her shoes, the feeling of the cold floor under her feet was the first reminder that she too would be a combatant that night. The next reminder was the feeling of the arena’s air-conditioned breeze against her bare arms and legs. Once she pulled on her jacket to give her the boost of confidence for her walk to the ring, Lori’s final reminder was when she saw herself in the mirror, and then heard the announcer introduce rookie fighter Lori Sherman to the crowd.
---------
“And her opponent, the deathmatch champion of the east...Angela Steel!!”
Walking down the ramp, Angela Steel was an tall raven-haired amazonian woman in a red bikini with matching tassels tied around her biceps. Her muscular body was covered in tattoos, and she had a star-like design painted around her right eye.
Hearing her opponent described as a ‘deathmatch champion’ made Lori freeze in place, before the roar of the crowd brought her back into the moment. Watching Angela pound on her own face and roar before entering the ring, Lori realized that while she found a sense of belonging throughout the locker room, some fighters clearly came to find respect as a dominant force. And her very first match as a pitfighter was going to be against one of those forces. Lori found herself locking eyes with the taller woman that stood across from her in the ring. She gave Angela a winning smile, and the amazon responded by stepping forward to offer a handshake. Lori reached out, and a few seconds later she returned to her corner staring at her hand and wondering how someone could squeeze so tightly.
Upon hearing the bell, Lori turned and darted towards Angela, preparing to fight as hard as she could. The amazon was right there to meet her, scooping the oncoming blonde girl right off her feet. Angela turned and used Lori’s momentum to swiftly powerslam her into the canvas, before hopping up to her feet and walking away to play to the crowd. Lori lay stunned and wide-eyed on her back, winded and shocked after being thrown to the ground for the first time in her life. She blinked and remembered that she was in a ring, scrambling to stand up and fight. Angela stood several feet away, arms crossed before she extended a hand and beckoned Lori to attack her.
The journalist ran forward and threw a high kick that slammed into Angela’s chest. The amazon took the hit, giving Lori a moment of hope before grabbing the blonde girl’s leg and trapping her. Lori hopped on one foot, waving her arms to try and stay balanced as she tried to figure out what to do next. Angela saved her the trouble, clubbing a lariat against the side of her head. Lori crumpled in place, laying upside-down in an awkward heap as her opponent kept a hold on her captured leg. A hand clasped over Lori’s throat, before Angela lifted her straight off the mat by her neck and leg and into the air. The blonde girl choked loudly, squeaking before Angela threw her back down onto the canvas.
Lori had no time to compose herself after she bounced off the mat, as Angela immediately pulled her back to her feet. The amazon lifted her opponent up under one arm, carrying the struggling girl for a few seconds before dropping her over a knee. Lori cried out as she took the backbreaker, and then moaned as Angela pushed down on her chin to continue to abuse her spine. The blonde girl began to claw at the hand on her chin, and was quickly shoved back to the floor. Twisting slightly to roll over, Lori was audibly shocked by the ongoing pain that filled her lower back. Before she could finish wincing, a hand grabbed her throat and forced her to stand up. Lori croaked as she grabbed Angela’s wrist with both hands, gritting her teeth as she threw desperate kicks into the amazon’s body. After three loud smacks, Angela smirked as she saw Lori’s expression grow crestfallen. Then, she lifted the blonde girl up into a military press position. Lori cried out in fear as she was raised into the air, kicking her legs wildly. Angela began to lose her grip on the wriggling blonde, so she dropped Lori down onto her shoulder before slamming her into the mat.
It took Lori much longer to turn over and crawl away than she had planned, as her body grew harder to move. She made it onto her stomach before Angela’s arms wrapped around her midriff. The journalist gasped, clawing and kicking at the mat as she tried to crawl away. Angela let her struggle in place for a moment before she lifted the girl up, flipped her over, and dropped her back onto the floor. Lori arched her back up off the canvas, moaning and overcome with pain. Angela grabbed her throat with both hands, making Lori stand up while simultaneously choking the life out of her. The journalist’s mouth gaped for breath as her opponent lifted her off her feet, carrying her a few steps forward before finally letting go. However, that meant Lori’s body was thrown heavily into one of the corners of the ring, rest unevenly against the turnbuckles.
“I-I knew I’d get beaten up,” thought Lori, gasping loudly as she tried to stay standing in the corner, “thought maybe I’d get some licks in, but...but not this…” The young journalist had expected a fancy fight club, where a bruised rib and black eye would allow her to write about the life of combat from a truly personal perspective. Instead of having a scrap in a cage with another local fighter, she was a plucky little rookie stuck in a ring with a seasoned powerhouse. The rush of adrenaline was still matching her growing fear with a sense of thrill, but as she saw her opponent begin to approach her again, Lori could only think, “I...I dunno what to do…”
Seeing the blonde girl cornered and fighting just to stay standing, Angela smiled. Lori began to raise her hands, but the amazon’s slow approach suddenly sped up before Angela’s shoulder crashed into Lori’s gut, folding the girl in half for a moment. Angela watched her opponent crumple forward onto the mat, and followed her as she tried to crawl away. Every few inches, Angela stomped sharply into Lori’s back, causing the blonde girl to bounce in place with a small cry of pain each time. Once they approached the center of the ring, Angela knelt down and pushed a knee into Lori’s back, as she pulled the young journalist’s head up into a merciless chinlock. As a long cry that grew more shrill as her head was pulled farther back, Lori clawed helplessly at Angela’s hands. And then, she began slapping at the mat in surrender.
“Giving up?” said Angela, looking down at Lori’s hand as it then began slapping against her arms.
“Y-yuh,” stammered Lori, still trapped in the hold. “G-give uuAAAAUH!!”
After cranking her opponent’s neck back, Angela gave a cold reply. “You’re all out of strength. Well, I have plenty to spare, and our audience paid for a show. Why don’t you help me give them one?”
Lori’s face was suddenly slammed down into the canvas. She could barely move, even as her opponent got off of her back. Hands clasped around her head, forcing her tired body to slowly get back to its feet. The young journalist began to panic, no longer able to think of a plan of action now that surrender was not even an option. Angela pulled her into position for a vertical suplex, punching the blonde girl once in the ribs before lifting her up. Lori kicked her legs weakly as the blood began to rush to her head, and Angela held her upside-down for several seconds to worsen the effect. Once she was finally suplexed down into the mat, Lori twisted and writhed as her back felt like it was on fire.
Taking a handful of her opponent’s blonde hair, Angela dragged Lori around until the weary girl was able to crawl to her knees. The amazon reached down and hoisted the young journalist up onto her shoulders, and carried the squirming rookie fighter to the center of the ring. Then, with little effort, Angela gorilla-pressed Lori and roared triumphantly as she held the blonde girl prone overhead. Lori’s heart raced as she stared down at the long drop with tired wide eyes, shaking her head as she whimpered fearfully. Her opponent was using her like a ragdoll, displaying her body like a trophy just to show off her strength, and Lori’s face grew red with shame as she heard the crowd cheer in response.
Satisfied that she had shown her dominant power, Angela dropped Lori behind her, hearing a satisfying bang as the blonde girl’s body smacked into the mat. Curling into a ball as she gasped for breath, Lori quivered in a heap at her opponent’s feet. Angela sneered, reaching down to collect the young journalist off the floor before raising her body onto her shoulders once again. Lori’s head was swimming as she felt herself flip over, and then she cried out as she was put into a torture rack hold. Angela bounced the blonde girl in the hold several times, grinding and bending Lori’s beaten body. The wailing fighter desperately began slapping her hand against Angela’s chest in surrender, and for a moment she felt reprieve. Then, Angela swivelled her around into a horrifying accordion rack hold, jerking on Lori’s neck and legs as she bent the young journalist forward around the back of her head. The blonde girl’s eyes nearly bugged out as she shrieked, her spine suffering more abuse in one minute than it ever had for entirety of her life prior. Lori briefly saw her own bare foot enter her vision before it was forced to repeatedly kick against the top of her own head with every agonizing pull of the submission hold. Then Angela simply pushed Lori’s head and feet together, holding her body bent in a shuddering C-shape as her spine began to creak and pop.
Lori blacked out mid-scream, losing consciousness for a few seconds as her senses went into shock. With her eyes glazed and mouth agape, the young journalist was almost entirely limp as Angela released the hold and swung her body around to drape over one shoulder. Reaching up with both arms, the amazon locked in a brutal canadian backbreaker hold, and began shaking and wrenching the blonde girl until she came back to life. Lori’s body jiggled as Angela crushed and ground her back against a shoulder, and the young journalist’s arms and legs mostly dangled and flailed in the air as she screamed hoarsely in a dazed agony. Her back continued to crackle and pop, and she felt a terrifying numbness in one of her legs. A soft crunch caused her to suddenly stiffen, eyes going wide as she made a choked noise.
Angela dropped Lori to one side after she heard the audible injury. The blonde girl lay facedown, barely moving for several seconds. Then, she slowly began to stir, crawling forward towards the ropes. Angela reached down and took hold of the back of Lori’s neck, and then lifted her straight up to her feet before walking her back to the center of the ring. Lori put up no resistance, her legs rubbery as she stumbled along the canvas. Her lip quivered as two tears ran from her eyes, a sob causing her chest to shudder as her arms hung heavily at her sides. She knew that she was about to be finished off in front of the Wrestletorium’s hungry audience, and heard in their cheers how much they desired to witness her domination at the hands of a clearly stronger opponent.
Lori’s head was yanked down and clenched between Angela’s thighs, before the amazon reached down and lifted the blonde girl into position for a powerbomb. Angela grabbed hold of Lori’s hips, raising the young journalist even higher into the air as the crowd erupted in anticipation. Lori’s body glistened with sweat as she was held up for all to see, her eyes wide and tearful as she stared out into the crowd with a lost and defeated expression. Finally, Angela whipped Lori’s body down into the mat with a thunderous noise. The blonde girl flopped twice in place before coming to a rest, spread-eagled and out cold. Her tongue hung out of her gaping mouth, and her body softly spasmed every few seconds with a muted gasp.
With her smaller opponent sufficiently destroyed, Angela walked over to retrieve the cheerleader jacket that still hung hopefully on one of the corner posts. Returning to her fallen foe, Angela looked down at Lori’s body and tossed the jacket over her face like a shroud. Then, the amazon stomped one foot down hard onto the jacket and into Lori’s face, causing the blonde girl’s body to flop in place. Angela went on to make a show of dropping one elbow down into Lori’s heart, forcing the unconscious rookie flop once again. Angela lay on top of her after the elbow drop, motioning to the crowd to help her count to three.
Lori lay deathly still as Angela celebrated her victory, spreadeagled and motionless other than the irregular breathing motions of her bare midriff. Ringside attendants eventually came out with a stretcher, leaving the jacket over her face as they wheeled her body into the back.
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With a sharp gasp, Lori pulled the jacket off of her face and looked around in a dazed panic. She found herself in a sparse and unkempt recuperation room, lying on a cold bench and feeling pain in every part of her body. She slowly pulled her jacket on and staggered back to the locker room, sitting down heavily near her things and staring at the floor as she tried to comprehend what she had just gone through.
Men and women came through the locker room, some celebrating, some unconscious on a stretcher, some looking fresh from a workout, and some brutally beaten. Lori looked at herself in the mirror as she sat on the bench, seeing her scuffed and reddened skin, her sweat-matted blonde hair, and her bruised and bloodied face. She saw the marks of hand-to-hand combat splattered all over the pretty little would-be model that her mother wanted her to be.
In the ring, she felt exhilaration like never before. Excitement and adrenaline, along with panic and fear. When her will finally broke against her opponent’s superior might near the end of their encounter, it was the first time in nearly a decade that Lori had shed tears. As she finally began to pull on her street clothes, Lori felt like she was coming off the apex of a massive internal release like none other.
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Back in her apartment, Lori had begun to write about the unspoken camaraderie of the locker room, where those about to beat each other to a pulp respected the solitude of each other’s space outside of the ring. Some would be victors and others would lie defeated beneath them, some came to deal out pain while others simply wanted to live in the moment of the fight, but all were there to be a part of the same shared experience.
That was where her writing had left off, before she began to dig through the internet and find footage of her own match. From her excited entrance to her brutal defeat, Lori once again felt the same unique sort of attention that she had felt when she walked down the ramp to the ring. She re-lived the thrill of combat, and the adrenaline high of her battle with the amazon. Returning to her article, she began to stare at the words and wonder if she wanted to go back to being Lori Sherman as she once was, or embrace the new role of rookie pitfighter Little Lori Sherman.
Her article ended with her answer.
“As for me? I’ll be in the ring.”
