Welcome to Gaia! ::

Grace focused on and was just about to answer Christina when the chop came. The dizziness was fading, but the chop knocked her off balance and she staggered back towards the ropes.

The chop connected and drove Grace into the ropes. She crapped her arms over the top rope for support. The first chop stung slightly, the second chop burned. She was stuck at Christina's mercy for the moment, any opening she had at countering would take too long; meanwhile Christina was poised to chop away to her heart's content.

Christina chop hit, slapping hard against Grace's chest.

"2"

The next landed and sounded louder than the last, but Grace grit her teeth through the stinging pain.

"3"

Now the audience was beginning to count along with Christina!


"4,5,6"

Blast after blast in rapid succession, growing faster and faster, Grace's chest burned like white hot fire. She could no longer hold back the anguished cries with each new slap.


"7,8,9..."

Each slap hit harder and Grace was lifted slightly off her feet, more each count. The audience was elated, they wanted to reach the final count as badly as Christina, possibly even more than Grace didn't want it to happen. She was too stunned to prevent her fate as...


"10!!"

The final chop came with an extra burst of strength and speed, the arena exploded as the crowd delighted in a full series of chops. The last slap had come hard enough that Grace was flipped over the top rope and tumbled to the apron, luckily stopping there.

Grace was easy enough to pull back into the ring. She wasn't unconscious by any measure, her chest just hurt bad enough that she didn't resist. The pin attempt, clearly meant to make her expend energy barely made it to one count before Grace threw her shoulder off the mat and tried to roll out from under Christina and get up to get feet.

Grace nodded as Christina checked on her. She was on the verge of trusting Christina somewhat when then woman went in for a belly to belly suplex. Grace was flung over and slammed into the mat with Christina's body on top of hers. Grace was frustrated, but was it with Christina, or with herself. She rolled to her side and pushed herself to a crouch, she had to come up with a plan or this woman would overwhelm her just like Emiko, Ramona, and Ewing had. The moment Grace felt movement in the ring, she bolted forward towards the ropes. Hoping Christina would give chase, she jumped on to the middle rope and sprung off into a moonsault. If she was wrong, she'd hit the mat and bump herself uselessly.

Grace bounced off of Christina after the impact and rolled to her a** where she crab walked several feet back to give herself room to recover. She watched Christina for signs of activity, but after just a few quick breaths she stood up and waited for a Christina to stand before extending a hand.

"Wait.." She said, "You're serious? Just gonna wrestle? Not gonna bite me, no super powers?" These questions almost seemed deranged, but for the first time in months Grace thought maybe this would be like she'd expected.

A broad grin spread across Grace's face. She shook the hand, still wary, but trepidation still lingered in the depths of her instincts. She was about to say, 'Let's go then,' but Christina beat her too it with a collar and elbow, Grace embraced the challenge and locked up with her. Using her smaller size and speed as an advantage, she tried to dip under Christina's arm and transition into a full nelson facebuster; an ambitious move for someone still learning her trade.