Contest Entries, One-Shots & Random Bits

Action Collection: Something Else

 Landing harder than she'd anticipated on the left side of her body, Ashlyn was temporarily stunned. Her instincts took over her body, allowing her to roll towards the edge of the ring and fall into an undignified heap onto the far harder ground, clutching at the left side of her ribs as she did so.

Once on the floor, she lay as still as she could, trying to regain her senses. Her body was hurting now, and not in the way her muscles usually ached after or during an intense match. Having experienced similar pain before, Ashlyn knew what had happened.

She was injured. Not too seriously, she was sure. She knew she hadn't broken anything - it was a different type of pain to the one she'd experienced when she'd broken a couple of ribs before - but she had enough experience to know that it was potentially enough to keep her out of the ring for a good few months.

Gritting her teeth and pushing the pain to the back of her mind, Ashlyn started to get up. As careful as she tried to be, the movement sent dizzying shots of agony firing through her entire being, and she let out an audible hiss, a hand automatically flying to her ribs in a protective gesture.

Her eyes locked briefly with the concerned stare of her tag team partner, Cole, who flicked a questioning glance at her ribs - as much as he could do in front of the cameras. She saw alarm flicker behind his tough demeanour as she gave the slightest shake of her head in response.

As she pulled herself back into the ring, her smirking opponent began to approach her again. Vanessa and Ashlyn locked up quickly, putting on a show of battling for dominance.

"You alright?" Vanessa hissed out of the corner of her mouth, knowing she was too quiet for the microphones and cameras to pick up.

"Will be." Ashlyn responded, when she thought she could get away with it, "Just mind the ribs."

As soon as that issue was dealt with, Vanessa broke free of Ashlyn's hold, snapping a kick at her right knee. Twisting away at the last possible second, Ashlyn spun herself into a perfect reverse waist lock. Putting her everything into every single move was all she could do in order to banish the pain she was in at that moment.

As Vanessa succeeded in releasing the grip of Ashlyn's right hand, effectively breaking the hold, Ashlyn had no choice but to forcefully swing out her left arm, sending the other woman stumbling into the ropes.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ashlyn was aware that Vanessa's tag team partner and fellow Masters Of Dominance member, Dan, had left his position on the apron to initiate a ringside brawl with Cole. Meaning that Ashlyn had no chance of tagging Cole in and taking a breather.

Reacting quickly as Vanessa had regained her balance and was running at her, Ashlyn ducked underneath the clothesline attempt and ran to the ropes across the ring, turning quickly and bouncing her back off the ropes to put some extra speed behind her movements.

Both women missed each other on that run, but on the second run Ashlyn connected with a shoulder tackle that sent Vanessa crashing to the mat with a resounding thud. Her movements slightly - but noticeably - slower than usual because of her injured ribs, Ashlyn dropped into a cover. Her body screamed in protest as she leant back across her opponent, a dizzying wave of pain shooting through her body. This time, the pain was enough for her to consider - for the briefest of seconds - if she should continue with the match.

The official had barely reached the count of two before Vanessa got her shoulders up, and she instantly rolled away, putting some distance between them as they both took a moment to collect themselves.

As she got back to her feet slowly, clutching at her ribs again, Ashlyn was aware of Vanessa climbing to the top turnbuckle and balancing herself there. The expression on Vanessa's face was predatory, a lioness closing in on the gazelle singled out of the pack and designated to the dinner menu.