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The theaters were showing their trailers back to back. The connection was unavoidable, and probably intentional, but the fact of the matter was that they were loosely connected in their story, but also rivals at the box office.
Both Kristen Stewart and Lily Collins were starring in up and coming films centering on different takes of Snow White; Snow White and the Hunstman, and Mirror Mirror (respectively). There was a friendly rivalry in the studios between the staff and producers, but through uncertain sequences of events, it seemed to reach a head in what they believed to be the ultimate publicity stunt; dueling Snow Whites. It sounded like the premise to a highschool sitcom, but the publicists arranged to rent out a public arena and pit the two starring “Snows” against eachother in a public bout.
The idea of a staged match was quickly thrown away by both sides, the girls both forced into fighting for their film in a far more direct contest than simply matching ticket sales. It would be a full on battle until one girl gave in and the other accepted their opponent’s surrender. The staff of the films really were expecting that the winner of the bout would get a huge boost in the sales, and pretty certainly outdo the other in the box office. The girls seemed wary about the situation, but approached it quite differently as the date crept closer.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Kristen insisted in interviews. “It’s just publicity stuff. You know how it is. I’ve kinda got a few fights under my belt, so they might make it a quick finish. I dunno, we haven’t really seen her fight or anything, not even in a movie. So… who knows?” She knew she had a bit of an edge overall, by the sound of things. She was the star of an ACTION movie, after all, while her opponent’s was another girly picture.
Lily was, in both ways, more energetic about the fight to come. “She’s got some advantage, I figure,” Lily explained in her own publicity. “I’m not afraid or anything, but I’ve kind of got butterflies whenever I think about it! It’s kind of a big deal, right? I’m really dyin’ to see how it turns out.” There was a mixed response to Lily. Being a lesser celebrity than Kristen and her movie featuring a notably more girly tone and role for her, it left less of an impact on the fans in terms of her fighting prowess. Still, she carried herself with enough spunk, cuteness and enthusiasm to see this fight through that she had a rather steady and growing following on the rise.
The night came quickly enough, and the Hollywood wrestling arena was sold out, less so to wrestling fans as much as followers of celebrities, cinema, and cute teen actresses kicking the shit out of eachother. Kristen paced a bit in her changing room, reviewing with herself how it wasn’t that big of a deal. She’d been through fights like this before with worse girls, and while she hadn’t won, she came out no worse in the long run. She could handle this, win or lose, and it would be forgotten by the press before long, and her movie couldn’t really fail with her behind it, right?
Lily was notably more quiet and serene about the whole thing. She sat quietly in her room, nursing a water bottle, and whenever the attendants came to check on her, she’d dismiss briefly that she was fine. She was all but meditating, stagehands would later note.
When they hit the walkway, Lily maintained her air of cool for a good part of the way, but the explosive cheers of the fans went off and she had to smile. She blew kisses and waved to fans overhead, showing off a fair amount of skin in the process. She wore a wrinkle-cut dress, black and with a cleavage line that went near the base of her ribs, threatening to expose her navel from ABOVE is she leaned in far enough, and the hem high on her thighs. She strode proudly to the ring and hopped over the ropes energetically.
Kristen was largely the opposite. She too was quiet, but remained that way most of the way to the ring. It was a shy quiet rather than a modest one, as if trying not to draw any more attention to herself than was already necessary. Her fans were clearly in the crowd and shouting for her, making her way down with her red jean shorts and white tank top. To her credit, she seemed notably more practically dressed for the fight than Lily and her dress. Both were barefoot, as per the rules.
As they both got to the ring, Kristen winced a bit sheepishly and offered a hand from across the ring. “Hey, it’s just a fight, right? No need to get carried away.”
“Really? I’ve been dying for tonight to come,” Lily said brightly, actually smiling in her adrenaline. “I can’t wait to see how I stack up to a big time celeb like you. Imagine what it means if I win! Imagine what it’ll do to my career!”
“Hey, don’t go getting that cocky that quick!” Kristen defended. “I mean, you’re still doing Disney Channel BS. My movie goes some dark places.”
“Oh really? Surprised they didn’t cast you for an ugly step sister.” Lily was surprised to hear it out of her own mouth, briefly surprised but grinning as she found she agreed with it.
“What!?” Kristen replied, shocked. “I fight a damn army while you play Barbies and make blond jokes! Don’t you go insulting my stuff! I didn’t know according to your movie, in the old version Snow White was supposed to be such a slut.”
“I am so dying to kick your ass now,” Lily grinned widely. “You’ll be out cold for so long everyone will think you’re being cast for a Sleeping Beauty movie. But not even Prince Charming’ll wake you up off this mat!” The trash talk kept flowing from her, and she was giddy with it.
Kristen only just seemed to catch hold of her temper and try pulling back. “Hey, wait! Calm down, I said!” She didn’t want it getting out of hand, and psyching up Lily any more was NOT in her plan.
“Well my Snow White could beat up your Snow White,” Lily said, sticking out her tongue impishly. “Now I’m about to prove it!”
Kristen thought of some means to object but the bell sounded and Lily was not willing to wait any more beyond that. She moved in rapidly, a low wrestling stance to her approach, if not a loose and amateur one at best. Kristen gave her a skeptical look, trying to shift to keep herself out of her targeted zone. She tried to pull to one side and dart around Lily, receiving a few boos for her defensive and cowardly tactic, but Lily quickly intercepted her, delivering a slap to her unsuspecting face. Kristen went a bit crosseyed for a moment as she tried to regroup, all the time that Lily needed to throw herself into her, shoulder colliding with Kristen’s chest and slamming her into the ropes near her corner. Kristen blew out her supply of air, stunned as Lily grabbed the ropes, trapping her by the sides as she used them to steady herself and pull herself back into Kristen’s chest with another shoulder check.
Kristen was stuck, but at least able to think of a way to use that to her advantage. She grabbed a hold of Lily’s hair, stopping a third hit from winding her further and giving her a moment to swing a desperate knee up into Lily’s belly. She huffed in surprise, managing to yank free (if not at the cost of a few hairs) from Kristen, coughing but mostly looking irate more than genuinely hurt. Kristen looked concerned a moment, then tried to grab the ropes and swing a double kick at Lily while she was in range. Lily was quick enough to grab her by the ankles, Kristen looking shocked as she realized that quite suddenly, Lily was the only thing only thing holding her up from the mats. That, and she suddenly didn’t feel like doing that anymore, as Lily pulled on her feet hard. Kristen’s grip gave way and she screamed out as she landed flat on her back, head whipping and landing promptly after that.
Kristen groaned and rubbed her head a bit, shaking the cobwebs out as Lily caught her breath and ate up the cheering of the crowd. She was starting to see from this first matchup just what she was up against, and she didn’t like it. Kristen tried to roll over to get to her feet again, but she was worse off than Lily and she was faster to strike back.
Lily grabbed Kristen by the foot again, this time while she was still down. She raised her leg, Kristen realizing her legs were parted and waving desperately at her. “No! No not that!” she pleaded as Lily raised her leg for a stomp. “Anything but that!” Lily looked at her puzzled for a moment, surprised at the sudden persistence in Kristen’s resistance. While Kristen feared a crotch stomp, as she’d have tried in her position, it was the last thing on Lily’s mind. Her foot went straight into Kristen’s upper thigh, near her knee. Even with dirty fighting low on Lily’s strategies that she’d gone over, she wouldn’t have wanted to employ it anyway when she looked over the fight in hindsight. This was her making an impression on the world, and she didn’t want it to be that she was a cheat who rode one dirty move for the entire fight. She wanted them to see her as a winner AND real champ material.
The stomps to her thigh made Kristen joly and wince, holding her leg painfully but her hand quickly stamped by Lily as well. She yelped and shook out her hand, just for Lily to drop an elbow onto Kristen’s chest. “AUGGH!” she blurted, trying to curl up fetal and cradle her injured torso as her lungs ached from all the air coming and going so frequently from her insides. Lily’s strong grip kept on, however, keeping Kristen from turning over and pulling her onto her stomach, bending it up and back behind Kristen’s spine, resting her knee on her back and twisting at her leg. Kristen was soon screaming out, as soon as she had the air back in her lungs. She bent the leg backward as she twisted the foot like a corkscrew, bent out of shape as the Twilight star cried out for mercy and grabbed for the ropes.
Lily just hoped it wasn’t too obvious she was a bit new to fighting. Most of the moves she knew were from pro wrestling anyway, but apparently when she put them into practice, Kristen couldn’t tell the difference between a real and a “fake” hold.
“That really all you’ve got?” Lily felt confident enough to gloat between Kristens wails of pain and hammering on the mat. “You really must be a good actress, being in that much pain from this little hold. Your movies must be great for death scenes… but hey, who wouldn’t want to see a movie of you getting beat up for a few hours?”
Kristen could only manage to moan and get a hold of the ropes, kicking out with her free leg to make Lily retreat from her hold. Kristen breathed heavily, looking a bit fearfully at Lily. It was clear between her initial attacks and the latest hold; Lily was much stronger than her, and probably more talented a fighter without really trying. She felt incredibly outclassed here.
Lily was starting to piece this together herself, and watched as Kristen pulled herself shakily upright. “Aww, what’s the matter? Nobody’s THAT weak. You can keep fighting, can’t you?”
Kristen mustered up some motivation to swing a wide slap at Lily, cracking across her chest. Lily gave a quick yelp and rubbed her chest with her forearm. “Oh that’s it! You wanna pretend to fight back?” She snapped back, grabbing Kristen by the hair. She pulled up with both hands, Kristen shrieking and standing up on her tiptoes to minimize the pain. Almost her personal marionette as a result, Lily grinned and swung her by her hair to one side. Being stretched out as she was, her belly swung right into the turnbuckle, Kristen bouncing off of it like a rag doll and draping over the corner, looking groggily out to the fans.
“Oh noo, Kristen hit me soooo hard,” Lily mocked in a childish tone. “Heehee, see? Told ya. Great actor.” She stuck out her tongue again at the back of Kristen’s head. “Sheesh is this really all you’ve got? I’m surprised you even bothered to show up. Must have winded yourself opening the front door.”
Kristen blindsided her when she turned around swiftly, elbowing Lily in the side, just under her tit. She let out another startled cry, jumping in response and holding her ribs with one hand. Kristen saw her chance, turning and sending a clenched fist flying at Lily’s nose. Lily caught her fist though, twisting it and sinking her pretty long nails into her lower fist and wrist. Kristen let out sharp “Ah! Ah!” squeaking sounds as Lily glared at her.
“Just a fight, right? Don’t get too serious, was it?” she said lowly, scowling and shooting daggers at Kristen. “You’re just lucky,” she said, twisting Kristen’s arm around so it locked up behind her back. “…that your hits are like getting sucker punched by a baby girl.” She pulled Kristen back a bit, then shoved her head down so that it rammed straight forward into the turnbuckle, Kristen seeing stars a bit before she saw black.
She opened her eyes , just so they could be stung by the bright sun after that crazy nightmare… oh. Spotlights. Of course. She was still in her corner, Lily still standing over her and flexing and posing for the crowd as they shouted jeers for Kristen and requests and encouragement for Lily. She had all but lost this fight already when it had hit her. She was beaten, probably bruising, definitely losing, AND KRISTEN HAD BARELY LEFT HER OWN CORNER THIS ENTIRE FIGHT! It was utterly humiliating.
“Oh look! Sleeping Ugly is waking up!” Lily called to the crowd as they laughed. “Now what to call you… are you more of a Dopey, ya think? Ooh, I know.”
Kristen gagged as Lily knelt behind her, putting her in a chokehold. “You’re a Sleepy, through and through. You spend so much time on the floor already.” Kristen struggled to rise, managing to fight to her knees but stuck there. She gagged and slapped and clawed at Lily’s arm, only to feel the tightness of her muscles as she clenched down on her throat.
“That’s it. Drift off nice and easy now, to your own little dream where you’re stronger than me, and your career isn’t a total fluke, and you have lots of strength and talent, and not a total hack and a wimp.”
Kristen’s struggles were fading fast, her slapping and clawing not even phasing Lily at this point, and her already beaten lungs were starting to be blocked off by the chokehold. And Lily didn’t even seem to be considering that she was using strategy! The girl was a natural freak, Kristen thought, and she’d hadn’t a hope to beat her from the start.
Kristen started to tap Lily’s arm, this time in submission. “Oh what’s that? You want it to be over? Well maybe I’m not done yet!” Lily shoved at Kristen all the same, knocking her to all fours. “Come on, get up! I wanna show these people just how much better me, my movie, and my talent is than yours!” She hopped on her bare toes, breasts bouncing a bit in her dress eager for more. She’d grab Kristen by the shirt when she wasn’t able to rise fast enough, Kristen looking fearful before trying to wind up for another blow, but Lily slapped her sharply across the face, her hair whipping behind her head like a comet’s tail. It sailed back and forth as Lily rapidly smacked her on either side of her face, knocking her silly enough that she couldn’t resist, even as Lily held her by the collar of her tanktop.
“Lily! Lily stop!” Kristen managed between some of her numerous humiliating and mind-rattling slaps. “I don’t want to fight anymore! Let’s just… let’s just walk away, say you won and call it over. What do you say?”
The crowd booed loudly at this proposal; ending the fight early with no clear winner would not be a crowd pleader. At this rate, Kristen would rather take a drop in sales than another blow to the head. All her money wouldn’t do much good without her health to be able to walk to the store and use it. “You’ve gotta be nuts,” Lily scoffed, however. “I’m making a point here; I’m better than you! Nothing personal, like you said, but you’re goin’ down, and hard, and I am gonna give these fans the show of a beatdown they deserve!” The crowd cheered hugely at both the praise and the promise of more violence.
Lily grabbed Kristen around the waist, trapping her arms there and leaning back and pulling upward on Kristen’s body. Her beaten guts were squashed , and her sore back further tortured by the hold, shrieking out in Lily’s ear as the closest thing to an offense she could gather. Lily was shorter, making her put more effort in and leaning back more, but she bounced on her heels and toes to rock Kristen in her grip, bouncing and shaking her wildly. If Kristen were a soda can, she would have exploded by then, and the idea wasn’t totally out of Kristen’s head at this point.
Kristen wasn’t sure if she wanted to get back down yet or not, if the fall would be worth escaping the hold or not. Fortunately, it wasn’t her decision to make, and Lily wasn’t going to be so wishy washy. She lifted her up a few extra inches and stuck out her knee, dropping Kristen down in what she was sure would be another groin shot, but instead landed the move like a pro. Kristen still bounced up high clutching her ass and screaming out, mouth and eyes huge and wide as she’d landed right on her tailbone, the shock echoing in her hips but shooting right up her spine. She fell to her knees on her own, Lily moving in after her as she held her back and waved her hand at her for mercy, shaking her head and looking ready to cry.
“Please, oh god please, Lily! Let me just walk away now. CRAWL away!” Kristen pleaded pathetically. “I can’t fight any more! I can’t do anything any more!”
Lily folded her arms and looked down with a frown at Kristen, skeptical but listening. “And you’ll admit the match is mine and I’m the better actress and fighter on TV?”
“Yes! I’ll do anything!”
“And pay me a nice big check for sparing you that shame?”
“I’ll give you whatever! Any amount, I swear!” It was really an exaggeration, but she was indeed desperate to get out of the further shame and beatings.
“And admit to how much cock you had to take in order to get into Hollywood?”
Kristen’s mouth hung open, motioning and waving desperately for a way out of it. Lily’s stare showed she was unrelenting. “Y-yes! I’ll say it! Just stoooop~!”
“And about that time you lost a wrestling match to your baby cousin?”
“Yyyyyesss,” Kristen groaned out in agreement. “Anything, ok? I promise, I’ll say and do anything you want, just let me go and stop hitting meeee~!” she whined rather childishly, the agony in her back aching on.
“Tempting,” Lily said, rubbing her chin and grinning down at her. There were calls of “Don’t do it! “and “Finish her!” from the audience, Kristen waving to the crowd to calm down as well. If they would calm down and stop encouraging her, and forget about this incident, she might be able to creep away with minimal damage to herself and her career. “But really, it’s nothing compared to the tickets I’ll rake in from beating your ass clean through the mat.”
Kristen opened her mouth to object but Lily sent a kick up into her belly, winding her and making her double up again. Lily grabbed her arm and leg, bending over and impressing everyone, Kristen included, when she lifted Kristen into a fireman carry, draped over her shoulder and groaning, slapping and beating her fists on Lily’s back desperately. Lily flexed one arm proudly, a bit off balance but still an impressive show of strength. She’d swing Kristen one direction, then whip in the other, spinning rapidly in place. It was dizzying, but Kristen had it all the worse as she had no control over the pace or direction of the spin, not to mention the fact that after an unclear amount of cheering, spinning, and wanting to hurl, Lily came to a stop by swinging Kristen over her shoulder, slamming her with a huge crash to the mat.
Kristen had to have bounced two or three times before stopping, not totally unconscious but out all the same. She was splayed out on the mat, looking weakly to her side almost drunkenly. She was spread eagle, a comical display of weakness and shame when Lily staggered after her, getting her footing back before kneeling and placing one hand casually on Kristen’s face, the crowd taking its time counting to 3 to mark Lily as their unquestionable winner. The bell sounded and Lily hopped up to her feet, clapping and giggling girlishly with pride at her violence and still surprising amount of honor and decency in the ring. “Here’s your new Facebook pic, boys,” she called out, raising one leg dantily to rest it on Kristen’s cheek. She barely groaned in response to it, as her bare foot mashed into her face. “Make sure you spread it all around! And you can always see this pretty face on the big screen, and I’m sure you see it lots more soon!” She stood like a victorious adventurer and his prey, though with notably more jutting of her hips and cutesy smiles.
“Hey, Krissy! Sit up for your photos, why don’t ya?” Content enough shots happened of her victory pose, Lily bent down and forced Kristen to sit upright, all but limp in her arms, but getting shots of her posing with her arm around her, smiling and pointing to Kristen’s’ drooling vacant expression. Another of her with her in a casual headlock, giving her a noogie and Kristen’s face soured in distaste from it. Several where Lily slung Kristen upside down over the top turnbuckle, holding her feet as she hung like a strung up animal on display. Still not unconscious, but beaten and miserable and just not able to muster the power to move.
“A sleepy dopey grumpy one, isn’t she? Somebody call a doc!” she wisecracked for the crowd, leaning on Kristen’s belly with her elbow resting. She lit up when she saw someone in the crowd, hooking Kristen’s legs on the ropes and climbing out. “Hey, you want an autograph?” she offered a boy in the front row. “I’ll trade you for your marker…”
It was only natural then… Mirror Mirror excelled in theaters, while Snow White and the Huntsman… well, it could have done better. The numerous magazine covers, news reports, and facebook statutes featuring Kristen groggily draped over the top rope, with “Begged for mercy, got none” markered on her face and chest simply undermined the movie too much to handle.
