Sheila's face is as dark as a thundercloud.
Sylvia is kneeling at the edge of the mat, in between 2 of the spectators' chairs. Her wrists are cuffed to her ankles behind her. Her face is burning with shame. The two women to either side of her occasionally reach out and stroke her hair or face, or trace the lines of muscle on her thick, powerfully-built body. She squirms helplessly every time they do this.
The embarrassment is total! Everyone can say they've seen it for themselves now. In a straight contest of arm strength, without mothers helping, Dahlia outmuscles Sylvia! Sylvia cheated outrageously with that vibrator trick, and yet she found it an uphill struggle to put Dahlia's arm down.
As Camellia stands facing her much larger, heavier opponent, her heart races. She is so immensely proud of her daughter, who is now the referee and standing in between the fighters -- it was deemed unnecessary to do a rematch, and the audience were very vocal in saying so. They aren't as biased against the Kwans as all that, it would seem! Even if they are still friendlier with the Steeles, they seem to be according Dahlia at least some respect, looking at her muscled physique approvingly. This makes Camellia immensely, intensely proud.
Now she faces her own trial. The ultimate trial, the final battle between her and Sheila. Ever after, the winner of this match will be able to smile smugly and feel superior to the loser when they see each other. The loser will have to look away, humbled in her heart, remembering how her body was subdued by her rival's. Which daughter could be proud of a mother who had to do that with another woman? Camellia desperately wants her daughter to stay proud of her. Oh, of course she trusts and believes Dahlia's daughterly devotion, of course Dahlia means it when she says she will always love her mother most in the world... but she wants Dahlia to be proud of her. When they look into each other's eyes at night, she wants Dahlia to see a woman who won the most important battle of her life... not a loser.
"Now, I want a good, fair fight," Dahlia says emphatically, casting a meaningful glare at Sheila, who glowers back silently. As Dahlia continues listing the various actions that would be infractions, Camellia mentally reviews the rules. There are, in fact, very few. No eye-gouging, no hair-pulling, no biting... but almost everything else has been agreed upon. Small-joint manipulation -- yes. Brawling, street-fighting moves -- yes. Chokeholds... yes. Outright strangling, no, but chokeholds are not barred in this fight. Clawing or scratching has never been either woman's style, but is not going to be illegal. These terms have been reviewed and mutually agreed upon. Dahlia cannot stop the fight if Sheila makes her mother bleed. She can only hope her mother is strong enough to tough it out and fight back.
"And if you try any cheating, Sheila?" Dahlia says, when she finishes, "I'll be here to stop here."
Sheila sneers at her. "You know what, Dahlia," she says. "It's fine that you're standing here, instead of my girl. This just means you get to see me crush your precious mom to a pulp, right in front of your eyes. I'm going to lick the tears right off your face, Dahlia. When I'm standing over your broken and beaten mother, I want you to be the one raising my arm up high. I want to take you from behind, make you go on all fours and cry into your mother's face as I fuck you. I want her to see for herself how much pleasure you're getting from me, the stronger woman, the better mother."
"That will never fucking happen," Dahlia says, her voice tight with anger. "My mom's too strong for you."
"We'll see about that now. You ready, Camellia?" Sheila grins, and puts her dukes up.
It seems she wants to start with boxing or brawling. Camellia bunches her fists and puts her arms up in a rudimentary guard, just like she's practiced with her daughter. A shiver runs through her. This is happening! An actual fight with Sheila, with their daughters -- and everyone else -- watching!
Dahlia takes one step back, hesitates, then quickly moves in and cups her mother's head, drawing her in for one more fierce kiss. This draws titters and some comments, but the Kwans ignore all that. Dahlia's tongue swirling against her own feels so good. Her daughter is kissing so hard that it's as though she wants to merge their faces... or perhaps, transfer some of her own magnificent strength to her mother.
Then Dahlia steps back, and Camellia once again focuses her attention on her scowling nemesis. Dahlia's hand goes up in between them... and chops down. "Fight!"
And just like that, all the training they've done, all the moves and stances they've practiced, all of that goes out the window. A real fight is nothing like practicing jab-jab-cross or the good ol' one-two combo with someone holding training pads. Sheila throws a punch, then another, her big ham fists flailing out, powered by muscled arms and shoulders, and Camellia can do nothing but flinch and jerk her upper body away instinctively, her own leaner, slimmer arms flailing back, trying to make her fists connect with something while shying away from Sheila's own fists. She is not a trained fighter; footwork does not come naturally to her; she is only half aware of how she's backpedalling, backing away, trying not to get hit, while Sheila roars inchoately and swings wildly at her, striking her forearms and upper arms mostly but coming dangerously close to her face...
And then she is stumbling over one of the women, a heavily-built brown-skinned Filipina -- they've actually met somewhere else before, Camellia dimly recalls her name as Maria Constanza or something along those lines -- and the chair tips over, while Maria cries out in outraged astonishment, and Sheila is turning away, arms raised in victory, laughing and punching the air while her friends whoop and clap. Sylvia on her knees is smiling. "Wooooo! You go, Mom! She can't take you! She's not woman enough to take you!" she screams.
Dahlia helps her mother disentangle her limbs from Maria's, who is cursing and swearing colorfully as she clambers to her feet and rights her chair. "You made me spill my lube!" she complains. The woman to the left of her generously hands her a spare bottle. "Does a ring-out count?" Maria calls out.
"Naw!" comes Sheila's quick reply. "It'd be over too quick! I'm here to pummel her, not push her out! This ain't sumo!" A gust of good-natured guffawing follows her words.
Dahlia leads a shaken Camellia back to the center of the ring, squeezing her hand in silent encouragement. "You got this, Mom. I know you can do it," she hurriedly whispers, before starting them off again.
Once again, Sheila comes in with a barrage of clumsy blows, but Camellia isn't skilled enough to duck or parry or counter or indeed, do anything except put her head down behind her forearms and try to guard herself. The blows land, some of them glancing off the sides of her face, near her ears, and she tries to move away, get some space between the punching behemoth that is Sheila Steele. Their weight disparity is really telling. Training with Dahlia hasn't really prepared her enough for this.
She knows she can't just hunker down and slowly get battered down. She has got to strike back, somehow, despite the impacts on her head, forearms, shoulders... and then suddenly Sheila's fist is flashing up towards her face from below, an uppercut, and she can't react in time... The blow lands on her chin and knocks her head upwards -- she sees stars for a second, then the lights on the ceiling, then a moment of stunned disorientation before she feels something collide with her left cheek.
Down she goes, although she realizes it only when she is down on the mat, trying to push herself upright. Dahlia is interposing herself between her fallen mother and her relentless opponent, who is shoving her out of the way. "This isn't boxing!" Sheila is saying angrily. "This is a fight! I don't have to wait for her to get up!"
Unfortunately... this is true. And Dahlia has no choice but to back away, face set in helpless anger, as Sheila begins to mount Camellia's body...
More out of instinct than anything, Camellia draws in her legs, and manages to brace her feet against Sheila's abdomen. She thrusts, and Sheila flies back, a look of surprise on her face, to land in a heap a few feet away, almost at the edge of the mat. She's won some breathing space for herself, and they both clamber to their feet. She can feel the stinging, throbbing pain where Sheila's blows landed, and she knows that pretty soon there will be some visible swelling and bruising on her face. At least nothing feels broken...
She can't prevail in a boxing match, she realizes with a sinking heart. She is no pugilist. She can't match Sheila punch for punch. She'd go down like a sack of rice within seconds.
Kickboxing? That takes skill, skill she doesn't have. She can't land kicks that are impactful enough, not and maintain her balance -- she and Dahlia have tried. That just leaves... grappling.
Sheila is coming in again, hard and fast, moving more confidently now and more like an actual boxer. Camellia backs away, trying to maintain good footwork, to dodge and block. It's like a cat-and-mouse game now, and Sheila is beginning to toy with her, herding her in a circle around the mat.
With the taunts of the watching women in her ears, Camellia goes low and launches herself at one of Sheila's thunder thighs. Perhaps a single-leg takedown...
But Sheila immediately sprawls. They've practiced with each other, the Steeles... and trained with men as well. And moreover, Sheila most likely anticipated this. As Camellia uselessly clutches at Sheila's right leg, Sheila regains her balance and begins hammering down on Camellia's exposed back, right in front of a frantic Dahlia.
Camellia feels the breath being pounded out of her. She momentarily loses her grip, and now it is Sheila's turn to get a good grip on her, wrapping her arms around Camellia's waist from above and behind...
What can she do now? How is she supposed to fight against a woman 10kg heavier, with stronger muscles and more ferocity...?