Post by hawkeye on Feb 10, 2019 18:22:19 GMT
“Ladies and gentlemen!” The buzz of the audience rose slightly then fell as the announcer’s voice cut over them. Tonight’s relatively short but totally stacked card was about to throw up yet another intriguing matchup, specifically the opportunity for a crowd favourite to finally get a measure of revenge on a woman who had impersonated and tormented her for months.
“The following contest is a FAWNAMANIA rematch scheduled for one fall with a thirty minute time limit. Please welcome first…she hails from Bright, Victoria, Australia…standing at five feet and four inches of height and weighing in tonight at one hundred and sixteen pounds…representing…uh..FLC, she is the Chaos Emerald, the Dancer on the Edge…LYRA FAULK!”
All eyes turned to the top of the entrance ramp, expecting to see the former Chaos Bomb finally emerging with her face revealed. What they saw instead was…well…
…nothing.
After a pause which was short but extremely anxiety provoking for the show producers, the announcer pressed a finger to the communicator in his ear and nodded, raising the microphone once again. “Apologies for the slight delay. Now, please welcome…the Chaos Emerald, the Dancer on the Edge…LYRA FAULK!”
Most of the crowd had already trained their gaze back on the stage, and once again they were disappointed. Not the slightest movement from the curtain, nor any sound over the speakers. The audience buzz took on a notably more annoyed tone and the announcer had to noticeably mop his brow, face still reddening as he raised the mic once more. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing some…uh…minor technical diff…”
All we want is to feel that feeling again
MECCA www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCJ7_NPtNEo
Whatever the difficulties had been they seemed to have vanished now, a dark, lithe figure swishing out happily through the curtain and offering a big grin at nothing in particular. Having hidden her face on her previous big entrance, and made the fans wait this time, Faulk was looking very pleased with herself, clad in the same sheer meshed top and sparkly green hotpants she usually wore. Although as with most things about the Chaos Emerald the word ‘usual’ didn’t’ really apply; her makeup was far more dramatic than most would wear for a fight, and the result of her outfit was a look which seemed far more suited to a Goth nightclub than a FAWN PPV. But the Aussie didn’t seem worried by this or anything else, trotting to the top of the ramp and then slowly closing her eyes.
LYRA FAULK
“WE MOVE
INnnn
FEAR…
WE MOVE IN
DESIRE!”
Eyes still tight shut, Faulk lurched as if tugged by invisible marionette strings as the drums kicked into her anthem. The sudden movement resolved into an admittedly gorgeous but surprisingly savage pirouette, the brunette beginning a sort of primitive balletic rain dance which carried her inexorably down the aisle. Despite being apparently without sight Lyra somehow managed to know exactly where she was, sliding neatly up under the ropes and continuing that wild waltz, which took her right past the somewhat surprised figure of Al Carpenter waiting in vain to check his charge. In fact the FIC girl didn’t open her eyes until her music stopped, at which point they flashed immediately back to the top of the ramp.
“And her opponent, she hails from Stovington, Vermont! Standing at five feet and two inches tall and weighing in tonight at one hundred and ten pounds…she is the Interstellar Angel, the Star Strider…LILY BURLINGAME!”
COMEBACK KID www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5BPIVeadFw
The low lights of the Crimson Comet’s entrance were interrupted by a tongue of flame, sparking out of the floor at the bottom of the ramp and burning rapidly up its wick until it reached the pool of darkness at the top. And all at once the predicted explosion of noise and pyro went off, a huge KA-BOOM of red bursting loud enough to swallow even the guitars of her entrance theme. And in the midst of this display of sheer explosiveness a figure shot from the floor.
Rocketing out of the brand spankin’ new crater she had created, Lily Burlingame allowed herself just a second to point out over the crowd and pump a fist. But that second was all she took, blazing off down the ramp with the sheer blurring speed that was her trademark. For tonight’s revenge mission against a woman who had stolen both her mask and her ‘Mania moment, Lil wore her usual midnight blue and starry white halter and bottoms, galaxies swirling and shimmering with her every move. Her knee pads were white on one side and blue on the other, matching her togs perfectly, while that brown bob just tickled at the tops of her shoulders.
LILY BURLINGAME
Somehow gaining even more speed as she progressed down the ramp, the Roseate Rocket hit ringside at a dead sprint and hopped perfectly up onto the apron, somehow conserving her speed as she dashed along the narrow expanse. Leaping again, this time onto the ropes, Lily completed a soaring and undeniably gorgeous backflip which landed her perfectly within the confines of the squared circle.
Landing on one knee with a soft little ‘thump’, Lily popped up, hooked right and raced for the stra-- Lyra rushed the bell not to mention her adversary with a short, explosive Clothesline meant to turn Burlingame inside ouNOOOO! The Star Strider threw herself backward, landed stacked up on her shoulders and bounced back to verticality with a gorgeous kip-up that put her on Faulk’s six! Lily didn’t even bother to look over her shoulder, she simply shifted her footing and fired off a Back Kick aimed at the other brunette’s nav--
Faulk snatched her foe’s ankle at the last second, forcing Lily to twist ‘round in her direction. “Don’t you EVER take your eyes off me, brat.” Lyra purred. “Otherwise you’ll never know what hit--”
CRAAACK!
The former LW Champ hunched forward and slapped the taste out of Faulk’s mouth without regaining control over her captured foot. “Hate to break it to you, cutie.” Burlingame muttered to her startled opposition. “But you’re not quick enough to require constant surveill--”
Lyra slung Lily’s foot away, spinning the Roseate Rocket around in a nimble pirouette that became something more offensively minded when she sprang off her plant foot and lashed out with a Dragon Whip aimed at Faulk’s temple! But Burlingame wasn’t the only one capable of nimble evasion as the FAWNatics discovered when Lyra dropped into an effortless split!
Hustling back to her feet as the heiress landed on all fours, the Aerial Assassin THWHAPPED Lily across the back of the head with a heavy Forearm Smash, then cinched both arms around her waist and hauled her to boot-leather. “Poor little rich girl.” Faulk giggled in Burlingame’s ear after a single teasing nip. “Always half a step behind!” She dropped her hips and flung Lily over and back with a Release German Suplex that popped the crowd huge because Burlingame tumbled through in mid-air to land on her feet!
No teasing from Crimson Comet now, she simply rushed in and CRAAAACKED a huge Overhand Slap between Faulk’s shoulders before securing a Waistlock of her own. “Half a step behind, am I?” she ground her knotted fists into Lyra’s belly without attempting to plant or otherwise displace. “All I see is a rookie trying to sneak her way in and coming up short every tiUGH!”
Lyra drove an elbow into the other brunette’s mouth, wrenched free of the Waistlock and went behind to catch Burlingame’s arms in a snug Full Nelson. “You think you’ve seen everything I’ve got, luv?” Faulk muttered as she forced the point of Lily’s chin into her own décolletage. “I already beat you with your own moves, wait ‘till you see what happens when I do mi…F*CK!”
Burlingame raised her arms up as high as she could, then dropped to her butt to slip out of her rival’s grasp like a cool breeze. Tumbling backward between Faulk’s stems, Lily scrambled up and reapplied the Waistlock only to charge at the ropes with Lyra leading the way like some sort of unwilling battering ram. Whatever she’d had in mind was destined to remain a mystery because Faulk hooked her arms under the bottom rope and thrust her hips backward into Burlingame’s tummy, which in turn sent the original Cherry Bomb tumbling back to the middle of the squared circle. She came to rest on her tush, the perfect place to watch Faulk come off the ropes with a low flying leap, the FICer’s heels wedged against her butt for Meteora that’d smear Lily all over the can--
Burlingame stretched out flat which allowed Lyra to pass by overhead with perhaps six inches of clearance. As of yet unaware of the growing buzz from the assembled crowd, the Faulk rounded on Burlingame and snarled, “Can’t run forever you tricksy little bytcUUUNNNGGGGHH!”
Lily leapt, landed heavily on Lyra’s shoulders and once again pulled herself backward to flip her foe to the canvas with a gorgeous Frankensteiner. Relieved to have taken his Dramamine well in advance of this match, Al Carpenter hesitated just long enough for the heiress to catch Faulk’s flailing stems before he dove in and counted the…
ONE!
Lyra wrenched forward with her bundled legs to roll to a seat while Lily was stretched out on her back in an impromptu Sunset Flip good for…
ONE!
Burlingame rolled ward out of the other wrestler’s grip, landed on her hands and knees, then rushed back in to wedge her shoulders into the pits of Faulk’s knees to put her ankles somewhere north of her ears for another snug cover.
ONE…
TWO!
Lyra cupped the back of Lily’s neck in both hands and pulled down even as she pushed out with her legs. The result saw Burlingame returned to the Sunset Flip position, only this time Faulk was pressing down on her upturned calves to keep her trapped through…
ONE…
TWO!
The Crimson Comet sat up simultaneous with ‘TWO!’, her abrupt realignment meaning Lyra was once again on her back with Burlingame seated atop her chest in a splay-kneed Schoolgirl Pin. Still close to the action, Carpenter tolled a count of…
ONE…
TWO…
Faulk planted her feet, put both hands on Lily’s butt and slipped out from the cover to regain her footing in a single sinuous motion! With Lily still kneeling behind her, Lyra glanced over one shoulder and fired off a low Back Kick aimed at-- Burlingame spun on one knee and caught the Aussie’s ankle with nary a heartbeat to spare.
“Too slow, Faulk.” Lily noted as she got back to her feet with Lyra’s leg in tow. “You’re going to need a higher gear if you want to beat NNGGGHH!”
Lyra slapped the hell outta her and like the heiress’s earlier effort it did not break her opponent’s grip, not that it bothered the Chaos Emerald in the slightest. “Check the scoreboard, sweet Lily.” she hissed. “I CRUSHED you at Mania, or have you already blocked it from your memoNNNNGGGHH!” Burlingame slung her opponent’s foot down and simultaneously brought her right knee flying up, all the better to THWONK a shot between Faulk’s eyes.
KNEE STRIKE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlf8gtXD46w
Lyra staggered hard, the volatile brunette truly rocked for the first time in this high-speed stalemate. “Trust me, I’m well aware of what the record book says, honey.” Lily snapped. “It reads ‘Chaos Bomb’ defeated Lily Burlingame via pin-fall with the Cherry Warhead in eighteen minutes and twenty nine seconds. The only mention of Lyra Faulk comes in a footnote at the bottom of the page, pretty fitting considering your career thus--”
Lyra pounced on her in search of a Collar & Elbow but apparently Burlingame wasn’t quite in the mood just yet because she cinched an arm around the back of her opponent’s noggin and took the both of ‘em to the canvas with a rough Headlock Takedown! “What’s the matter, don’t like the truth?” Lily barked amidst grrrrrrrrrrinding Faulk’s pate between forearm and bicep. “Fact is, I understand why you stole my mask and pretended to be Cherry Bomb. Because Lily Burlingame versus Cherry Bomb, even an imposter, THAT’S a marquee ‘Mania match. But Lily Burlingame versus Lyra Faulk? No one’s interested seeing me slum it against some malcontent raveEERRRRGGHHHH!”
Lyra crunched in on herself, threaded both legs around Lily’s neck and clamped down to free herself from the Headlock with an equally stern Headscissors. “I know you don’t mean that, Lil.” Faulk said sweetly. “I know you’re just antagonizing me to throw me off my game, but I’m warning you….” she reached out, snatched a handful of hair and pulled until Lily’s eyes watered. “Piss me off at your per--”
Lily did some crunching of her own, not for a counter-Scissor but an energetic pop of the hips that got her back to verticality in a sort of rough-edged kip up. Lyra was right there with her and now they did lock up, the pair of Lightweight standouts abandoning everything they knew of technique and finesse in favor of getting a hand under her rival’s chin to shove as hard as she could.
Under normal circumstances Lyra could have prevaricated in excruciating detail on the physics of two equal but opposing forces inevitably cancelling each other out. Fortunately for the FAWNatics she was far too occupied with trying to force the Star Strider’s head off her brawny shoulders whilst also avoiding the exact same fate herself. But the stalemate still progressed to the same inevitable conclusion, the pair of highflyers failing to outdo each other and ending up enmeshed in a tangle of mutual hair tugs and curses. Into this mess waded Al Carpenter, tapping both ladies on the shoulder urgently.
“Come on ladies,” he cajoled, “I was here at Mania too, so I know you’re both capable of better than this. Get off the hair.” Neither combatant seemed particularly interested in following his instructions initially, but a slightly more forceful tug on opposing shoulders introduced a tiny bit of space into the Mexican standoff, both women slowly and grudgingly relinquishing their clasps on chin and tresses but maintaining a fierce glare at each other. Carpenter gave small internal sigh and then grimaced when Faulk abandoned her temporary dalliance with the rules, snatched two handfuls of the Heiress’ locks, and whipped over and around in a quick-n-dirty Hair Mare.
Unhappy as the crowd was with this display of unfairness, their rumblings quickly turned to astonished cheers when it became apparent that Lily had known exactly what was coming and used it to her advantage, transforming the hair-whip into a smooth somersault which popped her up a few feet away from the surprised FlC member. In the same fluid motion she flicked a boot up and back, the improvised Back Kick clunking into Lyra’s unsuspecting face and standing her up. Still a blur of motion, Burlingame twisted back around and leaped forwards, swinging around the other brunette with a snatched facelock and dropping to a split to crunch Faulk’s jaw HARD into her shoulder!
JUMPING SWINGING JAWBREAKER
www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5DGQUh7msk
Faulk dropped to her suddenly shaky knees, clearly stunned at just how quickly her attempt to grasp the advantage had backfired. Around her the FAWNatics rose in spontaneous applause, awed by the anticipation and sheer speed displayed by their favourite. For her part Lily couldn’t hide a small smile of satisfaction, but she didn’t show any sign of letting up, yanking the befuddled Aussie down onto her front and hooking in a tight Facelock again.
“Well whaddya know?” she asked rhetorically, shifting her torso around to transfer pressure onto the trapped brunette’s neck. “Turns out that without your little cosplaying trick you’re just a few steps behind. I guess ‘The Predictable Emerald’ isn’t a very cool nickname, but at least it’d be more accurate.” She leaned back, the Crimson Comet showing off her often-overlooked ground game and making a concerted effort to leave a permanent kink in Faulk’s neck. That awkward angle and the Australian’s increasingly reddening face were enough to kick Al Carpenter into action once more.
“How are you doing Lyra?” he asked, leaning in as close as he dared, “just say the word and I can stop this.” The snort he received in return held a surprising amount of humour given the situation. “The only thing I can’t handle right now is all your nagging. Go bother someone else dickhead.” Even Burlingame couldn’t help but chuckle at the Aussie invective, Al briefly shooting her a slightly hurt look which had her giggling all the more.
“Don’t worry Al, she doesn’t mean it. She’s only just realising how out of her depth she is.” Lyra wriggled her torso around, trying to alleviate a little pressure and failing as Lily simply rotated with her. “Besides,“ she continued, “I’ve got a solid four months’ worth of frustration to work out on this chick, and I’ve barely even started.” Planting both feet solidly into the canvas, the Roseate Rocket bridged back, dragging the unwilling FlC girl’s spine into a tipped-over C shape!
BRIDGING CROSSFACE
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBWpr-L8SB0
Now there was no chance of Lyra bringing out any Australian vernacular, her jaw clenched shut by Burlingame’s strong hands. But she briefly lifted one arm up, waggling a finger in Carpenter’s direction to head off the inevitable question. But with the referee silenced Faulk was focussed only on alleviating that spine-bending pressure, both hands scrabbling and pushing in an attempt to gain purchase on the canvas. A few seconds more of ineffectual scrabbling followed, before the brunette battler suddenly lurched herself backwards, dragging Lily along until the former lightweight champs found her shoulders suddenly on the canvas.
Before Carpenter could even register the pinning predicament Burlingame was on the move again, clearly anticipating this possibility and using the momentum of the roll to continue moving, and pull Faulk right back into the same trap again. “Nice try, cupcake,” she crowed, “but you aren’t getting out of this until I le…HEY!”
Despite the failure of her initial escape attempt the Chaos Emerald showed a ring awareness belying her relative inexperience, recognising that she was now next to the ropes and reaching out blindly to snag one. Carpenter stepped forward ready to count down the hold, but Faulk seemed determined to leave him out of a job, tugging hard on the steel cable and using it to roll herself over, out of Lily’s clutches and to the relative safety of the apron.
Given the circumstances it might have been fair to expect the former Chaos Bomb to allow herself a breather. But throughout Faulk’s brief FAWN tenure she had been in almost constant motion and this proved to be the case again, displaying the preternatural balance by managing a kip-up on the narrow space between the ropes and the ringside floor. Lily had already beaten her back to vertical, now lunging forwards over the top rope and getting nothing but air.
Lyra ducked beneath her grasp, shoving a shoulder through the gap between strands to bury into taut Vermont midriff, then dragging the doubled-over Maroon Missile’s forehead into a swift but brutal kneelift! Burlingame reeled back away from the blow, keen to keep her feet. And that proved to her detriment when the Chaos Emerald tugged the top rope and pulled herself up into a handstand on the top cable! She somehow seemed to hang in the air, holding the unlikely position for longer than seemed possible before spinning gracefully, ‘SMECK’ing her thighs around Lily’s head and swinging around underneath to drive that trapped noggin down into the mat.
SLINGSHOT HANDSTAND HEADSCISSORS
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0uNkZo9FAM
Partisan though they undoubtedly were, there was no way a FAWN crowd could possibly not appreciate such a display of athleticism and balance, and the round of applause Lyra received was as awed as it was grudging. The woman herself came to rest next to her victim, reaching over to grab one of Burlingame’s brawny arms and curl it up tight across her back, using that lever to keep the Star Strider firmly down on Earth. After a few seconds of jostling she pressed herself forwards into Lily, glancing down with mischief in her eyes. “Want to know the real reason I put your mask on?” she asked lightly.
Lily was far more interested in working a way out of the other brunette’s Kimura, but she knew all too well that a riled opponent would make more mistakes. “We covered this already babe. You had to ride my coat tails to be allowed anywhere near ‘Mania. Face it, nobody knew or cared who you were until you put on the maAAAGH NO!” Faulk’s lithe body squirmed around until she could swing out one leg, her trainer stomping down hard into the other brunette’s braincase A second stomp was enough to shut Burlingame up entirely and a third drew Al Carpenter’s attention, the lanky ref dropping to…
“FARK OFF! I’m talk to her!” Faulk’s voice was briefly irate before returning to that dry Aussie chirp. “Jeez darl, the only thing intergalactic about you is that ego. If I just wanted to be on pay-per-view I’d have taken out Scott or Cooper, they were the ones in the main event. But those two idiots don’t take themselves half as seriously as you. ‘Guhh, I’m so important, I’m just such a big deal’…” Faulk’s mock-American accent was slathered in sarcasm, rolling her eyes as she continued. “Everything about wrestling is just so serious for you. It’s just hilarious. I can’t wait to see how you handle getting your ass handed to you by a rookie for the second time in two mUNGH BYTCH!”
Uninterested in the FIC member’s exposition, Lily simply chose to show that she couldn’t be cowed nearly so easily, worming her free arm out from underneath her body and using it to dig a claw into Australian tummy. “I can’t wait for you to stop jabbering,” she told Faulk, “and it’s not just me, this whole arena just wants you to shut the hellUMPPH!” Again Lyra brought those sinewy legs into play, this time winding around Burlingame’s skull and clamping down with deceptive strength. This was bad enough for Lily, but her tomentor quickly started to stretch her own body out, forcing Lily’s head in one direction while her shoulder and arm were pulled in another.
HEADSCISSORS KIMURA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCF6NAM4ABY
“Gotcha now, rich girl.” Faulk teased over the soft but desperate scuff of Burlingame’s legs against the canvas. “Be it mat or sky, there’s no place I can’t follow. No place I can’t hunt. No place I can’t punishNGH! NGH! NGH!”
Lily took a break from straining an ankle at the strands to pound a trio of awkward Kneelifts into the other brunette’s lower back. “Liked you better with the mask on,” she grunted. “Meant I didn’t have to listen to this stupid shAAARRRRRHHHHHH!”
Lyra halved her control on the Kimura to hook two fingers in the former champion’s nose for a painful yaaaaaaaaaaaank! “Hope you’re not getting bored already, luv.” the Entropy Engine cooed. “Because you’re going to listen to so much more before this humiliation is over.” Lily said nothing but Al took the opportunity to bytch about the nostril hook, so Faulk relinquished in favor of doubling down on the Kimura once more. “Tap out.” Lyra ordered after another ten seconds ticked off the clock. “Slap that mat, rich girl. Better yet, plead to Al, see if he can make me break this eeeeeerrrrrrrggggghhhhh… bytch, you better let go right goddamned now.”
Lily, who’d caught a handful of Lyra’s briefs and pulled like she meant to draw them up over the Aussie’s head, only sawed the distended material back ‘n forth as hard as she could. “What’s the matter copycat, I thought you loved entropy?” Burlingame gave the handle another rough yank, much to Faulk’s displeasure. “Reversion is the nature of the universe, remember? These smutty little trunks just wanna climb back where they beLOOOOOWWWWWWWW F*CKING BYTCH!”
Not about to cede a single skirmish to the heiress, Lyra halved the Kimura to answer Lily’s wedgie with salacious, eye-watering interest. “Love the tan lines, rich girl.” she sneered. “Hear all those cameras flashing? Sounds like Gladiatrix loves them tooWHOOOOAAAAHHH!”
Stretched out flat on her left shoulder and hip, Burlingame rolled hard right in time with a final yank on Faulk’s briefs to tumble the FIC’er onto her shoulders in an incredibly awkward cradle. Releasing the wedgie to keep the pin perfectly legal, the Star Strider planted that hand on the canvas and stuffed one knee into Faulk’s tummy to keep her stacked and squirming for…
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
Lyra exploded free with a half second to spare, the Chaos Emerald abandoning her own grips to keep leverage from stealing the damned match. Ignoring the sting of her own traitorous togs in an effort to put Lyra in her place, Lily scrambled to boot leather and lashed out with a Spinning Heel Kick just as Faulk pushed off all fou--NO! Lyra dipped under the low flying limb, then popped up the instant she had the former champion’s back. Nails dug into the other woman’s shoulders, Faulk peeled off a flawless vertical leap, threaded her legs around Lily’s noggin and torqued her hips to tear Burlingame loose from her moorings with a Poisoned ‘Rana that THWHUNKED the Crimson Comet down on the back of her head and shoulders!
POISONED 'RANA:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ensMvpB6THw
Lily rolled through the landing and actually made it to her feet, albeit in a wobbly three point stance that looked like it might give way in a stiff breeze. The verticality didn’t bother Faulk at all, it simply gave her in easier target when she strolled in and THWHACKED a quick kick between her opponent’s eyes! Burlingame went down flat, rolled over and once again clambered to verticality just for Lyra to catch her in the backside with a Front Dropkick that sent her sprawling into the nearest corner where she came to rest with her forehead slumped against the middle buckle.
“I appreciate the effort to change up your game ‘Lil, I really do.” Faulk sighed with relief once she’d finally rearranged those traitorous togs. “But simple catty shyte isn’t gonna get it done tonight. You wanna hang with me? You better learn to improvise. Like this!”
Lyra charged her penitent prey, took to the skies with her legs stretched in a predatory ‘V’ and landed astride Lily’s shoulders with a sort of Inverted Bronco Buster that BWUUUNGED her mount’s face against the roughly-padded steel! Rather than simply bounce in place, Faulk crossed her ankles and gripped the top rope in both hands so she could hang in place and squeeeeeze Lily’s head between her thighs! “Like that?” Lyra hooked one arm under the top rope so she could grind the bony ridge of her forearm back ‘n forth over the crown of Burlingame’s skull. “I asked you a question, rich girl! Answer me!”
DOING IT WRONG:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFGbI2INN3E
But Lily did not, she only swatted and scraped at Faulk’s stems until the ‘FOUR!’ on Al’s count brought her some measure of relief. Free of the FIC’er’s encroaching weight, Lily turned over and dropped to her butt, one hand wrapped around the middle rope, the other swiping sweat and hair off her for-- a patter of boots and a cry from the crowd raised her eyes just in time to guarantee a perfect view of Lyra flying in for a more traditional but no less painful application of the Bronco Buster! “Can’t stop me, can you?” she barked amidst THUMPING her tush against Lily’s chest again and again and again. “Can’t even get out of the corner, sure as hell can’t stop me!” Faulk let loose before Carpenter could interject, the somersaulting clear of the corner and back to her feet with a tawdry little flourish.
BRONCO BUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xu8zpJUcyU
“Get outta the way, asshole!” Lyra snapped to Al, who was checking on Lily’s condition.
The lanky ref stood up and rounded on his charge, one finger raised in admonition. “Watch your tone, Lyra. Otherwise I’ll WHOAH!” Al threw himself to one side, avoiding Lyra’s charge by the slimmest of margins.
Leaving her feet a few steps later, Faulk tumbled forward in a high-arcing somersault designed to deliver every bit of her hundred and sixteen pounds unto-- BWUUUNG! Lily pulled herself out of the way, leaving the unsuspecting Aussie to drive her lower back into the bottom turnbuckle! Jaw agape following the high speed error, Lyra bounced out of the corner, made it to her feet, then stumbled forward and dropped to all fours.
Elsewhere, Lily hauled herself up with the help of the ropes, then started to tend to that lingering wedgie before she noted the other brunette pawing at the small of her back. Honing in on the hurt that Sue would’ve appreciated, the youngest Burlingame threw herself into the strands and charged Faulk only to leapfrog over in favor of building some more momentum. Her second pass proved far more eventful, as the Roseate hopped onto her foe’s back en route to another leap, one more than high enough to let Burlingame tuck and roll through the 450 degrees of lightweight fury she brought THWHUMPING down on atop Faulk’s back! Groan stifled by the abrupt impact of the splash, Lyra still squirmed quite emphatically when Lily shot the Half Nelson and rolled her over for the…
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
The Chaos Emerald powered out, sat up and turned Lily’s head to the side with a mean-spirited pie face. Noting the edge a little bit closer than she’d imagined, Faulk stretched out for a barrel roll that took her under the bottom rope to the apron. “Keep her back, Carpenter!” Lyra demanded as she slowly made it to her feet. “And check her weight while you’re at it! There’s no way a gut that heavy belongs to a lightweWHOOOAAHHNNNGGHH!”
Lily charged on a sharp diagonal to bypass the striped roadblock AND partially obscure her approach. Worked like a charm because Lyra didn’t even know she was there until the Star Strider vaulted over the ropes and ‘smecked’ her legs around her head. Burlingame twisted her hips and fell back into the void to land hard on her left hip, a pain she considered quite worth it considering the heavy THAWHAP Lyra made when she landed flat on her back.
APRON DIVING HURRICANRANA:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFd0TMaSL_M
“THAT’S HOW IT’S DONE, FAWN!” Lily bellowed even before she’d regained her footing.
The sold out crowd responded with a raucous round of applause that remained undimmed even after the Crimson Comet finally fixed her bottoms. Not that this sartorial balance lasted very long mind you, indeed Burlingame took savage pleasure in hauling Lyra off the floor by trunks and tresses. “No place I can’t follow, Lyra.” Lily hissed in her foe’s ear. “No place I can’t hunt. But I’ll always choose to finish you in the middle of the ring. Now get your ass back in there!” She spun in a wide circle and slung Faulk under the bottom rope, the FIC’er’s return to the squared circle marked by attention divided between her throbbing back and the spiteful sting of her togs.
Under the circumstances it would be perfectly reasonable to expect someone with multiple hurts to take a few seconds to compose herself. But Lyra Faulk had spent most of her short but notorious FAWn tenure confounding expectations, and did so once again. She once again displayed that gravity defying ability to go form prone to upright in the blink of an eye, a feat of athleticism which fell apart almost immediately when Lily read her like a book and swept in with one knee raised to THUNK into that rapidly-rising forehead. The Chaos Emerald slumped down in a heap again, Burlingame unable to prevent a smirk form crossing her face.
“That little trick of yours is pretty good but you might want to try some new ones,” the Crimson Comet snarked, bending down and grabbing a handful of togs to drag the woozy Aussie back upright. Faulk’s response came in the form of one hand curled into a claw and reaching up in the direction of the other brunettes eyes, but once again Lily was just a step ahead, slipping to one side and slamming another knee up into Lyra’s breadbox to double her forwards.
Presented with the tempting target of her opponent’s already damaged back, Lily wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity. A quick forearm smash across that exposed spine kept the FlC girl in place as Lily hopped up into a neat mount, facing away from her victim. The sudden extra weight told Faulk exactly how much trouble she was in, but it also kept her bent forwards as the Roseate Rocket bent her knees back to hook around Lyra’s shoulders and raised both hands high. The curious Reverse Cowgirl-like pose was held for a second and then Burlingame threw herself into a graceful flip and spin, landing neatly on her butt while Faulk was dragged blindly into a crunching impact on her vertebrae.
SPINNING YOSHI TONICwww.youtube.com/watch?v=UutsI3scTFw
All Lily hard to do was reach around those wriggling thighs and hold them in place, Faulk’s shoulders firmly pasted into the canvas as Carpenter dropped to count
ONE
TWO
Throbbing in her spine notwithstanding, Faulk had more than enough left in the tank to continue the match, clapping her boots together either side of the Star Strider’s head to send her rolling back out of the pin. The Australian took just a second to roll her shoulders and loosen up some of those battered vertebrae, then she crunched up to a seat, looking to follow wherever her slippery opponent had gone. But after chasing shadows for months Lily was determined to stay on top of the tricksy brunette and did so in impressive fashion, scrambling to her feet and hopping straight into a Low Dropkick which THUMPED both boots into Lyra’s jaw and drove her back down to the canvas again with Burlingame’s bodyweight on top of her.
Both women had demonstrated blurring speed at points across their two contests, but right now it seemed to be Burlingame who was on another level, flipping the other brunette over onto her front and gathering her legs before the Chaos Emerald could launch any protest. Folding those captured gams together she pressed her bodyweight down on them and reached up, delivering a few stinging slaps to Faulk’s rump and sides before simply demanding “Hands.”
Lyra seemed disinclined to comply with this request, her hands held up by her head for almost fifteen seconds before the barrage of slaps to her booty became too much. She reached back, trying to block the blows, only to have both wrist snatched and a cheery call of ‘Thanks!” from the marauding Star Strider. Sure enough Lily pulled back, her combination of stretches putting further pressure on that tormented spine while keeping Lyra’s lower body pinned square to the mat.
LEG TRAP SURFBOARDwww.youtube.com/watch?v=9-caQHEcMms
Initially it seemed that the one-time Counterfeit Comet was going to suffer her pain in silence, offering nothing more than a shake of the head and a set of gritted teeth to Al Carpenters’ initial question about surrender. But a few subtle but ever-increasing rocking motions from Lily were enough to break that quiet, Faulk letting out a low moan and then a louder one as her back was brutally kinked. The sound should have been music to the Roseate Rocket’s ears, but Lily seemed to be wearing a mock-frown on her face.
“I have to confess that I’m slightly disappointed,” she confided to the other brunette. “Months of build up, trying to turn my friends against me, hitting me with my own finisher. And after all that you turn out to be just a tribute act with a few tricks. You managed to ride my coat tails to Mania, but ever since that mask came off its pretty clear that you’re only interesting when you’re pretending to be me.” Shifting slightly, Lily reached forwards to tug her grip even tighter and instead felt a sudden movement from those trapped legs.
Left with little choice but to wriggle, Lyra had done just that, managing to work her lower body somewhat free of the Crimson Comet’s clutches. Her efforts came to a head when those legs finally popped free, the chaotic brunette crunching them up to her chest and then bucking up and backwards like a mule while keeping tight hold of Lily’s wrists. The result was to slam both boots into the Vermont girl’s surprised face, Burlingame’s clutch disintegrating as she rocked back from the blow.
“Idiot!” Snatching one of those wrists before Burlingame could disengage completely, the Chaos Emerald used it as a fulcrum to drag herself to her feet and whirl around. Rocked back on her haunches by the mule kick, Lily was easy prey, dragged forwards by that arm as Faulk powered a brutally stiff soccer kick straight into her jaw. “You’re still yammering on as if this is all about you!” Lyra snarled down at the dazed heiress. “Nothing you do matters, nothing about you is special. JUST! STOP!”
Her last two shouts were punctuated by two more stinging kicks, Lyra releasing the arm before the last one so Lily could finally drop back to the mat. The Aussie glared down at her, taking a second to massage at the fresh kink in the small of her back. “All you are is a sentient virus clinging to a speck of dirt in a void,” she told the former champion, “not special, not important, just a moth hovering by a flame.” The adrenaline clearly coursing in the Chaos Emerald’s veins was already giving her itchy feet, dashing off to the nearest ringpost and scampering up to the top buckle. Not even pausing to scout her landing pad she launched herself out backwards into a gorgeously controlled moonsault.
Or at least that had appeared to be the plan. Despite those momentum-shifting kicks the Star Strider still seemed to have her opponent well scouted, rolling away from the landing zone to leave Lyra without her crash mat. But for the first time in a while it seemed Faulk was equally prepared, tucking up her flip to land neatly on her feet instead of her tummy. Even more impressively she immediately flipped back again, this time pulling her knees in tight so that the bony joints crunched into Burlingame’s ribcage with lethal force.
COMBINATION MOONSAULTwww.youtube.com/watch?v=I30VnZq2L74 into www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcqRzWrNnXQ
No matter how dislikable FlC might be there was no way the FAWNatics wouldn’t pop for such a display of athleticism. The grudging round of applause clearly didn’t escape Lyra’s ears as she scrambled back to her knees and shuffled into a high mount over the prone former ‘bomb. “Hear that?” she asked, swinging out one open palm which SLAPPEd into Lily’s modest bosom, “these morons know the score. They don’t really give a crap who we are, all they want to do is enjoy themselves. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do too.” Message delivered, she reached two talons forwards, fingers sliding up Lily’s gulping tummy and under the lycra of her top.
“OOOOOWWWWW TAWDRY BYTCH!” Burlingame wailed in anguish as Faulk’s claws dug into her breasts. “KNOCK THAT CHEAP SHYT OFFFFOOOOOOHHHH FAAAAAAAAHHHHK!”
Lyra only squeezed harder, the FlC Speed Demon clearly enjoying the wicked ‘undercover’ work. “Looks like we finally found the one race where you can’t keep up.” Faulk taunted the squirming brunette. “Guess it was big sister that got all the durability and swaggEERRRRHHHHH!”
The Crimson Comet filled her hands with Lyra’s bounty and began to squuuuuueeeeze, Lily making sure to dig her nails in over the other wrestler’s cups. “You want to talk about swagger, punk?” the youngest Burlingame narrowed her focus to a callous pincer on her foe’s nipples, the grip making Faulk’s eyes water. “You’ll find out all about once the match is overNGH! NGH! NNNGGGHHHH!”
Lyra switched over to a double fistful of hair, all the better to bounce the base of Lily’s skull against the canvas once, twice, three times! “I’ve seen your swagger.” Faulk sniffed after she’d made a quick inspection of her own top. “It doesn’t measure up to f*ck all against my entropy.”
She cut off Lily’s reply with a scornful Bytch Slap, then grabbed the former champion’s wrist and peeled her off the mat. Pointing Burlingame toward the strands, Lyra took a step back, dropped her hip and sent Lily on her way with an Irish-- The Chaos Emerald dug in her heels and yanked Lily back the way she’d came, all the better to slip an arm through her legs and scoop the heiress up onto her right shoulder for THWHAM! What looked like a simple Scoop Slam got a whole lot more vertical when Faulk dropped to her butt and planted the back of her foe’s head and shoulders on the deck.
MICHINOKU DRIVER II:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia8MwJ9TkYw
An utterly flawless Michinoku Driver II to be sure, yet Lyra popped to verticality without considering a cover. Instead she wheeled about in a half circle and charged to the nearest corner so she could leap from ground floor to penthouse in a single sinuous motion. Already facing the squared circle when she touched down, Faulk stood up straight and raised a fist to the rafters, the counterfeit ‘Bomb once again miming her prey’s invisible detonator. Lyra pressed the trigger and the crowd went ‘BOOM!’ but rather than another Cherry Warhead Faulk knifed into the void with a sharp-angled, headfirst somersault that--
Lily rolled toward the buckles, leaving Faulk to slam down full-force on the thinly-sheathed plywooNOOOO!
The FlC’er adjusted at the last second to hit the mat in a near silent tumble that brought her up several feet away with no visible signs of distress. Catching sight of Lily at once, Faulk sprinted across the ring on a diagonal and--
Burlingame stepped aside, caught the other brunette at the scruff of the neck and sent her flying over the top rope! Of course Lyra never actually lost control of her flight and no one was particularly surprised when she caught hold of the top rope and landed neatly on the apron. Lily noted this with a curse, snatched a handful of hair and reared back to clout the anarchist’s chin with a huge Haymak--
“NNGGHH!” Faulk blocked the effort with her forearm then snapped a straight right hand into Burlingame’s chin for good measure. The Star Strider stumbled a few steps without going down, so Lyra took the top rope in both hands and leapt onto the rubber-coated steel just as neat as you THWHACK!
Lily came off her back foot with a scintillating Super Kick that caught her nemesis flush on the chin. The Chaos Bomb SHOULD have hurtled all the way to the floor after such a shot, it was a testament to her own balance and wherewithal that she managed to land in a heap on the apron instead.
Noting Faulk’s death grip on the second strand, Lily surmised the other brunette would be back on her feet in short order so rather than speed the process she whipped around and raced to the opposite side of the ring, thus ensuring she had a monstrous head of steam when she came back and-- Lyra flew between the top and middle ropes like a battering ram, or in this case an arrow, the Arrow of Time just THWHUMPING into Lily’s navel half a heartbeat before it folded her in half and drove her into the deck.
ARROW OF TIME:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8-8LhfAOhg
Grinning at the resounding wave of dismay that crashed over the audience, Faulk ‘clapped’ some invisible dust off her hands, then stretched out across Burlingame’s chest and hooked the far leg for…
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Lily jerked her left shoulder off the mat, little more than a spasm, but still enough to halt Al’s count. Lyra didn’t dispute the count, she simply jabbed a middle finger under Carpenter’s nose and held it there until he backed off with both hands raised. “You think it’s YOU these idiots are cheering?” Faulk sneered at the gasping grappler. “It’s not you, it’s what you can DO. How can you next defy physics and gravity to bring a moment’s excitement to their pathetic little humdrum lives? Why do you think they cheered so loudly when I crushed you with your own finisher?” She shoved Burlingame’s head to the side, stood up and STOMPED a heel into her belly. “Don’t bother trying to answer. I’d rather show you myself.”
With that she stomped along the ropes to the corner directly behind her flattened adversary. Taking her time, Faulk went up buckle by buckle, ultimately coming to a stop with an excellent view of the crowd and her back to the Roseate Rocket. Sparing a single look over her shoulder to confirm Burlingame’s location, Lyra noted the heiress leaning hard against the ropes. “Boom.” she whispered.
No detonator necessary, Faulk exploded into the aether with a gorgeous, high-arching Moonsault that brought her down in perfect position to catch Burlingame’s noggin in a split-second Front Facelock and THA-WHAM!
Lily hooked her right arm over the middle rope and still ended up on one knee but it was world’s better than Lyra who came down full force on the back of her head and shoulders. Tumbling through to all fours in the wake of the blocked Jubilee, Lyra somehow fought to verticality and made a beeline for Lily, who was just pushing off one knee. Burlingame didn’t have the energy for words, so she staggered off the ropes and beckoned Faulk to her, the Crimson Comet daring the Chaos Emerald to--
Lyra swung from her heels with a whistling Haymaker that might’ve ended things then and there if Lily hadn’t hooked the outstretched limb and dipped beneath it in the same motion. Back to back with the FlC’er, the Star Strider caught her other arm, then swung around so she was facing the center of the ring. Muscling Lyra onto tiptoe immediately thereafter, Lily kicked a leg forward and dropped to both knees to THAWHUMP Lyra down on the back of her throbbing noggin! Folded in half by her trip through Stargate LB1, Faulk squirmed mightily but couldn’t get out from under once Lily splashed down across the pits of her knees in a makeshift Spanish Press good for…
STARGATE LB1:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq5ar4ulKkQ
ONE…
TWO…
THREE!
Faulk rolled Burlingame off a half-second later, alas it was far too late to stop the clang of the bell. Pumping a fist well before she made it to her feet, Lily almost collapsed against Al, but managed to steady her footing by the time the Announcer proclaimed, “Ladies and gentlemen, your winner via pin-fall… LILY BURLINGAME!”
Breathing hard, the victrix offered a wrist to Carpenter without taking her eyes off the other brunette. “Raise my hand, please.” Al did as bade and Lily hoisted the other herself, the exhausted but jaunty pose earning a thunderous ovation from the T,C&S crowd. “Doesn’t seem so pointless now, does it?” she called once Lyra made it to one knee.
Faulk flipped hair off her face and regarded Burlingame with wide, baleful eyes. “You think this changes anything? You’re still dust. You’re still meaningless. You’re still NOTHING.”
The Roseate Rocket pulled away from Al to close with the penitent brunette. “So if I’m all those things and I just pinned you in front of the world… what does that make OOOOFFFFFHHHHHH!”
Lyra exploded out of the crouch to catch Lily around the waist with something that was *technically* a Double Leg Takedown but had far more in common with a Spear. Mounting the heiress’ waist the instant they touched down, Lyra snatched a handful of hair and BWONKED the base of Burlingame’s skull against the canvas before unloading a flurry of Hammer Punches on her face and chest. “I’M STILL BETTER!” Lyra roared down at the struggling battler. “BECAUSE I’VE RECOGNIZED THE INEVITABLE! I’VE EMBRACED THE INEVITABLE! I HAVE BECOME THE INEVITABLLEEERRRRGGGGHHHH!”
Lily reached up with both hands, caught some jugg in one and a whole lotta hair in the other. Twisting sharp right, she rolled Faulk onto her back and hurried into a mount of her own. Quickly abandoning the cattier grip so she could fetch Lyra a few brisk slaps across the face, she scooted up until the point of the other brunette’s chin was snug against her trunks. Faulk didn’t like the position one bit and tried to buck loose at once, alas Burlingame caught her by the wrists and thumped her hands against the canvas.
“You’re not chaos. You’re not entropy. And you’re sure as hell not inevitable. All you are is a pathetic little nihilist out to make the rest of the world as miserable as--”
Faulk whipped her legs up, hooked Lily under the armpits and tugged her back to the canvas with a snappy Sunset Fl-- the Star Strider rolled through, bounced to verticality and charged Lyra with a ‘whicking’ Penalty Ki-- the Chaos Emerald threw herself down flat a heartbeat before the other brunette would’ve stove in her chin, then kipped up and rounded on her disgustingly naïve adversary.
“You really do think you’re a star.” Lyra’s voice dripped contempt and scorn in equal measure. “A single point of stability amidst all this roaring chaos. Oh my dear Lily, how I am going to enjoy snuffing you out.”
Burlingame took a step forward, raised a hand and beckoned the FlC lass to do the same. “Only thing you can do from that far back is enjoy the view.” she said quietly. “And if you actually dare to get closer… I’ll burn your crazy defeatist ass to cindersHEY! LEGGO OF ME, DAMMIT!”
Faulk’s smile got that much wider when Al stepped in from the side and hooked an arm around Burlingame’s waist in an effort to curtail any future aggression. Of course the Aussie was having none of it and she stalked after her waylaid-- “OH F*CK NO! GET YOUR HANDS OFFA ME!”
No luck there either, Carpenter had called for back-up as soon as his charges squared up and now they were being pulled apart by a swift moving tide of black & white. “THIS ISN’T OVER, RICH GIRL!” Lyra screamed as she was bustled from the squared circle. “IT’S NOT OVER UNTIL YOU RECOGNIZE THE INEVITABLE!”
“YOU’RE LOOKING AT THE INEVITABLE, BYTCH!” Lily screamed back. “AND SHE’S GONNA MAKE SURE YOU’RE STANDING AT GROUND ZERO FOR A CHERRY WARHEAD!”
Faulk flicked her off, tried to squirm loose, but anarchy yielded to order on this night and it wasn’t long before she’d been drawn through the curtain.
Settling down only after Lyra was out of sight for a good fifteen seconds, Lily raised both hands overhead and was eventually released of her own recognizance.
“Sorry Lil, couldn’t have you two going in for round three right away. With my luck you’d have taken it into the crowd and we never would’ve caught you.” Al explained.
“Don’t worry about it, Al. I’ll get my hands on her again soon enough. And when I do it won’t matter how fast she moves.” Burlingame sighed.
“Why’s that?”
Lily held the invisible detonator in front of his face and depressed the trigger.
“Boom.”
“The following contest is a FAWNAMANIA rematch scheduled for one fall with a thirty minute time limit. Please welcome first…she hails from Bright, Victoria, Australia…standing at five feet and four inches of height and weighing in tonight at one hundred and sixteen pounds…representing…uh..FLC, she is the Chaos Emerald, the Dancer on the Edge…LYRA FAULK!”
All eyes turned to the top of the entrance ramp, expecting to see the former Chaos Bomb finally emerging with her face revealed. What they saw instead was…well…
…nothing.
After a pause which was short but extremely anxiety provoking for the show producers, the announcer pressed a finger to the communicator in his ear and nodded, raising the microphone once again. “Apologies for the slight delay. Now, please welcome…the Chaos Emerald, the Dancer on the Edge…LYRA FAULK!”
Most of the crowd had already trained their gaze back on the stage, and once again they were disappointed. Not the slightest movement from the curtain, nor any sound over the speakers. The audience buzz took on a notably more annoyed tone and the announcer had to noticeably mop his brow, face still reddening as he raised the mic once more. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing some…uh…minor technical diff…”
All we want is to feel that feeling again
MECCA www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCJ7_NPtNEo
Whatever the difficulties had been they seemed to have vanished now, a dark, lithe figure swishing out happily through the curtain and offering a big grin at nothing in particular. Having hidden her face on her previous big entrance, and made the fans wait this time, Faulk was looking very pleased with herself, clad in the same sheer meshed top and sparkly green hotpants she usually wore. Although as with most things about the Chaos Emerald the word ‘usual’ didn’t’ really apply; her makeup was far more dramatic than most would wear for a fight, and the result of her outfit was a look which seemed far more suited to a Goth nightclub than a FAWN PPV. But the Aussie didn’t seem worried by this or anything else, trotting to the top of the ramp and then slowly closing her eyes.
LYRA FAULK
“WE MOVE
INnnn
FEAR…
WE MOVE IN
DESIRE!”
Eyes still tight shut, Faulk lurched as if tugged by invisible marionette strings as the drums kicked into her anthem. The sudden movement resolved into an admittedly gorgeous but surprisingly savage pirouette, the brunette beginning a sort of primitive balletic rain dance which carried her inexorably down the aisle. Despite being apparently without sight Lyra somehow managed to know exactly where she was, sliding neatly up under the ropes and continuing that wild waltz, which took her right past the somewhat surprised figure of Al Carpenter waiting in vain to check his charge. In fact the FIC girl didn’t open her eyes until her music stopped, at which point they flashed immediately back to the top of the ramp.
“And her opponent, she hails from Stovington, Vermont! Standing at five feet and two inches tall and weighing in tonight at one hundred and ten pounds…she is the Interstellar Angel, the Star Strider…LILY BURLINGAME!”
COMEBACK KID www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5BPIVeadFw
The low lights of the Crimson Comet’s entrance were interrupted by a tongue of flame, sparking out of the floor at the bottom of the ramp and burning rapidly up its wick until it reached the pool of darkness at the top. And all at once the predicted explosion of noise and pyro went off, a huge KA-BOOM of red bursting loud enough to swallow even the guitars of her entrance theme. And in the midst of this display of sheer explosiveness a figure shot from the floor.
Rocketing out of the brand spankin’ new crater she had created, Lily Burlingame allowed herself just a second to point out over the crowd and pump a fist. But that second was all she took, blazing off down the ramp with the sheer blurring speed that was her trademark. For tonight’s revenge mission against a woman who had stolen both her mask and her ‘Mania moment, Lil wore her usual midnight blue and starry white halter and bottoms, galaxies swirling and shimmering with her every move. Her knee pads were white on one side and blue on the other, matching her togs perfectly, while that brown bob just tickled at the tops of her shoulders.
LILY BURLINGAME
Somehow gaining even more speed as she progressed down the ramp, the Roseate Rocket hit ringside at a dead sprint and hopped perfectly up onto the apron, somehow conserving her speed as she dashed along the narrow expanse. Leaping again, this time onto the ropes, Lily completed a soaring and undeniably gorgeous backflip which landed her perfectly within the confines of the squared circle.
Landing on one knee with a soft little ‘thump’, Lily popped up, hooked right and raced for the stra-- Lyra rushed the bell not to mention her adversary with a short, explosive Clothesline meant to turn Burlingame inside ouNOOOO! The Star Strider threw herself backward, landed stacked up on her shoulders and bounced back to verticality with a gorgeous kip-up that put her on Faulk’s six! Lily didn’t even bother to look over her shoulder, she simply shifted her footing and fired off a Back Kick aimed at the other brunette’s nav--
Faulk snatched her foe’s ankle at the last second, forcing Lily to twist ‘round in her direction. “Don’t you EVER take your eyes off me, brat.” Lyra purred. “Otherwise you’ll never know what hit--”
CRAAACK!
The former LW Champ hunched forward and slapped the taste out of Faulk’s mouth without regaining control over her captured foot. “Hate to break it to you, cutie.” Burlingame muttered to her startled opposition. “But you’re not quick enough to require constant surveill--”
Lyra slung Lily’s foot away, spinning the Roseate Rocket around in a nimble pirouette that became something more offensively minded when she sprang off her plant foot and lashed out with a Dragon Whip aimed at Faulk’s temple! But Burlingame wasn’t the only one capable of nimble evasion as the FAWNatics discovered when Lyra dropped into an effortless split!
Hustling back to her feet as the heiress landed on all fours, the Aerial Assassin THWHAPPED Lily across the back of the head with a heavy Forearm Smash, then cinched both arms around her waist and hauled her to boot-leather. “Poor little rich girl.” Faulk giggled in Burlingame’s ear after a single teasing nip. “Always half a step behind!” She dropped her hips and flung Lily over and back with a Release German Suplex that popped the crowd huge because Burlingame tumbled through in mid-air to land on her feet!
No teasing from Crimson Comet now, she simply rushed in and CRAAAACKED a huge Overhand Slap between Faulk’s shoulders before securing a Waistlock of her own. “Half a step behind, am I?” she ground her knotted fists into Lyra’s belly without attempting to plant or otherwise displace. “All I see is a rookie trying to sneak her way in and coming up short every tiUGH!”
Lyra drove an elbow into the other brunette’s mouth, wrenched free of the Waistlock and went behind to catch Burlingame’s arms in a snug Full Nelson. “You think you’ve seen everything I’ve got, luv?” Faulk muttered as she forced the point of Lily’s chin into her own décolletage. “I already beat you with your own moves, wait ‘till you see what happens when I do mi…F*CK!”
Burlingame raised her arms up as high as she could, then dropped to her butt to slip out of her rival’s grasp like a cool breeze. Tumbling backward between Faulk’s stems, Lily scrambled up and reapplied the Waistlock only to charge at the ropes with Lyra leading the way like some sort of unwilling battering ram. Whatever she’d had in mind was destined to remain a mystery because Faulk hooked her arms under the bottom rope and thrust her hips backward into Burlingame’s tummy, which in turn sent the original Cherry Bomb tumbling back to the middle of the squared circle. She came to rest on her tush, the perfect place to watch Faulk come off the ropes with a low flying leap, the FICer’s heels wedged against her butt for Meteora that’d smear Lily all over the can--
Burlingame stretched out flat which allowed Lyra to pass by overhead with perhaps six inches of clearance. As of yet unaware of the growing buzz from the assembled crowd, the Faulk rounded on Burlingame and snarled, “Can’t run forever you tricksy little bytcUUUNNNGGGGHH!”
Lily leapt, landed heavily on Lyra’s shoulders and once again pulled herself backward to flip her foe to the canvas with a gorgeous Frankensteiner. Relieved to have taken his Dramamine well in advance of this match, Al Carpenter hesitated just long enough for the heiress to catch Faulk’s flailing stems before he dove in and counted the…
ONE!
Lyra wrenched forward with her bundled legs to roll to a seat while Lily was stretched out on her back in an impromptu Sunset Flip good for…
ONE!
Burlingame rolled ward out of the other wrestler’s grip, landed on her hands and knees, then rushed back in to wedge her shoulders into the pits of Faulk’s knees to put her ankles somewhere north of her ears for another snug cover.
ONE…
TWO!
Lyra cupped the back of Lily’s neck in both hands and pulled down even as she pushed out with her legs. The result saw Burlingame returned to the Sunset Flip position, only this time Faulk was pressing down on her upturned calves to keep her trapped through…
ONE…
TWO!
The Crimson Comet sat up simultaneous with ‘TWO!’, her abrupt realignment meaning Lyra was once again on her back with Burlingame seated atop her chest in a splay-kneed Schoolgirl Pin. Still close to the action, Carpenter tolled a count of…
ONE…
TWO…
Faulk planted her feet, put both hands on Lily’s butt and slipped out from the cover to regain her footing in a single sinuous motion! With Lily still kneeling behind her, Lyra glanced over one shoulder and fired off a low Back Kick aimed at-- Burlingame spun on one knee and caught the Aussie’s ankle with nary a heartbeat to spare.
“Too slow, Faulk.” Lily noted as she got back to her feet with Lyra’s leg in tow. “You’re going to need a higher gear if you want to beat NNGGGHH!”
Lyra slapped the hell outta her and like the heiress’s earlier effort it did not break her opponent’s grip, not that it bothered the Chaos Emerald in the slightest. “Check the scoreboard, sweet Lily.” she hissed. “I CRUSHED you at Mania, or have you already blocked it from your memoNNNNGGGHH!” Burlingame slung her opponent’s foot down and simultaneously brought her right knee flying up, all the better to THWONK a shot between Faulk’s eyes.
KNEE STRIKE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlf8gtXD46w
Lyra staggered hard, the volatile brunette truly rocked for the first time in this high-speed stalemate. “Trust me, I’m well aware of what the record book says, honey.” Lily snapped. “It reads ‘Chaos Bomb’ defeated Lily Burlingame via pin-fall with the Cherry Warhead in eighteen minutes and twenty nine seconds. The only mention of Lyra Faulk comes in a footnote at the bottom of the page, pretty fitting considering your career thus--”
Lyra pounced on her in search of a Collar & Elbow but apparently Burlingame wasn’t quite in the mood just yet because she cinched an arm around the back of her opponent’s noggin and took the both of ‘em to the canvas with a rough Headlock Takedown! “What’s the matter, don’t like the truth?” Lily barked amidst grrrrrrrrrrinding Faulk’s pate between forearm and bicep. “Fact is, I understand why you stole my mask and pretended to be Cherry Bomb. Because Lily Burlingame versus Cherry Bomb, even an imposter, THAT’S a marquee ‘Mania match. But Lily Burlingame versus Lyra Faulk? No one’s interested seeing me slum it against some malcontent raveEERRRRGGHHHH!”
Lyra crunched in on herself, threaded both legs around Lily’s neck and clamped down to free herself from the Headlock with an equally stern Headscissors. “I know you don’t mean that, Lil.” Faulk said sweetly. “I know you’re just antagonizing me to throw me off my game, but I’m warning you….” she reached out, snatched a handful of hair and pulled until Lily’s eyes watered. “Piss me off at your per--”
Lily did some crunching of her own, not for a counter-Scissor but an energetic pop of the hips that got her back to verticality in a sort of rough-edged kip up. Lyra was right there with her and now they did lock up, the pair of Lightweight standouts abandoning everything they knew of technique and finesse in favor of getting a hand under her rival’s chin to shove as hard as she could.
Under normal circumstances Lyra could have prevaricated in excruciating detail on the physics of two equal but opposing forces inevitably cancelling each other out. Fortunately for the FAWNatics she was far too occupied with trying to force the Star Strider’s head off her brawny shoulders whilst also avoiding the exact same fate herself. But the stalemate still progressed to the same inevitable conclusion, the pair of highflyers failing to outdo each other and ending up enmeshed in a tangle of mutual hair tugs and curses. Into this mess waded Al Carpenter, tapping both ladies on the shoulder urgently.
“Come on ladies,” he cajoled, “I was here at Mania too, so I know you’re both capable of better than this. Get off the hair.” Neither combatant seemed particularly interested in following his instructions initially, but a slightly more forceful tug on opposing shoulders introduced a tiny bit of space into the Mexican standoff, both women slowly and grudgingly relinquishing their clasps on chin and tresses but maintaining a fierce glare at each other. Carpenter gave small internal sigh and then grimaced when Faulk abandoned her temporary dalliance with the rules, snatched two handfuls of the Heiress’ locks, and whipped over and around in a quick-n-dirty Hair Mare.
Unhappy as the crowd was with this display of unfairness, their rumblings quickly turned to astonished cheers when it became apparent that Lily had known exactly what was coming and used it to her advantage, transforming the hair-whip into a smooth somersault which popped her up a few feet away from the surprised FlC member. In the same fluid motion she flicked a boot up and back, the improvised Back Kick clunking into Lyra’s unsuspecting face and standing her up. Still a blur of motion, Burlingame twisted back around and leaped forwards, swinging around the other brunette with a snatched facelock and dropping to a split to crunch Faulk’s jaw HARD into her shoulder!
JUMPING SWINGING JAWBREAKER
www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5DGQUh7msk
Faulk dropped to her suddenly shaky knees, clearly stunned at just how quickly her attempt to grasp the advantage had backfired. Around her the FAWNatics rose in spontaneous applause, awed by the anticipation and sheer speed displayed by their favourite. For her part Lily couldn’t hide a small smile of satisfaction, but she didn’t show any sign of letting up, yanking the befuddled Aussie down onto her front and hooking in a tight Facelock again.
“Well whaddya know?” she asked rhetorically, shifting her torso around to transfer pressure onto the trapped brunette’s neck. “Turns out that without your little cosplaying trick you’re just a few steps behind. I guess ‘The Predictable Emerald’ isn’t a very cool nickname, but at least it’d be more accurate.” She leaned back, the Crimson Comet showing off her often-overlooked ground game and making a concerted effort to leave a permanent kink in Faulk’s neck. That awkward angle and the Australian’s increasingly reddening face were enough to kick Al Carpenter into action once more.
“How are you doing Lyra?” he asked, leaning in as close as he dared, “just say the word and I can stop this.” The snort he received in return held a surprising amount of humour given the situation. “The only thing I can’t handle right now is all your nagging. Go bother someone else dickhead.” Even Burlingame couldn’t help but chuckle at the Aussie invective, Al briefly shooting her a slightly hurt look which had her giggling all the more.
“Don’t worry Al, she doesn’t mean it. She’s only just realising how out of her depth she is.” Lyra wriggled her torso around, trying to alleviate a little pressure and failing as Lily simply rotated with her. “Besides,“ she continued, “I’ve got a solid four months’ worth of frustration to work out on this chick, and I’ve barely even started.” Planting both feet solidly into the canvas, the Roseate Rocket bridged back, dragging the unwilling FlC girl’s spine into a tipped-over C shape!
BRIDGING CROSSFACE
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBWpr-L8SB0
Now there was no chance of Lyra bringing out any Australian vernacular, her jaw clenched shut by Burlingame’s strong hands. But she briefly lifted one arm up, waggling a finger in Carpenter’s direction to head off the inevitable question. But with the referee silenced Faulk was focussed only on alleviating that spine-bending pressure, both hands scrabbling and pushing in an attempt to gain purchase on the canvas. A few seconds more of ineffectual scrabbling followed, before the brunette battler suddenly lurched herself backwards, dragging Lily along until the former lightweight champs found her shoulders suddenly on the canvas.
Before Carpenter could even register the pinning predicament Burlingame was on the move again, clearly anticipating this possibility and using the momentum of the roll to continue moving, and pull Faulk right back into the same trap again. “Nice try, cupcake,” she crowed, “but you aren’t getting out of this until I le…HEY!”
Despite the failure of her initial escape attempt the Chaos Emerald showed a ring awareness belying her relative inexperience, recognising that she was now next to the ropes and reaching out blindly to snag one. Carpenter stepped forward ready to count down the hold, but Faulk seemed determined to leave him out of a job, tugging hard on the steel cable and using it to roll herself over, out of Lily’s clutches and to the relative safety of the apron.
Given the circumstances it might have been fair to expect the former Chaos Bomb to allow herself a breather. But throughout Faulk’s brief FAWN tenure she had been in almost constant motion and this proved to be the case again, displaying the preternatural balance by managing a kip-up on the narrow space between the ropes and the ringside floor. Lily had already beaten her back to vertical, now lunging forwards over the top rope and getting nothing but air.
Lyra ducked beneath her grasp, shoving a shoulder through the gap between strands to bury into taut Vermont midriff, then dragging the doubled-over Maroon Missile’s forehead into a swift but brutal kneelift! Burlingame reeled back away from the blow, keen to keep her feet. And that proved to her detriment when the Chaos Emerald tugged the top rope and pulled herself up into a handstand on the top cable! She somehow seemed to hang in the air, holding the unlikely position for longer than seemed possible before spinning gracefully, ‘SMECK’ing her thighs around Lily’s head and swinging around underneath to drive that trapped noggin down into the mat.
SLINGSHOT HANDSTAND HEADSCISSORS
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0uNkZo9FAM
Partisan though they undoubtedly were, there was no way a FAWN crowd could possibly not appreciate such a display of athleticism and balance, and the round of applause Lyra received was as awed as it was grudging. The woman herself came to rest next to her victim, reaching over to grab one of Burlingame’s brawny arms and curl it up tight across her back, using that lever to keep the Star Strider firmly down on Earth. After a few seconds of jostling she pressed herself forwards into Lily, glancing down with mischief in her eyes. “Want to know the real reason I put your mask on?” she asked lightly.
Lily was far more interested in working a way out of the other brunette’s Kimura, but she knew all too well that a riled opponent would make more mistakes. “We covered this already babe. You had to ride my coat tails to be allowed anywhere near ‘Mania. Face it, nobody knew or cared who you were until you put on the maAAAGH NO!” Faulk’s lithe body squirmed around until she could swing out one leg, her trainer stomping down hard into the other brunette’s braincase A second stomp was enough to shut Burlingame up entirely and a third drew Al Carpenter’s attention, the lanky ref dropping to…
“FARK OFF! I’m talk to her!” Faulk’s voice was briefly irate before returning to that dry Aussie chirp. “Jeez darl, the only thing intergalactic about you is that ego. If I just wanted to be on pay-per-view I’d have taken out Scott or Cooper, they were the ones in the main event. But those two idiots don’t take themselves half as seriously as you. ‘Guhh, I’m so important, I’m just such a big deal’…” Faulk’s mock-American accent was slathered in sarcasm, rolling her eyes as she continued. “Everything about wrestling is just so serious for you. It’s just hilarious. I can’t wait to see how you handle getting your ass handed to you by a rookie for the second time in two mUNGH BYTCH!”
Uninterested in the FIC member’s exposition, Lily simply chose to show that she couldn’t be cowed nearly so easily, worming her free arm out from underneath her body and using it to dig a claw into Australian tummy. “I can’t wait for you to stop jabbering,” she told Faulk, “and it’s not just me, this whole arena just wants you to shut the hellUMPPH!” Again Lyra brought those sinewy legs into play, this time winding around Burlingame’s skull and clamping down with deceptive strength. This was bad enough for Lily, but her tomentor quickly started to stretch her own body out, forcing Lily’s head in one direction while her shoulder and arm were pulled in another.
HEADSCISSORS KIMURA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCF6NAM4ABY
“Gotcha now, rich girl.” Faulk teased over the soft but desperate scuff of Burlingame’s legs against the canvas. “Be it mat or sky, there’s no place I can’t follow. No place I can’t hunt. No place I can’t punishNGH! NGH! NGH!”
Lily took a break from straining an ankle at the strands to pound a trio of awkward Kneelifts into the other brunette’s lower back. “Liked you better with the mask on,” she grunted. “Meant I didn’t have to listen to this stupid shAAARRRRRHHHHHH!”
Lyra halved her control on the Kimura to hook two fingers in the former champion’s nose for a painful yaaaaaaaaaaaank! “Hope you’re not getting bored already, luv.” the Entropy Engine cooed. “Because you’re going to listen to so much more before this humiliation is over.” Lily said nothing but Al took the opportunity to bytch about the nostril hook, so Faulk relinquished in favor of doubling down on the Kimura once more. “Tap out.” Lyra ordered after another ten seconds ticked off the clock. “Slap that mat, rich girl. Better yet, plead to Al, see if he can make me break this eeeeeerrrrrrrggggghhhhh… bytch, you better let go right goddamned now.”
Lily, who’d caught a handful of Lyra’s briefs and pulled like she meant to draw them up over the Aussie’s head, only sawed the distended material back ‘n forth as hard as she could. “What’s the matter copycat, I thought you loved entropy?” Burlingame gave the handle another rough yank, much to Faulk’s displeasure. “Reversion is the nature of the universe, remember? These smutty little trunks just wanna climb back where they beLOOOOOWWWWWWWW F*CKING BYTCH!”
Not about to cede a single skirmish to the heiress, Lyra halved the Kimura to answer Lily’s wedgie with salacious, eye-watering interest. “Love the tan lines, rich girl.” she sneered. “Hear all those cameras flashing? Sounds like Gladiatrix loves them tooWHOOOOAAAAHHH!”
Stretched out flat on her left shoulder and hip, Burlingame rolled hard right in time with a final yank on Faulk’s briefs to tumble the FIC’er onto her shoulders in an incredibly awkward cradle. Releasing the wedgie to keep the pin perfectly legal, the Star Strider planted that hand on the canvas and stuffed one knee into Faulk’s tummy to keep her stacked and squirming for…
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
Lyra exploded free with a half second to spare, the Chaos Emerald abandoning her own grips to keep leverage from stealing the damned match. Ignoring the sting of her own traitorous togs in an effort to put Lyra in her place, Lily scrambled to boot leather and lashed out with a Spinning Heel Kick just as Faulk pushed off all fou--NO! Lyra dipped under the low flying limb, then popped up the instant she had the former champion’s back. Nails dug into the other woman’s shoulders, Faulk peeled off a flawless vertical leap, threaded her legs around Lily’s noggin and torqued her hips to tear Burlingame loose from her moorings with a Poisoned ‘Rana that THWHUNKED the Crimson Comet down on the back of her head and shoulders!
POISONED 'RANA:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ensMvpB6THw
Lily rolled through the landing and actually made it to her feet, albeit in a wobbly three point stance that looked like it might give way in a stiff breeze. The verticality didn’t bother Faulk at all, it simply gave her in easier target when she strolled in and THWHACKED a quick kick between her opponent’s eyes! Burlingame went down flat, rolled over and once again clambered to verticality just for Lyra to catch her in the backside with a Front Dropkick that sent her sprawling into the nearest corner where she came to rest with her forehead slumped against the middle buckle.
“I appreciate the effort to change up your game ‘Lil, I really do.” Faulk sighed with relief once she’d finally rearranged those traitorous togs. “But simple catty shyte isn’t gonna get it done tonight. You wanna hang with me? You better learn to improvise. Like this!”
Lyra charged her penitent prey, took to the skies with her legs stretched in a predatory ‘V’ and landed astride Lily’s shoulders with a sort of Inverted Bronco Buster that BWUUUNGED her mount’s face against the roughly-padded steel! Rather than simply bounce in place, Faulk crossed her ankles and gripped the top rope in both hands so she could hang in place and squeeeeeze Lily’s head between her thighs! “Like that?” Lyra hooked one arm under the top rope so she could grind the bony ridge of her forearm back ‘n forth over the crown of Burlingame’s skull. “I asked you a question, rich girl! Answer me!”
DOING IT WRONG:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFGbI2INN3E
But Lily did not, she only swatted and scraped at Faulk’s stems until the ‘FOUR!’ on Al’s count brought her some measure of relief. Free of the FIC’er’s encroaching weight, Lily turned over and dropped to her butt, one hand wrapped around the middle rope, the other swiping sweat and hair off her for-- a patter of boots and a cry from the crowd raised her eyes just in time to guarantee a perfect view of Lyra flying in for a more traditional but no less painful application of the Bronco Buster! “Can’t stop me, can you?” she barked amidst THUMPING her tush against Lily’s chest again and again and again. “Can’t even get out of the corner, sure as hell can’t stop me!” Faulk let loose before Carpenter could interject, the somersaulting clear of the corner and back to her feet with a tawdry little flourish.
BRONCO BUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xu8zpJUcyU
“Get outta the way, asshole!” Lyra snapped to Al, who was checking on Lily’s condition.
The lanky ref stood up and rounded on his charge, one finger raised in admonition. “Watch your tone, Lyra. Otherwise I’ll WHOAH!” Al threw himself to one side, avoiding Lyra’s charge by the slimmest of margins.
Leaving her feet a few steps later, Faulk tumbled forward in a high-arcing somersault designed to deliver every bit of her hundred and sixteen pounds unto-- BWUUUNG! Lily pulled herself out of the way, leaving the unsuspecting Aussie to drive her lower back into the bottom turnbuckle! Jaw agape following the high speed error, Lyra bounced out of the corner, made it to her feet, then stumbled forward and dropped to all fours.
Elsewhere, Lily hauled herself up with the help of the ropes, then started to tend to that lingering wedgie before she noted the other brunette pawing at the small of her back. Honing in on the hurt that Sue would’ve appreciated, the youngest Burlingame threw herself into the strands and charged Faulk only to leapfrog over in favor of building some more momentum. Her second pass proved far more eventful, as the Roseate hopped onto her foe’s back en route to another leap, one more than high enough to let Burlingame tuck and roll through the 450 degrees of lightweight fury she brought THWHUMPING down on atop Faulk’s back! Groan stifled by the abrupt impact of the splash, Lyra still squirmed quite emphatically when Lily shot the Half Nelson and rolled her over for the…
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
The Chaos Emerald powered out, sat up and turned Lily’s head to the side with a mean-spirited pie face. Noting the edge a little bit closer than she’d imagined, Faulk stretched out for a barrel roll that took her under the bottom rope to the apron. “Keep her back, Carpenter!” Lyra demanded as she slowly made it to her feet. “And check her weight while you’re at it! There’s no way a gut that heavy belongs to a lightweWHOOOAAHHNNNGGHH!”
Lily charged on a sharp diagonal to bypass the striped roadblock AND partially obscure her approach. Worked like a charm because Lyra didn’t even know she was there until the Star Strider vaulted over the ropes and ‘smecked’ her legs around her head. Burlingame twisted her hips and fell back into the void to land hard on her left hip, a pain she considered quite worth it considering the heavy THAWHAP Lyra made when she landed flat on her back.
APRON DIVING HURRICANRANA:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFd0TMaSL_M
“THAT’S HOW IT’S DONE, FAWN!” Lily bellowed even before she’d regained her footing.
The sold out crowd responded with a raucous round of applause that remained undimmed even after the Crimson Comet finally fixed her bottoms. Not that this sartorial balance lasted very long mind you, indeed Burlingame took savage pleasure in hauling Lyra off the floor by trunks and tresses. “No place I can’t follow, Lyra.” Lily hissed in her foe’s ear. “No place I can’t hunt. But I’ll always choose to finish you in the middle of the ring. Now get your ass back in there!” She spun in a wide circle and slung Faulk under the bottom rope, the FIC’er’s return to the squared circle marked by attention divided between her throbbing back and the spiteful sting of her togs.
Under the circumstances it would be perfectly reasonable to expect someone with multiple hurts to take a few seconds to compose herself. But Lyra Faulk had spent most of her short but notorious FAWn tenure confounding expectations, and did so once again. She once again displayed that gravity defying ability to go form prone to upright in the blink of an eye, a feat of athleticism which fell apart almost immediately when Lily read her like a book and swept in with one knee raised to THUNK into that rapidly-rising forehead. The Chaos Emerald slumped down in a heap again, Burlingame unable to prevent a smirk form crossing her face.
“That little trick of yours is pretty good but you might want to try some new ones,” the Crimson Comet snarked, bending down and grabbing a handful of togs to drag the woozy Aussie back upright. Faulk’s response came in the form of one hand curled into a claw and reaching up in the direction of the other brunettes eyes, but once again Lily was just a step ahead, slipping to one side and slamming another knee up into Lyra’s breadbox to double her forwards.
Presented with the tempting target of her opponent’s already damaged back, Lily wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity. A quick forearm smash across that exposed spine kept the FlC girl in place as Lily hopped up into a neat mount, facing away from her victim. The sudden extra weight told Faulk exactly how much trouble she was in, but it also kept her bent forwards as the Roseate Rocket bent her knees back to hook around Lyra’s shoulders and raised both hands high. The curious Reverse Cowgirl-like pose was held for a second and then Burlingame threw herself into a graceful flip and spin, landing neatly on her butt while Faulk was dragged blindly into a crunching impact on her vertebrae.
SPINNING YOSHI TONICwww.youtube.com/watch?v=UutsI3scTFw
All Lily hard to do was reach around those wriggling thighs and hold them in place, Faulk’s shoulders firmly pasted into the canvas as Carpenter dropped to count
ONE
TWO
Throbbing in her spine notwithstanding, Faulk had more than enough left in the tank to continue the match, clapping her boots together either side of the Star Strider’s head to send her rolling back out of the pin. The Australian took just a second to roll her shoulders and loosen up some of those battered vertebrae, then she crunched up to a seat, looking to follow wherever her slippery opponent had gone. But after chasing shadows for months Lily was determined to stay on top of the tricksy brunette and did so in impressive fashion, scrambling to her feet and hopping straight into a Low Dropkick which THUMPED both boots into Lyra’s jaw and drove her back down to the canvas again with Burlingame’s bodyweight on top of her.
Both women had demonstrated blurring speed at points across their two contests, but right now it seemed to be Burlingame who was on another level, flipping the other brunette over onto her front and gathering her legs before the Chaos Emerald could launch any protest. Folding those captured gams together she pressed her bodyweight down on them and reached up, delivering a few stinging slaps to Faulk’s rump and sides before simply demanding “Hands.”
Lyra seemed disinclined to comply with this request, her hands held up by her head for almost fifteen seconds before the barrage of slaps to her booty became too much. She reached back, trying to block the blows, only to have both wrist snatched and a cheery call of ‘Thanks!” from the marauding Star Strider. Sure enough Lily pulled back, her combination of stretches putting further pressure on that tormented spine while keeping Lyra’s lower body pinned square to the mat.
LEG TRAP SURFBOARDwww.youtube.com/watch?v=9-caQHEcMms
Initially it seemed that the one-time Counterfeit Comet was going to suffer her pain in silence, offering nothing more than a shake of the head and a set of gritted teeth to Al Carpenters’ initial question about surrender. But a few subtle but ever-increasing rocking motions from Lily were enough to break that quiet, Faulk letting out a low moan and then a louder one as her back was brutally kinked. The sound should have been music to the Roseate Rocket’s ears, but Lily seemed to be wearing a mock-frown on her face.
“I have to confess that I’m slightly disappointed,” she confided to the other brunette. “Months of build up, trying to turn my friends against me, hitting me with my own finisher. And after all that you turn out to be just a tribute act with a few tricks. You managed to ride my coat tails to Mania, but ever since that mask came off its pretty clear that you’re only interesting when you’re pretending to be me.” Shifting slightly, Lily reached forwards to tug her grip even tighter and instead felt a sudden movement from those trapped legs.
Left with little choice but to wriggle, Lyra had done just that, managing to work her lower body somewhat free of the Crimson Comet’s clutches. Her efforts came to a head when those legs finally popped free, the chaotic brunette crunching them up to her chest and then bucking up and backwards like a mule while keeping tight hold of Lily’s wrists. The result was to slam both boots into the Vermont girl’s surprised face, Burlingame’s clutch disintegrating as she rocked back from the blow.
“Idiot!” Snatching one of those wrists before Burlingame could disengage completely, the Chaos Emerald used it as a fulcrum to drag herself to her feet and whirl around. Rocked back on her haunches by the mule kick, Lily was easy prey, dragged forwards by that arm as Faulk powered a brutally stiff soccer kick straight into her jaw. “You’re still yammering on as if this is all about you!” Lyra snarled down at the dazed heiress. “Nothing you do matters, nothing about you is special. JUST! STOP!”
Her last two shouts were punctuated by two more stinging kicks, Lyra releasing the arm before the last one so Lily could finally drop back to the mat. The Aussie glared down at her, taking a second to massage at the fresh kink in the small of her back. “All you are is a sentient virus clinging to a speck of dirt in a void,” she told the former champion, “not special, not important, just a moth hovering by a flame.” The adrenaline clearly coursing in the Chaos Emerald’s veins was already giving her itchy feet, dashing off to the nearest ringpost and scampering up to the top buckle. Not even pausing to scout her landing pad she launched herself out backwards into a gorgeously controlled moonsault.
Or at least that had appeared to be the plan. Despite those momentum-shifting kicks the Star Strider still seemed to have her opponent well scouted, rolling away from the landing zone to leave Lyra without her crash mat. But for the first time in a while it seemed Faulk was equally prepared, tucking up her flip to land neatly on her feet instead of her tummy. Even more impressively she immediately flipped back again, this time pulling her knees in tight so that the bony joints crunched into Burlingame’s ribcage with lethal force.
COMBINATION MOONSAULTwww.youtube.com/watch?v=I30VnZq2L74 into www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcqRzWrNnXQ
No matter how dislikable FlC might be there was no way the FAWNatics wouldn’t pop for such a display of athleticism. The grudging round of applause clearly didn’t escape Lyra’s ears as she scrambled back to her knees and shuffled into a high mount over the prone former ‘bomb. “Hear that?” she asked, swinging out one open palm which SLAPPEd into Lily’s modest bosom, “these morons know the score. They don’t really give a crap who we are, all they want to do is enjoy themselves. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do too.” Message delivered, she reached two talons forwards, fingers sliding up Lily’s gulping tummy and under the lycra of her top.
“OOOOOWWWWW TAWDRY BYTCH!” Burlingame wailed in anguish as Faulk’s claws dug into her breasts. “KNOCK THAT CHEAP SHYT OFFFFOOOOOOHHHH FAAAAAAAAHHHHK!”
Lyra only squeezed harder, the FlC Speed Demon clearly enjoying the wicked ‘undercover’ work. “Looks like we finally found the one race where you can’t keep up.” Faulk taunted the squirming brunette. “Guess it was big sister that got all the durability and swaggEERRRRHHHHH!”
The Crimson Comet filled her hands with Lyra’s bounty and began to squuuuuueeeeze, Lily making sure to dig her nails in over the other wrestler’s cups. “You want to talk about swagger, punk?” the youngest Burlingame narrowed her focus to a callous pincer on her foe’s nipples, the grip making Faulk’s eyes water. “You’ll find out all about once the match is overNGH! NGH! NNNGGGHHHH!”
Lyra switched over to a double fistful of hair, all the better to bounce the base of Lily’s skull against the canvas once, twice, three times! “I’ve seen your swagger.” Faulk sniffed after she’d made a quick inspection of her own top. “It doesn’t measure up to f*ck all against my entropy.”
She cut off Lily’s reply with a scornful Bytch Slap, then grabbed the former champion’s wrist and peeled her off the mat. Pointing Burlingame toward the strands, Lyra took a step back, dropped her hip and sent Lily on her way with an Irish-- The Chaos Emerald dug in her heels and yanked Lily back the way she’d came, all the better to slip an arm through her legs and scoop the heiress up onto her right shoulder for THWHAM! What looked like a simple Scoop Slam got a whole lot more vertical when Faulk dropped to her butt and planted the back of her foe’s head and shoulders on the deck.
MICHINOKU DRIVER II:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia8MwJ9TkYw
An utterly flawless Michinoku Driver II to be sure, yet Lyra popped to verticality without considering a cover. Instead she wheeled about in a half circle and charged to the nearest corner so she could leap from ground floor to penthouse in a single sinuous motion. Already facing the squared circle when she touched down, Faulk stood up straight and raised a fist to the rafters, the counterfeit ‘Bomb once again miming her prey’s invisible detonator. Lyra pressed the trigger and the crowd went ‘BOOM!’ but rather than another Cherry Warhead Faulk knifed into the void with a sharp-angled, headfirst somersault that--
Lily rolled toward the buckles, leaving Faulk to slam down full-force on the thinly-sheathed plywooNOOOO!
The FlC’er adjusted at the last second to hit the mat in a near silent tumble that brought her up several feet away with no visible signs of distress. Catching sight of Lily at once, Faulk sprinted across the ring on a diagonal and--
Burlingame stepped aside, caught the other brunette at the scruff of the neck and sent her flying over the top rope! Of course Lyra never actually lost control of her flight and no one was particularly surprised when she caught hold of the top rope and landed neatly on the apron. Lily noted this with a curse, snatched a handful of hair and reared back to clout the anarchist’s chin with a huge Haymak--
“NNGGHH!” Faulk blocked the effort with her forearm then snapped a straight right hand into Burlingame’s chin for good measure. The Star Strider stumbled a few steps without going down, so Lyra took the top rope in both hands and leapt onto the rubber-coated steel just as neat as you THWHACK!
Lily came off her back foot with a scintillating Super Kick that caught her nemesis flush on the chin. The Chaos Bomb SHOULD have hurtled all the way to the floor after such a shot, it was a testament to her own balance and wherewithal that she managed to land in a heap on the apron instead.
Noting Faulk’s death grip on the second strand, Lily surmised the other brunette would be back on her feet in short order so rather than speed the process she whipped around and raced to the opposite side of the ring, thus ensuring she had a monstrous head of steam when she came back and-- Lyra flew between the top and middle ropes like a battering ram, or in this case an arrow, the Arrow of Time just THWHUMPING into Lily’s navel half a heartbeat before it folded her in half and drove her into the deck.
ARROW OF TIME:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8-8LhfAOhg
Grinning at the resounding wave of dismay that crashed over the audience, Faulk ‘clapped’ some invisible dust off her hands, then stretched out across Burlingame’s chest and hooked the far leg for…
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Lily jerked her left shoulder off the mat, little more than a spasm, but still enough to halt Al’s count. Lyra didn’t dispute the count, she simply jabbed a middle finger under Carpenter’s nose and held it there until he backed off with both hands raised. “You think it’s YOU these idiots are cheering?” Faulk sneered at the gasping grappler. “It’s not you, it’s what you can DO. How can you next defy physics and gravity to bring a moment’s excitement to their pathetic little humdrum lives? Why do you think they cheered so loudly when I crushed you with your own finisher?” She shoved Burlingame’s head to the side, stood up and STOMPED a heel into her belly. “Don’t bother trying to answer. I’d rather show you myself.”
With that she stomped along the ropes to the corner directly behind her flattened adversary. Taking her time, Faulk went up buckle by buckle, ultimately coming to a stop with an excellent view of the crowd and her back to the Roseate Rocket. Sparing a single look over her shoulder to confirm Burlingame’s location, Lyra noted the heiress leaning hard against the ropes. “Boom.” she whispered.
No detonator necessary, Faulk exploded into the aether with a gorgeous, high-arching Moonsault that brought her down in perfect position to catch Burlingame’s noggin in a split-second Front Facelock and THA-WHAM!
Lily hooked her right arm over the middle rope and still ended up on one knee but it was world’s better than Lyra who came down full force on the back of her head and shoulders. Tumbling through to all fours in the wake of the blocked Jubilee, Lyra somehow fought to verticality and made a beeline for Lily, who was just pushing off one knee. Burlingame didn’t have the energy for words, so she staggered off the ropes and beckoned Faulk to her, the Crimson Comet daring the Chaos Emerald to--
Lyra swung from her heels with a whistling Haymaker that might’ve ended things then and there if Lily hadn’t hooked the outstretched limb and dipped beneath it in the same motion. Back to back with the FlC’er, the Star Strider caught her other arm, then swung around so she was facing the center of the ring. Muscling Lyra onto tiptoe immediately thereafter, Lily kicked a leg forward and dropped to both knees to THAWHUMP Lyra down on the back of her throbbing noggin! Folded in half by her trip through Stargate LB1, Faulk squirmed mightily but couldn’t get out from under once Lily splashed down across the pits of her knees in a makeshift Spanish Press good for…
STARGATE LB1:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq5ar4ulKkQ
ONE…
TWO…
THREE!
Faulk rolled Burlingame off a half-second later, alas it was far too late to stop the clang of the bell. Pumping a fist well before she made it to her feet, Lily almost collapsed against Al, but managed to steady her footing by the time the Announcer proclaimed, “Ladies and gentlemen, your winner via pin-fall… LILY BURLINGAME!”
Breathing hard, the victrix offered a wrist to Carpenter without taking her eyes off the other brunette. “Raise my hand, please.” Al did as bade and Lily hoisted the other herself, the exhausted but jaunty pose earning a thunderous ovation from the T,C&S crowd. “Doesn’t seem so pointless now, does it?” she called once Lyra made it to one knee.
Faulk flipped hair off her face and regarded Burlingame with wide, baleful eyes. “You think this changes anything? You’re still dust. You’re still meaningless. You’re still NOTHING.”
The Roseate Rocket pulled away from Al to close with the penitent brunette. “So if I’m all those things and I just pinned you in front of the world… what does that make OOOOFFFFFHHHHHH!”
Lyra exploded out of the crouch to catch Lily around the waist with something that was *technically* a Double Leg Takedown but had far more in common with a Spear. Mounting the heiress’ waist the instant they touched down, Lyra snatched a handful of hair and BWONKED the base of Burlingame’s skull against the canvas before unloading a flurry of Hammer Punches on her face and chest. “I’M STILL BETTER!” Lyra roared down at the struggling battler. “BECAUSE I’VE RECOGNIZED THE INEVITABLE! I’VE EMBRACED THE INEVITABLE! I HAVE BECOME THE INEVITABLLEEERRRRGGGGHHHH!”
Lily reached up with both hands, caught some jugg in one and a whole lotta hair in the other. Twisting sharp right, she rolled Faulk onto her back and hurried into a mount of her own. Quickly abandoning the cattier grip so she could fetch Lyra a few brisk slaps across the face, she scooted up until the point of the other brunette’s chin was snug against her trunks. Faulk didn’t like the position one bit and tried to buck loose at once, alas Burlingame caught her by the wrists and thumped her hands against the canvas.
“You’re not chaos. You’re not entropy. And you’re sure as hell not inevitable. All you are is a pathetic little nihilist out to make the rest of the world as miserable as--”
Faulk whipped her legs up, hooked Lily under the armpits and tugged her back to the canvas with a snappy Sunset Fl-- the Star Strider rolled through, bounced to verticality and charged Lyra with a ‘whicking’ Penalty Ki-- the Chaos Emerald threw herself down flat a heartbeat before the other brunette would’ve stove in her chin, then kipped up and rounded on her disgustingly naïve adversary.
“You really do think you’re a star.” Lyra’s voice dripped contempt and scorn in equal measure. “A single point of stability amidst all this roaring chaos. Oh my dear Lily, how I am going to enjoy snuffing you out.”
Burlingame took a step forward, raised a hand and beckoned the FlC lass to do the same. “Only thing you can do from that far back is enjoy the view.” she said quietly. “And if you actually dare to get closer… I’ll burn your crazy defeatist ass to cindersHEY! LEGGO OF ME, DAMMIT!”
Faulk’s smile got that much wider when Al stepped in from the side and hooked an arm around Burlingame’s waist in an effort to curtail any future aggression. Of course the Aussie was having none of it and she stalked after her waylaid-- “OH F*CK NO! GET YOUR HANDS OFFA ME!”
No luck there either, Carpenter had called for back-up as soon as his charges squared up and now they were being pulled apart by a swift moving tide of black & white. “THIS ISN’T OVER, RICH GIRL!” Lyra screamed as she was bustled from the squared circle. “IT’S NOT OVER UNTIL YOU RECOGNIZE THE INEVITABLE!”
“YOU’RE LOOKING AT THE INEVITABLE, BYTCH!” Lily screamed back. “AND SHE’S GONNA MAKE SURE YOU’RE STANDING AT GROUND ZERO FOR A CHERRY WARHEAD!”
Faulk flicked her off, tried to squirm loose, but anarchy yielded to order on this night and it wasn’t long before she’d been drawn through the curtain.
Settling down only after Lyra was out of sight for a good fifteen seconds, Lily raised both hands overhead and was eventually released of her own recognizance.
“Sorry Lil, couldn’t have you two going in for round three right away. With my luck you’d have taken it into the crowd and we never would’ve caught you.” Al explained.
“Don’t worry about it, Al. I’ll get my hands on her again soon enough. And when I do it won’t matter how fast she moves.” Burlingame sighed.
“Why’s that?”
Lily held the invisible detonator in front of his face and depressed the trigger.
“Boom.”