Post by dsb on Sept 5, 2018 21:47:07 GMT
“Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall with a thirty minute time limit!” the Announcer told everyone gathered for these Slaybor Day Weekend festivities. “Introducing first, hailing from Glen Echo Michigan, she stands at five feet seven inches tall and weighs in at one hundred and thirty-one pounds. Representing the Black Court, they call her the Raven… LENORE LEMARCHAND!”
Kula Shaker’s ‘Hush’ winged its way into the arena and a cloud of ’Ravens’ went up, Lemarchand’s ’unkindness’ having grown throughout the course of her wars with an Empress and now an Anarchist. The capacity crowd cheered all the louder when Emily West’s Lady in Waiting brushed through the curtain scant seconds after her name was called. Dark eyes scanning the crowd for any sign of Larkin or her equally deranged friend, the brunette murmured, “Our first meeting was little more than a stress test. Tonight however, tonight is all about endurance in the face of extreme torture.” On that pleasant note she hooked her thumbs together and hoisted the Raven sigil directly overhead. This was greeted by the largest response yet, more than enough moral support to set Lemarchand on her way down the ramp.
LENORE LEMARCHAND:
For this follow-up lesson for the big ginger tramp, Lenore wore strappy bikini bottoms hued in a purplish-black and emblazoned with a faint design that careful inspection revealed as feathers. Her top was halter style, with the color and pattern matching her briefs, while her elbow and kneepads were matte black, the latter still obscured by loose, bell-flared 'leggings' that started just south of mid-thigh and dropped to ankle length. Those leggings were also black and featured a stylized version of Lemarchand’s raven insignia done in stark white. Her look was finished with shiny black boots and purple wrist tape that matched her togs.
Though the Raven never stopped scanning the aisles for signs of an FIC ambush, she did pause her perusal long enough to enjoy a sign proclaiming:
QUOTH THE RAVEN: MAKE HER BLEED!
“I think your rhyme scheme is off.” she told the sign holder. “But I appreciate the sentiment. Now if you’ll excuse me…” The Courtier spun away and broke into a limber run that brought her under the bottom rope in a matter of heartbeats. On her feet even faster, claimed center ring as her own and raised Raven sigil one more time before heading to the far corner so Al Carpenter could perform the pre-fight check of pads and boots.
As Carpenter commenced his well-practiced checks the arena darkened again, this time bringing a considerably less friendly response from that capacity crowd.
"And her opponent, from Santa Fe, New Mexico, standing at five feet and ten inches and weighing in tonight at one hundred and forty pounds...representing...uh...FIC, she is known as the Hollow Girl...HARRIET LARKIN!"
PURE MORNING www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHQngnnHE_0
In fact there were a few cheers amidst the approbrium, Harriet having chosen her tag team’s anthem instead of her personal one and apparently reminding a few in the crowd of how interesting life tended to be when FlC were around. But only one figure appeared at the top of the ramp, striding down without looking left and right, her pace picking up until she hit a full sprint just before sliding under the bottom rope and into the ring.
HARRIET LARKIN
The Hollow Girl came to a stop about a third of the way into the squared circle, eyeing her opponent with a stare which quickly became an extremely mirthless smile. For tonights revenge mission against the Raven, Harriet wore her usual tight white tank, black lacy bra showing through, and a short plaid skirt with some sturdy looking black booty shorts visible beneath whenever she moved. Those striking auburn locks flowed free down over her shoulders, and her feet were clad in sturdy looking black boots.
Perhaps the most striking thing were the two chevrons of facepaint, done in copper and charcoal grey over her left eye. Certainly Harriet seemed very keen to show this to her opponent, licking one thumb and rubbing it down over the paint while keeping her green eyes locked tight on the Courtiers. When she had demonstrated that those chevrons wouldn’t rub off she dropped her hand but kept that middle finger raised and pointed in Lemarchand’s direction. Lenore only smiled back, keeping a close eye as the Hollow Girl stepped back into her corner and finally deigned to be checked.
Larkin and Lemarchand came out of their corners the moment the bell sounded, both ladies on a beeline for the center of the squared circle and a resumption of the nose to nose stare down so rudely interrupted after their first meeting. “It’s such a surprise to see you, bird brain.” Harriet tilted her head ever so slightly to emphasize the height difference. “All week I was telling myself there was no way you’d be stupid enough to meet me out here again… yet here you are.” She stepped forward, chesting into the Courtier hard enough to rock her back a half step.
“Color me surprised as well, Harry.” Lenore replied without missing a beat. “Two matches, two remarkably punctual appearances for opening bell. Better not do it again, otherwise all the other anarchy loving losers out there might start to suspect you’ve lost all faith in entropy. And how terrible would that be? They’d have to find another brooding poseur more deserving of epic White Out poems written on their NNNNGGGGHHHH!”
Larkin scraped the heel of her palm across Lenore’s mouth with a rough Pie-Face, then followed it up with a single Forearm Smash that THWHUMPED against the Raven’s chest. Lemarchand stumbled without going down, so Harriet snatched a huge handful of hair and treated her to a good shake before hauling the brunette in to whisper in one ear. “It’s not wise to violate the rules until you understand how to observe them, bird BRRREEEEGGHHH!”
Lenore mashed Larkin’s mug with the side of her head, swatted the hair hold aside and celebrated her escape with a scintillating, knuckles-first backhand Bytch Slap that CRAAACKED against the redhead’s mouth. “Let’s get a couple of things straight, Larkin.” the Fair & Radiant Maiden snarled over the ‘ooooohhhhh’ of the crowd. “First, I went nose to nose with Carrie f*cking Cavendish as a Christmas present to myself, so I do not, even in the loosest sense, sweat you. Second, if you really want to make an impression, don’t tell, shOOHUUUGGGHHH!”
Larkin stormed into the breach, wrapped both hands around the other woman’s neck and hoisted her skyward like she was little more than a bag full of leaves. Ignoring the ref’s immediate warning in favor of keeping her eyes locked on Lenore’s, Harriet murmured, “Your fearlessness is born of ignorance, not bravery. So allow me to enlighten you in the most direct way possible.” Lenore clawed and swatted at her attacker’s forearms but Larkin didn’t even flinch. Rather she stomped over to Lemarchand’s corner and set her in a rude perch on the top turnbuckle.
TWO HANDED CHOKE LIFT:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b1gXJl0sP4
“Dammit Harriet, let go of the choke!” Al Carpenter demanded from beside Larkin’s left shoulder. “And get out of the corner!”
Harriet only grinned and gouged her thumbs in under the brunette’s jaw. “Perhaps you should ask the little bird if she has the wherewithal to leave this NNNNHHHHHHH!” Larkin snarled in pain and surprise when Lemarchand jabbed a thumb into the towering tyro’s right eye!
“Jeeze Lenore, you know you can’t do that!” Al complained amidst Harriet’s abrupt exit from the corner. “Keep away from her eyes!”
Ignoring the sting in her neck, Lenore stood on the second rope and countered, “Keep her away from my neck and maybe I will.”
One hand pressed to her welling eye, Larkin looked in the direction of Lemarchand’s reply and--THWHAP! The Raven came off the ropes with a short Missile Dropkick that connected not with Harriet’s chest, but her left thigh *just* above the knee! Larkin dropped to one knee in an instant only to scramble to her feet barely a second behind her brunette adversary. This head-start proved more than enough time for Lemarchand to take to the skies with another Dropkick, this one of the standing variety. It connected with Harriet’s chest with a satisfying THUMP, yet she only ceded a few steps worth of canvas.
Suddenly determined to take the big redhead off her feet and keep her there, Lenore closed in and absolutely lit-up Harriet’s chest with a Knife-Edge Chop, then shoved her away so she could have a bit of a running start for the third Dropki-- The Hollow Girl swatted her legs aside, knocking Lemarchand out of the air like a poorly tossed Frisbee. Lenore landed on her belly with a heavy ‘THUD’ but probably would’ve recovered as quickly as her rival if Harriet hadn’t immediately planted a stomp in the small of her back.
“You couldn’t beat me to the legs the first time we met, bird girl.” Larkin sneered as she grrrrrrrrrrroooooound the point of her heel into the brunette’s spine. “Tonight’s battle will prove no different.”
Helping herself to a huge hank of hair after she’d stomped on Lenore’s back a couple more times, Harriet peeled Emily’s Lady in Waiting off the mat just so she could rush her over to the corner and BWUUUNG her face against the top turnbuckle. Lemarchand’s head bounced in an extremely satisfying fashion, so satisfying in fact that Larkin repeated the tactic half a dozen times before she grabbed a double handful of hair and leaned in with every bit of her weight so she could scrape the bendy-back’s forehead back n’ forth against the rough canvas.
Lenore’s squeals of pain were rather muffled thanks to the turnbuckle, but her white-knuckle death-grip on the top rope and Al Carpenter’s proximity meant Harriet was able to savor the arrangement for approximately ‘FOUR!’ seconds.
“I fear you may lose your voice trying to protect this fragile little thing from my efforts over the course of the next several minutes.” the New Mexican said to the official once she’d turned Lenore in a half circle. “Wouldn’t it be better for all of us if you simply let me do what needs to be done?”
“No, not at all. Because then I’d have to offer her the same leniency. And I don’t care to think about what you ladies might do under a more relaxed approach.”
Harriet smiled as her hands found Lenore’s hair once again. “I do so love it when you talk dirty.” With that she took two giant steps away from the buckles, torqued her hips and slung Lemarchand halfway across the ring with a Biel Toss that THWHUMPED the Raven down on her belly.
BIEL TOSS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pocrP7kCLoo
Momentarily free of the redhead’s grasp, Lenore made a quick check of her nose and lips and got to her feet after she’d discovered no blood. “Looking a little ruffled, bird brain.” Harriet chided. “Conditions not as favorable as you’d hoped?”
“I’ve dealt with far worse from far better.” Lemarchand snapped at once. “So if you’re trying to impress me I’d suggest you up your--”
Larkin charged her with a Big Boot that would’ve inverted the Courtier’s chin if Lenore hadn’t caught the encroaching ankle less than six inches from her face. Lemarchand didn’t give the taller woman a chance to think about what might come next, she simply halved her grip and twisted under the exposed limb in a nasty little spin that dumped Harriet onto her back.
DRAGON SCREW:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=79lCtQNKlpc
“Trying to kick me with your left leg, Larkin?” Lenore asked as she rose to one knee. “Tell me, do you really think I can’t shred your knee or do you think you can beat me on one leg?”
“I could beat you on my knees if I wanted to, bytch.” Harriet growled. “But I promise I’ll be standing tall when that bell EEERGGHHH AAAAAHHHHHH!”
Determined to capitalize on the opening offered by the Dragon Screw, Lemarchand took Larkin’s left ankle in both hands, got to her feet and yanked on it like she was trying to crack a towel. Harriet snarled and sat up to swipe at her attacker’s legs, so Lenore went up on tiptoes and dropped to one knee, all the better to jab the bony joint into the pit of her opponent’s tweaked knee. “You want to be standing when this fight is over?” Lemarchand asked as she cupped the redhead’s left boot at heel and bridge. “Then I suggest you tap out quickly.” She bore down hard and began to twist Harriet’s foot like a clock going from midnight to three in relatively short order.
Gritting her teeth in an attempt to bite down the initial jolt of pain, Larkin ducked her head for a second then reached around, trying and failing to grab a hold of the intruding Raven from her awkward angle. After a few seconds to confirm the futility of the move, Al Carpenter dropped into view. “I can stop this Harriet,” he advised, “just say the word.”
“Is the word ‘idiot’?” Larkin growled, “we’ve already established that little miss arrogant here can’t make me quit. Maybe instead of wasting your breath you could get out of the way an OWWWW BYTCH!”
Unsatisfied with the redhead’s current level of pain, Lenore bore down even harder on her twist, adding several more degrees of torque to that already wrenched leg. At the same time she shifted her position around so that all her wait was pressed onto the back of Larkin’s knee. “Never to suffer would have been to never have been blessed,” she told the trapped Hollow Girl, “try to remember that when they take you out on the stretcher.”
Harriet didn’t show much reaction to this advice, focusing her energy on getting free of the brunette’s clutches. Recognising that she’d got nowhere by reaching with her arms she switched tactics, throwing her weight over to one side in an attempt to jostle Lemarchand off. The first attempt bought little success except an additional stab of pain in the pinned knee, but a second lurch accompanied with a swing of her free leg was enough to knock the Raven off her perch for the time being.
Rolling to a seat, Larkin looked up just in time to see Lenore already risen thanks to the ropes. Keen to keep the larger woman grounded, the Raven swooped forwards, planting one foot while the other swung back to deliver a powerful Penalty Kick to…Larkin dropped to her back at the last possible second, allowing Lemarchand’s boot to swish harmlessly overhead then rapidly rolling to her front and rising while the brunette still had her back turned.
Snugging in behind the off-balance Courtier, Harriet clubbed a forearm into the back of her neck then scooped her up, raising her squirming package up as high as she could. Lenore had an instant at the apex of the lift, reaching out a hand to try to steady herself, but she wasn’t quite quick enough as the Hollow Girl rolled her back down again, dropping to one knee as she did so to ensure that the chiselled curve of the Raven’s stomach was crushed into that posted joint!
BACK-LIFTED GUTBUSTER
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J84qdu-8n14
Breath driven out of her body by the impact to her core, Lenore gave a big airless wheeze and then gulped, trying to refill her lungs. This wasn’t helped when the redhead shovelled her over onto her back on the mat, holding a high kneel beside her. One hand rested lightly on her stomach for a second then formed into a talon, Larkin leaning forwards to bear all her weight down into the Belly Claw!
The intruding nails had Lemarchand lurching up, both hands reaching to pry at the talon invading her core. The pressure lessened, but the Hollow Girl still had a free hand, which trailed up Lenore’s pale stomach and under that purple top to the vulnerable flesh beneath. “Hey, dickhead!” she called up to Al Carpenter as the Raven squirmed beneath her, “I’m happy to just squeeze till the little jackdaw is screaming, but aren’t you meant to count?”
Sure enough Lenore was too busy fighting the redhead’s twin white-knuckle grips to keep her shoulders off the matt. It took a second for Carpenter to check this was the case, raising his hand and dropping it to count
ONE
TWO
Lenore fired a shoulder up, trying to roll further to escape those twin clutches but not quite possessing the momentum. Her odds became exponentially worse when Larkin gave up on the belly claw to swing one knee over, now in a full mount above her. “I guess I’m not as good at sneaking a pinfall as you are, magpie girl” she mused, “but we both know I’m a whole lot better at pounding you into the ground.”
Her free arm came up and then dropped down, a big swinging elbow smash which slammed into Lemarchand’s jaw and turned her head sideways. It took two more big, crushing swings before Lenore abandoned her attempts to fight the claw and brought her hands up to guard her face, Harriet trying briefly to find a way around and then settling for grrrrrrinding her elbow into the Raven’s collarbone. “So tell me, crow” she asked, “does it make you proud that you’re only famous for being someone’s lady in waiting?”
Eschewing a verbal response for the moment, Lenore instead elected to physically demonstrate just what she had learned as an apprentice to one of the best technical wrestlers of her generation. Her hands moved with fluid precision, reaching out to cup around Harriet’s elbow and wrist while her body twisted sinuously to buck the bigger girl sideways. That arm hold became a lever, Larkin forced over to one side while Lenore slipped smoothly out and twisted the captured limb into a Hammerlock which kept the redhead pressed down.
A round of impressed applause rippled through the audience, but Lenore was far more concerned to capitalise on her momentum. “It’s not about pride, sweetheart,” she drawled, “but I do so enjoy taking big dumb redheads and turning them into a screaming wreck. Speaking of which…”
Shifting her stance so that her knee kept Larkin’s arm trapped behind her back, Lenore reached down. With the Hollow Girl pinned it was simple enough to snatch her left leg, lifting up over her shoulder and then shifting her grip. Harriet’s mouth had opened to retort, but all that came out was a bitten-back groan as the Raven tugged down on her shin and brought all her weight to bear on that knee joint!
ARGENTINE LEGLOCK
youtu.be/Rt8mm_1zQh8?t=8s
Recognising the seriousness of the hold, even this early in the match, Carpenter was quick to drop so he could get close to the writhing redhead. “Can your leg hold up Harriet?” he yelled, “tell me something girl!” Larkin’s teeth were clamped shut, but she briefly waved a finger (her middle one, as it happened) to make him back off. Her free leg waved frantically , trying to gain some traction on the canvas and failing. Above her Lenore was grinning.
“What’s the matter, tough girl?” she crowed, “not so talkative now you’re face down on the matt? Or have you finally realised that just being strong isn’t nearly enough at this level?” Unwilling to respond because she couldn’t trust what might come out of her mouth, Harriet instead focussed on turning her body, wriggling around so that she could reach back and take a big hold of brunette locks. Lenore only chuckled.
“Not good enough, dear heart. My grip is legal, yours is going to be given up in five secoNNNNNGH!” In fact Harriet had no intention of waiting for Carpenter to make any count, adding another hand to her grip and then giving a vicious yank. Her double-handed tug was enough to pull Lemarchand forwards, forced to abandon her hold to avoid falling onto her face.
Escaping the hold came at a cost for Harriet in the form of a big wrench to that already aching knee. But for her part Lenore lost a good few strands of hair, hands still up checking the damage as she clambered to her feet.
Larkin was still on the matt, rolling to a seat and reaching forwards to massage at that targeted knee. The Raven swooped forwards and swung out a kick which would have almost certainly decapitated the redhead if she hadn’t ducked out of the way at the last second. Lenore didn’t cease her momentum though, rebounding off the far ropes and returning towards the rising Hollow Girl.
This time Lenore leaped off one foot, that knee bicycling up towards the redhead. Unfortunately for her, Harriet seemed to have anticipated this, dancing forwards and sideways with deceptive speed while bringing her own right leg up. Her knee thumped into the Raven’s midriff with a sound like hitting wet cement, Lemarchand’s lithe body bending forwards around the blow.
Somehow Lenore managed to stay on her feet, albeit leaning heavily forwards and wheezing after the strike to her tummy. Harriet was knocked back from the impact too, but she stormed in again, wrapping both hands around the Raven’s head and then yanking down whilst dropping to one knee. Lenore’s face was slammed into the hard plane of Larkin’s thigh, dropping to her knees and rolling to one side with stars in her eyes.
FACEBUSTER
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuvnP2NnDH0
Harriet took a second to massage her knee, then bent to grab a handful of purple top and another of her bottoms to drag the brunette upwards. Tucking her head between Lenore’s legs, the Hollow Girl powered upwards to leave herself standing with the Courtier’s body draped behind her. She took a second to press up on her toes and then tossed the whole burden backwards, sending Lemarchand crashing onto her back with hellacious impact!
ELECTRIC CHAIR DROP
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGVucBbJfuc
Lenore’s legs were thrown upwards by the slam, Harriet grabbing them while still in the air. She ducked again, powering forwards to stack the stunned Lady-In-Waiting up on her shoulders. Al Carpenter was there, giving a concerned glance at the Courtier and then dropping to count…
ONE
TWO…
Lemarchand bucked loose a whisper after ‘TWO!’, flopping onto one side to clutch at the back of her head while Larkin took an opportunity to work the kinks out of her tweaked knee. Satisfied it would be fine well after the fragile little bird was not, Harriet twined her fingers in the brunette’s hair and returned to boot leather with Lenore dragging a little bit behind. Switching over to a Wristlock so she could shoulder the Raven up against the ropes without Carpenter bytching in her ear, Harriet stepped in close enough to make sure the limber battler had no room to maneuver.
“Did you really think you were strong enough to make me submit? You’d have better luck getting a scream from a steel bar.”
“Nnnnnhhh… the bar would probably make better conversation.” Lenore grunted, “But you whimper louder than it ever couHUUURRRGGGHHH!”
Larkin slammed a heavy knee into the smaller woman’s midsection, liked the feel of Lemarchand’s breath on her chest so much that she repeated it two more times. “You don’t impress me, bird girl.” Harriet murmured in her foe’s ear. “Never have. Never will.”
The Fair & Radiant Maiden might’ve mustered an answer with a few extra seconds, alas Larkin took a giant step back and slung her across the ring with an Irish Whip. Although that wasn’t entirely accurate, as Harriet never gave up possession of the brunette’s wrist. Instead she followed half a step behind so that when Lemarchand turned into the ropes the Titian Titan was right there to THWHUMP the heaviest part of her thigh up across Lenore’s breadbasket! Lenore ‘ooooohhhhed’ and folded around the encroaching limb, her butt sitting heavy and sullen on the second strand.
“Feel that, little one?” Harriet jostled her knee so there would be no confusion. “That’s the knee you’ve been working over. Does it feel like you’ve done any meaningful damage?”
“It feels like you’re using this little moment as an excuse to keep your weight off of it, you snippy little--” Larkin backed away, peeled Lenore off the strands and sent her to the other side of the squared circle where she repeated the gut-churning Kneelift.
ROPE LEANED KITCHEN SINK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTnngA5lKMQ
“The ability to spin bullshyt is your only remarkable quality.” Harriet murmured to the back of Lemarchand’s bowed head. “But I will strip you of that quality and anything else I deem worthy of attention. Switching back to a rather gaudy grip on the Courtier’s hair, the Hollow Girl marched her prey to the center of the ring and promptly THWHUNKED her with a Headbutt to the bridge of the nose. Lenore sagged, tried to clinch, but Larkin swatted the effort aside and swung around behind neat as you please.
With Lemarchand’s hands already up to check on her nose, Harriet had no problem sliding her arms under the brunette’s biceps for a brawny Full Nelson. Hands laced tight, she pressed down hard enough to force the point of Lenore’s chin into the swell of her own modest cleavage. “Gotcha locked in a cage, little bird.” Harriet emphasized her control by yanking the captured wrestler from side to side. “If you want out you’ll have to sing for me. Preferably at the top of your lungs.”
Teeth bared from the force of Larkin’s grip, Lemarchand waggled a finger ‘no’ to ensure Carpenter didn’t intrude at an inopportune moment. It was only when she heard him shuffling away that she muttered, “Suuuuhhh… singing is really Eliza’s thing, but if you’ve got a kazoo I could hum a few bars of ‘Go f*ck yourself you prissy little AAAAAAAARRRRRRRHHHHHH!”
Harriet muscled Lenore off the canvas and spun her around once, twice, thrice before forcing her down on her knees with the Full Nelson tighter than ever! “I said SUBMIT, bytch.” Larkin sneered. “Before I decide to put your chin through your sternummmeerrrhhhhhh… let go of my hair, bird brain.”
Lenore only pulled harder, the Raven seemingly determined to remove great hanks of the newcomer’s coppery locks. “What’s the matter, Harry? Big, tuff bad girl can’t handle a little catty OOOOOOWWWWWW!”
The Hollow Girl broke the clasp on her rival’s neck so she could return the hair pull with white-knuckled interest. “How do you like it, sweetness?” she cooed over Al’s admonition. “Can you hear your scalp starting to give yeAAAAAAHHHH BYTCH!”
Lemarchand pulled hard enough to make the redhead’s eyes water. Smiling at the flutter of startled breath on that side of her neck, Lenore chided, “Anything you can do, I did in the sixth grade. That’s about the time I went through my Eliot phase, now that I think about NNNGGHH!”
Harriet stood up with a roar and yanked Lemarchand off the deck so fast her legs swung up to about waist level. This might’ve let her land on her feet if Larkin hadn’t halved her grip at the apex and used it to spin the Courtier around in a half circle a heartbeat before she laid out on her back. There was a low, unpleasant THWHUNK followed by groans of sympathetic anguish from the FAWNatics as Lenore landed on her face, chest and belly, a victim of a ring-shaking Full Nelson Facebuster. Lemarchand showed no signs of moving on her own, so Harriet snagged her at hip and shoulder, tugged her onto her back and mashed both hands into the Raven’s oblivious mug in an arrogant, domineering cover good for…
FULL NELSON FACEBUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vveM_XMLBb0
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
Emily’s Lady in Waiting shot an arm into the air to break the cover and the face mash with half second to spare. “Poor choice, little bird.” Larkin growled as she laid claim to Lenore’s wrist. “Though I do appreciate this strong commitment to your utter annihilation.” Nothing in response, which Harriet claimed as a submission of sorts. Peeling the brunette off the canvas in stages, she pointed her at a corner on the far side of the ring and sent Lenore flying toward it with an Irish Whip so strong it sent the aggressor to one knee.
The FAWNatics noted Lemarchand’s rapid approach with a worried fascination that caused many of them to look away at the last second. This proved a great shame because it meant they missed the moment when Lenore dipped her head, hooked both arms over the top rope (on either side of the top turnbuckle) and used all that momentum to flip up ‘n over the strands to land on the apron!
Of course freedom didn’t mean security so Lemarchand spun around on the narrow ledge just in time to see Harriet Larkin launch a teeth-shattering Big Boot straight at her-- Lenore caught the redhead’s ankle in both hands and stepped back off the apron to ‘TWAAAANG!’ the Hollow Girl crotch-first across the rubber-coated steel of the top rope.
Silenced by the sheer enormity of the anguish emanating from her undercarriage, Larkin managed to grab the traitorous cable in both hands but couldn’t find the strength to extricate herself from the awkward position. She’d managed a few soft moans in the back of her throat when Lemarchand climbed onto the apron and decked her across the jaw with half a dozen Forearm Smashes. “You used your left leg.” Lenore’s tone was equal parts incredulity and irritation. “I cannot believe you led with your left leg. It’s like, you know what? Screw the explanations. Let me show you the cost of poor decisions.”
Give her credit, Harriet grabbed at the brunette’s hair, but her grip was a ghost of its usual strength and Lenore simply endured it to take possession of her rival’s left ankle. Pulling and tugging to ensure the pit of Larkin’s left knee was nocked snug over the top rope, Lemarchand folded the big redhead’s lower leg in so she could wedge her ankle against the inside of the second rope. The crowd murmured appreciatively, Al Carpenter on the other hand just stifled a sigh and said, “C’mon Lenore, you can’t keep her tied up like that.”
The Raven backed off a little ways, then twisted around so her right shoulder was pointed at Harriet’s helpless knee. “Oh, I very well can. Unless of course you’re going to start a count.”
Al didn’t bother to hide his latest sigh. “Are we really going to do--”
Lemarchand hopped forward and THWHAPPED her right foot against the side of Larkin’s knee with a Super Kick!
Harriet howled in pain and outrage as she scrabbled to free herself, unfortunately she wasn’t fast enough to escape before the second pinpoint Super Kick collided with her exposed knee.
“Pippi Lovestalking here tried to twist the head off my shoulders after Amara Singh almost broke my neck over an expanse of exposed steel.” Lenore explained with no humor whatsoever. “So yeah, I think you’ll have to count.”
Never one to be slow on the uptake, Carpenter had already taken his cue, leaning in to yell “ONE!” at the Raven. Lenore simply took this as her cue to work faster, landing two more perfectly placed kicks and then backing of with her hands raised a heartbeat after the harried ref yelled “FOUR!”
By this point the noises coming from Harriet were definitely more identifiable as pain, but here was also plenty of anger as evidenced by the guttural growl she aimed at Carpenter, whose only crime was to try and untangle her.
He was still engaged in this thankless task when a change in the crowd noise sent his referee senses tingling. In fact the lanky ref moved out of the way with less than a second to spare, Lenore having decided to untangle the redhead in her own way by rebounding off the far ropes and leaping into a gorgeous Dropkick which thumped right into Larkin’s trapped abdomen.
Freed from her trap in the most jarring way possible, Larkin dropped to the matt headfirst and came to rest in a foetal heap holding her knee. She was only permitted to keep it for a few seconds though, Lenore stamping over and reclaiming the limb from her grasp. It was the work of a second to drag it under the bottom rope, the vengeful Courtier reaching over with her other hand to yank up wards and wrap that already hurting knee joint around the unforgiving steel cable.
“I think we’ve well established that you aren’t much of a wrestler, but I thought at least you knew how to fight?” Using one leg to brace the cable, Lemarchand leaned all of her weight backwards to bring as much pressure as she could to bear on Harriet’s left knee. The only verbal response was another wordless bellow, not sufficient to interrupt the Raven’s lecture.
“When facing an opponent with far superior skill and experience who has already crippled your knee once, it’s really best not to offer her that exact same knee again. I really hope you’re learning why.” Although her point had already been well and truly made, Lenore chose to drive it home by throwing herself backwards, giving one final almighty jarring yank on that captured limb. Larkin’s yelp was almost animal, but so was the speed she showed in hooking one hand around the rope and dragging herself out to the apron, slopping over into a damp heap on the ringside matting.
Standing tall up above her in the ring, Lenore couldn’t help but let out a small chortle. “So tell me again about ‘meaningful damage’?” she crowed, “because to me you look like someone who’s trying to run away but can’t because someone’s crippled her lHEY TOO SLOW!”
Larkin’s hand shot out under the bottom rope, trying to snatch away the brunette’s standing foot and coming up an inch short. In face Lenore hopped off both feet, using the ropes to spring neatly onto the outside. As Harriet lurched away the Raven took a few swift steps and leaped into the air, coming down with both feet planted squarely on the bigger girl’s chest.
APRON DOUBLE FOOT STOMP
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY5Jx2vkGJI
Already hobbling, the Hollow Girl had no chance of bracing herself and was smashed down onto her back with the Courtier’s boots nearly caving in her sternum. Lenore rolled away from the impact and was swiftly back up on her feet. “Up!” she demanded of the wheezing redhead, “your lesson isn’t finished yet, not until I hear you say you’ve had enough.” It was the work of a moment to hook around Larkins’ head and haul up, shovelling the Santa Fe girl under the ropes and then hopping onto the apron and back in herself.
The act of getting to her feet was clearly difficult for Larkin, and by the time she’d managed it the Raven had moved to the nearest corner and climbed the second buckle, all the better to send her back down again with interest. Or at least that was Lenore’s intention when she jumped off the buckle, but the redhead showed that she still had plenty of life by catching the flying Courtier and shifting her around to drop spine-first across one posted knee
CATCHING TILT-A-WHIRL BACKBREAKER
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo68VIT42WY
Importantly Harriet had dropped on her left knee, leaving her right to take the impact of Lenore’s body. The drop had her wincing anyway but she grimaced through as the brunette let out a groan and flopped onto the matt. Allowed a little space to regroup for the first time in the last few minutes, Harriet gave her knee a quick exploratory prod, readjusted the pad, and then rose to smooth out the rest of her togs, keeping a close eye on the Raven as she clambered to her knees.
“All I can hear out of your mouth is hubrisSSHH!” One long pale leg shot out and jabbed into the redhead’s kneecap, knocking the limb out from under Harriet and sending her to all fours. Lenore twisted her torso to position for a second strike but overestimated how much time she had to deliver it as Larkin bulled forwards, colliding messily and ending up in a sprawl on the mat with the Hollow Girl clearly on top.
Larkin’s arm came back and then hammered down, slamming into the courtier’s face once and then again before she could manage to do anything about it. Lenore’s response was to throw up a hasty arm to ward the blows, only for the angry redhead to drive the next two elbow smashes into her purple top. Lemarchand gave out a grunt of pain, but her breathing became more laboured still when Harriet switched her elbow for a claw which she tried to dig through the top and into the flesh beneath.
Not keen to sacrifice her top, Lenore dropped one hand to fight the claw while the other reached up and took a big handful of red locks. She used this to yank Harriet’s head to one side, her body following involuntarily to allow the Raven a path to freedom. She shoved the bigger woman away and had almost made it to her feet when Harriet once again demonstrated her sheer bloody-mindedness, this time by lunging forwards form her knees and scooping around the Raven’s taut waist.
The position became exponentially more dangerous when Larkin got her legs under her, grunting and wincing but still showing off impressive strength to lift Lemarchand up and keep her there as she regained her feet. Lenore’s wriggles suggested that’s he knew she was in danger, but she mitigated some of this by reaching down and taking a two-handed grasp of the redhead’s waistband!
A single tug was enough to gain a little moan from Larkin, but Lenore clearly planned to do much more than that. “I spent Christmas practicing my skills with a certain Carrie Cavendish. So when I tell you to put me down before I hook your panties up around your ears, you really should listen.” Another big yank briefly had Harriet up on her tiptoes, but she showed no sign of complying with the threat.
“Don’t know who that is, magpie. But if you think that’s going to stop me you’re even more deluded than I thought.” Doing her damndest to ignore the fire in her loins, Harriet shifted the brunette’s weight slightly so that her grip was around those milky thighs. She once again went up on tiptoes, this time voluntarily, and then dropped forwards with her torso, ripping her burden outwards as she did so. Lenore rotated through a swift three quarter circle before the mat interrupted her rotation.
ALABAMA SLAM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-EoavIyfV4
Lenore crunched into the canvas-covered plywood on her spine, her neck whiplashing behind, and then curled up into a ball with her arms cradling the back of her noggin. But her threat had clearly not been in vain, Larkin giving herself an almighty wedgie as a result of the move and as urgently flipping her skirt up and rearranging her briefs into a more comfortable orientation. With that achieved she stepped up to the hurting raven, kicked her over on to her back, and set about getting retribution.
The first step of this was to kneel down very deliberately so that her left knee was pushing down right into the centre of Lemarchand’s purple bottoms. “Like I was saying, all I hear from you is hubris.” Lenore groaned and bucked upwards, trying once again to get out from under the redhead, but Harriet leaned down to brace herself on that taut stomach to keep her in place.
“You want to lecture me about tactics? You’ve spent the whole match getting your ass kicked, all because you think you’re owed a submission that you’re never gonna get.” Lenore was urgently sitting up to reach for Harriet, but the redhead clubbed a forearm into her chest to drive her back down again. “You feel that knee pressing into your cunt, cunt? Yeah, that’s the one you’ve supposedly wrecked. Enjoy that feeling.”
It was apparent that Lenore certainly didn’t enjoy it, switching tactics and rapidly pushing herself away. The instant the pressure on her center was released she rolled to her front, only to have Harriet dive on top of her and grab at one arm. Her response was to reach down with the other, digging her fingers into the flesh of that tenderised left knee. This was enough to lesse the pressure for a second but no longer, Larkin powering the other knee up to slam into her side.
“There is one thing I learned because of you,” the New Mexican mused, lifting that captured limb up and ducking her head and shoulders beneath. “You actually inspired me to pick a new move just so I could rip your head off. You’re welcome to scream, but try not to give up too quickly, I’d like to enjoy this.” Looping her hands around the brunette’s neck, Larkin planted her feet and bridged back as hard as she could.
FIRE SERMON
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuJ_MCQvGow
“Oh, I by the way” Harriet snarled, “this hold is real easy on my knee.”
The Fair & Radiant Maiden might’ve well congratulated her adversary on such a tactically sound choice, if her jaw wasn’t clenched against the scream trying to tear its way from her throat. Effectively down to her right arm, Lemarchand braced her elbow against the canvas and pushed up as high as she could, in the hopes that she might bring at least one knee to-- “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH FAAAAAAHHHHHK!”
Harriet REEFED back on her hold, forcing the trapped brunette flat on her belly. “Go ahead and keep bashing yourself against the bars of this cage, bird brain.” Larkin sneered. “They’ll still be just as strong long after you’ve screamed yourself hoarse!” She jostled Fire Sermon harder than ever and was delighted to see Lemarchand’s free hand wavering several inches above the mat.
Everyone else saw it too, meaning Al Carpenter had to raise his voice over the insistent ‘PLEASE DON’T TAP!’ chants. “Tap out if you have to, Lenore.” he murmured. “Don’t let her wreck your neck.”
Harriet only snorted. “As if she or that bell could stop me.” The big redhead craaaaaaaaaanked back once again, all the better to savor the bendyback’s agonized wails. “Go ahead and fight it all you want, little bird. I’m more than happy to EEEEERRRRRRRRHHHH BYTCH!”
The Hollow Girl was so enthralled with Lemarchand’s right hand that she’d forgotten all about the left. This proved most detrimental when the Courtier finally palmed it against the side of Larkin’s head and slid three fingers into her mouth! Tearing at Harriet’s face with the oversized Fishhook was supremely satisfying but it didn’t break the redhead’s grip, in fact Larkin redoubled her efforts to wrench the Raven’s head from her shoulders.
“Gehv ub.” she growled around those encroaching talons. “AY SED SUHBMID, YOO SGRAWNY WHOOOAAAAHH!”
Lenore shot out her right hand, snatched hold of her attacker’s left knee pad and used the grip to effectively roll into the hellacious pressure of Larkin’s grip. Not only did it relieve the pressure of the hold, it tumbled Harriet backward onto her shoulders with Lemarchand pressing down hard on her upturned thighs in a desperate yet effective Cradle! Already close to the action, Carpenter was in the perfect position to check Harriet’s shoulders before tolling off the…
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOO!
Larkin powered free at the last possible second and scrambled to verticality only to let out a vile curse when her left knee buckled under the strain. This unwelcome penance put her eye to eye with the recovering brunette so Harriet channeled all her considerable anger into the grip she wrapped around Lenore’s throat. “So you’re not going to sing like a good little bird?” she rasped between ragged breaths. “Then I’ll have to finish what Singh started and wring your f*cking neGUUURRRHHH!”
Emily’s Lady in Waiting answered with a choke of her own, as well as a massive fistful of Harriet’s coppery locks, a bit of escalation the Hollow Girl was quick to match. Barely able to breathe, let alone speak, they let their hands and eyes do the talking, neither woman consenting to break her grip or her gaze until Al prized them apart to avoid the dreaded Double Disqualification. Distance did wonders for their respiration if not their mood, Larkin and Lemarchand glaring death at one another from across a wide expanse of canvas.
“Knee’s looking a little gimpy, bytch.” Lenore taunted once she could speak at something above a croak.
“And your neck is about ten seconds away from traction, c*nt.” Larkin sneered back. “Why don’t you toddle on over here so I can finish the job.”
Lenore answered with a glittering smile that made the redhead hate her that much more. “Why? Afraid that big strong leg isn’t up to--”
Harriet came for her in a flat-out bull rush that would’ve taken both women to the mat in a sprawl if Lenore hadn’t dropped low with a heartbeat between herself and disaster. As it was they still hit the canvas, though the Raven’s descent proved a controlled one thanks to her Drop Toe Hold. Harriet however went down like she’d hit a tripwire, the big redhead THUMPING flat on her face, chest and belly.
Lenore was on her in a flash, stretching out atop the Hollow Girl in a Full Body Press that quickly transformed into a back-mounted Double Leg Grapevine and a downright vengeful Full Nelson.
“Errrrrrrrhhhhhhh F*CKING SHYT!” Larkin roared in pain and anguish as her left knee became an inferno once more.
“So you want to break my neck?” Lenore’s words were hot and mean in the New Mexican’s ear. “You want to expose me as a fraud?” She forced Harriet’s forehead against the mat and took great pleasure in draaaaaaaaaaaaagging it back n’ forth. Larkin grunted, bucked her hips in an effort to roll over, but Lemarchand wrenched the Grapevine a little wider and countered with a hip thrust of her own, much to the delight of those assembled.
“You sneaky little twat.” Harriet growled. “I’m going to make you beg before I break your UGH! UGH! UGH! ARROGANT WHORE!”
Lemarchand drove her hips into Larkin’s slightly upraised haunches, a slow but unquestionably emphatic grind that raised the audience noise to near deafening levels. “You’re MINE, Harriet.” Lenore whispered as she continued the tawdry display. “I could shred your knee right now but I’m going to shatter your pride instead.”
“The f*ck you will.” Larkin dug white knuckled claws into the mat and dragged the both of them a little closer to the ropes. “You’re going to beg for your career just as soon as I get out of UUUNNNGGHH!”
“You’re not getting out, honey.” Lemarchand ended the grind in favor of amping up the strain on the Grapevine. “Unless of course… did you tell Lyra to come to the rescue if it looked like you were about to AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!”
The tawdry proximity of Lenore’s hold allowed Harriet to grab the back of her neck and she squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze until the Raven relinquished her hooks. Regaining her feet in slow motion, Larkin flipped hair out of her eyes and promised, “You’re going to suffer, Lenore.”
“I’m wasting my time with a nightclub anarchist with delusions of grandeur.” the Raven spat. “Believe me Harriet, I’ve already suff--”
Harriet didn’t agree, which was why she stormed forward and caromed a Haymaker off the Courtier’s chin. Lemarchand responded in kind and Larkin immediately returned fire, meaning the arena soon echoed with ‘BOO’s’ and ‘YAY’s!’ as the brawl swung back n’ forth. Eventually the Hollow Girl took control with a Headbutt to the bridge of Lenore’s nose and a hair-hold to keep her from dropping to her knees. Drawing her into a Standing Headscissors before Carpenter could bytch about the hair, Larkin cinched her arms around Lemarchand’s waist and swung her up onto her shoulders for a PowerboNOOOO!
Lenore locked her ankles and popped her hips, flipping the redhead off her feet with a surprise Hurricanrana that hit hard enough to pop Harriet’s legs into the air! Knees spread wide to make sure Larkin got a chin full of her trunks, the Fair & Radiant Maiden hooked her rival behind the knees and pulled forwaNOOOO!
Harriet pushed back with her legs, forcing the startled brunette to her back with an improvised Sunset Flip! Seizing Lenore’s ankles in each hand, Harriet forced the Raven’s legs up over her head, then scooted up and forward to sit on those upturned calves with all her weight while Al slapped the mat…
ONE…
TWO…
THREE!
Harriet pumped a fist when the bell CLANGED, then held a set of identical middle fingers inches from Lenore’s nose while the Announcer called, “Ladies and gentlemen, your winner via pin-fall… HARRIET LARKIN!”
The announcement brought with it a round of boos, although there was a murmuring undercurrent of appreciation for the spectacle. Harriet didn’t look in the slightest bit interested in that though, getting slowly to her feet while keeping both her stare and that middle-finger salute locked squarely on the Raven.
Lenore returned her glare a hundredfold, reaching up to flip her hair out of her eyes. But however intense her frustration she was determined to give Larkin as little satisfaction as possible in the moment, taking a few big deep breaths to swallow her annoyance before rising to face the victorious upstart. She even managed to go a step further, responding to those two middle fingers with a withering golf clap.
“Congratulations” she said in a voice which made it clear she meant anything but. “You must be so proud. I just hope that telling all your online friends about how cool and edgy you are is enough to satisfy that monumental sense of entitlement until next month.”
Harriet dropped her hands and shook her head. “I don’t give a shyt how you want to spin it.” She told the Raven. “You just got beat at your own little game with the whole world watching. Even you have to appreciate the irony.”
Stepping forwards so that she was once again only a few inches away, Lenore spoke right into the smug-looking redhead’s face. “The only success you’ve ever had was when you took me by surprise. After tonight the only thing that would surprise me is if you actually backed up all that shyt you talk. So enjoy your moment while you can.”
Harriet’s mouth opened, then closed again swiftly. It looked for all the world as if she genuinely didn’t have a comeback, especially when she backed a half step away. Only a sudden change in crowd noise indicated that there might be an ulterior motive for that, and by that time it was too THUNK!
All of a sudden the Raven went from upright to flying sideways, impacted by a hurtling glitterball which landed, rolled to it’s feet and resolved into the figure of Lyra Faulk! The Chaos Emerald had apparently hopped the barricade and up to the apron, leaving her in perfect position to hit a Slingshot Spear right into the side of the unsuspecting Courtier.
LYRA FAULK
The Aussie stepped over to her partner, perhaps looking to raise her hand. But Harriet only had eyes for Lenore at her feet. “I know you pull all this crap because you need validation” she told the largely oblivious Raven, “but I really don’t. Don’t need to follow your arbitrary personal rules either. I just do this ‘cos it’s fun.” She finally looked up at her partner, giving her a quick wink and then gesturing with her head to the nearest ropes. Faulk grinned and slipped out to the apron.
“Usually I’d say ‘this is how your world ends’.” Even as she spoke the Hollow Girl bent to lift Lemarchand up, spinning them both around in opposing circles and hauling up higher into a classic Gory Special position. The lift looked laboured to the point of near exhaustion, and there was a very clear wince as she flexed her knee, but she still managed to hook the Fair and Radiant Maiden up high. “You, I think I’ll probably be seeing again. But this is definitely the way your night ends.” Harriet turned to face her partner and took a deep breath. “And it doesn’t end with a bang.”
WHIMPER
youtu.be/88QxPmnOc_k?t=42s (@0:42)
Faulk was already flying even before the verbal cue, hopping to the top rope and then springboarding out into the air. She turned a graceful somersault, reaching out at the apex to hook her hands around Lemarchand’s noggin. And then she fell, yanking the Raven’s head forwards and down into the canvas at a neck-breaking angle. Lenore bounced a little and came to rest in a damp puddle.
Hobbling around to stand over the pile of brunette wreckage, Larkin reached one hand out sideways without looking and smiled when Lyra scurried over to take it. The Aussie raised that hand up high, then pulled it down again to give a short, almost regal kiss to her knuckle. “Have you had your fun?” she asked demurely.
“I think in this case there’s something to be said for delayed gratification.” Harriet replied. “Magpie here won’t let things lie. Plenty more fun to be had next time.” Still holding Lyra tight with one hand, the Hollow Girl quickly dropped the other to give one last middle finger to Lemarchand. The Raven didn’t give any response, too busy being tended to by Carpenter, but there were a few last jeers from the crowd as the pair slipped through the ropes, down off the apron and back up the entranceway.
Kula Shaker’s ‘Hush’ winged its way into the arena and a cloud of ’Ravens’ went up, Lemarchand’s ’unkindness’ having grown throughout the course of her wars with an Empress and now an Anarchist. The capacity crowd cheered all the louder when Emily West’s Lady in Waiting brushed through the curtain scant seconds after her name was called. Dark eyes scanning the crowd for any sign of Larkin or her equally deranged friend, the brunette murmured, “Our first meeting was little more than a stress test. Tonight however, tonight is all about endurance in the face of extreme torture.” On that pleasant note she hooked her thumbs together and hoisted the Raven sigil directly overhead. This was greeted by the largest response yet, more than enough moral support to set Lemarchand on her way down the ramp.
LENORE LEMARCHAND:
For this follow-up lesson for the big ginger tramp, Lenore wore strappy bikini bottoms hued in a purplish-black and emblazoned with a faint design that careful inspection revealed as feathers. Her top was halter style, with the color and pattern matching her briefs, while her elbow and kneepads were matte black, the latter still obscured by loose, bell-flared 'leggings' that started just south of mid-thigh and dropped to ankle length. Those leggings were also black and featured a stylized version of Lemarchand’s raven insignia done in stark white. Her look was finished with shiny black boots and purple wrist tape that matched her togs.
Though the Raven never stopped scanning the aisles for signs of an FIC ambush, she did pause her perusal long enough to enjoy a sign proclaiming:
QUOTH THE RAVEN: MAKE HER BLEED!
“I think your rhyme scheme is off.” she told the sign holder. “But I appreciate the sentiment. Now if you’ll excuse me…” The Courtier spun away and broke into a limber run that brought her under the bottom rope in a matter of heartbeats. On her feet even faster, claimed center ring as her own and raised Raven sigil one more time before heading to the far corner so Al Carpenter could perform the pre-fight check of pads and boots.
As Carpenter commenced his well-practiced checks the arena darkened again, this time bringing a considerably less friendly response from that capacity crowd.
"And her opponent, from Santa Fe, New Mexico, standing at five feet and ten inches and weighing in tonight at one hundred and forty pounds...representing...uh...FIC, she is known as the Hollow Girl...HARRIET LARKIN!"
PURE MORNING www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHQngnnHE_0
In fact there were a few cheers amidst the approbrium, Harriet having chosen her tag team’s anthem instead of her personal one and apparently reminding a few in the crowd of how interesting life tended to be when FlC were around. But only one figure appeared at the top of the ramp, striding down without looking left and right, her pace picking up until she hit a full sprint just before sliding under the bottom rope and into the ring.
HARRIET LARKIN
The Hollow Girl came to a stop about a third of the way into the squared circle, eyeing her opponent with a stare which quickly became an extremely mirthless smile. For tonights revenge mission against the Raven, Harriet wore her usual tight white tank, black lacy bra showing through, and a short plaid skirt with some sturdy looking black booty shorts visible beneath whenever she moved. Those striking auburn locks flowed free down over her shoulders, and her feet were clad in sturdy looking black boots.
Perhaps the most striking thing were the two chevrons of facepaint, done in copper and charcoal grey over her left eye. Certainly Harriet seemed very keen to show this to her opponent, licking one thumb and rubbing it down over the paint while keeping her green eyes locked tight on the Courtiers. When she had demonstrated that those chevrons wouldn’t rub off she dropped her hand but kept that middle finger raised and pointed in Lemarchand’s direction. Lenore only smiled back, keeping a close eye as the Hollow Girl stepped back into her corner and finally deigned to be checked.
Larkin and Lemarchand came out of their corners the moment the bell sounded, both ladies on a beeline for the center of the squared circle and a resumption of the nose to nose stare down so rudely interrupted after their first meeting. “It’s such a surprise to see you, bird brain.” Harriet tilted her head ever so slightly to emphasize the height difference. “All week I was telling myself there was no way you’d be stupid enough to meet me out here again… yet here you are.” She stepped forward, chesting into the Courtier hard enough to rock her back a half step.
“Color me surprised as well, Harry.” Lenore replied without missing a beat. “Two matches, two remarkably punctual appearances for opening bell. Better not do it again, otherwise all the other anarchy loving losers out there might start to suspect you’ve lost all faith in entropy. And how terrible would that be? They’d have to find another brooding poseur more deserving of epic White Out poems written on their NNNNGGGGHHHH!”
Larkin scraped the heel of her palm across Lenore’s mouth with a rough Pie-Face, then followed it up with a single Forearm Smash that THWHUMPED against the Raven’s chest. Lemarchand stumbled without going down, so Harriet snatched a huge handful of hair and treated her to a good shake before hauling the brunette in to whisper in one ear. “It’s not wise to violate the rules until you understand how to observe them, bird BRRREEEEGGHHH!”
Lenore mashed Larkin’s mug with the side of her head, swatted the hair hold aside and celebrated her escape with a scintillating, knuckles-first backhand Bytch Slap that CRAAACKED against the redhead’s mouth. “Let’s get a couple of things straight, Larkin.” the Fair & Radiant Maiden snarled over the ‘ooooohhhhh’ of the crowd. “First, I went nose to nose with Carrie f*cking Cavendish as a Christmas present to myself, so I do not, even in the loosest sense, sweat you. Second, if you really want to make an impression, don’t tell, shOOHUUUGGGHHH!”
Larkin stormed into the breach, wrapped both hands around the other woman’s neck and hoisted her skyward like she was little more than a bag full of leaves. Ignoring the ref’s immediate warning in favor of keeping her eyes locked on Lenore’s, Harriet murmured, “Your fearlessness is born of ignorance, not bravery. So allow me to enlighten you in the most direct way possible.” Lenore clawed and swatted at her attacker’s forearms but Larkin didn’t even flinch. Rather she stomped over to Lemarchand’s corner and set her in a rude perch on the top turnbuckle.
TWO HANDED CHOKE LIFT:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b1gXJl0sP4
“Dammit Harriet, let go of the choke!” Al Carpenter demanded from beside Larkin’s left shoulder. “And get out of the corner!”
Harriet only grinned and gouged her thumbs in under the brunette’s jaw. “Perhaps you should ask the little bird if she has the wherewithal to leave this NNNNHHHHHHH!” Larkin snarled in pain and surprise when Lemarchand jabbed a thumb into the towering tyro’s right eye!
“Jeeze Lenore, you know you can’t do that!” Al complained amidst Harriet’s abrupt exit from the corner. “Keep away from her eyes!”
Ignoring the sting in her neck, Lenore stood on the second rope and countered, “Keep her away from my neck and maybe I will.”
One hand pressed to her welling eye, Larkin looked in the direction of Lemarchand’s reply and--THWHAP! The Raven came off the ropes with a short Missile Dropkick that connected not with Harriet’s chest, but her left thigh *just* above the knee! Larkin dropped to one knee in an instant only to scramble to her feet barely a second behind her brunette adversary. This head-start proved more than enough time for Lemarchand to take to the skies with another Dropkick, this one of the standing variety. It connected with Harriet’s chest with a satisfying THUMP, yet she only ceded a few steps worth of canvas.
Suddenly determined to take the big redhead off her feet and keep her there, Lenore closed in and absolutely lit-up Harriet’s chest with a Knife-Edge Chop, then shoved her away so she could have a bit of a running start for the third Dropki-- The Hollow Girl swatted her legs aside, knocking Lemarchand out of the air like a poorly tossed Frisbee. Lenore landed on her belly with a heavy ‘THUD’ but probably would’ve recovered as quickly as her rival if Harriet hadn’t immediately planted a stomp in the small of her back.
“You couldn’t beat me to the legs the first time we met, bird girl.” Larkin sneered as she grrrrrrrrrrroooooound the point of her heel into the brunette’s spine. “Tonight’s battle will prove no different.”
Helping herself to a huge hank of hair after she’d stomped on Lenore’s back a couple more times, Harriet peeled Emily’s Lady in Waiting off the mat just so she could rush her over to the corner and BWUUUNG her face against the top turnbuckle. Lemarchand’s head bounced in an extremely satisfying fashion, so satisfying in fact that Larkin repeated the tactic half a dozen times before she grabbed a double handful of hair and leaned in with every bit of her weight so she could scrape the bendy-back’s forehead back n’ forth against the rough canvas.
Lenore’s squeals of pain were rather muffled thanks to the turnbuckle, but her white-knuckle death-grip on the top rope and Al Carpenter’s proximity meant Harriet was able to savor the arrangement for approximately ‘FOUR!’ seconds.
“I fear you may lose your voice trying to protect this fragile little thing from my efforts over the course of the next several minutes.” the New Mexican said to the official once she’d turned Lenore in a half circle. “Wouldn’t it be better for all of us if you simply let me do what needs to be done?”
“No, not at all. Because then I’d have to offer her the same leniency. And I don’t care to think about what you ladies might do under a more relaxed approach.”
Harriet smiled as her hands found Lenore’s hair once again. “I do so love it when you talk dirty.” With that she took two giant steps away from the buckles, torqued her hips and slung Lemarchand halfway across the ring with a Biel Toss that THWHUMPED the Raven down on her belly.
BIEL TOSS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pocrP7kCLoo
Momentarily free of the redhead’s grasp, Lenore made a quick check of her nose and lips and got to her feet after she’d discovered no blood. “Looking a little ruffled, bird brain.” Harriet chided. “Conditions not as favorable as you’d hoped?”
“I’ve dealt with far worse from far better.” Lemarchand snapped at once. “So if you’re trying to impress me I’d suggest you up your--”
Larkin charged her with a Big Boot that would’ve inverted the Courtier’s chin if Lenore hadn’t caught the encroaching ankle less than six inches from her face. Lemarchand didn’t give the taller woman a chance to think about what might come next, she simply halved her grip and twisted under the exposed limb in a nasty little spin that dumped Harriet onto her back.
DRAGON SCREW:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=79lCtQNKlpc
“Trying to kick me with your left leg, Larkin?” Lenore asked as she rose to one knee. “Tell me, do you really think I can’t shred your knee or do you think you can beat me on one leg?”
“I could beat you on my knees if I wanted to, bytch.” Harriet growled. “But I promise I’ll be standing tall when that bell EEERGGHHH AAAAAHHHHHH!”
Determined to capitalize on the opening offered by the Dragon Screw, Lemarchand took Larkin’s left ankle in both hands, got to her feet and yanked on it like she was trying to crack a towel. Harriet snarled and sat up to swipe at her attacker’s legs, so Lenore went up on tiptoes and dropped to one knee, all the better to jab the bony joint into the pit of her opponent’s tweaked knee. “You want to be standing when this fight is over?” Lemarchand asked as she cupped the redhead’s left boot at heel and bridge. “Then I suggest you tap out quickly.” She bore down hard and began to twist Harriet’s foot like a clock going from midnight to three in relatively short order.
Gritting her teeth in an attempt to bite down the initial jolt of pain, Larkin ducked her head for a second then reached around, trying and failing to grab a hold of the intruding Raven from her awkward angle. After a few seconds to confirm the futility of the move, Al Carpenter dropped into view. “I can stop this Harriet,” he advised, “just say the word.”
“Is the word ‘idiot’?” Larkin growled, “we’ve already established that little miss arrogant here can’t make me quit. Maybe instead of wasting your breath you could get out of the way an OWWWW BYTCH!”
Unsatisfied with the redhead’s current level of pain, Lenore bore down even harder on her twist, adding several more degrees of torque to that already wrenched leg. At the same time she shifted her position around so that all her wait was pressed onto the back of Larkin’s knee. “Never to suffer would have been to never have been blessed,” she told the trapped Hollow Girl, “try to remember that when they take you out on the stretcher.”
Harriet didn’t show much reaction to this advice, focusing her energy on getting free of the brunette’s clutches. Recognising that she’d got nowhere by reaching with her arms she switched tactics, throwing her weight over to one side in an attempt to jostle Lemarchand off. The first attempt bought little success except an additional stab of pain in the pinned knee, but a second lurch accompanied with a swing of her free leg was enough to knock the Raven off her perch for the time being.
Rolling to a seat, Larkin looked up just in time to see Lenore already risen thanks to the ropes. Keen to keep the larger woman grounded, the Raven swooped forwards, planting one foot while the other swung back to deliver a powerful Penalty Kick to…Larkin dropped to her back at the last possible second, allowing Lemarchand’s boot to swish harmlessly overhead then rapidly rolling to her front and rising while the brunette still had her back turned.
Snugging in behind the off-balance Courtier, Harriet clubbed a forearm into the back of her neck then scooped her up, raising her squirming package up as high as she could. Lenore had an instant at the apex of the lift, reaching out a hand to try to steady herself, but she wasn’t quite quick enough as the Hollow Girl rolled her back down again, dropping to one knee as she did so to ensure that the chiselled curve of the Raven’s stomach was crushed into that posted joint!
BACK-LIFTED GUTBUSTER
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J84qdu-8n14
Breath driven out of her body by the impact to her core, Lenore gave a big airless wheeze and then gulped, trying to refill her lungs. This wasn’t helped when the redhead shovelled her over onto her back on the mat, holding a high kneel beside her. One hand rested lightly on her stomach for a second then formed into a talon, Larkin leaning forwards to bear all her weight down into the Belly Claw!
The intruding nails had Lemarchand lurching up, both hands reaching to pry at the talon invading her core. The pressure lessened, but the Hollow Girl still had a free hand, which trailed up Lenore’s pale stomach and under that purple top to the vulnerable flesh beneath. “Hey, dickhead!” she called up to Al Carpenter as the Raven squirmed beneath her, “I’m happy to just squeeze till the little jackdaw is screaming, but aren’t you meant to count?”
Sure enough Lenore was too busy fighting the redhead’s twin white-knuckle grips to keep her shoulders off the matt. It took a second for Carpenter to check this was the case, raising his hand and dropping it to count
ONE
TWO
Lenore fired a shoulder up, trying to roll further to escape those twin clutches but not quite possessing the momentum. Her odds became exponentially worse when Larkin gave up on the belly claw to swing one knee over, now in a full mount above her. “I guess I’m not as good at sneaking a pinfall as you are, magpie girl” she mused, “but we both know I’m a whole lot better at pounding you into the ground.”
Her free arm came up and then dropped down, a big swinging elbow smash which slammed into Lemarchand’s jaw and turned her head sideways. It took two more big, crushing swings before Lenore abandoned her attempts to fight the claw and brought her hands up to guard her face, Harriet trying briefly to find a way around and then settling for grrrrrrinding her elbow into the Raven’s collarbone. “So tell me, crow” she asked, “does it make you proud that you’re only famous for being someone’s lady in waiting?”
Eschewing a verbal response for the moment, Lenore instead elected to physically demonstrate just what she had learned as an apprentice to one of the best technical wrestlers of her generation. Her hands moved with fluid precision, reaching out to cup around Harriet’s elbow and wrist while her body twisted sinuously to buck the bigger girl sideways. That arm hold became a lever, Larkin forced over to one side while Lenore slipped smoothly out and twisted the captured limb into a Hammerlock which kept the redhead pressed down.
A round of impressed applause rippled through the audience, but Lenore was far more concerned to capitalise on her momentum. “It’s not about pride, sweetheart,” she drawled, “but I do so enjoy taking big dumb redheads and turning them into a screaming wreck. Speaking of which…”
Shifting her stance so that her knee kept Larkin’s arm trapped behind her back, Lenore reached down. With the Hollow Girl pinned it was simple enough to snatch her left leg, lifting up over her shoulder and then shifting her grip. Harriet’s mouth had opened to retort, but all that came out was a bitten-back groan as the Raven tugged down on her shin and brought all her weight to bear on that knee joint!
ARGENTINE LEGLOCK
youtu.be/Rt8mm_1zQh8?t=8s
Recognising the seriousness of the hold, even this early in the match, Carpenter was quick to drop so he could get close to the writhing redhead. “Can your leg hold up Harriet?” he yelled, “tell me something girl!” Larkin’s teeth were clamped shut, but she briefly waved a finger (her middle one, as it happened) to make him back off. Her free leg waved frantically , trying to gain some traction on the canvas and failing. Above her Lenore was grinning.
“What’s the matter, tough girl?” she crowed, “not so talkative now you’re face down on the matt? Or have you finally realised that just being strong isn’t nearly enough at this level?” Unwilling to respond because she couldn’t trust what might come out of her mouth, Harriet instead focussed on turning her body, wriggling around so that she could reach back and take a big hold of brunette locks. Lenore only chuckled.
“Not good enough, dear heart. My grip is legal, yours is going to be given up in five secoNNNNNGH!” In fact Harriet had no intention of waiting for Carpenter to make any count, adding another hand to her grip and then giving a vicious yank. Her double-handed tug was enough to pull Lemarchand forwards, forced to abandon her hold to avoid falling onto her face.
Escaping the hold came at a cost for Harriet in the form of a big wrench to that already aching knee. But for her part Lenore lost a good few strands of hair, hands still up checking the damage as she clambered to her feet.
Larkin was still on the matt, rolling to a seat and reaching forwards to massage at that targeted knee. The Raven swooped forwards and swung out a kick which would have almost certainly decapitated the redhead if she hadn’t ducked out of the way at the last second. Lenore didn’t cease her momentum though, rebounding off the far ropes and returning towards the rising Hollow Girl.
This time Lenore leaped off one foot, that knee bicycling up towards the redhead. Unfortunately for her, Harriet seemed to have anticipated this, dancing forwards and sideways with deceptive speed while bringing her own right leg up. Her knee thumped into the Raven’s midriff with a sound like hitting wet cement, Lemarchand’s lithe body bending forwards around the blow.
Somehow Lenore managed to stay on her feet, albeit leaning heavily forwards and wheezing after the strike to her tummy. Harriet was knocked back from the impact too, but she stormed in again, wrapping both hands around the Raven’s head and then yanking down whilst dropping to one knee. Lenore’s face was slammed into the hard plane of Larkin’s thigh, dropping to her knees and rolling to one side with stars in her eyes.
FACEBUSTER
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuvnP2NnDH0
Harriet took a second to massage her knee, then bent to grab a handful of purple top and another of her bottoms to drag the brunette upwards. Tucking her head between Lenore’s legs, the Hollow Girl powered upwards to leave herself standing with the Courtier’s body draped behind her. She took a second to press up on her toes and then tossed the whole burden backwards, sending Lemarchand crashing onto her back with hellacious impact!
ELECTRIC CHAIR DROP
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGVucBbJfuc
Lenore’s legs were thrown upwards by the slam, Harriet grabbing them while still in the air. She ducked again, powering forwards to stack the stunned Lady-In-Waiting up on her shoulders. Al Carpenter was there, giving a concerned glance at the Courtier and then dropping to count…
ONE
TWO…
Lemarchand bucked loose a whisper after ‘TWO!’, flopping onto one side to clutch at the back of her head while Larkin took an opportunity to work the kinks out of her tweaked knee. Satisfied it would be fine well after the fragile little bird was not, Harriet twined her fingers in the brunette’s hair and returned to boot leather with Lenore dragging a little bit behind. Switching over to a Wristlock so she could shoulder the Raven up against the ropes without Carpenter bytching in her ear, Harriet stepped in close enough to make sure the limber battler had no room to maneuver.
“Did you really think you were strong enough to make me submit? You’d have better luck getting a scream from a steel bar.”
“Nnnnnhhh… the bar would probably make better conversation.” Lenore grunted, “But you whimper louder than it ever couHUUURRRGGGHHH!”
Larkin slammed a heavy knee into the smaller woman’s midsection, liked the feel of Lemarchand’s breath on her chest so much that she repeated it two more times. “You don’t impress me, bird girl.” Harriet murmured in her foe’s ear. “Never have. Never will.”
The Fair & Radiant Maiden might’ve mustered an answer with a few extra seconds, alas Larkin took a giant step back and slung her across the ring with an Irish Whip. Although that wasn’t entirely accurate, as Harriet never gave up possession of the brunette’s wrist. Instead she followed half a step behind so that when Lemarchand turned into the ropes the Titian Titan was right there to THWHUMP the heaviest part of her thigh up across Lenore’s breadbasket! Lenore ‘ooooohhhhed’ and folded around the encroaching limb, her butt sitting heavy and sullen on the second strand.
“Feel that, little one?” Harriet jostled her knee so there would be no confusion. “That’s the knee you’ve been working over. Does it feel like you’ve done any meaningful damage?”
“It feels like you’re using this little moment as an excuse to keep your weight off of it, you snippy little--” Larkin backed away, peeled Lenore off the strands and sent her to the other side of the squared circle where she repeated the gut-churning Kneelift.
ROPE LEANED KITCHEN SINK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTnngA5lKMQ
“The ability to spin bullshyt is your only remarkable quality.” Harriet murmured to the back of Lemarchand’s bowed head. “But I will strip you of that quality and anything else I deem worthy of attention. Switching back to a rather gaudy grip on the Courtier’s hair, the Hollow Girl marched her prey to the center of the ring and promptly THWHUNKED her with a Headbutt to the bridge of the nose. Lenore sagged, tried to clinch, but Larkin swatted the effort aside and swung around behind neat as you please.
With Lemarchand’s hands already up to check on her nose, Harriet had no problem sliding her arms under the brunette’s biceps for a brawny Full Nelson. Hands laced tight, she pressed down hard enough to force the point of Lenore’s chin into the swell of her own modest cleavage. “Gotcha locked in a cage, little bird.” Harriet emphasized her control by yanking the captured wrestler from side to side. “If you want out you’ll have to sing for me. Preferably at the top of your lungs.”
Teeth bared from the force of Larkin’s grip, Lemarchand waggled a finger ‘no’ to ensure Carpenter didn’t intrude at an inopportune moment. It was only when she heard him shuffling away that she muttered, “Suuuuhhh… singing is really Eliza’s thing, but if you’ve got a kazoo I could hum a few bars of ‘Go f*ck yourself you prissy little AAAAAAAARRRRRRRHHHHHH!”
Harriet muscled Lenore off the canvas and spun her around once, twice, thrice before forcing her down on her knees with the Full Nelson tighter than ever! “I said SUBMIT, bytch.” Larkin sneered. “Before I decide to put your chin through your sternummmeerrrhhhhhh… let go of my hair, bird brain.”
Lenore only pulled harder, the Raven seemingly determined to remove great hanks of the newcomer’s coppery locks. “What’s the matter, Harry? Big, tuff bad girl can’t handle a little catty OOOOOOWWWWWW!”
The Hollow Girl broke the clasp on her rival’s neck so she could return the hair pull with white-knuckled interest. “How do you like it, sweetness?” she cooed over Al’s admonition. “Can you hear your scalp starting to give yeAAAAAAHHHH BYTCH!”
Lemarchand pulled hard enough to make the redhead’s eyes water. Smiling at the flutter of startled breath on that side of her neck, Lenore chided, “Anything you can do, I did in the sixth grade. That’s about the time I went through my Eliot phase, now that I think about NNNGGHH!”
Harriet stood up with a roar and yanked Lemarchand off the deck so fast her legs swung up to about waist level. This might’ve let her land on her feet if Larkin hadn’t halved her grip at the apex and used it to spin the Courtier around in a half circle a heartbeat before she laid out on her back. There was a low, unpleasant THWHUNK followed by groans of sympathetic anguish from the FAWNatics as Lenore landed on her face, chest and belly, a victim of a ring-shaking Full Nelson Facebuster. Lemarchand showed no signs of moving on her own, so Harriet snagged her at hip and shoulder, tugged her onto her back and mashed both hands into the Raven’s oblivious mug in an arrogant, domineering cover good for…
FULL NELSON FACEBUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vveM_XMLBb0
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
Emily’s Lady in Waiting shot an arm into the air to break the cover and the face mash with half second to spare. “Poor choice, little bird.” Larkin growled as she laid claim to Lenore’s wrist. “Though I do appreciate this strong commitment to your utter annihilation.” Nothing in response, which Harriet claimed as a submission of sorts. Peeling the brunette off the canvas in stages, she pointed her at a corner on the far side of the ring and sent Lenore flying toward it with an Irish Whip so strong it sent the aggressor to one knee.
The FAWNatics noted Lemarchand’s rapid approach with a worried fascination that caused many of them to look away at the last second. This proved a great shame because it meant they missed the moment when Lenore dipped her head, hooked both arms over the top rope (on either side of the top turnbuckle) and used all that momentum to flip up ‘n over the strands to land on the apron!
Of course freedom didn’t mean security so Lemarchand spun around on the narrow ledge just in time to see Harriet Larkin launch a teeth-shattering Big Boot straight at her-- Lenore caught the redhead’s ankle in both hands and stepped back off the apron to ‘TWAAAANG!’ the Hollow Girl crotch-first across the rubber-coated steel of the top rope.
Silenced by the sheer enormity of the anguish emanating from her undercarriage, Larkin managed to grab the traitorous cable in both hands but couldn’t find the strength to extricate herself from the awkward position. She’d managed a few soft moans in the back of her throat when Lemarchand climbed onto the apron and decked her across the jaw with half a dozen Forearm Smashes. “You used your left leg.” Lenore’s tone was equal parts incredulity and irritation. “I cannot believe you led with your left leg. It’s like, you know what? Screw the explanations. Let me show you the cost of poor decisions.”
Give her credit, Harriet grabbed at the brunette’s hair, but her grip was a ghost of its usual strength and Lenore simply endured it to take possession of her rival’s left ankle. Pulling and tugging to ensure the pit of Larkin’s left knee was nocked snug over the top rope, Lemarchand folded the big redhead’s lower leg in so she could wedge her ankle against the inside of the second rope. The crowd murmured appreciatively, Al Carpenter on the other hand just stifled a sigh and said, “C’mon Lenore, you can’t keep her tied up like that.”
The Raven backed off a little ways, then twisted around so her right shoulder was pointed at Harriet’s helpless knee. “Oh, I very well can. Unless of course you’re going to start a count.”
Al didn’t bother to hide his latest sigh. “Are we really going to do--”
Lemarchand hopped forward and THWHAPPED her right foot against the side of Larkin’s knee with a Super Kick!
Harriet howled in pain and outrage as she scrabbled to free herself, unfortunately she wasn’t fast enough to escape before the second pinpoint Super Kick collided with her exposed knee.
“Pippi Lovestalking here tried to twist the head off my shoulders after Amara Singh almost broke my neck over an expanse of exposed steel.” Lenore explained with no humor whatsoever. “So yeah, I think you’ll have to count.”
Never one to be slow on the uptake, Carpenter had already taken his cue, leaning in to yell “ONE!” at the Raven. Lenore simply took this as her cue to work faster, landing two more perfectly placed kicks and then backing of with her hands raised a heartbeat after the harried ref yelled “FOUR!”
By this point the noises coming from Harriet were definitely more identifiable as pain, but here was also plenty of anger as evidenced by the guttural growl she aimed at Carpenter, whose only crime was to try and untangle her.
He was still engaged in this thankless task when a change in the crowd noise sent his referee senses tingling. In fact the lanky ref moved out of the way with less than a second to spare, Lenore having decided to untangle the redhead in her own way by rebounding off the far ropes and leaping into a gorgeous Dropkick which thumped right into Larkin’s trapped abdomen.
Freed from her trap in the most jarring way possible, Larkin dropped to the matt headfirst and came to rest in a foetal heap holding her knee. She was only permitted to keep it for a few seconds though, Lenore stamping over and reclaiming the limb from her grasp. It was the work of a second to drag it under the bottom rope, the vengeful Courtier reaching over with her other hand to yank up wards and wrap that already hurting knee joint around the unforgiving steel cable.
“I think we’ve well established that you aren’t much of a wrestler, but I thought at least you knew how to fight?” Using one leg to brace the cable, Lemarchand leaned all of her weight backwards to bring as much pressure as she could to bear on Harriet’s left knee. The only verbal response was another wordless bellow, not sufficient to interrupt the Raven’s lecture.
“When facing an opponent with far superior skill and experience who has already crippled your knee once, it’s really best not to offer her that exact same knee again. I really hope you’re learning why.” Although her point had already been well and truly made, Lenore chose to drive it home by throwing herself backwards, giving one final almighty jarring yank on that captured limb. Larkin’s yelp was almost animal, but so was the speed she showed in hooking one hand around the rope and dragging herself out to the apron, slopping over into a damp heap on the ringside matting.
Standing tall up above her in the ring, Lenore couldn’t help but let out a small chortle. “So tell me again about ‘meaningful damage’?” she crowed, “because to me you look like someone who’s trying to run away but can’t because someone’s crippled her lHEY TOO SLOW!”
Larkin’s hand shot out under the bottom rope, trying to snatch away the brunette’s standing foot and coming up an inch short. In face Lenore hopped off both feet, using the ropes to spring neatly onto the outside. As Harriet lurched away the Raven took a few swift steps and leaped into the air, coming down with both feet planted squarely on the bigger girl’s chest.
APRON DOUBLE FOOT STOMP
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY5Jx2vkGJI
Already hobbling, the Hollow Girl had no chance of bracing herself and was smashed down onto her back with the Courtier’s boots nearly caving in her sternum. Lenore rolled away from the impact and was swiftly back up on her feet. “Up!” she demanded of the wheezing redhead, “your lesson isn’t finished yet, not until I hear you say you’ve had enough.” It was the work of a moment to hook around Larkins’ head and haul up, shovelling the Santa Fe girl under the ropes and then hopping onto the apron and back in herself.
The act of getting to her feet was clearly difficult for Larkin, and by the time she’d managed it the Raven had moved to the nearest corner and climbed the second buckle, all the better to send her back down again with interest. Or at least that was Lenore’s intention when she jumped off the buckle, but the redhead showed that she still had plenty of life by catching the flying Courtier and shifting her around to drop spine-first across one posted knee
CATCHING TILT-A-WHIRL BACKBREAKER
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo68VIT42WY
Importantly Harriet had dropped on her left knee, leaving her right to take the impact of Lenore’s body. The drop had her wincing anyway but she grimaced through as the brunette let out a groan and flopped onto the matt. Allowed a little space to regroup for the first time in the last few minutes, Harriet gave her knee a quick exploratory prod, readjusted the pad, and then rose to smooth out the rest of her togs, keeping a close eye on the Raven as she clambered to her knees.
“All I can hear out of your mouth is hubrisSSHH!” One long pale leg shot out and jabbed into the redhead’s kneecap, knocking the limb out from under Harriet and sending her to all fours. Lenore twisted her torso to position for a second strike but overestimated how much time she had to deliver it as Larkin bulled forwards, colliding messily and ending up in a sprawl on the mat with the Hollow Girl clearly on top.
Larkin’s arm came back and then hammered down, slamming into the courtier’s face once and then again before she could manage to do anything about it. Lenore’s response was to throw up a hasty arm to ward the blows, only for the angry redhead to drive the next two elbow smashes into her purple top. Lemarchand gave out a grunt of pain, but her breathing became more laboured still when Harriet switched her elbow for a claw which she tried to dig through the top and into the flesh beneath.
Not keen to sacrifice her top, Lenore dropped one hand to fight the claw while the other reached up and took a big handful of red locks. She used this to yank Harriet’s head to one side, her body following involuntarily to allow the Raven a path to freedom. She shoved the bigger woman away and had almost made it to her feet when Harriet once again demonstrated her sheer bloody-mindedness, this time by lunging forwards form her knees and scooping around the Raven’s taut waist.
The position became exponentially more dangerous when Larkin got her legs under her, grunting and wincing but still showing off impressive strength to lift Lemarchand up and keep her there as she regained her feet. Lenore’s wriggles suggested that’s he knew she was in danger, but she mitigated some of this by reaching down and taking a two-handed grasp of the redhead’s waistband!
A single tug was enough to gain a little moan from Larkin, but Lenore clearly planned to do much more than that. “I spent Christmas practicing my skills with a certain Carrie Cavendish. So when I tell you to put me down before I hook your panties up around your ears, you really should listen.” Another big yank briefly had Harriet up on her tiptoes, but she showed no sign of complying with the threat.
“Don’t know who that is, magpie. But if you think that’s going to stop me you’re even more deluded than I thought.” Doing her damndest to ignore the fire in her loins, Harriet shifted the brunette’s weight slightly so that her grip was around those milky thighs. She once again went up on tiptoes, this time voluntarily, and then dropped forwards with her torso, ripping her burden outwards as she did so. Lenore rotated through a swift three quarter circle before the mat interrupted her rotation.
ALABAMA SLAM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-EoavIyfV4
Lenore crunched into the canvas-covered plywood on her spine, her neck whiplashing behind, and then curled up into a ball with her arms cradling the back of her noggin. But her threat had clearly not been in vain, Larkin giving herself an almighty wedgie as a result of the move and as urgently flipping her skirt up and rearranging her briefs into a more comfortable orientation. With that achieved she stepped up to the hurting raven, kicked her over on to her back, and set about getting retribution.
The first step of this was to kneel down very deliberately so that her left knee was pushing down right into the centre of Lemarchand’s purple bottoms. “Like I was saying, all I hear from you is hubris.” Lenore groaned and bucked upwards, trying once again to get out from under the redhead, but Harriet leaned down to brace herself on that taut stomach to keep her in place.
“You want to lecture me about tactics? You’ve spent the whole match getting your ass kicked, all because you think you’re owed a submission that you’re never gonna get.” Lenore was urgently sitting up to reach for Harriet, but the redhead clubbed a forearm into her chest to drive her back down again. “You feel that knee pressing into your cunt, cunt? Yeah, that’s the one you’ve supposedly wrecked. Enjoy that feeling.”
It was apparent that Lenore certainly didn’t enjoy it, switching tactics and rapidly pushing herself away. The instant the pressure on her center was released she rolled to her front, only to have Harriet dive on top of her and grab at one arm. Her response was to reach down with the other, digging her fingers into the flesh of that tenderised left knee. This was enough to lesse the pressure for a second but no longer, Larkin powering the other knee up to slam into her side.
“There is one thing I learned because of you,” the New Mexican mused, lifting that captured limb up and ducking her head and shoulders beneath. “You actually inspired me to pick a new move just so I could rip your head off. You’re welcome to scream, but try not to give up too quickly, I’d like to enjoy this.” Looping her hands around the brunette’s neck, Larkin planted her feet and bridged back as hard as she could.
FIRE SERMON
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuJ_MCQvGow
“Oh, I by the way” Harriet snarled, “this hold is real easy on my knee.”
The Fair & Radiant Maiden might’ve well congratulated her adversary on such a tactically sound choice, if her jaw wasn’t clenched against the scream trying to tear its way from her throat. Effectively down to her right arm, Lemarchand braced her elbow against the canvas and pushed up as high as she could, in the hopes that she might bring at least one knee to-- “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH FAAAAAAHHHHHK!”
Harriet REEFED back on her hold, forcing the trapped brunette flat on her belly. “Go ahead and keep bashing yourself against the bars of this cage, bird brain.” Larkin sneered. “They’ll still be just as strong long after you’ve screamed yourself hoarse!” She jostled Fire Sermon harder than ever and was delighted to see Lemarchand’s free hand wavering several inches above the mat.
Everyone else saw it too, meaning Al Carpenter had to raise his voice over the insistent ‘PLEASE DON’T TAP!’ chants. “Tap out if you have to, Lenore.” he murmured. “Don’t let her wreck your neck.”
Harriet only snorted. “As if she or that bell could stop me.” The big redhead craaaaaaaaaanked back once again, all the better to savor the bendyback’s agonized wails. “Go ahead and fight it all you want, little bird. I’m more than happy to EEEEERRRRRRRRHHHH BYTCH!”
The Hollow Girl was so enthralled with Lemarchand’s right hand that she’d forgotten all about the left. This proved most detrimental when the Courtier finally palmed it against the side of Larkin’s head and slid three fingers into her mouth! Tearing at Harriet’s face with the oversized Fishhook was supremely satisfying but it didn’t break the redhead’s grip, in fact Larkin redoubled her efforts to wrench the Raven’s head from her shoulders.
“Gehv ub.” she growled around those encroaching talons. “AY SED SUHBMID, YOO SGRAWNY WHOOOAAAAHH!”
Lenore shot out her right hand, snatched hold of her attacker’s left knee pad and used the grip to effectively roll into the hellacious pressure of Larkin’s grip. Not only did it relieve the pressure of the hold, it tumbled Harriet backward onto her shoulders with Lemarchand pressing down hard on her upturned thighs in a desperate yet effective Cradle! Already close to the action, Carpenter was in the perfect position to check Harriet’s shoulders before tolling off the…
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOO!
Larkin powered free at the last possible second and scrambled to verticality only to let out a vile curse when her left knee buckled under the strain. This unwelcome penance put her eye to eye with the recovering brunette so Harriet channeled all her considerable anger into the grip she wrapped around Lenore’s throat. “So you’re not going to sing like a good little bird?” she rasped between ragged breaths. “Then I’ll have to finish what Singh started and wring your f*cking neGUUURRRHHH!”
Emily’s Lady in Waiting answered with a choke of her own, as well as a massive fistful of Harriet’s coppery locks, a bit of escalation the Hollow Girl was quick to match. Barely able to breathe, let alone speak, they let their hands and eyes do the talking, neither woman consenting to break her grip or her gaze until Al prized them apart to avoid the dreaded Double Disqualification. Distance did wonders for their respiration if not their mood, Larkin and Lemarchand glaring death at one another from across a wide expanse of canvas.
“Knee’s looking a little gimpy, bytch.” Lenore taunted once she could speak at something above a croak.
“And your neck is about ten seconds away from traction, c*nt.” Larkin sneered back. “Why don’t you toddle on over here so I can finish the job.”
Lenore answered with a glittering smile that made the redhead hate her that much more. “Why? Afraid that big strong leg isn’t up to--”
Harriet came for her in a flat-out bull rush that would’ve taken both women to the mat in a sprawl if Lenore hadn’t dropped low with a heartbeat between herself and disaster. As it was they still hit the canvas, though the Raven’s descent proved a controlled one thanks to her Drop Toe Hold. Harriet however went down like she’d hit a tripwire, the big redhead THUMPING flat on her face, chest and belly.
Lenore was on her in a flash, stretching out atop the Hollow Girl in a Full Body Press that quickly transformed into a back-mounted Double Leg Grapevine and a downright vengeful Full Nelson.
“Errrrrrrrhhhhhhh F*CKING SHYT!” Larkin roared in pain and anguish as her left knee became an inferno once more.
“So you want to break my neck?” Lenore’s words were hot and mean in the New Mexican’s ear. “You want to expose me as a fraud?” She forced Harriet’s forehead against the mat and took great pleasure in draaaaaaaaaaaaagging it back n’ forth. Larkin grunted, bucked her hips in an effort to roll over, but Lemarchand wrenched the Grapevine a little wider and countered with a hip thrust of her own, much to the delight of those assembled.
“You sneaky little twat.” Harriet growled. “I’m going to make you beg before I break your UGH! UGH! UGH! ARROGANT WHORE!”
Lemarchand drove her hips into Larkin’s slightly upraised haunches, a slow but unquestionably emphatic grind that raised the audience noise to near deafening levels. “You’re MINE, Harriet.” Lenore whispered as she continued the tawdry display. “I could shred your knee right now but I’m going to shatter your pride instead.”
“The f*ck you will.” Larkin dug white knuckled claws into the mat and dragged the both of them a little closer to the ropes. “You’re going to beg for your career just as soon as I get out of UUUNNNGGHH!”
“You’re not getting out, honey.” Lemarchand ended the grind in favor of amping up the strain on the Grapevine. “Unless of course… did you tell Lyra to come to the rescue if it looked like you were about to AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!”
The tawdry proximity of Lenore’s hold allowed Harriet to grab the back of her neck and she squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze until the Raven relinquished her hooks. Regaining her feet in slow motion, Larkin flipped hair out of her eyes and promised, “You’re going to suffer, Lenore.”
“I’m wasting my time with a nightclub anarchist with delusions of grandeur.” the Raven spat. “Believe me Harriet, I’ve already suff--”
Harriet didn’t agree, which was why she stormed forward and caromed a Haymaker off the Courtier’s chin. Lemarchand responded in kind and Larkin immediately returned fire, meaning the arena soon echoed with ‘BOO’s’ and ‘YAY’s!’ as the brawl swung back n’ forth. Eventually the Hollow Girl took control with a Headbutt to the bridge of Lenore’s nose and a hair-hold to keep her from dropping to her knees. Drawing her into a Standing Headscissors before Carpenter could bytch about the hair, Larkin cinched her arms around Lemarchand’s waist and swung her up onto her shoulders for a PowerboNOOOO!
Lenore locked her ankles and popped her hips, flipping the redhead off her feet with a surprise Hurricanrana that hit hard enough to pop Harriet’s legs into the air! Knees spread wide to make sure Larkin got a chin full of her trunks, the Fair & Radiant Maiden hooked her rival behind the knees and pulled forwaNOOOO!
Harriet pushed back with her legs, forcing the startled brunette to her back with an improvised Sunset Flip! Seizing Lenore’s ankles in each hand, Harriet forced the Raven’s legs up over her head, then scooted up and forward to sit on those upturned calves with all her weight while Al slapped the mat…
ONE…
TWO…
THREE!
Harriet pumped a fist when the bell CLANGED, then held a set of identical middle fingers inches from Lenore’s nose while the Announcer called, “Ladies and gentlemen, your winner via pin-fall… HARRIET LARKIN!”
The announcement brought with it a round of boos, although there was a murmuring undercurrent of appreciation for the spectacle. Harriet didn’t look in the slightest bit interested in that though, getting slowly to her feet while keeping both her stare and that middle-finger salute locked squarely on the Raven.
Lenore returned her glare a hundredfold, reaching up to flip her hair out of her eyes. But however intense her frustration she was determined to give Larkin as little satisfaction as possible in the moment, taking a few big deep breaths to swallow her annoyance before rising to face the victorious upstart. She even managed to go a step further, responding to those two middle fingers with a withering golf clap.
“Congratulations” she said in a voice which made it clear she meant anything but. “You must be so proud. I just hope that telling all your online friends about how cool and edgy you are is enough to satisfy that monumental sense of entitlement until next month.”
Harriet dropped her hands and shook her head. “I don’t give a shyt how you want to spin it.” She told the Raven. “You just got beat at your own little game with the whole world watching. Even you have to appreciate the irony.”
Stepping forwards so that she was once again only a few inches away, Lenore spoke right into the smug-looking redhead’s face. “The only success you’ve ever had was when you took me by surprise. After tonight the only thing that would surprise me is if you actually backed up all that shyt you talk. So enjoy your moment while you can.”
Harriet’s mouth opened, then closed again swiftly. It looked for all the world as if she genuinely didn’t have a comeback, especially when she backed a half step away. Only a sudden change in crowd noise indicated that there might be an ulterior motive for that, and by that time it was too THUNK!
All of a sudden the Raven went from upright to flying sideways, impacted by a hurtling glitterball which landed, rolled to it’s feet and resolved into the figure of Lyra Faulk! The Chaos Emerald had apparently hopped the barricade and up to the apron, leaving her in perfect position to hit a Slingshot Spear right into the side of the unsuspecting Courtier.
LYRA FAULK
The Aussie stepped over to her partner, perhaps looking to raise her hand. But Harriet only had eyes for Lenore at her feet. “I know you pull all this crap because you need validation” she told the largely oblivious Raven, “but I really don’t. Don’t need to follow your arbitrary personal rules either. I just do this ‘cos it’s fun.” She finally looked up at her partner, giving her a quick wink and then gesturing with her head to the nearest ropes. Faulk grinned and slipped out to the apron.
“Usually I’d say ‘this is how your world ends’.” Even as she spoke the Hollow Girl bent to lift Lemarchand up, spinning them both around in opposing circles and hauling up higher into a classic Gory Special position. The lift looked laboured to the point of near exhaustion, and there was a very clear wince as she flexed her knee, but she still managed to hook the Fair and Radiant Maiden up high. “You, I think I’ll probably be seeing again. But this is definitely the way your night ends.” Harriet turned to face her partner and took a deep breath. “And it doesn’t end with a bang.”
WHIMPER
youtu.be/88QxPmnOc_k?t=42s (@0:42)
Faulk was already flying even before the verbal cue, hopping to the top rope and then springboarding out into the air. She turned a graceful somersault, reaching out at the apex to hook her hands around Lemarchand’s noggin. And then she fell, yanking the Raven’s head forwards and down into the canvas at a neck-breaking angle. Lenore bounced a little and came to rest in a damp puddle.
Hobbling around to stand over the pile of brunette wreckage, Larkin reached one hand out sideways without looking and smiled when Lyra scurried over to take it. The Aussie raised that hand up high, then pulled it down again to give a short, almost regal kiss to her knuckle. “Have you had your fun?” she asked demurely.
“I think in this case there’s something to be said for delayed gratification.” Harriet replied. “Magpie here won’t let things lie. Plenty more fun to be had next time.” Still holding Lyra tight with one hand, the Hollow Girl quickly dropped the other to give one last middle finger to Lemarchand. The Raven didn’t give any response, too busy being tended to by Carpenter, but there were a few last jeers from the crowd as the pair slipped through the ropes, down off the apron and back up the entranceway.