Post by dsb on May 13, 2019 18:08:16 GMT
BRENISTEINN
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc6zXSdYXm8
A thumping bass heartbeat rocked through the arena, followed by another, another and another. As the crowd volume raised in recognition a huge pair of hyper-realistic eyes opened up on the ‘tron, blinking and focusing slightly as the song’s bass-driven chaos was joined by a surprisingly delicate vocal. The woman herself made an appearance soon after; picked out in a spotlight among twilight. Face hooded by a dark leather jacket, she looked impossibly tall and slender in the low lighting as she set off on a slow, methodical stride to the ring.
ASTRID WHITE
“Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall and it is for the FAWN Intercontinental Champion. Introducing first, hailing from Reykjavik, Iceland, standing at 6’2” of height and weighing in tonight at 139lbs…she is known as The Stranger…ASTRID WHITE!””
Tonight might have been the Icelander’s first tilt at a FAWN title, but there was no sign of any change in her appearance or demeanor as a result. The FAWNatics had a clear view of those impossibly long and well toned legs, ending in midnight blue lycra boy shorts. Her top was mostly covered by the dark leather jacket, but the opening exposed a white meshed top covering the modest swell of her chest, as well as a glimpse of arguably the most well-defined abs in FAWN.
The Stranger reached the ring and carried on around to the back, stepping up on the apron in one stride and slipping through the strands, she made her way to one corner and ascended the second turnbuckle just as her music again paused. On the final bass heartbeat the lights flared back on, and White flicked her hood back at the same time to reveal her sharply contoured face framed by an artfully wavy blonde bob. She flashed a hand over one grey-green eye, tilting her head to form an A sigil. Out in the crowd a reasonable number raised their hands in response, but the Stranger’s fans were few in comparison to the jeers ringing from the rest of the audience.
The Artic Assassin was settling into the challenger’s corner when the Announcer resumed his duties. “And introducing her opponent, hailing from Jackson, Tennessee she stands at five feet ten inches tall and weighs in tonight at one hundred and forty-eight pounds, she is the Tennessee Terror, the Witch of Razorback Holler and the current FAWN Intercontinental Champion, this is HARLEY JO COLLINS!”
SHINE DOWN:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xACHH5-QwY
HARLEY JO COLLINS:
Accompanied by Godsmack, some Milagro and several pounds of leather and gold commonly referred to as ’the Workhorse Title’, Harley Jo Collins herownself strode through the curtain and raised the IC strap one-handed. Accepting their cheers with a small smile, the Countrycidal Maniac toasted the belt with her drink, then took a long swig before heading down the ramp. As per usual her pre-match armor remained the same regardless of the weather, a pair of ancient denim overalls that’d accompanied her to no less than six continents.
Eyes honed on Astrid, Harley Jo didn’t break her gaze while she climbed the steel steps, when she took a strong slug of her drink or even when she put a hand to her shoulder and undid the clasps on the overalls, leaving them in a puddle at her feet. Stripped to the essentials, she wore a black fightin’ rumble-kini, white pads and plain black boots. From there she slid under the bottom rope, pushed to her feet and strode to the middle of the ring to raise the belt one more time. Eyes locked on White, Collins raised her other hand to beckon the Icelander forward, but Astrid didn’t so much as twitch. Openly disappointed, HJC draped the belt over Al Carpenter’s shoulder, then headed to her corner.
The audience seemed to hold its breath after the bell CLANGED, no one quite sure whether they should cheer their hearts out or flee in terror while these two occupied the same ring. Blonde and brunette paid no mind to this bated breath, they merely held the other’s gaze for a few endless seconds before starting toward the center of the ring. The distance vanished in a few long strides with Collins out in front, the IC Champ raising her hands to welcome the Strang-- Astrid exploded off her back foot with a high knee that would’ve put a dent in Harley Jo’s chin if she hadn’t twisted aside at the last possible second. Collins came out of her spin on the challenger’s six and seized the advantage courtesy a low, scything kick aimed at the pit of White’s left NO! Astrid hopped over the strike without even looking, a show of nearly preternatural ring awareness that was applauded loudly but immediately forgotten when the two lissome Destroyers went tummy to tummy in a rough, disrespectful Collar & Elbow Lock-Up.
Each was too seasoned to waste such an opportunity by pulling her opponent’s hair, rather they shoved a hand in the other wrestler’s face and pushed, not a single sustained effort but repeated scuffing blows intended to bust a lip or bloody a nose. In essence there was nothing illegal about this particular clinch, yet Al didn’t like the tone it established so he called out, “Keep those hands on the chin, ladies!”
White replied by grrrrrrrrinding the heel of her palm against Collins’ bottom lip until the Southerner groaned in pain! Don’t feel too bad for HJC though, she answered the Icelander’s hostilities by pinching her nostrils like she meant to take Astrid’s nose clean off her face. An angry keening joined the champ’s low groans as the pair of towering battlers slowly backpedaled until Astrid’s back touched the rubber-coated steel.
Interesting note, neither woman called for a break, indeed Carpenter was quite certain they would’ve gone on as they were if he hadn’t hurried over and patted each on the shoulders. “That’s the ropes, ladies. I want a clean break and don’t even think about acting like you can’t hear me.”
Somewhat to his surprise they did just that, blonde and brunette disengaging slowly to make sure neither landed a cheap shot. Hands held at just above shoulder level, Collins took a step back and-- Astrid shoved her hard to create more separation, then planted on her left leg so she could whip her right foot up n’ across in a Roundhouse aimed at-- the Vicious Volunteer ducked rather than dipped, meaning she was still in the same spot when the Stranger came out on the other end of her rotation. This proved problematic for the champion because White immediately lunged in and THUMPED the point of her left knee against her foe’s lowered head!
FEIGNED KNEE STRIKE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d6PFY8vqDc
Harley Jo swayed on the spot, giving Astrid more than enough time to swing ‘round behind and wedge her head beneath the brunette’s right arm. Getting her right arm behind Collins’ right knee in the same instant, White pulled the limb off the mat in an awkward Standing Cradle made all the tighter once she knotted her hands snug against her rival’s left cheek. Heartbeats removed from a particularly nasty Suplex of one sort or another, HJC bore down on Astrid’s noggin with an improvised Side Headlock that forced the titan blonde’s cheek against the swell of her breast. That alone wouldn’t have been enough to thwart Astrid’s plans for long, which was why Collins curled her left hand into a fist and drove it into the challenger’s nose! The Hammer Punch watered White’s eyes and loosened her grip to the point that Collins could free her leg. Still holding onto that sort-of Headlock, Harley Jo thum-thum-THUMPED Kneelifts into Astrid’s tummy until she managed to shove her way free of the Southerner’s clutches!
Rounding on the blonde at once, Collins pointed her left knee in White’s direction, then pivoted into-- sensing another Kneelift, White turned with Collins and raised her own left leg to better defend against the champion’s encroach--“AAAAHHHH!”
The Stranger yelped in surprised pain when Harley Jo brought her boot down atop her planted right foot! Astrid hobbled away, her attention so focused on her right foot that she couldn’t stop Collins from staking claim to her left! Stretching the limb out full length with a single backward step, Harley Jo didn’t bother with a taunt or some sly salutation, she only twisted beneath Astrid’s vulnerable leg to sling the Icelander to the deck with a quick Dragon Screw! White snarled, sat up at once despite Harley still owning her leg. This proved problematic because the Witch of Razorback Holler clambered to boot-leather, then hopped up and PUSHED Astrid’s stem toward the mat as hard as she could!
DRAGON SCREW & LEG SNAP:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3S8wHypzFw
The normally glacial Icelander hissed in pain but sat up almost at once, White using her hands and hips to scoot around the canvas while holding Harley Jo at bay with her un-tweaked right-- Collins didn’t so much shoot in as she did dive, the Tennessee Terror skidding in on her left knee to effectively wedge herself between the challenger’s legs. Now, voluntarily offering oneself to an Astrid White Bodyscissors was no one’s idea of a sound strategy which was why HJC used the residual momentum to force the blonde’s dangerous gam away from her torso at a wide angle. Looping her left arm over White’s thigh in the blink of an eye, Collins threaded her own stems around Astrid’s calf and bore down in a simple but effective Legscissors.
Not about to cede such ground without one helluva fight, Astrid braced on her left elbow so she could hook her right arm around Harley’s neck and “NGH! NGH! NGH! NGH! NNNNGGGGHHHH!”
LEGSCISSOR PUNCHES:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrz5Ggz-m7U
Collins laid waste to the challenger’s plans with more than half a dozen punches administered to the side of her White’s trapped knee. Then she laced her hands in an S-grip against the opposite side and pulled up while simultaneously pouring more pressure through the Scissors! Face twisted with pain, Astrid thumped a fist against the mat, then reaaaaaaaaached for the ropes only to discover they were nowhere close.
“What do you say, Astrid?” Carpenter asked after Astrid raked a hand through her hair. “Just say the word and it’ll be over.”
“Never.” the Stranger grunted. “This doesn’t end until Ms. Collins is unconscious and the Intercontinental Title is around my EEERRRRRRRRGGHHH!”
Harley Jo’s rebuttal came in the form of several more hard-hearted punches unleashed on the Icelander’s vulnerable knee. “No meddling Aussie to cover your ass this time, darlin’.” Collins drawled. “Tonight it’s just you, me and whatever excuses you’ll whip up after I EERRRRGGHH! NOSE, CARPENTER! GET HER OFF MY NOSE!”
White, who’d repaid her rival’s previous nasal indignity with a pincer of her own, used it to wrench Collins’ head back at a sharp angle. With the brunette’s throat exposed, Astrid reached around with her free (left) hand and began to squeeze. “Relinquish my leg and you can have this,” she twisted the champion’s nose for emphasis, “back at once. Personally I hope you resist, I’d love the opportunity to make you scream in front of the whole worlNNNNGGGGGHHHH!”
Harley released the Legscissors, scrambled to one knee and immediately threw all her weight atop White’s left knee in miniature Elbow Drop! Astrid forgot all about Collins’ nose as the Vicious Volunteer stood up and trapped her left ankle under her right armpit. From there she dipped down and stepped over, neatly flopping White onto her stomach so HJC could settle down in a comfortable seat on the small of the challenger’s back.
SINGLE LEG CRAG:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-FpL5DRlv0
“You’re the one who’s gonna scream tonight, darlin.” Harley Jo murmured. “This is a good start, but I know you can do so much better!” Having made her prediction the champion quickly set about proving it, yanking back on her captive stem to pile pressure on the blonde’s knee and glutes. White’s response was immediate, pushing up on both hands and worming forwards a few inches in the direction of the nearest ropes until “URK!”
Shifting up slightly, the Vicious Volunteer bucked back and THUMPED the medicine ball of her derriere into her captive’s upper back. “You should know it ain’t gonna be that easy,” she told the wriggling blonde, leeeeeeeeaning further to pull that long Icelandic stem up into a cringe-inducing bow. The extra torque in combination with that butt-bomb was enough to put paid to White’s escape attempt, the Stranger stalled out and forced roughly down onto her chest. Astrid let out a grunt of frustration but was quick to switch her tactics, reaching up behind her head, those long arms flexible enough to grab a handful of chestnut locks.
Tugging on that hair-hold earned little more than a retaliatory upping of the pressure from Harley and a swift warning from Al Carpenter. Both were summarily ignored by the Arctic Assassin, who gave one more exploratory tug and then pulled with all she had while tucking her body up the other way. The result was a sort of tucked-under crunch, with Collins thrown off balance one way and Astrid ending up in a crouch between her legs. She didn’t stay there for long either, uncoiling again in a full-length sprawl over the surprised Tennessean and THUMPING an impromptu elbow into her jaw.
Taking the shot like the champion she was, Harley responded in the best possible way by digging a short but meaty hook into the Stranger’s side, throwing her weight over as she did so in an attempt to throw the blonde off. White’s response was to grab another handful of hair, this time for controlling purposes, and within a matter of moments the clash of the titans had descended into a mass of writhing limbs and hisses, neither woman able to sustain their position for long enough to capitalize.
Noticeably steeling himself, Al Carpenter waded into the mess, leaning down and urgently tugging on the shoulders of both interlocked competitors. “Come on ladies, off the hair!” he demanded, “You two were tearing the place down before you started on the catty shyt.” His initial pleas fell on completely oblivious ears, but after a few more tugs and a bout of shoves from both women the pair finally separated, Harley rolling over and coming up in a battle-ready crouch while White took a few steps back. Those grey-green eyes showed no sign that she was relenting, but she took a second to smooth down her togs and shake a few strands of platinum blonde out of her face.
“Sometimes one has to get dirty when putting down a rabid beast,” she murmured. The words must have been intended for Carpenter, but her eyes never left those of the Tennessee Terror.
HJC’s response was a smile which contained absolutely no humor whatsoever. “I know you, White. Under all those fancy words, the only difference between us is that I ain’t lyin’ about who I am.”
Sure enough the Southerner came forwards again, this time with a big Haymaker cocked and swinging right at Astrid’s head. The blonde had moved at almost exactly the same moment but her aim was considerably lower, one long leg lifting up and stabbing down into the knee of Harley’s standing leg just as the big brunette was swinging for the fences. That big swing still landed, clubbing into White’s shoulder with a meaty thump, but the Stranger was already on the moving, hopping up and driving both boots into that same Tennessee stem.
LOW DROPKICK
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEM-qQL5HEw
Deprived of a stable base, Collins tipped forward and came to a stop on hands and knees, Astrid scrabbling to a crouch beside her and diving over the arch of her back. Scandinavian hands reached out to hook around neck and leg, the Oklahoma Roll turning Harley turtle, ending up stacked on her shoulders. Alert to the surprise rollup, Al Carpenter dropped to count…
ONE
And then looked up in confusion as the Stranger abandoned her pin as quickly as she had secured it, settling instead for the opportunity to kneel above the trapped brunette while keeping one leg tight in her grasp. Two swift Hammer Fists swung down, the first CLUNKING into Collins’ jaw while the second hit only arm as the Vicious Volunteer covered up. “You really shouldn’t have allowed this open challenge idea, Collins.” she informed quietly, “You know you aren’t prepared for me, but I have most certainly prepared my traps for you.”
“Traps ain’t gonna save you, darlin’,” Harley spat back at her, “and if you think you’re chasin’ a rabbit you’ve got a shock comin when you get caught by a bARGUKK!” Shifting herself forwards, White slid one knee across the Southerner’s vulnerable throat and pushed her weight down, cutting Collins’ retort off with all her other breathing functions. The pressure was just momentary but boded even worse for the Witch of Razorback Holler, Astrid using her leg grip to roll her onto her front while rising to stand above her, still grasping both Tennessee ankles. The Stranger rose to all of that six feet and two inches of height, hopped up off her tiptoes, and then dropped he knees down hard into the small of the champion’s back.
Unable to bite back her groan, HJC reached back on instinct in an attempt to massage away some of the pain while her other hand reached forwards in the direction of the ropes. Before she could make it White was back up on her feet, this time gathering up both ankles as she did so. Tucking the toe of one boot into the pit of the opposite knee, Astrid yanked hard on one shin to tighten her knot up and stepped over and around, swinging the trapped Tennessee Titan into an enforced and extremely uncomfortable handstand.
STANDING INVERTED CLOVERLEAF
www.youtube.com/watch?v=spdNpcz-WGM
“Feel free to ‘holler’ if you wish, Collins” the Arctic Assassin sneered, “the result will be the same regardless. You couldn’t deal with me at your very best. Unprepared, you might as well just give up right now.”
Delighted to contradict the challenger at every turn, Collins dug her fingers into the canvas and started ‘walking’ toward the ropes as fast as the painful contortion would allow. In truth her progress was far quicker than Astrid would’ve liked. Against smaller opposition the Stranger could simply lift her burden completely off the canvas, but Harley Jo only ceded three inches to the blonde and outweighed her by almost ten pounds and White wasn’t willing to burn precious resources to keep the Southerner pinned to the center of the ring.
Which wasn’t to say that Harley’s time in the Cloverleaf was anything resembling pleasant.
Astrid couldn’t bully the brunette with her power game, so she constantly harried the retreating champion with quick knees to the belly, scuffing boot swipes to her chest and even a few sharp kicks aimed at the side of her head. “You’re wasting my time, Ms. Collins.” White sniffed even as Harley Jo continued to close on the ropes. “Our encounter will conclude with you weeping on this very canvas, so why not save yourself considerable pain and embarrassment and just--”
The Vicious Volunteer put on a burst of speed and would’ve snatched hold of the bottom strand if the towering Icelander hadn’t jerked up and hit full reverse to draaaaaaaag her protesting prey all the way back to the middle of the squared circle! Piqued by the defiance, Astrid planted her feet and hoisted up, forcing Collins into a near perfect handstand! “I said submit.” Astrid growled, her usual icy tone strained with the effort of keeping HJC suspended. “Unless you’d like to find out what sort of new and interesting configurations I can arrange for your spiEERRRHHHH!”
Somewhere beneath her, Harley Jo shifted all her weight to her right hand so she could reach up and back to secure an improbable claw on the challenger’s flat tummy! Making a point to gouge the point of her index finger into White’s navel, Collins murmured, “Same tired threats, girl. Know why they don’t work on me? Because unlike anyone else on this roster, I’ve felt you sobbing and pleading into the seat of my trunkOOOFFFFHHUUUNNNNGGGGHHH!”
Astrid ended the Claw with her hardest Kneelift yet, then laid out flat on her back, deftly scissoring her legs around the brunette’s midsection as she fell. Ankles locked as soon as she landed, the Stranger squeeeeeeeeeeeeeezed Harley Jo’s midsection while still jostling and wrenching on her knotted stems.
GLACIAL CLUTCH:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p_nBLF-t8s
“You will come to lament those humiliations you heaped upon me.” Astrid hissed. “Believe that, if you believe nothing else.”
Collins knew she’d certainly try, but she forced the thought from her mind in deference to the much more pressing problem of the Glacial Clutch. Mobility greatly reduced now that White’s legs were wrapped around her midsection, the Tennessee Terror braced herself into an awkward sort of push-up position and retraced the trail she’d blazed a moment prior. The lanky reprobate’s progress was still too swift for Astrid’s liking so she made sure to alternate constrictions with sharp heel strikes between her opponent’s shoulders. “You’re finished Ms. Collins.” the blonde chided. “Admit it before I do any more damage to that tacky mystique of you--”
Harley grabbed the bottom rope and gave it a shake. “Break it, bytchHHUURRRGHH!”
Astrid punished the insolence with a single sustained pulse of those fight winning legs. “Put some deference in your tone or I’ll OOOOWWWWWWWW!” Collins’ second counter-claw found its way between the challenger’s thighs, much to White’s shock and dismay. “Feral whore.” she snarled through clenched teeth. “They’ll be picking your teeth off the floor by the time I’m done with you!”
“Sure about that?” HJC treated the challenger to a vile white-knuckled squeeze. “Sounds like you’ve got more pressing concerns at the--”
Al made no effort to request a clean break, he simply walked over to the tangled titans and started counting. “ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!”
Astrid released, scooted away and sat up, one hand pressed firm to the center of her trunks. As for Harley Jo, she clambered to one knee and moved her anchoring grip to the second strand in case the Artic Assassin decided to “UUUNNNNGGGGHH!” Already on her feet, White closed on the penitent champion and THWHACKED a malicious Soccer Kick between her shoulders! Collins cried out, tried to rise, got forced back down by a pair of strong hands on her shoulders.
“Watch where you put your filthy fingers, Ms. Collins.” Astrid took hold of the bottom rope to keep steady when she planted her right knee between the Southerner’s shoulders and grrrrrooooooound down with every bit of her near hundred and forty pounds. “Lest you be willing to accept the consequences when I snap each and every one.”
Harley Jo’s answer was directed at the referee, rather than the challenger. “Still in the ropes, CarpentNNNNNGGGHH!”
White THUNKED her knee into the base of Collins’ skull, loosening her hooks enough for the blonde to haul her to verticality. Al didn’t care for the flagrant violation of protocol and expressed as much to Astrid in no uncertain terms, alas the Stranger was far more interested in cupping her hands across Harley’s chin so she could hop up and stuff both knees between those already aching should-- the Witch of Razorback Holler caught hold of the ropes one more time, meaning she remained firmly upright when White jerked back and hit the deck all by her lonesome.
Short of breath in the wake of the thwarted Lungblower, Astrid tumbled backward to come up on one knee a short distance removed from THWHACK! Harley came off the ropes and straight up drove her boot into the blonde’s startled face!
BASEMENT BOOT:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzONmOnqCfA
Astrid went down in a much uglier sprawl, yet still managed to turn onto her side quickly enough to deter Collins from going for a cover. Instead she filled her hands with White’s hair and rose to her full height, the incensed brunette using a few energetic tugs to make Astrid do the same. From there she slung an arm over the Stranger’s shoulders and slipped the other through her legs, all the better to scoop White onto the ball of her left shoulder.
“Really shouldn’t flaunt the rules when you’re in here with me, girl.” HJC noted as she walked Astrid around the ring like she was little more than a sack of laundry. “After all, they’re the only thing keeping me from making you squeal like a--”
“Save your threats for someone else, you backwoods degenerate.” Astrid grunted. “I see right through thUUUUNNNNGGGHH!” The Vicious Volunteer went up on tiptoe, ‘hupped’ Astrid off her shoulder and dropped to one knee, all the better to THUMP haughty Icelandic tummy atop the posted joint!
OVER THE SHOULDER GUTBUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6UZlFw6mMc
Astrid landed on all fours and immediately tried to roll away only for HJC to reel her back with a handful of hair. A single rough shove forced the challenger down flat and allowed Collins to collect her right arm in a Chickenwing. Stuffing her left hand against White’s tush for balance, Harley Jo floated over to her foe’s left side and collected that arm in an identical Chickenwing. Reefing back on the taller woman’s trapped arms, Collins shook her head ‘no’ when Carpenter closed in to check on a submission, but when she spoke it was to Astrid.
“That was a pretty good squeeze you had me in earlier, Ms. White,” the challenger’s name dripped with a honeyed contempt that made Astrid bristle, “hope you don’t mind me repayin’ it with a little interest.”
“Nothing you do interests me.” White grunted. “Save for the volume of your sobs when I make you EEEERRRRHHHHH!”
SCISSORED DOUBLE CHICKENWING:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mFW96VtkJg
Harley Jo slung her left leg over the back of Astrid’s noggin and tucked that ankle into the pit of her right knee to add a crushing Headscissors to the Double Chickenwing. “Care to repeat that, darlin’? Broke up there at the end, sounded like you might be cryin’.”
Whether the Countrycidal Maniac’s guess was correct was impossible to know, White’s features jammed into the mat by the crushing force. But after a few seconds those legs started working again, boots and knees scrabbling on canvas in order to get some sort of purchase. None seemed to be immediately forthcoming for the Stranger, the ineffectual attempts at building some locomotion enough to earn a satisfied smile from her tormentress.
“Hear that?” she asked Carpenter, hovering worriedly nearby. The referee just raised a confused eyebrow, Harley’s grin widening slightly. “Me neither. Seems all those threats about tears and torment have all gone quiet. Ah’m thinkin ‘Ms White’ here might finally have learned where all that talk gets her.”
Carpenter wasn’t playing along with his part in the rhetoric, focusing instead on tapping at the Stranger’s nastily twisted shoulder to get her attention. “You need me to end this, Astrid?” he asked concernedly, “tell me something miss.” White’s mouth was still jammed unceremoniously into the canvas, but the Icelander managed to waggle a finger on one trapped arm and growl a muffled NNNNNNNNN”
“Guess she’s found her voice again,” Harley winked to the referee, “want to hear what she’s got to say?” A twist of Tennessee hips was enough to lift Astrid’s face up out of the mat, although it was still framed by those crushing Tennessee legs.
“Don’t waste your breath, Mr. Carpenter,” she croaked, “Collins knows this isn’t going to make me quit, just like she knows she’s going to pay for every second innNNNGGGRHNNNNN NO!” A slight shift in body position allowed the Tennessee Terror to force even more of her strength sideways and down, abandoning the Headscissors part of her trap to force White’s shoulders even farther in the wrong direction. And worse still was to come for the stranger as the new alignment allowed Harley to corral both those arms in one of her own, freeing up one of those oh-so-dangerous hands.
“You sound awful sure about what we both know, sugah,” Harley Jo purred, her free hand drifting down, one fingernail trailing over the Icelander’s taut midriff. “Seems to me you might’ve forgotten something mighty important from our previous meetings. Let me refresh your memory…” White knew full well what was coming, wriggling and writhing furiously to extricate herself from the Countrycidal Maniac’s clutches. But it wasn’t enough, HJC’s hand forming a claw which raised up just slightly and then PLUNGED into that expanse of bared abdomen!
The effect was immediate, White's thrashing increased a hundredfold while her attempts to bite down the pain finally came to an end, her low moan continuing onto a keening note as the claw of the Gutcheck Goddess did it’s work. Harley’s application of her most vaunted weapon was typically methodical, fingers probing into the pale flesh and then clenching to draw a louder protest from the Stranger. And finally Astrid’s thrashing earned a little success, one arm managing to escape the champion's clutches.
Immediately White reached back, grasping at her tormentor's clawin' wrist and attempting to...“GRAAAGH!” A vicious twist of that talon was enough for Astrid to abandon any attempt to unpick it, instead just reaching forwards and scrabbling with her legs again in a frantic effort to get closer to the ropes. Harley didn’t seem overly concerned about any progress the challenger made, simply ensuring that every inch of canvas was paid for in agony, the Stranger forced to wriggle awkwardly on her side, breath rasping, now unable to bite back the moans of pain.
After around thirty seconds, each of which felt like minutes in the Vicious Volunteer’s clutches, Astrid was able to reach out and wrap those trembling fingers around the bottom rope. “BBBrrrreak!” she barked, Carpenter again skipping any pleasantries and beginning a rapid count of five. He had reached “FOUR!” when Harley gave one final twist of her wrist, earning a full-blown wail from the Stranger, before theatrically raising her talon out of that rapidly reddening flesh. She made a deliberate show of withdrawing her hooks, rising slowly to her feet as the Icelander glared balefully up at her.
“Turns out I can follow the rules AND make you squeal,” Harley purred.
White took a few seconds to regulate her breath, grasping at the middle rope and using it as a crutch to pull herself back up to a crouch, but her eyes never left those of the champion. “Every insult, every hurt, every indignity you attempt,” she said quietly, “all will be repaid in full.”
Harley-Jo spread her arms wide, her gesture apparently taking in the ring, the arena and all the enthralled FAWNatics. “You were the one who chose to try for my title, girl,” she drawled, “Way I see it, all that hurtin is on you.”
Astrid had by now made it back to her feet, one hand still resting on the ropes and her eyes still locked on Harley’s. “I have no interest in that trinket, Collins,” she hissed, “it serves only as a mean to an end. Yours.” Her final word seemed to be a break of tension, a cue for both destroyer-class fighters to burst back into motion. Harley stormed forwards, eating up the space between the pair, only to find the Stranger dancing to one side and pumping a pair of short and nasty low kicks into her left calf.
Displaying that almost preternatural balance, Astrid’s feet became a blur, shimmying around and using her natural reach advantage to power a straight thrust kick up in the champion’s direction. Harley just managed to avoid taking the shot clean on the jaw and instead felt it thump into her breastbone hard enough to push even the Tennessee Titan back a few paces. And White exploded into that newfound space, leaping into a gorgeous pirouette, her ‘Snowblind’ elbow out and raised at decapitation height!
But the signature strike never landed, Harley displaying an almost unbelievable level of grace to go with her power as she spun to one side, even having the presence of mind to raise one knee up into the space she had just evacuated. Suddenly without a target, the Stranger’s momentum slammed her taut tummy right into that raised joint, stopping her dead and doubling her forwards. And worse was to come as she straightened back up, Collins bursting forwards and swinging a murderous Crooked Lariat into the back of the blonde’s head.
BACK LARIAT
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hoewvT5Z-w
Denied any chance of protecting herself from the blow, White was sent sprawling forwards, the Icelander ending up face down and seeing stars. She wasn’t left there for long though, Harley marching back and reaching down to grab one long leg. Hanging on to it proved much more difficult though, Astrid realizing her peril and bringing her other boot up into an awkward but effective stomp into her kneecap.
Shoved backwards by that stabbing kick, the champion bulled forwards again only to find White now up on her side. Again those lethal legs scythed out, this time thumping a grounded Shoot Kick into that back of her left knee, the joint already tenderized enough to be swept out. Suddenly genuflecting, Harley realized what was coming but this time wasn’t quite fast enough to avoid it, the follow up thumping into her temple and leaving her reeling.
GROUNDED KICK COMBINATION
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPOEBf9xt2g
Still feeling the effects of that hellacious lariat, Astrid was noticeably slower than usual to get back to her feet. She was still quicker than the champion though, HJC still on one knee as she tried to blink away that fog. And White seemed determined to make the most of that, wrapping one arm around that auburn-haired noggin and sprinting forwards, dragging the unwilling Southern girl along with her in a dash into the corner. At the last second the Stranger leaped feet first, slipping to one side and coming to rest in a seat on the middle rope. Harley wasn’t nearly so lucky, driven face-first into the middle turnbuckle.
CORNER RUNNING BULLDOG
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dHpWMjcy2o
Lithely slipping out to the apron, Astrid stood to her full height and glared down at her handiwork, the champion left in a dazed sprawl in the corner below.
Determined to make up as much ground as quickly as possible, the Stranger took the top rope in both hands and planted a foot on the middle buckle, White clearly in search of the penthouse level. But a grimace crimped her features as soon as the challenger pushed off and she returned to the apron, one arm snugged tight across her abused midsection. “Reparations begin now, Ms. Collins.” the towering blonde hissed. “I assure you, they will be most severe.”
Harley Jo offered a curse in response, so White grit her teeth and vaulted over the rubber-coated steel, her right knee raised almost to chest level so she could THWUMP that heel into the pit of the brunette’s stomach! Collins gurgled nastily and turned over to defend against another assault, but she hadn’t even made it to all fours when Astrid hauled her up with a double handful of hair. Still close to the corner following the Bulldog, White bounced HJC’s forehead off the top buckle, then turned her in a half circle and stuffed her in tight.
Thus satisfied, Astrid took a step back and almost casually THWHACKED a left Roundhouse offa the side of her opponent’s skull. Harley’s head rocked back then slumped forward, the stunned brunette raising her arms *just* in time to defend against the second Roundhouse White sent her way. That hastily-assembled guard soaked up the worst of it, though it was looking quite ramshackle after two and it completely disintegrated after the third THWHACKED home. Harley Jo’s knees gave way and she dropped to an awkward seat only to grab the middle rope and scramble up almost imm--
CORNER KICKS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA2-gjezItE
Once again holding the top rope in both hands, Astrid hopped up and drove both heels into the Southerner’s collarbone, driving her back against the roughly-padded steel. It wasn’t quite a stranglehold, but it sure as hell wasn’t pleasant, especially not when White began jouncing up and down, forcing the struggling, red-faced champion to carry every bit of her near hundred and forty pounds. Al waited several seconds to see if Astrid would stop of her own accord and when she didn’t he called out a brisk count that made it all the way to ‘FOUR!’ before White vacated her perch.
“Anything to say now, Ms. Collins? Astrid asked after a single sharp kick to the other woman’s midsection. “Or have you already resigned yourself to the role of former Intercontinental ChampEEEERRRRRHHHHH!”
The Witch of Razorback Holler lurched forward and tore into her foe’s abdomen with both hands, her thumbs gouging in deep on either side of White’s navel. “Ain’t resigned to a damned thing, darlin’.” Collins huffed as she powered to one knee. “’Cept maybe another round of fancy soundin’ excuses after I make your weird ass tap out in the middle of NNNNNNGGGGGHHH!”
Astrid rose up on tiptoe and dropped to one knee in the blink of an eye, all to DRIVE a vicious Bionic Elbow into the crown of her attacker’s skull!
Harley Jo’s hands went from talons to loose hooks and Astrid shook them loose en route to hauling Collins to boot-leather. A Wristlock gave way to an Irish Whip which led to the Stranger sprinting across the ring no more than two steps behind the woozy brunette. Unaware of this pursuit, HJC twisted ‘round mid-stride to take the impact between her shoulders but forgot all about it when Astrid did some spinning of her own for the Back Elbow she drilled into the champ’s chin!
CORNER SPINNING BACK ELBOW:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzYEImBPAf8
White strode away from the impact expecting to hear the flat, somehow damp smack of Collins hitting the deck facedown, so she was more than a little irritated when the Tennessee Terror stumbled away from the buckles without even taking a knee. Sparing a glance over one shoulder to get a better bead on the brunette’s position, Astrid hit the opposite set of strands at a dead run and came back with a Flying Elbow directed between her nemesis’ ‘OOOOOOOOHHHHHH!’ from all over the arena when Harley Jo launched off her back foot to THWHUMP a Spear deep into the Icelander’s traumatized midsection!
Astrid came down on her shoulders like she’d been Powerbombed, then tumbled backward onto one knee, the Stranger’s head bowed as if in prayer, or much more likely, gut-churning anguish. Collins was dealing with plenty of anguish of her own, but she was on her feet and White was not, which made it far easier to endure. Backing away on a slight diagonal, Harley Jo flipped hair out of her face, then pursed her lips and let out a low, sneaky whistle. Astrid raised her head to the noise and was treated to a brief view of the champ rushing her down. Then Collins THWHONKED her left shin against Astrid’s face and her world exploded in a white flash. Knocked into a starfish by the power of the Moonshiner, Astrid didn’t so much as murmur when Harley Jo hooked both legs and rolled her into a Back Press for the…
MOONSHINER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoH9TOKLKc8
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Astrid lifted a shoulder with a whisper to spare, her escape prompting an incredulous roar from the crowd and a rare expression of wide-eyed surprise from the Tennessee Terror. “Jaw’s tougher than it used to be.” Collins admitted as she went about scraping the glassy-eyed challenger off the canvas. “That’s something to hang your hat on, I guess. Just not enough to put a belt around your waist.”
Forcing the jellied blonde’s head between her thighs in a loose Scissors, Harley Jo slid her hands under White’s biceps and yoked up tight to trap them in a Double Underh-- Astrid shoved away and brought her right leg whipping up ‘n over her back to strike Collins’ forehead!
SCORPION KICK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ0e-xftmEw
The Scorpion Kick set Harley Jo to reeling without knocking her down, so White exploded forward and-- HJC got low, stuffed her hands against that bruised belly and launched the lissome Destroyer straight into the lights for-- Astrid got her knees up high, braced them on the champ’s shoulders and pushed down with all her weight to THAWHAM Collins to the deck with a ring-shaking Meteora! White landed astride the brunette’s chest and promptly reached back to hook right leg behind the knee. In the next instant she slid forward until the fork of her crotch was wedged tight to Harley Jo’s chin, all the better to keep her down for the…
POP-UP METEORA:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fptoulj9DU
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOOO!
The Vicious Volunteer bucked loose and clambered to a knee, one hand pressed tight to her throbbing forTHWHACK! Astrid belted her across the left ear with a Buzzsaw Kick that snapped Harley’s head back at whiplash-inducing speed.
BUZZSAW KICK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wioj6UDJUk
A slow motion shudder passed through the champ’s frame, she almost certainly would’ve toppled onto her face and chest if Astrid hadn’t pulled her into a loose Standing Headscissors. From there she leaned down and left, pressing her chest against the Southerner’s curved back so she could thread her right arm between Collins’ stems to clutch her right thigh in a sort of inside-out Cradle. Those assembled for Spring Break were still cringing over that last kick when Astrid straightened up and laid out on her back to power Harley Jo through an involuntary front flip that ended with the Tennessee Terror THAWHAMMING down flat on her face, chest and belly!
POLAR VORTEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3yn689ya5c
Caught in the cold by these merciless Polar Vortex, Collins offered no resistance when Astrid shot the Half Nelson and rolled her over for a rough, domineering Lateral Press, Far leg hooked tight, White kept her forearm pressed against the line of Harley’s jaw while Al and the rest of the FAWNatics counted off…
ONE…
TWO…
THREE!
Thunderous jeers from all ‘round, not that their combined might was enough to overpower the voice of the Announcer. “Ladies and gentlemen, your winner via pin-fall… and the NEW FAWN Intercontinental Champion… ASTRID WHITE!”
Apparently as heedless of the crowd’s opprobrium as she was of most other ‘distractions’ around her, White simply held her position, turning her head so she could look right into the face of the woman she had dethroned. Harley’s movements were still slow and dazed after that face-first impact, but the dawning realization in her expression was apparently enough to earn a rarely-seen smile from the Stranger.
Shoving her forearm roughly into the now former champion’s face, Astrid gave a few more pushes, rolling her erstwhile nemesis over to the ring ropes. Left on her back, she allowed a few seconds to gather both her breath and her senses before crunching up to a seat, legs crossed, head bowed a little as if in prayer. And there she stayed as Al Carpenter approached with her new prize.
Deprived of any clues about how the Stranger wanted to celebrate her first ever title win, the lanky official was somewhat at a loss. “Congratulations miss,” he said quietly, “would you like to take your belt and let me raise your hand?” White didn’t even look up, statue still, and after a few seconds that felt like minutes Carpenter knelt to one knee in front of the new champion. “I’ll just leave it here,” he muttered, spreading the belt out on the canvas. He was back up on his feet and halfway over to check on Harley when he heard a quiet voice from behind.
“Please inform Ms Christian that henceforth all contests for the Intercontinental Title will require prior booking as they would for any other match.”
The referee turned around to see Astrid back on her feet, although the title was still lying on the mat where he’d left it. “I…uh…I can pass the message on miss,” he stammered, “but the IC belt has been an open challenge for years. I don’t know if we can just go back on that.”
“Mr. Carpenter, this ‘belt’ is a gaudy trinket with no value or purpose other than it’s component parts.” The Stranger bent carefully, retrieving said trinket and lifting it up to glance at the faceplate, then looking dead into the referee’s eyes. “The title it bestows has been carried by increasingly poor examples of humanity, to the point that it is essentially meaningless. Purpose can only be restored if it becomes a catalyst for worthwhile contests between prepared and focused combatants. I will not be party to a gimmick.”
Turning away from the nonplussed official, Astrid walked gingerly to the ropes, her new title held in one hand and swinging back and forth. Slipping through the ropes and dropping lightly to ringside, the Arctic Assassin took a few steps up the ramp before turning back, taking one last opportunity to survey the arena of her victory. She raised her free hand to her eye, spreading her fingers and angling her head to form her tilted ‘A’ sigil. And then the new champion was gone, striding up the ramp with her new belt still hanging loosely from one hand and swishing through the curtain.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc6zXSdYXm8
A thumping bass heartbeat rocked through the arena, followed by another, another and another. As the crowd volume raised in recognition a huge pair of hyper-realistic eyes opened up on the ‘tron, blinking and focusing slightly as the song’s bass-driven chaos was joined by a surprisingly delicate vocal. The woman herself made an appearance soon after; picked out in a spotlight among twilight. Face hooded by a dark leather jacket, she looked impossibly tall and slender in the low lighting as she set off on a slow, methodical stride to the ring.
ASTRID WHITE
“Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall and it is for the FAWN Intercontinental Champion. Introducing first, hailing from Reykjavik, Iceland, standing at 6’2” of height and weighing in tonight at 139lbs…she is known as The Stranger…ASTRID WHITE!””
Tonight might have been the Icelander’s first tilt at a FAWN title, but there was no sign of any change in her appearance or demeanor as a result. The FAWNatics had a clear view of those impossibly long and well toned legs, ending in midnight blue lycra boy shorts. Her top was mostly covered by the dark leather jacket, but the opening exposed a white meshed top covering the modest swell of her chest, as well as a glimpse of arguably the most well-defined abs in FAWN.
The Stranger reached the ring and carried on around to the back, stepping up on the apron in one stride and slipping through the strands, she made her way to one corner and ascended the second turnbuckle just as her music again paused. On the final bass heartbeat the lights flared back on, and White flicked her hood back at the same time to reveal her sharply contoured face framed by an artfully wavy blonde bob. She flashed a hand over one grey-green eye, tilting her head to form an A sigil. Out in the crowd a reasonable number raised their hands in response, but the Stranger’s fans were few in comparison to the jeers ringing from the rest of the audience.
The Artic Assassin was settling into the challenger’s corner when the Announcer resumed his duties. “And introducing her opponent, hailing from Jackson, Tennessee she stands at five feet ten inches tall and weighs in tonight at one hundred and forty-eight pounds, she is the Tennessee Terror, the Witch of Razorback Holler and the current FAWN Intercontinental Champion, this is HARLEY JO COLLINS!”
SHINE DOWN:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xACHH5-QwY
HARLEY JO COLLINS:
Accompanied by Godsmack, some Milagro and several pounds of leather and gold commonly referred to as ’the Workhorse Title’, Harley Jo Collins herownself strode through the curtain and raised the IC strap one-handed. Accepting their cheers with a small smile, the Countrycidal Maniac toasted the belt with her drink, then took a long swig before heading down the ramp. As per usual her pre-match armor remained the same regardless of the weather, a pair of ancient denim overalls that’d accompanied her to no less than six continents.
Eyes honed on Astrid, Harley Jo didn’t break her gaze while she climbed the steel steps, when she took a strong slug of her drink or even when she put a hand to her shoulder and undid the clasps on the overalls, leaving them in a puddle at her feet. Stripped to the essentials, she wore a black fightin’ rumble-kini, white pads and plain black boots. From there she slid under the bottom rope, pushed to her feet and strode to the middle of the ring to raise the belt one more time. Eyes locked on White, Collins raised her other hand to beckon the Icelander forward, but Astrid didn’t so much as twitch. Openly disappointed, HJC draped the belt over Al Carpenter’s shoulder, then headed to her corner.
The audience seemed to hold its breath after the bell CLANGED, no one quite sure whether they should cheer their hearts out or flee in terror while these two occupied the same ring. Blonde and brunette paid no mind to this bated breath, they merely held the other’s gaze for a few endless seconds before starting toward the center of the ring. The distance vanished in a few long strides with Collins out in front, the IC Champ raising her hands to welcome the Strang-- Astrid exploded off her back foot with a high knee that would’ve put a dent in Harley Jo’s chin if she hadn’t twisted aside at the last possible second. Collins came out of her spin on the challenger’s six and seized the advantage courtesy a low, scything kick aimed at the pit of White’s left NO! Astrid hopped over the strike without even looking, a show of nearly preternatural ring awareness that was applauded loudly but immediately forgotten when the two lissome Destroyers went tummy to tummy in a rough, disrespectful Collar & Elbow Lock-Up.
Each was too seasoned to waste such an opportunity by pulling her opponent’s hair, rather they shoved a hand in the other wrestler’s face and pushed, not a single sustained effort but repeated scuffing blows intended to bust a lip or bloody a nose. In essence there was nothing illegal about this particular clinch, yet Al didn’t like the tone it established so he called out, “Keep those hands on the chin, ladies!”
White replied by grrrrrrrrinding the heel of her palm against Collins’ bottom lip until the Southerner groaned in pain! Don’t feel too bad for HJC though, she answered the Icelander’s hostilities by pinching her nostrils like she meant to take Astrid’s nose clean off her face. An angry keening joined the champ’s low groans as the pair of towering battlers slowly backpedaled until Astrid’s back touched the rubber-coated steel.
Interesting note, neither woman called for a break, indeed Carpenter was quite certain they would’ve gone on as they were if he hadn’t hurried over and patted each on the shoulders. “That’s the ropes, ladies. I want a clean break and don’t even think about acting like you can’t hear me.”
Somewhat to his surprise they did just that, blonde and brunette disengaging slowly to make sure neither landed a cheap shot. Hands held at just above shoulder level, Collins took a step back and-- Astrid shoved her hard to create more separation, then planted on her left leg so she could whip her right foot up n’ across in a Roundhouse aimed at-- the Vicious Volunteer ducked rather than dipped, meaning she was still in the same spot when the Stranger came out on the other end of her rotation. This proved problematic for the champion because White immediately lunged in and THUMPED the point of her left knee against her foe’s lowered head!
FEIGNED KNEE STRIKE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d6PFY8vqDc
Harley Jo swayed on the spot, giving Astrid more than enough time to swing ‘round behind and wedge her head beneath the brunette’s right arm. Getting her right arm behind Collins’ right knee in the same instant, White pulled the limb off the mat in an awkward Standing Cradle made all the tighter once she knotted her hands snug against her rival’s left cheek. Heartbeats removed from a particularly nasty Suplex of one sort or another, HJC bore down on Astrid’s noggin with an improvised Side Headlock that forced the titan blonde’s cheek against the swell of her breast. That alone wouldn’t have been enough to thwart Astrid’s plans for long, which was why Collins curled her left hand into a fist and drove it into the challenger’s nose! The Hammer Punch watered White’s eyes and loosened her grip to the point that Collins could free her leg. Still holding onto that sort-of Headlock, Harley Jo thum-thum-THUMPED Kneelifts into Astrid’s tummy until she managed to shove her way free of the Southerner’s clutches!
Rounding on the blonde at once, Collins pointed her left knee in White’s direction, then pivoted into-- sensing another Kneelift, White turned with Collins and raised her own left leg to better defend against the champion’s encroach--“AAAAHHHH!”
The Stranger yelped in surprised pain when Harley Jo brought her boot down atop her planted right foot! Astrid hobbled away, her attention so focused on her right foot that she couldn’t stop Collins from staking claim to her left! Stretching the limb out full length with a single backward step, Harley Jo didn’t bother with a taunt or some sly salutation, she only twisted beneath Astrid’s vulnerable leg to sling the Icelander to the deck with a quick Dragon Screw! White snarled, sat up at once despite Harley still owning her leg. This proved problematic because the Witch of Razorback Holler clambered to boot-leather, then hopped up and PUSHED Astrid’s stem toward the mat as hard as she could!
DRAGON SCREW & LEG SNAP:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3S8wHypzFw
The normally glacial Icelander hissed in pain but sat up almost at once, White using her hands and hips to scoot around the canvas while holding Harley Jo at bay with her un-tweaked right-- Collins didn’t so much shoot in as she did dive, the Tennessee Terror skidding in on her left knee to effectively wedge herself between the challenger’s legs. Now, voluntarily offering oneself to an Astrid White Bodyscissors was no one’s idea of a sound strategy which was why HJC used the residual momentum to force the blonde’s dangerous gam away from her torso at a wide angle. Looping her left arm over White’s thigh in the blink of an eye, Collins threaded her own stems around Astrid’s calf and bore down in a simple but effective Legscissors.
Not about to cede such ground without one helluva fight, Astrid braced on her left elbow so she could hook her right arm around Harley’s neck and “NGH! NGH! NGH! NGH! NNNNGGGGHHHH!”
LEGSCISSOR PUNCHES:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrz5Ggz-m7U
Collins laid waste to the challenger’s plans with more than half a dozen punches administered to the side of her White’s trapped knee. Then she laced her hands in an S-grip against the opposite side and pulled up while simultaneously pouring more pressure through the Scissors! Face twisted with pain, Astrid thumped a fist against the mat, then reaaaaaaaaached for the ropes only to discover they were nowhere close.
“What do you say, Astrid?” Carpenter asked after Astrid raked a hand through her hair. “Just say the word and it’ll be over.”
“Never.” the Stranger grunted. “This doesn’t end until Ms. Collins is unconscious and the Intercontinental Title is around my EEERRRRRRRRGGHHH!”
Harley Jo’s rebuttal came in the form of several more hard-hearted punches unleashed on the Icelander’s vulnerable knee. “No meddling Aussie to cover your ass this time, darlin’.” Collins drawled. “Tonight it’s just you, me and whatever excuses you’ll whip up after I EERRRRGGHH! NOSE, CARPENTER! GET HER OFF MY NOSE!”
White, who’d repaid her rival’s previous nasal indignity with a pincer of her own, used it to wrench Collins’ head back at a sharp angle. With the brunette’s throat exposed, Astrid reached around with her free (left) hand and began to squeeze. “Relinquish my leg and you can have this,” she twisted the champion’s nose for emphasis, “back at once. Personally I hope you resist, I’d love the opportunity to make you scream in front of the whole worlNNNNGGGGGHHHH!”
Harley released the Legscissors, scrambled to one knee and immediately threw all her weight atop White’s left knee in miniature Elbow Drop! Astrid forgot all about Collins’ nose as the Vicious Volunteer stood up and trapped her left ankle under her right armpit. From there she dipped down and stepped over, neatly flopping White onto her stomach so HJC could settle down in a comfortable seat on the small of the challenger’s back.
SINGLE LEG CRAG:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-FpL5DRlv0
“You’re the one who’s gonna scream tonight, darlin.” Harley Jo murmured. “This is a good start, but I know you can do so much better!” Having made her prediction the champion quickly set about proving it, yanking back on her captive stem to pile pressure on the blonde’s knee and glutes. White’s response was immediate, pushing up on both hands and worming forwards a few inches in the direction of the nearest ropes until “URK!”
Shifting up slightly, the Vicious Volunteer bucked back and THUMPED the medicine ball of her derriere into her captive’s upper back. “You should know it ain’t gonna be that easy,” she told the wriggling blonde, leeeeeeeeaning further to pull that long Icelandic stem up into a cringe-inducing bow. The extra torque in combination with that butt-bomb was enough to put paid to White’s escape attempt, the Stranger stalled out and forced roughly down onto her chest. Astrid let out a grunt of frustration but was quick to switch her tactics, reaching up behind her head, those long arms flexible enough to grab a handful of chestnut locks.
Tugging on that hair-hold earned little more than a retaliatory upping of the pressure from Harley and a swift warning from Al Carpenter. Both were summarily ignored by the Arctic Assassin, who gave one more exploratory tug and then pulled with all she had while tucking her body up the other way. The result was a sort of tucked-under crunch, with Collins thrown off balance one way and Astrid ending up in a crouch between her legs. She didn’t stay there for long either, uncoiling again in a full-length sprawl over the surprised Tennessean and THUMPING an impromptu elbow into her jaw.
Taking the shot like the champion she was, Harley responded in the best possible way by digging a short but meaty hook into the Stranger’s side, throwing her weight over as she did so in an attempt to throw the blonde off. White’s response was to grab another handful of hair, this time for controlling purposes, and within a matter of moments the clash of the titans had descended into a mass of writhing limbs and hisses, neither woman able to sustain their position for long enough to capitalize.
Noticeably steeling himself, Al Carpenter waded into the mess, leaning down and urgently tugging on the shoulders of both interlocked competitors. “Come on ladies, off the hair!” he demanded, “You two were tearing the place down before you started on the catty shyt.” His initial pleas fell on completely oblivious ears, but after a few more tugs and a bout of shoves from both women the pair finally separated, Harley rolling over and coming up in a battle-ready crouch while White took a few steps back. Those grey-green eyes showed no sign that she was relenting, but she took a second to smooth down her togs and shake a few strands of platinum blonde out of her face.
“Sometimes one has to get dirty when putting down a rabid beast,” she murmured. The words must have been intended for Carpenter, but her eyes never left those of the Tennessee Terror.
HJC’s response was a smile which contained absolutely no humor whatsoever. “I know you, White. Under all those fancy words, the only difference between us is that I ain’t lyin’ about who I am.”
Sure enough the Southerner came forwards again, this time with a big Haymaker cocked and swinging right at Astrid’s head. The blonde had moved at almost exactly the same moment but her aim was considerably lower, one long leg lifting up and stabbing down into the knee of Harley’s standing leg just as the big brunette was swinging for the fences. That big swing still landed, clubbing into White’s shoulder with a meaty thump, but the Stranger was already on the moving, hopping up and driving both boots into that same Tennessee stem.
LOW DROPKICK
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEM-qQL5HEw
Deprived of a stable base, Collins tipped forward and came to a stop on hands and knees, Astrid scrabbling to a crouch beside her and diving over the arch of her back. Scandinavian hands reached out to hook around neck and leg, the Oklahoma Roll turning Harley turtle, ending up stacked on her shoulders. Alert to the surprise rollup, Al Carpenter dropped to count…
ONE
And then looked up in confusion as the Stranger abandoned her pin as quickly as she had secured it, settling instead for the opportunity to kneel above the trapped brunette while keeping one leg tight in her grasp. Two swift Hammer Fists swung down, the first CLUNKING into Collins’ jaw while the second hit only arm as the Vicious Volunteer covered up. “You really shouldn’t have allowed this open challenge idea, Collins.” she informed quietly, “You know you aren’t prepared for me, but I have most certainly prepared my traps for you.”
“Traps ain’t gonna save you, darlin’,” Harley spat back at her, “and if you think you’re chasin’ a rabbit you’ve got a shock comin when you get caught by a bARGUKK!” Shifting herself forwards, White slid one knee across the Southerner’s vulnerable throat and pushed her weight down, cutting Collins’ retort off with all her other breathing functions. The pressure was just momentary but boded even worse for the Witch of Razorback Holler, Astrid using her leg grip to roll her onto her front while rising to stand above her, still grasping both Tennessee ankles. The Stranger rose to all of that six feet and two inches of height, hopped up off her tiptoes, and then dropped he knees down hard into the small of the champion’s back.
Unable to bite back her groan, HJC reached back on instinct in an attempt to massage away some of the pain while her other hand reached forwards in the direction of the ropes. Before she could make it White was back up on her feet, this time gathering up both ankles as she did so. Tucking the toe of one boot into the pit of the opposite knee, Astrid yanked hard on one shin to tighten her knot up and stepped over and around, swinging the trapped Tennessee Titan into an enforced and extremely uncomfortable handstand.
STANDING INVERTED CLOVERLEAF
www.youtube.com/watch?v=spdNpcz-WGM
“Feel free to ‘holler’ if you wish, Collins” the Arctic Assassin sneered, “the result will be the same regardless. You couldn’t deal with me at your very best. Unprepared, you might as well just give up right now.”
Delighted to contradict the challenger at every turn, Collins dug her fingers into the canvas and started ‘walking’ toward the ropes as fast as the painful contortion would allow. In truth her progress was far quicker than Astrid would’ve liked. Against smaller opposition the Stranger could simply lift her burden completely off the canvas, but Harley Jo only ceded three inches to the blonde and outweighed her by almost ten pounds and White wasn’t willing to burn precious resources to keep the Southerner pinned to the center of the ring.
Which wasn’t to say that Harley’s time in the Cloverleaf was anything resembling pleasant.
Astrid couldn’t bully the brunette with her power game, so she constantly harried the retreating champion with quick knees to the belly, scuffing boot swipes to her chest and even a few sharp kicks aimed at the side of her head. “You’re wasting my time, Ms. Collins.” White sniffed even as Harley Jo continued to close on the ropes. “Our encounter will conclude with you weeping on this very canvas, so why not save yourself considerable pain and embarrassment and just--”
The Vicious Volunteer put on a burst of speed and would’ve snatched hold of the bottom strand if the towering Icelander hadn’t jerked up and hit full reverse to draaaaaaaag her protesting prey all the way back to the middle of the squared circle! Piqued by the defiance, Astrid planted her feet and hoisted up, forcing Collins into a near perfect handstand! “I said submit.” Astrid growled, her usual icy tone strained with the effort of keeping HJC suspended. “Unless you’d like to find out what sort of new and interesting configurations I can arrange for your spiEERRRHHHH!”
Somewhere beneath her, Harley Jo shifted all her weight to her right hand so she could reach up and back to secure an improbable claw on the challenger’s flat tummy! Making a point to gouge the point of her index finger into White’s navel, Collins murmured, “Same tired threats, girl. Know why they don’t work on me? Because unlike anyone else on this roster, I’ve felt you sobbing and pleading into the seat of my trunkOOOFFFFHHUUUNNNNGGGGHHH!”
Astrid ended the Claw with her hardest Kneelift yet, then laid out flat on her back, deftly scissoring her legs around the brunette’s midsection as she fell. Ankles locked as soon as she landed, the Stranger squeeeeeeeeeeeeeezed Harley Jo’s midsection while still jostling and wrenching on her knotted stems.
GLACIAL CLUTCH:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p_nBLF-t8s
“You will come to lament those humiliations you heaped upon me.” Astrid hissed. “Believe that, if you believe nothing else.”
Collins knew she’d certainly try, but she forced the thought from her mind in deference to the much more pressing problem of the Glacial Clutch. Mobility greatly reduced now that White’s legs were wrapped around her midsection, the Tennessee Terror braced herself into an awkward sort of push-up position and retraced the trail she’d blazed a moment prior. The lanky reprobate’s progress was still too swift for Astrid’s liking so she made sure to alternate constrictions with sharp heel strikes between her opponent’s shoulders. “You’re finished Ms. Collins.” the blonde chided. “Admit it before I do any more damage to that tacky mystique of you--”
Harley grabbed the bottom rope and gave it a shake. “Break it, bytchHHUURRRGHH!”
Astrid punished the insolence with a single sustained pulse of those fight winning legs. “Put some deference in your tone or I’ll OOOOWWWWWWWW!” Collins’ second counter-claw found its way between the challenger’s thighs, much to White’s shock and dismay. “Feral whore.” she snarled through clenched teeth. “They’ll be picking your teeth off the floor by the time I’m done with you!”
“Sure about that?” HJC treated the challenger to a vile white-knuckled squeeze. “Sounds like you’ve got more pressing concerns at the--”
Al made no effort to request a clean break, he simply walked over to the tangled titans and started counting. “ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!”
Astrid released, scooted away and sat up, one hand pressed firm to the center of her trunks. As for Harley Jo, she clambered to one knee and moved her anchoring grip to the second strand in case the Artic Assassin decided to “UUUNNNNGGGGHH!” Already on her feet, White closed on the penitent champion and THWHACKED a malicious Soccer Kick between her shoulders! Collins cried out, tried to rise, got forced back down by a pair of strong hands on her shoulders.
“Watch where you put your filthy fingers, Ms. Collins.” Astrid took hold of the bottom rope to keep steady when she planted her right knee between the Southerner’s shoulders and grrrrrooooooound down with every bit of her near hundred and forty pounds. “Lest you be willing to accept the consequences when I snap each and every one.”
Harley Jo’s answer was directed at the referee, rather than the challenger. “Still in the ropes, CarpentNNNNNGGGHH!”
White THUNKED her knee into the base of Collins’ skull, loosening her hooks enough for the blonde to haul her to verticality. Al didn’t care for the flagrant violation of protocol and expressed as much to Astrid in no uncertain terms, alas the Stranger was far more interested in cupping her hands across Harley’s chin so she could hop up and stuff both knees between those already aching should-- the Witch of Razorback Holler caught hold of the ropes one more time, meaning she remained firmly upright when White jerked back and hit the deck all by her lonesome.
Short of breath in the wake of the thwarted Lungblower, Astrid tumbled backward to come up on one knee a short distance removed from THWHACK! Harley came off the ropes and straight up drove her boot into the blonde’s startled face!
BASEMENT BOOT:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzONmOnqCfA
Astrid went down in a much uglier sprawl, yet still managed to turn onto her side quickly enough to deter Collins from going for a cover. Instead she filled her hands with White’s hair and rose to her full height, the incensed brunette using a few energetic tugs to make Astrid do the same. From there she slung an arm over the Stranger’s shoulders and slipped the other through her legs, all the better to scoop White onto the ball of her left shoulder.
“Really shouldn’t flaunt the rules when you’re in here with me, girl.” HJC noted as she walked Astrid around the ring like she was little more than a sack of laundry. “After all, they’re the only thing keeping me from making you squeal like a--”
“Save your threats for someone else, you backwoods degenerate.” Astrid grunted. “I see right through thUUUUNNNNGGGHH!” The Vicious Volunteer went up on tiptoe, ‘hupped’ Astrid off her shoulder and dropped to one knee, all the better to THUMP haughty Icelandic tummy atop the posted joint!
OVER THE SHOULDER GUTBUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6UZlFw6mMc
Astrid landed on all fours and immediately tried to roll away only for HJC to reel her back with a handful of hair. A single rough shove forced the challenger down flat and allowed Collins to collect her right arm in a Chickenwing. Stuffing her left hand against White’s tush for balance, Harley Jo floated over to her foe’s left side and collected that arm in an identical Chickenwing. Reefing back on the taller woman’s trapped arms, Collins shook her head ‘no’ when Carpenter closed in to check on a submission, but when she spoke it was to Astrid.
“That was a pretty good squeeze you had me in earlier, Ms. White,” the challenger’s name dripped with a honeyed contempt that made Astrid bristle, “hope you don’t mind me repayin’ it with a little interest.”
“Nothing you do interests me.” White grunted. “Save for the volume of your sobs when I make you EEEERRRRHHHHH!”
SCISSORED DOUBLE CHICKENWING:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mFW96VtkJg
Harley Jo slung her left leg over the back of Astrid’s noggin and tucked that ankle into the pit of her right knee to add a crushing Headscissors to the Double Chickenwing. “Care to repeat that, darlin’? Broke up there at the end, sounded like you might be cryin’.”
Whether the Countrycidal Maniac’s guess was correct was impossible to know, White’s features jammed into the mat by the crushing force. But after a few seconds those legs started working again, boots and knees scrabbling on canvas in order to get some sort of purchase. None seemed to be immediately forthcoming for the Stranger, the ineffectual attempts at building some locomotion enough to earn a satisfied smile from her tormentress.
“Hear that?” she asked Carpenter, hovering worriedly nearby. The referee just raised a confused eyebrow, Harley’s grin widening slightly. “Me neither. Seems all those threats about tears and torment have all gone quiet. Ah’m thinkin ‘Ms White’ here might finally have learned where all that talk gets her.”
Carpenter wasn’t playing along with his part in the rhetoric, focusing instead on tapping at the Stranger’s nastily twisted shoulder to get her attention. “You need me to end this, Astrid?” he asked concernedly, “tell me something miss.” White’s mouth was still jammed unceremoniously into the canvas, but the Icelander managed to waggle a finger on one trapped arm and growl a muffled NNNNNNNNN”
“Guess she’s found her voice again,” Harley winked to the referee, “want to hear what she’s got to say?” A twist of Tennessee hips was enough to lift Astrid’s face up out of the mat, although it was still framed by those crushing Tennessee legs.
“Don’t waste your breath, Mr. Carpenter,” she croaked, “Collins knows this isn’t going to make me quit, just like she knows she’s going to pay for every second innNNNGGGRHNNNNN NO!” A slight shift in body position allowed the Tennessee Terror to force even more of her strength sideways and down, abandoning the Headscissors part of her trap to force White’s shoulders even farther in the wrong direction. And worse still was to come for the stranger as the new alignment allowed Harley to corral both those arms in one of her own, freeing up one of those oh-so-dangerous hands.
“You sound awful sure about what we both know, sugah,” Harley Jo purred, her free hand drifting down, one fingernail trailing over the Icelander’s taut midriff. “Seems to me you might’ve forgotten something mighty important from our previous meetings. Let me refresh your memory…” White knew full well what was coming, wriggling and writhing furiously to extricate herself from the Countrycidal Maniac’s clutches. But it wasn’t enough, HJC’s hand forming a claw which raised up just slightly and then PLUNGED into that expanse of bared abdomen!
The effect was immediate, White's thrashing increased a hundredfold while her attempts to bite down the pain finally came to an end, her low moan continuing onto a keening note as the claw of the Gutcheck Goddess did it’s work. Harley’s application of her most vaunted weapon was typically methodical, fingers probing into the pale flesh and then clenching to draw a louder protest from the Stranger. And finally Astrid’s thrashing earned a little success, one arm managing to escape the champion's clutches.
Immediately White reached back, grasping at her tormentor's clawin' wrist and attempting to...“GRAAAGH!” A vicious twist of that talon was enough for Astrid to abandon any attempt to unpick it, instead just reaching forwards and scrabbling with her legs again in a frantic effort to get closer to the ropes. Harley didn’t seem overly concerned about any progress the challenger made, simply ensuring that every inch of canvas was paid for in agony, the Stranger forced to wriggle awkwardly on her side, breath rasping, now unable to bite back the moans of pain.
After around thirty seconds, each of which felt like minutes in the Vicious Volunteer’s clutches, Astrid was able to reach out and wrap those trembling fingers around the bottom rope. “BBBrrrreak!” she barked, Carpenter again skipping any pleasantries and beginning a rapid count of five. He had reached “FOUR!” when Harley gave one final twist of her wrist, earning a full-blown wail from the Stranger, before theatrically raising her talon out of that rapidly reddening flesh. She made a deliberate show of withdrawing her hooks, rising slowly to her feet as the Icelander glared balefully up at her.
“Turns out I can follow the rules AND make you squeal,” Harley purred.
White took a few seconds to regulate her breath, grasping at the middle rope and using it as a crutch to pull herself back up to a crouch, but her eyes never left those of the champion. “Every insult, every hurt, every indignity you attempt,” she said quietly, “all will be repaid in full.”
Harley-Jo spread her arms wide, her gesture apparently taking in the ring, the arena and all the enthralled FAWNatics. “You were the one who chose to try for my title, girl,” she drawled, “Way I see it, all that hurtin is on you.”
Astrid had by now made it back to her feet, one hand still resting on the ropes and her eyes still locked on Harley’s. “I have no interest in that trinket, Collins,” she hissed, “it serves only as a mean to an end. Yours.” Her final word seemed to be a break of tension, a cue for both destroyer-class fighters to burst back into motion. Harley stormed forwards, eating up the space between the pair, only to find the Stranger dancing to one side and pumping a pair of short and nasty low kicks into her left calf.
Displaying that almost preternatural balance, Astrid’s feet became a blur, shimmying around and using her natural reach advantage to power a straight thrust kick up in the champion’s direction. Harley just managed to avoid taking the shot clean on the jaw and instead felt it thump into her breastbone hard enough to push even the Tennessee Titan back a few paces. And White exploded into that newfound space, leaping into a gorgeous pirouette, her ‘Snowblind’ elbow out and raised at decapitation height!
But the signature strike never landed, Harley displaying an almost unbelievable level of grace to go with her power as she spun to one side, even having the presence of mind to raise one knee up into the space she had just evacuated. Suddenly without a target, the Stranger’s momentum slammed her taut tummy right into that raised joint, stopping her dead and doubling her forwards. And worse was to come as she straightened back up, Collins bursting forwards and swinging a murderous Crooked Lariat into the back of the blonde’s head.
BACK LARIAT
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hoewvT5Z-w
Denied any chance of protecting herself from the blow, White was sent sprawling forwards, the Icelander ending up face down and seeing stars. She wasn’t left there for long though, Harley marching back and reaching down to grab one long leg. Hanging on to it proved much more difficult though, Astrid realizing her peril and bringing her other boot up into an awkward but effective stomp into her kneecap.
Shoved backwards by that stabbing kick, the champion bulled forwards again only to find White now up on her side. Again those lethal legs scythed out, this time thumping a grounded Shoot Kick into that back of her left knee, the joint already tenderized enough to be swept out. Suddenly genuflecting, Harley realized what was coming but this time wasn’t quite fast enough to avoid it, the follow up thumping into her temple and leaving her reeling.
GROUNDED KICK COMBINATION
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPOEBf9xt2g
Still feeling the effects of that hellacious lariat, Astrid was noticeably slower than usual to get back to her feet. She was still quicker than the champion though, HJC still on one knee as she tried to blink away that fog. And White seemed determined to make the most of that, wrapping one arm around that auburn-haired noggin and sprinting forwards, dragging the unwilling Southern girl along with her in a dash into the corner. At the last second the Stranger leaped feet first, slipping to one side and coming to rest in a seat on the middle rope. Harley wasn’t nearly so lucky, driven face-first into the middle turnbuckle.
CORNER RUNNING BULLDOG
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dHpWMjcy2o
Lithely slipping out to the apron, Astrid stood to her full height and glared down at her handiwork, the champion left in a dazed sprawl in the corner below.
Determined to make up as much ground as quickly as possible, the Stranger took the top rope in both hands and planted a foot on the middle buckle, White clearly in search of the penthouse level. But a grimace crimped her features as soon as the challenger pushed off and she returned to the apron, one arm snugged tight across her abused midsection. “Reparations begin now, Ms. Collins.” the towering blonde hissed. “I assure you, they will be most severe.”
Harley Jo offered a curse in response, so White grit her teeth and vaulted over the rubber-coated steel, her right knee raised almost to chest level so she could THWUMP that heel into the pit of the brunette’s stomach! Collins gurgled nastily and turned over to defend against another assault, but she hadn’t even made it to all fours when Astrid hauled her up with a double handful of hair. Still close to the corner following the Bulldog, White bounced HJC’s forehead off the top buckle, then turned her in a half circle and stuffed her in tight.
Thus satisfied, Astrid took a step back and almost casually THWHACKED a left Roundhouse offa the side of her opponent’s skull. Harley’s head rocked back then slumped forward, the stunned brunette raising her arms *just* in time to defend against the second Roundhouse White sent her way. That hastily-assembled guard soaked up the worst of it, though it was looking quite ramshackle after two and it completely disintegrated after the third THWHACKED home. Harley Jo’s knees gave way and she dropped to an awkward seat only to grab the middle rope and scramble up almost imm--
CORNER KICKS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA2-gjezItE
Once again holding the top rope in both hands, Astrid hopped up and drove both heels into the Southerner’s collarbone, driving her back against the roughly-padded steel. It wasn’t quite a stranglehold, but it sure as hell wasn’t pleasant, especially not when White began jouncing up and down, forcing the struggling, red-faced champion to carry every bit of her near hundred and forty pounds. Al waited several seconds to see if Astrid would stop of her own accord and when she didn’t he called out a brisk count that made it all the way to ‘FOUR!’ before White vacated her perch.
“Anything to say now, Ms. Collins? Astrid asked after a single sharp kick to the other woman’s midsection. “Or have you already resigned yourself to the role of former Intercontinental ChampEEEERRRRRHHHHH!”
The Witch of Razorback Holler lurched forward and tore into her foe’s abdomen with both hands, her thumbs gouging in deep on either side of White’s navel. “Ain’t resigned to a damned thing, darlin’.” Collins huffed as she powered to one knee. “’Cept maybe another round of fancy soundin’ excuses after I make your weird ass tap out in the middle of NNNNNNGGGGGHHH!”
Astrid rose up on tiptoe and dropped to one knee in the blink of an eye, all to DRIVE a vicious Bionic Elbow into the crown of her attacker’s skull!
Harley Jo’s hands went from talons to loose hooks and Astrid shook them loose en route to hauling Collins to boot-leather. A Wristlock gave way to an Irish Whip which led to the Stranger sprinting across the ring no more than two steps behind the woozy brunette. Unaware of this pursuit, HJC twisted ‘round mid-stride to take the impact between her shoulders but forgot all about it when Astrid did some spinning of her own for the Back Elbow she drilled into the champ’s chin!
CORNER SPINNING BACK ELBOW:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzYEImBPAf8
White strode away from the impact expecting to hear the flat, somehow damp smack of Collins hitting the deck facedown, so she was more than a little irritated when the Tennessee Terror stumbled away from the buckles without even taking a knee. Sparing a glance over one shoulder to get a better bead on the brunette’s position, Astrid hit the opposite set of strands at a dead run and came back with a Flying Elbow directed between her nemesis’ ‘OOOOOOOOHHHHHH!’ from all over the arena when Harley Jo launched off her back foot to THWHUMP a Spear deep into the Icelander’s traumatized midsection!
Astrid came down on her shoulders like she’d been Powerbombed, then tumbled backward onto one knee, the Stranger’s head bowed as if in prayer, or much more likely, gut-churning anguish. Collins was dealing with plenty of anguish of her own, but she was on her feet and White was not, which made it far easier to endure. Backing away on a slight diagonal, Harley Jo flipped hair out of her face, then pursed her lips and let out a low, sneaky whistle. Astrid raised her head to the noise and was treated to a brief view of the champ rushing her down. Then Collins THWHONKED her left shin against Astrid’s face and her world exploded in a white flash. Knocked into a starfish by the power of the Moonshiner, Astrid didn’t so much as murmur when Harley Jo hooked both legs and rolled her into a Back Press for the…
MOONSHINER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoH9TOKLKc8
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Astrid lifted a shoulder with a whisper to spare, her escape prompting an incredulous roar from the crowd and a rare expression of wide-eyed surprise from the Tennessee Terror. “Jaw’s tougher than it used to be.” Collins admitted as she went about scraping the glassy-eyed challenger off the canvas. “That’s something to hang your hat on, I guess. Just not enough to put a belt around your waist.”
Forcing the jellied blonde’s head between her thighs in a loose Scissors, Harley Jo slid her hands under White’s biceps and yoked up tight to trap them in a Double Underh-- Astrid shoved away and brought her right leg whipping up ‘n over her back to strike Collins’ forehead!
SCORPION KICK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ0e-xftmEw
The Scorpion Kick set Harley Jo to reeling without knocking her down, so White exploded forward and-- HJC got low, stuffed her hands against that bruised belly and launched the lissome Destroyer straight into the lights for-- Astrid got her knees up high, braced them on the champ’s shoulders and pushed down with all her weight to THAWHAM Collins to the deck with a ring-shaking Meteora! White landed astride the brunette’s chest and promptly reached back to hook right leg behind the knee. In the next instant she slid forward until the fork of her crotch was wedged tight to Harley Jo’s chin, all the better to keep her down for the…
POP-UP METEORA:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fptoulj9DU
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOOO!
The Vicious Volunteer bucked loose and clambered to a knee, one hand pressed tight to her throbbing forTHWHACK! Astrid belted her across the left ear with a Buzzsaw Kick that snapped Harley’s head back at whiplash-inducing speed.
BUZZSAW KICK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wioj6UDJUk
A slow motion shudder passed through the champ’s frame, she almost certainly would’ve toppled onto her face and chest if Astrid hadn’t pulled her into a loose Standing Headscissors. From there she leaned down and left, pressing her chest against the Southerner’s curved back so she could thread her right arm between Collins’ stems to clutch her right thigh in a sort of inside-out Cradle. Those assembled for Spring Break were still cringing over that last kick when Astrid straightened up and laid out on her back to power Harley Jo through an involuntary front flip that ended with the Tennessee Terror THAWHAMMING down flat on her face, chest and belly!
POLAR VORTEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3yn689ya5c
Caught in the cold by these merciless Polar Vortex, Collins offered no resistance when Astrid shot the Half Nelson and rolled her over for a rough, domineering Lateral Press, Far leg hooked tight, White kept her forearm pressed against the line of Harley’s jaw while Al and the rest of the FAWNatics counted off…
ONE…
TWO…
THREE!
Thunderous jeers from all ‘round, not that their combined might was enough to overpower the voice of the Announcer. “Ladies and gentlemen, your winner via pin-fall… and the NEW FAWN Intercontinental Champion… ASTRID WHITE!”
Apparently as heedless of the crowd’s opprobrium as she was of most other ‘distractions’ around her, White simply held her position, turning her head so she could look right into the face of the woman she had dethroned. Harley’s movements were still slow and dazed after that face-first impact, but the dawning realization in her expression was apparently enough to earn a rarely-seen smile from the Stranger.
Shoving her forearm roughly into the now former champion’s face, Astrid gave a few more pushes, rolling her erstwhile nemesis over to the ring ropes. Left on her back, she allowed a few seconds to gather both her breath and her senses before crunching up to a seat, legs crossed, head bowed a little as if in prayer. And there she stayed as Al Carpenter approached with her new prize.
Deprived of any clues about how the Stranger wanted to celebrate her first ever title win, the lanky official was somewhat at a loss. “Congratulations miss,” he said quietly, “would you like to take your belt and let me raise your hand?” White didn’t even look up, statue still, and after a few seconds that felt like minutes Carpenter knelt to one knee in front of the new champion. “I’ll just leave it here,” he muttered, spreading the belt out on the canvas. He was back up on his feet and halfway over to check on Harley when he heard a quiet voice from behind.
“Please inform Ms Christian that henceforth all contests for the Intercontinental Title will require prior booking as they would for any other match.”
The referee turned around to see Astrid back on her feet, although the title was still lying on the mat where he’d left it. “I…uh…I can pass the message on miss,” he stammered, “but the IC belt has been an open challenge for years. I don’t know if we can just go back on that.”
“Mr. Carpenter, this ‘belt’ is a gaudy trinket with no value or purpose other than it’s component parts.” The Stranger bent carefully, retrieving said trinket and lifting it up to glance at the faceplate, then looking dead into the referee’s eyes. “The title it bestows has been carried by increasingly poor examples of humanity, to the point that it is essentially meaningless. Purpose can only be restored if it becomes a catalyst for worthwhile contests between prepared and focused combatants. I will not be party to a gimmick.”
Turning away from the nonplussed official, Astrid walked gingerly to the ropes, her new title held in one hand and swinging back and forth. Slipping through the ropes and dropping lightly to ringside, the Arctic Assassin took a few steps up the ramp before turning back, taking one last opportunity to survey the arena of her victory. She raised her free hand to her eye, spreading her fingers and angling her head to form her tilted ‘A’ sigil. And then the new champion was gone, striding up the ramp with her new belt still hanging loosely from one hand and swishing through the curtain.