Post by hawkeye on Jul 8, 2023 15:58:19 GMT
“Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall with a thirty minute time limit. Introducing first, hailing from Stovington, Vermont, she stands at five feet seven inches tall and weighs in at one hundred and thirty pounds! She is the Rainmaker, the Ace, the Bankable Bombshell, this is...SUSANNAH BURLINGAME!”
CROWN ON THE GROUND:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGEZpSQEhls
SUE BURLINGAME:
Anyone complaining about the weather suddenly found it much more tolerable even if it did get considerably hotter in time with the the discordant opening riff of 'Crown on the Ground'. The noise was still building when the eldest Burlingame brushed through the curtain with the sort of swagger that one earned after fifteen years of humbling the best and queening the rest. Smiling wide as the first 'SUE!' chants reached her ears, the Ace stretched her arms wide and threw back her head to call down a ‘BOOM’ of zappy blue pyro! Stock still until the last of it had faded away, Sue offered a raised fist to the throng, then started down the ramp.
For her second encounter with the nasty brat that'd gone to her trunks for a win the last time they met, Burlingame wore her classic dark blue two-piece with mellow golden trim; matching boots and pads at knee and elbow completed the look. Though never a hand-slapper in the vein of a Shea London or Kylie Sanders, the Rainmaker did a little bit of zigging and zagging on her way to the ring, be it to bump knuckles with any offered her way or to pose for a selfie in front of a sign proclaiming
TREMBLAY'S TIME IS UP! JUST MY TWO CENTS.
“Damn straight.” Sue told the older woman holding the sign an instant prior to breaking into a sprint that took her to and then into the squared circle via a slick little dive under the bottom rope. Simply kipping to boot-leather earned the veteran battler another raucous ovation, one Al Carpenter let die down before he strolled over to check Burlingame's pads and boots.
“Punk caught me last time, Al.” the Bankable Bombshell admitted as she offered up elbows, wrists and knees. “I underestimated her and she pinned me in front of the world.”
“Looking to return the favor, are you?” Carpenter asked when it was done.
“One for one? Hell no. Blondie's getting payback with interest. The kind that breaks backs.”
The eldest Burlingame sister had recently settled into the far corner when the Announcer returned to the task at hand. “And introducing her opponent, hailing from Hobbs End, New Hampshire she stands at five feet-eight inches tall and weighs in at one hundred and thirty-two pounds. She is the Soul Survivor and the only Hope of a Dark Tomorrow, I give to you ‘BAD’ PENNY TREMBLAY!”
The lights cut out in the span between heartbeats, darkness descending on the Sweltering idiots before they could even start to jeer. With it came the low hum of a guitar and a repetition of vaguely ecclesiastical ‘oh’s’ that marked the beginning of ‘Walk on Water’.
WALK ON WATER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA2w-PMKspo
Jeers did their level best to contend with the Orphan of Midnight's anthem, but the words rolled on heedless of the massed disdain, nor was it enough to halt the arrival of ghostly blue lights or a thin bank of dry ice fog. The Ill Omen appeared moments later, rising into view on a mechanical lift hidden within the dark so it looked as though she appeared from thin air. Taking up residence center stage, Penelope Tremblay gazed around the arena for several long seconds before she raised her left hand to her right shoulder and brushed off some invisible dust. Eyes locked on the former World Champion she'd been hounding for months, she repeated the sigil on her left shoulder, then started down the ramp to the squared circle.
PENNY TREMBLAY:
This evening Tremblay wore a midnight blue two piece consisting of a sports-bra top and strappy briefs, both edged in copper trim. Pads at knee and elbow were matte gray while her boots matched her trunks. She was perhaps three quarters of the way to the squared circle when Sue burst out of her corner and ran the ropes on the far side of the ring. Crossing the canvas in the span between heartbeats, the Ace leapt onto the top rope in a single bound and—Penny saw the blonde take flight but never even considered moving out of the way. Instead she stretched her arms wide and shouted, “Come and get me, hag! You think I'm going to run from--” she took a giant step backward when Burlingame leapt into the void and curled herself into a snug ball, the Rainmaker busting out a gorgeous 450 rotation that brought her down in a perfect landing directly in front of the willowy blonde!
“Enjoy that while you still can.” Tremblay sneered. “Those knees aren't going to be good for much once I'm finished with NNNGGGHH!”
Susannah reared back and tagged her adversary across the mouth with a CRACKING backhand that earned a loud 'oooooooohhhh!' from those assembled. “Don't need working knees to slap the taste out of your mouth, beeyotch.” Burlingame snapped over the noise. “Not that I have to worry about them. Your skull's thick, but not strong enough to do any lasting damNNNGGGHH!”
Penny answered the veteran's backhand with a forehand that made half of Sue's face go all tingly with warmth. The blow was still echoing through the arena when she stepped in close and hissed, “Talk as loud as you want, old woman. We both know you'll be flat on your back, gasping for air when this match is ov--”
The Rainmaker shoved Tremblay back, turned one shoulder in her direction and laid three quick Knife-Edge Chops across the younger wrestler's chest! It would've been more, but Penny got her forearms up to create a guard, then grabbed a double handful of the brunette's hair and yanked her forward to THUNK a Headbutt between Sue's eyes!
The sharp blow sent a shiver through Burlingame's stems and she might've crumpled to one knee if not for the blonde's grip on her hair. “That's fucking right.” Penny sneered. “Those knees aren't just old, they're TERRIFIED of what I'm capable NNNGGGGHHH!”
Sue threaded both hands up between Tremblay's forearms and smashed them apart to break her foe's grip without sacrificing too much hair. In the same instant she laced her hands behind Penny's head in a Muy Thai style clasp and jerked her head down while thum-thum-THUMPING a trio of Kneelifts into the blonde's trim tummy. Tremblay grunted without ceding any ground so Burlingame hopped up and DRILLED her right knee between Penny's eyes!
Now it was the Angriest Acolyte's turn to reel in place, but she still didn't go down, at least not until the Ace snatched a massive double handful of hair and used it to whip her rival spine-first into the steel guardrail! The resultant BWANG was ungodly and the pained looks on the faces of folks in no less than half a dozen rows suggested Sue might've bruised some shins, but that didn't stop them from cheering along with the rest of the FAWNatics when she planted a boot on Penny's hip and raised a fist high overhead!
“Bitch wanted me to chase her!” Burlingame shouted over the roar. “I did, too bad she's so goddamned slow! Think I should let her go, maybe give her a head-start?”
They responded with a collective affirmative mostly because everyone believed 'head-start' was just Ace speak for 'kick her ass some more'. Indeed this proved to be quite accurate when Burlingame scraped her foe up with a handful of trunks and tresses. “C'mon little girl.” she snapped while bundling Tremblay toward the ring. “Let's see if a little boost makes you a more interesting target.” Tugging on both grips simply because she could, Sue rushed toward the apron and went to sling her burden under the bottom ro—NO!
Penny kicked a leg up to brace a foot against the apron, halting the momentum. In the next instant she crooked her arm into a 'V' and jabbed the point into Burlingame's stomach as hard as she could! Sue 'ooofffhh'ed but didn't let go, so so Penny grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and held her head in place so she could raaaaaaaaake her nails across the brunette's eyes! Two savage passes did the trick and when Burlingame did let go she found herself secured in the same trunks and tresses trap she'd used to get Tremblay this far. Yet where the Ace wanted Tremblay in the ring, the Last True Believer wasn't quite finished playing outside yet so she charged the nearest corner and slung / hurled Susan into the steel steps with a resounding BWONG!
The top half of the steps was knocked askew and Burlingame was left in a hunched seat cursing and clutching at her throbbing left shoulder! These aches were still quite fresh when Penny dropped to a seat in the Bombshell's lap and resumed her hair-hold. Just like that she BOUNCED the back of Sue's skull against the hollow steel no less than half a dozen times!
Al Carpenter, whose chagrin had only grown when he realized his charges weren't going to return to the ring as promptly as he'd hoped, slipped out through the ropes to the floor and said, “Knock that shit off, Penny! Get her in the ring so I can start the ma--”
“RING THE BELL AND I WILL, ASSHOLE!”
Tremblay 'rounded on the startled zebra with such volcanic fury that Carpenter backpedaled halfway to the next corner to escape her wrath. Loathe as he was to follow the blonde's directive, Al knew the bell would restore at least some semblance of order so he threw a signal to the Timekeeper and shortly thereafter the CLANG was echoing through the rafters.
With the contest officially underway, Al wasted no time in starting his count, indeed he stayed out on the floor to ensure neither woman could argue about not hearing its progress. Of course at the moment Sue wasn't hearing much more than the blood pounding in her temples as the Last True Believer buried both hands in her hair and hauled her to boot-leather. Turning Burlingame around once she was upright, Tremblay dipped her head and threaded in beneath Sue's left arm while hooking her right arm around the heiress' waist. A hand braced against the back of Burlingame's left thigh let Penny boost her burden up onto the point of her right shoulder, a position the Ace continued to occupy while Tremblay lashed out with one foot to kick the top half of the steps all the way clear of the bottom half.
“What're you doing, Penny?” Al interrupted the count in hopes of thwarting whatever the blonde had in mind. “Get away from the steps and just get her back in the--”
Bad Penny Tremblay shoved Susan forward while simultaneously stepping clear, the malicious blonde bendy-back dropping her prey into a free-fall that ended with Sue BWA-THWHAMMING down back-first across the unforgiving steel!
Shrieking even louder than the horrified cries of the FAWNatics, the Rainmaker shuddered from end to end but didn't get clear of those hateful steps until Tremblay plunged both hands into the veteran's hair and dragged her clear. “Five seconds to get her in the ring, Penny.” Al warned. “Otherwise I throw this shit-show out and start calculating all the fines--”
“Oh, shut your goddamned mouth, you want this trash in the ring? All you had to do was ask.”
Halving her grip on Sue's hair so she could hook onto a most egregious wedgie, the Orphan of Midnight tossed her victim under the bottom rope and hopped onto the apron. The tone of the jeers suggested everyone thought Penelope was going to slip on through and continue piling on, which was almost assuredly why she ran down the apron to the nearest corner and clambered into the high rent district! Dark eyes alight with malice as she watched her shadow fall over the prone Bombshell, Penny flipped hair out of her eyes before flipping the brunette a pair of middle fingers and taking to the sky. Love her or hate her, no one could deny Tremblay possessed serious ups and nowhere was this better displayed than the leap that took her into the overhead lights. She didn't actually disappear, though her elevation was such that she was hard to look at until gravity took over and she reemerged full force, the leggy battler stretched taut as a bowstring long before she SMASHED her hundred and thirty-two pounds down atop Sue's fluttering chest!
DYING BREATH:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPS2DmLiCqk
There was a moment of stunned near-silence when Penny connected with the Dying Breath followed by deafening incredulity from those assembled as they urged the Ace to kick free of the domineering cradle the blonde secured in search of the...
ONE...
TWO...
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Tremblay had hooked the far leg tighter than tight, but Sue's arms were otherwise unoccupied and she managed to twitch one off the canvas at the last possible moment! Al was already on his feet with both hands raised to chest-level to ward off the trouble he knew was coming his way, so imagine the ref's surprise when Penny didn't so much as glance in his direction!
Rather than concern herself with the near-fall she hauled Burlingame up by the hair, spun her around and wedged her head beneath the brunette's left arm for the second time in less than a minute. No steel steps to work with this time around, not that that would make the Spine Tremblar any less painful to endure for the vulnerable veteran. Strapping one arm around Sue's waist while another palmed the back of one thigh, Penny muscled the Ace up onto her right shoulder and—NO!
Burlingame somersaulted free of her attacker's clutches to land on her feet directly behind the startled blonde! Acting more than thinking, Sue stuffed a shoulder into Tremblay's back and pushed hard enough to send the Angriest Acolyte stumbling for--THWHACK! Sue didn't give Penny a chance to catch her balance, she simply hopped forward and delivered a pinpoint Super Kick to the back of Tremblay's skull!
The blonde lurched forward into the ropes and bounced out stumbling like someone who'd been cut off just before last call. This wooziness ensured Penny didn't comprehend the severity of her situation until Burlingame slipped her hands beneath her biceps and locked them across the base of her neck in a snug Full Nelson. Under any other circumstances Susan would've taken some time to show off her vulnerable opposition, tonight however the former World Champion simply forced Tremblay's chin snug against her sternum before she dipped low and popped her hips to take the bendy-back up, over and down to PLANT Bad Penny on the back of her head and shoulders with a nasty Dragon Suplex!
DRAGON SUPLEX @ 00:35
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfsEY7LldAs
The impact left Tremblay matchbooked nice and tight, but Al didn't even get to approach his charges before the Rainmaker rolled onto one knee and returned to boot-leather with the Angriest Acolyte hanging in her grasp. Once upright the Full Nelson gave way to a Double Chickenwing, Burlingame yanking Tremblay's arms straight out behind so there was no way for the blonde to protect her head when the heiress snapped off a second bridge and THWHAMMED her rival to the canvas with an emphatic Tiger Suplex!
TIGER SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jN9wU7UXPM
The Tiger's attack differed from the Dragon's but the result was much the same, Penny planted ass over teakettle and ready to be pinned, yet no one (not even the official) was surprised when Susan rolled out of the predicament and forced Tremblay to stand alongside. Abruptly abandoning her arm control in favor of a tight Waistlock, Burlingame treated the younger wrestler to one sharp, violent Bear Hug squeeze before she DUMPED her high and tight on the back of her head with a gorgeous German Suplex! This time she held the bridge and Al was right there to make count, an effort strengthened by several thousand FAWNatics...
GERMAN SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6LYumbjfUk
ONE...
TWO...
THRNOOOO!
Tremblay kicked out after 'TWO' but not so close to 'THREE' that Burlingame felt the need to check with the zebra. Instead she took a moment to catch her breath, smooth down her hair and gingerly inspect what she suspected would be a massive bruise where the psycho bitch had dropped her on the steps. Wincing at the flare of pain caused by little more than gentle prodding, the Ace shook it off as best she could, then filled her hands with Tremblay's hair and gave it a nice healthy pull before hauling them both to their feet.
“I don't know if your problem with me is personal or professional.” Burlingame shifted over to a Wristlock so she could tug Penelope into a quick little Kneelift to the gut. “And if I'm being honest, I don't really give a shit which it is. All I know is that you're fighting like you mean to do lasting damage, so I'm going to respond in kind.”
“Huuuuhhh.... oh yeah, sure. Treat me like I'm special.” Tremblay answered with a raspy little giggle. “Because you've always been known for your restraiNNGGGHH!”
Sue shouldered her back only to reel her in for a second Kneelift to the belly. “Honey, you only THINK you know what I can do when I'm not holding back.” Burlingame snapped. “But you won't actually KNOW until the EMT's have loaded you onto the stretchHRGH!”
Penny snapped her head to the side with a rough backhand and sneered, “What admirable lessons you're passing along to your daughter! Or maybe Lily's doing most of the heavy lifting? She always struck me as the responsible NNGGHH!”
The Bankable Bombshell drilled a Headbutt into the bridge of the blonde's nose, then took a big step back and dropped a shoulder to hurl her into a corner on the far side of the squared circle. Tremblay did manage to turn around and thus take the brunt of the impact between her shoulders, though this didn't offer much else in way of net positives unless you counted the excellent view of Sue rushing down the blonde's back-trail and springing onto the bottom strand so she could THWHONK her right knee against Penny's forehead!
CORNER KNEE STRIKE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN_1hYD_U_g
Quick to set her right foot against the middle rope while her foe slumped back against the turnbuckles, Susan hooked both thumbs into her right kneepad and pulled it down to bare the dangerous joint. “You keep bringing up my family.” Sue noted while filling her hands with the blonde's long hair. “You're going to learn that comes with a price you're not equipped to--”
“Go fuck yourself, mama bear.” Tremblay sneered. “You're an embarrassing cautionary tale and we both know NGH! NGH! NGH! NGH!”
Burlingame jerked Penny's noggin down and brought her knee up, the two meeting in the middle with an audible THUMP that earned as many groans as cheers. Quite content to smash away at Tremblay's skull until Carpenter told her to stop, Susan landed nearly a dozen Kneelifts before the ref strode over and said, “That's enough, Sue. She's in the corner.”
The Ace raised her hands to indicate the break, but she didn't relinquish the corner mount until she'd made a small show of pulling her knee-pad back into place. Then she hopped down and backed aw—Penny lunged out of the corner and CRACKED the heiress with a tremendous Bitch Slap! Burlingame reeled away and Tremblay stormed after her, the blonde clearly suffering the ill effects of those Suplexes and High Knees, but oh so eager to fight through if it meant dishing out more punishment to the veteran.
And punish she did, the Last True Believer burying a hand in Susan's hair to wrench the heiress' head backward before she hooked her thumb into the side of Burlingame's mouth and gouged like she meant to skewer her foe's cheek from the inside! “Do you really think you can threaten me? Intimidate me?” Tremblay's voice was a barely controlled snarl as she wrenched the other wrestler's head from side to side. “You're nothing but a soft, pampered dilettante. A country club skank with a few cardio kickboxing classes under her belt, how is that enough to protect you fro--”
Burlingame answered the fishhook with one of her own and tacked on a hard slap across the blonde's mouth for good measure. She followed that by trying to remove a massive handful of Tremblay's long locks, an effort that earned a groan and a redoubling of the blonde's own efforts. The vicious tangle showed no signs of slowing when Al Carpenter stepped in close to bark, “That's more than enough, ladies! I want a clean break before you go to opposite corners to catch your bre--”
Penny interrupted the demand with a trio of quick Kneelifts that thum-thum-THUMPED against Burlingame's washboard midsection. Those shots allowed her to spit Sue's thumb outta her mouth and escape the hair-hold so she could force her opponent down into a Front Facelock. Hands clasped so she could yoke up on the Ace's throat in a simple albeit effective Guillotine Choke, Penelope Tremblay smiled nastily and explained, “There's nothing you can threaten me with, hag. I've been through things that'd disintegrate the silver spoon you'd had jammed up your ass your whole lifNNNGGGHH!”
Sue leaned into the bendy-back to show off some damned fine flexibility of her own by whipping her right leg up 'n over in a Scorpion Kick that drilled her heel into the blonde's forehead! Penny didn't actually break the Guillotine, but her grip loosened enough for the Rainmaker to draw a deep breath and that's all the opening Sue needed. Cinching her arms around the blonde's slender waist, Burlingame locked her hands tight, then got low and took Tremblay to the canvas with a quick Northern Lights Suplex!
Al Carpenter dropped to one knee to make the count, bless his heart, so of course Sue somersaulted through the bridge to regain her footing and haul the Angriest Acolyte upright. Yanking her head free of Tremblay's grasp with an audible curse, Susan repaid the Front Facelock with one of her own, then slung Penny's near arm across her shoulders and grabbed a handful of waistband as an anchor. With the crowd egging her on the Bankable Bombshell hoisted Tremblay all the way to high noon so that the toes of her boots were pointed at the overhead lights. She didn't immediately end the stall so folks started to count, though they'd barely reached 'THREE!' when Burlingame kicked both legs forward and laid out on her back to THAWHAM Penny into the thinly-sheathed canvas with a Brainbuster worthy of the Black Queen herself!
NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX & BRAINBUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLUjINPhyiw
Penny tumbled over onto one side either in an instinctual effort to defend against a cover or maybe just due to the force of the Brainbuster itself, whatever the reason she ended up right back where she started when Sue glommed on at shoulder and hip. Eschewing the cradle in favor of a Full Back Press, Burlingame pointed her opponent's ass at the lights while Al finally got the chance to count...
ONE...
TWO...
THRNOOOO!
Tremblay kicked out with half a second to spare, leaving Sue to sit up and rake a hand through her hair amidst a sea of boos from disappointed fans. As for Penny, she mustered her reserves to roll clear of the Rainmaker on a beeline for the edge of the ring. She'd just about reached safety when a hard-charging Ace dropped low and drilled her heels into the blonde's ribs in a Baseball Slide Dropkick that sent the Orphan of Midnight THWHUMPING to the floor a few feet below!
Penny's ignominious exit got the FAWNatics cheering again and Sue finally cracked her trademark smile as she stood up and promptly kicked invisible dirt toward the expelled battler. “Get the hell outta my ring, bitch!” Feeling in control for the first time since the punk had slammed her into the steps, the brunette took up residence in the middle of the ring and stretched her arms wide.
“Who's the star of the show?” she asked the crowd.
'SUE!'
“Who's kicking that brat's ass?”
'SUE!'
“Who's--”
“A poseur-ass dumbshit who should know better than to turn her back on someone when it's almost broken?”
Sue swung around on one heel to cast a baleful glance on the recently risen Penelope Tremblay. “It's gonna take more than you to break my back, asshole.” Sue countered. “You're lucky to get a sweat out of me.”
The Angriest Acolyte merely snorted, clearly unfazed by Burlingame's confidence. “That's what the steel steps are for, Susie. And if those don't get the job done I've got four ring-posts, several lengths of guardrail and a whole arena full of chairs to assist. I'm not just going to break you. I'm going to bloody you in a way no one else has ever--”
Susan exploded forward, the former World Champion's fast-twitch reaction borderline spooky for someone who'd been wrestling for close to twenty year. Leading with her feet, the brunette skidded into a perfect Baseball Slide that would've put both heels on Bad Penny's sternum if the woman in question hadn't pivoted to one side, grabbed a double handful of ring skirt and yanked it just high enough to thread over Sue's lower leg as she shot off the apron.
Catching both legs was troublesome enough as it meant the Ace would've been caught in a snug envelope created by the apron and the ring skirt, but catching only one was even worse as it ensured Burlingame got crotched by the encroaching material, her landing made all the more unbearable when Tremblay sent her on a jouncing, bouncing pony ride that continued unabated until Al rushed over to the edge of the ring and ordered, “Get her offa there, Penny! You know better than that!”
Penny actually looked a bit abashed, much to the surprise of the front row FAWNatics. “You're right, I do.” she let go of the distended material and raised her hands to shoulder-level only to grab a double fistful of Burlingame's hair so she could THWHUNK her forehead into the apron! In the next instant she'd straightened Sue up again, only she angled the heiress so her head was on the other side of the bottom rope with her throat pressed close to the rubber-coated steel. Then she shifted her hair-hold to a laced grip across the back of Burlingame's skull and puuuuuuuuuuuuuullled forward and down, the malicious bendy-back almost dropping to one knee as she throttled her adversary without mercy!
“Break the choke, Penny! ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!” Tremblay obeyed at the last possible second, she even went so far as to step back from the coughing, hacking Bombshell. Unfortunately this reprieve proved short-lived as the Last True Believer stalked in seconds later, lowered a shoulder and jammed it into the brunette's gut! Sue folded over with an audible 'OOOFFFHHH!' that grew to a high, keening wail when Tremblay wrapped both arms around her waist and drove toward the nearest corner. Pounding and swatting at Penny's back even as the ring skirt waged a war of friction against her trunks, Sue earned a loud groan of sympathetic anguish from all present when she BWUNKED spine-first against the steel post!
Under other circumstances she probably would've collapsed to a woozy seat on the floor, but that damned ring skirt kept her upright and groaning even once Tremblay let go and slipped around to the other side of the unforgiving steel. “Get it back in the ring, Penny!” Al warned from somewhere up above. “Don't make me tell you ag--”
“You're gonna have to use every bit of that count, shit-bag.” the Orphan of Midnight interrupted. “And you better hope I'm listening closely enough otherwise everyone's going to see their favorite MILF wheeled out of here on a fucking stretcher.”
Carpenter took the threat to heart and started his count, but it was hard to say whether or not Penny was listening because she'd reached over the bottom turnbuckle to grab hold of Sue's hair and pull it back in a messy ponytail. No impromptu makeover this, Tremblay raised a foot, braced it against the steel post and PUSHED off while simultaneously PULLING hard enough to make Burlingame wail in anguish!
“BITCH! LEGGO OF MY GODDAMNED HAIR!”
The dark-eyed blonde just shook her head 'no' and pulled a little harder. “Not just yet. I want to hear you admit you can't do this anymore. Tell your daughter you're a fucking embarrassment.”
Sue couldn't actually shake her head at the moment, but the look on her face spoke volumes. “Oh, why don't you just go ahead and kiss every inch of my ass you fucked-up little NNNNGGGHHH!”
Penny eased off on the pressure just enough crank Burlingame's neck a little farther with her next hellacious yank! Elsewhere, Al Carpenter had reached 'TEN!' on his count and though Tremblay was severely tempted to simply keep beating her prey on the outside, she knew that the clang of the bell would guarantee a flood of black and whites rushing to the hag's protection and that was not tolerable. But she couldn't just let the awful bitch ooze back into the ring, she had to prove she wanted it.
So..... Penny abandoned the hair-hold to get back around and help herself to the heiress with a handful of trunks and tresses. Finally dragging the wincing veteran clear of the ring skirt without the slightest concession made to Sue's comfort, Tremblay moved to the middle of the narrow aisle and spun in a circle to build up momentum for when she slung the Rainmaker under the bottom ro—NO! Penny kept right on spinning and ultimately released her burden going the other way so that Burlingame BWANGED shoulder-first into the guardrail!
Unquestionably pleased as she sauntered away from her handiwork, the Last True Believer hopped onto the apron and offered the jeering throng a defiant middle finger before she slipped through the strands. “Go ahead and restart the count, nerd.” Penny chided as she strolled by Al Carpenter. “No way she beats it otherwise and we can't have these gullible idiots thinking their precious Ace is quitter, can we?”
The ref kept a close eye on her, understandably suspicious that she might dip out on the far side just to rush around and continue the beat-down, but no, Tremblay leaned back against the ropes and rested her elbows on the top strand. “Fucking count.” she snapped at him. “You were so eager earlier. Go check on the hateful bitch.”
Al did so, hurrying over to the ropes nearest Sue to gauge her progress. The results weren't promising, she'd managed to make it to her hands and knees, but the crown of her head was pressed to the floor and as he watched her right hand moved to her left shoulder, which had absorbed two vicious impacts thus far. Knowing he didn't dare ask if the veteran wanted to continue, Carpenter cleared his throat and began to count. “ONE... TWO... THREE... FOUR... FIVE...” Sue looked in his direction, cursed under her breath and reared back on her knees. “EIGHT... NINE... TEN... ELEVEN...” She pulled her right arm away from that wounded shoulder, grabbed the top of the barricade and forced herself to full verticality. “FOURTEEN... FIFTEEN... SIXTEEN...”
“Make your choice, hag.” Penny called over the roar of the crowd. “I'll learn something important either way.”
“EIGHTEEN... NINETEEN...” Burlingame dipped forward and rolled under the bottom rope, much to the delight of those gathered for Summer Swelter.
“Better check that shoulder to see if she can continue.” Tremblay purred in a sweetly disingenuous tone. “Wouldn't want it to pop out as soon as I pull on her wrist.”
Damned if Al didn't step forward to check, only to stop when the Bankable Bombshell shot him a withering glare. “I'm fine.”
“You're not, though.” Penny countered. “He knows it because I've been beating your ass since you tried to jump me before the bell. He knows it's been a LONG TIME since someone ever tossed you around like first-day bikini meat fresh out of the Jungle, but he's seeing it tonight and part of him is sorry you were fucking stubborn enough to beat his slow-ass count.”
“Maybe I'd have stayed down if you hit harder.” Sue replied as she removed one elbow-pad and then the other. Tremblay's face betrayed the slightest hint of incredulity when she realized what Sue had in mind. “You really want to do this, country club? I come at you with elbows and knees, you're gonna scare the kid when you try to kiss her goodnight. Not that a selfish bitch like you would ever deign to--”
'Ooooooooohhhh's' from the crowd when Penny pulled her head to one side to avoid the knee-pad Burlingame flung at her face! That was all the answer Tremblay needed, she yanked off her elbow-pads, then hooked both thumbs into her right knee-pad to tug it down over the top of that boo—Susan charged, went low and STUFFED her uninjured shoulder into the pit of the blonde's trim stomach!
Hooking her arms around Penny's upper thighs even as the blonde folded over against her back, the Ace muscled her off her feet and continued on to the nearest corner where she drove Tremblay spine-first into the middle buckle with a resounding BWUNG! The Shoulderblock / Spear left Penelope fighting to catch her breath, a battle she was destined to lose once the former World Champion blasted her two more times in quick succession. From there she straightened up and caught a Muy Thai grip around the back of Penny's neck, Sue tugging her foe's chin down into her own modest decolletage while she thum-thum-THUMPED several Kneelifts into her midsection!
Tremblay gaped and wrapped the brunette in a sloppy clench, an intrusion Sue tolerated only because it allowed her to lean in close and murmur, “I'm gonna bust you up bad, little girl. Like, Bethany keeps you off television for two weeks or more because not even FAWN's make-up team is good enough to cover the bruises I--”
“I'll bleed you like a pig, fucker.” Penny rasped. “You'll be on T.V. tomorrow night with some sensible stitches, but they're gonna have to play a long video package while the techs replace this canvNNNNGGGHHH!”
Burlingame skewered the blonde's gut with another Kneestrike, then shifted her plant foot to the bottom rope so she could hop up and THWHUNK a vicious shot between Tremblay's eyes! Penelope's head snapped back and her arms dangled loose over the top rope, so the Rainmaker climbed onto the middle rope and grabbed a massive handful of hair. Instead of wrenching her foe's head backward, Sue tugged her in close, forcing the younger wrestler to fume and squeal against those battle-heated abs while she asked the crowd, “Who's the goddamned best?”
'SUE!'
Order thus restored, she bounced the base of Tremblay's skull against the top turnbuckle and raised her right hand high overhead whereupon she quickly curled it into a fist. “No need to keep time,” she told the roaring FAWNatics, “just make sure this beeyotch never forgets my name!”
This request was still reaching the cheap seats when she brought the fist down on Penny's hairline with an audible 'PWAK!' Yet no one save for a few floor-seat fans with the astutest of ears heard this over the 'SUE!' bellowed by the rest of the audience. Beaming as her name echoed through the arena, Burlingame raised her hand and brought it down again and again, the former World Champion quickly developing a rhythm guaranteed to raise lumps on the blonde's skull.
The lack of actual numbers being tallied forced Al Carpenter to focus more on the punches being thrown, but he did an admirable job filtering out the noise even as it grew all the louder. 'SUE! (seven) SUE! (eight) SUE! (nine) SUE!' (ten) Burlingame threw her arms wide and posed, the Bankable Bombshell looking every bit the standard bearer she claimed to be.
The ref let her bask in it for several more seconds before he stepped up beside and tapped two fingers against her right leg. “That was a ten count, Sue. Get her out of the corner, ok?”
Burlingame raked a hand through her hair and offered him an exaggerated pout. “Already? Don't you want to check and see if I've drawn enough blood to force a stopHHRRGGGH!”
The Orphan of Midnight whipped her head forward, a short, bludgeoning motion that slammed her forehead into the center of the veteran's briefs! Sue's face went ashen and she crumpled in on herself, a terribly vulnerable position that only grew more so when Penny cinched her arms around the Ace's waist and tromped away from the corner with Burlingame astride her shoulders in the Powerbomb sta—Tremblay went up on tiptoes and slung the heiress forward and down, Sue THWHAMMED full force on the back of her head and shoulders!
The collision left Susan folded in half, but the Last True Believer didn't hold her there for a pin, no, she muscled the brunette up and tumbled her over onto her knees, transforming the Ace into a woozy penitent that could lift her head but not her arms as Penny backpedaled across the canvas. The situation remained damnably foggy until Tremblay rushed in and brought her right knee shooting up, the bare joint making a sickening THONK just above Burlingame's right eye! Sue hit the deck like a felled tree and might've stayed there for a very long time if Penny hadn't fallen across her chest and hooked the far leg for...
POWERBOMB & RUSHING KNEE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkypAdISe9g
ONE...
TWO...
THRNOOOO!
The crowd cheered when Sue got a shoulder up, only to 'ooooooohhhh' in concern when they saw the bright red rivulet trailing into and around her right eye. Carpenter clocked it at once and immediately put gloves on so he could check the cut. “How you doing, Sue? Can you still--”
“She's fucking fine, idiot!” Penelope grabbed a double handful of hair, scraped the brunette off the canvas and roughly marched her toward the hard camera. “Didn't you hear her earlier? She's the Ace! She's the goddamned best!” The Last True Believer forced Burlingame's torso through the space between top and middle ropes, then straightened her up and hooked both arms over the former. Snugging in tight against the brunette's back, Penny grabbed Sue's chin in her left hand and twisted her head to one side to better show off the wound she'd opened. “Look at her!” Tremblay shouted to the FAWNatics. “I SAID LOOK AT HER, YOU MISERABLE SHITS! Isn't she great? Isn't she tough? Isn't she just fucking amazing?” She smooshed Burlingame's cheeks into an awful fish-face and planted a possessive smooch on one blood-streaked cheek to massive jeers.
“Enough of that crap, Penny.” Al warned. “Get her out of the corner or I'll start a count.”
Tremblay elected option three, the malicious bendy-back dipping through the ropes to the apron so she could hurry down to the corner to Sue's right. From there she turned around and rushed back the other way to THWHACK a Yakuza Kick to the spot she'd just broken open! Burlingame's arms slipped clear of the top rope so she ended up folded over the middle strand until Penny slipped back inside and helped herself to a greedy Waistlock. Dragging the sole-shocked Ace clear of the sanctuary turned trap, Tremblay hooked her right arm beneath Burlingame's right bicep and cupped the back of her head to secure the Half Nelson. In the same instant she slipped her left arm around the brunette's bicep and tugged backward to complete the Chickenwing. No theatrics despite the fact that they were still pointed at the hard camera, Bad Penny only sank down low and popped her hips to PLANT Susan on the back of her head and shoulders with a textbook Half & Half Suplex!
HALF & HALF SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlkPt3coNfA
No bridge from the Last True Believer, she simply released her hooks on impact and rolled onto her stomach while the heiress tumbled to her back. Penny was in perfect position but she didn't attempt a pin, rather she looked on with avid fascination as Sue tried to wipe the blood from one side of her face. The reprieve was lengthy enough for Al Carpenter to approach a second time (he'd managed to get his gloves on during the last fracas), yet Tremblay once again thwarted his efforts, this time by shoveling the former World Champion onto her stomach. “You want to know how badly she's hurt?” she asked while settling into a mount atop the small of her rival's back. “Well so does everyone else. Let's find out together, shall we?”
Glomming onto Burlingame's biceps just above the elbows, Penny hooked both limbs over her thighs, then cupped both hands under Sue's chin and craaaaaaaaaaanked back forcefully enough to make the brunette grind her teeth. “That the kind of angle you're looking for, Carpenter?” Tremblay shifted her clasp to turn Burlingame's features to the official, who had in fact crouched down beside the action. Delighted by the concern she saw on his face, Tremblay halved the grip so she could swipe some blood-matted hair away from the cut she'd inflicted. “What do you think, doc?” Tremblay's tone was solemn as Al inspected as best he could. “Can she be saved? I'm not gonna have to put her down, am--”
“As if you fucking could.” Burlingame dug her fingers into the undersides of Penny's gams and twitched her legs in a dedicated effort to get one knee underneath. “I've beaten the best in the world, bitch. You really think I'm going down against one of Miranda Wainright's lackAAARRRHHHHH FAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHK!”
Groans of sympathetic anguish and several shouts of protest from the FAWNatics when the Orphan of Midnight jerked back on the Camel Clutch before lowering her head to gouge the point of her chin into the gash over Sue's right eye! As surprised as the rest of the crowd by this vicious reaction, it actually took Al a few seconds to clear his head and bark, “All right, that's enough Penny! Knock that off or--” Tremblay raised her head and glared daggers at the zebra, a sight made all the more unsettling by the smear of crimson on her chin. “There's nothing illegal about working a cut, Carpenter. But if you're looking for a legitimate reason to count...” He really wasn't but damned if Penelope didn't give him a good one by going full Adelaide Brewster on the Bombshell's bleeding forehead!
Carpenter didn't waste breath with a warning, he just stood up and started to count. “ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!”
Tremblay lifted her head to show she'd complied with the order only to snatch a double handful of hair and BWONK the Bankable Bombshell's face into the canvas! Pushing to verticality in an instant, the Angriest Acolyte raised her left hand to better show off bloodstained fingertips. The FAWNatics, already jeering loud enough to shiver the walls, found another level of disdain when the willowy blonde tilted her head back and made a show of licking the digits clean! Meeting their disgust with a malicious smile, Tremblay's sneering scorn transformed into a apoplectic rage, her pretty features twisting into a grimace half a heartbeat before she SPAT a pinkish glob between the Rainmaker's shoulders.
Emphasizing the galling show of disrespect by grinding the toe of her boot atop the same spot, Tremblay swept a mocking hand over the prone veteran and challenged the crowd, “Go on, cheer for her, you assholes! Tell her she's got this! Tell her she's better than me! Tell her there's no fucking way she'll ever lose to someone like me!”
This tirade only earned more boos from the FAWNatics, so Penny smooched her fingers and slapped them against her hip before bending down to claim a double handful of hair. Hauling Burlingame to boot-leather like she was little more than furniture to be moved, the bendy-back freed one hand to snag hold of her prey's waistband. From there she rushed the ropes and slung Susan out into the void, the brunette doing a swan dive worthy of the Rumbrrrr before she hit the barely-padded floor with an awful THUD.
Back in the ring, Penny Tremblay retreated to the far corner and settled into a seat with her elbows resting on the bottom rope. “Check on her, count her out, doesn't make a difference to me.” she told Al. “Just hurry up and make a decision.”
Al didn't have to be told twice, he made his way over to the edge and braced himself before taking in the scene on the floor. An audible sigh of relief because it wasn't as bad as he'd imagined based solely on the ugly sound of a human body falling onto a concrete floor. Not that it was great, mind you. For someone who was still in a wrestling match, Sue Burlingame looked as ass-kicked as Carpenter could recall seeing her in a very long time. The whole right side of her face and neck were smeared with blood, a situation only made worse as she tried to wipe it away with her left hand. Relieved to see the Ace checking her injuries, the ref called down, “Can you continue, Sue? I'll call it if need me--”
Cheers from the crowd and a bemused smile from Carpenter when the heiress flipped him a weary middle finger. “All I need is the count.” she groaned.
The was good enough for Al, he took a step back, cleared his throat and called out, “ONE... TWO... THREE... FOUR... FIVE... SIX... SEVEN...” Burlingame reached out, grabbed an awkward handful of the ring-skirt and didn't so much sit up as she did haul herself to a seat. “TEN... ELEVEN... TWELVE... THIRTEEN...” Not really thinking about it, the brunette leaned to the side and used that handful of the skirt to wipe the worst of the blood off her forehead and cheek. “SIXTEEN... SEVENTEEN...” The 'SUE!' chant that'd echoed through the FAWN Arena since the Rainmaker started to stir took on a tone that simultaneously relieved and anxious as Burlingame clambered to verticality. “EIGHTEEN... NINETEEN...”
Roars of incredulous delight from the sold out crowd when the former World Champion leapt from the floor to the apron to the top rope and finally back into the ring to beat the count by the slimmest margin imaginable! Penelope Tremblay noted all this sound and fury, but she didn't actually haul herself upright until Burlingame trudged to the middle of the squared circle and demanded, “Get off your ass, little girl.”
“You should've stayed on the floor, trust fund.” the Orphan of Midnight warned as she closed in. “The next time I put you down... you won't get up again.”
The threat was barely out of mouth when Tremblay lashed out with a Haymaker aimed at the cut over Sue's right eye! Her aim was true up until the moment the eldest Burlingame sister dropped low and twisted around, Sue extending her leg like a scythe that cut Penny's legs out from underneath neat as you please! The Sweep Kick dropped Tremblay to her back with a breathy 'UNGH!' but it was a mere span of heartbeats before she'd scrambled to one knee and---THWHACK! Sue was up first and caught the blonde on the chin with a Basement Super Kick that sent her into a tumbling sprawl! Burlingame's shot landed flush, of that there was no doubt. Yet anyone hoping for a quick pin was disappointed when the Last True Believer rolled to all fours and pushed to one knee before Susan could get into position to—the Bankable Bombshell rushed forward, hopped into a low perch with her left foot on Tremblay's right thigh and THWHUNKED her bare knee between the blonde's eyes with a huge Shining Wizard!
SHINING WIZARD:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihyrcaY4krA
Penny hit the deck flat, rolled over onto her stomach and began to rise quicker than any of the FAWNatics lik—Sue rushed in and knocked her back on her heels with a Kneelift to the chest, then spun around on the spot and CRACKED her with a Roaring Elbow that tagged the blonde's left eyebrow! Sue was almost certain that shot opened Tremblay up, but at the moment she was less concerned with drawing blood and more interested in piling on punishment. To that end she planted on her left foot and whipped her right leg up for what looked like a Roundhouse to the same spot only to adjust the angle of her lower leg so that heel tagged Penny's right temple instead!
KNEELIFT, ROARING ELBOW, & QUESTION MARK KICK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=U03T4iLc5rI
The Question Mark Kick sent Tremblay stumbling away in a drunken stupor so the Ace walked her down and earned some rambunctious cheers from the crowd when she raaaaaaaaaaaaked her nails down the younger wrestler's back! “BITCH!” Penny shrieked as she went up on tiptoe. “You're gonna OOFFFHH!”
Sue grabbed a shoulder, turned the blonde around and pumped a big Kneelift into her tummy! Catching hold of a Front Facelock as soon as the bendy-back doubled over, Burlingame backpedaled into the ropes and boosted herself into a seat on the top strand. “Call me a bitch all you like, cutie.” Sue SLAPPED Penny's vulnerable back just because she could. “Just make sure to put the proper respect on it when you do!”
Nothing but a curse from the blonde so Sue braced her feet against the second rope and pushed off as hard as she could, the Rainmaker twisting around and kicking her legs back to build even more momentum for the TrustfunDDT—NO! Penny braced both hands against the Rainmaker's hips and pushed off and out with enough force to break the Front Facelock before any catastrophic head-drops were delivered. Credit the balance of Sue Burlingame, she adjusted her descent in mid-flight to turn what could've been an ugly faceplant into a seemingly effortless landing on her feet. Actually calling it landing didn't feel quite accurate because the former World Champion was off like a shot as soon as she touched down, Sue eating up the distance between them to—Penny hopped forward on her left foot and THWHACKED Susan's chin with a gorgeous Super Kick that stopped the Ace dead in her tracks!
SUPER KICK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1W36-Uk5Z4
Rocked by the pinpoint blow, Burlingame crumpled to one knee and pushed right back up, the heiress warily raising her hands in an instinctive grappler's stan—Tremblay's right foot lashed out again, only this time the point of her boot sought the juncture of Susan's thigNOT TONIGHT!
Sue dropped her defenses low and snatched hold of the blonde's ankle to block the Low Blow with no time to spare. Without even thinking about it the Bankable Bombshell halved her grip and raised a defiant middle finger for the Angriest Acolyte. “Fuck you, girlie. That cheap shit's not going to work against NNNNGGGGHHH!”
Penny sprang off her plant foot, twisted over and CRACKED an Enzuigiri against the veteran's temple! Burlingame's hands dropped and she turned away, clearly in a stupor from the repeated kicks. She'd only made it a few steps when the Orphan of Midnight grabbed a hold of her waistband and reeled her back in. Wedging her head beneath Sue's left arm, Penny curled her right arm arm around the brunette's midsection and set her left hand against the back of Burlingame's left thigh. Bolstered by a rising ride of jeers, Tremblay dipped her knees and boosted the veteran up onto her right shoulNO! Burlingame somersaulted free, dropped down the blonde's back and landed on one knee directly behind her adversary. Snarling at the hag's resilience, Bad Penny whipped around in a half circle and-- “HHHHRRRRRGGGHHH!”
Sue connected where Penny missed, the Ace earning a cacophonous roar of approval when she SMASHED an Uppercut against her tormentor's crotch! Al Carpenter squawked disapproval as referees are wont to do in situations such as these, but even he didn't look particularly out of countenance when Burlingame sprang out of her crouch, caught Tremblay's noggin in a Three Quarters Facelock and laid out flat to PLANT the bendy-back on her face, chest, and tummy with a flawless Ace Crusher! Penny bounced and tumbled to her back where the Rainmaker promptly sat hard on her chest. Half a heartbeat later she'd hooked both legs behind the knees and leaaaaaaaaaaaaned back until the top of her head touched the canvas and Carpenter was counting off...
ACE CRUSHER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ2WAKtetXY
ONE...
TWO...
THREE!
Damned if Penny didn't jolt free of the Matchbook but it was too late; the bell CLANGED and the Announcer confirmed, “Ladies and gentlemen... your winner via pin-fall... SUSANNAH BURLINGAME!”
Sue, who'd rolled under the bottom rope to the floor when Tremblay bucked her off, blew the blonde a kiss and flipped her the bird for good measure. “Nice try, kiddo.” she offered a smile stained pink. “You can hurt me, but you sure as hell can't BEAT me.”
Penny's hands went from talons to fists, her knuckles showing white with the strength of her fury. After a moment she relaxed and answered with her own baleful grin. “Enjoy the notation in the record book, hag. You got the W, but you also got your ass kicked from bell to bell. Everyone saw it. Everyone knows it. If it wasn't for that cheap shot you'd be down 0-2 right now and this would already be over.”
Sue growled, took a step toward the ring. “You think I'm going to let this sit at 1-1, asshole? No chance. I'm gonna run up the score and grind you under my--”
Tremblay stormed to the edge, sat down on the second strand and grabbed hold of the top rope to invite the Ace back inside! “Are you, old woman? Then say it to my face! Everyone knows winners don't celebrate on the outside and losers shouldn't leave the ring under their own power, so why don't you hop up here, climb through the ropes and look me in the eye you fucking farcEERRGGHHHH!”
Burlingame joined the blonde on the apron in a cat-like leap, but rather than go through the ropes she snatched a huge double handful of hair and pulled like she meant to snatch Tremblay bald! “I don't know what your problem is, and I don't fucking care.” she hissed. “You want to fight, honey? I'll give you the sort of fight you'll never forgeOOOOOWWWWWWWW FAAAAAAAAHHHHHHK!”
Penny grabbed some hair as well, but rather than try to pull it loose she held Burlingame's head steady so she could once again gnaw on the Ace's wound! Sue forgot all about pulling hair and sent about shiving punches into her rival's ribs until Penny let loose backpedaled to center ring. The Rainmaker almost went to the top rope to continue the battle, but she refrained upon hearing what was probably half a dozen referees rushing down the ramp.
The Last True Believer watched her retreat up the ramp, pleasure curdling to fury as she realized the fight was over for the time being. “THIS IS ON YOU, BITCH!” she shrieked at the departing heiress. “WHEN YOUR DAUGHTER'S SCARED TO LOOK AT THE MESS I MADE OF YOUR FACE, YOU BETTER FUCKING TELL HER THAT IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU COULD'VE WALKED AWAY AT ANY TIME, BUT YOU CHOSE THIS RING OVER HER! REMEMBER THAT, WHEN THESE PEOPLE HAVE TURNED ON YOU AND THEY'RE CHEERING YOU OUT OF HERE ON THE BACK OF A STRETCHER! REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU CHOSE THE RING OVER YOUR DAUGHTER. YOU MAY BE THE ACE! YOU MAY BE THE RAINMAKER! BUT YOU'RE ALSO FAWN'S SHITTIEST MOTHER!”
Sue's smile and color faded with each word only the blood and the furious points of her eyes stood stood out. “That line you don't come back from? You just crossed it, Tremblay. You're fucking done.”
Penny made no attempt to get by the officials that'd surrounded her in the last several seconds, but that didn't mean she had no response. “I'm here. Whenever you're ready, you arrogant, neglectful shit. I'm here, waiting in your ring.”
The crowd cheered, then groaned when Burlingame started forward only to be stopped by a careful grip from Nick Castle. “It'll have to wait for another night, Susannah.” he said quietly. “We need to have that cut looked at right now.”
The Ace grimaced like she tasted something awful, but nodded after a moment's hesitation. Eyes still locked on Penny, she mouthed, 'Soon.' then trudged away through the curtain.
“Not soon enough.” Tremblay hissed under her breath after the brunette was gone. “Not nearly soon enough.”
CROWN ON THE GROUND:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGEZpSQEhls
SUE BURLINGAME:
Anyone complaining about the weather suddenly found it much more tolerable even if it did get considerably hotter in time with the the discordant opening riff of 'Crown on the Ground'. The noise was still building when the eldest Burlingame brushed through the curtain with the sort of swagger that one earned after fifteen years of humbling the best and queening the rest. Smiling wide as the first 'SUE!' chants reached her ears, the Ace stretched her arms wide and threw back her head to call down a ‘BOOM’ of zappy blue pyro! Stock still until the last of it had faded away, Sue offered a raised fist to the throng, then started down the ramp.
For her second encounter with the nasty brat that'd gone to her trunks for a win the last time they met, Burlingame wore her classic dark blue two-piece with mellow golden trim; matching boots and pads at knee and elbow completed the look. Though never a hand-slapper in the vein of a Shea London or Kylie Sanders, the Rainmaker did a little bit of zigging and zagging on her way to the ring, be it to bump knuckles with any offered her way or to pose for a selfie in front of a sign proclaiming
TREMBLAY'S TIME IS UP! JUST MY TWO CENTS.
“Damn straight.” Sue told the older woman holding the sign an instant prior to breaking into a sprint that took her to and then into the squared circle via a slick little dive under the bottom rope. Simply kipping to boot-leather earned the veteran battler another raucous ovation, one Al Carpenter let die down before he strolled over to check Burlingame's pads and boots.
“Punk caught me last time, Al.” the Bankable Bombshell admitted as she offered up elbows, wrists and knees. “I underestimated her and she pinned me in front of the world.”
“Looking to return the favor, are you?” Carpenter asked when it was done.
“One for one? Hell no. Blondie's getting payback with interest. The kind that breaks backs.”
The eldest Burlingame sister had recently settled into the far corner when the Announcer returned to the task at hand. “And introducing her opponent, hailing from Hobbs End, New Hampshire she stands at five feet-eight inches tall and weighs in at one hundred and thirty-two pounds. She is the Soul Survivor and the only Hope of a Dark Tomorrow, I give to you ‘BAD’ PENNY TREMBLAY!”
The lights cut out in the span between heartbeats, darkness descending on the Sweltering idiots before they could even start to jeer. With it came the low hum of a guitar and a repetition of vaguely ecclesiastical ‘oh’s’ that marked the beginning of ‘Walk on Water’.
WALK ON WATER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA2w-PMKspo
Jeers did their level best to contend with the Orphan of Midnight's anthem, but the words rolled on heedless of the massed disdain, nor was it enough to halt the arrival of ghostly blue lights or a thin bank of dry ice fog. The Ill Omen appeared moments later, rising into view on a mechanical lift hidden within the dark so it looked as though she appeared from thin air. Taking up residence center stage, Penelope Tremblay gazed around the arena for several long seconds before she raised her left hand to her right shoulder and brushed off some invisible dust. Eyes locked on the former World Champion she'd been hounding for months, she repeated the sigil on her left shoulder, then started down the ramp to the squared circle.
PENNY TREMBLAY:
This evening Tremblay wore a midnight blue two piece consisting of a sports-bra top and strappy briefs, both edged in copper trim. Pads at knee and elbow were matte gray while her boots matched her trunks. She was perhaps three quarters of the way to the squared circle when Sue burst out of her corner and ran the ropes on the far side of the ring. Crossing the canvas in the span between heartbeats, the Ace leapt onto the top rope in a single bound and—Penny saw the blonde take flight but never even considered moving out of the way. Instead she stretched her arms wide and shouted, “Come and get me, hag! You think I'm going to run from--” she took a giant step backward when Burlingame leapt into the void and curled herself into a snug ball, the Rainmaker busting out a gorgeous 450 rotation that brought her down in a perfect landing directly in front of the willowy blonde!
“Enjoy that while you still can.” Tremblay sneered. “Those knees aren't going to be good for much once I'm finished with NNNGGGHH!”
Susannah reared back and tagged her adversary across the mouth with a CRACKING backhand that earned a loud 'oooooooohhhh!' from those assembled. “Don't need working knees to slap the taste out of your mouth, beeyotch.” Burlingame snapped over the noise. “Not that I have to worry about them. Your skull's thick, but not strong enough to do any lasting damNNNGGGHH!”
Penny answered the veteran's backhand with a forehand that made half of Sue's face go all tingly with warmth. The blow was still echoing through the arena when she stepped in close and hissed, “Talk as loud as you want, old woman. We both know you'll be flat on your back, gasping for air when this match is ov--”
The Rainmaker shoved Tremblay back, turned one shoulder in her direction and laid three quick Knife-Edge Chops across the younger wrestler's chest! It would've been more, but Penny got her forearms up to create a guard, then grabbed a double handful of the brunette's hair and yanked her forward to THUNK a Headbutt between Sue's eyes!
The sharp blow sent a shiver through Burlingame's stems and she might've crumpled to one knee if not for the blonde's grip on her hair. “That's fucking right.” Penny sneered. “Those knees aren't just old, they're TERRIFIED of what I'm capable NNNGGGGHHH!”
Sue threaded both hands up between Tremblay's forearms and smashed them apart to break her foe's grip without sacrificing too much hair. In the same instant she laced her hands behind Penny's head in a Muy Thai style clasp and jerked her head down while thum-thum-THUMPING a trio of Kneelifts into the blonde's trim tummy. Tremblay grunted without ceding any ground so Burlingame hopped up and DRILLED her right knee between Penny's eyes!
Now it was the Angriest Acolyte's turn to reel in place, but she still didn't go down, at least not until the Ace snatched a massive double handful of hair and used it to whip her rival spine-first into the steel guardrail! The resultant BWANG was ungodly and the pained looks on the faces of folks in no less than half a dozen rows suggested Sue might've bruised some shins, but that didn't stop them from cheering along with the rest of the FAWNatics when she planted a boot on Penny's hip and raised a fist high overhead!
“Bitch wanted me to chase her!” Burlingame shouted over the roar. “I did, too bad she's so goddamned slow! Think I should let her go, maybe give her a head-start?”
They responded with a collective affirmative mostly because everyone believed 'head-start' was just Ace speak for 'kick her ass some more'. Indeed this proved to be quite accurate when Burlingame scraped her foe up with a handful of trunks and tresses. “C'mon little girl.” she snapped while bundling Tremblay toward the ring. “Let's see if a little boost makes you a more interesting target.” Tugging on both grips simply because she could, Sue rushed toward the apron and went to sling her burden under the bottom ro—NO!
Penny kicked a leg up to brace a foot against the apron, halting the momentum. In the next instant she crooked her arm into a 'V' and jabbed the point into Burlingame's stomach as hard as she could! Sue 'ooofffhh'ed but didn't let go, so so Penny grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and held her head in place so she could raaaaaaaaake her nails across the brunette's eyes! Two savage passes did the trick and when Burlingame did let go she found herself secured in the same trunks and tresses trap she'd used to get Tremblay this far. Yet where the Ace wanted Tremblay in the ring, the Last True Believer wasn't quite finished playing outside yet so she charged the nearest corner and slung / hurled Susan into the steel steps with a resounding BWONG!
The top half of the steps was knocked askew and Burlingame was left in a hunched seat cursing and clutching at her throbbing left shoulder! These aches were still quite fresh when Penny dropped to a seat in the Bombshell's lap and resumed her hair-hold. Just like that she BOUNCED the back of Sue's skull against the hollow steel no less than half a dozen times!
Al Carpenter, whose chagrin had only grown when he realized his charges weren't going to return to the ring as promptly as he'd hoped, slipped out through the ropes to the floor and said, “Knock that shit off, Penny! Get her in the ring so I can start the ma--”
“RING THE BELL AND I WILL, ASSHOLE!”
Tremblay 'rounded on the startled zebra with such volcanic fury that Carpenter backpedaled halfway to the next corner to escape her wrath. Loathe as he was to follow the blonde's directive, Al knew the bell would restore at least some semblance of order so he threw a signal to the Timekeeper and shortly thereafter the CLANG was echoing through the rafters.
With the contest officially underway, Al wasted no time in starting his count, indeed he stayed out on the floor to ensure neither woman could argue about not hearing its progress. Of course at the moment Sue wasn't hearing much more than the blood pounding in her temples as the Last True Believer buried both hands in her hair and hauled her to boot-leather. Turning Burlingame around once she was upright, Tremblay dipped her head and threaded in beneath Sue's left arm while hooking her right arm around the heiress' waist. A hand braced against the back of Burlingame's left thigh let Penny boost her burden up onto the point of her right shoulder, a position the Ace continued to occupy while Tremblay lashed out with one foot to kick the top half of the steps all the way clear of the bottom half.
“What're you doing, Penny?” Al interrupted the count in hopes of thwarting whatever the blonde had in mind. “Get away from the steps and just get her back in the--”
Bad Penny Tremblay shoved Susan forward while simultaneously stepping clear, the malicious blonde bendy-back dropping her prey into a free-fall that ended with Sue BWA-THWHAMMING down back-first across the unforgiving steel!
Shrieking even louder than the horrified cries of the FAWNatics, the Rainmaker shuddered from end to end but didn't get clear of those hateful steps until Tremblay plunged both hands into the veteran's hair and dragged her clear. “Five seconds to get her in the ring, Penny.” Al warned. “Otherwise I throw this shit-show out and start calculating all the fines--”
“Oh, shut your goddamned mouth, you want this trash in the ring? All you had to do was ask.”
Halving her grip on Sue's hair so she could hook onto a most egregious wedgie, the Orphan of Midnight tossed her victim under the bottom rope and hopped onto the apron. The tone of the jeers suggested everyone thought Penelope was going to slip on through and continue piling on, which was almost assuredly why she ran down the apron to the nearest corner and clambered into the high rent district! Dark eyes alight with malice as she watched her shadow fall over the prone Bombshell, Penny flipped hair out of her eyes before flipping the brunette a pair of middle fingers and taking to the sky. Love her or hate her, no one could deny Tremblay possessed serious ups and nowhere was this better displayed than the leap that took her into the overhead lights. She didn't actually disappear, though her elevation was such that she was hard to look at until gravity took over and she reemerged full force, the leggy battler stretched taut as a bowstring long before she SMASHED her hundred and thirty-two pounds down atop Sue's fluttering chest!
DYING BREATH:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPS2DmLiCqk
There was a moment of stunned near-silence when Penny connected with the Dying Breath followed by deafening incredulity from those assembled as they urged the Ace to kick free of the domineering cradle the blonde secured in search of the...
ONE...
TWO...
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Tremblay had hooked the far leg tighter than tight, but Sue's arms were otherwise unoccupied and she managed to twitch one off the canvas at the last possible moment! Al was already on his feet with both hands raised to chest-level to ward off the trouble he knew was coming his way, so imagine the ref's surprise when Penny didn't so much as glance in his direction!
Rather than concern herself with the near-fall she hauled Burlingame up by the hair, spun her around and wedged her head beneath the brunette's left arm for the second time in less than a minute. No steel steps to work with this time around, not that that would make the Spine Tremblar any less painful to endure for the vulnerable veteran. Strapping one arm around Sue's waist while another palmed the back of one thigh, Penny muscled the Ace up onto her right shoulder and—NO!
Burlingame somersaulted free of her attacker's clutches to land on her feet directly behind the startled blonde! Acting more than thinking, Sue stuffed a shoulder into Tremblay's back and pushed hard enough to send the Angriest Acolyte stumbling for--THWHACK! Sue didn't give Penny a chance to catch her balance, she simply hopped forward and delivered a pinpoint Super Kick to the back of Tremblay's skull!
The blonde lurched forward into the ropes and bounced out stumbling like someone who'd been cut off just before last call. This wooziness ensured Penny didn't comprehend the severity of her situation until Burlingame slipped her hands beneath her biceps and locked them across the base of her neck in a snug Full Nelson. Under any other circumstances Susan would've taken some time to show off her vulnerable opposition, tonight however the former World Champion simply forced Tremblay's chin snug against her sternum before she dipped low and popped her hips to take the bendy-back up, over and down to PLANT Bad Penny on the back of her head and shoulders with a nasty Dragon Suplex!
DRAGON SUPLEX @ 00:35
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfsEY7LldAs
The impact left Tremblay matchbooked nice and tight, but Al didn't even get to approach his charges before the Rainmaker rolled onto one knee and returned to boot-leather with the Angriest Acolyte hanging in her grasp. Once upright the Full Nelson gave way to a Double Chickenwing, Burlingame yanking Tremblay's arms straight out behind so there was no way for the blonde to protect her head when the heiress snapped off a second bridge and THWHAMMED her rival to the canvas with an emphatic Tiger Suplex!
TIGER SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jN9wU7UXPM
The Tiger's attack differed from the Dragon's but the result was much the same, Penny planted ass over teakettle and ready to be pinned, yet no one (not even the official) was surprised when Susan rolled out of the predicament and forced Tremblay to stand alongside. Abruptly abandoning her arm control in favor of a tight Waistlock, Burlingame treated the younger wrestler to one sharp, violent Bear Hug squeeze before she DUMPED her high and tight on the back of her head with a gorgeous German Suplex! This time she held the bridge and Al was right there to make count, an effort strengthened by several thousand FAWNatics...
GERMAN SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6LYumbjfUk
ONE...
TWO...
THRNOOOO!
Tremblay kicked out after 'TWO' but not so close to 'THREE' that Burlingame felt the need to check with the zebra. Instead she took a moment to catch her breath, smooth down her hair and gingerly inspect what she suspected would be a massive bruise where the psycho bitch had dropped her on the steps. Wincing at the flare of pain caused by little more than gentle prodding, the Ace shook it off as best she could, then filled her hands with Tremblay's hair and gave it a nice healthy pull before hauling them both to their feet.
“I don't know if your problem with me is personal or professional.” Burlingame shifted over to a Wristlock so she could tug Penelope into a quick little Kneelift to the gut. “And if I'm being honest, I don't really give a shit which it is. All I know is that you're fighting like you mean to do lasting damage, so I'm going to respond in kind.”
“Huuuuhhh.... oh yeah, sure. Treat me like I'm special.” Tremblay answered with a raspy little giggle. “Because you've always been known for your restraiNNGGGHH!”
Sue shouldered her back only to reel her in for a second Kneelift to the belly. “Honey, you only THINK you know what I can do when I'm not holding back.” Burlingame snapped. “But you won't actually KNOW until the EMT's have loaded you onto the stretchHRGH!”
Penny snapped her head to the side with a rough backhand and sneered, “What admirable lessons you're passing along to your daughter! Or maybe Lily's doing most of the heavy lifting? She always struck me as the responsible NNGGHH!”
The Bankable Bombshell drilled a Headbutt into the bridge of the blonde's nose, then took a big step back and dropped a shoulder to hurl her into a corner on the far side of the squared circle. Tremblay did manage to turn around and thus take the brunt of the impact between her shoulders, though this didn't offer much else in way of net positives unless you counted the excellent view of Sue rushing down the blonde's back-trail and springing onto the bottom strand so she could THWHONK her right knee against Penny's forehead!
CORNER KNEE STRIKE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN_1hYD_U_g
Quick to set her right foot against the middle rope while her foe slumped back against the turnbuckles, Susan hooked both thumbs into her right kneepad and pulled it down to bare the dangerous joint. “You keep bringing up my family.” Sue noted while filling her hands with the blonde's long hair. “You're going to learn that comes with a price you're not equipped to--”
“Go fuck yourself, mama bear.” Tremblay sneered. “You're an embarrassing cautionary tale and we both know NGH! NGH! NGH! NGH!”
Burlingame jerked Penny's noggin down and brought her knee up, the two meeting in the middle with an audible THUMP that earned as many groans as cheers. Quite content to smash away at Tremblay's skull until Carpenter told her to stop, Susan landed nearly a dozen Kneelifts before the ref strode over and said, “That's enough, Sue. She's in the corner.”
The Ace raised her hands to indicate the break, but she didn't relinquish the corner mount until she'd made a small show of pulling her knee-pad back into place. Then she hopped down and backed aw—Penny lunged out of the corner and CRACKED the heiress with a tremendous Bitch Slap! Burlingame reeled away and Tremblay stormed after her, the blonde clearly suffering the ill effects of those Suplexes and High Knees, but oh so eager to fight through if it meant dishing out more punishment to the veteran.
And punish she did, the Last True Believer burying a hand in Susan's hair to wrench the heiress' head backward before she hooked her thumb into the side of Burlingame's mouth and gouged like she meant to skewer her foe's cheek from the inside! “Do you really think you can threaten me? Intimidate me?” Tremblay's voice was a barely controlled snarl as she wrenched the other wrestler's head from side to side. “You're nothing but a soft, pampered dilettante. A country club skank with a few cardio kickboxing classes under her belt, how is that enough to protect you fro--”
Burlingame answered the fishhook with one of her own and tacked on a hard slap across the blonde's mouth for good measure. She followed that by trying to remove a massive handful of Tremblay's long locks, an effort that earned a groan and a redoubling of the blonde's own efforts. The vicious tangle showed no signs of slowing when Al Carpenter stepped in close to bark, “That's more than enough, ladies! I want a clean break before you go to opposite corners to catch your bre--”
Penny interrupted the demand with a trio of quick Kneelifts that thum-thum-THUMPED against Burlingame's washboard midsection. Those shots allowed her to spit Sue's thumb outta her mouth and escape the hair-hold so she could force her opponent down into a Front Facelock. Hands clasped so she could yoke up on the Ace's throat in a simple albeit effective Guillotine Choke, Penelope Tremblay smiled nastily and explained, “There's nothing you can threaten me with, hag. I've been through things that'd disintegrate the silver spoon you'd had jammed up your ass your whole lifNNNGGGHH!”
Sue leaned into the bendy-back to show off some damned fine flexibility of her own by whipping her right leg up 'n over in a Scorpion Kick that drilled her heel into the blonde's forehead! Penny didn't actually break the Guillotine, but her grip loosened enough for the Rainmaker to draw a deep breath and that's all the opening Sue needed. Cinching her arms around the blonde's slender waist, Burlingame locked her hands tight, then got low and took Tremblay to the canvas with a quick Northern Lights Suplex!
Al Carpenter dropped to one knee to make the count, bless his heart, so of course Sue somersaulted through the bridge to regain her footing and haul the Angriest Acolyte upright. Yanking her head free of Tremblay's grasp with an audible curse, Susan repaid the Front Facelock with one of her own, then slung Penny's near arm across her shoulders and grabbed a handful of waistband as an anchor. With the crowd egging her on the Bankable Bombshell hoisted Tremblay all the way to high noon so that the toes of her boots were pointed at the overhead lights. She didn't immediately end the stall so folks started to count, though they'd barely reached 'THREE!' when Burlingame kicked both legs forward and laid out on her back to THAWHAM Penny into the thinly-sheathed canvas with a Brainbuster worthy of the Black Queen herself!
NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX & BRAINBUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLUjINPhyiw
Penny tumbled over onto one side either in an instinctual effort to defend against a cover or maybe just due to the force of the Brainbuster itself, whatever the reason she ended up right back where she started when Sue glommed on at shoulder and hip. Eschewing the cradle in favor of a Full Back Press, Burlingame pointed her opponent's ass at the lights while Al finally got the chance to count...
ONE...
TWO...
THRNOOOO!
Tremblay kicked out with half a second to spare, leaving Sue to sit up and rake a hand through her hair amidst a sea of boos from disappointed fans. As for Penny, she mustered her reserves to roll clear of the Rainmaker on a beeline for the edge of the ring. She'd just about reached safety when a hard-charging Ace dropped low and drilled her heels into the blonde's ribs in a Baseball Slide Dropkick that sent the Orphan of Midnight THWHUMPING to the floor a few feet below!
Penny's ignominious exit got the FAWNatics cheering again and Sue finally cracked her trademark smile as she stood up and promptly kicked invisible dirt toward the expelled battler. “Get the hell outta my ring, bitch!” Feeling in control for the first time since the punk had slammed her into the steps, the brunette took up residence in the middle of the ring and stretched her arms wide.
“Who's the star of the show?” she asked the crowd.
'SUE!'
“Who's kicking that brat's ass?”
'SUE!'
“Who's--”
“A poseur-ass dumbshit who should know better than to turn her back on someone when it's almost broken?”
Sue swung around on one heel to cast a baleful glance on the recently risen Penelope Tremblay. “It's gonna take more than you to break my back, asshole.” Sue countered. “You're lucky to get a sweat out of me.”
The Angriest Acolyte merely snorted, clearly unfazed by Burlingame's confidence. “That's what the steel steps are for, Susie. And if those don't get the job done I've got four ring-posts, several lengths of guardrail and a whole arena full of chairs to assist. I'm not just going to break you. I'm going to bloody you in a way no one else has ever--”
Susan exploded forward, the former World Champion's fast-twitch reaction borderline spooky for someone who'd been wrestling for close to twenty year. Leading with her feet, the brunette skidded into a perfect Baseball Slide that would've put both heels on Bad Penny's sternum if the woman in question hadn't pivoted to one side, grabbed a double handful of ring skirt and yanked it just high enough to thread over Sue's lower leg as she shot off the apron.
Catching both legs was troublesome enough as it meant the Ace would've been caught in a snug envelope created by the apron and the ring skirt, but catching only one was even worse as it ensured Burlingame got crotched by the encroaching material, her landing made all the more unbearable when Tremblay sent her on a jouncing, bouncing pony ride that continued unabated until Al rushed over to the edge of the ring and ordered, “Get her offa there, Penny! You know better than that!”
Penny actually looked a bit abashed, much to the surprise of the front row FAWNatics. “You're right, I do.” she let go of the distended material and raised her hands to shoulder-level only to grab a double fistful of Burlingame's hair so she could THWHUNK her forehead into the apron! In the next instant she'd straightened Sue up again, only she angled the heiress so her head was on the other side of the bottom rope with her throat pressed close to the rubber-coated steel. Then she shifted her hair-hold to a laced grip across the back of Burlingame's skull and puuuuuuuuuuuuuullled forward and down, the malicious bendy-back almost dropping to one knee as she throttled her adversary without mercy!
“Break the choke, Penny! ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!” Tremblay obeyed at the last possible second, she even went so far as to step back from the coughing, hacking Bombshell. Unfortunately this reprieve proved short-lived as the Last True Believer stalked in seconds later, lowered a shoulder and jammed it into the brunette's gut! Sue folded over with an audible 'OOOFFFHHH!' that grew to a high, keening wail when Tremblay wrapped both arms around her waist and drove toward the nearest corner. Pounding and swatting at Penny's back even as the ring skirt waged a war of friction against her trunks, Sue earned a loud groan of sympathetic anguish from all present when she BWUNKED spine-first against the steel post!
Under other circumstances she probably would've collapsed to a woozy seat on the floor, but that damned ring skirt kept her upright and groaning even once Tremblay let go and slipped around to the other side of the unforgiving steel. “Get it back in the ring, Penny!” Al warned from somewhere up above. “Don't make me tell you ag--”
“You're gonna have to use every bit of that count, shit-bag.” the Orphan of Midnight interrupted. “And you better hope I'm listening closely enough otherwise everyone's going to see their favorite MILF wheeled out of here on a fucking stretcher.”
Carpenter took the threat to heart and started his count, but it was hard to say whether or not Penny was listening because she'd reached over the bottom turnbuckle to grab hold of Sue's hair and pull it back in a messy ponytail. No impromptu makeover this, Tremblay raised a foot, braced it against the steel post and PUSHED off while simultaneously PULLING hard enough to make Burlingame wail in anguish!
“BITCH! LEGGO OF MY GODDAMNED HAIR!”
The dark-eyed blonde just shook her head 'no' and pulled a little harder. “Not just yet. I want to hear you admit you can't do this anymore. Tell your daughter you're a fucking embarrassment.”
Sue couldn't actually shake her head at the moment, but the look on her face spoke volumes. “Oh, why don't you just go ahead and kiss every inch of my ass you fucked-up little NNNNGGGHHH!”
Penny eased off on the pressure just enough crank Burlingame's neck a little farther with her next hellacious yank! Elsewhere, Al Carpenter had reached 'TEN!' on his count and though Tremblay was severely tempted to simply keep beating her prey on the outside, she knew that the clang of the bell would guarantee a flood of black and whites rushing to the hag's protection and that was not tolerable. But she couldn't just let the awful bitch ooze back into the ring, she had to prove she wanted it.
So..... Penny abandoned the hair-hold to get back around and help herself to the heiress with a handful of trunks and tresses. Finally dragging the wincing veteran clear of the ring skirt without the slightest concession made to Sue's comfort, Tremblay moved to the middle of the narrow aisle and spun in a circle to build up momentum for when she slung the Rainmaker under the bottom ro—NO! Penny kept right on spinning and ultimately released her burden going the other way so that Burlingame BWANGED shoulder-first into the guardrail!
Unquestionably pleased as she sauntered away from her handiwork, the Last True Believer hopped onto the apron and offered the jeering throng a defiant middle finger before she slipped through the strands. “Go ahead and restart the count, nerd.” Penny chided as she strolled by Al Carpenter. “No way she beats it otherwise and we can't have these gullible idiots thinking their precious Ace is quitter, can we?”
The ref kept a close eye on her, understandably suspicious that she might dip out on the far side just to rush around and continue the beat-down, but no, Tremblay leaned back against the ropes and rested her elbows on the top strand. “Fucking count.” she snapped at him. “You were so eager earlier. Go check on the hateful bitch.”
Al did so, hurrying over to the ropes nearest Sue to gauge her progress. The results weren't promising, she'd managed to make it to her hands and knees, but the crown of her head was pressed to the floor and as he watched her right hand moved to her left shoulder, which had absorbed two vicious impacts thus far. Knowing he didn't dare ask if the veteran wanted to continue, Carpenter cleared his throat and began to count. “ONE... TWO... THREE... FOUR... FIVE...” Sue looked in his direction, cursed under her breath and reared back on her knees. “EIGHT... NINE... TEN... ELEVEN...” She pulled her right arm away from that wounded shoulder, grabbed the top of the barricade and forced herself to full verticality. “FOURTEEN... FIFTEEN... SIXTEEN...”
“Make your choice, hag.” Penny called over the roar of the crowd. “I'll learn something important either way.”
“EIGHTEEN... NINETEEN...” Burlingame dipped forward and rolled under the bottom rope, much to the delight of those gathered for Summer Swelter.
“Better check that shoulder to see if she can continue.” Tremblay purred in a sweetly disingenuous tone. “Wouldn't want it to pop out as soon as I pull on her wrist.”
Damned if Al didn't step forward to check, only to stop when the Bankable Bombshell shot him a withering glare. “I'm fine.”
“You're not, though.” Penny countered. “He knows it because I've been beating your ass since you tried to jump me before the bell. He knows it's been a LONG TIME since someone ever tossed you around like first-day bikini meat fresh out of the Jungle, but he's seeing it tonight and part of him is sorry you were fucking stubborn enough to beat his slow-ass count.”
“Maybe I'd have stayed down if you hit harder.” Sue replied as she removed one elbow-pad and then the other. Tremblay's face betrayed the slightest hint of incredulity when she realized what Sue had in mind. “You really want to do this, country club? I come at you with elbows and knees, you're gonna scare the kid when you try to kiss her goodnight. Not that a selfish bitch like you would ever deign to--”
'Ooooooooohhhh's' from the crowd when Penny pulled her head to one side to avoid the knee-pad Burlingame flung at her face! That was all the answer Tremblay needed, she yanked off her elbow-pads, then hooked both thumbs into her right knee-pad to tug it down over the top of that boo—Susan charged, went low and STUFFED her uninjured shoulder into the pit of the blonde's trim stomach!
Hooking her arms around Penny's upper thighs even as the blonde folded over against her back, the Ace muscled her off her feet and continued on to the nearest corner where she drove Tremblay spine-first into the middle buckle with a resounding BWUNG! The Shoulderblock / Spear left Penelope fighting to catch her breath, a battle she was destined to lose once the former World Champion blasted her two more times in quick succession. From there she straightened up and caught a Muy Thai grip around the back of Penny's neck, Sue tugging her foe's chin down into her own modest decolletage while she thum-thum-THUMPED several Kneelifts into her midsection!
Tremblay gaped and wrapped the brunette in a sloppy clench, an intrusion Sue tolerated only because it allowed her to lean in close and murmur, “I'm gonna bust you up bad, little girl. Like, Bethany keeps you off television for two weeks or more because not even FAWN's make-up team is good enough to cover the bruises I--”
“I'll bleed you like a pig, fucker.” Penny rasped. “You'll be on T.V. tomorrow night with some sensible stitches, but they're gonna have to play a long video package while the techs replace this canvNNNNGGGHHH!”
Burlingame skewered the blonde's gut with another Kneestrike, then shifted her plant foot to the bottom rope so she could hop up and THWHUNK a vicious shot between Tremblay's eyes! Penelope's head snapped back and her arms dangled loose over the top rope, so the Rainmaker climbed onto the middle rope and grabbed a massive handful of hair. Instead of wrenching her foe's head backward, Sue tugged her in close, forcing the younger wrestler to fume and squeal against those battle-heated abs while she asked the crowd, “Who's the goddamned best?”
'SUE!'
Order thus restored, she bounced the base of Tremblay's skull against the top turnbuckle and raised her right hand high overhead whereupon she quickly curled it into a fist. “No need to keep time,” she told the roaring FAWNatics, “just make sure this beeyotch never forgets my name!”
This request was still reaching the cheap seats when she brought the fist down on Penny's hairline with an audible 'PWAK!' Yet no one save for a few floor-seat fans with the astutest of ears heard this over the 'SUE!' bellowed by the rest of the audience. Beaming as her name echoed through the arena, Burlingame raised her hand and brought it down again and again, the former World Champion quickly developing a rhythm guaranteed to raise lumps on the blonde's skull.
The lack of actual numbers being tallied forced Al Carpenter to focus more on the punches being thrown, but he did an admirable job filtering out the noise even as it grew all the louder. 'SUE! (seven) SUE! (eight) SUE! (nine) SUE!' (ten) Burlingame threw her arms wide and posed, the Bankable Bombshell looking every bit the standard bearer she claimed to be.
The ref let her bask in it for several more seconds before he stepped up beside and tapped two fingers against her right leg. “That was a ten count, Sue. Get her out of the corner, ok?”
Burlingame raked a hand through her hair and offered him an exaggerated pout. “Already? Don't you want to check and see if I've drawn enough blood to force a stopHHRRGGGH!”
The Orphan of Midnight whipped her head forward, a short, bludgeoning motion that slammed her forehead into the center of the veteran's briefs! Sue's face went ashen and she crumpled in on herself, a terribly vulnerable position that only grew more so when Penny cinched her arms around the Ace's waist and tromped away from the corner with Burlingame astride her shoulders in the Powerbomb sta—Tremblay went up on tiptoes and slung the heiress forward and down, Sue THWHAMMED full force on the back of her head and shoulders!
The collision left Susan folded in half, but the Last True Believer didn't hold her there for a pin, no, she muscled the brunette up and tumbled her over onto her knees, transforming the Ace into a woozy penitent that could lift her head but not her arms as Penny backpedaled across the canvas. The situation remained damnably foggy until Tremblay rushed in and brought her right knee shooting up, the bare joint making a sickening THONK just above Burlingame's right eye! Sue hit the deck like a felled tree and might've stayed there for a very long time if Penny hadn't fallen across her chest and hooked the far leg for...
POWERBOMB & RUSHING KNEE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkypAdISe9g
ONE...
TWO...
THRNOOOO!
The crowd cheered when Sue got a shoulder up, only to 'ooooooohhhh' in concern when they saw the bright red rivulet trailing into and around her right eye. Carpenter clocked it at once and immediately put gloves on so he could check the cut. “How you doing, Sue? Can you still--”
“She's fucking fine, idiot!” Penelope grabbed a double handful of hair, scraped the brunette off the canvas and roughly marched her toward the hard camera. “Didn't you hear her earlier? She's the Ace! She's the goddamned best!” The Last True Believer forced Burlingame's torso through the space between top and middle ropes, then straightened her up and hooked both arms over the former. Snugging in tight against the brunette's back, Penny grabbed Sue's chin in her left hand and twisted her head to one side to better show off the wound she'd opened. “Look at her!” Tremblay shouted to the FAWNatics. “I SAID LOOK AT HER, YOU MISERABLE SHITS! Isn't she great? Isn't she tough? Isn't she just fucking amazing?” She smooshed Burlingame's cheeks into an awful fish-face and planted a possessive smooch on one blood-streaked cheek to massive jeers.
“Enough of that crap, Penny.” Al warned. “Get her out of the corner or I'll start a count.”
Tremblay elected option three, the malicious bendy-back dipping through the ropes to the apron so she could hurry down to the corner to Sue's right. From there she turned around and rushed back the other way to THWHACK a Yakuza Kick to the spot she'd just broken open! Burlingame's arms slipped clear of the top rope so she ended up folded over the middle strand until Penny slipped back inside and helped herself to a greedy Waistlock. Dragging the sole-shocked Ace clear of the sanctuary turned trap, Tremblay hooked her right arm beneath Burlingame's right bicep and cupped the back of her head to secure the Half Nelson. In the same instant she slipped her left arm around the brunette's bicep and tugged backward to complete the Chickenwing. No theatrics despite the fact that they were still pointed at the hard camera, Bad Penny only sank down low and popped her hips to PLANT Susan on the back of her head and shoulders with a textbook Half & Half Suplex!
HALF & HALF SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlkPt3coNfA
No bridge from the Last True Believer, she simply released her hooks on impact and rolled onto her stomach while the heiress tumbled to her back. Penny was in perfect position but she didn't attempt a pin, rather she looked on with avid fascination as Sue tried to wipe the blood from one side of her face. The reprieve was lengthy enough for Al Carpenter to approach a second time (he'd managed to get his gloves on during the last fracas), yet Tremblay once again thwarted his efforts, this time by shoveling the former World Champion onto her stomach. “You want to know how badly she's hurt?” she asked while settling into a mount atop the small of her rival's back. “Well so does everyone else. Let's find out together, shall we?”
Glomming onto Burlingame's biceps just above the elbows, Penny hooked both limbs over her thighs, then cupped both hands under Sue's chin and craaaaaaaaaaanked back forcefully enough to make the brunette grind her teeth. “That the kind of angle you're looking for, Carpenter?” Tremblay shifted her clasp to turn Burlingame's features to the official, who had in fact crouched down beside the action. Delighted by the concern she saw on his face, Tremblay halved the grip so she could swipe some blood-matted hair away from the cut she'd inflicted. “What do you think, doc?” Tremblay's tone was solemn as Al inspected as best he could. “Can she be saved? I'm not gonna have to put her down, am--”
“As if you fucking could.” Burlingame dug her fingers into the undersides of Penny's gams and twitched her legs in a dedicated effort to get one knee underneath. “I've beaten the best in the world, bitch. You really think I'm going down against one of Miranda Wainright's lackAAARRRHHHHH FAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHK!”
Groans of sympathetic anguish and several shouts of protest from the FAWNatics when the Orphan of Midnight jerked back on the Camel Clutch before lowering her head to gouge the point of her chin into the gash over Sue's right eye! As surprised as the rest of the crowd by this vicious reaction, it actually took Al a few seconds to clear his head and bark, “All right, that's enough Penny! Knock that off or--” Tremblay raised her head and glared daggers at the zebra, a sight made all the more unsettling by the smear of crimson on her chin. “There's nothing illegal about working a cut, Carpenter. But if you're looking for a legitimate reason to count...” He really wasn't but damned if Penelope didn't give him a good one by going full Adelaide Brewster on the Bombshell's bleeding forehead!
Carpenter didn't waste breath with a warning, he just stood up and started to count. “ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!”
Tremblay lifted her head to show she'd complied with the order only to snatch a double handful of hair and BWONK the Bankable Bombshell's face into the canvas! Pushing to verticality in an instant, the Angriest Acolyte raised her left hand to better show off bloodstained fingertips. The FAWNatics, already jeering loud enough to shiver the walls, found another level of disdain when the willowy blonde tilted her head back and made a show of licking the digits clean! Meeting their disgust with a malicious smile, Tremblay's sneering scorn transformed into a apoplectic rage, her pretty features twisting into a grimace half a heartbeat before she SPAT a pinkish glob between the Rainmaker's shoulders.
Emphasizing the galling show of disrespect by grinding the toe of her boot atop the same spot, Tremblay swept a mocking hand over the prone veteran and challenged the crowd, “Go on, cheer for her, you assholes! Tell her she's got this! Tell her she's better than me! Tell her there's no fucking way she'll ever lose to someone like me!”
This tirade only earned more boos from the FAWNatics, so Penny smooched her fingers and slapped them against her hip before bending down to claim a double handful of hair. Hauling Burlingame to boot-leather like she was little more than furniture to be moved, the bendy-back freed one hand to snag hold of her prey's waistband. From there she rushed the ropes and slung Susan out into the void, the brunette doing a swan dive worthy of the Rumbrrrr before she hit the barely-padded floor with an awful THUD.
Back in the ring, Penny Tremblay retreated to the far corner and settled into a seat with her elbows resting on the bottom rope. “Check on her, count her out, doesn't make a difference to me.” she told Al. “Just hurry up and make a decision.”
Al didn't have to be told twice, he made his way over to the edge and braced himself before taking in the scene on the floor. An audible sigh of relief because it wasn't as bad as he'd imagined based solely on the ugly sound of a human body falling onto a concrete floor. Not that it was great, mind you. For someone who was still in a wrestling match, Sue Burlingame looked as ass-kicked as Carpenter could recall seeing her in a very long time. The whole right side of her face and neck were smeared with blood, a situation only made worse as she tried to wipe it away with her left hand. Relieved to see the Ace checking her injuries, the ref called down, “Can you continue, Sue? I'll call it if need me--”
Cheers from the crowd and a bemused smile from Carpenter when the heiress flipped him a weary middle finger. “All I need is the count.” she groaned.
The was good enough for Al, he took a step back, cleared his throat and called out, “ONE... TWO... THREE... FOUR... FIVE... SIX... SEVEN...” Burlingame reached out, grabbed an awkward handful of the ring-skirt and didn't so much sit up as she did haul herself to a seat. “TEN... ELEVEN... TWELVE... THIRTEEN...” Not really thinking about it, the brunette leaned to the side and used that handful of the skirt to wipe the worst of the blood off her forehead and cheek. “SIXTEEN... SEVENTEEN...” The 'SUE!' chant that'd echoed through the FAWN Arena since the Rainmaker started to stir took on a tone that simultaneously relieved and anxious as Burlingame clambered to verticality. “EIGHTEEN... NINETEEN...”
Roars of incredulous delight from the sold out crowd when the former World Champion leapt from the floor to the apron to the top rope and finally back into the ring to beat the count by the slimmest margin imaginable! Penelope Tremblay noted all this sound and fury, but she didn't actually haul herself upright until Burlingame trudged to the middle of the squared circle and demanded, “Get off your ass, little girl.”
“You should've stayed on the floor, trust fund.” the Orphan of Midnight warned as she closed in. “The next time I put you down... you won't get up again.”
The threat was barely out of mouth when Tremblay lashed out with a Haymaker aimed at the cut over Sue's right eye! Her aim was true up until the moment the eldest Burlingame sister dropped low and twisted around, Sue extending her leg like a scythe that cut Penny's legs out from underneath neat as you please! The Sweep Kick dropped Tremblay to her back with a breathy 'UNGH!' but it was a mere span of heartbeats before she'd scrambled to one knee and---THWHACK! Sue was up first and caught the blonde on the chin with a Basement Super Kick that sent her into a tumbling sprawl! Burlingame's shot landed flush, of that there was no doubt. Yet anyone hoping for a quick pin was disappointed when the Last True Believer rolled to all fours and pushed to one knee before Susan could get into position to—the Bankable Bombshell rushed forward, hopped into a low perch with her left foot on Tremblay's right thigh and THWHUNKED her bare knee between the blonde's eyes with a huge Shining Wizard!
SHINING WIZARD:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihyrcaY4krA
Penny hit the deck flat, rolled over onto her stomach and began to rise quicker than any of the FAWNatics lik—Sue rushed in and knocked her back on her heels with a Kneelift to the chest, then spun around on the spot and CRACKED her with a Roaring Elbow that tagged the blonde's left eyebrow! Sue was almost certain that shot opened Tremblay up, but at the moment she was less concerned with drawing blood and more interested in piling on punishment. To that end she planted on her left foot and whipped her right leg up for what looked like a Roundhouse to the same spot only to adjust the angle of her lower leg so that heel tagged Penny's right temple instead!
KNEELIFT, ROARING ELBOW, & QUESTION MARK KICK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=U03T4iLc5rI
The Question Mark Kick sent Tremblay stumbling away in a drunken stupor so the Ace walked her down and earned some rambunctious cheers from the crowd when she raaaaaaaaaaaaked her nails down the younger wrestler's back! “BITCH!” Penny shrieked as she went up on tiptoe. “You're gonna OOFFFHH!”
Sue grabbed a shoulder, turned the blonde around and pumped a big Kneelift into her tummy! Catching hold of a Front Facelock as soon as the bendy-back doubled over, Burlingame backpedaled into the ropes and boosted herself into a seat on the top strand. “Call me a bitch all you like, cutie.” Sue SLAPPED Penny's vulnerable back just because she could. “Just make sure to put the proper respect on it when you do!”
Nothing but a curse from the blonde so Sue braced her feet against the second rope and pushed off as hard as she could, the Rainmaker twisting around and kicking her legs back to build even more momentum for the TrustfunDDT—NO! Penny braced both hands against the Rainmaker's hips and pushed off and out with enough force to break the Front Facelock before any catastrophic head-drops were delivered. Credit the balance of Sue Burlingame, she adjusted her descent in mid-flight to turn what could've been an ugly faceplant into a seemingly effortless landing on her feet. Actually calling it landing didn't feel quite accurate because the former World Champion was off like a shot as soon as she touched down, Sue eating up the distance between them to—Penny hopped forward on her left foot and THWHACKED Susan's chin with a gorgeous Super Kick that stopped the Ace dead in her tracks!
SUPER KICK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1W36-Uk5Z4
Rocked by the pinpoint blow, Burlingame crumpled to one knee and pushed right back up, the heiress warily raising her hands in an instinctive grappler's stan—Tremblay's right foot lashed out again, only this time the point of her boot sought the juncture of Susan's thigNOT TONIGHT!
Sue dropped her defenses low and snatched hold of the blonde's ankle to block the Low Blow with no time to spare. Without even thinking about it the Bankable Bombshell halved her grip and raised a defiant middle finger for the Angriest Acolyte. “Fuck you, girlie. That cheap shit's not going to work against NNNNGGGGHHH!”
Penny sprang off her plant foot, twisted over and CRACKED an Enzuigiri against the veteran's temple! Burlingame's hands dropped and she turned away, clearly in a stupor from the repeated kicks. She'd only made it a few steps when the Orphan of Midnight grabbed a hold of her waistband and reeled her back in. Wedging her head beneath Sue's left arm, Penny curled her right arm arm around the brunette's midsection and set her left hand against the back of Burlingame's left thigh. Bolstered by a rising ride of jeers, Tremblay dipped her knees and boosted the veteran up onto her right shoulNO! Burlingame somersaulted free, dropped down the blonde's back and landed on one knee directly behind her adversary. Snarling at the hag's resilience, Bad Penny whipped around in a half circle and-- “HHHHRRRRRGGGHHH!”
Sue connected where Penny missed, the Ace earning a cacophonous roar of approval when she SMASHED an Uppercut against her tormentor's crotch! Al Carpenter squawked disapproval as referees are wont to do in situations such as these, but even he didn't look particularly out of countenance when Burlingame sprang out of her crouch, caught Tremblay's noggin in a Three Quarters Facelock and laid out flat to PLANT the bendy-back on her face, chest, and tummy with a flawless Ace Crusher! Penny bounced and tumbled to her back where the Rainmaker promptly sat hard on her chest. Half a heartbeat later she'd hooked both legs behind the knees and leaaaaaaaaaaaaned back until the top of her head touched the canvas and Carpenter was counting off...
ACE CRUSHER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ2WAKtetXY
ONE...
TWO...
THREE!
Damned if Penny didn't jolt free of the Matchbook but it was too late; the bell CLANGED and the Announcer confirmed, “Ladies and gentlemen... your winner via pin-fall... SUSANNAH BURLINGAME!”
Sue, who'd rolled under the bottom rope to the floor when Tremblay bucked her off, blew the blonde a kiss and flipped her the bird for good measure. “Nice try, kiddo.” she offered a smile stained pink. “You can hurt me, but you sure as hell can't BEAT me.”
Penny's hands went from talons to fists, her knuckles showing white with the strength of her fury. After a moment she relaxed and answered with her own baleful grin. “Enjoy the notation in the record book, hag. You got the W, but you also got your ass kicked from bell to bell. Everyone saw it. Everyone knows it. If it wasn't for that cheap shot you'd be down 0-2 right now and this would already be over.”
Sue growled, took a step toward the ring. “You think I'm going to let this sit at 1-1, asshole? No chance. I'm gonna run up the score and grind you under my--”
Tremblay stormed to the edge, sat down on the second strand and grabbed hold of the top rope to invite the Ace back inside! “Are you, old woman? Then say it to my face! Everyone knows winners don't celebrate on the outside and losers shouldn't leave the ring under their own power, so why don't you hop up here, climb through the ropes and look me in the eye you fucking farcEERRGGHHHH!”
Burlingame joined the blonde on the apron in a cat-like leap, but rather than go through the ropes she snatched a huge double handful of hair and pulled like she meant to snatch Tremblay bald! “I don't know what your problem is, and I don't fucking care.” she hissed. “You want to fight, honey? I'll give you the sort of fight you'll never forgeOOOOOWWWWWWWW FAAAAAAAAHHHHHHK!”
Penny grabbed some hair as well, but rather than try to pull it loose she held Burlingame's head steady so she could once again gnaw on the Ace's wound! Sue forgot all about pulling hair and sent about shiving punches into her rival's ribs until Penny let loose backpedaled to center ring. The Rainmaker almost went to the top rope to continue the battle, but she refrained upon hearing what was probably half a dozen referees rushing down the ramp.
The Last True Believer watched her retreat up the ramp, pleasure curdling to fury as she realized the fight was over for the time being. “THIS IS ON YOU, BITCH!” she shrieked at the departing heiress. “WHEN YOUR DAUGHTER'S SCARED TO LOOK AT THE MESS I MADE OF YOUR FACE, YOU BETTER FUCKING TELL HER THAT IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU COULD'VE WALKED AWAY AT ANY TIME, BUT YOU CHOSE THIS RING OVER HER! REMEMBER THAT, WHEN THESE PEOPLE HAVE TURNED ON YOU AND THEY'RE CHEERING YOU OUT OF HERE ON THE BACK OF A STRETCHER! REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU CHOSE THE RING OVER YOUR DAUGHTER. YOU MAY BE THE ACE! YOU MAY BE THE RAINMAKER! BUT YOU'RE ALSO FAWN'S SHITTIEST MOTHER!”
Sue's smile and color faded with each word only the blood and the furious points of her eyes stood stood out. “That line you don't come back from? You just crossed it, Tremblay. You're fucking done.”
Penny made no attempt to get by the officials that'd surrounded her in the last several seconds, but that didn't mean she had no response. “I'm here. Whenever you're ready, you arrogant, neglectful shit. I'm here, waiting in your ring.”
The crowd cheered, then groaned when Burlingame started forward only to be stopped by a careful grip from Nick Castle. “It'll have to wait for another night, Susannah.” he said quietly. “We need to have that cut looked at right now.”
The Ace grimaced like she tasted something awful, but nodded after a moment's hesitation. Eyes still locked on Penny, she mouthed, 'Soon.' then trudged away through the curtain.
“Not soon enough.” Tremblay hissed under her breath after the brunette was gone. “Not nearly soon enough.”