Post by hawkeye on Nov 27, 2023 0:24:03 GMT
With the FAWNatics on the edge of their seats, ready to roar for any woman tasked with relieving the organization’s most infamous Brat of her remaining belt, the most prestigious World Championship, Shawn Mendes’ ‘There’s nothing Holdin’ Me Back’ courses through the arena speakers.
( www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT2owtxkU8k )
Though she may have lost some of her Angels in the fanbase by siding with Violyt Goodheart against Greater Good in recent months, their break-up at Mania and consideration of who’s the blonde’s facing, sends the crowd to its feet.
And when the babyfaced Hughes marches into view, planting centerstage, a shower of golden sparks behind her, the City of Angels’ very own cherub Heaven Hughes has everyone in the arena in her camp.
HEAVEN HUGHES
The sporty, sun-kissed blonde appears the perfect billboard for Cali. Much more wholesome and pleasing than the Quake from the same state, a beaming Hughes waves to the curious and captivated masses. The combatant is clad in a black and yellow, zippered Body Glove diving top; similarly-hued and branded boy-cut trunks; her tanned legs and feet bare.
Hughes crow hops into a trot down the ramp, bouncing back and forth to slap hands on either side of the aisle. Heaven’s clearly reveling in her shot to jump the ladder from barely considered to best in the business, a win against former World Champ and mentor Colleen O’Neal propelling her to the title shot.
The crowd is taken with the fresh-faced, new blood, the assembled cheerily applauding the golden-haired grappler. Hughes energetically circles the ring and returns to the steps having glad-handed her way through most of the front row.
Heaven gallops up the steel stairs with a toothy, glittering grin. With an appealing vivacity, Hughes climbs the outside of the ring post and somersaults through the Orlando airspace, sticking a landing with arms raised high and wide.
The ring announcer raises his voice over the ovation as the blonde moves to her corner and stretches her lithe limbs.
“Our next match is scheduled for one fall with a 60-minute time limit and is for the FAWN World Championship. First…from Santa Monica, California, standing five feet two inches tall and weighing in at 115 pounds…the Sweetest Sunshine…HEAVEN HUGHES!”
The GSW import bows, waves and smiles, a perfect example of the athletic West Coast ideal.
The Santa Monica Sweetheart takes a lap and saunters back to her corner where she bounces nervously, occasionally stretching in preparation for the biggest match of her life, occasionally stealing glances to the stage above, ready for her Golden State counterpart.
With the beatific challenger waiting patiently, the crowd less so, a Richter scale rumble courses through the arena. The previous ovation changes to an earthquake-sized round of boos from the sellout throng, the masses knowing all too well what the tremor means.
The hatred rises to a crescendo when the speakers transition to Van Halen's ‘Beautiful Girls’. A barrage of pyrotechnics explodes from the rafters in time with the chords, the fiery white sparks illuminating the cavernous space in a momentarily blinding light.
Beautiful Girls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ9h2m06sFQ )
The ill-mannered, ass-kicking blonde Brat moves to center stage but without the usual shit-eating ‘I’m the biggest bytch in town’ grin. Instead, Braddock’s hazel eyes are slitted with a furious focus.
KAT BRADDOCK:
The curvy Quake strides toward the battleground in her new booty-blasting blue gear, the two-piece accentuating her curves both bottom and topside, the outfit including knee-high athletic socks, her boots traded in for sporty Chuck Taylors.
Kat’s gear (
and ( 
).
Dawdling ringside, Kat moves toward the announcer’s table as he provides Braddock’s introduction.
“And her opponent. From Newport Beach, California. Standing five feet two inches tall and weighing in at 123 pounds. The World Champion. The Brat. KAT BRADDOCK!”
The arena echoes with enmity, the vocal and virulent distaste impressive for someone relatively early in her career.
Braddock snatches the amplifier from the man’s hand and draws it to parted lips.
“Shut your mouths! NOW!”
The FAWNatics are not in the mood to oblige and force Braddock to shout over them.
“I was robbed of my Lightweight Title at Mania. Robbed! It’s not fair someone who’s already warmed up should be able to sneak attack a cold champion. If Hilton thinks I’m done with her, she’s kidding herself. But until I’m Katrina Two-Belts again, I am still the gawd damn World Champion and there isn’t anything this little piece of flaxen-haired fluff can do about that. And to make damn sure, I’m making this a Last Woman Standing Match.”
Kat turns to Heaven.
“Any questions or complaints, Barbie?”
A soft smile emerges on the challenger’s flawless features. She shakes her head.
Kat drops the microphone and races to the apron’s edge, sliding in underneath and popping to her feet. The blonde directs Nick Castle to keep her foe back, though Hughes hasn’t made a move. The Brat climbs her corner, spreads her arms high and wide, lifts the Big Belt and revels in the reverberating boos.
Kat drops to the canvas, hands over the hardware, and motions for a bell and receives it, beckoning Heaven to meet her mid-ring.
Hughes doesn’t hesitate. One Cali girl striding to the other, arms outstretched to hook up in a collar-and-elbow with the World Champion. Inches away from locking limbs, Braddock drives a toe kick DEEP into the tanned midriff of her advancing foe, doubling Heaven at the waist, her dark eyes bulging.
A chuckling Kat shakes her noggin, golden tresses shifting from side to side.
“I can see why the Greater Good shut you down. You have a better chance with the Greater Suck. And Goodheart is most certainly that.”
A grimacing Heaven spins into a sloppy side kick, her abs still stinging from the champ’s initial attack, and Braddock catches Hughes’ boot around the ankle. The Brat lifts her challenger’s right leg high and forces the Santa Monica Sweetheart to hop humorously on the remaining planted stem, desperate to keep her balance.
Heaven takes swiping rights at Kat’s chin, but the champion remains out of range.
“Are you sure Colleen didn’t gift you a win? No way did you actually beat her.”
A frustrated Heaven again comes up empty with a wild, fruitless swing. The attempt gives Braddock all the momentum she needs to spin Hughes through a pirouette, Kat grabbing Heaven after her 360, then pulling her into a tight Golden State embrace. Lifting her adversary off the canvas, chest to chest in a very temporary bearhug, Kat drops to one knee and splits Heaven’s wickets, POUNDING her undercarriage with the plank of her upper leg, Hughes the victim of a nasty Inverted Atomic Drop.
The impact sends Heaven hopping reflexively into the air, hands burying between her thighs, features etched in agony, eyes crossing from the below-the-belt attack.
Frozen in a bow-legged position when she returns to earth, Heaven can only watch helplessly as the Cali Quake, turns, sprints to the ropes, rebounds out at full speed, and SPEARS the holy hell out O’Neal’s former protégé. Hughes’ supple frame folds around the buried shoulder of The Brat, Kat DRIVING her foe into the deck, finishing off the tackle with extreme prejudice.
On hands and knees next to the splayed Sweetest Sunshine, Braddock edges beside Heaven, fashions a claw out of her right set of digits and SINKS them deep into the same bruised abdomen, digging into the roiling tummy of her challenger, converting the ab attack plan many have against her into one of her own.
Though a submission isn’t an option for victory tonight, a snarling Kat clearly enjoys the look of anguish and the mewls of pain emanating from the erstwhile Sorceress’ apprentice. Gnawing at the bronzed belly, Heaven’s palms tight around her wrist, a delighted Kat gets her fill before relenting. She instead sinks those nails into Heaven’s scalp and tugs the wincing blonde to her feet as she rises.
Shifting her grips to a shoulder and wrist, Braddock pushes Hughes deep in a corner and pivots, sending the GSW import racing across the canvas with an Irish Whip. Hughes spins into a rugged, back-first collision with the opposite corner, her body shaken by the force of the blow. Still, she remains upright, tossing an arm over the top rope on either side.
It’s a red cape to Braddock’s bull and the World Champion races across the ring, swiveling as she leaps off the canvas from a few feet out, BURYING a hip attack into the already aching abs of her flaxen-haired foe.
Pressing tight to her opponent, Kat lifts a series of knees into the same vulnerable spot, using her adversary’s navel as the target, leaving Heaven a gasping, slack-jawed mess, bent and breathless.
“Sure,” Kat grunts as she pushes a forearm under Hughes’ chin to thrust her foe’s head back. “I could knock you the hell out for the ten. But anyone could do that. I want to make you stay down for that entire count because you just don’t want any more of your ass kicked.”
Braddock grabs the challenger’s wrist again and heaves Heaven across the expanse of canvas. This time The Brat follows immediately behind, ready to swamp the overwhelmed Hughes with a second round of corner mugging. But as Heaven reaches her destination, she catches the top ropes on either side with a wrapped palm and vaults into the air, shoving herself away from the buckles as Braddock passes beneath.
Kat THWUMPS into the thin padding as Hughes lands behind her. The Santa Monica Sweetheart’s arms wrap around Braddock’s plush waist. She launches an off-balance Kat from the mat with a Release German Suplex. And while Heaven deftly ends in a bridge, balancing on the crown of her cranium, the champ lands HARD on the back of her skull and shoulders, the momentum rolling Kat over to hands and knees.
Showing her toughness, the titleholder slowly, woozily pushes to her feet. Hughes is instantly charging her foe. Kat rotates and sweeps Heaven by, but the babyfaced blonde calls an audible, leaping to the middle cable, bouncing off, and wrapping her tanned thighs around the braincase of The Brat. Heaven swings around the wide-eyed Cali Quake, flipping her to the deck with a Springboard Hurricarana.
Springboard Hurricarana ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbckUgPb_zo )
The incredible force created by the landing sweeps Kat in a return to verticality, though the champ stumbles drunkenly, an arm wrapping around the back of her head as she dizzily turns to find her foe.
And Kat finds the GSW import mid-charge, shoulders lowered to Santa Monica S(P)ier Kat through, returning the goring favor and then some, the fireplug blonde turned inside out by the glorious tackle of the challenger.
Santa Monica (S)Pier ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1vz--675e8 ) :15
An energized Heaven hops to her feet, pumping her fist at the roaring crowd while a gutted Braddock shifts from shoulder to shoulder, hugging her blasted belly like she’s trying to keep her organs in place. With a moaning Brat making no effort to rise, Castle sees his first opportunity to test his counting ability.
He throws an arm into the air and is outshouted by the AHE crowd…ONE!
Bouncing in a corner, Hughes watches hopefully, but her celebration is stifled, knowing Kat won’t go down so easily.
At ‘FOUR’, a huffing Braddock deliberately makes her way to a wobbly stance, only to be flattened again when Hughes charges the champ, raises her right elbow, and PLOWS it into Kat’s forehead.
With the owner of the World gold spread on the mat once more, Heaven moves alongside her target. Turning away, she leaps into a graceful standing moonsault, THWAMMING down in a resounding ‘X’, the meat of each midsection slapping together, the oxygen again forced from Braddock’s lungs.
Standing Moonsault ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=isuON3KH5e4 )
Hughes forgets herself for a split-second, remaining tight in a crossbody pin and hooking a leg before she realizes the stipulation prevents the pin. Rising to her haunches beside the groaning, gutted Kat, Heaven sends an echoing SLAP across the tanned flesh of The Brat’s abdomen. A loud ‘WOO’ reflexively radiates from the FAWNatics, prompting Hughes to lay down another and another. Finally, Kat collapses into a ball to protect herself from abdominal abuse.
Not satisfied with allowing Kat to climb within a turtle shell, even if Castle could technically count, an aggressive Heaven cracks at Kat’s ball with several stomps to the ribs. Hughes finally reaches down to collect the jarred champ around the noggin when Braddock’s right hand shoots toward her foe’s face. Kat’s nails slash across the Santa Monica Sweetheart’s peepers and she staggers away, yelping as she rubs furiously at her eyes, then blinking them widely.
Meanwhile, a moaning Kat rolls under the bottom rope, landing on her feet but stooped, still working through the agonizing ache in her tummy.
Eyes pooled with tears from the rake, Hughes nevertheless gets her bearings as best she can and rushes toward the ropes hovering above The Brat. She soars between the top and middle cables and SMASHES into the back of a turned Braddock. Kat’s shoved forward from the force of the attack and runs headlong into the steel barricade, tripping and burying her left shoulder and temple into the unforgiving metal. The Cali Quake slides down the barrier, pooling at its base.
Having used Kat as a crash pad, the lithe Heaven sticking her landing, she hovers over the demolished titleholder to great appreciation from the FAWNatics.
The front rows of the crowd are happy to provide advice on how the GSW import should dispatch The Brat for a ten-count, but since most involve illegal weaponry of one kind or another, she instead peels the sagging Braddock off the arena floor by a wrist and shoulder.
The babyfaced blonde allows herself one vice, tossing the flaxen-haired fireplug toward the ring apron with an Irish Whip. Kat literally flies into the hardened side, spinning into a cruel dissection of her spinal column. Braddock arches in agony, falling to her knees.
Heaven surges forward and lifts a knee, CRACKING the bony joint into the tip of the champ’s jaw, snapping her head back.
In a semiconscious slump, Kat’s nearly deadweight isn’t easy to alter, but an animated Hughes has the adrenaline to scoop Braddock to unsteady feet, then on the apron, shoving the reeling Quake back in the legal field of battle. Kat rolls to a stop on her back, staring blankly at the rafters.
Heaven wipes a few remaining tears from her reddened eyes and crawls in after her adversary. Instead of a cover, Hughes pops to her feet like a cheerleader at a pep rally and motions Castle to start his count.
Nick throws his arm in the air and the crowd roars ‘ONE’. The pattern continues as a wobbly Braddock makes it to all fours at ‘FIVE’. She holds for a couple more, gathering her reserves, then pushes to her feet before immediately losing her precarious balance and flopping into the ropes at her side, the rubber-coated steel keeping her upright enough to be legally safe.
Heaven doesn’t hesitate. She leans into Kat, pushing her deeper into the cables, and uses the spring to send her foe shuffling across the canvas to the distant ropes. The vertically-challenged, buxom Braddock rebounds toward a charging Hughes and nearly has her head removed from her shoulders by a fluid spinning leg lariat from the nimble Heaven.
Leg Lariat ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVZpwK6xIh0 )
The back of Kat’s cranium THUNKS off the canvas after her chin gets CRUNCHED by Hughes’ lower limb. The force of the impact sends the World Champ bouncing to a slumped seat, Kat’s chin to her chest, hazel eyes glassy, the Brat having trouble dealing with Heaven’s athleticism.
And the tenacity that some thought Hughes lacks is showing as well, as Hughes steps to Braddock and levels her with a THUMPING soccer kick to the Quake’s ample bosom. Again, Kat is splayed, the FAWNatics immediately shouting for Castle’s count. But the Santa Monica Sweetheart doesn’t give him a chance. Hughes collects Braddock’s braincase with both hands and slowly maneuvers the faltering Kat to her feet.
Having been reduced to Katrina One-Belt by Crystal, it’s becoming progressively evident the remaining hardware is at threat from the Angeleno import. Going shoulder to shoulder with the wavering Brat, Hughes wraps an arm around Braddock’s skull with a side headlock. Heaven charges toward a corner and leaps, sliding over the middle rope and POUNDING Kat’s forehead into the thinly-padded top buckle with her Turnbuckle Bulldog in the process.
Turnbuckle Bulldog ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jMVhvKRQaw )
Stiff as a board, the rocked Kat timbers to her back, ending in a gobsmacked spreadeagle.
A beaming Hughes lounges on the cable, soaking in the excitement of the fans, then glances over her right shoulder to see Castle hovering over the demolished champion.
The count makes its progression all too slowly for the fidgeting Hughes. Heaven spins her legs back into the squared circle and drops her boot soles to the canvas, staying clear of the motionless Brat.
It’s a full ‘SIX’ before Kat moves a muscle. She flops in the direction of the nearest ropes, her arm dropping over the bottom strand. With the tension in the masses growing with each rising number, they groan in unison when Kat reaches what Castle considers a legal stance at ‘NINE’.
Braddock staggers along the ropes, creating as much distance from Hughes as she can, throwing out a pleading hand as Heaven approaches to extend her momentum. The Brat waves plaintively, begging off. But as Hughes gets close, the fingers reach for her fellow Californian’s eyes. Heaven’s learned her lesson well, intercepting the attempted eye rake, snatching Kat’s arm around the wrist.
A desperate Braddock reaches with her opposite hand and Hughes likewise grabs it before the champ can do any damage.
Heaven twists Kat’s captured arms so they’re upturned and harmless in Hughes’ possession. With Kat’s face etched in pain. Colleen’s contribution to the FAWN roster DRIVES a toe kick into the plush tanned midriff of the titleholder, doubling her foe at the waist.
Hughes tugs Braddock’s skull between her slender but sinewy thighs and clamps down in a standing head scissors, ready to leave Braddock on her back for a lot more than ten seconds with her California Destroyer.
California Destroyer ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmkmTzYB7Kk )
But before Heaven can wrap her arms around the champ’s bruised belly and flip over her adversary’s lowered back, destroying the increasingly fragile Kat, Braddock wraps her arms around Hughes’ legs and lifts, launching Heaven before she’s fully ready. The back body drop sends the sporty Sweetheart through a HIGH forward flip very much on her own, Hughes SLAMMING spine-first across the deck when gravity has its way with her.
Back Body Drop ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_apAajD-hk )
Having collapsed to the canvas after sending Hughes on her flip-trip, Braddock pushes to all fours, keeping an eye on the wincing Heaven. As Hughes makes it to a seated position, a hand rubbing at the base of her spine, Kat pushes to her feet and surges toward the blind spot of her opponent.
Shifting her right knee forward, The Brat PLOWS the bony joint into the back of Hughes’ skull. Heaven’s noggin lurches forward from the impact, forehead thumping into the canvas between her legs. The Santa Monica Sweetheart snaps open from her folded position and slops into a wide starfish.
Kat grabs Heaven’s ankles and turns her foe’s legs to point to the nearest buckles. She spreads the stems a wider still, opening a fateful target. A predatory grin plastered on her face, Braddock bounces to the buckles and hastily climbs them. She turns to face her adversary, Heaven’s lower limbs open and inviting. Kat doesn’t turn down the invitation.
Launching from the penthouse perch, the World Champion takes to the skies with her arms tight to her sides, the crown of her skull leading the way, RAMMING into Heaven’s vulnerable crotch.
The babyfaced blonde sits bolt upright, dark eyes wide, jaw slack, hands burying between her thighs, the pulsating pain from her center causing her to list to the right and collapse to a hip and shoulder.
Satisfied she’s ended the match in humiliating fashion, Kat pushes to her feet and parades around the ring, motioning to the crowd, mockingly starting a rhythmic clap for the fans’ favorite. Instead, the FAWNatics jeer as much as their lungs allow, distracted from Castle’s growing count, Nick reaching ‘SIX’ before Hughes can pull her hands away from her aching kitty.
Heaven rolls to hands and knees but it seems she’s meant to run out the rest of the clock there when she’s frozen through ‘SEVEN’ and ‘EIGHT’, but the fortitude of the blonde comes to the forefront as she shoves to verticality at ‘NINE’.
Knock-kneed and barely ambulatory, Heaven waddles from a frustrated Kat, who turns from premature party mode to a stalking hunter.
The pain from her undercarriage forcing her to shuffle, Hughes slowly but surely backs into a corner, at least eliminating some directions from which The Brat can attack.
It doesn’t help. Kat charges and lowers a shoulder, DRIVING it into Hughes’ breadbasket and folding the challenger between the top and middle buckles. Grabbing the ropes on either side, The Brat pulls out and pushes in another two times, gutting Hughes even deeper within, great exhales escaping Heaven’s lips.
Castle’s count draws the smirking titleholder from trying to cut Heaven in two at the waist.
As Braddock jogs to the opposite set of buckles, Heaven seeps out from between the buckles, standing shabbily in front of them.
It’s a cue for the Cali Quake to lay down an aftershock, racing across the mat and throwing her fireplug frame into a Corner Crossbody, ravaging Heaven, again removing the air from her lungs.
Corner Crossbody ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNOJH6nphR8 )
Kat slides between the ropes to the apron after the impact. She drops to the canvas and tugs Hughes’ feet out from under her, Heaven landing on her chest and chin. Grabbing the Sweetheart’s ankles once more, Kat starts to pull the crotch of a writhing Heaven toward the steel post for a pounding surely keeping her down for the requisite ‘ten’.
But as the concern of the crowd grows in volume, Hughes rips one stem away and piston it blindly into Kat’s abundant chest.
Braddock stumbles in a backpedal to the barrier while the challenger rolls to the side, dropping her feet to the floor when exiting the squared circle.
Hesitating not an instant, Heaven, her stride returning to normal, moves toward Braddock who does likewise in return. But the challenger’s quickest this time, shooting a toe kick to Braddock’s plush midriff. It’s Kat’s oxygen forced out in a breathy release as she’s doubled over.
Heaven throws a limp arm of The Brat over her shoulders, hooks a leg with one arm, and snatches a handful of blue spandex with the opposite hand. Hughes, showing how far she’s come in her short time in the big leagues, gracefully launches the World Champ up and over with her Golden Gate Swing, a twisting fisherman’s suplex, BANGING Kat’s head and shoulders atop the thinly-sheathed floorboards.
Golden Gate Swing ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGLGZVR16AM )
Hughes naturally gives up the non-existent pin, instead climbing atop Braddock in a schoolgirl straddle of The Brat’s shoulders, pinning her foe’s arms with her shins and leaving Kat’s face open for closed fist volleys. Heaven lowers the boom upon the champ with impunity and the crowd’s blessing for a full set of ten.
With Kat’s eyes glazed, her head bobbling from the battering, Hughes remembers the point of the match is to win, not bruise The Brat.
Heaven hops to her feet and backs off a few steps, leaving a gobsmacked Braddock to collect Castle’s count, Kat staring blankly through the first ‘FIVE’ with little more than a twitch.
At ‘SIX’, she rolls to all fours when Heaven shows some of the Ginger Genius has rubbed off on her protégé. Surmising Braddock will beat the count, Heaven moves past a startled Castle and stomps a mudhole out of the bedraggled buxom blonde.
With the crowd starting to believe Kat might drop her second belt in two PPVs, they give Hughes an ovation when Heaven relents and pumps a fist at the sellout All Hallows’ Evil assemblage.
As she motions in turn in all four directions, rallying the troops for a final push to the World Title, a fan in a black hoodie hops over the barricade in one of the corners, perhaps a little too excited for Heaven’s reign.
Unaware of the disturbance, Hughes scrapes Braddock off the canvas and shoves her away, Kat backpedaling to the ropes. The Cali Quake leans heavily into them to stay upright and the challenger senses the perfect opportunity.
Heaven rushes forward, closing the distance between herself and the champ.
Hughes wraps an arm around the neck of her adversary as her legs land on the middle cable. Heaven’s derriere trampolines off the rubber-coated steel into a springboard reverse STO, POUNDING Kat’s cranium into the unforgiving deck yet again.
A demolished Kat absently flops to her back, ending in an unconscious starfish.
Heaven on Earth ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MgoV77bmJc ) 1:15
An animated Heaven, believing she’s knocked The Brat into next week, hops to her feet and then some, going airborne for a moment, then moving clear, anticipating the ten-count that will make her champion.
But quickly she notices no tally from Castle. She turns to find the official barking at the interloper on the apron, the woman in a hoodie, tight faded jeans and white Air Jordans, jawing with Nick.
It evident this fan is not a part of Heaven’s Choir, Hughes moves to the confrontation, desperately trying to pull FAWN’s lead referee from the argument.
With the crowd’s count at a resounding ‘SIX’, Hughes grabs the man by a shoulder and spins Castle to face the comatose Braddock.
A startled Nick moves to the splayed Kat and begins his count, though instead of picking up the FAWNatics’ ‘EIGHT’, he begins at ‘ONE’ to a loud chorus of boos.
With Hughes watching on beside the ref, the gatecrasher snatches a shoulder of Heaven and turns the babyfaced blonde into a right cross strongly supplemented by a pair of brass knux.
Heaven, pirouettes from the force of the CRUNCHING loaded fist, collapsing upon herself and ending in a puddle.
The intruder drops to the floor as an oblivious Castle continues past ‘FIVE’.
The crowd, well aware of the misdeed, boo their lungs out and the volume only grows when the woman sweeps back her hood and Bianca Simpson is revealed.
Delighted, Bianca relieves herself of the hoodie and the knux, revealing a tight pink tanktop. She tosses the gear under the ring and flashes a double bicep pose at the dismayed masses, proud of her knockout blow.
Noticing Kat’s still down, Simpson shouts at her “bestie”, pleading for The Brat to resuscitate. Responding to Bianca or not, Kat indeed rolls to hands and knees at the ref’s version of ‘EIGHT’ and finishes her trip to verticality with a second to spare.
Shaking out an attic full of cobwebs, Kat seemingly recognizes a back-up plan went into effect. Braddock falls into Castle’s arms, motioning behind him to Bianca, waving at her stooge to dive under the apron as well. Simpson finally gets wise and hides with her disguise.
Pushing Castle off in a huff, complaining about Nick getting grabby, Kat scours the insensate Hughes off the canvas, pulling the dishrag up and swinging a lifeless arm of the challenger over her shoulders.
Knowing what’s coming next, the crowd doesn’t wait to show their displeasure, jeering loudly as Kat ‘hups’ the boneless body of her foe into a cradle against her chest.
Braddock sits out and SPIKES Heaven’s skull against the canvas-covered floorboards with her Kat Nap.
Kat Nap ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYABwz8Xi44 )
A still wobbly Braddock rises to a seat, brushing her hands in the knowledge even Superman isn’t waking up from a Nap like that.
Kat rolls out of the ring as Castle starts his count, the FAWNatics heckling the whole while as he steadily proceeds through a final emphatic ‘TEN’!
The official waves for the bell even as Kat slides a table into the squared circle on one side and a jubilant Bianca, having emerged from hiding, scoots under the bottom rope on another.
When Kat joins her doe-eyed flunky, she motions for Simpson to set the table in front of a corner.
Braddock demands Castle raise her hand and the ring announcer makes it official as he does.
“Your winner and STILL FAWN WORLD CHAMPION…KAT BRADDOCK!”
The Brat nods knowingly, ignoring the audience.
“Get her up on that, Bianca! Now!”
Simpson does her best Renfield, managing, with some deadweight difficulty, to place the unconscious Hughes on the post-match altar of violence. She’s then directed to collect Braddock’s championship hardware. Simpson does gladly.
Meanwhile, Kat’s absconded with a microphone and shouts out to the angry throng.
“Heaven sent! Isn’t that what all your signs said?! What is she now?!”
Braddock shrugs.
“I’ll tell you where she’s going. Straight to hospital hell!”
Kat drops the stick and heads for her climb of the corner, reaching the top and turning toward her splayed target.
But when Katy Perry’s California Gurls blasts from the arena’s speakers and the crowd rises for the Greater Good’s greatest goodiest grappler ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=F57P9C4SAW4 ), a look of trepidation enters the hazel eyes of the titleholder.
“No. You wouldn’t dare…”, Braddock tries to convince herself.
But indeed, the Golden State Wrestling icon would dare, Colleen O’Neal racing toward the ring at full speed.
COLLEEN O’NEAL
The Ginger Genius trucks over an astonished Bianca, knocking the blonde sillier with a shoulder block that sends the World gold flying from her hands.
The redhead scoops the belt turned weapon and slides into the ring, brandishing Kat’s property.
“That’s mine gawd damn it,” Braddock shouts from her perch.
“Come down here and get it.”
Instead, The Brat descends the buckles on the outside, landing on the apron and quickly scurrying out of range after dropping to the floor.
Inside, Colleen lightly taps Heaven’s cheek, bringing her friend back to some semblance of awareness. Seeing a flash of cognizance in Hughes’ peepers, O’Neal trails after Braddock, lording the gold over its rightful owner.
Having a conniption fit on the outside, Kat pushes a wobbly Simpson out of her way and again demands her championship be returned.
“We’re coming for you, Katrina No-Belts!” O’Neal roars, driving Kat to even further distraction. “Then I’m coming for you and THIS!”
Finally, the California Angel tosses Kat her gaudy strap, Braddock embracing it close to her chest.
As a possessive Braddock trudges up the ramp, Bianca staggering to keep up, Colleen softly maneuvers Heaven off the table and into a hug. They turn in unison to the departing duo, staring them down as All Hallows’ Evil fades to black.
( www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT2owtxkU8k )
Though she may have lost some of her Angels in the fanbase by siding with Violyt Goodheart against Greater Good in recent months, their break-up at Mania and consideration of who’s the blonde’s facing, sends the crowd to its feet.
And when the babyfaced Hughes marches into view, planting centerstage, a shower of golden sparks behind her, the City of Angels’ very own cherub Heaven Hughes has everyone in the arena in her camp.
HEAVEN HUGHES
The sporty, sun-kissed blonde appears the perfect billboard for Cali. Much more wholesome and pleasing than the Quake from the same state, a beaming Hughes waves to the curious and captivated masses. The combatant is clad in a black and yellow, zippered Body Glove diving top; similarly-hued and branded boy-cut trunks; her tanned legs and feet bare.
Hughes crow hops into a trot down the ramp, bouncing back and forth to slap hands on either side of the aisle. Heaven’s clearly reveling in her shot to jump the ladder from barely considered to best in the business, a win against former World Champ and mentor Colleen O’Neal propelling her to the title shot.
The crowd is taken with the fresh-faced, new blood, the assembled cheerily applauding the golden-haired grappler. Hughes energetically circles the ring and returns to the steps having glad-handed her way through most of the front row.
Heaven gallops up the steel stairs with a toothy, glittering grin. With an appealing vivacity, Hughes climbs the outside of the ring post and somersaults through the Orlando airspace, sticking a landing with arms raised high and wide.
The ring announcer raises his voice over the ovation as the blonde moves to her corner and stretches her lithe limbs.
“Our next match is scheduled for one fall with a 60-minute time limit and is for the FAWN World Championship. First…from Santa Monica, California, standing five feet two inches tall and weighing in at 115 pounds…the Sweetest Sunshine…HEAVEN HUGHES!”
The GSW import bows, waves and smiles, a perfect example of the athletic West Coast ideal.
The Santa Monica Sweetheart takes a lap and saunters back to her corner where she bounces nervously, occasionally stretching in preparation for the biggest match of her life, occasionally stealing glances to the stage above, ready for her Golden State counterpart.
With the beatific challenger waiting patiently, the crowd less so, a Richter scale rumble courses through the arena. The previous ovation changes to an earthquake-sized round of boos from the sellout throng, the masses knowing all too well what the tremor means.
The hatred rises to a crescendo when the speakers transition to Van Halen's ‘Beautiful Girls’. A barrage of pyrotechnics explodes from the rafters in time with the chords, the fiery white sparks illuminating the cavernous space in a momentarily blinding light.
Beautiful Girls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ9h2m06sFQ )
The ill-mannered, ass-kicking blonde Brat moves to center stage but without the usual shit-eating ‘I’m the biggest bytch in town’ grin. Instead, Braddock’s hazel eyes are slitted with a furious focus.
KAT BRADDOCK:
The curvy Quake strides toward the battleground in her new booty-blasting blue gear, the two-piece accentuating her curves both bottom and topside, the outfit including knee-high athletic socks, her boots traded in for sporty Chuck Taylors.
Kat’s gear (
and ( ).Dawdling ringside, Kat moves toward the announcer’s table as he provides Braddock’s introduction.
“And her opponent. From Newport Beach, California. Standing five feet two inches tall and weighing in at 123 pounds. The World Champion. The Brat. KAT BRADDOCK!”
The arena echoes with enmity, the vocal and virulent distaste impressive for someone relatively early in her career.
Braddock snatches the amplifier from the man’s hand and draws it to parted lips.
“Shut your mouths! NOW!”
The FAWNatics are not in the mood to oblige and force Braddock to shout over them.
“I was robbed of my Lightweight Title at Mania. Robbed! It’s not fair someone who’s already warmed up should be able to sneak attack a cold champion. If Hilton thinks I’m done with her, she’s kidding herself. But until I’m Katrina Two-Belts again, I am still the gawd damn World Champion and there isn’t anything this little piece of flaxen-haired fluff can do about that. And to make damn sure, I’m making this a Last Woman Standing Match.”
Kat turns to Heaven.
“Any questions or complaints, Barbie?”
A soft smile emerges on the challenger’s flawless features. She shakes her head.
Kat drops the microphone and races to the apron’s edge, sliding in underneath and popping to her feet. The blonde directs Nick Castle to keep her foe back, though Hughes hasn’t made a move. The Brat climbs her corner, spreads her arms high and wide, lifts the Big Belt and revels in the reverberating boos.
Kat drops to the canvas, hands over the hardware, and motions for a bell and receives it, beckoning Heaven to meet her mid-ring.
Hughes doesn’t hesitate. One Cali girl striding to the other, arms outstretched to hook up in a collar-and-elbow with the World Champion. Inches away from locking limbs, Braddock drives a toe kick DEEP into the tanned midriff of her advancing foe, doubling Heaven at the waist, her dark eyes bulging.
A chuckling Kat shakes her noggin, golden tresses shifting from side to side.
“I can see why the Greater Good shut you down. You have a better chance with the Greater Suck. And Goodheart is most certainly that.”
A grimacing Heaven spins into a sloppy side kick, her abs still stinging from the champ’s initial attack, and Braddock catches Hughes’ boot around the ankle. The Brat lifts her challenger’s right leg high and forces the Santa Monica Sweetheart to hop humorously on the remaining planted stem, desperate to keep her balance.
Heaven takes swiping rights at Kat’s chin, but the champion remains out of range.
“Are you sure Colleen didn’t gift you a win? No way did you actually beat her.”
A frustrated Heaven again comes up empty with a wild, fruitless swing. The attempt gives Braddock all the momentum she needs to spin Hughes through a pirouette, Kat grabbing Heaven after her 360, then pulling her into a tight Golden State embrace. Lifting her adversary off the canvas, chest to chest in a very temporary bearhug, Kat drops to one knee and splits Heaven’s wickets, POUNDING her undercarriage with the plank of her upper leg, Hughes the victim of a nasty Inverted Atomic Drop.
The impact sends Heaven hopping reflexively into the air, hands burying between her thighs, features etched in agony, eyes crossing from the below-the-belt attack.
Frozen in a bow-legged position when she returns to earth, Heaven can only watch helplessly as the Cali Quake, turns, sprints to the ropes, rebounds out at full speed, and SPEARS the holy hell out O’Neal’s former protégé. Hughes’ supple frame folds around the buried shoulder of The Brat, Kat DRIVING her foe into the deck, finishing off the tackle with extreme prejudice.
On hands and knees next to the splayed Sweetest Sunshine, Braddock edges beside Heaven, fashions a claw out of her right set of digits and SINKS them deep into the same bruised abdomen, digging into the roiling tummy of her challenger, converting the ab attack plan many have against her into one of her own.
Though a submission isn’t an option for victory tonight, a snarling Kat clearly enjoys the look of anguish and the mewls of pain emanating from the erstwhile Sorceress’ apprentice. Gnawing at the bronzed belly, Heaven’s palms tight around her wrist, a delighted Kat gets her fill before relenting. She instead sinks those nails into Heaven’s scalp and tugs the wincing blonde to her feet as she rises.
Shifting her grips to a shoulder and wrist, Braddock pushes Hughes deep in a corner and pivots, sending the GSW import racing across the canvas with an Irish Whip. Hughes spins into a rugged, back-first collision with the opposite corner, her body shaken by the force of the blow. Still, she remains upright, tossing an arm over the top rope on either side.
It’s a red cape to Braddock’s bull and the World Champion races across the ring, swiveling as she leaps off the canvas from a few feet out, BURYING a hip attack into the already aching abs of her flaxen-haired foe.
Pressing tight to her opponent, Kat lifts a series of knees into the same vulnerable spot, using her adversary’s navel as the target, leaving Heaven a gasping, slack-jawed mess, bent and breathless.
“Sure,” Kat grunts as she pushes a forearm under Hughes’ chin to thrust her foe’s head back. “I could knock you the hell out for the ten. But anyone could do that. I want to make you stay down for that entire count because you just don’t want any more of your ass kicked.”
Braddock grabs the challenger’s wrist again and heaves Heaven across the expanse of canvas. This time The Brat follows immediately behind, ready to swamp the overwhelmed Hughes with a second round of corner mugging. But as Heaven reaches her destination, she catches the top ropes on either side with a wrapped palm and vaults into the air, shoving herself away from the buckles as Braddock passes beneath.
Kat THWUMPS into the thin padding as Hughes lands behind her. The Santa Monica Sweetheart’s arms wrap around Braddock’s plush waist. She launches an off-balance Kat from the mat with a Release German Suplex. And while Heaven deftly ends in a bridge, balancing on the crown of her cranium, the champ lands HARD on the back of her skull and shoulders, the momentum rolling Kat over to hands and knees.
Showing her toughness, the titleholder slowly, woozily pushes to her feet. Hughes is instantly charging her foe. Kat rotates and sweeps Heaven by, but the babyfaced blonde calls an audible, leaping to the middle cable, bouncing off, and wrapping her tanned thighs around the braincase of The Brat. Heaven swings around the wide-eyed Cali Quake, flipping her to the deck with a Springboard Hurricarana.
Springboard Hurricarana ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbckUgPb_zo )
The incredible force created by the landing sweeps Kat in a return to verticality, though the champ stumbles drunkenly, an arm wrapping around the back of her head as she dizzily turns to find her foe.
And Kat finds the GSW import mid-charge, shoulders lowered to Santa Monica S(P)ier Kat through, returning the goring favor and then some, the fireplug blonde turned inside out by the glorious tackle of the challenger.
Santa Monica (S)Pier ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1vz--675e8 ) :15
An energized Heaven hops to her feet, pumping her fist at the roaring crowd while a gutted Braddock shifts from shoulder to shoulder, hugging her blasted belly like she’s trying to keep her organs in place. With a moaning Brat making no effort to rise, Castle sees his first opportunity to test his counting ability.
He throws an arm into the air and is outshouted by the AHE crowd…ONE!
Bouncing in a corner, Hughes watches hopefully, but her celebration is stifled, knowing Kat won’t go down so easily.
At ‘FOUR’, a huffing Braddock deliberately makes her way to a wobbly stance, only to be flattened again when Hughes charges the champ, raises her right elbow, and PLOWS it into Kat’s forehead.
With the owner of the World gold spread on the mat once more, Heaven moves alongside her target. Turning away, she leaps into a graceful standing moonsault, THWAMMING down in a resounding ‘X’, the meat of each midsection slapping together, the oxygen again forced from Braddock’s lungs.
Standing Moonsault ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=isuON3KH5e4 )
Hughes forgets herself for a split-second, remaining tight in a crossbody pin and hooking a leg before she realizes the stipulation prevents the pin. Rising to her haunches beside the groaning, gutted Kat, Heaven sends an echoing SLAP across the tanned flesh of The Brat’s abdomen. A loud ‘WOO’ reflexively radiates from the FAWNatics, prompting Hughes to lay down another and another. Finally, Kat collapses into a ball to protect herself from abdominal abuse.
Not satisfied with allowing Kat to climb within a turtle shell, even if Castle could technically count, an aggressive Heaven cracks at Kat’s ball with several stomps to the ribs. Hughes finally reaches down to collect the jarred champ around the noggin when Braddock’s right hand shoots toward her foe’s face. Kat’s nails slash across the Santa Monica Sweetheart’s peepers and she staggers away, yelping as she rubs furiously at her eyes, then blinking them widely.
Meanwhile, a moaning Kat rolls under the bottom rope, landing on her feet but stooped, still working through the agonizing ache in her tummy.
Eyes pooled with tears from the rake, Hughes nevertheless gets her bearings as best she can and rushes toward the ropes hovering above The Brat. She soars between the top and middle cables and SMASHES into the back of a turned Braddock. Kat’s shoved forward from the force of the attack and runs headlong into the steel barricade, tripping and burying her left shoulder and temple into the unforgiving metal. The Cali Quake slides down the barrier, pooling at its base.
Having used Kat as a crash pad, the lithe Heaven sticking her landing, she hovers over the demolished titleholder to great appreciation from the FAWNatics.
The front rows of the crowd are happy to provide advice on how the GSW import should dispatch The Brat for a ten-count, but since most involve illegal weaponry of one kind or another, she instead peels the sagging Braddock off the arena floor by a wrist and shoulder.
The babyfaced blonde allows herself one vice, tossing the flaxen-haired fireplug toward the ring apron with an Irish Whip. Kat literally flies into the hardened side, spinning into a cruel dissection of her spinal column. Braddock arches in agony, falling to her knees.
Heaven surges forward and lifts a knee, CRACKING the bony joint into the tip of the champ’s jaw, snapping her head back.
In a semiconscious slump, Kat’s nearly deadweight isn’t easy to alter, but an animated Hughes has the adrenaline to scoop Braddock to unsteady feet, then on the apron, shoving the reeling Quake back in the legal field of battle. Kat rolls to a stop on her back, staring blankly at the rafters.
Heaven wipes a few remaining tears from her reddened eyes and crawls in after her adversary. Instead of a cover, Hughes pops to her feet like a cheerleader at a pep rally and motions Castle to start his count.
Nick throws his arm in the air and the crowd roars ‘ONE’. The pattern continues as a wobbly Braddock makes it to all fours at ‘FIVE’. She holds for a couple more, gathering her reserves, then pushes to her feet before immediately losing her precarious balance and flopping into the ropes at her side, the rubber-coated steel keeping her upright enough to be legally safe.
Heaven doesn’t hesitate. She leans into Kat, pushing her deeper into the cables, and uses the spring to send her foe shuffling across the canvas to the distant ropes. The vertically-challenged, buxom Braddock rebounds toward a charging Hughes and nearly has her head removed from her shoulders by a fluid spinning leg lariat from the nimble Heaven.
Leg Lariat ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVZpwK6xIh0 )
The back of Kat’s cranium THUNKS off the canvas after her chin gets CRUNCHED by Hughes’ lower limb. The force of the impact sends the World Champ bouncing to a slumped seat, Kat’s chin to her chest, hazel eyes glassy, the Brat having trouble dealing with Heaven’s athleticism.
And the tenacity that some thought Hughes lacks is showing as well, as Hughes steps to Braddock and levels her with a THUMPING soccer kick to the Quake’s ample bosom. Again, Kat is splayed, the FAWNatics immediately shouting for Castle’s count. But the Santa Monica Sweetheart doesn’t give him a chance. Hughes collects Braddock’s braincase with both hands and slowly maneuvers the faltering Kat to her feet.
Having been reduced to Katrina One-Belt by Crystal, it’s becoming progressively evident the remaining hardware is at threat from the Angeleno import. Going shoulder to shoulder with the wavering Brat, Hughes wraps an arm around Braddock’s skull with a side headlock. Heaven charges toward a corner and leaps, sliding over the middle rope and POUNDING Kat’s forehead into the thinly-padded top buckle with her Turnbuckle Bulldog in the process.
Turnbuckle Bulldog ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jMVhvKRQaw )
Stiff as a board, the rocked Kat timbers to her back, ending in a gobsmacked spreadeagle.
A beaming Hughes lounges on the cable, soaking in the excitement of the fans, then glances over her right shoulder to see Castle hovering over the demolished champion.
The count makes its progression all too slowly for the fidgeting Hughes. Heaven spins her legs back into the squared circle and drops her boot soles to the canvas, staying clear of the motionless Brat.
It’s a full ‘SIX’ before Kat moves a muscle. She flops in the direction of the nearest ropes, her arm dropping over the bottom strand. With the tension in the masses growing with each rising number, they groan in unison when Kat reaches what Castle considers a legal stance at ‘NINE’.
Braddock staggers along the ropes, creating as much distance from Hughes as she can, throwing out a pleading hand as Heaven approaches to extend her momentum. The Brat waves plaintively, begging off. But as Hughes gets close, the fingers reach for her fellow Californian’s eyes. Heaven’s learned her lesson well, intercepting the attempted eye rake, snatching Kat’s arm around the wrist.
A desperate Braddock reaches with her opposite hand and Hughes likewise grabs it before the champ can do any damage.
Heaven twists Kat’s captured arms so they’re upturned and harmless in Hughes’ possession. With Kat’s face etched in pain. Colleen’s contribution to the FAWN roster DRIVES a toe kick into the plush tanned midriff of the titleholder, doubling her foe at the waist.
Hughes tugs Braddock’s skull between her slender but sinewy thighs and clamps down in a standing head scissors, ready to leave Braddock on her back for a lot more than ten seconds with her California Destroyer.
California Destroyer ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmkmTzYB7Kk )
But before Heaven can wrap her arms around the champ’s bruised belly and flip over her adversary’s lowered back, destroying the increasingly fragile Kat, Braddock wraps her arms around Hughes’ legs and lifts, launching Heaven before she’s fully ready. The back body drop sends the sporty Sweetheart through a HIGH forward flip very much on her own, Hughes SLAMMING spine-first across the deck when gravity has its way with her.
Back Body Drop ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_apAajD-hk )
Having collapsed to the canvas after sending Hughes on her flip-trip, Braddock pushes to all fours, keeping an eye on the wincing Heaven. As Hughes makes it to a seated position, a hand rubbing at the base of her spine, Kat pushes to her feet and surges toward the blind spot of her opponent.
Shifting her right knee forward, The Brat PLOWS the bony joint into the back of Hughes’ skull. Heaven’s noggin lurches forward from the impact, forehead thumping into the canvas between her legs. The Santa Monica Sweetheart snaps open from her folded position and slops into a wide starfish.
Kat grabs Heaven’s ankles and turns her foe’s legs to point to the nearest buckles. She spreads the stems a wider still, opening a fateful target. A predatory grin plastered on her face, Braddock bounces to the buckles and hastily climbs them. She turns to face her adversary, Heaven’s lower limbs open and inviting. Kat doesn’t turn down the invitation.
Launching from the penthouse perch, the World Champion takes to the skies with her arms tight to her sides, the crown of her skull leading the way, RAMMING into Heaven’s vulnerable crotch.
The babyfaced blonde sits bolt upright, dark eyes wide, jaw slack, hands burying between her thighs, the pulsating pain from her center causing her to list to the right and collapse to a hip and shoulder.
Satisfied she’s ended the match in humiliating fashion, Kat pushes to her feet and parades around the ring, motioning to the crowd, mockingly starting a rhythmic clap for the fans’ favorite. Instead, the FAWNatics jeer as much as their lungs allow, distracted from Castle’s growing count, Nick reaching ‘SIX’ before Hughes can pull her hands away from her aching kitty.
Heaven rolls to hands and knees but it seems she’s meant to run out the rest of the clock there when she’s frozen through ‘SEVEN’ and ‘EIGHT’, but the fortitude of the blonde comes to the forefront as she shoves to verticality at ‘NINE’.
Knock-kneed and barely ambulatory, Heaven waddles from a frustrated Kat, who turns from premature party mode to a stalking hunter.
The pain from her undercarriage forcing her to shuffle, Hughes slowly but surely backs into a corner, at least eliminating some directions from which The Brat can attack.
It doesn’t help. Kat charges and lowers a shoulder, DRIVING it into Hughes’ breadbasket and folding the challenger between the top and middle buckles. Grabbing the ropes on either side, The Brat pulls out and pushes in another two times, gutting Hughes even deeper within, great exhales escaping Heaven’s lips.
Castle’s count draws the smirking titleholder from trying to cut Heaven in two at the waist.
As Braddock jogs to the opposite set of buckles, Heaven seeps out from between the buckles, standing shabbily in front of them.
It’s a cue for the Cali Quake to lay down an aftershock, racing across the mat and throwing her fireplug frame into a Corner Crossbody, ravaging Heaven, again removing the air from her lungs.
Corner Crossbody ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNOJH6nphR8 )
Kat slides between the ropes to the apron after the impact. She drops to the canvas and tugs Hughes’ feet out from under her, Heaven landing on her chest and chin. Grabbing the Sweetheart’s ankles once more, Kat starts to pull the crotch of a writhing Heaven toward the steel post for a pounding surely keeping her down for the requisite ‘ten’.
But as the concern of the crowd grows in volume, Hughes rips one stem away and piston it blindly into Kat’s abundant chest.
Braddock stumbles in a backpedal to the barrier while the challenger rolls to the side, dropping her feet to the floor when exiting the squared circle.
Hesitating not an instant, Heaven, her stride returning to normal, moves toward Braddock who does likewise in return. But the challenger’s quickest this time, shooting a toe kick to Braddock’s plush midriff. It’s Kat’s oxygen forced out in a breathy release as she’s doubled over.
Heaven throws a limp arm of The Brat over her shoulders, hooks a leg with one arm, and snatches a handful of blue spandex with the opposite hand. Hughes, showing how far she’s come in her short time in the big leagues, gracefully launches the World Champ up and over with her Golden Gate Swing, a twisting fisherman’s suplex, BANGING Kat’s head and shoulders atop the thinly-sheathed floorboards.
Golden Gate Swing ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGLGZVR16AM )
Hughes naturally gives up the non-existent pin, instead climbing atop Braddock in a schoolgirl straddle of The Brat’s shoulders, pinning her foe’s arms with her shins and leaving Kat’s face open for closed fist volleys. Heaven lowers the boom upon the champ with impunity and the crowd’s blessing for a full set of ten.
With Kat’s eyes glazed, her head bobbling from the battering, Hughes remembers the point of the match is to win, not bruise The Brat.
Heaven hops to her feet and backs off a few steps, leaving a gobsmacked Braddock to collect Castle’s count, Kat staring blankly through the first ‘FIVE’ with little more than a twitch.
At ‘SIX’, she rolls to all fours when Heaven shows some of the Ginger Genius has rubbed off on her protégé. Surmising Braddock will beat the count, Heaven moves past a startled Castle and stomps a mudhole out of the bedraggled buxom blonde.
With the crowd starting to believe Kat might drop her second belt in two PPVs, they give Hughes an ovation when Heaven relents and pumps a fist at the sellout All Hallows’ Evil assemblage.
As she motions in turn in all four directions, rallying the troops for a final push to the World Title, a fan in a black hoodie hops over the barricade in one of the corners, perhaps a little too excited for Heaven’s reign.
Unaware of the disturbance, Hughes scrapes Braddock off the canvas and shoves her away, Kat backpedaling to the ropes. The Cali Quake leans heavily into them to stay upright and the challenger senses the perfect opportunity.
Heaven rushes forward, closing the distance between herself and the champ.
Hughes wraps an arm around the neck of her adversary as her legs land on the middle cable. Heaven’s derriere trampolines off the rubber-coated steel into a springboard reverse STO, POUNDING Kat’s cranium into the unforgiving deck yet again.
A demolished Kat absently flops to her back, ending in an unconscious starfish.
Heaven on Earth ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MgoV77bmJc ) 1:15
An animated Heaven, believing she’s knocked The Brat into next week, hops to her feet and then some, going airborne for a moment, then moving clear, anticipating the ten-count that will make her champion.
But quickly she notices no tally from Castle. She turns to find the official barking at the interloper on the apron, the woman in a hoodie, tight faded jeans and white Air Jordans, jawing with Nick.
It evident this fan is not a part of Heaven’s Choir, Hughes moves to the confrontation, desperately trying to pull FAWN’s lead referee from the argument.
With the crowd’s count at a resounding ‘SIX’, Hughes grabs the man by a shoulder and spins Castle to face the comatose Braddock.
A startled Nick moves to the splayed Kat and begins his count, though instead of picking up the FAWNatics’ ‘EIGHT’, he begins at ‘ONE’ to a loud chorus of boos.
With Hughes watching on beside the ref, the gatecrasher snatches a shoulder of Heaven and turns the babyfaced blonde into a right cross strongly supplemented by a pair of brass knux.
Heaven, pirouettes from the force of the CRUNCHING loaded fist, collapsing upon herself and ending in a puddle.
The intruder drops to the floor as an oblivious Castle continues past ‘FIVE’.
The crowd, well aware of the misdeed, boo their lungs out and the volume only grows when the woman sweeps back her hood and Bianca Simpson is revealed.
Delighted, Bianca relieves herself of the hoodie and the knux, revealing a tight pink tanktop. She tosses the gear under the ring and flashes a double bicep pose at the dismayed masses, proud of her knockout blow.
Noticing Kat’s still down, Simpson shouts at her “bestie”, pleading for The Brat to resuscitate. Responding to Bianca or not, Kat indeed rolls to hands and knees at the ref’s version of ‘EIGHT’ and finishes her trip to verticality with a second to spare.
Shaking out an attic full of cobwebs, Kat seemingly recognizes a back-up plan went into effect. Braddock falls into Castle’s arms, motioning behind him to Bianca, waving at her stooge to dive under the apron as well. Simpson finally gets wise and hides with her disguise.
Pushing Castle off in a huff, complaining about Nick getting grabby, Kat scours the insensate Hughes off the canvas, pulling the dishrag up and swinging a lifeless arm of the challenger over her shoulders.
Knowing what’s coming next, the crowd doesn’t wait to show their displeasure, jeering loudly as Kat ‘hups’ the boneless body of her foe into a cradle against her chest.
Braddock sits out and SPIKES Heaven’s skull against the canvas-covered floorboards with her Kat Nap.
Kat Nap ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYABwz8Xi44 )
A still wobbly Braddock rises to a seat, brushing her hands in the knowledge even Superman isn’t waking up from a Nap like that.
Kat rolls out of the ring as Castle starts his count, the FAWNatics heckling the whole while as he steadily proceeds through a final emphatic ‘TEN’!
The official waves for the bell even as Kat slides a table into the squared circle on one side and a jubilant Bianca, having emerged from hiding, scoots under the bottom rope on another.
When Kat joins her doe-eyed flunky, she motions for Simpson to set the table in front of a corner.
Braddock demands Castle raise her hand and the ring announcer makes it official as he does.
“Your winner and STILL FAWN WORLD CHAMPION…KAT BRADDOCK!”
The Brat nods knowingly, ignoring the audience.
“Get her up on that, Bianca! Now!”
Simpson does her best Renfield, managing, with some deadweight difficulty, to place the unconscious Hughes on the post-match altar of violence. She’s then directed to collect Braddock’s championship hardware. Simpson does gladly.
Meanwhile, Kat’s absconded with a microphone and shouts out to the angry throng.
“Heaven sent! Isn’t that what all your signs said?! What is she now?!”
Braddock shrugs.
“I’ll tell you where she’s going. Straight to hospital hell!”
Kat drops the stick and heads for her climb of the corner, reaching the top and turning toward her splayed target.
But when Katy Perry’s California Gurls blasts from the arena’s speakers and the crowd rises for the Greater Good’s greatest goodiest grappler ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=F57P9C4SAW4 ), a look of trepidation enters the hazel eyes of the titleholder.
“No. You wouldn’t dare…”, Braddock tries to convince herself.
But indeed, the Golden State Wrestling icon would dare, Colleen O’Neal racing toward the ring at full speed.
COLLEEN O’NEAL
The Ginger Genius trucks over an astonished Bianca, knocking the blonde sillier with a shoulder block that sends the World gold flying from her hands.
The redhead scoops the belt turned weapon and slides into the ring, brandishing Kat’s property.
“That’s mine gawd damn it,” Braddock shouts from her perch.
“Come down here and get it.”
Instead, The Brat descends the buckles on the outside, landing on the apron and quickly scurrying out of range after dropping to the floor.
Inside, Colleen lightly taps Heaven’s cheek, bringing her friend back to some semblance of awareness. Seeing a flash of cognizance in Hughes’ peepers, O’Neal trails after Braddock, lording the gold over its rightful owner.
Having a conniption fit on the outside, Kat pushes a wobbly Simpson out of her way and again demands her championship be returned.
“We’re coming for you, Katrina No-Belts!” O’Neal roars, driving Kat to even further distraction. “Then I’m coming for you and THIS!”
Finally, the California Angel tosses Kat her gaudy strap, Braddock embracing it close to her chest.
As a possessive Braddock trudges up the ramp, Bianca staggering to keep up, Colleen softly maneuvers Heaven off the table and into a hug. They turn in unison to the departing duo, staring them down as All Hallows’ Evil fades to black.