Post by hawkeye on Oct 8, 2024 0:47:43 GMT
“Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is a Dog Collar Match and it is for the FAWN World Championship!” the Announcer called over the buzzing throng. “Introducing first, she is the challenger. 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... the Angriest Acolyte, I give to you ‘BAD’ PENNY TREMBLAY!”
The lights cut out in the span between heartbeats, darkness descending on the 'Mania multitudes before they could even start to boo. 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 collected disgust, nor was it enough to halt the arrival of ghostly blue lights or a thin bank of dry ice fog. The Harbinger of a Dark Tomorrow 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 sold out arena for several long seconds before she raised her left hand to her right shoulder and brushed off some invisible dust. She mirrored the gesture immediately thereafter, then brought both hands together atop the washboard of her midsection and strapped an invisible belt into place before starting down the long aisle.
PENNY TREMBLAY:
For the biggest match of her career, Tremblay wore a gleaming black 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. Ignoring the startled jeers of the poor lost sheep crowded against the guardrails, Tremblay made her way down the ramp, then hurried up the steel steps, climbed onto the empty corner and sprang from there to the center of the ring, where she dropped to her knees facing the hard camera A detail noted by those with particularly sharp vision, Penny usually wore copper-colored eye shadow, but tonight it was very clearly gold, a detail that came to light when she closed her eyes and stretched both arms wide. Standing after a suitable amount of genuflection, Tremblay moved to the far corner and waited in silence while Senior Official Nick Castle made an inspection of pads and boots. Utterly pointless of course, tonight's affair was strictly No Disqualification, but the ref was a stickler for tradition and so Penny used the moment of quiet to reflect on what she meant to do to the recalcitrant Susie Four-Times before the night was over.
Castle'd just finished securing one of the heavy collars around Penny's neck when the Announcer resumed their duties. “And introducing her opponent,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, and the FAWN World Champion! This is...SUSANNAH BURLINGAME!”
CROWN ON THE GROUND:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp9vupuAGRU
SUE BURLINGAME:
The sold out crowd damned near blew the off the building in time with the discordant opening riff of 'Crown on the Ground'. The noise was still building when the eldest Burlingame sister brushed through the curtain and stepped to the center of the stage. Beaming from ear to ear, Susie Four-Times tipped a wink to the camera before flinging her arms wide and tossing back her head to call down a ‘BOOM’ of zappy blue pyro! Stock still until the last of it faded away, Sue offered a pumped fist to the raucous crowd, then started down the ramp.
For tonight's chance to finally put an end to the threat of the Soul Survivor, Burlingame wore her classic dark blue two-piece with mellow gold trim; matching boots and pads at knee and elbow completed the look. Though never a hand-slapper in the vein of those names that populated FAWN's Mt. Rushmore of Babyfaces, the Bankable Bombshell angled from side to side to touch some of the fans reaching out in her direction. Drawing back to the middle of the aisle as she closed in on the ring, Burlingame exploded 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 that was still going strong when Nick stepped up to check pads and boots before affixing the other collar. Sue remained as silent as her challenger, though she did offer Castle a nod of thanks when he was finished. Not that she didn't have anything to say, that wasn't it at all. But she was more than happy to wait until she could speak her peace with a few lengths of chain wrapped around one fist.
Satisfied that champion and challenger were suitably secured by that ominous length of steel chain, Nick Castle retreated to the center of the ring and threw a signal to the Timekeeper.
CLANG!
Letting out a deep breath that was entirely lost in the roar of the crowd, Sue took hold of the chain and wrapped a length of it around her right hand once, twice, three times. Penny saw this but did not mirror the World Champion. Instead she brushed the steel links aside with one foot and went straight for her arch-rival. Burlingame clocked the blonde's approach and vacated the buckles at once. She'd taken enough abuse from the Orphan of Midnight to know she didn't want her back to the corner at any point in this match.
“C'mon then.” Sue beckoned the bendy-back closer even as Tremblay burned through the distance between 'em. “You want what's mine, kiddo? You're gonna have to fuckin' take—”
Penny shot up on tiptoe so Sue raised her hands to meet the lock-up only to curse when the Angriest Acolyte dipped low and lunged in to wrap her arms around the champ's upper thighs! Burlingame actually landed a few chain-augmented punches against the blonde's left flank before Tremblay yanked her foe's legs out from underneath and spilled her to the canvas with a Double Leg Takedown! The landing was painful but otherwise unmemorable, Sue soaked it up with little more than a grunt and kicked her legs up to smeck around Penny's wai— “HHRRGGHHH!”
Catching hold of the collar around the brunette's throat before Burlingame could really secure the Bodyscissors, Tremblay delivered a lightning-quick jab straight to her opponent's mouth! Two more quick shots put Sue's stems back on the deck and allowed Bad Penny to squirm into a seat on the veteran's stomach. Burlingame reached up to shove her off, so the blonde dug her knees in above opposing hips, then grabbed hold of Sue's chain-wrapped right hand and smashed it against the canvas until she was able to shift her left shin into place atop the heiress' forearm. Trapping Sue's arm meant the mount wasn't quite as snug as Penelope would've liked, though it didn't prevent her from catching a length of chain in both hands a second or two later. Yanking it tight with an ominous clink, the Last True Believer pressed her weapon down across the bridge of Burlingame's nose, thus forcing the champ to shut her eyes tight before Penelope started draaaagggggging the chain back and forth!
Sue shrieked and immediately reached for the grating links, an effort made all the more difficult with only one hand. Even so, she managed to catch a grip and pull the weapon away though whatever relief she felt proved short-lived as Tremblay simply jerked the makeshift garrote into place beneath the brunette's nose and pushed up like she meant to shear it off!
“I've asked you over and over again, ma'am.” Penny growled as she continued her torturous work while fighting to maintain her mount atop the thrashing Bombshell. “Just what will it take to make you realize there's nothing left to accomplish? Every time I think I've found the answer you manage to pull yourself back together. To somehow fail your way into an even more advantageous positi—”
Sue reached up with her free hand to push at Penny's chin only to pull back when the blonde 'snapped' a bite at those encroaching digits!
“I don't want to maim you, ma'am.” Penny lowered the chain a second time, the malicious bendy-back trying to force it between the Ace's clenched lips so she could grind away on her teeth. “Much as I loathe you, you have earned the right to walk away from this industry with your face intact. But all of this defiance is starting to feel more like spite and if you won't do anything to prevent yourself from looking like a monster in your child's eyes, why should I have to pick up that slaNGH! NGH! NGH!”
Penny had worked her way into a higher mount so she could control the champ's arms which was all well and good until Burlingame whipped a knee up and THUMPED it into the small of Tremblay's back! One wasn't nearly enough so Sue tacked on two or three more, the pinned brunette firing shots off left-right-left until Penny reared back and hooked her arms around the Ace's shin—NO! Sue locked her legs tight and popped her hips to yank Tremblay backward in an impromptu Sunset Flip that drew Burlingame into a seat while stacking the Angriest Acolyte on her should—NO! Penny somersaulted backward out of the cover and rushed forward at full speed, her right leg whipping out in a Penalty Ki—Sue threw herself backward, the Bankable Bombshell going flat to avoid the nasty strike. Sitting up immediately thereafter, Burlingame spun to one knee, grabbed a double handful of the chain and YANKED as hard as she could!
Already off balance after the miss, Tremblay was torn loose from her moorings and landed hard on the back of her head and shoulders! Penny grunted and popped to a seat, one arm wrapped around the back of her head to ease the pai—cheers from the capacity crown when Burlingame lunged at the penitent challenger and THWHAPPED a Forearm Smash into the base of Penny's skull! Tremblay's swaddling arm absorbed a bit of the impact to be sure, but she instinctively pulled it away to avoid another shot which meant she was otherwise defenseless when Sue glommed onto her shoulders and drilled a Headbutt into the same spot! The Orphan of Midnight grunted, tried to spin away and cursed through clenched teeth when Sue dragged her right back to start before securing a tight Bodyscissors! Jaw clenched as Burlingame's thighs grated against her ribs, Tremblay gouged an elbow into the brunette's left knee and started to grrrrrrrrriiiiinnnd back and forth.
“Get off me, hag.” Penny demanded. “Now, before I break your knee. I'm sure using a walker would ruin that MILF mystique you're so proud NNNGGGGGHHH!”
Sue interrupted with the stiffest Forearm Smash yet, then looped a length of the chain across the blonde's throat and pulled it tight! “I think it's time you finally learned to respect your elders, honey.” Burlingame murmured in her foe's ear as she continued to pour it on with her Scissors and the heavy chain. “But even if you don't learn anything at least I'll finally have some goddamned peace and quiRRRGGGHHHH!”
Abandoning her efforts to pull the chain from her throat, Tremblay snatched another good-sized length in her right hand and whipped it over her left shoulder to lash Burlingame's upper back! Sue cried out, shook her head like 'nice try' and delivered her hardest constriction yet. “My back is stronger than your ribs, Tremblay.” Burlingame growled at her rasping nemesis. “Just like my hands are stronger than your nec—AAAAAHHHHHH FAHK!”
The Angriest Acolyte hadn't released her hold on the chain, she'd just shifted her angle to better deliver the linked-lash across the champion's left ear! Sue's eyes watered at once and she abandoned the stranglehold to press her left hand against her stinging ear. As for her right hand, she set it against the mat and leaned back so she could squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze the Scissors hard enough to—“NNNGGGHHH!
Tremblay angled her head far to the right to ensure a clean angle on her tormentor when she switched the length of chain to her left hand and flicked it directly over that shoulder! Sue had stretched out to get the most from her Scissors which meant she didn't take the chain between the eyes, however it still THWHAPPED her sternum hard enough to loosen those crushing stems.
Drawing a breath the instant the pressure receded, Penny braced her hands against the insides of Sue's knees and pushed down while simultaneously rising onto her knees. From there she scrambled around in a half circle and immediately set to work pounding fists into the Rainmaker's vaunted midsection. Growling in pain and indignation as the younger woman's fists did their work, Burlingame crossed her ankles and clamped down on the Bodyscissors to make sure Tremblay knew she was still trapped. While it was tempting to answer those body shots with some of her own, the Ace instead hooked her fingers under the collar around Penny's neck and jerked it from side to side before CRA-CRAAACKING the challenger's cheeks with a forehand-backhand Bitch Slap combo!
“You're fighting at 'Mania, little girl!” Sue barked over the 'ooooooooohhhhhh!' of the crowd. “Try fighting like you give a shitTTTRRRRHHHHH!”
Penny mirrored the veteran's grip on Sue's collar, but rather than slap she yanked Burlingame forward and landed another straight right, this one to the bridge of Burlingame's nose!
“You think I'm dealing with butterflies, ma'am?” the Last True Believer freed her hand from the collar so she could press both mitts against the sides of Sue's head and gouge her thumbs against the brunette's eyelids! “I'm not. And why would I? I've beat your ass over and over again, how many women in the locker room can say that? Only thing that makes tonight different is just how much you'll bleed before I take what's minOOOOWWWWWW BITCH!”
Finally starting to understand that Tremblay wasn't going to abide any traditional rules of decorum, Sue chucked her own reservations in the trash and hooked her fingers around the blonde's thumbs so she wrench them back as far as they'd go! Just how far that turned out remained a mystery for the eldest Burlingame sister as she was still fighting to blink away spots when Tremblay's torture devolved into a round of furious hand-fighting that saw Penny finally wriggle loose of the Scissors. Sue made her pay for the escape with a quick kick to the tummy that dropped the blonde on her butt. The separation created was far from pretty, yet it must've been most welcome as champion and challenger scrambled in opposite directions to assess the hurts inflicted thus far.
Shoulders rising and falling as her breathing steadied out, Susie Four-Times kept a harsh eye on the Last True Believer while she 'flicked' her trunks back into place and set about re-wrapping several lengths of chain around her right hand. Not that Tremblay shied away from the heiress' gaze mind you, she didn't so much as flinch as the Ace tried to stare a hole right through her. Instead she took a moment to smooth back her hair and make a few minor adjustments to her top. Noting the way Burlingame had augmented her right hand, Bad Penny looked at the remaining chain and contemplated doing the same but in the end she collected a loop that was somewhere between eight to ten inches long and let simply let it hang from her left hand.
“Nice accessory, ma'am.” Tremblay flicked a glance at Burlingame's glinting right hand. “I'm sure it'll come in useful the first time you attend a PTA meeting. Would you go to a PTA meeting? Or is that another job for the live-in nanny?”
“PTA meetings start at 7:30 and typically run an hour.” Burlingame answered dryly. “If traffic wasn't bad I could hop on I-4 and still get to the Arena with plenty of time to kick your ass in the last segment of the night.”
Penny smiled, stuck out a foot and used it to nudge the chain into a line separating herself from the Rainmaker. “Do it then. If you can. Don't worry if you can't, not having to worry about the World Title will do wonders for your time managem—”
“You sure do talk a lot for someone determined to make me bleed.” Sue stepped up, brushed the line aside with a single dismissive kick and went nose to nose with the challenger, who didn't cede a single step. “Know what I think, kiddo? I think that no matter what, you're going to leave this ring disappointed. Even if you put me on a stretcher before raising the World Title high overhead, even if this is my last time setting foot in the ring, even if I spend the next six weeks recovering from what happens tonight... tomorrow morning you'll wake up as a World Champion and still be the same awful bitch you've always been. Because even covered in stitches and wrapped in bandages, I'll be happy to spend time with my family. And as we all know, happiness is anathema to Penelope Tremblay because she'd rather spend her whole life miserable than even attempt to deal with—”
Penny grabbed hold of the chain just below Burlingame's coller and yanked her forward into an Elbow Smash that THWHACKED against the Ace's nose! Sue's legs shuddered and she stumbled back a few steps, though she'd caught her balance by the time Tremblay leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Clever tactic, ma'am. It deftly deflects all blame to me while allowing you ignore the fact that you're little more than a visiting stranger in your own daughter's lifRGH! RGH! RGH!”
The Bankable Bombshell finally put that right hand to good, or rather, bad use, as she pounded a good half a dozen punches into the blonde's left flank, the impacts running from the point of her hip to a little below the armpit! Penny snarled, released her grip on Sue's collar and took hold of the other end of the loop she'd created earlier. Pulling it tight against the nape of Burlingame's neck, she pulled the brunette's head forward and down in a Muy Thai-style clasp and answered those punches with knee after knee after knee to her opponent's midsection! The Ace did her best to intercept those shiv-like blows with her left arm but it would be a lie to say the bulk of her attention wasn't focused on pounding several fist-sized holes in the blonde's left side. The wild exchange soon had champion and challenger stumbling about in an awkward circle, neither woman willing to let the other get away while she was unleashing with such reckless aband— “NNNNGGGHHHH!”
Penny took a hard shot to the kidney that had her slumping against the Rainmaker to stay upright, alas Sue wasn't able to capitalize on the opening before Tremblay made her pay with a spiteful Kneelift that THUMPED the brunette's undercarriage instead of her midsection! A rough Shoulderblock from the Orphan of Midnight set Sue back on her heels, though she didn't get far enough to stop Penny from snatching hold of her collar again.
“Wrapping your hand is a good idea, ma'am. I'll definitely feel those in the morning.” Penny admitted as she let that menacing length of chain swing in her left hand. “You though, you're not gonna feel much of anything tomorrow, assuming they gave you the good anesthetic.”
The word was still on Tremblay's lips when she whipped her left hand back and—'OOOOOOOOHHHHHH!' from the FAWNatics and an incredulous squeak from the challenger when Burlingame paid back that low Kneelift with an equally nauseating punt to the younger woman's crotch!
All other thoughts obliterated in the wake of this shudder inducing retaliation, Tremblay dropped the chain and turned around with one hand outstretched toward the ropes while the other pressed against the fork of her cro—SCRACK! Penny shrieked in surprised anguish when Burlingame helped herself to a long length of chain and lashed it across the blonde's lower back! Already tottering thanks to the low blow, the Angriest Acolyte shot up on tiptoe and minced away as fast as she could, possibly under the mistaken impression that the strands would offer any sort of respite. Oh so happy to remind her nemesis that nowhere was safe, Sue followed along and whipped the bendy-back twice more, the heiress gripping the chain with both hands to add even more force to the hellacious impacts!
Penny's legs did give way after the third shot laid fire from her right shoulder all the way to her left hip and while she did pitch forward into the ropes, the Last True Believer didn't bleat for sanctuary. Instead she hooked her left arm over the top rope and promptly fired off a Back Elbow she hoped would—Burlingame brought her forearms together in a guard that soaked up the strike, then grabbed Penny's right shoulder and SPIKED her kidney with a Broadside Kneelift!
Burying her hands in the challenger's hair to make sure Tremblay wouldn't crumple to her knees, the Ace peeled her prey away from the ropes only to bend her over and force her through the gap between top and middle strands. From there she switched over to a grip on the blonde's biceps, one that allowed her to hook the useless limbs over the top rope. Not entirely sure what she'd do next, Burlingame took a big step backward to presumably mull her options but she must've reached a decision almost immediately because the veteran pivoted on her left foot and hopped forward to THWHACK a textbook Super Kick against the base of her foe's skull!
“Ask her.” she jerked a thumb in Penny's direction, then cleared off so Castle could do as bade. “As her if she's done.”
The Senior Official furrowed his brow, uncertain of the champ's intention. “It's not really I Quit rules, Sue.” he said. “Pin, submission, or knockout, that's how it—”
“Verbal submission is still a submission, Castle.” Burlingame snapped. “So ask the brat if she's had en—”
“The hell I have.” Tremblay sneered from her spot in the Bankable Bombshell's trap. “After all we've done to each other you think I'm gonna beg off after you leave a few welts on my back? Respectfully, get the fuck outta here with that bullshit, maRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!”
Sue snatched up the chain and whipped Penny across the lower back, no more than two inches above the waistband of her trunks! Half a dozen more lashings followed, each resounding SCRACK earning a hiss from Tremblay and a groan from the crowd. Tossing the chain down when her shoulders started to burn, Susie Four-Times crowded in behind the blonde, grabbed a huge handful of hair and wrenched her head back at a painful angle. “Give up.” she ordered. “Take the loss and fucking move on, girl. Don't make me ruin your career.”
“Don't make you?” Penny scoffed. “Make you? Ma'am, how many times to I have to tell you? This all ends when you say it's ovNNRRHH!”
The heiress pulled harder than ever. “I can hurt you very badly.” she hissed. “You know that, don't you? This sort of punishment isn't worth—”
“Then quit.” Tremblay interrupted. “If none of this is worth it, if you know it's not worth it, then quit and walk away. You could, you know. You could submit right now and prove your moral superiority once and for all here in front of the whole world. But that would mean leaving with no leather and gold around your waist. It would mean denying the baying, insatiable crowd the climax they'll tell you they so richly deserve. It would mean being a loser on the biggest stage of the year and good ol' Susie Four-Times would HAPPILY sacrifice everyone in her life as long as it meant never having to be a losAAAAARRRRHHHHHHH!”
Sue drew a length of the chain across her opponent's jaw and pulled back as hard as she could! “SHUT UP!” she screamed at the struggling blonde. “Shut up! Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!”
Releasing her grip when Nick started looking like he was going to say something stupid, the Bankable Bombshell wrapped her right hand, then cinched her left arm around Tremblay's throat so she could hold her steady for a good two dozen hammer fists delivered to the challenger's forehead. Pausing only when she noted the blood staining Penny's hairline, Sue cupped her left hand under the other woman's chin and said, “Give up, goddammit. You have no idea what I could do to you.”
Fuck if Bad Penny didn't actually smile. “Muuuuuhhhhh... maybe I don't. Guess you'll just have to show me, along with the rest of the world. Hey, that means your daughter and I will finally have something in com—”
Sue cupped Penny's chin and pulled her head so far back the Angriest Acolyte was looking at her upside. “Choose your words carefully, Tremblay.”
“Tuuuuhhhh...tonight IS special.” she giggled. “When all is said and done, we'll both know just what kind of monster you really arRRNNNGGGHHH!”
The Rainmaker stomped in place and whipped her head forward to THWHUNK Penny between the eyes with a stiff Headbutt!
That was enough to shut the challenger's mouth for the moment so Burlingame prized Penny's arms off the top rope and marched her backward into the middle of the ring where she secured a no-nonsense Full Nelson. Forcing Tremblay's chin down snug against her own sternum, Sue settled into a deep crouch, then popped her hips and peeled off a gorgeous bridge to THAWHAM Penny down on the back of her head and shoulders! Castle cringed along with the rest of the FAWNatics, though he was delighted to count an actual fall, as evidenced by how swiftly he swooped into place for the...
DRAGON SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Btxmid1bw
ONE...
TWO...
The Orphan of Midnight twisted free of the hold and slopped onto her stomach just after the ref reached 'TWO!'
Beside her, Sue rolled to one knee and smoothed back her hair before adjusting her trunks. Once that was done she grabbed a double handful of Penny's hair and got to her feet, thus forcing the blonde to rise alongside. Forcing the younger woman's head beneath her left arm with a Front Facelock, Sue slung Tremblay's near arm across her shoulders, then caught hold of Penny's waistband just above the left hip. With the excess chain pooled at their feet, Burlingame muscled the Last True Believer all the way to high noon, the toes of the blonde's boots pointing straight into the overhead lights. Didn't stay there long as the Ace twisted around in a half circle and kicked her right leg out before dropping straight down to BWA-THUMP the crown of Penny's skull on those tumbled steel links!
SPINNING BRAINBUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V47mcDDBucg
Tremblay exploded into a starfish that got bundled into something far neater once Burlingame floated over and hooked the far leg in a cradle good for the...
ONE...
TWO...
Penny shot a shoulder off the deck, perhaps a little later than her last escape, but still too soon for anyone to call it a near fall.
Shaking her head in disgust, the Bankable Bombshell went back to her earlier hair-hold, only this time she raised the challenger as far as her knees. A concerned grumble rippled through the crowd as they caught glimpse of Penny's face and Castle couldn't blame them. He'd known the champ had busted her nemesis open when she'd been trapped in the ropes a few moments prior, but after the Brainbuster what had once been a trickle was now the classic 'crimson mask', Tremblay's aristocratic features painted bright red from the tip of her nose all the way to her hairline and a few inches beyond, her usually flaxen locks now a distressing pink. Dropping to one knee beside his wounded charge, Nick fished some gloves out of his back pocket and slipped them on before tending to the blonde. “You doing ok, Penny? If you can't continue just say the word and I'll—”
“Huuuhhh...head wounds are notorious bleeders, Castle. You know this. I know this. The hag certainly knows this.” Penny flicked her eyes to Sue and offered a ghastly smile. “But if she thinks a little blood loss is going to stop me, she's even dumber than she loNNNNGGGHHH!” Burlingame rushed in with a Kneelift to the forehead that would've knocked Tremblay sprawling if the Ace hadn't caught hold of her hair. “I'm through asking you to think rationally.” she told Penny once she'd been steadied out a bit. “You want to make this personal? You want to see just how far you can push me before shit hits the fan? Then strap yourself in, girlie. You're not going to like what happens next.”
Tremblay's lips curled up in an off-kilter smile, a sharp white crescent beneath all that red. “Bet...bet your husband doesn't either. Can't be easy to explain to his daughter why mommy's on the T.V. kicking the shit out of—”
THWHAP!
Burlingame planted on her right foot so she could smash a heavy kick across the penitent battler's chest! Tremblay swayed like a reed in a hurricane but she didn't go down. In fact the challenger crossed her wrists, squared her shoulders and locked eyes with the Rainmaker. “Just one?” she asked in a mockingly disappointed tone. “Who am I, a BloodwinNNNNGGGHHHH!”
CHEST KICKS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf29EFnMQJA
Sue wasn't about to take such sass from the crazy bitch so she reset her stance and unloaded half a dozen more kicks to the challenger's chest! Each of them seemed to take a little more air from Penny's lungs, yet none of them managed to knock her down so Susie Four-Times ultimately reset her footing and THWHACKED a pitiless Buzzsaw Kick to the left ear!
BUZZSAW KICK @ 00:06
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pLSBeN2to4
Tremblay went down in a glassy-eyed sprawl and Burlingame wasted no time in sliding into place for a cover bolstered by hooking the far leg and grrrrrrriiiiiinding the ridge of her forearm against the blonde's jaw while the ref counted...
ONE...
TWO...
THRNOOOO!
Bad Penny shot her right shoulder off the mat not just to break the pin, but to grab hold of her foe's ear and twist as hard as she could!
“BITCH!” Sue reared back, swatted the blonde's claw away, then joined her own mitts into a Double Axehandle that she PWAAAKED down against Tremblay's navel! Penny coughed and rolled over onto all fours, five if you count the crown of her forehead braced against the canvas. Burlingame reached for the vulnerable challenger only to pull back as she thought better of it.
Rising to boot-leather as quietly as the damned chain would allow, the Rainmaker moved around on Tremblay's six and settled into a deep crouch that earned a raucous cheer from the folks positioned behind the hard camera. The noise only grew louder when the champ started to sway back and forth, the predatory, almost serpentine motion telling the 'Mania faithful that an Ace Crusher was close at hand. As of yet oblivious to this lurking doom, Penny Tremblay raised her head from the deck and peered through a curtain of bloody hair to find the Ace nowhere in sight. Correctly guessing Burlingame's position a heartbeat thereafter, the Angriest Acolyte let her noggin return to the canvas while she let out a pained groan that was only slightly exaggerated. When no attack came, Penny gathered her reserves and pushed all the way to vertical—Sue snatched a shoulder and whipped the bendy-back around so she could leap skyward and catch Tremblay's head in a Three Quarters Faceloc—NO!
Penny hooked her right arm across Burlingame's lower back and braced her left hand against the back of the champ's left thigh even as she yanked clear of the Facelock! Wedging her head beneath the Rainmaker's left arm even as she hoisted her high into the air, Penny laid out on her back and brought both knees up so that when Sue came down she THWHUMPED spine-first across those bony daggers!
SPINE TREMBLAR:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YulpHBFP9S8
The Spine Tremblar outta nowhere bounced Sue away like she'd been launched from a pneumatic piston and she might've rolled under the bottom rope to the floor if Tremblay hadn't caught hold of the chain and puuuuuuulllled hard enough to stop her momentum.
“Where do you think you're going, ma'am?” the blonde was all smiles despite the horror-show condition of her face. “You didn't think I'd give you a nice quiet ten count on the floor after how much blood you've spilled, do you? Best I can do right now is some time in the ropes. Sound good?”
No answer from the heiress, who was still clutching at her throbbing back in the wake of the Spine Tremblar. The challenger took silence for consent so she collected the eldest Burlingame Sister at trunks and tresses and scraped her off the mat before trudging over to the ropes. Much as the Ace had done to her earlier in their battle, Penny stuffed Sue's upper body through the gap between top and middle strands so she could hook her arms around the former.
Once Burlingame was thus confined, Tremblay helped herself to a two-foot length of chain she let dangle from her left hand. Snuggling in close on the brunette's right, Penny cupped Sue's chin in her hand and made a show of smearing some of the blood from her forehead against the veteran's temple. “You don't want to give up, do you ma'am?”
Sue shook her head 'no' and tried to bite the challenger's fingers, though Penny proved a bit too quick to catch. “Nuuuhhh...never.” she grunted. “I'll never give you the satisfaction.”
“Satisfaction takes many forms, ma'am.” Tremblay murmured as she stepped away from the trapped Ace. “Please, stay strong as long as you can.”
Sue started to answer but had to 'clack' her jaw shut to hold in a scream when Penny reared back and SCRACKED her with the chain from right shoulder to left hip! The stifled scream didn't seem to bother the Last True Believer, indeed she dipped her head in an appreciative little nod before she changed angles and SCRACKED her opponent from left shoulder to right hip! Those two shots were more than enough to raise an ugly, over-sized 'X' on Burlingame's back, but Tremblay was after something in a much darker shade so she planted her feet and added two more lashes to each of the existing welts. Sue managed to remain silent until the last one when she finally voiced a long, agonized whine through clenched teeth.
Grimacing alongside the increasingly concerned FAWNatics, Nick Castle cleared his throat and said, “C'mon Penny. You don't have to do this.”
The Orphan of Midnight turned to the Senior Official and smiled. “I know. Isn't it great?” The last word was still on her lips when Tremblay climbed onto the bottom rope so she could sling her left leg around the vulnerable champion's midsection. Completing the Bodyscissors shortly thereafter, Penny crossed her ankles, cupped her hands beneath Burlingame's chin and drew herself backward into a nearly horizontal line and as she squeeeeeeeeeeeeeezed Sue's ribs and craaaaaaaaaaaaaaanked her neck!
ROUGHHOUSING IN THE ROPES:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2GxVOOrPNU
“What do you say, Sue?” the ref more than ten seconds into a move that would've already forced a break under normal conditions. “Do you need me to call for the bell? Tell me something!”
The Rainmaker waggled her head 'no' even though doing so put even more strain on her already aching neck. Her answer was enough for the zebra, but apparently not the challenger, who scoffed in disgust before gouging the point of her chin into the brunette's forehead.
“Helpless wriggling is not an answer, ma'am.” she snapped after several more seconds of rough treatment. “The man wanted you to tell him something. You might as well make it something meaningful.”
“Yuuuhhh...you want meaningful?” Burlingame was struggling to slip her right arm free of the top rope, an effort that put unpleasant torque on that shoulder. “Ok. Nick, this bitch has got the laziest Scissors I've ever AAAARRRRHHHHH FAAAAAAAAAAAHK!”
Tremblay had expected sass of some sort and punished it accordingly by sinking her teeth into the veteran's forehead! The ferocious punishment sent an awful jolt through Burlingame's trapped frame, yet even the worst thunderheads come equipped with a silver lining, as Sue discovered when she wrenched her right arm away from the top rope! Resisting every urge to go straight for the blonde's hair, Burlingame instead groped for a length of chain and, once finding it, repaid an earlier indignity by flicking it across her own chest to SCRACK Tremblay across her shoulders and the nape of her neck!
“BITCH!” the Angriest Acolyte sneered as her repast came to a rude end. Not about to abandon such a damaging perch even under the threat of more lashing, Bad Penny hunched her shoulders against the next shot, then halved her Chinlock so she could draaaaaaaaaaaaag curved talons across Sue's eyes! Burlingame shrieked louder than ever but damned if she tag her tormentor with a couple of more shots before Tremblay formed her talons into a fist and POUNDED it against the bridge of the Ace's nose!
“The... the boundaries you'll push to stay on top of this industry,” Penny huffed raggedly as Burlingame gave up offense to cover her nose, “continue to astound me. I think I'm done asking what I have to do to make you stop, ma'am. I'm just gonna take the first awful idea that crosses my mind and make it even worse.”
“Lotta big talk, kiddo.” Sue grunted. “That's one thing you and psychos like Wainright have in common. You always talk bigger than you acTGGUUUHHHRRRGGGHH!”
Penny wasted no time making her threat an awful dental reality as she snatched a short length of chain in both hands and drew it across Burlingame's mouth like a bridle! Not content to merely pull at this stage of the contest, Tremblay dragged the links back and forth to produce a hideous clinking-clanking sound that set Castle's own teeth on edge! “At least I'll still be able to talk when the bell rings.” Penny murmured to the sputtering Ace. “But you? You'll be too busy coughing up blood and broken teeRRRRHHH FUCK!”
Burlingame couldn't pull the chain away from her mouth no matter how hard she tried so she grabbed another length of it CRACKED Penny across the cheek just below her right eye!
Finally disengaging the Scissors so she could tend to her own watery vision, Tremblay only indulged in a moment of self care before she grabbed an even longer length of chain and whipped Sue's shoulders!
The veteran had just coughed out the encroaching links so there was no muffler for the scream that seemed to echo through the FAWN Arena far longer than it should. It was still raising goosebumps on the arms of fans all over the building when Tremblay stepped in and wrapped several lengths of chain around the brunette's head! Burlingame wasn't quite a mummy when the challenger was finished but she sure made a pretty good approximation thereof as Penny turned her back on the seated Bombshell and reached over her right shoulder with both hands. Grabbing hold of the steel instead of her opponent proper, Tremblay took a couple giant steps forward, then went up on tiptoe and dropped to her knees to tear Sue out of the strands with a Hangman's Neckbreaker that THWHUNKED the beleaguered heiress' skull against her shoulder with a pitiless whiplash impact!
Sue seemed to crumple into herself on impact, the champ's tawny frame going almost fetal before the challenger grabbed on at hip and shoulder and dragged her out to the middle where she hooked both legs in a Back Press good for...
ONE...
TWO...
THRNOOOO!
Palpable relief (in the form of thunderous cheers) from the Burlingame Backers when their heroine twitched loose of the cover with half a second to spare! Seated beside her tenacious nemesis, Penny Tremblay rested her elbows on her knees to take a breather, yet rather than tend to her own wounds she undid the chain coiled around Sue's noggin. “Well, well. Would you look at that.” she said once her 'present' was properly unwrapped. “You've got some red on you, ma'am.”
'Some' was a bit of an understatement as Burlingame's nose wasn't quite gushing, but it was definitely running. Her mouth was worse as Tremblay's manic work with the chain had busted her bottom lip and left the whole of her chin painted red. Sue grunted, went to wipe at her face but Penny swatted the veteran's hand away before she could do much of anything. Quick to bury that hand in Burlingame's sweat-soaked mane, the Orphan of Midnight held Sue's head steady while she swiped at the blood on her chin.
Far from an act of kindness, Tremblay earned roars of outraged disdain from those assembled when she used her thumb to draw a vertical line on each cheek. “I've never been one to pay attention to those 'who wore it best' articles.” Penny admitted as she admired her handiwork via the FAWNtron. “But I have to admit, I wear your blood VERY well.”
“Juuuuuhhhh...just let me try on a little more of yours.” Burlingame rolled to her hands and knees despite the willowy blonde's unpleasant grip. “I'm sure it'll make an unforgettable statement piecNNNNGGGGHHHH!”
Penny abandoned the hair-hold, got to her feet and CLAPPED both hands between Sue's shoulders in a vicious Slap! Going right back to the hair as Burlingame started to rise, Tremblay skewered the veteran's belly with a Toe Kick and reeled her into a Standing Headscissors. “Tonight isn't the statement you think it is, ma'am.” Penny leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the Rainmaker's waist. “It's more of a cautionary tale than anything else.”
Sue only coughed a nonsense reply so Penny dipped her knees and hoisted the bloodied brunette up so that the small of her back rested against the point of Tremblay's right shoulder. It could've been a Canadian Backbreaker or a dozen other things, but the FAWNatics knew better and their suspicions were confirmed once Bad Penny shifted from the Waistlock to her prey's biceps, the Ace's arms rudely stretched out at her sides in a rough 'T' shape. Careful to keep her feet from getting tangled in the dangling chain, the Last True Believer pivoted toward the nearest corner which sent Nick Castle scrambling to find a new vantage point to watch the action. Penny lunged to life as soon as her spot was clear, the challenger burning up the canvas in a few long strides before she hurled Burlingame off her shoulders so that the Ace took the top turnbuckle between her shoulders with a cringe-inducing BWUUUNG![/b]
LAST NIGHT OF SADNESS @ 1:45
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIuz4dinZ1o
Sue had endured The Last Night of Sadness numerous times during her wars with the Last True Believer, but familiarity did not dull the pain in the slightest, indeed she would've swore this one hurt more than all of Tremblay's previous efforts. Nevertheless, the Bankable Bombshell managed to hook her arms over the top rope long enough to get her legs steady enough to carry her weight. As for Penny, she kicked the chain aside and turned her back on the brunette for a quick stroll to the other side of the ring. Once there she bent over and hooked both thumbs into her right kneepad, which she pulled down over the top of her shin. From there she whipped 'round on her heel and sprinted back the way she'd came. Burlingame dared invoke Miranda Wainright moments before and she paid dearly for it when the Angriest Acolyte leapt onto the bottom rope and THWHUNKED her right knee into the champ's mouth!
HIGH CORNER KNEE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN_1hYD_U_g
Twisting around to snatch a rough Side Headlock in the blink of an eye, Tremblay continued the tribute to her mentor by leaving the corner in her hurry, Sue dragged along in the blonde's wake even as she dipped down and sprang skyward for skull-cracking BulldoNO! Sue got one hand on the small of Penny's back and the other on the back of one thigh, an awkward set of hooks that was still strong enough to lift Tremblay up far higher than she'd ever intended. Leaping to their feet before the challenger even understood what'd gone wrong, a chorus several thousand strong ROARED in delight when Sue pivoted beneath her blonde and dropped backward with both knees drawn snug to her chest.
Spine Tremblar, Susannah Burlingame to Penelope Tremblay in the middle of the ring.
Too overwhelmed with pain to properly acknowledge the indignity of getting dropped by her own finisher, Penny bounced away from the impact and was still wriggling when Sue SPLASHED down across her chest not to go for a cover, but just to dish out a little more hurt before she secured a double handful of the challenger's bloodstained locks and dragged her to verticality.
Kicking the excess chain aside to keep her footing clear, the eldest Burlingame sister grabbed hold of Tremblay's right wrist and twisted around behind her to secure a quick Hammerlock. Soon as that was done she pressed her left hand against Penny's noggin and spun her down and around into a Standing Headscissors with the Hammerlock still in place. Pausing for a second to acknowledge the rumbling roar of the crowd, Sue balled her left hand into a fist, then popped the thumb out straight and dragged it across her throat in a savage slash.
“PUNK'S DONE!” she barked at the redlining throng! They certainly weren't going to argue with her, indeed conditions only grew louder when the heiress reached down and hooked her left arm behind the Angriest Acolyte's right knee, all the better to yank it off the mat in a snug Cradle. Trap locked and ready to spring, Sue blew a kiss to Penny's bowed back before she sank into a crouch just to hoist her nemesis upside down, Tremblay balled up good and snug as the Ace spun through two full rotations en route to dropping to her butt, the brutal impact of the Spirit Crusher made even worse because Susie Four-Times BWATHWUMPED Penny down atop several coils of steel chain!
SPIRIT CRUSHER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EsGeYdhPnQ
Tremblay bounced clear in an insensate sprawl that grew quite a bit more contained when the Rainmaker swung a leg over and climbed aboard to take a heavy seat on her foe's throat! It wasn't a Reverse Face Sit to be certain as Penny's mouth and nose were open to the cool air of the arena. But(t) her chin was most definitely wedged into the southern curve of Burlingame's vaunted glutes and the challenger's predicament only grew more precarious when Sue hooked both legs at the knee and leaaaaaaaaaaaaaaned back in a Reverse Matchbook that kept her folded in half through...
ONE...
TWO...
THRENOOOOOOOO!
The Orphan of Midnight braced her hands against the Ace's buns and forced her off with a convulsive shove half a heartbeat before 'THREE!' Pandemonium all 'round as the fans exclaimed their disbelief to any within the sound of their voices, Nick threw a hurried 'no, no, no!' to the Timekeeper and then to a wide-eyed Sue Burlingame when she showed him three fingers!
As the reality of Tremblay's escape washed over her, the Ace closed her eyes and grabbed onto her knee-pads like they'd keep her from simply floating off into the void. After several deep breaths the world felt far more solid again and the brunette opened her eyes to find the Last True Believer struggling to all fours. Landing atop the piled chain must've opened up a cut somewhere on the back of Tremblay's head because her once gleaming blonde tresses were shifting to a sodden strawberry pink before Burlingame's eyes.
Any other night, any other opponent, Sue would've at least looked to the ref about stopping the match, tonight she only caught a massive handful of hair and yanked the vulnerable bendy-back to her knees. Scrambling to verticality a moment thereafter, Burlingame hunched forward and wrapped her left arm around Penny's head to wrench it backward in an Inverted Front Facelock. The lingering incredulity was swept away by another wave of delighted relief as the Bankable Bombshell dropped into a crouch and started to turn ov—“OOOOOWWWWWWWW FUCKING BITCH!”
Despite the controlling position Sue threw her head back and shrieked to the rafters when Tremblay opened wide and chomped down on the underside of the champ's encroaching bicep! Knowing damned well she couldn't look to the zebra for any support against this pitiless counter, Burlingame curled her right hand into a fist and pwak-pwak-pwaaaked a barrage of Hammerfists into the challenger's fluttering midsection. “Stop biting me you fucking psychopath or I swear I'll—”
Tremblay raised her left hand and offered the Ace a brazen middle finger! The act of insolent defiance was met mostly with boos, though there was a noticeable thread of cheers running throughout, almost assuredly all from the contrarians, malcontents and other reprobates in attendance. The Ace acknowledged none of this noise, probably because it didn't even register. The only thing on her mind at that moment was putting Penelope Tremblay down for good and to make that a reality she stopped punching and hooked onto the challenger's waistband just above her right hip. With a furious Valkyrie shriek she muscled her burden high into the air and spun through a full rotation, one that let the brunette shift her grip from Penny's trunks to behind her right knee, Burlingame securing another tight Cradle as she dropped to a seat and THAWHAMMED the still-gnawing brat down on the back of her head and shoulders! Sue transitioned into a Crossbody without giving up the hooked leg, indeed she drew it that much tighter as Castle swooped in beside the action to count...
PAROXYSM @ 00:11
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AX7-FHDMEU
ONE...
TWO...
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Tremblay shot her left arm into the air much to the surprise and consternation of the FAWNatics, the bulk of whom openly wondered what the Ace needed to do to keep her nemesis down.
Sue didn't have a concrete answer for that at the moment but she did know what she was gonna do next and she wasted no time getting to it. Back on her feet with a weary groan, the Rainmaker trudged down to the challenger's feet where she laid claim to Tremblay's left ankle. Lifting that limb off the mat, she spun 'round it in a quick do-si-do that finished with Penny's knee snugged in against the brunette's calf. On the far side of that rotation Burlingame snagged the blonde's right ankle and lifted it off the mat so she could brace that shin against Tremblay's calf in the oh so familiar figure of four. In the next breath Sue dropped to a seat and hooked her left leg over the challenger's exposed ankle before pushing up on her palm to craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaank Penny's right knee!
FIGURE FOUR LEGLOCK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5MMvFfORNY
“AAAAAARRRRRRHHH FAAAAAAAAAHK!” the Orphan of Midnight sat up like the mat had been electrified when Burlingame first secured the Figure-Four Leglock. “EVIL OLD BITCH, LET ME GOOORRRRRGGGHHHHHH!”
Sue jounced in place hard enough to stretch Tremblay out flat with the anguish of it, but the wriggling bendy-back was careful to get a shoulder up when Nick dropped down in search of a count. “You want out, punk?” Sue huffed once the initial flailing died down. “Tap that mat and I'll let you go without a word. But if you keep running that mouth I'll make sure you don't leave this ring without a cute little limpRRGGHHH!”
Penny couldn't break the veteran's clamp on her legs but she could make her pay for the privilege and that's exactly what she did when she sat up and CLAPPED a hand down atop the Ace's chest! Sue hissed and dropped backward onto her elbows, a shift that eased the pressure on Tremblay's legs enough to allow a modicum of reli—CRAAACK!
The Bankable Bombshell sat up and answered with a slap of her own, though where Penny had targeted cleavage, Sue tagged her foe flush across the mouth! “You've needed that for a long time, Penelope.” Burlingame hissed at her furious rival. “Now are you going to tap out with some dignity or do I have to slap you down like the whiny little bitch youHHHRRRGGHH!”
Under different circumstances Penny would've been delighted to sit there and exchange slaps with the hag, but the dog collar allowed for certain opportunities she couldn't pass up so instead of kicking off round two, she grabbed hold of the chain just below Burlingame's collar and yanked her forward into a straight right hand!
Sue grunted and tried to cover up but Tremblay was having none of it. She switched her grip to the collar itself and proceeded to yank the champ's head back and forth, side to side, any which way but loose before she switched over to a hair-hold and puuuuuuuullllllllllled hard enough to the Ace's eyes water!
“Yuuuuuhhhhh... you still think some trashy-ass catfight shit will get the job done against me, Susannah?” the contempt in Penny's voice was damned near corrosive as she tried to rip out fistfuls of the veteran's dark locks. “I don't care about showing you off. I don't care about sitting on your fucking face. All I care about is making you see the error of your ways and if I have to ruin you to do it, then so be NNNNNGGGGGHHHH!”
Tremblay wasn't the only one who could use the chain to her advantage, as she discovered when she snatched a length of it and SCRACKED it against the side of the blonde's skull! Penny released her hold and immediately curled one arm against the fresh welt while the other braced against the mat like a kickstand. Bearing down on the Figure-Four once more, she plunged a hand into Penny's pink hair and pulled until the challenger hissed in anguish.
“My only ERROR was not putting you out of your misery the first time you stuck your nose in my business.” the Ace growled. “I'm sorry you hate your life, but that doesn't give you the right to ruin miOOHHHHHHH GAAAAWWWWD!”
One punch did not a life ruin, yet Penny certainly made the Rainmaker's night immeasurably worse when she balled her left hand into a fist and THUMPED it into the juncture of her thighs! The pressure on the Leglock collapsed at once and Tremblay pulled herself clear of the tangle so she could draw that throbbing right knee up against her chest. As for Sue she inched away in the opposite direction, one arm thrown over her fevered brow while her other hand tended to the nauseating ache radiating from her center.
Castle knew there was no stopping this match for anything short of crippling injury so he made no effort to start a standing count. Instead he moved between his charges to check on their condition. Sue groaned an affirmative and tumbled onto her stomach, the beleaguered brunette trying to summon the strength to reach all fours. As for Penny, she only offered a grim nod before crawling a bit farther away to recover in relative peace. A cheer from those assembled turned the Senior Official around to find the Bankable Bombshell on her feet with a long length of chain hanging from her right hand. “Guhhh... get out of the way, Nick.” she huffed at Castle. “It's time I finished this.”
The zebra didn't argue, though he did spare a glance in Tremblay's direction to confirm she'd made it off the canvas. The answer was 'partially', as the Angriest Acolyte was looking suitably penitent on one knee with her back to the oncoming Ac—Sue brought the chain up and slashing down, the links making a sound a bit like wind chimes as it arched toward Penny's should—NO!
Tremblay rolled forward and popped to her feet to avoid the lashing by the slimmest of margins! The miss didn't seem to bother Burlingame at all, she just reset and fired off another, this time a horizontal slash aimed at the blonde's stern—NOT TONIGHT! The Last True Believer threw herself into a forward somersault to evade the strike and come up on her feet a little ways behind the World Champion! Spinning around on her plant foot, Sue lined up another vertical lash and—Penny snatched a double handful of the chain and YANKED the Rainmaker into an unsteady lunge, one that threw off her balance long enough for Bad Penny to leap up and catch the veteran's noggin in a Three Quarters Facelock. Chaos reigned supreme in the FAWN Arena when Tremblay laid out to THAWHAM Sue down flat on her face with a picture perfect Ace Crusher!
ACE CRUSHED:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdg28boYe04
Caught flush with her own finish in the middle of the ring, the eldest Burlingame sister looked dead to the world as a galvanized Penny shoveled her onto her back and hooked the far leg in a cradle good for the...
ONE...
TWO...
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Sue twitched a shoulder off the mat with Nick's hand barely an inch above the canvas! “TWO!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, though the sound was immediately swallowed by the FAWNatics echoing the same word.
Penny regarded him with incredulous eyes, though she ultimately didn't question the near-fall. Within heartbeats she'd filled her hands with Burlingame's hair and dragged her into a Standing Headscissors in the middle of the ring. From there she wrapped her arms around the heiress' waist and flipped her up onto the point of her right shoulder for what could've been a Canadian Backbreaker if the blonde hadn't carefully shifted from the Waistlock to a Chinlock that left Sue's head bent backward against the crown of her foe's skull! Still losing their minds after the stolen Ace Crusher, the crowd suffered a fresh bout of nerves when the challenger dipped her knees just enough to hook Burlingame's shins against her upper thighs. Despite the Black Court's war with the Church of Eternal Midnight, Sue Burlingame had never experienced one particular weapon in the arsenal of the Messiah of Misery. But tonight Miranda Wainright's Last True Believer rectified that error when she kicked both feet forward and dropped to her butt to THWHUNK Sue's skull with a gawd-awful Thou Shalt Not!
THOU SHALT NOT!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSDHvOdrljA
Sue landed on her knees and tumbled forward in a boneless sprawl that only moved when Tremblay rolled her onto her back shortly thereafter. A cover seemed inevitable, yet Penny ignored the opening in favor of grabbing her prey at wrist and ankle so she could draaaaaaaaaaaaaag the brunette a bit closer to the nearest corner.
“Hope you've enjoyed my tributes to present and past, ma'am.” Tremblay huffed after she dropped the defenseless limbs. “Now I leave you with this ode to the future.”
No surprise then when she turned around and trudged to the corner, the blonde almost slipping through the strands before she remembered the chain around her neck and climbed to the top from the inside instead. Rising to her feet as the rest of the crowd did the same, Penelope Tremblay took a deep breath and leapt out into the void where she crunched in on herself just to stretch out full length, the bendy-back taut as a bowstring when she THWHAMMED down on Sue's upraised knees! Effectively crushed despite her desperate defense, Sue managed to hook her left arm around the back of Penny's head and roll to the left, a shift that slowly flopped the air-deprived challenger onto her back with Sue stretched out on top. Threading her right leg over Penny's calves almost turned it into a Small Package, not that anyone was paying attention to anything other than the count of...
ONE...
TWO...
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Penny kicked loose and tumbled to one knee, the ashen-faced blonde clearly still fighting for air after that hellacious landing. Despite all this she was still first to her feet, Tremblay burying both hands in Burlingame's locks to better haul her off one kn—Sue leapt caught the Three Quarters Facelock and didn't just fall but pulled her way back to the canvas to PLANT Penny's face on the deck with her own Ace Crusher!
The Orphan of Midnight tumbled onto her back and Sue was on her in an instant, the battle-weary brunette somehow thinking to hook the chain across the backs of Penny's knees so she could grab on and make the Back Press even stronger through the count of...
ONE...
TWO...
THREE!
Burlingame released the chain and crumpled onto shoulder and hip, the veteran unable to do more than suck wind as the Announcer blared, “Ladies and gentlemen, your winner and STILL the FAWN World Champion... SUE BURLINGAME!”
Relieved to have this bloody chaos finally at an end, Castle knelt down beside the victorious Ace and deftly undid the heavy buttons holding the collar in place. Unaware of the pressure she'd been under until it was gone, Sue sucked in a deep, rasping breath that devolved into a round of coughing before fading into steadier, quieter respiration. Quick to coil that end of the chain around his arm once the brunette was free, Nick made his way over to Tremblay, who'd rolled onto her side and was vaguely worrying at the heavy collar.
“I've got it, Penny, I've got it.” the zebra brushed her fingers aside so he could pop the buttons. The Bad Penny reacted much as her opponent had done, struggling to a seat amidst a fit of coughing that gave way to shuddering shoulders as the adrenaline began to wear off. “Can I call for medics?” Castle asked the challenger. “Those cuts look pretty bad.”
Penny shook her head 'no', but she made no effort to look in his direction. “I'll meet them in the back. I walked down here under my own power, I mean to leave the same way.”
Nick nodded, gave her an 'I understand' pat on the shoulder, then stood up and strode to the edge of the ring where a tech was waiting with the leather and gold. From there it was a quick walk back to Sue, who tottered back to verticality just as she arrived. “I believe this is yours.” the Senior Official noted as he laid it atop her right shoulder.
Burlingame smiled at the reassuring weight, swatted the face plate a couple times, then turned to the hard camera and hoisted it one-handed much to the delight of those assembled. Managing a smile as she brought the belt down to cinch it around her waist, the Rainmaker stomped to the far corner, mounted the second turnbuckle and asked, “Who's the toughest?”
'SUE!' they roared back in unison.
“Who's the best?”
'SUE!'
“And who's still the World Champion?”
'SUE!'
“Goddamn right.”
A shift in the tone of the answering roar drew the Bombshell's attention and she wasn't entirely surprised to see Penny Tremblay watching her from center ring with baleful, disgusted eyes. Dropping from her perch with a soft little 'thump', Burlingame walked over to the blonde and after a long moment of hesitation said, “You pushed me to my limits tonight, Tremblay.” she admitted. “Just not past them. That's why this title is still belongs to me. But if you ever do take it, I'll be the one who puts it around your waist. That's a promise.”
She extended her hand to the blonde, which raised an immediate 'SHAKE IT!' chant from the crowd.
Tremblay's fingers twitched and for a moment Sue thought the Orphan of Midnight was going to accept her hand or maybe just slap the shit out of her. Yet in the end Penny shook her head 'no' and took a step back. “You haven't learned a fucking thing, ma'am. And if tonight is any indication, I won't be the one to teach you, much as it pains me to admit. But eventually someone will. You'll learn, and when that revelation finally burns through the fog of your arrogance... that's the day I'll shake your hand. Until then... tell your daughter I'm sorry for keeping you out late.”
With that the Last True Believer turned around and trudged to the edge of the ring where she slipped through the ropes and dropped to the floor.
Sue watched her go, almost called after her. In the end she held her tongue and set out on the triumphant circuit she'd earned for such a hard-fought victory. She was still celebrating when the feed cut away to an eerie teaser for All Hallows Evil.
The lights cut out in the span between heartbeats, darkness descending on the 'Mania multitudes before they could even start to boo. 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 collected disgust, nor was it enough to halt the arrival of ghostly blue lights or a thin bank of dry ice fog. The Harbinger of a Dark Tomorrow 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 sold out arena for several long seconds before she raised her left hand to her right shoulder and brushed off some invisible dust. She mirrored the gesture immediately thereafter, then brought both hands together atop the washboard of her midsection and strapped an invisible belt into place before starting down the long aisle.
PENNY TREMBLAY:
For the biggest match of her career, Tremblay wore a gleaming black 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. Ignoring the startled jeers of the poor lost sheep crowded against the guardrails, Tremblay made her way down the ramp, then hurried up the steel steps, climbed onto the empty corner and sprang from there to the center of the ring, where she dropped to her knees facing the hard camera A detail noted by those with particularly sharp vision, Penny usually wore copper-colored eye shadow, but tonight it was very clearly gold, a detail that came to light when she closed her eyes and stretched both arms wide. Standing after a suitable amount of genuflection, Tremblay moved to the far corner and waited in silence while Senior Official Nick Castle made an inspection of pads and boots. Utterly pointless of course, tonight's affair was strictly No Disqualification, but the ref was a stickler for tradition and so Penny used the moment of quiet to reflect on what she meant to do to the recalcitrant Susie Four-Times before the night was over.
Castle'd just finished securing one of the heavy collars around Penny's neck when the Announcer resumed their duties. “And introducing her opponent,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, and the FAWN World Champion! This is...SUSANNAH BURLINGAME!”
CROWN ON THE GROUND:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp9vupuAGRU
SUE BURLINGAME:
The sold out crowd damned near blew the off the building in time with the discordant opening riff of 'Crown on the Ground'. The noise was still building when the eldest Burlingame sister brushed through the curtain and stepped to the center of the stage. Beaming from ear to ear, Susie Four-Times tipped a wink to the camera before flinging her arms wide and tossing back her head to call down a ‘BOOM’ of zappy blue pyro! Stock still until the last of it faded away, Sue offered a pumped fist to the raucous crowd, then started down the ramp.
For tonight's chance to finally put an end to the threat of the Soul Survivor, Burlingame wore her classic dark blue two-piece with mellow gold trim; matching boots and pads at knee and elbow completed the look. Though never a hand-slapper in the vein of those names that populated FAWN's Mt. Rushmore of Babyfaces, the Bankable Bombshell angled from side to side to touch some of the fans reaching out in her direction. Drawing back to the middle of the aisle as she closed in on the ring, Burlingame exploded 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 that was still going strong when Nick stepped up to check pads and boots before affixing the other collar. Sue remained as silent as her challenger, though she did offer Castle a nod of thanks when he was finished. Not that she didn't have anything to say, that wasn't it at all. But she was more than happy to wait until she could speak her peace with a few lengths of chain wrapped around one fist.
Satisfied that champion and challenger were suitably secured by that ominous length of steel chain, Nick Castle retreated to the center of the ring and threw a signal to the Timekeeper.
CLANG!
Letting out a deep breath that was entirely lost in the roar of the crowd, Sue took hold of the chain and wrapped a length of it around her right hand once, twice, three times. Penny saw this but did not mirror the World Champion. Instead she brushed the steel links aside with one foot and went straight for her arch-rival. Burlingame clocked the blonde's approach and vacated the buckles at once. She'd taken enough abuse from the Orphan of Midnight to know she didn't want her back to the corner at any point in this match.
“C'mon then.” Sue beckoned the bendy-back closer even as Tremblay burned through the distance between 'em. “You want what's mine, kiddo? You're gonna have to fuckin' take—”
Penny shot up on tiptoe so Sue raised her hands to meet the lock-up only to curse when the Angriest Acolyte dipped low and lunged in to wrap her arms around the champ's upper thighs! Burlingame actually landed a few chain-augmented punches against the blonde's left flank before Tremblay yanked her foe's legs out from underneath and spilled her to the canvas with a Double Leg Takedown! The landing was painful but otherwise unmemorable, Sue soaked it up with little more than a grunt and kicked her legs up to smeck around Penny's wai— “HHRRGGHHH!”
Catching hold of the collar around the brunette's throat before Burlingame could really secure the Bodyscissors, Tremblay delivered a lightning-quick jab straight to her opponent's mouth! Two more quick shots put Sue's stems back on the deck and allowed Bad Penny to squirm into a seat on the veteran's stomach. Burlingame reached up to shove her off, so the blonde dug her knees in above opposing hips, then grabbed hold of Sue's chain-wrapped right hand and smashed it against the canvas until she was able to shift her left shin into place atop the heiress' forearm. Trapping Sue's arm meant the mount wasn't quite as snug as Penelope would've liked, though it didn't prevent her from catching a length of chain in both hands a second or two later. Yanking it tight with an ominous clink, the Last True Believer pressed her weapon down across the bridge of Burlingame's nose, thus forcing the champ to shut her eyes tight before Penelope started draaaagggggging the chain back and forth!
Sue shrieked and immediately reached for the grating links, an effort made all the more difficult with only one hand. Even so, she managed to catch a grip and pull the weapon away though whatever relief she felt proved short-lived as Tremblay simply jerked the makeshift garrote into place beneath the brunette's nose and pushed up like she meant to shear it off!
“I've asked you over and over again, ma'am.” Penny growled as she continued her torturous work while fighting to maintain her mount atop the thrashing Bombshell. “Just what will it take to make you realize there's nothing left to accomplish? Every time I think I've found the answer you manage to pull yourself back together. To somehow fail your way into an even more advantageous positi—”
Sue reached up with her free hand to push at Penny's chin only to pull back when the blonde 'snapped' a bite at those encroaching digits!
“I don't want to maim you, ma'am.” Penny lowered the chain a second time, the malicious bendy-back trying to force it between the Ace's clenched lips so she could grind away on her teeth. “Much as I loathe you, you have earned the right to walk away from this industry with your face intact. But all of this defiance is starting to feel more like spite and if you won't do anything to prevent yourself from looking like a monster in your child's eyes, why should I have to pick up that slaNGH! NGH! NGH!”
Penny had worked her way into a higher mount so she could control the champ's arms which was all well and good until Burlingame whipped a knee up and THUMPED it into the small of Tremblay's back! One wasn't nearly enough so Sue tacked on two or three more, the pinned brunette firing shots off left-right-left until Penny reared back and hooked her arms around the Ace's shin—NO! Sue locked her legs tight and popped her hips to yank Tremblay backward in an impromptu Sunset Flip that drew Burlingame into a seat while stacking the Angriest Acolyte on her should—NO! Penny somersaulted backward out of the cover and rushed forward at full speed, her right leg whipping out in a Penalty Ki—Sue threw herself backward, the Bankable Bombshell going flat to avoid the nasty strike. Sitting up immediately thereafter, Burlingame spun to one knee, grabbed a double handful of the chain and YANKED as hard as she could!
Already off balance after the miss, Tremblay was torn loose from her moorings and landed hard on the back of her head and shoulders! Penny grunted and popped to a seat, one arm wrapped around the back of her head to ease the pai—cheers from the capacity crown when Burlingame lunged at the penitent challenger and THWHAPPED a Forearm Smash into the base of Penny's skull! Tremblay's swaddling arm absorbed a bit of the impact to be sure, but she instinctively pulled it away to avoid another shot which meant she was otherwise defenseless when Sue glommed onto her shoulders and drilled a Headbutt into the same spot! The Orphan of Midnight grunted, tried to spin away and cursed through clenched teeth when Sue dragged her right back to start before securing a tight Bodyscissors! Jaw clenched as Burlingame's thighs grated against her ribs, Tremblay gouged an elbow into the brunette's left knee and started to grrrrrrrrriiiiinnnd back and forth.
“Get off me, hag.” Penny demanded. “Now, before I break your knee. I'm sure using a walker would ruin that MILF mystique you're so proud NNNGGGGGHHH!”
Sue interrupted with the stiffest Forearm Smash yet, then looped a length of the chain across the blonde's throat and pulled it tight! “I think it's time you finally learned to respect your elders, honey.” Burlingame murmured in her foe's ear as she continued to pour it on with her Scissors and the heavy chain. “But even if you don't learn anything at least I'll finally have some goddamned peace and quiRRRGGGHHHH!”
Abandoning her efforts to pull the chain from her throat, Tremblay snatched another good-sized length in her right hand and whipped it over her left shoulder to lash Burlingame's upper back! Sue cried out, shook her head like 'nice try' and delivered her hardest constriction yet. “My back is stronger than your ribs, Tremblay.” Burlingame growled at her rasping nemesis. “Just like my hands are stronger than your nec—AAAAAHHHHHH FAHK!”
The Angriest Acolyte hadn't released her hold on the chain, she'd just shifted her angle to better deliver the linked-lash across the champion's left ear! Sue's eyes watered at once and she abandoned the stranglehold to press her left hand against her stinging ear. As for her right hand, she set it against the mat and leaned back so she could squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze the Scissors hard enough to—“NNNGGGHHH!
Tremblay angled her head far to the right to ensure a clean angle on her tormentor when she switched the length of chain to her left hand and flicked it directly over that shoulder! Sue had stretched out to get the most from her Scissors which meant she didn't take the chain between the eyes, however it still THWHAPPED her sternum hard enough to loosen those crushing stems.
Drawing a breath the instant the pressure receded, Penny braced her hands against the insides of Sue's knees and pushed down while simultaneously rising onto her knees. From there she scrambled around in a half circle and immediately set to work pounding fists into the Rainmaker's vaunted midsection. Growling in pain and indignation as the younger woman's fists did their work, Burlingame crossed her ankles and clamped down on the Bodyscissors to make sure Tremblay knew she was still trapped. While it was tempting to answer those body shots with some of her own, the Ace instead hooked her fingers under the collar around Penny's neck and jerked it from side to side before CRA-CRAAACKING the challenger's cheeks with a forehand-backhand Bitch Slap combo!
“You're fighting at 'Mania, little girl!” Sue barked over the 'ooooooooohhhhhh!' of the crowd. “Try fighting like you give a shitTTTRRRRHHHHH!”
Penny mirrored the veteran's grip on Sue's collar, but rather than slap she yanked Burlingame forward and landed another straight right, this one to the bridge of Burlingame's nose!
“You think I'm dealing with butterflies, ma'am?” the Last True Believer freed her hand from the collar so she could press both mitts against the sides of Sue's head and gouge her thumbs against the brunette's eyelids! “I'm not. And why would I? I've beat your ass over and over again, how many women in the locker room can say that? Only thing that makes tonight different is just how much you'll bleed before I take what's minOOOOWWWWWW BITCH!”
Finally starting to understand that Tremblay wasn't going to abide any traditional rules of decorum, Sue chucked her own reservations in the trash and hooked her fingers around the blonde's thumbs so she wrench them back as far as they'd go! Just how far that turned out remained a mystery for the eldest Burlingame sister as she was still fighting to blink away spots when Tremblay's torture devolved into a round of furious hand-fighting that saw Penny finally wriggle loose of the Scissors. Sue made her pay for the escape with a quick kick to the tummy that dropped the blonde on her butt. The separation created was far from pretty, yet it must've been most welcome as champion and challenger scrambled in opposite directions to assess the hurts inflicted thus far.
Shoulders rising and falling as her breathing steadied out, Susie Four-Times kept a harsh eye on the Last True Believer while she 'flicked' her trunks back into place and set about re-wrapping several lengths of chain around her right hand. Not that Tremblay shied away from the heiress' gaze mind you, she didn't so much as flinch as the Ace tried to stare a hole right through her. Instead she took a moment to smooth back her hair and make a few minor adjustments to her top. Noting the way Burlingame had augmented her right hand, Bad Penny looked at the remaining chain and contemplated doing the same but in the end she collected a loop that was somewhere between eight to ten inches long and let simply let it hang from her left hand.
“Nice accessory, ma'am.” Tremblay flicked a glance at Burlingame's glinting right hand. “I'm sure it'll come in useful the first time you attend a PTA meeting. Would you go to a PTA meeting? Or is that another job for the live-in nanny?”
“PTA meetings start at 7:30 and typically run an hour.” Burlingame answered dryly. “If traffic wasn't bad I could hop on I-4 and still get to the Arena with plenty of time to kick your ass in the last segment of the night.”
Penny smiled, stuck out a foot and used it to nudge the chain into a line separating herself from the Rainmaker. “Do it then. If you can. Don't worry if you can't, not having to worry about the World Title will do wonders for your time managem—”
“You sure do talk a lot for someone determined to make me bleed.” Sue stepped up, brushed the line aside with a single dismissive kick and went nose to nose with the challenger, who didn't cede a single step. “Know what I think, kiddo? I think that no matter what, you're going to leave this ring disappointed. Even if you put me on a stretcher before raising the World Title high overhead, even if this is my last time setting foot in the ring, even if I spend the next six weeks recovering from what happens tonight... tomorrow morning you'll wake up as a World Champion and still be the same awful bitch you've always been. Because even covered in stitches and wrapped in bandages, I'll be happy to spend time with my family. And as we all know, happiness is anathema to Penelope Tremblay because she'd rather spend her whole life miserable than even attempt to deal with—”
Penny grabbed hold of the chain just below Burlingame's coller and yanked her forward into an Elbow Smash that THWHACKED against the Ace's nose! Sue's legs shuddered and she stumbled back a few steps, though she'd caught her balance by the time Tremblay leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Clever tactic, ma'am. It deftly deflects all blame to me while allowing you ignore the fact that you're little more than a visiting stranger in your own daughter's lifRGH! RGH! RGH!”
The Bankable Bombshell finally put that right hand to good, or rather, bad use, as she pounded a good half a dozen punches into the blonde's left flank, the impacts running from the point of her hip to a little below the armpit! Penny snarled, released her grip on Sue's collar and took hold of the other end of the loop she'd created earlier. Pulling it tight against the nape of Burlingame's neck, she pulled the brunette's head forward and down in a Muy Thai-style clasp and answered those punches with knee after knee after knee to her opponent's midsection! The Ace did her best to intercept those shiv-like blows with her left arm but it would be a lie to say the bulk of her attention wasn't focused on pounding several fist-sized holes in the blonde's left side. The wild exchange soon had champion and challenger stumbling about in an awkward circle, neither woman willing to let the other get away while she was unleashing with such reckless aband— “NNNNGGGHHHH!”
Penny took a hard shot to the kidney that had her slumping against the Rainmaker to stay upright, alas Sue wasn't able to capitalize on the opening before Tremblay made her pay with a spiteful Kneelift that THUMPED the brunette's undercarriage instead of her midsection! A rough Shoulderblock from the Orphan of Midnight set Sue back on her heels, though she didn't get far enough to stop Penny from snatching hold of her collar again.
“Wrapping your hand is a good idea, ma'am. I'll definitely feel those in the morning.” Penny admitted as she let that menacing length of chain swing in her left hand. “You though, you're not gonna feel much of anything tomorrow, assuming they gave you the good anesthetic.”
The word was still on Tremblay's lips when she whipped her left hand back and—'OOOOOOOOHHHHHH!' from the FAWNatics and an incredulous squeak from the challenger when Burlingame paid back that low Kneelift with an equally nauseating punt to the younger woman's crotch!
All other thoughts obliterated in the wake of this shudder inducing retaliation, Tremblay dropped the chain and turned around with one hand outstretched toward the ropes while the other pressed against the fork of her cro—SCRACK! Penny shrieked in surprised anguish when Burlingame helped herself to a long length of chain and lashed it across the blonde's lower back! Already tottering thanks to the low blow, the Angriest Acolyte shot up on tiptoe and minced away as fast as she could, possibly under the mistaken impression that the strands would offer any sort of respite. Oh so happy to remind her nemesis that nowhere was safe, Sue followed along and whipped the bendy-back twice more, the heiress gripping the chain with both hands to add even more force to the hellacious impacts!
Penny's legs did give way after the third shot laid fire from her right shoulder all the way to her left hip and while she did pitch forward into the ropes, the Last True Believer didn't bleat for sanctuary. Instead she hooked her left arm over the top rope and promptly fired off a Back Elbow she hoped would—Burlingame brought her forearms together in a guard that soaked up the strike, then grabbed Penny's right shoulder and SPIKED her kidney with a Broadside Kneelift!
Burying her hands in the challenger's hair to make sure Tremblay wouldn't crumple to her knees, the Ace peeled her prey away from the ropes only to bend her over and force her through the gap between top and middle strands. From there she switched over to a grip on the blonde's biceps, one that allowed her to hook the useless limbs over the top rope. Not entirely sure what she'd do next, Burlingame took a big step backward to presumably mull her options but she must've reached a decision almost immediately because the veteran pivoted on her left foot and hopped forward to THWHACK a textbook Super Kick against the base of her foe's skull!
“Ask her.” she jerked a thumb in Penny's direction, then cleared off so Castle could do as bade. “As her if she's done.”
The Senior Official furrowed his brow, uncertain of the champ's intention. “It's not really I Quit rules, Sue.” he said. “Pin, submission, or knockout, that's how it—”
“Verbal submission is still a submission, Castle.” Burlingame snapped. “So ask the brat if she's had en—”
“The hell I have.” Tremblay sneered from her spot in the Bankable Bombshell's trap. “After all we've done to each other you think I'm gonna beg off after you leave a few welts on my back? Respectfully, get the fuck outta here with that bullshit, maRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!”
Sue snatched up the chain and whipped Penny across the lower back, no more than two inches above the waistband of her trunks! Half a dozen more lashings followed, each resounding SCRACK earning a hiss from Tremblay and a groan from the crowd. Tossing the chain down when her shoulders started to burn, Susie Four-Times crowded in behind the blonde, grabbed a huge handful of hair and wrenched her head back at a painful angle. “Give up.” she ordered. “Take the loss and fucking move on, girl. Don't make me ruin your career.”
“Don't make you?” Penny scoffed. “Make you? Ma'am, how many times to I have to tell you? This all ends when you say it's ovNNRRHH!”
The heiress pulled harder than ever. “I can hurt you very badly.” she hissed. “You know that, don't you? This sort of punishment isn't worth—”
“Then quit.” Tremblay interrupted. “If none of this is worth it, if you know it's not worth it, then quit and walk away. You could, you know. You could submit right now and prove your moral superiority once and for all here in front of the whole world. But that would mean leaving with no leather and gold around your waist. It would mean denying the baying, insatiable crowd the climax they'll tell you they so richly deserve. It would mean being a loser on the biggest stage of the year and good ol' Susie Four-Times would HAPPILY sacrifice everyone in her life as long as it meant never having to be a losAAAAARRRRHHHHHHH!”
Sue drew a length of the chain across her opponent's jaw and pulled back as hard as she could! “SHUT UP!” she screamed at the struggling blonde. “Shut up! Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!”
Releasing her grip when Nick started looking like he was going to say something stupid, the Bankable Bombshell wrapped her right hand, then cinched her left arm around Tremblay's throat so she could hold her steady for a good two dozen hammer fists delivered to the challenger's forehead. Pausing only when she noted the blood staining Penny's hairline, Sue cupped her left hand under the other woman's chin and said, “Give up, goddammit. You have no idea what I could do to you.”
Fuck if Bad Penny didn't actually smile. “Muuuuuhhhhh... maybe I don't. Guess you'll just have to show me, along with the rest of the world. Hey, that means your daughter and I will finally have something in com—”
Sue cupped Penny's chin and pulled her head so far back the Angriest Acolyte was looking at her upside. “Choose your words carefully, Tremblay.”
“Tuuuuhhhh...tonight IS special.” she giggled. “When all is said and done, we'll both know just what kind of monster you really arRRNNNGGGHHH!”
The Rainmaker stomped in place and whipped her head forward to THWHUNK Penny between the eyes with a stiff Headbutt!
That was enough to shut the challenger's mouth for the moment so Burlingame prized Penny's arms off the top rope and marched her backward into the middle of the ring where she secured a no-nonsense Full Nelson. Forcing Tremblay's chin down snug against her own sternum, Sue settled into a deep crouch, then popped her hips and peeled off a gorgeous bridge to THAWHAM Penny down on the back of her head and shoulders! Castle cringed along with the rest of the FAWNatics, though he was delighted to count an actual fall, as evidenced by how swiftly he swooped into place for the...
DRAGON SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Btxmid1bw
ONE...
TWO...
The Orphan of Midnight twisted free of the hold and slopped onto her stomach just after the ref reached 'TWO!'
Beside her, Sue rolled to one knee and smoothed back her hair before adjusting her trunks. Once that was done she grabbed a double handful of Penny's hair and got to her feet, thus forcing the blonde to rise alongside. Forcing the younger woman's head beneath her left arm with a Front Facelock, Sue slung Tremblay's near arm across her shoulders, then caught hold of Penny's waistband just above the left hip. With the excess chain pooled at their feet, Burlingame muscled the Last True Believer all the way to high noon, the toes of the blonde's boots pointing straight into the overhead lights. Didn't stay there long as the Ace twisted around in a half circle and kicked her right leg out before dropping straight down to BWA-THUMP the crown of Penny's skull on those tumbled steel links!
SPINNING BRAINBUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V47mcDDBucg
Tremblay exploded into a starfish that got bundled into something far neater once Burlingame floated over and hooked the far leg in a cradle good for the...
ONE...
TWO...
Penny shot a shoulder off the deck, perhaps a little later than her last escape, but still too soon for anyone to call it a near fall.
Shaking her head in disgust, the Bankable Bombshell went back to her earlier hair-hold, only this time she raised the challenger as far as her knees. A concerned grumble rippled through the crowd as they caught glimpse of Penny's face and Castle couldn't blame them. He'd known the champ had busted her nemesis open when she'd been trapped in the ropes a few moments prior, but after the Brainbuster what had once been a trickle was now the classic 'crimson mask', Tremblay's aristocratic features painted bright red from the tip of her nose all the way to her hairline and a few inches beyond, her usually flaxen locks now a distressing pink. Dropping to one knee beside his wounded charge, Nick fished some gloves out of his back pocket and slipped them on before tending to the blonde. “You doing ok, Penny? If you can't continue just say the word and I'll—”
“Huuuhhh...head wounds are notorious bleeders, Castle. You know this. I know this. The hag certainly knows this.” Penny flicked her eyes to Sue and offered a ghastly smile. “But if she thinks a little blood loss is going to stop me, she's even dumber than she loNNNNGGGHHH!” Burlingame rushed in with a Kneelift to the forehead that would've knocked Tremblay sprawling if the Ace hadn't caught hold of her hair. “I'm through asking you to think rationally.” she told Penny once she'd been steadied out a bit. “You want to make this personal? You want to see just how far you can push me before shit hits the fan? Then strap yourself in, girlie. You're not going to like what happens next.”
Tremblay's lips curled up in an off-kilter smile, a sharp white crescent beneath all that red. “Bet...bet your husband doesn't either. Can't be easy to explain to his daughter why mommy's on the T.V. kicking the shit out of—”
THWHAP!
Burlingame planted on her right foot so she could smash a heavy kick across the penitent battler's chest! Tremblay swayed like a reed in a hurricane but she didn't go down. In fact the challenger crossed her wrists, squared her shoulders and locked eyes with the Rainmaker. “Just one?” she asked in a mockingly disappointed tone. “Who am I, a BloodwinNNNNGGGHHHH!”
CHEST KICKS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf29EFnMQJA
Sue wasn't about to take such sass from the crazy bitch so she reset her stance and unloaded half a dozen more kicks to the challenger's chest! Each of them seemed to take a little more air from Penny's lungs, yet none of them managed to knock her down so Susie Four-Times ultimately reset her footing and THWHACKED a pitiless Buzzsaw Kick to the left ear!
BUZZSAW KICK @ 00:06
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pLSBeN2to4
Tremblay went down in a glassy-eyed sprawl and Burlingame wasted no time in sliding into place for a cover bolstered by hooking the far leg and grrrrrrriiiiiinding the ridge of her forearm against the blonde's jaw while the ref counted...
ONE...
TWO...
THRNOOOO!
Bad Penny shot her right shoulder off the mat not just to break the pin, but to grab hold of her foe's ear and twist as hard as she could!
“BITCH!” Sue reared back, swatted the blonde's claw away, then joined her own mitts into a Double Axehandle that she PWAAAKED down against Tremblay's navel! Penny coughed and rolled over onto all fours, five if you count the crown of her forehead braced against the canvas. Burlingame reached for the vulnerable challenger only to pull back as she thought better of it.
Rising to boot-leather as quietly as the damned chain would allow, the Rainmaker moved around on Tremblay's six and settled into a deep crouch that earned a raucous cheer from the folks positioned behind the hard camera. The noise only grew louder when the champ started to sway back and forth, the predatory, almost serpentine motion telling the 'Mania faithful that an Ace Crusher was close at hand. As of yet oblivious to this lurking doom, Penny Tremblay raised her head from the deck and peered through a curtain of bloody hair to find the Ace nowhere in sight. Correctly guessing Burlingame's position a heartbeat thereafter, the Angriest Acolyte let her noggin return to the canvas while she let out a pained groan that was only slightly exaggerated. When no attack came, Penny gathered her reserves and pushed all the way to vertical—Sue snatched a shoulder and whipped the bendy-back around so she could leap skyward and catch Tremblay's head in a Three Quarters Faceloc—NO!
Penny hooked her right arm across Burlingame's lower back and braced her left hand against the back of the champ's left thigh even as she yanked clear of the Facelock! Wedging her head beneath the Rainmaker's left arm even as she hoisted her high into the air, Penny laid out on her back and brought both knees up so that when Sue came down she THWHUMPED spine-first across those bony daggers!
SPINE TREMBLAR:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YulpHBFP9S8
The Spine Tremblar outta nowhere bounced Sue away like she'd been launched from a pneumatic piston and she might've rolled under the bottom rope to the floor if Tremblay hadn't caught hold of the chain and puuuuuuulllled hard enough to stop her momentum.
“Where do you think you're going, ma'am?” the blonde was all smiles despite the horror-show condition of her face. “You didn't think I'd give you a nice quiet ten count on the floor after how much blood you've spilled, do you? Best I can do right now is some time in the ropes. Sound good?”
No answer from the heiress, who was still clutching at her throbbing back in the wake of the Spine Tremblar. The challenger took silence for consent so she collected the eldest Burlingame Sister at trunks and tresses and scraped her off the mat before trudging over to the ropes. Much as the Ace had done to her earlier in their battle, Penny stuffed Sue's upper body through the gap between top and middle strands so she could hook her arms around the former.
Once Burlingame was thus confined, Tremblay helped herself to a two-foot length of chain she let dangle from her left hand. Snuggling in close on the brunette's right, Penny cupped Sue's chin in her hand and made a show of smearing some of the blood from her forehead against the veteran's temple. “You don't want to give up, do you ma'am?”
Sue shook her head 'no' and tried to bite the challenger's fingers, though Penny proved a bit too quick to catch. “Nuuuhhh...never.” she grunted. “I'll never give you the satisfaction.”
“Satisfaction takes many forms, ma'am.” Tremblay murmured as she stepped away from the trapped Ace. “Please, stay strong as long as you can.”
Sue started to answer but had to 'clack' her jaw shut to hold in a scream when Penny reared back and SCRACKED her with the chain from right shoulder to left hip! The stifled scream didn't seem to bother the Last True Believer, indeed she dipped her head in an appreciative little nod before she changed angles and SCRACKED her opponent from left shoulder to right hip! Those two shots were more than enough to raise an ugly, over-sized 'X' on Burlingame's back, but Tremblay was after something in a much darker shade so she planted her feet and added two more lashes to each of the existing welts. Sue managed to remain silent until the last one when she finally voiced a long, agonized whine through clenched teeth.
Grimacing alongside the increasingly concerned FAWNatics, Nick Castle cleared his throat and said, “C'mon Penny. You don't have to do this.”
The Orphan of Midnight turned to the Senior Official and smiled. “I know. Isn't it great?” The last word was still on her lips when Tremblay climbed onto the bottom rope so she could sling her left leg around the vulnerable champion's midsection. Completing the Bodyscissors shortly thereafter, Penny crossed her ankles, cupped her hands beneath Burlingame's chin and drew herself backward into a nearly horizontal line and as she squeeeeeeeeeeeeeezed Sue's ribs and craaaaaaaaaaaaaaanked her neck!
ROUGHHOUSING IN THE ROPES:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2GxVOOrPNU
“What do you say, Sue?” the ref more than ten seconds into a move that would've already forced a break under normal conditions. “Do you need me to call for the bell? Tell me something!”
The Rainmaker waggled her head 'no' even though doing so put even more strain on her already aching neck. Her answer was enough for the zebra, but apparently not the challenger, who scoffed in disgust before gouging the point of her chin into the brunette's forehead.
“Helpless wriggling is not an answer, ma'am.” she snapped after several more seconds of rough treatment. “The man wanted you to tell him something. You might as well make it something meaningful.”
“Yuuuhhh...you want meaningful?” Burlingame was struggling to slip her right arm free of the top rope, an effort that put unpleasant torque on that shoulder. “Ok. Nick, this bitch has got the laziest Scissors I've ever AAAARRRRHHHHH FAAAAAAAAAAAHK!”
Tremblay had expected sass of some sort and punished it accordingly by sinking her teeth into the veteran's forehead! The ferocious punishment sent an awful jolt through Burlingame's trapped frame, yet even the worst thunderheads come equipped with a silver lining, as Sue discovered when she wrenched her right arm away from the top rope! Resisting every urge to go straight for the blonde's hair, Burlingame instead groped for a length of chain and, once finding it, repaid an earlier indignity by flicking it across her own chest to SCRACK Tremblay across her shoulders and the nape of her neck!
“BITCH!” the Angriest Acolyte sneered as her repast came to a rude end. Not about to abandon such a damaging perch even under the threat of more lashing, Bad Penny hunched her shoulders against the next shot, then halved her Chinlock so she could draaaaaaaaaaaaag curved talons across Sue's eyes! Burlingame shrieked louder than ever but damned if she tag her tormentor with a couple of more shots before Tremblay formed her talons into a fist and POUNDED it against the bridge of the Ace's nose!
“The... the boundaries you'll push to stay on top of this industry,” Penny huffed raggedly as Burlingame gave up offense to cover her nose, “continue to astound me. I think I'm done asking what I have to do to make you stop, ma'am. I'm just gonna take the first awful idea that crosses my mind and make it even worse.”
“Lotta big talk, kiddo.” Sue grunted. “That's one thing you and psychos like Wainright have in common. You always talk bigger than you acTGGUUUHHHRRRGGGHH!”
Penny wasted no time making her threat an awful dental reality as she snatched a short length of chain in both hands and drew it across Burlingame's mouth like a bridle! Not content to merely pull at this stage of the contest, Tremblay dragged the links back and forth to produce a hideous clinking-clanking sound that set Castle's own teeth on edge! “At least I'll still be able to talk when the bell rings.” Penny murmured to the sputtering Ace. “But you? You'll be too busy coughing up blood and broken teeRRRRHHH FUCK!”
Burlingame couldn't pull the chain away from her mouth no matter how hard she tried so she grabbed another length of it CRACKED Penny across the cheek just below her right eye!
Finally disengaging the Scissors so she could tend to her own watery vision, Tremblay only indulged in a moment of self care before she grabbed an even longer length of chain and whipped Sue's shoulders!
The veteran had just coughed out the encroaching links so there was no muffler for the scream that seemed to echo through the FAWN Arena far longer than it should. It was still raising goosebumps on the arms of fans all over the building when Tremblay stepped in and wrapped several lengths of chain around the brunette's head! Burlingame wasn't quite a mummy when the challenger was finished but she sure made a pretty good approximation thereof as Penny turned her back on the seated Bombshell and reached over her right shoulder with both hands. Grabbing hold of the steel instead of her opponent proper, Tremblay took a couple giant steps forward, then went up on tiptoe and dropped to her knees to tear Sue out of the strands with a Hangman's Neckbreaker that THWHUNKED the beleaguered heiress' skull against her shoulder with a pitiless whiplash impact!
Sue seemed to crumple into herself on impact, the champ's tawny frame going almost fetal before the challenger grabbed on at hip and shoulder and dragged her out to the middle where she hooked both legs in a Back Press good for...
ONE...
TWO...
THRNOOOO!
Palpable relief (in the form of thunderous cheers) from the Burlingame Backers when their heroine twitched loose of the cover with half a second to spare! Seated beside her tenacious nemesis, Penny Tremblay rested her elbows on her knees to take a breather, yet rather than tend to her own wounds she undid the chain coiled around Sue's noggin. “Well, well. Would you look at that.” she said once her 'present' was properly unwrapped. “You've got some red on you, ma'am.”
'Some' was a bit of an understatement as Burlingame's nose wasn't quite gushing, but it was definitely running. Her mouth was worse as Tremblay's manic work with the chain had busted her bottom lip and left the whole of her chin painted red. Sue grunted, went to wipe at her face but Penny swatted the veteran's hand away before she could do much of anything. Quick to bury that hand in Burlingame's sweat-soaked mane, the Orphan of Midnight held Sue's head steady while she swiped at the blood on her chin.
Far from an act of kindness, Tremblay earned roars of outraged disdain from those assembled when she used her thumb to draw a vertical line on each cheek. “I've never been one to pay attention to those 'who wore it best' articles.” Penny admitted as she admired her handiwork via the FAWNtron. “But I have to admit, I wear your blood VERY well.”
“Juuuuuhhhh...just let me try on a little more of yours.” Burlingame rolled to her hands and knees despite the willowy blonde's unpleasant grip. “I'm sure it'll make an unforgettable statement piecNNNNGGGGHHHH!”
Penny abandoned the hair-hold, got to her feet and CLAPPED both hands between Sue's shoulders in a vicious Slap! Going right back to the hair as Burlingame started to rise, Tremblay skewered the veteran's belly with a Toe Kick and reeled her into a Standing Headscissors. “Tonight isn't the statement you think it is, ma'am.” Penny leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the Rainmaker's waist. “It's more of a cautionary tale than anything else.”
Sue only coughed a nonsense reply so Penny dipped her knees and hoisted the bloodied brunette up so that the small of her back rested against the point of Tremblay's right shoulder. It could've been a Canadian Backbreaker or a dozen other things, but the FAWNatics knew better and their suspicions were confirmed once Bad Penny shifted from the Waistlock to her prey's biceps, the Ace's arms rudely stretched out at her sides in a rough 'T' shape. Careful to keep her feet from getting tangled in the dangling chain, the Last True Believer pivoted toward the nearest corner which sent Nick Castle scrambling to find a new vantage point to watch the action. Penny lunged to life as soon as her spot was clear, the challenger burning up the canvas in a few long strides before she hurled Burlingame off her shoulders so that the Ace took the top turnbuckle between her shoulders with a cringe-inducing BWUUUNG![/b]
LAST NIGHT OF SADNESS @ 1:45
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIuz4dinZ1o
Sue had endured The Last Night of Sadness numerous times during her wars with the Last True Believer, but familiarity did not dull the pain in the slightest, indeed she would've swore this one hurt more than all of Tremblay's previous efforts. Nevertheless, the Bankable Bombshell managed to hook her arms over the top rope long enough to get her legs steady enough to carry her weight. As for Penny, she kicked the chain aside and turned her back on the brunette for a quick stroll to the other side of the ring. Once there she bent over and hooked both thumbs into her right kneepad, which she pulled down over the top of her shin. From there she whipped 'round on her heel and sprinted back the way she'd came. Burlingame dared invoke Miranda Wainright moments before and she paid dearly for it when the Angriest Acolyte leapt onto the bottom rope and THWHUNKED her right knee into the champ's mouth!
HIGH CORNER KNEE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN_1hYD_U_g
Twisting around to snatch a rough Side Headlock in the blink of an eye, Tremblay continued the tribute to her mentor by leaving the corner in her hurry, Sue dragged along in the blonde's wake even as she dipped down and sprang skyward for skull-cracking BulldoNO! Sue got one hand on the small of Penny's back and the other on the back of one thigh, an awkward set of hooks that was still strong enough to lift Tremblay up far higher than she'd ever intended. Leaping to their feet before the challenger even understood what'd gone wrong, a chorus several thousand strong ROARED in delight when Sue pivoted beneath her blonde and dropped backward with both knees drawn snug to her chest.
Spine Tremblar, Susannah Burlingame to Penelope Tremblay in the middle of the ring.
Too overwhelmed with pain to properly acknowledge the indignity of getting dropped by her own finisher, Penny bounced away from the impact and was still wriggling when Sue SPLASHED down across her chest not to go for a cover, but just to dish out a little more hurt before she secured a double handful of the challenger's bloodstained locks and dragged her to verticality.
Kicking the excess chain aside to keep her footing clear, the eldest Burlingame sister grabbed hold of Tremblay's right wrist and twisted around behind her to secure a quick Hammerlock. Soon as that was done she pressed her left hand against Penny's noggin and spun her down and around into a Standing Headscissors with the Hammerlock still in place. Pausing for a second to acknowledge the rumbling roar of the crowd, Sue balled her left hand into a fist, then popped the thumb out straight and dragged it across her throat in a savage slash.
“PUNK'S DONE!” she barked at the redlining throng! They certainly weren't going to argue with her, indeed conditions only grew louder when the heiress reached down and hooked her left arm behind the Angriest Acolyte's right knee, all the better to yank it off the mat in a snug Cradle. Trap locked and ready to spring, Sue blew a kiss to Penny's bowed back before she sank into a crouch just to hoist her nemesis upside down, Tremblay balled up good and snug as the Ace spun through two full rotations en route to dropping to her butt, the brutal impact of the Spirit Crusher made even worse because Susie Four-Times BWATHWUMPED Penny down atop several coils of steel chain!
SPIRIT CRUSHER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EsGeYdhPnQ
Tremblay bounced clear in an insensate sprawl that grew quite a bit more contained when the Rainmaker swung a leg over and climbed aboard to take a heavy seat on her foe's throat! It wasn't a Reverse Face Sit to be certain as Penny's mouth and nose were open to the cool air of the arena. But(t) her chin was most definitely wedged into the southern curve of Burlingame's vaunted glutes and the challenger's predicament only grew more precarious when Sue hooked both legs at the knee and leaaaaaaaaaaaaaaned back in a Reverse Matchbook that kept her folded in half through...
ONE...
TWO...
THRENOOOOOOOO!
The Orphan of Midnight braced her hands against the Ace's buns and forced her off with a convulsive shove half a heartbeat before 'THREE!' Pandemonium all 'round as the fans exclaimed their disbelief to any within the sound of their voices, Nick threw a hurried 'no, no, no!' to the Timekeeper and then to a wide-eyed Sue Burlingame when she showed him three fingers!
As the reality of Tremblay's escape washed over her, the Ace closed her eyes and grabbed onto her knee-pads like they'd keep her from simply floating off into the void. After several deep breaths the world felt far more solid again and the brunette opened her eyes to find the Last True Believer struggling to all fours. Landing atop the piled chain must've opened up a cut somewhere on the back of Tremblay's head because her once gleaming blonde tresses were shifting to a sodden strawberry pink before Burlingame's eyes.
Any other night, any other opponent, Sue would've at least looked to the ref about stopping the match, tonight she only caught a massive handful of hair and yanked the vulnerable bendy-back to her knees. Scrambling to verticality a moment thereafter, Burlingame hunched forward and wrapped her left arm around Penny's head to wrench it backward in an Inverted Front Facelock. The lingering incredulity was swept away by another wave of delighted relief as the Bankable Bombshell dropped into a crouch and started to turn ov—“OOOOOWWWWWWWW FUCKING BITCH!”
Despite the controlling position Sue threw her head back and shrieked to the rafters when Tremblay opened wide and chomped down on the underside of the champ's encroaching bicep! Knowing damned well she couldn't look to the zebra for any support against this pitiless counter, Burlingame curled her right hand into a fist and pwak-pwak-pwaaaked a barrage of Hammerfists into the challenger's fluttering midsection. “Stop biting me you fucking psychopath or I swear I'll—”
Tremblay raised her left hand and offered the Ace a brazen middle finger! The act of insolent defiance was met mostly with boos, though there was a noticeable thread of cheers running throughout, almost assuredly all from the contrarians, malcontents and other reprobates in attendance. The Ace acknowledged none of this noise, probably because it didn't even register. The only thing on her mind at that moment was putting Penelope Tremblay down for good and to make that a reality she stopped punching and hooked onto the challenger's waistband just above her right hip. With a furious Valkyrie shriek she muscled her burden high into the air and spun through a full rotation, one that let the brunette shift her grip from Penny's trunks to behind her right knee, Burlingame securing another tight Cradle as she dropped to a seat and THAWHAMMED the still-gnawing brat down on the back of her head and shoulders! Sue transitioned into a Crossbody without giving up the hooked leg, indeed she drew it that much tighter as Castle swooped in beside the action to count...
PAROXYSM @ 00:11
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AX7-FHDMEU
ONE...
TWO...
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Tremblay shot her left arm into the air much to the surprise and consternation of the FAWNatics, the bulk of whom openly wondered what the Ace needed to do to keep her nemesis down.
Sue didn't have a concrete answer for that at the moment but she did know what she was gonna do next and she wasted no time getting to it. Back on her feet with a weary groan, the Rainmaker trudged down to the challenger's feet where she laid claim to Tremblay's left ankle. Lifting that limb off the mat, she spun 'round it in a quick do-si-do that finished with Penny's knee snugged in against the brunette's calf. On the far side of that rotation Burlingame snagged the blonde's right ankle and lifted it off the mat so she could brace that shin against Tremblay's calf in the oh so familiar figure of four. In the next breath Sue dropped to a seat and hooked her left leg over the challenger's exposed ankle before pushing up on her palm to craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaank Penny's right knee!
FIGURE FOUR LEGLOCK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5MMvFfORNY
“AAAAAARRRRRRHHH FAAAAAAAAAHK!” the Orphan of Midnight sat up like the mat had been electrified when Burlingame first secured the Figure-Four Leglock. “EVIL OLD BITCH, LET ME GOOORRRRRGGGHHHHHH!”
Sue jounced in place hard enough to stretch Tremblay out flat with the anguish of it, but the wriggling bendy-back was careful to get a shoulder up when Nick dropped down in search of a count. “You want out, punk?” Sue huffed once the initial flailing died down. “Tap that mat and I'll let you go without a word. But if you keep running that mouth I'll make sure you don't leave this ring without a cute little limpRRGGHHH!”
Penny couldn't break the veteran's clamp on her legs but she could make her pay for the privilege and that's exactly what she did when she sat up and CLAPPED a hand down atop the Ace's chest! Sue hissed and dropped backward onto her elbows, a shift that eased the pressure on Tremblay's legs enough to allow a modicum of reli—CRAAACK!
The Bankable Bombshell sat up and answered with a slap of her own, though where Penny had targeted cleavage, Sue tagged her foe flush across the mouth! “You've needed that for a long time, Penelope.” Burlingame hissed at her furious rival. “Now are you going to tap out with some dignity or do I have to slap you down like the whiny little bitch youHHHRRRGGHH!”
Under different circumstances Penny would've been delighted to sit there and exchange slaps with the hag, but the dog collar allowed for certain opportunities she couldn't pass up so instead of kicking off round two, she grabbed hold of the chain just below Burlingame's collar and yanked her forward into a straight right hand!
Sue grunted and tried to cover up but Tremblay was having none of it. She switched her grip to the collar itself and proceeded to yank the champ's head back and forth, side to side, any which way but loose before she switched over to a hair-hold and puuuuuuuullllllllllled hard enough to the Ace's eyes water!
“Yuuuuuhhhhh... you still think some trashy-ass catfight shit will get the job done against me, Susannah?” the contempt in Penny's voice was damned near corrosive as she tried to rip out fistfuls of the veteran's dark locks. “I don't care about showing you off. I don't care about sitting on your fucking face. All I care about is making you see the error of your ways and if I have to ruin you to do it, then so be NNNNNGGGGGHHHH!”
Tremblay wasn't the only one who could use the chain to her advantage, as she discovered when she snatched a length of it and SCRACKED it against the side of the blonde's skull! Penny released her hold and immediately curled one arm against the fresh welt while the other braced against the mat like a kickstand. Bearing down on the Figure-Four once more, she plunged a hand into Penny's pink hair and pulled until the challenger hissed in anguish.
“My only ERROR was not putting you out of your misery the first time you stuck your nose in my business.” the Ace growled. “I'm sorry you hate your life, but that doesn't give you the right to ruin miOOHHHHHHH GAAAAWWWWD!”
One punch did not a life ruin, yet Penny certainly made the Rainmaker's night immeasurably worse when she balled her left hand into a fist and THUMPED it into the juncture of her thighs! The pressure on the Leglock collapsed at once and Tremblay pulled herself clear of the tangle so she could draw that throbbing right knee up against her chest. As for Sue she inched away in the opposite direction, one arm thrown over her fevered brow while her other hand tended to the nauseating ache radiating from her center.
Castle knew there was no stopping this match for anything short of crippling injury so he made no effort to start a standing count. Instead he moved between his charges to check on their condition. Sue groaned an affirmative and tumbled onto her stomach, the beleaguered brunette trying to summon the strength to reach all fours. As for Penny, she only offered a grim nod before crawling a bit farther away to recover in relative peace. A cheer from those assembled turned the Senior Official around to find the Bankable Bombshell on her feet with a long length of chain hanging from her right hand. “Guhhh... get out of the way, Nick.” she huffed at Castle. “It's time I finished this.”
The zebra didn't argue, though he did spare a glance in Tremblay's direction to confirm she'd made it off the canvas. The answer was 'partially', as the Angriest Acolyte was looking suitably penitent on one knee with her back to the oncoming Ac—Sue brought the chain up and slashing down, the links making a sound a bit like wind chimes as it arched toward Penny's should—NO!
Tremblay rolled forward and popped to her feet to avoid the lashing by the slimmest of margins! The miss didn't seem to bother Burlingame at all, she just reset and fired off another, this time a horizontal slash aimed at the blonde's stern—NOT TONIGHT! The Last True Believer threw herself into a forward somersault to evade the strike and come up on her feet a little ways behind the World Champion! Spinning around on her plant foot, Sue lined up another vertical lash and—Penny snatched a double handful of the chain and YANKED the Rainmaker into an unsteady lunge, one that threw off her balance long enough for Bad Penny to leap up and catch the veteran's noggin in a Three Quarters Facelock. Chaos reigned supreme in the FAWN Arena when Tremblay laid out to THAWHAM Sue down flat on her face with a picture perfect Ace Crusher!
ACE CRUSHED:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdg28boYe04
Caught flush with her own finish in the middle of the ring, the eldest Burlingame sister looked dead to the world as a galvanized Penny shoveled her onto her back and hooked the far leg in a cradle good for the...
ONE...
TWO...
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Sue twitched a shoulder off the mat with Nick's hand barely an inch above the canvas! “TWO!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, though the sound was immediately swallowed by the FAWNatics echoing the same word.
Penny regarded him with incredulous eyes, though she ultimately didn't question the near-fall. Within heartbeats she'd filled her hands with Burlingame's hair and dragged her into a Standing Headscissors in the middle of the ring. From there she wrapped her arms around the heiress' waist and flipped her up onto the point of her right shoulder for what could've been a Canadian Backbreaker if the blonde hadn't carefully shifted from the Waistlock to a Chinlock that left Sue's head bent backward against the crown of her foe's skull! Still losing their minds after the stolen Ace Crusher, the crowd suffered a fresh bout of nerves when the challenger dipped her knees just enough to hook Burlingame's shins against her upper thighs. Despite the Black Court's war with the Church of Eternal Midnight, Sue Burlingame had never experienced one particular weapon in the arsenal of the Messiah of Misery. But tonight Miranda Wainright's Last True Believer rectified that error when she kicked both feet forward and dropped to her butt to THWHUNK Sue's skull with a gawd-awful Thou Shalt Not!
THOU SHALT NOT!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSDHvOdrljA
Sue landed on her knees and tumbled forward in a boneless sprawl that only moved when Tremblay rolled her onto her back shortly thereafter. A cover seemed inevitable, yet Penny ignored the opening in favor of grabbing her prey at wrist and ankle so she could draaaaaaaaaaaaaag the brunette a bit closer to the nearest corner.
“Hope you've enjoyed my tributes to present and past, ma'am.” Tremblay huffed after she dropped the defenseless limbs. “Now I leave you with this ode to the future.”
No surprise then when she turned around and trudged to the corner, the blonde almost slipping through the strands before she remembered the chain around her neck and climbed to the top from the inside instead. Rising to her feet as the rest of the crowd did the same, Penelope Tremblay took a deep breath and leapt out into the void where she crunched in on herself just to stretch out full length, the bendy-back taut as a bowstring when she THWHAMMED down on Sue's upraised knees! Effectively crushed despite her desperate defense, Sue managed to hook her left arm around the back of Penny's head and roll to the left, a shift that slowly flopped the air-deprived challenger onto her back with Sue stretched out on top. Threading her right leg over Penny's calves almost turned it into a Small Package, not that anyone was paying attention to anything other than the count of...
ONE...
TWO...
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Penny kicked loose and tumbled to one knee, the ashen-faced blonde clearly still fighting for air after that hellacious landing. Despite all this she was still first to her feet, Tremblay burying both hands in Burlingame's locks to better haul her off one kn—Sue leapt caught the Three Quarters Facelock and didn't just fall but pulled her way back to the canvas to PLANT Penny's face on the deck with her own Ace Crusher!
The Orphan of Midnight tumbled onto her back and Sue was on her in an instant, the battle-weary brunette somehow thinking to hook the chain across the backs of Penny's knees so she could grab on and make the Back Press even stronger through the count of...
ONE...
TWO...
THREE!
Burlingame released the chain and crumpled onto shoulder and hip, the veteran unable to do more than suck wind as the Announcer blared, “Ladies and gentlemen, your winner and STILL the FAWN World Champion... SUE BURLINGAME!”
Relieved to have this bloody chaos finally at an end, Castle knelt down beside the victorious Ace and deftly undid the heavy buttons holding the collar in place. Unaware of the pressure she'd been under until it was gone, Sue sucked in a deep, rasping breath that devolved into a round of coughing before fading into steadier, quieter respiration. Quick to coil that end of the chain around his arm once the brunette was free, Nick made his way over to Tremblay, who'd rolled onto her side and was vaguely worrying at the heavy collar.
“I've got it, Penny, I've got it.” the zebra brushed her fingers aside so he could pop the buttons. The Bad Penny reacted much as her opponent had done, struggling to a seat amidst a fit of coughing that gave way to shuddering shoulders as the adrenaline began to wear off. “Can I call for medics?” Castle asked the challenger. “Those cuts look pretty bad.”
Penny shook her head 'no', but she made no effort to look in his direction. “I'll meet them in the back. I walked down here under my own power, I mean to leave the same way.”
Nick nodded, gave her an 'I understand' pat on the shoulder, then stood up and strode to the edge of the ring where a tech was waiting with the leather and gold. From there it was a quick walk back to Sue, who tottered back to verticality just as she arrived. “I believe this is yours.” the Senior Official noted as he laid it atop her right shoulder.
Burlingame smiled at the reassuring weight, swatted the face plate a couple times, then turned to the hard camera and hoisted it one-handed much to the delight of those assembled. Managing a smile as she brought the belt down to cinch it around her waist, the Rainmaker stomped to the far corner, mounted the second turnbuckle and asked, “Who's the toughest?”
'SUE!' they roared back in unison.
“Who's the best?”
'SUE!'
“And who's still the World Champion?”
'SUE!'
“Goddamn right.”
A shift in the tone of the answering roar drew the Bombshell's attention and she wasn't entirely surprised to see Penny Tremblay watching her from center ring with baleful, disgusted eyes. Dropping from her perch with a soft little 'thump', Burlingame walked over to the blonde and after a long moment of hesitation said, “You pushed me to my limits tonight, Tremblay.” she admitted. “Just not past them. That's why this title is still belongs to me. But if you ever do take it, I'll be the one who puts it around your waist. That's a promise.”
She extended her hand to the blonde, which raised an immediate 'SHAKE IT!' chant from the crowd.
Tremblay's fingers twitched and for a moment Sue thought the Orphan of Midnight was going to accept her hand or maybe just slap the shit out of her. Yet in the end Penny shook her head 'no' and took a step back. “You haven't learned a fucking thing, ma'am. And if tonight is any indication, I won't be the one to teach you, much as it pains me to admit. But eventually someone will. You'll learn, and when that revelation finally burns through the fog of your arrogance... that's the day I'll shake your hand. Until then... tell your daughter I'm sorry for keeping you out late.”
With that the Last True Believer turned around and trudged to the edge of the ring where she slipped through the ropes and dropped to the floor.
Sue watched her go, almost called after her. In the end she held her tongue and set out on the triumphant circuit she'd earned for such a hard-fought victory. She was still celebrating when the feed cut away to an eerie teaser for All Hallows Evil.