Post by alyadmirer on Jun 10, 2016 8:55:12 GMT
Having somehow caught the eye of the Church, Domi had planned to put them off by dealing their Inquisitor an embarrassing loss. Unfortunately, Mayes came up with a spectacular finishing splash that still had people talking months later. Hell, it had taken a good month since she could walk normally afterward. And the loss had only encouraged Eternal Midnight to come creeping back despite her refusals.
But this match. This match was one she demanded from Bethany. It would give her a chance to show she’s a permanent atheist when it came to this Church, not to mention show she still had as much athletic ability as anyone in FAWN with more than enough to beat their insistent Inquisitor.
Regaining her standing in the Lightweight Division would also be helped with a victory, but tonight’s battle would be personal and a win necessary to beat back the Churchgoers.
The exotic little former gymnast bounced in place, ready for her music to hit. Adrenaline flowing, Daly shadow boxed then grasped the edges of the curtain, ready to enter the field of battle once more when Lady Gaga’s ‘Applause’ crashed through the arena.
APPLAUSE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pco91kroVgQ
The FAWNatics responded with a roar, excited for the Mighty Mite to put Miranda’s crew back in the shadows where they belonged. The love echoed throughout the bowl, a reaction unthinkable at one time, the fans long since buying into the new attitude, whether or not it’s from a place of respect and honor or from Dominique’s need for their applause.
DOMINIQUE DALY:
The leader of the Domi-Nation appeared with the first verse, the tawny little hardbody decked out in a gleaming white leotard dusted with tiny stars in red, white and blue. Strategic rips reveal several swatches of Daly’s trim midriff, her chiseled tummy matching the perfectly-sculptured shoulders, arms and thighs. The look was completed with matching white tape on her wrists and ankles and chalk powder on her palms and the soles of her bare feet.
Daly dipped her head and raised her hands to clap along with the chorus.
I live for the applause, applause, applause
I live for the applause-plause
Live for the applause-plause
Live for the way that you cheer and scream for me
The applause, applause, applause
Daly threw her head back, cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted “HIT IT!”
The lights turned strobe, flickering on and off so fast that even the most attentive fans couldn’t follow all of the effortlessly intricate series of tumbles, handsprings, flips and cartwheels that took the nimble brunette down the ramp. Tracking her was made all the more difficult by the thunderous trail of red and blue pyro that accompanied her journey from one end of the aisle to the other.
When the lights regained their equilibrium Daly was on the top turnbuckle. Spine tingling with the electricity of a thousand awed voices, Dominique threw her hands overhead in a ‘V’, then snatched their breath away again by launching into the sky for a spiraling descent planting her in the center of the ring as the Ring Announcer initiated his introduction.
“Tonight’s next match is scheduled for one fall with a twenty minute time limit. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, she stands five feet two inches tall and weighs in at one hundred and twelve pounds. She is the ORIGINAL Mighty Mite…and is now simply mitey awesome… DOMINIQUE DALY!”
The crowd agreed with the announcement and roared as Domi “walked” in a handstand to her corner, flipped to her feet flawlessly, and settled into an expectant crouch for the arrival of the woman who made her a part of the Church of Eternal Midnight’s recruitment video last time they’d met.
Once Gaga faded into the background din, the Announcer raised his mic and looked to the stage, as if anticipating an interruption. None came, so he cleared his throat and resumed his duties. “And introducing her opponent, representing the Church of Eternal Midnight, she stands at five feet four inches tall and weighs in at one hundred and twenty-five pounds. She is the Inquisitor, the Queen of Hearts…. TIFFANY MAYES!”
HEAVEN KNOWS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2LdI7rzowk
That particular name summoned forth a jangling bell, which quickly gave way to guitars and drums, the former cutting out a simple riff which the latter strengthened with a staccato stomp. That was perhaps the only tie to the Tiffany Mayes prior to her conversion as the woman who brushed through the curtain in time with the first chorus of ‘Heaven Knows’ proved a far more dangerous individual indeed. Gone was the plaid skirt, the bustier, the shortened tie and even the dark brown locks. It’d all been replaced by a lot of lightly tanned, toned skin, a few swatches of black leather in the form of a bandeau style bikini top and matching bottoms, matte black pads and wrestling shoes and a long tangle of golden blonde hair almost identical to that of the Malevolent Moralizer.
TIFFANY MAYES
As if that wasn’t impressive enough, Miranda’s flaxen-haired instrument of conversion was flanked by Adelaide Brewster on the left and Ashley Conda on the right, bat and serpent providing more than adequate bookends for their sister in faith. Stone still in the face of several thousand heathens jeering for her blood, Mayes didn’t twitch until Conda and then Brewster leaned in to whisper some bit of ill-gotten lore in her ear. Fortified by their words, Mayes flashed wicked grin and made her way down the aisle with a cruel swagger in her step. Whereas the pre-conversion model would’ve taken the time and effort to greet everyone within reaching distance, Wainright’s acolyte ignored them all, save for those foolish enough to draw her attention with jeers and signs. Those she dismissed promptly, as Dominique Daly was the only heathen worthy of her energies tonight.
Bursting into a sprint as she neared the foot of the ramp, Tiffany leapt from floor to apron to top turnbuckle in nearly a single bound. From there she looked back over her shoulder to address the pair of brunettes. “Tell Miranda we will be five strong when the bell rings again.” She turned to look at Dominique before she spoke again. “This one doesn’t have the will to resist me twice.” Apparently satisfied with this prognostication, Adelaide and Ashley made their way to the ramp while Mayes hopped off her perch and settled in against the turnbuckles. She made no comment when Merle the referee bustled over to make his final inspection. Tiffany’s eyes never left Domi’s and much to her surprise and pleasure, Domi’s eyes never left hers.
Domi’s breath hitched in her throat when the bell sounded, an involuntary reaction that made her hate the woman in the opposite corner just a little bit more. As if sensing the brunette’s distress, Tiffany smirked and strode to the middle of the ring to claim it as her own. “Come to me, Dominique Daly!” she stretched her arms wide to emphasize the command. “Stand before the Inquisitor and pledge your fealty to the Church of Eternal Midnight, or I shall finish what I started the first time we met.”
‘The first time we met’.
Those five words raised the hairs on the back of Domi’s neck in a chilling mixture of fear and fury. Neck and neck until the final seconds, Mayes had folded her brunette into a matchbook and wedged her heels under the bottom rope, effectively gluing her in place. But instead of attempting a pin or even a low blow, the cruel-eyed blonde had ascended to the top rope and CRUSHED the defenseless ex-gymnast with the stiffest Phoenix Splash FAWN had ever seen.
Vicious though it was, the move left no lingering injury. It did however leave Daly hobbling around like an old lady for almost a week afterward, her seemingly boundless flexibility stolen by the black-clad zealot. That period of…. brittleness… left Domi simultaneously eager for and fearful of a rematch with Miranda’s fair-haired recruit. While she wanted vengeance in the worst way, Daly couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling that a second application of the Phoenix Splash might very well break her in half. To hear that fear voiced by Tiffany Mayes was almost too much to bear.
All these thoughts crossed her mind in the matter of heartbeats, yet the delay must’ve proved intolerable for Tiffany because she took a giant step backward. “Feeling comfortable enough to leave the sanctity of the ropes now, heathen?” she barked. “I can come to you, if you’d like. One way or another, you will kneel before me tonight.”
Daly’s fear burned away with a crisp little crackle, leaving nothing but anger in its place. “No!” she put a slight quaver in her voice, hoping it’d throw the bytch off. “I’m the heathen, I’ll come to you.” This pleased a smile out of Mayes, one that only got wider when Daly crept off the buckles with several timid little steps. “Wha… what do I have to do?” Dominique kept her eyes downcast, seemingly unable to meet Tiffany’s gaze.
The Churchgoer licked her lips, she knew Miranda loved this sort of public conversion. “Simplicity itself, sister.” Mayes cooed. “Drop to your knees and add your voice to our hymn.”
The crowd didn’t much like Daly’s dispirited shuffling and they urged her to knock Mayes’s patronizing block into next week. Imagine their shock and horror when the Mighty Mite dropped to her knees in total supplication. “Heroes rise and heroes fall,” Tiffany said softly. “but Midnight comes for one and all. Say it, sister. Say it and join the blessed Dark.”
Eyes closed, Daly let out a deep breath, then began. “Heroes rise and heroes fall, but Midnight comes for one and--” her hands darted forward, cupped Tiffany behind the knees and YANKED them out from under! Mayes landed on her back with a startled ‘OOOOFFFFFHHH!’ that got cut off less than halfway through because Domi somersaulted over her to land in a perfect bridge. Almost as stunned as the rest of the fans, Merle swooped in beside the action and slapped the mat…
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Mayes popped loose of the Jackknife and sprang to her feet like the canvas was scalding hot. “YOU DUPLICITOUS WHORE!” she bellowed. “YOU’LL PAY FOR NNNGGGHH!”
Dominique smacked the taste out of her mouth, she was in no mood for more of this asshat’s threats. The slap hit hard but only knocked Tiff off balance for a second, which was about half a second more than Daly actually needed. Grabbing the Churchgoer by the shoulders, she vaulted up in a vertical leap and ‘smecked’ her legs around Mayes’s noggin. Then she torqued her hips and flipped the blonde onto her back, all while landing astride her chin in a high, tight, Schoolgirl Pin.
Tiffany’s legs popped off the mat in search of her attacker’s arms, unfortunately for her, Domi found her legs first and bundled ‘em under her armpits. Leaning forward until her nose was only inches above the canvas, Daly looked up and nodded along with the…
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
Mayes powered free of the Matchbook, rolled a short distance and scrambled right back to boot-leather. No snarling threat this time, the leather-clad vixen only barreled forward and unleashed a Haymaker aimed straight at the brunette’s-- Dominique dipped beneath the punch, snugged in back to back and hooked her arms around Mayes’s biceps. Then she pulled forward, dropped to her knees and leaned forward, thus stacking the incredulous battler on her shoulders with a textbook Backslide. Glad he’d decided to stick close to the action, Merle checked Tiffany’s shoulders, then counted off…
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
Tiffany somersaulted loose with a half second to spare, but rather than press her luck she slid backward until she cleared the bottom rope. Frustrated and embarrassed in equal measure, the Inquisitor smacked both hands against the apron, then wheeled around to lash out at the cheering FAWNatics. “SHUT YOUR MOUTHS, HEATHENS! SHUT THEM RIGHT NOW OR I’LL MAKE SURE YOU ALL SPEND TIME ON THE RA--”
She would’ve said ‘rack’ if another thunderous roar from the audience hadn’t sent her spinning back to the squared circle. Good thing too, it gave her just enough time to watch Domi take wing in a head-first dive over the top rope! Mayes backed up so fast she ‘smacked’ into the barricade, a bit of minor unpleasantness she tolerated because it got her clear of the heathen’s Plan--
Domi snatched the top rope in both hands as she passed overhead and used it to spin into a pretty little landing on the apron. Standing tall over the wide-eyed blonde, a ferociously beaming Daly dropped into a crouch and flipped a pair of birds in Tiffany’s direction. “THAT’S TWO FOR FLINCHING YOU SLUG!”
“Heathen bytch.” Mayes rushed off the barricade in a tight arc, approaching from the left to sweep Daly’s legs…. or not. Domi skipped over her foe’s outstretched arm, turned on a dime and was ready and waiting when Mayes did her about-face. Absolutely apoplectic by this point, Tiff pointed a commanding finger at the ex-gymnast and growled, “Stand still and FIGHT ME, YOU GUTLESS COWEEERRRRGGGGHH!”
Domi charged and THWHACKED her bare right foot against the side of Tiffany’s face in a wicked Soccer Kick. Eyes watering from the precise strike, Mayes stumbled around and walked away, the once talkative zealot suddenly a lot more interested in creating a little spa--”UUUNNNGGGHH!”
Not about to let Tiffany have any sort of reprieve, Daly leapt off the apron, pulled her knees up to her chest and then STAMPED the blonde between the shoulders. Tiff went down to all fours, a delightful bit of penance Dominique would’ve let her enjoy for quite a bit longer if she wasn’t so eager to kick the punk’s ass. Even so, it didn’t stop the brunette from putting one foot against the back of Mayes’s head and grinding it in like she was crushing some particularly odious bug. “Get up, benchwarmer.” Daly snarled. “You wanted to break my spirit? Get up and give it your best f*cking shot.” Then she backed off, dove under the bottom rope and popped to her feet so she’d be ready for whatever the blonde had to offer.
Mayes swatted at the ghost of the offending tootsies, clambered to verticality and regarded the brunette with narrowed, hateful eyes. “You’re going to regret crossing me, little girl.”
Daly raised one hand, beckoning Mayes inside. “Save it for your next confession, tramp. I’m through talking.”
Domi leaned forward to a handstand and ‘walked’ around the ring in a wide circle while the Inquisitor stared, open-mouthed. The crowd, on the other hand, roared its approval at Daly’s dexterity, particularly since it was done to make Mayes look silly. Sorry…sillier. “So are you coming in?” the former gymnast shouted while continuing to circle the canvas on her hands, finally drifting forward to land cat-like on her bare, chalked tootsies.
“Because…well.”
Daly motioned to Merle.
In the time the blonde had been mesmerized by Daly’s inexplicable ‘walkabout’, Merle counted Tiffany up to ‘EIGHT’. Breaking out of the trance, the blonde threw herself under the ropes and popped to her feet. About to decry Daly’s distraction as the wizardry of a five foot succubus, Mayes instead got NAILED with a Flying Knee to the chin that nearly sent her cartwheeling back out over the cables.
FLYING KNEE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvCc9A4uhXI&feature=related
But the bite-sized brunette assisted the Churchgoer in remaining within the confines, grabbing a lower limb before Tiff flipped out, literally. Domi was more sure than ever the figurative ‘flip out’ had long since occurred, Miranda having worked her mind games on the weak-willed Schoolgirl. But she was NOT some flaxen-haired airhead.
That would be the staggering blonde Daly leaned against the ropes, dazed from the frontal assault Mercy Ellis had taught Dominique. Now, it’s time to go back to her playbook. Slipping between the ropes, Daly turned and grabbed the top strand. From, Tiffany’s six, Dominique effortlessly hopped to a springboard off the uppermost cable and flew toward her foe. Grabbing the Churchgoer’s braincase as she soared by in a front flip, Domi sat out, the mat THUMPING as her muscular ass hit the floorboards.
Mayes’ upper frame was pulled down with the Mighty Mite, her chin glued to Domi’s right shoulder with a Three Quarters Facelock. Mayes’ head SNAPPED back when Daly touched down. The Inquisitor straightened stiff as a board, remaining vertical for a second or two before collapsing into the ropes behind her, knocked loopy.
SPRINGBOARD DIAMOND DUST:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj9HlNTydW8
A grinning Mite didn’t have to look behind her to know she got all of that one. She kipped to her feet with a wide smile and turned to see a silenced Tiffany kept upright by the rubber-coated steel strands behind her.
Domi approached and slapped the amoral taste of Midnight from the Churchgoer’s mouth, Tiffany’s head put on a violent swivel. The bracing Bytch Slap seemed to bring some of the blonde’s senses back into place, but a haggard, sweeping attempt at a Clothesline proved she’s not all the way there. Mayes stumbled past a ducking Daly, wobbling toward mid-ring. Domi quickly pirouetted and raced in from behind. Leaping, the diminutive grappler grabbed onto the blonde’s braincase on the way down, RIPPING Tiffany off her feet and PLANTING the back of the Inquisitor’s skull into the canvas with a Leaping Russian Legsweep.
LEAPING RUSSIAN LEGSWEEP:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj9HlNTydW8
Daly scrambled atop the splayed Mayes, rolling her foe up in a tight cradle, the blonde’s tush pointed to heaven above, shoulders to the other place. Merle slapped the mat for…
ONE…
TWO…
And Tiffany kicked her way free, slopping to her side.
Domi’s almond-shaped eyes squinted in anger at the official, a look of malevolence returning from nowhere to the eyes of the former near Olympian, but Daly didn’t turn back to her old leaf. Instead, she grabbed a shoulder and a handful of golden locks of her foe and led the struggling Mayes back to her feet.
Even in her schoolgirl days, Tiffany was known for her ability to take punishment and keep on slugging away and there had been no step taken back from that under her new incarnation. It would take more to put her down for good, which seemed to suit Dominique just fine. She switched her grip to a wrist and sent Tiffany racing across the ring. As Mayes rebounded off the far ropes, Domi was ready, willing and able at center stage.
A lightning leap from Domi and her abbreviated, muscular stems were tight around the wide-eyed face of the charging Inquisitor. Throwing the modest mass she had into reverse, Daly used Tiffany’s momentum and sent the blonde flipping to a backslapping connection with the canvas after a spectacular ‘Rana. Tiffany slid to a stop, instantly reaching for her aching spinal column.
Her floor routine working perfectly tonight, it took but a split second for Daly to reach her feet once more and sidle into place beside the downed Churchgoer. Domi leapt high over Mayes and CRASHED down across her foe’s tanned midriff with her signature splits version of a Leg Drop, driving the air from a bug-eyed, gasping Tiffany.
Mayes rose to a momentary jackknifed ‘V’ before fading back to horizontal and Merle started his count on the makeshift pin for…
ONE…
TWO…
And this time it’s less a surprise when Mayes pushes off the lead leg of Domi’s splits.
Daly rolled into a back somersault to regain her feet while a tummy-hugging Tiffany pushed wearily to hers, calling the spritely brunette everything from “blasphemer” to “ignorant atheist” to “sacrificial lamb”.
Daly could only shake her head as Tiffany leveled name after name. Domi held up a right palm, the temerity of the movement enough to bring Tiffany’s verbal barrage to a halt.
“You forgot best athlete in the history of FAWN, bytch.”
Dominique charged Mayes, leaping to land on the planks of her foe’s upper legs, her hands curling around the back of Tiffany’s neck to Monkey Flip the blonde out to mid-ring. But as Domi pulled her body away from the buckles, planning on dragging Tiffany with her, Mayes remained planted in place, instead sending the Mighty Mite on her own, crashing to the canvas, landing on the back of her skull.
Daly cradled the rear of her braincase, the FAWNatics quieting to a worried murmur. It took but a moment for Domi to force through the pain and again kip to her feet. But in the time it’s taken, the Inquisitor had moved close and Daly nearly kipped herself directly into a dipping Tiffany’s Fireman’s Carry.
Domi squirmed to fight her way loose but there simply wasn’t time enough before Tiffany made things ‘Academic’ from days gone by, using her signature to send Domi careening to the canvas in breathtaking fashion, Domi’s face and chest DRIVEN into the mat. The lithe, sinewy brunette flopped to her back, staring blankly at the glittering lights above.
IT'S ACADEMIC:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx8tFnjrTLQ
Mayes sat up, raked a hand through her hair and let out a deep breath. The opening minutes of this contest had been the most humiliating of her post-conversion life, but now the heathen was prone under the hateful lights and she could begin making amends. Throwing a leg over Domi’s gulping torso, Tiffany claimed the brunette’s wrists in both hands and pinned them together overhead, all the better for her to control them both with one hand. “Best athlete in the history of FAWN?” she cooed softly. “My dear, you are nothing more than a footnote in an already forgotten book of obscure Olympic lore. If you wish your life to have any meaning at all you will throw yourself at my feet and beg for the blessing of Midnight.”
Daly grimaced, braced her feet against the mat and rolled her hips in hopes of bucking the blonde aside. No such luck, Mayes leaned in a little deeper, digging her knees into the gymnast’s ribs to maintain her mount. “Never give you the satisfaction, Mayes.” Domi grunted. “I will however be happy to slap the old time religion right outta your freakin’ OOWWWWWW AAAAAAAAAHHHH BYTCH!”
Displaying the sort of cruel creativity that Wainright loved cultivating in her sisters, Tiffany slipped her free hand through one of the tears in Domi’s leotard and clamped down on the brunette’s left breast. “Every moment of your anguish brings me sublime satisfaction.” Mayes noted as she worked Daly’s modest bounty like a heathen stress ball. “But it would gratify me all the more to hear you beg for our salvation.”
Daly shook her head ‘no, no, no’, both in answer to Merle’s question of surrender and to express her disdain for the blonde’s offer. “Find a new tune, witch. This one’s getting oldDDDDEEERRRRGGGHHH FAAAAHK YOOOOOUUUUU!”
Tiff honed in on her rival’s nipple, pinching it with obvious relish. “Relief is so close, sister. Throw away this useless weakness and join in the blessed DarRRRRGGGGHHHH LEGGO BYTCH!”
The latest jolt of pain finally gave Domi enough strength to wrench her wrists free of Mayes’s grasp and she immediately repaid the pincer with a Double Breast Claw of her own. “Wha…. what’s the matter, Tiffy?” Daly’s breath came in quick, shallow pants as she attempted to sit up. “I thought freaks like you were always so eager to suffer for their OOOOOOWWWWWWW!”
The blonde abandoned her claws to palm Daly’s head in both hands. Then she drew her close, leaned in and CHOMPED down on Dominique’s nose! Daly keened and beat tiny, furious fists against opposing hips and ribs, but the blinding pain of the bite robbed her blows of their strength and she was forced to endure the hurt until Merle reached ‘FOUR!’ on his count. Relinquishing Domi’s shnoz without complaint, Mayes planted a taunting kiss between the heathen’s eyes, then shoved her back and down, just BWUNKING the base of Daly’s skull against the thinly-sheathed plywood.
“Your flexibility is the stuff of legend among these heathens, sister.” Mayes admitted from her domineering perch. “But sinew and ligament, no matter how strong, must give way when confronted with that which cannot be denied. So the question before you is this…” Mayes filled her hands with the brunette’s hair, peeled her off the mat and dragged her to doubled over verticality. “Will you pledge yourself to Midnight before you break? Or after?”
Domi started to reply, alas the blonde silenced it in her throat with a jarring Kneelift to the side of the head. Daly’s knees shimmied but did not give, so Tiffany set her feet and proceeded to THWHUNK shots into the gymnast’s temple until she slopped to all fours. Running her fingers through Domi’s sweat-damp bob, Mayes yanked the other woman’s head back at a sharp angle, exposing her throat.
“Join.” There was no question mark following that single word.
“Kiss… my… ass…” Daly spat. “I’ll never NNNNNNGGGGGHHH!”
Tiffany stepped back, then lunged forward and THWHACKED her right knee into Domi’s chin with her most emphatic Kneelift yet. The mistreated Mite reared back on her knees for a moment, then timbered into a facedown sprawl at her tormentor’s feet. Hands on her hips, Mayes ‘flicked’ her tight leather briefs back into place and planted an arrogant foot on the back of the would-be convert’s neck. “If you won’t join, go on and burrow into the dirt like the worm you are.” she looked to Merle. “Count this piece of shyt out.”
Though the ref didn’t much like following any orders from one of Miranda’s sect, Dominique was facedown and unmoving, so he stepped in close and began to count. “ONE… TWO… THREE…. FOUR… FIVE…. SIX… SEVEN…”
Domi put her hands against the mat, groaned and slooooooooowly clambered to all fours. Irritated by the heathen’s stubborn denial of the truth, Mayes whirled around on her heel and raced into the ropes. Loping back at a speed that rivaled Domi herself, the Churchgoer took to the skies on righteous wings and continued her assault on Daly’s noggin with a vindictive Double Stomp that BWONKED her forehead off the mat. Dominique didn’t bounce this time, nor did she turn onto her back. At the moment she could only curl on arm around the back of her aching skull in hopes of protecting in from the schoolgirl turned Inquisitor.
Speaking of whom, Tiffany skipped back to the wreckage, dropped to her knees and shoveled Daly onto her back. From there she claimed the brunette’s bust through the thin armor of her leotard, Mayes once again helping herself to a callous squeeze while Merle counted off…
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
Domi lifted a shoulder off the mat and turned away from the blonde, breaking Mayes’s grip in the process. “Why do persist in this useless resistance?” Tiff sounded genuinely interested as she filled her hands with Domi’s hair. “Do you doubt my willingness to take all you hold dear? Or do you really think you can stand against OOOFFFFHHH!”
Daly rolled over to face the blonde and THWHUMPED a straight right hand into her tummy. Half a dozen more punches freed her tresses and gave Dominique a chance to return the favor of several savage hair tugs. Struggling to her feet with the other lightweight wriggling in her grasp, the gymnast PWAAAKED a stiff Forearm Smash into her opponent’s mouth and growled, “You wanna know why, bytch? It’s because I LOVE seeing the look on your stupid face when the air comes rushing out of your lungs!”
Shifting her grip to the back of the blonde’s neck, Daly rushed to the edge of the ring and hurled her burden over the top ro-- Tiffany snatched the rubber-coated steel in mid-air and pulled herself down onto the apron in remarkably nimble fashion. Domi, having used this technique more than enough to not be surprised when it was used against her, backed up a short distance, then charged the ropes and whipped up her left foot for Mitey Big Boot that “OOOOOHHHHHHHHH!” the FAWNatics groaned in sympathetic pain when Tiff moved to one side, leaving Daly to ‘TWANG’ crotch-first into the top rope.
Merle grimaced along with the rest of those assembled, but unlike everyone on the other side of the barricade he was in position to extricate Domi from her predicament and he moved to do so immediately. Unfortunately for him (and even more so for Daly) Mayes snatched her prey’s ankle and pulled her exposed leg even closer. Domi squealed, tried to fight clear, but Tiffany’s machinations weren’t strictly for her own amusement. That last tug gave her enough of the brunette’s gam to fold it down over the top and tuck her ankle against the inside of the second strand.
With Domi on tiptoe, the pit of her knee nocked against the top rope and her ankle wedged behind the middle, the Churchgoer smiled beatifically. “And so we reach the moment of revelation,” she said loudly enough for the first several rows to hear, “that precise instant when Dominique Daly discovers her breaking point.” Left hand curled into a fist, Mayes honed in on the brunette’s exposed knee and proceeded to pound away at it like a hammer driving an exceptionally vulnerable nail.
Daly howled as the vicious blonde worked at her right knee like a surgeon instead of an Eternal wench. And Domi loudly let whom she had to assume was Midnight Merle know about it. Wailing as the former schoolgirl brought torture into session, the former gymnast tried to wriggle lose as Mayes continued to pound away relentlessly. Finally, the official wedged his way between the women and cleared Tiffany off. The man freed Daly’s right leg and she tumbled inside the ring, falling to the mat and instantly pulling the limb close.
Mewling, the Mighty Mite dragged herself along the canvas away from the stalking Inquisitor. Using her good leg, the almond-shaped eyes of Daly teary, Dominique pushed up before stumbling on the way and falling into the ropes to her left. She caught them and leaned in but wasn’t provided a moment’s peace as the charging Tiffany landed a Big Boot to Domi’s jaw and sent the diminutive Pac Rim cutie flying through the ropes.
Daly crashed down across the strip of mat on the outside of the ropes before plopping to her muscular backside on the thinly padded cement. She instantly worked at her leg, wincing as she tried to massage the hurt away. Daly hobbles to her feet and, from behind, Mayes grabbed her trademark ponytail, lifting the Mite to tiptoes, Domi squealing despite having some of the weight relieved from her damaged joint.
Forced to struggle her way back to the apron’s edge or lose her tail in the process, Dominique found her throat surrounded from behind by a curling arm of the Churchgoer, Mayes quickly choking the life from her would-be recruit.
“Just say the word,” Tiffany whispered in the ear of the Oregonian. “But make it the right one. I’m not feeling particularly generous at the moment and, despite Miranda’s insistence you become a ‘goer, I’m just as likely to end you and claim a mistake.”
Mayes let the slightest amount of slack grow in her grip and Domi squeaked out “I…I...don’t think so.”
The ponytailed brunette threw a swift elbow behind her and cracked the joint into Tiffany’s jaw, gaining more slack with which to work. Another one found its target, freeing her completely. The former gymnast spun, as best she could, grabbed the middle rope and thrust her lithe frame through, gutting the blonde with a Shoulderblock, a great groan emerging with much of Mayes’ breath as the Churchgoer was bent in half.
Domi shoved the doubled blonde back a few steps and grabbed the top cable. Wincing as she launched, Daly nevertheless managed to make the uppermost strand a springboard. Daly leapt from her perch, her hands finding the head of the blonde as she flipped forward, up and over, RIPPING Tiffany to the deck with a modified version of her signature Daly Double.
DALY DOUBLE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aGoxWk4MS0
The former schoolgirl’s back and head THWUMPED into the canvas, the Inquisitor half-somersaulting into a matchbook of which Dominique took advantage. Ending above the folded blonde, holding her foe’s ankles down, boots forced next to the ears of the Churchgoer for…
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOO!
Tiffany spasmed and broke free of the pinning combination, flopping to her side as the matchbook opens. The FAWNatics groaned in unison as the reformed Mite failed to find her revenge.
Remarkably, the Inquisitor pushed to all fours, Daly letting slip a look of incredulity. But the spritely brunette exotique quickly recovers and headed to the ropes in front of the rising Churchgoer. Domi sprinted at a dazed Mayes at a speed very few could match and again flipped over a shoulder of the blonde, snatching her foe’s cranium once again on the fly-by with a front flip Neckbreaker.
FRONT FLIP NECKBREAKER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zygcKJ9cMNE
As flush as the Daly Double hit, this attack made it pale in comparison when Domi not only planted Tiffany to the deck but SPIKED the crown of her skull there. Mayes went full ragdoll, sacrificed to the Church’s effort to expand their congregation against the Mite’s seemingly unbreakable will. An exhausted Daly caught her breath for a moment then shoveled the beaten blonde to her back. She spread her diminutive if sinewy frame across the blasted blonde in a Crossbody for…
ONE…
TWO…
THREEENOOO!
Like Lazarus, Mayes threw a shoulder up with Merle’s palm no more than an inch from the mat. The crowd threw a hissy fit at the zebra, now sure he was another of Miranda’s thralls. Likewise, a furious Domi hopped to her feet ready to tear into the jackass. Merle cowered, threatening Daly with a DQ and the ponytailed brunette was convinced to finish off the Churchgoer before going after the buffoon.
With Tiffany laid out as if on an altar to FAWN’s Ultimate Athlete, Dominique headed for the top of the nearest corner. In her element, she easily scrambled to the penthouse, looking out on the cheering multitudes. Daly took a peek over her shoulder and launched in the most graceful, rafter-scraping back-flip any roster member dare produce, her body wheeling through the air, ready to stick the dismount in the blonde’s tanned tummy.
Unfortunately for those Midnight agnostics in the audience, Tiffany lifted her right leg and the boot at the end proved a VERY uncomfortable ‘stool’. Her foot split the muscular thighs of the high flyer, Daly ‘sticking’ her dismount in the most ill-fated of ways. The sole DROVE into Domi’s crotch in spectacular and destructive fashion. Daly’s face imploded in anguish, lids clenching, bottom lip bitten. Daly’s hands raced to her privates, but couldn’t quite get to the core of the pain as Tiffany addrf a grinding twist of the inserted boot before shoving Daly away. Domi collapsed into a whimpering fetal ball, her finisher countered with an Eternal Midnight prayer answered.
Much improved now that the heathen was laid low, Tiffany Mayes sat up, took a few deep breaths and tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ears. “Once again you’ve flown too close to the hateful sun and paid dearly for it, Daly.” the blonde noted as she regained her footing. “How much farther must you fall before you understand the gifts Midnight brings?”
Dominique couldn’t have answered even if she’d wanted to, her jaw was clenched shut in a gutsy attempt to keep from keep her scream of the internal variety. Nonplussed by yet another show of defiance, Tiff strode over to her opponent, nudged her onto her belly and sank to one knee. “I WILL break you, Dominique.” Mayes laid claim to the brunette’s ponytail and jerked her to all fours. “Body or spirit, it matters not to me.”
And so she pulled the gymnast across her left knee, snugging Daly’s right side against her tummy. Then she reached down with her left hand and grabbed hold of Domi’s right knee. This she pulled up, forward and over, folding the captured leg into something like a Half Crab, albeit from an entirely different angle. The lingering pain in her knee burst out afresh and Daly started to squirm. No use, Mayes snaked her left arm around the other Lightweight’s neck and cranked backward just far enough to clasp her fingers in a murderous S-Grip. Coil complete, Tiffany poured power into the hold and bounced her knee up n’ down, repeatedly forcing it into the brunette’s defenseless midsection.
INQUISITIVE CRAB:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAJSPwqDUvs
Merle, who’d been working matches long enough to not be startled by much, experienced a rare moment of genuine surprise when he realized he’d never seen… whatever the hell this was. Dismissing names as unimportant for the moment, the zebra swooped down next to the action and tapped Dominique’s left elbow. “What do you say, Domi? Want to call it a--”
“Spare us both your prattle, arbiter.” Mayes snapped at him. “She will tell you when she’s had enough. The sharp, brittle snap, followed by a loud shriek should be clear enough even for someone as dense as you.”
Daly, who couldn’t quite believe that was her own foot touching the back of her head, waved a desultory finger before resuming her inspection of the blonde’s encroaching arm. “Guuuhhhhh…. get outta my face, Merle.” she huffed. “I got thisSSSEERRRRRRGGGGGGHH GAAAAAAAHHH!”
Tiffany drew the trap a little tighter and Domi couldn’t silence the agonized wail that boiled forth from her throat. “There is no way out for you, Dominique.” the Inquisitor noted once the sobbing died down. “Surely you must see that.”
Silence for almost five seconds. “That all you got, schoolgirl? I thought this was supposed to be a strRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!”
Tiffany pulled up on both ends of the hold, meaning you could add the small of Daly’s back to her already copious list of aches and pains. “WAIL FOR ME, LITTLE GIRL!” Mayes’s icy demeanor slipped as she tried her damndest to snap the Mighty Mite in about three different places. “THERE IS NO WAY OUT, NO ONE COMING TO SAVE YOU! GIVE YOURSELF TO THE DARKNESS BEFORE IT TAKES WHAT MIRANDA CANNOT RETURN!” She applied a bit more pressure to Daly’s tortured knee to emphasize the point.
Red-faced and teary-eyed, Dominique Daly reeeeeached for the ropes and found them entirely out of reach. Letting it drop so that her fingertips brushed the canvas, she burbled, “I’d rather limp in the sun than run in the darkness… kiss my ass you brainwashed freak.”
“INSOLENT BYTCH!” Tiffany bellowed. “I’LL SNAP YOU OVER MY KNEE FOR AAARRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHH FAAAAAHHHK!”
Domi’s hangin’ hand curled itself into a talon, which promptly affixed itself to the center of Tiffany’s leather trunks. Squeezing for all she was worth, Daly also managed to raise her opponent’s waistband by a good four inches or so. It wasn’t exactly ‘an eye for an eye’ but it was most certainly Draconian, which was why Merle didn’t start his count until a second after Mayes abandoned the Inquisitive Crab.
Blessedly, mercifully free of Tiffany’s machinations, dropped onto her tummy and crawled toward the ropes on her elbows in hopes of “UUUNNNGGGHHH!” The Churchgoer caught her right in the small of the back with as hateful an Elbow Drop as the fed had seen in some time. Plunging her hands into Daly’s hair so she didn’t have to tend to the burn in her undercarriage, Mayes hauled the brunette to her feet and promptly forced her into a Standing Headscissors.
“So cheap and tawdry is your preferred method of discourse, sister?” Tiff snarled after a few strong pulses. “Then allow me to retort in a way you will both understand and appreciate.” She hooked both hands into Daly’s leg holes and split those bronzed buttocks with a wedgie so stiff it lifted Domi’s feet off the canvas. Ending the gluteal punishment only when her arms started to shiver, Mayes set the gymnast’s feet on the mat, then wrapped her arms around opposing waist. A clean lift n’ jerk hoisted the Portland Airblazer up into a Powerbomb stall, or that’s what it would’ve been if Daly hadn’t slipped loose and landed behind the blonde on her one good leg.
Rounding on Tiff before Mayes could do the same to her, Daly threaded her gimpy right leg over Tiffany’s left and hooked her right arm around the other woman’s right bicep. Domi leaned forward and down, then torqued her hips back to peel off a low angle Moonsault made all the more impressive because Mayes came along for the ride! Stacked high and tight on the back of her head and shoulders, Tiffany bicycled her legs harder and harder as she heard the count grow by…
STANDING CRUCIFIX PIN:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOv8G-9t3R0
ONE…
TWO…
THREE!
Dominique broke away with the bell, barrel rolled under the bottom rope and was half a dozen good paces up the ramp by the time the Announcer confirmed, “Ladies and gentlemen, your winner via pin-fall, DOMINIQUE DALY!”
Domi wanted to raise both hands and flip the sadistic bytch off in stereo, but her enthusiasm for such a show was dampened by the presence of Ashley Conda and Adelaide Brewster, who’d both hit the ring even as Daly was making her timely exit. Miranda’s three followers had crowded the ropes because the brunettes were working to hold the blonde in place, but none of them showed any inclination to hit the ramp and so Dominique put as much distance between it and her as she could. More than three quarters to the stage now, Daly finally paused and raised both hands to clap along with her anthem. “Got ya back you pamphlet carrying freak.” she growled at Tiffany, who’d only just then acquiesced to her sister’s pleas for calm. “And next time I WILL stick you with Dismount. No one makes me feel frail and gets away with it.”
“Do not blame Tiffany for your fears, sister.”
Domi’s eyes went wide and she whirled around in a drunken lurch to find herself not more than three feet from Miranda Wainright. “Back off, Flanders.” Daly resorted to Maddy Crane’s old nickname for the zealot without even thinking about it. “I may be down a leg, but I’ll still ram it down your throat if I have to.”
Miranda only watched her, eyes cool and dark beneath the shadow of her low black hat. “Tiffany tells me you’re reluctant to join the fold. I’d like to know why.”
Dominique blinked. “Seriously? I’ve seen your brand of Kool-Aid before, Wainright. I don’t need it. And I sure as hell don’t need--”
“Acceptance? Belonging? Sisterhood? Of course you do, Dominique, you’ve sought it your entire life. First from the Olympics, then with the Mighty Mites and finally with these heathen fans. The first two rejected you out of hand while the third… well, they’ve grown to tolerate you the way a circus crowd tolerates an especially talented monkey. But I know what you really are. I know what you can really DO.”
Daly swallowed hard, knew she should look over one shoulder to see if the rest of the Church was coming, but she couldn’t pull herself from Miranda’s green eyes. “And what am I, Flanders? Just what do you see?”
“A prophet.” Wainright answered quietly. “A harbinger of things that are only just beginning to unfold. An omen in the sky proclaiming the days of Shea London and those other plodding ‘lightweights’ are drawing to a close. It continues even now, with the works of Burlingame, Lockwood, Manning, and our own Tiffany Mayes. But you, YOU, Dominique Daly. You were the herald of this new breed and it pains me to see you fold your wings while lesser birds fly the skies that belong to you.”
Domi clenched her teeth, shook her head ‘no’ and abruptly hobbled around the Messiah of Misery. “Save it, Miranda. I’m not interested in your tracts and not about to bend the knee for anyone. Now tell your girl I’m coming for her.” She started to back up, and quicker than intended because the squared circle was decidedly empty. “And if you know what’s best, you’ll stay out of my--”
“I wouldn’t bribe you with cheap trinkets or empty promises, sister.” Miranda spoke as if Daly hadn’t. “Rather, I’d offer you that which you hold most dear. You do after all, live for the applause, yes?” she started to clap. “That’s what I’m offering you, Dominique. A whole congregation’s worth of applause, a group of sisters that FINALLY recognizes and welcomes your presence. Think it over. I’m sure we’ll talk again.”
“Kiss my ass, Mira--”
The lights flickered briefly and when they came back, Wainright was gone. Simultaneously relieved and apprehensive at being free of the Church, Domi Daly offered the fans a final wave and trudged through the curtain. First thing she needed was a trip to the infirmary to check on her knee. After that, a hot shower and a strong belt of something from the Lamb to help her blot out Miranda’s offer.
Strike that.
She’d earned a whole goddamned bottle.
But this match. This match was one she demanded from Bethany. It would give her a chance to show she’s a permanent atheist when it came to this Church, not to mention show she still had as much athletic ability as anyone in FAWN with more than enough to beat their insistent Inquisitor.
Regaining her standing in the Lightweight Division would also be helped with a victory, but tonight’s battle would be personal and a win necessary to beat back the Churchgoers.
The exotic little former gymnast bounced in place, ready for her music to hit. Adrenaline flowing, Daly shadow boxed then grasped the edges of the curtain, ready to enter the field of battle once more when Lady Gaga’s ‘Applause’ crashed through the arena.
APPLAUSE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pco91kroVgQ
The FAWNatics responded with a roar, excited for the Mighty Mite to put Miranda’s crew back in the shadows where they belonged. The love echoed throughout the bowl, a reaction unthinkable at one time, the fans long since buying into the new attitude, whether or not it’s from a place of respect and honor or from Dominique’s need for their applause.
DOMINIQUE DALY:
The leader of the Domi-Nation appeared with the first verse, the tawny little hardbody decked out in a gleaming white leotard dusted with tiny stars in red, white and blue. Strategic rips reveal several swatches of Daly’s trim midriff, her chiseled tummy matching the perfectly-sculptured shoulders, arms and thighs. The look was completed with matching white tape on her wrists and ankles and chalk powder on her palms and the soles of her bare feet.
Daly dipped her head and raised her hands to clap along with the chorus.
I live for the applause, applause, applause
I live for the applause-plause
Live for the applause-plause
Live for the way that you cheer and scream for me
The applause, applause, applause
Daly threw her head back, cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted “HIT IT!”
The lights turned strobe, flickering on and off so fast that even the most attentive fans couldn’t follow all of the effortlessly intricate series of tumbles, handsprings, flips and cartwheels that took the nimble brunette down the ramp. Tracking her was made all the more difficult by the thunderous trail of red and blue pyro that accompanied her journey from one end of the aisle to the other.
When the lights regained their equilibrium Daly was on the top turnbuckle. Spine tingling with the electricity of a thousand awed voices, Dominique threw her hands overhead in a ‘V’, then snatched their breath away again by launching into the sky for a spiraling descent planting her in the center of the ring as the Ring Announcer initiated his introduction.
“Tonight’s next match is scheduled for one fall with a twenty minute time limit. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, she stands five feet two inches tall and weighs in at one hundred and twelve pounds. She is the ORIGINAL Mighty Mite…and is now simply mitey awesome… DOMINIQUE DALY!”
The crowd agreed with the announcement and roared as Domi “walked” in a handstand to her corner, flipped to her feet flawlessly, and settled into an expectant crouch for the arrival of the woman who made her a part of the Church of Eternal Midnight’s recruitment video last time they’d met.
Once Gaga faded into the background din, the Announcer raised his mic and looked to the stage, as if anticipating an interruption. None came, so he cleared his throat and resumed his duties. “And introducing her opponent, representing the Church of Eternal Midnight, she stands at five feet four inches tall and weighs in at one hundred and twenty-five pounds. She is the Inquisitor, the Queen of Hearts…. TIFFANY MAYES!”
HEAVEN KNOWS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2LdI7rzowk
That particular name summoned forth a jangling bell, which quickly gave way to guitars and drums, the former cutting out a simple riff which the latter strengthened with a staccato stomp. That was perhaps the only tie to the Tiffany Mayes prior to her conversion as the woman who brushed through the curtain in time with the first chorus of ‘Heaven Knows’ proved a far more dangerous individual indeed. Gone was the plaid skirt, the bustier, the shortened tie and even the dark brown locks. It’d all been replaced by a lot of lightly tanned, toned skin, a few swatches of black leather in the form of a bandeau style bikini top and matching bottoms, matte black pads and wrestling shoes and a long tangle of golden blonde hair almost identical to that of the Malevolent Moralizer.
TIFFANY MAYES
As if that wasn’t impressive enough, Miranda’s flaxen-haired instrument of conversion was flanked by Adelaide Brewster on the left and Ashley Conda on the right, bat and serpent providing more than adequate bookends for their sister in faith. Stone still in the face of several thousand heathens jeering for her blood, Mayes didn’t twitch until Conda and then Brewster leaned in to whisper some bit of ill-gotten lore in her ear. Fortified by their words, Mayes flashed wicked grin and made her way down the aisle with a cruel swagger in her step. Whereas the pre-conversion model would’ve taken the time and effort to greet everyone within reaching distance, Wainright’s acolyte ignored them all, save for those foolish enough to draw her attention with jeers and signs. Those she dismissed promptly, as Dominique Daly was the only heathen worthy of her energies tonight.
Bursting into a sprint as she neared the foot of the ramp, Tiffany leapt from floor to apron to top turnbuckle in nearly a single bound. From there she looked back over her shoulder to address the pair of brunettes. “Tell Miranda we will be five strong when the bell rings again.” She turned to look at Dominique before she spoke again. “This one doesn’t have the will to resist me twice.” Apparently satisfied with this prognostication, Adelaide and Ashley made their way to the ramp while Mayes hopped off her perch and settled in against the turnbuckles. She made no comment when Merle the referee bustled over to make his final inspection. Tiffany’s eyes never left Domi’s and much to her surprise and pleasure, Domi’s eyes never left hers.
Domi’s breath hitched in her throat when the bell sounded, an involuntary reaction that made her hate the woman in the opposite corner just a little bit more. As if sensing the brunette’s distress, Tiffany smirked and strode to the middle of the ring to claim it as her own. “Come to me, Dominique Daly!” she stretched her arms wide to emphasize the command. “Stand before the Inquisitor and pledge your fealty to the Church of Eternal Midnight, or I shall finish what I started the first time we met.”
‘The first time we met’.
Those five words raised the hairs on the back of Domi’s neck in a chilling mixture of fear and fury. Neck and neck until the final seconds, Mayes had folded her brunette into a matchbook and wedged her heels under the bottom rope, effectively gluing her in place. But instead of attempting a pin or even a low blow, the cruel-eyed blonde had ascended to the top rope and CRUSHED the defenseless ex-gymnast with the stiffest Phoenix Splash FAWN had ever seen.
Vicious though it was, the move left no lingering injury. It did however leave Daly hobbling around like an old lady for almost a week afterward, her seemingly boundless flexibility stolen by the black-clad zealot. That period of…. brittleness… left Domi simultaneously eager for and fearful of a rematch with Miranda’s fair-haired recruit. While she wanted vengeance in the worst way, Daly couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling that a second application of the Phoenix Splash might very well break her in half. To hear that fear voiced by Tiffany Mayes was almost too much to bear.
All these thoughts crossed her mind in the matter of heartbeats, yet the delay must’ve proved intolerable for Tiffany because she took a giant step backward. “Feeling comfortable enough to leave the sanctity of the ropes now, heathen?” she barked. “I can come to you, if you’d like. One way or another, you will kneel before me tonight.”
Daly’s fear burned away with a crisp little crackle, leaving nothing but anger in its place. “No!” she put a slight quaver in her voice, hoping it’d throw the bytch off. “I’m the heathen, I’ll come to you.” This pleased a smile out of Mayes, one that only got wider when Daly crept off the buckles with several timid little steps. “Wha… what do I have to do?” Dominique kept her eyes downcast, seemingly unable to meet Tiffany’s gaze.
The Churchgoer licked her lips, she knew Miranda loved this sort of public conversion. “Simplicity itself, sister.” Mayes cooed. “Drop to your knees and add your voice to our hymn.”
The crowd didn’t much like Daly’s dispirited shuffling and they urged her to knock Mayes’s patronizing block into next week. Imagine their shock and horror when the Mighty Mite dropped to her knees in total supplication. “Heroes rise and heroes fall,” Tiffany said softly. “but Midnight comes for one and all. Say it, sister. Say it and join the blessed Dark.”
Eyes closed, Daly let out a deep breath, then began. “Heroes rise and heroes fall, but Midnight comes for one and--” her hands darted forward, cupped Tiffany behind the knees and YANKED them out from under! Mayes landed on her back with a startled ‘OOOOFFFFFHHH!’ that got cut off less than halfway through because Domi somersaulted over her to land in a perfect bridge. Almost as stunned as the rest of the fans, Merle swooped in beside the action and slapped the mat…
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Mayes popped loose of the Jackknife and sprang to her feet like the canvas was scalding hot. “YOU DUPLICITOUS WHORE!” she bellowed. “YOU’LL PAY FOR NNNGGGHH!”
Dominique smacked the taste out of her mouth, she was in no mood for more of this asshat’s threats. The slap hit hard but only knocked Tiff off balance for a second, which was about half a second more than Daly actually needed. Grabbing the Churchgoer by the shoulders, she vaulted up in a vertical leap and ‘smecked’ her legs around Mayes’s noggin. Then she torqued her hips and flipped the blonde onto her back, all while landing astride her chin in a high, tight, Schoolgirl Pin.
Tiffany’s legs popped off the mat in search of her attacker’s arms, unfortunately for her, Domi found her legs first and bundled ‘em under her armpits. Leaning forward until her nose was only inches above the canvas, Daly looked up and nodded along with the…
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
Mayes powered free of the Matchbook, rolled a short distance and scrambled right back to boot-leather. No snarling threat this time, the leather-clad vixen only barreled forward and unleashed a Haymaker aimed straight at the brunette’s-- Dominique dipped beneath the punch, snugged in back to back and hooked her arms around Mayes’s biceps. Then she pulled forward, dropped to her knees and leaned forward, thus stacking the incredulous battler on her shoulders with a textbook Backslide. Glad he’d decided to stick close to the action, Merle checked Tiffany’s shoulders, then counted off…
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
Tiffany somersaulted loose with a half second to spare, but rather than press her luck she slid backward until she cleared the bottom rope. Frustrated and embarrassed in equal measure, the Inquisitor smacked both hands against the apron, then wheeled around to lash out at the cheering FAWNatics. “SHUT YOUR MOUTHS, HEATHENS! SHUT THEM RIGHT NOW OR I’LL MAKE SURE YOU ALL SPEND TIME ON THE RA--”
She would’ve said ‘rack’ if another thunderous roar from the audience hadn’t sent her spinning back to the squared circle. Good thing too, it gave her just enough time to watch Domi take wing in a head-first dive over the top rope! Mayes backed up so fast she ‘smacked’ into the barricade, a bit of minor unpleasantness she tolerated because it got her clear of the heathen’s Plan--
Domi snatched the top rope in both hands as she passed overhead and used it to spin into a pretty little landing on the apron. Standing tall over the wide-eyed blonde, a ferociously beaming Daly dropped into a crouch and flipped a pair of birds in Tiffany’s direction. “THAT’S TWO FOR FLINCHING YOU SLUG!”
“Heathen bytch.” Mayes rushed off the barricade in a tight arc, approaching from the left to sweep Daly’s legs…. or not. Domi skipped over her foe’s outstretched arm, turned on a dime and was ready and waiting when Mayes did her about-face. Absolutely apoplectic by this point, Tiff pointed a commanding finger at the ex-gymnast and growled, “Stand still and FIGHT ME, YOU GUTLESS COWEEERRRRGGGGHH!”
Domi charged and THWHACKED her bare right foot against the side of Tiffany’s face in a wicked Soccer Kick. Eyes watering from the precise strike, Mayes stumbled around and walked away, the once talkative zealot suddenly a lot more interested in creating a little spa--”UUUNNNGGGHH!”
Not about to let Tiffany have any sort of reprieve, Daly leapt off the apron, pulled her knees up to her chest and then STAMPED the blonde between the shoulders. Tiff went down to all fours, a delightful bit of penance Dominique would’ve let her enjoy for quite a bit longer if she wasn’t so eager to kick the punk’s ass. Even so, it didn’t stop the brunette from putting one foot against the back of Mayes’s head and grinding it in like she was crushing some particularly odious bug. “Get up, benchwarmer.” Daly snarled. “You wanted to break my spirit? Get up and give it your best f*cking shot.” Then she backed off, dove under the bottom rope and popped to her feet so she’d be ready for whatever the blonde had to offer.
Mayes swatted at the ghost of the offending tootsies, clambered to verticality and regarded the brunette with narrowed, hateful eyes. “You’re going to regret crossing me, little girl.”
Daly raised one hand, beckoning Mayes inside. “Save it for your next confession, tramp. I’m through talking.”
Domi leaned forward to a handstand and ‘walked’ around the ring in a wide circle while the Inquisitor stared, open-mouthed. The crowd, on the other hand, roared its approval at Daly’s dexterity, particularly since it was done to make Mayes look silly. Sorry…sillier. “So are you coming in?” the former gymnast shouted while continuing to circle the canvas on her hands, finally drifting forward to land cat-like on her bare, chalked tootsies.
“Because…well.”
Daly motioned to Merle.
In the time the blonde had been mesmerized by Daly’s inexplicable ‘walkabout’, Merle counted Tiffany up to ‘EIGHT’. Breaking out of the trance, the blonde threw herself under the ropes and popped to her feet. About to decry Daly’s distraction as the wizardry of a five foot succubus, Mayes instead got NAILED with a Flying Knee to the chin that nearly sent her cartwheeling back out over the cables.
FLYING KNEE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvCc9A4uhXI&feature=related
But the bite-sized brunette assisted the Churchgoer in remaining within the confines, grabbing a lower limb before Tiff flipped out, literally. Domi was more sure than ever the figurative ‘flip out’ had long since occurred, Miranda having worked her mind games on the weak-willed Schoolgirl. But she was NOT some flaxen-haired airhead.
That would be the staggering blonde Daly leaned against the ropes, dazed from the frontal assault Mercy Ellis had taught Dominique. Now, it’s time to go back to her playbook. Slipping between the ropes, Daly turned and grabbed the top strand. From, Tiffany’s six, Dominique effortlessly hopped to a springboard off the uppermost cable and flew toward her foe. Grabbing the Churchgoer’s braincase as she soared by in a front flip, Domi sat out, the mat THUMPING as her muscular ass hit the floorboards.
Mayes’ upper frame was pulled down with the Mighty Mite, her chin glued to Domi’s right shoulder with a Three Quarters Facelock. Mayes’ head SNAPPED back when Daly touched down. The Inquisitor straightened stiff as a board, remaining vertical for a second or two before collapsing into the ropes behind her, knocked loopy.
SPRINGBOARD DIAMOND DUST:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj9HlNTydW8
A grinning Mite didn’t have to look behind her to know she got all of that one. She kipped to her feet with a wide smile and turned to see a silenced Tiffany kept upright by the rubber-coated steel strands behind her.
Domi approached and slapped the amoral taste of Midnight from the Churchgoer’s mouth, Tiffany’s head put on a violent swivel. The bracing Bytch Slap seemed to bring some of the blonde’s senses back into place, but a haggard, sweeping attempt at a Clothesline proved she’s not all the way there. Mayes stumbled past a ducking Daly, wobbling toward mid-ring. Domi quickly pirouetted and raced in from behind. Leaping, the diminutive grappler grabbed onto the blonde’s braincase on the way down, RIPPING Tiffany off her feet and PLANTING the back of the Inquisitor’s skull into the canvas with a Leaping Russian Legsweep.
LEAPING RUSSIAN LEGSWEEP:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj9HlNTydW8
Daly scrambled atop the splayed Mayes, rolling her foe up in a tight cradle, the blonde’s tush pointed to heaven above, shoulders to the other place. Merle slapped the mat for…
ONE…
TWO…
And Tiffany kicked her way free, slopping to her side.
Domi’s almond-shaped eyes squinted in anger at the official, a look of malevolence returning from nowhere to the eyes of the former near Olympian, but Daly didn’t turn back to her old leaf. Instead, she grabbed a shoulder and a handful of golden locks of her foe and led the struggling Mayes back to her feet.
Even in her schoolgirl days, Tiffany was known for her ability to take punishment and keep on slugging away and there had been no step taken back from that under her new incarnation. It would take more to put her down for good, which seemed to suit Dominique just fine. She switched her grip to a wrist and sent Tiffany racing across the ring. As Mayes rebounded off the far ropes, Domi was ready, willing and able at center stage.
A lightning leap from Domi and her abbreviated, muscular stems were tight around the wide-eyed face of the charging Inquisitor. Throwing the modest mass she had into reverse, Daly used Tiffany’s momentum and sent the blonde flipping to a backslapping connection with the canvas after a spectacular ‘Rana. Tiffany slid to a stop, instantly reaching for her aching spinal column.
Her floor routine working perfectly tonight, it took but a split second for Daly to reach her feet once more and sidle into place beside the downed Churchgoer. Domi leapt high over Mayes and CRASHED down across her foe’s tanned midriff with her signature splits version of a Leg Drop, driving the air from a bug-eyed, gasping Tiffany.
Mayes rose to a momentary jackknifed ‘V’ before fading back to horizontal and Merle started his count on the makeshift pin for…
ONE…
TWO…
And this time it’s less a surprise when Mayes pushes off the lead leg of Domi’s splits.
Daly rolled into a back somersault to regain her feet while a tummy-hugging Tiffany pushed wearily to hers, calling the spritely brunette everything from “blasphemer” to “ignorant atheist” to “sacrificial lamb”.
Daly could only shake her head as Tiffany leveled name after name. Domi held up a right palm, the temerity of the movement enough to bring Tiffany’s verbal barrage to a halt.
“You forgot best athlete in the history of FAWN, bytch.”
Dominique charged Mayes, leaping to land on the planks of her foe’s upper legs, her hands curling around the back of Tiffany’s neck to Monkey Flip the blonde out to mid-ring. But as Domi pulled her body away from the buckles, planning on dragging Tiffany with her, Mayes remained planted in place, instead sending the Mighty Mite on her own, crashing to the canvas, landing on the back of her skull.
Daly cradled the rear of her braincase, the FAWNatics quieting to a worried murmur. It took but a moment for Domi to force through the pain and again kip to her feet. But in the time it’s taken, the Inquisitor had moved close and Daly nearly kipped herself directly into a dipping Tiffany’s Fireman’s Carry.
Domi squirmed to fight her way loose but there simply wasn’t time enough before Tiffany made things ‘Academic’ from days gone by, using her signature to send Domi careening to the canvas in breathtaking fashion, Domi’s face and chest DRIVEN into the mat. The lithe, sinewy brunette flopped to her back, staring blankly at the glittering lights above.
IT'S ACADEMIC:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx8tFnjrTLQ
Mayes sat up, raked a hand through her hair and let out a deep breath. The opening minutes of this contest had been the most humiliating of her post-conversion life, but now the heathen was prone under the hateful lights and she could begin making amends. Throwing a leg over Domi’s gulping torso, Tiffany claimed the brunette’s wrists in both hands and pinned them together overhead, all the better for her to control them both with one hand. “Best athlete in the history of FAWN?” she cooed softly. “My dear, you are nothing more than a footnote in an already forgotten book of obscure Olympic lore. If you wish your life to have any meaning at all you will throw yourself at my feet and beg for the blessing of Midnight.”
Daly grimaced, braced her feet against the mat and rolled her hips in hopes of bucking the blonde aside. No such luck, Mayes leaned in a little deeper, digging her knees into the gymnast’s ribs to maintain her mount. “Never give you the satisfaction, Mayes.” Domi grunted. “I will however be happy to slap the old time religion right outta your freakin’ OOWWWWWW AAAAAAAAAHHHH BYTCH!”
Displaying the sort of cruel creativity that Wainright loved cultivating in her sisters, Tiffany slipped her free hand through one of the tears in Domi’s leotard and clamped down on the brunette’s left breast. “Every moment of your anguish brings me sublime satisfaction.” Mayes noted as she worked Daly’s modest bounty like a heathen stress ball. “But it would gratify me all the more to hear you beg for our salvation.”
Daly shook her head ‘no, no, no’, both in answer to Merle’s question of surrender and to express her disdain for the blonde’s offer. “Find a new tune, witch. This one’s getting oldDDDDEEERRRRGGGHHH FAAAAHK YOOOOOUUUUU!”
Tiff honed in on her rival’s nipple, pinching it with obvious relish. “Relief is so close, sister. Throw away this useless weakness and join in the blessed DarRRRRGGGGHHHH LEGGO BYTCH!”
The latest jolt of pain finally gave Domi enough strength to wrench her wrists free of Mayes’s grasp and she immediately repaid the pincer with a Double Breast Claw of her own. “Wha…. what’s the matter, Tiffy?” Daly’s breath came in quick, shallow pants as she attempted to sit up. “I thought freaks like you were always so eager to suffer for their OOOOOOWWWWWWW!”
The blonde abandoned her claws to palm Daly’s head in both hands. Then she drew her close, leaned in and CHOMPED down on Dominique’s nose! Daly keened and beat tiny, furious fists against opposing hips and ribs, but the blinding pain of the bite robbed her blows of their strength and she was forced to endure the hurt until Merle reached ‘FOUR!’ on his count. Relinquishing Domi’s shnoz without complaint, Mayes planted a taunting kiss between the heathen’s eyes, then shoved her back and down, just BWUNKING the base of Daly’s skull against the thinly-sheathed plywood.
“Your flexibility is the stuff of legend among these heathens, sister.” Mayes admitted from her domineering perch. “But sinew and ligament, no matter how strong, must give way when confronted with that which cannot be denied. So the question before you is this…” Mayes filled her hands with the brunette’s hair, peeled her off the mat and dragged her to doubled over verticality. “Will you pledge yourself to Midnight before you break? Or after?”
Domi started to reply, alas the blonde silenced it in her throat with a jarring Kneelift to the side of the head. Daly’s knees shimmied but did not give, so Tiffany set her feet and proceeded to THWHUNK shots into the gymnast’s temple until she slopped to all fours. Running her fingers through Domi’s sweat-damp bob, Mayes yanked the other woman’s head back at a sharp angle, exposing her throat.
“Join.” There was no question mark following that single word.
“Kiss… my… ass…” Daly spat. “I’ll never NNNNNNGGGGGHHH!”
Tiffany stepped back, then lunged forward and THWHACKED her right knee into Domi’s chin with her most emphatic Kneelift yet. The mistreated Mite reared back on her knees for a moment, then timbered into a facedown sprawl at her tormentor’s feet. Hands on her hips, Mayes ‘flicked’ her tight leather briefs back into place and planted an arrogant foot on the back of the would-be convert’s neck. “If you won’t join, go on and burrow into the dirt like the worm you are.” she looked to Merle. “Count this piece of shyt out.”
Though the ref didn’t much like following any orders from one of Miranda’s sect, Dominique was facedown and unmoving, so he stepped in close and began to count. “ONE… TWO… THREE…. FOUR… FIVE…. SIX… SEVEN…”
Domi put her hands against the mat, groaned and slooooooooowly clambered to all fours. Irritated by the heathen’s stubborn denial of the truth, Mayes whirled around on her heel and raced into the ropes. Loping back at a speed that rivaled Domi herself, the Churchgoer took to the skies on righteous wings and continued her assault on Daly’s noggin with a vindictive Double Stomp that BWONKED her forehead off the mat. Dominique didn’t bounce this time, nor did she turn onto her back. At the moment she could only curl on arm around the back of her aching skull in hopes of protecting in from the schoolgirl turned Inquisitor.
Speaking of whom, Tiffany skipped back to the wreckage, dropped to her knees and shoveled Daly onto her back. From there she claimed the brunette’s bust through the thin armor of her leotard, Mayes once again helping herself to a callous squeeze while Merle counted off…
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
Domi lifted a shoulder off the mat and turned away from the blonde, breaking Mayes’s grip in the process. “Why do persist in this useless resistance?” Tiff sounded genuinely interested as she filled her hands with Domi’s hair. “Do you doubt my willingness to take all you hold dear? Or do you really think you can stand against OOOFFFFHHH!”
Daly rolled over to face the blonde and THWHUMPED a straight right hand into her tummy. Half a dozen more punches freed her tresses and gave Dominique a chance to return the favor of several savage hair tugs. Struggling to her feet with the other lightweight wriggling in her grasp, the gymnast PWAAAKED a stiff Forearm Smash into her opponent’s mouth and growled, “You wanna know why, bytch? It’s because I LOVE seeing the look on your stupid face when the air comes rushing out of your lungs!”
Shifting her grip to the back of the blonde’s neck, Daly rushed to the edge of the ring and hurled her burden over the top ro-- Tiffany snatched the rubber-coated steel in mid-air and pulled herself down onto the apron in remarkably nimble fashion. Domi, having used this technique more than enough to not be surprised when it was used against her, backed up a short distance, then charged the ropes and whipped up her left foot for Mitey Big Boot that “OOOOOHHHHHHHHH!” the FAWNatics groaned in sympathetic pain when Tiff moved to one side, leaving Daly to ‘TWANG’ crotch-first into the top rope.
Merle grimaced along with the rest of those assembled, but unlike everyone on the other side of the barricade he was in position to extricate Domi from her predicament and he moved to do so immediately. Unfortunately for him (and even more so for Daly) Mayes snatched her prey’s ankle and pulled her exposed leg even closer. Domi squealed, tried to fight clear, but Tiffany’s machinations weren’t strictly for her own amusement. That last tug gave her enough of the brunette’s gam to fold it down over the top and tuck her ankle against the inside of the second strand.
With Domi on tiptoe, the pit of her knee nocked against the top rope and her ankle wedged behind the middle, the Churchgoer smiled beatifically. “And so we reach the moment of revelation,” she said loudly enough for the first several rows to hear, “that precise instant when Dominique Daly discovers her breaking point.” Left hand curled into a fist, Mayes honed in on the brunette’s exposed knee and proceeded to pound away at it like a hammer driving an exceptionally vulnerable nail.
Daly howled as the vicious blonde worked at her right knee like a surgeon instead of an Eternal wench. And Domi loudly let whom she had to assume was Midnight Merle know about it. Wailing as the former schoolgirl brought torture into session, the former gymnast tried to wriggle lose as Mayes continued to pound away relentlessly. Finally, the official wedged his way between the women and cleared Tiffany off. The man freed Daly’s right leg and she tumbled inside the ring, falling to the mat and instantly pulling the limb close.
Mewling, the Mighty Mite dragged herself along the canvas away from the stalking Inquisitor. Using her good leg, the almond-shaped eyes of Daly teary, Dominique pushed up before stumbling on the way and falling into the ropes to her left. She caught them and leaned in but wasn’t provided a moment’s peace as the charging Tiffany landed a Big Boot to Domi’s jaw and sent the diminutive Pac Rim cutie flying through the ropes.
Daly crashed down across the strip of mat on the outside of the ropes before plopping to her muscular backside on the thinly padded cement. She instantly worked at her leg, wincing as she tried to massage the hurt away. Daly hobbles to her feet and, from behind, Mayes grabbed her trademark ponytail, lifting the Mite to tiptoes, Domi squealing despite having some of the weight relieved from her damaged joint.
Forced to struggle her way back to the apron’s edge or lose her tail in the process, Dominique found her throat surrounded from behind by a curling arm of the Churchgoer, Mayes quickly choking the life from her would-be recruit.
“Just say the word,” Tiffany whispered in the ear of the Oregonian. “But make it the right one. I’m not feeling particularly generous at the moment and, despite Miranda’s insistence you become a ‘goer, I’m just as likely to end you and claim a mistake.”
Mayes let the slightest amount of slack grow in her grip and Domi squeaked out “I…I...don’t think so.”
The ponytailed brunette threw a swift elbow behind her and cracked the joint into Tiffany’s jaw, gaining more slack with which to work. Another one found its target, freeing her completely. The former gymnast spun, as best she could, grabbed the middle rope and thrust her lithe frame through, gutting the blonde with a Shoulderblock, a great groan emerging with much of Mayes’ breath as the Churchgoer was bent in half.
Domi shoved the doubled blonde back a few steps and grabbed the top cable. Wincing as she launched, Daly nevertheless managed to make the uppermost strand a springboard. Daly leapt from her perch, her hands finding the head of the blonde as she flipped forward, up and over, RIPPING Tiffany to the deck with a modified version of her signature Daly Double.
DALY DOUBLE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aGoxWk4MS0
The former schoolgirl’s back and head THWUMPED into the canvas, the Inquisitor half-somersaulting into a matchbook of which Dominique took advantage. Ending above the folded blonde, holding her foe’s ankles down, boots forced next to the ears of the Churchgoer for…
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOO!
Tiffany spasmed and broke free of the pinning combination, flopping to her side as the matchbook opens. The FAWNatics groaned in unison as the reformed Mite failed to find her revenge.
Remarkably, the Inquisitor pushed to all fours, Daly letting slip a look of incredulity. But the spritely brunette exotique quickly recovers and headed to the ropes in front of the rising Churchgoer. Domi sprinted at a dazed Mayes at a speed very few could match and again flipped over a shoulder of the blonde, snatching her foe’s cranium once again on the fly-by with a front flip Neckbreaker.
FRONT FLIP NECKBREAKER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zygcKJ9cMNE
As flush as the Daly Double hit, this attack made it pale in comparison when Domi not only planted Tiffany to the deck but SPIKED the crown of her skull there. Mayes went full ragdoll, sacrificed to the Church’s effort to expand their congregation against the Mite’s seemingly unbreakable will. An exhausted Daly caught her breath for a moment then shoveled the beaten blonde to her back. She spread her diminutive if sinewy frame across the blasted blonde in a Crossbody for…
ONE…
TWO…
THREEENOOO!
Like Lazarus, Mayes threw a shoulder up with Merle’s palm no more than an inch from the mat. The crowd threw a hissy fit at the zebra, now sure he was another of Miranda’s thralls. Likewise, a furious Domi hopped to her feet ready to tear into the jackass. Merle cowered, threatening Daly with a DQ and the ponytailed brunette was convinced to finish off the Churchgoer before going after the buffoon.
With Tiffany laid out as if on an altar to FAWN’s Ultimate Athlete, Dominique headed for the top of the nearest corner. In her element, she easily scrambled to the penthouse, looking out on the cheering multitudes. Daly took a peek over her shoulder and launched in the most graceful, rafter-scraping back-flip any roster member dare produce, her body wheeling through the air, ready to stick the dismount in the blonde’s tanned tummy.
Unfortunately for those Midnight agnostics in the audience, Tiffany lifted her right leg and the boot at the end proved a VERY uncomfortable ‘stool’. Her foot split the muscular thighs of the high flyer, Daly ‘sticking’ her dismount in the most ill-fated of ways. The sole DROVE into Domi’s crotch in spectacular and destructive fashion. Daly’s face imploded in anguish, lids clenching, bottom lip bitten. Daly’s hands raced to her privates, but couldn’t quite get to the core of the pain as Tiffany addrf a grinding twist of the inserted boot before shoving Daly away. Domi collapsed into a whimpering fetal ball, her finisher countered with an Eternal Midnight prayer answered.
Much improved now that the heathen was laid low, Tiffany Mayes sat up, took a few deep breaths and tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ears. “Once again you’ve flown too close to the hateful sun and paid dearly for it, Daly.” the blonde noted as she regained her footing. “How much farther must you fall before you understand the gifts Midnight brings?”
Dominique couldn’t have answered even if she’d wanted to, her jaw was clenched shut in a gutsy attempt to keep from keep her scream of the internal variety. Nonplussed by yet another show of defiance, Tiff strode over to her opponent, nudged her onto her belly and sank to one knee. “I WILL break you, Dominique.” Mayes laid claim to the brunette’s ponytail and jerked her to all fours. “Body or spirit, it matters not to me.”
And so she pulled the gymnast across her left knee, snugging Daly’s right side against her tummy. Then she reached down with her left hand and grabbed hold of Domi’s right knee. This she pulled up, forward and over, folding the captured leg into something like a Half Crab, albeit from an entirely different angle. The lingering pain in her knee burst out afresh and Daly started to squirm. No use, Mayes snaked her left arm around the other Lightweight’s neck and cranked backward just far enough to clasp her fingers in a murderous S-Grip. Coil complete, Tiffany poured power into the hold and bounced her knee up n’ down, repeatedly forcing it into the brunette’s defenseless midsection.
INQUISITIVE CRAB:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAJSPwqDUvs
Merle, who’d been working matches long enough to not be startled by much, experienced a rare moment of genuine surprise when he realized he’d never seen… whatever the hell this was. Dismissing names as unimportant for the moment, the zebra swooped down next to the action and tapped Dominique’s left elbow. “What do you say, Domi? Want to call it a--”
“Spare us both your prattle, arbiter.” Mayes snapped at him. “She will tell you when she’s had enough. The sharp, brittle snap, followed by a loud shriek should be clear enough even for someone as dense as you.”
Daly, who couldn’t quite believe that was her own foot touching the back of her head, waved a desultory finger before resuming her inspection of the blonde’s encroaching arm. “Guuuhhhhh…. get outta my face, Merle.” she huffed. “I got thisSSSEERRRRRRGGGGGGHH GAAAAAAAHHH!”
Tiffany drew the trap a little tighter and Domi couldn’t silence the agonized wail that boiled forth from her throat. “There is no way out for you, Dominique.” the Inquisitor noted once the sobbing died down. “Surely you must see that.”
Silence for almost five seconds. “That all you got, schoolgirl? I thought this was supposed to be a strRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!”
Tiffany pulled up on both ends of the hold, meaning you could add the small of Daly’s back to her already copious list of aches and pains. “WAIL FOR ME, LITTLE GIRL!” Mayes’s icy demeanor slipped as she tried her damndest to snap the Mighty Mite in about three different places. “THERE IS NO WAY OUT, NO ONE COMING TO SAVE YOU! GIVE YOURSELF TO THE DARKNESS BEFORE IT TAKES WHAT MIRANDA CANNOT RETURN!” She applied a bit more pressure to Daly’s tortured knee to emphasize the point.
Red-faced and teary-eyed, Dominique Daly reeeeeached for the ropes and found them entirely out of reach. Letting it drop so that her fingertips brushed the canvas, she burbled, “I’d rather limp in the sun than run in the darkness… kiss my ass you brainwashed freak.”
“INSOLENT BYTCH!” Tiffany bellowed. “I’LL SNAP YOU OVER MY KNEE FOR AAARRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHH FAAAAAHHHK!”
Domi’s hangin’ hand curled itself into a talon, which promptly affixed itself to the center of Tiffany’s leather trunks. Squeezing for all she was worth, Daly also managed to raise her opponent’s waistband by a good four inches or so. It wasn’t exactly ‘an eye for an eye’ but it was most certainly Draconian, which was why Merle didn’t start his count until a second after Mayes abandoned the Inquisitive Crab.
Blessedly, mercifully free of Tiffany’s machinations, dropped onto her tummy and crawled toward the ropes on her elbows in hopes of “UUUNNNGGGHHH!” The Churchgoer caught her right in the small of the back with as hateful an Elbow Drop as the fed had seen in some time. Plunging her hands into Daly’s hair so she didn’t have to tend to the burn in her undercarriage, Mayes hauled the brunette to her feet and promptly forced her into a Standing Headscissors.
“So cheap and tawdry is your preferred method of discourse, sister?” Tiff snarled after a few strong pulses. “Then allow me to retort in a way you will both understand and appreciate.” She hooked both hands into Daly’s leg holes and split those bronzed buttocks with a wedgie so stiff it lifted Domi’s feet off the canvas. Ending the gluteal punishment only when her arms started to shiver, Mayes set the gymnast’s feet on the mat, then wrapped her arms around opposing waist. A clean lift n’ jerk hoisted the Portland Airblazer up into a Powerbomb stall, or that’s what it would’ve been if Daly hadn’t slipped loose and landed behind the blonde on her one good leg.
Rounding on Tiff before Mayes could do the same to her, Daly threaded her gimpy right leg over Tiffany’s left and hooked her right arm around the other woman’s right bicep. Domi leaned forward and down, then torqued her hips back to peel off a low angle Moonsault made all the more impressive because Mayes came along for the ride! Stacked high and tight on the back of her head and shoulders, Tiffany bicycled her legs harder and harder as she heard the count grow by…
STANDING CRUCIFIX PIN:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOv8G-9t3R0
ONE…
TWO…
THREE!
Dominique broke away with the bell, barrel rolled under the bottom rope and was half a dozen good paces up the ramp by the time the Announcer confirmed, “Ladies and gentlemen, your winner via pin-fall, DOMINIQUE DALY!”
Domi wanted to raise both hands and flip the sadistic bytch off in stereo, but her enthusiasm for such a show was dampened by the presence of Ashley Conda and Adelaide Brewster, who’d both hit the ring even as Daly was making her timely exit. Miranda’s three followers had crowded the ropes because the brunettes were working to hold the blonde in place, but none of them showed any inclination to hit the ramp and so Dominique put as much distance between it and her as she could. More than three quarters to the stage now, Daly finally paused and raised both hands to clap along with her anthem. “Got ya back you pamphlet carrying freak.” she growled at Tiffany, who’d only just then acquiesced to her sister’s pleas for calm. “And next time I WILL stick you with Dismount. No one makes me feel frail and gets away with it.”
“Do not blame Tiffany for your fears, sister.”
Domi’s eyes went wide and she whirled around in a drunken lurch to find herself not more than three feet from Miranda Wainright. “Back off, Flanders.” Daly resorted to Maddy Crane’s old nickname for the zealot without even thinking about it. “I may be down a leg, but I’ll still ram it down your throat if I have to.”
Miranda only watched her, eyes cool and dark beneath the shadow of her low black hat. “Tiffany tells me you’re reluctant to join the fold. I’d like to know why.”
Dominique blinked. “Seriously? I’ve seen your brand of Kool-Aid before, Wainright. I don’t need it. And I sure as hell don’t need--”
“Acceptance? Belonging? Sisterhood? Of course you do, Dominique, you’ve sought it your entire life. First from the Olympics, then with the Mighty Mites and finally with these heathen fans. The first two rejected you out of hand while the third… well, they’ve grown to tolerate you the way a circus crowd tolerates an especially talented monkey. But I know what you really are. I know what you can really DO.”
Daly swallowed hard, knew she should look over one shoulder to see if the rest of the Church was coming, but she couldn’t pull herself from Miranda’s green eyes. “And what am I, Flanders? Just what do you see?”
“A prophet.” Wainright answered quietly. “A harbinger of things that are only just beginning to unfold. An omen in the sky proclaiming the days of Shea London and those other plodding ‘lightweights’ are drawing to a close. It continues even now, with the works of Burlingame, Lockwood, Manning, and our own Tiffany Mayes. But you, YOU, Dominique Daly. You were the herald of this new breed and it pains me to see you fold your wings while lesser birds fly the skies that belong to you.”
Domi clenched her teeth, shook her head ‘no’ and abruptly hobbled around the Messiah of Misery. “Save it, Miranda. I’m not interested in your tracts and not about to bend the knee for anyone. Now tell your girl I’m coming for her.” She started to back up, and quicker than intended because the squared circle was decidedly empty. “And if you know what’s best, you’ll stay out of my--”
“I wouldn’t bribe you with cheap trinkets or empty promises, sister.” Miranda spoke as if Daly hadn’t. “Rather, I’d offer you that which you hold most dear. You do after all, live for the applause, yes?” she started to clap. “That’s what I’m offering you, Dominique. A whole congregation’s worth of applause, a group of sisters that FINALLY recognizes and welcomes your presence. Think it over. I’m sure we’ll talk again.”
“Kiss my ass, Mira--”
The lights flickered briefly and when they came back, Wainright was gone. Simultaneously relieved and apprehensive at being free of the Church, Domi Daly offered the fans a final wave and trudged through the curtain. First thing she needed was a trip to the infirmary to check on her knee. After that, a hot shower and a strong belt of something from the Lamb to help her blot out Miranda’s offer.
Strike that.
She’d earned a whole goddamned bottle.