Post by bigfan on Jul 23, 2017 20:40:14 GMT
As the SUMMER SWELTER crowd simmered in giddy anticipation for the next match, Yoona Park sat in the locker room deep in the bowels of the FAWN Arena. She was oblivious to the night’s previous action, and even to the fact that the announcer was now calling her to the ring. Her attention was completely focused on her phone as she watched a livestream broadcast of the Electronic Entertainment Expo taking place three time zones away in California. With a huge, dopey grin on her face, Yoona watched her girlfriend take center stage at the Los Angeles Convention Center in order to promote the upcoming FAWN 2K18 videogame, available just in time for Christmas for all consoles and PC.
YOONA PARK
FAWN’s marketing department could not have dreamed of a better spokeswoman than the Girl of Tomorrow. On top of being one of the most electrifying in-ring performers on the roster, Camille had always been unabashedly proud of her geeky proclivities. She publically cosplayed as her favorite videogame characters for Halloween, she was legitimately one of the best League of Legends players in the country, and she had an encyclopedic knowledge of the lore and associated memes of the Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Warcraft, and Zelda franchises. All of this gave her credibility and cache with the gaming community that was unmatched by anyone else in the federation.
Most importantly, Cosworth’s earnest, affable demeanor and clean-cut image were palatable to relatively conservative audiences and sponsors that fell outside of FAWN’s typical demographic circle, especially in comparison to Park’s swaggering, foul-mouthed braggadocio and brazen sexuality. In fact, the brass had been so concerned that the Korean would scare away corporate dollars that they effectively banned Yoona from also making the trip to E3 by booking her in a match and threatening a very hefty suspension and fine should she be a no-show. That decision had rankled her greatly, though at the moment she felt nothing but pride and joy. Despite recent tension between the lovebirds, Camille looked genuinely thrilled to be on-stage at E3, and whenever Cosworth was happy, Park was happy too.
“Ms. Park, it’s time to --”
“Fuck off, dickcheese,” Yoona dismissed the hapless production assistant without looking up from her phone or letting the smile fall off her face.
The unpaid intern knew it would be hazardous to push the issue further, so she just threw up her hands and backed away. Fortunately, the FAWN 2K18 segment ended shortly afterwards, and once the feed switched to something else, Park stowed her phone in her locker and started heading for the ring at a brisk jog. By the time she made it through the curtains at the top of the entrance ramp, it had been about four minutes since her introduction, and the fans were voicing their displeasure at having been made to wait.
No matter though. Yoona pulled down her top to expose her bare breasts, and the boos and jeers quickly turned into appreciative catcalls and whistles. Chuckling to herself, she sheathed her bosom again and continued her jog to the ring, clad in the new ring gear she had debuted a month ago in a now infamous match against Dominique Daly. Gone were the bikini bottoms and tank top, and in their place was a black bustier-style one piece lined in metallic gold. Her forearms were covered in matching fingerless gloves that ran up to her elbow, and on her legs were a pair of black sleeves that started just above her knees and extended down to her ankle bones before terminating in thin stirrups that looped around the bottom of her otherwise bare feet, just in front of the heel. “YOONA” was written vertically in metallic gold block letters on the front of each shin, and securely knotted around her left thigh was a red silk ribbon.
With the exception of Camille's decorative sash, the sartorial changes each followed a function. The tight, corset-like compression in the midsection of the bustier bolstered Park’s core strength -- while also giving a crowd-pleasing boost to her bosom -- and her leg sleeves made of the same material served to stabilize her fragile ankles and neutralize the pressure points in the soles of her feet. And although the rulebook strongly disapproved of her repeatedly punching her opponents in the head, the Korean’s gloves effectively protected her wrists and knuckles in the event of fisticuffs.
“Sorry I’m late, Merle,” she said to the referee once she had climbed into the ring. “I was touching myself to this old homemade porn video of you and Jenny Jacobs. Woulda been out here sooner, but your Dad-Bod was so deeply unsexy that it took me longer than usual to finish.”
Algernon Carpenter sighed heavily as he performed a cursory check of Yoona’s gear, and then the arena speaker system crackled to life once more.
“And introducing her opponent, representing the Black Court, hailing from Glen Echo Michigan, she stands at five feet seven inches tall and weighs in at one hundred and thirty-one pounds. They call her the Raven… LENORE LEMARCHAND!”
Kula Shaker’s ‘Hush’ flitted into the rafters and a great unkindness of ’Ravens’ went up, Lemarchand’s flock growing larger with each new tale in her anthology of anguish. They cheered all the louder when Emily West’s Lady in Waiting brushed through the curtain scant seconds after her name was called. Regarding the capacity crowd with a wry smile, Lenore tapped the wrist of her right hand like she was checking the face of a watch, then hooked her thumbs together and raised the rook high overhead. When it came down she made an ever so quick motion to tug at her own top, then rolled her eyes and waggled a ‘no, no, no’ to the camera.
“Cheap heat,” she mouthed. Turning her attention to the squared circle, the Black Court’s resident herald started down the aisle.
LENORE LEMARCHAND
For her first encounter with a woman whose talent for general irritation was matched only by Maddy Crane, Lenore chose strappy bikini bottoms hued in a purplish-black and emblazoned with a faint design that careful inspection revealed to be feathers. Her top was halter style, with the color and pattern matching her briefs. Elbow and kneepads were matte black, the latter still obscured by loose, bell-flared 'leggings' that started just south of mid-thigh and dropped to ankle length. Those leggings were also black and featured a stylized version of Lemarchand’s raven insignia done in stark white. Her look was finished with shiny black boots and purple wrist tape that matched her togs.
Dark eyes honed in on the snarky striking specialist, Lenore held Yoona in her gaze until she very pointedly drifted away right as Park took a step from her corner. Drawing to a stop in the shadow of the ring, the Courtier shifted to the right to better admire a sign that read:
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, LEMARCHAND! SHUT HER MOUTH!
“I appreciate the reference, but why would I want silence when she could scream out a submission?”
That seemed to placate the sign holder, so Lemarchand whipped around on one heel, broke into a run and dove under the bottom rope. On her feet in the span between heartbeats, the Fair & Radiant Maiden strode to the center of the ring and raised her sigil one more time, Lenore all but daring Yoona to come for her before the bell. But Park only countered with some birds of her own, middle fingers held squarely at eye level. Lenore dropped her hands and smiled.
“So, you DO possess the slightest modicum of restraint,” Lemarchand murmured.
Turning her back on Park without the slightest bit of hesitation, Lenore headed to her corner and settled in against the buckles. “You may not be Elise, but you’ll be a suitable distraction until I get my hands around her oh so delicate neck.”
Dismissing all thoughts of Ms. Murder as soon as the bell sounded, Lenore honed in on the dangerous brunette in the opposite corner and started closing the distance. Yoona saw the Raven coming and came forward to meet her, though not without a slight shake of her head that did not go unnoticed by Lemarchand. Well aware of Park’s ahem, let’s call it acerbic, personality (she’d endured Camille’s end of several conversations with her girlfriend when they were working out at the Hellhole) Lenore kept quiet as they began to circle, just in case the Korean import was looking for an easy opening.
Hands curled beneath her chin, Yoona circled with the other brunette twice before she sighed again and took a step back.
“So, how do you want to do this?”
It sounded like she didn’t much care either way.
“Do you want to try to hang with me leg to leg? Throw some hands? Maybe we just pull hair and catfight it out? Either way I’m going to kick your ass, so it might as well be something you’re good at, or at least think you’re good at.”
The Fair & Radiant Maiden didn’t so much as bat an eye. She’d expected something along those lines and it didn’t bother her, though she was curious about the source of Park’s confidence.
“You’re more than welcome to try whatever you’d like, Park. Olivia’s a better grappler, Susan’s a better striker and Cam’s a better high flyer and I spar with them all the--”
Yoona darted in and would’ve lashed a kick against Lenore’s right thigh if the Courtier hadn’t brought that leg up to absorb the blow with her shin. She answered with one of her own, had it deflected in identical fashion.
“The hostility’s not unexpected, though I am a little surprised,” Lenore noted once they resumed circling. “Camille’s been gone what, less than thirty-six hours and you’re already lashing out at co-work--”
Yoona came at her again, the bendy-backed exotique lacing her fingers across the nape of Lemarchand’s neck in a Muay Thai style Clasp. The Kneelift came far too fast to block so Lenore settled for deflection, slapping it aside at the last second so the blow skidded off her hip. Dropping into a deep crouch to escape Park’s grip, the Fair & Radiant Maiden cinched both arms around Yoona’s waist and popped her hips to take her foe, up, over and DOWN in a perfect Northern Lights Suplex! Lenore bridged onto her toes on impact and cupped her hands over Yoona’s hips to keep her down for…
NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvQPd3nU5ek
ONE…
TWO…
Yoona tagged Lemarchand’s tummy with a stiff little smack and rolled clear of danger with a full second to spare.
Irritated by this dope’s efforts to engage her, Yoona made a minor adjustment to her new togs and snarked, “You got me, bird brain. I’m lashing out at co-workers because instead of being at E3 with my girlfriend, I’m stuck in Orlando beating up the ONE member of the Black Court that’s never held gold. So forgive me if I don’t take extra time denting your skull.”
Lenore’s dark eyes narrowed ever so slightly, her inability to procure a singles title was a definite sore spot for Emily’s Lady in Waiting. Even so, that was her problem, not Yoona’s.
“Oh, you think you’re the only one suffering tonight? I thought I was going to get some revenge in front of a pay-per-view crowd, instead I’m saddled with the woman Camille can’t stop complaining about when we NGH!”
Park feinted with her right leg and struck with the left, her shin THUMPING into Lemarchand’s ribs just above the hip.
Smirking as Lenore pressed a hand to her throbbing side, Yoona chided, “Is that what she complains about? Because bytch, what I give to you will be so much NNNGGGHH!”
The Raven pounced on her, hooked an arm around the back of Park’s neck and forced her to look down the barrel as she THWHAPPED a stiff European Uppercut off her chin! Yoona grunted and stumbled back, caught her balance and plunged one viper-quick hand into the American’s dark hair. This was followed by a quick open-handed slap that would’ve been two if Lemarchand hadn’t responded in kind. Linked by their hair holds and rapidly pinking cheeks, Yoona and Lenore stomped around in an angry little circle tried to liberate great patches of her foe’s scalp.
Al Carpenter let them have an internal five count and not a heartbeat more, knowing damned well that neither woman would release their grips without some official prodding, “Alright ladies, let go of each other’s hair and take a step back, don’t make me count.”
Park glanced at him briefly, then tugged Lenore’s locks and had hers tugged in return.
“Go ahead and count,” she suggested. “I want to see if I can make this bookworm cry by-- oooohh yeah, HARDER Lenny, that’s how I like it!”
Lemarchand did indeed pull harder, so Yoona added her other hand to Lenore’s locks and yanked her head back ‘n forth until the referee reached ‘FOUR!’ Lenore stepped back and smoothed out her hair, being careful to stay out of Park’s strike zone as she did so.
“Much as I’d enjoy decorating the canvas with your hair,” Lemarchand noted once she was set to rights, “our mutual friend Algernon will keep breaking us apart at the count of four. The solution then, is a contest he has no reason to halt.”
Park ran her fingers through her hair and sighed with boredom, “And what do you suggest, nerd? Recitation of the classics? A stirring debate? Chess boxing?”
“I would whip your ass at chess boxing,” Lemarchand deadpanned. “But no, I was thinking something you might actually win.”
She raised her right hand overhead, the fingers curled with anticipation.
Yoona pursed her lips in disgust, “A Test of Strength? I should’ve known it’d be boring, Sorry nerd, I’d have you bridged backward in all of five seconds.”
“Then prove it, Tong Po.”
Park didn’t quite flinch, but it was close. “Bytch, you did not just say that to me.”
“I’m sorry, was that too close to home? How about, step on up, Screw Face.”
“Tell me, does Cam like sparring with you, Lenore?”
The Raven’s hand still didn’t drop. “Yeah, she does.”
“F*ck. Means I’ll have to apologize when she gets back.”
Yoona strode over and slapped a hand against Lemarchand’s waiting palm. The squeeze was immediate, but neither woman exerted any forward pressure until they’d completed the Test. Then Park jerked the Courtier’s arms down to shoulder level (forming a rough ‘T’ shape) and slammed her chest into Lenore’s.
“How disappointing,” Yoona said into her rival’s ear. “One of these days I’ll land a Test of Strength against an opponent with actual tits. Then I’ll at least have something comfy to lean against.”
She drove forward again, an unsuccessful attempt to rock Lenore back on her heels.
“You’re not exactly a tank top terror yourself, princess,” Lemarchand muttered. “But if you’re looking for something to choke on, I’ll make sure Emily looks you up when she’s in town. She has been known to slum from time to time.”
“Of course she does, that explains why you’re her second in…”
Yoona’s latest round of trash talk ended in silence when Lemarchand muscled their hands back overhead. In the same instant she shifted her right foot behind Yoona’s and pressed forward. The talk died a swift death as Yoona and Lenore sank to the mat, the former in a flawless bridge, the latter in a penitent crouch.
“That it? That’s what you’re showing me?” Park managed to radiate scorn even when she couldn’t even look at her opponent. “You know you’re not strong enough to keep me here for long, right? In fact I think I’ll--”
The Korean pushed off and she started to rise even with Lenore pressing down on her full force. Lenore had seen this particular movie often enough to memorize the ending, so rather than wait around she slung a leg over Park’s exposed form and dropped to her knees to THWHUMP her butt into the pit of Yoona’s stomach while simultaneously driving her into the mat. Landing on her knees with Park trapped beneath her, Lemarchand wedged her knees into the Korean’s ribs and held her prone for the…
ONE…
TWO…
...before Yoona ripped her hands free from the Test of Strength and delivered a stiff-fingered thrust into Lenore’s solar plexus, slipping beneath the sternum and the ribs to stab the diaphragm. The Raven’s breath hitched for a second, then suddenly a pair of calves wrapped around her neck from behind, pulled her onto her back, and rolled her to one side.
Fortunately, Lenore managed to wedge a hand between those encroaching legs moments before Park’s ankles snapped shut in front of her face. The Raven used her forearm as a lever to pry out just enough space to pull herself free from the Neckscissors, and then she went on the counter-offensive. Quickly corralling Yoona’s crossed ankles under her right arm, Lemarchand shoved her left arm into the space where her head had been just a moment prior. Cloverleaf grip secured, Lenore pivoted into a kneeling position and rolled the Korean onto her stomach.
TEXAS CLOVERLEAF:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=mvNEx-_gBmk
Before Lemarchand could take a page from the book of Jacobs and plant a knee in Park’s spine, the ex-ballerina blindly reached back, grabbed a handful of her opponent’s waistband, and gave a forceful yank. She didn't have the angle for a proper eye-watering Wedgie, but Yoona did manage to unbalance the other brunette for a split second, and that was all the opening she needed to roll over again. The pair of wrestlers spilled onto their backs, and Park grabbed control of the Courtier’s ankles while simultaneously ripping her own legs free. She scissored both of her opponent's thighs between her own, and she muscled them into another roll on the mat.
At the conclusion of her second barrel-roll, Yoona had crossed Lenore’s ankles left-over-right, and the tip of the Courtier’s left boot was tucked under her right armpit. In the crook of her right elbow was Lemarchand’s right heel, and with a slight twist of her arm, Park could drive her bony forearm into Lenore’s right Achilles' tendon. Furthermore, the diabolical nature of the Double Ankle Lock meant that the Raven’s left Achilles’ tendon would simultaneously be crushed against the sharp ridge of her own right shin.
DOUBLE ANKLE LOCK (0:40):
m.youtube.com/watch?v=h0eq_226LZE
Yoona was just about to gloat at her trapped opponent, when she suddenly felt an unpleasant tug and twinge in her own left heel, and the smug grin melted from her face. Evidently, Lenore had also secured an ankle lock during their tumbling fracas, albeit of the simpler Heel Hook variety with Park’s left foot wedged between Lemarchand’s left armpit and elbow.
HEEL HOOK:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUtAZf5i6s8
Locked in a leggy quagmire of mutually assured destruction, each wrestler applied just enough pressure to keep the other uncomfortable as the crowd buzzed with excitement over their display of submission-wrestling wizardry.
“Nice hold, but you have a bad habit of leaving your foot vulnerable,” Lenore calmly noted.
“Dare fucking sold me out…”
“Get over yourself, brat,” Lemarchand scoffed. “Maybe if you weren’t such a goddamned ass all the time, your sparring partners would share notes with you too.”
Yoona flashed a challenging sneer and asked, “Did ‘Liv tell you how I made her scream?”
“Actually, she did,” the Raven confirmed. “Right after she told me how she made you tap.”
To put emphasis on that last point, Lenore turned her shoulder a fraction of an inch and watched as the Korean’s face turned ghastly pale, then she ground her teeth together to suppress a yelp when Park gave a retaliatory squeeze. The tactical supercomputer that was the Courtier's brain spun into action, assessing all the possible outcomes of their bizarre Mexican standoff. According to Olivia, Yoona had never worn her new gear for any of their weekly sparring sessions, so the skin-tight, protective sleeves on her legs now presented Lemarchand with an unknown variable. Lenore’s gut told her that she still held the advantage, but her brain urged caution, and the Raven rarely acted unless instinct and logic were in accord.
She soon came to the conclusion that it would be foolish to play a game of chicken with bone and sinew on the line, so Lemarchand opted to negotiate an armistice, “There’s two ways this ends, Park. You and I both let go, or you and I both leave on stretchers. What’ll it be?”
Yoona silently considered this proposition for a couple of seconds, and with a subtle, nearly imperceptible nod, she slowly, slowly loosened her hooks while her foe reciprocated the gesture. Ready to jump in at a moment’s notice to prevent injury, the referee anxiously watched as the pair of lovelies gradually untangled themselves, their eyes locked in a stare the whole time. After fifteen tense seconds, they were fully disengaged, and in a flash they were on their feet and smashed together in an Elbow and Collar tie-up.
“Always knew you were a coward, Park,” Lenore hissed into the other brunette’s ear.
“Naw, Lenny… you've got it all wrong,” the ex-ballerina whispered back. “I don't want you screaming, I want you moaning…”
Lemarchand let loose an angry snarl as she dipped lower and began driving her opponent back. They were almost at the ropes when Park abruptly slammed on the brakes, then she lifted her right foot and stomped it backwards against the bottom rope. The springy tension of the steel cable caused her leg to rebound forwards and upwards, powering an augmented Knee Strike aimed at the Raven’s midsection. Lenore tried to cover up, only to realize she couldn’t because her arms were still locked up with Yoona’s.
“Shit.”
Lemarchand barely finished her invective before the Korean’s knee slammed into her gut, hitting so hard that it blasted her free of the Elbow and Collar and knocked her back to the middle of the ring. Lenore somehow remained upright with her right arm protectively swaddled around her belly, and she quickly brought her left arm up to block the follow-up Superman Punch. The impact still sent her tumbling sideways to the mat, and Lemarchand rolled onto her haunches just in time to see that oh-so-deadly knee hurtling towards her face.
In spite of her state of breathlessness, Lenore threw herself into a backwards arch to limbo underneath the Running Knee Strike, evading by such a narrow margin that she could see the individual fibers on Yoona’s leg sleeve as it swooshed over her face. The Courtier swayed back to a semi-upright position on her knees and desperately tried to get air back into her lungs, preemptively throwing her arms up around her head to protect against an anticipated kick to the cranium from behind.
Unfortunately, she gambled wrong, as Park’s shin smashed into her left kidney from behind. Lenore dropped her arms, arched her back in agony, and opened her mouth to scream, although the only thing that came out was a choked, wheezing croak. The Raven’s instincts weren't totally off, however, as her world exploded into white light and a cacophony of sound when Yoona’s other leg collided with her right temple a split second later.
BUZZSAW KICK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JXZ0FjghTk
Crumpling onto her stomach after the Buzzsaw Kick, Lemarchand’s eyelids fluttered dangerously but she managed to hang on to consciousness. She saw what she thought were the corner turnbuckles in front of her, and after a period of time that she couldn’t ascertain, she managed to drag herself close enough to loop an elbow over one of the strands. With a great effort, Lenore rolled over and leaned her back against the bottom buckle. Al Carpenter was crouched just a couple of feet in front of her, and the referee shouted something that she couldn’t understand, his voice garbled as if he were talking underwater.
Carpenter held up twelve fingers, which Lemarchand thought was quite strange. Even stranger was the fact that he seemed to have three heads.
Al shouted something unintelligible again, and this time he held up fifteen fingers.
Lenore gave her throbbing head a shake, and three Carpenters merged into two before ultimately coalescing into one.
“SIX!”
Lemarchand was inwardly relieved to note that she could understand the man, allaying her initial fear of lingering neurological damage. Unfortunately, that meant she could also hear the jubilant taunting of her opponent.
“Get wrecked, Lenny! R, E, K, T -- WRECKED!” Yoona shouted as she paced the center of the ring with arms outstretched at her sides, occasionally pounding a fist into her own chest. “You're not on my level! You're not even on the level beneath my level! I'm the maestro of this symphony of violence, and you're just some bumblefuck shit-bird with a vuvuzela!”
The Raven did her best to shake off what remained of her discombobulation as she hauled herself upright, and she assured the official that she was able to continue. Al didn’t look entirely convinced, though it didn’t matter because Lenore brushed him aside and started making her way out of the corner. She managed to take three slightly unsteady steps forward and threw another European Uppercut that clacked off the hard-charging Korean’s jaw, but Yoona powered through with a full head of steam and tackled her to the deck again with a Double Leg Takedown.
As soon as they hit the mat, Park straddled her opponent’s hips and intertwined her left leg with Lemarchand’s right in a Single Leg Grapevine. At the same time, she raised the Courtier’s left leg up at a ninety degree angle and gripped the ankle with both hands, and practically every FAWNatic in attendance stood and held up a phone in order to record the latest Death by Snu Snu on Yoona’s ever-growing hit-list.
“Don’t you even think about it, ParrrRRRGGGHH DAMMIT!” Lenore shrieked in spite of herself when the Korean leaned all the way forward and stretched her leg until her foot was up over the top of her head.
The Raven had been well aware of her opponent’s expertise in shredding even the most limber of legs, but to experience it first hand was something else entirely. She might have even appreciated the subtle nuances of the hold -- the way Park cupped her heel, locked her knee ramrod straight, and pinned her other leg to maximize the strain in her calf, hamstring, and groin -- if she weren’t being currently tortured by it.
“Dare can’t help you with this one, Lenny,” Yoona cooed. “She gets stretched out by this EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.”
It was technically true, though Park intentionally neglected to mention the times she had fallen victim to her own maneuver in her sparring sessions with the Briton. They had also maintained an agreement to not go for the trunks, however, and apparently it was not a professional courtesy that Yoona was willing to extend to the Raven. The ex-ballerina set her hips in motion and began that infamous bump and grind that never failed to send the crowd into a libidinous frenzy.
“Can’t grind me out, brat,” Lenore hissed. “Do you have ANY idea how many skanks have tried during my years at MiskatoooooOOOO --”
Lemarchand abruptly clamped her jaw shut. Her opponent had discovered a heretofore unknown rhythm that made Lenore’s whole body tingle so intensely that it overpowered the searing pain in her leg, and while she estimated her flexibility could hold out another four minutes, this second prong of attack threatened to overwhelm her in less than half that time. She dug her fingernails into the Korean’s upper back and carved angry red furrows in retaliation, but this only spurred the nymphomaniac ingenue to add a third prong of attack by tenderly suckling on the side of her neck, and it wasn’t long before the Courtier could no longer hold back a throaty moan of unbridled ecstasy that drew a raucous ovation from the crowd.
“I fucking loooooove that sound,” Yoona purred, playfully chewing on the Raven’s right earlobe for a couple of seconds before returning to her neck.
Rapidly careening towards a most galling defeat, Lenore tried to remain calm in order to assess potential avenues of escape. The ex-ballerina’s balance was impeccable, making it nigh impossible to overturn the mount, and with both of her legs immobilized, Lemarchand had few options to make it to the ropes that were just a hand’s length out of reach above her head. Nevertheless, those rubber-coated steel cables, tantalizingly close yet infuriatingly far, were her best and last hope, so the Raven enacted a desperate gambit.
“Hhhh -- hh -- harder…” she croaked. “H-harder… harder!”
Her captor softly chuckled into the side of her neck, a sensation that made every hair on Lemarchand’s body stand on end.
“Ohhhhh you thirsty little slut…” Yoona murmured. “Is your fuck-boy not getting the job done at home?”
Lenore didn’t much appreciate Park’s epithet for her longtime boyfriend, but she wasn’t in a position to protest and the Korean did in fact oblige her request by drastically increasing the force behind every stroke, so much so that every crotch-on-crotch collision nudged them a fraction of an inch closer to the edge of the ring. Her reserves of self-control running perilously low, Lemarchand gasped and moaned in perfect rhythm with each sweep of her opponent’s hips, but while her mouth had betrayed her, she retained enough of her other faculties to bury one hand in Yoona’s jet-black locks while extending the other towards the ropes.
After maybe twenty seconds of powerful, unbearable thrusting, she felt her fingertips brush against the bottom cable, and with a final, desperate effort she stretched out just as she reached her limits.
“AAAAAAAAALLLL - GEEERRRR - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!” Lenore screamed at the top of her lungs.
The grinding suddenly stopped. Yoona reared back onto her haunches and let go of the Courtier’s left leg, letting the limb flop lifelessly to the mat. The Korean looked both befuddled and offended as she ran a hand over through her hair.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Lenore?! I give you the best fuck of your life and you scream Merle’s name?!” Park huffed indignantly. “Jesus Fucking Christ, how does Allard --”
“She’s in the ropes! Break the hold, Yoona! Break the hold!” Carpenter ordered.
Yoona followed Al’s line of sight and saw Lenore’s middle and index fingers hooked onto the bottom rope. She scoffed in disgust and shook her head, but she still complied with the official’s demands and retreated without working the count, swaying a bit on her own unsteady legs as she walked away.
“You’re one clever bitch, Lenny. I guess that’s why they call you the Smartest Girl in the Room,” Park snorted derisively.
Lenore’s ego prickled at the mouthy Korean’s latest barb, but she had not yet regained her composure after coming so dangerously close to the edge, closer than she would admit to anyone. She hauled herself up and leaned heavily on the top rope for support, and fortunately her opponent seemed to need the extra time to cool down as well. There was a brief lull in the action as each wrestler stood in opposite corners taking deep, heaving breaths, and after that delightful heat in her own loins subsided, Park stalked to the center of the ring. When Lemarchand tried to rejoin the fray, however, her left hamstring abruptly seized and cramped after just a couple of steps, dropping her to hands and knees with a pained gasp.
“You really should’ve sent Suzy B out here instead,” Yoona scoffed as she strolled over to deliver a coup de grace. “She would’ve given me a better fight AND a better fuck. Can’t believe I got stuck with the goddamned jester of the Black Co -- ARRGGGH FUCK!”
An absolutely furious Lemarchand took advantage of her opponent’s arrogant nonchalance to lunge forward from her prone position and deliver a low Shoulder Tackle directly into the ex-ballerina’s kneecaps. The impact upended Yoona and sent her flying head over heels before she crash landed on her left shoulder, and then she immediately hugged both knees to her chest and wailed piteously.
Lenore felt much better about the situation once Park was down and whimpering, she felt even better after she’d extended a leg across the back of her opponent’s head and dropped to her tush to THONK the Korean’s noggin against the canvas.
“I believe Poe said it best when he noted ‘I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmic creation of Beauty.’”
The Raven stood, walked around to Yoona’s ankles and used them to roll the other brunette onto her stomach. From there she planted her feet on Park’s thighs, laid claim to her ankles and neatly angled / folded her foe’s shins in against her own, as if she was setting up for a Romero Stretch.
Pausing for a moment, the Courtier put her hands on her hips and continued, “The poetry in which I deal is far more action than words, but I’d like to think it still deals in the creation of Beauty, albeit a far more terrible, visceral variety.”
Effectively pinned by her attacker’s weight, Yoona reached for the ropes with one hand, then quickly tucked her arms under her torso when Lemarchand crouched down to SMACK at her hips.
“Nice try, Lenny,” Park taunted. “But not even Deschain could trap me with that tired old shyt and she’s a lot better at this than WHOOAANNNGGGHH BYTCH!”
Patently unperturbed by Yoona’s defenses, Lenore crouched ever so slightly, then hopped up and came down with all her weight stomping the back of Park’s thighs! This in turn drove the black-clad lovely’s knees into the canvas, meaning she was in no position to argue when Emily’s Lady in Waiting scraped her up with a huge handful of hair.
“I’ve heard enough of Camille’s conversations to know arguing with you is pointless,” Lenore murmured to the rubber-kneed exotique as she snuggled in against her left side. “So I’ll limit this to a single piece of advice. Constant trolling is a good way to make a professional rivalry very, VERY personal. And there are some women in that locker room who would leave your life a smoking crater without so much as a second thought.”
“Suhhh… some women being you, Lenny?” Park muttered as she tried to plant weight on her right knee.
“Obvious Troll is obvious, Yoona. I wouldn‘t waste my time,” Lenore whispered in her ear.
From there she slung Park’s left arm across her shoulders, bent down and grabbed the Korean’s ankle all the better to hoist her up onto her right shoulder. Yoona realized something was wrong and started to pound short, sloppy punches into the Raven’s head, alas it wasn’t enough to stop Lemarchand from racing across the ring on a diagonal to drive her opponent’s shin into the top turnbuckle with a cringe-inducing BWUUUNG! Park shrieked like a banshee and went down in heap, the injured knee clutched tight to her chest by the time she hit the mat.
TURNBUCKLE SHINBREAKER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=58HAHZcsTkU
As patient and methodical as her ominous namesake, Lenore waited for Yoona to slop onto her stomach before she moved in and grabbed hold of that left ankle.
“NO!” Park snarled. “LET ME GO MOTHERF*CKER!”
“Give me a reason,” Lenore replied as she curled an arm around Park’s exposed ankle and gripped the edge of her foot with the other hand.
Ankle Lock, Lenore Lemarchand to Yoona Park.
Yoona pushed onto her hands at once, the normally unflappable beauty shaking her head ‘no, no, no!’ when the ref asked if she wanted to quit. Indeed, Yoona didn’t want to give it up, but the options were limited with this hateful shytbird trying to hobble her. Swallowing the lump in her throat as best she could, Park reeeeeeeaaached for the ropes and when they proved too far away, she braced her hands and carefully rose up on her plant foot.
“That’s progress, at least,” Lenore said blandly. “Now what, sweetie?”
Yoona hopped forward and reached again, the sanctuary of the strands only inches from her straining fingers. Without looking over her shoulder she spat, “Now I make you my little bytch right here in front of everySHYT!”
The Fair & Radiant Maiden pulled back on the Ankle Lock and angled Park’s shin across her thigh, meaning it was wedged firmly between their bodies when Yoona stumbled backward into Lemarchand’s Waistlock. Hands locked tight, Lenore dropped into a low crouch and popped her hips to sling the nympho up, over and down onto the back of her head with a huge German Suplex!
LEG-TRAP GERMAN SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aNliQWB5pM
Park hit with a THAWHAM and somersaulted back onto all fours, a position she would’ve occupied for quite some time if Lenore hadn’t strolled over and flicked a quick Soccer Kick between her eyes. The quick strike fogged the Korean’s senses yet again, not that Lemarchand took her time in hauling Park to verticality. A Front Facelock kept Yoona’s head under control as Lenore reached across her rival to seize Yoona’s right leg, which she quickly angled across Park’s left thigh. No submission hold this, the Raven hooked Yoona behind the left knee and muscled her directly overhead only to immediately kick both legs forward and PLANT Yoona’s skull in the canvas with a thunderous application of her Bleak December Brainbuster! The ring-rattling head drop left Park a starfish in the center of the squared circle, easy prey for Lenore, who slid into place for a Double Leg Grapevine good for…
BLEAK DECEMBER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-YmNe1MZgk
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
Lemarchand hadn’t trapped Yoona’s wrists and thus allowed the Korean to inch a shoulder off the mat before ‘THREE!’
“Resilient,” Lenore noted quietly. “Nice to know Cosworth assessment of your skills isn’t skewed by your relationship.”
“Read your history, Lenny,” Yoona groaned. “I kicked Cam’s ass all over before we started dat-- what the f*ck do you think you’re doing?”
Lenore grabbed her opponent’s ankles, spread her legs into a ‘V’, then reached through and took possession of Park’s wrists. In the next instant she threaded Park’s arms around her own lower legs so that the brunette was palming her own shins. Odd, but not necessarily dangerous until the Raven crossed Yoona’s ankles in a snug little ‘X’ and deftly rolled her onto her knees so that the limber kickboxer was left folded in a human knot that pressed one cheek against the canvas while the other pointed to the rafters.
PARADISE LOCK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIrto5yEcuU
Forearms trapped in the pits of her knees, Yoona squirmed as best she could but only succeeded in getting a few lascivious cheers from the FAWNatics.
“A Paradise Lock, really?” Park grumbled after ten seconds of useless struggle. “You really think that’s going to make me submit?”
Lenore, who’d used Park’s initial escape efforts to catch her breath, knelt down beside the trapped brunette.
“This?” she swatted Yoona’s upturned rump. “No, not at all. This is merely meant to keep you in place. This however,” the Courtier curled her left hand into a ‘C’ and carefully slipped it into the leg-hole of Yoona’s one piece, “this might very well do you in.”
Yoona didn’t outright laugh, but she didn’t sound worried either.
“Do your best, nerd. I’ve won fights on the beaches of California, no chess club president is going to finger bang me into--” Park sucked in a sharp, surprised gasp as Lenore set to work on her center with one of very few approaches that, ahem, got a rise from the notorious nympho.
“You were saying?” Lenore asked even as she felt Park’s hips respond to her touch.
Park bit her bottom lip and inhaled through her nose, the Korean working hard to keep her breath steady.
“I said Cam and I are going to have to talk about boundaries after I’ve kicked your flat ass.”
Lemarchand smacked Yoona’s ass with her free hand, and went right on pumping with the other.
“Don’t blame her, she didn’t even know what she was saying. Call it a bit of conversational cross examination.”
Lenore paused to smile for a Gladiatrix photog even as her talon made Yoona’s trunks bulge and ripple.
“That and she’d had about half a bottle of Jack Daniels. She DOES like to talk when she’s drunk. And what about you, Yoona? Would you like to submit? Or shall I keep this going and let the whole arena hear you moan?”
The position didn’t allow Yoona to shake her head one way or the other.
“You think you can get the job done, Lenny? Because this is strictly first base shyt where I’m froooooooooohhhhhhhhhh mmmmmmhhhhhhhh you godddamned bytch.”
Emily’s Lady in Waiting increased her pace, smacked Park’s rump a few more times (each swat got a lusty cheer from the crowd) then reached forward, grabbed a handful of hair and wrenched her head back at a rough angle.
“Look at them, Yoona,” the Raven demanded. “Look at them the way you made your opponents look when you used them for your pleasure.
Yoona flushed, her pretty face twisted in an uncharacteristic grimace of embarrassment.
“F*ck you, Lenore. Fumble and grope all you want, you’re never going to FAAAAAAAAAHHHHK!”
Lemarchand went at her for a full speed for fifteen seconds, Yoona moaning and writhing through every heartbeat. But then, with Park cresting the wave of a thunderous climax, Lenore withdrew her talon, leaving the tide to recede along with it.
“As if you’ve earned it,” the sinewy brunette murmured after she’d wiped her fingers clean on the other woman’s togs. “But far be it from me to leave you empty handed.”
Rising to her full height with the Korean still trapped in the Paradise Lock, Lenore walked around to Park’s left side, wheeled around on her heel and raced into the ropes. Flying back on ebon wings, the Raven hopped up and THWHACK-THUMPED a hellacious Soccer Kick to the kickboxer’s exposed flank!
Yoona unrolled like a sad party favor, the exhausted brunette tumbling halfway across the canvas before coming to a stop several inches shy of the ropes. She was probably too far away to grab on one way or another, but it didn’t stop Lemarchand from snagging her at wrist and ankle and draaaaagging her into the middle of the ring. Only then did she settle down across Park’s waist and hook the far leg for…
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Yoona inched a shoulder off the mat, the narrow escape so subtle when compared to her usual bombast that most of the crowd believed it an involuntary reflex. Lenore leaned back on her haunches and looked to Carpenter for confirmation. He gave it in the form of two fingers, earning a single nod from the Raven. A quick glance over one shoulder told Lemarchand that the nearest corner was directly at her back, so she got to her feet and made brisk time to the turnbuckles. Cheers from those assembled as the Fair & Radiant Maiden dipped her knees and sprang from lobby to penthouse in a single graceful--
“OOOWW F*CK!”
Lenore stuck the landing just fine, alas in doing so she sent a bolt of anguish through her left hamstring, the one that Yoona so effectively tortured with that damned Wishbone. Hanging onto the top rope in a death grip until the worst of the cramp passed, Lemarchand let out a deep breath and slowly stood THWHACK!
A ramshackle Yoona Park lashed a brutal high kick across the back of Lenore’s left leg, dropping the Courtier into a eye-watering seat on the top buckle which got even worse when Park grabbed her shoulders and pulled her down into the Tree of Woe.
Finally allowing herself a deep breath, the aching, pale faced beauty swept a fall of sweat-soaked hair off her forehead and huffed, “Oh Lenny, I think we’d be best friends if we don’t kill each other first. Do me a favor, try to survive this, would ya?”
Without another word she turned around and ran across the ring, the hitch in her stride barely evident by the time she reached the far corner. A short hop onto the second buckle turned her around in a flash and then she was racing down her own backtrail, picking up even more momentum before she dropped into a brutal skid that THWHACKED both feet into Lenore’s face at top speed.
The impact jarred Lemarchand free of the turnbuckles and she tumbled to the mat in a daze. Yoona pushed herself upright despite the concerning throb in her left knee, and she silently thanked her lucky stars that her new gear did its job in protecting her joints. Even so, she began dragging a groaning, burbling Lenore to the middle of the ring for a little payback.
Once they were far away from any ropes, Park stepped on her opponent’s right ankle to pin that limb to the canvas, then she grabbed the Raven’s left ankle and opened Lemarchand's legs into a wide, lopsided V. Lenore gave a soft hiss of pain at having her left leg stretched out once more, and to her dismay, Yoona noticed this subtle sign of vulnerability.
“I can't fucking believe we have the same ‘Legs’ rating in FAWN 2K17. Cam better get them to fix that horseshit in next year’s game,” Park disdainfully snorted as she fired stomp after stomp into the exposed hamstring while Lemarchand gritted her teeth and tried to keep from crying out.
After about a dozen blows, Yoona correctly figured the muscle had to be severely cramping, so she forcefully threw the limb sideways into the mat. Under normal circumstances, the Leg Whip was not much cause for distress for one as limber as Lemarchand, but the flexibility in her hamstring and groin had already been compromised, and she sat up and howled when her legs were violently wrenched open again. The fans groaned in sympathy, and then there was a smattering of boos when Yoona knocked Lenore back down with a contemptuous backhanded Bitch Slap.
“A real warrior poet writes her own poetry,” the Korean scoffed as she grabbed her opponent’s left ankle again to deliver more kicks to the leg. “Maybe if you didn’t waste all your time reading shit written by an overrated, child-diddling hack, you would’ve stood a fucking chance against me.”
To prove her point, Park launched into a recitation of a homemade rhyme that she had saved for an occasion such as this.
“Roses are red.”
STOMP.
“Violets are blue.”
STOMP.
“I’m always gonna be better thannnNNNNRRGH FUCKING BITCH!”
Apparently not a fan of Yoona’s prose, the Raven managed the wrench her right ankle out from underneath her opponent’s foot, and then pistoned the heel of her boot directly into Park’s kneecap. The other brunette toppled to her back, and Lemarchand was upon her in a flash. Moving with a speed that belied the sorry state of her own leg, Lenore captured her foe’s right ankle and stepped around in a circle, twisting the limb around her own left calf to cross the shin over the battered knee over Yoona’s opposite leg. She scooped Park’s left ankle up into her lap, sat down on her rear, and hooked her right calf over the other wrestler’s right ankle. Having secured the leggy knot that was the Figure Four Leglock, Lenore leaned back onto her elbows and bridged her hips upwards.
Yoona snarled and hissed, which was far more of a reaction than she usually gave, but still she did not seem to be in much distress.
“Get this weak shit outta here, Lenny! The Figure Four hasn’t worked on me in years!” Park spat while she pried at Lemarchand’s legs.
“Not a Figure Four, brat,” Lenore grimly retorted. “Watch and learn…”
Arching back even further so that she was briefly balanced on the crown of her own skull, the Courtier planted one hand and then the other on the canvas next to her head, and with a primal scream of effort, she pushed herself up into a gorgeous bridge, propped up on her palms and toes.
“...OR BETTER YET, JUST TAP!” she roared just as the FAWNatics burst into cheers.
FIGURE EIGHT LEGLOCK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcnfHcq6phk
Experiencing the first Figure Eight Leglock of her life, Yoona screeched like a banshee. As much as she hated to admit it, even her prodigious flexibility had its limits, and within just a few seconds she was sorely tempted to take the coward’s way out as her quivering hand hovered over the mat. She caught herself, however, plunging her hands into her own hair and tearing at her locks while sobbing a pitiful “NOOOOO!” more for the benefit of her own psyche than the referee.
Irritated by Park’s obstinance, Lenore tried arching a little higher to wring a surrender from the exotic brunette, but she had perhaps underestimated the amount of damage accrued to her own legs. A sudden bolt of pain in her left thigh and groin made her bridge collapse like a flimsy house of cards, and then Lemarchand abandoned what remained of her hold to roll onto her stomach to try to put out the fire in her sinews. A couple of feet away, Park was trying to do the same with her own ravaged knee.
Lenore seemed to recover a bit faster, making it to hands and knees while Yoona was still prone. The Korean recognized a golden opportunity though, and she sprang into a one-legged lunge across her opponent’s lower back. Gnashing her teeth against the pain in her knee that accompanied every movement, Park laced her calves around Lemarchand’s right thigh and then reached down to loop her arms around the left. With both sets of hooks sunk in deep, Yoona rolled backwards and laid out on the mat, pulling in with her arms while pushing out with her legs.
“AAAHHHHH GAAWWWWWWD!” Lenore howled as she was nearly split up the middle and her hamstring threatened to tear right off the bone.
CRAB CLUTCH:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAGv5EBhen8
On a few occasions at the Hellhole, the Raven had suffered through a similar hold in Camille’s Rolling Death Cradle -- a tumbling, dizzying Wishbone that ragdolled its victims while ripping their legs apart -- and while Yoona’s Crab Clutch did not have that spectacular show of force, the Korean made up for it with a few painful additions. When Park wedged a bony forearm into the pit of her knee while applying torque to the toe of her boot to add both a Calf Crusher and an Ankle Lock to the already excruciating leg stretch, it was Lenore’s turn to find herself on the brink of submission, and her flattened right hand seemed ready to signal her surrender against her opponent’s thigh at any moment.
“You know, Lenny…” Yoona mused, already revelling in her impending victory, “...if the Black Court were Earth’s Mightiest Heroes…”
She gave a pulse through all three agonizing components of the Crab Clutch, and Lemarchand’s hand rose as if to tap out.
“...you’d be that dipshit playing Galaga!”
Suddenly filled with rage over the Korean’s incessant taunting and trolling, Lenore’s outstretched hand tightly clenched, and she brought it down in a crushing Hammerfist right on top of Yoona’s left knee. Park screeched and loosened the hold, and Lemarchand repeated the strike two more times before she sprung herself free. They barrel-rolled away from each other, winding up in opposite corners, and each lady laid on the mat and tended to her wounds while Al Carpenter started his ten count.
The FAWNatics, however, were not interested in seeing a double count-out, and they gave voice to their feelings via a chant and a percussive beat.
“FIGHT FOR-EV-ER!”
CLAP, CLAP, CLAP-CLAP-CLAP.
“FIGHT FOR-EV-ER!”
CLAP, CLAP, CLAP-CLAP-CLAP.
“FIGHT FOR-EV-ER!”
CLAP, CLAP, CLAP-CLAP-CLAP.
Eventually, the fans got their wish, as the two worn and weary battlers hauled themselves upright with about two seconds to spare. They looked at each other, then the crowd, then back to each other, and they shared a mutual, mirthless chuckle.
“A war without end. Mat stained with blood, sweat, and tears. I stand triumphant!” Lenore called to her opponent, determined to show that she was the superior poet as well as warrior.
Yoona was not impressed. She rolled her eyes and scoffed, and a few seconds later, she offered a retort.
“Your haiku sucked dick. It didn’t even make sense. So go fuck yourself!”
Lemarchand’s lips twisted into a frown.
“Insolent, cheeky bitch to the end…”
“The motherfucking cheekiest!” Park proudly affirmed.
Lenore snorted, then shifted her weight so all of it was leaning on her good (well, not as bad, at least) right leg and extended the left so that the tips of her toes just barely touched the mat. Eyes locked on the Korean, she drew an invisible line between them and spread her arms wide.
“Step up if your courage hasn’t deserted you, Yoona Park. Step up and I’ll point your tawdry little cheeks to the rafters until a new amusement crosses my mind.”
Yoona glanced at the canvas for a moment, using the lull to determine just how much more her knee could take. The answer was ‘not much’ but more than enough to take down Emily’s favorite beat poet. Grinning like every step didn’t hurt, Park walked right up to the Raven and very deliberately spat on her foot.
“Got something on your boot, Lenny.”
Lemarchand didn’t so much as flinch, “I might make you lick that up if I didn’t think you’d like it.”
Yoona took a half step forward and Lenore did the same, the pair of crippled brunettes trying to walk through one another despite having one good pair of legs between them.
“Don’t worry about your boot, bytch. Worry about how I’m going to wipe you across every inch of this mat after the match is over.”
Lenore arched an eyebrow.
“A reference to your vaunted carnal eccentricities, Yoona? At one time those appetites might have given me pause,” she leaned in that much closer, all the better to whisper in Yoona’s ear, “then I discovered your grind has all the subtlety of a Pomeranian screwing a couch cushion.”
The Raven drew back, her lips already curved in a smile. “And just like that the mystique was--”
Lenore’s eyes went wide with surprise and alarm, not at Park’s reaction to her barb, but something over the Korean’s shoulder. “LOOK NNNNGGGGHHHH!”
A pair of knees slammed into Yoona’s back and drove her bodily into the surprised Courtier. Groaning as her forehead collided with Lenore’s, Yoona staggered and went to one knee only to be hauled up by her as of yet unseen assailant.
“Bytch,” Park huffed even as a pair of strong arms cinched around her midsection. “You’re gonna wish you hadn’t WHOOOAGUUUUUUHHHH!”
Adelaide Brewster dropped her hips and hurled the snarky striker halfway across the ring with a Release German Suplex that planted Park flush on the back of her head and shoulders. Springing to her feet even as Carpenter called for the bell, the Weeping Angel split Lenore’s thighs with a vile kick, then slapped on a Front Facelock and spiked her forehead into the canvas with a resounding DDT.
Oblivious to the jeers of the fans and the repeated CLANG of the bell, Brewster rose to her full height and looked between the woman who’d stolen the Madhouse from her and the woman who’d robbed the Church of Camille Cosworth.
“I’ll deal with you another time, Raven,” Adelaide snarled at the groaning grappler.
Decision made, she rounded on Yoona and hauled her up with a handful of trunks and tresses.
“C’MON ADELAIDE, LET HER GO!” Al grabbed at the interloper’s arm, desperate to regain some vestige of control. “GET OUTTA HERE SO I CAN--”
The ref’s plans ground to a screeching halt when Brewster turned her head and PFFWOOOOOOSHED a cloud of Red Mist directly into his eyes!
“Keep out of my way, chattNGH!”
Yoona pulled away from her attacker and turned Adelaide’s head with a palm strike little better than a hard slap.
“Poor form, f*ck wit,” Park huffed. “Lenny and I were just about to OOOWWWWW FAAAAHK!”
Adelaide snapped a Toe Kick into Park’s wounded knee, lowered a shoulder and drove forward in a Spear that sent the both of them tumbling through the ropes to the floor below! Still fresh despite the rough landing, the Daughter of Darkness got to her feet before hauling Yoona to hers.
“What was that, heathen? I don’t think I heard you!”
Controlling the Korean at shoulder and wrist, Brewster rotated, stepped away and hurled Park up at the aisle on a rough diagonal. Her legs protested every step of the way but Yoona didn’t go down until she BWUUUNGED gut-first into the guardrail. Unable to stifle a shriek as her knee hit the unyielding steel, she grabbed hold of the top and used it to turn around.
“That all you got, punk?” she barked at a rapidly closing Brewster. “I thought you creature of the night types were supposed to be freaky strong or some stupid shyt like--”
Park used the last of her reserves to throw herself at Adelaide in a desperation Superman Punch. Alas, the condition of her knee slowed the strike dramatically and the Churchgoer swatted it down like it was nothing. Catching the wrist of Yoona’s punchin’ hand, Brewster stepped back again and continued the other brunette’s forced retreat with a second Irish Whip. This one hit even harder than the first, the force of it almost sending Park tumbling into a group of aisle-side fans.
“Faaaaaaaaahhhhhhkk….” Yoona moaned as she tried to will herself to something like verticality. “Ok Brewster, you like playing dead? You’re gonna wish you were when AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”
Adelaide stepped up and drove a boot into the back of Park’s injured knee before she’d even pulled herself off the railing.
“You should have left Cosworth to me,” she purred in Yoona’s ear. “Now you’ll suffer in her stead.”
No response from Park, the pain in her leg was too great and even if that wasn’t the case, Brewster grabbed her right wrist and drew that arm against her throat tight enough to make her wheeze. In the next instant she slipped an arm between Yoona’s thighs and muscled her up onto her shoulders in what was essentially a Cut-Throat version of the Torture Rack. Of course the FAWNatics knew it as something else entirely and they pleaded with the True Believer to reconsider her actions. Foolishness of course, Adelaide Brewster was not in the habit of second guessing her decisions, let alone bestowing mercy on one who had humiliated her in front of the world. Retreating to the center of the aisle, the Weeping Angel turned so she was facing the ‘tron, then pushed onto her toes and laid out on one side to THAWHONK Yoona’s head and neck into the floor with sickening force.
BLOOD & BLACK LACE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggQhjXPD_fA
Utterly devastated by Blood & Black Lace, Park tumbled to her back in slow motion and didn’t make so much as a peep when Adelaide planted a foot on her chest.
“That’s only the first taste of what I have in store for you, slut. Your misery at my hands will be the stuff of legend.”
Back in the ring, Lenore Lemarchand pushed to all fours just in time to see Brewster strolling away from the smoldering wreckage of Yoona Park.
“Crazy bytch,” the Raven whispered. “I’m not going to forget this.”
The promise was fresh off her lips when a whole horde of zebras and medics came out to check on the devastated Korean. Suddenly aware that she didn’t know what happened to Al, Lemarchand clambered to boot leather and looked around to find the poor dope hunkered in a corner wiping that damned mist out of his eyes.
“You going to be ok, Al?” she croaked. “Need me to get you a bottle of water?”
“You’d be better served tending to your own wounds, little bird.”
Give Lemarchand credit, she whirled in the direction of that hateful voice and flung herself at the late arrival, alas Elise Winterrest was very well rested… and armed with a steel chair. Stepping back as Lenore pounced, Miss Murder THUMPED the rounded edge of her weapon into the Courtier’s exposed tummy. Lenore collapsed to her hands and knees in a coughing, gagging heap that got even lower to the ground when Winterrest raised the chair overhead and brought it BWANNGING down on her back.
“I thought I made myself clear on the night of our introduction to one another,” Elise cooed as she strolled a slow circle around the helpless brunette. “I am not a patient woman and I have no interest in waiting for an opening in your oh so busy professional calendar, so consider this me cutting to the front of the line… and a small preview of just what sort of hell I’ll rain down on you the next time we share a ring.”
Planting a foot on either side of Lenore’s hips, Elise opened the chair all the way, turned it upside down and slipped Lemarchand’s head through the gap between seat and seat-back. The crowd, already aghast over what’d happened to Yoona, found a new well of anger to draw from when the Icy Manipulator sank into a seat on Lenore’s lower back and reeeeeeeeeeefed back on the nearest set of chair legs to throttle the Raven with a hideously augmented Camel Clutch!
MURDEROUS CAMEL CLUTCH:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiYYBFEpdRw
Far too weak to offer any real resistance, Lemarchand pawed weakly at the strangling steel before swatting the mat, hoping against hope that the show of submission would slake Winterrest’s thirst for violence.
“Oh, so soon?” Elise pouted at the symbolic submission. “Well, you HAVE had a long day. And I’d hate for you to claim injury to delay our next meeting even longer, so….”
She released her hold on the chair but didn’t pull it loose, leaving it wrapped around Lenore’s head like some bizarre collar.
The crew tending to Yoona had finally noticed the attack on Lenore and they made their way to the ring posthaste. Elise let them do as they pleased, she even offered them a polite little wave as she slipped through the ropes and disappeared into the crowd. After tonight’s message there was no way for Lenore to delay their inevitable confrontation and now that it loomed on the horizon, Miss Murder let darkness in her mind loose to concoct a torment that’d make her little trick with the chair pale by comparison.
She simply could not wait for Red, White & Bruised.
YOONA PARK
FAWN’s marketing department could not have dreamed of a better spokeswoman than the Girl of Tomorrow. On top of being one of the most electrifying in-ring performers on the roster, Camille had always been unabashedly proud of her geeky proclivities. She publically cosplayed as her favorite videogame characters for Halloween, she was legitimately one of the best League of Legends players in the country, and she had an encyclopedic knowledge of the lore and associated memes of the Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Warcraft, and Zelda franchises. All of this gave her credibility and cache with the gaming community that was unmatched by anyone else in the federation.
Most importantly, Cosworth’s earnest, affable demeanor and clean-cut image were palatable to relatively conservative audiences and sponsors that fell outside of FAWN’s typical demographic circle, especially in comparison to Park’s swaggering, foul-mouthed braggadocio and brazen sexuality. In fact, the brass had been so concerned that the Korean would scare away corporate dollars that they effectively banned Yoona from also making the trip to E3 by booking her in a match and threatening a very hefty suspension and fine should she be a no-show. That decision had rankled her greatly, though at the moment she felt nothing but pride and joy. Despite recent tension between the lovebirds, Camille looked genuinely thrilled to be on-stage at E3, and whenever Cosworth was happy, Park was happy too.
“Ms. Park, it’s time to --”
“Fuck off, dickcheese,” Yoona dismissed the hapless production assistant without looking up from her phone or letting the smile fall off her face.
The unpaid intern knew it would be hazardous to push the issue further, so she just threw up her hands and backed away. Fortunately, the FAWN 2K18 segment ended shortly afterwards, and once the feed switched to something else, Park stowed her phone in her locker and started heading for the ring at a brisk jog. By the time she made it through the curtains at the top of the entrance ramp, it had been about four minutes since her introduction, and the fans were voicing their displeasure at having been made to wait.
No matter though. Yoona pulled down her top to expose her bare breasts, and the boos and jeers quickly turned into appreciative catcalls and whistles. Chuckling to herself, she sheathed her bosom again and continued her jog to the ring, clad in the new ring gear she had debuted a month ago in a now infamous match against Dominique Daly. Gone were the bikini bottoms and tank top, and in their place was a black bustier-style one piece lined in metallic gold. Her forearms were covered in matching fingerless gloves that ran up to her elbow, and on her legs were a pair of black sleeves that started just above her knees and extended down to her ankle bones before terminating in thin stirrups that looped around the bottom of her otherwise bare feet, just in front of the heel. “YOONA” was written vertically in metallic gold block letters on the front of each shin, and securely knotted around her left thigh was a red silk ribbon.
With the exception of Camille's decorative sash, the sartorial changes each followed a function. The tight, corset-like compression in the midsection of the bustier bolstered Park’s core strength -- while also giving a crowd-pleasing boost to her bosom -- and her leg sleeves made of the same material served to stabilize her fragile ankles and neutralize the pressure points in the soles of her feet. And although the rulebook strongly disapproved of her repeatedly punching her opponents in the head, the Korean’s gloves effectively protected her wrists and knuckles in the event of fisticuffs.
“Sorry I’m late, Merle,” she said to the referee once she had climbed into the ring. “I was touching myself to this old homemade porn video of you and Jenny Jacobs. Woulda been out here sooner, but your Dad-Bod was so deeply unsexy that it took me longer than usual to finish.”
Algernon Carpenter sighed heavily as he performed a cursory check of Yoona’s gear, and then the arena speaker system crackled to life once more.
“And introducing her opponent, representing the Black Court, hailing from Glen Echo Michigan, she stands at five feet seven inches tall and weighs in at one hundred and thirty-one pounds. They call her the Raven… LENORE LEMARCHAND!”
Kula Shaker’s ‘Hush’ flitted into the rafters and a great unkindness of ’Ravens’ went up, Lemarchand’s flock growing larger with each new tale in her anthology of anguish. They cheered all the louder when Emily West’s Lady in Waiting brushed through the curtain scant seconds after her name was called. Regarding the capacity crowd with a wry smile, Lenore tapped the wrist of her right hand like she was checking the face of a watch, then hooked her thumbs together and raised the rook high overhead. When it came down she made an ever so quick motion to tug at her own top, then rolled her eyes and waggled a ‘no, no, no’ to the camera.
“Cheap heat,” she mouthed. Turning her attention to the squared circle, the Black Court’s resident herald started down the aisle.
LENORE LEMARCHAND
For her first encounter with a woman whose talent for general irritation was matched only by Maddy Crane, Lenore chose strappy bikini bottoms hued in a purplish-black and emblazoned with a faint design that careful inspection revealed to be feathers. Her top was halter style, with the color and pattern matching her briefs. Elbow and kneepads were matte black, the latter still obscured by loose, bell-flared 'leggings' that started just south of mid-thigh and dropped to ankle length. Those leggings were also black and featured a stylized version of Lemarchand’s raven insignia done in stark white. Her look was finished with shiny black boots and purple wrist tape that matched her togs.
Dark eyes honed in on the snarky striking specialist, Lenore held Yoona in her gaze until she very pointedly drifted away right as Park took a step from her corner. Drawing to a stop in the shadow of the ring, the Courtier shifted to the right to better admire a sign that read:
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, LEMARCHAND! SHUT HER MOUTH!
“I appreciate the reference, but why would I want silence when she could scream out a submission?”
That seemed to placate the sign holder, so Lemarchand whipped around on one heel, broke into a run and dove under the bottom rope. On her feet in the span between heartbeats, the Fair & Radiant Maiden strode to the center of the ring and raised her sigil one more time, Lenore all but daring Yoona to come for her before the bell. But Park only countered with some birds of her own, middle fingers held squarely at eye level. Lenore dropped her hands and smiled.
“So, you DO possess the slightest modicum of restraint,” Lemarchand murmured.
Turning her back on Park without the slightest bit of hesitation, Lenore headed to her corner and settled in against the buckles. “You may not be Elise, but you’ll be a suitable distraction until I get my hands around her oh so delicate neck.”
Dismissing all thoughts of Ms. Murder as soon as the bell sounded, Lenore honed in on the dangerous brunette in the opposite corner and started closing the distance. Yoona saw the Raven coming and came forward to meet her, though not without a slight shake of her head that did not go unnoticed by Lemarchand. Well aware of Park’s ahem, let’s call it acerbic, personality (she’d endured Camille’s end of several conversations with her girlfriend when they were working out at the Hellhole) Lenore kept quiet as they began to circle, just in case the Korean import was looking for an easy opening.
Hands curled beneath her chin, Yoona circled with the other brunette twice before she sighed again and took a step back.
“So, how do you want to do this?”
It sounded like she didn’t much care either way.
“Do you want to try to hang with me leg to leg? Throw some hands? Maybe we just pull hair and catfight it out? Either way I’m going to kick your ass, so it might as well be something you’re good at, or at least think you’re good at.”
The Fair & Radiant Maiden didn’t so much as bat an eye. She’d expected something along those lines and it didn’t bother her, though she was curious about the source of Park’s confidence.
“You’re more than welcome to try whatever you’d like, Park. Olivia’s a better grappler, Susan’s a better striker and Cam’s a better high flyer and I spar with them all the--”
Yoona darted in and would’ve lashed a kick against Lenore’s right thigh if the Courtier hadn’t brought that leg up to absorb the blow with her shin. She answered with one of her own, had it deflected in identical fashion.
“The hostility’s not unexpected, though I am a little surprised,” Lenore noted once they resumed circling. “Camille’s been gone what, less than thirty-six hours and you’re already lashing out at co-work--”
Yoona came at her again, the bendy-backed exotique lacing her fingers across the nape of Lemarchand’s neck in a Muay Thai style Clasp. The Kneelift came far too fast to block so Lenore settled for deflection, slapping it aside at the last second so the blow skidded off her hip. Dropping into a deep crouch to escape Park’s grip, the Fair & Radiant Maiden cinched both arms around Yoona’s waist and popped her hips to take her foe, up, over and DOWN in a perfect Northern Lights Suplex! Lenore bridged onto her toes on impact and cupped her hands over Yoona’s hips to keep her down for…
NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvQPd3nU5ek
ONE…
TWO…
Yoona tagged Lemarchand’s tummy with a stiff little smack and rolled clear of danger with a full second to spare.
Irritated by this dope’s efforts to engage her, Yoona made a minor adjustment to her new togs and snarked, “You got me, bird brain. I’m lashing out at co-workers because instead of being at E3 with my girlfriend, I’m stuck in Orlando beating up the ONE member of the Black Court that’s never held gold. So forgive me if I don’t take extra time denting your skull.”
Lenore’s dark eyes narrowed ever so slightly, her inability to procure a singles title was a definite sore spot for Emily’s Lady in Waiting. Even so, that was her problem, not Yoona’s.
“Oh, you think you’re the only one suffering tonight? I thought I was going to get some revenge in front of a pay-per-view crowd, instead I’m saddled with the woman Camille can’t stop complaining about when we NGH!”
Park feinted with her right leg and struck with the left, her shin THUMPING into Lemarchand’s ribs just above the hip.
Smirking as Lenore pressed a hand to her throbbing side, Yoona chided, “Is that what she complains about? Because bytch, what I give to you will be so much NNNGGGHH!”
The Raven pounced on her, hooked an arm around the back of Park’s neck and forced her to look down the barrel as she THWHAPPED a stiff European Uppercut off her chin! Yoona grunted and stumbled back, caught her balance and plunged one viper-quick hand into the American’s dark hair. This was followed by a quick open-handed slap that would’ve been two if Lemarchand hadn’t responded in kind. Linked by their hair holds and rapidly pinking cheeks, Yoona and Lenore stomped around in an angry little circle tried to liberate great patches of her foe’s scalp.
Al Carpenter let them have an internal five count and not a heartbeat more, knowing damned well that neither woman would release their grips without some official prodding, “Alright ladies, let go of each other’s hair and take a step back, don’t make me count.”
Park glanced at him briefly, then tugged Lenore’s locks and had hers tugged in return.
“Go ahead and count,” she suggested. “I want to see if I can make this bookworm cry by-- oooohh yeah, HARDER Lenny, that’s how I like it!”
Lemarchand did indeed pull harder, so Yoona added her other hand to Lenore’s locks and yanked her head back ‘n forth until the referee reached ‘FOUR!’ Lenore stepped back and smoothed out her hair, being careful to stay out of Park’s strike zone as she did so.
“Much as I’d enjoy decorating the canvas with your hair,” Lemarchand noted once she was set to rights, “our mutual friend Algernon will keep breaking us apart at the count of four. The solution then, is a contest he has no reason to halt.”
Park ran her fingers through her hair and sighed with boredom, “And what do you suggest, nerd? Recitation of the classics? A stirring debate? Chess boxing?”
“I would whip your ass at chess boxing,” Lemarchand deadpanned. “But no, I was thinking something you might actually win.”
She raised her right hand overhead, the fingers curled with anticipation.
Yoona pursed her lips in disgust, “A Test of Strength? I should’ve known it’d be boring, Sorry nerd, I’d have you bridged backward in all of five seconds.”
“Then prove it, Tong Po.”
Park didn’t quite flinch, but it was close. “Bytch, you did not just say that to me.”
“I’m sorry, was that too close to home? How about, step on up, Screw Face.”
“Tell me, does Cam like sparring with you, Lenore?”
The Raven’s hand still didn’t drop. “Yeah, she does.”
“F*ck. Means I’ll have to apologize when she gets back.”
Yoona strode over and slapped a hand against Lemarchand’s waiting palm. The squeeze was immediate, but neither woman exerted any forward pressure until they’d completed the Test. Then Park jerked the Courtier’s arms down to shoulder level (forming a rough ‘T’ shape) and slammed her chest into Lenore’s.
“How disappointing,” Yoona said into her rival’s ear. “One of these days I’ll land a Test of Strength against an opponent with actual tits. Then I’ll at least have something comfy to lean against.”
She drove forward again, an unsuccessful attempt to rock Lenore back on her heels.
“You’re not exactly a tank top terror yourself, princess,” Lemarchand muttered. “But if you’re looking for something to choke on, I’ll make sure Emily looks you up when she’s in town. She has been known to slum from time to time.”
“Of course she does, that explains why you’re her second in…”
Yoona’s latest round of trash talk ended in silence when Lemarchand muscled their hands back overhead. In the same instant she shifted her right foot behind Yoona’s and pressed forward. The talk died a swift death as Yoona and Lenore sank to the mat, the former in a flawless bridge, the latter in a penitent crouch.
“That it? That’s what you’re showing me?” Park managed to radiate scorn even when she couldn’t even look at her opponent. “You know you’re not strong enough to keep me here for long, right? In fact I think I’ll--”
The Korean pushed off and she started to rise even with Lenore pressing down on her full force. Lenore had seen this particular movie often enough to memorize the ending, so rather than wait around she slung a leg over Park’s exposed form and dropped to her knees to THWHUMP her butt into the pit of Yoona’s stomach while simultaneously driving her into the mat. Landing on her knees with Park trapped beneath her, Lemarchand wedged her knees into the Korean’s ribs and held her prone for the…
ONE…
TWO…
...before Yoona ripped her hands free from the Test of Strength and delivered a stiff-fingered thrust into Lenore’s solar plexus, slipping beneath the sternum and the ribs to stab the diaphragm. The Raven’s breath hitched for a second, then suddenly a pair of calves wrapped around her neck from behind, pulled her onto her back, and rolled her to one side.
Fortunately, Lenore managed to wedge a hand between those encroaching legs moments before Park’s ankles snapped shut in front of her face. The Raven used her forearm as a lever to pry out just enough space to pull herself free from the Neckscissors, and then she went on the counter-offensive. Quickly corralling Yoona’s crossed ankles under her right arm, Lemarchand shoved her left arm into the space where her head had been just a moment prior. Cloverleaf grip secured, Lenore pivoted into a kneeling position and rolled the Korean onto her stomach.
TEXAS CLOVERLEAF:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=mvNEx-_gBmk
Before Lemarchand could take a page from the book of Jacobs and plant a knee in Park’s spine, the ex-ballerina blindly reached back, grabbed a handful of her opponent’s waistband, and gave a forceful yank. She didn't have the angle for a proper eye-watering Wedgie, but Yoona did manage to unbalance the other brunette for a split second, and that was all the opening she needed to roll over again. The pair of wrestlers spilled onto their backs, and Park grabbed control of the Courtier’s ankles while simultaneously ripping her own legs free. She scissored both of her opponent's thighs between her own, and she muscled them into another roll on the mat.
At the conclusion of her second barrel-roll, Yoona had crossed Lenore’s ankles left-over-right, and the tip of the Courtier’s left boot was tucked under her right armpit. In the crook of her right elbow was Lemarchand’s right heel, and with a slight twist of her arm, Park could drive her bony forearm into Lenore’s right Achilles' tendon. Furthermore, the diabolical nature of the Double Ankle Lock meant that the Raven’s left Achilles’ tendon would simultaneously be crushed against the sharp ridge of her own right shin.
DOUBLE ANKLE LOCK (0:40):
m.youtube.com/watch?v=h0eq_226LZE
Yoona was just about to gloat at her trapped opponent, when she suddenly felt an unpleasant tug and twinge in her own left heel, and the smug grin melted from her face. Evidently, Lenore had also secured an ankle lock during their tumbling fracas, albeit of the simpler Heel Hook variety with Park’s left foot wedged between Lemarchand’s left armpit and elbow.
HEEL HOOK:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUtAZf5i6s8
Locked in a leggy quagmire of mutually assured destruction, each wrestler applied just enough pressure to keep the other uncomfortable as the crowd buzzed with excitement over their display of submission-wrestling wizardry.
“Nice hold, but you have a bad habit of leaving your foot vulnerable,” Lenore calmly noted.
“Dare fucking sold me out…”
“Get over yourself, brat,” Lemarchand scoffed. “Maybe if you weren’t such a goddamned ass all the time, your sparring partners would share notes with you too.”
Yoona flashed a challenging sneer and asked, “Did ‘Liv tell you how I made her scream?”
“Actually, she did,” the Raven confirmed. “Right after she told me how she made you tap.”
To put emphasis on that last point, Lenore turned her shoulder a fraction of an inch and watched as the Korean’s face turned ghastly pale, then she ground her teeth together to suppress a yelp when Park gave a retaliatory squeeze. The tactical supercomputer that was the Courtier's brain spun into action, assessing all the possible outcomes of their bizarre Mexican standoff. According to Olivia, Yoona had never worn her new gear for any of their weekly sparring sessions, so the skin-tight, protective sleeves on her legs now presented Lemarchand with an unknown variable. Lenore’s gut told her that she still held the advantage, but her brain urged caution, and the Raven rarely acted unless instinct and logic were in accord.
She soon came to the conclusion that it would be foolish to play a game of chicken with bone and sinew on the line, so Lemarchand opted to negotiate an armistice, “There’s two ways this ends, Park. You and I both let go, or you and I both leave on stretchers. What’ll it be?”
Yoona silently considered this proposition for a couple of seconds, and with a subtle, nearly imperceptible nod, she slowly, slowly loosened her hooks while her foe reciprocated the gesture. Ready to jump in at a moment’s notice to prevent injury, the referee anxiously watched as the pair of lovelies gradually untangled themselves, their eyes locked in a stare the whole time. After fifteen tense seconds, they were fully disengaged, and in a flash they were on their feet and smashed together in an Elbow and Collar tie-up.
“Always knew you were a coward, Park,” Lenore hissed into the other brunette’s ear.
“Naw, Lenny… you've got it all wrong,” the ex-ballerina whispered back. “I don't want you screaming, I want you moaning…”
Lemarchand let loose an angry snarl as she dipped lower and began driving her opponent back. They were almost at the ropes when Park abruptly slammed on the brakes, then she lifted her right foot and stomped it backwards against the bottom rope. The springy tension of the steel cable caused her leg to rebound forwards and upwards, powering an augmented Knee Strike aimed at the Raven’s midsection. Lenore tried to cover up, only to realize she couldn’t because her arms were still locked up with Yoona’s.
“Shit.”
Lemarchand barely finished her invective before the Korean’s knee slammed into her gut, hitting so hard that it blasted her free of the Elbow and Collar and knocked her back to the middle of the ring. Lenore somehow remained upright with her right arm protectively swaddled around her belly, and she quickly brought her left arm up to block the follow-up Superman Punch. The impact still sent her tumbling sideways to the mat, and Lemarchand rolled onto her haunches just in time to see that oh-so-deadly knee hurtling towards her face.
In spite of her state of breathlessness, Lenore threw herself into a backwards arch to limbo underneath the Running Knee Strike, evading by such a narrow margin that she could see the individual fibers on Yoona’s leg sleeve as it swooshed over her face. The Courtier swayed back to a semi-upright position on her knees and desperately tried to get air back into her lungs, preemptively throwing her arms up around her head to protect against an anticipated kick to the cranium from behind.
Unfortunately, she gambled wrong, as Park’s shin smashed into her left kidney from behind. Lenore dropped her arms, arched her back in agony, and opened her mouth to scream, although the only thing that came out was a choked, wheezing croak. The Raven’s instincts weren't totally off, however, as her world exploded into white light and a cacophony of sound when Yoona’s other leg collided with her right temple a split second later.
BUZZSAW KICK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JXZ0FjghTk
Crumpling onto her stomach after the Buzzsaw Kick, Lemarchand’s eyelids fluttered dangerously but she managed to hang on to consciousness. She saw what she thought were the corner turnbuckles in front of her, and after a period of time that she couldn’t ascertain, she managed to drag herself close enough to loop an elbow over one of the strands. With a great effort, Lenore rolled over and leaned her back against the bottom buckle. Al Carpenter was crouched just a couple of feet in front of her, and the referee shouted something that she couldn’t understand, his voice garbled as if he were talking underwater.
Carpenter held up twelve fingers, which Lemarchand thought was quite strange. Even stranger was the fact that he seemed to have three heads.
Al shouted something unintelligible again, and this time he held up fifteen fingers.
Lenore gave her throbbing head a shake, and three Carpenters merged into two before ultimately coalescing into one.
“SIX!”
Lemarchand was inwardly relieved to note that she could understand the man, allaying her initial fear of lingering neurological damage. Unfortunately, that meant she could also hear the jubilant taunting of her opponent.
“Get wrecked, Lenny! R, E, K, T -- WRECKED!” Yoona shouted as she paced the center of the ring with arms outstretched at her sides, occasionally pounding a fist into her own chest. “You're not on my level! You're not even on the level beneath my level! I'm the maestro of this symphony of violence, and you're just some bumblefuck shit-bird with a vuvuzela!”
The Raven did her best to shake off what remained of her discombobulation as she hauled herself upright, and she assured the official that she was able to continue. Al didn’t look entirely convinced, though it didn’t matter because Lenore brushed him aside and started making her way out of the corner. She managed to take three slightly unsteady steps forward and threw another European Uppercut that clacked off the hard-charging Korean’s jaw, but Yoona powered through with a full head of steam and tackled her to the deck again with a Double Leg Takedown.
As soon as they hit the mat, Park straddled her opponent’s hips and intertwined her left leg with Lemarchand’s right in a Single Leg Grapevine. At the same time, she raised the Courtier’s left leg up at a ninety degree angle and gripped the ankle with both hands, and practically every FAWNatic in attendance stood and held up a phone in order to record the latest Death by Snu Snu on Yoona’s ever-growing hit-list.
“Don’t you even think about it, ParrrRRRGGGHH DAMMIT!” Lenore shrieked in spite of herself when the Korean leaned all the way forward and stretched her leg until her foot was up over the top of her head.
The Raven had been well aware of her opponent’s expertise in shredding even the most limber of legs, but to experience it first hand was something else entirely. She might have even appreciated the subtle nuances of the hold -- the way Park cupped her heel, locked her knee ramrod straight, and pinned her other leg to maximize the strain in her calf, hamstring, and groin -- if she weren’t being currently tortured by it.
“Dare can’t help you with this one, Lenny,” Yoona cooed. “She gets stretched out by this EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.”
It was technically true, though Park intentionally neglected to mention the times she had fallen victim to her own maneuver in her sparring sessions with the Briton. They had also maintained an agreement to not go for the trunks, however, and apparently it was not a professional courtesy that Yoona was willing to extend to the Raven. The ex-ballerina set her hips in motion and began that infamous bump and grind that never failed to send the crowd into a libidinous frenzy.
“Can’t grind me out, brat,” Lenore hissed. “Do you have ANY idea how many skanks have tried during my years at MiskatoooooOOOO --”
Lemarchand abruptly clamped her jaw shut. Her opponent had discovered a heretofore unknown rhythm that made Lenore’s whole body tingle so intensely that it overpowered the searing pain in her leg, and while she estimated her flexibility could hold out another four minutes, this second prong of attack threatened to overwhelm her in less than half that time. She dug her fingernails into the Korean’s upper back and carved angry red furrows in retaliation, but this only spurred the nymphomaniac ingenue to add a third prong of attack by tenderly suckling on the side of her neck, and it wasn’t long before the Courtier could no longer hold back a throaty moan of unbridled ecstasy that drew a raucous ovation from the crowd.
“I fucking loooooove that sound,” Yoona purred, playfully chewing on the Raven’s right earlobe for a couple of seconds before returning to her neck.
Rapidly careening towards a most galling defeat, Lenore tried to remain calm in order to assess potential avenues of escape. The ex-ballerina’s balance was impeccable, making it nigh impossible to overturn the mount, and with both of her legs immobilized, Lemarchand had few options to make it to the ropes that were just a hand’s length out of reach above her head. Nevertheless, those rubber-coated steel cables, tantalizingly close yet infuriatingly far, were her best and last hope, so the Raven enacted a desperate gambit.
“Hhhh -- hh -- harder…” she croaked. “H-harder… harder!”
Her captor softly chuckled into the side of her neck, a sensation that made every hair on Lemarchand’s body stand on end.
“Ohhhhh you thirsty little slut…” Yoona murmured. “Is your fuck-boy not getting the job done at home?”
Lenore didn’t much appreciate Park’s epithet for her longtime boyfriend, but she wasn’t in a position to protest and the Korean did in fact oblige her request by drastically increasing the force behind every stroke, so much so that every crotch-on-crotch collision nudged them a fraction of an inch closer to the edge of the ring. Her reserves of self-control running perilously low, Lemarchand gasped and moaned in perfect rhythm with each sweep of her opponent’s hips, but while her mouth had betrayed her, she retained enough of her other faculties to bury one hand in Yoona’s jet-black locks while extending the other towards the ropes.
After maybe twenty seconds of powerful, unbearable thrusting, she felt her fingertips brush against the bottom cable, and with a final, desperate effort she stretched out just as she reached her limits.
“AAAAAAAAALLLL - GEEERRRR - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!” Lenore screamed at the top of her lungs.
The grinding suddenly stopped. Yoona reared back onto her haunches and let go of the Courtier’s left leg, letting the limb flop lifelessly to the mat. The Korean looked both befuddled and offended as she ran a hand over through her hair.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Lenore?! I give you the best fuck of your life and you scream Merle’s name?!” Park huffed indignantly. “Jesus Fucking Christ, how does Allard --”
“She’s in the ropes! Break the hold, Yoona! Break the hold!” Carpenter ordered.
Yoona followed Al’s line of sight and saw Lenore’s middle and index fingers hooked onto the bottom rope. She scoffed in disgust and shook her head, but she still complied with the official’s demands and retreated without working the count, swaying a bit on her own unsteady legs as she walked away.
“You’re one clever bitch, Lenny. I guess that’s why they call you the Smartest Girl in the Room,” Park snorted derisively.
Lenore’s ego prickled at the mouthy Korean’s latest barb, but she had not yet regained her composure after coming so dangerously close to the edge, closer than she would admit to anyone. She hauled herself up and leaned heavily on the top rope for support, and fortunately her opponent seemed to need the extra time to cool down as well. There was a brief lull in the action as each wrestler stood in opposite corners taking deep, heaving breaths, and after that delightful heat in her own loins subsided, Park stalked to the center of the ring. When Lemarchand tried to rejoin the fray, however, her left hamstring abruptly seized and cramped after just a couple of steps, dropping her to hands and knees with a pained gasp.
“You really should’ve sent Suzy B out here instead,” Yoona scoffed as she strolled over to deliver a coup de grace. “She would’ve given me a better fight AND a better fuck. Can’t believe I got stuck with the goddamned jester of the Black Co -- ARRGGGH FUCK!”
An absolutely furious Lemarchand took advantage of her opponent’s arrogant nonchalance to lunge forward from her prone position and deliver a low Shoulder Tackle directly into the ex-ballerina’s kneecaps. The impact upended Yoona and sent her flying head over heels before she crash landed on her left shoulder, and then she immediately hugged both knees to her chest and wailed piteously.
Lenore felt much better about the situation once Park was down and whimpering, she felt even better after she’d extended a leg across the back of her opponent’s head and dropped to her tush to THONK the Korean’s noggin against the canvas.
“I believe Poe said it best when he noted ‘I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmic creation of Beauty.’”
The Raven stood, walked around to Yoona’s ankles and used them to roll the other brunette onto her stomach. From there she planted her feet on Park’s thighs, laid claim to her ankles and neatly angled / folded her foe’s shins in against her own, as if she was setting up for a Romero Stretch.
Pausing for a moment, the Courtier put her hands on her hips and continued, “The poetry in which I deal is far more action than words, but I’d like to think it still deals in the creation of Beauty, albeit a far more terrible, visceral variety.”
Effectively pinned by her attacker’s weight, Yoona reached for the ropes with one hand, then quickly tucked her arms under her torso when Lemarchand crouched down to SMACK at her hips.
“Nice try, Lenny,” Park taunted. “But not even Deschain could trap me with that tired old shyt and she’s a lot better at this than WHOOAANNNGGGHH BYTCH!”
Patently unperturbed by Yoona’s defenses, Lenore crouched ever so slightly, then hopped up and came down with all her weight stomping the back of Park’s thighs! This in turn drove the black-clad lovely’s knees into the canvas, meaning she was in no position to argue when Emily’s Lady in Waiting scraped her up with a huge handful of hair.
“I’ve heard enough of Camille’s conversations to know arguing with you is pointless,” Lenore murmured to the rubber-kneed exotique as she snuggled in against her left side. “So I’ll limit this to a single piece of advice. Constant trolling is a good way to make a professional rivalry very, VERY personal. And there are some women in that locker room who would leave your life a smoking crater without so much as a second thought.”
“Suhhh… some women being you, Lenny?” Park muttered as she tried to plant weight on her right knee.
“Obvious Troll is obvious, Yoona. I wouldn‘t waste my time,” Lenore whispered in her ear.
From there she slung Park’s left arm across her shoulders, bent down and grabbed the Korean’s ankle all the better to hoist her up onto her right shoulder. Yoona realized something was wrong and started to pound short, sloppy punches into the Raven’s head, alas it wasn’t enough to stop Lemarchand from racing across the ring on a diagonal to drive her opponent’s shin into the top turnbuckle with a cringe-inducing BWUUUNG! Park shrieked like a banshee and went down in heap, the injured knee clutched tight to her chest by the time she hit the mat.
TURNBUCKLE SHINBREAKER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=58HAHZcsTkU
As patient and methodical as her ominous namesake, Lenore waited for Yoona to slop onto her stomach before she moved in and grabbed hold of that left ankle.
“NO!” Park snarled. “LET ME GO MOTHERF*CKER!”
“Give me a reason,” Lenore replied as she curled an arm around Park’s exposed ankle and gripped the edge of her foot with the other hand.
Ankle Lock, Lenore Lemarchand to Yoona Park.
Yoona pushed onto her hands at once, the normally unflappable beauty shaking her head ‘no, no, no!’ when the ref asked if she wanted to quit. Indeed, Yoona didn’t want to give it up, but the options were limited with this hateful shytbird trying to hobble her. Swallowing the lump in her throat as best she could, Park reeeeeeeaaached for the ropes and when they proved too far away, she braced her hands and carefully rose up on her plant foot.
“That’s progress, at least,” Lenore said blandly. “Now what, sweetie?”
Yoona hopped forward and reached again, the sanctuary of the strands only inches from her straining fingers. Without looking over her shoulder she spat, “Now I make you my little bytch right here in front of everySHYT!”
The Fair & Radiant Maiden pulled back on the Ankle Lock and angled Park’s shin across her thigh, meaning it was wedged firmly between their bodies when Yoona stumbled backward into Lemarchand’s Waistlock. Hands locked tight, Lenore dropped into a low crouch and popped her hips to sling the nympho up, over and down onto the back of her head with a huge German Suplex!
LEG-TRAP GERMAN SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aNliQWB5pM
Park hit with a THAWHAM and somersaulted back onto all fours, a position she would’ve occupied for quite some time if Lenore hadn’t strolled over and flicked a quick Soccer Kick between her eyes. The quick strike fogged the Korean’s senses yet again, not that Lemarchand took her time in hauling Park to verticality. A Front Facelock kept Yoona’s head under control as Lenore reached across her rival to seize Yoona’s right leg, which she quickly angled across Park’s left thigh. No submission hold this, the Raven hooked Yoona behind the left knee and muscled her directly overhead only to immediately kick both legs forward and PLANT Yoona’s skull in the canvas with a thunderous application of her Bleak December Brainbuster! The ring-rattling head drop left Park a starfish in the center of the squared circle, easy prey for Lenore, who slid into place for a Double Leg Grapevine good for…
BLEAK DECEMBER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-YmNe1MZgk
ONE…
TWO…
THRNOOOO!
Lemarchand hadn’t trapped Yoona’s wrists and thus allowed the Korean to inch a shoulder off the mat before ‘THREE!’
“Resilient,” Lenore noted quietly. “Nice to know Cosworth assessment of your skills isn’t skewed by your relationship.”
“Read your history, Lenny,” Yoona groaned. “I kicked Cam’s ass all over before we started dat-- what the f*ck do you think you’re doing?”
Lenore grabbed her opponent’s ankles, spread her legs into a ‘V’, then reached through and took possession of Park’s wrists. In the next instant she threaded Park’s arms around her own lower legs so that the brunette was palming her own shins. Odd, but not necessarily dangerous until the Raven crossed Yoona’s ankles in a snug little ‘X’ and deftly rolled her onto her knees so that the limber kickboxer was left folded in a human knot that pressed one cheek against the canvas while the other pointed to the rafters.
PARADISE LOCK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIrto5yEcuU
Forearms trapped in the pits of her knees, Yoona squirmed as best she could but only succeeded in getting a few lascivious cheers from the FAWNatics.
“A Paradise Lock, really?” Park grumbled after ten seconds of useless struggle. “You really think that’s going to make me submit?”
Lenore, who’d used Park’s initial escape efforts to catch her breath, knelt down beside the trapped brunette.
“This?” she swatted Yoona’s upturned rump. “No, not at all. This is merely meant to keep you in place. This however,” the Courtier curled her left hand into a ‘C’ and carefully slipped it into the leg-hole of Yoona’s one piece, “this might very well do you in.”
Yoona didn’t outright laugh, but she didn’t sound worried either.
“Do your best, nerd. I’ve won fights on the beaches of California, no chess club president is going to finger bang me into--” Park sucked in a sharp, surprised gasp as Lenore set to work on her center with one of very few approaches that, ahem, got a rise from the notorious nympho.
“You were saying?” Lenore asked even as she felt Park’s hips respond to her touch.
Park bit her bottom lip and inhaled through her nose, the Korean working hard to keep her breath steady.
“I said Cam and I are going to have to talk about boundaries after I’ve kicked your flat ass.”
Lemarchand smacked Yoona’s ass with her free hand, and went right on pumping with the other.
“Don’t blame her, she didn’t even know what she was saying. Call it a bit of conversational cross examination.”
Lenore paused to smile for a Gladiatrix photog even as her talon made Yoona’s trunks bulge and ripple.
“That and she’d had about half a bottle of Jack Daniels. She DOES like to talk when she’s drunk. And what about you, Yoona? Would you like to submit? Or shall I keep this going and let the whole arena hear you moan?”
The position didn’t allow Yoona to shake her head one way or the other.
“You think you can get the job done, Lenny? Because this is strictly first base shyt where I’m froooooooooohhhhhhhhhh mmmmmmhhhhhhhh you godddamned bytch.”
Emily’s Lady in Waiting increased her pace, smacked Park’s rump a few more times (each swat got a lusty cheer from the crowd) then reached forward, grabbed a handful of hair and wrenched her head back at a rough angle.
“Look at them, Yoona,” the Raven demanded. “Look at them the way you made your opponents look when you used them for your pleasure.
Yoona flushed, her pretty face twisted in an uncharacteristic grimace of embarrassment.
“F*ck you, Lenore. Fumble and grope all you want, you’re never going to FAAAAAAAAAHHHHK!”
Lemarchand went at her for a full speed for fifteen seconds, Yoona moaning and writhing through every heartbeat. But then, with Park cresting the wave of a thunderous climax, Lenore withdrew her talon, leaving the tide to recede along with it.
“As if you’ve earned it,” the sinewy brunette murmured after she’d wiped her fingers clean on the other woman’s togs. “But far be it from me to leave you empty handed.”
Rising to her full height with the Korean still trapped in the Paradise Lock, Lenore walked around to Park’s left side, wheeled around on her heel and raced into the ropes. Flying back on ebon wings, the Raven hopped up and THWHACK-THUMPED a hellacious Soccer Kick to the kickboxer’s exposed flank!
Yoona unrolled like a sad party favor, the exhausted brunette tumbling halfway across the canvas before coming to a stop several inches shy of the ropes. She was probably too far away to grab on one way or another, but it didn’t stop Lemarchand from snagging her at wrist and ankle and draaaaagging her into the middle of the ring. Only then did she settle down across Park’s waist and hook the far leg for…
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Yoona inched a shoulder off the mat, the narrow escape so subtle when compared to her usual bombast that most of the crowd believed it an involuntary reflex. Lenore leaned back on her haunches and looked to Carpenter for confirmation. He gave it in the form of two fingers, earning a single nod from the Raven. A quick glance over one shoulder told Lemarchand that the nearest corner was directly at her back, so she got to her feet and made brisk time to the turnbuckles. Cheers from those assembled as the Fair & Radiant Maiden dipped her knees and sprang from lobby to penthouse in a single graceful--
“OOOWW F*CK!”
Lenore stuck the landing just fine, alas in doing so she sent a bolt of anguish through her left hamstring, the one that Yoona so effectively tortured with that damned Wishbone. Hanging onto the top rope in a death grip until the worst of the cramp passed, Lemarchand let out a deep breath and slowly stood THWHACK!
A ramshackle Yoona Park lashed a brutal high kick across the back of Lenore’s left leg, dropping the Courtier into a eye-watering seat on the top buckle which got even worse when Park grabbed her shoulders and pulled her down into the Tree of Woe.
Finally allowing herself a deep breath, the aching, pale faced beauty swept a fall of sweat-soaked hair off her forehead and huffed, “Oh Lenny, I think we’d be best friends if we don’t kill each other first. Do me a favor, try to survive this, would ya?”
Without another word she turned around and ran across the ring, the hitch in her stride barely evident by the time she reached the far corner. A short hop onto the second buckle turned her around in a flash and then she was racing down her own backtrail, picking up even more momentum before she dropped into a brutal skid that THWHACKED both feet into Lenore’s face at top speed.
The impact jarred Lemarchand free of the turnbuckles and she tumbled to the mat in a daze. Yoona pushed herself upright despite the concerning throb in her left knee, and she silently thanked her lucky stars that her new gear did its job in protecting her joints. Even so, she began dragging a groaning, burbling Lenore to the middle of the ring for a little payback.
Once they were far away from any ropes, Park stepped on her opponent’s right ankle to pin that limb to the canvas, then she grabbed the Raven’s left ankle and opened Lemarchand's legs into a wide, lopsided V. Lenore gave a soft hiss of pain at having her left leg stretched out once more, and to her dismay, Yoona noticed this subtle sign of vulnerability.
“I can't fucking believe we have the same ‘Legs’ rating in FAWN 2K17. Cam better get them to fix that horseshit in next year’s game,” Park disdainfully snorted as she fired stomp after stomp into the exposed hamstring while Lemarchand gritted her teeth and tried to keep from crying out.
After about a dozen blows, Yoona correctly figured the muscle had to be severely cramping, so she forcefully threw the limb sideways into the mat. Under normal circumstances, the Leg Whip was not much cause for distress for one as limber as Lemarchand, but the flexibility in her hamstring and groin had already been compromised, and she sat up and howled when her legs were violently wrenched open again. The fans groaned in sympathy, and then there was a smattering of boos when Yoona knocked Lenore back down with a contemptuous backhanded Bitch Slap.
“A real warrior poet writes her own poetry,” the Korean scoffed as she grabbed her opponent’s left ankle again to deliver more kicks to the leg. “Maybe if you didn’t waste all your time reading shit written by an overrated, child-diddling hack, you would’ve stood a fucking chance against me.”
To prove her point, Park launched into a recitation of a homemade rhyme that she had saved for an occasion such as this.
“Roses are red.”
STOMP.
“Violets are blue.”
STOMP.
“I’m always gonna be better thannnNNNNRRGH FUCKING BITCH!”
Apparently not a fan of Yoona’s prose, the Raven managed the wrench her right ankle out from underneath her opponent’s foot, and then pistoned the heel of her boot directly into Park’s kneecap. The other brunette toppled to her back, and Lemarchand was upon her in a flash. Moving with a speed that belied the sorry state of her own leg, Lenore captured her foe’s right ankle and stepped around in a circle, twisting the limb around her own left calf to cross the shin over the battered knee over Yoona’s opposite leg. She scooped Park’s left ankle up into her lap, sat down on her rear, and hooked her right calf over the other wrestler’s right ankle. Having secured the leggy knot that was the Figure Four Leglock, Lenore leaned back onto her elbows and bridged her hips upwards.
Yoona snarled and hissed, which was far more of a reaction than she usually gave, but still she did not seem to be in much distress.
“Get this weak shit outta here, Lenny! The Figure Four hasn’t worked on me in years!” Park spat while she pried at Lemarchand’s legs.
“Not a Figure Four, brat,” Lenore grimly retorted. “Watch and learn…”
Arching back even further so that she was briefly balanced on the crown of her own skull, the Courtier planted one hand and then the other on the canvas next to her head, and with a primal scream of effort, she pushed herself up into a gorgeous bridge, propped up on her palms and toes.
“...OR BETTER YET, JUST TAP!” she roared just as the FAWNatics burst into cheers.
FIGURE EIGHT LEGLOCK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcnfHcq6phk
Experiencing the first Figure Eight Leglock of her life, Yoona screeched like a banshee. As much as she hated to admit it, even her prodigious flexibility had its limits, and within just a few seconds she was sorely tempted to take the coward’s way out as her quivering hand hovered over the mat. She caught herself, however, plunging her hands into her own hair and tearing at her locks while sobbing a pitiful “NOOOOO!” more for the benefit of her own psyche than the referee.
Irritated by Park’s obstinance, Lenore tried arching a little higher to wring a surrender from the exotic brunette, but she had perhaps underestimated the amount of damage accrued to her own legs. A sudden bolt of pain in her left thigh and groin made her bridge collapse like a flimsy house of cards, and then Lemarchand abandoned what remained of her hold to roll onto her stomach to try to put out the fire in her sinews. A couple of feet away, Park was trying to do the same with her own ravaged knee.
Lenore seemed to recover a bit faster, making it to hands and knees while Yoona was still prone. The Korean recognized a golden opportunity though, and she sprang into a one-legged lunge across her opponent’s lower back. Gnashing her teeth against the pain in her knee that accompanied every movement, Park laced her calves around Lemarchand’s right thigh and then reached down to loop her arms around the left. With both sets of hooks sunk in deep, Yoona rolled backwards and laid out on the mat, pulling in with her arms while pushing out with her legs.
“AAAHHHHH GAAWWWWWWD!” Lenore howled as she was nearly split up the middle and her hamstring threatened to tear right off the bone.
CRAB CLUTCH:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAGv5EBhen8
On a few occasions at the Hellhole, the Raven had suffered through a similar hold in Camille’s Rolling Death Cradle -- a tumbling, dizzying Wishbone that ragdolled its victims while ripping their legs apart -- and while Yoona’s Crab Clutch did not have that spectacular show of force, the Korean made up for it with a few painful additions. When Park wedged a bony forearm into the pit of her knee while applying torque to the toe of her boot to add both a Calf Crusher and an Ankle Lock to the already excruciating leg stretch, it was Lenore’s turn to find herself on the brink of submission, and her flattened right hand seemed ready to signal her surrender against her opponent’s thigh at any moment.
“You know, Lenny…” Yoona mused, already revelling in her impending victory, “...if the Black Court were Earth’s Mightiest Heroes…”
She gave a pulse through all three agonizing components of the Crab Clutch, and Lemarchand’s hand rose as if to tap out.
“...you’d be that dipshit playing Galaga!”
Suddenly filled with rage over the Korean’s incessant taunting and trolling, Lenore’s outstretched hand tightly clenched, and she brought it down in a crushing Hammerfist right on top of Yoona’s left knee. Park screeched and loosened the hold, and Lemarchand repeated the strike two more times before she sprung herself free. They barrel-rolled away from each other, winding up in opposite corners, and each lady laid on the mat and tended to her wounds while Al Carpenter started his ten count.
The FAWNatics, however, were not interested in seeing a double count-out, and they gave voice to their feelings via a chant and a percussive beat.
“FIGHT FOR-EV-ER!”
CLAP, CLAP, CLAP-CLAP-CLAP.
“FIGHT FOR-EV-ER!”
CLAP, CLAP, CLAP-CLAP-CLAP.
“FIGHT FOR-EV-ER!”
CLAP, CLAP, CLAP-CLAP-CLAP.
Eventually, the fans got their wish, as the two worn and weary battlers hauled themselves upright with about two seconds to spare. They looked at each other, then the crowd, then back to each other, and they shared a mutual, mirthless chuckle.
“A war without end. Mat stained with blood, sweat, and tears. I stand triumphant!” Lenore called to her opponent, determined to show that she was the superior poet as well as warrior.
Yoona was not impressed. She rolled her eyes and scoffed, and a few seconds later, she offered a retort.
“Your haiku sucked dick. It didn’t even make sense. So go fuck yourself!”
Lemarchand’s lips twisted into a frown.
“Insolent, cheeky bitch to the end…”
“The motherfucking cheekiest!” Park proudly affirmed.
Lenore snorted, then shifted her weight so all of it was leaning on her good (well, not as bad, at least) right leg and extended the left so that the tips of her toes just barely touched the mat. Eyes locked on the Korean, she drew an invisible line between them and spread her arms wide.
“Step up if your courage hasn’t deserted you, Yoona Park. Step up and I’ll point your tawdry little cheeks to the rafters until a new amusement crosses my mind.”
Yoona glanced at the canvas for a moment, using the lull to determine just how much more her knee could take. The answer was ‘not much’ but more than enough to take down Emily’s favorite beat poet. Grinning like every step didn’t hurt, Park walked right up to the Raven and very deliberately spat on her foot.
“Got something on your boot, Lenny.”
Lemarchand didn’t so much as flinch, “I might make you lick that up if I didn’t think you’d like it.”
Yoona took a half step forward and Lenore did the same, the pair of crippled brunettes trying to walk through one another despite having one good pair of legs between them.
“Don’t worry about your boot, bytch. Worry about how I’m going to wipe you across every inch of this mat after the match is over.”
Lenore arched an eyebrow.
“A reference to your vaunted carnal eccentricities, Yoona? At one time those appetites might have given me pause,” she leaned in that much closer, all the better to whisper in Yoona’s ear, “then I discovered your grind has all the subtlety of a Pomeranian screwing a couch cushion.”
The Raven drew back, her lips already curved in a smile. “And just like that the mystique was--”
Lenore’s eyes went wide with surprise and alarm, not at Park’s reaction to her barb, but something over the Korean’s shoulder. “LOOK NNNNGGGGHHHH!”
A pair of knees slammed into Yoona’s back and drove her bodily into the surprised Courtier. Groaning as her forehead collided with Lenore’s, Yoona staggered and went to one knee only to be hauled up by her as of yet unseen assailant.
“Bytch,” Park huffed even as a pair of strong arms cinched around her midsection. “You’re gonna wish you hadn’t WHOOOAGUUUUUUHHHH!”
Adelaide Brewster dropped her hips and hurled the snarky striker halfway across the ring with a Release German Suplex that planted Park flush on the back of her head and shoulders. Springing to her feet even as Carpenter called for the bell, the Weeping Angel split Lenore’s thighs with a vile kick, then slapped on a Front Facelock and spiked her forehead into the canvas with a resounding DDT.
Oblivious to the jeers of the fans and the repeated CLANG of the bell, Brewster rose to her full height and looked between the woman who’d stolen the Madhouse from her and the woman who’d robbed the Church of Camille Cosworth.
“I’ll deal with you another time, Raven,” Adelaide snarled at the groaning grappler.
Decision made, she rounded on Yoona and hauled her up with a handful of trunks and tresses.
“C’MON ADELAIDE, LET HER GO!” Al grabbed at the interloper’s arm, desperate to regain some vestige of control. “GET OUTTA HERE SO I CAN--”
The ref’s plans ground to a screeching halt when Brewster turned her head and PFFWOOOOOOSHED a cloud of Red Mist directly into his eyes!
“Keep out of my way, chattNGH!”
Yoona pulled away from her attacker and turned Adelaide’s head with a palm strike little better than a hard slap.
“Poor form, f*ck wit,” Park huffed. “Lenny and I were just about to OOOWWWWW FAAAAHK!”
Adelaide snapped a Toe Kick into Park’s wounded knee, lowered a shoulder and drove forward in a Spear that sent the both of them tumbling through the ropes to the floor below! Still fresh despite the rough landing, the Daughter of Darkness got to her feet before hauling Yoona to hers.
“What was that, heathen? I don’t think I heard you!”
Controlling the Korean at shoulder and wrist, Brewster rotated, stepped away and hurled Park up at the aisle on a rough diagonal. Her legs protested every step of the way but Yoona didn’t go down until she BWUUUNGED gut-first into the guardrail. Unable to stifle a shriek as her knee hit the unyielding steel, she grabbed hold of the top and used it to turn around.
“That all you got, punk?” she barked at a rapidly closing Brewster. “I thought you creature of the night types were supposed to be freaky strong or some stupid shyt like--”
Park used the last of her reserves to throw herself at Adelaide in a desperation Superman Punch. Alas, the condition of her knee slowed the strike dramatically and the Churchgoer swatted it down like it was nothing. Catching the wrist of Yoona’s punchin’ hand, Brewster stepped back again and continued the other brunette’s forced retreat with a second Irish Whip. This one hit even harder than the first, the force of it almost sending Park tumbling into a group of aisle-side fans.
“Faaaaaaaaahhhhhhkk….” Yoona moaned as she tried to will herself to something like verticality. “Ok Brewster, you like playing dead? You’re gonna wish you were when AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”
Adelaide stepped up and drove a boot into the back of Park’s injured knee before she’d even pulled herself off the railing.
“You should have left Cosworth to me,” she purred in Yoona’s ear. “Now you’ll suffer in her stead.”
No response from Park, the pain in her leg was too great and even if that wasn’t the case, Brewster grabbed her right wrist and drew that arm against her throat tight enough to make her wheeze. In the next instant she slipped an arm between Yoona’s thighs and muscled her up onto her shoulders in what was essentially a Cut-Throat version of the Torture Rack. Of course the FAWNatics knew it as something else entirely and they pleaded with the True Believer to reconsider her actions. Foolishness of course, Adelaide Brewster was not in the habit of second guessing her decisions, let alone bestowing mercy on one who had humiliated her in front of the world. Retreating to the center of the aisle, the Weeping Angel turned so she was facing the ‘tron, then pushed onto her toes and laid out on one side to THAWHONK Yoona’s head and neck into the floor with sickening force.
BLOOD & BLACK LACE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggQhjXPD_fA
Utterly devastated by Blood & Black Lace, Park tumbled to her back in slow motion and didn’t make so much as a peep when Adelaide planted a foot on her chest.
“That’s only the first taste of what I have in store for you, slut. Your misery at my hands will be the stuff of legend.”
Back in the ring, Lenore Lemarchand pushed to all fours just in time to see Brewster strolling away from the smoldering wreckage of Yoona Park.
“Crazy bytch,” the Raven whispered. “I’m not going to forget this.”
The promise was fresh off her lips when a whole horde of zebras and medics came out to check on the devastated Korean. Suddenly aware that she didn’t know what happened to Al, Lemarchand clambered to boot leather and looked around to find the poor dope hunkered in a corner wiping that damned mist out of his eyes.
“You going to be ok, Al?” she croaked. “Need me to get you a bottle of water?”
“You’d be better served tending to your own wounds, little bird.”
Give Lemarchand credit, she whirled in the direction of that hateful voice and flung herself at the late arrival, alas Elise Winterrest was very well rested… and armed with a steel chair. Stepping back as Lenore pounced, Miss Murder THUMPED the rounded edge of her weapon into the Courtier’s exposed tummy. Lenore collapsed to her hands and knees in a coughing, gagging heap that got even lower to the ground when Winterrest raised the chair overhead and brought it BWANNGING down on her back.
“I thought I made myself clear on the night of our introduction to one another,” Elise cooed as she strolled a slow circle around the helpless brunette. “I am not a patient woman and I have no interest in waiting for an opening in your oh so busy professional calendar, so consider this me cutting to the front of the line… and a small preview of just what sort of hell I’ll rain down on you the next time we share a ring.”
Planting a foot on either side of Lenore’s hips, Elise opened the chair all the way, turned it upside down and slipped Lemarchand’s head through the gap between seat and seat-back. The crowd, already aghast over what’d happened to Yoona, found a new well of anger to draw from when the Icy Manipulator sank into a seat on Lenore’s lower back and reeeeeeeeeeefed back on the nearest set of chair legs to throttle the Raven with a hideously augmented Camel Clutch!
MURDEROUS CAMEL CLUTCH:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiYYBFEpdRw
Far too weak to offer any real resistance, Lemarchand pawed weakly at the strangling steel before swatting the mat, hoping against hope that the show of submission would slake Winterrest’s thirst for violence.
“Oh, so soon?” Elise pouted at the symbolic submission. “Well, you HAVE had a long day. And I’d hate for you to claim injury to delay our next meeting even longer, so….”
She released her hold on the chair but didn’t pull it loose, leaving it wrapped around Lenore’s head like some bizarre collar.
The crew tending to Yoona had finally noticed the attack on Lenore and they made their way to the ring posthaste. Elise let them do as they pleased, she even offered them a polite little wave as she slipped through the ropes and disappeared into the crowd. After tonight’s message there was no way for Lenore to delay their inevitable confrontation and now that it loomed on the horizon, Miss Murder let darkness in her mind loose to concoct a torment that’d make her little trick with the chair pale by comparison.
She simply could not wait for Red, White & Bruised.