Post by bigfan on Aug 7, 2017 0:27:23 GMT
An electric scream rolled out into the FAWN arena, descending into a mess of itchy electric guitars and flashing white and purple lights. As the music steadied the lights settled onto a curvy female silhouette at the top of the stage, giving a few quick hops to shake out her limbs, and then turning so her back was to the ring.
OVER AND OVER
youtu.be/FzobxYbKhyE
As the guitars roared back in, the figure spun on her heel and shot out onto the stage like a bullet. Fans had a split second to catch a glimpse of chocolate skin and a black afro and then she was amongst them, throwing herself over the barriers and into the crowd with an enthusiasm which was almost enough to have a few fans draw away from her. Valeria George slapped every single outstretched hand she could see before allowing herself to be helped back over the barrier by a worried looking security guard, giving him a quick blush and a wink in apology.
For her second PPV appearance Ria was wearing a dusky purple tankini with two thick diagonal straps connecting the top to her bottoms. This had the twin effect of showing off her curvy figure but also highlighting that washboard stomach and athletic looking legs. Her hair was in a wide afro, with simple black pads and boots completing her look.
VALERIA GEORGE
The Unstoppable Girl slapped as many hands as she could and then charged headlong to the ring, sliding underneath and popping to her feet. As her music reached a crescendo she scrambled to the second turnbuckle of the nearest corner and raised her hands, first flashing three fingers and then looping both hands together to form a sideways 8. Most fans recognised the infinity symbol she used as a sigil in her first match, but back home in London’s E8 area Ria knew that her fam were feeling the love. And that might have been why her grin was extra wide as she dropped down and settled in to await her opponent.
Meanwhile backstage, Camille Cosworth was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't really register the PA making her introduction. She still felt absolutely terrible that she wasn't present a month ago to prevent the debacle at the end of the Yoona Park versus Lenore Lemarchand match. Yoona in particular worried her, especially in light of her girlfriend’s propensity for escalating any violent situation. Cosworth knew better than perhaps anyone the costs of doing battle with the Church of Eternal Midnight, but Park had adamantly refused to listen to any pleas for temperance in favor of meeting force with force.
Despite her misgivings, Camille still had a job to do, so she did her best to put those concerns out of mind. The thrumming percussion of her entrance music brought her back to her senses, and she stepped through the curtain at the top of the entrance ramp, decked out in a royal blue and electric green sports bra, a matching pair of skintight shorts extending from hip to mid-thigh, and a pair of low-cut royal blue wrestling shoes that completed the ensemble.
CAMILLE COSWORTH
Ironically, it was her burgeoning popularity that made it no longer feasible to enter the ring via a leap from the crowd, lest she get mobbed by over-enthusiastic selfie-seekers. The FAWNatics didn't seem to hold it against her though, as they gave her a massive pop worthy of a main event. There was even a group of fans holding a massive banner that read TOMORROW-MORROW LAND, demarcating that section of the stands as the domain of the most ardent of her supporters.
With her music -- co-opted from the Wonder Woman soundtrack -- rapidly building to a crescendo, Camille bounced on her toes and quickly shook out her arms and legs to limber up. She took a deep, deep breath, and just as the dramatic leitmotif was about to kick in, she let out a big puff of air.
Suddenly, all the arena lights clicked off as if Camille had blown them out like a candle. Even the music came to an abrupt halt, and for a moment the confused murmuring of the audience was the only sound in the building. The silent darkness lasted for hardly a second, however, before it was shattered by pyrotechnic explosion that generated an enormous, white-hot fireball on the stage exactly where Cosworth had been standing.
Right on cue, the music came back louder than ever, picking up right where it left off with the keening wail of an electric cello. A series of pyro cannons lining the entrance ramp went off in rapid succession, giving the appearance of the fireball barreling towards the ring at top speed. As it reached the end of the walkway, four additional plumes of flame exploded from the ring posts, illuminating the squared circle and revealing the Girl of Tomorrow standing at the center of the canvas.
“WOOO! STILL ALIVE!” Cosworth shouted as she celebrated successfully sprinting to the ring a step or two ahead of the cannonade, although she was mostly drowned out by the disbelieving roar of the fans.
“Pretty sweet entrance, eh, Merle?” she asked with a toothy grin when the referee came over to check her ring gear as her music faded out.
“H -- how did you get permission for that crazy stunt?!”
“Oh… I, umm, I had to sign, like, seven different waivers of liability in case of… you know… death or dismemberment…” Cosworth said a bit sheepishly. “But… uhh… totally worth it though, right?!”
Merle wordlessly stared at her for a few seconds, equal parts confused and horrified, then he shook his head and signaled for the bell to get things under way.
Immediately the new girl was out of her corner, a huge grin on her face and one hand held out in front. Everyone knew the perils of a handshake in FAWN but this time Cam didn’t seem to be being offered a choice. Valeria stormed up to her and forcibly grabbed her hand, pumping it hard and yelling, “That was an ENTRANCE Fam! Indiana Jones ting!”
A big smile split Cosworth’s face. “That was cool right? Although I think I might’ve burned my...”
George didn’t seem interested in letting her opponent talk just yet, yanking hard on the handshake to pull her in closer. She leaned in with a slightly conspiratorial air, turning her shoulder away from Merle slightly as if she was protecting a great secret from him.
“I’m gassed to be here right now, you’re a big inspiration on my road. But I seen that vampire merking your girlfriend last month, and that’s peak. I don’t know why they rolled into your ends but going after your girl is dutty. I feel sorry for you blud.”
Very little of the slang made any sense to Camille, but she understood the words ‘girlfriend’ and ‘vampire’, and Ria’s sympathetic demeanour filled in the rest. “Uh..thanks? Yoona can fight her own battles but I don’t want her to get caught in mine too, and…”
She might have continued, but that seemed to be about as long as the rookie could wait in a conversation before speaking again. “Listen, I know we got clash right now, but if you and your galdem need help bringing arm’s house to the church, link me up. I got your back fam!”
To emphasize this last word she leaned in and clasped the brunette’s hand again, slapping her on the back and then pulling away with a whoosh noise and an offer of a follow-up fist bump which Cam left hanging for far too long.
“Um…well, uh…thanks?” Camille offered, grabbing that fist and shaking it awkwardly.
Merle coughed slightly to get their attention. “Don’t mean to be rude ladies, but I think people paid to see a wrestling match.”
There were sounds of a slow hand clap beginning somewhere near the back rows of the arena, and both women looked suitably embarrassed.
“Soz bossman! But stay cotch, we beastin this!” Ria gave one last wink Cam’s way then backed off a little and dropped into a crouch. Camille shared a quick glance with Merle, shrugged, and circled to the left.
The crowd let loose another cheer, with a few shouts of support for both women in the ring. There was no denying that Cosworth was the far better known and more established performer, and the audience noise and support reflected this, but this didn’t seem to be intimidating her afro-haired opponent one bit.
In fact Ria was already bouncing on the balls of her feet as they started to circle, and within seconds she had thrown caution to the wind and charged straight in to try to catch her far more experienced opponent unawares. For a second it looked like she had succeeded, reaching high in hopes of securing a Headlock. But Camille ducked under the attempt at the last instant, spun aside from the charging Brit, and stopped that momentum with a tight Hammerlock.
Her arm being trapped halfway up her back was enough to make the new girl squirm and stand on tiptoes, but she was quick to react, ducking forward and whirling around to try and reverse their positions. She was partially successful in this, spinning her way out of the hold, but Cosworth followed her movements exactly and simply caught the other arm as it came around, leaving her with a Hammerlock on the other arm!
A look of confusion crossed Ria’s face for a second. Then she tried a different tack, ducking her head straight down into a speedy forwards roll. She kipped seamlessly from her shoulders up to her feet and kept hold of Camille’s hand as she did so, earning a few ‘oohs’ at the athletic feat. Cam was a little impressed too, even if it did mean that she ended up getting swung into a high-speed armdrag!
Fired towards the ropes at top speed, Cam did the first thing she could think of. For most people that first thought would have been stop, but the Girl of Tomorrow was definitely not most people. As such she sprung forwards onto her hands, bounced perfectly off the ropes upside down, then completed her handspring in the other direction and flew backwards into a stunning Springboard Back Elbow.
SPRINGBOARD BACK ELBOW:
youtu.be/lIH3vLJZQZE
The blow was delivered perfectly, sending Ria sprawling backwards. Even this didn’t seem to phase the newbie though, she landed on her shoulders and once more popped back upwards. This time though she didn’t pop to her feet, instead ‘SMECK’ing her shins either side of Cosworth’s surprised face and swinging round into a hurried Hurricanrana!
KIP-UP HURRICANRANA:
youtu.be/8D4tPDNz1BE
Suddenly Cosworth was on a face-first trip to the mat. This would have been exceedingly uncomfortable if Cam hadn’t embraced it, throwing herself into the flip and putting her hands down to cartwheel neatly away instead of taking damage!
Hoping to finally get the jump on this speedy newbie, Cosworth charged off and threw herself into another handspring. She had rebounded back off the ropes and launched into yet another flip when she realised that Ria had tried the exact same thing and was now flying through the air a few feet away. Both woman landed a few feet from each other, neither quite able to hide their grin.
TANDEM FLIPS:
youtu.be/LbBD2fXnxME?t=28s
Certainly the fans were loving this lightning-speed action, rising to their feet at the athleticism on show.
“Pretty freakin’ cool,” Cosworth mouthed, earning a grin in return from her dusky-skinned opponent. But the mutual appreciation society was broken up by another polite sounding cough from Merle.
“Begging your pardons, but was that last pair of backflips really necessary? You two have barely touched one another!” Both ladies looked offended, but the crowd were pretty evenly split between those enjoying a healthy dose of flipping and those who wanted to watch some actual fighting. Cam shook her head in disgust, muttering something about philistines.
George seemed to agree but she wasn’t going to stand there long enough to show it. Clearly feeling that she hadn’t been athletic enough yet, the Brit sprung off the second rope and turned in midair, one arm cocked expecting to smash into a defenceless SMACKKK!
COUNTER DROPKICK:
youtu.be/jVSzUI0uOBE
All those relative veteran instincts were on full show, Cosworth hopping up and kicking the Unstoppable Girl out of the air with perfect timing. Still feeling slightly offended that anyone could object to the action they had seen so far, Cam scrambled over and hooked a leg. Merle let out a small sigh, but he was there quickly to count
.
ONE...
The Unstoppable Girl lived up to her name and kicked out with enough force to send Cosworth barrel-rolling a couple of feet away. Valeria crunched onto her shoulders and launched to her feet in an impressive Kip-Up, while her opponent twirled around like a breakdancer and landed in a three-point stance after a Spinaroonie. Camille couldn't help but break into a lopsided grin, and she waggled her eyebrows at the newcomer. For her part, George responded by raising three fingers and hooking her hands together to reform her E8 sigil, and Cosworth’s face immediately snapped back into a blank, uncomprehending stare.
Camille didn’t have much time to decipher what that meant before Ria charged at her with a loud, whooping cheer. She was reasonably sure that the other woman wasn’t coming in for a hug, so she dipped a shoulder and stuck out her right arm to catch and redirect the incoming human missile. Things seemed to be going according to a plan when Camille easily grabbed her opponent and twirled Valeria into the air for what looked like a Tilt-a-Whirl Side Slam, but just at the peak of the lift, the Londoner’s legs snaked around her head and snapped shut. A fraction of a second later, George grabbed Cosworth’s right wrist to trap the Girl of Tomorrow in the Tilt-a-Whirl Headscissors Armbar that she had named Wavy.
WAVY:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ519qUnnGg
Though she could hardly be called a veteran, Camille’s additional experience kicked in, and she threw herself backwards into the mat to counter Valeria’s hold with an improvised Samoan Drop. The impact jarred the Headscissors loose, but George showed some wiliness of her own by wrapping her legs around Cosworth’s left arm to deftly transition into a Crucifix. Ria twisted to her left side and rolled Camille so that her shoulders were on the mat, and Merle dropped down to count…
ONE…
...before Cosworth kicked her legs to continue the backwards roll like it was all part of the plan, eventually completing the somersault by landing on her knees with her opponent still strapped across her arms and shoulders, effectively turning the Crucifix Pin into a Fireman’s Carry. She rose to her feet with an ease which belied the weight of the other wrestler she was now carrying, then she took a big step forwards and tossed herself into a front tumble. Camille would have driven own head into the deck if it weren’t for Valeria’s body acting as a cushion, thus turning an awkward faceplant into a slick Rolling Fireman’s Carry Slam.
ROLLING FIREMAN’S CARRY SLAM:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1rLSdvkR88
This time Cosworth managed to free herself completely from George’s grasps as the the dusky Londoner laid momentarily stunned on the mat. Meanwhile, Camille smoothly rolled through the impact to pop to her feet, then she loped to the corner turnbuckles just in front of her. She leapt from floor to penthouse in one easy stride, and her feet had barely touched the top ropes before she jumped off once more, launching herself into a high-arcing backflip. Valeria saw the incoming Moonsault, and she did what any sensible person would do by rolling further away from the corner to get out of the landing zone.
Even just a few months ago, Camille might have splattered herself on the mat, but painful landings both in sparring and in live matches meant that she had learned to adapt. With her landing pad suddenly missing, Cosworth tucked her legs to add a little extra rotation to the backflip, resulting in her landing on her feet rather than her face. She still really wanted to hit that Moonsault though, so she immediately bounced into another standing backflip, this time throwing in a corkscrew twist just because she could.
STANDING CORKSCREW MOONSAULT:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=y7x1QYiZ4mM
Ria saw the second Moonsault coming as well, and she moved clear once again, this time by reversing direction and rolling underneath the airborne Camille. Not even the Girl of Tomorrow could land on her feet, but instead of an awkward belly flop she caught herself on her palms and toes, stretched out and propped up like she had been doing a set of pushups. At the ropes in front of her, Valeria was just rising to a crouch, and the pair of daredevils exchanged knowing looks. Cosworth didn’t quite know how to communicate with her opponent, at least verbally, so she saluted George with her left hand while powering out one-armed pushups with her right. A few feet away, the hyperactive Unstoppable Girl frenetically jogged in place, pumping her knees all the way up to her chest and causing her billowing afro to jiggle and shake.
Perhaps a bit unusually, the crowd reaction was mixed. While there was no shortage of fans who appreciated the tumbling, acrobatic frippery, there was also a vocal segment who demanded blood and violence. For the moment, Cosworth paid the latter no mind. Her girlfriend would surely provide more brutality than they could stomach later in the evening, and it was for that reason that Camille was determined to occupy her thoughts and enjoy the current contest.
“Not to tell you how to do your job, but are you two going to start wrestling any time soon?” Merle hesitantly asked.
Cosworth snorted at the referee as she finished off her exercise routine at ten repetitions, then she climbed to her feet and asked her opponent, “Are you ready?”
“Gassed to burn dis bashment down, fam!” George shouted back, prompting Camille to crinkle her nose in confusion.
“Is -- is she saying that she's ready…?” Cosworth muttered to the official by her side. “...or is she warning us that there's a gas leak and the arena’s about to burn down?”
The referee sniffed hard a few times.
“I don't smell anything…”
Camille sniffed too.
“I smell nachos.”
Merle visibly cringed as he admitted, “Oh, no, that’s me, I think. I had a bit of an accident with the queso earlier when I was --”
“‘Scuse me, bossman,” Valeria cut in, “but me and my gal, we’s about to clash, fam!”
When she was greeted by nothing more than a pair of silent, awkward stares, Ria sighed and clarified in terms that her opponent could understand, “I said I'm ready whenever you are…”
Cosworth looked at the official and shrugged, then she stepped forward to engage the other wrestler in a mutual Elbow and Collar tie up. After a brief stalemate, Camille doubled up her grip on Valeria’s right arm and set the Briton in motion with an Irish Whip, only for George to latch onto her forearm and reverse the maneuver with a hard yank. Suddenly pulled into a forward lurch that put her head on a collision course with Ria’s outstretched arm, Cosworth dropped to the mat in a forward roll that let her dodge under the Lariat in the nick of time. The Girl of Tomorrow came out of her tumble still joined at the wrist with her opponent, and she used that connection to spin Ria around before she leapt up, planted her heels square into George’s chest, and pushed off into a backflip to land in an athletic crouch.
DROPSAULT:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=G2ELlZUT4QI
Knocked backwards by Cosworth’s Dropsault, Valeria lost her grip on her opponent’s arm and stumbled backwards before catching herself on the ropes behind her. By the time she regained her footing, Camille was already bearing down on her at full speed and charging across the ring with shoulders lowered. Ria’s instincts told her she didn’t have time to move to the side, so instead she went up, jumping into the air and drawing up her legs to leapfrog over the incoming Spear. Without anything to absorb her momentum, Cosworth kept barrelling forward and she careened through the gap between the middle and top ropes.
The FAWNatics gasped with concern as for a split second it seemed like Camille might drive herself headfirst into the thinly padded floor or even the steel barricade, but those worried murmurs turned into impressed ‘oohs’ when she grabbed onto the middle rope to haul herself into a mid-air U-turn. She swung her whole body around like a boomerang before slipping back through the steel coated cables and landing on her feet in the ring after a gorgeous Tiger Feint Kick.
Valeria still had her back turned after leaping over the Spear, so Camille launched into a front somersault over Ria’s left shoulder and grabbed her head in a Three Quarters Facelock mid-flip. Cosworth was moments away from laying out on her back to complete the Somersault Cutter when the Unstoppable Girl -- also possessed of rare athleticism -- caught her in midair by scooping both arms underneath her thighs. The recoil from the catch dropped Valeria to one knee, but she quickly powered to a stand, twirled in a half circle, and pushed her opponent off of her left shoulder while dropping to a seat to slam Camille’s shoulders to the deck with a massive Spin Out Powerbomb.
SPIN OUT POWERBOMB:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=QF1guf_vQ0E
As impressive as her maneuver was, and judging from the buzz reverberating through the arena it was quite impressive indeed, George’s relative inexperience meant that she had spun towards the edge of the ring, thus putting the bottom rope within arm’s reach for her opponent. Before Merle could even drop down for a count, Camille had already hauled herself out onto the apron, then she bought herself some more time to recover by dropping to the floor.
“Kinda getting a taste of your own medicine, aren’t ya?” a fan in the front row asked as he held out his phone to snap a selfie with the Girl of Tomorrow as she leaned her back against the steel barricade.
Camille rolled her eyes, thus ruining the picture, but she didn’t have time to offer a more substantial response because Valeria had already bounced off the far set of ropes and was now bounding at her with obvious intent to leap out of the ring. Not wanting to be caught like a sitting duck, Cosworth charged forward as well. After taking two steps away from the barricade, she exploded off the floor and launched herself through the gap between the top and middle ropes, bypassing the apron entirely and grabbing onto the steel cables to slingshot herself into the ring with even more velocity. This time, the hard-charging Briton had too much inertia to get out of the way of the Slingshot Spear, and Camille’s shoulder met Ria’s gut with a thunderous THWACK just in front of the ropes.
SLINGSHOT SPEAR:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=cH9Srf6a1SA
Cosworth had come in so fast that she was sent rolling to the other side of the ring even after the impact, thus preventing an immediate pin attempt. She laid on her back a few moments, catching her breath and soaking in the audience’s incredulous “HOLY SHIT!” chant, then she sat up and wiped her bangs out of her face. She was quite surprised, however, to see that her opponent was already crawling to hands and knees, albeit with a bit of a struggle.
The referee was equally flabbergasted.
“How are you not dead?!” Merle blurted out. “How are either of you not dead?!”
Camille chuckled as she stood up and rattled off, “Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Select, Start.”
That only seemed to leave the man even more confused.
“You say that like it explains anything.”
“Google it, Merle,” Cosworth cheerfully advised as she watched her opponent stagger upright on the other side of the ring.
The newbie wasn’t looking in great shape, using the ring ropes as a ladder with one hand while the other one hugged the spot where her lower ribs had just absorbed that hellacious spear. Despite having been nearly cut in half the Brit was still grinning, although there was a distinctly dazed air to her expression and a clear wobble in her legs.
It felt almost mean for Cam to take advantage of this, but at some point she had to win the match and this seemed like a perfect opportunity. Sprinting past the shaky brunette, Camille sprang up onto the middle rope behind her and launched into a graceful spin. One foot swung out and up to impact into the back of Ria’s slightly bedraggled ‘fro, sending the taller girl slumping forwards to the mat again.
SPRINGBOARD ROUNDHOUSE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXTKiAWOe0A
With her opponent stretched out face down Camille was pretty tempted to just go for the pin and get the victory in the books so she could get back and check on Yoona. She went as far as nudging the Unstoppable Girl over onto her back before another polite cough from Merle.
“Begging your pardon miss but that’s only the second time you’ve actually hit her and she’s barely touched you. Maybe you could show these people something like a finisher?”
“Oh come on Merle, aren’t you supposed to protect us? Is this some sort of weird fetish thing for seeing girls get hurt, because if so Yoona’s got these DVDs I should…”
By the end of that sentence Merle’s expression had become so peeved that she just trailed off. The two stared at each other for a second, then she rolled her eyes and huffed “fine!” under her breath, bending her knees. The Girl of Tomorrow threw herself backwards, an impressive Standing Moonsault causing a few ‘oooo’ noises from the otherwise sceptical crowd. George didn’t seem to like it as much though, jacknifing up off the canvas as her dusky stomach was squashed under pale abs.
STANDING MOONSAULT:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCH5kGRT0-o
The landing actually put Cam in a pinning position, but when she glanced up Merle still looked distinctly sceptical. Again there was a seconds pause, then Cosworth shouted “FINE!” She scrambled to her feet, stamping her way over to the corner like a pre-schooler who’d just been denied ice cream.
She continued to grumble to herself as she hopped easily to the turnbuckle, “You want a finisher I’ll give you a finisher and…oh, come on!”
Despite having looked half dead a few seconds ago, Ria had not only managed to roll away from the corner but had actually got up to her feet. Admittedly she was listing badly over to one side, her feet doing an odd sailor dance to stay beneath her, but the feat of resilience was still impressive enough to cause Cosworth to pause at her perch and reevaluate what to do next. Merle had to admit that he was also just a little impressed at the brunette’s resurgence, although he didn’t like the vacant look in her eyes, or the way her gaze was shifting between him and some invisible figure to his immediate left.
“Get the deets on that truck roadman!” the unsteady Unstoppable Girl was yelling. “Ain’t no-one merkin me round my eeeeeurgh.”
Still barely able to control her wayward legs, Ria swayed a little too far sideways and toppled tree-like into the ropes. She hit the top strand hard, twanging herself sideways and into a back-first pratfall near the corner. Unfortunately Camille wasn’t in much of a position to appreciate the comedy. The heavy jolt to the ropes dislodged both feet, and despite frantically wheeling her arms she had no chance of catching her balance, completing her own clumsy forward roll and landing hard on the canvas a few feet from her opponent.
Merle just about managed to stifle his giggles, but that meant it was a few seconds before he had made it over to check on his charges.
“Are you ok miss?” he asked, bending down to put a hand carefully on Camille’s shoulder.
There was a slightly worrying moment of silence from the brunette but then she rolled over and looked up at him, her glare apparent even through the daze.
“I am never listening to your advice about anything ever again!”
To illustrate her disappointment Cam took a big handful of the penitent man’s shirt and used it to haul herself up to sitting. A few blinks were enough to clear the fog in her eyes and she was back to vertical quickly. But somehow George had still managed to get up before her, jogging off towards the far ropes and rebounding back off them with augmented speed.
Taken slightly by surprise, Cosworth raised a hand and started ducking to avoid any incoming blow, but it seemed like the newbie had something different in mind. Leaping off one foot to plant both on the middle rope, Ria flew backwards to hook one hand around Cam’s startled neck and twisting around and down into a nasty enforced forward roll.
NEXT LEVEL:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnDNfIqDZY0
Camille’s head was driven into the mat by the surprise move and she completed the roll to end up on her back in a woozy starfish shape. George didn’t seem to be faring much better, still clutching at her ribs from the earlier Spear, but she continued to show that amazing resilience by scrabbling to her feet and reaching down to hook a handful of Cosworth’s ruffled top. She used this to drag the stunned brunette over to the nearest corner and prop her up there.
“Soz ‘bout this fam,” Ria muttered, “But a girl’s gotta get wins, yaknow?”
Camille’s only response was a moan of mixed pain and confusion, so George patted her lightly on the shoulder and then turned to jog off to the opposite corner. Placing her back to the buckles the exotic newbie used the strands to lift herself a few feet off the ground then used the landing as momentum to charge headfirst and throw herself forward into a last-second forward somersault Senton!
UNSTOPPABOMB:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhsCkDNMHmE
Unfortunately for Valeria the brutal glory of the move was slightly diminished when Cosworth came to her senses half way through the charge and simply slipped out to the apron, leaving the bigger girl to impact upside-down into the middle turnbuckle. The crowd let out a sympathetic ‘oooooh’ at the shuddering noise of sine impacting with barely covered steel, and George dropped to an untidy heap in the corner.
Puffing her cheeks out in relief at having avoided the move, Cam slipped daintily back into the ring and pulled her dazed opponent back to her feet. “No hard feelings Ria, I had a lot of fun tonight” she muttered to the insensate Brit, “but I need to finish this now so I can go and help Yoona prepare.” Ria’s only response was a moan of pain and confusion, so Cam patted her on the shoulder. Then she grabbed one arm and leaned her weight backwards and sideways, tossing the woozy newbie into an Irish Whip towards to ropes.
Ria regained her senses halfway through the short trip to the far strands, and her amazing powers of recovery were in full display as she twanged off them and charged back with her body lowered ready to try a Spear of her own. Whatever Camille had planned went quickly out of the window as the Unstoppable Girl charged towards her, but she produced a gorgeous vertical leap which took her clean over the head of the thundering newbie.
Now plunging headfirst towards the far ropes, Ria tried to take a leaf out of her opponent’s book, tossing her body sideways and planning a Tiger Feint Kick of her own. But Camille Cosworth was rightly regarded as one of the best aerial wrestlers of her generation and for all Ria’s athleticism she didn’t possess anything like the same grace when in flight. One of George’s hands managed to snatch the rope as planned, but the other clumsily slipped and sent her into a slow-motion barrel roll towards the crash barrier.
A collective intake of breath came from the crowd, while Merle’s hands went to his head in worry, and even Camille looked shocked. George had enough time to let out a small ‘nooooo’ noise before smashing back-first into the barely-padded steel. She slumped to the floor with a wet ‘splatting’ noise and stayed worryingly still, but after a few seconds she rolled onto her side and a few nearby in the audience hear her quietly croak “…wasteman…”
Meanwhile in the ring, Camille looked conflicted on what she should do next. She didn’t want to heap an unnecessary amount of punishment who already seemed on her last legs, and instead of launching herself into some high impact aerial maneuver, Cosworth elected to simply hop over the ropes and land on her feet on the floor after vacillating for a good ten seconds. She started walking towards Valeria in order to get the flagging Londoner back into the ring, but just getting close to her opponent seemed to trigger another resurgence in George. Launching forward from hands and knees, Ria twisted her body in midair to better smash her right bicep against an unsuspecting Camille’s chin. Cosworth’s head violently snapped back from the Charging European Uppercut, and she spun in a woozy pirouette before catching herself on the ring apron to keep herself upright.
The Girl of Tomorrow was just turning around when she caught another follow-up Forearm Smash to the side of her jaw, and then another, and then another, the flurry of blows dropping her to one knee out on the floor. George clasped her hands together overhead in preparation for a Double Axehandle Smash, though Camille showed some resilience of her own by raising her right arm to parry the blow on its way down. Spotting an opening with the Unstoppable Girl momentarily unbalanced, Camille looped her right arm around her opponent’s chest and neck, then planted her left hand in Ria’s back and rose to her full height, boosting George high into the air. She arched back, pivoted, and drove Valeria spine-first onto the apron, driving the breath from Ria’s lungs in a pained gasp.
URANAGE:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=4s_dYqMDIkw
It was a much softer landing than if Camille had performed the same Uranage onto the barely padded concrete floor, but it quickly became clear that her intent was to move the fight back within the ropes rather than inflict maximum damage. She gave Ria a forceful shove to send the Unstoppable Girl rolling to the center of the ring and reset the referee’s count, and then Cosworth set about on a slow lap around the outside in order to take a break. It was a very short breather though, as Valeria was already on hands and knees, so Camille reentered the squared circle by leaping up from the floor and grabbing the top rope to haul herself up and over to land on her feet, once again bypassing the apron entirely.
The FAWNatics applauded the athletic entrance as they always did, but Merle wasn’t so much impressed as he was confused when he walked over and quietly muttered, “You know there are stairs, right? At each corner of the ring? It seems like it would be much easier to --”
Camille cut him off with a gesture to zip his lips, and then she took off in a run towards her opponent. Ria was on her feet but still doubled over at the waist with her hands propped on her thighs, so she never saw it coming when Cosworth zipped over in front of her and trapped her head under an arm. In one smooth motion Camille tossed herself into a front flip without even breaking stride, pulling the other wrestler along for the ride with the Front Facelock. The Girl of Tomorrow laid out on her back following her aerial tumble, in the process driving the crown of Ria’s skull into the mat.
FRONT FLIP DDT:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=m9d5FfoR3Vs
The Front Flip DDT left Valeria planted upside down and vertical for a brief moment, and then she tumbled to the mat in slow motion, eventually settling into a spread out position on her back. Camille pivoted over to lay across her chest while hooking her right leg, and the referee dropped down to count…
ONE
TWO
THREE
…just fractions of a second before George shot a shoulder off the mat and sent a disbelieving Cosworth tumbling off to the side. Alas, it was still too late, as the bell rang and the announcer proclaimed Camille Cosworth the winner by pinfall, and Valeria laid back onto the canvas with a weary sigh.
“Unstoppable indeed…” Camille chuckled as she clambered upright, walked over and offered Ria a hand up, which the Briton grasped and used to get up to a sitting position. “Sorry to end on such a mundane move, Ria, but I can't afford to push my limits and wear myself out with Yoona still --”
“Did you just call that… that… whatever it is you just did… mundane?!” a wide-eyed Merle asked while he raised Cosworth’s other hand in victory.
Camille didn't respond except to shrug and playfully stick out her tongue at the referee. When she tried to turn around and walk away, however, she found herself anchored in place because Valeria was still clasping onto her right hand.
“How do you do it…?” the Briton softly mumbled as she hauled herself up off the deck.
“Oh, it’s easy,” Cosworth replied. “It’s just like a plain old DDT but with a front flip. The key is to --”
“Naw, fam… I mean how’d you stay cotch when the church tried to merk ya? Rolling swolly, tryna kill yer light. Bare muggy, but then you get calm and get grafting, then POW! Laid that vampire right on her head! So yeah, fam… how’d you do it?”
Camille hardly understood a thing the other woman was saying, but from the words church and light and vampire she guessed that Valeria was asking her how she managed to hold out against the Church of Eternal Midnight a year ago. It seemed a particularly relevant question now given the situation Yoona found herself in, so Cosworth gave it a few moments of thought before replying.
“I held onto my golden shiny wire of hope.”
Both Merle and Ria fell silent as they tried to figure out what that meant. The referee gave up after maybe five seconds of thought, and with an exasperated sigh he pulled out his smartphone in order to Google it, as Camille had advised him earlier. Valeria seemed to catch on more quickly though, and a huge grin spread across her face.
“Yeah… I like that, fam. I like that a lot...” she said while nodding her head in approval. “Golden shiny wire of hope… something to keep you on your path when all lights have gone out….”
“...Someone who believes in you more than you believe in yourself…” Camille added.
“...A way to climb from the Sector 7 slums to Shin-Ra headquarters,” Merle sagely concluded as he read from the screen of his phone. “But you have to remember to buy the batteries at Wall Market or else --”
The Girl of Tomorrow laid a hand on his shoulder and sighed, “Merle, what you have just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
The man seemed flummoxed that the famously congenial Cosworth would deliver such a stinging rebuke, and all he could do was stammer, “W -- wow… I mean… wow, that was really mean…!”
“Google it, bossman,” Ria helpfully suggested.
The two wrestlers shared a laugh at the referee’s expense, and then Camille offered some parting words to the newbie.
“FAWN can be a harsh place, believe me, I know. But don't let it change you, Ria -- your fans out there need you to be their golden shiny wire.”
Cosworth gave the other woman’s hand one final shake.
“Valeria George… I wish you good fortune in the wars to come.”
With that said, Camille turned her back and with a couple of strides she leapt to the top rope, using the tension of the steel cable to springboard herself into a second leap that landed her twelve feet away on the entrance ramp. She hit the ground running, and soon she had disappeared behind the curtain at the top of the entry way, heading backstage to help her girlfriend prepare for the violence sure to come later in the evening.
Meanwhile in the ring, Valeria sidled over to Merle and softly asked, “She knows there are stairs in each corner, right?”
OVER AND OVER
youtu.be/FzobxYbKhyE
As the guitars roared back in, the figure spun on her heel and shot out onto the stage like a bullet. Fans had a split second to catch a glimpse of chocolate skin and a black afro and then she was amongst them, throwing herself over the barriers and into the crowd with an enthusiasm which was almost enough to have a few fans draw away from her. Valeria George slapped every single outstretched hand she could see before allowing herself to be helped back over the barrier by a worried looking security guard, giving him a quick blush and a wink in apology.
For her second PPV appearance Ria was wearing a dusky purple tankini with two thick diagonal straps connecting the top to her bottoms. This had the twin effect of showing off her curvy figure but also highlighting that washboard stomach and athletic looking legs. Her hair was in a wide afro, with simple black pads and boots completing her look.
VALERIA GEORGE
The Unstoppable Girl slapped as many hands as she could and then charged headlong to the ring, sliding underneath and popping to her feet. As her music reached a crescendo she scrambled to the second turnbuckle of the nearest corner and raised her hands, first flashing three fingers and then looping both hands together to form a sideways 8. Most fans recognised the infinity symbol she used as a sigil in her first match, but back home in London’s E8 area Ria knew that her fam were feeling the love. And that might have been why her grin was extra wide as she dropped down and settled in to await her opponent.
Meanwhile backstage, Camille Cosworth was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't really register the PA making her introduction. She still felt absolutely terrible that she wasn't present a month ago to prevent the debacle at the end of the Yoona Park versus Lenore Lemarchand match. Yoona in particular worried her, especially in light of her girlfriend’s propensity for escalating any violent situation. Cosworth knew better than perhaps anyone the costs of doing battle with the Church of Eternal Midnight, but Park had adamantly refused to listen to any pleas for temperance in favor of meeting force with force.
Despite her misgivings, Camille still had a job to do, so she did her best to put those concerns out of mind. The thrumming percussion of her entrance music brought her back to her senses, and she stepped through the curtain at the top of the entrance ramp, decked out in a royal blue and electric green sports bra, a matching pair of skintight shorts extending from hip to mid-thigh, and a pair of low-cut royal blue wrestling shoes that completed the ensemble.
CAMILLE COSWORTH
Ironically, it was her burgeoning popularity that made it no longer feasible to enter the ring via a leap from the crowd, lest she get mobbed by over-enthusiastic selfie-seekers. The FAWNatics didn't seem to hold it against her though, as they gave her a massive pop worthy of a main event. There was even a group of fans holding a massive banner that read TOMORROW-MORROW LAND, demarcating that section of the stands as the domain of the most ardent of her supporters.
With her music -- co-opted from the Wonder Woman soundtrack -- rapidly building to a crescendo, Camille bounced on her toes and quickly shook out her arms and legs to limber up. She took a deep, deep breath, and just as the dramatic leitmotif was about to kick in, she let out a big puff of air.
Suddenly, all the arena lights clicked off as if Camille had blown them out like a candle. Even the music came to an abrupt halt, and for a moment the confused murmuring of the audience was the only sound in the building. The silent darkness lasted for hardly a second, however, before it was shattered by pyrotechnic explosion that generated an enormous, white-hot fireball on the stage exactly where Cosworth had been standing.
Right on cue, the music came back louder than ever, picking up right where it left off with the keening wail of an electric cello. A series of pyro cannons lining the entrance ramp went off in rapid succession, giving the appearance of the fireball barreling towards the ring at top speed. As it reached the end of the walkway, four additional plumes of flame exploded from the ring posts, illuminating the squared circle and revealing the Girl of Tomorrow standing at the center of the canvas.
“WOOO! STILL ALIVE!” Cosworth shouted as she celebrated successfully sprinting to the ring a step or two ahead of the cannonade, although she was mostly drowned out by the disbelieving roar of the fans.
“Pretty sweet entrance, eh, Merle?” she asked with a toothy grin when the referee came over to check her ring gear as her music faded out.
“H -- how did you get permission for that crazy stunt?!”
“Oh… I, umm, I had to sign, like, seven different waivers of liability in case of… you know… death or dismemberment…” Cosworth said a bit sheepishly. “But… uhh… totally worth it though, right?!”
Merle wordlessly stared at her for a few seconds, equal parts confused and horrified, then he shook his head and signaled for the bell to get things under way.
Immediately the new girl was out of her corner, a huge grin on her face and one hand held out in front. Everyone knew the perils of a handshake in FAWN but this time Cam didn’t seem to be being offered a choice. Valeria stormed up to her and forcibly grabbed her hand, pumping it hard and yelling, “That was an ENTRANCE Fam! Indiana Jones ting!”
A big smile split Cosworth’s face. “That was cool right? Although I think I might’ve burned my...”
George didn’t seem interested in letting her opponent talk just yet, yanking hard on the handshake to pull her in closer. She leaned in with a slightly conspiratorial air, turning her shoulder away from Merle slightly as if she was protecting a great secret from him.
“I’m gassed to be here right now, you’re a big inspiration on my road. But I seen that vampire merking your girlfriend last month, and that’s peak. I don’t know why they rolled into your ends but going after your girl is dutty. I feel sorry for you blud.”
Very little of the slang made any sense to Camille, but she understood the words ‘girlfriend’ and ‘vampire’, and Ria’s sympathetic demeanour filled in the rest. “Uh..thanks? Yoona can fight her own battles but I don’t want her to get caught in mine too, and…”
She might have continued, but that seemed to be about as long as the rookie could wait in a conversation before speaking again. “Listen, I know we got clash right now, but if you and your galdem need help bringing arm’s house to the church, link me up. I got your back fam!”
To emphasize this last word she leaned in and clasped the brunette’s hand again, slapping her on the back and then pulling away with a whoosh noise and an offer of a follow-up fist bump which Cam left hanging for far too long.
“Um…well, uh…thanks?” Camille offered, grabbing that fist and shaking it awkwardly.
Merle coughed slightly to get their attention. “Don’t mean to be rude ladies, but I think people paid to see a wrestling match.”
There were sounds of a slow hand clap beginning somewhere near the back rows of the arena, and both women looked suitably embarrassed.
“Soz bossman! But stay cotch, we beastin this!” Ria gave one last wink Cam’s way then backed off a little and dropped into a crouch. Camille shared a quick glance with Merle, shrugged, and circled to the left.
The crowd let loose another cheer, with a few shouts of support for both women in the ring. There was no denying that Cosworth was the far better known and more established performer, and the audience noise and support reflected this, but this didn’t seem to be intimidating her afro-haired opponent one bit.
In fact Ria was already bouncing on the balls of her feet as they started to circle, and within seconds she had thrown caution to the wind and charged straight in to try to catch her far more experienced opponent unawares. For a second it looked like she had succeeded, reaching high in hopes of securing a Headlock. But Camille ducked under the attempt at the last instant, spun aside from the charging Brit, and stopped that momentum with a tight Hammerlock.
Her arm being trapped halfway up her back was enough to make the new girl squirm and stand on tiptoes, but she was quick to react, ducking forward and whirling around to try and reverse their positions. She was partially successful in this, spinning her way out of the hold, but Cosworth followed her movements exactly and simply caught the other arm as it came around, leaving her with a Hammerlock on the other arm!
A look of confusion crossed Ria’s face for a second. Then she tried a different tack, ducking her head straight down into a speedy forwards roll. She kipped seamlessly from her shoulders up to her feet and kept hold of Camille’s hand as she did so, earning a few ‘oohs’ at the athletic feat. Cam was a little impressed too, even if it did mean that she ended up getting swung into a high-speed armdrag!
Fired towards the ropes at top speed, Cam did the first thing she could think of. For most people that first thought would have been stop, but the Girl of Tomorrow was definitely not most people. As such she sprung forwards onto her hands, bounced perfectly off the ropes upside down, then completed her handspring in the other direction and flew backwards into a stunning Springboard Back Elbow.
SPRINGBOARD BACK ELBOW:
youtu.be/lIH3vLJZQZE
The blow was delivered perfectly, sending Ria sprawling backwards. Even this didn’t seem to phase the newbie though, she landed on her shoulders and once more popped back upwards. This time though she didn’t pop to her feet, instead ‘SMECK’ing her shins either side of Cosworth’s surprised face and swinging round into a hurried Hurricanrana!
KIP-UP HURRICANRANA:
youtu.be/8D4tPDNz1BE
Suddenly Cosworth was on a face-first trip to the mat. This would have been exceedingly uncomfortable if Cam hadn’t embraced it, throwing herself into the flip and putting her hands down to cartwheel neatly away instead of taking damage!
Hoping to finally get the jump on this speedy newbie, Cosworth charged off and threw herself into another handspring. She had rebounded back off the ropes and launched into yet another flip when she realised that Ria had tried the exact same thing and was now flying through the air a few feet away. Both woman landed a few feet from each other, neither quite able to hide their grin.
TANDEM FLIPS:
youtu.be/LbBD2fXnxME?t=28s
Certainly the fans were loving this lightning-speed action, rising to their feet at the athleticism on show.
“Pretty freakin’ cool,” Cosworth mouthed, earning a grin in return from her dusky-skinned opponent. But the mutual appreciation society was broken up by another polite sounding cough from Merle.
“Begging your pardons, but was that last pair of backflips really necessary? You two have barely touched one another!” Both ladies looked offended, but the crowd were pretty evenly split between those enjoying a healthy dose of flipping and those who wanted to watch some actual fighting. Cam shook her head in disgust, muttering something about philistines.
George seemed to agree but she wasn’t going to stand there long enough to show it. Clearly feeling that she hadn’t been athletic enough yet, the Brit sprung off the second rope and turned in midair, one arm cocked expecting to smash into a defenceless SMACKKK!
COUNTER DROPKICK:
youtu.be/jVSzUI0uOBE
All those relative veteran instincts were on full show, Cosworth hopping up and kicking the Unstoppable Girl out of the air with perfect timing. Still feeling slightly offended that anyone could object to the action they had seen so far, Cam scrambled over and hooked a leg. Merle let out a small sigh, but he was there quickly to count
.
ONE...
The Unstoppable Girl lived up to her name and kicked out with enough force to send Cosworth barrel-rolling a couple of feet away. Valeria crunched onto her shoulders and launched to her feet in an impressive Kip-Up, while her opponent twirled around like a breakdancer and landed in a three-point stance after a Spinaroonie. Camille couldn't help but break into a lopsided grin, and she waggled her eyebrows at the newcomer. For her part, George responded by raising three fingers and hooking her hands together to reform her E8 sigil, and Cosworth’s face immediately snapped back into a blank, uncomprehending stare.
Camille didn’t have much time to decipher what that meant before Ria charged at her with a loud, whooping cheer. She was reasonably sure that the other woman wasn’t coming in for a hug, so she dipped a shoulder and stuck out her right arm to catch and redirect the incoming human missile. Things seemed to be going according to a plan when Camille easily grabbed her opponent and twirled Valeria into the air for what looked like a Tilt-a-Whirl Side Slam, but just at the peak of the lift, the Londoner’s legs snaked around her head and snapped shut. A fraction of a second later, George grabbed Cosworth’s right wrist to trap the Girl of Tomorrow in the Tilt-a-Whirl Headscissors Armbar that she had named Wavy.
WAVY:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ519qUnnGg
Though she could hardly be called a veteran, Camille’s additional experience kicked in, and she threw herself backwards into the mat to counter Valeria’s hold with an improvised Samoan Drop. The impact jarred the Headscissors loose, but George showed some wiliness of her own by wrapping her legs around Cosworth’s left arm to deftly transition into a Crucifix. Ria twisted to her left side and rolled Camille so that her shoulders were on the mat, and Merle dropped down to count…
ONE…
...before Cosworth kicked her legs to continue the backwards roll like it was all part of the plan, eventually completing the somersault by landing on her knees with her opponent still strapped across her arms and shoulders, effectively turning the Crucifix Pin into a Fireman’s Carry. She rose to her feet with an ease which belied the weight of the other wrestler she was now carrying, then she took a big step forwards and tossed herself into a front tumble. Camille would have driven own head into the deck if it weren’t for Valeria’s body acting as a cushion, thus turning an awkward faceplant into a slick Rolling Fireman’s Carry Slam.
ROLLING FIREMAN’S CARRY SLAM:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1rLSdvkR88
This time Cosworth managed to free herself completely from George’s grasps as the the dusky Londoner laid momentarily stunned on the mat. Meanwhile, Camille smoothly rolled through the impact to pop to her feet, then she loped to the corner turnbuckles just in front of her. She leapt from floor to penthouse in one easy stride, and her feet had barely touched the top ropes before she jumped off once more, launching herself into a high-arcing backflip. Valeria saw the incoming Moonsault, and she did what any sensible person would do by rolling further away from the corner to get out of the landing zone.
Even just a few months ago, Camille might have splattered herself on the mat, but painful landings both in sparring and in live matches meant that she had learned to adapt. With her landing pad suddenly missing, Cosworth tucked her legs to add a little extra rotation to the backflip, resulting in her landing on her feet rather than her face. She still really wanted to hit that Moonsault though, so she immediately bounced into another standing backflip, this time throwing in a corkscrew twist just because she could.
STANDING CORKSCREW MOONSAULT:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=y7x1QYiZ4mM
Ria saw the second Moonsault coming as well, and she moved clear once again, this time by reversing direction and rolling underneath the airborne Camille. Not even the Girl of Tomorrow could land on her feet, but instead of an awkward belly flop she caught herself on her palms and toes, stretched out and propped up like she had been doing a set of pushups. At the ropes in front of her, Valeria was just rising to a crouch, and the pair of daredevils exchanged knowing looks. Cosworth didn’t quite know how to communicate with her opponent, at least verbally, so she saluted George with her left hand while powering out one-armed pushups with her right. A few feet away, the hyperactive Unstoppable Girl frenetically jogged in place, pumping her knees all the way up to her chest and causing her billowing afro to jiggle and shake.
Perhaps a bit unusually, the crowd reaction was mixed. While there was no shortage of fans who appreciated the tumbling, acrobatic frippery, there was also a vocal segment who demanded blood and violence. For the moment, Cosworth paid the latter no mind. Her girlfriend would surely provide more brutality than they could stomach later in the evening, and it was for that reason that Camille was determined to occupy her thoughts and enjoy the current contest.
“Not to tell you how to do your job, but are you two going to start wrestling any time soon?” Merle hesitantly asked.
Cosworth snorted at the referee as she finished off her exercise routine at ten repetitions, then she climbed to her feet and asked her opponent, “Are you ready?”
“Gassed to burn dis bashment down, fam!” George shouted back, prompting Camille to crinkle her nose in confusion.
“Is -- is she saying that she's ready…?” Cosworth muttered to the official by her side. “...or is she warning us that there's a gas leak and the arena’s about to burn down?”
The referee sniffed hard a few times.
“I don't smell anything…”
Camille sniffed too.
“I smell nachos.”
Merle visibly cringed as he admitted, “Oh, no, that’s me, I think. I had a bit of an accident with the queso earlier when I was --”
“‘Scuse me, bossman,” Valeria cut in, “but me and my gal, we’s about to clash, fam!”
When she was greeted by nothing more than a pair of silent, awkward stares, Ria sighed and clarified in terms that her opponent could understand, “I said I'm ready whenever you are…”
Cosworth looked at the official and shrugged, then she stepped forward to engage the other wrestler in a mutual Elbow and Collar tie up. After a brief stalemate, Camille doubled up her grip on Valeria’s right arm and set the Briton in motion with an Irish Whip, only for George to latch onto her forearm and reverse the maneuver with a hard yank. Suddenly pulled into a forward lurch that put her head on a collision course with Ria’s outstretched arm, Cosworth dropped to the mat in a forward roll that let her dodge under the Lariat in the nick of time. The Girl of Tomorrow came out of her tumble still joined at the wrist with her opponent, and she used that connection to spin Ria around before she leapt up, planted her heels square into George’s chest, and pushed off into a backflip to land in an athletic crouch.
DROPSAULT:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=G2ELlZUT4QI
Knocked backwards by Cosworth’s Dropsault, Valeria lost her grip on her opponent’s arm and stumbled backwards before catching herself on the ropes behind her. By the time she regained her footing, Camille was already bearing down on her at full speed and charging across the ring with shoulders lowered. Ria’s instincts told her she didn’t have time to move to the side, so instead she went up, jumping into the air and drawing up her legs to leapfrog over the incoming Spear. Without anything to absorb her momentum, Cosworth kept barrelling forward and she careened through the gap between the middle and top ropes.
The FAWNatics gasped with concern as for a split second it seemed like Camille might drive herself headfirst into the thinly padded floor or even the steel barricade, but those worried murmurs turned into impressed ‘oohs’ when she grabbed onto the middle rope to haul herself into a mid-air U-turn. She swung her whole body around like a boomerang before slipping back through the steel coated cables and landing on her feet in the ring after a gorgeous Tiger Feint Kick.
Valeria still had her back turned after leaping over the Spear, so Camille launched into a front somersault over Ria’s left shoulder and grabbed her head in a Three Quarters Facelock mid-flip. Cosworth was moments away from laying out on her back to complete the Somersault Cutter when the Unstoppable Girl -- also possessed of rare athleticism -- caught her in midair by scooping both arms underneath her thighs. The recoil from the catch dropped Valeria to one knee, but she quickly powered to a stand, twirled in a half circle, and pushed her opponent off of her left shoulder while dropping to a seat to slam Camille’s shoulders to the deck with a massive Spin Out Powerbomb.
SPIN OUT POWERBOMB:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=QF1guf_vQ0E
As impressive as her maneuver was, and judging from the buzz reverberating through the arena it was quite impressive indeed, George’s relative inexperience meant that she had spun towards the edge of the ring, thus putting the bottom rope within arm’s reach for her opponent. Before Merle could even drop down for a count, Camille had already hauled herself out onto the apron, then she bought herself some more time to recover by dropping to the floor.
“Kinda getting a taste of your own medicine, aren’t ya?” a fan in the front row asked as he held out his phone to snap a selfie with the Girl of Tomorrow as she leaned her back against the steel barricade.
Camille rolled her eyes, thus ruining the picture, but she didn’t have time to offer a more substantial response because Valeria had already bounced off the far set of ropes and was now bounding at her with obvious intent to leap out of the ring. Not wanting to be caught like a sitting duck, Cosworth charged forward as well. After taking two steps away from the barricade, she exploded off the floor and launched herself through the gap between the top and middle ropes, bypassing the apron entirely and grabbing onto the steel cables to slingshot herself into the ring with even more velocity. This time, the hard-charging Briton had too much inertia to get out of the way of the Slingshot Spear, and Camille’s shoulder met Ria’s gut with a thunderous THWACK just in front of the ropes.
SLINGSHOT SPEAR:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=cH9Srf6a1SA
Cosworth had come in so fast that she was sent rolling to the other side of the ring even after the impact, thus preventing an immediate pin attempt. She laid on her back a few moments, catching her breath and soaking in the audience’s incredulous “HOLY SHIT!” chant, then she sat up and wiped her bangs out of her face. She was quite surprised, however, to see that her opponent was already crawling to hands and knees, albeit with a bit of a struggle.
The referee was equally flabbergasted.
“How are you not dead?!” Merle blurted out. “How are either of you not dead?!”
Camille chuckled as she stood up and rattled off, “Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Select, Start.”
That only seemed to leave the man even more confused.
“You say that like it explains anything.”
“Google it, Merle,” Cosworth cheerfully advised as she watched her opponent stagger upright on the other side of the ring.
The newbie wasn’t looking in great shape, using the ring ropes as a ladder with one hand while the other one hugged the spot where her lower ribs had just absorbed that hellacious spear. Despite having been nearly cut in half the Brit was still grinning, although there was a distinctly dazed air to her expression and a clear wobble in her legs.
It felt almost mean for Cam to take advantage of this, but at some point she had to win the match and this seemed like a perfect opportunity. Sprinting past the shaky brunette, Camille sprang up onto the middle rope behind her and launched into a graceful spin. One foot swung out and up to impact into the back of Ria’s slightly bedraggled ‘fro, sending the taller girl slumping forwards to the mat again.
SPRINGBOARD ROUNDHOUSE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXTKiAWOe0A
With her opponent stretched out face down Camille was pretty tempted to just go for the pin and get the victory in the books so she could get back and check on Yoona. She went as far as nudging the Unstoppable Girl over onto her back before another polite cough from Merle.
“Begging your pardon miss but that’s only the second time you’ve actually hit her and she’s barely touched you. Maybe you could show these people something like a finisher?”
“Oh come on Merle, aren’t you supposed to protect us? Is this some sort of weird fetish thing for seeing girls get hurt, because if so Yoona’s got these DVDs I should…”
By the end of that sentence Merle’s expression had become so peeved that she just trailed off. The two stared at each other for a second, then she rolled her eyes and huffed “fine!” under her breath, bending her knees. The Girl of Tomorrow threw herself backwards, an impressive Standing Moonsault causing a few ‘oooo’ noises from the otherwise sceptical crowd. George didn’t seem to like it as much though, jacknifing up off the canvas as her dusky stomach was squashed under pale abs.
STANDING MOONSAULT:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCH5kGRT0-o
The landing actually put Cam in a pinning position, but when she glanced up Merle still looked distinctly sceptical. Again there was a seconds pause, then Cosworth shouted “FINE!” She scrambled to her feet, stamping her way over to the corner like a pre-schooler who’d just been denied ice cream.
She continued to grumble to herself as she hopped easily to the turnbuckle, “You want a finisher I’ll give you a finisher and…oh, come on!”
Despite having looked half dead a few seconds ago, Ria had not only managed to roll away from the corner but had actually got up to her feet. Admittedly she was listing badly over to one side, her feet doing an odd sailor dance to stay beneath her, but the feat of resilience was still impressive enough to cause Cosworth to pause at her perch and reevaluate what to do next. Merle had to admit that he was also just a little impressed at the brunette’s resurgence, although he didn’t like the vacant look in her eyes, or the way her gaze was shifting between him and some invisible figure to his immediate left.
“Get the deets on that truck roadman!” the unsteady Unstoppable Girl was yelling. “Ain’t no-one merkin me round my eeeeeurgh.”
Still barely able to control her wayward legs, Ria swayed a little too far sideways and toppled tree-like into the ropes. She hit the top strand hard, twanging herself sideways and into a back-first pratfall near the corner. Unfortunately Camille wasn’t in much of a position to appreciate the comedy. The heavy jolt to the ropes dislodged both feet, and despite frantically wheeling her arms she had no chance of catching her balance, completing her own clumsy forward roll and landing hard on the canvas a few feet from her opponent.
Merle just about managed to stifle his giggles, but that meant it was a few seconds before he had made it over to check on his charges.
“Are you ok miss?” he asked, bending down to put a hand carefully on Camille’s shoulder.
There was a slightly worrying moment of silence from the brunette but then she rolled over and looked up at him, her glare apparent even through the daze.
“I am never listening to your advice about anything ever again!”
To illustrate her disappointment Cam took a big handful of the penitent man’s shirt and used it to haul herself up to sitting. A few blinks were enough to clear the fog in her eyes and she was back to vertical quickly. But somehow George had still managed to get up before her, jogging off towards the far ropes and rebounding back off them with augmented speed.
Taken slightly by surprise, Cosworth raised a hand and started ducking to avoid any incoming blow, but it seemed like the newbie had something different in mind. Leaping off one foot to plant both on the middle rope, Ria flew backwards to hook one hand around Cam’s startled neck and twisting around and down into a nasty enforced forward roll.
NEXT LEVEL:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnDNfIqDZY0
Camille’s head was driven into the mat by the surprise move and she completed the roll to end up on her back in a woozy starfish shape. George didn’t seem to be faring much better, still clutching at her ribs from the earlier Spear, but she continued to show that amazing resilience by scrabbling to her feet and reaching down to hook a handful of Cosworth’s ruffled top. She used this to drag the stunned brunette over to the nearest corner and prop her up there.
“Soz ‘bout this fam,” Ria muttered, “But a girl’s gotta get wins, yaknow?”
Camille’s only response was a moan of mixed pain and confusion, so George patted her lightly on the shoulder and then turned to jog off to the opposite corner. Placing her back to the buckles the exotic newbie used the strands to lift herself a few feet off the ground then used the landing as momentum to charge headfirst and throw herself forward into a last-second forward somersault Senton!
UNSTOPPABOMB:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhsCkDNMHmE
Unfortunately for Valeria the brutal glory of the move was slightly diminished when Cosworth came to her senses half way through the charge and simply slipped out to the apron, leaving the bigger girl to impact upside-down into the middle turnbuckle. The crowd let out a sympathetic ‘oooooh’ at the shuddering noise of sine impacting with barely covered steel, and George dropped to an untidy heap in the corner.
Puffing her cheeks out in relief at having avoided the move, Cam slipped daintily back into the ring and pulled her dazed opponent back to her feet. “No hard feelings Ria, I had a lot of fun tonight” she muttered to the insensate Brit, “but I need to finish this now so I can go and help Yoona prepare.” Ria’s only response was a moan of pain and confusion, so Cam patted her on the shoulder. Then she grabbed one arm and leaned her weight backwards and sideways, tossing the woozy newbie into an Irish Whip towards to ropes.
Ria regained her senses halfway through the short trip to the far strands, and her amazing powers of recovery were in full display as she twanged off them and charged back with her body lowered ready to try a Spear of her own. Whatever Camille had planned went quickly out of the window as the Unstoppable Girl charged towards her, but she produced a gorgeous vertical leap which took her clean over the head of the thundering newbie.
Now plunging headfirst towards the far ropes, Ria tried to take a leaf out of her opponent’s book, tossing her body sideways and planning a Tiger Feint Kick of her own. But Camille Cosworth was rightly regarded as one of the best aerial wrestlers of her generation and for all Ria’s athleticism she didn’t possess anything like the same grace when in flight. One of George’s hands managed to snatch the rope as planned, but the other clumsily slipped and sent her into a slow-motion barrel roll towards the crash barrier.
A collective intake of breath came from the crowd, while Merle’s hands went to his head in worry, and even Camille looked shocked. George had enough time to let out a small ‘nooooo’ noise before smashing back-first into the barely-padded steel. She slumped to the floor with a wet ‘splatting’ noise and stayed worryingly still, but after a few seconds she rolled onto her side and a few nearby in the audience hear her quietly croak “…wasteman…”
Meanwhile in the ring, Camille looked conflicted on what she should do next. She didn’t want to heap an unnecessary amount of punishment who already seemed on her last legs, and instead of launching herself into some high impact aerial maneuver, Cosworth elected to simply hop over the ropes and land on her feet on the floor after vacillating for a good ten seconds. She started walking towards Valeria in order to get the flagging Londoner back into the ring, but just getting close to her opponent seemed to trigger another resurgence in George. Launching forward from hands and knees, Ria twisted her body in midair to better smash her right bicep against an unsuspecting Camille’s chin. Cosworth’s head violently snapped back from the Charging European Uppercut, and she spun in a woozy pirouette before catching herself on the ring apron to keep herself upright.
The Girl of Tomorrow was just turning around when she caught another follow-up Forearm Smash to the side of her jaw, and then another, and then another, the flurry of blows dropping her to one knee out on the floor. George clasped her hands together overhead in preparation for a Double Axehandle Smash, though Camille showed some resilience of her own by raising her right arm to parry the blow on its way down. Spotting an opening with the Unstoppable Girl momentarily unbalanced, Camille looped her right arm around her opponent’s chest and neck, then planted her left hand in Ria’s back and rose to her full height, boosting George high into the air. She arched back, pivoted, and drove Valeria spine-first onto the apron, driving the breath from Ria’s lungs in a pained gasp.
URANAGE:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=4s_dYqMDIkw
It was a much softer landing than if Camille had performed the same Uranage onto the barely padded concrete floor, but it quickly became clear that her intent was to move the fight back within the ropes rather than inflict maximum damage. She gave Ria a forceful shove to send the Unstoppable Girl rolling to the center of the ring and reset the referee’s count, and then Cosworth set about on a slow lap around the outside in order to take a break. It was a very short breather though, as Valeria was already on hands and knees, so Camille reentered the squared circle by leaping up from the floor and grabbing the top rope to haul herself up and over to land on her feet, once again bypassing the apron entirely.
The FAWNatics applauded the athletic entrance as they always did, but Merle wasn’t so much impressed as he was confused when he walked over and quietly muttered, “You know there are stairs, right? At each corner of the ring? It seems like it would be much easier to --”
Camille cut him off with a gesture to zip his lips, and then she took off in a run towards her opponent. Ria was on her feet but still doubled over at the waist with her hands propped on her thighs, so she never saw it coming when Cosworth zipped over in front of her and trapped her head under an arm. In one smooth motion Camille tossed herself into a front flip without even breaking stride, pulling the other wrestler along for the ride with the Front Facelock. The Girl of Tomorrow laid out on her back following her aerial tumble, in the process driving the crown of Ria’s skull into the mat.
FRONT FLIP DDT:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=m9d5FfoR3Vs
The Front Flip DDT left Valeria planted upside down and vertical for a brief moment, and then she tumbled to the mat in slow motion, eventually settling into a spread out position on her back. Camille pivoted over to lay across her chest while hooking her right leg, and the referee dropped down to count…
ONE
TWO
THREE
…just fractions of a second before George shot a shoulder off the mat and sent a disbelieving Cosworth tumbling off to the side. Alas, it was still too late, as the bell rang and the announcer proclaimed Camille Cosworth the winner by pinfall, and Valeria laid back onto the canvas with a weary sigh.
“Unstoppable indeed…” Camille chuckled as she clambered upright, walked over and offered Ria a hand up, which the Briton grasped and used to get up to a sitting position. “Sorry to end on such a mundane move, Ria, but I can't afford to push my limits and wear myself out with Yoona still --”
“Did you just call that… that… whatever it is you just did… mundane?!” a wide-eyed Merle asked while he raised Cosworth’s other hand in victory.
Camille didn't respond except to shrug and playfully stick out her tongue at the referee. When she tried to turn around and walk away, however, she found herself anchored in place because Valeria was still clasping onto her right hand.
“How do you do it…?” the Briton softly mumbled as she hauled herself up off the deck.
“Oh, it’s easy,” Cosworth replied. “It’s just like a plain old DDT but with a front flip. The key is to --”
“Naw, fam… I mean how’d you stay cotch when the church tried to merk ya? Rolling swolly, tryna kill yer light. Bare muggy, but then you get calm and get grafting, then POW! Laid that vampire right on her head! So yeah, fam… how’d you do it?”
Camille hardly understood a thing the other woman was saying, but from the words church and light and vampire she guessed that Valeria was asking her how she managed to hold out against the Church of Eternal Midnight a year ago. It seemed a particularly relevant question now given the situation Yoona found herself in, so Cosworth gave it a few moments of thought before replying.
“I held onto my golden shiny wire of hope.”
Both Merle and Ria fell silent as they tried to figure out what that meant. The referee gave up after maybe five seconds of thought, and with an exasperated sigh he pulled out his smartphone in order to Google it, as Camille had advised him earlier. Valeria seemed to catch on more quickly though, and a huge grin spread across her face.
“Yeah… I like that, fam. I like that a lot...” she said while nodding her head in approval. “Golden shiny wire of hope… something to keep you on your path when all lights have gone out….”
“...Someone who believes in you more than you believe in yourself…” Camille added.
“...A way to climb from the Sector 7 slums to Shin-Ra headquarters,” Merle sagely concluded as he read from the screen of his phone. “But you have to remember to buy the batteries at Wall Market or else --”
The Girl of Tomorrow laid a hand on his shoulder and sighed, “Merle, what you have just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
The man seemed flummoxed that the famously congenial Cosworth would deliver such a stinging rebuke, and all he could do was stammer, “W -- wow… I mean… wow, that was really mean…!”
“Google it, bossman,” Ria helpfully suggested.
The two wrestlers shared a laugh at the referee’s expense, and then Camille offered some parting words to the newbie.
“FAWN can be a harsh place, believe me, I know. But don't let it change you, Ria -- your fans out there need you to be their golden shiny wire.”
Cosworth gave the other woman’s hand one final shake.
“Valeria George… I wish you good fortune in the wars to come.”
With that said, Camille turned her back and with a couple of strides she leapt to the top rope, using the tension of the steel cable to springboard herself into a second leap that landed her twelve feet away on the entrance ramp. She hit the ground running, and soon she had disappeared behind the curtain at the top of the entry way, heading backstage to help her girlfriend prepare for the violence sure to come later in the evening.
Meanwhile in the ring, Valeria sidled over to Merle and softly asked, “She knows there are stairs in each corner, right?”