Post by bigfan on Nov 5, 2017 19:53:25 GMT
Simultaneously intrigued and worried by what his notes foretold, the Announcer tucked them away in his pocket and put on a brave face before he informed the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall with a twenty minute time limit. Introducing first, hailing from Belasco Maine, she stands at five feet seven inches tall and weighs in tonight at one hundred and thirty-three pounds, she is the unforgiving, unrelenting, unrepentant ELISE WINTERREST!
ELISE WINTERREST:
Hatred, disgust and yes, some genuine outrage from the Fall Out crowd as the pounding, staccato drumbeat of Royal Blood’s ‘Out of the Black’ oozed from the speakers. A few seconds later Elise stepped into view and spread her arms wide, the Wolf of Winter daring this collection of bipedal shrews and voles to maintain the strength of their vitriol as she swept her gaze over each and every one of them. Most seemed worthy of the challenge, as they kicked up the volume that much more when the house lights went down, then blazed forth in an eerie, fiery red. Turning her attention to the squared circle where she’d soon do terrible things to her favorite prey, Elise offered her audience a beautifully cruel smile and started down the aisle.
Carrying winter in her heart no matter the temperature or the calendar, Elise honored the coming cold with her usual chalk-outline ’REDRUM’ tee, the one that offered up a fine view of her midsection as well as her matching black elbow and knee pads and gleaming black boots that ended an inch south of her knee.
Slowing to a near halt as she reached the foot of the ramp, Winterrest slunk over one of the jeering throng and placed a finger to his lips to make sure proper attention was paid when her anthem noted ‘So don’t breathe when I talk, ‘Cause you haven’t been spoken to.’ Dismissing the cretin before he’d fully come to grips with her presence, the Icy Manipulator sauntered up the steps, dipped between the ropes and claimed the center of the ring for her very own. Dark eyes locked on the hard camera, Elise took the bottom edge of her shirt in both hands and peeled it overhead to fully reveal the black halter style one-piece with its four bright red slashes across the front. Tossing the garment to the referee without making eye contact, Winterrest swung to face the stage, then placed a fingertip at the top of each of those ugly slashes. Still smiling, she sloooooooowly traced them all the way to the bottom, figuratively ‘spilling her guts’ even as the lights returned to normal. “Come and get me, little raven.” Elise murmured as the lights returned to normal. “Flutter your way down here so I can feel your throat in my jaws for a second time.”
When Elise’s music died down, the Announcer raised his mic and resumed his duties. “And introducing her opponent, hailing from Glen Echo Michigan, she stands at five feet seven inches tall and weighs in at one hundred and thirty-one pounds. Representing the Black Court, they call her the Raven… LENORE LEMARCHAND!”
Kula Shaker’s ‘Hush’ winged its way into the arena and a great unkindness of ’Ravens’ went up, Lemarchand’s flock larger than ever as she dared take the fight to Miss Murder. 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 a moment later, she turned to the camera and said, “Elise got lucky the first time. But there’s no luck tonight… no mercy either.” With that, she honed in on the woman in the ring and headed down the ramp.
LENORE LEMARCHAND:
For her return match with a woman who‘d brought the fight to her like no other had ever dared, Lenore wore strappy bikini bottoms hued in a purplish-black and emblazoned with a faint design that careful inspection revealed as feathers. Her top was halter style, with the color and pattern matching her briefs, while her 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.
Unwilling (or perhaps unable) to keep her eyes off Elise, Lemarchand ignored the hands extended in her direction as she closed on the squared circle. It wasn’t until she was almost there when a bit of motion off to her left caught her attention. It was a large charcoal sketch of a stately raven perched atop a crumbling tombstone that read ‘WINTERREST’
“Lovely.” she told the sign waver with a small nod. “Keep it safe and I’ll make sure to sign it in the harlot’s blood when the match is over.”
On that grim note, 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 went straight for Elise only to be stopped by Nick Castle. Baring her teeth at the interference, Lenore took a step back and raised the raven sigil overhead, daring Elise to come for her. Winterrest took a half step forward, then settled back against the buckles, one hand rising to shoo the other brunette away with a dismissive little wave. Lenore snorted in disgust, but offered no resistance when Nick walked her to the far corner and checked her pads and boots.
Not liking the Courtier’s single-minded fixation on Elise, Castle said, “You’re gonna have to work this one clean, Lenore. I don’t want to spend the whole night pulling you two apart.”
“There’s an easy solution there, Nick.” she answered without taking her eyes off Winterrest. “Don’t bother pulling us apart.”
Castle sighed, stepped to the center of the ring and called for the bell.
“What’s the matter, sweetness?” Elise called over the vibrant CLANG. “No savage attack when my back is turned? Are you slipping? Or learning?” Lenore didn’t answer, she only strode across the ring at a pace just quick enough to force Elise to vacate her corner if she didn’t want the Raven to cut off the ring. Sidling along the ropes to keep her options open, Winterrest smiled as Lemarchand adjusted to maintain the most direct route to her adversary. Careful to keep her face neutral even as her fingers twitched at the thought of removing Lenore’s hair in great patches, Elise pushed off the ropes and raised defenses just in time for the Courtier to sweep her into a stern Collar & Elbow Lock-Up! Both women kept their grips nice & legal at the outset (mostly because Nick was quite close to the action) but Lenore tensed her fingers the tiniest bit to make sure Elise knew her nails were perhaps a bit longer than regulation tonight. Not to be outdone, Winterrest crooked her right index finger and draaaaaaaaaagged it across the nape of Lemarchand’s neck, informing her that great minds did indeed think alike.
With the tone of this contest thus established, Elise dropped her hips and pushed forward, getting under the other brunette long enough to force her back several steps. There was still a sizable stretch of canvas between them and the ropes when the Fair & Radiant Maiden jammed a kickstand heel against the mat and brought them to a halt. Aware that she was between Castle and her prey, Elise slid her right hand up into Lenore’s hair and cranked her head ba--”OOOOOFFFHH!”
Lenore answered with a pinpoint Kneelift, striking *just* below Winterrest’s navel but above her bikini line, thus making what felt like a Low Blow perfectly legal. Reversing their positions even as Elise blew a puff of startled air in her face, Lemarchand marched forward until Elise’s back, butt and thighs were straining against the rubber-coated steel. “I hope you’re not claustrophobic, honey.” Lenore moved her hand from Winterrest’s bicep to the point of her chin and pushed hard enough to force the other brunette’s head backward over the top rope. “Because I’m going to crawl into your trunks and we’ll wrestle tummy to tummy until you’re begging for air… and mercNGGHH bytch!”
Elise relinquished the grasp on her opponent’s arm to send that hand south in search of waistband. Finding it in short order, she raised it by a good six inches and used the resultant wince from Lenore to switch their positions once ag--NO! Lenore turned her chin-push into a straight up Iron Claw, her fingertips gouging into the other woman’s temples and forehead. It wouldn’t rival the Kanaris Clamp true, but the unexpectedness of it was enough to halt Elise halfway through her spin. Even so, Winterrest had an advantage with her, ahem, handle, on the situation and she used the wedgie to walk her opponent backward to the nearest corner.
“Break your grip little bird.” Elise’s voice was just as insufferable even through the muffler of Lenore’s palm. “Or I’ll pull these over the back of your UUUNNNNNNGGGGGGHHH!”
Lemarchand bore down despite the threat, making sure to mash the heel of her palm against the underside of Elise’s nose. “Do your worst, baby.” she growled. “Like I said, we’re doing this one close and meaERRRRRRRRRHHHHHH!”
Elise added a brutal sawing yank to her togs grip, Miss Murder making damned sure Lenore understood the sort of punishment she could inflict with a simple wedgie. She must have, because the trapped Courtier doubled down on the Iron Claw, Lemarchand grabbing the base of her own wrist for extra leverage as she tried to crack Elise’s skull wide open! The vindictive contest might’ve continued unchecked if Nick hadn’t stepped up and tapped both wrestlers on the shoulder. “All right ladies, I want you to break your holds, then raise your hands and keep ‘em raised while Elise takes a step back. Nod if you understand.” Both women dipped their heads almost imperceptibly. “All right.” Castle sounded relieved. He tapped their shoulders a second time and said, “Break.” Lemarchand and Winterrest let go of one another and raised their hands as bade, though they were still almost nose to nose, much too close for the ref’s liking. “Back off, Elise.”
“Is that what you want, Lenore?” Winterrest chided. “I thought breathing room was a luxury item tonight.”
“Enjoy this little taste.” the Raven countered. “It’s the last you’ll have for a long NGH!”
The Icy Manipulator’s half step back proved a calculated feint as she abruptly snapped a straight right hand into the other brunette’s chin. Lemarchand sagged against the buckles with stars going off behind her eyes, so Elise pointed her right shoulder at the other woman, reached all the way across to her left shoulder and then CRAAAACKED Lenore’s chest with a vile Knife-Edge Chop! Lenore cried out, eyes clenched tight, mouth hung open, forearm’s X’ed across the point of impact. Far from satisfied, Winterrest snatched a handful of hair, straightened her up and slung her arms over the top rope. She was preparing for another Chop when Nick grabbed her by the elbow. “I said a clean break, Elise. What the hell was that?”
“Nothing wrong with the break, Castle.” she tugged free of his grip. “It was just shorter than you might have prefeGUUUHHHHH!”
Lenore kicked her legs up, threaded ‘em around Elise’s waist and squeeeeeeeeeeeezed down in a sort of hanging Bodyscissors! Groaning as the Courtier’s thighs ground against her ribs, Winterrest braced against her attacker’s stems for perhaps a heartbeat before she slid one hand toward Lenore’s trunks. “Go ahead and do it.” Lemarchand challenged. “Go to my trunks and prove you can’t survive my legs for even a four count.”
Elise froze, anger and strain etched strong on her face. After a moment, she said, “I intend to answer Lenore’s grip with one of my own, Mr. Castle. You will not begin your count until I do. And should she wail her submission before we break, you will not acknowledge it, understand?”
“Oh, go f*ck yourself you sanctimonious little byERRRGGGHHH!” Lenore clenched her jaw tight when Winterrest smacked both hands against her flanks and dug in with a claw of her own. Willing (albeit reluctantly) to grant his charges a little leeway as long as they didn’t ignore him entirely, Nick let the brunettes play Scissors versus Claw for a good five seconds before he counted off, “ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!” They let simultaneously, Elise even took two steps back, the Wolf of Winter pressing a forearm against her compressed ribs. “Thank you, ladies.” Nick sounded sincere because he was. “I appreciate itoh come on!”
Elise rushed with a Shoulderblock on her mind but caught a Kneelift to the forehead instead! The counter rocked Miss Murder back on her heels, leaving her in perfect position for Lenore to kick up her legs once again. Only this time she locked ‘em around Winterrest’s noggin and the Raven bore down like she meant to choke her out on the spot! “How’s that feel, hmmh?” Lemarchand sneered at her pink-faced, wide-eyed opposition. “Like the view so far? I promise it’ll be very familiar before OOOOOWWW F*CK!”
In no mood to place nice when she could feel the blood pounding at her temples, Winterrest wedged a thumb between her chin and Lenore’s crotch and pressed until the vise around her head started to loos--”NGH!” Emily’s Lady in Waiting raised her left leg high, then brought her heel THWONKING down onto the crown of Elise’s skull! The black-clad battler stumbled, caught her balance and promptly lost it again when Lenore stuffed both feet against her chest and sent her flying backward with a springy Mule Kick!
Elise landed hard on the back of her head and shoulders, rolled through to all fours and started to rise. Granted a brief window by her foe’s recovery, Lemarchand boosted herself onto the second rope, where she waited until Elise was vertical enough for her to take flight with a Diving Crossbody that could’ve been a textbook example if only Elise hadn’t leapt and THWHWAPPED both feet into Lenore’s exposed midsection! Folded in half long before she hit the ground, the Fair & Radiant Maiden could offer no defense when a smiling Elise plunged both hands into her hair and hauled her upright.
Eyes already locked on the gasping grappler’s impaled gut, Winterrest dipped a shoulder, threaded an arm between Lemarchand’s legs and muscled her up onto her shoulders in a Fireman’s Carry. Disoriented though she was, the Raven crooked an arm into a ‘V’ and went to jam a shot into the side of Elise’s head, alas the Malicious Mainer tossed her forward and dropped to one knee to THWHUMP her prey’s midsection with a no-frills Gutbuster. Lenore jolted hard, tried to slide off Miss Murder’s knee and found herself trapped with Elise’s left arm cinched around her waist.
“It’s clear Emily’s hiatus has made you lax in certain regards.” Elise ran a hand over Lenore’s backside, making a point to ‘snap’ her finger beneath the edge of that distended lyrca. “So then it falls to me to bring you back into line.”
As if the position wasn’t a dead giveaway, the hoots & hollers of the FAWNatics told Lenore exactly what Winterrest had in mind. “Buuuhhh… bytch,” she huffed, “don’t you f*cking darNGH! NGH! NGH!”
Elise’s hand went up and down like a lash, the Icy Manipulator painting a pop of bright red across Lemarchand’s pale frame with no less than ten glute-clenching slaps! Drinking in every bit of the squirming wrestler’s embarrassment, Winterrest finished her show with a condescending squeeze, but rather than shove the Courtier away she hooked an arm around the back of her neck and the other around her near thigh. Then she lifted and stood, dipping just low enough to return Lemarchand to the Fireman’s Carry she’d occupied pre-spanking. “Do you understand now?” she called to the jeering crowd. “Have you wrapped your minds around the truth? Your precious raven is nothing but fluff and feathers in the jaws of a wolf!”
Lenore’s flock protested this observation quite vehemently, which only made it sweeter for Winterrest when she tossed the battered bendy-back forward and dropped to her back, Elise raising both knees to THWHUMP Lenore’s abdomen twice as hard! Lemarchand bounced and rolled, knees somewhere up around her chin as her body instinctively tried to protect her innards from more punishment. Elise paid these defenses no mind, prizing them apart so she could stuff one knee into the Courtier’s tummy and the other against her chest even as she hooked the far leg for…
DOUBLE KNEE GUTBUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXBaGdzdlP8
ONE…
TWO…
Lenore wrenched away and sat up, keeping herself in the contest with a solid second to spare. Elise didn’t seem to mind the escape at all, in fact she was smiling as she slid in on Lemarchand’s six and wrapped her legs around the seated woman’s waist. Emily’s Lady in Waiting reacted at once, bracing her hands against the sides of Winterrest’s knees and pushing down as hard as she could. Elise snorted, leaned forward and slapped the back of her opponent’s head. “I expect more from you, little bird. Even if I know how this is all going to enEERRGGHH!”
Surprise and pain from Elise as Lenore worked her thumbs into the pits of her knees and gouged as hard as she could! The Scissors loosened a great deal and Lemarchand could’ve wrested her way loose in an instant if only Elise hadn’t leaned forward and raaaaaaaaaaaked her across the eyes! Quick to corral her rival’s arms in a tight Double Chickenwing, Elise laid her legs atop Lenore’s, then hooked her ankles in against the trapped woman’s heels. More jeers from the throng, along with a fair share of wolf whistles as Winterrest stretched Lenore’s stems in a wide ‘V’. “This isn’t nearly as challenging as I’d hoped.” the Icy Manipulator nipped Lemarchand’s ear to emphasize the point. “I wanted a battle to the death and here you are all ready to curl up and die. Is that what this is, Lenore? Are you ready for it to all be over?” Elise fell silent, let it spin out while she sloooooooowly wrenched her opponent’s legs farther apart. “Rest assured, I will end your pain in spectacular fashion, but not before I’ve made you list your inferiorities in front of these slavering idiots.”
Lenore rolled her shoulders, couldn’t escape the Chickenwing, then shook her head ‘no’ when it looked like Castle was about to ask a dumb question. “Tell me Elise, how can you call it a list when eeerrrrrrrrgggghhhhh!” The Raven had to grit her teeth as Winterrest wrenched the Wishbone that much wider.
Making a point to grind her hips on Lemarchand’s lower back, Elise cooed, “Sorry. You were saying?”
“How do you call it a list when there’s no items on it, bytWHOOAANNGHH!”
Elise rolled onto her back, pulled Lemarchand into her lap, then thrust back to a seat to THWHUMP opposing tailbone against the deck with a Keister Bounce! “I am your superior in every way and deep down you know it.” Miss Murder proclaimed with a happy sigh. “That’s why I’ve controlled our game from the first night I set foot in this arena.” Lenore started to say something, cut it off fast when Winterrest reared back and PLANTED her with another butt-shivering bounce! What started as a shout of hurt transformed into a snarl of disgust as Elise pressed in and planted a domineering kiss on her cheek. “Scream your submission, raven.” she demanded. “Scream it high and clear for the whole world and perhaps I’ll leave you with just enough professional pride to let you continue wrestling, presumably under a mask, a few years down the AAAAAARRRRRHHHHH FAAAAAAAAHHHK!”
Aware that she couldn’t just power or squirm her way out of the Winterrest’s trap, Lenore endured the domineering brunette’s trash talk to keep her preoccupied while she slowly but surely worked her fingers between Elise’s legs. Hooking that hated one-piece the instant she was able, Lemarchand yanked with all her might and kept right on tugging even with Miss Murder yowling in her ear! Caught flat-footed by the brutal counter-wedgie, Elise abandoned her hooks and cuffed Lenore about the head and shoulders en route to scrambling away as quick as she could. That was the plan at least, imagine her surprise when the Raven twisted around onto her knees and went right back to her tormentor’s undercarriage, this time with a Crotch Claw straight from old-school FAWN!
Reduced to agonized wheezing thanks to Lenore’s white-knuckle grip, Elise sat up and reared back for a Haymaker but crumpled back on her palms when Lemarchand squeezed that much harder. Shifting her position so she could climb into an awkward straddle of her opponent’s thighs, Lenore flipped hair out of her eyes and sneered, “Go ahead and take a swing, Elise. Or pull my hair or rake my eyes. Go ahead and try to do anything but reach those ropes and I f*cking swear I’ll make you dance like a marionette.”
Winterrest watched her with narrow, hating eyes. “You don’t have it in you, little girl.” She sought to prove as much by reaching for the Courtier’s chest, in fact her fingers brushed Lemarchand’s top before the Fair & Radiant Maiden added a second hand to her own grip, the vengeful battler ravaging inner thighs and groin alike as Winterrest collapsed onto her back and wailed in misery. Baring her teeth in response to Elise’s anguish, Lenore glanced to Nick and demanded, “Count her down.”
The ref, who’d noted the prone shoulders a moment prior, dove into action and counted…
ONE…
TWO…
Winterrest braced her elbows against the mat and sat up, escaping defeat with a full second to spare. Actually, she escaped the pin attempt, her predicament remained unchanged, as both she and the FAWNatics observed when Lemarchand relinquished her hold on the other brunette’s thigh to paintbrush her cheeks with a spiteful forehand / backhand two’fer! Elise crumpled to the deck in a glassy-eyed sprawl, the wounded Wolf only dimly aware of Lenore’s repeated order of “Count her down, Nick.” Castle did so, the head referee slapping the mat…
ONE…
TWO…
THRNO!
Elise willed herself up again, only this time she had the wherewithal to fill one hand with the Courtier’s dark hair. Wrenching Lemarchand’s head backward even as Castle bytched about the infraction, Winterrest crooked her remaining hand into a talon and “AAAAAWWWWWWWW FAAAAHK, YOU WHORE!” Winterrest’s front collapsed like a sandcastle in the rain as Lenore used her thumbs on the other woman’s center in a way that no one in the Jungle (not even that savage Mallory Slade) ever dared. Retaining enough presence of mind to keep one shoulder canted off the mat, Elise reached one shivering claw toward Lenore’s face and got another jolt through the nethers for her troubles.
“Better get a move on, Elise.” Lemarchand’s face was stern as she made her suggestion. “Still a lot of canvas between you and the ropes and there’s no telling how long it might take me to tear the crotch out of your skanky outfit.” She punctuated the point with yet another vile squeeze on the other woman’s center.
Breathing hard, Elise mopped a forearm across her brow and actually had the temerity to laugh, albeit shakily. “You’re going to suffer for this, of course.” she growled. “Whatever humiliations you THINK you’ve suffered prior to this night will mean nothing once--” Winterrest clenched her jaw, working very hard to swallow the lump that appeared in her throat when Lenore worked three fingers beneath the confines of her suit.
“Last warning, Elise.” Lemarchand threatened. “Crawl. Or suffer.”
Distracting her mind with a recitation of all the ways she’d make the Courtier pay for this… degradation, Winterrest set her elbows and heels against the canvas and began draaaaaaaaaagging their combined weight toward the ropes. Nick stayed close for the entire journey (it took about twenty seconds) but neither brunette said so much as a word, not even when Elise finally wrapped one trembling hand around the bottom rope. “Break the hold, Lenore.” the ref said at once. “She made the ro--”
Elise grabbed the strand in her other hand and kept right on pulling, like she meant to drag herself out onto the floor. It was actually a pretty good plan, as it created some separation and the twenty count outside guaranteed a great deal of recovery time. Only problem was Lenore, who saw the gambit coming and cut it off at the knees. Releasing her rival’s trunks the instant Elise reached sanctuary, Lemarchand pushed onto her knees and hopped / scooted forward to THUMP the full weight of her tush on Winterrest’s chest. Elise gaped but didn’t give up her grip on the ropes, she was too close to freedom to-- “NO! LET GO OF ME YOU SAVAGE BYTCHHHEEERRGUUUURRHHHH!”
Lenore reached under the middle rope, grabbed a double handful of Elise’s hair and tugged until the other brunette’s head was beneath the bottom rope. Then she cupped the back of Winterrest’s skull and pulled up, forcing her throat against the rubber-coated steel. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the resplendent Raven leaned back and quickly threaded her legs around her opponent’s exposed noggin. It was absolutely illegal of course, but that didn’t stop Lemarchand from beaming like a queen as she used the strand and her stems to throttle the Icy Manipulator to within an inch of her miserable life.
Quick to note the ugly red flush creeping into Elise’s features, Castle skipped all pretense of a warning and simply went into the count. “ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!”
Lenore released and cleared off, leaving Elise to roll onto her belly, the usually stoic battler looking ragged and ill-used as she drew great, tearing gasps into her burning lungs. “Knock off that choking in the ropes crap, Len.” Nick ordered his charge while the Courtier paced back and forth. “I won’t have either of you suffering a throat injury on my watch.”
“Where was that concern when she busted me open on a turnbuckle in our last match?” Lemarchand snapped as she ‘flicked’ her togs back into place. “Your crew’s not stupid Nick, I know you know that bytch is getting away with a lot more than any of you ever see.”
Nick sighed, knowing she was right. “Be that as it may, Elise’s tactics don’t give you carte blanche to DAMN IT!” Seeing her prey return to all fours, Lenore bolted by the official, snagged a huge handful of hair and jerked Winterrest’s head up so the base of her neck was snugged tight against the underside of the middle rope. Just like that Emily’s Lady in Waiting trapped the other brunette’s chin in the crook of her left elbow and poured on the pressure like she meant to tear Elise’s head from her shoulders! The Wolf of Winter howled in anguish, Elise clawing frantic, angry welts down her tormentor’s arms even as Castle ran through another ‘FOUR!’ count.
“Elise asked for this.” Lenore cut the ref off before he could muster so much as a word. “She wanted to fight tooth and nail, so that’s what I’m giving--”
“Is that all you’ve GOT!”
Lemarchand turned narrow, incredulous eyes to Elise, who’d made it to a seat with her arms draped limply against the middle rope. “Is that sad display really the most wicked your frail heart can muster?” Miss Murder asked with a weary but defiant smile. “Perhaps I should have picked a fight with Miriam Gaiman insteAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”
Lenore stormed into the breach, stuffed one hand against Winterrest’s chin and forced her head back to get the best possible angle on the Overhand Slap she CRAAACKED against Elise’s décolletage. Winterrest whipped around and clawed at the ropes in a frantic attempt to regain a vertical base. She accomplished this quickly enough (albeit with very little grace on display) but her return to the Land of the Upright was greeted with yet more savagery from Lenore, this time in the form of a Back Rake that started between her shoulders and ended just above the curve of her buttocks. Tumbling through the ropes to the apron like a woman escaping a car crash, Elise hooked one arm over the rope and tried to wave her attacker off. “Get her back, Castle!” Winterrest demanded. “Get her back, I’m in the ropNNNNNNNGGGGGGHHH!” Lenore vaulted over the strands, caught Elise’s chin in both hands and dropped all the way to the floor which in turn tore Winterrest from her moorings and THWHUNKED the back of her head hard against the narrow ledge of the apron!
SLINGSHOT APRON NECKBREAKER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WbUP97jGuk
Elise bounced away from the impact, landed on her feet for perhaps half a heartbeat before her legs turned to water and she collapsed in a heap with both arms cradling her aching skull. Most anyone else would’ve been satisfied with that level of control, but Lenore could still feel the blood trickling from a cut that healed weeks ago and that meant there was more work to be done. One short kick to the ribs got Elise rolling in the right direction and another brought her to a rude stop only inches from the steel barricade. “I should peel back the mats and make you kiss the concrete.” Lenore muttered as she planted one foot on the small of Elise’s back and the other on the back of her neck. “But I don’t want that pretty face scuffed up TOO bad before I get a chance to sit on it.”
Yet the prospect of such scuffing didn’t seem to bother Lemarchand too much, as she smiled from ear to ear while stomping and mashing Elise’s protesting mug against the thinly-padded arena floor! Lenore stepped off her mount after five endless seconds and Winterrest immediately crawled away even as she hated herself for doing so.
NEVERMORE STOMPS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uep_I07BeQQ
The Courtier let her go, but kept a careful eye on the other brunette as she took stock of Castle’s count. Satisfied she had more than enough time, Lemarchand stalked down the wounded Wolf’s back-trail and announced her presence with a CRAAAACKING Overhand Slap to the small of her prey’s back. Winterrest shrieked a curse, then cursed again when Lenore hunched forward, wrapped both arms around opposing waist and hoisted Miss Murder’s legs off the floor Wheelbarrow-style. “LET GO OF ME, BYTCH!” Elise roared as she clawed at the floor for purchase. “I SWEAR IF YOU DON’T I’LL WHOOAAANNNNNGGGGHHHH!”
Lenore did nothing of the sort, in fact she did quite the opposite! Muscling the other brunette up with a hardworking grunt, Lemarchand twisted to the left, then snapped right to BWAAAANG Elise’s head and right shoulder into the steel barricade! Miss Murder sagged at once, but somehow found the presence of mind to lace both hands behind her head, creating a makeshift guard a split second before Lenore BWANGED her against the steel a second time. That one didn’t leave her head ringing, but it came at the expense of her right shoulder and bicep, which took the brunt of the collision. Even so, she didn’t dare unlace her fingers since Lenore reset her footing and reared back for a third swing. And a fourth. And a fifth. And all the way to ‘TEN!’, the capacity crowd ticking off each BWAAANG! as the Raven reminded Elise of her hardcore pedigree.
“Still want me to let you go?” Lenore huffed after she’d dropped the Wheelbarrow low enough for the Icy Manipulator to brace her forearms against the floor. “Looks like my grip is the only thing keeping you out of a facedown sprawl.”
Elise, who’d battered enough opponents to recognize when she herself was in a vulnerable position didn’t hesitate to throw a middle finger over one shoulder. “Kuuuuuhhhh…. kiss my ass you scrawny little OHHH FAAAAHHHHNNNGGGHHH!” Lenore spun a quarter circle so her back was to the ring and her adversary was facing the barricade. Soon as her feet were set she dipped low and peeled off a beautiful bridge that took sent Winterrest soaring up n’ over into a hellacious spine-first collision with the ring apron!
APRON WHEELBARROW SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybIWqq_fa1I
Dropped to her knees after that bit of cruel chiropractory, Elise couldn’t even reach for Lemarchand when the other brunette stood up and rolled under the bottom rope to break the count. Nick was hoping she’d stay in the ring so he could check on Winterrest, but no such luck, Lemarchand only popped to her feet and dipped out between the top and middle rope. “C’mon Lenore, this isn’t no DQ. Get her back in the ring and keep it there.”
Lenore shook her head. “Sorry, Nick. This is exactly what this piece of trash wanted, so I’m going to make sure she learns to keep my name out of her mouth.”
On cue, Elise reached up, grabbed hold of the bottom rope and slooooooowly hauled herself to verticality. Honed in on Miss Murder at once, Lenore backpedaled to the far end of the apron, then raced down the narrow ledge and flicked out her right leg in a Penalty Kick aimed at her opponent’s ja-’OOOOOHHHHHHHH!’ Sympathetic anguish from the crowd when Winterrest grabbed the ring skirt, stepped back and yanked the hanging material away from the apron! This brand new pit-fall proved most deadly to the Raven, who lost her balance mid-strike and plummeted into the breach, ultimately landing crotch-first atop the taut fabric of the skirt!
While not quite as painful as a ride on the top rope, the arrangement was far from pleasant and it got that much worse when Elise began jerking the material up and down, forcing Lemarchand to bounce and wail through an agonizing round of callously creative trunk abuse. Ending the torment only when she thought Lenore looked nice and bowlegged, Elise grabbed a handful of hair, yanked the Courtier’s head back and SLAPPED her across the mouth. “It’s like I’ve told you from the very beginning, little girl.” she hissed to the wheezing warrior. “Ferocious though your talons may be, they amount to nothing the instant this wolf closes her jaws.” She punctuated with a single quick Headbutt between the eyes, then exacerbated Lenore’s woes with a handful of waistband and a truly spiteful inverted wedgie!
Cringing through the sound of Lemarchand’s wailing, Nick paused his count and called, “Dammit Elise, get it back in the--HEY! Don’t even think about it, Elise! I’ll disqualify you on the spot!” Miss Murder had ended the trunk punishment in favor of a quick peak under the apron. Apparently it proved fruitful, as she reached into the gloom and emerged with a steel chair that she tapped against her opponent’s thigh. “I mean it Elise, if you don’t want to walk out of here with a huge fine, you’ll put that chair down right now!”
Elise looked at the chair and Castle before focusing her ire on Lenore. “You got LUCKY, bytch.” Then she turned to the ref and growled, “You want the damned chair so much? Go get it!”
She hurled it overhead, forcing Nick to dive for cover heartbeats before the improvised missile clattered down on the far side of the ring. Breathing a sigh of relief, Castle hurried away to clear away the chair, which proved a most costly mistake not for him, but for the vulnerable Raven! Because it turned out the chair was nothing but a diversion, a legitimate threat for Castle to deal with while she grabbed her true target, the ring mechanic’s toolbox! Hoisting it by the handle and the far end, Winterrest reared back and SLAMMED it against the side of Lenore’s right knee like a battering ram!
Lenore sobbed in anguish and would’ve collapsed atop her buckling leg if not for the intruding apron and a desperate death-grip on the middle rope. Valiant though this was, in the end it only allowed Elise to tee off on her knee a second time. Tossing the toolbox back under the ring a good couple heartbeats before Castle returned to observe, Elise collected her foe at trunks and tresses and rudely muscled her onto the apron where a few shoves got her back into the ring for good.
Jaw clenched against the fire raging in her right knee, Lenore crawled across the mat as fast as she could, hoping to put a little distance between herself and the Wolf before she put her good knee down and tried to THWHUNK! The Icy Manipulator laid claim to her prey’s right ankle, yanked Lenore into a near headstand and drove the injured joint into the deck with a brutal Stump Puller. Lemarchand keened through her teeth, a high, helpless sound that she hated but was powerless to avoid. With her right leg all but useless, she went to roll onto her back to let loose a kick with her good stem, but Elise twisted her ankle, then stretched the wounded limb flat against the mat.
“Brace yourself, birdy.” Winterrest taunted. “The Wolf is poised to bite.”
She stood up, sprang into a straight vertical leap and drew her knees to chest level, all the better to STAMP down on the pit of her rival’s knee! Lenore gasped and rose on her hands in a sort of agonized push-up, the Fair & Radiant Maiden far too preoccupied with her devastated knee to note, let alone block the quick, clipping kick Winterrest laid across the side of her head.
DOUBLE STOMP LEG-BREAKER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYdxVFLBD0o
“This is what you cheer for?” Elise scoffed to the FAWNatics as she swept a dismissive hand back at Lemarchand. “She can barely stand! In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if she didn’t even try to answer the referee’s count!” Elise turned to Castle and barked, “Go on, get it started! Let’s see if the little quitter’s got some heart left after all!”
Nick Castle didn’t always agree with Lenore’s approach in the ring, but having officiated her matches for seven years now, but he could say without a doubt that she wasn’t a quitter. He didn’t bother to waste energy espousing this idea to Miss Murder, he simply knelt down beside the penitent brunette and asked, “How are you doing, Lenore? Need me to get the medics out here?”
Lemarchand let out a deep breath before she answered. “I’m fine, Nick. I will need that count, if you don’t mind.”
Clearing off with a single quick nod, the black & white raised one hand overhead and did his due diligence. “ONE… TWO… THREE… FOUR… FIVE… SIX… SEVEN…”
The Raven gnashed her teeth and pushed off the mat, Lemarchand careful to keep the weight off her right kn--”AAAAHHHHHHH FAAAAAAAAHHHHK!” Elise scooted around from her spot behind Nick and ever so casually THWHACKED a Low Super Kick into the pit of the Courtier’s previously unmolested left knee. The pinpoint strike forced Lenore to plant on her right foot without thinking and the resultant bolt of anguish dropped her to the deck flat on her face!
SUPER KICK LEG-BREAKER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw_Bm6aeTDs
“Knock that cheap shyt off, Elise!” Nick shouted. “She was barely on her feet!”
“What, that notorious faker?” Elise scoffed. “She’s fine. Look, I’ll help her up.”
Stalking around to Lenore’s north end before Castle could protest, Winterrest helped herself to a double handful of hair and dragged Lemarchand up into a Front Facelock. In the next instant she slung the near arm across her shoulders, reached down and hooked Lenore’s right knee. Far from defenseless even when down a limb, Emily’s Lady in Waiting pounded quick punches into Elise’s ribs, then switched over to a wedgie almost immediately thereafter. But none of it did any good in the end, as Elise only bore down tighter and hoisted the struggling bendy-back to either high noon or the witching hour, depending on your predilection. Whatever you called it, there was no disputing Lenore’s condition: it got that much worse when the other brunette kicked her feet forward and dropped straight down to THWONK Lemarchand down on the back of her head and shoulders. The Wolf of Winter was in perfect position to float over into a Lateral Press, instead she pulled the cradle a little tighter and bridged onto tiptoes to keep the Raven down for…
'MURDEROUS' FISHERMAN'S BUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LilgIGbHgLs
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Lenore tagged her attacker’s belly with a stiff slap, then raaaaaaked all the way to the curve of her left hip en route to flopping over onto her stomach. Snorting her disdain over the clearly slow count, Winterrest rolled to one knee, grabbed another double fistful of hair and pretended the canvas was a stain that only Lemarchand’s face could erase! “Scream for me, Raven.” Winterrest taunted the flailing femme fatale. “Scream out in rage and pain even as you’re devoured in the jaws of the Wolf!”
Logic dictated that Lenore should’ve complied with her attacker’s demand, and at the top of her lungs to boot. And yet the Courtier remained stubbornly silent even after a ‘FOUR!’ from Castle forced Elise to abandon her homemade rhinoplasty. “Don’t think you can deny me for long, little bird.” Elise cooed in Lenore’s face once she’d set the vulnerable brunette on her feet. “Sooner or later, probably sooner, you’re going to scream as loud as I want you to scrNNNNGGGHHH!”
Lemarchand’s legs might’ve been reduced, but her noggin was still in exquisite condition, as Elise discovered when Lenore slammed a Headbutt between her eyes! Winterrest reeled backward only for the Fair & Radiant Maiden to catch her by the collar, not just to keep the bytch close, but to use her as a means of support while she did her best to invert Elise’s chin with a series of hockey-style left hands. Half a dozen set Elise rocking back on her heels and brought Nick over to complain about the closed fist. Rather than argue with the official Lenore drew back for another punch only to lead with her elbow instead! The perfectly legal strike caught Winterrest above the right eye and knocked her back a step, so Lemarchand reset as she trudged after the reeling Wolf.
That’s how it went for the next ten seconds or so. Lenore would strike and step, Elise would soak and stumble and the cycle would play out all over again. Crowding in even closer once she had Winterrest smudged against the ropes, Lemarchand let Elise carry every bit of her weight so she only had to focus on whispering her poison into the other woman’s ear. “I could stuff my knee in your f*cking crotch right now.” she proved as much by working the rough fabric of her kneepad against Winterrest’s undercarriage. “But then I might deafen every dog within five square miles. So I’m going to make sure EVERYONE hears what I’m going to do to you.”
Vaguely aware of the red creeping down from a small cut above her left eye, Elise pressed her body to Lenore’s, just daring her to do as she pleased. “Give me your worst then, tramp. Show me you know how to keep this game inter--ARRRRRHHHHHHHH YOU DIRTY BYTCH!”
Considering the grind against her trunks Winterrest was perfectly justified in expecting an attack below the belt and thus it was all the sweeter for Lemarchand when she took the Icy Manipulator’s ear between her teeth and bit down like she meant to take a trophy! Elise shrieked, dug her nails into the Raven’s shoulders and pushed with all her might but Lenore didn’t pull away until Nick was practically shouting in her ear. Oblivious to everything but the blood running down the side of Winterrest’s face, Lemarchand nodded in obvious satisfaction. “Oh yeah, I could get used to that.” Elise tried to smack her away again, so Lenore grabbed her wrist, stepped back and sent her toward the far side of the ring with an Irish Whip.
Or not.
The Wolf of Winter planted her heels and bore down on Lemarchand’s wrist to switch places with the surprised Courtier. Adrenaline proved a powerful anesthetic, one that let Lenore sprint toward the ropes and almost her usual pa-NO! That bad leg came back to haunt Lemarchand in the worst way when Elise sprinted after her, dove in low and THWHUMPED the ball of her left shoulder into the back of Lenore’s right knee. The Fair & Radiant Maiden went down in a sobbing heap, the mere thought of pain-free mobility a nebulous phantasm enjoyed by people far, far away.
Pushing to her knees behind the hobbled battler, Elise raked a hand through her hair, then wiped a hand through the blood running down her face. “As far as last stands go, that was quite impressive.” Winterrest paused to wipe her stained hand on the mat. “Such a shame that it will be forgotten in favor of what comes after.” On that unpleasant note Elise grabbed her rival by the ankles and rolled her onto her back. Soon as that was done she angled the brunette’s right shin across her left leg in a quick figure four, then twisted around and snaked her own left ankle over Lenore’s exposed right foot. This grip and a little maneuvering turned Lemarchand back to her stomach while the Icy Manipulator dropped to one knee and threaded her hands beneath Lenore’s chin. “Got any screams left, little bird?” Elise growled. “Lets find out.”
JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDpfGzJrfiA
She WRENCHED on Lemarchand’s head, the captured brunette’s upper body peeled back so far she was forced to keep one hand braced against the mat while the other scrabbled at the Chinlock. Bad as that was, the torque in her knee was downright hellish, in fact Castle didn’t quite know how the Raven wasn’t screaming as Winterrest’s ‘Justifiable Homicide’ bent her in ways the body was never meant to achieve. “Tell me something, Lenore? Can you make it to the ropes? If you can’t move I’ll have to call for the--”
“NO!” Lemarchand rasped. “Guuuhhhh…. get out of the way!”
Elise rolled her eyes at the dubious histrionics. Lemarchand could rant and rail to the official all she wanted, with the damage done to her knee there was no possible way she’d-- the smile faded from Winterrest’s lips as the Raven draaaaaaaaaagged their combined weight almost six inches closer to the ropes. Barely resisting the urge to simply tear the nose off the other brunette’s face, Elise tugged up and back on the Chinlock while simultaneously pouring more pressure into the gammy knot torturing the Courtier’s kn-- Lenore made it over several more inches of canvas, much to Elise’s disgust. A few more tugs like that and she might--
“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH FAAAAAAAAAAAHHHK!”
Elise did indeed snare Lenore’s nose, as well as her mouth with a two-fingered fishhook. “The polite little man will stop me before I can do any lasting damage to this axe-head you call a face.” the Icy Manipulator sneered even as Castle hit ‘FOUR!’ on his count. “But you and I both know there’s still a LONG way between safety and your scrabbling fingers and I assure you, they don’t call me Miss Murder for no reason.” Elise reefed the Chinlock until Lenore was looking almost straight up into her face. “Concede the match at once or I will break your right leg.” Winterrest put eye-watering torque on the Raven’s devastated knee to illustrate the strength of her conviction.
Scream caught behind clenched teeth, Lemarchand reached for Elise’s face only for the Wolf of Winter to chew her leg a little harder. Elise must’ve caught some glint of defiance in Lemarchand’s eyes because she gouged her nails into the trapped battler’s cheeks and leaned down close enough to whisper in her ear. “Tap or snap, little bird.” she whispered. “This is your last warning.”
Hating the thought of a lingering injury even more than she hated Elise, Lenore put her left hand on the mat and tapped it three times. That was more than enough for Castle, who called for the bell at once. Elise alas, was far from satisfied. “Say it.” she demanded.
“I submit.” Lenore hissed after she’d swallowed the lump in her throat.
“LOUDER!”
Now Winterrest did go for the eyes, Miss Murder clawing and tearing at her opponent’s sockets until Lenore screamed, “I SUBMIT!”
Elise let loose with a flourish, the victorious battler all wide smiles and glittering eyes as she raised Lemarchand’s own Raven sigil overhead. The cacophonous boos only got louder when the Announcer confirmed, “Ladies and gentlemen, your winner via submission… ELISE WINTERREST!”
“Let it go or I’ll reverse the decision right now.” Castle threatened as he headed back to his charges. “And I’ll start the paperwork to have you suspended as soon as I get through the curtain.” Elise untangled the Leg-Lock without a word, but when she stood up she tapped a wrist expectantly. Nick sighed, reached over and “OOOOFFFFFFHHH!”
Elise planted a Toe Kick in his gut, slapped on a Front Facelock and laid out on her back to THWHONK the hapless zebra’s skull into the deck with a Murderous DDT. Though never one to shortchange her own work, Winterrest treated the striped wreckage to only the briefest perusal. There was after all, a wounded bird in need of her attention. At the moment said bird was curled up on her side, back to the Wolf as she clutched her battered knee and tried to hold back tears. Elise let the delusion play out a little while longer, specifically the length of time it took her to roll under the bottom rope, push the Timekeeper out of his chair and then slide back into the ring, weapon in hand.
The crowd tried to warn Lemarchand as best they could but in the end they provided about as much protection as poor Nick did. Announcing her return with a single swift kick to her prey’s lower back, Winterrest knelt beside Lenore, grabbed her right ankle and quickly threaded it through the gap between the back and the seat itself. With the Raven’s stately stem caught in her ugly trap, Elise shifted her weight so one knee put weight on the chair, thus keeping Lemarchand locked in place. “I’ll make sure it’s a clean break, you have my word.” Winterrest promised with a somber smile that looked utterly sincere. “Considering our proximity to excellent physicians and your own level of physical fitness, I’d expect to see you in the ring before 2019...” she trailed off, leaned forward and grabbed a handful of Lenore’s dark hair. “But you’ll never fly as high as you did before, Raven. Never instill the fear you once did. And that will be my doing. When the people ask what changed for Lenore Lemarchand, they’ll cross themselves and murmur, she fell in the path of a Wolf.”
Forcing herself to meet the gaze of the woman who intended to maim her, Lenore said, “Elise?”
“Yes, sweetnAAAAAARRRRHHHH BYTCH!”
The Fair & Radiant Maiden hurled a miniature blizzard into Elise’s face, the contents of a fast food salt packet she kept secreted away in her boot in case of just such an emergency. It didn’t have the visual pop of the Black, Green or even Red Mist, but the old school heeling caught Winterrest flush and left her clawing at her stinging eyes while Lenore slid out of the chair-trap as quickly as she could. Even with the salt-inflicted handicap the race to verticality was a close one, but Lenore won by heartbeats and perhaps more importantly, she had the chair. Back to her rival, Winterrest remained blissfully ignorant until Lemarchand stepped in and BWAAAAAANGED the flat steel across her vulnerable six.
Voicing a shriek that sent a shiver of pleasure up the Courtier’s spine, Miss Murder stumbled forward, caught her balance and ate another BWAAAANGING shot before she slopped through the ropes to the floor. Shifting all her weight to her left leg, Lenore opened the chair, set it down and took a seat facing Elise so she’d be the first thing the brunette saw when--
“You’re through, cunt.” Elise rasped after using the apron to claw her way to boot leather.
“Still here, little girl.” Lenore snapped back. “Drove you into retreat with one good leg. Imagine what I’m going to do to you when I’m healthy.”
“You’ll wonder why you didn’t let me finish you off tonight. I’ve bested you TWICE, Raven.”
Lenore leaned forward in her chair, dark eyes burning into Elise. “And yet here I am, still a queen. And you’re nothing but a pretender.”
A commotion over her shoulder told Winterrest referees were coming down the aisle, which meant the game was almost over for tonight. Even so, she laid her chin on the middle rope and cooed, “I’m going to take everything you hold dear. The cheers of these idiots. The respect of the Court… the affection of that nebbish little archivist with whom you’re so unhealthily smit--”
“All Hallows Evil.” Lenore interrupted. “The Queen’s Chambers. Face me there and you’ll find out just how much I can take from you in one night.”
The referees swarmed Winterrest and pulled her back, mostly because the Icy Manipulator brunette offered no resistance. “That was your last and greatest mistake, little raven.” Elise promised as she was herded up the aisle. “I’ve already taken your blood and your pride. At All Hallows Evil I will take your house.”
Lenore didn’t answer with words, rather she hooked her thumbs together and raised the Raven so that its shadow fell on the departing Wolf. She made sure it hovered over Elise until she’d been swept through the curtain on a tide of black & white.
“I’ve been meaning to redecorate the place.” Lemarchand murmured to no one in particular. “And a wolf-skin rug would look lovely in front of a roaring fire.”
ELISE WINTERREST:
Hatred, disgust and yes, some genuine outrage from the Fall Out crowd as the pounding, staccato drumbeat of Royal Blood’s ‘Out of the Black’ oozed from the speakers. A few seconds later Elise stepped into view and spread her arms wide, the Wolf of Winter daring this collection of bipedal shrews and voles to maintain the strength of their vitriol as she swept her gaze over each and every one of them. Most seemed worthy of the challenge, as they kicked up the volume that much more when the house lights went down, then blazed forth in an eerie, fiery red. Turning her attention to the squared circle where she’d soon do terrible things to her favorite prey, Elise offered her audience a beautifully cruel smile and started down the aisle.
Carrying winter in her heart no matter the temperature or the calendar, Elise honored the coming cold with her usual chalk-outline ’REDRUM’ tee, the one that offered up a fine view of her midsection as well as her matching black elbow and knee pads and gleaming black boots that ended an inch south of her knee.
Slowing to a near halt as she reached the foot of the ramp, Winterrest slunk over one of the jeering throng and placed a finger to his lips to make sure proper attention was paid when her anthem noted ‘So don’t breathe when I talk, ‘Cause you haven’t been spoken to.’ Dismissing the cretin before he’d fully come to grips with her presence, the Icy Manipulator sauntered up the steps, dipped between the ropes and claimed the center of the ring for her very own. Dark eyes locked on the hard camera, Elise took the bottom edge of her shirt in both hands and peeled it overhead to fully reveal the black halter style one-piece with its four bright red slashes across the front. Tossing the garment to the referee without making eye contact, Winterrest swung to face the stage, then placed a fingertip at the top of each of those ugly slashes. Still smiling, she sloooooooowly traced them all the way to the bottom, figuratively ‘spilling her guts’ even as the lights returned to normal. “Come and get me, little raven.” Elise murmured as the lights returned to normal. “Flutter your way down here so I can feel your throat in my jaws for a second time.”
When Elise’s music died down, the Announcer raised his mic and resumed his duties. “And introducing her opponent, hailing from Glen Echo Michigan, she stands at five feet seven inches tall and weighs in at one hundred and thirty-one pounds. Representing the Black Court, they call her the Raven… LENORE LEMARCHAND!”
Kula Shaker’s ‘Hush’ winged its way into the arena and a great unkindness of ’Ravens’ went up, Lemarchand’s flock larger than ever as she dared take the fight to Miss Murder. 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 a moment later, she turned to the camera and said, “Elise got lucky the first time. But there’s no luck tonight… no mercy either.” With that, she honed in on the woman in the ring and headed down the ramp.
LENORE LEMARCHAND:
For her return match with a woman who‘d brought the fight to her like no other had ever dared, Lenore wore strappy bikini bottoms hued in a purplish-black and emblazoned with a faint design that careful inspection revealed as feathers. Her top was halter style, with the color and pattern matching her briefs, while her 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.
Unwilling (or perhaps unable) to keep her eyes off Elise, Lemarchand ignored the hands extended in her direction as she closed on the squared circle. It wasn’t until she was almost there when a bit of motion off to her left caught her attention. It was a large charcoal sketch of a stately raven perched atop a crumbling tombstone that read ‘WINTERREST’
“Lovely.” she told the sign waver with a small nod. “Keep it safe and I’ll make sure to sign it in the harlot’s blood when the match is over.”
On that grim note, 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 went straight for Elise only to be stopped by Nick Castle. Baring her teeth at the interference, Lenore took a step back and raised the raven sigil overhead, daring Elise to come for her. Winterrest took a half step forward, then settled back against the buckles, one hand rising to shoo the other brunette away with a dismissive little wave. Lenore snorted in disgust, but offered no resistance when Nick walked her to the far corner and checked her pads and boots.
Not liking the Courtier’s single-minded fixation on Elise, Castle said, “You’re gonna have to work this one clean, Lenore. I don’t want to spend the whole night pulling you two apart.”
“There’s an easy solution there, Nick.” she answered without taking her eyes off Winterrest. “Don’t bother pulling us apart.”
Castle sighed, stepped to the center of the ring and called for the bell.
“What’s the matter, sweetness?” Elise called over the vibrant CLANG. “No savage attack when my back is turned? Are you slipping? Or learning?” Lenore didn’t answer, she only strode across the ring at a pace just quick enough to force Elise to vacate her corner if she didn’t want the Raven to cut off the ring. Sidling along the ropes to keep her options open, Winterrest smiled as Lemarchand adjusted to maintain the most direct route to her adversary. Careful to keep her face neutral even as her fingers twitched at the thought of removing Lenore’s hair in great patches, Elise pushed off the ropes and raised defenses just in time for the Courtier to sweep her into a stern Collar & Elbow Lock-Up! Both women kept their grips nice & legal at the outset (mostly because Nick was quite close to the action) but Lenore tensed her fingers the tiniest bit to make sure Elise knew her nails were perhaps a bit longer than regulation tonight. Not to be outdone, Winterrest crooked her right index finger and draaaaaaaaaagged it across the nape of Lemarchand’s neck, informing her that great minds did indeed think alike.
With the tone of this contest thus established, Elise dropped her hips and pushed forward, getting under the other brunette long enough to force her back several steps. There was still a sizable stretch of canvas between them and the ropes when the Fair & Radiant Maiden jammed a kickstand heel against the mat and brought them to a halt. Aware that she was between Castle and her prey, Elise slid her right hand up into Lenore’s hair and cranked her head ba--”OOOOOFFFHH!”
Lenore answered with a pinpoint Kneelift, striking *just* below Winterrest’s navel but above her bikini line, thus making what felt like a Low Blow perfectly legal. Reversing their positions even as Elise blew a puff of startled air in her face, Lemarchand marched forward until Elise’s back, butt and thighs were straining against the rubber-coated steel. “I hope you’re not claustrophobic, honey.” Lenore moved her hand from Winterrest’s bicep to the point of her chin and pushed hard enough to force the other brunette’s head backward over the top rope. “Because I’m going to crawl into your trunks and we’ll wrestle tummy to tummy until you’re begging for air… and mercNGGHH bytch!”
Elise relinquished the grasp on her opponent’s arm to send that hand south in search of waistband. Finding it in short order, she raised it by a good six inches and used the resultant wince from Lenore to switch their positions once ag--NO! Lenore turned her chin-push into a straight up Iron Claw, her fingertips gouging into the other woman’s temples and forehead. It wouldn’t rival the Kanaris Clamp true, but the unexpectedness of it was enough to halt Elise halfway through her spin. Even so, Winterrest had an advantage with her, ahem, handle, on the situation and she used the wedgie to walk her opponent backward to the nearest corner.
“Break your grip little bird.” Elise’s voice was just as insufferable even through the muffler of Lenore’s palm. “Or I’ll pull these over the back of your UUUNNNNNNGGGGGGHHH!”
Lemarchand bore down despite the threat, making sure to mash the heel of her palm against the underside of Elise’s nose. “Do your worst, baby.” she growled. “Like I said, we’re doing this one close and meaERRRRRRRRRHHHHHH!”
Elise added a brutal sawing yank to her togs grip, Miss Murder making damned sure Lenore understood the sort of punishment she could inflict with a simple wedgie. She must have, because the trapped Courtier doubled down on the Iron Claw, Lemarchand grabbing the base of her own wrist for extra leverage as she tried to crack Elise’s skull wide open! The vindictive contest might’ve continued unchecked if Nick hadn’t stepped up and tapped both wrestlers on the shoulder. “All right ladies, I want you to break your holds, then raise your hands and keep ‘em raised while Elise takes a step back. Nod if you understand.” Both women dipped their heads almost imperceptibly. “All right.” Castle sounded relieved. He tapped their shoulders a second time and said, “Break.” Lemarchand and Winterrest let go of one another and raised their hands as bade, though they were still almost nose to nose, much too close for the ref’s liking. “Back off, Elise.”
“Is that what you want, Lenore?” Winterrest chided. “I thought breathing room was a luxury item tonight.”
“Enjoy this little taste.” the Raven countered. “It’s the last you’ll have for a long NGH!”
The Icy Manipulator’s half step back proved a calculated feint as she abruptly snapped a straight right hand into the other brunette’s chin. Lemarchand sagged against the buckles with stars going off behind her eyes, so Elise pointed her right shoulder at the other woman, reached all the way across to her left shoulder and then CRAAAACKED Lenore’s chest with a vile Knife-Edge Chop! Lenore cried out, eyes clenched tight, mouth hung open, forearm’s X’ed across the point of impact. Far from satisfied, Winterrest snatched a handful of hair, straightened her up and slung her arms over the top rope. She was preparing for another Chop when Nick grabbed her by the elbow. “I said a clean break, Elise. What the hell was that?”
“Nothing wrong with the break, Castle.” she tugged free of his grip. “It was just shorter than you might have prefeGUUUHHHHH!”
Lenore kicked her legs up, threaded ‘em around Elise’s waist and squeeeeeeeeeeeezed down in a sort of hanging Bodyscissors! Groaning as the Courtier’s thighs ground against her ribs, Winterrest braced against her attacker’s stems for perhaps a heartbeat before she slid one hand toward Lenore’s trunks. “Go ahead and do it.” Lemarchand challenged. “Go to my trunks and prove you can’t survive my legs for even a four count.”
Elise froze, anger and strain etched strong on her face. After a moment, she said, “I intend to answer Lenore’s grip with one of my own, Mr. Castle. You will not begin your count until I do. And should she wail her submission before we break, you will not acknowledge it, understand?”
“Oh, go f*ck yourself you sanctimonious little byERRRGGGHHH!” Lenore clenched her jaw tight when Winterrest smacked both hands against her flanks and dug in with a claw of her own. Willing (albeit reluctantly) to grant his charges a little leeway as long as they didn’t ignore him entirely, Nick let the brunettes play Scissors versus Claw for a good five seconds before he counted off, “ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!” They let simultaneously, Elise even took two steps back, the Wolf of Winter pressing a forearm against her compressed ribs. “Thank you, ladies.” Nick sounded sincere because he was. “I appreciate itoh come on!”
Elise rushed with a Shoulderblock on her mind but caught a Kneelift to the forehead instead! The counter rocked Miss Murder back on her heels, leaving her in perfect position for Lenore to kick up her legs once again. Only this time she locked ‘em around Winterrest’s noggin and the Raven bore down like she meant to choke her out on the spot! “How’s that feel, hmmh?” Lemarchand sneered at her pink-faced, wide-eyed opposition. “Like the view so far? I promise it’ll be very familiar before OOOOOWWW F*CK!”
In no mood to place nice when she could feel the blood pounding at her temples, Winterrest wedged a thumb between her chin and Lenore’s crotch and pressed until the vise around her head started to loos--”NGH!” Emily’s Lady in Waiting raised her left leg high, then brought her heel THWONKING down onto the crown of Elise’s skull! The black-clad battler stumbled, caught her balance and promptly lost it again when Lenore stuffed both feet against her chest and sent her flying backward with a springy Mule Kick!
Elise landed hard on the back of her head and shoulders, rolled through to all fours and started to rise. Granted a brief window by her foe’s recovery, Lemarchand boosted herself onto the second rope, where she waited until Elise was vertical enough for her to take flight with a Diving Crossbody that could’ve been a textbook example if only Elise hadn’t leapt and THWHWAPPED both feet into Lenore’s exposed midsection! Folded in half long before she hit the ground, the Fair & Radiant Maiden could offer no defense when a smiling Elise plunged both hands into her hair and hauled her upright.
Eyes already locked on the gasping grappler’s impaled gut, Winterrest dipped a shoulder, threaded an arm between Lemarchand’s legs and muscled her up onto her shoulders in a Fireman’s Carry. Disoriented though she was, the Raven crooked an arm into a ‘V’ and went to jam a shot into the side of Elise’s head, alas the Malicious Mainer tossed her forward and dropped to one knee to THWHUMP her prey’s midsection with a no-frills Gutbuster. Lenore jolted hard, tried to slide off Miss Murder’s knee and found herself trapped with Elise’s left arm cinched around her waist.
“It’s clear Emily’s hiatus has made you lax in certain regards.” Elise ran a hand over Lenore’s backside, making a point to ‘snap’ her finger beneath the edge of that distended lyrca. “So then it falls to me to bring you back into line.”
As if the position wasn’t a dead giveaway, the hoots & hollers of the FAWNatics told Lenore exactly what Winterrest had in mind. “Buuuhhh… bytch,” she huffed, “don’t you f*cking darNGH! NGH! NGH!”
Elise’s hand went up and down like a lash, the Icy Manipulator painting a pop of bright red across Lemarchand’s pale frame with no less than ten glute-clenching slaps! Drinking in every bit of the squirming wrestler’s embarrassment, Winterrest finished her show with a condescending squeeze, but rather than shove the Courtier away she hooked an arm around the back of her neck and the other around her near thigh. Then she lifted and stood, dipping just low enough to return Lemarchand to the Fireman’s Carry she’d occupied pre-spanking. “Do you understand now?” she called to the jeering crowd. “Have you wrapped your minds around the truth? Your precious raven is nothing but fluff and feathers in the jaws of a wolf!”
Lenore’s flock protested this observation quite vehemently, which only made it sweeter for Winterrest when she tossed the battered bendy-back forward and dropped to her back, Elise raising both knees to THWHUMP Lenore’s abdomen twice as hard! Lemarchand bounced and rolled, knees somewhere up around her chin as her body instinctively tried to protect her innards from more punishment. Elise paid these defenses no mind, prizing them apart so she could stuff one knee into the Courtier’s tummy and the other against her chest even as she hooked the far leg for…
DOUBLE KNEE GUTBUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXBaGdzdlP8
ONE…
TWO…
Lenore wrenched away and sat up, keeping herself in the contest with a solid second to spare. Elise didn’t seem to mind the escape at all, in fact she was smiling as she slid in on Lemarchand’s six and wrapped her legs around the seated woman’s waist. Emily’s Lady in Waiting reacted at once, bracing her hands against the sides of Winterrest’s knees and pushing down as hard as she could. Elise snorted, leaned forward and slapped the back of her opponent’s head. “I expect more from you, little bird. Even if I know how this is all going to enEERRGGHH!”
Surprise and pain from Elise as Lenore worked her thumbs into the pits of her knees and gouged as hard as she could! The Scissors loosened a great deal and Lemarchand could’ve wrested her way loose in an instant if only Elise hadn’t leaned forward and raaaaaaaaaaaked her across the eyes! Quick to corral her rival’s arms in a tight Double Chickenwing, Elise laid her legs atop Lenore’s, then hooked her ankles in against the trapped woman’s heels. More jeers from the throng, along with a fair share of wolf whistles as Winterrest stretched Lenore’s stems in a wide ‘V’. “This isn’t nearly as challenging as I’d hoped.” the Icy Manipulator nipped Lemarchand’s ear to emphasize the point. “I wanted a battle to the death and here you are all ready to curl up and die. Is that what this is, Lenore? Are you ready for it to all be over?” Elise fell silent, let it spin out while she sloooooooowly wrenched her opponent’s legs farther apart. “Rest assured, I will end your pain in spectacular fashion, but not before I’ve made you list your inferiorities in front of these slavering idiots.”
Lenore rolled her shoulders, couldn’t escape the Chickenwing, then shook her head ‘no’ when it looked like Castle was about to ask a dumb question. “Tell me Elise, how can you call it a list when eeerrrrrrrrgggghhhhh!” The Raven had to grit her teeth as Winterrest wrenched the Wishbone that much wider.
Making a point to grind her hips on Lemarchand’s lower back, Elise cooed, “Sorry. You were saying?”
“How do you call it a list when there’s no items on it, bytWHOOAANNGHH!”
Elise rolled onto her back, pulled Lemarchand into her lap, then thrust back to a seat to THWHUMP opposing tailbone against the deck with a Keister Bounce! “I am your superior in every way and deep down you know it.” Miss Murder proclaimed with a happy sigh. “That’s why I’ve controlled our game from the first night I set foot in this arena.” Lenore started to say something, cut it off fast when Winterrest reared back and PLANTED her with another butt-shivering bounce! What started as a shout of hurt transformed into a snarl of disgust as Elise pressed in and planted a domineering kiss on her cheek. “Scream your submission, raven.” she demanded. “Scream it high and clear for the whole world and perhaps I’ll leave you with just enough professional pride to let you continue wrestling, presumably under a mask, a few years down the AAAAAARRRRRHHHHH FAAAAAAAAHHHK!”
Aware that she couldn’t just power or squirm her way out of the Winterrest’s trap, Lenore endured the domineering brunette’s trash talk to keep her preoccupied while she slowly but surely worked her fingers between Elise’s legs. Hooking that hated one-piece the instant she was able, Lemarchand yanked with all her might and kept right on tugging even with Miss Murder yowling in her ear! Caught flat-footed by the brutal counter-wedgie, Elise abandoned her hooks and cuffed Lenore about the head and shoulders en route to scrambling away as quick as she could. That was the plan at least, imagine her surprise when the Raven twisted around onto her knees and went right back to her tormentor’s undercarriage, this time with a Crotch Claw straight from old-school FAWN!
Reduced to agonized wheezing thanks to Lenore’s white-knuckle grip, Elise sat up and reared back for a Haymaker but crumpled back on her palms when Lemarchand squeezed that much harder. Shifting her position so she could climb into an awkward straddle of her opponent’s thighs, Lenore flipped hair out of her eyes and sneered, “Go ahead and take a swing, Elise. Or pull my hair or rake my eyes. Go ahead and try to do anything but reach those ropes and I f*cking swear I’ll make you dance like a marionette.”
Winterrest watched her with narrow, hating eyes. “You don’t have it in you, little girl.” She sought to prove as much by reaching for the Courtier’s chest, in fact her fingers brushed Lemarchand’s top before the Fair & Radiant Maiden added a second hand to her own grip, the vengeful battler ravaging inner thighs and groin alike as Winterrest collapsed onto her back and wailed in misery. Baring her teeth in response to Elise’s anguish, Lenore glanced to Nick and demanded, “Count her down.”
The ref, who’d noted the prone shoulders a moment prior, dove into action and counted…
ONE…
TWO…
Winterrest braced her elbows against the mat and sat up, escaping defeat with a full second to spare. Actually, she escaped the pin attempt, her predicament remained unchanged, as both she and the FAWNatics observed when Lemarchand relinquished her hold on the other brunette’s thigh to paintbrush her cheeks with a spiteful forehand / backhand two’fer! Elise crumpled to the deck in a glassy-eyed sprawl, the wounded Wolf only dimly aware of Lenore’s repeated order of “Count her down, Nick.” Castle did so, the head referee slapping the mat…
ONE…
TWO…
THRNO!
Elise willed herself up again, only this time she had the wherewithal to fill one hand with the Courtier’s dark hair. Wrenching Lemarchand’s head backward even as Castle bytched about the infraction, Winterrest crooked her remaining hand into a talon and “AAAAAWWWWWWWW FAAAAHK, YOU WHORE!” Winterrest’s front collapsed like a sandcastle in the rain as Lenore used her thumbs on the other woman’s center in a way that no one in the Jungle (not even that savage Mallory Slade) ever dared. Retaining enough presence of mind to keep one shoulder canted off the mat, Elise reached one shivering claw toward Lenore’s face and got another jolt through the nethers for her troubles.
“Better get a move on, Elise.” Lemarchand’s face was stern as she made her suggestion. “Still a lot of canvas between you and the ropes and there’s no telling how long it might take me to tear the crotch out of your skanky outfit.” She punctuated the point with yet another vile squeeze on the other woman’s center.
Breathing hard, Elise mopped a forearm across her brow and actually had the temerity to laugh, albeit shakily. “You’re going to suffer for this, of course.” she growled. “Whatever humiliations you THINK you’ve suffered prior to this night will mean nothing once--” Winterrest clenched her jaw, working very hard to swallow the lump that appeared in her throat when Lenore worked three fingers beneath the confines of her suit.
“Last warning, Elise.” Lemarchand threatened. “Crawl. Or suffer.”
Distracting her mind with a recitation of all the ways she’d make the Courtier pay for this… degradation, Winterrest set her elbows and heels against the canvas and began draaaaaaaaaagging their combined weight toward the ropes. Nick stayed close for the entire journey (it took about twenty seconds) but neither brunette said so much as a word, not even when Elise finally wrapped one trembling hand around the bottom rope. “Break the hold, Lenore.” the ref said at once. “She made the ro--”
Elise grabbed the strand in her other hand and kept right on pulling, like she meant to drag herself out onto the floor. It was actually a pretty good plan, as it created some separation and the twenty count outside guaranteed a great deal of recovery time. Only problem was Lenore, who saw the gambit coming and cut it off at the knees. Releasing her rival’s trunks the instant Elise reached sanctuary, Lemarchand pushed onto her knees and hopped / scooted forward to THUMP the full weight of her tush on Winterrest’s chest. Elise gaped but didn’t give up her grip on the ropes, she was too close to freedom to-- “NO! LET GO OF ME YOU SAVAGE BYTCHHHEEERRGUUUURRHHHH!”
Lenore reached under the middle rope, grabbed a double handful of Elise’s hair and tugged until the other brunette’s head was beneath the bottom rope. Then she cupped the back of Winterrest’s skull and pulled up, forcing her throat against the rubber-coated steel. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the resplendent Raven leaned back and quickly threaded her legs around her opponent’s exposed noggin. It was absolutely illegal of course, but that didn’t stop Lemarchand from beaming like a queen as she used the strand and her stems to throttle the Icy Manipulator to within an inch of her miserable life.
Quick to note the ugly red flush creeping into Elise’s features, Castle skipped all pretense of a warning and simply went into the count. “ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!”
Lenore released and cleared off, leaving Elise to roll onto her belly, the usually stoic battler looking ragged and ill-used as she drew great, tearing gasps into her burning lungs. “Knock off that choking in the ropes crap, Len.” Nick ordered his charge while the Courtier paced back and forth. “I won’t have either of you suffering a throat injury on my watch.”
“Where was that concern when she busted me open on a turnbuckle in our last match?” Lemarchand snapped as she ‘flicked’ her togs back into place. “Your crew’s not stupid Nick, I know you know that bytch is getting away with a lot more than any of you ever see.”
Nick sighed, knowing she was right. “Be that as it may, Elise’s tactics don’t give you carte blanche to DAMN IT!” Seeing her prey return to all fours, Lenore bolted by the official, snagged a huge handful of hair and jerked Winterrest’s head up so the base of her neck was snugged tight against the underside of the middle rope. Just like that Emily’s Lady in Waiting trapped the other brunette’s chin in the crook of her left elbow and poured on the pressure like she meant to tear Elise’s head from her shoulders! The Wolf of Winter howled in anguish, Elise clawing frantic, angry welts down her tormentor’s arms even as Castle ran through another ‘FOUR!’ count.
“Elise asked for this.” Lenore cut the ref off before he could muster so much as a word. “She wanted to fight tooth and nail, so that’s what I’m giving--”
“Is that all you’ve GOT!”
Lemarchand turned narrow, incredulous eyes to Elise, who’d made it to a seat with her arms draped limply against the middle rope. “Is that sad display really the most wicked your frail heart can muster?” Miss Murder asked with a weary but defiant smile. “Perhaps I should have picked a fight with Miriam Gaiman insteAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”
Lenore stormed into the breach, stuffed one hand against Winterrest’s chin and forced her head back to get the best possible angle on the Overhand Slap she CRAAACKED against Elise’s décolletage. Winterrest whipped around and clawed at the ropes in a frantic attempt to regain a vertical base. She accomplished this quickly enough (albeit with very little grace on display) but her return to the Land of the Upright was greeted with yet more savagery from Lenore, this time in the form of a Back Rake that started between her shoulders and ended just above the curve of her buttocks. Tumbling through the ropes to the apron like a woman escaping a car crash, Elise hooked one arm over the rope and tried to wave her attacker off. “Get her back, Castle!” Winterrest demanded. “Get her back, I’m in the ropNNNNNNNGGGGGGHHH!” Lenore vaulted over the strands, caught Elise’s chin in both hands and dropped all the way to the floor which in turn tore Winterrest from her moorings and THWHUNKED the back of her head hard against the narrow ledge of the apron!
SLINGSHOT APRON NECKBREAKER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WbUP97jGuk
Elise bounced away from the impact, landed on her feet for perhaps half a heartbeat before her legs turned to water and she collapsed in a heap with both arms cradling her aching skull. Most anyone else would’ve been satisfied with that level of control, but Lenore could still feel the blood trickling from a cut that healed weeks ago and that meant there was more work to be done. One short kick to the ribs got Elise rolling in the right direction and another brought her to a rude stop only inches from the steel barricade. “I should peel back the mats and make you kiss the concrete.” Lenore muttered as she planted one foot on the small of Elise’s back and the other on the back of her neck. “But I don’t want that pretty face scuffed up TOO bad before I get a chance to sit on it.”
Yet the prospect of such scuffing didn’t seem to bother Lemarchand too much, as she smiled from ear to ear while stomping and mashing Elise’s protesting mug against the thinly-padded arena floor! Lenore stepped off her mount after five endless seconds and Winterrest immediately crawled away even as she hated herself for doing so.
NEVERMORE STOMPS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uep_I07BeQQ
The Courtier let her go, but kept a careful eye on the other brunette as she took stock of Castle’s count. Satisfied she had more than enough time, Lemarchand stalked down the wounded Wolf’s back-trail and announced her presence with a CRAAAACKING Overhand Slap to the small of her prey’s back. Winterrest shrieked a curse, then cursed again when Lenore hunched forward, wrapped both arms around opposing waist and hoisted Miss Murder’s legs off the floor Wheelbarrow-style. “LET GO OF ME, BYTCH!” Elise roared as she clawed at the floor for purchase. “I SWEAR IF YOU DON’T I’LL WHOOAAANNNNNGGGGHHHH!”
Lenore did nothing of the sort, in fact she did quite the opposite! Muscling the other brunette up with a hardworking grunt, Lemarchand twisted to the left, then snapped right to BWAAAANG Elise’s head and right shoulder into the steel barricade! Miss Murder sagged at once, but somehow found the presence of mind to lace both hands behind her head, creating a makeshift guard a split second before Lenore BWANGED her against the steel a second time. That one didn’t leave her head ringing, but it came at the expense of her right shoulder and bicep, which took the brunt of the collision. Even so, she didn’t dare unlace her fingers since Lenore reset her footing and reared back for a third swing. And a fourth. And a fifth. And all the way to ‘TEN!’, the capacity crowd ticking off each BWAAANG! as the Raven reminded Elise of her hardcore pedigree.
“Still want me to let you go?” Lenore huffed after she’d dropped the Wheelbarrow low enough for the Icy Manipulator to brace her forearms against the floor. “Looks like my grip is the only thing keeping you out of a facedown sprawl.”
Elise, who’d battered enough opponents to recognize when she herself was in a vulnerable position didn’t hesitate to throw a middle finger over one shoulder. “Kuuuuuhhhh…. kiss my ass you scrawny little OHHH FAAAAHHHHNNNGGGHHH!” Lenore spun a quarter circle so her back was to the ring and her adversary was facing the barricade. Soon as her feet were set she dipped low and peeled off a beautiful bridge that took sent Winterrest soaring up n’ over into a hellacious spine-first collision with the ring apron!
APRON WHEELBARROW SUPLEX:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybIWqq_fa1I
Dropped to her knees after that bit of cruel chiropractory, Elise couldn’t even reach for Lemarchand when the other brunette stood up and rolled under the bottom rope to break the count. Nick was hoping she’d stay in the ring so he could check on Winterrest, but no such luck, Lemarchand only popped to her feet and dipped out between the top and middle rope. “C’mon Lenore, this isn’t no DQ. Get her back in the ring and keep it there.”
Lenore shook her head. “Sorry, Nick. This is exactly what this piece of trash wanted, so I’m going to make sure she learns to keep my name out of her mouth.”
On cue, Elise reached up, grabbed hold of the bottom rope and slooooooowly hauled herself to verticality. Honed in on Miss Murder at once, Lenore backpedaled to the far end of the apron, then raced down the narrow ledge and flicked out her right leg in a Penalty Kick aimed at her opponent’s ja-’OOOOOHHHHHHHH!’ Sympathetic anguish from the crowd when Winterrest grabbed the ring skirt, stepped back and yanked the hanging material away from the apron! This brand new pit-fall proved most deadly to the Raven, who lost her balance mid-strike and plummeted into the breach, ultimately landing crotch-first atop the taut fabric of the skirt!
While not quite as painful as a ride on the top rope, the arrangement was far from pleasant and it got that much worse when Elise began jerking the material up and down, forcing Lemarchand to bounce and wail through an agonizing round of callously creative trunk abuse. Ending the torment only when she thought Lenore looked nice and bowlegged, Elise grabbed a handful of hair, yanked the Courtier’s head back and SLAPPED her across the mouth. “It’s like I’ve told you from the very beginning, little girl.” she hissed to the wheezing warrior. “Ferocious though your talons may be, they amount to nothing the instant this wolf closes her jaws.” She punctuated with a single quick Headbutt between the eyes, then exacerbated Lenore’s woes with a handful of waistband and a truly spiteful inverted wedgie!
Cringing through the sound of Lemarchand’s wailing, Nick paused his count and called, “Dammit Elise, get it back in the--HEY! Don’t even think about it, Elise! I’ll disqualify you on the spot!” Miss Murder had ended the trunk punishment in favor of a quick peak under the apron. Apparently it proved fruitful, as she reached into the gloom and emerged with a steel chair that she tapped against her opponent’s thigh. “I mean it Elise, if you don’t want to walk out of here with a huge fine, you’ll put that chair down right now!”
Elise looked at the chair and Castle before focusing her ire on Lenore. “You got LUCKY, bytch.” Then she turned to the ref and growled, “You want the damned chair so much? Go get it!”
She hurled it overhead, forcing Nick to dive for cover heartbeats before the improvised missile clattered down on the far side of the ring. Breathing a sigh of relief, Castle hurried away to clear away the chair, which proved a most costly mistake not for him, but for the vulnerable Raven! Because it turned out the chair was nothing but a diversion, a legitimate threat for Castle to deal with while she grabbed her true target, the ring mechanic’s toolbox! Hoisting it by the handle and the far end, Winterrest reared back and SLAMMED it against the side of Lenore’s right knee like a battering ram!
Lenore sobbed in anguish and would’ve collapsed atop her buckling leg if not for the intruding apron and a desperate death-grip on the middle rope. Valiant though this was, in the end it only allowed Elise to tee off on her knee a second time. Tossing the toolbox back under the ring a good couple heartbeats before Castle returned to observe, Elise collected her foe at trunks and tresses and rudely muscled her onto the apron where a few shoves got her back into the ring for good.
Jaw clenched against the fire raging in her right knee, Lenore crawled across the mat as fast as she could, hoping to put a little distance between herself and the Wolf before she put her good knee down and tried to THWHUNK! The Icy Manipulator laid claim to her prey’s right ankle, yanked Lenore into a near headstand and drove the injured joint into the deck with a brutal Stump Puller. Lemarchand keened through her teeth, a high, helpless sound that she hated but was powerless to avoid. With her right leg all but useless, she went to roll onto her back to let loose a kick with her good stem, but Elise twisted her ankle, then stretched the wounded limb flat against the mat.
“Brace yourself, birdy.” Winterrest taunted. “The Wolf is poised to bite.”
She stood up, sprang into a straight vertical leap and drew her knees to chest level, all the better to STAMP down on the pit of her rival’s knee! Lenore gasped and rose on her hands in a sort of agonized push-up, the Fair & Radiant Maiden far too preoccupied with her devastated knee to note, let alone block the quick, clipping kick Winterrest laid across the side of her head.
DOUBLE STOMP LEG-BREAKER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYdxVFLBD0o
“This is what you cheer for?” Elise scoffed to the FAWNatics as she swept a dismissive hand back at Lemarchand. “She can barely stand! In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if she didn’t even try to answer the referee’s count!” Elise turned to Castle and barked, “Go on, get it started! Let’s see if the little quitter’s got some heart left after all!”
Nick Castle didn’t always agree with Lenore’s approach in the ring, but having officiated her matches for seven years now, but he could say without a doubt that she wasn’t a quitter. He didn’t bother to waste energy espousing this idea to Miss Murder, he simply knelt down beside the penitent brunette and asked, “How are you doing, Lenore? Need me to get the medics out here?”
Lemarchand let out a deep breath before she answered. “I’m fine, Nick. I will need that count, if you don’t mind.”
Clearing off with a single quick nod, the black & white raised one hand overhead and did his due diligence. “ONE… TWO… THREE… FOUR… FIVE… SIX… SEVEN…”
The Raven gnashed her teeth and pushed off the mat, Lemarchand careful to keep the weight off her right kn--”AAAAHHHHHHH FAAAAAAAAHHHHK!” Elise scooted around from her spot behind Nick and ever so casually THWHACKED a Low Super Kick into the pit of the Courtier’s previously unmolested left knee. The pinpoint strike forced Lenore to plant on her right foot without thinking and the resultant bolt of anguish dropped her to the deck flat on her face!
SUPER KICK LEG-BREAKER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw_Bm6aeTDs
“Knock that cheap shyt off, Elise!” Nick shouted. “She was barely on her feet!”
“What, that notorious faker?” Elise scoffed. “She’s fine. Look, I’ll help her up.”
Stalking around to Lenore’s north end before Castle could protest, Winterrest helped herself to a double handful of hair and dragged Lemarchand up into a Front Facelock. In the next instant she slung the near arm across her shoulders, reached down and hooked Lenore’s right knee. Far from defenseless even when down a limb, Emily’s Lady in Waiting pounded quick punches into Elise’s ribs, then switched over to a wedgie almost immediately thereafter. But none of it did any good in the end, as Elise only bore down tighter and hoisted the struggling bendy-back to either high noon or the witching hour, depending on your predilection. Whatever you called it, there was no disputing Lenore’s condition: it got that much worse when the other brunette kicked her feet forward and dropped straight down to THWONK Lemarchand down on the back of her head and shoulders. The Wolf of Winter was in perfect position to float over into a Lateral Press, instead she pulled the cradle a little tighter and bridged onto tiptoes to keep the Raven down for…
'MURDEROUS' FISHERMAN'S BUSTER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LilgIGbHgLs
ONE…
TWO…
THRENOOOOOOOO!
Lenore tagged her attacker’s belly with a stiff slap, then raaaaaaked all the way to the curve of her left hip en route to flopping over onto her stomach. Snorting her disdain over the clearly slow count, Winterrest rolled to one knee, grabbed another double fistful of hair and pretended the canvas was a stain that only Lemarchand’s face could erase! “Scream for me, Raven.” Winterrest taunted the flailing femme fatale. “Scream out in rage and pain even as you’re devoured in the jaws of the Wolf!”
Logic dictated that Lenore should’ve complied with her attacker’s demand, and at the top of her lungs to boot. And yet the Courtier remained stubbornly silent even after a ‘FOUR!’ from Castle forced Elise to abandon her homemade rhinoplasty. “Don’t think you can deny me for long, little bird.” Elise cooed in Lenore’s face once she’d set the vulnerable brunette on her feet. “Sooner or later, probably sooner, you’re going to scream as loud as I want you to scrNNNNGGGHHH!”
Lemarchand’s legs might’ve been reduced, but her noggin was still in exquisite condition, as Elise discovered when Lenore slammed a Headbutt between her eyes! Winterrest reeled backward only for the Fair & Radiant Maiden to catch her by the collar, not just to keep the bytch close, but to use her as a means of support while she did her best to invert Elise’s chin with a series of hockey-style left hands. Half a dozen set Elise rocking back on her heels and brought Nick over to complain about the closed fist. Rather than argue with the official Lenore drew back for another punch only to lead with her elbow instead! The perfectly legal strike caught Winterrest above the right eye and knocked her back a step, so Lemarchand reset as she trudged after the reeling Wolf.
That’s how it went for the next ten seconds or so. Lenore would strike and step, Elise would soak and stumble and the cycle would play out all over again. Crowding in even closer once she had Winterrest smudged against the ropes, Lemarchand let Elise carry every bit of her weight so she only had to focus on whispering her poison into the other woman’s ear. “I could stuff my knee in your f*cking crotch right now.” she proved as much by working the rough fabric of her kneepad against Winterrest’s undercarriage. “But then I might deafen every dog within five square miles. So I’m going to make sure EVERYONE hears what I’m going to do to you.”
Vaguely aware of the red creeping down from a small cut above her left eye, Elise pressed her body to Lenore’s, just daring her to do as she pleased. “Give me your worst then, tramp. Show me you know how to keep this game inter--ARRRRRHHHHHHHH YOU DIRTY BYTCH!”
Considering the grind against her trunks Winterrest was perfectly justified in expecting an attack below the belt and thus it was all the sweeter for Lemarchand when she took the Icy Manipulator’s ear between her teeth and bit down like she meant to take a trophy! Elise shrieked, dug her nails into the Raven’s shoulders and pushed with all her might but Lenore didn’t pull away until Nick was practically shouting in her ear. Oblivious to everything but the blood running down the side of Winterrest’s face, Lemarchand nodded in obvious satisfaction. “Oh yeah, I could get used to that.” Elise tried to smack her away again, so Lenore grabbed her wrist, stepped back and sent her toward the far side of the ring with an Irish Whip.
Or not.
The Wolf of Winter planted her heels and bore down on Lemarchand’s wrist to switch places with the surprised Courtier. Adrenaline proved a powerful anesthetic, one that let Lenore sprint toward the ropes and almost her usual pa-NO! That bad leg came back to haunt Lemarchand in the worst way when Elise sprinted after her, dove in low and THWHUMPED the ball of her left shoulder into the back of Lenore’s right knee. The Fair & Radiant Maiden went down in a sobbing heap, the mere thought of pain-free mobility a nebulous phantasm enjoyed by people far, far away.
Pushing to her knees behind the hobbled battler, Elise raked a hand through her hair, then wiped a hand through the blood running down her face. “As far as last stands go, that was quite impressive.” Winterrest paused to wipe her stained hand on the mat. “Such a shame that it will be forgotten in favor of what comes after.” On that unpleasant note Elise grabbed her rival by the ankles and rolled her onto her back. Soon as that was done she angled the brunette’s right shin across her left leg in a quick figure four, then twisted around and snaked her own left ankle over Lenore’s exposed right foot. This grip and a little maneuvering turned Lemarchand back to her stomach while the Icy Manipulator dropped to one knee and threaded her hands beneath Lenore’s chin. “Got any screams left, little bird?” Elise growled. “Lets find out.”
JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDpfGzJrfiA
She WRENCHED on Lemarchand’s head, the captured brunette’s upper body peeled back so far she was forced to keep one hand braced against the mat while the other scrabbled at the Chinlock. Bad as that was, the torque in her knee was downright hellish, in fact Castle didn’t quite know how the Raven wasn’t screaming as Winterrest’s ‘Justifiable Homicide’ bent her in ways the body was never meant to achieve. “Tell me something, Lenore? Can you make it to the ropes? If you can’t move I’ll have to call for the--”
“NO!” Lemarchand rasped. “Guuuhhhh…. get out of the way!”
Elise rolled her eyes at the dubious histrionics. Lemarchand could rant and rail to the official all she wanted, with the damage done to her knee there was no possible way she’d-- the smile faded from Winterrest’s lips as the Raven draaaaaaaaaagged their combined weight almost six inches closer to the ropes. Barely resisting the urge to simply tear the nose off the other brunette’s face, Elise tugged up and back on the Chinlock while simultaneously pouring more pressure into the gammy knot torturing the Courtier’s kn-- Lenore made it over several more inches of canvas, much to Elise’s disgust. A few more tugs like that and she might--
“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH FAAAAAAAAAAAHHHK!”
Elise did indeed snare Lenore’s nose, as well as her mouth with a two-fingered fishhook. “The polite little man will stop me before I can do any lasting damage to this axe-head you call a face.” the Icy Manipulator sneered even as Castle hit ‘FOUR!’ on his count. “But you and I both know there’s still a LONG way between safety and your scrabbling fingers and I assure you, they don’t call me Miss Murder for no reason.” Elise reefed the Chinlock until Lenore was looking almost straight up into her face. “Concede the match at once or I will break your right leg.” Winterrest put eye-watering torque on the Raven’s devastated knee to illustrate the strength of her conviction.
Scream caught behind clenched teeth, Lemarchand reached for Elise’s face only for the Wolf of Winter to chew her leg a little harder. Elise must’ve caught some glint of defiance in Lemarchand’s eyes because she gouged her nails into the trapped battler’s cheeks and leaned down close enough to whisper in her ear. “Tap or snap, little bird.” she whispered. “This is your last warning.”
Hating the thought of a lingering injury even more than she hated Elise, Lenore put her left hand on the mat and tapped it three times. That was more than enough for Castle, who called for the bell at once. Elise alas, was far from satisfied. “Say it.” she demanded.
“I submit.” Lenore hissed after she’d swallowed the lump in her throat.
“LOUDER!”
Now Winterrest did go for the eyes, Miss Murder clawing and tearing at her opponent’s sockets until Lenore screamed, “I SUBMIT!”
Elise let loose with a flourish, the victorious battler all wide smiles and glittering eyes as she raised Lemarchand’s own Raven sigil overhead. The cacophonous boos only got louder when the Announcer confirmed, “Ladies and gentlemen, your winner via submission… ELISE WINTERREST!”
“Let it go or I’ll reverse the decision right now.” Castle threatened as he headed back to his charges. “And I’ll start the paperwork to have you suspended as soon as I get through the curtain.” Elise untangled the Leg-Lock without a word, but when she stood up she tapped a wrist expectantly. Nick sighed, reached over and “OOOOFFFFFFHHH!”
Elise planted a Toe Kick in his gut, slapped on a Front Facelock and laid out on her back to THWHONK the hapless zebra’s skull into the deck with a Murderous DDT. Though never one to shortchange her own work, Winterrest treated the striped wreckage to only the briefest perusal. There was after all, a wounded bird in need of her attention. At the moment said bird was curled up on her side, back to the Wolf as she clutched her battered knee and tried to hold back tears. Elise let the delusion play out a little while longer, specifically the length of time it took her to roll under the bottom rope, push the Timekeeper out of his chair and then slide back into the ring, weapon in hand.
The crowd tried to warn Lemarchand as best they could but in the end they provided about as much protection as poor Nick did. Announcing her return with a single swift kick to her prey’s lower back, Winterrest knelt beside Lenore, grabbed her right ankle and quickly threaded it through the gap between the back and the seat itself. With the Raven’s stately stem caught in her ugly trap, Elise shifted her weight so one knee put weight on the chair, thus keeping Lemarchand locked in place. “I’ll make sure it’s a clean break, you have my word.” Winterrest promised with a somber smile that looked utterly sincere. “Considering our proximity to excellent physicians and your own level of physical fitness, I’d expect to see you in the ring before 2019...” she trailed off, leaned forward and grabbed a handful of Lenore’s dark hair. “But you’ll never fly as high as you did before, Raven. Never instill the fear you once did. And that will be my doing. When the people ask what changed for Lenore Lemarchand, they’ll cross themselves and murmur, she fell in the path of a Wolf.”
Forcing herself to meet the gaze of the woman who intended to maim her, Lenore said, “Elise?”
“Yes, sweetnAAAAAARRRRHHHH BYTCH!”
The Fair & Radiant Maiden hurled a miniature blizzard into Elise’s face, the contents of a fast food salt packet she kept secreted away in her boot in case of just such an emergency. It didn’t have the visual pop of the Black, Green or even Red Mist, but the old school heeling caught Winterrest flush and left her clawing at her stinging eyes while Lenore slid out of the chair-trap as quickly as she could. Even with the salt-inflicted handicap the race to verticality was a close one, but Lenore won by heartbeats and perhaps more importantly, she had the chair. Back to her rival, Winterrest remained blissfully ignorant until Lemarchand stepped in and BWAAAAAANGED the flat steel across her vulnerable six.
Voicing a shriek that sent a shiver of pleasure up the Courtier’s spine, Miss Murder stumbled forward, caught her balance and ate another BWAAAANGING shot before she slopped through the ropes to the floor. Shifting all her weight to her left leg, Lenore opened the chair, set it down and took a seat facing Elise so she’d be the first thing the brunette saw when--
“You’re through, cunt.” Elise rasped after using the apron to claw her way to boot leather.
“Still here, little girl.” Lenore snapped back. “Drove you into retreat with one good leg. Imagine what I’m going to do to you when I’m healthy.”
“You’ll wonder why you didn’t let me finish you off tonight. I’ve bested you TWICE, Raven.”
Lenore leaned forward in her chair, dark eyes burning into Elise. “And yet here I am, still a queen. And you’re nothing but a pretender.”
A commotion over her shoulder told Winterrest referees were coming down the aisle, which meant the game was almost over for tonight. Even so, she laid her chin on the middle rope and cooed, “I’m going to take everything you hold dear. The cheers of these idiots. The respect of the Court… the affection of that nebbish little archivist with whom you’re so unhealthily smit--”
“All Hallows Evil.” Lenore interrupted. “The Queen’s Chambers. Face me there and you’ll find out just how much I can take from you in one night.”
The referees swarmed Winterrest and pulled her back, mostly because the Icy Manipulator brunette offered no resistance. “That was your last and greatest mistake, little raven.” Elise promised as she was herded up the aisle. “I’ve already taken your blood and your pride. At All Hallows Evil I will take your house.”
Lenore didn’t answer with words, rather she hooked her thumbs together and raised the Raven so that its shadow fell on the departing Wolf. She made sure it hovered over Elise until she’d been swept through the curtain on a tide of black & white.
“I’ve been meaning to redecorate the place.” Lemarchand murmured to no one in particular. “And a wolf-skin rug would look lovely in front of a roaring fire.”