LAW Apex Match: Tina 'Tigress' Armstrong vs. Kathleen Hendricks - Steel Cage Match

[TickTock]

And Kathleen hit it. The sound of Tina's head and neck cracking against her shoulder rung throughout the arena, even through the cage they were surrounded by, and all the Queen now had to do was go for the pin, crawling atop of her opponent and hooking one of her legs high.

"One!"

"Two!

...

[Highfly]

Tina went down and was motionless as Kathleen had her pinned. The count reached two and Tina was motionless. The official's hand went up and was sailing back towards the mat and the crowd was ready to chant the las count.

"THRE-"

Tina let out a shout and suddenly thrust her shoulder up while bucking her hips to turn her whole body to the side breaking the pin as her chest heaved while she drew labored, deep breaths. Tina was still in it but what shape was she in to fight back at this point after taking that move?

[TickTock]

This was Kathleen's move. The one she could rely on to put anyone away. One wouldn't think a neckbreaker could be so devastating, yet cracking the back of someone's skull and neck against her shoulder after a sudden fall was no laughing matter, and often led to neck issues and concussions from Kathleen's days on the independent scene. And it had already put away quite a few high-level opponents in LAW, including Tina's partner in Alaina. And after what the Tigress had suffered in this match, it was all but assured she couldn't kick out of this.

Yet, mere moments before the three count, the crowd already voicing it in anticipation... Tina kicked out.

The Queen had buried that self-doubt inside of her once she had hit Culmination, knowing she had the match won. And yet, now she laid there, the body of Tina's at its side, her shoulder raised from the mat. Stunned into silence, Kathleen stared off into nothing for a while. The referee came around to show her two fingers, indicating that Tina did indeed kick out just in the nick of time. Right away, that doubt returned. Her best shot, and yet Tina kicked out of it. What more did she have to do...?

Such hesitance was not befitting of the Queen of Domination. She didn't allow herself to be stunned into silence like this, frozen in place in disbelief. But eventually, that was broken by a single blink, and rage festered within her. A deep, boiling rage that was greater than anything Kathleen had felt. So close to victory, so close to earning herself that Openweight title, and yet this defiant bitch refused to die!

"GRRAH!" Kathleen shouted, grabbing Tina by the hair and whipping her upward, forcing her back standing. "Stay DOWN, you INSIGNIFICANT, WORTHLESS, MISERABLE, WASTE!" While anger getting the better of her was a fault of the Queen's, it was never in this sort of way, as Kathleen then stepped forward, attempting to bash Tina's face forward right against the cage. And if successful, to repeat that bash over and over again. There were no rules, and there was nothing to stop Kathleen from doing this until Tina was unconscious... or even something worse!

[Highfly]

Tina groaned as she was hauled up feeling Kathleen grab hold and start moving her towards the cage. She shook her head knowing she had to do something. She had been beaten and battered by this last run of offense but her kick out and the delay led to her recovering just enough to know what was going on. Desperation led to her being able to stop it, she wasn't a damn stepping stone! She was a champion!

Tina howled as she stuck her leg up to stop the bashing of her skull into the cage, slamming Kathleen with an elbow to the abdomen before taking her by the hair. "You are just a snobby bitch who needs her goon and cheap tactics to win! I am a champion and will not lose to you! I am no ones stepping stone!" Tina howled as she began bashing Kathleens head to the cage, raking it side to side then bashing it repeatedly once more!

[TickTock]

Kathleen had given Tina time to recover, something she was usually good at avoiding, and it seemed now that it could bite her in the ass. All she wanted to do was to destroy this woman, to secure her victory at Apex, yet she was making too many costly errors, ones that she'd hate herself for committing. But the emotional side of this bout was getting to her, Tina's resilience was pissing her off, and without so much of a thought, she wanted to bash this woman's face against the cage. Another costly error.

"GNGH!" Kathleen grunted as she took that elbow to her abdomen, before letting out a screech as her face began to grind against the cage. The steel was cutting against her skin, and her hands desperately pushed against the cage to try and stop the onslaught to no avail. Instead, her hands on the cage only acted as a minor way to brace for the sudden bashing of her skull against that steel, each one taking more and more out of Kathleen. Dizzying her sight, impeding her thinking, and making her legs stumble against the mat.

Until eventually, Kathleen collapsed down to the mat, laid out on her back, and with blood beginning to leak from her forehead due to the angered bashing and raking of the Tigress. Her head was absolutely scrambled, her arms blindly reaching out for salvation, salvation that she wouldn't receive. As much as she was angry before, Tina seemed to be just as pissed, and Kathleen didn't look as though she'd be able to defend herself anytime soon...

[Highfly]

Tina wanted to keep hammering Kathleen and the middleweight decided to try to take a page out of Alaina's book. She stumbled over to Kathleen and wanted to bend down grabbing hold of her. Tina was running on adrenaline at this point and she howled as she exerted herself looking to deadlift Kathleen up off the mat and then straight up overhead locking out her arms! Tina would lift her as high as she could before slamming her back down to the mat with a deadlift military press slam, swaying and stumbling around afterward herself for exerting herself like that but the loud impact of Kathleen on the mat made it all worth it...

[TickTock]

Kathleen's hand eventually rested atop her face, just to feel the warm sensation of blood there, and realizing she had been busted open. Her mind was spinning after that barrage, unable to focus on anything. The arena lights were suddenly too bright for her as her eyes peered up towards them, and even after seeing her own blood on her fingertips, her arm merely collapsed afterwards. She was in total disarray, and Tina Armstrong wasn't letting her off there.

"Ehh..?" Kathleen grumbled as she felt hands grab onto her body, knowing them to be her opponent's, but being powerless to stop them. Suddenly, a howl echoed through the arena, and the body of the Queen's was lifted up high! Kathleen's eyes widened in shock, as the Tigress managed to deadlift her, holding her up in the air like a piece of conquered prey!

Her legs kicked feebly in an attempt to worm her way out, but all that was awaiting her was a brutal slam down onto the mat, one that knocked all the air out of the lungs of Kathleen's as she landed flat on her back. "NNNH!" she gasped, her body temporarily sitting up from the impact of the fall, yet she held no strength to hold that position, and her body ended up crumpling sideways, face-down against the mat and arms splayed to her sides.

[Highfly]

Tina had exerted herself and was dizzy but she felt like that move had to have done a number on Kathleen. Tina smiled and hobbled towards the cage, wobbling as she walked. She reached up and pulled, beginning a slow climb up the cage! Tina looked like she was going for it, climbing slowly but steadily to the top! She felt like she was done with Kathleen. That would show everyone that she wasn't just some damn stepping stone for others to use to climb to the top by standing on her neck!

[TickTock]

Kathleen's eyes slowly opened back up, noticing her cut dripping down onto the mat, and the odd feeling of her body being... left alone? Her body was weak, and it felt as though the beating should continue, yet in her ungraceful position, the Queen was just left to her whims. Pushing her hands against the mat in an attempt to get up, all that resulted in was her lifting her torso from the mat, before her limbs gave out and her body collapsed back down to the mat, flat. Her eyes quickly tried to scan each of the turnbuckles, to see if her opponent was making an aerial attempt, to no avail.

That's when her eye caught the sight of the Tigress. She was.. climbing the cage?! The top turnbuckle was about five feet above the mat, while the cage itself was at least triple that! An aerial attack from such a height would be able to put anyone away, let alone a weakened Kathleen. The roar of the crowd told her that this is what the fans wanted, but the dreams to earn the Openweight championship were still alive in Kathleen, even as her doubts currently were the strongest.

"Grrh..." Groaning, the middleweight forced her body to roll over onto her front, and for her hands to grab onto the ropes to pull herself up. Dragging up her own body weight wasn't easy, but desperation was fueling the Queen, as she knew she couldn't allow Tina to hit such a deadly attack on her. And once she reached unsteady feet... was when she too began to climb!

Hands and feet secured themselves in the rings of the cage, as Kathleen, sweaty and bloodied, was climbing up after Tina! She wasn't thinking properly, of the risks this entailed, but her exhaustion made it difficult to think of a better strategy. She had to meet Tina up there, and drag her back down. What she'd do after that was... tough to say, but that was a question to be answered later. Right now, she was focusing entirely on meeting her opponent atop that cage!

[Highfly]

Tina was halfway up when she heard a rattle and strange sound behind her. She glanced and through her daze she saw Kathleen climbing up! Tina shook her head in shock and kept awkwardly climbing up herself. The tigress was scrambling and going as quick as she could, but it was tough. Her feet kept slipping and she had to pull herself with her arms and upper body at times. Kathleen was catching up but Tina was trying to reach the top first doing all she could to climb up and perch in a seated position up top with her legs on each side of the cage as she sat. She would face Kathleen and as the two women were up top Tina would send a hard punch right at Kathleen's face!

She couldn't let Kathleen catch her or overtake her. She had to stop her and she would do exactly that!