Tigers in the Moonlight: Bengal VS. Eleanor Moonlight (D)

[BengalTheBlazeTiger]

Thanks to TrixVii011 for having their first match with me. Welcome to L.A.W.!

Match Type: 1v1, Falls Count Anywhere

Bengal, the Blaze Tiger

Spoiler

Eleanor Moonlight (Debuting)

Spoiler

Bengal's agent met her at the gym to deliver her next match offer. That might not have been the best choice of venue. When the representative announced that Bengal would be facing a rookie wrestler in the latter's L.A.W. debut, she had to jump out of the way to avoid the heavy weight the Tiger tossed recklessly across the floor.

"This is BULLSHIT!" Bengal howled, as the errant barbell bounced off the gym wall, cracking one of the long mirrors lining the room. Seven years bad luck, according to some people. But the Tiger was too enraged to worry about superstitions right now. "When I started out in L.A.W., they put me up against vets like Katsumi Oshiro," she continued, pacing around the room as she spoke. "Now I have more experience, and they make me fight this...child!" She swiped her hand disdainfully through the air. "It doesn't make any sense!"

You lost to Katsumi, though, the agent thought - but she didn't dare say that out loud. Instead, she simply repeated what she'd been told by league management: Bengal can take the offer, or go without a match (and a paycheck) for this week's show. Faced with that stark choice, the Tiger grudgingly accepted, grumbling that she would beat the newbie twice as hard for her trouble.

And so it was that, a few days later, Bengal found herself backstage at the L.A.W. arena, adjusting her shiny black gloves as she waited for her entrance theme to kick in. The Tiger had returned to her classic black-and-orange garb for this match - the same one she'd had on for her own debut, coincidentally. After having worn her "white tiger" outfit for so long, the older costume looked unfamiliar to her, but it still fit perfectly. Her hair was back to its natural raven color, and the orange contact lenses she'd put in made her eyes gleam like flaring embers.

As the churning guitar riffs of Meshuggah's "Combustion" blasted through the arena speakers, Bengal emerged onto the entrance ramp, greeted by the expected chorus of boos. The audience had long since grown tired of Bengal's underhanded tactics. Tonight, however, the Tiger understood their frustration - she didn't particularly want to be here either. "The feeling's mutual!" she yelled back at the stands, though her voice was mostly drowned out by the pops and snaps of the pyrotechnics. Bengal continued down the ramp, her athletic figure silhouetted in a curtain of smoke and sparks. She mounted the apron and bowed mockingly to the crowd, with an exaggerated twirl of one clawed hand. She was just ducking under the ropes when the announcer's voice suddenly rang out:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is a falls count anywhere match!" That part was news to Bengal. She probably should have listened better to her agent, but her anger over the circumstances had made that difficult. "Introducing first...standing at a height of five feet, seven inches, and weighing in at one hundred and forty pounds...from Kolkata, India...THE BLAZE TIGER! BENGAL!"

The Indian woman air-boxed briefly, warming up her arms with quick, fluid motions. She twisted from side to side, stretching her hips, showing off the contours of her vinyl trunks against her toned legs. Then her lamplike orange gaze turned to the top of the ramp, waiting for her opponent to arrive. Come on out, rookie, Bengal thought to herself impatiently, her mouth set in a thin line. This is already taking too long...

[TrixVii011]

It had been a couple of weeks since Eleanor had signed for LAW, she trained every day in case of receiving news about her debut, the silence stressed her and there were nights when it was difficult to sleep imagining that the next day might wake up with great news, it was after one of these exhausting nights when she received a message proposing a fight, Eleanor did not even bother to look against who, what kind of fight or even how much the pay was. Time and place, that was all she was interested in.

Once accepted she took on the task of reviewing the details and investigating who her opponent would be. It was Bengal, The Blaze Tiger, a talented fighter who had the advantage in experience, height and weight.

-If I want to beat her, I must focus my preparation on counter-attacks and polish my surprise effect in and out of the ring.

Days later Eleanor was sitting in the LAW locker room, she tried to completely ignore any movement and noise around while listening to music, she had to be as serene as possible to prevent nerves from getting the best of her, she felt something that had not experienced for a long time, it was like the tension before giving an exam, Eleanor knew she had thoroughly reviewed everything but still had the horrible feeling that would forget everything and make a disaster.

-"Three minutes to go”-announced one of the producers as he tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention, Eleanor just nodded.

Ready to exit the ramp she was jumping up and down to keep herself warm, when the entrance song Driver by Pendulum started to play she knew it was all or nothing, waited a few seconds and exited. With her arms in the air Eleanor began to wave to the audience, although there were shouts and claps of support the reception was somewhat stiff, the message came loud and clear: She was playing away from home and had a long way to go to be considered someone by that insatiable monster known as the public.

-"...and her opponent, standing at a height of five, one inch and weighing in at one hundred and twenty five pounds, from Manchester, England making her debut...ELEANOR MOONLIGHT!!!!"-echoed throughout the arena

Without losing her confidence she followed to perfection the entrance as practiced and with a smooth move she jumped over the third rope and landed in a defiant pose, the pyro man hit the mark perfectly and white fireworks lit up the arena. For the first time she crossed looks with Bengal, whenever she saw her opponents Eleanor heart would fill with fear, although she never showed it. Trying to reassure herself she always sought to read their true personalities.... in this case it didn't work, there was a genuine hatred in The Blaze Tiger's soul.The music cut out, fearful internally but seeking to prove her worth she approached with firm steps, extending her hand she said:

-Thank you for accepting, Let's have a great fight!

[BengalTheBlazeTiger]

Bengal glared down at her smaller opponent as she slapped Eleanor's hand away dismissively. "Piss off. This fight is beneath me. And so are you, short stack," she sneered, straightening up to her full height so that she loomed menacingly over the young woman. "If you want to thank me, you can surrender right now and stop wasting my time." The referee moved closer, warning Bengal with a pointed look. The Tiger ignored her and kept trash-talking regardless.

"You're pretty cut, I have to admit," she said, casting her eyes over Eleanor's bulging biceps and well-defined abs. "You've been working out, right?" Her voice filled with fake friendliness, before suddenly becoming harsh. "But this isn't the gym, honey. And I'm going to cut you up even worse!" She held up her sharpened nails, reaching out teasingly toward her opponent. The referee quickly moved between the pair, gesturing Bengal back to her corner. The Tiger obliged, smirking spitefully as she backed up, her orange eyes locked onto Eleanor's bright blue ones. There were more scattered cheers for the new talent as the opening bell sounded: DING-DING-DING!

Let's finish this, Bengal thought grimly as she started forward, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet. Against a more experienced opponent, the Tiger might have been more cautious - but she wasn't about to afford such respect to a nobody like this. As she drew closer to Eleanor, the Indian woman suddenly lunged forward, her taut arm outstretched perpendicular to her body. Bengal was taking advantage of her taller stature, looking to take Eleanor to the mat with a quick, explosive clothesline across the young woman's throat!

[TrixVii011]

Eleanor felt the slap on her hand, she was not surprised by this reaction, this was in her favor as it confirmed the hostility of the opponent as well as having the opportunity to measure her strength, now she had a more concrete idea about how to handle the match. Eleanor's brief trance was cut by Bengal's sharp comments, at first she just looked disoriented, not knowing how to answer, after the referee's subtle intervention she waited for the fight to start but her opponent's questions did not stop.

-No I...it's that...wooah! - she limited herself to mumble at the same time that some sharp claws appeared threatening in front of her- Is...that...is it legal?

After this she would return to the corner waiting for the bell, once it rang she could see how Bengal rushed at full speed, a bold move that undoubtedly showed Eleanor's need to think fast and execute a defensive fight, she had barely taken a few steps when her opponent's arm was outstretched.

-She's going for a clothesline!-said to herself, getting ready to avoid it.- No! She's trying to trick me, she wants me to duck...but what if she really wants me to think that I thought I would think.....

BAM! The iconic sound of body against body, similar to a whip flooded the arena, Eleanor watched in confusion as everything was turned upside down, the speed, strength and her poor guard had resulted in a perfect execution of the move that sent her in rotation, falling heavily on her face. Eleanor knew she had to be fast in order to avoid another attack and even with a sharp pain in her neck, Eleanor tried to get on her feet.

[BengalTheBlazeTiger]

Bengal grinned fiercely as her clothesline hit home, startling some fans at ringside who happened to catch a glimpse of her predatory expression. Her assault flipped Eleanor over like a tumbling dice. The English fighter dropped face-first to the canvas, suffering a brutal impact. Hitting the opening move had been even easier than the Tiger expected; the rookie wrestler had frozen up just as Bengal got into striking range.

"What's wrong? You daydreaming?" the Indian woman taunted, bending over Eleanor as the smaller woman attempted to rise. "It doesn't matter how much you train," she continued, seizing her opponent by the wrists. "You need instinct to make it in L.A.W., and you don't have it. Prove me wrong!" Bengal pulled her kneeling opponent toward her as she finished speaking, thrusting up her leg into a savage Kamigoye! If Eleanor couldn't counter in time, she'd be in for some serious punishment.

Kamigoye

[TrixVii011]

It was too late for Eleanor, Bengal had her in a tight grip while continuing to disrespect her with those comments, multiple options came to her mind regarding what could be the next move and how she should avoid it, however, Eleanor body was busy making her come to senses, trying to reason the opponent's movements was important but acting was more.

Eleanor pulled with all her strength to break free from Bengal's firm grip, at the same time she felt a knee pass a few inches from her head.

-"That was close”- she mumbled.

Without fully standing up she got into position and closed the distance between them.

-This proof is enough?!- yelled as she sought to hit Bengal with a Jawbreaker.

[BengalTheBlazeTiger]

Bengal's Kamigoye whiffed through empty air, as her white-haired adversary swiftly juked her head to one side. At the same time, Eleanor twisted her powerful wrists, breaking free from her larger opponent's grasp. Perhaps the Tiger should have unleashed her knee strike when she first had the chance, instead of wasting valuable time catcalling. But before Bengal had the chance to consider this, the rookie fighter caught her with a jawbreaker, painfully racking the Tiger's chin on her muscular shoulder.

The Indian woman staggered back, clutching her jaw, where a purple bruise was already beginning to swell. Evidently, her opponent wasn't as much of a pushover as she'd first seemed. It was time to start taking things seriously. Instead of going for spectacular, high-risk moves, Bengal would slowly break her unworthy enemy down, one limb at a time. I'll start with the legs, she decided, shaking her head to clear the cobwebs as she resumed her fighting stance. Dancing back toward Eleanor, she aimed a low kick at the English woman's knee, right on the side of her diamond-patterned pads. She was hoping to injure the critical joint, potentially slowing her opponent down for the rest of the match!

[TrixVii011]

Eleanor had succeeded, that jawbreaker seemed to have been quite harmful to Bengal creating distance between them, while her opponent was recovering she stood up but before deciding whether to take the initiative or stay on the defensive, a new attack was on its way.

-Now what is she going to try?-wondered to herself.

Everything in her logic pointed to the fact that she would seek to punish her head again, if Eleanor wanted to have any chance of winning she would have to slow down the pace of the fight by either exhausting Bengal (an option dismissed immediately since someone with that kind of experience would never tire before her) or attacking the legs (the main source of her quick attacks).

Once close and at a safe distance, Eleanor unleashed a kick towards Bengal's knee measuring the force needed to break through the protection of the kneepad and cause severe damage however before she could realize if the attack had been successful or not a painful sting ran from the knee of the other leg deep into her chest.

-AAAAHH!- she cried out, unable to contain the pain any longer. Falling to the mat, Eleanor grabbed her knee while feeling how small tears tried to escape from her eyes due to the unexpected blow.

It had been a very precise kick but the fact that the pain was diminishing, very slowly but diminishing after all, let her know that it was not a serious injury but would probably have great difficulties for the rest of the match. Lying on the canvas she wondered.

-Did my kick reach her?

[BengalTheBlazeTiger]

It appeared that Eleanor had exactly the same plan as Bengal. Just as the Tiger made contact with her opponent's knee, she felt an equally strong kick smash into her standing leg, just above her striped boot. Nice form, she admitted to herself - though she'd never give Eleanor the satisfaction of hearing that out loud. A flare of pain exploded through the joint, and the Indian woman stumbled back, hissing angrily. The crowd roared, happy to see the longtime heel receive a taste of her own medicine.

Still, the smaller woman had clearly gotten the worst of the exchange. Bengal swayed drunkenly for a moment, but remained on her feet. Meanwhile, Eleanor's legs gave way completely, buckling underneath her as the rookie collapsed to the canvas. The white-haired fighter seized onto her ravaged knee, and Bengal noticed the tears starting to form in her blue eyes. The sight sent a jolt of pleasure tingling down the Tiger's spine. Adorable, she thought, licking her black-painted lips hungrily.

"Getting tired?" she crooned, craning her neck to look down at her fallen opponent. "There's no lying down on the job in L.A.W., crybaby." She backed up a few steps as she spoke, gaining some distance for a running start. "That's the problem with you kids today. No work ethic!" With that, she dashed forward, before jumping up and kicking her legs high. She seemed to hang in midair for a moment, as if she was about to drift away toward the overhead lights. Then she plummeted downward, rear end first, looking to crush Eleanor's chest with a Banzai drop!

Banzai drop

[TrixVii011]

When Eleanor began to hear Bengal's voice knew she must be making fun of her undisguised situation although whatever she was saying was muffled by the noise of the arena, she knew she had to get up as soon as possible, the pain was still intense but it had decreased enough to be able to stand up, suddenly Eleanor felt the vibration of the ring followed by a shadow passing over.

-Oh no - thought as she tried to escape from whatever was coming.

She had barely gotten her torso off the canvas when Bengal's full weight came down slamming her directly into the canvas and knocking the air out of her lungs.

-ONE!- the referee began to count.

Eleanor had to get out of the count as quickly as possible.

-TWO!

Managing to get a small but necessary momentum she barely get Bengal off cutting the count and saving her for the moment, looking tired Eleanor grabbed the ring ropes and stood up holding her weight against them getting ready for the next thing to come.