Outclassed - Beatrice ‘Bebe’ Gunn vs. Marcelina Gagnon

[BlackAkuma]

Match Type
Knockout Only
Victory Conditions
Victory can only be attained by knockout.

***

For the first time since she came to Japan, Bebe was in a really good mood.

That wasn’t to say everything had been bad since she came over. There was a lot of things about Japan she liked, even more than Texas. The cleanliness and order were a nice change of pace - Texas wasn’t exactly a dump, but the cleanest street in Houston was put to shame by the dingiest alley she’d found in Tokyo. There was more relaxed, polite air around the city, too, with the citizens more focused on being respectful and accommodating to foreigners than she had thought they would be. The only big annoyance was the language barrier, but not only was she shrinking that every day with her lessons, most of the people she’d come across were patient. Far more than most Americans would’ve been in similar situations, she had to concede.

No, most of the frustrations she’d gotten into in Japan had to do with her matches. Or rather, the lack thereof.

While she had engaged in some action since joining the ranks, it hadn't been nearly enough to her liking, and she’d had to turn down a few bouts. While she’d managed to get a solid no-hentai clause into her contract, that didn’t stop management from booking her on matches that blurred the line.

Jello matches? Lingerie? Pillow fights? She was an Olympic level competitor and they were trying to make her engage in softcore porn, and she wasn’t nearly dense enough to not see it coming.

It had taken a solid month of prodding - or ‘whining’ as management would call it - but she had finally broken through and gotten a match that was more suitable. The only caveat was that a) it was a knockout only match, since they wanted to test the waters with more MMA themed stuff and b) they wanted to use her to debut a newer talent that they seemed fairly hyped on.

Bebe was more concerned about the latter situation than the former. Not that she was afraid of a question mark, but she knew that LAW liked to throw debuting wrestlers straight from the frying pan and into the inferno, putting them into matches they weren’t ready for so that ‘fans’ could get off on seeing them get demolished.

Bebe had no interest in kicking some little five foot nothing girl into oblivion. If that was the game, she’d have no qualms walking out of the ring and taking a count-out.

She was about to find out, one way or another.

Showtime

Bebe found herself bouncing in the ring, tapping from foot to foot as her music died down and her opponent’s cued up. She might not have known what to expect, but she was keeping her expectations high, and she wanted her blood pumping regardless of who was coming her way. She moved from heel to heel and threw out a few quick kicks at the shadows, making sure her rhythm was on point.

[ReticentCone]

Marceline would finally be getting her debut match in LAW. She was no stranger to travel, or giant crowds baying for blood, she had spent half a decade on the martial arts circuit and even longer than that in Savate competitions. What would be different would the discipline and types of opponents she'd face. Wrestling and wrestlers, with all the fanfare and pageantry that came with it. Faces, Heels and those in between, such as herself.

She wanted to put on a show, sure, but she wanted competition while getting to hurt a few brats along the way. MMA offered that to a large extent, which is why she had shifted away from Savate to it in the first place. But it was still not quite as brutal as LAW could be. In the right match she could be slamming her opponent both into and with a chair. There'd be nothing to stop her from dropping someone on their head, or otherwise targetting their neck.

That was what her whole gimmick was about, infact, Madame Guillotine, based around her proclivity her targetting the necks of her foes. In the MMA she was limited to submissions, but here she could damage women's necks more or less as she pleased. Of course, a practical limit to this was the simple fact that what goes around can very easily come back around. So when it came to those she found especially annoying, or oppoents she absolutely needed to put down to secure the most meaningful victories, out would come the more devestating efforts, otherwise, she'd keep things a little more measured.

Speaking of devestating, Marceline had a rough idea of who her opponent was supposed to be and what was expected of her. It was to be a knockout only match, which meant that a high degree of brutality was baked in. At the end of the match, either her or her opponent will have been rendered unconsciousness by means of strangulation or head trauma, or have their body too injured for them to stand, never mind fight. The aim, put simply, was one woman breaking the other.

Which is why Marceline could care less who her opponent was. Whoever they were, they signed up to beat someone until only the bell could save them. Madame Guillotine didn't begrudge them it, winning such a match as incredibly satisfying, but it added to her satisfaction to know that her opponent deserved what she intended to do to them.

As soon as her theme started to play...

Marceline would step out from backstage.

As she made her way toward the ring, she could quickly make out the stature of the girl she was to fight as she practiced her kicks. She looked about a foot shorter than her. Marceline figured that she'd definitely be having more than a little fun with this, girl, as she no doubt significantly outclassed her physically. That is, if she didn't make her exit as Marceline approached the ring. She certainly wouldn't blame her recognizing that she didn't belong in the same ring as the frenchwoman.

But as Marceline closed in on the ring, this girl didn't flee. This simultaneously brought Madame Guillotine to respect the possibility that she might be able to put up a fight, while angering her that she'd dare to attempt to. This woman, Marceline, thought, wanted a chance break her so much, she was willing to endure immense pain to do so. Madame Guillotine was determined to make her regret that choice.

Marceline would step into the ring while removing her earrings, handing them to the referee as she made it to her corner. Soon after, the she had her opponent with approach the centre of the ring. The kicks she had seen and her wrestling outfit struck her as that of a Tae kwon do practitioner and years of MMA fighting had taught her what to do with them. The moment the bell ring, Marceline wasted no time closing space between herself and Bebe, closer even than she needed for punching range. She'd attempt to swarm her, throwing a mixture of hooks and uppercuts at her chin, torso and cheeks.

Their strength and whether or not they all landed was secondary, so was the chance that Bebe could land a minor counterpunch or too. Marceline wanted to deny her opponent the ability to use kicks and force her against the ropes. At which point, Marceline would attempt an uppercut under Bebe's chin that'd be just powerful enough to stun her for Madame Guillotine to take a few steps back and send her foe tumbling out of the ring with a signature Cannon Boot to the face!

[BlackAkuma]

Bebe Gunn was not an inexperienced woman. She was a former Olympian, a world-traveled fighter, tried and tested in more countries than most would visit in their entire lives. She’d fought men and women from many walks of life, with varying styles, in wildly contrasting styles. She was not a woman easily surprised or intimidated.

But she would be lying if she said she didn’t have a little of both when Marcelina Gagnon came out from behind the curtain. ”Wow.”

She did her best to keep her composure as the mammoth of a woman made her way down to the ring, standing tall and keeping her face serene, but the keen eye would’ve noticed how her bouncing slowed the instant her opponent came into view. The Frenchwoman cut an impossibly imposing figure. Not simply tall, but a fit, firm body as well, streamlined and sleek. She wasn’t skinny, per se, but her form was cut like marble, muscle and skin with little else underneath. It was a form that Bebe had seen often, not too different from her own, but rarely with that much verticality to back it up.

Just like that, Bebe was reminded why most combat sports stuck to their weight classes, even during exhibitions. She’d wanted a challenge, and here it was.

She patted her cheeks as Marceline came into the ring, moving forward with an overbearing presence that would’ve some women running. Bebe wasn’t about to be one of them, but she had to respect what she was up against here and act accordingly. She was sure she had the power to put this giant down and the speed to land it, but it would be a matter of finding the right opening. Not the easiest thing to do, even for her, when her opponent’s head was all the way up there.

That thought was still occupying her mind when the bell rang, and-

”Whoa!”

Reflexes were the only thing that saved her from taking a hook to the face straight out of the gate, jerking her head back just in time to avoid the decapitating strike. She stepped back to evade an uppercut, jerked around a move, moved again to sidestep another blow from below. Left and right, from side to side, a furious opening barrage that she was only just able to stay ahead of, couldn't find an opening, bad distance-

The ropes. Her back hit the ropes.

She could see what was coming next, but knowing and avoiding were different things. The uppercut rocked her chin and whipped her head to the side - she might’ve even fallen down if she didn’t have the ropes to keep her up. Given what happened next, though, that might’ve been the better situation.

A boot to the chest, and a thunderous one at that. The blow sent Bebe clear through the ropes, onto the apron and spilled her out to the floor. She landed on her feet by some small miracle, but there was still enough momentum to send her stumbling to the announcers desk and almost - almost - over it.

As it was, she was just able to get her arm up and hold onto the edge of the table to support herself. She straightened up as the crowd cheered the ballistic opening and looked back Marceline’s way while she rubbed her chest and winced hard.

She was going to be feeling this match for weeks, win or loss, she could already tell.

[ReticentCone]

Marceline was somewhat disappointed that she had failed to connect with her opening barrage of punches, but if nothing else they served a dual purpose. It taught her that her opponent had reflexes quick enough to avoid even close ranged strikes, which meant that to be sure that her attacks would land, she had to corner her, grab her, or catch her unaware.

The second purpose of the opening barrage was that it had accomplished the first of the three tactics, by forcing bebe her up against the ropes, which provides Marceline with just the oppertunity to rock the smaller woman with a powerful uppercut to her chin. As soon as the punch landed. Marceline felt what she could confirm with her eyes, the punch would have been hard enough to send her opponent to the canvas, were the ropes not there to support her.

However that was exactly what she intended, as she had a nastier fall in mind for the woman. Madame Guillotine stepped a few feet back and nailed the Texan in the chest with her signature pump kick, sending her over the ropes. Marceline had overcompensated on the height of the kick, in her effort to make sure she didn't kick over the shorter woman, leading to her catching chest instead of head, or throat, but it still landed with vicious power. Marceline had hoped that Bebe would fall on her head on the way down, but she had no such luck. With Marceline's right leg already draped over the top rope from the kick, she simply, turned and pulled her left leg over the rope while putting her right leg down on the ring apron so she could quickly exit the ring and press the attack on Bebe before she could fully reorient herself.

With her opponent already resting against the announcers table, Marceline would attempt to swiftly bend over to grab Bebe's torso, applying the second of her intended tactics, in order pull her back before proceeding to shoulder tackle her into the table. If that worked, Madame Guillotine would attempt to grab the American again, before aiming to swing her head first into the barricades beside the announcer's table.

To win this match, Marceline had to beat the Texan until she couldn't move under her own power, she could accomplish that both inside and outside of the ring, but outside had more things for Marceline to hurt Bebe with, so she intended to be out here for about as long as she possibly could be.

[BlackAkuma]

Okay. Five or so seconds into the match. What did Bebe know about Marcelina?

She was tall and strong, though that had been obvious from the first second she saw her. She was also fast - not absurdly so, but faster than she would’ve expected someone with that height and that weight to move around. She didn’t talk much either, which was a plus, in a way, since Bebe had no patience for trash talking today, but it meant that she was going to be dealing with all-offense, all the time. Not a problem, but it was good to know what she’d signed up for.

Now, how was she going to deal with this bulldozer of a woman?

That was the pressing question, and Bebe didn’t have any immediate answers as her opponent came out of the ring to follow up, not even giving her the grace period to recoup. She had just started to push off the table when her opponent moved in and went low, and gored into her stomach to ram her back against it, hitting hard enough to move the whole thing back and send the announcers scattering. The wind was knocked out of Bebe once again, and she was stumbling as her titanic foe hauled her towards the barricade, struggling to find purchase with her taped feet.

As much as she was hurting, Bebe still had the presence of mind to realize the dire straits she was in and knew she needed to pull on the brakes before things went beyond her capacity to control them. She snapped back to her senses, dragging herself to reality. When Marcelina marched her to the barricade and reeled back to hammer her against it, she went into action, bringing up her foot and planted it onto top of the metal divider, using her formidable lower body strength to save her at the last second. It would only buy her a second of respite, but that was all she would need to jerk back and swing her arm up to giant’s face, attempting to hit with an elbow to the jaw. ”Back off!”

[ReticentCone]

Before Marceline bent over to attack Bebe, she could see a glimpse of surprise on her face, as though she expected that The Frenchwoman would give her a moment to breathe before attacking her out of some sense of fairness. But why would she? It wasn't as though she fell out of the ring by pure chance. She was out here and propping herself up against the announcement table because of what Marceline had done to her and Madame Guillotine wouldn't waste a moment taking advantage of an opponent she made defenseless.

So she drove her shoulder and the nearly one tenth of a metric ton behind it, into the woman's gut and against the announcement table, visibly shifting it backwards, which wasn't in of it's self great, as it represented energy ramming attack that wasn't going into the woman's back.

Marceline had been quiet so less out of her own inclinations than desire to not give Bebe even a moments warning with her attack. Why have such a colourful 'gimmick' as a avatar of 'revolutionary' violence if she wasn't going to hurl a few insults or trash talk? Now that the match had started properly and that there wasn't all too much of an element of surprise to be worried out when grappling, now As Marceline pulled Bebe up to swing her.

"Let's try something with less give." Said Madame Guillotine, as she grabbed and dragged Bebe. If she couldn't Marceline the courtesy of falling on her head, perhaps she'd allow herself to be swung head first into a metal barricade.

Unfortunately for Marceline, mere moments before Bebe's head could connect with the divider, the smaller woman was able to use one of her powerful legs to stop herself. The moment's surprise was enough for Bebe to get a counter attack in, managing to hit in the chin with her elbow, leading to the the taller woman to let go stubble back a couple steps.

Marceline would, however try to apply the third of her tactics, attacking Bebe while she was unaware, by attempting to target a powerful front heel kick into the small of the Texan's back before she could turn around.

[BlackAkuma]

Hm. Marcelina was French. Bebe supposed she should’ve guessed that with the way her name rolled off the tongue, but it only really struck her when the woman finally spoke and she got a taste of that accent. Heavy, deep, but distinct.

Not that it mattered, just an interesting note. Bebe wasn’t one of those Americans that thought of the French as weak cowards, and even if she were, this woman would’ve promptly disabused her of the notion.

Marcelina was a true powerhouse, and Bebe counted herself lucky to slow her momentum even for a second, nailing her clean with that elbow. Upper body strikes weren’t her forte, but she had a few in her pocket when all else failed, and that one did it’s job. Now, she just needed to make her way off the barricade, make space, and turn this back into a straight up fight. There weren’t any countouts in this match, but she would still be more comfortable in the ring.

Marcelina had other ideas, it seemed. Ideas that involved kicking her square in the butt and ramming her against the steel barricade. Bebe cried out as her bare ribs met the metal, striking right on the bone, and she clutched her chest as she bounced off.

So, Marcelina wasn’t going to give her the chance to turn around? Okay. She wouldn’t turn around. While Bebe’s training as a wrestler was minimal, there was some overlap with wrestling techniques and her own, moves that she took to with ease and incorporated into her moveset. She decided this was the perfect time to dig into that bag of tricks.

Bebe fell backwards away from the barricade, looking like she might flop flat on her back. Instead, she jerked backwards, whipped her legs upwards, and attempted to hit Marcelina square in the chest with a wrestling classic - a Pele Kick, delivered by someone with enough power to make it worse than usual.

[ReticentCone]

Marceline had kept a stoic demeanor so far this match, but when she heard Bebe's cry of pain from being kicked from behind and into the steel barricade, she couldn't help but crack a smile, especially as she was clearly clutching her chest in pain. Perhaps, Marceline figured, her path to victory would be caving that chest in.

Madame Guillotine closed in on bebe and for the moment that it looked like Bebe could be flopping to her back, Marceline begun lifting her right foot to stomp on her chest. Before Marceline could realize what was happening, Bebe's Pele kick rocked her on the her chin. The elbow was one thing, solid but not so much she couldn't immediately kick the woman afterward. But this kick was something else entirely and combined with the fact that her right foot wasn't planted.l, it took Marceline off her feet.

It was far off from being among the hardest kicks she'd taken in a career of kicking and being kicked, but the fact that it was strong as it was, despite the awkward nature of the Pele kick, informed her that more traditional kicks would be painful indeed. This incident gave her a few defensive considerations for the rest of the fight, however. Staying out of range of Bebe's kicks, which meant staying out to the edge of Marceline's own kicking range, or get into swarming range to brawl. She'd also maintain a bias towards keeping up a high guard to, stop any potential match ending kicks to her head. Lastly mixing offense and defense, she had to mess up the Texan's legs, or at least her dominant leg.

Marceline wouldn't think of that all immediately, however, as the force of the blow, having taken her off her feet, also managed to send her to the ground.

"Eerguhh" Marceline exclaimed in pain when she hit the ground, though a close listener might have noticed it appeared to have begun as a higher pitched cry before quickly becoming a deeper grunt.

Despite landing on her back, Marceline had managed to avoid her head snap back to the padded concrete. Her chin still hurt and to a lesser extent her back, but she wasn't quite as dazed as she could have been.

She turned in Bebe's direction and sneered. Depending on how quickly the woman that kicked her would be able to get back to her feet, having taken a variety of winding attacks to her torso, Marceline would attempt to get up on her feet around at least the same time as Bebe and move to stand between her and the ring, just out of Madame Gullotine's own kicking range.

Marceline wasn't sure if Bebe wanted to take the fight back into the ring, but given that there were no count outs, she knew she wanted to keep it out here, where there were more ways to harm the Texan's legs.

[BlackAkuma]

With the odd angle of the Pele Kick, it could be hard to tell when the thing connected the way it was supposed to. It wasn’t like with most of Bebe’s kicks, where she could tell the way it landed and even make slight corrections in mid-attack when the need rose - once she threw herself back, she was committed to it, 100%. If she messed it up or simply missed, there was always the real, solid chance that Marcelina would make her pay for it, and she wouldn’t be getting off the floor for some time. She hated using the words ‘high-risk’ to describe a move, but there was really no better one for it.

But, this time at least, all things turned out in her favor. The kick connected, and she could feel the impact all the way through her leg, even as she flew backwards. It even made her instep sting a bit, which meant that it had truly hurt the woman on the receiving end.

Her first true attack of the match. Not too bad.

Bebe couldn't see the way her opponent fell, but she could hear the cry, higher pitched than she would’ve imagined, followed by the impact of a failing body shortly after her own came down. She landed on her shoulders and threw herself forward into a roll, coming up to a knee a few feet away and wheeling around towards her opponent.

There she was, standing and ready, casting a long shadow that came close to eclipsing Bebe. If that kick had done any real damage, she wasn't showing it, and she didn’t fail to notice that the Frenchwoman was between her and the ring, either. Big woman, smart woman, brains and brawn.

She eyed the woman for a moment and rubbed her chest - getting rammed into the barricade had hurt, and there was little point in hiding it. It would be a target, but that didn’t mean she could afford to be tepid. She needed to bring the fight to Marcelina, pain or not.

Bebe dashed in, darting into Marcelina’s striking distance, putting herself in harm’s way…for a moment. She only stood in front of the juggernaut for an instant, though, before she juked to her side and brought her leg swinging toward’s the titan’s thigh, trying to hit her with a low roundhouse kick while she jumped.

[ReticentCone]

Marceline had managed to return to her feet faster than Bebe, which was certainly worth something, but decided against attempting to rush the girl before she could get back up. Madame Gulllotine's aim was, after all, to remain consistently just out of Bebe's kicking range to force her opponent to make the first move.

As Bebe returned to her feet and rubbed her chest. Clearly it was hurting. Marceline certainly intended to target it, but she'd probably leave damaging the Texan's that to punches and ramming her into things. Better to leave her kicks, at least the when Bebe wasn't defenseless, to targeting her legs. It wasn't too difficult to kick someone in the chest, sure, but it was harder to punch them in the legs and Madame Gullotine wanted a balanced offense. Just as Marceline wanted, Bebe would take the first moving to close in on Marceline. Bebe likely could have bought a bit more time for herself to recover, but the french woman was happy that she didn't bother. In response, to what Marceline thought was the last moment, she'd shift her hands up to guard her head, hoping to grab a high kick before executing a a vicious conter. Instead, her opponent shifted to her side and connected with a stiff roundhouse kick to her thigh.

Marceline grunted in pain. Just as she suspected, Bebe's kick was in the upper range of what'd she'd experienced in her martial arts career. Had that force been applied to her head, she'd at the very least be in a world of hurt, which is exactly why she favoured a high guard. The kick caused her to stumble a few steps to the side, but Marceline had made a career of being able to withstand kicks like these, it certainly wouldn't be enough to stop her on its own. Though there was always the risk that Bebe could follow up before Marceline could respond.

Marceline would attempt to regain her footing while shuffling a bit backward so she could quickly reply with a side kick to the front of Bebe's thigh, intending to aim immediately above her knee cap.