KINGS & QUEENS ( QF ) — Black Severin vs Karen Gale

[Underdoggo]

As someone who grew up in a Maori family and was rightfully proud of her Maori heritage, Karen knew all too well the effort it took to maintain elaborate dreadlocks (she had rocked some of her own, albeit briefly, back in her high school and undergrad days). And so it was with a slight pang of guilt that she wrenched Severin up by his own locks...but only a slight. She was in this to win this, after all.

Even as she yanked Severin up by his hair, however, her American opponent reminded her that this match was still early, and that he wasn't out of this fight yet...by reaching up to the back of her head and yanking down sharply.

Pain shot up Karen's jaw as it impacted against Severin's shoulder. "Guh--" she mouthed, the blow sending her staggering back, her mouth opening and closing as she unconsciously checked to see if all of her teeth were still there...leaving her vulnerable to whatever follow up Severin had planned...

[DSX93]

Success!

Severin's eye spied a target immediately, and he was in range to do some damage to it. His next move was swift: From the seated position that his chosen variant of the jawbreaker had left him in, he launched himself up at her from his hands and feet after a quick forward sway of his upper body to build momentum. He aimed low, chambering his legs to make for a powerful dropkick to her knee!

[Underdoggo]

Karen's jaw hurt after impacting with Severin's shoulder the way it had. The blow sent her stumbling, clutching at her hurting jaw. Mumbling a curse under her breath, she spun around to face Severin again...

...just in time to see him spinning on his hands in an almost breakdance-like routine that was admittedly very impressive. She instinctively raised her hands, expecting him to cannon a kick up into her face or chest. Instead, however, one of his boots went low, hammering into her kneecap! Sharp pain lanced up her leg, and a sharp whine escaped Karen's clamped lips as she bit down a scream, toppling down into an involuntary kneeling position, clutching her hurting knee...

[DSX93]

Severin was expecting some Ford toughness out of her, but it still surprised him to see it; she didn't fall as far as he'd hoped. Heck, she was even able to choke down some sound! But down on one knee wasn't bad at all. He sprung back onto his feet and took off like a shot, taking advantage of her current focus on her knee. With her arms down, he was safe to leapfrog over her, pushing down on her head with the aim of upsetting her balance even further and disorienting her while also building momentum for his race to the ropes behind her.

Those behind him were further away, meaning that he would have been able to generate more for his next attack if he'd gone for those instead, but he's seen that trope play out too many times on TV: The wrestler runs back in full view of the opponent, who promptly gets back up and stops their momentum before they could really get it going. And if that knee was any indication, he would not have liked whatever she did to stop his.

Severin would wow the fans with a catlike hop onto the top rope, using the momentum he'd generated to launch himself right back at Karen with a moonsault.

[Underdoggo]

"Ffffffuck--" Karen hissed as she dropped down to one knee, pain already shooting through the injured kneecap. For all of his impressive physique, Severin was so far proving to be a more cunning opponent than a powerful one, relying on sneaky tactics to incapacite and immobilize her rather than outright damage her. Perhaps, she thought, he had been banking on her dropping down to her front with that last blow.

She was aware that Severin was opposite her, running back at her. She grimaced and straightened up, ready to halt Severin's momentum with a well-timed lariat...

...only to find instead that her wily opponent was going for a moonsault, coming down at her with full, aerial force.

"Oh fu--"

The collision propelled Karen off her feet, sending her slamming down hard onto the mat under her male opponent. She groaned from the impact, conscious now that Severin seemed to be very much in control of things right now...

[DSX93]

Got her!

And now that she was down, Severin needed to get to work fast. His first thought was a kneebar. Her legs were right there, it's quick to set up, and...it's also one of the most dangerous submission holds out there. Lots of potential to mess up all kinds of shit and end somebody's career. And with how wrestlers try to hold out in comparison to most MMA fighters, and even more than that, that it was a hold that he had no experience with...

No. He's not going out like that, especially in Ryan's name.

Instead, he took hold of her wrist as he lifted himself off of her, stepped over her far shoulder, and fell back cross at her side with her arm in between the legs he had over her face and chest, one of his own arms wrapped around the outside of her elbow and one hand seizing the wrist. He moved with the quickness in setting up the armbar, and he was even quicker to try to get it fully extended.

[Underdoggo]

Okay. Maybe she had gotten a little cocky earlier. And maybe she had slipped up and allowed Severin to start taking control of the situation. Not ideal, but all things considered, this wasn't unsalvageable either. This, at least, was she thought as she huffed for breath under her male opponent, the moonsault having knocked the wind out of her sails. She tensed, half expecting her American foe to go for a pin attempt.

Nope. Apparently, Severin had other things in mind.

Karen grimaced as her wrist was grabbed, and the next thing she knew, pain was surging through her arm as Severin dropped down and trapped her in an armbar! She bit back a cry of pain, her back arching up off the mat in an instinctual attempt to relieve agony flooding in her shoulder, her free hand grabbing futilely at Severin's boot. Damn, it was early into their match, and Severin was already trying to be as annoying as possible.

"Nnnnh...let....go!" she growled, trying to swivel her lower body around so that her legs were facing Severin's back or side. If she managed that, then she would start kicking, trying to hammer her boots into Severin's ribs, shoulder, or (preferably) head, all in an effort to make him let go before the armbar became too unbearable!

[DSX93]

Damn, this is one hard woman! She barely made a sound. But all the writhing about told him that he was doing some damage. But not enough to have her crying out. Not that he was fond of the sound -- from a woman or anyone else -- but that was worrying. Was he hurting her or annoying her?

He met her demand with a shake of his head and a "Nah, I'm good." If he was just being an annoyance, he was going to hang on until that turned into hurt.

The thing about that is, it was just supposed to be hers.

When he saw her dragging her lower body over his way, and making scarily quick progress, making his eyes open wide and dropping his jaw..."Oh, hell no." He'd let go with one hand, devoting that arm to the effort of shuffling him the hell away from those legs. Only bad things could result from having his head stuck between them in a Standard match. The chase made for a silly sight, and one that Severin knew he couldn't keep going forever.

To slow her down, he'd put the boots to her, aiming for her ribs. Right on target here, having to settle for that second steel arm that she'd have in the way there. But damn, it was like that only made her faster over time! Probably the adrenaline, but it made him wonder if he was doing something worthwhile here or not.

Either way, Karen would get close enough to retaliate. She didn't put the squeeze to him, at least, but those stomps didn't tickle either. Taking it to the ribs sucked. The shoulder was...tolerable. But it was when her boot smashed into his ear that he thought, "fuck it." He'd made it to the end of this rope. Time to figure something else out.

He set his feet to her midsection and used it as a sort of launching pad to separate himself from her, throwing in a roll to create some extra distance.

[Underdoggo]

Even as Karen swivelled her legs around to strike back at Severerin, her male opponent made use of his position to kick down at her, slamming a boot into her ribs. The blow caused her to gasp, loudly, and grimace as she took a blow that she knew would bruise later. That didn't deter her at all, though. Not in the fucking slightest.

Her boot slammed against Severin's ear. Not a target she intended, but one that she knew would disorient him a little. And then he released the armbar and went rolling away; huffing, Karen did the same, rolling up to her knees, ignoring the lingering soreness in her midsection and her shoulder. Opposite her, Severin was rolling as well, keeping space between them.

Irritated, Karen hopped to her feet and charged after him. As Severin rose, she would retaliate, leaping forwards to try to spear him with a reckless drop kick!

[DSX93]

Fuck! Oh, fuck!

The crowd was a lot quieter than it was just seconds ago. Severin knew that this wasn't a stunned silence. His hearing was going. Possibly for good. The fear of losing one of his senses, and one of his favorites at that -- that got the adrenaline going. Got that fight or flight response going full force. And to be honest, a part of him wanted to go with flight. But it was too late for that now.

And as he saw upon completing his roll, he wouldn't have had the time even if he did decide to run. He had an angry Karen right on his ass, taking flight just when he was able to stand. And he was only barely, just barely able to get his arms up to his chest before her feet shotgunned into it, sending him flying across the ring.

Having his guard up might have saved him more pain, but it didn't feel like it. He hit the mat hard, all oxygen blasted out of his lungs. Making matters worse was the damage done to his ear, which had him disoriented. Dazed. Vulnerable.