Marcella Crowe vs. Armando 'Army' Rodriguez - Design In Malice

[BlackAkuma]

Match Type: Last Person Standing
Victory Conditions: The first wrestler who gets knocked down and can’t stand after a ten-count loses the match. No Disqualifications, No Count-Outs

***

Family was good for a lot of things, and Army loved his family. The Rodriguez clan was tightly knit. While he had one sister, it often felt like he had dozens of siblings. His cousins were always hanging out around his house; he saw them pretty much every day. They came and went as if they lived there, and he was the same way at their parents’ houses. They trained together, played together, came up together, supported each other, cared for each other.

They also gave him no end of shit. Case in point:

”Dude, this chick is gonna kick your ass.”

Army who’d been busy wrapping up his fists in the gorilla position, glanced over his shoulders, to see his cousin Felina standing nearby, her face illuminated in the darkness by her phone’s screen. He couldn't see what she was watching, but he could hear the noise from it, with the unmistakable sounds of human bodies getting slammed into the canvas. Hard. ”Jesus, she’s huge.”

The Army spun on the stool and held his arms out to the sides. ”And I’m not? We’re about the same size.”

Felina just waved him off and kept watching. Lots of screams coming from the phone, now. Sounded like someone was in a submission hold. ”Yeah, that’s not what her Wiki says. Has her at 6”1’.”

”I’m six feet even.”

”So she’s bigger.”

”Okay, first, she's taller, not bigger, and second, by one inch.” Army stood up and rolled his shoulders. ”You’re making it sound like she’s some big ass beast. I put down pendejos bigger than me all the time.”

”You put down guys, sure. But you struggle against smaller girls all the damn time.” She wagged a finger his way. ”Ami Takeuchi gave you the run around. How you gonna handle a woman your own damn size?”

Army was about to give her a detailed answer on that, too, when one of the stagehands gave him the signal for his match to start. Sure enough,

began playing, and Army started bouncing to the beat as he made his way to the exit. ”Just. Watch.”

A moment later and Army came bursting through the curtain, shining bright in his

. He waved to the crowd, slapped a few hands, and promptly made his way into the ring with a running start and a slide that nearly took him to the middle. He popped up to his feet and threw his fist up high, getting a healthy roar of approval before he strutted over to the corner.

With his back to the pads, Army threw out a few quick jabs, shadow boxing to make sure he stayed heated up. In a match like this, against a woman like that? Oh, he was going to need to be 100%.

[ADarlingDucky]

"Oh my god... oh my god. Are you seeing this guy? Seriously, are you looking?" Carmella Crowe, the diminutive sister of Marcella Crowe, called over to her older sister, who seemed far more occupied in chatting up one of the female backstage workers in the gorilla position they both resided in. Marcella, flashing a mild look of annoyance at her sister, would sigh, before turning and flashing one more parting wink at the employee, who returned one in kind, before walking over to where her younger sister stood. "This guy is wearing American flag shorts, and shadow boxing. Like, unironically shadow boxing. You might actually be facing an Apollo Creed superfan. Is this dude seriously on the roster?" Carmella snickered as she watched Army on the screen, while Marcella, taking a look at the large male, would slowly slide her eyes over to her sister, less amused.

"You interrupted me for that? You weren't having enough fun mocking him by yourself?"

"Tch... you know what, whatever, I hope this guy kicks your ass."

"Hah!" This one actually did get a laugh out of Marcella. Not for being amusing, but a short, sharp bark, as if what her sister had just said was perhaps the most preposterous thing she had ever heard. Clearly, she didn't think Army had much of a shot. "Suuuure. And when was the last time that a man came even close to doing that?"

"You had a kinda close match with... uh... oh god what was his name...? From back in the indies... Troy? Was it Troy?"

"Trey. You're thinking of Trey Whitlock. Who gave me exactly one slap on the face. And I gave him a black eye and two broken ribs in return." Carmella puffed her cheeks out in a pout at Marcella's words, having no real retort. Guess she hadn't remembered much besides the shock on her sister's face when being struck. Maybe Army could actually humble her a bit more than Trey had in the past. Before she could think of anything else, Marcella would reach out and give her a pat on the head, Carmella quickly brushing aside her hand and returning a middle finger in response.

"Just stay back here and watch. I'll be back in... hmmmmmmm..." She turned and eyed the screen, giving Army a once over on the monitor, before continuing. "Give me five minutes." With that very bold declaration, Marcella would turn and walk away from Carmella, making her way out to the entrance ramp, as the Unchained One made her entrance for the match tonight!

Spoiler

Walking steadily down the ramp, Marcella would receive a hefty amount of cheers as she slowly descended the ramp, a smirk on her face as she raised her hand and waved to those seated ringside, confidently striding past them with a grin and a wink towards some of the ladies in the crowd. Unlike her sister, Marcella wasn't prickly and coarse towards everyone, a notable exception being women, many of whom she doted over. But as she climbed onto the apron and fixed her gaze on Army, it grew less amused, the goth leaning back against her corner as she regarded him with an even stare.

"Armando Rodriguez, yeah? Keep up with me for a little bit, won't ya? I'd hate to send the people home without a good show." Marcella's tone perhaps indicated that she felt it was a tough ask. And given her knowledge of her own skills, to her, it did seem to be that. What remained to be seen in all of this is how the large male, only an inch shorter than herself, would respond!

[BlackAkuma]

Huh. That was, indeed, a big woman.

Not the biggest Army had seen in LAW, no. He’d come across some absolute giants walking backstage, a couple even in the freaky seven-foot range, but the woman he saw clomping her way down the ramp like a goth Goliath was definitely in the bigger range. She’d be the biggest woman he’d found himself in a long time, that was for sure, and judging by the look on her face, she had the confidence to match.

He tilted his head to the side as she came up onto the apron and threw a comment his way - nonchalant, unbothered, clearly not taking him seriously. Easy fix. ”Sure. I’ll keep up.” Army pushed off the turnbuckle and rolled his shoulders, getting nice and limp. ”Call me ‘Army’, by the way.”

As Marcella settled in, Army began bouncing in his corner, hoping from one foot to the next. He found his rhythm with every step, as if he was moving to a beat that only he could hear. Swaying this way and that, staying loose, vibing…

Then the bell rang.

Army came charging across the ring the instant he heard it, immediately switching to full attack mode. While he wasn’t a sprinter by any means, he could utilize good, explosive speed when need be, and that was what he used - charging forward, he closed the gap with thunderous steps, threw himself forward and launched a powerful left cross at Marcella’s face, looking to set the tone for this match right away.