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.

[ADarlingDucky]

Once she had settled into her corner, Marcella would stand in stark contrast to Army's continued movement, standing still and casting her eyes over him. He had actually called out to correct her when she had called him by his full name, already earning him a raised eyebrow. He had enough confidence to do so, at the very least, though Marcella was still unconvinced that this confidence would actually be rooted in anything solid, and not just another large man thinking that size would carry him. She had met many, many men like that throughout her career, and each one had fallen far short of anything close to impressive in her very stern estimations of them. She wasn't holding her breath for Army, that was for sure, but still, she was here to put on a show. Which meant that at the very least, she'd be relying on Army to last long enough against her offense to satisfy an audience.

She was in the midst of thinking about how long that might be when, as the bell rang, Army suddenly rushed forwards, exploding out of his corner with a burst of speed that seemed almost surprising for such a big man. Marcella's eyes widened for an instant before her body moved, shifting out of pure instinct in order to respond to Army's sudden charge towards her. It was far easier to react than to act, and as the large male moved towards her, Marcella would need to do just that if she wanted to avoid being clobbered to start the match off.

"Hm." Only a slight grunt came from Marcella as she suddenly swung a foot up, gripping the ropes to either side of her a bit tighter as she used them to get her limb up and swing it directly into Army's path as he charged in towards her!

She hoped that the blow would either cause him to back off or hit him and send him staggering back, as either option would create a bit of space for the large goth woman to utilize, which she fully planned on using. If she succeeded in forcing some space between them, she'd use it to suddenly surge out of the corner herself, and swing a deadly lariat directly at the large male, looking to use her muscled arm to hit him with a nasty strike!

[BlackAkuma]

‘The first round is just data.’

Something Army’s father had drilled into him was the importance of taking tthings slow in his first round. When Army first started, his impulse was to come charging out of the gate and ram his fist down his opponent’s throat. Be fast, be aggressive, and win a match with shock and awe, take them down with an early artillery strike. Instead, he wanted Army to use the first few minutes for information gathering. Find his reach, test out his opponent’s reactions, see what they bit on and what they went for.

Good advice…for boxing. Wrestling, though, was a little bit different. In his experience, the best way was to kick things off and take the initiative, and that was his thinking as he came charging across the ring. Most people would’ve been psyched out, extremely alarmed by the Puerto Rican freight train heading their way.

Not Marcella. Instead, she came out to meet him, shooting her leg out with a kick that halted his charge and sent him stumbling back towards the center of the ring. It was only a small setback, though, and he came surging forward once again a second later with his arm outstretched, looking to clobber her with a lariat…

…right as she was doing the exact same thing.

His arm smacked against her chest at the same time hers did his, filling the arena with the sound of slapping flesh and making the crowd collectively wince. Army staggered back one step, then another, before he found his footing once again and lurched back. He ran his hand over his chest, right over the reddened area she’d struck, and snickered.

”Not bad, not bad.” Army beckoned her on with both hands. ”You got another one in you?”

[ADarlingDucky]

It was only a few seconds into the match, but from the ringing of the bell, Army seemed to be proving Marcella's thoughts about him correct. Nothing explicitly negative yet, but the moment that he was able, he rushed across the ring towards Marcella, barreling down on her with all the intent in the world to throw a strike at her, looking to use his muscles early on to take the lead. Very intense, very masculine, and so far, very predictable. Marcella had been waiting for something like this, and so when he drew near, she'd shot out her foot in the way, making the large male stumble backwards to avoid getting kicked straight in the face, giving herself a bit more room to work with. That room would be used to let Marcella spring out of the corner, suddenly surging forwards with her swinging upwards, rushing towards Army and throwing a lariat directly at his chest, clobbering him with a hefty blow!

Only, she wasn't the only one with that plan. Army, despite his charge getting stopped, would quickly move back in, and he met Marcella exactly as she met him, the two coming together in a clash of muscle, arms hitting chests with a meaty thwack that sounded throughout the arena. The crowd winced at the collision, and Army and Marcella both took a step back after the impact, with Army taking a moment to look down and inspect his chest. Marcella, for her part, didn't bother. There was a dull ache, and she was fairly sure her pale skin would show a red outline where she'd been hit, but she felt no need to inspect it. Instead, she eyed Army, who seemed all too amused at their shared idea to lariat one another, before inviting her in for another.

"Hmph. I've got several more, provided you can stand up to it." She shot back at his question with a wry smile. He sure had confidence, she'd give him that. But she was confident in her strength, and so she'd line him up again, raising an arm and gazing into his eyes as she faced off with him again.

"If you wanna play it that way, then how about a game of chicken?" Marcella called, giving her arm a little shake to indicate she fully planned on using it again the moment they came together once more. Of course, whether he accepted or not, it wouldn't change her course of action, as she suddenly charged back in, rushing at the large man and swinging her arm with as much force as she could muster, looking to hit him with a lariat hard enough to make the last one look like it was delivered by a child!

[BlackAkuma]

Honestly? This was refreshing.

Army didn’t have a problem fighting women - obviously - but he had grown accustomed to the way things typically went when he fought the opposite sex. Most often, it was a David and Goliath thing, with him taking on opponents that were smaller and faster than he was, who got fancy and danced all around him or outmaneuvered him with technique.

All well and good, nothing wrong with that. But hitting someone who could hit him back just as hard was a rare treat in wrestling. He intended to get the most out of it, and judging from that smile on Marcella’s face, she felt about the same way.”Chicken, huh?” He wound up his arm to get the blood circulating, too. ”Work’s just fine for me.”

So in they came, charging across the ring - call it a dominance display. Army mirrored Marcella’s steps, beat for beat, swung out the moment they were close enough, and slammed into her the moment she slammed into him, once again filling the arena with the sound of crashing flesh and bone, louder and sharper than before.

This time, the blow was enough to knock the wind clean out of him, and he staggered back to catch his breath. His knees wobbled, but he put some power into them and managed to stay standing, righting himself as the crowd surged around them.

Army licked his lips and looked back Marcella’s way. ”One more.”

This time he came charging at full sprint, moving with all the speed his body could muster - nothing held back, no fear. He closed, brought his arm up, lunged forward, throwing his everything into the most devastating lariat he could produce, swinging his arm like a headsman’s axe.

[ADarlingDucky]

Well, that hurt like hell.

With Army absorbing Marcella’s lariat and returning one of his own to the muscled goth woman, the two had been forced back from one another, making some space between one another as the both took a moment to inspect where they’d been struck. That, however, had given them the opportunity to exchange words with one another, and at Marcella’s suggestion, the idea of a game of chicken had taken root, with Army almost immediately accepting the idea. So very manly of him, Marcella mused. And if the fans in attendance had thought that their first clash was an almost comically intense impact of their toned physiques with one another, this following exchange would strip away all the humor and replace it with a sickening amount of force exchanged between one another.

The blow actually sent Marcella back a few steps, staggering for only a brief moment before righting herself, letting out a slight grunt as she looked down, actually stopping to inspect herself this time. If the prior strike hadn’t left a red mark on her chest, this one most certainly had, a red oval visible underneath her shirt, one that still had a certain amount of sting to it. And yet, she wasn’t done yet.

Army’s words would catch her attention, and she would look up to find him preparing for one more collision, asking for a final exchange. Her response conveyed exactly how she felt about his request.

“Your funeral.” Marcella would put her head down and grit her teeth, and with a sudden surge of speed, she’d take off towards Army one more time, flying towards the large male as she whipped her arm towards him, aiming directly at center mass. If their first collision was nothing compared to the second, then this one made both look like affable love taps, as Marcella swung her arm at Army like she was trying to simply hit him so hard he would fly. While he was very much doing the same.

“NNNGH!” Several in the audience winced and yelped as the two collided, and this time, Marcella was forced backwards, even dropping to a knee as she let out a hiss, the breath thoroughly knocked out of her. Her main hope was that her swing had left Army even worse off than he had left her!

[BlackAkuma]

Army had only met Marcella, but already, he thought he had a good read on the sort of woman he was dealing with. He could already guess she wasn’t the type to take male opponents too seriously in LAW, and he didn’t blame her - after all, most of the guys who signed up for leagues like this weren’t too impressive. It tended to attract a lot of dudes who couldn't fight for shit and were just looking to tumble with hot, muscular women.

Not that Army could judge - hell, he was here for that, too. But he was in the camp of guys who had skill and strength to go along with it. If she thought all the muscles were for show and that he’d let her just mow him over, well…

He was of the mind to prove her wrong, then. So far, it looked like he was doing a good job of it.

His funeral? ”Bring it.”

Marcella brought it - fuck, she brought it. The impact was nothing short of rattling, enough to even make the referee wince and fall back. Army’s world went white at the moment of impact as it worked his way through his body, filling him with a blinding pain. By the time he came back to reality, he was already stumbling, falling back, threatening to tip over. ”Shit, shit-”

He would’ve fallen over if it wasn’t for the turnbuckle saving him at the last second, catching his back just as he was starting to collapse. Instead, he wound up leaning against it, hanging there on wobbly feet, his vision hazy and his skull pounding.

And he laughed. A deep, hoarse chuckle, as he tried to rein his senses in. ”Ah, fuck.” Her ran a hand through his hair. ”This’ll be fun.”

[ADarlingDucky]

At this point, it seemed as though Marcella and Army were quickly stepping away from a wrestling match and moving into what would be considered a show of force, as the escalating hits would now lead to one final, sickeningly powerful exchange. The sound of skin on skin impacting rang out, and both Army and Marcella would be sent staggering backwards following their collision, Marcella stopping to take a knee following the impact while Army saved himself from falling over by falling back into the corner post. And for a moment, the two would remain there, both seemingly needing a moment following the explosive lariats they had delivered to the other. However, once Marcella had taken a moment, rubbing her chest and taking a few deep breaths in, she'd raise her head to spy Army in the corner, still standing despite her swing, eyes narrowing as she saw him chuckle slightly.

Still far too amused for her taste.

She didn't feel any specific sort of malice towards the large man, but the fact that he had actually managed to stay upright slightly irked her, with the goth woman hissing and picking herself up, giving her chest a final rub. From there, she'd fix her eyes on Army, before she once more shifted forwards, a final charge that would offer no warning to the large man before she was well on her way to him!

"Hmph!" Marcella gave a grunt as she suddenly looked to close the distance one more time, hoping that her sudden charge would catch Army off-guard, given that he likely didn't expect another one. But this charge was not going to end with Marcella throwing another lariat into the chest of her foe. No, this charge would see the large woman suddenly raise her foot as she came towards him, lifting it high before thrusting her whole leg in his direction, looking to slam him in the head with a big boot, all while he tried to recover in the corner!