The Path Forward: Lauren Fredericks vs. Bast - Apex Qaulifier

[BlackAkuma]

That wasn’t a problem. Bast would help her.

She let the blonde writhe for a few moments as she looked over towards Calaso, seeing her grab onto the railing to pull herself up. Her sister had been clearly rocked by the hit, but she was recovering. She would be okay.

With a huff, she reached over and grabbed her opponent’s head, grasping her with both hands and hauling her up. The moment she was on both feet, Bast took Lauren by the wrist, jerked to the side, and sent her hurtling towards the steel steps with an Irish Whip, wanting to make some more distance between her and her sister before they went on.

[Highfly]

Lauren was like limp putty in Bass hands at this point, staggering uphill the giant had her arm. Lauren took off running and before she knew it she crashed into the steel steps, flopping over the top for a hard landing on the far side of the steps! "Arrrrrgggghhhhhh......"

Lauren meekly kicked in pain, cradling her torso as she laid there on her back looking like she was absolutely reeling. Lauren had no clue how she would be able to fight back in this state but she knew she had to do something soon otherwise all was lost against the rampaging Bast. She hated that familiar feeling of powerlessness creeping back over, a feeling she had worked hard to eliminate, yet she couldn't help but feel like the jobber her detractors still saw her as in the moment.

[BlackAkuma]

Cersei was hurt, yes. But not quite as much as she made it look.

Getting rammed against the steel barricade was far from the most pleasant experience of her life, and there was a period where it might’ve caused serious damage to her body, but those days were long gone, thank god. She wasn’t about to be running ropes or anything, but she was more hardy than Bast wanted to give her credit for.

But there were benefits to having an overprotective sister. Like, for instance, knowing how she would react if an accident happened when Lauren was flying out of the ring, and placing herself in the proper position for it.

She pushed her way up, stumbling a bit along the way, grimacing and even coughing for added effect. Judging from the way Bast discarded Lauren, she was finding her fire, but it couldn't be at the cost of focus. ”Samira!” She called out when her sister looked her way and pointed to the ring. ”The count!”

Bast had been so focused on wrecking her opponent that she’d almost lost sight of the rules, with the referee rounding her way up to six on the count out. She looked back once more at Calaso, showing her concern, before she nodded and moved back to Lauren. She bent over, snatched her up by the arm, and rolled her back into the ring under the bottom rope, following soon after to break the count at eight.

[Highfly]

Lauren groaned as she was picked up and rolled back into the ring, trying to roll further away so she could shakily try to rise to her feet. She wanted to fight back and right now was as good a chance as any to try to work in some offense. Lauren knew Bast would be quick to her feet so she tried to lumber at her and jump up, hoping to plant Bast with a dropkick to the chest!

[BlackAkuma]

Credit where it was due, Lauren was packing more of a punch than Bast had expected. The woman didn’t look weak or anything, but she wasn’t exactly in peak shape, either. There were opponents with better physiques who’d given Bast less of a hard time, so it was strange to see this kind of fire and damage from her - she seemed to have some kind of drive behind her, as if this was more personal than a regular match.

It gave her the energy to pop up as Bast came into the ring, throwing herself forward with a dropkick that crashed into her chest. The blow knocked her into the turnbuckle…but not down.

Bast shook it off and started moving forward again, closing in on Lauren with a steady pace.

[Highfly]

Lauren saw Bast walking right back at her and the last thing Lauren wanted to do was look weak. She screamed as she rushed in looking to hammer Bast with forearms to the chest again before trying to slam her with a knee to the abdomen! Lauren was not going to stop even if her body was aching terribly. She was on the wrong end of some offense and her lumbering movements made it pretty clear that Lauren was hurting. Still she had to fight back against this seemingly unstoppable woman!

[BlackAkuma]

Lauren came roaring forward, and Bast could tell what was on her mind. As clear as if she could read it.

This wasn’t the first time someone had come charging at her like this. While most had the mind to stay away from her if at all possible, ever so often she found an opponent who wanted to take her with a suicide run - they would throw themselves at her, full keel, and make a desperate bid to overwhelm her with wild blows. To Lauren’s credit, this tactic had worked well for her at the start of the match, when Bast was taken off guard and surprised.

But now?

Her arms came up tight, weathering the blows and holding her ground. Some found their way to their target, others didn’t, but none of them made her retreat. She held her footing, planted herself, and waited.

After tanking a few more shots, she made her move thrusting her hands out as Lauren was preparing another haymaker and pushing against her chest. It was enough to separate them and create a momentary gap, and that was all she required.

Bast stepped forward, brought her leg up, and shot it towards Lauren’s face with her signature push kick - the Kopesh.

[Highfly]

Lauren was working on trying to do something to Bast but this was a different outcome than earlier. She was putting everything into the hits but most were blocked. The few that moved through didn't seem to do anything when Lauren was shoved backward. She shook her head and moved in, right into the oncoming kick! "UGH!"

Lauren's head snapped back and her hair flew all over as her body flopped down to the mat in a heap. She groaned and weakly kicked the mat, in pain and fully dazed by that kick. Lauren was down and out, barely with it as she was laid out on the canvas.

[BlackAkuma]

The crowd had been getting into Lauren for a while, there. While Cersei could tell she wasn’t exactly a fan favorite or anything, there was always a need to see the underdog succeed, to see David slay Goliath. She could understand it. That sort of thing was quite marketable.

But it wasn’t going to happen. Not with Bast.

They all learned that the hard was, as her bare foot connected with Lauren’s face and left the woman laid out, dropping her to the mat and sucking all the energy out of the arena. Her sister stood tall, breathing heavy, and looked over to Cersei with an unspoken question: What now?

She ran her thumb under her neck and nodded. ”End it.”

Bast spat to the side, reached and dropped down to her knees by Lauren’s head, looming over the battered woman. She pulled her body over hers, wrapped her legs around the woman’s waist in a figure-four position, then secure her arms in a tight full nelson, trapping her and making the size difference between them all too clear.

With the hold in place, Bast would start squeezing. More pressure. More. More. Her bulging thighs would press deep into Lauren’s body, as she put the woman into her deadliest hold - Heaven’s Wrath.

[Highfly]

Lauren was down and out as Bast grabbed hold and began to twist her. The hold was set in and Lauren's body seemed to explode as pain surged all through her! She howled in agony as her head thrashed about, her hair flying everywhere!

Lauren screamed and began tapping out, submitting as Bast was utterly destroying her in this hold, the pain so great that Lauren wasn't even thinking about the fact that she was losing her way into being Apex qualified....