Apex Arachnophobia - Courage Takemi vs. Arachne W. Spyder

[dddybee]

Background Music

Arachne truly lived up to her name as a spider, ensnaring Courage in an unescapable web, much like the actual bug! She intended for the Young Lioness to quickly submit to her Silky Snare, mocking Courage's name as a final, villainous act. Until then, Arachne planned to keep her signature, sinister submission move up! But...there was a problem...

"That's the point, dumb dumb." Arachne snickered, when Courage cried out in agony, regarding her bent up back. "So submit, you....?" The lightweight's taunt was cut off, and her smirk instantly faded. Arachne had just know noticed. Courage was crying. There was a limit to Arachne's sadistic side, and suddenly Ms. Takemi's screams were no longer pleasurable to her. "Ummmm..."

The heel bug would breathe a sigh of relief, when the referee came to prompt Courage to throw in the towel. Surely Courage would quit. Surely Arachne would win in this way without compromising her villainy, or risk injuring the poor Young Lioness. When the referee asked the first time, Courage didn't immediately respond. "Hey! Hey! Give up already!" Arachne insisted. Likely to the surprise of Courage and anyone else that didn't really know the spider, her voice oozed with concern rather than frustration!

Ms. Takemi's back then popped and even so, the courageous middleweight loudly refused to give in. That was it. Arachne couldn't take it anymore. The arrows on the villainess's moral compass were pretty wonky, but she still had one. The inner conscience she pretended not to have was screaming at her not to give Courage a career compromising injury, much less a career ending one!

"I-I CAN'T!" Arachne cried, immediately letting Courage go, preventing any prolonged injury from occurring! She scooted back from Ms. Takemi, looking at her opponent wide-eyed. Arachne was sweating. Her chest rapidly rose and fell with heavy breathing. For now, her villainous but playful disposition had faded. "Wh-Why?!" The stressed out spider asked, speaking in a serious tone. "I had you beat. You risked long-term, maybe even permeant injury. Why wouldn't you just give up?!"

[SuckerPunch]

She was trembling within the confines of Arachne's hold, but even so, she refused to give up! Her injured back spasmed, the muscles at the base of it twitching and convulsing in agony! But even so, she refused to give up! Her mind was a prison of searing agony! As if a million red hot spears were piercing her body! Skewering her nervous system to alert her to just how much danger she was in! But even so, she refused to give up!

And in the end, it was Arachne who surrendered first! She suddenly released the Emerald Idol from her painful prison and allowed her to flop to the canvas! With all of the muscles contracting in her back, she was pulled into the shape of a bow. Her hands clutched at the small of her back, massaging at the errant muscles... But it was too late. The damage was done, and it would take more than some encouraging rubs to recover.

Her eyes squeezed tightly as hot, humiliating tears ran down her cheeks. She sniffled and sobbed... God it hurt so much!

The referee checked on her... Ready to throw up the dreaded X to end the match... But then she began to roll onto her belly. To push up onto her hands and knees. It was a start-and-stop process, she was exhausted and in pain... She was pushing her body to the limit. But just like in Arachne's hold- "I won't give up!"

[dddybee]

At this point, Arachne had realized things had gone too far on both their ends. On Arachne's end for antagonizing Courage to the point of attempting to disgrace her very name. But perhaps even more so on Courage's end for refusing to throw in the towel, no matter how much pain she was in, or how jacked up her body became. Thankfully, Arachne was at least certain she'd let go in time not to completely compromise or end Courage's career. But Ms. Takemi would still need to take a fair bit of healing and recovery time, following this intense bout.

"Ohhhhhhhhh..." Arachne whimpered with remorse, seeing Courage sob in agony before her. This wasn't fun anymore. It was very enjoyable to make the Young Lioness angry and frustrated. But this....this was too much. To make matters worse, the match wasn't even over yet. Arachne was afraid of attacking again, while her opponent was in such a pained state. At least the referee came to check on Courage, giving Ms. Takemi yet another chance to throw in the towel....A chance Courage once again refused!

"WHY?!" Arachne suddenly spoke up. She ran over to Courage's body, standing above her as the middleweight made a slow effort to rise. "WHY DID YOU MAKE ME DO THIS?! You're fighting, so you can watch all of your ambitions die! Think Courage! You'll outlast every talentless, insignificant trainee in the Young Lioness program! You'll graduate and make most of your foes crumble to dust and BLOW AWAY! If Arachne kept you in that hold any longer, EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER WORKED FOR WOULD BE GONE! What do you gain after refusing to submit?!"

[SuckerPunch]

Arachne stood over Courage Takemi as she tried to get to her feet. She looked down upon her, screaming in dismay. Her distress and disappointment evident in her every word.

But they appeared to go unheard as Courage pressed her face against Arachne's legs... And then her palms. Her fingers grasped at her, using her like a ladder to work her way towards her feet! Her cheek ground against her inner thigh, and against her hips and belly... As she climbed and climbed towards her feet.

Arachne could feel the faint, damp heat of her tears from where her wet cheeks had been pressed against her body... She was broken and imperiled... But she was relentless!

"I d-don't care about-" She paused to gasp. The effort of climbing to her feet was exhausting. But at this point, her head was pressed against the side of Arachne's bust. "-The future!" She finished as her hands clasped over Arachne's shoulders. Her fingers digging into them as her arms struggled to get her to her feet!

"I worked for..." She paused again, her head dangled in front of Arachne now. Her hairyie had broken, leaving her long hair flowing and wild around her. It cascaded over face like a silky brown waterfall. But when she looked up, Arachne could see the shine of her brilliant emerald eyes through the strands. Ablaze.

"I'll always work for..."

"TODAY!!!" She finished as she drew her head back and drove it recklessly forward into Arachne!!!

It might crack... It might even surprise the spider! But it would hardly hurt her... There just... wasn't enough strength left in her ruined body...

[dddybee]

Arachne was very frustrated with Courage. She had come into this match expecting to annoy the Young Lioness, angry her, make her scream in pain yes, but only until she quickly gave up. Instead, Ms. Takemi insisted on staying in this to the point of endangering her body, simultaneously making the villainess feel an emotion she absolutely loathed: remorse. Arachne scolded Courage much like how the lightweight's overprotective mother often scolded her growing up, with genuine concern. The spider even directly implied she now thought much more highly of Ms. Takemi, and her future capabilities!

Arachne asked Courage why she would risk pushing herself so far. And after slowly using the bug girl's body to pull herself up, Arachne would get her answer. "Well that's stupid!" Arachne exclaimed, hearing Courage claim to not care about the future, always working for the present. "It's..." But before Widow could even make her argument, she was stopped in her tracks by Courage's blazing glare. The amount of righteous determination in the middleweight's eyes caused Arachne to shudder. As corny as it may sound, Courage was simply the definition of courage. The ability to face your fears, the ability to quite literally stand up to the Villainess of the Spider Web, broken body or not! Though she hadn't thought much of it, Arachne finally understood the horrendous error she made, in trying to defile the Young Lioness's name!

"Ahh!" Arachne yelped, more so out of alarm than pain. Courage had just snapped the spider out of her paralyzed trance with a physically weak, yet symbolically strong headbutt. Arachne backed up a bit, before remembering she was being watched by a very large crowd. Fans in the arena and fans at home had seen Arachne's normally villainous and mischievous disposition falter! This caused her to blush in embarrassment, before trying work it up again with an evil laugh. "mWa...hA...hA...oh forget it....What have you done to me girl?! Arachne can't mock you! Arachne can't cause you anymore agony! Arachne can't even laugh manically right now!" She whined. Courage's unbreakable resolve had totally dissolved the bug's villainous spirit, at least for the rest of this match! But the spider still needed to find some way to bring said match to a close!

[SuckerPunch]

Courage's head cracked off of Arachne's! More defiant than detrimental, it still managed to snap Arachne back into reality. Her blow reached her! 'I can still... Do this!' She thought as she watched Arachne take a step backward. 'Everyone is counting on me!' She knit her brow and clenched her fists. Before throwing one into the air and making a bold, powerful declaration to the fans! "You can put your faith in me! I'll never give up!" She threw her fist up as her charisma carried the statement to the furthest reaches of the stadium!

The crowd erupted! And their cheers in turn reached Courage! They filled her to the brim with energy and gave her the strength she needed to conjure her comeback!

She turned away from Arachne and dashed towards the ropes! Her run was eurythmic, carrying a limp. But it also carried her back first into the elastic boundary of their arena! And it fired her back toward her villainous opponent! "HAAAA! SEE IF YOU CAN TAKE THIS!!!" She screamed, not only for the fans but to help infuse her body with the same energy as her cry!

One bound away from Arachne, she leaped! Her body turning in mid-air! Her legs folded up and her fingers practically grasped her boots! She fired herself hips first at Arachne again! She exploded as if fired from a canon, calling out "COURAGEOUS BOMBER!!!" as she soared backside first at her face with her signature move!

[dddybee]

This match definitely hadn't gone the way Arachne had anticipated. Sure, she was in much better shape than Courage. But despite all the physical pain and verbal annoyance she had put the Young Lioness through, Ms. Takemi's spirit still refused to waver! In fact, Courage even found the motivation to pump her fist into the air, before making a making a courageous, and noble declaration to the crowd!

Furthermore, despite all the pain Courage had endured at Arachne's hands, despite being pushed to the brink of serious injury, Courage still managed to work up a real attack! Fighting a noticeable limp, she raced to the ropes behind her, in order to use them to spring towards Arachne. This put more speed and power in her flying hip attack, the Courageous Bomber! As her rather plump backside hurled at the Villainess of the Spider Web full-force, the fans hoped and prayed Ms. Takemi would use her thicc booty to finally vanquish Arachne once and for all!

But Arachne dodged. She was fast. She wasn't nearly as worn down as Courage. Courage's pervious headbutt had snapped Arachne out of her prior trance. And to top it all off, as awesome as Courage's signature move was. The Young Lioness had quite literally announced it was coming. At least Courage's attack had prompted a fearful "EEEPP!" from the spider. And at least the added speed made the attack come close to hitting. But ultimately, all Arachne had to do was take a big enough step to the side to avoid it.

If the move had hit, if not the move itself, the follow-up facesitting would've likely been enough to finish Arachne. Heck! Had this been a submission match, the middleweight's refusal to give up would've had Arachne totally stumped! But since neither was the case, Ms. Takemi would likely crash after the move. And Arachne's wouldn't take anymore chances. Before Courage killed herself trying to fight her, the spider would pursue her prey. To go down and put Courage in a simple sleeper hold. After giving the YL a tender, sisterly kiss on the cheek, Arachne would leave the YL with words to keep her spirit lit, rather than even attempt to extinguish it again. "Another day, hero....Another day...."

[SuckerPunch]

"YAAAAH!!!" Courage screamed with passion and determination as she sailed through the air! She was flying blindly... Desperately! And unfortunately, without the momentum she'd needed to ensure that her opponent couldn't dodge!

She hit the canvas ass first with a pained grunt! She hit with enough force that she was certain she had bruised her bare backside! Her hip felt like it'd been knocked out of place as well! She tumbled until she ended up on her belly! The pain caused her to gag and cough... But despite that... Despite all the pain and the extensive beating, her body had taken... She pressed her palms to the canvas! "N-no! Not yet! I can still fighgh!!!" Her words became gargling as her windpipe was forced shut!

Arachne had found her way upon her. How long had it taken her to push up on her hands? She had no idea... Her vision had been blurry before the choke had started. To her, it had been but a blink... But the reality was that it had taken her well over six seconds to even begin moving again after she'd missed her hip attack.

She kicked weakly, but the result would only be that she rolled over, putting herself sitting and in the perfect position for Arachne's sleeper hold! Her hands clutched at Arachne's arms. No... Clutch wasn't right. Her fingers rested upon them... She couldn't escape. She couldn't pull away! She couldn't even kick any longer... Her legs splayed out giving the audience a clear view of her leotard-covered crotch. It was pulled tight against her feminine features. And damp from the excitement of the fight.

That dampness began to spread as her arms fell away from Arachne's grasp. The back of her fingers hit the canvas. Her mouth fell open allowing her tongue to loll out pathetically. And her glasses fell from the bridge of her nose, tumbling to rest beside her motionless fingers...

[dddybee]

Even after missing her Courageous Bomber, Courage still somehow had the determination to try and get back up! But she wouldn't if Arachne had anything to say about it. The spider ensnared Ms. Takemi in her finishing web, a simple chokehold, as Arachne aimed to put Courage to sleep as quickly and painlessly as possible. And sure enough, the moment came. Ms. Takemi became totally knocked out, succumbing to Arachne's latest trap!

The spider would breath a sigh of relief. The bell rang. Arachne was announced as the victor. Finally, it was over. Courage could stop pushing her body past the breaking point. Now that the Young Lioness was no longer in danger of further harm, Arachne could focus on how she wanted to look. It was very tempting for the bug girl to carry Courage's body to a recovery area backstage. But that would be...too openly nice. Much more in Honie's book, her heroic, unlikely friend. The audience didn't need to see Arachne's villainous disposition falter even further. Thankfully, medical staff would soon arrive, with the intent to take Ms. Takemi away for treatment. And with that, Arachne thought of a nice middle ground stance she could take with this!

"Well, well, well." Arachne snickered, finally regaining her villainous disposition. She pulled out her personal microphone and spoke into it. "Looks like Arachne's won this match! It seems that the power of believing in yourself isn't enough to defeat the Villainess of the Spider Web! Mwahahahaaaa!" Courage's fans booed the lightweight heel. "Thank you. Thank you. You're too kind. But I'm sure some of you are wondering why I seemed to show concern for my hapless prey tonight. Arachne can't just end the careers of anyone foolishly heroic enough to try and stop me. That would get boring! Arachne needs a stock of worthy heroes to terrorize and humiliate! And people like Courage have just the delusional level of perseverance, to keep Arachne well and entertained. HehHeh!"

The bug girl pointed at one of the nurses, as they were putting Courage on the stretcher. "It'd be a real shame if your body was as broken as Courage's and you weren't treated effectively. Real darn shame." Arachne threated, with just enough seriousness in her voice to make the nurse gulp. "So make sure you fix her up GOOD....For her next encounter, with Arachne Widow Spyder!" And with that combination of villainy with a touch of more wholesome undertones, Arachne made her leave. She sighed, knowing she'd be receiving an earful from both her stablemates. Honie for almost seriously injuring Courage, and Antonia for failing to make Courage submit. But at least completing this qualifier would push her further in her journey through LAW's Apex event!

Winner Via Knockout: Arachne W. Spyder