Mary Green vs. Countess Dante [D]

[CaptainL]

Despite her best efforts to escape, Isabella wasn't going anywhere. She tried shouting back in defiance, refusing to bow to Mary's whims. But Mary was about to show her where her disobedience got her, as she landed three sharp stomps against her back, followed by three elbows! Each blow that landed caused the Countess to let out a squeal, leaving her sinking lower into the mat. When the dust cleared, she was groggy and dazed. And things would get even worse, as Mary grabbed her by the head, dragging it upward to look out on the crowd that was witnessing her most ignoble defeat!

When she heard the fans cheer in response to Mary's promise to punish her, Dante let out a gasp, her eyes wide and her face pale. She couldn't believe this - she couldn't begin to fathom how insolent this washed-up part time joke of a wrestler had to be to toy with the Deadliest Woman Alive! This was her first match in LAW, a chance for her to show off her skills and establish herself as a worthy member of the roster, and she was blowing it. Her hand clenched in a fist, slamming against the canvas with rage. She wouldn't let herself be reduced to a joke!

"You FOOLS!! You absolute FOOLS!!" she roared. "I could kill every single one of you with my arm tied behind my back, and you DARE to taunt me? Do NONE of you know fear? Are you ALL such imbeciles!?" Her teeth clenched, and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to form in her eyes. She couldn't stand being humiliated and belittled like this in what was supposed to be her time to shine. But she couldn't let that show, of course. She was too tough to cry.

Either way, Mary would soon make good on her promise. She slammed another few elbows into Isabella's face, each one of them jostling her! "Ouch!! Gah!! Oof! Oh! Ow!! Aah!!" Her body bucked up and down as the shock of each blow ran along her spine, knocking her from one direction to another. By the time Mary was done with her, Isabella hung limply from her facelock, panting and groaning as she watched the world spin through glazed-over eyes. She was better than this, she knew she was. So what in the world had happened?

[Pegasus]

Mary’s elbows hit pretty hard as Mary pushed Isabella away from her to leave her pretty woozy. The science teacher hadn’t expected Isabella to be this easy and she expected the ninja to have some fight in her seeing as she was trained in a lethal fighting form. Mary looked over Isabella seeing as she was worse for wear and did notice the feint trail of tears starting to form. This pulled at the strings of her motherly side and put her on pause from her dominant streak. She wanted to win, but she wasn’t a sadist.

“Uh….are you alright? You aren’t hurt too badly?” Mary asked as she cautiously came close to Isabella.

[CaptainL]

When Mary let Isabella go, the girl practically flopped against the mat, the force of gravity dragging her down face-first into the canvas. She lay with her arms and legs splayed in all directions, only slowly taking in breaths. Her back felt like it was numb, but every time she so much as moved an inch, she felt another sting run up along her spine, causing her to wince and hiss as her teeth clenched in a snarl. Even she had to admit it - that hurt.

However, what hurt more was when Mary leaned down over her, asking if she was okay. At that, the Countess's brows narrowed into a defiant glare. "Of COURSE I'm fine-!!" she blurted out, shoving her hands underneath her to push herself up from the mat. "Bah! How FOOLISH anyone would need to be to think they could take on such a DEADLY MASTER of the FIGHTING ARTS!!"

This was an insult! Isabella knew she couldn't go down. This was her chance to set the first impressions for her LAW career, and the last thing she needed was anyone thinking she could be so easily bested by someone who wasn't even wrestling as their first job! She needed the world to see how tough she was. Surely, a master of death itself wouldn't be ready to throw in the towel!

Fueled by sheer defiance, Dante shoved herself back to her feet. But as soon as she was up on even footing, she doubled over, wincing in pain as another shock ran out through her back. She rubbed at her spine, desperate to quell the aches - she couldn't let it hold her back like this. "Ow, ow..." But she still looked back at her opponent with a glare. "I'm FINE!"

[Pegasus]

Dante couldn’t fool the crowd, she was hurting pretty badly and Mary had done quite a number on her. Mary acted surprised as Isabella snapped at her and continued her persona in order to appear defiant and grand. Isabella may have had superior combat skills if you let her near, but Mary knew of her weaknesses now so she had room to exploit. Mary assumed another fighting stance and wanted Isabella to come to her this time. She circled Isabella and kept her distance hoping to goad the grandmaster into attacking her.

So many directions this one could go and it was near unpredictable. A chop could turn into an armbar. A Headbutt could escalate into a sleeperhold. A simple roundhouse kick could be reverted into an ankle lock back down on the mat. These two mastered their craft well and Mary had proven she wasn’t going to be easy despite first glances. She’s going home a winner today!

[CaptainL]

So far, this match was not going according to Isabella's plans. She expected her debut to prove that she was easily more capable than every single wrestler in LAW, and to send a wakeup call to the world of combat sports that its new Crown Princess of Death had arrived. Mary was the kind of opponent she should have been able to completely dismantle in a matter of seconds. And yet, she was actually struggling against her, and had actually been brought to the mat beneath her, at the mercy of her submissions. This did not bode well for the Countess's image, and that was what stung most of all. She was here to prove herself in the promotion for the first time, and she couldn't squander an opportunity like this!

She hissed as she rose to her feet, feeling a shudder run through her spine that reminded her of the pain she was in - pain that only made her even angrier to know that she had been forced to feel this way from a clearly inferior opponent. She winced as she took another step, circling around her foe, but she knew she couldn't let it hold her back. This next moment was crucial. If she wanted to show Mary, and the world, that she was through being treated like a joke, she would have to prove it by dealing a decisive blow. Luckily, Isabella already had an idea. Moments like these called for the most deadly weapons in her arsenal, weapons that Mary couldn't possibly see coming or prepare for, and she knew just how to use them!

Slowly drawing closer to Mary, Isabella prepared the Hidden Technique. Her hands were held at her side, her left hand covering her right hand. As she came into range, she would swing her left hand out in an arc, hoping to deflect any blows Mary might send her way. If that worked, she would continue its path across her face, her fingers curled inward to rake her eyes with her nails! And if that was successful, her right hand would quickly jab forward, with a finger-tip strike to Mary's throat! That was, assuming Mary didn't counter the whole thing before it had a chance to work...

[Pegasus]

Mary hadn’t expected to be in this easy of a match and while her motherly side tended to get the better of her dominant streak, she did pretty well against a legit martial artist. Mary expected to be on her butt throughout this match, but surprisingly, she had became the one controlling the match. Isabella had gotten back into a battle stance and Mary put her fists up as the grandmaster came at her. Little did the science teacher know that Isabella was looking to play a little dirty. Mary came in close as Isabella reached up raking her eyes making her howl in absolute agony!

Isabella held advantage and tried to go in for a throat strike, but the referee caught the arm glaring at Isabella.

“That’s a warning, Isabella! Do it again and I will throw this match out!”

The referee’s warning was just a minor distraction as Mary huddled in a corner and wiped her eyes of the pain blinking in order to get her vision back.

[CaptainL]

When Isabella saw that her nails had raked Mary's eyes, sending the teacher reeling backward in pain, a smug grin flashed across her face. This was more like it! Not only was she finally dominating the action the way she was rightfully supposed to, she had done exactly what she had set out to do in coming to LAW. She was demonstrating the deadly potential of her fighting arts, able to debilitate any opponent with a mere swipe of her finger! The crowd was booing her for her tactics, but it hardly mattered to her one way or the other. Now was the time to deliver the coup de grace, as her hand shot out, directing a jab straight into Mary's throat!

That was, until she found her hand suddenly halted in midair. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, she looked over to see the ref holding her back. At first, the Countess was confused...but now, as the official explained the rules, she was outraged! Was the referee trying to stop this match because it was "against the rules?" Bah! A master of true combat didn't care about whatever arbitrary restrictions some governing body of soft, impotent weaklings who had probably never been in a fight in their lives dictated, and Isabella wouldn't take this lying down!

"Oh, really?! Because I raked her eyes?" Dante turned to face the referee with her hands on her hips, with conviction that would probably be a lot more convincing coming from someone who wasn't as tiny as she was. "And how do you expect any of these 'wrestlers' to handle themselves in a fight where these moves do happen? If your champion can be taken out by any thug on the street with an eye poke, they don't DESERVE to be honored! I'm a REAL fighter! Not some overpaid athlete!"

It seemed as though Isabella's ego had gotten in the way of her. Now, she was more focused on standing on her soapbox than actually pressing the advantage she had achieved on Mary! At the sight of something so absurd, the fans began to laugh - which only made Isabella even angrier, causing her to stomp a foot on the mat and glare back at them. "DO YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY!? It's a TRAVESTY that the fighting community is training POSERS!"

[Pegasus]

Mary wiped her eyes of the pain and blinked a few times returning to form as she saw Isabella arguing with the referee and the crowd. A rule breaker, how unoriginal? She had enough troublemakers sleeping during her classes or roughhousing during her patrol during lunch hour. However, Mary was smarter to not let this get the better of her as she came up behind Isabella and pulled a fast move ducking down with her arm going up in-between Dante’s legs! Mary then pulled over to her side hoping to topple the grandmaster over for a rollup pin.

The referee noticed getting down to start the count and Mary hung on til she could hear a three count!

“1! 2!”

[CaptainL]

Ironically, in advocating for the purity of no-holds-barred, all-out combat, Isabella had made the one mistake every fighter was taught to avoid - she had let her eyes off her opponent, and given her a moment to strike. As her back was turned to Mary, the teacher saw her opportunity, and she was quick to come up behind Isabella to set up her next move. At first, Isabella heard the laughter and mockery of the crowd turn to cheers, and a grin spread over her face. She was convinced they were cheering for her - that at long last, they had seen the truth! But it was just seconds later that Mary's arm shot out between her legs, and suddenly, Isabella found herself lifted off her feet!

"WHAT!?" Her jaw dropped in a gasp, blindsided by Mary's quick wits. Before she knew it, she had been pulled over to the side and swung head over heels, and the referee moved into place to start counting! The first few counts went out without issue; the Countess was simply too shocked by how quickly her fortunes had reversed to find the will to fight back. Eventually, she realized that she was a second away from losing the match, and she began to twist and turn, kicking her legs to try and escape. But by that point, it was too late.

"3!!"

Isabella kicked out of the pin just seconds after the referee made the count. She sat back up, panting for breath...just in time to hear the bell ring, and to see the referee move to Mary's side to lift her arm.

"Here is your winner, by way of pinfall, MARY GREEN!!"

The crowd cheered such a victory...but Isabella was not amused. At first, her jaw fell open in a gape - it was simply unforgivable, no, unimaginable that Mary could have overcome a legendary martial artist like her! Her brow soon furrowed as her eyes narrowed into a glare, her muscles going rigid, and she slammed a fist into the mat in frustration. Even if the fans were cheering for Mary, Isabella still had plenty of words to say.

"THAT wasn't fair!! You just snuck up on me while my back was turned!! You call that honorable?! I demand a recount!!" It didn't matter that Isabella was going against her very philosophy that rules and honor codes meant nothing in the fighting arts. Now that her way of thinking has turned on her, she wasn't happy!

[Pegasus]

When Mary heard the three count being uttered just as Isabella kicked out, she had to admit she was a bit surprised about getting the fast win. The referee raised her arm in victory as the crowd cheered loudly for the science teacher, but the grandmaster would not let this stand. The grandmaster demanded a rematch, but Mary had to stand firm with her as she crossed her arms.

“Unfortunately for you, this match is over. I won fair and square so you’ll have to accept things as is. If you want a rematch, we can plan out something in a few weeks when I can get another match slot opened up. You were valiant, but that’s a D+ effort at best. We’re done here,” Mary stated as her theme played and she walked past Isabella ending this ordeal.

Mary walked up the ramp and slapped fives with the fans smiling gaining one of her first victories in LAW and the fans were hopeful to see Mary back in the ring soon, but for now, she had exams to grade and a family to take care of.

Winner: Mary Green