Tina Armstrong vs. Bast - Planned Obsolescence (Apex Qualifier)

[BlackAkuma]

”3!”

Cersei spared a quick glance up at the counting referee as she paced about outside the ring, hands on her head, on the verge of pulling hair straight out of her skull. This was going wrong, so wrong, and she was at a loss on how to stop the train from derailing further.

Bast was having similar questions, as she languished in the wreck that had, just a few seconds ago, been the time-keeper’s area. She had only just started to rise out of the wreckage when Tina came crashing down on her, driving her knees deep into her chest and knocking out what little wind she’d been able to find with her short recovery time. Gasping, wheezing, Bast could only and grasp her chest with one hand, using the other to grab the side of the announcer’s desk in an attempt to stand up.

Not a good place to be.

[Highfly]

Tina also heard the count. Fighting out here was something of an equalizer and if nothing else Tina showed she wasn't afraid to outright brawl with a bigger woman. The tigress grabbed Bast by the arm feeling confident and good about the match. She stepped towards the ring steps screaming as she looked to Irish whip Bast as hard as she could to send her running hard into the steel steps! Tina was trying to ride this momentum wave as much as she could, hoping to avoid a count out in the process..

"FOUR!"

[BlackAkuma]

Get up. Just get up.

That was the mantra that Bast kept repeating to herself as she tried to push her way up, doing her best to ignore the pain, knowing that this match was slipping through her fingers. She could hear Cersei screaming nearby, but she tuned it out, knowing it wasn’t anything she wasn’t acutely aware of. This was getting out of hand in a hurry, and she needed a quick turnaround.

The opportunity came to her as Tina moved in and seized her arm, pulling back in an attempt to send her hurtling towards the steel steps. A novel attempt, but this was where Bast’s superior size worked in her favor. She planted her feet, stopping the Irish Whip in its tracks, then spun around and reversed it, hurling Tina into the steps instead, backed by all the force she could muster.

[Highfly]

Tina looked on in horror as Bast spun and sent Tina flying with such force towards the steel steps that she was powerless to stop it! Tina smashed into the steps separating them from the ring as she went tumbling over them to the other side! "AAAARRRRGGHHHHH!" Tina howled as she felt her whole body jolt and pulse in pain! The hit the ground writhing and flopping about the agony she was in quite evident.

[BlackAkuma]

”Yes!”

Cersei almost squealed with delight when Bast reversed the whip and sent Tina hurtling into the steel step, hitting with a resounding crash that made the crowd wince. Her cries of anguish were a nice touch, too, showing just how much that switch up had rocked her - the match was firmly back on their side, now. The momentum had shifted.

But it wasn’t enough. Not quite.

Cersei moved over to Bast’s side, staying close to the barricade to give them ample space, and pointed at the steel steps as the referee reached a five count. She felt the suggestion was clear enough, but just to be certain, she gave a verbal command on top of it.

”The steps!” She clapped for emphasis. ”Slam her on the steps!”

Bast, breathing hard and heavy, took a moment to glare her sister’s way. While she could see the sense in what she was suggesting, it seemed a bit far. They were already doing well, right? Why push it? Why go that far?

Then again, she’d been doing well before, too, and Tina had turned things around. Could she take the risk?

With a heavy sigh, Bast moved forward, grabbed the top half of the steel steps, and tossed them to the side, leaving the bottom open. With that clear, she reached down with both hands and gripped Tina’s head, holding it tight and pulling up to her feet. ”Sorry about this.”

She doubted the apology would be much consolation for what came next, however, as she reached between Tina’s legs, lifted her up, and brought her crashing down, back first, onto the steel steps with a vicious power slam.

[Highfly]

Tina groaned as Bast lift her up and said something sounding like an apology. However as Tina was lift up it all went out the window as her spine came crashing down right on the corner of the steel steps! Tina felt her back explode in pain and her loud scream echoed throughout the arena! "AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Tina howled as her back didn't throb but instead tingled and jolted as she spasmed seemingly laid out and writhing on the ground as she flopped down to the hard surface outside the ring. She couldn't really heard anything other the the loud noise of the crowd and her own cries of pain.

[BlackAkuma]

The crowd recoiled in horror as Tina came crashing down. Not that this sort of thing was a rare sight in wrestling, but it wasn’t often that you saw someone brought down with that much impact onto such a hard surface with such merciless fervor. The scream that came after was enough to curdle the blood.

Everyone recoiled. The audience, the announcers, the referee. Even Bast took a step back from the horror that she had just created.

Everyone…except Cersei.

Cersei was too busy screaming for a different reason as she pointed straight to the ring, nearly jumping out of her heels. ”The ring! Get into the ring!”

Bast looked between them, confused for a second, before the referee’s count jolted her back to reality. The sense of the order struck her like a slap to the back of her head. A count-out win was a win all the same, and while it wasn’t the cleanest way to come out on top, at least it would mean that she didn’t have to hurt her anymore.

She took a deep sigh, then rolled in under the bottom rope and made her way up to her feet. She stepped back to the center of the ring and waited to see if Tina could make it back in.

But hoping she wouldn’t.

[Highfly]

Tina was laid out on the outside as Bast stood in the center of the ring while Tina writhed on the ground.

"SEVEN!"

Tina moaned and rolled reaching up to grab the apron, pulling herself up but her grip slipped and she collapsed back to the ground in a heap.

"EIGHT!"

Tina slapped the ground twice and pulled herself again. She was going to struggle her way back into that ring, smack this big woman back and shut up that damn snippy little mouthpiece running around the outside of the ring!

"NINE!"

Tina let out a howl as she pulled herself up and barely climbed up onto the apron and rolled back into the ring gasping while glaring at Bast. "You think you are big and bad... like that would end me huh? I am gonna smack you so hard your little friend out there actually shuts her damn mouth."

[BlackAkuma]

Just a few seconds. Three or so more seconds, and this match would be over, and Bast could stop bashing around this poor woman like a human pinata. Just a little longer, and…

…and she was getting back into the ring.

Bast closed her eyes and groaned as Tina came back into the ring and made her defiant speech. Brave. Bold. Utterly pointless. She could respect this woman’s tenacity, she had to, but she couldn't see the point of going on like this when she was so clearly done. Just stay down. It wasn’t worth a career.

But fine. Fine. If Tina wouldn’t give up, the choice would have to be taken from her.

The moment Tina was done speaking, Bast rushed in at full speed, brought her leg up, and threw a hard knee straight at the woman’s face, aiming for a knockout blow.

[Highfly]

Tina saw Bast coming and moved to the side allowing Bast to leap and hit nothing but air! The tigress knew she had work to do but her body ached. Tina grit her teeth knowing she had to give it her all. She wasn't just some block on the way to Alaina or someone for middleweights to aim for so they could get bumped up the ranks for a title shot. Tina howled and swung her leg up trying to catch Bast off guard with a super kick to the side of the head!