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

[BlackAkuma]

Cersei would probably be mad at her for not trying one of her finishing moves, but at this point, Bast was well past caring about that sort of thing. She wanted - needed - to put this woman down in a fast, decisive fashion, and she didn’t much care how pretty or efficient it wound up being. Just end this. End it now.

It seemed like a noble enough goal, and the knee would’ve done the trick if it connected. Unfortunately, Tina seemed to have different ideas.

Bast flew forward as the blow missed and spun about to correct things, only to wind up eating a superkick to the face. The blow landed flush and sent spittle flying, and she might have fallen down all the way if the corner wasn’t there to catch her fall. She wound up flopping against it with her eyes dazed and arms over the ropes.

[Highfly]

Tina had Bast and knew she had to keep going. The tigress charged right into Bast slumped into the corner leaping and leading with her knee! Tina was looking to crash into Bast knocking the fight out of her further. Tina had to keep going, she was tired of being a stepping stone and wasn't content with her lot in life ever since losing her middleweight championship.

Tina would try to then grab Bast and lift her up into a sitting position on the turnbuckle before climbing it herself. The tigress was going to try to go for a big flashy painful move to end this heavyweight right here. Tina was hoping to get her legs wrapped around Bast's head and lean back to hit her with a big rope rope hurricanrana!

[BlackAkuma]

Bast wasn’t alone in the corner for long, either - only a few moments passed before she was greeted with a fresh knee to the face, leaving her glassy eyed and limp. She was out of it, so much so that her foe had little trouble getting her up on the top turnbuckle, putting her in position for a huge fall.

”Bast! Wake up! Wake up!”

For once, Cersei’s shrill voice served a good purpose - it did help to rouse Bast back to leave, giving her a sharp shock to the eardrums. As Tina leaped up and clasped her legs around her neck, she came to life and held on tight to her opponent’s legs, pulling back at the right moment to cancel all of her momentum. Tina was left to dangle from her neck, a piece of human jewelry, before Bast lifted her back up all the way, leaped off the top rope with her legs split wide, and sent her crashing to the mat from above with a massive sit-out powerbomb, hammering her into the canvas with devastating force.

She made sure to hold her on the mat right after the impact, too, clutching her stomach tight while she leaned forward for the pin. ”Stay down.”

[Highfly]

Tina thought she could put Bast away in style looking to try to really take it to her. She did take it to her, but she didn't do enough. Tina was in a horrible position as her attempt at the top rope hurricanrana failed and she was again lift up! Tina shook her head and tried to frantically punch at Bast but she only got one good hit as se was rocketing towards the mat crashing with a thunderous bang as she hit the mat!

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Tina howled as she was pinned, Bast keeping hold of the tigress as she pinned Tina immediately! Tina squirmed but barely moved as the pin count marched on.

"ONE!"

"TWO!"

"THRE-"

Tina howled and thrust a shoulder hard to the side just barely breaking the pin after the top rope Powerbomb by Bast, but Tina was hardly bouncing back to her feet. She laid there, her chest heaving as she kept the match going but how effective could she possible be after that?

[BlackAkuma]

That had to be it. It had to be.

While the powerbomb wasn’t Bast’s finisher, she could do the move with serious force, to say nothing of the added impact thanks to the height. It was a miracle the move hadn't knocked Tina out cold, but conscious or not, there was only so much punishment that anyone’s body could take. She was done. She had to be.

…and she kicked out. Damn it.

On one hand, Bast had to admire the tenacity, the determination, the sheer grit of this woman to keep struggling and fighting with all the punishment she’d been put through. On the other hand, even her patience was starting to run thin. All she wanted to do was end this match so she could let Tina walk away in one piece, but the woman just kept coming back, defiant to the end.

If that was the way it was to be, then Bast could only see one option: take the choice away from Tina.

As the referee backed off, Bast rolled her opponent over, reached under her arms, and laced her fingers behind the woman’s head, pulling her into a tight full nelson. At the same time, she brought her legs around the woman’s waist and clamped on tight with a figure-figure variation of the scissorhold, putting extreme pressure on her midsection. Grinding away with intense force, aiming to compress her lungs and steal her breath.

In other words, a smother. If Tina wouldn’t give up and a pin wouldn’t work, Bast would just make her take a nap. Simple enough.

[Highfly]

Tina was in a lot of pain as Bast was on the move and the tigress was unable to stop her from doing anything. She wanted to move and fight back but her body wasn't cooperating after that impact. Tina let out a choked gag and frantically kicked the mat, thrashing about in the iron grip of Bast. Tina's face was red and she tried to yell but only a wheezing groan came out. The tigress was desperate as she clawed and punched at Bast's legs while her kicking thrashing legs moved side to side, kicking the mat. Tina was struggling in this hold and if she couldn't find a way out she was in real trouble....

[BlackAkuma]

Of all the ways Bast could’ve put Tina down - and there were many - this had to be the best overall. Getting knocked out wouldn’t do any permanent damage to her, so long as the referee was on point with her job. Little risk of any broken bones, no damage that would put her on the shelf. It would be quick, painless, and efficient.

That was the idea, anyway. The execution was a different matter.

Tina fought as if her life depended on, and given the situation, she could be forgiven for thinking it was. Despite the size difference, locking her down was no easy task, and Bast struggled to keep her in check, fighting with every step of the way.

But she never eased up. Never loosened her grip. She kept the pressure, rode down the struggles, and waited for inevitable.

[Highfly]

Tina's attacks and thrashing became weaker. She grit her teeth and did one last violent flurry before her body seemingly went limp. Tina blacked out, it wouldn't be until later that she would come to realize that she had fallen short and that her bid to show that she wasn't a middleweight ranking stepping stone or a roadblock to Alaina failed entirely. Right now though she was unconscious and entirely lifeless.

[BlackAkuma]

The moment Bast felt life flee from Tina’s body, she released the hold and let her down,easing her to the mat and making sure she came down okay. She had put up an awesome fight, arguably the toughest fight she’d had since she came to LAW. Stone was the only opponent she would say was tougher, and since that woman was nigh on seven feet tall, it wasn’t exactly a fair comparison. For a middleweight, it was more than an admirable feat.

Cersei, however, didn’t seem to share the opinion, as she was too busy jumping for joy when the referee came over to check on Tina and called for the bell immediately after. ”Yes!” She slapped the ring apron. ”Yes! I told you! We told you!”

Cersei made her way into the ring and nearly knocked the referee over as she came to the rising Bast’s side. She lifted her sister’s hand amidst a chorus of boos, parading her around the ring like she’d just won a championship.

All the while, Bast kept her eyes down, looking towards Tina as more officials made their way into the ring to check on her.

[Highfly]

Tina slowly started to wake up hearing the music of Bast playing. She had failed. She felt embarrassed like she really did just exist as a little roadblock or test for women trying their luck with her older friend, tag partner and trainer Alaina. She was just a gatekeeper now, and no matter how hard she tried she felt like there was nothing she could do about it. Between the failed bid at the tag titles which saw both Thundergirls with concussions, and in Tina's case other injuries that kept her out for a few weeks and being knocked out here she needed to do some work. More than that. She either had to reinvent herself or be resigned to the fact that winning a title at 19 years old would be the highlight of her career.

She glanced over at Bast and Cersi, shooting daggers at them before trying to get up, stumbling and falling down before crawling to the ropes, rolling under and landing awkwardly on her feet before hobbling away, ignoring everything around her and unable to look anyone or any fan in the eye as she hobbled backstage.