Jessie Alexander and Matilda Jacobs vs. Kanon Fujiwara and Roxanne Wolf

[Pegasus]

Matilda was about to head outside after Kanon, but the albino already rolled under the apron to make her escape. The puppeteer wasn’t desperate enough to get caught up in the dark down there. Luckily, she had other things to tend to like saving her partner so she got back in the ring and went outside to propel punches on Roxanne’s skull really giving her hard fists to the noggin. Being the more hardcore of the team, Matilda had to be the brave one and protect Jessie at all costs. If Jessie was alone with these monsters, she wasn’t going to come out alive Matilda felt.

Jessie was let go stumbling over herself as she coughed and held her head after suffering a beating from Roxanne. If Roxanne was kept busy, Jessie would go to the timekeeper’s area to grab Matilda the ring bell. If the referee wasn’t going to force the rules with The Selection around then Matilda shouldn’t have an excuse to be worried about disqualification. Matilda got tossed the weapon and proceeded to bring it down on Roxanne’s head to damage her further!

[CaptainL]

Kanon had slipped under the ring, fully intending to lie in wait for Matilda to come to her, but instead, the brunette would turn her attention to Roxanne. That mattered not, though - Kanon was willing to play the long game. She could be patient. She knew the plan, and she knew that everything would play into her hands sooner or later.

But that left Roxanne at the mercy of both Jessie and Matilda, who had joined forces against her! As they laid into the leader of the Wild Jackals with flying fists, Roxanne began to stumble back toward her corner, steered by the impact of every punch. She tried to get up a guard, or to throw some punches back Matilda's way, but it was no use - and the crowd was cheering louder and louder to see Matilda finally standing up against the Selection! Now, it seemed, they just might have a chance!

As Jessie tossed the ring bell to Matilda, that in turn came down hard on Roxanne's skull - and the Wolf bellowed in agony, dropping to her knees! The ring of the impact rang out through the air, and Roxanne could feel her temples throbbing against the blow. The world around her blurred and doubled. For a moment, she teetered back and forth on her knees, looking ready to fall at any moment...but she didn't fall. She stayed right where she was. And when the dust cleared, she looked back up at Matilda with fire in her eyes, her teeth clenched in a snarl!

It was going to take more than that to take Roxanne down! Just then, she jumped to her feet, swinging an elbow up in front of her. It cut through the air, aimed for the underside of Matilda's jaw for a European uppercut!

[Pegasus]

Matilda smiled as her team looked to be getting somewhere even without Astrid and Sarabeth to tow the line a little for them. Roxanne had been put to her knees as the ring bell clobbered her skull and it looked to go in Matilda's favor to continue the harsh punishment. It is what Sarabeth would have loved to see after the hell they went through back in Baltimore. However, the lionesses should know that you can't keep The Selection down for long and it was more apparent than ever as Roxanne was barely fazed. In fact, Roxanne rose to her feet and hit Matilda with a hard European Uppercut knocking some saliva from the puppeteer's mouth and the ring bell went flying as Matilda was the one falling on her stomach. Jessie had to get back in there grabbing a steel chair from the timekeeper's area and going to try and bash Roxanne on the head!

[CaptainL]

Even in the face of such a beatdown coming from Matilda, Roxanne wasn't going to slow down. It was as though whatever force had turned her into what she was now had changed something about her - she was stronger, tougher, than she ever had been before, and she wasn't going to succumb to the same weaknesses that had plagued her before the Selection took her in. In fact, being hit by the bell barely even seemed to register. She could still hear the ringing in her skull, and her head was throbbing where the blow had connected...but that still wasn't going to mean a thing. Roxanne was driven by nothing short of a bestial rage, and not even the ring bell was going to snap her out of it!

As she shot out with an uppercut, Matilda fell back, and Roxanne turned to focus her attention on her. Her eye still twitched from the lingering soreness in her head, but she cracked her knuckles and growled nonetheless. She took one step forward, and then another, closing in on her downed foe. There, she looked over Matilda with a hungry eye, as though waiting for the right moment to strike. Jessie thought that she could intercept her in time...but in reality, she was playing right into the Selection's tricks.

Hearing Jessie rush toward her, Roxanne turned to her, and right as she was about to bring the chair down on her head, she swept an elbow out, looking to parry the strike with one of her own and deflect the shot! The loud CLANG from the collision of cold steel against her arm rang out through the arena; Roxanne growled in pain and gnashed her teeth from the force of the blow shooting through her nerves. But she was willing to put herself through the pain if it meant furthering her master's goals. And, in fact, if it could distract Jessie long enough, that would be the first step.

The whole time, Kanon had been underneath the ring, watching and waiting for her moment to strike. Now, that moment had arrived. Just then, a pallid arm shot out from underneath the ring, and grabbed for Jessie's ankle! Kanon pulled at it as hard as she could, trying to take the blonde off her feet - and from there, to drag her into her domain!

"One! Two! Three! Four!" The referee was counting with the action now out of the ring, but no one was slowing down!

[Pegasus]

Jessie was utterly stunned seeing Roxanne just casually throwing an arm out to block her. Roxanne still felt the force, but it’s like it barely even registered to Roxanne that she had been hit with a metal chair. It is like if Superman took a punch, created a crater, and got back up barely scathed. Jessie nervously chattered her teeth with the chair falling from her grasp. How was they suppose to hurt these girls? The bell didn’t even seem to do anything besides minor grunts of pain. It’s like these psychos lived off pain and how much they could inflict and what could be inflicted upon their bodies. Did it make their master happy and how much stronger could they really get? Did Sarabeth have this much trouble?

Jessie didn’t have time to seek answers as Kanon pulled on her ankle roughly as Jessie fell on her face on the floor and her screams could be heard as she was dragged under the ring into total darkness. Matilda saw this and knew she was now going to have to go under there. However, Roxanne surely would try to block her path so Matilda had to get under there quick. Matilda just rolled as fast as she could under the ring before Roxanne could even turn around!

[CaptainL]

Roxanne did hurt, of course. She had just used her arm to deflect a metal chair. Her whole arm was throbbing, and she hissed under her breath and gnashed her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut to try and suppress the tears budding at their corners. But even if it did hurt, it didn't matter! Pain only made her weak, and she couldn't let anyone know she was feeling it. Everything she did, every move she made, was in service to her master, and if she needed to sacrifice her own well-being for the sake of that, then so be it! Still shaking her arm out to try and quell the aches and pains, Roxanne nevertheless looked up at Jessie, her lip pulled back in a snarl. No matter how much it hurt, nothing was going to hold her back. And it seemed that moment of shock had allowed her partner to make a move - as Kanon yanked at Jessie's leg to haul her underneath the ring!

There the albino sat, crouched in the shadows. It was hot, stifling and airless; Kanon was stooped over even on her knees, and nobody could see barely an inch in front of them. And yet, her expression was as flat and as calm as ever as she stared down at her opponent. Kanon worried not about such things. She had always lived in the darkness - no, she embraced it. This was her home, her kingdom, and her domain. Jessie had nowhere to run now, and nowhere to hide. All she could do was gaze up into Kanon's piercing red eyes as she loomed over her from above.

"...In time, perhaps, you'll see your place in the greater schemes of fate..." Kanon muttered, softly stroking a single finger across Jessie's cheek. "I know that fear in you. You're scared. Shy. Helpless, even. All those things are holding you back, just as they held her back. But He can free you from them. He will show you that power you've always yearned for...you just have to reach out to Him."

Before Kanon could say another word, though, Matilda slipped under the ring to join her partner! There, Kanon looked up at her. She raised an eyebrow in confusion - it was awfully bold for anyone to choose to join her down here. But that wouldn't matter. In fact, she could use this.

"Ah, what is this? Another wishes the audience of my court...unexpected, indeed. But you're a brave one," she said, looking up in Matilda's direction. "I don't wish to waste time on explanations when I already know what you want. So I say this...come a step closer, and you'll see what happens when you meddle in affairs beyond your comprehension." She laid her hand over Jessie's throat - not clenching down on it just yet, but with her fingers curled and her nails resting against her skin. She was every bit willing to follow on her threat!

Meanwhile, seeing that Matilda had followed Jessie under the ring, Roxanne was willing to leave this to Kanon. She rolled back into the ring to restart the count - although, seeing as Matilda was the legal woman, the referee would continue thereafter. "One!"

[Pegasus]

It seemed Roxanne was satisfied with Kanon handling the two Lionesses hence why she didn’t immediately come after Matilda under the ring. The referee wasn’t able to make heads or tails how long Matilda was set on being under the ring as she just kept counting. Matilda surrounded herself in the allure of the darkness pushing aside weapons stashed under as she saw Kanon’s glowing red eyes as well as feeling Jessie’s shirt until her partner’s own scared eyes looked at the puppeteer upside down. Based on Kanon’s words, she was ready to pounce on Jessie as Matilda couldn’t quite see Kanon starting to choke Jessie, but Jessie’s whimpers got the better of her acting as a direct call to Matilda. The count reached 5 and Matilda risked losing this match far too early. She needed to act now!

Matilda searched around until she came across a fire extinguisher feeling the bulkiness and see a little color of red. Perfect! This would be the fastest weapon to grab Jessie out of there. Matilda glared down Kanon quickly pulling Jessie away from Kanon and before the sorcereress could grab Jessie’s legs, Matilda blasted her with the fire extinguisher engulfing under the ring with white foam and hopefully blast Kanon out the other side of the ring! Matilda dropped the weapon and dragged Jessie out from under the ring as they both coughed as the crowd cheered. The referee counted 8 and then 9 as Matilda rolled back in just before she would’ve lost.

[CaptainL]

In the darkness beneath the ring, Kanon could barely see anything. Perhaps Matilda couldn't even see how she had Jessie trapped. But that wasn't even a cause for concern. She could hear how Matilda had stopped. She knew that she had gotten inside the puppeteer's mind. That was the first step. Now, she just had to use Jessie as leverage. Matilda had a choice - she could submit to the Selection, or Kanon could subject her friend to all the torments she had prepared for her. Either way, it would be a blow against her morale and her confidence. And even if this wouldn't end the match, the damage would already be done - perhaps it would even rattle Matilda enough to make the rest of this match easy. If it was the long game she had to play, she was willing to do that.

Kanon couldn't see what Matilda was doing. But she could hear her shuffling around - no doubt trying futilely to find something she could use to tip the scales, and to slip out of the chokehold the Selection had on her soul. She was panicking. She was falling to despair - just as they had hoped for! Even when she felt Jessie starting to be jerked back toward Matilda, it didn't worry her - she just leaned in closer to where she figured Matilda's face was. "You're worried. I know. Down here...nothing is hidden from us. Down here, we know exactly how afraid you are-"

But Kanon didn't get to finish that. In the darkness, she had no way of realizing what Matilda was actually trying to do - not until it was too late! Just then, Matilda pulled the trigger on the fire extinguisher - and Kanon was blasted full in the face with a torrent of foam! Gasping and groaning, she dropped to her back, her hands shooting up to shield her face as she went rolling out from under the ring. At the same time, Matilda slipped out with Jessie in tow - and as they emerged, the fans burst out into cheers! Right when it seemed when all hope was lost, Matilda was standing in defiance!

There was still one member of the Selection left unaccounted for, though. Roxanne was still in the ring, and she was far from finished! As soon as the brunette got back into the ring, her eyes settled on her in a glare as her lip twisted into a snarl - and then, she took off in a charge, her arm drawn back and prepared to hit Matilda with a lariat as soon as she rose to her level!

[Pegasus]

Matilda didn’t have time to soak in the cheers after nearly missing a count-out loss. Kanon had been subdued for now and she was slipping in the foam Matilda put through her so that left the aggressive wolf girl known as Roxanne. Roxanne ran for Matilda going for a Lariat, but Matilda started pulling the top rope down to let Roxanne vault over it back to the outside. If that happened, Matilda slipped out again as she went to gather chairs from the timekeeper’s area and she passed one to Jessie. The referee was still conflicted and went to warn Jessie and Matilda that they would be disqualified, but she feared for the Selection’s retribution if such a meaningless result ended their chance to torment Sarabeth’s friends. She had no choice, but to keep her mouth shut and turn a blind eye.

Matilda saw the referee pacing back and forth, but she knew that while this was suppose to be a standard tag team match with rules enforced, The Selection just made their own set of rules that forced the match into dangerous territory. Where anything goes regardless if there is a referee or not. Matilda decided to play by their rules and that’s why her and Jessie bashed their chairs against the floor. They would shoot to clobber Roxanne’s head in with a conchairto letting the metal do their talking for them!

[CaptainL]

Roxanne was all about one thing - aggression. And right now, she had plenty of that stored up and ready to unleash on her opponents. That was what was guiding her as she took off in a wild charge toward Matilda, her arm whipping through the air to smack her over the ropes. But all that momentum could come at her expense, too. Blinded by her rage and her single-minded hunger for retribution, she paid no heed to how she was heading straight toward the ropes...or how she could just as easily get thrown over, if Matilda managed to dodge! Roxanne only noticed a moment too late that Matilda had pulled the rope down - and the next thing she knew, she went toppling out, spilling onto the floor below!

Her eyes went wide as she sailed over the edge, seconds before she dropped down face-first onto the floor with a thud. Then, she pushed herself up and rubbed at her head. Grumbling, she shook herself out, looking back and forth. She wasn't about to let this slow her down for long, of course - this was only a minor setback for the Selection, and especially for her. As she collected herself, she began to push herself back up to her knees...right in time for both Jessie and Sarabeth to bash her in the head with their chairs simultaneously!

The loud, metallic clang of the chairs colliding rang out through the arena, only drowned out by the shrill scream from Roxanne that followed. Her entire head had erupted into a searing pain! She grabbed at her temples, falling to her back and writhing wildly as her legs kicked at the air. Roxanne might have been tough, but there was only so much she could endure. She'd taken plenty of chair shots in this match...but this blow to the head was well enough to leave her stunned!

It was a good thing for the Selection, then, that Roxanne wasn't alone. Right around the same time, Kanon managed to wipe the foam out of her face, blinking a couple of times to make sure her eyes were clear. But then, she rose to her feet in a swift and graceful motion, as though this hadn't slowed her down in the least. So too, the flat, placid look on her face as her eyes settled on her opponents showed just how little she cared. Even if her opponents had armed themselves and had taken Roxanne down, it wouldn't make any difference. She already knew her victory - his victory - was assured.

"I see the two of you are no strangers to letting your aggression out, either," the albino mused. "Can you truly say you have any moral high ground over us? What is it that separates you from the mindless brutes? Just going after the right targets? If that is so...then go ahead. Show me what you intend to do..."

Kanon spread her arms, inviting Jessie and Sarabeth closer. If she managed to get into their heads with her taunts, that would be a blow against them. Even if she couldn't...she still had her tricks up her sleeves.