Standard LAW Match, Normal Rules - "The Midnight Panther" Austin Felix vs "The Pantheress" Bast!

[IJustLikeBirdsMan]

NOT good! Not good not good not good! Alarm bells rang in Austin's head. There was no winning this contest of strength, but Austin had thought to at least make a good showing.

No such luck! The massive, muscular woman quickly forced Austin backwards, making him take step after step in reverse just trying in vain to stabilize his footing. It wasn't long before he felt his back press against the corner turnbuckles.

"Not...too shabby..." Austin grinned through his grimace, legitimately impressed by his opponent's strength. He could barely hold Bast's arms in place in front of him; only a moment or two more, and she could probably raise his arms above him and he wouldn't be able to stop it.

This is going south FAST, Austin panicked internally. But what to do?? He was at a loss for ideas--and for room to move, now.

[BlackAkuma]

Power. Raw power.

While Bast had more skill than many would’ve thought, and she didn’t have to fight like a blunt instrument, there were times when it was useful just to be a freight train, and this was one of them.

Step after step, Bast pushed Austin across the ring, until there was no more ring to push him into - just a corner, up against the pads, nowhere to go—the Danger Zone.

Time to go to work.

Bast pulled back, then launched a pure offensive, lashing out with a barrage of punches at short range. Stiff, strong strikes, attempting to overwhelm his defenses and beat him down, taking full advantage of his cornered position.

[IJustLikeBirdsMan]

Austin's reflexes were the only thing that saved him from Bast's first punch. As soon as she stepped back to wind up, Austin dropped his arms in a defensive position and managed to block Bast's fist.

Which, of course, hurt like hell. Pain seared throughout Austin's arms, only getting worse and worse as Bast delivered strike after strike at his defenses. Austin gritted his teeth through the pain, trying to think of a way to respond: As soon as she backs up to reset, I'll feign a punch before switching to a kick, and--

His thoughts were interrupted as one of Bast's strikes batted Austin's arms out of the way, even as she wound up for yet another strike. Austin's reflexes couldn't save him now.

POW!

Bast's fist connected with Austin's face, and he momentarily blacked out. His knees buckled from the hit, and he collapsed backwards against the turnbuckles. Austin only managed to stay up because his arms somehow hooked the top rope on either side of him, but he could barely move with the world spinning so quickly around him.

Austin was stunned--literally...

[BlackAkuma]

Bast turned up the heat, lashing out, pounding away at her opponent’s defenses. Austin, to his credit, was doing a commendable job of warding off her assault - most opponents would’ve been down by now, their guards would’ve given way, they would’ve been on their backs. He was hanging tough, more than anyone could’ve expected of him. It was genuinely impressive.

But it wouldn’t be enough. Bast was through hammer blows, and as with any wall, his guard was going to crumble sooner or later. All she needed to do was chip it at the right spot. The exact spot.

There.

A good punch found its mark, stunning him. Not for long, but a second was all she needed. As the referee rushed in to break them apart, Bast reached out, wrapped her arms around Austin’s midsection and pulled him out of the corner, lifting his feet off the canvas as she moved.

Bast took a second to brace her feet, then lifted him up, arched her back, and hurled him towards the center of the ring with a belly-to-belly suplex, getting good height in the process.

[IJustLikeBirdsMan]

Austin's mouth was wrenched open as Bast's arms locked around his torso, and a gasp, forced from his lungs by the Pantheress, fled his body and escaped into the arena.

Austin could be forgiven for thinking Bast was implementing a bearhug to sap his strength for the rest of the fight, but to his horror he realized--the hard way--that Bast's quest to shatter his spine was only half her plan. His stomach dropped as he felt himself lifted entirely off the mat with his feet in the air as easily as if he were made of paper.

The world flipped around him and Bast before coming to a sudden and painful halt as Austin's body was violently caught between the mat and his opponent.

The anvil and the hammer.

A quiet "Uggghhhhhh...." dribbled from Austin's lips as he lay on his back, comically spread-eagle and breathing heavily to replace all the oxygen Bast had squeezed from him--which had been all of it.

Austin's mind cried out for his limbs to respond, to pick his body back up to continue the fight. Only his fingers responded, and them with only a slight twitch to let Austin know they were still attached to his hand. The loud roar of the crowd only vaguely registered in Austin's mind.

The situation...was not ideal!

[BlackAkuma]

Bast had no idea what Austin had hoped to accomplish in this match, but she felt safe to say that the reality wasn’t anywhere close to it. Not yet, anyway.

True, they hadn't been fighting for that long, but Bast’s matches tended to go a short time, anyway, and she could tell when her opponent wasn’t up to snuff. Austin wasn’t unimpressive; she was sure he would be a real threat to most foes he would go up against in the mixed ranks. He just had the bad fortune of coming across her, and this was the result: Him, lying in the middle of the ring, looking utterly broken.

”Yes! Yes!” Circe cried out from the sidelines and slapped the apron. ”Break him! Rip him apart!”

Despite the ‘suggestions’ from her sister, Bast didn’t have much interest in crushing Austin, not if she could get away with it. She rolled to her feet and strode over to his fallen form, her shadow casting over him as she approached.

Bast’s stepped over his waist and dropped down to straddle him, her size drawfing his, pinning hit to the canvas with a simple sit. She pressed one hand to his chest to keep him down, while she drew the other one back, making her intent clear with a tightened fist. She brought her steely gaze down to lock eyes with him.

”Do you submit?”

[IJustLikeBirdsMan]

Austin could feel his senses returning, but they were still a long way off. He thought he heard someone calling for his opponent to rip him in half, but it was hard to tell if that was real or not when the world around him was still spinning.

He was suddenly pulled closer to consciousness when a fairly solid object suddenly dropped down onto hips, however, and Austin quickly recognized the figure sitting on top of him, silhouetted by the stadium lights above:

Bast...

"Do you submit?"

Austin inhaled another deep breath of oxygen, made slightly more difficult my Bast's hand pressed down on his chest, but managed to gulp enough air in spite of it.

Bast's fist was poised threateningly above in the air slightly behind her body. Austin knew what that fist could do; he didn't relish the thought of taking it again.

But then again, he hated losing even more. He grinned back at Bast.

"Not a chance!" he shot back defiantly, then looked back at Bast's waiting fist. He planned to jerk his head to the side at the last moment, hoping to avoid taking a punch to the face...or at least, avoid taking it to the nose or mouth...

[BlackAkuma]

Bast had him pinned beneath her, thighs gripping his hips with iron strength, her weight keeping him grounded. Austi wasn’t done, not completely, but things were looking exceptionally bad. Regaining his faculties, but not fast enough

She gave him the chance to submit, and he might’ve taken that as a slight, but it wasn’t meant to be one. Bast had been in similar situations before, and she was never so proud that she would risk serious injury over it. There was no shame in knowing when to quit. This wasn’t bloodsport.

Austin, it seemed, felt differently.

She sighed at his defiance, but it was his choice to make, for better or worse. ”As you wish.” She reeled, lunged forward, and brought the hammer down with a devastating blow that would’ve obliterated him, if it hit.

So it was good for him that it didn’t then. Instead, he moved his head aside at the last second, and her fist wound up smacking the canvas instead, hitting with a dull thwack. It sent feedback through her arm, stunning her for a moment, but a moment in a fight was a long time.

[IJustLikeBirdsMan]

Holy FUCK, Austin screamed inside his mind as the mere sound of Bast's fist striking the mat next to him reverberated through his soul. Did her fist just break the fucking sound barrier?? She very well might have, based on the surprised look of pain across Bast's face above him.

The pain seemed to distract her just long enough, too. So, Austin made a move: It's now or never!

Behind Bast's back, Austin shot his leg up and drove his foot at the woman's head. He aimed his wrestling boot at the the back of her skull, praying he could surprise her with a jarring kick to knock the powerful woman off of his body and let him escape her grasp...

[BlackAkuma]

Missing a punch at nearly point-blank range - Bast had to concede this wasn’t one of her better moments.

It wouldn’t have been too big a deal under normal circumstances, however. She was still on top, in control, still in a position to crush Austin and take control of this match. She shrugged off the pain, focused on her opponent, reeled back, and prepared to let another salvo fly - this one would find its target, no question.

This time, he was ready, lashing out with a kick to the head. Tough as she was, even she couldn't shrug off a hit like that. It was enough to knock her away, a jarring hit, forcing her to give him a moment of peace while she recouped.