Rosie Knuckles vs. Betsy Lincoln - Knockout Queens

[BlackAkuma]

Was Valerie a bitch?

She’d had that accusation leveled at her before, and while she didn’t like to ponder such things too much or focus on the negative, she would be lying if she said it never bothered her.
Holy fuck, Betsy had this. It was hard to believe, but she could legitimately feel the tide turning in her favor, that everything was how she needed it to be to close this.

Okay, Rosie had taken her best punch, her absolute best, and she was still on two feet, but so what? She was dead on her feet, a strong wind would’ve put her down right now. All Betsy had to do was close in and finish the job, easy kill, and the match was hers. Her first win in LAW, and against a veteran - you couldn't ask for a better way to start turning things around.

She stormed in with fist drawn, ready to end it all with one punch, and-

”Betsy, stop!”

Instinct was the only thing that kept her from going on, as the referee’s voice forced her to halt. She got between them as Rosie ducked between the ropes, forcing her to give space and costing time. Valuable time. Time that Betsy would’ve much instead spent inverting this bitch’s nose.

”Oh, you’re shitting me!” She growled and stepped back as she did her best to get a good look at Rosie from behind the referee. ”Hey! Hey! Wake the fuck up, Pinkie Pie, I need to put you back to sleep! Come on, I don’t have all day!”

[Dubski]

Rosie Knuckles was breathing heavily as she tried to focus herself. She was rocked by that hit from Betsy, and she was struggling to keep upright, and only found solace by ducking between the ropes. She was aware enough that she needed to keep herself there as she recovered. Knuckles was surprised she was in this position--she hadn't expected it at all. She thought she'd be putting away Lincoln in no time and moving on to the next fight.

But after the referee was done getting Betsy to give Rosie space, she went over to Rosie and told her that she had to get out of the ropes. The Pink-Haired Pugilist rocked her head back and let out a sigh before sighing, "Fuuuuck..." under her breath. She closed her eyes and took one deep breath, running a hand on her chin as she grabbed the top rope, using it to get herself fully standing.

She got to her feet again, wincing as she set her jaw, giving one last shake of her head. Knuckles needed to focus now, and she didn't look happy at all that Betsy was talking trash to her now. On the bright side, the pain in her shoulder was dulled by the aching in her jaw now. "You need to hit me harder than that to put me to sleep, you limp wristed bitch," retorted Rosie. The cute brawler would then get out of the corner, putting up her guard and preparing herself for another go. She needed to keep focusing, blotting out the pain in her head now.

[BlackAkuma]

Betsy grumbled under her breath, spitting out a string of garbled curses as the referee kept her and Rosie apart. She could feel the opportunity slipping through her finger with every passing second, and a large part of her wished that this was some kind of hardcore match where she didn’t have to worry about the official mucking things up. She could end this quickly if she could just press her advantage and get all over her opponent.

One punch. She just needed one good punch.

Instead, Rosie came out of the corner and was allowed to get her bearings back. Frustrating, but Betsy did her best to not let it piss her off too much—just the reality she had to live with.

That didn’t mean she would suffer Rosie’s smack-talk, though. ”You are talking way too much smack for someone two seconds away from kissing the canvas, bitch.”

More eager than ever to finish this, Betsy smacked her gloves together and rushed back in, looking to make up for lost time. She led in with a right straight, hammering it against Rosie’s guard, then juked to the side and tried to get around with a left hook, attempting to score a body blow. Aggressive blows and strong strikes, bringing the offense with a full frontal assault. She wanted Rosie knocked out, and she wanted it yesterday.

[Dubski]

Rosie Knuckles was on her guard, preparing for whatever Betsy was going to throw at her. She could tell that her opponent was getting annoyed and impatient already. That would be what helped push Knuckles to a win here--she just needed to keep calm and try to focus. Taking deep, measured breaths, she watched the blonde as she got ready for the next strike.

Lincoln was charging in confidently, throwing a straight into her block--a clear distraction. She kept her eyes on Betsy, readying herself for the hook that was coming, as she rocked her body to the side to avoid it, then threw a simple jab as a counter towards Lincoln's face before going back on the defensive, taking a few paces back with her guard at the ready again!

She was looking to slowly wear Betsy down right now. She wanted to hit her with smaller blows and stay on the defensive, knowing she was in a vulnerable position right now and that any strike could be the last one of the match. And she wanted Betsy to open herself up more too, becoming more frustrated with simple strikes and not being able to hit her. She had a plan now, and she needed to really focus on it, as she was having a throbbing headache from it as well!

[BlackAkuma]

Swing and a miss. Betsy’s blow wound up catching nothing but air, which would’ve been annoying enough by itself. She wasn’t blind, she could see that Rosie wasn’t too far off from going down, but the bitch was surprisingly tenacious. Her strikes were fast; not everyone could dodge them, especially when they were still recovering, but the Pink-Haired pugilist was pulling it off. She would’ve been impressed if she weren’t so busy being irritated.

But it was what came next that ticked her off. Rosie punched her in the face - not much, just a quick jab, a smack on the nose. It might not have seemed like much, but it broke Betsy’s rhythm, forcing her to step back while her opponent retreated and recovered. To say nothing of how much it just straight pissed her off.

”Oh, for fuck’s sakes-” She interrupted herself and dashed forward to try again, more than willing to slam up against Rosie’s guard if need be. This was her chance, the best one she’d be getting, and she’d be damned if she let it slip.

Betsy stepped in and started swinging, caring little for blocking. Left and right, left and right - she hammered at her opponent's guard with the basic combo, drilling her repeatedly, trying to get at least one through the cracks. ”Just keep blocking, you might a real nice punching bag!”

[Dubski]

Rosie heaved a deep sigh as she backed up, readying herself again for what Betsy would throw at her next. The Pink-Haired Pugilist knew she had to play careful, but it was very clear Betsy was going to allow anything but that to happen. Rolling her eyes when Lincoln came at her again. She was more reckless this time. She wanted to break her guard and she grunted as she began blocking, taking the brunt of the hits on her arms.

"Talk your shit... You're the one who can't finish the fight," said Rosie as she blocked. Knuckles continued to block the strikes until she realized she would need to take one to break through. She could surprise Betsy with a blow. She just needed to find the right chance. And when she felt she had it, Rosie reeled back a fist and then sent a thunderous uppercut towards Lincoln, looking to crack her on the jaw. At the same time, she took a blow to the head, knocking her to the side before she fell to one knee.

Rosie Knuckles let out a loud groan of pain, hanging her head as she stayed on one knee, gritting her teeth. That hit hurt, but she just needed to hope that she hurt Betsy far more with her own strike. That was her best shot now, and it was a calculated risk. She needed it to pay off at this point though.

[BlackAkuma]

Just keep swinging. One of them had to get through. Just one. If Betsy could land one solid hit, she was sure she could put Rosie down. She’d fought bitches like this before - they talked so much shit, but then you laid into them, and their glass jaws broke. She just had to keep searching for that one moment, and she knew that if she swung enough and landed it hard enough, it would be all over.

And she got her wish, too. Sort of. She did manage to land the punch she was looking for, but she wasn’t able to enjoy it.

The hits were near-simultaneous, so close they almost appeared like choreography. Betsy came in with her right hook, connected on Rosie’s temple, just as a hook came up from hell and blasted her in the chin. Her body shot up, spittle flew through the air, and she fell backward. The only thing that kept them from going all the way down were the ropes - her back landed against them and her arm shot up to grab hold, hanging on for dear life.

Her knees wobbled, her vision blurred, but she shook her head and forced focus into her brain. Rosie was right there, on her knees, looking just as rocked. No time to recover, she had to strike.

She pushed off the ropes, stumbled towards Rosie, cocked her right arm back and let go with a solid cross, targeting the dead center of her face.

[Dubski]

Rosie Knuckles bit the bullet and took the shot to her head and stayed on one knee. She took a few deep breaths and looked up to Betsy Lincoln, who was barely able to keep herself upright on the ropes. She seemed a little bit grateful about that much, wanting to simply take a few moments to recover as the blonde was doing the same. She cursed that the blow hurt as much as it did, but Lincoln was already coming back at her. Kind of expected, but Rosi knew she couldn't be allowed that much time with an aggressive opponent.

"God damnit..." muttered the Pink-Haired Pugilist, starting to push herself up and put up a guard as Betsy came right at her with intent in her eyes. She was going to throw another punch at her, and Rosie needed to calculate it properly. Rosie couldn't allow herself to be hit again. She needed to ensure that the next hit nailed Betsy.

And soon, the blonde fighter threw a cross at her face, and Knuckles scouted it to perfection. She ducked down, dodging the strike. And as she ducked down, she decided to abandon the continuous boxing and just went for a wrestling move. Digging into her arsenal, she grabbed Betsy Lincoln around the waist and attempted to hoist her in the air. She'd then try to spin her around before trying to slam her directly into the mat with a vicious Spinning Spinebuster she called Stay Down! The move would give Rosie a much-needed break and would be enough to do some serious damage to Lincoln now. It was practically necessary for Rosie Knuckles now to hit this move, or else she'd be risking letting things get entirely too bad for her.

[BlackAkuma]

Through it all, as the blows landed and the fight raged on, Betsy was starting to wonder a severe and pertinent question: How the hell was this bitch still standing?

She wasn’t keeping score, but she was reasonably sure she’d landed just as many punches on Rosie as she’d probably taken. She knew how much like shit she felt at the moment, like she wanted to pass out on her feet, so it had to be worse for the pink-haired pugilist. Yet, she was still fighting. Still swinging. Still awake.

But only for a short time. If Betsy landed this punch, she would knock her out, she was sure of it. Just one good blow, with everything into it, and then-

Then everything went wrong.

Rosie ducked under the blow, which was bad enough, but Betsy was still in fisticuff mode. She was pulling back and tightening her guard, expecting a deadly counter-blow to rock her world. Instead, she got Rosie’s arms around her waist. She was lifted up, whipped around, and came crashing down on the mat with a resonating impact that you wouldn’t have expected from two women who couldn't have weighed more than 250 pounds combined.

The spinebuster felt as if it had lived up to its name. Betsy cried, arched her back, then deflated on the mat, hissing as the pain ran it’s course.

[Dubski]

Rosie Knuckles brought Betsy up and then slammed her down hard with the Stay Down Spinebuster! She was left kneeling in front of the blonde, huffing out a sigh as she looked up. Wiping the sweat off her brow, she nodded a few times, trying to get her wits back. She glanced down, patting Lincoln on the thigh and said, "Time to get back to work." She was tired, in serious pain, but she had managed to really nail Betsy with a punishing slam.

Her shoulder was aching as well, but she needed to use it even more. She saw the state and position of Betsy Lincoln and knew exactly what she was going to follow up with. And then proceeded to get on top of Lincoln, kneeling over her waist, and then she proceeded to start throwing fists right at Betsy's face--lefts and rights.

She did a standard ground and pound. Nothing fancy or boxing-legal about it. Rosie Knuckles was just looking to smash up the blonde's face for as long as the referee would allow it, putting her powerful punches to good use in a concentrated burst of energy precisely to do as much damage as she could in a short amount of time.