Tempest Tournament Round 1: Gabbie Desjardin Vs. Neske Alapo

Gabbie was shadowboxing in the area just behind the backstage. Once again the AFW was hosting a tournament to show off their smaller and lightweight girls. Girls still too big or experienced to be in the kawaii league. Once again, Gabbie was sure that she was the best fighter in the brackets and immediately signed up. She believed she was gaining some prestige in the organization with her aggressive, and what she thought was a unique style, along with her fairly impressive record. She was also starting to get some fan mail coming in and her social media was starting to attract followers.

But none of that was going to distract her. As her music began to play, she burst through the arena entrance, her white boxer's robe covering her and billowing behind her as she shadowboxed down the ramp. The robe was trimmed in blue and had a blue maple leafe on its back and above it was DESJARDIN embroidered in a semicircle. Underneath, Gabbie wore a white sports bra with blue trim and a pair of blue MMA shorts, with white stripes down either side of her hips. Her feet were bare and on her fists were a pair of white MMA gloves with the Canadian flag on top and the Union Jack on her palms. Though covered at the moment, her blonde hair was pinned up with barrettes and a blue hair scarf, keeping her short, but messy hair in place and showing off the shock of pink that she had dyed into one of her bangs.

Gabbie was ready and as she entered the ring, she walked to her corner and dropped her arms to her sides. She bounced on her feet and waited for her opponent. The robe still jostled around her as she bounced on the balls of her feet, her head still covered by the hood of the robe as well.

Another tournament. Neske needed to pay whoever kept signing her up for these a visit and... well, do something more substantial than most of her opponents got. She knew it was kind of an honor, and really she did appreciate that side of it, but... she just wasn't cut out for this kind of thing. These were supposed to be for experienced, popular fighters, weren't they? Sure, she was occasionally recognized on the street these days (much to her dismay), but she wasn't some rising star in the league, out for the title belt. Hell, she was barely surviving. She'd hardly gone a match without being hospitalized afterwards yet. Did people really want to see that?

Regardless, here she was. She had also caught wind that there was some level of competition for those who lose their first match, so maybe she wasn't out of the running just yet. At least she'd get two matches in before being completely eliminated. With a sigh, she headed down the entrance ramp, the pulsing techno beat of her theme causing her to bob her head rhythmically with nearly closed eyes. As she climbed into the ring, her opponent wasn't exactly familiar, which could be a good thing, given how her last few matches had gone, but Neske wasn't prepared to get her hopes up. This girl was about her height and weight, though she seemed substantially more well-toned, and her body beneath the boxing robe showed some worryingly clear muscle definition. She seemed kind of cute and perky, especially compared to the likes of Emily or Akiha, though her dead serious expression was painfully reminiscent of those she was loathe to remember.

"Yo," Neske waved nervously from her corner, hesitant to approach the center until she got a better read on this girl, "name's Neske. How about you?"

Once Neske was in the ring, Gabbie shed her robe and folded up. She handed it to the referee and finally revealed her rather tone and muscled body. Her eyes remained determined as Neske greeted her rather pleasantly. She could see that the girl seemed worried and Gabbie was sure that this round would prove to be no trouble.

Still, she took a step forward and pushed one of her fists into her other palm and bowed to Neske. "Gabbie Desjardin." She replied tersely and then with a softer tone and something that almost approached a smile, she added: "Let's have a good match."

Gabbie threw a few crisp punches into the air and one sharp kick for good measure and then bounced on her heels as she waited for the bell to ring.

Oh boy. This kid wasn't messing around. As the robe came off, it was pretty clear this girl was built like a brick and with an attitude to match. While she wasn't exactly rude, she didn't give off any sort of warm fuzzy feelings either, and what pleasantness she did exude seemed to stem from the confidence that she could turn Neske into paste. There wasn't even anyone standing in front of her and she seemed intent on beating that lack of person up, and Neske could only imagine how it was going to feel when it was her standing there.

And, for that very reason, when the bell rang, Neske hesitated. She knew she would have to take the initiative if she had any hope in this match, that charging forward would be her only prayer, but there was something about going from being safe and comfortable to being punched by one hundred and fifteen pounds of muscle that her brain just hadn't overcome yet. And while she wasn't exactly modest, her fashion choices made her feel that much more exposed, with so many points of open skin just begging to be punched. Sure, the parts of her that were clothed weren't exactly draped in armor, but that little bit of exposure just added to her growing sense of tension and discomfort that kept her from charging forward.

By the time she did make a move, looking to charge in and ram her opponent with a shoulder, she had already wasted precious time that Gabbie could exploit to make the first move.

Gabbie was as confident as Neske was lacking in it. When the bell rang, she pulled her fists up into a tight boxing guard and trudged towards the indecisive girl. If Neske wanted to get beat down in her corner, Gabbie had no issue with that.

However, Gabbie needed to clear a whole ring's worth of distance to get to Nesek and it seemed to give the girl enough time to make a decision. As Neske burst from her corner with her shoulder down, Gabbie hopped to the side, using her quick feet to try and dash to the side of Neske.

If she could bypass the girl's last minute charge, she would swing her foot out and try snapping it into the back of the rumbling girl's knee to clip her and put her to the mat.

Neske's hesitation cost her exactly what she was afraid of, as her initial charge was easily sidestepped and countered. A quick kick into the backside of her leg sent her sprawling forward: first onto one knee, and soon onto the mat as her momentum tussled with her balance and won. With a loud and graceless bang, she found herself slamming face-first into the mat, as embarrassed as she was worried. Still for how vastly different the two competitors' levels of preparedness were, that could have gone much worse. At least, she felt like it could have.

Assuming Gabbie wouldn't pounce like a pack of hyenas as soon as she hit the ground, Neske would climb to her hands and knees, and, if given the space, try to make it back up to her feet.

Gabbie was, by nature, a kick boxer. So when Neske hit the mat, her natural reaction was not to follow through, but to wait for Neske to get to her feet. As the black haired girl slowly began to rise, Gabbie made the realization and cursed herself. She couldn't give an inch as long as it was within the bounds of the rules!

So as Neske was partially to her feet, Gabbie rushed and came at her from the side, trying to swing a hard knee into the side of Neske's body.

Neske was surprised that her opponent hadn't gone in for the kill while she was on the ground, most of her previous opponents would have either made it hell for her while she was on the floor, or gotten a nice grip of her hair and brought her up on their terms. Maybe if things kept up like this, the match wouldn't be so ba-

And then things got familiar, as white-hot pain exploded through her exposed ribs and sent her rolling across the mat, and wrenching a verbal cry of pain from her lungs. That sense of vulnerability from earlier was coming back in full force as she spent a moment with her arm crossed over her belly, cradling the point of impact out of reflex. Soon, though, she looked for a way to get back on her feet, before Gabbie pressed the advantage again, when she spotted the ropes near her and reached out in hopes of being able to pull herself back up.

Gabbie this time wasn't going to sit there and watch Neske flail around. Though it did seem like the girl really had no business in a ring. At least not with Gabbie. The blonde dashed forward as Neske began to crawl and reached for the girl's arm.

If anything, now was a good time to try and practice some of her grappling ability so she reached for one of Neske's legs and tried to pull it against her chest and twist the ankle in a rather basic ankle lock.