Tempest Tournament Round 1: Gabbie Desjardin Vs. Neske Alapo

That was one hell of a kick, and Neske wasn't sure how many more she could take. Sure, it wasn't as bad as getting her head smashed open by a railing, or being thrown from the top of a cage, but that kick landed where it counts, and a few more of those and all the willpower in the world wouldn't keep her on her feet. But for now, she needed to just worry about standing up, and it looked like her blonde opponent was once again so helpful in that regard, pulling herself up onto one knee.

Gabbie's taunts, if they could be called that, were a bit surprising to Neske as well. She was a pretty bad judge for what she could handle and what she couldn't, but one kick hardly seemed like enough to keep her out of the fight after what she'd been through in the past. "Heh, it's gonna take a lot more than tha-"

She was cut off, however, as a fierce knee landed in her belly, switching her words out for a spattering of saliva that landed on Gabbie's taunt body. As much as those last two knees hurt, Neske could feel the genuine anger behind this one, and she started to slump back down as she wrapped her free hand over the point of impact.

Gabbie barely flinched as she felt Neske's spittle splash against her already sweat soaked chest. They were close again as Gabbie threw an arm around the Dutch girl's neck and held her in a clinch. Her cheeks flushed faintly as once again they were close enough to feel each others breath against them, but Gabbie ignored it. Perhaps she was even defiant about it, trying to prove that she wasn't a pervert like Neske thought she was.

Gabbie knew that as long as it felt like Neske still had some sort of bizarre notion that she could fight back, the Canadian needed to put her down and, hopefully, working the body would cut the wind from Neske's sails.

She drove another knee into Nesske's tummy and then shoved the girl away from her, looking to assess the state of her stubborn (and possibly masochistic) opponent.

The second hard knee to Neske's stomach felt just as frustrated as the first, forcing her to breathlessly gasp with eyes open wide. As she was pushed back, she stumbled about, repeatedly nearly losing her footing, just to barely find the strength to stay upright. Of course, staying on her feet was that much easier with the turnbuckle to support her, leaning her back into it as she gently rubbed her beaten belly. She was fully aware that backing herself into a corner was not the smartest thing to do in this sort of situation, but the comfort of having her back covered spoke to her instincts too strongly to let strategy take hold.

Gabbie watched as Neske stumbled into the corner. The girl looked dazed and frightened and Gabbie was starting to even feel a little bad for her. How she ever ended up in this tournament, Gabbie had no clue about, but the Canadian wanted to finish Neske off sooner rather than later.

Gabbie hunched her shoulders and bent her knees. She stalked towards the Dutch girl and planted her foot, sizing up Neske as she pulled her leg back. She then snapped it forward as hard as she could, hissing as she expended air. She hoped she could crack her bare foot against Neske's chin and knock the girl out once and for all.

Hunkered up in a corner, coughing and wheezing her lungs out was not where Neske wanted to be at this point in the match, but despite that she counted her blessings that she was still on her feet. Well, mostly. The repeated knees to her tummy were doing their job well, and the lightning-fast kick to the skull did a number on her as well. That hard-earned opening she had been working towards had gotten her nowhere, and right now all she could think about was getting out of the line of fire.

And never was that more prevalent than when Gabbie started sulking towards her, reading for another powerful kick. This time, though, Neske saw it coming, and with some luck and quick wit, maybe she could dodge out of the-

BAM! Again, the blonde Canadian's foot connected with Neske's skull faster than she could blink, and down she went like a sack of bricks, this time gracelessly slumped against the corner post. Though what movement she could get in kept Neske from being nailed where Gabbie was probably aiming, she did get her skull nicely sandwiched between her opponent's foot and the turnbuckle behind her before going down.

At first, there was nothing, darkness. Even the sound of the crowd was dull and muffled. Slowly, the world around her started to come back: fuzzy and wobbly, but still present. With luck, her opponent would think the hit landed as it was supposed to, that she was out for the count, maybe giving her the opening she needed to strike back. Neske wasn't counting on it, though, all she was hoping for right now was the chance to get back on her feet.

Once again when the foot connected, Gabbie backed away. She kept relatively close, but watched as Neske crumbled to the canvas once more. She was pretty sure that Neske was down now and while she knew she should pull her from the corner and pin her, Gabbie saw the referee step forward and check to see if Neske was conscious and capable of continuing. Gabbie was certainly fine with that.

After her brief bout with unconsciousness, Neske's sense came back to her in layers. It started with the shapes, as indistinguishable and wobbly as they were, and then the colors started to fill in. Next, the sound started to fill in, first the low-droning cheer of the crowd, followed by the more distinct instructions by the ref. Finally, her sense of touch came in, and with it the pain in her belly and head, causing her to flinch suddenly. While she hadn't responded to the referee directly, her sudden awareness of the soreness in her body seemed satisfactory enough, and after not getting a submission from Neske of any sort, she backed off to let the two of them continue their match.

Neske grabbed the ropes by her side and started to try and pull herself to her feet, hoping that Gabbie wouldn't immediately pummel her as she did. "Issa gu lah? Make or tek burn me wow," she mumbled incoherently. Of course, what she meant to say was, "Is that all you got? It's going to take more than that to take me down," but it seemed her faculties were still making their way to the forefront as she sloppily raised her hands towards her face in a psudeo-defensive stance.

Gabbie grimaced as Neske pulled herself up and began to mumble intelligently. Clearly the girl was punch drunk and Gabbie really didn't want to continue fighting the girl. She looked at the referee and pointed at Neske.

"Ref, stop the fight! She obviously can't keep going." Gabbie said and looked sternly at referee who waved the Canadian off and told her that the match would continue unless Neske was knocked out, pinned or submitted.

"Rrrrgh!" Gabbie hissed in frustration and marched to Neske. She pushed through the punch drunk girl's guard and reached for the strap of Neskse's top and turned her own body. Gabbie would try and shove her hip into Neske's body to get leverage for something that approximated a judo throw, hoping to put Neske on the canvas in front of her, giving a few words before the attempt.

"Don't be dumb. Just stay down!" The tone was hushed and quick and even held the faintest bit of concern to it.

It hadn't really occurred to Neske until after her little taunt that she wasn't in much of a spot to be issuing challenges. Within a moment, all three Gabbies that Neske could see moved in on her at once, and by the time she knew which one she was supposed to be paying attention to, a set of fingers had wrapped around the straps of her shirt and the blonde's hip jutted into her midsection. With a push and a heave, Neske found herself flying through the air, a faint snap sound preceding the much heavier thud as she hit the mat.

However, contrary to what was probably the plan, She had landed about a foot or two off target, as a result of one of the spaghetti straps that held her top together snapping mid-throw and messing with the trajectory. When the stinging pain in Neske's back subsided enough that she had awareness of her surroundings (well, at least some fuzzy amount of awareness), she found half of her shirt slipping down off her shoulder, nearly uncovering one of her modest breasts. Propping herself up with one arm, she covered the nearly-exposed skin with a dramatic gasp and a blush, before raising her finger up to her mouth and biting on it seductively. "If ye wannid boobz... you could asked..." she teased, her cognitive faculties steadily returning.

Gabbie watched as Neske skidded away from her. She was ready to pin the Dutch girl when she noticed Neske pressing her hand over her modest chest.

Gabbie's eyes widened and her face fully flushed. "Wh-what happened?!"

However, Gabbie already knew. Neske's words weren't helping either and Gabbie's body reacted all on its own and her foot snapped outward right at Neske's chin.