Miranda Blair vs. The Black Fang - More Than You Can Chew

The Black Fang had seen this move done before, all of exactly once. Just once. She’d never tried it before, never attempted it, and while it was a relatively simple move - all she did was roll off her shoulders with another person attached to her - it was trick that needed some good timing, required her to execute before her opponent could snag her and keep her down.

But she did it. She was sorely tempted to jump for joy, and might’ve if not for the current position.

It was effective, most importantly. As tough as Miranda was proving to be, she had quite a chest to work with, and that made it a big, juicy target for her heels. They sank deep, and if the doctor still had the fakafka mask on, she probably would’ve made the weirdest noise.

In fact, she was so hurt, that the Black Fang found herself wondering if this might be the best time to bring things to a close. Not too likely, but there was no harm in trying.

She flopped to her back after the stomp, then rolled to her knees and shuffled forward. With her chest planted on top of Miranda’s, she grabbed her leg, pulled it up, and went for a pinfall.

The referee dropped down beside them and started a prompt count. ”1...1”

Miranda was not unconscious, but she rolled limply as The Black Fang pushed her over onto her back. The scientist put up little resistance as the hero laid across her chest and lifted her leg up, covering her for the pin. Miranda’s scarlet eyes were half close, the irises underneath moving slowly from one side to the other. The referee quickly ducked down, and began the count.

“1…2”

Before she could finish, a huge quake shook the ring as a sudden force would suddenly crash down onto the floor. The crash centered in the corner farthest away from Black Fang and Miranda, and there was little mistaking what it was. The ref would turn and see Bridgette had just entered the ring on the far side. The Blue brute was brandishing a hammer, and her cruel yellow eyes seemed to be fixed squarely on The Black Fang. She was advancing, but stopped as the referee noticed her. Without a moments hesitation, the referee would quickly get up and confront the brute. There was no way she was going to let these…punks interfere with the match. Though as she got closer and closer, her resolve began to wane, Bridgette’s large frame and scary face doing wonders for ger intimidation factor.

For a minute, it looked like that was it. The competitors just waiting for the ref to finish the pin as she argued with the scientist’s lackey.

But once again, it was simply a distraction.

Bridgette purposefully stomped down on the floor in order to attract the referee’s attention, and the hammer gave her extra motivation to stop the maniacal mechanic as fast as possible. All of this was to provide Kristy with a clear window of attack.

The tiny little red head climbed into the ring the opposite side of everyone else, sneaking in from behind so no one could see her. She was undoubtably the fastest of the group, and her light frame made her the quietest by far. All of these were factors in Miranda’s “failsafe” plan when she created it, and her careful thinking and planning may just about provide her with the fruits of her labor.

As quick as a bullet, Kristy was quietly sprinting over to The Black Fang and Miranda, making hardly any noise at all. She got in close, and right as it seemed like she would trip over the competitors fallen forms, Kristy hopped up in the air…

Only to try and come down right on The Black Fang’s head. The momentum made her accuracy a little off, but Kristy was willing to bet on her aim. It was her finisher, The Nip n’ Tuck, after all. Both of Kristy’s feet aimed to smash the masked woman’s face down hard into the canvas, and the way she was laying on Miranda, she was likely going to get some strain on her neck to go with her new headache.

Regardless, Kristy would run out of the ring as fast as she came in. Her whole sneak attack was done and over with before the ref had even gotten Bridgette out of the ring.

With her failsafe plan completed, Miranda would open her eyes, exposing her ruse. If Kristy’s aim was true, Miranda would simply roll over onto the Black Fang, mirroring her pinfall position. If Kristy failed her simple task, not only would Miranda raise a shoulder to break the pin, but send Kristy a death glare from inside the ring.

...wait, could this work?

The Black Fang had pinned enough people in her career to know when someone was ripe for it, when there was a really good chance it would work. She’d been trained to covet pinfalls regardless, knowing they were a good way to wear down a foe even when they didn’t come off particularly well. So, when she went for the pin on Miranda, she didn’t think her chances of getting it were too high, and she was fine with that. 100%. It all played to the long game.

But the look in her eyes, the weakness in her body, just the overall feel…

Yeah. Yeah, this could be it. For two golden seconds, it looked like she had this in the bag, goons be damned. But then the final count never came, and she knew things were about to take an aggravating turn.

She looked up, and sure enough, there was the blue one with hammer, coming in to save her mistress. The referee was distracted, doing nothing to help the stereotype about referee’s having a short attention, and the Black Fang began to rise and push her out of match. Violently, if need be.

That was the moment right before everything went dark.

The Black Fang wasn’t sure what happened, exactly. She was getting up, started to rise, and then she felt something - something that felt suspiciously like feet - on the back of her head. Her face rushed to the ground, the lights went out, and when they came back on she was laying under Miranda’s body. And she couldn’t move much. Not at all, really. Which was especially bad, because…

”1…!”

The Black Fang started to shake about, wriggling, but couldn’t summon the energy to get her shoulders up. ”Nonononono-”

Bridgette continued to argue with the referee, slowly backing up to make her think she was doing her job of keeping the fight as fair as possible. It was difficult to keep the referee preoccupied, but her cohort was able to pull off her finisher and run out of the ring with stunning speed. As soon as she was out and the referee made her next threat to eject Bridgette from the match, she relented. Quickly she turned and exited the ring, just in time for Miranda to flip The Black Fang over, pinning her for the referee.

Kristy dashed right over to Bridgette as soon as she left the ring,

“Did you see that?!” Kristy exclaimed after a quick high five from her friend, “She didn’t even know what hit her, I was so fast! It’s going to take more than a day at the spa to come back from that~”

“Yeah, I guess.” Bridgette’s quieter tone seemed to counter her friends excited attitude, her attention still on the fight. She was the more experienced fighter of the two, and she knew that a fight wasn’t over until it was over.

Black Fang may have gotten caught off guard, but if Miranda was not careful, Bridgette could see the hero break out of the pin.

--

Miranda was far too busy focusing on her opponent to worry about what her mooks were doing. Kristy had succeeded in her task of taking out The Black Fang, much to the scientist’s surprise. Now it was only a matter of pinning the hero.
It was easy enough flip her over, lift her leg, get the referee’s attention. The disgusted look on her face didn’t face Miranda as she dropped and started to count,

“1…!”

The loud noise and smack must have roused The Black Fang, as she began to stir. He hero seemed to realize where she was rather quickly. Miranda took note of that. It appeared Kristy’s small size meant that though she could build up great speed, her lack of weight dulled the following impact.  she would need to remember that in case she used this plan again.

The Black Fang struggled, moved around, but she seemed unable to do anything other than mumble. Her words expressed her disbelief. A more sadistic competitor might have enjoyed her pleas, but Miranda simply found them annoying.

“Quiet…”

Her voice would be extremely muffled by the broken mask she wore, her tone loud and sharp just so that she could be heard. She kept her gaze open and tried her best to maintain the pin…

“2…!”

The Black Fang was not getting up from this.

While her mind was still hazy, she had enough wherewithal to register the fact that she’d just been curbstomped, and out of nowhere to boot. That was not the sort of thing one recovered from with ease, and she was having a rough time of it.

She hissed as the haze ran its course through her brain, trying to register what was going on enough to actually do something. She told her limbs to move, commanded them to kick out of this pin and wreck Miranda’s vile plans, but they just ignored her commands. She was done, and there was no stopping the referee’s count as it came down for the final slap.

[b]”3…!”

The bell rang and the crowd booed, but it wasn’t like their objections meant anything. The match was over and done, and all the Black Fang could do now was lament her loss and try to imagine what she could’ve done to prevent.

With a groan, she smacked her forehead and glared up at Miranda. ”Couldn’t do the job yourself, huh?”

“3…!”

Miranda rose to a chorus of booing, the audience clearly disgusted by the scientist’s foul play throughout the fight. Even the referee, who was supposed to be impartial, seemed disappointed that it was not the strange gas masked woman lying on the floor. She seemed hesitant to touch Miranda, going to grab her arm and raise it for the victory. Before she could, Miranda pulled her arm back, uninterested in the ceremonies that played out at the end of a match. Instead, she stood above Black Fang, looking down at her as she held her fore head and glared defiantly back with sharp eyes.

Miranda’s broken mask made it so it was difficult to respond, but if Black Fang was waiting for an expression of guilt, anger, or pride, she would have to wait a long time, only getting a slight tilt of the head from Miranda.

The Black Fang brought up an interesting point. Miranda had come here to prove herself and to expand her influence by defeating the so called “Defender of AFW.” While she had some trouble, it was a fierce battle between the two, but in the end this fight would hardly further her plans. While her battle prowess was indeed on display, it was ultimately her cold planning that won her the fight, with the help of her assistants. The irony that it was her trump card that disrupted her plan the most was not lost to her, and she barely was able to hide her frustration.

The Black Fang’s defiant gaze seemed to grind against Miranda’s dull, mechanical one for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally, Miranda chose to improvise her plan. She had no strong feeling towards The Black Fang, but if she did she might have felt sorry for what she planned on doing.

Reaching down, Miranda would grab a fist full of the hero’s raven black hair, yanking the hero to her feet just before attempting to slam a knee into her unprotected stomach. The referee ran over quickly to separate them, but Miranda back handed her hard enough for her to spin around and hit the floor with a heavy thud.

If all went Miranda’s way, she would drag her foe over to the side of the ring, then toss her outside of the ropes, letting her tumble down and crash onto the floor. With a signal, Bridgette and Kristy would approach the super heroine’s fallen form, predatory smiles plastered on their face.

Security and staff would be coming to separate them. Miranda was sure of that, but it would take time. Until then, The Black Fang was alone, and it looked like she was about to be on the receiving end of a 3 on 1 beating…

It was frustrating, more than anything. The Black Fang was used to loss. Taking it with grace was one of the most important skills a wrestler could have, or so her teacher had drilled into her head. She had to make it a learning experience grow from her failings and improve. So, what crucial lesson had she taken from this counter?

Never wrestle someone who came with two women as backup. Kind of an obvious one, really.

But as bad as this had all turned out to be, at least it was over. She lost, but the crowd knew there had been shenanigans involved, that she could’ve taken Miranda if things had been fairer. She was more than content enough to let it end with that, and maybe get a real win over the vile doctor as some point in the future.

Miranda, however, had other ideas. Painful ideas. Ideas that involved yanking her hair and dragging her about the ring while the Black Fang squirmed about, desperate to pull herself free. ”Get off me, get off-”

When Miranda did let go, it was only to send her hurtling through the ropes and to the floor, coming down hard on her back. And she wasn’t down their alone for long, either - Miranda’s goons were steadily approaching.

The Black Fang was screwed. She knew she was screwed. But she wasn’t about to meet her fate meekly. She moved up to one knee, then lunged towards the nearest one, the girl dressed in red, and threw a forearm at her chest, trying to beat her back before her friend could join in.

Not likely to work, no. Worth a shot.

“Aww, look who decided to drop in!”

Kristy skipped forward merrily, a child like smile on her face, like she just received a new toy and was seeing it for the first time. Her eyes glowed at Black Fang’s weak form, all sorts of ideas running through her head as she thought of how best to use Black Fang, how could she wring the most joy out of this hero?

“Ever since we saw you on the television, I’ve been wanting to try out some new technique on you. Maybe some blush, feather your hair a bit?” Kristy’s pace got faster, suddenly pulling ahead of her bruiser friend, “But I need to know what we are dealing with…I know! Let’s lose the mask!”

Kristy’s excitement got the better of her, extending a hand to quickly grab the mask off the fallen hero’s face. She did not realize she had out paced her friend quite a bit, nor that the Black Fang was getting ready to fight back.

Faster than Kristy could react, a forearm came and exploded against her chest. The small red lacky was caught completely off guard, the air being pushed from her lungs so fast a slight amount of spittle remained on her lips. What was likely meant to push Kristy back turned out to be a far more effective strike, causing the small woman to stumble a few feet backward before falling to the ground on her back.

Right next to Bridgette.

Seeing her smaller friend was quickly out of commission, the larger woman stepped up, her yellow eyes glaring down at The Black Fang. She didn’t bother trying to say anything, nor did she try to intimidate the hero. Bridgette simply pulled back her right arm, and threw a strong right hook, followed by a jab.

--

Meanwhile, Miranda watched from the ring, eyeing how the hero would react to her new predicament.

Admirably, to her surprise. She didn’t complain, nor beg, the hero simply took stock of her situation, and used the information and skills she had to make-in Miranda’s mind- the logical decision. Rather than waist her efforts trying to knock down the wall that was Bridgette, she took out the weakest link in the group, turning a terrible 2 on 1 into just a very bad 1 on 1. No matter what, it was an uphill battle, but she just gave herself better odds than before.

The referee seemed to stir just as the scientist slid out of the ring, positioning herself behind Black Fang, pincering her in and flanking her. Rather than join the fight right off, Miranda noticed the filter of her mask lying next to her on the floor. Bending over to pick it up, she shoved it back onto her mask, turning it clockwise to screw it back on.

“tEsti…ezzzting…TeSting”

The Black Fang had only known these women for a relatively short amount of time, but she was already deciding that she hated them. Especially the red one. The blue one was the bruiser, the muscle of the group, but she had the grace to be quiet muscle, at least. Her red counterpart, however, refused to simply shut up, and it was starting to become more than grating.

She was just recovering from the throw when her chattering began. Something about fashion and feathers and the Black Fang couldn’t be bothered to pay it much mind over the pounding in her skull.

All she knew was that she wanted this woman to shut up, and she was given the opportunity when she had to come in close. Having to deal with her at all was bad enough, but when she made the mistake of going for her mask…

”Back off!”

The good news was that her desperate offense managed to do more than the Black Fang could’ve dreamed. It sent the red one stumbling away, even dropped her flat, which she would’ve laughed at if she weren’t in so much pain. It put some much wanted distance between them, and meant that she only had to deal with the blue one.

That was sort of the bad news, too - she had to deal with the blue one, and she didn’t seem like the type to make the same mistakes.

In she came, hard and heavy. The Black Fang had just started to stand when a right cross smashed into her face, laying her out with a hook that crashed against her face and a jab that finished the job. She’d just been rising to her feet when they hit, but the two impact dropped her flat once again, and this time she stayed there, reeling and rolling about.

Out of the group, Bridgette easily had the most experience with fights. Her boss Miranda, while indeed formidable, had a limited mindset when it came to combat. She lacked imagination, using only what she thought was the most “logical” plan of attack, and Kristy? Bridgette almost scoffed, her friend was by far the weakest link in the groups dynamic. Cocky, arrogant, and lacking common sense in fights, the small red attired girl was only as strong as the people around her, and Bridgette had seen her run from a fight when she thought she was alone. Bridgette knew what to expect in a fight, how brutal they can get if one let their guard down for even a second.

An unknown opponent needs to be respected, not neglected.

Which is why Bridgette was taking no chances with the downed hero. She had enough steam in her tank to knock Kristy aside which, while saying too much, proved the hero did not plan on going down easily. Bridgette’s punches seemed to put The Black Fang down, leaving her to writhe on the floor.
Without taking her eyes off her foe, the Blue Brute called over to her friend, “Hey Kristy! You okay?”

The smaller red head peeled herself off the ground with a groan, rubbing her head before seemingly remembering something. As quick as a flash, Kristy pulled out a flip mirror, taking stock of her appearance.

“That girl ruined my makeup!” The red head seemed to rise quickly, stumbling over to her friend. “Do you know how hard it is to get it just right? Of course not! You just put on a mask and go!”

Despite how loud and tough Kristy yelled, she obviously stayed behind Bridgette. The larger woman carefully reached down and grabbed the hero, pulling her up and moving to restrain her with a full nelson.

“Sorry, Fang. Miranda want’s a show, and you pulled the bad straw…”

--

Miranda had slithered over to the group just as Black Fang hit the floor for a second time. Passively, she watched as her enforcer went to grab the beaten foe, picking her up and restraining her for the moment. Stepping in close, the scientist grabbed the hero’s chin gently, raising it so their eyes might meet. For a moment she was silent, only the disgust of the crowd could be heard.

“When you fought logically, you were commendable. But I suppose that really doesn’t help you now, does it?” She paused, tapping Black Fangs face with her finger to insure she was paying attention. “I’m curious, Fang. Which do you hold in higher regard? Yourself, or your position as a hero?”
Using her other hand, Miranda slipped a finger just under Black Fang’s mask, pulling it up only enough to give her finger a better grip. She could not see the woman beneath the mask, but with a simple tug, she easily could.

“We will give you a choice. If you renounce your title this ring’s “protector”, loud enough for the crowd to hear, we will let you go. Or, you can stay quiet. Let your fans know you were true to the woman they have come to know you for, but in return, we take your mask. We will show them the woman underneath, then let you leave.”

The cold, machine like eyes seemed to glow as Miranda spoke, like Black Fang was the only thing in the world at that moment. It wasn’t until her name was spoken a second time her eyes finally tore away from the hero’s own.

“Uh…Miranda? Security is coming down the ramp. Perhaps we should leave?”