Chapter 52 (Match)
The crowd was cheering for another night of Xtrema. They were anxious considering this was the last episode they'd witness before the Supernova PPV. Sayuri Rogue watched with Ryuji behind her from the skybox above.
"Welcome to another night, ladies and gentlemen! Tonight, we've got plenty of excitement! We will be introducing the next four new members of the Xtrema roster! That, along with more exciting events, will make up quite an event!"
*Artemis Creed vs Mercy*
Artemis Creed came to the ring in her black shorts with red stripes, red tanktop with black outlines, and red gloves with black outlines. She shadowboxed at lightning speed as she marched down the ramp and entered the ring. She raised both her fists up to the crowd. While Mercy was making her entrance, she displayed something different about her attire. She still had her dark-green tanktop, army boots, and black fingerless gloves, but she also had on a pair of green camo shorts that reached above her knees. She entered the ring and glared at the boxer with murder in her eyes.
"Here to make her grand debut, a champion boxer from Japan, Artemis Creed! This woman is fierce as her fists are fast, but will ferocity and lighting punches be enough to defeat the army girl, Mercy? Let's start the match and see for ourselves!"
DING-DING!
Artemis raised her fists and approached the center of the ring with Mercy ready to throw down. Mercy threw the first punch, but Artemis blocked it with her arm countering with a second punch. Mercy slipped around the punch and grabbed Artemis in a sleeper hold. The boxer acted quickly and jabbed her elbow to Mercy's gut making her give up. Artemis then Irish whipped her to the ropes, and when she returned, Artemis struck her hard in the gut. Artemis launched another strike at Mercy knocking her down to the mat.
Artemis took a minute watching her, but realized the crowd was shouting at her to take the pin. "The pin. Of course. In wrestling, pinfalls count." She hooked Mercy's leg and called for the referee. Of course, because of Artemis' hesitation, Mercy kicked out before the referee could count to one.
Artemis stood up waiting for Mercy to return to her feet. "Right," she thought to herself, "Remember, in wrestling, I have to pin her down to the count of three. Gotta focus."
When Mercy stood back up, Artemis went for a right cross, but the army girl grabbed her wrist, went behind her, and pushed her down in a hammerlock. She used her other hand to grab the boxer's hand and bend it back making Artemis shout in pain.
"You punch because you have no skill." Mercy shouted. "You don't belong in this ring, and if you were smart, you'd submit now and go back where you came from later."
"Never!" Artemis gritted through her teeth. She used her free arm to shoot an elbow right at Mercy's head. She did it twice before she let go of her hand.
Artemis quickly got up and launched her knee to Mercy's head making her dizzy. Artemis capitalized on it by launching strikes and punches to Mercy's head. She pushed the army girl to the corner where the referee demanded for Artemis to step away. When she did, Mercy growled and grabbed Artemis' arm. She threw her to the corner and struck her leg three times at her gut. She went for a fourth time, but Artemis grabbed her leg and pushed her down on the floor.
Artemis sat herself on top of Mercy's stomach and bombarded her with a series of punches to her head. Mercy blocked most of them, but got hit a few times. All of a sudden, the German army girl caught Artemis' right arm and grabbed her in a triangle hold, her signature move. Artemis turned to escape, but Mercy kept her there. And for extra pain, she used her free arm to smash at the boxer's bicep with her elbow. Artemis shouted in response to it.
"Creed, you give up?" the referee asked.
"NO!" Artemis yelled.
"You will!" Mercy growled as she continued elbow striking the boxer's arm.
Artemis kept grunting with each attack until she made use of her free hand. She balled up her fist and sent a very strong strike to Mercy's side. It was so impactful, that Mercy was stunned, which loosened the triangle choke allowing Artemis to break free.
Artemis took a step back holding onto her sore arm. Mercy slowly got up gripping her sore side. Both women glared and growled at each other before running at one another meeting up at the center of the ring. What followed was a heated exchange of blows and strikes that had the audience on the edges of their seats. Both girls struck with their fists and legs. Some attacks were blocked while others made impact.
After a minute of exchanges, both girls were nearly worn out. Mercy growled before attempting a backfist attack, but Artemis Creed ducked down right underneath. She then put all of her power into a very strong uppercut that sent Mercy flying backwards. As she hit the ground, her eyes rolled back nearly all the way. This time, Artemis didn't hesitate to hook her leg.
1… 2… 3!
DING-DING!
"Ooh! What a match! These two brawlers clearly didn't hold anything back! Not a bad start to for an opening match, I'd say!"
Artemis took a deep breath as she raised a fist to the adoring crowd. She took a moment to stand over her beaten opponent before leaving the ring.
*Charlie Hart vs Clementine Cirrus*
Next, Charlie Hart's music was played. She emerged in a black top with pink linings shaped into the Hart family symbol. She also wore pink pants and black boots with pink laces and outlines. The crowd cheered for her as she made her way into the ring. Once she was in, Clementine's Western music played and the cowgirl herself made her way to the stage. She wore her cowboy hat and red checkered jacket over her wrestling outfit, and she removed them as she entered the ring.
"It's a battle of legacies, ladies and gentlemen! Charlie, the latest addition to the Hart family, squares up against Clementine Cirrus! Years ago, Charlie's grandfather and Clementine's father wrestled before a big crowd themselves! And now, it's their girls' turn!"
DING-DING!
Charlie knew this wasn't going to be easy. Clementine had the size advantage over her, but she wasn't going to back down. She quickly ran for a dropkick, but Clementine stopped her and she dropped down. Clementine leaped up and landed her butt right on top of Charlie. The poor girl gasped as it made impact. Clementine went for another butt-drop, but this time, Charlie managed to roll away.
While Clementine made impact on the mat, Charlie managed to recover instantly and launch another dropkick to the cowgirl. The Hitgirl grabbed onto Clementine's legs and locked them in a figure-four position. Clementine gritted her teeth, but she had enough strength to roll over and reverse the hold. It was Charlie's turn to grit her teeth. Eventually, she rolled over again gaining the advantage again. Luckily for Clementine, she was close enough to grab the rope. The referee told Charlie to let go, and she did.
Clementine picked herself up just as Charlie stood at the other side of the ring. Once the cowgirl stood, the Hitgirl ran for a clothesline. However, Clementine saw her coming and went at her in a takedown tackle. Clementine got off of Charlie and landed two elbow drops on her. She then ran to the ropes and bounced back for a splash. That's when she hooked her leg for the pin.
1… 2…
Charlie managed to kick out. Clementine picked Charlie up and put her in a guillotine hold.
"Is this how my daddy felt when he faced your grandpa?" Clementine asked. "I can see why the Hart family's so famous."
Charlie slipped out of the hold, grabbed her opponent's ankles, and tripped her onto her back.
"I'll show you what makes the Hart family so famous!" Charlie yelled out.
She began to cross Clementine's legs. The crowd was anticipating the famous Hart family signature, the sharpshooter. However, they had to wait longer. As Charlie had finished crossing the cowgirl's legs, Clementine bent them a little right before thrusting them forward throwing Charlie to the corner.
Clementine got up and ran for a backslam, but Charlie rolled away at the last second letting her impact the corner. Charlie then spun her around before launching her back to the corner, but right through the top and middle ropes. Clementine's back hit the corner post and fell on her back. Charlie got on top of her and called for the ref.
1… 2…
Clementine kicked out. Charlie then lifted the cowgirl into a sitting position and locked in a sleeper hold. It was tight, so Clementine had a problem with breaking out. She was close enough to reach for the ropes, but before she could, Charlie moved both her and Clementine away closer to the center of the ring. She kept the hold tight until the cowgirl dropped her arms.
The referee picked up Clementine's arm and watched it drop. She picked it up another time, and like before, it hit the mat. She picked it up one last time, but this time, it stayed up. Clementine got Charlie by surprise by standing herself up and running backwards. The Hitgirl gasped as she hit the corner and fell into a sitting position.
"Sorry to do this to you, sugar," Clementine said, "But this is wrestlin'. It's nothing personal."
The cowgirl walked over to the farthest corner and brushed her foot on the mat like a bull. She charged right forward for her finishing move, the bronco buster. However, Charlie instinctively got out of the way and let Clementine collide her legs on the bottom ropes, which really stung. Charlie dropkicked Clementine in the back before dragging her to the center. She then attempted another sharpshooter. This time, she had it locked in, and like every Hart before her, she appeared to master it. Clementine tried to crawl to the ropes, but she couldn't take the pain she was feeling. After a long minute, the cowgirl tapped out.
DING-DING!
"WOW! What a match! Both girls fought with their family's legacy, making both of their folks proud! A big hand for Charlie 'the Hitgirl' Hart!"
Clementine got back up turning to the proud Hitgirl who had her hand held high. She couldn't help but be proud for her. She approached her and held out her hand.
"Good match." Clementine said. "Though, don't expect our next bout to have the same result."
Charlie smiled and took the handshake. "Whatever you say. I'm looking forward to it."
Up in the skybox, Sayuri's phone rang. She answered it. "Hello?"
"Ms. Rogue, I've made my decision!" declared a gruff voice.
"Mr. McMahon." Sayuri said. "I take it you have a match planned out?"
"You bet! You said that if my champion won, your loser has to be transferred to WWE. Well, I've had my eye on Charlie Hart for a while now. I want her to join us like her family did. I sent her several offers, but she always turned them down."
"So you want me to wager Charlie." Sayuri surmised. "Fair enough. And what about you? Who will you send to Supernova?"
"Why, Charlie's own family of course." McMahon said. "At Supernova, I'd like Charlie Hart to go against Natalya!"
Sayuri's eyes widened. This wasn't a match she expected. Still, there was no way she could argue against it. "Very well. Tell her that Supernova is this Sunday night and I'll be doing a press conference on Saturday that she needs to attend."
"No problem." McMahon said.
"And remember, if Charlie wins, you give the Pandora Project your support. No objections."
"Ain't gonna happen, but okay."
*Maria Crawford vs Zelda Logan*
The next match was about to start. The first to the ring was Maria Crawford, who had on her black outfit to compliment her dark-blue hair and black glasses. On her way to the ring, she held onto a black whip that she snapped to her left and right. Once she got into the ring, the referee made her remove her whip and glasses from the area. Zelda Logan made her entrance right after. She went into the ring with no sense of flair in her entrance, which somehow the audience expected. She stood across from Crawford with intensity burning in her eyes.
"Our third match for the night introduces another newcomer! This time, from America, it's the Mistress of the Ring, Maria Crawford! For this match, she'll be pitting her famous sadistic techniques against Zelda Logan, who is known to damage those who she judges as unworthy of wrestling! Will Zelda make her point to the newcomer, or will Maria claim another victim in the squared circle?"
DING-DING!
Both Maria and Zelda circled each other in the center of the ring. Zelda went for a straight punch, but Maria slapped it out of the way before slapping Zelda across her face. With Zelda turned around, Maria proceeded to kick her in the back and knock her down. Maria then stomped on Zelda's back and grinded her foot on her back making Zelda wince in pain.
"Poor generic wrestler." Maria mocked. "So bland, and too boring to watch."
Zelda growled before bucking herself up and rolling out of the grinding heel. She then threw her fist up and struck hard at Maria's stomach. That left the Mistress of the Ring vulnerable to a piledriver that Zelda connected. She then rolled her over for the pin.
1…
Maria kicked out, pushed Zelda up, and tightened her legs around her head. She squeezed tightly and further mocked Zelda by doing pushups before slamming her head to the mat. Maria climbed up the top rope and jumped off to land both her knees on Zelda, but her opponent rolled out of the way letting Maria crash her knees. Zelda ran right back to Maria right as she landed on her knees and hit her with a lariat. She rolled her for the pin.
1… 2…
Maria kicked out again. Zelda gripped her hair and threw her to the corner. She ran for an elbow slam, but Maria shot out her legs before she could. She wrapped them around Zelda's head again and hung herself over the ropes pulling her head over the rope rope. The referee counted to four before Maria let go and landed outside the ring.
Maria grabbed ahold of Zelda's leg and tripped her forward. She then swung it hard at the ringpost not once, not twice, but three times. Maria returned to the ring and continued stomping at Zelda's damaged leg laughing as she screamed. Zelda gripped the rope and Maria was forced to back off. Zelda saw her chance and tackled her to the ground. She gave her several body shots before getting back up. She grabbed Maria's legs and flipped her over for her signature move, the Texas cloverleaf.
Maria gritted her teeth in pain trying to reach the rope, but Zelda was determined. She stood her ground refusing to let Maria get away. Crawford then winded up her arm before slamming her elbow onto Zelda's sore leg. She did it another time to make her let go grunting. She fell down while Maria stood back up with a confident smirk on her sadistic face.
Maria hooked her arm around Zelda's sore leg and spun herself around. She let go letting Zelda spin over and hit the mat. She did it again in the opposite direction. She did it one more time.
"Well, this was fun." Maria said. "Now for the end." She took both of Zelda's legs and applied her signature move, the scorpion lock. She applied a lot of pressure to Zelda's leg. The referee knelt down asking of Logan gave up. She barely got an answer out. Eventually, Zelda couldn't take the pain anymore and tapped out.
DING-DING!
"Another win for the newcomers! Zelda barely showed mercy, but Maria Crawford just showed how much more merciless she was tonight!"
"That's one down." Crawford thought to herself. "I'm coming for you soon, Dull N' Broken. You'll be my bitch again, and I'll be taking your boyfriend too."
After the match, Zelda limped angrily backstage. There, she ran into the last woman she wanted to see.
"Hello again, Logan." Sam Hamilton greeted in an upset tone. She wasn't wearing a costume since she wasn't competing tonight. She just wore her black shirt and yellow jacket.
"I don't have time for you, clown." Zelda said. "I'm getting myself checked out."
"I just thought I'd let you know," Sam said, "I'm challenging you to a match at Supernova."
"What?" Zelda asked. "You really want a match with me? I'd destroy you."
"We'll see." Sam said. "Ms. Rogue already approved of it, so there's nothing you can say to change it. You've had it out for me from the very beginning just because I like to dress up."
"This is a combat sport, Hamilton! Not a comic book convention! You fight, not dress up! If you can't see that, then you don't belong here! Now, get out of my way!" Zelda pushed Sam out of the way and continued her limping toward the infirmary.
"Of course, I see that." Sam said even though Zelda had left. "But if I'm a good cosplayer and a good wrestler, then why can't I be both?"
*Xtrema Shorts*
Chibi Monica Everly appeared on stage with a Chibi version of Clementine Cirrus sitting next to her. "Welcome to another Xtrema Shorts! So far, it's been an entertaining episode of Xtrema, and now that we're halfway done, let's move on to our Q&A! For today, let's give a big hand for our cowgirl of Xtrema, Clementine Cirrus!"
Chibi Clementine laughed and waved her hand. "Thanks for having me here, Monica. I've been waiting for my turn."
"No problem, Ms. Cirrus. Now, I'm going to be asking the usual standard questions along with some personal ones asked by our curious fans. You ready?"
"Ready!"
"Good. Now, first… how long have you been wrestling?"
"About 10 years now. Started off as a simple wrestling event in my hometown, and from then on, I gained a special fondness for the sport."
"Do you have any dream opponents?"
"Well, if my sister, Melina, ever became a wrestler, I'd love to face her. But for now, I guess I'd love to face Dixie Clemets. I haven't heard from her since she joined that Rumble Roses thing, but I'm sure she's still up for a rematch. I also would love to take down that horrible excuse for a tag partner, Jackie Cayman."
"How do you feel about your fans?"
"Love 'em. It's nice that there are a lot of people who aren't bored with the cowgirl gimmick."
"What's the toughest match you've had so far?"
"Well, I can't decide between two matches. On one hand, there was that triple threat match I had against Dixie Clemets and Tina Armstrong in NXT. Those two really had me on my toes. Then again, there was the match against Queen Bee here at Xtrema. She really came a long way from Dawn Breaker. Can't believe she actually beat me either."
"What do you do for fun?"
"Well, I like to contact my family, see how things are going. I also like to volunteer at other heavy-lifting jobs for strength exercise. Most of it's pretty easy, but it's good to keep at it."
"What do you think makes a great wrestler?"
"A strong determination and a big smile."
"Do you have any interests besides wrestling?"
"Well, my sister has the option for me to try out Keijo. I am pretty good at it too. So yeah, maybe that."
"Now, onto the personal questions. If your sister, Melina, asks for your help in training her Keijo apprentices, would you?"
"Sure. Always happy to help my sister and her students. Never hurts to help family, my ma always said."
"Do you still work at your family's farm?"
"Occasionally. I mean, it's all the way in America, so it's quite a flight, but I do what I can."
"What exactly do you do at your farm?"
"Well, I lift haystacks with just one arm, coral the cattle with my bare hands, plow the fields… Basically, anything that I can do some heavy lifting. Although, I am pretty bad at picking out the eggs from the coop."
"Well, thanks for letting us speak with you, Ms. Cirrus. Now, remember, readers, if you have any questions for our lovely ladies and perhaps even Kaito Marx, don't hesitate to ask. We'll see you after the main event of this Xtrema episode. In the meantime, any and all comments are welcome."