Sucker Punched Sheriff
Callie blinked wearily as she stared up at the lights over the ring she currently lay in, stars dancing over her head, a tightness in her belly and the feeling of her opponent's right hook still on her cheek. The lights were suddenly blocked out by said opponent, a large black and white dairy cow with a smug look across her face, "Nap time already little kitten?" she asked mockingly. The sheriff could only moan in response, how did it end up like this?
It all happened a few days ago, it was a beautiful day in the town of Nice and Friendly Corners when that stranger came to town. A tall and strong dairy cow who called herself the Milk Maid, with an ego even larger than she was. She happened to be very rich too, a landowner she was, and she strolled into town to buy it and expand her empire. The mayor refused to sell the town and was met with a challenge from the cow, to send in their best prizefighter to compete in a boxing match against her.
This cow, despite being a wealthy landowner, was also a champion prizefighter herself, with Milk Maid being her ring name. She had sent out similar challenges like this every time a town refused to be bought, every single one of the opponents she faced had been beaten and she believed this time would be no different. The town wasn't really known for housing any prizefighters, so the mayor went to only one he knew who a proper substitute would be, Callie.
After explaining the situation, the cat reluctantly accepted, not wanting to see her town eventually get torn down. She didn't really know that much about boxing and enlisted Peck and Toby to help her train. She did everything from punching bag training, weightlifting, pad training, and even sparring against her two trainers. She also watched some film reels of Milk Maid's previous fights to get a feel for her fighting style.
Callie wasn't too shy to admit that she was intimidated by the cow's strength and staggering winning streak, but she wasn't about to get let her town get bought out. She kept on training hard until the day of the match came. It was being held in a large barn located in town, a ring was set up in the middle along with bleachers surrounding it. Milk Maid walked into the ring first, wearing a short green vest that went down to near the top of her udders, along with a large champion belt with a big gold buckle and a pair of green boxing gloves with dollar signs on them.
Callie came out next, wearing a pink vest and a brown boxing speedo with a picture of her sheriff's badge on the waistband. She finished her attire with brown boxing gloves. The cow towered over Callie, but she was not afraid, she took down dozens of criminals in her career and this boxing match will be no different. She was going to win this match for her town and for her friends.
But now here she was, she had started off the first round fairly well, dodging her opponent's punches and getting in some of her own. That was until Milk Maid stomped the ring floor with a loud thud, shaking the sheriff to her very core, before slamming a glove into her belly and following up with a hard hook to the head. The blow laid the cat on the ring floor, barely conscious. This all happened within the span of five minutes, "Sweet sarsaparilla..." she moaned.
Milk Maid went back to her corner while the ref, a peacock, started to count Callie out. Back in her corner, Peck and Toby cheered their friend on to get back up. Callie managed to shake the stars out of her vision and slowly get back up, standing upright at the count of seven. The ref made sure Callie was all right and let the fight continue, leaving her and Milk Maid to circle each other, "I'm surprised you were able to get up from that. Although you should still quit while you can." the cow said.
"I ain't about to let you just walk all over our lovely little town, I'm gonna win this match and save it." Callie said.
"I'm warning you, if you don't want to get hurt just give up now." Milk Maid threatened.
"Why don't you come and lay me flat?" Callie taunted, causing the cow to let out a huff before closing in for another punch. The sheriff was quicker this time and managed to duck under the punch and landed a three-punch combo to Milk Maid's belly. The cow reeled back and snorted before charging again, this time with another mighty stomp. Callie avoided getting stunned by jumping up onto the ropes and using them to launch herself up to her opponent's head and deliver a hard right to her head.
The match went on like this for a while, with Callie using resourceful maneuvers to duck around Milk Maid and lay into her belly or jump up to pound her head. Milk Maid was only able to get in one or two shots before the bell rang to end the round. Callie laid back her corner while being coached by Peck and massaged by Toby, while Milk Maid pondered an idea on how to knock out this crafty cat. She eventually got an idea, one that put a wicked smile on her face. The bell rang for the second round and both combatants were circling each other once more, "I have to say, you're pretty good for getting this far. Let me ask you something, you like milk sugar?" Milk Maid asked.
"Of course." Callie answered. As soon as Callie answered this question, Milk Maid sprung her trap. She suddenly grabbed her udder and shot milk directly into Callie's face, blinding her, "What in tarnation!?"
"Hey, that's cheating!" Toby shouted out. Callie couldn't even see the large cow stalking toward her, for she was too busy getting the milk out her eyes.
"Look out, Callie!" Peck shouted.
The sheriff cleared her sight just in time to see a green glove coming towards her, slamming her off her feet and leaving her leaning on the ropes. Her head spun as she tried to stay upright, wobbling with each step. Milk Maid laughed at this and pounded her gloves before slamming Callie to the ropes yet again, punching her over and over while keeping her pinned to the ropes. The cow ended her assault by giving a final uppercut which brought the cat up before she fell to the mat face first, "Should've just stayed in your cat bed sheriff." Milk Maid said.
Milk Maid made her way back to her corner while the ref counted down. Peck and Toby rooted for Callie to get up, but she was slipping out of consciousness. Thankfully, the bell rang putting an end to the round and saving Callie from a knockout. Milk Maid snickered as Callie's friends tried to keep her awake, with Toby having her drink water and Peck fanning her, "I don't think you should go on anymore Callie." Peck said.
"I ain't giving up..." Callie said.
"She's a no-good cheater, we can't stand to see you get knocked around." Toby said worriedly.
"If I'm going down, I'm going down fighting." Callie said. Both friends knew there was no use arguing with her, besides, they admired her determination. The bell rang and Callie shakily got up for her stool and got into a wobbly stance and readied herself for whatever trick her opponent got. Milk Maid stomped the ring floor twice before charging at the dizzy cat. When she was halfway through the charge, she jumped up and slammed the ring floor with the force of mild tremor, ringing throughout the barn.
Callie practically jumped up from this and flew a few inches in the air. Milk Maid then slammed her glove into the sheriff's cheek, sending her spinning uncontrollably. She eventually stopped, her eyes spinning and her tongue lopping out. She swayed in place for a bit before eventually tipping over, but not before being caught by her milk-squirting adversary, "Now let's have ourselves a little rodeo." she said.
Milk Maid launched Callie into the air with a solid uppercut to her chin. She then fell down before getting punched in the air again. This kept going for a while before Callie reached so high, she almost touched the ceiling, and when she fell for the last time, Milk Maid attacked with a devastating straight that launched Callie right back to her corner. She slammed into the post before sliding back down on her back, completely knocked out with her eyes closed.
Milk Maid, satisfied with her work, sauntered back to her corner while the ref started to count Callie out. Peck and Toby desperately shouted out for Callie to wake up, but their calls fell on deaf ears. Or so they thought, for Callie heard every word they had to say and fought hard to wake up, "Come on, gotta keep going." she thought to herself.
Slowly but surely, Callie started to push herself up. The crowd noticed this and started to cheer Callie on, urging the sheriff to get back up and fight. With some difficulty and straining, Callie was able to stand just barely right when the ref was about to say ten. Callie just stood there in an unsteady stance with her gloves at her sides, her determination being the only thing keeping her from kissing the mat. The ref gave her a standing eight count just to see if she could hold it before checking on her again, "You sure you're all good to go?" he asked.
Callie weakly raised her gloves, not even getting them up to her head, "Let's get this done."
With reluctance, the ref let the fight go on, allowing Callie to take a few wobbly steps forward while Milk Maid stomped angrily toward her, "You persistent little brat, I don't even have to punch you to knock you out anymore. A gentle breeze could knock you down right now. Just give up already, you're teetering on your feet." she said. Milk Maid was right, Callie was far from being in fighting shape. her gloves were back to her sides, she swayed gently as her head spun, she couldn't even keep the stars out of her vision. Nevertheless, she stayed standing.
"I ain't going down without a fight." she said weakly.
"If you are so insistent to get your block knocked off, then I won't deny you the pleasure." the cow said before she wound up a big punch while Callie just stood there with a tired look on her face. Back in her corner, Peck and Toby kept shouting at her to move, but she didn't respond. The punch came hard and fast, slamming into Callie's belly and launching her to the ropes. They bent back like a slingshot, preparing to launch to cat back to her opponent, who was preparing another knockout punch.
What happened next was unexpected. Callie was launched back, but she positioned herself so that both her fists were directed at Milk Maid's face. This caught the cow by surprise and tried to get out of the way. It was too late however, for Callie was able to plant both gloves into the side of the cow's head, snapping it to the side and rotating her 180 degrees. Milk Maid was left staggering and slowly walking backwards with a glazed look in her eyes as her head started to spin. She backed up all the way to ropes which leaned on for a while before they started to creak and snap. The ropes suddenly broke off under the cow's weight, sending her crashing to the floor outside the ring with a loud thud.
She laid there with her tongue out and her eyes spinning while the ref started to count her out. The crowd started to join in at the count of three and cheered wildly when the count of ten was reached. The ref raised Callie's glove high in the air as she was declared the winner and Peck and Toby congratulated her, "We knew you could do it sheriff!" Peck cheered.
"I say we throw a party!" Toby added.
"That does sound fun, but I reckon I should curl up for a nice snooze first." Callie said before collapsing to the mat.
The day after the match, Milk Maid left town, but not before congratulating Callie for her victory. She even offered to leave some money for some future renovations. She and Callie became good friends after that and even invited her to another match sometime.