16TH FINALS: MS. MARVEL VS. YELENA BELOVA
The victorious Luke Cage soon transported back to the Garden, and just like his teammates before him, received a mixture of cheers and boos from the audience. Luke ignored them; as he did not care about other people's perceptions of him. He focused on only one person: The Iron Patriot. The armored man who held his friends, Iron Fist and Ant-man, prisoner. As such, he gave the Patriot a hateful glare, wanting to brutally beat the life out of him in front of the crowd, as well as the people watching around the world. It wasn't until the Hero for Hire felt a strong grab and shake his arm.
It was that of the concerned Ms. Marvel. Though her match was coming up next, she quickly got Luke away from the pad so she could not only she and her opponent step on them and got to their fight, but also to prevent Luke from letting his anger towards Patriot get to him. "Luke! Luke!" she said firmly, finally getting the Hero fore Hire to look at her. "Listen, I know you want to pound Osborn and his patsies into a paste, but not here! Right now, head back to the others and save your energy for your next match! Besides, seeing you mad and losing focus is exactly what Osborn wants, you need to keep your cool!"
Though Luke hated to admit it, he knew that Ms. Marvel had a point. At least in regards to Osborn trying to 'get in his head.' With this in mind, Luke answered the Warbird with a reluctant nod, then stepped off the pad walked towards the rest of his teammates.
As for Ms. Marvel herself, she soon stepped on top of the teleportation pad and locked eyes with her upcoming opponent in the Thunderbolts' corner.
That opponent being Yelena Belova, who gives Ms. Marvel a cocky smirk as she adjusted her gloves. "Well, boys, if you'll excuse me," she told her teammates. "I need to show Ms. Air Force over there what happens when she goes up against the World's TRUE deadliest spy." With that confidence, Yelena strolled past her fellow Thunderbolts and finally arrived at the teleportation pads, where the ever serious Ms. Marvel was waiting.
Back on stage, the announcer, despite still feeling some stress from the intensity of the previous fights, sill pushed on by smiling for the crowd and acting excited as he addressed them. "All right folks, let's keep things rolling with the Avengers' blonde haired bombshell, Ms. Marvel, taking on the Thunderbolts' Black Widow, Ms. Yelena Belova!" With the crowd roaring with approval, the teleportation pads activate, and within seconds, both Ms. Marvel and Yelena vanished in thin air.
In the Avengers corner, both Spidey watched Luke stood near the stairway leading off to the stage. Luke, still seething that his fellow Heroes for Hire were still prisoners in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helocarrier, and he, for the time being anyway, was powerless to do anything about it.
Spidey grew concerned for the angry Power Man, but at the same time, a little nervous about approaching him. "Man, as much as I want to check on Luke, I'm afraid he'll snap me like a twig," thought the Web-Head. "Still, can't say I blame him, though. With Fist and Ant-Man now being held by the Gobby controlled S.H.I.E.L.D., I'd be feeling mad too." Moments later, Spidey soon turned to the Thunderbolts corner and spotted the Scarlet Spider, who by this time appeared to be conversing with the Patriot, which caused him to let out a saddened sigh. "And I'm no stranger to feeling powerless to help my friends too. Except in my case, my best friend is a prisoner in a different."
Meanwhile, in the vast desert landscape of the Australian Outback, both Ms. Marvel and Yelena arrived on to specially built teleportation pads that were built right in front of the Uluru. Upon the female combatant's arrival, the Ref Bot soon floated down to greet them. "Ladies, welcome to the Australian Outback," said the announcer via the Ref Bot's screen. "The perfect place for you to cut loose and go all out in your match.
Ms. Marvel appeared to be not to keen on her current situation. It's not that she minded Australia; after all, her years as an Air Force pilot brought to visit it a few times, and she enjoyed the continent and its people. But what bothered the fact she had powers. Whereas Yelena, despite being a fierce fighter in her own right, did not. "Yeah, well, maybe for people like me," Ms. Marvel told the announcer, then turned to her blonde haired opponent. "But not for you. Don't get me wrong, I'm not too crazy about you, but I have powers, and you don't. So that being said, sweetheart, I'm gonna give you one chance to do yourself a favor and give up while you still have a chance."
The ever-confident Yelena placed her right hand on her hip as she went to respond, all the while secretly placing her thumb over a button sewed into her belt. "And miss proving why I'm the REAL Black Widow again? No chance. Besides, I think you're forgetting that I won my last match and who you're dealing with!"
This display of arrogance did not sit too well, Ms. Marvel, especially when Yelena reminded her how she beat Natasha by tricking her into disqualifying herself. "I know EXACTLY who I'm dealing with," replied the Warbird in a bitter tone, then got into a fighting stance. "But if you want to go through with this, fine! Just don't say that I didn't try to offer you an easy way out!"
The announcer could feel the intensity between these two women intensify, and grew more nervous because of it. "W-Well then," said the announcer anxiously. "Now that we know that both of you are in this to the end..." The Ref bot wasted no time in giving the Ref Bot a mental command to fly up into the sky so he can get the match underway. "...BEGIN!"
Despite the intense hatred she felt towards Yelena, Ms. Marvel still decided to make this match mercifully short while using only the smallest amount of her powers. As such, she charged towards the Thunderbolts' 'Black Widow,' pulled her right fist back and threw a jab using only five percent of her strength. With the plan of destroying Yelena's belt buckle without literally breaking her in two.
However, while waiting for Ms. Marvel to come to her, Yelena pressed the sewn-in button in her belt. The result was the seams in her jumpsuit glowing white. Then, just as Ms. Marvel came close enough and threw a straight right jab, Yelena used both of her hands to catch the Warbird's fist. Then, in the strangest of occurrences, the glowing white lights in Yelena's suit soon began to glow bright yellow as she touched the Avenger's Warbird's hand. Moments later, Yelena made her move by pulling her right fist back, threw a fierce hook, and nailed Ms. Marvel in the face, knocking the Avenger loopy. Yelena then threw a left legged round kick, which successfully connected to the disoriented Warbird's head and sent flying back a few feet, then crashing down hard to the ground. "Well, score one for Warren for making and giving me this 'Adaptoid suit,'" said the smiling Yelena, then shrugged in displeasure upon hearing herself say the name of the suit she was wearing. "Yeah, I know, the name sucks," Yelena said calmly as she walked towards the fallen Ms. Marvel. Once she approached the Warbird, she used her right hand to grab a handful of her hair, and thanks to the suit's strength, she picked the Avenger up off the ground like a rag doll. "But hey, can't argue with the results." The confident Yelena continued her assault by throwing a hard left cross to Ms. Marvel's face, and upon letting go of her hair, sent the Avenger flying backward. Her smirk now transformed into a sinister grin, Yelena soon gave chase by running and leaping towards the reeling Ms. Marvel with speeds equivalent to that of the Warbird herself. Upon catching up with her, Yelena went in for the kill by setting her sights on Ms. Marvel's belt buckle and threw a straight right punch to destroy it.
Fortunately for Ms. Marvel, though, she spotted this attack and thus threw her right arm downward. With this tactic, the Warbird managed not only to block Yelena's punch, but also push her fist downward, forcing the Thunderbolt to turn around. Now facing Yelena's back, Ms. Marvel grabbed the back of the blonde Thunderbolt's collar, then jumped, flipped over the spy's head, and threw her forward. The result of which was sending Yelena flying down and rolling violently into the ground.
After rolling a third time, Yelena managed to get back up on her feet, and upon seeing Ms. Marvel speeding towards her, quickly got into a fighting stance.
At one point, Ms. Marvel stopped mid-air, then channeled her energy and willpower into both of her hands. Once the Avenger felt that they were fully charged, she pointed both of her glowing fists and fired a golden blast, with the target being Yelena's belt buckle.
However, Yelena easily spotted this and avoided it by jumping and flipped backward, dodging the blast and causing it to hit the ground instead, creating a small dust cloud. Upon landing on her feet, the Thunderbolts' 'Black Widow' made her move by using her newly enhanced lower body strength to leap up into the air and towards Ms. Marvel herself. Once she was close enough, Yelena wrapped her legs around Ms. Marvel's head, then performed another backflip and in the process, dragged the Warbird into a somersault and sent her down hard into the ground.
After crashing into the Earth, a dazed Ms. Marvel briefly shook her head to regain focus into the fight. Luckily, she did so just in time as she soon spotted Yelena not only back on the ground level, but running and going for a left legged front kick. This prompted Ms. Marvel to dash to the right side, avoiding Yelena's kick and causing the blonde-haired spy to hit nothing but empty air. Afterward, Ms. Marvel went on the offensive by channeling her energy into her left hand and fired a blast, only to miss when Yelena jumped and flipped in a corkscrew motion to the left side. Still keeping Yelena in her sights, the Warbird charged both of her hands this time and fired an even more powerful blast.
Yelena, on the other hand, saw this and avoided it by jump and flipping over the blast. Upon landing on her feet, the Thunderbolt once again utilized her newfound strength by running towards the Warbird and going for a left legged knee striking, aiming for the Avengers belt buckle.
Luckily for Ms. Marvel, though, she stopped this attack by using both her hands to catch the spy's knee. However, the force of the attack is so strong; the impact caused the ground beneath the Avenger to crack. Nevertheless, Ms. Marvel pushed Yelena's knee downward, then spotted her throwing a right hook, thus causing the Warbird to hold up her right arm to block the punch, then responded by throwing a left hook.
Yelena, however, was just as quick to defend herself as she used her left arm to block the Avenger's attack successfully. She then grabbed her opponent's left arm with both hands and gave the Warbird a judo shoulder throw, which, thanks to the suit's strength, sent Ms. Marvel flying forward.
Though airborne, Ms. Marvel managed to control her fall by flipping forward and darting her feet into the ground, thus preventing her from rolling violently. As she levitated up and looked over her shoulder, she saw Yelena coming towards her again, and this time, throwing a left legged scissors kick. Acting fast, Ms. Marvel quickly spun around and used both hands to catch Yelena's foot, thus stopping the kick.
However, Yelena refused to let this stop her. For even though Ms. Marvel was holding her left foot...she still had another. As such, the Thunderbolt's spy decided to use this to her advantage by jumping up with her right leg and using it to deliver a hard round kick, which nailed Ms. Marvel in the head and sending her down to the ground hard. After the attack, Yelena managed to land safely in a crouching position and soon spotted Ms. Marvel lying face-first onto the ground, then slowly rolling on to her back in a daze. Seeing this as the opportunity to strike, Yelena jumped up high into the air and proceeded to dar both of her feet downward, intending to drill the heels in her boots into the dazed and confused Ms. Marvel's belt buckle to win the match.
Even while in her disoriented state, Ms. Marvel looked up to see Yelena about to stomp her feet into her gut and saved herself by rolling to the right side, causing Yelena to ram her feet into the ground instead, making a crack in the process. After rolling on to her stomach, Ms. Marvel hopped back up on her feet, then turned to Yelena, who by now had turned around and gotten into a fighting stance. All in which caused Ms. Marvel to charge towards her with her right fist cocked back.
As for Yelena, she saw the Warbird coming her way and throwing a right hook, and thus held up her right hand to catch the Avenger's fist and stopping the punch. Afterward, the smirking blonde fought back by throwing a left cross.
Ms. Marvel, however, noticed this and decided to take a page out of Yelena's book and used her open left hand to catch the fist. Moments later, she spotted Yelena throwing a left legged knee strike and thus held up her right leg to successfully block the attack. Having had enough of this match, as well as the opponent she was facing, Ms. Marvel to throw a left knee strike at Yelena's belt buckle, intending to put an end to this fight.
However, Yelena anticipated this and thus held up her right knee to block the strike. Seconds later, both female fighters grabbed each other's shoulders and threw knee strikes at one another with their kneecaps connecting with such force; they made echoes throughout the Outback. This went on for less than a minute until finally, it appeared that Ms. Marvel grew weaker and tired, and Yelena's suit glowed brighter and brighter. This caused Yelena to grin from ear to ear, as she could feel that victory was near and raveled in seeing Ms. Marvel go down I one knee. "Guess I forgot to mention," said Yelena with confidence in her voice. "The suit absorbs whatever energy you throw against me...and in turn, increasing the power I need to take you down! But hey, for what it's worth, you proved to be a pretty decent workout, despite the fact that a girl-scout Air Force pilot like you has nothing compared to a highly trained spy."
Though feeling drained, Ms. Marvel still chose not o give up to someone as arrogant as the Thunderbolt she was facing. "You don't say?" said the slightly weakened, but still determined Warbird. "Well...were you trained for things like this?!" Suddenly, Ms. Marvel leaned all the way back, and for Natasha, her fellow Avengers, and her brothers and sisters in the Air Force, she rammed her forehead into the one spot on Yelena that was not covered by her energy-absorbing suit: her nose, breaking it instantly and causing Yelena to release Ms. Marvel and let her drop to the ground. Upon landing, Ms. Marvel noticed Yelena holding her now broken nose and stumbling backward...and leaving her belt buckle unprotected! And so, summoning and channeling all her remaining energy into her left hand, the blonde Avenger fired one last energy blast, and this time, made a direct hit on Yelena's belt buckle and destroyed it.
As expected, yellow energy began to consume the shocked and confused Yelena, until finally, she is left in a frozen state and fell to the ground.
Moments later, the Ref Bot, with the announcer's face present on its screen, soon hovered down to the exhausted but victorious Ms. Marvel, who at this point was now in a kneeling position. "Here is your winner...MS. MARVEL!"
As she tried to catch her breath, Ms. Marvel heard the cheering Avengers vans via the Ref Bot's screen, and though she still maintained a more professional expression, she silently enjoyed and felt honored by the roaring and admiration of the crowd. As she finally stood back up on her feet, the Warbird briefly looked down at the now frozen Yelena and looked down at her with disgust. "Some 'Black Widow' you are."
WINNER: MS. MARVEL