Chapter 76 (Harkor: Bloodbath)
The crowd roared wildly as the first Hardkor show was set to begin. They wanted to come closer to the ring, but the barricade was covered with electrified barbed wire. The first match was all set to begin.
*Leodora vs Ryona Kuno*
The first to arrive was a woman in a red lion mask with an orange mane around it. She had red hair escaping from it that matched her gloves and shoes that each had black claws. She also had on a red leotard with orange fur on the back. She gave a fierce roar before placing her hands down on the stage. She pounced forward and ran like a lion on all fours until she made a gigantic leap into the ring. She stood back up and slashed at the air roaring at the crowd again. She then went to the corner waiting for her opponent.
The next woman to come out had blue hair tied into a ponytail. Her hair matched her leotard and boots. The boots' outlines were as black as the flower pattern on her leotard. She strutted into the ring blowing her kisses to the crowd. She entered the ring ready to fight.
Jessica Jaclyn stood at ringside with her microphone in her hand. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to begin our first ever Hardkor show, Bloodbath. For our first match, we're going to show you just how merciless we are by pitting our feral predator against our lowest ranked competitor!"
"Hey!" the girl in the blue leotard shouted. "Don't call me that!"
Jessica chuckled. "That's Ryona Kuno, folks, a regional judo champion who decided to turn her life around with pro wrestling! She may act tough, but trust me, her sparring sessions so far have been lackluster! She may be tougher than most of you audience members, but compared to the rest of our wrestlers, she's basically a jobber!"
"Not tonight!" Ryona promised. "I'm about to school this kitten!"
"That 'kitten' that Ryona's about to 'school' happens to be a woman who was literally raised by lions in the African jungle! Yami and I found her and we decided to include her in our roster! I introduce to you… Leodora! Now, Lee, do you have anything to say?"
The lion-masked woman didn't say anything. She just growled and snarled at Ryona. It was clear that the juco prodigy was nervous, but she shook it off and put on a confident smirk.
"Truer words have never been spoken." Jessica said. "Now, like I said, none of our matches here will be ordinary, so let's give this match a bit of spark, literally! Lower the cage!"
The stage crew flipped switches and a metal cage lowered down and hooked itself at the ring's apron. The crew then hooked the stage up to a large battery and a humming noise came from the bars.
"An electrified cage, folks!" Jessica commented. "One touch, and you're basically a moth to a lamp buzzer! And to make sure this doesn't end too soon, the match will only be decided by pinfall! Are you girls ready?"
Leodora snarled loudly while Ryona looked nervous again. The judo girl cleared her throat and responded.
"Uh, of course I am! Because of course you decided to use an electric cage! After all, you'll need it to contain this beast! Let the match begin… as soon as I do some stretches and…"
"RING THE BELL!" Jessica commanded.
"Wha… WAIT!" Ryona yelled in a panic, but it was too late.
DING-DING!
Leodora roared as she pounced toward Ryona. The martial artist panicked and immediately ran away. Although, there was nowhere to go. Every side was covered by electric bars. Still, she couldn't stay still. She kept moving trying to avoid Leodora's scratch attacks.
As a drastic attempt, Ryona instinctively ducked herself down and reached her hands back to grab Leodora's head. She then threw her over her shoulder and make her land in front of her. However, Leodora landed on her feet and countered with a spinning scratch attack that connected and left marks on Ryona's face. Ryona screamed and ran off again, but this time, she was getting dizzy. Her movements became slower which gave Leodora the chance she needed to grab her with a shoulder claw. She dug her claws right into Ryona's shoulder making her scream.
Outside of the ring, Jessica grinned and spoke into her microphone. "Ooh! It looks like Ryona's fallen victim to Leodora's specialty, her poisonous claws! To clarify, Leodora's claws are coated with a special poison that slows down her opponent's muscle movements and makes them dizzy! The little judo girl is now at Leodora's mercy… of she has any!"
Leodora released Ryona only to dropkick her so hard, she crashed right onto the cage wall. Ryona felt a strong surge of energy burst through her making her yell out in pain. She walked away from the wall, but before she could fall backwards, she was caught by Leodora who then dropped her backwards in a German suplex.
With Ryona down, Leodora wasted no time grabbing her legs and spinning her around in a liontamer, or as everyone at Hardkor called, Leo's Pride. She wretched hard making Ryona scream extra loud. It was only a few seconds before Ryona tapped out with both arms wildly.
"STOP! STOP IT! I GIVE UP!"
Jesssica shook her head. "Not so fast, Ms. Kuno! Remember what I said! Pinfalls only! So your fate is ultimately up to Leodora!"
Leodora pulled harder making Ryona scream louder. Tears fell down her eyes and her screams became miserable cries. Leodora eventually let go and Ryona held onto both of her legs still crying. Of course, that wouldn't save her. Leodora gripped onto Ryona's blue ponytail and forced her up onto her feet. She then wrapped her arms around Ryona's body making her scream again. Ryona tried to push the lioness away, but she had no luck because of the poison.
"Please…" she begged. "Please just pin me. I won't kick out. I promise. Just please, please pin me. I'm begging you."
Leodora growled before leaning herself over putting her lips onto Ryona's ear. She silently whispered. "No, prey."
Leodora released Ryona only to Irish whip her back to the side of the ring. Ryona managed to grab the top rope to stop herself, but Leodora made it meaningless by grabbing onto her head and pressing her face to the cage bars with great force. The energy flowed through Ryona's body, but Leodora didn't let go. She kept Ryona there listening to her screams in pain.
Leodora released Ryona from the wall only to lift her up in a torture rack. Ryona's screams echoed again as Leodora held her over her shoulders to display to everyone. She then dropped her backward in a Samoan drop. Ryona nearly passed out, but the lioness wasn't done with her yet.
"Time… for… shame." Leodora growled. She grabbed onto Ryona and flipped her hanging her upside down. She hooked her legs around Ryona's and spread them apart letting everyone cheer and flash pictures at Ryona's open exposure.
"Why won't you just pin me?" Ryona pleaded.
Leodora growled before letting go. "Fine… Bored… anyway."
Leodora picked Ryona up by her hair again and carried her over to the corner. She climbed up to the top rope before hanging Ryona upside down and holding onto her. Leodora roared her loudest until she jumped high and forward bringing them both to the center of the ring before landing the piledriver straight down. Ryona was knocked out after that and Leodora stood above her. She planted her clawed foot over Ryona's head waiting for the pin count.
1… 2… 3!
DING-DING!
Jessica clapped and laughed before turning to the audience. "Wasn't that amazing, folks? They say a lion's roar can be heard from miles away, but I'm pretty sure Leodora's fury was felt even further! And just you wait, because this night is only going to get better! DO YOU WANT MORE?!" The crowd roared and cheered their approval. Jessica placed her hand to her ear. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" The crowd roared louder making her think to herself. "I thought so. Yami was right. This is even better than I thought."
*Kassidy Klaws vs Jinatana Mookjai*
After the cage was lifted, Leodora left the ring, and Ryona was dragged backstage by the staff, the next match was ready to begin. The first woman to come to the ring was big and muscular with blonde, spiky hair. She wore a black leotard with red claw marks over a red orb on the front and the words "Klaws" on the back written in claw marks. She went into the ring and showcased her strength for the crowd. The next woman to come out was muscular and athletic with short, purple hair and hazel eyes. She wore a red handband, a yellow sports bra, yellow Mu Thai boxing shorts, and bandages on her hands and feet.
When both girls were in the ring, the larger woman wrapped her own hands in bandages. They were then given two buckets each. One was full of glue which they coated their bandaged hands in. The other had shards of glass in it which they stuck onto their glue-covered hands.
"This next match is going to be merciless, ladies and gentlemen!" Jessica announced. "This will be a Taipei deathmatch, where both competitors will have their hands covered in bandages, glue, and glass shards! First to pin or submit wins! And as for our competitors, we've got two of our top contenders here! On one hand, we have a former Miyabi superstar who was kicked out for bad behavior! Thankfully, we encourage that bad behavior and she's a monster! I give you… Kassidy Claws! And in the other corner is a Mu Thai prodigy and student of the famous fighter, Sagat himself! Are both girls ready?"
"Ready to make this little brat cry." Kassidy sneered.
Jintana scoffed raising her fists like a boxer. "Do I look like Ryona to you?"
Jessica smiled in anticipation and signaled for the bell.
DING-DING!
Kassidy shouted as she charged toward her opponent. However, Jintana bent herself backward and sent a high kick to Kassidy's face. With her disoriented, Jintana wasted no time with striking her in the face with her jagged fists. The bigger wrestler staggered backwards which gave Jintara the chance she needed to barrage her with a flurry of punches and kicks. The punches stung extra hard because of the glass shards.
Kassidy wobbled left and right as if she was about to pass out. Jintana winded her fist back and threw it real hard. However, Kassidy turned out to have seen that coming. Before Jintana could land the blow, Kassidy caught her wrist digging her glass shards into it. Kassidy put on a sadistic face before tossing the hand aside and placing both of her hands to different sides of the Mu Thai fighter's head. Jintana yelled out feeling the glass scraping into her scalp. She connected several blows to Kassidy's stomach, but she tanked each blow and kept squeezing.
"Looks like your punches and kicks mean nothing, little girl!" Kassidy shouted. "You're done here!"
Kassidy swung Jintana's head down while forcing her knee up hitting her in the face. Jintana was struck backwards landing on her back. Kassidy then knelt down one knee over Jintana's neck while gripping onto her abs with a stomach claw. Jintana choked out a yell at it all.
"Mookjai, do you give up?" the referee asked.
"NO!" Jintana shouted feeling the blood coming out of each cut. She used much of her remaining strength to throw her fist up between Kassidy's legs. The impact made Kassidy yell out in pain getting off of her.
Jintana brought herself back up before giving a competitive glare to Kasssidy. When Kassidy roared angrily and threw her punches, Jintana used her Mu Thai training to counter each of them. When Kassidy found her chance, she wrapped her hands around Jintana's throat and began to squeeze. Jintana choked before using her own hands to knock Kassidy's off. She then struck her with her finishing move, Jaguar Avalanche. Kassidy fell over and Jintana covered her.
1… 2… 3!
DING-DING!
Jessica clapped along with the crowd. "Now, that was brutal and sadistic and we all love it, don't we? Guess the Mu Thai fighter had it in her after all!"
*Joker Lady (with Cerberus) vs the Tempest*
Kassidy regained herself just as Jintana left the ring. She followed her backstage while the Hardkor staff carried over a large glass tank. It was filled to the rim with water and it was filled with piranhas. They left it there while the next women made their entrances.
The first woman to come on out had short, spiky, reddish pink hair with a left bang being longer. One of her eyes were yellow and the other was pink. She also had reddish pink stripes down her forehead and to her chin. She wore a long white coat with a purple neck and yellow outlines, orange hip with black outlines. The color scheme also matched the boots she wore. She also had on purple trunks with yellow outlines and white frilled armbands. She went into the ring and waved to the whole crowd.
The woman with reddish pink hair were accompanied by three different women. They had similar costumes, which were black sleeveless one-pieces, but they each had different strips on their sides. One was gold, the other was red, and the last was blue. The one with gold stripes had long and blonde hair. The one with red stripes had red hair with a yellow streak, but also burn marks on the side of her neck. Lastly, the one with blue stripes with a yellow streak. All three women stood at the first woman's ringside.
The next woman to come to the ring did so while dragging a large anchor on a chain like it was nothing. She was massive and muscular with long, blond hair styled in braids. On her massive forearms and elbow, she had on tattoos that looked like raging sea waves. She had cyan blue bandages top and dark blue trunks with a yellow torn dirty sash. Her trunks matched her knee pads. Lastly, she had on light blue shoes with yellow laces. As soon as she got into the ring, she tossed her anchor out of the ring.
Jessica Jaclyn took the microphone while the women got ready. "And now, for our very own piranha tank match! To win this, all you have to do is throw your opponent into the tank full of pirahnas! Fair warning, they bite! Now, to introduce our lovely ladies for this match! The woman in red is a mischievous trickster that you'd find in any ten-year-old's nightmares! I give you… Joker Lady! She is accompanied by Hardkor's very own trio of enforcers called Cerberus, who she has hired to help her against her opponent! Speaking of whom, here is a Russian super sailor, a woman who catches fish by suplexing them to her boat… The Tempest!"
"This is going to be fun." Joker Lady said.
"For one of us, maybe." The Tempest said in a Russian accent. "You seem to have forgotten that I rule the ocean. Not only that, but you've got nothing on these guns." She flexed her muscles kissing her bicep.
"Oh, I know." Joker Lady said. She then gestured her hand to the trio behind her. "That's why I brought them."
"You'll need a whole navy to get the best of me." The Tempest said.
DING-DING!
The Tempest raised her fists ready to brawl, but was caught off guard when Joker Lady rested herself at the corner looking like she was dozing. The Tempest growled feeling mocked and ran to attack her. However, Joker Lady dropped her sleepy act and sidestepped out of the way. She ducked down and countered with a high kick to the side of the Russian's head. She then got behind her and landed a German suplex with her.
Joker Lady got back up, but the Tempest returned to her feet just as fast and speared her to the mat. She gripped her pink hair and hit her with a lot of punches to her face. She picked her up and attempted to Irish whip her to the side of the ring with the piranha tank. Joker Lady jumped to the ropes and bounced off hitting the Tempest with a full body splash, but the fisherwoman stood her ground and hooked her arms at Joker Lady's body. She then launched Joker Lady backwards letting her fall to the mat.
The Tempest brought Joker Lady up by her hair, but the trickster had something special up her sleeve. She blew out a green mist from her lips and it collided with the Tempest's face burning her eyes. She let go giving Joker Lady the chance to run to the ropes and leap off for another splash. This time, it got the Tempest off of her feet and she crashed to the mat.
With the Tempest down, Joker Lady got up and taunted her. "Aw, is the little fishy lady mad I sprayed her? Who wants to be piranha chow? Is it you? Is it you?"
"Shut up!" the Tempest commanded. She leaped upward while launching a powerful clothesline. However, Joker Lady flipped over the attack and countered with a slap to the back of her head. The Tempest tried to strike again, but Joker Lady countered with another slap.
The cycle kept going until the Tempest found her chance. She balled up her first preparing to punch. Joker Lady flipped over and went to slap once more. However, the Tempest ducked and thrusted her leg backwards kicking Joker Lady right between her legs. With the trickster stunned, the Tempest managed to lift her up before landing her sore spot right over her knee in an atomic bomb before dropping her in a tombstone piledriver. Joker Lady dropped down covering where it hurt.
The Tempest spat at her down opponent. "Pathetic. I could've taken that with no hesitation. Time for you to be piranha chow."
The Tempest scooped up Joker Lady with both arms and lifted her high above her head displaying her like a trophy for the crowd. The Tempest walked on over to the ropes facing the tank and prepared to toss her in. Joker Lady looked at the other side of the ring and gave a wicked grin. She managed to roll out of the carry landing behind the Tempest. The Russian sea woman turned to face her when her eyes caught the same thing that Joker Lady saw.
Outside of the other side of the ring, the Cerberus team stood with their strongest, Ursula, in the middle. Ursula carried the anchor that the Tempest carried at her entrance. With one hand, the anchor was lifted with amazing strength and swung around without effort surprising the crowd and the Tempest herself. Before anyone else could react, Ursula released the anchor chain and let it fly into the ring. Ursula was so surprised by the feat of strength, she didn't have time to react before the anchor landed hard at her chest.
The Tempest was basically lifeless when she was struck by the large piece of metal, but when she came too, she found herself halfway over the ropes falling into the piranha tank. Out of instinct, though, she grabbed the top rope leaving her hanging over the one thing in the arena she didn't want to fall in. A piranha managed to jump out and bite her on the leg, but she managed to shake it off and climb back up to the apron. However, that's when the Cerberus arsonist, Octavia, threw her lighter over to Joker Lady. The trickster woman lit a fire in front of her face while preparing to blow. She sprayed another green mist that exploded into fire bursting right in front of the Tempest's face. She panicked letting to of the rope and falling backwards. She splashed right into the piranha tank.
DING-DING!
The Tempest yelled as she climbed out of the water tank. She growled before prying off the fish that were stinking their teeth into her. While that was happening, Cerberus climbed into the ring to congratulate Joker Lady who then gave their leader, Destiny, a check. Jessica Jaclyn made her announcement right after.
"Ooh! That's gotta leave a mark! Despite the Tempest's advantage around water, Joker Lady managed to pull off a fantastic win with the help of Cerberus! I hope the pay was worth it!"
Out in the front row behind the barbed wire barricade, Fiona's honored guests—Liz Lancaster and Beatrice Harper—clapped along with the crowd.
"This night is getting better and better." Liz said. "In any other circumstance, these women would do great in the GWM women's league."
"Which reminds me," Beatrice said, "You saw the main event on the match card. Fiona's going to battle someone called Tigress the Great. Is that any relation to the Tiger the Great the Third at GWM?"
"Not that I know of." Liz said. "Then again, Miss X likes to keep surprises to herself. For all I know, this is probably some partnership made between her and this Yami guy."
"Speaking of, how is he alive?" Beatrice said. "Didn't he die like a hundred years ago?"
"You know as much as I do." Liz said. "Now, shh! The next match is about to begin."
*Xtrema Shorts*
"Welcome, everyone, yet again to another segment of Xtrema Shorts!" Chibi Monica Everly said as she sat next to a Chibi version of Jasper Jones. "Here with me is the self-titled reincarnation of a warrior priestess and conspiracy theorist, Jasper Jones!"
"Great to be here, Monica," Chibi Jasper said, "But please, don't say self-titled. I really am the reincarnation of Barbaria the Savage Queen. I know a lot of people don't believe me, but the fact that I believe it just enough for me."
"Okay then." Chibi Monica said disbelieving. "Anyway, we'll be going over the standard questions plus some personal ones asked by Awesome ax10."
"Why is this Awesome person the only one who's asking?" Chibi Jasper asked.
"Well, not anymore." Chibi Monica answered. "We just got some new personal questions asked by a fan through PMs for Willow Powell and the Skunk. We'll answer them when we get around to them. Anyway, are you ready?"
"Fire away."
"Excellent. Now, first question… How long have you been wrestling?"
"Not too long. I mean, you all saw my debut in that battle royal."
"Do you have any dream opponents?"
"Not specifically. Honestly, I'd like to go against any girl who I suspect is hiding something."
"How do you feel about your fans?"
"I count on their support. After all, Barbaria the Savage Queen got stronger from the love of her followers."
"What's the toughest match you've had so far?"
"Definitely Juri Sanada. I originally challenged her to find out the deal with Elena Miyazawa in Miyabi, but she proved to be quite a tough nut to crack."
"What do you do for fun?"
"What else? I like looking over the big mysteries behind the world of combat sports. I also take up meditating so I could remember my time as Barbaria."
"What do you think makes a great wrestler?"
"Barbaria fought for honorable glory and a sense of righteousness. And so, I must as well."
"Do you have any interests besides wrestling?"
"My investigations, of course."
"Now, we're moving onto the personal questions. Which era in time did Barbaria the Savage Queeen live in? Was it ancient Greece, Rome, Persia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, dark ages, etc.?"
"Oh, Barbaria's from a dark age era that I'm sure you won't even find on the internet. It was from a time where warlords from different clans fought for world supremacy. The only reason we're not all slaves already is because Barbaria fought for peace. I remember it well."
Chibi Monica was a little wierded out. "Okay. Did you ever think about competing in the World Martial Arts Tournament to search for answers about the Cell Games?"
"No, because going to one tournament isn't going to get me any closer to finding out the truth about Cell who died years ago. He may have borrowed tournament rules, but he had no affinity with them. I couldn't gain any knowledge anyway."
"What do you think of Mr. Satan?"
"I won't deny that he's a strong fighter. He's just not stronger than me, so there's no way I'm willing to believe that he killed Cell. He's hiding something and I wish to find out what it is."
"What more conspiracies do you research aside from Blue Panther and Cell?"
"Well, I look at quite a lot. But I am looking into some pretty deep stuff. For example, I'm pretty certain that GWM plays a part in a secret underground deathmatch between their wrestlers who lost their matches. That's why we haven't seen most of them in a while. I also suspect that the Street Fighter tournaments were secretly run by an organization called Shadoloo. No evidence yet, but I did find that name linked to the tournaments. But the biggest mystery I have so far is the one involving the federation, Rumble Roses. Some of their wrestlers there have made changes that were simply out of character and have suddenly gained a strange tattoo. I have a terrible feeling that we're going to collide and I wish to get to the bottom of it before we do."
"Well, thank you for your thoughts and theories. Keep up the good work, Ms. Jones." Chibi Monica said. "And to our readers, if you have any questions you'd like to ask our wrestlers, even those who work at Hardkor, you can ask away. Speaking of Hardkor, quite a chilling first part, wasn't it? Imagine what the rest of it's going to be like. Any and all comments are welcome."