After our battle with Cassie and Adam and the successful video, the Catfight Organization made me a full member with access to more matchmaking opportunities and more opponents. My favorite “perk” that came with full VIP membership was a pin that was in the shape of a Cat bearing its claws. I had seen these on a few women from time to time and figured they had to mean something. What they were doing when they wore them was advertising that they wanted a match.
I’ve learned that when two women wearing the pins meet, if they are interested, they can schedule a sanctioned match. I love the concept and hope to get to use it soon. There is a certain level of excitement that comes from finding an opponent in the wild without getting into her stats or record- it seems more “raw”.
I’ve been wearing my pin for a couple of days and haven’t seen any others. However, today Jake and I are headed to a comic convention in the city. There should be lots of women there and I just know that there have to be at least a few geeks there with a wild side.
We enter the convention and it is a fun scene. I forget about my hunt as Jake and I unleash our inner nerd and have a blast looking at all of the exhibits, memorabilia, stars giving autographs, and cosplay fanatics showing off their lovingly constructed outfits.
Towards closing time of the convention, I remember one of the reasons I came here. I make sure my shiny new pin is proudly displayed for any and all comers. We wander around some more with no success. So finally I decide that if I’m going to have a fight tonight, I’m going to have to do this the old fashioned way.
I see a very cute, young cosplay model at one of the video game exhibits. She looks sweet and innocent but I can sense there is edge to this young woman. Maybe it’s in her eyes, but despite her shy demeanor, I see a fighter. Then I see it….she has a ‘cat’ badge!
My heart is almost pounding out of my chest at the prospect of finding my first challenge on my own. Peeking out of her backpack, I see several comics and video game related literature and a folded up Dragon Age t-shirt. I saunter up to her and her friends. Then in my most annoying voice I loudly proclaim how much better I thought Skyrim was than Dragon Age. Fortunately, Jake and I have been casual gamers so I have some knowledge. I wax on about how no self respecting gamer would play an Electronic Arts game anyway. I see the real life version of Lara Croft roll her eyes. As I ramble on, she finally stops me.
“Look lady, I know what you’re trying to do….you’re not going to goad me into a fight.” the model says to me, before one of her friends butts in “you’re just lucky she’s working right now or she’d take your old ass out back and -oh” her friend’s eyes widen as she sees my badge “-she has a badge!…you really are gonna kick this old lady’s ass!”
The young woman with the badge looks at her friend “shh…Arwen, I already told you, I’m not fighting tonight anymore..”
“Oh c’mon, you aren’t afraid of this ‘old’ lady, are you?” I continue to try and goad her some more.
Arwen leans over and whispers something to ‘Lara Croft’s’ ear. Then the girl with the badge lets out a sighs before she looks me in the eyes and says, almost reluctantly “Alright…lady, you’re on”
Arwen pipes up again “Its a good thing your old man is here…somebody’s gonna need to drive you to the hospital when she’s done with you…”
“That’s enough, Arwen…I’ll handle this” says the woman with “cat” badge.
If I wasn’t so happy about finding a match for tonight, I’d probably be embarrassed at my pathetic attempt at picking a fight with a young 20 something. With an uncontrollable excitement in my voice, I ask “Do you have a place in mind or should I find one?”
The young woman plays it cool but her eyes can’t hide that she is starting to get giddy that we are about to test each other as she answers. “I know just the place, a local bar down the street is having a fight night, the opponent I was supposed to face cancelled earlier. Do want to do it there?”
“Lead the way” I answer immediately.
“Give me half an hour and I’ll meet you by the front door of the expo center” she says as she goes back to the exhibit.
Jake and I wait by the door as the convention closes for the night. The woman, true to her word and still in costume, comes out and meets us. “Follow me, it’s just a block from here” she says. She looks back towards the convention center and yells back to Arwen and her other friends “I’ll see you guys in a little bit, right?”
Arwen yells back “Of course, there’s no way we’d miss you shutting that old woman’s mouth…and you’re gonna make that deal right?” The model looks back to Arwen and gives her a ‘thumbs up’ sign.
My first impression of this young woman is that she is fearless. Not only has she just agreed to fight a woman she had never met, but she met that woman and her husband and is walking down a dark street with them alone in a city.
Making small talk I introduce myself “My name is Fyre and this my husband, Jake. Nice to meet you”.
“My name is Kelsey, but I fight as the Kittenhawk.” She continues as we walk, “so, Fyre have you fought in a pro style ring before?”
“Not yet, what’s different about it?” I ask, having only been on mats or grass.
She thinks about it for a second before answering “Being able to use the ring as a weapon, for one thing. Then there’s also having a referee, that can make it quite a bit different than a traditional Catfight…and finally, the crowd. You can feel their energy, if they’re behind you, it’s almost like they can will you to victory….oh, we’re here.” She says as we reach the bar.
Upon entering the bar, it’s impossible to miss the ring in the middle of the room. There looks to be about 100 people seated around the ring. The room is fairly dark except for the bright lights illuminating the ring. It looks like the first match is getting ready to start.
Kelsey takes us to a check-in table and informs the staff that I will be taking her opponent’s place. We sign in and are weighed. We are told that we will be the third match of the evening. The woman running the show and putting our information into the Catfight organization’s website asks us, “One more thing…any wagers?”
Sheepishly Kelsey looks at the ground and then the woman “If I win she has to buy all of the drinks for my friends and I tonight”. That bet must be the deal Arwen was talking about. The woman then looks at me obviously waiting to hear my request.
I think for a moment, then I get an idea “If I win, I want her to teach me more about this style of fighting- a free training session”
Kelsey seems amused by my request. She smiles and says “Deal. But lady, I hope you realize my friends really know how to drink.”
We shake on it and then we are led to different locker rooms to change and get ready. I kiss Jake goodbye and he wishes me good luck as he goes to grab a seat.
Back in the locker room I change into the purple sports bra and shorts that I planned to use in my match with Cassie. I look around the room at all of the other wrestlers and wonder if my path will cross any of theirs.
A couple of minutes later I hear the roar of the small crowd and hear the bell ring. A short, husky woman in a one piece bathing suit, knee pads, and wrestling boots walks to a doorway blocked by a curtain. I hear the announcer rambling for a while and see the woman make her way through the curtain to a cascade of boos. I think to myself that this is a lot like it is on TV. After hearing the announcer talk for a bit and some more cheering and boos, the bell rings.
‘Ok Fyre, you’re up next, girl’ I think to myself. At this point, I start to feel those familiar butterflies in my stomach and begin to pace. Outside, I hear some cheers, but mostly boos. I walk over to the curtain and peek through.
I see the cause of all of the boos. The husky wrestler is woman handling her opponent, a brightly dressed petite Latina in a mask. The larger woman toys with her prey for about a minute more before lifting the masked woman above her head and slamming her to the canvas. She steps on the smaller woman’s chest and leaves her boot there as the crowd boos and the referee counts to three. The bell rings. The announcer returns to the ring and raises the villain’s arm and the ring is cleared except for the announcer who is building up the next match.
A spotlight swings to the curtain. I hear the announcer begin. “Standing 5’5 and one half inches, weighing in at a mean 139 pounds, in her debut here- Fyre!” Without even thinking I walk out into the light, I can hear the crowd cheering. It’s quite a rush. I make my way to the ring “high fiving” the crowd along my way. I roll into the ring.
The announcer turns toward the opposite end of the room. “And her opponent, standing 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing in at lethal 110 pounds, hailing from the great Pacific Northwest- its the Kittenhawk!” Kelsey bursts through the curtain into the spotlight. No longer dressed as the Tomb Raider, she’s in jeans and sneakers with the tattered Dragon Age t-shirt covering a black sports top. The previously shy Kelsey, seems electric as Kittenhawk and the crowd feels it. Going wild as she plays to them, almost bouncing to the ring before catapulting herself over the top rope into the ring.
The referee brings us together in the center of the ring. As she goes over the rules, I size kittenhawk up. She’s really a cute girl, brown hair, bright blue eyes, probably around 22 so hopefully my strength can make up for the extra 15 years of youth she has on me. She is fit yet still feminine and her slight frame makes me self conscious of my plump ass. It looks like I might actually have a bigger chest for once, barely. My skin is tan, hers almost porcelain. I hope she is as fragile, but the intensity of her eyes says otherwise.
The bell rings and we begin to circle. Immediately I notice how fast she is. So I extend my hand to see if she want test her strength against me. The crowd cheers and she cautiously wades in. We interlock our fingers on one hand then the other. We are about the same height, so there’s no leverage advantage just pure strength. She holds me off for a couple of seconds but it isn’t long before her arms are shaking, I bend her wrists back and she is driven down to a knee.
The crowd is getting louder. I shove the smaller women down and she rolls across the ring. I strut around playing to the crowd. Thinking this is a lot of fun. With my focus elsewhere, I fail to see Kelsey as she is up and racing toward me.
I turn around just in time for her shoulder to spear me in the belly. The air is driven from me and I’m stunned. I roll around on the canvas trying get to my feet. I make it to my hands and knees when I see the Kittenhawk’s sneakers in front of me.
I’m yanked to my feet by my hair. The lightning fast waif sends a flurry of of kicks to my thighs and abdomen. While they aren’t devastating, the sheer number of them landing is taking its toll. I reach out, trying to grab Kelsey but she is so quick. She hops out of the way and lands a hard open handed slap right to my ass. The crowd roars its approval.
I stalk and chase Kelsey around the ring. She manages to avoid me and lands more than a few more kicks and slaps. Her floating like a butterfly stinging like bee is starting to become frustrating. The only thing saving me thus far is that her “stings” while numerous aren’t too terribly hard.
Kelsey can tell that I’m beginning to slow after her rapid fire onslaught and she begins to move in for some more brutal moves. After a flying kick to my mid section doubles me over, she grabs my arm and whips me towards the ropes. I rebound off of them and back towards the Kittenhawk who looks to be waiting to catch me with some sort of slam. Out of desperation, I launch myself towards her with my arm extended catching her with a diving clothesline that almost turns the young beauty inside out.
The crowd explodes with the impact. As Kelsey and I both lay in the ring, the ref begins her slow 10 count. At five I am able to get to my feet. I stumble over to my prone opponent and sloppily lay across her chest for a pin. The ref drops and begins to slap the mat and count. “…1…..2.” Kelsey wills her shoulder off the mat, but she is still dazed.
Now I get to go on offense. Wrenching her from the canvas, I lift her to her feet. I sling the lithe woman into the corner where she hangs helplessly with her arms over the top rope. I land a series of open handed chops to her chest, each one eliciting a loud “whoooo!” from the crowd. After the last chop, Kelsey slinks to a seated position in the corner. I take a few steps back and charge, my hip slamming into her head.
I reach down again and pull my semi conscious foe off the ground again. I place her in a headlock and begin to move her towards the center of the ring. After just a couple of steps I feel a stomp on my bare foot. I crank my headlock down even harder, then she stomps down again…and again. My grip begins weaken as I can’t ignore the pain coursing through my poor foot. With my grip weakened, Kelsey begin to drive elbow after elbow into my belly until she breaks free.
I attempt to regain my advantage but the scrappy brunette reaches up and grabs my hair, then placing her head under my chin, hops up and lands directly on her butt executing a textbook jawbreaker. I go reeling backwards before I land flat on my back. Kelsey rolls to the edge of the ring. Again, both of us are laying on the canvas trying desperately to get to our feet as the crowd gets louder with every count from the referee.
This time the referee makes it 8 before I climb the ropes to get to my feet. The Kittenhawk is still struggling to get to her feet as she sees me moving towards her and she cleverly rolls out of the ring. Confused as to what I can do with my opponent outside the ring, I more or less just play to the crowd and try to taunt her back into the ring. As the ref now starts a count out.
Again I lose my focus as I begin to argue back and forth with Arwen and her friends in the crowd. I lean against the ropes and continue to “jaw” at them. Suddenly, I feel my feet yanked out from under me. I find myself sitting on the edge of the ring, with my feet dangling and head on the second rope. I know Kelsey did this but I don’t see her. Out of the corner of my eye I see her flying towards me after she jumped off the stairs to the ring. Her knee connects with the side of my face and I land flat on my back.
I’m able to get my bearings as I feel Kelsey pulling me to my feet. She lands a few more knees to my belly for good measure before I hear her grunt and picks me up onto her shoulders. I groan as the “torture rack” submission is locked in. I feel completely exposed as my back is bent and pain radiates through my body. I can feel the blue eyed vixen straining to keep me in this excruciating hold. ‘If I can… just… hold… on.. a..little..longer’ I think to myself.
I can feel Kelsey’s legs begin to tremble as she continues to try and break me. Finally, she can’t hold on anymore and drops me unceremoniously onto my back. I hit with a resounding thud. The bright lights above the ring appear to be spinning to me.
I feel the Kittenhawk hop on my belly driving the air out of me though a pained grunt. I feel her grab one of my legs and pull it straight up. I hear an impact next to me “one!”…what was that? I wonder in my stupor..I feel another impact next to me “two!” About this time it dawns me that I’m being pinned. Instinctively, I move my shoulder a fraction of a second before the referee’s hand hit for the three count.
Kelsey rolls off of me and can’t believe it. She argues for the ref to count faster. Meanwhile, I’m in trouble. I’m so out of it, I can’t even roll to get off of my back. After she regains her focus, she seems to have a renewed vigor and quickly scales the turnbuckle. She uses her arms to pump the crowd into a frenzy, before she leaps high into the air.
The Kittenhawk flies through the air and all of her 110 pounds of geek fury lands squarely on my tummy. The impact is so great that all of my appendages flop into the air and she bounces several feet off of me.
I’m done, I can’t move at all. I can only watch as Kelsey, to whom the impact also did significant damage drags herself towards me. I feel her drape her arm across my chest. The referee begins the count “one!… two!….she’s in the ropes, Kittenhawk let her up!” Somehow when my body flopped my foot must have landed on the ring rope. Kelsey can’t believe it and I’m not sure I want to.
Kelsey starts dragging herself toward the turnbuckle again. This time she slowly ascends it, vowing to finish this. ‘No…no..not again’ I think to myself ‘I can’t let this happen again’. Clutching my aching ribs, I begin to use the ropes to climb to my feet. The crowd is electric and on their feet as Kelsey stands on the top turnbuckle and I reach my feet.
The Kittenhawk turns towards me and begins to leap. I do the only thing I can think of and shake the top rope. Kelsey loses her footing and lands with a moan, straddling the top turnbuckle. We are both spent, but at least I’m on my feet.
Using the rope, I get to the corner. Kelsey weakly paws at me, trying to keep me from grabbing her. Using the last of my strength, I pull her across my shoulders. I take two steps and execute what I now know is a ‘Death Valley Driver” in the center of the ring. I land close enough that I’m able to cover the prone Kittenhawk with an arm.
“One!…. Two!…… Three!” The referee gives the signal to sound the bell. The referee practically has to hold me up as she raises my hand and the announcer declares me the winner. Kelsey is still laying on the ground her chest heaving and disbelief on her face. The crowd is still going nuts and standing in appreciation of the spectacle.
Jake has to help me from the ring, while Arwen and Kelsey’s friends help her. Once we get changed, we meet back in the bar. Out of respect for the young woman, we do go ahead and buy the first round of drinks- much to the delight of Kelsey’s friends. Jake and I stay for another hour, allowing me to talk to her for a bit about our hobby. Before I leave she gives me an address and a time to meet her for my training session.
On the ride home, Jake and I talk about how exciting that style of match is and how Kelsey might be a good person to know if I do more of them. Once I get home and soak in a nice warm bath, I crawl into bed. I smile when I see the “cat” pin on my nightstand and wonder what other adventures it will get me into
Continued in Chapter 7! Click Here to Read It
