Carmen Rodriguez vs. Black Dragon - Through the Fire

Match Type: Standard
Victory Conditions: Pinfall, Submission, or KO.



Carmen and Army had a very clear relationship as brother and sister. She was the more responsible, thoughtful, dependable one. He was the more brutish, brash, braggadocios one. A good chunk of her time growing up had been spent getting Army out of the various problems his big mouth constantly caused. Making excuses for him at school, apologizing to the little old lady down the street whose pool Army was always sneaking into, wearing out his behind when he conveniently forgot that you have to pay for candy bars before you take them.

Typically, Carmen was the one scolding Army for his dumb mistakes. Typically, she was the one giving out lectures to him. Typically she was the one who tried her level best to keep him safe from himself.

Tonight, however, was not a typical night. "Have I told you how really stupid this idea is, lately?"

Carmen rolled her eyes as the two of them stood behind the curtain, waiting for the commercial break to end and her match to start up. She sat on the floor, lacing up her boots while he looked down on her with the same look she'd given him hundreds of times. The 'you can't be this stupid' look. She hoped it looked better when she did it.

"Yeah, you've told me that." In fact he'd said it fourteen times in the past day. She'd counted. "And it doesn't change a thing. I'm still doing this."

"But why?" He smacked his forehead and ran his hand along his face. "You just got through recouping from the Kyo fight, you're not good enough for this yet. It's silly."

She stood up and started stretching, crossing her arms from one side to the next. She was going to need them limber, soon. "The doctor cleared me for fighting, Army. I'm good."

He held a finger her way and fixed a solid stare at her, almost before she could finish speaking his name. "No. Don't bullshit me, I was there, I heard what the man said. He cleared you for 'light fights'. This is not a 'light fight'. This fucker's as big as I am."

The 'fucker' in question was Black Dragon, the ring leader of a little group that had been causing trouble in the AFW lately, interrupting matches, ganging up on people. It wasn't that weird of a thing in wrestling, really - going through some older matches, Carmen had found plenty of instances where heels did this sort of thing, most of them coming from some vanished wrestler named 'Sarah Gatt'.

Carmen had her own problems with getting her gym up and running, and she'd been content to not even think of the 'Triple Threat'. Not her business. Then they messed with Clyde. That changed things. Getting the match set up had taken some time, but it was finally here.

"So what?" Carmen finished lacing up her boots and gave them a solid tug. "I beat your ass all the time."

"Yeah, in sparring, that's completely-"

"Army. Relax." She stood up and patted his shoulder. It was cute when he did the 'concerned brother' act, she couldn't really be mad at him. Just a bit irritated. "This is what I signed up for. Lot of guys on the Tension roster, not all of them are smaller than I am."

"I know." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I know. It's not even just him I'm worried about. Those two he runs with..."

"...aren't a match for my big, strong brother, right?" She gave him a pat on the cheek. "That's why my big little brother comes along, give me some backup. They start anything, you've got my permission. Knock them the fuck out, okay?"

He looked to the side as one of the stage crew came back and gave them the signal - one minute till showtime. "Fine, fine. Just don't take chances with this guy. Watch yourself."

"I always do." She turned to face the entrance, starting to bounce on her toes and get pumped. "I'm the smart one, remember?"

When Carmen's music started up, she popped out from behind the curtain and started to make her way towards the ring, getting some applause from the audience as she went - she'd started to garner a modest little following in the AFW, it was looking like. Still not one of the biggest names in the business, but her fights with Clyde and Kyo had drawn a few interested eyes her way, even with her losing, and she probably had more than a handful of boxing fans in the audience, too.

It helped that she decided to make a few changes to her entrance as well, going for a little theme. She came down the ramp dressed in her black boxing robe with a red sash along the middle, like this was the sort of match she'd spent the bulk of her life preparing for and not the one everyone was expecting. She slid into the ring with Army behind her, going to the center as the cameras zoomed in.

The robe came down with a tug of the sash, showing off her new - and first, really - wrestling attire. She was wearing tights,  for the first time, black with a red streak going down the side, but unlike most wrestling wear, they had her named emblazoned along the waist - 'RODRIGUEZ', in bold letters, just like her boxing shorts were. She topped off the look with her red boxing shoes and black sports bra, giving her a half wrestler, half boxer look, a perfect representation of everything she was about here in the AFW, a symbol of her style.

With that out of the way, Army came over and started tapping up her fists, the two of them throwing the occasional glance at the entrance as they waited. He was coming...

The titantron showed an emblem of a black dragon. There was silence at first before his theme music blasted in the arena. Then, walking down the ramp came Dragon. He wasn't big compared some of the male giants on the roster like Kent Quick or Killer King, but he was still a daunting size to the females on the roster. His body was built like that of someone who hadn't missed a day at the gym in twenty years. He wore his trademarked black mask, had black boots and taped up knuckles. He had a long black karate gi, though he wasn't actually trained in the art. It just matched his japanese-ish outfit. And as corny as some may had found that, he didn't care one bit. He had all the confidence in the world. Not because of who is opponent was, but because of who he was.

He walked down the ramp without a stagger or strut. Just...normal. But his gaze was directly onto his opponent. He didn't really know who she was nor did he care. She was just someone he had to beat down so that the Tension bookers would give him the opponents he really wanted. He climbed the steel steps, never once breaking eye contact with his opponent, and slipped into the ring between the second and third ropes. He stepped halfway into the ring, continuing to stare at her from behind his mask with his dark brown eyes. His gaze had been deliberately so strong that he barely even realized the man nearby was with her. Nevertheless, he didn't believe in many formalities. They all seemed kind of pointless since this was, after all, a fight. And treating an opponent with respect was an easy way to distract yourself from the end goal which was their defeat and your victory.

When the bell rang, he wasted no time in wanting to show that. He charged right at Carmen and reached to grapple her at the shoulders, only to turn and throw her across the ring back towards his original corner. Horizontal throws, especially ones where the person could easily roll on landing, were rarely all that painful. But they were sure as hell intimidating and daunting. Dragon stopped and waited right after, just to see how she'd react.

Carmen was busy pumping her fist to the crowd when Black Dragon made his way out of the back, coming down the ramp like he was taking a stroll down the beach.

It wasn't his size that bothered her. She'd fought bigger guys. She'd beaten bigger guys. All the size in the world wouldn't matter if the skill gap wasn't close enough, and she had a lifetime of training behind her, two decades in the gym with her father. Honed in body, mind, and soul.

It wasn't the outfit. She'd never seen him wrestle - no one had, so far as she knew - but judging from the outfit he was coming with some kind of martial art. She was going to have to learn about his moves on the fly, hated going in blind, but she would deal with it.

No, what threw Carmen off the most about him was the look in his eyes, framed by the fearsome mask. Fierce. Fiery. Focused on her, 100%. She locked gazes with him the moment he came down the ramp, never breaking for a moment. Staring contests weren't anything new to her - hell, with her friend, Lorenza, they were pretty much the equivalent of a handshake -  but something about that look was scratching at her core. This was no ordinary wrestler. This wasn't some idiot rapist like King or some jobber looking to get sweaty in the middle of the ring. This was something much deeper. Much more dangerous.

Carmen got her guard up before the bell rang, and that turned out to be a good idea, since Dragon came at her from the first second. No taunts, no teases, not a single word spoken. He brought the fight right to her and she did the same, struggling with him for a brief moment - very brief. He had the strength advantage, and he used it to send her hurling away into the corner, making her hit hard and shake the ropes.

She did not stay there for long.

She winced at the pain from the hit, shoke it off, and went right back to him with only a couple of seconds lost, hardening her face as she went. Her fists came in, nice and tight, as she went into a classic orthodox stance and moved at Black Dragon like she was back in the boxing ring. Carmen threw a jab, a quick flash towards his face, then dropped right after and came at him with an uppercut, aimed for his gut.

Dragon had expected Carmen to back off slightly when he overpowered her. Most people would have shown some caution or self restraint. But this women did not. She got to her feet and charged right back at him with her fists held up. The man smiled underneath the mask. This wasn't what he expected of Carmen, but it was certainly what he wanted from her. Someone who was brave and strong. Someone who didn't shy away from fights, no matter how unlikely they were to win that fight. Although he conceded that she may not have known that last bit just yet.

He brought his own fists up as she closed in, ready to meet her at her own game. Her first jab came in lightning fast, but he managed to pull his head back missing it by a few inches. When he tried to swing his taped up fist down at her, though, she had already ducked down to uppercut him in the abdomen. The blow hurt, but he barely showed it on his face. The man backed up, seemingly in retreat, giving a couple attempted jabs back at her, all quick but not too powerful, all the while giving her openings.

The uppercut connected and Army's cheer was automatic. "Good start, keep on him!" His voice pierced the eerie quiet of the ring. Black Dragon's silence was a little unnerving, and Carmen doubted it was because this guy was shy. The mask, his demeanor, his whole 'mysterious stranger' vibe, all tailor-made to give off the impression of this dangerous, undefeatable monster. Mind games, and they would work on plenty of women in the AFW, no question. But if he thought she was in that number, she'd enjoy showing him just how wrong he was.

A jab was waiting for her face the moment she came back up and she wound up taking it on the chin. Nothing too painful, and she blocked its brother with a quick raise of her forearm, but she had to admit they came off a lot faster than she'd imagined. Her brother would never dream of getting a jab out that quick, and with a body like that he could definitely make them hurt.

Carmen stayed light on her feet, taking a couple of quick steps to the side before she came back at him. She paid him back for the jab with one of her own aimed at his mask, and she raised the bar with a right cross, stepping in with it to drill him right in the chest and putting some real pepper on the blow..

Dragon continued to backpedal in the flurry of punches. Every now and then a quick punch of hers slipped pass his defenses and would strike him harder than he wanted it to. But in the end, it was all worth it in his mind. Carmen was gaining confidence and momentum, and was thriving under it. One of her punches struck him right in the mask which caused him to recoil down. That was when he decided that was enough of that.

One of Carmen's punches came in straight at his chest, and he preempted it. He reached down, catching her arm at the elbow and wrist with a firm grip. He pulled the arm up to give him more room and hunched over slightly. With a quick wink, he then launched a powerful knee into her ribs, strong enough to lift her off her feet. He even released his grip on her and took a step back mockingly just to give her room again. Once more he did not say anything, and just watched her without blinking a single time.

Carmen had been around long enough and thrown enough blows to know when she was being baited. There was just no way a guy built like Black Dragon, with a demeanor like Black Dragon, with a name like 'Black Dragon ', would be that easy to push around. Surprise, surprise, he had a little present for.

"Fuck-" She hissed as he parried her cross and opened her guard wide open, and she tried to pull away before he could take advantage. Didn't work. The knee blasted her in the stomach and folded her in half, landing with enough power to give her air time. The crowd and Army winced as she fell back to the canvas on her knees, gagging and grabbing her battered abs.

Carmen expected him to move in, take advantage, rip into her. She braced for it as she stared down at the canvas. Instead, all she got was that same uncomfortable silence, and when she looked up, there he was. Standing there. Just. Standing.

She sneered and punched the floor as she brought one leg up, keeping the other planted. Black Dragon wanted to play games? Wanted to stand there, do the badass routine? Good. It made him a perfect target.

Carmen didn't stand up, she jumped up, springing as high as she could from the crouch. She brought her legs in, turned sideways, and sent a dropkick blasting towards his chest, looking to leave him with a boot imprint to remember her by.

The man was laughing on the inside. He imagined no woman on the roster could match his strength and speed, Carmen included. His mocking routine was one both of arrogance and disrespect, and his opponent had every right to be furious at him. He always welcomed it too. She answered perfectly too.

Carmen jumped up athletically and launched herself at him with a dropkick. He had expected a response from the clearly bold and courageous woman, but not one so confident. He took the hit and took a few steps backwards in recoil. Just like her, though, he didn't take any break from the action to think or reason. He charged right back at her as she got back to her feet, swinging his arm out in a furious clothesline as if he wanted to take her head cleanly off.

The mere idea of using a dropkick in a fight hadn't dawned on Carmen before she came to the AFW, but after some training with Domino, they were starting to become a staple in her arsenal, used as a good way to deliver some quick damage on people who thought she only had punches to offer. She managed to pull off a good one on Black Dragon, too - right height, right target, right power. Textbook, nothing missed

That was part of the reason his clothesline took her off guard the moment she landed and started to stand back up: she simply didn't think he'd be ready to strike back that fast after such a blow. On top of that, the guy was just quick, far quicker than any man his size had a right to be. It bordered on the supernatural.

Carmen took the clothesline right across the face and got knocked down so hard that she bounced up a little from the impact. She shook her head from side to side, trying to get the fog out, then started to sit up, hoping she could get back to her feet before he could take advantage. It was a vain hope, but she had to try. This was not the sort of guy she wanted on top of her.

...actually, she didn't want any sort of guy on top of her, but especially not him.

The man stood back up after delivering the clothesline, brushing the long black hair out of his face. That slowed the pace of the match right back down, which was what he preferred. He could keep up with most of the fast wrestlers but he enjoyed keeping it nice and predictable. He looked down at Carmen as she started to get to her feet. He placed his foot on her back and gripped both her arms at the elbows. He yanked them back, keeping her in place with his foot as he kept consistent pressure.