Hardcore Tag Battle!

Odessa kept on punching Kaede until she felt the Japanese woman go limp. The ebony beauty would give her one or two more punches for good measure. By the time she stopped, Odessa was panting loudly, her chest heaving as she caught her breath after that ferocious assault. She would slowly open up her legs, letting Kaede drop down onto the matted floor underneath her.

Odessa stepped off to the side and glanced up at the ring, at her partner, at Isabella, then at the referee, and then back down to Kaede. She wondered if the woman was really out. Surely, the referee would check on her to make sure. Odessa would stand back and wait until that happened.

“So, is that it?” Odessa would ask, directing her taunt at Kaede, though she said it loudly enough for all to hear. “Or is there more, hmm? Do you have anything more left in you? It…doesn’t seem so.”

It was an odd ending, but that was a hardcore match for you. Sometimes they didn't end with loud explosions or car crashes or excessive amounts of defenestration. Sometimes it just came down to one bitch getting on top of the other and beating the shit out of the other one until she either gave up or gave out. And, sometimes, it didn't stop there.

It was the exact opposite of the way Styx expected the match to end, and she had to admit, it made her change a few opinions. She was going to have to rethink the way she approached Odessa for their match. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to start working towards it today.

But not right now. Not with Isabella still around. She and Odessa were friends...or fuckbuddies...or something. Whatever the case, beating Odessa over the head with a golf club would probably draw her into the fray, and she didn't want to risk a two-on-one. She could wait for a more private setting.

Styx tried to wipe away he entranced look before Odessa could spot it, replacing it with her usual Don't-Give-A-Fuck demeanor. "Good job, sugartits." She hopped off the apron as the bell rang and gave Odessa a pat on the back as she walked past. "I'll be in the back for a little while. If you want to talk about certain things." She gave her former partner and future opponent a knowing smile, then started to make her way to the back. She needed to prepare.

Also, the image of Odessa's hot, sweaty body all over Kaede was making her more than a little bothered, and she wanted to get that out of her system as soon as possible.

Isabella had needed time to recover after the gauntlet she had endured at the hands of both River and Odessa but she had long since gotten back to her feet and taken her place in the corner by the time Kaede ended up underneath Odessa on the outside of the ring. While she had no love for Kaede the woman not losing was paramount to her getting a shot at the hardcore title, but if she went to help her River would be able to stop her long before she got to the other side of the ring.

So it was she was forced to stand there and watch in utter disappointment as Kaede went limp beneath Odessa, failing to endure the ebony powerhouse as she knocked the woman unconscious or very close to it. The referee had yet to go down and check on her but River was already heading back up the ramp with a smug smile on her face Isabella just wanted to knock right off, but it seemed she was going to have to wait for that pleasure. Stepping down she walked around the ring to stand in front of Odessa between her and the way to the exit, arms crossed over her chest.

"So you won, congratulations I guess. Just remember you never beat me so as far as I'm concerned you don't deserve to have a shot at the title any more than I do. Now if you wouldn't mind I think the ref here is going to help her out of here."

Odessa would laugh as her partner once again called her by that rather…unique nickname. As River Styx mentioned that she would be in the back and would be interested in talking, Odessa would smirk and nod her head. “You know, if you’re really dying to get a better look at these wonderful breasts of mine—or, as you call them, these sugar tits—you could just feel them up here. We won. I kind of feel like celebrating in some small way.”

Styx evidently had other things in mind, however. She made her way backstage and, after waving to the audience one more time, Odessa moved to follow her.

Before she could, Isabella stepped into her path. Odessa smiled at her beautiful white-haired rival, who seemed none too pleased with how the match turned out. “Nevertheless, Isabella, the result is clear, even if it is your partner who lost the match.” She would take a step closer, her body pressing lightly into Isabella’s. “Still…we’ve never been able to truly break that stalemate between us. We must meet in the ring sometime, Isabella, and fight until one of us is well and truly beaten, in every possible way.”

She would lean her head in and run a hand down the side of Isabella’s face. Her mouth came within an inch of the other white-haired woman’s ear. “Perhaps…you’d like to discuss this over dinner? I’ve been meaning to invite you on another date for quite a while now, Isabella…”

Isabella looked down at her now former partner as Odessa brought her up, half of her wanting to punish the woman for her failure but the other half feeling as if Kaede had already been through enough at the hands of Odessa, she was out cold after all. "The result of this match perhaps but the matter of who is truly worthy of a shot at the hardcore title, that matter isn't even close to being settled." She replied without so much as a glance at Odessa, her gaze instead looking out over the crowd as she made her displeasure with the British woman and the entire situation quite obvious.

Odessa forced the matter however as she stepped forward into Isabella's personal space as if she had every right to be there, the annoyed glare she shot the woman meant to inform her that wasn't the case. Odessa had been far too forward throughout the match and it seemed that attitude of hers wasn't going to change. She might have been willing to forgive her for that given their history but hearing how ready she was to give herself up to River annoyed her more than she wanted to say.

"Oh must we? The only woman who has to meet you in the ring just left Odessa, you and I have no such obligation." Isabella said with a bit of her frustrations seeping into her words, expecting that to be the end of the discussion only for Odessa to draw even closer and whisper into her ear. She allowed the woman to brush her hand against her cheek and listened to her offer only to then push her back. "You ask that of me now? Do I seem like a schoolgirl eager to jump into your arms at the first sign of interest?"

Odessa wanted to make sure that Isabella wasn’t too broken up about her team’s loss. She herself hadn’t done anything to lose the match—not really. It had been a close fight, and all four women had taken their fair share of pounding. In the end, Kaede broke. Odessa got her in an untenable position, and Kaede broke. It could have just as easily been Odessa, or Isabella, or even River.

Unfortunately, when Odessa tried to be sweet to Isabella, not only downplaying her own victory but agreeing with Isabella that nothing had been decided between them, the ivory beauty was less than willing to play nice. She was bitter, it seemed, and when Odessa offered to take Isabella to dinner to discuss a future matchup between the two of them—one that would possibly help to decide their burgeoning rivalry. Isabella, unfortunately, was too busy throwing a pity party for herself to care. That irked Odessa. As Isabella pushed her back, Odessa shot her an annoyed glance.

“Isabella,” she would say, in a more serious tone. “I’m offering you what you want. I can’t understand what issue you have with that. I’m offering you a match to decide which one of us truly is stronger. Are you telling me that doesn’t appeal to you?” She would step forward again, pressing herself against Isabella. “And even if you might deny it now, and put words in my mouth, and turn your back, you know that you want to spend another night with me. I certainly want to spend another night with you. Please, give me a call when you’re ready to talk. And when you’re ready to fight again…well, I’ll be ready to go to war.”

She would smirk. “Until next time, Isabella,” she would say, before turning on her heels and heading for the ramp. She had one more woman she needed to talk to.