//------------------------------// // Round Four // Story: Hard As Diamond // by jmj //------------------------------// “That was your round! Good work. Stick and move, make her come to you,” Flicker Jab coached, kneeled before Diamond Tiara. “Protect that cheek and keep her at range. Make her solve that puzzle but keep aware of her on the ground. If that round was ten seconds longer she may have made you tap. Don’t chase the finish, let it happen naturally.” Diamond couldn’t feel the bag of ice against her calf that Dempsey Roll used to reduce the hematoma standing a full inch from the muscle. She could feel the frigid enswell pressing into the swelling around her cheek and eye but it was not providing much relief.  “You’ve limited her attack, Diamond. She won’t attack your legs again, and she’ll be afraid to go for a takedown low. I don’t blame her, that’s the ugliest broken nose I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen quite a few in my day.” Flicker Jab stared into the cerulean pools of Diamond’s eyes and smiled. “She’s mad, Flick. She’s going to make mistakes,” Diamond smiled back. “She’s scared, Diamond. You hurt her! You took her to a place she’s never been. Good use of the mental game but, remember, she’s a professional.” Flick was excited, Diamond could hear it in his voice. He was speaking quickly, trying to share as much insight as he could in the brief time between rounds. “Keep doing what you are doing but be ready if she puts the pieces of the puzzle together. She’s going to bring the fight inside. She’s going to want to get you against the cage where her clinch work is superior because you’ve taken away the open striking and takedowns in the middle. Diamond sipped at the bottle of cool, refreshing water in her hand and looked over Flick’s shoulder. Hera was casting at her a petrifying gaze that Medusa would be proud of. Diamond reflected the stare, eager to get back to the fight.  “Minute’s out!” Stone Soufflé stated and the cornermen exited the octagon quickly. Diamond and Farnese Hera took to the starting points and glowered at one another, each hopping and ready to continue the fight. “Are you ready?” Hera nodded, blood already dripping from her busted nose. Her cutman had worked diligently to clear the crushed nasal cavity and stem the flow of life but there was only so much one could do with such a gruesome injury. Her face was flat now, just little humps of swollen meat where her nose used to be. “Are you Ready?” Diamond popped her gloves together. Her left cheek stuck out sorely from the fractured orbital bone beneath and part of her eye refused to open as fully as it had in round one. The laceration below the bone hadn’t reopened in the previous round but a solitary punch would get the blood moving again. “Round four, ladies. Fight!” Hera charged forward, not wanting to let Diamond take the center. For her trouble, she earned a quick, stolid jab but also pressed Diamond back, racking her body with a sinister left hook.  Diamond, surprised by the quickness, used her footwork to try and rotate out but her leg was halted midstep as Hera wrapped her upper body with both arms and stepped in, placing her leg directly behind Diamond’s weight bearing rear leg. A judo trip. Diamond shifted but the big woman was all over her, forcing her weight forward and pushing Diamond back into the tripping limb. They fell to the mat, Hera stepping over to attempt full mount but Diamond was fast and pushed up with the heels of her hands, scooting the few feet to the fence and placing her back firmly upon it. Farnese hadn’t been the reigning champion of the division for six fights by being stupid. Diamond may have stuck fear in her belly with the flying knee but she was still tricky. No, she wouldn’t go for the double or single leg takedowns and Diamond was certain the fake into an uppercut was buried, but Hera still had tricks to bring the fight to the canvas that didn’t involve ducking. The judo trip was performed while standing tall and coming forward, safely out of danger of a leaping knee attack. Hera hugged Diamond tightly, crawling up her waist like a spider, wrapping Diamond’s legs tightly with her own like cocooning a fly. Diamond kept her arms free and pushed down on the back of Hera’s head, forcing the former champ to press into her abdomen.  Hera was going to try and work her to the mat, flatten her out. Once there, either big shots or submissions would come. Diamond was safe as long as she stayed upright and kept Farnese lower than her. One, two, three quick taps from Diamond into the side of Hera’s head came but there was no leverage or weight in the punches. They were to distract the woman from Diamond planting her left hand to adjust her balance because, already, Hera was trying to turn her, pull her down. Heavy breathing came from the challenger as she dug her shoulder painfully into Diamond’s gut and twisted, wrenching Diamond’s upper body to the side. Diamond tapped her with several more minor punches and scooted herself upright again. She pulled with her legs, trying to free them from between Hera’s powerful thighs but the wrestler had already crossed her ankles beneath Diamond’s calves, cinching her legs together like a zip tie.  Hera’s right hand found Diamond’s left, posted wrist and locked around it, pulling it forward so Diamond couldn’t use it to maintain balance. Once more she shifted and shouldered Diamond sideways. The champion’s right hand came down, pressing to the mat and holding off the attempt again but Hera’s left hand gripped the wrist. Now, with both legs and both hands grappled, Diamond would find it difficult to stay upright. Another attempt, Diamond rolled to the side and activated her core muscles, abdominals, trapezius, and an assortment of other muscles strained and fought to stay in a seated position, but the strength and position of Hera were insurmountable in her hobbled state. Diamond’s shoulder hit the canvas and Hera quickly rolled her head to the opposite shoulder, pressing the top of her cranium into Diamond’s neck. Farnese worked her head, trying to separate Diamond’s back and higher shoulder from the cage. She released the right hand and pumped two short but powerful punches into the right side of Diamond’s head. The punches weren’t strong enough to debilitate the Rich girl but they hurt and forced her to cover up with the released right hand. It also made her think about the next strikes and not Hera’s maneuvering to get her away from the fence where her BJJ could go to work. Three more strikes followed, all blocked by the outstretched hand protecting her face, but Diamond’s back slipped from the fence as Hera worked her head deeper between the shoulder and cage. Diamond posted up on her elbow but another volley of short strikes caused her to drop back to the canvas, even more ground lost.  Diamond found herself flat on her back. Four minutes left in the round. That was far too much time for Farnese to work with and Diamond knew it. She had been in this position for two full rounds in their first fight and she couldn’t afford to lose any remaining rounds. She was in real trouble. She could probably fight off submission attempts for the remainder of the round but she would lose it via control.  Somehow, she had to get back to her feet. And soon. Hera’a base shifted from top mount, her feet hooked under Diamond’s thighs and locked, allowing her to put all of her weight down on the smaller woman, crushing her and making her carry extra weight. It also allowed for her to begin working for position, submissions, or control. Diamond didn’t panic and even under Farnese’s weight she was able to breathe comfortably.  Hera balanced atop Diamond, wrapping one arm behind her head. Diamond framed Hera’s abdomen with her left arm and kept her elbow in tight, afraid to bring her arms up where the BJJ brown belt could begin isolating an arm in preparation for an arm bar joint lock. Hera breathed heavily on top of Diamond. “You’re what? A purple belt now? Not a very good one, I can tell you that.” “Afraid to stand and bang with me? Let me up, I thought you wanted to put me to sleep,” Diamond retorted. “I’ll crush your energy from here, thanks. You want to stand? Get me off of you.” Hera pushed with her hips, raising her upper body and pressing her full weight down into Diamond’s chest.  Now Diamond was not having such an easy time breathing. She remained calm, which helped, but her breaths were shallow. She had her heels planted firmly into the mat but the hooked leg position Farnese held made it impossible for Diamond to buck her hips up and force Hera to one side. She was trapped beneath her but Hera was also just resting. The ref wouldn’t like that. As if on cue, Stone Soufflé warned Hera, “Work, Hera. Don’t just sit there.” Hera was displeased but maintained the crushing position. “You … just … gonna sit there? That how you want to win? Laying… on top?” Diamond taunted. The crowd began to boo at the inactivity. It had been nearly a minute since Diamond had hit the cage wall and very little had taken place. Crowds, generally, preferred striking to wrestling or BJJ and most fans didn’t understand the subtleties, the small movements that occurred in a tight, sharp wrestling match. They thought it was boring when one fighter laid on top of another but it was a strategy. Farnese was wearing on Diamond, testing her cardio. She wanted to slow Diamond down, weaken her before attempting a submission.  Another ten seconds passed by. “Come on, work or I’ll stand it up,” the ref warned again. Suddenly Hera planted her knees and released the hooks under Diamond’s thighs, posturing up high on Diamond’s lower abdomen. Her fists came up quickly and she tightened her shoulder blades together, bringing her fists down one after another in thunderous mounted blows. Diamond hadn’t expected that and the first punch nailed her damaged orbital. It howled in blistering pain that worked all the way around the back of her head. The cut was like a beer bottle blasted by a high powered rifle and blood exploded from the wound, smattering the side of Diamond’s face and spattering the canvas. The second shot  slipped just over Diamond’s raising hands and the full power of the punch mashed Diamond’s opposite cheek between fist and canvas.  Her hands came up defensively and three more powerful blows landed upon them. Hera had been resting to gather strength before bringing down staggering, hammering power. Diamond couldn’t remain in this position and take shots. If she just covered up for too long the ref would stop the fight. Especially after the first round where she had covered up almost to the point of stoppage. Where could she go? If she rolled over to avoid the strikes, she’d be giving up her back to a far too dangerous practitioner of BJJ; it would be a death sentence. Hera was postured up tall, if Diamond could break her balance with her hips and legs, she may be able to buy time or even escape if things went well. Maybe a hip escape if she could work her knee into Hera’s thigh and push that leg away. It didn’t matter, the raining blows ceased all at once and the Queen of the Gods shifted her weight forward in an instant. Her right knee came off the ground as her left slid below and around Diamond’s right shoulder. The blows caused damage but they also made Diamond pull her arms high in defense, where Hera could attack an arm bar. She was slick and Diamond recognized the submission attempt transitioning too late to stop it. Hera’s hands locked around Diamond’s wrist in a baseball bat grip, one above the other from opposite directions. Arching her hips, Farnese pulled back hard on the arm just as Diamond tried to twist it to the side where the lock would not be dangerous, but it was too late. Hera’s legs trapped Diamond across the face and over her chest, legs each on one side of the attacked arm. She pulled the arm back hard and Diamond felt it go stiff.  The lock was in. Diamond would have to tap out or her arm would break. She could feel the tendons stretching, the bones creaking. Her right arm was hyperextending at the elbow and the pain was excruciating. She was done. Her fight was over, for nothing. She had battled through her own doubts, the psychological abuse of her father, and the damage Hera had put on her only to be dismissed so easily. Something like that had happened before. Diamond had graduated college at 22 years old. She had gone into business because her father was adamant that no woman could ever be a businessman. Her graduation ceremony had been attended by her family out of necessity despite Filthy having no love for the ‘liberal’ college Diamond had attended. Still, he had shown up for the graduation ceremony. When Diamond’s name was announced as well as her field of study, she strode out across the stage and accepted the diploma with pride. She paused, looking her father in the eye and grinning. She had attained the same degree that he had, could apply her knowledge to the family business and show him what a bright, intelligent woman like her was capable of. He had clapped politely but there was no joy in his eyes as he sat in the first row of the audience. Instead of going out to celebrate with the few friends she had made, Diamond chose to ride home with her mother and father in the family limousine. Her mom was out of the world, having taken a cocktail of prescription medication along with a cocktail of vodka and cranberry juice almost as soon as they had entered the vehicle. Judging from her vacant stare at the ceremony, she hadn’t been completely sober then either. Diamond smirked at Filthy. “Maybe we could hang my tassel from the rear view mirror, Daddy?” Filthy scoffed at the notion and watched the hordes of proud parents and children through the window. Traffic was bad on campus and they were stuck in a long line of joyous families. “I’d rather die, Diamond, than have this left-winged school’s colors adorning my limousine.” He was such a sore loser. Diamond had known all along that he would never allow such a thing but it was her day, her victory, and she wanted to grind it a little deeper into the old man. She smirked happily. “I guess I’ll just have to frame my diploma in my office.” “What office?” Filthy asked, finding more amusement with the outside world than his daughter. “Weren’t you saying that one of our subsidiary companies just had an opening after the year end financials came back in the red?” Filthy had fired one of the district managers of his equipment selling franchises. “Seems like a good place for me to show you how good of a businesswoman I can be.” Diamond had emphasized ‘woman’ strongly. Sharpening the blade of her tongue had long become a skill while talking to Filthy. She never said anything out of turn, but the choice of wording, the embellishment of certain words were deliberate, infuriating decisions. “Rich Equipment Sales does have an opening, Diamond. How astute of you to notice. Do you think you could handle the position?” Filthy remained looking through the darkly tinted window. “If a drunk could run it for the last five years, I can definitely make it profitable again, Daddy.” Diamond watched Filthy closely. She was his daughter. He would want her to fail so he could rub it in her face. The job would be hers and she would work tirelessly to make the business strong again. She’d have to give up some things, things she loved, but it would be worth it to earn the respect of her father. If not for herself, for women everywhere. “I’d sooner let a drunk old man run it into the ground than hand it over to a stupid little girl like you, Diamond.” He faced her now, watching the words sink into his daughter. She was stunned. She thought she knew him well enough to… to play him a fool. “I… I just graduated with the same degree you did, Dad! I’m obviously not stupid!” Filthy burst out laughing, a thick, tobacco-like laugh that burned at both ends. There was no mirth to it, just spite and malice. “Maybe we have the same degree but not from the same school. This place would give a doctorate to a dog if the owner paid for it. Do you really expect me to hold that piece of paper of yours, that I paid for, to the same level as mine?” “I was valedictorian of my class. It means a lot. I studied my butt off to earn this ‘piece of paper’!” She wanted to hit him. Her whole life for four years had been the gym and her room, studying. She hadn’t gone out with friends but thrice since she had been accepted. She had found a boyfriend, a nice man studying physical therapy, but had grown distant and lost him to her pursuit of knowledge, physical training, and a severe lack of time. He just didn’t fit into her schedule. She had sacrificed almost everything for the bachelor’s degree. The closest thing she had to a steady relationship was getting punched in the face a few times a year in the cage!  She could knock him out. Left shovel hook to pop his chin up, right straight on the button of his chin. Blam, switch him off like a light. She resisted but it was difficult. “That’s the problem, Diamond. You’re stupid. Do you think I allowed you, paid for you, to come to this sad excuse of a university to get a degree? Of course not.” He stared her straight in the eyes, his disappointment paramount. “I… I…,” she stammered, not knowing what to say.  “I let you come here because even in a pitiful place like this there might be a boy or two that shows promise. Someone to take over their family’s business, become something. Someone with influence who might take you in as their wife. God bless the fool who marries you.” “You… just wanted me to find a boy?” Sometimes she wondered how he could continue to shock her with his prejudice and old world thoughts. “I knew it was a longshot. I’ve seen your last three fights, Diamond. If you’re a dyke, just come out and say it already. Obviously you missed the point of coming to college and have no interest in men. Your mother earned her MRS degree when she met me. Do you think Spoiled,” he indicated the aging woman drooling on her fancy dress across from him, “... went to college to study anything? Hell no she didn’t, and she didn’t need to. She found me.” Diamond tasted blood as she ground her lip between her teeth. “I’m … I’m not gay, Dad! I thought this was… I wanted to…” Rage filled her mind but so did pain. Once more, Filthy Rich had denigrated her. Made her small. “Driver! Stop the car!” She had been so irate that she hadn’t noticed the car was still motionless, waiting for its turn to move. She flung the door open and slammed it hard behind her. She couldn’t be in the same vehicle as that man who hated her for being who she was. For being a woman.  If she were a son, she knew, he would love her. He would have been at all of her fights, cheered as she knocked out opponents with brash, untamed male virility. Good genes, he would say as he bragged to his cronies. He would have given her not just a district but a whole company to manage. Instead he ground her to the floor. Pulled her arm back into a tight, breaking bar, and yanked with all his might. Diamond growled, she wasn’t going to tap. She would find a way out or she would let the bones of her arm snap. She obstinately refused to yield. She planted her foot and turned into the submission, reaching her free arm over and stretching until her hands clasped. Her upper body strength wasn’t enough as she pulled on the rigid, burning arm. Diamond threw her foot out quickly, missing the first attempt but getting the ball of her foot inside the Hera’s elbow on the second. Kicking hard to break the grip, she rotated and pulled with all of her might to free her arm.  The extra strength of the leg winched Farnese’s grip loose and Diamond’s arm snapped up and loose of the armbar. The crowd exploded with cheers as the finish was suddenly, unexpectedly thwarted.  Diamond rolled to her feet in the same movement and danced out to the center of the octagon, she threw a quick jab to test the arm and found it uninjured. She motioned for Hera to stand up. Hera’s mouth hung open. The submission had been deep, there should have been no escape from it! The belt was firmly in her grasp and had been pried away by the Rich girl once more. She cussed to herself and stood up, shaking her head.  Diamond flicked her eyes to the clock, two minutes left in the round. She had to do something to stand out or it would cost her the fight. Almost being finished and nearly three minutes of control weighed heavily in Hera’s favor.  Hera came forward once more, the judo trip had been very successful and, even if Diamond expected it, she was confident in her abilities. Standing tall, she moved, trying to wrap Diamond’s upper half. Rolling into Hera’s power side was dangerous but Diamond couldn’t afford to get wrapped up again. She fired off a quick jab that made the dangerous woman blink as it connected with the flap of cartilage and skin that claimed to be a nose before rolling out at an angle to Hera’s right and away from the grappler.  Nodding in affirmation of the jab, Hera grinned and spit a mouthful of blood that had run down the back of her throat to the streaked and dotted canvas. Between her dripping nose and Diamond’s ripped cheek, much of their life force lay ceremoniously shed about the mat.  Hera hesitated, the nose must have been bothering her a lot more than she let on. A simple jab had stalled the bigger woman and now she was waiting for Diamond to come forward. Diamond didn’t know if she were coasting, knowing she was ahead in the round, or stinging from the strike. What was certain was that Diamond had not pressured her yet in the fight. Hera had led the dance and eaten some severe counters. Maybe she wanted to make Diamond come to her. Either way, Diamond’s time was fleeting by with each second. A minute thirty on the clock. Diamond took action, leaping in with a quick jab that Hera blocked with her lead hand. Afraid of committing openly to strikes, Diamond had to protect herself from a takedown. When her lead leg carried weight, it would be ripe for a takedown attempt. The knee had ended offensive double legs but not defensive, counter wrestling. Out lashed another exploratory jab that was similarly batted away. Diamond moved at an angle and went low with a leg kick that landed on Hera’s forward appendage. She hadn’t countered, and Diamond worried she was gathering intelligence on the strikes, timing them in order to snatch a leg and drive her to the mat or cage. Without Hera’s forward pressure, Diamond was starting over, uneducated. A body jab landed and Diamond chased after it with a right hand, barely jerking her head aside from a fast front kick counter. She bounced back to her reset position before stepping forward, faking a leg kick, and Hera reacted, moving to intercept the kick that didn’t come with her body in a trap. She was looking to counter wrestle. A minute on the clock and Diamond couldn’t do more than toss single, weak punches. Each one was data Hera was downloading. Diamond grinned and pushed another lead left, blocked. She tossed it again, blocked. The same jab again, Hera saw it coming and parried it, this time moving her hand in preparation to catch the wrist. Diamond released a feint, careful not to put much weight in her forward leg. Hera tried to catch the punch she thought was coming and Diamond knew the trap was baited again. 45 seconds. Diamond remembered the conversation in the limousine. She had wanted to hit her father so badly, to shut him up. To make him respect her even if it was by physical force. She’d never actually strike her father, but the tactic to knock him out was sound.  And it would work against anyone. Stepping forward and planting her lead foot heavily, transferring as much weight as she could to supercharge the strike, Diamond unloaded the bait. Hera, having seen the jab enough to counter it by grabbing the wrist, moved to catch the straight, high punch but found something different. Much lower than a jab, the shovel hook was a combination of uppercut, a strike from below rising up, and a hook, a widely arcing powerful blow that came from the side.  The shovel hook came at an angle from below, arcing more up than out and careening below Hera’s grappling lead hand. It passed the elbow, flying from below like a fighter jet and caught the underside of Hera’s chin. It was a heavy shot, one that knocked the Queen of the Gods’ chin upward, undefended. The lunging right straight that followed, targeting the point of the chin, landed flush and pivoted Hera’s chin down back to mash against her chest. The brain in her head shot forward and ricocheted violently off the skull. More importantly, the nerve clusters in the jaw lit up like Christmas trees and the neurological overload was almost too much for the woman to handle. Hera’s knees buckled and she fell to the canvas flat on her back. The ref moved instantly to gauge the fighter’s reaction. Farnese was quick to bring her hands and knees up in a BJJ guard position, challenging Diamond to come to the mat but also showing that she was still in the fight. But, her eyes lolled and struggled to focus on Diamond. The shovel hook, right straight combo had nearly been the end of the Queen of the Gods. The wooden blocks clapped, ten seconds left. “Come here, Tiara. Come get me, you brat!” Hera exclaimed, taunting Diamond and buying time to recover from the head trauma. The words were solid but she still couldn’t focus her eyes and tears ran down her cheeks. She wasn’t crying, the nerves in her head were sputtering, sending ridiculous signals that triggered the reaction. “Stand up, Hera. You said you wanted it on the feet,” Diamond replied. She wanted more than anything to finish this fight, to become a thunderstorm of strikes that would finish Farnese Hera and cement her place as champion but, as she had already discovered, an injured Hera was still too dangerous to hit the mat with. The bell rang and the ref moved between the fighters. “Stop!” Diamond didn’t need to try and enforce her will on Hera with maneuvering or a show of will this time. The Queen of the Gods had fallen for the second time in her career in back to back rounds against Diamond’s superior striking. Even if she had almost been finished by the arm bar, strikes weighed more heavily and the knockdown superseded the near submission. Diamond had won that round. She only needed the last round to win the match via decision but she didn’t want to win in that method. She wanted a knockout. A stamp that could not be contested. One round, five minutes. Diamond was going to put everything remaining in her gas tank into five minutes of striking Hell on Farnese. She would claim the title by finishing her with her elite boxing.