Clyde Gastin vs Carmen Rodriguez - The Quick and the Dead

"Don't let up, don't let up!" Army slammed his fist in the mat from ringside, almost looking like he was ready to jump in at any moment - at which point Carmen would deck him, herself. He knew better. "He's weak on the sides, work the body!"

As annoying as Army could be, he wasn't wrong; that rib shot from before left a good mark, and she'd be coming back to it...later. For now, she had to keep up the pace and pressure him; he was getting into a more reserved stance now, more focused eyes, watching out for moves. Those first two hits were freebies, she'd have to work for the rest.

Fine.

He came forward with a kick instead of a punch - smart. Doubly smart, really. Kicking extended his range past her punches, so it would be safer for him, for one thing. Plus, he targeted her legs - most people would think that hurting her arms would be the smart thing, but a boxer's legs were where the real action was. With a damaged arm, she could move around, protect a little bit, score a few shots...not ideal, but doable. With a damaged leg, though, she'd be a sitting duck. A turret. Turrets make really poor fighters.

Itwas a good strategy, if that was his goal...in theory. But she had a little something for it. At the moment, though, she'd stick to basics; she staggered back from the kick and jolted forward, starting to throw a left hook, looking for all the world like she was going for his ribs...until she pulled the fake back and shot out a quick jab with her right, trying to tag him in the face.

"Tch. No I aint." Clyde scoffed in front of Carmen after hearing Army on the outside giving his sister advice. Clyde didn't care if the guy was going to give her advice, as long as it wasn't 2 on 1 he could shout all day. For now, Clyde had a date with the Puerto Rican Pugilist all alone in the ring. So far, Clyde really liked Carmen. A lot of recent events had left Clyde bitter about wrestling for AFW. It wasn't everyday he got to have a good serious fight with someone who was all about fighting and not trying to crush his balls or rape him. He missed good, wholesome fights like these. They were always fun for him and it was what he loved to do most, especially with a tough opponent.

Deciding to test Carmen out, Clyde went in for the kick to tag her leg, checking her calf with the top part of his foot. He did this and as expected, Carmen retaliated and Clyde saw her left arm moving for a left hook towards his ribs, the Texan was ready however, and shot his hands out, trying to snatch her arm like a good wrestler, but as he attempted this, he would see Carmen's arm suddenly pull back, leaving the boy hanging as he turned towards her left trying to capture her arm, only to completely miss!

He didn't even have time to react at all to the feint, as he would feel Carmen's taped fist blast him right in the mouth, an audible smack being heard as she struck him, earning a sudden 'Oooh!' from the crowd as Clyde's head snapped back instantly from the blow, staggering back, gritting his teeth in frustration as he felt the numbing tingle on his lips.

"Yes, you is!"

Carmen broke her eyes' lock on Clyde long enough to roll her eyes, calling back to him without even so much as a twitch in his direction. "Army! Callete!"

This was good. This was really. Clyde was on point - while she'd never shortchange the man, she was coming at him more serious than many of his opponents had, right from the gate. No tricks, no sex, just a straight up fight, and from the look on his face, she could tell he was ready for it. That he'd brought his A game. Win or lose, that's all she wanted.

The fake worked out even better than she hoped - she was just thinking he might jerk in the wrong direction, not much, but he went for a full movement. From the looks of things he was trying to catch her arm, but it was gone by the time his hands arrive. Instead all he got was her jab right in his face - the audience winced, and rightfully so. Hell, she winced a little bit.

He staggered back a few steps, putting him good range for her next step - she'd alread started putting in the key ingredients, now she'd add some seasoning. She lunged forward and drew back her left, doing it way too early for a straight punch to connect...but not for the kick that she really had planned. She jerked it up fast and introduced Clyde to one of the newer weapons in her arsenal, a front kick, shooting for his chest. Nice, simple, but effective; a good way to start breaking the rhythm before Clyde could get used to it.

Standing firm after his stagger, Clyde kept his eyes locked tightly on Carmen and waited for her to attack yet agian, not that he had much of a choice since he was a bit rocked at the moment but once he saw her coming in, arm raised and ready to punch, Clyde braced himself, for anything. He swore Carmen was going for a punch but the moment he saw her leg shoot up, a twinkle could practically be seen in the shiny glint of his eyes, a split second chance.

The cowboy raised his arms and wrapped them around Carmen's leg as she struck his chest, earning a grunt from the Texan, forced back slightly as he held onto Carmen's leg and began to turn to the side, dropping onto his back as he turned her leg, trying to apply a [url=http://youtu.be/cV82ofjpHxA?t=3s:11moc5kj]Dragon Screw[/url:11moc5kj] that would torque her leg with a sudden twist.

"Rope em!"

Carmen's kick connected, right on target, striking him dead on the center of his chest - a satisfying impact, but Clyde took it better than she could imagine, not even getting knocked back a step - not that he had much room to go. He couldn't move fast enough to dodge the kick, but he could brace himself, weather the blow, dull the impact, even catch her foot...and do more.

She went flying as he twisted and turned, sending her careening across the ring, bouncing and rolling along the floor. She popped up to her feet and the momentum carried her still, until she slammed in to the turnbuckle, back first, with loud grunt as she hit. Dazed and dizzied, she laid against it for the moment, tightly grasping the ropes. Eyes wild. Teeth bared. Smirking, hungry.

It was getting good. The former 24/7 champion had some fangs.

"Carmen!" Army slapped the ring. "Heads up, incoming!"

Like she needed to be told.

Taking Carmen down with the desperate and much needed manuever, Clyde sat up just in time to see the boxer flopping around and about until at last her momentum carried her into the turnbuckle in a dazed state, though her eyes and face told a much different story.

The time to act was now and Clyde broke off into a sprint from the ring mat, dashing towards Carmen at full speed, jumping towards her with legs out, trying to nail Carmen square in the sterum with a strong dropkick, coming in like a living torpedo.

'Incoming' was right - Army's prediction was dead on. Clyde came rocking towards her like a blonde Texan freight train, and this time he was smart enough not to lead with his fists. He was fast on his feet and agile, attributes that made it all too easy for him to leap up and come her way with a drop kick - if she'd been out in the ring, she might have been able to dodge it, but in the corner like this? No chance.

She brought her arms in front of her chest in a cross-arm block, managing to absorb some of the impact - some. The lion's share of Clyde's blow still hammered her into the turnbuckle, still whipped her head back, still brought her down to her knees after she felt forward - the block likely kept her from falling flat, but that was about it.

She needed to get out of the corner - didn't matter if they were boxing or wrestling, that was the worst place to be.

"Crud." Clyde went for the dropkick but didn't get a direct hit, still the impact was satisfactory, knocking the boxer back into the turnbuckle with great force, sending her down to her knees as Clyde fell to the mat. Seeing yet another chance though, he hastily sprung to his feet and tried to grab Carmen's head and wrap it underneath his arm.

If that worked, he'd try to swiftly follow up by quickly dropping backwards, trying to slam Carmen head first into the mat for a quick DDT.

Clyde didn't waste any time - he got up from the dropkick and closed the gap, tucked her head tight under his arm like an American football and locked it in. A good position for all sorts of moves, but one in particular came to mind - in all likelihood, the top of Carmen's head was going to become acquainted with the mat in just a couple of seconds.

"Shit!" At the ringside, Army slapped his head as the crowd started to roar, going with the momentum. "Get out of there! He's gonna-"

Clyde's DDT drilled her into the mat before she could regain her senses and try an escape - nice and quick, perfect for the match's pace. She let out a grunt on impact and rolled to her side, grasping her head as she went to her back - Clyde's wasn't the heaviest guy, but even still, 140 pounds driving your skull into the mat wasn't something to take lightly, even for a skull that was used to taking all sorts of punishment.

Clyde exhaled after slamming Carmen head first into the mat, lots of fast paced movement thus far was pushing him hard, not many of his matches had a pace like this and it was truly testing him. He knew he could no let up either, he had to act now and fast in the best way he knew how.

The cowboy sat up, got to his feet by using the ropes near him and Carmen, clutching the top rop, he looked back at the woman nursing her skull on her back. Clyde saw his chance. "Baka Gaijin..." He began to say before jumping up and planting his two feet on the middle ropes before spring up from those ropes, turning in mid air so he was facing Carmen, bouncing back towards her as he kicked his legs out. "...Comin' in!" He exclaimed, attempting to rain hiself down on the boxer girl with a springboard leg drop! Trying to slam the underside of his thigh over Carmen's head and face from the elevated position.