'King vs. Queen': King vs. Takane Shijou

After doing the move three consecutive times, Takane pulled once more until King was fully standing, the double chickenwing still locked in. She made sure to keep the submission firm so that those dangerous arms would not be released yet. Gathering strength, the idol would lift her opponent in the air to an elevated position, before just as quickly sitting down and slamming the gentlewoman face first on the canvas in a Glam Slam, the same move that her fellow idol friend in the AFW uses as her finisher! And as the match continues on in the silver-haired girl's favor, the more confidence she gains!

King had to admit, this wasn't going very well so far. The only thing she had really landed was giving her the rose, and that was hardly the start of a strong offense.

She grunted with the final slam, then breathed some relief as Takane lifted her up - but, unfortunately, it wasn't to let her go. No, it was to lift her up and slam her back down again, even harder than before, face first with a devastating slam. King could only cry out in pain as she came crashing down, her features crashing into the canvas and filling her face with nothing but abject pain.

Takane let go after the Glam Slam, and got onto her feet, surveying the damage she had done. She contemplated about going for an aerial move, but she doubt that King would remain still during the set up of the move. So instead, she decided to continue with the submission approach.

The idol would move to step her feet above each of King's inner knees, and would then hook the lower halves of King's legs against her shins. Reaching down, Takane would grab the woman's arms and start to pull back, falling onto her back against the mat and lifting the gentlewoman in her 'Nocturnal Skyhold' signature move, or simply a ceiling hold, straining King's shoulder blades once more while pushing up with her feet to the highest.

King knew how poorly this was going, but being knowledgeable about it wasn't going to do much to change the situation. She needed an out. She was just having a hard time seeing one at the moment.

Having shoulders nearly ripped out of the sockets did little to help her process a plan, either, as Takane yanked her back into an excruciating ceiling hold. She shook her head from side to side, teeth grinding down hard as she did the only thing she could think to do - pull away from Takane with all the power she could muster, resisting hold with everything she had to give. Not likely to work, but far better than nothing.

Takane had the obvious advantage however in terms of positioning. As King tried to pull away, Takane tried just as hard to pull the arms downward. It also helps that gravity was on the idol's side. She wanted to sabotage those shoulders and lessen the impact of the woman's arm strikes, or the entirety of both arms in general.

But of course, performing a ceiling hold is pretty taxing on one's strength and stamina. The silver-haired girl had a clever way of ending this submission however. Letting go of King's arms, Takane would quickly push on the woman's upper back as well as push with her legs. Because her opponent's lower legs are still hooked around her own lower legs, the pushing momentum would send King falling towards the mat in front of Takane's legs, similar to the earlier slams she had done, primarily pancaking her opponent's face and chest on the canvas.

King reasoned that she could hold out for three or four minutes before the pain was simply too much to bare and she had to give up. Hardly ideal, but the match had just started, and she had quite a bit of energy to spare. She could endure. For now.

Fortunately, Takane decided to let her go before it came to that. Unfortunately, she did so in the roughest way possible.

King went sailing through the air as Takane tossed her forward, going for one last slam before they parted ways. King managed to bring her arms up, slamming into the canvas to stop the fall, but it was a small hollow victory - the impact alone made her shoulders burn.

She pulled her legs away and kicked at Takane's knee, before rolling away and trying to get back to the ropes.

Takane crawled backwards and away from King, letting the latter roll to the ropes. It was perhaps foolish of the idol to give some time for her opponent to recover, especially since her recent train of attacks was very effective in preventing the gentlewoman from doing anything. Slowly, she stood up and watched her opponent, getting onto her feet and getting back into her wrestling stance.

"It would be quite disappointing if the rose was just for show." Takane said with a grin, teasing the Muay Thai fighter.

This was interesting. Quite interesting, indeed.

It seemed they had very similar methodologies when it came to fight - their styles revolved around establishing a strong offense and holding it for as long as possible. Takane had her wrestling moves and her impressive strength - if she got King in another deadly string like that, she wasn't sure she could escape. But King had her speed, and it was time she put that into play.

"No." She stood up and resumed her position and poise. "It wasn't."

She stepped towards Takane and shot out with a round kick aimed at the stomach, but bringing it back in before it could make contact - a fake out. The real target was Takane's face, and that's where her kick struck the second after it was pulled back.

"Good." Takane responded bluntly as she engaged with King in combat once again.

The idol saw the fighter coming in with a round kick to her mid-section area. Immediately, her hands would move to attempt to grab it. However, her eyes would widen in surprise when the kicking leg would retract, before it would lash out right at her head. She didn't have time to move her arms back; it was too late by then.

The kick struck the side of her head, snapping her head to the side as Takane let out a tough grunt. Her position faltered as she stumbled back a couple of steps as she quickly brought her arms in front of her to defend against any further attacks to her head while she tried to regain her composure.

King hadn't exaggerated with Takane's beauty - she truly was quite stunning, and kicking her in the face hurt King on a deep level. She genuinely hoped no permanent damage had been. But if it had, she would have no quibble with doing more. Winning was the priority. She could cope.

Takane wisely brought her hands up to cover from the next attack, but King wasn't going for the head this time - no, she came in low and swung with an inside kick, a fierce, quick strike aimed at Takane's knee joint, looking to throw off her balance and start weakening the legs. The less mobile Takane was, the better it would be for King's entire strategy. She needed to control this ring.