Kyo Akamatsu vs. Carmen Rodriguez - Let's You and Him Fight

The crowd went wild as Carmen's body was hoisted upward and arched over Kyo like some hunting trophy on display, the grip he had on her head visibly bending her back almost into a C-shape. Many people recognized Kyo's signature submission finisher, and even those who didn't recognized a painful hold when they saw one. That was why so many people in the crowd started yelling at the top of their lungs, pleading for Carmen to please, somehow escape from this hold.

For a brief moment, time seemed suspended. Carmen's face couldn't be seen, as her head was obscured nightly under the coiled muscle of Kyo's encircling arm. Kyo himself was set in a look of intense concentration, but it was one marred by dizziness and exhaustion-- he didn't look like he could maintain this hold for much longer. The holds put the sweating, fit bodies of both wrestlers on visible display, and it became an apparent question of who would last longer.

Then, finally, Carmen tapped.

With a sigh of almost relief, Kyo released Carmen and let her flop unceremoniously to the mat. He barely heard the eruption of the audience or the ring of the bell-- his head was ringing a little too much already. Instead he just closed his eyes, grateful that he could finally rest for a bit...

The ref girl ran over as both wrestlers lay on the mat, unmoving, and began to check over both of them to see if either were badly hurt, or even conscious.

Carmen wanted to get up and congratulate Kyo for a hard, crazy match. She wanted to hug him like he was her brother. She wanted to thank him for giving her a chance to really show the world what she could do at her limit. She wouldn't have minded being able to move her legs, either.

But she couldn't do any of those things. Right now, it was a struggle just to stay conscious, much less do something as intricate and complex as moving her feet. As the bell rang, she simply laid flat and enjoyed the moment. Win, lose, whatever. She'd fought a good fight, and feeling bad had never felt so good.

It took her a few seconds to notice that Kyo was laying beside her, and if someone had just tuned into the match, they would be hard pressed to figure out who actually won. "Hey, Kyo." She whispered, her voice still hoarse from the screaming. "You still alive, over there?"

At first, Kyo could barely hear Carmen. Admittedly, he could barely hear much of anything, given the ringing in his ears and the throbbing in his skill. He was only dimly aware of the fact that he had sort of, kind of, maybe won this match, that he had a splitting headache, and that he really wanted a nice, long nap right now.

It wasn't until the ref girl tapped his cheek repeatedly that he finally stirred. "Nnngh...'m up, I'm up already," he groaned, half-thinking it was Makie trying to rouse him awake. Reality slowly slid into focus as his eyes opened, and his head rolled sideways. He saw Carmen lying next to him, her face damp with perspiration and her hair a knotted mess. A thought crossed the back of his mind that he probably didn't look much better.

"Nnngh...I think so..." he responded dizzily. He tried to sit up, but quickly discovered that was a bad idea when a wave of dizzy nausea threatened to overwhelm him. "Ugh...did you...have to...hit me so hard?"

Carmen was joking with her question, but there was some genuine worry in there. She was hurting quite a bit, but it wasn't like Kyo hadn't taken his share of lumps, either. Ribs, chest, maybe even a concussion or two or three. It wouldn't have surprised her in the least. So she was happy to see he was still well enough to speak semi-coherently.

She paused for a moment, as if giving him some serious thought. "Yes. Yes, I did." She nodded, glad that she seemed to have left a mental impact on him to go along with all the physical ones. "That was a lot of fun, man, we should do it again. Not anytime soon, but again."

She laid her head back and sighed, as the darkness started to creep over her eyes. "Quick question before I pass out - you have a sister, right? Single?"

It was silly, yes, but for some reason she couldn't shake the hope that a female Kyo existed out there, somewhere.

Kyo smiled weakly at Carmen's comment. "Agreed," he said with a chuckle. Chuckling also turned out to be a bad idea, as it caused his chest to flash with pain. "Ugh...maybe in a few months. Or years. I'm in no hurry." Admittedly, Carmen was one of the better opponents he had faced in a long time, and he really would have liked to face her again-- maybe in another match, or maybe even in just a simple, unofficial spar.

Carmen's next comment, however, took him completely by surprise. "Eh? Yes I have a..." He paused at the second question. "Wait a minute...are you...trying to score a date with my sister?" He had no idea whether to feel surprised or incredulous at the suggestion-- none of his other opponents had tried to score on Makie through him, after all. Well, except for Cecilia Northman, but apparently Cecilia did that to everyone.

Carmen had a little laugh that melted into a sigh. "I was joking, Kyo. Unless you would seriously let me hook up with your sister. In which case, I'm serious." She was pretty sure most of this was the delirium talking.

"Anyway, I think I'm going to go to sleep, now, for about a week. See you...see..." Carmen finally gave in and succumbed to her body's demand, passing out on the canvas. No sense in fighting it. It had been a long, long day, and she needed the rest.

Kyo blinked a few times, not quite sure he knew what he was hearing anymore-- the throbbing in his skull made that all sort of questionable. "Rodriguez-san, you're...good...awesome person, but...don't push it. Just because...you gave me a good fight...doesn't mean..." He paused, and realized he had lost his train of thought. What were they talking about again?

At that moment, Carmen announced that she was falling asleep. "That's...just rude...stay awake and accept your defeat like a..." He couldn't finish that sentence, as at that point his body gave out and he passed blissfully into unconsciousness as well.

Even as paramedics rushed into the ring and began to load both wrestlers onto stretchers, the crowd went wild. As far as custom matches went, this had been something special. At the very least, it had been an entertaining and gruelling bout between two talented wrestlers, one which had put both of their respective styles and skills on full display and pushed them both to their limits.

At the very most, it was the beginning of a beautiful rivalry.

Winner: Kyo Akamatsu by submission.