Mikoto Kusanagi Vs Miss USA: Once and Future Angels

Hibiki had to give Mikoto her credit. The girl was brave, in the way that she charged fearlessly towards the towering Purple Dragon. Very brave, and very stupid. She was too tired for that to work, and Hibiki was too focused on her intentions of destroying the two Wrestle Angels that were before her in the ring.

The moment Mikoto jumped at her, raising her knee to strike the woman, Hibiki took a half-step back, her arms flying upwards in front of her. Reaching out, she caught Mikoto's knee before it could strike her, and then gave it a sharp twist, with the intent of sending the smaller Angel falling to the mat before her.

“Gaha!!” Mikoto’s mid-air strike would be easily intercepted by the purple haired revenger, twisting her leg and spinning the priestess in place before flopping down to the canvas. She prayed that a more direct, full frontal assault would have taken Hibiki by surprise enough for the maneuver to connect and open her up for other connecting strikes.

The manhandling of her knee sent a sharp pain throughout her joint, Miko cradling it and flipping to her side. She would rub and soothe her leg as best she could before attempting to rise again on one unsteady leg, the priestess now ironically the one nursing an injured appendage.

Cursing, Marilyn clawed her way back up to a standing position, using the ropes and turnbuckles. As she made her way up, the American turned her head to see what was going on between Hibiki and Mikoto. That's when she saw her opponent charge, and for a moment, Marilyn felt as if Mikoto might strike down the intruder.

But then Hibiki countered with a vicious repose that left Mikoto cradling her leg. Marilyn felt anger bloom within her. Yes, Mikoto had, for all intents and purposes, beaten her fairly. She should be having her hand raised, not having this purple maned monster man handling her! Also, how dare Hibiki stick her unwanted face into their match!?
Gritting her teeth in both outrage and determination, Miss USA finally regained her feet.
"H...hey, she-bitch!" Marilyn called loudly, defiantly at Hibiki even though her voice also carried tones of weariness and pain. "Yeah, giganta, I'm talking to you! Why don't you lay off Mikoto and try your luck with someone a little closer to your size!?"

Miss USA's words were brash, full of bravado she didn't feel. Honestly, fighting Hibiki was something she'd have doubts about at her full strength. Here, and now, Marilyn knew Hibiki could rampage over her at will. But she would not stand idly by and let Hibiki push Mikoto around.

Her words drew a cheer from the crowd, who hoped she could rally back and send Hibiki packing. But all Marilyn had was a wild, desperate plan. She hoped that her words would get Hibiki's attention, and draw her wrath away from Mikoto, luring the towering titan towards Miss USA's position in the corner. If it did, Marilyn would use her arms and good leg to hop to the second rope, then leap towards Hibiki. She would cock her right arm back as she flew, hoping, no praying to deliver her Supergirl Punch straight into the Dragon's jaw!

Hibiki wanted to finish off Mikoto. Really, she did. But when Miss USA caught her attention she decided she would be more then willing to handle her instead. It was true that she was just an imposter, a pretender thinking she could be The USA, but destroying even a fake Wrestle Angel would go a long way towards sending her message.

She turned towards Miss USA, raising an eyebrow as the girl suddenly hopped onto the ropes. If it was anyone else, Hibiki might have been worried, but this girl was nothing. A nobody. She would end this fast.

When Marilyn launched off the ropes towards her, Hibiki reached up, almost in a casual sort of manner, her hand snapping towards the girl's neck. She was trying to catch her in mid-air, and hold her aloft, elevated in front of her and completely at her mercy.

Marilyn's defiant battle cry was choked off as her flight came to an end. Hibiki's reach stopped her blow short as the Japanese giant caught her one handed around the neck!
Her feet dangling off the mat, Marilyn was powerless in Hibiki's grip. She brought both hands to Hibiki's wrist, trying to pry the hand off of her throat, but as strong as Marilyn thought she was, the Purple Dragon was stronger, keeping her held aloft. And at her apparently nonexistent mercy...

"Pathetic..." Hibiki snarled up at Marilyn, effortlessly holding her aloft, glaring up at the woman as she struggled to free herself. "You should have ran while you had the chance. You should have ran away from here. Now? Now I get to break you."

She held the girl in the air for a brief few seconds longer, and then, with a loud, almost feral scream, she went to drop her, bringing Marilyn back to the mat with a big, powerful chokeslam!

Marilyn's eyes narrowed as Hibiki admonished her. Run? As if she would. Also, with her knee it the way it was, it wasn't like the former Wrestle Angel couldn't just catch up with her. Despair settled in. She didn't have the power to escape, and air was steadily running out. Still, Marilyn had the energy for one last thing.
One hand left Hibiki's wrist, clenching into a fist and holding it towards her captor. She didn't strike with it. Instead, her middle finger extended out as she completed her last act of defiance.

Then Hibiki's scream filled the American's ears, sounding like the roar of the mythical beast that she drew her namesake from. Marilyn felt herself hurtling towards the mat...then everything went dark.

Mikoto’s struggles to stand on equal footing once again were met with frustrated missteps and stumbles, clenching her teeth as she found herself incapable of putting any pressure on her knee without collapsing to her side. It was only Miss USA’s fervent taunting that brought Mikoto’s attention away from the searing pain in her leg. Looking up from her prone position with widened eyes to watch the entire scene unfold, the priestess instinctually turning her head at the last second to spare herself the brutal sight of seeing Miss USA decimated by the stomach churning choke slam.

The priestess kept her head ducked low with her fore head pressed against the canvas as tears steadily streamed down her cheeks, bombarded by questions as well as an over feeling of helplessness. Why didn’t Marilyn just listen to her, for once, instead of being so….so obstinate? What had they done to be tortured like this by this purple haired demon? Why was she still incapable of protecting those around her? Hibiki had effortlessly thrashed the both of them in a matter of seconds, as if neither of them were even in her league to begin with.

Gradually hoisting herself up to her hands and knees, in what was perhaps her final selfless act of the night, Mikoto gradually crawled over to Miss USA’s unconscious body and draped the proud American’s arm over her neck, meekly crawling the both of them to ringside. The referee was lingering just outside, unable to do much but be an unwitting bystander.

"Nnngh...ah..." Groaning in exertion from the added weight of the lifeless American, Mikoto hoped that she’d be able to escort Marilyn to the ropes and have the ref get her the medical attention she desperately needs, and that Hibiki would grant her even the slightest shred of mercy to allow this to happen.

Mercy? From Hibiki? Surely Mikoto was out of her mind.

The Purple Dragon watched for a brief moment, as Mikoto tried to get Marilyn to safety, as she tried to escort her fellow Angel away. It would have been heartwarming, almost, if it hadn't had been so futile.

Hibiki stepped forward, and leaned down, grabbing Mikoto by her ankles. She began to drag her backwards, trying to pull her back towards the center of the ring. She didn't care if the girl dropped Marilyn. Marilyn was dead and no longer an issue, and she wasn't a real Wrestle Angel anyway.

"Going something?" Hibiki asked, as she yanked Mikoto's legs to drag her back. Oh yes. This was going to be satisfying.

It was a harrowing sight to say the least, Mikoto inching forward until she was just shy of arm's length from ringside, in the shadow of the purple haired revenger. Miko trudged onward as far as what little of her strength would allow, wincing with every exhausting tug of Miss USA's limp figure. Though they may have come to verbal blows during the match, through some manner of perhaps misplaced guilt Mikoto felt entirely responsible for Marilyn and her safety. Digging deep before reaching out to clasp the bottom ropes and pull them both the rest of the way...


...only for her heart to drop into the pit of her stomach as Hibiki coldly denied the fallen priestess, Marilyn flopping off of her as Hibiki grasped both of her ankles and dragged her back to center ring to make her entire progress meaningless. With her legs dangling overhead, Mikoto pressed her forehead against the canvas and pounded the canvas in frustration. The crowd rained down endless boos at the Purple Dragon's continued harassment of the defenseless angels, acknowledging that it would have been less cruel to never give Mikoto the hope of escape than tease her with it.