Bryan Daniels vs. Ninjette - The Fight Before Christmas

Match Type: Standard
Victory Conditions: Pinfall, Submission or Knockout



So, what little annoyances was Kozue going to have to deal with in this match? Well, let's see.

First of all, this was her first real match in months, but that didn't mean she was rusty. If anything, she was shinier than ever. She'd only been training with Junko and Taylor, what? Three or so months? All the same, she had made some good gains in good time, and she was eager to show it off. The Battle Royale hadn't gone well, yeah, but this was all her. One-on-one. Like a progress report, a good way to put all those hours of drills and routines and all the health food she'd been scarfing down to good use. Not to mention the way she'd cut ties with her old friend, Samuel Adams.Three months sober and feeling good. She'd sacrificed a metric shit-ton to the wrestling gods, and it was time for them to hold up their end of the bargain.

It was also a chance to prove a certain blonde bitch wrong, though she seriously doubted Taylor was even aware she had a match, much less watching it. Whatever. Kozue could pretend. And the next time she spat some shit about how much she sucked and how worthless a wrestler she was, she'd have better ammo to fire back with.

Oh, and there was Bryan. She liked Bryan well enough. She wouldn't mind liking him a little bit more. She wasn't sure how well that would hold up once she punched him in the face, though, and she intended to punch him in the face quite a bit. Kozue was fighting to win, but she hoped it wouldn't mean losing a potential buddy in the process. It wasn't like she had so many that she could afford to let a good one go.

Plus, there was the little problem of having no idea what Bryan's style of wrestling was. She could piece a little together from some things he'd said - the part about making her tap out stuck in her mind - but for the most part she was going to have to analyze him on the fly. That could get tricky.

So, there was all that on Kozue's back as she emerged from the back to her music, bobbing her head to the beat as she skipped on down the ramp, but she kept her head up and smiled, anyway. The crowd was pretty upbeat, giving her a few high-fives as she made her way into the ring, and she hopped on over to the corner and gave them a few photo ops in repayment. Stood on the middle rope, pumped her fist out to the paying customers, and jumped back down as the music started to die down.

Kozue gave her outfit a quick check to make sure everything was in working order, and then she started to pace around the ring, bursting with energy that was ready to come out at the ring of a bell. "Come on, come on..."

Stepping out to the same starting positon spot soon after Koz burst out the curtain’s to her own entrance music, Bryan popped out the collar of his Union Jack leather jacket as the final adjustment to his wardrobe before it was his turn to work the audience over. In the past he never had any quarrels with working over the Christmas season. His moms workaholic lifestyle sort of imprinted on him the need to keep busy himself during the holidays, never really gelling into the whole season of giving too much.

Well, that was until recently, when his foray into Tension wrestling practically turned his life into something out of a Charlie Brown Christmas special. From the UKE’s Christmas bash to his recent killer skateboard, Bryan had to make sure to remember everyone who gave the new guy a warm reception….too bad his next order of business was to put the hurting to one of them.

It was still kind of fuzzy how B-RY went from hitting on some chick he found all by her lonesome at the beach to minutes away from slapping her in a headlock in front of a worldwide audience. Something best not to think about or the coincidences could start to rack your brain. Right off the bat Kozue struck B-RY as definitely a tom-boyish type, “one of the guys” so to speak. Sadly relegated to friend status due to her uncanny ability to rebuff his manly charms, his status may drop even farther after this whole thing is over. But this match was her decision in the first place, so hopefully that will shed some guilt off his mind once things get ugly in there...

In an odd twist, ominous guitar riffs and synth music played over the speakers and actually a bring a sense of eerie foreboding. It wasn't until the echoing vocals kicked in that the audience would recognize the song, some people chanting along until the main man himself would burst from the curtains once the incomprehensible chorus kicked in, pounding his chest and mouthing words to get the audience hyped. During his walk down the ramp he extended his arms to his sides turned in place to show off his distinctly British jacket to the audience, no point in wearing it if it doesn’t get full exposure. Sprinting the rest of the way there and sliding under the bottom ropes, Bryan jumped back up and continued his forward motion to the nearest turnbuckle to stand on the middle ropes and lead the chant he’s getting increasingly known for. “B-R-Y!!” Emphasizing each letter with thumbs pointed back to himself, about half of the audience couldn’t help but chant right along with him. Hopping back down and handing his jacket and metal aviator sunglasses to the ref, Bryan could finally turn to face Ninjette now that all theatrics had run their course.

“Well, hear we are. Sorry to make ya wait Koz, gotta go that extra mile to get the people in your corner ya know…?” Bryan rotated his arms and hopped in place for his final limbering up motions, bare chested now with his muscled pecs and abs on full display. “Don’t think I’ll hold back jus cause you got me that rad board…”

Even though they'd only know each other a sum total of about ten minutes, Kozue felt like she already had a pretty good understanding of Bryan's personality. Enough to know that subtlety really wasn't his thing, at least. So she wasn't expecting him to just waltz on down to the ring without any fanfare. He'd put on a show.

But she wasn't expecting him to set the arena on fire, either. The crowd was chanting along, the music was booming, the entire area seemed to hum with this raw energy as he made his way down the ramp. He was a new guy, but if Kozue had been watching this on Youtube and never joined the AFW, she would have guessed that Bryan was Tension's #1 attraction. The  man did not lack for confidence. Didn't like having that Kid Rock song stuck in her head after getting it out ten years ago, but other than that...

It made her feel a little embarrassed about her paltry little meet-and-great entrance, where she just walked down to the stage like there wasn't anything to it. Bryan didn't even have a real theme and he was making it look good. Kozue was supposed to be a ninja. She was going to  have to step up her game in the showmanship area, too. Maybe get some cheery blossoms, mess with the lights, throw some shuriken around. Something.

She archived that line of thought for later and watched Bryan from the corner while he played to the audience, waiting patiently for him to get it all out of his system. As soon as the music died down and the crowd went back to an energetic hum, she made her way to the center, ready to meet him head on.

She let out a whistle as she scanned him over, centering right on his chiseled chest and his cheese-grating abs. She'd gotten a peak at his physique the last time they met when he was wearing an unbuttoned shirt, even seen a few pictures of him online when she was doing crucial, important research on Google Images. But now that he was here, right here, on full display? Very impressive, and Kozue didn't mind letting him know it, too. Johnny Higurashi was not the only man in Tension with goods to show off.

"I'm sorry, you say something? I was busy objectifying you, wasn't paying attention." She gave him a quick wink and moved into her fighting stance. Fists tight and raised, one leg back and steady while the other stayed out and bounced. Remember the form, remember the form. "By all means, go all out. I know I am."

The bell rang and Kozue charged forward before the echo even finished, closing on him fast. She raised her leg up like she was going for a kick, but hopped back before she could finished and returned to her stance. Just a little flash of movement, a fake-out, something to see how he'd react and put him on his guard. Her face was harder now, dropping the smirk and trading it in for a pair of focused eyes.

“Ah, well I know it’s hard, but try not to swoon too hard for me Koz, else the big tough ninja girl’s gonna have to explain to her coach why she lost to the new guy…” Bryan smirked back at his opponent and her teasing gestures, hardly able to blame her for going all googly-eyed for him. Hell, maybe he could use it as a distraction to catch her off guard. He made sure to get an eyeful of Koz and those swaying hips of hers backstage, but apparently that wasn’t enough as his eyes started roaming those tightly hugged curves and sexy midriffs of hers once again…Hmm, he may have to make sure he doesn’t fall victim to his own strategy.

Bryan readied his own stance once he saw Koz abruptly drop all signs of levity with her focused posture. He guessed fraternizing was over and it was time to get to business, raising his arms raised in front of him and standing tall to emphasize the height difference between them. He figured the harder it was for Koz to lock up and struggle with their size discrepancy the easier it would be for him, right?

Bryan stepped forward once the bell rang but then immediately hanged back once the lightweight ninja darted for him like greased lightning! Bryan’s quick reflexes barely kept pace and crossed his arms in front of his chest to defend what would have been a swift kick to his solar plexus, instead raising an eyebrow at the feint kick. It got his blood pumping, that was for sure.

Though now with Kozue this close to him and a tinge of frustration on his face from making him flinch, Bryan reared back and lunged forward to attempt a hefty clothesline right across that perky chest of hers.

While Kozue did plan on getting a new, more moderate, less wedgie-prone outfit sometime in the near future, she had absolutely not one single problem with Bryan oogling her a little bit - after all, she didn't dress like this because she didn't like guys giving her approving looks. And if she was going to drop drinking, take on a full workout schedule, and withstand Taylor's rampant bitchiness more than anyone should have to, she was going to reap the full benefits. Her body had more tone than ever before, and it was going to be on display.

But if Bryan thought that would get him any leeway in this match, she would gladly and graciously dissuade him of that foolish notion. From the slight look of frustration on his face, she could tell he was starting to get the picture.

Bryan had good reflexes, and his block probably would've worked if she'd actually been trying to hit.  As it was, though, it did what it was supposed to do: help paint the picture of a guy who was pretty fast, but maybe not quite fast enough to edge her out. That was beautifully demonstrated by the clothesline coming her way.

A couple of months ago, it would have taken her head off at this close of a range. At best, she'd block it, like when she first fought Johnny. But she'd been drilling this particular move with Junko. Over. And over. And over. So when Bryan came at her, she ducked under his blow without a thought given, popped up behind him, and shot her leg out behind with back kick, aiming for where she knew the back of his knee should be.

After contending with Lucy Grange and her fleet footed fighting style, Bryan thought he had a decent stratagem for dealing with all the speedy tricksters Tension may toss his way.  Blunt, forceful strikes and constant pressure kept her British opponent too rattled to formulate any high flying set ups, so he figured the same idea should work on the kunoichi here.

Unfortunately, after sensing his clothesline hit nothing but the waving ponytail behind Kozue’s ducking head, something told him the same rules wouldn’t apply here. Bryan grinded to a halt once Koz gave him the slip, but he barely twisted his well-groomed head to the side before the strike to the back of his knee caused the debonair lothario to buckle down to one knee from the loss of balance.

“Ah shit!!” Bryan hobbled down briefly with one arm on his hamstring before working through the discomfort in his leg to walk forward unsteadily with a slight limp, more concerned with standing and walking upright again than Kozue at the moment. B-RY had a caught a glimpse of Ninjette’s slippery shenanigans backstage during their game of keep-away with his gift, now he was realizing that he’d be dealing with that aaaaall match…

Some small part of Kozue felt bad for thrashing Bryan. He was new. Fresh. He probably hadn't come to Tension expecting real fight - as far as she could tell, it was a publicity stunt. Trying to spread his name around and garner some acclaim, draw some eyes to his other work. Nothing wrong with a little marketing, and it was sure as hell better than the guys who just got off from having girls pound them in the face and wanted to get paid for the pleasure.

That being said, she had her own things to worry about, like making a real name for herself in the AFW, and maybe, someday, getting some gold around her waist. That meant beating him shitless, and if he was really as good as he acted and was serious about wanting to hang with her, they'd be cool afterwards. If not, well, at least she got a cat poster out of the deal.

As Bryan stumbled away, Kozue kept moving forward and bounced off the ropes, building up some extra momentum as she came at him from behind. She dropped down before she could pass by him and swung her leg at the back of his ankle, looking to hit him with a sweep kick and put him on his back.

With no offense to Lucy, Kozue could teach the blonde dyed Brit a thing or two about staying irritably out of reach no matter how close you thought you were to finally getting your hands on her. In all honesty Bryan should have expected this type of in your face competitiveness and challenge seeing as how one of the first things Kozue mentioned about herself was her intense training regimen and her cruel taskmaster of a coach. All relevant clues that only the most thick headed of individuals would not have clued in on...

Bryan clutched his calf and groggily lumbered forward a few steps until finally regaining his sense of balance, though no sooner was he upright again then Kozue would cut the legs out from under him with a more powerful winded up kick to his ankle that tripped him off his feet and laid him out back first on the canvas.

“Fuck!!...Jeez Koz, give me a second to breathe here!!” Bryan took the mat bump well enough, but that wouldn’t mask the growing frustration at Ninjette quite literally running circles around him with those friggin low kicks that were seriously putting the hurt on his right leg. Wincing slightly from the aches in his leg, B-Ry would turn to his side and attempt to get back on one knee then back to his feet as quick as possible. Right now his growing annoyance at being steadily chopped down like a tree was clouding his judgment. He just wanted to get back on his feet, for fuck’s sake…

Kozue had developed a simple strategy in her time with Junko, and it revolved around movement. Continuous, pitiless, strenuous movement. Not moving was a problem. It gave her opponent time to recover, time to think, time to draw a bead on her and clear their heads. It would be bad enough dealing with another woman, but with a men - bigger, stronger, tougher men - it was fatal. Slowing down meant giving up the one, real advantage she had over the guys she fought.

No stopping. Not even for a nice guy like Bryan. Go hard or go home. "Sorry, man." She said as she rose up, and let some genuine regret seap into the words. "It's the job."

Kozue raised her arm up and fell, coming down on his chest with an elbow drop and going for a quick pin right after. She seriously doubted she'd get a two count - one and half, tops - but it would help set the pace of the match and start to tilt things in her favor. She doubted it would stay that way forever, though...

“Hurgh!!” Bryan would hardly lurch up far enough to lift his head up before the spiking elbow drop snapped him back to the mat. Accompanying the pain in his chest was the sensation of Kozue's supple breasts flattening against his chest and maintaining her top down position for the quick pin attempt, the increasingly frustrated model sharply kicking out immediately after the one count.

Alright. Now the coincidences were starting to get eerie, Lucy herself also making him look like a scrub by pulling that early pin count nonsense. Though just a way of setting the tempo or whatever of the match, just the insinuation that he would go down that easily was genuinely starting to grind his gears. He was also starting to wonder if Lucy and Ninjette went to the same gym or something…

Soon after easily breaking out of the pin, Bryan would maintain that momentum and roll out of the ring to rather cleverly find his own way of getting vertical again, pacing and grumbling outside of the ring while scratching the back of his head….The match really not starting out in his favor…