Haru Fujiwara vs. Carmen Rodriguez - Fool's Gold

Carmen was more than ready when Haru came in, and the payoff for her patience was sweet. The sweep hit dead on, the crowd cheered, and as Carmen turned around she was treated to the lovely sight of him getting dropped flat like Sonny Liston in the first round. It wouldn't last, no, but things that good rarely did. She could cherish the moment.

If he was trying to find her after all that, he wouldn't have to look too hard -  she'd finally gotten Haru down, and she had no intention of easing the slack anytime soon. Carmen only took a moment's pause after she spun around full circle, bracing herself before she jumped straight into the air with all the power her legs could spare for it.

Carmen got some good hangtime before her arc started to take her downward, and she got her arm and body in the right position just in time. She was coming down on Haru with an elbow drop, and she didn't even particularly care which body part she hit, so long as she hit something and hit it hard enough to make him really feel the pain.

Haru laid eyes on her just before she began her descent. He wasn't sure whether he ought to try countering her or moving out of the way, and the split-second of indecision sealed his fate.

Carmen landed her elbow drop hard across his pecs, slamming his back right back down to the canvas. The muscle absorbed what little of the concentrated force it could, but the rest of the impact traveled further and he could feel it in his ribs and sternum. It was enough to give even Haru pause, as he groaned but kept his limbs from flopping about or curling up like most would.

Gritting his teeth, Haru rolled away from her, running his palm over the offended area. It stung a bit to the touch, and it was sure to bruise and be sore for the day to come. Interesting..... Maybe she had more to offer than he initially thought. The question was, could she do it again and enough times to really matter?

For now Haru feigned being injured more than he was, coughing harshly and struggling to push himself up. He wanted to lure her in close, make her think she had taken control of the pace of the match, and then surprise her with a burst of energy.

The blow hit, but it didn't really hit - not with nearly as much punch or power as Carmen would have liked. She would give credit where credit was due, the man was solidly built, and dropping onto him felt like crashing into a rhino. But it seemed like he was taking it poorly enough, from the way he was groaning and gritting. She'd worked the nail in, now she just had to start hammering it home.

Carmen shook her head and sat back up, then made her way back up with a sigh. Her father would have kicked her in the ass for letting things get this bad, but it looked like she was finally setting the pace the way she wanted. She just had to keep the pressure on him and remember that outboxing Haru wasn't the only option, no matter how tempting and satisfying it would be to pummel him into the mat. She had wrestling moves. Over limbs were at her disposal. Might as well use them.

She moved over to Haru as he started rising and reaching for his head, trying to get a good grip on the mangled mop he called a head of hair, so she could pull him in for a reverse headlock. A good start for a lot of moves, and she had a good one in mind - a DDT.

Haru felt those tough little fingers swim through his hair, latching on and pulling him up, up towards her. She released only to firmly trap his head and neck against her in a headlock. Staring down at her shoes, he was at a slight disadvantage here. Standing up at his full height would put unnecessary strain on himself, but doing nothing would allow Carmen to proceed with whatever she had planned unhindered. The feeling of pressure on both sides of his head reminded him to act sooner than later.

Haru's ploy had worked though, she had brought him in close and possibly under her guard. Now he just needed to figure out what he could do from this position. A good punch would be hard to aim, but for the most part her legs were open for business. Perfect.

His hands found their way to the back of her knees, and he pulled as hard as he could, standing up at the same time to unseat her. Depending on her upper body strength she might be able to keep herself up, but otherwise her back and head were heading for the ring floor.

Carmen might not have cared too much for submission holds on principle, but she could hardly deny the utility of using them, especially against an unrefined bruiser like Haru. Holding him the headlock like this managed to slow things down a bit and gave her some time to breathe, building her own stamina up while she hacked away at his. Not to mention the upcoming payoff, when she rammed his skull into the mat at Mach 1.

She gave one last squeeze and prepared for the plunge, but Haru beat her to it - he wasn't quite as out of it as he seemed, and he had more than enough energy to pull at her legs and start to force her back. Carmen staggered backwards, trying to keep her feet under her, but it was an awkward position made worse by the way he was starting to rise up. She was going down. Her only choice was in how it happened.

She tried to keep the head lock tight as she fell, hoping she could at least smack his head on the way to the canvas. It wouldn't hurt him all that much, but at least keeping him tight would stop him from capitalizing on his superior position. She just had to do it long enough for her to figure a way out from under him, whenever that would be.

As Haru rose he could feel Carmen's legs struggle to find good footing and keep herself planted to the ground. Instead she eventually let gravity take it's course, but she wasn't going down alone. She clung to Haru's head and prevented him from finding his balance, which meant he went right back down with her.

His forehead hit the mat and stung, but he was more aggravated by the fact she was still clinging to him. What would it take to detach her? At least this time he was the one on top, he could do something from this position.

Pushing up to his hands and knees, he brought his right arm back, and then drove it directly into Carmen's abs, once, twice, three times in total. It wasn't the best angle to throw a punch from, but then again it wasn't an easy angle to defend from either.

Even though Carmen managed to secure the hold, she was still acutely aware that she had about 200 pounds worth of Japanese asshole laying on top of her. That was a bad position no matter what hold she had, and as she saw Haru start to reel back, she winced and braced herself for the reason why.

It was hard, but she managed to stifle as a scream as he battered her sides with raw punches. Sloppy, yes, but they hardly mattered when he could throw them with impunity. While she would have loved to just choke him out and leave  him unconscious in the middle of the ring, she would have preferred to do that with her ribs not turned into kindling.

She had to let him go. But she didn't have to let him go easily.

Carmen brought her spare arm up and gave him a parting gift, as she brought her elbow down hard into his shoulder. With that done, she released the lock and tried to push him away, hopping she could scurry off before  he could close back in.

Each of Haru's punches found purchase in Carmen's skin, and for his efforts he was rewarded with a new sharp pain in his shoulder. Haru retreated for the time being, backing up and standing up, and feeling out the new bruise starting to form. Not bad, not bad at all actually.

They'd both exchanged blows now, the warm-up period was over. From this point on he felt like he could let loose for real. A wild fire burned behind his eyes now. Taking a few steps back, Haru charged at Carmen whether she was ready or not. He jumped, feet extended for a huge drop kick. It wasn't exactly his specialty and he wasn't sure of the success rate, but right now he just wanted to inflict some damage.

Carmen managed to get Haru off of her for the time being, but somehow she didn't feel like this was a big improvement. Haru had her on the defensive for the most part, and while she was holding on all right, she was nowhere near where she pictured herself being at this point in the match. Everything so far felt...off. She needed to get in a big hit, change things around and really get into the groove before he ran away with the match.

That was the plan she had in mind as she rose up, but Haru dashed it to be pieces with a massive drop kick. A normal drop kick would have been bad enough, but from a guy with his and power, the effect was crushing. It hit her in the chest and knocked Carmen off of her feet, sending her sailing towards the corner, back first. She slumped down and had to grab the ropes for support, groggily slumping against the turnbuckle.

Haru pushed himself up and rose to the sounds of quieted booing. The sound level was nowhere near where it had been near the beginning of the match, which meant he was off to a good start in wrecking the fan favorite.

"Poor foreign girls all tired out, and I'm just getting started" Haru fake awed, placing his hands on his hips as he approached. A thin shimmer of sweat of coated his body thanks to the harsh intensity of the lights and the mild action so far.

Haru looked down at the sluggish girl hanging onto the ropes, he was practically vibrating with anticipation about what pain and punishment he could lay down next. Grabbing the top ropes, he stomped his foot into Carmen's chest, keeping it there after the initial impact and digging his heel in side to side with a sneer on his face.

"Where's all that Fire, that energy? Did you really spend time learning to throw a punch, without being able to take a few in return?" he asked, moving his boot from her chest to rest against her face. That way he could smoosh her face into the turnbuckle, and throw up his arms in triumph to the ire of the crowd.