Haru Fujiwara vs. Carmen Rodriguez - Fool's Gold

And here was another thing Carmen hated: showboating. Particularly at your opponent's expense.

It wasn't enough for Haru to just have a good position over her, no - he had to try and humilate her in the process, taunting away as he pressed his boot into  her modest chest and dug in with his weight. She tried to push out, but she didn't have the leverage, could find the force to muscle her way free. The best she could do was not cry out as he grinded her sternum.

That became much harder to do when he placed his foot in her face and continue the pressure, crushing her jaw. Now, she couldn't help a pained shriek, and it mixed with one of rage when he saw him lifting his hands like he'd already won this. He really thought she was that easy? That it would be so simple? She'd underestimated him, but it went both ways.

She gritted her teeth and tried to push past the pain long enough to retaliate while he was busy felatting himself. Bringing his leg up put it in a good spot for her fists, and she figured she might as well use it - she threw an uppercut to the back of his knee, trying to drive her knuckles right in the tendons to trigger the reflex and make them recoil.

'Struggle all you like, girl, you're not going anywhere' Haru thought when he felt Carmen try to push his leg away from her chest, it just made him push his foot harder. It was futile for her, and it was just payback really for that crushing elbow drop. The tiny shriek she let out was like music to his ears when he switched to her face, his strategy was clearly working out for him.

One second Haru was gleefully showing off to the crowd and the next it felt like his knee was imploding with searing white-hot pain. Immediately he retracted his knee and stumbled to find his balance as the muscles continued to spasm uncontrollably. Grabbing the top rope to steady himself, he glared daggers at Carmen, boy was she in for it now. His knee still stung when he tested standing on it, but he'd fight through that pain to the point of serious injury if it meant paying her back.

Haru reached down and took hold of Carmen by hair and arm, pulling her up with a grunt. He stopped her from standing up completely as he tried to stuff her head between his legs, needing a few seconds of prep before he could move on to the task at hand; delivering Carmen face-first into the canvas.

It wasn't much of a takeaway, but at least Carmen managed to make Haru drop that cocky look for the time being. She'd underestimated him, but he'd made similar mistakes with her, and she had every intention of making him wish he hadn't. Of course, that was going to require her to be able to stand back up under her own power, something that was proving increasingly difficult.

Haru liked to gloat, but even he knew where to draw the line with that, and it seemed like he was ready to take her a little more seriously. He hardly gave her any time to recover; one moment she was trying to stand back up, the next movement she was under his leg with an uncomfortable crotch pressing against the back of her neck.

She started to struggle, but she barely had time to put up any real fight before the canvas rapidly rose to meet her face. She managed to her hands up and braced them against the ground, absorbing some of the impact...some. But it was still more than enough to smash her face and leave her dizzy, as the impact shook her entire skull.

Haru was half-disappointed that Carmen had gone down without too much of a struggle this time. His knee throbbed with every second he put pressure on it, and he doubted he could take another direct hit like that and still stand normally.

Haru pushed himself up and put the majority of his weight on his uninjured knee, glaring down at Carmen. He began to stick his foot out to start the count, but decided halfway through he wasn't quite finished with her yet. He didn't really know any complex submission holds he could torment her with, but it also didn't look like she could take too many more power moves before he might auto-win via KO, which would be no fun at all if he wasn't done demolishing her yet.

"Should have taken a real shot when you had the chance" he sneered as he grabbed her ankle. He hoisted it up and did his best impression of an ankle lock, though by no means was it perfect or well-executed. It still ought to serve it's purpose and create unwanted pressure though.

The great thing about pain was the way it cleared the senses - Carmen was feeling woozy after Haru slammed her face into the mat, so out of it that she barely heard his taunts and didn't care much to give them any more attention. But the moment she felt his arms wrapped around her ankle and the searing pain started to surge, reality came crashing down on her with all the subtlety of a crashing wall of bricks.

Agony was the word she could think to describe the ankle lock. It was amazing how much pain such a small part of the body could produce, but Carmen couldn't deny the effectiveness. It hurt, like a spear driven right through her bones, and it was all she could do to bite down and stop herself from screaming in full. She was just glad that Haru didn't have the foresight to use the scissored variation she'd seen some wrestlers execute. She could escape from this. It wouldn't be easy, but it would be worth the effort.

Carmen pushed up and pulled forward, trying to roll on her shoulders and pulled Haru with her. If it worked, it would break the hold and send him flying forward, hopefully into something painful. If it didn't work, well, more pain was to come.

Haru couldn't tell if the move was currently effective or not, Carmen had done an excellent job of keeping quiet despite the pain. Checking his hands and position, they seemed to be in the correct positions and everything, so maybe she was being silent out of pride. He could fix that. Haru lifted her ankle higher into the air, which ought to have compounded some of the pain she was bound to be feeling.

However it seemed Carmen had other plans. He could feel that she was shifting her body but he didn't know what to expect; he wasn't trained in submissions, and he didn't know techniques used for escape. Thus when Carmen ingeniously rolled on her shoulders, Haru held on to her ankle stubbornly, trying to stop her. However his injured knee betrayed him and gave way, causing him to lose balance and to allow Carmen's leg to whip him forward.

Having been close to the turnbuckle these past few moments it was still there to greet him when he came crashing forward. His hands shot out towards the ropes to stop himself, but it was too little too late as his momentum was too great and he faceplanted into the corner post. Even with the pads they wrap around those things, any wrestler could tell you running into one still hurt like a bitch. Haru's face felt like it was on fire as he rested on his knees, using one arm to steady himself on the middle rope while the other cradled his face. The achy fire and light-headed feeling wasn't completely unknown to him, in college he'd faced a boxer who stuffed his gloves with miniature weights, and boy did his left hook sting like no other. A normal boxer would have called the match and had his opponent disqualified, but Haru insisted on slugging through five more rounds just so he could deliver a brutal uppercut for the KO. Then Haru had his gloves checked and the guy disqualified from competing in the league. Icing on the cake and all that.

Maybe Carmen had a little more Army in her than she liked to admit, maybe it was a little immature, but there was something downright deliciious about seeing Haru eating a face full of turnbuckle like that. Judging from the way they laughed and cheered, the AFW audience agreed and wanted to see more. She felt like that was doable.

Getting back on two feet wasn't easy, especially with her ankle hurting from the hold, but Carmen forced her body to cooperate. Getting a shot at Haru - or anyone - from behind was too rare a chance to pass up, and she had just the move in mind for it, too. He was heavy, but he couldn't have weighed more than her brother did, and she'd done this one on him in training. It would work. Strain her back, sure, but it would work.

Carmen moved in and wrapped her arms around Haru as he started to rise, pressing her chest into his back and hugging his stomach tight. She took a hot second to steel herself, then jerked the jerk back with a snapping German Suplex, trying to lift him up, over and dump him right on his head.

Haru wiggled his nose around; no bloodflow meant it was probably just bruised and not broken. Still it stung like a bitch, and in a different way than his shot knee. The audience was apparently eating his suffering up, judging from the way they jeered and laughed.

As he started to get up, he felt slender but evidently strong arms work their way around his waist. Then a pair of boobs against his back and the arms tightened around his waist, which pretty much only meant one thing in wrestling; you were going for a ride.

Haru was surprised that Carmen was able to lift him completely off the ground, she must be sporting real strength for a woman of her size. There wasn't a lot of time to think though, she couldn't support his weight for long so the hang-time was minimal. In a flash he went from blinking at the turnbuckle to staring up at the glaringly bright lights above the ring.

The downside to being huge like Haru was that gravity could very easily work against you, and in this case Carmen didn't need to be able to throw him far to make it hurt. Haru half-coughed, half-groaned at the reversal of fortunes, he certainly wasn't going to be bouncing right back after that one. Note to self: save the gloating till later.

Carmen couldn't see Haru from where she was behind him, but she got the distinct impression that the look on his face was one of surprise, and she wouldn't blame him. If she'd been watching this a year ago, she would be surprised to see herself pulling it off, but that was what life in the AFW had opened her up to. New experiences and new ways to inflict pain.

Suplexes weren't her usual style, but she'd been practicing them enough to pull them off in a pinch, and this definitely qualified. The crash was satisfying. The crowd's roar was enthralling. Haru's groan was encouraging. All three of them spurred her on as she finally managed to get some of her own fortune into the fight. And she was far from done.

Carmen took a deep breath and hauled herself back as the premature but welcome cheers rose. Some suggestions were called out to her - leg drops, frog splashes, or just kicking him in the face. Not bad ideas, but she had something particular in mind.

She stood up, did a quick jump to gain some height, then came down hard right on his chest with an elbow drop. In her mind, the simplest route was typically the best.

Haru was beginning to rouse now, sitting up on his elbows. Carmen was already forcing herself up to her feet, damn that girl could take a beating and keep on fighting. Maybe it was the crowd egging her on, synergizing with the adrenaline that both of them felt during the course of the match.

She didn't give him much time to recover, no, she was already on the move again. She was only in the air briefly before landing hard on his chest with another elbow drop. Damn did it hurt more the second time round, she must have hit nearly dead on the same area as last time.

He cursed her name left and right under his breath, rolling onto his chest in case she had any ideas about an immediate follow-up to the same area. He was breathing heavily, sweat dripping from his skin and hair sticking it awkwardly to his forehead. One more, one more shot till she got cocky and thought it was over. One more shot and he'd have rested long enough to launch his surprise attack. He'd faced people who could hit 10x harder, this girl was just getting lucky. Or at least that was what he was telling himself.