Where The Wisterias Bloom

Hana slammed into Carmen and stayed pressed up against her, keeping her trapped against the corner, giving herself a moment to call out to the woman before picked her attack back up again.

"Hey...let me know if it's too much, alright?" She asked in a sincere voice, before taking a step away from the Latina. She reached for her arm again, to pull Carmen back out of the corner once more, but this time she wasn't going for the Irish whip like before. Instead, she stepped to the side of the boxer and reached up with both arms, trying to snake them around Carmen's neck, to pull the woman into a tight, close headlock.

Had Carmen not been in pain, she might've been excited to have Hana so close to her. She did want a closer look at her amazing body, after all, and she was certainly getting that and so much more on top. As it was, though, admiring her form was a bit hard to do when it was crushing the life out of her.

Carmen made a mental note to save the CCTV footage of this spar for later, use it to pick up a few pointers and plan. It was just a random thought, one of many that popped into her head while her brain was scrambled. Fortunately for her, Hana didn't elect to slam her around again. The headlock she was put into wasn't a great spot, but at least she had a moment to think straight as the crushing pressure came down on her skull.

"I'm..." Carmen closed her eyes tight as she reached up and pushed against Hana's arm, trying to get out of the vice grip. It wasn't happening. She would've compared it to an anaconda, but she honestly believed she would've had an easier time with the real animal.

"...good." So, instead, Carmen went to what came naturally: punching. She dropped her arm and threw two sharp punches towards Hana's stomach, drilling them in rapid succession. Not the best position for them, but she was just trying to give some incentive to let go, threatening to rattle off even more.

Hana was impressed by Carmen's toughness. She was defiant, and hanging in there, and that was good. She didn't want this spar to end too quickly, not until she and Carmen had both gotten a nice, full workout.

She went to crank Carmen's neck again with her headlock, when suddenly the Latina began to punch at her, driving her fists right into Hana's stomach. The bigger woman paused, letting out a grunt with each of Carmen's hits, feeling her arms loosening slightly from around her neck.

Carmen's punches hurt just as much as Hana had thought they would, and she didn't want to run the risk of taking two more of them into her gut. With a bit of reluctance, she released her headlock, moving her arms to try and shove Carmen away from her before those fists could go to work again.

Hitting Hana felt about the same as hitting Army - tough, not very much give on impact, and you couldn't tell if you were doing any real damage. Carmen was putting as much as she could into each blow, but it was like taking a sledgehammer to a brick wall; she might get the job done eventually, sure. There was just no way to know how long it would take.

Hana didn't seem all the interested in finding out, either, and Carmen was grateful for the air as she was released and sent flying back. She was even more grateful for the added momentum that she'd been given, because she knew just what to do with it.

She didn't fight the shove- no, Carmen rolled with it and kept on going, moving back into the ropes. She bounced, took off at full speed, and jumped towards Hana with her arm tucked towards her chest, trying to slam into her with a flying shoulder block. Full speed, full force.

Hana shoved Carmen away, and she was glad for the brief respite. She could handle Carmen's punches, she decided, just so long as she didn't eat too many of them at once. A few more blows like that to her stomach, and even the giant Hana had to admit that she would have been in trouble.

She briefly wondered, just for a few seconds, why Carmen had bothered coming to wrestling. With punches like that, she couldn't wrap her mind around the Latina's decision to leaving boxing for wrestling, and she knew good and well that those weren't even the strongest punches Carmen could dish out, not by a long shot.

While she was trying to shake them off and recover herself, and while she was contemplating Carmen's career decisions, the boxer came flying back towards her. Hana looked up just in time to see the woman flying through the air towards her, and before she could react, it was too late. Carmen slammed into her at full speed, and the Amazonian grappler was sent straight backwards, the force of the attack catching her completely off-guard.

She stumbled back, and ended up leaning against the ropes, her arms spread out over them, the Okinawan woman panting slightly as she tried to regain her bearings, inwardly cursing herself for letting her mind get sidetracked.

Carmen was a little ashamed to admit it, but there was something oddly satisfying about having Hana on the ropes, and it wasn't just that she looked fine hanging there. This wasn't like sparring with Army or Nathan, this was her taking on a vastly more experience opponent with a sizeable strength difference, and not being completely outclassed. Her work was far from done, but she was pleased so far.

"All right, big girl." Carmen moved in and grabbed Hana's wrist, pulling it off the ropes and a securing a tight hold. She leaned forward and pressed their chests together, making the ropes stretch under their weight. Just to give her some extra momentum to work with. "Impressed yet?

Carmen pulled away and yanked Hana along with her, then twisted around and sent off to the other side with an Irish Whip. She rushed in as soon as she went off and ducked down with open arms, standing close enough that she'd be right there when the towering titaness turned around. She was going for a Scoop Slam, looking to grab Hana with one arms between her legs and the other across her shoulders, spin around and drop her hard on the mat. While she wasn't that confident about her ability to lift all that muscle for most of her power moves, this powerslam let the momentum do most of the work. She'd practiced it with Army, so in theory, it would go off without a hitch. If she could do it to him, she could do it to Hana.

But in reality, Hana was no Army.

Hana was about to push off the ropes, and get back into the game, when Carmen stepping in, grabbing her by the wrists, pushing against her. Her breath quickened slightly, as she felt the smaller woman leaning against her, their bodies pushing against each other, and as the Latina taunted her, she caught herself staring into her eyes. Carmen was...good. She knew what she was doing, and she was bringing the fight to Hana.

Hana liked that. Not enough to let Carmen keep up her advantage, but she liked that. It wasn't often she could find a smaller opponent like this that could get any kind of advantage over her.

The titan was then yanked off the ropes, and sent flying across the ring by the Irish Whip. She raced across the canvas, hitting the ropes and leaning into them for a moment, before bouncing off and flying straight back towards the smaller woman. She could hear Carmen's footsteps behind her as she turned, and already she was getting control of herself, ready to launch a counter-attack as soon as she drew closer to Carmen.

She turned about, and when Carmen ducked down to try and grab her, Hana suddenly and stiffly brought her knee upwards, aiming it right for the boxer's jaw. Carmen was right: Hana was no Army, and wasn't about to just let Carmen pick her up and toss her around!

Carmen was in the perfect position for the Scoop Slam, and against nine out of ten opponents, she probably would've nailed it. Hana turned out to be the one exception, though. Her experience once again shined through, canceling her plans with a well-timed, well-aimed knee to the face, so hard that Carmen was fairly sure a dental visit would be in order.

She cried out as her body shot straight up for one agonizing moment and her vision filled with stars. Reflexes took over and her arms came back up, maintaining a solid defense as she staggered away. "Okay," She groaned and tried to shake some sense back into her head. "Not my best moment."

Hana hesitated for a moment, as Carmen staggered away. Just for a moment, long enough to call out to her.

"Hey. You alright? I'm not pushing too hard, am I...?"

While Carmen was glad for the reprieve, part of her was eager to keep pressing on. Fights had a rhythm, and breaking them always felt like a sour note in the middle of a symphony.

She popped her head out from behind her guard and gave Hana and swift nod. "I'm good." She started to bounce on her heels. "This is one of the few chances I'll get to work with someone who's big and not my brother. It's a learning experience, trust me."