Armando "Army" Rodriguez vs Haruko "Mileena" Akiyama

As she leaped into the air, the first thing that crossed Mileena's mind was that once more, all eyes were on her.  The cameras, the lights, all of it.  She was the spotlight of this match and she was loving every second of it again.  The whole shadow of doubt thing earlier was just a minor, fleeting thought.  She knew she had it all along.  They all knew it.  It made every second of it all the more exhilarating.

The sickening sound of his skull crashing to the mat from that high up with that angular momentum was music to Mileena's ears.  She had landed on her knees from the height which despite her reaction, did indeed hurt.  But she played it off as if it was nothing.  She crawled over Army, straddling his sides.  She looked down at his confused, disorientated and bashed head.  The woman leaned closer, hovering ever so closely to his face.  She looked like she was about to kiss him again, her body language certainly made it seem like she couldn't contain her urges.

But then she stood straight up and gave another very clear wide-faced grin.  She slowly got to her feet, her limbs loose, her hands drifted down her sides once more even though Army was probably far too gone to really notice it.  Then she laughed and the same fans that had cheered for and against her all gave that now recognizable and entirely corny chant.  "Finish him!"

Mileena leaned down and grabbed Army by the hair, harshly dragging him to his feet.  She held his head between her hands, looking up at him from slightly below his eye level, and shook her head with disappointment on her face.  Maybe it was sadness in him or herself, but sadness nonetheless.  The temptress then spun him around so he was facing away from her.

And then started her finisher.  She first yanked harshly back on his head so he faced up towards the lights of the arena.  She held his head in her arms, almost caressing it up against her chest.  The temptress then pulled the mask down along her face, revealing her non-Tarkatan features to a mixed reaction from her fanbase.  Well, what were they expecting, her to have rows and rows of sharp teeth?  She plunged her tongue into his mouth, a perpendicular kiss as she held his head in place.  Be Mine!

Army's eyes were closed, so he couldn't see what Mileena was up to as he laid on the floor. He didn't need his vision to piece things together, though, even with the raging headache he was dealing with. He could smell her sweaty, husky, lusty scent as she neared, as her persperation mixed with whatever she conditioned her hair with and sent a sweet smell wafting past his nose. He could hear the crowd's reaction, a muddled mix of cheers and boos and laughs. But, most of all, he could feel Mileena as she crawled over his body and their bare chests touched, sliding along each other as she made her way up.

She was close. So close, Army could taste her breath on his tongue. Close enough to kiss...and then she didn't. He opened his eyes and saw her standing above him, hands sliding down her hips with a look on her face like she owned the entire world. And, at that moment, it honestly felt like she did.

She wasn't content to merely pose for the audience, though - she was all about ending this, and true to form, she had to do it in the most dramatic way possible. A good grip on Army's hair was more than enough incentive for him to sit up, then stand as she pulled him upwards. There was a moment, a strange moment, where the pained and saddened look on her face was met with confusion on his. It didn't seem like an act from her. It looked real.

He had little time to ponder it. Mileena spun him around and dipped him like the final move of a deadly tango. Her face closed in on his again, and this time it was no ruse. There was a kiss. A real, sensual, wet kiss, right on his lips. No mask to seperate them this time - her tongue slid past his lips and wormed its way into his mouth, ran along her teeth and mingled with his tongue.

There was a brief resistance. His tongue pushed against hers, as if trying to force it back from where it came. But that ceased quickly enough, and it instead made its way into Mileena's mouth, returning the favor she was so eagerly giving. Army brought his hand up and tangled his fingers in her hair, holding her head. Caressing her. Embracing her.

Distracting her.

As the woman plunged her tongue into Army's mouth, the man weakly tried to fight her off.  But in the end, he offered such little resistance, such little struggle.  She'd completely taken control of him despite his best attempts to hold her off.  She moaned happily as she kissed him, he was hers.  

This was the part in Mortal Kombat where she'd pull out her sais and stab him repeatedly in the chest.  Or tear off his head and gnaw at it lovingly.  Fortunately for him, it wasn't Mortal Kombat. Nevertheless, she was going to give him a proper sending off in her own way by back stabbing him.

But then Army did something she hadn't anticipated.  His tongue began invading her mouth right back, and she wasn't ready for it.  It took her a second to even realize that, indeed, he really was kissing her right back.  Her eyelids closed as her previous, forced moan were replaced by real moans of happiness.  His hand drifted up and held her head gently.  The seductress found their positions reversed as her violent, forceful kisses became tender and soft.  Her grip on his head became a soft touch, her right hand gently holding his right cheek while the left combed his hair aside.  She was caught up in the moment.

Army didn't think when he kissed Mileena back. It was a spur of the moment sort of thing, a quick reaction made in the heat. He didn't have some long plan in his head, nothing beyond using the kiss to delay whatever it was she was clearly going for.

In his defense, it did work. Better than he thought it would, even. In the back of his mind, he knew that would be a hard sell when he explained it to Amy, but he'd cross that bridge when he very cautiously came it.

For now, he was all about winning the match and pulling his ass out of the fire, and he was seeing an opportunity. Mileena was lost in the kiss. Enraptured by it, genuine passion for the first time in the match. He couldn't blame her, either - she was a great kisser, he'd give her that, and he started to feel himself slipping, too. The soft caress, the way their tongues slithered about, their steamy breathes blowing over each other's faces...but he managed to pull the reigns on it before it became too late and brought things screeching back to reality, in the most abrupt way he could think of: a headbutt.

Army suddenly pulled out of the kiss, jerked forward, and tried to slam their foreheads together with a quick jerk, making a sound like colliding coconuts. Not much, but it would get him out of her clutches, the first step to turning things around.

The pink temptress found herself on the opposite end of her own wiley techniques. And maybe far back in her mind she knew it was all just a trick. But most of her was simply enjoying the moment too much to even suspect that something about it was off.

And then he pulled away from her. She opened her eyes to see his face only inches away...and then it crashed right into her. "Ack!" Mileena groaned from the sudden headbutt. She grasped her forehead and stumbled back a step with a moan, releasing Army from her grasp as her head throbbed with the sudden pain from the impact.

Army really wished he had time to make some sort of plithy come back after the headbutt landed. Maybe something about not kissing on the first date or doing it wrong or maybe even something about 'giving head', if he'd dared to get that lewd.

But now was not the time. This was the time to put away the girl that had been putting him on the ropes for the entire match, and the girl who'd gladly put him against them again if he wasn't careful. He could be cocky after she was on the floor.

Mileena released her delicate grip, and Army immediately dropped on his back while she staggered away. He rolled over to this chest, staring up at her as she moved into the right distance, and then he started to rise. But he didn't just get back up - he was moving his left fist into position as well. He came at her with what looked like the start of an uppercut, but with his arm turned like a hook. Not quite one, not quite the other.

It was his finishing move, the Smash, and it was coming straight for Mileena's chin with incredible, devastating force.

Mileena rubbed her forehead, the stars leaving her vision. It took her a second to realize what had actually happened. She was just enjoying a very tender and romantic kiss a second ago. And then...he headbutted her. Headbutted!

"What..." She asked ambiguously out loud, pulling her mask back over her mouth. How dare he? He was just distracting her! Using her own strategy against her! THE NERVE. In a rage, she pulled back her right fist to sock Army in the face. "You...fucking- she started to say before he beat her to the punch. Literally.

His left fist connected with her undefended chin like freight train. It would've knocked some spit into the air had she not put her mask back on. Her legs crumbled as if her bones weren't even connected and she collapsed to the mat rather ungracefully, her arms and head landing without any protection from a breakfall. Her eyelids fluttered, her eyes rolled back in her head. She was out like a light.

Maybe the Smash wasn't the most glorious way to end the match. It didn't have the flash of some impact slam, you couldn't rally the crowd behind it like you might with a powerbomb. It happened quick, so a lot of cameras would miss the photo op if they weren't ready.

But it had one thing going: it worked. It was effective. And, in this case, Army knew just how to spice it up. "SHORYUKEN!"

He yelled it out as the move connected, and the effect wasn't unlike nailing the real thing. To Mileena's credit, she took it better than some guys he knew would've, but it didn't matter much in the end. She went down like a sack of potatoes, sloppily crumbling before his feet. Not a bit of life left in her.

The crowd went wild.

Army tried to catch his breath as he fell back and leaned on the turnbuckle, looking on as the referee started up the count. Lifting up Mileena's hand, checking for any movements. It was a formality, at this point. He knew a knock out when he saw one.

"Nah, loca." Army pushed some of the sweat hair away from his face, revealing the devlish smirk underneath. "That's how you box."

The referee bent down and lifted up Mileena's right arm and dropped it to the mat. The crowd, especially in the front row, loudly counted along with the ref. "ONE!" they shouted. The ref girl picked the temptress's arm up once more, holding it straight up for a second before dropping it to the mat. "TWO!" Finally, she repeated it once more, the crowd holding its breath. But, just as the previous two times... "THREE!" ...the arm fell lifelessly to the mat.

Somehow, that three seconds felt much longer than it really should have. It was almost like Army expected Mileena to do some kind of evil, Undertaker rise, suddenly coming back to life and taking the fight back to him with a fiery vengence. Crazy, yeah, but this was a very crazy girl he was dealing with. He wouldn't put it past her.

He was relieved to see that some things in the world still made sense, though, and he was more than happy to let the referee raise his hand in victory. Second match of the year, second win, and he'd damn sure earned it.

He was  quick to drop down and roll under the ropes, hobbling his way back up the ramp. Army knew Mileena would be waking up in a foul mood, and while he doubted he'd seen the last of her, tonight he'd taken way more than enough. Besides, after the way he'd won the match, he had a bad feeling that his night was about to get a lot more painful.

Time to talk to Amy...