Makie Akamatsu vs. Armando 'Army' Rodriguez - Let's You and Him Fight, Part 2

And now Makie was getting away. Great "Damn it!"

Army slapped the mat, venting out some frustration, before he started to get back to his feet. He'd been so close, so fucking close, but this woman was slippery. He was used to having a speed disadvantage in his Tension matches, but he usually found a way to work around that. Not in this match. If there was a way to catch Makie and keep her pinned down, he'd yet to find it.

Army wasn't deterred, though. He planned to begin looking again, when she greeted him with a lightning flash of a kick to the face. The blow hit him hard right in the jaw, and the sheer alacrity was enough to make his body spin around in a full circle. When he turned back, though, he was looking a lot more pissed than before, and he showed his anger with a right cross aimed at Makie's chest, getting in some harsh retaliation.

Makie felt the shock of the blow run up her leg as she hammered a boot into Army's skull. The blow sent the her opponent spinning around in a flailing spin that lashed sweat outwards, and she stumbled backwards, catching her breath and her balance after the kick. She had hoped the blow would be enough to floor Army, but, damn him, he was still standing. She had to hand it to Army, the guy was stubborn and resilient.

And pissed, she realized as he turned around and lashed out with a fist. She tried to dodge, but her hurting body was slow to respond, and he nailed her hard right betweent he boobs. "OOOOMPH!" she gasped, doubling over from the blow and clutching her chest. She looked up again at Army, breathing hard and matching his angry expression with one of her own.

It was taking effort on her part just to keep standing, but all the same, she retaliated, launching herself at Army with barely restrained fury. She launched two separate punches at Army, knowing that he'd block them, and hoping to get his guard down...before spinning, aiming to hit him in the side of the head with a spinning kick. By this point, she felt exhaustion beginning to set in, and knew that she had to end this match, and fast.

Army's punch landed dead on, right in the middle of Makie's chest. It was a good punch, one of the best Army ever threw. when he was this winded, and it would've been enough to leave most of the guys he'd ever fought reeling. He was fully expecting it to knock a little thing like Makie flat on her ass, a perfect mark for the pin..

But it didn't. She was still standing. Looking pissed and hurt, sure, but standing, like her small body was hiding a man twice her size underneath. "Shit..."

Army's guard went up on reflex as her punches came in. Quick, flashing burst, but nothing much to worry about, and his guard absorbed them with ease. He came out of his shell and wound up for a right hook, when a flash  of movement caught the corner of his eye. He had half a second to glance at it before Makie' foot crashed alongside his head, making him spin and around fall to his knees.

Army shook his head and leaned on the middle rope for support while his brain rebooted.

Makie's boot slammed home against Army's head, just as planned, but the resulting spin caused Makie to lose her balance and topple over onto her front. For a few seconds, she was left lying against the mat, eyes closed and breathing heavily. It was hard for her to breath after that nasty punch of Army's, and ever part of her just wanted to stop and lie down a bit. It was taking a lot of effort on her part just to keep moving, let alone fighting, and as she was at the point now where she really had to fight the urge to just keep lying down.

Balling a fist, she began to push herself up to her hands and knees, sweat dripping from her hair. Around her, the crowd was clapping in unison now that both wrestlers were down and hurting, chanting for Army and Makie to get up and continue their match. The audience had known this was going to be a tough fight between two good wrestlers, but they hadn't expected it to be such a brutal match that would leave both of them hanging like a thread as they were now. The tension had the crowd on the edge of their seats, to say the least.

Almost done. Almost. However this match was going to end, one thing  was abundantly clear - it was going to end soon, and Army was quite thankful for it. He'd had his fill of Akamatsus for the year. "Okay..."

He pushed off the ropes and started to circle Makie as best as he could with his faltering legs, trying to stay upright and in the fight. Wasn't easy. Wasn't fun. But he was soldiering through it, as he started to close in on the tenacious little pit bull he'd been fighting for the last ten or so minute. His plan was simple: make good on what he'd said about needing the one punch. Wait for an opening. Pay attention. And when the time was right, put her down. Hard and fast.

He moved and stayed low, throwing out a couple of careful jabs as soon as he was in range, as he focused on Makie with a cautious eyes.

Somehow, Makie managed to get up to her feet, wobbling slightly as she stood up. Stretching upright, her gaze met Army's. She could see that he was in bad shape as well, that he was having difficulty staying on his feet. One more good hit, she realized, would be enough to end this.

Army was already approaching cautiously, firing some testing jabs at her. Woozily, Makie mirrored his movements, bringing her arms up to block his jabs. Army was trying to get one killer hit in, to knock her out with a good punch from his undamaged arm. She focused on it, using her forearms to deflect, never once taking her eyes off of Army.

That was, until she suddenly dropped low and spun, aiming to slam a booted heel into the back of Army's knee. If that managed to drop him to his knees, then she would maintain her momentum, spinning again to drop-kick Army in the back or the side. All she really wanted to do was floor Army at this point, to set him up for her big finish...

Where was it?

Makie had to have an opening somewhere, for fuck's sake. Her body was only so big, there were only so many places she could cover with that tiny little guard of hers. It should've have been this difficult to land a solid punch! Even with Carmen, he could get in a few good licks on a consistent basis, but here he just kept striking out.

He tried his luck with a match-ending right hook, but sure enough, she ducked under the blow and gave him a kick in the knee for his troubles. It was enough to stagger him, not put him down, but it hardly mattered - the drop kick that followed did a fine job of that.

He fell forward on his hands and knee, just saving himself from eating a mouthful of canvas. His back was aching now, felt like something crack. But he was still lucid. He could still fight. Army had enough sense to glance over his shoulder, trying to get a read on what Makie was about to do and - hopefully - figure out a way to stop it. Fast.

The kick made Makie's lighter body spin around briefly, sending her dropping to her hands and knees as she lost her balance. Shaking her head furiously, she stumbled back to her feet and looked down wearily at Army, who lay dazed on his front before her. She wouldn't have a better chance than now, she knew, to win this match for good. She just hoped that he stayed down long enough-- Army was built like a tank and was just as tough, and, damn him, she knew he wouldn't stay down for long.

Moving over towards the turnbuckle, Makie clambered up to the top rope, before balancing herself precariously on the top. "YOU ALL WATCHING THIS?" she shouted to the crowd, raising a fist to get them riled up. The roar of the crowd washed over her, giving her the the energy she needed to end this. Holding her breath, she grabbed the turnbuckle and rocked her feet against the rope, getting a firm footing and building up tension. She took a glance back, waiting for Army to start getting up again.

And then, like an arrow from a bow, she sprang back, spinning through the air in a cartwheel as she launched herself, feet first, at Army to take him down in her flying drop kick finisher.

This was it. Even if Makie hadn't been yelling as loud as her little lungs would allow, Army would've figured this as the critical moment. The crowd was getting louder and louder, chants were starting to break out, calls for him to look out and watch behind him. He couldn't know exactly what the pint-sized pain-in-his-ass was about to go for, but he was reasonably certain about two things: it would involve flying, and it would hurt like a bitch.

His suspicions were confirmed as soon as he turned around and saw Makie flying through the air with the greatest of ease, heading straight towards him with two boots that could knock him off his feet. He only had a half second to react, so he did the first thing that came to mind.

He caught her.

Specifically, he hopped to the side, let her pass, and let her fall into his outstretched arms. From there, without missing a single beat, he lifted her up, high over his head, and then dropped her flat on her back while he landed in a sit, hammering her into the mat with a Michinoku Driver!

Makie's heart froze in her chest as she propelled herself off the turnbuckle. For a brief moment, time seemed to freeze as she launched herself at Army, seeing her male opponent slow pushing himself to his feet, a dazed, weary look evident in his eyes as he saw Makie coming down at him. I have you, Makie's tired brain thought. After this intense match, she was finally set to win.

And then Army caught her.

For a brief split second, Makie found herself in Army's cradled arms, like a girl swept off her feet on a romantic night out. For that brief split second, she could barely believe what was going on, and despite herself, blushed a little as she looked up at Army in confusion.

And then her world went flying upside down, and a tremendous impact jarred her upper back as Army slammed her down. Her entire body jolted as though an electric shock ran through it, her legs kicking out before flopping uselessly to the mat. The crowd roared in disbelief as Makie lay unmoving on her back, her big finish countered by Army's brutally effective driver.