La Mariposa vs. Valley Doll - Pushing the Sky

Valley's plan was quickly  made, but a solid one, in theory. She'd managed to pick up some good momentum off the turnbuckle, she'd timed the jump just right, and her legs had good power. The speed, the strength, the impact of the dropkick were all but guaranteed to put La Mariposa on her back for a little while, and once Valley had her there, she could start working on more complex manuevers. Start turning the momentum in her favor, control the match. Sure, it looked like her opponent was bouncing off the ropes for something, as well, but it would hardly matter. Whatever she had brewing,  it wouldn't be a match for a dropkick.

Unless, of course, it was another dropkick. Which it was.

Valley's eyes went wide as La Mariposa took to the air at almost the exact same time she did, so close to unison that someone might think it had been rehersed. She wished it had been. At least that way, it would've resulted in something less messy than what she knew was about to happen. She cried out as the two of them had a mid-air collision, combining into a tangled mess of flailing arms and legs before gravity took hold and dragged them back to the canvas. Not likely the most glorious moment in La Mariposa's carreer and certainly not in Valley's.

She landed on her back and her head took a quick bump, making her relive the trauma from the leg lariat she'd been slammed with just a minute ago. Hardly enough to end her, but it would slow her down, and in a match like this, that could be lethal. The only solace was that La Mariposa seemed to be having similar problems. A hurt elbow. That was something she could work with.

"Nice moves, butterfly." Valley managed a smirk throguh the pain. She rubbed her head as she made her way up to her feet, getting back into her stance a few feet away. She was cautious and curious, eager to see how La Mariposa would recover before she made her next move. But she wouldn't wait too long...

La Mariposa was not overly affected by the stinging in her arm, which she did not find to be extreme as she rolled her weight off of it. Regardless, after the elevated collision and ensuing crash that she and her opponent had shared and the mania of their match thus far, the luchadora was more than willing to simply push up only to her knee, run her tongue across her lips, and give her arm a momentary bend as Valley Doll, too, did not seem keen on resuming the action quite yet. In fact, she merely complimented the luchadora, earning a wily smile in return. "And that's some rhythm you have," she returned, in her musical tone.

The luchadora let Valley Doll rise and move back into her stance before she pushed to her feet again, inching her back towards the ropes opposite of her opponent again and resuming her same angled, lightly bouncing stance. Her heart rate calmed from the frenetic pace of the first skirmish of what was slated to be a match filled with them, given what shared attitude the pair of them had. It was all La Mariposa could have asked for in her return to the ring.

So prepared, she motioned with an outstretched hand for Valley Doll to take the initiative.

Valley cooed under her breath as the old familiar feelings came back. She'd been wondering who La Mariposa reminded her of, and it finally dawned on her - Luci Lucha. SIlly name, great wrestler. A girl Valley was often paired with during her earlier days as a Slamazon. They'd both been green back then, just starting off with the company, but they'd put on some good, fast-paced matches. They weren't just challenges, they were entertaining challenges, and she'd developed a lot of her current moveset just getting ready for them. It had shaped her as wrestler, and taking on this masked maiden was a welcome taste of nostalgia.

She was glad when La Mariposa made her way up without too much delay, looking like she hadn't lost too much of a step. Now, she just had to focus on proceeding and playing things out. That exchange gave Valley a good idea of where her oppoent was physically, now she wanted to test the mental. A little strategy was in order, and she knew just where to aim her efforts.

"Why, thank you." She licked her lips and began to close in, eyes focused and wild. The crowd was giving them a healthy round of applause, and rightfully so - they liked what they saw and wanted more. "It helps to have a good dance partner."

There was a sultry tone in Valley's voice, but that was only for a tease - La Mariposa's body was amazing, but this wasn't going to be that kind of AFW match. She was all about dealing the damage, not any pleasure, and she proved that when she came in like she was going for another lock up. Instead, she dropped out of it at the last moment and grabbed La Mariposa's outstrecthed wrist, getting a tight hold with both hands. Dipping down, she moved under the luchadora, spun around, and tried to catch her in an arm wringer. Nothing too complex, but it would be a good way to start targeting those arms. That could come in handy, later.

Besides, Valley was curious to see what the bouncing beauty would do to escape...

As she and Valley Doll offered one another a moment's relief to re-position themselves, La Mariposa did not fail to notice the crowd's generous response to the effort given by both women. She blew a quick kiss towards the nearest set of fans in return, thinking it ludicrous that she could have ever thought to leave this world and return to a life of questions and founded worries. Now was no time to regret, with the clearly worthy threat of Valley Doll standing across from her, and La Mariposa cast the introspection aside as soon as it had begun.

The luchadora flexed her fingers, and her brown eyes fixed themselves once more on Valley Doll, who narrowed the distance between the two of them in response to La Mariposa's beckon. Her words continued to reveal her as a gracious opponent, the type that La Mariposa believed should never be seen as an enemy, only as a competitor to be respected in accordance with the way of lucha libre. She smirked, saving any comments in favor of preparing herself for whatever her opponent had planned.

However, La Mariposa could read nothing from Valley Doll's approach, which proved much more methodical than it had moments before. The luchadora took care not to expose herself to the blonde with a kick and stayed patient so long as Valley Doll did the same. With Valley Doll within arm's length now, La Mariposa planned a shift to the side with her arm held out defensively to keep her opponent from closing in on her too tightly, but unfortunately, that very arm was what Valley Doll wished to see exposed. La Mariposa gasped as her arm was taken captive, and she shifted with the intent to bring her leg high in another kick to retaliate. Valley Doll would have none of it, and La Mariposa was forced to shift her feet at the behest of the other high flyer, turning at the sensation of pain shooting up her arm and spiking in her sore elbow as Valley Doll ducked behind her with the arm still in tow. The luchadora let out a quiet, choppy squeal in response, throwing her hand back to try and locate Valley Doll to peel her off. There was no such luck to be had.

"Aaah..." The luchadora arched backwards to try to relieve the twisting, though she knew that would get her nowhere but stepping solely to Valley Doll's beat. Fortunately, with the dangers she had been through of late in another life, the pain in La Mariposa's arm was not enough to make her lose her focus, and quick thinking made her route to an escape evident. Wresting her body to the side and putting a moment of unpleasant added pressure on her arm in the process, the luchadora set her jaw and took a pair of gathering steps across the angle of her arm and propelled herself off her feet, flipping her body and landing in a roll that straightened her arm in Valley Doll's grasp. Hoping to clear her blonde opponent away, La Mariposa also swept a leg at Valley Doll's ankles, shunning her other concerns as she fought back.

The arm wringer was a simple move, the kind of thing Valley learned in her first week and never went a week without seeing, but there was some risk with it, here. On most opponents, she would've been able to lock it in. Easy. No problem. But most opponents lacked the flexibility, the agility, the speed that La Mariposa did. With someone like bigger and stronger and slower like Chris Morgan, she could've used the hold to control them, at least for a little while, but Valley was under no illusions that she could expect the same here. If she could esscape it, La Mariposa could, and she'd flipped out of more arm wringers in her career than she could possibly count. The butterfly would escape the trap, it was just a question of how soon and how elegant it would look.

For the moment, though, she had the attack locked in well enough. The grip was tight and she could control La Mariposa like a puppet on strings, making her go wherever she wanted for any setup. Valley made sure to keep her distance, remembering the roundhouse kick from a minute ago - it had been a fast move, maybe even faster than Valley's own leg could've done, and if La Mariposa had landed it, this match would be going much differently. They both had lethal legs.

She gave the arm wringer a quick wrench, adding on the pressure and working on the arm. Valley was getting ready to pile on the pain with a quick elbow shot, but that was the exact moment that La Mariposa chose to make her escape, answering Valley's earlier question - it didn't take long at all, and she moved through the roll with an expert's grace and speed. Even though she was expecting something like this, it all happened quick for her to counter, and her nimble foe was already following up. A quick kick to the ankle, and Valley Doll fell flat on her back.

But Valley didn't let go of the arm. That part was key.

There was a big difference between being down and being vulnerable, and she demonstrated that by using her grip on the arm to start pulling La Mariposa along with her. Valley didn't want them both to end up on the mat - no, she just tried to get her close enough so that she could bring her legs in, shoot them out, and give her a quick kick in the chest with both heels to knock her a few feet away. Just trying to make some breathing room and hurt La Mariposa in the process.

The relief of escaping the arm wringer was welcome, as was the success of the sweep that took Valley Doll's legs out from underneath her, but La Mariposa's victories ended there, as the blonde did not let go of her arm and yanked her to the side. The motion stretched out La Mariposa's arm more inconveniently than painfully, though she clenched her teeth as the momentum pulled her to the side. Despite Valley Doll's desire only to pull the luchadora in close enough for a kick to the chest, the latter did lose her balance, having had her weight on a single foot to execute the sweep, and slid onto her knees. The side of Valley Doll's boot caught her in the hip but left the luchadora free to roll away from any further trouble and again flip nimbly back to her feet. "Nyah..."

Ignoring her sore arm, La Mariposa darted back towards Valley Doll, this time taking the offensive initiative. She neared Valley Doll, and once in range of a kick, she let out a light kiai, dropped onto her hands, and swung her legs out in a semi-circle in front of her body, her hips rotating out from between her hands in her brief version of a capoeria spin, hoping to catch Valley Doll with both feet before she rolled away to disengage.

Valley's boots connected with La Mariposa's chest and sent her away, giving her the space she needed for a quick recovery. Emphasis on the 'quick' part - staying down too long with this woman would be death, no question. As soon as her feet touched the ground after the kick, Valley brought her legs back up, pushed off her shoulders, and did a kip up, just in time to see La Mariposa doing almost the exact same thing.

Valley rose as she came towards her, brought her leg up and around, and tried to hit the black beauty with a rough roundhouse kick - only to find that no one was home to recieve it. La Mariposa had ducked low, but that wasn't the only thing she'd done. Her legs swirled around and crashed into Valley Doll's ankle with a kick that looked like something taken straight out of a videogame. Not that the way it looked had anything to do with its effectiveness. It worked. Valley Doll was going down.

She crashed on her back and winced hard as the world went into tailspin. That was a good move, and while Valley was fairly sure she had the body to pull it off herself, she couldn't have duplicated the moves with a watching it many more times. It seemed like there were a few differences in their styles after all, and she just hoped they wouldn't be what decided this in La Mariposa's favor.

Valley swung her legs up once more and rolled back with a reverse somersault, flipping over to one knee and landing with her back to the ropes. Nowhere to go but forward, and she was in no position to get an attack in before whatever La Mariposa had planned next.

La Mariposa would count her blessings. With the way she had stumbled in the aftermath of her sweep, an understandable error given she was merely on one foot and saddled with the weight of a falling woman, she could have easily stumbled into something far more devastating than a boot scuffing her side; a direct kick to the face or neck came to mind. She did not worry herself with the alternative, instead ensuring that she continued making capable use of her knowledge of capoeira, as they seemed to be her finest weapon against an opponent who fought in a style so similar to lucha libre.

She saw Valley Doll rising, and a faint smile crossed her lips with anticipation. The blonde played directly into her hand as she dropped down to drive both legs into Valley Doll's single balancing leg, mirroring a gymnast on a balance beam as she propped on her hands and drove the full force of her lower body into that of her opponent. A second later, as she spun her hips back around and got back onto her toes, she saw Valley Doll collide with the canvas. She would have approached for the follow-up, but Valley Doll, apparently unperturbed by the kick and impact, rolled back to her feet.

La Mariposa pursued her, creativity flowing with the freedom of movement that the match was affording her. She took a gathering pair of steps before exploding off her feet, landing in a roll, and, rather than delivering the possibly expected kick, popping back up once she reached Valley Doll and turning to her side to propel a sharp elbow towards her opponent's face and collide with her into the ropes.

Valley felt it, that little tingle up her spine, that unmistakable thrill she got whenever she had a match like this. As she rolled up, she could get a good look at La Mariposa's approaching form, watching her dance along the canvas, almost gliding along the canvas as she approached. To an outside observer, the last two minutes probably looked like a flurry of action. But on the inside, things were a lot more complicated. This was high-speed chess with their body parts as the pieces, and the dark-skinned daredevil had just taken one of Valley's pawns. Not a fatal loss, but one she'd have to make up for.

Valley watched as La Mariposa rolled her way, doing a skillful somersault. Experience took over and her body moved on autopilot, getting ready to move back from the anticipated attack. A kick. She'd done a similar move before - forward roll, quick jump, roundhouse to the head. Valley could just lean back, bounce off the ropes, and counter with a knee strike. That would take some of the wind out from under this butteryfly's wings.

But she made a mistake - she was thinking about what she would do. She was going to have to stop doing that.

The kick she expected never came. Instead, she wound up take an elbow to the face, with more than enough momentum to knock her off her feet. It would have, too, if not for the ropes behind her. Instead, she flopped back and her arms wound up getting drapped over them, holding her up on shaky legs as her golden hair fell all around her face. She hung there, wide open and stunned, as her head swayed from side to side.

La Mariposa's deceptive flair paid off, to her great delight, as she crashed into Valley Doll and felt her elbow connect. As the blonde rattled against the ropes, the luchadora bounced only a couple of steps away, pleased that her opponent did not immediately follow her to retaliate. To La Mariposa's eye, she looked to be leaning against the ropes for support, lest she topple from the effects of the elbow. She spared a second to throw her arm up to them and shake her hips, eyes still centered on Valley Doll as she considered her next move.

Despite her focus and intensity, both required in any match from any luchadora who dared to wear the hallowed mask, she could not have asked for a more enjoyable match thus far, save for the discomfort in her elbow that she considered almost fondly, as a badge of honor that marked her return to the ring and her pride as a luchadora. Her compliment to Valley Doll about her rhythm had been genuine, and little mattered to the luchadora when she set foot in the ring save for her honor as a competitor, claiming victory, and the entertainment and satisfaction to be had with an opponent who could keep to the beat.

But, again, now was no time to celebrate her return. Any moment that she could negate the mobility of another high flyer could be counted as a victory, if a brief one. Even with the exciting pace of this match, the luchadora would not waste the opportunity to hold her advantage against an opponent dazed and quite literally on the ropes; it was due time she called upon some of the wrestling style that a blonde friend of hers preferred.

Sucking in a breath, La Mariposa more carefully bounded forward, unhooking one of Valley Doll's arms from the ropes. With her grip on Valley Doll, she attempted to hop up, throw her weight into the girl's chest, and flip her over to land and lock in a flying armbar, putting herself between the blonde and the ropes.