Summer Splash 15 Tag Title Four Corners Match!

Akiko finally managed to squirm out from under Anubis, letting out a small groan as she staggered to her feet. Back on the side, Yukiko would breathe a huge sigh of relief to see her dear partner was doing fine, still rather forgetful of the fact she was standing in Cait Sith's corner.

Though quite sore after both that bear hug and the slam, the fiery-haired girl knew she had best take advantage of this opening while she could. Thinking quickly, she hunched over near the Goddess's leg and grabbed a hold of her foot. Wrenching the ankle, she attempt to entrap Anubis in a toe hold.

Anubis had been forced to slump over to the side onto one arm, now only partially weighing Akiko down and giving the Frozen Flame girl a chance to wiggle her way out of trouble. Akiko was lucky. She was very lucky that that elbow had managed to connect with Anubis's face and stun her just enough to present an escape route! The Goddess would not let a ploy like that work again. Not a chance.

Anubis started to recover, and as Akiko slid out from under her and started moving, Anubis made a grab for the girl. She figured Akiko would be trying to climb on top of her, and she could grab onto her smaller foe and toss her off again. She had hoped that this would just be a hiccup on her way towards finishing the match against Akiko and forcing Team Caith Sith and the Love Bunnies to watch as the Goddesses waltzed out of here with those title belts.

Unfortunately, Akiko came at her again outside of grabbing range. She went for Anubis's legs, grabbing one of them and putting Anubis into a toe hold! The jackal-eared Goddess grumbled and hissed and shook herself around as her opponent grabbed onto her and started twisting around her foot. Quickly, Anubis would throw herself towards the ropes, just a few feet away, hoping she could scramble over there and grab onto them before Akiko could do any real damage.

"Ghhhhh....!" Akiko groaned, trying to hold Anubis back, although it was quickly proving to be a losing battle. Unable to overpower the larger woman, she just wrenched harder on the Goddess's ankle, just trying to get in as much damage as she could.

As Anubis finally got the rope break, Akiko maintained the toehold as long as she could before the ref commanded her to let go. Letting out a frustrated sound, the fiery-haired girl complied, releasing her grip. She wasn't about to let her momentum die off just yet, however, as she quickly hopped back to her feet and tried to stomp down on that same ankle before the Goddess could recover.

It took a few seconds, as Akiko was doing her best to prevent Anubis from reaching the ropes, but the Goddess made it. Her ankle was throbbing, but she would recover. It had been damaged, but not enough damage to seriously hamper the jackal Goddess's efforts to win this match.

However, the stomp to her ankle a few seconds later, while she was still recovering and trying to get back up onto her feet, felt much, much worse. Anubis cried out in pain and thrashed briefly, gritting her teeth as she would begin to reach down to try to grab and massage that ankle, only giving up when she realized that contorting in that manner would be more painful than just staying the way she was.

Anubis was not powerless in this position, of course. She still had one good leg, and she could use it. She turned over to aim, and, with vengeance and reciprocity in mind, she targeted Akiko's ankle as the girl stood right beside her legs following the stomp. "Haaargh!" Anubis would yell, pain and exertion combined in her voice as she would try to slam her foot into Akiko's ankle to stop the girl from doing anything more to her.

"Gahhh...!" Akiko cried out as Anubis struck her foot, sending her staggering backwards. Fortunately, she just barely managed to keep herself upright, although her leg hurt quite a bit. The toehold likely weakened the Goddess somewhat, but if Akiko was going to try and level the playing ground, she needed to hinder Anubis's strength in other ways.

The next logical target would be the shoulder or the elbow, however submissions weren't going to be much help so close to the ropes. It seemed highly unlikely she was going to be able drag Anubis away by brute force, so her best bet was to lure her. Feigning a severe pain in her leg, Akiko retreated to the center of the ring, while readying herself for whatever the Goddess might try to throw at her.

Anubis's kick managed to find its target, thankfully. The Goddess had been in a very bad spot there, down on the canvas and with one of her legs too injured to jump up to her feet quickly in defense. Kicking was down-low, dirty, almost peasant-like, and for a deity like Anubis it was hardly a fitting move to utilize, especially in such an important match. But Anubis could not afford to let a gimmick get in the way of victory! If it was legal, then she had to do it. She and her sister had to win this match.

Akiko, obviously a little concerned now that Anubis had struck back, was backing off, and giving Anubis some space. That was good thinking, on her part. At least, Anubis was glad to see her opponent receding and allowing her time to rise. She needed at least a few seconds. The toehold still had her foot throbbing. It wasn't broken, and it wasn't going to be hurting for too much longer, at least not in a severe sense. But it would hamper her for at least another minute or two, and she needed to be certain to compensate for that. Slowly, the Goddess would rise, putting one hand on the ropes for support. Once she was on her feet and steadied, she would let go, put her arms up, and approach the center of the ring.

Anubis was not going to try to move too quickly. She was sure that her slighter opponent was more agile than she, and she was hampered by that leg. Even assuming that Akiko's leg was hurting her as well, the smaller girl was likely to be the faster of the two. She could out-maneuver Anubis if the jackal-eared Goddess tried anything too risky.

But, perhaps, Anubis could neutralize that advantage.

As she moved in, Anubis would move slowly, wanting to appear almost lethargic, to keep Akiko off her guard. The girl must know that the Goddess had something in store for her, but Anubis wanted her foe to believe that she was perhaps a little more injured or winded than she really was. She crept closer, and closer...when she was close enough, Anubis would lunge forward. She would not aim for Akiko's upper body, expecting that her opponent could dodge, but instead would try to throw herself lower, aiming for Akiko's waist or even her thighs, opening her arms wide to catch the girl if she tried to slip away and hoping to tackle the Frozen Flame contender down hard onto the mat.

As Anubis crept towards her, Akiko would not let her guard down. Though the Goddess appeared somewhat weak, as the fiery-haired was feigning her own injury as well she knew to expect the same of her foe. Though it was risky plan, she needed to take some chances if she wanted to come out on top.

Indeed, as her foe suddenly launched herself forward, Akiko was ready to strike. As Anubis dived low, Akiko sprung upwards, bringing up her knee and attempting to preempt the tackle by striking the Goddess right in the face!

Anubis had been expecting Akiko to attempt some sort of evasive maneuver, but she was expecting the girl to attempt to run to one side or the other, moving horizontally in order to avoid the incoming tackle. But Akiko was smart, and she jumped up instead. It was the perfect way to escape from Anubis's tackle, and in addition to that, she managed to get in some solid offense of her own, lifting up a knee to strike the Egyptian goddess right in the face!

"Gyaack!" Anubis would cry out, as she was sent tumbling off to the side, her body rolling over and over across the canvas. The fall did not hurt so much, but the knee had. Her jaw was numb, and she could taste a little bit of blood in her mouth. Anubis cursed herself for being so stupid as to attempt something so easily counter-able. She should not be losing the match to Akiko, that was for sure. Slowly, the jackal-eared Goddess lifted herself back up onto her feet, rubbing her jaw as she did. She set her eyes on Akiko, the fiery-haired girl still untouched a few feet away.

"Alright, come on," Anubis would say, putting her hands up and beckoning for Akiko to come to her. She knew that she could best this girl in a head-on fight, and so she would wait for Akiko to bring her one! There was no need to do anything else. In fact, it was ideal if Anubis and Akiko could stay in the ring and finish this fight between the two of them. Anubis felt no need to approach the perimeter of the battlefield at all.

Smacking Anubis right in the jaw gave Akiko a nice sense of accomplishment, hopping backwards while the larger girl hit the mat. Unfortunately, she didn't stay down for very long, and so the fiery-haired fighter needed to come up with another plan quickly.

As the Goddess tried to beckon her forward, Akiko remained hesitant. She knew she couldn't act reckless and let herself get caught, but standing here only meant more time for Anubis to recover and fight back. She glanced around briefly, weighing her options, although the odds were high if she attempted to tag in another team, especially Cait Sith, she'd just get dragged into another pointless scuffle right away. Unless Anubis suddenly decided she wanted out, it seemed like it would just be between the two of them for now.

With little other choice, Akiko charged head-on at Anubis, preparing as though she were about to strike. However, at the last minute, she would duck low and evade to the side, attempting to run past the Goddess, rebound herself off the ropes and aim to catch the larger woman with an unexpected drop kick as she turned around.

Anubis had been establishing a bad pattern for the last couple of minutes as she and Akiko fought. She went after the smaller girl, confident that her superior size and greater AFW experience would see her through to gaining a definite advantage over the other wrestler. Then, Akiko managed to use her speed or her wits or just plain dumb luck to counter Anubis and put the Goddess in a poor position. The jackal-eared woman, despite her obvious superiority over Akiko, was losing!

Anubis was not going to allow that to continue any longer. She was going to wait, and bait Akiko to come after her, and to make a mistake. When she took advantage of Akiko, the fiery-haired girl would no longer have any chance at winning this match. Anubis would sap her of all her strength, get her down on the canvas, and pin her for the win.

That was the Goddess's plan.

Akiko followed the first point of Anubis's plan: to avoid including Cait Sith or the Love Bunnies. Anubis was a little nervous that they would try to tag themselves in against the will of either herself or Akiko, but so long as they remained close to the middle of the ring, they could not touch them. Anubis wanted to make a point to Seele and Leah: neither of them deserved to even be involved in the process of crowning a new champion. As sweet as it would be to force one of them to surrender and give the Goddesses the title, it was safer this way.

Akiko took Anubis's bait and ran right at her. The Goddess braced herself and got ready to catch Akiko and take her down. When the time came, however, Akiko dodged. She ducked underneath Anubis's arm and headed for the ropes. Anubis turned around and saw her opponent rebounding off of them. There were two possibilities here, in Anubis's mind: a dropkick or a clothesline. Akiko was much smaller than her...a dropkick was much more likely.

When Akiko jumped up, Anubis would backpedal, then fall back, trying to roll backwards. It was an awkward move, but hopefully the whiff of the kick and the fall would leave Akiko vulnerable to a counterattack from Anubis—down on the mat, where Anubis was confident that she would have the advantage!