Getting to Know You Even Better

After the quick pin, Valley rolled forward and jumped to her feet in a single move, then gave a quick bow to the nonexistant audience. Old habits, and everything. She could’ve sworn she heard someone clapping at the outskirts of the gym, at least.

”Glad you liked it.” She turned back to the Kara and started to hop on her heels, once again moving into her own stance. ”Everybody and her sister likes to bust that move out these days, so you’ll be seeing a lot of hurricanranas. Definitely something you need to get used to.”

Valley started to bounce back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, then suddenly burst forward and closed in on the Scar Queen. Her foot shot out like a whip, as she tried to shoot the point of her foot into Kara’s stomach with a flashing snap kick.

"I'll keep a note of that..."

Kara watched her opponent carefully. Somehow, she had to get a hold of the faster, more agile woman. A direct approach clearly doesn't work, as it had gotten her pinned twice already. The only sufficient way that worked was countering. Her muscles tensed as she tightens two fists, bringing her arms inward in a boxing stance.

In came the kick, whipping through the air at lightning speed towards Kara. She bends her knees and brings her arms up, lowering herself just enough to absorb the impact with a block. Immediately she pushed herself forward, rushing towards Valley like a raising bull as she swings a chop to one shoulder, opening her hand upon impact to grab a hold of her as the other hand grabs at the other. If she could successfully get a hold, she would follow up with a deft knee strike to the gut in an attempt to floor Valley.

Valley hissed when she her kick was blocked, knowing that it would bring pain soon after. She was beginning to see Kara's plan - she wasn't too fast, but she was smart and she was patient and she was good at countering. Qualities that could get her far in the ranks and might get her far in this spar if Valley wasn't careful.

Valley was fast, but not fast enough to avoid the raging bull that was Kara when she came from point blank range. The chop on her shoulder was bad enough, but it was quickly forgotten when the knee shot into her gut, hitting with enough force to bring Valley to her knees. She dropped down with her arms around her stomach and her face pressed against the Scar Queen's battered stomach, desperately gasping for air.

"Wow, you hit hard..." Valley managed to squeeze out a weak laugh through the coughs.

The first clean blow she's landed in the entire spar felt superbly satisfying, especially against an opponent so much more quicker and skilled than she was. But perhaps Kara had struck a little too hard? She was ready to grab the fallen foe, when she noticed Valley had dropped to her knees, clearly in pain from the blow. In a typical match, it would stand to reason that showing mercy would cost her a match. But this was a sparring match, and common sense kicked in.

Kara looks down at Valley, smiling a sheepish grin as she reaches and rubs the back of her neck. "Oops, heh. Sorry." she says with a nervous chuckle, almost sweating at the idea of how hard she might have hit this girl. "You alright?"

Valley braced herself for the follow up, knowing she was wide open and vulnerable, but...it never came. She looked up, confused, and it took her a moment to realize that Kara was holding back for a moment. She ran a hand through her hair and stood up, regaining her demeanor.

"Hey, no, it's cool." Valley dusted herself off and gave Kara a quick pat on the shoulder. "Don't let the looks fool you, I can take a few bumps."

She made her way back to the center of the ring, took a deep breath, and started bouncing on her toes. Nice and easy, nice and easy. "You did a good job." She beckoned Kara on. "Let's see if you can do it again."

Kara gives a short sigh of relief when she sees Valley pick herself up. She should have known that Valley was stronger than that, and probably took worse given her experience. However, Kara couldn't help herself. It felt like the right thing to do, even if it seemed offensive to underestimate the woman. She picks herself up pretty quick and she was ready to keep going.

"Thanks. Sorry for underestimating you," Kara says, returning to her more defensive stance. Whether she felt bad about it or not, against an opponent like this it payed to play the defense game. "Next time, I'm not holding back."

”Good.” Valley started to circle around the ring, warming herself back into the match and finding her natural rhythm once more. ”Neither will I.”

That was a wee bit of an exaggeration - Valley hadn’t been holding back all that much, just then. But it was rare for her to go against an opponent with such a size advantage. If there was ever a chance to work on her problem areas, this was one.

She decided to go with a more deceptive approach this time, and broke out of the circle without a warning. Valley made a beeline for Kara, looking like she was about to come at her head on, but instead she ducked down and swung her leg low, attacking her ankles with a swift leg sweep, trying to destroy the Scar Queen's base.

Unexpectedly, Valley had raced toward Kara with incredible swiftness. Alarmed, Kara breaks from her defensive position and rears an arm back, preparing to launch it forward for a punch squarely aimed to the face. Her eyes widens in shock, however, when Valley suddenly disappears beneath the Scar Queen, and she yelps when she could no longer feel the mat underneath her feet.

Kara groans on impact, lying on her back after being knocked off balance by a swift leg sweep. She would make an attempt to roll over and pick herself up as quickly as she could before the smaller girl could take advantage of this.

"There we go!" Was it a little cocky for Valley to call out after a successful attack like that? Yes. No doubt. But she couldn't quite help it - after bringing Kara down, she felt the thrill of the battle surge through her, and she was eager to keep dictating the pace.

Maybe a little too eager.

She jumped up after the sweep and tried to come down on Kara with a knee drop, but her target was swifter than she anticipated - by the time she landed, Kara was gone. She hissed at the impact and rolled backwards, trying to make a little space between them before she went with her next move.

Kara was lucky. With a bit of strength, she had managed to move fast enough to avoid what could have been a painful knee drop. She wouldn't be quick enough to counter, as it takes her time to bring herself back up and into a readying position. By the time Valley had picked herself up, however, Kara made her move and rushes forward.

Kara raises an arm, stampeding forth for what would be a devastating clothesline. However, Kara knew that Valley would be quick enough. Whether she missed or hit, the maneuver would not end there.

While taking advantage of her momentum, Kara would run into the ropes, turning and ricocheting back over to Valley, where she would leap off of the mat, turning her entire body sideways for a cross body splash!