Mitsuru 'Izanami' Satou vs. Armando 'Army' Rodriguez - It Takes Two

Okay, Army hated to admit it, but this was starting to get a wee bit embarrassing. Even by the typical standards of being a man in Tension.

There he was, laying on his back, pinned by a woman who he could've bench pressed when he was fourteen. It was not a good look, and it was only going to get worse.

The shoulder blow was bad enough by itself. It made him yelp, as the raw pain burst into his bones. But the arm bar that followed? That [i]sucked.[i] He could feel the ligaments stretching in his arm, he had to bite his lip to keep from screaming, and the best he could do was reach for the ropes - but they were just too far away.

And it hadn't even been one minute. [color:9894=# ff0000]”Shit…” Hehissed through his clenched teeth, as he futilely squirmed about.

Mitsuru continued to twist Army's arm in her vice-like grip while he struggled and groaned with effort. Army had a good pain tolerance if he wasn't screaming from the arm-bar alone, she'd made men twice her size cry with this move. He was reaching for the ropes to try to escape, but a quick glance upwards revealed they were at a safe distance.

Army increased his squirming and cursed out, causing Mitsuru to smirk ever so slightly. She wasn't going to taunt him till she was sure she had a safe lead, no time for mistakes or distractions. Mitsuru gave Army an extra twist on the armbar and then finally released, kicking away and rolling backwards to her feet.

She had a war on two fronts here, one to prove herself despite her appearance as the leader of SEME, and the second to reaffirm their reputation. As she waited for Army to recollect himself, she paced carefully about the ring with hands on her hips. Each movement she made was carefully selected to react against her opponent, and yet she made it seem like she was walking the catwalk.

Army almost screamed. He was right on the edge when Mitsuru capped him off with that vicious little twist, and sent apex pain rolling down his arm. He wasn’t sure why she’d given up on the hold, but since she seemed pretty close to nearly dislocating his shoulder, he wasn’t about to complain.

He stood up after a moment, grunting as he rubbed his bad arm with his good one, trying to get some feeling back. By a lucky coincidence, he was left-handed, so she hadn’t done damage to his best weapon, but it would still be a problem. Every little movement with his right arm hurt, and while it wasn’t totally useless, it was too close to dead weight for his liking.

All that damage done, and Mitsuru looked like the match hadn’t even started for her. Spring fresh. Army was starting to realize the severity of the situation he’d talked himself into.

He glared at Mitsuru and brought his guard up as best as he could with the soreness, going into a tight orthodox stance. ”It’s like that, huh?” Army started to sway from side to side, falling into his rhythm. ”Okay, all right.”

He stepped towards Mitsuru, moving left to right and left again as he slid along the canvas. When he was close enough, he threw out a left jab towards her chest, trying to see if he could tag her before she moved away. Not likely, but he had to start somewhere.

When Army finally decided to lug himself up back to his feet, Mitsuru smiled and flipped her hair like she was worth a million bucks. She looked like a million bucks too compared to Army, who was definitely nursing that arm. She made a mental note to focus on his other extremities now, the right arm appeared to be sufficiently damaged.

However, Army settling into a boxing stance unnerved her and spoiled her smile somewhat. He was going to take her more seriously and man his guns. This was going to be the real test to see if her attacks had made any useful progress. Thus, in response to Army's orthodox stance she took one of her own, recognizable by those who had spent time learning karate.

With arms extended in front of her she readied herself for Army's assault, taking careful calculated steps in comparison to Army's more fluid footsteps. She matched his angle of advance as he darted side to side, taking a few side steps so she was closer to the center of the ring and had more room to operate. Army had superior reach and strength, but Mitsuru was smaller and a harder target to hit, so it would be interesting to see how things played out.

As Army closed the gap and threw a quick left jab. Likely not his full-strength but Mitsuru didn't want to test whether she could endure it anyway. Rather than jump out of the way or dodge, Mitsuru intercepted Army's fist early with her palm. She added slight outward force to alter it's trajectory away from herself, and spun inward in the same motion, swinging her other hand around for a chop across the man's chest.

Army could be a little rough around the edge - fuck, sometimes he was a straight up brawler - but he was still trained, had been for over a decade, so when the time came to get serious, his body knew how to operate. Feet, shoulder width apart. Solid stance, good base, arms up tight - as tight as possible - eyes forward, breath steady.

Judging from the stance Mitsuru took, though, he wasn’t the only one who’d put in some study time. He didn’t recognize her style, but it was fancy, and fancy usually meant trouble.

He learned how much trouble when she parried his punch and gave him a chop in the chest for his efforts, slicing hard against his bare chest. He hissed at the burning sensation, but he wouldn’t back down from that. Chops were his specialty.

Army lunged forward and swung his arm at Mitsuru’s chest, giving her a chop of his own for some quick payback. He wasn’t sure how well it would work with her clothes, but it was the thought that counted.

Mitsuru's arm landed cleanly in Army's chest, she could feel the impact in her arm from striking hard muscle. As expected but contrary to her hopes, Army did not recoil from her strike. Likely she just did not possess the requisite strength to do so, unlike Ryuu and probably Hikaru. This landed her in hot water, she was well within Army's range and as a boxer, he could easily retaliate before she could get away.

Sure enough, a wide swing from Army landed across her chest. Even clothed the strike was still effective, it stung and the skin underneath would probably be red given her pale complexion. Ever the opportunist, Mitsuru absorbed the momentum of his swing and used that to help propel her retreat out of immediate arm's reach, albeit on unsteady feet. It wouldn't stop Army from closing in again however and capitalizing on her rare moment of weakness, so she assumed another stance more oriented for outright defense. She was thanking her fates for a mother and father who knew karate and judo, because the latter was probably going to save her hide when the Puerto Rican came swinging again.

It was a long, long way from where Army wanted to be against Mitsuru, but at least he’d managed to do some damage. Seeing her recoil and take some damage brought a little smile to his face. One she couldn’t see under his guard, but it was there.

Mitsuru was on the defense now, and just like his father always taught him, Army closed in. He didn’t want to try another punch, though - that didn’t work so well, last time, and he didn’t like risking his essential tools. But he was a wrestler. He had a few new tricks to play with. Might as well bring them out, too.

Instead of throwing a punch, Army tried to work with his lower body. He lunged towards her and shot his foot out, trying to hit her in the stomach with a rough kick. Unlike the chops, this wasn’t his speciality, but he could get some decent force into it.

As he did, he made sure to open his guard a bit. He wanted her to see the smile, just for a second. "Tag!"

Sure enough, Army pressed the advantage and closed in again while Mitsuru was out of position. His guard was tight and well-placed, she didn't see any openings to pre-emptively counter with what little time she had. And contrary to expectations, she prepared for a punch that didn't come and instead was on the receiving end of a decent kick. Kicks were a good deal harder to parry when they were fired straight on, but she was able to shift her stance lower and angle her X-guard to absorb the blow rather than her stomach.

This ended up knocking Mitsuru back from her feet, landing on her rump in a rare moment of gracelessness. That combined with Army's teasing smile was a powerful motivator for her. After hitting the ground she somersaulted backwards into a readied crouch. She was still puzzled while Army decided to kick rather than punch, perhaps he didn't want to become predictable? Ryuu had already proved he'd return to that tactic if pushed hard enough, so maybe he felt he had more leeway with her. If that was the case, she had a good deal of work on her hands. First she needed to regain the advantage and then perhaps she could start targeting another body part for dismantling.

No matter what happened from this point on, no matter how badly things went, even if Mitsuru’s buddies came back and totally bum rushed Army, it would all be worth it just to get the look on her face when she dropped him on her ass. Sure, she blocked his kick, but she’d taken some damage and lost her poise. She didn’t stay down for too long, but he’d take what he could get with the little minx.

The crowd approved, too, as a few scattered 'Army' chants broke out. They were starting to get back on his side now that he wasn’t looking like a total joke, and it would only get better if he stayed in control. He could do this. Army just needed to get in one solid, full power punch with his best arm. With that in mind, he fell back into his stance and stepped back towards Mitsuru, fists tight and ready.

She was crouched low, making for an awkward target, but he wouldn't let that stop him from pressing the advantage. Army ducked as he slid towards her and brought his good arm down, trying to smack her jaw with one of his best uppercuts. He rose along with the blow, getting some of his leg’s power into the action, looking to score a serious hit. Maybe even end this, quick and clean.

Army pressed his advantage once more, the smart move as the flow he had built up was similar to what let Mitsuru control the opening of the match. So far she'd survived his kick and chop, and she was betting he would try a punch pretty soon now that he had her on the metaphorical ropes. He ducked down to her level as he got close, his undamaged arm cocked and ready. If she got hit by that, it might as well be lights out because that would mean he'd be able to get a hold of her.

Her back was the corner and the ropes nearby, so with little room to move or evade, her immediate options were two. One, she could try to block him, though it would be foolish to think she could, and Two, run like hell. Option two it was and Mitsuru threw herself to the side, rolling twice before she hit air and tumbled out of the ring. She managed to stick the landing and regain some composure as the crowd cheered for Army scaring off his opponent.

Mitsuru took it in stride however, flipping her hair over her shoulder and walking to the next cornerpost away from Army. She'd rather have lost a little face to the crowd than literally losing her face to Army's fist. He'd probably get an ego boost out of it as well. Maybe she ought to play the frightened, in-over-her-head damsel card and see how he'd react. Maybe he'd make the mistake of underestimating her again.