Panther Risako vs Suzumi Ishikawa

As Risako opened her eyes, her vision swarm, the lights of the arena ceiling dancing above her like a flickering kaleidescope. Gradually, though, her vision came back into focus, and she was greeted by the site of Suzumi standing over her. At first, Risako stared up, confused as to what was going on. It took a few seconds for her to remember the bell she had heard earlier, and then everything suddenly made sense.

Suzumi had beaten her. She had lost again.

In that instant, a wave of pent-up emotion came bubbling to the surface: anger, frustration, humiliation, regret. Everything that she had been feeling since her match against Chris all came bursting free. As Suzumi extended a hand to her and made a few patronizing remarks to her, Risako's fist balled.

"Shut...UP!" Risako snarled as she sat up, swinging up at the unsuspecting Suzumi.

During the match, Suzumi had been caught off guard a few times but nothing took her by surprise like the punch Risako took! It landed square on Suzumi's jaw and sent her back on her back! "Ungh!" Suzumi wasn't sure what to think, as the surprise hit had clouded her thoughts to say the very least. However, the thoughts of Chris and Mikoto telling her or thinking she wasn't good enough to be in the ring popped into her head. Was Risako just like them?

Suzumi continued to lay on the mat in a daze, reeling from the surprise strike and still not knowing entirely what to think!

The crowd was in shock after Risako sucker-punched Suzumi. Most, if not all, were stunned that the Queen of Queens would resort to such unsportswomanlike behaviour, and fairly soon a large portion of the crowd was booing. Risako didn't hear them: she was too angry right now, too consumed with frustrated rage, to think clearly or to consider her actions. Right now, she only wanted to vent her frustration on poor Suzumi.

Standing up, Risako was confronted by the ref, who was trying to restrain her. Back-handing him hard and sending him crumpling to the mat, she followed up after Suzumi and began to stomp her hard in the gut while she was down. "You...little..." she half-sobbed as she attacked Suzumi, "...ruined...everything..." After stomping Suzumi two or three times, she would kick her hard in the side, aiming to roll her over onto her front, before straddling her back, grabbing a hold of her hair, and ramming her face repeatedly into the mat!

Backstage, Chris Morgan had watched the clash between Risako and Suzumi, keeping watch for Hibiki Izayoi. A look of shock was on her face as she looked on. While Suzumi Ishikawa was talented, she hadn't expected her to be able to beat Risako. When she did, Chris smiled in wonder as the ref called for the bell.

"Good for you, well done." Chris had said quietly to herself.

However, what happened next literally stunned the American. Risako, once awoken, had began to beat Suzumi mercilessly. The same woman who had fought for and defended the other Wrestle Angels was now laying into one after the match had ended. It was so unlike Risako that Chris could only stare as the Panther mauled Suzumi.

She shook off her shock, hurrying from the backstage area towards the entrance ramp, rushing past technicians other wrestlers. She came down the ramp at a run, sliding into the ring under the bottom rope. Coming up behind Risako, she would try to grab her around the waist and pull her off of Suzumi, looking to toss her a short distance away. Chris would then put herself between the Panther and Suzumi.

"Risako!" Chris called out as she stared down her former lover. "What are you doing!?"

Suzumi was taken by surprise and being beaten so savagely that she was struggling to defend herself at all! She shouted out in surprise and shortly after in agony as her face was slammed against the mat mercilessly! She kicked the at and struggled to slaw at Panther's hands to no avail. "AARRRGH!!! Y-you... you bitch! Just stop! STOP!" Suzumi cried out, as she was physically unable to stop anything.

However, someone else entered the ring although Suzumi couldn't tell who it was. Her eyes were watery and she felt a big throbbing pain all across her face, particularly her nose. As Suzumi weakly rolled away and laid on her back she covered her face and could tell straight away her nose was bleeding pretty badly. Her head was still swimming, and she had no clue that it was Chris Morgan of all people who came in for the save. All she knew now was that she won, but in turn was attacked.... unable to prevent Risako from mauling her. Suzumi was a strange mix of anger for Risako losing her mind for no reason and embarrassment for not even being able to put up a fight in the post-ringbell attack....

Suzumi's cries, and the boos of the audience, fell on deaf ears as Risako pounded away at her opponent's head. She couldn't think straight, or rationalize what she was doing. She just felt nothing but frustrated rage at that moment, coupled with an immense shame at being beaten again so soon after failing against Chris...

"Risako!"

The voice made her pause-- she relented in her onslaught just long enough for a pair of arms to grab her by the waist and hurl her aside. Grunting as she slammed into the mat floor, she rolled up to her hands and knees. There, standing between her and Suzumi, was Chris. She felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of her former lover, and the source of all of her pent-up anger.

"You!" she shrieked, staggering up and flinging herself at Chris. At that moment, the referee had gotten back up, and tried to interpose himself between Risako and Chris to restore some kind of order. Even as the ref moved to grab her, Risako turned and flung him over her shoulder, but it would give Chris time to deal with the angry Queen of Queens.

Chris watched with a sense of disbelief as Risako lurched to her feet, screaming at the blonde. The anger and rage on the Asian's face was plain to see. It had consumed the Panther, and it looked to Chris as if she no longer cared who she turned her claws on. Auzumi, the ref, both were targets it seemed.

After Risako flung the referee aside, Chris saw a chance to rush her former love, but decided to strike with her words instead of her fists.

"Enough Risako. It's me you want. I'm right here, standing between you and one of the people you swore to protect." Chris said, spreading her arms wide in a grappler's stance, preparing herself in case the Panther attacked. "Look at yourself, attacking Suzumi when she's checking on you. This is the strength you talked about before our match? This is the Queen of Queens?"

It was a simple enough thing to slam the intervening referee to the mat. Now no one was standing between her and Chris. Thoughts of payback filled Suzumi's mind as she turned to Chris...only to find that her former lover was just standing there, not even bothering to defend herself. She wanted to scream at Chris to put up her arms, to take her seriously, to fucking fight her...but then Chris spoke, and everything changed.

It was as though a spell had been lifted. For the first time, Risako seemed to notice the way Suzumi was laying face down on the mat in pain. Suzumi, one of the girls she had promised to protect. All the anger was instantly washed away, replaced immediately by horrified dread. "S-S-Suzu-chan!" she stammered. "I didn't mean to...I wasn't..."

It was then that Risako finally noticed the overwhelming noise around her. The entire crowd was booing. She, the Queen of Queens, one of the heroines of Wrestle Angels, was being booed by the entire crowd.

It was too much. Fighting back tears, Risako stumbled away from Suzumi and Chris, almost tripping against the ropes. Sliding under the bottom rope, she hurriedly retreated out of the ring. She took one last, fearful look back in the ring, before hurrying up the ramp to get away from what she had just done.

Watching Risako closely, Chrus was waiting for the Asian to attack. However, her one time love suddenly seemed to fall apart. Anger was replaced by remorse and sorrow, and the purple haired woman stumbled away, slipping through the ropes and heading to the back. When she looked back towards the ring, Chris could've sworn she saw tears in her eyes. Then, the Panther was gone.

With their recent battle and arguments, despite the years spent being angry at Risako, Chris was surprised to feel her heart ache at the sight of the former Wrestle Angel in such anguish. However, the blonde mentally shoved that confusing feeling aside and turned towards Suzumi. Kneeling down, she put a comforting hand on the Asian's shoulder.

"Suzumi?" The tall Californian called. "Suzumi, are you ok, can you hear me?"

Suzumi knew someone was fighting with Risako, and it wasn't until she felt a hand on her shoulder, rolling over to see Chris Morgan standing there. Suzumi was beyond confused. This was the same person who, along with Mikoto these days, wanted to see her retire and leave the wrestling ring. "Umm.... thanks." Suzumi began to say as she looked up at the lights, and her giant savior.

Suzumi slowly began to work her way up to her feet. "I don't get it.... why would you help me? I thought you hated me and wanted to see me leave the ring forever?" She said, still looking baffled at Chris. However, Suzumi was far from hostile right now. Chris did save her, and Suzumi was in absolutely no shape to fight. She wiped blood from underneath her nose and kept an eye on Chris for a moment, staggering in place a bit.