Round Two

Carmen wasn’t the least bit surprised when Diana turned up, almost on time to the second. She was even less surprised when the woman came in alone. Many fighters would’ve insisted on at least having this filmed, wanting to make sure their potential victory was seen by someone. But if she understood this musclebound maiden correctly - and Carmen was really starting to feel she did - it wasn’t about fanfare.

Diana wanted to fight Carmen. Carmen wanted to fight Diana. Simple.

She took a break from her shadowboxing to turn and watch Diana, keeping her eyes centered as the Italian disrobed, standing there with her arms folded. She kept that position as her opponent made her way into the ring, the same one they’d sweated in and broken bones the last time and where similar things would be happening in a few moments.

Carmen looked Diana over from head-to-toe, as the haunting glow off the moon covered her body. She couldn’t deny that this was a beautiful woman standing before her, an elegant sort of powerful beauty that looked like something out of a Greek myth. It was hard to find an ounce of fat on her. Every muscle seemed toned to perfection. Every limb looked deadly. And all of it, all that power, topped off with the most aggravating smile Carmen had ever seen.

On that note, it was high time she got to making good on her promise. Carmen let silence reign for a moment, then unfolded her arms and slid her bare feet across the mat, slowly lowering into a grappling stance. Arms up and open, legs slightly bent. Ready. More than ready. "Let's start."

Diana didn't bring any entourage, because she simply didn't think she'd need any. In her mind, if anything extreme occurred in the match, such as Carmen outright dominating her or vice versa, neither women would need the action recorded or even tell others about it. What happened in the match would be reflected in their face, everytime they lay eyes upon each other again.

Diana quickly slid her jeans off her, her smile now purposefully non-existent. Diana wasn't cocky, rarely even when she took complete control, and was rarely smug either. There was also the fact that Carmen had knocked her out last time. This was not a woman she should be smiling at, to put it simply.

Exposing her wrestling underwear now fully, Diana would bounce on her toes, free now feet from the leg slots of the jeans. Bringing her arms back sharply to stretch her shoulders, she'd step forward, forming her own variation of a fighting posture, arms up, ready to try and show the champion her challenge this time might of been a horrible mistake.

For a moment, there was little movement from Carmen. She was usually fairly mobile at the start of her matches, but as she recalled, rushing in had cost her quite a bit during their last encounter. The Italian had come close to beating her at quite a few points. She knew Diana could get her down and keep her down if she wasn’t careful. She was stronger, equally fierce, and a superior grappler. Dangerous at any range.

She took one step to the side, then another, slowly circling Diana. Carmen took a quick step forward, dashing into her range, only to quickly draw back. Testing. Assessing. Taunting. Calculating. A deep breath. A few fleeting glances. A tightening of the fists.

She attacked.

Carmen rushed into Diana’s personal space and immediately turned the energy all the way up, laying into her with a quick barrage. Jab followed by a straight follow by a hook followed by an uppercut, a swift combination to drive her opponent back right from the start.

As Diana begun to circle, she was already running ideas through her head on how to slowly pierce the guard of the champion level fighter. If the match was anything like their first encounter, she'd have to slowly chip away, trying to entice Carmen to take a big swing at her, in which Diana could use her more wrestling focused arsenal to try and turn the tables. But all that would start after painstakingly trying to whittle the champ down. Or so she fought.

Her guard already up as Carmen came swinging in, Diana's only response to that jab swinging up at her head was to hook her own arm up and around it, trying to restrain Carmen's arm under her own armpit. A hook attempt with the opposite arm quickly followed, luckily partially dampened by Diana's prevention of Carmen being allowed space to wind it up, a fact she took advantage of by bringing her free arm around Carmen's side and back, locking the two in a boxers clinch.

Mirroring her earlier words, in exactly the same tone and volume from earlier, Diana muttered just inches away from Carmen's own face. "Jumpy?"

She'd manage to quell the champions offence, through a even mixture of quick reflexes and outright luck, but given the equal positioning of limbs by both competitors, would be unable to find offence. Her only option was to try and break the clench by stepping backwards and away. If Carmen let her.

Wrestling and boxing were two different disciplines, but in her time at the AFW, Carmen felt that she’d done a decent enough job integrating her skill with the former into her training of the latter. She was a middling wrestler, but her striking ability usual helped her overcome that against opponents more skilled in the wrestling ring.

Usually. This didn’t seem to be one of those time.

She just barely managed to hide the surprise as Diana neutralized her offense and brought the two of them close, embraced so tightly that Carmen could feel the hot breath pouring over her face and make a reasonable guess what the Italian had for lunch. Hot, warm, fiery breath.

Carmen struggle in the clench for a moment, body brushing against the powerful woman, before Diana broke away and moved off, probably expecting some space to be given. Any other time against any other woman, Carmen would’ve given it to her, too.

But not tonight. Not with her.

When Diana stepped away, Carmen stepped after her, this time leading with a jab and a right hook for the followup, both of them targeted at the Italian beauty’s pristine face.

If Diana had brought entourage, from the looks of things they would probably guess that the two were lovers, from the embrace they were in, of course ignoring their prior history. Single beads of sweat ran down the faces of both fighters; neither had actually exited their warm up stage, both fighters' almost extreme levels of stamina barely touched, but given the heat of the gym lights, and heat of the hold, the casual sweating was somewhat understandable.

Diana knew for a fact that Carmen wouldn't simply let her escape so easy, but dared to anyway, trying her best to push Carmen's arms down as she stepped backwards in an attempt to slow down a retaliatory strike. Sure enough it came, even with the push, a clean jab connecting square across Diana's cheek.

Baring her teeth and bracing her legs as not to be pushed back by the strike, she'd wind up a quick right of her own, swinging in from the far right, coming in and mirroring Carmen's own assault, as her hook connected to Diana's head causing a mild snap sideways as her fist flew in.

There it was. The feel of her fist sinking into Diana’s face, that undeniable sensation as her knuckles sunk into against flesh and cracked against hard bone. Hitting this one wasn’t quite like hitting anyone else - there was a satisfying, cathartic quality to it, no doubt enhanced by the fact that it meant taking the Italian Amazon down a peg.

Of course, it wasn’t nearly enough to stop Diana or even slow her down much. Few things were. But that was expected, really. It meant the opening of many opportunities, like the one that presented itself when a fierce right cross came her way. Carmen ducked under the blow, just barely, so close that she could feel the thumb skim her shoulder, but it worked it. For a half second, she had an exposed side to work with.

Carmen pressed the assault and retaliated, throwing a couple of quick - but hard - right hooks into Diana’s ribs, punishing blows meant to crack bone. ”Think you can box with me, tonta?” She growled through her teeth, letting a feral tone slip in her voice.

It was of no surprise that Diana's own response missed, her eyes forced to shut by the snap back of the champion level strike. If she hit Carmen, it would be because she stood as still as a statue, something which simply wasn't going to happen. Had she been quicker, and dirtier, she could of likely halted her strike midway, perhaps grab the short locks her her foe, and gain an advantage that way. But Diana simply wasn't the hair grabbing sort. This was a match after all, not a cat fight.

Trying to resist the urge to spin from the hard hook, Diana instead briefly turned sideways, before straightening up, arms coming up to prevent further assault on her momentarily puffy face. She'd soon find that her head was no longer the target, the champion instead trying to see how red she could make Diana's front turn, with a series of blows.

Being quick, they lacked the force for them to be liver shattering blows, the sort that end a fight, but even then the big Italian was rocked. She grunted back at the comment, a hand coming down to her throbbing front. Her grunt would soon turn to the tiniest of smiles, as her comment would reflect on her next action. "This isn't just boxing.."

Immediately, she'd throw a right leg towards Carmen's own extended leg, aiming for the shin, in a tactical attempt to de-stabilise the woman, whilst the Italian would continue to fall backwards, more so now given her attempt at forcing the base from her foe out from under her.

There was no crowd to cheer Carmen on, but that hardly meant she was without fanfare. In her mind, she could picture the crowd, cheering her on as she poured the pressure on Diana and drove the titaness back, hanging on every blow she landed, roaring as the momentum shifted. She was a champion. She wouldn’t be bullied around the ring by anyone, no matter how strong they were or how hard they hit or how much their body was like a descended goddess....

Damn it. There was that smile again.

As usual, a smile on that face was a prelude to pain. In this case, it let to Carmen’s leg being kicked out from under her, taking her straight out of the boxing mode she’d lulled into. The simplest of moves, but nonetheless effective, as Carmen was brought down to her single knee, thrown off balance.

It would only take a second for her to get back up, but she knew that with Diana, even one second was far too long. In the imaginary crowd, she wasn't the only one the people were cheering for.

Diana couldn't help but be pleased, that her swift tactical kick hit it's mark and knocked the fighter off her base. Had she not just been used as a punching bag, she would of been on the champion in a moments notice, likely aiming to hook her arm for a headlock given the positioning of the two.

Instead, she'd move to Carmen's side, still some distance between the two as Diana would start to bounce, trying to get the blood and adrenaline flowing, as she'd try to work her body into ignoring the pummelling Carmen had already given it. She wouldn't lower her arms, knowing full well that given her foes positioning, she could use the kneeling stance to literally pounce at her, or worse, burst straight upwards and try to take her head off her shoulders yet again.