Gato Blanco vs. Kozue Kaburagi - She's Lost Control

His body recovering from the force of Kozue slamming hard into him, Blanco managed to make himself roll up onto his knees, then into an upright kneeling position. Kozue had eaten the worst of that, but the luchador still had a ways to go, before he could fully recover.

At ringside, however, Holly felt like she was having the time of her life. She'd been waiting with baited breath, absolutely certain that Kozue was about to devastate poor Blanco's body with that last dive. She'd watched him fight a lot of people, win or lose, but none of them had challenged his speed the way this ninja girl was managing. And of course, it didn't hurt that Kozue was getting some comeuppance for flaunting that perky little bum right in the Brit's face ...

Seeing Kozue get herself up in the corner, Blanco opted to press his advantage. The slender ninja was looking unsteady, shaky, and a bit vulnerable. Knowing she likely wouldn't remain that way for long, the luchador opted to capitalize. Bursting out of his kneeling position, the white-masked man sprinted at Kozue, leaping up at the last second with a knee aimed square at her face. If successful, the luchador would keep her trapped against the corner, pinned between the turnbuckle and his hard, unrelenting knee.

The fact that Kozue was about to get plastered by Gato wasn’t the worst thing. She’d been beaten before. By King, by Black Dragon. She knew how to take some pain and keep on moving on. That was the job description.

The worst thing, however was that, while she could see Gato charging right towards her and knew he was about to drop a hurting bomb, she was too sluggish, dazed. and cornered to really do much about it. This move was hiting, and it was going to hit like a frieght train. ”Fuckfuckfu-”

Kozue was interuppted in mid-fuck by a knee to the face, hammering her against the turnbuckle. That was a lot of fun all by itself, but what really made it delightful was the way he kept it in position, not only holding her in position and hurting, but also making it hard to wisecrack.

All she could do was hold posiiton, flail about, and wait for whatever painful thing Gato was about to do next.

Blanco took a second, mounted on top of Kozue and the ring ropes. He leaned in hard to keep her trapped, but took a moment for the fans. The fast-paced match seemed to be giving them a thrill, a fair bit of spectacle. Still, Blanco had heard the ninja girl's string of profanity as he'd been coming in. He could tell her frustrations were mounting. When she got the chance to pay him back, she was probably not going to be showing a fraction of the crowd's appreciation.

So, with poor Kozue still trapped against the turnbuckle, the luchador got right back to work. Reaching down, Blanco snatched one of her wrists, pulling up on it. Then, already half-mounting the ring ropes, the luchador hoisted his other leg up and stepped right onto the precarious perch of the top rope. Treating it like a tightrope, Blanco would step swiftly around the corner, leading Kozue by the arm as he did so with a 'prayer walk' to the side of the ring. "Keep up, now!" Blacno called down, as he turned Kozue around in the corner.

Then, if he was able to get away with that much, Blanco would drop, letting the backs of his thighs land on the ropes. Bouncing off of that, the luchador would flip over, carrying through with that momentum to toss the young Kubaragi and send her slamming down into the mat with a fast springboard arm drag!

Kozue was fucked up. Kozue was fucked up bad. That was the sort of thing that happened when someone gave you a knee in the face at high velocity with damn near two hundred pounds of force behind it, it turned out.

She was so konked out of it that she didn't even register that Blanco was doing something until he started doing it. He was doing something with her arm, but how was he holding it up like that? The way he was leading her around, he'd have to be up, on the…

Oh.

She looked up and saw that yes, indeed, Gato Blanco was walking the rope like a tightrope. That was awesome and cool and she was definitely going to steal that move the next opportunity she had.

For now, though, she was the one on the receiving end. Not so fun.

The springboard arm drag worked like a charm and sent her flying. A normal arm drag wouldn't have been a big deal, Kozue would've just rolled up from it like nothing and popped back to her feet. But off the springboard like that and with her already being wobbly from the knee, it had a much more dynamic effect. Kozue wound up on her back near the center of the ring, staring up at the ceiling with a gaping mouth.

Blanco felt a massive rush as he came rolling down off the springboard. The sensation of the air splitting around him, the cheers of the crowd filling the arena, bouncing around in his ears. Blanco rolled across the mat, could feel the impact of Kozue coming down alongside him without the leverage or control to come off of it as he had. The springboard arm drag could be a tough maneuver to set up, but the sheer momentum and force of the move made it worth it, every time. That, and the sheer joy he could feel from the audience, when he pulled it off.

"The cat walk!" Holly cried out excitedly, as she watched Blanco pull off the move. Arms above her head, grin stretching from ear to ear, the British girl was jumping up and down, bouncing in sheer delight at the display.

Blanco rolled to his feet. "We're not calling it that!" Blanco exclaimed, with a laugh. Some of the crowd joined in the laugh, as the couple exchanged shrugs. It was an argument they had in the past, and one they'd have again, but the luchador needed to table it for now. Kozue was on her back, and Blanco needed to take advantage. Gripping the top rope, Blanco jumped up, and planted his boots onto the middle rope. Sinking in, he built some tension before pushing off with the rebound. Extending his arms and legs as he flipped over, Blanco turned his body over, aiming to plant himself against the young Kubaragi with a dramatic lion sault! He could only hope that he hadn't wasted too much time arguing with Holly, before actually going into the move.

Frankly, Kozue thought Catwalk was a nice name for it. He was a cat, and he was walking on the ropes. It was catchy. Made sense. Unique.

It occurred to Kozue that she should probably put more focus on the match and less thought on Gato’s - admittedly awesome - signature move, but what options did she have, really? She couldn’t move all that much. Might as well.

Her hazy eyes looked around as she saw Gato bursting into motion once more, heading towards the ropes and leaping on the second. A lionsault was coming. She was in the right spot for it. She might be able to get her legs up, but that would still have her taking some damage she couldn't afford at this stage. She needed to roll out of the way.

But could she?

She had to try. As soon as Gato dedicated himself to the move, she dedicated herself to a desperate roll, hoping she could get far enough from the impact zone to be safe.

Again, the rush of air and the voices of the crowd were rushing through Gato Blanco's ears, as he came sailing through the air. Pulling off the rest of the arc for the moonsault, Blanco opened his eyes on the downward arc, looked down to see his opponent ... and didn't find her.

With a crash, the luchador hit the mat with a brutal impact. "GAHHhh!" he groaned, frustrated. Blanco wrapped his arms around his aching midsection, abs heaving as he fought to breathe through the pain of the impact. "Eep!" Holly squealed, realizing what had just happened, and realizing that she might have had a teeeeensy bit of a part to play, in it.

The Brit's eyes widened, as they turned back to Kozue. Blanco forced himself up to his feet, but wasn't quite ready to release his aching abs, just yet. Turning toward the young ninja, Blanco winced, tried to brace himself for what she have planned. If Kozue was able to mount an offense already, Blanco knew he wouldn't be able to mount a response. But, at the very least, he wanted to be able to see it coming.

If one listened closely enough over the crowd’s collective groan of sympathy, you could hear Kozue’s massive sigh of relief. She dodged a bullet. Almost literally - that would've taken her right out if he’d connected. She was safe, but if she wanted to stay that way, she needed to even the score up.

She started to sluggishly make her way back to her feet, trying to figure out what she could go for next. She was still a bit too woozy to really risk a high-flying maneuver. She needed something simple, basic, and reliable.

So, when Gato turned around, he was greeted by something he might not have expected given Kozue’s moves up to this point: a regular, everyday, right hook to the face. Wouldn't hurt to go back to the basics for a little while, and though she wasn’t a boxer, she was banking on the element of surprise to work for her advantage.

His pain showing even through the mask, Blanco tried to get everything back under control as he turned back to Kozue. Abs seething a bit, rolling his head back and forth across his shoulders, the luchador pushed the pain down, composed himself, and turned to face his opponent. Right in time to catch a sharp right hook, straight to the jaw!

The loud "CLOCK" sound of her knuckles across his jaw echoed through the arena, as Blanco's head snapped back. The combination of speed and surprise added up to a great deal, here, leaving the luchador stunned. He staggered back, not leaving his feet or falling, but clearly rocked by a blow that he absolutely did not see coming. The luchador's limbs went a bit limp, then, as he struggled to stay upright. Bow-legged, arms hanging at his sides, the young ninja's strike had left him vulnerable, and kicking himself for literally walking right into it.

At ringside, Holly's jaw nearly hit the floor. "Mister!" she called out, snapping back to reality. "Shake it off! You've been hit by way bigger than that!" The British girl started pounding the apron, hoping to break through Blanco's punch-drunken state. The attempt failed, unfortunately, as Blanco simply staggered back, struggling and likely failing to recover before the ninja's next move.

There was a reason Kozue preferred not to punch people in the face with a closed fist, and she was reminded of that the moment her knuckles made contact with Gato’s skull.

”Shit, shit.” Kozue hissed and shook her numbed hand as a sharp tingle ran down her bones. Not fun, not fun, but the attack had done it work well and stunned Gato Blanco. Now she just had to do something with her little opportunity.

She stepped forward and took him by the wrist, pulling his arm towards her while he was still too stupefied to do anything about it. She turned around, ducked under his shoulder, then pulled him forward and tossed him over her with an ippon seoi nage - your standard judo throw. Only with hers, she made sure to keep holding the arm, even when he went down. She had plans for it…