Fool Me Twice

There Dmitri was, stuck between a figurative rock and a literal hard place. This was a bad spot, no mistake, but he was learning to take every moment where he was vertical as a good sign, here. There was always a chance, no matter how small, that he could escape.

But then he saw it. A kick heading towards his head, but not just any kick. Dmitri was familiar enough with kicks that he could appreciate how much power she was putting into it. All the muscles, all the torque, all the sheer force that was being packed into this one move. In the fraction of a second, his mind came up with an appropriate response.

Duck. For the love of God, duck.

And duck Dmitri did, narrowly avoiding an early trip to the canvas as her foot sailed overhead. Words could not express the relief that came over him, but he recognized this was just a temporary stay of execution. He needed to get out of the corner, and the only way to do that was to go through Alicia.

As Dmitri ducked, he grabbed the ropes for support, brought his legs up, and shot them both out in a powerful burst, looking to strike Alicia in the stomach. She was solid all the way down, so it probably wouldn’t do too much damage, but that wasn’t the goal. He just wanted her to back up and give him some breathing room, along with enough time to escape.

He ducked.

Part of Alicia was disappointed at that. It had been a perfect kick. Perfect. If she’d hit him with that one, it would have been goodnight and God bless as her mum used to say. Lights out.

Part of her was overjoyed because that, perfect as it had been,

Dmitri’s kick would have hit Alicia in her taut stomach. Dead centre, bullseye, no excuses. What effect that would have had was a matter of theory, because it didn’t.

That is, it would have hit if it hadn’t been for a factor that neither of them had quite accounted for. Alicia hadn’t expected her kick to miss, so she’d not been able to stop herself spinning around with the force she’d put into it. Her follow-through had basically taken her through one hundred and eighty degrees when her opponent struck.

He still scored a solid hit, one that sent Alicia stumbling a few steps away from him back into the ring. It still gave him that opportunity he’d been looking for to get away. It’s just… he hadn’t booted her in the stomach.

No, Dmitri’s boots had hit Alicia right above her big, curvy butt.

Which was why, as the Amazonian redhead turned back around, there was a very real glint of amusement shining in those dark eyes to go with her usual shark-like smirk.

”So that was you kicking my ass?”

Not wanting to give him time to get any distance on her, Alicia’s feet were already whisking her over the mat towards him.

As soon as she got into range, she’d feint a kick and instead go to punch him in the face. Because he probably wouldn’t be expecting that.

Dmitri had some mixed feelings over the result, too.

He was glad it worked. Sort of. Kind of. He wasn’t laying on the floor, half-unconscious while she started to wrap him up in her legs, so in that regard it was an unqualified success. He’d made some space, and while he couldn’t get too far before she recouped, he could get out of the corner. His execution was extended.

But he hadn’t meant to hit her butt like that. Not that he didn’t appreciate the feel. As a fully functioning, young, heterosexual male, he couldn’t deny enjoying the touch. His only was what come after. He’d seen Alicia’s wrath before. He’d suffered under it. It was not something any sane human being wanted to be on the receiving end of.

Not if they valued having their ribs intact.

So he breathed a deep sigh of relief when she turned around and looked at him with a smile. An evil, teasing smile with some palpable malice, but no worse than her usual expressions. He could think of numerous ways to respond to her joke, but he decided not to tempt fate.

”No comment.” Along with a quick smirk and a little blush. Which was all he had the time for, really.

Dmitri started to move the moment he saw Alicia’s kick coming. Smart move, but he was forgetting a rather crucial fact: she had arms, too. And she could use them for things, such as hitting him in the face.

While it wasn’t nearly as bad as one of her kicks - few things were - her punches left little to be desired, either. Dmitri nearly spun all the way around as he stumbled away from Alicia, moving back and nearly falling into the ropes. He blinked a few times, stunned, and tried to shake the stars out of his eyes as fast as he could.

Dmitri might have been worried about repercussions but Alicia was genuinely more amused than she was annoyed. Given her glute-dominant build (read, thick thighs meant wide hips and shapely butt to support them), the blow had stung but hadn’t done any more than that. In another situation, maybe things would have been different.

But the big Brit was feeling decidedly playful at the moment, like she was the cat to Dmitri’s mouse, and the sparks he was showing were just making her enjoy this even more. Sure, for stress relief, the futile struggling was pretty much the best. Getting a man down on the mats and working him over – she couldn’t beat that for dealing with a few bad days.

With Dmitri, she was a little bit past that. Besides, it was only seconds before she promptly punched him in the face. He did get time for his little rejoinder and, to give credit where it was due, he was dodging her kick. Too bad that was just a feint.

So now it was his turn to spin around. Alicia though didn’t give him time to shake out the cobwebs. She stayed on him, pushing up into his personal space, sticking with the punches, splaying her stance and going to drive two ferocious body-blows into his belly. He didn’t have far to go with the ropes at his back anyway, though the red-haired amazon would have no compunctions about pinning him against them while she worked him over.

If those punches landed, she’d immediately follow up by going to link her hands at the base of his neck so that she could use the clinch to then starting firing knees up into his ribs and belly.

Contrary to popular belief, being a student of tae kwon do didn’t mean you weren’t allowed to punch when the occasion called for it. The style focused on quick, powerful kicks, yes, and Dmitri could execute those with ease, but he could strike with the top when need be. In particular, he had a good backfist that had served him well numerous times.

Just not right now.

Right now, Alicia’s attack was too fierce, too quick, too strong for him to get a blow in edgewise. He’d just gotten through recovering from the first blow when two more came in, these ones going lower, but just as hard. He hadn’t gotten much of a taste for her striking game the last time they’d ‘fought’, but Alicia was making up for lost time.

”Guh!” The first one crashed into Dmitri’s and made him bend forward on reflex, gasping hard.

”Nnh!” His guard came up around his waist, but it did him little good. Her second punch slipped under the hastily made cross block and tagged him in the stomach, right in the middle, driving out what little breath he had left.

His guard did work in blocking the knees, though her legs had so much power, it still didn’t make that big of a difference. Each one hit with enough force to separate his feet from the floor and push him up against the ropes. Not as bad a spot as the corner, but far from ideal, either.

Looking for a quick way out, Dmitri tried to use the ropes to his advantage and bounced off them, giving him some extra force as he moved forward. He pushed hard against her stomach in the hopes of breaking the clinch and forcing Alicia back a few steps,  a desperate bid for space.

Pushing forward, keeping the other kicker on the back foot, Alicia was relying on kickboxing being a more… varied art than tae kwon do. While she chiefly focused on the ‘kick’ part of her discipline in a fight, her upper body was still plenty strong and her punches crisp and well drilled. Certainly, given her edge in size and strength, it made sense to crowd Dmitri and keep him from using his speed.

Hence her pressing right into him, drilling him with those hits to the middle. While nowhere near as debilitating as her bodyscissors, they’d still make it a lot harder for him to hit and run if he couldn’t breathe. And kicking with a wounded midsection wasn’t fun either.

Two, three – the knee strikes kept landing, blasting into Dmitri’s guard hard enough that Alicia had to use her grip on his neck to stop herself sending him reeling back. Despite that, they weren’t being as effective as she’d have liked. Knocking him off his feet each time was impressive and fun, but his arms were stopping her from really pounding at his gut which was what she’d been after. It probably wasn’t doing his arms any good but it wasn’t getting her through the guard, which was what she wanted.

Hmm.

Alicia was on the verge of changing things up in a way that Dmitri wouldn’t have enjoyed one bit when he got the idea first. The redhead found his hands shoving against her flat midriff, pushing firmly against her with the momentum he’d gained from bouncing off the ropes. She dug her heels in but was forced to take one step back, then another, then another. Her hands came apart, one slipping from behind his neck.

While she still had any hold on him at all, Alicia twisted at the hip, attempting to use that and a planted leg to toss Dmitri to the mat. Given how winded he was from the hits moments before, she thought it was worth a try – if she could ground him, she’d have even more of an advantage than she did already.

Dmitri was starting to feel a great swell of pity for anyone who had to take on Alicia in a legitimate match.

He knew she was good. He’d gotten a taste of it last time, and had watched her batter around opponents in her matches. But seeing and being on the receiving end were totally different things. The power she packed into each knee was crazy, and he shuddered to think what the strikes would’ve done if he hadn’t mustered some degree of protection.

Come to think of it, he knew exactly what would happen. He’d collapse, falling to his knees, Alicia would drop beside him, shoot her legs out, and then…

So, he was glad just to be standing when they moved away from the ropes, reigniting his hopes. Shame that didn’t last long.

”Bozhe moi!” Dmitri’s Russian slipped out as he was sent hurtling away and dropped flat on his back with an unceremonious crash. Panic set in - normally, he wouldn’t have had a problem being down here for a few seconds, gain his breath back while his opponent went for a pin or a hold or something, but he knew better with Alicia. If she got her claws in him now, he wouldn’t be getting up until she wanted him to get up. That would be a while.

He needed to be away from her. As far away as he could be. RIght now.

Instead of fighting the momentum of the throw, he rolled with it and tumbled across the ring, making his way to the ropes. When he was close enough, he grabbed hold of them and tried to pull himself up. He didn’t look behind him to see how close she was. He didn’t need to. She’d be close, he was sure of it. Very close, most likely.

Alicia, for her part, hadn’t been entirely sure that would work. Her takedowns were passable but certainly not exceptional. Still, he’d been winded and off-balance and going that way already. So, yes. It worked.

And he hadn’t expected it at all, as shown by the startled cursing.

The redhead spun, expecting to find him laid out on his back and ready for her to pin him down before her first submission move of the match…

And he wasn’t there. Instead the cheeky little so-and-so and turned the throw into a roll that was taking him across the mat to some sort of safety. Temporary though it might be.

The second it dawned on her what he was doing, Alicia was in motion, feet whisking across the mat as she raced after him. She didn’t have time to appreciate how neat a roll that had been, didn’t feel like giving him the chance to get back up at the other end of the ring.

No, the redhead was right on his heels. As she came close enough to strike, she brought her leg up in a push kick aimed squarely at his centre-of-mass. Her momentum would add considerably to the force she could already bring to bear but it wasn’t the damage that she was really after. Given how he was up against the ropes again, she was hoping the strength of the kick would bounce him off the ropes and right back into her clutches.

… Guess that made her the rebound girl?

Needless to say, Alicia was glad she hadn’t said that one out loud.

It wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ Alicia would attack Dmitri while he was getting back up. She would. No question. There was no way an aggressive opponent like her would ever let such a golden opportunity like this. Because of the way he was rising, he had to turn his back to her. Not a good idea. Not as bad as being on the floor with her, sure, but not good all the same.

Dmitri only had enough time to turn around face her, so he could see exactly what he’d be punished with: a push kick, and a powerful one at that. No surprise.

She hit him dead center, and the force threw him into the ropes with more force than a good Irish Whip could muster. He made a vain attempt to grab the ropes before the inevitable would happen, hoping to slow the momentum down, but that wasn’t happening. He only held on for a split second before the power got the better of him and he had to stumble forward.

Toward Alicia. Towards pain.

He raised his arms, preparing for an onslaught. It might help. It might not. Better than nothing.

It was probably unkind. Actually, no, it was definitely unkind that Alicia felt a thrill rush through her when Dmitri turned around just in time to see what was coming for him.

She could see the awareness of just how screwed he was in his eyes right before her booted foot drove into his sternum. Really, he had just made things even worse for himself. Taking the hit to the back wouldn’t have been anywhere near as bad as taking it to the front.

Ah well. His loss. His pained eyes met her cold, dark violet gaze and wide smirk in the instant before her strike hit the bullseye, sending him careening back into the ropes like a dummy. He tried to hold on, failed, and bounced back at her.

He had his arms up. Probably expecting a kick, maybe a punch.

Alicia took a deep breath and got ready, shifting her feet.

As Dmitri came close enough, she went to wrap her arms around his waist, as if she was looking to hug him. Or bear hug him, which was probably more likely in the AFW. Pulling their bodies as close as she could together, feeling her full chest press against his, the big redhead would then go to pop her hips in an attempt to turn his momentum into an inexpert belly to belly suplex – a sign of her increasing familiarity with at least some wrestling throws.

If everything went according to her plan, she’d slam him down on the mat with her atop in a position to start wrapping things up.

It definitely wouldn’t be the sharpest one ever executed. But, so long as she got him on the floor, she’d call it a win.

And he'd almost certainly never see it coming.