Fright Fight - Akino Sanada Vs. Samiya Kusanagi

A swing and a miss.

Akino’s leg tore through the air with nothing but bad intentions, only for her target to dive out of the way just in time to save herself. Had this been a more ordinary opponent she had no history with, the one-eyed maiden likely would’ve been amused at the sight of her foe dashing into a quick retreat for dear life. She might’ve even cracked a grin if she was in a good enough mood.

But this wasn’t just some random girl plucked from the roster. This was Samiya Kusanagi, a woman who had humiliated her, and choked her out with the very hold Akino herself had innovated. And Akino’s mood couldn’t have been any further from “good.”

While Samiya began to scramble back up, Akino bolted right at her once again.

“Get back here!” she roared just before leaping straight through the air in an attempt to pounce right onto Samiya and take her back down to the mat.

Akino’s approach tonight had been far from technical, but her relentless rage was proving to be effective thus far. Samiya had been entirely on the defensive, and some of Akino’s strikes were finding their mark. If she could take the Schoolgirl Assassin down and get on top of her, the ways she could continue dismantling her defensive efforts would increase dramatically.

Although, Akino was hardly even thinking about this from a strategic standpoint. She just wanted to beat Samiya’s face in until she’d vented every ounce of her anger.

Still unaware of how close she’d come to having her spine battered, Samiya was making her way back to her feet as quickly as she could. That was surprisingly quickly, but it still wasn’t going to be as quickly as Akino could close the gap.

She had more or less enough time to get half way before there was a roar from behind her – and all around her – and the tattooed wrestler had to deal with a flying maid.

Wrestling.

Stocky and strong as she was, Samiya’s advantage only really helped if she had her feet under her and she didn’t. Not quite. She had a foot and a knee under her when Akino came back down on her and it just wasn’t enough. The petite powerhouse was still able to take the impact a lot better than a lot of women in her position would have done. But that didn’t stop her being knocked right back to the canvas, eyes wide with the shock and pain of the hit, her only defence her arms that she had raised to protect her face.

She was fully expecting more of the punching, given that the other woman had so far failed to go for anything remotely resembling a wrestling hold.

Except, far too late to do anything about it, she realised she’d just set herself up almost perfectly for a triangle. Dazed as she was, Samiya was far too practiced an adept of submission wrestling to miss the mistake. Fresh, raging for the ‘kill’, there was no way Akino could possibly miss the golden opportunity she’d just been handed.

Down Samiya went, and Akino was fully intent on resuming her rampage now that she was on top of her foe. Her fist rose up high…and then abruptly, it froze. Had Akino suddenly reached the end of her anger, or just gassed herself out? Not quite.

Even in the midst of her seemingly blind rage, the one-eyed grappler saw the absolute perfect opening to move into a mounted triangle choke! Logic and strategy may not have played a factor in any thought process of hers thus far tonight, but she was trained and experienced enough that noticing something like this was just borderline instinctual.

There was just one problem: Akino’s mind was torn between two different thoughts. One recognized the obvious path to what could likely end up being a quick and easy victory for the first round of this match. The other reminded her of how Samiya had humiliated her in their first encounter, and of how good it would feel to rearrange the girl’s face with a continuous series of relentless punches.

The indecision caused her to remain still for a second, until her body started to inch forward to go for the triangle. But as she glared down at her foe, all turtled up under her guard, the second voice called out just a little louder than the first. Akino had her, and now she was going to introduce her to a world of pain!

With a loud roar the one-eyed maiden dropped her fist down once again, aiming to pummel through Samiya’s guard and blast her right in the face as hard as she could!

In retrospect, there’d be long arguments about whether Akino made a mistake here. Samiya definitely thought so, though she was a bit too busy to appreciate how much of one at the time. Also busy being surprised at the other submission grappler ignoring the golden opportunity she’d just been handed to score the first fall there and then.

Actually, even just carrying on pummelling Samiya could have done the job. The fatal mistake here wasn’t even not going for the triangle. It was the hesitation that let Samiya shake off the shock and regain her poise.

Not that she was in a good position but it still gave her a chance to try something.

It’d have been nice to claim it was all part of some greater plan. She damn well would claim that later.

But really, it was all instinct. Hard-earned, ingrained instinct.

As the punch came in, Samiya jerked her head to the side – Akino hadn’t shifted up far enough to stop her doing that – meaning it just ate canvas. In that moment when the other wrestler was off guard, she grabbed Akino’s arm and leg and went to roll her off and up into a very impromptu pin attempt.

It wouldn’t be pretty but the ref, already in position, would be very well placed to swoop in for the ”One!”

Once Akino let her fist fly that was it. She’d committed to the decision, and there was no going back. At that precise moment it seemed completely fine, but that changed very quickly.

Her gloved fist slammed hard into the mat rather than Samiya’s face, the first sign that this wasn’t heading in a good direction. Then before the one eyed girl could even pull her arm back up, the limb was grabbed and she found herself being rolled over onto her back!

Now the alarms were going off, and Akino knew she’d fucked up, and that she’d be inwardly kicking herself for it for a long time. But that wasn’t even the worst of it. Before Akino even fully knew what was going on, the ref slapped the mat and started counting. It wasn’t that Samiya had just simply rolled them over to put herself on top. Akino was being pinned!

“Two!” the ref called as the hand slapped the mat a second time.

“Shit!” Akino grunted and immediately began what could best to squirm frantically like an overturned turtle underneath Samiya. But with less than a second to work with, would she be able to lift her shoulder up enough to break the count in time?

One, two…

Two thirds of the way through the pin before Akino even realised she was in danger of losing the first fall and started to fight back. And she wasn’t doing a very good job either.

Gritting her teeth, Samiya’s arms tensed with muscle as the stocky wrestler put her all into keeping Akino’s shoulders down. She had the position, she had the power and she knew she needed to turn things around. This was her best chance to both reverse the momentum of the match and clear Akino’s display so far out of the heads of the fans.

This was where her heavier set form really came in handy. Pushing up, she did her best to keep Akino rolled up for the three seconds of eternity that she needed…

”Three!”

The referee’s hand slapped the canvas for the third time and Samiya immediately let the one-eyed woman go, rolling away with a hoarse cackle of laughter as she pulled herself to her feet.

”Pathetic,” She chortled. And it was clear from the booing that the fans found it hard to disagree. For all the pounding Akino had dealt out, she’d still fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book.

”I mean, I practically left myself open for you and you still can’t seal the deal.”

Her eyes glinted malevolently.

”No wonder you and Carmen fell through. She was a champion and you… you’re nothing.”

“No!” Akino shouted in total despair when she heard the count reach three.

As soon as Samiya rolled off of her the one-eyed girl scrambled to her knees and looked at the ref with a mix of rage and desperation. She wanted to plead her case in hopes of getting that call overturned. But what argument could she make? It was humiliating, but Akino had no choice but to face the fact that she’d just not only just been pinned, but had been outwitted by Samiya once again.

Confirming it, the ref shook her head and held up three fingers. The look on her face was almost apologetic, as if silently telling her “Sorry, there’s nothing I can do.”

“DAMN IT!” Akino roared out while slamming a fist down on the mat. No, the match wasn’t over. Only the first round. But that knowledge didn’t offer the enraged bluenette any relief. And of course, neither did Samiya’s laughing and taunting.

Literally shaking in rage, Akino ground her teeth together while listening to every last irritating word that flew from her foe’s lips. It seemed impossible to imagine her looking any angrier….until that last comment reached her ears.

“GO TO HELL YOU BITCH!!!” Akino bellowed at the top of her lungs as she bolted straight from her kneeling position into a full on sprint directly at Samiya! Unlike her initial assault, the element of surprise was likely long gone now. But Akino didn’t seem to care. Initially there was at least a conscious attempt to catch Samiya off guard and beat the shit out of her before she could find an opening to mount a comeback. Now there was absolutely no strategy to her actions. She was a raging bull on a path of destruction, fully intent on resuming her earlier beatdown on the Schoolgirl Assassin.

The shriek of denial from Akino, mirroring those from the fans watching the match, was a tonic for Samiya. In reality, her out of nowhere pin had changed very little. She’d still taken all the hits and, while she was now one fall up, Akino could easily still have won.

But she’d let it get under her skin and now she was on the verge of making a fatal mistake.

Correction. She’d just made a fatal mistake as, rather than thinking it through, Akino just got up and came right at her in a charge with absolutely no attempt at subtlety whatsoever.

Of course, the announcers pointed out, it had worked for her before. Maybe it would work again.

But this time, Samiya was ready. Spinning out of the way into the cyclopean fighter’s blind side, the purple-haired wrestler let herself fall to the ground. No uncontrolled fall but a drop carefully timed so that one of her feet was right in front of Akino’s ankle. Bringing the other in at the back of the bluenette’s calf, the Schoolgirl Assassin went to plant her charging opponent flat on her face with a simple Drop Toe Hold.

Given how angry Akino appeared to be, she wasn’t actually sure the other woman could get angrier still. But, if she could, this was probably the way to go about it while also giving Samiya access to her legs.

She had some ideas about what she could do to Akino’s legs. And arms. Among other things.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

That was how the saying went, right? A nice thought about perseverance for most to keep in mind. But whoever first said it likely wouldn’t have if they saw where that line of thought would lead Akino.

The bluenette once again rushed her foe with every bit of speed she and intensity her body could muster. But when she got there, Samiya was already out of the way. All that Akino got was a sudden stop of momentum as the other girl’s legs briefly tangled with her own, and then a sudden and rapid drop down to the mat.

“Agh!” she yelled out when her face came slamming down onto the canvas with a thud. The rest of her front fell to a similar collision, but by far it was the bridge of her nose and her forehead that were feeling it the most.

A hand moved over her face, and her feet kicked against the mat while she tried and failed to simply block the pain out. And for the first time in the match, she didn’t just spring back up and launch into another charge. Or rather, she couldn’t.

Maybe it was because her nonstop burst of aggression right from the start was beginning to gas her out. Or maybe it was just that the whiplash effect of her less than comfortable fall onto her face had rattled her brain a bit. Either way, second by second things were continuing to go downhill fast for Akino.

As far as Samiya was concerned, everything was finally going her way. Now she just needed to make sure she didn’t lose any momentum and that her opponent stayed on the losing end.

Akino seemed to be thoroughly slowed down by that hit, left apparently semiconscious on the mat without even trying to rise. But the tattooed fighter wasn’t sure she trusted this sudden bout of quiescence. It seemed a little too convenient but, equally, she didn’t want to let the opportunity pass her by just because it was too easy. Instead, before taking advantage, she meant to ensure that Akino wasn’t faking. And she knew the perfect way to do just that.

Backing off, Samiya waited until she felt the ropes at her back before using them to catapult herself at Akino. Closing the distance, she brought one foot up and went to mercilessly drive the one-eyed woman’s head into the canvas with a brutal Curb Stomp. Not one of her usual moves but the Schoolgirl Assassin’s stocky build meant it would undoubtedly pack an impact if she could land the shot. Not to mention the momentum she’d built up.

Samiya partly considered it payback for the hits she’d taken earlier.

Then she’d have the chance to really work Akino over, once the other wrestler was even more out of the match.