Make a Splash! Gabriel vs Ryuunosuke

NORMAL MATCH: One fall, by either pinfall or submission!

Ryuunosuke:

VS.

Gabriel:

---

Everything just seemed like a blur to Gabriel. At one moment, he was stalled forever on actually being able to make it into the AFW. And then he was suddenly in, and he had a matchup scheduled…well, basically for the next day! It was the best way of getting into the leaderboards and figuring out how to get to his brother's killer, of course, but moving fast is moving fast, and he had no clue things were gonna get so serious all of a sudden. He barely even had enough time to throw together an outfit to debut in! But in wrestling, he figured less was better, and especially with a body like his. So on he went, moving out of the locker room and making his way down the ramp.

Clad in just those nice, tight red shorts, he waved and grinned to the audience. Already, he was getting cheered on. "Haha! All right!" he called out, running down the side of the ramp to give a couple of fans a high five before rushing up to the ring. He dangled off the side, clinging onto the top rope as he gave a bit of a pose for the crowd, riling them up before he finally slipped into the ring.

If he had known that the crowd would be this receptive, he might have stepped into a professional ring with an audience a long time ago! But right now, this was his debut -- not just at AFW, but worldwide. It was up to him to show that his training hadn't resulted in any sort of issues; he was ready to go at it with the best, and he was going to learn as much as he could as he made his way through the ranks, so when he finally went up against his brother's killer, he wouldn't be lost for a moment. No, he was going to win this match, and a good number of ones after this one.

"Are you guys ready for an awesome match?!"

A powerful anthem blared out on the arena speakers as Ryuunosuke Tachibana, often called the 'Silent Soldier' of S.E.M.E. made his second singles appearance in the Tension League after a disappointing draw. Normally he would have handled the rematch with much gusto, but Mitsuru had stepped in as leader to summarily settle things, leaving him to watch from the sidelines. This was going to be another chance to break out from the past and from his team's shadows, to prove he could hold his own without the others. There wasn't a whole lot of information for Mitsuru to research about this guy, so most of her tips were based on his height and weight, body type, and what little personality they could find. Truth be told, he was just gonna follow his gut like he had done against Army in his debut, only this time he wasn't going to let overconfidence and bravado get in the way.

Ryuu descended the ramp with purpose and perfect posture, followed along by his teammates shortly behind him. He shrugged off his signature fur coat and folded it neatly before handing it to Hikaru, who promptly heaved it over his shoulder like he was carrying a bag. After a quick slap on the ass from Hikaru and some strong words of encouragement from Mitsuru, Ryuu continued the rest of the way alone while his teammates exited and headed back stage.

Ryuu climbed the stairs from his appointed corner and slipped between the top and middle ropes, before rising to his full height with hands lightly resting on his hips. He scrutinized his opponent's choice of ring attire; tiny and tight red shorts that clung to his figure like they were painted on. Ryuu on the other hand went with black leather pants, a bit baggy with teal stripes running down the side, and a belt spelling SEME across the buckle fastening them to his hips. He didn't say much but extended an arm for a friendly shake in the name of good sportsmanship.

Gabriel knew absolutely nothing about the man he was going up against. He just knew his name, Ryuunosuke, which was enough to make him amused. What kind of name was that? Gabriel knew enough Japanese to know that was a strange name, one fairly foreboding -- though it also kinda sounded like he was the protagonist from a Japanese anime. When he actually showed up, though, any ideas of teasing him because of his name fell flat.

The guy was massive. He had a few inches on Gabriel, and a lot more muscle. This was going to be tricky, that much was clear just from looking at him. The fact that there were two other people there seemed to make Gabriel antsy -- he was worried that the two of them would join his opponent at ringside. As if Ryuunosuke needed any more assistance with the match. But no, they left (not before the red-head managed to catch a glimpse of the brown haired man that accompanied Ryuunosuke, he seemed pretty attractive), leaving the two of them alone.

The fact that Ryuunosuke didn't say much was a bit nerve-wracking as well. It didn't change anything, though. Gabriel took the man's hand, feeling himself relax for a moment. "Hey. May the best man win, all right? I won't hold anything against you if you win, but I'm not gonna make it easy for you either." Gabriel gave a squeeze to the man's hand as he shook it, almost reassuring him, before finally pulling away from him. His eyes glanced down to his…well, rather stunning attire, which fit the other man quite perfectly in both tone and physically. He reached up and scratched his head sheepishly, especially once he realized he was staring at the man's lower half for a good few seconds, and darted his eyes up. Focus.

When the bell rang, Gabriel moved forward -- and offered Ryuunosuke a lock up. But if the man actually locked up with him and used quite a bit of strength, Gabriel would just let go and use the momentum to try and flip Ryuunosuke over himself and onto his back!

Ryuu shook firmly with a nod, he was clearly a man of no nonsense inside the ring. He offered a curt smile to Gabriel's declaration and then backed off, hands resting comfortably at his sides. He followed Gabriel's eyes downward as the man stared at his lower half, and when he glanced back up, Ryuu gave him a disapproving glare. The bell rang soon after so that there wasn't too much awkwardness lingering around.

Gabriel began with a signature test of strength, an age-old tradition that just wouldn't die. Though his suspicions told him not to accept, he still wanted to do the honorable thing and so he raised his arms to accept. As soon as he clenched down and lace fingers, the redhead threw his weight backwards and dragged Ryuu along with him, monkey flipping him over onto his back with an impact that shook the ring. Ryuu gritted his teeth as he fell, but he was not the kind of chump who was taken off his guard by something like that. He squeezed his hands tight around gabriel's, refusing to let go as he rolled onto his chest and then up to his knees.

He fought with Gabriel to lift both their arms into the air, trying to get the man's guard out of the way so that he could swing his head forward for a nice little headbutt.

The disapproving glare set Gabriel into a fit of embarrassment. His cheeks flushed, and he had opened his mouth to apologize, to say something, but the bell rang and there was nothing else he could really do about it. So he went for his lock up, murmuring a soft apology as he took the man's hands, before monkey flipping him over his body. But rather than end up on the positive side of things, Ryuunosuke was able to keep hold of his hands and bring him up to his feet. A small piece of him panicked for a moment. He couldn't beat Ryuunosuke in just feats of strength!

As if to prove that, Ryuu moved to lift his arms up in the air, despite Gabe fighting to keep them down, almost forcing him up onto his toes -- before slamming his head into Gabe's, eliciting a loud yelp from the smaller man. His grip on Ryuu's hands loosened as he tried to push himself away from the other man, at least so he could drop to the ground and make a tactical retreat. He should have known that going against Ryuu, even with tricks, wouldn't work. No, he had to be fair about it, and the best way of doing that was by remaining upright and airborne as much as possible.

Once Ryuu's skull smashed into Gabriel's with a head-rattling head butt, he released the man's arms and let him scramble away. So he outmatched the man in physical strength, good to confirm, but it wasn't much of a surprise judging by appearances alone. He a good modicum of skill to pull off that monkey flip against a taller opponent too, so there'd be some caution moving forward in letting him get too handsy.

Ryuu pushed back to his feet with a grunt and followed after Gabriel, taking a light hand into his hair and pulling him up to his feet. He grab the man's wrist, swinging him around in a full circle before suddenly stopping himself and swinging his leg to intercept Gabriel. His aim was to blast his knee into the man's lower chest and knock the wind out of him, allowing time for a bigger move setup afterwards if all went to plan.

Things could have been worse. At the very least, Ryuu didn't seem to be some sadistic heel who just wanted to show the new blood how things worked in the area. No, he genuinely seemed to want to win, and Gabe could work with that. He grunted as he was released and moved away, looking back at him -- and giving that small grin. Just showing that he was still in this. Of course, because he actually managed to look back, he saw Ryuu getting to his feet. He was close to the ropes, but instead, he let Ryuu grip onto his hair and pull him to his feet. However, before Ryuu even managed to do anything with that, Gabe would try to strike.

He tried to lunge forward suddenly, hoping that the surge of energy he had took Ryuu off guard a little, so he would be able to grab onto the ropes and immediately stop Ryuu's attack from even starting. If he managed to at least do that, he would move to try and pull the two of them closer to the ropes, reaching up to grab Ryuunosuke's hair with his free hand and pull him in towards his shoulder. That way, he would be able to jump up, using the ropes for a bit of leverage in an attempt as a stunner!

"Sorry man, no hard feelings, right?"

Ryuu had just clamped on to Gabriel's arm when the man sprung into action, indeed surprising him for that split-second and allowing him to be maneuvered back. He shook his head as they brushed into the ropes, kicking back into gear and throwing his forearm into Gabriel's chest as he took a step to the side in tactical retreat. Despite his instinct to just get in there and brawl till it was done, Mitsuru was always drilling him to take a step back and look a bit further than the next five seconds.

Unfortunately, he hadn't quite mastered the level of foresight his teammate recommended. Gabriel flung himself up quite high using the ropes and managed to grab on to Ryuu's hair. His palm instantly seized that wrist to claw him off, but the force of gravity was greater than he could counteract in such a short time. His jaw cracked into the bony part of the man's shoulder and he fell onto his chest with a low grunt. He rolled away a couple of times towards the center of the ring and got up on one knee to rub the sore part of his jaw. A light pounding feeling was enough to caution him against taking another hit like that soon.

Gabriel was almost as surprised as Ryuu that he managed to pull that off. Almost. He whipped back around quickly to spot his opponent, already seeing him start to try and get back onto one knee. He looked…kinda attractive, just sitting there for a moment, on one knee, pants clinging to his muscled frame and giving enough of a peek of what lied beneath to make Gabriel more interested in Ryuu. But no, Gabe couldn't let himself get distracted like that! He moved forward quickly, hoping to get Ryuu while he was still trying to take a breather.

He rushed in, hoping Ryuu was still a little out of it thanks to the nice stunner that Gabe had done, so he would be able to follow it up. He stepped up onto Ryuu's raised knee and used it as a bit of leverage so he would be able to try and slam his knee straight into the other man's head -- almost purposefully missing his jaw -- in a textbook shining wizard! That is, if Ryuu didn't grab him before he managed to pull it off. Gabe was good, but only if he was able to keep moving.

When he saw Gabriel coming for him, Ryuu silently wished he had waited for a few more moments, because pain tended to sour his mood. He tensed his muscles as Gabe dashed in, figuring he was going for some sort of strike attempt. He was a bit surprised to find Gabriel vault off his knee, but it wasn't outside his ability to counter.

Ryuu sprung up to his feet when Gabe's knee was headed for his face, intercepting the blow in his chest instead with a grunt. His hands grabbed for Gabriel's waist as he bent his knees, absorbing the downward momentum and then jumping back to his feet. He released Gabriel into the air and swung his bicep up, looking to smash him in the face with a big European uppercut.