In the Crosshairs - Samiya Kusanagi vs Valley Doll (Non-Title)

Understandably, Samiya wasn’t in a position to appreciate the damage she’d done to Valley’s mobility – still recovering from the trauma to her skull, she only really recognised what was about to happen when it happened.

Later, when she rewatched the tapes, that might change. For now? She was busier trying to breathe again.

She did somewhat notice the effect the landing had on Valley though, but mostly Samiya was still on auto-pilot. That didn’t mean she was an easy target though. She did notice what the blonde did – not just stand, but go into a handstand – and it knocked something of her training back into gear.

Some instinct down in the primitive parts of Samiya’s brain, perhaps, something she’d seen during her binge-watching of Valley’s matches. Whatever it was, something triggered. And the Schoolgirl Assassin reacted immediately, throwing her weight to the side in a frantic attempt to roll out from under the blonde. One moonsault had been enough, she really didn’t need to take a second – not that she was consciously thinking anything like that, but it was certainly an applicable sentiment.

Plus, with any luck, Valley would be good enough to fall flat on her face. That would put her back in Samiya’s territory and give the tattooed fighter a chance to turn things back in her favour. She really needed to break Valley’s momentum before it really got going.

Valley had been doing moonsaults her entire wrestling career, even longer if you counted her time as a cheerleader. It was one of the first she’d learned when she was crafting her style, the first she’d perfected. She’d done them in just about every variation - corkscrew, double, lionsault, Arabian Press. She’d done them off of every object imaginable.

That being said, she was under no delusion that it could sometimes - a lot of times - be a bad move to use. And this could’ve been one of those time. Samiya was smart, she had the instincts, and doubling up on the moonsaults could’ve very easily worked against her.

In fact, it was likely. So likely she’d expected it.

Instead of going for a traditional moonsault, she went for a full turn, what would’ve been a moonsault stomp if Samiya hadn’t managed to roll out of the way. But she did, which meant that Valley just landed on her feet...only for her to immediately jump back again with even more force this time, spinning around once and a half to bring her back down on Samiya’s chest with a moonsault senton.

Hah! Samiya’s thinking wasn’t much beyond that as she rolled away. That left Valley free to crash and burn, hopefully giving her a chance to get back in this match. All she had to do was wait for the crash that…

Never came.

Still reacting more on instinct than anything else, the purple-haired woman’s thoughts were too sluggish to realise that her opponent had simply landed on both feet instead of belly-flopping. She certainly wasn’t given much time to dwell on that before the moonsault senton fell on her like the wrath of an unfriendly god.

This time, Samiya didn’t have a chance to do much of anything. It was a repeat of the first time in the match that Valley had hit her with a moonsault; the choked spluttering attempts at gasping for breath, the jerk upwards for a moment before slumping back to the mat.

The tattooed fighter’s chest rose and fell with her steady if harsh, ragged breathing, but otherwise she wasn’t moving.

Valley would have to give Samiya credit - the younger wrestler was forcing her to dig deeper into her bag of tricks than she’d had to since joining the AFW, going for crazier moves that she hadn’t relied on in years. It was a good thing that this wasn’t a televised match, and that it would probably only find some limited circulation on Youtube. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to worry about future opponents learning of her rarer counters.

Samiya made an excellent guinea pig for the repeating moonsault, though, with the senton landing right on target. It left Valley’s foe stunned for the moment, unmoving on the floor. Whether she was good enough for a pin, she couldn’t say for sure, but there was one, surefire way to find out.

She reached over, hooked Samiya’s leg, then bridged out and pressed her weight down on her chest with her back, going for a pinfall. The referee slid into position and started slapping away, counting along with the crowd.

”1…!”

As far as things went, Samiya hadn’t been moving that much before the senton. After it, she was basically motionless and Valley would face no resistance whatsoever as she hooked one thick leg and went for the cover.

One, the ref counted.

Two, the crowd chorused as the palm hit the mat for the second time.

Something in there did an excellent job of refocusing the Schoolgirl Assassin’s attention back on the match. Whether it was Valley’s weight on her, the sound of the ref slapping the canvas or what, she’d never know, but something refocused her attention on the business at hand as opposed to the pain in her midsection.

Samiya might have taken a bit of a pounding but she wasn’t yet out for the count. Valley and the referee and the crowd were due to discover that when, shortly after the two count, the petite powerhouse jerked back to life. And she still had plenty of power left packed in that compact frame, which she promptly put into kicking out. It was going to take more than a couple of moonsaults to put her away, that much Samiya was determined upon.

For two seconds, things looked good for Valley. Samiya was still conscious, but seemed to be in what her mother called ‘the sweet spot’ - that lovely little point between being awake and knocked out, when an opponent was ripe for the pinning. And while a simple moonsault wasn't her finisher, Valley felt like doubling up on the move would be enough to get the job done.

For what was far from the first time in this match, though, she turned out to be completely wrong on that front. Samiya managed a strong kick out, with enough force to nearly knock Valley all the way off.  The crowd sounded annoyed, but Valley merely went to her knees and put her hands on her hips, trying hard not to look as impressed as she felt. Samiya, for all her irritating little quirks, had some real talent and gumption, the kind she loved to see in younger talents.

”God,” Valley sighed and rose to one knee. ”If you weren’t such a jerk, I’d like you.”

With that lament out of the way, she moved over to Samiya head and grabbed it tight, getting back to her feet and forcing the submission specialist to rise with her. That last pin was close enough - just a bit more, and she could bring this to a close. Valley could feel it.

And a kick out; Samiya didn’t doubt she could kick out of Valley’s pin, but the timing was always a worry. Three seconds wasn’t a long time and if Valley had rode out her bucking for just one more second…

Well, she hadn’t. Samiya was safe. For now.

But Valley Doll wasn’t going to let up and the smaller wrestler soon found herself being moved back to her feet.

Gritting her teeth, Samiya let Valley pull her up with the blonde. She could still do this. She knew she could still do this. The blonde might be faster but, at the moment, she was up close. And Samiya had holds that didn’t rely on wearing an opponent down or pain, blood chokes and the like that could even topple a fresh enemy.

All she needed to do was get Valley to stay still, preferably on the mat. All she needed to do was stun her.

With that in mind, as she reached standing, the Schoolgirl Assassin brought one short leg up in the hopes of pounding her boot into Valley’s belly. Not even waiting to see if her surprise attack had landed, the pocket powerhouse spun as fast as she could, going to secure the champ’s head in a facelock before sitting out – Stone Cold Stunner to Valley Doll, centre ring, from Samiya Kusanagi!

If that didn’t stun Valley, the newcomer didn’t know what would.

Valley’s plan was a simple one from this point on. She had Samiya on the ropes, and for the moment it seemed like she could keep her there. The smaller wrestler was strong and smart, but Valley had speed and reach on her side, and an array of aerial moves that could leave her dizzy. The next move might not be enough to finish her off, but the one after that would have a better chance, and the one after that would have an even better chance, and on and on…

It would wear Samiya down. Sooner rather than later, hopefully.

Her next step would’ve been to hurl her opponent to the nearest corner and work her over from the confines, and she started to go through with that, as she reached for a wrist. That was when everything went wrong.

Samiya kicked her in the stomach, which, while hardly pleasant, was far from the worst kick she’d ever taken, and something she could’ve recovered from well enough. What happened right after that, though, was a wholly different matter, as Valley’s chin suddenly found itself crashing into Samiya's shoulder, with all her weight behind it.

A stunner. Or a cutter. Or whatever you wanted to call it. The blasted thing sent a spike of pain through Valley’s head, drove the sense clean out of her. She’d taken the move before - her girlfriend used a similar move for her finisher, something she doubted was a total coincidence. Regardless, knowing what the move was didn’t help anymore than knowing the color of the truck that hit you. It still left Valley loopy, falling to her knees as she shook her head, rapidly blinking while her brain did a full restart.

There was a reassuring thunk as Samiya came down into the move, the sound and sensation of her opponent’s chin smacking down on her shoulder with all of Valley’s weight behind it. It wasn’t one of her staple attacks, though it was simple enough that she’d have been appalled if she’d botched it. That said, Valley might not have cooperated, she might have misjudged the heights…

And naturally Valley had more cause than most to be personally familiar with this manoeuvre, given it was one of her girlfriend’s finishers and that was exactly why Samiya had gone with it. She’d brushed up on it because Silver Ace loved to use it and, with that in mind, it had been on her mind and an easy option in that situation.

And it’d worked perfectly to bring Valley back down, the blonde looking like she’d been run over by something heavy. And then possibly had whatever it was reverse back over her for good measure.

Either way, Samiya had bought herself some time but she was no fool – she had two options. She could try drawing this out, wearing Valley down, go with her initial plan and probably have the veteran adapt again. Or she could go for the finish now and hope that was enough of a show for the fans.

Backing away from the penitent champ, the Schoolgirl Assassin pushed off the ropes, using that momentum to go into a handstand right in front of the blonde.

Ideally, the result would land the backs of her thighs either side of Valley’s head, perfectly positioned for Samiya’s ankles to cross and allowing the tattooed powerhouse to put brutal pressure on either side of her opponent’s skull with a handstand headscissors.

Not only would she be able to squeeze her legs but the handstand would let her put her glutes and all the rest of her lower body into the move, like a lever.

It definitely got her a pop from the fans but Samiya’s attention was fully on any signs that she’d actually managed to pull out a win here.

While she was willing to bet Haley’s version was more powerful - and could freely admit she was a bit biased on that - Valley could give Samiya props on a technical level, admiring the way the ‘rookie’ pulled it off. Not that it was the most complicated move, but getting it from that position, that quickly, executing it before she could even dream of pushing away...good stuff.

Now, the question remained on how Samiya would follow up on it. Valley didn’t have long to wait for answer.

She looked up as the hellion was coming back towards, ducking down for what, at first, appeared to be a somersault, maybe a Koppu Kick of her own. She thought that, until the legs came down on her shoulders, trapping her between them, almost as if she was going for a hurricanrana driver. She thought that, until Samiya didn’t jerk back and pull her over. She just held position, staying upside, perfectly balanced. And squeezing. Squeezing so damn hard.

Valley was proud of her own legs, strong and sinewy as they were, but she’d begrudgingly admit that Samiya might’ve had her beat, at least when it came down to pure power. Reflexively, her hands went to the tiny terrors thighs, vainly trying to pull them apart, and giving her a perfect feel of the swelling muscle beneath her skin. If she’d forgotten how strong those legs were from the figure-four leglock, this would’ve given her a harsh reminder.

She gritted her, squinted hard, and let out a scream that she didn’t even have the breath for, making a hoarse wheeze instead. Valley didn’t want to tap, but unless she did something to get free, she wouldn’t have to - she could lose on a knockout, too, and she doubted Samiya cared much either way.