Zarya Volkov vs. Makoto Aihara - Iron and Gold [FWC]

Makoto didn’t like the idea of being pinned this early in the match or having to go to the ropes for help, but there was simply no way around it. Her old coach would’ve chastised her for that, saying she was getting too careless, letting the moment distract her too much - and, truthfully, she might’ve had a point. But, then again, her instructor never had her going up against women twice her size. The weight classes would never allow it.

But wrestling was special like that. A small thought that Makoto had as she struggled underneath this hulk of a Russian.

All things considered, Makoto felt she was doing good to manage the escape she’d gotten. She’d reached the ropes, and now she could reset things with Zarya, get back to her feet with more knowledge of her opponent’s style.

Only that wasn’t what happened. It was hard to see from her position, but she was sure she saw the referee get up and call for the break. Zarya must not have heard her, though, because the next thing the Judo Babe knew, she was getting pinned. Again. Harder this time, and the referee was going for it.

Makoto didn't understand why, and at the moment, she didn't much care, either - she just knew she had to escape, and this time it would have to be the traditional way. Pressing her feet and palms to the floor, she thrust up with a mighty push, putting all her effort into the escape.

Makoto didn’t like the idea of being pinned this early in the match or having to go to the ropes for help, but there was simply no way around it. Her old coach would’ve chastised her for that, saying she was getting too careless, letting the moment distract her too much - and, truthfully, she might’ve had a point. But, then again, her instructor never had her going up against women twice her size. The weight classes would never allow it.

But wrestling was special like that. A small thought that Makoto had as she struggled underneath this hulk of a Russian.

All things considered, Makoto felt she was doing good to manage the escape she’d gotten. She’d reached the ropes, and now she could reset things with Zarya, get back to her feet with more knowledge of her opponent’s style.

Only that wasn’t what happened. It was hard to see from her position, but she was sure she saw the referee get up and call for the break. Zarya must not have heard her, though, because the next thing the Judo Babe knew, she was getting pinned. Again. Harder this time, and the referee was going for it.

Makoto didn't understand why, and at the moment, she didn't much care, either - she just knew she had to escape, and this time it would have to be the traditional way. Pressing her feet and palms to the floor, she thrust up with a mighty push, putting all her effort into the escape.

Zarya was fairly certain that between leverage and her weight advantage, she might have been able to keep Makoto's shoulders pinned and pick up the three count there and then. That wasn't her goal. On the contrary, early victory in that fashion actively worked against her true purpose. This wasn't about winning, after all, not really. The Judo Babe didn't realize it yet, but the Iron Soldier was playing a whole different game...

The 'ref' slid into position and began the count. Once again the crowd joined in. 

"One! "

" Two! "

Just then, Makoto broke the pin with a desperate arch of her body and Zarya grinned, feeling a grudging respect. She'd been ready to help matters by not pressing down as hard, but Makoto managed it completely on her own. Not bad. 

Zarya Volkov got to her feet as the ref signaled that it was only a two count. Zarya reached down to offer Makoto a hand to help the girk to her feet in what seemed like the Russian being a good sport.

Makoto was loath to waste any more energy than absolutely necessary against Zarya - she could already tell that she’d been needing pretty much every drop she could squeeze out, no question. While having to heave off the Russian’s bulk might not have seemed like a big deal from the fan’s perspective, for her it was a major problem - the match had barely started, but she already felt like she was nearing the halfway point. Zarya, on the other hand, was relatively fresh.

She wanted to be mad, maybe give the referee a quick talk, and she might have done just that, too - if not for Zarya’s gesture of respect. The outstretched hand, the small smile, a reminder that there was no need to get worked up about it. Everything was still kosher.

Makoto smiled and took Zarya’s offered hand, using it to pull herself back up with an appreciative nod. ”Fair play. Arigato.”

Zarya's grip was firm, but not overly harsh as she helped Makoto to her feet. There was a light applause from the crowd at the show of sportsmanship so rarely displayed in the ring. Well, they were in for quite the disappointment if that's what they were expecting. It was time to start chipping away at that facade.

"You ready to stop playing around? Let us see how you deal with this."

The larger woman never actually released Makoto's hand. Instead, she tried to use that convenient grip to yank the judoka closer, Zarya's opposite arm reaching to snake around her head and neck, attempting to catch the smaller girl in a front-headlock.

It was a small, niggling thing, but more and more, Makoto couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. It was hard to put a finger on exactly, but wrestling had put her in enough trouble that she’d been able to gain some sense of things when they were off, and she was definitely getting that vibe.

Maybe it was nothing, but it hardly helped when Zarya used her helping hand to yank Makoto forward and trap her in a headlock.

She grunted in surprise, but didn’t struggle in the hold. Against someone like Candy Cane or even Reiko, she might have had a chance of powering her way free, but she already knew that would be futile with Zarya. Instead, she went for a more technical attempt at escape.

She reached down, wrapping her arms around one of Zarya’s massive thighs, and pulled it towards her as she pushed forward with her legs. If it all went according to plan, she’d be able to yank her head free and get the mighty Russian on the ground, with her on top. What she’d do from there, she was honestly not sure, but she was willing to take this one step at a time.

You could never underestimate a Judoka, no matter how great the size advantage. Few disciplines in the world of combat sports allowed a competitor to so easily turn an opponents momentum against them or subtly lock in a submission hold from most any position. Even the Iron Soldier wasn't immune to being taken off her feet by Makoto's practiced skill. 

One moment she was in complete control of her smaller foe, a front-headlock trapping the young Japanese woman, leaving Zarya with a wealth of options. She was denied the chance to take advantage, however, when Makoto smoothly leveraged her down to the mat, causing the Russian to land on her back with her opponent on top, mounting her. 

Even from the bottom, Zarya had little reason worry, Makoto wasn't in position to do damage yet. Nevertheless, the Iron Soldier didn't appreciate it and just being taken down by the little Judo Babe was enough to spark her temper. She reached up, grabbing for a fist full of Makoto's hair, looking to take hold and yank the Judoka to the side and off of her. 

This was, of course, not exactly legal, but the referee wasn't even looking at them, seemingly distracted by something in the crowd.

Phew, that worked.

While Makoto had faith in her skills and abilities, that hardly meant even she couldn’t breathe a sigh of relief when she managed to fell a giant like Zarya. It was a small accomplishment, but deftly done, and the audience gave her a quick round of applause. More and more it reminded her of the early days, competing in small hotel tournaments, honing her skills with every match, more and more people coming to watch everyday.

It was a pleasant trip down memory lane, but short-lived. She had only just snapped out of it and began to go for a hold, when she felt a searing pain on her scalp, one she hadn’t felt for quite a while: Zarya was yanking her scalp.

She yelped in surprise, both from the attack itself and the fact the referee didn’t seem to notice it. True, hair-pulling happened so often that it was rare for a referee to ever do anything serious about it, but usually that sort of thing at least earned some attention and a few scolding words.  A quick glance at the referee told Makoto she didn’t seem to care a whit.

She hissed as she was yanked away and pulled off the mighty Russian, trying to figure out what was going on here. Maybe Zarya was just getting carried away, didn’t realize what she was doing? Sounded plausible enough. ”Hey!” She blurted out. ”Stop, stop! You’re grabbing my hair!”

The referee didn't seem to think the Iron Soldier was doing anything wrong as Zarya yanked the Japanese girl off of her and sat up, pulling her muscular legs underneath to sit up in a kneeling position. All the while never actually letting go. 

Makoto was the mark in this con, but that wouldn't last much longer. All the work and preamble had earned Zarya a nice store of good will. If she was going to spend it, best to start getting some real damage done. When the Judo Babe realized just how high the deck was stacked against her, when she and all the compassionate fans in the arena realized they'd been played for suckers, Zarya had no doubt her smaller, but skilled foe would fight with everything she had. 

The key was to make certain that, when the moment came, Makoto was in no position to effectively defend herself. 

Zarya, still maintaining her fierce grip on Makoto's hair, took advantage of the expectation that the ref would actually do her damned job and intervene. Or that Zarya might do the honorable thing and let go on her own. 

Instead, Zarya attempted to use her estsblished grip to smash Makoto, forehead first, into the mat! Simple and effective, but more importantly, the Iron Soldier wanted her prey vulnerable to what was coming next.

”-the hair, the hair, the hair-”

Why was the referee not doing anything?

Why wasn’t Zarya listening?

Why did she just keep pulling and tugging the harder she struggled.

Those questions repeated in Makoto’s head, over and over, as she tried to make some sense out of what was happening. There was no way Zarya didn’t know what she was doing, she couldn’t get past that. Could the moment really take her out that much? How could she-

Makoto had been struggling as Zarya moved about, just trying to catch a breath, when her face was suddenly slammed into the canvas. Hard. It would've been bad enough if just a normal person did it, but when someone with the power that Zarya could bring to bear sent her head crashing down, it felt like smacking a pile of cinderblocks. Makoto’s body jerked about, then she flopped on the floor, still and unmoving. Not unconscious, but stunned, barely able to have two coherent thoughts in a row.