SD III: Mariko Ishii vs. Ninjette

Mariko's kick wasn't half as flashy as most of the things Kozue had done in this match alone. But the kick served a very simple and distinct purpose, and it seemed to have done its job quite well. It wasn't the sort of move she could count on to win her this match, but it had rendered Kozue vulnerable and slowed her down.

Hoping to take advantage of this before Kozue could recover and stop her, Mariko grabbed onto her foe's ponytail and led her just far enough out of the corner that Mariko could slip in behind her and shift herself to sit on the top turnbuckle, where she'd then wrap her legs around Kozue's head and neck from behind.

If she could get Kozue in position, Mariko would then lean to the side and grab onto the top rope, then let gravity pull her down. With only her grip on the ropes and her legs around Kozue's head keeping her up, this rope assisted headscissor would put a lot of painful pressure on her foe. Technically it was more of a choke than a smother, and there was a chance the ref wouldn't be too fond of this tactic. But she intended to keep this locked in until Kozue could fight out, or the ref made her let it go.

Kozue was cornered, but she could still see the silver lining in the moment, and she didn’t think she was too bad off. She was still leading in stamina, she thought, and just because Mariko had a temporary advantage, it didn’t mean she’d keep that. It was all a matter of keeping that control, and she could counter her way out of this. She was sure of it.

Just as sure as she figured out where Mariko was. Where’d she go?

Kozue got her answer when she felt her ponytail being yanked back, something she was always surprised didn’t happen more often. ”Ow, watchthehair, shit, watchthehair!” She scrambled about and tried to get free, but she wasn’t able to escape the corner before a familiar pair of thighs came around her head. And, then, well, came the pain.

It was like being hanged, only with a sexy pair of squeezing legs instead of ropes, which arguably made it better. Kozue’s feet left the ground as she kicking and struggled and squirmed, but it was no use. Gravity was firmly on Mariko’s side, and she was being a bitch about the whole thing.

The good news was that Mariko only had, tops, four seconds to keep the hold on, and the referee was already starting up the count. The bad news was that Kozue had to endure this hold for four whole seconds. That could be a long time while your throat was getting crushed.

Mariko wasn't one to break the rules. But, just like the bodies of her opponents, she had no problem bending and twisting them as much as she could get away with. There was a limit, of course. She wasn't about to sneak out of the ring, grab a chair, then slam it over someone's head while the ref wasn't looking. Keeping a rope-assisted hold in for a few extra seconds though, different story.

Predictably, the ref was none too pleased with this, and she'd barely finished locking the hold in before she heard the booming voice beside them. "Let the hold go, Ishii! One! Two! Three! Four!--"

It was only right then that Mariko finally unclasped her legs from around Kozue's neck. The sole of her right boot pushed against the girl's upper back to shove her back toward the center of the ring. Mariko rolled through until her feet were on the apron, then let go of the top rope and stepped under it to re-enter the ring, eyes immediately locking onto Kozue to gauge the damage she'd inflicted.

The funny thing was that, while Kozue kind of wanted to be mad about Mariko pushing the hold and stretching things out to the last second, she really couldn’t. If the positions were switched, she’d be doing the exact same thing. While she wasn’t the type to outright cheat, either, she was willing to do whatever the referee would let her get away with.

That being said, she did plan on getting a little payback at some point. Just to even things up.

It was a fleeting thought, one to occupy her while she struggled in vain for breath. Sure enough, Mariko held the hold all the way, and only let Kozue go when she had to. The New Jersey Ninja fell down to her knees, gasping and coughing up a storm, furiously trying to refill her lung.

”Hey-” She took a few more deep breaths and pushed herself up to one foot, as Mariko stepped back into the ring. She smirked up at Mariko as she came her way and made the time-out signal. ”Don’t suppose you’ll me a sec to catch my breath, huh?”

This was certainly starting to look like a nice turnaround for Mariko considering only a minute or two ago she was being smothered out under Kozue’s crotch. Now she looked like a predator stalking wounded prey as she approached her foe. She was still tired after all she’d been put through in the first round. But in this round Mariko had thus far been able to manage her own energy quite well while wearing Kozue’s down.

She couldn’t help but grin ever so slightly at the brunette’s comment, but the answer was clear. And Kozue had barely gotten her last word out when Mariko answered with a quick, “Nope.” She’d been walking calmly to that point, but then took a pair of quick, running steps to close the remaining distance. She leapt, aimed one foot to land on the girl’s upturned knee, while attempting to slam the other leg into her head with a shining wizard!

Given the fact that Kozue had been watching Mariko coming, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to land the full force of the move. But if it kept her opponent down and out of the skies, then that was all she’d need for now.

Kozue just chuckled at Mariko’s quick response, figuring she’d say something like that. She didn’t think that was likely to happen, and she was mostly joking, anyway, but it never hurt to ask. Mariko was certainly bringing all of her A-game to the match, which she actually found a little surprising. It made sense for Kozue to be going all out, given how high Mariko was on the Tension totem pole. But she didn’t think the reverse would be true. The Japanese had treated her like a serious threat, right from the start, and it was...flattering, really.

Well, if Mariko wanted a challenge, she was going to get all of it. Kozue started to rise up, intent on bringing the fight back and retaking control...that was, until Mariko came rushing in and planted a foot on her upturned knee.

”Oh-”

She had just enough time to be impressed by Mariko’s Shining Wizard before the knee connected with her skull and rattled her brain. She went down, she went down hard, and this time she clearly wasn’t getting up for a moment. All she could do was lay there, looking up at the ceiling while stars danced around her vision.

Mariko’s speed was nowhere on the same level of someone like Ninjette. The first round had proven that fact without any doubt whatsoever. But shifting gears so drastically and abruptly could throw off just about anyone, especially if they don’t have much time to react. Had Mariko just run straight into the shining wizard once she came into the ring, chances are it wouldn’t have gone so smoothly. But her leg slammed right into Kozue’s head, and her foe was down.

The Japanese beauty quickly pulled herself to her feet and started to move toward the prone brunette to press her advantage, but stopped when a thought came to her head, prompting her lips to curl into a nice, evil little grin. Briefly stepping back, Mariko pulled both her boots off and tossed them out of the ring, exposing her stocking covered feet, then walked back over to Kozue.

She put a foot against the girl’s ribs and pushed her over onto her front, then moved to sit down on the small of her back. From there she’d try to pull Kozue’s arms over her thighs, putting her in prime camel clutch positioning, though that wasn’t quite what she was going for. Instead of pulling Kozue’s head up with her hands, Mariko would then move her feet around and press them right against her foe’s pretty face.

Given how Kozue had used her face as a footrest not too long ago, Mariko felt a bit of payback was in order~

Quick teeth check. Kozue her tongue all along her gums, and was relieved to find that they were all still in their proper place. A pleasant surprise, after the unpleasant one that had just rammed her in the face. She’d known that Mariko was like a hot, wrestling Swiss Army Knife, but still, she hadn’t thought she would have the timing and speed to pull off a Shining Wizard.

Well, she did it. Goddamn, did she do it.

Kozue really wanted to say some quip now, but the truth was that she didn’t yet have the ability to speak complete sentences. Not that she would’ve had much opportunity to, anyway, since Mariko was already moving on to the next move...after she’d taken a few seconds to do something.  Probably because she was thinking, something Kozue already knew would end up poorly for her when it came to this particular wrestler.

She learned what was going through Mariko’s mind when she was promptly flipped over, only for her buxom foe to immediately sit down on her back. As her limp body was moved around, she thought she was getting put into a camel clutch, and that was true - but when she looked down and saw that Mariko had taken her shoes off, she realized it wasn’t that simple.

Her head was promptly shoved into those feet, putting her in the same dark world that she’d put Mariko in a few minutes ago. It really wasn’t that bad, all things considered - Mariko’s feet didn’t have an unpleasant odor to them, nice and clean and soft, with a vaguely fruity taste to it. There was just the whole problem with not being able to breath.

Kozue let out a muffled scream as she shook her head about and squirmed, but the seal was surprisingly strong, especially with Mariko pushing down like she was. For the moment she was trapped, held still, and rapidly running out of oxygen.

Mariko couldn’t help but giggle, both from the satisfaction of using her feet to smother Kozue just as she’d done to her a while ago, and from the slightly tickling sensation of her foe’s muffled screams vibrating against her smooth soles. On the bright side for Kozue, Mariko took very good care of her feet. She got regular pedicures, washed them thoroughly, and liked to rub pleasant-smelling lotion on them. And the soft stockings she wore no doubt made it far from the most unpleasant feeling Kozue would endure in this match.

But of course, the girl needed to breathe, and Mariko simply wasn’t letting her. No matter how much she screamed or squirmed, the vixen wasn’t letting her foe get a single breath in. And she felt like making things just a little worse for Kozue. She grabbed her wrists and extended them out, then started to push them, leaning forward until the arms were beginning to push the boundaries of how far they could go. In the process, the shift would be pressing Kozue’s face even more against Mariko’s soles.

“Kiss them, and I just might think about letting you out of this~” Mariko said through a little grin. She’d put several opponents in similar situations in the past, and almost all of them had complied. Mariko was more than a little eager to see if she could get Kozue to do so too.

Kozue couldn’t see much, aside from the occasional sliver of light escaping through Mariko’s toes, but she could feel the vibrations in the ring, and still hear the crowd’s chants. The referee was coming over and kneeling nearby, no doubt trying to check and see how close Kozue was to her nap. The crowd was anticipating it, too, as their cries mixed into an unintelligible cacophony.

The sound she noticed the most, though, was Mariko’s honeyed voice, giving her a devilish choice. She’d seen enough of Mariko’s matches to know how this would go - even if she did the deed, chances were she would hold it, anyway. Or put Kozue in something worse. Again, pretty much the exact thing Kozue would do if the positions were reversed.

Still, it was tempting. A bit. Before she got a better idea.

She paused for a moment, grew still, seemingly debating her choice...until she opened her mouth and gave Mariko’s foot a bite. Not a hard one, not enough to really hurt, but she felt it would convey the message well enough. She wasn’t like the other opponents she’d done this with - if Mariko wanted to dominate her, she’d have to fight for it every step of the way.

With that little act of defiance done, Kozue resumed her struggles, madly twitching about as Mariko pressed her advantage and put her flexibility to the test.