Fool Me... Thrice?

Having kicked things off, Alicia was seemingly content to back up and let the other two in her apartment have at it. She wanted to see how things developed, how Isa in particular handled things, and the first step towards that was letting the blonde take the lead for a bit. So she had got out of the way, moving back to the nearest wall, staying on her feet so she could both get the best view and stay out of the way. There was room in there for all three of them but, well, Japanese apartment rooms (in her price point at least) weren’t huge and there wasn’t a lot of space to use.

Which, really, was another advantage for Isa, while Dmitri wouldn’t have that much room to dodge around. That said, Dmitri was used to this room and its… quirks. Isa wasn’t but the blonde didn’t seem phased in the slightest as she got started.

That said, Isa’s choice of opening move had Alicia wincing.

Oh, she was kind of proud but at the same time she wanted to genuinely facepalm. She’d told Isa to get Dmitri down, she’d told Isa Dmitri was a striker. So, being no striker herself, of course the blonde started by trying to kick him.

Idiot.

For a total novice at the art, it wasn’t the worst kick Alicia had seen but, while it’d have been fine against anyone stupid enough to just try and block it, Dmitri easily sidestepped and punished Isa with a hit to her inner thigh muscle.

As basically expected and, had Isa followed up by trying the same thing again, Alicia would have shouted at her.

As it was, she didn’t. This time, she actually thought about what she was doing and that was a far better start.

Alicia’s eyes gleamed as the curvy blonde literally frog-marched Dmitri back towards her, step by step shoving him bodily across the room.

Stepping out of the way, the redhead nodded approvingly.

”That’s it,” She grinned, ”Stay close, it’s harder for him to kick you if you’re close. Don’t play his game, make him play yours.”

Now she wanted to see what Isa had in mind for the next step.

Indeed, Alicia had told Isa that Dmitri was a striker. Against that background it probably seemed like a foolish choice for Isa to start off with kicks. But then again, her main concern had been trying to please her trainer, and she had yet to form a strategy on how to get Dmitri grounded.

Luckily for her, Isa had no idea about Alicia's will to facepalm to her decision.

Anyway, the blonde soon noticed getting caught in a striking game was not going to work for her, and decided to close in on her new foe instead. There was a good chance Dmitri would try to strike again - but he didn't! Instead, the mere sight of the blonde approaching him was enought to make him back off.

That had to be a good sign.

Soon the guy realised the closing wall behind his back though, and Isa found herself engaged in a pushing contest. It was going to be interesting how that would turn out... And after a brief moment of struggle, the blonde found herself getting the upper hand with relative ease! She was probably getting his back against the wall now, and that meant a boost for the blonde's confidence.

Great, Alicia was delivering her promise on coaching! What was not so great was that it was making Isa slightly blush. It was certainly a little awkward to hear such advice when she was in a match against someone. Not that there was actually anything to be embarrassed about, but the basic idea that Alicia was so strongly on her side felt just a little unfair.

But would Isa complain about it? Never. Even if she had to remind herself a bit what this match was all about.

Isa wanted to push Dmitri all the way until his back was against the wall. Then she'd try to grab hold of his wrists, hoping to pin them to the wall as well. There she could maybe have a moment of dominance after achieving a clear victory in the pushing contest... But what then?

Again - what would Alicia do? Maybe try to strike a knee hard to Dmitri's belly? Yes, that's what Isa would attempt. Not very nice, but Alicia would most probably kill her if she attempted to be nice. Well, at least with her words anyway.

So, this was taking a bad turn. Dmitri was man enough to admit that.

It wasn't that she'd got him against the wall that bugged him - he figured he might get there eventually, especially in such an enclosed space. What he didn't expect was it to happen so suddenly, so soon in the sparring match. He'd started off well enough, but that advantage was withering fast.

Dmitri had a quick sigh at Alicia’s words - sure, he knew what side she was on, but he didn't expect it to be rubbed in his face that much.

He had little time to contemplate it, anyway, before Isa became even more aggressive. When it came to upper body strength, they were likely fairly even-match, but she had the superior position and posture. There was little he could do to stop her from pinning him to the wall - she had the leverage with legs, giving her a solid base to work from.

That didn't mean he was without options. He didn't like those options, but they were available.

He was about to try something, even started to move for it, when a hard knee in the stomach stopped him fast. Isa was clearly not a striker at heart, but that hardly meant she couldn't do damage, especially where her twin battleship legs were concerned, and especially when they targeted such a tender spot.

It hurt. It hurt a lot. Dmitri wasn't able to stifle the cry that came out right after, but he had enough sense left to realize he needed to do something to get her back. This was just not a position he could afford to stay in.

Gritting his teeth, he tried to move past the pain and rapidly shot his leg up, attempting to hit her with two quick knees to the gut of his own, looking to pay her back in equal measure.

So far so good. Dmitri clearly didn't have a lower-body strength comparable to her own, and Isa was able to push him right where she wanted to. Nobody wanted to get their back against a wall - if they were competitive anyway - and Alicia was approving of her actions.

That thought again stuck in her head, Isa wanted her coach to keep up being so approving.

Pinning Dmitri's hand to the wall, the blonde had a good chance to have a moment of contemplation. Should she just try to get Dmitri immediately grounded? Yes, that was the reasonable choice, also given Alicia's comments.

Despite it being somewhat against her nature, Isa decided to strike her knee into Dmitri's belly. Success! Now that would probably make Alicia proud again... And based on what she heard, the blow wasn't too comfortable for Dmitri either. Maybe she could use some softer way to get him grounded now...

But should Isa had known better? Knee strikes - they were Dmitri's game, right?

Answer to that was delivered not only once, but twice as Isa's new foe paid back for the blonde's actions. Now it was Isa's time to shout out from pain... And not only that, the moves were such a surprise that the blonde collapsed on her knees.

Well, Alicia surely wasn't being proud now.

Still, even when collapsed in front of Dmitri, Isa was leaning on his body. That made the guy more unlikely to escape... Although there was a clear risk of him delivering his knee to some other parts of Isa's now.

Realising the need to get some control of Dmitri's legs, Isa would try to wrap her arms around them. She could maybe have there some time hugging them and recover from the strikes. However, if she got a good hold of his legs, Isa could try to throw Dmitri over her with a backward-falling motion of her own as soon as she felt the need for it. Maybe that would get him grounded.

Knees weren’t exactly Dmitri’s forte - tae kwon do was most about maneuverability, speed, striking at a distance, targeting the upper body with powerful. Pretty much everything a knee to the stomach wasn’t, really.

That sort of thing was fine for the familiar confines of his dojang. But in a setting like this, where space was limited, he’d learned to add a few new things to his repertoire. After all, his ‘dates’ with Alicia weren’t completely about her having a squeeze toy on top. He’d actually tried to learn things. Improve

So, while his knees weren’t quite on the level of a muy thai master, he could deliver the blows with fairly decent force and speed. Enough to get the jump on Isa and bring her to her knees, which left her open to all sorts of things.

The first step to anything was to get her under control, he decided, and to that end he reached over and wrapped his arm around her skull, securing the headlock. A good strategy, but not foolproof - it left her arms open, and he wasn’t the only one with interesting options.

At first, he thought Isa was going to try a double leg takedown, judging by the way her arms were wrapping around his legs. But that wouldn’t brought him forward and down - instead, she lifted him up and over, and he went tumbling to the mat.

Disoriented, he rose a quick as he could, but it was a wobbly start, and not being able to see her immediately made it worse. He pivoted with his guard up, hoping it would be enough to take whatever she had coming his way.

Things were not going so smoothly as Isa would have wished for. With the added pressure of Alicia watching her actions, taking on this new and unfamiliar guy wasn't turning out to be exactly a joyride at this point. And the blonde had made some stupid mistakes as well.

Only wise thing to do now was to get Dmitri grounded.

It wasn't going to be easy either, as the guy soon wrapped his hand around her head. To be honest, it was quite an uncomfortable setup to do anything for getting Dmitri down - but Isa had to follow her instincts. If she didn't do something, it would all just head for worse.

Luckily, her improvised takedown worked. The blonde got Dmitri thrown to the mat, and even herself out of the headlock in the process. That could have meant a moment of breather - but Dmitri was far from staying put to the ground.

And once Isa was down, she was sure enough to prevent her opponent from getting back up again by all means.

Quickly rolling around on her belly, Isa soon had her sight set on Dmitri. Even if his getting up was wobbly, he was able to do it. For him, it would have probably been better to be a bit further away from the blonde though. And even if he had his guard up, maybe he should have had it down for what Isa had in mind.

Seeing Dmitri's feet almost right in front of her, it was instinctive for Isa to try quickly grabbing both of his ankles and yanking them towards her hard. Hopefully that would make the guy's back get slammed to the mat.

Isa wasn’t Alicia, but as she rose and came after him, he couldn't help but see some notable similarities, and not just from the twin pillars of steel she walked around on. Watching Alicia fight was like seeing a panther in action, moving with such startling speed for her size, and he could see all of that in the dazzling blonde in front of him. Good as her ‘teacher’? Not quite yet. But there was potential.

For the moment, though, he felt things were even enough for him to handle. At least, if he stayed standing. Which, even wobbly, he thought he had a good chance at. He kept his guard up, stayed moving, backpeddled to create some distance.

It turned out, though, that he was underestimating both Isa’s speed and her intelligence. She came in, but instead of going high, she went low and came at his legs, grabbing at his ankles and pulling him to the floor. Gravity had its way, and there wasn’t much of a way to stop it.

But he could work with it, he figured. Make the best of a bad situation.

He hit hard on his back with her on top - not the most unpleasant thing, really - and immediately reached up to try and grasp her head, hoping to capture her with a headlock and minimize her options. If he had to do this, he could at least maintain some level of control.

So, it looked like it was time for ground game. Good news. Although it looked like Dmitri was planning otherwise. Bad news. But Dmitri actually managing to get the fight back up again? Fake news!

Isa was determined to keep Dmitri grounded. After all, there was no other way she could ever manage to reduce him to her 'squeeze dummy'. And gravity was indeed a helpful aid in that regard. Pulling the guy's ankles would probably get her have her way.

And success it was! Dmitri was promptly slammed back against the mat. Now she could easily get him to...

...get her into another headlock? Seriously?!? That wasn't part of the plan. Isa couldn't help letting out a slight frustrated moan as her head became under Dmitri's control once again. She had expected much smoother sailing.

Instinctive reaction was to try prying Dmitri's arm off. Not even considering about the chances for success, it was just the obvious thing to try.

However, if Dmitri's arm stayed firmly in its place, the blonde had to figure out something else to try. Isa decided to wrap both of her arms around Dmitri's thighs, and try starting to roll the two around. Maybe the rolling motion itself would surprise the guy and make him release her head... But if not, she'd try to roll the two all the way towards a wall, hoping to get Dmitri there into a difficult position.

Going for the headlock wasn’t exactly a proud move for Dmitri - it was almost a tacit admission that he was afraid of what she could do down here, that he was stalling and looking to buy time. Frankly, though, he didn’t much care about perception at this point. His strengths and her weaknesses were clear at this point, and while he wasn’t going to win with this move, it could buy him some time to think of something better. Whatever that might be.

He responded to her frustrated groan with a relieved sigh, though that relief was brief. She wasn’t an easy woman to hold down, and in the next moment, she began to pull at his hold, wildly trying to get free. She almost managed to, before he ratcheted up the pressure, clamping down as hard as he could to maintain the hold. It was his lifeline, the one thing standing between him and a world of pain. He wasn’t giving it up easy.

It did make her hard to control in other aspects, though. He raised his eyebrow as she cradled his legs, not sure what she was playing at, until she began to roll around on the mat, taking him along for the ride. Not only did that make holding her hard, with each tumble threatening to loosen his grip, but there was the little problem of the wall. The one that was getting closer and closer and-

”Nnh!” His back slapped hard against, ending their journey with them both on their sides. Awkward position. His grip on the headlock was slipping by the second, and even if he let it go, there wasn’t anywhere for him to escape to, now. Not before she could get all over him. ”Come on, come on…” He muttered as he attempted to keep her head in check.

So, plan A hadn't worked. Or it had before the headlock. After that, it was time for plan B.

To be honest, there really wasn't one. But Isa had to come up with it. The headlock Dmirti had wasn't a spectacular move, rather plain if anything, but it was nastily effective. And trying to pry his arm off turned out to be a failed attempt.

Was Isa's choice of a counter a spectacular one? Not really, not even an obvious one. But wrapping her arms around his thighs allowed to gain some control, and the blonde decided to use it by rolling the two towards a wall. Let's see how she could deal with him there.

As for how their choices looked like to Alicia, the redhead was probably considering them to be desperate amateurs at this point.

Regardless of that, Dmitri was still persistently keeping the headlock in place by the time his back hit against the wall. And Isa's patience with it was growing thin. Thinking about their position, there seemed to be only one logical thing to do.

To start punching his guts. Not an angelic move, but hopefully effective one. So that's what Isa decided to do. Delivering a few hits to Dmitri's midsection with her forearm and fist would hopefully finally make the guy release his hold. And potentially, Alicia somewhat prouder of her.