Return to the Ring: Carmen Rodriguez vs. Gato Blanco!

Blanco tried to push himself up off the mat, but any sudden motion caused his masked head to scream in agony. Despite wanting nothing more than to get himself moving again, Blanco stayed down, boots pounding the mat in pain. “Ngh,” he moaned, as Carmen pulled him up back up to his boots. Blanco's arms dangled at his side, still rocked by the fighter's suplex, and his legs went wide just to support him. The fist that struck him across the face sent the luchador reeling, stumbling backward!

“No!” Holly gasped, watching all this play out. Her cheeks flushed red, as Army seemed to pick on her at ringside. Truth was, she did worry. She'd watched Blanco get thrown around, smacked about, even pinned and submitted in the past. As Holly looked into the ring and watched her lover-the father of her child- get manhandled by a strong, dominant woman, however, always seemed different. She looked at Carmen, and saw the hard-bodied fighter as everything she wasn't: tough, powerful, dominant. And completely having her way with Blanco.

For his part, the luchador was trying to re-orient himself in the ring. The entire arena was spinning around him, his head feeling like it was bouncing around inside of mask. Carmen hit like a mack truck, probably a more powerful striker than he'd ever met in the ring before. He needed to get moving again, or at least get himself some space so that Carmen couldn't keep tagging like this. Blanco couldn't imagine taking too many more of these, before going down!

“He'll bounce back,” Holly promised, pouting at Army, “just you wait! You seem awfully cocky. Did you already forget how easily he was tossing that sister of your around, earlier?”

Gato could take a punch, Carmen would give him that. Sort of, anyway. True, her right cross definitely rocked his head and sent him back to the corner where she wanted him, but he managed to keep his feet on the ground - mostly. Many men wouldn’t have been standing after a blow like that, and it just proved that her work was far from over. It’d take way more blows to the head before Gato Blanco was good for the three-count.

But she was determined - to win, to prove she could hold her own, to show that she wasn’t done in Tension just yet. A fact that Army could attest to. ”Didn’t forget, no.” Army shook his head. ”But how you start’s not important as how you finish, right? Speaking of which…”

He pointed to the ring as Carmen took a step back, then another, making some more space between she and Gato. With him firmly in her sights, she took off and charge, crossing the ring in long, confident strides, a blur of red and blur closing in on him.

The moment she was close, Carmen leaped up, reared her arm back, and threw it forward at the right time to hit him in the face with a forearm smash, putting all of her momentum and weight behind the killer blow.

Gato Blanco leaned back, letting his shoulder blades sink into the turnbuckle. The arena lights seemed to fade in and out, as his brain struggled to recalibrate after Carmen's hard hit. Moaning, Blanco gave his head one final shake, then white-knuckled the top rope with each hand. The corner post was fully supporting him, the only thing keeping him on his boots as he caught his breath. He thought of all the ring workers who had worked him over, through the years. Acero Serpiente, Los Manos, Santa Tigresa, Ronaldo the Hippie Jr., Mamba Negra … none had packed quite the punch that Carmen threw behind that arm!

The corner of the ring was the only thing keeping Blanco aloft as he opened his eyes. Which might has been a blessing, as he watched the red blur of Carmen's body come rushing toward him. He could hear the rising voices of the fans, anticipating the knockout blow that was speeding his way like a bullet! The young woman was no slouch, obviously. Blanco had no idea if his body, as rocked as it had been over the years by blow after blow, fight after fight …

And he wasn't about to find out. On instinct, Blanco released the ropes and let his body drop to the mat. Many wrestlers would have been either too proud to fall, or too worried about fighting up from the bottom. From Blanco's vantage, however, the ground was exactly where he wanted to be. Better that, than being sandwiched between Carmen's forearm and the unforgiving turnbuckle!

As Blanco dropped to the mat, he curled up and inward, rolling his body into a tight ball. His shoulders were on the mat, but he drew his knees inward and pointed his boots out. There, he waited for Carmen to land, wanting to see if she would follow that strike all the way to the corner, or improvise some means of escape!

At ringside, Holly had been beside herself. Even outside of the ring, Carmen's power was obvious. Seeing Blanco drop, the buxom Brit gasped. She held her hands tight over her soft chest, staring wide-eyed into the ring. She saw her man drop, curl into himself. Biting her lip, she tried hard to ignore Army as she waited to see how Blanco's gambit might pay off.

It had seemed simple enough, at the outset. Carmen had Blanco cornered, wide open, and while she wasn’t quite as fast as he was, she was willing to wager that him being stunned would help close that gap. Sure, there was a bit of a risk, but what wrestling moves didn’t come with at least a little of that?

It would hit. It would have to hit. Where could he even dodge to?

The answer was ‘down’, as Carmen learned a second after she took flight. Suddenly she was left with nothing between the turnbuckle and her but a lot of empty space. Which, of course, meant one thing: pain.

With no time to improvise, her only means of protection was the arm she already had up. That worked to a point - she able to slam her arm into the turnbuckle to eat some of the force. But it wasn't enough to keep her head from smacking into it entirely, and Carmen wound up smashing her face against, leaving her understandably stunned.

She staggered out of the corner a much dizzier women than she'd gone in, shaking her head as she struggled to clear out the cobwebs.

Gato Blanco's head had been swimming, but all he needed was a moment to sort his head. To let that pounding sensation beneath his mask subside, and let him re-orient himself in the ring. Carmen had rocked him hard; Blanco just needed her to give him a second, one moment to catch his bearing. And Carmen certainly wasn't going to give it to him!

Holly squealed uncontrollably when Blanco dropped, and Carmen missed her knockout forearm strike. The British Bombshell bounced up and down on her heels, hands clapping ecstatically as she went full fangirl for her man. Holly abandoned all concern for dignity and poise as Blanco dodged certain death, and the fans cheered with her! She couldn't help herself, she simply had to turn back to Army and smirk. “Was that the finish, then? Match is totally over? That's what you were saying, yes?”

The mat hit Blanco's shoulders loudly as he dropped, but it was far less painful than taking that forearm to the face. Blanco crossed his arms over his chest, trying to keep as much control over his fall as he could as Carmen fly over him and hit the turnbuckle.

Blanco winced in sympathy. Over the years, he'd hit the turnbuckle just like that more times than he could count. Literally- he was sure there were times he couldn't recall. As Carmen staggered away in pain, Blanco took the space he was given and thrust himself upward. He rolled on his spine in the corner, thrust out from the hips, and kipped up to his feet. The fans cheered, seeing what seemed like the sudden resurrection of the man. Blanco's chest heaved, as he struggled to keep from revealing how difficult that kip-up actually was in his current state!

Blanco sized Carmen up. She was staggered, sure, but Blanco needed more. He still needed more space, more room to work. Without a word, Blanco gripped the top rope once again, and used it as leverage. Grunting, Blanco threw himself up and swung his leg into the air hard. With the assistance of the rope, Blanco aimed an enzuigiri straight at the neck of Carmen, hoping his kick would connect with the neck of Carmen for a blow that would hopefully knock her to the mat!

Army hissed as Carmen’s face was introduced to the turnbuckle in the roughest way possible. One, because he'd had similar experiences in quite a few matches, particularly when Amy was really milking her wounded dear routine and baited him in. Two, because he knew Holly would take the opportunity to serve him up a good serving of crow.

Sure enough, she laid it on thick the first chance she got, smirking his way like the cute British cat who got the cream. ”Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He waved it off, folded her arms and huffed. ”Match is still young, bonita. Your guy escaped once, but…”

He let that sentence finish itself, as things began to restart in the ring. Army would give Blanco credit where credit was due, the man didn’t stay down for long. For his weight class, he was damn tough, getting to his feet only a couple of seconds later in grand style. Carmen was still reeling, just had enough time to register he was on his feet, but not enough to do anything about it.

That was the way it seemed, anyway. Blanco was quick to retake the offense, grabbing the rope and swinging his leg up for a wild kick that would’ve floored just about any wrestler, Carmen included...if it connected. It didn’t. Sort of.

With only an instant to work, Carmen’s boxing instincts kicked in, as she turned to the side and raised her shoulder, protecting her neck. It was still a nasty hit, one that crashed into her shoulder and upper back, but she managed to take away some of the sting.

It was enough to keep her on two feet, at least for the moment. Instead of falling, she took another two steps away, wincing as the pain ran its course through her bones.

Blanco felt the echo of Carmen's body against his shin, as the enzuigiri connected. It was a hard blow, but as Blanco glanced up he saw that it wasn't hard enough to bring down Carmen. “D-damn!” he gasped, watching the young woman's resilience keep her on her boots. Over the years, that move had knocked many an opponent right down to the mat. Carmen stood tall, however- or at least, tall enough. The toned fighter was reeling, but she was on her feet. Beneath his mask, Blanco was grinning, impressed with Carmen's stamina.

Still, he couldn't let on that much. The boxer was staggered, hurting. Blanco could tell from the punches that she'd landed on him that the larger woman was bringing a lot to bear. The luchador couldn't let her gather that much strength, or he'd be right back to where he was. Fortunately, Blanco had an advantage of his own. He had the ring.

Holly was beside herself with excitement, but Army's words needled their way into her ear. The Brit loved seeing her man dominate strong opponents, especially a woman like Carmen, who would have destroyed Holly in a straight fight. This, however, was far from domination. Holly was squirming on her feet, anticipating how the next exchange might go. Yes, Blanco had hit Carmen square with the enzuigiri. But he hadn't dropped her. Holly bit her lip, hoping Army wouldn't see the look of doubt in her eyes.

Carmen was reeling, and Blanco was “stuck” in the corner. Still gripping the top rope, Blanco pulled himself upward. He planted his boots on the middle rope, used it as leverage as he springboarded himself higher into the air. Leaping high, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his jaw, Blanco threw himself over Carmen. His body slid over her muscular back, his arm catching her neck as he did so.

Blanco kicked his feet out as he glided over Carmen'd toned body. He kicked his feet over to the side, carrying his momentum over, jerking Carmen's body to the side as swung around for a float-over DDT that would, Blanco hoped, put him right into position to spike Carmen's head hard against the mat!

You never quite got used to taking a good shot to the skull. Carmen had absorbed more than her fair share through her career, even before she stepped foot into the AFW, back when she was trading punches with some of the most skilled female boxers in the world. Very, very few of them had packed a wallop like Gato did. Granted, comparing kicks to punches was apples and oranges, but still.

She was stunned. While she was standing, her legs were wobbly,and threatening to fall beneath her at any moment. Army could see it from the sidelines, and he knew from personal experience what was going through her skull at the time. ”Hey, Carmen, head in the game!”

Carmen, through her haze, could hear him, and she might’ve said something snippy back if she could summon the wherewithal for it. She just needed to gather her bearings, take a moment to summon her faculties…

By the time the fog cleared, it was already too late. She looked up to see Gato taking flight once more, and while she had no way of knowing what he was about to do, one thing was for sure: it would end up with her on the floor.

Sure enough, he snagged her by the head, whipped her around, and all the difference in their height and weight meant nothing as he brought her careening into the floor, spiking it right on the canvas. Carmen flipped over and flopped on her back as her head filled with pain, and she once again found herself looking up at the lights. Not likely to be the last time that happened tonight, either.

Holly stared up into the ring, as rapt as ever when watching her man perform. Carmen was one of the more serious fighters he had taken on in awhile, and she was definitely taking him to the limit with punishing blow after punishing blow. Right now, however, the toned young Puerto Rican woman was reeling, and Holly was getting to enjoy watching him work!

Blanco sailed through the air, managing to slide over Carmen's toned back to connect with the DDT, spiking the poor woman to the mat! Holly took little joy in seeing Carmen suffer, but she couldn't help but let out an ecstatic squeal when Blanco's move connected!

“Hah!” she laughed, looking over to army, “where's that 'head' now, eh? In the game, or into the mat?” Holly wasn't usually one to gloat. Still, the cocky young man's sister was taking a beating, and she wanted to know what he had to say about that …

Blanco, meanwhile, took a moment to stare up at the arena lights. Chest heaving, he was breathing hard to compensate for the sheer effort of taking Carmen down to the mat. The luchador lay on his back, legs spread eagle, arms up over his head. Blanco could hear the cheers of the fans, after he'd brought his opponent crashing down to the mat.

“H-hah,” he gasped, “crazy, right?” Blanco raised a fist into the air, even though he couldn't bring the rest of his body to follow. Blanco didn't mind, however. He'd worked hard to plant Carmen into the mat, trying to earn himself some breathing room. Gasping to bring air into his lungs, Blanco took every chance he could to recover, and plan out his next move!

Army just rolled his eyes at Holly’s little display - she was a cute thing, sweet as could be, but if she got like this every time the match had a twist or turn, she would have a hard time getting through this match. The action had scarcely started.

That being said, he couldn’t deny a tinge of worry for Carmen. Gato had been getting the better of exchanges so far, and while that didn’t spell automatic doom for someone with stamina on his sister’s level, it certainly wasn’t a good thing, either. ”Just give it some time.” He wagged a finger Holly’s way, though he lacked some of his usual confidence as he spoke. Would have to fix that next time words came out of his mouth.

Carmen, meanwhile was busy just trying to get her head on straight. She recognized that she was far from being defeated, too, but she needed to find some way to counter what Gato was bringing. As much as she hated to admit, most of her best matches had been against opponents who fought fairly straight - Diana, Clyde, King. Wrestlers with not too many tricks up their sleeves. It was when she took on the more unconventional foes - the Soledad Vegas and the Akinos - that she had serious problems.

It wouldn’t do her any good staying on her back, though. Carmen was best when on her feet, so that was what she instinctively went back to, grabbing the nearest rope and pulling her way back up to her feet, bit by bit, until she was standing again.