AV 17 Tag Title: Imperial Order (c) vs. Masuyo & Valley Doll

Simply witnessing the egotistic noblewomen being served a modicum of well-justified comeuppance was more than enough to earn Masuyo her fair share of cheering fanfare and sincere appreciation, but it was also the manner in which Gwendolyn was finally sent packing that caught the eyes and imaginations of those who immediately recognized that specific finishing move. Whether it was simply an homage to her fallen partner or perhaps a nuanced way of passing the torch to the newer generation, all agreed that there was perhaps no more fitting example of poetic justice being doled out than by having Gwendolyn be served her first pin fall lose in some time by Valley Doll's trademark finisher.

So galled and indignant with snobbish pride was the heiress that she played right into Masuyo's hands. To her, the simple idea that this impudent wastrel was somehow besting her had clouded her judgment until the only thing she perceived through that hazy fog was red. By not exercising caution, taking time to rest, and having too much stubborn pride to seek an immediate tag-out...the heiress fulfilled her own ill-fated prophecy in a swirling cacophony of spinning audience members and thunderous slams that left her hunched over herself and expertly locked down in the fold up pinning predicament. The leveraged burden Masuyo had put into the pin making it feel as if the weight of the world was pressing her down. Gwen only faintly began to ascertain the warbled noises around her...

"...Three!!"

...before it was too late. The release of her leg allowing her the freedom of movement to straighten out on her back, mumble wearily, and gradually come to the repugnant realization that she had just been eliminated. An utterly sickening notion made even more so simply from the fact that it was perpetrated by this classless MMA maven standing triumphantly over her with those same infuriatingly judgmental eyes staring down at her. Gwendolyn scowled upward and was internally grateful that she still wasn't so cognizant that she could fully hear whatever it was that Masuyo was preaching down at her. Which was something insipidly mindless and irritating, no doubt. Commentary that Gwendolyn was thankfully spared of when when Masuyo paid for her gloating in about as painful a way one could imagine. The heiress shuffling to the side to avoid Masu's lifeless collapse, but the referee instructed Gwen to continue onward until she had exited the ring. No sooner would Gwen's booted feet touch the mat's ringside that she would flinch and buckle slightly from her lingering leg pains, and a six-member team consisting of her entourage came down the ramp to assist their employer. Offering the heiress preferential treatment Valley was not so fortunate to have as they escorted the snooty highborn slowly away with an arm around two of their shoulders. Though Gwen’s exit would be with a few words being uttered to Akiha before she was turned in place to begin the walk back up the ramp. It was Gwen's own subtle way of encouraging her partner...

"Madam Kosha...I'm afraid...I misled you earlier...ngh. You CAN still detect the pungent aroma of squid on your person..."

Akiha leg connected just before Masuyo could finish her insult. A frown would appear on the crimson hair as she was disappointed with her fellow Japanese wrestler and the way she had acted. “You shouldn’t have let your guard down. You were to focus on one opponent, you totally forgot about me.” stated Akiha as she then brushed her hair back in a confident tone before making her way towards the MMA maven. She couldn’t allow her to get any kind of breaks and needed to stay on top of her for the entire match.

Just as she got close she would hear the words stated by her tag partner, enraging her further, though she would channel that rage towards her opponent as her eyes would twitch a bit. At first, Akiha had thought of going for a pin but now enraged, she decided to punish the fellow Japanese wrestler. Jumping in the air, she would then bring both her legs up and then let gravity do the rest of the work for her as she tried to hit the Demon head with a leg-drop, trying to do further damage to her head, after all, a few well-placed shots to the head would take down any wrestler.

Whatever exchange the two haughty nobles were having in their brief, parting moment together, Masuyo was distinctly unaware of any of it. The lethal weapon Akiha had struck her over the head with had made doubly sure of that. She laid still, only slightly able to roll her head from left to right in an attempt to rouse herself. A wave of shouts and pleas made their way from the audience to the ring, a few claps peppered in alongside them, imploring Masuyo to rise again with victory so very near. All of it fell on deaf ears.

She wasn't gone, however. She could still pick up some murmurs from the crowd, her adversaries saying something that escaped her knowledge. It was hard to forget Gwen’s snide, hoity-toity pitch once you got a taste of it. The element of surprise aside, there was no way she'd just allow herself to be taken out in one fell swoop like that. They'd come too far, her and Valley, to just let things end in such an abrupt manner. Her mind wouldn't allow it. Her spirit. If Akiha went for the pin, something told her she'd be able to kick out in just the nick of time.

If.

What instead brought the MMA maven out of her little snooze was another, hard shot to the back of the head, smacking her face against the canvas with a violent recoil. She let out a loud yelp, a brief rush of adrenaline allowing her to roll off to the side as she clutched the back of her head tightly. Clearly, a cheap win wasn't in the imperialists' interests either. If they were going to win, it was going to be decisive. Unquestioned. Masuyo, for her part, had little room to rebuttal. All she could manage with the damage she’d racked up was an attempt to slowly rise back up to her feet, placing one hand to the floor to push herself up to one knee. But she was under no illusions of how far that would be allowed to go.

Masuyo was a threat, a deadly one but Akiha wanted to make her pay. One would think these two thoughts would conflict with each other but they actually gave her an idea as she performed the leg drop. Getting on her hands and knees, Akiha would watch as her fellow Japanese wrestler put some distance between the two and started to get onto a single knee.

Akiha would then burst right towards Masuyo and jump in the air as she got close and send a single knee forward, trying to hit her face. If the attack connected it would be the third direct hit in a row right towards the Japanese wrestler in the head. She wanted to stun her opponent for a bit, in order to set up a finishing move and end the match. Not only was she going to win but she was going to do it in a way that would take her opponent by surprise.

What was with these people and hitting her in the back of the neck? Was this their signature or something? Was this the strategy that got them those big shiny belts around their waists? Masuyo had no real way of knowing the answer for sure, but what she did know was that she wanted it all to stop. Now.

Easier said than done, of course. Her head was going topsy-turvy as she went to stand back up, still left with the impression of that leg drop on the back of her neck. Though she and Akiha’s time in the ring had been brief up to now, she could tell early on just how strong her legs were. A pair of weapons that were tried and tested over many years in the ring, and it was only made all the worse by the way the Japanese imperialist used her momentum. She was a formidable opponent, even deadlier in the air. The Demon’s chances of pulling through were slim, especially after dealing with Gwendolyn, however quick that exchange may have been.

But she couldn’t let herself be done in by this. Not when she close to the end. Not with Valley still watching.

She peered past the pain, just for a moment, long enough to make sense of what was going on around her. Akiha was on the charge, and with the distance she had made, leaving her little more than a split second to react. She did what she always did, and went with the flow. As the crusader lifted her leg and barreled towards Masuyo for the knee strike, the MMA maven would fall backward and send a snap kick out in front of her, attempting to trip Akiha up and send her stumbling towards the ropes.

Akiha had learned a long time ago that if you kept hitting someone in the head they would fall, no matter how big or tough they were. It was something that one part of the body one could not really improve, after all, you couldn’t really lift weights. As a result, it made it the perfect striking spot, something she had actually learned from a former opponent.

The red-headed wrestler would then charge forward attempting to give another strike right into the former MMA fighter… or was she still an MMA fighter, honestly Akiha didn’t know nor did she care. As she went for the knee strike, she would hit nothing but air before suddenly feeling her weight being shifted. It seemed that her fellow Japanese wrestler was not as stunned or as dazed as Akiha had believed. The remaining member of Imperial Order would then fall towards the ropes, her chest hitting it as her hands would then grip it as she took a second to get a bit of oxygen into her body.

Great, that worked. She managed to stop Akiha’s forward momentum before it really became a problem, and the MMA maven was far more relieved about that than she had any right to be. This close to the finish, she couldn’t afford to make another blunder. Akiha was fast, nimble, skilled, and seemingly a lot more aggressive than usual for reasons Masuyo couldn’t even begin to imagine the cause for.

Little time to dwell on that, though. She had an opening here, and she had to press it. Akiha may have been faster, had the versatility, but that wouldn’t mean much once Masuyo actually caught her. Their skirmish earlier this match had proven that much.  She just had to hit her with everything, and then some.

Masuyo reeled her legs back and kicked herself up to two feet with a kip up to immediately face her opponent’s back. Reaching out and gripping Akiha’s shoulders with both hands, she’d move to wrench the crusader off the ropes and spin about on the spot, throwing her adversary in front of her, letting her stand on her own just long enough to throw a roundhouse kick to her chest.

“Back up!” But she wasn’t done there. She threw another kick straight at Akiha, looking to force her backward. “I.” Kick. “Won't." Kick. “Lose!” Kick. “To!” With her lack kick, she’d spin on the spot on her front foot before shooting her back foot out with a spinning back kick. “You!” Burying her heel in Akiha’s gut, she’d aim to force the imperialist back first into the corner. Once she trapped her smaller adversary there, there would be nowhere for her to run.

This would be as good as over.

Akiha took a second to grip the ropes and take some air in. Though she was faster it didn’t mean she was always going to hit her opponent or dodge Masuyo strikes, so she still needed to be careful. Just as she took her first inhale and exhale, she would then be grabbed by the shoulders and spun around to face her fellow Japanese wrestler face to face. Yet this would only last a moment as she was then hit with a roundhouse kick right into her flat chest, knocking her a bit back.

Though the kicks would not end there, as she would continue to be kicked in the chest over and over again. The crowd would start to count each kick, cheering as they did so, happy to see Masuyo turning things around and perhaps finally freeing the tag team title belts from the tyrannical grips of Imperial Order. Each kick sent her a bit more and more back before finally being sent into the turnbuckle with a final kick into the gut as her opponent finishing stating her sentence of not losing. The crimson hair wrestler was now gasping for air, as she held onto both ropes for support.

Masuyo made sure to step into that last kick she threw, putting her all into the strike and making sure Akiha stayed in the corner where she belonged. Part of it was to show off a bit. Between Gwen, Valley, and the nimble Akiha, if everyone here thought the green-as-grass rookie was the only one who couldn’t throw some good kicks, they were dead wrong. Masuyo definitely hoped the crusader was getting those impressions now as she slumped into the corner, struggling to stand on her own power. Just the way the Demon needed her.

Another part of her, however, was aware of the cost this match was taking on her. Friendly reminder that she’d taken two surprise shots to the back of the head before properly squaring off with each imperialist. And people could say what they wanted about the Imperial Order, they didn’t lack for skill. All the mounting damage was starting to creep up on her, building and building as the MMA maven pushed her body to the limit.

But finally, she was starting to see the goal line. One step was all it took.

She dropped to one knee, reorienting herself to face Akiha as she did. She wouldn’t be down there for long. Just a second, just a single isolated moment in time to build her energy. Summon it forth inside her body, and then let it burst. She took off at the crusader with long strides, narrowing the gap between them with just a few steps, before she kicked up off the ground and went to shoot a fierce knee strike into Akiha’s gut, nailing her between the metal pole and the crushing force of the Demon’s strike.

Akiha was now in the corner, having taken a brutal beating from Masuyo. Though the girl was a bit new to wrestling she was an MMA fighter and in all honesty, she did see MMA fighters as far more dangerous then wrestlers when it came to fighting. Yet this wasn’t an MMA match but a wrestling match and as a result, this was her home turf.

She would hold onto both ropes as she then saw her opponent take a second to catch a breather before coming right at her for a fierce strike. The Japanese Crusader eyes widen as she knew if she was struck she would be sandwiched between her opponent and the turnbuckle. Pulling with her left hand, she would move out of the way at the last moment, letting Masuyo hit the turnbuckle instead. Not wasting a second and running on nothing but adrenaline, Akiha would then attempt to hit the MMA fighter right in the head with a superkick, she had already taken several strikes to the head, so if the attack hit it would be far more effective then usual.