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

Valley wasn’t unconscious, but she was close enough to it that she might as well have been. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t struggle. Couldn’t even twitch. Yet, she was still dimly aware of everything that was happening around her. Enough to be ticked off by it.

”2…!”

She was mad at herself, more than anything. This was Masuyo’s PPV debut, her first time on the big stage, what could’ve been a great start to a great career...and she’d messed it up for the promising rookie. She would never have a second chance at this, all because of Valley’s own hubris. Should’ve tagged her in sooner, should’ve been smarter, should’ve done so many things.

She tried to kick out. Tried to fight. Tried to raise a shoulder. But, try as she might, her body was closed for business.

”3…!”

”Damn it…” She hissed through her teeth, as their chances of pulling a win out of this match were cut in half.

She’ll get out of this.

As much as the MMA maven liked to repeat those words again and again inside of her head, her eyes couldn’t deny the reality in front of her. Not that she was. It wasn’t something she was doing consciously. It was simply out of respect for the Entropy Champion that Masuyo kept clinging to some small hope left inside of her that her tag partner would get out of this. The truth was less gentle than that.

Even if Valley were to somehow reverse things, pull off the impossible and manage to make the tag, she’d taken an awful lot of damage. There was too much fatigue, too much injury for Masuyo to make an accurate assessment of when it would be a good idea to put her back in the ring, if even at all.

It was a mute point either way. Whether she liked it or not, Valley had earned herself a break.

Her nails ground against the canvas, clenching her teeth behind closed lips as the official's hand came down for the third count. Her gaze, however, was burning towards Ahkia. Masuyo’s shoulders rose up and down, taking heavy breaths as she maintained her composure. Whatever the outcome of this match, whatever was written on the records or recorded for the archives, she was at least going to leave with pleasant memories of beating this stuck-up redhead to smithereens.

The crowd was quick to express their displeasure after the first elimination of the night. Nobody seemed too shy about their opinions, eager, even, to write this match off. Everyone seemed thoroughly convinced of the imperialists’ victory. Masuyo reached up and gripped the middle rope, ready to prove them wrong.

Akiha would lay on top of Valley Doll while the referee counted the pin. She would hear the two count and tighten the pin, wanting to make sure her opponent did not kick out at the last possible situation like so many other wrestlers had done before her. Eventually, the referee hand came down for a third time with a three count. With that, Akiha would get back on her feet, with a large smirk on her face, as she had eliminated Valley Doll, one of AFW best wrestlers.

On her feet now, her attention focused on the lone wrestler, Masuyo. Though defeating Valley was something that she prided herself on, Masuyo was the one that she truly wanted revenge on. She would now take a step forward and enter in a grappling stance, ready to take on her fellow Japanese wrestler. That being said, if things did go south she could always tag in Gwendolyn, in fact, she would probably do so, just to mock her opponent.

Consciousness and awareness were coming back to Valley Doll, but it was far too little, far too late. The crowd could boo all they like, hiss and scream and kick up a fuss, but it wouldn’t matter. Gwen and Akiha had the 2 vs 1 situation they were craving since this match began, and there wasn’t anything they could do about that.

Valley knew the rules and followed them, rolling out under the ropes at the referee’s urging. She needed support from the apron, but she was able to make her way around the ring, limping along the way. She was aching all over, and she needed to lay down before she fell down.

Before that, though, there was one more thing to do.

She came around the ring and looked up at Masuyo, shaking her head. As much as she wanted to pout, she put on the hardest face she could muster. What her partner needed know was confidence. All that she could get.

”Take it to them.” She gave Masuyo a hard nod, then turned around for the hard walk back up the ramp.

“Tense” wasn’t really the word Masuyo would use to describe how she was feeling. It was a bit too simple. Too few syllables. Too straightforward. Something that wasn’t very fitting for the atmosphere going around the arena.

She should be excited. The Demon should have leaped over those ropes the second Valley’s boots hit the apron. She was doing something she hadn’t done in a long time: second-guessing herself. She could do this. She had to, wanted to. But her instincts were starting to favor self-preservation. The glimpse she caught from ringside of what she was in store for had taken her off course. A pretty dangerous state of mind to be in for the when she hadn’t even stepped into the ring yet.

But Valley turned out to be all the help she needed. She watched her approach, expecting some grand strategy or the usual "good luck" to comfort her, knowing full well the MMA maven may as well have been a lamb walking into the slaughter. She didn’t get that at all. No, she got something even better. A few words righted her, prompting a hard nod from Masuyo to her tag partner in return before watching the champion ascend the ramp. When Masuyo made the same walk, she’d have the belts with her. Promise.

Her focus went back to Akiha as she climbed up and stepped through the middle rope. She took a second to just look at the crusader. Take in her stance, get a feel for her. Then, all at once, Masuyo would break out into a sprint before leaping high, shooting out her knee to knock Akiha senseless.

Things were going well for the crimson hair crusader. She had just eliminated Valley Doll, getting some payback on the veteran wrestler. But things even got better as she was now going to go head to head with Masuyo, the wrestler who had thrown a squid in her face. She wanted to beat her down and teach her a lesson or two.

Akiha got into her standard grappling stance with a smirk on her face as she could see her opponent hesitating a bit. But then her opponent began to charge at her. The Japanese crusader knew that she could not match Masuyo in terms of strength, as her opponent was far bigger and heavier than her. Instead, she would need to rely on her speed, experience, and tag partner.

Her fellow Japanese would suddenly jump in the air, sending her knees right towards Akiha face. The Crimson hair wrestler would side step out of the way before then attempting to send a kick right towards Masuyo, attempting to send her to the turnbuckle, where Gwendolyn would be waiting.

So what was Masuyo’s game plan with just charging straight at the co-champion like this? She hadn’t just been standing there, waiting for her turn and staring out into space ever since the bell rang. She’d been watching her opponents. Watching Ahkia.

Though she hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing them in action before today, she was getting the gist of the crusader’s play quickly enough. A fan of the air, but fast and nimble most importantly. She didn’t look like someone who’d be willing to take too many punches to the face.

The goal had been more or less to keep her on her toes and on the defense early on. So it wasn’t too big of a surprise to Masuyo that the Japanese redhead had managed to see it coming.

The kick, however, was a bit of a different story. It landed with a powerful smack on her back as the momentum carried her towards the corner. Just out of the edge of her vision, she could make out those golden locks waiting patiently for it. Adrenaline was still pumping, though, and the Demon had her wits about her.

Pivoting on her front foot, Masuyo would turn herself around in her stumble, trying to hit the turnbuckle with her back rather than her stomach. As she collided with it, however, she’d bring her elbow out and throw it to her side towards the ropes It was mostly a blind, if wide swing, but with some wishful thinking, it would find its way to the upside of Gwendolyn’s head.

In Gwen's imperious mind, earning the number's advantage had all but cemented their title defense in the annals of AFW championship history. The odds now being so hopelessly stacked against the MMA minded newcomer that it was all simply a matter of time, patience, and perhaps just a dash of double-teaming trickery when the moment saw fit. Scores of fans now awash with dispirit and despondency from witnessing their hopes of the snooty bluebloods being dethroned suddenly become that much more unlikely.

While removing the accursed and elderly Californian was a wise maneuver considering she was the veteran backbone of the team, Gwen couldn't deny that her personal motivation towards wanting Valley dispatched first stemmed from allowing Masuyo the opportunity to prove her boastful claim about being able to take them on all on her lonesome...and watch her fail pathetically doing so.

Gwendolyn was only just than wiggling her fingers goodbye while mouthing *Toodles~...* towards the sullen Californian retreating backstage, to no doubt bemoan her lowly peasantry status, before she witnessed Masuyo being sent tumbling in her direction. Her actions being driven purely on automatic instinct as she reached over to clamp onto that frizzy travesty Masuyo calls her hair before a stiff elbow shot whipped her golden-curled head to the side, spinning the heiress in place and sending her into a stumbling nosedive to the mats below. Caressing her impacted cheek while flat on her back and in a bit of dazed tizzy...

Akiha not only managed to dodge the attack but send a kick right into Masuyo back, causing her to go right into her corner. The Japanese wrestler had expected Gwendolyn to be waiting and ready but instead she was busy mocking Valley Doll. Honestly, this was her partner biggest downfall, having to mock her opponent, it was the reason that her and Akiha had lost the Thunder Round Tournament. It was something that the Japanese Crusader was going to have to lecture her partner about.

Or maybe not... it seemed that Masuyo had managed to hit Gwendolyn with an elbow strike right to the head and sending Akiha partner off the ring and into the ground. The crimson hair wrestler would make sure to rub it into her partner face but first, she needed to take down Masuyo. The Japanese wrestler would charge in an attempt to hit her fellow Japanese wrestler with a clothesline in order to send her over the ropes, though if the attack missed Akiha would be sent straight into the turnbuckle.

Masuyo wasn’t letting her guard down for a second. Not for anything. She’d been watching how these two just long enough to get a grasp on how they operated. She understood what a tag match really meant. Just because Gwen was out didn’t mean she was out. This was always going to be a two-on-one, so she had to treat it as such. A tall order, but she said she was going to beat them both in front of the whole country, and she meant it.

She just needed to stay on her toes and get a feel for how the imperialists moved. Keep moving, hit hard, and don't get caught. Shouldn't be too hard.

Her elbow strike thankfully found purchase in Gwendolyn’s pampered little cheek before the heiress landed on her snooty face. Masuyo killed the urge to snicker and just let the satisfaction sink in for a moment. At least now she could put one of her opponents in the back of her mind for a couple moments. Whatever breathing room she could scrounge together was fully welcome.

She stepped away from the corner just in time to notice Ahkia rushing towards her with a clothesline. Quick about it, too. Too quick to avoid, but that didn’t mean she was out of options. The clothesline hit her dead center, and as it did, Masuyo would take hold of her arm while snaking her own behind the crusader’s neck. She kicked her leg out and fell backward, trying to smash Ahika’s face into one of the turnbuckles with a DDT.