Una Lección del Maestro

Mako may have seemed like she was a part of the MMA/kickboxing craze that was sweeping wrestling, but she'd never really thought of herself like that. The shark wanted to be a part of wrestling now, after all. Not those other forms of combat sports. Mako didn't have any ill will towards them, and she still loved watching those fights on TV, but she was into wrestling now. That, and all of the occasional lewdness AFW was known for.

Regardless of how she was seen overall, though, Mako looked like she was in trouble right now. Still groggy in her seated position against the corner, the shark would realize Carmen was coming at her far too late. After making some distance between then, her opponent would use it to build up speed before driving both her knees into the shark's chest with a thud that shook the corner.

All that momentum allowed Carmen's knees into knock all the wind out of Mako instantly. Leaving her coughing out loudly before falling over on her side. For a woman whose fighting background excluded one's legs, Carmen seemed pretty good at utilizing them. That made sense, though, seeing how long she'd been wrestling in tension. Mako needed to make a fast recovery at this point, but doing so seemed impossible while her breathing was still ragged and difficult. So, at the moment, it looked like the shark was at Carmen's mercy.

Carmen’s knees hit and hit well, crashing hard into Mako with her full weight behind them. Despite her seemingly slender build, Carmen was tall women with compact muscle that gave her a weight advantage even over most men in the division, and she’d never had a single qualm working that fact to her advantage.

The results spoke for themselves. Mako was laid out, hurting, wide open as Carmen took a step back to examined her work. She’d done a good job of working her over so far, but she’d already decided not to hold back much for this match. Dasher wouldn’t, after all. So she had to give the younger woman the full experience.

Carmen dropped down on her from above while she was still reeling and wrapped an arm around Mako’s neck. She pulled her in close and clamped down for a tight sleeperhold, pulling her away from the ropes in the process as she squeezed.

Mako wasn't able to defend herself as continued her attack by pulling the shark up and locked her into a sleeper hold. Grunting out as the woman's arm wrapped around her neck and squeezed, Mako would try to reach out and grab the ropes from pure instinct. The veteran fighter was prepared for this, though, as she dragged the shark away from the corner and towards the middle of the ring.

"Ack! Dammit...L-let...go of me!" she'd shout as the woman's strong arm locked her in a vice-like grip. Mako wouldn't make it easy for Carmen, though, as she kicked her legs and threw back some wild elbows. Hopefully some would hit the woman's ribs and head, but the shark knew this wouldn't be enough to free herself. So reaching backwards with on arm, Mako would try to grab the back of Carmen's head. If successful, the shark would try pulling herself downwards as much as she could while yanking the woman forward.

The shark hoped that this would launch Carmen over her and break the hold. Still, Mako wasn't sure if she was strong enough to succeed. She was smaller than Carmen, after all, so this might not work out as planned. At the moment, though, it was her best shot, and Mako was going to give it her all.

”No.”

A simple one-word answer, and all she would verbally give for Mako’s request that she lighten up the hold. Physically, though, she was more interested in bearing down on the hold, squeezing tighter and tighter, giving Mako’s neck increasingly less space. A simple move, but effective - the sort of thing Carmen always favored in a wrestling ring.

She thought it was secure, that she would be able to just hold on to Mako indefinitely, but that turned out not be the case. She was smaller, but had some surprising strength, enough to pull Carmen over and dump her on her back with what amount to a snapmare.

It wasn’t the most painful move ever, but it was more than a little disorienting, and she needed a moment to get back up and gather her bearings before she went on the attack again. That would take time. Precious time.

Despite being the one to attempt this, Mako was kinda surprised that her plan worked. Carmen clearly had a size advantage over her, so lifting her seemed like it'd blow up in the shark's face. But somehow, Mako had managed to preform a judo-like throw to send her opponent up and over before she landed down on the mat. Taking a few steps back then, the shark would use the ropes for support as she breathed heavily.

"What? Should I...have said...please? Meh...doesn't really matter now...since I got out...just fine~..." she taunted between her labored breaths. Mako needed a bit of a breather herself after being constricted in a sleeper hold for that long. Plus the shark felt a pain in her neck, probably from lifting the bigger woman with a sudden burst of strength. So after cracking her neck back and forth, which helped a bit with the pain, Mako would push herself off the ropes and head back to Carmen.

Looking to pay Carmen back for that sleeper hold, the shark would try to catch the woman off guard with a shining wizard to the face! Mako wouldn't even let out a roar like she usually did since she was so focused on striking the Puerto Rican native.

Good move. Really. Mako had been in a fairly desperate situation for a moment there, but she managed to keep her wits about her and find a way out of it that left her opponent reeling and gave her a big window to exploit. Now the only real question was how she would use that window, and if Carmen would be able to get up in time to stop it.

That was her idea, at first. Carmen shook off the hit and started to rise, intent on getting back up on the face, but she never got the chance. Knees in the face had a way of ruining plans.

The sheer alacrity of the move was what hit Carmen the worst, the lack of time to make her body ready for it. Mako cleared the distance with a speed that was fitting for her namesake, landing a sharp Shining Wizard that put Carmen flat on her back once more.

This time she stayed there, too, with one hand grasping her forehead while the other blindly reached out in space, a poor attempt at defense. She was far too stunned to do much beyond that, and she had a feeling that Mako would be making her situation even worse.

Mako smiled as she managed to knocked Carmen flat on her back. Her shining wizard hit right on target, leaving the woman too stunned to defend herself. Now might've been a good time to go for a pin, but the shark thought that her opponent still had some fight left in her as she began to reach up. It looked like a futile attempt to defend herself, but it proved Carmen wasn't done just yet.

So Mako would get back on her feet and slowly try to lift the woman into a sitting position. That way, she could try running towards the rope before bouncing back at her prey. Then with a slight jump, Mako would try to preform a low drop kick to the back of Carmen's head! The shark had already landed a hard blow to the front, which did a number on the woman. So a second blow, this time to the back of the skull, should really disorient her.

This time Mako would roar out loudly as she attacked, seeing as this move didn't require much stealth or the element of surprise. The shark just needed to keep hitting Carmen until she stayed down. It was a pretty simple plan, but also one that played right into Mako's wheelhouse.

Carmen’s father often said that the worst punch to take was the one you didn’t see coming. That applied to kicks, too, as Carmen was about to learn.

She was on the floor, stilling reeling Mako’s assault, left loopy with the harsh strike to her face. It wouldn’t have been the worst thing, normally, but her foe’s attacks were starting to pile up, and she had the good sense to allow her zero chance to gather her bearings. Without an opening to exploit, the best she could do was endure as she was constantly pounded about.

She was only able to sit up with Mako’s help, and even then, she likely wouldn’t have stayed that way for too long. A moment later, she heard a cry come from behind, a warrior’s shriek, and then a sharp pain erupted in the back of her head. Carmen’s body lurched forward, then flung back on the floor, leaving her splayed and spaced out once more, stars dancing across her vision.

If the first strike didn't do the job, Mako was almost certain that the second one did. After landing a drop kick to the back of Carmen's head, the woman shot forward before flying back down to lay on the mat. Looking at her opponent splayed out and spread eagle gave the shark one hell of an ego boost (That she really, REALLY didn't need). Carmen was a former champ, after all, so seeing her like this made Mako think she could do anything.

With the Puerto Rican Native disoriented and clearly stunned, the shark would hurry over to sit down and straddle the woman's chest. She wanted to get the best pin she could, so after grabbing Carmen's legs and hooking them under her arms tightly, Mako would lean back on her opponent's bust before starting to count.

"ONE!" she'd shout thinking that this match might just be over. Carmen was pretty out of it from taking those two big hits to the head, after all, so Mako was pretty confident about her chances.

Carmen was pretty well thrown for a loop at the moment, both from the intensity of Mako’s attack and the staccato nature of them, hammering her one after the other. Even with her resilience, there was only so much she could take like that - she needed time to breathe, and she was simply not getting it.

Mako had good instincts, fine and honed. Carmen had only started to sit up when she came and plopped down on her chest, pinning her to the mat and getting her legs up for a secure pin, one that would’ve had the crowd cheering if there’d been one around to cheer.

That didn’t stop her for making up for the referee, starting a prompt count that put Carmen into a panic. She was half tempted to just kick out, but her height afforded her an extra option.

As Mako went for the second count, Carmen reached up and snagged the ropes, putting that ring awareness to good use. ”Rope break.”