Rose Maynard vs Brave Yuko - Rising to the Occasion. [Ladder Match]

With each beat of her heart, the throbbing in her skull echoee out from the point of impact over the rest of her body leaving her with a lingering ache that, for the time being, left her brain feeling muddled. A solid hit from the Legendary Hero, one that may have left a less sturdy woman down and out for longer. The other woman's want for flare and daring acts, much like Rosemary herself, would find this to be a mistake.

Through pained squinted eyes she followed her adversary's rise. She hoped for a grapple, being brought to her feet, a bit of time to collect herself before locking back up. It was not to be. In a flash, Brave Yuko had peeled off, run in past her presumably towards the ropes. She turned her head to watch upside down for a moment as she rolled over onto her stomach. Whatever her foe was planning, if she didn't move now it would likely be devastating.

The Sky Captain willed herself to rise, lifted up onto her hands as knees as the Legendary Hero sprang from the ropes. It was too late to move, she was coming in fast. Rosemary sucked in a breath, slipping a boot beneath her to poise herself into a crouch as her doom plummeted for her. She would meet this woman head on, it was time to show the world who she was and why she deserved to be in this ring.

Rosemary surged up, leapinging from the canvas to clash mid air with the meteorite that was Brave Yuko. Head slipping between the woman's parted legs, shoulders crashing against the other woman's thighs. In paper it was a simple redirection of force, in practice it came down to split second reactions and an impressive summoning of strength.

Rose let out a shout, clapping her hands to the woman's side to hook her finger over the lip of her belt to grab hold. She threw her body forward, twisting in to attempt to gave control over the momentum to snap Brave Yuko backwards, turning her flying leg drop into a low height powerbomb. She didn't have the height or power of a larger woman, but she had their combined force and whiplash working with her as she attempted to drill her foe down into the mat.

Despite the innate resistance to fear perk that came with selecting the flyer class, Yuko couldn't help but tense herself for a brief second as she fell through the empty air towards her opponent. She’d long accepted that it was merely part of the trade to feel the rush of adrenaline through your veins since she’d begun her adventure, the hint of danger that went hand in hand with soaring through the air. Uncertainty was never far, like any good party member.

Nevertheless, it surely made for a remarkable display.  As her feet left the rope, she could hear the jovial chants and cheers from the surrounding audience. With her scarf fluttering close behind her, and her subtle grace as she took to the air, the former Ring Dream champion was always a sight to behold. It was somewhat reinvigorating to the returning veteran’s ears, to hear the applause around her once more as she made her ascent. It was what allowed her to push the fear aside and dive towards her glorious future.

Unfortunately, spectacles were not going to save her this day from the jaws of defeat. Not if the sprightly, daring Captain of the Sky had anything to say about it. As she descended and went to slam her legs down, her adversary sprung to life. Her eyes shot wide as a pair of arms wrapped around her thighs and a pair of shoulders off-balanced her from below. All of a sudden, Yuko found herself pivoting forward, straight towards the canvas beneath her.

“Counter-?!” Her face slammed into the floor beneath her, after being just a moment away from a devastating. A clever reversal! This intrepid newcomer had fangs after all!

The hero’s face recoiled harshly off the ground, the rest of her body following along with her. Yuko’s whole body seemed to splash against the floor before she flapjacked, facing the sky with stars hovering above her head with a gentle sway. “Yuko...is paralyzed…” She can’t move! All the heroine could do was, with irreverent twitches of her body, attempt to stand to face her worthy adversary once more.

Rosemary could count on her hands how many times in her career she had ever powerbombed someone, so when her impromptu counter attempt was met with success she was just as surprised as Brave Yuko. What she lacked in technical form in this morning mentioned she made up for with raw force, throwing her opponent to the mat with everything she had, by in large part because she couldn't stop herself mid fall even if she wanted to.

The Sky Captain folded the legendary hero up before physics took hold and flopped the heroine away, leaving the brunette on her hands and knees, huffing loudly as she looked on. In a normal match this would have been a quick conversion or cover to a pinfall… not tonight though. Her gaze drifted towards the prize suspended above, so close really, but getting there would be no easy task. Taking someone down for a three count was decidedly easier than keeping them from assaulting a ladder as they climbed.

Rising to her feet she was met with a small wave of vertigo, aftereffect of the solid kick she had taken still lingering. With a fumbled step she planted herself. A moment of solid balance was all she needed to recover, letting out a soft, short breath of composure before she moved to intercept her for before they could find their footing as well.

Her small steps became two skipping bounds, looking to move up along side Brave Yuko and bring her leg around hard, cutting through the air with a stiff knife like kick across the women's chest to send her back to the mat from her attempts to rise. If the woman showed her tenacity with staying sat upright, or quickly springing back against the blow, she would give her another until she was actually put out on her back. Any kick that landed true did so with a loud clap, one that had people in the audience grimacing and gasping as if they had taken the blow themselves.

Rosemary took one hopping step back, bending at the knees like a spring, tightly compressed. With a mighty roar from someone so petite, the crowd was quick to join her cry with their own cheers. Kicking off the ground, she took flight. A backflip, though her momentum was forward, taking her up and over the downed woman with a standing shooting star press. The impact, if it managed to land would be impressively fierce, the whip like spin making up for the lack of body weight behind her.

The hero wasn't looking very heroic at the moment. Stunned, distracted, her HP flashing with an irrefutable danger. Who would have known that the fair Sky Captain was capable of such debilitating Stun status effects behind an already applause-worthy level of finesse as the ringing in her head could attest. A group of Slimes could likely best Yuko in this state.

At this moment, the role of the main protagonist had easily slipped from between her fingers, and Rose hadn't even equipped her Dark Robe. Her agility stats were certainly befitting of a flyer that had optimized an exceptionally ideal build for foes of the AFW variety. She was no amateur and exuded subtle confidence. Almost an exact mirror of the warrior Yuko had often stared in the mirror several years ago. The patrons gathered in tonight's Colosseum could not help but agree with the Hero's silent thoughts. An abundance of jovial applause was there to empower the skyward aerialist, utterly entranced in the spellbinding reversal and the few moments that followed thereafter. Yuko found herself imbibed in that passionate sentiment countless times before on the same path that led her to this ring. She understood the power it could bring and why these next moments could prove critical to the tide of this duel. It was a curiously nostalgic feeling that coursed through her mind in spite of the static.

The Hero couldn't help but muster the slightest hint of a smile flashing white beneath the shadows of her bangs. A fitting tutorial. Very fitting indeed.

Regardless, this had to be her PvP to win, and it would be a miracle for Yuko to find a way to manage such a feat on her back. Her palms pressed to the floor as the hero slowly pushed herself up to her elbows. The world spun upside down then back upright, teetering left only to snap back to the right, moving with harder and harsher motions the more she strained herself to move to one knee. Between the split images of her hazy vision, she squinted the flowing grace of her adversary rushing straight at her. It was impossible for the hero to analyze, not until she could see the leg swinging straight at her. Her gauntlets clacked together as her arms braced to parry the oncoming blow, but alas, her Guard was broken back down from one knee and onto her rear, leaving her exposed to another hit. Then another. Then another. The combo built upon itself, again and again, several times over with each triumph greater than the last.

A critical strike finally cut through the hero's defenses and landed hard into ribs, taking her ever so slightly back towards the ground. That slight advantage was all the Sky Captain required as Yuko was doomed to find in the next moment. Her eyes shut as she winced. When they reopened, the Rose had disappeared in a circle of smoke emanating from the epicenter of where she once stood. Too distracted by the stabbing pain in her chest to notice the buffed-up aerialist taking to her natural state in the air. Brave Yuko peered up through narrow eyes at a sight that left her to marvel even as she braced for the heavy splash that rippled through her like a wave as body smashed against body. The legendary fighter let out a breathless whiff of air as her chest emptied and left her she splayed out on the floor, the tails of her scarf strewn to each of her splayed arms.