Blue Thunder Mask vs. Stone - Duty and Honor

Stone’s ‘plan’ in this situation was a simple one, at least in theory. When she rolled over and got Makio on his back, she’d been aiming to lift him straight up and bring him to the ground with a powerbomb, something that could knock him out of this hold and give her a chance to breathe. It was a long shot, and it wouldn’t be the easiest thing to pull off, but she was reasonable sure that she could do it.

Before she had the chance to do anything like that, though Blue Thunder Mask was on the move once more, whipping around into a new position. She was out of the Triangle Hold, so that was good, but now she was on her back, her arm was still trapped, and he was wrenching it back. That was not good. Not good at all.

The man knew what he was doing, there was no way to ignore that, especially he effortlessly transitioned into an armbar and continued to wrench away, draining one of her two best weapons and leaving her with two options: fight or flee.

Tempting as it was to try and fight her way out, she didn’t like the prospect of him putting her into just another move before she could make it click. This time, she opted for simple discretion and tried to kick her way over to the ropes, hoping to hit the bottom one with her foot and force a break.

There was not much one could take away from Blue Thunder Mask's ground game, save for pure technical wrestling wasn't everyone's cup of tea. Down on the mat like this, he might as well have had a crown on. Facing him head on here was no doubt a mistake. Sure, Stone could power out of a great deal of what he could do to her, for now. Every time he took her down or locked her in though, it was going to become harder and harder for her to to rally up feats of strength. If he played things smart and worked her down, he could conserve his strength and eventually get her where he needed her to be.

Stone was among one of the harder adversaries he had had in recent memory to control on the ground. He had her in a picture perfect armbar, no matter how hard he wrenched or twisted however, she wasn't going to give in, not yet. He didn't expect her to. The difficulty came in her journey to the ropes. She was a large powerful woman, even with making an effort to plant his boot soles, she was able to drag the two of them along rather effectively cutting down the time he had to exploit the situation. It wasn't long before a break was called for, and like the boy scout he was, the hold had been released as directed by the official.

"I'll get you soon enough." Sliding back away from stone, he pushed himself up and away, backing towards the middle of the ring where he had the best chance of getting her down again. There was a concern that giving her room to maneuver and recover was dangerous. After all, there was nothing stopping her from charging at him like a raging bull. He rarely followed up after a rope break, taking them pretty seriously unless times were desperate however. For now, he shifted between his legs, rolling his shoulders and neck to try and work out some of the pain from the earlier suplex.

Being tall carried with it many advantages. In this particular instance, it made reaching the ropes easier, which was definitely a welcome bit of help. She had to suffer every step of the way, of course, with Makio fighting hard to wrench her arm down, tugging and pulling and yanking with all she could muser. But in the end, she was able to get to the ropes and her arm remained in its socket for another day.

Yippee.

Now what?

Blue Thunder Mask, true to form, gave her the space to rise back up and didn’t press his advantage, something the audience gave him some light applause for. Stone took the gracious opportunity, too, and used it to grab the ropes and pull her way back up to her feet, standing tall. She came off the ropes, she massaged her bad arm with her good one, trying to assess the damage as she did. It was still useable, but doing her throws and slams would take a toll from here on out. She had to be careful. Cautious. Controlled.

With a nod of respect, she started to circle him once, keeping her a four or five feet away as she moved, never letting him out of her sight. Stone wanted to see if she could get him to make the first move this time, and she hoped she had a good enough idea of who she was working with now to counter when...or if...he did.

Happily a nod was returned in acknowledgement ton Stone, only when she seemed ready did he sink back into his usual stance. Understanding now her speed and dynamic move range, rushing her didn't seem like a good idea. Before he had to contend with brutish strength, now he had to account for her finesse. He once again found himself wondering how this woman had been bested by Mokoto for leadership of the gang in the first place. By everything he saw here, she was an incredibly versatile fighter with everything she needed to do well in the ring. Without the confines of rules to dictate her actions, he could see her being even more of a terror.

Blue Thunder Mask circled opposite the tall woman, though he wasn't keeping his distance. Slowly but surely he was inching in, the closer her got the more sudden small bursts of movement became as he leaned in or dips to the side to try to get a reaction from her, testing her readiness. There was still a good deal about her he didn't know, enough so that every possible approach seemed like it could end in disaster. Once he had been allowed to cut the distance between them however, she felt far more confident in rushing her down now that the space between them didn't allow for much time to prepare.

His frame lowered as he took a few larges strides in on Stone, trying to drive his shoulder deep into her midsection, arms reaching out and around to try and hook down behind her thighs. The hope was he could try to pull out her legs, forcing his hands to hold on tight and scoop them away while shoving her backward with the force and weight behind his shoulder. There was a chance she could deadlock him here, but he knew there were other options available to him if it came to that. He was trying to get her down onto her back and keep hold of her legs to hold them up, no doubt looking to set up yet another submission from a superior position.

For whatever reason, Stone found herself thinking back to the Chess matches she used to play against her father, and it wasn’t just because Makio bore an annoying resemblance to the man. Maybe because this was a similar sort of strategic scenario. The planning, the thinking, the staring, trying to suss out what his next move would be before he sussed out hers. It made for an experience that was far more thoughtful than the brawls she’d grown accustomed to. She could appreciate that, loving this rare treat.

Blue Thunder Mask was not an easy man to keep pace with, but she managed it all the same, tracing footsteps across the ring, shadowing each others movements. He tried to trip her up a few times, and he almost got her once or twice, but she stayed sharp and shut the opening before he could seize them. She wasn’t making this easy for him.

Sooner or later, he would have to come in and close the distance. Thankfully for the sake of her patience, he choose to do it sooner.

One bold stride forward and he was all over her, coming at her with a tackle to the chest. Not a problem by itself, she could’ve shrugged that off, but grabbing her legs compounded the problem and ensured she would be heading to the mat. Not as big of a deal as he might’ve been hoping, though.

Yes, she was going down with him on top, but as they went, she wrapped her arm around his head and her legs around his waist, trying to pull him into a tight guillotine choke. Submissions weren’t her forte and she didn’t like the idea of bringing this to the mat so soon, but if she could just hold him like this and wear him, down, it wouldn’t be a problem. In theory.

Sweep the legs, push her over. That was the plan in a nutshell. Simple on paper, difficult in execution. Getting Stone to the canvas hadn't been hard, she made it easy. The caveat was it had to happen on her terms. He didn't intend to go down as well, his plans had him coming away upright with her legs at his fingertips. It wasn't to be though. Down so low, he was committed to the takedown so far that when she dragged him along, there was no choice but to follow.

While Stone wasn't a submissionist, her raw strength more than made up for any lacking technique. Once she had herself locked in around him, the vice grip she held could rival most. This particular hold was not one he wanted to be in. No chance of easy reversal or sliding free. Two points of constricting contact with a living weapon of a woman the orchestrator. He drew in a ragged breath as his neck was cinched into the choke, weighing his options quickly.

It boiled down to making her give up the hold or reaching the ropes. While the latter was the safe and easier bet between the one, the former left him in a position to capitalize and make something out of this. One of his arms hooks around behind Stone, locking her back in to firmly hold where it was. This alone did nothing really, save more taking away some of the leverage she could have used to pull his head back. His other arm came up, hand brushing past Stones chest to find her head. He tried to slip the butt of his palm under her chin and push it back to it her neck under pressure. With her back held close, in theory, she wouldn't be able to get much relief from him pushing her head back to its limit.

He could have tried to lay into her with punches or elbows instead, but that sort of brutality wasn't really his thing. As a technical wrestler he wasn't about to try and punch his way through problems. If it seemed as though his small counter hold was falling flat, he would abandon it in favor of making a break for the ropes.

She wasn’t going to mention it right now, of course, and it only really occurred to her in the last moment, but Makio actually had Makoto to thank for his current state of affairs. The guillotine choke was the same move that the tiny terror had used on her back in the day, and while it hadn’t been what decided their match and secured her place as the Valkyrie’s leader, it had certainly helped her along the path. It was tight, secure, formidable, and most importantly for her purposes, it was simple. No fancy combinations to memorize, no intricate techniques. Wrap their head up, wrap their waist up, squeeze. Could not be simpler.

And it was effective, too, in no small part thanks to her strength. She clamped down tight, and Blue Thunder Mask was left with precious few options - in fact, she thought he only had two. Either he tapped or reached the ropes.

It seemed like he had another idea in mind, though. At first, she wrote his struggling off as no more than that - pointless struggling. But no, there was a method to it. Deliberate. He was pushing her head back, trying to make this hold as irritating as possible for her to maintain. A good strategy, and it would’ve worked if she was dealing with someone she could easily control.

But Makio was anything but that. This was too good of a position for her to let go so easily. ”Sorry, not happening.” She was willing to put up with his palm for now, and she took the time to ratchet up the pressure, giving him everything he had to give.

Even as he extended his arm as far as it could go to push back Stone's head she didn't so much as budge her hold, in fact he was almost sure she had managed to tighten it. It was hard to tell. Her legs wrapped around his midsection made worse by every breath he manged to suck in. Her gamble hadn't paid off and it left in in a very bad position. Time wasted in a hold like this wasn't just about the pain, which thanks to Stone, there was no shortage of that. No, the real danger was of being choked out. It was hard to breath, and constricted like this, it wasn't as if he was able to take in much air. He would black out long before he tapped... he didn't intend to do either.

Was it time? To ask the question and possibly tilt Stone? No. He wasn't in a position to make use of it, that and he still wasn't keen he was alright with making use of that tactic yet. The ace up his imaginary sleeve for when and if things got desperate. It was the hard road than. Digging the toes of his boots into the mat and using his palms on the canvas, he half crawled half hopped the two of them towards the ropes. It wasn't easy despite how stead he was able to make the trip with the both of them. Stone was a lot of weight to be shoving around and his mobility options were limited. Her choice to not secure his limbs ultimately gave him an edge in moving them that he was thankful to have.

"You aren't sorry at all." He rasped, comfortable enough to speak now that oxygen wasn't going to be as precious a commodity. His fingers wrapped around the bottom rope, gripping it tightly. Being yanked away for an additional hold wasn't really something he was concerned about. She wasn't in a position to transition to anything he was really aware of. The referee would throw their arms wide, calling for the rope break.

Concern started to make its way over the referee’s face, as she looked over Makio’s body and took in the tightness of the hold, saw his continued efforts to escape wind up with nothing. She responded to his struggle with tightening jolt, squeezing out every inch she could find. All of it prompted her to lean in and ask the pivotal question. ”Blue Thunder Mask! Do you give?”

Sweet of her to ask, but everyone knew she was wasting her breath. Blue Thunder Mask wasn’t giving up. He was fighting. He was dragging them across the mat. He was suffering for every inch, pulling them further along, until…

”Rope break!”

He gripped the ropes tight, clutched them, and the referee was already starting a count. Once again, she would’ve been better off saving her breath for more important things. Stone let go of Makio immediately and rolled away, giving him all the space he could ask for. She popped up to her knees, then to her feet, and started to pace while she waited for him to rise.

Stone would wait. For a while. It was only fair. If he was wise, he wouldn’t push it…

The referee might as well not exist in the ring as it related to his surrender. Stubborn as a mule when it came to giving in normally, the fact he had everything on the line here tonight meant their was no way he was ever going to tap. If Stone intended to beat him, or Makoto if he managed to get past his current obstacle, wanted to put him down they would have to be damn sure he was incapable of getting back up. If he lost tonight, his career was over. Who he was in this ring was tied so deeply to this mask and who he had been with it on, he couldn't continue knowing he had lost it.

When he had tasted freedom, he have been cautious when rising, supporting himself on the ropes. It seemed as though Stone was repaying his courtesy, something he was infinitely thankful for. He caught his breath and took stock of how hurt he was by making small deliberate movement as he rose up, checking off items on a list in his head.

"You know... If you spent more time in the ring, and less time hanging out in gangs, you could go pretty far with this." He rubbed his neck, trying to work out the kinks. "I have to ask, how did an American like you find yourself here, anyhow?" He was just assuming she was from the United States, though he might be wrong he had traveled the world enough to be almost positive she was from across the way.

Her pacing was a bit ominous, but he didn't let it get to him as he leaned from side to side, stretching himself out a bit more before walking from the ropes. He slowly but surely sank back into his usual stance, but seemed content to be chatty over pressing the match. While he was ready to go, a bit more time wouldn't go amiss, especially if it helped fill in some of the missing pieces of who Stone really was.