Blue Thunder Mask vs. Stone - Duty and Honor

When Stone said it would suck, she didn't just mean for Blue Thunder Mask. Yes, he was the main recipient of the fall, the one who took the most damage, but he didn’t exactly make a comfortable mattress to crash down on, especially after all the bashing around Stone took in the past minute or so.

”2…!”

Still, she had the advantage for the moment, and the referee’s count reminded her where this needed to be taken, not even wanting to know what would happen with this challenge if they were both counted out. Gripping Makio's arm tight with both hands, she hauled him up to his feet, marched him back into the ring, and attempted to roll him in under the bottom rope.

Blue Thunder Mask in most situations would make a terrible cushion, there wasn't of him that really provided give. He let out a long exhale as Stone rose up all him, about to do the same albeit a tad bit sluggishly. It was only a two counter after all, there was no real worry unless Stone pushed the attack. Then she grabbed hold of his arm. His body tensed as she dragged him up to his feet. Here on the outside there were any number of terrible places someone as strong as Stone could throw him onto or into. He wasn't looking forward to any of that.

Every massing millisecond that passed his eyes darted around the ringside for all the potential elements she could weaponize against him legally... then she tossed him into the ring instead. Utterly confused, he was about to question her actions and instead rolled through to create some distance between himself and where she was likely to enter the ring behind him. Once he had created a gap, he pushed himself to to a knee, turning to catch sight of his adversary before he began the rise to his feet.

Stone did have the idea of doing a little ringside brawling, but she didn’t like the risk of it. Makio was good at turning a situation around, that much was clear, and she liked her chances better between the ropes. Easier to pin him, and she had some interesting options she wanted to work with.

That being said, it wasn’t as if she had no other ideas. In fact, there was something off-the-wall she wanted to try, here and now.

Instead of just coming in under the ropes after Blue Thunder Mask, she made her way up the turnbuckle, hauling her up to the top and perching there, an eagle ready to swoop down on its prey. Makio was making his way up, getting his bearings, any second now he would turn around, and…

The moment he looked her way, Stone launched herself off and flew towards him. It wasn’t anything too crazy or complex - she just came at him with her leg extended, attempting to him with a flying knee strike to the face. A strong move made even moreso with her weight to back it up.

Once Blue Thunder Mask had pushed himself to his knees, his eyes had snapped to the ropes where he had come from, to the sight of no Stone. She hadn't taken him for a ride on the outside, nor pursued him directly into the ring? Strange. Flicking from one side to the other, he finally caught sigh of the oddity, the large woman was atop a turnbuckle, though, she was already sailing from it when he fully understood the gravity of the situation. He had just begun to rise, to try and get out of the way but he understood in an instant it was no use, instead bringing his arms up, forearms together to guard his face.

Stone might as well rename herself to meteorite at this point as she came crashing into him. Even with his raised guard her knee had completely blown him over. His back slammed into the mat, the momentum carried him up and over his shoulders, tumbling backwards until he had landed on his back for a second time. The tumble left him slightly disoriented, though he sat himself up almost immediately.

It wasn’t a perfect move by any stretch of the imagination. Ideally, Stone would’ve hit him with the flying knee after he’d stood up all the way and turned around, like she often imagined it when she was practicing. Chalk it up to a lack of good sparring partners. When she got back to the garage, she’d have to have a talk with Reiko, see if they could work together and help iron out the kinks.

For the moment, though, what she had to work with was enough to get the job done. Stone ducked into a roll after the blow hit home, and looked over her shoulder to see Blue Thunder Mask reeling. He looked out of it, maybe enough for a pin. Might as well try.

She slid over to his side, grabbed his shoulder, and tossed him back down on the canvas, flattening him out. From there, Stone reached over, pulled his leg up, and pressed down on his chest, going for a quick pin.

The referee dropped down and started the count right away.

Had he not gotten his arms up in time, he was t sure how much damage Stone would have inflicted on him. As it was, it had been enough to leave him partially she'll shocked by being thrown so unexpectedly hard and far. He couldn't help but coming back to wondering why she just didn't wrestle full time. She continued to impress him with her power and versatility. She would a terror in the ring...she WAS a terror in the ring.

Speak of the devil, there she was again coming up beside him. With a grunt he had been shoved back to the mat and set up for a pin. Familiar. This one however was simple, leaving him flat on his back. So he waited. Sucking every bit of recovery he could in the only moment he could be for sure Stone wouldn't be slamming him around.

"One!"

He needed a new approach. He had gone all in already in working her arms, so he was going to continue that. It was far too late to switch things up, not while he had a new match waiting for him right after this one. Being defensive was keeping him more or less blow for blow with Stone, which was not only bad for his prospects in this match, but far worse for him if he managed to win.

"Two!"

More aggression meant more risks. There was no easy answer. No right path to victory. He had to make it work our this was it. All those years around the world would mean nothing. It was time to step up and be the guy everyone thought he was. The guy he knew he was.

Blue Thunder Mask twisted, throwing his shoulder up before the third and final count hand landed to seal his fate. It wasn't alone however. Rather than just lifting himself from the mat, it came accompanied with a forearm blow aimed at Stone's arm, trying to also know her up. If she rose to her knees, he would sit himself up before throwing his weight back to the mat to gain some rolling momentum to send a kick up towards her head as well. Maybe that would make her pick her pin attempts more carefully.

The referee started to count, and the crowd began to count with her, but that wasn’t the only thing that was going on by any stretch of the imagination. There was a booing noise that accompanied it, too, a low rumbling that mixed in. At first, she thought it was aimed at her - while she’d been wrestling a clean match, she was still the ‘enemy’, still the bad girl going up against the hero, and they would jeer her regardless. She’d grown used to it over the years.

But, as the referee continued to count, she looked up and saw the real source of the hate - Makoto had just made her way out from behind the curtains, and was making a steady trot to ringside. Not good. For multiple reasons.

Neither of them needed the distraction, and while she asked her to not interfere directly, all she could do was ask. A win by DQ would go in Makio’s favor, so that might keep her at bay...or she might decide to just skip to her turn and forego anything else.

She didn’t have time to think more on that, though, as Blue Thunder Mask not only kicked out of the pin, but made her pay for it. Stone had just managed to sit up when she was graced with a kick upside the head, one that hit flush and left her seeing stars. She flopped to the side, grabbing her head as she moaned and tried to process what had just gone down.

The crowd was background noise at the moment. He hadn't stopped to look at what had caused the upswell in boos, he could afford to. The moment her managed to get Stone up, he was sure to get her back down to buy him some time at the very least. As she fell away to his side, he leaned forward again, climbing to a knee. Looking Stone's way to quickly assess the situation.

Pushing himself up, he hopped over Stone to put himself behind her, finally catching sight of Makoto. His expression visibly hardened as he laid eyes on her, eyes narrowing. Her being ringside added an unneeded element he wasn't wanting to deal with. He didn't have the luxury of dealing with her right now, setting himself back to the task at hand.

Dropping down behind Stone he grasped to attempt to wrench one of her arms up and around, forcefully trying to tuck it behind her back. From there be would loop his own arm intertwined with hers to lock in chickenwing hold. If he was able to still control her to any degree on the ground, be would attempt to jerk her up into a sitting position. From here, he would try to slip an arm around her neck, linking the sleeper and the arm submission into a crossface chickenwing.

Stone was still shaking her head, trying to keep it clear while she saw Makoto head their way, displeasure etched into her face. She had other things to worry about here, didn’t need the distraction. Blue Thunder Mask was enough of a challenge on his lonesome, without her focus being divided, and, as if to remind her of that, he sprang into action only a scant moment later.

Stone hissed as he jerked her arm back and started deftly maneuvering about her. She was worried and rightly so, but she wasn’t sure what she should’ve been worried about, exactly. It was hard to tell exactly what he was going for, what his goal was, until his arm came around her neck and clamped tight, locking in the submission move.

A good hold. Nice and tight. Wearing down on her arm and cutting off her circulation, serving two purposes at once. It wasn’t enough to make Stone submit, but if he was trying to wear her down, he couldn’t have picked a better move. With his superior leverage, all Stone could do was reach over and try to pull at his arm, doing whatever she could to alleviate the pressure as he poured it on.

It came together like puzzle pieces, each one had a purpose, place, and fit. As he forcefully guided Stone through each component of the hold, he sought to add to it as many complications as he could. While there for a few holds better for someone like Stone, that could taker her off the mat and lock down all her limbs, those were taxing to maintain and he couldn't spend the energy on that. So instead he sought to entangle the woman as best he could. While she could certainly still try for the ropes, it was going to be quite the task.

He had once again been sure to focus on her arm, the same one he had been targeting since the beginning of the match. Everything else was a footnote to that. He flexed his arms, fighting his grip around her as he jerked himself back to sit behind her. His legs came up, trying to wrap around her midsection to clamp down another body scissor. Air, blood, pain. Those were the currency to be paid here in the ring. He was cutting into all of those. He didn't see Stone tapping. Not unless she knew something was about to break, then perhaps. There was no threat of that here.

His eyes drifted to keep track of Makoto. The wild card on the outside. There were countless numbers of things she could do. The chief concern was attacking him, or even Stone. He wasn't sure if the referee would allow him to be DQed by her interference on "his behalf" given the two women were part of the same group, but if she did that would be the easiest way to pass him the loss. She could also attack him. With anything, she only had to pick up the pieces after the match. If she was able to brutalize him before her match even started, it might have been worth it to her to throw Stone's shot at him away.