Blue Thunder Mask vs. Stone - Duty and Honor

The referee was giving Makoto a look now, too, wearily eyeing her as she came down the ramp. She was aware of the situation with the three of them, clearly, but that wasn’t the only reason for her apprehension. The little terror had a reputation for taking out referee’s who were silly enough to get in her way, and a ringside brawl that involved her a couple years back ended up with quick a few women in striped shirts getting matching black eyes.

For the moment, though, it didn’t seem like she had anything to worry about. Makoto came down to the ring, folded her arms, and just stood there. Didn't say anything. Didn’t do anything. Just watched.

Stone wasn’t confident she would keep only doing that, but for the moment, she didn’t have the luxury of caring much. She was more concerned about the legs that were coming around her midsection, putting on a squeeze. She managed to get her arm down in time to pull at them, alleviating some of the pressure, but it was a stopgap measure at best. She needed a way out.

Now, more than ever, she was glad she opted for a standard match. Stone started to push along on the canvas with her feet, dragging them both to the nearest set of ropes. The moment she was close enough, she’d reach out and try to snag the bottom one, looking to break the hold and gain her freedom. If only for a little while.

Stone had managed to avoid letting herself get completely entangled, which would be a boon for her. That arm alone prevented not only him being able to properly squeeze the large woman's midsection, but took a bit of his control over manipulating his control over her. It made it difficult with an arm there to attempt to roll her over. That would have been the go to move once she had gotten close to the ropes had it managed to have all three components locked in. As it was now, the two had begun the long road to the ropes, a familiar journey at this point.

Stone's power one again proving to be a value asset as she dragged them along. About mid way her had thrown himself onto his back, hoisting the woman's backside off the canvas to elevate her a bit. This made the dragging harder, with his flattened back being dragged with the addition of her full weight on top of him. He was sure to keep one shoulder raised off the mat while maintaining the hold.

From there he did everything within his power to make the hold as taxing as he could. Her freedom was inevitable, unless she was more drained by this than he imaged. Sure enough, the referee was hovering around them though, they must be close. When the break was finally called for her detached himself from Stone, rolling her out of his grasp. She scooted himself back along the mat before pushing himself to his feet.

He backpedaled to mid ring, eyes flicking between Stone and Makoto as he ran a thumb up under his mask at the brow, clearing out any sweat building up. This was his moment to take it in and breathe. Even if you weren't worn down, it was an essential part of staying on top of your condition. He was in this for the long haul after all.

Stone managed to use her arm to avoid getting wrapped up too badly by Blue Thunder Mask’s legs. That was the good news.

But she was still wrapped up tight, and he seemed hellbent on squeezing out every little bit of energy he could from the move, making her pay for each and every inch she claimed on the way to the ropes. That was the bad news.

Stone had crawled through worse situations with a heavy weight on her back, so it wasn’t something she was completely unused to. Just like the battlefield, there was no time for bitching, no room for overthinking it. Forget about Makoto, forget about the crowd demanding a submission, just keep the eyes forward and get it done.

She managed to get it done and snagged the ropes, prompting Makio to let go and reset in the middle of the ring, waiting for her to get up,too While she had no problems doing just that, her body had a few things to say on the mat.

With her arm sore and numb, she had to rely on her good one, leaning on it as she ascended. Once she was on two good feet, she brought them both up, but she kept the hurt one down at her side. It was too slow and numb for much beyond defense, and not good defense at that.

All the same, she marched forward with her guard tight, not wanting to give him the chance to press her. As soon as she was close enough, she’d throw a hard left cross to his face. Far from her best punch, but it would have to do.

Stone favoring her arm didn't escape him, the difference between her stance at the start of their match and now was noticable. He was making good progress, but that wasn't a cause to get sloppy. All it would take in one good knock down and the state of her arms wouldn't matter if she stomped him into the canvas. She was being proactive, coming at him. Was that an act of desperation or an attempt to keep him from rounding on her?

Blue Thunder Mask stood ready, moving himself in her direction. Her options were limited, unless he was trying to bate him with how she handled her bad arm. Closing in fast would limit her kicking reach, that left strikes or grapples. He was willing to bet she wouldn't try to tie up with him, not while she wasn't at her full capacity. That left the other arm. He wanted to get a hold of that one, bad.

His arms raised up, rather than trying to block the blow he moved to intercept it head on. He twisted his body, leaning her head to the side as he lead with his side. His hands grasped for her wrist, using his shoulder to take the brunt of the blow to stop it dead against his body to grab for it easier. He'd likely regret it later.

If he had managed to get hold of her wrist, he would spin around, slamming his side into Stone as he turned his back to her. He would bring her arm up high over his head before smashing it down over the top of his shoulder to do some serious damage to the limb. If he still had her at this point, he would duck himself under her, keeping hold of her wrist and hooking is other arm with hers to wrench her into a hammerlock behind her back.

Stone swore she could her old CQC officer giving her crap for blundering forward in a situation like, for bringing the fight to an opponent when she clearly didn’t have all the right tool. Blue Thunder Mask was good, too good to fall for that kind of upfront assault, and having an less-than-useful arm wasn’t going to make it any easier.

But she hated the idea of hanging back and letting him dictate the pace even less. She needed to do something.

That something put her right back into the danger zone, however. At first, she thought she was doing good, better than expected, as her punched found some impact. But Blue Thunder Mask’s skill went on display once more as seized her arm and had his way with it, bringing it down hard on his shoulder, snapping it with merciless force.

Stone cried out at the blow, then cried out again as it was whipped around and brought snug against her back, caught in a tight hammerlock. Not good. Getting worse. Desperate to be free, she threw her head back and tried to bash him in the face with her skull, hoping it would stun him long enough for her to slip free.

As he jammed Stone arm up behind her back, the strain on his arm was sure to let him know how much of mistake eating that punch had been. The stiffness, the dull throbbing pain, it was a familiar feeling. He would have to deal with it for now. There was no time to rest now, or after the match. She wrenched the woman's arm back, far more concerned with remaining out of reach of a possible elbow from the woman's bad arm as well as keeping his footing in case she tried to flop onto him.

The back of Stone's head connected squarely with his face, snapping back his head. He caught himself, almost swearing in Japanese at the impact. He stumbled, arms loosening to the point he had to surrender the hold or he was going to drag her with him and risk one of the things he was trying to avoid. Distance was more important here.

Staggering back he clutched his face with a hand, drawing in a sharp breath between his teeth. His other hand remained outstretched a protective buffer between him and Stone. Thankfully she hadn't broken his nose, that was the last thing he needed right now.

"That's using your head." Oh god why. "Thought I had you there." He took a moment to steady himself, at least getting ready if she came at him. While he had been able to drive most of the match offense it didn't take much for Stone to turn things around. Even beat up a bit, any move from the woman was worth fearing, especially since she was an opportunist when it came to following up.

Blue Thunder Mask wasn’t the only one surprised by that move connecting. There was the audience, of course, who all let out a collective gasp as the sound of bone connecting with bone and collectively winced away. But, more than anything, Stone was shocked at her luck, and she was convinced that was what it boiled down to - luck.

She didn’t like to admit it, but she also like to think she was a woman who could recognize hard truths, and there was no getting around the fact that this man was just a better wrestler than her. The only way for her to get him would be with surprises, taking him when he was off his game.

How to make the most of this moment, though? He was stunned, but her arms were hurting too much for slams at the moment, which meant she had to rely on simple moves. Strikes, even. And she would have to turn around, which would give him a chance to get ready, so…

Hm.

An idea popped into Stone’s head and she went with it, not even giving it a second thought. With a sudden backward jerk, she threw her lower body back, swung her legs upwards in an arc, and tried to hit him upside the head with a Pele Kick. It wouldn’t be a work of art, and she’d nearly fall on her head, but if it connected, it might make the window she needed.

He had been ready to try and fend her off if she had turned around to charge at him. One armed, he would still be able to stuff a lunge if she had thrown herself at him. It was a simple yet effective tool to keep distance, unless of course someone was actively looking to grab your arm, then it might as well have been an offer for your pain and misery served up on a silver platter. She never turned, which had been good. The solid shock directly to the brain wasn't something he could just shrug off like raw pain in most cases. His mind was his most valuable weapon, and in the haze his thought process and reactions moved at a pace unlike his usual actions dictated.

It had almost been like history repeating, the move and situation had been so similar to how he had gotten floored early on in the corner. He didn't have an answer for it though, caught unprepared.  As she threw herself back, her kick assisted by her movement and weight, the attempt to guard himself by crossing a forearm failed miserably. She blew past his arm and struck his head nearly dead on, the blow managing to slide down to catch his shoulder as well.

He stumbled back sloppily, one leg giving out from under him as he fell onto his back. He didn't have any witty dad puns this time around. gripping his head tightly in both hands as he let out kiss through his teeth trying to deal with the pain rocking him. Her boots were far from kind, doing her no real disservice when it came to driving them into his skull. he raised up a leg, stomping the mat.

Sure enough, the move resulted in Stone nearly breaking her neck, smacking her head on the canvas as she came down. That was what made it such a gamble - if she screwed this up, there was no way that Blue Thunder Mask would let the gap go. He’d have her. He’d win.

That wasn’t what happened. It connected, nice and clean. And, wouldn’t you know it, he happened to land not too far from where Makoto was standing. Close enough for her to lean over and say a few words his way while Stone was making her way up.

”Come on, hero. Get up.” She reached up and gripped the rope tight with her glove, wringing it. ”I want a piece of you, next.”

Stone saw her speaking, couldn’t make it out, and didn’t much care what she said so long as she didn’t interfere. She was more concerned with what her options would be from here. She wasn’t strong enough with her arms yet to get any good slams going, so that left her with only a few options. Crazy options. Screw it.

The crowd started to rise as she made her way through the ropes, walked on the apron, and ascending the turnbuckle as quickly as she could go. Stone came to perch on the top as she’d done once before, poised to fly, but this time she had quite a different move in mind.

A deep breath, a muttered curse, and she leaped through air, bringing her legs and arms in tight. When she reached the zenith of her flying, she extended them fully and came down Blue Thunder Mask from above, falling towards him with a Frog Splash.

Blue Thunder Mask had been laid out rather convincingly by the two thunderous head shots. Times like this, wearing the mask always sucked. The throbbing in his held felt constricted by the covering. The tightness made it hard to concentrate, having difficulty following where Stone had went. All of this wasn't aided by Makoto goading him on from the sideline. He wanted to look her in the eyes and let her know how badly he wanted to get her in the ring again after all of this. Getting distracted by her now could cost him dearly though. All he could spare was a quick dialogue as his arts flicked around the ring to find where Stone had moved off to. "Famous last words? ...Shouldn't you be polishing my new motorcycle?" He chuckled softly, though it was cut short by the came that accompanied it.

Where had she gone? At the sudden roar the crow crowd he stopped scanning the canvas and the ringside and instead focused his attentions upwards. She was on the ropes, but not in the way favorable to him. He grimaced as she took flight. This could very well have been it for him. As a last ditch move, he tucked his legs inward, kneels raised to intercept the crashing meteorite known as Stone, giving her a new, far less forgiving surface to bury her weight up against.