Kyoko Akan vs. Masuyo Ai - Iron Sharpens Iron

“There are THIRTY MINUTES remaining in this contest!”

Crap. Gotta kick things up a notch.

Masuyo furrowed her eyebrows together upon receiving that little reminder. At the very least, she still had all that time to score another point. The fact that Kyoko hadn’t charged was giving her some confidence as well, especially seeing how she was messing around with her arm as she stood back up. She was hurting, and if the Demon had worked the arm as bad as she thought she had, Kyoko wouldn’t be throwing any mix-ups her way anytime soon. This was the best to time to strike if she wanted to tie things up.

Still, no reason to be dumb about this. Thirty minutes was a lot of time. Masuyo brought her hands up from her midsection, balling them into fists as she went to close the distance between the two of them. She threw a quick jab at the Queen’s guard to keep her distracted before shooting a couple quick, snap kicks to her injured leg, trying to wear down that speed as best she was able.

Finally reaching the halfway mark Kyoko huffed and tried to compose herself, her body was starting to feel the consequence of her early burst, she had succeeded in securing two falls but it seemed she was on the back burner. One thing was for certain, she couldn't survive the match acting like she did the first half of it. Now was the time to think long term or else she would be dropping fall after fall to the girl. Something she really didnt want to do at this point. Though with her not pushing the offense it meant Masuyo was happy to pick up the slack. Moving in to start punching away at her.

Kyoko kept her hands up protecting herself as much as possible, though her opponent was happy to chip away at her guard regardless. Likely looking for any more chinks in her armor now that she had hurt her arm with those various locks. Kyoko did her best to show none but it definitely hurt trying to move her hand the way she did before, especially when she started kicking at her leg, the bad one as she stiffened up and hissed with the blows, shifting her body to try and avoid it but unable to play it off like nothing. Her only recourse was to bring a hand down and try to check the next incoming kick.

Good, she was pushing her back. That was something at least. With the momentum Kyoko had been building since the beginning of the match, it was clear that the only thing that saved Masuyo was the fact that she was still fresh from the outset. Letting her regain that kind of progress this late in the game, now that they had half the time remaining, her chances of coming out on top of this would only diminish. She had to take her to the wall, keep her closed in with nowhere else to go.

Her guard seemed to be faltering too, if how she handled the strikes to her arms was anything to go by. She flinched, giving Masuyo the only cue she needed before going low with some quick kicks to the Queen’s leg. Her stance faltered, trying and failing to defend from the MMA maven’s striking prowess. Kyoko may have had the fists to deal with just about anyone, but Masuyo had enough kicks in her to fill that gap, as she would happily demonstrate. Before she could manage her lucky third, the Belly Queen’s hand came down and checked her strike with a bump of her fist, unable to use her leg to defend from the strike in its current condition.

She decided to use that vulnerability to her advantage with her next move. The Demon would step forward and feint another quick low kick to Kyoko’s shin, attempting to toy with her a bit. Tempting her with the risk of injury to her already worn leg. Resetting her stance, however, she would then swing her leg across the canvas again, seemingly going for a sweep kick to Kyoko’s heel, before suddenly raising it up just shy of contact and shooting her leg straight across to the woman’s temple, going for a sweep and roundhouse kick combo.

Kyoko couldn't let her chance to be on the offensive slip away. She was only ahead by one now and she needed to show Masuyo her advantage ended there. Which was kinda hard to prove when you were hesitant to take simple shot at your opponent like a punch. Still her mind was focused on repaying the favor for her leg and arm as The Demon moved it seemingly trying to throw a kick at her leg as Kyoko attempted to fall back and avoid it before she came back at her and went for a roundhouse kick that nailed her across the face.

"Ghhakk!" Kyoko screamed as she was knocked around by the kick her back hitting the ropes as she dropped to her knee for a second. Grabbing the ropes and attempting to push herself back up to her feet after the nasty kick to her face. Looking at her opponent through a closed eye as she rubbed the side of her face that was struck.

And to believe that, once upon a time, she was actually mad at Gin for wanting her to train in kicking. Masuyo grew up on aikido, which never even suggested using the legs for anything other than maintaining balance. Her fists were all she ever thought she needed. She figured if she just focused on hitting harder and striking faster, then everything else would just fall into place.

But then you ran into an opponent like Kyoko, that could knock anyone into next week in a straight fistfight, and you realized just how little you really knew about the fighting scene. Playing her game wasn’t going to work. She had to keep her on her feet, keep her guessing or end up back on the floor. So when she nailed that clever kick to her side, Masuyo gave a slight little grin in homage to her mentor. The Demon brought her foot back down with a firm slam into the canvas, watching Kyoko fall to the ropes.

There was a bit of surprise on Masuyo’s face at seeing her opponent moving to stand again. Whatever anyone could say about Kyoko, she was nothing if not determined. The MMA maven let out a huff and knelt forward, feeling the fatigue start to work its magic. She had to bring this Queen down one way or another, or she might just run out of energy before she ran out of time. She clenched her fists and threw Kyoko a smirk.

“Getting slow!” She shouted as she charged at Kyoko. She leapt forward to shoot a running knee strike square into the Belly Queen’s jaw, hoping to catch her before she found her footing.

Kyoko wasnt an idiot. She knew where her strongest chance of fighting back was and it certainly wasnt on her ass, so she would do her best to get back up when needed even though her body ached for a moments rest each time. She couldn't let herself get complacent or relax, it would just make the climb she was up for harder to do. Though getting to her feet and staying there were two different battles all together, as The Demon flew in after her and attempted to decapitate her with a knee that seemed to shatter her jaw the instant it made contact.

"Phuuaaaggh!" Kyoko slumped backwards her arms clinging against the ropes as she was practically relying on them to even have any semblance of being vertical. Still it wasn't a position she would have chosen as it left her in a very precarious position for her opponent to deal with and needless to say it, things were looking pretty bad early on in this round.

“Whoa.” Even Yumi had to take a step back after that one. She’d been refereeing these kind of matches for well over two years now. She’d seen people take elbows to the side of the head, get slammed into the turnbuckles, and speared into the canvas at top speeds. For a moment, she thought she was getting used to the sight, but then the Demon’s rush came and sent a harsh crack throughout the arena with her opponent’s jaw. Just like that, she set another fine example for one of the most brutal knee strikes ever broadcast. In Yumi’s book, at least.

Masuyo, for her part, was a bit too focused on maintaining her momentum to gauge reactions. Her strike landed, and that was all she cared to know. She latched onto the ropes as her knee skid across and away from Kyoko’s chin, halting her speed and letting her stop on two feet right beside her. She looked down at her side to assess the damage. Still awake. That kind of attack ended plenty of matches for the MMA maven before, most only after two minutes let alone thirty. Yet her adversary was still here. Masuyo’s respect for Kyoko only grew as she stepped away from the ropes and reached down to grab the belly buster by her shoulders.

“How you’re even still awake is a question I'll have to leave for the Buddha to answer.” She said as she attempted to bring her opponent up onto two feet. “But you’ve got to fall sometime, ‘Queen’.” Placing her hands underneath the woman’s armpits, Masuyo would attempt to lift the former world contender up into the air as she dropped back. Once she managed that, as the two fell back, the Demon would bring her knees out, attempting to have Kyoko fall onto them with a gutbuster.

Was she awake? She honestly wasnt sure if she qualified. Sure she was what one might say...conscious but awake was likely giving her too much credit. She felt like jello that was trying to materialize into something solid again, and overall she was struggling to keep some level of being conscious despite being nearly knocked on her ass if not for the ropes. She was dragged off the ropes by her ever persistent combatant and lifted up for something else. Held up by Masuyo before she dropped her down with a gutbuster.

"Phhaaugh!" Kyoko coughed out as she fell down holding her belly after the brutal impact, she didnt have much a chance to tighten up given her state but moves like that you just couldn't really take without a lot of pain. She knew that well enough, and the results spoke for themselves as she struggled to breathe and tried to adjust to the brutal drop to the mat.

In perhaps a not so subtle way, Masuyo was starting to adopt bits and pieces of Kyoko’s strategy. Whether it was intentional or not, she wasn’t really sure herself. She hadn’t practiced many wrestling moves, and the gutbuster certainly hadn’t been one of them. There were plenty of the other strategies she’d picked up in the octagon that weren’t quite as theatric nor risked brining one’s own opponent on top of themselves. But she was starting to get drawn into it, this subtle game of theirs, even if Gin was likely shaking his head right now.

She couldn’t be too picky now, though. She was a pro-wrestler now, and this was the time to seize her move had done its job, taking her knees to her opponent's belly with a harsh recoil that bounce Kyoko off to the side. It put the Queen on the ground and, by the looks of it, she wasn’t planning on getting up any time soon. Even better.

Masuyo rolled over to her side, facing the Belly Queen as she tended to her damaged namesake. With a rough shove to the woman’s shoulder, she’d attempt to push Kyoko onto her side, forcing her back to face the MMA maven. In the event she managed that, Masuyo would move to wrap her arms around the woman’s neck and lock in a rear chokehold.

Kyoko was surprised by the girls attack expecting more punches over a move like that but regardless she was hardly the girl that could act like that was something she had any right to complain about. Plus she was too busy dealing with the pain from the devastating gutbuster as Masuyo pushed her around to get some room to set her up for something else big. Though what it was she was unsure until she felt The Demon wrap her arms around her head in a rear naked choke!

"Agghhkk!" Kyoko gagged as her hands went to her head and tried to free herself from the choke. She couldn't let herself be beaten this quick and lose her advantage! Her mind quickly started to work for a way out of the submission hold in her current position, as the blood and air to her head started to be cut off. Giving her such a short time to get free as she pushed and tried to force herself back and push it so that the Demon was on her back and hoping a pinfall attempt might get her a bit loose.