Kyoko Akan vs. Masuyo Ai - Iron Sharpens Iron

This would get her. Masuyo was sure of it. Kyoko had soaked up an admirable amount of damage, but the Demon was willing to bet she was reaching her cap. The rear chokehold hadn’t let her down before and she hadn't expected it to now. Kyoko was a great fighter, with some of the strongest fists she’d ever seen, but her technical skill was hardly above that of an ameatur. She could struggle all she wanted. If Kyoko didn’t know how to get out of this, or didn’t have the strength the pry free, she wasn’t going anywhere. This was point was hers.

And with one simple movement, that victory was taken away from her. In a moment that brought her back to her debut match, the Belly Queen pushed off the ground and forced both of them onto their backs. For a moment, Masuyo thought she was simply struggling, experimenting with different positions to try and get free. But then she heard the referee yell-

“ONE!”

-and her mind snapped to attention. Her shoulders were down. Even quicker than the last time she’d been in this predicament, Masuyo unraveled the hold and pushed the world contender off of her as the official's hand came down for the second count. She took a roll to the side, looking across from Kyoko as sweat ran down her face and dripped from chin to the hot canvas at her bare feet. A knee to the jaw. Two to the gut. A kick to the temple. What was it going to take to finally get her to quit?

“Kyoko...seriously. I don’t think you’re hearing me.” She slowly pushed herself up to one knee, going to stand up to two feet. “This is where you fall down.”

Kyoko thought she was being a bit clever with her antics and given by the quick reaction from the Demon she was, but she had done that before and moved a bit fast for someone who was caught completely off guard. Still it did the job so how many seconds it surprised her didn't matter as she freed herself from her bad predicament, forcing her to move and let go of the hold as she avoided the pinfall. Kyoko breathed both in relief and to suck in air as she felt everything come back to her head. The hold was pretty difficult to endure but thankfully she was free.

"I hear you loud and clear.....but I'm not one....to let others tell me when its my time to fall." Kyoko muttered still she needed to do something she had worked over Masuyo's abs throughout this match, a good start but not something that was going to win her the match if she was careless. The rest of her had to be hurting as well but Kyoko needed to remind Masuyo she was pretty dangerous outside of her just her niche and someone who would be keeping that lead.

Jeez, she was starting to feel light-headed. While it may have looked like Masuyo was carrying things for a while, it was still important remember they were over thirty minutes into a brutal thrashing on both sides. The MMA maven was carrying a lot of damage, and it was taking every scrap of energy to keep her strikes at full strength. Sweat dripped from every pour, her muscles cried and ached for relief, but she couldn't let up yet. She still needed those two points, and Kyoko was making it damn clear that she wasn't just going to fork them over.

Alright then. Breathe in, breathe out. Back out to it.

This wasn’t going to be easy, but she allowed herself a little chuckle at Kyoko’s words all the same. “I like you.” Bringing herself up go two feet, the Demon would make her way over to Kyoko as she recovered. Only taking a half a second to steady herself before she went to reach down and grabbing underneath the Belly Queen’s shoulders. From there, she’d attempt to bring the woman up to two feet and have her meet a vicious knee strike to the gut.

This was only going to get worse as the match dragged on, she was already sweaty, sore, and bruised but she was also riled up and excited. This might be her biggest test of endurance yet, arguably bigger then any times she put her nickname to the test. Her eyes stayed on her foe as she thought about what she would have to do to get the better of her. The Demon made the first move determined to try and get her down more and more as she moved to try and hold her in place by her shoulders before attempting to drill her with a knee to the belly.

"Ugghf!" Kyoko coughed her head turning more to the side when next to Masuyo as she felt the pain in her abs feel like it was being set alight. Though the pain didnt make her stop and after a second she tried to hold her opponent anyway she could and bring her knee up as well, looking to slam it right back into Masuyo's belly, knowing that spot had t have some lingering hurt after what she did to it before.

It took Masuyo a good few seconds to get her opponent off the ground, more than she thought it would. Kyoko wasn’t a stout woman, nowhere near it, but she there was plenty of refined muscle packed into her body that grounded her better than the average person. Between the exhaustion and pain still sapping away at her strength, it was fair for the MMA maven to admit to herself that this match was starting to take its toll on her. Nevertheless, the match was far from over, and she was still on the losing side of it. There wasn’t any time for breaks and, as much as she could respect Kyoko’s determination, she couldn’t ease up on the woman for even a second.

So when the Demon shot her knee into her adversary’s gut, there wasn’t so much as a flinch at the harsh smack that accompanied it. While more than a few people in the audience winced at the impact, Masuyo could only furrow her brows at the fact that Kyoko was still, somehow, finding the strength to stay on two feet. “Just go-”

A return shot to her gut stopped those words dead in her mouth. Her freshly bruised stomach cried out as the damage she’d suffered earlier came back in waves, and then some. She let out a harsh rasp as her knees nearly buckled beneath her, her arms shaking as they tried to hold onto Kyoko’s shoulders. She was forced to bring one hand to her gut, attempting to dull the pain as a hard grimace overtook her face. Reeling her head back, the Demon went to retaliate in the only way she could manage. With a snap headbutt, straight to the Belly Queen’s forehead.

As long as she could stand or breathe Kyoko could fight and Masuyo could count on that. Though the match had taken a lot out of her and the Demon lifting her up left her in a bit of a precarious position in her arms before that knee, but Kyoko if anything knew how to make those situations matter. Kneeing her right back and stopping her dead in her tracks. The biggest mistake she could make was to try and engage her in a test of abs, something Kyoko would take head on every time. Masuyo must have realized that as well, or at least she realized that a change was necessary, cause next she went for a big headbutt over an attack.

"Kuuaagh!" The split second before they made contact was enough to make her head spin, thankfully her grip on Masuyo didnt falter as she tried to hold on for as long as possible, shaking her head before throwing another headbutt out to meet her. Which at this point seemed to be her only option until something else came to fruition. Though she knew that was going to be hell for her already hurting head.

The headbutt was a gut reaction in the most literal sense of the word. She’d forgotten just how bad of a shape her stomach was in until Kyoko was helpful enough to remind her in the most straightforward way possible. All of the energy was sapped from her muscles, not a single inch of her body wanting to move from the shock of it all. Masuyo hadn’t even realized herself that she was throwing her head forward until it had already collided with the Belly Queen’s skull. It was the only thing her mind could agree on to slow her opponent down for at least a moment, to keep her from seizing the advantage.

But Kyoko wasn’t willing to even give her that much of an inch. The second after their heads collided, the Queen came right back at her with a heabutt of her own. Masuyo’s head recoiled harshly, her hair whipping back violently as a sickening crack. Her legs wobbled and nearly gave out from underneath her, but she somehow managed to maintain her grip on the world contender's shoulders. Her body slumped forward weakly, pressing her forehead against Kyoko’s, keeping one arm at the woman’s waist and another over her shoulder in attempt to stay balanced. With one heavy breath after another she tried to regain control of her body. Her eyes trailed up from the floor, her hazy gaze meeting Kyoko’s as their pupils locked on another.

“Maji.” She grew a sly grin on her face. “What’s the matter? You look like you’re about to collapse, Kyoko-san.”

The two had left her unable to process anything for the next few moments as the two of them practically leaned on each other after the dual headbutts. Kyoko coughing and trying to recover from the move as Masuyo's head was pressed agaisnt her's causing them to be intimately close to each other still as Kyoko tried to recover from the matches exhausting bout. And they still had at least 20 minutes to go in this.. Her hands going to Masuyo's waist to ty and stay up as she stared right back at the ever intriguing Demon.

"Collapse? Na.. just trying to make sure...you dont pass out before I'm done." She said her body still feeling off but also feeling the need to press the attack regardless she wanted to press her advantage and keep on going while Kyoko would try and ready herself. Her hand would let go and attempt to drive a punch into her kidney to try and offset her opponent some more.

Kyoko could have been the World Champion. Masuyo was starting to see that now. She was strong, persistent, determined, and had one the toughest hooks she’d ever seen. But it was that flame Masuyo saw in her eyes that convinced her. Everyone in the federation had skills, but to use them properly was another thing entirely. It was how she first started out, as some unruly brat picking fights with anyone who would have her until her silver-haired mentor whipped her into shape. At this distance, she could see it all clearly, the unwieldy potential that wanted take the federation by storm.

Unfortunately, while she was distracted by her eyes, she wasn’t looking at the punch headed straight towards her exposed side.

“Agh!” Masuyo cried out as her hand slipped from Kyoko’s shoulder. Her legs gave out from under her as she slumped to the floor, falling to one knee and putting a hand to her side. The tender spot throbbed and refused to settle as a horrible shock stalled her systems. The liver shot was bad on its own, but with Kyoko’s deadly striking ability, it felt as if the side of her torso had been concussed. She faced the canvas, trying to refill her lungs and summoning some strength back to her body.

When Masuyo collapsed Kyoko almost followed, her body still leaning on her and without the crutch she just about toppled after her. Looking over the hurting Demon, with her like that Kyoko had an idea but she wasnt sure if it was the smartest way to go about things. But with the way Masuyo was handling her early on in this round she had to do something to try and turn the tides. Grabbing her head she tried to tuck it more under her legs and try to keep her there. A dangerous idea in her head.

"I'll give your abs a break...though you might..not thank me for that..." Kyoko said trying to grab her waist while she had her low, her arm hurting a bit from that position as she tried to brace herself and deal with it, taking a big breathe as she would attempt to lift her opponent up so that she was facing upside down and leaving her vulnerable for what she had next. Holding here there Kyoko would attempt to keep her in the piledriver position and attempt to fall down, looking to drive her head into the mat.