Sky Captain Rosemary Maynard vs Yayuuki "Lucky" Sakura

Rosemary’s arms dropped away to plop back onto the mat as Sakura removed herself from on top of her. The Sky Captain showed little sign of life save for her soft panting and the gentle rise and fall of her chest. She didn't seem ready or capable of getting up herself just yet.

Her arm was limp and rubbery in Sakura’s grasp as Rosemary was slowly dragged back up to her feet. She groaned softly as even assisted the act was laborious for her, mostly dead weight until the cheerleader had propped her upright. She swayed slightly. She blinked unsteadily as she stood before Sakura, arms down at her side, defenseless.

In the moment, it looked like a stiff breeze could have knocked her down. When Sakura buried her forearm into the side of her face, her head snapped to the side sending her back down to the mat with a dull thud. She bounced on impact, laying on her side for a brief moment before her body tipped far enough to one side to roll her onto her chest. Her cheek pressed down against the mat, she groaned again, trying to summon up some energy to do something, anything.

Her hands slowly reached out, dragging along the canvas. Palms flat to the mat, fingers curling up to claw at the ground she slowly began to drag herself away. Rose's legs began to tuck themselves in, getting underneath her to kick at the ground, starting to rise to her hands and knees as she attempted to crawl her way to the ropes.

Rosemary fell limply to the mat, hitting it hard without any means to help lessen the fall. Sakura stared down at the captain, taking in gulps of breath herself as she watched her lay limply for a moment before rolling over on her chest. She had to get her in another hold... She looked as if she couldn't even stand up on her own, let alone escape from one of the cheerleader's specialties! As Rose crawled towards the ropes, Sakura would throw herself upon the other woman, attempting to squash her back against the ring-floor! It was effectively just a glorified belly-flop, Lucky not really having enough muse and barely enough energy to try anything else. If she succeeded in pressing the captain back down against the ground, Lucky would grab at Rose's wrists, pulling her arms back as Lucky rolled back as well, hooking the woman's feet around her ankles until she put Rosemary in a brutal Surfboard hold!

As she pulled down hard on her opponent's arms, Sakura pushed with most of her weakened strength against Rose's legs, straining Rose's shoulders and punishing her hard for attempting to escape using her arms! Lucky gritted her teeth as sweat began to form upon her brow, struggling to maintain the hold herself and even more to keep up the pressure! She was starting to feel just how hard that real opening move of Rose had struck her... How weak it had made her... If Rose didn't pull out of this herself, Lucky was going to have to release her just so she could get a breather!

...or she could give up too! There was always that possibility!

"Nnngh..." She mumbled, feeling her own muscles burn. "C-c'mon... give up...."

The ropes symbolized safety. From pins, from holds, from Sakura. She didn't have the time to simply shake herself off and be ready to fight through the haze that was her mind, not if he continued to take blows to the head. Hope to her was as simple as three cables that made up one side of the ring and they were inching closer every passing moment.

Rosemary let out a sudden gasp as Sakura’s weight flopped down on top of her, compressing her against the mat. She exhaled out like a deflated balloon, reaching out for the ropes that we're still too far away. Effortlessly, Sakura was able to collect her wrists, pulling her outstretched arms back and around. Her body rocked slowly with Sakura until she was finally hoisted up and locked in on full display to the arena.

The pain didn't register right away as she was pulled into the perfect position for Sakura to work her body over. With each pull of her arms and extension of the cheerleader's legs to crank on her own, she slowly became more and more aware. When it finally hit her fully, it jolted her out of her haze as if someone had reached a hand into her body and violently ripped it from her. She let out a gasping cry of pain, it was soft, a bit pathetic as she weakly struggled with no real means of escape.

She attempted to thrash, though each try to destabilize the hold made the pain dig its teeth into her more. The referee was on hand, constantly asking if she wanted to give up. She didn't even humor the idea, instead she just screamed in frustration and pain as he fought the hold. She didn't know how long she could last like this, it never even crossed her mind. Despite how much of a glass jaw she may have had when it came to getting knocked down, she was a hard woman to put down. It wasn't that she was stronger than her peers, simply that she was more stubborn.

The result of Sakura's attack caught her by surprise as instead of having the captain grow ever weaker, she seemed more and more determined to stay in the fight! The harder the cheerleader cranked back the Surfboard hold, the harder the airship captain fought against it, using her whole body to force her way to freedom! Already weakened herself, all this struggling and thrashing was making it impossible for her to keep her up there... Her arms were burning so bad and her back also protested as she was constantly having to adjust herself so that she didn't fall on her side.... It was just too much trouble to maintain.

Giving Rosemary one last hard jerk, she flopped over on her side and undid the hold, letting go of the girl's arms and unwinding her legs, allowing her crawl back to the safety of the ropes. Why would she allow that? Because that's what she was doing, herself! Sakura shakily got to her feet, her buxom chest rising and falling heavily as she staggered over to the opposite end of the arena Rose was fleeing. She leaned against the ropes, sucking in air and letting her arms recover from the stress of her hold, the two of them having a good couple moments to recover.

"Y...You're pretty tough, cap!" Sakura complimented with a smile, wiping the sweat of her forehead with her hand. "A lot tougher than I thought!"

When Sakura finally relented and brought her back down, it was if a prayer had been answered. Untangled  and free from her grip, Rose lay on the mat curled up to nurse her battered and stretched limbs. Had she not seen her opponent rolling away she would have made for the ropes again. With her safety assured, for now, her efforts went completely to recovering.

She tested her arms and legs, flexing her fingers and wiggling her toes inside her boots. Everything hurt. Sakura had put her through the ringer in this match. Rolling onto her stomach she started to push herself up, sitting back onto her shins as she rested on her knees for a moment when the cheerleader spoke to her.

“Heh…” Rosemary got that alot. She looked small, fragile… she might have been, but she had toughened up a long time ago, driven to be better. While it didn't always help her win, it was a source of infinite frustration to her opponents. Like an annoying gnat that refused to go away or a cockroach constantly evading its demise… she grimaced, trying to not think of herself as a bug.

“You’re… pretty good too.” Rosemary grunted,clapping his hands on her thighs as she staggered to her feet. She wobbled unsteadily before finding the footing to stand upright. She was trying hard not to look as bad as she felt. Taking the time to tidy up her ring gear while they spoke. “Thought you had me, twice in fact…” Rose held up two fingers, scrunching them up a few times like bunny ears.

It was so weird to be put on the ropes by this bright, cutsey cheerleader girl. A bit embarrassing given she was still a rookie, to AFW anyway. At the same time, she admired how good she was. Certainly better than Rose was when she had first started out. She was walked on all the time, it wasn't until she was put down hard, twice by someone that she made the choice to turn her career around. “You’re tougher than you look.” She hadn't really known what to expect from her when they started. She did however make a habit to not underestimate people. She knew what that felt like and was living proof good things came from small packages.

She rubbed some feeling back into her arms, shifting her weight from foot to foot. She was going to flop into bed when she got home and just pass out after this, she was almost certain. “I have to ask. Why a cheerleader?” She understood the obvious answer. The girl was rather peppy after all. Still, it seemed a bit out of place given the girls skills.

Lucky couldn't help but blush with Rose's acknowledgement of her skill! She loved it when she was recognized like that! It went a long way towards her feeling like all her training amounted to something. She smiled warmly at the compliment, letting out a soft giggle as she wedged a finger between the collar of her top, pulling it open a bit to let out some of the heat and to unstick it from her chest.

"Oh...? And how tough do I look, hmm?" She inquired playfully, an expression of obviously false offense replacing her smile. "I'm not some everyday marshmallow, I'll have you know! I train a lot for moments like these!" The moment she finished that sentence, she couldn't help but break out into a soft laugh, her breathing finally returning to normal. This really had to be one of the friendlier matches she's ever had. Before she came back, both she and her opponent were all business once the smooches were out of the way. Now, though, it seemed like she's loosened up a little! For better or for worse, she couldn't yet tell but for now it looked like the both of them were having fun! Heck, and Sakura was in the lead as far as she could tell! Maybe she'll even win this one, who knew?

Her fantasizing about success was cut short when the airship captain inquired after her outfit, asking why, out of ALL the themes, would she choose a cheerleader. She blinked, surprised by the question.

"Well... I used to do it a lot in high-school!" She explained. "I did all kinds of sports! Sprinting, soccer, cheerleading too! It was my favorite thing back before I got into wrestling. And besides... how many other girls have you seen running around here who can pull off this look as well as I can?" Sakura leaned off the ropes and struck a cute pose, a look of pride on her face! The correct answer: NO ONE!

"Anyway! Why a captain?" She rebounded, flipping the question back on it's asker. "You look SUPER good in it and I've never seen anyone with such an aesthetic design before! The hat, the sword, the gymnastics? That's... like... movie-star quality performances right there!

God did she appreciate the lull in the action of the match. Even this small break was doing her wonders seeing as how moments ago she had almost been knocked clean out. Her panting slowed as her body normalized, working some light stretches in while the two conversed. She wasn't sure if this was just Sakura being courteous, taking a break to recover herself, or a simple lapse in the girl’s judgement… she was grateful for it all the same.

Sakura had surprising control any time she had gotten the upper hand in their match, even despite her naivety the girl had skills. She worried though how she might fair against someone who wasn't as honest or as understanding as she was though. Wrestling had many dark and dangerous people in it that would happily eat someone like Sakura up alive. She would hate to see this bright light in human form tarnished by the evils of this business.

“I can tell. I don't often get thrown about by marshmallows. They tend to be far less rambunctious in my choco, very seldom to they try to beat me up.” She cracked a small smile at that, her wording leaving it often to interpretation that there has been occasion she had been beat up by marshmallows… she could recall be pelted with them on at least one occasion which was enough to make the statement true.

Rose had been about to respond to Sakura inquiry of who else could pull off the cheerleader thing when the girl just up and struck a downright adorable pose… right in the middle of their match. Part of her felt she should be offended at how lightly the girl was taking things but in truth it was a nice change of pace to have some of the intensity of the moment alleviated. She truly felt quite a few people could pull off the look at least… simple top, short skirt… she found herself absentmindedly adjusting her own skirt, tugging it lightly. This seemed to mean a lot to Sakura, she wouldn't ruin it for her.

“I encountered a mighty foe, one in which I had to better myself before challenging them.” She gave a firm nod, standing up a bit straighter. She was blushing a bit as she was drown in compliments. While she didn't make her outfit, she had been the one to design it all. Ornate enough to look fancy, loose enough to not impede her flexibility, and cute enough she could show herself off a little… she was proud of the shape she was in gosh darn it. She bounced a bit on her feet, seemingly mostly back to where she needed to be with this short recovery time, ready to fight again.

“The sword isn’t just for show.” She boasted, just a bit. Sakura would have loved her matches back in Cutlass Wrestling, she was almost certain of that. If she thought Rosemary was cool now, she would literally flip to see her actually sword fighting DURING a match. Even despite the less than fortunate outcome for that match, it was forever a highlight of her career.

She took a deep breath, reaching up to adjust her hat slightly. It had still remained on through all of this thanks to the bobby pins. It was a convenient way to try to hide how much she was blushing. She couldn't do it forever however, they had a match to get back to. “You ready?” Rose brushed back a few stands of her hair, tucking them behind her ear.

Sakura's eyes widened as Rose mentioned that her blade wasn't just for show, a hand shooting up to cover her mouth as her mind raced to ALL those pirate movies she used to watch as a kid!

"Oh... my... God... You're not telling me you actually sword-fight too!?" She asked, her heart-rate shooting up in her chest! SHE WAS A MOVIE-STAR! She had the persona, she was such an acrobat and she could swing a sword!? It was an HONOR to wrestle with someone like her, this pinnacle of show-business! The Cheerleader was practically giddy with excitement as she imagined the captain fencing the heck out of ghost pirates and zombie briggens with her superior skill with the blade, her ease and fluid movements making short work of the undead hordes! Meeting someone this special, she who had all life's gifts it seemed, made her want to kiss this girl again! Beyond that though, she was not only a cool person, but had skills for DAYS! Say... maybe she would be willing to teach her! Maybe they could be friends and Lucky could learn some of this stuff! Oh the ideas...

"You have got to be the most awesomest person ever!" She proclaimed, hopping off the ropes, revitalized fully with her enthusiasm! "I'm in the ring with a sword-fighting angelicly-graceful pro-wrestler in the best captain's outfit I've ever seen! Cap! They don't make people cooler than you!"

And like that... the match came flooding back, her idol in all things cool asking if she was ready to continue. Sakura smiled widely, raising her arms up, ready to grapple once more.

"Yuhuh! You betcha!" She responded merrily, swarming with joys! "I can't wait to see what you got, Captain Rosemary!" No sooner than she'd finished her sentence, Sakura rushed down her target, her hands positioning themselves to lock with her opponent so she could charge right into a test of strength!

Heaped praise only made her blush that much more. She was use to it from fans, especially children. Kids loved her. Her peers? She didn't often receive much in the way of admiration like Sakura was showing her. It was as embarrassing as it was flattering…And she loved it. A lot of hard work went into everything she did and to have someone be impressed by it all felt great.

“I have done my fair share of swashbuckling.” She summed up her swordsmanship simply. She was a rather accomplished fencer from back in her school days, something she carried into her gimmick once she had embraced her persona as the Sky Captain. Sakura was putting her on the spot though with all of this fan worship. She really wanted to continue to impress this girl for some reason.

As Sakura charged in, Rosemary moved to meet her. Locking up wasn't in her best interests, but she felt obligated to meet the cheerleader's challenge head on. Their palms clapped together against one another as Sher laced their fingers in between one another. Bracing her feet to the canvas, she leaned in throwing her full force into their clash of strength causing her arms to tremble. “I always rise to the occasion.” She flashed a small smirk Sakura’s way, still rosy cheeked from the girls rampant compliments. She pushed hard, trying to gain any ground she could to drive the cheerleader back.

Sakura and Rosemary charged into one another, their hands colliding and linking up hard, their momentum stopping one another dead as they met in the center of the ring for a mighty test of strength! Sakura's arms trembled as she leaded in, pushing with all the strength she had to out do her! So far, neither of them gave any ground at all, neither Lucky nor the Captain seemed the least bit budged by the other's efforts! That's what made this so exciting for the cheerleader! They were so even!

"Heh... I bet!" She responded, flashing a smirk back. "But so do I!" Sakura grunted, trying to take a step forward to shove her rival back, slowly adjusting her grip so that one locked pair of hands would be angled downward, making it harder for her opponent to maintain a strong grip! Her smile inevitably curled downward into a determined snarl, the face of a woman that wouldn't give any ground to her opponent no matter what! She would keep pushing until her arms fell off!

...But seriously, she wanted to show her rival that she was no pushover, both literally and otherwise! She was SO COOL and nice and cute and all other things so she wanted to show her she could be just as cool, nice, cute, etcetera! Okay, maybe being just as cool was impossible, but she could be strong and stuff, dang it!

"NNNGH!" She grunted loudly again, putting all her strength into this push! Maybe this wasn't a smart move nor a particularly advantageous one seeing that Rose had matched her so far in strength, but maybe it would keep her locked into this hold if it didn't trap her against a turnbuckle!