AJ Shay vs. Spider Kikuchi - Arachnophobia

They were laughing at her.

Oh, Spider couldn't seem them specifically through the cheering human mass that was this audience, but she was sure that, somewhere in this gallery of stale peanuts, one of the little idiots was laughing at her, thinking it was oh so funny to see their cutesy heroine get the better of the big, bad Spider. Ungrateful, moronic, spiteful cretins that weren’t worth the price of the seat they were sitting in…

Let it go. Let it go.

Spider took her former therapists advice for once and took a deep breath, clearing her mind as she rose to her feet. It was just a Russian Legsweep and a failed Octopus Hold. Hardly difference makers.

When she stood up and turned to AJ once more, she had a smile on her face, the same crooked one she’d been wearing at the start. She took a big step forward and threw herself into the collar and elbow - for a moment, anyway, before she ducked under the brat’s shoulder and moved behind her, and attempted to transition into a tight hammerlock.

“Whoa!” Alexa’s boots squeaked along the mat as Spider clashed with her. Her grinned fiercely at her adversary, swept up in the heat of the moment. Her spirit were high and who could blame her. She was in rare form tonight, nigh untouchable. Was this what it felt like to be at the top of your game? To wrestle the biggest and the best? She was getting a taste of what it was to be successful.and it was intoxicating.

She lurched forward and Spider slipped her grasp, bringing with her one of her arms. “Hey, wait! Hrgh!” Her back arched, tip toeing forward unsteadily as her arm was violently twisted up into her back. She let out a soft hiss through her teeth, staggering to steady herself as Spider worked in the hold fast and efficiently. She would have been impressed if the pain hadn't been so instantaneous.

Once she had her footing, she leaned a bit to the side in preparation. Her free arm reached up, bracing her shoulder firmly as she fought through the pain. With her altered positioning, she swiftly backpedaled herself to try and slip behind Spider, twirling mid stride to unwind her own arm and capture Spider’s in the very same hammerlock the other woman had her in.

Rather than keep the hammerlock going, she risked taking a hand away to throw an arm around Spider’s throat, trying to drag her back into a sleeper as well. If she managed to cinch the hold tight, she would try to join up both her hands behind her opponent to fully lock in both moves. She would try her best to control the veteran, having one last piece in store if she could manage.

This was a bit more like it. Any fears that Ryoko initially had on AJ’s abilities were quickly melting away now that the actual match was underway and her friend had a chance to truly shine. She’d seen a glimpse of the ‘rookie’s’ skills in their first match - the way she moved, the choices she made, the little decisions, the opportunities she ignored - but that wasn’t a real test. Wasn’t a real match. As fun as that had been, it had basically been a grown-up version of two kids playing cops and robbers.

This? Spider was getting the real AJ Shay, and it was a wondrous sight to behold.

Spider Kikuchi herself had a wildly different opinion on the matter. While AJ had a stroke of initial luck, yes, that was being dealt with straight away, as she turned her ill-conceived attempt at tie-up into a hammerlock, trapping the youngster. A wild glint took her eyes as she leaned forward and whispered, soft words slipping into her foe’s ears. ”Get used to that pain.” She giggled. A low, tickling noise. “It only gets worse from-”

Spider had just been in the middle of finishing her taunt - one of her favorite indulgences in any match - when AJ went and reversed the move. She didn’t escape, didn’t power her way, didn’t go for the ropes like so many Friction women would have, she reversed it, and the sudden burst of skill took Spider wholly off guard.

She started to open her mouth for a curse, only to find her throat unavailable for the task when an arm clamped down around her throat, trapping her in a tight sleeper. Her younger foe had some surprising strength to go along with her technical chops, and Spider had a dire feeling on what the next step would be. If this went to the floor…

Increasingly eager to be free, she clenched her teeth hard, pulled her head forward, then jerked it back with all the effort she could muster, attempting to hit Shay in the face with the back of her skull.

Everything was slipping into place, the cog and gears of a machine they just interlocked and worked. This wasn't a move she practiced. There wasn't any special tricks or tips… she just did it. She knew she could. This was talent, her skills finally being allowed to blossom into what they should be. What had been the catalyst? It was hard to say. Spider was among the only opponents she had faced where there was a looming threat of danger though she hadn't been able to see it first hand nor did she plan to.

She arched her back, trying to o keep Spider locked in and upright, the next part was important. If she messed it up the whole hold could fall apart. When Spider pulled her head forward, it went unnoticed. A sea of wavy silent hair obscured Alexa’s vision of what the woman was planning. She have the faintest idea until the back of her opponents skull smashed into her face sending an immediate shock of pain along the bridge of her nose which seemed to force her eyes to shut tight.

“Guuuggh!” Her teeth rattled, her eyes watered behind the lids, but she remained strong, upright. She was blind now, for the moment. She wasn't ready, wasn't positioned. She couldn't wait to get it right. She pulled back leaning hard to teeter the two women back. Once they had hit the point of no return, she tucked her legs in, trying to wrap them around Spider’s midsection to complete the hold. The landing would be harder on Alexa than her opponent, delaying her for just a moment before she would start to squeeze.

Her head dipped inward, bracing it against Spiders to provide her no room to attempt a headbutt like that again sandwiched between Alexa’s skull and her choke. All the components came together to become something that would have easily been a finishing move in more experienced hands. Her rookie blitzkrieg had served her well, and by with some skill and a pinch of luck she had managed to trap the Spider in her own web.

She rapidly blinked her eyes, trying to clear away the moisture building up. She blow from her lips, dry spitting some of her opponents hair from her mouth. “Maybe you were the burrito all along. You wrap up really good.” She was a bit more proud of that than she had any right to be. While it was far too late to trash talk a bit before, now? She couldn't imagine what the Spider was going to do to untangle from this situation.

A sneering smirk crept along Spider’s lips at the satisfying sound of her skull cracking AJ in the mouth. Judging from the way the audience recoiled, it had been a nasty hit, too. They would have to get used to it, because Spider was already contemplating a plethora of painful moves she could make their little heroine suffer through, positions she could break her with, submissions that would leave her voice ragged with screams.

And she would do all of that, just as soon as she got free. Which she couldn’t. Because AJ Shay still had the hold locked in. What the hell?

No, instead of letting go of the hold like a good little bitch, AJ endured, held on, and kept pulling back in the exact opposite direction that Spider wanted to go. Gravity did the rest, they hit the floor, and sure enough, a pair of legs encircled her waist. A tight hold, expertly locked.

”I am going to break your fingers.” She probably shouldn’t have wasted the energy it took to get those words out while she being choked, but she felt it was important to get that message across. With that done, her main concern was simple, now: escape. To that end, she did the only thing she really could do. Scratching, clawing, pulling herself along, she made a desperate push towards the ropes, dragging AJ along every inch of the way.

It was quite a sight to see, and Ryoko was already trying to immortalize it, snapping up plenty of pictures. Needless to say, AJ would have many choice pics of her match waiting for her when she got back to her phone.

While she may have been coming out on top of their wrestling exchange, it was safe to say Spider had her beat on the banter. Alexa truly wished the threat wasn't true, just her opponent trying to shake her up. It worked like a charm in that respect, reigning her excitement back to ground it with the reality of who she was up against. She held firm, already doing everything she could to make her foe’s advance to freedom as taxing as possible.

While not a vicious person by nature, she applied as much pressure as she could, each hold biting into Spider like a mad dog with no intention of letting go. She wasn't able to weigh the fellow Submissionist down though and she was being dragged along towards the ropes. Now was the time to plan. What came after the break? She didn't want to let up, but the woman struggling against her hold was actually taking quite a bit to keep her locked in. A rest hold? Possibly. An Irish whip? Likely…

Alexa leans back, wrenching Spider with her as the other woman reached for the ropes, delaying her by mere inches for as long as she could managed before the break was called. She untangled herself from Spider again, backing off about half was as she had done before, waiting for her opponent to leave the ropes. “You’re pretty resilient.” She offhandedly mentioned, more to herself than to Spider. She hadn't seen people get in much offense on the woman in the videos so the woman's toughness had been in question.

Further, further, further still. Spider dug her claws into the canvas and dragged hard. Unless she was mistaken, she was passing by the claws marks from the last time, scraping along exactly where she’d scraped along before. Two minutes in, and she had been forced to retreat for the ropes in as many minutes.

That was what hurt. More than the choking and the crushing force around her waist. Being beaten, and being beaten at her own game, at that.

The good thing about the goody-goody crowd was how quick they were to release a hold when the break was called, never wanting to milk the five-count for everything they could. She let go, backed off, and Spider was given a few moments to breath fresh air. Not that she could enjoy it, with AJ throwing in her taunt, twisting that knife in the wound.

Spider stood up, gripping the ropes tight all the way. She didn’t look back, not at first, but used the lull to clear her head for a few second and get the clutter out. Breathing in, breathing.

When she spun around to face AJ again, it was as if the mere sight lit a fire in her, and she was charging forward without any doubts or fears. Tying up hadn’t worked out so well, and while that was her typical MO, it wasn’t as if she didn’t have other avenues to employ. One of them included a decent chop, and that was the move she applied here, reeling back and shooting her arm like whip, attempting strike AJ Shay’s chest with a searing blow.

Alexia soaked in the cheers, never having had so many rally behind her before. It wasn't nearly as thunderous as the acclaim her father used to receive, but this was for her. Just her. She had gotten a taste of it with Suzumi, when they shared a moment of sportsmanship like bonding over the end of their match, but even then it felt like a consolation prize. She lost. She didn't deserve the cheers. Here and now, people actually we're supporting her, rooting for her… and Ryoko was here. She counted for a hundred, no, a THOUSAND cheers. She could even pick her voice out of the crowd. It reminded Alexa of herself, cheering on her father. That was a bittersweet subject though, one she didn't want to lose herself in while she was in a roll.

She tapped out the toes of her boots, making sure everything was where it needed to be, nice and tight. She spent so long just taking it all in, grinning like a fool, that Spider was back up. She smirked, rolling her shoulders as she took a step forward with a newfound confident swagger. When her adversary snapped around, her gaze hit Alexa like a sniper’s bullet, stopping her mid stride. She could feel all of that pride and confidence pooling at her feet like blood from a gaping wound as she was charged.

This was the same woman she had just been manhandling moments prior. She had stayed in control the whole time, even looked like a million bucks doing it. When faced with the woman's anger, it radiated out from her like blazing vitriol turning all of the rookie’s momentum to ash with her sheer intensity. Spider palm hacked her across the chest, the sting cut through her as easily as any blade. She staggered, clutching her body, ground zero for the assault sucking in air through her teeth.

She didn't look half as shocked as she was. While the woman's chops weren't leagues above any other she had taken, the woman's mere presence was overbearing, stifling. Just being in the ring with her was making it hard to breath, hard to focus. Her boots found themselves, locking her into place as she stared back at her attacker. A woman roughly her size who seemed ten feet tall now. Her jaw clenched as she resolved herself to face the beast, drawing back her own hand. She marched forward, sending her own knife edge chop down at Spider accompanied with a scream to release all of that extra energy.

Ryoko was doing her best to make a thousand cheers worth of noise, too, leaping high in triumph as her friend stood proud in the ring. There was this majestic beauty to it, something she couldn’t quite put a finger on or quantify, but when AJ stood proud - really and truly proud - she looked like a real champion.

It was something Ryoko didn't see often enough of from her friend, which made her value it all the more. It also made it all the more startling when that bravado vanished a second later, burnt up like a moth that flew too close to the flames.

From ringside, it looked as if someone had turned a switch inside AJ’s head and turned her confidence off, and that someone picked the exact wrong moment for it - Spider was heading straight towards her with fiery eyes, shrieking every step of the way like a vengeful fury.

The chop found its mark and the arena echoed with the sound of whipped flesh, this fresh, cracking sound that made Spider shiver. She knew that look in AJ’s face, this was familiar now, this was the way things were supposed to be, and it felt like the entire universe was shifting back into place. It was everything she could’ve wanted.

AJ was coming back her way, coming at her with a knife-edge chop. Of course she was. In true wrestling tradition, Spider let it hit right on, crashing into her chest, and she stumbled back from the impact. Good stuff. Nice and burning. Pain. She could work with that.

”Little!” Spider came back with a manic grin and threw her arm out once more, throwing her body into the chop for more impact. ”Brat!” And another chop on top of it, following right after.

Alexa had a deep love for the strike exchange, though, it didn't love her. She had come to find she almost always lost these and in truth, they made for an incredibly poor offensive strategy. She couldn't help it though. This was old school at its finest. She stood strong, resolute, now that she found her footing. She didn't flinch at the coming strike, but she preemptively had started to wince. She took the blow in stride, breathing out with the impact to help manage.

It was her turn now. She drew back her arm, ready to rock spider to her core when she was hit again. She wasn't ready. No breathing tricks, no mental preparation. While it may not have been a more powerful chop than the others, it certainly hurt a hell of a lot more. Her stance broke, causing her to shuffle a step back. Her own counter attack was put on hold, clutching her chest, slightly hunched over and wide eyed. “Y-you…!” She didn't know where she intended to go with that, but it was clear she was displeased.

Also the name calling was unnecessary.