Onigashima vs. Novae - Wrestling with the Stars

From the apron, Valerie looked on with a scowl, half-hidden by the palm on her face. This was going poorly. Of course it was going poorly. She wanted to blame Tatiana for it, but she had to heap some of that on herself, too. Should’ve stayed in the ring longer. Should’ve kept her closer. Should’ve known this would happen if she gave Tat too long of a leash and let her run wild.

She tried her level best to not be too bothered by her mistake, knowing there was little sense in beating herself up over it. All she could do know was pick up the pieces and dig them both out of the hole. Speaking of which…

”Nononogwah!”

That was the sound of Valerie crying out as she was flung through the air and brought down hard on her back, shaking the ring with the impact from a fierce German Suplex. One with a pinning bridge, too.

Valerie was already starting to make her way through the ropes when the referee made the first count, but she didn’t need to go any further than that, as Tatiana bucked her hips and flopped out of the pin a scant second later. Close, far too close, and while she’d managed to save herself in the moment, there was no denying that she was still in some dire straits as she laid there and struggled to rise.

Tatiana managed to kick out of the bridging pinfall attempt, but that should be enough for Yukari to put her opponent on her toes, keeping her under pressure. Getting up, she would pull Tatiana alongside her, getting her back on her feet as well so that she could continue with her attacks.

"Yaahhhhh!!!"

Letting out a shout, Yukari would then try to smash her forearm right into Tatiana's chest, hammering her with the stiff strike to leave her breathless and winded. She planned to deal more than just one smashes into her opponent's chest, hoping that she make an easier mark to deal with once she was weakened enough.

Hang on.

That was all Tatiana had to do, here: hang on. Seemed simple enough, really, but as she was quickly learning, her girlfriend hadn’t been wrong in her summation of Yukari. The woman hit hard. Hard.

She was definitely the more outward and aggressive of the two, on top of that, lifting Tatiana just so she could hammer her with more blows and knock her around. Yukari’s forearm crashed into chest. The next thing she was knew, she was up against the ropes, leaning against them as she tried to catch her breath, with Valerie on the other side of the ring, calling out to her. ”Come on, Tat! Fight out, get back over here!”

She had a gruff laugh at that under her breath, wishing it were as easy as Valerie was making it sound. Still, she had some ideas on that front, and as Yukari moved, she put one of them into action. Leaning against the ropes for support, she lifted up and shot her legs out, trying to kick her opponent square in the jaw and buy some room to work with.

Hammering her forearm into Tatiana's chest, Yukari managed to drive her opponent towards the ropes. She planned to keep up with her assault. Now that Tatiana was at the ropes, Yukari would then take a few steps back, preparing herself to launch another attack, but when she was about to close in, Tatiana suddenly brought one of her legs up, delivering a kick right into her jaw.

"Gwughhh!!!"

Yukari's head recoiled back from the kick and she staggered back before falling onto her butt. Grunting, she would bring her hand to her aching jaw as she would try to get herself back up, but thanks to the kick, her momentum was broken, and all she could do at the moment was to defend herself against whatever Tatiana would try next.

Tatiana kicked Yukari in the face, but she didn’t just kick her in the face. There was a bit more to it than that.

She kicked and flung herself back in the same motion, using the impact to flip over the ropes and come down on the apron outside. As a bonus, her strike had managed to knock the red oni on her butt, and that was where she stayed for a critical moment, still reeling and trying to compose herself.

Tatiana didn’t think about what she did next. Didn't need to. It came off like a pure reflex - she grabbed the ropes, leaped up to springboard off the top one, and came down on Yukari’s fallen form with her legs tucked in, looking to crash into her chest knees-first and land a ring-rattling Meteora.

Still nursing her jaw after taking the hit earlier, Yukari was unable to move away or defend herself from whatever Tatiana would throw at her next. So, when she saw Tatiana use the ropes to launch herself at her, Yukari was unable to do anything before her chest was hit by her knees, and she let out a loud cry of pain as she fell backwards.

"Aaaghhhhh!!!"

Falling onto the mat, Yukari brought her hands to her chest, gasping in pain. It would take her a while before she could recover from this, and Tatiana would be wise to take advantage of this situation.

Tatiana hit her target.

Oh, boy, did she hit.

Since this was the tougher Oni, she thought it would take a good deal more punishment to keep her down, and she wasn’t wrong in that - but that hit had done a good deal more damage, more than she’d anticipated. She knew Valerie was aching for the tag, but this was far too sweet an opportunity to miss.

Tatiana rolled off, then leaped back and pounced on Yukari’s chest, grabbing her leg to hold her down for a pin. The referee slid over and started the count up right away, slapping the mat hard. ”1…!”

Breathless after taking the knees into her chest, Yukari was on the mat, nursing her aching chest. Left vulnerable, this allowed Tatiana to try and pin her down, and she pounced onto her chest before grabbing one of her legs, going for the pinfall attempt. Groaning as she felt Tatiana's weight on top of her, Yukari heard the voice of the referee counting for the pin, and she needed to do something to stop the count.

"TWO!"

Letting out a growl, Yukari would buck her legs, kicking out of the pin before she attempted to push Tatiana off of her. She needed to give herself a few seconds to recover before she could bring the fight back into the match.

For a solid moment, the world seemed to slow down. Everything happened all at once - Tatiana going for the pin, Valerie slipping one leg in to pounce in case Shizuka tried to save her partner, the referee’s hand slapping the mat. One second, just one more second, and she would have this all wrapped up in a neat bow.

No such luck, thought.

Tatiana grunted as she was bucked off, but refused to let up, knowing this was one of the best chances their team could’ve asked for. She’d only been off the pin for a second before she came crawling right back. She wrapped her arm around Yukari’s skull, seizing it with a tight headlock. With a grunt, she rose to her feet and attempted to drag her foe along the ring, attempting to bring them both to Novae’s corner and tag her sister back in from there.

Right after kicking out from the pinfall attempt, Yukari would try to push Tatiana off of her, but her opponent refused to budge as she seized her head into a headlock. "Gkhh!!" The blue demon winced as her head was trapped, and she could feel Tatiana trying to drag her along the ring, heading over to Valerie at their corner, seemingly going to tag her in. Knowing the trouble that she might get herself into if she didn't do something, Yukari would try to work things out, and she had to be quick before they could arrive at the corner.

As she was dragged, Yukari would try to wrap her arms around Tatiana's waist as she was still trapped in the headlock. Then, she would try to give herself a solid footing, planting her feet on the canvas as she would resist being dragged by her opponent. Mustering her strength, she would try to lift Tatiana up, hoping to stop her advance as well as to turn things around in her favor.

Meanwhile, Shizuka was about to interfere before she saw what Yukari was trying to do. The red demon stopped herself at the last second, but she kept herself prepared in case if Yukari's attempt failed.