Akane Akiyama vs. Armando 'Army' Rodriguez - Slugfest

From inside the ring, Army could tell that Akane was a bit punch drunk, still taking the effects of his Smash. Couldn't blame her. He knew from experience - long, hard experience - how taking a hit like that could fuck with your brain, how it left your senses in a mess. The fact that she was able to stand at all was impressive enough, but she still had a brain in that skull of hers, and it couldn’t help but take some effect from a hit that massive.

Didn’t mean he wouldn’t capitalize on it, though, which was his aim as he came towards her with the baseball slide. And it hit. Sort of.

Army had a fair bit of momentum and size on his side, so when the slide connected, he expected Akane to topple over like a bowling pin. Instead, she stayed on her feet and just wound up hitting the barricade. Continuing to impress. And annoy. Definitely both.

Not that he’d let her know that. ”Yeah. Kinda.” He snorted as the referee started up a count above them, warning both wrestlers to get back in the ring. And he would. After he was done out here. Ten seconds was plenty of time.

She wanted more? She’d get more. Army moved in fast and threw out two quick jabs, smacking her guard, before pulling back and letting loose with a powerful right cross to her burgeoning chest, designed to send her right back into that barricade.

The referee’s steady countdown was like a timer in the back of Akane’s mind. Each second that would drop from the ten-count made her more and more weary of the brawl that was to come. She was mad, certainly, but that didn’t mean she turned into a berserking idiot, rabid to throw the next punch with no thought or reason. She knew that if she was outside the ring once the countdown was over, it would be an upsetting loss.  Still, ten seconds is a rather generous time limit…

At least, it is when you don’t have a six-foot-tall boxer intent on beating you down.

Akanes arm went up in a sharp defense, taking the two jabs as best she could. She was much less interested in taking the hard cross, and with as much speed as she could muster, she juked to the side and trying her best to get in his blind spot, barely missing his blow by inches.

To repay Army for his efforts, Akane would throw a light jab towards the face, then a kick to the back of the leg, trying to shake his foundation just a little bit. Her main concern for now was getting back in the ring, hating the thought that this fight might end so soon and so boring.

--

While everyone else was focused on the two brawlers, another figure began to stroll down the ramp. There was no music, no bells and whistles to accompany the figure, as he technically was not part of the match. His shoes clicked lightly on the metallic ramp, a steady beat as he continued down onto the ring floor.

Like a cobra exiting the tall grass, Drake stepped onto the cold floor next to the ring. A slight smile grew on his lips as he watched the two fighters beat one another senselessly. Truly, the two were in their element.

It was too bad, really, that Drake had some stakes in the outcome of this fight now. Not large ones, simple gambles and bets anonymously put down at a number of bars and bookies, but a lump of cash none the less. Once again, Drake had bet against Army, but this time he was in a prime position to make sure he lost, one way or another.

He wouldn’t move in though, not yet. For now, Drake was content in being something of an audience member, watching the fight with cold amusement while leaning on one of the corners at the opposite end of the ring.

”2!”

For his part, Army wasn’t all that concerned about the count. No, he wasn’t a fan of letting this match end in a lame-ass count, either, but he was bit more confident about his position, saw how he could work this to his advantage so long as he stayed on the offense, as he damn well intended to.

To Akane’s credit, she’d apparently remembered what a basic defense was in the past few seconds, because she had raised arms to meet Army’s jab, taking the lighter blows one her forearm. The cross was another matter, though. That would’ve came through regardless, and she seemed to realize it as she made a swift step to the side. Cagey of her.

Army tried to pull back and get his own guard, but he couldn’t do it fast enough to avoid the punch to his face. A light smack, nothing too hard, but it kept him from being able to see her followup, a kick that came in low and struck him on the leg, making him stagger back.

”3!”

Army planted his foot down before he went to far, though, and his next move was to surge forward and duck down low, attempting to catch her with a tackle and ram her back into the barricade, determined to keep her defending.

“4!”

Army surged forward, surprising Akane by going low for the first time since she met him and tackling her hard into the barricade. A quick scream of pain rang out into the air as the red head’s back was smashed back into the hard barricade. Her back was burning in pain, and she was just pushed right back where she was when the count started.

“Argh! Fucker!”

In retaliation, she grit her teeth and tried to wrap an arm around his neck in a reverse headlock, Squeezing the life out of him while she could…

“5!”

With her other arm she would try to drive, or more accurately, stab her elbow into his trapezius muscles, wanting to initiate the sharp, burning, and more importantly lasting pain that often was associated with damaged trapezius muscles. However, she wouldn’t hold on forever. If given the chance she would send a knee smashing into Army’s face in an attempt to separate themselves.

When in doubt, tackle it.

It was amazing how many of Army’s problems were solved with that little solution, and this current one was no exception. Akane was a big woman, bigger than most by a great deal, but when he threw his weight around, she didn’t have much choice but to go where he wanted her. And where he wanted her was up against that barricade. Hurting.

She didn’t just take it, though. She fought, wrapping his up tight and squeezing it with one of the biggest arms he’d ever seen on a woman. It was a crushing, choking grip and it would’ve been bad enough by itself, but she had to compound the problem by driving her elbow into his upper back, sparking up a wide range of pain that came with it.

Yeah. Time to back off.

Army pushed off just in time to avoid a knee to the face, missing it by mere inches and making some space between them. He was quick to get his fists up, ready to jump back into the deep end…

”6!”

There was that, yes. With a gruff grunt, Army made a dash for the ring and dove under the ropes, sliding inside.

Right as the burning brawler fired off a hard knee towards her opponent’s face, he pushed himself free, giving her the distance she had desired. His arms shot right up, looking as if he was about to move in again. Both of the fighters looking like they were about to start right back up again, sparks flying as the two glared at each other.

“6!”

But that count seemed to bring them both back to reality.

Army wasted very little time, dashing quickly and sliding into the ring. Akane really wanted to take a breather, her back was still sore from its constant collisions

with the barricade, but she knew giving Army a chance to dominate the ring would just make it harder for her in the future. With a sigh, she followed after him, jolting quickly into the ring and trying to tackle the man down to the grown before he could stand all the way up and get his footing.

If he was a boxer, the ground would likely be his natural enemy, something Akane wished to take advantage of.

Stupid countouts. Army always hated this rule, right from the start. Part of the reason he’d been into making the jump from boxing to wrestling was the lack of rules, the do-anything nature of it, but then they just went and penalized you for getting too crazy. Dumbest thing.

He could’ve gotten this match under control if he’d had a bit more time with her at the barricade, he knew it. She seemed to know it, too, judging from the way she was quick to jump on him the second he was back in the ring. Before he could even hope to get up, she was all over him, tackling him to the mat, going for a mount by the look of things.

Priority one was protecting his face. Army raised his arms for that, getting them in front and keeping him safe.

Priority two was all about the escape. He planted his feet and bridged hard, attempting to send her flipping off, though he wasn’t too optimistic about his chances. This was a solid woman he was dealing with, one who had a lot more weight to work with than most.

Tackling Army was like tackling a brick wall.

When Akane smashed into him to take him to the ground, there was little cushion in his body. Every inch seemed to be corded in strong muscles, tensed in a way that made them feel like steel. If Army had not been unbalanced before, the red head doubted she would have been able to knock him over with such a hurried tackle.

The Brawler already had a good idea of what the boxer was capable due to that first punch he threw at her. In her mind, pinning him to the floor was the smartest move, limiting his movements and forcing him on the defense once again. Any offense he would have couldn’t be at full force, not without proper grounding. She figured she didn’t have to worry about a punch like the smash.

Army put his arms up in defense, and Akane obliged his effort by Sending hard strikes crashing into the steel beams that were his forearms. She wanted to break them down, get past them, and pound the face that hid behind them. Force him to pay for what he did to her on the barricade, then win. That was her goal, simple as it was.

But then he had to start bucking around like a mechanical bull. She had a solid mount, and he wouldn’t toss her off so easily, but she started having a hard time throwing her best punches, half her focus now preoccupied with maintaining her hold on the man below.

This was a bad place to be. The worst place, really.

Akane was not a light woman. She was built. Tough. Solid. As strong as Army was, he wasn’t so strong that he could just fling her away with ease. Not when she had him straddled like this. Not when his shoulders were so perilously close to the ground. Not when she seemed to know how good her position was, and was determined to make the absolute most out of it.

Down came the blues, hammering away, smacking him back and forth. He managed to get his guard up, so that was good, but even the best umbrella could only keep you so dry in a rainstorm. More than a few slips between the cracks and smacked his head about, reinforcing the notion that he needed to either get out of this now, or wait until she got tired of smacking him. Since he was pretty sure he’d be unconscious long before the latter, that left the former option.

But she wasn’t giving him any real options, there wasn’t much space to get a counterattack in, and he couldn’t buck her for the life of him. So how could he…

Ah.

It meant he had to take two shots in the face for his troubles, but he reached out and grabbed the bottom rope, getting the referee to intervene. ”Rope break!” She yelled their way. ”Akane, back off!”

This was a good place to be. The best place, Really.

In a mount, Army seemed to be like a turtle on its back. He couldn’t move, couldn’t maneuver around punches to get in a decent counter, all he could do was slink into his shell of a defense and try to buck the attacking predator off. The bucking had yet to throw Akane off, the most it accomplished was that she had a hard time focusing on beating through the man’s defense and not just hanging on. Still, a punch was a punch. If it had decent force behind it and it struck, it would hurt no matter what.

So, that was how the fight went for a few minutes. Akane trying to smash through Army’s defense as he bucked and moved his arms in order to counter as many blows as he could. Some of the attacks were getting through, thudding against his head and face. Soon, he wouldn’t be able to hold a defense anymore, and the brawler could do what she liked with the man.

A predatory smile crossed Akane’s lips at the prospect.

It seemed much more likely with each passing blow. More hits were breaking through. Sure they were far from her best shots, but they could work for what she was doing. Slowly she was burning his energy away, even getting two shots in a row to his head! Not much long-

“Akane, Back off!”

“Huh?”

Suddenly her concentration was broken, the referee screaming at her and pointing to Army’s hand, which was tightly wrapped around the bottom rope. The pair was close to the ropes when the tackle occurred, and apparently Army’s constant bucking scooted the pair close enough for him to grab them.

If looks could kill, the referee would have dropped dead. The Brawler took the news as one would expect her to. Turning to Army, looking him dead in the eye…

“Fucking Coward.”

She was fuming, but complied, forcefully pushing herself off him and walking a few feet back. She noticed Carmen and Drake on opposite sides of the ring. While the former was watching closely, the latter was messing with his phone.

Another nasty look crossed her face at the sight, but the red head simply turned back towards her foe, waiting for him to get back up so the match could resume.