Akane Akiyama vs. Armando 'Army' Rodriguez - Slugfest

Akane had been on a roll, hammering him around, beating him to hamburger, and now she had to slam the breaks because he’d managed to reach out and grab a rope. He figured she would be pissed about that, and sure enough, she was. Legendarily so.

The referee recoiled in fear as Akane stood up, looking like she might give her a punch for having the nerve to do her job, but that didn’t come, lucky for her. No, the redhead was saving all her searing hatred for Army, glaring his way with a look that was meant to send shivers down the spine. Didn’t quite get there with him. But close.

Carmen, meanwhile, was breathing a sigh of relief. He wouldn’t like it, Akane wouldn’t like it, but he’d made the smart move. A surprising one, too - it was nice to see that his time in tension had taught him some ring awareness. On paper, you’d think he would be better off if this was some sort of street fight, but he’d picked up some good wrestling skill that would serve him well in the ring.

It was just a matter of it being enough to overcome Akane. And on that note…

”Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Army did his best to shake off the damage as he stood up, but that wasn’t the easiest thing to do. His bell had been rung quite a bit, and he had to take a moment to shake it off, rising with the ropes help.

When he stood straight one again, he began to move forward with a cautious approach, keeping his eyes forward the entire time while his guard neared. Maybe a fast pace wasn’t the best move with her? Maybe he could see how well she would do if things were a little less brawly? Worth a shot.

Akane was getting impatient waiting for Army to get back up off the floor. She practically paced the floor as he dragged himself up, using the ropes as support before he finally got on his own two feet. Army was a big guy, probably the biggest one Akane had ever fought one-on-one, and the way he talked and boasted back at the gym gave Akane the impression he at least had an idea of what he was doing. He left quite the impression with that first punch, but he had yet to mount an offense as impressive as that blow since.

With a cynical eye, the brawler watched as Army brought up his defense and approached slowly, cautiously. It was an odd sight to see, and Akane couldn’t help but think he was up to something.

“The hell are you doing?”

She backed a few steps back to give herself some room, then started circling the man. Despite her fury, she was hesitant to just blindly attack the man, considering he still had that smash attack. There was no way she wanted to experience something like that again.

Watching the boxer closely, she would keep her defense focused on her head, worried he might try a fast, heavy punch if he got too close. Her back was sore from the run in with the barricade, but otherwise her abdomen was fine. If Army was going to attack, it would likely be best to lure him in, then counter efficiently.

It was tempting to go in and move toe-for-toe with Akane, especially after the way she’d come out on top from their last exchange. An earlier Armando Rodriguez would’ve taken the fight straight to her, but this one could see the value of hanging back a bit and letting it play out. He’d be more direct. Eventually. Sure. Just not right now.

Carmen paced about as Army neared his foe and got her to take some steps back. She wasn’t coming in so hot now, no doubt fearing the Smash that had laid her out. It was a move their father had used to great effect back in his day, one he’d passed down to Army with predictable success.

One move. He could taken her back down with one, well-timed move. Because of that, Akane was practically begging him to make a move and come after her, but he had to do it the right way.

”And you call me a coward.” Army inched forward, sliding into the outskirts of their striking range. ”You act like you’re afraid of-”

Army took a big, sudden step and shot his leg out hard, giving her a boot to the stomach and throwing his weight into the move. The idea was to take her off guard and push her hard into the corner. Whether it would work was up for debate.

Akane blinked. She was expecting a punch, something quick that would get Army in close, enough so that she could counter and create an opening for another quick combo. Her shoddy defense was practically an invitation for the man to take a shot, but much to her surprise the boxer was playing it smart like her. Rather than throw a punch, he continued to surprise the brawler by shooting a kick into her abs. He put his whole weight into it to, pushing the red head back quite a few steps.

The kick also had the added benefit of partially winding the red head, her eyes focused on Army as she was forced back. As soon as she saw where she was headed, Akane knew what Army was trying to do. He was going to box her in the corner, then wail on her much like she did to him at the start of the match. She couldn’t help but smile at the irony. Regardless, she needed to keep that from happening…

“Yeah? Afraid of a daddy’s boy like you? Fuck off!”

Trying to prevent getting pushed any further, Akane would move in and fire off a quick but light three jab combo.

--

The heavy footsteps of the fighters finally roused Drake enough to look up from his phone. From what he could tell, it looked like Akane was slowly getting pushed into a corner, Army advancing just enough so that he was not making any mistakes. If he was being honest, it looked kinda bad for his colleague.

Well, I suppose that is why I am here…

Clicking his phone off and stuffing it in his jacket, Drake gave a quick sigh before focusing on Army, then the referee. Like a snake in tall grass, Drake would wait until Army got closer to the ropes wherein he would strike. If Army was close enough, Drake would try to grip the boxers closest leg, hoping to knock him off balance. Drake was certain the ref was too busy watching the violent brawl between the two fighters. If he was successful, Drake would quickly let go before the he could be spotted by an official, slinking back a few steps.

Carmen often accused Army of not thinking far enough ahead in his fights, going moment by moment and not working towards a bigger picture, and to be fair, that was something he was trying to rectify. When he shot his leg  and connected with it clean, his plan afterwards was to get her before she could make her way up to her feet, pin her to the floor, and start pounded away on her from there, do what she tried to do to him without the benefit of ropes to save and his heavier weight. Seemed like a solid idea.

The only hitch being, naturally, that he had to get her down for it to work. Which his kick did not do. Clearly. “Shit.”

Not only did it not work, but it seemed to make Akane even more driven, never a good thing. He closed the gap that he’d made, successfully gained ground on her, but she seemed to determined to fight her way out before he could enjoy the minor advantage he’d made. Out came three strikes, and she couldn’t help but spice it up with a taunt.

He kept his guard tight, weathering the blows with ease, and started to advance again, not bothering to hide the minor irritation on his face.  ”Christ, what is with you and your boyfriend and bringing up shit with-”

Army’s words were interrupted when something - something that felt a lot like a hand, suspicious as that was - grabbed his leg. His balance fucked, he wound up stumbling forward, his head going towards Akane’s chest while he reached out for her shoulders, trying to support himself on reflex and leaving him wide open.

From the other side of the ring, Carmen could hear the crowd booing, saw Drake moving away, and put things together with an aggravated hiss. ”This man, I swear…” In a huff, she started to move around the ring and head Drake’s way, ready to deal with this problem before it got even worse.

If Akane was being completely honest, she had no idea about the Rodriguez family situation. She didn’t know all that much about them, except that they were boxers, including their Father. Anything beyond that was speculation. The only reason she used them in her insults against Army was because she saw Drake do the same thing, with great success. Apparently, the siblings were fairly family oriented, and Akane guessed that either they both respected their Father, or their Father left them at a young age and it affected them up to this day. It didn’t really matter to the brawler, it got a reaction, that’s all she wanted.

Army easily blocked the combo, and began to move in, the red head well aware of the corner post steadily approaching her backside. Despite the impending entrapment, irritation of her own flashed across her face at the mention of Drake and her own relationship,

“I told you before, we aren’t-“

Suddenly, Army seemed to lunge at her, rather unexpectedly. He must have been off his mark, because he landed face first into her fairly exposed cleavage.

It was like the world suddenly froze for a few minutes. Akane’s face quickly turned red, both from embarrassment, and rage. In her mind, Army had just went from an Asshole, to a disgusting pervert.

Taking advantage of his wide-open stance, she reeled an arm back, putting all of her adrenaline and rage into her muscles, and shot an incredibly strong and violent uppercut towards the man’s chin. The only word uttered from her was a simple “Fucker.”

--

Drake couldn’t help but smile at the turmoil he just caused. Like watching a car wreck in slow motion, but even better, knowing you caused the damage without the consequences.

He didn’t hold any special grudge against Army, though he did like seeing the man get punched. He didn’t like to getting thrown by him in their last encounter. Sure, Drake Kicked him where it hurt, but he was the one itching for a fight.

Drake continued to watch passively, not noticing Carmen approach him from his blind side.

All things considered, this match had been going well. Maybe not the most dominant as far as Army was concerned, and he could’ve done without all the attitude, but he’d had far less pleasant experiences in a wrestling ring. Akane was a good wrestler. Damn good. Maybe a little too big on striking, but he was the last person on the planet who could complain about that.

So, they were having a match. A good match. Then he tripped, fell forward, and it all just sort of went to shit in a hurry.

His face could’ve gone many places. Could’ve hit the floor. Couldn’t gone against her abs. Could’ve bonked her in the face. As fate would have it, though, it came down for a crash landing in the valley of her cleavage, right down the middle, leaving him in a less than flattering position.

The crowd thought it was funny. Akane didn’t.

The response was expected, but that didn’t make it any easier to take. An uppercut crashed against Army’s chin and sent him reeling away, spinning fool circle, and when he turned to face her again he was wobbly feet with a haphazard guard.

But he wasn’t the only man in the area who’d pissed off a warrior woman. Drake seemed to be ignorant to Carmen’s approach, but that would likely end when she came around the corner and tapped him on the shoulder. ”Excuse me.”

The moment he turned around, Carmen would greet him with a right cross to the face. She’d already taken enough of Drake’s crap outside of the ring, and there was no way she was putting up with it in this setting, too.

Akane’s uppercut seemed to find its mark. She didn’t seem to notice, simply advancing on her shaken opponent while throwing out incredibly strong left and right hooks at him and his defense. For the first time since Akane entered the ring, anger was not readily apparent on her face. In fact, it was almost blank, save for the slight frown on her face. Everything she was feeling was coming off clearly in her eyes, the cold, cynical glare made it seem like she was looking at something that was less than garbage. The red heads anger and fury were so much that it almost flipped over to simple uncaring neutrality, like she was going numb.

But the hooks she was throwing told a different story. Each strike that connected would improve upon the last, both in force and position. No longer was she cautious, her only goal at that moment was to push the filth away from her, and out of the ring. If Army’s defense was weak enough, she would step into it and attempt to wrap her arms around his waist. After that, she would simply try to toss him aside.

All while looking at Army…like he was a cockroach in the trash.

--

Drake prided himself on his hearing. Growing up lacking an eye made it so that keeping track of things visually was not always an option. He had a blind side, and he often found himself bumping into other people or items that were strewn about if he was not carful. To compensate, his body began to focus on improving his other senses, particularly his hearing. While by no means was it spectacular, Drake could proudly say that if he focused, he could indeed hear a whispered conversation quite a few feet away in a public space. Even now, if he wanted, he could focus on a single voice in the audience, and hear what kind of nasty insult they were throwing at his back while he watched Akane wail into Army. However, he was instead focused on the fight, listening to his colleague’s fist impact Army’s flesh, his pained gasps and grunts, even the mumbled curses that each fighter seemed to spew at each other.

So focused, he didn’t hear the foot steps approach from his right. When he felt the tap on his shoulder, he was a bit surprised someone had snuck up on him. His first thought was that it was an official coming to talk to him, perhaps someone saw him trip up Army?

Turning with a hint of annoyance on his face he stated plainly “How can I help yo-“

Then got smashed in the face. Stumbling back, Drake gripped the right side of his face, not completely comprehending what was happening. Finally, he whipped his head back to face the perpetrator, clearly agitated from the sudden cross,

“What the hell are you…. oh, it’s just you.”

Upon seeing it was Carmen, Drake didn’t bother to hide his annoyance. The two of them seemed to run into each other often, and it was never pleasant, always ending with them exchanging blows. Drake had assumed Carmen would accompany her brother to the match, but upon entering himself, he did not see her anywhere. He just figured she didn’t come.

But here she was.

“What do you want, Carmen?” Drake’s normally formal tone was gone, his calculating eye simply watching the female boxer with something close to frustration.

Carmen got a cheer from the crowd when she pummeled Drake’s face, though it wasn’t the sort of reaction she much cared for. Strictly speaking, this wasn’t the kind of thing she indulged in, never being one to shift focus away from the ring while a match was going on. The last thing her brother needed right now was a distraction, especially one that had the potential of spilling over to the ring and making this match more of a clusterfuck than it already was.

But there was no way she was standing by and letting Drake interfere, either. The man had a penchant for making things more complicated than they needed to be, and his presence at ringside would only stir up trouble if he was left to his own devices. Not on her watch.

”I want for you to back off, Drake. Stay out of the match.” She jabbed a finger his way, pointing at his good eye. ”The next time you interfere in this match, you’ll get worse than a punch. Much worse.”

Army, in the meantime, was far too busy with his current problems to pay much attention to the ringside drama. Akane’s punch left him thoroughly rocked, and all he could do was stumble away and get up a hazy guard, a weak attempt to block the punches she was throwing his way.

Two hooks cracked him upside the head and gave him a proper wake up call, leaving him starry-eyed, and she was quick to follow up on that opening by moving in quick and grabbing him around the waist in a tight hold.

As stunned as he was, he could still register enough to realize what was coming next. She wanted to bring this fight to the ground, the exact last place that Army desired to be with a woman like this.

Knowing he need to put a stop this, Army summoned his strength for a desperate move. He planted his feet down firm to keep from being tossed, balled his fists together, and attempted to bring them crashing down on the small of her back with a double axe handle, aiming to strike right in the middle of Akane’s spine.

“Oh?”

Drake had listened to Carmen’s concerns, tilting his head as she delivered her threat. Despite how he acted, he considered himself someone who could be reasoned with. He was actually a bit surprised Carmen would threaten him so blatantly, especially seeing how level headed she could be when compared to her sibling. Unfortunately, all her threat seemed to do was make him want to interfere with the match even more.

His left eye locked onto Carmen’s as he took a step closer to her. He wasn’t scared of Carmen’s sudden mean streak. In fact, he had a hard time believing she would do any real damage to him even if she had the chance.

“I wonder what could be worse than a punch in a boxer’s mind.” Drake said, getting closer to her, daring her. “The only thing I can think of that’s worse than your punch might be your dating advice. From what I understand, you have quite the history of rocky relationships…” A strange change in topic, but one Drake had been thinking about using for some time.

A smile seemed to emerge from his face, the look in his eye turning to cold pity, “Heh…maybe that’s why your so protective of your brother? After all, he’s the only one that can’t ever leave you, right?”

--

Akane’s expression didn’t change. Not when her fist’s rammed into Army’s head, not when she slipped by his defense, not even when he desperately fought back against her quick grip. Even when dazed, Army was a strong opponent, and the axe handle he delivered found its mark. It seemed Akane’s back was taking most of the damage this match, as a new ball of pain erupted from her spin.

She released Army, yet her face was still blank, only her eyes gave way to the raging, murderous intent she felt for the man in front of her. She did not give off any indication she was hurt, ignoring the wild cheers and booing of the crowd as she began to advance once again.

“So, the garbage still thinks he has a right to exist?” Akane said, monotone, “Why don’t you just crawl off and die, pervert?”

As if to focus her killing intent, one of Akane’s hand went to ensnare one of Army’s wrists, while the other looked to snag a vice-like grip around his throat, planning on squeezing down until he stopped moving.