Giulia La Rocca vs Kyo Akamatsu - Grudge In Chains

Luck was something Giulia never counted on in the ring. Right now however, she felt extremely lucky. Lucky that her punch had hit its target. Lucky that it had caused all Kyo's holds to cease. Lucky that she had gotten his midsection squeezed tightly between her powerful thighs. Lucky that she had managed to wrap the chain perfectly around Kyo's neck. And the Samurai was the unlucky guy on the receiving end of this all. Unlucky enough that everyone could see his conciousness drifting away by the seconds...

Bullshit. Giulia shouldn't have been thinking like that. That was all bullshit. This was her own challenge. Her own rules. The position she was in was purely the result of her own supremacy, her own perseverance, her own clever planning...

And still seeing the ref girl raise Kyo's arm, only to let it drop lifelessly back down made her feel lucky. Lucky that Kyo was moving no more. Lucky that the ref girl was lifting the Samurai's arm up once more, only to let it fall yet again just as limply back down to the mat. And the crowds could see how lucky she had just been...

No. She couldn't win this way. Not by the ref girl declaring Kyo knocked out.

She couldn't just let the crowds think she got lucky. Kyo had done exactly that in their first match, at least on Giulia's opinion, and it was exactly what had caused her ire towards him in the first place. This match couldn't end the same way.

As the official initiated her third attempt at lifting Kyo's arm up, the Italian shoved her off. Kyo was out already, he was no longer a threat. But she wanted to be the one delivering the final impact.

Ideally, Giulia wanted to do something spectacular to finish this whole thing off. Something that could have enabled her to showcase the power of La Forza Italiana. But this match had already been so rough, so exhausting, that the Italian didn't really have any strength left for that. She just had to get this thing over with. Now.

Giulia's solution was to let go of Kyo, and get back up relatively slowly. Taking in the roar of the crowds just for a very brief moment, the Italian then jumped up and came down on the Samurai's midsection with a Double leg drop. And that was enough.

Hooking Kyo's leg, Giulia promptly proceeded to press his shoulders firmly down and pin the guy for the count. Fairly sure that his body would no longer show signs of life, but at the same time praying to God that it was not going to...

"1!"

"2!"

Kyo's movements had slackened into nothing at this point as he lay spread eagled on the mat, the chain that had defined so much of this match constricted tightly around his throat. His fans in the audience were in despair at this point, realizing that their hero had just been choked into unconsciousness or worse...but the third fall of Kyo's arm never came.

Instead, Giulia shoved the ref girl away and got up, backing away. Kyo's chest was rising and falling softly, hos athletic physique otherwise still as he lay ln the mat, half-breathing. He was an easy target as Giulia came charging in, slamming down on top of him with a double leg drpp. For a brief moment, Kyo's body jolted from the impact, before he went still again. And then his leg was hooked, and..

1!

2!

3!

The bell rang, and the audience went into an uproar of excitement. After a hard fought battle where the Italian gladiatrice had largely been fighting an uphill battle, Giulia la Rocca, La Forza Italiana, had just scored an upset victory!

Giulia's gamble with her final, killing strike paid off, as her leg drop slammed the Samurai's toned body with vicious force, yet her opponent's body remained ripe for picking for the pinfall.

Well, OK. Honestly, it wasn't really even a gamble. Giulia had taken no chances with the chain. Kyo was surely out. Cold.

But that didn't matter. Only thing that mattered was the referee's count reaching number three. The number that sealed La Forza Italiana's victory over the Samurai, the fighter who had previously humiliated the tiny Italian powerhouse with an upset victory. Victory that never should have happened.

Only problem now was that as relieved as Giulia was, there was just something about this victory that the Italian felt was undeserved.

Luckily, most of the fans seemed to disagree with her though. They loved the situation. Obviously there were the ones who were disappointed at Kyo's loss, and Giulia could understand why. But still, the match for tonight had been set up by Giulia's plans, Giulia's challenge, Giulia's stipulations and Giulia's rules. And the crowds had obviously loved the show.

The feeling of the referee disconnecting the chain from her wrist was such a relief! Even more so than the Italian had expected in fact... And it was for certain that her wrist was going to be aching for at least the next few days. But even that discomfort and pain could not suppress the feeling of freedom!

Giulia promptly got up, and proceeded by the corner to jump up onto the middle ropes, raising her now-free hand high up into the air. She was the winner, and she was sure to show it to the crowds! But if one was expecting to see uninhibited triumph and thrill in the Italian's behavior, they were going to be disappointed. There was nothing like that to be seen, only stern, determined signals of victory accompanied by a calm and collected behavior.

Inside, Giulia was anything but calm and collected. Glancing over at Kyo, she could see the Samurai still laying limp on the mat, already getting some attention by the medics coming to check up on him.

She couldn't watch it.

Even if Giulia had scored a victory, this night had gone anything but according to her plans. And it was all to Kyo's credit. He had been a formidable opponent, much more fierce, much more skilled, much tougher than the Italian had expected, and the girl could feel no reason to bask in glory over his misery. If anything, she wanted to check up on him, see if he was still OK after this all...

And of course he was. There was no reason to believe otherwise. And even more importantly, this was no place to display any kind of affection to her defeated foe... So La Forza Italiana silently slid between the ropes, exited the ring, jumped down onto the apron, walked up the ramp towards backstage, and didn't look back towards the ring.

Except for just once.