BlazeWave vs. ??? - Feels Like The First Time

The crowd was booing. Of course the crowd was booing.

True, Theo hadn’t cheated. The referee gave the single, Willy had clearly submitted, and this was now just a one-on-one standard match. He was well within his rights to attack Mariko, there was nothing even remotely illegal about it. If the positions had been switched, Theo would bet good money that she would’ve done the exact same thing without hesitation - he didn’t know Mariko personally, but he got the impression that she was the sort of person who’d take advantage of a situation when one presented itself.

The audience, however, was never going to see it that way. He’d attacked one of their favorite wrestlers, taken her off guard, and was trying to reap the benefits. He was the bad guy now.

So be it. PR campaigns had gotten people out of stuff like this before. It would be damned easier than recovering from a 2 on 1 loss, that was for sure.

He spared a quick look to make sure Willy was okay, watching as he had the good sense to roll out of the ring - even in that brief moment, he could tell his friend just wanted to get out of the ring and make retreat to the back. The two of them would need to have a long talk later, no doubt, but this wasn't the time for it - right now, he just wanted to focus on bringing this woman down.

He pounced her way, wanting to give her as little time to recoup as possible. Arm raised, he dropped his elbow down into the middle of her spin, driving it in with his weight and attempting to hammer her into the canvas. Brutal, but effective, looking to take all the fight out of her in a heavy rush.

Mariko wouldn’t lie and say she didn’t appreciate the sympathy the crowd showed for her by booing her opponent, but she couldn’t quite say she cared for it either. Nice as it was to know the masses supported her, that did nothing to alleviate the pain in her chest or give her back any of the momentum she’d let slip through her fingers. The booing was all just an unpleasant noise to accompany the unpleasant pain she felt.

If it had been Willy, the rocker would probably take some time to gloat and pose to the crowd, taking his attention off of Mariko just long enough to inadvertently give her an opening. But Theo had proven his ring IQ to be significantly higher than that of his partner. The vixen fully expected Theo would be capitalizing on the opening he’d created any second now. Mariko certainly would in his position. Sure enough…

“GAH!!!” Mariko cried out as Theo’s elbow hammered down into her spine, forcefully driving her onto her front. Her face twisted in pain and her legs kicked instinctively against the mat. Breathing was suddenly a lot more difficult, as if the pain in her chest and back weren’t problematic enough already.

And down went Mariko. Again.

Suddenly, all the booing and jeering seemed so far away in Theo’s mind, just distant noise. This woman had seemed so imposing a moment ago, when she was ragdolling Willy around the ring like a joke, but now? Now the ball was in his court, and it seemed like he could run with it as far as he pleased. He didn’t want to get too optimistic, but this could work. Just stay focused. Stay smart. Eyes on the prize…

”Sorry.” He threw out that small whisper, just a slight apology. He wasn’t, not really, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

Reaching over, he wrapped his arm around Mariko’s throw, gripping it tight, and stood up, forcing her to come along with him as she squeezed her in a tight choke, gripping her throat tight with his arm, holding her close and, unlike Willy, ignoring the feel of her backside against his lap. His main goal here was to move her around, control her, put her in a position where he could dictate the pace. And that meant never letting up, not even for a second, not if he could help it.

The apology wasn’t necessary, at least in Mariko’s mind. Theo hadn’t done anything that warranted being angry over. He was just being smart and taking advantage of an opening Mariko had inadvertently given him herself. And really the only reason he was being booed was because the crowd had been enjoying the sight of her smothering and dominating Willy, and hated to see that suddenly cut short.

She couldn’t say or do much as Theo wrapped an arm around her neck in a tight, painful chokehold while pulling her back up. Mariko knew she couldn’t overpower his arms with her own, and trying to pull herself out of his hold would just tire herself out. Wanting to avoid digger her hole even deeper, she instead waited until she was back on her feet to act again. Cringing at the pain and discomfort of the hold being applied, Mariko pulled her left arm forward then shot it back to try to drive the point of her elbow right into Theo’s side, then repeated the process a few times after that.

Mariko wasn’t aiming for anything extreme. She just needed to give him enough reason to either ease up on his choke, or abandon it altogether if she were lucky enough.

Theo wasn’t nearly as strong as Willy overall, but that didn’t mean he was weak, either - he hit the gym along with his tag partner, did his best to keep up, had a good, well-rounded routine to fall back on. While he was no hulk, he was probably stronger than most men his size, and definitely stronger than most women his size. He was willing to bet Mariko fell into that latter category, so while overpowering a foe wasn’t his usual strategy, it seemed like this might be an effective time to switch things up, even more so when his high-risk style was considered. The last thing he wanted to do was give this woman openings.

Not that she was weak. She didn’t come quietly into his hold, struggling as she was lifted up, and while he could ride her down at first, that become harder - much harder - when she started throwing elbows in his side. One, he could take. Two, sure. But three, four, five, six.

It was too much. He had to let her go, pushing her away with a solid shove to make some distance as he staggered back and took a moment to clutch his sides. She’d caught his ribs good there, at the end. Nasty stuff.

Mariko began gasping for air the moment Theo broke his hold and shoved her away, sending her stumbling into the ropes. She held onto one for leverage while she caught her breath. Again, Theo’s wisdom had come into play. Many people on the verge of losing a hold tended to overcorrect and try to immediately transition to something else. People usually expected that, and being so close meant an immediate opportunity to yank momentum right out under the feet of your opponent. But not Theo. He kept the hold just long enough to get as much as he could out of it, then created distance between them. Now it would be harder to surprise him, and give the rocker a chance to close up his openings in the meantime.

“Not bad… Not bad at all…” she said, grinning while looking his way again. Would Mariko have liked to come back in, make a sexy show of smothering these two handsome rockers into submission, then take her check and head right out to the Space Lion for some drinks and jazz music to round out the night? Absolutely. But would she complain about having a return match against a handsome young man who actually seemed to know what he was doing in the ring? Not a chance. If anything, knowing this would be more of a challenge than she expected was making her more excited.

Staying focused, Mariko rolled her neck and shook her arms out, then began to circle Theo. Knowing he’d be watching much too closely for her to just pounce at any moment, she elected to play things more carefully, very gradually inching toward him while raising her hands and searching him for openings when a thought came to her head. She brought her arms out as if trying to initiate a standard lockup, though that was only a feint. If Theo bit on it she’d grab onto a wrist and spin through to get by his side, then pull him in while lunging forward in an attempt to slam her knee into his ribs right where her elbow had been hammering away moments ago.

To Mariko’s credit, she controlled herself and proved to be every bit the veteran Theo knew her to be. Where some would have let his opening volley get to them and rushed in to make a mistake, she was more controlled, more composed, and not about to give him even that slight advantage. Yes, those ribs were hurting, but she would’ve been punished if she’d tried to close in to fast - he had a kick ready to go.

Instead, she hung back and took her time as she stood, moving in with calm, curious caution. She was looking for a lockup, it seemed, and he was more than happy to oblige her, but not so stupid that he thought it was going to take place. Mariko was too smart to let herself get caught like that. While he wasn’t near Willy’s brute strength, he was no weakling. It would likely not go her way.

He was expecting her to try something, but he wasn't expecting her to try something out of UFC match. That was precisely what he got, though, as she moved in and sunk her knee in deep, targeting those same ribs with ruthless precision.

Theo’s first instinct was to fall away, but he fought against it, not wanting to leave himself open. Instead, he tried to pull her in to a tight clench with one arm while he tried to throw a harsh hook into her side with the other.

Theo had many fine, promising qualities as a wrestler. But perhaps none were more important than his studious mindset. He learned from both his mistakes and others, analyzed situations critically and reacted accordingly. That alone could go a long way. But even wise minds falter sooner or later. Mariko had used this same knee strike at the start of the match against Willy, and she’d now managed to connect with it on Theo as well.

But again, Theo’s adaptive nature showed. Mariko’s knee found its mark, but where Willy had backed off and tried to buy himself space to recover from the unexpected hit, Theo did the opposite. Mariko hadn’t expected to find herself in a clinch, or to eat a stiff shot in her side. She winced and hissed at the pain, but being locked up like this prevented her from going anywhere.

The vixen’s options were limited here. If it came to a strike exchange between her knees and his punches, Mariko was sure she could win that. But Theo was too smart to be goaded into something like that. She could try transitioning to a hold of some kind. She knew a few good ways to get into an armbar or a kneebar from here. But if she tried to get too cute against someone who was actually keeping a watchful eye out for openings and acting on them, that could be dangerous for her too. Sometimes the simplest solutions were the best.

Mariko’s hands came up, at first seemingly in an effort to shield herself from further attacks, before suddenly shooting further up. Aiming to snake between Theo’s arms, she sought to bring them around his neck, almost mirroring the clinching hold he held her in. The primary difference, her head was right below his jaw. Trying to use that to her advantage, she’d drop to her knees while pulling on his head, hoping to catch Theo with a surprise jawbreaker.

Theo was starting to feel some confidence here, despite knowing that probably wasn’t the best thing to have with a woman who not only had the chutzpah to take on two men, but was proving quite capable of executing the feat. The cards were in her favor. The momentum was on her side...but there was a way to win this, and come out of it on top. Or not on the bottom, at least. He was feeling good about nailing that down, too.

The key goal? Keep Mariko close. And he was doing a good job of that, too, clenching her leg tight and holding her close, reigning her in. This was his range, and she was making a decent effort at working it, snaking her arms with his, holding tight. But he had options here, and he was more than willing to exploit them.

”Come on...come on…” He grunted, struggling against her and getting the better of things as she engaged his clinched. She was low now, which would make it easy for him to push her down and get on top. Once he was mounted, it was over. Ground-and-Pounding Mariko to oblivion was exactly standard wrestling fare, but it would work. Just a little more, and-

Theo wasn’t 100% sure if what happened was meant to happen, but it didn’t really matter, he supposed. In the next moment, Mariko just dropped down, flat to her knees, which meant his chin came down right on her skull, which all that purple hair of hers did little to soften. It sent him flopping on his back with stars dancing in his vision, but he still had the presence of mind for some defense. Throwing his body to the side, he tried to roll out of the ring, hoping to put some distance between them and recover on the apron.

Mariko shook her head, trying to brush away the proverbial cobwebs. A jawbreaker didn’t have the same kind level of drawback as something like a full on headbutt, but it still wasn’t particularly fun or pleasant to execute. Regardless, it did the job. Theo’s clinch was broken and Mariko had created the separation she needed. But, once again impressing Mariko with his instincts, the handsome young man had the wherewithal to roll out of the ring before she could capitalize.

So he wants to play hide-and-seek, huh? She thought to herself, grinning while she moved.

Quickly yet quietly, Mariko shifted to the side of the ring in Theo’s blind side and stepped through the ropes to move out onto the apron. Sneaking around, she tried to get in position behind him. And the second Theo turned toward her direction, Mariko would run forward before leaping out with both knees extended toward the man to try to crash right into his chest with a Meteora! And if it connected, she’d ride her opponent right down to end up seated astride his upper chest and neck in a tight schoolgirl pin out on the floor at ringside.

It was an unusual tactic for someone like Mariko to be sure. But for an opponent with instincts like Theo’s, she hoped thinking outside the box like this would be a good way to catch him by surprise.