Sucker Punch vs. BlazeWave - Can't Stop The Beat

Maybe Willy was crazy, but he was starting to suspect that Gyuri didn't like him very much. It was just the little things, really. Like the way she mounted him and began to bash his face in with that little fist of hers, all while she looked down on him like a roach in dire need of stomping. Details like that.

He’d just been laying there, trying to recover, considering the idea of going to tag Theo in, when she came down on him like a ton of bricks and started hammering. It was probably a weird sight to see, a little thing like her, mounting his chest, wailing on him like a drum. It didn’t feel so silly to him, though. She was small, yeah, and not a boxer or anything, but there were only so many unprotected shots in the face that anyone could really take from anyone else - his grandmother could probably knock him out if she had enough time to do. And Gyuri was making good use of his time.

As distressing as this all was to see, Theo was more curious about was wasn’t happening. No tag. At all. Gyuri couldn’t have asked for a better path to her corner if there’d been a map and a red carpet laid out. She had to be tired, had to be aching, and yet she still hadn’t tagged the fresh woman in. It was strange, and the more he thought about it, the less sense it made. What was the game, here?

Willy’s might have thought similar thoughts if he wasn’t so preoccupied with Gyuri and her knuckles massaging his face. After taking more than he cared to count, he planted his feet on the floor and bucked up hard, trying to hurl her off and get free of her onslaught, before she broke a nose or…

Ugh. Too late.

Willy wasn't a competitor in the ring. He was a man who confronted her in a back alley, or someone who cornered her in a bathroom stall. A different face placed on any man she knew who had wronged her in the past. She wasn't punching him to win a match, she was hitting him over and over to pound him I dust. Her fingertips number with the burning of her raw knuckles pummeling the unprotected man like it was the next big thing. Until he finally was able to fight back, though fight was a very objective term in this case.

Gyuri was flopped forward off her bucking body, eating a face full of the canvas with a hard grunt. She lay where she landed, panting heavy on the mat… who knew it was so much work to hit a guy so much. Much of the crowd reaction had simmered for both parties, the display of savagery from the smaller woman against the brutish Willy was as impressive as it had been hard to watch.

Clawing at the mat she rose to all fours, head hanging as her chest heaved with every breath. She rolled her shoulders, struggling her jacket off to throw wildly to the side. It was too hot to that right now. Not even looking back she staggered to her feet and began to shamble her way to the corner, hoping she had done enough to warrant a tag from her partner.

...and seriously, what was Gyuri’s deal? Theo couldn’t make heads or tails of that, either. He was still having trouble locking down her nationality, not doing much better than ‘Not Japanese and Probably Not Chinese’ which didn’t really narrow it down all that much, but she was a mystery, even beyond that. Plenty of women in the AFW were flashy and had this whole street persona going on, but it didn’t seem like much of an act for her - she was every bit as vicious as the street tough she was dressed up as. And it was an elaborate get-up, too, looking like something she’d put real effort into cultivating, along with her rapping abilities…

It made him wonder if she was on Soundcloud. Something to check out on his phone, after he was done Google Translating this to hell and back.

Willy, in the meantime, had about all he could take of Gyuri for one sitting, and he was glad when she didn’t come back at him after he threw her off. His nose wasn’t broken too bad, but it had definitely taken a cut. He could smell the hint of blood, growing stronger, knew it would be dipping soon. He needed a rest, needed to clear his head, so his destination was clear - he needed to tag out.

He ignored Gyuri and rolled over to his chest. Crawling over to their corner, he took a leap and tried to slap hands with Theo, hoping he could get there before Sucker Punch switched things up.

Theo was waiting there with his arm outstretched, eager to make the tag. He already knew how to approach this one - head on, full speed. The moment Willy made the tag, he rushed towards the opponents’ corner and nailed whoever was legal with a flying knee to the face, hoping to catch her off guard.

It was a long trudge to her corner, made more grueling by Vipers unwillingness to even over out her hand for the tag. Gyuri's feet dragged, working to get wind back in her sails after her explosive outburst. She heard the clap of a tag behind her and knew what it meant even before the pounding footfalls of Theo came charging her way. Was it worth the risk of trying commit to a tag? If Viper wasn't game or Theo beat her to the corner, it would be open season.

She opted to turn to face him, squaring up her shoulders with a heavy huff that caused her mask to flap briefly. Up came her hands, though her confidence was starting to dwindle. As Theo jumped up to strike her with his knee, she took a step back, taking a slightly less lethal blow to folded arms raised to protect herself.

The sting of bone on bone was enough to justify retaliating, lunging in to attempt to grapple Theo's shoulders. She wasn't about to lock up for the same of wrestling, she wanted a good hold of him for when she stepped in and tried to ram her own knee into his abdomen. Rather than milk it, if she managed to daze him, she would kick her leg out again, trying to shove him to the floor with a hard push kick to help her but time to retreat again.

And the recipient of this knee would be...Gyuri. Huh. Kind of a surprise, Theo figured she would be able to make the tag, but no - she turned to face him as he closed in, looking to take her head on. Not that she would’ve gotten the tag, anyway, but it was telling that she didn’t even seem to really made a real try for it, and her partner didn’t even have her hand out.

It was honestly starting to look like they’d win this match without even getting the other partner in. That had to be some kind of record, right? At least enough to warrant a shot on the highlight reel.

Her choice didn’t stop his attack, either. He leaped high, came at her head on, and the blow would’ve knocked her clean over if not for the raised arms. Instead, he hit her guard, which she did a better job of holding than some of the men he’d fought in the cage, and she had a little surprise for him when he came back to the ground.

A knee shot up and struck him right in the gut, taking the wind clean out of him even with his hardened abs. A kick came after, and while it wasn’t enough to put him down all the way, it did make him stagger and fall down to a knee, leaving him open for a precious moment.

Shoving back Theo had caused her to nearly fall herself, windmilling her arms as she teetered on one foot. Planting the other she found balance, staring down at her vulnerable foe. Out of habit she stepped in, arm raised primed to deliver another blow, but she paused. This was the opening she needed to escape. If she stood he ground she risked him overwhelming her… no thanks.

Backing away a few pages she turned, trying to hurry to Viper. Coming to a stop before her, she raised a hand testing to see if the American would take her up on it. She could have easily tagged herself out, but Viper was giving her one of those looks that told he this was something she needed permission for.

The blond regarded Gyuri quietly, peering past her to the two men beyond. After q moment she held out her hand, allowing the Korean to breath a sigh of relief and clap their hands together. The veteran sat herself on the middle rope, holding the top one up to allow Gulyuri to leave easily while her eyes remained locked on Theo. Once her younger counterpart has made it to the apron, she slipped in and began slowly making her way over to her fellow blond.

Closed fist into palm, cracking her knuckles. A gentle away of her head to the side before a harsh whip to pop her neck. Like a relic from the past working off the cobwebs. It had been so long since she was in front of a crowd this large here to see her wrestle. For years she subsisted on blood sport as a bare knuckle boxer but now it was time to harken back to her roots.

"What's your name, hotshot?" She had a cool calm to her voice with a bit of gravel sounding very much the part of the persona her look seemed to indicate. When she spoke, her questions felt more like demands that curious price for information. Something about the way she carried herself, the ease of character despite this being a fight… it was unsettling, intimidating even.

Theo groaned as he looked up and saw Gyuri making the tag, but he figured he couldn’t be too mad about it. They’d done a good job cutting the ring in half, but that would only last so long, especially with her being so damn fast and feisty. It sucked that they were losing their advantage, but then again, maybe it wasn’t a total loss. Gyuri had to be worn out by all that, probably wouldn’t be coming in anytime soon. Yes, Viper was fresh, but they were probably still ahead on stamina overall. He’d had a good minute or so to recover, he could buy enough time for Willy to heal up. Hell. Willy was the only real heavyweight in this fight, so…

Yeah. Yeah, this could work. He liked these odds. All he had to do was take the initiative, and…

Theo had begun a mad charge across the ring, looking to floor Viper with a wild lariat to the face, but he stopped in mid-charge as she started to advance on him. He didn’t even realize why he did, either, not at first. It was like his body knew what was up before his mind did, as if it could sense the danger in the way she walked. She was too calm. Too sure. Too bold. There was this overbearing pressure that came from the way she carried herself, and it was setting off alarms all over, making him back off. The crowd could sense it, too - maybe it was just his imagination, but they seemed to be quieting a bit, wanting to see what was up with the blonde newcomer, if she was as dangerous as the aura she gave off would suggest.

Theo canted his head to the side at her question, blinking, surprised. ”Oh, I’m, ah...Theodore. Theo. My friends call me-”

Wait. Why was he telling her that? He’d just blurted the answer out like a reflex. Why was he getting psyched? He had no reason to be afraid, here, and every reason to pour on the pressure. Take the offense. Take control.

Theo shook his head, cleared the cobwebs, and went on the offensive, closing in on Viper and swinging his leg out for a quick roundhouse kick, aimed at her stomach.

Viper casually tugged at the cuff of her fingerless gloves, flexing her fingers to tighten them up. She lifted a single brow at Theo's response to her question. She didn't emote much past that, even though he sounded like a kid responding to a grown up. She loaded her arms, giving them a light shake along with a roll of her shoulders. "Like the chipmunk?"

When he made a move, her brow furrowed, ready to meet him. The shift of his weight, his form, she saw the kick coming. Rather than stepping back to avoid it, she moved in with a hard stomp. Grounded now, kicking off the kicking power of a full extension of his leg, she turned to take the blow in her side with a solid thump of bone on meat. Her arm came down hard, pinning his outstretched leg to her side. She had given him very little outside a small facial twitch at the impact, not even so much as a grunt.

Twisting her body she raised up her arm, bringing her elbow down right on top of his knee in a stiff twelve to six motion. The blond wanted to make sure he came away from this exchange hobbling and humbled, holding nothing back from her raw force. From his knee, directly into a wide sweep she threw out her arm to fly at his face. Her open hand became a tight ball, knuckles like stone primed to strike with a backfist swing.

”No, like the president.” Theo was quick to snap back at that one - he’d been getting that silly little jab since preschool, so it came off as a reflex. Unfortunately, it was about the only thing he’d be getting over Viper in the near future.

His kicked connected - sort of. It hit her dead on, but it didn’t get the response he was expecting. Theo’s kick was pretty decent, was capable of doing some real damage, and he managed to get all of it on her side, a perfect hit...and it did nothing. It barely moved her and got almost no response, as if she was made of wood. She caught his leg, too, and he instantly knew there’d be trouble. He just didn’t know how much.

He found out soon enough, though. Oh, fuck, did he.

She drove her elbow into his knee with boneshattering force, filling the arena with his pained shriek as the pain cascaded through his nerves. He didn’t even get to complete that noise, though, before she silence it with a harsh backfist to the face, cracking him square in the teeth and knocking him off his feet in an instant. Down he went, right to the floor, dazed, his arms out and his vision hazy.

Just two moves.

Theo was sturdier than he looked from afar, that was her take away as she hammered him to the mat. It wouldn't help him, but she had assumed at first glance both he and his friend chuckles with the bloodied nose had been more flare than fire. This helped her understand Gyuri's issue with both of them now, though it wouldn't amount to her lightening up on the Korean native. No amount of tough love training was going to motivate her tag partner to do better, to be better, more than having her ass whooped by a bunch of jackasses. The hope was this humbling experience would stay with her for the next time.

With a rake of her of her knuckles act his face, he was on the ground, leaving her with his leg still outstretched in her hooked arm. It would be an easy transition into a single leg crab, but she didn't feel much like putting the grind on them yet. Instead, she stepped over his leg, bracing both of her own. Taking his ankle in her arms, she held out his leg to the side then brought it back hard to slam against the inside of her thigh at his knee, pulling it sideways against any manner of grain his knee had.

Viper would let the leg go after one punishing slam, shoving it off to the side to take a hard step forward, stomping her foot down on top of Theo's stomach to walk from one side of him to the other. She wasn't fast about it either, letting her boot heel really dig itself in before stepping off the blond. With a slow turn she reached down to take the man by the head, starting to drag him upright again