A Powerful Foe Appears!: Sachiko Takahashi vs Rio Kazama

Sachiko moaned out, her head was spinning from the snapping after effect of the stunner as she laid on her back, on the edge of the ring as one leg draped from the edge as she moaned out. As the cobwebs started to clear out from her head, Sachiko gripped on the ropes and started to pull herself up like a ladder, rising up to her feet as she draped herself over the top rope to try and get back her bearings. However, the first thing she saw, however, was Rio charging and leaping at her with her fist cocked back that soon smashed right across her face!

Spit flew out of her mouth as it snapped to the side as the moment caused her entire body to twist and tumble out of the ring through the middle and top rope! Crashing into the floor in a heap, Sachiko moaned out as now her world was even more rocked from the violent hit, stirring on the ground slowly as the referee began to count. She knew that she was in trouble, she only had ten seconds to get back into the ring as the referee's count continued, managing to push herself up to her fours and started crawling towards the ring apron!

Rio smirked as Sachiko was barely able to get up on her own after such a BRUTALIZING punch, the poor girl crawling towards the apron like some wounded animal trapped in a strong current, desperately trying to paddle to some island for safety! So much for all that mighty, smack-talking boldness she had before! Now she was relegated to a mere PEASANT... where she belonged! For Rio to stand above this woman, she who was elevated upon a pedestal where her opponent crawled and dug around atop the dirty floor for safety... She was the one who would always rise above the rookies, she who would show them their place...

...In fact...

Rio would make her way RIGHT out of the ring, slipping under the ropes and dropping down to the floor, the ref instantly forced to start the recount now that a new set of boots hit the floor! Sachiko was still crawling towards the ring, desperate to make it back to the place where she wouldn't meet a premature end... But Rio wasn't quite ready to let her lesson rest yet! As cruel and thuggish as Rio could be, the white-haired wrestle would raise her boot over Sachiko's head... and STOMP down, grinding her face down into the dusty, poorly swept exterior around the ring, the former Berserker smiling proudly at her handiwork! As she twisted her ankle this way and that, the purple-clad wrestler would push her opponent's face harder and harder into the floor, Rio leaning into her stomp to apply EVEN MORE pressure!

"Not so spunky now, are you?" Rio would ask again, snickering to herself as she observed her foe. "Don't have much to say, huh? I guess I don't blame you. Face down on the floor... the humiliation would leave me speechless too."

Sachiko made her way towards the apron, still crawling on her hands and knees to try and pull herself back into the ring and break the count. It would be an embarrassing loss like no other if she was to lose via count out so early on in the match. It was a whirlwind of events that had left Sachiko dazed at the ferocity that the veteran came at her with, unlike anything Sachiko had faced before! And it wasn't over yet.

Rio didn't seem content with letting Sachiko get back into the ring as she came right out of it, breaking the count as she would plant her foot right into the back of Sachiko's head, driving it into the ground! The brutal move was made even worse due to the barely protected floor covers and continued to be grounded down into it as Rio dug her foot to the back of her head. Gritting her teeth and moaning out afterward as she flailed her limbs, trying to wiggle out of the grinding hold as Rio continued to bark at her!

"N....n....nooooo!" Sachiko roared out, she wasn't going to quit, she wasn't going to give up against such a verbal attack! She slammed her hands into the mat and began to push, trying to fight her way back up against Rio's strength!

Sachiko flailed underneath Rio's boot-heel like a fish-out-of-water, her arms and legs flapping all over the place trying to grab hold of the force keeping her down! Rio didn't even know if she could smile at... at this. It was just SAD how this woman desperately fought for her freedom, as if it would do her ANY good to fight her like this... Genuinely, the white-haired wrestler was at a loss... perhaps even contemplating letting her opponent get up!

"...You're really not doing yourself any favors here." Rio remarked bluntly, staring down at Sachiko. "You could be out of here in just a few seconds if you'd just give up. All you're doing now is embarrassing me, the crowd and yoursel-"

Rio blinked as Sachiko cut her off with a ROAR of defiance, PUSHING UP from the floor in a desperate BID to escape her confinement! The former berseker gasped in shock her foot being shoved up and UP, inch by inch, Rio now actively PUSHING down into the woman who fought her, trying to keep her down.... but even the girl's neck wouldn't give! Even her weakest, most flimsy of muscles wouldn't dare falter in the face of Rio's power! Letting out a low growl of frustration, the white-haired wrestler would FIGHT her as hard as she could, even as the clock continued to count behind her, the ref already up to 5! by the time Sachiko chose to fight back! Despite  giving it her all, Rio was simply UNABLE to stop her opponent's advance back upward, Rio eventually being sent TUMBLING BACK as the cutesy newbie rose TOO HIGH for her to be able to maintain her foot on the woman's skull!

Pathetically, Rio collapsed on her butt as now Sachiko would loom over her, having fought successfully to her feet, Rio's eyes wide with shock as she stared up at the girl who had outmuscled her... OUTMUSCLED HER FROM A POSITION OF WEAKNESS!

6!

AGAIN Rio had been left speechless in the face of Sachiko's power.... AGAIN she had been left without explanation as to why she was able to fight her so hard! Rio had fought and CRUSHED women like her before BREAKFAST so... What made her different? Why was she able to DO THIS!?

Sakura...? Is she like you?

Sachiko gritted her teeth as she pressed her hands into the ground, pushing with all of her might to fight back against the might of Rio stepping down on her head, she wasn't going to be held down like this! There was more than just the will to fend off such an overwhelming opponent in the form of Rio, the referee's counting was continuing to grow ever closer to ten as a countout decision would weigh more on Sachiko than being unable to topple Rio!

Getting her feet underneath her, Sachiko would burst up to her feet as she whipped her head back as she sent Rio off of her. Panting as the effort alone drained much out of Sachiko, her first instinct was to shoot herself back into the ring, rolling towards the center as she wanted to break the count as fast as she could so that she could recover without that bearing down on her mind, passing up on a chance to bring the fight back to Rio.

But the match was still early and she couldn't make a rash decision against someone like Rio, she had to bide her time and recover!

Sachiko would, instead of using this opportunity to fight back against Rio, RUN towards the ring as fast as she could on disoriented legs, the berserker herself realizing that, yes, INDEED the ref's counting was getting REAL low indeed! Climbing up to her feet by the time the ref counted 7, Rio was making a BREAK for the ring herself, following right behind the buxom, purple-haired, yellow leotard-sporting woman in a race against disqualification! Sachiko managed to roll back into the center of the ring by the count of 8 with Rio one solid second behind, the purple-clad fighter rolling into the ring... but staying comfortably at the edge of the ring, leaning against the ropes at the edge as the woman in stripes ceased her count...

Damn it... that was closer than it should have been... Rio muttered in frustration, glancing back at the ring-floor... an adult version of "the-floor-is-lava *THIS* close to have taken place. The former berserker would glance back over at her foe, that strange little firecracker and grin smugly, as if communicating how CLOSE Sachiko had come to losing just then, how one more PURPOSEFUL stomp might've made the difference between this fight continuing and it coming to an abrupt end!

"So you got lucky... What, do you think you have a chance now?" Rio asked with a smirk, as if the woman's mere PRESENCE in her ring being a sign of determined indignation. "You still don't compare. NO-ONE compares to ME!" With a wide, arrogant, toothy smile, Rio would stand up to her FULL, overbearing height, pointing at herself with her thumb just to put a POINT on it. It was as if Rio hadn't been just as close... or even CLOSER to losing than her cutesy little opponent! A show, to be sure, for the people as well as her opponent, one the crowd took to in SPADES with their cheers, eager to see the veteran do what she advertised herself as! For Sachiko... Demoralization was the name of the game... either being externally obvious with the trembles and overt fear... or internally to make her proformance suffer over the course of the fight...

...Inside, Rio was growing more cautious however. That WAS awfully close. If she had been a bit slower, this match very well could have been the biggest DISGRACE in all of her career in fighting! Loss by ringout... to a marshmellow-diva! Augh... Well, it would NEVER be that close again... For herself, at least.

Sachiko rolled across the ring, getting closer towards one of the farthest from her as she panted, watching Rio enter back into the ring and breaking the count. She didn't expect to win via count out, but she was expecting more of a breather as Rio ascended to her full height as her foreboding presence. The legit wrestler was forcing her will over Sachiko as she grabbed onto the second rope, pulling herself up to a knee as she watched her opponent, so sure of herself and her victory.

True there was a lot that Sachiko had to work against, experience, talent, and natural gifts that outmatched hers.

But Sachiko was not breaking, she lived for competition and overcoming obstacles!

"Heh....I've never quit once....and I'm not stopping now!" she fired back at Rio who continued to try and break down Sachiko's will with words. She wasn't going to be dissuaded by mere words, not even actions will convince her otherwise until that bell rang as she would attempt to shoot herself out from the corner, pouncing forward from her crouch position where all of her power gathered in her legs as she leapt at Rio, looking to close the distance before going low and attempted to throw both of her feet out for a low dropkick at Rio's right leg!

"That's not going to save you." Rio noted as Sachiko stood her ground! Unlike Sakura, Sachiko boasted a clean record of NEVER giving up when things got tough... As if that was impressive. it didn't take much more than a stubborn will and some measurable degree of toughness for someone to stand their ground in the face of adversity... And it was somewhat impressive that this cutesy little cherry-bomb had enough of both to fight her like this...

But it didn't matter. In the end, Rio believe what she said! Nobody could compare to her! She was one of Berserk's best, ICONIC fighters and she wasn't going to lose to some girl who was fit and in a leotard! She wasn't going to have a repeat of Sakura besting her here in AFW! Sachiko would go on the offense, SPRINGING at the white'haired fighter as she squatted down in anticipation, the girl SPRINGING from the floor and bringing her legs up and around to SLAM into Rio's right thigh in a low-aimed drop-kick! An unconventional target for a conventional technique, Rio's right leg was THROWN out from under her, the woman gasping loudly as her hands shot out to push against the RAPIDLY up-coming floor, her thigh-muscles ACHING from the sudden strike... and the massive amount of force it imparted!

"G....Gah!" She cried out in anger and pain... But Rio wasn't done just yet! Pulling her leg back out from under her, Rio would JUMP up herself... ignoring the agonizing pain of using such a freshly-wounded muscle) and bring her feet up to SLAM into Sachiko's cheek in a return-dropkick!

One way or another... this girl was going down! This, Rio swore!

Leaving her feet and bashing them into Rio's leg, Sachiko continued to try and keep Rio at bay as she tried to build up her momentum, fighting back from a disastrous start that had Rio dominate and keep Sachiko down and without much time to breathe. But now, now she was finally getting some offense together as Rio's leg swung out from underneath her, staggering the Bezerk Wrestler for a moment as Sachiko managed to twist back onto her feet. With Rio practically on the ground, Sachiko saw a chance to string together more offense as she dove in to try and grab onto Rio's head.

But Rio was not one to stay down for long, if even for a few seconds. The hunched over wrestler would quickly snap back up, all the way to her feet and beyond as she too left the mat. Sachiko's eyes didn't have time to react much less the rest of her body as she could not defend herself from the two boots that crashed into her face! Sachiko's head went whipping back, her body not prepared to face such a hit, her arms shortly flowing after as she teetered on the soles of her feet before gravity took effect and she went crashing back down to the mat.

Seeing stars and lights, the only thing in her view, Sachiko moaned out as she laid flat on her back, trying to make heads or tails of what just happened!

DOWN falls Sachiko... and up rises Rio! ...Or something poetic like that. As Sachiko fell like a log back to the ground, Rio climbed back up to her feet, towered over her... angry... Okay, enough was enough. She gave this girl WAY too many chances to get ahead and take back this fight so... now she was going to make it expensive for her to fight back. No more stupid mistakes or freebees, no more holding back or giving her chances. Rio was going to take the fight to this girl whether she was ready for it or not! Lying flat on the floor , Sachiko didn't seem ready to say her own name, let alone comprehend the danger that stood before her, her world so disoriented and odd like a child looking out towards the world for the first time!

...It was almost a shame to mess up such a pretty face... Almost.

"Huff.... Huff... Get over here..." Rio gasped softly, slipping around behind the woman, and grabbing her shoulders, pushing her up into a sitting position as Rio knelt behind her! Grabbing either arm, the white-haired Berserker would plant the point of her knee into the woman's spine as she PULLED her back against that point, testing the flexibility of both her shoulder-joints and her back itself! Rio would grimace with effort as she pulled and pulled, her amber eyes glaring with a sharp look of satisfaction as she wrung her opponent out, the pink-clad fighter intent of getting her to submit right here

"NNngh... GIVE UP!" She demanded, her voice harsh... commanding, proclaiming the authority she commanded as the superior and senior wrestler! "YOU CAN'T WIN!" Sachiko had declared how she wouldn't quit... well, they were going to see just how true that was. Rio was going to test and challenge this girl's convictions to the point of suffering if she had to!