Natsuko Arisawa vs. Wolf Hawkfield - The Way It's Done

His face aching, his vision blurry, Wolf found himself staggering backwards after that hard hit. Natsu was far from the strongest opponent he ever face, probably not even a third of his weight, but he’d be damned if the little firecracker wasn’t able to put some real impact behind her attacks and make them hurt. He was going to be feeling that little reverse headbutt for days, and he was almost surprised his nose wasn’t broken.

Just a temporary setback, nothing major. Ready to get back into the spirit of things, he shook his head, stepped forward, and…

...found Natsu hurtling towards him like a madwoman.

The image itself was enough to catch him off guard, as he didn’t think she’d have been crazy enough to take him head on like this, but his eyes didn’t deceive. She leaped up, latched onto his, and caught him in a headlock. Eyes widened in sheer disbelief, he didn’t think she would be crazy enough to try and get him in a DDT. But she was. And what was more, it worked - somehow, he was brought down to the canvas, had his head spiked hard against it, and it was enough to leave him laid out and blinking.

Impressive? Yes, that was a good word for it.

Natsu's daredevil approach to capitalizing on a rattled, hulking adversary might have maybe been a little "crazy"...but you know what? It was also reckless...and dangerous...and undisciplined...and clearly showcasing how the high-spirited schoolgirl refused to learn from the last time she leapt at this over-powering opponent and suffered spine smashing consequences. But a fired-up offensive compelled by a resilient spirit was also what Natsu did best. Relying her strengths and matching them against her adversary's was all her frazzled mind could think to do at the moment. But in a completely random thought, Natsu had a distinct feeling that her stoic older brother Goto and Mr. Wolf would get along quite swimmingly.

The extra-oomph from springing off of the middle ropes provided the extra strength fueled momentum to complete the DDT, when without the ropes she'd probably just be draped over his shoulder. Looking kind of silly before looking kind of flattened and/or slammed. Natsu afterward tossing over onto her front before unsteadily arising once more, fatigued and drenched in sweat as she backpedaled a few steps until her back hit the ropes. She panted drawn out breaths before taking one long soothing exhale as Wolf eventually started getting back to his feet. It was All-Or-Nothing time as the blooming brawler sprinted straight toward Wolf with her right arm cocked back to attempt to unleash all her summoned strength right into Wolf's breadbasket, before having it travel up towards his chin for her attempted Blooming Cherry Fist uppercut finisher.

Head aching. Vision fuzzy. Equilibrium shattered.

Yes, this was the mark of a well-done DDT.

It had been a while since Wolf had to take a really good one, and he’d almost forgotten how much of a job it could do on you - if it was done well. Natsuko, to her credit, managed to get real impact out of it despite their size difference, really drilling his skull into the canvas. Good impact, good force, good followthrough. It left him groggy, and with age coming down on him, he wasn’t able to get up as fast as he would’ve liked.

But he could get up. Slowly, but he could do it. One foot on the floor, then the other, pushing up and rising. He looked up as his vision cleared, just in time to see a familiar, blurry figure sprinting towards him at a rapid pace. Anticipating an attack, he started to bring his arms up in an attempt to block whatever was about to happen.

Too late.

Natsuko’s strike hit home, deep center on his jaw. You wouldn’t have thought a hit from a woman her size would have enough force to launc a man of his size off his feet - but it did. Undoubtedly. The blow had sent him spiraling back into the ropes, which promptly bounced him back and made her flop flat on his face, wrecked in the center of the ring.

Natsu sure was hoping her last ditch effort to earn herself the victory didn't end with the schoolgirl falling flat on her face. Which is what would literally happen should her rocketing uppercut end up being dodged by the seasoned grappling veteran. Partially because she knew her adversary would use the opportunity to put her in another nigh-inescapable submission, but because she also knew her bestie Nami was watching. Right along with her stalwart older brother...although in all likelihood there was probably no electricity where ever he was shacking up in. Regardless, it was with the harrowing knowledge that she had people rooting her on from the sidelines that with every ounce of strength she could muster, she propelled herself into the same booming uppercut finisher that kayoed her last burger-flipping opponent, named...Guy...Burger Gai...uhh...

...whose actual name escapes her at the moment. The thwacking sound of her uppercutting impact echoing throughout with Natsu feeling the trembling connection against her tightly clenched fist in that brief millisecond before she'd land with an awkward stumble. Her bandana settling down as her blue skirt flapped back down as well. Natsu backpedaling with her dukes up and a stunned look on her face once it looked like Mr. Hawkfield was rebounding off of the ropes for a counterattack...before he'd faceplant instead and alleviate Natsu's worries with a huge sigh of relief. She'd scramble up beside the downed father and gnash her teeth from the exertion it took to flip him over, her sneakers screeching against the canvas once he had been flipped with Natsu laying her back against his chest while hauling up one of his legs in the crook of her elbow for the pin count.

"One!"

"Two!!"...

”Hooooooooooooly shit.”

Cheyenne had watched all her father’s matches. All of them. She was actually a big fan of his stuff, which made it all the more irritating when he made her watch the stuff over - she was already familiar with everything, but she didn’t want him to know that, so she was stuck watching reruns for hours and making notes of stuff she had long since memorized.

But one byproduct of that, all of that, was knowing his body movements. She knew how he could move, what he looked like at his best, and when he was down and not getting up. So she could say, no question, that-

”3…!”

Yeah, that was about to happen.

Sure enough, the crowd went wild as the final count came down. Natsuko had slain the wolf, got him down in startling fashion. She was torn on how to react - a part of her wanted to cheer for Natsuko, girl power and all that, celebrate a woman her age succeeding with her old man ball-and-chaining her. But, on the other hand...her Dad…

She settled on a halfway, as she pumped her fist Natsuko’s way and gave her a thumbs up. Respectful, but not too crazy.

Wolf, meanwhile, was still getting his bearings. He had recovered enough to know that he had been pinned, but was still trying to put together how exactly that had happened. For now, all he could do was situp while he rubbed his head. ”What...what was…”

Man...Natsu never figured she'd be pining for the good old days when her typical opponent's were your average, everyday street thugs preying on classmates walking home after school. One or two good strikes would be more than enough to kayo those goobers, but here in Tension it felt like everyone was notched up to MAX difficulty. It was kinda disconcerting, how much effort she was putting into these throwdowns...but on the other hand, she was ecstatic at not only knowing just how many more talented fighters/grapplers there were outside her own little world, but from witnessing firsthand just how much stronger she could one day become. For now though, she wished she had Cheyene's foreknowledge, cause she was terrified that her father was going to break up the pin and-

"THREE!!!"

*Oh good he didn't...* Natsu released the older gentleman's leg and rolled off of him into a splayed out stupor, elated from her ginormous upset win with the brightest of smiles upon her panting mouth. Her eyes remaining shut to shield herself from the glimmering lights until she willed herself back up to a seated posture, casting her sight over towards Wolf and jolting from the sheer shock at how seamlessly Wolf recouped from her bestest kayo finisher. "W-Wow~...you're really tough, Mr. Hawkfield!!! That was my absolute best shot and you're already up and at-em. Guess I still got a ways to go, huh?..." Natsu uttered with a sheepish smile, scratching the back of her head before beginning to speak with a more humble tone of voice. "So hey...I won...but uh, I may have gotten some helpful tips along the way that totally saved my bacon, so...it doesn't quite seem like a fair win. Ahm reeeeally sorry. You think one day we could maybe have a fair and square rematch?"

Wolf lost.

Again.

That realization sunk in far faster than he would’ve liked, being completely honest. This lose was easier to swallow than the one he and Cheyenne took to PDSM - if only for the fact that Natsu seeme to be a legitimate opponent and not some crazed sex fiend - but all the same, it was a hard pill to swallow. Someone from his generation being taken out like that, and when someone like Dasher was racking up win after win after win after win…

He sighed, deep and long, as Natsu rattled off, trying his best not to show the disappointment. Not with Cheyenne here, not with him trying to lead a good example for her. He’d always taught her to be gracious in defeat, to use it as a learning experience, and now was the time to practice what he preached.

”I...wouldn’t say no to a rematch. But.” He reached over and grabbed the middle rope, using it for support as he rose to his feet. ”Don’t go writing that off to a fluke. You wrestled a good match, you beat me. That’s as fair as fair gets. You’ve absolutely nothing to apologize for.”

Wolf stood tall after a moment, straightening up to tower over her. Despite that, he managed a soft smile and extended his hand, offering her a shake. ”Good match.”

A certain voice of reason in the back of her subconscious that sounded suspiciously like her older brother, but which she knew was just her conscience, knew that she wouldn't feel right about this win until she came clean about any potential advantages she might have had. Keeping one's honor intact and respecting your opponent's all being a part of the family credo, and that sense of nobility was perhaps one of the few personality traits that her and her stoic brother shared. But she was beyond elated when Wolf responded in such a benevolent and respectful manner, the schoolgirl smiling brightly and and eagerly accepting the handshake. Seeing the hulking Wolf in a much more reverential light and like the wise old mentor he seemed to be.

"Y-Yeah!!! Good match to you too. Thanks so much for the match Mr. Hawkfield, and for being such a good sport about everything. I'm totes sure I could learn a thing or two from you with time. It's such a relief knowing there's opponent's here who won't go flying off the rails from one little old loss, like that last Burger guy, ya know?..." Natsu gleefully rambled on and was clearly overcome with energetic adrenaline, her handshake starting off normal but was now being switched up into a jumble of hand clasps, finger-waddling, fist bumps, pounds and all manner of handshake variations that today's youth could do with ease. "Heh, you might haveta give me some time to recoup before a rematch, but just have Cheyenne hit me up whenever on social media, ya know? Alrighty, Laterz Mr. H~..." Natsu ended by blowing up her handshake and saluting a winking farewell to Mr. Hawkfield and Chey at ringside, exiting the ring and waving at the cheering fans along the way.

Again with the ‘Burger King’ guy. Who was she referring to? Wolf had done a fairly decent job of looking up all the guys in Tension - or, well, he’d watched a forty minute YouTube video by a zealous fangirl. But it had been extensive, and he couldn’t recall anyone going by that name. He’d remember a name that silly, he was sure.

Questions for another time. ”Ah, thank you.” He gave her a nod to go along with the shake. ”It was a pleasure, Ms. Arisawa.”

He waved her off as Cheyenne slipped into the ring behind him, hopping up to her feet beside him. Phone in hand, naturally. ”Sweet girl, already got her details locked.” She hopped forward and spun around to him with her hands on her hips. ”She kind the kind of girl you want me acting more like, right? All spirit?”

”Something like that.” Wolf rubbed his head, nursing the spot on his skull that Natsu cracked one last time before he began the slow walk to the ropes. ”Come on, let’s get wrapped up and head back to the house. Want to go out tonight, need to wash up.”

He needed a drink. Bad. And maybe someone to drink it with, too, if he could find a good buddy for it...