Reiko Ishida vs Lilliana Reynolds: The Hard Road

Reiko listened to her opponent with a flat, uninterested look plastered on her face. Her concern for the moment was firmly set on nursing her chest, even going to far as tugging at the neckline of her tank top to peer underneath the garment to check just how red her sore breast was beneath. From her cringe, it must have not looked good. She continued to nurse her chest while Lillian droned on, not getting much of a reaction from the young woman at this point. It seemed like most of what the former was saying was far beyond reaching her, having already decided she hated the brunette beyond the point of no return. It was an easy feat to achieve with her though for anyone outside of the immediate circle she called friends. Safe where she was, no move was made to advance, biding her time to recover slightly. It wasn't until Lilliana had finished that she even spoke up. "You done? You talk a lot cyclops."

No longer to content to sit back and wait, she did actually leave the ropes. Squaring her shoulders and putting up her fists, she seemed ready to go in what amounted to a loose looking boxing stance. She was never a trained fighter in any real style, but had gotten in enough fights in her day that she could hold her own in a skirmish. Unlike a free for all or a back alley brawl, she was alone and there were rules to be followed. For now. Inching in, she maintained a good sense or ring awareness, making sure every step closer kept her at a good angle of approach to Lilliana as well as the referee. She circled to keep them where she wanted, trying to capitalize on the fact the brunette seemed to be having issues on one side with her eye.

Getting in close, the young punk would snap out a quick jab, cutting the feigned punch shy of making contact to wheel around with a larger hook directed at Lilliana's blind side. If she managed to land the blow and stagger the other woman, she would dip in and try and start throwing sweeping blows to the body, knowing full well a gassed fighter wouldn't be able to retaliate. She had some fighter sense in her after all.

Reiko was a toxic person beyond any kind of redemption. As much as Lilliana tried she couldn’t find any quality on the biker’s character that was worth saving. It was as if any kind of good that woman could foster inside her soul was dead long time ago and replaced with bitterness, scorn, disdain and ill intentions. Nothing that would came out of her could be decent, there always was some kind of ill meaning to whatever she did or said, always trying to get her own benefit out of everyone else’s suffering, always disregarding or paying no heed to anyone’s feelings. As if her actions had no consequences but the ones for herself, she would do and undo whatever she wanted in order to feel fine, no matter who would suffer along the way. That made her delusional, thinking she is always alright and everyone else was wrong, and that could lead to underestimating a rival.

That was how Lilliana saw her rival. She wasn’t the best judging people’s characters but getting entangled with someone in the middle of a wrestling match was a really good way to measure people since one gets to learn about different aspects of that person’s psyche while challenging their physique. And after all her assessing Lilliana knew she despised that rival of hers, and it was a mutual feeling. Reiko would laugh at her when she made her retort speech, apparently so bored of it to let it have an impression. That was enough, Lilliana was sick of Reiko and how she acted tough while cowering from the distance. She was now determined to bring her down.

And even so it would prove a difficult task. Reiko had a brawler style of combat that made her complicated to predict in certain situations. When Lilliana noticed how the biker abandoned the safety of the ropes she got ready for some rash strike, but the biker was smart enough to make some feint and then go for a treacherous strike at her blind side! Just after that Lilliana couldn’t avoid the barrage of hits she was getting to her stomach. Seeing no further option of escape than forwards, Lilliana armed her punch and threw a powerful blow at the side of Reiko’s head.

The feint had worked well enough allowing Reiko to land a solid strike upside Lilliana's head. Her knuckles screamed with the bone on bone contact, a familiar feeling that told her she had hit her target well. Shouldering forward she laid in hard, pressing her advantage. She was confident if she got enough hits in fast enough that she could trade blows evenly with the former soldier. All that high and mighty talk lend itself to overconfidence. The brunette backing down after calling the young woman a coward was unlikely which could in theory have provided Reiko a good opening to lay in damage. With high momentum swings she threw haymaker after haymaker into the other woman's guts, battering that exposed midriff as if it were a weighted bag.

So focused was she on wrecking her opponents abdomen she nearly missed the punch that was sent back in retaliation. There was a moment of wide eyed panic as she caught it just before it landed, dipping to the side enough to only get clipped by the blow. It was enough to stagger to, feet moving fast to correct her footing. Rather than backing down again, the young girl was committed to pressing the assault. Like an angry hornet she circled, throwing out indiscriminate punches wherever she saw an opening. Her focus was abusing the other woman's blind spot and jabbing in quick strikes where she could, trying to wear the other woman out.

"Not so chatty now!" Reiko threw out both her arms, bringing them around with open palms in an attempt to clap Lilliana's ears. The potential damage to be done there was surprisingly great given it could at the very least disorient her. If she manage to slap the sides of her head, her fingers would attempt to latch onto her head and tug the woman forward, tucking one leg in. With a hard swing she would bring her knee up to try and slam it into Lilliana's face in another attempt to try and knock the soldier off her feet.

It could be true that Reiko’s brawler style of street fighting made her strikes predictable or rudimentary, but the biker compensated that with some aggressive instinct, like her very nature leaned towards hostility. That character of hers made gave some of her strikes an extra edge in speed or raw strength only coming from that sheer willpower the biker had, and sometimes, just sometimes, it was just what she needed at that moment.

The burst of self-confidence Lilliana got while she made her speech popped like a balloon when she realized how impervious Reiko was to any kind of actual conversation. There was no chance of talking her out of her attitude. And the biker got Lilliana once more, starting a barrage of punches to the former soldier’s midsection that got her against the ropes once more.

Nothing to do about Reiko, nothing to redeem her. She was cruel, ruthless and would use any advantage she could take, every dirty trick she could devise, to achieve victory. She had fooled Lilliana several times now, and that added to how exhausted she was feeling and how having a blind side hindered her options was painting a dire situation for her. If she didn’t manage to turn the tables soon Reiko could get a win out of that match.

But that change in the tide wouldn’t come soon, as the biker got a precise hit on both sides of Lilliana’s head. That wasn’t intended to hurt her, but to affect her balance, to make her dizzy. And just that was achieved. While Lilliana relented after the hit, struggling to find her footing as everything was upside down in her head she could only notice Reiko getting a grip at her head and then a sudden movement.

The lights flickered in her mind and every sound was muffled. It would take some seconds for Lilliana to understand that she had just got a nasty knee to her head. Dizzyness would take her as she needed some time to recover, completely open to whatever Reiko wanted to do to her.

If nothing else, Reiko was a decent opportunist. While this was a trait that could be considered good in this business, it was well celebrated when it came at the use of underhanded tactics. Results however mattered more than morality, so she had little issue clapping Lilliana's ears to give herself the leg, or in this case the knee up on her opponent. With a hop she met the ex-soldier half way, pulling her head down into a thrusting knee with the intentions of knocking her lights out. The brunette however took the blow well, staggered but still upright. Fingers curling she gave the other woman another hard yank by her hair, immediately getting scolded by the referee for hair pulling. The rookie sneered, turning her head just enough to catch sight of the official out of the corner of her eye. Close... perfect.

"Lets go for a ride." Reiko lowered her head down near Lilliana's, hissing in a low whisper. She threw herself back a ways, dragging the soldier along. With shuffled steps she started making both women circle one another in a one sided struggle. The official had begun yet another fruitless count to possibly disqualify her as she tugged at the brunette's hair to move her about, but the punk wasn't too concerned. Round and round they went, building up a dizzying pace until finally Reiko whipped the soldier around and hurled her forward, directly at the referee. She intended for both women to collide in spectacular fashion, knocking the official down and out to provide the two women some quality time. It was about time she make a real statement of how the Valkyries were to not to be messed with regardless of which brand they showed up in to make their mark.

She watched it all unfold with a bit of malicious glee, happy to have ended the DQ count in her own way. Yappy officials were always an issue in these sorts of matches. If the management wanted them to not get beat up for acting stupid they would have just made this no holds barred and saved everyone the heartache. With a small snort the young girl backed herself away to the ropes, leaning out between the top and middle. Stretching out her arm, fingers wiggling, she catch the base of her bat from where she had stood it up by the apron, tugging it up into her hands. Slipping back into the ring she choked up on the bat, holding in tightly in both her hands as if it were a weapon... because it was. The crowd was alight with negativity. Shouting warnings to Lilliana, jeering Reiko, and just booing as a general show of no support to this level of cheating. As the biker neared, she waited until her opponent had just started to rise to charged forward, looking to crack her upside the skull with the aluminum bat.

Lilliana was in deep trouble at the time. No matter how predictable could Reiko become at certain moments, her brawler and street fighting style also gave the biker an edge when sudden and unexpected bursts of strength took over. The last knee aimed at the former soldier’s head sent her flat on her butt as lights flickered around. Lilliana knew she had to get up fast, or her rival would find a new nasty way of torturing her, but her body was getting heavier by the second. It looked like Reiko could sustain any amount of damage, only fueled by her rage and her desire to further hurt her rival, but Lilliana was feeling her endurance reaching its limit.

But she didn’t even need to get up, as Reiko was more than willing to help the American get on her feet as she yanked her hair. Lilliana was still in a dazed state so resisting wasn’t in order, and the biker showed that she was capable of some strategizing as she started running in circles, dragging Lilliana along for more dizzyness. At a point Lilliana thought she wasn’t going to be able to stand by herself if released, but suddenly momentum helped her stay on track as she noticed how she wasn’t being dragged anymore.

Every movement went to a sudden halt as Lilliana hit something, sending her to the mat once more. It felt like a trainwreck. Lilliana wasn’t even sure what she had hit against until some seconds passed and she noticed some blurry figure lying besides her. At first nothing made sense but suddenly everything clicked and the puzzle was solved. In her visciousness, Reiko had thrown Lilliana against the referee! The former soldier pathetically crawled to her knees as she went to check on the official as she looked out like a candle.

The crowd proved to be a true ally in Lilliana’s struggle when all the booing and warnings helped Lilliana realize a crucial fact. Just where the hell was Reiko? Just when she was getting up Lilliana realized how her rival was coming at her with a vicious look on her eyes and a bat on her hands. As Reiko struck with a devastating downwards swing Lilliana dodged to one side and the strike just glanced against her elbow. That didn’t prevent the blow to hurt like hell, Lilliana wailing in distress as she wondered how that would have felt on her head as Reiko intended.

That wasn’t sport anymore. The referee was out and Lilliana wasn’t fighting to get any victory anymore, but to prevent serious damage, even some injury. This wasn’t about competition now, this was about survival. As if Lilliana had gone back to her army days, something clicked on her head. The American’s self-preservation instincts took control as she circled around her rival, trying to get her as far from the ropes as possible, provoking her to strike and being wary of every single movement. It wasn’t the first time Lilliana faced an armed opponent trying to make much more than some bruises, and even if she wanted to leave those days behind, it was all coming back thanks to Reiko.

There was no real doubt that Reiko was swinging for real. A wide destructive arc coming around with the potential to break bone and take out teeth came around in a wild swing, narrowly missing it's mark. The bat barely made contact, continuing on to the mat where it resonated with a metaphor "ping" and put a visible dent into the canvas. Her eyes snapped to the fleeting form of Lilliana as she dodged, forcing the young upstart to swiftly circle wide. She seemed very aware of the length of her weapon, putting just enough space between them to press the attack without letting the ex-soldier in close enough to negate her baseball swings.

"Bet you were looking forward to this. You took a look at me and thought I was going to go down easy. Huh, huh?! Well this here is what we call a great equalizer." With a menacing grin she spun the bat between her fingers, choking up on the wrapped grip to the words "Lil Sister" faced her opponent. With lunging steps she gave chase, taking wide dangerous swings that made the painted bat into a blur. There was no rhyme or reason to her strikes, trying to hit anything and everything she could manage. One thing was for certain, if Lilliana stopped moving she was about to get beat into a pulp it Reiko had her way.

"Time-" Swish "For-" Swish "You-" Swish "To-" Swish "Stay-" Swish "Down!" Reiko threw her weight forward in a rage, leading with her shoulder in an attempt to stagger or knock Lilliana back to the mat. Trying to run her down was proving to be an annoyance. If she managed to get her on the mat, the biker girl would plant a boot on her chest to hold her still, bringing her bat up for one last swing. "Night night, bitch..."

The situation looked so extreme that anyone uninformed about the dynamic Reiko and Lilliana had developed during the match could even think it was all forced and scripted, but to the crowd on the stands and even more for Lilliana what was happening at the moment was very real.

What it could be mistaken like an outburst of staged anger was feeling like the real thing for Lilliana. Now she was trying not to overcome a rival who could resort to dirty tricks, she was just trying to survive, to dodge and avoid being hit by someone who was now obsessed with the idea of causing her severe damage. This wasn’t about a couple of bruises anymore. Reiko looked like a maniac bent on carnage, and that situation was pushing Lilliana’s psyche to the limit, making some memories she really wanted to repress resurface.

After all, it wouldn’t be the first time she was fighting for her life. Lilliana looked sharp and focused, her breath calm as she looked at Reiko without even blinking, as if she was a complete different person. When the biker started her barrage of strikes the former soldier did her best to avoid most of them. The bat swings were imprecise and improvised, but they compensated that with the blurry of attacks Reiko threw at her.

Lilliana managed to avoid one, two, even three of the strikes. Then one of them got her on the side of her ribcage and made her cry in anguish and pain. The next one only glanced her, but she was starting to feel exhausted and hurt, and she knew that that situation would only get her defeated. Lilliana had to do something quickly, and Reiko just gave her the chance to do so.

Maybe throwing one swing after another made the biker slow in her last, final swing downwards. When she noticed that Lilliana knew it was her time to act. With a sudden rush with her arms the former soldier managed to catch the bat between her palms just when it was going to impact between her nose and her forehead. Time stopped, Lilliana huffing and puffing, completely exhausted as she didn’t even know what to expect. Both women shared glances in an instant that felt like it was eternal.

Reiko could swing all day, or at least it seemed like it. Each near hit spurring her on with a kindled they, hell-bent on assault and battery here in the ring. The dangerous game of cat and mouse played across the ring with Reiko nimbly circling as she swung, making sure to cut off any retreat Lilliana had towards the ropes where she could get outside the ring to run from her. Her frenzied swings paid off with a gratifying thwack, the dull muted sound of hitting a meaty spot with a visceral feel to it. The brunette's efforts were becoming slower, sloppier. It was only a matter of time until this was over.

The same could be said about Reiko as well, breathing heavy, huffing with each massive swing. When her next one failed to connect she had stumbled, almost falling herself. She was gassing herself, something she was only vaguely aware of, enough to know that she needed to put Lilliana down now. With a lunge she rammed her body into the soldier to out her to the mat. This was it, the final strike. With a wide grin she brought the bat down knowing this sealed her the match. She would have the respect of her fellow gang members now. She would walk with them with her head held high. She could get her colors, finally.

"The hell?!" Reiko stared on with wide eyes rage as she looked over Lilliana, her bat cut short by inches by the woman beneath her. The smaller girl leaned in, putting her weight on it, trying to thrust the aluminum bat free and jab it down into the brunette, as if it were a blade but it barely budged. They were deadlocked. Her armed burned, muscles flaring as she tried and tried but even with leverage she couldn't manage to free the weapon the way she wanted. Fine...fine...FINE!

Reiko dropped down to her knees between Lilliana's legs, taking a hand from her bat grip to clamp it down towards the head of the weapon. With a hard twist she slowly worked it horizontal against the resistance of her foe. Each passing second she was gaining back ground. Wildly thrusting herself forward to wrestle control of her bat back. Slowly bringing it down towards the other woman's throat. If she couldn't bludgeon the former soldier with it, she was just going to have to settle for choking her out.

The situation was fraught. Reiko was a powder keg just about to explode, the biker just unable to cope with the fact that Lilliana wouldn’t go down gently. This was a test for the thug, she wanted to prove herself as a valid member for whatever community or brotherhood she pledged loyalty, and with every act of resistance Lilliana was just sending a metaphorical slap to her rival’s face, telling her she was inadequate for her gang. The former soldier could understand someone’s impulse to fit in a group, to feel like they belong, but Reiko’s actions were beyond any justification.

Lilliana catching the bat as it was getting close to hitting her face was a feat of bravery and strength, but the brawl was far from over as Reiko was straddling the woman, slowly but surely pushing the bat towards Lilliana’s throat for what surely would be a nasty choke. The referee was nowhere to be found so the former soldier thought she should be still dazed from the impact before. If any salvation was arriving it would come by Lilliana’s own hand.

There were few things Lilliana could do. From that posture Reiko had the edge in positioning and the gravity also worked in her favor, while Lilliana was forced into an uncomfortable place where she couldn’t use her full strength. But having Reiko so focused in her bidding gave the former soldier an idea. As things were, with the biker pushing with her arms that hard it was as if she was offering one of her arms as a tribute to Lilliana. If only she could just apply enough strength to one side…

And that was exactly whay Lilliana did. She ceased pushing on one side and focused on the other flank, getting some help from Reiko’s momentum and then using it against her to effectively turn the tables and switch sides. Now on top she had no time to lose. Instead of letting the match stagnate once more Lilliana made a twisting move to her arms that forced the bat out of Reiko’s hands. After tossing the weapon away, the former soldier got a grip on her rival’s wrist and quickly repositioned herself to lock an armbar submission! All her muscles strained and hurt in effort, Lilliana groaned as she did her best to force her rival’s arm just to the point of dislocation. “It’s over! Just give up!”, she said in between groans of effort as she added some more force to the hold.