Chloe Mason vs. Kaede Komatsuzaki – II: Bred for the Hunt

Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the mouth. Or, in this case, kicked.

Chloe knows this very well, especially as she’d go over many hours of footage of many wrestlers in the past. The idea of having a fixed gameplan is all well and good, right until it fails and you don’t know what to do next. Allowing some flexibility gives chances to adapt, so long as the ending remains the same. It’s something that she has to keep to with Kaede. There are still unanswered questions as to how good she really has gotten, her true potential.

Then again, it’s even better to prevent that from happening in the first place. The risk of being too curious has come back to bite Chloe in the ass before.

The blonde wasn’t planning to be on the mat this soon into the match, but it can’t be helped. Kaede’s wild sweep came at her fast, and a decision had to be made. Either jump a good distance back and give the cub some space to breathe or find a way to punish the pinkette further. Chloe obviously went with the latter. Showing the pink cub how to really be aggressive.

Letting that heel crash into that skull, Chloe landed by Kaede’s side. Instinctively, the ex-commissioner sought to scramble up onto her feet, but only getting to one knee as her gaze caught the struggling cub. With her back facing Kaede, Chloe saw Kaede still reeling. Temptation struck the blonde, and while it might be risky, they have been paying off for her so far. Letting that other leg get a break, the American would lean forward and shoot the other high in the air, letting it curl like the Scorpion’s tail. Right before bringing her instep right down on the wolf cub’s exposed hide.

Chloe kicked hard.

No, shit, right? Everyone knew that, Kaede should’ve known that better than anyone else. But it had been so long since they’d faced off that she had almost forgotten how painful those strikes had been. Fumika was a hard kicker, too. She had these big, tree trunk thighs that could slice you in half or kick you across the room. Chloe’s legs were smaller, thinner, and you would have thought that meant they were weaker, but she could confirm that just was not the case. It probably had a lot to do with speed, impact spots, a bunch of technical crap that she didn’t have the patience for and didn’t matter, anyway.

They hurt, that was the important thing to know, and taking one of them so early in the match was a bad, bad thing. ”Oh, come the fuck on…”

She had to do something. Had to focus. More than anything, she had to figure out what the hell Chloe was doing. While her head wasn’t in the best place at the moment, she was cognizant enough to realize that her opponent was up to something beside her, moving above, probably about to set up something. Whatever it was, it would be designed to keep Kaede down. That was the thing with Chloe, as she remembered - once the bitch got you down, she ran away with a match. Crazy momentum. She wasn’t going to stop until she was sure that Kaede wasn’t a threat, and then she’d start picking her apart.

That. She had to put a stop to that. At any cost.

It was a wild move, but as Chloe moved into position to come at her with a crazy strike from above, Kaede threw her body into a wild roll, tumbling towards her opponent to try and bowl her over. She didn’t care how they came out of it, so long as she wound up putting her opponent on the backfoot. Even if it was for a few seconds.

When things are going well for you, you’d expect it to keep working just as well. Chloe’s kicks have done much to strike the young cub down, and with that blow to the head earlier, she was in prime position to get another nick of flesh.  Kaede started well, but when you make a mistake, you pay for it significantly. Something the American was great at, and she’ll take a mile with the inch that Kaede gave.

Chloe’s leg came up, pointing as if it was a scorpion’s tail before it went down to sting its victim. Though in Chloe’s mind, those kicks of hers would do more than just sting. When she strikes, it’s going to hurt, and it will make someone regret standing in the ring with her. It was a mindset that even the Dire Pack adopted, simply beating an opponent down wasn’t enough. You tear them apart until they are no longer a threat. Only then the fun begins…

Kaede, to her credit, was still just as tough as Chloe met her before. Even with her head resembling scrambled eggs at the moment, the pinkette had the sense to roll into Chloe, interrupting the strike towards such succulent flesh. Both broke into a tumble, and Chloe rose into a crouch, hand placed onto the mat as she stared at the young cub, a bit of space in between them.

“Hmm, guess I didn’t knock your head around enough.” Chloe gave a sinister smirk towards Kaede. “I do hope resistance isn’t what they only taught you, cub.”

Kaede’s move was desperate, weird, more than a little unorthodox, but that was fine with her. If there was one thing she had learned in her time with the Dire Pack, it was that she needed to trim the fat off her fighting style - there couldn't be any room for silly flourishes or exaggerated attacks or showboating. Everything had to have a purpose. Maybe her moves wouldn’t work, maybe they would, but they always had to at least have the potential to improve things.

So her little tumble, as silly as it was, fit right in with that mindset. It got the job done. Sloppy, sure, but she wasn’t getting extra points for finesse. That was the spirit she needed.

Chloe’s taunting, though? That she could do without.

The woman was smirking, and she didn’t even have to look up to know it. She knew that tone too well, still remembered it from that last fight. She was the sort that loved being in control, thought she had all the cards, and she was right - most of the time. If Kaede wanted to prove her wrong, she’d have to get a little crazy. A little daring. ”A few things, yeah.”

Kaede pushed up to her hands and knees and threw herself forward, just pounced straight off the floor towards the crouched Chloe. She brought her head down and made her skull the tip of a human spear, one that was heading straight towards the blonde’s face.

Was that move that Kaede unorthodox and done completely out of desperation? Yes.

Did it net her results? Also yes.

Chloe is no stranger to those that simply use what works. Heck, even the blonde would apply moves that had more practical uses than to simply show off. Only on some occasions, however. Chloe’s style was already a good mix of functional and stylistic, meshing them together for a moveset that would be hell to those that are on the receiving end of it. The last attempt of the kick seemed to lean towards the latter, yet once it landed, it would have struck a devastating blow to the gut.

Alas, that is not meant to be. Kaede had to try something, anything, to get out of her predicament, and the ex-commissioner cannot fault her for it. When you’re desperate, you do anything to escape. But as she remained in a crouch before Kaede, Chloe would remain alert. If the young cub was willing to try something like this, especially early into the match, it’s best to expect anything and everything.

Including a flying headbutt.

It was an odd choice, one that puzzled and startled the blonde as all she could do was brace and lean back. Too late to roll to the side or try anything else, the young cub came at Chloe with reckless abandon. But as she leaned back, there was one play Chloe could go for.

Bringing her knees up, the American rolled onto her back, tucking both lower limbs up to her chest. What she was attempting requires critical timing and perfect execution, something that Chloe could pull off. Right at the apex of the roll, getting onto her shoulders, both of Chloe’s feet pistoned up towards Kaede’s gut in the attempt to send her careening in the air awkwardly. It wasn’t as if Kaede would have a safe landing after the effort, but getting even more airtime would undoubtedly compound the problem even more so.

Attack, attack, attack. That was the top priority on Kaede’s mind right now. Any moment where she wasn’t pressing an advantage on Chloe, wasn’t advancing on her, wasn’t giving her something to deal with was another moment where the woman could use any of her big advantages to take complete control of this match. She couldn't afford downtime, couldn’t let her fill those gaps. It had to be a relentless assault.

That was her thinking when she launched herself at Chloe. Strange as the move looked, it served a lot of purpose - a way to get into Chloe’s range, attack her while she was giving an opening. If Kaede stood up and reset, she’d have to deal with the kicks and take them all head on. This way, she was inside, she was in a good range. It seemed like it worked, too - Chloe was clearly taken off guard, falling back, and…

...oh, shit.

Kaede had a pretty good idea what Chloe was about to do, but she was absolutely not in a position to do anything about it. All she could do was brace herself as those legendary legs shot up, struck her chest and sent her rocketing upwards and off to the side.

It wasn’t a pleasant landing, surprise surprise. Kaede came down hard on her side and broke into a roll right away, putting distance between them. She almost rolled out of the ring altogether, but put a stop to it before she fell off the edge. Grabbing the ropes for support, she pulled her way up as fast as she could manage, rising with them in between as she made her way up, hoping she could get to standing before Chloe capitalized.

At the very least, Chloe could commend Kaede for thinking outside the box. If albeit a weird choice to go for anyways.

While Chloe could agree on pressing the advantage over an opponent, there are times and occasions where one has to take it slow and not rush. Although she wasn’t caught hard and punished because of it, Kaede showed that she would do anything if just to put Chloe on the backfoot. That was a dangerous thing, fighting an unpredictable mess that can easily catch you out if one’s not careful. That brought caution and the time that she was afforded gave her the chance to reassess.

Sure, Kaede was unpredictable.  But the young cub showed herself as desperate. And desperation always brings disaster, something her father would tell her, much as she loathed to think about the son of a bitch. That is something she could use; Chloe just needed the right opportunity for it.

Lo and behold, it was offered to her. Just what she wanted.

Admittedly, this came out of reflex than anything else, but Chloe found a way to turn Kaede’s attempt and flip it against her. It was bold, and on another person, it could have worked. Much as Kaede liked to think she was a wolf, it was shown that she didn’t have the same grace to land on her feet like a cat. Instead, Kade crash-landed onto her side, nearly tumbling out of the ring itself but saved herself before that had happened.

But while Kaede was busy, Chloe was getting up, rolling backwards into a handstand before pushing off her hands, flipping towards the wolf cub. Getting near the ropes just as Kaede stood up, Chloe brought both of her feet towards her neck. With a good grip on it, Chloe then seeks to use her leg strength to yank Kaede back into the ring, also with an uncomfortable landing that awaits her.

So. About two minutes into the fight. Status report?

Well, things were going better for Kaede than last time, though that was a low bar to set. She was still trying to find her footing with Chloe, figure out the best way to get her hit in, where the opening was, but she was surviving. Small of a victory as that was, she would take it. Really, the path to victory here was a short one, she just had to find a way to shut down her opponent’s legs...probably the same thing that everyone thought when they fought Chloe. The trouble lied in getting that done without having your head kicked off.

But she was in a good position out here on the apron, at least. Chloe would have to come over and get her if she wanted to start things back up, bought her some time to recover, get her ship together, make a plan. Safe zone.

Or so she thought. That idea was nixed when she turned around and saw Chloe’s feet coming her way, because of course this woman did everything with her goddamn legs!

She braced as her neck was seized, tried to resist, but there was no stopping the momentum at this point - she was pulled through the ropes and went tumbling into the ring. The best she could do was break into a roll and pop back up to her feet soon after the fall, but it was a dizzying, unstable kind of move that left her stumbling. She brought her fists up, not knowing what would be coming next, but wanting to be prepared for it all the same.

You’re not going to get away like that.

So far, this was going about as well Yuki had any right to believe it would. Kaede had improved substantially over these past months. To the very few people present tonight that had been lucky or unlucky enough to watch Kaede’s career from start to present, it was unthinkable that this was the same girl that the Entropy champion had submitted in ninety seconds flat. The pinkette had grown her fangs now. But then again, of course she did. She had no choice. The only question worth asking was could she use them?

Yuki sat only one row behind the front, the clearest view she could manage without being too much of a distraction, to determine that answer for herself. From the outset, Kaede had come at the American with that tremendous raw energy that she was known for. It was too early to call, but none of this would mean anything if she didn’t land some damage, and the sooner the better. Chloe was a tricky opponent and the worst kind of ‘tricky’, the kind that knew how good they were at being a pain in the ass. The pinkette wasn’t being taken by her obvious strikes. Kaede knew what blows she could handle now and what she had to avoid. Hell, even that flying headbutt had gotten a lot better. Stupid as it was.

Would have been even better if it actually hit. Now Kaede was on the run, but running would only get her so far before Chloe dragged her back into the ring. One look at her face told the wolf everything, even before Kaede tried to keep up with that sloppy posture and loopy fists. Against anyone else, being dazed would have just been a problem. She was tough enough to knuckle down and maybe tank something.

Against Chloe Mason? Kaede was two seconds from getting fucked up beyond recognition. Yuki gripped her jacket sleeve tighter behind her folded arms. She nodded her head forward and watched closely.

“It’s okay. You don’t need your eyes to see.” The wolf murmured to herself, echoing words she spoke to her pupil. Words she once received from another. “What can you feel? What can you sense?”

Indeed, Chloe can do everything with her legs.

This seems something that many people still downplay even as they have already gotten the hint that those legs of Chloe's are no joke. Kaede's most significant issue is that she's still under the misconception that there are certain places that Chloe can't kick or wrap her legs around you. As shown with how Chloe clutched the cub's neck with her feet, such an assumption can cost you dearly.

Kaede had barely gotten Chloe's actual fighting ability the last time they fought. The ex-commissioner didn't even have to try back then. But if the pinkette is stepping up, then so shall Chloe. Regardless if she's ready for her or not.

Her feet squeezed at that vulnerable throat, getting a good grip before using her leg strength to chuck her back inside the ring. Sending Kaede tumbling around inside, Chloe felt such a thrill of pulling that off. She had seen Emilia use that same attack, and the way she flawlessly did so, it was a sight to behold. Emilia could make an attack an art form. So, of course, Chloe would want to try it out.

Kaede being the unlucky volunteer, that is.

Chloe returned right side up, landing on her two feet as she saw Kaede trying to pop back up quickly. Perhaps a bit too fast, looking as if she had no idea where north and south was or, heck, which year she was in. All that accumulated damage was starting to get to Kaede. And Chloe could see the blood in the water.

So she pressed on, pursuing the lost cub: one step, two steps, three. Chloe came in close, perhaps a bit too close for kicking range. Well, normal kicking range. The blonde was never one for normal. The ex-commissioner quickly fell forward, balancing on her front foot placed in the middle as her back leg shot up and over the back of her head. In an incredible display of flexibility, her backfoot shot forward right through that pitiful excuse of a guard to the center of Kaede's face. Her toes flexed back and wide, a dangerous strike aiming right at the bridge of the nose, but also those cerulean pools...