The Crimson Legacy vs. Lock and Key - Smiling Faces

Key was good at taking damage, one of her most defining traits, but she had a brain just like everyone else. And also like everyone else, there was only so much damage that brain could take before a toll was taken.

She was feeling that effect now, as she stumbled back and blinked, her vision turned into a sporadic haze. She couldn’t see much of anything coherent, with everything in doubles and triples, and locking down Makie was impossible until that was taken care of.

”On your left.”

Key turned in Makie’s direction and focused, just in time to see the little fireball coming at her. There was no time to do anything more than that, however as she dove and went for her legs, sending her flopping over with the slick rollup. Zelda slid over beside them and began the count, raising her hand up high and bringing it down with a loud cry.

”That’s 1!”

She had only begun to raise her hand for the second count when Key lashed out - not only did she straighten her legs out to break the hold, but she raked her nails across her foe’s face at the same time, giving her a fitting parting gift while she escaped and rolled off.

Well, as the old saying went, throw enough high-flying kicks at a wall, and you were sure to unbalance it enough for a pinfall. Okay, so maybe that wasn't how the saying went, but Makie wasn't exactly particular about those details right now as she hooked one of Key's legs, briefly revealing the stocking-clad limb from under the mass of the other woman's dress, and leaned down with all of her weight upon the redhead.

She didn't expect Key to be pinned this early in the match. In all honesty, she expected that Key would probably kick out-- and she did just that. What she didn't expect was for Key to rake her nails across her eyes in the process.

"AAAAAAH! she shrieked as she rolled away from Key, ending up on her elbows and knees as she clutched at her stinging eyes. She blinked furiously, tears welling up in her vision. For that one, vital moment, her vision was a blur, and she was left vulnerable as she clutched her face. In his corner, Kyo leaned in, furious at what he had just seen.

"Ref, what are you doing?" he exclaimed, pointing at Key. "She just used an illegal move!"

Lock looked on from her side of the ring, watching with folded arms. Silent and unmoving, she couldn’t keep a knowing smile from crossing her lips as events proceeded. It was nice when things went to plan - so far, anyway.

Key rolled away and got to her feet right away, using the ropes to pull her way up extra quick. The referee, for her part, stepped and threw a quick look towards Kyo, shrugging at him and tossing her golden hair back. ”I didn’t see anything, Kyo!” She turned back to the combatants and waved them on. ”Ophelia, watch those hands! Back to it!”

Key didn’t need much prompting for that. She was after her prey in a flash, hounding her down. Reaching down, she grabbed her by the wrist and hoisted up with a sharp tug, forcing her up to her feet with ease. She pulled Makie over her shoulder, raising up, kicked her legs out and fell back, attempting to smash her opponent into the canvas with a Samoan Drop.

Kyo nearly leapt out of the corner at that point. How could the ref have not seen that? Practically the entire audience audibly winced as Key had raked her across her eyes, and the fact that Makie was now rolling across the ring, screaming as she clutched her eyes, should have been indication enough as to what Key had done.

Makie, for her part, was blinking furiously as she forced her eyes open. Her vision was blurred from the hot tears of pain that had welled up, but as far as she could tell, Key hadn't done any serious damage. Breathing hard, she tried to push herself up, but felt a sharp tug on her arm. Next thing she knew, she was being hoised up onto her feet, before being hoisted up further across someone's shoulders. Key's shoulders.

She only had a split second to realize her situation before gravity kicked in, and she was slammed down hard into the canvas. Her entire body jolted as it was slammed against the mat, and she went sprawling onto her back, groaning as her legs kicked weakly at the mat.

Got her. Got the bitch.

Key wiped her chin as she brought Makie down hard, loving the sight. She knew this type too well, the little high-flyers who liked to show off and run circles around her all night long. It made for a cute act, but tonight she was having none of it. She had this bitch down, and she was going to-

”Ophelia!” Key was in mid-stride when Lock’s voice rang out, halting her before she could close in. She spun around, confused, only to see Lock holding out her hand. A tag.

She spat off to the side, sneered, but she went with it and stepped over to her corner. They had a strategy beyond the contingency plan, after all, wanting to isolate Makie as much as possible, while they stayed fresh. ”To be continued, you little shit.”

She made her way back to their corner and slapped hands with Lock, who promptly came in through the ropes. With hands on hips, she sauntered over to her fallen foe and reached down when she was close enough, grabbing her by the hair and yanking hard to force her up.

The instance she was sitting up, Lock released her hold, spun to the side, and lashed out with a low kick, swing her leg into the base of Makie’s spin with a whip of kick, fast and precise. Just a little something to start of their time together, set the tone she was aiming for.

Makie's back throbbed with agony as she lay sprawled on it, her chest rising and falling as she looked up at the arena lights. A part of her knew, with dread, that she was in a bad position, and that Key, being the sadist she was, was probably going to continue her assault. She winced, bracing herself for the pain to come.

Instead, however, Key moved out of the field of her vision. Groaning, Makie willed herself to move, managing to roll over onto her front just as Lock came sauntering into the ring. Unlike Key, the blonde had a clear-headed focused look to her. Like Key, though, she clearly had a mean streak...one that she quickly demonstrated as she grabbed a handful of Makie's hair.

Makie gasped as her scalp burned and she was forced stumbling up to her feet...just before Lock's boot came whistling around and drove itself hard into Makie's spine. She cried out from the impact, stumbled, and nearly fell...but instead willed herself to keep standing. With a wordless cry of rage, Makie spun her own body, aiming to return the favour kick of her own into Lock's side!

If Key was the hammer, then Lock was the scalpel - focus, precise, but still deadly in her own way. After her kick landed and did its damage, she took care to watch her opponent as she rose, taking note of the fatigue that was setting in. It was easy, too easy, to think that Kyo was the real threat here and that Makie was just a tagalong - that was the opinion on more than a few forums she had stumbled onto during her research. But in her eyes, the smaller Akamatsu had the potential to be a true threat.

High-flyers. Notably problematic, a sore spot for both her and Key. The sooner they neutralized her random element, the sooner they could focus on Kyo’s steadfast fundamentals.

She had thought the were on a good path to that, too, with Lock’s hammering whittling away at their foe. But she underestimated this woman’s resolve - she had more energy to work with than it first appeared. Enough to retaliate with a kick, and one that had some decent speed, too. Enough that Lock wasn’t able to move back in time - she wound up taking it on the side, a sharp stab in her stomach.

Hissing, she staggered back, but planted her feet firm, not wanting to give up too much ground. She took a quick step to the side, placing herself between Makie and Kyo, and lashed out again - this time with a boot to the chest, raising her leg and sending it straight out to knock her opponent back towards the ropes.

Makie was still hurting all over after being brutalized earlier by Key, and that sharp kick by Lock wasn't helping matters. All the same, Makie found the energy to stand up to her feet. All the same, she managed to lash out with a kick at Lock. All the same, her blow managed to hammer home into the blonde woman's side, and Makie almost smile, despite herself, at her opponent's sharp gasp of pain.

Her moment of victory was short-lived. Faster than she could follow, Lock lashed out, sending a kick hammering directly into Makie's generous bust. The shorter girl gasped loudly as she was propelled backwards, the blow sending her flailing back into the ropes...before, out of breath, she came rebounding right back at Lock...

On the apron, Key found herself fidgeting, running her nail along the top rope and fighting the urge to move in and just start wailing away. She understood the plan, saw the sense in the way they were doing it, but there was no helping her instincts - every ounce of her wanting to attack, to move, to finish taking a bite out of Makie. She wouldn’t bitch about it, but if she could’ve gotten just one more minute…

She grunted, blew out her irritation through that, and leaned forward to watch the show. Her time would come. It would all work out. Just needed a little patience.

Things were unfolding well enough with Lock, as she launched her opponent at the ropes. Her kick had some force behind it, enough to send Makie bouncing back, where she had something special waiting for the younger Akamatsu.

As her opponent closed in, Lock took a quick step towards her, raised her leg, and threw a roundhouse kick straight at her face - her signature move, the Lock Out, a move she’d honed to perfection.

Makie's chest burned from that one hit she had taken. Usually, for whatever reason, her opponents didn't outright target her bust like that, instead contenting themselves with brutalizing her in other ways. But Key had gone straight for the biggest target in an attack designed to leave Makie breathless. She was still panting for breath as she went hurtling towards the ropes, before bouncing right back at Key, bracing herself for a clothesline...

...and instead took a hard heel right into her face. Colours erupted in her vision as gravity suddenly failed, and she went sprawling onto her back. Her head shook lightly from side to side as she lay unmoving on her back, seemingly dazed by that roundhouse kick...