The Crimson Legacy vs. Lock and Key - Smiling Faces

Lock found herself on her back, her legs folded above her head, her back aching, and with a great swell of relief that she had decided against Jack’s assertion that they should only wear panties under their skirts instead of covering up with boy shorts. Rough as Makie was, she did have a slight point about their choice of attire, one that she had brought up with her partners on more than a few occasions. Now that they were taking a more active role in the ring, a change of wardrobe wouldn’t hurt…

It was an irritating thought not, but she had more pressing concerns. She sat up, groaning, and opened her eyes to see Makie making her way towards her brother, the exact last thing they wanted to happen. They both knew that fighting a fresh Kyo was inevitable, but the strategy was to put that off for as long as possible. She didn’t like either of their chances against the man, wanted to engage him on their own terms.

Thankfully, Key was nearby and waiting with an outstretched arm. She rolled over to her side, pushed up, and made the tag, making clear contact. Her partner leaped over the top rope and bounded across the ring with hurrieds strides, trying to close the gap, but Makie was close - Lock doubted she would make it. A good thing, then, that they had alternative avenues for this sort of thing.

"Come on, come on...." Kyo whispered as Makie crawled her way over to his corner. His sister was visibly hurting, having already taken a considerable beating at their opponents' hands, and the pain of that beating showed as she crawled with a stiff, painful slowness. It was a beating that Kyo was going to get even for, as soon as the tag was made.

He half expected Lock to move after Makie, to prevent the tag and start brutalizing her even more. But no: instead Lock moved over to tag Key back into the ring. That suited Kyo fine: whichever one of them decided to face them in the ring, he would be more than ready for them. Either way, they were giving Makie enough time to crawl over and make the tag.

He slapped Makie's hand, and was immediately leaping into the ring. Seeing Key entering opposite him, rushing at Makie, he didn't waste time on any pleasantries, instead rushing up to meet her and twisting, hoping to greet her with a spinning elbow strike to the skull!

A couple of things happened in the span of a few seconds, and one thing didn’t happen.

Key ran across the ring as fast as she could, which really wasn’t all that fast. Not fast enough to stop Makie from making the tag and to keep Kyo from entering the ring unmolested. By the time she was close enough to do anything, it was too late - he was jumping over the ropes, moving, and she found herself on the business end of a sharp elbow, one that had her staggering back and caressing her jaw.

What didn’t happen, though, was the referee’s involvement. At the time, she was on the other side of the ring, checking up on Lock, and she only looked back after he came in and engaged. As Key staggered back, she moved in and stepped between them, cutting Kyo off before he could followup.

”Hey, back to the corner, Kyo.” She glared hard his way. ”Clear tags only, I need to see it!”

Makie was in a bad state: was plain to see just from how she was moving. Makie defined herself by her movement, by being the swift-striking high-flyer of the pair, and she often joked about how much she had to slow herself down just for Kyo's sake. Now, she was moving with a slow, aching lethargy as she crawled towards their corner. Kyo found himself silently urging her on, trying to silently will her to make it.

And make it she did, slapping at his hand. In an instant, Kyo was in the ring, rushing up and ready to take on Key as the red-haired woman was tagged by her own partner. Within seconds, he had struck the first blow, nailing her with a fast and furious elbow that left her staggering...

...and then, suddenly, the ref was in his face, yelling that it had not been a clean tag. "Wh--WHAT?" Kyo exclaimed, not quite believing what he was hearing. "But it was a clear tag! She slapped my hand! It was legal!" And you would have seen it if you had been doing your job and paying attention, he wanted to add, feeling anger beginning to simmer under his cool exterior, but he knew that insulting the ref might only make things worse.

Around them, some of the audience were starting to boo loudly. They too, had seen the clear tag, and they were less shy about being vocal about it than Kyo was.

”THIS REF SUCKS! THIS REF SUCKS!”

The crowd was, to put it mildly, displeased, and they were much less cordial than the well-mannered Kyo. They’d been that way since the referee’s first problem, but now their impatience was heating up to a fine boil. Curses were hurled her way, suggestion remarks, and someone threw popcorn her way. It hit the ropes and never came close, but the intent was still there.

If it bothered her even one bit, she didn’t show it. ”I don’t want to hear it, Kyo!” She pointed to his corner with a stern finger, like a parent with her unruly child. ”Back to your corner or you’re out!”

The referee kept her position, unwavering, as Key moved in, grabbed Makie by the ankle, and dragged her back to the center of the ring. ”Come on, baby girl, we need some more quality time.”

Kyo couldn't believe this. The tag had been legal-- he knew it, Makie knew it, the fans knew it, and their opponents sure as hell knew it. But this ref was either unable to see half of what was going on in the ring, or she was being very selective about what she noticed. Either way, his sister was in pain and in trouble, and every instinct told him to ignore what this idiotic ref was saying and to continue to fight off Key.

But then they would be disqualified. With an irritated clench of his teeth, Kyo backed away, and rolled under the ropes, glaring at Key before turning his concerned expression to Makie. For her part, Makie was grabbing for the ropes, trying to haul herself upright.

That was, until she was suddenly dragged back towards the centre of the ring, sliding against the mat as she was pulled by her ankle. Gasping in alarm, Makie tried to lash out, kicking out with her free leg in the hopes of dislodging herself from this vicious redhead...

And so the plan went back to what it was from the start - focusing on Makie, grinding her down, wearing her out, a line of thinking that Key was keen on. Wailing on a mouthy waif like Makie was much more fun than going after his stuffy brother, and the idea of making watch as his sister got steamrolled? Oh, that was icing.

She just had to make sure they were back at a safe distance. Their strategy had to be obvious now, so Makie would be making every opportunity to get away from her clutches.

Sure enough, the spitfire was kicking up a storm as they neared the center, squirming and bucking and making a spastic fit out of it all. It was enough for her to get loose, slipping free from Key’s grip right as they made it to the center of the ring. ”Stay on her!”

”I fucking know!” She rushed over to her prey’s side, looking to cut her off before she could go too far. She brought her boot up and dropped it hard, driving the heel into Makie’s midsection with all of her weight behind it.

Makie felt the floor of the mat skid against her back as Key dragged her along. Her midsection was still hurting after what both Key and Lock had put her through, and by rights, she should have been back in her corner, recuperating. But that was not to be-- not now that the ref had ruled against the tag. More than ever, Makie was becoming suspicious of the ref and whether or not she was in their opponents' pocket. But she would worry about that later-- right now she had a match to win.

She swiped her leg, hoping to strike across Key's face-- only for the redhead to avoid it. "Tch..." she hissed, the movement rolling her over onto her front. She just needed to get back up to her feet and--

Key's boot came whistling in, driving itself into her side. She gave a muffled gasp as the impact sent her rolling over, clutching her midsection-- the area that had already taken plenty of hits earlier in this match. One eye screwed shut in pain, she tried to roll away, breathing hard and trying to get her knees up from under her...

Key brought her boot down hard into Makie’s stomach, making sure to dig in deep with the heel, really grind into it, savoring the expressions she was getting in return. The little firecracker was a pain in the ass to start off, but more and more it was feeling like she’d reached the end of her rope, that this was all under control. She could fight, she could struggle, she could thrash and put up whatever resistance she had left in that scrappy body, but it wouldn’t matter. This was their match to win.

She moved off as Makie rolled away, then made an attempt to get back to her feet. Still fighting, still trying to survive in this despite how poorly things were going. The bitch had some balls, there was no getting around that, and Key could only smile as she stalked around her aching opponent. ”Getting a little tired over there, huh? Weak in the knees? Here, let me help.”

She reached over and brought one hand to Makie’s throat from the front, while the other came around to meet it from the back. Clasping them together, she caught the younger Akamatsu in a tight choke and lifted her, forcing her up, up, up...

Makie's body folded upwards a little as Key ground her heel into her stomach, crying out as she felt her abdominal muscles and stomach being pressed down against. Then, finally, and blissfully, Key raised her boot, allowing Makie time to roll away, moaning a little as she clutched her stomach. Outside the ring, the fans were chanting her name, urging her to get up, but given how much of a beating she'd been taking, she had no idea if that was even possible right now.

She was breathing hard, rolling up to her knees as she clutched her stomach...and then Key's hand clamped around her throat. She gave a muffled gasp before she was lifted off her feet, her boots dangling off of the mat as Key held her by her throat. She rasped for air, her hands pawing at Key's wrists, reaching forwards to claw desperately at her opponent as she was left unable to breathe.

"SHE'S CHOKING HER, REF!" Kyo nearly screamed from the corner. "She's choking my sister! Put a stop to that!" The crowd was agreeing with Kyo at this point, as a chorus of boos now flooded the arena as the audience voiced their displeasure at Key's heelish tactics.