The Final Flooring (for LARIATO)

After his eventful outing with the Dutiful Defender, Senji found himself back at the gym. This was his usual routine, though he had looked a bit more battered than previously shown. His ribs were still tender due to the numerous body-shots he took. However, he elected to give himself a very short time to relax at home after this training session was done. Anything strenuous past this event involved only maintaining his body. He needed to increase his knowledge, and mastering and refining what he knew would help with that. It was here that he happened to meet a woman by the name of 'Jesse Rogers'. Very clearly an American, he concluded. Not that he had much of a problem with that considering he had better things to worry about than someone's nationality. With that concluded, she ended up proposing a match. He nearly declined but decided to go along with it upon further reflection. Senji would have time to rest later, there were people to surpass in the present.

After the entrapment of various limbs and the taking of backs, the score settled itself at an even 2-2. Thus, that caused a sudden death round. At around this time, it became apparent that they were in a stalemate. After several long rounds, Senji found himself feeling rather tired. Of course, his endurance was good and he lasted quite well under pressure. Nevertheless, all humans had a limit. He was already going into fights tired, so he was rather fatigued. Despite this, he wanted to still give Jesse everything he had in an attempt to come out on top. So, he stood across from her with his fists raised, ready to receive whatever she threw at him.

Regarding his attire, it was a red and black rash guard for use in athletics, with the former color being the secondary one in terms of prominence. The pants were of a similar scheme and went down to his ankles where they stopped. Naturally, he went without shoes in the small expanse of the cage which served as their battleground. So there he waited....ready to respond to what she output in kind.

Truth be told, many of the details of what had led to this were a bit of a blur for Jesse. She had hoped for a spar with one of the trainers the company provided at the gym for the wrestlers, but none had been available. Somehow she’d wound up in a conversation with a new arrival and asked him to spar with her, and he’d accepted. She knew his name, “Senji,” if she remembered correctly, though she couldn’t quite recall if they had introduced themselves in their earlier talk or during some bit of smalltalk at the start of the spar. Probably wasn’t important.

What did matter, and what her mind had been much more focused on, was how the spar itself had progressed. They’d agreed on standard rules, best of four. And once the proverbial tango had started, it quickly became apparent this newcomer knew what he was doing. Senji knew his way out of holds she tried to apply, and made her fight to fend off some of his own. Striking had proved a more successful endeavor for her. Jesse had scored a solid muay thai knee to the gut and a solid mid kick that seemed to have labored her foe’s breathing. However, the American had also sustained a solid punch to the jaw and only narrowly escaped being submitted in a tight chokehold. A couple close calls each, and now both were realizing that winning this first fall might take more work than expected.

With her own fists raised as well, her eyes locked with Senji’s. He was patiently waiting for her to make a move, though Jesse could tell he wouldn’t hesitate to punish a wrong move if she made one. Taking an equal measure of caution, she closed in while maintaining a strict focus on his form, looking for anything that might hint at danger as she approached. Once she was within reach, she lashed out with a jab aimed straight for the bridge of Senji’s nose, though this was only a feint. While that fist moved right in front of his eyes and hopefully distracted him for just a fraction of a second, her other fist came from down low, attempting to slam an uppercut right into his belly. Targeting the body had been her best bet so far, so she wanted to try to capitalize on that if she could.

This first fall was proving more troublesome than expected. She was another one of those fighters that had a better striking game than being on the ground. However, Senji wanted to try a different approach due to Jesse's proactive nature. He couldn't afford to be conservative this time around. That said, Senji had been holding her off for a while but was unable to lock in anything meaningful. Miss Rogers was proving to be proficient.

Then she came at him. Senji kept his fists raised and went to move backwards in order to get out of her reach once that fist fired at him. However, he fell for the fient and found the opposing arm buried into his abdominal. He leaned over, coughing in a labored fashion before seeing an opportunity. With a slight delay due to being unable to instantly recover from a body blow, he set his plan into motion. Senji went to push her lower fist out to the right with his left arm before charging forward to go for a takedown.

Senji brought his left arm upward and tried to thread it under her right arm, wrapping his arm around her back hopefully. Next, Senji then went to snake his other arm over her left shoulder in order to clasp his fingers together in the form of a clinch. Senji then pushed his right foot outward in order to bring his ankle behind her right foot. Finally, he pushed his upper body forward while driving his foot back in order to try and trip Jesse. Should this prove successful, Jesse would end up on the ground on her back with Senji either in her guard or not but with him still maintaining a top position. He wasn't worried about how he ended up more so than actually following through.

For the main action, he sent his two arms to work like pistons in order to initiate a ground n' pound since submissions were more his speciality!

Her fist struck the bullseye, driving forcefully into Senji’s gut. The impact, that nice gasp he let out as he doubled over, it was all so satisfying. The blow seemed to have stunned him so much that Jesse almost thought he might go down right then and there. But then Senji surprised her with his resilience, pushing through the pain to latch onto her and trip her down to the mat! Jesse went right down onto her back with a small grunt at the impact, legs quickly shifting up and around the man’s waist to catch him in her guard.

She wasn’t afraid to fight on the ground, but she much preferred to be on top. She liked taking a proactive approach more than being reactive, a stark contrast to her opponent, and it was hard to fight that way from the bottom. Her arms came up to shield her face as best she could once Senji began raining punches down on her. Most hammered against her forearms which, while still painful, was at least manageable. But some did manage to slip through her guard and connect with her face. Jesse grimaced and grunted, but held her guard as well as she could, though she knew she couldn’t afford to stay like this for long. Eventually her defenses would break and give Senji an opening, something she very much hoped to avoid.

Her first instinct said to try to catch him with a triangle choke, or maybe an armbar. But given how futile her other attempts to catch this guy in a hold using the conventional ways had been, something told her he would evade either of those options just as well. Maybe she just needed to think a bit outside the box. With that in mind, the next time one of Senji’s fists came down, Jesse tried to grab onto that wrist while jerking to the side. Her hope was to pull the man down onto his front with Jesse laying out beside him, while keeping her legs around his midsection. If it worked she’d immediately cross her feet at the ankles and squeeze with her toned legs, applying a tight bodyscissor. Throughout this, Jesse would try to maintain a hold of the grabbed wrist to weaken his resistance, and hope that she could use this to capitalize on the damage she’d already inflicted to Senji’s body.

The familiar, meaty but hard crash of his gloved knuckles against her forearms. It all was so familiar but this...it did not feel boring. Usually the more generic wrestlers made him more reserved in terms of emotions but those like Sophia, when she wasn't aiming to do something he didn't like to consider, and Jesse here....they made him rather excited. Various other expletives for elation, in fact. Now granted, this matter he was about to deal with barely filled him with any joy at all.

An alarmed grunt came out as she caught his left fist, fingers wrapping around the wrist and then casting him off to the side with effort from what he could tell. Two coils constricted his stomach next, tensing against his abdominals. After that, they straightened and brought a crushing squeeze. An ugly wheeze was all that he found would come out as soon enough, his forehead was forced to the floor at the move she'd caught him in. In irritation, Senji curled his right hand's fingers into a fist in order to slam it onto the canvas. Don't tap, Senji. Don't submit to her.

"Jesssee...", His throat drawled out.

He utterly refused to give her this fall. Unfortunately, the legs around his middle cared little about his thoughts on the matter. The pressure steadily increased from the moment she managed to entrap him. The bodyscissors didn't cut off blood flow to his head, so it wouldn't put him out quickly if at all. Still, the pain was unreal. He had a high pain tolerance but enough strength would overwhelm that endurance of his. Fortunately for her, Jesse's thighs seemed to have a clear effect. The subject of Takijima submitting or not remained to be seen at the very least.

Like always, the sign of resistance would be shown in some form. Senji's eyes went towards her locked ankles, moving his free hand in attempt to grapple one. This, hopefully, allowed Jesse further trouble in keeping her scissors. It was similar to how Senji tried to break a closed guard if he was feeling aggressive during the prolonged minutes of a tussle.

Catching an opponent in a good hold was always a nice feeling, but it felt even better to catch someone as elusive as Senji had been. It was like finally securing a catch on the line while fishing after hours the damned things escaping the hook at the first sign of a bite.

And the way he practically moaned her name while she squeezed his toned body between her thighs? Damn, that hit just right. The fact that this was happening in a ring rather than a bed was either a relief or a pity, and Jesse honestly wasn’t sure which it was.

Those fleeting thoughts were suddenly disrupted when she felt his free hand grab onto her ankle, trying to disrupt her scissor hold. Smart move. Many in his position instinctively tried to pry at the thighs crushing them, and they almost never had enough strength to make a difference that way. It was surprising how common that mistake was, even at the pro level. But going after Jesse’s ankle instead at least gave Senji a fighting chance, even though having only one hand and no leverage to work with would likely make it an uphill battle. Against lesser opponents, Jesse would’ve been confident she could just pour on the squeeze with her body scissor and force a submission before they could make any progress in escaping. But Senji had proved he was far too resilient to risk taking a chance like that on.

So while he tried to pull at her ankle, Jesse twisted the arm she had a hold of, bending the limb behind its back. From this angle it might’ve been hard to pin the hold down specifically as a hammerlock or some variation of a double wrist lock. Really, it didn’t matter. She just needed to inflict just enough extra pain to convince Senji that tapping was the right thing to do. And just to drive the point home a bit further, she also gave the man’s midsection another long, tight squeeze between her thighs.

Perhaps what she was thinking about in the recesses of her mind could happen. Making others happy just in case he went or had to leave somewhere else would be a nice plan. But, for now, he had nothing but time and youth on his side. Now, Senji was well aware of the variety of personalities he would encounter. Take a fight as a common example. Some would bide their time, await their opportunity, and savor each moment that their prey struggled and fought and scratched for a chance at escape. Others ended their opponents quickly, either taking satisfaction in prematurely ending the fight or not caring about the struggle for dominance. As to where Senji stood, he was somewhere in the middle. In all his fights, he tried to uphold a certain philosophical code. He did not have that drive to do anything to win, preferring to stay within the ruleset. Obviously, this could be taken advantage of but he could make workarounds to those who chose to.

Concerning Takijima's reasoning for what he did, she hit the nail on the head. Prying at the legs was futile. The martial artists he encountered had great strength in their legs, so it would always be better to get their feet uncrossed instead if you were in a scissorhold or attempting the stand-up escape from a closed guard. Leaving his back open was an afterthought, but Jesse would be too busy to think about it if his prediction is right. From what he observed, Miss Rogers was skilled enough to be on par or more technical that he was even if she relied on strikes. However, Senji himself could catch her if she slipped up. That was not the case this time though.

The ensuing hammerlock interrupted his escape plan, bringing the free hand to delay its grappling of her ankles. A stifled whimper came out of his throat due to Senji burying a yelp. As she continued to aim for the tap out, Senji chose the stubborn option. He could feel it twisting....twisting... torquing...and then he could bear it no longer. He'd chose not to submit where safer wrestlers chose not to, with many examples being found in No-Gi matches. She needed just a bit more of a push whereupon a dislocated shoulder happened to present itself to the young fighter. Yet, when it was on the cusp of breaking, a gloved hand slapped against her right shin three times, aiming to indicate his submission. Should she let him free, he stayed on the ground. Senji pursed his lips before bringing his fingers to his shoulder. The fingertips massaged his shoulder which led him rotating the limb for range of motion. He then stopped early in the exercise, looking at her then pointing to his shoulder in case she, for some reason or another, wanted to assist in the well-being of her opponent. Senji only continued if she were to leave him be to act as the medic for himself.

In any case the grappler muttered out a low apology in a tone not without strain. It could be seen as slightly below a person's regular speaking volume.

"Sorry, I don't like submitting."

After that, he finalized by endeavoring to get to his feet and reset for the 2nd Round of 4. Grappling with her on the ground was delightful, such an emotion motivated the boy to keep this as his gameplan. For better or worse, fisticuffs were his secondary specialty. It was like a dance Jesse WANTED to engage in, as opposed to a striking-exclusive fighter in the case of Koyuki - to an extent.

Jesse had a notoriously short temper, and could be a massive bitch when it came out. But as abrasive of a person as she could sometimes be, she wasn’t the type to ever break rules if she could help it. The second Senji finally tapped, Jesse released both her armlock and bodyscissor before pulling away from him, giving her sparring partner time to collect himself. She let out a small sigh of relief at the same time, glad both that she had finally managed to force the submission, and that it had happened before she ended up hurting Senji.

When he pointed to his shoulder, Jesse went and knelt beside him, then helped to stretch and roll his arm around to make sure it was fine. Then came Senji’s comment that he doesn’t like to submit, and the sentence had barely finished when Jesse gave him a very light slap to the back of the head. “No one does. But that doesn’t mean you should risk getting yourself seriously hurt in a damn spar.” Jesse’s sister often made the same mistake. Hell, Jesse herself had been guilty of it more than a few times. But experience had made her wiser on the matter.

“Look, you seem like a good guy. Handsome too, got a face I’m sure most of the women here would love a chance to sit on. And you’ve clearly got the skills to handle yourself in the ring… Point is, you could really be someone here. You’ve got the stuff for it. Goin’ all out in a spar is fine, but you’re gonna regret it if ya get yourself injured doing one of the few things about the job ya don’t even get paid for.”

She hadn’t meant to ramble or lecture, but it was an important lesson everyone in this business had to learn on their own at some point. Whether he took the advice to heart or not, of course, would be up to him.

“Alright then.” Giving his shoulder a pat, she stood back up and returned to her corner, putting her fists back up while Senji went to take his own position. “Let’s go. Round two.”

A light tap soared into the back of his head, slightly bringing his head forward before it returned back to its previous position. He listened, nodding along towards her advice. The correlation between him being handsome and the fighters he might face in the future brought a light blush to his face. But the entire message wasn't lost on him. The point she was trying to make was more important. Don't get yourself hurt in a damn spar. Fine, he'd take that into his thoughts.

Then a gloved hand patted his shoulder while she finished massaging it and making sure he could still use it, before Jesse went back to her corner. His gaze trailed behind her while he got up in order to reset. So he asked himself, why did he endure holds? The answer came in the form of stubbornness and something else. He wasn't sure it was masochism....then again, it may be subconscious. Senji hadn't focused too much on relationships, but that didn't mean it wasn't in the back of his yet-to-be concussed head. Despite his minor turmoil about himself, he deemed that it could be considered later. Now it was time for Round 2.

He put his fists up. Senji was getting a feel for Jesse now. How she operated and fought. He could even recall how to do some of the moves she pulled off. Though, they'd still be imperfect copies despite Senji having a great memory. He should probably approach her like he did for Vivienne. He'd already established grappling was the way to go. He started to move towards the right, standing in a left-handed pose for fighting. Senji had a habit of mimicking the opponent's speed. If they went faster, he went faster. If they stayed conservative, he stayed conservative until forced to do otherwise.

Senji again chose to start things off this time, hopefully. He went forward at a fast pace before stopping once he was close to her guard. After that, Senji shot his left fist forward towards her side in an attempt to bury it into her liver. This was a move meant to mislead Jesse, as his right hand snapped out and tried to grab onto her right wrist then pull her towards his upper body. That was before he jumped up and went to pull her on top of him while wrapping his legs around her core - a Pull Guard. This allowed him to get her into a fully entrapped Closed Guard!

Not everyone took this kind of constructive criticism well, and Jesse was a prime example ironically enough. She had a short temper, and other people trying to tell her what to do, especially when she was already in her own head over a mistake she’d made, was often a really easy way to start an argument. But on the flip side, her no-bullshit attitude sometimes made her a decent teacher. She told people directly what was on her mind, what she thought was important for them to hear, and generally didn’t say much else besides.

Senji seemed to take her words quite well. He didn’t respond, but Jesse could tell just by looking at him that he was giving them serious thought. Whether he would take the advice to heart remained to be seen, though it was all his choice in the end regardless. The important thing now was that he had listened intently, which was all she could ask.

With the start of the second round Jesse advanced, but Senji came in quicker, putting her on the defense right off the bat. A fist flew toward her side, fast, but Jesse was able to move easily enough to defend against it… Or so she thought. It quickly became apparent that she’d just bitten way too hard on a feint. By the time Jesse knew what was happening Senji had already grabbed onto her and pulled her down right into his guard. Inwardly cursing herself for falling for the trick, she quickly refocused. With one of her arms held and his legs wrapped around her midsection, this was prime triangle choke territory. She had to play it smart here.

Jesse balled her free hand into a fist, then threw a series of short punches with it into Senji’s side like a piston. These weren’t likely to do any serious damage, but she figured it might force him to commit to his next action soon, while keeping the free hand in a good position to retract it if Senji tried to grab it. Jesse felt eager to pounce on an opening now, but willed herself to be patient. The second his guard opened up enough, she intended to be ready…