Tension World Title: John Mitchel (c) vs. Makie Akamatsu

"Ah...ah..." Makie's side was now throbbing with pain alongside her sore gut, sending dull stabs of agony running up along her spine. The most she could do right now was roll weakly away from John, clutching her hurting side as her slender body revolved on the mat. She should have been ready for that, she thought inwardly. She should have been able to avoid that. But now she was at a severe disadvantage, one that John looked ready to capitalize on.

She felt John's boot slam down suddenly against her spine. "AH!" she cried, the impact shoving her hard onto her stomach. As she lay on her front, one leg twitch slightly, she felt John grab at her booted heels and life them off the mat. Alarm bells went off in her head as John stepped over her, and the next thing she knew, she was being stretched into a boston crab! She bit back a cry of pain, but the way she was shutting her eyes and slapping at the mat made it clear to the audience that she was in a lot of pain right now.

John wrenched back on the hold as he heard her slapping the mat, he turned around but it was very clear that she was not actually tapping. The ref slid down next to Makie, asking her if she wanted to tap out and submit.

Meanwhile, John wasnâ€t showing any mercy with the hold. He bent back harder, stretching her as hard as he could, trying to pour on the pressure to get her to tap.

A low groan finally escaped Makie's lips as John contorted her leg back further, bending her into almost a full C-shape. She grabbed at his wrists, trying to resist the motion as best she could, all the while digging her knee and palms into the mat. She had been forced to tap out to the boston crab submission before, and she didn't intend to lose out to it again any time soon. "Gggh...d....dammit..."

Clenching her teeth, Makie used her lighter size to her advantage by suddenly pushing back on her palms, aiming to roll backwards between John's legs and snatch at his ankles. If she managed this, then she would try to unbalance him, trip him onto his back, and use their positions to reverse the hold into a figure four leg lock!

(100,000 pardons. Thank you for not getting angry with me for my absence and for being invisible a lot these past few weeks)

John was grinning as he got her in the bostongcrab. NOW he was doing it! Now he could prove that he really DID deserve the belt! All he had to do was hold his own, keep up the attack, make her tap!

At the very least, he could weaken her. He had a lot of respect for this opponent, she seamed quite skilled….and she demonstrated it again. Before John knew what was happening, she snatched his ankles leaning back, and rolled john! He let out a shout as he hit the ground,s uddenly locked in the figure four, his eyes going wide!

(Again, no worries, I'm twice as bad as you when it comes to lateness " title="Wink" /> )

Makie gave a quick gasp of relief as she managed to reverse the hold, knocking John onto his back and locking in a figure four leg lock. She gripped his ankle tightly as she secured the hold. " You're not...hhhff...the only one here...who can use submission holds," she breathed to her opponent.

Before John could even reply, Makie arched her slender body back and winched the hold tighlty, stretching painfully at John's leg and ankle. "Better tap out, bitch!" she taunted as she worked him over. "This is no DQ, so I can break your damn leg here if I want!" She wasn't about to go that far, of course, but John didn't know that. Admittedly, she preferred to win with aerial manoeuvres, but a nice submission hold like this ought to wear down his leg for a bit...

“Then break it!” John roared out…that was stupid, of course. Breaking a leg was probably the worst thing that could happen to John at this point. Would she go that far? Well, John couldnâ€t know one way or the other. He knew such things did happens, it was his job to know when it was time to tap out…he thought he had more in him.

John growled and roared, banging his fists on the mat, trying to get himself out of this mess. He heaved and thrusted his body, trying to roll them over or at least snap the hold. This was BAD, the hold hurt.

Makie blinked as she heard John's shouted reply. It was plain, just by the tone of his voice, that John was in a lot of pain, but he seemed to be daring her to take things all the way and break his leg! Her face reddened. "S-shut up!" she cried. "I'll do it! I'll fucking do it if you don't tap--"

She was cut off as John suddenly surged sideways, rolling the two of them over. Gasping, Makie suddenly found herself face-down in a reversal, her own hold suddenly being used against her as her legs were twisted painfully. She cried out and banged her fist against the mat, her face pressed down and obscured by her damp, matted black hair. "Ah...aaahhhh..."

“I believe you!” John shouted back, his voice even more strained then before. The truth is, John WOULD tap…but only if his reversal failed. The clichà line of surrender not being an option didnâ€t apply in most modern wars, and it also didnâ€t apply in the ring. Itâ€s his job to tap if heâ€s well and truly trapped.

But, it looks like John wasnâ€t trapped yet.

John DID manage to flip them over, he could hear Maike crying out and banging on the mat, trying to escape and endure the pain. John tried his best to work the hold as long as he could, trying to pour what ever strength he had into the hold…he kept it going for a few moments, but he had to admit it was slowly slipping.

One submission hold converted into another converted into another, John was on the losing end of momentum here. The hold was barley applied properly and it was slipping. Finally, John had to admit that this was ineffective and give up. He released the hold, his own legs still in pain, and tried to climb to his feet. Unless Makie escaped, heâ€d try to then dive down onto the matt besides her, sitting up parallel to her upper body. John didnâ€t know how long it would take her to recover. Provided she didnâ€t escape or counter, which was possible because John was a little slow now, heâ€d try to work his leg around her right arm to hold it while his hands reached for her chin, attempting to initiate a cross face!

She had almost had him, Makie thought to herself. She had almost had him. But she had made a stupid mistake in leaving herself open to a simple, yet effective, reversal, and now it was her turn to suffer. Her body twisted and writhed on the mat as John worked her over, and it was all she could do to stifle her cries of pain. But she wasn't done yet. Through sheer force of will, she pressed her palms against the mat, and pushed, lifting her upper body off the mat to get into a position to twist over and escape.

And the, suddenly, John let go. Red faced, Makie gave a soft sigh of relief. The relief didn't last long, though, as John's upper body dropped down against her, his legs scissoring her arm and his arms constricting tightly around her skull. She cried out as she was locked in a crossface, and instinctively pawed at her opponent's strong arms. "Ngh...nnnnnngh!"

Yes! This girl had been slippery. Besides Hawkeye and his buddy Ro, John hadnâ€t met a girl who had given him more of a tough fight. She seemed to be able to match him point for point, do anything that she needed to win. He had held back with her before, and now he regretted the error. She could have more than handled him back then outside of the ring.

For now, though, John finally seemed to have broken the stalemate of trading reversals and moves back and forth. Finally, he was beginning to overtake her…the trick would be, though, keeping it. There were no DQs, so who knows what creative things she might bring out to escape. John wouldnâ€t hold any of that against someone. “Know youâ€re occupied at the moment, but I gotta say,” John said, wrenching his hold a bit, “Youâ€re dam strong, I wouldnâ€t have been surprised if you had broken a bone!” John poured his strength into the hold, trying to really bring the pain. “I certainly wonâ€t break anything…but I will bring you down if you donâ€t tap.”