Victory by knockout only
Ashley Lucas vs. Ichika Rei
Ashley Lucas

Ichika Rei

As astounded as everyone was with her win, Ichika promised to bring the victory for her fans! After that big of a win, she would never let them down from now on!! And Ichika only marched with triumph in her mind.
Her music soon thumped throughout the arena. Its beat echoed and brought the lights to life, scanning the arena in swathes! Then, soon came the blue firework of a woman! With narrow posture, arms held up a high, and a grin that no one could ever match, she basked in the cheers of the crowd in all its glory! The deafening sound doubled in intensity after that first bout and it astonished her all the same.
“Introducing First!! Hailing from Japan! Weighing in at 125lbs, ICHIKAA REEEEIIII!!”
Soon she’d find her way to the ring and her corner as her music fizzled to a close and their cheers died down. Draping her arms over the top ropes, she would wait for her next foe!
-------------------------------------------------
After a pretty rough and tiring first match of the tournament Ashley would be standing backstage as her opponent Ichika Rei was making her entrance, still feeling sore from her victory over Courage Takemi. Her opponent Ichika was an interesting adversary for the blonde as the daughter of Asai Rei, a tragically departed wrestler who Ashley had been a fan of when she was a child.
The prospect of facing the daughter of one of her heroes was an exciting one, especially since Ichika seemed to have picked up her technique from her mother, but Ashley wasn't forgetting the bigger picture of her goal to win the tournament! With that thought in mind she would head out, met with the cheers of her fans who were just as eager as her to see her go all the way in this tourney.
With her fist pumped into the air she would head down to the ring, climbing in and finally coming face to face with Ichika. The girl radiated confidence, and after her victory over the giant Noi she had every right to. Before the match began Ashley would walk over to Ichika, holding out a hand to the bluenette for a handshake "Hey, I'm Ashley. Let's make this a good one, okay?" she said, hoping that Ichika would feel the same way.
-------------------------------------------------
Ichika came to her second bout brimming with confidence— and it's not the unwarranted kind, no. She overcame the impossible. The biggest of David and Goliath scenarios. Recollecting what happened still brings euphoria to her. Not that all of it was in total bliss, no; she came at the edge of losing so many times. But the decisive result was more than enough reason to be happy.
With it, she welcomed Ashley with a slight smile still trailing off on her expression. A relaxed sigh also bellowed out of her lungs for not being faced against a giant anymore. Still, Ichika was not that foolhardy to assume this would be easy just because her foe was smaller than the last. Ashley did past the first round, after all.
"We sure would! Heads up, I won't go easy on you at all just because you're seemingly kind and cute." Ichika said with a wink as she shook her hand. Hopping heel to heel, she readied herself for the start of the match.
-------------------------------------------------
Despite the fact that they were about to compete in a match that would no doubt be a heated and violent confrontation it seemed the fighters shared little to no hostility with each other, the two of them exchanging a friendly handshake as Ichika assured she wouldn't go easy on Ashley before calling her cute with a wink. Ashley was slightly taken aback by this, having another girl flirt with her was something that the blonde wasn't particularly used to but she would give Ichika a smile all the same "Uh... thanks! You uh... you seem nice too."
Soon after this friendly exchange was finished and the two women split up from each other the match would begin. Ashley would step in with her arms raised, challenging Ichika to a test of strength. As far as opening moves for a match goes it was pretty standard and not all that flashy, much like Ashley herself.
-------------------------------------------------
Rambunctious as she was in this match after the first one, she's dead serious about winning this tournament. She wouldn't let anything slip past her. She's here to claim the top and nothing else. And she'll squash anything that could impede her from doing that. Friendly and teasing as she was on the outside, she's scanning as much as she could from Ashley. Her eyes trailed from her foot and up, understanding her physique. Nothing too special, but her body has the complexion that could house lots of aces up her sleeve that could bite her if not careful enough.
She chuckled at the reply. "Not quite the teasing type, are you? Very well. Just show me what you got!"
Soon, Ashley extended an invitation for a lockup. But knowing full well that she's the smaller between the two, it might not be the best option for Ichika to accept that. So, she would bring her ace to the table - her speed!
She burst out of her corner in a raw display of explosive energy! The power behind every time she lunged a foot forward was significant, creating a wide berth between paces. All the while, her footsteps were light as a feather. Agility and speed. That's it!
Soon, her left foot would take the last step with a stomp. Her other leg folded by her knee, revving up as it weaved skyward. A roundhouse kick aimed for the chin with every bit of force behind it. But her intent was never meant to hit, no. Her plan relies on her foe seeing it coming to force them to dodge it. She would use the very same force to execute a full spin, she'd stoop low, shifting the kick downward for a surprise legsweep!
-------------------------------------------------
As the match began Ashley would step forward with her hands raised looking for a test of strength to start things off, but Ichika clearly had no interest in doing things Ashley's way so she would lunge forward and lash out with a roundhouse kick! But while the attack had come out quickly it was nothing the blonde hadn't been expecting so she would quite easily lean back to avoid it altogether.
Unfortunately for Ashley this was a part of Ichika's plan all along and she had played right into the bluenette's hands. Thinking the attack was over she had stepped forward to deliver an attack of her own, only for Ichika's leg to come back round in an arc and take Ashley's legs out from under her "Waaagh!!!" Ashley hit the mat with a thud, wincing in pain as her back slammed painfully onto the mat, the attack had not done enough damage to keep the blonde down for long but it was still likely that Ichika would take advantage of the time she had given herself to strike!
-------------------------------------------------
Feigning a roundhouse kick to do a leg sweep is one of Ichika's favorite openers. It uses speed and the element of surprise to negate any disadvantage she has earlier on. It also doesn't offer much for a counter-attack if met head-on. No choice but to dodge, lest risk having their head blown off their neck by the roundhouse kick. A kick that is potent and packed with all her force this early in the match.
The opening is almost synonymous with her as the crowd also knows it too well, cheering as she dashed towards Ashley. And like any other matches that start with this, it worked just as fine. The blonde was left wincing on the mat, open for attack.
And by all means, Ichika is going to take advantage of this. She started doing so by going far to the ropes. She'd throw her back on it, rearing to build momentum behind her strides. Using it as a springboard she'd dash towards the flank of Ashley. Legs kicking like steam engines, her paces were long and wide, to tread as much ground. Not more after two steps or three, she'd stomp, gearing her legs to a graceful backflip! She'd pierce through the air right above her foe, her shadow looming over their frame. Then just as she'd complete the flip, her legs would curl, knees jutted downward, punishing bones looking to spear their gut!
-------------------------------------------------
Even if Ashley knew about Ichika's classic opening gambit from the research she had done ahead of time it still did her little good, the feint roundhouse kick came at her far too fast for Ashley to ignore her instincts to avoid it. As a result she fell for the trick and was taken off her feet by the sweep, giving Ichika the first hit of the match.
But Ichika wasn't done there, she dashed off to the ropes and rebounded off of them to run by Ashley's side before taking off into a backflip. Ashley knew that if she let this move hit it was going to be devastating, but the time Ichika took to build up momentum gave Ashley the chance to recover slightly. She waited until Ichika had already taken to the air and couldn't change her course before Ashley threw her body to the side to roll out of the way "Sorry, it's not gonna be that easy!"
Assuming this worked Ashley would climb up to her feet and hopefully Ichika would still be down. If she was Ashley would attempt to haul her up to her feet and throw a knee strike at her abs to soften her up and hopefully leave her open to further punishment.
-------------------------------------------------
First blood struck, and Ichika was already pouncing for the follow-up!
Her first match chipped her badly, so there should be fewer mistakes this time. She knew that full well. "No screw-ups! I should finish this quick! I don't want to get bogged down again like the first time; the finals would be tougher! But let's not get ahead of ourselves, she got up to here so she must be tough too. Focus, Ichika! Focus!"
Those were the words swimming inside her mind as she ran towards the rope for a swell of momentum. Bouncing back, she saw Ashley still on the mat in pain and she was closing in fast! And so, she jumped! Graceful like a swan, a complete backflip, knees tucked in looking to impale!
But when she was about to execute it, she saw the mat blank. No target presented itself as Ashley weaved out of the way!
"Gahhhh-ahhh!" Ichika screamed out as it felt as though her knee caps were getting torn by the hit! Already damaged and weak, the raging pain numbered her strength! She quickly crumpled to the mats, clutching her knees, and folded it until it kissed her torso!
But Ashley wouldn't give her even the slightest reprieve from the pain, pulling her up to her feet! Ichika followed like a puppy, whimpering as pain nipped her limbs. Then, a knee strike shot. "UNGHHH!" It caught her defenseless, and bone dug into her soft, exposed flesh! She slumped! Eyes wetted, mouth agape, and tongue lolled out as she desperately sucked for air!
Then, she pulled away, pushing on their obliques to send her staggering backward. She needs space. A space to recover and breathe... and gain speed as she'd counter just as quick!
"I could say the same to you, Ashley!" She was determined, and she wouldn't let that move unanswered. So she charged, slumped still but with her shoulders jutted forward, looking to batter their stomach and send them flying to the mat again with a spear!
-------------------------------------------------
Thinking quickly and moving even quicker Ashley would manage to roll out of the way of Ichika's attack, leaving her crashing knee-first onto the mat with such impact that even Ashley winced in sympathy for her opponent. Though this sympathy would not stop Ashley from taking advantage of the poor girl's misfortune as she threw out a devastating knee-shot right to Ichika's abs, leaving the girl hunched over and gasping in pain.
To gain some space from the blonde Ichika would back off slightly, but the blonde was undeterred and stepped forward to begin to close the distance she had made. Given that the bluenette was hunched over already in the perfect position for a gutwrench Ashley had half a mind to to lift Ichika up for her signature Studley Bomber to really get the match off to an explosive start!
Before Ashley could make any moves though, signature or not, Ichika would recover much sooner than the blonde had expected her to and would spring forward and smash her shoulder into Ashley's abs "Guah!!!" Spit flew from Ashley's mouth as she was thrown back and down onto the mat, groaning in pain and coughing after Ichika had gotten revenge for Ashley's own punishment to her abs. In the immediate future she was in no condition to get Ichika off of her or put a stop to whatever the bluenette had in store for her.