Yuki Kazikura vs. Satsuki Hayano - POW Match

[FreestylePoet]

This time, her words weren't meant to intimidate Yuki. Though a psychological edge was useful, Satsuki was no longer trying to build one. She was trying to buy herself time. She'd had quite the commanding lead in this match, and all of a sudden the tables were turned. Satsuki's hold was reversed, her knee was strained, and her offense was limited. Standing still like this, words were all she had to make Yuki hesitate. But this time, they seemed to have the opposite effect. When Yuki grit her teeth and launched off the ropes, she bounded forward with a determined speed!

Satsuki didn't want to see what would happen next. Acting on instinct, she tensed her left thigh, pressing the corresponding foot on the ground. But before launching off the canvas to meet Yuki in its center, she stopped. Could she generate as much power as she wanted with her wounded leg? Would it even meet the demand for balance posed by such a movement? No, it would be better to stand her ground, even as Yuki leapt to attack.

Instead, she swung that leg, pivoting on her stronger foot to send the other hurtling towards Yuki! The kick was another sudden counter, just like she'd used throughout the match. Still, Satsuki's knee screamed in protest the entire time, and this kick came out markedly slower than the others. Slow enough for Yuki to effortlessly fly through her guard and slam both knees into Satsuki's body!

"GUH!" Satsuki flew back, stumbling to the ropes before catching herself on them. "Rrgh..." Now it was her turn to give the top rope a white-knuckled grip. She grit her teeth. Having her back against the wall didn't anger her. In fact, it typically invigorated her. But with her knee in such a state, she was helpless to fight back against Yuki's onslaught. Nobody rendered the Queen of Clubs helpless.

"RRRAH!" With a snarl, she pushed off the bottom rope with her leg, hurtling right back towards Yuki! It took a brief limping stumble for Satsuki to realize that she'd set off without a plan. Even with her bad leg impeding her charge, she still raised her arm, settling into a lariat!

[CaptainL]

When Yuki threw herself into motion, catapulting herself straight across the ring with her knees extended and ready to make impact, she had already committed to her next move. There was no turning back now. She squeezed her eyes shut and lowered her head, letting herself fall into the rush of her momentum, the sensation of the air whipping around her face and her body as she went flying. Even now, Satsuki had seen the charge coming. She had swung up with her leg, hoping that she might be able to catch Yuki before she crashed into her - perhaps even counter her move in turning her momentum back on her. If Satsuki's counter worked, Yuki would have no way of stopping it. But the Queen of Clubs was just a split-second too slow. Yuki's knees struck her in the ribs, throwing her backward as she landed against the ropes!

No sooner had her blow landed that Yuki fell to the canvas, landing in a three-point stance with her hand bracing herself against the mat. She took in a few deep breaths, filling the air back in her lungs as she collected herself. Then, though, she straightened herself, sitting back up and settling a determined glare on her opponent. So far, it was working - she was standing up to her foe, even through all the doubts and hesitations she might have had. She had no reason to stop now!

Emboldened by her successes with newfound strength, Yuki pushed herself back to her feet, looking over at Satsuki as the pink-haired woman was closing in on her. She was growing desperate too, Yuki realized - she was throwing everything into this charge, hurling every move in her arsenal against the wall and hoping against all hope that something would stick. But this time, it was Yuki who put her in such a predicament. She nodded slightly to herself, feeling the confidence swell in her chest. She could do this! She had managed to make Satsuki fear her enough to put everything into putting her down - and that thought made her feel powerful!

It wasn't lost on Yuki that Satsuki was limping. The damage to her knee was still holding her back, and it left her gait stiff and stilted even as she closed in. That gave Yuki that much more precious time with which to make her move. Satsuki was poised to land a hit on her with the lariat - but just then, Yuki reached out to grab her by the arm, hoping to halt her in her tracks! If that worked, she would swing out with her other arm, looking to catch Satsuki across the jaw with an elbow! And, if she could successfully stun her, she would turn on her heel, pulling on her arm to fling her toward the ropes with an Irish whip!

[FreestylePoet]

She should have been thrilled. After all, Satsuki lived for moments like this. These half-second vignettes were the margins upon which close bouts were won or lost. Even so, the familiar thrum of adrenaline in her veins wasn't there. Instead, all she could feel was frustration. She'd been stupid, and now she was paying the price. As best as she could tell, her leg didn't have any structural damage, but in a way that made it worse. Satsuki wanted to throw herself into the fray, and she probably could with no problems. But the screaming of her knee -- great pain, but only that -- didn't let her. It was a kind of cowardice unbefitting the Queen of Clubs.

Nor did it fit the moment, as she was a step too slow to land her lariat. When Yuki simply caught the blow, Satsuki raised a bewildered brow. That puzzlement was then slammed off her face by a swift elbow! With her free arm, Satsuki took a moment to wipe the spittle from her chin, but that was all she had. Her center of gravity was tugged out of orbit, and Satsuki found herself whipped towards the ropes!

She stumbled, her bum knee groaning with every other step. The momentum spun Satsuki's momentum, and eventually an awkwardly-angled step caused her to fall towards the side of the ring.

"Gakh-!" Satsuki fell neck-first into the bottom rope! Immediately, she bounced off the slack cable, and by the time she fell back down, her hands were already around her throat. The cord's harsh imprint left itself on her kinked trachea, and Satsuki found herself at a loss for breath. Knee, abs, chin, throat. All were on fire, and it was a blaze that spread across her entire field of vision. Distantly, the crowd roared their approval of a fan-favorite's comeback. With a pained scowl, Satsuki planted her hands on the ring apron. Once more, the Queen of Clubs willed herself to move, to push herself up and get back in this fight.

And once more, she failed...

[CaptainL]

Whether or not Satsuki's knee had been seriously damaged didn't matter. The soreness in her leg was all Yuki needed. It meant she was lagging a few split-seconds behind, and Yuki had been in enough matches to know that even those few split-seconds could be the difference between victory and defeat. The course of history could be altered in the blink of an eye. And Yuki would be the one to alter history! She saw what Satsuki was about to do to her, and she knew her arm would lash out as soon as she was in range. But when it did, Yuki had already raised her hand to catch it. Every little motion went off like clockwork, following each that came before it with a well-practiced grace. She threw her elbow outward as soon as Satsuki's arm fell into her grip. And a moment after her elbow landed, Yuki turned to the side, slinging Satsuki straight into the ropes!

There, she fell, face-first into the cables, and with her throat bouncing off the bottom rope. For a second, Yuki went tense, sucking in a breath at the sight of Satsuki's fingers coiled around her neck - much as hers had been around her own, when Skylar's belt was all but wringing the life out of her. She lingered, bent forward for a run with one foot ahead of the other. But she shook that thought out of her head. She couldn't lose track now. The crowd was counting on her. This was her chance, and she needed to take it!

Yuki took off running, even as Satsuki was struggling to get up. She pushed herself back up, only to slip again. But Yuki didn't give a care to what she was doing. No, all that mattered was what she would do - and how Satsuki was right in her path! As she reached the ropes, Yuki jumped forward, going to grab at them with her hands. The momentum carried her around in an arc, and as she completed her rotation she drove her knees right into Satsuki's back for a 619!

[FreestylePoet]

Satsuki gasped, the shuddering breath enough to scratch her throat further. Her palms laid on the outside of the ring, but every time she dared flex her arms, she was met by a fire in her lungs and a daze in her head. The roar of the crowd was dull against the bass of blood rushing in her ears. Why couldn't she move? After so much back-and-forth, this was her undoing? A half-hearted hold, a glancing blow to the chin, and of all things, an Irish Whip?

Just then, a yellow streak blurred in her peripheral vision. Satsuki only had time to widen her eyes before both of Yuki's knees slammed into her! One crushed the nape of her neck, and the other cracked into the top of her skull. The dual blows pushed her forward so that her midsection was suspended upon the bottom rope. If she could have yelped at the two bony impacts, she likely would have despite herself.

But she couldn't, because her body had forced a different reaction entirely upon her. Something less than darkness covered her vision, and every ounce of awareness left her. For the crowd, the exact moment it happened would be lost to myth, but enough was there to demonstrate the effect that Yuki's blows had dealt to Satsuki:

Her eyes suddenly glazed over. Her mouth and jaw went slack. Her arms fenced out unnaturally, vibrating for a moment before falling limp.

And then the rest of her followed. Satsuki Hayano slumped to the apron. Dead to the world.

[CaptainL]

The momentum of Yuki's charge was enough to carry her through her swing, continuing straight into the motion that whipped her body around in an arc and delivered a powerful blow against her opponent. She felt the thud of her knees colliding with Satsuki, and she was thrown forward, leaving her hanging over the ropes. Without her body in the way to block her movement, Yuki completed her revolution, swinging herself back into the ring. Her feet found the surface of the mat beneath her, and she straightened herself back up. For a moment, she leaned against the ropes, catching her breath and wiping some sweat-slick hair away from her eyes. All around her, the crowd was cheering - it seemed as though Yuki had proved her worthiness to stand in the ring; she had landed a glancing blow against her opponent, and perhaps it was even enough to take her down!

Her gaze wandered downward, settling on Satsuki as she slumped over the ropes and settled on the apron. A little bit longer, and she had slipped off that, coming to rest on the floor. Yuki's hands tightened around the ropes as her eyes widened, her attention trained on the gambler's crumpled form. Satsuki wasn't moving. She was only taking slow and shallow breaths. By all accounts, she had been knocked out - but she was out of the ring, where it wouldn't count! It was just up to her to collect herself before time ran out - but the question was, would she make it?

"One! Two!" the ref called. Yuki leaned further over the ropes, her eyes never leaving Satsuki, who barely even budged. Could this be it? Had she won? She saw no signs that her opponent was in any shape to get back up - and yet, she couldn't be so sure she wouldn't have something up her sleeve!

[FreestylePoet]

"Three…! Four…! Five…!"

Save for the counting of the official, Korakuen Hall was silent for the first time all night. First, it was astonishment. Shock at what the jumbotron showed them: Satsuki Hayano, the fearsome Queen of Clubs… Knocked out on the apron. Her consciousness snuffed out like a candle, her drool pooling at the edge of the canvas.

"Six…! Seven…!"

Then it was cautious relief. Breaths that were just gasped out were now held across the arena. Just as fast as it had come, the brutal onslaught against a people's champion had ended – at the hands of a sudden comeback by said heroine, no less. At least, that was what they wanted to believe. That hope was palpable, and it stretched far beyond the walls of this stadium. Surely the record-breaking crowds around the world were glued to their screens, silently urging the referee to damn her showmanship and count faster.

"Eight…!"

Perhaps at the tenth count they would cheer. That pent-up anxiety would fuel their celebration, and the referee who'd just shooed Yuki to the far side of the ring would cede the floor to her. The canvas would become her winner's circle, and Satsuki herself would become her prize. In an instant, the arduous road to get here would be forgotten in favor of the woman who stood at the end of it. Yuki would be back.

"Ni-"

Suddenly, Satsuki grabbed the referee's wrist, and bated breaths cried out in disbelief. It was not to be. The Queen of Clubs threw it aside, scowling at that which almost ended her night. With a struggle, she finally pushed herself up! One shaky boot planted itself on the apron, and assisted by the other knee, it brought Satsuki to her feet. Murmurs cascaded through the stands as, with a vested interest in continuing the match, the referee stood aside to see if she could. Entering the ring was Satsuki's way of answering that call, and when she did so, the room drew cold with chilled blood.

Satsuki paced to and from the near corner, limping and grinding her jaw the whole time. The last thing she remembered was Yuki's half-arc through the ropes. The next time she opened her eyes, they couldn't even focus on the ring floor in front of her. Now she was walking back and forth, still clearly wounded. Then, suddenly, she stopped. Shudders coursed through her body. They grew into spasms, then shakes, then a full blown fit, until-

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

Satsuki laughed. Finally, something worth waiting all this time for. What a rush! Yuki had pushed her to the brink of defeat – even past it, if not for the match rules! Was this not what a fight was all about? "Heeheehee~!" As her giddy cackles filled the arena, all the damage she'd sustained over this match seemed to melt away. Satsuki shook out her leg before standing straight, as it had never been bent at all. Her posture betrayed no weakness in her core or throat either. And when she turned to face Yuki, hers was a visage of a woman more energized by her opponent's effort than hurt. Her eyes were lit with mania, her impish smirk bordered on obsessive, and when she finally opened her mouth, her voice came out in a familiar drawl.

"Bra-vo."

[CaptainL]

Her hands poised on the ropes, Yuki began to lean forward over the edge of the ring, her eyes trained on Satsuki's beaten form slumped below. As she studied the way she lay, the way her body fell flat, her eyes narrowed in. Her heart was pumping with anticipation; each count the referee made would bring the match one step closer to its conclusion. As the numbers grew higher and higher, it was looking more and more as though Yuki's victory was assurred. But, at the same time...she couldn't be sure. She knew all too well that any celebrations now would be premature. Satsuki had proven herself to be an opponent who was full of surprises, unpredictable in everything she did, and leaving Yuki guessing at every turn. The girl's stomach began to tighten, and as the referee raised a hand for a ninth time, she leaned in closer still, biting at her lip. Her heart jumped in her chest. Was this it? Had she really hit Satsuki so hard as to take her out entirely?

But it was just then that Satsuki proved that everyone's fears - Yuki's in particular - were well founded. From what seemed like a trance, the pink-haired woman shot her arm up in the air, grabbing hold of the ref's wrist! At the sight of it, Yuki's jaw dropped. She knew that such a thing was possible, yes. She knew Satsuki was as tough as she was wily, and had eluded her more than once before. But it had seemed as though she was so close, and that Satsuki was down for so long, that such a miraculous comeback wouldn't be possible - up until the moment it was staring her in the face!

After the initial shock passed, Yuki was left to watch Satsuki as she limped and plodded her way toward the ring. As she watched each move, she began to realize what was going on. Satsuki was still hit hard. She wasn't out, but she had taken some serious damage. She began to stop and shake, her body wracked with convulsions. Yuki wondered if she was still going to make it back to the ring - or if she was so hurt that her body was going to give out now. Maybe, she still had a chance. She let out a breath, the tension in her body flowing out with her exhale.

But the next move out of Satsuki took those hopes and crushed them. Satsuki might have been hurt - but it wasn't holding her back at all! She wasn't whimpering in pain, or nursing her broken body; no, she was laughing! The cackle escaping her throat as she threw back her head sent a shiver down Yuki's spine, and her irises began to constrict down as she stared back at her opponent. In an instant, Yuki had seen that Satsuki was so much more than she'd let on. Even after all she'd done to her, she wasn't slowing down. And now, her sights were on Yuki - who, against a foe so implacable, could only freeze in terror, awaiting whatever was in store for her! She knew she had to do something, but like a deer caught in the headlights, she couldn't. Her muscles were paralyzed, her stance rigid, and all she could do was wait for the inevitable.

[FreestylePoet]

Be still, her beating heart! Every blow she took was ambrosia, filling her veins with thrill that fueled her. Of course, Satsuki wouldn't have expected any less from the Dynamite Schoolgirl, the former Number One Contender, a prodigy amongst prodigies! "Heehee...!" The last dregs of giddiness came as puffs from her lips, and it took everything Satsuki had to restrain herself from falling back into conniptions.

Satsuki snorted and rubbed a tear from the corner of her eye. She looked at Yuki, swiping her tongue across the gleaming top row of her teeth. Now this fight could get started again in earnest -- or at least, that was what the pinkette hoped. Instead, Yuki was standing stock-still. White as a ghost, and staring wide-eyed as if she'd seen one.

The Queen of Clubs cocked her head, not unlike an owl in the way her piercing gaze slowly tilted without wavering. Her mouth fell into a small, neutral O. "Huh." She would have expected Yuki to press the advantage offered by Satsuki's outburst. Yet there she was, not 3 meters away. A curious riddle. "What's that look? Surprised? Well, I am too. Surely a champion's best should be able to put down a newcomer like me, right?" Her lips curled into a devilish sneer, punctuating the implications of her taunt. She let that image sear into Yuki's mind for but a single beat.

And then she ran! Taking off full speed in a way that her standing repose should have made impossible. In a flash, she was on Yuki. She leapt, and a pink tornado whirled through the air. The first kick landed at Yuki's hip, and the second followed soon after, aimed to graze just across Yuki's face! As she landed into a crouch, Satsuki threw a palm strike to the inside of Yuki's once-injured knee to buckle her. "Hiiiyah!" With a final grunt of effort, she stood up, delivering an uppercut palm strike right into Yuki's throat!

[CaptainL]

Yuki's heart was pounding too, but for different reasons entirely. Satsuki was proving a fearsome foe indeed - and nothing that the brunette threw at her seemed to stick. She'd been thrown out of the ring, she'd nearly been counted out, but she had managed to shrug it off and storm the ring as though it had never happened! The more this match went on, the more questions Yuki had - just what was she dealing with in Satsuki? Could anything faze her? Would she ever stay down? And more importantly - was she supposed to be struggling this much?

That last question stuck in Yuki's mind. And if that wasn't enough, the next few words out of the gambler's mouth were enough to sear it directly into her soul. Yuki froze in her tracks, standing as still and as stiff as a statue as she looked up at her opponent with a wide-eyed stare. It was true - Yuki had come to LAW riding a wave. She had been the first woman to challenge for the Lightweight Championship, and she had put up a respectable fight against Aoi Fukiwara. Even against Rose Gold, she had lasted her own. She'd headlined shows in high-profile match after high-profile match. And yet, no matter how hard she tried, it never seemed to take her far enough. She'd always come just short of victory, no matter the effort she put in. And now, she couldn't even stand up to a newcomer to the promotion. Satsuki had just joined LAW, and already, had she completely surpassed Yuki? Could Yuki even keep up?

Yuki had been lost in her thoughts, but even if she had been on top of everything, the lightning-fast speed with which Satsuki launched herself toward her on a dime would have still caught her completely off-guard. Her mouth dangled open in a gasp as Satsuki came barreling toward her at top speeds. Yuki attempted to bend back, to turn aside, to raise her arms to block, but Satsuki was moving with all the force of a speeding train - and against it, Yuki's defenses would be about as good as they would be against the real thing. Suddenly, Satsuki swung her legs out, flinging herself through the air like a frisbee - and Yuki was right in its way!

The first kick landed against her side, causing her to double over forward with a cough as she stumbled to her side. Only a few scant seconds later, Satsuki shot a kick into her face that caused Yuki to bend back upward, her back arching inward to brace against the force of the blow. Her head cracked back and she cried out in pain - but it was what came next, as Satsuki drove a palm strike upward into her throat, that truly took Yuki down! Her balance was already compromised, but this strike sent her off her feet, her legs kicking straight up into the air as she was flung to her back and went tumbling head over heels a few turns before going flat on her back, her arms and legs splayed around her.