Hunting the Dragon — Asuka Satō [D] versus Blair Yuen

[Ichi]

     The firm, impulse-like shock that propagated through Asuka's foot and up her shin before being dampened by rest of her body served as a tangible confirmation that her side teep had connected. Further affirmation came in the form of the hissing and coughing of air combined with the doubling over of her opponent. Such sensations evoked a sense of satisfaction in the caramel-haired beauty, and she could not help but manifest a fang-like smile on her lips. Asuka's dark-hazel eyes screamed 'bad intentions' while her curled mouth belied malicious enjoyment—it was a transient slip of her mask, but one that Blair would hopefully not catch a glimpse of given her hunched over position.
     Asuka allowed herself to savor the sensation of her toes stabbing into her victim's midsection. It was if her entire leg was a piercing pike and Blair had foolhardily charged right into it. In fact, Blair's reaction was more congruous with impalement than getting cleanly teeped, insofar as Blair seemed to get stuck in place rather than defensively recoil and backpedal. But, the fact that Blair did not back up could be construed as a subtle demonstration of the Little Dragon's fortitude

Earlier in this thread, I used the phrase 'little dragon' in lowercase and sometimes also italics. At those points, the narration was more focused on Asuka, so previous uses of the phrase tended to have more of a pejorative edge. In the most current usage, however, the tone was more respectful, thus 'Little Dragon' was capitalized.

, something that was initially difficult to see with Blair bent over in pain.
     However, Asuka in that moment was none the wiser. From experience, she knew that landing such a punishing teep usually created distance and induced openings. And, with her victim clearly hurt by the strike, catches and parries seemed unlikely to the caramel-haired beauty

In MMA and Muay Thai, catches and parries are two ways (among others) to defend against a teep. Asuka, having a more MMA-esque background, would expect those sorts of counters to a teep over more professional wrestling-esque counters.

. This feeling of momentary safety was even further exacerbated as Asuka saw Blair's legs begin to waver.
     The first inkling that something was amiss came a fraction of a beat later when Blair's arm shot into action, wrapping around Asuka's leg. Asuka immediately tried to slip her leg out of Blair's grasp, only to feel a forceful tension in her left knee and hip.
     "Ah—!" cried out Asuka, her eyes shooting wide. Self-preservation instincts let out a roar inside Asuka's mind, screaming at her to roll with the hold. Surprise had precluded conscious thought, but on a fundamental level, Asuka knew that trying to resist could tear her joints asunder.
     For once in the match, both women worked in unison rather than opposition. The torque of Blair's body coupled with Asuka's leg via the interface of Blair's arms and Asuka deftly shifted her weight to harmonize with the twisting, inducing a fleeting flourish. Both the skirt of Asuka's teal blue dress and her caramel-brown hair flared out like a vortex midair, splayed by the interplay of inertia and rotation.
     A sharp hiss left Asuka's lips as her back slammed against the mat with an audible thud, her arms being mere moments too late to help break the fall. Her head wanted to continue the downward trajectory, but a tucked chin and tensed neck muscles prevented Asuka's head from also impacting the canvas—a blow that would have almost surely left her dazed. But, even without that extra damage, what her opponent had pulled had an effect analogous to that of a physical jab insofar as it disrupted Asuka's mind for a brief moment. What had transpired blatantly flouted Asuka's intuition: the refusal to take even one step back and the insistence on counterattack in lieu of defense, all while suffering the pain of a punishing blow, ran contrary to how the vast majority would act. Asuka was used to her opponents backing off after such a blow.
     But Blair was different.
     A couple of blinks would wash over Asuka's eyes as her conscious mind played catch-up with the real-time events that had just unfolded. However, the tension of the match was like a rubber band, quickly snapping Asuka back to reality. It was impossible for Asuka to predict what Blair would have done during the brief opening, but Asuka was primed to try to defend—even if she might be disadvantaged from losing the initiative.

[CaptainL]

Perhaps Blair had been a bit foolhardy in her readiness to charge head-on against Asuka. Perhaps she wasn't taking this match as seriously as she could've. But then, how could she? The thought that she would actually need to put serious effort into beating up a supermodel who was just there to promote herself seemed almost as insulting as the fact she was in a match against a supermodel in the first place. Asuka was going to crumble under her first blow, and Blair just wanted to get that over with as soon as possible so that she could show everyone how ridiculous this entire circus was.

But when Blair came charging closer, and ran right into a carefully-timed thrust from her opponent's leg...that told her something was amiss. This wasn't the aimless flailing of a girl who didn't know what she was doing. Blair, with all her Muay Thai training, knew a teep when she saw one...and what was more, Asuka had actually thrown one with purpose. Could it be that, for all she had marketed her looks over her skills and all she had put spectacle on display over performance with her entrance, Asuka actually did know a thing or two about fighting? The thought almost chilled Blair straight to the bone. Was she making a mistake?

Regardless, she couldn't let that stop her now. The pain stabbing into Blair's gut hurt, but her pride hurt worse. She couldn't let this go unanswered - she couldn't fall behind for long! And fortunately enough, Asuka had given Blair a good opportunity to counter. Her leg was still lifted off the mat, and Blair could use that leverage to throw her off her balance. It wasn't a move she was as accustomed to, with her experience in wrestling being so new compared to her grounding in Muay Thai and MMA, but she did know what a dragon screw was. And it seemed to fit perfectly here!

Sure enough, when Blair swung Asuka into the ground, she seemed so blindsided by it that it had left her momentarily stunned. Blair looked up from the mat, tossing a few stray strands of hair out of her face with a swing of her head as she got onto her knees - but when she saw that Asuka was still reeling, she realized she couldn't let this opportunity go!

Springing forward, Blair went to land on Asuka's stomach with her knees first, pressing her weight down against her midsection. Then, she'd draw her fists back to unleash a barrage of punches left and right at Asuka's face while she was down. Once again, this wasn't something Blair was used to doing, favoring stand-up striking as she did. But she had plenty she wanted to get across to Asuka, and she wasn't going to wait for her to get back up to say it. And the thought of pounding her knuckles into the face of some stuck-up supermodel who clearly cared more about that than her fighting skills was far too satisfying.