Mirewyn Thornveil (D) vs Freezer Katakura - "Entwined in the Cold"

[DJPow]

Mirewyn was sure the match was firming back in her favor. Freezer had burned through most of her defensive options, and even her escapes were slowing down into instinct rather than strategy. The cloverleaf variant she’d been cranking on a moment ago had the Ice Queen chalk-white around the edges and trembling through the lower back and hamstrings, and for a brief second Mirewyn genuinely thought she had her.

Then came the rope break, fingertips grazing the bottom cable just in time to force the call. It wasn’t the finish she wanted, but it was close enough to taste, and close enough to frustrate. All she had to do now was put her opponent down for good, figuratively, and quite literally by driving her face-first into the canvas.

Except, Freezer didn't go.

She clamped onto the top rope in desperation, arms shaking and shoulders drawn tight, locking her frame in place and forcing Mirewyn to fall alone. The sudden drop whipped her flat onto her back with no partner to help bleed off the impact, and a sharp jolt shot up her spine and into her shoulders. She hissed through the burn and tried to sit up, but Freezer was already unhooking from the ropes and turning.

Mirewyn barely lifted her chin before the sprint resolved into flight. Freezer’s wounded rhythm turning into a vicious three-step staccato and then a launch. One long leg folded, then snapped outward into a piston, before the knee found her face flush.

It wasn’t a glancing shot. The crack of impact rang through the arena as Mirewyn’s head snapped sideways and bounced off the canvas, shoulders collapsing beneath her while her arms went slack. Sensation bloomed late and dirty across the cheekbone and along the bridge of her nose, her jaw buzzing as her tongue found the inside of her lip and the taste of copper seeped across her palate.

For several seconds her limbs refused to organize in any meaningful way. Her palms pressed against the mat barely able to generate lift, her body lagging behind the command to roll or guard or even just tuck. The crowd’s roar blurred into a broad, indistinct hum beneath the steady pounding in her head. Breathing came shallow and disjointed, not because she lacked lungs but because her nervous system was still trying to catch up to how abruptly the tables had once again turned!

[BlackAkuma]

While she was certain that it was less pleasant for Mirewyn than it was for her, that knee to the woman’s face hadn't been as one-sided as a casual observer might be led to think. For starters, Freezer had hit the woman with her bare knee. That might not have been a problem in normal circumstances, but tonight, she had opted to wear one of the outfit combinations she had that didn’t include kneepads, so ramming into Mirewyn’s skull was about as pleasant as hitting a steel pillar.

Then there was the toll her body had already taken. Mirewyn’s finisher was still having serious effects on her body, making her legs feel like jelly. She was going to need to give them serious rest time after this. Every step she took was agony, felt like pins and needles were stabbing her muscles, and she knew that, once this match was over and the adrenaline died down, she was going to collapse. She would be doing good if she made it to the parking lot.

But it was worth it. More than worth it.

The blow landed clean, a flush strike to the face, and it bowled Mirewyn over. As Freezer rolled away from the impact and spun about, she was greeted with the sight of her opponent laid out, stunned, utterly rocked. This was the best chance she would ever get.

Freezer pushed up to one knee, then slapped her thigh a few times to get the blood flowing properly, enough that she could stand up from there. She moved in on her opponent, reached down to seize her head, gripping that verdant hair tight as she forced the smaller woman to her feet.

One arm around Mirewyn’s head, in a front facelock. The other pulled the woman’s arm over her shoulder. All she wanted was a vertical suplex, the most basic of wrestling moves, something her body could execute despite nearly being broken several times in the past ten minutes. But as she gripped her foe tight and lifted her opponent off the canvas, the task proved more arduous than she’d expected - she was able to get Mirewyn up halfway before her strength started to fail, tipping her forward.

A little bit of improvisation, then. Instead of resisting the tipping, she went with it, and stepped forward even further, enough that Mirewyn’s chest came down on the top rope. She bounced off, and that bounce gave Freezer all the momentum she needed and a little more on top, as she brought her opponent up, over, and down onto the canvas, executing a Slingshot Suplex.

[DJPow]

The jaw of once dominant nymph now buzzed with pain, her cheek felt thick and hot, and for a brief moment she had trouble keeping her eyes aligned with the lights overhead. By the time Mirewyn slapped the mat and tried to push through the static in her limbs, Freezer was already stalking in, shaking life back into her battered legs and refusing to let the opening go to waste.

Fingers tangled in her hair and dragged her upright, forcing her to find her feet before her balance was anywhere close to recovered. The facelock came next, snug and compact, followed by the sweep of Mirewyn’s arm slung over her opponent’s shoulder. A textbook vertical suplex setup, and under any other circumstances Mirewyn would’ve been fighting the hips, dropping her stance, or anchoring a leg to kill the lift. Instead her feet left the canvas with little interruption, legs swinging up as the arena tilted backward around her.

But Freezer’s body wasn’t cooperating with its own ambitions. The lift stalled halfway, Mirewyn dangling with her weight suspended between them, until both women started to tilt forward. But Freezer was quick to correct. Their combined forward lean carried Mirewyn chest-first into the top rope, sternum compressing against the cable. The contact snapped her body back with a rude recoil, and Freezer used that borrowed momentum to finish what she’d started.

The world inverted before Mirewyn had even inhaled again. Her legs kicked up over Freezer’s shoulder as she was uprooted into a smooth slingshot suplex, body curling through a tight arc before gravity reclaimed her. The landing came flat and unforgiving, her back slapping the mat with a resonant thud that rippled up her spine and knocked a wet gasp out of her lungs. Shock radiated from her lower back through the ribs and into her shoulders, nerves firing off rapid, uncoordinated pulses as her thighs twitched against the canvas.

For a second she lay there with her chest rising in uneven bursts, the match spinning back into clarity while her muscles argued about what to do next. Her fingers flexed, touched the mat, and slipped when she tried to roll to a hip; her body simply wasn’t prepared to sequence an escape that fast, not after the rope rebound and the whiplash of the landing. Her eyes turned, blurred at first, then found focus somewhere between Freezer’s boots and the nearest turnbuckle. Even through the ache, through the humiliating sprawl, there was a glint in her gaze, irritation, hunger, and something almost appreciative at the audacity of pulling off that combination in her condition.

But appreciation didn’t change the immediate fact that Mirewyn was still grounded, still stunned, and very much at the mercy of whatever came next.

[BlackAkuma]

Though Freezer was the one who executed the move on Mirewyn, you could be forgiven for not knowing that if you’d tuned in the exact second after the impact.

The moment her body hit the canvas, the Ice Queen shot up into a sitting position and let out a shriek, as pain cascaded through her body. It wasn’t merely her legs, either, though that was certainly part of it. Her back and her arms, both of which had seen no shortage of damage throughout the bout, were protesting as well. Mirewyn's submission moves were like a poison, one that took effect long after the initial delivery, and all that damage was coming back on her, all at once.

Freezer could not do this for much longer. She needed to end it.

Hissing, seething, she turned about on the canvas to see Mirewyn laid out nearby, barely moving. Enough for a pinfall? Maybe. While she doubted it would be so easy, that move had hit well enough, so it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. At least, she had to try.

Gritting her teeth, Freezer spun about and crawled towards her opponent on hands and knees, moving as fast as her ailing body would allow. She threw her chest over Mirewyn’s, drew her leg in with one arm, and clutched her tight with the other, pressing their bodies tight. All the while, her lips found the woman’s neck and peppered it with cold kisses, slathering her with saliva.

The referee recognized it and moved in immediately to begin the count.

”1…!”