The Dragon and the Countess: Tianhuo [D] vs. Countess Dante

[ClockwerkSamurai12]

Tianhuo’s leg ends up getting caught before she’s thrown to the floor, but she manages to roll forward and jumps onto a nearby turnbuckle before preforming a front flip and unleashing her Volcanic Crash signature!

[CaptainL]

As she dragged Tianhuo to the mat, Isabella breathed out a sigh of relief. It looked as though she was in a dangerous situation with the Dragon's foot whirling toward her with devastating force, but at the last minute, she'd been able not only to halt the attack but to drag her opponent down with a dragon screw, bringing her to the canvas! That had, of course, been a carefully planned and meticulously plotted counter, which the Countess had honed over countless hours of study and contemplation, and not just a spur-of-the-moment reflex born on by luck. Yeah, she meant to do that!

What she didn't mean to do, however, was to leave herself open - but when she looked up, her jaw would drop in horror when she saw Tianhuo had rolled with the fall, propelling herself to a turnbuckle! Just when she thought she was in the clear, Isabella was only beset with greater danger! This time, she wouldn't have the chance to counter. The sight of Tianhuo so effortlessly tossing herself through the air was enough to make her face go pale, and in that moment, she was frozen in shock just long enough for the monk to grab her head between her legs and whip her to the mat with a hurricanrana! Isabella came crashing down hard, dropping onto her face with a groan and grabbing at her aching head - and Tianhuo's well-practiced acrobatics could only draw an even louder cheer from the fans!

[ClockwerkSamurai12]

Tianhuo: Don’t tell me that’s all of the strength you can muster!

[CaptainL]

Isabella had gone down againt Tianhuo's display of overwhelming force. Her head had absorbed the brunt of the impact, causing her vision to go fuzzy and a pounding sensation to take over her temples as a dull ache ran through her skull. If Tianhuo wanted to, she could surely capitalize on this moment - Isabella was stunned and vulnerable, a ripe target for her opponent to move in for the kill. But Tianhuo didn't do that. Instead, she took a step back, taunting the Countess - urging her to fight back, and casting doubts on if she really had the guts to do so! Little did Tianhuo know, that would embolden Isabella more than ever. Countess Dante liked to think she was tough. But when her opponents, her critics, and the rest of the world were casting doubts on how capable she really was, she was all the more determined to prove them wrong! She believed every bit of her self-proclaimed status as the Deadliest Woman Alive - if anyone doubted that, it was up to her to set the matter straight!

Her eyes narrowing on her opponent, Isabella locked a glare on Tianhuo, and her face turned to a scowl as her back went stiff and straight. "WHAT!?" she roared, barking out with a voice that seemed deeper than she should've been able to pull off naturally. "You haven't even witnessed the power of my PINKY FINGER!!"

Dead-set on backing up her boasts, Isabella sucked in a breath and kipped back up, forcing her way to her feet! With her eyes locked onto Tianhuo, she would propel herself closer with a few lunges, and as she got close, she would try and hurl an elbow right into the Dragon's sternum!

[ClockwerkSamurai12]

Tianhuo would return the glare before deciding to unleash her Volcanic Ash signature to stop the countess from hitting her chest.

[CaptainL]

Isabella was angry. Whenever she stepped in the ring, she was out to make a statement - she was here to prove the natural supremacy of the Black Dragon Fighting Society and its mastery of the arts of death and destruction! Tianhuo would set an example - if she could defeat even the most devoted of monks, who had devoted their entire lives to the martial arts, it would be the perfect illustration of her prowess. And yet, nothing she tried even seemed to get through to Tianhuo. She was making her look like an inept fool, and worst of all was how the fans had taken her side, cheering for her while they only greeted the Countess with laughter and mockery. She had had enough of this. She needed to make a stand! And when she stormed toward Tianhuo, she was about to channel all of that anger into her retaliating blow, to show that she really could best her!

Unfortunately for Isabella, she was so blinded by anger that she had given Tianhuo a perfect opening to counter. All she was focused on was hitting the Dragon back, to take back her dignity and to say that she could - but just as she came near, Tianhuo intercepted her with an axe kick! Not only did it halt Isabella's advance in its tracks, it also sent her stumbling backward, coughing and sputtering. Her balance teetered as she tried to stabilize herself, teetering back on one foot, and even if she was able to push herself back up to her feet before she could fall, she was greeted by a fair few laughs in the process - something that only incensed her even further! Clenching her fists and stomping a foot on the ground, all the Countess could think about now was how she couldn't let Tianhuo keep mocking her like this!

"...that...DIDN'T COUNT!" she barked angrily. If that hadn't worked, she would just need to do better the next time! Once again, she took off running toward Tianhuo, prepared to throw another elbow strike at her. She still wasn't doing much to feint, or varying up her approach, but at least she was moving faster this time, hopefully faster than her foe could react to. She just wanted Tianhuo hurt; it didn't matter how!

[ClockwerkSamurai12]

Tianhuo: How did that not count? You were disoriented from my attack! (She blocks the incoming elbow strike before backing up and preforming her Volcanic Dash signature) WACHA!!!

[CaptainL]

Isabella was getting angry. After it seemed as though Tianhuo was going to shrug off everything she threw at her, like it meant nothing - like everything she had set out to do, and to prove, was just a worthless waste of her time - she was desperate to take back her own dignity, and prove that she was the one who truly deserved to dominate the competition. The very fact that Tianhuo was faring as well as she was was a refutation of everything the Countess held true about herself, and she wouldn't dare to let her get away with making such a case. She was determined to shut her up, any way she could! But unfortunately, that would mean she had grown too obvious, and too predictable. When she'd thrown all subtelty and strategy out the window, Tianhuo was able to anticipate what she would do. And when that happened, she would already be prepared!

Just as Isabella was about to strike out with her elbow again, Tianhuo once again managed to block it - and the Countess's eyes narrowed into a glare. When she heard Tianhuo refuting her points, it just made her grit her teeth, trembling with rage. Everything Tianhuo had just said was true, yes, but Isabella didn't want to acknowledge it. If she had made such a mistake, then she wasn't really the perfect fighter. She wasn't really the Deadliest Woman Alive. And she could never accept such a thing!

"W-What!?" she barked, even as her eyelid twitched anxiously. "N-No I wasn't-! See, I was just...uh..!" Isabella stalled, her body shaking as she remained right where she was, in Tianhuo's grasp. And because of that, she was lined up perfectly for the Dragon's next strike. When Tianhuo stepped back from her, drawing back her fist to prepare what looked like a spinning punch, Isabella froze, her whole body going rigid as she prepared to act. She saw the fist coming near, and she leaned back out of its way...but she realized it too late that that was just a feint. Tianhuo's blow stopped just short of its mark, with the Countess halfway bent over backward - and her other fist flung into Dante's chest from close range!

"GAH-!!" Even from such close quarters, Tianhuo had packed a lot of force into her punch, and when Isabella was already leaning back, her center of balance had already been compromised! This time, her feet kicked up from the ground as she took the brunt of the blow to her sternum. She flew backward, landing flat on her back, and tumbled over a few times, going rolling away from her foe. When she came to the center of the ring, her arms and legs flopped limp around her, and she stared up at the lights, slack-jawed and groaning.

[ClockwerkSamurai12]

Tianhuo: A match well fought, but not well enough..

[CaptainL]

Isabella was sore all over. She could still feel a throbbing pain in the center of her chest, and her limbs had gone numb. She twitched and struggled in an attempt to rise, but every time she thought she'd found the strength, it failed her, and she fell back down. But what was worst of all, even worse than any pain in her body, was the knowledge of how she looked right now. Compared to Tianhuo, Isabella seemed like a joke. She was weak, limp, vulnerable, and too powerless to even get back up - even when she fought back, every attempt she'd made had, if anything, just given the monk more ammunition to throw back at her. She'd come here to prove herself, and instead, she was looking like she was all talk!

The Countess heard the disdain in Tianhuo's voice, and it made her eyelid twitch nervously as she took a few haggard breaths. Her head was spinning, and just trying to move felt like she was fighting against a weight pressing down against her - but she couldn't let that stop her. She had to prove her opponent wrong! Slowly and stiffly, she rolled back up onto her side, shaking the cobwebs out of her head. But when she looked back at Tianhuo over her shoulder, her eye narrowed in the best glare of defiance she could muster.

"Nngh, I...can still fight-!" she shouted back, even if her voice was hoarser than she would've liked. She pushed herself back up to a wobbly footing, spreading her legs apart to brace herself with her stance. Every muscle ached as she tried to settle into position - but when she locked eyes on Tianhuo, she would clench her fist tighter. Her other hand covered that fist. She still had a plan. She didn't feel like charging the Dragon head-on - but if Tianhuo came to her, she would have a secret weapon at the ready!