The Third Step: Aizen Yuzuriha vs. WYVERN III

[BlackAkuma]

It was Aizen’s third? Maybe it's the fourth fight from last year. He remembered it well, right before he’d made the move in LAW. He was taking on a fighter from Thailand, a legit nak muay, and a skilled one at that, in a street fight which, funnily enough, didn’t take place in a street. It was in a forest, instead, some place far away from prying eyes. Small crowd, low stakes, but intimate. He always preferred fighting outdoors, in the fresh air. Felt more primal.

Regardless, he was reminded of that fight now, in particular the blow he’d taken in his spine about halfway through, the way it had made his body shut down for a second, the searing pain shooting through his body. He wasn’t unused to suffering, but that much was a new high, and he felt confident that WYVERN would have a similar reaction.

He was wrong.

Aizen learned just how wrong when WYVERN kept on plowing forward, despite his elbow being planted deep into her spine. Her bearhug was effective, far more than he would’ve expected from someone her, and she was relentless as she ground him against the steel. It was a good position, and simply hurting her wasn’t going to be enough to make her give it up.

But she needed to breathe. Surely. He figured it was as good a time as any to test that theory. Jerking to the side, he reached out, tried to pull her head under his arm, and attempted to secure a tight headlock, hoping to squeeze some of the fight out of her before she broke a rib.

”Grrkh!”

Another rib.

[Hills]

Wyvern had seen, beyond any shadow of a doubt, how skilled Aizen was. After everything she'd been through in their previous fights, she felt no shame admitting that the older fighter far surpassed her in pure skill. She needed to stay unpredictable if she wanted to take him down; the more the fight turned into a contest of strength and endurance, the more confident she was that she would win. Even so, she couldn't afford to let her guard down for even a second. A moment's lapse was all it had taken him to end their first battle, which was still among the bitterest memories she had of her career.

Her reckless charge had won her an advantage she had pressed, quite literally in this case, and she had been happy enough to take a few hits in the process. Aizen's precisely-aimed elbow strikes send tendrils of agony out through her nerves like the banks of river delta overflowing in a flood, but she could weather that particular storm. When she feels his arm move to coil around her neck, however, the Scarmaker releases Aizen and backs away, shoving off of the cage walls in her haste to disengage. Even if she could contest the attempt to choke her out, she wouldn't be able to maintain her dominant position with her arms elsewhere, and she didn't like her odds against Aizen in a grapple.

When Wyvern pushes away, however, she stumbles a bit; not enough to fall over, but perhaps enough of an opening for Aizen to exploit. The real danger to her isn't the moment of imbalance at all, though, but its cause: the unpleasant numbness that had spread through her limbs. Aizen's blows to her spine had left their mark after all. Blindly pushing ahead with her full strength was simple enough that the damage hadn't impeded her, but now she struggles to regain full control of herself!

"Tch..."

The frustrated click of her tongue is barely audible, but Aizen will no doubt recognize the significance Wyvern's hesitation as she shifts in place, desperate to do anything that might speed her recovery!

[BlackAkuma]

The amount of strength WYVERN had packed into her frame was insane - once the two of them were done and had figured this all out, he would really need to ask her what training regimen she used to achieve this level of power. His midsection was on fire, crushed into a fine pulp by her relentless squeezing, and he could already feel the bones giving way as the pressure increased, all off a simple bearhug. If it continued the way it was going, there was a real chance for serious damage.

Thankfully, it hadn't come to that, not yet, as he clamped down on her neck and started to squeeze. His gamble was that it would give her enough incentive to make her let go, and he wound up winning the bet - sure enough, she released him and gave his aching ribs a break. Aizen stumbled forward, gasping as oxygen refilled his lungs, but managed to keep it together. This wasn’t a match where he could afford to falter, not when he had a decent hand to play.

With WYVERN still secure, Aizen took a couple of steps forward and looked over his shoulder, measuring the distance, doing the math, and taking a moment to ensure he had the right positioning. He nodded, more to himself than anything, then ducked down and pulled his opponent arm over her shoulder. Time to take a ride.

He gritted his teeth, soldiering past the pain in his midsection, lifted WYVERN, and attempted to bring her up, over, and crashing into the steel cage with a vertical suplex.