The Young Lioness Cup, Opening Round: Tanner del Rio vs. Hikari Morizumi

[CaptainL]

Standard Match: Victory by pinfall, submission, or knockout. The winner of the match will recieve 2 points in the Young Lioness Cup.

Tanner del Rio

Hikari Morizumi

[FreestylePoet]

You'd think a literal circus freak would be pretty hard to weird out. But apparently, the madhouse that was the Young Lioness Program didn't get the memo. Skeletons, soccer players, artists, chefs, and casual nudists roamed the halls. Most of them had gotten on her nerves at one point or another, but her first opponent in the Young Lioness Cup, Hikari Morizumi, was considerably less annoying than the rest. Not to mention one of the more normal ones in the joint, which was saying something given that she was literally just Ponytail Rapunzel.

Truth be told, she didn't really care about the shiny trophy they'd made for this little shindig. At least not for the sake of the trophy itself. When (not if) she won it, it'd be a testament to a fact she already knew: That she was a bona-fide ass-kicker. And that was really what she was after. Poundin' face and takin' names. She'd sparred against some of the others over the past month or so, but this was the first time they were gonna be able to go full-speed on each other.

And that was exciting as hell.

Now, maybe Tanner didn't give a rat's ass about the trophy, but the crowds? Those were a whole different story altogether. She'd been putting on shows her entire life. Hearing a raucous crowd -- cheering, booing, laughing, crying, whatever because of her -- was something that never failed to get her blood boiling.

Plus, she was one of the few Young Lionesses with any real wrestling experience, courtesy of the reality show she'd been cast in. So it was a no-brainer to put her in front of one of the biggest crowds that LAW had ever seen. As one of the first matches of the Young Lioness Cup, her match was placed onto the undercard of We Are LAW 5 -- a chance she wasn't gonna let go unused.

So, of course, she came out to her entrance music... skipped conveniently to the fastest, most technically sound rap verse of the whole track. Tanner hopped onto the entrance ramp, delivering the fastest verse in rap without breaking a sweat or missing a word. When she was done, she flung the microphone into the crowd!

"WE ARE LAW!!!" Tanner bellowed. "WHAT DA HELL IS UP?!?" She threw a quick fist pump to the crowd before snarling, giving them an up-close-and-personal view of her sharp pearly whites! Then she stepped into the ring, slipping between the ropes before giving similar pumps to each of the four sides.

Finally, she settled into her corner and got ready to meet Hikari in the ring. "Alright. Time to see what ol' Beyblade has in store for me..."

[The Riders]

Backstage Osamu is speaking to her daughter and giving her some last-minute advice.

' Remember, hit hard and hit fast alright, your opponent tonight is going to be quick and slippery so focus on your grappling skill before going for your finisher alright?.' She says looking at her daughter, who is nodding her head while twirling her braid with her hand.

'Alright, mom... Wish me luck out there and I see you after the match.' Hikari says as she heads out on stage with her music playing.

Walking out on stage twirling her braid in her hand, while flexing with her other arm out getting a loud pop from the crowd. As she makes her way down the ramp that big grin on her face sees her opponent waiting for her in the ring.

Sliding between the middle ropes and doing what she has always done... She starts to wind up her right arm in a circular motion while facing her opponent.

'Let's have a good fight alright. Can't wait to see how you hold up against my moves...' Hikari says while waiting for the bell to ring.

[FreestylePoet]

Tanner continued to bask in the expectant atmosphere of the crowd. They'd seen a number of amazing matches tonight, watched plenty of chicks beat the absolute stuffing out of each other. But Tanner was determined to top all of it -- to get the Young Lioness Cup and her professional career started with a bang. So when Hikari swung between the ropes and met her in the ring, all Tanner could think of was all the ways she'd use this girl to do that.

"Yo, don't take this the wrong way," she told Hikari, approaching her in the center of the ring. "But I'm gonna make you look dumb in front'a all these people. How's that sound?" With a cheeky grin and a nod, she offered her hand for a pre-match handshake.

If Hikari was naive enough to accept the handshake after such an ominous warning, Tanner would take a step back, then yank Hikari right back towards her -- and face-first into her suddenly-outstretched foot for a modified superkick! Then she let go, allowing Hikari to flop to the mat as she turned to the referee.

"Ring the bell, shithead!" she demanded.

DING DING DING!

[The Riders]

Hikari would smirk hearing her opponent talking about trying to make her look dumb in front of the crowd, brushing her hair to the side with a humph like noise as she shakes her head and rolls her eyes at Tanner.

Seeing the smaller woman make her way to the center of the ring, still talking trash in her face for good measure, but at this point she is close to losing her temper and smacking the woman in the mouth for those rude comments about her right now. But she is fine seeing the woman holding her hand out for a handshake, shrugging her shoulders since maybe the woman is just doing this all for the crowd and such, so maybe she is not that bad at all.

Reaching out and taking Tanner hand in her own 'So you're not that bad at... AAAHHH' before she can even finish speaking, she is yanked forwarded and kicked right in the face that sends her stumbling backwards after her opponent let go of her hand. Slamming to the canvas on her back holding her chin... shock on her face at the dirty cheap move... but more upset that the woman would do something like this at the start of the match.

[FreestylePoet]

Sure enough, the chick fell for it! Tanner's boot slammed right into Hikari's face and sent her sprawling all goofy-like onto the mat! "Heh..." Tanner sneered at her fallen foe, sauntering over with menace in her eyes. "What'd I tell ya? Not gonna lie, y'look real dumb right now."

Her actions hardly earned her any cred with the crowd. They booed the use of such an underhanded tactic in a rookie tournament! Still, love her or hate her, the only thing that mattered in the circus was getting the crowd on their feet! And such a brazen first strike had served to do exactly that -- as would her second, if it proved effective!

Tanner stalked towards her supine foe until she was standing right over her. Her shoulder rolled in wide circles as she licked between her own sharpened teeth. "Don't worry. I'll get this over with real quick for ya, Rapunzel." Then she leapt up high, elbow pointed straight down at her foe for what appeared to be a wicked elbow drop!

[The Riders]

Hikari would be starting up looking at the lights above her head. She would mentally be smacking herself for allowing such a cheap shot to land, or worse letting her opponent get the jump on her before the bell even rung.

She could even hear her mother telling her off inside of her head 'really Hikari you allowed your naive nature to get you into trouble again..' That is something her mother would say to her right now if she was at ringside... Thankfully, she is not since she told her mother she will do it on her own, tonight.

'Uughhh' Hikari coughs out feeling an elbow slam into her stomach, her limbs flopping up into the air before falling back onto the canvas. Holding her stomach with her hand, being stunned and not able to get going due to Tanner's dirty cheap shot.

[FreestylePoet]

Tanner's elbow found purchase within Hikari's gut, sending the long-haired woman into conniptions on the canvas! She propped herself up on one knee, gesturing widely to the crowd with a sharp-toothed smirk. "Who wants to learn how to wrassle a gator from a real-life circus freak?!?" The crowd roared their approval -- because of course they did! Tanner knew how to work a crowd, and she was just frickin' awesome too. Even -- no, especially while caving some chick's head in.

"Awright! It's real easy, just three steps!" She pointed three fingers up into the air with one hand and shoved Hikari onto her stomach with the other. Then, she hopped atop Hikari. "First, just get up on their back." Tanner's arms hooked underneath Hikari's and met at her chin. "Next, get control of their mouth so they can't do shit to ya!" The crowd laughed at the scene unfolding before them, with Tanner manhandling Hikari early as if she were a sideshow alligator.

"And last but certainly not least... ya pull 'em into submission!" Suddenly Tanner yanked back, bending Hikari into a basic Camel Clutch, complete with circus-like narration!

[The Riders]

Hikari was stunned and more taken back by the cheap shot that Tanner gave her. She wasn't expecting cheating during this tournament from the first opponent she faced, but seeing it happen to her just makes her upset that the company allowed someone like her to enter and is a known cheater.

As she is shoved onto her stomach and sat on by her opponent, who is sitting on her back and making a mockery of her, as she lets out a groan, feeling Tanner grab her chin and keeping her pinned down with ease.

She starts to trash around trying to get back to her feet, but is right now controlled like a gator is, as she isn't able to use her vaunted brute force and strength.

'AAAAUUUGHHHH' Hikari would croak out as she is bent in the camel clutch hold, feeling the bend in her lower back and stomach area as she is unable to get going and with Tanner in firm control of the match.

[FreestylePoet]

"Woooo!" Tanner sat astride her foe, whooping and hollering as she uselessly writhed and flailed -- once again, like an alligator who had been wrestled into submission! She nodded to the crowd with a hyped-up grin on her face, reveling in how they shared her excitement for the well-practiced move.

But now it was time to work towards winning this match. She had a hell of an advantage here, and Tanner would be damned if she wasn't press her luck. She flipped her arms from underhooks to overhooks, reaching up and over Hikari's shoulders. One scaled arm snaked around Hikari's neck, and the other across Tanner's own wrist to provide security and pressure! Then, she leaned over, hoping to flop both of them onto their backs for a classic MMA-style rear naked choke!

"Awright Rapunzel, time for you to go night-night." The arrogant move left Hikari's arms free, but Tanner figured that it would take but seconds to end this bout in her favor. In her mind, whatever strengths that Hikari might have had were nothing compared to the sheer badassery of the Wild Child!