Cosmic Lightning - Toshimi Minami (D) vs Su Keqing

[Bare]

Minami had wanted to see what Keqing could do and so far as the match had progressed she was at least pleasantly surprised that the girl was capable of adapting and using a fair degree of technical skill. Something the dark haired woman wouldn't discount anytime soon. It would be too far to say she necessarily respected the girl, but she could at least appreciate the skill that the girl was showing so far.

Knocked over onto her stomach and having her leg pulled back in a boston crab made it especially clear to Minami. It wasn't a complex hold, not at all. But it was at least effective across the board with the exception of one area. One where Minami would exploit in order to get freedom for herself. Namely she would grab onto her opponent's ankle, pulling it and knocking the purple haired Chinese girl right down to the mat, ending the hold she had on her.

Of course Minami also held her ankle and the temptation to immediately go for a submission was certainly there. However before she could decide or not Minami found a foot impacting with her! "Ngh!" Grunting in pain from the hit Minami would release her grip on the girl's ankle and roll away, quick to save herself from any potential damage from the girl. Pulling herself up to her feet Minami would look up at Keqing... and notice the board behind her and smirk, knowing what it meant for her.

[pu-level-up]

Keqing's kick broke Toshimi's hold, allowing the Chinese rookie to pull her leg back in and scramble onto her hands and knees. Toshimi didn't pursue her, instead rolling away and taking the time to get back to her feet as well. Keqing kept a close and wary eye on her opponent as she got up. She knew that Toshimi was dangerous, even if the veteran wasn't taking the match seriously and was just killing time. Even so all it would take was one mistake and Keqing's night would be over.

Keqing noticed the smirk on Toshimi's face. She turned for a second and looked at the clock, realization dawning upon her that the time limit had passed for this Apex Qualifier match. Now the kid gloves were coming off, Toshimi would be fighting for real! Taking a quick breath, Keqing faced Toshimi again, raising her arms and getting ready to battle.

"No more holding back?" Keqing asked, already knowing the answer, "Good!" The rookie sprang forward, attempting to close the distance between herself at her opponent with all her speed. She would run in and jump up, attempting to nail Toshimi in the upper gut with a flying knee strike! She knew her only chance was to hot Toshimi as much as she could as hard and fast as she could, otherwise the veteran would catch her and make her submit in an instant. She just hoped that all that grappling and rolling over the past few minutes had tired the veteran a little and slowed her down, otherwise this match would be over very quickly!

[Bare]

The time limit had passed and Minami was clear to fight at her full capability now without worry of this match not counting. Which meant in turn that any safety net her opponent had had was gone. Really the only issue was the fact that Minami had allowed the purple haired girl to get in a lot of offense against her to buy time, many of the rookie's attacks having targeted her legs no less. Something that would surely affect the veteran's speed and she knew it.

Sure enough Keqing must have realized this fact as well and rocketed forward and leaped up, delivering a knee to Minami's gut! "Ngh!" Grunting in pain as she stepped back a few steps from the blow Minami would hunch over with a determined look in her eyes as she focused on the girl.

However it would take much more to bring down Minami. So despite the blow Minami would use her hunched over state to her advantage, leaning forward more onto her hands as she swung her leg up, for a familiar scorpion kick to her opponents face!

...Or at least that's what it would look like. In reality Minami would pull her leg back before it could make contact with Keqing as the woman rolled forward, closer to the rookie's legs. As she did so Minami would reach out, attempting to grab the woman's leg and pull back in a effort to try and pull the girl off her feet, down to the mat and into her domain!

[pu-level-up]

Keqing's knee buried itself against the solid gut of her opponent, knocking the air out of Toshimi in a satisfying fashion. Toshimi doubled over from the blow, but like before she didn't fall or back down, instead pushing forward again, leaning in to fire off that scorpion kick! "That won't work twice!" Keqing said, kicking off to sidestep the incoming kick.

And falling right into her opponent's trap. Keqing's eyes widened as she felt Toshimi suddenly foll forward more, grabbing ahold of her legs! She was in no position to try and escape, having already committed to sidestepping the feinted kick. Toshimi was easily able to knock Keqing off her feet, sending her tumbling onto her back!

"Oof!" Keqing grunted. She scrambled quickly to put up a defense, knowing that now Toshimi would have no mercy on her. She kicked out both her legs, trying to not only break Toshimi's grip but also to wrap her thighs around Toshimi's waist. Her hands shot out to grab the back of Toshimi's head to pull her down, denying her any space to use her arms. This was the best Keqing could do at this stage, to hold down the veteran as best she could and deny her the ability to lock in any submissions!

[Bare]

Apex had a time limit requited for qualifiers to count. A fact painfully clear to the former wrestle angle Toshimi Minami. After all it quite literally meant that she had to slow herself down and give her rookie opponent more opportunities than she normally would have. Granted she had been pleasantly surprised by this as a result, but it didn't mean her excitement diminished even a bit as she noticed the timer finally reach the necessary length.

'Time to go off.' Minami thought to herself, the proverbial shackles around her shoulders finally coming loose as she dived forward, turning her opponent's offense in the form of a knee to the gut into a opportunity for herself! Managing to grab her opponent's leg the older woman brought her younger opponent down to the mat, in prime position to take advantage of.

Something Keqing herself was keen to perceive as she quickly wrapped Minami in a bodyscissors off the bat and pulled her head down low against her! "Tsk." Grunting in annoyance Minami tried to resist the urge to acknowledge how smart this was for the girl to do. Instead Minami would slowly force herself up to her feet, reaching up and grabbing Keqing's hand as she did so.

If she managed to stand with the Chinese girl wrapped around her than Minami would jump up, pulling on Keqing's hands as she did so in a effort to pull them apart as she swung herself down, looking to drive her opponent into the mat back first with a spine buster!

[pu-level-up]

Keqing held down Toshimi as best she could, locking her ankles behind the veteran's back and pulling her head down as hard as she could. The newbie briefly considered that she could lock in a breast smother in this position, but decided against it. Such a move would only lose her all the respect that she had hopefully gained in the eyes of the veteran. But, as it was, even though Keqing had Toshimi trapped, she was pretty much out of options as well.

"Nnngh!" Keqing grunted, feeling Toshimi pull hard against her arms and legs. She wasn't letting go so easily! But then she realized that Toshimi wasn't just trying to make her release her hold, as the veteran lifted Keqing's back off the mats! The rookie's eyes widened as she realized that Toshimi was planning to lift her all the way up and slam her down!

"No!" she gasped, trying to release, but it was too late. Toshimi brought her down onto the mats with a painful thud, rocking Keqing's spine! The impact was hard enough that it caused her legs to snap open and release Toshimi's waist! It left Keqing breathless and stunned, but she was still fighting back. Curling her legs as much against her body as possible, Keqing tried to find Toshimi's hips with her feet, hoping to get enough purchase to push the veteran away and get some space between them.

[Bare]

With no more restrictions placed on her Minami was looking to show Keqing her full skill set and prove to the girl how outclassed she truly was against the older and more skilled woman. As a result Minami would pull the girl's legs out from under her, clearly trying to go for a new submission right off the bat. Of course though Keqing had learned by this point how dangerous Minami could be when she got a hold of her opponent's limbs.

As such the girl was struggling hard to keep Minami from doing so, starting with a body scissor locking around her. Even in spite of this however Minami wouldn't stay down, instead she would rise up and drop Keqing down against the mat with a makeshift spinebuster that thankfully caused the girl to release her legs from around Minami's waist.

Getting up following the drop Minami would try and come down on Keqing again but once again the girl was struggling desperately in her grasp. "Tch!" Hissing in annoyance Minami would grun as Keqing kicked her legs back, trying to get free, but Minami would be far more determined than before as she reached down, grabbing onto Keqing's feet.

While doing so Minami would swing her legs around to the side, kicking the lavander haired girl in the hips and legs, trying to get her to roll over onto her stomach. If she was successful than Minami would leap up, attempting to come crashing down with both knees on her opponent's back, right between the shoulders!

[pu-level-up]

Keqing tried her best to kick Toshimi away, but now that playtime was over Toshimi wasn't having any of it. She grabbed Keqing by her ankles, refusing to allow the Chinese rookie to kick her away. Keqing's eyes widened as she realized she was trapped. "Uwah!" In an instant she got flipped over onto her front, the veteran Toshimi showing her strength by easily manhandling the rookie. Keqing desperately kicked out with her legs, trying to scramble away, but it was too late.

"GAH!" Keqing gasped as Toshimi's knees crashed into her upper back. The blow completely flattened the purple-haired beauty, knocking all the air out of her before squashing her facedown on the mats. With Toshimi's full weight on top of her at such an angle, Keqing couldn't budge or breathe.

Desperately, she brought her palms down and tried to push up to unseat Toshimi. Keqing had no air though, and her strength was rapidly fading. But she still had plenty of will to keep on fighting, gathering all her strength and pushing upwards to try and continue the struggle.

[Bare]

Minami was no longer forced to hold back in this match against the Chinese rookie and as a result was taking every shot she saw to do the absolute most damage and create the best positoin for herself possible.

As such she came crashing down with both knees against her opponent's back, right at the shoulder blades to create a rocking sensation that would no doubt feel lika blade between the back. Naturally Minami would come to a rest on the girl's back, looking regal and poised as she did so, like a lioness about to finsih its prey off.

Keqing, despite the disadvantage and the pain no doubt swirling through her body refused to give up, just like a gazelle at the feet of the lioness that was Minami. Even as she pushed her hands against the mat in a effort to unseat Minami the veteran worked with it, allowing herself to fall off the girl's back to instead sit at her side and lay her back down against Keqing's.

From there, if able too Minami would reach forward, looking to grab each of Keqing's arms and force them backwards before ocking her hands together at the front, trying to secure her submission finisher the double fujiwara arm bar, otherwise known as the Venus De Milo on the rookie to end this!

[pu-level-up]

Even though Toshimi had the absolute advantage, perched on top of Keqing's back with her knees digging in between her shoulder blades, the Chinese girl refused to give up. She was going to keep on fighting until the very end, even if that end was almost in sight for everyone watching this match. She tried to push up, but with Toshimi's full weight holding her down and her having zero air in her lungs, she was going nowhere. So it came as a huge surprise when Toshimi fell off the athlete's back, giving her some relief.

"Ah!" Keqing gasped, taking in a deep breath and coughing. Now with the weight off her back, she could finally try to recover. Turning her head to look at Toshimi, her eyes widened when she saw the look on the veteran's face. The look in her eyes made Keqing freeze in fear.

"No..." Keqing stopped trying to get up and moved to crawl away. She got nowhere, Toshimi grabbing her arm and twisting it behind her back in an instant. Keqing let out a cry of pain, her other arm pawing at the mats before it was dragged behind her back as well. Both her arms got pulled back painfully, testing Keqing's flexibility as Toshimi locked in her agonizing joint lock finisher!

"AHHHHH! NO NO NO!" Keqing screamed. The referee knelt down, asking Keqing if she wanted to submit. Despite her agony, the purple-haired girl shook her head, stubbornly holding on. She didn't get this far in the match just to submit like this!