Proof of Fang: Yuki Kazikura vs Shimmerlace Snuggleblossom

[Malkavia]

Come on cunt—up and over. Even with a girl as light as Yuki, the overhead lift pulled your girl’s hamstrings, glutes, and abs tight as piano wire. She glared, electric with concentration, but her mind raced giddily ahead to the imagined crunch. By the time she rewound to the present, by the time she felt the gravitational shift, sensed that her victim had inflected, taken a different and unexpected path, Yuki’s arm had already noosed her lace-collared throat.

Shimmerlace hit the ground with enough force to bounce her hips inches off the mat. Her feet arced, her body rolled, her hands clenched like spiders conducting a high-voltage current. Her mind caught up to the ring in her ears, to the wobble of her bleared vision, to the shit-bitin’ fuckin’ fuck fuck. She would have cussed if her lips had been listening to her brain; instead the only sound she made was ”Ungk—”

The crowd went off. And they might just. Even rolling like an overturned beetle, stunned on the mat, Shimmer felt in her gut the grin of that technical firework of a counter’s counter. For the first time, the wrestler seated at Shimmer’s side felt real. Felt like someone who could glow. There’s a piece to wrestlers that can’t be expressed in words, a mote of colour you only see palm-pressed-to-palm. You feel it when Angelina smashes your kneecaps, or when Dr. Mina, fox-like, maneuvers your ass into a powerbomb—the firebrand fingerprints of the artist. For Yuki, those fingerprints were whistle-clean precision on maneuvers so quick and smooth they seemed to come as easily and thoughtlessly as breath.

Shimmerlace gave a slurred, achy laugh. ”...Oooh you absssolute fuckin’ wee pisser…” The pain hit worst between her shoulders and between her ears. Lips thin and white, Shimmerlace sucked breath between her teeth. It was early yet, and the pink mist in the mind was clearing. Fuckin’ move—the Eleanor imperative. Make space, make pain, or get fucked. Since pain-inflicting ideas were slow to come, Shimmer aimed to make space, rolling towards ropes. There were many ways a wee feychild might fly if she could just get to her feet again.

[CaptainL]

It had only been by virtue of Yuki's quick thinking and her sharp reflexes that she had managed to save herself from the impending suplex - but right as she was about to fall back, she turned that same downward momentum to her advantage, grabbing her opponent by the throat and kicking off the ground to slam her down in her place! Had she been off by just a few seconds, Yuki would have surely absorbed the brunt of the attack. But just when she needed it most, her instincts to keep fighting - to stay alive, to keep her head above the water - kicked in. And they were enough to spur her on when it came to taking this moment back for herself!

The crowd burst into cheers as Shimmerlace dropped to the canvas with a thud, causing the ring to rock beneath the two girls. With how naturally and gracefully it had been executed, Yuki's counter was a thing of beauty. It was her keen attention to her opponents, and her ability to move into place just right in order to protect herself from incoming offense and direct the momentum of her foes to her advantage, that had won Yuki the success she had seen in her career, and even when she had pulled off manuevers like this in plenty of matches, it never failed to electrify the fans every time. Even now, as Yuki rolled up to her knees and brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes, her heart was pounding and she panted for breath. She knew how narrow her escape had been, and the adrenaline pumping through her veins wouldn't settle out so soon. But Yuki wouldn't get much choice in the matter. She would just as quickly look back over her shoulder to see Shimmer starting to scramble out of the way!

A grumble left the dark-haired girl's throat, and her eyes narrowed into a glare of frustration. Even after how hard Yuki had brought Shimmerlace down, it seemed it was going to take more than that to stop her once and for all. Yuki couldn't take the time to get her bearings when she needed to make her next move! Her knees trembled, and she teetered on uneasy footing - but still, Yuki jumped back up to her feet. Ready or not, she couldn't afford to let Shimmer get away; she needed to push the momentum she'd taken for herself! And she went running right after the fleeing girl, leaping up as she closed in to try and throw herself down on Shimmer's back with an elbow drop, in the hopes she could intercept her!

[Malkavia]

Thud thud thud! Here came the orange bolt, boots striking mat with a pounding timpani beat. Split-second calculations measured the pace, imagined the Feychild’s own rolling trajectory—Shimmer wasn’t going to win this race.

A standard plan presented itself: Present the knees. Roll onto the back, kneecaps up, spear Yuki on her way down. Shimmerlace rolled into position but sprinkled fairy dust on the gray-tone plan while she moved.

Fast and weird. That was the pact she and Eleanor made. Best fighter in the world will err if their brain’s bleeding trying to hold an upside down reality.

Shimmerlace did get onto her back, but her legs presented less a spear and more splayed out V. Meanwhile her arms shot into the air as if she were preparing to embrace Yuki in a hug and roll down Lover’s Hill like a knotted up barrel.

She intended to take the elbow drop. Sure, her arms (ideally) would catch the arm and shoulder and provide some cushion as Shimmer’s elbow collapsed, and sure, she’d aim to tug and redirect some of that momentum into a roll. But realistically, she was still taking a Hell of a lot of force to the chest or face. It would sting, crack, stun.

Needs fuckin’ must—just hold on. All she had to do was hold on against the carnage. Sink in her fingers wherever she managed to grab Yuki. Wrap the legs around Yuki’s trunk. Keep rolling, keep holding on, and then move in for the first opportunity the (hopefully befuddled) Kazikura prodigy presented.

[CaptainL]

Barely a moment had passed before Yuki threw herself back into the action. As long as Shimmerlace was down, that meant she was vulnerable - and Yuki intended to capitalize on that, trying to strike hard and fast before the Young Lioness so much as had the chance to recover! She kicked off the ground, throwing herself toward Shimmer with her elbow extended to land a strike across her chest. Sure enough, she could feel it - the reverberation running through her opponent's ribs and sternum as she buckled against the blow. When Yuki felt it, it was enough to make her tense up and grit her teeth; even she could feel it had been a hard hit. But it wasn't going to stop Shimmerlace. Even now, she was ready to make her counter, through any means she could!

Yuki didn't even notice it at first - she'd let herself get caught up in the heat of the moment, and the thrill of landing a glancing blow against her opponent. But when she looked down, she would notice that Shimmer had gotten herself into position, grabbing Yuki by the arm even as it hit! She let out a gasp as she felt her weight tip over to the side, rolling the two of them over! Shimmerlace quickly scrambled into the top position, rolling Yuki down beneath her and straddling her waist with her legs. The Japanese girl hissed through her teeth, her body growing tense and her eyes narrowing into a glare. Shimmer was quicker with her wits than she had given her credit for!

Yuki attempted to throw her weight forward as well, trying to even out Shimmer's own. If the Feychild rolled her one way, Yuki would only keep that momentum going to try and get back on top. With their bodies pressing even closer against one another as they were locked into close quarters, Yuki could feel every shift of Shimmer's hips, and the rubbing of their thighs against each other's own. But she knew that as long as they kept rolling, they could only get so far - Shimmer was in just as good of a position to counter Yuki the same way Yuki had countered her. She was going to need something else, and as long as Shimmerlace was latched onto her, she couldn't simply power out of her clutches. But she'd just have to improvise - she would wait for when Shimmer went back on top first; then, with her free arm, Yuki would lash out to land a chop toward her opponent's head!

[Malkavia]

She’d known it was going to hurt.

The elbow drop collapsed on Shimmer’s chest and projected through the bone. Even after the chest bounced back, even after the Feychild gasped and choked, it left a hot burning lump on her sternum that burned every time she breathed—in...and out.

The moments to follow were a melee of limbs and nails, of growling, grunting, heaving. They rolled over each other like a streetside brawl. One moment Shimmer went up. Sweat flicked off her nose, and she bore down on Yuki, only to get tugged under again before she could cash in. Her head scraped against the mat and there loomed Yuki all silhouetted dark demon again—all the while her legs got achey and the site of impact for that elbow drop throbbed.

Shimmerlace laughed. Yuki would feel it as much as hear it: It came out choked. Every time Shimmer’s back hit the mat, or she heaved into a roll with her hips, it turned the cackle into a grunt or gasp. But Yuki’d feel the rhythm—the clenching of her abs, the glee in her hands as she scrabbled for a hold or an angle, the grin leaking into her scowls.

CRACK!

”FUCKIN’ fuck!”

The chop got her across the jaw and smacked her lip flat against her bottom incisors. The sensation of her lip splitting was almost glittery, at first; the skin unzipped but didn’t hurt, satisfying as picking off a scab. Then the blood vessels encountered the air and her eyes watered. Little pains, somehow, seemed to burn brighter than the bone-crunching stuff, and the blood trickling down her jaw tickled in a way that made her eye twitch.

Now there was a feeling. The last time she’d bled, Thistlebro had rested among the stakes. ”Hmmhmhm, allllright…!” Now there wasn’t so much as a tissue paper veil over that laugh, as Shimmerlace, eyes and teeth glittering, locked her hands together and raised them fast and furious as a meteor over Yuki like a mallet. Shimmer’s shoulders, back, core stretched, her hips lifted from Yuki, and she leaned back as she prepared to drive everything into a strike against her opponent’s face!

[CaptainL]

Up to this point, the match had been moving along at a breakneck pace, with both ladies using the depths of their speed and manueverability to get the edge on one another - whenever a hit landed, the fans barely had any time to register before one of the combatants was gearing up for the next one. It was a constant barrage of attacks, each one traded back as quickly as it landed. Now, at last, it would slow down - with Shimmerlace and Yuki pressed together closely enough to feel the warmth radiating from each others' bodies and the moisture of each others' haggard pants, Shimmerlace's legs locked into place around Yuki's waist, there was only so far they could go. But that didn't mean the passion between them died down even in the slightest. Even if circumstances forced them to take things slow, both girls were every bit as determined to win!

They went tumbling over the mat, still tightly bound to one another - Yuki scrambling on top of Shimmerlace, only for Shimmerlace to push her back down. With each time they rolled over, Yuki panted harder, growing winded from the exertion she forced her body through. Yet through it all, her burning desire and her will to win couldn't be tempered. Shimmerlace leered down at her from above, her shadow falling over Yuki like that of a predator waiting for a chance to strike. The sight of it made Yuki shudder for just a moment - the sound of her opponent's laugh made the hairs raise on the back of her neck, knowing instinctively it was most certainly a threat. But just as soon as Yuki felt herself being gripped by fear, she reminded herself she couldn't let it control her. She had to stay focused on this match - and on winning it!

Gritting her teeth, Yuki looked up just in time to see Shimmerlace drawing back a fist, ready to pound it into her face. But she would be ready. She could tell what move Shimmer was going to use next, and that meant she could prepare herself to avoid it! Just as her fist was about to come crashing down, Yuki jerked her head to the side, getting out of the way - so that Shimmer's fist would only punch the mat beneath her! Hopefully, that would leave her stunned. If it did, Yuki would buck up with her hips to try and shake Shimmer's legs off from around her sides, and if possible, to flip her off from her mounted position entirely!

[Malkavia]

Shimmerlace pounded the mat with both fists. The force of the strike channeled through her full body, and the momentum carried her shoulders forward and her butt up, like her fists were the down-side of a seesaw. Then Yuki bucked.

What are the strongest muscles in the human body? Tai Chi had taught very little to Shimmerlace, who’d found its long, quiet bouts tedious, but she had remembered the wizened hippie-instructor’s answer to that question: The hips. Yon glutes. Fists, legs, and feet might get the glory, but power comes from the core, and Yuki met Shimmer’s shining but erratic fists with a precisely timed thrust that sent the larger wrestler tumbling back-first into the ropes.

Shimmer’s fists closed around the second rope. She was chugging for breath. The match was young yet, but, in spite of her grin, already dull aches had settled in her muscle, murmured complaints that in time would become raging fire and then twitching exhaustion. She dug her heels into the mat, then thrust into a cross between a kip and a hop aimed to land her on the first rope.

It took too long. It gave Yuki too much space, too much time to notice, retaliate. Faster. The order to bounce and hop to the second rope flickered from brain through the lightning mesh of her nerve-frame. The hips bent, her thighs ached. Faster cunt! But her brain was many seconds ahead of what her hamstrings could actuate.

This was a mistake—a mistake she’d already made. Mina. Tunnel vision on what you can’t do. As Shimmerlace’s feet landed on the second rope, she slowed, turned her eyes on Yuki. Instead of rushing to beat a race she couldn’t win, she took a breath. She rested on the rope, bouncing, staring. The pause, if brief, would throw off the tempo she’d made her opponent anticipate—and give the feychild time from her fairy roost to read and respond.

[CaptainL]

With a buck of her hips, Yuki at last managed to unseat Shimmerlace's position on top of her, leaving the pink-haired girl to roll backward. As she pushed herself up to a seated position, she sucked in a breath and rubbed at the side of her temple. It had only been through a last-second stroke of luck that Yuki had been able to dodge the punch aimed right at her head, but the fact that Shimmerlace's strike had missed was enough to throw her off her game - and with her unstoppable forward momentum halted in its track, Yuki had time to sling her off of her! Still, she knew all too well it had been a close call, and the adrenaline that pumped through her veins still left her heart racing. She couldn't afford to do that too often. She wasn't about to let it get that close again, if she had her say.

Hopping back up to her feet, Yuki soon turned her attention back to Shimmer, her eyes narrowed in a glare. She sank back into a stance, raising her fists and bending at the knees. She had to be on her guard. There was no doubt now that Shimmerlace was about to throw herself right back into the action, and Yuki would be ready for it! In fact, right now, she seemed to be tossing herself up onto the ropes - no doubt getting herself into a position from which she could spring an aerial assault. Yuki was well enough versed in high-flying moves to know a clear setup when she saw one. She would have to prepare herself for that! Sucking in a breath to steel her nerves, she began to step back - she would watch for whatever move Shimmer would take upon hurling herself from the ropes, and she would track where her trajectory would set her up to land. If she could do that, she could get in place to catch her, not only thwarting her plans but also getting herself in position to take her down...

But the seconds ticked by, and to Yuki's surprise...Shimmerlace never actually jumped from the ropes. She blinked a couple of times, staring back up in confusion. Just what was Shimmer planning - was she even going to jump at all? But if not, why go up the ropes?

Yuki bit her lip and shook her head, trying to clear those intrusive thoughts. It wouldn't matter. What mattered was that the match was still afoot! It would do Yuki no good sitting around waiting for her opponent to make her move. She had to push the advantage, to take hold of that momentum for herself! Gritting her teeth, she took off running for where Shimmerlace was now, and as she came closer, she would kick off the ground to try and throw herself forward feet-first, aiming to nail the Feychild with a dropkick! She could only hope that she could close in on Shimmer faster than she'd be able to respond to such a threat!

[Malkavia]

She could see it!!

Yuki scouts the jump, her eyes flick to the mat, body goes tense—you can practically see the gears turning, the counter being chosen in a split-second, her arms going up, hips going squat, and then. Then Yuki blinks, glances back at you, squints, her mind caught on a mental hook. Where’s the crash? There was supposed to be a crash.

Shimmerlace stared, hands tight on the rope. Now our wee bird's gonna charge. Yuki charged. Shimmer’s breath caught in her throat. The feychild smiled. And with her it’s gonna be something sky-soarin' and wing-y…Shimmerlace thrust her hips to the side, dropped her legs and spun and—sure enough, Yuki committed to the aerial two-legged assault.

People like Eleanor talked a lot of talk about “staying ahead in the mental game.” You don’t play the move you’re in right now. You play the next move. But it had never clicked; she’d never seen it. Even when Shimmer won, it was by stringing together a weird and warped tangle of improvised jazz, more riding a wave of confusion than anything planned.

As Yuki’s boots sheared an almost invisible space to the right of Shimmer’s torso, in the flash frame where the feychild aimed to dart and grab her legs midair and toss her from the ring, Shimmer’s breathing got very tight. Her brow creased with concentration, but her smile stretched like Christmas morning. She’d. Fucking. Seen it.

[CaptainL]

The moment she took off toward her opponent, Yuki bit at her lip in frustration. Even if she was already setting her plans into motion, she knew full well she had made a misstep. In waiting for Shimmerlace to leap from the rope, she had brought the breakneck pace of the match to a grinding halt, and for however shortly that lull lasted, it still gave Shimmer a few precious moments to turn things to her liking. She could surely see the dropkick coming, and she'd have time to dodge - and, in putting so much momentum behind the thrust of her own body, Yuki was almost certainly setting herself up for what could be a catastrophic wipeout if she missed her target. No matter how sure she was in her strikes, Yuki still had that looming threat lurking in the back of her head, and it made her hiss through her teeth as her muscles went tense. No matter. Whatever happened...she would have to adapt, one way or another. She simply didn't have any other choice. She could only hope to run as fast as she could, and if she could hit...she'd hit hard.

Sure enough, right as Yuki came into range, after her feet had already left the ground and she had let the momentum of her last stride push her forward, Shimmerlace slipped out to the side! For a fleeting moment, the joshi wrestler could feel a chill run down her spine, knowing now that she was hurtling toward the ropes - and out to the hard, unforgiving floor beyond! But she shook herself a moment later. Fear and anxiety and panic would only slow her down - no, it was more important than ever that she stay focused; that was the only way she could keep up with an opponent who was proving this tricky. She could turn this to her liking. Yuki still had plenty of momentum behind her. And Shimmer was right up against the ropes. She'd have to time it right, but if she acted quick enough...

Sucking in a breath, Yuki reached out just as she passed between the ropes, looking to grab a hold of them with both hands! If she could, she would halt her charge in place, but let the momentum carry her through - swinging through the ropes in a circle, and coming right back behind Shimmerlace so that her knees would crash into her back with a 619!