Shonen Showdown: Yunaka Rubi vs Meiyun Lai

[deezcastforms]

Yunaka finally managed to break Meiyun. The tears the Hakka girl refused to cry refused to be contained any longer. Meiyun scream openly from the agony of the redhead's submission hold torturing her entire upper body. Yunaka didn't want to hurt Mei like this. She had no desire to cause the weaker girl pain simply because she couldn't be stopped from doing so. It was just how this match was.

When Meiyun's surrender finally came, Yunaka did the proper thing and released the Chinese woman immediately. Dropping her arms to the ground and getting off of the Lightweight's back. "I'm sorry if that was... extreme," said Yunaka. "I'm really not trying to hurt you, it's just that I have to get you to submit one way or another."

Yunaka, now up 2-0 in a first to 3, with nary a successful attack made against her by Meiyun, hoped that her overwhelming dominance will have finally pushed her overmatched foe into backing down. "You're certainly one tough nut to crack, Mei-Mei," started Yunaka. "But even so, this fight really seems decided. What do you say we just call it here? Save us both some pain and trouble, yeah?"

[CaptainL]

Even after Yunaka had let the pressure off Meiyun, it did little to make things any easier for her. Her entire body felt like it was crying out in agony, still sore and strained from the brutal force of Yunaka bearing down against her spine with the surfboard stretch. She didn't have the energy to move at first; she just lay there, her face flushed a vivid red as she gasped and panted for breath. Eventually, she did summon the strength she needed to wriggle away from the center of the ring, crawling over toward the ropes, but even then her teeth contorted in a wince as she rolled herself over to lay on her back. A strained "Oww..." left her, and she reached behind her to rub at her side, still gasping for air. What hurt Meiyun even worse than the physical tortures she had endured, however, was something that cut far deeper. She knew all too well that she had submitted to Yunaka, not just once but twice - and all this in the first few moments of the match, when she herself had barely been able to so much as scratch her foe.

Meiyun hadn't expected, nor intended, things to go this way. She was ready to charge into this match guns blazing, fully set on standing up to Yunaka, putting this up and coming threat to the Young Lioness Division in her place, and looking like the great hero she always wanted to be in the process. Instead, the redhead had proven to be almost more than she could handle, leaving her battered, bruised, and sore. And worst yet, Yunaka had two successful falls to Meiyun's zero. She didn't even seem worse for wear, while Mei was still aching from head to toe. If Meiyun lost just one more time, which seemed all the more likely in her current state, the match would be over. And by contrast, Meiyun would have to force a submission from Yunaka three times in a row. She never hoped that she would be this far behind the curve, but she wasn't liking it one bit.

But...there was one other thing Meiyun had to keep in mind. She sucked in a breath, closing her eyes and balling a fist as she tried to draw on her strength when she needed it most. She might be lagging behind her foe, but the match wasn't over yet. She still had a chance! If she could get back up and throw herself into the action, she just might be able to turn everything around at the last minute. As long as the match wasn't over, she could still win it. Sometimes, the greatest victories of all came when everything seemed lost. She just had to keep that hope in her heart; that was all she needed to fight on!

Yunaka stepped toward Meiyun to offer her a chance to surrender, but the brunette wouldn't even consider that a possibility! At once, she jumped back up to her feet. She was still a little wobbly from the sudden shift in altitude, but she clenched her teeth and balled her fists; she wasn't going to let it get to her! Admitting defeat was the worst thing she could do right now! She needed the world to know she was better than that!

"NO!!" she called back, her defiance getting her a few cheers - which only made her smile a little wider. "I'm never giving up! I can still fight! And I can still win!" she added, confidently puffing out her chest.

[deezcastforms]

Yunaka just sighed and shook her head when Meiyun made it clear that she would make the redhead submit her for a third and final time. "Just don't be mad at me when history repeats itself, Meiyun," said Yunaka. "I gotta ask though: what's going through your head? What do you have that makes you think this time will be different?"

Yunaka wanted to know because whatever was driving Meiyun on, it was frustrating the redhead. Yunaka didn't like fights that dragged out. The longer a fight lasted, the more time it had to get fluky. Despite the utter assurance of victory Yunaka spoke with, that wasn't quite how she felt. She knew that Meiyun herself couldn't beat her, but that didn't mean Lady Luck couldn't step in. The finger of a flailing arm catching Yunaka in the eye, a misstep to sprain an ankle and force the redhead to fight one-legged. One could not discount simple happenstance in a fight, and Yunaka knew that the best way to mitigate that factor was to keep fights as short as possible. Something that Meiyun was refusing to allow.

So Yunaka, spurred on by her desire to end the match in as little time as possible, decided that she wouldn't allow Meiyun to "be tough." At least to the best of her abilities. Yunaka decided that she would pull out a card from her sleeve that she had wanted to avoid using for the sake of her image. Perhaps one that was a bit much for a fight where win-loss records were the only thing at stake, but for Yunaka, a woman so accustomed to fights where luck could swing far higher stakes, it felt necessary.

When the third round started, Yunaka's eyes would shift from bright and wide to focused and sharp, and it would be her who applied the pressure. She rushed at Meiyun and reached a hand out towards the diner girl's throat before pulling it back and firing a punch into Mei's stomach with her other arm. If the punch connected, Yunaka would force the Chinese girl to her back while taking control over one of Meiyun's arms. From there, the redhead would move to lock in an armbar. "I'm done with this fight," Yunaka said as her voice dropped to a sultry, menacing tone. "You have ten seconds to give up before I start applying breaking force," This was Yunaka's heel card; threatening to inflict long term injury. It was backed with intent as well. Yunaka would be counting down the seconds in her head, and she would start trying to break Meiyun's arm if she got to zero. Whether or not the Hakka giner would take this threat seriously or not, remains to be seen.

[CaptainL]

Meiyun had hoped that if she faced Yunaka's challenge with courage, confidence, and defiance, it would be enough to show to the world she wouldn't let the odds keep her down. Maybe even Yunaka would be impressed by her tenacity! Unfortunately for Meiyun, though, that wasn't to be. Even when she puffed out her chest and laughed in the face of danger, Yunaka was still convinced that she would win. She was outright mocking her for having the faith it could go any differently! When she heard the disdain in the redhead's voice - how she had gone cold and stoic, despite the upbeat energy she had shown earlier - it was enough to make Mei's eye twitch, and she bit at her lip. If Yunaka had that little faith in her, it made the challenge ahead of her seem all the more daunting; all the more like something she couldn't hope to win. That threat was even starting to creep into how Meiyun herself saw the situation. For a few fleeting seconds, she shivered at the thought that she might not have a chance. If Yunaka didn't think so, and Yunaka had steamrolled over the competition time and time again; if she had managed to put Meiyun on the back foot despite her best efforts, then what did that say now?

But moments later, she shook that out of her head. What was she doing? She was giving into fear, and doubt, and hesitation - all the things Yunaka clearly wanted her to worry about. It meant she had entertained defeat as even a possibility. But that was something she couldn't afford to do! Meiyun knew that a true hero would never back down like this. If Yunaka didn't believe in her, then it could only make it all the more impressive when Mei overcame her challenge in spite of it all!

"What do I have!?" Meiyun called back. "I'll tell you what I have! I have faith in myself! I believe in myself! I'm determined to prove you wrong - to show everyone I really can succeed, no matter what the world thinks!" She puffed out her chest, pointing a finger to the sky. "Even if I'm facing unbeatable odds...even if no one thinks I have it in me...I'm still going to fight, and I'm not going to let myself lose! Because I'm going to be the strongest wrestler of all one day, and until that day, I can't-"

Unfortunately for Meiyun, she had made one glaring mistake. Her impassioned shonen-hero speeches weren't going to be as effective in real life as they were on the screen. Yunaka wasn't even going to give her a chance to finish. She came running toward Mei, her fist drawn to fly for her throat. The brunette gasped as Yunaka closed in; seeing she had to think on her feet, she quickly dropped into a stance, raising her arms to protect herself. But when she was already thinking on her feet, there was no way she could correct course in time for when Yunaka's feint gave way to a punch straight to her stomach - and it shot right into her core, landing with enough force to knock the air out of Meiyun's lungs and lift her feet a few inches off the ground. Her balance gave way, and she dropped down onto her back - which meant that she was right in the crosshairs for Yunaka to do what she truly wanted to do.

In a flash, the redhead pounced. Her legs snapped shut around Meiyun's arm, yanking it over her back. And as she settled into place, Meiyun squealed at the sensation of having her ligaments and tendons stretched to the breaking point. Just the mere act of Yunaka bending her arm into position was enough to make her let out a yelp. It was a simple enough submission, but one that Yunaka had executed with expert precision, and undeniable force. But it was only going to get worse from there.

The tone in Yunaka's voice wasn't the same playful cadence she had assumed before. This time, it chilled Mei to the bone. The moment she heard Yunaka's threat, she went tense - she had no reason not to believe every word she said when she already had her arm strained against her grasp. She tried to extend her fingers, grasping blindly at the air, but anything Meiyun possibly could have used to her advantage, be it a hold on her opponent or a move closer to the ropes, was just out of reach. She could barely move! And Yunaka was about to try and break her arm entirely!

A cold sweat ran down the back of Meiyun's neck. Her face grew pale and her eyes wide. In just ten seconds, she was sure, her arm would snap like a twig. And no matter how hard she fought, she couldn't get free. She couldn't believe it was ending this way. Was she really going to go down so quickly, without a fight? The very thought of giving in here, so soon after her last submission, was a thought that turned her stomach. If she ended it all here, she would prove herself a fraud; that all the boasting and bravado she'd shown earlier was for naught. At the same time...she was already too far behind for her own good. She was tired and winded, and she had no hope of escape. Did she have any other option?

She squeezed her eyes shut and turned aside, not wanting to see the looks on the fans' faces. Tears were forming in her eyes, and her face had grown a vivid red. It would have been an unbearable humiliation for Meiyun to give up once - let alone three times, in quick succession, with barely any offense of her own in between. But...she had certainly seen the power Yunaka wielded, and the reason she had become so feared. She knew now that every bit of her reputation had been well-earned. She didn't want her arm broken, and she knew Yunaka was going to do just that.

At last, before those ten seconds were up, Meiyun sucked in a breath, trying to hide a sniffle. She tapped her free hand against the mat, bringing the third fall - and the match - to an end! "T-That's it..! I give! Just...just stop!!"

[deezcastforms]

As the ten second time limit ticked down, Yunaka started to wonder if Meiyun was actually about to try riding this out. Come on, don't do it, thought the redhead. Even if her threat was serious, it didn't mean that Yunaka wanted to break her opponent's arm. She sincerely hoped the threat alone would be enough to force surrender.

Thankfully, with a couple seconds left, Meiyun did concede. Though not without clearly being crushed, emotionally. Yunaka let out a relieved exhale as she released her armbar. "Sorry," she said, her voice somber now. Some guilt creeping in for going as far as she did. "If it helps at all, even the tag team I fought wasn't as hard to beat as you were."

Yunaka. put the happy mask back on, though with notably less pep than she had after her first two wins. Flashed a smile to the crowd and flashed the victory signs. The crowd was raucous in their cheering, "ZAPPY! ZAPPY! ZAPPY!" Yunaka could only smile and shake her head. "The really love me, don't they? Feels nice," she thought aloud as the redhead made her exit.

Yunaka Rubi Wins 3-0