Countess Dante dashes into the Scorpion's Den! (for CaptainL)

[Vc0m]

The attack on the Countess was hard enough to send the blonde bouncing into the ropes, landing at Chika’s feet right as the Raven Knight rose back to stand up. She looked down on the Countess, knowing she was hurting, as she lightly kicked her to turn her on her back:

”Had enough?”

Chika would lower her body over her rival, trying to pin her for the three…but making the count herself!

”One!”

[CaptainL]

Isabella's world was a blur. Everything ached, and the room was spinning around her. The throbbing pains in her chest had yet to die down; if anything, that numbing sensation was only creeping through the rest of her body. That kick had really taken a lot out of her - so much so that she barely even felt a thing as Chika kicked again at her side. Still, she went tumbling over, slowly and stiffly, before dropping flat on her back, her arms and legs splayed around her and her head resting on its side. Her eyes were glazed over, and her mouth was slack and trickling with a thin stream of saliva. Needless to say, when Chika fell on top of her to start a count, she did little to resist...

Up until she heard the Raven Knight call out the one-count, that was.

The Countess quickly reminded herself that this couldn't be. She was better than this! What was she doing, letting herself get counted out so quickly? She had an unbeatable legacy of fear and death to live up to, and she wouldn't dare besmirch it like this! Hell, her own reputation was at stake - with how much she had built herself up, it would be an unforgiveable indignity to let this be the end! No, Isabella had to fight on! She had come to this dojo to prove her own superiority, and a loss now would shatter her own. There was too much to lose for her to let this happen!

"NO!!" she blurted out suddenly, in a belated answer to Chika's question, at the same time she attempted to kick up with her leg to try and shake her foe off of her. She couldn't let it end like this!

[Vc0m]

Chika was actually pretty impressed that the Countess still wanted to continue as she kicked out. She was going to be fair in her count, but kicking out at 1 made it clear to her that she could still go on for a little bit…and maybe that she could take harder hits from Chika.

As the Raven Knight rose up to her feet, she would dash into the ropes, rebounding as she dashed back towards Dante, jumped into the air, and aimed her knee into her prone opponent’s head for a Knee Drop!

[CaptainL]

As Chika scrambled off of her, Isabella got her hands against the mat beneath her, pushing herself back up just enough to watch the Raven Knight as she panted for breath. She bit at her lip, grumbling to herself as a blush came over her cheeks. She couldn't believe that she had actually let herself be pinned! Even if it was for just a single count, it was an unbearable shame that the great Grandmaster of the Black Dragon Fighting Society would ever lay down for anyone, let alone such an impudent fool as Chika was proving to be! She knew one thing about that, though - she wouldn't let it happen again!

Even when she was still catching her breaths and shaking the cobwebs out of her head, Dante could see enough of what Chika was doing - how she bounced off the ropes, and came straight back toward her! Her jaw dropped as she let out a gasp, but if there was a silver lining to her situation, it was that Chika had needed some time to set up her attack. That was time that Isabella could use to her favor! As Chika came closer, the Countess would tuck in her knees and try to roll herself forward in an attempt to pass by underneath Chika's impending strike. Hopefully, that would get her to wipe out on the mat while Isabella could recover!

[Vc0m]

As Dante rolled right over Chika's attack, the Raven Knight taking a moment to try and keep her balance without falling face first on the canvas, allowing Dante to recover...for just 2 seconds.

Chika would rush straight for the martial artist, quickly outstretching her leg as she tried to ram it straight into her rival's gut to try and drive the air from out of her lungs!

[CaptainL]

Sure enough, Isabella's gamble worked! She managed to duck down just in time to roll between Chika's legs, slipping underneath her and jumping up behind her. Her heart was still pounding; she felt like she'd just run a mile, and who could blame her? When Chika was forcing her to think on her feet at any given moment, she barely had the chance to slow down and adjust. Still, as she brought a hand up to wipe some sweat from her brow, she got ready to breathe out a sigh of relief. She had managed to get the better of Chika, and now, she would have time to plan her next move - and to begin taking back the momentum that was rightfully hers!

But it seemed she had spoken too soon. Chika was able to stop on a dime - and before Isabella even realized she had, she had already whipped her leg around to send it crashing into her midsection! This time, not even the most impulsive of reflexes could save the Countess for what was in store for her. She gasped and sputtered as the impact of Chika's leg drove the air from her lungs, causing her to double over forward clutching at her gut as she slumped limply over her foe's limb.

[Vc0m]

With Chika’s attack driving the air out of the Countess’s lungs, forcing her to fall limp onto her leg, Chika smirked…before going for her next attack. Until the battle was over, she wasn’t going to let Dante rest. Compared to her rival, Chika barely broke a sweat.

As such, the Raven Knight hooked her arms around Dante’s, and put her head underneath her own arms, before lifting the Countess, trying to toss her across the ring with a Double Underhook Suplex!

[CaptainL]

Isabella knew what was going on here. It was obvious. In her mind, this had been little more than an unbelievable streak of luck for Chika. If things had gone any differently - and if Isabella was even trying to apply her full potential - the Raven Knight would have been reduced to a bloody smear on the floor by now. But somehow, Chika had been able to catch the Countess by surprise with her lightning-fast reflexes. One attack led into another, and Isabella barely had a chance to breathe in between! Chika's knee had stabbed straight up into her stomach, driving the air out of her lungs and leaving her coughing and sputtering for breath as she doubled over forward, clutching at her aching gut. Feeling the heat of the blow radiate through her, Isabella knew all too well that she couldn't afford to slow down around an opponent as quick as Chika was. But she didn't have a chance - and Chika would drive that point home soon enough, as she circled behind the Countess to hook her arms for a double underhook suplex!

Isabella barely knew what hit her; she was still waiting for the world to stop spinning around her! Suddenly she found herself hoisted off the ground, letting out a gasp as her feet left the mat. Her legs kicked at the air in an attempt to fight back, but her resistance got her nowhere. Letting out a scream, she was hurled back across the ring, before she came down with a thud!

Her legs kicked up in the air as she reeled from the blow, going skidding back a few inches before she dropped back flat. The world around her still spun and wavered as she groaned groggily under her breath, staring up at the ceiling. She'd fallen behind again - she might have come out to make a point about the superiority of her dojo, but Chika was making her eat her words! But now, she couldn't find the strength in her to get back up!

[Vc0m]

Chika couldn’t deny…part of her was happy that Dante had come in. Breaking the monotony of cleaning her house with a fight helped her big time…even if the Countess seemed to be mostly just bark and little bite so far.

As the blonde laid on her back, Chika wore a smiling expression on her face, looking down at the Countess as she lowered herself over her body once more, grabbing her leg for the pin!

”Still good to go?

[CaptainL]

It felt as though all the air had been knocked out of Isabella's lungs when she landed. Clearly, that was a sign that Chika had caught her on a bad day, or she must have been the master of some devious, underhanded secret technique that could sap her strength, because the Countess was a firm believer in the value of maintaining good conditioning, and she would never tire out so easily! But as she lay there on the mat, she could only pant for breath, her brow slick with sweat as she stared up at the ceiling through blurred vision. She knew she needed to get back up. She knew it was possible - she surely had it in her; it was disgraceful to think that Chika could have overcome her so trivially! She just needed the world around her to calm down long enough for her to get her footing under her again first...

And Chika wasn't going to let her do that - within moments, the Raven Knight was on her once again. Isabella could see that smug look on her face as she faced her with a smirk, and she responded in turn with a cold, steely glare that shot straight through her, her brows furrowed in rage. This wasn't funny. She knew she was being mocked, and she couldn't tolerate such foolishness from such a clearly inferior foe. "What kind of a ridiculous question is that?!" Isabella sputtered. "I'm not even using a FRACTION of my full power just yet! You would be a FOOL to think I'm anywhere close to surrendering, especially to the likes of you!" When she felt Chika fold her leg over her to try a pin, it would only make a shudder run through Isabella from head to toe. The very act of being pinned by someone so clearly inferior felt like an unbearable humiliation, and the Countess knew she would need to set the matter straight! She couldn't bear the thought of Chika besting her like this!

As she bucked her hips up from the mat to try and unsteady Chika's hold on her, Isabella would try to lift her other leg up to plant it against Chika's hip and push in the hopes of shoving her off of her. That was, of course, assuming that Dante could summon the strength she needed to move Chika in time - because whether she liked it or not, she was still weary.