Proof of Fang: Yuki Kazikura vs Shimmerlace Snuggleblossom

[Malkavia]

It was ping pong with Yuki–you’re impressive, you’re a child, all loop de loop turnamajig bird-like through the storm of this match. And the worst of it was that Shimmer listened, and melted, and blushed, and stammered, and boiled.

Thighs clamped on Shimmer’s throat like a prison collar—so quick and elegant it was like a painting, flowing with effortless speed from one lock to another. How many of these contortions did Yuki have stashed in her pretty head?

The fairy found herself on her side, listening to her pulse squeeze past the vice. THUD…thud. When you hear your own heart, you're not long of breathing unless something changes quick. All the while, Shimmer glared up the length of Yuki’s legs, breath hot and wet on the skin cupping her jaw. She met a pair of eyes that in turn watched a fairy, churning on the inside, going from pale to pink, soon to be purple.

Amongst the steam filling Shimmer’s head, one word slid into another—lock and lock. One bends a joint, the other keeps Huan’s apartment shut tight. She'd busted plenty of the latter sort, squirming and contorting in a magic box or behind a shimmery curtain to slip out of chains unseen.

But maybe the words weren't so different. Many are the ways the fey body can bend when trained. Here, Shimmerlace curved her neck, dug her chin into the furrow between Yuki’s legs. The smell of sweat was strong and sickly sweet, but Shimmerlace sucked air deep and bent her back until neck and shoulders were almost perpendicular—a contortionist’s neck bridge. The angle and the pressure of her neck bulging forced a window open between thigh and throat.

”Y’ever consider you might be focused…” One more breath filled Shimmer before she'd dart into the next move. ”...on the wrong fuckin’ thing?”

The words were a pistol fire to start her plan racing. Her goal was to slip fey fingers into the crack, then SHOVE with her arms and wedge them into the scissor and crank them open, inch by inch, like a bear trap. When the legs are as far apart as they'll spread, she’ll try to shove her head through and free. Then there'd be a lot of rolling and grabbing and struggle for position, but she had the leg in hand already, and a vision: the arm already through wraps around and take an ankle; and if that goes well, Shimmer slides her feet up about Skybeast’s ribs, and then—ankle lock

[CaptainL]

Yuki was fighting for dominance, and trying to keep Shimmerlace under control - but at the same time, she was putting the pink-haired girl to the test. She knew Shimmer had the potential in her to make something of herself. Beneath all her fancy showmanship and airs of being some sort of supernatural being, she still had the workings of a decent wrestler - that much was apparent with how she had managed to use Yuki's momentum against her in order to roll her into a pin. Yuki, then, was looking to bring that energy and that willpower out of her. She wanted to test Shimmer, to turn up the intensity on her little by little so that she would be forced to follow the rising tides. She wanted to see how much Shimmerlace could accomplish if she was backed into the corner - and if that was going to be enough for her to stand toe to toe with Angelina Tarrant. She was impressed with what she'd seen so far...but she wanted more.

With her legs clamping shut around the Feychild's head, Yuki sucked in a breath to stiffen herself. She rolled over on her side, bowling her opponent over, to guide herself into a position she could take advantage of the situation from. Her teeth clenched tighter as her muscles firmed up, pressing her elbow against the canvas in order to brace herself and to deliver more force against Shimmerlace's temples. The girl struggled and strained - but it seemed as though she wasn't getting out. Yuki was sure she had her under control now. But she knew, too, she would need to be wary - Shimmer was being pushed to her limits, and she had proven herself full of surprises before. There was no doubt she could surprise Yuki again.

Even still, Yuki didn't think she would have ever been able to prepare herself for what Shimmerlace did next! It seemed as though any tricks she might have learned from her time as a magician would be just as useful here. Using her knowledge of escape artistry, she bent her neck into an arc so that the blood would rush to it, causing it to widen ever so slightly - enough to spread Yuki's thighs out just a little bit wider. They drifted apart just enough for her to shove her fingers into the gap she'd created. And then, when she shoved hard to either side, it forced her opponent's legs apart! Yuki let out a gasp; she looked down at her opponent in shock. She'd learned plenty when it came to counters, but here, Shimmer was demonstrating knowledge from a different discipline entirely, and it was one that Yuki wasn't prepared to deal with! She tried to squeeze her legs back closer together, trying to save her advantageous position, but it was too late - by the time Yuki knew what had hit her, Shimmerlace had already slipped away!

But she didn't go far from Yuki, even with her newfound freedom. Quite the opposite, in fact. Locked in their duel, the two girls were a tangle of limbs as they rolled over one another across the mat, each jostling for the top position. Both of them were trying to win, and both of them would use every chance they could get to advance toward that goal. Yuki could feel the ripples of Shimmerlace's muscles beneath her skin as she rolled over to the side, grabbing the raven-haired girl's leg and bracing it against her ribs before twisting at her ankle. As her tendons and joints stretched, Yuki's hips arched up from the ground and she let out a cry of pain - but she wouldn't let this be the end! She had pledged to keep fighting back with everything she had in her, and this was to be no exception! Shimmerlace seemed determined to outdo her when it came to this string of counter after counter, so Yuki was going to respond in turn, to show she still had it in her!

She grit her teeth, lifting her head up from the mat to focus her eyes on Shimmerlace, but the stern glare on her face made her intentions clear - Yuki wasn't going to roll over and let her foe take control of her this easily. She bucked a few times with her hips, hoping to loosen Shimmerlace's hold on her ankle enough to let it slip further down her leg. Each time she did, the motion only put even more pressure on her already aching body, causing her to gag and groan, but that didn't matter. She knew what she needed to do! If Yuki could get enough freedom to move, she would keep her straightened leg in place, hopefully with Shimmer's hand still on it - the other, she would throw around Shimmer's wrist and lock it around her straight leg to lock in a figure four position, cranking down on the pressure!

[Malkavia]

It's not Yuki’s groans nor her clenched teeth nor her pained bounces and thrusts that really make Shimmer’s insides glitter. The best part, the part that flashes for a fraction of a second, flash and gone—it’s Yuki’s surprise. Even as babies, humans are hardwired to stare at the unexpected, though as adults they might forget the floating feeling you get faced with a card from nowhere, a rabbit in a hat in defiance of natural law.

It put a crack of smile on Shimmer’s face—soft-like, with a gentler light than the fire heretofore. But it didn't last, because all the thrusting turned out to have a purpose. Her grip had gone loose, and Yuki didn't waste a second turning that to her advantage. SNAP went the mouse trap and Shimmer’s arm went crunch. Legs have the largest and strongest muscle groups on the human corporeal form, Shimmer knew, and right then Yuki was flexing hers to grind Shimmer’s carpals like marbles in a bag.

It earned a shout. Her free fist beat against the mat, repeatedly, neck bulging. Speaking of new experiences—It was the first wristlock for the Feychild. It felt sharper, somehow, than the larger joints, like the thin and elegant lattice of bones shouted at a higher pitch of pain for their size. Pretty quick, that flare of pain worked up her arm, and the second shout got stretched and became a groan.

…Alright, alright—picture it then. (Shimmer’s cheeks inflated, then deflated, in out, BREATHE) A loop of chains around the wrist…Where’s the lock? There are two of them, around the wrist…Yuki’s legs. (Shimmer’s back was shaking, moist and adhesive-tight against the fabric of her costume, but FOCUS)—those locks hold the whole thing in place while two forces are at play: a vertical thrust from Yuki flexing her hip and stretching her legs, and then a tug. Yuki tugs up, towards her head, Shimmer’s inertia tugs back, and it stretches the wrist as it bends.

Kay. So—push then, dumbo. Whole thing goes loose if you stop pulling.

The first step would be to use her free arm to scoop Yuki’s ankles in her free arm. After that, clock starts ticking before Yuki sees where it's all headed and yanks out another quicksilver responsex—so MOVE. Get your feet under you, and dig into the mat, and run, crawl if you have to towards Yuki, if you can bend her knees in, roll her up, that'll kill the hold. Give the hand a yank and it should slip out…

And from there? Well, if she was standing anyway, boots in hand, she'd fall back on an old favorite: step over Yuki’s waist, twist the legs and get her belly-down, lean back until you could practically hear the splinters in the the pale curve of her back.

Sharpshooter.

[CaptainL]

Shimmerlace was keeping Yuki on her toes. She had caught her off-guard, and the raven-haired girl only had a few short seconds before her opponent grabbed her by the leg, twisting her back into an ankle lock. But if she was going to force Yuki to adapt, to stay ahead of the curve, then Yuki was going to do that. She knew she was here to give Shimmerlace a true test of what she was capable of, and she didn't want to let her down. If she wanted an opponent who would test her, Yuki wanted to give her that, and more!

Clenching her teeth, the joshi wrestler made her move, lifting up with her hips and slinging her legs into place around Shimmer's wrist to tighten the pressure. She couldn't move too far, locked into close quarters with her foe, but that wouldn't matter - she'd have just enough room to swing her limbs around, to put the right pressure on the right joints and take control. When she heard the cry of pain from Shimmerlace, Yuki knew she was doing something right. She just had to keep it up - and she couldn't let go. Her brow furrowed under the pressure; her teeth clenched and her knuckles went white as she tightened her fists to try and hold on. She didn't know how long this would last, or if it would be enough. Shimmerlace had demonstrated herself to be adept with her counters. But as long as she could hold on, Yuki wanted to do as much damage as she could.

At first, it seemed, Shimmerlace was taking this predicament hard. But if there was one thing Yuki was coming to learn about her opponent, it was that she was nothing if not tenacious. Instead of pulling back, Shimmer leaned forward - and in doing so, her arm was able to slip further through Yuki's locked legs, giving her just a little more room to reach. With that, she had loosened things enough for her to grab the Japanese girl's ankles with her other hand, and from there, to draw back, slipping her arm free entirely!

Yuki's eyes grew a little wider as she felt Shimmer's wrist pull out of her grasp. But she thought that would be the end She thought that after such a long bout of chain wrestling, Shimmerlace was finally making her escape. It was then that she realized the Feychild had never let go of her crossed ankles - and when she did, a chill ran down her spine. Yuki knew exactly what this meant. When Shimmerlace sent her tumbling over onto her stomach, her suspicions were all but confirmed. With Yuki's legs still in the figure four, all Shimmer needed to do was to lace her leg in through the middle, and she would have her in the Sharpshooter!

It was such an impressive reversal Yuki had to give Shimmerlace some credit for it! But what was more important was that she couldn't be allowed to follow through. If Shimmer got her trapped in the Sharpshooter, Yuki didn't know if she'd be able to counter it so easily - and the ropes, she saw, were all too far away; she didn't know if she could make it. Her loss to Angelina still stung. She didn't want to add another defeat to her record so soon, and even if Shimmerlace was very promising, she was still a Young Lioness, someone she had no right losing to. No, Yuki needed to fight back. This couldn't be the end!

Gritting her teeth, Yuki went to steady her hands against the mat. She tried to brace herself enough to roll over forward, and hopefully drag Shimmerlace over, off her feet! It would put a lot of strain on her spine to lift her opponent's weight, especially bent as it was; she roared from the exertion as much as she did in a battle cry. But if she could bring Shimmer down, she would only clamp her legs even tighter together, trying to secure a reverse figure four leglock before she could pull her trapped leg back!

[Malkavia]

One fall—one ding-a-ding. Nothing after that would matter because Angelina would hear it, wherever she was, and she’d know. And “being impressive” wouldn't carry a whole lot of weight either, however this match ultimately looked on her record.

She was close to locking the hold when Yuki toppled her face-first on the mat. All it would have taken was heaving instead of leaning, or perhaps a touch more strength in her legs, or even just plain experience to step and twist and lock in a more spare handful of seconds. But her knowledge of the sharpshooter was surface level, her body wasn't physically strong, and the Lioness wasn't experienced.

Instead, that warcry rang out—skybeast could BELLOW—and again. Power. You look at Yuki and see a lightweight, but the prodigy could leverage force multipliers that make a fairy’s skin crawl…and the legs Shimmer had been wrestling like a pair of pythons overcame her core, pulled her off balance, and the ground smacked her jaw.

”FUCK!” Her fist slammed the mat.

That was error number two: shouting when she should have been crawling. That was all Yuki needed to criss-cross one fey leg over the other and heave until the pain made her back quiver like a disturbed cat.

Aight. Been here before, yeah? Breath shook out of Shimmer’s snout. She wiped her face. Yeah, Alizeh did a figure four. She'd got out by…punching. Which she couldn't do on her gut. Fuck. Ok, try rolling—

But attempting a roll made her knee light up like a firework. Like dominoes tumbling, she mentally blazed one option after the next, push-up, roll up, curl over and grab, a dozen quickly imagined, quickly lost bouts in her head that added up to the same tap tap tap, and the whole time her legs ached, and her skin prickled from Yuki looking at her, watching, vainly hoping for, EXPECTING something more but, oh, of course not, because home girl here wastes precious work hours on card tricks.

”FUCK!” It’s the redundancy of the word that gets her—she lacked even the wherewithal to make her battle cry interesting. Why not say it again for good measure? She bit her lip, pressed palms to mat, took the only the path left: crawling for the ropes. It was a long trek, and progress came in inches. ”...Fuck…”

Should’ve let you drop.

Yuki shifted her weight, and the ripple of adjusted pressure burst like stars, pinpricks, in Shimmer’s legs. She cringed, frustration boiling over, and she grabbed the nearest venom to hand. ”If I get to the end, retire, and all I can claim is I learned to lock in a good fuckin’ figure four…” Her voice was gravel, shaking as her body shook as she crawled. Or tried to crawl. ”I’d call it a career fuckin’ wasted.”

It felt good to say—like a pilot light burning in her chest. Worries dotted and buzzed around her ears, worries like how Yuki hadn't actually said anything against any of this, that Shimmer was reading a whole hell of a lot into that “looking impressive” phrase. And Yuki's annoyed looks. And how Yuki mentioned everything's out Shimmerlace BUT her Pink. (Though she HAD called the staff neat, yeah?) But unlike all the other cunts this could have been directed at, Yuki was at hand, and she was cranking her leg and Shimmerlace didn't have the mind for nuance.

”I will sink my hands in and DIG, until my nails are fuckin bleeding, ANYWHERE I find magic.” Another breath came in like a snarl, and she gave another inch-wise tug of a flat palm against the mat towards the ropes, heaving belly, thighs, and breasts against the friction. Then she collapsed, huffing. ”...So if your advice is to drop the wings and hit the gym, then you know where to stuff it.”

[CaptainL]

When Yuki rolled over to counter into the figure four, it was a risky situation. She knew that - in order to reverse their positions, she was going to have to struggle through the strain Shimmerlace exerted on her legs. As she moved her weight over forward, her face grew red and her teeth gnashed; her face was contorted in a grimace, and the veins in her neck bulged. As her back bent a little bit further and further into an arc, every inch she bent caused a sting of pain to shoot down her spine as her vertebrae shuddered and crackled. She tossed her head back and bellowed in pain - in the position she was in, to move would only add more leverage to Shimmerlace's hold, and all that leverage would be turned against her own back. But Yuki had no choice - she would just have to put up with that for now. The alternative was to let Shimmer win. To give up. And she simply couldn't do that!

At last, Yuki managed to roll herself over - and Shimmerlace followed, tumbling down in the grasp of the raven-haired girl's legs! As she wrapped her legs tighter around her opponent's to hold herself firm, Yuki sucked in a breath and lifted her hips up off the mat, trying to pack on more pressure. She winced as she did, feeling another jolt run down her spine as her movements reawakened the aches lingering in her back - but she let out a breath and nodded her head in satisfaction. Whatever happened now, Yuki had Shimmer in her clutches. The hardest part was over.

In fact, it seemed as though Shimmer herself had given up on trying to continue the chain of counters. Instead of looking to reverse their positions once again, she turned her attention toward the ropes, and began to drag herself closer. Yuki lifted her head and raised an eyebrow - if this was enough to force the Young Lioness to change her tactics, it seemed like she had struck her in a weak spot, or at least she had whittled her down far enough that Shimmer had nowhere else to go. But she was also well aware she was closer than ever to victory, and her heart began to beat faster in her chest as the adrenaline took hold. If she could follow things through, she could finish this match off!

Shimmer did resist, though - but not through her moves, but with her words. She spat back a speech in defense of herself - of how she believed in herself, and in wrestling, and how determined she was to make her mark on the world. And in that moment...Yuki now felt closer than ever to her foe. When she looked at her, it was almost like she was looking into a mirror. Yes, Shimmerlace was far more bombastic and dramatic than Yuki's more straight-laced ways. Yes, that had left them butting heads before. But deep down, Shimmerlace was someone who wanted to succeed, and who was willing to put blood, sweat, and tears into doing so. If she was going to have to fight tooth and nail in pursuit of her dreams, of her passions, she would do that. All the glitter and fairy dust, Yuki realized, wasn't for anyone's eyes but Shimmerlace's herself. She was doing this all because she enjoyed it - not to impress anyone. Just like she wanted to wrestle in the first place. Yuki nodded her head softly, in recognition of what she'd heard. She couldn't help but respect such drive in her opponent. In fact, she couldn't even bring herself to get in a rebuttal of her own - she knew Shimmerlace was right.

"...You and I aren't so different," Yuki explained. "I got into wrestling because it was the place I wanted to be. It made me feel at home. Like I was doing something worthwhile - and something that I found rewarding. For its own sake. I see you're like that too. You've got a commitment to your passions, and you want to follow them through - no matter who might stand in your way, you don't give up, or let them tell you what to do." She bit the inside of her cheek at that, remembering her own struggles with some of her most enduring foes. But she couldn't dwell on that. "That's...admirable. If you have that in you, you already have what it takes to go far..."

But then, Yuki clenched her teeth. Her body stiffened as she tightened her grasp. Shimmer's strength gave out, and she fell face-first against the canvas. Yuki was one step closer to victory. But this, she knew, could be the crux of the match. If Yuki saw herself in Shimmerlace, then she knew what she could do if she was pushed into a corner. She would do anything in order to prove that she meant her word. If they truly thought the same, if their hearts beat as one, then would act the same way in such a situation. The only thing that would matter was how well Shimmerlace could react, and realize those hopes and dreams. But if she could reach out and grasp that potential, then she wouldn't have anything to fear. Now, Yuki could put that to the test!

Shimmerlace was nearing the end of her rope...but Yuki would only suck in a breath, tensing all her muscles to yank even harder at the pink-haired girl's legs, to bend her even further! Shimmer was going to have to work for her freedom! "If you really do have that potential in you...then this shouldn't be an issue! You can keep going! You can get out! No matter...how much it might hurt-!" Even Yuki was shuddering under the strain she had put on her own spine - that she was willing to do this to her own body was proof of her point. "Go on and make me proud!! I know you can do it!!"

[Malkavia]

It would have been easier if Yuki had been cold. Stop wasting my time. The response would be routine, fuel she could turn into cheshire grins and defiant moon-shots as easily as raking a lock. It might even have gotten her to the ropes—and if it hadn’t, well. She’d still be right. Instead, Yuki had to go and say things that drained the blood out of Shimmer’s face.

The more Yuki talked, the smaller the fairy seemed to shrink, the softer her gut felt under the overstrained abs, twitching, rubber-band on the brink of snap. When Yuki wrenched and tightened, and Shimmer’s hip-ligaments twisted and her knee groaned, and she could just imagine the splinters splitting along her calf, she wanted to scream, felt the stormcloud well up in her throat, but couldn’t, absolutely, positively could not let Yuki hear that now. Fuck.

Tick, tick, tick. The fans had gone quiet to hear Yuki speak—even the handful of pinkette cunts, and though you couldn’t look, you knew the phones were, for once, down and off. And that makes you shrink in a world expanding fast, too. Sweat dripped from her forehead, her back cold in spite of the way her legs were shaking and burning. Somehow, after a whole match fighting the woman, Shimmerlace had been diametrically wrong about her opponent, and now she was hanging off another top rope, pink and goopy splat below, a where’s-my-fuckin’-this-time tumble. Who’d have thought the comet would be scared of heights? But here she was, so she closed her eyes.

Then it’s heave, one hand in front of the other. Wet flesh slapped on mat. And in spite of her efforts to shove the auditorium into darkness and ensconce herself in some safe cave dive or perhaps the gullet of some beast, each gasping claw forward glitters in the joints and in the gut, because heights for all their terrors are indeed sorcery, and for the first time since she’d faced Angelina, there was someone, hot and terrible as it was, to see the spark when she finally gave one last hop and stretch and groan and grasped the rope.

[CaptainL]

The fans were watching this moment intently. When the conflict had grown this pitched, with so many emotions flying high, everyone was on the edge of their seats to see how it would all pay off. To see if Shimmerlace's determination, stoked by the fires of Yuki's words, would prove enough to propel her to the ropes, and to freedom. But the person who was perhaps most invested of all was Yuki herself. The dark-haired girl watched Shimmerlace closely, unblinking and unwavering. She didn't want to take her eyes off her for a moment, and those eyes were narrowed into needle-prick glares. But they didn't come from a place of anger. Yuki wanted to see what Shimmer could be capable of when she had her back against the wall, and when she truly felt the pressure to succeed - to do her best, and to make a difference. She was genuinely curious if it would be enough. If Shimmer could prove that she was, in fact, worthy of her time.

And, in the end...Shimmerlace delivered.

With a few more long, painful tugs across the canvas, Shimmer at last brought herself to the ropes, where her fingers coiled around the cable that would bring her release. And at that, Yuki let go, without a moment's hesitation. She hopped off the girl's back, scooting aside. But when she looked at Shimmer, a smile came to her face, and she nodded her head to her. She'd done it. Yuki had been hoping to see if Shimmerlace had it in her - and, despite all the pressure and all the watchful eyes waiting to see if she'd succeed, despite all of her self-doubts and uncertainties, she'd done it.

"See?" Yuki began to climb back up to her feet, dusting herself off and shaking out her hair. "You do have it in you. Your passion can take you those places - you just have to believe in it! And now, I know that you really do!" She sank lower at her knees, and she held her hands up in front of her, coiled into fists. "Now go on, and hit me with your best shot!"

[Malkavia]

When Yuki released the figure four, Shimmer’s legs rolled under her, knees to the mat. She wobbled, like a foal who hasn't quite found the knack of walking, and from the way her eyes popped and she heaved in a breath, the crowd could tell the pain from the hold released was at least as immense as the submission itself.

Shimmerlace did return Yuki’s smile, but it might have been difficult to tell from the stands. It was a ghostly, almost embarrassed crook at the edge of her lips as her eyes met the Skybeast’s. Then she looked down.

After the bitter thoughts Shimmerlace had harbored towards her opponent, she felt deeply undeserving of Yuki’s words, perhaps even incriminated in some kind of deception, as if she'd tricked the Kazikura prodigy into mistaking a nighttime jetliner for a celestial object. She felt as if she were cradling a tiny yellow candle in her chest, and soon, unavoidably, a breeze would blow it out. Yet in spite of the inevitability, holding that glow for Yuki had become everything.

Shimmerlace breathed through her nose, reached for the second and then third rope and pulled herself, shaking, to her feet. She might have escaped the hold, but it was not done with her. Her knees were fucked, and charging into a gallop would be the kind of foolhardy move that would see them buckle. But standing still and waiting for her strength to return was also not an option—not if she wanted to keep the tempo Skybeast had set on their wind.

So she lunged off the ropes and toppled after Yuki. She lacked the speed of her earlier charges, knew it, and tried to compensate by following an irregular pattern, like a sailor swaying one way then another on an unsteady deck—until she’d get close enough to lash out suddenly with both hands, aiming to grab Yuki’s arm and whip her into the ropes!

[CaptainL]

Yuki had issued the challenge - now, all she could do was wait to see how Shimmerlace answered it. Until then, though, the pink-haired girl had her full attention. She leaned in closer, bent slightly at the knees so that she could take off into a charge at a moment's notice if she needed to, with all of her energy conserved and waiting for that spark to alight it. Her eyes never wavered or blinked, following Shimmer's every move. She watched as Shimmerlace pulled her way up along the ropes, one level at a time; even if she stumbled and teetered, and even if she was too weak to move, Yuki still wouldn't dare to look away. No matter how weary her opponent looked, she knew she could still have it in her to pull out a miracle. Yuki knew that well. She herself had doubtlessly done that more than once in her own time - and now that she had given Shimmerlace the encouragement to truly impress her, she knew the Feychild had more riding on her efforts, and more motivation to make a splash, than ever.

Sure enough, Shimmerlace stretched the ropes beneath her weight - and shot herself forward, aimed to crash right into Yuki! The brunette leaned back, holding her arms up in front of her to brace herself against any impact that might hit her. But it was not lost on Yuki that Shimmer was slowed down by her fatigue - how her movements were clumsy and uncoordinated, and how she took her time to close into range. That had bought the joshi wrestler time, time she would need to study her opponent and plan her defenses. And now, she would put that preparation to good use! Shimmerlace came close enough to grab Yuki by the wrists, but by that point, Yuki was ready for her! No sooner had Shimmerlace grabbed her that Yuki pulled her arms inward to reel her in closer, and proceeded to kick her leg up to divert her into the path of a kick straight to the sternum!