Toshimi Minami vs. Maria Crawford - Venus In Fur

[BlackAkuma]

Freia looked on as the battle restarted in the ring, keeping a keen eye on the match. Despite what others might have thought, she wasn’t watching to get a good look at Minami’s ass - not only for that, anyway. People always claimed that her behind was one of the best in LAW, but she submitted that the Venus of Submissions was a fair candidate for the upper ranks, as well…

But no, she was paying attention to Minami’s form, the way she moved, the elegance, the calmness in the ring, even after the curveball that had just been thrown her way. It was an awe-inspiring effort as she managed to keep her head together in a way that Maria clearly couldn't. As the Englishwoman charged forward, she reacted calmly, and practiced grace that only came from years of diligent practice, easily avoiding the blow and making Maria pay for it with the arm breaker. It was the kind of focused attitude that came along so rarely in the sport, and it made Freia only more driven - they needed Toshimi Minami in the Fallen Angels.

Maria Crawford might have agreed, though she would have done so with no small amount of spite and venom. She was seething at the moment, staggering forward as Minami targeted her arm, that same arm, leaving it numbed and aching. Knowing she needed to keep up with some sort of offense, however, she refused to retreat, and shot her leg out behind behind her to try and catch Minami with a quick mule kick to her upper body.

[Bare]

In a almost strange turn of events the brief yet intense kiss with Freia on the outside had a nearly reinvigorating effect on Minami, focusing a more furious mind into a blade of concentrated fury intent on causing as much havoc as possible on Maria. Catching the woman's lariat attempt and punishing her with a arm breaker in return Minami would let Maria stumble, watching as her leg shot out at her with a mule kick aimed for her gut!

"Ugh!" Minami grunted in pain from the blow, seeing it but not being fast enough to dodge it. Despite it however she only took a few steps back before planting her feet into the mat and sucking a shallow breath in before fixing a glare on Maria, intent on not letting her get away with that. Hoping to capitalize on the woman's balance after such a kick and taking such a blow to her arm Minami would dart forward, leaping as she neared the woman, and extending her legs as she came, looking to deliver a dropkick right into Maria's own gut!

[BlackAkuma]

Maria was more than satisfied when she felt her mule kick connect, even if she couldn't quite spy the results. While she wasn’t that great of a striker, she would put her skills in the area over Minami’s, which wasn’t something she could say about her submission skills. Maybe this was the best way to approach things, just batter her until-

”Oh.”

Maria had enough to look up, wide-eyed, as Minami leaped towards her with boots flying, hitting her in the chest and knocking her off her feet. She hit the floor and went rolling, a path that took her all the way out onto the apron, nearly flopping to the floor.

She would have, too, if she hadn't managed to grab the ropes with her good hand. Groggy and irritated, she used the handhold to start pulling her way back up to her feet, hoping she could do so before Minami moved in again.

[Bare]

Despite taking a admittedly painful mule kick full on Minami wasn't totally out of thing. Afterall her striking wasn't the best, but her ability to take strikes was more so. A nice bonus from often having to deal with strikes as a means of escaping her submissions. Luckily she was able to turn things around and deliver a dropkick right back to Maria, taking her off her feet and forcing her to roll towards the ropes.

"Ngh..." Wincing a bit from the fall and the way it aggravated her stomach so soon after the mule kick she had just taken. Turning over and pushing herself to her feet Minami would look up and see Maria starting to get up with the aid of the ropes.

'I can still get some offense in.' Minami thought to herself, wanting to take things a step further as she immediately surged towards her opponent looking to try and grab Maria's arms from the rope and pull it forward. If successful she would drop down, trying to snap the limb over the ropes Maria was using to get up!

[BlackAkuma]

And, of course, who would be there to greet Maria as she rolled out onto the apron but Freia, standing there with her arms folded and that glib smile on her face. ”Having some trouble with-”

”Shut up, Freia!” Maria snapped back as she pulled her way up. ”You and me are gonna have words after this, I swear!”

She would have loved nothing more than to have those words with Freia right now, but she had more pressing matters - namely, a certain Venus of Submissions who was advancing on her with no small amount of vigor. Her was seized, and it didn’t take a genius to realize what was coming next.

Thankfully, Maria had an answer for it. As her foe pulled one arm, she grabbed her by the hair, snagging it tight. From there, it was simple to jump off the apron and pull her down at the same time - a move that would wind up snapping Minami’s face into the ropes with a strong impact.

[Bare]

In terms of mental advantage at least it would seem that Minami held the advantage at least, if partially as a result of Freia's own actions pissing her teammate off. As well as Minami's own tactics working quite well on Maria thus far. Now with Maria quite literally on the ropes Minami was looking to take advantage and once again seize the woman's arm to bounce it off the top rope.

The first part of that plan had worked with Minami grabbing the limb easily enough, but where a wrinkle came in was Maria suddenly dropping down and pullina Minami forward as a result! "Agh!" Minami cried out, bouncing off the ropes and stumbling backwards before falling to a seated position, holding her face in pain from the sudden and painful impact.

[BlackAkuma]

Maria felt a great swell of relief as she knocked Minami down, not simply because she had managed to save her arm from being dislocated. The Venus of Submissions was a hard woman to derail - she had seen this woman dismantle so many opponents with her lethal submissions, effortlessly chaining from one to the next in a flurry of counters and reversals and transitions. Gaining the upper hand on her was quite a feat, a rare window for her to capitalize on. But she could just use anything.

Once, there had been a time when Maria Crawford was something of a high flier. While she hadn't really called on those skills in a long time, they were still there, buried under the surface, waiting for a special occasion. As Maria hopped back up on the apron, she decided now was as special a time as any.

She gripped the top rope tight with her good arm, pulled it back, and then used the momentum to pull her way up, plant her feet on the top rope, and bounce off, sending her soaring. Maria tucked her legs in tight as she flew towards Minami’s chest, looking to come down on her seated foe and nailed her into the canvas with a Meteora.

[Bare]

Whenever it came to approaching offense on an opponent from the ropes there was always a certain element of danger akin to a double edged sword. Where the offense you could pull off was devastating, but at the same time if you weren't careful enough, you could take some serious damage in return. Such was the case Minami had found herself in, taking a face full of ropes before getting launched backwards with a wince of pain.

"Damn..." Minami hissed out softly, shaking her head to try and clear some of the pain from her mind. It was searing and took her eye off the ball, both literally and figuratively as by the time she looked up she would be too late as she saw Maria come flying over the ropes and come quite literally crashing into her! "Agh!" MInami cried out in pain, getting taken down from her seated position and onto her back, her legs flying up as a result as she laid helpless under Maria!

[BlackAkuma]

Land with the knees, roll with the momentum, and-

”Ugh!”

The Meteora didn’t quite work as well as Maria planned it, with the ring rust showing in her dismount. She hit Minami head on, drilled her into the canvas, which was a rousing success, but when she tried to roll forward and bounce to her feet, she’d only succeed in flopping on her chest. Not the most graceful moment of her career.

But results were results. Looking over her shoulder, she stared at an aching Minami, laid out and vulnerable. Maybe enough to score a surprise win…

The chances were minuscule, but she had to try for it, anyway. Marian pushed up, crawled forward, hooked Minami’s leg and pressed against her chest, pushing her shoulders to the mat. The referee slid in straightway and started up the count with a hard slap on the canvas.

”1…!”

[Bare]

Minami groaned softly in pain after getting taken down by the woman's meteora, the sheer blunt force and hard edges of the woman's knees doing a good job in knocking the wind out of the Venus of Submissions. Granted it didn't work out for Maria as the woman would have wanted, not that Minami had the chance to really enjoy the look on the woman's face given the position she was in.

A position that was about to get a lot worse as Maria then crawled over and pushed Minami all the way against the mat, hooking her leg in the process, pinning her down to the mat!

"Ugh!" Minami groaned, the feeling of weight on her chest immediately signifying that she had been pinned and an almost instinctual reaction took over her as she thrusted her hips up while turning sharply on her side to get her shoulder up!

"TW- Break!" The ref suddenly shouted after Minami managed to get her shoulder off the mat to successfully break the pinfall attempt!