Toshiko Ito vs Grace Kenning

[Dubski]

Mikasa Takeuchi was a master of suplexes, and Grace Kenning got a very good luck at why. After the frankly unnecessary eye poke, Mikasa had lifted up the bigger Grace and dropped her down for a Falcon Arrow! And almost instantly after, Mikasa got out of the ring and shouted, "Whoo! Great counter Toshiko! Now get up!" She slapped her hands on the apron and gave her stable mate a very encouraging look. And then almost instantly, Kazuko turned her back and then hopped off the apron without so much as another word to the referee!

Toshiko Ito, however, was holding onto her hurt leg, face scrunched up in pain. And even moreso, shame, and embarrassment from not only the berating words from Kazuko, but the fact that Mikasa had blatantly interfered in the match. A shame that she needed help. A shame that her stable mates were bringing her to this point, without her consent. And a shame that no matter if she won this or not, it would be a tainted victory. But that pain in her leg was overwhelming, and she needed to worry about that first. Getting back into her fighter mindset and trying to sooth it before she crawled over to Grace.

She got close to the girl and then pulled her head up enough, her own head hovering beside Kenning's. Toshiko would then say in a voice that couldn't be heard beyond the both of them. "I am sorry... for their conduct," said the Twilight Edge, the words coming in strained. She could have said more, but she honestly had no idea what to say in the situation. She would slowly start pulling Grace up to her feet gingerly, muscling her up to a vertical base.

And as soon as Grace was up and stable, Toshiko Ito would then start backing up, trying not to put weight on her leg as she backed up to the ropes. She wasn't sure how to fairly even the playing field at this point--right now, she didn't think there was truly a way to do it fairly. But she could at least provide them both a reset and a chance to recover.

Kazuko's eyes were wide in disbelief as she began storming towards the side of the ring that Toshiko was on. Mikasa was already there, in equal disbelief and taking off her sunglasses, throwing a hand out in Grace's direction. "Toshiko! What the hell are you doing!? Kill this woman! Kick her head off! Do something!" exclaimed the redhead, looking exasperated as she shook her head, trying to make sense of what she was witnessing.

[Fairy Dragon]

The angry rant from Kazuko was a trick, she thought she was the attacker and underestimated the more properly dressed Mikasa thinking she was just a manager. Grace was punished for that thinking when Mikasa lifted her with ease into her falcon arrow, dropping Grace with ease. Even now Grace was still a big girl, she couldn't be lifted like that unless she was dealing with another well trained fighter. She was possibly better than Kazuko, her chances of winning seemed impossible now. She didn't expect mercy from Toshiko, who still had something to prove and wasn't going to lose, and when she felt those hands grab her she prepared for the worst, until she was pulled up and heard Toshiko's apology. Toshiko didn't offer many compliments or condolences, she knew how much those minor words meant coming from her.

"I...It's okay.." Grace stammered, low enough that no one heard it, she didn't mind but if Toshiko spoke quietly she wouldn't risk embarrassing her by announcing she said anything at all. She let Toshiko lead her to the ropes trusting that she had no intention of doing something evil. And she was right, Toshiko just put her on the ropes where Grace could get her legs back and then rest for a minute. This gave Grace a front row seat to Kazuko and Mikasa throwing a tantrum from Toshiko's act. It made her smile before she would point to the three of them. "I told you two. Toshiko is stronger than both of you! Now step back and let us battle as warriors!" Grace said, ignoring the aches all over for a second to mock the two cheaters trying to bring Toshiko down to their level. She would then lean back and continue to wait for Toshiko to make a move. When she did she would be ready.

[Dubski]

Toshiko Ito looked down at Mikasa, very clearly scowling behind her mask when she was trying to command her to attack Grace, but she would do no such thing. She continued waiting for Grace to recover, instead just focusing on her, even as Kenning was talking back to her stable mates. Both of them fumed on the outside, and Kazuko in particularly stormed to the apron, hopping on it closest to her half-sister. "Toshiko! Get your pathetic ass back into this match, you miserable excuse as a fighter!" screamed the elder Ito, pointing at Grace.

The referee, finally, gave Kazuko an ultimatum. Get off the apron right now, or be removed from ringside! The Blasian hesitated for a moment and hopped off the apron, glaring up at the referee with her arms crossed. Toshiko, meanwhile, didn't even look at her half sister. She tried to block her out. She hoped that now she could just compete against her opponent without further interference.

Standing upright again, the Twilight Edge would be ready, preparing for combat once more. She walked to Grace, her leg still bothering her, then bowed her head briefly as a sign of respect. Then, Ito would kick things off with a simple forearm strike towards Grace's chest, aiming for a simple maneuver. An invitation to trade blows. To start a proper battle of strength and resilience once more.

[Fairy Dragon]

Grace could tell Toshiko was trying her hardest to block out the annoyances around them, it made her work hard to do the same. As fun as it was to give them a mocking smile and show them that they were unimportant Grace needed to focus on Toshiko until the match was done since she would either take it as disrespect if she didn't or knock her out. Once the other one wasn't chirping Grace would stand up and move in, stable enough to move even while she was shaking from the hard road in front of her. She stepped in close and tried to follow Toshiko's bow of respect standing up right and bringing her arms up just when Toshiko went for her chest.

"Ugggh!" Grace groaned. Staggering for a second from the forearm shot, but able to stand and get a feel for what Toshiko wanted. Grace pressed down on her feet to stay strong before she would turn towards Toshiko and throw a forearm right back, aiming for the chest and accepting the invitation.

[Dubski]

Toshiko Ito's forearm landed on Grace's chest hard. The shot echoed out in the arena, but her opponent stayed upright. She had expected her to at this point. Toshiko was a lethal striker, but Kenning was a powerful opponent who had endurance to spare.

And then Toshiko slapped a hand to her chest, stepping closer to Grace and narrowing her gaze. Her ample chest was puffed out and ready for Grace to attack next. A forearm returned her way, hitting her in the chest! Ito let out a sharp groan, glaring in response to the hit.

It became clear where this was going from here. The crowd started to build into a frenzy when they realized both heavyweights were about to strike out at each other hard. And soon enough, that's what both of them did!

Toshiko threw a knife-edged chop at Grace's chest next! And then, she waited until Kenning hit her with another strike. Ito sent a forearm to Kenning's head next, and received a shot in response. And then an overhead chop to the chest. Then a quick backhand strike. Then a kick to the leg, and back to a forearm once more!

And then both women started to send rapidfire forearms to each other's heads, holding onto the back of their respective opponent's skulls to keep them in place as they continued to do battle for physical superiority! And the crowd exploded in response, cheering loudly for the pair that were beating the hell out of one another!

[Fairy Dragon]

Grace's ability to endure the worst kind of beating let her take a number of hits from bigger opponents, and right now it was keeping her in this striking match with possibly the best striker in LAW. The kind of battle between heavyweights fans loved to see, waiting to see which titan would fall before the other. Grace kept up and kept throwing opening chops and punches, going back and forth with Toshiko. "Ngggh!" Grace hissed at the chest chop that felt like it was cutting to the bone before she would follow it with a punch to Toshiko's abs. What followed was a forearm to her head. "Guugh!" Grace groaned, her vision blurred for half a second while the corners of her eyes darkened a little longer. Her eyes weren't going to open fully after that hit. Grace could still fight and followed that with chop to the chest. Toshiko took that as a challenge, her hand came up and then dropped down on her chest again. "Aagghk!" Grace spat. She could feel her chest shake, and the vibrations brought more pain and little air for Grace to use. An uppercut was Grace's response, hitting the chest again and pushing as deep as she could go to knock Toshiko back. The punch must've hurt, but only made Toshiko turn. Rather than retreat she used the momentum from the punch to twist herself and throw a backhand that caught Grace's cheek.

"Puhhh!" Grace spat, her head turning with it and almost losing sight of Toshiko. She had to will herself to stop that, ignoring how her cheek felt like it was already swelling up to keep Toshiko in her sights. She tried coming back quickly and would throw a forearm to Toshiko's masked face, hitting her hard enough to make the thud that followed loud. Her power wasn't falling her, it was just that Toshiko's endurance wasn't failing her either, she'd improved it since they last met and she quickly brought her leg up to prove it was as deadly as her fists. "Ngggh!" Grace gasped, the kick catching her leg and retreating before Grace could grab it. She didn't even think about trying to kick her back, that was a battle she knew she'd lose before it even began. Instead Grace went back to Toshiko's face and would turn to bring an elbow to her cheek, with enough force to try and knock her down for good. She felt this one connect too, and briefly she thought she staggered Toshiko. When she turned to face her directly, she found a forearm waiting for her. "Agggh!"" Grace screamed and staggered, quickly reaching out and wrapping an arm on Toshiko before she would throw a forearm back at her, only to get one in return. "Ngggh! Raaggh!" Grace growled. After that forearm came another from Grace and then another from Toshiko. Soon the two were throwing forearms back and forth, having been forced into it after throwing more and more punches at each other. Grace was durable enough to keep clubbing at her but that durability only kept her up, eventually it couldn't keep her going fast enough. she was going slower and slower with each hit, eventually taking a forearm 2 or 3 times before she could hit Toshiko back. The hits were wearing Grace down, forcing her to try and club Toshiko harder, which just made her slower and put her in a bad spot.

[Dubski]

Blow after blow was exchanged between the two powerful women. She let out a yell with each one, taking each shot from Grace. But Toshiko was a striker, first and foremost, and in an exchange of blows, Ito would rarely ever lose. But bravely, Kenning was hanging in there, which only encouraged Toshiko to hit her harder. Grace Kenning struggled to keep up eventually, with those hits wearing her down more and more! They became more violent as she tried to take Grace down.

But it became clear that Kenning was slowing noticeably, not fighting back with as much vigor as she previously did. The strikes did precisely what Toshiko wanted them to. With forearm after forearm being driven to Grace, trying to cause some serious damage, she waited until Kenning was getting ready to throw another strike at her. She wanted her to open herself up. It was then that Toshiko knew she needed to attack. Take full advantage of it.

When Grace made her tell to throw a forearm in response, the Twilight Edge would suddenly perform a lightning fast spinning back fist, aimed directly at her opponent's skull! She wanted to nail her with that maneuver, the Black Rain, and she wanted it to completely punish Grace Kenning for allowing this battle of strikes to go on for so long. She was ready to make a serious statement, as she cried out loud with the swing of her fist!

[Fairy Dragon]

The battle was turning into a losing one, the expected outcome when faced with such a pro striker. Grace still had heart and fought to find an opening even when she slowed down. Only the moment never came, she was getting too slow and taking more hits while Toshiko kept hitting her hard even when taking her painful strikes back. She moved so slow that Toshiko found time to change her attack, breaking things off right when Grace went for another forearm and turning her body to go for a signature move. Grace's arm didn't come up fast enough to intercept the back hand of Toshiko's Black Rain as it hit Grace harder than any of the previous blows managed, to the same cheek her previous backhand hit her across.

"Ggguuuugh!" Grace spat, her head turning as far her neck allowed and her brain spinning farther than it should. The Black Rain was so strong the colors around her flickered as if Toshiko knocked Grace around so badly that her brain struggled to send any signals to her eyes or the rest of her. Half of her face hurt so much it went numb, leaving Grace to fall to a knee before she fell over from dizziness. She was outmatched in striking, leaving Toshiko free to continue or try to finish the match off since Grace clearly didn't have much left.

[Dubski]

Toshiko Ito crashed her Black Rain directly into the side of Grace's face. She nailed her so hard that the impact of it left her own knuckles in pain as she clenched her fist tighter. And in that moment, the rest of the pain that Toshiko was in rushed back. That leg of hers being the most painful factor of her body. She cringed and fought through the pain, shaking her head once. Fortunately, Grace Kenning was down. That's exactly what Ito wanted. Sucking in a deep breath, the Twilight Edge begins to lean down, grabbing hold of Grace and then letting out a cry as she forces her foe up to her knees. And she delivers a forearm to her head just for good measure.

Turning her back to Grace, she took a few paces away as she held up a fist, letting out a loud yell. A rare moment of showboating from Toshiko now, who was drenched in sweat and covered in red marks from their fierce battle. But she was feeling good now for rebelling against her sister. She felt great for winning this strike battle. A euphoric reaction from providing herself stronger than her foe--unmatched in striking entirely.

Then, Toshiko Ito made a sprint towards the rope blocking out that pain in her leg. She tried to ignore it. She tried to push forward, but her pace was slower than it may have normally been for the striking heavyweight! She rebounds off the ropes with the full intent to throw her force at her through a Shining Wizard, wanting to knock her opponent clear out with the knee strike! With how much pain Kenning's head was in, it would surely be a finishing blow!

[Fairy Dragon]

For a moment Grace thought she might black out, the pain was making it hard to keep her eyes open and things started to feel further away. She knew by now she had to be drifting off a little after taking so many hits from Toshiko without a single break and dropped with a move that made Toshiko's average strike feel tame. The thing that woke her up more was actually the surprising sight of Toshiko like that. It startled her, which thankfully kept her awake from the next forearm that followed. "Aagggh!" Grace groaned. Leaning back after her head took another hit.She heard Toshiko give out another uncharacteristic battle cry, getting the crowd to follow her, and found that she could see kinda see Toshiko running away. that meant that she was coming back with something that might put Grace down again, and this one she wouldn't get up from.

It was now or never. Grace tried to anticipate when she got close, not able to rely on just her eyes after getting beaten in that battle of strikes. She prepared herself, getting on one knee while listening to the sound of her footsteps until they got closer. She heard them almost at her when she looked up and saw Toshiko ready to hit her and would try to move by going low, she would grab Toshiko when she was in the air and push up to her feet holding her opponent in a Fireman's carry, a drunken one by the way Grace was stumbling to keep her up, but she still had her once she was balanced. After that she took no time at all to turn and drop her, turning her so that her head would be against her shoulder and she would fall into Grace's Ken-Stun to try and bring Toshiko down.