Valley Doll III vs Kyo Akamatsu — Iron Person Match

[Underdoggo]

So far, so good, Kyo thought: at the moment he had Valerie upright, her body being stretched vertically as he had her arms and legs trapped. Even then, from this angle, she could not only resist, but potentially could also wrench her way free: given Kyo's level of exhaustion, he would not be able to hold onto her for long. To win, he needed to cinch his finisher in wholly.

Taking a deep breath, Kyo rocked his body backwards, falling onto his back and, in the process, trying to elevate Valerie's body upwards horizontally so she was facing up towards the ceiling. But she wouldn't be facing it for long: Kyo would release one of Valerie's wrists and use is free hand to wrap around her head, dragging it backwards under his armpit and adding pressure to her neck and upper back while at the same time cutting off her air supply.

If all went off without a hitch, then he would soon have her in a combination dragon sleeper/Romero special, stretching Valerie's body over the mats while making it hard for her to breathe. Now they would see what happened first-- whether Valerie passed out, tapped out, or if Kyo was forced to release her due to sheer exhaustion...

[BlackAkuma]

Something bad was coming.

Valerie didn’t know exactly what, but she knew that this surfboard stretch was not going to be the end-all/be-all of things. While it wasn’t pleasant, it was far from what Kyo would need to get a submission out of her, and he had to know that, which meant he was cooking up something far more devious, far more dangerous, and she was only seeing the tip of that iceberg. The only questions? When, how, and how painful would it be?

Now, a wicked variation of the dragon sleeper mixed with the Romero Special, and excruciating.

Valerie struggled as he pulled her back into the hold, but there was simply no avoiding it at this point. He secured her head, tucked in tight and that was all there was to it - Valerie was trapped, left to hang like bait on a hook, utterly helpless, with only two options: Tap or Nap. She hated the former, but knew the latter was unacceptable. If she was knocked out, she wouldn’t be in any fit state to finish this match. So.

She tapped. And tapped. And tapped. ”I give, I give!”

[Underdoggo]

The crowd was going wild now as Kyo locked in the Akamatsu crippler, elevating Valley's body upwards and simultaneously bending her backwards, stretching her powerful body for the audience to see. It was taking a lot of effort to keep the hold locked, and he clenched his eyes shut, trying to keep the hold locked for as long as possible.

To her immense credit, Valerie did not scream. Kyo did not even hear her cry out. She instead endured the hold stoically-- so stoically, in fact, that Kyo started to fear that it wasn't working: that somehow, Valerie was even resisting his finisher.

But then he felt her tapping frantically against his arm, and heard her muffled cries of surrender from under his arm.

Without waiting any further, Kyo released Valerie, allowing the powerful blonde to topple to the mat. Lying on his back, Kyo took several much-needed seconds to catch a breather. His body shone with sweat, and his limbs felt leaden as exhaustion started to set in. By this point in the match, he was feeling thoroughly, utterly drained. It would take nothing less than sheer willpower to get him up and moving again.

But at least now the score was tied. Likely, whoever won the next one would win the match...

[BlackAkuma]

Don’t think.

Don’t think about the pain going through your body, or how much it hurts to breathe. Don’t think about the pain in your leg, or that weird feeling in your arm that’s getting worse every time you try to move it. Don’t think about the double vision, or the pounding in your ears. Don’t think about you’re clearly dehydrated and your body is starting to cramp up.

Don’t think. Just fight. Just roll over to your chest, push up to your feet, stand tall, and fight. Don’t wrestle - you don’t have the power for that, anyway.

Just. Fight.

Valerie rose, somehow, pushing her way up as the crowd surged around them. She couldn't stand, and yet she was standing anyway, her body operating on pure adrenaline, nothing but overdrive. She was going to finish this, and she thought - no, she knew Kyo felt the same way.

”Kyo-san.” She muttered through her heaving breaths as she looked his way. ”Are you ready?”

[Underdoggo]

Breathe in. Breathe out. Take this vital time to recover. Let your muscles relax a little. You will need whatever energy you have left for the battle ahead.

Letting out a slow exhale, Kyo rolled up to his knees, gingerly pushing himself upright. Opposite him, Valerie was hobbling up to her feet. She looked terrible, so weighed down with exhaustion that she looked like she would collapse at any moment. Then again, Kyo probably looked no better-- no sooner had he had this thought when one of his legs threatened to give as he stood up, causing him to nearly fall over.

Steady, steady...

"Hai," Kyo replied with a nod, before starting to circle Valerie. Slowly but surely he would close the gap before darting in, tying up aggressively with Valerie for another collar and elbow grapple...

[BlackAkuma]

A look. A nod. That was all they needed.

They were ready.

Valerie didn't have a solid plan, but the concepts of one were already taking root as the two moved in again. She needed to get basic, barebones with him and use the one thing she had on her side: Size. Pure muscle. She needed to make this about raw strength and nothing else. Just overwhelm him and grind him into the dirt.

That was the working plan as the two of them met and locked up, fiercely vying for position at the center of the ring. It was a gamble, one she didn't’ want to make now, when the stakes were so high. She needed simplicity. She needed to brawl.

And brawl, she did. Instead of staying in the tie-up, Valerie abruptly broke out, lashed out, and attempted to nail Kyo with a right hook to the face, praying that she might score a flash knockout in the process.

[Underdoggo]

For the third time, the two of them collided in the center of the ring. Kyo knew it was a gamble to go for a classic lockup like this, given Valerie's sheer power and size, but damn it all, it felt proper for them to start this match on an even footing. Besides which, a grapple like this would give him room to transition to--

Valerie suddenly broke lockup. Alarm bells rang in his head just before her fist came exploding against his cheek, snapping his head to the side in a spray of sweat. He stumbled back drunkenly, his vision fuzzing, struggling to maintain his balance as dizziness fought to overwhelm him.

But maintain his balance he did. Balling a fist, he lashed out for a blind retaliatory strike on where he assumed Valerie's head was...

[BlackAkuma]

Valerie was not a boxer by any of stretch of the imagination, but strikes had been a part of her training and she could pull them off reasonably well when she had to, which wasn’t terribly often. Most times, her grappling skills and raw power were more than enough to get her through a match, allowing her to outwrestle who she couldn't overpower and overpower who she couldn't outwrestle.

Now, however, neither were much of an option, and she needed to save what strength she had left for the biggest moments, when it would matter most. That meant one thing: It was time for a slugfest.

Half the crew cheered for her and the other half booed when she lashed out, then switched rolls when Kyo returned fire, hammering her square in the face as she was coming in for another blow. His strike spun her around, but she went with the motion instead of resisting, continuing to turn, building up more momentum, then using it all to throw a Roaring Elbow in his face. ”Go down!”

[Underdoggo]

Sometimes, in Kyo's experience, all finesse and strategy in a match went out the window, either because both combatants were too tired, or too angry, to bother with doing anything elaborate. In those instances, a formal match usually turned into an outright brawl, and in those instances it usually boiled down to a contest of endurance.

This is what went through Kyo's head as his fist crunches into Valerie's face, sending the blonde staggering back. For a few seconds after, all Kyo could do was stand there, catching his breath, waiting, even silently daring, Valerie to retaliate.

And retaliate she did: with a roar she came at him, throwing an elbow. His body felt too slow and sluggish to attempt a dodge, and he felt the elbow slam into his forehead. A ringing filled his skull, and he stumbled, swayed, nearly fell.

But he didn't fall: with a defiant roar of his own he slashed at with a forearm, aiming a precise bladed palm strike for Valerie's temple, returning her blow with one of his own. Around them, the crowd was on the edge of their seats as these two wrestlers simply battered at each other now.

[BlackAkuma]

Go down, go down, just go down.

Valerie repeated those words in her head like a mantra as she laid into Kyo with that elbow, driving hard with her body weight, creating so much force that she nearly fell over from it. For a second, it seemed as if she might even hit paydirt…but no, no, he endured. It was like fighting a piece of iron.

Not only did her survive, but he had enough in the tank to lash out again, this time smacking her with a strikes around the face, hitting so hard that it left her tasting blood. She rocked back, staggered, the tight bow that held her hair up finally had enough of the whole situation. Her strands came down, cascading across her face, a matted mess casting her features in shadow.

She barely noticed. Instead, she merely wiped the blood off her lip, glared his way again, and came hard once more.

Not just one hard punch this time, but a barrage, throwing it all she had at him, swinging left and right and left in a kamikaze attack, not even paying attention to what she was hitting, just so long as she was hitting something.