Mirewyn Thornveil (D) vs Freezer Katakura - "Entwined in the Cold"

[DJPow]

Mirewyn was sure the match was firming back in her favor. Freezer had burned through most of her defensive options, and even her escapes were slowing down into instinct rather than strategy. The cloverleaf variant she’d been cranking on a moment ago had the Ice Queen chalk-white around the edges and trembling through the lower back and hamstrings, and for a brief second Mirewyn genuinely thought she had her.

Then came the rope break, fingertips grazing the bottom cable just in time to force the call. It wasn’t the finish she wanted, but it was close enough to taste, and close enough to frustrate. All she had to do now was put her opponent down for good, figuratively, and quite literally by driving her face-first into the canvas.

Except, Freezer didn't go.

She clamped onto the top rope in desperation, arms shaking and shoulders drawn tight, locking her frame in place and forcing Mirewyn to fall alone. The sudden drop whipped her flat onto her back with no partner to help bleed off the impact, and a sharp jolt shot up her spine and into her shoulders. She hissed through the burn and tried to sit up, but Freezer was already unhooking from the ropes and turning.

Mirewyn barely lifted her chin before the sprint resolved into flight. Freezer’s wounded rhythm turning into a vicious three-step staccato and then a launch. One long leg folded, then snapped outward into a piston, before the knee found her face flush.

It wasn’t a glancing shot. The crack of impact rang through the arena as Mirewyn’s head snapped sideways and bounced off the canvas, shoulders collapsing beneath her while her arms went slack. Sensation bloomed late and dirty across the cheekbone and along the bridge of her nose, her jaw buzzing as her tongue found the inside of her lip and the taste of copper seeped across her palate.

For several seconds her limbs refused to organize in any meaningful way. Her palms pressed against the mat barely able to generate lift, her body lagging behind the command to roll or guard or even just tuck. The crowd’s roar blurred into a broad, indistinct hum beneath the steady pounding in her head. Breathing came shallow and disjointed, not because she lacked lungs but because her nervous system was still trying to catch up to how abruptly the tables had once again turned!

[BlackAkuma]

While she was certain that it was less pleasant for Mirewyn than it was for her, that knee to the woman’s face hadn't been as one-sided as a casual observer might be led to think. For starters, Freezer had hit the woman with her bare knee. That might not have been a problem in normal circumstances, but tonight, she had opted to wear one of the outfit combinations she had that didn’t include kneepads, so ramming into Mirewyn’s skull was about as pleasant as hitting a steel pillar.

Then there was the toll her body had already taken. Mirewyn’s finisher was still having serious effects on her body, making her legs feel like jelly. She was going to need to give them serious rest time after this. Every step she took was agony, felt like pins and needles were stabbing her muscles, and she knew that, once this match was over and the adrenaline died down, she was going to collapse. She would be doing good if she made it to the parking lot.

But it was worth it. More than worth it.

The blow landed clean, a flush strike to the face, and it bowled Mirewyn over. As Freezer rolled away from the impact and spun about, she was greeted with the sight of her opponent laid out, stunned, utterly rocked. This was the best chance she would ever get.

Freezer pushed up to one knee, then slapped her thigh a few times to get the blood flowing properly, enough that she could stand up from there. She moved in on her opponent, reached down to seize her head, gripping that verdant hair tight as she forced the smaller woman to her feet.

One arm around Mirewyn’s head, in a front facelock. The other pulled the woman’s arm over her shoulder. All she wanted was a vertical suplex, the most basic of wrestling moves, something her body could execute despite nearly being broken several times in the past ten minutes. But as she gripped her foe tight and lifted her opponent off the canvas, the task proved more arduous than she’d expected - she was able to get Mirewyn up halfway before her strength started to fail, tipping her forward.

A little bit of improvisation, then. Instead of resisting the tipping, she went with it, and stepped forward even further, enough that Mirewyn’s chest came down on the top rope. She bounced off, and that bounce gave Freezer all the momentum she needed and a little more on top, as she brought her opponent up, over, and down onto the canvas, executing a Slingshot Suplex.

[DJPow]

The jaw of once dominant nymph now buzzed with pain, her cheek felt thick and hot, and for a brief moment she had trouble keeping her eyes aligned with the lights overhead. By the time Mirewyn slapped the mat and tried to push through the static in her limbs, Freezer was already stalking in, shaking life back into her battered legs and refusing to let the opening go to waste.

Fingers tangled in her hair and dragged her upright, forcing her to find her feet before her balance was anywhere close to recovered. The facelock came next, snug and compact, followed by the sweep of Mirewyn’s arm slung over her opponent’s shoulder. A textbook vertical suplex setup, and under any other circumstances Mirewyn would’ve been fighting the hips, dropping her stance, or anchoring a leg to kill the lift. Instead her feet left the canvas with little interruption, legs swinging up as the arena tilted backward around her.

But Freezer’s body wasn’t cooperating with its own ambitions. The lift stalled halfway, Mirewyn dangling with her weight suspended between them, until both women started to tilt forward. But Freezer was quick to correct. Their combined forward lean carried Mirewyn chest-first into the top rope, sternum compressing against the cable. The contact snapped her body back with a rude recoil, and Freezer used that borrowed momentum to finish what she’d started.

The world inverted before Mirewyn had even inhaled again. Her legs kicked up over Freezer’s shoulder as she was uprooted into a smooth slingshot suplex, body curling through a tight arc before gravity reclaimed her. The landing came flat and unforgiving, her back slapping the mat with a resonant thud that rippled up her spine and knocked a wet gasp out of her lungs. Shock radiated from her lower back through the ribs and into her shoulders, nerves firing off rapid, uncoordinated pulses as her thighs twitched against the canvas.

For a second she lay there with her chest rising in uneven bursts, the match spinning back into clarity while her muscles argued about what to do next. Her fingers flexed, touched the mat, and slipped when she tried to roll to a hip; her body simply wasn’t prepared to sequence an escape that fast, not after the rope rebound and the whiplash of the landing. Her eyes turned, blurred at first, then found focus somewhere between Freezer’s boots and the nearest turnbuckle. Even through the ache, through the humiliating sprawl, there was a glint in her gaze, irritation, hunger, and something almost appreciative at the audacity of pulling off that combination in her condition.

But appreciation didn’t change the immediate fact that Mirewyn was still grounded, still stunned, and very much at the mercy of whatever came next.

[BlackAkuma]

Though Freezer was the one who executed the move on Mirewyn, you could be forgiven for not knowing that if you’d tuned in the exact second after the impact.

The moment her body hit the canvas, the Ice Queen shot up into a sitting position and let out a shriek, as pain cascaded through her body. It wasn’t merely her legs, either, though that was certainly part of it. Her back and her arms, both of which had seen no shortage of damage throughout the bout, were protesting as well. Mirewyn's submission moves were like a poison, one that took effect long after the initial delivery, and all that damage was coming back on her, all at once.

Freezer could not do this for much longer. She needed to end it.

Hissing, seething, she turned about on the canvas to see Mirewyn laid out nearby, barely moving. Enough for a pinfall? Maybe. While she doubted it would be so easy, that move had hit well enough, so it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. At least, she had to try.

Gritting her teeth, Freezer spun about and crawled towards her opponent on hands and knees, moving as fast as her ailing body would allow. She threw her chest over Mirewyn’s, drew her leg in with one arm, and clutched her tight with the other, pressing their bodies tight. All the while, her lips found the woman’s neck and peppered it with cold kisses, slathering her with saliva.

The referee recognized it and moved in immediately to begin the count.

”1…!”

[DJPow]

The slingshot suplex had left Mirewyn spread across the canvas with the air knocked from her lungs, her back still humming from the violent rebound against the ropes. For a few seconds she had struggled just to pull breath back into her chest and force her limbs to remember their proper order. Somewhere through the haze she became aware that Freezer had not fared much better. The Ice Queen had landed hard herself and the damage Mirewyn had poured into her legs and spine earlier in the match was clearly collecting interest now.

Still, Freezer moved first.

Mirewyn felt the shift in the mat as her opponent dragged herself closer, crawling on hands and knees with pure stubbornness. By the time Mirewyn’s eyes refocused properly, Freezer was already over her. The weight of her body settled across Mirewyn’s torso, pressing sternum to sternum as she hooked a leg and drew it upward into a tight cradle. Mirewyn’s shoulders were forced flat against the mat, her back still too stunned to arch with any strength.

Cold lips brushed against the side of her neck. The contact was damp, deliberate, almost mocking in its intimacy as Freezer pressed down to secure the cover. Mirewyn’s breath caught in a short gasp, her body pinned beneath the weight while the referee slid into position beside them. A part of her just wanted to lay there, to simply bask in chilled bliss as her opponent peppered her with crisp kisses.

“One…!”

The slap of the referee’s hand echoed sharply against the canvas.

Mirewyn’s arms twitched against the mat but failed to gather enough leverage to break the hold. Her body was still lagging behind her will, nerves firing in uneven bursts through her back and hips from the suplex.

“Two…!”

Only then did Mirewyn finally find the spark she needed. Her abdomen tightened, spine coiling like a drawn bow, and at the last possible instant she twisted her shoulder off the canvas and kicked her trapped leg free with a sudden burst of force. The break came a fraction before the referee’s hand could descend for the third strike.

The crowd roared as Mirewyn rolled weakly onto her side, chest heaving as she tried to gather air. “So close…” she murmured softly, her voice rough but unmistakably playful as she drew a shallow breath. “You nearly had me there, Ice Queen. I can feel how badly you want it… the victory… the surrender.”

Her fingers curled weakly against the mat as she tilted her head just enough to meet Freezer’s gaze.

“Come now… if you’re going to finish me… you’ll have to do it properly.”

[BlackAkuma]

Even with the aid of the ropes, getting Mirewyn up like that had been no small thing. Freezer had never been the type of woman to lean on submissions too much in her offense, but taking on this woman was making her rethink that strategy - while she was hardly the first submission specialist that the Ice Queen had ever taken on, she couldn't recall anyone who wielded them with such surgical precision.

The seeds this woman planted through the match were bearing fruit, an investment that paid dividends. Not only was Freezer hurting, she was hurting herself even more by moving about as much as she needed to, by taxing her body beyond its limits. She needed to end this before her body gave out, or worse, Mirewyn managed to get her in another hold.

So, when she brought Mirewyn crashing down into the canvas, she had some momentary relief. The slingshot suplex was hardly her finisher, but they had warred long enough that she had some small confidence it would do the job.

Just three seconds, and…

…huh.

Freezer was enjoying Mirewyn’s salted skin on her tongue when the wildflower kicked out, nearly knocking her off in the process. An impressive burst of power, more than she would’ve thought the woman capable of. There was still life running through those veins. Heat that the cold winds hadn't blow out.

Freezer should’ve flustered, maybe even angry - and she was, a little. But Mirewyn’s taunt forced the smile out of her. The woman had an easy way that was just too hard to hate, and she loved their little repartee. Her soft chuckle died out, and she ran her cold tongue along Mirewyn’s neck, tracing all the way up to her neck. ”When you’re right, you’re right.” She reached over and gripped the woman’s hair, tightly palming it in both hands. ”Let’s give you the ending you deserve.”

Freezer stood up and brought Mirewyn with her, forcing the woman back up to her feet. As soon as she was upright, she dropped down, rammed her shoulder into her foe’s stomach, and tried to bullrush her into the nearest corner, driving hard with all the might her tired legs could muster.

It wasn’t as much force as she would’ve liked, her legs sending sharp criticisms with every step she took, demanding some rest, just a chance to lie down and heal. They would get it, too…in a minute. Just a few more seconds. Just one more move.