Heated Clash Between Phoenix and Firecracker - Blaise vs Audrey

[ThurmanMermanPlx]

Without being able to read Blaise's mind, Audrey could not confirm that he was spot-on. But she likely didn't need to. Everyone in the room could see she was being backed into a corner, and her avenues of escape were being more limited by the second. And cornered animals, especially nervous ones, tended to lash out.

Blaise had seen it, too. The way his eyes followed her leg as she kicked out told her he'd recognized it, but wasn't fast enough to do more than brace and endure it. Good. If Audrey could keep that agility advantage, she had a fighting chance. And so she took a more daring avenue of attack to follow it up.

But it turned out that while speed wasn't an issue, power still was. She quickly found Blaise's arms wrapped around her in an awkward hug, his foot bracing him enough to absorb her slam and turn the momentum against her in an instant!

A gasp of surprise was all she had time to respond with... because he didn't intend to crush the life out of her in his grasp. Instead, he fell back, flipping her over! She'd maintained enough airtime to not land square on her head or neck, but the collision on her shoulders wasn't any less painful. She managed to roll with the momentum to her side and rise to a knee, but that was as far as she got before the pain spiked in her neck, and she had to pause to wince and rub at it, lips lightly parted with a hiss of frustration and pain. She rolled her left shoulder to help massage the ache away.

The good news is that the whole spectacle created a fair bit of space between them again, giving her a little time to see what he was going to do... and, perhaps more importantly, recover a bit. She knew herself by now enough to know she couldn't take many more heavy blows like that, especially to the head.

But while she remained there, down on one knee and steadying her breathing, one thought kept circling her mind that she couldn't shake - he had let her go. Well, in the loosest sense of the word, anyway. But most of the time, her opponents kept her close and bent her out of shape right from the start. Maybe it was nothing, but in her world, it was noteworthy. A curiosity to keep her eye on. And another thought to keep from being entirely distracted by.

She sent Blaise another glare while waiting to see what he would do next as he picked himself up. So far, they'd learned that she could move quickly, and that he could counter her. So by baiting him into acting while she appeared winded, she'd hopefully learn how he moved instead, and perhaps more importantly, if she could counter him, too.

[CyanDimitrik]

For once, it was actually an accident. Not letting her go, but rather the intent behind it. He figured the crash would be rougher if it landed in a sort of flung freefall; the idea being to toss her around the ring, to wear her out by having to manually reorient herself. It wasn't meant to be sporting or nice! That was just... a happy coincidence?

That coincidence being Blaise really doesn't mean her any malice or abuse. This is a sport first, and... well, whatever kind of grappling Tindr people turn it into second! The fact that it came with PoW rules with a feisty, fiery ginger certainly lends to the idea, and he's assuredly not complaining, but when he quickly rights himself after the toss and sees her collecting herself in turn? He sees a person. A person with a love of a sport and a heated determination. Someone's daughter. Maybe someone's sister. It's never been in him to be deliberately hurtful.

Win, yes.

Humiliate and ruin, no.

That said, however... she's proven to be pretty squirrely. He can't let up on her now, while she appears to be trying to recover on one knee, glaring at him like he's the thing standing between her and eternal glory, he makes his move. He launches into a three-step sprint from the right leg. Each loping stride pumps the momentum, until after the third, his feet don't even touch the mat. His body has turned horizontal, a lateral missile racing the remainder of the distance set on a boots-first collision course with the redhead's chest in a dropkick.

[ThurmanMermanPlx]

Even as she knelt there, calming her breathing and soothing her first aches, Audrey recognized that there was something different in Blaise's expression when he turned to face her. It wasn't something she was used to seeing - or, well, not in the ring across from her, anyway. A lack of malice; a lack of thirst. He wanted to win, obviously, but... She couldn't shake the feeling that that suplex she'd just received in lieu of a bearhug was less of a dirty trick and more a calculated tactic.

What was going on??

No time to think on it now. He's on the move. In the back of her mind, the feeling remained - it wasn't underhanded of him to attack her while she was recovering, he was taking advantage of the momentum he'd created, as any fighter would do. But Audrey shoved the thought aside, because she had about half a second to figure out what he was doing and... well, not get flattened!

He'd only taken two steps, but something about the way his body was positioned did not scream "tackle" as she would have expected in her position, given her past experiences. No, he was more upright than that, maybe even slightly leaning back-

With a quick, short gasp and her eyes wide, Audrey reacted instinctively; letting herself lean backwards and to her left, letting her booty crash to the mat. Not the most comfortable of retreats, with her legs tangled awkwardly, but it sure beat the alternative - having Blaise's boots compress her chest! Body supported by her elbows, she watched as Blaise sailed right by her, missing by mere inches. He was close enough that the wind he created blew her bangs down into her eyes.

Instinct gave way to recognition - this was an opening!

Rather than dwelling on how close a call that had been, Audrey scrambled to her feet and darted to the ropes. Blaise likely wouldn't stay down for long - even if he had hit her, he'd have landed on his back anyway, and would surely be anticipating needing to get himself up. So in an effort to make those few seconds of surprise count, Audrey hopped up to the middle rope, pausing only a fraction of a second to look behind her and gauge her angle - less than ideal, but not impossible - and executed a leaping moonsault, hoping to let gravity do the heavy lifting and carry her down into Blaise's gut!

[CyanDimitrik]

Blaise had every reason to expect her to stay put. She'd just taken a rough landing, she looked like she was still gathering herself. He hadn't waited too long to assess her situation or to mull over that look she's giving him. He has a match to wrestle, after all. A match to win. So when Audrey suddenly veers aside, time seems to slow down. Possibly comically. With his entire self sailing past her like a missile, concluding with his surprised face staring at her en passant.

He hits the mat, of course. That was always going to happen. The benefit of landing a dropkick is that the fall is more controlled, that bump of feet finding something more sturdy than air jolts the descent, allowing one to land better on shoulders and upper-back. This, however, leaves one to land somewhat gracelessly, flat on the mat. "Unf!"

He pushes himself up onto an elbow, head snapping back in Audrey's direction. She's looking back at him - from the ropes. When did she get there? He starts to collect himself, before he's paused by the sight of her slender body arcing gracefully through the air in an admirable, picture-perfect moonsault. She brings herself down stomach-first across his waiting abs.

Even with her being a lightweight, and Blaise's physique being well-sculpted, it doesn't reduce the fact that an entire body has just come crashing down across him. The abdominals clench, his body lurching upwards around her waist before dropping back down flat onto his back in a groan, lying beneath the ginger in that criss-cross belly-to-belly position with her.