Cowgirls & Bandits - Bandita (D) vs Cassidy Ryder

[CyanDimitrik]

The look Cassidy is met with when she drops down to meet her gaze is hurt and confused. There's a cultural disconnect at play here, and the teen is trying to wrap her head around it. Her first impulse is to become fiery and tempered, that's quite normal for her. But here? When things seemed to exciting and fun, when this blonde American seemed so theatrical and entertaining, when they traded compliments; that fire ate her heart instead. There's some cultural shellshock to process, and social whiplash on top of it.

She blinks innocently back at Cassidy.

She was called cute as a button.

"Ngh.." She's drawn back up to her feet, Cassidy having to do the majority of the heavy lifting. Bandita's midsection doesn't want to cooperate yet and unclench. But once she's found her footing, it's immediately taken from her again. The two race across the ring, and- BAM. Bandita collides with the rectangular pad of the turnbuckle.

Dazed, the girl staggers back - or would, were Cassidy not supporting her.

BAM.

Her delicate face meets the turnbuckle again.

Weird as it might be to consider, this is actually the more familiar scenario. Things impacting her face? That's normal. It's just fists that get the heat. And now that the moment of previous pain and confusion is being buried beneath fresh bursts of aching impact, training and experience can take over again.

Bandita's particular style of lucha libre is fluid, versatile, and difficult to predict. Some would even call it frightening; not out of a fear of the pain caused by moves, but out of the myriad ways it takes offense from an opponent and suddenly, without warning, mirrors it back onto them. And this particular scenario plays directly into one of her strongest counters.

As Cassidy prepares to fire off another collision, Bandita raises her left foot to plant the sole of her boot against that turnbuckle pad, halting the push sharply. Her arm reaches back to hook around Cassidy's neck to anchor herself, and presses her back into the blonde's sturdy frame. Her right foot kicks up against the turnbuckle next, 'walking' up the pad in two, three powerful strides!

With a final push, the agile Latina launches herself into a backwards somersault, rotating above Cassidy's head! The loop around her neck swaps sides, left arm around her throat, the right hand grabbing her shoulder firmly as the momentum carries her in a single, elegant arc up, over, and descending sharply behind her. The force of the kick-off, Bandita's weight, and gravity's merciless intervention powers a sharp downwards plummet for the Texan, driving her shoulders and head-first backwards to the mat in her "sliced bread" signature.

Even before Bandita has hit the mat in a seated position, the commentator's table are fired up and shouting it as the debut of Bandita's Látigo Bandolera on an international stage.

[Weonna]

The counter came out of nowhere.

"Wha—?!"

THUD!

The Látigo Bandolera spiked the cowgirl down hard, Cassidy's shoulders and head smacking against the canvas as her legs kicked up from the impact.

"UGHH!"

She flopped onto her back afterward, one hand clutching the back of her head as she groaned, momentarily dazed by Bandita's sudden reversal!

[CyanDimitrik]

Normally when Bandita would pull out the Látigo Bandolera, it would be immediately chased with a pin. After all, you need only a count of three to secure the win and change the hearts and minds of everyone in an audience - especially an opponent! The move was typically devastating, and for obvious reason. But there was also something psychological about completely twisting expectations, reversing control and doubling it back into chaos; it robs an opponent of their security. Their confidence.

Or at least, it can.

Because, just look at her. She's not big. She's not bulging with muscles. She's just a lil' bandit. What could she possibly do to you?

That is the heart of her wrestling style. And just that quickly, the Japanese audience got their first real look at what the LAW management saw in her. And the house was cheering for it. She went from getting battered and pressured around the ring to,in practically the blink of an eye, sitting poised above the more familiar face.

And thus, Bandita. Sitting on the mat, legs spread with Cassidy's head filling the gap between her thighs. As she held her head, she might even brush the warm, smooth skin of the inner-thigh. Both of Bandita's hands remain resting on Cassidy's form, but having moved a bit to simply rest upon the older woman's shoulders. She leans forward to try to bring her face over Cassidy's, to enter her field of vision and block out the overhead lights, her low ponytail slipping over her shoulder to dangle to the side.

"No one's ever punched me in 'de face before," she admits to her. There's a mixture of lingering uncertainty and sulk in her voice, but something inside her yearns to understand. "It's just... something you do..?" The head tilts faintly at an inquisitive angle. There's hope in there; hope that she's hearing what Cassidy meant earlier in the corner. But through the haze of being struck, the natural heat rising from it, and her own grasp of the English language, she can't be entirely certain. Not yet. Not without the bright blue-eyed cowgirl giving maybe just one more sign that she wasn't out trying to seriously hurt her. She can still feel the throbbing pain in her cheeks from the hits as a persistent reminder of what being actually punched in the face feels like. Because it remains a completely foreign experience to her.

She doesn't linger. She can't linger without giving up the advantage she just earned. Hopefully the cowgirl will give her a little something mid-transit. Because, again, normally she might go for a pin - but not this time. She needs to work her over a little more before she can pursue the cover she wants. So even as the referee starts to lean in, taking the hands on Cassidy's shoulders to indicate a pin attempt, she's readjusting them to scoop beneath the shoulders and begin drawing the blonde upwards with her.

The two reach a vertical base. Bandita pulls Cassidy's right arm back over her narrow shoulders, nestled snug behind her neck. Her left arm wraps Cassidy's waist in turn, bringing her palm to rest on the girl's toned stomach. Her right hand reaches lower, gathering Cassidy's right leg up in a hook. Her knees dip, then with a pump, she hoists the cowgirl up into the air off her boots! The hand pressed into her stomach pulls tighter to ensure she remains right there in her grasp for the full arc and guided tilt! And with Cassidy's upper-back and head leading the charge, the two women rush backwards to the mat in a back suplex!

Spoiler

[Weonna]

The lift came before Cassidy could properly recover.

Her boots left the canvas, body arching helplessly through the air before—

THUD!

The back suplex drove her upper back hard into the mat, jolting her entire body on impact.

Cassidy rolled onto her side with a strained grimace, one arm clutching her aching back as she writhed against the canvas in frustrated pain. Bandita had completely stolen the momentum from her!

[CyanDimitrik]

Bandita, plucky thief extraordinaire, has stolen the momentum! But not an answer! Though the momentum would have certainly been her priority between the two, she's still deeply curious! And a part of her badly wants to know the answer to her question as a way to move past it!

It'll have to wait, though. The match itself is vastly more important, establishing a stable foothold for her family, proving to the LAW management that they hadn't made a mistake in investing into her, that has to be above everything else! Being an entertainer runs in her family, but there are many ways to do it - professional wrestling is hers, though. She has to make it work! Even when everything else has fallen apart! Especially when everything else has fallen apart!

Bandita's abs flex and she sits up sharply after the suplex. Then she throws herself backwards again immediately, her knees draw in towards her chest, and the lithe rogue backrolls to smoothly find her feet and pop up to her full height again! She pivots around to face Cassidy and reaches down, her right hand reaching for the cowgirl's left wrist, the left hand moving to her head. Fingers sift through ashy blonde hair, lightly tangling near the scalp to draw her up to her feet again.

"You might've punched me in 'de face..," she murmurs to her. "..but 'dat doesn't mean I'm gonna do it to you! Got it?"

It almost feels like an existential stance for her to take, a determination to preserve her luchadora ways. She may take fists to the face here, but that's not going to be her way!

[Weonna]

Bandita lifting her clean off the mat had caught Cassidy by surprise. The little luchadora was far stronger than she'd given her credit for, and that realization only added fuel to the cowgirl's competitive fire.

As Bandita pulled her upright again, Cassidy shook the cobwebs from her head, boots finding their footing.

Then she heard the remark about punching.

Her eyes narrowed.

The moment she was fully standing, Cassidy suddenly twisted her body and swung, looking to catch Bandita across the face with another hard right hand before the luchadora could continue her offense!