Toshiko Ito vs Grace Kenning

[Dubski]

Toshiko was swiftly getting into a worse mood in the early parts of this match as she pushed up. Grace's powerful form would immediately be on the move though. Without much room to do anything, she was nailed with a shoulder tackle to planted her into the corner with a yell of pain. She groaned, cringing in pain, gritting her teeth behind her mask.

"You're just going to let her push you around like that? Some things never change, Toshiko..." said Kazuko, disappointment in her voice as she took a glance at Kenning, winking at her.

Mikasa would go around to the other side of that corner, clicking her tongue. "Hey now, maybe Grace is just stronger? I remember you mentioning how weak Toshiko could be sometimes..." Takeuchi grinned cheekily as she rested her elbow on the apron, propping her head up as she looked at Grace.

This was enough to make Toshiko act. And she would start by proving her legs weren't the only thing that were dangerous with her. She began to fire elbow strikes towards Grace's head, trying to force her away to let her get some breathing room away from the corner. She was certainly not going to allow what Kazuko and Mikasa were saying become true, and that would be at Kenning's expense.

[Fairy Dragon]

Grace powered through and forced Toshiko into the corner, where she had no place to get away and use her legs again. This gave Grace a chance to use her power, trying to pin Toshiko in the corner and throw her shoulder into the fighter while she had no room to slip away. The entire time she was doing this Toshiko's partners talked and instead of anything encouraging they seemed to delight in mocking Toshiko. It was an odd spot for Grace to be in, unsure what this was supposed to mean until Toshiko sprang into action again, suddenly throwing elbow strikes at her.

"Gnngh! Agggh!" Grace groaned when Toshiki's elbow hit her head, one knocking her back when her elbow jammed into her forehead and then followed it with a blow to the temple. Grace was starting to stumble back, reminded that the striking ability was lethal for every limb from her, and she began to wonder if this was some odd form of encouragement she was getting from those outside, a form Toshiko didn't like.

[Dubski]

The Twilight Edge sent repeated elbow strikes to Grace's forehead, aiming to get her to let her go. Allowing Kenning to keep her pinned wouldn't be fortunate for her, and she knew she had to escape immediately. Fortunately, those stinging elbows slowly backed off her opponent, making her stumble back! Scowling at Grace, she shook her head once, knowing she had to keep moving now. Get away from the corner.

So Ito would turn to face the corner, pulling on the top ropes to help spring her onto the middle ropes! She would use those to bounce off as she came towards Grace, spinning and looking to nail her foe in the face with a spinning back kick! A move aided by the ropes to try doing more damage to Grace and keep her away further, were she to hit the move!

[Fairy Dragon]

Grace had too many questions that wouldn't be answered right now. She had to focus on fighting Toshiko and then she could figure everything out, and she would. Something about this was too sinister for her to ignore and she knew that she had to speak on it when she had a chance to. But it would be pointless if she got knocked out again, by the time she would wake up they would be gone and none of them would have any reason to answer anything she wanted to know. Grace let those thoughts remind her to keep her hands up and watch Toshiko leap at her using the ropes to fly and spin for a back kick while Grace had her arms up and ready. Toshiko moved so fast Grace didn't see the kick land, only feeling it smash her defenses when it nearly knocked her arms back and made Grace stumble back.

The power of those kicks were still strong even with Toshiko's inner conflict. Grace had to slow her down, she couldn't contain her like she just tried to she started trying to do damage, rushing in and going for an uppercut to the body to crush Toshiko's abs.

[Dubski]

Ito felt a meaty blow with her boot. She had thrown enough of these kicks to know she hadn't hit flush with Grace's head. The girl must have blocked it. Letting out a low groan of frustration, she would land, turning and narrowing her gaze at the staggering Kenning. She was ready to go forth and follow up yet again, even if the move had made her leg ache just a little bit more. She seemed more like she wanted to get this match over with sooner than later.

When Toshiko was ready to approach, Grace was already making her move. An uppercut went right to Toshiko's toned abs, smashing into her and immediately forcing her to fall to one knee, letting out a gasping yell of pain. The punch hit hard and rocked her core, but she was fired up enough to not let it stop her. At one knee, she would throw a palm strike directly towards Kenning's stomach as well, wanting to wind her opponent too, even from her prone position.

[Fairy Dragon]

Grace's hands were going to be hurting like hell unless she learned to dodge more, or she'd lose blocking Toshiko's strikes the entire match. Grace knew what that knockout power brought and wanted to put Toshiko in places where her striking was either impossible or limited. The first place on her mind was the mat and making Toshiko grapple with her instead of keeping an engaged slugfest that wasn't in her favor. She tried to drop Toshiko with a punch to the belly and made the assassin gasp and drop to a knee. Grace had just a moment of pride in her power before Toshiko proved to be fast to respond and throw a palm strike to her belly.

"Uggh!" Grace gasped, shocked at the fast response. She was unprepared and dropped down to a knee, her voice still gagging while she stayed down. Now level with Toshiko, Grace recovered as she tried to think of a way to keep Toshiko down.

[Dubski]

Toshiko Ito had thrown a palm strike directly towards Grace's stomach, looking to give her opponent the same kind of pain that she was subjected to. Her eyes were daggers over her mask as she stared at Grace when they were both on the same level. She growled softly before grabbing hold of Grace behind her head. She wasn't about to let Kenning get an advantage again. She wanted to make every single attack count, and put Grace down before she could act.

The Twilight Edge would then begin firing forearms towards Grace's head as she had her held. The rapidfire strikes meant to wear her down and rattle her for something more, should she be able to hit the majority of them. Despite the pain in her midsection, she was going to continue until her body stopped her.

[Fairy Dragon]

Both fighters were dropped from shots to the stomach that kept them on an even playing field. Toshiko was still angry and stared through Grace to get to her objective, whatever that objective was because Grace couldn't tell. Winning seemed to be important, but she seemed more focused on the people outside judging her. Why did they matter? Grace shook her head and tried to remind herself that her answers wouldn't come until she won, and tried to grab Toshiko to try and stop her attacks when Toshiko started to throw forearms after grabbing Grace.

"Gnnggh! Nggh! Gaagh!" Grace groaned as she took forearms to the face. Her head jerked away but stayed close because Toshiko was holding her steady. As usual each one hurt like hell, and Grace only found an opening because Toshiko's hurt body was slowing her down. Grace waited until Toshiko was ready to hit her again and then she would throw a forearm of her own to Toshiko's face, mustering her own strength to make it hurt. She wouldn't try to engage in a strike off with Toshiko, right now she'd probably lose and instead would lean into her opponent and grab her to try and force her to the mat. Then she would get on top and force her arms around Toshiko's arms and waist to keep her down and stop her from going for any more strikes.

[Dubski]

Toshiko's measured forearms were meeting Grace's skull firmly. One after another, she wanted each one to have purpose--and that purpose would simply be to stun Kenning more and more to wear her down. However, as much damage as she was doing, Grace clearly knew she had to act. Toshiko was hit with a forearm from her foe, surprising her as she nearly toppled back, planting a hand to her side to stop herself. And then Grace more or less managed to clinch the Twilight Edge, taking her back onto the mat entirely, using her strong arms to keep Ito wrapped up on the mat.

Letting out an annoyed groan, Toshiko would yell out, "Release me!" Gritting her teeth, she tried to fight out, but to no avail! She struggled, her fighting becoming more violent as time went on.

But then outside, Mikasa was grinning, leaning on the apron as she watched the match proper. "Aw, if she keeps holding you like that, your girlfriend will get jealous Toshiko!" teased Takeuchi, garnering a laugh from Kazuko. This only seemed to make Toshiko want to break free even more, letting out a frustrated yell as she bucked wildly!

[Fairy Dragon]

Grace grappled Toshiko to the mat with her raw strength, the one thing she knew she had an advantage over Toshiko had helped her stop the assassin's brutal attack. It only angered her, Toshiko started to violently struggle from below her and demand her freedom and while Grace could hold her down for now she knew she'd get free soon if Grace couldn't do something. Desperate and ignoring the commentary from the duo outside, Grace would sit up while keeping her grip around Toshiko's waist and try to force them both back to their feet while holding her close enough that she couldn't escape.

Once they were high enough Grace would lift Toshiko up and then lean back, carrying her high up and then dropping Toshiko down on the back of her head to try and pacify her once more. It was a risky call since she knew giving Toshiko anytime to get to her feet risked her escaping but if it worked she would be back on the ground and Toshiko would be stunned.