The Second Step: Aizen Yuzuriha vs WYVERN II

[Hills]

Charging forward and fighting through the pain would certainly have been Wyvern's approach when she first got to LAW, but even if she could force herself to move through discomfort it was a distraction, and one that had cost her repeatedly. It was a very strong tool, still, but the more she relied on a single approach, the more predictable she became. And for a fighter as analytical as Wyvern, the disadvantages of predictability are obvious. Already, her greater caution bears fruit as Aizen initially holds his own defense, anticipating an attack that grants Wyvern a few more moments to recover before the fight continues.

As Aizen comes at her, Wyvern aims a quick snap kick at her opponent to ward him off, but the more experienced brawler uses that opening to duck behind her and wrap his arms around her waist. It was a logical approach; last time, her response to similar grapples had been nothing short of pathetic. This time, however, it was what she had been waiting for. Rather than attempting an awkward (if painful) series of strikes to try and force him to let go, she puts her new training to good use.

As Aizen's hands cinch together, Wyvern's arms snap down fluidly into a practiced motion. One seizes Aizen by the wrist, her vice grip no less powerful now than it was in their previous match. At the same time, her other arm snakes around and under Aizen's arm, making use of her superior strength to force it into the lock and grab her other wrist. Now with sufficient leverage, Wyvern pushes forward with her arms and back with her body, aiming to forcibly break Aizen's hold on her. If this succeeds, she immediately whirls around to face him, moving one leg forward, between her opponent's, and falling backwards at the same time in a motion that Aizen will no doubt recognize as a lead in to a Kimura Lock.

Reference

[BlackAkuma]

In Aizen’s mind, he already knew how this was going to go - he moved in fast, caught her with the waist lock, and he had already prepared his body for the plunge. Wyvern was a skilled woman, but a striker first and foremost, and he could control her well from back. He was more than able to dodge any strikes coming his way from her elbows, and he trusted her too much to expect a low blow.

What he didn’t expect, however, was what came next.

He’d only just begun to lift her up for a suplex, when he felt her hands at his grip. At first he mistook them for fumbling, nothing much to worry about, but he changed that tune when he sensed her deliberate movement. She was breaking through his grip, pulling it apart with the kind of ease he’d only seen from disciplined judokas, moving him around and-

”Ah!”

Aizen wasn’t a man who made much noise, but there was no holding it back when he felt his arm getting wrenched, pulled in a tight angle. He was brought to the floor in the next moment, and while he recognized what he was getting pulled into, seeing the move coming and doing something to stop it were wholly different things.

A kimura lock, and a tight, expertly applied one, as well. Wyvern had spent their time apart well. He might have even applauded, if his arm wasn’t in the process of being ripped out of its socket. For now, he tried to push up and endure the hold, working through the pain, but he knew that wasn’t going to be a lasting solution.

[Hills]

Wyvern had practiced this so thoroughly it was almost instinct by now. Weeks of dedicated drilling had carved out a strong enough muscle memory that she's only half-conscious of the motion until the two of them were on the ground. At first, she's surprised. Catching Aizen off-guard like that certainly wasn't what she expected. On second thought, though, it makes sense. The move she had just pulled off was an advanced-level counter; there was no reasonable way to predict that kind of growth in this period of time. This would likely be the only such chance she would get during the match. An opponent of his calibur wouldn't be taken off guard again now that he had seen what she was capable of.

Moreover, she hadn't just become a master grappler in this short of a time. Learning at that pace had consequences, which quickly become apparent once the hold is locked in.

Once on the ground, Wyvern's mastery of this movement ends almost immediately. Her attempt to roll over onto Aizen to secure the lock fully is slow and a bit clumsy, and she doesn't know how to properly apply pressure to the hold from this position. Her grappling skills, while massively improved over last time, are still spotty at best. She's had to focus almost entirely on counters to get to where she is, making her well-equipped to respond but unable to effectively followup. Nevertheless, she doesn't release the lock, aiming to inflict as much damage as she can and trying to avoid giving Aizen an easy out of his predicament.

[BlackAkuma]

On its face, this move might’ve seemed like a silly thing for Wyvern to even try. After all, while this was a formidable submission move, she couldn't win this match with it. Aizen wouldn’t pretend that he was above tapping if it came down to it, but even if he did, the match wouldn’t be stopped. And it wasn’t even an assault on his legs, so standing wouldn’t be a problem.

But that thinking lacked foresight. To Aizen, the strategy was clear - weakening his arm at this point would pay dividends throughout the match, and could easily pave the way to a win. He had to get out, needed to, before the momentum swayed too far away from him.

Lucky for him, he had options. Wyvern was better at submission holds than before, but given she hadn't really used them in their last fight, that said little the form was decent enough, but she was low on the power this hold truly required. He liked his chaces.

Defiant, he tried to sit up and straight his arm up, looking to alleviate the pressure. Once he was up enough, he jerked back and went into a roll, trying to turn them over and come out back on top of her, looking for a better position.

[Hills]

Wyvern's brief surge of satisfaction at her execution of the counter fades quickly back into a more focused mental state as her inability to press the advantage against an opponent of Aizen's caliber becomes clear. As her older opponent begins to pull back against her grip and begin maneuvering into a stronger position, Wyvern simply releases him, under no delusions that a round of chain wrestling would end with her coming out on top and not stubborn enough to try and push an advantage that no longer existed. The whole purpose of her training was to prevent her from being trapped in a grapple, not to win them.

Shoving herself away, Wyvern quickly springs to her feet, doing a quick mental inventory of her physical state. Her leg and stomach were still feeling the impacts from the blows taken earlier in the match, but she had barely dipped into her reserves of stamina and the pain was nothing she couldn't easily fight through. And if Aizen had taken an equivalent amount of damage, she was confident that put her in the lead with her tremendous durability. Rather than waiting for Aizen to take the initiative again, Wyvern moves in on him as soon as she's standing, aiming a swift kick forward at the more experienced wrestler.

[BlackAkuma]

Was it a good thing that Wyvern pulled away? Maybe so, maybe not. While she seemed to lack confidence and cohesion when it came to executing her ground game, he wasn’t foolhardy enough to think that taking her down this way would be an easy task, especially with all the strength and fire she could bring to bear. Nothing was easy when it came to her.

In the end, it gave him a more robust idea of what he was dealing with, and told him that, yes, she’d worked to close the gaps he’d taken advantage of in their last encounter. Daunting, but nothing he couldn't overcome - if the old holes were filled, he simply had to find new ones.

That was the mindset he had when he made his way up, but thinking those and bringing them to fruition were two wildly different things. That was made readily apparent as he moved to stand up only to find Wyvern up and already on the attack, moving in with a swift kick. He brought his arms up to block it, but at this range, with her power, that did little - her blow knocked his guard aside and crashed into his face, losing little power in the process. His head shot straight up, his body followed, and he went stumbling back, back, back all the way into the turnbuckle, where he stayed and took a moment to recoup.

[Hills]

While Wyvern has grown far more confident in her ability to avoid losses to submissions, her ability to win a ground game is still unreliable at best. Her explosive power and endurance are far less useful when any mistake can end a match, and her inexperience against world-class opponents works against her in LAW's crowded playing field. At the end of a day, she's an acceptable grappler and an incredible striker. Not taking the opportunity to play to her strengths would be foolish.

Wyvern's high kick against Aizen is a gamble. An attack like this leaves her open. While any failed kick can be exploited, there's no quick way to recover from a straight vertical one. By starting the kick while he's still recovering, she aims to prevent him from heading it off and take advantage of the immense power it can generate. This pays off when she tears through his guard and nearly blows the older wrestler off of his feet, sending him stumbling backwards into the nearby turnbuckle.

Snapping her raised leg back to the ground in a motion reminiscent of an axe kick, Wyvern uses the motion to hurl herself forward at her opponent. Normally, backing Aizen into a corner like this could be used to apply additional pressure, but with someone at his level, Wyvern isn't entirely convinced that he wouldn't be able to find a way to turn that to his advantage. Instead of going for a normal strike or combination, the Irish wrestler ducks as she hurdles forward, arrowing her body into a brutal spear that aims to pulverize Aizen between her and the ring post!

[BlackAkuma]

Blood racing. Heart pumping. Sweat accumulating. The match had only really just started, and Aizen was already feeling all the telltale signs. He had started to get this feeling during their last match, before things were cut short, but now that they were at it again, it was almost as if they were starting where they’d left off. This was the sort of match he craved. The sort of opponent he needed.

It was almost enough to make him lose sight of things, wrapped up in the moment even as he found himself up against the turnbuckle. Winded as he was, he knew that an opening like this wouldn’t go unpunished - Wyvern would be coming his way, and coming hard.

Sure enough, he could see her barreling his way at full speed, moving like a human freight train and bringing enough momentum to match. She didn’t just have power on her side, but speed, too, and his window was a small one. He had to act, and only one move came to mind at the moment.

With his arms on the ropes, he gripped them tight, threw his legs up at the right moment, and threw his lower body up, letting her pass under him with a spear that would’ve broken him in half. He could’ve just let her continue on, but he had a better idea - instead, he brought his legs down and caught her at the waist, wrapping her up from above. With his hold secure, he let go of the ropes, threw his body forward into a roll, and forced her to flip along with him, slamming her back into the mat and going for a pinfall with a sunset flip powerbomb - or, as some called it, a Code Red.

[Hills]

Wyvern is not the fastest or most agile wrestler under most circumstances. For her size, she's quite average in both areas. What she really lacks in this area, however, is maneuverability. Acceleration, adjusting her direction, and moving around obstacles or through difficult areas is what she struggles with. In a flat space, with enough room to get going, Wyvern is capable of explosive bursts of speed. In addition to this, while her repetoire mostly consists of more traditional strikes, the striking spear is a move well suited to her and is one she has practiced long and hard as a result. Her form with the attack is excellent, and combined with that tremendous sprinting ability, Wyvern's spears are truly devastating to be on the receiving end of.

Unfortunately, that all plays against her hard if she misses. As Wyvern launches her whole body like a missile, Aizen's last-ditch maneuver carries him directly over her. Already in the air, the younger wrestler has no recourse to mitigate the impact as she flies between the turnbuckles and goes shoulder-first into the metal post behind, dislocating her arm and giving ample time for Aizen to follow up with his counter attack. Barely feeling Aizen's legs wrap around her with the explosion of pain in her shoulder, Wyvern is taken off-guard as she's swung into a full somersault and slammed into the ground with a sunset flip power bomb.

"Ghhhhhh!"

The torque applied on her shoulder by the violent passage through the air is almost more painful than the impact itself, and an agonized hiss forces its way through her clenched teeth. For a few moments, her entire world is consumed by nothing but pain.

"One!"

The referee's first call of the ten-count and the impact of their foot onto the canvas next to her is enough to spur Wyvern out of her dazed state, driven more by instinct than any conscious thoughts. Rather than try to power out of the pin with her shoulder still out of commission, her good arm snaps out to the side. Luckily for her, with the move being improvised and coming out of the corner, she's within reach of the ropes. Grabbing onto the bottom rope with desperate strength, Wyvern pulls with everything she has, attempting to rip herself out from under Aizen and out of the ring entirely.

[BlackAkuma]

Aizen took a long time to build his repertoire of moves, learning them after countless hours of repetition and drilling. He would practice the same motions over and over, to the point where he could do them purely by reflex, honing them to a maddening degree, knowing that they would be useless if he couldn't bring them out in the heat of combat, and the results spoke for themselves. He had a vast array of techniques to choose from, and he could execute them without thinking, going off raw instinct.

But there was a drawback: such a reflexive way of fighting meant that he could sometimes forget certain details. Such as, for instance, the rather unique stipulations of a match, which didn’t require or even allow for pinfalls.

That was the case when he went for the flip power bomb. The move was effective, doing some real damage, but holding for the pin afterwards was a waste of time, and one that Aizen inwardly kicked himself for.

In the grand scheme of thing, he supposed he didn’t have that much to be mad about - after all, the move accomplished a few things, even if putting her down for ten seconds wasn’t one of them. The damage to her shoulder didn’t go unnoticed, and her hurried departure from the ring was a good sign. That had hurt her, seriously, and she was on the defensive. He needed to press his advantage, before she had the chance to even think about recouping.

Aizen stood up, took a moment to catch his breath, then broke into a run…away from Wyvern. He dashed to the ropes of the opposite side of the ring, bounced off, then came barreling towards her at full speed, bringing no small amount of momentum with. He waited until the last second, then dropped down with his legs shooting out, sliding along the mat and under the bottom rope, attempting to hit her with a baseball slide dropkick.