Landing that curb stomp felt right, this fight was once more going the way it was ought to, this time however, Suzume would not let her guard down. She already had a target in mind next, with Sunny's speed and kicks already were enough of a problem and it needed to be resolved!
To that end, Kodama would turn her opponent onto her back and grab a hold of her legs before placing them in a position to engage a figure four leg lock! Once that was done, she'd reach to the other woman's foot and twist it to add to the damage her hold was already doing by fully locking her signature - gathering clouds!
Spoiler
Sunny was feeling the effects of that Curb Stomp big time, keeping her rather dazed as she lay face down on the mat. She could barely muster the strength to pick her head up after that cataclysmic hit. Kodama would help her with that though, as she pulled Soule over onto her back to ready her for another move. The Breezy Blonde let out a dazed groan as she was then grabbed by her legs to be placed in a hold.
And then the figure four was locked in, making Sunny howl in pain. And her ankle grabbed as well and twisted, making her yell even louder. "Aiiiii!" cried out Sunny, gritting her teeth as she tried to lift up, getting some of the leverage off and shaking her head. The submission had certainly sobered her up now, causing her to want to put an end to it immediately.
Closing her eyes tight, Sunny knew she had to try moving now. Suzume outpowered her, likely, but she could still try to find a way out. She tried to push herself to drag both women away, heading towards the ropes behind her, letting out whines and groans of pain as she tried to escape, reaching back for the rope every so often, desperate to get free from the hold and get a rope break!
There were very few things as satisfying as having your opponent trapped and unable to escape your hold. The ropes were there, sure but it took time to get there and to Suzume at least it felt better to have her opponents crawl to their safety, almost like a submission, admitting they can't get out otherwise.
And so she would keep the hold, smiling as Sunny brought them closer, only tightening the hold, even as the blond would grab the rope, she'd keep it a moment until the referee came over to force her to let go. She would get up after that, making a gesture of dusting her pants. She'd wait for her opponent to start standing up until she was about to get to her knees, then, she would unload a roundhouse kick to the Hawaiian's head!
Sunny Soule managed to grab the ropes, letting out a soft whine of pain as the referee sounded for the rope break. Waiting, she would instantly grab hold of her hurt leg when it was released, cringing. She crawled over to the ropes, slinging an arm over the rope as she took deep breaths, holding onto her leg. It was a devastating hold that had debilitated her leg quite a bit, leaving Sunny struggling and worried about how the rest of the match could go. She needed usage of her legs quite a bit, and cutting down that would leave her in far worse of a spot.
But still, Sunny would try to push herself up slowly, using the ropes for leverage as she tried to put little weight on her ankle. Wincing, she started to get to one knee with help from the ropes. And then a roundhouse kick slammed into her head, knocking her flat onto the mat on her face. She let out a groan of pain as she lay next to the ropes, the referee warning Kodama about attacking her while she was holding onto the ropes! Soule, however, would remain laying on her front, stunned from the hard blow to the head and trying to gain her wits back!
Suzume smirked seeing Sunny fall, now that, that was far more to her liking. Of course, it wasn't exactly up to code and the referee gave her an earful about it, not that it would matter, it was hardly a rare sight in the ring, even if against the rules. That being said, her opponent's sudden attack last time costed Suzume no small amount of problems and she was not particularly eager to give the woman another chance. Thinking that the blond was most likely done for after the last kick, Suzume would drag her further away from the ropes before flipping her on her back after which she would plant her foot on Sunny's chest for a cocky pin.
Sunny Soule was laying on the mat, head pounding from that kick still. She wasn't ready to come back quite yet as she let out a soft groan of pain. She was fortunate that the referee was admonishing Kodama, telling her to give Sunny a breather while she was against the ropes. The Breezy Blonde needed to clear her mind first and get out of her haze.
The added time helped, and then Kodama Suzume's next move also helped. She grabbed hold of Sunny and then drug her towards the middle of the ring. A cocky pin came after, and Sunny was taking deep breaths, closing her eyes tight as she tried to focus. She was being pinned now. She needed to make a move. She needed to get back. She needed to strike back.
"ONE!"
"TWO!"
"THR--"
Taking one final deep breath, Sunny Soule would then throw her shoulder up and then wrap both of her legs around the leg pinning her down and then shifted her hips intensely, attempting to take her down to the mat! If successful, she'd attempt to lock in a knee bar! It would hurt her own injured leg, but she would at least be able to apply more pain to Kodama's and try to give them the same limitation!
It was all going swimmingly now, just a few more seconds and Suzume could dust off and finish this farse, or that was what she thought, in reality, Sunny was more resistant than the Japanese gave her credit for. Just a split second before the final count, the Hawaiian broke the pin and swiftly grabbed a hold of Suzume's leg, shocked at the fact that the woman was conscious, let alone able to do that, Kodama was not able to react in time, getting dragged down to the ground and locked in hold that made her screen out in pain.
"Ghra!!!" She let out as Sunny seemed to be doing her best to break her leg but holds like this were Suzume's bread and batter. Maintaining composure despite the pain she would move her free leg behind the knee of the limb she already targeted before, making sure it would land where she wanted, she withdrew before sending a kick at the back of it after which she would keep pushing her opponent's leg out. If successful this should be enough to loosen up the hold and allow Suzume to move her leg out of harm's way, she would still have to take the damage done into account going forward but at least, she would be out of the immediate danger.
Sunny grit her teeth as she kept the knee bar locked in. She needed to ensure that she could do something to keep Kodama from putting this match away. And if she could keep them on equal footing, that may well keep her in this competition. The Breezy Blonde continued to hold onto the submission. She didn't expect Suzume to give up, but she didn't expect the level of craftiness from her to break free.
Targeting Soule's already injured leg, Suzume began to kick at it. Letting out yells of pain with each passing strike, it was eventually too much. She released the hold and rocked back, holding her injured leg in pain. Letting out a soft whine, Sunny winced as she tried to deal with it becoming even more injured. She just hoped that whatever follow up Kodama may attempt wouldn't put her in too bad of a position now.
Managing to force Sunny off of her leg, Suzume turned to all fours and slowly picked herself up, her leg was messed up something fierce but at the very least she made sure her opponent was suffering the same. At this point it was clear to Suzume she should have given the Hawaiian more credit, behind all the flash and pomp along with the infuriating attitude was some serious speed, and Suzume was not used to people matcheing her in that area.
At this point though, with the leg damage, it would be greatly reduced for both. Counting on exactly she would get over to her opponent and reach down to her head, forcing her to her knees. If she managed to get that far, she would then transition to grabbing her arm, taking a step back before then delivering a knee strike square to her opponent's chin!
Sunny Soule managed to put Kodama into a similar position with an injured leg, even at the cost of hurting her own a little bit with her foe's escape. Huffing out a groan of pain, she would slowly bring herself up and off the mat. She needed to keep fighting it out and try to make a comeback. She just needed one big maneuver! That might do it! She just needed to try beating Suzume up.
Unfortunately, Kodama was slightly quicker on draw, and she was able to pull Sunny up to a kneeling position by her arm. And then right after, a knee strike smashed the Breezy Blonde in the chin, knocking her back into the mat! She was stunned from the blow, shifting her jaw slightly as she groaned meekly in pain, eyes wide in shock from the blow! Kodama had hit her hard and Soule was very clearly feeling the effects of it!
