Cecilia Lombard vs. Megumi Mutoh

[CaptainL]

While Megumi struggled futilely beneath her, Cecilia simply sat contented with herself, propping herself up with her hands as she smiled a sadistic grin. She had accepted she'd have this won, without a doubt, and if the results would be so inevitable, why would she need to worry? Even if Megumi managed to get out of this one, Cecilia wouldn't mind. She'd have plenty of other chances to win, and all this would do would be to soften her up so she'd be more vulnerable later.

But once again, Megumi would manage to roll herself over. Her mind having been elsewhere, Cecilia wasn't prepared for this, and she was thrown onto her face sputtering. But this defiance only instilled in her the desire to fight back, and she met it with a harder squeeze on Megumi's head, hissing as she glared back at her out of the corner of her eye. Nevertheless, Megumi was strong, and with her bare hands she managed, with some struggle, to force Cecilia's legs apart from her head. The American woman shuddered through her clenched teeth, in disbelief at first before she remembered that Megumi was, after all, a wrestler with considerable success behind her.

But even then, she didn't want to let her run away with this that easily. Cecilia started to twist her hips back and forth, hoping that even if her grip was growing weaker she might still be able to shake Megumi off. Still, with her thighs pushed apart like this there was only so much force she could exert, and Megumi could almost certainly free herself soon.

[Arjuna]

Using everything she got, Megumi would pry those legs off of her head before she attempted to pull her head out. But before she could free herself, Cecilia twisted her hips back and forth, which did its job shaking her head for a bit. Gritting her teeth, Megumi would soldier through this as she would finally free herself from the headscissor, but she was left shaken from the ordeal, which would require her to recover.

Looking for some space to regain her strength, Megumi would scoot herself back, distancing herself from Cecilia. She knew that her opponent would try to take advantage of her weakened state, so she would keep her eyes on her as she would try to recover. She was planning to get herself back on her feet after putting some good distance between them so that she could prepare herself to deliver her counterattack on her opponent.

[CaptainL]

Though Cecilia struggled against it as best she could, eventually Megumi would be able to get her way out. Her legs fell from Megumi's head, and she pulled them back as she rolled backwards onto her knees.

So too did Megumi get back from Cecilia, and the two found themselves separated across the ring as they stared across at one another. Cecilia was tense, and she locked onto the Japanese woman with a steady, unmoving glare, following her even as she rose to her feet, to the point of matching her motions to her opponent's. She hoped the trick would psyche her out - Cecilia was well versed in behaving in ways some might consider unusual, and it had gone well for her in times before when her opponents were too freaked out to put up their best effort. She just hoped the same would hold true here.

Suddenly, though, Cecilia then broke forward into a run, aiming to close the gap between her and Megumi once again. When she got close, she would attempt a knee strike at her.

[Arjuna]

Cecilia's attempt at intimidation might have worked to Megumi if she wasn't a veteran wrestler with almost ten years of experience under her belt. The former Wrestle Angel had seen this kind of move, and needless to say, Megumi wasn't impressed. As she got herself on her feet, she had recovered most of her lost strength and was prepared to clash with her opponent again.

Megumi saw Cecilia broke into a run, rushing over to her, and Megumi prepared herself for her opponent to come in close proximity to her. Seeing that Cecilia was trying to land a knee strike at her, Megumi would attempt to deliver a kick at said knee to deflect the knee strike. Twirling around, Megumi would follow it up with a thrust kick right into Cecilia's upper chest!

[CaptainL]

Megumi didn't seem to be affected much by Cecilia staring her down, which was a bit disppointing to her, and she huffed under her breath. Still, mind games would only go so far without hard hits to back them up, and Cecilia was ready to bring those as well as she ran at Megumi with intent to strike.

However, Megumi had other plans. Right as Cecilia lifted her feet off the ground with her knee extended to slam into her opponent, she threw a kick straight into her knee, stopping her where she stood as she went stumbling back before bending forward and clutching her leg with a cry of pain. Soon after, Megumi would follow by kicking straight into Cecilia's sternum, and has her foot made contact, the American girl was thrown backward off her feet before landing in a seated position, wincing from the pain in her chest while she still grabbed at her aching knee. Megumi was toying with her, she knew, and she didn't want anything of it.

[Arjuna]

Delivering the thrust kick right into Cecilia's chest, Megumi managed to throw her opponent backwards, and Cecilia ended up in a seated position, which was an ideal position for Megumi to launch her next attack. She would rush over to Cecilia before leaping up, looking to smash her knees right into the her head with a shining wizard!

A shining wizard was a simple move but it could be pretty devastating due to the fact that she targeted her opponent's head, hitting it with her knees one before another. Hoping that the attack connected, Megumi planned to quickly go for a pinfall attempt, putting herself on top of Cecilia as she would hook her arm under the crook of one of Cecilia's knees, and the ref would come over next to them to start counting for the pinfall.

[CaptainL]

As she sat on the ground, groaning as she tried to bite back the pain, Cecilia started to push off the mat as she tried to get back to her feet. But that wouldn't get her far, as Megumi soon leaped straight at her with her legs extended to connect with her head. She had already taken some damage from Megumi's kicks earlier, and the soreness wouldn't go away so easily - so those knees ended up hitting their mark. As one knee, then the other, made their impact on Cecilia's temples, the brunette was thrown this way and that before she went sinking to the mat.

With Cecilia down, it wouldn't be hard for the pin attempt to go off without a hitch. "One! Two!" the referee counted as Megumi hooked the American's leg. Cecilia, meanwhile, fumed silently, furious. She wouldn't dare let herself be counted out this early in the match. After all, she still had plenty of work to do in humbling Megumi. Drawing the strength into her legs, Cecilia kicked out just before the count of three. But while she rose, she would attempt a kick at Megumi's ankle to see if she could bring her down while she was at it.

[Arjuna]

Hitting Cecilia with the shining wizard, Megumi immediately went for the pin, and the ref counted up to two before Cecilia kicked out. "Heh..." Thinking that the shining wizard earlier didn't do the trick, the former Wrestle Angel decided to keep up with her assault as she would then try to get back up, but Cecilia then tried to kick at her ankle, causing Megumi to flinch. "Nghh!!"

Almost losing her balance, Megumi would plant her feet on the canvas, feeling a little sore at her ankle. Due to this, she was unable to follow up with more attack, but she figured that Cecilia wasn't in any shape to actually attack her, so she would consider this a moment to regain her bearing so that she could go for her offense later.

[CaptainL]

Cecilia could tell from the moment she managed to get herself out of the pin that her escape was annoying Megumi, and she wouldn't want it any other way. It was pleasing to her to know that she could prove herself readily superior to the Japanese woman and get on her nerves. Maybe, she thought, if she could prove herself to be as much as a hassle for Megumi to handle as she hoped for, it'd be enough to bridge the gap in experience between the two women.

She got to her feet as Megumi staggered back from the kick, which was even better for her. This would deny Megumi of her chances at taking back the momentum, which was sure to have further psychological effects. And best of all, the blow had left her pondering her next move. A minute she spent thinking was a minute she wasn't attacking, and that was something Cecilia could use.

Closing in on Megumi, Cecilia reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder, leaning in closer to stare into her face with a grin first. "You're coming with me, now," she said flatly, before she pullsed back on Megumi's shoulder to send her running, moving to whip her into the ropes. As she would rebound, Cecilia would run after her ready to slam her shoulder into her chest.

[Arjuna]

Still struggling to right herself, Megumi was then forced to get herself close to Cecilia, and the two of them were staring each other. The former Wrestle Angel kept her neutral face as Cecilia grinned at her before she was sent running towards the ropes with an Irish whip. Following through the motion, Megumi ran towards the ropes, rebounding from them to return back to Cecilia, where she's waiting to slam her shoulder into Megumi's chest.

"Hughhh!!"

Feeling Cecilia's shoulder digging into her chest, Megumi felt like her lungs were instantly emptied before she fell backwards, hitting the mat back first. "Muuughhh... hggnnhhh...!!" Gasping out for air, Megumi cradled her chest, trying to recover from Cecilia's attack. Due to this, she was open to more attacks from her opponent, who would be certain to take advantage of her current situation.