Yuki Kazikura vs. Vorona (Two Out of Three Falls)

[CaptainL]

Yuki was absolutely fed up with Winter's meddling, and she wasn't going to tolerate it for another second more. She had already interfered in this match too many times and cost her too much, and the referee wasn't doing anything about it. Clearly, then, Yuki needed to take matters into her own hands. She wasn't usually one to step outside the boundaries of the rules herself, but Winter was no innocent bystander. Winter had gone out of her way to play to Vorona's advantage, and it was about time Yuki showed her she wouldn't turn a blind eye to it any more. That shove was the first warning signal. Hopefully, that would tell Winter to think twice before pulling her tricks again - if it didn't, then Yuki would have no choice.

Even still, Winter was going to play dumb, feigning ignorance due to her not knowing the local language - as if the shove wasn't a universal signal. Yuki could see through her tricks already. She planted her hands on her hips, shooting Winter a glare without saying another word. If she wanted to play this game, Yuki wasn't going to give her any ammunition - she would just tell her in no uncertain terms she wasn't amused.

However, that ended up working to Vorona's advantage. As long as Yuki was dealing with Winter, she wasn't paying any heed to her actual opponent in this match - and now, Vorona had the opportunity to launch her ambush! Suddenly, Vorona was behind her - she'd risen to her feet, and thrown an arm around Yuki's throat to pull her against her body, then drag her down! Yuki's eyes went wide from the moment she could feel Vorona's touch. The raven-haired girl gasped and gagged from the pressure against her throat. She tried to dig her heels into the mat to anchor herself, but it was too late - Vorona was steadily pulling her in closer. Yuki realized then that she had no choice - she was going down! But if that was the case, she wasn't going down without a fight!

Looking back at Vorona out of the corner of her eye with a spiteful glare, Yuki would try to throw an elbow behind her, aiming for her foe's ribs. Regardless of whether that hit or not, she'd follow up by grabbing for Vorona's arm with both hands, pulling at it hard to try and wrench it free from her throat! She wasn't about to let her hold any leverage on her for long!

[Monsy]

OK! Now what? Was the main thought on Winter’s brain when she was pushed back. Yuki wasn’t attacking: good. Was it? Was she meant to hit first? Is this some kind of ceremony? Is she meant to say or do something? Is she asking for another hit? Her palms feel sweaty. H-How do I help?

Thank goodness for Nikita. She took control, laying her wishes clear without a word. Winter beamed with delight, clapping and pumping her fist near her waist. Vorona ate the elbow in that split moment, groaning weakly. “Rrrat-!” Her torso bent towards the elbow. Her face squeezedtight, hissing, then had her arm tugged by two of Yuki's. Winter rushed to get her tool of the night. Meanwhile, Vorona's clasp slipped from sweat on her hands and a reflex to touch her ribs. The arm came down, but—

“You have to go sleep nows!” Shouted Winter, who re-armed herself with the chair, using the edge of it to hover over Yuki’s belly aaaaaaand— She tried to bring it down hard as she can. If one hit, then why not a sequel?! Or a series! It would give all the time in the world for her Nikita to re-lock that rear naked choke. “Go sleep! Go sleep! Go sleep!”

[CaptainL]

Vorona had struck while Yuki's back was turned, going to tighten her grip on her. The Japanese girl hissed through her teeth as her arm dug deep into her throat - but if that was how Vorona wanted to play, she would just step up to the plate, matching every move she made with one of her own! Her elbow swung behind her, catching Vorona in the ribs and causing her to double over, and from there, Yuki could grab her by the arm, squeezing it with all her might. She pulled down hard, trying to wrest it from around her throat. As it slipped, Yuki could suck in a single gasp, bringing the air back into her lungs. But that relief was short-lived. Nothing could change the fact that Yuki was outnumbered - and now, Winter was ready to strike!

Just then, the chair cut through the air - slamming straight into Yuki's gut! She doubled over forward, letting out a cry of pain - and, as Winter continued to hammer away at her, she began to cough and wheeze with every strike, as a loud clang echoed through the arena! Her knees began to shudder and wobble as she sank lower, her feet drifting apart. Her head was spinning and her balance was threatening to give way, even before Vorona jumped on her back to re-apply her chokehold!

"GHHK-!!!" Yuki let out a raspy, breathless hiss as her throat sank inward against Vorona's grip. One foot gave way beneath her, and she dropped to one knee, bearing the weight of her opponent against her back and shoulders. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and her face was contorted in a mask of agony. Aches and pains still shot through her stomach. But if Yuki was going to go down, she'd at least try to take Vorona with her!

Striking back out of sheer defiance, Yuki would attempt to throw her head forward, ducking and rolling herself onto her face. If Vorona was still on her back, she would try to use her leverage to catapult her along with her in an arc, hurling her face-first into the canvas!

[Monsy]

Yuki was controlled.

Winter was making headway in pounding away Yuki's will with steel, while Vorona cut off the bloodflow. They knew, together, that it was a matter of seconds before something would give. Each of them had a mental clock, synced to each other as Yuki fell to one knee, going lower and lower. It was only a split second, with Winter charging up another shot and Vorona leaning her weight into them that she suddenly whipped forward--SMACK! And Vorona's face melted against the canvas white, seeing black and losing all tension. Slack.

She stacked up awkwardly towards her head, her neck bent and face-down. Her arms hanged. Then she rolled over Yuki, hitting the canvas on her side and then rolling to her back. She laid there, stirring, groaning, with Winter wide-eyed and still standing. "Dang-its." Her nose curled, teeth tight and she swung again, this time across Yuki's back hopefully. Then if that worked, she'd run straight for the ropes, remembering the cue Vorona taught her, to run the ropes if they were on their knees!

So she went for it, rebounding off the side and coming in hot on Yuki's right! If the shot lined up perfectly, then Yuki's temple was in for one demolishing running knee!

[CaptainL]

Any respect for rules, order, and decorum had well and truly gone out the window by this point. Even if Winter wasn't supposed to be in this match, no one could deny that she had become an active participant, and she wasn't even trying to hide it any more. She kept on pounding at Yuki's head with the chair, until her head had gone numb, with a low buzz echoing in her ears - and all while Vorona held tightly to the girl's throat, strangling her airways while her weight pressed down on her from behind. Yuki's eyes squeezed tightly shut and her brows furrowed. Her whole body had locked up against the pressure. With all the force Vorona was using against her bearing down on her back, she had no choice but to go down. But if she went down, she'd at least make sure Vorona went down with her - she was committed to that as much, when she ducked her head in and threw her weight forward to slam the Russian woman head-first into the mat!

Vorona's skull hit the canvas with the sound of a thud, and she slumped over her a moment later, tumbling off of Yuki's back as the weight of fatigue set into her body. The crowd lit up in a cheer for Yuki's comeback, and for a moment, the joshi wrestler looked to them with a smile...but only a moment later, she would be reminded of the fact that she wasn't alone in this match. Just then, Winter brought the chair down against her back, and a loud clang ripped through the air as a surge of pain went through Yuki's spine!

She dropped down to all fours now, throwing her head back with a wail. Her back was already sore from how Winter had pressed her weight down against it, and now the impact of the chair had awakened every ache and pain left in her weary muscles. Her shoulders rose and fell as she took in a few raspy breaths, and her teeth gnashed as she shuddered from the sensation. Focused on reclaiming the air in her lungs, Yuki wasn't focused on defending herself from her opponents...which meant that she was wide open when Winter came hurtling back into the fray, swinging up her knee to nail the girl in the side of the head!

Yuki snapped backward in an arc, letting out a cry of pain; her dark hair billowed behind her, but she shot her hands up to clutch at her skull where Winter's knee had hit. Then she flopped over, her legs kicking upward as she tumbled onto her side, and then her back. Writhing on the mat, she kicked at the air a couple of times to try and keep Winter away from her.

[Monsy]

Her knee didn’t like that. She limped the next couple steps, tripped up then recovered just as quick. A leg shot into the side of her shin, making it bend and wobble to reset. Winter clenched her teeth, feeling a bit of her peace slip. She gave a countering kick to bat away another strike at her balance. A twirl dodged over the next strike, going towards Yuki’s head and landing about adjacent from Yuki’s hip.

Remember—remember. What our sun told us. When you’re neutral, make an opening or create one. Yes, simple. But when you choose the latter, what’s the winning method? Unfortunately, none, said the Sun. You observe, evaluate and find a kernel of opportunity. Then choose bold to cover up the real intention. That was the essence of some forms of stagecraft and magic, one of her absolute favourites. Some of her best co-stars.

The bold strategy she chose today was the brute. Her foot would lift, knee and all, then lean forward and telegraph a stomp at Yuki’s head. She delivered the stomping motion, but diverted its course into the likely venus fly trap of Yuki’s grip and instead hit the mat near her shoulder. Then she leaned to the side, dropped a hand to the mat and cartwheeled to Yuki’s opposite side. When exiting the motion, legs swinging over and choosing to squat, she made a swipe for Yuki’s leg and attempted to get a solid grip by hooking it entirely with her lithe arm, burying it into her pit.

She stood up, took a huge breath to consolidate her rhythm, then tried to step over with the hold as quickly as possible, dropping a knee onto Yuki’s back and leaning towards her head to torque the single boston crab as nasty as it could go!

[CaptainL]

Winter wasn't even supposed to be in this match. It was supposed to be between Yuki and Vorona - but then, that wasn't doing anything to slow Winter down. Now she had taken the Japanese girl off her footing, and she was eager to continue to push her dominance - she watched Yuki closely, looking for the chance to secure her advantage now that she was down. Yuki could only look up as she lifted her leg higher, the sole of her boot dangling precariously just above her face. Her eyes grew wide at the thought of what was in store for her next. All she knew was that she couldn't allow that blow to hit!

Thinking quickly, Yuki attempted to bring her hands up, her fingers reaching outward to grab for Winter's ankle and hopefully intercept it before it met her face. Her eyes squeezed shut - she didn't want to face the narrow brush she was about to make with a concussion, and she trusted her instinct to tell her when to make the grab. But, to her surprise, when her fingers did squeeze closed, they did so around nothing but thin air. Yuki's eyes snapped open only to see that, at the last minute, Winter had diverted the course of her stomp, and her foot landed helplessly by her side!

Caught by surprise, Yuki sat there staring blankly; she could only ask herself what Winter's true plan was here, and why she had spared her. Did she just want to torment her, messing with her mind? But she was about to find out, one way or another. Yuki would only realize a moment too late that she was leaving herself wide open by sitting around and staring. Just then, Winter grabbed her by the leg - and flipped her around onto her stomach as she brought her weight down over her spine, all the while cranking her leg into an arc!

Yuki's teeth clenched in a grimace as she recoiled from the pain shooting through her leg. She threw back her head, her eyes squeezed shut and her brow furrowed as Winter only tightened her ironclad grip on her. Desperate to do something in order to get away, to fight back - really, anything just to feel like she could stand up against her foes - Yuki grabbed for the mat before her, trying to drag herself closer to the ropes.

[Monsy]

And—she did it! Once that leg was picked up, the rest fell to a loosely developed muscle memory. Like steps in her choreography, she used the same auto-pilot for that to fluidly turn this over, take her sear and CRRRANK IT!

She’ll see this in her dreams for sure!

Thought Winter, who kept pulling and tugging on Yuki’s leg till her hips stretched higher into the air. She switched from using Yuki like a chair to a knee-rest, placing one on her upper-middle spine just below the shoulder-blades. There was just a little scratchy sound tingling in her ear amongst the sea of voices. She looked, spotted Yuki clawing her way with a precious three feet and a half feet from her goal. Not the most undoable thing when you’re world class, but in another way—so was she!

“Ahhh, no-no-noes!” Winter said aloud, grinning at the trapped superstar under her. She rose with a second hand applied over Yuki’s thigh just above the knee. Once standing, she looked, calibrated her balance, then made a short, happy hum an eureka was plucked from her garden of ideas.

“You stays riiiiight…” Winter picked up her boot and hovered it over their head, the heel pointed down like the blunt face of her bodily hammer. “Here!” Then she brought it down once with all her strength, looking for a quick remedy to all that conscious struggling, clawing and unaesthetic grimacing.

[Monsy]

This thread is concluded.