Description: Following the questionable results of her previous victory against Rainbow Mika, the wrestler known as Snakebite challenged the current Neo League leader for a rematch. What follows is a brutal, dragout fight to see whose backside accessories are the deadliest while in the crowd Alma learns about wrestling from Sven. <Winner: Draw>
Chloe fought Rainbow Mika as one of her earliest events in the public eye. Though she'd finished the match (and won it), it was only through the interference of Sada that the battle had finished. Nobody, including Chloe herself, was sure if she'd have been able to do it without the chaos of a third.
She wanted to know. And since she was thinking about joining BFW - was about one step away from doing it, too - she figured she'd try first. She might be able to push salary up a little higher, or... something. But mostly, honestly, she just wanted to fight Rainbow Mika again.
This is a Neo League battle. It technically isn't a wrestling match. That doesn't stop people from billing it as 'modified wrestling', and it was for that reason that the CWA's traveling stage was willing to let them use it. There are lights, there's a ring and a stage... and there's a crowd. A loud crowd.
Chloe, in her persona as Snakebite, arrives to the ring with an aggressive musical sting. 'Snakebite' has been, to this point, kind of a monstrous wrestler, like the lower-budget leagues sometimes field as a cheap heel tactic. She doesn't say much, and she doesn't do it now, vaulting up onto the turnbuckle in her false-snakeskin leotard, with that tail wrapped around her waist like a belt. She perches there for a moment before stepping down into the ring itself, looking kind of serious.
But only sort of. She really wants this fight. Mixed martial arts, all the creative ways of fighting - those are more of a draw to her than plain old professional wrestling, which she'd only started to enter as a cover. This will be pretty wrestle-y... but not entirely. It should be fun. And it will let her know whether that match from before was a fluke.
The world of Rainbowmania was entering a strange phase. It had been a few months since Rainbow Mika exploded dramaticly into the public eye in an effort to storm the fighting world, and after some awkward initial battles she'd proven to be very effective, especially among the ranks of Neo League. Taking an early lead with four wins, she still sat at the very peaks of the rankings... but people were starting to wonder if she could hold it.
She hadn't pulled out a win in her last three matches in the league, and in fact had racked up two losses. The wrestler herself had been content with most of her matches at least having sone measure of explosive entertainment, but not everybody shared her belief that a memorable match was a victory in itself.
Of course, for the time being she was still sitting at the top, despite the wolves nipping at her heels. What fans she'd built up were still paying to watch her matches, and whenever possible they were starting to pack the crowd.
And so it is that the arena has been packed, despite the fact that the seats are only good for one match. There are signs everywhere in the crowd, with a decent majority in support of the explosive Mika, and still more having paid for the privalege of watching the match streamed live into their homes.
When Rainbow Mika's entrance music begins to play, the crowd erupts... and Rainbow Mika herself blasts down the entrance ramp. This time there's no slowing down to play to the crowd, she hits the open floor around the ring and then bounds up, doing a flip as she clears the top rope to land in the center of the ring.
It's time for a rematch!
Chloe isn't actually that worried about the rankings. She quite enjoys the Neo League, but she figures she'll end up where she ends up - now, if she pulled ahead a little more, then she could think about challenging just to run up the ranks. Maybe against the bear, or something.
But no. Here, she wants to fight /Mika/, and she doesn't much care if Mika is on the top or the bottom of the scoreboard. (Aside from the fact that it would probably be a better fight if she wasn't right at the bottom and didn't just join - anyone who had fought seven matches, and that Chloe was still beating, is probably not much of a fighter. 0-7 records are not impressive.)
Chloe has fewer fans. She's aware of that. But, especially after SLAMFEST, she doesn't have /zero/... and there are some members of the crowd cheering for her, too. One of them has a sign that says SHOW US YOUR TAIL. Chloe really doesn't know what to make of that one, and she's left it wrapped around her waist, like a belt and a prop.
Chloe - Snakebite - moves to the center of the ring, too. At least she doesn't have to look up; she's taller. She doesn't break eye contact, and for Chloe that's a bit of an unnatural thing, because she doesn't really blink all that often unless she remembers. She does, but several moments too late to be quite natural. It's a little eye-watering.
She still doesn't say much. She definitely doesn't smile, even though she kind of wants to, not on the stage. Hmm, she thinks, maybe she should talk to Mika /off/ the stage sometime... to tell her she's not quite the jerk she sometimes looks like when she's wrestling. Instead, she gives a very short nod to Mika, a measure of respect if nothing else. She's already a little amped up; she just wants to go. She's having to try a bit to stay still and not just jump Mika - but she can wait for the bell.
It's strange to think that Rainbow Mika has had enough fights to even consider a rematch one from her 'early career,' but the wrestler has certainly not been a slouch in terms of racking of official matches. It's been nearly two months since the two last faced down in the ring, and it seems someone, somewhere, wants Rainbow Mika to tread through her earlier career, especially after that last fight against "Monochrome Jira."
One of the most important aspects of professional wrestling is building up rivalries; some of those rivalries involve two fighters that seem to face each other again and again in their best matches, while others rarely meet but when they do its a titanic moment. It's still quite early in Mika's career for her to even guess where some of these matches will lead.
What she does know is that's she's excited to have an opportunity at a clean match against Snakebite. It was certainly a good, thrilling match for the crowd, but Mika still finds the clean matches more interesting. Two great personas enter the ring and clash until one is proven superior, or at least lucky enough to take the win.
So as she stands here, facing down Snakebite again, there's an intense, serious expression on her face. She can feel the tension building in the ring as she returns a nod back to Chloe.
The bell can't come soon enough.
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika has started a fight here.
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Rainbow Mika 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Chloe has joined the fight here.
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Chloe 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
"Ah, pardon me."
Slipping down the narrow aisle past the cheering throng, his tall and slender frame occasionally blocks the ring from a fan's view, Alma Towazu gingerly makes his way to his assigned seat. His tranquil and dignified air is largely out of place at this manner of event, but although he moves with a little more delicacy than normal, as though he is afraid he will disturb the proceedings through some unanticipated faux pas, he appears perfectly comfortable here. The finely-featured psychic sits down and folds his hands in his lap, smiling faintly as he finds he is just in time to see the beginning of the match.
Though his art and his less public responsibilities to Rose have kept him behind the scenes in recent weeks, Alma has heard of Mika's successes in the League and recent struggles. Glad to hear of how she continues to pursue her dreams, and still contemplating his experience of professional wrestling and its performativity, he has managed to find time in his schedule to attend this match. Perhaps, now watching Mika fight as a spectator, he will have a better sense of what it was that so intrigued him.
Mika's opponent also appears to be quite a character. "This Snakebite," Alma asks to the person sitting on his left, a hooting fan who appears to be holding a sign that says 'SHOW US YOUR TAIL'. "Is she a talented wrestler?"
"Hell yeah, bro!" the fan screams in his face. "Snakebite rules! BITE ME, SNAKEBITE!!" he howls toward the ring, as Alma nods solemnly.
"Fascinating," he murmurs. "I suppose I must root for Mika, then."
He hesitates, then clears his throat quietly and cups his hands about his lips.
"Raaaaaaiiiiiinboooooooooooow!"
There is definitely a lot of tension. Chloe doesn't back down from the ring; if anything she stands a little taller. She /does/ let her lip curl back after a moment, revealing... is that a hint of a fang? It's only there for a moment, then her lips are closed again.
She doesn't really like playing up the whole 'freak' thing. It makes her personally uncomfortable for a few reasons. But, well... it's been profitable. Sort of. For certain values of 'profit'; she's not exactly raking in the cash.
When the bell rings, Chloe is moving almost immediately. She didn't do anything before the bell other than tense a little bit - she's not trying for a sucker punch - but she is just very, very fast and this is a Neo League fight, so going in hard right at the beginning isn't exactly discouraged. The crowd seems to approve, judging by what she hears. (She doesn't know Alma, though, so that she's being cheered against is lost on her.)
Chloe's hands snap toward one of Mika's arms, one higher up than the other. If and when she gets her hands on Mika, she whips her entire body through a smooth pivot and toss, pretty much just Irish whipping Mika away from her. Because of the speed, though, the net effect is pretty wrenching; that's a little bit more of a threat than the impact with the turnbuckle or the ropes, given the distance and the fact that Mika is still in more or less perfect condition. She can catch herself before slamming into something in a way she doesn't want to.
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika dodges Chloe's Snake Charmer.
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Chloe 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
"You are to root for Rainbow Mania?!"
That was the cry from Alma's right, as the man beside him stands up. Next to him, was a 6 foot tall bearded Swede, naked above the waist, and dressed in cargo shorts and army boots. In one hand is a bucket of pop corn; in the other, a large cup of what smells like vodka. The man looks down at Alma, his blue eyes wild, his lips twisted up in a sneer. "Rainbow Mika? RAINBOW MIKA?"
And Sven hurls his popcorn and vodka away.
Popcorn and booze spread over the audience, as he turns aside, spitting on some poor members of the crowd. "PATOOIE! PATOOIE! Rainbow Mika is GARBAGE! She is HUMAN FILTH! She is like a fresh pickled scab on the backside of a goat! You are garbage too if you are a fan of Rainbow Mika. If anybody is worth cheering for, it is NOT for RAINBOW MIKA! It is NOT for SNAKEBITE TOO! It is for greatest wrestler!" And the man thrusts a thumb straight at his chest.
"SVEN MAESTERS!"
The bell rings, and Rainbow Mika... is hit by a moment of hesitation as she takes notice of the energy flowing through the arena. There's a brief flicker of a familiar fighting spirit (even if it isn't all that focused on fighting) in the crowd that accompanies a slightly familiar voice screaming out her name. And so Rainbow Mika is slow out of the gate, when normally she'd be leaping right into it.
Strangely, this actually results in Mika having a few extra moments to recognize Snakebite's lunge toward her, giving her more time to react as she twists out of her opponent's fingers before they manage to tighten their coil around her arm. The motion puts a bit more room out between Mika and Chloe as she reorients her gameplan.
Or rather, she immediately flows right back into her original plan of launching into the fight. Rainbow Mika manages a few steps further away from Chloe, but never actually manages to turn back around to face her, instead the blonde wrestler locks her legs like some sort of springloaded launcher, then rockets backward, bent in half at her waist as she aims to plow butt first into Snakebite.
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika successfully hit Chloe with Shooting Peach.
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Chloe 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
Are they still yelling about her up there? No surprise, really, but Chloe is pretty sure she just heard /someone/ yell loudly about not cheering for either of them. Then why come to a wrestling match? she thinks to herself, a little exasperated. You have to like one of them.
Chloe is fast, agile, acrobatic - and she's also built a lot more slightly than the sturdy Rainbow Mika, being quite athletically slender. Despite being taller than the other wrestler, Mika outweighs her - and getting slammed into at top speed by any part of her body backed by her full momentum is unpleasant. It's just that this is kind of a big impact zone.
Sorry, Mika.
Chloe staggers back, nearly bowled over by the impact against her side - but she manages to stay more or less upright. Instead, Chloe tries to wrap her arms around Mika's waist and use that momentum at least partially against her before she gets away; she grips, bends backwards, and tries to slam Mika against the mat without actually moving her feet all that much! Her flexibility helps her here: Chloe is impressively bendy and arcing her back in a painful-looking manner doesn't hurt a bit.
Which is good, because those German suplexes really need it.
Alma nods slowly with a sympathetic expression as Snakebite is struck by Mika's famed Shooting Peach. He is all too familiar with the formidability of Rainbow Mika's butt. But before he can shout out encouragement again--
"Hm?"
Alma turns, eyebrows raising slightly as the shirtless bearded man to his right -- more or less blending into the crowd, up until now -- begins pontificating with great passion. The psychic watches in silence as the audience around them pick popcorn out of their hair and wring out vodka-sodden clothes.
Is this part of the show? Alma is impressed.
"You are a wrestler as well!?" Suddenly he speaks, hazel eyes lighting up with an energy that was not present before. "Tell me, Sven Maesters, why is it you feel as you do about Rainbow Mika? I--" He pauses, considering, before continuing with resolve. "I aspire to be her rival, you see," Alma says with utmost seriousness. "But I do not yet know the ways of wrestling well enough. We wrestled once, and I was defeated, but I enjoyed the experience very much."
A fight is always a performance, but a fight that focuses on its performative aspects intrigues Alma all the more. Despite his lack of particular talent or interest in grappling, if he could participate again, no doubt they could bring joy to many. But what would it mean to challenge Mika as a wrestler? What persona would he have to adopt?
Perhaps this hairy spitting man holds the answers he seeks.
"BITE HER IN THE BUTT, SNAKEBITE!!" screams the sign-wielding fan to Alma's left, the cup of vodka that has landed and upheaded on his head ignored.
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika blocks Chloe's Power Throw.
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Chloe 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
One thing that Rainbow Mika is certain of, above all else, you never take the one, isolated voice in the crowd too seriously; there will always be a few angry people in any given show that seem intent on being miserable, and so the enraged (but slightly familiar) voice from the crowd goes ignored. It's not until people actually start a chant going that you need to be worried that you're not putting on a good enough show.
Rainbow Mika also knows well enough not to take offense at the fact that she isn't all that skinny. She has been training to be a wrestler, and not merely a high flier. Her relative bulk is her advantage in a grappling match (or when it comes to knocking someone off balance with your backside).
As for the retaliation? Mika doesn't attempt to pull out of the way, instead she holds herself ready as Snakebite grabs her around the middle and starts the backward bend. As Mika's made to fly head first at the mat, she thrusts out both hands in an open palm and catches herself, gritting her teeth as she aims to hold both her mass and the force of the backbend with a handstand.
It hurts, but she makes it out with skull intact, able to catch herself as she flips back to her feet.
"Nice try, but not quite good enough. Now, let's see if you've got what it takes to handle this!" The blonde wrestler shouts as she lunges forward in an effort to snare Chloe around the neck before she manages to full right herself. Mika bends her opponent forward at the waist before planting an open palm on her chest to help lift her up onto Mika's shoulder, balancing her vertically for a few moments before dropping backward to slam Snakebite's head into the mat.
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika successfully hit Chloe with Brain Buster.
- Power hit! -
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Chloe 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
"Why do I hate Rainbow Mania?"
Sven Maester's eyes goes wide. He looks towards the ring, as the Snakebite goes for the German Suplex on Rainbow Mika. Pointing with two fingers at the girl, he looks back at Alma, shaking his head. "Let me tell you why Rainbow Mania is complete horse hockey! She dresses to show off! She is a young lady that is showing off her chest and bottom! She is not a wrestler! She is cheap entertainment! Boys watch her instead of having proper girlfriends, or having proper rolemodels like me!"
Sven takes a moment to throw out the finger towards Rainbow Mika.
"Lady wrestlers should be traditional, not flashy, and should have a proper theme than butts and boobs!" Sven Maesters seethes, shaking his head as he crosses his arms. "She should be like a devil! Or like a snake! Or even a wolf like me! But no, she is just pretty girl and is much more popular than everyone because of it! It makes me mad! It makes me steamed! If I could, I would be going and taking Rainbow Mania!" Sven begins to mime grabbing Rainbow Mania. "And then start ripping it piece by piece, and those pieces I would rip into pieces! And then I would bake it into pie, and then throw away pie, because nobody should eat garbage. That is why Rainbow Mania is so terrible!"
"And you WANT to be its rival?"
Sven tilts his head at Alma, a look of disgust coming over him. "Look at you! You are too beautiful to wrestle! You are just as terrible as Rainbow Mania! If you were to go into the ring like that, all the girlies would squeal! You would be given a persona of leather pants and lover boy, and make the ladies swoon and faint! Whether or not you can wrestle does not matter in the ring. You are too pretty to be talented! If you went in there, then I would hate you as much as Rainbow Mania! I would hate... I would hate..." Sven Maesters scratches his beard.
"What is your name, pretty man?"
Chloe completely fails to bite anyone in anywhere. Sorry, fans.
Chloe is hefted in a manner that she finds rather uncomfortable, neck grabbed to stop her from twisting away as Mika lifts her up onto the shoulder. By this point Chloe knows what's coming next, but she's not entirely sure what she can /do/ about it; she can't get out of Mika's grip, and the mat of the stage is getting closer awfully fast -
Chloe slams into the mat. She tries to move with the impact but that only works to a limited extent, and because of the angle there wasn't really that much she can do about it; she ends up just lying there for about three seconds, completely dazed and out of it, before suddenly rolling to one side. She needs to get just a little bit of distance between her and Mika.
And hey! This isn't a wrestling match. Chloe inhales, feeling the energy flow through her body. It wants to keep flowing, but she lets it build, holding it, intensifying it...
As the half-dazed Snakebite keeps pulling back toward the ropes, she lets the energy flow back out of her. It looks like nothing more or less than Chloe spitting a green ball of energy, breathing out power that forms into a rough ovoid before flying at Mika, the chi exploding into a greenish haze that fades rapidly away! From the air, anyway. It works a little harder on Mika, though it isn't really poison - just disruptive, damaging chi.
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika dodges Chloe's Venom Breath.
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Chloe 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
Okay, now it sounds like there's something on the edge of a fight occuring out in the crowd. In fact, Rainbow Mika can practically feel the way the excitement begins to flow around the arena in an altered pattern, and not just because she landed a good solid hit on her opponent just now. No, there might be a powder keg out in the audience.
Not that it's really the appropriate time for Mika to be worried about that. No, right now she's got to be focused on the fight in the ring. Due to the fact that she's actually part of that fight (and also if a fight starts in the crowd, then the arena security will likely break it all up).
...Also her opponent is spewing mouth gas at her. While Chloe might not have been responsible for the burning chi that was clinging to Rainbow Mika for a good portion of their original match, Mika sure as hell remembers how unpleasant it was, and in a moment of pure reactiveness rolls off to the side as fast as she can to avoid getting caught in the cloud.
This new angle leaves an open line between the two wrestlers, and it seems that, at least for the moment, Rainbow Mika doesn't intend to give up her advantage in the fight against Snakebite, instead closing the distance in the ring. "No time to rest in the ring, let's gooooo!" the blonde wrestler shouts as she hops in the rest of the way, doing a quick twisting backward kick in the process.
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika successfully hit Chloe with Light Kick.
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Chloe 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
Alma furrows his smooth brow as he listens intently to the Swede's ravings. Though he keeps his eye on the proceedings, nodding slightly as Mika manages to roll away from Snakebite's startling toxic cloud, a maneuver that has elicited a range of reactions from the audience. Many in the crowd are hissing, though it's entirely unclear whether that's a sign of disapproval or of solidarity with the tailed wrestler.
"SNAAAAKEBIIiIIIITE," screams the fan to Alma's left, waving his sign around so furiously that he's likely to smack someone with it. "STRANGLE HEEEERRRR!"
At least there's no question of who he supports.
"I see," Alma says quietly as Sven continues. While he can't fathom what would be wrong with Mika's choice of outfit, perhaps this man is expressing some quirk of the wrestling world the psychic is not yet privy to. "What you mean, then, is that as a wrestler, I must choose some manner of-- totem animal. I could then hide my face, which is otherwise unsuitable for the world of wrestling. Is this so?"
He doesn't quite understand, but this man's performance is quite convincing. Apparently this 'Sven Maesters', or so he calls himself in the world of wrestling, plays a character who thoroughly dislikes Rainbow Mika. If Alma were to play such a character as well, the two of them would be natural allies, wouldn't they?
"My name is Alma," the blond says with a warm smile, still utterly unfazed by Sven's continuous outrage. "Alma Towazu."
Though Alma maintains his composure, there is a hint of earnestness now in his gaze.
"Mr. Maesters, would you tell me what you know of wrestling, of what I must do to enter this world, so that I might become a worthy rival to Rainbow Mika as well?"
The psychic can sense Sven's passion. A man with such zeal, even if it is in turning out a performance, must surely be a worthy wrestler, and worthy of trust.
"I think I can believe in you."
Chloe wasn't resting (though she wouldn't mind a moment to clear her head). Really! She's just... making a clever retreat.
Not quite as clever as it looked, judging by the boot in her side. Backing up quite that far wasn't the best plan after all judging by the impact against her ribs; she doesn't have anywhere to go. She does try to roll with the blow, but you can only do so much of that when you're up against the ropes.
Which is why Chloe clears out of there. She puts both hands on the ropes and actually, improbably... pulls herself up onto them. Up here, balanced, she can't run but she can move surprisingly quickly along the rope, using her agility to best effect. She still feels like she might fall as she moves along it - which is probably why her tail uncoils, dropping back behind her and shifting slightly. It still looks vaguely prop-like. It's not moving all /that/ much, but every once in a while, there's a twitch that doesn't look quite right...
Chloe scrambles to the turnbuckle, where she perches. Okay, maybe she /is/ resting for a moment. Or waiting for Mika to come to her; same deal.
COMBATSYS: Chloe focuses on her next action.
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Chloe 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
This isn't a wrestling match, it's not a boxing match, but there's still one thing Rainbow Mika avoids whenever possible: gunning for an opponent when they're caught up in the ropes. For one, it tends to make you look a bit like a heel to beat up an opponent when they can't move very well. For another, you never really know what's going to happen when they start to twist around, and you're likely to hurt someone far more than you intend; possibly yourself.
So Rainbow Mika begins to step back after a string of good hits, letting Snakebite get an opportunity to free herself and get back into the match while she starts to make a pass around the ring, waving to the crowd as she tries to get their excitement levels up.
Well, she doesn't need to get /some/ people's excitement levels up.
The wrestler actually climbs up on the opposing turnbuckle and blows a kiss out to the crowd before putting her foot up on the top rope and giving a quick slap to her ass. Which will very likely draw out some negative reactions from at least one member of the audience.
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika excites the crowd!
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Chloe 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Rainbow Mika
Now Chloe is on the opposite turnbuckle from Mika. That isn't precisely where she meant to be - she expected Mika to follow her, or to try to grab her leg while she was balancing on the ropes like some kind of tightrope artist, because it's not often that people leave themselves open quite that way in a wrestling match.
Chloe remains perched for a couple moments longer, crouching in place while Mika poses for the audience. Well, partially. As soon as Mika turns her back on Chloe to slap, Chloe is moving - and she moves just as dangerously fast in a straight line as she does when weaving or darting around. Her tail stretches out behind her as she darts.
Chloe slows down when she's closer to mid-ring. Her tail drops down when she slows, hanging slack again. She's not entirely sure how she wants to get Mika off the opposing turnbuckle, but it's not really in her to keep waiting until she comes down on her own, and eventually Chloe comes to a decision; she drives an open-palm slam directly up at -
Well, it's kind of like a slap of her own. Except harder, and angled to push Mika right out of the ring if she doesn't watch it!
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika endures Chloe's Fierce Punch.
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Chloe 1/------=/=======|=======\===----\1 Rainbow Mika
There is something important to be said about the methods Rainbow Mika uses when she starts to play to the crowd. The absolutely most important part of this is that the wrestler has been training for years to become a professional wrestler, which not only includes grappling and strikes, but also methods to work the crowd and to build excitement in a match. Part of working the crowd involves leaving your opponent behind you as your focus your attention on the audience... but Mika has also trained to almost 'feel' her opponent's fighting aura.
So, as Chloe starts to come in at Rainbow Mika from behind, the wrestler begins to tense up to prepare herself. As the open palm strike comes in, Rainbow Mika has buns of steel! And she's also begun to twist herself into falling backward at the same moment the palm strike hits.
"Is that all you've got?!" Mika shouts as she hits the mat on her feet next to Chloe and does a quick spin on her heel, aiming to knock the other wrestler slightly senseless with a blow to the side of the head. "If you wanted to feel my ass again, you should have said so!" She adds as plants her foot again for another spinning backfist, positioning herself on the opposite side of Chloe as the turnbuckle. "SO...HERE...YOU...ARE!" Rainbow Mika shouts as she slams her backside into Chloe, aiming to knock her into the corner, where she quickly follows out with another ass strike to pin her against the turnbuckle!
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika successfully hit Chloe with Rainbow Hip Rush.
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Chloe 1/-======/=======|==-----\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
He was understanding it.
Sven had little to care about this fight. He had come for a chance to kill some of the Rainbow Mania hype... or more accurately, build up HIS hype by opposing Rainbow Mania. "Ya, ya, you have it. Animals are the best way to go. Some people just do people, but they are hollow! They are cheap! If you disguised yourself as an animal or a beast, you could your own man! You would be free! And no matter how beautiful you are, how ugly you are, you can be who you truly want to be." The swede, for a moment, looks to be warming up. But as Alma asks about his past, there is a sudden chill that runs through him.
"My story, Alma?"
Sven Maester's grow furrows. His teeth grit. Alma, in his gentle way, had struck a nerve. The hot-blooded bellowing fades away, as he turns away. Pain. Sheer pain. He glares out at the ring, as Mika brings the crowd to life, invigorating it. If it wasn't for this, he might have just left. But the sheer contempt that runs through him, as he watches that girl cheaply feed the audience, is what makes the words come out.
"Not too long ago, I was known as the Warwolf."
Sven Maester's voice was low. "I was... no. I am the youngest of the wrestling troupe, known as Ragnarok. We are family... we were family." He closes his eyes. "Grendel was my father. Fenrir was my brother. We all wore the masks of our troupe; the wolf mask. We were the rising stars of the Swedish Wrestling Association." Sven Maesters's misery soon shifts into hot rage. His fists tighten into balls, as his body trembles.
"There was... an accident."
Sven stares out at Rainbow Mika, as she just takes the slap to the bottom. "It was our signature move, the Three Wolf Moonsault. My father- he and my brother hit each other, and my father took the hit on his neck- And the hospital abandoned him. They let him die, and they would have killed my brother too if I hadn't have gotten him out of there. The SWA let it happen, and they made us retire to avoid the press. They were the ones who let him die, who left my brother in a wheelchair for the rest of his life!" The swede digs his hands into the seat in front of him, leaning over, gripping it tight. The man who was sitting there suddenly decides to go for a rest room break, as he just hangs there, staring down.
"So I am all that is left of Ragnarok."
Sven is very quiet now. "I fight to bring honor to us again. To be my brother's keeper. I do it as Sven Maesters. Not as Warwolf. Did you know the SWA forbids it? That I will be kicked out from matches outside of the league, because they claim they own my family's legacy? I will let them have it. People will know what I stand for. They may take my name." Sven Maesters carefully looks back up at Alma, brow furrowed in anger, as he cannot endure sadness.
"But they will never take my mask, Alma."
"They will never take away who I am."
Alma's smile fades.
The battle before them has reached a fever pitch. The crowd hoots and hollers as Snakebite lands a resounding, let's call it, blow in response to Mika's shameless provocations. It is a tremendous feat indeed to outshine a passion such as Rainbow Mika's, even for a moment. But Alma, though he has come here to support his wrestling friend, finds his gaze rapt upon Sven.
"The Warwolf," he breathes reverently.
Truly, the characters in professional wrestling have stunningly detailed backstories. To think that Sven would get so into character that even Alma's psychic intuition would betray no clues that the bearded man is acting at all. This is the exact manner of sincerity that Alma prizes in Rainbow Mika herself. Perhaps the culmination of this story arc will be Sven and Mika seeing that the same spirit dwells within them both, and joining forces to avenge Sven's fallen family.
Uh oh, he's getting carried away by the plot already.
"You are a noble man, Sven Maesters," Alma says at last, when some moments of solemn silence have passed. "And wrestling is a noble profession."
In the ring, Rainbow Mika buttslams Snakebite repeatedly.
"I understand now the power of the mask," he continues. "I had thought that to become the person that would rival Mika in the ring, I might don a mask to hide my public self. But now I see: the mask is to awaken my true self, to show pride, not hide shame." Alma closes his eyes for a moment, contemplating this new insight. "Yes, that is the true nature of performance."
When his eyes open, his gaze is resolute.
"Sven. Let me aid you in your quest."
The bronze-skinned blond extends his hand--
"Let us wrestle, undaunted, together."
--and smiles.
"SNAAAAAAAAKEBIIIIIIIIIITTTEEEEE," screams the fan to his left, spraying spittle everywhere, sign splintering as he breaks on the head of the unfortunate audience member in front of him. "YOU CAN DOOOO IIITTTTTT!"
Chloe expected a response. She maybe wasn't expecting it to be that... brutal. Dramatic. Ass-tacular.
Chloe recovers fast from injury, but that doesn't actually make her enormously skilled at absorbing the injury in the first place. She gets hit hard, and then she springs back. The spinning backfists are fairly effective against the slender wrestler, though Chloe makes a good attempt at blocking the first. Catching that blow on her hands makes her stagger, leaving her more open for the follow-up to hit a little more cleanly.
She completely fails at deflecting the hip rush with her hands, though. Mika slams into her, and Chloe slams into the turnbuckle so hard she feels something bend. Was that her? she thinks, a dizzily. (It was not; it was the turnbuckle. Chloe doesn't normally hit them that hard.) She struggles as Mika rebounds, trying to breathe deeply enough to get her air back.
And something lights up in Chloe's eyes. It's something new; her strange golden eyes glitter. Chloe has, so far, managed to push down that surge of aggression and power every time it's risen within her. This time, she fails. There is a surge of chi, but faintly twisted, inhuman chi, filtered through Chloe's monstrous body... and she starts to change.
Chloe's tail, starting from the base, begins to swell and thicken. It's a visible bulking up; it expands from the size of her wrist at the base to the size of her upper arm, the ripple running down it and leaving a much bigger, thicker limb in its wake. The scales get bigger, too, more visible - that isn't a prop. It can't be.
The tip of the tail twists, shifting - and then it splits open into a snake head. A big snake head, with two eyes the same colour as Chloe's. A tongue flicks out as Chloe's tail just focuses on Mika. It doesn't blink. It might not be able to.
Chloe yells. At the same instant, her snake-tail strikes, opening its mouth wide to bite at Mika's legs with its fangs. Those fangs don't have poison, though - they inject chi, a lingering disruption to the body's energy. Chloe herself is trying to more hold Mika for the snake to wrap around her leg, going for an abdominal stretch to keep her still. "I don't need your ass! But I'm getting really tired of people treating me like a JOKE sometimes!"
COMBATSYS: Chloe blitzes into action and acts again!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Chloe 1/-======/=======|==-----\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika blocks Chloe's Lernaean Stinger.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Chloe 1/-======/=======|====---\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
COMBATSYS: Chloe successfully hits Rainbow Mika with Cobra Twist.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Chloe 1/=======/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Sven was caught in a landslide that was life, and with no escape from reality. Alma had opened his eyes, and now, Sven was looking up at the skies and seeing that he was ultimately just a poor boy. He needed no sympathy. He was just easy come, easy go. He was a little high, and now, he was a little low. Anyway the wind blows, didn't really matter to him.
But did it matter to Alma?
The Swede loosens his grip on the chair, as the butt battling reaches its climax. The tail slaps were handled well, but the grab itself? Brutal. Sven focuses on the strange man who, only moments earlier, had incited his rage by cheering for the Rainbow. The man touches him. Sven's first instinct is to knock away the hand. He was a lone wolf, after all. The Lone Warwolf, Sven Maesters. And yet, the swede felt... touched. He reaches out his own hand, and brings down upon the blonde's shoulder.
"I accept, Alma."
Sven Maesters nods firmly. "But we must craft who you are first. You cannot choose your animal. Your animal must choose you. If you are to wrestler beside me, you must first wrestle with me. We will learn your style. And once we learn your style, then we will discover what your animal is. This is a very strong spiritual journey, and we must prepare." Sven Maesters knew exactly what was needed for this journey.
Coors Light.
Little Caesers Pizza.
If there was one thing Rainbow Mika had felt certain of, it was that Snakebite had been a strong opponent. Certainly the sudden interference turning the match into a triple threat had left it as less than a perfect test of skill, but Snakebite had held her own, and taken a share of the beatening inflicted by the third party. For the match to be going this strongly in Rainbow Mika's favor now... either Snakebite was holding back or the wrestler had improved just too much.
With the strange surge suddenly going through Chloe's tail, it was beginning to look quite a lot like it was the former. In a strange mixture of natural instinct and wrestling instinct coming together, Rainbow Mika reels back in dramatic surprise as Snakebite unveils that her belt isn't just a belt. Mika's selling to the nosebleed section as she puts some room between her and Chloe.
Something big and surprising has occured in the ring, it's not Mika's place to no-sell it (although Mika Nanakawa is legitimately concerned about the situation, she doesn't get much of a say in the ring).
When both Chloe and her tail lunge for Mika at the same time, instinct takes over, and as the tail lunges for the leg, she tenses up, hauling her leg into the air so that when it bites down, the teeth find themselves having to try to go through the wrestler's boot instead of just skin on spandex. Luckily for Mika, this means that the fangs barely scratch the skin, and the chi doesn't get too far in.
Downside of being focused on the tail: Rainbow Mika's only defense against getting grabbed and pulled is the fact that her muscles aren't giving right now as much as they normally do. It still hurts... but frankly it hurts less than the last time she was put through the same maneuver since she isn't covered in lingering, burning chi.
When she's let go, she has to struggle a bit to get back to her feet, or at least she makes it look like she is. What she's actually doing is watching Chloe carefully, and more importantly watching the way her tail is moving. Not that this actually prevents her from putting on a show.
"I don't remember ever calling you a joke!" Rainbow Mika bellows out loudly. "In fact, if I remember correctly... you've still got one win over me..." She starts to straighten up, still watching carefully, as she takes on a ready position. "So here's what I'm going to suggest to both you and your friend there! Give me your best shot and try to keep your lead, or shut your mouths!"
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika issues a challenge!!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Chloe 1/=======/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Chloe 1/=======/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
Alma's smile widens as Sven, with a great show of hesitation, at last accepts him. But the psychic blinks and turns as a tremor runs through the crowd, the cheers turning to confusion as Snakebite's body appears to transform. Her tail is clearly more than cosmetic. The bizarre sight of it appearing to attack independently seems to have elicited mixed reactions from the audience, most of whom somewhat uneasily assume it remains a special effect of sorts, and a few of whom appear more deeply unsettled.
"WOOOOOOOOOO! YEAH BROOOO! THE TAAAAIL! IT'S THE TAAAAAAIL! SNAKEBITE WOOOOOOOO!"
And then there's that guy.
Alma furrows his brow again at the strange sight within the ring. Already knowing little of the world of wrestling, though he can tell his fellow audience members are largely at a loss as well, he does not think himself ready to judge what this could be. But if Rainbow Mika is determined to continue fighting, then the show must go on.
Satisfied that Mika knows best, Alma turns back to Sven and nods in return. "I understand. I will prepare myself spiritually for this profound undertaking." He has trained hard to forge his will to face moments such as these, but no doubt it will require all of his mental fortitude to endure Sven's training. "Thank you, Sven Maesters. With this, I will be able to face Rainbow Mika in the ring, and pursue the dream of wrestling you so eloquently envision."
Sensing Mika's passion for the fight suddenly surge, Alma turns back to the ring with a grin and cups his hands over his mouth again.
"Raaaaaaiiiiiinbooooooow!"
Wait, whose side is he on?
Chloe's altered chi continues to flow through her. She's a point of power in the ring - she can feel it, anyone near her can feel it. It commands, if not respect, at least attention. It actually feels... good. Chloe has never let it out before; she's always kept herself bottled up, prevented herself from lashing out for fear of being considered a freak.
But she's not the only freak in the fighting circuit. She knows it. And with her preparing to join BFW, it feels good to let it hang out a little more instead of controlling herself so tightly.
"You haven't," Chloe admits, keeping as much of a rein on herself as she can. "You're not everyone." She adopts a slightly different posture, leaning forward slightly. Her tail curls around her to the left, looking forward, continuing to look decidedly serpentine rather than its former more slender appearance. Its tongue flicks out again as it stares at Mika.
Chloe surges forward again. It might be Mika's assumption that she's going to do something with her tail, use some kind of crazy mutant power. She does not.
Instead, Chloe suddenly drops, sliding for an instant on the ground before using her incredible flexibility; she uses her arms to push herself up, sending herself flying legsfirst at Mika! She's aimed about waist-high, trying to slam into Rainbow Mika and wrap her legs painfully tight around the other woman's waist, squeezing.
But that's not all, because if Chloe does it, she bends back the way she came, lifting Mika overhead with her legs, still squeezing; she bounces on her palms once, twice - and then, with a snap of her body, attempts to whip Mika across the entire ring from the scissors hold, throwing her to the far side and the turnbuckle there.
It's a maneuver Mika has seen before, Snakebite's original finisher - and one thing is clear. No matter what monstrous powers she has, Chloe is still a /wrestler/.
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika blocks Chloe's Cerastes Scissors.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Chloe 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Rainbow Mika
Even Sven could feel the tremor.
Looking back towards the match, he narrows his eyes at the one Rainbow Mika. He was now favoring Snakebite, if only because she was not Rainbow Mika. Even if Hatecrime Hitler, the worst wrestling gimmick of all time, was in the ring against Rainbow Mika, even then, Sven Maesters would give the Hatecrime Hitler salute to root on the worst wrestling gimmick of all time.
That is how much he hates Rainbow Mania.
But he had a new weapon against Rainbow Mania. Looking back to Alma, he nods. "Good, good. You understand then. Do not worry about the details. I will teach you. You will be like a baby, a small child. But you will grow into a man, thanks to my guiding hand." Looking As Chloe pours out with her scissor hold, he suddenly shoots a glare right back to Alma as he cups his hands to cheer.
And Sven just slaps Alma upside the head.
"Lesson One! Do not buy into Rainbow Mania! You must hate it! Repeat after me, Alma!" Sven clears his throat, before cupping his mouth with his hands. "BOO! BOO! RAINBOW MIKA IS HORSE HOCKEY! BOOOOOO!" Sven nods drly, licking his lips. Turning towards his new protege, he points at Mika, placing a hand on his partner's shoulder. "You do not have to just say Horse Hockey, you can use other insults. Find your own style of insult! Make it your own!"
Sven gives a back slap of encouragement.
There is no doubt in Rainbow Mika that the game has changed with the addition of a new appendage into the match. One important aspect of wrestling, that makes this moment incredibly awkward, is that there has been a long history of people taking on gimmicks that make them some sort of monster. Frequently those people are really just unusually hairy men, strangely large individuals, or some other fancy gimmick. Right now Mika can't be certain that this isn't just a gimmick.
Another important factor in all of this is the fact that she'd already fought Snakebite in the ring, and quite honestly had felt she showed a lot of talent. And despite the persona she'd been putting on, she was never rude or disrespectful, which really adds quite a lot in Mika's book.
So as Chloe starts to lunge in at Mika, the blonde wrestler spreads her legs, holding her position steady as she centers her balance. She also drops her arms in at her sides toward the front and begins to tense them up, so as Snakebite latches onto her, she's already pushing back. Quite honestly, the squeeze hurts, but she doesn't budge as Chloe attempts to toss her, instead flexing her arms upwards and tossing her opponent off her.
"You've got a lot of skill, Snakebite, and even when that angry woman interfered, I never felt bad giving the win up to you... you're a strong opponent!" This is a whole lot of talking when she should be attacking. "But I'm letting you know here and now, I don't intend to let you be the only one sporting a victory between us!"
With all that time wasted (plenty for someone to get back on their feet), Rainbow Mika suddenly charges Snakebite and then plants her hands on the slightly taller woman's shoulders as she kicks off the mat to flip up and over behind her. She then attempts to throw both arms in around Chloe's waist and haul her in tight as her muscles surge and she blasts backwards in a backbend, plowing Chloe's head into the mat as the two take on the curved shape of a two color rainbow.
COMBATSYS: Chloe dodges Rainbow Mika's Rainbow Suplex.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Chloe 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
Chloe has used her tail in battle against Mika before. She used it like you could use a rope - she pulled on the end while wrapping it around Mika to yank her off balance, last match. It just didn't do... this.
When thrown off, Chloe flips. She lands on her feet, but off balance; it is only a moment to adjust, and Mika gives her that much time. Mika likes to talk, which is fine by Chloe; it gives her the mo ment she needs to recover. The tail shifts around to her other side - and the head folds down, closes up, leaves nothing but a tail behind, coming to the same kind of tip as before, narrowing through the last third. It's still much bigger than it was before, though - as big around at the base as Chloe's bicep. So there is that.
Chloe suddenly, impulsively - grins. It almost comes out of nowhere. "As long as you keep trying," she says, sounding slightly cocky. She still wants to take down Mika; despite being the more battered of the pair, she must still think she has a chance.
When Mika flips over her, she apparently fails to account for Chloe's tail. It may not have the snake head anymore, but as soon as Mika lands, it's moving - and so is Chloe. Mika gets a handful of nothing, her fingers brushing the sides of Chloe's waist as she moves, half-turning to present her side to Mika rather than her back.
The oversized tail, though, tries to wrap around Mika's leg. If she manages it, it yanks, dragging her on her back; as Chloe finishes her turn, it keeps going through the arc, dragging her back in front of Chloe - who takes the opportunity to stomp downward, trying to disable the powerful wrestler long enough for Chloe to (hopefully) pin her in the near future!
COMBATSYS: Chloe successfully hits Rainbow Mika with Combo Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Chloe 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
Alma watches in fascination as Rainbow Mika and her serpentine adversary unleash in turn magnificent displays of technical wrestling prowess. For a moment, he wonders if, for all his fighting ability, simply donning a mask and training a while will be near enough to render himself worthy to stand in the ring with them. Could his limited grappling repertoire offer a sight to drive the crowd wild such as this? Despite his sense of solidarity with The Warwolf, Alma cannot help but feel as though he has promised too much--
Until he senses a deep and profound disturbance, an inexpressible agony coursing through him beyond the limits of language to describe.
His hair has been ruffled.
"Ouch," he murmurs as Sven smacks him, Alma remaining stoic-faced as his head is knocked slightly to the side. He watches Maesters showcase his shouting talent and then, for the first time, appears rather dismayed. "You want me to ... belittle her?" He's not even sure what he would say, let alone how he would do it. Sven offers him a manly thump on the back, which again causes Alma to lurch forward slightly, but the psychic appears no less untroubled.
"Perhaps if I were already masked, this might be easier," he says, but never one to refuse a good faith effort, he raises his hands to his lips, narrows his eyes, and shouts.
"Rainbow Mika! Your opponent has slipped from your grasp! Perhaps you are only able to strike true with your posterior!"
He hesitates.
"But I doubt that is the case! I believe in your strength!!"
So close.
It's certainly not so much that Mika forgot about the tail so much as she was counting on neither Chloe nor her tail having quite enough speed left in them to respond in time. Right now Snakebite was supposed to be knocked completely senseless.
Although... this does make the fight more interesting.
Not that Rainbow Mika has much time to think about it as she notices the tail wrapping around her leg and simply attempts to do a quick roll off to the side to get away.
It turns out she's not fast enough. The tail has her off balance, and throwing herself into the roll just helped put her further off balance. She hits the mat hard, then suddenly has to deal with a boot stomp that she doesn't have any time to react to.
On the plus side, this is making things more interesting. A boring fight is a sin, and a one-sided fight is only interesting when its rare and incredible. Close matches with twists and turns are what the fans return to time and time again.
When she's given an opportunity to breathe again, Rainbow Mika rolls along the mat to get away and then pops back up in a run... away from Snakebite. She slams into the ropes hard, stretching them (thankfully not attached to the turnbuckle that she may have damaged using Chloe), and then bouncing back. Mika crosses a short distance on the mat before leaping up into the air, aiming to land on her opponent's shoulders with all the power she's built up, using her superior weight advantage and the leverage of Chloe's small height advantage to knock the other woman off balance and onto her back... with Rainbow Mika on her face as they both hit the mat. From there, her thighs clench in tight on either side of Chloe's head, locking into place as she plants her hands, then pulls up into a handstand, dragging Snakebite wither her as she whips back down on the other side to once more plow Chloe into the mat.
COMBATSYS: Chloe dodges Rainbow Mika's Paradise Hold.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Chloe 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
*THWAP*
Sven unleashes another educational slap. "No! No!" The swede just shakes his head, his brow furrowed. He could see it in the man, just like how he saw himself as a little boy. In order to be a wrestler like Sven, you had to be tough. And in order to be tough, you had to talk tough. Talking tough was vital for the up and coming wrestler. It built confidence, and strengthened your character. Looking out upon the nimble Snakebite, as she wriggles from the smiting finisher from the vile Rainbow Mika.
"You must learn to belittle, without the mask!"
The swede balls up a fist. "We will practice in private, Alma. You are too tender to be harsh. But wrestling demands that you must be harsh! If you are soft, then you will be eaten alive, or worse. You will be unpopular to the crowd! No one will love to hate you, but they will anyways! You must choose to be loved, or hated, and to encourage people to love your choice!" The Warwolf just growls, putting a hand on Alma's shoulder.
There was much to learn for his partner.
The mad surge of energy that kept Chloe going for a while is nearing its end. Chloe feels herself start to reach her limits in a way she's not entirely used to; it makes her feel kind of worn out. Adrenaline only takes you so far, and whatever she is doing seems to work a lot the same way.
But that doesn't mean she's entirely out /yet/. Not quite. The fact that this is a lot closer than it was not that long ago is energizing her in a completely different way. She can still turn this around; she can still win, or at least not lose, if she plays it right.
Chloe is not entirely sure what Mika is doing at first. She's going for the ropes - and then Chloe sees it. Her eyes widen slightly as Mika rockets toward her. Last time she has a fast-moving Rainbow Mika coming at her, Chloe didn't manage anything but getting hit by her (hard, into the turnbuckle).
This time, she has room.
Chloe doesn't catch Mika, which was the first thing she thought of. That's a disaster waiting to happen. She twists to avoid Mika getting her legs around her head, changing the angle of her shoulders as she pivots her upper body. It's still a near thing; Mika is /fast/ and there's nothing Chloe can do to change that. She almost slams into Chloe at a slightly wrong angle, chest-high, and if Chloe was not capable of doing an improbable limbo with no warning she probably would have.
As Mika recovers from her leap, Chloe straightens. Once before she did an Irish whip to get her out of the way; Chloe maneuvers Mika differently this time, one hand going for Mika's arm while the other plants at the small of her back, pushing her hard and twisting her in Chloe's grip. It's not a practiced move, or a very good one, because now Chloe really /is/ starting to run out of energy, and it shows; her tail is drooping a little - okay, a lot.
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika dodges Chloe's Improvised Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Chloe 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
This fight is really starting to drag on. Even Mika is looking a big winded after that last big miss, and she's bottled intensity, based on some of her other fights. Something decisive has to happen sooner or later.
Apparently it's not right now. When Snakebite comes in at Rainbow Mika for another grab, this time Mika just pulls away immediately, sliding right out of her hand without a second thought as she puts a few steps between herself and her opponent.
And then it happens, in a flash whatever fatigue had seemed to be going through Rainbow Mika is completely gone. She can see just how tired her opponent really is. She can hear the roar of the crowd flowing all through the arena as the two move about each other in the wrestling ballet. This fight has had enough turn-a-rounds that the people don't know what's coming next, but know they want more.
And Rainbow Mika has to give it to them.
Now moving with a lightness of step and a sudden quickness, she lunges forward in an attempt to wrap her arm around Chloe's neck from the side. She then suddenly tightens the loop, squeezing at the taller wrestler's neck as she wrenches it tightly enough to hold the wind out of her lungs, jostling Chloe's cheek up against her own bust enough to draw a bit more bounce.
Once she seems satisfied that she'd squeezed the wind out of Snakebite, Rainbow Mika points up with her free hand and leaps forward, throwing her feet out from under her as she drags her opponent with her and falls on her back, forcing Chloe's chin to collide with the mat.
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika successfully hit Chloe with Daydream Headlock.
[ \\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Chloe 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
Where Mika is looking energized, Chloe is starting to drag. More than that; her reckless assault has limits, and she's run up against them. She's breathing hard, though not quite exhausted enough to gasp for breath; she's sluggish, and she's left herself open. Mika capitalizes on that opening.
Chloe gets her neck squeezed. Trying to grapple Chloe, as many wrestlers have found in the past, is a pain; she's slippery, extraordinarily flexible, and good at wriggling out of whatever position she's put in. She's also double-jointed, which has at least once let her partially ignore a joint lock.
None of that applies to her neck, which still needs to do such mundane things as 'supply air'.
Chloe can't get a good breath, between having her face mashed against Mika's... body and the fact that she's being choked. Her vision swims for a moment, and when it clears she realizes that she's on her way down again as Mika is falling backwards, applying her chin to the mat -
Chloe slams into the mat. Hard. Still more than a little dazed, she struggles to move, barely able to keep fighting - but she /can/ keep fighting. She drags herself forward slightly; Mika is on her back, so Chloe goes for a side choke, trying to at least partially match the maneuver she was just put through. The rest of her body comes up as Chloe tries to rest her knee on Mika's stomach, pressing downward. She's almost out, though, and she knows it.
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika blocks Chloe's Choke Hold.
[ \\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Chloe 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
Being on the ground is often seen as a huge tactical disadvantage in a number of fighting styles. You stay on your feet, you keep moving, you hit and move. Wrestling is not one of those styles. In fact, at its inception it is more or less a fighting style that was done on the ground, it was only when it became more energetic, more entertainment based that it became the spectacle it is now.
...So for the fight to now find itself here on the ground is not the problem it might be for others... especially not with Mika currently feeding off a second wind or sorts. When Chloe attempts to get in a position to restrain Mika, she's quick to react, locking off the attempt to wrap an arm around her neck by slipping one of her own hands into position so that there's no access to her windpipe. From here she quickly whips her knee up to intercept Chloe's attempt to hold her to the ground. It only takes a small amount of maneuvering at this point to pop out of the hold.
And now Rainbow Mika is free, low to the ground, and fully of energy. She lashes out to take hold of Chloe by the shoulders and holds her just high enough up off the ground that there's room for her head to move as Mika suddenly unleashes a flurry of headbutts, her ultimate goal being to leave Chloe absolutely knocked senseless as Mika stands, dragging Snakebite halfway.
The wrestler carefully positions her opponent, locking Chloe's head between her thighs as she leans over her trapped opponent's back, arms wrapped in tight, then drops backward to piledrive Chloe's head into the ground.
COMBATSYS: Chloe dodges Rainbow Mika's Heavenly Dynamite.
[ \\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Chloe 1/----===/=======|-------\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
Chloe can't keep ahold of Mika no matter how she tries. She must really be tired. At least she's caught her breath... partially, anyway.
But where Mika seems to be having a burst of energy, Chloe has a burst of speed. It's hard for her to keep pushing herself this way; she really shouldn't be able to keep doing it. And yet she does, because when Mika hefts her up by the shoulders, she manages to squirm free, pushing herself to hands and knees.
Chloe realizes that pacing herself at this point isn't going to pay off. It's too little, too late; she's already worn herself out, she's not going to un-wear herself out by dragging the fight out longer. She pushes herself the rest of the way up, rising when Mika does, having resolved to just go for broke and let the cards fall where they may.
"Hraaagh!"
Chloe's war cry comes out of nowhere, and it's a little strangled, but she still manages it. She steps forward and twists her body, swinging her tail with the momentum - and the tail grows bigger yet, thickening with heavy muscle and rippling with her greenish chi. The overgrown limb slams at Mika, as thick at the base as Chloe's leg, longer yet than it was before, and covered with heavier, thicker reptilian scales; most of them are still smooth, like a snakeskin, but some of them aren't, especially a rough line starting at Chloe's back and down to the tip, rougher and thick. The massive tail, in fact, is heavy enough that swinging it almost drags Chloe along with it.
Chloe is too exhausted to let her body do the rest of what would come naturally. On impact, the aura of green chi shatters, and the tail shrinks back down, all the way to the relatively slender and shorter tail she entered with, wrapped around her waist. Chloe gasps, nearly sinking down again. If that didn't do it...
COMBATSYS: Chloe successfully hits Rainbow Mika with Lernaean Rampage.
[ \\\\\\ < > //// ]
Chloe 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
Something is coming, Rainbow Mika knows at least that much. It's not difficult to get a feel for that much energy going places, not when you're so focused on the flow of it through a fight. The question is whether or not she knows what to do about it. Chloe certainly isn't behaving like she's starting up a normal wrestling maneuver... and Rainbow Mika admittedly knows a thing or two about abnormal wrestling maneuvers.
When it turns out that Snakebite's tail has decided to go maniacal, Rainbow Mika begins to consider it rather lucky that she's ready for something big, she locks her feet, attempts to hold her position. She'll need to retaliate, to put an end to this.
Only... that's quite big. A lot bigger than she was really expecting, and that hit's just enough to knock her off her feet, make her hit the ground hard. It hurts... a lot.
But even now Rainbow Mika isn't about to simply hand over another victory. Snakebite might have a hell of a tail, but nobody will be able to suggest that anyone in wrestling has a more dangerous backside than RAINBOW MIKA!
There's no hesitation, she pushes up to her feet and, with no circumstance, suddenly kicks backward, launching ass first straight at Chloe one more time to knock her off her feet for good! And then Mika drops to her knees... and slumps forward...
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika keeps on fighting!
[ \\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Chloe 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
...but at the last moment a hand comes down, plants firmly on the mat. She can't be done... not yet!
COMBATSYS: Chloe dodges Rainbow Mika's Shooting Peach.
[ \\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Chloe 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Rainbow Mika
Chloe is still on her feet herself. Not by /much/, granted, but she's still up.
Unfortunately, Chloe very simply doesn't have much left to give. Just a little bit, and even that's a struggle; that was the last big attack she's going to be capable of today, and she knows it. She should probably just give up - but if Mika will keep going, so will Snakebite, as long as she's capable!
"Not..." Chloe doesn't even finish the sentence. There's the Shooting Peach, and Chloe is not in a fantastic position to deal with it, but she's not in a horrible place either. She jumps, even though it's a struggle to make her feet keep moving; she bounds to the rope, not all that far away, then up while Mika forces herself to rise one last time...
And then, because what goes up must come down, Chloe descends in a body splash, trying to land her entire weight (less than Mika's, but not nonexistant and backed by momentum) onto Rainbow Mika to drive her back down, then press down, pinning her there!
COMBATSYS: Chloe successfully hits Rainbow Mika with Combo Throw.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\ < > ]
Chloe 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Rainbow Mika
Now neither fighter seems to have much left in them. Everyone is running on fumes, but refuses to simply give up. In fact it's as Mika's hand hits the mat to help hold herself up that Chloe starts to come down... and just as Rainbow Mika's arm is starting to lock they collide.
*CRUNCH*
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
The loud, unpleasant noise that fills the air before Mika's scream is somewhat sickening, as is the very a few souls are witness to at an unpleasant angle where it becomes apparent that Mika's arm has decided to bend the wrong way... right before she falls on top of it.
And yet the blonde wrestler still somehow manages to put down her other arm in a one-handed push up as she seems to struggle to lift both herself and Chloe off the ground... before suddenly twisting her body, clenching the now bad arm close to her chest as she attempts to knock Chloe in the side of the head and knock her away before wobblingly catching herself with the good arm in a side plank, and then, through some bizarre combination of willpower, training, and adrenaline, throws herself backwards again, aiming to catch Chloe on the way down... or on the ground, with a final ass shot before she goes limp on the mat.
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\ <
Chloe 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rainbow Mika successfully hit Chloe with Rainbow Hip Rush.
- Power hit! -
[ <
Chloe 0/-------/---====|
Chloe did not mean to /really/ hurt Mika, and she's no longer filled with the surge of energy and violence that came earlier in the battle. She'll feel guilty about that... when she's more concious.
But, right now, she isn't.
Chloe stumbles after her attack, and Mika, hurt as she is, takes advantage of it. She bears Chloe to the ground, though Chloe doesn't end up under her; she ends up rolling some yards away, on her back, seeing - well, not much at all, given she just kind of lies there, completely limp.
...That was sure the ending to a match.
COMBATSYS: Chloe takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Chloe can no longer fight.
Log created on 21:38:41 01/04/2015 by Rainbow Mika, and last modified on 04:47:21 01/05/2015.