Description: Objective: Collecting on a training offer. Obstacle: Swallowing a bit of pride. Alias: Amelia. Summery: Throwing herself at the pit of death beneath the Capital Seven casino is one way of trying to improve her fighting skill. But Ayame has an offer from someone that's been doing the fighting thing longer than she has and happens to have an expertise she thinks she'll find useful. Following up with the model wrestler, Drake, the girl collects on an invitation made on a previous, less friendly visit.
Months ago the idea of being actually welcome in someone's home would have been impossible for Ayame to begin to imagine. Not really one to make a great first impression... or second... or third... or pretty much generate much of any reaction other than hostility, the girl had spent a lot of time mulling over the deal made with the model wrestler after she tried to rob him.
Drake might have likely gotten the impression that the girl was never going to show up again. She certainly seemed rather whimsical and not given to following up on much of anything. But eventually the afternoon comes and there's a knock on the expensive beach house's door. He told her she could drop by for a free meal if she wanted, but he also made another offer that piqued her curiosity.
With almost no formal training under her belt(s) other than the instruction she gained from her father before becoming a runaway, the prospect of having someone actually take the time to teach her anything at all finally seemed worth swallowing just enough pride to see if the professional fighter was serious about the offer!
Drake may have been! In fact, he likely is. It's rare that he backs down from something he's offered, even if the individual given the offer doesn't seem particularly interested. But conveniently enough, Drake is still at home as opposed to Metro City, where he's mostly been for the past.. month or so. And from his choice in clothing, it's likely that he had training on his mind as well.
That is, until he hears a knock.
Drake abruptly diverts course and heads to the door. Upon opening it, he stands visibly surprised at the presence of Ayame. Or Amelia, as the case may be. "Hey," he greets after a moment of wide-eyed hesitation. "Nice of you to drop by. Haven't seen you in a while."
Amelia. Ayame hasn't forgotten the name she made up on the spot for Drake. She's very good at remembering those. Of course... it becomes a problem if she tells two names to two different people and they end up both realizing they have a different alias for the same person, but fortunately that doesn't happen /too/ often. At least, not when she actually cares if they really know or not... Most folks she attacks once she isn't looking to have a second run in with anyway. Drake is an exception.
As he opens the door, the girl glances up, having been staring intently at the ground in thought. A quick scan up and down the man suggests to her quickly that she hasn't caught him in the middle of anything 'formal', at least. Whether or not he has time remains to be seen though. "Hello again," Amelia speaks up with a quiet smile. She looks vaguely uncomfortable. This isn't routine for her, that's for sure.
"Yeah," she remarks, standing up a bit straighter, becoming more at ease by the moment. "I've been busy." Busy being up to no good probably if their last encounter was any indication. Though there is something else... The girl's hand comes up to scratch at her cheek a little, "I've, ah, taken a shot at the fighting circuits... So that's taken up a lot of my time."
Drake can't help but grin a little at the girl's apparent uneasiness. His hands set to his hips and he inclines his head a little, likewise relaxing a bit. She -did- use the front door, after all, and that's a good start. "Busy..," Drake starts, only for her to finish with admitting she's attempted the fighting circuits. This draws a broader, more pleased smile from the model. "Good for you!," he says in a totally non-sarcastic, non-condescending way. "How'd it go? Make much money off of it yet?"
Pause.
"I'm being a bad host." Drake slips aside, pulling the door more widely open. "Come in, come in."
Stepping in as Drake invites her, the strawberry-blonde's smile is faint but present. "It's been all right," she remarks. So far so good. She seems to fullfill the SNF requirements well enough. "I always kind of thought that stuff was fake, but..." There was nothing fake about fighting /Rose/, that's for sure. That woman was crazy powerful!
"Anyway, yeah." the girl continues, hands lowering down to clasp behind her back as brown eyes study the young man thoughtfully. "The thing is, I, ah," sheepish footshuffle, "Well, to be honest, I-..." She blinks, shaking her head, "I haven't caught you at a bad time, have I?"
She pauses for a moment before continuing, "While I know what to do with my weapons, sometimes I feel like I don't, erm... I mean, without them I..." Asking someone for help is /hard/, okay?! "Last time when we, ah, chatted..." You know, after the violent alteraction that left them both bleeding and his table crushed. 'Chatting'. "Well, you mentioned maybe teaching me something sometime, you know, ah, when it isn't a problem, that is."
Drake shakes his head. "Nuh-uh. Not a bad time at all. I was just about to hit the training room..." Again, convenience. Her slowness to explain herself warrants the quirk of a jet black eyebrow, though. "Whaaaat?"
And when it finally comes out, he just laughs softly. It isn't a tormenting sound, though. More musical, simply amused by her. "Well, yeah. I didn't forget. I just thought you weren't gonna take me up on the offer, what with how I haven't seen you around." His smile turns more coy and playful. "Make a guy think you don't care, y'know. ..Anyway, is that why you came?"
As he laughs, Amelia's mouth curls up into a bit more of a smile. The hand at her cheek lowers, to rest against her hip, the girl becoming a bit more confident as he doesn't seem annoyed or anything at the moment. "Well, I do care," she replies easily, shaking her head and shrugging just a little, "But it's a matter of knowing what it is I care about," she finishes, her smile becoming more of a grin.
"If I'm going to be jumping into fights against all those crazy fighters out there, I need to know everything I can. I've gotten by..." She's won both of the fights she's been put in, but in the case of the match against Rose she knows with no uncertainty that withotu Kurow that would have been a lost cause.
"And you're the only person I know that's offered, so..." she finishes, her hand coming up to push some of her hair back off her ear, fingers lingering on the side of her head for a moment as she seems to weigh whether or not that was too much of a brush off. "Which is real nice of you," she continues, lowering her arm. "I appreciate it. Yeah, if it isn't too much trouble."
Drake didn't seem to take it as any sort of brush-off, or really see any offense to it. He just smiles at her pleasantly and nods once more. "Hey, I kind'a like your spunk. You've got some spirit. Why wouldn't I wanna help you out?" He'd like to see her a bit better than a petty thief. He's one of those optimistic types.
"Anyway," Drake continues, turning to face his training room. "I mentioned I was just about to hit training anyway. So you're welcome to come!" He glances back over to her curiously. "Did you intend to work out in that?," he asks, brow quirking again.
Oh good. Fortunately she hasn't made the trip in vain! As Drake indicates that her request fits right into his schedule, Amelia beams. This is certainly convenient. She takes a step forward to start following him toward the training room. She didn't really get to see that last time she was here. Too busy trying to strangle the young man on his living room floor... Eagerly following him, she begins to glance around his home again, eyes scanning for anything easily pocketed before she squints, shaking her head. No, not right now. Bad klepto. Bad!
But then he turns and pops a very obvious question that seems to catch her by surprise all the same. Her choice in attire isn't really training clothing. "It's, um," the girl replies sounding sheepish all over again, "Well, it's what I fight in." she replies lamely, clearly feeling kind of silly now that the matter of her wardrobe has come up.
"I should have thought to bring something else, maybe," she laughs lightly, her right hand coming up to rest against her neck beneath her long hair.
Drake just glances to her again and exhales a sigh, still with a bemused look on his face. "Yeeaahh, might should. Wouldn't wanna mess up your normal clothes, after all." And in indication, he gestures over himself. Sweatpants, some accessories, and he's good to go, apparently.
But then Drake turns to saunter on into the training room. "So this is where I do a lot of my training, and where the Stars do training. Or would, normally. Some are a little MIA right now..." Bothersome, that. "What would you like to work on? Endurance? Strength? Maybe a spar, see what we can work on with your wrestling?" Since she did, indeed, seem to show promise there.
"Well, don't worry about it too much," the girl states, waving her hand with regards to messing up her normal clothes, grinning faintly. She does have /other/ normal clothes after all. Now that she has an income, anyway.
She follows along, nodding her head slightly as he mentions the Stars. She remembers that from last time. A group of do gooders or something. Really not people she would fit in with well, she muses with a quiet smile, though she voices nothing of the sort. For all she knows, maybe she's bumped into a Star before. "I'm sorry to hear that they're missing... Lost a bit of the vigilante spirit maybe?"
She follows him into the training room, eyes widening a little as she takes in all of the equipment, machines, and devices used for working out and improving one's physique. "Very nice," she remarks, though her eyes come to rest on the ring in the end that seems to capture the majority of her attention. It makes sense... she's just never seen a ring in anyone's house before. And she's broken into a lot of houses!
He asks her what she would like to work on and the teen is quick to respond. "Wrestling." she states unwavering. She has a decent understanding of the human body and how it can and cannot bend... where pressure points exist and how to put some pain on a joint... But Drake is an expert in that if his credentials are to be believed, and having had first hand experience, she definitely has no reason to disbelieve.
"I really hope not...," Drake murmurs, a hint of his liveliness lost on that note.
But it's quickly returned when she seems all eager to learn more wrestling. So Drake trots up to the edge of the ring and hops up over the top rope to land on the mat. "Let's see what all you can do, then. I'll try to give you some pointers along the way and such." He sets a foot on the middle rope and pulls up on the top rope, creating a sizable gap for her to climb into easily. "Sound good?"
Watching Drake hop over the rope the girl is reminded that she isn't the only agile fighter here. The young man was really swift when she attacked him last time, and that was when catching him by surprise. In a more fair setting? Well, chances are she has a lot to learn.
He makes the gap for her and Ayame hesitates for a moment. "One second," she replies, almost smirking a little. She remembers his request from last time as well... Reaching to her left arm she slides off the spiked arm band. Two belts are removed, one that's really a chain whip and the other that holds a black pouch that she leaves closed. Sliding the cloth back that covers her right forearm, she unstraps the mini-crossbow there... Reaching over her shoulder she pulls out a set of four long blades connected by a solid ring... All of these things the girl puts on the floor in a neat little pile.
"You might want to tell me what's, um, ah, well, you know, what's legal or not." she remarks as she slips her hand into her blouse at the neckline and widthdraws a folded up fan which she adds to the pile before standing up straight. Having shed everything that she has on her that might be sharp or leave a gash, she walks over and slips between the ropes to step into the ring. "I mean, you know, just so I don't do anything I shouldn't." she remarks sheepishly before hopping up and down on her toes a couple of times, getting a feel for the give of the ring's mat.
Drake just continues holding the ropes as she begins to discard item after item, eyes widening slightly. He's glad she remembered, because -he- somehow managed to forget all about those. And good lord, she has more than a few things on her. "How.. how do you keep from being crazy weighed down?," he finally asks once she's about.. oh.. halfway through her pile.
Once she's in the ring, he lets the ropes close behind her. "What's legal? Hrmkay. Let's see... legal for wrestling." He paces towards the center of the ring, index finger setting to his chin. "Win by submission or three-count pin. Knockouts don't usually qualify, unless the ref checks'em while you keep'em in a hold. Submission holds have to be broken if a limb reaches the ropes, you're not allowed to stay outside the ring for more than ten seconds, can't pin someone if you're at all outside the ring or on the ropes..." Pause. "Pin is only counted as a pin if both shoulders are on the mat and there's some sort've physical contact between you and the person." Another pause. "As far as foreign objects go - chairs and whatnot - the rules get crazy blurry there. Not supposed to be used, ideally, but the ref sometimes cares and sometimes doesn't." His bare shoulders bob in a non-committal shrug.
"Any particular questions?," he asks, whirling around to face her.
"Just used to it," the long haired girl replies. It's her turn to be amused and it shows in her expression. "Nn, nn," the girl states once in the ring, eyes focused on Drake, taking in the rules of wrestling carefully. Pins, submissions... rules for breaking them... staying in the ring... She nods repeatedly then laughs lightly as he explains about foreign objects. If she wanted foreign objects she'd be bringing her stockpile of Stuff into the ring. No need for them here though.
Shaking her head, the girl's expression is serious now. "No, I understand." Brown eyes study Drake carefully. When it comes right down to it, he has her easily beat on raw strength. The girl locks her fingers together then stretches them out before clenching her hands tightly at her sides.
"All right," she states, feeling about as ready as she can be. Replaying their last fight through her mind, she reminds herself of mistakes made, opportunities given to him. All things to learn from, just like this will be. "I'm ready."
Drake smiles a bright, winning smile at her and nods, obsidian bangs bouncing once. "Good. Come on at me. Best way to critique is to see what you've got already - besides what I saw already," he muses.
And thus, Drake assumes stance. Feet separate roughly a shoulders' width apart, his body hunkers forward just slightly, his hands lift a bit and his fingers splay, ready to grapple with her. "C'mon." ... "Oh. Ding~."
Yes, he mimicked the bell noise.
COMBATSYS: Drake has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Drake 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Ayame has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Drake 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ayame
Mimicking the telltale bell sound provokes a smile from Amelia. Cute. But she isn't just standing idly, her eyes are watching Drake, studying his posture. How he plants his feet and lowers his center of gravity. In a match of trying to destroy an opponent's balance and keep them on the mat, it makes sense, she muses.
But he's waiting for her, not the other way around, so she decides copying his stance when going on the offense doesn't make too much sense. She does lean forward a little, sliding one foot back. Getting into a position that would better allow her to charge.
And then it's on. Moving from a dead stop to going on the offense, the girl lunges forward, hands coming up, fingers splayed open. The attempt is simple enough. Both arms reaching forward for one of Drake's, attempting to slap a quick grip on his wrist while turning her back toward him in an attempt to flip him quickly over her shoulder in a very basic judo-styled slam to the mat. If she pulls it off, her hands will shift to rest against his shoulders as if getting ready to follow up the opener with something stronger.
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Drake with Quick Throw.
Glancing Blow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Drake 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ayame
Her attempted opening yields success!
Drake's arm is grabbed, and he seems to flip over as she intends. The only problem is that he lands neatly in a crouch on the mat and tumbles with the blow, clearing her and her hopes of pressing her attack further. Though it didn't go off flawless, the vibrations along the mat indicate that the landing was rough enough. Drake rises smoothly back to his feet and assumes his stance again with a small smile. "Not bad. You've got the right idea. start with something small to soften up the target, then try to lead into bigger, badder things when they can't do much about it."
But now he decides to test her defense. He rushes in towards her and attempts to hook one of her arms in passing, trying to maneuver in behind her back. If successful, his other arm hooks beneath her free one, and his hands go to link together behind her neck. Pressure begins to apply, and the sleeper hold is cinched. Hopefully, anyway.
COMBATSYS: Ayame fails to interrupt Fast Throw from Drake with Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Drake 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Ayame
The student nods her head slightly. That's the facinating thing about a grappling style to her. It seems less dangerous at first compared to the idea of throwing around weapons, explosive chi, or brutal strikes... But on the other hand, it's a style that builds on itself. Each attack opens the door to another attack, and so on, until the opponent is immobolized, typically with a lot less bloodshed than her normal techniques.
Just because her throw was met with little success doesn't mean she's going to make it easy to land another hold in return if she can help it. The attempt to anticipate Drake's incoming attack is pretty clear. As he reaches to hook her arm, she attempts to turn with him and use her other arm to reverse the hold.
To no success as the experienced wrestler proves quicker than she and he gets the chance to sink the hold around her neck. Grk. Her free arm flails for a moment. Instincts kick in as she starts to reach toward the hem of her skirt where Ayame had kept a couple smaller weapons on herself - horribly paranoid about completely disarming... What if something happened??
But she remembers at the last second the point of this exercise. To learn, and her hand moves away from the hidden needle. She needs to play by the rules for this one. And that's a tricky thing to do.
Drake keeps the hold tight on the girl, and he attempts to drag her closer to the center of the ring. "Noticed you tryin' to go with the hold. Usually isn't too bad an idea, but be sure you know exactly how the move's gonna go before trying that," he explains. "That way it doesn't matter so much who's faster or stronger - you'd be a step ahead anyway."
But with that bit of advice, he suddenly releases the hold to instead hook his arms around her stomach from behind tightly. If captured, he bridges his back and aims to drive her head and shoulders against the mat in a German suplex. And if successful, he remains bridged to hold her there as he begins a very slow three-count, giving her ample time to escape.
COMBATSYS: Drake successfully hits Ayame with Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Drake 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Ayame
Dragged toward the center of the ring, there's no ropes within range to reach for. Fortunately for her Drake doesn't intend to just keep the lock going. Unfortunately for her he has another plan that snags Ayame just as well. Caught around the waist, the girl raises her arms over her head, attempting to catch the landing with her hands rather than with the back of her head. But the power behind Drake's slam proves difficult to thwart that easily.
Stuck pinned upside down, the girl finds herself stuck in an awkward position. For a moment she just kind of sits there as if having forgotten how the rules work. After all, in the no-holds barred fights like she's used to, being kept in such a position for a while is hardly the end of the world. But oh yeah, in wrestling it /is/! That's why he's counting. Duh!
It takes some effort to straighten out her neck against the pressure from Drake, hands slamming down against the mat as she pushes her shoulders up and finally manages to twist around and fall to the side. Not bothering to get up just yet, she sweeps out with her foot, aiming to kick Drake in his side and push off with enough speed to get back to standing. With some distance, she can better prepare herself. He's got a lot more experience at the close in game for certain.
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Drake with Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Drake 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Ayame
Drake didn't count very far. Not like three is a distant number to reach, but still. He topples with her when she falls over, and he laughs softly. He's apparently enjoying himself, at least. The laughter is cut short thanks to a foot, though, turning it into an 'mmph!' of pain. The model rolls over onto his front and pushes himself back up to his feet.
From there, Drake presses the attack, even if his side is hurting a bit now. He attempts to lock up with the girl, as per typical wrestling transitional hold, arms and elbows entwined, hands on shoulders... only after a second, his left knee thrusts upwards with the intent to collide firmly with her stomach twice. And if successful, he uses the weakening of the abdomen to more easily guide her neck between his legs and hook his arms around her stomach to hoist her into the air upside-down in piledriver position. And from there, he simply drops down to collide her head with the mat.
COMBATSYS: Ayame counters Combo Throw from Drake with Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Drake 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Ayame
At first it would seem Drake landed the transitional hold he sought, his hands clamping down on Ayame's shoulders. She leans back into him a little, but she's holding back... waiting to try and predict what's coming next. She gets the idea now, a little bit. She remembers what he said about making sure you know what the other is doing first... And here, locked together, she can better predict. Her own hands push against his shoulders lightly at first...
But the moment his knee comes up to soften her stance, 'Amelia' pushes back with a sudden surge of strength, leaning into him hard, her leg sweeping out for Drake's ankle as she tries to take him clean on his feet and put him down on the mat on his back. Follow through is important though, and the girl drops down on top of him. Light weight, it certainly doesn't really hurt any, but she remembers how he had pinned her in their last fight.
One leg hooks under his leg as the girl settles atop the wrestler. Any concerns about inappropriateness seem to not even cross her mind as she leans hard, pressing her small hands against his shoulders, grinning at him from her vantage point.
Drake was rather expecting to pull off this combination, actually. So her turn-around comes as a definite surprise to him, getting a squeak, even. He lands hard on his back, and her body landing atop his gets an additional 'oof'. And the next thing he knows? He's being pinned! He doesn't really struggle, though. Not yet, at least. Instead, she gets a grin cast back up at her - one of amusement and approval. "Heeyy, not bad. Used the situation for yourself well enough. And the pin isn't terrible, either."
But then he twists aside, using his free foot to plant down against the mat to give himself extra leverage. And with the pin broken, he raises to his feet and tries to grab her by the hair to haul her back up to her feet. And if he does, he simply goes to lock his arms firmly around her waist to begin crushing her chest and stomach against his in a grind, excruciating bearhug.
COMBATSYS: Ayame full-parries Drake's Blackout!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Drake 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Ayame
The compliment is appreciated, though she knows he has plenty of strength to roll out of her hold. She knew he would, but practicing the pin attempt was worth it all the same. But then he's free and going for her hair. It's an easy target, she certainly has a ton of it!
But the girl is also kinda used to that approach as people tend to go for it a lot. Maybe she should cut it short if she's going to get serious about this fighting business! He's on his feet but she's on the mat. The retaliation that comes is on reflex alone at first, the girl rolling onto her back to swing one foot up and kick aside his reaching arms. Her other leg comes up secondly as the girl presses down with her hands, trying to snag Drake's neck with one ankle first, before swinging her kicking leg back up to meet it, locking her ankles around his neck.
From there it's a matter of twisting her body at the torso to the side to try and slam Drake down to the mat hard. Once there, she'll maintain the leg-lock around his neck, using the mat for leverage as she continues to lie on her side. When pins fail, maybe submissions are the way to go!
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Drake with Blackmail EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Drake 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Ayame
Drake is fairly surprised at his lack of success in hauling her back up to her feet, as well. She's a bit more slippery than he expected. And his arms get all kicked aside, and the legs indeed latch around his neck. This gets a choked yelp as he slams down hard against the mat, and he struggles against her hold fiercely.
After a few long moments of slowly losing air, he wrenches the legs apart enough to duck his head between the legs and to press his attack on her in return. He attempts to shove her over onto her stomach and climb atop her rear. His arms reach out for her arms, and he leans back with them to lock them behind his knees. If successfully restrained, his hands lock beneath her chin to suddenly yank back hard, pulling her face upright to look at the ceiling, putting excess amounts of strain along her spine and torso in a camel clutch submission hold.
COMBATSYS: Drake successfully hits Ayame with Strong Throw.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Drake 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Ayame
The girl has him down on the mat, but Drake is still going strong, breaking the lock and slipping his neck free. Rolling onto her back, the girl starts to rise into a seated position, but she never quite gets that far as the more experienced wrestler comes down on her, rolling her over onto her stomach. "Umph," Amelia grunts as she starts to try and squirm her way loose.
But not before Drake gets a hold of her arms and pulls them back over his knees. It's right about then that the girl starts to figure out what he's going for, but by then it's too late to do much about it as his hands lock beneath her chin. "Grrrr!" Through gritted teeth, the girl fights against the hold for a moment, but when it comes to raw power he has her beat by a fair amount. Head pulled back, Ayame is introduced to a whole new world of pain. She's flexible, but not /THAT/ flexible. "A-AH!"
Again she starts to think about the weapons she still kept stashed on her, her mind reeling into a panic mode. She doesn't relish having her ability to move so restricted. Of course, she can't even reach them with her arms hooked the way they are anyway, so the temptation is just that, a temptation.
"Nnnnn!" It's all she can do to try and crawl along the floor, pushing with her legs to scoot a little ways to try and reach for the rope. Eyes watering, face red, the girl is running out of steam pretty fast. This is definitely a hold she's going to have to keep in mind - though that thought isn't the primary thing on her mind right /now/.
COMBATSYS: Ayame takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Drake 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Ayame
Drake attempts to keep the hold locked on her... though by happenstance, she edges close enough to the ropes that Drake decides it's fair to let her out of the hold. So after immediately releasing her to let he lie on the mat, he hops into the air and turns aside, angling his elbow down for the middle of her back. Elbowdrop! Nothing special or out of the ordinary, though.
COMBATSYS: Drake successfully hits Ayame with Quick Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Drake 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Ayame
Whew. Allowed to flop on the ground for a moment is a blessed reprieve from the agonizing pain in her back. But it looks like she isn't given much of a break as Drake drops down on her with an elbow strike to the back, provoking a pained squeak. Not a bad move - keeping the pressure on. It's certainly something she can appreciate. But now she finally has a chance to move freely.
Shutting out the pain in her back, the girl rolls to the side before he can try to land another powerful hold on her and lock her in place again. On her back, she kicks out toward Drake's shin with one foot. Like his elbow drop - nothing fancy about it, just someone struggling to force the professional wrestler into backing off a bit!
COMBATSYS: Drake parries Ayame's Light Kick!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Drake 1/-----==/=======|=======\=------\1 Ayame
Drake finds his elbow digging into her spine rather nicely, and what's more, he can easily read her next maneuver. Much like what she did the last time she was prone on the mat. When her foot lashes out, his hands drop down to quickly grab ahold of it and stop it short of actually striking him. And with the leg in tow, he curls up and begins to... roll on the mat. Indeed, rolling. In a circle, even, continuously, giving a display of his agility, and dragging her along for the ride, tumbling her over and over.
No actual pain should come with it. Just severe disorientation. That's the idea, anyway. And when the rolling stops, she's more towards the center of the ring. Drake splays her on her back, legs hopefully flat, and he tugs her arms up over her head to pull her torso taut and vulnerable. And from there, he swiftly scurries up the closest turnbuckle, perching on the top rope with his back turned to her. And in an instant, he's sprung clean off his roost into a tall double backflip. After the first rotation, his limbs splay, pulling his own six-packed abs taut and firm for impacting across her stomach in a moonsault. His high-flying finisher, the Darkside Slam. Usually a crowd-pleaser, but no crowd to please.
COMBATSYS: Ayame counters Darkside Slam EX from Drake with Midsummer Fantasy.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Drake 1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\1 Ayame
The tumbling experience is rather disorienting, so that definitely did its job. But in the midst of the rolling around, Drake will find that he doesn't quite get the chance to continue on with the attack he had in mind. For it is between one of the rolls that Ayame turns the tables on him.
The shift in control is quick but clear when it happens, the girl getting an arm around his neck amidst the journey. Using that hold, she pries herself free just long enough to get in behind him before next tumble finishes.
Mimicking the sleeper hold he used on her at the start the fight, the girl slips her arm in under his chin and hooks it with her other hand. But it isn't just a simple hold - for a brief moment there's a flare of chi along her arm, adding a small burst of extra damage to the attack before it dwindles quickly, the girl half wondering if maybe she shouldn't draw upon enegy attacks for the spar. This isn't the arena after all. But she keeps the hold all the same.
She's certainly proving she has finesse in wrestling, and this pleases Drake. Well.. pleased as he can be when getting roughed up and choked, that is. The hold gets cinched on him successfully, and he doesn't make a sound. Hard to make noise when being choked, anyway. His free arm flails about, scrabbling desperately for the ropes and slowly trudging along the canvas. But once the ropes have been successfully reached, he clamps his free hand onto it, waiting for the girl to release the rather painful hold. Though the majority of the pain came from the notable flaring of the chi.
COMBATSYS: Drake takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Drake 1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\1 Ayame
Rules are rules, and Ayame can respect that. He did the same to her when he had her in a move she had no hope of getting out of anyway! The moment his hand clasps the rope, Ayame releases the head lock and takes a step back, eyes studying Drake carefully. Everything he's been doing she's been paying close attention to, right down to trying to mimic his attacks as well as can be. She's a quick study, that's for sure.
But now she's breathing, feeling the aches of his previous holds catching up with her... Still, no time to hold back. She gives him his distance for a moment, but then she's leaning forward, lunging right back at him. This time going for a more direct tackle, trying to ram her shoulder into his stomach, wrap her arms around his waist, and drive him to the floor on his back!
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Drake with Medium Throw.
Glancing Blow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Drake 1/-======/=======|=======\-------\1 Ayame
Drake takes in a deep, gasping breath once the hold is released, and he starts to climb to his feet using the ropes. And once he's standing again, looking a fair amount breathless, he turns around to face her. Caught between ropes and her, he has very little area to move around in. So he tries to dodge to the side, bit she still rams into his ribs with her shoulder, getting a wince from him.
But still, it might serve his purpose. With her hunkered down as she is, he tries to grab her by the shoulders and twist her around so as to gather her up in a belly-to-belly piledriver hold. As such, arms go to lock around her waist, he tries to catch her neck between his legs, and he attempts to just lock her in that upside-down position...
COMBATSYS: Ayame counters Total Eclipse from Drake with Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Drake 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Ayame
The young man's hands come down to grip Ayame's shoulders, but he's about to find that the girl can be remarkably difficult to get a hold on when she isn't being rolled around on the mats. On her feet is where Ayame is at her best, and turning attacks back against her opponents is something she excells at.
Caught at an awkward ankle position for a fleeting moment, the girl speeds up, moving faster than she had even managed throughout the course of the fight. Her leg slips in between both of Drake's feet just before he starts to heft her into a position she remembers all too well from last time. In the last second, the girl hooks her foot around his ankle while simulataneously applying a quick palm strike to his abdomen to give herself just enough pressure to pry herself free while rendering his balance unstable for a moment.
Staggering backward, the girl whews, hand coming up to wipe across her forehead, brushing away a thin, shimmering layer of perspiration. This is quite the work out, and he's a lot more rugged than a lot of people she's fought.
Drake is slammed with the manuever, and he falls back against the mat with a wince. But still, he pulls himself back up to his feet. "Huh.. you're doing pretty well for yourself," he comments. "Not bad at all. I'll have to step it up against you next time, won't I?" He then shrugs his shoulders and starts to close in on her again... though this time, he suddenly whirls around in a smooth circle step, closing in on the side. At the final moment of his step-around, his right fist suddenly flashes upwards in a backhanded fist, aimed to smash against the girl's cheek soundly.
COMBATSYS: Drake successfully hits Ayame with Crescent Fist.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Drake 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Ayame
"Thanks," the girl replies between breaths. "You must just be a good teacher," she adds with a faint grin and a quick wink. She has been picking up on his techniques, making note of the things she can use, the abilities that would be useful to her as well when she fights 'for keeps'. It's probably a good thing she's never mentioned the OTHER side job she's picked up since they last met.
But chit-chat doesn't help with getting out of the way of incoming backfists, which is what the girl tries to do as Drake's hand swings out and smacks her good against the cheek, sending her reeling to the side a couple of steps. Oof. She wants to rub the cheek, but she can't hold back! And she has another idea to try on him.
The next attempted attack is a lot like her last charge. Lunging forward, trying to slam her shoulder into his stomach... But this time the girl is going for Drake's leg, both of her arms trying to wrap tightly around his ankle. If she gets a grip, she'll follow by kicking his opposite leg out from under him in an attempt to drive Drake down on his back while lifting up the leg she has a hold on...
COMBATSYS: Drake counters Strong Throw from Ayame with Solar Eclipse.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Drake 0/-------/-======|=======\===----\1 Ayame
Drake intends to keep the heat on the girl, though. She's been making a great showing of herself so far, but he doesn't want to look so terrible that she actually loses faith in his abilities. That would royally suck. So when she starts charging for him, he decides to divert tactics and go along with what she's been pimping out this entire time - redirection. Something he's noted for -anyway-, so why he's been holding off on it...
Well, anyway, when she dives for him, Drake instantly drops low. His left arm grab ahold of her right wrist, and his right arm hooks between her legs. Utilizing her momentum and the notorious lack of balance rushes and dashes tend to bring along, he raises into the air and twists over, driving the girl solidly against her back on the mat. To make matters worse, that sleek six-pack of his slams directly across her stomach.
And now comes the pin. Not terribly secure, but still. He has no idea how much more she can take. He lets her lie on her back, left arm resting along her collar just above her chest, right arm hooking her left leg to haul it into the air, sweat-glistened body arched to press those unforgiving abs against her stomach crossways for the pin.
Pulling her off her feet comes easily as the girl was definitely heavily committing to her tackle. But now Drake is giving her a taste of her own medicine as her momentum becomes her enemy and the girl is lifted up in the air and then slammed back down hard with Drake on top of her.
The breath knocked out of her with a harsh gasp, Ayame's eyes widen. That's something she would probably have a hard time emulating. Bodily hefting people is a little bit outside of her weight class, as it were. But it definitely works great /on/ her.
His arm across her collarbone and her leg hooked up to keep her from getting easy support to roll out of the hold this time, 'Amelia' tries one last time to sit up or roll against him, to no avail. All out of strength to deal with him any longer, the teen fighter seems pinned... But there's always room for one last ditch effort!
Both of her hands come up to try and get a grip on the sides of Drake's head... if he doesn't watch out for it, she'll pull his head down hard while lifting her own up off the mat as far as she can for one final headbutt!
COMBATSYS: Ayame can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Drake 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Drake blocks Ayame's Fierce Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Drake 0/-------/=======|
Drake continues to hold the girl down tightly, doing his best to secure the pin... except her hands reach up and grab his head. His eyes widen, and he moves the arm from her collarbone to get in between the two heads before they collide fully. It hurts his arm like Hell, though. She gets a little growl out of the model after that hit, and he hooks the arm around her neck. He suddenly pulls over with her, rolling the two of them towards the center of the ring again. This time, when she's flat on her back, he repositions himself overtop her to lie flatly atop her, legs going between hers and hooking around at her calves to hold them down. His hands grab her forearms to pin her arms up above her head, and he arches his body inwards against her to pin her shoulders and back flatly against the mat. His head tilts in close to hers, setting forehead to forehead, and his eyes lock with hers.
And that's when he proceeds with the pin, voice soft, but ladden with heavy, warm breathing.
"One..."
"Two..."
"Three."
The attempted headbutt forces him to reconsider the pin it would seem, but even as he rolls them toward the center of the ring, the girl hasn't the strength to undo the tumble this time. Coming out flat on her back, the more experienced wrestler connects with a more reliable pin that keeps the tricky girl from having any limbs free to make another last ditch attack.
He'll feel the muscles in her arms strain against his grip, her abdomen to taut as she tries to roll one last time, but this time all of her options have been exhausted as well as her strength, and there's nothing she can do besides stare back at him with quiet brown eyes as he completes the count.
Fair's fair, that's how the rules of wrestling works. Mouth curling into a faint grin, she's silent for a long time other than her quiet breathing. "So that's wrestling," she remarks faintly before winking, "You can get off me now, I won't try anything else." One never does know with her. But so far she's been a good sport with the wrestling rules, so he probably has no reason to doubt her word for now.
Drake grins back at her and nods slowly to her assessment, thus brushing his nose playfully against hers. Playfully and perhaps a little flirtily. "That's wrestling, Amelia. And you're not bad at it at all." And thus, the wink is returned. Though at her notation of him raising off of her, he feigns a pout. "Aw. Suppose I have to, don't I?," he asks in a sulky lilt. But with that being said, he begins to raise up off of her and slowly gather himself to his feet, hands offered down to her.
COMBATSYS: Drake has ended the fight here.
The playful nose brush provokes a faint blush from the girl. But as he looks pouty for a moment, Ayame's expression shifts in turn, flickering dangerous for a fleeting moment. But it's only for an instant, gone before he even starts to move off her. Deeply rooted paranoia can be a fickle thing even when someone is just teasing.
The extended hand is accepted as Ayame allows Drake to pull her to her feet. She ends up using his shoulder for support even when standing for a moment before scooting off to the side and leaning back against the turnbuckle, her hands coming up to brush her hair back off her ears and behind her shoulders. "Pretty good," she remarks, looking Drake over. She gave him a tough fight, relying heavily on mimicking him and her own sharp thinking. It's hard without her weapons to rely on. Her fighting skill outside of grappling is only adequate at best she muses. It's a good thing she's almost never fully disarmed!
"Showed me a lot of interesting things for me to keep in mind next time I hit the Seventh Circle." she remarks, ducking down to slip between the ropes and approach her pile of discarded weaponry.
"The what?," Drake asks curiously. "Never heard of that. Wrestling arena?" He follows after her, slipping between the ropes and dropping to the floor level. "And yeah, you did good. I'll have to fight harder next time. Give you a better workout.." He feels he was... off... this spar. Off in a huge way. His hands set to his hips then. "Not hurt or anything, are you, Amelia?"
Slowly Ayame starts to rearm, returning the various weapons to the sheaths located throughout her clothing, finishing with sliding the spiked arm band back up to her left bicep. "Not a wrestling arena..." she states thoughtfully. "Blood sports. In Metro city." She slides a knife into its sheath on her belt.
"It's different." She glances over shoulder toward Drake. "No rules." Yeah, it looks like she's taken up fighting as a career, but leave it to Amelia to find the /wrong/ sort of venue to lump herself into! "It's something I've been doing lately. It's a good challenge, but maybe not a great job," she laughs lightly.
"Anyway... thanks for the session. I probably owe you something for that. Probably could charge a ton of money for private tutoring if you wanted," she grins, hand resting lightly at her hip. "Well, I'll see you around, ne?"
Drake screws up his expression. "And that's legal?" But then the subject seems to shift over, and he lifts his shoulders in a small shrug. "Guess if I wanted to charge you, I could say the payment is a date," he muses. "But yeah, you're welcome. Just.. hey, Amelia?"
Drake takes a couple steps towards her and lifts his right hand to gently nudge her shoulder with a fist. Jesting and teasing though most of his remarks are, the next thing out of his mouth is most sincere.
"Don't get yourself killed, okay?"
"Who said anything about legal," the girl replies, her tone level. No, there's definitely nothing law abiding about those fights. How long the arena will exist before someone or something cracks down on it remains to be seen. "I'd say you should try it some time, but... I don't think it's your kind of thing." Her voice is neutral. She's not trying to be condescending, just... stating the facts as she sees them.
Her eyes widen at the 'threat' of a date being owed before she laughs lightly, shrugging a little, "I don't see why not." the strawberry-blonde replies. There's certainly worse payments to ask for that. He could ask for money, after all, and she does love her money!
The nudge at her shoulder gets the girl to sway a little, feeling the price of the spar catch up with her. She's still on her feet and intending to leave, but that was no relaxing bout by any means. Her back is going to gripe at her for that Camel Clutch for certain. "Nn," she replies, looking away so that he can no longer see the look in her eyes. It's foreign to have people worry about her. It's been a long time. It's a weakness though, she reminds herself. No sense in getting trapped thinking about it too much.
"You take care of yourself as well... Hope you find your missing Stars," the girl remarks, finally heading for the front door to take off.
Log created on 13:22:21 12/08/2007 by Ayame, and last modified on 04:22:16 12/10/2007.