Armando "Army" Rodriguez vs Haruko "Mileena" Akiyama

Mileena's own eyes widened as she connected with Army and sent the two tumbling to the apron below. She had the advantage of going over forward so she could see the ground as she plummeted towards it. It didn't really avert the pain that much, however. She landed on the padded floor on her left shoulder and rolled over a few times until she was face up. She groaned in pain for a moment, before suddenly sitting up and smiling at the nearby struggling Army.

The temptress stretched and rubbed her shoulder for a second before leaning down and doing a kip up to get back to her feet. She bent beside Army, an arm along his shoulder as if helping him up. "Aww, are you okay?" she asked quietly, nearly drowned out by the cheers and jeers of the nearby crowd. "Here...let me help you with that," the woman growled as she grabbed him by the hair and pulled him to his feet.

She then yanked him towards the guardrails that separated the crowd from them. With a fistful of his hair in one hand, Mileena tried to push the man down into the metal railings fiercely.

The referee started a slow count as Army began to make his way up, reminding him of another rule he didn't quite get. People didn't mind having their fight spill out of the ring - hell, they seemed to prefer it, if all the cheers he'd heard on the way down were any indication. So why pressure them so much to come back inside?

Whatever the case, he wasn't given long to ponder it. Mileena helped him up to his feet soon enough, though 'help' didn't seem quite the right word to use when was digging her crazy little fingers into his scalp. "Thanks." He growled back the response as he was hauled up to his feet, forced to follow along with his hair like a dog on a leash.

He let out a loud grunt as his back was introduced to the hair metal of the guard rail, slammed into it as the crowd backed away and wisely gave him some space. Not comfortable. Cold steel, biting at his bare skim, hitting his ribs...but he still had plenty of life to retaliate with, and he showed that by lashing out at Mileena, swinging his leg up at her stomach for a fierce kick.

The crowd scattered as Mileena approached the guardrail. Out here the falls and throws hurt a lot more, and she was someone who took full advantage of that. She smirked as he crashed into metal with a clang, before slowly approaching him once more. Her voice dropped to a lower register as her hands rested on her hips. "Mmm, that looked like that hurt. I'm sorry, I didn't see it there."

She gave a single, gaspful laugh like she enjoyed throwing him against the wall a little too much as she closed in with her hands already reaching for his hair. Clearly, she wanted more of that enjoyment.

But Army wasn't just going to take it. He suddenly spun around and launched a powerful kick her way. The kick connected with the unprepared Mileena's abdomen, knocking the wind right out of her, and even knocking her an inch into the air. She groaned with pain as she crossed her arms over her abdomen and slipped to one knee, gasping for breath. "That..." she muttered in start but since she had little air in her lungs, the kick literally left her speechless.

Army enjoyed kicking Mileena in the gut. Maybe a little more than a healthy person had any right to, but damn, it felt good to give her a big spoonful of her own medicine and watch her choke on it. "...was awesome." He completed the sentence for her and pushed off the guard rail, trying his best to ignore aching ribs.

As much as he wanted to get a few taunts in, he knew that wouldn't be wise with a girl like this - Mileena had got him before when he least expected, showing she knew how to take some punishment and work through it. He needed to put a little pain on her. Even things up and slow her down. He needed a submission hold, and he only really had one at his disposal.

He'd probably catch some hell from Amy for using this - it was her 'favorite hold', after all - but Army moved forward and wrapped his arms around Mileena, pulling her in tight for a crushing bearhug, trying to squeeze away at her back and wear down her impressive stamina. He made sure to put more power into it than he usually would have, trying hard to override any intimate aspects.

Mileena heard Army finish her sentence and swore under her breath at him.  She didn't really appreciate the whole smart talking back he was giving her.  He was risking his relationship with her!  She grit her teeth when she saw his shadow suddenly on top of her.  Shit.  She brought up her hands to try and shove him away but the larger man was already grabbing her around the back and lifting her up.

"Oh?" she began to ask as he hauled her up, pressing their bodies together.  "I thought-" she started to say before he fully engaged the crushing bear hug.  Her torso was forced up against his as he put immense pressure on her lower back trapping her.  She struggled in his grasp but the grip between his hands behind her was far too strong for her to break from where she was.  And with her hands trapped at her side, there was little else she could do to break free.

"Ahh..." Mileena moaned in the hold, some of it from the pain.  His hips were right up against hers and he just kept squeezing away.  It was hard not to think about it, even as her back hurt more and more.  The woman was trapped...and also Army was bearhugging her.  Her resistance and struggle waned as he continued to squeeze at her lower back, the hold getting to her.  Thankfully, her guardian angel in black and white was about to save her.

"Six!" the referee counted from inside the ring.

Despite the pain, Mileena weakly laughed when she could make out the count.  "You'll...you'll have to pick...pick me up some other time...say 7 tonight?"

Hook, line, and sinker.

Army locked the hold and powered down, crushing Mileena's arms along with the rest of her body for a perfect bearhug, lifting her feet off the floor and swinging her around like an unwilling dance partner. It was the only submission move he really knew and the only one he needed - his upper body strength made it perfect for him, plus he didn't have to get her on the ground to use it. Granted, he couldn't win with a submission outside of the ring, but if the pain under her mezmerizing moans was anything to go by, he was making some serious gains.

Of course, there were downsides. Like the close proximity of their bodies, and the way that he couldn't quite hide a natural reaction from her body rubbing up agaisnt his, try as he might. And the fact that there was still the count to worry about, ticking away. "Yeah," He gave her one, final squeeze before easing up on the hold. Army grabbed Mileena by her long, raven hair and secured a tight grip. "I don't think you'll be up for it by then. Just a guess."

Taking hold of her arms with his other hand, he dragged her back to the ring apron and tossed her in under the bottom rope, then rolled in after her just as the referee was getting to seven on her count.

At the warning of the count out, Army finally released the girl. She let a tired laugh escape her as he grabbed hold of her by the hair and pulled towards the ring. Truth be told, Mileena didn't mind the bearhug. Yes, it was quite painful, but in other circumstances...well it'd still be quite painful but also very enjoyable between the two parties. In her mind, there were dozens of submission holds Army could've chosen to use on her. But he picked that one. She could feel the enjoyment in his body as he swung her around which only reinforced her desire to push her strategy back in that direction.

...at least when the opportunity arose.

He rolled her back into the ring where she groaned and crawled away from him on all fours. The prolonged bearhug really did a number on her lower back, and resisting it had drained a lot of her energy. She gasped as she retreated to the other side of the ring, trying to get her breath back. In time she'd pay him back for that. "...Anything to get close to me..." she muttered vaguely about the bear hug.

Army made his way up as Mileena crawled away from, getting back to his feet as quickly as he could with his back still aching from the fall. He waasn't the only one going through the ringer, though - Mileena was finally sharing in the fun. Her back was still clearly hurting, and while his first thought was just to stomp her when she was down, better ideas were forming in his head. She wanted to be close? He'd keep her close.

"Here," Army echoed her words from earlier, as he reached down and hauled her up with a hand under each arm, dragging her back to her feet while she faced away from him. "Let me help you up."

Army brought one arm around Mileena's waist and put the other one under her thigh, getting a nice hold on her. From there, he just lifted her straight up, high into the air, forced her legs out, then dropped her down into a sit right on her knee for an old-school Atomic Drop.

Mileena didn't get very far before Army was back on top of her. Admittedly she was slightly nervous to be on the receiving end of these attacks now. His blows were harder than hers, and she knew she couldn't trade evenly and hope to come out on top at the end. No matter though, she'd find an opportunity to counter something. Then it was just a matter of keeping him down once more. She knew she could manage that as she already had.

"Help me up? You're such a gentleman..." she giggled breathlessly as he hauled her to her feet from behind. "You're going to have to try a little harder if you want to keep me on my back-" she began before he lifted her up and dropped her down on his rock hard knee in the atomic drop. That was a move in her own arsenal, but certainly not one she expected to be used against her.

Mileena grabbed her butt with her right hand as she landed on her knees and left forearm. She groaned in pain, closing her yellow eyes tightly. "Ugh...buy me dinner first..."

This was Army's first time using the Atomic Drop, but it wouldn't be the last. Something about the move really spoke to him. Whether it was the way he had her legs splayed out as he lfited her up, or the way she came down, nice and flush, on his knee, or even the way it left Mileena down on the ground for a little embarrassment. Perfect fit for his style.

Mileena was down, now, and as much as he enjoyed the sight and the killer view, he couldn't savor it. Army stood up, dusted himself off, then moved back in.

"You ever think about trying a dating service, loca?" He grabbed her by the arm and lifted her back up, making her stand along with him. "Maybe find some guys who aren't beating you around in a wrestling match. Girls, if you go that way."

He spun around and sent her off to the ropes, trying to get enough force into the Irish Whip to make her come running back whether she liked it or not. Army ducked down, opened his arms up, and prepared to lift her up and fall on his back when she ran into him - he was going for a flapjack, looking to drill her face into the mat.