Higurashi Dojo-Taylor Parker & Julia Rogers vs. Jessica Wright & River Styx

Styx grimaced at the sound of Taylor's voice. Partly because it was giving away her move, partly because it was loud as hell and made her ears ache. There wasn't anything she could do at this point about the warning, though - she was already fully devoted to the move when that shrill shriek came out across the ring, too late to put the brakes on the mighty swing she was throwing.

"Shit." Julia ducked under the blow and Styx hit nothing but air. A narrow miss, but a miss all the same. Not a big deal, she could work with it. Instead of stopping dead in her tracks, she rolled with the blow and turned all the way around, so that her back hit the ropes and carried all her momentum with her. If she couldn't catch Julia on the first shot, she'd get her on the rebound.

Styx bounced forward and charged again, heading straight Julia as she started going into her flip. Fancy shit, but whatever she was doing, it was nothing she couldn't deal with. She had all the weight, all the momentum, and when they collided, the cowgirl would be taking all the pain.

She started to leap when they were close enough, raising her knee to strike Julia in the back, but there was nothing there to hit, anymore. Her target was airborne, now, flipping backwards and swinging her leg around for a kick that Styx never saw coming. The blow cracked her hard in the face, landing with a THWACK that you could even hear over the crowd's roar.

Spittle flew from Styx's mouth and she dropped to a knee, right before thousands of screaming Japanese fans rose to their feet. She would've loved to show them just how she felt with a few choice gestures, but her hands were too busy rubbing her head, as she tried to deal with the sudden headache and the ringing in her ears.

"YEAH!" Taylor cheered, and jumped in the air and threw her fists up. Her exuberant cheering and dancing in place never slowed down for an instant. "GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!"

Though she really wished Julia would get around to tagging her in... She hung her arm over the top rope, ready to receive a tag when it came.

The kick hit a perfect bullseye as it smacked right into River’s face, dropping the bigger girl to a knee and sending the crowd into a frenzy! Julia fell to the mat after the kick, but quickly rolled away to bring herself back up. The masked cowgirl panted for a moment, glad to have finally created some room to breathe and work with against this juggernaut.

But now Julia had a choice to make. A glance over to Taylor revealed nothing obstructing the dojo trainee’s path to her mentor. She’d have to hurry, but she could probably make it in time to make the tag before River recovered enough to stop her. But on the other hand, the dazed brawler was in perfect position for a followup.

She’d probably get chewed out for it later, but to Julia the opportunity just looked too good to pass up. So she launched herself into a run directly at River before leaping toward her, then sought to land one foot on the brute’s knee while swinging her other leg right at the brawler’s head in an attempt to blast her with a shining wizard!

Styx groaned and and ran a hand over her face, nice and slow. A few blinks. A squint. Another groan. All while she tried to cope not only with the pain, but the fact that she'd just been kicked in the face by Julia, a woman dressed up like a cowgirl stripper.

She started to stand up and think about all the things she was going to do as soon as she got her bearings back. This wasn't a big deal, she'd handled fast opponents before. They always got cocky, always made mistakes, always thought they could grind her down. It had never worked before, and it wasn't going to work-

Her train of thought was promptly derailed when she felt some pressure on her knee. Her hand moved away for her face, and for a split second she got to see Julia's leg coming at her face, right before her vision filled with stars.

Styx let out a scream that was filled with rage, pain, and sheer surprise, as the blow knocked her flat on her back and left her staring up at the ceiling. The ringing in her ears was starting to go away, but that only meant she got to hear how utterly insane the crowd was getting.

Taylor jumped and pumped her fist in the air again, and her voice broke with her delirious excitement.

"YES! YEAH, JULIA! TAG, TAG, TAG! C'MON!" Taylor strained to reach her arm as far over the top rope as she could, standing on her toes and leaning her body over the rope.

"Fuck you slut!" Jessica bellowed at the top of her lungs. The blow looked intense and although she knew for a fact that River had survived worse blows, that particular one looked particularly devastating. Jessica shook the ropes that she had been deathgripping for so long. Taylor, the champion might now enter the fray after being on the sidelines for the course of the match.

Jessica wasn't afraid of her and she highly doubted River was either, it was plain to see that Taylor was a horse of a different color. The Violent Violet had been on the receiving end of one too many of Julia's blows and knew they were no joke- however, Taylor's experience was sure to provide her a distinct advantage over her dojo student. "Get up, River, get moving..." she quietly urged.

The shining wizard connected with full force, and brought the bigger girl right down flat on her back! Julia fell panting right beside her foe, and heard both Jessica’s bellowed insult and Taylor urging her to come back to the corner to tag her in. And in a moment, she intended to do just that.

But first, Julia crawled over to River’s floored body and laid across her chest, while reaching out to hook one of the girl’s legs for a pin attempt. Maybe it was too early to pin someone as tough as River, but maybe not. Her last few attacks had hit with as much power as Julia could put into them. Who knows? Maybe it would be enough to keep the brawler down long enough. And hell, just how impressed would her mentors be if she actually managed to win this for her team without Taylor even having to get her hands dirty? But if that wasn’t the case, and River managed to kick out, then Julia had every intention to tag her mentor in. Whatever the case, the ref knelt by the two combatants and slapped the mat to start the count.

“ONE...!”

Styx was a tad loopy from getting kicked in the head - twice in a row - but not so out of it that she couldn't feel Julia's body flop across her chest while her leg was lifted. The referee's count, the crowd's cries, and Taylor's shrieking all helped to drag her back to reality, and her eyes shot wide open right after the first count. Enough resting, back to work.

"2...!"

Styx brought her arms in fast, got them under Julia's body, and pushed her away as she threw her shoulders up to break the pin, flinging the luchadora towards the ropes with one, explosive motion. "Off!"

The two-count went by without a sign of life from River. Maybe she had done enough to put the hardcore brawler away! Almost there. Just one more second...

But it wasn’t to be, and just before the count could be completed Julia was launched into the air and off of River’s downed body! The cowgirl plopped back down on the mat with a grunt, slightly frustrated yet not too surprised. But it was alright. Taylor was eagerly waiting in the corner not too far away, and ready for a tag.

So Julia started slowly crawling, panting as she went, hoping she could get to Taylor and tag her into the match before River recovered. And one hand stretched out toward her mentor as she crawled.

Come on! Just a little further...!

Styx sat up and started to get back to her feet, expecting Julia to come back on the offensive at any second. She'd had a little burst of strength, but she was still vulnerable, needing a second or two before she could get back up. It'd be a bad time if the luchadora exploited that.

She'd planted a boot on the floor and risen to a crouch, when she spotted Julia crawling to her corner for the tag. Not something Styx wanted to happen. Maybe she could handle a fresh Taylor Parker, maybe she couldn't, but there wasn't any reason to find out. This wasn't a hardcore match, so she didn't have anything to prove. If she could win by just smashing the little blonde into a pulp, she would.

Styx popped out of the crouch, sprung towards Julia, and landed on the mat just close enough to reach out and wrap her hands around the ankle of her silly little cowgirl boot. She gripped hard and started to pull back as she stood, dragging the match back towards the center of the ring.