Blue Imugi vs. Armando 'Army' Rodriguez - Thunder and Lightning

Two hundred pounds and change, flying through the air, coming down from at least ten feet. All that weight, all of that momentum. It wouldn’t have been the most pleasant experience if Blue Imugi had still been down there for a landing mat. But with her moved? All of that force wound up smacking him in the chest and face. Moreso in the face, really. Way more than he would’ve liked.

The end result spoke for itself. Wherever his skin touched the canvas, it felt like he’d been stung by a hundred angry bees, and that pain persisted as he got back to his feet. Hurting, groggy, dizzy and dazed, he focused and tried to set his mind to one, simple task: figuring out where in the hell his opponent went to.

His blurry vision cleared in time to spot her, but not in time to do much about it. Somehow, by some miracle, she was on her feet again and charging towards him at top speed. Her blue hair spun about with every step, cracking the air like whips. She took the sky with ease, leaping high and fast and long, and even though he had no clue what she was about to do, he knew it was going to be the last move of the match.

He was right, as it turned out.

All at once, she was all over him, all around, him, whirling and twirling and yanking him clean off his feet. It was a short trip to the mat, but he came down in the worst way possible, as she used her crazy momentum to hammer his skull into canvas. There was no fighting it, no countering, nothing he could do to stop the impact.

He accepted that, though. No regrets. In fact, the only thing he thought in the instant before impact was how nice her arms felt around his skull. She had nice skin. Supple, but with some real muscle behind it. Small, but compact. She reminded Army of someone…

And then the lights went out.

Wham!

There aren’t enough words in all the dictionaries in the world to describe the relief that Imugi felt after she brought Army down. There was just so much of it there.

There was the relief that came when she managed to actually catch him with the Coiled Serpent and he didn’t evade it by some mystic force. Then there was the relief when he brought him down and she saw brought him down in one fell swoop. There was even the relief that she’d managed to pull off her finisher for the first time. She wasn’t one to lack for confidence, but this match’s toll was enough to leave her with more than enough doubt than she would have liked.

But Army was down. He was finally down after what she hoped was the last strike of the match. The audience let out a collective gasp of awe as the slam echoed across the arena. Imugi tumbled forward, stopping on one knee and breathing deeply as she brought her head up, seeing the applauding crowd looking on with baited breath at the wide-eyed Korean girl. In the back of her mind, she still hoped it was enough to keep him down. Only one way to find out though.

Her head drifted off the to the side and saw Army, with his eyes closed. Still, like a sleeping giant. A handsome giant. With sculpted arms and a strong, firm chest that rose and fell gently like…

Pin. Pin him. Right.

Still struggling to find the strength to just stand on her own, Imugi crawled her way over to Army at a snail’s pace. It was just a couple feet, but it felt like an eternity had passed by the time she’d reached him. When she did, she laid vertically over his body, pressing his shoulders down while placing her legs over his arm and extending her arms over his other, making as much use of her body weight as she could think to.

ONE!

Where was Army?

He woke up, and he half expected to be in his bed, but he clearly wasn’t. This surface was harder than that, though it was kind of bouncy, too. He didn’t have covers on, either, but there was a weight of top of him. Something hot and wet and squirming, moving about. He couldn’t move his arms. Why couldn’t he move his arms? Hell, why was he having such a hard time sitting up?

”2…!”

And who was counting?

It all came back to him in a rush of memories, pouring in through the floodgates all at once. He’d been in a match, but it wasn’t just any match. He’d come across all kinds of women in his time in Tension, but he couldn’t think of too many who were anywhere near as tenacious or as fierce or as straight out crazy as this. What had she even knocked him out with? It was a crazy, whirling, spinning thing that end up with his head getting bounced on the floor like a coconut.

He supposed the details didn’t matter much. It worked, whatever it was, because he was screwed now. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t kick out. Could barely even stay away. There was nothing he could do to stop Imugi’s earned victory, no way to keep that hand from coming down one, final time.

”3…!”

The bell rang and the crowd cheered, praising their conquering heroine and showering her with smiles. One of them belonged to Army, too, the last thing he did before he drifted back off, going limp underneath her. He’d be fine, no problem, but after a match like that and a finisher like that, he just needed a little nap.

Imugi had never so ecstatic, yet so drained as she did when that final hand came down. She could feel Army moving beneath her, giving only the faintest signs of resistance. Her heart nearly skipped a beat as he began to rise. But then the third count rang out, and he fell back. She let go of the breath she’d been unconsciously clinging to this whole time and snapped her head up. She won. She finally won.

The blue-haired idol leaped up as the opening drums kicked in, letting the ref raise her arm for the crowds with a wide smile. Her lingering eyes traveled across the sea of roving fans. Each cheer, each flash of the camera, brought a spark of energy back into her. She jumped up and pumped a fist out, making her way to the ropes as the opening drums to her theme kicked in and giving the brightest face she could manage.

"NA, NA, NANANA NA! NA NA NANANA!"

She glanced over her shoulder and saw her smile fade slightly, noticing that Army hadn’t stirred yet. Hadn’t so much as opened his eyes. She furrowed her brows, for whatever reason. Despite the way things had started out, the rest of the match found her already looking back at those moments fondly. Hopefully she didn’t overdo it.

She stepped away from the ropes, trying to head back to his side and maybe wake him up if the gods were willing. There were a couple things she wouldn’t mind saying to him. One of the medical staff, however, got in her way, giving her a full view of the back of his medical coat. Then there was another one, then another. Before she could even so much as raise a hand to wedge by them, they were all around Army and bringing in the stretcher.

Imugi stepped back and let out a huff. Oh well. Guess she’d see him around.

She crouched down and rolled out of the ring. By the time her feet had touched the ground, she’d managed to bring back the smile in full force. She shot out a finger and let it hover over one side of the arena, then to the other. The rambunctious crowds kicked to life as it passed over them, chanting her name and their confessions of love with just as much energy.

After only a few moments, Imugi finally disappeared into the backstage and finally ended what honestly felt to her like the longest walk of her entire life. She stopped, placed her hands on her hips, and drew out a long, labored breath. She was tired, she was aching, and, most importantly, she was hungry. She skipped out on an afternoon lunch, thinking she’d be walking out of a shorter bout than what turned out to be one of toughest fights of her life. She’d barely be standing right now if it wasn’t for the allure of the cafeteria beckoning her small body forward.

With a lick of her lips, she followed the signs towards the smell of deep-fried fish.