Big Brawl 3: No Place For A Hero (For Alexandra)

After a pause, Kunoichi rose to silently her feet, shaking her head vigorously to clear it. Grimly,  the vigilante took stock of her condition. The pair of bounces off the crate were bad to be sure. The second one made the Asian hit the floor on her side, and she could feel a throbbing pain around the ribs there. A sprung rib, maybe? She didn't know for sure, but it would have to wait until after she neutralized Dixie and made her escape. Speaking of which....

Looking over towards Dixie, she saw the American kneeling against the crate, stunned. For a moment Asami wondered if that was enough to knock her out, but then the blonde made a groaning noise and raised a hand to her face. Dixie wasn't getting up, but Asami knew from past experience that she would eventually.

Stealthily, Kunoichi crept up on the cowgirl, moving around the crate to try and get right behind her foe. As she moved, she produced a short length of thin but strong rope, normally used for restraining fallen enemies. Wrapping it a few times around her hands to make it even shorter, Kunoichi produced a makeshift garrote, and would then try to slip it under Dixie's chin to get it around her neck! If successful, she would pull Dixie into a standing position using the rope at her neck. Here, Dixie's height advantage over Asami would actually work against her, forcing the American to lean backwards and giving the vigilante more leverage.

Pressed up against Dixie's back, Asami widened her stance, spreading her legs to try and give herself more stability as she planned to try and choke the larger woman into unconsciousness!

Asami's stealth was working to her advantage. Dixie wasn't going to move until she heard the ninja moving. She wanted every moment possible to try and shake off the blow to her face before she forced herself back into the fight. She would wait for Asami to make a move, then act in response to that.

But with the ninja moving with silent steps behind her, Dixie wasn't even aware of what was happening until it was too late. The rope was thrown around her neck, and the Texan was forced up to her feet. With widened eyes, she began to gag for air, gasping in surprise, as the kunoichi forced her to lean backwards, beginning to choke out the cowgirl.

Dixie reached up, trying to grab onto the rope, trying to pull it loose before Asami could choke her out, but it was hard going, and with each passing moment, she could feel her air supply getting lower and lower.

Listening to Dixie gasp and gag sent a sharp pang of guilt and regret through Asami. This wasn't wrestling, or any other form of civilized competition for that matter. It was violence, of the same brutal sort that Asami, as Kunoichi, brought upon thieves, kidnappers and would be rapists. None of which were labels that someone could affix to Dixie Clemets.

She doesn't deserve this... Asami thought.
Then she should have stayed out of my way. the cold voice of Kunoichi came whispering from the dark corners of Asami's mind.

The internal conflict divided the vigilante's attention for a second, and when the cowgirl pulled against the rope she would be able loosen it enough to take another breath of air! Recovering her focus, the kunoichi pulled back on the rope, trying reassert her garrote aided chokehold on Dixie.

"Stop it! The more you resist, the more it hurts!" Kunoichi hissed in the Texan's ear.

When the rope loosened, and before Asami could tighten it back up, Dixie deeply inhaled, taking in a lungful of sweet, cool air. Her fingers then gripped at the rope, trying to wrap around it before the kunoichi could get it tightened back around her neck.

"Shut up!" She hissed back at Asami's words, continuing to pull on the makeshift garrote. "Nnn! Ah ain't done yet!"

With those words, Dixie would try to gather her strength, trying to focus her energy so that she could begin standing. If she could power her way back up to her feet, she knew she could get out of this awkward, deadly position. All she had to do was stand back up...

Asami gritted her teeth as Dixie got her fingers between the rope and her neck. Still she had better leverage, and Dixie's strength had to give out eventually.

At least, that's what she thought. The Texan struggled and battled her way back to a standing position through pure will and strength. It was a show of some of the qualities that Asami had grown infatuated with, Dixie's never say die spirit, a stubborn streak a mile wide, a determination that seemed like it could move a mountain sometimes. And, if Asami was honest, the sight of the Texan's body straining, heaving, and flexing beneath the Sgt. Clemets outfit...

The Kunoichi quickly threw a scissors hold on Dixie's waist as the American got to her feet squeezing away at her midsection with her leg strength as well as clinging to the rope draped around the cowgirl's neck. She was forcing Dixie to bear all of her weight, and yet the Texan didn't collapse back down to the ground!

Maybe it's the Star Wars lover in me, but I've got a bad feeling about this... Asami mentally mused to herself.
However, the part of her that was Kunoichi grimly reminded her that she had been choking most of the life out of the cowgirl for several moments. Her going back down was just a matter of time.

Right?

Dixie grunted, as she felt Asami's legs wrapping around her waist, causing her to pause, freezing in place as the ninja wrapped herself tightly around her. This wasn't good. Ordinarily the Texan could have held her aloft with no problem, but the rope around her neck was making it too hard, forcing Dixie to divide her strength and her focus to keep the ninja from choking her out.

She could only think of one way out of this awkward situation, and she could only hope that it wouldn't put her into a worse position then she was already in.

Closing her eyes, Dixie held her standing position for a moment longer, before suddenly throwing her weight back, trying to fall backwards, back towards the hard floor of the warehouse. Her plan was to drop onto Asami, using her greater weight to squash the smaller kunoichi between herself and the ground, and she was hoping, praying that it would leave the girl stunned and hurting long enough for Dixie to shake off her attacks.

Kunoichi's arms strained, trying to keep the rope tight against Dixie's throat, but the cowgirl's raw power was keeping the urban ninja's choke hold from completely cutting off her air.

The Texan suddenly threw herself backwards, willingly leaving her feet in a move Asami knew she should have expected. How many times in the ring had she hopped up on a bigger woman's back to put a sleeper on her, only to have the target either do this or smash her against the turnbuckles in the corner? But this was worse. Normally, this move was done of the more forgiving canvas of the wrestling ring. Out here, only hard concrete was here to cushion to impact. The Japanese woman's body was smashed into it, caught between the floor and Dixie's body. The back of her head struck the floor, dazing her and making the vigilante release the rope at the Texan's neck so she could cradle it. Her legs were still around Dixie's waist, but weren't holding her with any real force as she gave a low, stunned moan of pain....

When Kunoichi hit the floor, crushed between the concrete and the cowgirl, Dixie breathed a sigh of relief, hungrily sucking in air as the rope around her neck was released. She wished she could just lie there atop of Asami, resting and gathering her strength, but she knew she didn't have that option, and she wasn't about to let the ninja recover and start choking her air.

With tired, labored movements, Dixie forced herself to sit up, reaching for the kunoichi's legs to push them aside. She rolled herself over atop of Asami, and sat up on her belly. The cowgirl looked down at the ninja, hesitating just for a moment, before bringing up her arm, drawing her fist back.

"Ah'm sorry, Asami," she muttered quietly, before starting to punch down at the ninja's face, trying to nail her with a few hard, solid shots, wanting to keep the ninja dazed and stunned, wanting to keep her trapped underneath her heavy body.

Still winded and dazed, Asami could only struggle weakly as Dixie  turned about in her loose grip, lying atop the Asian. For a moment, they were face to face, the Texan's lips near her own, and Asami, in her scattered state of mind, thought for an instant that she was dreaming and things were about to get really, really good.

But then Dixie sat up and gave a quiet apology. And then things got really, really bad. Her fist crashed down into Asami's face, rocking her head back against the floor. Another punch from the other hand sent the vigilante's face to the side and bringing forth a yell of pain before the ninja brought her arms up to guard. Dixie's greater size had her pinned, and trapped for the moment. And she knew from this position if Dixie could deal out the heavy, powerful punches she was known, the Texan could simply ground and pound Asami until the smaller woman was rendered senseless....

Dixie quickly reached down as Asami's arms came up to protect her face, grabbing one of them, trying to pull it to the side and out of the way. She threw another big, heavy punch, and then another, the cowgirl obviously tired but not wanting to let up on the ninja.

As she lifted her fist back for the third punch, though, she sighed with frustration, staring helplessly down at Asami. "Last chance," she said, a hint of desperation in her voice. "Give it up, Asami. Please." She gripped the ninja's arm tight, her other hand handing in mid-air, her fist clenched and ready to pound at Asami's face again. "Jes' give it up so ah ain't got to hurt ya no more!"