Stone vs. Blaise Cameron - Making a Stand

"Yeah," She grunted back, as she made her way back up to her feet and faced off with him. As much as she could face off with the height difference working against them. "Well, we'll just see, won't we?"

Blaise answered her immediately and clearly with a move she never expected: a punch. At least, something close to a punch, ramming her in the jaw. It was the closest thing to an actual strike she'd seen coming from him, and it had some decent force behind it. Enough to stagger her and make her fall back against the ropes.

Then she responded in kind.

Stone bounced off and came back at him with a blow of her own - a right hook, going for the side of his face, throwing her weight behind it.

Stone wasn't fat by any stretch, but the girl has weight. She also has momentum and power. Her strike collides with the teen's cheek, whipping his head to the side and sending him into a stagger, himself. His feet fumble over themselves before he catches the rope with a hand.

He shakes his head quickly to clear the haze from his vision.

Suddenly, Blaise lunges back in, his right arm thrusting up to slam his bicep beneath her chin in a wild uppercut. "HYAH!"

The crowd was feeling it.

Cheers started to erupt as Stone hammers Blaise back, laying into him with one of her strongest shots. For a second, she thought he might fold up and fall down, but nope - he bounced back and came right her way again, faster and more furious than ever.

This time it was a uppercut, and it found a nice, new home on the tip of her chin. Stone clenched her teeth and fell back, trying hard not to spit blood as she went. She took a step back, then another, then she steeled her resolved and moved towards Blaise once more. She threw out a right straight and planted it in the middle of his chest. Dead center.

Blaise doesn't intend to leave anything behind here tonight. This is to make up for his last match; to make up for the Valkyries cheating him out of his first straight, legitimate win. He knows he can take her - that's empowering, more than anything else he's experienced in his career.

He can take her.

But Stone brings him back to the present with a brutal punch aimed for his sternum. "UGH!" The sound comes out as an almost gagged grunt, and the force backing it finally brings their contest to an end. Blaise is blasted down to the mat, landing squarely on his back with his limbs not but a moment behind in joining him in a sprawl.

One arm drapes his chest, and the teen gives a couple soft, wheezing coughs. The air can't refill his lungs fast enough.

Stone put her weight into that punch, threw it with everything she had, and got back some satisfactory results. Blaise didn't just go down, he went down hard, and it didn't look like he'd be getting up anything soon. Not without her dragging him, anyway.

As much as she wanted to follow-up immediately, she had to take a moment to put her hands on her knees and catch a breather, sucking in lungfuls of air. That little exchance had taken its toll more than she cared to admit, and it was becoming obvious how she needed to wrap things up.

The moment passed. Stone ignored Mako's clapping and the audience's booing as she stood straight up and moved after Blaise. She was of a mind to work him over on the floor a bit, but the first step was going to be getting down there. She had an idea on that.

Stone moved over beside Blaise, raised her arm up, and came down with a classic elbow drop, aiming it towards the center of his chest.

Stone's break gives Blaise enough time to breathe again, at least - a problem they both seemed to share, if a little rougher on his end. "Freakin'.. strong..," he pants up at her. He works himself up onto his elbows, only for a third one to fall into the mix, plummeting hard into that abused sternum!

"Ghh!"

The teen is borne back against the mat again, courtesy of a boney elbowdrop and nearly 200 lbs. backing it up. If she was seeking to leave him stunned on the mat, she's seen to it. The typically vibrant youth is left groaning. And if not groaning, coughing.

"Yes, strong. You just now noticed that?"

Stone got the words out right before she came down hard in the middle of Blaise's chest, hammering him back into the ring. This time she had a little more confidence in the idea of keeping him down for a while. The last time had been close, but Blaise still managed to hold on. This time, he was more worn down. Might work. Worth a try. If nothing else, it would drain his reserves.

Stone grabbed Blaise's leg and pulled him into another pinfall, trying to make sure her weight came down on him to increase the pressure.

All Blaise manages to choke out is a single word, but it carries all the exasperation he could ever hope to convey: "Gaaawwd..."

She's been really drilling specific points in his body this match; the abs, the back, the center of the chest. She's not taking many chances after the last one blew up in her face, and it's paying off for her. As she hooks his leg and presses in for the pin, the teen is stuck to the mat. His elevated leg shifts about at the knee, his gaze half-lidded, and his breathing labored and strained. He's in a bad situation, and as the referee drops beside him, it becomes alarmingly worse.

Her hand strikes the mat for the first count. "One!"

One count down, two more to go.

Stone gripped Blaise tight and leaned into the pin, pouring as much of her weight into the hold as she could for added insurance. It wasn't something she was proud of, giving him another lose right after the screwjob of their last match, but at least this time it would be a clean win. She only hoped Blaise and Suzumi had the good sense to walk away afterwards and not give Mako any excuses to strike back.

"2...!"

Blaise feels more pressure added to the hold. He knows Stone wants this. Being bailed out probably sucked, and if he's got any kind of bead on Mako, he's willing to be she rode her about it. But does he care? ...Well, maybe a little. Nature is a tough thing to fight, and Blaise has a knee-jerk reaction to sympathize with anyone being crushed under a heel. So the question, instead, is, "Does it matter?"

The mat shakes as the referee slaps it and gives the second count.

Not this time. It can't. Blaise needs this. The audience needs it. The rest of the whole Tension roster needs it. That way, when the Valkyries turn their guns on their next victim, when they want everyone to believe they're helpless and can't fight back, that victim can point back to this moment and say it's been done before. And that's all they'll need. Standing up to the Valkyries showed the enemy they can't intimidate everyone. It's time to follow through.

"Nn'yah!"

With that cry, the teen bucks hard and thrusts out with his leg to jolt himself briefly off the mat. It wasn't much, but it was enough to break the pin, and the referee quickly brings it to Stone's attention.