Gato Blanco vs. Kozue Kaburagi - She's Lost Control

Holly wasn't expecting Kozue to be in shape for a rejoinder, but there it was. Taken aback for a moment, the Brit crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, blowing a strand of her fringe away from her face. Still ... it was pretty badass, all considered. "Totally jealous," Holly said, then, "you're making me wish I was the one in there, kicking said ass!"

Across the ring, Blanco was starting to put himself back together. That arm, though, he still clutched close to his chest. The rest of him was still aching, but that arm was another case altogether. Looking across the ring, he sized up Kozue. Using level, steady breathing and balancing against the ropes for support, the luchador was trying to use this momentary rest to the optimum benefit. He knew his opponent was likely doing the same.

He could see the young ninja girl pulling herself onto the ropes, slowly. Blanco would be able to get to his feet before her, and started making his way toward her, step by step. Then, she got a bit flip, beckoning him on with the wave. It was a total badass move, and probably more than a little smug. Grinning beneath his mask, Blanco had to admit that he was impressed with Kozue's attitude. With a quick start, the luchador broke into a run, dashing at her hard and fast before jumping up, aiming a running knee strike right at the young ninja's head, looking to answer her challenge for "more" as generously as he could, by bouncing the hard joint right off of her skull!

Kozue was trying to keep her best face on, but inside, alarm klaxons were blaring. She was running on fumes, and she knew that, win or lose, this match was going to be over soon. She simply was not designed for this sort of elongated battle. It had to end.

Timing. It alll came down to timing.

She waited until the last moment, right before Gato could connect with that killer knee, and then she leaped out of the way, avoiding the same, painful fate she’d suffered a moment ago. But that wasn’t enough. She was hurting. She wanted counterattack and buy more time to heal.

So, while Gato was falling back from the missed knee, Kozue grabbed the top rope, pulled her body up, and swuung her leg around for an enzuigiri to the back of his neck.

Blanco rushed through the air, knee forward, arms held up, ready to knock the ninja girl into next week with the running knee strike. But, true to the speed and determination she'd displayed thoughout the night, Kozue was nowhere to be found, as Gato's knee should have been making contact.

"Eerk!" Blanco gruned, knee going though the air, leaving his body hung up on the ropes, arms catching himself before he accidentally mounted the turnbuckle. He was perched rather precariously, the thick material of the ropes digging into his thigh, the usually poised and balanced luchador trying to keep himself from tumbling over or- even worse- letting himself get racked on the ropes like every skater on YouTube had ever done. It was his own damn fault for going for that bait, he knew. Still, the veteran figured, given a second he could turn this around. Pull the leg up and over the ropes, situate himself, he could get into position for a dive, catch Kozue with a 'rana off the ropes. Working as swiftly as he could, Blanco began swinging his leg over the rope, to get into position.

"Careful, mister!" Holly cried out, fingertips raised to her worried frown. Unfortunately, the advice wouldn't do much good: in a flash, Kozue was using the ropes to swing herself upward, delivering a hard enquigiri kick to the back of Blanco's masked skull. The impact echoed through the arena, and Blanco's body dropped hard, crotch-first, onto the ropes.

"OH!" Holly cried out, joined by many in the audience, as Blanco hit the ropes. He would remain perched there, clutching the ropes, breathing heavily as he hung there. There wasn't any 'right' way to take that fall, Blanco knew, but damn if it didn't feel like he'd taken the most absolutely wrong one.

”Tag!”

Despite Kozue’s yelp of triumph after scoring the successful hit, her body was telling a different story. When she came back down to the mat, she nearly felt flat on her ass and would've done exactly that if her hands hadn't been gripping the ropes so tightly. As it was, she just stumbled and caught herself, knowing she didn’t have time to waste on her ass.

Kozue idea. It wasn’t a great idea, but it was a wild, crazy one, and at this point it was exactly what she needed. ”And here…”

She yanked the rope and pulled herself up with one mighty, hopping on the top with a cat’s grace. From there, she springboarded off towards Gato, spread her legs, clamped them around the luchadore’s neck, and jerked backwards, trying to send him flying with an avalanche version of the reverse hurricanrana.

Gato was good. One of the best Kozue ever faced. But this? This would finish him.

Struggling to catch his breath, nursing his aching body, Blanco worked double-time to steady himself on the ropes. Tucking a leg between the ropes and the turnbuckle post to support himself, then doing the same with the other, the luchador simply worked to try and ensure that a rough fall to the outside wouldn't be added to the things he'd had to suffer, throughougt this match. He couldn't even spare a glance up to see how the young Kubaragi had come down, on her enzuigiri.

Kozue had taken it to him hard, tonight, leaving him hurting and struggling to balance himself. Now, after getting racked up and stunned on the corner post, it was up to Blanco to suck it, up, get himself upright, and hope he could be prepared for whatever the vivacious and vicious young ninja was going to throw at him, next.

The fans were on the edge of their seats, eager to see how things were going to play out, from here. And poor Holly was beside herself, both hands clutched over her chest, as she watched Kozue's nimble figure leap up, bounce off the ropes, and come springing towards the vulnerable Blanco.

Blanco's body went upright just in time for Kozue to catch him, her toned thighs clasping around his neck. The crowd let out a sound of shock, anticipating the coming hurricanrana. "Erk!" the luchador grunted, startled. Staring straight into Kozue's midsection as she landed, the luchador didn't need a clear view of the mat far below them to know how badly this would end for him, if the ninja was able to complete the rana! Kozue had made it clear just how deadly she could be with her deft high-flying maneuvers, and this one had all the potential to bring this match to a decisive, fateful end for the luchador!

However, Blanco was in luck. With his legs tucked tight around the turnbuckle, his legs locked between the ropes, he was able to hold fast to his position, and evade getting pulled down in the ninja's move. Reaching up, the luchador put his hands around Kozue's sides, and turned his torso forward while holding fast with his legs. If the last-second counter worked, Gato Blanco would send Kozue crashing down to the mat alone, hitting the ring hard while leaving him still perched upon the top turnbuckle.

Though Kozue had never pulled this move off in an actual match before, she was still confident that she could get it done. It was simple enough, really. All she had to do was jump off a small rope, wrap her legs around a man’s head, pull him off with the thrust of her body, and…

Okay, not ‘simple’. But she was confident that she could get it done, at least.

That confidence came crashing down to the mat along with the rest of her body as Gato held onto the ropes, masterfully screwing up her move at just the right moment in just the right way. With no body between her legs to slow the descent, Kozue wound up putting too much power into the flip and overshot it. She did a full revolution before she came crashing down right on the same ass she’d been taunting Gato’s girl with. Ironic enough.

With a stream of curses fluttering from her lips, Kozue rolled around and wound up her back, staring up at the ceiling with squinting eyes, scrunched up tight as the pain from everything pulsed all over.

Had to move. Just a little. Get out of the way. ”Come on…”

Everything happened so quickly, so suddenly, that even the veteran Gato Blanco found himself struggling to keep up.  He hadn't even been fully aware that he'd managed to fend off Kozue's attack until he opened his eyes, got his bearings, and saw the poor young ninja woman laid out below him, down on the mat.  Bracing himself on the top ring ropes, Blanco shoved himself upright.

There wouldn't be much time to spare, he knew.  Kozue had proven time and again that she was more than capable of making the most out of any opportunity given to her.  The young woman was the perfect mix of capable and quick, confident and a bit mean.   If Blanco allowed her any breathing room more than he was forced to, she'd have him back at her mercy.

So, with visible effort, Blanco unhooked his legs from the turnbuckle and began to rise to his full height.  The crowd's voices began to rise in anticipation, prompting Blanco to lift his arms over his head.  Fingers waving them on, beckoning them to raise their voices higher, Blanco fed off that energy to push back the pain and keep him moving, toward what he hoped would be the definitive ending of this match.  At ringside, Holly knew what was coming, and started bouncing on her heels, cupping her hands over her mouth and cheering herself half-hoarse.  She spared a glance at Kozue; the two had been snarking at one another the entire night, but the truth was that the ninja girl had more than earned Holly's respect.  Part of the British bombshell was hoping that she was seeing the end of the match, for the sake of both competitors.

With a hard push, Blanco threw himself off of the top turnbuckle and into the air.  Astute fans could see the strain on his face, as he pushed back the pain in his body and committed to his signature move:  the Cat's Eye, the spectacular elbow drop that had ended matches from Arena Mexico to Chicago, from Glasgow to Tokyo.  Flipping off the turnbuckle, Blanco tucked his knees inward despite the pain coursing through his core.  He came down off the apex of his leap, then unfolded with the corkscrew, all in a quick blur of motion, straightening himself out.  Extending his body, Blanco unfolded into an elbow drop, aimed with precision right for Kozue's chest, looking to knock the last of the fight out of the young woman, and hopefully put this match to a finish!

Breath in. Breath deep.

Kozue’d given up on trying to avoid what was coming. She couldn’t move. Maybe if she had a minute to recoup and gather her strength, she could’ve done something crazy and swung things around one last time, but she simply didn’t have the power for that. She was done. Energy at zero. Aside from blinking, moaning, and staring up at the sky, there was precious little she could do here.

Just wait. And watch. And listen.

She could hear the crowd’s roar, reaching a fever pitch. That the first clue something was happening. The second was much more direct and immediate, as Kozue saw the silhouette of Gato’s body above, etched in the stadium’s lights. Getting closer and closer, a missile dropping on her from 10,000 feet. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

Gato hit his mark and he hit it hard, sending Kozue into spasms on the floor. She let out a short shriek and flopped about the canvas, nearly rolling right into the referee before she came to a stop. Facedown, right in the center of the ring, no movement save for the steady rise and fall of her chest. Still awake, but with the blazing fire in her chest, she almost wished she wasn’t.

Breath in. Breath deep. Almost over.

Gato Blanco bounced back upright, after his Cat's Eye elbow drop made contact with Kozue's chest. The bodies of the two wrestlers bounced off the ring, Blanco rocked upright while Kozue was sent spasming across the ring behind him. It seemed the luchador's signature drive had found its mark, and done its job. Shaking his head, Blanco looked back, and saw Kozue laid out on the ring. Face down, clearly suffering, hopefully ready for this pin.

Leaning back, Blanco clasped his hands across Kozue's shoulder and hip, and flipped her onto her back. With an arm, he hooked the ninja girl around her legs, tucked them up, and used them for leverage as he pressed his body hard into hers for the pin. Pressing down on Kozue with all his weight, pectorals pushed flush against Kozue's torso, Blanco looked up to the ref, expecting the pin count to start any time.

"ONE!" the ref counted out, as she got down on the mat beside them. At ringside, Holly got closer to the ring. The Brit lifted a finger to the sky in time with the count, counting along with the ref. Smiling, she was anticipating a finish, here.

Blanco wasn't quite as certain, not willing to count out the Kubaragi girl, just yet. She'd put him through hell, thus far, and any assumptions here would be horribly naive. Pulling her legs tights, using his extended legs to push his body heavier onto Kozue's, Blanco pressed into the pin, waiting for the count to finish.

"TWO!"

It was a small thing, but Kozue appreciated all the effort that Gato put into trying to pin her. He was really leaning on her, putting the pressure down hard, as if she could really just pop out of such a devastating attack at any moment. It might not have seemed like much, like he was just putting on some extra insurance, but to  her it meant more. He could’ve just put his foot on her chest and got a lazy pin at this point, but he thought she was worth the trouble of holding on tight.

”3…!”

In the end, though, it didn’t really mean much, because she wasn’t kicking out. Not even close. The referee made her final count, the bell rang, and the crowd went wild. As they rightly should - Tension matches didn’t get much better.

”Ha. Good match.” Kozue sighed and patted him on his masked head. ”Wanna go, again?”