In the Crosshairs - Samiya Kusanagi vs Valley Doll (Non-Title)

While she might not be as fast on her feet, Samiya’s speed at applying holds was impressive. Valley had given her a second but that was more than enough for her to wrap up the blonde’s legs and secure her hold. The initial scream she immediately earnt was more than enough to tell her she’d got it done properly.

With that, the Schoolgirl Assassin began to rock her hips up and down with repetitive thrusts, doing her best to inflict as much damage on the veteran as she could before the inevitable happened.

Samiya hadn’t expected to get a tap out of the figure-four. It was too well known a move, the counters too familiar and too easy for that to be the case.

So, she wasn’t all that surprised when Valley was more than prompt in rolling over to put the pressure on the move’s initiator. Lacking the base and size to block the counter, Samiya had to go with it, instantly feeling the pressure switch to her legs instead.

Fortunately, she’d planned for this too. Rather than waste time trying to roll back, she simply undid the leglock and pulled free as fast as she could. With Valley still on her front, the Schoolgirl Assassin scooted forward and went to cross her legs and plant her solid weight on the trapped limbs in a double-toed leglock.

Well now, wasn’t this a surprising little trip down memory lane?

Valley remembered her first few outings in the squared circle, could vividly recall the times she executed the figure-four, only to have it reversed. There was a time she even considered it for her finisher, but having it reversed on her four times in a row nixed that idea. She was a young, foolish girl, and when young, foolish girls get their plans flipped, they tended to panic, and forget that all they had to do was release the thing to get free.

Samiya was young, but foolish? Valley doubted that. The relief she enjoyed from the reversal was short lived, as Samiya made her way out of it and quickly locked in another hold. A double toed leglock. Very nice - whoever trained this little hellraiser should be proud.

The pain returned fast and Valley released a pained yelp, followed by a low hiss. Samiya had locked it in well, giving her no room to squeeze out. The only respite was with the ropes, which weren’t too far away. Thank God.

Determined to be free, Valley made a mad crawl for the ropes and lunged out for them, looking to break the hold before Samiya could transition into something more fearsome.

Too many people forgot they were still in control of the hold when their figure fours were reversed. They either battled for the ropes or went to reverse it back. Samiya almost always just gave it up. There was always a better option, particularly as it meant her opponent had given her back to the Assassin.

In this case, it let her get right back to work on those legs.

As soon as she’d got the latest leglock cranked down as she wanted it, Samiya went to lean forward, looking to match it with another hold. In this case, she’d been considering a camel clutch, to work the blonde’s back as well as her legs.

But Valley was smart enough to know that, when it came to the double-toed leglock, trouble usually came in twos. So, even as Samiya leant forward, the veteran was scrambling for the ropes. If anything, the realisation of what the Schoolgirl Assassin was going for had her scrambling harder. Just before she could cinch in the clutch, Valley’s hand snagged the ropes.

Well, that was inevitable. The ref, hovering nearby, swooped in to demand the break but Samiya wasn’t going anywhere. The double-toed leglock wasn’t going to do that much damage but she wanted every last second of it.

Four full seconds of it, before she broke her hold and stood up…

And drove a sharp stomp with the heel of her boot into Valley’s hamstring. She got two before the ref threatened to disqualify her, the tattooed grappler finally backing off with hands held high in mock smirking innocence.

It was going to be one of those matches. But then so was more or less every match with Samiya.

Valley grabbed the ropes and held on tight, giving them a good shake. She didn’t like to run - particularly this early in the match - but the advantage of experience was knowing which holds you could fight and which ones you couldn’t. The double-toed wasn’t that bad by itself, but it would lead to so many worse things, and she couldn’t do much to escape any of them once they were locked. Best to escape now.

That is, it would’ve been, if Samiya had let the damn thing go.

”Hey!” Valley shook about as she milked the count for everything it was worth, holding it even as the ropes were yanked and yanked. At first, she thought Samiya was just getting lost in the moment, didn’t notice the break. That happened all the time, nothing to worry about.

What happened next erased all doubts, though. Valley started to breath in relief when the hold was let go, just glad it was done. She began to stand up…

...and then Samiya put her right down, with a vicious stomp to the back of her leg.

Pain and rage flew from her lips as the stomp landed hard on her thigh, with another soon to follow. It was all she could do to lean on the ropes and try to compose herself, and even that was a difficult task. Her legs weren’t broken, weren’t unusable, but God, the pain was swelling up in her lower muscles.

After a brief moment, she grabbed the middle rope, then the top, and forced her way back up. Her legs were a little wobbly, but she managed to get them working well enough. She was far from done.

This time, her eyes stayed locked on Samiya, making sure her fiery glare was seen. Whatever happened, Valley was going to pay her back for that.

While the referee had clearly been briefed on Samiya’s habit of wringing every last drop of advantage from her submissions, it seemed Valley hadn’t bothered to check up on her past matches. Oh well, she had learnt quickly enough and, if Samiya had been the sort to feel bad about her habits…

Well, she had been. No longer. She’d actually have liked to get another few stomps in, really cramp those muscles but she’d just have to keep on at that leg. For now, the ref was between them, forcing a decent break, and the tattooed beauty backed up to mid-ring to let the blonde stand.

And she was angry. Ooh, so scary.

Samiya just returned a lazy sneer, visibly unintimidated by the glare the bigger, more experienced wrestler was throwing her way. If she was worried in the slightest, there wasn’t the slightest hint of it in her expression or her tone when she spoke.

”Looks like you left your walking stick at home, grandma. Too bad, so sad.”

Clearly, she had a long way to go yet. But this was a promising start. If she could get Valley angry and making actual mistakes, that would be another real bonus for her.

Otherwise, the Schoolgirl Assassin just held her ground, arms spread wide and legs planted in a basic grappling stance.

The crowd was going into a booing fit over the display, throwing all manner of jeers towards Samiya. They hadn’t exactly been rooting for her since the start, but now they were practically rallying against her, wildly protesting the lack of sportsmanship. It was achingly clear why they hadn't wanted her to shake that hand, earlier.

Valley appreciated the sentiment, but boos weren't going to make her leg hurt any less. She had to focus, center on what needed to be done, and she wasn’t going to do that while she was letting the cheating get to her. Outwardly, she was simmering, but not going into a blind rage. Inwardly, she was contemplating which kick she’d use to boot Samiya in the face.

She’d almost made it all the way up, when she heard her opponent’s taunting words. They only cut so deep - after all, it was a little hard to take digs on her age when she’d beaten plenty of younger opponents, and even took a belt off one. Still, the disrespect was jarring. She didn’t come as far as she’d come to just get this sort of treatment.

”You talk big for a hobbit.” Valley snapped back quick, then burst into action, dashing straight for Samiya at rocket speed. Her legs were hurting still, but she was able to push them enough for a good dash, and used them to propel her forward, launch herself into the air, and come at Samiya with a front dropkick, looking to break through  her foe’s stance with both of her heels.

If Valley Doll was expecting calling Samiya a hobbit to upset the diminutive powerhouse, she’d got another thing coming. She’d been called all sorts of variations on ‘short’ before and, while she didn’t like it, it had long since stopped getting under her skin.

No, she stayed focused on the win, watching what the blonde had planned next.

For all Valley’s impressive speed, two things were working against her. Certainly, she wasn’t as fast as she could have been if Samiya hadn’t just been battering her legs. More importantly, the dropkick was downright predictable.

Well, most moves were pretty predictable when the wrestler was angry to the point Valley was. They’d go for the quick strike. The shortest route between them and hurting Samiya. Which was why Samiya liked to push buttons. But, in Valley’s case, a dropkick was one of her more common moves, meaning the Schoolgirl Assassin was expecting it.

Not feeling like trying to block any kick with that much momentum behind it, the tattooed wrestler skipped to one side to let the blonde go flying past. Valley was a high-flyer, ergo she’d know how to deal with a failed dropkick. As such, presuming the blonde would land on her feet, Samiya stepped in to try for a clubbing forearm to the other wrestler’s back.

Again, what she needed to do was slow the champion down. Hitting the back was as useful towards that as hitting her legs.

”I seem to remember the hobbits being on the winning team,” She shot back.

Valley had executed countless dropkicks in her day, of just about every variety - they were, of course, included in the number of kicks she always boasted of knowing. She was good about getting proper lift, making sure little happened between her foot leaving the ground and contact. It could be a predictable move, but against someone knew, it had a fair chance of catching them off guard.

Unfortunately, that couldn’t be said of Samiya. Valley cursed under her breath as her foe eluded the strike, giving her nothing but dead to kick at.

That was okay, though. Fine. She had a backup. Since she went with a front dropkick and aimed high, she was able to swing her legs up and over, then come down on her feet just in time. A deft move, one that would take Samiya by surprise while she-

”Graah!” Valley cried out from the hard blow to her back, forcing her to stumble forward. She was quick to spin around with her arm, lashing out with a blind backfist, but somehow she already knew it wasn’t going to hit.

That had been an impressive recovery from the missed dropkick, Samiya had to admit that. She’d expected Valley to land on her feet but, well, there was a difference between landing on her feet and turning it into a flip. Impressive stuff, though it didn’t stop her putting that shot into Valley’s lower back.

But she had to appreciate a good move when she saw it.

It also didn’t distract her from expecting a counter attack of the blonde’s own.

Perhaps contrary to Valley’s expectations, the backfist did hit. Well, in a manner of speaking, the wild blow expending its force on Samiya’s raised forearms. The block was perhaps a bit bland and lacking in spark, but it did its job by taking the sting out of the hit. Rather than just letting Valley pull it back though, the Schoolgirl Assassin went to clamp a small but steely hand around Valley’s forearm. If she could trap the blonde, the tattooed wrestler would go to spin the champion into a good old simple Irish Whip.

Nice and easy and a trap into the bargain.

While she’d be more than happy to send Valley for a ride, Samiya didn’t put her full force into the Irish Whip attempt. If the blonde wanted, she had a golden chance to send the challenger for a spin instead – which would be fine by Samiya. Almost preferable, even. Better to have Valley still than to give her more momentum to work with.

The question, in Samiya’s mind at least, was whether Valley would bite.

There was a moment, fleeting as it was, where Valley rejoiced at the feeling of impact on her fist. She'd never much cared for punching, and on the rare occasions she did it, it was typically to set up for one of her bread-and-butter kicks. But the idea of smacking Samiya in the mouth was beyond satisfying. Even if she didn't get to see the actual hit.

So she was a tad dismayed when she realized that the cocky little snot had blocked her. It was starting to feel like Samiya had been personally crafted to be as annoying an opponent for Valley as possible, and she as starting to wonder why that was. She was good, sure, and it was clear she had experience in more than a few rings, but Valley shouldn't have been having this much trouble out of the gate.

Before she could ponder that too much, though, a strange, wondrous thing happened: Samiya tried to Irish Whip her. That wouldn’t have been too surprising itself, but was a bit weird was that it wasn’t even a good Irish Whip. Not much force, all too easy to reverse.

But Valley wasn’t complaining.

She planted her feet down hard and sent Samiya off running in her stead, tossing her towards the ropes. As soon as she was away, Valley moved towards her and dropped down flat, giving her a little obstacle to jump over on the return trip. If she kept going from that, she would run to the other side and bounce off, and from there? Valley would have a dropkick waiting for her.