Blade Uehara vs. Cindy Won - Reunion in the Ropes [FWC]

In those fleeting seconds of perilous fear, as the Won Siblings looked up to see a reckless Blade hurtling towards them, Cindy reflected on just how much she hated high-flyers - particularly this one, but all of them in general. She hated the way they flipped all over the place. She hated the way the crowd incessantly cheered them. She hated inadvertently becoming their landing pad for whatever silly move they were trying to perform.

She’d gone her entire AFW career without facing on them, and then came along Blade Uehara. That figured.

Cindy laid there, reeling from the aerial assault as the idiotic audience cheered their little heroine’s sneak attack. She could ignore Blade’s idiotic words easily enough, knowing the truth behind her, seeing the bias in her actions - it was hardly the first time she’d heard such things, and actions always bore the truth.

What she could not ignore was the tight grasp on her ox horns, as Blade once more disrespected her proud heritage. She also disrespected her face by ramming it into the apron, a move that left the elder sibling stunned while she was rolled into the ring. She flopped about once, then again, and found herself resting on her back, with the ceiling lights blasting into her eyes.

Given that Cindy's equally obnoxious sibling had made it crystal clear that she had no qualms about making her presence known at ringside to her sister's benefit, Blade wisely decided that bringing matters back inside the ring was the best course of action. Plus it was where Blade could do the most dirt in regards to her high-flying repertoire.

But smacking Cindy's smug face against the hardened ring surface had no greater strategic thinking behind it. That part was just for fun, and because Blade hadn't forgotten about Cindy stomping on her fingers. Which still friggin hurt, by the way.

Blade climbed the ring apron herself and observed Cindy's tumbling movements until the Won sibling come to a rolling stop, flat on her back and about three feet away from a corner turnbuckle. Prime real estate for any high-flyer worth her chops to nail something special. And Blade had just the thing.

Climbing the nearby corner ring post step by step, throngs of audience members got off their feet in sync with Blade herself ascending higher and higher until she was perched atop the padded turnbuckle. A rebellious smirk spread over her face as she surveyed the clamoring audience who all knew what was coming the second Blade started climbing. Even more-so once Blade raised both her fists into the air with one wrist crossing the other. Her trademark symbol that signaled that she was about to bring the pain, namely by leaping off the turnbuckle and spiraling several times in mid-air for her attempted Blade's Edge finishing maneuver!!

This had all gone so wrong from what Cindy initially planned.

It was to be a joyous occasion, a celebration of their heritage. These Japanese ruffians would never get to see the glory of China, so they were gracious enough to bring China to them, to let them bask in the glow of their glorious home country. It was more than they deserved, but such was the generosity of the Won Siblings.

It could’ve been the perfect moment. But no - Blade Uehara had to come and wreck it all. And now she was laying there, hurting, her head spinning, and...and…

Why was the crowd cheering so much? Blade hadn’t done anything for a moment or so, it made little sense. Was she simply taunting, showboating over her downed foe, or-

Cindy opened her eyes just in time to see Blade descending from above, coming down towards like the wrath of god. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t scream. All she could do was watch in horror, just before the horrendous crash.

Blade slammed into her so hard that it felt like Cindy had been hit by the brat’s namesake, slicing deep into her abdomen. She flopped about like she’d been hit with pure electricity, and wound up her face flat on the mat and her skirt riding up, as it turned out.

Being a high-flyer was practically the epitome of high risk, high reward. No other style of wrestling had you willingly put your own well-being in as much jeopardy as this one. A slight mid-air miscalculation or misinterpretation of how exhausted your opponent actually was could mean all the difference in the world. It was a style that was only meant for brash daredevils, cocky crowd pleasers, and those with seemingly nothing to lose.

Luckily, Blade's persona had effectively checked off all of those boxes. The Aerial Artist now spinning gracefully in what what seemed like a lifetime spent in the air. All in eager anticipation of whether or not her signature finisher would hit home or hit flattened canvas before she finally came slamming down on the midsection of the cocky Won sibling.

Blade herself recoiled briefly back to an upright position from the reverberating bounce that came with lingering aches coursing through her own abdomen, though they were nowhere near as damaging as what Cindy was no doubt going through. The quick second of recovery would be immediately followed up by Blade laying across Cindy's crushed abdomen and bundling up her legs for the pin attempt.

Throngs of fans now cheering on the spectacle of Blade's infamous finisher making it's grand return, the impending three count, and the fact that Cindy's skirt had collapsed to the canvas from her legs dangling in the air. Offering an unflattering sight of her curvy backside as Blade smirked from seemingly having this match in the bag.

"1!"

"2!"...

This would not stand. Bridget refused to let things end like this.

As she stood back up, recovering from Blade’s underhanded attack, she cursed under her breath. Cursed at Blade for her impertinence, cursed at the crowd for encouraging such impertinence, cursed at the referee for allowing such impertinence. This match was clearly a ruse from the start, another chance for the AFW to hold them down. Did they truly expect her to stand for this, to sit back and watch as her sister, sweet and innocent Cindy, was made a mockery of? No. Never.

As the referee raised her hand for the final count, Bridget reached into the ring from under the ropes, grabbed Blade Uehara by the ankles, and pulled her out of the ring with one mighty tug, yanking her off the apron and throwing her full-on into the nearest barricade, sending the fans nearby into a tizzy.

Hardly satisfied with that, she stomped over to Blade and began to stomp away at her, ignoring the referee’s shouts and the ring of the bell. All that mattered was inflicting pain on this wretch, this insignificant rat who’d dared to ruin their prized moment.

One wouldn't think Blade would be showing any type of appreciation towards Cindy at the moment. Especially considering how the blue-haired China doll consistently found new ways to piss her off through devious shenanigans and general cheap shots, but Blade had to genuinely thank Cindy for being the egotistical pain in the neck that she was. It gave Blade the perfect platform to stage her comeback, one match with Cindy equating to what was probably a month of house shows geared towards rallying the crowd back in her favor.

Milliseconds away from her homecoming match ending in a decisive victory, Blade even contemplated actually thanking Cindy for the match before those fleeting thoughts of sportsmanship came to a grinding halt along with her own pin attempt. Blade's eyes widened while she scratched the canvas from being abruptly tugged out of the ring and sent flying spine first into the steel barricade. The Aerial Artist crying out in pain before crumbling to her knees and toppling to her side, any attempt to rise back up on her part promptly being snuffed out by ceaseless stomps that had Blade jerking and writhing in pain with every kick. She ultimately resorted to curling up, shielding her head and cussing vehemently while enduring the battering abuse.

*Ding*Ding*Ding*Ding*

In a rare adherence to the actual rules of a match, the timekeeper's bell chimed constantly to signal the disqualification finish in Blade's favor with the referee now at Bridget's side admonishing her with slight nudging away from Blade. Both were factors that were attempting to get the enraged nationalist to back off...

Cindy had lost.

Even as Bridget tended to Blade on the outside of the ring, that thought alone cheapened the moment. After Blade’s insult, their entire plan was utterly ruined - no one would remember the reasons this fight started, none of them would care about the disrespect that was shown. Not unless the Won Sisters made them care.

Cindy slapped her fist on the mat, venting some frustration, before she pulled herself up with the nearest rope and made it to her feet. Pushing the referee out of the way, she slid out under the bottom rope and stalked over to where Bridget was dealing the brat, cold fury in her gaze. ”It is my turn, sister.”

Bridget looked over her shoulder and smiled, right before she reached down and wrapped an arm around Blade’s neck. She hoisted the smaller woman up, made her stand tall as Cindy approached, creating an easy, tempting target. ”Indeed it is.” Bridget gave Blade a forceful squeeze. ”Enjoy yourself.”

With the perfect opportunity right in front of her, Cindy made the most of it and immediately swung at the impudent angel, slapping her hard against the face. Only half a second had passed before she followed that up with another, this time coming from the back of the same hand.

It didn't take some type of statistical genius to hypothesize that this was always going to be how this particular match was going to end up. With Blade huddled into a ball of misery with the Won siblings shedding any semblance of fair play and showing off their despicable true colors, and not just blue and pink.  

The now grounded Aerial Artist curled up and shielded herself as best she could from Bridget's seemingly ceaseless stomps, Blade learning the hard way that this Won Sibling was most definitely the muscle of the group. Blade jerked and writhed in pain on the floor until what seemed like a break in the action was actually just these insufferable siblings taking turns over who gets to piss Blade off now.

"Ack!" Swiftly tugged back to her feet and locked into what was one hell of a constriction around her neck, Blade scrunched her face from the fiercely applied pressure until one degrading slap jerked her head to the right...and a backhanded smack twisted her face back to the left with echoing sharpness. Blade yelped with each slap and sunk deeper into the sleeperhold in a briefly stunned state after practically feeling the taste leave her mouth, the siblings blatantly humiliating Blade and earning more fervent ire from the booing masses.

A few seconds passing before Blade tilted her head back and stared enraged and bloody daggers at Cindy, the Aerial artist snarling her teeth and lifting one wavering arm up in the vain attempt of getting just one freaking hand on this self-entitled brat. Her other hand pawing at Bridget's muscled arm bearing down on her neck and being the only thing keeping the enraged W.A. veteran from lunging at the Chinese nationalist...

There was something indescribably cathartic about slapping Blade Uehara in the face. The noise she made was nice, of course. A squeaky little yelp, that undignified squawk. It was certainly preferable to the regular trash that came out of the vagrant’s mouth, surely.

But for Cindy, the best part had to be the look on Blade’s face after the slap. The rage. The anger. The desire to do something, anything, to get at her, but being unable to escape Bridget’s implacable grip. It warmed her heart, really, and she knew this would be a moment she’d treasure for years. Even if she did lose the match.

”Ah, ah.” Cindy giggled and stepped out of the way as Blade reached out for her, nearly grabbing her despite Bridget’s best efforts. Her sister was smart, however, and quickly changed tactics, reverting the hold into a full nelson and forcing Blade’s arms upwards.

”There we go.” Growing tired of the slaps, Cindy decided to alternate things a bit and brought her leg up in a flash, giving Blade a toe-kick right on the belly-button.

Blade took back whatever halfway redeeming qualities she thought she saw in the conniving and smirking blue-haired tramp before her. Any semblance of sportsmanship or professional courtesy towards a fellow former W.A. going right out the window the instant Cindy smacked her around, now replaced with seething outrage and an immediate desire to punt Cindy right in that smug face of hers.

No one else could see it, but Blade saw Beauty's Ichigaya's condescending smile once more. The same smirk she gazed up at after losing her career to her. The same smirk from people who were always looking down on her. Right there, right on this self-entitled brat's face...fueling Blade even further before the sleeperhold was transitioned into a full nelson and made Blade's arms effectively useless.

"God...dammit..."Blade snarled under her breath from the sudden pressure on the back of her neck keeping her head forced down. Her arms dangling limply in the air with Bridget's chest swelling against her back before she started writhing and coughing with every boot imprinting itself into her exposed abdomen.

Mounting exhaustion and abuse from two pronged attack was quickly making this a hopeless situation right about now. Blade couldn't strike back and Bridget didn't just go through an entire match, meaning she was fresh and at full strength to keep Blade locked down indefinitely. Blade scrunched her face while sinking deeper into the hold as the fight was both beaten and drained out of her by the reviled nationalists…