Grace Allen vs Maria Tempesta

With each competitor having gained a healthy amount of respect for the other, the match resumed in earnest. Grace rushed forward in almost the same instant as Maria. She saw the other womans toned arm flash out to deliver a clothe-line, and Grace couldn't help but feel a certain amount of satisfaction when she quickly ducked beneath it!

The feeling didn't last long, replaced by the sudden dread that came with knowing an attack was coming and having no time to do a damned thing about it. Before Grace could spin around she was nailed with the drop kick. The force of the impact sent her flying forward to the canvas. Slapping the mat with frustration, she almost immediately began to get to her hands and feet, glancing over her shoulder to try and spot the attack she believed was coming.

Maria grinned as her drop kick hit home, hammering at Grace from an unseen angle and dropping her hard onto her front. Rolling over onto her feet again, she saw Grace pushing herself up to her hands and knees. Brushing her hair back, she followed after Grace with a casual stride, enjoying this bit of dominance.

"Where do you think you're going, Chica?" She sneered, grabbing for one of Grace's boots to roll her onto her back. Keeping an eye on Grace's other boot in case her opponent tried to kick her (and stepping on it if possible to keep her down), Maria would stomp the inside of Grace's thigh, before dropping down and trying to bend Grace's trapped leg around hers in a leg lock.

Grace did indeed try to kick her, lashing out the moment Maria succeeded in rolling her over. Grace's long legs made for effective weapons for keeping opponents at bay, but Maria was ready for her, it seemed, trapping that flailing limb beneath a boot.

Cursing under her breath, she made the mistake of looking away, glancing towards the ropes and the freedom they provided, and so never saw the first stomp coming. "Augnh!" Grace cried out, struggling to reach the ropes. At least she was, until Maria dropped down and trapped Grace's leg around her own at an unnatural angle!

"Aaahhh!!" Grace screamed, part pain, part frustration as she slapped the mat. The ref came closer to ask if she was giving up, and Grace answered No with a violent shake of her head. She knew she had to find a way out of this before Maria took her greatest asset, her speed, out of the equation.

Maria grinned as she locked in the figure four, bending away at Grace's trapped limb and causing her to scream as it was bent the entirely wrong way. She imagined how it must look to the audience, with their slender legs intertwined, tan skin on brown, their perfectly athletic bodies almost horizontal to one another. She pressed her palms to the mat and elevated her own body, torquing the leg lock even tighter for a few seconds.

And then she let go. She had no interest in winning by submission just yet, or in crippling her skilled foe's ability to move. She wanted this match to be enjoyable, after all. Unwinding her legs from around Grace's, she would saunter over to her downed foe and start dragging her up by he hair. "Up you go, Chica..." she said, before whipping her towards the ropes...

Grace was in the midst of trying desperately to drag herself to the ropes when Maria managed to entwine their legs in a figure four. "Aahhhh!!!" She cried, hammering her mat with her fist and shaking her head violently to make sure the ref knew she was 'not' in fact, tapping out. Her mind spun from the pain of the hold and she looked to the ropes, wondering if she could make it there, or perhaps turn herself over to reverse the hold, when Maria suddenly let go!

She hadn't been expecting that, and surprise mingled with the sweet relief of having her legs free of the torment. She had no time to lay there and catch her breath before Maria grabbed her by her long, dark hair and yanked Grace off the mat, whipping her towards the ropes! Grace ran towards them and turned instinctively to rebound off, gaining speed as she rushed back towards Maria. Her legs still felt wobbly even as she ran, and so instead of going for her usual, high flying offense, Grace went low, hurling herself forward to spear Maria with a shoulder to her mid-section!

Maria was grinning now as she grabbed a hold of Grace's hair, yanking her American opponent up and pulling her unkindly up to her feet. Shifting her grip to her arm, Maria turned and whipped her towards the opposite ropes, eager to keep the pressure on her opponent while she still could.

Running up to meet Grace, the Cuban Tornado would lash out with a clothesline...only for Grace to drop low, spearing her hard in her bare midsection. "UUUGH!" Maria gasped, eyes widening in surprise as she was bowled off of her feet and sent crashing to the mat, with Grace landing on top of her.

In truth, Grace wouldn't have minded a quick breather as she lay atop her downed opponent, her dark brown skin pressed warm and flush against Maria's tan, landing almost breast to breast with the cuban. She considered going for a pin to buy herself a precious few seconds, but banished the thought immediately. She had to get back on offense and apply some pressure. 

Grace shoved herself to her feet, bending down to slip her arms beneath Maria's own and pull her to a standing position as well. "Come on, girl. These fans want a show!" 

If she managed to get Maria to her feet without incident, Grace would grab for her right arm and try to Irish whip the other girl as hard as she could into the nearest corner turnbuckle!

Maria was trying to ignore the fact that she was smarting from that impact, and the aggravation over realizing that maybe she shouldn't have let Grace go like that. Partly, this was because Grace was suddenly right on top of her, tantalizingly close, their chests practically pushing up against one another. "No idea...you preferred being on top..." she managed to breathe, despite the fact that that impact had knocked the air out of her lungs.

Before long, Grace was standing up, pulling Maria up as well. Maria only had time to re-orient herself on wobbling legs before she was tossed towards the nearest turnbuckle. Hurting as Maria was, her instincts kicked in, and she tried to grab the turnbuckle and flip over onto the other side of the ropes at the last minute, ready with a lashing boot or a leaping kick in case Grace was right behind her....

...and Grace had been right behind her, intend on following up the whip into the turnbuckle with a running knee. Unfortunately for her, not only did Maria's instincts save her from the harsh impact in the corner, flipping over to the other side of the ropes, but a leaping kick would have caught Grace right in the jaw if she hadn't gotten her hands up in time.

Still, the impact was enough to knock her backwards, rolling once and coming up in a crouched position. She tried to stand at once, only to fall to one knee. Grace tried to stand and go after Maria again, but a brief wave of dizziness staggered her, causing her to fall back to one knee again. "Urgh...damn it." She'd managed to block most of that kick, but not all, it seemed.

Maria's instincts were on fire as she reacted quickly, anticipating Grace's next move, evading her strike and retaliating with a quick and effective kick. Grace, however, wasn't too slow either, managing to bring an arm up to block the blow, although it was still delivered with enough force that it send Grace tumbling onto her ass. If this match had taught Maria anything so far, though, it was that Grace wasn't going to be down there for long.

Grabbing the top rope and swivelling her body sideways, Maria perched on the top rope, watching as Grace dropped to one knee. Grinning, she would spring off the tope rope, spinning to the side and aiming to deliver a powerful drop kick to Grace's head!