24/7 Championship Match: Carmen Rodriguez (C) vs. Gai Tendo - Crazy Train

Carmen expected that Gai would come at her hard after the boot. She knew his type fairly well from going up in a Puerto Rican boxing gym. Macho. Confident to a fault. Full of pride and prejudices. Oh, the accents were different, but aside from that? Nothing new.

So she saw his attack coming. She just didn’t expect it to come that fast.

This time, Gai was a bit more successful with his assault, ramming Carmen hard against the door and stunning her on impact. While she had a few pounds on Gai, the man was by no means light, and she was left reeling for a moment as she tried to recover her breath and recoup.

Rage was a good thing. It was motivation, fuel, power, and there was nothing that pissed Gai Tendo off more than being embarrassed, especially by some worthless bitch!

Having rammed Carmen back into another door, he wrapped his arm around her waist and tried to throw her over his body onto the floor before she could get him in another face lock like before.

Carmen had already started to reach down and wrap her arm around Gai’s head, locking for another headlock. Same move, same response - if he was silly enough to give her the opening, she’d gladly take it.

This time, though, he was a little quicker on the draw, and Carmen was the one who went up and over. For her, though, it was a more dangerous prospect than the arm drag she’d whipped him with. He’d taken it on his back. She was coming down on the space above her upper back. The area where her neck was located.

Carmen tucked in at the last moment, taking the impact on her shoulders instead. Not as gut-wrenchingly bad as it could have been, but far from pleasant, as her cry of pain could attest to. She rolled forward and wound up on her knees, moaning as she tried to push her way back up.

His throw succeeding, Gai got up, smirking as Carmen groaned and tried to get back up, the redhead following up by aiming a hard kick meant right for the straight of her spine.

"Like that bitch? Still think you got a shot? You're belt's mine!"

It was rough getting up, but Carmen had been through worse. Not much worse, but worse.

She'd just started to get up when Gai greeted her with a harsh kick against her spine, making her back arch from the impact. She sagged forward and crawled over into a nearby seat, using it for support as she continued trying to push up. Not the most ideal spot to be at the moment, but it wasn't like the train was offering her a plethora of fighting options. It offered plenty of options for whoever was on offense, but far less so if you were defending.

"You haven't won anything yet, Buriki." She spat, not wanting to give Gai anymore due than she had to.

Gai just smirked in response, hopping from foot to foot, fists still raised.

Mocking the champ, he moved his fingers in a "bring it on" motion, actively encouraging her to make the next move in a brash display of arrogance and bravado.

If Gai wanted Carmen to bring it on, she’d gladly oblige. She had plenty to offer.

The two of them had been trading heavier blows since this started, but now she wanted to slow the pace down a bit, see if she could have more success picking away at his defenses. Up Carmen came, standing tall as she raised her fists, and she moved with a traditional boxing stance, the same one that had carried her through more matches than she could count at the moment. Her stance was tight and low, not sure where to expect an attack from next. High, low, kicks, punches. No telling.

She moved in range and tested him the second she was close enough, throwing out two fast jabs from the edge of her reach. Just testing the waters, seeing how well he could play this sort of game.

Gai, while a grappler and a heavy striker, used to throwing hard kicks and swinging his arms like clubs to smash people down into oblivion. had no real experience with boxing.

Thus, the two jabs she sent out caught him off guard, forcing him to back up quicker than he really needed, stumbling at little as the train turned around a bend, leaving off balance and off guard.

Carmen, of all people, could appreciate that her style might be a tad off putting to more traditional grapplers. It was probably one of the main things that had led to her success in AFW - most of the wrestlers she’d come across weren’t used to a more a strike-oriented style, had trouble handling the rapid attacks and the more polished techniques.

But that didn’t mean she was going to pull back, especially when there was no crowd around to tell her how much they wanted her to stick with wrestling. No, she was pouring the pressure on.

Gai stumbled and she went after him, sliding along the metal floor as she matched his steps and kept the distance. Another jab went out, but this one was meant for distraction, not feeling him out - she’d done enough of that. This time, it was all about setting up for the punishing right hook that came in right after, going low and aiming for his side.

"Ugh..missed me you b-GUGH!"

Gai gasped, the jab he managed to dodge just blinding him from her real attack, the hard hook that nailed him right in the side, hitting hard enough it made him drop to a knee!

"How the hell does a bitch like you hit that hard!?"