Higurashi Dojo-Taylor Parker & Julia Rogers vs. Jessica Wright & River Styx

Even Styx wasn't vain enough to think that she would pin a former World and Entropy champ after three moves, but she figured it couldn't hurt to try. The spinebuster naturally ended in a good position for it, she might as well.

It turned out there was a good reason not to, though, and it only occurred to her after her head was pulled down and a pair of sinewy pythons wrapped around her neck. The crowd switched gears on the spot, mixing crazed cheers with calls for Styx to tap out. She could hardly hear them over her own furious grunts and gags, while she struggled to suck in air and thrashed around like a rabid wolf caught in a snare.

She'd brought Taylor too far from the ropes to try for a break. She wasn't going to tap, but it wouldn't matter like this. A knockout was just as good as any victory, and the pigtailed punk's legs were strong enough to get the job done.

"Ssssssh..." Styx hissed through clenched teeth and shook her head around, looking for any give in the constricting thighs. None to be found, so she went to plan B: if she couldn't escape, she'd make Taylor want to let her go. She put her legs behind her and pushed forward, trying to fold Taylor up and hammer her fist into the New Yorker's ribs.

"Hrrrrrgh..."

Taylor growled in pain from River's weighty fist denting her ribs. With her slender, supple body folded over itself, she couldn't get as much leverage to choke her, so before a second punishing strike could land she grabbed River's elbow and switched up her legs. She slipped one under her shoulder and one behind her head, knotting them in a figure four.

She was breathing hard while she white knuckled River's arm and pulled down on the back of her head. Her whole body strained to tighten the triangle choke, and she couldn't help but think of the similar position she was in many years ago against another dirty brawler: Sarah Gatt.

The one difference was that River was a hundred times scarier.

"I'll let you get a chair," she snarled through clenched teeth, "if you think it'd help your chances. Punk bitch."

Styx couldn't speak with her throat being crushed like this, but her punch sent a message - 'Let me go, or I'll pulverize you.' For a second, she thought Taylor heard it loud and clear. Her arm was in a tight grip, but the scissorhold was released and she could breathe fresh air. She gasped, taking a deep inhale before she would try and pull away.

The air came in, but it never came out. A split second had barely passed before Taylor transitioned to a new hold, even deadler than before, and Styx was desperately missing the classic scissors. At least there, the main worry was the choking. This hold was taking cutting off her oxygen supply and it felt like her head was going to explode. She couldn't get into position for a decent punch, her thrashing was useless, and it got worse with each passing second. A wheezing, raspy scream escaped her lips, as her lungs burned for relief.

Styx had an idea. Not a good idea, but the best she could think up. It would be one of the hardest thing she'd done in a fight, but if it saved her from getting knocked out between Taylor's legs, it would be worth it. She answered Taylor's proposal with a middle finger from her free hand, and then she went to work.

Styx pulled her legs in, nice and slow, careful not to fuck this up and make the situation worse. She planted them flat on the floor and tightened her trapped arm, making sure it was solid. She tensed up, and this was one of the rare times you could actually see the definition under her bulk, as her muscles swelled and surged with power.

Styx slammed her fist into the mat to psyche herself up, grabbed Taylor's leg for some extra support, closed her eyes, and began to stand, lifting her opponent and her triangle choke along with her. Higher and higher and higher - as soon as she got to her peak, she swore she would slam this bitch so hard she went through the goddamn mat.

Taylor drew a deep breath. They both knew what River was doing next, and it put butterflies into Taylor's stomach.

The crowd all held their breath when Taylor was hoisted up high in the air. The moment she was high enough, she slammed her palm into River's nose and flung her body backward, using her legs to throw River down headfirst at the mat in a hail Mary of a hurricanrana.

Up. Up. Up.

Styx's rise faltered a couple of time, and she dipped down as the triangle choke started to get the better of her. But both times it happened, she slammed her foot down, balled her fists, summoned her reserves and kept surging upwards. Just a little higher. Just a little...

There was a sudden, blinding pain in her nose, and Styx opened her eyes just in time to see the world spinning of its axis. Whatever it was that Taylor did, the result had her flying ass-over-teakettle and crashing on her skull with the biggest impact of the night. She groaned like a wounded animal and ran her free hand over the peach fuzz on her head, nursing a raging headache.

The crowd roared and Taylor bounced back to her feet, a slight hitch in her step from the damage done by River, and half-skipped, half-strutted her way toward the ropes. She flashed Julia a grin and a wink, and then took the last two steps at full tile before leaping to the top rope and springboarding back.

She turned a picture-perfect backflip, three-quarters of the way, with her knees or her shins aimed to smash the back of River's fuzzy head as she landed on her stomach.

Taylor's move hurt Styx's skull, but it was fucking with her equilibrium more than anything. Everything wobbled, off-kilter, dizzy. No one had ever done anything like that to her before. She didn't think anyone could. Her brain simply did not know how to deal with it.

She had just started to get up when Taylor came crashing down and dropped her flat again, hammering her head into the mat. Flippy shit. It had been the same way with Julia, and if Styx let Taylor build up her momentum, she'd dance all over the ring and wear her out.

She jerked to the side and tossed Taylor off, already sick to death of being underneath her. Styx pushed against the canvas, lumbering up with unsteady feet. She would've loved to take a moment to lay down and recoup, but this was an AFW veteran she was dealing with, so that wasn't an option. Her best bet was to get up, go back on the offensive, and wait for another opportunity.

Taylor cracked a wide-eyed smile as River started getting up again, just after having her skull smashed yet again. It was like fighting the terminator.

She quickly skipped back, flitting on the outside of River's reach. She wasn't going to over commit and get caught again, but she had the big girl reeling. She could just pick away at her until she faltered and gave up something big.

She darted in to harass her with a fast roundhouse kick to the knee, and stepped back out. The difference in speed between the two was incredible. She darted in again, and this time faked with the left kick and threw the right instead, up high, to smack River on the back of the head.

That would have to hurt eventually, even for a shaven grizzley bear like her.

There would be a dozen things Styx could do to catch Taylor if this were a hardcore match. Use the referee for a distraction. Lead her into a tight space where she couldn't manuever. Pretend like she was more hurt than she really was, and spray the Black Tar in her face when she came over to take advantage.

Here, though, she was out of her element. She'd had good run, but Styx's natural habitat was outside the ring, while Taylor ruled the ropes. That difference was showing.

"Shit..." She grunted, exasperated and annoyed, as Taylor hit her with a kick in the knee and jumped away before her right cross could connect.

"Come on..." She thought she'd gotten her arm up in time to block a left kick, but it never came. Instead, she took a right kick upside the head. The fourth kick she'd taken in the head tonight? Fifth? She was losing count.

The worst part was the smiling. No taunts. No wise cracks. Just that stupid smile, every time she missed a move. As much as she hated Taylor's voice, the silence was worse. At least she could respond to a comment. The smile was just...there. Always there. Like it was tattoed to her retina.

Something snapped in the back of Styx's brain. Getting Taylor Parker to stop smiling suddenly became the most important thing in her world, and that was what she devoted herself to as she charged forward with her fists swinging out in a wild storm of dangerous blows. She'd miss most of them, she'd take plenty of punches in return. She knew. She didn't care. All she needed was one good hit, just one, and the match would be hers again. Then she'd be the one smiling.

"Oh, shi-"

The ferocity of River's charge put Taylor in full retreat. She sprung away and backpedaled rapidly toward her corner, staying just an inch outside the reach of River's fists. She checked once behind her to spot the corner, and just before reaching it she reached back to slap Julia's hand and rolled to the side, and then onto the apron, leaving River with nothing to chase but the turnbuckles.