Ascent of the Hawk

by Foxboy614

Sakura and Rio are confronted by three aggressive wrestlers, but a young male enters the picture and the girls soon learn about his combat prowess. From there, they try to get him into the men's league. I ONLY OWN THE OCS USED IN THE STORY!

6. Chapter 6: The Battle Begins

"At last! It's time for the main event of the night!" the announcer yelled. "Time for Yoshi and Luciana to duke it out in a fight to the finish! First up, the rising star himself; YOSHI HIRANO!"

Yoshi stepped out with Sakura, hand-in-hand. Yoshi paused momentarily before walking down the ramp to the ring. The music that began to play for him had a rock/Latino feel to it.

"What's this? It looks like Sakura Hagiwara has decided to join him!" the announcer yelled out in surprise.

But on the way there, something awoke within Yoshi; one of the many reasons he joined wrestling in the first place. While his stomach overflowed with butterflies, and his knees wobbled a bit, his spine tingled, his heart thundered against his chest, and adrenaline coursed through his veins. The roar of the crowd and the thunder of applause was starting to get Yoshi pumped up for the fight as his nervousness began to dwindle. And knowing his family and friends were out in the audience watching him, he had to give it everything he had.

As he jumped up and down in place a few times, his face lit up like a firework. Sakura took notice of his sudden outburst of excitement and smiled, knowing he shed his nervousness. But then Yoshi took off down the ramp, yanking her along with him. Sakura gawked in surprise, but managed to match his pace fairly quick. When he had arrived at the ring, Sakura released his hand as Yoshi jumped up on the edge of the ring and jumped over the ropes. Yoshi walked to the center of the stage and held his arms close to his chest in an "X" manner. Then he unfolded them in a dramatic fashion, palms out, and rotated around once.
"BRA-KAAAAAAAWWW!" he shouted with sheer, uncontainable excitement.

"It seems someone is ready to fight." the announcer said. Soon, Yoshi went over to his corner to await Luciana.

Shortly afterwards, a different track of music played, possessing an intense and Latino feeling to it, fitting for Luciana.
"And next up, the ace of the Cutthroats! Luciana Santiago!" the announcer called out as Luciana stepped into the spotlight, receiving mixed cheers and jeers from the audience. Yoshi had heard she was infamous, and her reception tonight confirmed that.

Luciana was clad in a forest-green leotard with a golden-yellow design resembling a Mesoamerican serpent going around the suit, with the tail starting at the very bottom, wrapping around her mid-section, and having the head stop at the left side of her chest. She wore teal arm-coverings, similar to the ones Sakura wears, with golden-yellow serpent designs going downwards, ending in a stylized frill to resemble feathers. She wore knee-length, mid-heel boots that were golden-yellow and had teal serpent designs on the outer side, and teal knee-pads with a golden-yellow serpent head design in the center.

Luciana paid the crowd no mind as she made her way down the ramp and to the stage. Her mind was only on one thing; the fight itself. She still had that smug grin on her face; one Yoshi intended to knock clean off once the fight begins. She soon arrived and stepped inside the ring, turning to bow to the audience. "At least she shows some level of respect." Yoshi thought. But once she was done, she locked eyes with Yoshi, and the two began a stare-down. Both were ready to get the fight started.

"I hope you're ready to lose." Luciana said.
"Whether I win or lose is irrelevant. I just aim to give this fight my all." Yoshi told her. "Regardless, I won't go down so easily. If you want to win, you're gonna have to make it so that I can't even stand." A wicked grin streaked across Luciana's face.
"Oh, I can DEFINITELY arrange that." she said before going to her corner. Yoshi went over to his corner as well, leaning against the turn-buckle and crossing his arms while folding one foot over the other.

"It seems both are ready to fight." the announcer said. "You can see it in their eyes. Well, let's not keep them from getting down to business!"

* DING! *

"HYAAAHHH!" Luciana yelled as she charged at Yoshi.
"IKU ZE!" Yoshi yelled as he charged at Luciana.
"And the fight is on!" the announcer yelled excitedly.

Luciana swung first, but Yoshi was quick to dodge her attack and caught her arm, thowing her with a strong arm drag.

"And Yoshi comes out strong! What a great counter-attack!"

"Not bad… but that's as good as you're gonna do." Luciana warned him.
"Take your best shot!" Yoshi retorted as he stuck his hand out in a "come and get some" manner. Luciana took his taunt and got up, attempting to punch him in the face again, but he dodged it again and slipped behind her. From there, Yoshi wrapped his arms around her waist and arched his back, slamming her down with a German Suplex. Luciana quickly got up and growled at him. Yoshi smirked at her and leaned down. "Now… what were you saying earlier?" he asked tauntingly. But in letting his guard down, Luciana delivered a swift kick to his face, making him stagger back.

"...Yeah, I should've seen that coming." Yoshi admitted.
"Yeah, you should have." Luciana replied in a "duh" manner. She then charged at him again. Yoshi got ready to dodge and counter her attack, but Luciana was anticipating that, and faked him out, ducking behind him and attacking with a German Suplex.

"OH! An impressive tactic by Luciana!"

Yoshi sat up and rubbed the back of his neck, growling lightly. But when he lifted his head up, Luciana delivered a swift kick to his face, knocking him back down. Luciana, wasting no time, looped her arms around his legs and turned him over on his stomach, trapping him in a Boston Crab.
"OH! Luciana has Yoshi trapped in the infamous Boston Crab! Many newcomers have fallen because of this move!"
"LIKE SAKURA!" a heckler yelled out, followed by a cackle. Sakura went red-faced and looked towards the direction of the heckler.
"YOU WON'T FIGHT ME!" she yelled at him.

"Oh, cool it, you ding-OOOOOWWW!" Yoshi tried to say, but when Luciana tightened the hold, the pain that shot through him, making him stop. "Ok man… concentrate. Focus on breaking out of this hold." Yoshi thought. But being in the middle of the ring left him in a bad position, especially given how hard it was to move when in the Boston Crab, as he saw from Sakura in her matches. But with the pain shooting through his body, he had to act quick.

But then, it hit him; a tactic he had seen Ichiro use once before to break out of this very same hold. With that in mind, Yoshi began to push himself up, growling in effort as he felt his body lift off the ground. Luciana noticed that he was trying to break free and throw her off, so she tried to sit back down hard, but Yoshi was surprisingly stout and held himself up well. With a final, loud shout, he threw Luciana off with his legs.

"Well, I'll be! Yoshi threw her off of him! What a spectacular move!"

Yoshi sat up, rubbing his lower back and hips, growling. "Dang, I hate that move." he muttered. But before he got up, Luciana rushed behind him and locked her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, trapping him in a choke hold. "GYAK!" he yelled as Luciana choked him. He struggled to break free, but Luciana only tightened her grip.

"Luciana now has Yoshi trapped in a choke hold! Not a good place to be in for the newcomer! Especially since Luciana is an expert on those!"

Yoshi felt the world growing darker. He had to break free, otherwise he would not be able to continue the fight. He could not lose now. But no matter how much he thrashed about, Luciana's grip remained like a vice. So, Yoshi decided to try one sure-fire trick. He gripped her arms tightly and pushed up, trying to wiggle his chin into the bend of her arm. While it was a tight hold, Yoshi managed and bit down as hard as he could into her arm, sinking his teeth into her skin and flesh. Luciana screamed in pain and loosened her grip, giving Yoshi the opportunity to break out easier. Once he had gotten free, he delivered a swift kick to Luciana's face.

"Unbelievable! He broke free!"

Yoshi clutched at his throat, greedily gulping down air as light returned to the world for him. Luciana stood up, glaring and growling in anger out of anger and rage. "I've come too far to lose here to you, bird-brain. I'll break every bone in your freaking body if I have to. I WILL NOT LOSE!"
"Oh, SHUT UP!" Yoshi yelled out in annoyance. "Do you ever get tired of hearing the sound of your own voice?" Luciana's left eye twitched in anger and she grit her teeth, charging at Yoshi with a strong punch. But Yoshi ducked down, dodging the attack, then attacking with a punch to her gut. When Luciana bowled over, Yoshi looped his arms around her and lifted her up before slamming her back down hard with a Powerbomb. Luciana found it hard to stand up after that; pain shot through her body and rendered her momentarily immobile. Yoshi crouched down and made a "get up" gesture with his arm. Luciana bolted up and threw a punch at him again, connecting this time. As he staggered back, Luciana grabbed him and threw him against the ropes, catching him on the rebound. She was going for a backbreaker, but Yoshi managed to wrap his legs around her neck, countering with a Hurricanrana.

"Such agility! I hope we'll get to see more of this newcomer in the future!"

"Stupid bird-boy." Luciana growled.
"I wouldn't mouth off if I were you; hawks EAT snakes." Yoshi growled back with a smirk.
"Good luck with that. This snake bites back!" Luciana shouted as she charged at Yoshi at blinding speed, landing a few swift blows on him and knocking him back. Luciana grinned and grabbed his arm, throwing him against the ropes, catching him on the rebound and attacking with a backbreaker. With Yoshi still on her knee, she pushed down on his chin to further bend him, and having one hand holding his body in place.

"Yoshi started out strong, but it seems Luciana has turned the tables in her favor now!"

Luciana continued to arch Yoshi and put him in pain before she pushed him back up onto his feet, only to loop her arms around his waist and arch her back, slamming him with a German Suplex. She held him in place, pinning him. The referee went in for the count.
"1! 2! -"
But Yoshi managed to kick out just in the nick of time. But Luciana was not about to let up on him just yet. Before Yoshi had the chance to get up, Luciana trapped him in another choke hold from behind him, locking her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Yoshi tried to bite her arm again like last time, but her grip was tighter this time, making it impossible. Yoshi strained to break free, but Luciana was too strong.

"Come on, Yoshi! You can do it!" Sakura encouraged.
"You can't give up now! Find a way to break free!" Katsu yelled from the audience.

Yoshi struggled to get out, but Luciana continued to tighten her hold around his body and neck. The world around him started going dark. "I want to give in and make this pain end, but I can't. There's too many people out there watching me, wanting me to succeed. I can't let them down. Not my family, not my friends, not the team, and definitely not Sakura." Yoshi thought. "How ironic; I tried to avoid wrestling because I didn't want to disappoint my friends and family… but now that I'm here, it's much worse. But I can't give up… not now… not EVER! I refuse to back down, and I won't quite until there's NOTHING LEFT IN ME!" A fierce fire burned within him, igniting his soul and body. He began to thrash around violently, doing whatever he could to make her hold loosen. Luciana tried her hardest to maintain her hold, but the thrashing was making it incredibly hard to. Eventually, Yoshi managed to get free enough to grab the ropes.
"Rope break!" the referee called out. Luciana growled, but let him go and walked back, leaning against the turnbuckle. Yoshi got up, looking over at Luciana as air returned to his lungs and color returned to his vision. He was panting.

"I must admit; you're tougher than I thought you'd be." Luciana said. "I'm impressed."
"I'm just getting started." Yoshi told her. "Up until now, I was going easy on you." Luciana smirked at him.
(A/N: For those that have seen the anime, her smirk is like the one Rio had when Elena took her challenge.)
"Are you sure about that, little birdie?" she asked.
"You doubt me, but I'm done playing." Yoshi told her.

Luciana growled and ran towards him, attempting to throw a fierce punch. But Yoshi caught her punch, grinning at her tauntingly. "I don't think so." he told her as he reared his other fist back. "Now it's time to turn the tables!" he said as he punched her in the gut hard. Luciana gasped and bowled over, clutching her gut. Yoshi ran to the ropes and bounced off them, running back to her. He then grabbed her head and performed a spinning neckbreaker. While Luciana was still on the ground, Yoshi ran and jumped off the ropes, attacking with a lion-sault.

"It seems things are going back in Yoshi's favor!"

Luciana rolled over to try and get back up, but Yoshi soccer-kicked her in the gut, forcing her on her back again. Then Yoshi trapped her legs in a figure 4 lock. Luciana yelped and yelled in pain as Yoshi tightened the hold.
"Oh… JEEZ! This hurts!" Luciana screamed.
"Well, duh! It's supposed to hurt!" Yoshi told her with a "you don't say" tone and as he tightened his hold again. Luciana yelled louder she clutched her head with one of her hands. But luckily for her, the ropes were nearby, However, not close enough for her to grab just yet. She knew she had to act fast, otherwise Yoshi would break her legs. She moved herself back as much as she could with her hands, trying to get to the ropes. Yoshi would tighten his hold on her to try and discourage her, but she toughed it out and continued on to the ropes. Eventually, she was within grabbing range and grabbed the ropes, forcing Yoshi to release his hold. Yoshi got up and went to the center of the ring, crossing his arms.

From that point on, Yoshi was on the evasive. Every hold Luciana tried to put him in, he would slip out and counter with an attack of his own, ranging from a simple punch or kick, to a suplex. His intention was to wear her out, leaving her tired and vulnerable to attacks. Not to mention, making her mad enough that she would make a mistake and slip up.

"This is incredible! Yoshi is practically dancing around the ring! And judging by Luciana's reaction, she is not happy about this."

"That's it, Yoshi! You're doing good!" Sakura cheered. "She's tiring out! She won't last much longer, but don't let your guard down!" Luciana turned her attention towards Sakura, glaring intensely at her.
"Oh, shut up, idol brat!" she snapped as she jumped out of the ring and punched Sakura in the gut and suplexed her. "It's bad enough I have to deal with Yoshi. Now I have to endure seeing YOU again?!" As she examined Sakura trying to get up, a devilish grin broke across her face. "I guess the best thing to do here is to run you off!" she said as she locked Sakura in a Boston Crab. As she applied the hold and tightened it, Sakura screamed in pain. Yoshi was getting furious.
"HEY! LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS! THIS IS BETWEEN YOU AND ME!" Yoshi yelled. But Luciana looked up at him, her devilish grin returning as she tightened the hold more, arching Sakura's back unnaturally and making her scream louder. Yoshi gritted his teeth, growling in anger and hatred. His right eye began to twitch and his blood began to boil. It was bad enough she attack Sakura unprovoked once before, but now she is doing it again, JUST to spite him.

"Unbelievable! Luciana has turned her attention away from Yoshi and is now attacking Sakura! And needless to say, this is not sitting well with the audience! Especially not with Yoshi."

Meanwhile, in the audience, Katsu and Ichiro took notice of Yoshi's reaction. "Oh no..." the muttered to themselves. Rio managed to hear them.
"Why did you say 'uh oh'? Is this a normal thing?" she asked.
"You haven't met Yoshi that long." Ichiro told her. "When he's mad, he can become aggressive. And when I say aggressive, I mean he gets almost FERAL. And when no one's there to stop him, he can get very dangerous."
"Oh..." Rio said, but then it hit her; none of the Animal Squadron members were down there, and the referee did not know about this. "Oh." she said in realization.
"And keep this in mind; when he's mad, he can become more frightening than I can. So let THAT sink in." Ichiro added.

As much as Rio hated to admit it, she knew he was right. She had seen Ichiro furious on several occasions before in the past. But while most get sloppy when mad, Ichiro seemed to actually get BETTER.

"So… what you're saying is..." Rio tried to say. "...Luciana just awakened a beast?"
"Oh, yeah." Ichiro told her without hesitation. "And you're about to see what it's like." he added with a grin.

Yoshi, having had enough of watching Luciana just torment Sakura, decided to finally act and jump out. He rushed and delivered a fierce kick to the back of Luciana's head, knocking her off Sakura. Yoshi helped her up.
"You ok?" he asked her. Sakura nodded her head.
"I've had worse." she told him.
"Well… I'd suggest you get to a safer area. Things are about to get REALLY ugly." Yoshi told her. Sakura was hesitant at first, but judging by his tone, he was serious. So she stood back several feet. Yoshi watched her go before he turned back to Luciana, his eyes burning like a fire. Luciana took notice and continued to grin.
"Aww… did I hurt your girlfriend?" she mockingly asked him. "You know, I knew you weren't all that bright, but THIS! Hoo! And here I was starting to think you were wising up." But Yoshi said nothing; he just continued walking over to her. Luciana, while she didn't show it, was scared out of her wits. She knew Yoshi was mad, and he was going to be far more ruthless and aggressive. "Come on, why waste your time with that pathetic banshee? Go for a REAL woman."

That did it for Yoshi. He had enough, and snapped.

Before Luciana had time to think, Yoshi had bolted over and had her throat in a vice grip. Luciana could not even budge her way out. "You listen to me RIGHT now." he told her in a dark, threatening tone. "Sakura is more of a woman, AND a wrestler then you'll EVER be! She fights for others, while you only fight for yourself! Attacking her once bad enough, then it was worse the second time, but the fact you'll put OUR match on hold JUST to viciously attack her! A THIRD TIME! That crosses the line!"
"Oh, don't tell me… you've got FEELINGS for her." Luciana said, her voice strained from Yoshi choking her.
"I do." Yoshi replied, his tone and facial expression dead serious. Sakura was shocked to hear that he had feelings for her. "And you hurt her. For that, you will pay dearly."

And without another word, Yoshi lifted Luciana up and slammed her down hard with a choke slam. As Luciana struggled to get air, Yoshi grabbed her leg and rolled her over, locking her in a single-leg Boston Crab. Luciana screamed loudly as Yoshi arched her tight and hard. Yoshi made sure that he did not let up on her in the slightest bit.

"It seems that the wrestlers have taken this outside the ring! And judging by Yoshi's reaction, things could get real ugly real quick!"

Luciana tried her best to shake him off, but to no avail. He continued to arch her and tighten his hold on her more. Things were looking bad for her; she was outside the ring, and had no way to grab the ropes. Yoshi let her go and stood up. Luciana thought she was safe, but Yoshi lifted her up and threw her against the side of the turnbuckle. Yoshi then caught her on the rebound and slammed her with a German suplex. Yoshi picked her up again and threw her back in the ring.

"And Yoshi decides to take this back inside the ring!"

Yoshi jumped up and inside the ring, ready to begin another vicious assault. The instant she got up, Yoshi ran over and performed a Hurricanrana, throwing her a short distance. Luciana was fairly quick to get up, but Yoshi looped his arm around her neck, bringing her down with a hard DDT. He pulled her to the middle of the ring and rolled her on her back. Yoshi jumped over her and ran to the ropes, lionsaulting off the middle rope onto her. Yoshi sat up for a while before laying back on her, lifting her leg up and pinning her.
"1! 2! -"

But Luciana managed to knock him off her. Yoshi growled in anger and punched the ground. Luciana struggled to get up. She was panting.
"I see… I've struck a nerve with you, huh?" she asked tiredly.
"You have no idea." Yoshi told her.

Without another word, the two engaged in another brawl. While Luciana had a strength advantage, and had done a lot of damage to Yoshi. Yoshi had worn her down quite a bit, and had more stamina.

"It seems we've gone from a wrestling match to a brawl! Regardless, this is amazing!"

After the fight, the two were panting and staring each other down. Their fight had gone on for about twelve minutes, and it had taken quite a bit out of them. They were currently trying to recover a bit of energy before they resumed fighting.
"You're… not so bad… huh?" Luciana asked.
"No… I guess not." Yoshi said. "But I think it's time to end this fight."
"I agree." Luciana said, charging at Yoshi at full speed. Yoshi grinned and waited for the right time. When she was within range, and about to throw a punch at him, Yoshi dodged her punch and tripped her, making her land on the ropes. "Now's my chance." Yoshi thought. He then ran to the opposite side of the ring, rebounding off the ropes and running back to Luciana. He grabbed the top and middle ropes, and used them to swing back and kick Luciana away from the ropes. He then waited outside the ring, waiting for her to stand up so he could finish it. Luciana stood up slowly, the pain and wear racking her body left her weakened.

"I cannot let this runt defeat me. I've come this far, and I've spent a long time and several years getting where I am now. And there's NO WAY I'm going to let this bird-brain ruin it all!" Luciana thought angrily. But the instant she turned around, it was too late; Yoshi had jumped off the rope, launching himself at her, then wrapped his legs around her neck before flipping himself and Luciana with a strong Frankensteiner. Yoshi then looped his arms around her legs, pinning her hard.
"This is it..." Yoshi thought excitedly.
"1! 2! And 3!"

The audience roared with applause as Yoshi released Luciana, slowly getting up to his feet and leaning against the ropes, holding a fist up in victory.

"And the winner, by pin-fall, is Yoshi Hirano! Folks, I think we just witnessed a wonderful display of wrestling prowess from both fighters! But in the end, Yoshi defied the odds and got the win!"

"Way to go, man!" Ichiro cheered.
"I knew you could do it!" Kenji yelled out.
"I never doubted you for a second." Katsu said with a proud smile.
"If that's your idea of 'not being good enough', I'd sure love to see what you're like when you ARE good enough." Rio yelled with an amused grin.

Meanwhile, Sakura was jumping up and down, cheering. "Way to go, Yoshi!" she yelled as she jumped into the ring to congratulate Yoshi personally. "That was awesome! Much better than my debut match, let me tell you." Yoshi grinned.
"Yeah, I kinda figured..." he admitted. Sakura playfully punched him in the arm. But Yoshi retracted his arm, clutching his arm a bit and wincing.
"Oops… sorry." Sakura sheepishly apologized.
"It's ok… I deserved it." Yoshi said.

But neither of them noticed Luciana standing back up, or her walking up to them. But Luciana tapped Yoshi on the shoulder, making him turn around to see a glaring Luciana staring him down. Yoshi was a bit worried about what she was going to do to him. But Yoshi was even more surprised to see her stick her hand out to him with a small grin. Yoshi was unsure of what to do, but since he did not want to leave her hanging, he shook her hand.
"Well… looks like I misjudged you." Luciana admitted. "You're a lot better than I thought. With that said and done, I'll keep my word, and I'll never attack you again."
"And I'd suggest you do the same with Sakura… AND apologize for assaulting her." Yoshi told her as he crossed his arms.
"...Fair enough." Luciana admitted. She then turned her attention to Sakura. "Miss Sakura… I'm sorry for assaulting you… three times. And for considering you a joke. After witnessing Yoshi's prowess, I see that I was wrong for doubting him as well as you. And from here on out, I'll never attack you again. And the same will apply to Ayane and Gracia." Sakura looked her dead in the eyes to make sure she was not lying. And seeing that Luciana had not broken eye contact, Sakura could tell she was telling the truth. She smiled and shook Luciana's hand.
"I forgive you. But you'll also have to apologize to the rest of Berserk as well." she told her.
"Will do." Luciana said. She turned her attention back to Yoshi. "And Yoshi? Keep it up. I look forward to seeing how far you'll go." Yoshi smiled.
"Thanks. You too." Yoshi said. And with that, Luciana turned and left the stage.

To say Yoshi was ecstatic would be putting it lightly. He felt like he was on top of the world. That he had accomplished one of the most impossible tasks in the world. He felt bulletproof. And this fight was a message to the whole of Japan, and to himself; this hawk has finally took flight, and was not going to stop any time soon. No longer would he be weighed down by his fears and insecurities. No longer would he fear stepping inside the ring. And no longer would he be afraid to let his family and friends down.

But in accomplishing one nigh-impossible task, there was still one more he knew he had to accomplish next…

Asking Sakura out on a date.
But that was a task for another day.

The End!
How was it? Did I do good? I hope you enjoyed this story. I had fun writing it, and I'm glad to finally get this out of the way.
Now, while the main story is finished, I will still add ONE more chapter to this story. One reviewer wanted to see Sakura and Yoshi go on at least one date. I see no reason why I can't do that. I'll get on it as soon as I can.
So until then, I'm Foxboy614, and I bid you all sayonara. God bless, and stay safe!