Breaking in the New Guy

Hikaru grit his teeth as Shido transitioned into a STF modified to include a sleeper. He had gotten his bicep up under his chin and was now likely purposefully getting his revenge against him with an even trickier move to get out of. The irony of Hikaru being beaten with a finisher he already tried wasn't lost on him, and that helped motivate the fight back into him. There was no way he was gonna get his leg untangled while in a sleeper, let alone just the STF. That meant he had to break the sleeper first if he wanted a fighting chance.

Despite making choked and gaspy sounds, Hikaru started to growl as he grabbed handfuls of the canvas. All the muscles in his arm flexed and bulged as he forcefully pulled and dragged both himself and Shido on top of him towards the ropes. It was yet another battle of attrition, what was going to run out first? Hikaru's air and consciousness, or the space yet left between them and a rope break?

Shido took notice of Hikaru gripping the mat and swimming towards the ropes with all his might.

Shido grunted "Okay....new plan!". Shido raised his free arm and attempted a single clubbing forearm blow to the back of Hikaru's head, hoping to take him by surprise. It was a long shot, but it was his risk taking that put him back in the fight thus far, maybe it would carry him through the fight a little further.

If this blow is successful in stunning him, like Shido hoped, he would immediately attempt a more elaborate knee submission, hoping to end things.

Just a few more feet, two more arm over arms, and he'd be able to reach the ropes! Hikaru started to smile through the pain, the goal was so close! But then Shido just had to go and ruin it, smashing Hikaru in the back of the head with a stiff forearm. Hikaru's head swung forward and hit the mat, and his crawling attempts momentarily paused as he clutched at the back of his head.

Meanwhile, Shido was busy scurrying about and trying a new move. He twisted Hikaru's knee around in a different submission hold that made him yelp. Normally he felt like he definitely could have resisted, but the damage already done was only worsening by the second. "Best two out of three?" Hikaru asked through gritted teeth, not quite ready to tap out yet.

Shido panted as his breathing got even heavier. "I won't be able to move after this, haha." he laughed while still attempting a follow up.

He would try to fold Hikaru's legs in an Indian deathlock, and if that worked Shido would do a bridge backwards towards Hikaru's head and complete a muta lock!

Shido was already running on borrowed time. Even if this worked, the damage had long past added up on his end. It was as he said, if he couldn't end it with this, he wouldn't be moving for quite some time!

Hikaru was banking on Shido accepting his challenge, but apparently he wasn't having any of that. He already had his legs in place for the Indian deathlock pretty much, it was just a matter of elevating himself and getting a hold of Hikaru's head to convert it into a muta lock.

Hikaru fought through the pain and desperately reached his arm for the ropes, his arm shaking and straining, but no amount of effort was going to make his arm grow that last few inches it needed. He tried to reach behind him to grab some part of Shido, but with his arch Hikaru couldn't get a good hold on any part of him. This final iteration of the hold was turning out to be too much, if Hikaru held out much longer he was probably risking an injury.

"Arghhh! FINE! FINE! I give!" Hikaru yelled as he slammed his fist on the mat several times.

Shido collapsed immediately on top of Hikaru as if responding to his submission. But a closer look would reveal that he's completely limp and unconscious. He always had this habit of looking more banged up than the other guy after a match, even if he did somehow manage to win, and that definitely rings true here.

Hikaru let out a loud sigh of relief when Shido finally let go of his muta lock and their limbs disentangled. He rolled out from underneath and cradled the sore knee joint for a few moments to nurse the wound. Looking up though, he noticed that Shido seemed to have been KO'ed himself. But unlike the last confusing part of the match, it was clear that Hikaru had tapped out before the newcomer went to sleep. Hikaru shook his head in disbelief and nudged him, just to make sure he was still alive.

"Definitely gonna need to work on that stamina if you want to stick around here. Otherwise, you're not half bad"