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<********> Hiro stammered out a swear as he was finally pulled from the cage by Rex, falling into his shoulder and again putting his ribs through some damage. He could sense that he was about to go flying forward as Rex's body started to shift, and that was going to be a no-go for the Ethnic Enigma. He shook around his whole body, trying to wiggle free from the cult leader's grasp. It took him a little longer than it would have had he been fresh, but Hiro eventually slide down Rex's back and tried to turn him around quickly to end up face to face, to which Hiro would again try to knife-edge chop Rex right across his already slightly welted chest!

The chop from Rex caved Hiro in, sending him down to a knee as his face went pale and he looked as though he was on the precipice of passing out. That certainly knocked out all the last bits of adreniline, emptying the can and sending Rex towards almost for sure victory. However, where there was a will -- there was a way, and Hiro had that will. Suddenly he would push to his feet again with a battlecry and attempt to drive an over handed chop right into Rex like a whip, following it with a second knife-edge chop and an attempted elbow to the side of his head! Where was this coming from!? How did Hiro have this sort of fight left in him?!

The throat thrust stopped Hiro's strikes in their tracks, the Ethnic Enigma unable to breathe for a moment. Nature would dictate he grab at his throat and try to suck in some air but Rex had gone deep into his past to punish Hiro! The former Rexual Defiler would shoot out his hand again and wrap it right around the windpipe of Hiro, preparing for the Kobra Slam that the Ethnic Enigma was all to familiar with. Hiro had only one natural move here if he was to avoid being taken out -- and that was to break free. As Rex's hand wrapped around, he used both of his arms to slam down into Rex's forearm and break the grip -- and would try to take a step back before sending a long superkick right up to Rex's jaw to drop both men to the ground and stop what had turned into a frenzy again so quickly!

With Hiro and Rex down following the end of the biggest tussle so far in the match, the fans got to their feet with cheers and applause. They were just as surprised as anybody that Hiro had the fight in him here, and for the first time in a long time, it felt like he might actually have a chance to win a match. The Ethnic Enigma was, slowly but surely, being healed by the atmosphere and the fan support as he started to stir on the mat, flopping over to his stomach. He looked around at the cage walls, and finally to the corner where the door was. It would be embarassing, perhaps unbecoming of the career he'd left seven years ago...but he started to crawl towards the door, shouting to the officials to get it open as he was going to try to escape the ring that way...but there was still the matter of worrying about Rex, who for now was down...but for how long?

Hiro had crawled across the majority of the ring before getting to a knee and turning his head back for a view of Rex praying to the Serpent. He'd entered now-or-never territory, he had to get out that cage door in a matter of seconds or Rex would get to him. "Come on, open it up!" Hiro beckoned to the refs who had finally heard his calls. Now to his feet, Hiro stumbled forward and between the top and middle ropes, preparing to slide his way through and out the door to ringside for a victory and escape from the crazy wacky cultist that Rex had become.

"Wha, Who the hell--" Hiro's question wouldn't even formulate before he was sprayed in the face with what he knew all too well -- the burst of chemicals from a fire extinguisher! He got more than he'd wanted of it after Salem set him ablaze at Survivor Series, and now it had blinded him as he got caught up between the ropes hanging, rubbing away at his eyes and spitting away the materials as the fans booed loudly, Emiko Sone having come to the rescue of her leader and, unbeknownst to Hiro, a man much closer to her than realized.

Hiro was only just able to squint through his stinging eyes to get a good look at his country woman before the door of the cage came slamming right into his face, sending him back into the ring and down on to the ground as he held his face in the palms of his hand. The fans booing intensified as they began to berate Emiko for getting involved, and of course begin a "******** THE SERPENT" chant for good measure. They didn't appreciate having a Hiro Shin-Mozas win ripped from them in such a way -- naturally Hiro didn't either, but for the moment, he found himself blind and down, his whole body numbing as the seconds ticked by.