Hit Me Hard and Hit Me Fast

Carmen loved the Tension gym. The smaller roster meant it was frequently wide open and empty, and If you knew the right time to hit the place, you would have it to yourself for hours, especially on the weekends. It was a nice little change of pace for Carmen, a sweet difference from the crowded gyms of Puerto Rico or the even more crowded gyms when she was practicing for the Olympics. For what she had in mind today, it was perfect.

Carmen stood in the corner of the practice ring, dressed for a good workout. She was healed up now, none of the bandages and casts from when she last saw Charlie. Instead, she wore dark blue track pants with a white strap down the side, a matching sports bra for the top. Functional, but also easy on the eyes, on the off chance one of the other Tension girls might stop by. Carmen had a girlfriend of sorts, a lovely lady named Colleen sheâ€d met during a wild night a month or so back, but her lady didnâ€t mind if she slept around a bit. It was an open relationship.

Of course, that wasnâ€t what she was here for primarily, and the bouncing bundle of joy in the middle of the ring was a stark reminder of that. Suzy Q, one of Carmenâ€s best boxing students, stood there all dressed up like she was ready for a match even though Carmen specifically told her not to come like that. She was wearing her red trunks and boxing gloves along with the blue top, standing out bright against her dark skin as she darted around the ring. A small thing, a lightweight and still green, but fast on her feet. She'd give Charlie a handful, and maybe even more than that if Carmen didn't reign her in.

“So.” Suzy bobbed and weaved, shooting out a few jabs as she went. “This guy, Charlie...heâ€s pretty good?”

“As wrestlers go, yes, heâ€s quite good. Took my brother down a few pegs.” Carmen leaned against the ropes and watched her student's form. The teaching process never ended, her father instilled that hard into her. "Remember, though, this isnt - watch the footwork, Suzy, Stay wide.” She tapped her foot at Suzy and her pupil immediately corrected the posture. “But remember, youâ€re not here to fight him. This is just sparring. I want him to get the feel for this.”

Suzyâ€s frowned and pouted, looking far cuter than any boxer should be allowed. “You mean you want to let him hit me.”

“I didnt say that.”

“Youâ€re implying it.” She waved a glove at Carmen. “You are very much strongly implying it.”

“Iâ€m not. Though, free tip? If you have a problem getting hit, a career in boxing might not be the best thing for you.” She checked her phone as Suzy waved her off and went back to smacking around shadows. It was only a few minutes from the time she asked Charlie to come. “Just donâ€t act crazy and pounce all over him. Be nice.”

So here he was... on his way to box. Charlie was nervous, as he'd never boxed before in his life and didn't want to make a jackass out of himself. Well, he didn't want to make a jackass out of himself any more than he normally did anytime he went anywhere.

Charlie also knew why she called him here. He had a little... phobia to get over? No, phobia was the wrong word. Still, there was a small mental block that had to be hurdled but he had faith in Carmen. As Charlie walked in he saw Carmen and another woman in the gym, smiling and waving as he made his way over. "Whats up? Thanks for inviting me to train!" He said cheerfully and politely as he approached.

His heart sank a bit as he saw the other woman with Carmen. She looked downright adorable. While Charlie wasn't attracted to her, all he could think was "who the hell in their right mind would ever hit her? That's just fucked up."

Charlie showed up right on time, which was good, because there was only so long Carmen could stand her star pupil's giddiness before she had to give the girl a thump on the forehead. She smiled his way and threw him a wave as she hopped off the apron, glad her legs didn't buckle on impact. Not 100% from the fight with Lorenza just yet, but getting damned close.

"Yo, Charlie." Carmen met him halfway as he came over and patted him on the back. "Glad you could make it, man. Got a little sparring partner for you." She held her hand out towards Suzy, who greeted him with a wink and a blown kiss off her glove. Carmen's eye went rolling. "Charlie, pipsqueak. Pipsqueak, Charlie."

"Funny. I am laughing so hard. Ha ha." Suzy bounced back with a blank expression, before she threw a quick jab and put her normal smile on. "Suzy Q, everybody calls me. Nice meeting you, Chuck."

"Only a hot date with the lady would stop me from being here today. Thanks for having me and you look a ton better than the last time I saw you, hows the recovery going?" Charlie asked Carmen. She looked terrible after her matchup but seemed to have much more bounce in her step today.

Charlie looked over at Suzy as she greeted him. His heart sank a little bit. "I have to fight her? I'd rather give her a hug than smack her." Charlie thought to himself as he looked at the small woman who was roughly the same size as Talia. "Hey Suzy, nice to meet you." Charlie said with a polite wave.


All right, so here it is. Charlie was no giant, but he was a lot bigger than Suzy. Still he knew that there was a point to all this and if he had any shot at a future in the AFW he'd need to proceed. No job meant going back home, and the few friends he had here meant a ton more to him than anyone back in San Diego.

Carmen gave him a little whistle. "You have got to show me a picture of this girlfriend you keep talking about, man." She was genuinely curious, too. Charlie hadn't even been on the island all that long and it sounded like he was head-over-heels. "Recovery's going good, pretty much ready to step back in the ring with anyone who's not Lorenza Saldano. Thanks for asking. Cabellero."

Carmen moved over to her gym bag and started rummaging around until she found the spare training gloves she'd dug up for Charlie. Nice and plushy. She had to make a guess on his size, but she figured a medium would work out.

She tossed him the gloves as Suzy walked over, leaning over the rope to look down at him. "So this is the guy I'm beating around?" She let her arm dangle over the rope, looking at him with a perfect Cheshire grin. "He's cute. You neglected to mention how insufferably cute he was."

"Silly me." Carmen walked over to Charlie to see if he needed any help lacing up the gloves. "Don't worry about her, she talks less when the mouthguard is in."

"Oh sure, here ya go if ya like. Theres a few good ones of Talia and I in my phone."" Charlie said as he tossed his phone over to Carmen.

He managed to figure out the gloves, but started to get nervous. He saw that Suzy seemed confident, and she should be since he never boxed before. "She's a boxer, she gets punched upside the head for a living. She isn't gonna take it personally... get over it man!" Charlie thought to himself as he climbed up into the ring.

"So... what are the rules? I have never boxed before in my life and I'm probably going to look so goofy trying to move that you two are gonna laugh. A lot. Just a heads up."

Carmen was teasing Charlie about seeing the pictures, more or less, but now that he was actually giving her the phone, she figured she might as well look. Talia was quite the cutey. She didn't care much for redheads, but the girl had a pristine, almost doll-like beauty to her, and she could see why he was so taken.

She did look vaguely familiar, though. Carmen couldn't quite place it.

"Don't worry about the rules." She set his phone down on a nearby bench and plopped down beside it with crossed legs. "Aside from the obvious ones, of course. No low-blows, rabbit punches, cheap shots." She glared hard at Suzy before turning to Charlie with a softer look. "This is just about you getting more comfortable fighting women, you two don't have to knock each other out or anything. We'll stop when you're ready to stop, okay?"

Charlie nodded to Carmen, and found himself to be as ready as he could be. "I am ready when you are Suzy." He finally said as he put his hands up, not quite sure what to expect.

Part of him figured Suzy would be some sort of boxing savant. If she fought professionally at her size she was surely far tougher an opponent than she looked. Charlie knew underestimating women would be horrible, and purely stupid on his part. Charlie awaited a sign from Suzy before he started. He'd feel downright terrible about a cheap shot before the "fight" even started.

Suzy put her hands up as well, moving into an unorthodox stance. Training a leftie wasn't the easiest thing for Carmen, but she'd managed to do all right by the little girl. She had good form, moved around the ring in quick step, light on her toes as she danced towards Charlie. It was hard to smile with a mouthguard filling her jaws, but she managed it.

"First time, huh?" She muttered out, drawing closer by the second. "Don't you worry, I'll be gentle."

Suzy suddenly jumped in and threw two quick jabs at Charlie's chest. She didn't have much power to put behind them, but she did have speed - raw, blazing speed. Her fists shot out as tiny red blurs, like arrows whizzing through the air.

Charlie was caught off guard by Suzy's speed. She was fast, really really fast. Charlie took the hit that packed a lot more punch than he figured she would be capable of.

Charlie grunted a bit and backed off before circling to his left and closing in. Just sitting here and being a punching bag wasn't going to do him any good. This was part of a crazy profession, and him doing what he had to didn't make Charlie anything like that guy. Charlie kept that in mind and he quickly stepped straight in trying to land a fast punch to Suzy's side, with speed being the goal as opposed to power..... even though power was something Charlie didn't really have much of when compared to many of his contemporaries.