The Fine Art of Lying Your Ass Off

The Tension gym was never empty it seemed. No matter what hour of the day it was, Jackie was never alone in the place, even if it was just one or two other people. She liked the quieter times though, since she never had to worry about some piece of equipment getting hogged for hours.

Right now, she was trying something a little different. She'd been working on her strikes, using her upper arms rather than relying on kicks that packed more punch, but left her unable to react as quickly to her opponents. She'd never focused all that hard on strikes before, but judging from some of the competition out there, it seemed to be a heavy focus for a lot of the wrestlers she'd seen. That was hardly a problem for her - it played well with her high flying, high impact style, but it paid to know a thing or two about the techniques the opposition used, and her old methods alone weren't going to cut it in the big leagues. With her small frame, packed with muscle as it was, she wasn't going to out-power the bigger types, so she had to go for precision strikes, the soft, tender areas.

The heavy bag, normally sporting a beaten blue leather, was draped with a white sheet, onto which there was a loose drawing of an anatomical form, with several large red marks on it. Jackie was taking her time to dart around it, ducking and weaving like she were avoiding the phantom blows of an opponent, before racing in to hammer quick shots aimed at those red spots, before darting back again and reviewing. Her camera was set on a small tripod, purring quietly as she recorded her progress to watch back later, study her movements, and compare them against the actions of several wrestlers with a range of styles. With no coach or training partner, it was a slow and tedious method to check her progress, but she had had years to get used to it. She was accustomed to training alone...

It was still Kozue's 'off-day', and you would think that a gym would be the exact last place she'd ever been. She'd just spent the week in a gym. Sweating in a gym. Falling in a gym. Rolling in a gym. Sparring in a gym. Training, training, training. And there was so much training to come.

But it wasn't a gym, really. It was a dojo. Fancier. A more private place, one that had just about everything she needed to train. The next hour was going to be extra credit, a little something on the side, and even though she'd come dressed appropriately - her shorts, her black a-shirt, her dark sneakers - she wasn't expecting to get too sweaty. This was going to be more about instruction. Watching and learning. A giant killer was going to teach her the basics of giant slaying.

She heard Jackie before she entered the room, hearing the sound of rapid, slicing strikes on a heavy bag. The sort of noises she could make herself when she went at it, but even she had to admit her blows rarely came off with that kind of force. It was the sort of thing that made Kozue glad she didn't have to be on the receiving end. Not for a long time, anyway, and definitely not before she was ready. If she ever was.

She stepped in the gym and, sure enough, Jackie was there, just like she said she would be around this time of day. Complete with a camera and everything. A good idea, really. Kozue made a note to do that with her own workout tomorrow. If she could find a moment to catch her breath enough for it, at least.

She leaned up against a wall near Jackie while the women went on, waiting until she took a breather to finally speak. "I'm sensing some anger issues." She waved and wiggled her fingers all the way. "Want to talk about it? Need a hug?"

When Kozue arrived, Jackie didn't break off the flurry of shots she was in the middle of executing, completing the blistering series of strikes before stepping back, leaving the heavy bag to swing back and forth as she finally acknowledged the other woman's presence with a grin. "Well, look who finally deigned to walk into the gym," she said, sketching a mock curtsy, "Haven't seen you since the big move. Does the new place have an on-site gym or something? You don't look like you've been skipping any training anyway."

Jackie strolled over to where she'd left her bag beside the camera, crouching down to first turn it off, then to rummage around until she found the bottle of water, taking a few deep gulps before moving towards the ring, gesturing for Kozue to follow her.

"Well, you're here now, and I made a promise that I'd introduce you to a friend of mine who can show you a thing or two about taking on the heavyweight types. Lucky for you, I made sure to bring him with me."

As she reached the ring, Jackie ducked under the apron, hands feeling around in the dark beneath the ring boards until her questing fingers found what she was looking for, and with a grunt she started the haul the object out from under the ring. The weight and size of it made it difficult, but eventually Jackie had wrestled it from where she'd kept it stored, and heaved it up onto its feet.

It consisted, for the more part, of a very large pale-white plastic mannequin, the kind that might be found in a big-and-tall store, standing some six and a half feet tall, and looking to weigh far more than a mannequin might normally do. Its limbs were articulated at the joints, allowing it to be posed, with several small screws that could be tightened to lock the joints into place once they were positioned. In addition to this, there were a number of red spots and dotted lines that marked the rather battered surface, similar to the sheet that had been draped over the heavy bag, marking out the key sensitive spots. But that wasn't all that had changed - from within the chest cavity, there was the liquid sound of something sloshing within it, and there were padded weights that had been strapped around the body at the legs, the arms and the torso, giving the already large figure almost a crude musculature of padding.

"Kozue, meet Fred the Eleventh," Jackie said with a grin, gripping the mannequin's hand and waving it in greeting, "He's from a long and distinguished line of mannequins I've used to practise with. He was an absolute fucker to get through customs though, don't ask how I did it."

With a grunt, Jackie dragged the heavy mass against the ring apron, and started to roll it beneath the bottom ropes, before leaping onto the apron and glancing back at Kozue. "So, you ready to try some stuff out, or are you dressed like that for show?"

Yep, Jackie hadn't dulled a bit since they last met. Witty and sharp as ever.

Kozue scoffed, a short bursting laugh, and walked over to the poor, slaughtered punching bag that Jackie was picking on. "As a matter of fact, yeah. It does. Smart ass. Working air conditioning, too. Fancy."She flicked her tongue out and threw a few quick jabs into the bag, trying to get mimic Jack's routine. Couldn't quite get the timing down. Maybe it was just a lack of experience. Maybe Jack was just that good. Tempted to find out the hard way, the more she went at it. "And yeah, I've been keeping up on the training. Believe me." She let out a long groan, then drilled the bag with a hard roundhouse. I have been keeping up. Ugh."

She spun around on her heel as Jackie fished their new 'friend' out from under the ring. Fancy looking thing. She'd seen some things like it on the internet, considered buying one of her own, but the price was always just a digit over her preferred range.

"I am now incredibly curious on how you got this through customs." Kozue said that, but she didn't really want to know. Filling in the blanks was always more fun. She grabbed the bottom rope and pulled herself in under the bottom rope. She reached under and helped Jackie slide their victim in, getting a few understandable raised eyebrow from their fellow wrestlers. "And are those the only two options? Can't be both?"

"Im too sexy for the return, Im too sexy for the return to the gym, oh yeah." Kent have returned to Tension gym after a long hiatus and finally could get back into actions, although he havent gotten an official matches just yet, so until then he can start scooping out for the ladies around here, maybe someone fresh and good looking to go for someone even more good looking like himself, the handsomest man alive, Kent Quick!

"Ohhh too sexy for this shirt, too sexy for this shirt, must take it offfffff..." Kent removing his shirt off and showing off his pretty buff muscled while turning to see the receptionist who was just weird out by him just singing like that, Kent is indeed singing one of his favorite song from the early 90's, except he changed it up just for himself. Kent lowering his sunglasses and winked at the pretty receptionist, offering her his calling card before walking right in the gym, now looking for more ladies to hit on.

While walking around to see some other chumps using those smaller weights for their skinny and ugly body, but further down he can see two ladies working out together, a rare sight for him honestly, the proclaimed handsomest man taking his time walking up to the two girls who were using some sort of training on a dummy, silly girls, they cant simply lift those up.

He make his way to the ring right to the side, leaning on the apron with his arms cross, though one hand reaching for his sunglasses and lowering it down, peek his eyes right over it to look at the ladies. "Hey there..... how you doing?" He asked, trying to sweet talk with them. "Have we ever met before? But if you dont know me, which you should by the way...... the name Kent Quick, former Tension Champ. I hope you ladies are doing well, I can surely help you train some and maybe.... go out for a lunch or later on dinner?"

"Well seems your gob has been getting as much of a workout as the rest of you," Jackie chuckled, "OK, help be stand Fred up, the fucker is heavy."

Between the pair of them, Jackie and Kozue soon had Fred the Eleventh in an upright position, its joints locked in a lose standing position. The sloshing sound from within the mannequin's chest slowly subsided as the figure rocked gently on the spot. "See, there's a water-cooler bottle inside the chest, about half full," Jackie explained, tapping on the plastic abdomen, "Helps simulate balance, lets you know whether what you hit Fred with would make an opponent topple, or just shake them up. It's not perfect, but it's about as good as you can simulate without getting someone to stand there and take shot after shot."

Jackie flashed Kozue a grin, and without warning the tiny Irish woman was darting for the ropes, hitting them at a dead run and rebounding as she picked up speed. As she tore towards the mannequin, Jackie swerved at the last moment, ducking beneath the slightly extended arms and leaping to set her feet on the top set of ropes, already kicking off before she even had time to adjust her position. She sailed backward, arm held out as she hooked the blank-faced head as she rocketed past, and with a lurch the weighted dummy was dragged forward, coming down skull first to the canvas with Jackie riding it the whole way down. There was a squeaky pop noise as the impact wrenched Fred's head loose from the mounting, and Jackie kicked back up onto her feet, still grinning widely as she held it up like a trophy.

"See? Fred the Eleventh doesn't complain when you drive his face into the canvas," she said, reattaching the bald head and grunting as she started to haul the weighty figure back upright. "Nngh! OK, once he's back on his feet, you give it a shot. Bonus points if you hit the red spots, they're the tender areas."

She stepped back, intending to watch Kozue make her attempt and get a sense for how hard she was hitting, and whether she was hesitating from throwing her full weight behind the move. It was natural to try and pull back, to only go in so hard to avoid hurting yourself. You had to train that out if you wanted to really make what little mass they both carried count - every impact had to have their full mass behind it, even if the brain tried to avoid it.

The moment was interrupted however, as a voice came from outside the ring by the apron. Jackie glanced over to where the voice had originated from, looking into a face she'd seen grinning from more than a few posters and TV screens in her time watching the AFW. Kent Swift - a big name in Tension, a former champ (seriously, he introduced himself to people like that?) who had a certain reputation amongst the women of the roster. Compared to some it was somewhat tame, but more than enough to earn a black mark in Jackie's book. She arched an eyebrow are the self-assured offer, delivered as though it were a foregone conclusion in his mind that he was getting at least one of them tonight.

Jackie's first instinct was to slide-tackle her boot into the man's face and put some of those nearby weights to good use. She yanked that thought back on its leash, like she'd been training herself to do.

Her second instinct was to tell Kent to fuck himself swiftly somewhere else, but this too she reeled back in. While it would be far from out of character for her, she'd already made enough enemies without needlessly making another.

It was her third instinct that won one. She shot a glance to Kozue, giving her a wink as she tried to convey I've got this with a look, and started to stroll towards where Kent was leaning against the apron, putting a little extra shake into her hips. She hopped her feet up onto the bottom set of ropes, her arms resting on the top set as she smiled down at Kent.

"Well hi there Kent. That's awfully sweet of you to offer, but I think Fred here is more our speed - got to start slow, you know?" she said with a giggle. Not the wry chuckle she normally gave. A feminine giggle, "Buuut the dinner might be interesting. I'm Jackie by the way."

Kozue bent over and got a solid grip on Frank, putting her back into it as they hauled him up. "Don't need any training for my mouth. It's all natural talent. Born with it."

She wisely stepped back and let Jackie put on a show. Judging by the way she went at it, this was something she'd done many, many times before. Practiced ease. Complete confidence. No doubt. Total control. Kozue might have had more AFW experience under her belt, but when it came to actual combat, it was clear who was in the lead. Might not have liked to admit it, but there were the facts. Humility was going to go along way with her training.

She stepped off the ropes as Jackie reattached poor Frank's head. She warmed up with a few stretches, trying to run Jackie's routine through her head without laughing. Hard, and she couldn't resist just a hint of a smirk. "I'm guessing Franks one through ten didn't die from natural deaths."

She got into position as Jackie finished setting up, preparing to go on the attack. She took the first step towards her target, then slammed on the brakes when she heard an unfamiliar voice. An unfamiliar maile voice. He had no idea what he was getting in to.

Kent Quick, Kent Quick - the  name sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Considering how stupid a name it was, she was surprised it slipped her head. Just going from the looks of him, though, he seemed like exactly the sort of guy she'd been warned about in Tension: too many muscles, too little brains, enough ego for five assholes combined.

She opened her mouth, about to describe which orifice he could shove his come-ons into, when Jackie beat her to the punch and gave her a sly wink. That and the giggle were big clues. Kozue hadn't known her long, but even she could figure that girlish giggles weren't a sound her mouth normally made. Something was cooking...

For now, Kozue just lean on the ropes and watched the spectacle unfold with a curious eye.

Kent should of stood back and watch the girls working out together just to 'study' their moves on that training dummy, curious if they lift it or something interesting done to it. But unfortunately beef up wrestler wanted to talk with the ladies as he assumed they're in the process of joining Tension though one of the girl looked very familiar than the other one.

That one girl resting up against the ropes just so darn familiar but soon that other girl stopped practicing and got her attention as the girl flirting with him, a rare treat for sure. "Start slow? Oh come on girl, you're not starting in fact, you're starting immobilize zero, that dummy doesnt move, you should increase a pace like, someone big..... strong... handsome of course, and move around, to help you trained." He tries to hit it off with this girl, which her name is Jackie.

"Do you mind me coming in the ring?" He asked before just get himself in the ring with the ladies, looking at both of the girls and checking them out, he turn his head to look at the other girl. " Swear I've seen you before, could it be.... hmmmm damn cant remember oh well.... how you doing sweet heart?" He winked at her before turning to look at Jackie. "So Jackie, how long you been here? Your handsomest man would love to tussle with you sometime...." He also turn to look at the other girl too. "And maybe you too"

Then he get in position where he can see both girls in his view, arms crossed over his large chest. "Well what you like? I.... dont eat meat, strangely yes, and yes in this country gonna be tough but still manageable. Still though, I could take you girls out where ever you like after, my offering, for a good long hard match, whaddya say?"

Jackie was torn between two desires, neither of which she could indulge. Part of her simply wanted to pop this self-deluded ox's head off like Fred the Eleventh, while another part wanted to laugh in that smug face at how ridiculous he was. Seriously, the guy probably felt Mad Men had legitimate tips for picking up the ladies. She kept both urges buried under a sweet smile, as Kent climbed on into the ring and made no effort whatsoever to hide the fact her was ogling both herself and Kozue. Probably why the fucker wore sunglasses.

"I've been in the gym a lot, you've probably seen me in the background," she said with a slight shrug, deflecting Kent's attentions as he sought to place her, "I've pretty new here, only had the one match so far. I'm not sure I'm ready to take on a former champ, unless," she paused as she took a step forward, raising the index finger of her left hand and running it down Kent's chin, along the throat and down between the pectorals, trailing the knot of abdominal muscles until it reached the navel, "you were kind enough to go easy on me. I'm sure I'd be grateful for the...experience."

She glanced over her shoulder, turning her face away from Kent to look at Kozue, and gave her a cheeky tongue-poke as she continued, "I'm not sure Kozue could find the time, she's pretty busy with her new place, but I'm sure if you were kind enough to offer a little post-match meal, we could find someplace nice to eat out," she grinned as she turned back to look up at Kent. Fuck, that last one might have been too obvious, even for this clown, she thought to herself, but she kept up those doey eyes, lightly biting her bottom lip.

Holy fuck, the thing about him being a former champ just sunk into Kozue's mind. This was the guy who held it before John? Seriously? No wonder people were always downing their brand. The Friction title had legends like Akashi and Angel. The Tension belt had...this. This.

"I very much mind him coming in the ring." She whispered Jackie's way, as eh stepped in before they could even say yes. "Or anywhere."

She hung back and kept her distance as Jackie did her things, staying quiet for the most. The girl was a natural actress, she had to give her that much.

"Yeah, I'm good." She threw up her hand and did her best to suppress a laugh. With Herculean effort, she kept it down to a knowing smile that she doubted Kent would pick up on. "I'm too busy for a match right now, got stuff to do. Important stuff. Like not throwing up in mt mouth."