The Queen City Sisters

Gabbie seemed to settle down once Taylor did. She snorted through her nose but her shoulders eased up and her intense stare gave way to a faint blush on her cheeks. She didn't back down from anyone, ever, at anything. It just so happened that she had been good enough at what she did to not have to eat any crow. At least in boxing.

"Oh, that's great!" Nicole chirped while Taylor explained everything. "Gabbie's just the girl for the job! She'll whip you into shape for sure!" Nicole then looked over Taylor. "Well, she'll help you box and strike better, at least, eheh." She added, acknowledging Taylor's superb physique.

Gabbie couldn't help but narrow her eyes at Cassie's praise, but she blushed a bit deeper. It did mean a lot that Cassie said those things about her school... even if she put her own name along side it.

"I... wouldn't mind it, I guess." Gabbie said, trying not to sound begrudging.

Nicole came up and squeezed her in a tight hug. "Yay, Gabbie! I'm so glad you're making friends. I was worried about that when you moved here. I know we'll always be sisters, but I can't be there ALL the time!" Nicole said, giving her sis a playful jab in the ribs.

Gabbie growled and shoved Nicole away. "I'm the one who came to look after you!" She growled. She then looked at Taylor and looked her over. "Ok, I want to see where you're at too. How much work I'll have to put in." She said and smirked at Taylor.

Nicole, meanwhile inched over to Cassie and put an arm around her. "Isn't this just great, Cassie? It feels like home again. I was so worried for Gabbie when she moved to Thailand. Happy... but worried."

"Well, yeah. I mean, I've gotta check out your qualifications, too," Taylor said blithely, and raised her eyebrows.

While Taylor went to grab her bag, Cassie sidled up to Nicole and began to excitedly catch up with her old rival. "How did you do in jiujitsu after I left? OH! Do you remember my brother Bucky? Jakey? Jacob? He's in Tokyo right now! For work."

Taylor sat down with her back against a ring and began to strap on her bright red shin guards. "Do you need to warm up or whatever?" She asked Gabbie, with a subtlely teasing tone.

"How did I do, eh?" Nicole said, blinking at Cassie's question. "I didn't, eheh! I pretty much stopped Jiu Jitsu after a while. I couldn't beat you, so I'd already gotten to the top of my mountain. If the roles had been reversed and I'd beaten you maybe I'd still have quit. I'd still have reached the top, after all!" Nicole said with not a single hint of regret or bitterness in her tone. "I really tried to focus on my boxing after that. It felt good to branch out so, it's all good!" Nicole gave Cassie's red hair a playful ruffle. "So why did you decided to switch to wrestling?"

"Oh? That's great! Hopefully he's having as much fun here as everyone else! I really love Japan. It's.. interesting! Eheh." Nicole smiled brightly. "But, how's Papa Bear doing? I know Pah-pa would like to know but I'm sure they keep in touch, eh? I hope so." She added.

Gabbie began to put on her sparring gear as well, silently next to Taylor. Even though the vibe she gave off was no longer tense or antagonistic, she still looked focused and determined and lacking in any sort of jocularity. "I'm always warm." She said sternly, looking near Taylor but not at her while she stretched a bit.

"You think that learning boxing will help you be a better wrestler?" Gabbie asked, tilting her head so that she was looking in the direction of Taylor. She still avoided eye contact, but she wasn't making herself look intentional about it.

"Awww," Cassie automatically grabbed Nicole's hand. "Well, it'd be really great if we could all get together sometime! I'm sure he remembers you. I'm not sure about dad, though... But I'll ask him the next time I call home."

Taylor smacked her shin guards to make sure they were secured in place, and then wiggled into her bright red headgear and tugged her blonde ponytail out so that it stuck out the back.

"I don't see how it couldn't, really. Like... You definitely wouldn't kickbox in a wrestling match. You'd get killed. But it can totally sharpen up my game in different ways, plus I like to test myself. That's like my whole life. Like... I'm still kinda thinking I can take you." She slipped Gabbie a lopsided grin as she strapped on a pair of bright red boxing gloves, with a lightning bolt logo on the back of each hand.

"I guess it was sort of the same for me, though..." Cassie said pensively. "I had done jiujitsu my whole life, and I had always been at the top... When I saw pro wrestling, I just loved it, because it was so un-jiujitsu. I had to do it. But don't sell yourself short! You're a really talented grappler! In fact..." Her eyes widened with excitement. "Do you want to roll right now?"

Nicole smiled at Cassie's touch. It felt good to have all those feelings from the past. Nicole thought they were happy ones, even if Gabbie might not have. "Eheh." Nicole squeezed Cassie's hand. "I never doubted myself. You're the best around, but you're still just one girl. I could beat everyone else so I knew I was good." She said. "Of course I would have liked to have been the best, but I still have the skills to pay the bills, eh?"

Nicole laughed and smiled brightly at Cassie. "Sure! It's been a while since I've done any straight jiu jitsu, though. You might kick my butt! Eheh!" Nicole looked around. The gym was a fabulous place for boxing, but was specialized. "Do you want to help me drag out some mats or do you want to just use one of the rings?"

"You're right." Gabbie said simply as she finished putting her gear on as well. "Introducing new styles is almost always a plus, unless there's some kind of strict regulations against it. It's obviously not the case with wrestling."

Once her gloves were on, she punched them together and slipped into the ring. She was already bouncing on her heels as she waited for Taylor. She was ready. "Have you ever beaten Elliot in Jiu Jitsu?" She asked before slipping in her mouth guard.

"Ring is okay. I spend all my time in a ring now. I just wish I had my gi with me!" Cassie could hardly contain herself as she scampered off to a practice ring.

"Ha!" Taylor had to laugh at the question. "No. Well, maybe like once or twice, but only because I'm bigger and stronger and stuff. When we just grapple, she wins. Period. In free sparring, I can catch her with some stuff." She managed to grab her mouthguard case with her boxing gloved hands and slipped into the ring.

"Dude, she does this thing... Like, I'll be doing great and working for stuff, making progress, and then bam! She closes the trap. She baits you, man. It's to the point now where I second guess myself whenever I see an opening. And half the time, she's got her eyes closed."

She popped in her mouthguard and smacked her gloves together, and then held a hand out to Gabbie to touch gloves before becoming characteristically light on her feet. She floated back a small distance from the serious kickboxer, and motioned for her to come get her.

Gabbie couldn't help but smile as Taylor spoke about Cassie. She knew exactly what Taylor meant. Not only from watching Cassie but from sparring with Nicole. She hadn't beaten Nicole in any kind of jiu jitsu and Taylor's words were familiar in her own attempts. She hoped that Taylor would understand that as good as Cassie and Nicole were in jiu jitsu, Gabbie was in kickboxing.

She touched gloves with Taylor and began dancing on her feet. her footwork was precise and she looked like she was dancing on water as she circled a bit. When she came in close, she pulled one knee up and began to kick at Taylor's leg, watching her closely. Rather than testing jabs, Gabbie preferred footwork and wanted to keep Taylor off balance by going after her legs.

Nicole nodded and followed after Cassie, slipping into the ropes of the ring and bouncing around on it. She looked around. "I signed up for Friction too, eh." Nicole said. "I might end up moving to Tokyo if I end up down there enough. Can't say I'm as serious as you are, Cassie. Honestly, I'm just looking to have some fun and play around a bit."

Nicole turned her head and looked over at the two blondes. She then looked back. "Gabbie's a bit ashamed of it, but after I headed out on my own, I did a bit of Foxy Boxing. I know that it's nothing as hardcore as what Gabbie was doing in Thailand, but I had my fun."

Nicole began to limber up. "I mean, I'm not going to forget my roots, that's for sure. I still keep in as good a shape as I can, eheh... but... ah..." Nicole shrugged, unable to find the proper words. "It's great to get to be able to do this again, eh?"

Taylor nimbly leapt back, just out of reach of a kick to her lead leg, and followed quickly by faking a fast lunge back in at Gabbie. She circled off again, covering large sections of the ring with each springy, floating step.

She had one mission in life, and that was to earn Gabbie's respect. She wanted to test herself and see how she measured up against a pure-bred kickboxer. She wanted to show her that she was not only tough, but that she had athleticism and some techniques of her own, and some strategy as well.

Be patient, she told herself. Don't screw it up.

"Foxy boxing?" Cassie giggled as she began to stretch her hips. "You can do whatever you want, Nicole. I take winning pretty seriously... Maybe a little too seriously, but I really do have fun, too. I do love it here, even though things can get..."

Cassie paused,. Her eyebrows gathered at a troubled slope and she looked at Nicole with concern in her pure green eyes. "Nicole..." She said slowly. "Be careful here. You can have fun, but some people have their fun in... bad ways. There are people here who will hurt you, and nevermind the rules. Forget the ring, for that matter. Just... be careful."

Cassie finished stretching and held her hands out to Nicole. "I've been the best here for too long," she said with a smile. "It's really good to have some real jiujitsu competition again."

Gabbie's head tilted only slightly at the feint. She stayed her course, dancing along with Taylor as she continued to inch forward and look for an opening. At a first glance, it didn't seem like there were any glaring holes in Taylor's defenses, but Gabbie wasn't going to assume just because she had a good stance.

Wanting to push Taylor, Gabbie leaped in and threw a sizzling fast hook aimed at Taylor's head and followed up with a hard strike at Taylor's shin guard.

"Yeah!" Nicole said. "Sure, it's not as serious. Maybe we're supposed to be more sexy than fighty, but..." Nicole said. "I don't want every moment of my life to be consumed with serious fighting, even if... every moment of my life is consumed with serious fighting. You know what I mean, eh? I've got a spot. I'm in a good place. I'm happy and..."

Nicole listened to Cassie and took her hands. She smiled and looked down at their hands. "Eheh... Well... I hope I don't run into those kinds of girls. I'm looking for more friendly sort of competition. I'll keep it in mind though. I can take care of myself if things get rough. Plus, I'm not alone if it really comes don to something serious." She said, smiling brightly. "You ready!? I'm excited!"

Taylor cracked a smile and stuck her tongue out between her teeth. Gabbie's lack of response to her feint probably meant that she didn't think Taylor was very dangerous, but maybe Taylor could use her considerable speed to take advantage of that...

She skipped back a step and leaned her head away from Gabbie's hook, narrowly avoiding it, but the kick that followed knocked her leg to the side. She quickly returned fire with a long straight left and a lunging lead right hook behind it, trying to catch Gabbie on her way out.

"Yup!" Cassie grinned. She was excited, but she could already feel her competitive juices flowing. Nicole was the first real jiujitsu challenge she'd had in Japan, and she couldn't wait to test herself. She had grown quite accustomed to being the best, and no matter how she looked at it, it wasn't something she was willing to let go of too easily...

"Okay, we can start-" She paused when she caught sight of Taylor and Gabbie starting to mix it up. "Ooh, wait. This is interesting, let's watch for a minute."