Spy Vs. Spy

"Uh huuuuh... Well... I'm meeting up with her, yeah.... She should be here any moment." Nicole paused and listened to the haughty voice on the other end of the phone. The blonde heiress sure did like to talk about... about herself. And while Nicole's lips dropped, her smile never completely faded as she nodded along to Gwendolyn's words.

"Yeah, I know what you're sayin, eh." She interrupted. "I just don't think... mmmhmm, welll, I'll do my best, eheh. O-Oh! Au revoir, aussi!"

Nicole turned off her cell phone and set it down. "She sure is an odd sort..." She mused. The girl had sent her aide directly to her shortly after she arrived in Japan. Nicole had gone to see Gwendolyn on a lark, surprised that anyone even knew who she was, but the girl's situation unfolded very quickly. She didn't mind teaching the blonde some of her tricks, but she didn't think they were going to help against Cassie very much. Nicole didn't see the sense in it, but if the blonde wanted to feel encouraged and line Nicole's wallet with some extra bucks, the bunny-eared red head wasn't going to complain. It was actually kind of fun getting back into things and schooling a newbie in Jiu Jitsu was much more thrilling than she had realized. Grappling got her blood flowing a bit more.

Unfortunately, Gwendolyn wanted Nicole to take part in some rather dubious exercises as well. She insisted that Nicole and Cassie spar together so that Nicole might get a sense of Cassie's gameplan. So that she might be able to bring back vital information, whatever that meant.

Nicole wasn't too interested in that, but it WAS an excuse to see Cassie again. They never really got to spar too much the first time they met and this time Nicole had pulled her gi out of the mothballs and was ready for some real action! She supposed, she might have to tell Gweondolyn something, but she'd worry about that later. Right now, she was just looking forward to seeing Cassie again.

Cassie was giddy that morning when she pulled her dark pink pearl weave gi out of the box on the shelf in her closet next to her sweaters. She put it on and modeled it in front of her bedroom mirror while she ran through old matches and old competitions in her head. She was thousands of miles from London, Ontario, Canada, but when she felt the heavy, sturdy fabric around her neck and over her arms, it felt like home.

She strode into the gym in her gi pants and a faded yellow t-shirt with a picture of a red chili pepper on the front wearing sunglasses with the words "I'm Spicy" under it. Her gi jacket was neatly folded and nestled between the handles of her gym bag. She looked for the mats and quickly spotted her old rival.

"Hi, Nicole," She said, and gave her a quick hug. Her eyes were wide with excitement. "I'm glad you called. Have you and Gabbie been practicing?"

"Eee!"

Nicole squeezed Cassie tightly when she entered and pulled her at arms length. "Heya, Cass! Good to see ya again, eh?" She chuckled softly and nodded. She was already dressed in her cream colored gi. She'd warmed up and everything and walked Cassie over to the mats.

"Oh, yeah." She said, nodding. "Gabbers is always training, so there's no worries there. She's even been complaining about your dojo, eheh. That must mean she's really enjoying herself a lot. I really appreciate you and Taylor takin her in, eh?" Nicole beamed brightly.

"Oh, but I've been training too~" She chirped. "I even found a sparring partner to do some Jiu Jitsu work with! It's been great trying to get back into the swing of things. I actually kind of missed it... I think, eheh." Nicole blushed and chuckled. "I mean, she's not great or anything, but it lets me kick off some of the rust!"

Nicole patted Cassie's shoulder. "Anyway, I been checking up on you a bit. You've got a really important match coming up, eh?" She said and nodded. "I figured maybe I could help out with that. Give you someone to spar with who isn't so bad at Jiu Jitsu. Eheheh, even though it's a wrestling match."

"Oh, we're glad to have her!" Cassie said. She was glad that Gabbie had found a place in the dojo, even if it was part time and ill-tempered.

"Yeah?" She said as she slipped on her gi jacket and folded it shut and wrapped a matching pink belt around her waist. "I do, yeah. It's for the Entropy title. It's the one that Taylor won in her first year. But..." She jerked on the ends of her belt to pull the knot tight. "I guess I'm not getting my hopes up."

She shrugged, and knelt down on the mat. She began doing some exercises to warm up and open up her hips and her back. "It's good that you're enjoying jiu jitsu again, though. I'm really glad. You have a lot of talent."

"Oh, thanks!" Nicole said, blushing a bit. Cassie was always so generous with the compliments. However, her words struck her a bit. It wasn't like the red head to have any sort of lack of confidence in herself.

She knelt down next to her fellow red head and tilted her head. "Not getting your hopes up!? now THAT doesn't sound like Cassie Elliot at all!" Nicole paused and touched the tip of her bunny ear, pulling it down in front of her. "Uhhh... so, the belt is kind of weird, right?" She asked, though she knew exactly how it worked, thanks to Gwendolyn. "Since you're the challenger, you get to pick the stipulations, right?"

Nicole smiled. "Right? That's how it goes, isn't it? So, just pick a submission match and call it a day! You'll win that puppy in a hot minute! Eheh!" Less than, considering Gwendolyn's skill, or lack there of at submission work.

"If I got a shot at that title, I know what match type I'd pick! Eheh." Nicole blushed deeply and leaned forward. "Heeeeentaiiii." She whispered like no one should hear her. She then cracked up at herself, almost trying to laugh away her embarrassment.

Cassie only nodded, faintly smiling. Of course a submissions match was the obvious choice, but it hadn't worked out so well against Kelly.

"Ew, Nicole!" Cassie giggled and blushed bright red. "You'd really do that? In front of everyone, and... Everyone?"

"Eheheheh!" Nicole blushed but laughed. "We're already exhibitionists!" Nicole admitted. "Does it really matter if we do it fighting or with our clothes offf or?" She gave Cassie a playful shove. "It's just some fun, eh? Same as anything else! Eheh. I've already done plenty of topless boxing. I don't really see the difference in taking it another step further..."

Nicole turned her head. "J-just don't think I'm weird or anything, ok!? It's not like... I can't be serious anymore! Besides... it's not like I was suggesting it for you or anything." She said, looking back at Cassie with a smile on her face. "Though I bet it would catch her off guard! Eheh!" Nicole giggled and tried to picture Cassie in a hentai match. Then she immediately stopped. That wouldn't be good at all.

"Are you looking to really show this girl up?" Nicole titled her head as if she had no idea who Gwendolyn Dupont Bettencourt was. "Do you think a submission match is the only way you have an advantage?" She asked sincerely. Cassie was the best grappler in Canada, possibly the world. She might be the best submissionist pound for pound but... Nicole was starting to wonder if the bold and confident Cassie Elliot might actually be using Jiu Jitsu as a crutch... She was curious now, but she wasn't sure if she could relay the information back to her new sparring partner or not. Cassie was still a dear friend to Nicole, even if Gwendolyn thought Nicole could be bought.

"Oh my goodness, Nicole, you did that?" Cassie stared off for a moment and tried to picture it, but quickly stopped. She didn't need to besmirch the memory of her most worthy adversary with that mental picture. The next thing that came to mind involved herself and Shinobu, but she shook it out of her head, while turning a shade deeper red.

"Well, yeah," she said, as if it was obvious. "What else could I have? I'm just too small, otherwise. Jiujitsu is the only thing that makes me competitive, and that's mostly because everyone else is so bad at submission grappling. Why?"

She got on all fours and stretched her back like a cat.

Nicole blushed furiously along with Cassie. "What do you think Foxy Boxing is..." She muttered, trying to keep it to herself and focus on what Cassie was saying. Hearing Cassie talk, Nicole felt like her hunch had been right.

"Cass..." She said, frowning a bit. "It's not!" She urged. "Yeah, sure, you're the best at Jiu Jitsu, but you're still limiting your OWN options by making it a submission match, aren't you? It's not like she would have to grapple you. She can still wrestle and use her strengths to put you in a position where you just aren't able, or are too tired to fight back."

Nicole leaned forward and grabbed Cassie's head and looked into her eyes. "You're in a box, Cass. You need to get out of it! Isn't that why you wanted to be a wrestler? You still have more in your arsenal than just grappling, eh? I'm sure of it! Instead of only trying to make her submit, couldn't you put her in a position where she's pinned? What about a roll up!? What about using your speed? Shouldn't you be faster if you're smaller!? Cassie Elliot!" Nicole bleated and let go of Cassie's head and sat on her legs.

Nicole sighed as if she just had a mighty work out.

Cassie scrunched up her brow and stared back at Nicole with her big, troubled, childlike, green eyes. It was true about the submission match... Winning by submission didn't mean anything about the match itself. At lower levels of competition, she could just take a submission and be done with it, but it was much harder to end a fight up here in Friction, even if she was only in the middle of the pack.

She also supposed it was true that she was putting herself in a box, but to her it wasn't unjustified. Nicole didn't have the wrestling experience, or the Friction experience, that Cassie did. She didn't know what she'd been through. She had always hated losing, and she had done so little of it in her life that every loss in AFW felt like the end of the world. Especially the last one to Kelly, by submission...

Maybe she wouldn't make it a submission match, just to avoid the risk of having to tap again.

When Nicole backed up, Cassie regarded her cautiously. "Did you just call me to spar today?" She asked.