Amazonian retreat

"Put 'em on! Make me work for it!" Rebecca called out as Alaina slapped on the plates. 390 was a huge step up from 300, even the Amazon might have been biting off more than she could chew with this feat of strength. But she had the blonde with her to help out, so she could afford to take risks like this, "Hey, you got the belt now. You're a big deal, lot of people don't get the best start. No big deal." She grunted as she heaved the strained bar off its hold and gently let it down over her chest. Yeah, this was going to be tough. "Ngghhhh..!" the amazon let out as her arms bulged under the strain, slowly rising the weight into the air as she mumbled "come on... come on..."

With a mighty push, the ebony giantess straightened out her arms, holding 390lbs up in the air as she laid on her back "COME ON!" She roared in triumph before letting it settle back down on the rack, a lot shakier than with the 300lb weight. "Wooo!" she wheezed out, sculpted arms just drooping off the side of the bench "That... that was tough." she said as she laid down, sweat dripping down her face.

"Thanks. I never thought of myself as a big thing, but the dojo has been great for training. I just... well, haters are gonna hate and say I was given chances I didn't deserve." Alaina said with a bit of a shrug, keeping her hands just underneath the bar if Rebecca needed her. She didn't. Alaina was downright impressed!

"Holy shit... that max press was 130lbs more than my best!" Alaina said in shock and awe. "I also just realized... like, does me being affiliated with a couple of your rivals bug ya at all?"

"Ahh..." Rebeca sighed as she sat up on the bench, rolling her shoulders to get some feeling back "It ain't just about how much you lift, it's how much you do for how big you are. I mean yeah it seems like a lot but I've gotta be like 100 pounds on you so pound for pound it ain't that much." the ebony amazon reassured Alaina, fumbling around for a towel to wipe the sweat off before Alaina mentioned the 'rivals'. A charitable way to put it.

It didn't take a genius to know who she meant, the Higurashi dojo was building up a solid reputation from just of who was running it. Or was running it, whichever the case might be. Then there was Akashi, Rebecca couldn't help but scowl at the thought of the sumo. "Forget her, she ain't here to bitch you out for treating me like I'm actually human." She scoffed as she moved to add even more weights to the already strained bench, two 15 pound plates, pushing it to an incredible four hundred and twenty pounds.

Alaina looked on in shock as Rebecca was adding to the weight. "Its ok. I know that people I like aren't always liked by everyone else. I guess if you don't have haters out there, you aren't doing it right." Alaina said as she got into spotting position. Rebecca didn't seem that bad to her as far as she could tell.

"I gotta say, all this is making me want to try a new max press.... even if I only end up doing 175 heh..." Alaina said with a nervous laugh. "Maybe if I keep at it I could find myself in the ring with you or Akashi, making it to that coveted top tier status..." Alaina was daydreaming a bit at this point. Sure, Entropy champ was awesome. She loved it and wanted to do all she could to represent that title and division well. But everyone who came in had their eyes on that Friction Championship, her included. Someday....

Alaina snapped back out of it, ready to spot. "Al right girl, 420 pounds ready! Lets do this!"

Rebecca practically slammed the 15 pound plates into place in frustration, she really didn't want to talk about Akashi, or think about her at all, the amazon was steaming at her mere mention, souring the conversation somewhat. "Don't think about it, I whooped her fat ass and I still ain't got a title. Her little brat buddy gets all the shots in the world." She grunted as she slid back into position. 420 was still somewhat underneath her maximum lift, but that was at the start of her career: when she was all strength and nothing else, and didn't have to deal with match injuries messing up her workout rhythm. Four Hundred and twenty was as high as she'd ever gone since being put through a ring in Switzerland.

The weights loomed dangerously overhead as Rebecca pulled the bar off it's hook and slowly let the bar down, but when it came to raise it back up, the amazon's struggles were a lot more noticeable, the strain in her arms becoming too much just as the giantess got it half way up before her muscular arms started to shake and give way.

Alaina saw Rebecca struggling and she moved in to assist, lifting up on the bar as well. The two got the bar back up and hooked safely and Alaina offered to help Rebecca up. "I guess I can agree to disagree in regards to those two, but it is what it is." Alaina said as nicely as she could. Alaina would begin to take plates off.... 420 was far beyond her limits. 275 would be a new personal best if she was able to lift it.

Alaina took the plates off and slid onto the bench, readying her hands and gripping the bar. "What did they do to you to raise your ire so much?" Alaina asked, her curiosity outweighing her manners. Had she been thinking and not focusing on her bench, she may not have even opened her mouth at all...

If she was sweating before, then Rebecca was absolutely drenched in sweat now. Her arms were sore as hell, and she was getting more frustrated by the moment. "You wanna know what my problem with them is? Let me asked something? You got a boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever I ain't got much room to judge personal choice..." Rebecca asked, pushing herself upright as she rubbed her aching biceps. "Now you got that shit, everything's great, it's fun, happy, mushy romantic shit, and then you got two bitches trying to split you up? How the fuck are you supposed to deal with that shit without getting mad at them?"

"Especially when one of them's Akashi..." She growled out "Bitch knows half the roster looks up to her, looks to her for advice and wants to be her, without type two diabetes. So one of the most respected wrestlers is trying to get your girl-boyfriend to break up with you, and that little shit Taylor wants her to take her side when I give her the beatdown she's had coming for trying to split us up in the first place. That's my fuckin' deal with those bitches." She ended up yelling, if people weren't giving her a wide enough berth already, they were running for the hills now. Rebecca was hot, and it didn't look like she was going to cool down so easily.

Alaina should have kept her mouth shut. She was unfamiliar with that situation and didn't have any sort of fact to dispute Rebecca's claim. "Damn... well I had no idea about any of that situation. I know Taylor and Adrian had a couple matches and you fought Akashi. I guess all I can say is that there is more to them than a lot of people realize. Those two did take in a struggling jobber and turn her into a champion." Alaina said as she grabbed onto the bench, 275 at the ready. She closed her eyes a second and began to refocus on nothing but the weight.

However, this talk did remind her of something.... or someone at the dojo. Cassie Elliot. Everyone loved sweet, young Cassie. Including Alaina's ex boyfriend. Cassie also handed Alaina an embarrassing loss she still hadn't lived down. As Alaina lowered the bar she slowly began to lift, her arms shaking, making only slow progress. The thoughts of Mamouru helping Cassie out of the ring and being nicer to her than to his girlfriend who just lost the match filled Alaina with resentment... resentment she turned into focus and results as the bar was lift up more quickly. Alaina let out a grunt as she straightened her arms fully and rest the bar back on the rack... 275 was her new personal best.

"Everyone I know thought the world of Cassie Elliot when she was here. Not me. She never did anything to me, but because of her history with my ex boyfriend who seemingly was never able to let go of her I ended up not liking her at all. She could get away with saying things that didn't bat an eye, but if anyone else said the same thing they got a nasty stare. I dunno... she was likable and adored by everyone. Maybe part of it was me being jealous of her. But I know what its like to dislike someone that everyone else seems to love."

Rebecca sighed as she got off the bench, moving to go spot in turn for Alaina as she tried to bench 275. "Hey... don't get me wrong..." she began, it probably wasn't the best idea to go ranting about the blonde's trainers like that, even if it was in her mind the complete truth "I'm not knocking their ability to train people, just that I don't like 'em and I don't have to. Problem a lot of people have is that they think that they gotta be friends with everyone, and everyone else gotta be friends with them." the amazon said watching as her new training partner successfully broke her own bench record. "Got any more in you or we giving the arms a rest and moving on?"

Alaina took a few deep breaths and got up. "I was gonna do some core next, then maybe hit the ring to run the ropes a bit for endurance." Alaina said with a shrug. "If ya want to join me you are more than welcome to. I was going to do some high to low pants, then work pushups into it." Alaina said. "Should be a piece of cake for someone like you right?"

Alaina made her way over to the exercise mat, curious to see if Rebecca was going to join her. She hoped that she would. "So... I have seen Adrian doing a hell of a job lately over in the hardcore division. She seems way too nice to be there, but I've heard that whenever I mention doing a hardcore match..." Alaina said with a shrug. "I also heard you guys like to rock some costumes and stuff for conventions, thats kinda cool. I did a charity thing where they needed volunteers to dress as superheroes at a children's hosptial so I ended up spending the day as Wonderwoman."