This Seems Familiar

Alicia was starting to build a bit of a reputation amongst the trainers who worked with the Friction wrestlers, and it wasn’t necessarily in a good way. Her little stunt with Gallium, which she’d still failed to apologise for or even look particularly sorry about, hadn’t exactly helped but the chief problem was a lot simpler. While Valley Doll wasn’t the only one unhappy about her choking the pinkette out centre ring, the real issue for the trainers was that Alicia tended to treat sparring sessions as just short of real matches. That meant, while she did pull her punches, it was only barely and she was a regular visitor to the gym.

She didn’t know but she was pretty sure she’d heard one of them say “not her again” when she’d walked in this morning, dressed in a plain black leotard and looking for a training partner. Tough – they were here to train and, well, she was pretty sure she could take a guess at why most of them were trainers and not actual wrestlers (with a few exceptions). Those who couldn’t do, taught, right?

Add to all that the fact that Alicia was a tall, powerfully built redhead with both strength and speed to spare, a competitive attitude and plenty of combat experience, and it wasn’t really surprising that her training sessions tended to devolve pretty quickly into… well.

This.

Her opponent this morning was a shorter but compact brunette who claimed to have a really strong neck. Apparently, she’d never tapped to a neck scissors and she might as well have waved a red flag right in front of a bull. Alicia’s smirk had been downright gruesome, a bit like the perfectly applied figure-four headscissors the trainer was currently imprisoned in. Sat behind her, the big redhead was leaning back on one hand while the other was – totally unnecessarily – cranking her ankle back to further ramp up the already crushing pressure.

The trainer’s neck might be tough but, seemingly, she was about as tough as everyone else Alicia had locked in that hold. The kickboxer’s thighs flared with muscle as she bore down, the brunette’s face going steadily redder and redder, her hands tugging futilely at the python limbs stealing her air until…

She just went limp, another KO for Alicia to add to her collection. And, technically, she hadn’t tapped. She also hadn’t taken long to demolish at all. Apparently, the trainer had been a little bit optimistic about just how much punishment that neck could take.

The big redhead unlocked her hold and left the snoozing brunette where she was, grabbing her towel and the bottle of water she’d left by one of the ringposts as she dropped to the floor. Taking a slug of water and patting some sweat from her forehead, she took a glance around the gym, more than a little bored.

And that wasn't unusual for her at this point, honestly.

Mikayla Pryor gave a scrutinizing glance to the clock on the far wall as she pushed herself up and off the lateral raise machine that she had worked with as the last step of her shoulder circuit. To the tune of several puffed breaths and the rock music pouring into one ear, she grabbed her towel and dabbed off all the bare skin exposed by her yellow shorts and matching sports bra, her countenance pleasant as she thought of little but the pay-off from all this training that Fallon had been providing her with welcome advice on, toned masterpiece that the Californian was. Before long, Mikayla was going to have that same match strength that her friend had displayed during their match, and it was showing. To that end, as the young blonde stepped away from the machine and started to cross the room, she paused to peer at herself in one of the mirrors against the wall, not unable to take a quick peek at how much her arms and abs were tightening up.

Deciding that it would be ridiculous to admire her progress for long (and probably look like the most conceited thing in the world), Mikayla ran a hand through her long blonde hair and continued on, heading to her next station. Interested in all the goings-on around her as per usual, since she was still starstruck by the fact that she was around all these wrestlers, Mikayla passed by one of the rings, almost thinking no one was practicing within until she heard what sounded like a hand slapping against flesh. Curious, she glanced back with a raised eyebrow. This time, she spotted the two women down on the mat - a redhead a little larger than Mikayla herself propped up on her hand, her legs in a figure-four around the neck of a brunette who looked- well, that was how she looked. Mikayla poked her head under the ropes to watch just in time to see the woman - red face and all - lose all control of her limbs and fall limp. Knocked out, just like that.

Well, this looked familiar. Thank goodness Red had avoided going through this again.

Now completely interested and forgetting where she was going, Mikayla propped a hand on her elbow against the mat as she lingered on the outside of it, noting how the other woman had the headscissors locked in. Wrapped tight, using a grip on her ankle as leverage. Looked good to the Minnesotan...and it was clearly effective, as the brunette remained on the ground as the redhead unwound the coil that was her legs. And despite Mikayla's recent experience with a certain blonde she had knocked out in the ring, Mikayla was going to introduce herself to this wrestler with such effective scissors - all friendly-like too.

She pulled herself up into the ring, stepping through the lower ropes, and paused on her way across to the redhead long enough to stare down again at the brunette as she passed. Another couple of steps carried her to her fellow wrestler, and the Minnesotan threw her towel over her shoulders, wearing her patented, charming grin. "I can't say I envy her, but I bet she's having nice dreams," she said, angling her head at the brunette.

Aside from the satisfaction of proving Miss Neck-of-Steel there wrong, Alicia had to admit to being somewhat bored. It wasn’t as bad as the disappointment she’d felt after fighting Gallium, but there was just such a difference between going up against another wrestler even in a sparring match and the training staff. Her second battle with Valley in the proper match had reassured her that AFW was where she wanted to be, but she was just going to have to accept that the training and sparring before the matches wasn’t going to live up to the matches themselves.

Sometimes, the matches wouldn’t either. But when they did…

With her mind thoroughly elsewhere, Alicia started with surprise as a voice suddenly intruded into her thoughts. Whipping her head back around, she found herself confronted by a blonde nearly as tall as she was and about the same age. The redhead was immediately struck by those purple eyes, almost exactly the same shade as her own and that was a first. She’d spotted one or two odd coloured eyes in Friction already, but nobody with violet ones like her. Flicking an assessing gaze over the newcomer, the kickboxer decided she had to be a wrestler with a build like that. No way was she a trainer and she was dressed to work out.

In particular, she couldn’t help but notice the other woman’s well-developed legs. Those were pretty impressive.

Although her initial reaction was to bridle at the remark and point out that had been a totally legitimate KO – if the idiot wouldn’t tap, what could she expect – Alicia luckily managed to recognise the grin and the tone before she put her foot squarely in her mouth. It was just something she was a touch defensive about at the moment, but the amiable quality of the smile on the blonde’s lips quickly relaxed the instinctive defensive reaction. So, instead, Alicia managed to quirk a grin in response, raking a hand through her short hair as she chuckled in slight embarrassment.

At her near slip, to be clear. Definitely not at KOing the trainer and leaving her sprawled in the middle of the ring. That was really just all in a day’s work.

”She looked a bit tired to me, so I thought she could use a nap.” She offered in response, with a brief smirk and a shrug, ”I don’t know about sweet dreams though, the trainers around here don’t like me much.”

Not that she minded much or cared really at all. If the trainers didn’t want to end their sessions with her snoozing, they just needed to stop sucking so much as opponents. If they didn’t keep letting her score scissors, then she wouldn’t keep knocking them out with scissors. Sticking out her hand, she offered it to the blonde. ”I’m Alicia, by the way.”

It did not take Mikayla long to realize she had just greeted a quality person on a whim. She had the same color eyes as the Minnesotan, after all! Her smile brightened further at noticing, and she would have brought it up immediately, but she didn't want to be too much for the other wrestler all at once. She remained her cheery self as the other woman inspected her (that seemed to be a thing around here, and Mikayla had her workout progress to be proud of anyway). When the redhead returned the grin, Mikayla was encouraged. Hey, someone who didn't start spouting insults at her for literally no reason! Improvement over her last made acquaintance, that was for sure.

Mikayla laughed openly at the other woman's comment that the trainers didn't like her. Oh, this was a familiar little tune being played here... just switch a blonde for a redhead and a redhead for a brunette. Everything else was the same...though Mikayla supposed she did avoid knocking out the trainers if she could help it. She had gotten ones smart enough to tap out. This brunette...maybe not so smart.

"Oohhh I can tell you honestly, I know that story. Though I think it's not so much that they don't like you, if I was to guess, they just hate to see you show up, hate to get trapped in those legs, and hate to, well, be-" She peered over her shoulder at the slightly stirring brunette. "-drooling at the end of the session." Her gaze swiveled back, flashing an unneeded apology for the trainers. "Actually that does kind of sound the same as dislike..." Mikayla hoped the trainers didn't dislike her for what she did to them, but...if that was the case, didn't they probably dislike all the women on the main roster?

Before Mikayla could derail the conversation at the whim of her thoughts, the redhead stuck out her hand and provided Mikayla a name. Alicia. The blonde clasped the extended hand. "I'm Mikayla! Good to meet you. And...good to see what you can do to someone's neck?"

At that comment, her violet eyes trailed down to the weapons that had been the brunette's temporary demise. Alicia's leotard left none of the tone in her lower body to the imagination. Those were impressive, very, very long gams. "So, how long have you been putting out the AFW trainers with those?", she asked, unsure if she was encountering a veteran or a newer arrival, like Mikayla herself.

Alicia had kept her once-over glance as quick as she could, but it was pretty clear that the blonde was built in a way that’d put up a good fight. Alicia had an inch or two on her, tops, and maybe a weight edge but that was about it. But, for once, she was more curious about getting to know this woman than how she fought.

That was particularly true when the blonde laughed at her joke and launched into her little story. Alicia laughed with her, shrugging at the explanation with a ‘maybe so, maybe no’ wave of her hands.

”It’s fine. I don’t think they’re used to how hard I spar. I don’t like to hold back much. Besides,” She added with a very British sniff of disdain, ”She could always have tapped. Or not tried the old ‘there’s no way anyone’ll ever beat me with a headscissors’ line.  She was asking for it.”

Given the blonde’s hand a firm shake, Alicia grinned back. Mikayla’s cheerfulness was pretty infectious and she’d got no problem with people admiring her lower body. She’d put a lot of work into it after all, and she actively chuckled at the bit about what her legs could do to a neck.

”Nice to meet you too. And if you think that was good, you ought to see my bodyscissors sometime – I’ve put a few out with that too.”

She actually had to stop and think about that question though. How long had she been here now? It hadn’t been that long but she’d already managed to pack a lot of things into the few weeks. Hmm. ”About six weeks, I’d guess?” The redhead offered after a moment’s consideration. ”I’m pretty new here. If you want to know how long in general though…”

Well now, this was taking her down memory lane. She’d been, what, fifteen when Sian had introduced her to straight scissoring as opposed to triangles and stuff like that. And it’d been a year later when she’d cracked Ian’s ribs – by accident – in their wrestling match. But her first proper knockout… That’d been Chris in the summer before she took her GCSEs with a reverse figure-four.

”Maybe five, six years now.” That sounded about right. ”But they’re kind of my thing though. Knockouts, I mean – by kick or by scissors, I’m not picky.”

As the trainers kept finding out. She really thought they’d have learnt by now.

Mikayla nodded along with Alicia's explanation about the trainers, the last comment that the redhead made bringing out a grimace from the Minnesotan. "She said that?" She was very nearly embarrassed for the brunette; trainers often didn't make it their business to become braggarts, because, in all honesty, there was a reason that they were trainers and not on the roster. Several trainers had considered themselves up to the challenge of sparring Mikayla in her time here, yes, but they did not prattle on in overconfidence. "That would explain why she was too stubborn to tap. Had she actually, you know, seen your legs when she said this?" It was worth asking. If so...well, not the brightest trainer in the universe.

With Mikayla having taken her own stock of Alicia's legs, her eyes slipped back to the other woman's face, catching the line about bodyscissors. A sly look crossed Mikayla's face, her thoughts trailing back to her most recent match. "Oh...I wouldn't know anything about that...", she replied, tone making it evident that she very much did. Not everyone had the midsection that Fallon did, after all.

Both eyebrows raised at Alicia's revelation as to how long she had been a part of AFW. Six weeks? This was starting to become almost disturbingly familiar. "Huh...me too. Or maybe more like seven weeks. They must have signed us around the same time!" Had AFW decided that they needed to stock up on ladies who could put people out with nothing but their legs? Maybe it was a new trend.

And speaking of putting people out... "Are you sure you're not my long lost sister from across the pond?", Mikayla asked, with a giggle. Every single one of her matches so far had ended with a knockout, and two thanks to her own scissorholds. "I don't do the kicks thing all that much, but scissors... those are kind of what got me here to begin with. And what makes some of the trainers avoid sparring with me, for better or worse. In fact, it's kind of awesome how much we have a history in common..."

”Maybe she’s new?” Alicia suggested as they pondered the mysteries of why the dark-haired trainer had actually said that, ”I mean, what she actually said was something about never tapping to a headscissors. Which is technically still true but I’ll get her next time. And yeah, she had actually seen my legs before she said that.”

She also must have been aware of Alicia’s growing reputation as a scissor specialist par excellence among the trainers and those wrestlers she’d got in the hold, which just made it even more of a dumb thing to say. Maybe she’d actually believed her own story. Whatever. Alicia really could care less. Like she’d told Mikayla, next time she’d get that tapout one way or another. Otherwise, it was just another sparring session ending the way sparring sessions did. The redhead didn’t think it made her special. She was pretty sure other wrestlers did exactly the same.

Some, based on the stories floating about the locker rooms, did worse. Really, snoozing or staggering from the ring nursing their ribs – or bumps on their noggins – was pretty tame by comparison to some moves.

It seemed that was something Mikayla knew about too, judging from the comment she made and the tone she made it in, which had Alicia’s brows rising in distinct interest before she cast another glance down at the American’s legs. She could believe it.

”Yeah?” Oh, she was definitely intrigued now and her own tone demonstrated that pretty clearly. While they weren’t as fun as experience, Alicia liked stories. Particularly scissors stories. And very particularly scissor stories ending in knockouts.

That was quite the coincidence though. Both of them into scissors from the sound of things, both of them joining about the same time… Weird. It wasn’t one she was about to complain about though. Alicia was already pretty sure she’d enjoy hanging out with Mikayla.

And it didn’t seem like she was the only one either, judging by the blonde’s joke. ”Pretty sure, but I think we’ve got to be cousins at the least,” She offered with a chuckle of her own.

Oh yeah, she was definitely starting to like this girl, all the more so once Mikayla revealed she specialised in scissors too. That settled it, Alicia was definitely crashing her next training session to watch. And looking up any matches she’d had.

”It’s what I started with. Kickboxing – I used to get into fights all the time and mum and dad hoped it’d calm me down. Then I started on MMA and a girlfriend got me into scissors at school. I’ve got a knack for them though so I guess those are part of why I’m here.” Though only a part, Alicia liked to think. While she knew how she liked to end a match and definitely had specialities, she wasn’t entirely one note.

Now Mikayla’d mentioned it, it was pretty easy to see why the trainers wouldn’t been keen on facing those legs anywhere near their neck or ribs. Alicia still wanted to see though – power was definitely a big thing in scissors and Mikayla’s thighs visibly had that in spades, but she was curious about her technique too.

”So,” She began, with a smirk, ”You got to see some of my moves - mind showing me some of yours? Pretty sure there’s got to be a trainer here dumb enough to agree…”

Mikayla couldn't help but break into open snickering at Alicia's explanation of how the whole challenge began. "Okay, that's ridiculous. I wonder if she went into it planning to not tap and be knocked out in that case, or if she genuinely didn't think you would be able to nearly squeeze her head off. I don't know which answer is worse." Of course, she was forgetting to ask the brunette, but the blonde had been given her fill of prideful women around here these days. In no way did she want to get another cocky mouth running.

It had not been her intention to trigger curiosity about the damage she could do with her own bodyscissors - she was still a bit touchy about her most recent match and what had happened, and didn't like to overly toot her own horn in the slightest - but she supposed that, now that Alicia had shared, she should too. Biting the inside of her cheek and rubbing her hands together, she slowly warmed herself to the thought of being candid about her latest in-ring encounter. "Oh I just...had a match with a woman who had someone pee in her cornflakes that morning," she relayed, trying to keep her description of the other blonde civil. It wasn't easy. "I didn't exactly try too hard to cheer her up, I suppose. I kind of turned her into a cornflake a little below the ribs." She grinned innocently, though she knew that at the end of that match, she had been a little on the vicious side

The blonde settled, propped against the ropes, to listen to Alicia's own little story about she got started with scissors being her thing. Needless to say, Mikayla found it much more interesting than her own story - a kickboxer. With some MMA background, to boot. "Hoh wow, you got me beat. Someone with legs like you, plus some background in all that other awesome stuff? You're no rookie like I am then.. you must already be a force to be reckoned with." It wasn't that Mikayla did not view her own ability with confidence...but she was definitely not someone with an actual combat background. She was learning the details on the fly, with help.

And it sounded like Alicia wanted her to put those details into practice. Grinning, the blonde ran a hand through her hair in modesty and took a quick survey of the room to see if there was anyone around. The brunette had already crawled off somewhere, to her credit. "I guess I can't be selfish. You already entertained me. But I don't...know who I can reel in for a session. I have a redhead who usually spars with me and can put up with it -  she, uh, might be a bit masochistic." At least, that had been Fallon's theory. Mikayla shrugged to the present redhead. Whatever floated Red's boat she supposed. "You have a phone around? Mine's in my bag. Maybe she'd answer my text if she's here... unless anyone else seems excited to get squeezed. Not...usually in my experience."

Now Mikayla pointed it out, it was actually pretty ridiculous. It hadn’t really occurred to Alicia before, because she’d been a bit busy… well, doing the obvious. It seemed like it’d be the latter of the two options because wanting to be knocked out was stupid – Alicia knew what she was doing but somebody who wasn’t so expert with KOing her opponents might easily keep the hold on too long and bad stuff would result. So, it’d have to be the latter unless brain damage was a better idea than pride.

Well, that would explain a lot. Still, she just laughed along with the blonde.

”I know, right? Normally, I go for the ribs but if she’s going to make it easy for me…”

Given the way she’d looked with the hint, Alicia was a bit surprised to say the least when Mikayla prevaricated a bit. And the story didn’t do much to enlighten her about why the leggy blonde had to work up to talking about it a bit. As far as she was concerned, it sounded exactly like business as usual – while she generally kept things within the rules, that didn’t mean Alicia had ever let people take out their issues on her if they’d got out on the wrong side of the bed that morning. Her eyebrows did shoot up a bit at the end though and she whistled admiringly.

”Oh, like the adverts? Snap, crackle, pop?” That was right up her street and suggested that Mikayla had a vicious streak under the cheerful exterior that Alicia appreciated very much indeed.

Not that she was a sadist, oh no, but if people were going to be that way then she was going to make them regret it. That was when she made them beg a bit or smothered them out.

Alicia wasn’t one for false modesty, so she nodded in agreement with Mikayla’s assessment. She was kind of a badass, she was proud of it and she saw no reason to say otherwise just to seem modest.

”Pretty much. There’s still a lot I need to learn about the wrestling side of things but I’ll trade strikes with anyone on the roster, I’ve got a solid submission game and if I get these around you…” She stretched out one leg, flexing the muscles for a moment for Mikayla’s appreciation. ”Don’t sell yourself short though – from the sounds of it, you’ve got some killer moves yourself.”

The redhead paused, uncharacteristically hesitating before she took the plunge.

”I’d probably suck as a teacher but if you’d like, I’d be happy to show you some submission moves sometime. From the sounds of it, you’d love this rib crush move and I’ve got some joint locks you might like for a change. Think about it if you want.” Hey, they might end up in the ring one day thanks to management and, if so, Alicia wanted to make sure she got her money’s worth out of that fight.

Plus, for someone she’d just met, Mikayla was really growing on her.

A snort of laughter was the blonde’s reward for that idea and image – it wouldn’t be the first time Alicia’d come across someone who was into that sort of thing. Probably the second but, hey, she didn’t judge. In lieu of answering, she stooped to snag her phone from where she’d left it with her towel, unintentionally giving Mikayla a good look at her taut backside in that leotard at the same time, and tossed it over to the blonde. ”There you go. I thought I saw another redhead around earlier, so I guess we might be in luck.”

Her new friend had a point about the rest of the trainers not looking exactly eager to put themselves in that situation; though they could probably insist, Alicia wasn’t eager to try pulling her practically non-existent weight and maybe risking not getting a trainer next time she wanted a sparring session.

Though she was curious to meet this redhead now. Mostly to see if she’d be up for rolling with Alicia too…

"Ha!", came Mikayla's response to Alicia's ad comment. "I can't say that idea didn't cross my mind...but-" Okay, whether she liked what had happened with Karen's match or not, she was pretty proud of how she had dealt with the larger woman in a physical sense, at the very least. In fact, before that match, she had not exactly known she had the effort in her that she unleashed on the older blonde. "-I didn't think it would be in good taste to do any permanent damage after she was already snoozing." Nevermind all the punishment leading up to that...but again, no permanent damage. At least, Mikayla didn't think so...

Mikayla giggled a little at Alicia's confidence - that reminded her of someone she knew very well, but Mikayla only gave Fallon a hard time over that confident edge, for obvious reasons. She would have to tell Fallon about her new redheaded friend; they would probably get along. "Even your attitude is badass," she told her, genuinely, as she peered at the redhead's leg on display. Maybe Mikayla should try the leotard look sometime...that was a nice leg intimidation tactic. "But I don't doubt it. Now that I'm here, I wish I had focused more on my love for fighting... The few friends that I squeezed would have probably appreciated that." She grinned knowingly. They hadn't passed out...mostly because they were not fighters themselves and tapped out in about a half-second, usually, unless Mikayla didn't let them up. They hadn't appreciated her horseplay, needless to say. "But yeah... I guess I do alright! All's been good so far, at least."

Really good, actually. The close fight with Fallon and two wins... she supposed she couldn't have asked for a better start. Now that days here felt more normal than surreal, she supposed it was difficult to remember that she was actually wrestling other women for the entertainment of so many and succeeding at it.

Briefly lost in those thoughts, Alicia's offer took her off-guard. The blonde blinked at the redhead a moment, wondering if she had understood her right. Some training? From someone with a fighting background? Her eyes lit up at the opportunity. Successful though she had been, she would never turn down some mentoring. She knew she was young and unrefined, especially seeing the better wrestlers around. Even Red said it constantly. "Oooh you better believe I would take that offer! My- well Fallon Terrazas, I dunno if you know her, but she's been helping me with the fitness training, but some help with submissions would be...great. I know some, but I can't tell you how effective they are...like, I did a-" She took in a breath, at risk of tearing into a rant. "Ahem, anyway, basically what I'm saying is, I would love that." If that wasn't obvious. Probably was. She grinned sheepishly.

As Alicia fetched her phone, Mikayla again appreciated the benefits of a leotard (at least, when she looked that fit) before she nabbed the device out of the air. "She's usually around, and I'm one of the handful she works with..." Going silent a moment, she concentrated on typing out something sensible to the trainer and explaining it was a different phone before she handed the phone back to Alicia. "Thanks! Hopefully she's nearby..." To watch for her, she propped back up against the ropes, and sure enough, a few seconds later, the redhead peeped her head around the corner, and Mikayla waved to her.

"Aha! There she is. I had a couple of trainers work with me when I got here - another redhead and another brunette - but they weren't too keen on my...raw enthusiasm, I think they called it..."  In false disappointment, she kept her lips pursed, slowly turning to Alicia. "I just think they're sad there's no padding for thighs around their heads."