Big Time

”Little more, little more and-”

Valley sat the rack down and backed off doing a few stretches to make sure everything was still in working order. Seemed to be, but it never hurt to be sure. She was in great condition, but a long career would take its toll sooner or later. She just hoped it would be later.

”The Lion’s Den?” Valley perked up at the mention, genuine surprise playing across her face. That was a match she hadn't heard of in ages, but it made a kind of sense. From what she'd gathered of Adrian, the hardcore champ was a real wrestling fan on top of being a wrestler, and it seemed right up her alley. For the nostalgic value, at least.

”Wow, that's old school. I think my mother was still wrestling the last time they did one.” She had a light chuckle as she dated herself. ”But yeah, I've seen it before. Kind of surprised Adrian went for it, really - it's the kind of setup that really favors you, I'd think. Not a lot of space to move, no ropes to use, nowhere to go if you need some time to breathe. It's almost like taking you on in the octagon.”

As confident as Valley was in her abilities, she wasn't crazy enough to think she'd have much chance on Alicia’s home turf. She shook her head and started to put the weights back on. ”Will there be weapons around the cage?”

Nodding in reply to Valley’s surprised question, Alicia guessed that confirmed what she’d heard and read about the proposed match. It wasn’t one people saw an awful lot in Friction at least and, seemingly, not a lot anywhere.

She had to laugh though – she hadn’t realised Valley’s mother had been a wrestler, probably just another sign of how new to the wrestling world she was. But mostly, the British amazon was left considering what the blonde had to say about the choice of match.

It made a lot of sense. A wrestling ring was big, wide, open with lots of space to manoeuvre. This would be the opposite, an environment that she was familiar with and nothing she’d heard or seen about Adrian Kytes made her think the champion could outstrike her in a straight fight.

Clearly, the champion had something on her mind or up her sleeve but the redhead didn’t know what. Did she really think the weapons would even things up?

”It wouldn’t be much of a hardcore match otherwise, I guess,” Alicia’s reply came with a slight grimace – she’d clearly much rather do without the weaponry full stop but was going to have to put up with it, ”I mean, she didn’t say there would be but I’d be very surprised if there wasn’t. Though I did get her to agree to keep it sane. I don’t mind losing a match, but I don’t want to lose an eye into the bargain.”

Valley made her way over to heavy bag nearby as Alicia spoke and started to bounce on her toes, getting in gear for a little kicking. Staying loose, staying light. Still paying attention to what the Scissor Queen was saying, but keeping her eyes forward, too.

The only time she spared a glance away was when she caught two of their fellow wrestlers looking their way on the other side of the gym. Judging from the way they were whispering and pretending not to look, they recognized Alicia and Valley, probably sprouting all sorts of little rumors.

”Well,” She turned her attention back to the bag and hit it with a couple of low shin kicks, rattling them off in quick succession. ”I wouldn’t worry too much. Adrian used to be a bit of a cheater, but she’s cleaned up. She won’t do anything too drastic.”

Valley moved away from the heavy bag and started to dart around it, nimbly working her way to the flanks, avoiding imaginary strikes. ”Really, hardcore matches in the AFW don’t get too hardcore. Usually.” She lashed out with a quick roundhouse in mid-step, then went right back to the footwork. ”Compared to most promotions, it’s fairly tame.”

Folding her arms across her ample chest, Alicia stood and watched with a contemplative look as Valley laid into the bag with kicks and dodged around. The blonde had some good moves, though nothing she couldn’t handle. No, it wasn’t Valley’s kicking game that she’d be worried about when their rematch came around.

Still, that was good to hear about Adrian not being a cheater but, well, from what she understood there weren’t a lot of rules in this sort of match. Nothing too drastic though, that was definitely something she was pleased to hear.

Although, in her book, ‘not too drastic’ included the odd cracked rib so… possibly a slightly different definition to Valley’s.

She shook her head though when Valley called them fairly tame.

”Yeah, well. Abattoir was going for a staple gun at one point, so I’ll be taking that with a pinch of salt.”

She shook her head with a little frustration, stepping up to another of the heavy bags. But, instead of laying into it like Valley, she leapt up, wrapping her legs around it until she could cross her ankles on the other side. Then the redhead allowed herself to drop back, clasping her hands behind her head. And, with a grunt of effort, she pulled her upper body back upright with the strength of her core and abs, using the grasp of her thighs to hold herself to the bag.

Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. It wasn’t an easy exercise even for a woman with Alicia’s powerfully developed hip and leg muscles. Hence the strain in her voice as she asked her follow-up question.

”Any…” Rinse and repeat. ”Advice?”

”Yeah, the staple gun was a bit much.” Valley twisted around and laid into the bag with a spinning heel kick, going high, fast, and hard. She popped back as the bag swayed and made her way to the other side, following it up with another strike from her shin.

”Abattoir and Liberty are kind of standouts, though. Most AFW wrestlers aren’t really that big on hardcore, and management doesn’t push it as much as some promotions do.” She jumped back, then leaped in with a strong push kick. ”Violence isn’t typically the reason Friction has...an...R-rating…”

Valley was just starting to go full steam, when she had to pause and look, really look, at what Alicia was doing. She knew the scary woman she was training with had killer thighs. She’d experienced them. But seeing her scissor a heavy bag to death was a humbling experience. Valley had strong legs by most standards, but she didn’t think hers were powerful enough to do that. She’d never even considered trying.

And there was Alicia. Doing it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

”Wow. Advice?” Valley perked up. ”Just do that to her.” She whistled and stepped back, continuing to appreciate the sight. ”Seriously. There’s no rope break to save her. As long as you make sure she’s clear of any weapons, I can’t see her escaping once you wrap her up. Just go in hard from the start, take it right to her. Get her down and do…” She waved her hand at Alicia’s mammoth legs. ”...this.”

The staple gun was a bit much.

A bit much.

And people called MMA hardcore, jeez…

Although she supposed that made sense, what Valley was saying about the two loony-tunes she’d found herself in the ring with. She had nothing but respect for them but they were both absolutely crazy and the idea of another hardcore match with either Liberty or Abattoir wasn’t one she relished.

It also made sense from management’s view point, really. Wrestlers were money and anything that stopped the bosses putting them in matches was never going to be a good thing for them. Sure, you’d get more money for that match but you’d lose the earning potential for that wrestler going forward.

She didn’t really need to ask what the R-rating was for either. She wasn’t that naïve.

Even if she did pause in her sit-ups to eye Valley, wondering what had the blonde so impressed.

”So…” Alicia gritted her teeth as she forced herself back up again, ”The usual. Cool.”

She could definitely do that.

Taking a break for a moment, the redhead gripped the bag to hold herself upright, doing her best impression of a koala as she glanced over at the blonde.

”You know I’m not actually squeezing that much? Just enough to keep me up. This-“ Her lips tightened with concentration, her thighs pressing against the bag with renewed force, compressing the contents into a smaller and smaller space until it looked like her legs would meet in the middle. Alicia’s voice was breathy with exertion as the bag creaked under the strain like something was about to pop, ”Is me squeezing it.”

After a moment, the British amazon relaxed her pressure, dropping lithely back to her feet and holding the bag as she took deep breaths.

”Want to try the sit ups? It’s great for your core muscles.”

Valley watched with her head askew as Alicia’s tightened her scissorhold on the bag. There were jokes to be made - likely revolving around making the sandbag tap out - but she couldn’t really get any of them out. Mostly, she was busy thinking about how it felt when she was between those thighs, and what they’d done to her body in the small time she had to suffer them. What they might do again.

Not the most pleasant thought, but she wouldn’t shy away from a challenge. Even one that could put her in the hospital.

”Hm.” Valley looked her own bag over, considering it for a moment. She wasn’t sure if she could. Then again, it was hardly complicated. She could squeeze someone’s head hard enough to support her own weight for a while. She’d never tried to do sit-ups from that position, but she could do them normally with no real problems.

Valley could do it. In theory.

”All right, I’ll give it a shot.” She grabbed the bag and held it steady, doing one last mental check. ”If I fall on my butt and you laugh, though, I’ll hate you for all eternity.” She flicked her tongue at Alicia, before focusing on the task at hand. ”Fair warning.”

After a deep breath...and another one...and another one, Valley hopped up and wrapped her legs around the bag, locked ankles from behind and scissored it. At first she held on with her arms as well, not putting all of her weight on her legs, waiting for the bag to stop swaying. But as the seconds went on, she shifted the burden, let go more and more, until-

”Whew!” Valley let go all the way and allowed her upper body to flop back. ”Okay, wow, so glad I got the surgery.” She took a few seconds to position her hands behind her head, making sure her grip was solid, and then she started doing Alicia’s special brand of situps. She couldn’t do them quite as well, but she was powering through, learning the motion, getting more and more comfortable with it. ”Two...three...four…”

”C’mon,” Alicia cajoled, ”I promise not to laugh at you. Unless you fall on your head.”

She huffed a soft chuckle. ”I might laugh then.”

Valley didn’t seem to be in much danger of doing that though. It took her a little while to work up the nerve and she wasn’t as confident as Alicia but that’d come with practice. But she got her legs around the bag easily enough and, once she’d stopped being worried and just let go, the blonde didn’t have any problems keeping herself up.

Standing still at first, Alicia started to walk around the bag as Valley got going, taking a good look at how she was doing the sit-ups.

The redhead laughed at her friend’s comment about surgery, glancing down at her own rather more hulking endowments. True, things like this would be easier if she was a cup size or two less. But, if she was honest, she’d miss them. And it was good ballast. Alright, so it did mean she needed a very good sports bra or there’d be flopping and that wouldn’t be any fun. But otherwise, she didn’t have a problem with it.

”You’re doing good,” She said instead, glancing back at Valley and watching the blonde in action, ”Keep going – just hold onto the bag, don’t worry about squeezing it. Focus on the elevation instead.”

”Pffft.” Valley took a moment to readjust her legs, getting a better lock down with her ankles, before she moved on to number five. ”Evil, evil woman. Six…”

Valley took Alicia’s advice and soldiered on, getting more comfortable with the position as she went on. She almost wished she could switch to the figure-four position, being a bit more comfortable with that style of hold, but she didn’t want to risk falling flat.

In the end it, all came down to balance, core strength, and a good grasp on her lower body, all areas she worked well with. Not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but she could see working this into her routine.

She reached her limit after a few moment and slid down the bag, easing her way down as she hugged it tight. [color:1560=ff00ff]”And...dismount.” She brought her feet down and eased into a split on the floor, spreading her legs out and getting a good stretch on. That lasted for all of three seconds, before she flopped on her back, sighing and rubbing her blazing abs. But smiling.

"Whew. Not bad." She blinked, looking up at Alicia's towering form. "You're very imposing from this angle."

Alicia did laugh at that, definitely not seeing a need to take it seriously. It was up for debate whether it was the exercise or the joke that had earnt it for her but, either way, she regretted nothing.

Either way, the blonde kept on going, visibly improving her form as she went along, for ten reps. Then she got down, stretched and promptly collapsed on her back, earning herself another chuckle from the redhead. Alright, yes, she’d been like that when she started. If she’d done many more reps herself, she’d not be as comfortable standing as she was and, even so, her core never thanked her for that exercise. But that’s what made it such an awesome workout tool.

After all, if it didn’t leave you aching, it probably wasn’t doing its job.

”I get that a lot,” The redhead looked down the length of her frame at the blonde, hip cocked and one fist resting on it. ”Though usually after I put people down on the mat, you know?”

She tilted her head to one side, curiously.

”And do you mean the exercise wasn’t bad? Or the view?”

Now she had a positively mischievous grin pulling at her lips, her eyes sparkling with humour. She wasn’t really flirting so much as taking the chance to mess with Valley a bit, between friends. Not that the older wrestler wasn’t attractive but… Yeah.