How would you like your training today?

Isa had performed her training completely oblivious to the fact that Alicia might have been around at the gym, and had no idea how she had been evaluating her capabilities. Instead, as it was already quite late, she actually thought being already alone at the gym, making her examining the properties of the ring slightly more obviously than with an audience. Eventually she started leaning on the ropes facing the ring, letting them press gently her back, immersing in her thoughts about how the future matches could be like...

Alicia must have probably had a good view of Isa's legs and body, as she snuck behind her by the ring. Suddenly opening her mouth, Isa gasped from the surprise and quickly turned around to face her. "Oh, hi..." she stuttered noticing Alicia right in front of her. Hearing her comments again about the trainers, Isa leaned slightly over the top rope right in front of Alicia for a better suited position to have a conversation. Which, again, made Alicia able to take a look at her body even better.

"Oh well, she was quite fun... And I... Uh... Well she was nice so I didn't really want to HURT her, it was just a training you know..." Isa explained herself. But then not wanting to sound too contradictory with Alicia's opinion, she continued "But yeah, I kind of see what you mean... I mean, as it was just a practice, it didn't have any feel of a real match, you know..." Admitting Alicia's point, Isa then continued "Really, if all matches here were like that one, I don't think I'd have any worries at all. I mean that was fun as well, but I really don't think I'm much more prepared now than before... At least I got to be in this ring though!"

Alicia began to seem more of a person she could count on, and Isa was actually slightly curious as to why she had been so keenly observing her training.

Alicia hadn’t been consciously sneaking – it wasn’t really in her nature – so it struck her as particularly funny when the blonde was clearly caught entirely off guard. Isa didn’t actually jump but she certainly whirled around quickly and the redhead couldn’t hide her snicker of amusement.

”Hi.”

And, seriously, if Isa had been trying to flaunt herself for Alicia, she couldn’t have done a better job. The way she’d been positioned at first, the blonde had been showing off her legs and ass perfectly – like the redhead, she’d got the sort of curvy backside that bespoke the muscle underneath. And now, well, Isa was still putting her legs on display plus her chest into the bargain.

Alicia wasn’t entirely sure if she was being flirted with or not. Either way, not complaining.

”Don’t worry about it,” The British fighter assured the newbie with a chuckle, ”It’s what they’re paid for. As for the matches…”

She paused, shaking her head, moving around the ring so she could hop up and slip between the ropes. She was getting tired of staring up even if the view was a very nice one.

”Booking’s up to management. Sometimes you’re going to be put in good, solid matches with good opponents. Those are a lot of fun. And sometimes, they’re going to throw you in here with someone half your size, no skill to speak of and expect you to flatten them.”

The way Alicia rolled her eyes was expressive to say the least.

”I hate squash matches. No challenge at all. But management loves ‘em, for whatever reason. And that’s not mentioning all the freak-shows and weirdoes in this place.”

Thoughtfully, she ran her eyes over Isa from top to toe, taking in every inch of the other woman’s physique. Not bad. And she liked Isa’s attitude, though she needed to ditch her worries about hurting people.

”If you’re up for it, I can show you some stuff.”

Isa surely hadn't been trying to flaunt herself. Make no mistake, she knew her body was admired by many, but she wasn't really one to show off. At least intentionally, that is. Besides, Alicia was an experienced fighter, and had surely seen numerous scantily-clad ladies in various positions before. How could have Isa had guessed her body language was raising questions in the redhead...

Isa started listening to Alicia again, but soon Alicia paused. As she started to move and hopped into the ring, Isa became just slighty more anxious. "Oh dear... I did hope I wouldn't have to fight this girl, didn't I? And now she's in the ring with me!" she thought to herself, as Alicia then continued talking.

And indeed, she could hear Alicia telling her some useful information! It seemed that Alicia's intentions were good, so Isa decided to open up a bit about her past. "Oh, well, actually... If you want to know about my wrestling experience... Back in Reykjavik we had this small uni campus league that hooked up with each other every week to have some matches. So far that's the only place I've really wrestled in..." She paused for a second to see how Alicia would react, before continuing.

"I was actually the biggest wrestler of the group, so my life was quite easy... And well, my legs are quite strong, so often they could control the others quite effectively." "So I guess many of my matches turned out to be these so called "squashes", especially against the smallest opponents. But I found them fun, especially because the others seemed to enjoy it as well... And it was not like I was trying to hurt them or make them really suffer, just control enough to get the win! But I guess there can definitely be some more challenge here..." she added, scanning again Alicia's body with her eyes thoroughly while making the last remark. After which she realised, that such a scan could potentially be subconciously interpreted as a preparation for a fight...

"And eh, well, I guess I'm eager to get more training! Or at least if you could show me a thing or two, that would probably be very useful!" Isa added cheerfully, trying to sound like being ready rather for getting some tips, than an actual full-fledged fight. As she did so, she took a couple of steps towards the center of the ring. Being now quite close to the slightly taller girl, Isa could now see her muscles better than before. She had to swallow quickly at the sight, but quickly continued "So, what kind of stuff did you have in mind?"

Cocking her head to one side, the redhead listened as Isa laid out a little about her background. It was interesting, actually it sounded a bit like how she’d got her start – if you swapped Reykjavik university for Alicia’s London school circle of friends. Nodding, she kept her thoughts to herself as Isa then went on to explain how she’d been the biggest, something she could easily believe. And she’d seen the effect the blonde’s legs could have already.

Interesting. They had a lot of common ground in some ways, it seemed, and almost none at all in others.

That kind of reminded her of Mikayla. Isa actually reminded her a lot of Mikayla.

That wasn’t a bad thing.

For a moment, as Isa’s eyes ran all over her and with that comment hanging in the air, Alicia wondered if this was an implicit challenge. She thought about it, eyed the newcomer and decided not. No, Isa didn’t seem the type and it kind of flew in the face of what she’d just been talking about. So she let it go.

”The fans will love you,” Alicia said after a moment, though her tone made it unclear whether the redhead thought that was a good thing or not, ”They love seeing someone like you dominate some half-pint without a clue. Me, I find it boring. Just don’t expect the losers to enjoy it so much here.” She thought about that. Thought about Dmitri. Then her lips peeled back from her teeth in a thoroughly unpleasant smirk. ”Most of them anyway. Some’ll love it, particularly if you do any Tension work.”

That left what she was going to show Isa. Hmm.

”Let’s see what you’ve got,” She decided, ”How’d you do it in Reykjavik? Starting on your knees or from standing?”

Well, nobody hereabouts would be starting on their knees but, if Isa wasn’t a striker, Alicia was not enough of a sadist to make her try and take down a veteran kickboxer. They could work on takedowns once she’d found out how good Isa was on the mats.

Isa was now getting happier she had encoutered Alicia. Even if she was a dangerous fighter, Alicia had told her some very useful information - something that Isa couldn't have ever heard from any official source. And she didn't seem like wanting to destroy anyone in her way, quite opposite, Alicia seemed to have some kind of a positive interest in Isa.

Especially the fact that Alicia accepted her background without a comment made Isa feel good. Apparently it wasn't something that would have thrown Alicia immediately off, and the fact really boosted her confidence. She felt more 'legitimate'.

Listening to Alicia's comments of fans and losers made Isa smile and blush gently. She kind of believed the part about fans loving her, and Alicia's blatant tone meant that it probably wasn't just a compliment. That made her smile. Then the thought of a bunch of Tension guys enjoying losing to her, that made her blush. Isa was sure Alicia didn't lie, she just had never had that kind of a mental picture on her mind. Isa loved making other people happy, but wasn't really quite sure if that was the way she would want to do it.

Momentarily buried in her thoughts, Isa paid attention again when Alicia asked how they did it in Reykjavik. "Starting on their knees" immediately brought back memories of the countless bed wrestling matches she had had with Julie, and that was really not the part of her history she wanted to bring up now.

"Oh, well we always started from standing..." she began. "I had usually the habit of trying to start with the traditional test of strength, but soon after the matches usually became pretty much mat-based..." she continued. Not wanting to give a too simple account for her past, she then added "Sometimes the others tried using some aerials or keep me standing as long as possible, but as they were smaller, I usually ended up downing them pretty fast."

By now Isa was really curious about what Alicia had in mind - either it was that she wanted to teach her some new moves she didn't yet know, or then she wanted to let her experience a rougher opponent, the kind of what she had despised the AFW trainers could never be.

Whichever it was, there was no backing off now.

Unsure how to take the blush, Alicia just chose to ignore it, continuing on. It seemed that, whatever Isa had been thinking about, it had distracted her for a moment because the redhead was left hanging before the blonde snapped back in with a response.

Standing then. That was better.

Well, sounded like Isa and company had been doing things a bit more properly than Alicia had expected. That’d stand her in good stead at least, earning the blonde an approving nod from the redhead, followed by an amused shake of her head – yes, Isa certainly seemed like someone who’d appeal to the more domination-centric fanbase. That ought to have made Alicia lose all interest but…

Well, funnily enough, it wasn’t. Maybe she was just curious to see how the newcomer actually fared with some stiffer competition. Maybe…

She didn’t know. Whatever the reason, she wasn’t introspective enough as a person to care. Besides, there’d been enough hints dropped to make her think that Isa was also interested in some good competitive fights. If she wanted a hint of what those would be like hereabouts, Alicia was more than happy to show her.

”Standing it is,” She agreed, rolling her shoulders back and moving to centre-ring, ”And a test of strength? Alright then, let’s see what you’ve got.”

Raising her hands, she waited to see if Isa would join her and accept the invitation. And pondered how she was going to play this particular twist.

OK, so apparently Alicia was keen to find out about Isa's skills and strength. And to be honest, Isa was now getting quite eager to show her. This girl was definitely bigger than her opponents so far, and it would be interesting to see how she would manage to train with her. Also, all that Alicia's talk about squash matches and opponents that enjoyed losing had been kind of new to Isa. She had never really considered things from that perspective, even though she could guess it probably made sense. And now she was getting a little worried about whether she actually was that good of a wrestler she had seemed to be before...

Isa scanned Alicia's body once more as she rolling her shoulders and settling in the center of the ring. Well, it was nothing new anymore, mainly she did it to mentally prepare herself for the test of strength. But damn, Alicia's thighs still impressed her...a lot. And she also seemed to have strong arms, which was something Isa didn't have. Well, they weren't weak, but not as super strong as Alicia's looked like to be...

With Alicia raising her hands, Isa quickly flexed her legs and body, getting ready to accept the challenge. "OK, well, I promise to do my best then!" she replied Alicia in a tone that sounded like she was eager to see what would happen. She did want to find out the outcome, but was slightly worried if Alicia could overpower her very easily.

She then proceeded to lock her hands with Alicia for a proper round of the traditional test of strength. Isa often didn't start the move with her full power, only increasing it later, but it was probable that this time full power would be mandatory. So she decided to start trying to push Alicia back with her full force right from the beginning, hoping to catch the redhead off guard.

For a moment back there, it’d looked like Isa was going to waver but no. As she stepped in, the newcomer looked and sounded almost as eager as Alicia herself, albeit it still in a more innocent fashion than the brutal redhead.

Yes, that was definitely an attitude Alicia could get behind. The two women locked hands, the redhead nodded to indicate they were starting and the blonde immediately shoved and shoved hard. Given the informality of her background in combat sports, that was something of a surprise.

Not quite expecting Isa to be that assertive, Alicia did indeed take a step back under the initial push, a forced retreat that saw her lips curl into the slasher smirk that she wore through most of her fights. But then she dug in her heels, pushing back hard – fully intending to make that the last time she was shoved back in this Test of Strength.

Whatever Isa might be thinking, Alicia’s arms weren’t super-strong, but they were still pretty potent and, presumably like the blonde, her leg strength allowed her to hold her ground fairly easily once she had her feet set.

Once she’d equalised the two of them, Alicia didn’t waste her own strength in trying to push Isa down. Instead, she let her grin widen a little.

”Lesson one.”

Right before she brought her knee up, looking to catch the blonde right in the belly with a sharp blow. If it hit, Alicia would uncharacteristically not take advantage but would see how Isa took it – both physically and mentally.

”People hereabouts don’t play fair.” She’d add.

Isa had guessed it right - Alicia wasn't expecting her full force right from the beginning. As the redhead had to take a step back, it made Isa feel incredibly strong.

But that moment lasted only for a second, before Alicia rebounded. Isa had to back down and settle herself again for a better defending position. Alicia was pushing her really strong - stronger than anyone had ever done. Isa tried her hardest to counter, but couldn't help eventually having to take a step back, and after a while another one. It looked like that for the first time, she was about to lose a test of strength. She had to admit that it wasn't a huge surprise, but still the feeling was - interesting.

"GAHH!" Isa cried out, after the Alicia decided to star her lessons. Isa immediately dropped down to her knees. She hadn't been expecting the blow at all, which made it feel especially bad. Alicia was indeed a different type of fighter than the ones she had been in the ring before....

Isa ended up on her all fours right in front of Alicia. Luckily, the redhead was about to give her advice, and not another attack.

"Well, I see that now, Alicia. Thanks for letting me know..." she said, panting a little and in a slightly broken tone. She didn't raise her head at all to set her sight on Alicia, and appeared to be quite devastated from the blow. Appeared.

Isa tended to be quite quick-witted, a fact that could often be useful in matches. Not sure if it would end up being useful now, but still, in the spirit of Alicia's words, she would instinctively try to suddenly grab both of the redheads ankles which were right in front of her, and yank them hard towards her own body. Maybe she could get the confident redhead to fall...

Well, that wasn’t much of a surprise if Alicia was honest.

From what Isa had said, her previous opponents had just let her win the tests of strength or hadn’t known the big obvious counter. Alicia was of the opinion that tests of strength were for idiots and any attempt to engage her in one, outside some sort of contest situation, was destined to involve a knee to the gut.

So Isa might as well learn about that one sooner or later. What did surprise her was the reaction and not in a positive way; if that was all Isa took to lose spirit…

It did seem vaguely out of character but Alicia wasn’t given any time to ponder that before she felt two hands around her ankles and then she was falling over backwards.

Oh. Ok. That didn’t make her too happy either but, sure, fine. She’d wanted to take this to the mat anyway, this was just a quicker way of doing that.

She may have hit the mat hard, but it’d take a good deal more than that to discombobulate the big redhead. Not wanting to give Isa a chance to get on top of her, she went to kick the blonde across her jaw, fancying that would ensure the newcomer would keep her distance. At least, long enough to roll over, onto her knees, swing around and pounce on the blonde in turn, Alicia looking to score a mount.

For the moment, at least, Isa was on her front which meant the redhead didn’t have to worry about accidentally landing in her guard. That could change any second and, while Alicia was willing to bet her legs were stronger, she was sure Isa’s were still plenty strong enough to beat her midsection.

If this was a competitive match, Alicia might have gone after those legs. As it wasn’t, she wanted to see how Isa reacted to being the one underneath for once.

Could she shift Alicia? And, if she did, would she fall into the potential trap the redhead was setting up…