New Kid In The Gym

Taylor laughed and gave Mercy a friendly slap on the arm. "Don't worry about it," she said, and then stepped in to look her directly in the eye. "Right now, worry about me. Have you ever run ropes before? Well, start running. I'll tell you when to stop."

She turned for the ropes to hop out of the ring, but decided against it. Nothing against her rookie company, but there was a lot less dog hair in the ring. She opted instead to grab her bag of seeds and nuts and take up a perch sitting on the top turnbuckle.

"Run, turn, hit the ropes on your back, repeat. Go, go, go."

"What? But- wait that's not!" Mercy pulled up her hands to protest. Shouldn't Taylor be teaching her how to DDT someone's face in?! Stupid fundamentals! But Mercy DID trust Taylor. Mercy nodded and ran at the ropes as hard as she could. She turned her body with grace and then her back landed against the ropes. Her eyes widened and she flopped to the ground in a heap.

"O-Ow!" She said, rubbing her back. "I thought ropes were supposed to be springy! That HURT! How the heck do you guys whip each other into them all day!?"

"Okay, so someone like Lilly..." Taylor said as she crossed her legs on her perch. "She's not smart. She's just a big ball of angry, asshole cheerleader, so when you do fight, she's just-"

Thud.

Taylor stared blankly down at Mercy, sprawled out on the mat instead of running. That wouldn't do. She hopped down off the turnbuckle and got in Mercy's face.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now? GET UP!" She barked. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING DOWN THERE? IF YOU'RE DOWN THERE, YOU'RE DEAD, GET IT? GET UP AND RUN NOW!"

With the verbal savagery out of the way, she popped another mouthful of her food and glanced over at the rookie. She'd probably benefit from some tough training love too. It'd probably be a bad idea to call her over right after she ate, but it was just sushi. It usually sat pretty light. She could at least use her as a visual aid. She strolled back to lean against her corner with her elbows up on the top ropes.

"Aiiiiie!" Mercy shrieked. "Ya ya ya!" She said and scrambled to her feet. "Too tough for this!" She said to herself as she sprinted towards the ropes. She sprung and turned her body. She hit the ropes and her eyes widened. She stumbled and fell to her knees but scrambled up, stumbling a few feet before she picked up her pace and did it again.

"This is nothing!" She shouted as she bounced off the ropes. "It's nothing compared to What Angela did OR Lukretia's house!" She said maybe more than she should but it helped steel the paralegal. She was already panting hard but she was definitely running the ropes now, bouncing off them without falling down. She was quite the rope runner! Her heart raced and she looked at Taylor. "How am I doing!?" She said, sticking out her thumb.

Mercy then glanced back to see the ropes coming in faster than she thought. Not having time to turn, she took them full on and flopped onto her back, groaning. "Ugh...." She squeezed her eyes shut before she rolled onto her hands and knees and tried to push herself up.

"If your lungs are burning, you're doing great, if not..."

She dropped her bag in the corner and strolled out toward Mercy with her hands on her hips. "Mercy," she said sternly. "The second you hit that mat, I'm going to come after you. If you get up in time, I promise I won't punt you in the gut." She grabbed the girl's wrist as she was getting up and launched her at the far side with an Irish whip. "Get it? The mat is lava, and you only have lava-proof shoes. Every second you stay down is a second closer to me beating the shit out of you. She probably wouldn't really, but... who knows. It would at least be an educational beating for Mercy.

"And this is your warm up, dude. Run, listen to my voice, and get used to ignoring the how it feels when everything hurts and you just want to stop." Then she called over to the rookie. "If you're not too full of sushi, I can definitely help make you less soft and flubbery."

"Oh.. hah... they are..." Mercy said as she slowly tried to get up, only to be tugged up and thrown like a pillow. "Aiiee!!" She screamed and turned as soon as she hit the ropes. She began running again, trying not to fall over. Her lungs already felt like they were on fire. This was way harder than Zumba! She panted haggardly but fought through it, rebounding again and trying to focus. The last thing she wanted was to be beaten up by Taylor! She already knew how that felt!

"So, like I was saying..." Taylor leaned her side against the ropes with one arm hooked over and her other hand on her hip. "You're a little wounded duckling to this girl, and she's gonna just want to rip into you. She's gonna come straight at you. See, you're like me when I was in school. You're smaller, skinny, and it doesn't matter what your mouth does, your ass is still getting kicked. It's fucking terrifying when some bigger, stronger asshole is in your face."

She walked to the middle of the ring and stood just to the side of Mercy's running route while the pink haired girl ran back and forth. "But it's okay... You're smarter. You've got a reason to fight back. And you're tougher than anyone knows."

As Mercy reached the ropes, Taylor stepped into her path, so that she was coming straight at her. A split second before she reached her, Taylor darted ahead and to the side, and ducked behind her while her arm shot out. In an instant, she had ensnared her with her arm wrapped around her throat, keeping her bent over backwards to keep her from finding the strength to escape. She applied just enough pressure to let her know she was being choked, and then straightened her up and let her go.

"If you know what they're going to do, you can beat them, and if you can make them do what you want? Even better. Get it?"

Mercy listened though it was hard to as she ran the ropes, bouncing off them. Her legs already felt like jello and she was sweating... a lot. "She's not... hah... Bigger than me!' Mercy gasped as she bounded off the ropes again. "And my ass... hah... is awesome Aiiieeeeeurk!' She threw her hands up, not wanting to crash into Taylor only to be caught from behind.

Mercy was bent over easily and acted like Taylor was choking the life out of her as she squirmed. It felt like she was being murdered. When Taylor let her go, Mercy dropped to her knees. She began panting hard and then flopped to her stomach. "Hah... yeah... hah.... not really." She huffed, blowing her bangs out of her face futilely.

Mercy pushed up and panted for a second. "Ok... ok..." She said and waved Taylor off. "I'll keep running ropes until I puke. That's what I need to do, right?" She said. "Maybe if you help out that other girl, I can see how you treat beginners. It's like a two for one or something." She grinned. "How's that for thinking smart?"

Alaina had just finished eating and was discussing a few things with Charlie when she heard Taylor call out to her. "Soft and flabby? I am gonna go in there and show her what I'm really made of!" Alaina thought to herself.

"I gotta get going to that interview I told ya about. Do you want me to drop back and pick you up?" Charlie asked.

"That'd be great. If I get a ride otherwise I'll shoot you a text, if you don't hear anything just come back here." Alaina answered as she gave Charlie a quick hug and pet L.C one last time before his departure.

As she made her way over she saw Mercy on the verge of collapsing in tears, with Taylor in her face. She got the idea that Taylor was doing it for her benefit, but she still felt bad for Mercy. She knew training would benefit herself, but stepping in to take some heat off Mercy seemed like a second benefit. Alaina had been there but her endurance had always been an asset dating back to her cross country days in school.

"All right, lets do this!" Alaina said as she jumped up to the ring and climbed between the ropes.

Taylor watched Alaina as she stepped into the ring, and then before the rookie knew what hit her Taylor had ducked to the side and slipped around behind the brunette. She slipped an arm around her neck just like she had with Mercy.

"And you can push on the lower back to help bend her back..." She said, looking at Mercy while she bent the taller girl back and secured the choke, but without any pressure. "You'll feel it here, she's weak. She's got no balance. From here she can try to scramble, but I can move her wherever I want. See?" She began to back up and drag Alaina toward the middle of the ring before letting her go.

"That step is the thing I want to drill get down. Once you're behind or to the side, you've got options," she said, pantomiming each one. "Throw a hook to the jaw, to the kidney, kick out the knee, sweep the leg, grab the choke. You can even just fucking plow into her and shove her around, so she's off balance and you can take something else. We'll go over the details with everything later, right now just hit that step."

She gave Alaina a push and pointed her towards Mercy. "So pretend you don't know what she's doing, and just go straight in. Don't hurt her too bad. Okay? Get her!"