They Might Be Giants (for Kerflubble)

Wrestling looked so easy when Beatrice was a kid. Then again, a lot of things did.

She used to wrestle with her cousins at family reunions - those were the good times. She get a blast throwing them around on the trampoline, play fighting them, having a good time while their parents looked on and shook their heads. The smell of burning meat on the grill, hot dogs and hamburgers and store-brand sodas in a cooler. It was one of the only times she didn't feel all that outcast - she just had fun.

The match with Adrian had been a lot like that, even if she'd lost. No one laughed at her size, no one held it against her - they were amazed by it, if anything. Maybe even a little afraid - she wasn't sure she liked that, but it was a nice change over ridicule, if nothing else. And even if they didn't quite get her theme - yet - it was fun wearing her cosplay outfit in public. She could see why people like Kane and Hogan and the Rock became so much larger than life; it wasn't just talent, though that was a big part of it. Getting into the persona was fun. The lights were intoxicating. The crowd was addictive. Even now, just running around the gym's training ring and practicing a few elbow drops, she felt anxious for it. Another match. Another try.

But if she did go back in that ring, and she did go against another, more experienced wrestler like Adrian, she'd be in trouble. From what she'd heard, her next match might be against someone named 'PhDoom' - a strong, aggressive brawler. She had a week or so before then - she needed to be ready for it, whatever it brought. She had training, now she needed higher training, and she had a way to get it, too.

She'd asked Adrian to come and give her a few pointers, and that's who she was waiting on - from the looks of things, they had the gym to themselves for the moment. Beatrice had caught a few of her matches on Youtube, and while Adrian was obviously more of a high-flyer, she was sure she'd have a lot to share, and she was eager to soak it all end.

It had been a weird time for Adrian. Usually people who she stole a win from after getting the shit kicked out of her were mad, and now she was helping one of them out so that sort of thing didn't catch her again. "Uhhh..." she mumbled nervously as she stepped in the gym, seeing the giant already working up a fair bit of steam, "Hey Barda... I mean Beatrice... I mean... whatever. How've you been?" It wasn't exactly easy to walk up and start a casual conversation with someone who had about 16 inches of height over you.

And what exactly was she suppossed to teach? The giant cosplayer had been kicking ass before Adrian pulled a possum roll-up, she was clearly in great shape, strong and stop staring like that she mentally scolded herself, catching her head drifting down Barda's abs and not keeping eye contact.

"Barda is fine, if you like." She broke out into a little blush. "I...kind of like people calling me that, to be honest. It's a comic geek thing, don't mind it."

Beatrice...Barda was quite used to people not looking her in the eye - it was something she'd been getting used to pretty much since she hit puberty and took off like a sprout. That look, as people tried to decide exactly which part of her anatomy they should focus on, so used to not having to move their necks all that much to hold a conversation. The nervousness was pretty common, too - people always got the impression that she was going to chop them in two if they so much as sneezed in her direction, even if she never did anything of the sort.

Though it seemed like Adrian was staring just a wee bit more intently than most. Could've been her imagination, maybe.

"And it goes fine - managed to go a whole day without getting lost in the city, so that's a plus. Thanks for agreeing to work with me a little, I really appreciate it." She gave Adrian a pat on the shoulder and smiled.

"Yeahhh, Tokyo's kinda really confusing sometimes. Took me half a year just to get used to travelling between my apartment and the arena." Adrian replied, still trying to make small talk as she moved towards the ring, the smaller cosplayer hopping up to the apron so she could sit down and not break her neck trying to look up at Barda or end up staring at the amazon's boobs, sitting on the ring edge would be a decent compromise. "Not really sure what to do here though," she admitted "I mean, there's no real point going through all the stupid things done in training school again, 1: I can't really do a drill sergeant voice and 2: I know first hand that you're good enough strength and probably skill wise to be here." the brunette was by no means a trainer and while Big Barda might still be a little rough around the edges here and there, she couldn't really help with cardio so much as general match strategy.

"But I did promise that I'd help out so... what exactly do you think I could help you with?"

"Hm."

That...was a good question. Everything always looked so much easier in training montages, it was easy to forget that teaching someone something was often a bit more complicated than a few scenes over an 80s music track. The idea seemed solid enough in her head, at least.

"Well, my next match is probably going to be against this fighter, a brawler. PhDoom, but...well, to be honest, the match we had was the first real fight I've had my whole life. If you want to call it a fight, anyway." She leaned back against the ropes, jostling them a bit with her weight on all sides. "I was hoping you might have some ideas on dealing with someone like that...or, heck, we could just hang, if you don't. You like ice cream?"

"Ice cream sounds good!" Adrian perked up, before an idea hit her. "Actually... I got a better thing, stay here, get a drink of water, I'm going to make a phone call and see if I can get some help over here." She said quickly, jumping off the ring apron and pulling out her phone. Although the smaller girl wasn't totally clueless when it came to striking, it was difficult to really take in for someone Barda's size what a straight up brawl would be like. Personally, she was already counting Big Barda as the heavy favourite to win any straight up fight, but she had promised a few tips and tricks. "Hey Becks? I'm at the company gym, could you come help me? I need to introduce you to someone... not like that, don't beat her up! ... well... complicated, anyway, see you soon!" She chatted through the small device, before turning back to the amazon. "Okay, I got you a real training partner, but she's not gonna get here for 15 minutes, so lets get water."

"With brawlers, the thing you gotta watch out for is that you don't take too much damage winning. Yeah, the payouts here rock, but if you can't treat yourself afterwards because all you can do is suck soup through a straw... that kinda sucks. You've got a better chance at winning against someone who wants to beat you up rather than just win, like I would, but it's gonna be a rougher time, and some of the people here can be stupidly strong for their size. Like, 'I have the strength of a giant despite being a 5'7 and skinny as a rake' stupidly strong. Those guys suck."

Barda watched on, curious, as Adrian talked on the phone - she figured a long timer like would know a lot of people, she just didn't expect her to bring any in. New people. New people were always kind of...difficult. She wanted to make good impressions, starting out, and this sort of thing could get awkward...but Adrian was going out of her way to try and help her out, she had to appreciate that. Whoever 'Becks' was, she'd try to make the time worth her while.

Even if the talk about beating people up kind of scared her, a little.

"Ugh, that would be weird to deal with." She shook her head at the thought - someone Adrian's size with as much power as her own? Weird. Weird and annoying. "I'm not trying to do any hardcore matches - not for a few weeks, anyway. Sounds inevitable, though - anyone I should be looking out for?"

Adrian had to admit, what she said was pushing it a little, but there were some really strong people here. "I think the worst have actually left already. There was this one asshole, in particular, but then she up and left one day. And there was much rejoicing." She tried to reasure her as she slipped a few coins into a vending machine, the familiar clunk of a bottle hitting the bottom soon after. "Just let them fuck up with the weapons and spots and stuff, and you'll be fine. Best bet, if someone comes at you with a chair? Raise your leg up and let them run into your boot, normally works."

Rebecca Tomoko was not expecting to get called out to the gym by Adrian today. Not that she didn't mind seeing her girlfriend around the arena, but the dark amazon had an agreement with the former cosplayer to try and do their own things from a professional standpoint from now on. Adrian wanted to turn over a new leaf and Rebecca was enjoying getting the chance to be the alpha asshole on camera for once, instead of being a silent bodyguard. So what was the ex number-1 contender up to asking for help with someone? She was about to get an answer. "Hey," she said, ducking through the double doors to greet Adrian and... her latest partner?

At first she wanted to make a joke, seeing Barda with Adrian like that, fake being hurt about being replaced by another amazon. However as she got closer she started to notice something odd. She was having to look up to Barda, a lot. There was a bout as much height difference between her and the giant cosplayer as there were between the Enforcer and the normal sized cosplayer, and she was 2 meters tall! She had to hold back a 'whoa' from just the sight.

"Becks! You made it!" Adrian squeaked, running up to glomp the dark skinned warrior. Barely making her flinch with the impact. "Right, introductions! Introductions. Becks, this is Big Barda, like DC comics Big Barda only not from space. She's new here, had a match, beat her, and now she wants help with stuff. Barda, this is Rebecca Tomoko: long time friend and partner." Adrian said quickly, trying to get the two over the awkward phase asap.

Barda had to admit, there was something oddly fun about the idea of kicking someone in the face. And the idea of using it with the chair made her think of an Undertaker match - she liked the comparison. But was it even going to be hardcore match? They hadn't said - she was just given a name. Putting her up in that sort of thing with only her second outing seemed extreme, but then, they'd put her against someone experienced for her first match - way more experienced. So her expectations were thrown out the window.

"That does sound pretty nasty." She rubbed her chin. "I wouldn't mind trying something up top, too - nothing special, but it might be cool to do something like a belly splash or...wow."

Barda had been lost in thought for a moment - she hadn't heard Rebecca enter, which was quite a feat considering how heavy her footsteps had to be. She only snapped too when Adrian squeaked and ran to the biggest woman Barda had ever seen up close, excluding the times when she looked in the mirror.

She didn't have Barda beat, not vertically - only a really tiny percent of women on the planet could. But she was closer than most, and definitely the tallest woman she'd ever met in person. On top of that, she was built like a tank - Barda worked out, sure; she'd been pumping iron ever since she decided that wrestling was her calling. Her body was solid on every inch she could see. It was like comparing iron to steel.

"Whoa." Barda expressed enough amazement for the both of them. "You didn't tell me she was so - whoa." Crap, she was looking at Rebecca like she hated people looking at her. Rebecca'd taken time out of her day to come out; the least she could do was not stare at her like a freak. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She extended her hand...and accidently hit Rebecca in the chest. "...sorry, again." She stepped back. "Barda. Or Beatrice, if that's better. I mean, either way is fine. Beatrice. Bea. Barda. Big Barda. Big Bea. I'm rambling. I'll stop."

Rebecca raised an eyebrow as Barda was taken back by the sight of her, looking at her no different to how most people did, a mixture of apprehension and awe, despite being around 8 inches taller... and not exactly sure of her own reach by the look of it as she was lightly struck in the chest. "Forget about it, we'll probably end up doing a lot worse to each other in there." She said, motioning towards the practice ring. "That was why you called me, right?"

"Yeah! I mean, kinda." Adrian answered before turning back to Beatrice "Okay, the plan is I'm not exactly best suited for sparring with you. The whole miss-matched heights thing is a cool concept but from the sounds of it, you need someone who's going to actually, stand and fight rather than what I do, sneak around and pray for an easy win." the former cosplayer explained, adding a bit of self-depreciation in there to try and lighten the mood. Barda was already looking really tense. "So! That's where Becks here, all six foot four, two hundred and forty pounds of muscle that she is comes in handy." the smaller woman said with a smile on her face, patting her girlfriends impressive abs. "First of all, its easier to train and practice when you're both the same height. Second, she's probably closer to this P-H-doom girl's style than me... what kind of woman puts doom in her name anyway?" She wondered out loud, giggling at the word "Doom." It's a fun word to say. Dooooooooom!

"And lastly, I can take whatever you dish out. So there's no need to hold back against me." Rebecca said with confidence, "Plus, it'll be fun for me to be the smaller woman for once, gives me a bit of a challenge." the dark skin amazon said, heading off to the changing room to get ready to wrestle.

"Barefoot this time Becks! No need to get boot prints on anyone! And it's not a real match so don't go crazy on her, she's just a rookie!" Adrian sshouted the instructions at her, "we live with Cecilia Northman, so that's who we normally practice with. Very intense, it's hard to know the difference between a spar and an actual match sometimes with her, she's like constantly 100% all the time. She's awesome, don't get me wrong, but doesn't really get that some times you have to take things easy. She sees it like it'd be insulting or something."