The Weekend Before...

Caroline clapped her hands and smiled as her elbow repelled Alaina. It felt good to hold her own against a woman as accomplished as her, and as Alaina slumped against the edge of the ring, Caroline darted after her. She ran and tackled Alaina, trying to trap her between the ring and Caroline's own body, before grabbing her by the back of the head.

Pulling back on the Amazon by two handfuls of hair, Caroline thrust her head down to slam it into the apron. She felt a little bit bad about getting this rough in a spar, but she believed that Alaina could handle it. Besides, she could always give in if the rookie managed to rattle her too badly!

"Ooomph!" Alaina groaned as she was shoulder tackled against the ring, knocking some of the wind out of her! As she slumped to double over her hair was grabbed and head slammed off the apron! She stumbled back limp legged in a daze and knew she was in trouble! Alaina tried to make up for this and lunge at Caronline, sending a hard right straight into the woman's jaw!

If that hit connected and Caroline was stunned, Alaina would follow up and try to flat out out-brawl the woman be grabbing her and ramming a knee into her abdomen, followed by grabbing Caroline's hair and slamming her head down into Alaina's knee! Caroline opening pandora's box and unleashed the amazon's fury however, Caroline was still largely unknown to Alaina... perhaps she was a better brawler than the amazon anticipated?

Unfortunately, Caroline was not a good brawler whatsoever. In the sheer thrill of the contest, the rookie had forgotten just who she was dealing with, and the Amazon was quick to remind her! A stiff punch nearly knocked Caroline's mouth off, leaving her far too dazed to stop the followup attack. Struggling weakly in Alaina's grasp, Caroline felt a hard knee sink into her stomach, before those strong hands found her hair and tugged her down instead. Carol's eyes went wide as she saw Alaina's leg ascending to meet her face in a hard impact that left bells ringing in her head!

“Gah!” Caroline cried as she stumbled back, feeling an intense soreness from her nose to her forehead. Nothing was broken or hurt, but nobody got their head rattled like that without feeling the pain from it! Sinking back against the ring apron, Caroline had traded places with Alaina in a matter of seconds. She was at the Amazon's mercy once again. “Uhh...y-you remind me of Jesse, my sparring partner back in Canada. She was almost as tough as you.”

Alaina regained control and had Caroline in a bad spot. Alaina wanted to take the fight to her and had a plan to really take it to Caroline. The amazon sent a hard forearm club to Carolines chest to try to stub her before grabbing her by the hair.

Alaina dragged her away from the apron before be ding down to grab Caroline, attempting to scoop her up again! Alaina was intending to pick Caroline up and slam her down onto an empty table where the announces wpuld have sat in the arena.

Not a peep out of Alaina Sanders. She “answered” Caroline's comment with a stiff forearm that crashed across the rookie's chest, making her grimace as she slumped over in pain. The young blonde was in serious trouble now, an observation punctuated by the Amazon as she gripped the rookie's hair, marching her forcefully away from the ring.

Their painful walk together gave Caroline a moment to think. It seemed like the Amazon was giving her opponent a higher caliber of offensive right now, and for a moment, the rookie wondered if she'd done something to piss Alaina off. Despite her well-earned reputation for being one of the nicer women in Friction, the Amazon had shown in the past that she could be a fearsome woman when provoked.

Either way, Caroline wasn't going to complain, not when she had asked for this. Pain was a necessary part of growth in a sport like this...although catching sight of the table that Alaina planned to slam her down on did scare her a bit. She kicked and thrashed as the Amazon hoisted her up, but didn't quite manage to slip free before she went back-first into the table. Not through it, thankfully, but that was a cold comfort as the rookie uttered a breathless cry, her back aching from top to bottom as she laid there, quietly contemplating the merit of surrendering the round to Alaina so she could catch her breath and start from scratch.

Alaina knew she came from Kelly's gym, and the biggest compliment she could pay Caroline was simple: having to go all out in a spar to come out on top. Caroline was tough, skilled, fast and strong. She could do a bit of everything.

Alaina knew if she let up at all Caroline would take the fight to her before too long. Alaina smiled and nodded to Caroline as she gasped for breath, starting to climb up on the table. Alaina stood with her feet on the sides, reaching down to pull Caroline up by the hair once more. "One more time!" She shouted as if yelling to a crowd. Alaina bent down and grabbed Caroline between the legs as well as around the shoulder. It was clear as day that Alaina pulled them both to a standing position on the table and planned to deliver a hard but basic scoop slam to Caroline to send her through the table!

Alaina knew if she scoop slammed Caroline once more she would lull her from the debris and go for a pin... but she also knew if Caroline somehow blocked the slam and instead out Alaina through the ta me it would be the amazon reeling and in danger of losing!

The more time passed, the more Caroline started to worry that she had made a mistake by asking Alaina to go full strength on her. Kelly may have trained Caroline, imparting the rigorous expectations that she applied to herself as well, but Alaina had actually faced Kelly in a real match...twice. Her 100% was a lot stronger than Caroline's, and she was doing a good job of reminding the rookie why other women were so intimidated by the full strength of the Amazon!

Caroline had learned how to be tough growing up, but her resolve wasn't impenetrable, and she had a critical weakness that Alaina may not have known about. Getting onto the Friction roster had taken every ounce of determination from not just the rookie, but Kelly and Lina as well. She wasn't afraid of the pain Alaina could put her through, but the idea that she might do something to justify being fired was terrifying to her. As the Amazon mounted the table and started dragging Caroline up by her hair, it became clear that her next move wasn't going to leave the table in one piece. Fearing that she would be held responsible for destroying company property, she quickly swallowed her pride and did the last thing that the Amazon was expecting from her.

“Wait, stop, I give, I give, let go!” Caroline yelped as Alaina scooped her up, wrapping her limbs around the woman and holding on for dear life. She was determined not to let Alaina drop her until she accepted the surrender. It was humiliating to give in so quickly after having asked for Alaina's best, but she felt that she had a good reason for it. “I can't pay for damages if you and I break anything, and I don't want to get fired after everything it took to get this far.” Even though she'd given up this fight, Caroline hoped that Alaina would still be willing to go another round back in the ring after they'd both rested a bit.

Alaina lift Caroline up, and stopped immediately as soon as Caroline spoke. "Things get broken at this gym so much that I think they use the natural disaster fund... but even if they did have us pay for it I'd cover the bill regardless. I wouldn't make a rookie on their first contract pay when I also have some endorsement cash coming in." Alaina said as she kept hold of Caroline, jumping down fro the table and lowering Caroline easily, allowing the rookie to land on her feet. Alaina really liked the kid, and damn she was a good, balanced wrestler with an aggressive attack.

She was going to go far if Alaina had anything to say about it. "I love your intensity when ya spar. It helps me bring out my best and we both get the best practice ya know?" Alaina said as she pat Caroline on the back, making her way back into the ring by sliding underneath the bottom rope. Alaina made her way across, leaning back against a far turnbuckle.

Thank god. Alaina got off the table with Caroline in her arms, and even spared the rookie any mockery over her sudden surrender. The fondness that she felt for Caroline was very mutual, and the latter blushed as Alaina let her down on her feet. She'd been wrapped pretty tight around the Amazon for a moment there, enough to get a good feel and matching respect for how much work had gone into her figure.

“Thank you for understanding. I like intense sparring too, but I need to keep my nose clean and my bones unbroken until I save enough to have some security in my life...which will take forever,” Caroline didn't say the last part out loud. She liked to keep her homeless background a secret; only Kelly and Lina knew. Opening pay for rookies wasn't as bad as most people would suspect thanks to the infamously dangerous work environment, but it didn't go far in such an expensive city.

When Alaina clapped her back, Caroline fought to keep her cheeks from turning rosy. Another past detail that she was trying to keep to herself was her status as a former Friction fangirl. It gave off an embarrassing vibe, so as the rookie walked back to the ring, she tried to restore an informal attitude in her mind.

“Wait, what kind of endorsements do Friction wrestlers end up with? This company used to have a really seedy reputation,” the rookie asked inquisitively. Friction was still looked down on by most companies, especially outside of Japan, but the long-overdue ousting of the last General Manager was a sign that the wrestling promotion was trying to clean up its image.

Everything Caroline said was true. However Alaina distanced herself from the more exotic fringes of wrestling which AFW embraced. "I kept my nose clean and it's known that I don't mess with the weird stuff. I stick to wrestling and athletic stiff so I had a small endorsement from a soft drink company." Alaina said with a shrug.

"I hate how we get a bad rep a lot but it is what it is ya know?"