A Simple Exercise

Simon went out to the back of the building.

The rookies were lined up in front of the centre ring. They were all wearing basic PSW-branded wrestling gear and a photographer took several photos of them.

Suzanna was wearing a full bodysuit, reddish brown above the waste and black below with knee pads and boots of the same colour. It was light, breathable and easy to move in.

As they were finishing Simon came back in and walked, "If you're finished with the class photo I need you outside,"

She gulped.

"Good luck, Lass," Daniel said, before addressing the others, "Mostafa, Viking, with me,"

Tonye frowned but said nothing and gestured for Vités and Ramatla to follow him.

Alexa walked over to Suzanna and said,

"He tries anything funny you come and tell me. Okay,"

Suzanna nodded, "Okay,"

Alexa gave a final glare to Simon's back before following Tonye's group.

"Hurry it up, Mouse!" Simon called.

"Hey!" Her nervousness became irritation as she ran after him, "I told you my name is Suzanna,"

Simon kept walking with his hands in his pockets. When she caught up he kept his eyes front, but subtly looked away from her,

"You'll earn your name when I decide to care. Your job is to make me,"

"I knocked you down during the tryout, didn't I?" She argued,

"You shoved me and then started panicking afterwards," He retorted, keeping a poker face, "What exactly were you going to do if I was less... charitable and decided to retaliate?"

She paused, remembering him saving her from Moby Rick and looked down, unable to form a response.

"That's what I thought," He said as they came outside. There was a pickup truck with cinder blocks and bricks in the back.

"Afternoon, Gideon. Busy day I hope," He asked taking the clipboard from the driver as the other men unloaded the blocks and a pedestal, and put them by the side of the building,

"Up and down," The driver, a short elderly gentleman in a blue uniform said, "You're still our best customer,"

Simon signed the paper and handed the clipboard back with a genuinely friendly smile, even chuckling to Suzanna's shock,

"Glad to help,"

The old man nodded, got back in the truck with his men and left the property. When they were gone, his smile vanished,

"What are you looking at?"

She quickly backed off, "Ah, uh, nothing! Wh-What are the blocks for,"

Simon turned away and walked over to them,

"Training. You're going to smash all twenty of them,"

"Oh, okaaaaeeeeIIIII'm sorry, what?!"

He grabbed the pedestal, moved it away from the building and ordered her to,

"Quit gawking and grab the blocks,"

She did as she was told, grabbing one in each hand and following him. He told her to put it vertically on the pedestal,

"Good. Now smash it," He ordered,

She looked around, expecting to see a tool of some kind.

"Are you deaf?" He asked in annoyance with his arms folded, "I said to smash the block,"

"How am I supposed to do that?" She asked,

He looked at her for a moment, before raising his fist and bringing it down on the vertical cinder block. It shattered into a million pieces.

Suzanna looked at the pile of rubble that was once a solid perfectly cut cinder block. She then looked at Simon with eyes the size of satellite dishes,

"Are... A-Are you crazy?!"

"Mm-mm," He said, wagging his finger with a sarcastic smile, before pointing at the black PSW logo on her stomach, "The word is Psycho,"

She looked down at the logo and frowned, as he picked up the other block and placed it on the pedestal,

"Your turn,"

She shook her head, "I-I can't do that!"

He frowned, "Why? You're obviously stronger than me, so this should be easy for you,"

She was about to continue her protest, but was shocked at how casually he said that "W-Wait, that doesn't... bother you? A-At all?"

He raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "Why would it? Lots of wrestlers are freakishly strong. It used to be a requirement," He pointed at the block, "Now punch the rock,"

She clenched her jaw, stared at the block and shakily raised her fist.

(Okay... I can do this. He said I was stronger than him. S-So this should be easy, right? I-I can do this. Just pull it back and...)

"Will you stop being a pansy and do it?!" He yelled,

She clenched both fists and held them to her side as she retorted

"H-How does not wanting to break my hand make me a pansy?!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "How do you intend to participate in a combat sport when you're afraid of getting hurt?"

"But how does punching concrete help me?"

"Cinder," He corrected, "They're not as strong as concrete, but we will get there eventually," He once again gestured at the block, "Come on, we still have nineteen more after this,"

"I-I thought you only bought twenty?"

"I said you were going to smash twenty. I bought an extra one in case I needed to demonstrate,"

She stared at him like he told her the sky was pink.

(Who does that?)

He pointed at again, "Hurry up. We're burning daylight,"

She raised her fist again and prepared to strike, but then she dropped her hand and groaned,

"I can't do this," She said, looking down and shaking her head,

"Of course, you can," He said, picking the block off the pedestal, "We just need to approach it from a different angle,"

"Okay," She nodded, as he walked over to the blocks. He stopped, turned on his heel and threw the cinder block full-force at her head.

She screamed and ducked, losing a few strands of hair. She watched the cinder block break and bounce on the ground, then turned to see him picking up two more, one in each hand. His eyes were glowing, 

"Think fast, Mouse," He said, before hurling them at her.

The blocks came like meteors. She ducked, jumped and ran around to avoid them by the skin of her teeth.

"Come on, Mouse!" He taunted, as he threw the eighteenth block, which almost took her ear off, "I thought you were related to the War Chief?"

The nineteenth block grazed her back, cutting both her bodysuit and her skin. She screamed and fell to her knees as he picked up the twentieth and final block,

"Was a big fan growing up?" He said approaching her while looking at the block in his hand. He stood over her. Looking down as she was down on her hands and knees sobbing from the pain, "But it seems... in all the ways that matter..." He raised the block over his, preparing to hit her in the head with it, "... you're nothing like him,"

She looked up at him. Tears streamed from her eyes as she made a hideously wrathful expression. She got off the ground and disintegrated the block in his hand with her fist.

Simon froze at the sight of his reflection in her bulging, reddened eyes. Her exposed gums and teeth practically made up the entire lower half of her face. Her canines and premolars were huge, like a wolf's or a hyena's; her dishevelled, bushy hair looked like a lion's mane; her heavy breathing resembled the angry growls of a tiger and the way she puffed herself with air made her seem much bigger than she already was.

They were almost nose-to-nose. He stared at her, wide-eyed and stiff, his arm till in mid-swing and his heart jackhammering his ribs. He straightened and lowered his hand,

"One out of twenty," He smiled before using his long legs to take a big step back, "Not much, but it's a start," He started walking around her to gather the blocks he threw, "Why don't you... go have a seat, get something to eat or drink," He kept backing away as she continued to stare at him with the same hateful expression, "I'll come get you when you're ready,"

She was still breathing heavily with her fangs bare. For a moment it seemed like she was ready to charge at him, but then she closed her eyes and wiped them with her left uninjured hand. Her right hand was bloody and swollen, but not broken. She then gave him a final glare, but it wasn't the animalistic one from before, that of a young woman who had just driven to a mental breakdown,

"No wonder they want to get rid of you," She said in between breaths, tears welling up again, "You're... good for nothing... but making everyone miserable..."

He dropped his gaze and frowned slightly,

"... with nothing to show for it,"

He looked up surprised. She wasn't crying anymore,

"You're not going to get rid of me," She said with intense resolution.

He knitted his brows together,

"I wasn't trying to,"

Now it was her turn to knit her brows together,

"Huh?"

He turned his back to her, "With eyes that big I expected you to be less shortsighted,"

"What?!" She was flabbergasted, "Y-You-You threw cinder blocks at me! How the hell does this help me become a better wrestler?"

"Take a break, Mouse," He said dismissively as he began to gather the pieces of the blocks he threw, "Use the time to exercise your brain,"

She narrowed her eyes and rubbed her sore hand, before swiftly turning around and heading inside.

From her office, Gamal watched the entire exchange. Her right hand was in a thick cast. She chuckled,

"Oh, what have I done?"