Time To Loosen Up

Suzanna's in-ring training began early in the morning at the Sammartino Centre, before anyone else arrived. They took the centre ring. Training with Simon was, for lack of a better term... TERRIFYING!

He had increased the previous milestone of 30 cinder blocks to 60. She had to do push-ups while he stood on her back and sit-ups while trapped in the tree-of-woe position. He made her run the ropes while dodging whatever weapon he was holding in his hands: kendo sticks, wooden baseball bats, rubber sledgehammers, wooden baseball bats wrapped in barbed wire, wooden baseball bats with nails in them, steel chairs, metal baseball bats, crowbars, actual sledgehammers...

Of course, nothing was more dangerous than his own body. Locking up with him was like grappling with a green anaconda... with biceps... Even the most basic of holds had her fighting for her life.

"Aren't you... supposed to... take it easy... on a newbie?" She asked, sprawled out on the ring mat, bruised and gasping for air with her eyes closed. She was wearing a red PSW brand shirt and grey sweatpants.

"No," He said, leaning against the turnbuckle,

"Everything hurts..."

"What is it with you? It's like you've never exercised a day in your life,"

"You... call this exercise?" She asked, weakly lifting her head and opening an eye, "This feels like attempted murder,"

"Answer my question,"

She dropped her head and sighed, "You wouldn't believe me, anyway,"

Simon narrowed his eyes, "If I have to coach you, I'd appreciate some transparency,"

Suzanna didn't respond. Simon sighed, "Look I don't need a ten-minute backstory. 20 words or less, what's your deal?"

Suzanna took a moment to formulate a response then just decided to let it out in the simplest way possible,

"Up until two years ago, I was a dwarf and then one day I woke a giant,"

"Fine, keep your secrets," Simon said with a shrug before stepping out of the corner,

Suzanna lifted her head in outrage, "Seriously?! I just told you the truth,"

"That was a joke. However, it does explain a problem I've found," He used his foot to flip her on her stomach,

"What do you- H-Hey! W-What was that fo-" She felt him grabbing her right ankle, "W-Wait, what are you-Gaaah!"

She felt a sharp pain in her leg and a vibration all over her body as he twisted her ankle just enough for a loud crack to be heard.

"There we go," He said, as he grabbed her left ankle,

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" She screamed,

"You're way too stiff," He said, "This should help you loosen up,"

"Loosen up?! YOU NEARLY BROKE MY AAAAGH!!!!"

"Will you relax?" He said, letting go of her ankle and putting in a half Boston crab, "I know what I'm doing. My cousin Valerie's a licensed chiropractor and..."

He wrenched on it, "...a master of joint manipulation,"

Suzanna screamed and beat her fists against the mat with enough force to shake the entire ring, "THEN WHY DON'T YOU JUST CALL HER TO DO THIII-AAAAH!!!!"

She felt a pop in her left pelvic region and another on her knee. Simon carried on, changing legs,

"She lives in England and we need to move you along now,"

"We have six months-AAAAAHH!!!"

"And I intend to use that time to the fullest," He said, kneeling on her back with both knees,

"Get... off me!" She whined, "You're heavy..."

"Very well,"

"Huh?" She was suddenly upside down in a bow and arrow hold, "Wait wait no! That's not what I meant!"

"You'll thank me in a moment," He said before pulling her head and legs, bending her backwards in the process. She heard and felt every vertebra in her back pop

"NOOOAAAAaaaa..."

(Wait, that actually felt really good?)

He put her back down on her stomach

"Wow," She said, feeling as though she had been relieved of pressure she didn't know was there. She looked up at him, "How'd you do that?"

"Family secret," He said, smugly,

She frowned, "What happened to transparency?

"What happened to you trusting me to train you?"

She frowned, "You could have just told me,"

He raised an eyebrow, "I did,"

"I meant before you started using my skeleton as an abacus," She said,

"Fair point. May I continue?"

She nodded and so he carried. Abdominal stretches to twist her back and fujiwara armbars for her shoulders, elbows and wrists. These were typically brutal submission moves, a fact she could attest to from living with Sarah, yet he made them feel heavenly.

(You know... Maybe I can trust him. Oh, I really hope he doesn't stop yet. I might just fall asleep...)

While she was dozing off, he was putting her in the camel clutch position,

"Alright, time for your neck,"

"Mmm..."

"I'll take that as a go ahead,"

(... Did he... just... say...)

He gripped her chin with his right hand and the back of her head with his left.

"Wait, wha-"

He pulled and twisted her head to the left, causing her neck to let out several loud cracks. Her whole body went limp. He twisted her head to the other side, causing more cracking sounds.

"What was that?" Asked Coach Alexa as she, Tonye and Daniel made their way inside. They saw Simon putting Suzanna's lifeless body in a dragon sleeper hold, "Oh my-"

"¡Dios Mio!" Tonye exclaimed, dropping his bags and running to the ring,

"I knew it," Daniel said, following, “Knew it wooeldn’t be lahng,”

"Thompson!" Alexa yelled running past both sliding into the ring in seconds, sliding into the ring and kicking Simon in the head. He didn't seem to notice and wrenched her head back, cracking her neck one final time. It echoed throughout the building,

"There," He said, letting her fall to the mat and dusting his hands off, "All done,"

Daniel shoulder-checked him out of the way, while Alexa moved to check on Suzanna,

"Don't touch her!" Tonye instructed as he ran for the medical bay, "I'll find the medics,"

Alexa turned in rage, "What hell is wrong with you? I knew leaving you alone with her was a terrible idea!" Daniel had grabbed her by the arm to hold her in place as she tried to attack him, "I swear if it's the last thing I do, I swear I'll-"

"What are you on about?" Simon asked, "She's fine," He gestured towards Suzanna's prone body, "I was helping her improve her movement,"

"SHE'S NOT MOVING AT ALL!"

Simon groaned and walked towards Suzanna, "Because she's 120 Kilos of soft-serve ice cream," He callously flipped her on her back with his feet, "Wake up, you melodramatic mat-muncher!"

Daniel and Alexa's eyes both popped out of their skulls, but before either of them could speak Suzanna did a perfect, no-hands kip up just as Tonye came running with two stretchers carrying medics. They stopped upon seeing her standing,

"Is she alright?" Tonye asked,

"Suzanna," Alexa waved a hand in front of Suzanna's face. The big girl stood motionless with her hair covering her face, "You really need to sit down. Let the medics check you out, okay?"Alexa tried to grab Suzanna's hand, but she moved it away and turned towards Simon who was leaning against the ropes,

"You're welcome, by the way," He snidely commented,

Tonye slid into the ring and stood,

"Mija, let's just make sure you're okay. It's not worth it,"

Suzanna let out a single word, "Cuddle..."

Everyone else responded with, "Huh?"

Without warning, Suzanna charged at Simon. He sidestepped her and sent her through the ropes. He sighed and shook his head,

"Another temper tantrum... What?!"

Suzanna did a perfect roll through to her feet, came back and grabbed his ankle,

"Cuddle!" She yelled as she dragged him out of the ring,

"Excuse meeee?!" He gripped the bottom rope and kicked her away with incredible force. She rolled backwards onto her feet once more and charged forward. Simon just barely got out of the way, causing her to collide with the ring. The coaches were knocked off their feet as the ring moved by a full two metres,

"Bloody ‘ell!" cried Daniel,

Simon's heartrate was off the charts, as he crawled away,

(What the hell is going on? Something's wrong.)

"I-I don't know what you're p-playing at," He began,

"Did he just stutter?" Alexa asked,

"...but you... b-better knock it off before you- Oh my-" She leapt on top of him,

"L-Let go of me, you walking bean bag!"

"I dahn't ‘ave a bleedin’ clue what I'm watching," Daniel remarked as Simon did everything in his power to try and fight off Suzanna who just wouldn't stop trying to... cuddle him.

"Do you think we should... do something?" Alexa asked,

Daniel looked at her with a blank expression, then back at the over as Simon managed to get away only for Suzanna to catch him again,

"Cuddle!"

"Okay. Alright, the joke's over. Stop!"

"Hmm... I joehst gaht ‘ere," Daniel said, before rolling out of the ring.

Tonye surveyed the five-star mat wrestling classic before him,

"I'm not going anywhere near... that," He stood up and dusted himself, "His student, his problem. The others will be here soon," He helped Alexa up, "Plus she looks... fine,"

He then left the ring,

"No... I really don't think she does," Alexa observed, before reluctantly leaving as well,

"Wait? Are you sleeping?" Simon asked in bewilderment as both his arms and legs were trapped, leaving him only with the ability to wriggle and roll around while she clung to him from behind like a baby koala, squeezing tighter with each movement, "You're sleeping?! Are you serious?! Dammit! WHY DOES NOTHING ABOUT YOU MAKE ANY SENSE?!"

He continued to struggle for the entire day as everyone who came in went about their business. When she finally woke up, they were the only ones in the building. He was just short of death and she was more flexible and extremely apologetic.

It was safe to say that they both learned something that day.