Training Day (for Mrs. 'vas Normandy)

Jab, jab, hook.

Jab, hook, reverse punch.

Jab, hook.

John’s fists made loud, pounding noises as the hit the punching bag in the gym. Each time he hit the bag, it was a different combination of attacks, practicing a pre-set combination that could be quickly remembered and recalled. Right out of the Army field manual.

Punches weren’t technically allowed in Pro Wrestling, but John had learned the hard way that he will be punched and that he had to be ready to punch back. Plus he’d been ambushed, attacked, and in general had been doing a lot of fighting outside of the ring, or in hardcore fights. He had to keep those skills sharp too.

John’s right, leading fist hit the bag in an uppercut, then his left trailing fist did the same, then his elbow struck it to close the combination set. The sound could be heard throughout the gym.

Today was the first day John was supposed to be training Talia. She had taken quite a beating in her first match, and she had come to him and asked for help. John was more than happy to oblige.

The muscular read headed man was wearing a light gray tee shirt and a pair of black exercise shorts. While he was waiting for Talia, he’d obviously decided to practice a little bit on the bag. His bag, and a towel, were tucked behind him in a corner. He knew she’d be arriving soon, he should probably wind down, but for now he was enjoying the simplicity of working on the bag.

Talia scurried down the street. She looked at her phone. Late! She groaned and quickly thumbed out a text to John. "Hey! Gonna be 15 min late, sorry!" The redhead had all her gear in her bag but had missed her bus and was traveling by foot now. She felt so guilty. John was doing her a favor and here she was making him wait.

Alex was just finishing his workout. He always found himself at the gym early in the morning. First he did his kicks, then his punches, and then lifted weights. Only after all that did he do cardio, and lots of it. It was one of the things that kept him going in matches. No matter how hard he pushed, no matter how hard he exerted himself he always had the energy to keep it going. His music dominated his senses as he first ran, and then biked.

When he finally finished, he got off and put his hands on his hips while keeping his back straight and taking deep gasping breaths. His black hair had grown a little longer than he was use to, but he didn't mind a change. He was wearing a short sleeved tight fitting white work out shirt and gray running shorts. When he turned around, he caught sight of John and couldn't help but grin at it. Well, well, well. It had been awhile. He doubted he'd recognize him without the mask and costume. He hadn't shaved in a week either, and it left him with a full faced but trim beard.

The man walked over, still breathing heavily, and nodded at John. "Morning," he stated rather simply. "You're John Mitchell, right? The tension world champion?"

The elbow strike was sloppy, he hit it at a bad angle. He was too out of practice with strikes. He practiced the elbow strike a few more time, making sure his elbow hit it straight on, his hand pointing behind him, next to his ear. While he hit the bag, his phone buzzed. Unfortunately, he didn’t hear it in his bag.

John noticed, but barley registered, someone coming towards him as he continued working on the bag. He was almost startled as someone came to him and spoke up. “Morning.” He said with a smile, barley turning his head as he unloaded some jabs on the bag. “Uh…yeah, for a little while longer anyway. The question caught him off guard. He still wasn’t used to it. People wanted his autograph, he saw cardboard cut outs of himself in the Tension gift shop, people called out to him on the street. He didn’t mind it, it was just weird. Who knows what tomorrow brings.”

The man grinned slightly. "That's pretty humble of you." It didn't mean John wasn't confident. Something about the way he spoke made it seem like he didn't need words to project superiority. On others at least, not Alex. "Worried about your upcoming match?" he asked something generically. He knew the schedule but didn't necessarily care about it. All he knew was that John had a title defense match, but not even who he was fighting. Probably some low skill mid carder.

"I haven't seen you training here before, do you often work out in the tension gym? Or I bet you have your own personal one somewhere, right?"

“Hmmm, I’m…giving it deep thought. Reira wasn’t who I expected to win. I actually lost a couple thousand yen on that match.” He said with a laugh. Less than twenty dollars, nothing that mattered.

He nodded as he gave his full attention to the newcomer, ending his attack on the bag. “I have a decent set up in my flat, yeah. Not any of these big machines, that’s for sure. Actually, today I was supposed to meet a friend here, but she must be running late.” Something suddenly dawned on John. No one could be in here unless they worked for AFW. “Hey, what about you? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in the building like…at all. You wrestle here? New?”

Alex nodded as John spoke. "Is that so?" he asked with a grin. He imagined his friend Ro Laren was late or a no show. What a shame. "I'm new, yea," he replied with a nod. New was a relative term, so it wasn't like he was lying. "Just doing a little training myself, alone though, don't really know many people here in Tokyo." He stretched his quads one at a time by catching each ankle behind him with the opposite hand. "Kinda had to work up the courage just to walk over and say hello. The name's Alex by the way," he added while offering out a hand.

“Ah, isn’t that true for most of us? I don’t know too many people here outside of work. Always tempting to stay with your friends from the states when you go abroad.” True for both the gunshop he had worked at, but had to stop as he lacked time, and the other wrestlers at AFW. It was always good to make a friend in general. And, as he stretched in front of him, John had to admit…he was a strong and attractive man. He didn’t let himself run TOO wildly with that thought, as the odds were that this gentleman was on the other boat…but perhaps he wasn’t?

He was brought out of his thoughts when Alex, as he was called, spoke again. “Well, I for one am glad you did. I’m always eager to make a new friend here.” John took his hand and shook it, making sure to use a firm grip. “Very happy to meet you, Alex. Hey, you know, if your usually working out alone, maybe we ought do something about that. I mean, today like I said I have plans…eventually…” He chuckled “But why don’t I grab my phone and maybe…we could, like, swap numbers or something?” John was known for his deep voice. He was also known for a very slight delay before he spoke, always making sure what he said was thought out, on some level, before it came out of his mouth. That wasn’t the voice he had hear, no ‘command voice,’ a hint of uncertainty in his request betrayed that he wasn’t sure about the response he would get.