METROCITY
SBA Training Gym B
It was early in the morning as Emily and Sarah entered the state of the art Superheroine training facility. There was high-tech equipment here, most of it designed by the league’s in-house super genius, Dr. Sanji. The first time they entered the facility it was intimidating. The second time it was fun. Now, they were serious. Last night, Emily had spent time on the phone calling home. She chatted with her husband, feeling a little anxious after her awkward, charged moment with Commissioner X a few days before. She also had a serious conversation with Blue tide, the leader of the Dynamic Five.
Sarah was talking to the control panel of the gravitic press she was about to climb into, “Four sets, fifteen reps, forty-five tons.” The panel beeped in confirmation.
“Good thinking, Shiny.” came an Irish-accented, sing-song voice. “Best to take it easy, don’t want to overdo it.” A red-headed woman in a green leotard was leaning against another weight bench. She had a heavy-duty brace on one knee and was carrying a cane.
“Well, yeah.” smiled Sarah. “Got to warm up the muscles first.” She climbed into the seat and began shoulder pressing the machinery effortlessly.
“Actually, I thought I was making a joke.” said the redhead.
Emily walked over, “You’re Lucky Star, right? I once saw you on television take out three SparBots at once.”
“Aye, that I am and that I did.” she smiled and shook Emily’s hand. “Didn’t do it alone though, had help from a friend. She loosened the tops on em.”
“I’m Emily. Ms. Blitzen.”
“Siobhan.”
“What happened to your knee?” asked Sarah between sets.
“Same friend gave it a thrice-over with a sledgehammer. Had to be done though, wasn’t in me right head if ye know what I mean.” The looks on their faces said they didn’t understand. Siobhan shrugged and sat on the bench, extended her leg. “Ah, nevermind. Still have another month of rehab before I’ll be fit to fight. The downtime’s been good fer me though. Been in the gym a lot helping me new protegee learn the ropes.”
Emily sighed. “We could use some pointers for sure.”
Sarah finished her last set. “Hey, we did pretty good for our first fight. And those chicks fought dirty.”
“But we should have won. We’re stronger than them.” Emily countered.
“Stronger on paper, weak in experience.” said Siobhan. “I’ll tell ye exactly why ye lost. Midnight is an undead creature of the night that feeds on pain. Emily, ye thought ye had the upper hand on her because ye were wailing away on her early in the fight. She does that to make herself stronger. And she heals fast. Once she tagged out, she could wait on the sidelines and knit herself back together. Ye wasted a lot of energy there.”
Emily nodded. Siobhan maintained eye contact for a moment to make sure that her words were sinking in, then looked at Sarah. “And ye… Sorry, what’s yuir name, lassie?”
“Sarah. Uh, SilverStar.”
“Sarah, ye need to be faster to get out of that corner and help yuir partner when she’s in trouble. Ye got sucked into a private fisticuff match on the floor while Emily was getting her head twisted off by the dragon lady in ring center.” Sarah’s face fell in embarrassment. “Last thing. Ye need to work on some combo moves. Twice ye had Midnight confined to yuir corner but instead of a team attack, ye just kept up the one-on-one dance. Ye probably could have ended the match right then. Sarah here knows firsthand what it’s like to be trapped in yuir opponent’s corner.” Sarah rubbed her jaw at the memory.
Emily put a hand on Siobhan’s shoulder. “Lucky Star, think you could coach us? We have less than a week before our next match.”
“And I hear yuir fighting Nike and Emerald. This time yuir the weaker pair fighting up a class. But at least yuir fighting heroines instead of viallains. Won’t have to worry about getting poked in the eyes or kicked in the nethers.” Siobhan looked up and scratched her cheek. “Sure, I’ll help ye out. Got the free time fer sure. Me other trainee, Tamara should be here in ten minutes. I’ll have her spar with ye fer a bit and see how much I need to unlearn out of ye to get ye in fighting shape.”
Emily and Sarah thanked Siobhan and were talking excitedly about their upcoming match. At the far end of the gym, a janitor with a mop watched them. His eyes faded to pale green and his skin took on a slight orange tinge. He quickly turned and shuffled out of the room.