Hero Worship

[BlackAkuma]

Don’t panic. Don’t hyperventilate. Don’t freak out.

Valerie repeated those words in her head for what had to be the third time in half a minute, trying her best to calm herself down. It wasn’t the easiest thing, given her current circumstances. She’d been hanging out in LAW’s gym, just trying to get in a regular workout, nothing too special. She’d had a simple plan for the day - get her sweat in, do some exercises in the ring, put herself through the paces, then go home and maybe watch a couple of movies before she drifted off to sleep. Nothing too complicated.

And then Alaina Sanders walked in.

Valerie froze up when she caught sight of her, in utter disbelief that they were even in the same room, sharing the same space, breathing the same air. Out of all the wrestlers she’d patterned herself after and looked to for inspiration, the Slamazon was easily at the top of the list - the perfect example of a female power wrestler, mixing technique with overbearing, the heavyweight champion and a shining example of what a wrestler should be. Looking at her, Valerie saw everything she should’ve been, everything she wanted to be, and she was right there. In the flesh. A living legend.

It was overwhelming, and Valerie’s first instinct was to leave the gym and give her the space she deserved. But this wasn’t an opportunity she could let pass by.

So. Deep breaths. Steady hands. Stand straight.

Valerie made her way over to Alaina, waiting until she finished her current workout before speaking up. ”Excuse me? Ms. Sanders-Haines?”

[Highfly]

Alaina was here and ready for a workout but she was still up in the air as to what to do. She was wearing a pair of white yoga pants and a white spots bra today looking around as she tried to figure out a good workout when she heard a voice behind her.

"Oh yes?" Alaina said turning around. She recognized who it was after a moment. To say that Amazon's and Valley Dolls had a wrestling history was an understatement. "Valerie? Is that you? You have grown up and look at the muscle there! You are a big buff woman like your grandma, your mom never bulked up like this!" Alaina said happily approaching the young woman with a smile on her face.

[BlackAkuma]

Valerie had been what? Ten? Eleven? She couldn't remember the exact age off the top of her head. It had been right before her growth spurt started kicking in, but even back then, she hadn't been a small kid, a fact that made her stand out more from her native Japanese classmates than even her blond hair. She’d gotten picked out a lot because of it, too, and there were days when she wished she was smaller, that she could fit in better, be like everyone else.

It was hard to say if her Mom's introduction to Alaina had changed all that, but it was undoubtedly a factor. She couldn't even recall exactly where they’d met, what the reason for it was, or what they were doing, and it didn’t matter. She just recalled looking up in awe at this mammoth of a woman, the most prominent, most buff female wrestler she’d ever met in person. She was so proud, so strong. It was like a preview of everything she could’ve been if she worked hard enough.

Now, years later, and here she was before her. Valerie was more significant, but even so, Alaina seemed miles ahead of her, the larger-than-life Amazon who’d left her speechless.

”Oh, wow, you remember me. Wow.” She tried not to look too giddy. She brought her arm up for a little flex. ”Yeah, yeah, it’s me. Not as big as you, though.”

[Highfly]

"Valerie I have had years to put on weight and not all of it good haha!" Alaina said with a laugh. "I have weighed anywhere from 160 to 187 in my career and this is the heaviest I have been." Alaina said unable to help herself as she stepped up flexing her biceps.

"You have mass and definition coupled with an amazing wrestling pedigree. I always wanted to beat your grandma and mom when Instepped in the ring with them but that was far from how it went." Alaina said with a wink. "I bet you have already slammed some women silly already." Alaina added.

[BlackAkuma]

As a fellow weightlifter, Valerie couldn't help but marvel at Alaina’s arms, comparing them to her own. While she was no slouch in that department, the difference between them was stark - the Amazon had more mass, more definition, more tone. She couldn't just write it off as age and genetics, either. Strength like that came from training on an entirely different level, one that she’d yet to achieve, something she could only aspire to at the moment.

These were the arms of a champion.

”I mean, a pedigree is just, you know, history. It doesn’t make me stronger or anything.” She rubbed her arm, trying to brush that off. She didn’t want to ignore her legacy, but she’d always hated leaning on it for anything more than window dressing. ”Not like you. Built from the ground up.” She looked around for a moment, confused. ”Why’d you even come here, anyway? You don’t have a personal gym?”

[Highfly]

"I get that, but there is a big difference between growing up watching wrestling and growing up living it. You have an understanding and ring knowledge I wish I had at that age." Alaina said. "The mental aspect of wrestling IQ, and fully getting the pressures of the business is huge. Besides, if you looked at me when I started I may have had your mass or more but you got definition on me when I was a rookie." Alaina added giving Valley a pat on the back and a small squeeze to her arms.

Alaina chuckled when asked why she liked to use the LAW gym sometimes. "Yeah, I have a nice setup at home that I use a lot, but once or twice a week I come here to either meet up with someone or like today just scout out the younger competition to see how hard they are working, all that good stuff." Alaina said. "If you want I can work out with ya, I had no real plan in mind so you lead the way." The amazon added with a smile.

[BlackAkuma]

Despite growing up in a wrestling family with two wrestling parents, Valerie was still relatively new to the whole backstage culture, having only just immersed herself in it firsthand. She’d gotten stories growing up, but that was a far cry from being a part of it and being involved.

She’d always just assumed that champions would spend their time working in private and wouldn’t get involved with the riff-raff. She was sure Alaina had a busy schedule, so seeing her coming down here to mingle was surreal. Not that Valerie was complaining.

”I mean, you say that, but have you seen me wrestle? I’ve still got a long way to go.” She scratched the back of her head. ”I’ve had a good run in LAW so far, but I’m still pretty far from the top of the pile. I’ve got a long way to go.”

Ugh. She always sucked at taking compliments.

Valerie lit up when Alaina offered to work out with her, however - the chance to shadow the routine of a professional like this was one she couldn't pass up. ”Oh, uh, sure! If you don’t have anything better to do, of course.”

[Highfly]

Alaina raised an eyebrow as Valerie tried to play off her good start. She did have some ways to go but as far as Alaina could tell she was firing on all cylinders and just wasn't trying to be cocky or anything. In Alaina's youth especially she would have reacted with more confidence than Valerie did, but Valerie was also more respectful of a young woman than Alaina was even when Alaina tried her best to be humble back in the day. "Honey you are off to a plenty good start, trust me." Alaina said as she looked around the gym.

"I would love to work out with ya, and it is a privilege to see the youth in action." Alaina said. "I am up for anything you are today, whether lifting, running ropes, in-ring stuff or just some strength training." Alaina said as the gym at this time was fairly empty. She was eager to hear what Valerie wanted to do. "I will try to keep up with ya."

[BlackAkuma]

As much as Valerie wanted to just soak in the compliments, she tried not to get too big of a head about things. There was a hierarchy in wrestling, a way things were supposed to go, and she had to remember that she was still at the bottom of a long food chain. She was working her way up well so far, but there was still a long way to go and plenty of opportunities to stumble along the way. She needed to remain mindful of her path, lest she tripped on it.

However, she did her best to keep a solid face as Alaina offered to train with her. This was a golden opportunity to learn from a champion she wasn’t related to, a completely unbiased, professional source. There was simply no way she could pass that up. ”Oh, uh, I guess we could do some stuff in the ring. I’ve been wanting to try out some different techniques, I could use your help with that.” She stepped back, clearing the way for Alaina to lead, not wanting to seem too eager…even if she totally was.

”After you.”

[Highfly]

"Ok I like the sound of that!" Alaina said as she made her way to the practice ring and climbed up to the top before holding the ropes apart for Valerie. Alaina was trying to think of what to do when the two women entered the ring. This was going to be fun, and she could see what Valerie wrestled like compared to the previous Valley Doll grapplers.

"We can start with a collar and elbow tie up and try to manipulate me with footwork. Pair the footwork with where you want to go, what you want to do that sort of thing." Alaina said. "I am going to start off with light resistance and then increase as we go." Alaina said as she stretched herself out a bit limbering up before stepping towards the center of the ring with her arms out ready to kick things off with the grapple. She couldn't wait to see how strong this young muscular wrestler was, it was going to be a lot of fun!