Power and Fury: Tuesdays and Fridays
by demented20
Jan Caufield gets a visit from an old adversary.

Date: March - April  2006


Jan Caufield stepped out of her car and started towards the gym, already dressed and ready to teach her jiu-jitsu class. She'd encased her long, fit body in a hot pink rashguard top that seemed vacuum sealed to her torso. The long sleeves stretched around the muscled curves of her biceps, triceps, and strong delts. Her broad shoulders tapered to a tiny muscular waist. The shirt was pulled down over the tops of her hips, which flared perfectly where the matte black workout pants started. A white stripe snaked down and around her perfect lower half. The stripes began as points on the sides of her taught rounded butt cheeks before wrapping around her muscular thighs down to her runner's calves. She effortlessly wore an outfit that could reveal every flaw, but on Jan the outfit just advertised her body's perfection. Everything was so sculpted it looked like she'd ordered her parts from a catalogue.

She came to this gym at least three times a week to teach and to workout, but there were always people in there seeing her for the first time. Reactions varied from the furtive sideways glances to outright stares. Even people who saw Jan often looked on as she approached the front door. She’d experienced so many stares over the years that they barely registered anymore. The closer she got the more heart rates sped up. To those who'd never laid eyes on her, she seemed as unapproachable as a goddess, like she'd look down her regal nose at all the plebs who dared get too close to her. The gym regulars knew better. Jan was actually very friendly, warm even. That didn't mean that she wasn't sometimes aloof or distant, and she there were times when she could even be intimidating. There were stories about Jan had easily disarmed a crazy guy with a huge knife without even breaking a sweat, but then he'd cut her with a smaller knife he'd pulled from his pocket. She'd put him in the hospital after that. The story had been told and retold so many times that these days the crazy guy was carrying a bazooka instead of a hunting knife. Jan only corrected people when they asked directly about it, which very few people had the courage to do.

A smile appeared on Jan's face as she walked into the gym, anticipating teaching her class. She wondered if her students knew how much fun she had instructing them. She waved at the folks behind the counter as she scanned her card, then waved to a couple of people in the weight room who smiled and waved back. Sometimes Jan stopped and chatted, but she was extra focused today. She jogged up the steps to the second floor, turned a corner, then stopped suddenly. "Mary", she called out. "You're here early!"

"I thought you might want some help setting up the mats today", Mary Rogers said as she stood up from the floor next to the classroom door. She'd actually been one of the first to sign up for what had been just a women's self defense class. It had grown since then just like the relationship between Jan and Mary. The widow was about ten years older than Jan with a ten year old son named Timmy, who adored Jan. He was partly the reason the two of them had grown closer.

"I noticed that Brian hasn't been here as much to help you get set up for class like he used to be", Mary said as Jan unlocked the door.

"He's working on some project with the new head of the school paper. So yeah, I'll certainly accept a hand." A minute later Jan and Mary were covering the polished hardwood floors with wrestling mats that were about halfway through their life cycle. "Where's Timmy?", Jan asked once they'd gotten the last mat in place.

"On a field trip. The bus isn't getting back until way after class. Then he's got another trip next week."

"Oh", Jan breathed, her smile faltering. "I'll miss him here."

Mary laughed. "When he found out the bus would be back late he almost didn't want to go. I don't think you know how much he enjoys coming here. He thinks you like a superhero."

"Which is nice!", Jan exclaimed with a chuckle. "And I have to admit I kinda like it."

Mary laughed as the two of them started the tedious process of cleaning every inch of the mat surface. Jan was proud of the fact that so far none of her students had gotten rashes or anything from training. She and Mary made some small talk as they cleaned, until there was a tentative knock at the door. Both Mary and Jan looked up knowing that the rest of the students wouldn't show up for at least another ten minutes. Both of them were surprised when they saw who was standing there, but only Jan managed to keep her expression neutral.

Neither of them had thought about Veronica Gonsalves since the tournament where Jan had beaten her in a challenge match. She and the head coach of her school had been fire breathing monsters that whole day, yelling at students they were supposed to be mentoring and teaching. Those two represented the very worst in the martial arts community. Seeing Veronica standing there made Jan’s adrenaline start to flow. Only her super human control kept her from reacting from instinct alone.

Jan wondered if Veronica was here to issue a challenge to the school, which Jan would have instantly declined. She wasn't going to put her students in any danger, but if Veronica wanted a personal challenge, then Jan was more than willing to accept. Maybe she was here for her teacher Raz Davis. If he wanted a rematch, Jan would give him the chance too. Jan walked close to Veronica's hulking frame, and Mary got concerned. Veronica was one of the biggest people she'd ever laid eyes on, and easily the biggest woman. It had taken Mary a while to get used to Jan's height and size when they'd first met. Jan body was a finely sculpted masterpiece of muscle and curves, but standing next to Veronica, Jan looked like a twig.

Veronica wore a tan leather jacket and a white blouse with blue tracing along the seams. Mary liked the blouse but wasn't sure about the jacket. She wondered how Veronica had found a blouse that didn't fit her like she'd been sewn into it. There was actually a little room in the shoulders and arms, but even still she could easily make out the swells of Veronica's deltoids, biceps and triceps. Veronica looked like she could have carried the cow to the tanner to make the leather for her jacket. Her upper body would have been as impressive a sight as Mary had ever seen, but her lower body was just as jacked. She had on blue jeans that weren't quite skin tight.

Her quads looked like whole hogs surrounded by denim. Her hamstrings alone were nearly as big as Mary's thighs. Her quads were beyond just big and they were really defined too, with each of her lower quad heads pressing proudly through the thick material. Veronica shifted her weight as she stood there, and Mary's jaw nearly fell open. That little movement was enough to cause Veronica's dormant quads to expand. The stitches were hanging on for dear life as the breadth of Veronica's thigh expanded by full inches. The definition must have kicked up a notch too because now Mary could make out the upper quad heads. Veronica's calves seemed normal because they were big enough to compliment those thighs. Her actual knees were like an afterthought between the two hunks of girl beef. Mary was certain Veronica had lifted every weight she'd ever seen. She probably moved parked cars if they were in her way. Mary wanted to inch closer and listen in on the conversation, but knew better. She gave Veronica's impressive body another good look before finally paying attention to her pensive face. She quickly concluded that Veronica wasn't bad looking despite the fear Mary felt when looking at her for too long, but she couldn't call Veronica pretty either. Of course, standing next to Jan didn't do favors for anyone.

Jan rarely had to crane her neck to look another woman in the eye, but she did as she waited a moment for Veronica to gather her thoughts. Veronica was only a couple of inches taller than Jan, but the stacked heel wedges she had on added a few inches. In them she towered over Jan, who put herself between Veronica and Mary. She also positioned herself so she could see down the hallway in both directions just in case. She still had no idea why Veronica was here, and she wanted to be ready if anything happened. Instead she was blown away by what Veronica's reason for coming.

"I hope I'm not bothering you", Veronica said somewhat sheepishly.

"No, we're just getting set up", Jan replied pleasantly even as she scanned the hallway for anything out of the ordinary.

"I umm… I don't really know how to start this out", Veronica began then cleared her throat. The nervousness coming off of her was awkward for both of them. "I know I acted like a big jerk at the tournament, but I'm not really like that. Really. I got fired up, and with everything being said, I got caught up in the moment. After I cooled off, I felt like an idiot. I was so embarrassed. I quit my old school that day. That place was super toxic. So I've dropped in a few schools, but no place felt right. Then I remembered how together you and your students were. I mean they treated you with respect, and you respected them back."

"I do respect them, a lot", Jan replied. There was still a lot of apprehension in her tone.

Veronica heard it, and knew that her chance was going to slip away, so she just jumped forward not knowing where she'd land. "I came here to ask… I… would you take me on as a student?"

Jan's jaw dropped and her big blue eyes became bigger. "Wha… what?"

"I've thought about it for the last couple of weeks. I'd love to join your school."

Jan couldn't help but frown even if she didn't want to. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure."

"I don't know. Raz told me that you mostly trained with guys. We don't have any guys."

"I have no problem rolling with other women even small ones. I did it all the time." Veronica couldn't read Jan's expression as she stood there quietly for a moment.

Jan exhaled out through her nose as she weighed this decision. "I tell you what. Why don't you sit in on a class? If you think my style suits you, then we'll talk." Jan saw Veronica smile for the very first time as the bigger woman nodded her head then held out her hand. Jan paused for a split second, wondering if she was doing the right thing. Maybe she should just thank Veronica for her interest then send her own her way. Despite all those thoughts, Jan shook Veronica's hand.

After class Jan spoke to Veronica for only a few minutes before rushing back to her apartment. She pulled into her parking space slightly crooked and didn't bother straitening her car. She hurried up the steps four at a time and rushed inside.

"Guys! Guess who came to my class today!"

"Ricky Martin?", LaShaunta yelled from her bedroom.

"Justin Timberlake", Alisha offered after sticking her head through the patio door.

"No", Jan groaned and rolled her eyes. "You guys remember that huge girl I rolled against at the tournament in Marietta?"

"The angry she-bull? What did she want, a rematch?", Alisha asked.

"She asked to become my student!"

"Noooo", Alisha exclaimed.

"What did you tell her?" LaShaunta was curious enough to actually come out of her room to hear the answer.

"I said yes." Alisha shook her head and LaShaunta chuckled. "What?", Jan asked.

"Nothing", Alisha and LaShaunta replied at almost the exact same time which caused them to chuckle again.

"No comments from you Miss Hewitt?", Jan called towards the back of the apartment where Sara was.

"I'm talking to Cassie", she yelled. "But sure, whatever y'all want is fine with me."

"You didn't even hear what I said", Jan muttered then collapsed onto the sofa. She stared up at the ceiling while her mind ran down scenarios of how taking on Veronica as a student would go. Jan had a good imagination, but she could never have imagined the road this one choice would put her on.

Several miles away, Jasmine Hill felt like she was losing her mind. She sat in her spacious office, in her expensive business suit, looking out over Midtown Atlanta. She stared at the bumper to bumper traffic on the highway in the distance, while a group of employees chatted as they headed towards the elevators. There was a time, not too long ago, that Jasmine would have joined them, when they would have knocked on her door and asked if she wanted to join them. She'd been distant for the last few months, ever since she'd started training to get accepted by the Pit. All that training meant nothing at all because she'd been beaten by some plumber. Jasmine had been so distraught that she hadn't been able to come to work for over a week. She'd just moped around the house and not just because she'd lost. She'd lost before, but those defeats had been about skill or training or strategy. This loss was about strength. Jasmine had trained herself to the point where she could over power even a strong man with just her muscles and will, but that plumber was different. She could punch limestone with her bare hands and have a pile of dust and chips at her feet afterward, while this plumber could have just broken the slab of limestone into little pieces. There was no technique to overcome that, or at least Jasmine couldn't think of one. She felt like she'd been traveling on a long tough road, only to see the destination on the other side of a raging river that had no bridge. In her mind Jasmine could see herself staring across that river, helplessly longing for what she'd never have.

A couple of weeks earlier when irrational anger had come over her while watching her neighbors, Jasmine had gone to visit Purnell in South Carolina. He was old now and had to walk with a cane, but he could still fight if he had to. He'd trained Jasmine for nearly ten years. He'd help make her an underground fighting legend, but even he knew that there was no technique that overcome pure strength. Jasmine wasn't the type of person who easily surrendered to obstacles, and so she'd pressed her old trainer. He admitted that even though Jasmine was stronger than strong women put together, he'd steered her away from fighting freaks like that plumber guy. Jasmine kept pressing him, and Purnell admitted that while some of those strong people were natural, many more of them were chemically enhanced. He told her that back in his fighting days, a freak would only turn up every once in a while. Now people like that were turning up everywhere. The super strong fighters were one of the reasons Purnell had quit the fight game a couple of years ago. He'd tried to make Jasmine quit too, but she wouldn't listen. She'd found out about the Pit and that place was never far from her thoughts.

Jasmine had kept pressing Purnell, wanting to know where she could find some of the strength enhancing chemicals. She tried to bargain with him and eventually resorted to begging, telling him that she'd only use the stuff for a short time. He resisted. Purnell told her that he'd start training her again, that maybe between the two of them they'd figure it out. None of that worked, and finally Purnell told her that there was a contact who could get her some Strength Serum.

When Jasmine had left Purnell's house he was certain that Jasmine would go right out and buy some of that poison as he called it, but she hadn't. He hadn't trained her in years, but Purnell underestimated the influence he still had over her. Jasmine wasn't going to ask him to train her, but she did redouble her efforts. One loss wasn't worth potentially ruining her life, even if that loss temporarily kept her from fighting in the Pit. She'd get one more chance to impress the people at the Pit, and she be more than ready when that day came.

Jan got more and more excited as Veronica's first class approached. The challenge had Jan's mind working day and night. The rest of her students were still learning basic stuff, while Veronica was an advanced student. Jan had to figure out how to make Veronica blend into the class while also teaching her stuff that could help the huge woman get better. Veronica was one step from black belt, and she was trusting Jan to get her there. Jan had been teaching jiu-jitsu almost as long as she'd been learning it. She'd become a junior instructor at 14 and by 15 she'd been teaching adults. Jan knew that Mark and Hector had taught her how to teach, but this was going to be her first real teaching challenge.

When students started arriving, the training room became very tense, with good reason. Veronica's size alone was enough to make the other students wary. The idea of having to train with someone so much bigger than them was one thing, but the fact that she was so much more advanced than them was enough for many students to wonder why Jan had ever agreed to this. Veronica was so wide across the shoulders that two other women could hide behind her. Her chest and arms were thick enough to imagine her crushing bowling balls with her bare hands. While the students were taking careful note of all of Veronica's muscle groups, their teacher was noticing something else.

"Did you bleach your belt in the washer?", Jan asked when she saw Veronica walk in with a white belt tied around her waist.

The big girl blushed. "I'm new, at a new school", she responded which just made Jan frown. "I was a blue belt under my first teacher when I changed schools last time. Raz said I was new in their system so I'm new again. And I mean the others are all white belts."

"I'm not Raz", Jan stated. "Besides, the rest of the students are white belts. You're not."

"I, umm, I brought my brown belt with me", Veronica admitted sheepishly. "I'll go get it."

Jan shook her head as Veronica left the room and turned to look at the other students. "If somebody saw her rolling as a white belt, I'd lose whatever credibility I have."

Once the class started, the tension got worse. Nobody wanted to train with Veronica. Some students didn't even want to be close while they were warming up, just in case she rolled over onto them by accident. Jan usually let her students pair themselves up during drills, but this time Jan did it herself, putting Raina with Veronica. Raina was the youngest of Jan's students, only three years older than Jan herself. Her eyes pleaded with Jan to change her mind, but she didn't. Veronica had been the biggest, strongest woman everywhere she'd ever been, and so she'd learned how to train with smaller people. After a couple of minutes working with Veronica, Raina seemed surprised that none of her bones were broken. Veronica seemed to know just how much to push and how much to hold back in order keep everybody safe and comfortable. After Raina, Veronica cycled through several other students, but Jan didn't train with Veronica personally. By the end of class it seemed like the rest of the students had taken a step in the right direction when it came to rolling with Veronica, but Jan was so wrong.

Veronica's whole face had lit up when she found out that Jan also taught classes without the traditional gi. Veronica had started out as a wrestler, and although ten years had made her used to wearing a gi, she was better at grappling when opponents couldn't grab hold of anything to slow her down. She was practically bouncing as she came through the door ready to train, but the other students felt that fear and apprehension come all the way back when they laid eyes on Veronica without a gi on.

Timmy was at class today, looking a little tired, but he perked up when Veronica walked in. He remembered her being big, but not this big. It looked like she could wrestle a bear into submission. Her hair was already tied back, and she had a smile on her face, but to Timmy that smile looked like a snarl. She was so wide across the shoulders Timmy was shocked she could even walk through the door without turning sideways. Her chest was barrel thick from front to back with the overhang of her dense pecs creating a cliff made of pure muscle. Her stomach looked full, like she'd eaten a big meal. It was really crazy amounts of core muscles. Her asymmetric abdominals were stuffed in between obliques the size of toddlers. The protruding heads of her quads blasted outward inches with each step she took. The expanse of her quad and hamstrings from side looked wide enough to place a billboard. Seeing that she'd painted her toes a light shade of green was almost enough to make Timmy scoff. To see someone so huge take the time to paint her nail was almost like a designer taking time to put a flower garden on a battleship.

Veronica walked up to Jan and they started talking. Timmy couldn't help but frown. Jan, his hero, looked as perfect as ever. Her gorgeous smiling face was almost too radiant to look at. Her body was perfect as always, long and strong, but next to Veronica his hero looked small. She'd beaten Veronica at that tournament, but tournaments have rules. Real fights don't. Timmy had seen Jan easily beat up a grown man, but Veronica was way bigger than Miss Teri's now ex-husband. Veronica looked like she could have ripped him in half. Timmy was scared for his mother too. Timmy always felt safe around Jan, knowing that she'd never let anything bad happen, but he was scared for Jan too. It took all of his willpower to keep from grabbing his mother by the arm and leading her out of the room.

Timmy didn't know it, but Jan saw his expression and the expressions of her students too. She hid her disappointment and kept the smile on her face as she shut the door and got started. It didn't take long for most of the students to realize that something was different with Jan today, but they couldn't quite figure out what it was. The class started like it normally did. Each student went through several self defense drills, but instead of teaching something new today, or correcting things that she'd already taught, Jan announced that the rest of class was going to be a free roll. That was like announcing recess for the rest of the day to a 1^st grader. The students instantly started paring up or even grouping up since they had time to just do whatever they wanted. Veronica stood off to the side of the mat, not realizing how rare free rolls were in Jan's classes. She looked at the students paring up, wondering where she was going to fit in, when saw her teacher motioning her over. The smile that spread across Veronica's face revealed what she was thinking. Veronica couldn't help but wonder if Jan had avoided her during the first class. She hadn't dwelt on it, but deep down she really wanted second chance. She knew Jan was really good because she'd beaten Raz, and even with her size and strength Veronica had never had much luck against him when they rolled for real. Despite that, Veronica was sure she'd do better against Jan this time. Jan was probably used to being the strongest woman on the mats, but Veronica was used to being the strongest person on the mats period. She was going to make sure Jan got a chance to really feel her strength because she planned on going hard.

"You ready?", Jan asked and Veronica's smile morphed into a sideways grin.

"If you are", she replied. Jan just nodded. The two of them high fived and a moment later Veronica felt like she'd been swept up by a tornado. She'd planned on charging in, hoping to take Jan down, but instead, as soon as Veronica came forward, Jan grabbed her by the shoulders, threw her butt into Veronica's hips then spun. The massive woman spun in the air before slamming back first onto the mat an instant before Jan came crashing down right on top of her. Veronica recovered quickly and Jan had to scramble to avoid getting caught between Veronica's enormous thighs. Veronica reached up to grab Jan, but her new teacher cartwheeled, landing on the opposite side. Veronica spun, but it was too late. Jan forced Veronica to lie down flat to keep from getting choked. Jan kept a tight hold of Veronica's torso now that she'd avoided her legs. Most people used their weight pressing down to make it hard to breathe, and Veronica was more than ready for that since two or three students could have stood on Veronica's chest before her mighty muscles would have been strained. Jan didn't do that though. Jan curled one leg in, putting the point of her knee into the ribs under Veronica's armpit. The sharp pain shot straight to Veronica's brain, but then Jan's upper body flexed. Her biceps, delts, abs and lats all worked in unison to drag Veronica's ribs into that bent knee even harder. Veronica had forgotten just how crazy sharp Jan's muscles got when they were taxed.

Each time Veronica exhaled, Jan's muscles tightened, growing harder, bigger, more shredded, increasing the pressure on Veronica's ribcage. The teacher was like a boa or a python. It wasn't long until veins stood out along the peaks of Jan's biceps almost as big as the ones running up the sides of her neck. Now Veronica knew why Raz had made such a rookie mistake when Jan had him in the same position. Pressure like this lower on the ribs was easy to take, but Jan knew just where to put her knee to cause the most pain possible. Veronica's brain told her to spin away from Jan's knee. As a grappler though she knew she had to turn into that knee to escape, but each time she shifted her hips to roll to her right, Jan increased the pressure. Her other leg was stretched all the way out behind her, with her toes pressed into the mat, pushing  even harder into Veronica's ribs. Just like with Raz, the mix of sharp pain and lack of fresh air, caused Veronica to make a mistake. She shifted her hips and tried to slide away from the pain thinking that she'd make a little space, but Jan used the space first. She transitioned so quickly that Veronica didn't even have time to get her hands in position to affect Jan's movements. Jan threw her leg over top and sat on Veronica. Shame hit Veronica like a punch to the gut. She hadn't been mounted so easily in half a decade.

She instantly tried to escape, but Jan just followed her, anticipating her movements before she made them. So then Veronica tried to roll Jan over onto her back. Jan let Veronica attempt to escape, riding out each attempt. After her furious effort, all Veronica had done was allow Jan to move from sitting on her stomach to sitting on her chest with her knees now pressing directly under her shoulders. It wasn't painful, but Veronica's arms couldn't move much. She tried to throw her legs up high enough to get them around Jan's shoulders, but she wasn't quite flexible enough. After letting Veronica try to escape for a while, Jan went to work on Veronica's left arm. It wasn't long before she was twisting Veronica's shoulder against its natural rotation. Jan could feel Veronica's muscle fibers bunching up beneath her fingers, and while it was impressive, it didn't delay the inevitable. Jan's technique was just too good and Veronica was forced to tap against Jan's foot. The two of them reset to go at it again.

This time there was a few moments of back and forth before Jan managed to force Veronica onto her back. Veronica tried her best to get Jan into her guard, but Jan was so damned quick that Veronica started wishing that they were actually wearing jiu-jitsu gis. Instead of being the one slowed by the traditional uniform, it was actually Jan who'd been slowed. Jan avoided Veronica's legs and quickly mounted her again. She didn't bother testing Veronica's escapes again since she'd felt them all not two minutes earlier. She methodically fought through Veronica's defenses, isolated her left arm, and despite the impressive expansion of Veronica's biceps and delts, she twisted the shoulder again. Veronica's teeth were on edge as she tried hard to keep her arm from bending, but Jan was pushing and twisting using her whole body. Her technique was simply too good. Veronica was forced to submit.

The other students had gradually stopped their own training to look at the front of the mat. None of them had ever seen their teacher put on a display like this, even at the tournament. Normally Jan would have been upset if her students had stopped training to watch her working with another student, but this time was she wasn't mad at all. She wanted them to see this.

Veronica got to a knee trying to make sense of the last two minutes, while Jan stayed down on the mat. "Let's try something different", she said while looking up to Veronica. "Take my back."

Veronica was stunned. "Are you sure?"

Jan just pointed to a spot behind her. Veronica gave Jan one more, 'are you sure', look before sitting down. Veronica was feeling pretty sorry for herself, but she didn't want Jan to start handing her stuff out of pity. She did as asked though and pressed her chest against Jan's back, then wrapped her right arm over Jan's right shoulder and her left arm under Jan's left shoulder. She clasped her hands firmly across the center of Jan's chest, so now it looked like Jan was wearing a seatbelt made of giant muscle-bound arms.

"Put your hooks in", Jan instructed and Veronica hesitated a moment before wrapping her legs around Jan's slender waist. Now Jan was in a truly horrible position, but if the instructor was worried, it didn't show on her beautiful face. The wheels of Veronica's mind started turning. Jan wouldn't have allowed herself into this bad position if she didn't have a trick up her sleeve, so she made her mind up not to rush into anything. She'd soften Jan up before attacking.

"Whenever you're ready", Jan said and Veronica gave a countdown because even though she wanted to submit Jan so badly she could taste it, she wanted to be fair. At the end of that count there was an audible gasp from the other students when they saw Veronica's muscles really flex for the first time. Each pectoral inflated like blimps, swelling like they were going to flex straight through Jan's back. Veronica's arms were already as big as many of the students' legs. Her biceps almost seemed to shrink at first as the muscle fibers began to tighten and bunch up, knotting and coiling themselves before Veronica's arms exploded. The stone hard muscles started to expand with each muscle group pulsing and churning as she poured ever more power into her arms. The short sleeves of her rashguard were forced to roll up to the muscle insert between her delts and biceps or it would have been ripped in half. Nothing could have contained Veronica's biceps as they flexed to their full peaked power. Her lats weren't going to be outdone either. Veronica's back was as big across as two grown men, and the density of her lats put some of the biggest bodybuilders to shame. All that power was being used to crush Jan like a nut.

She was entombed by seething muscles. It had to feel like half the class was tap dancing on her chest, and her face was turning pink as Veronica eked out more strength from her already bursting muscles. Jan didn't panic, but her breathing got shallower. She didn't sit still though. She'd already grabbed Veronica's right wrist and pulled down to keep Veronica from easily choking her. She used her legs to push off, forcing Veronica on to her back, so now Jan's weight was adding to the immense pressure Veronica was already putting on her own chest by squeezing Jan so hard. Both of them were taking shallow breaths now, and Jan ramped it up. She pressed the balls of her feet into the mat and leaned back hard, raising her hips to put even more pressure onto Veronica's chest.

Jan's shirt rode up as she pushed them over to their left side, to start her escape. Her abs were more shredded than the students had seen. Veins shot up and down Jan's abdominal wall while the isolated islands of muscles crashed together as her abs crunched to lift her hips even higher, putting more pressure onto Veronica's chest. The students felt like voyeurs as her shirt rode up a little bit more, as if they were seeing something that they weren't supposed to. Jan always looked fit, but her body transformed when she really put it to work. Her normally nice round ass imploded like a collapsing star. Deep hollows appeared as her glutes flexed, and the muscles just kept getting harder and tighter as her hips came up higher still as she pushed her back and shoulders into Veronica's chest.

Jan's breaths were labored with Veronica still pulling hard against her chest, but Veronica could hardly draw a breath. She was already putting uncomfortable pressure on her own chest by crushing Jan against it, but now Jan added more pressure. Veronica tried to hold out, but after a few seconds without breathing all while straining her entire body, she had to shift to one side so she could take a breath. The instant Jan felt Veronica move, she took one hand off of Veronica's wrist, since the big girl was out of position for an easy choke now, and used the free hand to push Veronica's left foot off of her lap. Jan started walking sideways, while keeping her upper body as still as she could. Veronica rolled to keep Jan from escaping, so Jan reached her freehand back over her shoulder and palmed the back of Veronica's head like a basketball. Jan's jagged biceps peak rose tall once more, but its mighty expansion was matched by concrete buttress like thickness of Veronica's traps fully flexing to keep her head from bending forward. There was way more to it, but for a moment it became a battle of muscle, Jan's bicep against Veronica's neck and shoulders.

The stalemate couldn't last long though. Jan started slipping out of her grip, and she realized that she could keep a hold of Jan's torso, or keep Jan from bending her head, but she couldn't do both, so with a burst of strength she yanked Jan back over to the right and went for the choke. She managed to get her arm against Jan's throat, but Jan trapped her other arm. Veronica was strong, but not strong enough to choke Jan with just one arm, and to make it worse, she'd opened her own hands. Jan started walking again and escaped from Veronica's arms. Jan spun her body around and tried to put her chest on Veronica's chest, but in an act of utter desperation, Veronica put her right hand on the center of Jan's chest and straightened her arm, benching pressing all 173 pounds of Jan with one arm. Veronica's triceps were magnificent in their lush thickness, so big and undeniably powerful that they had to be seen to be believed, but extending her arm was a mistake. All of Jan's students knew an extended arm was begging to be attacked. Jan's fingers had just brushed against Veronica's sweaty skin when Veronica snatched her arm back and tucked it in like she'd been taught. She knew better than this, but Jan was frustrating the hell out of her. It was only going to get worse though.

Veronica forced her teacher onto the mat, using leverage, strength, and weight to slowly force Jan to roll over onto her back. Veronica was really close to taking the upper hand. Jan didn't panic though, even as Veronica worked hard. It took more than a minute, but with a hundred tiny moves and counter moves, Jan worked her way back on top. Veronica fought like crazy to keep Jan off of her chest, so Jan settled in on Veronica's left side and drove her bent knee into Veronica's ribs again. Jan inched her body forward, driving and grinding that knee bone into Veronica's upper ribs. Veronica held out though and didn't do anything stupid. She actually let out a sigh of relief when Jan pulled her knee away and switched her her body around. Now Jan's back was facing Veronica's head. Veronica wasn't sure what Jan was doing until she felt Jan grab her wrist and start to twist. Veronica instantly defended this shoulder lock, which made her feel good, until Jan quickly stepped her right leg over and mounted Veronica yet again. She hadn't actually been trying to submit Veronica there. All she wanted was the mount. Veronica tried to escape again, and Jan thwarted her every attempt. Sweat dripped from the tip of Jan's nose as she looked down at the soon to be vanquished Veronica with those impossibly blue eyes. Her face was mostly in shadow since her hair had partially come undone and the light was right behind her head, but Veronica could have sworn she saw those eyes glowing. There wasn't an ounce of pity in Jan's gaze though, just focus. Veronica did a much better job of defending Jan's attempts at a shoulder lock this time, but in the end Jan managed to twist Veronica's arm again and make the big girl tap.

Heat rose up Veronica's neck as she got to a knee. She was embarrassed, frustrated, and pissed off all at the same time. She looked over her shoulder to make sure she'd have enough time to salvage something from this rolling session. Jan sat on her butt watching the emotions play across Veronica's face, but she wasn't finished with her just yet. "Take mount", she told Veronica and lay down flat on her back. This time the new student heard the challenge in Jan's tone. It had been there before, but now Veronica knew what it sounded like. She plopped down onto Jan's chest forcing out a surprise burp. Jan grinned, but her eyes narrowed at the same time. Veronica sat up straight as she settled in, squeezing her knees to make sure Jan was as uncomfortable as possible.

"You ready?", Jan asked, her voice a little strained from the weight on her ribcage.

"Yeah", Veronica said back curtly and then it began. Veronica attacked immediately going for a choke right away. Jan calmly defended as Veronica's efforts became more frantic. She switched from a choke to attacking Jan's arm, but the whole time Jan stayed calm. She kept defending until Veronica put her arm where Jan wanted it. Jan gripped Veronica's right arm with both of her hands and shoved it back into Veronica's own stomach. Then she arched her back and pressed down hard with her feet. Lifting her hips off the mat, taking Veronica with her. All the students recognized this move. It was the same one Veronica had tried several times early in the session, but Jan was making it work. Veronica felt herself start turning onto her back and she tried desperately with her free hand to keep herself from rolling over. "No, no no!", she yelled as her elbow started to bend.

A cloud of shame hung over the rest of Jan's students as they watched their teacher escape from Veronica's mount. They'd trained with Jan for months, and they had doubted her not five minutes earlier. They'd seen Jan not only defeat Veronica but also Veronica's teacher, and still they'd been afraid for her. The disloyalty was real, especially to Timmy. He was near tears. Veronica had Jan in her guard finally, but the teacher didn't stay there long. She used both of her hands to force Veronica's right leg down to the mat, and then she hopped over it, settling on Veronica right side yet again. Timmy was so mad at himself that he stepped down from chair, so he couldn't see the contest anymore. He didn't deserve to watch it. Jan was his hero, and he'd been stupid enough to think Veronica could beat her. He sat on the chair, hanging his head and looking at a spot on the floor. He couldn't help but get a big smile when he heard Veronica frantically tapping against Jan's shoulder after getting submitted yet again. Despite his shame, he climbed back atop the chair to witness what came next.

Veronica was practically foaming at the mouth now. She was so pumped that her grappling gear couldn't take much more. Her traps had already put a small tear in the collar of the shirt and both of biceps had started tearing the short sleeve cuffs. The stretchy material just couldn't keep up. One more flex and her thick pecs would burst right through the front of the shirt. Her body pulsed with each breath, seeming to increase her already monstrous size. She could barely contain her rage on her face now, with her lips stretched back tightly in a snarl and her hands half curled into claws as her anger grew.

Veronica looked like she'd been through a battle, while Jan who was standing to her left, looked as if she'd just finished a warm up. Veronica's hair was all over her head, and sweat poured off of her, until it ponded on the mat at her feet. In the bright lights, Jan shined like a jewel in the sun. Her muscles were pumped, hard as stone, and vascular even as she stood there relaxed. Jan looked over her shoulder at the clock, and seeing the beauty of her face in profile ignited the flame of jealousy that Veronica had felt the first time she'd seen Jan. When Jan turned back around and leveled those deep blue eyes on Veronica, a bomb detonated inside the huge woman's head.

When they started again, Veronica threw Jan to ground without a hint of technique, and she didn't try to avoid Jan's guard because she knew that she couldn't. Jan's legs were as nimble as her arms, but this time Veronica wasn't going to try a fancy technique to make Jan let her go. She was just going to use size, and brute strength. Jan used her legs to draw Veronica closer, making her lose her balance, but Veronica used that to her advantage. Instead of trying to regain her balance, she thrust her forearm into Jan's throat then leaned forward. When she got her feet back beneath her, she pushed forward harder, rising up and forcing Jan's body to curl on itself. It was a jerk move, but Veronica was way past caring. She was in seek and destroy mode. Jan's face turned bright red as Veronica pushed forward on the balls of her feet, her legs actually quivered from the amount of strength she used. Most of the people in the room went right back to worrying about Jan, but not Mary and not Timmy. They'd been around Jan long enough to see the expression of annoyance mixed in with the discomfort on her face. They had no idea what Jan was about to do, but both were sure Veronica wasn't going to like it. They didn't have to wait long to find out what Jan had in mind.

Jan didn't move quickly at first. She just draped her right arm across the acreage of Veronica's back. Jan had long arms, but she was forced to use her fingers to inch her way towards the edge of Veronica's tremendously wide lat. Jan finally got a grip on the thick hunk of pure muscle, but didn't make another move for a few seconds. Veronica thought she'd worn Jan down, so she used her free hand to reach behind her, aiming to unhook Jan's ankles from around her back. That's when Jan made her move.

She unhooked her ankles and put the soles of her feet against the front of Veronica's thighs, and then all at once used her free hand to push Veronica's forearm off of her throat while straightening her legs. Veronica's feet flew out from under her as she completely lost balance and fell forward. Jan used her grip on the massive lat like a handle and exploded up off the floor twisting Veronica's torso in the process. Jan swung over onto Veronica's back. Her left leg was still across Veronica's middle so when she swung her right leg over as if she was mounting a horse, the other ankle was just sitting there waiting. Veronica recovered quickly and started to defend, but Jan was too quick and nimble. Before Veronica could start to spin away, Jan hooked her right knee over left ankle creating a textbook triangle shape.

Veronica couldn't believe she'd let this happen. She could have just tried a normal escape from between Jan's legs, but she'd gone super aggressive, and now she had Jan on her back like a lemur. She protected her throat from the choke she was sure was coming, but Jan's arms didn't go anywhere near Veronica's throat. Instead Jan laced both of her arms through the bend of Veronica's right arm and held it tightly then the muscles along Jan's long sleek legs sharpened. Her glutes imploded like a dying star while her hamstrings tightened like strung bridge cables.

Veronica tensed her stomach, hoping her cinderblock sized abdominals could resist Jan's squeezing legs. Her stomach pushed outward like she'd eaten a big meal. Her crazy core muscles flexed up like the peak of a giant's biceps. Her huge asymmetric abdominal muscles continued to swell between obliques which had flexed up to the size of toddlers. Veronica's muscle stuffed stomach might have been able to fight off Jan's legs, but Jan's calf wasn't across Veronica's stomach. She'd put it right across Veronica's diaphragm. The only thing flexing her abs did was use up precious energy. Veronica started feeling the effects of Jan's slow developing choke and began fighting to free herself. Jan let Veronica struggle instead of tightening her legs even more. Jan's muscles weren't fully flexed, but she was feeling a tad sadistic after the forearm to the throat. Veronica understood what was going on. There were more than a dozen ways Jan could have quickly submitted her from the position they were in, but Jan obviously didn't want to end this quickly.

Veronica didn't give up though. She planted the balls of her feet against the mat and did the same thing Jan had done earlier. Veronica's calves, quads, and hamstrings filled her grappling pants to their limits. She put tremendous pressure onto Jan's chest, but it didn't last long. Jan simply rolled to her left just a little, and the pressure mostly went away. At this angle only pressure from one of Veronica's legs could compress Jan's chest, and only if Veronica put her knee at a weird angle. Still though, the big girl fought on.

She used her free arm to push against Jan's knee. Her swollen, bloated triceps pushed with great force, but she just didn't have enough leverage to do any good, so she tried to free her trapped right arm. Her pectoral and delts got into the action again, but she didn't try to do this for long, since as strong as her right arm was, it wasn't stronger than both of Jan's. She knew that she'd have to snatch Jan's shoulders out of socket to get her arm free, and that wasn't going to happen.

Pride alone fueled Veronica's continued efforts. Her face went past blue to a shade of purple. The rest of the students looked on with pity. Jan had never taught them this type of body triangle, but they didn't have to feel it to understand how much it must suck. They also knew that Jan could have squeezed harder. Her muscles were just regular hard, and she looked relaxed back there as Veronica struggled for breath. Jan looked like a big jungle cat slowly subduing prey. When she was sure, she'd gotten her point across to everybody in the room, Jan slipped an arm beneath Veronica chin and leaned back. Veronica immediately went dark purple. She couldn't tap fast enough.

Jan took a quick look the faces of her students before letting Veronica go. The big student took in a deep breath immediately and rolled over to her side. Jan knew her demonstration had worked. She wasn't exactly pleased, but she was satisfied that her students understood that she and Veronica were on entirely different skill levels. Jan got up and helped Veronica to her knees. There were still a couple of minutes left on the timer, so Jan was immediately ready for another go. Veronica wasn't.

The house lights were up and the farm hands were busy cleaning up after last night's festivities, while getting ready for tonight's. Rexall Mattola sat back in a seat, his bulk making the chair back groan, as he looked at two of his fighters going at it in a side ring. Both were making progress, but the real question was whether either of them would be able to earn back the money he'd invested in them. Only time could tell that. Money was on the top of Rex's mind right now because it was never far from his thoughts in the first place. He left his two young fighters trading blows and went over to a group of his more experienced guys who were chatting near a closed betting window.

"You found Raz yet?", Rex asked and they all spun quickly towards his voice.

"Nah, he's fallen off the map. We've looked all over", Justin told his boss and mentor.

Rex nodded. "He's ducking real hard. I wouldn't be surprised if he's left the fucking state."

"Or the country", Petey said to chuckles. Rex though didn't smile.

"That asshole knew the stakes. Move on to his collateral. I'll have to get some value back even if it's just my own satis-fucking-faction."

"We'll get on it. She shouldn't be hard to find", they told Rex as he walked back towards his seat.

Cody, the leader of the Pit, rarely concerned himself with the business of Stable Masters like Rex, but Cody didn't trust him. It wasn't just that Rex was hot tempered and demanding since lots of people were like that. There was just something about that guy that rubbed him the wrong way. Rex had always treated Cody with respect since he'd donned the crown so it wasn't that. Whatever it was, Rex made Cody's fight or flight response kick up every time they interacted. Cody's predecessor told him to always trust his instincts because in this job instincts were like advisors. It was a big step, but Cody decided to have some people keep an eye on Rex for the next few weeks as the Pit got established in this region. Whatever happened, Cody wasn't going to let Rex jeopardize the Pit's operations.

Sara felt like wincing with each step, as she slowly walked towards a patient's room. The second floor hallway at the Cherry Glen Long Term Care Facility was semi darkened and utterly silent. The last visitors had left and now Sara could let her fatigue show. Her normally beautiful flaxen curls were pulled back and tied, which was a rare look for her, but even before her shift she'd been too tired to do anything more with it. After classes she'd gone really hard on the track, pushing herself right up to her limits because she had to shave off a couple tenths of a second off of her 1500m time to qualify for the conference meet. Sara was determined to make that end of the year meet no matter how hard she had to push herself. LaShaunta had told her once that running times don't improve by themselves, so Sara scratched and clawed to run faster, no matter how much her body protested.

Being tired at the beginning of a shift was nothing new for her, but today she got a new patient put on her rounds. Normally that wasn't a problem either, but this new patient was big. The head nurse used to be reluctant to give Sara bigger patients, but after months of showing that she could handle anybody, they didn't hesitate to assign petite little Sara a guy that weighed 300 pounds. Moving around 300 pounds was child's play for a telekinetic as powerful as her, but just to make her day more tiring, the patient's son and daughter were in the room when Sara came in. Both looked to be in their late 30s and the daughter had been crying. She tried to hide it, and even managed to put on a slight smile, but Sara knew better. Sara's first thought was to ask them to wait outside while she worked with their father, but instead she'd just smiled and introduced herself.

The patient's children made small talk but mostly watched as the slim looking tech used the skills she'd learned to move their father even though he was completely dead weight. The daughter was impressed with Sara's gentle care of her father, while her brother was more interested in Sara's body. He didn't just stare at one place. He took his time moving from her face to her breasts, to her butt. She was so fit looking too. He could barely look away as her biceps and triceps flexed. He had to imagine what the rest of her body looked like. He wondered if the muscles of her legs matched her arms. Sara couldn't decide whether to leave the room or scold this guy for the lust she felt coming from him. In the end she just smirked. Usually this guy wouldn't have had to work so hard to make out her body, but these scrubs were bigger than she'd have gotten for herself.

They'd been a gift from her brother, that she'd avoided wearing until now. Her first thought was that Charles had made an honest mistake, but he knew she'd never been big enough to need this size. By itself some baggy scrubs weren't a problem, but there was much more to it. A distance was growing between Sara and her brother, and she was actually terrified of how Charles would react if she brought up that he'd gotten the wrong size. There were days when she wanted to pick through his brain to find out what the problem actually was. Sara actually stopped walking and let out a sigh. The stress of this situation must have been getting to her because normally a thought like that wouldn't have even jumped into her head. She didn't know how to talk to her brother about this, so she had to keep pretending that everything was fine.

Sara and Charles had been inseparable growing up. As a kid, Sara'd had lots of acquaintances but no real friends. Keeping her huge secret was too important to risk anyone getting even a hint of it. As far back as she could remember, Sara had been invited to every birthday party, skating party, swimming party, sleep over, camping trip, and bar mitzvah at school, but even back then Sara was smart enough to realize that her classmates' parents only invited her because she was richest man in Mississippi's daughter. Sometimes she'd go, but most times she'd spend time with Charles instead.

Their parents were always supportive, but in many ways Charlie was the only person who really knew Sara. He knew that sweet, blushing, always polite Sara loved to hear dirty jokes, even if a really good one caused  her face to turn dangerously red. He knew that most of the time when Sara told their parents she was going to choir practice, she was actually going to a juke joint to sing to drunken adults. He also knew that Sara'd had a crush on Brooks Kingen since they were in the 4^th grade, but that she was far too shy to say anything about it to him. He was the starting point guard at Ole Miss now, and she was still too embarrassed to go to a game to see him when he was playing a game in Atlanta the season before.

Charlie used to think he was the only person in the world who really knew how awesome a person his sister really was, and he didn't have to share her with anybody. A lot had changed over the last few years though. At first Charles had been really supportive. When she said that she'd made some friends at boarding school, he'd been happy. When she started using her powers again, he'd encouraged it, and when she told him that she was testing her limits, he told her to go for it. He'd been pretty excited when he met Alisha and especially Jan, but that's about when things started going downhill. He'd been polite to Armen, but not especially nice. Sara'd be lying if she didn't admit that it hurt a little, just like with the scrubs.

Charles also knew just how self-conscious she used to be about her body, and in some ways still was. Sara'd been rail thin most of her life, just a wisp of a girl. In high school when all the other girls started filing out, Sara didn't. She even tried to convince herself that she actually preferred to stay the way she was. She made lists of all the hassles other women had to put up with that she just wouldn't, like being ogled by guys all the time. Then one day without any warning, her breasts had started growing, and growing, and growing like they'd never stop. She went from not really needing a training bra to having to scour stores to find bras with big enough cups and small enough straps to fit her otherwise skinny body.

Sara chuckled thinking back to the abject terror she'd felt back then. Her breasts weren't nearly as large as Alisha's, but on Sara's tiny frame they looked massive. For several years Sara's only criteria for buying clothes was whether they could hide her rack or not. She'd worked very hard on a lot of things since then. Now she had the confidence to not only to show off what nature had given her, but what she'd built with her own efforts. As her confidence grew though, it seemed like Charlie's resentment did too. To her, it seemed like he pushed back at each stage of Sara's progress. Thanks to LaShaunta, Sara got to go home more often these days. Now when Sara and Charles spent time together, they both went through the effort of pretending that nothing at all had changed between them. Charles had to know that Sara could feel the tension in him without even trying. Charles did a good job of hiding the true depth of his animosity until one day on a trip to Vicksburg it boiled to the surface.

They went there to shop like they used to do all the time, but Sara didn't fly under the radar anymore. She turned heads as she walked down the streets in her tight jeans and form fitting blouse. Men eyed her up and down as she approached and as she walked away. Charles had seemed distracted the entire time, always hesitating to reply when Sara spoke to him. By the time they walked into the first store he was almost acting normal. He found the biggest floppiest sun hat for Sara to try on. They shared a laugh when she actually bought it.

Sara walked outside and looked around while Charles paid for some sunglasses he’d spotted on the way out the door. Sara milled around and peered into the windows of the shop next door, when a guy came jogging across the street, making a beeline for Sara. "Hey", he called out in his smooth baritone, making sure this beauty didn't walk away. He'd been eyeing her from across the street, and he hadn't gotten a good look at her face, but a body like hers, he figured that he couldn't go wrong. Sara turned towards his voice and he frowned.

"Sara!?!", Brooks Kingen half asked and half exclaimed. "My God, when did you become the hottest woman in town", he asked in that always cool way of his.

Sara didn't blush, and she didn't demure. She just grinned up at him, batting her lashes and replied, "Is that what I am now?"

"That's the only kind of woman I ever pay attention to", Brooks said just as Charles came out of the store. "And from all the way over there, I was like, I've got to meet that blonde right there."

"Turns out we met a long time ago."

Brooks shook his head. "I don't think so. That old Sara was kinda cute. This new Sara is… blazing."

"Well, I did all this just to get you to notice me", Sara stated with a completely straight face, then laughed. Brooks laughed too.

"Don't give me that bull. You haven't thought of me since sophomore year in high school."

Charles stood about thirty feet away looking at his sister and her old crush talking, not just talking, but flirting with each other. Sara didn't look like she wanted to hide under a rock like she used to when Brooks was around. Her smile only faltered when she felt the strong emotions coming from her brother. She looked over her shoulder and saw Charles just as he walked into the store he'd just come out of. Cassie could have broken down Charlie's emotions really quickly, but Sara couldn't, so she didn't try. All she knew was that he was upset. The drive back home had been even worse than the drive down. He asked if Sara had any plans to meet up with Brooks, when she said no, it was like Charles got even more upset. He was moody and distant the rest of the day.

Sara let out a sigh as she stood in the middle of the hall, wondering how she was going to fix whatever was broken between she and her brother. She paused and looked up at the clock, her lips turning up a little since her shift was over. She always made one last stop before she left though. She took a deep, calming breath before stepping into Nikki Washington's room.

"Do you still have a headache?", Sara asked out loud to the comatose patient.

"It's getting better", Nikki replied with a thought so clear that it rang like a bell in Sara's head. Not many people, even ones who were perfectly healthy had thoughts as strong as Nikki. That was one reason why it was frustrating that she was still comatose, when Sara had already helped another patient wake up, and he wasn't nearly as alert as Nikki was. She could hear, feel, taste, and even tell when the sun was shining brightly through the window, but she still wasn't awake.

"You know, Sara", Nikki thought, "I haven't had a headache since before the car accident. I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad one."

"Pain's usually not good", Sara replied in her genteel drawl. "Don't overdo it on the mental exercises."

"But I'm more aware now!", Nikki countered strongly, so strongly that Sara actually pulled back mentally. It was like Nikki was talking through a loud speaker. Sara was going to say something with a thought, but instead pulled completely out of Nikki's mind. "I'm not going to argue with you", Sara scolded her patient. "You're making progress, but you don't want to have a setback do you?" Sara sensed that Nikki didn't want to argue either so she entered her mind again while adjusting the blanket.

"How bad's my body now?", Nikki asked, mostly to change the subject.

"No bruises or sores, and of course you're clean", Sara replied like she was talking to her supervisor.

Nikki laughed mentally. "It's that bad huh? I used to have the best body in school… or at least one of the best bodies. I bet I'm skin and bones now."

Sara grinned, but Nikki couldn't open her eyes to see it. "You'll work your way back. You seem like you've got the genes for it."

"Yeah… maybe… if I ever wake up."

"Have faith", Sara told Nikki then patted her motionless arm.

"That's all I've got", Nikki replied, her thoughts softer now.

"And sometimes that's enough." Nikki didn't reply so Sara said good-bye then headed down to the break room to get her stuff from the locker.

"Are you working tomorrow?", Austin, the new guy asked.

"No", Sara replied as she grabbed her bag from the locker. "I'm not back until Monday afternoon."

"Take it easy", he said with a quick wave as Sara walked out, but everyone else saw that his eyes lingered on her a little longer than they needed to. It wasn't creepy or anything, and they were about the same age, but Austin needed to realize that he was just one in a long line of guys who had the hots for Sara. The other workers couldn't tell if Sara pretended not to notice Austin's flirtations or really didn't.

Sara usually took the stairs down, but her burning quads and tight calves convinced her to take the elevator to the ground floor. She checked her watch, but resisted the temptation to reach out with her mind to find her boyfriend. Armen had borrowed her Hummer and promised that he'd be back when her shift ended. She wouldn't have fussed at him, but she would have sat down and waited instead of walking all the way to the door. She trusted him though, and got a big smile on her face when she opened the door and saw her Hummer sitting there.

"Hey there beautiful", Armen greeted Sara when she opened the door.

"I feel like I look terrible", she replied after giving Armen a quick kiss.

"Well you don't", he said as pulled out of the parking lot. "You're just tired. You've got to rest some time."

"Yeah, you're probably right. We should go on vacation", she mused. "Have you ever been to Bali?"

"Nope."

"Me neither", Sara said with a sigh. "I hear it's nice."

Armen chuckled. "I'd have thought you guys would have a place in Bali or something."

"Well, if there's a nice house for sale when we go, maybe we will", Sara replied while looking out the window, day dreaming of sand and ocean waves.

Armen waited for a chuckle that never came. "Oh, you're serious?"

"Yeah, why not?" Armen just shook his head and kept driving. He was sure that one day he'd get used to dating a billionaire's daughter, but it hadn't happened yet.

Armen pulled up to the side door of the dorm and killed the engine. Sara slid out of the seat since her legs had gotten a little stiff after sitting. She made her way to the front of the SUV though and grabbed Armen's face to pull his lips down to hers. She couldn't possibly care who might have been watching them. The kiss ended slowly, with both of them wanting it to keep going, but Armen pulled back to arm's length and stared in Sara's eyes for a moment before turning towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow", he told her and let go of her hands.

Sara climbed behind the wheel and readjusted the drivers seat so her feet could reach the peddles before heading towards her apartment. She took care to avoid the freeways since most of the reconstruction work to repair the damage from the Battle of the Old Fort was being done at night. Sara rolled down the windows, cranked up her favorite station on satellite radio and settled in for the trip.

She was still doing her best Levi Stubbs impersonation as she walked into her apartment singing the chorus to Ain't No Woman. She was pretty relaxed now, like the stress of the day had melted away during the drive. Her legs were still sore though. She imagined the bath she was about to run for herself. She was two steps from her bedroom when she saw Jan's bedroom door slightly open. She planned on popping her head in to say hello, but she saw Jan sitting in front of her fancy new digital piano still in her workout gear with just a lamp on. Jan didn't even turn around when Sara knew for sure that Jan could hear her approaching. She could probably smell her. Sara tossed her bag on the floor and walked in.

"What is it?", she asked and Jan spun slowly.

"Oh it's nothing", she tried, but Sara didn't bite.

"Come on. You might as well spill it." Sara sat down in Jan's desk chair and leaned back against the springy rebound until her feet left the floor.

Jan let out a sigh. "I did something at class I shouldn't have." Sara motioned for Jan to go on, so she did. "I smashed Veronica during a free roll. I mean I submitted her back to back like bam bam bam!!" Jan punctuated her words by loudly snapping her fingers.

Sara didn't see the big deal. "Did you injure her?"

"No, of course not."

"Did you cheat?" Jan shook her head slowly and Sara laughed. "I wouldn't have blamed you if you had. I mean she looks like she could make a bull say uncle." Jan didn't even crack a smile. "Did you smash her for a reason?"

"Yeah", Jan admitted. "Or I thought I had a reason at the time. It was a no gi class today and Veronica came in grappling gear. I thought it was no big deal, but she looks even bigger without a gi on. It's kinda ridiculous really. Anyway, the rest of the class looked terrified. It was way worse than at the first class. At least then they were trying to be polite. Today they were acting like Veronica was an ogre or something, and to make it worse, I didn't train with Veronica the other day. I can't read minds, but I could tell they were wondering if I was a little afraid of going up against Veronica again. So I thought I'd show the whole class that Veronica is really big and she's fairly advanced, but she's still my student, just like they are. Now, I'm wondering how I made Veronica feel."

"She's probably even happier now that you're her teacher than before. She's going to learn a lot from you." Jan looked unconvinced. Sara leaned closer. "Who wants to be better than the teacher? There has to be a gap and you proved the gap's way bigger than she thought it was."

"I should be secure enough not to have to do something like that."

"Jan, that might work for some people, but not for everybody." Sara got a sideways smile on her face and leaned back in the chair again. "Do you remember the first time I caught you in a submission? I mean got something you didn't let me have." Jan frowned and searched her memory, but came up blank.

"Well I remember it. We were still training down at Fort Benning and I got you in a collar choke. Everything was cool at first. I think you might've been happy for me, and then I screwed up big time by bragging."

Sara laughed thinking back on it. "I don't know what came over me. I should've known you were taking it very, very easy on me. But after that you proceeded to grind me into the mat for like five straight minutes. It felt like an hour. You choked me ten different ways, did armbars, leg locks, wrist locks, basically every part of my body was fair game. It took me months to gather enough courage to try and submit you again."

"That was so wrong to do", Jan said with a frown, even if she still didn't remember it. "It shouldn't have matter what you said. I was teaching you, not competing with you." Jan let out a sigh. "You know, I thought I'd made some progress since then, but Veronica challenges me, or I just think she's challenging me and I do the same thing to her that I did to you."

"Come on Jan! Stop being so hard on yourself! You smashed me cause I pissed you off and needed a lesson in humility. You smashed Veronica because you couldn't let the rest of your class think you're afraid of her. You have to maintain authority in your class. You've earned that. Besides, it's mandatory that you're the most dangerous woman in the room at all times. It's part of your mystique. You can't let Veronica mess with that!"

Sara finally got Jan to smile. "I'm not even the most dangerous woman in this room."

"Don't count yourself short", Sara said seriously. "But yeah, as long as you didn't cheat when you chain submitted Veronica then in my mind everything's cool. You taught Veronica a valuable lesson tonight."

"That I can rag doll her when I want to?"

"Exactly! I bet she thought she was close to beating you back during that tournament."

Jan's smile broadened as she leaned towards Sara. "She did. I could tell. She was way too eager when I chose to train with her today. That sort of ticked me off too."

Sara smiled and started rocking in Jan's chair. "Think about it. She thought she was in a dominate position and you had to work a little to sink that armlock in."

"That's because she's as strong as a plough horse!", Jan exclaimed.

"She didn't remember it that way. To her she was one good grip from submitting you, but she didn't have you in danger once. To be honest me, Shaunie, and Alisha were surprised you waited that long to finish her. Now, I'd have put my money on a choke instead of a lock because I think you enjoy looking into your opponent's eyes as their brain slowly turns off."

Jan laughed. "I choked Veronica from the back tonight. I couldn't even see her eyes."

"You imagined them then?"

"I'm not that cold bloodied", Jan defended herself then went silent for a couple of seconds before asking, "How do you think I should treat her when she comes to the next class… if she comes to the next class?"

"Stop being dramatic!", Sara exclaimed. "If she doesn't show up then she's too wimpy to be your student. I don't care how big her muscles are. But anyway, I'd act like nothing happened. It was just another great day on the mats."

Jan nodded slowly. "Okay, I'll play it that way and see what happens." She finally seemed to have relaxed a little. She looked back to Sara and cocked her head. "Your scrubs are cute. I haven't seen those before."

"A gift from Charlie", she replied.

"They're a little baggy though", Jan remarked and Sara could only shake her head. Part of her wanted to tell Jan about the growing rift with her brother, but she chose not to. She just leaned back in the chair. "So how was your day?", Jan asked after a few moments of silence.

Sara shrugged then leaned forward.  "I went a little too hard on a run today, so my legs feel like they're about to fall off. And we got a new patient today, a really big guy."

"That's no problem for you."

"It's a problem when his kids stay in the room the whole time!"

A few days later Jan stood at the front of the training room in her gleaming white gi, her hair still loose around her shoulders while she talked to Suzie and Mary. She seemed normal on the outside, but inside she was really tense. Her eyes cut sharply towards the door anytime she heard footsteps out in the hallway, no one in the room could hear besides her. She didn't want to think that she'd run Veronica off, but then her huge frame darkened the doorway. She was all smiles while carrying on a conversation with Teri and Raina. Jan let out a big sigh of relief , and she was still smiling when she got the class started.

Everything went well until at the end, when everyone was heading back to the locker room, Veronica came up and asked Jan a question that she'd been dreading. "Do you teach privates?"

Jan's first thought to was to yell NO then run out of the room, because she already knew that Saturday was the only day she really had available to teach, and she used Saturday as her decompression day. Sometimes she practiced the piano, sometimes she checked out the flea market, sometimes she went shopping, or sometimes she did nothing at all, but then Jan thought about all the private lessons she'd had with Mark in jiu-jitsu and even with Mrs. Robbins her piano teacher. Jan selfishly wanted to turn Veronica down, but Jan wouldn't turn herself into a hypocrite so she smiled and asked, "Is Saturday a good day for you?"

That Saturday, Veronica was excited when the private class began, but Jan threw a little cold water on Veronica's dreams of learning any new fancy techniques today. Jan laid on the mat, and looked up at her towering student. "I know you want me to teach you the reverse de la Riva, or reverse berimbolo from reverse de la RIva, but we've got to get the fundamentals down first. It's really really important. So we're gonna to work on mount escapes first." Veronica's expression dropped a little, but Jan didn't care. "Ok, take mount and let's get started."

Veronica wondered why Jan kept trying to ram this basic stuff down her throat. Veronica always thought her mount escape techniques were solid. Jan was just an expert at maintaining mount. There was no shame in that, but after the first minute of listening to Jan explain how she had so easily escaped from Veronica's mount, the big student actually got angry. Jan explained these basic moves with detail and nuance that that Veronica had never heard. Her anger turned to frustration when Veronica realized that none of this was rocket science, but that she'd never figured out some of these simple and effective details on her own.

"Ok, let's try and put it all together", Jan said and sat on Veronica's chest again. This time though Veronica didn't panic. She applied what Jan had just taught her and was able to escape. She knew Jan wasn't trying to her to maintain her position, but being able to roll Jan over to her back felt good just the same.  "That's good", a smiling Jan told Veronica. "Much better than before."

"Before I met you", Veronica began before taking a drink of water, "I had no idea my fundamentals sucked so bad."

Jan chuckled. "They don't suck exactly, but they can use some refining. When you get ready for your black belt, Mark might test you or maybe even Master Furtado, and if your rudiments aren't good enough, they'll get mad at me."

"For some reason I feel further from my black belt now than when I first got this brown belt", Veronica replied.

Jan took a drink of water then glanced up at the clock. "Well let's see how much progress you've made today."

Student and teacher went at each other again, but things weren't nearly as intense as before. Veronica knew Jan was trying to teach her, not to embarrass her. Near the end though, as the clock counted down, the intensity ramped up. Jan wound up between Veronica's gargantuan thighs and the big woman gave a squeeze as she reached up and yanked Jan down, sinking her deeper between her bone crushing thighs.

Veronica had been trapped in Jan's guard so many times that it felt good to turn things around. She just had to smirk, but she couldn't rest here. She concentrated on keeping Jan from sitting up. Jan seemed to resist a little, but but Veronica's wide back was so strong that Jan didn't bother trying to fight all of that with just her neck. She rested her forehead against Veronica’s stomach while pushing into the bigger girl to keep her from becoming too settled. Veronica was just coming up with her plan of attack when she felt Jan’s right arm slip under her left shoulder. Veronica wasn't worried though. She was too busy setting Jan up for a triangle choke. All she had to do was get Jan’s arm in the right position, which wasn't going to be too hard. Just then Jan pulled her knees away from Veronica’s butt and got onto the balls of her feet. Veronica had no idea what Jan was about to do, but she still wasn't worried. Her quads flexed as she gave Jan’s middle a squeeze, just to get her attention. Veronica couldn't tell if it worked or not because Jan turned her hips and splayed her legs out to Veronica’s right side. With one arm behind Veronica’s back and her other hand on Veronica’s near side hip, Jan began to walk her legs to the side, curling Veronica’s body as she did so.

Jan’s calves and hamstrings flexed razor sharp as she forced Veronica’s right knee towards her right shoulder. Veronica’s muscles flexed to resist even if she didn't have a real defense. Jan’s teeth were on edge as she forced Veronica into a tighter and tighter ball. She was never actually going to be able to force Veronica’s knee to her shoulder, but she didn't have to. She kept walking sideways until she felt Veronica’s ankles unhook from around each other. Veronica was surprised and impressed. She felt helpless as Jan casually stepped from between Veronica’s massive thighs. Veronica scrambled and managed to wrap both her legs around Jan’s right leg to maintain a little control, but that was mostly because Jan slowed down before finally stopping all together.

Instead of jabbing her knee into Veronica’s ribs like she usually would, Jan said, “Hold on a sec.”  Veronica relaxed and Jan pulled her leg free. “I think I might teach you something a tiny bit fancy.” Veronica had to try hard to keep from smiling. “Has anyone ever taught you the Sao Paulo pass?”

“The what pass?”

“I'll take that as a no then. Its pretty new anyway”, Jan said then put herself back between Veronica’s legs. “Its perfect for someone like you. I'm going to teach you the basic pass, and then I'll teach you a variation that’ll actually work on me.”

“That's awesome”, a sweaty and tired Veronica said several minutes later after managing to escape from Jan’s guard for the third time in a row. She knew Jan wasn't doing all she could to maintain it just like with the mount before, but she still felt proud anyway. She’d worked for twenty minutes on this move and now knew enough to at least keep working on it.

“I’m glad you like it”, Jan said as she walked over to the shelf to grab her water bottle. "You work on connecting it with setups for other passes and I’ll have to try something else on you.” Veronica chuckled as Jan took a long drink of water. “Don’t forget to work on the other fundamentals we worked on today too.”

“Oh don’t worry about that”, Veronica said then took a drink of water herself. “If getting my basics down convinces you to teach me more cool stuff, then it’s more than worth it.”

Jan started to say something else but figured that Veronica wouldn’t like being preached at.  “I’ll see you Tuesday”, she said instead then headed for the door.

"Hey", Veronica called out before Jan's hand touched the knob. "Let me buy you lunch", she offered. "It's the least I can do for taking up two hours of your Saturday", she added before Jan could decline.

"Umm, ok", Jan agreed since her stomach growled right after Veronica mentioned lunch.

They ended up at a little café not too far from the gym. Both women had showered and changed in the locker room, but while Jan had put on an off-white dress that flowed like the curves of her body, Veronica had put on another set of athletic gear. Her blue and black tights did all they could to stretch far enough to cover the thick expanses of her legs, hips, and ass. Veronica's quads flexed with sweep and size that many male bodybuilder would have strangled someone to get. Her calves were like Christmas hams beneath those quads. The tights were lucky that they didn't have to stretch over them too. Her legs were bare beneath the knee so people in the little cafe got to see the fine details of Veronica's calf muscles as she walked. Veronica had her hair tied back again which gave her already chiseled features a starker look. Jan looked like a fantasy come to life, but she seemed not to notice people staring at the two of them. 

"I have to tell you something", Veronica blurted after they'd started eating. "I have this buddy, Dave, who I used to train with at my first school. He lives in DC now and trains at Mark Sim's academy in Maryland."

"Oh cool", Jan said before shoving more salad into her mouth.

"Anyway, I got him to ask around about you up there… before I talked to you about joining your school."

"What did Dave report back?"

"That you're only Mark Sims third black belt and that he put your picture on his black belt wall as soon as he got back. Well two pictures, one of you as kid in your first class and another of you standing there with your students after getting your black belt. He said I'm partially in the picture too, helping Raz to the side of the mat." Jan grinned, but didn't say anything. "Dave also told me a whole section of the big trophy case in the lobby has only your trophies and medals in it."

Jan took a sip of tea before explaining, "I don't like trophies at home, never have. I might start thinking I'm good enough or something like that. So every trophy and medal I ever won in jiu-jitsu is in that case. Well my Mom and Dad have some in their offices, which is where all my basketball trophies are."

"He also told me none of the trophies have dates after 2002. You're the real deal. I mean I have some trophies back at my place, but you treat me like a workout dummy."

Jan almost spit out her tea. "You're better than that!"

"Not much", a grinning Veronica replied.

Jan let out a sigh of her own. "I had a lot of stuff going on in my life in 02 and 03. I had to pull back and figure some stuff out. I wasn't even training in 03 and 04", Jan admitted.

Veronica shook her head. "So you get your black belt by the age of 20 and you didn't even train for two years?"

Jan shrugged her shapely shoulders. "Two and a half years really, but what can I say. Do you think I got promoted too early?"

Veronica scoffed. "Look I'm no expert on the history of bjj, but even I know if Hector Furtado gives you a belt then you deserve it. Besides, you don't want to admit it, but you really do use me for practice. Come on, you're not going to hurt my feelings." Jan blushed a little. "See, I knew it!"

"You're good enough for me to try stuff on", Jan finally admitted.

"And you handicaped yourself. That first no gi roll, you were only doing shoulder locks from mount."

"Yeah, that was part of it. Mostly I wanted to only use techniques that I'd already taught my other students", Jan explained

Veronica's mouth fell open and sat that way for a moment as she thought back to her second class as Jan's student. "Oh my goodness. You were rag-dolling me using only white belt moves. My humilitation is complete."

"Not complete", Jan said with some regret. "I've taught the students an arm drag to take the back, but you made me modify it quite a bit."

"That's something I guess", Veronica allowed. "And I'll just come out and say it, cause I've been thinking it. Other schools I've been at always talk about core principles, but you are the very first instructor I've ever had that showed me, in real rolls what these basic moves can do."

"Well thank you. I'm just teaching the way I learned. I'm glad you're getting something out these lessons. I have a bunch of new stuents I've taught from day one and then a high level student. I had to figure out a way to keep you from being bored out your mind."

Veronica chuckled. "If all we did was drill against each other I'd get as much out of our classes as I have in years. You even allow me to tap you every now and then. I'm good with that."

Jan put her teacher's hat back on. "If you work the process right and  take what's there, that's what I want."

"Unless you're trying to work on something", Veronica added then laughed.

"Not true!"

Veronica just smiled. It was nice to see some of her teacher's personality. She was way more easygoing than Veronica would have guessed from just looking at her. "So are you going to win any more trophies in the near future?"

"I'm gonna try. I've been looking into some tournaments I'll probably enter later this year." Jan hadn't even told her roommates about what she was planning on doing, but they'd be supportive. Sara especially had been trying to convince Jan to go back to competition since they'd met.

"You'll do great. I'm sure of it."

"Well, I'll start small, local stuff you know. I wouldn't want to get smashed and crush my confidence. Then I'd have to smash you to make myself feel better." Veronica laughed so hard some food went down the wrong way. After recovering somewhat, the two finished lunch and walked out together. "I'll see you Tuesday", Veronica said as they started to part ways.

"Yeah I'll have a surprise for you guys", Jan called back.

On the other side of town Ryan Hill pulled his luggage out of the back seat the car before Jasmine came around and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'd have gotten those for you", she told him while looking into his eyes.

He smiled. "I know, but I'm not helpless", he replied then kissed his wife quickly.

"Have a safe trip", she said then kissed him again before getting back in the car before the airport cops had something to say about where she was parked.

"I'll call you when I get to the hotel", Ryan yelled as Jasmine jogged away.

She stopped and turned. "Call me when you land", she corrected him and Ryan agreed. He thought she was heading back home, but Jasmine instead headed further south, towards Macon where she had a fight setup. The opponent was supposed to be really good, but that remained to be seen. She was trained up, but on her own yet again since Purnell refused to get back into the fight game again at any level.

Two hours of driving and five minutes of fighting later, the East Georgia champ was on his last legs. He'd laughed when he saw Jasmine standing across the backyard from him loosening up. He'd joked that his shadow probably weighed more than she did. She wasn't a small woman at all. He was just a really huge guy, but he kept himself in good shape. Jasmine noticed that he didn't even have love handles when he took his shirt off. None of that helped him though. He'd delivered a couple of decent shots to Jasmine's head and body, but it wasn't nearly enough. Jasmine had beaten this guy bloody and had barely broken a sweat.

Jasmine bounded forward and landed a stinging jab followed by a hook that landed so hard it made the crowd around them wince. Jasmine pressed her advantage. He came in close and clinched Jasmine behind her head, but she managed to free her right hand and rained blows onto the side of his head. He dropped to a knee, but that didn't make her stop. She hit him with lefts and rights until he grabbed Jasmine behind her knees, picked her up and slammed her to the grass. Her head bounced against the firm soil. He scrambled to his knees then crawled on top of Jasmine, punching her as he went. She rolled into a ball when he hit her right in the pit of her stomach. It surprised her more than hurt. She started to scramble to get up, but then thought better of it. She wasn't great on the ground, but she wasn't useless down here either. If this guy wanted to go to the ground, then she'd finish him here. She grabbed him by the shoulder with one hand and jerked him to the right just as her fist started flying. He partially blocked the punch by throwing up his hands at the last moment, but Jasmine didn't stop. She kept throwing punches from her back until blood started flowing from her opponent's mouth. Then she rolled him over and straddled his chest with her knees while she wailed down blows on top of him.

All at once she reached down and wrapped her arms around his neck before rolling forward, over his head, and onto her back while still holding his neck. She put her shoulder to the side of his head and then squeezed. Jasmine's meaty biceps solidified like granite. Her forearms and shoulders were just as hard. Jasmine grinned when she heard her opponent gasp and then let out small wheezing noises. He hadn't given up though, which was impressive, but then Jasmine just doubled the pressure on his neck. Her already dense biceps thickened in all directions. Her forearms looked like gnarled tree roots, thick and bulbous with muscle. Her teeth set on edge as she applied her strength and then there was a POP, followed by another one. Her opponent wanted to scream, but couldn't even breathe. The pain made his eyes roll in his head and he passed out.

His friends ran over then and stopped the fight. When Jasmine let him go, he started gasping for air. She stood up and the referee, if he could be called that, came over and raised Jasmine's hand as the winner, but his eyes were on the defeated fighter, who was just starting to wake up. Jasmine collected her winnings from the 'promoter' of the fights and from the bookies, because she'd put a grand down on herself to win. She heard some yell, "His neck's dislocated", as she walked towards the front of empty house that was hiding the fights taking place out back. Of course nothing was really hidden, but the proper bribes had been paid to the proper people to get the law to look the other way. Jasmine was almost to her car when she heard someone behind her yell for her to stop.

She turned, shoving the money in the pocket of her pull-over as she did. Three guys came at her from across the yard. "You fucking broke his neck!", one of them yelled as he lunged forward and threw a hard looping punch that Jasmine easily ducked. She blasted a hook right to the man's liver. He crumpled to the ground a moment later. Another threw a kick at the same time his body tried to grab her. Jasmine deflected the kick, but couldn't keep from getting tackled by the third guy. He drove her into the ground, but she didn't fall flat on her back. She rolled and braced herself against the impact. She could tell that these guys trained a little, but they didn't train enough. The second guy came forward to try and kick Jasmine in the head, but it was time to demonstrate a little of the strength that a fucked up their friend's neck a moment ago. Jasmine grabbed the guy who was on the ground with her, under his armpits and with pure strength lifted the 260 pound guy up and spun him towards the kick that was coming towards her, just using her arms. The guy tried to reign in his kick, but was too late. He kicked his buddy right in the back of his head, knocking him senseless. Jasmine tossed the unconscious guy to the side then jumped up to her feet. Now it was one on one. The guy who took the shot to the liver was trying to recover, but he was just barely able to stand. Jasmine locked eyes with the guy standing about five feet away, then lowered her hands and relaxed her fists. He didn't want any of what she was going to dish out, and besides she wasn't heartless, just driven.

"Go take care of your friend", she said then pulled out her car keys. She was about to open the car door then walked back towards them. The three friends all shrank away, but she didn't get too close. Jasmine didn't want them to start fighting again. Instead she pulled out the wad of money she'd just won and tossed it to the guy she'd just hit in the liver. "Use this for your friend's hospital bill." Jasmine drove off, seeing in the rearview as the friends helped each other to their feet. They rushed to the back yard, while Jasmine headed back home, satisfied with her win.

to be continued...

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