Power and Fury: Tuesdays and Fridays pt. 2
by demented20
Underestimate the mighty Jan Caufield at your own risk.

Date: April 2006


"So you're warming up to her huh?", Alisha asked while she, Jan, and LaShaunta lounged in the living room as the breeze blew in through the open windows on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

"I am", Jan replied quickly. She'd just finished her second private lesson with Veronica, and it had gone even better than the first. Veronica’s Sao Paulo pass was really coming along well. "I'm actually trying to be less excited than I really am. You guys know I've been thinking about renting a store front to put my school in, but there's just one of me, but if I have a brown belt student then maybe, just maybe."

LaShaunta looked up from her book. "You want that girl teaching your students? She'll probably have them in a death battle in a days."

Jan chuckled. "Most of her attitude at the tournament was her old teacher's bad influence. She's really not the stark raving mad type", Jan replied.

"That's nice to know", LaShaunta still sounded unconvinced.

"She thought she was supposed to be hyper aggressive, but I'm trying to show her that being an alpha has nothing to do with being a good practitioner of jiu-jitsu."

Alisha chuckled. "I don't know. I've seen you pretty aggressive in the past."

Jan grinned before she replied. "Yeah, well, I'm not always hyper aggressive and if I can reign it in, then so can Veronica. But like I said, I don't think she's really that way at all. It was the bad influence. Just like you guys have tamed me. Your bad influence has made me all soft and stuff."

Alisha’s brow gathered and she leaned forward. "Jan, if taming you was the only thing I ever did in life, then it would be a life well lived." Jan laughed and LaShaunta just looked confused. "You didn't know her in high school", Alisha explained.

"I wasn't that bad", Jan said. "Well, I mean, I know my tempter was pretty bad back then I guess."

"It wasn't only that! Do you remember when you convinced me to hit you in the head with a hammer?", Alisha asked while pointing a finger at Jan, who threw her head back and laughed.

"And you did it?!?", LaShaunta asked with a raised eyebrow. "Did you know about her gift back then?"

"Nope. I didn't know about any of that stuff, and yes I hit her.

"Why?", LaShaunta sat forward and asked.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Weren't you worried about getting in trouble with the cops?"

Alisha shrugged. "Rumor was that Jan had done some self injury stuff in the past. I thought, worse case scenario, I'd lie and tell 'em she hit herself with the damn hammer."

Jan laughed again. "That is so very wrong."

"So was convincing me to hit you in the head with a hammer!"

"Both of you were crazy", LaShaunta concluded and Alisha shrugged again.

"Probably."

Three days later, Jasmine was standing just outside her office door when her assistant walked up with a steaming cup of coffee. She flexed her fingers a few times before accepting the piping hot mug. Her hands were still sore from hard training the night before, but she'd pushed the pain aside long enough to get dressed and come into the office this morning. She needed the caffeine if she wanted to have any chance of making it through this meeting. Ryan usually dealt with stuff like this, but he wasn't in town. For the last two years her husband had been planning on taking their profitable regional company national. Jasmine saw an upside but didn't really think it was worth the risk. They were well on the path though, which was why Ryan was in North Carolina giving an update to one of their major financial backers. He should have returned Monday evening, but the bankers were so excited that they were flying more investors down from Boston. That left Jasmine to head up the marketing strategy meeting.

Jasmine did have a few soft spots inside of her cast iron heart, so she felt bad that the local mom and pop marketing company they'd been using for years wasn't in serious consideration for this new contract. The search team had zeroed in on some new hotshot firm from Chicago. Jasmine had listened in on a couple of conference calls, and had liked what she'd heard so far. That didn't mean Jasmine was convinced just yet, but she was open to being blown away. If the presentation failed today though, Jasmine and her company would have just wasted a lot of time and money.

She started towards the main conference room noticing that all of her company's executives were already inside. Usually they'd stay out in the hall as long as they could, on their BlackBerrys, working until the very last second. Many of them thought of these meetings as time they couldn't get back. Jasmine walked down the empty corridor and looked through the open double doors. The executives were in their chairs facing towards the front of the room. There wasn't much small talk going on either. It was as if the meeting had already started. Jasmine guessed that the executives must really be excited for the next step in the company's expansion, but then she stepped into the conference room and saw the real reason all the guys were already in the room.

Jasmine's face flushed and her ears burned when she saw the woman standing near the podium at the front of room looking down at a laptop. Jasmine couldn't see the woman's entire face, but she didn't have to. Anger welled inside her. She wanted to know what kind of trick these people from Chicago were trying to pull. Did they send a model down here to try and charm the company? Did they expect her husband Ryan to be here? Did they expect this woman to seduce a high seven figure contract out of Jasmine's company? Jasmine could only guess how many CEOs had been crushed by the woman standing there.

She was the most effortless beautiful woman Jasmine had ever laid eyes on. She looked like she'd been created rather than born. Without even trying, she made Jasmine feel completely inadequate. Jasmine wondered why she ever bothered putting on make-up, or why she spent so much money at the hair salon, or wasted money buying nice outfits and expensive shoes when there were women like this out in the world. Jasmine had seen women in magazines in airbrushed pictures and in movies with cherry picked angles and post production, but Jasmine never expected to see someone so flawless in real life. This woman's skin didn't have a wrinkle, mole, freckle, or any hints that it ever had. Jasmine felt like walking up to this woman and punching her right in her beautiful copper toned face. Maybe break her nose or something.

Jasmine could almost put up with that breathtaking face if the woman at the podium carried a few extra pounds, was too skinny, or was less than perfect in some other way. That just wasn't the case. Instead her body was graceful, fit, and sensually curvy at the same time. She was so well put together that Jasmine didn't know what to be jealous of first. Her grey and white dress wasn't too tight. The hemline wasn't too high, and the neckline not too low, but none of that mattered. Every man in the room was trying to undress that woman with their eyes. She was taller than Jasmine, with long legs. She couldn't see much of this woman's thighs, but from the way her calf flexed and sharpened when she shifted her weight Jasmine could tell that she had to be in good shape. Her stomach was pine board flat, with the swell of her breasts nicely filling out the top of the dress while the flare of her hips and her pert onion of an ass filled out the bottom.

Jasmine clenched her right hand into a fist as she started towards the podium instead of going to her chair. The woman flipped her long jet black hair over a shoulder as she stood up straight, finished with whatever she was doing on the laptop. Jasmine finally saw her face from another angle still she couldn't find a flaw. Jasmine was so jealous that she felt like breaking one of that woman's bones, maybe some bones in her hand, just to give her a flaw. A grin formed on Jasmine's face at the thought. Two members of the marketing team went up to the woman as Jasmine got within a dozen feet. The woman spoke to them quickly, sending them off to either side of the room to work on something. Jasmine pulled her eyes off of the woman and looked at the marketing team scurrying around the front of the conference room while that well dressed gorgeous woman was as serene as a still body of water. Just then the woman looked right at Jasmine, flashing her light brown eyes and lush lashes. The woman smiled and Jasmine stopped mid stride.

"You must be Jasmine", she said and stepped forward with an extended hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Lisa Sanchez."

Jasmine's mean little grin fell away and guilt rose up to replace the petty jealousy. This woman wasn't some kind of manipulative plant to seduce gullible men into signing contracts. She was the boss. The signs had been plain to see, but Jasmine had been blinded for a moment. Jasmine now knew that she was face to face with another hard working career woman. She was beautiful enough to put lots of models to shame, but Jasmine was sure Lisa's looks had slowed her career as much as they had sped it up. Jasmine looked down at the offered hand that she'd wanted to crush a moment earlier and shook it.

"Pleasure's mine", Jasmine replied pleasantly. "Nice to put faces to the voices on the phone."

Lisa chuckled. "Likewise. Thank you for having us here."

Jasmine smiled and the executives who saw it were stunned. "No we're thankful you and your team came all the way to Georgia. So, now I'm ready for you to knock my socks off."

Lisa's smile broadened. "I think you'll like what we've come up with."

"Great", Jasmine said then started towards her chair at the head of the table. "Let's get this show on the road."

A few hours later Jan was standing in front of her class while they stretched and did warm up drills. She was smiling so broadly that both rows of her perfect teeth were showing and her eyes sparkled in the light. "Ok guys you know I'm horrible at keeping secrets, especially when I'm excited. We've had some great guest instructors in the past, one of my roommates or even my Dad once, but today I've got a good friend. I've been asking her to come forever, but today she's going to help us out. If she ever comes in!"

Just then Lisa walked into the room in a blue gi cinched at the waist with a black belt. "Sorry y'all", Lisa said as she headed towards the front of the room. "I made a wrong turn."

Veronica wasn't the only student whose eyes got wide when Lisa walked in. Mary and Timmy had met Lisa once at Jan's apartment, but for the rest of them it was like seeing a model from the glossy pages of a fashion magazine step off the page. It had taken some of Jan's students months to get used to how attractive she was. She always looked great no matter what she was wearing or what she was doing. Now in walked another woman like that. Veronica had never met any of Jan's friends, but she was starting to think the rumors she'd heard must be true. Maybe Jan only hung out with women who were hot.

Jan leaned over and gave Lisa a quick hug before turning to the class. "Okay guys, I'd really like to thank Lisa for joining us all the way from Chicago. She's a freshly minted nidan in Judo, and like I've said before, Judo is the mother art to ours. And there're a lot of things we can learn from it. So Lisa's going to teach us a few techniques and concepts that we can work on going forward." Jan motioned for Lisa to step forward and the class applauded.

"Thank you all for being so nice. It's an honor to be here. Before I get started, I just want to say that I remember when Jan called me and said that she was thinking about teaching women real self defense, stuff they could really use. I shouted DO IT over the phone in my office.  The other employees probably thought I was crazy, but from personal experience I know how important it is to be able to protect yourself. I know Jan's taught you guys some rear choke and rear control defenses, but I'm going to attempt to broaden that knowledge for you if I can. Then we'll move on to a couple of other things. But first, let's get somebody up here to choke me." Lisa looked at all the student's faces as if she was going to choose one of them, then she quickly spun right to Jan.

"Why don't you be the perp in this scenario, Jan, since that's how we met in the first place." Lisa laughed loudly as Jan's embarrassment level went to ten. "There's a whole story there", Lisa told the class once she was able to speak again. "Maybe some day one of you can get me drunk enough to tell it." Jan just hung her head as she stepped behind Lisa. "Don't be shy", Lisa told Jan. "Go ahead and do what you did when we met." Lisa was smiling even as Jan applied a good rear choke to her regal neck. Jan had no idea what Lisa planned to go over in class until at once she found herself flying through the air, her feet were high in the air before she realized that she should probably prepare to break her fall. She landed with a loud, mat slapping thump. Lisa laughed again, and looked at the class. "That's called seoi nage, but I'm not going to teach you guys that today. I just did it so I could slam Jan to the mat as hard as possible." The class laughed and Jan got up shaking her head, but with a smile. "Ok, enough fun, let's really get started."

When Lisa came to Atlanta she usually stayed at her mother's place with her cousin Sam, but her cousin was back home visiting family and her mother was spending time with a new mystery boyfriend. Lisa didn't ask many questions and still her mother was being more cryptic than usual. So instead of allowing Lisa to spend her time in an empty apartment, Jan invited Lisa to her apartment.

"Isn't it weird when your parent's dating somebody", Sara said as they sat around the dinner table. "Daddy's had some girlfriends since Mom passed. He used to introduce me to them, but it was so awkward he finally stopped."

"Oh my Mom used to do the same thing", Lisa said. "She didn't date for a long time after Dad died, but eventually I told her I wanted her to. I mean I didn't want her being lonely on my account, but that's about all I want to know about Mom's dating life."

Sara laughed. "Exactly! I'm happy for him but unless it gets real serious, there's no need for me to be involved."

Jan let out a chuckle. "You guys are way better than me. I get bile in my throat even thinking about my parents being together at all, and especially thinking about them doing what married couples do."

"You're such a puritan!", LaShaunta exclaimed while shaking her head, causing her long braids to fly around.

"I am not!"

"Ok then, say your parents have sex!" Jan started blushing. "Come on Jan! Say it out loud! They made passionate love one night and Mr. Caufield's only mistake was staying in long enough to actually get his wife pregnant!" Jan's face was well beyond pink now.

"And they've had sex since then too, Jan! Mr. Caufield's just been way more careful! We can all agree that one Jan in the world is more than enough!"

Jan's face was as red as a beet now. Alisha was pounding the table partly at LaShaunta but mostly at Jan's reaction. Sara and Lisa were embarrassed for Jan while LaShaunta had a smirk on her face as she stood up from the table. "Anybody want anything?", she asked as if she'd done nothing at all. Jan tried to say something, but only a squeak came out so everybody laughed again.

Justin and Petey had eased into finding Raz's student. Rexall wasn't upset since he understood that his guys had 5 million people to sort through, but as the days piled up their boss' patience was starting to run out. He hadn't gotten agitated yet, but that point wasn't far off. That's why Justin sat in the passenger seat of Petey's rust bucket of a car trying to fight off sleep. They'd been at the search for 2 days straight with no luck. They were tracing down every scrap of information they could find. They'd even bribed somebody at Circle of the Arts to get Veronica Gonsoves' registration information, only she no longer lived at that address. So now they were in front of the building where she might work.

Petey was just one of the guys, but Justin was one of Rexall's trusted men. Not only did he help train fighters for him, he sometimes handled the dirty work. It helped that he'd actually met Veronica briefly. He'd recognize that huge woman anywhere, if he actually caught a glimpse of her. He remembered Raz had brought her to the pit some months back during some audition bouts to show her off. Raz had tried a couple of times to get Veronica to fight, but she just watched. Justin could see that despite her size and strength there was some fear there, not too much though. She probably could have been persuaded to fight eventually, but that ship had sailed. By the time Rex finished collecting what he owed, she certainly wouldn't be able to fight again. Maybe she'd never be able to do anything ever again, but that depended on Rex's mood when they finally delivered Veronica to him.

Justin and Veronica had met once, and he hoped she would remember him. That would make things much simpler when they finally located her. "What's the next place on our list", Justin asked then let out a yawn.

"It's on the other side of town", Petey said with a moan.

"Then let's get over there."

"Can't we wait until to tomorrow?"

Justin put his cell phone on the dashboard and looked over at Petey. "Go on and call Rex. Ask him what you just asked me." Petey started up his car and pulled out onto the road without another word.

Jan wasn't sure if she wanted to make these private lessons an every weekend thing, but when Saturday rolled around she and Veronica trained again. Veronica was making real progress after just a couple of weeks, and it showed. She was proud of Veronica and a little proud of herself too. They ended up at the same café down the street. The conversation came even easier than before since after class with Lisa, Veronica knew that Jan didn't take herself too seriously. She still didn't poke fun at her like Lisa had done, but she was able to open up and tell Jan about some of her past today. When they were finished, Jan insisted on paying. Veronica had to wonder just how loaded Jan really was because she didn't charge much for her regular classes, and she still hadn't charged a dime for two private lessons. Now she wouldn't even accept a free lunch.

"Have you thought about promoting any of the white belts yet?", Veronica asked as she held the door open for Jan to walk out.

"Yeah. I've even ordered some blue belts just to have them around. I don't think I'm going to do stripes for white belts."

Veronica smiled. "Keep them fresh meat until they're not huh."

"Exactly. You're a white belt until you're not. What's the point of having a four stripe white belt?"

"People like getting those little signs of progress though."

Jan shrugged. "If not getting a stripe on your newbie belt makes you want to go to another teacher then I didn't really want you as a student in the first place."

"Harsh", Veronica noted.

"I'm just telling the truth. I have a low BS tolerance for some stuff", Jan admitted. Veronica let out a laugh and the two of them were just about to go their separate ways when an old station wagon sped across the narrow road from a church parking lot. Jan pushed Veronica back, nearly making her fall over while Jan herself jumped backwards to avoid the old car's bumper.

"What the hell!", she yelled. The driver jumped out of the back of the station wagon and came around the front of the car. Veronica squared up after regaining her balance, her eyes narrowing as she readied for a fight. Jan took a small step towards Veronica so she'd stay within arm's reach. The guy saw Jan there but kept his eyes on Veronica. It was rare for Jan to be ignored, but he did just that. The passenger door open and another man climbed out. He was shorter than the driver but stocky like a rugby player. He had a buzz cut which gave his bulldog face an even more brutish look. This man took a quick look at Jan like a man checking traffic, but to him she was just a slow moving car at the end of the block so he turned his attention to Veronica.

Her face went ghostly white. Jan had never seen Veronica like this and she was actually a bit surprised. The fighting stance had melted away, and it looked like Veronica wanted to run for her life. That got Jan's attention. Veronica wasn't the type to be easily scared so there was more to this than Jan could see. She moved a little closer to Veronica so she could protect her if anything happened.

"You remember me don't you", Justin uttered softly, almost whispering as he stepped towards Veronica with a no nonsense swagger. "Don't make a scene. Get in that car."

Veronica started towards the car but Jan put a hand to her chest to stop her. "She's not going anywhere with you."

"Yes she is or things would get bad for you and far worse for her. Tell her Veronica."

"Jan…", she uttered. "Just stay out of this."

"You guys don't know me", Jan warned, her teeth grinding as she stepped closer to Justin, towering over him. She let just a trickle of power flow from the raging volcano inside of her, but it was more than enough to throw that car back to the parking lot it had come from. The rage filled her, and everything about her changed. Her deep blue eyes burned and her muscles seemed to bulge without her flexing them at all. "You said you don't want a scene. You're gonna get one unless somebody starts talking."

Justin looked up at Jan and wanted to dismiss her and snatch Veronica into the car, but he really didn't want a scene. "Veronica's got to pay what she owes."

"I…I… I don't owe you anything", a shaking Veronica stammered.

"But your teacher does."

"You mean Raz?", Jan asked and everyone turned to her now.

"Oh you know him?"

"Only that he's an asshole", Jan replied and the two men smiled.

"You know enough about him then. Now Veronica, tell your friend here to butt out so we can go make sure my boss gets what's coming to him."

Veronica put a hand on Jan's shoulder then started towards the station wagon, resigned to whatever fate awaited her, not because she was super brave, but because she knew there was no way out of this. "It's okay", Veronica said, near tears as she made it to the car door.

"It's not okay", Jan said defiantly and stepped towards the car. "I'm going too."

"The hell you are", the other guy said, but Justin chuckled.

"Okay. Rex doesn't mind if we have an audience."

"You shouldn't get involved in this", Veronica whispered to Jan.

"Don't worry about it", Jan told Veronica and patted her on the back. "I don't know what this is about, but I won't let anything happen to you." The irony of it almost made Veronica laugh in despair. Veronica didn't know the other guy Rex had sent, but she knew about Justin. Jan was tough and she'd beaten up a guy with a knife once, but she was getting in way over her head messing with these guys. Veronica should have tried harder to keep Jan from getting in this car, but she had to save her strength for whatever Rex had planned. Veronica was sure whatever it was wouldn't be pretty. For her part, Jan didn't look worried at all. In fact, she leaned towards the front seat.

"When all of this is over you guys need to give us a ride back here."

Justin and Petey laughed. "Sure gorgeous. We'll give you a ride back."

The Pit was mostly empty this early in the day, but the preparations for tonight's events were just about ready. The chefs were preparing food in the back and Sluice was rested and ready. Cody was in the small office just above the grandstands going over the fight list for that day. He'd had a window hewn out so he could see down to the main floor, so he saw when a group of Rex's guys came in with a huge woman. She'd heaped muscle upon muscle on her massive frame. Cody wondered if she might be there for a tryout, but when he saw her face and paid attention to her mannerisms he knew that wasn't the case. This massive woman looked like she was walking the plank. Now he knew this had to be an atonement match. Cody wondered how many feathers he'd ruffle if he outlawed archaic stuff like this. Cody's mind was formulating a plan to change the rules when a second woman walked in with Justin trailing behind her.

The plans jumped out of Cody's head and he sat forward in his chair. This second woman was stunning from head to toe, but her attitude is what stuck in his mind. She looked confident and loose even with Justin walking behind her. She probably had no idea what was happening, but then again, there was a chance that she didn't even care. Cody put down the fight list and headed to the steps. Something told him that he needed to be on the main floor.

"There she is!", Rex called out and clapped his hands. He stood up as the group approached, standing well taller than Jan and even Veronica, who stopped in her tracks and had to be prodded by Petey to keep going. "You had to know this was going to happen. Raz went to ground, so you're forced to pay back what he owes."

"But I don't want to fight… not your guys."

Rexall came up to her, his height and bulk actually dwarfing Veronica. "You don't have to. But you'll get it worse in the end. I can't stand a coward", he told her in his gruff voice. Fear was coming off of her like a stench and her eyes began to water. The sight of it turned Rex's stomach, so he looked away. His eyebrow raised when he saw Jan coming closer. "And who might you be?", he asked while looking her up and down with approval of what he saw.

"She's the", Petey started and then swallowed his words when Rex shot a look his way.

"I asked her", he cut Petey off, but he was smiling when he looked back to Jan.

"I'm Veronica's teacher. She's got nothing to do with that asshole Raz anymore."

"Adorable", Rex said to chuckles from his men.

"Who the hell are you and why the hell did you bring us here?", Jan demanded.

Rex seemed amused by this conversation which made his men relax a little. "Veronica's here to fight while I might have other options for you." He reached for Jan's arm, but she pulled it away.

"To fight? Who? For what?"

"She's collateral on a series of wagers that Raz happened to lose. Since Raz has disappeared, I'll have to get my payment by other means. I'd like to get my pound of flesh from him, but unfortunately for Veronica, I'll have to get it from his most prized student."

"I just told you that she's MY student now and I don't owe you shit!"

"Feisty one!", he exclaimed and his men laughed. "I don't have time to explain this in great detail, but I respect your efforts here so I'll give it a shot. You see, Veronica stayed by Raz's side for far too long after the wagers were made for her part in it to be excluded. She was aware of the debt. Don't think I'm springing this on her out of the blue. She's bound by the rules of this place. The debt must be satisfied, and her combat is going to do it."

Jan couldn't believe anything she was hearing. It was like she'd time traveled to the dark ages or something. She decided to attempt to go back to the present day. "How much is this debt anyway? I've got a checkbook somewhere in my bag. I'm sure I could cover any amount of credit you'd give Raz." Jan started rummaging through her gym bag when Rex shouted.

"ENOUGH TALK! I'll have my combat and I'll have blood. You're welcome to stay and watch your student be dismantled, or I'll have them drive you back where you came from. But the time for talking is OVER!" He turned his steely eyed gaze towards Veronica. "Get your ass in the pit before I throw you in!", he shouted. One of Rexall's guys started pushing Veronica towards a literal pit that had been hewn in the center of the floor. It was about the size of four boxing rings with a dirt covered floor and stone walls.

Jan went to Veronica who put her hands on Jan's arms. "Thank you for trying so hard", she whispered to Jan in a voice a moment away from a sob. "You've done all you can, but don't let these guys get mad at you. They only want me to suffer."

Jan let out a sigh. "I told you that's not going to happen." She stood between Veronica and the ladder down into the pit. "Veronica's my student, and I take that seriously. If Raz's debt's been transferred to her, then transfer it to me", she told Rexall. "And if you want some combat, some blood, I'm pretty good at fighting and I've drawn more blood than you would believe."

"No Jan don't", Veronica urged but Rex thrust his hand out towards her.

"Ok", he said with an amused smirk on his face. "The debt's yours now beautiful. Muscles, you're off the hook, but you're gonna sit and watch your teacher get destroyed."

Cody raised his eyebrows. That hot chick was as fearless as she was gorgeous. It was too bad that she didn't know what she was getting into. She'd probably never be beautiful again when Rex and his guys were finished with her. "A shame", he said out loud.

"Great. No one better lay a finger on her now", Jan warned them all while looking at Rexall and pointing at Veronica.

"Don't worry about her", Rex said back. "You're the one in danger now."

Jan looked at Rex for a moment, trying to sense some deception, but eventually climbed down the ladder. She shuffled her feet a few times to test the footing. It was surprisingly good. She walked along the edge, running her hands along the semi-smooth walls, realizing quickly that she needed to stay towards the center of the fighting area to keep from getting bashed against the wall.

Rex looked down at Jan like she was a child. He was sure she was an okay fighter, but she had no idea what she'd agreed to. He wanted this bitch to bleed, but he wasn't heartless either. "Ralphy!", he called out. "Get in there and earn your first notch!"

Ralph was the newest member of Rexall's stable and hadn't fought a real match yet. This bout was technically a challenge level fight, but that was good enough to get him excited. He jumped from his seat, tore off his shirt and jumped the eight feet down to the floor. He wasn't much older than Jan and about her height. His wiry muscles showed as he started working his shoulders and hips. "Do you wanna tape your hands or anything?", she asked and Ralph shook his head quickly.

"Do you?", he spat back with growing fury in his tone.

"I'm good if you are", Jan replied calmly.

"BEGIN!", Rexall shouted and Ralph shot towards Jan with evil intent, throwing two quick jabs that she half blocked and half dodged. Veronica sat silently behind Rex looking like a witness at an execution.

"She teaches ground fighting stuff, so stay up!", Petey yelled to his stablemate. "Watch the clinch!", another shouted. Ralph threw a combination, one of his knuckles brushed against Jan's cheek. This guy had some fight training but not enough. She hopped to her right just like she'd been working on in training. Her left arm shot forward like a viper's strike. Her bare knuckles smashed into Ralph's cheek, snapping his head back. A more experienced fighter would have known to circle away from the right hand because before his head even came back forward, Jan's punch exploded against the bottom of his jaw. The blow knocked the spit from his mouth. His body twisted. His knees buckled. Jan stepped in behind her defenses even if this guy was on the way down. She landed a sharp left hook followed by a devastating upper cut. Ralph collapsed straight down to the dirt.

Cody's eyes got wide as that tall girl stood over Ralph's unconscious body. "Do I have to keep beating on him, or we done here?", Jan asked in a completely conversational tone. That made Rex's blood start to boil.

"Austin!", Rex called to the guy sitting about thirty feet away. "Your turn! And somebody get Ralphy's ass out of there."

Jan stepped out of the way as three guys climbed down onto the dirt floor. All of them gave her hateful looks. She was worried about this Austin guy attacking while they were helping Ralph to his feet, but he waited. The fight started fairly and it didn't take long for Jan to realize that Austin was a more complete fighter. He blocked Jan's punches just like she blocked his until he faked a hook then slipped a jab between her defenses. Jan moved away like Ralph should have, but Austin slammed a hook to her ribs. Rex's guys let out a cheer as Jan backed up. Austin pressed forward, throwing off time jabs to keep his opponent guessing.

Jasmine was as ready as she was going to get. Another tune up fight, this time in Tennessee, had her skill razor sharp. She was ready to try out again for the Pit, but she could only hope they'd give her one more chance. She'd visualized herself winning, and there was no doubt in her mind that she'd do it this time. She walked in and saw that everyone was looking down into the main arena where some kind of challenge was going on. Jasmine saw Cody standing there watching the fight and she eased herself closer to him, but he didn't look like he wanted to be disturbed so she decided to wait until this challenge was finished. Besides this was the first time she'd seen another woman fighting here, and she could see what kind of competition she might be up against.

Austin had won a few real fights in the Pit and was more than solid, but after a couple of minutes it seemed like that girl had taken the measure of him. She gave a head fake to her left then threw a straight right that hit Austin's forehead. He hit her in the stomach, but her abs were harder than he'd ever felt before. Jan actually smiled, which got Cody's attention even if the others ignored it. She threw a halfway serious punch that she didn't even expect to land. It didn't have to because she rushed in behind her fist and wrapped her arms around Austin's neck, using her big hands to grip it firmly from the back. An instant later, her lats, abs, and triceps flexed steel hard as she yanked his neck towards the ground as her bent knee rose up from the ground like it's been launched by a rocket. The collision of Jan's knee with the center of Austin's face sounded like a car crash. Blood splattered all over Jan's blouse from the shattered nose, but one knee wasn't nearly enough. She let him pull his head up only for her muscles to bulge once again and she slammed his face into her knee, this time right against the center of his forehead. He managed to get a hand in front of his face to sort of protect it, while his other hand pulled hard against Jan's left arm. Another rising knee slammed Austin's hand into his own broken nose, but the impact was softened a little. He pulled Jan's arm with all of his might, managing to get her off balance enough for him to throw a punch against her ribs. It wasn't hard, but in the scramble he freed himself. When he backed up, a gasp came from his fellow fighters in the seats.

His nose was broken flat with blood and snot streaming out like rivers. Both of his lips were busted and his right eye was swelling pretty badly. He brought up his fists though, ready to fight. Jan didn't let him clear his head. She snapped a jab against his already badly broken nose, then twisted her body, bent her knees a little and blasted a perfect right cross against Austin's jaw. His whole body shook like Ralph's had done, but Austin stayed on his feet. Jan tried to hit him with a left hook, but he blocked it, and threw a hard punch that hit her shoulder instead of her head. It stung just the same. A jab glanced off of Jan's head, but she saw the next punch coming. She easily dodged his hard right hand. He threw a jab almost immediately after missing. Jan leaned back as Austin leaned forward trying to get his fist to connect with that beautiful, unmarked face. She kept leaning back his knuckles were only a fraction of an inch from her nose when he was forced to pull his arm back. Her deep blue eyes widened when she saw Austin's face right in front of her like a huge target. She threw her hardest punch of the day, angling it over Austin's left shoulder to slam into his completely exposed jaw. His legs buckled and he did a dance as he tried to spin and punch and block all at the same time. He didn't fall down though. He flailed, almost wildly, but his fist found a home against Jan's ribs. He should have used that blow to circle away, but he didn't. He threw an over hand right that missed badly.

Austin's right arm hadn't retracted from the missed punch and his left arm was sort of in front of his face, but not enough. Jan threw a hard right that knocked Austin's head to the side. He didn't fall, and instead of fading away, he blasted an uppercut right to the pit of Jan's stomach. Solid eight pack or not, that punch hurt. Jan hesitated for a moment, giving Austin a chance to retreat and gather himself. Her eyes narrowed in anger as she charged forward, but stopped after a couple of steps. She heard her coach in her head reminding her that hunting for the knockout punch was what children did. Real fighters set up their opportunities.

Jan let out a long breath, bounced away from Austin and shook out her shoulders letting that anger melt away before it consumed her thoughts. With a clear mind, she started forward again. Austin didn't know it, but this fight was nearly over. The pounding caught up to him. A punch that he'd have blocked a few moments earlier landed. Her knuckles grazed his unswollen right eye, making it water. Now he could barely make out blurry shapes. He put up his hands to protect himself, but like Foreman from the 70s, Jan reached out with her left hand, and pulled down his left hand, just enough for her to slam a right cross straight to his jaw. Austin never saw it coming, and it shook him down to his knees. He turned away, but Jan calmly followed and socked him in the jaw again. And again he wobbled, but didn't fall. Jan was impressed. One punch, even one of her better punches wasn't going to put this guy down, so Jan changed tactics. She jumped infront of Austin and attacked him like a pack of hungry dogs attacked a piece of meat. Her fists flew from all angles as Jan turned on the speed. Her arms were blurs, only becoming visible the moment her fists struck home against Austin's battered head. It wasn't one punch that put Austin down to the dirt, it was about twenty of them. He crumpled into a heap at Jan's feet. She wiped some of his blood off of her face with the back of her hand then looked up at Rex. Her grin sent Rex into a near rage.

"This guy was way better than the first guy. But that's not really saying much. That first guy was so bad, I'm insulted."

"You're pretty damned good aren't you, hot stuff?", Rex growled, it looked like steam was rising off of his bald head.

"I thought you taught grappling!", one of Rex's guys yelled down to her.

Jan laughed. "Some asshole has to earn a grapple with me. I don't roll around in dirt for fun!", she laughed again and sauntered towards the center of the pit. "WHO'S NEXT!!!", she yelled, holding out her long arms then pointing towards Rex.

"Xuan", Rex called out in a quieter, more serious voice. "Go down there and shut that cocky bitch up."

"My pleasure", Xuan uttered and jumped to his feet.

"I hope you're better than those first two guys", Jan taunted as Xuan approached the ladder. "I mean if you suck as bad as them, you might as well not come down here. I've taken it easy so far, but I'm starting to lose my patience." Veronica chuckled despite her lingering fear, but she nearly fainted when Rex turned to her with a steely glare. He didn't have to say a word. That look alone made Veronica want to hide.

Jan didn't look at Austin as they carried him out of the pit. She kept her eyes on Xuan. He was more than half a foot shorter than her and probably thirty pounds lighter, but he was an anatomy chart of muscle. He walked with a confident swagger that the other two fights hadn't. Jan could usually tell a phony tough guy from someone truly dangerous.

Jan and Xuan met in the center of the pit. Jan threw a jab like before, but hit nothing. Xuan moved like a blur and slammed two hard strikes to Jan's right side, low on the ribcage. She spun away, but Xuan charged and unloaded a barrage against Jan's face and stomach. He moved so fast it was like a strobe effect. One second he was in front of her and the next moment he was off to her right or her left. She did the best she could to block half of Xuan's blows. A kick turned Jan's head and she had to put her hand in the dirt to keep from going down. She jumped backwards as Xuan attacked again. This time she caught him with a right hand that made him back up too.

Cody realized that now they might have an actual fight. Xuan'd never been a champion, but he was a contender and had been for a couple years. He'd been raw as hell when he'd joined Rexall's stable. Now he was a refined, smooth fighter who flowed from attack to defense and back again without leaving many gaps for counter attacks from his opponents. That tall girl had to retreat from Xuan, using her long legs to back away faster than Xuan could come forward. She wasn't shrinking away, but Xuan's attacks threatened to smother her. He wondered if that girl had any attacks that might even work against Xuan.

That thought had just entered Cody's mind when Jan timed one of Xuan's attacks and blasted a tight uppercut against the point of his chin. His body actually lifted off the ground and his head jerked back so hard it looked like it would fly off. He landed on his feet and scrambled backward, but Jan didn't step towards him. Instead she planted her left leg, rotated her hips and sent a kick speeding right at Xuan's head. The muscles of her plant leg were etched in perfection from her calves to her quads, and hip flexors. The muscles of her right leg weren't even tensed until the very last moment when she snapped her shin forward. Xuan got his arm up in time, but the impact knocked him six feet to his right. The guys in the seats shook their heads when they realized that that bitch's kicks were like her punches, hard as hell. Xuan retreated this time, backing up near the far wall as Jan stalked forward, unwilling to rush in.

"What's this?", a familiar voice called from just behind Cody.

"A stupid atonement match", he said. "It was supposed to be between Rex's guys and that huge girl sitting behind him."

"That girl's freakin huge!", Don said and elbowed his buddy Cody in the side. "If I took her to bed I wonder which one of us would walk out alive."

Cody rolled his eyes and motioned towards the ring. "Anyway, another woman took her place in the match. She's already knocked out two of Rex's guys, but now she's in there with Xuan."

"Oh", Don breathed then let out a short whistle. "Let me see this. He moved over so he could see the whole ring. "Holy shit! That's her!"

"Who?"

"Damn it Cody, don't you remember that drop dead gorgeous girl I was talking about? The one that pulled me out of my delivery truck, the one I said picked it up like nothing!"

"That's her? But she's been fighting norms. And look, Xuan might have drawn blood. She's skilled but if she's as strong as you say then she should have been able to kill Xuan with one punch."

"SHE CAN!!", Don exclaimed, getting a little more frantic by the second. "She's sandbagging. Trust me. She's fighting this way by choice."

"I don't know Don."

"Well I do. You should stop this before it gets out of hand."

"I can't."

Xuan shot forward again like a shell from a cannon. His punches and vicious kicks came at Jan faster than the blinking of an eye. She had to retreat as he kept up the onslaught. She'd been blocking and parrying as best she could, but she saw a tiny opening and took it. Xuan planted for a kick when Jan threw a hard right cross towards his head. It landed cleanly and knocked him back. He put his hands up to block the next punch. It didn't come. Jan sent a straight kick to his stomach instead. Air rushed from his lungs and he circled away.

Jan thought about chasing him this time, but this fight was fun so she stood there and let him recover. She'd opened a cut under Xuan's left eye, but he didn't even seem to notice. He jogged in a loose circle on the far side of the pit keeping an eye on Jan. He shook his head one final time to clear out the cobwebs then carefully made his way towards the center of the ring. Jan grinned as she met him in the middle of the pit. She was loving this, but Xuan wasn't.

His opponent had great boxing skills and while her Thai boxing level wasn't quite as high, she hit like a heavyweight man. It didn't hurt too that her arms were half again longer than his. She could throw punches from a distance that Xuan had to use kicks from. She wasn't invincible though.

There were cheers from Rex's men when Xaun's next attack seemed to do real damage. Blood dripped from the corner of Jan's mouth and her punches weren't coming close to landing now. Xuan could see the end of this now. He gritted his teeth as he coiled up his body. His face was contorted in effort and concentration as he blasted a kick against the side of Jan's head. She staggered, like a wounded giant. Xuan was so fast that his next kick was already on its way. Jan got her arm up enough to touch his shin before it hit her jaw cleanly, but the force of the blow sent her down to the dirt. Guys jumped to the feet as Jan went down, but she wasn't finished. She rolled away, but not fast enough. Xuan kicked her in the face and the chest and the back and the shoulder while she was on the ground. Everybody knew this fight was over, it was just a matter of time, and they were right.

Jan stopped rolling, put her hands in front of her face and waited for the kick to come. She didn't have to wait long. A split second before the kick came, Jan moved one of her hands. The kick landed mostly against Jan's other arm, barely touching her face. Unfortunately for Xuan, he couldn't retract his leg fast enough. Jan grabbed his heel with her free hand and held it while she reached out with her long arm and grabbed the ankle of his plant leg. One sharp tug on that ankle and Xuan went down.

Xuan scrambled backwards on his butt like a person in an old movie trying to get away from a monster, but in this case the monster was the beautiful woman. Jan didn't hurry. She didn't have to. Xuan kicked at her face, but she easily deflected them since she knew right where they were going. His right leg was pinned under her body and after one more kick, Jan caught his left leg. He sat forward to throw punches, but then she grabbed his arm as she crawled up his body. No matter what he did, it was wrong. He wasn't getting himself free, he just let her get more and more control.

"You shouldn't have come down here", she told an increasingly desperate Xuan. She'd passed his legs and now had control of both of his arms. Her grappling skill was like some sort of black magic. He kept fighting until Jan had him on his back while she was sitting on his chest. Veronica couldn't help but smile. Jan was probably going to choke him after teasing him a little, but before she could say anything else, Xuan stretched his neck as far as he could, opened his mouth and tried to bite Jan's thigh. His teeth made contact with her pants, but he couldn't get anything between his teeth to bite down on. The attempt was a big mistake though. Everyone saw Jan's smile disappear. Her jaw muscles rippled and her eyes narrowed to slits.

She didn't say anything as she reached down and grabbed Xuan by the head and shoulders, rolling him over to his stomach, all while staying on top him. Only Veronica knew what Jan was doing. Xuan didn't know how to defend himself, struggling with instinct alone. Jan knew how to make every movement the wrong movement, so in a few short seconds, Jan had stretched Xuan into a crucifix. His right arm was trapped between both of her legs, while his left arm was trapped by both of her arms. His head rested against her steel hard abdominals, while the rest of his body laid on the dirt, completely exposed and vulnerable. Xuan kept fighting and struggling, but he was as helpless as a fighter could be.

"You want to bite, huh?", Jan hissed, anger getting the better of her now. Jan stretched out her 6'1" body, putting terrible pressure on Xuan's shoulders and elbow. He wanted to scream, but wouldn't give this bitch the satisfaction. Jan arched her back and Xuan let out a grunt of pain, but Jan didn't want to try and pull Xuan's joints out of socket. She just needed him helpless enough for her to remove her left hand from his left arm. When she was confident his arm wouldn't slip out of her control, she pulled her left hand back as far she could and unloaded a punch against Xuan's completely exposed temple. She didn't stop with one punch, Jan hit him over and over and over.

SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK! She pounded him until the guys in the seats above them yelled for her to stop. She didn't and finally they went silent, watching helplessly as Jan landed punch after punch on Xuan. He wasn't even trying to escape anymore. His body just twitched with each impact. Blood leaked from half a dozen cuts on Xuan's face. When Jan thought he'd had enough, she wrapped her left arm around Xuan's neck and just leaned back. Veronica shook her head. This was one of the most painful chokes and his face showed it. It wasn't long before drool flowed from the side of Xuan's slackened lips. Jan was actually waiting for Xuan to give up. She'd have let him go if he did, but Xuan didn't tap, so Jan held the choke until Xuan's eyes rolled back in his skull. She had choked more than enough people to be able to feel when they were out cold. She felt Xuan's body go completely slack, and she let him go. She could have kicked him off of her or roughly thrown him away. Instead she gently set his head in the soft dirt before jumping to her feet.

"Now this guy was pretty good", Jan yelled up to Rex while pointing down to Xuan. All of Rex's men looked like they wanted to kill her. Some of them had never seen Xuan lose and were stunned. He hadn't just lost. She'd humiliated him. Nobody would remember that he'd given her all she wanted with the punches and kicks because once the fight went to the dirt, she treated him like a cat with a mouse.

"This guy, Xuan you said his name is. Well he certainly earned that grapple. Ok, big man, is this debt paid yet? I've got other things to do today." Rex would never know what set off the bomb in his head. Maybe it was her smile with those perfect teeth. Maybe it was the look of dominance in her long fit body, or maybe it was the mirthful twinkle in her impossibly blue eyes, but whatever it was, Rex had finally reached his breaking point.

"We're almost done here, gorgeous", he said in a low voice as he ground his teeth. "Justin", he hissed to everyone's astonishment. "End this for real." Veronica let out a cry, but another glare from Rexall made her clamp her lips shut even if tears began to well in her eyes.

"You've got to stop this now", Don urged Cody. "You can't let Justin go in there."

"I can't stop an atonement match, you know that."

"She's going to kill him."

"Not if he kills her first", Cody uttered and Don scoffed.

Justin jumped down into the pit, ignoring the ladders, all the while glaring at Jan, like he was trying to shoot beams out of his eyes. His look was so intense that Jan actually giggled. She moved away as the same guys who'd removed her first two victims came to drag out Xuan.

"Hey don't leave yet!", Jan yelled to the guys as they got a mostly awake Xuan to the ladder. "You might as well stay down here to get this one too." She laughed but no one laughed with her. The mood had changed as soon as Rexall had called Justin's name. He must be pretty good Jan figured.

She went to the center of the ring with a bit more caution this time. She had her hands up in defense, but Justin walked with his at his side. He didn't even get into a fighting stance. Jan didn't know what kind of trick he was pulling, but she decided to let him know that her punching power was actually real. Jan sent a really good, crisp, hard left hook towards Justin that hit him in the jaw, right where she'd aimed. His skin jiggled, but his head didn't even wiggle. Jan's eyes went wide, and a little smirk turned up the corners of Justin's otherwise humorless lips.

He pulled his fist back and a punch slammed into Jan's stomach with the power of a grenade explosion. Spit flew out of Jan's mouth as his punch lifted her completely off the ground. Her eyes looked like they were going to shoot out of her head. Justin landed an even harder punch against the side of Jan's head. The deep hollow sound echoed from one end of the old factory building to the other. He didn't he let her hit the ground though. He grabbed Jan by the neck and threw her across the fighting pit as hard as he could. The entire building shook when Jan hit the bedrock head first.

"Debt's paid now you fucking bitch!!!", Rex yelled at the top of his lungs and jumped up from his seat, clapping for Justin. He turned to see Veronica with her head in her hands.

Off to the side though, Petey knew something was wrong. He looked to the rest of the guys to see if anybody else realized what he had, but no. They were jumping around giving each other high fives. That beauty was fit as hell, but Justin's first punch should have blasted straight through her body leaving blood and guts all over the place. If the first punch didn't put a hole in her, the second punch should have exploded her head like a crushed grape. And when he threw her against the wall, the building shouldn't have shaken like they were in the middle of a quake. Her body should have splattered like a tomato. Then Petey saw her move. "Behind you!", he screamed, but too late.

Jan leapt high in the air, high enough for the people on the main floor to have to look up to see her. She let out an animalistic scream as she came down with her right hand pulled back. Justin only had time enough to look up, which put his jaw where Jan wanted it. The impact of her fist against his face was a true detonation. The blast wave sent dirt from the floor flying outward away from the punch while dust from the rafters high above was sent flying up too. Nearby tables were blown over and empty chairs were sent flying backwards. Even further away, carefully placed table settings were knocked to the floor as the tables themselves slid backwards. Curtains at the far end of the venue fluttered like a ship's pennant in the breeze. Veronica's hair blew straight back and she had to squint her eyes against the rush of wind.

Jan's fist caved in the side of Justin's face. Bits of broken teeth and jawbone flew out of his mouth so hard that they imbedded themselves in the rock beneath the dirt floor. Blood flowed like water from a broken pipe. The two fighters were shrouded in a cloud of dust so dense that nobody could see what Jan was doing to Justin now. She could be tearing him limb from limb, but when the dirt settled they saw her standing there, holding Justin by the collar of his shirt, his obliterated face mere inches from the ground.

"I told you", Don exclaimed and elbowed Cody in the ribs. Cody took a look at Don then hurried towards the edge of the pit.

One side of Justin's face looked like a deflated balloon or an unworn Halloween mask. The rage on her face and the razor sharpness of Jan's muscles said that she was ready to do even worse to Justin, but she didn't. Even if her first thought was to throw this guy against the wall like he'd done to her, she just opened her fingers and let him fall to the dirt. He wasn't the man she was really angry at anyway.

"YOU TRIED TO FUCKING KILL ME!?!", an enraged Jan shouted up to Rexall so loudly it hurt his ears. "I'm having some fun and you do that!!! Why don't you come down here so I can kick your ass too! Matter of fact…" Jan easily hopped out of the pit and started towards Rex who stood his ground even as his men moved away from Jan as she approached.

Cody slid himself between Jan and Rex before she could get too close. "This match is over! You lose Rex!", Cody exclaimed. "She's beaten your four chosen fighters." He turned towards Rex and continued, "Unless you want to get involved personally, with no adjustment", Cody added sternly.

"Debt's paid", Rex grumbled and backed away, then Cody turned to Jan. "You were wonderful out there." She just walked past him towards an empty part of the room.

Jasmine's confidence had dropped with each fight she saw. She could have easily beaten Ralph and handily beaten Austin, but not Xuan. He was a far better fighter than the plumber she'd lost to, not stronger, but better in every way. Still Jasmine's hopes weren't dashed until the very end. One punch from that tall girl had put Jasmine's true place in the pecking order in perspective. Whatever hope she still had inside of her, evaporated. Jasmine had never seen anything so awesome and terrifying in all of her life. She stood there for a full minute after that punch, her mouth still open in amazement. All at once, she gathered herself and walked right back out of the door towards her car. Nobody had noticed her come in and nobody noticed her leave. All eyes were on Jan.

Veronica edged closer, but her teacher wasn't ready to be near anybody at the moment. Whatever she was doing, it seemed like she needed to do it alone. Jan blinked a few times and let out a long breath after a while. She wasn't normal yet, but normal enough for Cody to get to her before Veronica did.

"You were wonderful", he told her again. "Elite." He stopped mid-step when she turned to face him. Cody was accustomed to seeing people's strength and he saw Jan's true power right then. It danced around in her eyes like a hurricane locked inside of a bottle. "You didn't choose to fight today, and I know that you didn't like being tricked, but you loved the combat. I can tell. You've been in some fights, some real ones. I can tell that too." He stopped at a respectful distance and his expression softened. "People can get hurt when you cut loose, so you don't do it unless all the chips are on the table, but this is a place where you can be you. A place where you'll be celebrated for being you." He reached into his pocket and retrieved a business card.

Jan wanted to tell this stranger to fuck off. She'd just put her gift back into its cage, but that didn't mean she wasn't still livid. She refused to even look at Veronica yet, because that was a whole can of worms she didn't want to deal with. She took the card from Cody's hand though, only because it was easier to accept it than to say no. Cody knew he'd said enough so with a quick grin, he headed back towards Don.

"Are you okay?", Veronica asked once Cody had walked away.

"Better than that guy", Jan said with some regret as she watched people standing over Justin, grimacing at his injuries. She hadn't been sorry in the moment, but now she wished she'd caved in the side of Rexall's face instead.

"He'll be fine", Veronica said and regretted it instantly. Her teacher looked at her with an inquisitive frown so she knew she had to explain. "This place employs a… a healer. As long as the fighter's not dead, he can put them back together. It's going to cost Rex a lot of money, but he has to do it so the other Stable Masters won't look down on him.

"You really do know about this place."

"Yeah, Raz brought me here trying to convince me to fight. He wanted to be a Stable Master, but didn't have the capital and he was too chicken shit to actually get in the pit and fight his way to Stable Master." Veronica said more than she'd wanted to because she didn't want to address the elephant in the room.

Jan looked past Veronica and shouted, "Hey!" Everybody turned. "We were promised a ride back. I'm ready to go. Now." A few minutes ago, people would have snickered to hear her speak with that tone to those men, but now Petey looked at Rex who gave him the go ahead.

"Are you sure?", Veronica asked. "Do we want to ride back with them? What if they try something?"

Jan managed not to laugh. "I'm not worried about anything they could try, and you shouldn't be either. I'll just leave it at that. And before you ask, the answer is no."

"No what?"

"No, I didn't use my strength against you even once when we were training."

Veronica looked surprised. "Jan, I never… I mean I wasn't even thinking about that."

"Yes you were. You had to really try and make your mind think about something else."

Veronica's brow gathered into a frown. "Can you read minds too?"

"I don't have to. It's written all over you."

By the time Petey had pulled his rusty station wagon around to the front of the plain looking building some patrons had started showing up. They came in fancy cars and some in limousines. The men all had on expensive suits, some flashy and other impeccably tailored but understated. The women wore gowns worthy of a gala. All of them turned to look at the two tall women as they came in. A few of them muttered to each other in their small groups, but all of them ended up staring at the slimmer of the two, the beautiful one. Jan barely glanced at these people before walking through the doors right into Petey's car.

Not a single word was spoken during the 30 mile ride back to where Jan and Veronica had been 'abducted'. Jan mostly looked out of the window while Veronica occasionally glanced at Jan. She went back over every moment, every interaction remembering them with the knowledge she now had. Lots of things that had made no sense before now looked crystal clear. Petey couldn't wait to have those two women out of his car, just being in Jan's presence made goosebumps rise up on his skin.

"Why did you fight those first three guys normal? Was it just to keep me from seeing your secret?"

Petey's station wagon hadn't even made it a block before Veronica was finally letting the thoughts in her mind come out into the open. "I didn't want to seriously hurt those guys. Just rough 'em up a little."

"Oh come on! You're saying that me seeing you for what you are played no part?"

Jan took a calming breath. "If I didn't want you to see what I could do, then I wouldn't have let you see it. I mean I didn't have to fight in your place to begin with, but I thought I'd rather them try and hurt me than try and hurt you. You could just say thank you and move on."

"Move on? What, you want me to just go on like I never saw you punch a guy so hard that it looked like a bomb had gone off?"

"He was trying to kill me. I got a little mad about that. I hope you never have to feel what his punches felt like, or know what it's like to hit a solid rock wall with the top of your head. It's not pleasant, but I didn't kill him. And I could have hit him harder."

"Harder!?!"

"Look Veronica, I'm not the strongest person you've ever met, but I'm strong enough", Jan said with a certainty because Veronica had trained with Lisa who was easily stronger than Jan.

"This is a lot to process."

"All I can say is that I'm the same now as when you met me. You accepted me before you knew, and you can accept me now if you want to."

"How do you know you've never used your super strength when we've trained or against other people? Just a little maybe, by accident. I mean is it like a switch you turn on and off?

Jan mentally put another checkmark on the list Veronica was working herself down. In the past Jan would have been extremely emotional about a conversation like this, but not now. She searched inside herself to see if she was just repressing her inner horror, but she wasn't. "It's more like letting a hellish monster out the cage you built for it, and then attempting to stuff it back in there after it's tasted freedom. To be honest, if using my strength was like flipping a switch, I'd probably use it more often. So there's no accidentally using my strength."

"I don't know Jan. I don't know if I feel safe rolling and training with you now."

"Are you serious?", an incredulous Jan asked. "You saw how afraid the other students were of you when you showed up. I worked really hard to convince them that you wouldn't grind their bones to dust."

"But you really can do that."

"With your strength and jiu-jitsu skill you could literally kill each and every one of them, but they choose to roll with you anyway. You've built some trust with them, and now you don't trust me?"

"It's not the same."

"It's the exact same!", Jan exclaimed and Veronica flinched.

"I'll have to think about all of this, Jan. Maybe eventually I can come to terms with it."

Jan shook her head and her brow gathered into a frown. "No. No way. You've got until the next class. If you show up, we're cool. If you don't, then don't come back!"

"But Jan…"

"No buts. Some thug tried to kill me today all because of you, and somehow me saving your ass is a reason to be scared! Like you're a victim in this. That's crap! Like I said, either I'll see you Tuesday or you can go on with the rest of the life that I just saved for you today."

Veronica opened her mouth to say something, but Jan reached into her gym bag, pushed the unlock button on her key fob and started walking towards her car, leaving Veronica standing in the same alley where Petey had almost hit them.

"I don't think you weren't too harsh at all", Alisha answered Jan's question without any hesitation. "It's like you said, she's being a fucking hypocrite. Oh sorry", Alisha said to Sara who brushed off this curse word with a wave of her hand.

"We don't have apologize for who we are", Sara said. "Speaking of that, do you want me to go into Veronica's memory?"

"Maybe she should", Alisha put in.

"To make her forget?", LaShaunta asked with a raised eyebrow. She shouldn't have been shocked at how cavalier Sara was about tinkering with someone's memory, but she was.

"This whole thing's probably too deep to actually make her forget about it, but I could make it seem like she'd been dreaming."

"Let's just see what happens. I'm giving her a chance", Jan reminded them.

When class rolled around late Tuesday afternoon, Jan stood in front of the room in her gleaming white gi like usual, smiling, laughing, and talking with her students. None of them noticed Jan's eyes look towards the door whenever she heard footsteps in the hall, not even Timmy who studied Jan closely. She felt a little anticipation every time a shadow darkened the doorway and was let down each time it turned out not to be Veronica. The students didn't have to be prompted anymore and started stretching on their own before the start of class. Jan kept looking at the clock and then back to door, before walking over to shut the door like she always did.

"Hey, where's Veronica?", Suzie asked and Jan paused with her hand on the door knob. The students saw a look of real disappointment on their teacher's beautiful face, but it was gone in a blink.

"She doesn't train here anymore."

to be continued...

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