Mixed messages
Chapter 3
What a Wookie

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Several weeks later...

Sandra stood in the checkout lane at the grocery store, surrounded by magazines, candy, and chips, staring off into space. You, a Lowen, are intentionally trying to chase down a Grimm? For parenting help? Yeah, there's no way that could go badly. How in the world did you manage to get yourself into this mess?

A reddish brown haired beast of a man rolled a cart up next to her. "Sandra, long time, no see." Warren "Big Wookie" Davidson grinned at her through his short cropped beard. He towered over Sandra at 6'3 and was built like a tank. Warren was a Wildermann - a "Sasquatch" Wesen. He owned and ran the "Big Wookie MMA" gym where Sandra and Mandy trained. Everybody called him "Wook."

"Sandra, we've missed you and Mandy at practice. You guys OK," he asked. The towering giant formerly fought MMA professionally and was nationally ranked. Six current professional, nationally ranked MMA fighters trained at his gym as well. As a black belt, Sandra primarily trained people in Brazilian Jiujitsu grappling and MMA "ground game" at his gym. Sandra and Wook had been good friends for well over fifteen years.

She shifted side to side, fidgeted with her purse, and said, "Yeah, OK, I guess, life is just crazy right now."

"Sure, I get it, anything you want to talk about. How's Mandy doing? Did she finally fang out?"

"Yep, a couple months ago."

He raised eyebrows, shifted side to side, looked bashfully, and waited.

She chuckled, elbowed him, and said, "No, she's not Wildermann. She's definitely mixed Lowen."

He sighed with relief, wiped his brow, and said, "How have you been hanging in there? You look a little black and blue."

"You know, super busy. We've been trying to train at home."

As a married father of three, himself, Wook nodded knowingly. "You know how Wesen kids always are when they fang out. You have to burn off the kid energy and knock the edge off the crazy. Come on back out. We'll wear her out so that she won't even be able to walk. It'll give you a break, and you won't end up so black and blue."

Sandra's eyes brightened. She looked around nervously, then whispered, "Wook, promise you won't tell anybody. Mandy's a Grimm!"

Wook's grin surprised Sandra. He looked around and whispered. "So Mandy Grimmed? Well, I thought you looked a bit more black and blue than I would expect from a teenage Lowen. Maybe we can help. I've got a Grimm who trains with a couple of the pro fighters after hours." He paused as a woman walked by, then quietly continued. "She's a great girl but had some bad experiences. She got kicked out of gyms because Wesen members freaked out or kept trying to kill her. Let me give her a call and find out when she's back in town. I'll make sure she's OK meeting you - but in the mean time, come on back out. We can arrange after hours training if we need to."

"Really? You think it's OK?"

"Absolutely!"

"What if she's an axe murderer?"

"Then just have Mandy leave her axe at the house."

Sandra rolled her eyes at her friend, laughed, then smiled, and said, "Awesome! See you at practice then!"

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Wook was right. Amanda slept the whole way home after their first training practice. She calmed down, was more polite at home, and her grades made their way back up to her usual A's and B's. Sandra even noticed her daughter was able to read and do math longer without breaks.

Thursday night training started with the regular stretching and calisthenics, instruction, and sparring. Then Wook took Mandy to the back, got her suited up in pads, and sent her in to spar with "The Big Guys" while Sandra trained and coached Brazilian Jujitsu, submission holds, choke holds, and grappling. There, professional fighters over double her size took turns smashing, choking, throwing, and submitting her.

Sandra winced every time she heard loud cracks and crushing blows echo out of the back.

Mandy's first time after hours with The Big Guys was an eye opener. Sandra watched in horror as huge pro fighters wound up and slammed kicks and punches, threw her, and submitted her with various chokes and locks. She stood next to Wook in her black instructor's gi robe and said, "Wook, we've got to stop this. This is crazy. She's going to get killed."

Wook chuckled, "Mandy's fine. She's just got to get up to speed. Watch."

A big brown haired boxer flattened her with a giant right hand. She pushed up, shook her head, and crouched lower. Ron shot in to grab her and she sliced a left hook into his ear. He paused and shook his head, and she pounded a right cross into his ribs and a low kick across the side of his knee. He waved off and bumped her fist.

Sandra chuckled and called out, "Ron, watch out for those liver and kidney punches."

Ron walked over, and said, "How does she hit like that?"

Wook simply patted him on the shoulder. "I told you to not to let up. You were doing ok till you let your guard down."

"She's only thirteen and not even ninety pounds. She's so tiny. I'm not used to fighting people that small. I'm having trouble catching her."

"You're having trouble catching her because you keep letting her punch you in the head every time you shoot."

Ron shook his head and grumbled. Wook laughed, "Come on, Ron, you want to try to shoot me like that? You going to give me a freebie?"

Ron looked at Wook's giant, calloused hands, and shook his head.

The next thing that amazed Sandra was how fast Mandy improved. She got beat down pretty hard the first few weeks, but started catching them and connecting after the first week. She smiled, relieved that it wasn't just her who had real trouble keeping up with a Grimm.

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Six weeks later another young woman showed up to their after hours practice. She looked to be mid twenties. She was about Sandra's height and build, looked a bit tomboyish, and had short cropped, straight, black hair.

She gave Wook a big hug and a fist bump.

Wook walked up next to them, and said, "Sandra and Mandy, meet Lauren Cole. Lauren, Sandra and Mandy Prentice. Mandy is part Grimm."

Theresa Rubel lived in Seattle doing HW "secret squirrel" work under her Lauren Cole identity.

Lauren stuck out a hand and said, "Great to meet you. Mandy, do you mind showing me what we got?"

Mandy looked at her mom and Wook nervously. "It's OK Mandy." Wook said.

Mandy wogued, looked at Lauren, and said, "Mom! She has eyes like mine!" She jumped up and and hugged her. Lauren put her arm around Mandy in a hug.

Mandy excitedly asked, "Do you wogue too?"

"Nope, sure don't. I always wanted to. That's pretty awesome! So, are you Lowen?"

"Yep!"

"Sweet!"

The Grimm seems so normal, Sandra thought. "So, Lauren, what do you do?"

"I'm an international sales rep for Xander adhesives. We're the 3rd largest industrial adhesives maker. I primarily rep their cardboard box glue. How about you? I hear you are one of the instructors here."

Sandra paused. Lauren didn't seem like the glue type. But then again - she was an accountant and black belt herself. "I'm an accountant. I help out with the BJJ training."

Soon Mandy and Lauren started sparring. Now Mandy looked like a kid working with an adult. Lauren clearly outclassed her and forced Mandy to rely on her technique and training. Mandy really enjoyed pounding away though. Lauren's technique wasn't perfect but it was a lot better than Mandy's. She wasn't relying on pure, sheer athleticism. Sandra carefully observed her. It's pretty obvious this Lauren girl has fought for her life and won. This isn't just a hobby.

Soon Wook stood next to Sandy. "Mandy fights like a Grimm doesn't she? It doesn't look like they are going hard does it." He chuckled to himself, patted her on the shoulder, and said, "Just try jumping in. We learned the hard way - that's why we all wear heavy pads. The first time Lauren caught me with a good elbow she broke three ribs. It turns out that this is one of our secrets to staying competitive in pro fighting. You'll win most of your professional fights if you can keep up with a Grimm."

"Mandy punched a hole straight through our hardwood floor when she first Grimmed. I attacked her and she nearly killed me."

"We're going to need to get you training with big guys so you can learn techniques to slow her down. The hard part is what doesn't kill Grimms makes them stronger. They recover fast and then fight that much harder."

Soon the big guys started sparring and picked up the pace with Lauren. It took three of them to slow her down. Wook smirked and jumped in. Soon they wogued into "Beast Mode," and went at it really hard. Two Lowens, a Bludbad, and a Wildermann all slammed away with a Grimm. Lauren smiled a giant smile, shifted gears, and they all pounded away, trading vicious blows that could be heard from the parking lot. Sandra fought enough to know she didn't want any part of those blows.

Lauren ducked out for a second, found Amanda, and said, "Mandy! You want to come try?"

Mandy looked at her mom. Sandra tousled her hair and said, "It's OK honey, just make sure you have your mouthpiece." Mandy wogued and jumped right in. Soon she pounded away with the big guys in Lowen-Grimm mode and smiled a giant smile.

Sandra watched her daughter spar, half expecting her to fall, crying, and come running out in fear. She looks more like a kid fighting with adults when they're in beast mode, but she's holding her own a whole lot better than I would have expected.

Wook suddenly grabbed Mandy and flung her. She flew all the way across the gym, slammed into one of the padded walls, bounced, and landed in a pile. Sandra started over towards her, worried. Mandy pushed up, wiped blood off her mouth, smiled a giant smile, and went flying straight back into the fight.

Sandra watched with a look of half pride, half horror.

An hour later Wook called a stop to it. Mandy was now exhausted but she didn't show any signs of slowing down during the sparring. She was bruised and was bleeding from her nose and mouth. They didn't go easy on her.

Wook looked at the deep gashes sliced into their pads, and said, "Ha! I forgot Mandy has claws. We're going to need some better pads! Hey Lauren, do you know if they do cut proof pads with Kevlar like on bike leathers?"

Lauren's eyes lit up. She was bleeding from her mouth and nose as well. "Wook, sweet idea. I never thought of that either." She walked over to Mandy, patted her on the shoulder, and fist bumped. "You did awesome! Better than my first time with the big guys."

Mandy smiled a giant smile.

Wook looked at Sandra, his face lit up, and said, "You need to get a good set of heavy pads too. You need to practice with us, Mom."

Mandy was asleep in the car before they pulled out of the parking lot.

Sandra smiled. Wook was right. Training hard did take the edge off Mandy. He was also right that she was going to have to get in and get used to pushing hard against powerful, athletic opponents if she wanted any chance of slowing her daughter down.

This Lauren girl amazed her with how hard she went. Wook and the guys had certainly pounded her but Lauren knocked Wook down a bunch of times in Wildermann mode. The guy was a gigantic seven-foot tall beast and a pro fighter. She also caught Jeremy, the Bludbad pro fighter, with a hard left in the solar-plexus that folded him up and left him gasping and choking.

A few weeks later, Lauren offered her phone number if they needed anything. Sandra, Misty, and Mandy soon found themselves friends with a Grimm and all but forgot about the Portland Police Detective guy.

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2.1k words 11/30/20 r4