Hi again. I still don't own or profit from anything.

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"Why her?" The question could have been asked by either girl, but Trina was the first to speak. Mike was ready, his response already on his lips, expected to be answering Jade.

"Trina has a lot more experience teaching the lower belts than you do. Jade, I trust you with the higher belts, but you don't always know when to back off. And you weren't the one to ask, were you?" Mike looked around, both girls looked annoyed, but he knew Jade had heard him.

"Trina, while there are a lot of reasons Jade is needed for the community center classes, her second degree black belt included, the big one is she's fought professionally. Even fought for a major title. The kids involved at the center, many of them are gang related. While the program is to get them out of the gangs, whomever teaches them needs some credibility or they won't listen. One round with Shelby Marks, not to mention being her only submission victory, gives Jade that credit." Mike explained.

"Oh I get it now. Adam West. Like the actor dude who played him back in the stone age. Funny, I always thought they called him Batman because of his dark hair, blue eyes, and he's six three and what, two thirty?" Trina said, out of the blue. All eyes were on her for several moments, "Yea I heard, but the whole batman thing was bugging me."

"It's funny now, but kids could be so cruel." She seemed to snap back to the present. "Anyways, I have to work with Trina, huh? And she what, first degree brown? Yea, I can do this." Jade seemed to be talking to herself.

"Before you take over, I recommend you go to the community center and check things out. Trina may know this, but we work in conjunction with the police Athletics league, so you're going to want to talk to the liaison officer as well. And Finally, Jade, these guys think they're tough, but were dealing with mostly lower belts. So lets not drive them away, okay." Mike said.

"Got it" Jade said. Trina just nodded knowingly.

Mike continued. "Now, I was going to recommend you two get to know one another, but I think it's wiser if you two learn to coexist. Learn to work together. And Trina, in our style, every brown belt works one on one with an instructor to prepare them for the day they take the black belt test. I'm going to assign you to Jade. She's done that before, for some higher browns, and is really good at it."

"Sounds good" Trina said. She was disappointed. She had been working with Stan. It made sense that he couldn't do it if he was getting ready for another title shot.

"I guess that's all. Get out of here, I have a dojo to run." Mike said.

Jade had a million questions, but didn't ask any of them. She just walked out of the office and towards the locker area. She felt the need to beat on something until something, anything gave. Trina followed her, almost like a lost puppy.

"What?" Jade shot at Trina.

"Adam was cute. I was just wondering what's he up to?" Trina said. Jade rolled her eyes and continued to get changed into her uniform. Like everything else she owned, hers was solid black. "Come on, he's your brother. You have to know what he's up to?"

"He's a lawyer, does entertainment law. And why am I telling you any of this?" Jade said.

"We have to work together. I figured you'd tell me about him, and from there I'd figure out why your into this and yet never told anyone." Trina said, starting to piece things together. Yes, sometimes Trina was clueless, but if it didn't involve her ego, she was as perceptive as anyone. "So is he still training people?"

"Last I heard, he burned himself out training some Goomer down in Venice beach. The guy was good enough, but dumber than a post. My brother just couldn't deal with it. Or maybe he got upset at me. Either way, he's taking some time off." Jade said.

"Why is he upset with you. I mean, it could be because your a cold, cruel gank, but family's supposed to look past that, so why's he so pissed?"" Trina said. Jade seemed to ignore the dig.

"Because I didn't tap out. And now everything's janked up because I wouldn't fudging tap out." It seemed to be a sore subject to the goth.

"That makes sense. I'd be pissed too if Tori almost died over a belt. Not to mention the blatant disregard for your own safety. I mean, six fights in five months. Last I heard, that wasn't even legal. But don't worry, he'll get over it. Just give him some time." Trina said, sounding almost comforting towards the end..

"Thanks, but we're not friends. You don't have to try and make me feel better." Jade said, leading the way to the big bags. Trina continued to follow.

"We have to work together, so I figured I'd give you some advice from my years of being a big sister." Trina said. "It doesn't mean we'll be friends. It means I'll get along with another of my sisters friends."

"We're not friends!" Jade snapped quickly. "I mean Tori and I are not friends."

Trina wasn't good at a lot of things, but despite her dating record, she was far better than any of Tori's friends when it came to figuring out who they liked. That statement wasn't new, but today is screamed denial. Trina locked it away for future blackmail material, and continued to watch Jade.

The goth moved almost flawlessly, each blow striking with the kind of force Trina hoped to one day generate. The bag bent in ways she hardly ever saw, and Trina could tell that Jade was probably closer to third degree, despite her only recently achieving her second. The goth was dangerous. Trina wanted to ask so many questions, like why she never showed this kind of skill when she was at school, or how she got involved in the first place. Trina wanted to know just what made Jade so determined to win back whatever she had lost from the various instructors here at the dojo.

"Jade, I can see I'll learn a lot from you. However, I think we will need to get together after we drop by the community center and talk things out. Why don't we go by and look things over after school tomorrow, maybe talk to Stan, and then we can meet at my place and go over our plans." Trina said.

"Why don't we just get some coffee and go over our plans after we talk to Stan?' Jade asked, never taking her focus off the bags. Trina noted how Jade had full awareness of what was around her, like she did this for self defense, while never losing her focus on her target or what her next move would be.

"There's no hot tub at the coffee place." Trina said, and with that she knew she had Jade hooked. Now it was just about figuring the girl out. 'Maybe I'll marry her brother. It's best to be friends with my future sister-in-law' Trina thought.

"Okay, tomorrow we meet at the community center, then after we talk to Stan, we go to your place to soak and talk." Jade said, agreeing with Trina. "But this doesn't mean I like you, or your sister." Trina smiled at that, Jade didn't need to add the last part, and it screamed denial. At the same time, she watched Jade's form, and knew studying under Jade would be an experience. Trina just had to make sure it was a good one.

And she might warn Tori about the whole black belt thing, just to remember the next time she gets in an argument with the goth. Stabbed by scissors just moved down the list of dangers Jade represented.

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I noticed most of you hate pixies. Please review.

For those who don't know. Professional MMA leagues usually suspends fighters for 90 days after each fight, so they can heal. That's how far they have to go to keep the fighters healthy as possible. Jade fought 6 fights in 5 months. Think about it.