Owner	Pose
Katsumi Oshiro	Continuing to have to communicate via email is kind of odd, and seems a little dated, but if that's how Mary insists they communicate, it's how they will! For now, at least. Katsumi does want to get better at controlling her strength level, in either case. She has no idea how Mary would be helping her with that. The warehouse is silent tonight. No fights to be seen. Just a vacant, open space within the spacious interior. She arrived wearing a black tracksuit with white piping, simple white cross-trainers on her feet. The jacket is worn open, revealing a simple black racerback sportsbra beneath. "Mary~?," she calls into the dim light. "You here?"
Mary Marvel	Mary steps into the light. She had been reading one of her textbooks while she waited for Katsumi. Physics. Something she felt would come in handy. Mary Batson, the 16-almost-17 girl, waved abd smiled as she set her backpack down. Faded jeans, flannel shirt, beat-up tennis shoes, mousy-brown hair tied back in a ponytail. "Hi, Katsumi. I'm really glad to hear from you. How have you been holding up?"
Katsumi Oshiro	"Uh.. been.. okay, I guess?," Katsumi says tentatively. Her right hand sets to her left elbow, rubbing sheepishly. "I keep breaking things at night. It's like- not that I'm clumsy? But like I have a way deeper pool to use. Does that make sense? Like if you flex your arm, it goes from noodly to bump. But now it's like, there are miles between noodly and bump." She blinks. "I sound f***ing stupid." Katsumi's eyes suddenly widen, attention sharpening on Mary. "Sorry! I didn't mean to- err.. sorry!"
Mary Marvel	Mary smiles wryly. "C'mon, Katsumi. Today I lifted a 50-foot yacht and flew it in for SHIELD to arrest the smuggler using it. I get it. The stronger you are, the more careful you have to be..." She looks down at herself and chuckles. "I should probably change, hunh? If we're going to do this, probably should look the part." She paused. "Have you thought about a costume?"
Katsumi Oshiro	"A- a costume?," asks Katsumi, taken off-guard. "Easy, I don't- I mean, it's a little early to dive right into that whole deal! I just wanna live without killing people on accident!" Her head ducks, and she shrugs out of the jacket to toss onto a dusty counterspace. "Anyway, how'm I gonna do this? Best way I could think of is using some gym equipment they do for boxers. Get used to what certain levels of force feels like, practice-practice-practice. I can't really punch /you/ or anything. I kind'a like ya, squirt."
Mary Marvel	Mary grins and steps back. "Well, you can't punch ME... One more step back. "SHAZAM!" A crackle of electrical energy lances down into Mary Batson's body, and she is quickly replaced by Mary Marvel. "...but you can punch *ME* all you like." She smiles warmly.
Katsumi Oshiro	Katsumi Oshiro squeaks when she shouts, and nearly falls over when electricity lances through the roof and strikes Mary. Suddenly, she's replaced in tunic, cape, the whole shebang! Katsumi exhales a puff of a breath before recollecting herself, straightening her posture. "That's so weird. Why does it /age/ you?," she asks as she approaches. "And I'm supposed to wrestle a superhero?"
Mary Marvel	Mary chuckles, walking forward again. "Part of it is to conceal who I am. After all, if I looked like Mary Batson, big bad people would show up at my house." She winks. "What we're going to do tonight is test strength. I know what it feels like to be hit by all types from standard no-name crooks to stronger supertypes. So, you're going to punch and hit me, and I'll help you regulate yourself so you know when you are using the minimum necessary force required."
Katsumi Oshiro	Katsumi Oshiro doesn't look particularly thrilled at that! "You want me to hit you? Like.. really just hit you?" Normally she wouldn't care. Katsumi's a brawler anyway. But it's the knowledge that Mary is a teenager! She'd be punching a teenager! Even in an adult package, that hurts her heart somehow. But then, they don't seem to have the equipment she'd recommend. What choice is there? Katsumi rubs a hand over her right cheek, contemplating. "Okay. So I'll just.. sock ya in the gut." She approaches Mary, cringing a little on approach. "Are.. are you sure about this?"
Mary Marvel	Mary smiles patiently. "I'm much tougher than I look as Mary Marvel. And I'll relax my muscles, too. If I tighten up, that usually means risking broken bones...and not mine." She stands with feet slightly apart, hands behind her, face relaxed. "Hit me as hard as you can."
Katsumi Oshiro	Katsumi Oshiro swallows heavily. She broke a crate by accident. By /accident/. She's been cracking doorframes, pitching furniture, and easily flinging supernatural monsters (don't ask) without even trying. There's a girl in front of her - a regular-looking girl. She takes a few breaths to try to ease the tension and anxiety. Her shoulders roll. Her eyes close briefly. And then she thrusts her fist forward, blasting her knuckles into Mary's belly. She did just as Mary asked; a strike in excess of 25 tons of pressure, centered right on the girl's midsection. What's worse, Katsumi has combat training to begin with. Wrestling isn't just about the aesthetic and visual, certainly not in Japan. Martial arts is involved. The strike doesn't end at the point of contact, but the force flows forward, the energy projected /through/ the target rather than /onto/ it; the mechanical difference between streaking a board and breaking it.
Mary Marvel	The impact is solid, enough force to up-end a tanker truck. Mary doesn't retreat. Her body takes the blow solidly, and the feel is that of striking a heavy bag - a little give, but not much. Mary smiles. "Wow! That was a LOT! You really are very powerful!"
Katsumi Oshiro	Katsumi Oshiro expected the worst. She expected to wind up hospitalizing Mary, or knocking her into a wall, or something! Instead, she wound up with a big load of nothing. Didn't even seem to cause pain! And she didn't hold back. ...Geeze. Katsumi's energy is immediately drained, shoulders slouching. "Really? Sure as Hell doesn't look like it," she says. "Did you even feel it? It looks like I didn't even phase you."
Mary Marvel	Mary nodded. "I think that was...carry the 3...about 25 tons of concussive force. I definitely felt it. It stung a little, even. The thing is, I have the denefit of wisdom given to me by...someone else. I learn from the experience of others. So now, I'm going to help you by sharing what I learned." She tilted her head. "Do you need a moment? You look fatigued...if you need time to recover, take it."
Katsumi Oshiro	Katsumi Oshiro gives her a flat look. "I'm fine." The draining is from disappointment. From going to feeling monstrous to feeling pathetic in an instant. And just that quickly, '25 tons' sounds pretty insignificant. "If that's as much as I can do, and you're fine as can be, what risk even is there?" A lot, logically. But Katsumi is salty now. Hands are firmly planted on hips.
Mary Marvel	Mary sighs softly. "Because the next guy you run into isn't going to be me. Maybe he's some two-bit hood robbing a bodega. Maybe a purse-snatcher. Maybe a rapist about to get his next victim. Maybe even another superhuman, who can shrug off a normal punch, but your full-strength punch sends his jaw to YONKERS." She looks around. "What I'm going to teach you is how to fight and win against opponents of different power levels without killing some guy that made a bad choice and shouldn't get his skull pulverized for it."
Katsumi Oshiro	"And how're you gonna do that? You barely even feel when I'm at my full force," replies a deflated Katsumi. "I just-..." She trails before slouching a little. Defeated, she raises her left hand to twiddle in the air. "I'll do whatever. What do you want me to do, I guess?"
Mary Marvel	Mary looks around. "I want you to visualize something in your mind. Imagine a volume knob. Any kind as long as it goes from 1 to 25. Close your eyes and focus on that knob. Make it as real as possible. Bling it up any way you like, make it yours."
Katsumi Oshiro	Katsumi Oshiro rolls her eyes a little. "Lame..," she mutters, but compliantly so. Her almond eyes shut, lips pursed and huffy. Yes, she can see the knob. It's basic - the sort of analog one might find attached to a stereo. Nothing special about it!
Mary Marvel	"All right." Mary's voice is calm and level. "Now, that knob is at 25. It's at max. Now, realize that this knob is connected to your limbs. To your muscles. This is the volume of your strength. This is YOUR volume. Can you see it? The little notch is right at 25."
Katsumi Oshiro	"Maarryyy," complains Katsumi, "This is weeeiird." She peeks an eye open to stare at the other girl. "You know I'm a fighter, right? C'mon, this is baby stuff!"
Mary Marvel	Mary looks back at Katsumi patiently. "And we are doing the baby stuff to make sure you can do that before you do the toddler stuff. Then the child stuff, then teenager, then adult. You wanted to train so you could wrestle again without fear of hurting someone. If you show me you can do the baby stuff, then we go to the next step. And ONLY then. Now close both eyes. I want you looking at that knob."
Katsumi Oshiro	Katsumi Oshiro looks reproached, even pouting. She starts to close her eyes, only to pop them open wide again. "If you wanna see if I can do it, switch back!," she challenges. "I could make ya tap without breaking ya!"
Mary Marvel	Mary chuckles. "We'll test on me now. I've been hit enough times to know how much force is being used. If you're only hitting hard enough to knock out a teenager, I'll tell you. I'm not the one being tested. *You* are. I already know how to regulate my strength. *You* don't. Now close your eyes. Back to the knob. Tell me when you see it."
Katsumi Oshiro	Katsumi Oshiro takes a step forward, perhaps misunderstanding what she says as an acceptance of her challenge. Wrestle a superhero? Fine. If it'll give her her dignity back, even if some small, tiny, near-insignificant way. But she insists she go back to the knob. "Uuggh!," protests Katsumi who halts on heel. With a little scowl, she squeezes her eyes shut and visualizes that boring ol' knob again.
Mary Marvel	Mary nods and smiles slightly. She remembers this lesson. It was just in her mind, that is in the way of magic. But she spent a long time doing this. "All right. The knob is connected to the muscles of your body. Now, I want you to dial down the knob. Turn it counter-clockwise. As you turn it, you'll feel the power in your limbs dial down as well. This is a new machine, so we do it slowly. 20 now. Lower...15. Lower. Feel the power wind down as well. 10...9...8..." He voice is quiet, measured, calm, almost hypnotic. "Two...One. Okay. Keep it at One. Know your limbs are at One. But you control the knob. You can put it at any level you want. But keep it at One. When I say Now, you are to open your eyes and hit me as hard as One will allow." A beat, no more. "Now."
Katsumi Oshiro	Katsumi Oshiro doesn't look relaxed. She doesn't look calm. She looks anxious. Even with her eyes closed, her jaw is tight, her lips thinned, and brow flat. She complies, but it's a little hazed in impatience and uncomfortability. She's very hands-on; not accustomed to meditative things, certainly not in this context. Music? Sure. Fighting? Lord no. She's impulsive. Wild. Oh. She wants to be hit at a 'one'. What does that mean? One ton of pressure? What does that feel like? Katsumi hesitates, frowns, and steps closer. She haltingly delivers a bop towards Mary's stomach. It's light - gentle, by her superpowered standards. It would without a doubt put a normal human on their knees. But between them, it's not unlike a playbop.
Mary Marvel	Mary smiled at the contact. "There is your One. This is the beginning on complete control of your body. We will keep at it. Afte you have a first grasp of the levels of strength you are capable of, we will train you to adjust on the fly. Keep hard control of that knob...and you can step into the ring again, without fear of hurting someone."
Katsumi Oshiro	Katsumi Oshiro scowls a little at Mary. But something about the scowl is pinched. Exaggerated. Playful? Suddenly, Katsumi pounces forward to attempt catching the slightly taller girl around the waist to tug her in against herself in a frontal lock! "I've got a grasp on /you/!," she taunts. Her arms flex - barely - to increase the pressure if she does, indeed, get ahold of her. Though undoubtedly harmless to Mary, it would technically be a bearhug.
Mary Marvel	Mary does not resist or draw back, and even allows herself to be lifted off the ground. "Wow, Punk Princess, that's a bold move!" she says with a little squeal, but does not try to fight it. Katsumi made a huge step forward, and Mary is not going to dump water on this achievement.
Katsumi Oshiro	Katsumi Oshiro smirks at her and adds just a little bit more pressure against Mary's lower back with a flex of her arms. "'Course it is! The ring's no place for the meek or timid! Now..." The Japanese grappler tightens another degree - it's still very slight, very careful, and likely barely noticeable to the galactic-level powerful heroine, but is a familiar enough sensation to the punkette that it's comforting. Even a little relaxing! "..be a good girl and tap out for me, hrm? Or am I gonna have to go for a pin?"
Mary Marvel	Mary chuckles. "Let's see you pin me, Punk Princess!" She could get out easily. But what would that help? Letting Katsumi feel normal? That's worth a little perceived humiliation.
Katsumi Oshiro	Katsumi Oshiro perks an eyebrow at the other girl's challenge. "Alright, fine!" Without releasing her from the 'bearhug', Katsumi arches her back to tug Mary through the air and drop with her, leading the heroine to land on her back with Katsumi landing directly atop her in what would be better known as a belly-to-belly suplex. Upon landing, the waistlock is released to settle her left arm behind Mary's neck to cradle her head, while reaching low to hook her leg with her right arm to pull the appendage into the air, per typical pin fashion. Otherwise, the two remain face-to-face. "One...," she begins counting quietly. "Two..."
Mary Marvel	Mary oofs as her back hits the pavement. She does struggle. It is a valiant struggle, but not TOO valiant. She lays back as Katsumi gains leverage, looking up at her as she counts quietly. "Three..." she says along with Katsumi, her deep brown eyes meeting Katsumi Oshiro's.
Katsumi Oshiro	Katsumi Oshiro mirrors Mary's count in tandem, "Three..." She remains in position over her for a second or two longer in silence. Then those bright magenta eyes narrow a little, and Katsumi leans in. Nosebump. Button nose to button nose. Her head lifts again with a contented smile, evidently pleased. Sure, she knows Mary could've bucked her off if she gave it her all. Heck, can't even pin normal people without wearing them out first. But this is nice. Made her feel a little more like herself; like what she's felt for years what she was meant for. So the nosebump? Appreciatively affectionate. Nevermind that she's still settled atop the other girl, cradling her neck and keeping her leg held aloft.
Mary Marvel	Mary looks up at her and feels something strange. She isn't sure what it is, but it makes her feel warm. Then she sighs. "All right...break's over. Let's get back to training. I have a few hours before curfew." She floats up, ready to resume...