Eye Of The Tiger (Beetle)

[Black Canary]

Players: Blue Beetle, Black Canary
Location(s): A gym in El Paso, Texas
Plot Summary: Canary volunteers to give Beetle some martial arts training.
--

Bruce was lazy. Most people wouldn't understand why Dinah believed that; the man worked every second that he was awake, which was about twenty hours out of every day. She knew better. He kept himself occupied, but he had his ways when it came to tasks that he wasn't so keen on taking care of himself. That was why she wasn't at all surprised when he had approached her the other day requesting (as much as he requested anything) that she take some time and train Jaime Reyes, aka the current bearer of the Blue Beetle title. Evidently Bruce had been looking out for him for some time, and as powerful as the kid was, his martial arts training was lacking. At one point or another it seemed as though everyone in this business encountered a situation where their abilities failed them, and that was when such training could make the difference between life and death.

Dinah didn't mind; she had trained younger fighters before and she enjoyed working with the next generation of heroes. While she didn't approve of teenagers fighting crime, once they reached eighteen they were free to make their own choices. She had only been nineteen when she started out, after all. Her willingness to take on the task was what led her to a small boxing gym in El Paso, Texas. Boxing was where she had gotten her start, and it was where she felt anyone she trained ought to begin as well. It wasn't as glamorous as many other martial arts forms, nor was it steeped in the ancient mysticism that often drew in the interest of young men who had watched way too many kung fu movies, but it taught you how to throw a punch, pay attention to your surroundings, keep your guard up, and most importantly, take a hit.

She had already warmed up against a punching bag for the last ten minutes before she had grabbed a second pair of gloves, hand wraps, and a pair of focus mitts. Dinah sat down on one of the benches and removed her gloves, then reached back to tighten the ponytail she had previously drawn her blonde hair back into. Her blue eyes flickered to the clock on the wall as she unwrapped her hands, then rewrapped them so the tape was tighter. Jaime should be arriving momentarily; in fact, she thought she had just seen him walk in. The blonde stood, one hand on her hip and the other lifted above her head to catch his attention. "Jaime!" she called, beckoning him over. "Over here."

[Blue Beetle]

It was a weird invitation, but it was not one Jaime Reyes was going to deny. Private training with a valued super hero. And it was a hero he had worked with previously. Granted that was over three years ago, but he could remember her. Black Canary. All fighting back those weird Omac people. Shivers crawled up his spine when he remembered the harsh experience that had all together changed his life.

Now his life was back to the norm. Well, as normal as any super hero could call it. It wasn't every day a person was requested by heroes to get some training for combat. This was something Jaime has needed for a long time. He's done well on his own for the time being, but he knew that his hits were no good. The Scarab was practically doing all the work. In a way, Jaime felt like he wasn't being fair to the Scarab.

Sure at times, he'd have plans up his sleeve, but when it came to the physical attacking, Jaime was just not the best person to send out for an attack.

Jaime stepped up to the doorway of the small gym that sat at the corner near one of the outdoor malls. He only walked around here every now and then, but this was a place he had never really gone in. The most thing to a work out for him was lifting some weights in his room and doing the usual superhero work. This was something entirely new. Letting a gulp roll down his throat, Jaime stepped inside and a small bell dinged at the top of the door signaling his entrance to the gym.

Stepping in cautiously, he kept his eyes peeled for a blonde haired beauty. Soon enough, the call of a woman caught his attention. A waving hand met with his eyes and connected to that hand was the hero he was looking for. "Oh!" Quickly, he made his way over and stopped by the bench where she had made base. "Hi! Uh, sorry for being a little late. Mom had me finish a few chores around the house.." He informed with an embarrassed look to the side. Shaking his head briefly, he snapped out of it and looked to the woman.

"So, what's the agenda for today?" Jaime asked curiously, enthusiastic with his future training.

[Black Canary]

Jaime was a good kid. It had been a while since she had seen him last, but Dinah had been impressed by him when he was a fresh new face to the hero community and she had heard only good things since then. Ted Kord's name was a heavy one to live up to, but so far he seemed to be doing a great job at it. Adding some martial arts training to his resume would only further aid him in his career. Dinah dismissed his reason for being late with a casual wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it," she assured him. "If you're gonna be late for any reason, it should be because you were helping your mom." As much as Dinah loved her job, family should always be the most important thing to any hero. Family was there to remind them what they all fought for.

In fact, family was the reason she had ever stepped into a boxing gym in the first place. She could remember the first time she had stepped into the ring with Ted, when she had been nothing more than a cop's daughter with a power she couldn't always control and a burning desire to step into her mother's boots. While she had never been in this specific gym, the familiarity of the sounds, smells, and sights made her feel right at home. Dinah wouldn't have wanted to be introduced to the world of superheroics any other way, and while Jaime had obviously already been inducted into that select group of people, she hoped that he would still get as much out of boxing as she had.

She took a seat back on the wooden bench and patted the space next to her, then picked up the roll of tape. His question was expected. Everyone just picking up martial arts was excited to find out exactly what it would be doing. Most were typically a little disappointed that it wasn't all flying through bamboo forests and jumping from rooftop to rooftop right off the bat (Hollywood had ruined martial arts), but Jaime seemed more down to earth than a lot of kids. "I'm gonna get you started the same way I was," Dinah grinned as she tossed him the tape. "Boxing. You know how to wrap your hands?" It might seem simple, or even unimportant, but if he wanted to avoid injury then he would have to learn how to wrap his hands like a pro. It was a guarantee that eventually he would suffer some form of injury, but Dinah preferred to keep the frequency of that inevitability to a minimum.

[Blue Beetle]

The greeting by Black Canary was a nice one. Honestly, Jaime was not expecting someone like her to take such interest in him. No- not like that-! But as someone who wants to help him perfect his heroic abilities. Those that need to be tamed more outside of the suit. Sure the armor made a good crutch, but Jaime needed to learn skills outside of it. Sometimes, the suit has issues activating. Or if the situation arises, he needs to defend himself without giving away his identity.

With a grin and a following nod, Jaime shrugged. "It really wasn't a big deal. I would have been done a good 15 minutes sooner, but she couldn't help herself from giving me the parent lecture. Stranger danger and all." He sighed with a silly shake of his head. His mother always worried about him. Even at his age, she still wasn't sure about this new life of his. Yes, it was different, but the entire Reyes family was adapting alright. At least, that's how Jaime figured they were. Milagro wasn't scared of him anymore. That was one of the most difficult times in his life that he had to go through. Granted, he did vanish for a year only to return as someone nearly entirely different. It was no one's fault. In a way it couldn't be avoided.

But all that aside and with the future ahead, Jaime wanted to become one of the best. He had the title of the Blue Beetle and he wanted to do his predecessors justice.

Watching his teacher for the next while, he nodded as she patted the seat on the bench. Sitting down, he watched as she took hold of a roll of tape. With a positive word and a toss of the tape, Jaime was asked if he knew how to wrap his hands. Looking at the tape then back to his hands, Jaime thought about it. "I know why to do it and how it helps in the ring, but I don't know exactly how." He informed with a shrug.

Boxing. This was going to be something different.

[Black Canary]

Well, at least Jaime knew what the purpose of the tape was. That was a good start, since most people thought that boxers only needed their gloves and nothing else. Again, Dinah unwound the tape on one of her hands, then slowly demonstrated how to reapply it. After pinching one end of the tape in the webbing of her thumb to hold it in place, she wrapped the tape several times around her wrist. "First thing," Dinah explained, "is making sure you have it wrapped well around your wrist. Wrapping your hands is mostly for protecting for your knuckles but you always want to make sure your wrist is stabilized, too." She brought the tape up and over her thumb next, continuing to describe what she was doing. "After it goes over your thumb, bring it back around over your knuckles about three times. Make sure you have your fingers spread out, too, otherwise you could end up making it too tight and cutting off circulation." There was something almost therapeutic about wrapping her hands, Dinah found. It was such a familiar routine that brought her back to the beginning of it all. What originally had been something of a difficult task was now something she could do in her sleep.

Upon finishing showing Jaime how to wrap his hands, she held up her own finished work. "And voila. Make sure you don't have any wrinkles in it and that it's nice and tight, but not so tight that it's uncomfortable. Hard to box if you can't make a good fist." Dinah sat back to watch Jaime repeat what she had shown him. It took a while to get it perfect, but as they wouldn't actually be punching anything really solid today, she wasn't too concerned with spending a lot of time on this part of the process. He would practice at least every time he was here, probably multiple times, and if she had anything to say about it he would be practicing at home as well. Nobody got good at anything without working on it on their own.

Once Jaime had both of his hands wrapped to Dinah's satisfaction, she handed him the pair of gloves she had brought him and then grabbed the focus mitts. They wouldn't need them yet, but she would rather have them with her than have to exit and enter the ring multiple times. "Ready to step into the ring?" she grinned as she rose from the bench and headed for the area in question. In a busier gym she would have found them a quiet corner to practice in, but it was pretty quiet here and she wanted Jaime to get comfortable inside the ring. Dinah ducked under the elastic boundary of the ring and stepped inside, then turned to face Jaime while taking several steps backward. "Okay. So what, if anything, do you know about boxing?" she asked. "And it's okay if the answer is 'zilch,' cause that won't mean anything in the long run. I just need to know where we're at right now."