It was a couple of days later and I had gotten a call from Hulk, he had set up a private training session at the one and only Gladiator Arena's Jousting area! Lucky me, I bet the other girls would be jealous when they found out about this. I opened the door, and walked around the corner, heading into the arena itself, when standing there were two of the American Gladiators.

It was Hellga, the biggest of the Amercian Gladiators on the female side at 205 pounds and Crush, the Queen of the Joust. My eyes got bigger as I walked up to them. I put out my hand to shake with them, and I noticed they had a killer grip. I shook my hand some, and then spoke.

Melanie Thomas: "Hi, I'm Melanie Thomas. You two don't need any introduction, I know who you are. I just wasn't expecting to see two people, just the one."

Crush: "Hulk told us that at least one of the divas is bigger than you, so I figured I'd call Hellga here and if you can knock her off the pedelstool, you'll probably be ready."

Hellga: "But can you handle Hellga?"

Melanie Thomas: "I'm going to try. So, what do we do first?"

Crush: "Well, we need to get you used to holding one of these in your hands."

Crush then tossed me her jousting stick that she was holding and I caught it and stumbled a couple steps back. It was heavier than I expected it to be, which did catch me off guard but was good to know now. Crush smiled, she seemed to realise what I just figured out.

Crush: "Yeah, they are heavy, but once you get used to it, it's no problem to deal with. So, next, try swinging it around."

I nodded my head as I lifted it up and started swinging it, first trying to do what I percieved as offensive attacking and then some defensive blocking. After I did that, I could see that Crush was watching me so I smile and spoke.

Melanie Thomas: "So, how'd I do?"

Crush: "Not bad for a first time, but you leave your midsection wide open."

Melanie Thomas: "I do?"

Crush: "Yeah, all it would take is a crouch or duck and a nice stabbing motion with the stick, and you're getting knocked off."

Melanie Thomas: "Ah, good to know. I'll make sure to fix that."

Crush: "Now, we got the stands moved over to the mat area so you don't get wet every time you get knocked off. So, lets go there next."

I nodded my head as I began to follow Crush and Hellga, as we arrived to the stands. She motioned for Hellga to climb up one and me the other, which is what we did. I got up there and she yelled up to me.

Crush: "Just get used to standing up there, trying moving around because it some times will wiggle, costing you some balance."

I nodded my head again, as I shook my legs around as I did feel the stand move. I waited for it to stop shaking as I moved around, ducking, getting on one knee, trying to get up quickly, and it was definitly not easy.

Melanie Thomas: "How you ladies do this all the time is beyond me."

Crush: "Well, now it's time for the helmet."

Crush grabbed a helmet off the ground and tossed it up to me. I just barely caught it but I did catch it nonetheless. I opened it up and put it on my head, trying to move my head around, and it wasn't easy, this thing was a little heavy. Crush noticed from the ground and yelled up to me.

Crush: "You doing okay up there?"

Melanie Thomas: "Yeah, I'm ok, just adjusting."

Crush: "Well, not much time to adjust, time for the stick."

I bent over as Crush handed me my stick and then she walked over to Hellga to give her one. I began to hold it, noticing that it was really a challenge to hold it. I did some test swings, nowhere near Hellga of course. Hellga held her stick up and then Crush yelled 'GO!' Hellga swung right at my head so I ducked. She came back around to try it again, and I caught in the side of the head. I staggered, and she nailed me once more as I went down. I hit the mats below and Crush came over to check on me.

Crush: "You okay, girl?"

Melanie Thomas: "I think so. She really rattled me."

Crush: "Yeah, she'll do that, which is my best piece of advice, go on the attack right away, don't let her get you. If you get on the defense too long, you'll fall off."

Melanie Thomas: "Okay. Hellga, you're gonna get it now!"

Hellga: "I don't think so. It's Hellga time baby."

I scowled, I was so tired of hearing it was other people's time. I wanted to prove it was my time. I started climbing back up and once I was up there, I reached down for my stick. I held it up, ready for battle and this time when Crush said 'GO!' I was ready. I expected Hellga to try the same thing and she did, I ducked and jabbed the stick in her gut, hard. She didn't seem phased but she then tried to get me, so I parried her attack and threw a shot at her head. It hit her and she kept swinging, and I kept blocking and then going for a hit to the head. She began to stagger so I hit her harder and then did that stab and down went Hellga. I dropped my stick and celebrated, throwing my helmet to the ground, just having my moment.

Crush: "I think she might just be ready."

Hellga nodded at her but I didn't see any of this, I just knew I was feeling good and I would definitly be ready for this competition.