Harry Butler opened the door of the Valhalla Club to Cindy Preston on a chilly evening in late November. He was extremely relieved to see Cindy standing in the doorway. He had set up a live Internet video link to broadcast her assessment to Valhalla member clubs around the world and if she had failed to show he would be deeply unpopular with his clients.

By chance Harry had been in the Hell-Fight Club two weeks before and had seen Cindy defeat a powerful Spanish girl in a topless kick-boxing match. Cindy had dispatched her rival with such a display of ruthlessness that Harry had immediately offered her an assessment to fight in the Valhalla Club. At first she had been very reluctant to even consider his offer, but when he hinted at the sort of money that could be earned in the Club she had changed her mind. So tonight she was here to be assessed for the Club.

Harry invited Cindy into the club and took her upstairs to the second floor. The building was located at the edge of downtown Newark and from the outside it looked like a run down warehouse. The Club had bought the building two years before and had spent several million dollars converting the inside into a modern gymnasium and health club. Harry led Cindy to a room with the title "Back-breaker Changing Room" on the door. He chuckled as he saw the look of concern on her face as she saw the name of the room. "Don't worry" he said, "all the rooms are named after wrestling holds. We also have a "Grapevine Suite", "Hammerlock Room" and "Scissors Spa" to mention just a few!"

Cindy entered the changing room and immediately saw that the walls of the room were covered with photos showing naked women being held in various back-breakers holds. "These are all scenes from Valhalla Club fights," commented Harry. They moved to a picture of a blonde woman being held aloft in a Romero hold. "Shit that looks painful!" exclaimed Cindy.

"Yes, I'm sure it was," said Harry, "the blonde's name is Hannah, she really took some punishment in that fight. It started as an argument between Hannah and Gina, that's the dark haired girl, in the bar one evening and they decided to settle it in the ring as a Club event. But, it was a real mismatched, Gina is probably one of the most experienced fighters in the Club and she literally broke poor Hannah. This next picture shows the end of the match when Hannah submitted for the third time to this cross-shoulder back-breaker. Hannah was out of action for some time after this fight"

As Cindy looked at the picture Harry became business like as if he had just remembered why Cindy was there. "Ok, let me explain what is going to happen tonight. As you know you are going to be assessed as a fighter for the Valhalla Club. I've already seen you fighting and we have decided that you have proved that you are ruthless enough to join our elite band of fighters, but now we have to judge your bravery and ability to absorb pain. So this evening we are asking you to stand naked and, without flinching, allow another woman to beat your body with her bare fists!"

Cindy gulped with horror, "Fucking Hell! You must think I'm mad, I'm not going to take part in this!"

"Cindy just let me finish before you decide to quit!" pleaded Harry as he moved on to the next picture. "The thing to remember is that you are taking part in a sort of theatrical event. All round the world Valhalla Club members will be watching your assessment on private video links that we have set up. They will be betting on how much punishment you can take. As the assessment proceeds we raise the amount of money you get for each blow and the folks will be betting on how much money you can win. You and Anna, who will be your "Assessor", need to make it look really convincing for the audience. You need to make them think that every blow is shear agony, while she makes it look as if she really beating the shit out of you!"

While Harry was talking Cindy had been looking at a picture of a black girl being tortured in a terrible camel clutch hold. "Did she have to make it look as if she was in agony?" said Cindy sarcastically.

"This is from one of our all time great fights. The white girl, Tara, is from Mexico and the black girl, Tanya, is from Florida. The fight lasted just over an hour until eventually Tanya gave the match to this camel clutch. If I remember rightly Tara won over $10,000 for this fight, and Tanya got £2000!"

"My God!" exclaimed Cindy. "Ten thousand bucks for one hour's work, shit!"

"It took Tanya a few days to recover, but she was fighting again within a couple of weeks - she's one hell of a tough girl!"

Harry and Cindy moved on to another picture, this time showing a girl being held in a suspension backbreaker.

"This was another great match" said Harry looking at the picture, "actually Teri, the girl in the backbreaker, went on to win the match!"

"So getting back to my assessment, is it an act or not?" asked Cindy as she stared thoughtfully at the picture.

"No, it is not an act! Anna will be hitting you, and you will need courage to withstand her blows, but perhaps it will not be as bad as it looks to the audience! Shall I go on?"

"Ok", said Cindy "but the money better be good or I am pulling out!"

"Your assessment will be divided into "rounds" each consisting of 10 blows. With each round the intensity of the blows increases as does the money you are awarded. Round 1 blows are $10 each, round 2 - $20, round 3 - $30 and so on. So if you make 4 rounds you get $1000, and 5 rounds $1,500, etc. At the end of each round there is a break of 5 minutes for you to recover and for the audience to place their bets. Before the break we call out where the Assessor is to focus on in the next round - this gives the members some idea on what is coming up so they can decide on how they want to bet. The trick is to make it look really hard and painful, but still to spin it out as long as possible so that the folks have lots of opportunities to bet on the outcome."

"This is Anna who will be your Assessor." said Harry as he handed Cindy a photo showing an asian looking woman standing naked in a darkened room.

"Shit she looks hard!" said Cindy as she saw the picture

"She is, but she knows just how hard to play it. She acts really nasty and aggressive, but she knows just how hard to hit so that the trialist doesn't give in too soon."

Harry went on, "We have decided that you should undertake a "crucifix" assessment. You'll stand with your arms outstretched horizontally and your legs apart like this." Harry handed Cindy a photo showing a girl in a crucifix position.

"You must keep that pose, if your hands drop below the bottom of your rib cage then you will be called out and the assessment will be over. Of course you can quit during any of the breaks between rounds."

"At the end of the event three judges get together and decide if you have passed. It isn't just a matter of just taking lots of blows, but also how well you play it. Remember I said it is a sort of theatrical event, so you need to make people think you are taking some really nasty punishment! It sounds pretty daunting, but I know you can handle it and you could win a lot of money tonight if you play it right. Will you give it a go?"

Cindy thought for a few seconds and said "Ok, but if I quit at any time can I still take the money I've won to that point?"

"Of course you can. Ok, let's get on with it. The event is scheduled to start in 15 minutes, so we need to get a move on. I'll get Katy to come in and help you prepare. We need to oil your skin with some body lotion so that you look good under the lights. I'm going to get the camera links going now. I will see you in a few minutes in the Chamber."

Harry left the room and a few moments later a young woman wearing a leotard entered carrying a tray. She introduced herself as Katy and said she was here to prepare Cindy for her assessment. She told Cindy to take off all her clothes. Cindy dutifully stripped and handed her clothes to Katy who hung them in one of the large lockers that covered one wall of the room. Once Cindy was naked Katy took out a bottle of body oil and rubbed the fragrant lotion into her skin until she glistened and gleamed in the overhead lights."

"My, you are tense!" said Katy as she massaged the oil into Cindy's shoulders.

"Do you want something to help you relax, it would also help you cope with any pain? It's really mild I use it for all my fights?"

Cindy agreed and Katy added a large white pill to a glass of juice which she had on the tray. Cindy waited for the pill to dissolve then quickly drank the contents of the glass.

"Time to go to the chamber" said Katy.

Katy led Cindy up several flights of stairs until they were at the top of the building. She opened a door to a large room that occupied the whole of the upper floor of the building. Katy ushered Cindy into the room and said "Good luck!" before closing the door to leave Cindy on her own. Cindy looked round to see that the room was apparently empty, completely bare of any furniture or fittings. The windows were covered by thick drapes that cut out all light from the city outside, but the centre of the room was lit by several powerful spot lights that were mounted close to the high ceiling.

Cindy waited for several minutes in the darkness at the side of the room. The drug Katy had given her was already taking effect and she was beginning to feel slightly light headed and pleasantly relaxed. Suddenly Harry's voice rang out asking her to come to the centre of the room. As Cindy entered the brightly lit area Harry appeared out of the darkness.

"Cindy we are ready to start. The video link will go live in just one minute. I want you to stand here with your legs apart waiting for Anna to make her entrance. Can you take up the crucifix stance for a second just so I can check how you look?"

Cindy stood in the pose that Harry had shown her in the changing room. "That looks excellent!" said Harry. "You can put your arms down and relax until the Anna tells you to raise them to start the assessment. Are you ready?"

Cindy heard her own voice reply dreamily "Yes, I'm fine!"

Then suddenly Harry was gone and she was on her own in the middle of the dark chamber waiting for Assessor to arrive.

Cindy stood unmoving in the centre of the chamber for what seemed like several minutes, her oiled body glistening under the intense glare of the powerful spot lights. The drug was by now having a really strong effect making her head swim pleasantly and making her feel relaxed. Suddenly a voice rang out into the chamber. "Cindy Preston you are here to be assessed as a fighter for the Valhalla Club. Now meet your Assessor, Anna Devay!"

Anna appeared out of the darkness and strolled boldly into the brightly lit area in the centre of the chamber. She, like Cindy, was totally naked although her body had not been oiled. Anna came close to Cindy, close enough for Cindy to smell the sweet perfume of her body.

Then Anna spoke out loudly, "Cindy Preston I am here to assess you for membership of the Valhalla Club. Do you agree to be assessed?"

"I do" answered Cindy as boldly as she could.

The disembodied voice of the loudspeaker system then rang out. "Assessor, your target in the first round will be Cindy's upper abdomen."

Anna laughed loudly. "Cindy Preston steel yourself to feel the power of my fists on your belly!"

Cindy gulped as the force of Anna words cut through the drug induced feeling of well being that she had been experiencing. Anna came really close to Cindy until their breasts were touching. She looked straight into Cindy's eyes and whispered softly, "Just hang in there kid, you'll make it!"

Then Anna said loudly for the benefit of the microphones, "I am going to beat the shit out of you, Cindy Preston! LIFT YOUR ARMS!"

Cindy's heart was now racing in her chest as she raised her arms to the horizontal.

For several seconds Anna just stood breathing deeply her eyes locked onto Cindy's glistening torso. Then she shouted "Number One" and let fire a nasty straight right karate style punch directly into Cindy's stomach.

Although Cindy had tensed her stomach muscles in readiness for the blow, the shock of it still pulsed through her belly making her momentarily catch her breath. The loud "smack" of the blow seemed to Cindy to be amplified as it echoed around the large empty chamber.

Barely a second later Anna shouted out "Number Two!" as she fired off a left punch into Cindy's belly just above her belly button. Cindy grunted loudly as Anna's rock hard fist smacked into her tensed abdominal muscles with a loud sonorous "thwack".

Cindy focused hard on keeping her abdominal muscles tensed and arms out horizontal as Anna rhythmically pumped the next eight blows one after another into her muscular belly. Anna called out each blow before driving her bare fist into Cindy, who grunted loudly as her six pack belly absorbed the force of each punch.

"Number 3!" - THWACK

"Number 4!" - THWACK

"Number 5!" - THWACK
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And Cindy's ordeal had only just started.........

To see part 3, Click on the picture