The Champion has an offer for you...

You move in to lock up with your opponent again, but she deftly judo-throws you to the mat. As you land on your stomach, she follows up quickly by sitting on your back and grabbing your chin in both hands, a perfect setup for a camel clutch. She starts to pull your back into a painful arch...

...then she stops. Leaning down to whisper in your ear, she says, “I have an idea. Pretend I’m hurting you so they don’t get suspicious.”

“Suspicious of what?” you ask, twisting your face into what you hope is a good approximation of a pained grimace.

“Well,” she says quietly, “I’ve been thinking. It’s been a long time since I really got a good feud angle going with anyone in this league. What if I just...let you win?”

“I’m sorry, what?” you say, utterly dumbfounded.

“I could throw the match,” she continues. “You won’t become the new Champion because this isn’t a title match, but it’s still pretty high-profile. You’d have to pretend to cheat, of course—use a weapon or take a cheap shot—but stuff like that happens sometimes, you’ll just end up taking a little bit of flak from the crowd for it. It’d be a big boost to both our images: you, the scrappy underdog who’s willing to do anything to get ahead, versus me, a champion who can’t rest on her laurels anymore and has to rediscover her motivation. It’ll be great!” She’s animated and enthusiastic, clearly getting excited about the idea, and has to go to quite a bit of effort to remember to keep quiet. “And you’ll have time to train and practice so that when we meet again, it’ll be on even ground, or at least close to it. So? What do you say?”

You have to admit that it’s an intriguing offer. But what will your answer be?