Her assessment was quickly dismissed, and Evelyn felt slightly insulted by it. True, he said she was clever, but he also turned the conversation in a new direction. It was clear he thought there were selfish motives for her being part of the x-men, but who was to say being heroic wasn't selfish, in some way? People liked helping others, but why? Generally, it was for those warm fuzzies that came when giving someone a hand, saving someone's life. Being heroic was about being the hero, being the good guy. Was it so wrong that she wasn't deceiving herself into trying to be that?

"I think it's silly to pretend that my goals, like anyone elses, aren't selfish in someone way. Someone who wants to be a hero, and someone who wants to better the world still wants to do it for their own reasons. They want to feel like a good person. They want to feel the satisfaction of doing what's right.

I'm not just trying to be a 'hero'. I just want to be able to do something if I can. I don't want to watch people get injured, and be powerless to stop it. I think you can be selfish and self-less at the same time. I think I can put myself in harms way, while still doing it for my own reasons." She responded, lifting her chin slightly and staring back at him. She wasn't afraid of him, gruff and disagreeable as he was. People all wore masks, and even his had cracks she could see slivers through.

"I want this, and whether or not you agree with me won't change that. Regardless of who chose me as a trainee, I don't take this lightly, and that's why I'm not going to try to be someone I'm not. I can piece together all kinds of polished reasons to do what I do, but in the end I'm just like everyone else, and I'm a little bit selfish. I want to help people because it'll make myself better in the end."

Well, that ruffled her feathers, didn't it?

"I think it's silly to pretend that my goals, like anyone else's, aren't selfish in someone way. Someone who wants to be a hero, and someone who wants to better the world still wants to do it for their own reasons. They want to feel like a good person. They want to feel the satisfaction of doing what's right.

I'm not just trying to be a 'hero'. I just want to be able to do something if I can. I don't want to watch people get injured, and be powerless to stop it. I think you can be selfish and self-less at the same time. I think I can put myself in harms way, while still doing it for my own reasons.

I want this, and whether or not you agree with me won't change that. Regardless of who chose me as a trainee, I don't take this lightly, and that's why I'm not going to try to be someone I'm not. I can piece together all kinds of polished reasons to do what I do, but in the end I'm just like everyone else, and I'm a little bit selfish. I want to help people because it'll make myself better in the end."


He watched her, his arms still crossed, as she spoke her peace. He didn't interrupt. He didn't react, past watching her closely, as if he were looking for something in particular. She was self centered, self entitled, brilliant, and yet incredibly naive at the same time. He took a deep breath. He was mad at her; his teeth clenched, his eyes narrowed a little bit. It wasn't her fault, though. He understood that. She was a product of her upbringing.

"I have seen people step in the way of certain death to save the lives of others. These men and woman where better people than you or I. By your assessment, these people are selfish. I have gone into situations sure I would never see the ones I love again because it's the right thing to do. As an X-man, if you make it that far, you will not only be asked to do so, it will be your duty. Maybe through your journey as a trainee, you will see what I'm talking about. That doesn't matter, though. If you want to be a better fighter, I can make that happen."

The seasoned veteran pulled out his crowbar once more, mumbling under his breath for a moment, and then speaking up as he paced about.

"Your footwork is off... It's got creativity behind it, but you don't think far enough ahead. As a mutant without a physical ability, you will always be at a disadvantage; because of this, I suggest wearing down your opponent with careful strikes, and keeping outside of their range if possible. Over committing is suicide when you're fighting someone like me, for example. I also noticed in your assessment that you have the reflexes to deflect attacks and answer with an attack of your own, but you have yet to grasp it well enough to have any success at it; I watched you miss a chance at a disabling blow because you couldn't cope with the force of your attacker. I can show you how to fix these problems, and I can equip you with the tools you will need to survive long enough to become an X-Man."

He'd done his homework; he'd watched her tryout several times to pick her weaknesses to pieces. Was he grouchy, with unrealistically high expectations? Yes, but he put his money where his mouth was.

"To start, we're going to play a game. I just turned on a simulation that was created to allow two people to fight to the death without actually dyin. I'm not really standing where you see me, and to me, you are also in a different location. Fun, huh? I'll instruct you as we go, but now I don't gotta hold back. This will simulate real life, as your opponent will always be trying to kill you, and you will always only seek to disable them if possible. That's right... You pass this training when you can successfully land a non-lethal blow that would disable me, and don't die in the process. If you're up to it, go ahead and start... Oh, and one small note. Some people feel as though they are actually dying when they get killed in this simulation... It's just your imagination, so don't go all basket case on me."

He was angry, she was angry. There was a lot of anger buzzing around in the room. Not that it was anyone's fault, really, they just saw things differently. Evelyn didn't necessarily think that being selfish was a bad thing. She just thought everyone had to have reasons for what they did, and she didn't entirely believe in something being completely 'selfless'. The military considered training of soldiers 'reprogramming' for such reasons. Working around the morals of an individual, building on survival instincts, picking and choosing which traits would better the group as a whole in battle. With the echoes, she saw things in many shades of gray. Every good guy had a little bad to them. Every bad guy had a little good. She wondered if she would ever really see eye to eye with Saphirus, but she wasn't here to compare ideologies and moral standing. She was here to train, and that's what kept her face straight even as he analyzed her fighting.

"Your footwork is off... It's got creativity behind it, but you don't think far enough ahead. As a mutant without a physical ability, you will always be at a disadvantage; because of this, I suggest wearing down your opponent with careful strikes, and keeping outside of their range if possible."

That was fair advice, and she let the echoes process it. It was hard to think ahead with the echoes at times, mostly because they were always so focused on the 'now'. Learning to think ahead would take more training, and further studying of her own habits, her opponents battle instincts, and further training in sparing in general. Knowing how someone would respond to a blow wasn't impossible: it would just take trial and error.

Starting with Saphirus' 'game', however, seemed like a risky way to learn. If she wasn't already irritated with the x-man, she might have protested the idea. and the risks involved. But Saphirus was challenging her, jabbing at her pride, and in many ways, she was taking the bait. She wanted to prove she deserved to be an x-men. She wanted to prove, regardless of her reasoning, she could be useful, and could help people. But letting the danger room convince her she was dying... She had no idea what that could do when her powers were involved.

With a slight shrug she brushed aside her concerns though, and flipped both one sai then the second into a more battle-ready hold without glancing at them. "Fine, I'll play your 'game'." She said, and without waiting she darted forward, echoes focused on his crowbar wielding hand. One sai flashed out towards his weaker leg, the other stayed on guard to deflect any counter attack.

And there she went again, right on in. As she approached, he talked.

"In combat, there are three effective range zones. Outside striking distance." She was just outside of striking range. Nimble little thing. He'd stayed stationary as she'd advanced. As she came close enough to strike, he shot forward, and toward her defending side; all of a sudden, her strike was on the outside, and he was within her guard.

Experienced weapon fighters knew that the inside lane was one of dominance, any attacks coming in could be parried easier. His step forward was well planned out, leaving him with a centered balance by the end of it. This made it possible to strike from a place of power.

His right hand would reach out to intercept the tip of the blade she was striking with, and then a slight twitch of the hips would generate enough force for a blow he was confident could shatter her guard, which was set at a disadvantage, him, coming from a place of power, and her being in movement.

The fact that he was also twice her size didn't hurt.

"You should remain outside until your opponent makes a move. You just invited me into inside striking distance, and handed me the advantage."

He would quickly retreat, careful not to cross his legs. All moments were one of complete control, to move back, he pushed back with his forward foot, to move forward, he pushed forward with his back foot.

"You'd be better off waiting for me to step into range, and reacting appropriately from there. That's not to say you can't attack first sometimes, but-" He maneuvered to the right, and inwards, just close enough for her to attack if she desired, and leveled a guard covering his center. "Smart people prepare for their opponents first strike, limiting their options so that they can easily be predicted, and reacted to. This is called second intention fighting."

When you fought with Sai, staying outside of someone else's striking range could be a challenge, especially when they wielded a crowbar and were somewhat bigger than you. By the time you could hit them, they were already within your range, and it felt silly standing and waiting for someone to take a swing at her, rather than trying to at least strike first and faster.

The counter-attack and movement from Saphirus sent one sai backwards, hitting her hip slightly as she tried to maintain her balance.

"You have a longer range... Isn't it possibly you'd stay just out of reach? It'd be a stretch in this instance, but someone with a longer weapon..." She watched until he was close enough, then struck for his vulnerable side, trying her best not to get caught by a counter strike. The echoes were tuning in on his movements, following...studying...

His attack crashed through her guard, but he decided against pressing the advantage; he wasn't going to show her a damned thing just beating her to a pulp over and over again.

"You have a longer range... Isn't it possibly you'd stay just out of reach? It'd be a stretch in this instance, but someone with a longer weapon..."

"You're right, I will always he in range to attack first. I am also slower, and once my heavier weapon starts moving, it's harder to stop. Take advantage of my range. Provoke me into an attack, avoid or avert it, step in, strike, and step out, prepared to avoid or avert an attack on the way out."

His centered guard made it easy to parry her incoming attack, from there he made a light attempt to bop her on the head with the dull side of his crowbar; it would sting, but it wasn't an attack as much as a guard check. He slid back, out of fighting range once more.

"I still gotta move forward if I want to get you into my longer range, it's that time that you should step in. Most of the time your opponent's aim will be to place you at a range that it's comfortable to attack from, when they do that, you can step in at the same time, now you are closer than they are comfortable with, and in most cases, in perfect range for your own attacks. Often, though, it's impossible to get into this range without the opponent first stepping in, and attacking while their at it. That's why I want you to wait."

His crowbar was centered again, but this time his grip was tensed.

"Time to give it a try."

He shot forward, swinging his crowbar at head level, sneaking his defending hand around to cover his vulnerable body.

Saph's counter wasn't strong, but the blow was still enough to make the echoes 'stutter' for a moment before collecting themselves. She processed the information he was saying though and prepared for the next attack, lightly side stepping to give herself a moment to stop the ringing in her ears. Head-shots were particularly risky for Evelyn, one wayward hit able to leave her leveled for a few hours. The more she took them the more away and cautious she was about the blows ever happening again.

Saph swung, Evelyn dodged this time, back stepping under his swing and aiming the sai for the back of his neck, partially exposed by the movement of his arm. He was quick enough she doubted she'd connect, but she was prepared to move outside of range this time, hopefully to avoid any more swings from the crowbar.

Her attack was more focused this time, her footwork a bit better. The echoes were processing and picking up on the suggestions, painting mental diagrams of suggestions on where to go, what to do. Warmed up and focused, she was getting a little better the more they fought. The echoes kept studying Saph, picking out habits he had while fighting, seeing which way he was shifting his weight, how fast he could turn, trying to identify blind spots. The only risk was letting herself focus too much on any of that analysis. Knowing where a blind shot was could only be useful if you were in a position to utilize it.

She was focusing more; he could tell. His understanding of her mutation was limited, but he knew that it helped her take in information about her surroundings. Given time, this could make her extremely dangerous. What she had to take into account was her limitations as well.

She stepped under his blow, and struck at his neck, taking his advice into account. He felt it coming with his sixth sense, and forced his body not to react. The blow sunk into the back of his neck, and everything went black.

a cold, mechanical voice echoed throughout the dark room. "Stab to the second cervical vertebrae, instantly fatal, resetting simulation."

The lights popped back on, and Saphirus was standing across from her, his arms folded again.

"Our job is a hard one. I said it before, it is not an X-man's duty to kill bad people. Death is always a last resort, when there are no other choices. This is made harder by the fact that they will almost always be trying to kill us. That's why I told you, if you were listening... you only pass this training when you can disable me before I can kill you. I'll still instruct you, but from this point forward, I won't hold back... Are you ready?"

Evelyn was not quite expecting the blow to hit, but when it did, there was a moment where she could 'feel' the sai strike her target, before the simulation ended and the mechanical voice explained the 'death' blow. She had to blink slightly. Somehow she was suspicious Saphirus held back. The echoes didn't think his actions quite added up with the speed he displayed earlier, but the point was effective, nonetheless.

He relayed the information he had stated earlier, and it was hard to suppress the irritation that rose. She had a perfect memory. Of course she was listening. If he had acted like it was real combat, it wouldn't have turned into a death blow, and she could have picked a better string of motions to disarm him or maybe knock him out. But even though she wasn't intentional about it, that had been a risk. Sometimes in fighting even accidents could have fatal consequences.

She shifted the sai in her hand, still quiet for a moment until her temper settled back down. "I'm ready." She said. She waited, watching for his move to counter, hoping to use the weight from his swing in a similar manner to dart in and disarm him. A pressure point on his vulnerable side might work....

"I'm ready."

The moment she started talking his crowbar would seemingly leap from his hand at an incredible speed, assisted by all of the kinetic energy he'd gathered up to this point, of course.

It was an attack that had, to be honest, killed many men. Some in a far off future, some while he was wearing a different uniform...

He wanted to get the first one out of the way, to be honest again. This was also a test to see how "dying" would affect her; a lot of prospective trainees left at that point, and a large part of him wanted her to do just that. Sure, she was bright, quick, and had an incredible bit of potential, but she was also defiant, grumpy, and self centered.

He supposed if she was ballsy enough to continue, should his attack prove to be the very fatal action it had been for many, many experienced career criminals, he wouldn't have a choice but to devote the resources required to train her.

For now, though, the pressing matter was the blurry, high speed death machine aimed just off center, in the direction her footing betrayed her most likely to dodge toward.

Having a brain that thought faster than normal had it's advantages, and disadvantages. Some of the advantages were quicker processing of information, and the ability to predict actions and reactions. Evelyn caught the moment as the crowbar went flying, and reflexively went to dodge. Unfortunately, but the time she was moving they calculated the 'off-centered' element, which sent her back into the path of the metal object.

The disadvantage of having a brain that thought faster than normal, was it wasn't attached to a body that could do the same. For a terrifying moment she could see the crowbar, sense the danger, but could do nothing to prevent it from colliding. The pain was only for a moment, as the 'kill' landed, the force shattering and racing through her mind.

At that point, something went a little wrong though. Saphirus would have likely noted it by the way her 'real' body buckled and collapsed backwards at the same time the 'simulation' her died.

'Death' information was much like 'knock-out' for her mind, but the force was much more volatile. The split second pain that would have discouraged most students from dying send the observant mutants mind into a very slow reboot. Body motionless, unresponsive, her brain struggled to whirl back into action, and the playbacks crawled to life.

One thought lingered before Evelyn was absorbed in her own memories.

Owwww....]

He'd started by checking her pulse; she was fine.

Inactive, though.

The trainer looked down at her for a moment longer, and then sighed, calling up a chair in the simulation. Some students didn't take well to this part of the simulation, and while he hadn't seen anyone as far gone as Evelyn, he wasn't particularly worried. Mirror would probably be pissed.

He would deal with that when it came to it.

As of right now, the team leader didn't exactly know about this particular training exercise. He'd gone straight to Sam for the approval.

When she finally stirred, he was lounging comfortably.

"Mornin, sunshine. If a simulation's too much for you, what're you gonna do when someone's actually trying to kill you?"

He was mocking her a little. He was a jackass like that.

Rebooting sucked.

Reliving memories was never a pleasant experience, and vivid moments of pain along the way were draining. Evelyn hated sleeping for a reason, and getting knocked out was always WORSE than that. Saph may have been comfortable lounging, but Evelyn was stuck in her own head, going through a lifetime of crap she would never face again if she had the choice. It all ended with a realistic feeling memory of getting her head beat in with a crowbar... Needless to say, when she stirred, she was not the most happy camper.

Saphirus' response just ticked her off more, and needless to say, as sluggish as her brain was, it gave her the spark to do something that might have proved dumb in the long run.

Her leg kicked out, solidly connecting with the back chair leg, which snapped and started falling backwards. The Sai, which was close enough to grab, was in her hand in a second, and she she aimed the butt end of the object towards his shoulder. Whether or not this was her 'real' body or simulation at this point was hard to tell. Part of her hoped it was the real him. Her head was certainly feeling it realistically enough.

"Jerk." She snapped, stumbling to catch her footing as she backed away. The memories filtering through her brain still made it hard to see straight, but the echoes were leading decently with instinct to at least avoid a retaliating shot if he took one.

Oh good, for a second there he was afraid he'd broken her. No, though, in a typical fashion, she cursed him and attacked immediately. Clearly, she wasn't her usual more coordinated state... He measured his responses accordingly until her head seemed clear again, and then continued her training.

It was a painful few hours.

Not so much for Saphirus, but you get the idea.

Sure, she landed a few hits, but the danger room never considered them disabling. This wasn't at all a surprise to him, though her knack for making quick progress was alarming. It would seem that every step forward was rewarded only with more punishment.

More important than that, he chiseled at the rough edges of her technique, patiently dispensing sharp criticism at the right moment to anger her, and yet force her to listen via pitiless demonstration.

The wait he trained wasn't pleasant. It couldn't be; he'd learned it through years of pain, and he taught it in a similarly painful manner.

Still, he wasn't unfair. He wasn't attacking to brutalize her, he was doing so to teach her, and every single attack taught a new lesson, a new perspective.

"Sometimes your opponent will just outclass you. Faster, stronger, more experienced. Your ability will help when it comes to judging which of those they are, but that doesn't mean every fight couldn't see you six feet under. You'll only stay alive if you're always more clever. Not more intelligent. Intelligent is knowing how to program the clock on a VCR. Clever is feinting an attack low so that your opponent reacts, and then knocking the living daylights outa them. Seen a lot a people dumb as a rock, but clever, kill a lot of people who fancied themselves intelligent."

Clang! CRACK!

"C'mon princess, your stance is to narrow, if you stand like that you may be able to move a little faster, but your balance will never be steady enough." CRACK! "You'll thank me the first time someone tries to bowl you over and kill you while you're down."

WHOOSH! Thud. "Close! Your force has to come from the ground. It travels from there, to your knees, and then up through your hips, to your shoulders. You just strike with your arms and you'll never be able to drive it home!"


It was getting late. Saphirus had to admit. He was tired. How was she, though... She still hadn't succeeded... He didn't plan for her to... not for quite some time.

"You wanna call it a day, Blondie? Or do you think you can make it one more round?" He was sweating at this point; his already unkempt hair was wild, and the grip on his quite heavy crowbar was starting to seize up from repeated strikes with no rest. His look wasn't as stern as it used to be, though. While more worn out, he almost seemed more relaxed. If her extra sense weren't too busy with other things, she might come to the conclusion that he quite enjoyed teaching. That, or she would hate him forever because, let's be honest, his teaching technique was nothing short of bastardly.

Saphirus may have chosen a simulation that was meant to be safer for students and less likely to cause physical damage, but for Evelyn, each and every blow, every stab, every thud of the crowbar against body hurt in an impossible way. Temporary flickers became forceful memories, and as much as she wanted to impress him, as much as she wanted to prove she wasn't a quitter, her brain couldn't handle everything she was putting it through. She learned quickly, certainly, but no level of improvement helped her land that desperately needed blow to disable him.

Evelyn was fairly certain she hated Saphirus. Teacher or not, with or without the echoes telling her that he meant well enough and his methods were effective, he was an ass and she wished she could knock the smirk off his face. When he countered, it enraged her. When he absorbed a blow, it infuriated her. She pushed and pushed, tried to wrangle in her emotions, but those feelings were festering under the surface. This was cruel, and it was malicious, and it was dumb.

But there were sights. He was tired, sweating, his grip kept shifting on the crowbar, the echoes keying in on the tense muscles, the strain to continue working. Had she more stamina, perhaps she could have exploited that. Made a move, tried to make him go beyond his means. But her body felt like it had been beaten all over, even though her skin was untouched. Worst of all, DocProf couldn't heal what had been done to her mind. At least a bruise could go away, but her thoughts themselves were raw and tender.

"You wanna call it a day, Blondie?" There was a sense of bait in those words. She heard it swimming around her, ringing in her ears, traveling down her worn limbs into her toes and her muscle fibers. One more round... She knew she couldn't, knew it despite her best efforts to hide it. One more round would leave her flat on her back again, and she wasn't sure the echoes would recover as quickly that time. He wanted her to keep going, but he might enjoy her quitting just as well. There was a difference between pushing yourself and being reckless, and it was clear one more round would cause more damage than good. Slowly, she walked over to the table and set the sai down.

"I'm done," she answered. There was no clear emotions in her sentence, just a statement. Whether she wanted to, whether she thought she could, or whether he thought she could, there was no continuing at this point. She could feel the fuzzy blackness lurking at the edges of her thoughts. She wouldn't be surprised if she passed out on the way back to her room. The echoes weren't exactly known for their timing.