He left the kid a note on her door. Sam knew Victoria’s fear of the sun and that she mainly only exited her room at night at least as far as he knew that was the only time she exited it. The note was simple, “Come to the Danger room around midnight. Time for some training there will be a surprise for you there as well. – Sam” he made sure to allude to a surprise to make sure she’d be there. Though with Victoria she would have been down there anyways if Sam asked, how good of a student she was.

The second party involved would have been harder to get there but Sam was Sam so he just shot Maya a text knowing by the time she’d read it and arrive at the desired time she’d be he. Sam told Gawain to arrive in the danger room at five after midnight that way Sam get a chance to talk to Victoria first. Gawain, he had a feeling if they’d get talking he’d throw a punch and then storm off. To be fair Sam would have deserved it he did pull the ‘dead’ stunt and only after experiencing what Eve went through he had a little more sympathy. For her, he’d just tell Gawain to deal with it. They had known each other long enough.

Sam stood in the danger room now that it was midnight and he looked around, making sure all reflective surfaces were gone. Other than the ones in the god room. No, he wanted Victoria to experience something that all his students got to experience sparring with an older student of Sam’s and there was no older student than Gawain/Maya. With no reflective surfaces he knew He/She couldn’t run when they discovered what a powerhouse Victoria was.

Several days had passed since Victoria had sought out Sam to teach her more fighting moves. The girl had been doing her best to practice in her room or when she would go for her night time strolls. When outside she would find a location away from all the beautiful flowers and stand and practice each punch and kick. Always remembering to not leave her limbs out for too long and to snap them back to be ready to defend or strike again. It was fun!

Wanting to learn more, the little vampire made her way to Sam’s office door in hopes of receiving more training. To her delight there was a note instructing her to go to the Danger Room at her favorite time of night. She always loved midnight because for some reason it just felt magical to her. It was usually when the moon was at its highest and the stars sparkled like precious gems.

Arriving at the Danger Room Victoria had chosen a less elaborate dress to wear so as to not have to worry so much about ripping off bows or delicate lace patterns. “I got your message Sam. What’s the surprise?!” Her voice was full of excitement and anticipation.

Maya got Sam's text some time before midnight. She wondered what the hell he wanted this late in the night, and her first thought was that Sam was just out to mess with her as a retribution for their fight in the Infirmary. That bastard. Not only did he wake her up with a text and schedule a training session in the middle of the night, but he also scheduled it right after the shift, knowing full well how drowsy the mirrorwalker got if s/he did not get to sleep off the physical exertion of the shift.
Bastard.

Maya groaned and got out of bed, occupying herself with things to do until midnight rolled around. The shift came and went, and once it was done, Gawain got dressed in training clothes. It did occur to him to not go at all, but the thought of getting a few punches in at Sam was too tempting to pass up. Maybe it was just what the doctor ordered.
(DocProf would order that, it wasn't beneath him).

Gawain sighed and headed for the Danger Room.

Sam waited till the first student arrived and smiled when it was Victoria, ”Good evening.” Sam said in a slight nod, ”Er, in your case, good morning?” he said slightly confused. ”Glad to see you are sticking with your training clothes.” Sam smirked now thinking the future hour was going to be even more delightful than before. ”You’re surprise?” Sam asked her pretending he didn’t know for a second only to shrug, ”Well you have been doing so well in practice I thought it was time you’d start practicing with someone other than just me.” Sam said as if this was great news.

”His name is Gawain and he is one of the students I trained the longest. Also one of my closest friends.” Sam paused and looked around making sure no one else was in the Danger room. ”But don’t tell him that.” Sam said in a mock whisper. ”During your spar session you both will have different objectives. You won’t know what his is and he won’t know what yours is.” Sam said with a big mischievous grin on his face. ”I want you to break him.” Sam said closing his fist tightly. ”All out, you push him and yourself to the limit you got it?” Sam asked her, ”Gonna be for a half hour but by the end of it if you both aren’t exhausted and ready to collapse it’s gonna get a lot worse.” Sam would then jump in and push them both even further if they decided to sluff.

”Am I understood kiddo?” Sam asked her waiting for her response and Gawain to enter.

Victoria smiled big as she approached Sam and was greeted. She giggled slightly at his confusion in her regards to it being night or day. “Good evening Sam. Even though I’m awake when most aren’t, it is still night time. His compliment on her attire only made her smile more. “Aitah! I thought it best to not ruin any of my nicer dresses.”

The reaction to the ‘surprise’ was a look of astonishment as she filled with excitement and also some anxiety. Sam had mentioned Gawain before as one of his students. And now he thought she was good enough to train with one of his older students?! She felt a rush of pride as she hopped up once and clasped her hands together close to her chest.

Sam continued talking and giving some initial instructions so Victoria listened attentively. “Why don’t you want him to know he’s a close friend? I always tell my friends.” That bit continued to confuse her, but she listened to him speak. That is until he said something that bothered her more than the close friends statement. “Wait. You want me to hurt him? I don’ think that’s supposed to happen. He’s another student. I can’t hurt him on purpose. That’s not right Sam.” Had she misinterpreted his wording? Maybe he was meaning something else? She ran his words through her head again. No, he said to break Gawain and to push both him and herself to the limit. This didn’t sound right for a first time of training with another student. She’s killed people before.

”We have a complicated relationship.” Sam said simply enough, ”and I don’t want you to actually kill him I just want you to maybe break a bone or two.” Sam said shrugging, ”Me and Gawain hurt each other all the time, you see an opening, take it without hesitation.” Sam said as he started to throw a few punches himself to warm up. ”I’ve trained him for a few years so two things are gonna happen.” Sam said starting to explain, ”One he is gonna think you are a weak little girl, one that he has to go easy on. I don’t want that. I want you to get better meaning you get him good a few times and he’ll want to not make any mistakes.”

Sam threw another punch, ”And two he’ll like you better as a sparring partner if he knows he’ll have to stay in good form. Practice what you want to perform and all that. He goes easy on you he might go easy on someone else. If that happens I might be out a friend. So push him because I know he’ll push you. Got it?” Sam said more sternly as he looked to his watch and then to the door for Gawain to enter. ”I know you two are gonna have fun I just want you both to get better in the process.”

Gawain merged out of the hallway mirror outside the Danger Room and stifled a yawn. He did not feel up to training, and felt even less enthusiastic about training with Sam. You should never start arguments after midnight. Bad for sleep.

Walking into the DR, he paused when he noticed that Sam was not alone. He was there with a girl (of course) who at second glance seemed way too young to be in the DR at all, or even to be awake at this time. Also, she was wearing a dress. With frills.

Gawain blinked twice.

She'd better not be his date. Even Sam's gotta have limits.

"Hey" the mirrorwalker said as he walked up to them "What's the emergency?"

”Did I say emergency?” Sam asked pretending he didn’t know, ”Ah, misunderstanding then.” Sam said sticking his finger in his ear and pretending he was cleaning it. ”But I’m glad you’re here! I need your help!” Sam said walking over to Gawain but not too close. Sam had a feeling he was still ready to swing on him. Not like he couldn’t stop it but he didn’t really feel like fighting with Gawain right now, sparring or real. No they were both here for Victoria.

”Meet one of my newer students.” Sam gestured to the girl in the dress (still an odd thing to practice in) and smiled, ”Victoria meet Gawain the Mirror Walker.” Sam then smirked to Gawain, ”I’m gonna need someone to spar with her and I thought you’d be perfect for her.” Sam gestured to her again, ”She is new but very talented, Koga level talented.” Sam said with a grin directed towards Gawain, ”She works harder than you as well. Meaning she is gonna be scary when she gets older.”

Sam walked a little closer then smiled some more, ”Break her, I break you got it? Go easy on her but still push her.” Sam said as he raised an eyebrow to Gawain, ”Any questions?”

>>”Did I say emergency? Ah, misunderstanding then. But I’m glad you’re here! I need your help!”

Gawain's eyes narrowed at Sam's fake guilt over the 'misunderstanding.' This entire thing was starting to look like a prank, and right after midnight Gawain had no taste for pranks. He frowned at the excuse, and then turned his attention to the little girl.

>>”Meet one of my newer students. Victoria meet Gawain the Mirror Walker. I’m gonna need someone to spar with her and I thought you’d be perfect for her. She is new but very talented, Koga level talented. She works harder than you as well. Meaning she is gonna be scary when she gets older.”

"Nice to meet you, Victoria" Gawain said, wondering why the heck he would be chosen to train with the little girl in the dress. She looked way too fragile. Also. Dress. What the heck was going on? He rolled his eyes at the comment on her working harder than he was. "Yeah yeah, screw you too Sam."

>>”Break her, I break you got it? Go easy on her but still push her. Any questions?”

"Just one." the mirrorwalker sighed and rolled his shoulders "Is there a particular reason we're doing this in the middle of the night, or is she just still in the 'mess with the newbie' phase?"

Victoria watched as the one named Gawain approached. Now the girl was in the company of the twin towers as compared to her smaller frame. She listened to them go back and forth with their initial remarks. Sam giving the boy a greeting and then praising little Victoria. Gawain greeting back and including the girl.

“Hello Gawain It’s nice meeting you too.” She gave a friendly smile and a slight nod of acknowledgement. “I can answer your question. I do better at night. It’s when I’m wide awake.” She wondered what the boy meant about being in a newbie phase though.

Sam let Victoria explain as to why it was the middle of the night for the training session, Sam would have said something along the lines of ‘there is a method to my madness’ however Gawain probably thought of him as still ‘mad’ for the moment so he refrained from it. If it were not for Eve and her powers, Sam probably would have still thought the pair was over reacting to his death.

Once the greetings were completed Sam snapped his fingers, ”Alright, seems we are ready for the rules.” Sam snapped his fingers again and a scoreboard appeared above them. Sam made sure there was no reflections on the scoreboard other wise it wouldn’t have been as one sided as Sam hoped. ”You get a point when I say you do.” Sam said looking to Victoria now more than Gawain because at some point he would have come across this little exercise with Sam.

”You get a point for every good target you hit and every block or dodge that I like. No complaining, otherwise I deducted points and if I see that you,” Sam pointed to Victoria, ”are sluffing, I’m gonna give points to him.” Sam looked to Gawain, ”and if you… eh.” Sam threw his hand in Gawain’s direction, ”You I’m not too worried about. You know what happens if you break her.” Sam let the threat hang then took a few steps back. ”Punches, kicks and throws all acceptable to any target. Best way to win, don’t get hit.” Sam took another few steps back, ”Get going!” a timer appeared under the scoreboard and started a countdown from 15 minutes. A little short but he could always stop the clock and tell them to keep going.

>>“Hello Gawain It’s nice meeting you too. I can answer your question. I do better at night. It’s when I’m wide awake.”

Well, the new girl was certainly chipper about the training. Gawain wondered what Sam had been teaching her. Also, apparently her mutation had something to do with her being awake at night. Oh well, not like they had not seen anything weirder before.

>>”Alright, seems we are ready for the rules. You get a point when I say you do. You get a point for every good target you hit and every block or dodge that I like. No complaining, otherwise I deducted points and if I see that you are sluffing, I’m gonna give points to him. and if you… eh... You I’m not too worried about. You know what happens if you break her. Punches, kicks and throws all acceptable to any target. Best way to win, don’t get hit. Get going!”

"Hey, so, she's supposed to go all out but not me?" Gawain bristled. He also noted that Sam did not summon a score tablet that was reflective. Apparently he did not want Mirror to use his teleporting powers. It was just going to be good old-fashioned hand-to-hand combat.
With a girl.
In a frilly dress.

Seriously.

"Aaaaall right" he sighed, lowering into a fighting stance, waiting for Victoria to attack first "I've trained with newbies before. Let's start this out nice and slow."

Introductions completed and rules issued it was time to see how the little vampire could do against another of Sam’s students. Victoria figured Gawain probably knew more than her so she would have to use everything she was taught if she was going to be competitive. Above all else don’t be there.

Settling into her own fighting stance Victoria gave a subtle smile. She was already thinking how fun this training was going to be. This opponent moves, unlike the training targets from her last lesson. “What is this newbie term you keep calling me Gawain?” As soon as she posed the question Victoria fired a front kick straight at the taller boy’s midsection.

>>“What is this newbie term you keep calling me Gawain?”

Gawain grinned at the girl in the frilly dress.

"Well, it usually means that... whoa!"

The snappy comeback was effectively interrupted by the kick to his stomach, and Gawain reacted just in time to block her leg. The impact jarred up his arms, and he blinked one in utter surprise before he shifted his stance and pushed on her foot, aiming to unbalance her and make her fall on her frilly butt.

That was one hard kick.

"Been playin' soccer a lot?" he grinned. So maybe she was not quite as fragile as she looked. "... newbie?"

Her kick had been blocked and now Victoria needed to halt her rearward momentum, thanks to the boy pushing her foot back. Quickly she pulled her foot back and planted it a step or so behind her other foot to regain her balance. Least now she knew this wasn’t going to be too easy.

“I like futball, or soccer as you call it. I haven’t played it in a while though.” The little blonde girl waited for a moment to see if Gawain would try following up his defense with a strike of his own. Arms up, legs slightly bent and brought back into her fighting stance. “You didn’t finish your first sentence.”