The girl pulled her foot out of his grip, and Gawain stepped back, waiting to see if she would attack again. She seemed eager enough.

>>“I like futball, or soccer as you call it. I haven’t played it in a while though.”

European. Sure, whatever. She did have a good kick in those scrawny legs.

>>“You didn’t finish your first sentence.”

"Which one?" Gawain asked, confused for a second "Oh. The newbie thing. Well, you'll find that Sam likes to give new members on the team a run for their money. It's an initiation thing. Probably why he put us in here together. My guess is, we both know somethin' the other doesn't. Except, he's not letting me use my powers right now."

She didn't move, so he did. He lunged at her, aiming a punch at her jaw, but checked his momentum in the last second, stepping past her and aiming a kick at the back of her legs to make her fall. She also pushed on her shoulder, just for good measure. It was a pretty basic training move, one that Sam made him practice a lot a long time ago.

In the brief moment after both students had recovered from Victoria’s initial attack she listened to Gawain. As the boy explained himself the girl tried thinking. She couldn’t recall Sam calling her a newbie. However, she did know she was instructed to go all out against the older boy.

Then a sudden movement. A glimpse of a fist heading at her head and her hands moved up to block. The impact never came, and before she knew it her legs had been taken out from under her and her shoulders were being pushed back. Victoria ended up on her bottom with a muffled oof escaping her mouth. Sam hadn’t taught her that and so she wasn’t able to defend against it.

Victoria quickly moved away in case a second attack was coming. Hopping back up to her feet and regaining her fighting position she felt a tad bit frustrated. She knew Gawain would get the first point. Now she needed to get points of her own.

Advancing cautiously until she was close enough Victoria threw a left jab followed up with a right hook. This simple punching combination was immediately followed by a right kick aimed at Gawain’s side.

She was quick to get back on her feet, and did not seem shaken by landing on her butt. Gawain chalked that up as a good point for the newbie. He let her initiate the next attack, and she did so, and Gawain though he might have caught a glimmer of enthusiasm in the girl's eyes. She did not need a lot of incentive to keep trying, even if she was not as well trained as he was.

He ducked and parried the two punches, but her kick went past his defenses. He twisted to the side, so her kick glanced off his hip, but it definitely felt like it had force behind it. He was suddenly glad she did not aim between his legs.

"Not bad" he grinned "But if you're gonna kick like that, better be either faster or stronger. Otherwise you don't do a lot of damage even if you hit."

He kept his fighting stance for a moment before he lunged again. This time he aimed to sweep her legs out with a wide kick from the side. The first thing people had to learn in training was how to stay on their feet.

A hit! SHE HIT! Her kick made contact even if Gawain had managed to avoid the full force of the impact. With his recognition to her kick followed by a helpful tip, Victoria’s eyes glimmered and sparkled with excitement. His words repeated in her head. Better be faster or stronger. She wasn’t sure if she was faster, but there was a good feeling she was definitely stronger. Now to apply it.

When Gawain took up his stance again Victoria quickly did the same. They were taking things relatively slow and so far it seemed to be working out. Another attack came from Gawain, but this one was a sweeping strike from his leg. It was easy to see since the boy was so lanky. Victoria decided to try something new. Instead of trying to jump out of the way she threw a counterattack by turning slightly towards the oncoming leg of Gawain and releasing a fast front kick aimed for the knee. Be faster AND stronger.

Well, she was nothing if not a fast learner.
Gawain did not expect the kick. The shock traveled all the way up his leg and elicited a painful yelp from him. The momentum of his own kick broken he stepped back, leaving his weight off his leg as he pursed his lips. He thought about saying something to her, or making a joke, but the determination in her counter-attack and the glint in her eye told him she was playing for real now.
So be it.

Gawain launched another attack, faster this time and with less holding back. He still made sure he would not do serious injury with any of his attacks started, but he was going in for actual hits now. The girl could apparently hold her own; whether it was her own merit or Sam's been raining her, he couldn't tell. But suddenly the whole midnight training session felt a lot more interesting now.

((OOC: fudging some of the fight, we don't need to go blow-by-blow))

A surge of confidence rushed through Victoria when her impromptu counter-attack succeeded. Now she was feeling more relaxed and comfortable in the situation. Keeping her breathing steady and maintaining her fighting stance when possible, the little juggernaut watched Mirror as best she could. Dodging and side stepping strikes when possible and doing her best to block others. All the while looking for opportunities to strike back at open areas of Mirrors own defense.

She would put her full power into each attack and making sure to quickly retract her limbs. Don’t leave them out there for too long or you could get caught Sam’s words would pop up when appropriate as reminders to make sure Victoria was doing as she was instructed. The sparing was more fun now and she smiled more.

The girl was definitely stronger than he had thought. They soon took up a fighting rhythm, blocking, ducking and parrying each other's blows, and Victoria could obviously hold her own. After a few minutes Gawain increased the speed of the fight, trying to push her to her limits and see how long she could go on, or how well she would keep up with a trained X-man. So far, she showed more excitement than exhaustion.

After the pace increased and the blows became stronger, Gawain decided to try something different. Side-stepping from an attack he reached out and grabbed her arm, shifting his weight around and trying to throw her over his shoulder. It was more of a feat of balance and strength; if he managed to throw her down, the fight would be over for a while. He was also bigger than her, which made the move easier... but there was still a chance the girl might have something else up her frilly sleeves, in terms of balance, speed, or agility, and he wanted to see what it was.

This little match was turning out to be great fun, at least it was in Victoria’s mind. They traded attacks with blocks or dodges and there was very little break between each. Gawain was speeding up his strikes so now Victoria was having to push to be faster to keep up. His training was obviously more advanced than hers, but she wasn’t letting that deter her.

Next thing the little vampiress new Gawain had caught her arm and was flinging her over his shoulder. The only thing she could think of to do before she was tossed to the ground was to use her free arm and try hooking it behind the boy’s neck. If she managed to get it she would close down her arm like a vice and try pulling him down with her. Otherwise this was going to be another embarrassing landing.

The throw was going so well, until the little girl suddenly turned into a pro wrestler.

Victoria's arm found a way around Gawain's neck and clamped down with a strength he didn't expect her to have. Whatever was up with this girl, her powers were clearly strength and stamina related, because Gawain found himself losing balance halfway through the move, and as a result, both of them landed on their side on the floor. Air was knocked out of Gawain's lungs from the impact, and he tried to roll away, holding up a hand to signal he gave up.

"Gah... huh... umm..." he sputtered "What did you say your power was exactly?..."

It all happened so fast. Hitting the ground Victoria let out a grunt from the impact. That’s when she realized she wasn’t alone on the ground. As Gawain began rolling away to get some distance. Victoria quickly sprang to her feet and assumed her fighting stance with a large smile spread over her lips.

The smile faded as the signal was given by the older boy. “Ohh...you’re done?” She moved closer in a slow nonaggressive manner to show she wasn’t still in fight mode. “I hope I didn’t hurt you too bad. Are you okay?” Her red eyes looked the boy over for a quick assessment.

Looking back into Gawain’s eyes she replied to his question with a slight shrug. “I’m tough and I don’t break.” The girl then shot a glance to Sam to see what he was going to do or say about everything. Her mind was still on the boy however. She really hoped she hadn’t hurt him seriously.

”You give up?” Sam asked raising an eyebrow surprised they bother lasted as long as they did. Both of them did exceptionally well Gawain for all of his training he had side by side with Sam and Victoria for her raw strength. But for one to simply give up? He looked to the timer disappointed there was still a few minutes on it.

”Victoria is the winner then.” he walked over to the little girl in the dress then patted her on the head and then crouched down to her level. ”Don’t break indeed.” Sam said with a slight smirk. ”You might do the breaking though. I thought I said don’t hold back?” Sam asked glad she did otherwise that last grab might have snapped Gawain’s neck. ”He’ll be fine. I’ve hurt him worse.” Sam said grabbing Victoria’s hand and raising it up over her head. ”Winner!” Sam yelled as he let go Victoria’s hand then walked over to Gawain only to stop short a few feet away just in case Gawain might get a surge of anger and try swinging on Sam he already got his but kicked to a little girl in a dress no need to make it worse.

”Catch your breath then give her some advice you think she could use. Nice sweep at the start by the way, almost forgot I taught you that.” Sam said with a smirk. ”You two will be sparring again in the near future so keep in mind what the other is capable of.” Sam said to both of them.