Sabine read the situation and Iota-Nine and took her shot. It was a personal accusation, and one she was sure the mutant was not expecting. The blonde was difficult and withholding, but she was also human, or close enough. Sabine was seeking to incite an emotional, likely painful memory, and a wince proved she hit her mark.

Of course, a mutant like her had some history of death or mayhem in her wake. Some mutations were harmless, and some were easily controlled, but many were too powerful, too unpredictable, or in the hands of the wrong people. If Iota-Nine was not careful, she could super-charge any one of those categories of mutant. Sadly, as Sabine’s mother taught her, no one could be careful all the time.

The mutant was going to be less likely to play their fight slowly. Sabine hit her with a low blow and she would want to do something to retaliate. Still, even if it was something small, Sabine shook her. No one started questioning their beliefs and world views in one day, but if Sabine could plant that seed, it could sprout over time. She would get it one day, and when that happened, she could make a damn fine SUPER agent.

The fighting resumed and the speed and ferocity of Iota-Nine’s attacks changed noticeably. Sabine would have to put more effort into defending and counter-attacking. She had to be careful, but she was not yet worried; Iota-Nine had not been the only one holding back. Sabine had years and years of training under her belt and she was starting to become confident the blonde was not some fragile flower. Sabine was not looking to kill the mutant, but she had no intentions of being upstaged in her own training session.

Traded blows grew more intense, but Sabine did have to remember she was there to fact-find as much as train, and Iota-Nine gave up something interesting. She had a job “just like” what Sabine said, but Sabine read the files. The other side did not have an equivalent to SUPER (yet,) but there were organizations that used powers “for the benefit of others.” One stood notably on the list. ”So, you were an X on your side, then?” Adding a former X-Man to the organization would be a boon SUPER could not ignore.

Sveta picked up pace and strength now that she really wanted to kick the woman's ass, but Judy was keeping up so far. Not that it was a surprise that she had good training. SUPER, in its evil and well funded government organization way, probably had excellent gym memberships, or whatever. It was not going to be an easy fight, but boy did it help work out some frustrations...

>>”So, you were an X on your side, then?”

Oh, right. Questions. She was taking notes on the tablet or whatever. Sveta rolled her eyes as she ducked away from a punch and threw a short yet powerful one towards the other woman's chest. Hit her in da boobs. She deserved it.

"Please. Do I look that nice to you? I don't play well with other mutants. And I kinda like being self-employed anyway."

She had been an X, once upon a time, for a very short period of time, but that really did not amount to much. She was a vigilante much longer, and then on Sam's private list of people to call when sh*t went down, but that was not exactly a job description. And she was not going to give info on any teams she had belonged to, anyway.

All in all, the training session was proving fruitful. Iota-Nine was providing information through her actions and her words, even if she was doing everything in her power to be a thorn in Sabine’s side. The fight was intense and, while the bruising would end up being a b**** to heal through, she was getting quite a workout. The pros were still outweighing the cons.

That almost changed when the mutant tried to take a cheap jab at Sabine’s chest. Fortunately, with Muay Thai’s reliance on elbowing, her arms were usually drawn in and compact. She was just barely able to move the backs of her forearms in front of her to take the hit. She would deal with sore arms. A sore tit would have been debilitating. Iota-Nine was not afraid to fight dirty, which was not exactly a surprise. Sabine was not her favorite person in the world.

According to her trainee, she was never an X-Man. She even claimed to be “self-employed.” Were there really still freelance vigilantes out there when the other world had a team of legitimate, deputized X-Men? It could have been a lie, of course. Sabine was not dumb enough to take things she said at face value. She would send the information up the ladder for someone else to research. ”For the record, no. You’re not nice.”

Their dance had been useful, but it was not the only thing Sabine had on her schedule for the day. Neither woman was running at one-hundred percent, but Iota-Nine’s power was putting some pep in Sabine’s step to compensate. She was going to look for her opportunity. A punch that extended too far and she would reach for the arm to yank her close enough for a sweeping knee to the side. She wanted a strike that could be decisive enough to end the session, which meant taking the risk of getting close. One of them was going to go down one way or another.

>>”For the record, no. You’re not nice.”

"We should bond over dat." Sveta smirked. Judy, or whatever her real name was, was definitely not nice either. Then again, this session was not about being nice. It was about showing off some abilities while keeping other close to the chest. And talking about chest, Sveta threw a sneaky attack at the other woman's, but was blocked. Oh well. At least it distracted her from analyzing all her movements for a moment.

The continued fighting, until Sveta swung a punch with too much force; when it went wide, her arm was fully extended, and Judy was smart enough to take advantage of that. Sveta expected her legs to be swept out from under her, but could not prevent it; she went down, holding on to make sure the other woman followed, which was the only thing she could do. She tried to roll them both into a position where they were mutually pinned. Darned if she was not going to get out of this fight with a stalemate, at least...

Sabine’s sweep found its mark, but Iota-Nine was stubborn until the end. She grabbed Sabine on the way down, bringing them both to the ground. They were both vying for superiority, but Sabine was not going to pull an advantage in a fight like that. She knew her strengths and weaknesses, and Sabine was not a skilled grappler. The fight was reaching a rolling standstill, which was likely going to be the best situation to wrap the fight up.

”Okay, I think that’s enough here, I think,” Sabine finally said, pulling away and breathing heavy. She was a pain, but Iota-Nine gave her a solid workout.

Rotating her shoulder, Sabine retreated to her tablet, where she resumed hasty typing. ”Good session. Thank you for the data, Iota-Nine. So much data,” she added. It was half-true; Sabine gained plenty of information from their match, but she earned more from other new recruits. She just figured a comment like that would bug Iota-Nine, and Sabine was fine being as petty as the newbie.

She walked back toward Iota-Nine, offering a hand she knew the blonde would not shake. ”Another agent will be accompanying you to the next scheduled segment of your training. I don’t know what it is because you cease being my problem in two minutes. For now, anyway,” she clarified. ”I’m sure we’ll be dealing with each other for another training or even a mission. Who knows?”

Before Sabine left the room, she turned back to look at Iota-Nine one last time. ”There are different ways to do something good. But a necessary evil is still necessary.” She walked through the door, not facing the recruit when she added, ”Welcome to SUPER, Svetlana.”

They both went down, and Sveta held on until the other woman tapped out (maybe a second or two longer). She was not a grappler, clearly. Neither was Sveta, honestly, but now she was just holding on for sheer stubbornness, until they disentangled from each other.

Sveta got up once the other woman did, rolling her shoulders. She did not want to stay on the ground a second longer than she needed to; she was not gonna show weakness after a session like that. It might have been a tie in the end, but she was fairly sure that in an all-out dirty fight, she could have broken the woman.

>>”Good session. Thank you for the data, Iota-Nine. So much data,”

Sveta glared at the woman. She was sure that she had not given her that much to go on, but the comment was annoying none the less. As far as verbal sparring went, she definitely hit home with that one.

>>”Another agent will be accompanying you to the next scheduled segment of your training. I don’t know what it is because you cease being my problem in two minutes. For now, anyway. I’m sure we’ll be dealing with each other for another training or even a mission. Who knows?”

"Probably not a mission. I don't think they'd pair me with a human." Sveta noted lightly. SUPER was about anything but equality, and if this woman believed that she was as valuable an asset as a mutant with the right powers, she was lying to herself.

>>”There are different ways to do something good. But a necessary evil is still necessary. Welcome to SUPER, Svetlana.”

The woman walked out, leaving Svetala staring after her with thinly veiled hatred.

"**** you too, Judy."