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"He has horrible form."

"He's just learning, Ophelia. You worry too much."

"Look at the way he's standing. A gust of wind could knock him over."

"Holy. Exaggeration, much? Give him a break. He's never really had to hit anything before."

"You guys know I can hear you, right?"

The Sailor Scout and her Guardian Cat paused in the middle of their conversation to regard their fledgling knight. Vulcan's expression was tender, head titled slightly to the side. She looked mildly apologetic. If it was possible for a cat to purse their lips, Ophelia did it then.

"I'm sorry, boy, but your sister knows better than this. You are never going to understand what it is to hit a moving target- that is, a target that is both capable of and interested in hitting you back- if we keep you trapped up here with this... scarecrow."

With a nod of her chin, Ophelia indicated the training dummy that Vulcan had made for Syrtis out of things that she had found lying around her father's apartment. It stood on legs made out of broom handles and had a body made out of pillows. For his head, Vulcan had found a mop bucket and doodled a crude impression of a face with neon green fingernail polish. His was a physique that Frankenstien's creature could not have loved.

"I told her to just take me to a gym," Syrtis said. He pointed at Vulcan. "She thought this would be better."

"What I said," Vulcan gave Syrtis a look, and then some sass, "was that this would be more fun."

"It ******** falls over every time I hit it. Look." Syrtis struck the dummy in the chest with his fist. It crumpled to the floor, mop bucket flying off and rolling away- towards the edge of the roof. Syrtis swore softly under his breath and ran, nipping it up by the handle just in time to keep it from landing on somebody's head...

"Hey," he said, more than a little bit excited, "I think that's a sailor scout down there."

"Oh?" Ophelia and Vulcan stepped up beside Syrtis together, peered over the ledge at the very magenta head of hair that had come wandering into their midst. They were six stories up, too high to make out who it was, but Vulcan and Ophelia agreed that there could be no mistaking the source of the energy signature. They exchanged glances. Ophelia opened her mouth to speak, but Vulcan cut her off with an ear scritch, grinning wide at Syrtis.

"Change of plans. For your training today, I want you to fight that guy."

Ophelia twitched under Vulcan's hand, swatted it away with her paw.

"You can't just go attacking another sailor scout, Syrtis." She gave Vulcan a reproachful look. "We all need to work together to defeat the Negaverse. We are all friends."

"Okay, okay," Vulcan rolled her eyes, and then waved a hand at Syrtis and the bucket he still held in his hands, "introduce yourself then."

A grin split Syrtis' face in two. He stared at his sister. She stared back and, for a heartbeat, Ophelia could have sworn they were twins. Syrtis held the bucket out over the ledge, checked to make sure he wasn't going to hit anyone, and then let it drop.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "BOOOOOOOMBS AWAAAAAY," down at the senshi who'd stepped into their crosshairs. The bucket was careening towards the earth at an alarming speed, moments away from impact...

...3...

...2...

...1!

Vulcan and Syrtis exchanged a surprised glance when Victoria breached the top of the fire escape. They cocked their eyebrows at one another, identical lips twitching at the corners. Vanessa had always taken scoldings better than John Jr. She managed to hold her s**t together long enough not to laugh at the tone of Victoria's voice. Syrtis started to snicker, but was quick to transform the noise into a cough when Ophelia gave him a sharp look.

"I'm pretty sure that would be more dramatic, actually," Vulcan said. She cracked a smile, gestured at the road with an enthusiastic wave of her hand. "Then there'd be blood and guts all over the place and nobody wants to clean up after something like that. It's kinda gross."

Ophelia took a deep breath and closed her eyes, gave her little furry shoulders a shrug. She sat very still for a long moment. Vulcan and Syrtis exchanged another look, both of their expressions turning mildly guilty.

"Hey," Vulcan said, grinning wide at Victoria. She stepped closer, extended a hand for the other senshi to shake. "Sorry about the bucket. We weren't trying to hit you or anything."

"Yeah," Syrtis said, the same grin transforming his face, "we just wanted to get your attention."

"These children," Ophelia's eyes were open now. She shook her head at Vulcan and Syrtis, and then looked at Victoria with a far more patient face, "would like to invite you to spar."

Syrtis adjusted his posture so that he was standing at his full height of 6'1, shoulders back, chest out. He made a fist with his hand, beat his chest with it twice to indicate that he was the soldier that Victoria would be tangoing with. While tall and still growing, to call John Jr large was also to lie. He was a gangly stringbean, just like his sister was at his age. All long limbs and bones and sharp angles. Not strong. But, one day? He would be.

The senshi, the knight and the guardian cat all stared at Sailor Victoria. And waited.

"If you're a horrible sparring partner I'll just kick your a**," Syrtis said, smiling wider than ever. It stretched all the way to his eyes, split his face in two. His teeth glinted white. He was put off by the tone that Victoria used with Vulcan, particularly when the other senshi crossed his arms over his chest instead of accepting her outstretched hand. Syrtis could tell that Victoria was stronger than he was. The senshi's energy gave it away. But he could also feel that Vulcan was the most powerful of the three of them.

"And then I'll tell everyone that you suck."

"Syrtis," Ophelia's tone was sharp. She glared at him. He was uncowed, the smile on his face as complacent as ever.

"I am Vulcan. Of Volcanoes." Vanessa said. She stood beside her brother with pride, did not reprimand him for his ego. She pointed at him, "This is Syrtis. Of Mars."

"And my name is Ophelia," said Ophelia. She smiled kindly at Victoria. "Who are you? Pray tell."

Syrtis did not know what to make of Victoria.

'That's a situation I'm fairly use to.'

John Jr turned towards his sister, eyebrows flying into his hairline, gaped openly at her over Glory's nonchalance. Vulcan did not even allow him to power up alone, and this senshi just went around getting his a** kicked? Victoria must never have come across anyone actually worth fighting if he still had all of his arms and legs. That, or Vulcan had given him the wrong impression of just how dire the situation in Destiny City really was.

"Yeah," he said before Vulcan or Ophelia could interject, "I need a sparring partner. If you think you're up to the task."

Syrtis puffed out his chest, tried to make himself look broader than he really was. Vanessa put a hand on his shoulder, smiled kindly at Victoria.

"He is very new," she said. "He's fast and he can take a hit, but-

"Not much other than that." This, from Ophelia, who let out a heavy sigh when Syrtis shrugged Vulcan's hand away.

"I'll do just fine. You two should worry more about Glory, seeing as he's so ready to admit that he sucks."

"Foolish, boy." Ophelia snapped. "Not every soldier is going to be honest about their skill in battle. Some of them will lie to you."

"He needs discipline," Ophelia said. "The rest will come when he learns to listen."

Syrtis rolled his eyes and heaved a great sigh. He dropped his hands, let them swing at his sides, looked every bit like an impatient toddler tired of waiting for his turn to take a ride on the merry-go-round. When he wasn't powered up or playing basketball down at the park with the group of boys he affectionately referred to as his entourage, John Jr was trapped in a classroom taking notes. Half-assed and untidy notes, sprinkled here and there with the occasional phallic doodle, but he listened. All the time.

"He knows how to hit," Vulcan said.

As children Vanessa and John Jr had both enjoyed watching the WWE together- and then reenacting their favourite wrestling moments in the middle of the living room. When he was smaller, Vanessa could throw John Jr around. Pretend to crush him into the sofa cushions with her elbows. Tickle him until he was red in the face with laughter and begging her to let him go.

The last time she'd tried that, John Jr had wrestled her into a headlock and then nearly dislocated her shoulder. He was larger than she was, now. And equally as fierce. It made her proud.

She smiled sideways at her little brother, slugged him on the shoulder, "he's stronger than he looks, too."

Syrtis clutched his arm where she'd struck him with her fist, feigned injury for a heartbeat with a twist of his lips. And then, because he was no good at faking anything, burst out laughing

"Enough talk," he said after a moment, gesturing for Victoria to follow him to the center of the roof, where there was less chance that one of them might fall over the edge. "Get over here, Glory. I wanna find out if you're lying to me or not."

They waited. All three of them. For Victoria to strike first.

Patience in battle was not something that had come easily or naturally to Vulcan. It had taken time, and tears, but Ophelia had managed to impress upon her the importance of taking cues from your oponent. A wise fighter watched. A wise fighter was more cerebral than feeling.

The Volcano stood with her eyes on the torch from Mars, arms crossed in front of her chest. She trusted that Glory would not hurt Syrtis. Knew that he was strong, and that he could handle himself. Still, she worried. That's it. Wait. Let him move first-

"WELL," there was an excited shake in Syrtis's hands. He balled them in and out of fists, fingers twitching like lightning. "You asked for it!"

And then he was moving towards Victoria -a ball of energy, tightly wound, fists raised. He faked a jab at Victoria's gut, and then attempted to use that as a distraction to strike him in the chin instead.

Syrtis' heart thrilled with a little whoop of joy when his fist connected with Victoria's chin. He was not sadistic, but he was pleased. To have succeeded in something. John Jr half-whirled, prepared to face Victoria again-- and was stopped by a sharp pain in his shin, when the other boy's foot found his leg.

He did not stumble. He did swear, and continued to swivel on the foot of the leg that had not been struck, reaching up to shove Victoria in the chest.

Of the pair of them, Vanessa was more prone to temper, but Syrtis was frustrated suddenly. Not with Victoria. Not really. But with the whole of the so-called War that he had found himself involved in. So far he had done nothing but train-- running, push-ups, sparring.

What was the point of being as strong as he was when Vulcan would only permit him to fight supervised?

This wasn't real. This wasn't even really fun.

He shoved Victoria again, moving faster now, and swung a fist at his head.

Syrtis was shoving forward; as confident in his own strength as he was in Victoria's weakness. He did feel that this was a waste of his time. Just like the scarecrow that Vulcan put together for him to beat. Just like all of the jogging she made him do in the park. His temper was up. Frustration such that he did not see retaliation coming-- but Vulcan did.

The change in Victoria was subtle. A shifting in posture, weight settling back on his heels the moment he seemed to have made up his mind about something. She bit her lip to keep from warning Syrtis.

It is not serious, she reminded herself.

There wasn't enough space between Victoria and Syrtis for Syrtis to dodge or roll out of the way. Victoria managed to get arms around his waist-- Syrtis' back hit the roof. The air was knocked from his lungs, and a groan pulled from his lips. He strained for breath and pitched his weight forward in a fury, attempted to roll over Victoria and punch him in the face.