Fight with Victoria

This topic will contain all of the parts concerning the fight with Victoria.

Trey parried each blow Victoria delivered, and as she changed weapons, he swiftly altered his fighting style.
"Why...won't...you...die!" Victoria screamed in between lunges.
"You're trying to surprise me Victoria." Trey said calmly as he parried. "But what you don't realise is that is just as predictable as having a single fighting style."
Victoria tried one final swing of her mace, but Trey easily side-stepped it and hit her in the back with the hilt of his sword. Her mace quickly dispersed in a shower of blue sparkles as Victoria slumped to the ground. Trey stood next to her.
"Your style is based entirely on the element of surprise. As soon as you find one weapon isn't working, you quickly switch to another, hoping it'll catch me off-guard or at least be the one weapon I can't handle. But because you have so many weapons, you have no true skill with any of them."
Victoria scoffed at Trey's lecture. "Don't apostrophize to me about fighting! I've been fighting for my life since I was born!"
"Exactly, and that's been the detriment to your style. The quick hand catches the rat and so there seems no need to put any effort into anything more. All of your power is in your first strikes; as soon as I parry that, you lose all confidence in that weapon and switch. But each new weapon is weaker and lasts a shorter time than the last, until there's nothing left to try."
Victoria, seething with rage, grasps her medium tightly and it begins to glow. "We'll just see about that!" Victoria lunges at Trey, who is caught off guard by what looks like a lightning bolt erupting from Victoria's medium. He rolls out of the way of the blast and into a bush. Victoria forms a sword and slashes at the bush where Trey hid and her blade strikes the earth underneath. Victoria, shocked, slashes at the bush to find the Trey is nowhere to be found.
"Well that was new," Trey's voice echos from all directions. Victoria turns on her heel, trying to find the source but to no avail. "But you proved my point."
Victoria scoffs at the accusation, "You had a point to that drivel?"
Trey's voice seemed to bellow from within Victoria's mind, echoing her innermost thoughts. "You once told me you were helping Winston in order to gain power. You said nothing meant more to you. And yet here you are, all of your strategies having failed, attempting a strike you'd never done before. You would rather try an untested and dangerous maneuver in the hopes of catching me off-guard again. You don't rely on skill to win you rely on luck." Victoria continues to swivel madly, desperate to find Trey and cease his talking. "But that reveals the truth of you," Trey's voice becomes clearer, behind Victoria's head. She turns to find a glowing blue blade at her throat. "You have no power."
The glow in Victoria's medium fades and she drops it, once again slumping to the ground. After a short while she sneers. "Kill me."
Trey smiles with a look of sarcastic confusion. "Why would I want to do that?"
"If I ever see you again I will assuredly kill you."
"Well that just wouldn't be nice ow would it. No killing you just wouldn't be right. Especially since I'm just about to save your life."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Trey pulled a piece of cloth from his tunic and passed it to Victoria. She snatched it while keeping as much distance from Trey's blade as possible. She looked over it with frustration until she realised its source.
"This is Braydon's tunic! Where did you find it?!"
"On a dead body I found in the woods."
"You found Braydon?! Where?!" Victoria edged closer to Trey's blade with fire in her eyes. Trey looked solemnly at Victoria.
"His body was charred Victoria. Burnt from the inside out."
Victoria stood silent and wide-eyed, knowing what that would mean. She took a step back from Trey, who began to drop his sword. She stared at the cloth, noticing the burn marks. She didn't dare look back at Trey.
"You're lying..."
"I'm sorry Victoria."
"Why would he kill Braydon?! What would he have to gain?!"
"Winston needed more people. Braydon was becoming suspicious of Winston and starting to wonder if what you were doing was right."
Victoria looked up at Trey with tears in her eyes. "He didn't care about those animals! He wanted what Winston was creating just as much as I did!"
"Or maybe he just wanted whatever you wanted. Maybe he just wanted YOU to be happy."
Victoria took another step back from Trey staring again at the cloth. After a brief silence, Trey began to speak. "I need to stop Winston, Victoria."
Victoria began to laugh through her tears. "Hahaha! And what, you want me to help you?"
"I want you to do nothing. Don't protect him, don't meddle, let me take him down and then live your life elsewhere."
Victoria took a step toward Trey. "Or I could wait until he finishes his machine, use it to destroy him myself, and then I can take care of you and I will finally have all that I want!"
Trey shook his head. "You'll never get to use his machine."
Victoria took another step towards Trey, who stepped back in kind to keep his distance. "You...IDIOT. He NEEDS me in order for it to work. Only someone who can already use Lupine power can wear the receiver suit!"
"Who told you that?"
Victoria began to yell louder, as if to shout away Trey's accusations. "Winston did! And unlike you, he understands my fight. He's willing to give me the power I want because he knows that I will do AMAZING things with it!"
Trey stared directly into Victoria's eyes. "What shape is the suit?"
Victoria looked perplexed, thrown off by the question. "What?"
"What shape is the receiver suit? The one you expect to wear?"
"Victoria fumbled through her thoughts for a moment, trying to come up with the right answer. When it suddenly dawned on her, she stopped still, wide-eyed and even ceasing to breathe for a moment.
"...the head piece..."
Trey knew she had worked it out. "There's no space for a Lupine's ears."
"The suit is designed for a human to wear."
Victoria continued to stand still, searching for some other explanation.
"I'm sorry Victoria, but Winston never intended to give you anything. As soon as he had what he needed, he would have killed you. Likely fed you to his machine, just like Braydon."
Victoria was snapped out of her trance by the mention of Braydon. She looked at Trey with fire in her eyes. He was looking away, waiting for her to respond. Her hand glowed as an unhilted blade began to emerge from it. She lunged at Trey.
"LIIIIIAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!"
At the sound of her scream, Trey looked up and saw Victoria lungng towards him. He side-stepped her at the last moment, her balde cutting his cheek, and out of instinct, he slashed at her back as she passed. Victoria's blade faded and she stood limply for a moment. Trey stared at her with panicked eyes, realising what he'd done. As Victoria began to stumble, Trey moved to catch her as she slowly fell forward. Trey frantically looked around for the way back to the village. As soon as he had his bearings, he sprinted as fast as he could for help. Before reaching the village, he ran into Drake who could tell by the look on Trey's face that something had happened. He quickly assessed Victoria's wound and sprinted to his cart for bandages. Amid Trey's tears, they were able to keep her alive and patch her up. They then dropped her at the town's doctor to ensure she'd be looked after, and left.

This is the last part of Trey's first fight with Victoria.

Trey breathed heavily through clenched teeth. His blade's lustre fading with each inhale. "How could you do that to your own kind?!"
Victoria scoffed. "Those dogs were nothing compared to me! They couldn't imagine the world beyond their hum-drum life, scrounging for food every day. Our species was wiped out because of their lazy thinking. What remains of us has done nothing to pull themselves out of the abyss they've been thrown into. Instead they resign themselves to exist within it. I don't care who you are, Human or Lupine, if your entire effort is in seeing the next sunrise, you're no better than an animal."
Trey was filled with anger and frustration. His blade glowed brighter momentarily. He looked Victoria in the eye, who had a malicious grin and her scimitar still glowing strongly. He began to growl as he shifted his weight to his back leg and lunged from the earth with his blade aimed squarely at Victoria's chest. Victoria anticipated his move, and side-stepped the lunge. Toying with him now, she held her blade steady as Trey attempted to swing back at her, bouncing off the scimitar. Trey took a step back, still out of breath. Victoria ran at Trey, brandishing her sword as he prepared to parry her blow. At the last moment, she dissipated her sword and Trey stumbled forward, swinging his weight into nothing. Before he could hit the ground, he was stopped by something. He looked down to see a shining blue rope wrapped around his torso and arms, keeping him from moving. He was jerked into an upright position and Victoria looked at him with mock sympathy, and then malicious glee.
"I am going to LOVE seeing you burn from the inside out..."
Trey stared in silent horror, unable to swing his sword, but not letting it go. Victoria began walking away and pulling Trey along like a horse on a lead. Trey resisted but couldn't avoid following her.

Then he somehow gets away, maybe Drake finds them and tricks Victoria. She mad, he glad, other things happen, finding Braydon, fight again.

This is when Trey is investigating the machine Winston is using. Not sure if this is before or after Braydon is found. Also, need to rework once I have a better idea of what the world is like. Too much technology in this sequence.

As Winston and Victoria leave the room, Victoria stops, her nose twitching as she turns back to the room. After drawing in a breath, her face contorts at the acrid smell that floods her nose, and she shakes her head as she turns back to continue leaving. As the door closes behind the pair, Trey slowly emerges from his hiding spot. Morbidly grateful at the smell of burnt flesh hiding his own scent, he looks for a way out. There were several vents in the room but none big enough for him to fit. Apart from the door that Winston and Victoria just left through, there was just the garbage chute that was emitting the foul odour. No guarantee it even goes outside, it may go underground. Trey weighed his options; wait for Winston and Victoria to leave the building and sneak out, or take a chance with the chute. As he pondered, his eyes ran over the machine in the middle of the room. The storage vessel stood connected to a computer with the receiver suit next to it, dressed on a crude metal mannequin. On the other side, the cage that had taken so many lives stood open, seeming to invite its next victim. Trey could try to destroy it, but he'd surely be found and killed, and it would just be rebuilt. Who knows, maybe he could wear the receiver suit and use it himself to break out and bring Winston and Victoria to justice. Something made him uncomfortable at the idea, even if he could work out how to turn it on. No, he would find another way to stop them. As he came to a decision on his escape and turned towards the chute, he stopped and looked back at the machine. His eyes followed all the connections and cables as a panic started to set in.

Something was very wrong with the machine...
...
There!

How did he not realise? How did she? He had to escape. He had to see Victoria. Without hesitation, he opened the chute and jumped in. It seemed to move more laterally with only a slight decline. He was able to fully control his descent, until he started to see a lightahead of him. The chute suddenly became vertical the walls fell away from Trey's hands as he plummeted to the ground below. He did his best to fall well but he hit the stone floor with a thud. After wincing from the pain and regaining his breath, he took stock of his surrpoundings in case anyone was near. Around him were trucks with enclosed bins on the back. His fall had only been short, it was clear these trucks could be backed up to the chute, closed to hide the contents, and leave to dispose of the bodies. No-one seemed nearby but one of the trucks was moving. Trey did his best to hide from the line of sight of the driver, hoping he wasn't seen, but it seemed he was too late. The truck stopped and the cabin opened. While he never saw the driver, he heard a man shout. He ran towards the light at the door of the warehouse, trying to stay hidden but not knowing who from. Just then a much clearer voice came from ahead of him on his left "What are you doing here?!" He looked up to see a man, much taller than himself, but a fair distance away. He had to run closer to the man to get to the door but the man turned away and hit a button on the wall. The big door started to roll and the sliver of light got thinner. Trey thought he could still make it and continued to run for the door, but as he did, the man was now running towards him and more footsteps could be heard behind him. Trey turned more towards the man and prepared his medium. As the man was getting closer, he tried to focus his energy. He'd need to make two swift motions, and he wasn't even sure it would work. But hey, it worked for Victoria!

Trey sped up so he could be as close to the button as possible. Trey summoned a ball of light on the end of his medium. The man was now almost on him. Now was his one shot!

Trey whipped his medium around, releasing the ball with a stream of blue light arcing around the bewildered man. The ball flew through the air for what seemed like hours. The man had stopped running and both he and Trey watched as the thread of light coming from the medium grew longer and thinner. Until bonk! The light hit the other button on the wall and the door stopped moving. The man turned back to Trey who, before the ball could fall to the ground, whipped his medium back over his head and the thread of light fell slack. The man stepped towards Trey before- GONG! The man's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell forward, almost on top of Trey. Trey paused, enraptured at the fact his trick had worked, when he was snapped out of it by the thunderous footsteps getting louder. He dispelled the rope, sheathed his medium and bolted for the door. The small crack that remained was just enough for him to fit through and he darted into the nearest bush, waiting for the men to burst from the warehouse. One tried to fit through the gap but seemed to be stuck. The door began to open and the man almost fell out onto the ground. A small group amassed at the door, searching everywhere for any sign of movement. Trey remained still and close to the ground as the men's eyes scanned the deeper forests. Before long they started to retreat back into the warehouse one by one. Just as the last man was about to re-enter, Victoria emerged from the doorway. Trey twitched and sucked in a quick breath before calming himself again. The man seemed to relay some information to Victoria who dismissed him once he was done. The man went inside as Victoria surveyed the forest herself before following him in.

This is the sequence when Trey is asking for help combating Victoria's fighting style. What I'm thinking is that Trey finds Braydon, realises he needs to meet with her and in order to do so, he needs to fight her so she'll listen. Then he goes to the compound to find her or do reconnaissance, realises the twist and does what he can to find her or get an audience with her.

May have multiple training sessions as he realises he needs to be able to handle her so he can defeat the pair, then realises he needs to tell her about Braydon, then is ready after he knows the twist.

Drake, you know your way around weapons don't you?
Hmm, most, what of it?
Can you train me in each fighting style?
What, you mean all of them?
As many as you can. I need to be able to handle anything Victoria can throw at me.
Well I can give it a shot but I must say, you won't be able to learn much in a short amount of time.
That's okay, I just need to not be surprised.

Drake goes through each weapon and the ways it's wielded, sparring with Trey with each one. Trey struggles newly with each but begins to gain an understanding after some time.

Trey find Braydon, realises he's who Victoria is looking for, and that he wasn't killed by Lupines for betraying them, but was killed by Winston. Trey goes back to Drake.

I need to train more, I need to be able to beat Victoria.
But with what you've learnt, can't you just talk to her, show her the proof?
She'll never believe it. Worse, she may think I did it and am trying to frame Winston to shake her. No, if I want to convince her, I'm going to need to beat her. Or at least exhaust her so I can get a word in before she kills me.
Okay well lets keep sparring.

Trey and Drake spar and Trey gets more confident. Drake tries to change up techniques but it doesn't even phase Trey. He comes to the realisation that Victoria is no more skilled than Drake. She's clever and thinks well on her feet, but I don't think she's particularly skilled with any of the weapons she uses. She didn't use a bladed weapon on me until I was already exhausted last time. I'd bet that wasn't just preference, she's smart enough to recognise I was especially skilled with bladed weapons. If she had used it earlier, I might've gained the upper hand.