"No! I will not taste defeat!" Daniela shouted.

She and Cassandra were currently on their PS5 with Bela and Olivia watching behind them, and the game they were playing was Mortal Kombat 11. The redhead was Kitana and the brunette was Cassie Cage (part of that was the fact they had the same name), and the two were slugging it out in a painfully close game. The match was in its final round and both of their health bars were almost empty.

The sisters were standing up at this point with their palms sweating, both wanting to win so badly. It had been two weeks since Halloween and Cassandra's body had fully recovered. So she was having no trouble standing on her own feet anymore. Thank god for that too, because the tension of the match was really getting to her.

The two characters danced around each other, both looking for an opening to land a hit that would end the match. Finally, Daniela saw an opening and moved in to strike. But just as she was about to win, Cassie Cage landed a shoulder tackle to Kitana before jumping on top of her and started beating her face to a bloody pulp to the point where there wasn't even a face left by the end of it.

"Eek!" Daniela squeaked as she put her hand on her mouth.

Cassandra meanwhile just stood there dumbfounded as the word BRUTALITY appeared on the screen.

"I…didn't even know I could do that." She said honestly.

Daniela let out a sigh.

"Well, you won Cassie. Good match though."

"Yeah no kidding. I wasn't sure who was going to win at that point. You did good sis." Cassandra replied.

There was suddenly a knock at the door and everyone turned to see Joseph standing there.

"Hey Joseph. What's up?" Bela greeted.

"Hey. Sorry, you guys looked like you were having an intense match so I wanted to wait till you were done. Do you all happen to have some workout clothes?" Joseph asked.

The girls were confused by that question, but they all nodded.

"Good. I was thinking that since Cassie has now fully recovered, I thought it was time for her to get the fun part of her lessons and start learning how to kick some ass, and I was wondering if Bela and Daniela wanted to join as well."

The sister's faces all lit up upon hearing this and they all eagerly nodded.

"Oh, hell yeah! I've been dying to see what you look like when you fight!" Cassandra said excitedly.

"Count me in! I've read about karate and ninjutsu, but I've never seen them in action before!" Daniela added.

"I would love to join! I've sparred with my sisters before, but never with someone like you!" Bela said, also excitedly.

"It's settled then!" Joseph said with a laugh.

"I know just the place where you can do that. The castle's armory is a nice big room that's separate from everything else. I would be perfect." Olivia said.

"Alright then! Girls, get your workout clothes. I'll meet you there in twenty minutes." Joseph said.

"You got it!" They all shouted before turning into flies and swarming off.

Joseph just stood there chuckling.

"How do their flies not ever get mixed with each other when they do that?" He asked.

Olivia chuckled in return.

"Even after all this time, I have no idea.

….

Joseph arrived at the armory a few minutes early wearing his karate gear and black belt. He had never actually been in the armory before, and he had to say, it looked quite nice.

It was surrounded by stone walls with medieval suits of armor against them. Above those were hanging swords and maces along with what looked to be a mounted deer skull. It looked out of place, but Joseph didn't question it. It was still an impressive display of medieval artifacts.

It didn't take long for him to hear the familiar buzzing sound before all three Dimitrescu sisters swarmed in and materialized in front of him. They were each wearing a black tank top and shorts with their hairs tied back in a ponytail. Each of them had a look of excitement of their faces.

They all bowed.

"We are ready to begin our first lesson, Sensei." Cassandra said.

Joseph smiled and bowed back.

"You already know to bow to show respect. Excellent. Alright girls, come step into my office."

They all giggled as they walked in. As they did, Joseph's face took on a slightly more serious look.

"So what do you girls know about martial arts?" He asked.

"Not too much." Bela said. "I mean, we know the basics, but not anywhere near to the extent as you do."

"That's okay." Joseph said. "Everyone needs to start somewhere. I know I sure did. The first thing you need to know is that karate and ninjutsu are more than just ways to fight. They are art forms that require patience, concentration, and dedication to master. Now there are quite a lot of things that involve those factors, but for today I will be simple and teach you guys just the basics. Nothing too crazy, just enough for you to dip your toes in."

The sisters all nodded.

"Well, you've been doing a pretty good job teaching us those factors already." Cassandra said. "So I don't think this will be much different."

Joseph smiled.

"It really isn't. Alright, let's get started."

….

They spent the next two hours learning the basics of how to fight. As it turned out, there was a lot more to it than the sisters thought. They had to know every part of their bodies that they could use to attack and block, while also minding their footwork. This in particular was very important as this allowed them to switch stances on the fly as well as making it easier to dodge attacks.

When the girls seemed to be comfortable with what they had learned, Joseph felt they were ready to try it out.

"You guys seem to be getting the hang of it. Now I want you to use what you have learned on me."

They all looked shocked at what he said.

"What? No Joseph, I…I don't want to hurt you." Cassandra said worriedly.

But her boyfriend just smiled and shook his head.

"It's okay, Cassie. I'll be fine. Now come at me!" He said as he took a stance.

The brunette was hesitant at first, but she trusted Joseph. So she took a deep breath and came at him, throwing all the punches and kicks she had been taught so far. And to her and her sisters' shock, Joseph effortlessly blocked and dodged every single one of them without breaking a sweat.

This went on for about twenty seconds before Joseph said she could stop. He was smiling when she did.

"That was excellent! Your movements and foot work were spot on!"

"What do you mean? I didn't land a single hit." The brunette asked, confused.

Joseph just shook his head.

"That wasn't the point. The point was to put what you learned into practice, and you did well for your first day."

"You really think so?"

"You did better than I did on my first day, that's for sure."

His girlfriend scoffed.

"I seriously doubt that."

"Believe what you want. Anyway, who wants to go next?"

"I'll go if that's okay." Bela said.

She repeated the process that Cassandra had done. Again, Joseph blocked and dodged the attacks. When he gave the signal to stop, he gave his verdict.

"I noticed you were holding back. Understandable, but like I said, you don't have to worry about hurting me. Just go all out."

"Okay. I'll keep that in mind." Bela said. Joseph saw guilt in her eyes but he didn't know why. He decided not to press it and called Daniela over.

"Alright Dani. It's your turn."

The redhead began her punches and kicks. Once again, Joseph blocked and dodged them, but the longer it went on, the faster and more aggressive she became with her strikes to the point where Joseph really had to put up his defenses.

She was getting too into it.

"Okay Dani, you can stop." He said.

But she didn't stop. Instead, her swings became more wild and crazy. She was getting a look in her eyes that Joseph had never seen before. It was like that of a wild animal. Her relentless assault has begun to drive him backwards towards the wall.

Joseph decided he needed to end this quickly. So as he blocked one of Daniela's punches, he threw her over his shoulder and used his foot to pin her down on her stomach.

She was growling and flailing around. She was a far cry from the bubbly, sweet girl he knew.

"Dani, stop it!" Bela yelled as she rushed over

Cassandra joined in as well and helped Joseph and her sister hold the redhead in place until finally she began to calm down.

As he felt her body relax, Joseph felt it safe to let her go. Daniela was breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

Cassandra let out a sigh before standing up to look at Joseph.

"We should have told you about this, but I didn't think it would be a problem today. Daniela was affected by her Cadou differently than me and Bela in that her brain could be triggered to go into a more feral like state. Normally it's the smell of blood or far more intense fighting that sets it off. So I was sure this simple lesson wouldn't do anything, but I guess I was wrong. I'm so sorry."

She looked incredibly guilty, but Joseph smiled and gave her a reassuring pat on her shoulder before turning his attention to the redhead.

"Dani, are you okay?" Can you hear me?"

She slowly looked at him with a look of deviation on her face. She looked like she was going to burst into tears at any moment.

"Hey, there's no need to cry." Joseph said gently. "You didn't hurt me or anyone else, so it's all good."

"I could have though…" Daniela choked out.

Joseph shook his head.

"Trust me. I trained alongside other students who were just as skilled as I was. I could've handled anything that would've happened."

That calmed the redhead down. He did have a point there. Joseph had spared with other students and probably Master Hisashi himself at some point. If he could handle that, he could easily handle her more wild side.

She slowly got up but then hugged him.

"I'm sorry. I thought I could control it, but I couldn't. I failed." She whimpered.

"It's okay." Joseph said. "We'll work on this together. Cassie and I will teach you about self control so you can handle it better." Joseph said.

"And just because you failed doesn't mean you yourself are a failure Dani. You just started so there's no shame in it." Bela said.

"She's right sis, and failure is the greatest teacher of all. So take what you've learned today and use it to get better." Cassandra said.

"Are you just going to repeat everything I've told you?" Joseph asked with an amused smile.

His girlfriend gave a sly smile and response.

"And how many times have you repeated what Master Hisashi told you?"

Joseph chucked. He couldn't really argue with that.

"Touché."