“Why are you here again?” Bobby asked testily as he entered the danger room to begin practice with the new group of people. He refused to think of them as a team of any kind. None had shown any kind of respect for him as a leader in his own right, and he could feel the animosity building inside himself. These people didn’t know what they were getting into. Well, he would show them that it wasn’t a game.
But the man in the back of the room, leaning against the wall, forced the boy to rethink his original plan.
“To make sure you don’t do anything stupid, Icepop. Storm might trust your authority, but I’ve seen what you’re capable of and I’ve noticed the way you look at this team,” Victor snarled back. “I wanna make sure you treat them right.”
“Don’t worry about it, Creed,” a new voice interjected, the gruffness and anger unmistakable. “I’m here to do just that.”
Victor wanted to growl, but held back. He was in charge of these kids now, and he wasn’t going to jeopardize them for anyone. “As much as I appreciate the offer, Rogue left me in charge of them when she’s unavailable. I’ll stay and watch, Jimmy.”
Logan felt his left eye twitch at the name. He had no idea what it meant, but he was certain that it was a key to something he had forgotten about long ago. “If you’re going to stay, then you train with them.”
Victor smiled, moving away from the wall. “That’s not a bad idea, Runt. It’s been a long time since I’ve really fought side by side with anyone.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Fifteen minutes later, the simulator was running only two levels from the regular intensity the X-Men used. The biggest difference was the lack of advanced technology needed for this particular level.
Havok was currently caught behind the side of a fallen building on one side of the point site, using his mutation to hold off a horde of FOH members, while Pyro found himself on the other side, building walls of fire to protect the team from all sides. Quicksilver was using his outstanding speed to run circles around the flames, building the walls taller and feeding the flames to further cage the maniacal mob. At the same time, Victor was quickly subduing those who were able to get through the enormous amount of rubble on the third side.
The fourth side of the building was completely engulfed in flames, keeping every possible entry covered while Gambit quickly stole into the building through the roof and made his way through the air ducts. Five minutes later, he emerged with the objective: a terrified Kitty who had been ordered not to use her abilities under any circumstance.
Once both were safely away from the burning building, it collapsed in a flaming heap, before disappearing along with the rest of the simulation.
~*~*~*~*~*~
“What the hell was that, Creed?” Logan growled as he entered the danger room from the observation deck where the other X-Men had watched in horror.
“We got the job done, didn’t we?” Victor asked, leading his team to the center of the room. The majority of the group was smiling happily, congratulating each other on a job well done. All except Kitty, who looked as if she was going to faint. “The objective is complete.”
“Yeah, you got the job done,” Logan conceded, “but you demolished a neighborhood in order to do so. You killed three people with your own hands, not to mention anyone who may still have been left in the building your team set on fire.”
Bobby glared at the team before him, unsure what to say. They were reckless and destructive, everything his team was not. But they had completed the course in only a matter of fifteen minutes. They had covered all openings. And, even with the added weight of the mob, they had all survived. The first time his team had run that exact course, both Jubilee and Piotr had been taken out early on while trying to protect all sides of the building while he and Kitty had made their way in. Kitty had been ambushed while inside the building by members of the Friends of Humanity waiting for the rescue team to save Storm. The simulation had ended with Bobby being taken hostage as well. He still swore that if Angel had joined the team before this, they would have been able to beat it without a problem.
It had taken the X-Men and junior team four tries and a half hour longer to complete the objective. Bobby wanted to believe that it was due to the fact that his team didn’t share the same abilities as this one or that it was because they had one more person than his team. But even he knew that it was his fault. He had wanted to be the one to get the glory for saving the captive. He had refused to stay behind and use his abilities to help contain the perimeter. Even on the final run, he wouldn’t stay behind and it was only because of Piotr pushing himself beyond his own limitations and putting himself in the infirmary for a week that was Bobby able to rescue the objective.
But here was this group standing before him who hadn’t even had a real mission yet, being led by a notorious psychopath, and they had done better than his own team.
“Why don’t we try a sparring session now? See how they each work in hand-to-hand combat? No powers,” Bobby interjected eagerly, wanting to show them just what they were trying to be. “One on one.”
“That actually sounds good to me. Is it going to be leader against leader?” Victor asked, flashing a smile big enough to show a pair of sharp, pointed canines.
It was obvious by the fear that crept into Bobby’s eyes that he hadn’t taken this into consideration. He had been hoping for a chance at Havok, or at least a quick fight against Pyro. He was beginning to wonder if he had dug a little too deeply.
“I actually like the idea,” Logan agreed, watching as Bobby grew even more nervous. “Line up everyone.”
Both sets of teams lined up opposite of each other. Bobby found himself staring down Havok, and couldn’t help the smirk that showed the contentment he felt. On one side stood Bobby, Piotr, Jubilee, Kitty, and Angel, who had decided to help even things out. On the other stood Havok, Gambit, Pyro, Quicksilver, and of course Sabertooth, ready to fight everyone if he had to.
Logan eyed both teams quickly, already knowing who would prove to be the best fight. “We’ll start with Pyro and Jubilee.”
Jubilee smiled quickly, lightly moving to the middle of the room. The others quickly moved away, giving them enough space to fight in the open area.
“Just remember the one rule. No powers,” Logan said sternly before unleashing the two on each other.
Jubilee began by prancing around, forcing Pyro to reach for her with sloppy swings. She quickly took advantage of the situation, grabbing a hold of a wild right hook and using the leverage to kick her opponent in the face. Pyro stumbled back, grabbing a hold of his jaw at the same time. He smiled slowly, finding himself astounded by the young Asian woman. He wondered what else had changed since he had left.
As he stood, shaking off the impact of the kick, he suddenly felt an onslaught of fists connecting with his abdominal area. Trying to block the attack, Pyro moved his arms lower, leaving his face and head exposed. Jubilee quickly took advantage of the opening, hitting him in the nose with everything she had. Blood spouted in every direction as the crowd around them heard a very audible crunch.
“He’ll have to go see the good doctor for that one,” Logan chuckled as he watched the boy hit the floor.
“Guess his face ain’t going to be so pretty anymore after this,” Victor added as he walked to his fallen teammate, dragging him out of the way. “He’ll live. He may not want to after the rest of this place finds out he was taken out by a girl half his size, but he’ll live.”
~*~*~*~*~
An hour later, just about everyone had been given a chance to show what each was capable of. While Colossus had fought well, Gambit had been too slick to be caught by the larger man’s slower moves. Both had walked away from the spar happy with the outcome. Piotr congratulating the smaller man, and Gambit making compliments on the metal man’s strength. Logan made a mental note to practice more with the younger man to increase his speed.
The spar between Kitty and Quicksilver had started out well enough, until the blond boy began to pick up speed while dodging points. Kitty had automatically assumed that he was progressing into the use of his abilities and, using her own mutation, trapped him within the floor. She became disqualified after Quicksilver was able to prove that the speed he was moving at had nothing to do with his mutation. She walked away grumbling, while he accepted the congratulations from the more accepting members of the other team.
Bobby had smiled when Havok’s name had been called shortly after. But the smile quickly disappeared when Angel was called to face him. He couldn’t fathom why Logan would call the newest member of the X-Men. He hadn’t been given much training yet.
But it soon became apparent why. Bobby smiled as he watched the two go back and forth. Neither was very skilled in combat yet, and both were laughing wildly, almost as if they thought it was a game. He found himself disgusted by the lack of seriousness between them.
“All right, boys. That’s enough,” Logan grumbled suddenly. Bobby looked at him, smug in his assumption that the two would now be in trouble. Instead, he found Logan smiling, amused by the antics. “We’ll work on both of your training soon.”
Bobby felt his anger rise, until he heard the menacing chuckle coming from behind him.
“Looks like it’s just you and me, boy,” Victor said slowly, his voice low and harsh with the threat he would bring into the spar.
Bobby felt his throat begin to close as fear began to overcome his anger. He was the only one left who hadn’t participated in any kind of spar yet. He could always back down, using his status as team leader, but he already knew that it wouldn’t get him anywhere.
“What’s the matter, boy? You ain’t ready to stand with the big boys yet?” Victor asked slowly, straightening his back and coming up to his full size. He towered over the younger man by at least a foot - possibly more - and it was hard to miss the implicit dig.
Usually, Bobby could come up with a retort without even thinking about it, but as he stared at the monster before him, all he could muster was a slight squeak.
“That’s enough, Creed,” Logan said quickly, his voice low. “Bobby, as much as I would love to see you take on Sabertooth, I don’t like him enough to give him the satisfaction.”
Bobby visibly sighed with relief, thankful that he could save face this once.
“I’ll spar with him.” No one had heard the doors to the danger room swoosh open, or caught sight of the visitor who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. “Unless, of course, he doesn’t think that I can compete with him. I mean it should be leader against leader, right? Best of the best?”
Bobby felt his elation rise again. He would win this without a problem. He already knew how she fought and what she knew. He had been primed to lead her once, and as she said, he was the best of the best.
Rogue smiled slowly, a smile that complemented the blood thirst and viciousness in her eyes.
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