Discovery

"So, what exactly is this spar going to entail?" Esau asked, looking at the group of four across from him.

Mystique had left already, leaving just them here in this apartment building. Now, Esau wouldn't pride himself on being intelligent, he hadn't really applied himself too much of any academic study. But even he could tell that he wasn't very well-liked by the group, or at least not trusted.

Avalanche, someone Esau was beginning to think was the leader, just from the way the others responded to him, stepped forward. "Who do you want to fight?" He asked, waving his hand over the group, all looking eager at the chance to fight him. Esau imagined that this would be a fight including powers and more than likely, used as some way to create a clear hierarchy.

However, Esau already had his choice in place. "I'll choose the big guy." He pointed at Blob, someone he had seen move quite slowly and therefore easy to move around. If Esau was going to make a statement, then taking on the biggest guy and beating him into the ground would be the best way to do just that. He had no care for being a leader, but he wasn't a follower either, he did what he wanted when he wanted and damn anyone that got in his way.

It was time to make that clear to everyone here before they got any funny ideas.

"Alright." The four chuckled, but Esau ignored their judgements.

They thought this fight was a done deal in the favour of Blob, then so be it. It would just make proving them wrong all the more satisfying as he stood atop a vanquished foe. Not only was there no better feeling in the world, just seeing their smiles slip away would be truly satisfying to witness.

As the three took some steps back, Esau looked up to the towering 6'10" figure of the Blob, weighing at least five hundred pounds at a bare minimum. His gaze trailed up and then down, sizing up his opponent fully, then smiled, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Come on then, big guy," Esau said invitingly. "Give me your best hit."

He always liked to do this, take their first blow, just a way for him to get a feel for how strong his opponent was. Plus, it was so enjoyable to see their faces when they realised a punch that was meant to be a knockout blow didn't take him out.

Blob chuckled, fat jiggling heftily. "If you think you can take it." Blob pulled back his hand and then threw it forwards with all his might. There seemed to be some measure of technique behind it, Esau would wager that was Mystiques doing. But at that moment, Esau's mind became blank, just watching the punch coming towards his face in slow motion. Only to see it then passing by his head, his body having moved instinctively to avoid the blow.

'That punch,' Esau thought to himself, listening to the laughter of the Brotherhood members. 'It would have knocked me out cold.' If he hadn't avoided that punch, this fight would have been other then and there.

"What's wrong, thought you wanted me to throw the first punch?" Blob taunted, slapping his belly. "Come then, little boy, let's see what you're made of."

Though Esau smiled, he was far from amused.

He had humiliated himself by avoiding that punch, well at the very least he would make it very clear to Blob that while he might not be able to take his punches then he couldn't either. Clenching his fist tightly, Esau moved forwards and went in first with a straight jab followed by a cross, just a testing blow.

Only for his hand and stance to slip, the recoil of his cross hitting that amount of fat not only redirected his punch, but the force he unleashed rebounded and knocked him off-balance. Blob had the sense to capitalise, a powerful haymaker swinging down.

Though like always, Esau found a way to get out of this difficult situation he found himself in. His stance currently was one of overextension, his right fist still extended out fully, chest practically touching his front knee, stance far too wide that a simple touch would have knocked him over. It was a stance Esau had seen boxers fall into when fighting him, a desperate haymaker strike to finish the fight before he could get going.

So he knew from experience how vulnerable he was in this moment, but Esau had always wondered to himself why people didn't just strike from this position? He had thought it was possible and while he didn't really train his skills, there was one thing he did do a little practice in secret.

From this position, Esau twisted his hips in an anti-clockwise position, chest opening up towards Blob. The haymaker blow skimmed down his back, missing by just a hairsbreadth as Esau swung his left fist up from the awkward angle.

Smashing the uppercut directly into the underside of Blob's chin.

As it connected, Esau smiled the loud smacking sound that echoed across the room a satisfying sound to his ears. "Is that all?" Only for the punch to do absolutely nothing, Esau's smile quickly slipped away as he quickly rolled across the ground to avoid the hook.

Coming to his feet, Esau took stock of the situation momentarily, frown fixed upon his face. 'That was a strong punch, a knockout blow and it did absolutely nothing?' Esau recounted, fists clenching. "You're a durable one, right. And I'm guessing incredibly strong as well?"

"So you figured it out, you're a smart one." Blob responded, Esau, shrugging.

"Wouldn't really call myself smart. Just able to notice things pretty easily." Slipping down into a stance, Esau smiled. "Come on then, big guy. You may be strong and durable, but you're slow and I intend to use you as my personal punching bag."

Blob laughed. "Oh, it's on."

-X- Line Break -X-

"I thought I told you to go easy on him," Mystique muttered frustratedly, looking upon the unconscious figure of Esau, laid out on the bed in the room that had been set aside for him. It was empty, but he had only just moved in today, Mystique imagined it would be decorated soon.

Beside her, Avalance grimaced. "Perhaps it would have been nice enough to say that to him as well."

"Why? Who did he fight?" She asked.

"...Blob." As soon as Avalanche said that, in lumbered Blob, just as Mystique whirled around to call his name. All of them had come to know pretty well that she could be incredibly strict, especially when they disobeyed direct orders. Which considering circumstances they had indirectly done so.

Avalance did not like ratting out people, but in a situation like this, he was not going to bare the brunt of Mystique's anger. By the look on Blob's face, he understood that fact but did not like it in the slightest.

"Tell me everything. Now." Mystique ordered.

"Ah, well." Blob muttered, trying to find the words to explain what happened.

"We offered him the choice to choose any of us to spar against, he chose Blob." Avalance stepped in, knowing full well that everyone had a healthy amount of fear for the executive of the Brotherhood of Mutants. She had made it clear that while her powers were only shapeshifting, she was not to be underestimated. Using a series of tactics to break each of them down mentally, showcasing that while she may not be able to beat some of them in a straight fight, she could wear them down with various mind games.

"And?"

"The fight when about as expected, in the beginning. Blob couldn't land a blow, but nothing Esau was doing did any damage." Avalance looked to Blob who reluctantly lifted up his shirt, wincing slightly as he did. It was there, where flab upon flab of skin and fat was revealed that Mystique saw the wide amount of bruised skin decorating his body.

Considering Blob's superhuman durability and body composition made it so no known material currently was able to damage him, not even Quicksilver's fastest and hardest punch could do damage on that scale, it said a lot. But what stood out to her most was the grimace of pain he gave when lifting his shirt.

She had tested Blob's durability extensively, smashing a car into him at near a hundred miles per hour. Yet there was not a scratch or bruise on his body to be seen on his body and by his account, not an ounce of pain.

Both of these factors said a lot about Esau and Mystique couldn't help but feel relieved that she had gotten to him before Xavier. This was exactly what she needed to help shift the tide in hers and the Brotherhood's favour here in Bayville. It would certainly keep her boss from constantly breathing down her neck.

Though one question remained. "How?" She had done a basic overview of Esau's body and one thing that had stood out to her instantly was his arms and shoulders. The muscles and bones probably everything including the ligament and tendons was completely destroyed. That kind of damage was not easy to come by and was often indicative of extreme force being exerted against it.

"Well, I'm not completely sure," Avalance admitted, looking to Blob for help.

"His blows got stronger as the fight carried on." Blob said. "They just kept getting stronger and then I started to really feel them, not just hear them."

"So he grew stronger as the fight carried on?" Both boys nodded their heads. 'He grew stronger, but to a point, his body couldn't withstand the amount of power he was throwing out. Then is that his power?' She wondered, weighing the positives and negatives if that was the case. 'Or is there more to his powers than what we know right now?'

Either way though, Mystique imagined Esau would not be up and going for a long time.

His arms were completely destroyed, they'd take a miracle to fully recover. Not to mention his jaw was shattered as well, a result of taking a blow from the Blob. It was more than likely he would not be conscious for a while.

Just her luck.