Interest

Perhaps taunting the large, muscular behemoth of a man wasn't the brightest of ideas. Then again, Esau couldn't really consider himself much of a bright individual. He had the tendency to do what he wanted, without really thinking about the potential consequences of said actions. His numerous stints in a juvenile detention facility were proof of that lack of forethought.

Punch first, ask questions later, or never was more Esau's style.

Go in, no plan at all and just fight until either he or his opponent was beaten. The number of times a person had tried to pick a fight with him, surrounded by his buddies and Esau threw the first punch, uncaring of how outnumbered was a testament to his state of mind. However, he had no need to change that mindset because no matter how outmatched he was, Esau had never lost.

Even after his fight against the Blob, Esau's mindset continued to remain as it was. Certainly, he had lost, but Blob had powers, Esau at the time didn't know what his was or how they worked. Even then, Esau managed to do some serious damage to Blob, proving that he could have if he had perhaps done a few things differently, used a kick instead of a punch, instead of withdrawing continued to push forwards and hammer away at Blob, he could have won.

Though his winning streak had been broken and remained broken, Esau knew that he could win, Blob's fear of him showed that he knew Esau could win. The fact that Quicksilver, despite landing hundreds of blows and moving faster than Esau could react, still argued against fighting him proved that Esau could beat him.

That was all the proof Esau needed.

This guy had manhandled Wolverine from the looks of things, even Mystique was afraid of him. But Esau had never been one to be afraid of much, certainly not this big guy, he probably had powers similar to Blob which meant, in Esau's eyes, he was beatable.

Only for Esau to quickly rethink that when upon easily dodging the punch, faster than Blobs but nowhere near as fast as Quicksilvers or his own, passed by his head. It wasn't the speed that made Esau rethink fighting this guy was a bad idea, no it was the wind that rushed out of it, rustling his air and pushing against Esau's head enough that it felt like he was walking into a powerful gust of wind.

All that from a blow Esau had easily avoided and already it told him enough and reflexively, Esau moved backwards. He needed to put some distance between him and Juggernaut just to maybe reevaluate some things.

But retreating was not an option.

Not only because of his pride but because Juggernaut wouldn't allow it.

Putting space between him and Juggernaut was a smart play to make, in most situations, especially if the opponent wasn't Juggernaut. However, in this case, that distance only worked in Juggernaut's favour, he turned and burst off the ground as he charged toward Esau.

To call his speed anything short of explosive would be a disservice to just how destructive that initial burst was. The ground beneath his feet erupted outwards, metal bending like it was paper as Juggernaut closed in upon Esau whose eyes widened in absolute shock. "Oh, shi-" then Juggernaut struck.

Fist driving deep into Esau's hastily raised guard that he used to cover his sternum. Only for the bones of his arms to shatter completely, the guard breaking apart as the fist carried on, smashing into Esau's ribs. Much like his arms, the bones of his ribs shattered, pieces piercing into his lungs, filling them with blood as Esau rocketed against the wall, body smacking against it with a wet thud that was sickening to hear.

Collapsing to the ground, Esau remained unmoving, Juggernaut and all looking upon his body. There was no sign of life, no sign of movement, nothing. He appeared dead and considering the power Juggernaut possessed, he very well could be.

But Juggernaut did not give them a moment to focus upon that, turning and lumbering towards Charles once more. Even when the X-Men and the Brotherhood arrived moments later, Juggernaut continued to march toward Charles. An unstoppable force that proved why it was considered, unstoppable.

-X- Line Break -X-

It had gone by many names in its long existence.

Names within the hundreds of thousands, all given by beings that it had interacted with. From the time when it was weak and small, an inferior being that fought its way to the top. It had come into existence at the height of the Dark Dimensions' power, had witnessed it's breaking apart into the Splinter Realms and continued its journey for more power.

Never stopping, never resting, constantly striving with ever-growing determination and drive to stand atop the world as the strongest. But it was not the only one on its journey, there were seven, others, each with stories similar to his own.

Being who joined it in the Wager of the Octessence.

Their similar goals led them to only one conclusion; war.

Time and time again, the eight of them fought against one another, entire dimensions becoming apocalyptic wastelands in the wake of their clashes. The powers they wielded echoed across the Splinter Realms, gaining the attention of those both weaker and stronger than themselves.

But each clash left them weakened and vulnerable, enough so that they would have to flee and hide from those weaker than them. Those that sought to remove them while they were weak, still had their power for themselves. It was a breaking of the natural order, the strong should not fear the weak, but the Octessence did, they knew that every time they fought, those weaker than them would come to kill the victor.

So they decided to settle their war, their goal to see who was the strongest by other means. Each would imbue their power into an object and cast them out into the cosmos, choosing an Avatar to bless with their power. These Avatars would fight in their stead, and the victor decided by whose Avatar would remain standing at the end of it.

Cyttorak had chosen the human, Cain Marko, a man who went by the name of Juggernaut as its Avatar. The powers of Cain Marko suited its own, strength and absolute power. Enhanced by its power, Juggernaut had become one of the most powerful and dangerous beings upon Earth. An unstoppable force of absolute power. There was no Avatar alive, no being alive that could challenge its Avatar's might.

But power such as that bred arrogance had led to Cain Marko's capture, so certain in his ability to defeat all foes. Cyttorak knew that if its Avatar was to succeed in the battles to come, he would need testing. It was why he restricted Cain's power, and weakened him as he fought against the group of Mutants called the X-Men.

All plethora of attacks rained down upon him from all sides and Cain Marko fought against it all, Cyttorak watching on with a smile as his Avatar proved his worth again and again. Even with his powers restricted, Cain continued to battle against the odds and emerge victorious.

Only for out of the corner of Cain's eyes, Cyttorak noticed the body of the young boy that had confronted Cain initially, getting to his feet, lumbering out of the mansion. It was surprising to see, throughout the course of the fight, he had not been seen once and to many, including Cyttorak, had appeared dead. The fact that he had taken the force of Juggernaut's blow head-on, was something Cyttorak knew that the boy shouldn't be alive, let alone moving.

The only ones amongst the X-Men who had been able to take numerous blows from Juggernaut were the wild beast of a man they called Wolverine and the large figure of the boy known as Blob. But Cyttorak was not worried about its Avatar, Cain had proven completely overwhelming to all that came across him.

However, Cyttoraks interest was peaked when after attempting to swat the boy who had staggered towards Cain to one side, only for it to miss. The boy twisting unnaturally and coming up to smash a fist in the underside of Juggernaut's chin.

There wasn't much power behind it, a result of the shattered bones within the boys arms, but nonetheless, Cyttorak's interest was peaked. "Test the boy." It whispered across the connection it and Cain shared. There was no chance of Cain losing, but Cyttorak was curious to see what could become of this child.