Chapter 24

"You can't be serious!" I said to Logan, who was standing at my door with his arms folded.

"Afraid I am. The Prof saw you fight and thought you could earn our hospitality by putting your talents to use."

Fucking Charles.

I couldn't believe this bullshit. I had plans to squeeze out as much training as my body could tolerate in the month I was here, but the crafty old man had other plans.

"And if I say no, will you ask me to leave?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Nah, but seeing as I'm the combat instructor, I can cut you off from using the facilities," Logan shrugged. "Hank tells me you've been looking forward to the danger room."

Huh. Go figure. I'd assumed Logan would've challenged me to a fight to settle our difference. I hadn't seen outright manipulation coming. It just goes to show that you can never judge a book by its cover.

"I'll do it, but I want full access to all of the facilities in return and personal instruction from you," I said, earning a raised brow from the bulky man.

"Why me?"

"I know a seasoned fighter when I see one, and with those claws of yours, something tells me you're a master of hand-to-hand combat."

"True on both counts," Wolverine smiled, "but what makes you think I'll agree to train some random pup?"

I grinned. "You know I'm not some two-bit fighter. Otherwise, you wouldn't have let the Professor talk you into letting me teach the students."

Logan grunted. "Be at the gym by noon." With those words, he turned around.

"Wait," I called out. "Never got your name." In between the craziness of the night before, I realized I didn't ask for the X-men's names. It'd be very bad if I slipped up.

"Logan," he answered and continued on his way.

—

Ten minutes later, I was out of my room and scouring the mansion for the gym. It was just after 7 a.m., and most of the kids were either still asleep or stuck in the room getting ready, so I had a hard time finding somebody to give me directions.

Thankfully, I stumbled upon a young blonde girl, who couldn't have been older than 10, strolling with a bunny plushie in her arms. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me.

"You're new."

"Yup, just got here," I smiled down at her. "Came in with the white-haired lady and the bulky guy."

"Oh, Uncle Logan and Aunty Ororo," she said, then looked up at me. "You're Dante, the scary new student that everyone has been talking about."

"Talking about?" I frowned. "That was fast."

She laughed. "The kids don't stop talking just because it's light out."

"And what do they say?" I asked, but I already had an idea.

She seemed a bit nervous when she spoke, but I saw no fear in her eyes. "They say you kill people. That you're a monster."

"I take it Scott is 'them.'"

"He doesn't like you very much," she laughed. "It was all he could talk about at dinner last night."

I huffed. God-damned asshole. "The feeling is mutual." I took a moment to consider the girl. "Know where the gym is? I'd like to get an early start."

She nodded vigorously and offered me her bunny's hand. "Bunny and I will take you."

A bunny named Bunny. My heart melted. She took me down winding corridors and turns. We came across a student or two, but they all seemed to give me a wide berth, probably because of what Scott had said.

I didn't care either way. We mostly walked in silence until we arrived at a large set of doors.

"Thanks for the help," I said, kneeling to reach her level. "I owe you one."

She raised her bunny, pointing it at my face. "You should thank Mr. Bunny. He did most of the work."

I chuckled and shook the hand of the pink bunny rabbit. "Thank you, Mr Bunny, and thank you…" I said, looking expectantly.

"Ilyana," she supplied.

Well, Shit.

I recognized the name immediately. She was Ilyana Rasputin, a future sorceress, Queen of Limbo, and a new mutant. Now, I know what you're thinking: are my and her Limbo the same? In this iteration of the Marvel Universe, possibly. Only time will tell.

—

After I said goodbye to Ilyana, I stepped into the X-Men gym, and my jaw dropped. It was state-of-the-art with weight lifting machines, free weights, a hydraulic weight station, a massive sparring area with heavy bags, and a small arena at the center. At the very edge of the room was a door that I assumed led to the Danger Room.

I wasn't quite ready to take a peek behind it yet, so I started with a few laps around the sparring area, moved to stretches, and ended up at the heavy bag with a shit-eating grin.

I began to absolutely unload into it. I started drilling elbow strikes and blocks, jabs, hooks, uppercuts, kicks, knees, and every other martial art strike I could remember. After that, I moved on to footwork, quickly repositioning myself as I threw attack after attack at the heavy bag.

Time flew by as I shifted martial arts again, moving into kicks I'd learned from Capoeira and Karate. Each movement brought back an old memory of combat or training. I even moved into more practical styles that focused on joint manipulation.

I came out of my reverie with a new notification flashing before my eyes.

Congratulations: You've unlocked your first Skill Combination: (R)Myriad Martial-Art Mastery: Adept

Combines the knowledge and techniques from the martial arts you've mastered in your past life and distills them into a flexible, powerful, and unpredictable style.

My body was soaked in sweat, and my heart was beating like a drum, but I felt truly at peace for the first time since I came to this universe. I took a gander at my skill list and nodded in appreciation.

Parkour (Basic)

Blunt Weapon Mastery (Basic)

Gun Mastery (Basic)

Sword Mastery (Adept)

Knife Mastery (Basic)

Driving (Basic)

Demonic Energy Manipulation (Basic)

-Burst (Basic)

Angelic Energy Manipulation (Basic)

Meditation (Basic)

(E) Paradise Simulacrum (Basic)

(R) Myriad Martial Art Mastery (Adept)

I closed my status and moved on to the free weights. Given everything I'd managed up until now, I expected to be twice as strong as an experienced bodybuilder. I knew the weight of my strikes from my previous life, and I was outputting twice the force easily.

When I completed my first set with the Bench Press, I knew my calculations were right on the money. I kept stacking weights until I peaked at 700 pounds. My squats were monstrous in comparison. I was pumping out reps with 1200 pounds on the bar.

My 100-meter sprint shattered Usain Bolt's record easily, halving his time by 4.2 seconds. By the time I summoned Rebellion to go through the swordsmanship drills I'd inherited from Dante, I heard the gym door open, and Logan walked in.

I was shirtless and covered in sweat, panting.

"What are ya doing just standing there," he demanded. "Class starts in 20 minutes!"

—

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, I stood beside Logan as the students milled in. I recognized a few future X-men– Kitty Pryde, Cyclops, Colossus, Bobby Drake, and his future nemesis, Pyro. There were dozens of other mutants I didn't quite place, but they all seemed to recognize me.

Murmurs and whispers pulsed through the crowd.

"Killer."

"What was the Professor thinking?"

"He's kinda hot."

Scott was the first to speak directly. "What's he doing here, Logan?"

"That professor to you," he grunted at Scott, "and he's here to be your combat dummy and my teaching assistant."

"Teaching assistant?" Scott scoffed. "He got his ass handed to him by Toad. Are you sure he can actually fight?" he said, looking down his nose at me.

"Why don't you step into the arena and find out," I said.

"Ooh, fight, fight," Kitty Pryde chanted. She looked barely into her teens, but I could instantly tell she was a troublemaker.

"Come on, Scott," Jean spoke up. "Walk away. You don't need to prove anything."

"Can't back down now, Scottie boy," Pyro quipped. "Not after all that shit talk yesterday."

"I don't intend to," Scott said, taking a bold step forward. I smirked. I almost pitied the Kid.

Colossus spoke up, his voice like gravel on asphalt. "Professor, aren't you going to stop this?"

Logan shrugged. "Nah. It's perfect. It will show you the difference between sports combat and a seasoned fighter. In fact, I want the rest of you to take a run at him when Scott is done."

"You really think he's going to lose?" Bobby Drake questioned. "Isn't he the best hand-to-hand fighter in the class?"

"That doesn't mean shit in the real world," Logan grunted. "You're about to find out why."

I stepped onto the sparring arena with a contented smile on my face. "I can't say I'm not looking forward to kicking your ass. Don't worry, though. I'll make it quick, for Jean's sake."

"Keep her name out of your mouth," Scott snapped as he assumed a traditional boxer stance.

I copied him, but mine came out looser and more relaxed. We circled each other for a few seconds before Scott snapped his fist at me in a probing jab. It proved to be undoing.

My leg whipped into his side, knocking the air out of him, and I put him on his ass with a neck kick. His visor was knocked straight off, and he spent the next few seconds writhing in pain.

There was pin-drop silence in the arena as everybody stared at me. I winked at Jean, who seemed positively petrified, rushing to Scott's side.

"Chump," I sniffed as Cyclops. "Teach you to talk shit behind people's backs. So, who's next?" I said, turning to the crowd of kids.