Chapter 26

Training for the kids mostly consisted of cardio, flexibility drills, High-intensity interval training, weight lifting, and live combat. 

All that didn't happen every day for them, but I damn made sure made sure it did for me. With my busted Angel Regeneration and Meditation, I didn't need the off days or downtime. I made the most of every minute I had in the gym because I understood that I was on a clock. 

The next incursion was happening in a month, and after dealing with that, I had to negotiate with Fury. I was nowhere near ready for either, so I was pulling all of the stops. 

I started drilling Angel and Demon energy manipulation for two hours every night, as well as practicing with knives, batons, axes, and even the bow staff. I hoped I would be close to the adept tier when I finally had the RedOrbs to buy my weapons. 

It wasn't until the end of the first week that I saw the Danger room. It was a large white room without blemish, with hundreds of tiny projectors sticking out of the wall. Beast walked in dressed in a lab coat and had a thick set of glasses dropping down from his cat-like face as he stared into a tablet, humming.

"Ah, Dante. Here to book a session in the Danger room for your class?"

"Yeah. It might've only been a week, but I think they're ready," I said, "but I'm not only here for them." 

"You're here about the combat avatars," Beast said, meeting my eyes.

"It's no secret that I'll be out of here in a few weeks. I have enemies waiting for me, and I'd prefer to be prepared for them," I took a step closer.

"What sort of enemies?" 

"The kind that would give your nightmare nightmares," I said. 

"What are you going up against?" Beast frowned. 

"You might not believe me if I told you. It's not exactly scientific." 

"Tell me anyway."

"Demons."

Beast looked a bit taken aback. "The professor did tell me about your peculiar heritage and mission."

I folded my arms and feigned offense. "I didn't think the professor would reveal what I'd mentioned in confidence. And for the record, I never confirmed or denied who my parents were."

"He meant no offense," Beast said. "It's just due diligence to inform all of our staff of the more peculiar characteristics of our students."

"It's fine," I waved, "but I should remind you that I am no student."

Before Beast had the chance to counter, I continued speaking. "So, how does this Danger room thing work?" 

—

Thirty minutes later, I was standing in a facsimile of New York City with ten pudgy ceramic cherubs flying with crossbows and shields.

I summoned my guns and spun them with a flourish. The Cherubs screeched as one and let a rip, letting crossbow bolts fly. I twisted, turned, flipped, and rapid-fired Ebony and Ivory. My initial flurry took out several three of the ten fliers, and I backtracked and strafed aggressively as I took shot after shot. 

The Cherubs quickly caught on, spreading out to make it more difficult for me to pick them off, but it didn't help much.

I ducked into an alleyway and let a rip as soon as a cherub floated in, chasing after me. I took out the other one, hanging back, watching the fight from afar.

A quick Demonic Burst threw me into the other side of the wall, dodging a spray of bolts from a pair trying to flank me. Ebony and Ivory spat thunder, and their bodies dropped. 

"Only three left."

Two bombs dropped in from above me, rapidly flickering. Another quick Burst carried me out of the alley in time to escape the explosion. I came up firing Ebony and Ivory at the spot in the sky where the bombs had dropped from, clipping one Cherub in the wing.

Its head burst from another before it hit the ground, and the final two Cherubs scattered. For a moment, I stood at the square, patiently waiting for the ambush I knew was coming. 

A flickering bomb came flying at me from one direction and a spray of arrows from the other. I juked, weaved, and Burst out of the firing line of the arrows before summoning Rebellion and punting the incoming bomb at the enthusiastic archer. I saw the surprise on its face as I darted at the bomb thrower, who went into overdrive since it was the last man standing. 

More bombs rushed my way, all of which I deflected and Burst out of range of. The bombs went off in the distance like fireworks on New Year's.

It was moving erratically, looping in the air, making it damn hard to finish off the exercise. At least, that was until I fired a shot to its left that made it back to the right, where Ophion was waiting on it. 

I yanked it down hard with Demon Pull, slamming it into the ground before I pulled it close close and kicked its head off. 

A wild grin spread across my face when I finished. I'd barely broken a sweat.

"Let's go again!" I yelled to Beast. "But double numbers."

--

Two weeks into my training, I saw my skill progression with the various weapons I'd started using wane, so I started incorporating them into my duel with the kids.

Only Jean, Kitty, Colossus, and, surprisingly, Cyclops could offer me a challenge. Fighting Jean was as painful as Colossus. In this universe, she was fairly decent at using her telekinetic abilities, so every spar was a fight to overwhelm her with Bursts in unpredictable ways and move so fast she couldn't keep track of me. Because once she did, our fights were over in an instant.

Strategically distracting her with throwing knives was one of the only ways I could stay in her hand when she did eventually catch up to me. Instead of trying to hold my entire body down, Jean learned early on it was smarter to hold my waist, neck, back, or some other body part I could exert my strength with.

In our time together, Jean also improved leaps and bounds. She got better at split-second and minute manipulation of psychic energy, and she was often the last person I saw before I went to bed, much to Scott's chagrin. 

We also joked around a bunch and talked about her past, nothing and everything.

Slowly, I began to build a rapport with her, and she was every bit as bright and strong-willed as you'd expect from a heroine of a popular Marvel comic series. 

Time seemed to fly by when I fought and hung out with her. And it was still surreal to remember that she was just a picture on a page to me and most of my universe up until a few months ago. 

---

Thanks for the support so far. The double chapter is coming as long as we hit the 600 stones.

(Read 10 chapters ahead on Patreon.com/ArtandCreativewriting)

See you on Friday guys.