Time to Begin

He was taunting her.

Mystique could tell that quite clearly as she weaved through Esau's strikes with practised ease. The kicks he threw were fast and powerful, the wind she felt coming off them as they passed her by an indication of their power. If they struck her, then she would be done, out for the count, but they were predictable. Not in the usual sense of being heavily choreographed, but because she knew exactly what move was going to come next.

It was precisely because Esau was taunting her that she was able to avoid them all so easily.

He was using the very same style of fighting that she had made for herself and taught to him. The variety of kicks that flowed from one to the next was seamless as if he had practised this style for decades. But Mystique knew what was coming next because she herself, had used this style of fighting for her entire life.

But Esau knew that too.

Though he had only learned this style of fighting merely a week ago, his natural talent for fighting had allowed him to reach a level that was almost on par with her.

His kicks were crisp and clean, sharp and precise.

The finger jabs and open palm strikes, deadly in their accuracy and precision.

His use of the techniques was perfect, the execution of them flawless.

It would be difficult to convince anyone that a week ago he could only use boxing, and that little over a month before that, he only knew how to beat down opponents through pure brute force. The way Esau fought, was like looking in a mirror, utilising the same techniques she had used with the same level of precision and practised ease that had taken her years to achieve.

He had done it in less than a week.

But what made this feat even more impressive was the fact that this had nothing to do with his mutant ability, this was all him, natural talent. Esau was a frightening genius of combat, possessing an uncanny battle awareness and ability to learn. He could see a technique once and with almost perfect precision, replicate it soon after. The only thing his natural talent couldn't replicate was the experience, but his battle awareness gave him a leg up that amateurs like him did not usually possess.

Combined with his mutant ability, they perfectly complemented one another. One allowed him to copy the techniques of his opponents, adding them to his growing repertoire, and break down his opponents mentally as their own style was used against them. The other allowed him to continually improve his body's athleticism to a degree that was superhuman in response to his opponents.

There couldn't have been a better combination, or worse depending on your view of things.

Moving along the floor, Mystique manoeuvred around the strikes, pursued doggedly by Esau with a lethal range of sweeps and low kicks. They were by no means less dangerous, but far easier to avoid than his high kicks that picked up frightening levels of speed. Mystique cursed herself for having trained her kicks to such a degree to maximise everything about them to the extreme.

Because now those very same kicks were being thrown at her by someone who could throw them with even greater strength and speed than her. Luckily, or unluckily, she had kept a few things secret, a few tricks up her sleeve so that should Mystique ever have the unfortunate luck of coming across Esau in the future as an enemy, she would have a few things up her sleeve. Little things that would catch him off-guard and buy her a few vital moments to escape.

But it was that very same tactic that made Esau fight her in this way.

He was by no means academically gifted, but his unnatural talent for fighting allowed him to instantly recognise that something was missing. Combos that had momentary pauses as his body tried to move in a certain way that was unfamiliar to him, his mind resisting as it tried to figure out what key components were missing.

Her style was like a puzzle, one he was close to completing, but he just didn't have all the pieces. It frustrated him and he was trying to force her to reveal those final few pieces, and when she ducked under a rising hook kick that smashed into the wall. The stone cracking and breaking apart, showering her back with debris, Mystique was tempted to reveal them.

Though it was like facing a mirror image of herself, there was one key difference.

She was calm and collected, measuring her opponent's strengths and weaknesses, cautiously making sure that she was prepared for any surprises before clinically taking them down. Esau however, didn't care about that, he just rushed in headfirst. He came in quick and fast with the same opening moves that she would have, but he went all out from beginning to end. His techniques possess the same precision and accuracy, but with an underlining savagery that she could never hope to replicate.

That was the difference between her and him.

She fought only when there was no choice.

He fought for the thrill of it.

And thanks to her training, Esau had now become an incredibly dangerous and more well-rounded fighter than ever before. Not only did he have the training of a professional boxer, seamlessly able to switch between out and in boxing with no drop in skill. But he was also able to kick just as well as she could, someone who had studied the kicking techniques of dozens of martial arts.

'With this, I think that even Wolverine will have his work cut out for him.' Mystique allowed that thought to bring a smile to her face. 'That removes one problematic individual from the board.'

-X- Line Break -X-

"You have any idea what's happening?" Lance asked as he and Esau entered Mystique's office, Quicksilver, Toad and Blob coming in behind them moments later.

"Not really," Esau replied, he and Lance heading towards one side of the room. "She just mentioned that there was something big coming up and that my chance to fight Wolverine would be around the corner."

Lance shook his head. "Honestly have no idea why you want to fight that guy so bad." He had seen Wolverine fight before and Lance did not fancy his chances in the slightest and for all the big talk of the others, he knew they didn't either. There was something about him, something underneath the gruff exterior that put them all on edge and made fighting him the last thing they wanted to do.

All except for Esau.

"Just do." Esau's response was the same as always because, for all his talk, he didn't know why he wanted to fight Wolverine so bad. He just knew that was something about Wolverine that rubbed him the wrong way and he wanted to make it clear, that he was better. "Now, where the hell is Mystique."

"I'm here." Speak of the devil.

Closing the door behind her, Mystique moved past them all and sat behind her desk, looking out at the Brotherhood members. There was a clear divide between them all, Quicksilver, Blob and Toad on one side, Lance and Esau on the other. The divide had always been there, Lance never really fitting in with the others, but never to this extreme and it all had to do with Esau. The three were terrified of him, the only one able to get along with him being Esau.

"So, what's this all about?"

Mystique looked to Lance, then looked around at every member of the room. "Tomorrow, we're all going to be fighting against the X-Men, a test put forth by the leader of the Brotherhood." This brought a few smiles to people's faces, none bigger than Esau's. "Each of you will be assigned an individual to fight, find them and beat them to prove yourselves worthy."

"Worthy?" Lance was the only one that like always, asked the important questions. "Of what?"

"Of being a part of the future of the Mutant race?" It was harsh, but Mystique knew that due to their closeness with X-Men, they were the only members going through this challenge. If they could win here, then the X-Men would no longer be a threat and the Brotherhood could focus everything upon the Homo-Sapiens and not upon other Homo-Superiors. "Each of you has been assigned a target by me, someone who you will have a chance of beating. Study their powers tonight and then tomorrow, go hunting."

Just as they came forwards to collect their files, Lance spoke up once more. "One more question. How are we meant to fight them all? I mean, I can't be the only one to remember that the X-Men outnumber us. We only have five people, six including you. But the X-Men have six, plus Xavier, Storm and Wolverine, that makes nine. Seems like some of us will be fighting more than just one person."

Mystique nodded her head, smiling. "That's true, but we are not without reinforcements." That got their attention, each of them looking towards one another, and then to her. "Right now, one more Mutant is on their way to join us, a young Mutant known as Havoc, he will be handling Cyclops."

"Not only that, but Storm is currently searching for Wolverine who went missing a few days ago." That made a few people look to Esau who clenched his fist tightly, teeth gritting together in anger, knowing full well that she had kept this from him. "That means you only have six people left, Xavier not leaving his mansion. Therefore, to ensure that you will not have to fight him, you will be fighting the X-Men outside of the mansion."

"Five X-Men for the five of us," Quicksilver smirked, moving forwards and taking the offered file. Not far behind him were Blob and Toad, Lance turning to see the deep frown and glare upon Esau's face. He too quickly went and took his file before leaving, Esau and Mystique the only ones left behind.

"You said I'd be fighting Wolverine."

"I never lied to you," Mystique told him. "You were meant to fight Wolverine, I had nothing to do with his sudden disappearance. You're not the only one with a vendetta against Wolverine, it's just that someone else took the chance before you. However, I'm giving you a different kind of challenge."

She presented the file.

Esau didn't move straight away, just continuing to scowl at her. "I'm telling you this now, the next time I see Wolverine, I'm fighting him and if you try and get in my way again, I'll deal with you first. I'm done listening to you after this." With that said, Esau took the file and went to leave, but not before Mystique got in the final word.

"If you had gone to fight Wolverine when you had, you would have lost." She told him. "You've just stepped into it, he's lived in it for centuries. He is not to be underestimated."

Esau glared at her over his shoulder. "Nor am I." With that said, Esau left the room, slamming the door behind him. For a few moments, he just stormed down the corridor before he reached his room, sitting down and taking a few deep breaths to calm his anger.

Then he slowly opened the file and was instantly greeted by a picture.

His target.

And by the picture was a name.

Jean Grey.