Cyclops: Fear No Gods

Recruiting the Beast and Iceman

Chapter XLII - The Danger Room

"So, you're not even going to give me a few days to settle in, I'm guessing?" Warren wondered as he and Hank followed Scott down into the basement. "If I'd known that, I might not have come."

It was a lie.

No one believed him.

He was just venting and Scott knew that it was all due to the fact that Warren was used to doing things his way and on his own terms. That mentality would have to change and soon, which is precisely why Scott didn't give him any more than a day to settle in.

Not that Warren had been doing much since he turned up with Charles, just unpacking in his room and then resting there. No one had seen him save for at meal times, being quite unsociable to everyone.

"I mean, you gave Hank a few days." Warren continued, seeing that Scott and Hank were both ignoring his moans. "What's up with that? You playing favourites already?"

"It's not favourites." Hank was the first to bite, a little frustrated that he was being dragged into this by Warren. "But Scott was waiting for you before we started training. Now that you're here, there's no need to wait anymore."

"Oh, I'm sure that's the only reason." Warren snarked. "I think he's only started training now because I'm the only one that wants to be an X-Man."

Hank rolled his eyes. "Then you answered your own question."

Coming to a stop before a door, Scott entered in the code he had memorised from seeing Wolverine input it. Technically, they weren't meant to be down here unless they were being watched by Logan or Charles, but Scott wasn't about to argue with either to let them gain access to it this early on.

Charles wanted to wait until they had more members before starting their training in the Danger Room, wanting Scott to focus on improving their fitness and growing their understanding of their powers. The problem with that was both Warren and Hank's powers were basic and simple, needing little room for greater understanding.

Only by having actual combat experience could they further improve their ability with their powers. As for fitness, both Warren and Hank were in good shape, Hank more so than Warren thanks to his time as a football player.

Even so, there wasn't much else they needed help with, just making sure they were consistent and not ignoring that aspect of training.

As for Logan, he was a man that didn't do anything he didn't want to and unlike Warren, couldn't be forced into doing it. Scott was not about to spend his time arguing with the man to force him into action, especially not when he was trying to not so much as build a relationship with the man, but at the very least, ensure they weren't opposed to one another.

The last few nights Scott had come down to the Danger Room with Scott and had sparred against the man. Occasionally relying upon using his powers, but the vast majority of the time, focusing purely on his martial arts.

In that time, while Scott wouldn't even begin to call them friends or even say they were on friendly terms, they had a respect for one another. That was about as Scott was willing to bring himself, he couldn't deny that the Logan of Cyclops' world and the Logan of this world shared many similarities. Too many for Scott and the influences of Cyclops' memories to allow him to feel comfortable around the man.

Not that Logan was much better.

Both were wary of the other, constantly on guard whenever they were in the same room, aware of one another's presence at all times.

However, Scott wasn't one to overlook the improvements he had made in the time spent sparring with Logan, just having a proper sparring partner had allowed him to improve rapidly. He had noticed many flaws in his way of fighting against the various foes he had faced so far, but without a proper sparring partner to practise them with, Scott had been unable to fully implement them.

Now he had Logan for that and while Scott wasn't certain on why he was helping him, he wasn't about to overlook it. Nor was he going to jeopardise that when he could quite easily memories the code as they came here.

Entering inside the control room of the Danger Room, Scott went up to the control panel and with practised movements, switched on the machine. Behind him, both Hank and Warren went silent, the tense atmosphere between them dissipating as they came closer to the glass to look upon the room below.

A wide open space and one that suddenly erupted with various contraptions that looked very dangerous to be near. "This is the Danger Room." Scott said. "This is where we'll be training, working upon our individual manoeuvring and dodging skills. Improving our spatial and situational awareness."

"Not working as a team?" Hank wondered.

Scott shook his head. "It's not needed for the time being. Teamwork is important, but a machine with weak individual parts will break easily. To make sure that never happens, both of you need to improve those areas. Naturally, by improving your situational and spatial awareness, you will also be able to keep track of your opponents and teammates in battle."

"Meaning we improve our teamwork while improving our individual abilities." Hank summarised.

Warren agreed. "Two birds with one stone."

"Exactly." Scott said, indicating towards the elevator. "I'll stay up here and control the systems. You two will be using this time to train. Whether one is certain or not about their desire to be an X-Man, they are still here and willing to train to protect themselves. That alone is enough."

Lifting the can of beer to his lips, Logan took a large swig, scratching his stomach as he looked upon the TV, temporarily pausing on his flicking through the channels. There was little that interested him, but there wasn't much else to do around here and so, this is what he spent his time doing.

Occasionally, if he was lucky something would pop up that would catch his attention, but that was usually after an hour of flicking through channels. Hardly a productive or good way to spend his time, yet Logan didn't have much else to do around here.

'I'm starting to look forward to tonight.' The thought just popped into his mind and immediately he frowned. 'Fuck.'

It had been a spur-of-the-moment thing really, taking Scott down into the Danger Room to spar with him. The things Victor had said were stuck in his mind and he hadn't been able to forget them.

So, in order to see whether Victor had simply been making it all up or whether Scott really had something that could catch his eye, Logan went to spar with him. It had taken less than ten seconds for Logan to realise that Victor had every reason to be as obsessed as he was.

Scott was good.

Very good.

It was just as Victor said, the type of experience Scott had was similar to theirs, almost like an entire lifetime's worth of combat experience bundled into a single boy. However, unlike theirs, Scott's was different, more extreme and dare he say it, far more dangerous.

He wasn't certain on that part, but it was clear to Logan that Scott had seen and done things that even in his long life had not experienced. That alone spoke volumes and it made Logan curious to know what exactly he had gone through to be like that.

Yet, even though Scott was good, he was not even close to being ready for Victor. Logan had lived for many centuries and had quite literally forgotten more about fighting and martial arts than anyone in the world.

He had 'died' on many occasions through the centuries and with it, while his body healed, his memories did not. There were blank periods, times in which he forgot things that he had never recovered beside the occasional feeling of deja vu.

The only one better than him was the man responsible for most of those deaths, Victor. He was the only man to consistently kill him and die very little in the process, enabling him to remember more and giving him that constant edge in their fights.

But in that first instance, Logan had nearly lost immediately.

He had told the kid not to hold back and before Logan could even give the signal for them to begin, Scott had fired his Optic Blast. The tactic didn't even irk him, instead he had smiled, Logan liking the ballsy and intelligence of the move.

It showed that at the very least, Scott had the mentality to fight Victor.

However, it was not the mentality or the tactics that bothered Logan, no it was the skills and physicality. If Scott was to ever fight Victor, the latter would always hold the advantage in physicality in every meaning of the word.

So, Scott needed to hold an equal or greater level of skill to survive, let alone win. That was something Scott didn't have and the reason for that was very obvious, an unwillingness to attack.

Logan would give the kid props, he had quite literally mastered the art of counterattacking and defending. But the biggest flaw and weakness in the kid's fighting style was not so much his inability to go on the offensive, it was just that he didn't want to take the risk.

Scott understood his weaknesses and in this case, it was the fact he was a glass cannon by every meaning of the word. However, it was that understanding that was proving to limit the kid as well.

"Logan." Charles called, entering into the living room. "Did you provide Scott the codes to the Danger Room?"

"No." He replied gruffly. 'Probably figured them out though.'

The look on Charles' face said that he had heard that and Logan scowled. "I didn't want them down there so soon." Charles muttered, more to himself.

"Leave them alone, Charles." Logan said, seeing off the rest of his can. "The kid's smarter than most and he knows what he's doing. Besides, one thing the last few days have shown is that so long as he has a goal in mind, there's no stopping him."

Charles frowned. "Yes, that is what worries me."

His words made Logan smirk lightly. "You've bitten off more than you can chew with that kid, Charles."

"It does seem that way."

So, another chapter is done and I hope you all enjoyed it. Anyway, if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.