Xaviers!

"Highly recommended. Maybe I'll open up a spa or something to do just that."

He walked over to the machine Aiden was using, and whistled, slowly. "Heck of a punch you've got there."

"The Genoshan military would likely be your first customer," Aiden said watching Will. "Best in the last several Praetorian classes in pure physical strength. Not the Praetorian record, but perhaps it will be later in my career."

"Pure physical strength, ey?

You gonna stand there and let a Praetorian outshine an X-Man?" Will said, turning towards Sam.

"We were just talking?" She quirks a brow.

"Hm. Interesting," Will said, with a small smirk.

"Let me see what I can do on this thing, if you wouldn't mind, Aiden?"

Aiden quirked an eyebrow at the competitiveness, but also didn't mind the idea that much.

"Feel free," Aiden said moving out of the way.

Will nodded, appreciatively, and then took his place in front of the super strength equipment.

His ready stance wasn't anything like Aiden's -- it was much more straightforwardly boxing influenced, elbows tight in to his body, fists in front of his face.

He bobbed and weaved a bit, throwing out some tentative jabs at the machine -- jabs light enough not to register on the super-strength calibrated instrument.

Then, lightning-quick, he pivoted on one foot, and swung a right cross. As he did, his arm swelled up mightily, muscles ballooning out to Liefeldian proportions in mid-swing. His left side shrank in proportion, creating added momentum behind the punch as the rapid shift of weight altered his center of gravity.

The punch landed with a solid thud, as the readout hit 60%. Just as quickly, Will's arm came back to normal size as he entered a defensive stance once again.


"Looks like they feed you boys better down there than they do up here," Will laughed.

"The benefit in living in a land of plenty perhaps just more sunshine," Aiden smiled. "Are you a shifter or is that some type of body manipulation?"

"He's holding back. He could've made it steel."

"A shifter, indeed. Body's composed of metamorphic clay; I have a certain degree of control over it's shape and composition."

Will shot a look at Sam. "Sure, I could have made it steel, but that's not really a fair comparison, is it? He didn't hit the machine with a steel battering ram."

"...very sporting of you, aye?"

"She doesn't think particularly highly of me," Will explained to Aiden, "because she's spent too much time with my doppelganger. Ah well; I shall survive somehow, I imagine."

"I could throw a tank at it instead of punching it," Aiden smiled. "You have a twin or something of the sort then?"

"He's been subdivided, after a fashion."

"Like I said; I'm mostly clay. Sometimes, when you mold and re-mold clay, you get tough, nasty bits that drag everything down. Those got split off and removed, so I'm back to full fighting force. I doubt he could hit a 10 on that machine, to be quite honest."

"So before you were being quite... literal about ridding yourself of your uncertainty," Aiden said, "Your other isn't much of a fighter due to the split then?"

"He's not really much of anything if you ask me. Ah well; I suppose not everyone can be in the upper crust."

"Just imagine if all of a person's swagger wound up in a single being. Now imagine the lack thereof."

"Confidence. It's a virtue," Will grinned.

"Your other must have a singularly difficult existence then," Aiden said, "Without any of those things I'd be adrift and constantly uncertain."

"Eh, he'll be fine," Will said, a bit dismissively. "He's got people to look after him, and they'll figure out what he wants eventually, I'd imagine. Just gotta do a couple tweaks on our situation, and things will probably end up cruising smoothly in the future.

Or not. Whatever. The school will handle it."

"They each seem to have what the other hates about himself, so recombining them hasn't been an option."

"Well, of course not. Would you like to be combined with..." Will looked around the room, looking for an example, "uh...oh, let's say Miriam? Or your water bottle here?" he said, picking it up and shaking it.

"I'm already a combination of contradictions."

"You know, that's entirely fair.

And how is that working out for you?"

"I'd be... less, if I tried to remove any of them."

"Or maybe you'd just be less conflicted about what to do all of the time.

Anyway, I didn't mean to interrupt you guys flirting over here -- my apologies," he snickered.

"You'd make a good Praetorian with your confidence," Aiden said looking at Will. "Or at very least a good Genoshan."

"Well, I thank you, but I bleed the yellow and blue.

It's actually a really serious medical condition, and I probably should get that checked out sometime."

Aiden chuckled.

"Though some Praetors might think you have too much of a sense of humor," Aiden smiled.

"Some praetors probably need their sticks forcefully removed from their ass.

Nice to see that not all you Genoshans are like that, though. I've met a few in my time that...well."

"Want to murder you all and any nearby humans then bathe in vat of your blood?" Aiden asked.

"I was thinking spent enough time admiring themselves naked in front of the mirror that they eventually die of starvation, but that, too."

"Oh, that's just absurd."

"They'd put on their uniform first," Sam smirks.

"Well, maybe their uniform top," Will conceded. "Function over form and all that jazz.

Anyhoo. Hit me up some time, Aiden, and we can see how a Praetor holds up in a spar against a captain of the X-Men, mano-a-mano. No tricks involved.

...A minimal amount of tricks involved."

"I have a feeling you are mostly tricks," Aiden smiled. "I look forward to our match."

"If you want tricks fight the other one. Might be a decent warm-up," Will waved, as he left.

"...why would he want to fight the other one?"

"Dude gets off on being a punching bag. You should ask him, sometime," Will waved.

Sam sighs as Will leaves.

"Together, they're a friend of mine. Apart? It's... complicated."