Chapter 68

First thing in the morning, Luz made her way to the Danger Room.

As did her friends and mother, though other than Hunter none of them seemed all too thrilled with it despite reassurances that they were going to support her.

Upon entering the building they were greeted by April. "Hey, glad you came," she said warmly. Then she saw everyone else's expression. "There's a coffee machine on the observation deck," she said with a gesture to a side door. "Right up the stairs. Professor Howlett's already up there, so..."

"Wolverine's here?" Luz asked.

"Yeah," April said. "He's our club's faculty adviser." April placed a hand on Luz's back. "The others are already warming up. I'll introduce you while your friends and/or family head up to the observation deck."

"Okay," Luz agreed. "If that's okay with..." Luz turned around to see that only Hunter was still there.

"Everyone left as soon as she said 'coffee machine,'" Hunter replied. "I think we're the only ones who are used to being up this early."

"Trauma or neurodivergent?" April asked.

"Yes," Luz replied.

"Child soldier in a cult," Hunter answered for himself. "Sleeping in till six AM is apparently notthe luxury I was raised to believe it was."

"Oof, yeah, we get a couple of those every so often," April said with a grimace. "Um... If you want I can introduce you to some people you can talk to or..."

"I'm fine," Hunter replied. "Anyway, I should probably..." He gestured to the door that led up to the observation deck.

"Yeah, you do that," Luz agreed. Then she reached inside her jacket. "But, um, could you take Stringbean up there with you?" She said while gently handing her currently napping power noodle over. "If this is as intense as April says it is then I don't want her getting hurt."

"I will protect her with my life," Hunter said as he gently took the snoozing snake. Flapjack poked out of Hunter's pocket and fluttered up to his shoulder before tweeting something. "Correction, we will protect her with our lives."

"Thanks, Hunter," Luz said with a smile. Hunter went up to the observation deck and April led Luz into the Danger Room proper.

It was, much like the school itself, bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. Everything was shiny and chrome and futuristic looking and there was...

...A girl about her age, with long brown hair crowned with a cat-eared wool hat, currently doing squat lifts with a giant black metal cube that looked like it weighed more than Hexside. The girl's eyes were glowing pink.

A safe distance from the freakishly strong girl was an east asian girl, also about Luz's age, going through... Um, what was it called when you were cycling through martial arts moves and stances without actually fighting? Just past her, a short girl with long black hair was walking on her hands without looking where she was going.

"Okay, girls!" April called out. "I've got an introduction to make!"

The other three residents of the room stopped what they were doing, the giant cube floating up to and disappearing into the ceiling through a hidden panel as the hatted girl sat it down, and then they lined up.

"Girls," April began, "this is Luz. She's the girl my Dad and Professor Howlett wanted me to talk to. She's agreed to join us in order to get put through her paces, as she's never tested the limits of her powers. "Luz, this is the Jean Grey Institute's Mixed Martial Arts Society."

"Hey, how are you doing?" Luz greeted.

"This is Gabby," April introduced while gesturing to the black-haired girl, "or you can call her Honey Badger. She's the co-founder of the club and... My best friend."

"I love you too, April," the short girl said. She then extended a hand to shake, which Luz reciprocated. "And it's nice to meet you, Luz." Up close, Luz noticed a couple of very deliberate-looking scars on Gabby's face. There was a story there.

April continued the round of introductions with the brunette. "This is—"

"Wait, I know you," Luz interrupted as she got a good look at the girl in question. "You're the mutant girl from Sister Grimm's team! Um, Bruiser, right?"

"I actually prefer Princess Powerful, but that's the name everyone insists on," the girl confirmed. "I'm Molly."

"...I'm sorry, it's just... You're probably the last kid I ever expected to run into here," Luz admitted. Sister Grimm's team was quite vocal in their distrust for authority in general.

"Yeah, I get that a lot but...Half of us are grownups now and it turns out it's kind of hard to get a job when you dropped out of school," Molly replied. "Nico got that job at Strange Academy and Victor has that thing with Doombot here in New York but... There's nothing wrong with working in a grocery store, but I've seen how much Chase struggles to make sure we're all fed and... Yeah." Molly shrugged. "A JGI diploma can get me into a decent college and hopefully I won't have to worry about that." There was a pause. "Also my girlfriend's foster parents had her enrolled here after she had a close call with some anti-mutant types in a public school back in LA. Even though an older girl beat the absolute crap out of them when she saw what they were doing to Klara her dads decided that a school for mutants would be safer."

"...So is Klara—"

"Rose Red," Molly continued. "The one with the flower powers. She's the president of the garden club now. We have a date later. Gonna catch a movie and then we're gonna go dance on her husband's grave!"

Molly had said that so cheerfully that it took Luz a second to catch the end. "What?"

"Anyway," April said while sort of yanking Luz to face the last member of the martial arts club. "This is Pei. She's the newest member of the cub, only transferred in last year after she got in trouble at her last school from other kids picking fights with her. In terms of actual skill, she's probably the best one here. If our club was actually allowed to compete with other schools she'd be our ringer but, you know... Powers are involved, it's not really fair."

"I get it," Luz replied. "But can we circle back to what Molly was saying for a second?"

"Later," April dismissed. "Because it's time to start... You might want to change," she said as she changed to Mayhem.

Luz shifted to her own symbiote form. "So how's this work?"

"Normally, after warm-ups we spar with each other, who fights who changes on a set schedule, but since we're putting you through your paces today... You feel like running the gauntlet?" Mayhem asked.

Luz looked at the four other girls in the room and shrugged. "I guess?"

With that agreed to, everyone moved around so that Luz was in the middle of the room facing off against Gabby.

Gabby began with a declaration: "You don't have to hold back fighting me," she said. "I've got a really strong healing factor and I physically can't feel pain... Seriously, splatter me against the wall if you can, I'll be fine in less than a minute."

"...I will not be doing that," Luz replied nervously. "I'm... I didn't actually have any formal training in combat so I don't even... But even if I did I... That's not a mental image I need right now," she finished as her mind involuntarily turned towards the Collector poking Belos to death.

"Please see that you don't," came Wolveirne's voice over an intercom. "The last time she let someone do that it took a week to get the stains out. We had to bring in professional cleaners. The kind who deal with crime scenes. Had to answer some really awkward questions that day."

"I'm not allowed to get splattered against walls, I'm not allowed give my body parts to people as gifts," Gabby mumbled, "It's like you don't want me to have any fun... Speaking of which, Luz, how tough are you? Like, if I stab you will you die?"

"I don't know, I've never been stabbed before," Luz replied. "But, um... This is infused with witch's wool," she said while tapping her symbiote-coated torso. "It's pretty durable stuff."

A bone spike at least a foot long tore out from between the knuckles on one of Gabby's hands with a 'snikt.' "Think it could handle this?"

"...I'd rather not stress test it," Luz said diplomatically.

"Fair enough," the mutant girl said while sucking the claw back in and letting the bleeding knuckle wound heal before their very eyes. "We start on three."

Gabby gave a signal and April counted off. On three they rushed each other. Luz was not ashamed to admit that her apparent strength and speed advantage amounted to very little compared to the scarred girl's raw skill. On the contrary, Luz would freely admit that she was getting absolutely wrecked with blows to her joints and pressure points until, ten minutes into the fight, Gabby paused in her onslaught to ask "You know, you're allowed to use your powers, right?"

It got considerably less onesided after that, with Luz splitting her cape into tentacles, but the extra limbs still didn't help much. Luz got in one good blow that knocked the wind out of Gabby... And also made a very sickening crunch that concerned Luz to hear before Gabby literally walked it off, which ended the match.

"How'd I do?" Luz asked.

"Not bad for someone with no formal training," Gabby said, "but to be honest it was less of a sparring session and more beating on a training dummy that sometimes punches back. No offense."

"None taken," Luz said. "I normally use magic in a fight, so... Yeah. Whose's next."

"Molly," April asked. "You wanna go?"

"Okay but shouldn't you go next?" Molly said. "Go in order from—"

"I'm going last," April said. "I want to get as good an idea of how Luz uses her powers as possible before I spar with her."

"Okay," Molly agreed before taking her position. "Now, Luz, I don't have a healing factor but I've literally been hit by a truck without getting hurt so don't worry about hurting me."

"I'm more worried about you hurting me," Luz admitted.

"Oh, it's fine, I'm really good at guestimating how hard I can hit someone," Molly dismissed. "The one time I messed up... Well, he lived."

That did not fill Luz with confidence. She didn't realize that April was counting down until a second before the other hybrid said three. As soon as the fight started Luz felt a cold chill go down her spine and almost on autopilot moved out of the way. Becuase of this dodge, Molly overextended herself punching and tipped over, her mighty fist hitting the floor with enough force that Luz could feel the vibrations.

Not to be deterred Molly lunged at Luz with a stance like a heavyweight wrestler while Luz went into full fight or flight mode and her instincts picked flight. She ran all over the danger room barely dodging thundering blows that each had the potential to turn Luz's organs into jelly.

After what felt like five minutes but was probably less, she eventually scrambled up a wall and skittered to the middle of the ceiling, safe from Molly's aggression. "Safe!" she declared. "Thank you, Jean-Luc!" Unfortunately, Luz soon realized, she'd forgotten something: While that little bit of Jean-Luc she'd absorbed back on King's Island had given her wall-crawling powers and enhanced flexibility... She was not actually a Spider-Person and did not have perfect equilibrium. As she started to get dizzy, blood rushing to her head, she realized her mistake. "Curse my hubris," she said just as she became too dizzy to maintain her grip and fell.

She was caught by Molly, who held Luz in two hands. "You okay?"

"...Yeah," Luz said as her relationship with gravity normalized. Then she realized just how precariously Molly was holding her and the stance Molly was standing in. "Please don't break my spine."

"Mmmm, No!" Molly declared and made to bring Luz down back first on an extended knee. Luz's heart skipped a couple of beats but the drop stopped just short of contact as Molly laughed. "Kidding. I think we're done." Molly then gently set Luz down and helped her to her feet.

"I'm starting to regret coming here," Luz said as she tried to regulate her heartbeat.

"Hey, I told you things got intense with us," April defended. "C'mon, just two more rounds. Just Pei, then me."

"Alright..." Luz said reluctantly. "Just a little longer then... But can I have a minute?"

"Sure."

Once her heart rate was back down to normal, Luz took her position back in the middle of the room across from the Asian girl. "Um, before we start, can I ask what your mutant power is?"

"I don't have one," Pei replied. "I'm genetically typical, just an ordinary baseline human. In theory, anyone could do what I do."

"Okay." Luz felt a little bad for feeling happy that she might actually be able to win this one. April counted off to three, and at that Luz lunged forward herself, making the first move for once—

And immediately got a few dozen golden glowing punches to the chest in less than a minute, with the last one sending her flying and crashing into the far wall.

"I am however the Iron Fist," Pei declared.

"Eeeee, okay, that's cool... So, yeah" Luz said as she tried to will the room to stop spinning.

After a moment, Wolverine came on the intercom again. "You okay, kid?"

"I think so," Luz replied. "I kind of feel the way I did the time I accidentally drank from the wrong bottle of appleblood."

"...You mean apple juice, right?" Molly asked.

"No."

"Follow-up question, are witches venomous?" Wolverine continued.

"Not as far as I know, why?" Luz asked as the cobwebs cleared from her head. "Oh, hey... My coven sigil isn't itchy anymore... Whoops, never mind, there it is."

"Well as soon as you hit the wall your girlfriend turned into a pink slime monster and tried to burst through the viewing window," Wolverine continued, "and when I stopped her she bit me."

"I'm okay, Sweet Potato," Luz said somewhat shakily while giving a thumbs "But I think we're done here."

"What?"April asked.

"I said we're done," Luz said. "I don't want to do this anymore."

"C'mon, one more round of sparring," April bargained.

"No," Luz said as she pushed herself up. "I'm done. This has been less sparring and more you guys beating me up and... I've had my share of being bullied, thank you very much."

Three of the girls in the room had the decency to look ashamed but Mayhem doubled down. "We're not bullies. This is supposed to help you."

"I can't see how," Luz said. She then tried to walk away but found that she couldn't move her feet no matter how hard she pulled away. It was like she was glued down.

"Molecular electrostatic manipulation," April said. "It's how our 'stick-em' powers work, but Mayday and I have a couple of extra tricks that no one else does.

"Let her go, April," Gabby said. "If she's not having fun then..."

"I was asked to help her get a handle on her symbiote side," April insisted, "and that's what I intend to do."

She then threw out her hand and white fluid shot from her wrist and impacted Luz's face, forming a sticky silken blindfold that cut off her vision. The hair stood up on the back of her neck. On reflex, she raised her arm and just barely managed to parry a punch from April. "There you go," she said.

April kept up the onslaught and Luz kept barely blocking. When April grew claws and started slashing, Luz changed tactics toward trying to grab and push her wrists away. Eventually, April let Luz walk again but as Luz backed up and kept defending April changed her hands into swordlike blades, forcing Luz to make her own pendulum-like blades to parry.

Eventually, however, April slipped up and gave Luz an opening. With two normal fists, Luz punched while willing her arms to stretch as far as they'd go, sending April flying back. April flipped over and landed on all fours before dropping her symbiote suit entirely and looking at Luz with a proud smile. "So... You just beat me while blind. How's it feel?"

"...What? Luz asked while feeling at her face... She um... Never got rid of the webbing. So how did she know April was smiling?

"I'm sorry, about all of this," April said as she got up and pulled a vial of something out of her pocket. "Make sure your eyes are closed," she said as she approached. "This solvent is skin safe but it stings like a dickens if it gets directly in your eyes."

She held really still with her eyes closed tightly as April administered the solvent with an eyedropper and then handed Luz some tissues to wipe off her face.

"What the heck was that about!?" Luz demanded.

"Look, I... You must have noticed the symbiote ESP, right?" April asked. "A vague feeling when there are people around and a general idea of when people are feeling strong, negative emotions?"

"Yeah..."

"It's supposed to be stronger than that," April replied. "For a symbiote, ESP is everything. Their other senses are distributed throughout their bodies which gives a bit of a weird picture, the ESP adds in missing data and synchronizes with everything else. A bit like Daredevil, actually," April mused. "But since we're hybrids, not people bonded with a symbiote, the ESP and other symbiote senses take a backseat to our normal ones... I'm sorry about all of this but... Well, I needed to stress you out to get your symbiote instincts flaring and then take out your vision so you're default to that. But, now that you've done it once, you should be able to tap into your symbiote instincts and use your ESP to its full potential whenever you need to."

"...And you couldn't have told me this ahead of time," Luz demanded with a glare.

"If I'd told you ahead of time," April insisted, "it wouldn't have worked... Or at least that's what Stick told me when he blindfolded me and dropped me in a pit full of captured zombie-ninjas..." Luz stared at April in open-mouthed horror for a second. "Don't worry, I beat him up and made him apologize after," April explained. "I thought the guy who trained Daredevil would be a good pick for getting the hang of my weird senses. Anyway... I'll understand if you hate me," she finished. "This was the only way I could think of to help you... But don't be mad at the others. I kind of told them you were a bit more enthusiastic than you were."

"Jerk move April!" Molly shouted. "Could have at least told us what you were planning."

"I'm going to be having a long talk with your father later, Parker," came Wolverine's voice from over the intercom. "Also, all of her friends left... I'm pretty sure they're gonna jump you... Her mother went after them and she was brandishing a sandel. I've known enough Hispanic mothers to know what that's about."

"Yeah, I deserve that," April replied. "Oh well, I wouldn't be the evil twin if I didn't tick people off."

Luz sighed. "I'm willing to forgive a lot," she said. "I think we can still be friends, but... If you pull anything like that again, I..."

"I understand," April replied, seeming almost surprised. "So, after your friends get a fair shot at me how about we go get breakfast?"

"...I can probably talk them down," Luz said. "But, yeah..." Luz then dropped her own symbiote mode. "Breakfast sounds good."

"Cool," April replied, "Um, sorry if this seems pushy but have you given any more thought about a symbiote name?"

Luz was about to reply that she hadn't but as she pulled the jacket she'd inherited from Eda, her second mom who she was so distant from, more tightly around herself she was suddenly hit with inspiration.

"Yeah. Call me..." she paused for effect, "Calamity."