NOVEL NEXT Chapter 064 – Excellence
[2009 – July]
Feeling her silvery claws clash against the blackish ones of her opponent, Laura for the first time in a while felt completely in her element.
She attacked with the intent to kill as she had been taught to do since young, even though she did not want to really hurt the young man before her. And yet, she did not let up in the slightest, pressing forward unrelentingly, her Adamantium claws carving through the space between herself and Elijah threateningly.
And Laura did know why, but with every strike he blocked or deflected and every counter he landed, she became more and more entranced in the fight.
To her, it didn't feel like a battle for life and death, but like a dance – a conversation. And Elijah was her partner.
The way he shifted his weight to one side only to seemingly evade her father's strike with a slight movement of his shoulder, countering with a sideways spin, his blackish claws carving through Logan's side and back effortlessly and eliciting an angry scream.
It was a spectacle of deadly grace, and Laura could see herself in his movements and the way his eyes shined so beautifully with perfectly controlled violence and bloodthirst.
Throwing herself back into the fight, the young mutant girl savored every exchange, the realization that Elijah seemed to adapt her techniques into his fighting style setting in soon after, though she wasn't bothered by this.
Instead, a minute smile seemed to draw up the corners of her full lips, a sense of intimacy and connection rising in her scarred heart, which was wholly different than the feelings she had for her father.
When before Laura had already considered Elijah to be special, she now felt as if he could understand her and 'see' her.
And when moments later he subdued her with such apparent ease, Laura felt the instinctive desire to submit while something akin to pride bloomed in her mind, Elijah's prowess leaving a deep impression in her mind.
…
Ororo wasn't sure how what seemed to have started as a rescue mission had suddenly turned into a full-on battle against the Hellions and their female leader, but seeing the dire situation her recruits and colleagues were in, she knew that this mission had already failed.
And while she wanted to retreat, without the Blackbird and with Kurt being severely injured and unconscious, Ororo couldn't see a way out for the moment.
Even she herself struggled to extricate herself from the battle, as while she was largely resistant to mind control due to her connection with the Earth itself, Emma wasn't one of the most dangerous mutants for nothing.
The blonde telepath had such great control over the ambient psionic energy thanks to her immense power that she could send lighting bolts and blasts of pure psionic energy against her adversaries that were otherwise immune to her powers.
Emma's diamond form made it even more improbable for Ororo to win this battle, as she seemed wholly unaffected by the bolts of lightning and miniature tornados that were thrown her way.
Suddenly Ororo realized that she was the only one still fighting, as everyone else had either been captured or defeated, with Elijah having even bested Wolverine and his daughter, along with incapacitating three other X-Men.
In one battle the young mutant had already proven himself to be a grave threat, his power and incredible control seemingly inhuman. In her long years as a teacher, Ororo had never seen a mutant so powerful after having awakened just weeks ago, no matter their potential.
One of the best examples was Robert Drake, one of the recruits they had brought with them, who, while also a mutant with Omega-level potential, did not have even half the battle prowess Elijah had displayed just now.
She herself had to train for decades to reach her current heights, and while she most certainly was immensely powerful, Ororo couldn't confidently declare that even she could defeat the boy. This fact alone made her realize that the difference between their talent was almost insurmountable.
Knowing that there was nothing she could do in this situation, but also unwilling to leave behind her students and teammates, Ororo stopped her attacks and settled back on the ground.
Expecting to be tied up and imprisoned, the caramel-skinned goddess was surprised when the younger Frost suddenly spoke up.
“Next time you try and come after Jean, I will kill every last one of you. On this, you have my word.”, Elijah stated, his eyes overflowing with wrath as he locked his gaze on the weather goddess.
Seemingly reining in his emotions, he addressed one of the Hellions as he turned to leave: “Send them back, Clarice.”
After receiving a nod from Emma, the girl of Asian descent did as Elijah told and manifested a few purple-glowing knives that she threw at the X-Men, causing them to disappear one after another from the academy grounds.
And before Ororo was teleported away, she only had one last thought, her gaze fixed at the door the black-haired teen had just left through.
'Elijah Frost … what a monster.'
…
Sending the X-Men and the recruits away was undoubtedly the right decision considering the possible damage an all-out war with Xavier could cause to her and her interests, so Emma telepathically instructed Clarice to do as Elijah had asked, outwardly nodding in response to her questioning look.
That wasn't to say that the White Queen wasn't incredibly satisfied with how this fight had gone, as her Hellions and especially Elijah had overwhelmingly crushed the mutant intruders.
Angelica, Amara, and Harun – a.k.a. Firestar, Magma, and Jetstream – had also done splendidly in suppressing Robert Drake, defeating and subduing him in only a few moments, playing to their strengths fully.
Kitty Pryde on the other hand had been taken down by Rahne, Sharon, and Clarice, while Rogue was captured by John and Marie-Ange, a.k.a. Tarot, her psionic constructs being the safest way of subduing the dangerous girl without having to risk direct skin contact.
Her students may have outnumbered their opponents, but their individual capabilities while in battle had still shown Emma that her strict training methods were delivering the results that she had hoped for.
John had also done great in deciding who to send after who, having stayed rational and collected despite the hate he carried inside himself.
Emma also knew that news of this fight would inevitably reach the ears of other parties which would help in cementing her position even further, not to mention that Xavier and Magneto would also have to be more careful around her from now on.
The X-Men may not have come in full force this time, but that didn't change the fact that their loss was still a victory for her and the Hellions, Elijah's impressive display of power serving as a warning to others.
Her little brother was simply a lethal combat force, his shields appearing without warning, capable of claiming lives like the death reaper's scythe if he so decided.
If he hadn't held back, none other than Logan and Ororo might have been able to escape with their lives, and that was only the case since Logan was basically unkillable thanks to his healing factor and Adamantium skeleton, while keeping Ororo from escaping wasn't a very promising task.
Even Laura would have likely died, as her healing factor would not have saved her from being decapitated.
And while Emma had always been confident in her own strength, it couldn't compare to the pride she felt for Elijah, her little brother displaying such excellence being outside of her expectations.