In his gargoylesque form, at least, Greg had enough mental energy to spare as he was hit squarely across the chest with a flying steel beam, to wonder if this was really what it felt like to get hit across the chest with a flying steel beam. On the one hand, it hurt like a bitch, and he might have cracked a rib. On the other hand, despite being currently pinned by the curving beam to the wall of the danger room, he was still up and conscious, looking for an escape.
"Heads up!" Bobby Drake yelled as he made his way past a flying taxi towards Greg. He was currently covered head to toe in a sheet of ice as a sort of protective armor as he skated across a path of ice formed of the spraying water from a broken hydrant.
He jumped up, and coated the inside of the beam with ice, careful not to get too much on Greg
"Try, like, slipping out man!"
"I'm working on it," Greg growled as his chest suddenly burned with cold.
"Ugh." Kitty ran forward, dodging a hail of nails as she leapt through the walls of a construction site towards Greg "Come on, Iceman! You could have given him frostbite or something, you know?"
She leapt up, and grabbed the edge of the beam, hoisting herself up onto the beam, where she grabbed Greg's arm and phased the two of them to the ground.
He took a breath as Kitty grabbed him, and let it out as they phased back up.
"Thanks."
Kitty smiled at Greg "no problem, that's what X-men do...like, we help eachother when the chips are down, you kn-"
Another nearby car exploded into the air as the hovering figure waved his hand. She was struck with the force of the exploding car, slammed by the flying door mid sentence before she could turn intangible.
"Shit!" Bobby ran over and jumped to catch her out of the air, using steps formed of ice for extra propulsion in his interception.
He caught her-but the two of them were hit by a steel grate that twisted and squeezed around them like a heavy blanket, binding them tight as they hit the ground with a dull clang of metal on concrete.
Greg was standing just far enough away from the two that he was missed by the grate. He wheeled, growling and flared his wings, diving toward the toppling pair, to grab the grate and wrench it open with his black claws.
The grate began to tear, and Bobby began to wriggle free.
Kitty, grimacing as she concentrated, went intangible and slipped out.
But unfortunately they all took too much time in getting free. Above them, Magneto had approached.
"This ends here." he intoned, and with a gesture, cracked the construction site's support beams, sending the entire building crashing down towards them.
The scene froze, the bricks , mortar and re-bar suspended mere feet from them as the scenario began to flicker. Professor X's voice called from the danger room's speakers.
"Well done, my students. While there is much room for improvement, I applaud you for your teamwork."
"Yeah, but we failed again." Bobby muttered under his breath.
Greg slumped, looking with frustration at the rubble, and the image of Magneto hanging in the air before they flickered and vanished.
"Damn it," he growled.
Kitty sighed, rubbing the side of her head with a grimace.
"I mean , you know that winning this one isn't that easy, right? It's more about, like, what we do during the fight and not how we finish it. Like an endurance test or something." She paused "we did really take a beating, though."
"You can say that again." Bobby let his ice shielding drop, leaning against the wall. "Oh uh, hey, Greg. Sorry about the ice-burns, man." he grinned sheepishly "I was trying to help."
Greg rubbed his chest, where it was sore, and still slightly cold.
"No worry," he grumbled. "With the bruises I got from that beam, I probably should put ice on it anyway. Kitty's right, we took a hell of a beating..."
He grimaced as he touched his chest. It hurt like a bitch- maybe he had cracked a rib. As he winced at the pain, his sister's words echoed in his head. Why were they training against this guy at all. He didn't want to question his new friends but...
"but we survived! for like-" Kitty grinned as she checked the athletic watch on her wrist, "-geeze, 7 minutes. That's a new record for us."
Bobby nudged Greg.
"you alright man? Need to see Emma in the infirmary?"
"Probably," he said, making a face as he admitted it. "I might have cracked a rib."
"You might have." Bobby ran his hand through his hair 'but it's probably just bruised. You had your shadows up, right?"
"Yeah... I guess I'm just... thinking about something my sister said."
"Your sister huh? was it uh...when you went to try and get her?"
He nodded, rubbing his chest again.
"Yeah... though I guess she said it when we were touring too. Like, she doesn't get why we're training against this Magneto guy. And I'll be honest I am all for training and honing skills, but I guess... I don't quite get it either? Like, the specifics of it," he mumbled. "I felt pretty stupid when I couldn't give her a good answer."
He glanced up at the control tower where he knew the professor had been watching them.
"Ah." Bobby said, looking up towards the control room as well. "Yeah, I bet it felt kinda shitty not to be able to give a straight answer...but uh... the Prof can explain it better than I can."
Kitty patted Greg's shoulder.
"It's for a good reason, Greg. Why don't you ask the Professor yourself? You're probably going to be fighting alongside us so like, you deserve to get the whole story."
"He's not gonna be like, annoyed about me asking, will he?"
"Of course not!" Kitty promised. "He wasn't annoyed about me asking when I first joined up!"
Bobby nodded.
"The professor's a real good guy, you know? When I showed up, I was always askin' him all kinds of questions and he always answered them."
"Alright, I'll go talk to him then, and meet up with you guys after, yeah?"
Bobby saluted him with a wink "you got it, shadowboy! See you after. I'm gonna go get changed."
"Me too; and like, give myself a little TLC after that hit." Kitty smiled at Greg. "Hey, don't worry. Everything'll be just fine."
00
With a little wave, Greg jogged out of the danger room. He was sure he too was in desperate need of a shower but- well, the professor could just deal with the fact that he smelled like he'd taken a girder to the chest, while he explained why he'd just taken a girder to the chest.
He found the professor waiting for him in the danger room's control center, his hands folded on his lap.
"I sensed you wanted to speak to me, Greg. Please." He gestured to one of the command chairs "have a seat."
Greg sat down obediently, his lips wrinkling a little perturbed. Still not used to someone who could read his mind.
"Thanks, professor. Sorry to bother you."
"It's not a bother at all." The professor tented his fingers with a smile. "Talk with me, Greg. I always have time for my students."
Greg rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully. Of course now he had to gather his thoughts instead of the professor just knowing what was on his mind.
If the professor knew, he was keeping quiet. Perhaps he was showing respect by letting Greg pick his words instead of simply just reading them from the mind itself.
"Well... I went to get my stuff this morning, sir. To move in with Bobby like you wanted. And I saw my sister...":
"Did things go as you hoped?"
Greg shook his head, feeling a bitter sting as he thought about it.
"Not at all. We got into another fight. It involved me trying to get her to come here..."
The Professor nodded his head, frowning
"...after the other night, I expect she still holds a great many doubts about us." He closed his eyes, and listened.
"Yeah... a great many," he sighed in agreement. Hesitantly, he admitted. "One of them kind of stuck with me, professor..."
"And what doubt was that, Greg?" The professor asked without judgement. "It seems to be weighing on you."
Greg rubbed his jaw, staring at the floor..
"She keeps bringing up the danger room, sir. She wanted to know what its for, and why you train to fight Magneto. To flight like, other people like us, I guess. And it bothers me that I didn't have a good answer for her..."
"Yes...I understand it must have been quite alarming. We had shown it during the tour as a demonstration of the sort of training facilities we had at our disposal, as part of our ability to work with all sorts of mutant abilities. But it seems to have frightened her terribly." The man tented his fingers "If it's an answer you seek, though, I'm afraid there is one. Would you mind an impromptu lesson?"
"Not if you don't mind giving it, sir."
"Not in the least." He looked out at the danger room. "The answer is...we are training. Not just to fight Magneto...but to fight numerous other threats. Greg...have you heard my students mention 'the X-men'?"
"I think I heard it in passing, yeah. But nobody really mentioned what it was..." He frowned, thinking about it.
"A select number of my students are part of a team." The professor explained. "A team of extraordinary young men and women who've learned to hone their powers in defense of not just mutantkind...but all mankind. A strike force to help protect the fragile hope of unity between our kind, and defend the innocent. Those are my X men. A few of your teachers were members...as are a few of your classmates as well."
Greg raised his eyebrows as he listened. It wasn't exactly what he'd expected to hear, but he wasn't exactly sure what he HAD expected.
"A strike force?" he asked. "That makes sense why you're training but, I don't really understand... what do we have to fight against?"
The professor sighed, looking distantly into the danger room.
"Against a great many threats, Greg. We protect mutants from misguided humans lashing out against what they don't understand...just as much as we protect both human and mutant from the aims of those like Magneto...the man you saw in the sim." He frowned "Magneto was once a... a dear, dear friend of mine. We worked together to try and understand the X-gene, and our mutations, and to find those like ourselves."
"If he used to be a friend? what happened? why's he someone to fight?"
"Magneto... Erik. We suffer from a...difference of opinion on the topic of mutants and humanity." A saddened look crossed his face. "While I believe in the ideal of a future where we all can accept and understand one another-human and mutant, and choose to work towards that future while protecting those in need...Erik sees it as impossible. He's taken a stance of Mutant superiority. He and those he's taken under his wing lash out at humanity, committing acts of terrorism and violence, causing others to fear us all the more."
Xavier rested his head in his hand, his brow furrowed as he continued.
"Shattering that potential for peace in shortsighted fury. We've quarreled quite a few times in the past...and I teach my X-men how to face him to prepare them for the likelihood that one day he will return..and we'll be opponents once more."
Slowly it dawned on Greg how serious the situation was.
"Damn..." Greg sighed. "He just won't even try to get along, huh?"
"I've tried, in the past." The man looked into his hands, pensive, "but each time he refuses to listen to reason. And I have to choose...my friend, or the good of so many innocent people." He looked up at Greg "Do you understand, now, the reason for our training sessions?"
"I do, professor. And I know what I'll tell my sister when I talk to her again." He nodded, his expression grave. ...I wonder if she'll listen.
"Indeed." The Professor said with a nod. "Perhaps then she'll be willing to listen ...though this brings me to another topic, though it is related."
He looked up from his reflection.
"Yes, sir?"
"You've proven yourself rather capable, and I have high hopes for your potential." He looked Greg in the eyes "I think given the chance, you would do well in my X-men. Would you care to join them?"
Greg was a little taken aback.
"You think I'm good enough, sir?"
"I've seen you train these last few days, and I watched you in the danger room. Between your athleticism, abilities, and the quick rapport you've developed with my other students, I think you would do well as one of their number."
"I'm flattered, professor," he admitted, slowly. "And honored, too. If you think I'm right for the team, I don't want to let you down."
"I don't imagine you will." He gave Greg a small smile. "The next time a mission is needed, I'll have you join them in the field. In the meantime, I ask that you train with them and continue to work on your bonds and teamwork together."
"Absolutely, professor," he nodded, feeling a swell of pride in his chest that the professor saw potential in him. "I'll be doing my absolute best."
"I have faith in you, young man." He tapped his temple. "And I look forward to watching you grow. Now… "you must be tired after that training session-you should relax. And perhaps get used to your new accommodations."
"Yeah," he nodded, with a little smile. "I'm gonna do exactly that, sir."
And take a shower.