Kick. Punch. Blast. Punch. Blast. Run.

The method of fighting was repeated ad nauseam by Jono, involved in a tough battle with a holographic projection of a mutant he had never seen. Supposedly it was to test the team's reaction to dealing with new threats and with absolute zero knowledge on who it was they were battling.

His hit-and-run mentality was working wonders for him. Unfortunately, it was leaving his partner completely vulnerable to attacks he should have spotted.

The team had been sectioned off into pairs, expected to protect not only themselves but their partners as well. Everett and Paige functioned well as a team. Monet and Angelo struggled to keep from letting the other get blown to pieces just out of spite. Jono and Jubilee would have made a decent pairing, had it not been for Jubilee's having to overwork herself by protecting Chamber and herself.

"That's good," Banshee encouraged the team when the last of the holographic images fell due to a well-placed punch from Monet. He was thankful that he and Emma had borrowed some of the Shi'ar technology and installed it in the Biosphere. It provided a level of intensity and realism that could never have been achieved otherwise. Of course, it also pointed out the team's weaknesses in more vivid detail. "Ye can leave now." He paused as the students left the training ground, weary and yet still somehow energetic. "Jono, lad, can ye stay for a minute, please?"

"See, Sparky? If ya wouldn't have been tryin' t'get me killed an' all, you could be outta here with the rest of us!" Jubilee pointed out with a confirming nod of her head. After a brief but admonishing look from Emma, however, she turned and walked out with the rest of her classmates.

Jono stood by the door, kicking his foot restlessly back and forth. Emma stood before him, the same disappointed look on her face he was accustomed to seeing, and Banshee had his arms folded across his chest and a worried look. This was what all of the students of Generation X feared, a lecture on their abilities and shortcomings. Everyone received it at least once a week. Jono guessed it was merely his time to get one.

"Ye did a good job of stayin' alive," Sean started, frowning as the words sounded strange to even him. "But if this had been real, Jubilee might not've made it through."

Jono looked to the floor, perhaps to find the answer written in the ground. *Sorry.*

"No, sorry is not going to correct everything." Emma was tired of not being allowed to bring up Jono's problems. Sean, on the other hand, wanted to take the kinder, more fatherly approach to everything.

"Jono, ye seem...distracted. I know ye don't like talkin' about yuir problems an' all, an' I can respect that, but ye know ye can talk to us, right?"

Jono nodded mutely, wondering when this talk was going to end.

"Is there anything ye'd like to tell us?"

Jono shook his head, brown hair falling into his face. He made no effort to brush it away.

"Yuir privacy is one thing, lad, but when it starts resultin' in carelessness in battle, it becomes our business." Jono would have drawn in a deep breath if he could; the previous statements had simply been leading up to the real lecture, apparently. "We've noticed ye've seemed very off-kilter lately, an' we ignored it, just thinkin' ye'd work it out yuirself. But ye 'aven't, Jono, an' aside from bein' worried about ye, we're also worried that it's going to end up getting others hurt as well."

*It...won't 'appen again,* Jono assured an empty promise, shoving his hands a bit deeper into the pockets of his jacket. It seemed at times that maybe the gods of fate had nothing better to do than to conspire against him and make his life miserable. That included endless lectures from teachers.

"Yes, it will, until you deal with whatever it is that's troubling you." Emma ignored the look Sean shot her at her less than encouraging words. "You know that any of us will help if you only ask for it, Jonothon. So why don't you?"

Jono looked up, defiance and something his teachers couldn't quite place mingling in his eyes. *'Cause nothin's wrong. An' even it there was, I'd deal with it myself. I don't need yer help or anyone else's. Never 'ave. Why start now?* He felt the familiar tingle at the back of his mind start to fade as Emma withdrew the telepathic feelers she had begun to use to try to track down the source of the trouble, and then he turned and stalked angrily from the Biosphere.

Sean gave a quiet, defeated sigh. "So. That went well."

******

"He's been possessed by a space alien."

"Nah. I think it's the Phoenix."

"What?"

Everett shrugged at his suggestion. "It's better than Jubilee's explanation."

"How? The Phoenix is female, anyway. And isn't it still in Jean?" Paige was infinitely confused by then. How on Earth their topic of conversation had gone from a homework assignment to trading thoughts on what was bothering Chamber was beyond her.

"I don't know." Ev took a sip from the can of Mountain Dew in his hand, contemplating it with a thoughtful expression. "But that would explain the cleaning fits he keeps taking."

Paige and Jubilee both were silenced; their teammate brought up a good point. Angelo, sitting across from them in an overstuffed lounge chair, forced a weak smile.

"Guys, c'mon. Don't make jokes. I mean, I'm just as sick of this new personality as the rest of you, but something's wrong and he's not talkin'. I don't feel right makin' fun of him for it."

While her two cohorts seemed a bit abashed at the gentle reprimand, Jubilee was nowhere near finished. "The guy could've gotten me killed! I mean, I know he's like, Chamber the Angsty-Ghost, but still!"

"Look, Lee. You're still alive, right? Why complain?"

"Because as loathe as I am to admit it, Jubilee has a point." For the first time since entering the rec room, Monet chose to speak. She pointedly ignored the surprise that registered on the faces of her teammates. "Had that been a real battle rather than a training session, Jubilee could have been injured because of Jonothon's negligence. And even aside from that, his mental state has always been precarious, at best. I am not altogether comfortable knowing that there is a possibility he is even more unstable than usual."

Angelo rolled his eyes. "Well, I've tried everything I know to get 'im to talk, and nothin' works. If you got a better idea, Monet, then feel free to try it."

Monet stood, her long black hair falling gracefully around her and subsequently causing Jubilee to snort in disgust. "Very well."

As she left, Paige looked curiously at her friend. "Um...Ange, are ya sure that was the best way to help?"

Angelo could only offer a deep, somewhat apologetic sigh. "I didn't think she would take me up on it."