27. Showdown

Both men stood a good fifteen feet apart, one with a pair of tonfas and the other with a set of shimmering blue claws. Angry eyes zeroed in on each other as Miguel let out a growl and Eric grinned as he twirled one of his weapons around.

"You really don't want to do this," Eric said smoothly.

"The hell I don't." Making the first move, Miguel charged the Italian and took several swipes at him. His claws left a faint trail of blue light behind them from how fast he was moving. He really wanted to put this guy down.

Eric was dodging and blocking each one of Miguel's attacks easily. He didn't really have a form behind them and was attacking out of pure anger. Kicks were thrown in as his legs were targeted, only to be blocked by his tonfas. From the way Miguel fought, he could tell the Mexican had no fear of getting hit. Maybe it was over confidence in his abilities or maybe it was him taking Miguel too lightly, but Eric suddenly found himself flat on his back with a boot rising over and stomping where his head was at a moment after rolling away.

"That was a killing blow," Logan stated as he grabbed the microphone. "Miguel, stand down!"

"F#$k you!" Taking a swipe at the air, Miguel fired a stream of light at the speaker and destroyed it.

"My turn," Eric said as he stood back up.

Turning his attention back to the Italian, Miguel charged him again and took a swipe at his chest. The moment his claws connected with Eric's body, the weapon wielding mutant vanished into thin air. The sudden disappearance of his foe surprised Miguel, almost as much as being hit from behind.

"Told you; you don't want any of this." Taking a flying leap forward, Eric flipped his weapons around so the spikes were pointed down.

As he came closer, Miguel took an uppercut swipe at the incoming mutant but the same thing happened as he disappeared the moment he was struck. Another hit struck Miguel across the back of the head, forcing him to a roll out where he came face to face with another Eric. He too disappeared as a boot connected with Miguel's face. Once on his back, a pair of spikes came down over his face and disappeared the moment they were to impale themselves in his eyes.

"What's he doing?" Justine asked as she and the others watched the fight.

"It's Eric's power," Piotr told her. "He can make illusions of himself, makes it very hard to hit him."

"He's facing the wrong way!" Noi exclaimed as she saw Miguel attacking empty air with Eric closing in from behind and nailing a flurry of kicks to his head and chest. They were not affected by Eric's power from being so far back and could not see what Miguel saw.

Letting out a roar, Miguel finally lost all control and attacked every Eric he saw. Blue claw strikes became darker until they were as black as night. The illusions of his opponent disappeared and reappeared as fast as he could get rid of them. His head began to throb from the pain his own powers caused him but all he could focus on was taking down the man he was blaming for practically everything he was going through as well as the pain he felt. He caught what appeared to be one of the Erics grinning at him among the others and took a leap at him, only to be struck down by a forceful telekinetic blast from the one he tried to attack. The impact knocked him back across the room, leaving him lying on the ground with his bones feeling as if they were rattling loosely. With the world muffled around him, he groaned in pain as he tried to get back up when Eric stood over him.

"Allow me to reintroduce myself," Eric said as he holstered his weapons. "My name is Capra, Italian for Goat, acronym for 'greatest of all time'. Learn it well my friend, it may save you from being embarrassed again."

Letting out a growl, Miguel formed his black claws again as he moved to get up when Megan yelled at him.

"Miguel, stop!" Before she could say another word, Noi came running up from behind her and began hitting Miguel as hard as she could, making him dissipate his claws.

"What are you doing?!" the young girl screamed as she continued smacking him and crying. "Do you want to die?! Why did you do that?!"

"Hot head!" Logan yelled as he and Ororo entered the Danger Room. "What the hell-" Seeing Noi slam her tiny fists on Miguel brought him to a stop.

"You never do that! You know what happens to you if your claws turn black! You promised you would take care of me and you're trying to kill yourself! Why didn't you stop?!"

No one made a sound as Miguel sat there on the floor, not moving a muscle as Noi continued to smack him until her hands were too sore to continue. Justine took her away as she continued to cry and had to take a dose of her inhaler.

"Miguel, I've given you some slack in the past," Ororo told him. "But attacking someone like you just did is uncalled for. I will not tell you what to do but I expect for everyone to abide by certain unspoken rules like the one you just broke. If you cannot get your anger back under control, I'll have no choice but to see to it you are no longer allowed at the Mansion."

It wasn't for a while after the others left when Miguel finally got up from where he sat.

Dinner was loud as usual until Miguel joined the others in the dining room, then it was eaten in relative silence. It was his first night there all over again as he felt all eyes on him, only instead of his fellow mutants wanting to get to know him; it seemed they just wanted to get away from him should he become upset again.

Mostly keeping his eyes downcast and focusing on his meal, he did steal glances at Noi who was still upset with him and was now sitting close to Justine. He caught Megan looking at him from the corner of her eye before Eric wrapped an arm around her when he saw Miguel looking at her and it wasn't long before he excused himself politely and cleared his place. Following him with predator-like eyes, Miguel waited until he entered the foyer before pushing his plate forward and making a beeline towards him.

Those sitting looked at each other worriedly with Logan growling and telling them to stay sitting as he got up to follow the two. Megan was behind him as she ignored his order with the other mutants growing deathly quiet in order to hear what was happening.

"Guy could use a drink," Remy quietly stated.

"You imagine what he must be going through?" Kitty asked. "He lost the love of his life and-"

"Oh, God, Kitty," Marie said as she dropped her fork. "You're not gonna start with that again, are you?"

"What? It's true, isn't it?"

"Kitty," Ororo said, "Perhaps you should allow some space for those two to work things out on their own."

"Or allow enough space in case of another fight," Kurt added.

"Was it as bad as they said it was?" Bobby asked.

"If Eric didn't use his illusion powers when he did, Miguel would have indeed killed him."

"He was like a rabid animal," Marie told them. "Yelling and attacking like he did…"

"And how black his claws got," Piotr pointed out.

"I take it back," Remy said. "Guy really needs a drink."

"Guys, please," Justine interrupted. Beside her, Noi was beginning to cry again. "She's upset enough as it is."

"It's alright, Noi," Ororo told her. "I'm sure Miguel will do the right thing." Although her words were meant to calm the child, they did nothing for the headmistress as she only hoped a fight wouldn't break out at any moment.

Inside the foyer, Eric pulled out his phone as he headed upstairs, not noticing Miguel was following him with his fists clinched.

"Eric," Miguel called, bringing the other mutant to a stop on the stairs. "Can Ah talk with you?"

Looking down at the man he utterly embarrassed earlier, Eric pocketed his phone and stepped closer to him. "Yes you may; however, I must ask this doesn't take much time as I have family business to attend to."

"It won't take long." Relaxing his fists, he popped his index fingers and stepped closer to the base of the steps. "Ah…wanted to apologize."

Cocking his head to the side with a quizzical look, Eric stepped down completely from the stairs to stand before Miguel. "Apologize? You would apologize to me?"

"Yeah. Ah have an anger problem in case you didn't know and…it…can…kill meh if it gets out of hand. Ah should have been more civil to you."

"But you weren't. I extended my hand in friendship and you slapped it aside. You exhibited very poor manners befitting a street urchin and didn't bother to give thanks after I defended you from that last droid."

"Now wait a minute, Ah didn't need or ask you to help meh. Ah can't be hurt with mah claws out so if it would've attacked meh, it wouldn't have done anything to meh."

"Regardless, this is a team. We all work together and defend each other. As a gentleman, I accept your apology, despite your shortcomings." It was then when Eric saw a shadow move across the room and a grin crossed his features as Miguel growled slightly. He then began to speak louder. "I apologize to you Miguel. I should not have jumped the gun like I did. I will respect your decisions as you have asked of me and will not interfere with your activities. Now if you would excuse me, I have to make a phone call."

Watching Eric head to his room with a look of confusion, Miguel was just about to call him back when he heard fast approaching footsteps behind him. Turning, he saw Megan coming right up to him.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"What?"

"You made him apologize to you?"

"Ah didn't make him do anything. Ah apologized to him."

"Dragonfly, Claws," Logan said as he joined them. "Quit yer lover's quarrel and shut up." The addressed mutants took a step back and avoided each other's gazes.

"Logan, he," Megan was cut off by the Canadian as he held his hand up.

"Miguel didn't make him do anything. I heard everything from where we were and Eric accepted as well as gave an apology. Miguel did the same. Now before this goes any further and we have another episode like we did in the Danger Room, I need you three to agree to work together or I will take matters into my own hands, understood? You're X-Men. You don't fight each other."

Neither argued with Logan as his sense of hearing was a tad more advanced than theirs. As he left to go back to the dining room, Megan hesitated as she turned back to face Miguel. "Look, I'm-"

"Megan, for the sake of argument," Miguel interrupted, "Ah'm sorry. Ah should have let it go."

"Why didn't you? You really think he took me from you? He didn't take me. I told you, it's not my fault what happened-"

"Ah know." He shook his head and placed his hand on his hips. "Ah just didn't know what to do."

She nodded then turned back to the dining room but stopped halfway there. "Miguel…please, don't lose your temper like that again. You not only hurt yourself, but others to. You've got a little girl in there who looks up and depends on you more than any of us probably know… and I won't be able to stand it if you kill yourself like that."

After watching her leave, he let out a pent up sigh then mowed a hand through his hair.

"Monsieur Cortez," Came Remy's voice from where Megan disappeared through. "Care to join me for a drink?"