Episode 102: Danger Room!
"Welcome to Combat Studies, Peter Parker and…Michelle Jones," Ororo said.
"I prefer to be called MJ," MJ responded.
The two of them along with Kitty, Wagner, Jubilee, and the dark-haired girl with the scowling face were standing in a large room with five other students.
"For today's lesson, we will be practicing our Synergy Attacks," Ororo continued. "So everyone, please have your Marémon at the ready."
Jubilee's hamster-like Jubli immediately stood on its hind-legs, while Wagner's monkey-shaped Nighcrawl scratched its head in confusion and Kitty's dark blue-and-yellow Shadocatt licked its paws casually. As for Peter's Spidi, he looked at the other Marémon to see what he should be doing and MJ tried to summon her tarantula-shaped Noirspi but ended up summoning the pig-like Hamder from her PDB instead.
"Not again!" MJ groaned.
"Is something wrong?" Ororo asked MJ.
"My Hamder has this bad habit of using his Spider-Nonsense ability to swap places with my other Marémon," MJ answered reluctantly.
"Perhaps you need to assess Hamder's needs to determine why he keeps switching places with your other Marémon," Ororo suggested before turning her attention back to the class. "I will start by demonstrating my Marémon's Synergy Attack. Ewestrom!"
From the shadow of the room appeared a tall blue and silver creature that resembled a sheep with a long neck and a mane of long flowing white hair. It was also bipedal, and tepidly stepped forward while its cloud-shaped tail had occasional sparks flying.
"Ewestrom is shy," Ororo said to Peter and MJ while the long-necked Marémon stood beside her being only a foot shorter. "But in battle, she's a fierce warrior. Now, Tornado!"
As Ororo proceeded to spin around, Ewestrom did the same. Both generated wind gusts that spun together to form a small tornado that almost knocked the students over as they held their Marémon tightly to the ground. Peter, though, was not prepared as he was trying to retrieve Spidermin who was flying through the air while MJ's Hamder was rolling around on the floor forcing MJ to return him to his PDB.
"In this class, we do not use PDBs," Ororo told MJ once she and Ewestrom stopped spinning, which made the wind die down. "As I said earlier, Xavier's school encourages Free Roaming for all Marémon."
"Sorry," MJ apologized and re-summoned Hamder.
"Now let's have everyone else show their Synergy Attacks starting with you," Ororo instructed before pointing at Kitty.
"Uh, right," Kitty said as she grinned embarrassingly at Peter. But upon seeing MJ's frown, Kitty composed herself before shouting, "Shadocatt, Disruption!"
Then in an instant, Kitty and her Marémon disappeared beneath the floor. A moment later, the ground disintegrated into fragments as the two emerged from it fully intact.
"Very good," Ororo complemented.
Immediately after Kitty and Shadocatt stepped back, the part of the floor they destroyed immediately repaired itself.
"How did that happen?" Peter wondered.
"It's one of the many features the Danger Room has, Mr. Parker," Ororo stated. "This is the only place in Xavier's school where the students and their Marémon can unleash the full strength of their Mutant powers without causing damage to the building itself."
From there, the other students and their Marémon did a series of impressive Synergy Attacks. While Jubilee and Jubli did a dazzling explosion called Atomic Blast, the girl with the scowl summoned a Marémon called Wolvie that resembled a mongoose with pointed black ears, yellow fur, and a blue claw-shaped patterns on the sides. It turned out the girl's name was Laura, and together with her female Wolvie the two of them unleashed bone claws from their hands that became metallic in an instant.
"That's Adamantium," Peter realized, looking at the metal. "I've heard it's pretty toxic, and yet Wolvies can consume that stuff because of their high metabolism. But how is Laura able to grow Adamantium on her claws?"
"She's Logan's daughter," Kitty said before correcting herself. "Well, technically, she was cloned from Logan and grew up in a lab similar to the one he was found in. No one taught her to speak, and so she was completely silent when she first came here."
"And though she can talk now, she still prefers the silent act," added Jubilee.
"Did I say you two could talk?" Ororo scolded.
"No, Ma'am!" Kitty and Jubilee said in unison.
"So, Mr. Parker, why don't you try a Synergy Attack?" Ororo asked Peter. "You're one of us now, after all."
Peter stared at MJ and then Spidermin. The two of them didn't know what to do, so they just stood awkwardly.
"I take it you don't know how Synergy Attacks work," Ororo guessed.
Reluctantly, Peter shook his head.
"You need to observe your Marémon, and move like they do," Ororo instructed. "Then together, you must say a word that will trigger the attack."
"It's not something you learn right away," Wagner said to Peter.
"Yeah, it takes a lot of practice," Kitty added. "But I believe in you, Pete."
"Me too!" Jubilee cried.
As Kitty, Jubilee, and Wagner crowded around Peter, MJ frowned and stormed out of the Danger Room with Hamder trailing behind. Peter didn't notice this until class was over, so he looked for MJ during Lunch.
"Have either of you seen MJ?" Peter asked Quill and Gwen, who were sitting by themselves in the dining hall.
"She decided to eat in our room," Gwen said.
"Why?" Peter asked.
Gwen shrugged. "I don't know. She looked pretty upset, though."
"Seems like you're taking to being a Mutant quite well," Quill said, noticing Kitty and Jubilee's occasional glances towards Peter. "You've even got some female admirers."
"Quill! It's not like that," Peter insisted.
"Does MJ see it that way?"
Remembering how MJ reacted to him being with Felicia, Peter suddenly felt guilty and left the dining hall. Finding MJ and Gwen's room, he knocked on the door.
"Hey, MJ," Peter said. "Is something wrong?"
"Go away!" MJ snapped from the other side.
"Were you mad that I was talking to Kitty and Jubilee?"
"No, not entirely…."
"Then what is it?"
"I just…don't know how I feel about you being a Mutant."
To be continued…
