The future was promising.

After what could have been looked at as an honest bit of stagnation, the forces of the X-men had been bolstered with two new trainees, and more were lining up. This left a new generation of graduated X-men to train the new blood; get them ready for the streets, if you will.

Saph was one of those recently graduated, along with Locke, and Cafas. Each had something to offer to the newbies, and each was tasked with delivering that legacy to them.

Saphirus had sort of earned a reputation of being... tough to please. Aiden's tryout had been brutal, and people had definitely heard about it. The rumors hanging around him? People disappeared when they got on his bad side. He might be an alcoholic. He was a pig. He tried to kill Aiden for talking back, and that's why he had to be hauled to the infirmary after the tryout.

Most of those rumors were unsubstantiated. Most. Some.

Definitely some.

He was a constant presence in the mansion, and he often broke up scuffles roughly, being involved with mansion security, and a bit heavy handed.

All things considered, when Saphirus summoned Evelyn Summers via sparse note on door for some one on one training in the danger room, the concept would likely be a little... intimidating

To be perfectly honest, He'd simply wanted to go over some instruction based on the videos he'd watched of her tryout. Maybe. Just MAYBE he thought Gawain could have been more harsh on her.

Definitely maybe.

Evelyn had never met Saphirus, but she wasn't unfamiliar with what he looked like. At the mansion she had at least caught glances of most of the x-men, and faces were rarely new to her. Personalities though, that was something else entirely. She knew very little about the other mutant and knew even less of what to expect when she got the note for the training session in the Danger Room.

There were always rumors though, and she considered those as she made her way down the halls. Saph was tough. Saph had a temper. Saph put Aiden in the infirmary. Although that one she didn't give too much thought to. After all, her first danger room session ended with her passing out.

She didn't too much. Or at least, she tried not to.

Evelyn didn't exactly have offensive powers though. And sometimes she felt like training sessions were a huge stretch for her. The tryout had focused on her mental strength, but put her against something physical, she was still just human. Training couldn't make her unbreakable. Training couldn't give her control over elements or something equally useful. Training would only make it easier to evade and maybe better with her Sai.

So whatever Saphirus thought he could accomplish with her had a sense of foreboding. She entered the danger room and tried to put her concerns away.

Did Saphirus like the rumors that were spread around about him?

Yes. It kept the kids in line. When he stepped in to stop a fight, that fight stopped. Did it matter that the rumors were silly, and possibly destructive? Nah. Sam knew the truth, So did the other senior members. Maybe not Shin. Shin was... Well... A little less lax than others when it came to that stuff.

The door to the danger room opened.

"C'mon in, we got a lot to go over." He motioned her over to a table with a pair of Sai's on it. Clearly, he'd done his homework. Overall, the room was a pristine, soft white. The X-man himself was not so much; he had a bit of stubble, and a slight lack of sleep would be apparent to those more observant. His eyes looked a little irritated, as if he was new to using contacts, though none were in at the moment.


"I gotta let you know; Today ain't gonna be easy. Prolly best I get that out of the way, in cause you thought you were here for a reading lesson." He stated bluntly, letting his hand plop down onto his aged crowbar; it had seen a lot of action, not a lot of cleaning. It still had signs of blood on it from a recent rescue mission.

"My name is Saphirus, and I'll be going over some combat training with you. First, though, I got a few questions."

He walked over to the solitary table with her weapons on it, and leaned against it, crossing his quite muscly arms in front of his chest. "Why did you try out? What made you want to be one of the X-Men?"

Tone of voice, body language, appearance: these things said a lot about a person. Especially to someone like Evelyn. The echoes, lacking much else to focus on, quickly took assessment of the individual in front of her, and she tried to make sense of the information she received.

The fact he brought the sai showed he probably knew something about her fighting style and what she was familiar with. Bringing them might have showed some prior planning. But he seemed tired, somewhat irritated, and that didn't match up with some of the other x-men she knew. Gawain and Sam were more light-hearted. She'd seen both angry, but this emotion seemed to be somewhat in Saphirus' demeanor. Maybe he was more stern, but that didn't quite match up either. It was like there was something almost twistedly amused under the surface. If he was someone who liked being the tough guy, that could make sense. If he wanted to intimidate, that could be true as well. The thoughts quickly processed through her head, taking only a few moments as she moved across the room to where he was.

>>"I've got a few questions."

She had a few as well.

"I tried out because I wanted to do more with my powers than just organize paintings all day. I grew up having someone look out for me. Felt like I wanted to look out for myself." Evelyn said simply. There was probably more to it than that. She wanted to feel useful. She wanted to be stronger, less fragile. She watched Saphirus, echoes poised to read his body language at her response. He was learning about her, but she was learning about him.

He watched her watching him. It was a little tough to get a gauge on her; She was clearly taking things in, he could see it on her face, but she almost seemed like she could just be distracted, or out of focus. He guessed this was because of her ability.

"I tried out because I wanted to do more with my powers than just organize paintings all day. I grew up having someone look out for me. Felt like I wanted to look out for myself."

His jaw set for a moment as he stared at her, clearly going over her words with a fine-tooth comb...

He wasn't sure he liked what he heard. Most trainees answered that they felt somehow unfulfilled, yes, but they also seemed to want to help others more than themselves. Maybe she was just more honest, though. He knew that when he first joined, he had a lot to prove, and mostly, he was proving it to himself.

"That works. You've learned a lot so far, then? About lookin out for yourself?" He had to trust Gawain's trust in her as a trainee; Yes, there was a bit of a conflict of interest, there, but the young knight's judgment was generally pretty sound.

The fact that her motives reminded her more of his own back then made him uncomfortable. It was no rumor that he'd taken a long time to move from trainee to full fledged X-man. That was because he'd had to learn many, many hard lessons.

"What would you say the responsibilities of the X-Men are?"

Watching someone watch you watch them created an interesting mental tango. It was like a stand off, each sizing up the other. Not that Evelyn could stand toe to toe with him at this point. He was a full x-men, she was a trainee. But mentally, she could play that game. If he liked intimidating people, then he might find her harder to keep on edge. Because she would know if that was what he was doing, read it in his actions, tell when it was a game. And she didn't like when people messed with her.

At the same time, this was someone she had to train under. What he thought about her could reflect on Gawain, and if she was a pain in the ass, they might regret taking her in as a trainee. She needed to do her best, regardless of the impression she was getting.

She stayed focused, tucking away his reactions to storage.

Her answer didn't seem to impress him. Maybe she should have said something about the good of all, using her powers to save people. While she wanted to help, she wasn't going to lie and act like she was starry eyed with the whole hero gig. She felt things were more complicated than just being a hero. There was responsibility, justice, tough choices that were more than saving people. There was also paper work. She had dated Mirror long enough to catch him working on paper work from time to time.

"I've trained a bit, and felt like I've been learning... Locke worked with me, Gawain and I have trained. I feel like I've learned to use my powers better and have a better idea of what they can do." She remarked. She decided not to mention her training with Kyle. Anyone who wasn't an x-man might not be viewed in the best light by Saphirus.

>>"What would you say the responsibilities of the X-Men are?"

"Use their powers to help maintain peace. Stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves. Be both heroes, but also being a force for justice. I guess responsibilities could include a lot though... you guys train students, go on missions. Work with the police..." She said thoughtfully. Was there a right answer? Was there a wrong answer? She wasn't sure at this point.

He leaned forward to stand up tall, uncrossing his arms as she listed Locke and Mirror on her list of combat references. Not bad. Locke had grown a lot over the years, and Mirror was certainly skilled. He gave a little nod. He was sure he had something to add; something practical and real. Fighting on the front lines without a combative power was a dangerous ordeal, but it didn't stop some heroes from being feared by criminals everywhere. It was about fighting smart, and being vigilant in your training.

"Use their powers to help maintain peace. Stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves. Be both heroes, but also being a force for justice. I guess responsibilities could include a lot though... you guys train students, go on missions. Work with the police..."

He nodded again at her, casually reaching down and grabbing his crow bar from its sheath as he wandered away from the table.

"S'the gist of it." There were other important points he could touch on, but this wasn't a history lesson, nor was it a debate on morals. It was a training session.

"Grab your weapons. I want to see where you are for myself. Don't worry, I'll go easy on you to start." That wasn't boastful, he was simply being honest.

"Go ahead and engage when you feel comfortable." He stood, with his right side facing her, his crowbar in between the two of them, a guard that was centered and relaxed; it didn't cover his right side as well as it could.

That was another thing about Saphirus; No one in the mansion really know what his powers were exactly; They were confusing, and he wasn't the kind of guy that sat and explained things. People knew he could get hit hard and be fine, and that he could hit things really, really hard.

Saphirus seemed at least to approve of who she's trained with. That was a start. If he sat there frowning at her the whole time she'd start thinking he was just naturally grumpy, not just hard to please. If his fellow x-men at least got some approval there was some hope, right? Not that she felt she could do much at this point to win favor. It was like asking a mouse to impress a cat.

As he moved to pick up his weapon of choice, a crow bar, she assessed the object. It could be effective, but would take strength to wield, but that matched what she knew about the other mutant. It wasn't particularly long range, unless you threw it, but she didn't view crowbars as necessarily being aerodynamic. Watching him fight with it would be more revealing. Where he chose to block, when he chose to hit; what hand he held it with could say a bit too. If he seemed to have difficulty using one hand over the other could show a preference for what side to fight with. She tried to treat Saphirus like she had learned to treat Forte: he wasn't someone who was exactly going to let her get by easy. He said he would start that way, but she doubted it would stay there.

She picked up the sai and adjusted them in her hands, holding them somewhat lightly so the vibrations from striking another metal object wouldn't hurt her arms as much. She watched Saphirus' stance carefully, the echoes noting his right side staying forward. First thing first was to test why. People usually put their stronger side to the front, so naturally, it would be a good place to start seeking a weakness.

She moved forward, making a feint for his from right leg, then sidestepping and aiming for his left side. The echoes were ready to watch his reactions.

He could tell she had a good head about her from the moment she started to close; that was favorable. She had a solid foundation for footwork, but still needed some serious instruction if she wanted to stay in control. That wasn't very surprising, given her circumstance; she mentioned that she was new to that whole 'looking out for yourself' thing.

She closed to a range in which she could be considered a threat, and Saph readied himself. The first strike was aimed toward his forward leg, he didn't react to it at all. It ended up being a feint; Had he been able to tell from the start? He did react to the attack to his left side, moving his implement with surprising accuracy, catching the tip of her poking weapons near the grip of his crowbar, and steering it to the side with ease in order to hopefully overextend her.

Stabbing tended to be risky business; it was quick, and quite dangerous, but it required a good deal of commitment. Both of the trainees seemed to be specializing in weapons that stabbed... He would have to find out why.

He noticed, then, that while she was quick and clever when it came to engaging, she didn't think things through very well, it would be startlingly easy to throw her off balance; He capitalized on this with a very light kick aimed at her forward ankle, and a shove in order to seal the deal.

Whether it worked or not, he would seamlessly slide back, pushing himself back, and slightly to the side with his front foot, and never crossing his legs in the process.

Saphirus assessed the situation momentarily, and then muttered to her. "Again."

The echoes took careful notes during the interaction, even at the point where Evelyn's balance was tested, and she was focused on other things. It took effort to keep her feet under her, especially when a kick and a shove sent one leg awkwardly off to the side. Sloppily, she caught herself, but at least she wasn't sitting on her butt. That was always an awful way to make a first impression, and she tried her best to avoid it when possible now.

>>"Again."

Righting herself, Evelyn circled back, and tossed one sai up, then the next, lightly, catching each by the point. Fingers gripped with the points towards her forearms, she would have more force to hit with at the base of the weapon, and the pointed end to strike with on the back swing. With someone as fast as Saphirus, catching him at all would take a double strike of some sort. It made her wished she watched more movies. It would be easier to think of ways to fight if she had something more to go off of.

A dart, a swing with the right hand to try to connect with the crowbar and deflect it out of the way. The main force went into a left handed hit, aimed once more for his left side. [Lack of reaction towards strikes on right side. Protecting left.] The information verified what she suspected in the beginning. But knowing wasn't necessarily going to give her an advantage right now. Somehow, he moved reflexively when she attacked, crowbar almost effortlessly pushing her attack away. She needed a way to combat that.

She needed to keep her stance braced though. He was already aiming for her legs, and she braced herself so she wouldn't get knocked down again.

He never shifted out of his combat stance as she managed not to fall, and he watched her quickly recover. His face was blank, though he did seem quite relaxed in this environment; the agitation written on his face before was all but gone. One might guess he enjoyed fighting. A big part of him did.

He took some mental notes; choosing to switch her grip greatly limited her range, but allowed secondary strikes.

She darted straight at him, attempting to take his crowbar out of the equation with a strike; he flicked it down, and let go of it, and his body naturally prompted him to twist toward the more powerful of the two strikes; it would almost seem as if his reflexes were inhuman as his right hand darted in to catch the weaponized pommel against his own finger tips, effectively halting the blow as if it were trying to strike a cement wall, but with none of the backlash of trying to hit something you shouldn't try to hit; needless to say, it would feel very strange.

There was a clang as his crowbar touched the ground, hooked side first, and he allowed himself to keep spinning fluidly, catching the sharp end of the crow bar, opposite the hook, with his left hand before it followed the first half to the ground. From there he would keep spinning, attempting to catch the back of her foot with the curve, and yank with all of his might.

She was smart; she hadn't even bothered striking his right side, but the left side was more of a reach, which gave him an advantage, considering how she'd limited her range. Still, she'd opted to strengthen her stance; perhaps that would save her?

Was Eve about to take a field trip to the floor? Find out on the next episode of "The Danger Room!"

Saphirus dropped the crowbar. That was his first confusing action. Weapon went down, hand moved out, and her sai came in contact with his finger tips. The weapon stopped, but there was no recoil, as if the energy got suddenly drained from the attack. The echoes tried to guess what happened, but there was nothing they had seen before that could explain the phenomenon. He also acted on reflex: somehow his body kept turning into her attack, with a speed that didn't feel natural.

She took a gamble, and was pretty sure her choice for attack was correct, but there was nothing that could make her move faster as he spun. The hook of the crowbar hit her legs, and he yanked.

Her strength wasn't quite strong enough to prevent the falling towards the floor. But experience helped quickly turn it into a roll back onto her feet, and a counter attack for his left leg. The follow up blow moved to shove his arm by the elbow, maybe keep him spinning away from her, knock him off balance. Front of the sai aimed for his leg, back came up in a blow for the stomach. She kept her feet moving this time, and the echoes tracked his weapon. Meanwhile, she studied Saphirus' reaction to any blows that contacted. Some of them just didn't feel right....

She was hooked, and she fell, but she managed to turn it into a roll... Damn, that was actually pretty impressive. She counter attacked quickly, reaching out to shove him to keep him moving; his momentum limited his ability to react to the forced spin.

He felt the blow coming for his leg, and reacted by blocking the attack with his right hand. That left him open for the secondary jab the his stomach; clever... She was clever. Still, this only gave him a chance to illustrate something very important to her.

He triggered his absorption field as the back of her weapon started to close in on him. It would feel like having the wind taken right of out your sails. Like one second you were moving with all of your might, and the next, it all just... went nowhere. Normally, he would take this time to strike, killing his opponent in one blow, or knocking them silly, at least. He would almost move to do so, but instead, jump back a distance that clearly shouldn't have been possible, considering the low physical effort he put into it.

"Good, Good! Now... Tell me what my power is."

Was that the hint of a smile on his face?

After a quick series of motions, Evelyn thought she might be making progress. He was deflecting attacks still, but her efforts paid off. At least, she thought they did. Then the stab to the stomach went....weird. It was like all of the movement vanished, and Saphirus jumped away unharmed. She frowned, the echoes buzzing and chattering with the new information. By the time he asked the question she had straighten up and was considering it thoughtfully.

"I...don't know if I know yet...you guard your left side, which implies some form of weakness there. You try to take the attacks on your right side of the body which shows strength there. But you...absorbed the hit. It was like the energy was gone. If you're trying to pivot yourself to absorb energy though that implies you're doing something with it..." That would be the logical answer at least. She hadn't seen anything that could reveal what he could do with that power though. It wasn't deflecting anywhere that she could tell...Curious..

"I...don't know if I know yet...you guard your left side, which implies some form of weakness there. You try to take the attacks on your right side of the body which shows strength there. But you...absorbed the hit. It was like the energy was gone. If you're trying to pivot yourself to absorb energy though that implies you're doing something with it..."

He placed his weapon in it's holster and folded his arms across his chest as she spoke, eyeing her sternly.

The more experienced mutant let her thoughts go without comment for a moment; the silence was tense.

"You are talented... Clever, even... I'm going to be honest with you, though... I don't like your reason for wanting to be a part of the X-Men..."

The smile he'd had for a moment was long gone. He looked ever bit the gruff, tired, and angry man she'd seen when she entered this room once more.

"It wudn't up to me whether or not you made it to trainee... That was your boyfriend's call. If you wanted to toughen up, though, you could take a few self defense classes and achieve the results you are looking for. If I'm going to assist your on your journey, I need to know you are worth my time. As a member of the X-men you will be asked to place yourself if harms way for the sake of others... This don't line up very well with self centered goals... So I'll ask you one time, and only one time... Are you really sure you want this?"