Close.
Dangerously so.
The Adamantium claws of Wolverine whistled as they cut through the air coming within a hairsbreadth of cutting the skin of his face as Scott leaned back ever so slightly. He didn't retreat though, Scott knew that if he did then this fight would be lost to him as Wolverine would not let this opportunity slip him by.
Instead, Scott attacked.
His eyes flashed red.
An Optic Blast fired out quickly but Wolverine ducked to one side letting it pass over his shoulder.
However, Scott had expected this.
He also knew that Wolverine favoured his right.
So, when Wolverine ducked down Scott's leg was already swinging up in a roundhouse kick that would have ended the fight right then and there. That was if Wolverine was an average fighter, something he certainly was not by any stretch of the meaning. Discounting the many centuries of experience that Wolverine had accumulated, both he and Scott had fought too many times to fall for such obvious ploys. They knew each other well and so, even as he ducked down he was ready as his right hand swung up ready to cut his leg.
The kick was a feint though.
Having only performed the initial movement, Scott halted just as his toes were about to lift off the ground, another Optic Blast lancing out and knocking Wolverine's hand to one side while Scott pushed Wolverine away by his shoulder to create distance another blast firing out that Wolverine dodged deftly before they circled one another. Their eyes were sharp and focused, never letting the other out of their sight as their bodies remained poised for action despite having fought for over half an hour.
Taking a deep breath to try and even out his breathing, Scott felt the copious amount of sweat dribbling down his brow as he kept his arms raised out in front of him, hands open ready to receive any attack Wolverine might throw his way. His mind was focused for the first time in days, able to feel every fibre of his being ready to defend against his opponent and bide his time till he found the perfect opening to strike.
Sniffling though, Wolverine relaxed and stood upright. "Let's end this here." He said gruffly, Scott keeping his guard up for just a few moments before a frown overtook his features as he too lowered his guard.
"Why?"
"'Cos at this rate one of us is gonna kill the other."
Scott could not deny that though he knew that as he was right now, the person who would end up dead would be himself. Though he had the instincts and muscle memory of Cyclops, his physicality was still far from its peak. In every spar they had, Scott had yet to win one even though none ever ended decisively. However, they did not need to end in such a fashion for Scott to not realise what the end result would have been if it had continued.
No, as Scott was right now he was no match for Wolverine.
That was not all though.
There had been an unusual tension in the air between Scott and Wolverine recently and it all stemmed from one thing, one person.
Jean Grey.
Ever since she had arrived Scott had been on edge and other people could tell.
He was tense, moody and even more withdrawn than before.
But Scott had been unable to keep her off his mind.
He had tried.
However, that was proving easier said than done.
He had tried focusing on other things, namely the training of Warren, Hank and Bobby and his own training. Ways to help them to continually and rapidly improve in preparation for the future threats to come. Scott continued to wade his way through the jumbled mess of memories in his mind courtesy of Cyclops and organise them into some form of chronological order. Even been in regular contact with Callisto to keep up to date on the goings on in New York, namely the endless propaganda machine of Oscorp and their weekly release of new villains, the most recent product being the Lizard.
Yet no matter what distractions he tried to find, his mind always came back to Jean.
It was hard not to look for her, she was an attractive young woman and he despite everything, was a teenage boy with hormones so naturally, his gaze did stray now and then. But that was not enough to keep Jean on his mind, no it was the confused feelings he had within him every time he saw her and thought of her.
He was attracted to her.
Yet he did not know whether that was him or whether that was Cyclops' own memories and feelings leading to it.
Despite everything, the one person Cyclops truly loved was Jean Grey, it didn't matter what other relationships he had, it had always been Jean.
Yet now he was struggling with that as he did not know Jean and quite frankly as things were going, Scott had no desire to and that was precisely why he went out of his way to avoid her as best as he could.
He was scared.
Admitting that was no easy feat.
But Scott was scared.
When it came to Jean a well of emotions he did not know how to deal with came over him.
It was distracting.
Right now, as he used this vital time to prepare for the future, Scott could not afford distractions and that was why he kept his distance. However, that did not mean he could avoid her entirely nor could he not take notice of her and the people around her. It was plain to see that all three of the boys, Hank, Bobby and Warren had some measure of attraction toward her.
Yet they were not the only ones.
Though he seemed to have some control of himself for the time being as he did in Cyclops' memories, Wolverine was also attracted to her. It was partly the reason that their spars recently had become so intense as on account of his own confused mess of emotions, Scott had acted on the burning jealousy, anger and even slight hatred Cyclops held toward Wolverine when it came to Jean.
Though Scott could not deny that this new intensity had allowed him to see rapid improvement.
A missing piece so to speak.
Their private training had always helped push Scott's limits as he started to break away from Cyclops' style of defending and counterattacking to incorporating a proper offensive ability. Yet there had been something missing, something neither Scott nor Wolverine had realised until Jean arrived.
What had been missing was that intensity.
Clenching his fist tightly, Scott nodded his head stiffly and he grabbed a towel from a bench. "We go again tomorrow." Scott was firm in his belief that he would become an equal to Wolverine.
Surpassing him in skill was impossible.
Wolverine had reached the absolute peak in every form of close-quarters combat.
Surpassing him was impossible.
But being his equal?
Now that was well within his abilities and Scott would make it reality.
-X-
In recent years things had become far more hectic than they had been in many decades.
The world of heroes had gone quiet following the dismantling of the Invaders and the end of World War 2. Though heroes had still been present the world had slowly fallen out of a need for them for a good few years as the fight against crime seemed to become more human. However, with the formation of the Fantastic Four and the discovery of new threats of extraterrestrial and interdimensional, the world began to shift as superpowered threats rose and superpowered heroes formed to face them.
This was no less prevalent than in the rising Mutant hysteria that had seemed to grip the entire world.
Mutants were by no means a new thing.
They had always been around and Nick Fury knew from personal experience that they had been around from well before World War 2. However, it was only in recent years that Mutants and the problems they could potentially pose became a hot topic in the world's politics. As a result, S.H.I.E.L.Ds mandate of dealing with criminal organisations such as HYDRA and A.I.M, had shifted to studying and monitoring Mutants and Mutant threats, though the latter two were often one and the same.
Yet they did not possess the resources necessary to monitor everything. That was something Nick had known when he first took over the job as Executive Director following the assassination of his predecessor, Rick Stoner at the hands of HYDRA. When becoming Executive Director, Nick Fury had learned just how underequipped and underfunded S.H.I.E.L.D. actually was to deal with the threats they were assigned to handle, let alone monitor Mutants and other superpowered threats also.
However, when leads came along, it was their duty and mission to follow them up.
One lead had been Oscorp.
The idea that a company could design and create numerous superpowered threats was not unexpected, but the fact they could do it and keep it secret from the government. Now that was shocking especially when it came to the sheer amount of them Oscorp was producing.
Doctor Otto Octavius, aka Doctor Octopus.
Doctor Adrian Toomes, aka Vulture.
Doctor Curtis Connors, aka Lizard.
William Baker, aka Sandman.
The deceased, Aleksei Systevich, aka Rhino.
And the company's crown jewel, Harry Osborn, aka Green Goblin.
This was but the list of known superpowered beings that Oscorp had produced in order to combat the Mutant threat. It was no secret what Oscorp was doing by allowing these supervillains on the streets, they were advertising what they were capable of doing and it was working excellently as their company's stocks had shot through the roof as investors rushed to get a piece of the pie.
The villains were out on the street showcasing their powers while Harry Osborn, the hero of Queens showcased that he was the crowning achievement of Oscorp's technological and scientific ability by defeating them all. It was a simplistically genius advertising campaign that was working brilliantly, except for a few issues.
Namely three in particular.
The first being the Spider-Man.
A vigilante in Queens opposed to Oscorp that seemed deadset on opposing Oscorp at every turn. One who had yet to gain any measure of success yet was proving to be highly elusive as he moved around the city.
The second was the three doctors turned villains, Otto Octavius, Adrian Toomes and Curtis Connors.
Three of the top scientific minds of Oscorp that had all abandoned the company they worked for and turned to a life of crime. It was a serious blow to their public image though one quickly swept under the rug by the Green Goblin who defeated each of them in a pitched battle showcased around the world.
Finally, the attack on Oscorp that started this whole thing off. That attack was what brought attention to Oscorp and forced them into this advertising campaign in the first place, it was impossible to hide what they were up to following that and so in order to get ahead of it, they went with a risky gamble that was paying off for now. Nick Fury intended to ensure that it was only temporary though as he knew from a quick cursory glance into the history and accounts of Oscorp that they had connections to various criminal enterprises in New York, specifically a connection to the Kingpin and Maggia.
The attack itself though was something Nick Fury had found himself also looking into as he directed some resources and agents to keep track of Oscorp and its actions. The moment something truly dangerous occurred that warranted immediate action S.H.I.E.L.D. would intervene but until then he was under orders to simply monitor.
As much as he didn't like it, those were his orders.
However, his curiosity was not so easily satisfied as his attention turned toward the attackers themselves.
A lone superpowered figure who had seemingly appeared and disappeared overnight to never be seen again. That was if one only looked into New York for signs of Atomic Red because there were none, but plenty outside of that.
A train incident in Illinois between superpowered foes.
A clash on the outskirts of the small town of Dunfee.
A prison break in Fort Washington.
Three incidents in the span of less than two weeks each of which involved a superpowered individual possessing the same ocular powers as Atomic Red. The third incident even included two additional individuals, one matching the description of the Avenging Angel in New York as they worked together to free a young Mutant who was being detained there.
It was plain to Nick Fury what was happening.
Someone was putting together a team of Mutants together, perhaps Atomic Red himself.
The question was, where were they?
The answer to that was simple. Hank McCoy, a local football hero and suspected Mutant of Dunfee.
Robert Louis Drake, convicted Mutant imprisoned within Fort Washington juvenile prison.
Both of whom had transferred to Bayville High School.
This was the only lead he had for now and Nick Fury intended to follow it.
He had allowed Oscorp and their operations to slip his notice, he was not about to let a team of Mutants escape him also. The only problem was that he was short of resources at the moment, but he did have one operative who had just finished a long-term under-cover op that could be dispatched. "Agent Hill, get me Agent Romanoff."