"So, it looks like our two winners are Jean and Sara" announced Kurt, with a slight air of boredom etched on his face. In a way, it was a result he had already expected, given the nature of both their powers.
"Kitty, looks like the newbie is leaving us behind" lamented Kurt with a tone of disappointment.
"Oh, speak for yourself. She may have surpassed me for now, but it won't be like that in the future" replied Kitty with a smile on her face. Kurt could only think she was as optimistic as ever.
Beside them, Scott watched Jean and Sara in the center of the room, both preparing for the simulated battle that would follow. Although Scott trusted Jean's abilities and had seen her in various battles before, not even he dared to predict the winner of the fight. Sara always seemed to be discovering new tricks, keeping everyone in suspense about the outcome.
"So, Scott, what's your guess for the winner?" asked Kurt, appearing beside his friend with his agile teleportation.
"Frankly? I have no idea" replied Scott, watching the two closely.
Upon hearing his friend's words, Kurt let out a brief whistle, surprised by the unexpected response. Everyone there knew how formidable Jean was, being even considered the most powerful mutant among all the children in the mansion.
Turning back to Sara, both she and Prime were quite intrigued by the prospect of fighting against Jean. Sara found Jean's powers quite impressive, while Prime was determined to test his resilience against the telekinetic powers that seemed to be extremely powerful.
"So... do you guys often fight each other from time to time?" inquired Sara, keeping calm in her voice.
"I wouldn't say often. Although there are some who really love to fight, so they probably come here more than I do" replied Jean, letting out a small laugh as she recalled some moments from the past.
"So, are you ready?" asked Sara after finishing her brief stretch, something she rarely did. In fact, it was the first time she had done so.
"Of course, I'm always ready" replied Jean, as her hair seemed to come to life.
Slowly, Jean began to rise from the ground, floating in the air with a calm expression. Her feet no longer touched the ground as she hovered over the room, casting a gaze down at Sara. Prime watched the scene, impressed with Jean's ability to fly. After pondering for a few moments, he concluded that, considering her telekinetic powers, flying really wasn't surprising for someone like Jean.
"Scott, could you act as a referee for us?" asked Sara.
Upon hearing Sara's words, he nodded briefly and rose, heading towards the girls. As he approached them, he gave them a brief glance before raising his hand, signaling that the match was about to begin.
Noticing Jean's posture, Sara prepared for the confrontation, meeting the intense gaze of the telekinetic mutant. It was evident to Jean that she couldn't underestimate Sara; likewise, Sara and Prime recognized the importance of being alert in the face of an opponent with telekinetic powers, something they had never dealt with before.
"... Begin!" exclaimed Scott, quickly lowering his hand to signal the start of the confrontation.
Reacting to Jean's provocation, Sara suddenly felt her body lose all sensation of weight, being enveloped by a feeling of lightness that made her start to float. Faced with this unexpected development, she met Jean's confident gaze, who sported a small smile as she watched her closely.
Acting on instinct, tentacles emerged from Sara's back, with two of them anchoring to the floor and two others to the ceiling. Simultaneously, a fifth tentacle sprouted from Sara's back, swiftly advancing toward Jean.
Although initially surprised, Jean quickly maneuvered around the situation by creating a telekinetic shield around herself, preventing the tentacle from advancing for a few brief seconds. However, to everyone's surprise, the tentacle began to exert a notable brute force, piercing through Jean's telekinetic wall. This was unsettling for those who knew the defensive robustness of her shields.
"I can't believe it..." exclaimed Kurt, with a surprised look, as he watched the fight unfold.
Surely, this reaction wasn't exclusive to Kurt; Kitty and Scott were equally surprised. Sara was proving to be much stronger than they expected.
Returning to the scene with Sara and Prime, as the duo created a gap in Jean's shield, Sara's hand began to morph into a red claw, an extension of Prime.
Reaching out toward Jean, Sara shot another tentacle toward the shield. With a powerful push to the sides, the shield opened up, leaving Jean momentarily defenseless and losing control of her powers. Sara didn't hesitate and advanced towards her.
Shortly after, still in mid-air, Sara completed her transformation and grabbed Jean by the neck, forcefully bringing her down to the ground. Prime, alongside Sara, watched Jean, who now breathed heavily due to the impact of the blow.
Seeing that the outcome of the fight was clear, Prime rose and, with a tentacle, lifted Jean too. Moreover, Prime felt it was time to share something: he wanted to speak. After all, there was no more reason to hide this ability. They already knew Prime could understand them, so there would be no harm in knowing he could also communicate verbally.
"Are you okay?" Prime asked, trying to sound as least scary as possible.
The new voice that echoed through the surroundings caught Jean, who was being helped by Prime, off guard, as well as Kitty, Kurt, and Scott, who were approaching the scene. They all looked at Prime in confusion, who observed them with his head tilted to the side, expressing doubt. This posture only accentuated his scary appearance.
"Sara? And you?" Jean asked, concerned about the girl, as she had never spoken in this form before.
"Half yes, the other is Prime" Sara replied, opening half of her armor and revealing her face.
This scene surprised everyone once again, but honestly, they were starting to get used to Sara's quirks. So, upon discovering this, the reaction didn't go beyond a simple surprise.
"So, you and Prime, huh? I thought you didn't speak" exclaimed Kurt, with a surprised look in his eyes as he observed Prime from top to bottom.
"I don't speak. Sara is the one talking. I'm just using her voice as a medium. So, technically, we're both speaking at the same time since our minds are interconnected" Prime replied.
After uttering these words, Prime retreated back into Sara, bringing her back to her original form.
"Well, there you have it. Besides, it seems I'm the winner" Sara exclaimed with a smug smile on her face.
Kurt, Jean, Kitty, and Scott watched Sara with surprise stamped on their faces. It seemed like she had no idea of the power she had demonstrated. For comparison, Jean's feat in levitating Sara would require enough strength to move an entire house. However, Sara clung to the floor and ceiling as if it were trivial, unaware of the magnitude of her own ability.
"I was really hoping you'd use that attack you used on the dummy before" said Sara. "Prime wanted to test if we were strong enough to handle it"
And so, Sara ended her first day of training at the mansion. In the cafeteria, news of Jean's defeat and Sara's victory spread quickly. Several mutants began to approach her, curious about her abilities, as defeating Jean would require her power to be exceptionally strong, far beyond that of ordinary mutants.
Sara anticipated that her next days would be notably more eventful than she initially imagined. However, this prospect didn't bother her.
***
In a dimly lit room, several screens displayed faces of various individuals, though their identities remained concealed. The figure in the room, communicating with these individuals, was clearly visible.
"How are the investigations progressing? Do we have any information on our specimen and its location yet?" echoed a voice from the monitor, clearly artificial and distorted, unlike the original voice of the person on the screen.
"We have identified an initial target. Soon, we will be in position to capture him" replied the man in the room, his voice echoing calmly and authoritatively.
"Excellent, but remember, Alexander Pierce, avoid drawing unnecessary attention. We don't want S.H.I.E.L.D. on our tails. We already have enough problems to deal with" exclaimed another voice from the monitor.
As soon as the name was mentioned, a smile spread across Alexander's lips, a high-ranking member of Hydra and also an infiltrator in S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Don't worry, that kind of mistake is completely out of the question"
With these words, the atmosphere in the room once again became heavy. Several events were underway, and even without Prime noticing them, he was at the epicenter of almost all of them.