章 14: Unexpected Outcome
Taking a deep breath, Esau pulled his shirt down, wincing at the protesting of his ribs, they were still not anywhere near fully healed. Yet, he pressed on, if he couldn't even do such a simple act, then that would only prove that he had been completely defeated by Juggernaut. Not only in body, but in mind and spirit as well.
Esau refused to be broken completely.
His body may be, shattered and still healing, but he still stood upright because his spirit was not broken. His mind may also be in a similar shape, humiliated by the defeat he suffered at a single blow, but Esau refused to let it break him, using the memory of that single titanic blow as fuel for his desires to grow stronger.
It didn't matter to him that he had gotten back up after that blow.
It didn't matter that he had exchanged dozens of blows with Juggernaut.
It didn't matter that he had beaten back Juggernaut where all others had failed.
None of that mattered to him because he had not been conscious when doing any of that. Instinct had taken over and guided his actions, it was a body without a mind that defeated Juggernaut. He had no part to play, just a puppet upon strings, no conscious thought or control of his actions.
Esau was defeated in a single blow, the puppet battled Juggernaut to a standstill.
That was not something he could abide by.
So no matter how much his body protested, no matter how much pain he endured, Esau would keep moving. He would get stronger and stronger until he met Juggernaut again and that time, Esau would ensure he would deal a similar blow in return. A blow so powerful that Juggernaut would be unable to move again and that if he did rise, he would be a puppet.
Nothing else would satiate his anger at this point.
But until that moment came, Esau would bottle it all up inside, let it fester and grow. He would use it as the fuel that would never let him slack off on his training, never grow complacent, never rest and never stop. He would completely surpass Juggernaut in every day possible and he could not wait a single moment, the burning anger at the humiliating defeat he suffered would not allow it.
"You know Blob will never agree to spar you, right?" Lance asked, watching him on in bemusement. "Especially not with your current mindset."
Esau glared at him. "I don't care what the fat fuck thinks, he's going to get off his ass and fight me whether he likes it or not. For his sake, he better be willing to fight back or else I'll just use him as a punching bag until my strength gets to a point that I feel happy about."
Lance looked on, feeling a slight chill go down his spine.
He had known from the moment that Esau had come stumbling downstairs after first awakening following the incident at the X-Mansion that something had been off about him. Esau was always a weird guy, but it had been a funny weird, a friendly weird. Certainly, Lance knew better than to get on Esau's bad side, but he hadn't really ever seen Esau pissed off.
However, the moment he came stumbling downstairs, there had been something incredibly off with him. All had felt it as he looked around wildly, like a wild beast trapped in a cage and ready to attack the moment anyone so much as uttered a word.
It had been unnerving and frankly, terrifying.
Things had calmed down a little following that, mostly thanks to Mystique, but as Esau looked at him after uttering that warning, that same wild air around him returned. Once more, Lance felt like he was being stared down by a wild beast waiting to devour him whole.
"You know Mystigue's rules about sparri-"
"Fuck Mystique's rules, she's not here right now and I am." Esau snarled, Lance raising his hands in surrender.
"I'll go speak with him, convince Blob to accept the fight, just give me a few minutes, yeah?" He waited, not daring to turn his back on Esau. Eventually though, as time ticked by, Esau did nod his head, Lance silently releasing a sigh of relief, stepping back slowly before opening the door and leaving.
-X- Line Break -X-
"Tell me everything," Mystique ordered firmly, looking at the battered and bruised unconscious forms of both Blob and Quicksilver, Lance and Toad stood behind her nervously, not quite sure on what to say or how to say it. "Now!"
"Eh, well," Lance stuttered out. "Where to begin?" He chuckled nervously, Toad smiling equally as nervously as him.
Mystique stared them down, both shrinking in on themselves. "Preferably from the beginning."
"Ah, well, in that case," Lance began to chuckle once more. "Esau wanted to fight Blob, they fought, Esau won and then he fought Quicksilver and, well..." He trailed off, indicating to the unconscious form of the Mutant speedster.
"And, how exactly did Esau manage to do all that with a body in as bad a shape as his?" Mystique questioned.
"I'm not quite sure myself actually." Lance anxiously replied. "But he got clipped by a blow from Blob early on in the fight, but it just seemed to piss him off. Then like usual, the two exchanged blows, Blob missing his while Esau's were landing and getting stronger as time went on. Blob got scared by that and just kind of froze, Esau then just used him as a punching bag until he landed a few blows to the head that knocked Blob unconscious."
Mystique nodded her head. "I can tell that much from the bruises forming on his face." She then indicated toward Pietro. "But how did he manage to beat Quicksilver?" In her mind it had always been a matter of time until Esau beat up Quicksilver and Blob, he was far too determined to not surpass and with a power like his, it was only a matter of time.
Yet Esau was far from fully recovered from his fight with Juggernaut and while Blob and Quicksilver had their own share of injuries, they were by no means as severe as the ones Esau possessed. It was a miracle he was up and moving so soon, let alone fighting and winning against young powerhouses like Blob and Quicksilver. The fact he had done so back to back and in a body as broken as his, Mystique would have called it impossible if she wasn't looking at that very impossibility right now.
But Mystique had always known it was a matter of time before Blob was beaten, a few weeks by her initial estimates. As for Quicksilver, she had estimated it to be months into the future simply because of the way the two differed in their approach to fights. Esau and Blob were similar and so naturally, it would be much easier for Esau to beat him thanks to his unique powers and skillset.
Quicksilver on the other hand was a completely different matter.
It didn't matter how strong or durable Esau was, so long as he couldn't hit Quicksilver the fight would never end. That was why she expected Blob to lose soon and Quicksilver much later on, but this was far too soon.
She wanted to know how.
"The fight went pretty similar to how it always does between the two of them. Esau kind of just stood still, letting Quicksilver hit him while he allowed his eyesight to adapt till he could see him." It was taking progressively less and less time to do so, Esau's eyesight permanently adapting, though only retaining a small fraction of what he achieved during the course of a fight. "Then he tried hitting him, but none of his blows landed. Quicksilver like always, taunted him and then, Esau just dared him to hit him in the face."
"That's it? Just dared him to him in the face?" Mystique questioned.
"There were some other things said." Toad answered this time.
"But basically, Quicksilver took the bait, hit Esau straight in the face and just as he was pulling his hand back, Esau grabbed his wrist." He need not say any more than that, Mystique was more than able to figure out how things played out from that point on.
From it, Mystique was now given a very clear picture of just what was in store for her in the future. Esau it seemed, was getting better far quicker than she expected, his skills and instincts in a fight seemingly honing in a way that she did not expect. His victory over Blob was a result of brute force, but his victory over Quicksilver was through trickery.
He set a trap by using Quicksilver's pride against him.
It wasn't a difficult thing to do, but it was not in line with Esau's usual style of fighting. 'Apparently, his defeat at the hands of Juggernaut has led to some changes in him.' Mystique thought, looking down towards the unconscious mutants. 'That's good, his old way of fighting had limits and the fact he can recognise that means his potential truly is limitless.'
クリエイターの想い 
Carrots123
Carrots123 So not much in this chapter, I don't want to include a lot of fight scenes just yet because there will be plenty to come in the future of this arc. But we can clearly see that Esau's defeat at the hands of Juggernaut has changed things in him. He will always be a brawler, but as Mystique pointed out, he can recognise the limitations of that and adapt to the situation. This is important for the future, but right now, Esau despite being seriously injured managed to take out Blob and Quicksilver back to back. They are of course young and inexperienced, not as strong as they will become in the future, but this is also a younger and weaker Esau. Anyway, if you have any questions, suggestions or theories, please let me know as I'd love to hear them.
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