X-Men Evolution: Rogue Evolution

Blood in the Mud 13.6

The smooth, dark steel wall before Anna was slick and otherwise featureless beyond a little red dot around chest level. She got close to the dot, looking at it from one angle and then another. She slipped off the glove on her right hand and pushed a finger into the metal till she heard it creak. Then, digging her nail into the flawless surface, she drew one line and another till an X was formed with the dot featured at its center.

After she slipped her glove back on and took a step back, and rolled her shoulders, followed by her neck. Resting a single curled fist against the steel, she closed her eyes and took a breath. When she opened them again, she pushed with that same curled fist into the metal wall.

Her arm buckled as the wall continued to stand imperiously over her. Without diverting her sight from where she stared at the wall, she kept pushing despite the pain she felt in her elbow and shoulder. She felt the creaking vibrating through the metal before she heard it. It was subdued but present all the same.

Anna braced her fist by wrapping the fingers of her free hand around her wrist. Additionally, she got closer to the wall and leaned her weight and the force of every tense muscle in her body against the singular spot. A pop of denting metal echoed from somewhere on the other side. She twisted her fist into the metal and clenched her teeth. Her lungs began to burn for air, but the concentration she felt in the center of her forehead burned hotter.

With a united shove forward, her cheek slammed into the broadside of the wall and her fist into unknown air beyond. Her forearm burned from the sudden release of pressure, and the nerve endings at the tips of her balled up fingers tingled. She stretched and flexed her hand on the other side of the wall before returning it to her side.

Her hand and forearm looked unharmed, and following a few shakes to reintroduce them to her circulatory system, they felt like it, too. The wall, on the other hand, now had a nice clean hole where her X used to be.

Her left hand suddenly latched onto one open side of the hole, and her right hand the other. Using every muscle she had available for torque, she ripped at the hole. This time, the metal did little to fight her as she peeled and tore the metal like construction paper. With a twist of her right hand, she snapped off a section of wall and used its pointed edge to cut into a new section of wall like a sword. When it failed to produce the results she was hoping for, she tossed the steel to the side and threw her shoulder into it with the equivalent force of a speeding train.

The metal dented, but when it again didn't immediately give, she threw a flurry of kicks and punches into the section of wall. Finally, she threw her gloves off and started ripping at the worn-over metal with her nails. The metal discolored and bent inward, but still refused to fully give way.

Anna stepped back several paces and got on her haunches like an animal sizing up its prey. Getting on all fours, she launched herself into the wall, and finally, with her full strength behind the strike, she found herself breaking through to the other side of the wall.

Following a shallow spray of debris, she lay on the ground and felt her heart race hard enough that it throbbed in a spot at the nape of her neck. She could feel spots that felt hot on her back from where the twisted metal had likely scraped her, but she didn't need to look at this point to know it hadn't resulted in any actual damage.

"That's a new regimented workout I haven't heard of yet?" Anna heard Scott's voice somewhere nearby. She rolled onto her side and saw her team leader standing in the large doorway to the Danger Room.

Anna allowed her body to unravel onto her back, and she stared up at the Danger Room's impossibly tall ceiling. "I had to hit something really... hard."

"Feel better?"

"Not really."

Scott walked over and offered her a hand up. She was about to take it from him when he slipped his hand back at the last second. A spike of indignation flashed through her chest when she realized why he'd done it. She wasn't wearing her gloves.