Lorna 12: Roy vs.
Lorna “My condition is simple.
If you lose, don’t cry.” “If you agree, I can spar with you right after this.” Roy said with a smile.
Cry?
Hearing his words, Lorna’s large, beautiful eyes widened in disbelief.
He actually thinks I’ll cry if I lose?
Do I look like that kind of person?!
Very quickly, displeasure spread across Lorna’s pretty face, as though Roy had just insulted her.
Roy had no intention of insulting her.
His real purpose was simply to see what kind of expression the mature, confident Lorna would make after hearing such a condition.
Just as he had expected, Lorna—whose temperament and personality both carried the air of a mature woman—first looked stunned, then visibly annoyed.
“I’ll cry?” “Did all the blood rush away from your brain because you just finished eating?
How could I possibly cry?!” Lorna frowned, clearly irritated.
“Who knows?” “Some people act all tough and mature, but the moment they suffer even the slightest setback, they turn into crying little girls.” “I’m not talking about you.
I’m just giving an example.” Roy said, barely suppressing his laughter.
“You…” Lorna might have been more mature than Clarice, Rogue, and the others, but in the end, she was still only an eighteen-year-old girl who had just reached adulthood.
At that age, both men and women could be easily provoked.
And if someone never matured mentally, the same would still be true even in their thirties or forties.
“I accept your condition.” “But let’s make one thing clear first.
If you lose later, you’d better not start crying either.” “I have no interest in comforting some sniveling little boy.” Lorna shot back.
“No problem.” Roy answered calmly.
Although the spar hadn’t even begun yet, he was one hundred percent certain that Lorna would be the one to lose.
Even without transforming into his hybrid form, she wouldn’t last a full minute against him.
With his current physical attributes alone, he could simply overwhelm her head-on.
Although neither of them went around loudly announcing their match, news that Roy and Lorna were going to spar quickly spread throughout the entire school.
It wasn’t just the students who heard about it.
Even Professor X learned what was happening.
The school normally didn’t encourage students to spar with each other outside training class.
However, once Professor X learned that the match would be between Roy and Lorna, he not only chose not to stop it, but even instructed Cyclops and Storm to bring the older students along to watch.
In the X-Men film universe, Professor X had only seriously considered training a new generation of X-Men after the Alkali Lake incident.
But in this universe, because of Roy, that idea had emerged much earlier.
So far, Roy was still the only student receiving private instruction from Cyclops and the others.
However, Professor X had specifically told them that while training Roy, they should also begin developing a proper training program for future X-Men.
Although Cyclops and the others hadn’t finished putting that program together yet, they had already accumulated quite a bit of experience while training Roy.
Roy had originally planned to spar with Lorna on the lawn behind the main building.
In the end, however, the location was changed to the basketball court.
Not only that, but the majority of the school’s students had gathered around the court.
Professor X had only asked Cyclops and Storm to bring the older students so they could personally witness a battle between mutants and gain some practical experience.
However, once the older students gathered around the basketball court, the younger students followed as well.
Watching a spectacle was simply part of human nature, regardless of age or gender.
“That’s a pretty big audience.
Are you nervous?” Roy asked Lorna, who was standing several meters away.
“Of course not.” Lorna answered without hesitation.
That was what she said, but her expression wasn’t nearly as calm as her words suggested.
She concealed it well, but Roy could still tell that she was a little nervous.
“Do you want me to back up farther and give you more room?” Roy asked again.
There were only about five meters between them at the moment.
For an ordinary person, five meters was already a decent distance.
For Roy, however, five meters could be crossed almost instantly.
Although his status panel didn’t directly display his actual movement speed, according to his own estimates, he could now move at no less than sixty meters per second.
That meant he could cross five meters in at most a tenth of a second.
“If you want to back up, then back up.
You don’t need to ask me.” “And stop talking to me.
You’re distracting me.” Lorna shot Roy a fierce glare.
“Fine.
You’re the boss.
Whatever you say.” As he spoke, Roy turned and walked toward the basketball hoop.
He didn’t stop until he was directly beneath it, then turned around to face Lorna again.
There were now more than twenty meters between them.
That still wasn’t particularly far as far as Roy was concerned, but the basketball court was only twenty-eight meters long in total.
If he moved any farther back, he would have to leave the court entirely.
Seeing Roy voluntarily create enough distance between them, both Cyclops and Storm nodded approvingly.
For mutants like Lorna, whose abilities relied on controlling external forces at range, medium- and long-distance combat was where they could best use their abilities.
By backing away and giving her plenty of room, Roy was clearly refusing to take advantage of starting at close range.
Once Roy and Lorna were both ready, Cyclops naturally stepped into the role of referee.
“Begin!” The instant Cyclops spoke, Lorna activated her mutant ability.
Under her control, six metal spheres roughly the size of eggs floated into the air and began circling around her like satellites orbiting a planet.
She had prepared the six metal spheres in advance.
Although she could have manipulated all the metal objects around the basketball court and used them to attack Roy, she had no intention of causing unnecessary damage to the surroundings.
Roy calmly watched Lorna control the metal spheres without showing any intention of attacking first.
Seeing him remain perfectly still, Lorna didn’t hesitate.
She sent the spheres flying toward him.
Under her control, three of the metal balls shot toward Roy like bullets.
Yet Roy stood there as calmly as ever, as though he hadn’t even noticed them.
Without the slightest suspense, the three metal spheres slammed directly into his chest.
And then— Nothing happened.
What… Lorna knew Roy’s Blazing Heat could greatly increase his strength and durability, so she had deliberately put more force behind the attack.
Even so, the three metal spheres that struck Roy failed to cause him any injury whatsoever.
“Too weak.” Ignoring the metal balls that had just collided with his body, Roy spoke at an unhurried pace.