Edward's fists slammed into the punching bag one after the other. He wasn't following a rhythm or timing. His fists weren't even hitting one after the other all the time. Sometimes he was punching quickly, sometimes it was more slower, more even. He'd been doing this for maybe an hour now, and despite his choice of loose, thin trousers and a workout shirt, his curls were still damp and matted to his head by sweat, and his shirt was sticking to him. Despite punching bare-knuckled for the entire time, his knuckles were barely aching. Which, considering what he had next, was probably a good thing. He slammed his fist into the bag again, and felt the leather give way under his fist. However, that wasn't all that gave way, and the cord supporting the punching bag snapped and it crashed to the floor. Well, shit. It was probably time he was gone anyway. And just like that, the alarm on his phone went off. Yep, definitely time he was gone. He left the punching bag on the floor after making sure it wasn't split open. Not his fault, somebody else could clean it up. He wiped the sweat away from his face with a towel, but there was no fixing his curls or his shirt other than a good wash. Something he didn't have time for.

He threw his phone into his workout bag and flung it onto his shoulder, heading towards the Danger Room. Ordinarily he would change his shirt into something that wasn't sticking to him, but he doubted May cared what he looked and smelt like, and he was probably going to ruin any shirt he wore today anyway. As he walked, he took a powerbar, a shot of lucozade and a bottle of water out of his bag. He ate the bar quickly and chased it with the shot of lucozade. He'd worn himself out somewhat with his workout with the punching bag, and he was going to need energy for another session with May. He then took his time with the water, finishing and throwing the bottle to one side as he reached the doors to the Danger Room. He just hoped May wasn't going to make fun of him for working out.

"Sorry I'm late," He said nonchalantly to @spidergirl as he walked in, dumping his workout bag in one corner. It didn't exactly have anything important in it. May could probably have smelt the sweat on him from outside the room, but he wasn't going to say he was working out for his excuse. Sure, May would probably make it worse for him being late, but it was really the difference between nineteen and twenty kicks in the balls.

May was waiting patiently and calmly in the Danger Room. Of course May didn't exactly do calm and patience. Sure she was a little more patient than some in her family, but it was still something that needed working on. Of course at the same time she wasn't about to do anything to change that. Mainly because she was only focusing on changing one aspect of this world, and that was who was in charge. But that would come later. Right now she was just focusing on relaxing and enjoying this current life. She didn't care for this May anyways, she was rather annoying, and weak. But there were a few things she had that was useful. Mainly the love of a school, a super secret team from SHIELD and some solid genetics.

But more importantly she had a little underling, Edward. Sure the boy needed more training but at the end of the day he could prove extremely useful. He just needed to be manipulated. She knew the real May was pushing him really hard. Perhaps if she went another route she could get him willingly. The idea of getting him to forsake his entire family was appealing, that much was certain. But it wouldn't exactly be the easiest to make happen. But May preferred the subtle approach. But an extreme personality switch would be WAAAAY too obvious. As he walked in she looked up from her book and nodded her head.

"About damn time Pup. I got something special in mind."

She said walking over to the console.

"Time to see exactly what someone like you is capable of."

She said as the lights dimmed. When they came back on Wolverine stood in the middle of the room.

"We're gonna show you some of your dad's old training scenarios. Might give you a better idea of how to think and move with your claws."

He leant against a wall near the corner he'd thrown his bag as she chewed him out for being late. Not like he was very late, and she'd seemed to be deep in thought and not exactly missing him. So what was the big deal? Of course, if she knew he'd broken a punching bag and walked away, she'd probably show him exactly how the punching bad had felt. Sure, he should probably keep a more respectful tone around family, especially when that family member was ready, willing and able to damage him, but he couldn't stop sounding just slightly sarcastic as he spoke.
"Sorry I'm not at your beck and call," He told her, "I was doing stuff." It was pretty obvious, from his attire and the sheen of sweat that covered him, what he'd been doing.

"Someone like me?" He asked, slightly suspicious. She wasn't about to magically produce another...what was the word she'd used? Lupine? She wasn't about to magically produce another Lupine, was she? He liked to think he could kick the arse of another Lupine. Maybe. If it wasn't someone like that Sabretooh she'd put him against the first time. And if it wasn't her. Was she about to demonstrate what someone like her could do? In the prime and with a metal skeleton. But then the lights dimmed, and there was someone else in the room. A hologram, he figured. He looked at it with vague interest, but then he realised who it was, and he started to stare. He'd never seen the man in the flesh, and his mother hadn't kept any photographs of him in the house, but he'd still seen pictures. Nerdy friends and his own curiosity and even the news. You couldn't go through life without seeing Logan, better known as Wolverine, and Ed was no exception. But even as a hologram, this was the closest he'd come to seeing his own father in the flesh.
"I'm not fighting him," Edward said immediately, but then relaxed as May explained what he'd be doing. 

"So I'm just going to watch? Okay...." It seemed like a relatively safe training exercise for May. He'd been expecting pain, stabbing, being thrown against walls. Not just watching. But he wasn't complaining. "Sounds good to me."

He was definitely snippy, very similar to the Edward she remembered. She'd almost began to miss him, but would never admit it. But now she realized how much she missed her little sidekick, her pup. But that was fine. She would do what need be and then he would join her willingly. After all, why should Rayne and Johnny be the only ones to replace a lost loved one? It hardly seemed fair really. But that was fine, she'd get her Edward back, he'd just need to be convinced. She laughed lightly as he mentioned not wanting to fight him.

"Oh you're nowhere near that level. Fighting him would come after fighting me, my mother and Sabretooth. Think of fighting him as a sort of graduation test. If you thought fighting Sabretooth was hard, well your father holds several victories over Sabretooth, so go with that."

She said with a laugh. She sat down against the wall and simply observed. She hadn't gotten a chance to see this universe's Wolverine either, so it'd be a learning experience all around. Once the simulation settled itself it began to go. The forest from Edward's first scenario appeared and Wolverine sniffed the air. He was wearing his yellow and blue classic costume. He let out a growl as the robots appeared and began to rush towards him

"Now try and remember this. Because you're watching a century's worth of combat skills."

He quickly began to run and slash, using his claws to topple one tree onto two robots. A laser blasted him in the back and sent him crashing into a bush. With a roar he jumped up and jumped onto the robot slashing at it.

"It looks like raw, blunt rage but it's not. Look closely. You'll see he actually plans things and is always reading the enemy, searching for weaknesses."

It was ridiculous, but as he looked at the hologram of his father, Edward couldn't help but feel emotional. Closest he'd ever come to seeing the man who'd provided half of his existence in the flesh, and it was just a solid hologram. Nothing more than that. It was like the first time he'd seen a picture, when he was just six years old. He couldn't tear his eyes away from it, trying to drink in every detail. He'd known Wolverine had been short, but he hadn't realised just how much shorter than Edward he was. He'd have been shorter than Rebecca Church when they dated. But apart from the height, Edward was looking to see what features he had that were like his father's, but the mask of the costume made it hard to see, so he was going from memory of the photographs he'd seen, making the same old comparisons. He obviously didn't share a hair colour with him, being far closer to his mother's blonde, but he felt like they had the same eyes, and maybe the same nose. Maybe something about the forehead as well. It was ridiculous, he was just clutching at straws in the hope of some similarity to his father. 

He wasn't quite welling up, but he wasn't the furthest he'd been from it. He was pretty sure, however, that May wouldn't take too well to him showing emotion like that. At best, she'd mock him. At worst, she'd throw him into a wall or something. But when she looked at him, he thought he could see something similar in her eyes. Like she was missing someone. Was she thinking about Wolverine as well? He was her grandfather, after all, and Edward had no idea how close the two of them were. All he knew was that Wolverine hadn't been seen in a while, and he doubted anyone knew where he was. 

He nodded at her comment about the graduation test, but he didn't really want to fight against any of those people. He wasn't a fan of hurting his family, even though right now he knew he wouldn't be able to take May, and he doubted May would enjoy seeing him fighting Laura Kinney. As for Sabretooth, well, Edward had memories of that. It was stupid, and he knew the hologram wasn't a real living thing, but he wanted revenge against it. He wanted to hurt it. But he wasn't in a rush to fight it again, not after last time. 

He almost winced as the forest reappeared. He doubted he was ever going to forget the first place he'd been properly stabbed. He was half tempted to see if his blood was still there, even though he knew how ridiculous that was. He leaned forwards to watch as Wolverine promptly demolished the robots, and there was a definite lump in his throat, watching his dad moving, fighting. He tried to see what May was pointing out, but he just saw somebody fighting with their anger like he did.
"He just looks pissed off to me," Edward commented

May watched Edward closely. But she also kept an eye on Wolverine. Sure she'd seen HER grandfather fight and from what she'd seen this one was very much different. However, Edward seemed much more interested than she was. Sure she got it at a base level. He was seeing his father fight, the person he'd heard stories about. Sure it wasn't the real thing, that would never be as good. However seeing that would be close to enough. She moved over and stepped beside him, placing her hand gently on his shoulder. She knew it was risky right now. He was raw, emotional, the animal they kept locked up didn't enjoy feelings. That was one thing the family had in common regardless of universe.

"No, it's not raw anger. You should know that. You've felt a bit of what the wolf inside is capable of. This isn't a case of the wolf coming out, no, this is a case of the wolf being utilized. You can learn to use your anger. It's something I'll teach you later on. The wolf inside is a powerful weapon, you need to learn to use it. Raw anger gets you beaten, something you've seen first hand."

Quickly, almost with superhuman speed he was gone from the bush. He ran through the forest, using trees for cover as he neared a. Despite running yards Edward and May remained yards from him, like they were on a tether. Suddenly Wolverine quickly jumped into a tree. Just in time as two robot soldiers made their patrol rounds through that area.

"Now he could kill them right here, it'd be super easy. Drop from the tree, bury a claw in each and be on. But he's also aware they're radioing in. Your father walked a line very few were capable of doing. I call it intelligent rage. It's the strength and speed of a blind rage with the intelligence of a warrior."

As the soldiers continued on he dropped down and silently continued on his way. Suddenly robotic tentacles came out of a bush and wrapped around him, lifting him in the air. The bush rose on 8 robotic legs and began to slam him around.

"A simple mistake. He assumed all enemies would be humanoid, a common mistake when entering unknown territory."

Edward was still intently watching the hologram, so much that he didn't notice May keeping an eye on him. It didn't even occur to him that she might be looking at anything except Wolverine. For all he cared, the entire would could be staring at him, and he wouldn't give a shit, or notice. It was ridiculous to get so emotional over what was basically a film, but it was the closest he'd come to ever meeting his father, and he didn't care what people thought. But still, he could feel something...it was like when he got angry, or when he was in a fight. Even though he wasn't angry, and remarkably for time spent with May, he wasn't in danger. Still, he jumped when he felt the hand on his shoulder, his hands clenching into fists, and he shot her a glance. Somewhat understandably, he was always pretty sure May was going to do something to hurt him when they were in these sessions. Outside, they talked occasionally, but in training or in lessons, he had to be on edge around her.

Still, he appreciated the gesture, and it was maybe the most family-like thing they'd done, and he had the brief, highly irrational urge to lay his head down on her hand. He hadn't had a proper cuddle since he was...well, since he was eight, maybe. Not that he wanted to cuddle May or anything. They were most definitely, without a doubt, not cuddly people. He shook his head. Why was he letting himself get distracted by this when there was a genuine 3D image of his dad in front of him? 

"I use my anger," He commented, "I just hit people with it." There was a sarcastic edge to the last comment. He knew full well that it wasn't what May had meant. She was being nice, so that gave him the nerve to make a sarcastic comment. "Oh, there's actually teaching going on? I hadn't noticed inbetween all the bleeding." It was strangely disorienting to have the forest move around them, following Wolverine, but he kept his feet pretty easily. He watched as his father stayed in a tree, only dropping down after the robots had passed. He'd have broken them, but as May was so fond of reminding him, he didn't have any experience. And then as the hedge suddenly grabbed hold of Wolverine, Edward stepped away.
"Don't ever make me fight those," He said to May

She looked at him and rolled her eyes at his comment about using his anger. He didn't use his anger the way he should, neither had the other Edward. He'd used his anger the wrong way and ended up dead. But she'd get that Lupine and his flower wielding whore too. She was curious about their counterparts here though. Apparently they were part of the Royal Flush Gang, very interesting. But for now she was focused on Edward and seeing this version of her grandfather.

The Wolverine she knew was a powerful general and wouldn't be sneaking around a forest like this. No, he'd order his army to decimate the forest and everything inside it. But apparently this one was more of a loner. Oh well, he still seemed like a heavily accomplished warrior.

"I never said my teaching methods were common Pup. I mean if you like I can recite crap to you, give you written tests and then when it comes time to use it beat the living hell out of you. That seems mostly useless, but if you have issues with my teaching style..."

She said trailing off. She actually didn't have much in the way of anything else. She would continue to teach him her own ways and make him stronger. Luckily she had a lot in common with the May of this universe so styles shouldn't be too different.

"Oh you'll fight them. They're not as bad as they look. All bark and no bite."

As she said that the bush fell away and began to lower Wolverine into a set of massive metal jaws. She laughed lightly at the poor timing.

"Ok, so maybe their bite is kinda bad too, but still. They're mostly for show."

She said shaking her head. Wolverine meanwhile sliced the tentacles off and landed on the closed jaws. He began to slash at it wildly until it stopped. By the time he was done 4 soldiers had surrounded him.

"Alright, not gonna lie, this part sucks. I still hate when it happens to me."

She said shaking her head before they all opened fire. He took the energy blasts before charging them.

"Sometimes however a head on attack is best, if you're tough enough. I faked death till they brought my body inside the base and then went to town. Different styles though."

Wolverine cut two robots in half before throwing the top half at a third. He took the blasts from the final one as he retreated, Wolverine chasing him.

"What's he doing wrong? Well aside from getting shot."

Sure, Edward was absorbed in the emotional moment as he watched a three-dimensional  moving image of his father for the first time, but that didn't mean he didn't notice May rolling her eyes at him, and it didn't mean he didn't get the urge to flip her off, no matter how suicidal it'd be to do that. It was strange, but May almost seemed to be getting into this as much as he was. But she'd seen Wolverine before. She'd mentioned him enough times for Edward to know that. She might even have seen this footage before. So why did she look so intensely curious about the image of Edward's father? Well, it might seem strange, but Edward was engrossed, and he'd stopped trying to question May. Bad things tended to happen when he did that.

"Your teaching style's fine," Edward said somewhat distractedly. He could have told May that her style was awful, her teaching was atrocious and that he had no respect for her as a human being and she wouldn't change a damn thing about her teaching. Well, he definitely respected her as a human being. He still wasn't sure whether he respected her teaching or not. Something about being slammed into so many walls kinda lessened that for you. 
"Shouldn't you fight them first?" He asked as she mentioned him having to, "Supposedly show me how it's done, or something?" He knew that snark was an unhealthy attitude to slip into around May, but it was dangerously easy sometimes. 

He winced faintly as his dad was lowered into the jaws, but they didn't seem to be doing a whole lot of harm.
"Nice word choice," He muttered to himself, but didn't look at May as he spoke. And then suddenly there were four of them and they were opening fire and Edward couldn't help be impressed as his dad took the shots and then charged them.
"Not getting shot sounds like the best style," He commented, "I think I'll try that one." He couldn't imagine May faking death. Sure, it was cruel and ruthless enough to suit her, but it seemed a little too much like admitting defeat. Plus he couldn't imagine her staying still that long.
"I think getting shot is his key mistake," Edward commented, unable to see anything else wrong. Since when did May show videos and ask questions. "I don't know, is he doing his hair wrong?" Yeah he really had to stop the snark

May watched them closely. Sure there were a few key differences between Wolverines but at the end of the day there was enough to give her an idea of what she might be into. Ed quite possibly could be semi-decent already. Or better than the Ed she first got. Sitting in juvie or whatever the Brits called it. Sure he was doing ok there but May did enjoy breaking him out of there. Ok so maybe killing the 12 guards and 6 prisoners was pointless, but it was fun. She was hoping she could have similar fun here first, before it was time to go. She didn't think it was too likely that she'd get to go around killing though. This May was being watched by SHIELD it seemed. Not to mention she had many surprisingly powerful friends, also an issue.

"Oh I could do that, and I might even do just that. But the one issue is I have a very different fighting style than you likely do. Honestly your brother's is probably closest to yours. But I couldn't find any footage of him fighting. Well unless you count security footage."

She liked what she'd learned about this supposed uncle of her's, Daken. He seemed like fun, definitely something she could really be interested in. She'd encountered her uncle a few times in her universe and she didn't like it. He was all good, and helping that Max jerk. But of course she had to remember that in this universe everything was reversed. Here that Max guy could be an ally, if she could find him. He was good at staying hidden, she'd give him that. She couldn't help but laugh lightly at his comment about Wolverine's hair.

"Well that is true, not the answer I was going for. But he's blindly chasing someone, someone shooting him and making him angrier. For all he knows there could be a whole troop around the bend in a firing line."

Just at that he stopped and disappeared into the shadows.

"See, he managed to get a hold of that anger and pull it back. It likely wasn't easy but he's had 200 years to practice so that helps."

She said with a laugh. He stood there in the shadows, healing from the energy blasts. She hated those and knew that odds are his nerves felt like they were on fire. Sure the energy blasts didn't do much when compared to a regular gun to them. But the nerves felt odd, she hated it.

So May had said quite a lot about fighting styles there, but only one thing properly stuck in Edward's mind.
"I have a brother?" He asked, his voice torn between indignation and surprise, "And you never thought to tell me about this?" Okay, now the indignation was getting stronger, "So I grow up thinking I'm an only child of a single mother, and suddenly I have a sister and a niece, and now I have a brother?" Yep, definitely just sounding kind of annoyed now. It's not like he minded having a brother, it was just another surprise being dropped on him. But there was also probably security footage of he himself fighting.

"Well you've seen how I fight," Edward commented, "And pointed out pretty much every flaw with it. So maybe I should get to see yours for a change before you throw me at the killbots." They certainly weren't a training session he was looking forward to. They probably weren't as bad as the escort mission with May, but he didn't really fancy the idea of being shot at a lot. 
"He looks like he's doing fine to me," He replied when May started talking about Wolverine's anger, "So sure, he's fixating, but he can handle it. Wouldn't he be able to smell any reinforcements?" Although he was impressed when Wolverine stepped away. He'd been pissed off himself, in situations nothing like as bad as this, and he hadn't stopped until he'd run out of things to punch. Overall, it was surprising it'd taken seventeen years to get himself arrested.

"Remind me why I need to fight them?" Edward asked her. "It's like maths. In what situation would I be fighting thirty armed men alone in a forest?" Sure, most of the time, May's training did have a practical application, but he couldn't see how this scenario would help. 

She could've sworn she'd heard May mention that he had a brother before. No matter. In this universe he was a serious villain, apparently. She'd like to meet him, as he'd be fun. She would work on that later though. But rumors seemed to be surrounding him being very dead. But then again the family had a history of coming back from the dead on several occasions. It was sort of what the family did.

"The family doesn't talk about him much. He was kidnapped as a newborn and was brainwashed. He always seemed to be causing trouble. Your father tried to help him but it never worked. Last I heard he was with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. But haven't heard much since the Battle."

She smiled a bit as he mentioned seeing her fight. She wasn't against that. She hadn't been able to fight in quite awhile. All she'd done was watch people from afar and learn. She wanted to fight. Maybe when this was done she'd fight.

"Scent doesn't always work perfect. Especially if people know they're going against someone like him. They can attack from down wind, wear scent blocking devices. Those aren't rare but I've encountered them once or twice. Plus some metas and mutants have no scent for some reason. Again rare but not unheard of either."

He had a good point. Why should he need to fight them? In what situation would it come up that he'd need to deal with it.

"I just want you to be ready no matter what. After all our family has no shortage of enemies. But you're right, simulation end."

With that the room faded to black and then was empty.

"I'll show you how it's done Pup."

"I'd still have a liked a little warning!" Now Edward just sounded kind of sulky, but he felt like that was justified. You didn't just spring that surprise on somebody mid-sentence without warning. 
"Okay seriously, why am I the only normal one in this family?" Normal comparatively, of course, "Why has everyone else been kidnapped and tortured and the like? Seriously!?" Sounding indignant again, trying to avoid sounding whiny. When May had first shown up, he'd liked the idea of more family out there, more than just his mother and some absent father. And now, he still loved being in a family, but it did sound like he was a little in over his head. The most he'd had to put up with before meeting May was fistfights. 

Edward had of course heard about the Brotherhood. Who hadn't, these days? The force that tried to create mutant superiority over mankind. He hadn't realised he'd had family in it. Whoops. Well, that sounded like another possible relative who might try and kill him some day. Hooray for that.
"Scent's done me well most of the time," He commented. Sure, he'd hardly tested it very extensively, but he could usually smell someone before they snuck up on him, "And I'm not quite sure those guys know how scent works anyway." And it was just oddly satisfying watching his father tear enemies to shreds. Satisfying but also strange.

And then the simulation faded, and Edward was disappointed. The first proper sight of his father and it was ended because May said so. Well, he might be amused watching May go through the simulation. 
"Try not to get shot too much, that would be terrible," He said sarcastically

She glanced over at him and shrugged. She didn't like him yelling at her. Of course so far this Ed was no different than the Ed she missed. It seemed good or bad, Ed was always a vocal sarcastic jerk. She hadn't realized just how much she had truly missed it till just now. Seeing him here, his normal vibrant rebellious self, she missed him.

"Sorry Pup, could've sworn I mentioned it to you. But our family is anything but normal. Besides I was never kidnapped or tortured. Well ok, the procedure to get the adamantium wasn't fun, but it was also willingly. We've all made poor choices for good reasons....."

She said shaking her head. Yes it had been terrible being subjected to that, but she did what she had to do. Her mom had to be stopped and she'd signed up to be the one to stop her. It was why she still put up with that Suicide Squad crap. She'd much rather just be an X-Man and a hero. But she'd signed a contract and had no real choice. She got the means to stop her mom and she paid them back. Of course she would KEEP paying them back, likely for the rest of her very long life. Best she could hope for was that HuRTs would be disbanded and she'd be free. It wasn't likely though. That was something she'd simply made due with. Luckily for her she had Rayne with her who was probably going to out live her.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you'd be really broken up seeing me get shot."

She said rolling her eyes. She began typing in a similar program before cracking her neck.

"Watch and learn pup, watch and learn...."

They were in a similar forest as Wolverine had been in during his scenario. May sniffed the air before disappearing into some shadows. She usually worked better in an urban setting as opposed to forest, but it helped to be good in a variety of settings. Not only that but it was important to her to always be the best. That was something both Mays had in common. As she walked quietly she spotted one leaning against a tree. She reached around the tree and covered his mouth with one hand and drove her two claws into his side repeatedly. She then dragged him away, dumping him in the bush. She then sniffed the air again and resumed on her way.

Edward was half-braced for her to hit him or something after his rant, or possibly for her to send him at some sort of program to 'prove a point', but no, she didn't do any of that, just glanced over him. Something definitely seemed off about her today, but he couldn't place what it was. She couldn't get ill, so it couldn't be that. He was tempted to ask her if everything was okay, but then she started talking again.
"I didn't have a good reason," He muttered to himself, even though he knew May would hear it as clearly as if he'd yelled, "Yeah, I realised our family was just a bit weird," about as dryly as he could, which, given the circumstances and the fact that he was still pretty angry, wasn't very, "Yeah, I think I'll pass on the metal skeleton myself, you don't make it sound fun."

May had never told Edward the full story of getting the adamantium welded to her bones, and she didn't seem altogether forthcoming about it, to say the least. From what he'd picked up just from general gossip, it had something to do with her mother, Edward's own sister, and SHIELD, although he wasn't too sure about the SHIELD part. He wanted to hear the full story, not just because he was curious about it, but because he wanted to avoid whatever she'd done for it to happen. Being unbreakable sounded fun, and he'd finally get Kayleigh to shut up, but he didn't like the sound of the intense agony. Or leaving Kay that far behind, if he was honest. 

"Can't you tell I'd be heartbroken if you got shot?" Edward asked her somewhat sarcastically. Sure, if she actually got shot and it didn't just bounce off of her skeleton, he'd be worried for her, at least for the ten minutes it'd take to heal. But in this simulation? He was just sorry he didn't have popcorn. On reflex, he cracked his knuckles as she went for her neck.
"Well I'll watch alright," If he was honest, he was hoping to watch May take a few shots, maybe a couple of hits. But then she grabbed one and pretty much annihilated him, and Edward actually looked away at the brutality. Even now, his instincts were growling for him to get into cover, get away. The wolf didn't quite get that he wasn't at risk.