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  Psylocke's psychic bde came dangerously close to Aron's shoulder before he twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the strike. His movement was fluid, almost too fast for her to track. She pressed on, her bde humming with psychiergy, the violet light refleg in her determined eyes.

  Aron smirked. "You're relentless. I like that."

  "Shut up and fight," Psylocke snapped, her voice a mixture of focus and frustration. She lunged again, her bde sweeping in a wide arc. Aron ducked, his hand grazing the ground as he twisted to avoid her attack.

  Before he could phase again, Psylocke used her telekinesis to yank his leg, disrupting his bance. Aron stumbled but recovered quickly, flipping backward and nding on his feet.

  "You're learning," He remarked, his tone carrying a mix of approval and teasing.

  Psylocke rolled her eyes. "Don't patronize me." She hurled another psychic bst, aiming to disorient him. Aron vanished, reappearing just behind her. She sensed his presence briefly before his arms ed around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

  "Gotcha," he whispered near her ear. She could feel his warm breath on her skin, sending a shiver down her spine.

  Psylocke froze for a moment, her heart beating fast. She could feel the strength of his grip, the heat radiating from him, and for a fleeting sed, her thoughts betrayed her. He was so close to her and she could feel his body pressing against hers.

  'Focus, Betsy! He's toying with you!'

  She smirked, tilting her head slightly to meet his gaze. "Think again." Her psychic bde fred to life in her free hand, and she thrust it downward, f Aron to let go and phase away.

  "Close one," Aron said, his voice ced with humor. "But not close enough."

  "Stop running," Psylocke growled, her frustration mounting. She closed the distaween them in an instant, her bde sshing upward. Aron phased just in time, her on passing harmlessly through his chest.

  She anticipated his move, spinning and nding a telekiically charged punch to his ribs as he re-solidified. Aron grunted, stumbling back.

  "That all you've got?" He taunted, straightening and rubbing his side.

  She raised an eyebrow with a sly smile and said, "Not even close." She threw a hard kick.

  "You're holding back," Aron accused, blog the kick aimed at his shoulder. He could tell, she wasn't putting all her strength.

  Psylocke scoffed. "You wish."

  He grabbed her leg, attempting to unbance her, but she used the momentum to twist in midair, nding a psychic bst to his chest. Aron was thrown backward, nding hard o.

  "Point to me," she said, striding toward him with a triumphant smirk.

  Aron y there for a moment, catg his breath. "Okay, okay," he said, admitting it, propping himself up on his elbows. "Maybe you're better than I thought."

  "Well, only 'better'?" she said, stretg out a hand to him to help him up.

  He took her hand; his grip was firm, but not overp. As he rose, he stepped in closer than he o, their faces inches from each other.

  "Better," he whispered, l his voice to its lowest timbre. "And distrag."

  Psylocke's breath caught. She felt the heat between them, his closeness stirring up something she wasn't ready to face. Aron's eyes fell on her lips for a brief sed before returning taze.

  "Is this part of your pn?" she asked, voice even as her heart hammered inside her chest.

  "Maybe," he admitted, his smirk returning. "Is it w?"

  She rolled her eyes, stepping back to put some distaween them. "You wish."

  Determio shake off the tension, Psylocke raised her bde again. "Let's finish this."

  Aron grinned, crag his knuckles. "Loser follows the winner's request, remember?"

  "Don't get ahead of yourself," she warned, cirg him.

  The final round was a blur of movement and energy. Psylocke's psychic bde cshed with Aron's phased strikes; the two of them danced in perfect sync. Both were evenly matched; both tered each other's blows with precision.

  Psylocke tried to anticipate what he would do but Aron was always ahead. His teleportatio her on edge.

  Finally, she decided to take a risk. She feinted a strike to his left, only to shift her energy into a telekiic bst aimed at his right.

  Caught off guard, Aron stumbled, his bance faltering. Psylocke seized the opportunity, pinning him to the mat with her bde h inches from his throat.

  "Why aren't you using your full power?" she demanded, her breathing heavy.

  Psylocke's psychic bde hovered inches from Aron's throat, its violet glow refleg in his amused eyes. Despite the precarious situation, he smirked. "You wao stop holding back?" he asked, his voice smooth and calm.

  "Yes," Psylocke snapped, her bde pressing slightly closer. "No games, no teasing. Fight me properly."

  Aron chuckled softly, his tone carrying a note of mischief. "If that's what you want." His body shimmered briefly, not with his usual phasing ability but with something more dynamic. Psylocke felt the shift immediately—a familiar hum in the air, one she reized. Her bde flickered as the energy around them ged, but she didn't waver. She knew what he was doing.

  "So, you're using my power," she said coolly, stepping back as Aron rose fluidly to his feet. "Not much of a surprise. You've been colleg mutations all over the school."

  "You caught me." Aron gave her a pyful griending his hand. Violet energy coalesced into solid form, the familiar gloing itself into an ued struunchucks. He spun them expertly, the psychiergy leaving trails of light in the air. "But I figured I'd make it more iing."

  Psylocke tilted her head, unimpressed. "Nunchucks? Really? You think fshy tricks are going to throw me off?"

  "You tell me." Aron struck, his movements swift and precise. The nunchucks whirled through the air, each strike aimed to disarm or destabilize her. Psylocke raised her bde to block, the psychistructs colliding with a crag burst of energy.

  The force of his attack surprised her. She stepped back, keepiance firm as the nunchucks came at her in a blur of motion. Each swing was calcuted, his mastery of the on obvious. Aron was fast—too fast for her to ter in close quarters without thinking ahead.

  "You've been practig," she remarked, dodging a swing and parrying the follow-up strike. "Your martial arts is impressive. It's better tha time."

  "I like to dabble," Aron replied, spinning the nunchucks behind his back with fir before ung arike. "You learn a lot when you have access to everyone's abilities."

  She ducked uhe swing and rolled forward, ing up behind him. She sshed her bde at his side, but he phased just in time, the psychic edge passing harmlessly through him. He reappeared a few feet away, twirling the nunchucks with a cocky grin.

  "Yoing to have to do better than that," he taunted.

  Psylocke's eyes narrowed. She didn't let his showmanship distract her. Instead, she studied his movements, notig the way he relied on his phasing to create openings. If she could anticipate his move, she could exploit it.

  "Showoff," she muttered, lunging forward. Her bde struck the nunchucks in a fierce csh, the impact sending a ripple of energy through the air. Aron spun to ter, but Psylocke was ready. She used her telekinesis to grip one end of the nunchucks, yanking them out of his hand.

  Aron didn't miss a beat. He phased again, reappearing behind her with another stru hand—this time, a pair of glowing psychic daggers. Psylocke turned just in time to deflect his attack, their ons colliding in a brilliant fsh of violet light.

  "You're predictable," she said, smirking as she pushed him back with a telekiic bst. "All that power, and you're still relying on tricks."

  "Predictable?" Aron echoed, his grin widening. "Maybe I'm just getting started."

  He dropped the daggers and spread his hands wide. The air around him shimmered as multiple structs formed at once—bdes, spears, s, all fed from psychiergy. They floated around him, their movements fluid and synized.

  Psylocke frowightening her grip on her bde. "So that's your pn? Overwhelm me with quantity?"

  "More like give you a taste of your own potential," Aron replied, sending the structs hurtling toward her. Each on moved indepely, attag from different angles. Psylocke deflected the first wave with her bde, but the sheer number forced her to stay on the defensive.

  She moved with precisioelekinesis aiding her as she dodged and tered the relentless assault. One spear grazed her arm, the sharp sting remindihat Aron wasn't pying around anymore.

  "Impressive," she admitted, dug under a spinning aaliating with a psychic bst that shattered a nearby struct. "But you're just wasting your energy. It's pointless if you 't hit your enemy. And using that many ons mess up your targeting ability."

  "Careful," Aron said, stepping forward and sending another wave of attacks her way. "Overfidence be dangerous."

  Psylocke didn't reply. Instead, she focused, eling her energy into a precise strike. She waited for an opening, dodging and parrying until Aron's rhythm faltered for a split sed. She seized the moment, unleashing a powerful telekiic burst that shattered his remaining structs and knocked him off bance.

  Before he could recover, she closed the distance, her bde poised at his chest. "Lesson one," she said, her voice steady despite her heavy breathing. "Don't waste time showing off."

  Aron smirked, even as he raised his hands in mock surrender. "Lesson two," he said, his tone pyful. "Never assume the fight's over."

  Before Psylocke could react, Aron phased through her bde, reappearing behind her and ing one arm around her waist. In his free hand, another strued—a solid psychic that coiled around her arm, f her to drop her bde.

  "Gotcha," he whispered, his voice close to her ear.

  They were in the same position again...

  Psylocke froze, her heart rag. For a moment, the closeness of his body sent a flicker of heat through her thoughts, but she shoved it aside. With a sharp burst of telekiiergy, she broke free, flipping backward and nding on her feet. But the ground under her feet froze, and she lost her bance, falling backward.

  Aron was there to catch her, his arms ed tightly around her waist. She gred up at him, but he merely smirked, leaning in closer. His face was inches from hers, his gaze locked onto her.

  "I win," he said simply.

  She scoffed. "That's cheating."

  "Is it?" He chuckled, his lips curling into a soft smile. "You said you want to see my full power, so I showed you."

  Psylocke rolled her eyes, trying not to think about how warm he felt. "Whatever. Let go of me."

  Aron released her, stepping back. "Fine, fine. As you wish, my dy."

  To his surprise, Psylocke stepped closer almost instantly, kissing him. It was only a light, quick touch of her lips to his, but the sensation was enough to send a wave of heat through her body. He tasted like the sweetest honey; his st filled her senses, intoxig. She wao do more, to kiss him deeper, to feel his body against hers...but she stopped herself, pulling away.

  "Wow!" Aron bli her in surprise. "You actually kissed me."

  "Wasn't that the deal?" She asked, her tone even as she tried to hide her rag heart. "The winner gets to make the loser do something they want?"

  "True," Aron ceded. "But I didn't think you would be so bold."

  "I'm full of surprises," she replied, turning on her heels and walking away. "Don't fet that."

  "Wait a sec, I never said I want you to kiss me if I win, did I now?" His words made her stop iracks.

  "Y-You said..." She stuttered.

  "I was just giving an example, but it was definitely not what I wanted," His voice was low and husky.

  "Eh!" She looked fused for a sed and then flustered. Her face turned beet red, and she could feel her heart thumping hard in her chest. "What do you want then?"

  ----

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  [13 advance chapters] [No double billing] -------

  AN: Time for Slice of life is over. I will be moving on with the plot. Expect lots of a and MC using full power of Phoenix Ford as some of you requested> He will be using some insane power reted to Ice mutation.