[center][img]http://baku-panda.org/uxrpg/xmen_syaoran.png[/img]
[color=silver][ Danger Room ] [ Post Theme: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKRUPYrAQoE]Victory[/url] ] [ Interacting With: [i]open[/i] ][/color][/center]

The clash echoed like thunder in his bones.

[i]Felt[/i], not heard, as the impact nearly drove him down to his knees. He felt his heart beat in his chest, the sound of his own labored breathing filling his ears. This was [i]Sharra[/i]. This was [i]K'ythri[/i]. A contest of conflict and wills.

This was what it was to be Shi'ar.

Humans were [i]different.[/i]

They reminded him of Kymellians, though humans didn't seem quite that..? Syaoran was not certain of the right word. [i]Spineless?[/i] He had viewed their sporting events on the crude visual display devices. Contests of skill that took place in arenas of a sort, which was something that the young Shi'ar could recognize well enough. Yet, the similarities seemed to end there. Their contests eschewed the inevitability of conflict between opponents on the field of battle, going so far as to penalize physical contact between players in most instances. 

About the only thing that Syaoran found that he liked was something that the humans called [i]ultimate fighting[/i]. [b]That[/b] had looked like a contest of skill, yet some of the human seemed dismayed at the hatchling appreciating it as such. Their disdain of the sport belied his initial impression of humans as [i]avoiding conflict[/i]. Like the Kymellians.

The weight that had been pushing him down to the floor suddenly came away. As the looming form of his opponent recoiled back, the boy turned his eyes up. Reared back was a [b]Zn'yx[/b], a crocodile-like alien who had none of the Kymellian sensibilities. They were a brutish race. Simple, in that respect. Apex predators who had clawed their way into the larger galaxy. 

There was a certain [i]purity[/i] behind their brutality. It made them a favorite of his for games such as this one.

The child was in a holographic, variable environment chamber that seemed to operate using technology and protocols that he was familiar with. Syaoran had duplicated a popular physical training program from his school on Throneworld -- an arena on the surface of the planet Chandilar, in which he face a Zn'yx brute in single combat. He had increased the gravity to that of Throneworld standard. Even after so little time on this world of the humans, he could [i]feel[/i] the difference. His body felt sluggish. [b]Heavy[/b].

A pair of crocodile-like jaws lanced out. Staring down a gaping maw, the young Shi'ar swung his fist upward. The reproduction supplied by this [i]room of danger[/i] replicated the sensation well. He felt his hand connect with the underside of the beast-man's jaw, driving the Zn'yx's head upward even as the force traveled down through the bones of his hand. 

Even as the bite was re-directed away, the Zn'yx's weight combined with his momentum kept the alien traveling forward. The beast-man slammed into the Shi'ar hatchling, sending the boy stumbling about as he fought to regain his footing. When he had, the child looked up in time to see a large, reptilian tail flash into his field of vision.

The tail connected with the side of his head, sending Syaoran to the ground in a dizzying array that both terrified and [i]exhilarated[/i] him. 

Rolling along the ground, the artificial horizon laid before him was still spinning as the child pushed up from the earth. Instinct took hold. An inhuman sound rising from the child's throat as the flash of movement accompanied the Zn'yx attack. A feint back, then Syaoran stepped in with a punch that connected with the alien's side. Ducked under sweep of the beast-man's arm, and he let loose a flurry of jabs.

The Zn'yx struck back. And Syaoran allowed himself to [i]experience[/i] the strike. Leaned into it. The taste of his own blood in his mouth. His heart echoing in his ears. The pain awakening his senses. The child smiled. Felt the pinion feathers standing on end. Arms outstretched as his fingers splayed outward in a display of the small talons at the ends of his fingers.

...then the world just [b]paused[/b].

Caught in the moment, the child was confused for a long moment that lingered as he stared around the interior of the Danger Room, as it slowly transformed back into merely an empty room. He felt the gravity ease, as realization finally set in. 

He had set a timer on the program so that he would not miss when [i]OK KO: Let's Be Heroes[/i] was going to come on.