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Chapter Text

Cast in the Atlantic Ocean sat a British island called Anchester Isle.

This island is approximately 7,377,421 sq km and experiences a very wide variety of climate temperatures. These temperatures include sub-tropical, Mediterranean climate; however, the island experiences a large range of weather conditions due to its extensive and varied size. It plays host to starkly different sub climatic conditions: the tropical rain-forests experience a tropical climate, the desert climate in the semiarid deserts, Mediterranean climate to the east of the island, and a frigid climate to the north. Thus, snow occurs yearly on the Island and mainly falls in the high plains of the northern regions of the island that lie outside the tropical and Mediterranean climate zone.

Much of Anchester Isle is between the tropics, which means that the sun’s rays fall directly to the surface resulting in high temperatures. However, as travelers go north, the sun’s rays fall at an incline which means temperature gets colder and altitudes get higher. The rest of the country does not experience any snowfall. The average snowfall on the Island is about 64.2 inches (1630.68. millimeters) per year.

Due to this varied type of climate, Anchester Isle has an extremely large diversified fauna, fungi,and vegetation. These things were also aided by the unique and extraordinary rich soil found throughout the entire island. The reasoning behind the rich soil can be attributed to three factors: the abnormal amount of rich fertile volcanic soil, an unprecedented amount of raw minerals only found on the island, as well as a high amount of radiation that permeated throughout the entire island, due to a massive meteor – made up of a strange element called Thoalium – landing on the island centuries before.

It’s thanks to these three combination of factors that causes fauna, vegetation, wild life, and even people to grow and become exceedingly durable.

In the tropical and Mediterranean climates things are able to freely grow throughout the year; thus, making everything much bigger in size, richly flavoured, and extremely high in nutrients.

These combinations of climate made Anchester Isle highly famous around the world.

Anchester Isle climate cultivated a rich and prosperous island that some accused it for being too rich for its own good.

Thankfully though, in order for the vegetation to not overgrow the entire island, the ecosystem naturally combats these astounding conditions of the island with its extremely huge and fearsome animal life. Their bodies were voracious, robust, strong, durable, fast, and some were highly temperamental.

Some of these animals include the hummingbird hawk-moths, poodle moths, fjordhawks, vultures, giant bees, glowbugs, meganeuras, coelacanths, giant squids, giant salmons, jug bugs, jerboas, glowtail geckos, pulmonoscorpi, shinehorns, giant monitor lizards, boar-crocodiles, frill-necked Titanoboas, yellow spotted lizards, giant catfish, shire horses, percherons, pikachus, and shoebills.

Due to the huge amount of animals on the island, the number of animal attacks were quite high. These attacks, though, are one of the main reasons as to why most previous attempts at conquering the island – for their natural riches and rare element Thoalium – were thwarted. The massive animals quickly killed the would-be conquerors – from Spain and Algeria and Scandinavia – and their ship-hands.

Outside of the animals and the natives that attacked the would-be conquerors, the British Rulers were always at the ready with their unparalleled naval fleet to defended their territory to the maximum. Over time though, they were able to protect their island through legal means to allow the ecosystem to stay reasonably intact to insure the isle's protection against exploitation and the like.

Apart from the exotic animals, the island’s Western European natives were known as the ‘Land of the Giants’ due to their enormous size, whether that size was muscle or height or fat. While in some natives, these factors were combined.

These people benefit greatly from the ecosystem and the Thoalium that's seeped into their own bodily cells.

In terms of their height, the men ranged from an average 6’3” to an astounding 7’9” tall. While the women’s height ranged from an average 6’ to an incredible 6’7” tall.

Despite their physical size, the natives were exceptionally fast, had phenomenal endurance and stamina, were highly durable, and were extremely nimble. Thanks to these physical factors that allowed the natives to combat animal predators; as well as, the past invaders who attempted to conquer the British island.

In terms of their almost mythical strength, thanks to the mutations caused by the radiation of the Thoalium, the natives also benefited from the Herculean Gene, also known to mainlanders as GDF-8, as well as extraordinarily high bone density. Due to these physical abilities, the islanders didn't suffer the negative effects of becoming to large with either height, muscle, fat, or of the mixture of all three.

Even into the modern age with technology and junk food, the islanders still benefited from their ancestors genetics along with the still abundant riches of the ecosystem. Which in turn, makes the island and its inhabitants, known for their size, appetites, and in a word: gluttony.

Or at least, what the rest of the world deems as gluttonous.

The islanders only knew extreme portion sizes due to their size and their stupefying metabolism.

Other than their size and appetites, the islanders were also known for their brutal perseverance, dry and cold humour, and cheerful attitudes.

Beyond the beautiful landscape of the island and the cheerful people, Anchester Isle is not considered to be a safe place for tourists to vacation nor for foreigners to move permanently. This is thanks to the island’s terrifying wild life and that despite all of the necessary immunizations, the food and water could still very well be fatal thanks to the radiation of the meteor that landed on the island centuries before hand.

Regardless of these ghastly and brutal truths, this did not stop brave travelers to vacation and some to make residence on the island. These people overcame the enviournment and grueling immunizations, to which, they were rewarded with an open-armed community looking to welcome in someone with a warrior spirit very akin to their ancestors.

Follow along to learn more about one particular Anchester Isle native.

…:TBC:...

Chapter Text

A seasonal change was in the air as the wind chills and the landscape of New York City is painted with red and orange foliage.

As the different and vibrant colour leaves ruffled their way through the city, the smells of crafted ciders and pumpkin spices filled the air.

In the middle of Manhattan stood a set of sleek and almost futuristic buildings surrounded by an attractively landscaped courtyard.

These set of buildings represented the world-class Ivy League university Horizon, founded by billionaire Norman Osborne.

The various buildings that made up Horizon stood out amongst the surrounding structures as it was clad in lots of windows, which gave the university an almost transparent appeal.

With this appeal, the Ivy League university sits on seventy-seven acres as it services its twenty-two-thousand students. And thanks to its great location, Horizon allows the students to be within walking distance from the busyness of New York City.

Like its striking and sleek look, Horizon highly encourages its students with the mission of the school: ‘Always Challenge the Status Quo.’ This mission is especially geared to the STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics – students are allowed to create their own inventions, for STEM is focused on stimulating the brain and giving it a free reign to create, rather than simply replicate what is already known to the world.

Amongst the faculty of Horizon there entire university is headed by President Charles Xavier.

Besides the president of the university, there are many highly successful staff members.

Dr. Hank McCoy teaches Biophysics and Philosophy.

Dr. William "Bill" Foster teaches Physical Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Dr. Curt Connors teaches Quantum Mechanics, Biology, and Biochemistry.

Dr. Davide Otto Buonaparte teaches Introduction to Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Advanced Atomic Physics, Advanced Nuclear Physics, and The Science and Technology of Energy.

George Modok teaches Advanced Quantum Mechanics.

Howard Morita teaches Astronomy.

Roger Harrington teaches General Science.

Monica Warren teaches Basic Physics.

Raymond Warren teaches Inorganic Chemistry.

Mitch Cobbell teaches Chemistry.

Adam Brashear teaches Biology.

Bridget Chan teaches Earth Sciences.

Doctor Moon teaches Zoology.

Dr. Naoko Yamada-Jones teaches Human Physiology, Introduction to Medical Science, and Aspects of the Art of Medicine.

Andre Wilson teaches Health and Physical Education.

Barry Hapgood teaches Woodwork.

Colette Freeman teaches Pre-Law, Business Law, and Intellectual Property Law.

Emma Hernandez teaches Business and Management.

Emil Blonsky teaches Literature.

Ronda Kramer teaches Fine Art.

Debbie Berman teaches Video Making.

Rita Watson teaches Music Theory, World Music, and Vocal Studies.

Julius Dell teaches World History.

Hiawatha Smith teaches Archaeology.

And finally, Tom Corsi teaches Human Geography.

Horizon University boasts many more accomplished staff and professors but these particular few have made a serious impact in their fields.

This particular day marked orientation day for freshman and returning students throughout the campus.

In the science building, specifically in a very large auditorium, the science students filled the theater-style seats as they talked amongst themselves while they all waited for the various science professors to introduce themselves and kick-off the beginning of their fall term.

These students include, David Alleyne, Emery Schuab, Kevin Masterson, Ben Reilly, Kaine Parker, Azari Dzemberu, Jimmy Hudson, Graydon Creed, Grady Scraps, Arno Stark, Jean Grey, Scott Summers, Kurt Wagner, Victor ‘Vision’ Shade, James Proudstar, Cindy Moon, Asha Wambe, Colin "Chaos" Mason, Ruth-Bat Seraph, Alistair Smythe, Carolyn Trainer, Warren Worthington III, and Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee.

In two particular seats sat an athletically built young man wearing Ruby-Quartz tented sunglasses listening intently to his new friend Kurt Wagner, a German born kid who was now the newest member of his adopted family.

The young German boy was speaking quite happily about being able to live with Professor Xavier and Scott and the others but he did find it weird that Scott and his other adopted siblings were in some of the same classes as him as well as the Professor was the president of the same college.

This made Scott laugh and slap his new brother’s shoulder in brotherly-camaraderie. “Don’t worry Kurt, you’ll get use to it!”

Completely ignoring this conversation in the very first row was a young woman with very long red hair pressed a chaste kiss on her tall boyfriend’s cheek. “Vision, you and your indestructible head have fun in class,” the young woman said.

Chuckling at this, Vision kissed her cheek as well, saying, “Thank you, Wanda.”

With that, Wanda left her boyfriend to head to her own class across the campus. Once she left the though, Vision took his seat and got comfortable he couldn’t help but notice that a young blond haired man sitting next to him with a nervous yet excited expression.

“Hi there, I’m Victor but my friends call me Vision,” he said, startling the young blond next to him.

Eyes wide for a moment before he then calmed down and answered, “O-oh, hi! I’m Ben Reilly.”

Smiling at the other young man, Vision said, “Nice to meet you Ben. You must be new here, right?”

Ben nodded, a few strands of his thick blond hair fell in his face, before he swiped them away, saying, “Yeah. I’m a freshman here and I’m majoring in biophysics.”

“Nice!” Vision said encouragingly, “I’m a junior and double majoring in engineering and physics.”

Whistling lowly with his eyes widened, Ben said in an awed tone, “Whoa, dude, that’s tough!”

Vision nodded but smiled, “It is but I’m passionate about both and looking to do great work with those degrees.”

As he spoke, the doors in front of the first row opened and through them a few professors came through. However, both young men – like most of the class – paid very little attention to Dr. William “Bill” Foster, Roger Harrington, and Howard “Howie” Morita enter the auditorium.

Continuing with their conversation as if no one else came into the room, Vision asked, “Who’re you looking most forward to having as a professor?”

Sitting a little straighter in his seat and bouncing his leg in excitement, Ben answered, “I’m really excited to have Dr. Buonaparte for Introduction to Nuclear and High Energy Physics.”

A still silence came over Vision as he felt a chilling crackle fill his veins.

In seeing the upper classman’s eyes widened with his jaw hanging open, Ben began to feel several nervous drops of perspiration drip down his forehead.

Stuttering, Ben asked, “W-what’s wrong?”

Blinking himself back into the present, Vision then moved forward as he leant closer to Ben and answered in a staged whisper, “You’re definitely new since you’re genuinely excited to be in The Angry Giant’s class.”

“Whaa?” Ben reeled back some, and unconsciously looked to the front door once again as other professors – Raymond Warren, Mitch Cobbell, Adam Brashear, Bridget Chan, Doctor Moon – entered the room. Immediately looking back to his new friend, Ben asked, “What’re you talking about?”

Whispering very lowly, Vision answered, “While Dr. Buonaparte is a highly successful man – with his successful fusion reactor and winning the Nobel Prize and more – around here he’s known as a… giant hardnose.”

Vision continued after a paused when he noticed the uncomprehending expression that had crossed Ben’s face. “You see Ben, Dr. Buonaparte is not a cruel man but he is a very No-Nonsense kind of professor. He doesn’t want to hear about your life and your problems. Just come in with your work ready and done. If you need help with the course material, he prefers you to come in and plainly tell him; otherwise, he’s going to see your hesitation as wasting his time. He’s not interested in being friends with the students nor does he care whether or not that he’s liked by the students or by the other faculty. Other than that, he’s also very stubborn and very reserved.”

Before Vision could say anything else, the doors to the auditorium swung open to reveal a massive head bent down to clear the door’s crossbeam. Once the figure cleared the door’s top and squeezed through, he straightened up once more.

This caused almost every freshman student to gasp softly, as their eyes widened and their jaws went slack. Unconsciously, for some of the freshmen, they leant as far back in their seats as they could, for they were all quite physically intimidated by the figure. Most who have not seen Davide don’t know how imposing his stature is in real life.

His imposing physique only enhanced his image and reputation as someone not to be on the wrong side of personally as well as academically.

Lumbering toward the other professors at the front of the room, the enormous figure inclined his head as he greeted his peers with an ever-so-slight smile in professionalism.

This figure was non-other than Dr. Davide Stefano Otto Buonaparte, famous nuclear physicist and Nobel Peace Prize Winner.

The forty-one year old was, truly, a massive man, which could easily be seen as he now stood next to his colleagues and peers as they only came up to his mid chest area while others just below his pectorals.

Dressed in dark grey slacks that were somewhat snug around his massive thighs and a dark hunter green turtleneck adorned his large upper body, Davide turned to look to the crowd of students in front of him and stared everyone down as he took in the array of students in the room.

Looking away from the giant professor, Vision looked to Ben, saying, “That’s Dr. Buonaparte.”

Shaking his head slightly in disbelief before leaning over to the upper classman, Ben whispered, “You forgot to mention that Dr. Buonaparte is a giant. Like an actual giant, dude!” Before looking back to the giant physicist who was shaking hands with Dr. McCoy. While the giant-of-a-man was greeting the other man, Ben also noted that Dr. Buonaparte’s broad shoulders were rounded from what he could only guess to be the consequence of constantly being around shorter, normal sized people.

Ignoring the new arrival of professors entering the auditorium, Vision retorted with a smirk, “I guess I forgot that part.”

Before Ben could retort, Professor Harrington’s voice rang through the room saying, “Hello students! I’m Professor Roger Harrington and I want to welcome you all to a new school year. So, let's just put all the past year’s craziness behind us and have a nice, peaceful school term.”

Since the beginning of the Fall semester three weeks ago, the students of Horizon University have reacclimated themselves with the community of the Ivy League school.

With the sun high and the clouds seemingly sparse in the blue sky, the moderate and comfortable weather that September provided was an added bonus for the students and staff.

However, in one particular office, the weather did nothing to lighten the mood of its occupants.

Roger ‘Hardball’ Brokeridge, a green eyed and slender young man from an upper middle class family, was currently slouched in a chair before Dr. Buonaparte’s large desk one day in the late afternoon hours. The young man was a sophomore known for his over-the-top antics when he made a rare touchdown for their school football team, his flippant attitude in his various classes, and his harassment toward the female and male student body.

“Roger, you’ve been in my Introduction to Nuclear and High Energy Physics class all of three weeks and yet you’ve not been turning in your work in nor have you been participating in any of the reading assignments for the class,” Dr. Buonaparte said, while not looking up from the papers he was currently grading. Continuing, he asked, “Why haven’t you been doing the work?”

Shrugging nonchalantly, Roger said flippantly, “I heard you saying do your homework, matter of fact I did. But you never said about handing it in to you.”

Not amused by this at all, Dr. Buonaparte stopped writing for a moment and with a chilling slowness, he lifted his head from its downward position to look at the young man. His movements and chilling silence caught Roger off guard.

In the enormous man’s motionless state, Roger felt his lips become dry with the bead of sweat begin to drip down his forehead. “Okay, okay in all seriousness: At first I couldn’t access the files but when I did and printed it out, I left it on my side table, I kept it loose from the folder. My butler threw it away thinking it as a trash when I was away.”

After a long tense moment between Roger and Dr. Buonaparte, the impossibly large man asked almost rhetorically, “Is that really your excuse?”

Roger didn’t answer and with that Dr. Buonaparte looked back to his papers simmering in annoyance.

“Have you been professionally diagnosed with a mental disability?” he asked.

Roger scrunched his eyes in confusion and shook his head, saying, “No.”

“Did someone die?” Dr. Buonaparte asked tersely.

Now rolling his eyes, Roger shook his head and again answered, “No.”

“Seeing as to how you were on time for class and that you’re standing here, you obviously have no transportation problems,” said Dr. Buonaparte mentioned before looking up from his paper work to look at the boy before him.

“Look, Doc, it’s no big deal. It’s…” Roger said, but before he could finish, Dr. Buonaparte interrupted him.

“I don’t care.”

Shocked by this simple yet harsh statement, Roger immediately stopped talking.

“I don’t care about your – quite frankly – pathetic excuses as to why you didn’t do your homework and why you weren’t prepared for class these past several weeks. I don’t pity you for procrastinating and not managing your time better. I’m certainly not going to coddle you because you’re – in all intense of purposes – lazy. And you’re going to realize that in the real world: neither is your future employer. You’re going to realize that if you go into a workforce with this same attitude your employer isn’t going to be happy. And when that happens, he or she will replace you rather quickly with someone who not only did their best but will also do the best of someone better,” Dr. Buonaparte said, almost emotionless.

Leaning back in his greatly groaning chair, Dr. Buonaparte said, “At this juncture, the only thing you must consider whether or not to utilize the Add-Drop period for this week. If you choose to drop my class, it won’t affect your GPA. Otherwise, you’ll fail my class and it will greatly hurt your GPA.”

Unable to believe how the professor was speaking to him, Roger’s face became red and irate, exclaiming, “How dare you! Do you know who I am? DO YOU KNOW WHO MY FATHER IS?! HE WI–“

“From what I’m told, your father is a little bully owner of a mid-sized, three store franchised convenient store. He’s made enough money to obviously buy your way into this school despite your unimpressive transcript,” Dr. Buonaparte said with a look of boredom across his face. “Yet again: I’d advise you to drop my class before it hurts your GPA.”

Shocked, embarrassed, and more than a little mad, Roger sat there for a moment unsure as to what to do; however, the young man nodded before getting up and moving toward the door without any other word said.

As Roger yanked the heavy door open, he abruptly stepped back when another student stumbled inside.

This student was Ava Ayala.

Stuttering in surprise, Ava began, “Oh, uh, sorry. I –”

But not willing to listen to anything else, Roger roughly shoulder his way past his peer as he left the room.

Blinking in very mild surprise, Ava then turned her attention to Dr. Buonaparte, who immediately asked, “Were you pressed against the door and ease dropping, Ava?”

Biting her bottom lip, Ava nodded and then answered, “Well, yes, sir. I’m sorry. I wasn’t at first but when I was about to knock, I couldn’t help but hear Roger yelling and…well I listened.”

Dr. Buonaparte sighed, “Ava. I can understand being curious, but ease dropping isn’t something I condone.”

Ava nodded in understanding as she then closed the door behind her.

With the door closed, Dr. Buonaparte then added “If you do find yourself able to contain yourself from listening, don’t get caught.”

At this Ava paused in surprise, especially when she caught the smallest smile twitch the corners of his lips.

Smiling back, Ava nodded before taking the seat in which Roger abandoned just moments earlier.

“Now, what can I help you with, Ava?” Dr. Buonaparte asked.

“Well, as you know, I’m majoring in Law but I want to continue to take your course. But I recently found out that I need to be in Business Law, which starts just five minutes before your class ends. So I was wondering if you and Professor Freeman could meet and see if there’s anyway I could start her class but also continue in your class,” Ava said, with a hopeful expression.

Pursing his lips in thought, Dr. Buonaparte was silent as he thought about how good of a student Ava was and that she was one of the hardest workers in his class. She was passionate about the material and always came prepared with questions about the course reading.

With that in mind, the giant professor nodded and affirmed, “I’ll be glad to talk with your professor, Ava. We’ll work something out for you.”

Smiling widely, Ava sighed in relief and said, “Oh thank you, Dr. Buonaparte!”

After saying this, the young woman practically skipped out of the room in happiness.

Also, happy for making a hard working student’s day, Dr. Buonaparte quickly typed on his large laptop – which was imported from his native Anchester Isle – Professor Freeman and found her office phone number. With that, the giant man picked up his office phone and quickly dialed the number.

The phone rang twice before, surprisingly, the line picked up and a woman answered, ‘Professor Freeman.’

“Hello Professor Freeman, I’m Dr. Davide Buonaparte and I’m calling on behalf of a student that we share: Ava Ayala.”

‘That’s right! She did tell me about wanting to keep your class.’

“That’s right. Is there anything that we could work out for her? She’s an excellent student,” he said.

Over the line, he heard her hum in thought before saying, ‘Look. I’m more than willing to work something out with you about Ava. Because you’re right! I’ve had her in several other classes and think she’s an amazing student with a lot of potential. But I gotta admit that you caught me at a bad time because I have to run and teach another class. But what do you say we meet in the campus coffee shop tomorrow and discuss things?’

“That sounds just fine to me,” Dr. Buonaparte said, “How’s four-o’clock in the evening, sound?”

‘Sounds like a date!’ he heard her say, ‘See you then.’

...:TBC:...

Chapter Text

The campus coffee shop, Faithful Blend , is a hotspot on campus with its outside structure looking very enchanting, intimate, and cheerful. Deviating from the rest of the campus’ architecture, Faithful Blend has softwooden planks and intricate stone carvings that make up most of the building's outer structure.

It's as enchanting inside as it is on the outside. Squared, wooden beams support the upper floor and the candle-shaped artificial lights attached to them. The walls are packed with rows of painted portraits and pictures. Some of those pictures are from famous alumni, the hard workers of the shop, the current president of the school, the founder of the school, and more.

As Professor Colette Freeman entered the coffee chop through the well-crafted, metal door, she was welcomed by aromas of roasted beans, hot tea, freshly baked goods while the soft rustling of pages turned, almost indecipherable scratches of pens and pencils writing, fast paced typing on various personal laptops, and even just happy voices speaking with one-another greeted her ears.

At the counter, the young barista was extremely busy, but still manages to welcome the newly arrived professor with a wave.

Even though it was four-o’clock in the evening on a Thursday, the coffee shop itself is packed. Diligent students seem to be the primary clientele here, which often means great for business. Several long tables are occupied by various smaller study groups. The other, smaller tables are mixed with some students who are clearly having a good time while the others are occupied by lone students wanting to study by themselves.

Looking away from the current atmosphere of the coffee shop, Colette began making her search for the physics professor she was to meet here this evening.

He said he’d be wearing grey pants and a burgundy turtleneck, she thought.

But her search immediately stopped when she a saw a man of tremendous stature standing in a small line of people, all waiting for their orders to be ready.

That can’t be him, Colette thought. But once she looked around, she concluded that no one else wore the attire she was told to look out for with Dr. Buonaparte.

Sighing in finality, Colette approached the man and once she stood before him, the African-American woman realized that the man was even bigger than she first perceived.

At this respectable distance, Colette found him to be unbelievably wide thanks to his broad shoulders that greatly dwarfed Colette’s whole body. Through his slightly form fitting turtleneck, she saw that his extremely wide and thick chest. In addition to this, it was obvious to see that his very beefy biceps and triceps. And of course, it was obvious to Colette that this gargantuan man ate very well due to his wide bulky abdomen.

Outside of his size, Colette observed the man to be unconventional and ruggedly handsome. He had straight copper coloured hair with strong undertones of brown streaked throughout accompanied. She also noticed that with the overhead lights shining from above, and with the way his forelocks fell over his downcasted face, there were hints of noticeable gold in his hair colour.

His other features she couldn’t make out with his massive head bowed down as he focused on his smart-mobile phone.

Thus, she said, “Dr. Buonaparte?”

Looking up to the sound of the voice, Davide’s umber coloured eyes focused immediately on the woman before him.

There stood a woman who was quite beautiful and – compared to him – on the shorter side. She also had a browned caramel luminous skin tone with shoulder length dark brown hair.

The physicist saw that her nose was of a Bulbous shape and found himself immediately drawn to her chestnut coloured eyes.

Above her eyes, she had broad and arched eyebrows and inviting full lips.

While she was dressed warmly and conservatively in an all black Re Ona turtleneck dress with a dark brown jacket draped over her shoulders. The outfit respectfully highlighted her feminine, slim yet curvaceous build.

Looking back to the woman’s face, Davide answered, “Yes?”

“I’m Colette Freeman,” she said with a small smile as she stuck out her hand to shake his hand.

With an air of soft confidence surrounding him, Davide smiled gently at her and took her hand into his own.

As he did this, Colette was astounded by how gentle his handshake was in comparison with how his enormous hand thoroughly engulfed her slender hand and even a portion of her forearm.

“Nice to meet you,” he said in a deep, amicable voice as he released her hand.

Before anything else could be said though, a barista said, “Dav-eyed Bones-apart.”

This gross mispronunciation of his name mixed with his annoyed expression, caused Colette to let out a little laughter that she immediately covered with a discreet cough behind a balled fist.

Thankfully, Davide didn’t notice her reaction at all as he approached the counter and picked up his coffee and croissant pastry.

Walking back to her, he asked, “Have you ordered yet?”

Colette smiled at this and said, “No, I’m good thank you.”

Davide nodded at this before he then motioned toward an empty table by the front of window of the coffee shop.

They made their relatively short walk to the table and sat down – quite gingerly in Davide’s case – with Colette saying, “Okay before we start, I’m going to apologize because I don’t mean to be rude but I’ve gotta say this: You’re huge!”

Whilst he was quite used to this kind of reaction, Davide still felt compelled to look away from the coffee he was blowing to cool its lava-like contents and look toward the African-American professor before him. After a moment, he couldn’t hold back the chuckle that escaped him at her bluntness.

Not taking offense to the small, beautiful woman before him, Davide smiled gently and proudly, answering, “No need to apologize. I’m quite used to reactions like that but I will say that you’re forwardness about it has been one of the nicest.”

Colette blinked in surprise and asked, “So, wait! Are you saying that there are some people who’ll ask that same question and ask it stupidly?”

Davide sipped his coffee for a moment and then nodded.

Shaking her head in awe at the mere thought of someone approaching this mountain of a man in a flippant way, Colette said, “I want to say that I’m not surprised by the sheer stupidity of people…but then again, I’m always finding myself more and more shocked.”

Breathing deeply, Colette said, “So about Ava…”

Davide nodded as she focused them on the reason why they were both there. “Yes, Ava, she’s an amazing student. My class that she’s in meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from two-to-three o’clock.”

“My class – Business Law – meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from three-to-four o’clock,” she added.

“Okay, well, I don’t mind her leaving my class five minutes early. That should give her a bit of a buffer to get to your class,” he said.

“That’s good. And it’s also helpful that our building is two buildings over from the science building, so it shouldn’t be a problem for her. But just in case, I’ll also allow her to be a few minutes late if she needs it,” Colette said.

Davide nodded in agreement as he took the final bite of his croissant pastry. Once he swallowed, he breathed out, “This sounds like an excellent plan.”

As he said this, Davide felt something he hasn’t felt in such a long time.

Something he hasn’t felt since his first love died many years ago.

Something he hasn’t certainly hasn’t felt since his divorce seven years ago.

This feeling was that of his mechanical, cold heart revive itself at the sight of her bright and welcoming smile.

Whoa, this was an unexpected feeling , he thought.

Despite it being a Friday evening, the campus gym found itself to still have some life in it. The clanging sounds of metal could be audibly heard.

Only those who were looking for a distraction or pumping iron for sport were in the gym on a Friday evening.

Among the very few in the gym was non-other than Dr. Davide Buonaparte.

Dressed in his long, baggy shorts and hunter-green sleeveless tank shirt, Davide focused on his jumping and breathing as he was jumping rope.

Due to the ground shuddering ever so slightly because of the rhythmic pounding, several heads in the near vicinity turned and found themselves amazed and had to wonder that despite his mammoth size, how was the giant physicist able to move with deceptive ease and fluidness.

In the back of his mind, Davide was aware of the looks he was on the receiving end of but after being an American citizen for over a decade, he was use to the looks his size garnered; thus, he completely focused on his warm up with the jump rope whipping the air around him until he glanced up to the mounted digital clock on the wall and saw that two minutes had passed before he stopped.

Stopping his warm up, Davide then walked to the hooks on the wall that was designated for returning the various jump ropes that the gym-goers used.

After that, Davide made the decision to then perform explosive sets of triceps pushdowns for twelve reps. In his staggered stance, Davide brought the cable right up against his shoulder before he then pressed the attachment straight down towards the floor. The giant man repeated this actions several more times before he stopped, breathing deeply from exertion.

Set in his somewhat usual upper-body routine, Davide knew that now was the time for an isolation exercise – specifically targeting biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis. Thus, he made his way over to the dumbbells section of the gym and immediately picked up a one hundred and thirty-six kilogram in both hands and stood in front of the long mirror spanning the wall

Davide’s biceps contracted, rippled, and tremoured with every curl of the light dumbbells.

Light for him anyway.

Being a native of Anchester Isle – coupled with his workouts being mostly strongman and powerlifting centered – meant that his physiology was drastically different than the vast majority of the world’s population.

His huge and bulky physiology was obviously intimidating but what most don’t know is the strength, speed, and endurance hidden beneath his enormous bulk.

Underneath his bulk, Davide had remarkable durability. His bodily tissue was fairly harder and quite resistant to injury. This did not mean he was completely invulnerable to various attacks and injuries sustained from those attacks. However, different degrees of sustained injury, or trauma, or severe impact that would generally and severely injure – or possibly kill – a normal person would only cause Davide and any other Anchester Isle native varying degrees of discomfort.

In addition to this, Davide’s stamina could be envied by any top-level athlete if he displayed his abilities in the professional sports world. Thanks to a fantastic mixture of his genetics and Anchester Isle’s radiation, Davide’s muscles produce far fewer fatigue toxins than the muscles of ordinary humans during physical activity. He can exert himself at peak capacity for several hours before fatigue begins to impair him.

As for his muscles, Davide was intimidatingly and unnaturally strong without training; however, with his diligent training the giant physicist was able to not only hone and train his strength, but also increase it many times over.

Overall, his strength ranges from one to three-and-a-half long tons. His maximum bicep curl is about one-and-a-half long ton. His push power is at a staggering fifty-eight long tons. His long jump is about thirty-seven feet, while his standing broad jump is eighteen feet.

With feats such as these, Davide and any other Anchester Isle native found it difficult to workout in anywhere in the world.

That is unless the person happened to be employed by Norman Osborn.

While he was blessed and thankful for the state-of-the-art exercise equipment that Norman supplied the Ivy League University, Davide still took advantage of the lighter equipment because sometimes his workouts were more about muscle health and longevity and not just about testing his strength.

Thus, while he was focused on his muscles contracting and relaxing, from the reflection of the mirror he couldn’t help but notice a new arrival coming into the area.

Entering the area was non-other than Professor Colette Freeman.

The small woman had her shoulder length brown hair tied into a short, messy bun while she was conservatively dressed in a well-worn grey Horizon University shirt and black fabletic’s pants.

Completely unaware of the huge man at the dumbbell section, Colette made her way over to the assisted pullup machine.

The man couldn’t help but admire her skill as she performed set after set of pull-ups with dedication and focus. Davide also couldn’t help but admire how her toned and voluptuous figure filled out her outfit. From the way her long and curvy legs filled out her athletic pants to how her small but toned biceps bulged as she pulled herself up on the machine.

However, he diverted his eyes when he found himself practically drooling over the unaware woman.

Stop it Davide! , he chastised himself, after pressing the button on the dumbbell to raise the weight to two hundred and twenty-six kilograms. Colette is a wonderful and extremely bright woman. Besides, instead of this, you should be more focused on being in top notch form for that meeting you have tomorrow with Norman and Max.

Admiring a beautiful woman isn’t going to throw you off, lad, his mind countered, whilst he let out soft grunt after soft grunt with every curl of the dumbbell.

So focused was he on the argument he was having with himself in his mind, that he didn’t realize nor notice the woman standing at his shoulder.

“Dr. Buonaparte!” her voice exclaimed in surprise and awe.

Stopping abruptly, Davide looked at his right and saw the very woman he had just moments before been fantasying about was now standing at his side.

With wide eyes, Davide didn’t answer right away as he placed the dumbbell on the ground; however, Colette took the opportunity and said in shock, “Wow, so it is you! I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Colette didn’t expect to see the giant professor at the gym as she came to workout her frustrations of the week. In fact, Colette came inside the university gym with her earbuds already in her ears, her mobile phone set on aeroplane mode, and mind focused on her upper body workout for her hybrid calisthenics program.

She had it all planned out: warmup with planks and side planks, pullups, and deadlifts. And she certainly began her routine in such an order; however, once she was done with her warmup and pullups, Colette was just about to head over to work on her deadlift but she stopped herself immediately once she saw the other professor in front of the dumbbell area with a perturbed expression crossing his wide features.

Unable to stop herself, Colette approached the man and upon closer inspection, she couldn’t believe that he was somehow appeared to be bigger than she first realized when they met.

Looks like he could uproot trees , Colette thought. And I’d love to see it!

Completely unaware of her thoughts, but now able to think and speak properly again, Davide answered with a slight chuckle, “Really? How many men do you know that are seven feet and two inches?”

Laughing out right at the tease, Colette nodded with a bright smile, “Okay, that was a good one. You’re definitely the only man I know that’s this big.”

But seeing the man in his shorts and tank shirt showed Colette that he was even bigger than she first realized when they met in the university’s coffee shop.

His arms look like they’re king size d gorilla arms ! Colette thought in utter surprise. I wonder how much he can lift…

From the obvious exertion of his workout caused his biceps, Colette noticed that despite the heavy bulk that covered his massive biceps, the slight definition could still be seen, along with with the bulging veins in his biceps and forearms.

Deciding to ask, Colette asked, “So, what program do you use?”

“I primarily workout as a strongman. I like lifting things but I will admit that I, also, try my hand at powerlifting, old fashioned weightlifting, and even calisthenics.”

With her eyes widened again, Colette asked, “Calisthenics?”

Smiling widely enough for the woman to see how one of his teeth was slightly longer than the other, Davide said, “Yes, even though calisthenics is definitely easier for short individuals, I put in a lot of work to manipulate my body in order to perform the exercises. Plus, I find it therapeutic.”

“Wow,” she breathed out. “That’s very impressive.”

“Have you ever tried calisthenics?” he asked.

Nodding at this, Colette answered, “Yes, actually. For the past two years, I have been learning gymnastics and I had incorporated calisthenics as a part of my routine recently.”

Davide nodded with a smile on his lightly stubbled face, “That’s a really good routine. So what’re you working on next?”

“I was actually going to the bench press area.”

“So your calisthenics is more of a hybrid workout routine then,” Davide said.

At him saying this, Colette nodded and responded, “It is, but like you said earlier, it’s therapeutic but also fun!”

Her authentic, enthusiastic, and infectious smile made him want to truly get to know her more. In his mind, he could practically hear Max Modell and Hank McCoy encouraging him to do so while simultaneously he could hear Norman cackling manically at him for being hesitant.

But before he could work up the nerve to even think about asking her out, Colette asked, “You know, I don’t mean to bother you more, but would you mind spotting me on the deadlift? I mean I know that a spotter isn’t really needed but the last time I lifted too much, I almost passed out.”

This caused Davide to blink in surprise before he nodded, saying, “I understand that. And it’s no bother at all. Lead the way.” Motioning for her to proceed him, Davide followed her to the functional training area, which happened to be in front of squat rack area.

There Colette stood at the lifting platform with her feet shoulder-distance apart, core engaged, and neutral spine, she the grasped the barbell.

Slowly but surely, the barbell began to lift off the ground as she stood up straight and her pelvis tucked.

Once the bar slide up her thighs, Colette paused for a moment at the top before slowly lowering the barbell back down to the ground; thus, finishing up her first of three reps.

At the end of Colette’s five sets, she huffed with exertion once the barbell was set on the ground. Plopping unceremoniously on the empty bench on the side of the lifting platform, Colette attempted to catch her breath while Davide handed her an unopened water bottle.

Nodding in thanks, Colette unscrewed the top and began drinking the water, all the while, she watched Davide make his way to the barbell and pressed the button on the plates.

After the weight had been calibrated to his liking, Davide performed the same technique that Colette had just done and slowly but surely, the much, much heavier weight was lifted off of the ground for his multiple reps and sets.

As she saw Davide go down and up with the barbell, she felt her heart speed up while in the reflection of the mirror, she saw her dark brown eyes dilate.

At the end of his sets and with his own grunt of exertion, Davide placed the bar on the ground and made his way over to where Colette was sitting on and straddled the other end of the bench.

“You’re an absolute beast, Dr. Buonaparte,” she exclaims with an expression of respect and awe, while he was drinking from his own much larger water bottle.

Smiling at her genuine statement, Davide nodded as he swallowed a gulp of his water. “Thank you. You did very well yourself.”

“Thanks!” she said, before asking, “So, how many more sets are we doing?”

“Four more sound good to you?” he asked.

Colette nodded at this and thought, That’s one more rep than I’m used to doing, but I’m not one to back down from a challenge!

At the end of their combined sets, Davide and Colette were soaked with perspiration.

Davide being the first of the two to get his breathing under control, asked, “What’s next?”

Shaking her head in disbelief with a breathy laughter escaping her, Colette answered, “Nah, Mr. Big Man. I’m spent.”

Now laughing greatly, Davide nodded at this and then listened as she then asked, “Do you have any plans after this?”

Davide shook his head before she added, “Well, in that case, this kind of a heavy workout demands some food. Wanna grab a bite with me?”

Blinking at this, Davide couldn’t believe this was happening.

A beautiful woman he had just been oogling over an hour ago, was now asking him out.

Thus, not wanting for his silence to be taken as him being not interested, Davide nodded and answered, “That would be great! I know a place near here.”

“Great!” she said, as she followed him to the front of the gym. By the lockers at the very front, they opened their respective lockers and grabbed their gym bags and threw on their heavy sweat shirts and coats to brace themselves from the slightly windy weather outside.

As they talked and walked to the restaurant, Davide couldn’t help but think optimistically, This could be the start of something quite beautiful.

THE END