Players:
Summary: Chloe, Jill and Quill have their first Danger Room session together.
Date: August 21, 2010
Log Title: Danger Room Session For Three?
Rating: PG-13
Xavier Mansion - Danger Room
A product of Shi'ar technology, the room generates apparently solid, realistic imagery by manipulation high-resolution force fields and holograms. The walls and floor appear as a steel room until a program is turned on. Overhanging the room in the center is a control Room managing the room's mechanisms to oversee the exercise while ensuring the subject's safety.
The Danger Room is currently empty. As in completely empty, bare walls and nothing going on. Having been finally forced to wear the yellow and white uniform that had been hanging in her closet like some kind of fashion death sentence, Jill fidgets nervously and shifts her weight from foot to foot. The email went out a few nights ago that there would be an introductory session before the official start of the semester, and lo the day has finally arrived. "God," she breathes, looking around at polished metal walls and the large observation room that looms overhead. Its windows are darkened, ominously, giving no hint that anyone is even inside. "This is normal, right? I mean, you've all talked about it, but now that we're really here…" The blue girl bites her lower lip and glances sidelong at her squadmates assembled for the exercise.
"Usually there are more laser squid," Chloe offers with a shrug. Her own costume is tight fitting even by squad uniform standards and each of her sleeves has a brightly coloured yellow silk kerchief attached with velcro. "Something will probably boot up in a moment when we're least expecting it." Without waiting to be ordered she begins a few idle warm ups.
Altering his uniform to be a one piece shorts and short sleeves is Max, he's not really digging the yellows and misses the old blue costume. His costume gives him room to fight and use his quills properly. "Laser squids? I never got a chance to fight laser squids!" Quill almost complains. "It's always so serious with Cyclops that it's never anything awesome like that. And don't worry, like C-girl said, things will change. So…codenames are go and if so, what are yours?"
Jill's uniform is the bare standard, a longsleeve bodysuit in white crossed with a bright yellow X from shoulders to hips. She has, however, pushed the sleeves up to almost her elbows, leaving her head and forearms as a constrasting cyan. "Laser squids?" she squeaks in equal mixture of disbelief and nerves. She folds her arms across her chest and looks embarrassed. "Codenames, right." She spent several hours going through a thesaurus. "Umm, I finally settled on Flood. Y'know, like water? But I can change it later if I don't like it, right?"
Chloe shifts her warm-up into overdrive, jogging around her squadmates. "Etoile," she offers cheerfully. "Nah we haven't had any squid yet. But they record these sessions and if I keep mentioning them it's only a matter of time before they include one to throw everyone off."
"Flood, Etoile good. And I think you know I'm Quill." Max says as he folds his fingers together and puses out to crack his knuckles. "Too bad that Kael kid and Theo aren't around though…Theo doesn't take a joke lightly I mean boy does he have a stick up his backside." He looks around the room and starts to stretch a bit while waiting. "Rule number three was it? Limber up?"
There comes an amplified click and a familiar but somehow unplaceable male voice cuts in over the PA. "Okay kids!" it says, sounding excited. "Scott couldn't make it today, so I'll be running this one for you guys. Let's see, who have we got…" A pause. "Heeeeey," the voice croons, sounding pleased. "Max. You're back. Good to see you again. And Chloe, and… oh, a first-timer. Nothing to worry about. I'll go easy on you. This is a simple one, just to get you back in practice, but try to take it seriously, okay?" A soft hum of electronics warming up permeates the space. Another world rises into view, a darkened field of high grass. It's nighttime in the simulation and the air feels warm and humid, scented like an autumn night. About a hundred yards away squats an old-looking brick warehouse in the middle of a field, surrounded by a high chain link fence. It's poorly lit from the outside, yellowed bulbs illuminating plain doors on the short sides of the building's rectangle.
"The rules are simple, really. Inside the building is a bell. You each have to ring it. That's it," the voice assures. "And, oh, since I have the second half of your squad scheduled next, we'll make it interesting. You have 30 minutes." Soundlessly, a bright faced digital watch materializes on each of the teens' wrists, 30:00 blinking in bright red numerals. "So here we go, this is what I like to call," the voice says, deepening like a DJ about to spin his favorite album. "Ring. That. Bell." Simultaneously, all three watches beep and begin to count down. 29:59, 29:58…
Chloe rolls her eyes. "Half an hour? I could get in and /build/ a bell in that much time," she mutters. "Want me to scout ahead while you two slow worlders head fencewards? I could make a quick circuit and see what security looks like. Because I'll be damned if there isn't /something/ that'll make this hard work."
At the sudden shifting of her entire world, Jill freezes in place, arms spread out as if to keep from falling over. "What the f-" She restrains herself, fading out the last word to a silent mouthing of the curse word. "Oh my God." Her eyes are wide like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car. "Oh my God," she repeats, but sounds more awed than stunned now.
At the Max you're back part, Quill gives a two thumbs up and grin to the booth. "Heeeeey!" He says in a horrible Fonz impression. After listening to the instructions he can't help but sing a bit. "You can ring my beelll-elll-elll, ring my bell…Okay sorry! I couldn't resist the bad disco song, so ring that bell well…" He grins at the two girls. "Etolie, you know how this stuff works, it's -never- as easy as it sounds so…how far to the Bell Tower?"
The building is quiet, high windows about 15 feet off the ground are dim and dirty, but there is obviously light coming from inside. The fence is tall but not entirely unbroken. A dirt road of sorts leads from off in the distance and up to a padlocked gate. Aside from that, there seems to be very little going on. The sound of crickets echoes realistically in the open field.
"Umm," Jill waffles, still looking a bit unsteady. "I guess, Chloe? I mean, Etoile. You could have a look around while… Quill and I get closer?" She edges up to the fence and tests it, as if it might fall down if she pushed it too hard. But it doesn't. "Oh!" An idea occurs to her suddenly. The blue girl screws up her face and just lunges at it, surging into a liquid form and straight through the chain links. She reforms on the other side, uniform amazingly still intact. "Oh wow, it does work!" she announces happily, and probably too loudly.
"You should have checked if it was electrified first!" Chloe teases, sprinting off in a quick circuit around the compound. It doesn't take long at all for her to return and she skids to a halt. "White landrover parked on the other side. No-one moving I could see and no quick ways in."
"Well I can always fire a few Quills on the ground a head of us so we can see if the ground is trapped like…this!" Quill says as he shoots out an arm, firing several Quills up and down so they hit an area about ten feet in front of Jill and Chloe. "Then I can sniff out the area and see if I can smell or hear anything.
The quills go *fwit* into the soft ground, but nothing else seems to happen. If there are any hidden traps in the open ground between the fence and the warehouse, they aren't set off that way. Or not in any detectable manner.
"Electrified?" Jill asks, suddenly horrified and taking a step back from the fence, even though it's already been proven that it isn't. She rubs her upper arms like a chill just went through her. "I thought he said it was going to be simple and now we're checking for land mines?" This whole scenario is less fun than she was previously lead to believe. From her position on the inside of the fence, she glances warily to the building and a frown deepens on her face.
Chloe gives the fence a tentative push, then scampers her way up and over. "Quils in the wall, use them as a ladder, get up to the roof and we'll check for a skylight?" she suggests, struggling to slow her speech down. "Sounds like a plan?"
Taking a few steps back, Quill waits for Chloe to go over before running and jumping up and clinging onto the fence before going up and over. "Okay, well, I don't think my Quills are good for supporting people to climb up. They're….like a porcupine quill." He looks around. "Flood, there is never a simple Danger Room session, give me one moment though.' He says sniffing the area to see if he can pick up a scent for anything.
Aside from the scents of grass and some nearby source of water, the smell of car exhaust lingers in the air. Mingled with the smell of the warehouse itself of packing tape and cardboard, there's the scent of people, at least two, maybe more but not much more.
It takes Jill a moment to realize she's being addressed as Flood, then nods with a soft 'oh' sound. "Like tricks or games or something." She exhales an already tired-sounding breath and rests her hands on her hips. "So we have to get inside somehow. If nothing's as simple as it seems, I guess the doors would be locked then, huh?" She lowers her gaze. "And fitted with bombs or something," she mutters to herself.
"Quill you could damage the wall and then we'll use the holes as handholds," Chloe suggests, advancing on the building. "Failing that I'll just climb it freestyle and jump in through the window. Anyway you two try and get a move on, I'm dying of boredom waiting!"
"There's at least two people somewhere, and a car? So…we're not alone. And as for the door, why don't you slide under it Jill and open it from the inside, see if you can do that? But lemme see if I can damage the wall enough." He says as he flings a few Quills at the wall in a concentrated spot to see if he can break a nice chunk of wall out. "Come on Etolie, do a lap or two if you're bored, see if you can find those people and car and make sure they're not gonna shoot us."
The building's bricks are old and a little crumbly, a fusillade of quills striking the same spot and chipping away with little puffs of brick dust. It's a fair dent, but would take a concentrated effort to make a hole big enough for a comfortable handhold, much less enough of them to reach the top of the building, which is about two stories tall. There is enough time, however, with over twenty six minutes remaining on the clock.
Jill stoops to pick a blade of grass and rolls it between thumb and forefinger. "It's funny, isn't it? It feels so real." At Chloe's urging, Jill glances from the building to the timer on her wrist. Snapped back to the situation, she glances at the building and bites her lower lip. "Under the door. I could do that," she says, excited at the prospect of being helpful. She pauses, looking at the chipped brick wall. "But which one are we gonna do? Go in from above or open the door?" Leadership, not her strong suit.
"Both? Anyone inside will have to split thier attention. There was a white landrover over that way," Chloe says, pointing. "I'll go take a closer look. Check for clues." And without waiting for a reply she dashes off again, aiming to reach the landrover and peer inside. Check if it's locked and if not get inside and rummage around for clues.
"Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe…that door right there looks good!" Quill says pointing at the more normal looking of the door of the two. "And Etolie, do you think if this doens't work you can do some sort of super run charge through the door or would that hurt too much? And that sounds good Etolie, we'll figure out a way in but it's not like you'll be gone long….wait…I got it!" Quill says as he just walks over to the door and goes to check if it's locked or not, and if it's locked he'll shoot out two quills and try to pick the lock. Thank you Gambit!
All evidence of caution to the contrary, the car is not locked but provides precious little in the way of obvious clues, nor were they particularly and didn't leave the keys in it. There's a spare set of clothing in the back. It's a dark olive drab, reminiscent of old U.S. army fatigues from before camouflage was widely used; pants, a jacket, and a short-brimmed hat, all without any markers of rank or national affiliation.
The normal door is limned in a sickly yellow light from an old bulb overhead, moths and other night insects swirling around it and bumping into its metal shade. It is locked, but proves no match for even an amateur scoundrel armed with impromptu picks. After less than a minute, it gives a satisfying click when the handle is turned. Despite the decrepit look of the building, it does not squeak on its hinges.
Jill crouches behind Quill, trying to keep as low a profile as she can. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" she asks in a hissing whisper, but at least has the sense of mind to glance around at the field that surrounds them, keeping watch for anyone who might try to come up behind. She taps him on the shoulder. "I'll go in and look around?" she offers in such a way that it hardly seems like her idea at all, like she doesn't want to take credit for it.
Chloe rolls her eyes at the lack of exciting clues, pops the hood on the landrover and pulls out any wires which look important. "Now to get back to this bell business," she mutters to herself, jogging over to where Quill had been shooting at the wall. "Window time!"
"Nah, it's not really a surprise, I'm just that awesome is." Quill says doing the nail rub thing on his uniform with a chuckle. "Alright and hey welcome back Etolie. What'd you find and honestly, it's gonna take -way- to long for me to chunk my way to the top, how about you run up a the wall at super speed, it might work?" He doesn't know if she can or can't. "And Flood, I got your back, he says sniffing the air and listening, putting his heightened senses to use.
The inside of the warehouse is not the typical fare of cartoons with wide open spaces stacked with indeterminate wooden crates. It looks almost modern. Polished cement floors are home to very tall pallets of cardboard boxes, wrapped tight like mummies underneath a layer of plastic wrap. They're arranged such that the building has a long open corridor down the center, large enough to drive a forklift through, with two narrower walkways next to the walls. In the very center, underneath a strip of fluorescent lights are two men, standing at ease but not doing anything like drinking or playing cards. They are not the clip-on tie and walky-talky type of rent-a-cops. Each is dressed in olive drab fatigues with a matching cap and carry weapons that would look more at home on the set of Flash Gordon. The shiny red lenses at the end of each chromed gun tells that they won't be shooting bullets. Further down, a waggling patch of light tells of a third guard patrolling slowly with a flashlight.
In the center of all this is a simple wooden pillar sunk into the concrete, a shorter arm extending from the top like a miniature gallows. On it hangs a tarnished and pitted old ship's bell with a metal striker dangling next to it on a length of twine. Nailed to the pillar is a hand-lettered sign which reads, helpfully, "Ring Me."
Jill takes a deep breath like she's about to dive into a pool and simply melts, oozing into the warehouse and sticking close to the tall stacks of cardboard boxes. She slithers as a long viscous string of blue slime, pausing at each corner and apparently watching carefully. It takes her almost a full minute before the puddle returns from whence it came. Disturbingly, it speaks to Quill without bothering to form a head or even a mouth. "Three guys with some kinda laser guns or something," it reports in a quiet whisper. "They don't look like they're going anywhere."
"They had a spare uniform in the landrover if you wanna try impersonate one?" Chloe offers with a shrug. "I'll make a distraction, you guys try disarm or outshoot them." She sneaks off and begins climbing the wall, using any quill based damage for extra handholds.
Quill opens his mouth to say something to Chloe but she's off and he slopes his shoulders. "Oh well. Well…I'm not bullet proof but I'll see if I can hit their guns. If Chloe comes back, maybe she can grab the guns before they can kinda notice her. So…shall we head in to find the Arc of the Covenant in here?" Quill says slipping in against the wall and trying to sneeeeeak along so that he can hopefully stay out of view point of the guards as he tries to spot where Jill said they were.
Though not an easy climb by any stretch of the imagination, the bricks are old and the mortar crumbling. On fingertips and toes, it's possible to scale. The roof of the warehouse is old corrugated metal, but there are broad windows just below it for ventilation. The windows have multiple panes, some of them conveniently cracked or broken out entirely. Just beneath the windows is a long narrow catwalk high above the concrete floor, apparently built for nothing more than opening the windows or supervising the workfloor below. A metal ladder leads down on either end of the catwalk into shadowed darkness.
The two guards in the center of the warehouse are easy to spot but might be difficult to get close to. The third is all the way on the far side, but is making a slow circuit of the darkened alley next to the walls and heading toward Quill and Flood's position.
Jill reforms from the puddle, but not entirely. She only manifests from the waist up, like a person standing in a shallow pool, a spread puddle of blue slime a few feet across forming a wide base so she doesn't fall over. "I don't wanna get shot," she whispers, voicing the obvious, but trails after Quill. She's really rather quiet, not having feet to make audible footsteps. Suddenly she tugs on Quill's elbow to get his attention, holding in a surprised squeak when she gets a few pokes for her trouble. "Guard!" she whispers, pointing down the long narrow alley to the flashlight's beam on the far wall, heading straight for them.
It's been a while since Chloe last did any meditation or, as it's more commonly known, jumping off the roof of things and falling. Grinning like a maniac she tries to slide the skylight above the pair of guards open, but if that doesn't work she'll just jump through it. Either way she plummets from the ceiling howling "Death from above!"
"Well, now that we're being subitle!" Quill says he looks at Jill. "I'll take care of this guard, you go after the bell!" He says as he dives, in a dramatic tuck and roll, in front of the oncoming guard with a flash light. As soon as he's front of the guard, he stays on one knee and fires about six quills right into the guards arms and legs in hopes of causing him to fall over and let go of the gun. Quill isn't aiming to kill.
The two guards look up just as a blonde teenager girl descends on them from above with something like a brief, shrill cry. They barely have time to raise their rifles before she's hit the floor. But the element of surprise is on her side and they're still drawing a bead on her with the vicious end of their chromed rifles. Fingers are tightening on the triggers though, and it won't be long at all before whatever the rifles happen to shoot, they'll be shooting a lot of it.
The guard at the end of the long narrow alley is already alerted and barrelling down it at full speed to reach the center of the warehouse toward the source of the noise. In mid-stride, he stumbles as a set of sharp porcupine quills dig painfully into his thighs and upper torso. Two strike his left arm but none hit the right, the quill striking his chest off center, just above the pocket on his fatigues. He falls and the flashlight goes skittering across the concrete. In the sudden darkness of the alley, it's hard to tell if he's let go of the rifle as well.
"Oh man!" Jill pipes, panic rising in her voice. She totally wasn't ready for the sudden change in tempo of the exercise. With a sound like a huge bird flapping its wings, she's simply gone. Bouncing from point to point like a rubber ball, a two inch thick stream of blue slime ricochets from floor to the sides of the pallets and into the center of the room. It strikes the old bell like the spray from a hose, droplets splattering in a short spray. But the bell rings, a clear low tone, and the stream of ooze turns away. It doesn't travel quite as quickly or as straight as it had before, like the poor girl stunned herself.
No sooner than she's hit the floor Chloe is powering forward towards the two men, lashing out with a storm of savate kicks. "Quill get a move on!" she yells, managing to speak slowly enough for normal people to understand. "Hopefully they're programmed to care if they shoot each other." If all goes to plan she'll be close enough in that the men will have to engage her in hand to hand.
Quill hits the guard with another volley of Quills in his legs before taking off to run to Jill. "Flood!" He yells noticing that she's down and he runs towards the ooze. "If you can reform, lemme try to help you out of here." He says kneeling down on one knee so he can hopefully help the ooze girl out of here.
The two guards in the center of the warehouse are programmed well enough that even as the first stumbles back, the second is simply trying to overpower Chloe by sheer mass, throwing himself at her and taking several kicks for his trouble. He's definitely larger than her and outweighs her by almost a hundred pounds. They're not bad fighters, either, and don't go down easily. A wild crackle splits the air as a bright yellow beam of energy zings into a pallet of cardboard boxes. Acrid smoke, the smell of burning plastic and paper, fill the air from an admittedly small burn in the stack. The guard who had fallen back is firing wildly, one hand pressed to his face to staunch a bleeding nose from a kick he recieved.
"Ring the shtupid bell," the blue puddle on the floor warbles before a near-human figure rising from it so quickly it sprays Quill and the surrounding floor with droplets of blue stuff. Jill looks dizzy but otherwise unhurt, waving him on. Groggy, she oozes along the floor toward Chloe and the still fighting guard's boots and, like quicksand in reverse, simply surges forward to encircle his feet up to the ankles, latching on with her arms for good measure.
One of the advantages of growing up in a Savate gym is you get plenty of practice against larger opponents. Which is lucky because without it Chloe would be flattened by the holographic warrior and with Jill gripping his ankles she has the definate mobility advantage, ducking and weaving while hammering away with a storm of punches using her cybernetic hand. "Death rays and maybe the crates are filled with those squid! Ladies and gentlemen we have our laser squid!"
Quill laughs at Chloe and turns towards the bell. "Wait, do each of us have to hit it separately, I blame the fine print!" He shouts as he fires a volly of Quills at the belly, hitting it with the same force that a .22 gun would. He then looks around, sniffing and listening with his heightened sense to see if there are any other surprises.
Briefly immobilized by a clingy pool of slime under his feet, the first guard actually stops to look down and see what the problem is. This is precisely the wrong thing to do and he promptly gets flattened by a series of punches. He slumps, dropping his rifle with a clatter. Struck again, the bell rings out in the same low tone. The smell of burnt plastic and paper aside, there don't seem to be any hidden tricks or traps left in the warehouse. There were, however, two guards. The second is retreating while snapping off wild shots with his zap gun, given up trying to clutch his bloodied face and just going full-on Rambo. His aim isn't the best and yellow energy bolts strike the boxes and concrete floor with an electric crackle and the smell of ozone.
Jill actually goes "Eek!" and slides out from under the unconscious guard, standing up back in her yellow and white uniform, hands raised like she's afraid she'll catch something from the downed man. A bolt strikes the floor in front of her feet. She goes "Eek!" again. "Less banter, more running!"
Chloe ducks down, scoops up the unconcious guards weapon and giggles. "Awh come on the banter is the /best/ bit!" she exclaims, pulling the trigger and firing some wild shots of her own. Not at the guard, but into the nearest section of wall in the hopes of blasting an exit. "Anyway you're right we probably should be leaving." She dashes low, still firing, and hits the bell with the butt of the energy weapon.
"Marines we are leaving!!! Damnit I should have yelled Corsairs! Oh well, next time!" Quill says as he starts heading out of the building. "Come on guards! Didn't you hear the bell ring, that means your shift is up, go home, see your family, drink your steak dinner through a straw. You know, enjoy the finer points of life!" He can't help but add in his own banter as he makes his way out making sure the two girls are out before he is.
Aside from scorching the brick walls in pleasant patterns, the rifles just don't pack enough punch to do anything quite so dramatic. The beams are quite pretty, though! As Chloe strikes the bell with the butt of the gun, the bell rings for the third and last time. As one, the three wristwatches beep and stop counting down at 15:37, which proceeds to flash repeatedly. The last guard does not give chase.
Jill glances back cautiously, but nothing else seems to be happening. "Did… did we win?" she asks, pushing open the door so hard it bangs hard against the outer wall of the warehouse. In just a few more steps she's out into the grass, bent over with her hands on her knees and unsure if she should keep running or not.
Chloe scowls at the gun, then the wall. "Lame!" And with that she sets off following the others, keeping low and zig-zagging from side to side incase anyone else decides to try shooting at them. "Hopefully he won't notice his vehicle won't start and come after us. 'Coz I kinda took some important looking wires out…"
Looking at Jill and Chole, Quill fist pumps the air with a 'Wooohooo!' "Don't worry about it Chloe, unless the man in the box lied to us, I think we just beat this sucker. Let's hope the other half or our team realizes that we're bad. ass. Oh yeah." With that Quill starts to do a little dance right out there. "Wait…was there more to the mission that I forgot? That happens sometimes."
"Well well well," the male voice calls out over the PA, seemingly from nowhere in the open field. "Not too bad. A solid effort, and with time to spare, no less. Enough that you could have another go at it. What do you say? I could make it harder this time!" There's a sound, an amplified rustling as of someone grabbing a live microphone. A pause and a murmuring of another, more distant voice. "Ahem," the announcer continues, sounding thoroughly chastised. "I mean, you guys did well, everybody's okay. Please exit to your left and deposit any trash in the bins outside the theater as y-" The microphone gives another brief squeal and cuts off entirely. So does the simulation, dropping away like a veil to reveal the bare metal walls again. The door opens automatically.
Jill rubs her temples, exhaling a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Small droplets of blue fluid are rapidly coalescing on the polished floor around her feet, sliding together to form a larger pool that gets absorbed back into her. "Ah," she starts uncertainly. "I guess we did win after all. Sorry about the… you know…" She leans over to Quill and wipes a few drops of blue slime from his uniform.
"A little bit of a light workout," Chloe says with a yawn. "I guess I'll have to go for a run afterwards now that I've warmed up. You did pretty well Jill, the ankle grip thing you did worked pretty well." She giggles. "Quill you're a much better shot than I expected. Those quills of yours are actually useful!"
"I know Chole." Quill says before shaking his head. "Thanks though, I mean as much as I do call Mr. Summers Goofy Goggles he's really good at teaching accuracy. Gambit taught me about being a thief and it's been useful for more than just spying on girls." Is he joking or not, it's hard to tell with the grin he's wearing. "Hey don't worry about it Jill, you didn't do bad. After a while you'll come to love this stuff!"
