You do know the Danger Room... don't you?
X-Men - Time
X-Men Danger Room History
Friday, October 1st
As you enter, the Danger Room looks as it has never looked before. The room has been transfigured into an enormous Colosseum. The center arena, where the fighting is to take place, is covered in sand and dirt, looking very natural and easy on the feet, while the seats rose up from it in progressively larger and larger circles until it reached the top, where it looked to be a rather nice day. There were a few stairs leading to the first row of seats, obviously intended for the students to sit there.
Xavier's voice was then heard as he called
"Daniela and Michael to the arena, please."
As soon as she was able to move freely,
Valerie scooted on her behind back away from Alexis. It looked like the girl didn't know what had hit her. Val stared at him, unable to say anything at the moment as she shook off the residual feeling of sorrow from her mind.
Finally, she stood up, and it looked as if she was going to say something to her opponent, her mouth opening and closing once, twice. Instead, she brushed herself off and quietly made her way back into the stands, to reclaim her seat between Vlad and Shade.
Alexis had managed to move away and had been in a crouched position. When the match had been declared over he had let the weak connection he had managed to keep on Valerie go.
He rose from his crouched position and walked back towards the stands. He didn't really say anything, but just gave a nod to the people he passed as he made for his seat which was between Korvka and and Flame.
As he passed Michael he gave him a sad smile, "Thank you.." before sitting between Devin and Flame. He winced slightly as he pressed his back against the wall behind him, but ignored it. Instead he closed his mind and allowed his body to heal itself, after a moment, a warm feeling spread across his back, and his body and he sagged into his seat knowing he would sleep well tonight. The composition in his mind had finished prematurely as the match had so he moved onto
Edvin Marton: Dark Angel, and waited for the next fight to start.
"Ah! me?!" yelped
Daniela as Xavier called her name. The fact she was going to have to fight too had apparently slipped her mind until that very moment. She felt a slight flutter in her stomach out of nervousness and took a deep breath before standing up. "Wish me luck." she said to Shana and then Nicole, adding a smile as she passed them on her way down. She pulled the zipper of her jacket down, to move more freely, and stood in the middle of the arena, waiting for whoever Michael was.
"Don't freak out... don't freak out... you can do this..." she repeated in her head.
"No problem dude," Michael said to Alexis as the boy sat down. When he heard his name a wide grin crossed his face. He leapt over the wall and into the arena, much the same as Alexis only with more force, and rolled to catch his momentum on the ground. He jogged his way to the center to face Daniela.
"First I wish to apologize for any injury I may cause and second I wish you the best of luck," he said to her as he extended his hand out to her.
"Good luck Daniela!"
Shana shouted in response to Daniela's request as she walked away. "I'm going to be pretty biased about this fight," she said aloud, mostly to Nicole and Summer. She had become a little bored, much like the others, at Alexis' and Valerie's fight, which turned out to be basically a contorted wrestling match. She was expecting Daniela and Michael to prove worthy of watching and was excited to see that fight.
"Uhhm... thanks" replied simply
Daniela with a smile, she was a bit reluctant to shake hands with Michael for a second, given how she felt about much physical contact, but got over it quickly and gave him a handshake. "Don't hold back! I won't!" she said before going back to her edge of the arena and double checking her heart monitor, to see if it was working correctly. "Ok... 200 is the point of no return..." she muttered as
she waved at her friends seated around the arena one last time before the fight started.
"M'lady, I couldn't bring myself to hurt you and to do so would tarnish my honor," Michael said with a bow. He stepped back a little bit as Daniela did the same and began to stretch a little, trying to limber up before the fight. He was quite hyper and excited to begin, but still hesitant to hit a woman.
Why is it that only the women here will fight me?
Logan stepped forward a little bit and said, "FIGHT!"
Michael quickly broke into a loose fighting stance and faced Daniela. He watched her movements for a few seconds and charged at her. He attempted to perform a simple, and basic trip manuever: placing his foot behind her leg and pushing on her shoulder. His hope was to get her on the ground without hurting her.
Daniela was a bit startled by Logan's announcement, by the time she turned to Michael again, she noticed him lunging at her. "Ok, keep your cool... aim small and low!" she told herself as she reached out with her left hand, aiming at Michael's lower left leg and trying to summon a small shield, around the size of a baseball right in front of his instep, the idea being his foot would hook onto the shield when he moved his leg forward and he'd trip in mid-run, she needed to keep Michael away from her for a second until she devised some plan. Should the hooking move work, she'd dispel the shield immediately, before Michael could look back to see what his foot had snagged on.
To all onlookers, it appeared that Daniela was merely going to bear the brunt of Michael's blow, and he hadn't even begun to use his powers yet! However, as she concentrated, a shield did appear in Michael's path, though he was too intent on putting her to the ground to notice it. He tripped on the shield and went sprawling forward. However, Daniela did not anticipate the momentum that the large teenager had gained in his run and her tripping maneuver, while successful, sent Michael in her direction so quickly that she didn't have time to move out of the way! His outstretched hand to catch himself caught Daniela on the hip and pushed her down rather roughly, though without serious harm.
"What the-" Michael shouted as he fell. It wasn't how he had pictured it, but he still got Daniela on the ground. What did I trip over? Doesn't matter now, I have to take advantage of it he thought as he pushed up into a crouch and aimed a kick at her side. It wasn't too harsh, but enough for her to know she had just been hit.
Daniela managed to trip Michael, but didn't expect him to come tumbling at her, as he crashed into the girl, she fell to the ground as well. Before she could get up, Michael was already up and trying to kick her before she could stand up. Daniela panicked and her shielding reflex kicked in for a second, a large shield appeared around her for a split second and then faded out, much like it had the time Vlad had approached her near the elevator. Hopefully, the shield would protect her from the kick so she could stand up and try to get regain some distance between herself and Michael. Always at the ready to cast another baseball sized shield should he lunge at her again, this time at neck, height, so he'd fall into a coughing fit if he hit the shield with his throat.
As Daniela's shield flickered before Michael's foot, the timing was just so that the giant teenager's foot collided with the shield instead! As if kicking a solid wall, Michael stumbled and hopped on one foot for a moment as the pain subsided thanks to his powers of healing. Daniela went to make another shield but just at that moment, her heart monitor started to beep, indicating that her heart rate was climbing and was now at 180 due to the panic of Michael's aimed kick. Her shield appeared but then disappeared quickly. She had a moment though, to put distance between them as Michael recovered from his painful foot.
Nicole watched carefully and saw the shield. She smiled and cheered.
"Go Daniela! You can take him!" Nicole hadn't cheered anyone on yet, but she liked Daniela, and didn't know Michael, so it was obvious what her reaction would be.
Daniela ran away from Michael, trying to get as much distance between them, after a second or two she noticed her heart rate climbing, of course, if she went over 200 she wouldn't faint, but she'd be unable to cast shields without the risk of passing out until it went down, so she stopped and tried to calm herself down, taking a deep breath, he elbows hurt from being knocked down to the floor before. "Smaller shields take up less energy... so I need to make those work for me... that big one a second ago saved my ass but it took a lot out of me..." she thought as she heard Nicole cheer behind her, she smiled and lifted her hand as an acknowledgement, but she didn't turn, she didn't want to turn her back on Michael. Then she remembered a martial arts video in which they bent someone's little finger to stop them and tried casting a shield englobing the top of Michael's little finger on his right hand, a tiny one, the size of a marble, but which would effectively lock the boy in place and would be easy to maintain for several minutes. It was a gamble, since it was very hard to aim and didn't want to be wrestled to the ground by a guy again, specially when wearing something that could easily pass for a leather cat suit.
Michael crouched down and held is throbbing foot for a moment. "Wow, that really hurt. I guess I need to be even gentler with you," he told Daniela. As the pain eased off of his foot he stood up and started walking towards her, limping slightly. He wasn't sure what he could do against the shields since they seemed to only exist for a second or two before dissipating. He decided speed was the only advantage he might have, so he lunged for her again hoping to tackle her to the ground.
As Daniela's heart rate started to descend with the bit of time she had while Michael recovered, her tiny marble shield intended for Michael's finger missed it's mark. Instead, the shield appeared closer to his arm and managed to bruise him as he lumbered forward, but did little to stop him before it popped out of existence. His lunge was well aimed and he managed to land on top of the girl, taking her to the ground!
"JESUS!"
Korvka called as she watched Michael land on top of the small and frail looking Daniela. "He's gonna crush her!"
Valerie sat forward, as if that would help her get a better view of the spar. She felt a little guilty for not really paying attention during Shana and Devin’s, especially since people had cheered during her and Alexis’s fight. Besides strength and size, she wondered what Michael’s power was. Daniela appeared to be producing some sort of tangible protection and projectiles, Val could see that much. She gasped concernedly, for it did look as if Michael was about to crush the much smaller female.
Flame let out a low whistle as she watched the action. "Man, it's like watching someone getting steam-rolled..
. Going to have to glue her back together after this."
Nicole winced at the hit. She looked at Vlad and secretly prayed she didn't get ran over like that. "Come on Daniela!" she yelled. Nic was pretty certain that if Daniela made a good enough shield, it would be over.
Michael landed on top of Daniela and realized that he had actually managed to tackle her. He made an attempt at restraining her arms, as if that would stop her shields from appearing. He tried to be careful not to truly pin her to the ground as she was much smaller. "I'm not hurting you am I?" he asked her, with genuine concern.
"Daniela!!" Shana cried out when the mass of hairy man landed on top of the tiny girl. With wide eyes, she stood and leaned over the railing, calling out, "Hey, you big oaf, get off of her! You're going to crush her!" She gripped the railing tight out of anger and so she wouldn't topple over into the arena, and her hair was quickly beginning to show large black streaks.
Alexis had remained quiet during the beginning of the fight. He was measuring up both Daniela and Michael, and to say the least both were capable of winning the match. He let his violet eyes wander a moment and then he turned the music up louder in his mind, as the people were starting to give off powerful emotions. He shook his head, trying to not let the emotions get to him.
Daniela didn't manage to react in time to avoid Michael crashing into her. When she gained her bearings again, she was on the ground, Michael sitting on top of her and holding her arms down. The situation, coupled with one glance at Shade's empty black eyes staring at her from the stands was enough for the girl to begin to panic. Daniela could hear her heart monitor beeping out of control and began to struggle, to the point of tearing up, however Michael was far too heavy for her. Daniela tried to calm down and organize her thoughts, still with tears in her eyes, her shield reflex could not save her with Michael so close, the fact of such physical contact also unnerved her. After an instant or two, she make a conscious effort to calm down and heard her friends defending her from the stands, not being able to aim with her hands worried her, but Michael's head was less than two feet away from her, so it would be like firing point blank. Closing her eyes, she tried to cast a shield fitting exactly around Michael's head, hoping it would blind him, disorient him and lock him in place, at least long enough for her to get out from under him.
Light had seemed to lose her interest on Shana during the fight, realizing that simply staring at the girl wasn't going to give her the information she wanted. She focused more on the fight now, saying nothing and sitting perfectly still.
Despite her panic, the nearness of her target caused her shield to be perfectly on target! A shield appeared around Michael's head, blinding him to everything, blocking out sound entirely. If he tried to move, he would find himself rather unable to, held in place as if in the stocks!
Michael suddenly found himself in complete darkness with very little air. Panic began to set in as he tried to move and found himself stuck. He began to try and pry at the shield with his hands. The shield was too small for him to be able to attempt a shift so he did the only thing he could do: strike out with his feet at Daniela, who was still below him.
Daniela sighed with relief as Michael raised up his arms to the shield, freeing her own hands in turn. She tried to free herself from under him and completely failed to notice in incoming kicks, if anything she would take one of the blows in the stomach, hard, but she was going to try to keep the shield around Michael's head going until she was free from his grasp.
In the commotion, Daniela was given a moment to wriggle free from Michael's hulking form, which she managed to do enough to avoid most of one of his kicks! The tip of his foot caught her knee as she struggled against him, but as he was too preoccupied, Michael's strike didn't have as much force behind it as he would have liked. Since he was using his feet to kick, Daniela could wiggle away without him noticing, since Michael was blind and deaf in the shield. He was able to breath though, without much worry there.
Michael felt his foot make contact with Daniela, but just barely. He soon realized that he was quite stuck and at her mercy as she had, apparently, gotten out of his reach. Unsure of how long the shield would last he simply stood there, hunched over due to where his head had been trapped, and waited for an opportunity to be free whilst hoping he had not lost.
Daniela felt the blow on her knee and limped away from Michael, trying to walk it off, however, the heart monitor was climbing again, it had been almost at 200 when he pinned her to the ground and sustaining another shield was beyond her at this point. She sat on the ground, breathing heavily and dispelled the shield around Michael's head. "Uncle!" she said simply as she looked over the bruises on her elbows and arms, including two made by Michael's hands on his wrists, it seemed she was otherwise ok though, he had been as gentle as one COULD be in a fight. "I'm spent."
Logan then walked forward again and bellowed out, "FIGHT OVER! STALEMATE!" As he went back towards the wall to assume his more passive role as an idle observer, he gave Michael and Daniela and appreciative nod, as if trying to tell them without saying it that they'd had a good fight.
Xavier's voice was then heard announcing, "Flame and Korvka to the arena please."
Michael stood up and walked over to Daniela. "I didn't hurt you did I? Can I help you back to your seat? he asked after seeing her holding her knee.
"Huh?" A brow rosed on Flame's face, it was their turn already? Sitting up she stretched her arms out above her head, leaning her neck this way and that to warm up her muscles. With a groan she pushed herself up off the seat, shooting a wink back to Vlad as she slipped out of the seating area and into the arena itself. Once there she shifted her weight to ready the muscles and joints of her legs and hips, loosening the strap of her knife sheath a little as she grinned at Korvka.
'Jeezum petes, what are those things?' Valerie inquired aloud to no one, as she saw the sphere enclose Michael's head. As the fight was called, Val sat back into her seat, crossing her legs at the ankles, hands folded tidily in her lap, and waited for Flame and Korvka's bout to commence.
Korvka watched as the fight was over, impressed as usual with the powers of her classmates. When she heard her name, she looked up suddenly, as if she had forgotten, and a wide grin came over her face as she looked over at Flame. She was happy to be sparring against her friend, but still hadn't thought of any ways she could overcome Flame's scales or her claws, rendering her vines useless. Still she was excited for the spar and made her way down to the arena, where Michael and Daniela were still clearing off. "Nice job, guys," she said as she grabbed her scythe from its holster on her thigh and opened it up, pushing the button so that the spring blade came out, sharp and shining.
"I'll be fine." replied Daniela with slight smile as Michael approached to check on her, she stood up trying not to put much weight on her injured leg, though it was only a small bruise. After a few limps, she could walk normally again. "I can just walk it off, see?" she said once more to Michael, turning back to the boy. "Good fight, thank you!" she said with a smile, then headed back to her seat, though she still considered she had been beaten, it had been a useful experience. Nevertheless, she wished no guy ever pinned her to the ground again.
Alexis had been a little surprised by how the match turned out, he had been expecting Daniela to win once she had put Michael into the shield. But he figured as her powers were stamina based she could only do so much. He watched as the two made it back to their seats and he watched Flame and Korvka make their ways to the center of the ring. He didn't know either of them very well. He had had the one mission with Flame and she seemed alright, she was very in control of her emotions which was a plus to him. Korvka on the other hand, he didn't know at all, and she was always acting her emotions out to the T. He shook his head as he started weighing the two in his mind as to who would win, and as he didn't know either powers. He was missing variables. "Well...this should at least be interesting..."
Michael nodded to Daniela as she made her comments about walking it off. "Well, I want to walk you back to your seat to make sure you don't fall," he said. He walked her back to her seat and with a smile said, "We'll see you around." He turned around and went to his own seat over by White, eager to see the match between Flame and Korvka.
Shana returned to sitting when the fight was called and sighed with relief once she saw Daniela was OK and could walk properly. She stuck her bottom lip out childishly, almost playfully, when Michael came to Daniela's spot. She looked to Daniela when Michael had gone and she had retaken her seat. "Good job, that was intense," she told Daniela with a grin, reaching up to knock some sand out of the girl's hair and off her shoulder. "Kinda messy..."
"Um, good fight", said White to Michael when he returned to his seat. She didn't get to see much of any powers he had, as he seemed too concerned about Daniela to even use them, but it was interesting to see how Daniela managed to defend herself fairly well. She was getting nervous and worried about what was she going to do when she had to face Shade.
"That was...interesting," Nicole said to Daniela. She gave the girl a small smile and looked at the arena, which was being completely torn apart. There was sand everywhere, even in the stands, and a few places where she could see holes from people's bodies. Nic was anxious for her match, but not if it meant she was going to be tackled into the sand as it seemed all the other girls were being.
Ignoring everything else around them and keeping her focus just on Korvka Flame drew her lips back in a vicious grin, showing off her sharpened teeth. "I think you might have the advantage. If I knew I was against you to begin with, I would of whined about wanting pavement under our feet instead." But there was plenty of humour in her voice as she eyed the other girls weapon.
Seating Arrangement
Stumble!