11758/Danger Room session aka Somebody isn't funny

Danger Room session aka Somebody isn't funny
Date of Scene:	11 July 2020
Location:	Danger Room - X-Men Base
Synopsis:	Everyone got a chance to work out...really hard. Everyone got a chance to fall into some freezing cold water as well.
Cast of Characters:	Warpath, Phoenix, Pixie, Cannonball

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Warpath has posed:
     There are a lot of ways to use the Danger Room and Jimmy promises something, unique to anyone that shows up tonight for a session. He also suggested everyone be stretched out and warmed up well and ready to sweat.

Phoenix has posed:
Since her last round in the DR, Jean has been rather avoidant of it. First there were excuses for why she'd be late for more relaxed practices, then outright bailing on one of the regular team 'battle calls'. It had hardly the first time she'd bled in there over the years but something about the event seemed to have spooked her like a high strung horse eyeing a new jump course.

Likely under pressure, Jean has grudgingly showed up to the call of Warpath. She's in a more dressed down form of her uniform, a high-necked black suit with the golden X badge across her chest that matches the buckle on the utility belt around her hips. She's coming through the door and restlessly pulling at the close fit of her sleeve cuffs.

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn is only too eager to get involved more in the Danger Room. So she arrives super early, stretching and warming up, dressed in her custom made short black X-girl dress with gold accents. "Hiii everyone! Wassup? Can't wait to see what surprises are in store today!" she's pretty chipper today, hopefully she wasn't loading up on coffee again.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie figured he would come down and support James. He has known the man for a good long while, and looks about as he walks in. He is would have sent a message asking James if he wanted street clothes or uniform and shown up in the style that was best.

Warpath has posed:

    Jimmy sets a few more controls and over the speaker he tells everyone,"This is more physical run, excercise. There won't won't be Sentinels trying to take you out of the picture. The first run through I want no powers. If you want to make a run through with powers a second time OK." A few more swtiches and the Danger Room starts to change.

Warpath has posed:
     The Danger Room currently is set inside large warehouse. Longer than it is wide, the entire room is mostly taken up by an obstacle course that looks like something out of a Parkour practitioner's dreams. Nine obstacles total, starting at the floor level and ending up in the rafter area of the opposite end of the building stretches out in front of you. The length of the course is matched by a long splash down pool for those you fall from the course. Each section has a ladder to climb out of the pool and return to the start area. There isn't much for seating as most of the room is taken up by the course, but there are some folding chairs for someone to sit on if they want, otherwise you can wander down the sides of the course to get a better look at anyone in the course.

     The Conveyor Belt Climb starts the course. Beyond that is the Big Red Balls obstacle. Next comes the dreaded Salmon ladder. Pipe Slider will challenge the participant next. Survive that, and the Jumping Spider awaits. The Warped Wall, even to the uninitiated this is a known "ninja killer" in other courses. The Wall Lift is next on the trip through the extreme. After that, the Cage Crawl challenges in ways most would not believe until inside. Finally, after all that, the Hell-avator stands ominously waiting to see if any survive to challenge it.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey looks towards the arrival of Sam and Megan and gives each a fleeting and distracted smile. Her attentions seem split between Jimmy and their surroundings, particularly as the obstacle course comes into proper view. "Oh." She mutters under her breath and sounds torn between being happy about this development or to despair instead. "You know I'm getting too old for this, right?" She says jokingly towards Warpath as she crosses her arms over her chest and just takes in the sight of the course.

Right, this calls for backup. She reaches under her sleeve cuff and pulls out a plain, thin scrunchie band and begins rapidly braiding and tying back her hair. That must mean business.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over and says "Well without powers it will be more interesting for sure." He admits. He nods to both of the ladies as he starts stretching. He grins a bit and says "This should be interesting all the obstacles visable or will there be surprises along the way?

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn blinks, smile fading a bit as she stares up at the obstacle course. "Woah. really? no powers? Awwwwe no fair?" she pouts some but clenches her fists as she heads to the conveyor belt. "Please don't tell me it's a race too?" with a sigh she gets ready to run, assuming there's gonna be like a starting horn or something..

Warpath has posed:
     The laugh that comes from James as he arrives in the Danger Room with everyone else might be unsettling to some. He is wearing loose sweat pants and shoes for running, no shirt,"Of course there is a timer, just to see who gets the farthest the fastest. If you fall...well that's to be expected. This isn't meant to be easy. I fell more than once. It isn't just strength keeping you on the course."
     He looks to the three in turn and motions to the conveyor climb,"Don't everybody rush it at once. Who wants to take the first trip through?"

Warpath has posed:
     The Conveyor Belt climb is the start of the course. It consists of a forty-five degree incline with a conveyor belt running backwards to keep the competitor from reaching the top. You are required to make your way up the conveyor belt, running up the side is not permitted. This is a one and done try, you make it up or you are out.

Phoenix has posed:
"Well, it's a race for bragging rights at least." Jean looks towards the warrior and rocks her shoulders back in a stretch. At least she listened and stretched ahead of time. "Alright, well as seniormost of the ones you're lucky enough to torment tonight, I'll go first." She doesn't seem bothered by the rule about no powers. In fact, she seems more relaxed than she did coming in.

The redhead moves towards the starting line. There's one last look as she plans an attack route while settling into a racer's start. She kicks off at speed to build as much initial momentum as she can, moving to take the belt with as long of strides as she can to make up for the inevitable distance loss caused by the belt and time to push back off.

She's an agile woman, but is not used to bolting across giant spongy balls at speed. She almost makes it, but a slight misjudgment in jumping a few inches too early from a previous point brings her up short right at the end. The Phoenix can be heard yelping loudly as she smacks into the last ball as her foot comes up short and her nails drag on the surface for a fleeting last ditch effort. Then she'd down in the water with a graceless splash.

Warpath has posed:
     The Conveyor Climb at the top reveals the Big Red Balls obstacle. In the middle are three large, red balls. Each ball is secured to the bottom of the pool, but they do flex enough to make staying on them complicated as they have been rigged to a spring-loaded head that allows them to rock. If you manage to arrive at the next platform dry, then you are off to the next obstacle. If you fall into the pool this trip through the obstacle course is over for you.

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn isn't super fit, maybe partly because she tends to rely too much on her wings and teleporting to get around. Which makes her lazy. Not to say she's unfit, but she could do better. She grins her teeth as she goes uphill over the conveyor belt and at least she's fast, let's just hope this incline doesn't last too long because while she is capable of bursts of speed, Megan isn't big on endurance.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie takes off at a run, he is not as used to running as some when he is trying to get somewhere fast he normally is blasting. He makes it up past the tread mill, and then to the balls. He makes the balls from one to the other with a bit of wobble but makes it to the next platform and calls out "Start over Jean?"

Warpath has posed:
     Jimmy watches as they make their way through the course. He nods approvingly and maybe smiles a little inspite of himself when Jean falls into the water. The kids in the class do seem to think he is a heartless and emotionless teacher right?

Warpath has posed:
     The Salmon Ladder. It is a simple obstacle in design, but devastatingly difficult particularly to the unwary. There is a bar resting on two pegs. There is a sequence of four pairs of pegs. They are spaced evenly in pairs until the last pair. The last peg rest is double the distance from the third set than all the others. The object is to grasp the bar with both hands and "climb" the pegs with the bar by lunging upwards. You are required to hang on to the bar and you cannot use your legs to touch the wall at any point. If you fall, the water awaits as does the end of the run.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey surfaces with an indignant splutter and scrubs a few strands of escaped hair from her face. "You could have warmed up the water at least!" She protests, though the others in the room are likely familiar enough with her at this point to pick up that she's teasing. Mostly. First one down. Some legendary hero she is!

Jean hauls herself out of the pool and mercifully the uniform isn't the kind to hold water. It lets her get back up the belt without much trouble. There she pauses to make sure Megan has a chance to get across and plot her approach instead of a headlong rush this time.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie has his problem at the Salmon ladder, he is doing pretty could maybe even have been an extra in the arrowverse, but as he gets going faster he does no realize he is shifting to the side, and at the last jump, the bar misses the pegs and down he goes with a "Son of a" luckily the water drowns out the rest of that. He will head towards the edge of the water once he hits the surface.

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn just about manages to get through the first part without falling in water..Barely. But now she's panting a bit as she approaches the ladder. She draws a deep breath, shaking her head as she starts to climb. "Geez, you're a meanie.." she mutters, but just as she's about to reach the top, she reaches and misses and meeps as she splashes into the water. Hey, it could be worse, could be a lava pit!

Warpath has posed:
     "Cold water is more...inspiring." he replies to Jean. Yes he's enjoying this a little bit much. Each person seeing the course in their way. He nods approvingly as Sam makes his way of the Salmon Ladder and doesn't seem too surprised when he falls.

Warpath has posed:
     Once you are at the top of the ladder, you see to a piece of pipe in front of you resting on rails. On Pipe Slider, the pipe rides on a pair of rails and is barely wider than the rails. The object is to grasp the pipe any way you can and slide down towards the next obstacle. If you lose your grip or the bar loses the track, there is that cool water down there waiting to break your fall end the trip. Making you way to the end, you step away from the pipe slider onto a platform.

Phoenix has posed:
This time, Jean times her jumps right and gets across the red balls. Can't say she's not a fast learner.

The ladder doesn't seem to give her as much trouble. Maybe it's from using her arms and hands to command her telekinetic powers. Maybe it's those morning pool laps. Or she's just been paying attention to core exercises. While her pace is slower as she has to build up fresh momentum each time, Jean does inch her way up the ladder. The last few look to tax her strength, and by the end she's thumping down on the platform with a heavy thump and a minute to suck in air.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie is starting the path again, and this round he is starting to pay attention more to proper way of doing the task, and do them correctly. He is soon back to the ladder, and looks over seeing where Megan is.

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn meeps, coughing and sputtering as she pops up and climbs out, all soaking wet. "Ugh! nooo fun!" she pouts as she climbs the ladder again and hops onto the pole, swinging down with no problem this time. "I git this, no sweat!"

Warpath has posed:
     Jimmy watches as things go on. Of course he could take a run at it, but this is his little teaching moment so he doesn't yet. As strong as he is, some of those obstacles will deal him problems too. Watching Megan come up out of the water he smiles, but doesn't comment.

Warpath has posed:
     Once you step onto the platform you are greeted by a long "tunnel" that consists of two clear, hard plastic walls, no roof, and no floor. Before you can reach the walls you have to jump from a small trampoline to propel yourself over the distance and use your hands and feet to "prop" yourself between the two walls, hope you are still dry. The object of the obstacle is to body prop yourself through the "tunnel" thirty feet to the next platform. If you lose your grip or traction, cold water awaits. If you make it through the Jumping Spider, you will drop to a platform at the end.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey steps up to the pole when its her turn to tackle the new obstacle. Delicate manipulation is her typical skill, though it's normally done with her head and not her arms. She holds on with just her hands and keeps her legs hiked up close to her chest to keep her center of gravity restrained. Flailing legs would not help here. She lands neatly.

The Spider is a more challenging foe. She's been forced to train in parkour hundreds of times. 'You can't always just float', they'd say. Well this time she can't, but she manages to get almost all of the way through. At the last portion of the wall, her foot looses traction mid-jump. She smacks hard against the platform wall as her hands just manage to grab the edge in time, leaving her hanging there. "Ow..." Mutters the woman as tired arms just pull her up, though she just gives up fighting gravity and rolls off the short platform and down to the next one without bothering to stand.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie actually will take his time more and offers suggestions to the ladies now. He has fell in the water now he is falling into his more natural state of trying to work as a team.

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn meeps, still wet but doing her best to shuffle between the walls and through the plastic tunnel, though her claustrophobia makes things difficult. She starts to panic, sliding back, yelling and falling again in the water. "Noooo!"

Warpath has posed:
     Jimmy walks over to the beginning of the course, watching as the others make a run through things. The monster of the course is what it is. Finally, he runs up the conveyor climb. He's strong and fast, even without his powers and makes it to the top without any trouble. Eyeing the big red balls however he shakes his head,"I hate these things." he mutters.

Warpath has posed:
     The next platform has a notorious "ninja killer" waiting, the Warped Wall. As it sounds, it is a wall that has been curved in at the bottom and out at the top of the fourteen and a half feet tall obstacle. To make it to the top of the platform you need to run up the curved surface and jump up and back to try to catch the top of the wall and pull yourself up onto the platform above. It is despicable in its apparent simplicity. You either get to the top or you're done.

Phoenix has posed:
"Do I need to get you a pool float, Sam?" Jean teases the New Mutant leader while he's wrangling a dunk. Confidence may be breeding just a bit of shit talking. Just a little. She does wince as Megan lands not far behind him. "You okay, Megan?" She calls over to the pixie before she moves to tackle the unassuming wall of destruction.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over to Megan, and says "Use your falling skills on the tunnel, launch yourself with the trampoline and then slide /fall as far forward as you can with momentum. Should help dry your hands, and get you some distance." He looks over to Jean "Maybe I like water."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn meeps and nods, drawing a breath, trying. to keep calm as she climbs through the tunnel more easily next time round, and grabs the shelf to heave herself up to the next level with some effort. She puffs a bit, reaching the next floor, glancing around. "Sooo what's next?"

Warpath has posed:
     Grim determination crosses Jimmy's face and he makes the run and jump. Sometimes, like in football, the best thing is to keep your legs moving. He moves over the three balls, catching the edge of the platform and pulling himself up. A shake of his head and he starts to get up to move on.

Warpath has posed:
     Surviving the warped wall and making your way from it, you arrive at the Wall Lift. You will find yourself looking at a black gate/door hanging in your path by a chain on each end. The wall weighs fifty pounds and must be lifted so you can pass under it. Another black gate/door awaits beyond the first. This one weighs one hundred pounds and must also be lifted and passed under as well. A third and final black gate/door awaits weighing one hundred and fifty pounds. Like the two before, you lift it enough to get under it and pass through. The competitor will get six tries at getting through the walls. If you can't make it through, you're done.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey quirks a small grin at the coaching from Sam. She'll leave him to it as the woman turns to judge the wall. Right, vertical leap time.

As a woman of average height who does not play basketball or volleyball, she finds her leap at a slight disadvantage. She backs up to the beginning of the obstacle and takes a running start, trying to get as much forward momentum as she can to carry her as far up the wall as she can until it begins to bend outward. Then she jumps, hands swinging to grab the edge...

And miss. She only catches air and lands with a frustrated huff. Clearly she needs to revisit parkour training.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie is following Megan now,, and s trying to help her "You can do it, just concentrate on the things you need to do. I have faith in ya Meg" He will move to the next step only after megan has completed it.

Warpath has posed:
     Moving on to the Salmon Ladder, Jimmy's upper body strength makes that one go fast and almost makes it look easy. He steps onto the platform and grabs the cable to pull the Pipe Slider towards him to begin this one once everyone else has cleared it. Again, more upper body strength, something he has plenty of and he makes short work of this obstacle as well. Dropping off at the end he pauses to rolls his arms and rubs the muscles to loosen them up.

Warpath has posed:
     Stepping to the next obstacle, there is only a four by four opening into a chain link Cage Crawl. The walls and floor of the tunnel are secure, but not tight. There is a lot of flex in the cage itself. The angle about forty-five degrees downward, ideally using the cage for traction, though you could just fall to the bottom of the first area. At the end of the first stage, there is a passage forty-five degrees up moving counter to your descent. At the top of the climb you drop down into another level that leads down again. In the end, you climb down three times with a climb up between them. This one is less about physical strength and more about dexterity. While there is no maximum number of tries through the levels, once you are in you are in. If you tire out or get injured there are a few doors on the side that can be used to leave the obstacle and forfeit the run. If you finish you will leave the cage at floor level.

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn smiles faintly at Sam, apparently a decent jumper but not terribly strong. "Yeah, thanks.." she puffs as she tries to pull down on the chain. The first one is a bit of effort though she manages to do it, running to the next level which takes quite a bit more strength and effort. Heck, she's only some twelve pounds heavier but with a massive amount of effort she manages to just about pull it up a crack, enough to slip through. The third..,Welll..She heaves and heaves but it's pretty heavy fir her...

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey is tough, no one in the school would doubt that. She's quick, agile, stubborn, and smart. But she's also been running on increasingly less sleep - not that she doesn't keep that a well guarded secret - and having run this course a few repeat times already. Pure physical power is not something she is gifted in and it's the weights that finally do her in once she gets to it. By that point she's just worn out and is left sitting on the sidelines muttering about being old and out of shape for all she's not even thirty yet. "...someone... remind me to... drink more water.. not coffee."

Warpath has posed:
     Moving on to the Jumping Spider, Jimmy pauses. This one isn't just about strength. It is also about the pull of gravity against the person's weight and body mass and Jimmy has a lot of that. Hearing Jean's comment he looks towards where she has stalled and smiles. The course is going to be good for everyone.

     He hits the trampoline and jumps into the walls...lucky him someone with wet hands and feet tried this before him.

     "Shit." he mutters as his hands and feet slide over the water against the flat surface. He puts all his power to stopping the slide, but only slows it. A moment later the massive Apache finds the cold water as well. He moves to the side to climb out of the water and shake it off some.

Warpath has posed:
     The final obstacle rises before you. There is a tower that stands seventy-five feet tall waiting for the last gasp of the course. The tower consists two tall pillars with a gear ratcheting handle on each one. An optional vest is provided with bungee cords to protect the one making the climb should they lose their grip. The object of the Hell-evator is to grasp each of the handles and start the ratcheting process on each side, using every part of the body to keep the momentum moving up. If you tire out or lose your grip then gravity takes you down towards the waiting water and the end of your attempt of the course. If you make it to the top and hit the red button then you have won the course and have the choice of climbing a ladder down or stepping off and falling into heavy, thick mats to break your fall. There is the pool of water, but probably not the smartest choice considering the height.