11836/Always DR With A Spotter

Always DR With A Spotter
Date of Scene:	26 July 2020
Location:	Danger Room - X-Men Base
Synopsis:	A handful of students get the chance to test their strength in the DR. Or watch from the sidelines and be intimidated. Either or.
Cast of Characters:	Phoenix, Nightingale, Ted Gammage, SpyderByte, Storm

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Phoenix has posed:
Normally, brand new students aren't hauled down to the Danger Room quite so fast. In this case, though, the mundane gyms weren't likely to cut it. To really get a feel for what Ted can do, Jean called in the holographic big guns. She's brought Shannon along too, giving the birthday girl a chance to blow off some steam and help out a fellow student.

She's dressed casual with a subtle color nod, black jeans and a yellow shirt to be specific. She's not here for mission work, so why suffer the spandex? The doors have been closed and there was a brief rundown of what the room was and what it could do. Then it was showtime. The room looks like an Olympic stadium floor. There's various weights from the recognizable standards to constructions that would probably needing a crane to lift. An assortment of real world objects are around for more practical measures, like semi truck tires, steel beams, an ambulance that's tipped over, and other debris that one may encounter in a fight, along with a few walls made of various substances. There's raised platforms to test vertical jumps as well.

"There's no set course, Ted, and this is not timed. We're just here to see what all you can do and start testing the limits of your abilities."

Nightingale has posed:
     Having been essentially barred from the mansion and the danger room in particular for most of the day by Sam, Shannon was relieved to get in there and blow off a little steam. Yes, life was for living, but she had grown accustomed to daily training that would cause many students to wince. Yet even that was unlikely even close to what one of the newest students at school was capable of handling, so this should prove to be rather interesting.

     Dressed in her bright blue leggings, Tweety Bird hippie t-shirt, and well-loved old white sneakers, she steps into the DR to begin a series of warm-up stretches, her hair all pinned in a bun at the back of her head--even her little blue braid on the left side of her face. She smiles over at Ted as she is sitting on the ground, leaning over her outstretched legs, her wings slightly spread out behind her. "It's okay to test yourself in here. You don't have to hold back at all, and it's probably even better if you don't hold back."

Ted Gammage has posed:
"Huh," Ted steps in, looking around at the Stadium that there probably shouldn't be room for on the grounds. "Ah'm not sure how y'all pulled this stuff off," he admits, rubbing his chin lightly as he glances about. "And, y'all called this tha Danger Room? Doesn' just fill me full of th' warm feelin's, y'know?" He's been told he's going to test himself so he's just wearing a pair of comfy sweat pants and an old t-shirt. He's not at the height of fashion.

He smiles, despite his put on protests. "Huh, Ah guess I can try to lifts this stuff. Couldn't really try out at home, on account of, y'know..hiding it and all. Um, where should we start?" He does seem a bit wary, even knowing that everyone else is like him here, he worries things'll be the same as home. He moves idly over to one of the olympian weighted bars, probably having 800 pounds on it, looks side to side a moment then with little effort hefts it up.

Phoenix has posed:
"It can be dangerous, yes." Jean tells the young man honestly. "We use it for intense training sessions for the old timers like me, but the old girl can be as gentle as a lamb depending on settings. It's an insane bit of technology, but the shortest explanation is alien holograms. It's tough to really damage this room, so don't worry about breaking anything."

She gestures around the room, "Start where you feel comfortable. Everything will feel and act real. That ambulance is the same size and weight as the real thing, with working doors and sirens and everything. I actually do similar from time to time when practicing my telekinesis. I've pulled vehicles off people a few times now."

"Shannon, you're welcome to hop in too. Strength training is important, and always remember to work arms and legs evenly. Have you tried gradually adding things like leg, arm, and belt weights to help strengthen your wings and test how much you can carry?"

SpyderByte has posed:
Following after Shannon is Jeremy, who does not really fit the mold for a 'Danger Room' contestant. The lanky teen is dressed in all black. Black loose fitted jeans, a black shirt, a huge black hoodie that swallows him up and a pair of thin glasses on to peer out of. He looks to be the skittish type as he moves, peeking around the corner of the door before slinking in after the winged girl.

"H-h-hey S-Shh-Shannon. Ha-Ha-p-p-y Burrr-brr.." He lets out a pause. "BIRTHDAY." The last word comes out sharply. He rubs the back of his neck, glancing over towards the new kid, then Miss Grey. He opens his mouth, then closes it as he stares down at his worn sneakers.

Nightingale has posed:
     "Yes, Miss Grey. So far, about the best I can do is carry a child out of danger. But that was some months ago now, the day of the incident at the chocolate factory." Shrugging, the healer-in-training smiles up towards the control booth. "I haven't tested it much since then."

     As birthday greetings are called out, Shannon twists about to look at Jeremy over her shoulder, smiling brightly, reaching over to squeeze his hand gently if allowed. "Thank you! I couldn't ask for better, with my friends and family around." Pausing for a moment, she thinks, knowing he wasn't in the greatest of shape. "Want to try a couple basic stretches with me and see how it feels to you?"

Ted Gammage has posed:
Holding the bar up a few moments, Ted realizes there's an awful lot of weight on this and he didn't really even let out a grunt. "Huh," he says and holds it in front of him and lets it drop hard, letting it thunk against the ground in order to test to see if maybe they're yanking his chain. He realizes he may have just lifted that easilly and says "Well, s' start ah guess." He looks around again and with a bit of a half smile, picks up a large truck tire, turns once and just chucks it. It spins through the end till it's a bit hard to see, crashing into something a way's off. Ted flexes his arms lightly after that, then looks over as apparently someone else snuck in too.

"Aw, S'yer birthday? Happy birthday!" he says, then looks to Jeremy "Ah, hey. M'Ted."

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey gives Jeremy a reassuring grin and gestures him further into the room. "Don't worry, casual stuff this time. It's just a gym this time. And Shannon, that sounds like something to work towards. You may need to carry someone your own size. I know you tried with Scott, but work on improving your limits. Thankfully it should be rare, but you never know when a teammate ends up somewhere really inconvenient to walk out of."

The redhead turns back towards Ted as he hoists up one of the tires and slings it. Her brows lift and there's a look of quiet appreciation on her face. "Well, for not having practiced much, you have a pretty good head start." It may have felt light to him, but the booming noise of the tire landing suggests its no joke and the thing actually was heavy.

"Oh yes. Ted, this is Jeremy, a fellow student. Jeremy, this is Ted. He arrived the same week as Adam."

Storm has posed:
    Storm had heard some of the newer students were getting the chance to test their mettle in the Danger Room today, so she makes her way down there to join Jean and the others. The doors slide open and shut as she enters and stands beside Jean, watching Ted lift the heavy objects with calm interest.

    "Not bad," she says softly to herself, then looks up to regard the students with a friendly smile. "It's always good to see new faces around here. I'm looking forward to seeing the full extent of your gifts."

SpyderByte has posed:
When Ted launches the tire into the next zipcode, Jeremy finds himself staring after it as it sails end over end. His hand clutches tighter at Shannon's, slowly inching behind her a bit as he reaches up to pull his hood over his head with his free hand. That is the epitome of intimidation.

".. Hi." He barely gets out in a soft whisper."

As his fingers curl about within Shannon's, he gives her palm a firm squeeze before letting go, cheeks flushed as he shoves his hands into his pockets. At least one of them grabs his phone for a firm squeeze.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon nods slowly, and presses her lips together in a thin line for a moment. "Oh, trust me, I know. I'm real glad Megan was there to portal us to safety that round. Might not be so lucky next time." She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, her hand slipping to her lap as it is released by Jeremy. Would she ever be needed again? Would that ever really become necessary, to carry a teammate to safety? There is that brief pang of doubt, a wavering in the confidence that had slowly been increasing over the past year of her tenure at the school.

     A familiar voice brings her back to herself, though, and her whole expression lights right up. "Miss Munroe! Good to see you! Who would've thought it's been a year already?" Now there was one person who could nearly always bring her out of a funk!

     As she glances over to reply to Ted with a cheery, "Thank you!", she watches him hit a home run with the very, very large tire, letting out a low whistle. "Wow. Nice one!" Thinking for a moment, she grins, getting to her feet. "Ever hear about a fastball special....?"

Ted Gammage has posed:
More of a crowd gathers and Ted seems just a little more self concious. "Ah, not sure how good a start. I didn't really aim it anywhere. Prolly couldn't hit anything if I tried," he admits with a shrug of his shoulders. "Admit, ah always did jus' want to let go and see what all ah could do. Pretty sure I'm tougher than ah should be too. I fell out of a tree. It was a long fall. Didn't feel it, really."

At Storm's praise, he smiles lightly again, "Ah, well probably won't be nothin' special around here. Jus' really want to be able to not to lose focus and break off a doorknob." He pauses a beat, then adds, "Again."

He's not sure what to make of Jeremy at the moment, the timid nature, maybe the kid's just real shy. He does however reply to Shannon, "Fastball special? That some sorta baseball thing?" he asks before seeing a car admist the random real-world objects. "Always wanted t' try it. I admit, I cheated a bit back when I had to change a tire once, tried not to use a jack. Bumper bent a bit, so ah didn't do it again." He then moves to about the middle of the car, plants his feet and gives it a good heft. He lets out a grunt, but the car comes off the ground, leaving Ted a bit surprised as he wasn't sure it was going to work.

Phoenix has posed:
"Ro!" Jean brightens as a familiar face enters into the Danger Room. "Hey, glad you could make it down. How've you be--" Then she hears what the kids are talking about and is distracted.

There's a snap of Jean's fingers before she points one towards Shannon, grinning ever so slightly. "Hey, no giving him ideas! We're tossing things today, not people. Come on, you two. Less chatter, more stretching."

And then to Ted she's stating. "For now, just work on learning your limitations. What can you lift, how long you can keep up strenuous activity, and does that strictly apply to deadlifting or can you apply that same force to jumping or punching through the side of a brick building - hence those pedestals and various wall types. We'll also need to determine if your level of strength also applies to durability and stamina, they tend to be related in a lot of people. Once we learn the boundaries of what you can do, we can work on fine tuning, so that's where things like aiming and eventually working under pressure will come in."

Storm has posed:
    Storm smiles at Shannon's greeting. "Shannon, it is good to see you. I hope you enjoyed your birthday."

    She also smiles warmly at Jean's greeting, and was about to answer the question when Jean was interrupted by the students. But Ororoe doesn't mind. The students were the priority right now. She nods at Jean's words. "Yes, you must first learn your own limits, then you can learn how to direct your strength. Be patient with yourself. Everyone takes time to learn."

SpyderByte has posed:
As everyone talks to one another, Jeremy makes his way through the virtual word of the DR to find an old broken down bus stop. He leans in against the side of it, sliding his phone out to tap along the glass. His feet gives small presses into the ground with his sneakers.

He watches Ted hiking up a car next, finding his mouth becoming a small 'o' in surprise. He gives another glance down at his phone, then shrinks a bit more into his hoodie.

Nightingale has posed:
     "But Miss Grey...!" When the Headmistress put her foot down like that, there was no getting around it, and Shannon knew it. "Well, frak. Fine. For now." That impish little grin was returned in full measure, her eyes twinkling with mirth for a moment.

     But then... where had Jeremy gone off to? A quick visual scan of the area lets her find the broken down bus stop where the technopath is taking shelter, and she taps lightly on the glass. "Hey," she says softly. "Come on out... maybe try just one or two stretches?" It was worth a try to convince the young man to come out and join in, at least!

     Glancing over at Ted, she grins a bit sheepishly. "A 'fastball special' isn't exactly baseball. It's more like you pick up your teammate--usually a flier if you can help it--and toss them into the air like a paper airplane to give them a speed boost."

     Glancing back up at the control booth, Shannon nods, and smiles. "I did, miss, thank you. Got to hear from my folks, convinced them to move out of the area I grew up in. They're looking at places up in the Poconos now. Had a good dinner with Megan and Andrea over at her place, hung out for a little while. But otherwise it was pretty low-key this year."

Ted Gammage has posed:
"Oh, ah...I don't know if I feel comfortable tossin' anything, y'know...alive," Ted replies, imagining a Fastball Special going horribly, horribly wrong. "Ah think I'll pass on it. Fer now, at least."

He too nods to the booth as he's addressed, and he looks over at the pedestals a moment, considering "Never tried like, super jumpin," he admits. "Pretty sure I can punch through things. Know I can accidentally do that if m'not careful." He moves over to try some jumping tests. He claps his hands together a time, does a squat or two, as if trying to decide about how to do it, then just leaps a good 12 feet, misses the platform by a few feet, crashes through a sturdy looking wall on his way down, lands on his backside. "Oof," comes his witty retort to that fine showing of his powers.

Storm has posed:
    "I'm glad to hear it." Storm says with a nod as Shannon talks about the good times she had on her birthday. She watches as Ted tries to jump onto a platform, but misses. Well, he had a good amount of height, at least. "Very good, Ted. You'll just have to work on taking control of your body's movements while airborne. Sky divers are actually quite good at that--mutant or not." she says, winking.