2130/Pop Quiz

Pop Quiz
Date of Scene:	22 August 2017
Location:	Xavier's School, Danger Room
Synopsis:	Yana seeks to prove she's capable of joining the New Mutants to Phoenix, and Cypher.
Cast of Characters:	Black Rose, Cypher, Phoenix

---

Black Rose has posed:
    Yana had yet to corner Sam, to both thank him for speaking up for her as well as inquire why he did it when he hadn't seen her in action yet. But, she had at least been mature in her request to Jean for a -chance- to show what she's done. And, now that chance was just starting. She was as well prepared as she could be, which probably wasn't entirely as much as she thought, but also a little bit better than perhaps most students first time under Jean's supervision in a simulation. She waits, wearing a pair of yoga pants and a sports top, along with a pair of textbook tennis shoes. A belt is fitted around her waist, with several 'pockets' or 'pouches' around it, most looking as if there's something inside them as she waits for Jean's arrival. At least Yana's prompt. And, as she waits, the girl is streching, readying herself for whatever awaits her.

Cypher has posed:
"Couldn't we get her a student uniform?" Doug asks Jean. He's wearing jeans and his Xavier's School hoodie, himself -- "Back in the day, Magneto wouldn't let us anywhere near the Danger Room unless we were in the Black and Yellow." He leans forward, and then looks back at Jean, and says "Course a few years ago there were more wall lasers and rotating blades..."

Phoenix has posed:
"We're going full safeties," a costumed Phoenix replies as her fingers glide across the Danger Room's control panel. "This' purely for evaluation; the wall lasers and blades come if she passes."

With the flip of a switch, the Danger Room is abruptly submerged in darkness.

"So, first off," she continues with a sidelong glance towards Doug, "we wanna get some good data on what she can do. We've got some information from her session the other week, but since we're looking at possibly putting her into the field... we need more. She does stuff with kinetic energy: dampens it in an area around herself, manipulates it in objects and people-- lots of potential, there."

The piercing *sskkkrrRREEEEEEEEE!* of an aerial predator echoes in the distance as the noon sun suddenly bursts into existence, revealing a clearing in the steamy depths of a primeval jungle. A dense ring of trees and shrubbery forms an arena roughly forty feet across.

Phoenix's voice fills the room: "Hi, Yana," she says in a reserved tone. *thoom* sounds from somewhere beyond, shaking the tree-line. "We're going to be evaluating the current capabilities and limitations of your powers, as well as your ability to respond under pressure, to get an idea of whether or not you're ready to undergo training with for the Mojoworld operation."

*THOOM!*

"Please bear in mind that passing today's evaluation is not a guarantee that you'll be allowed to join the Mojoworld operation," she continues. "Whether or not you deploy will ultimately come down to the judgement of the senior X-Men on the operation, as to whether you'll be a danger to yourself or others in the field."

*KRA-KA-THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

Several trees collapse into the clearing as a triceratops barrels through them, its horns and eyes locked firmly upon Yana. Armored plates bearing stylized images of a petrified face cover an already hardened physiology, but there's no rider to direct its savagery.

"I want you to know that regardless of whether or not you're allowed on the Mojoworld operation, we will keep your performance today - and in future training sessions - in mind, going forward-- and if working with the New Mutants squad is something that you want to pursue on a longer term basis, it'll be on the table."

Cypher has posed:
"*I* used to run them with absolutely no combat support powers--my powers didn't work that way before," Doug says, his voice wry. But then he strokes his chin and leans in, watching intently, "I'm getting a read on her body language. I'll give you a running update on what she's going to do, though I imagine you're fairly good at figuring it out for yourself." He cracks his knuckles, and then says, "Did I ever tell you about the time that I trojan horsed Sam's flight sim so that halfway through it turned into a game of 'pong' with him as the ball? He was *so mad*. And Sunspot laughed *so hard*."

Black Rose has posed:
    Yana's not unfamiliar, thanks to Jean's initial introduction on her tour, or her singular session with Colossus, as to what the simulation room is capable of. Still, when reality fully shifts away so seamlessly and effortlessly, and then you have a screaming aerial predator around? Well ... that's not something one easily adapts to, off the bat.
    Then, there's the louder noise, as a creature seems to be crashing through the woods. She nods, once, as if in understanding to Jean's words and her accepting of them. And, while this certainly surpasses by leagues any personal training she'd gone through before? She has the mental knoweldge, still, that it's a test. That it's not completely real. And her mind is able to comprehend that, and stack it away as fact.
    Which allows her to move into function. Speech finds her, as she at first, backs away from the Triceratops, slowly, cautiously. "All I ask for is a chance."
    She reinforces her own body, her own kinetic energy first to withstand the might of the creature before her and deaden most of his physical power against her or any other she might recieve during the contest. And then, she's off. Running at full tilt - and then faster, and faster still, until she's clocked at over 100 mph in such a short distance, running a wide circle around the triceratops with practiced agility and increased reaction time to assist, and moving behind it, where she can catch it offguard.
    But it's not to attack. Not yet, at any rate. At the same speed, she moves to simply connect her hand to the body of the dinosaur -- connect, and with that connection, instantly slow the speed of the dinsosaur down, tremendously so to where it might look as if the creature is almost moving in slow motion, especially compartive to Yana's own speed.

Phoenix has posed:
"She's pretty calm, all things considered," Phoenix murmurs while dragging a few elements across the bird's eye view of the arena on one of the panel's monitors. "But she's had some practice, even before us; that helps."

Green eyes narrow as Yana skitches behind the rampaging creature, her limbs and thoughts firing at impossible speeds as the triceratops plows through an invisible sea of molasses. "We did something kinda like that with Warren, once, but it was the vollyball scene from Top Gun," she says a little louder, the corners of her mouth lifting a touch. "Nobody could think of a better way to test the micro/macro-tech, but Giant Tom Cruise seemed to do the trick; pong's way better for engagement, though. Okay... so..."

Two fingers tap the screen.

*sskkkrrRREEEEEEEeeeeEEEEeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEE!* goes a lightly barded pterodactyl as it divebombs towards Yana's back, aiming to snatch her arms in its talons and wrench her from the triceratops' tail.

At roughly the same time, a hail of stones breaks through the tree-line on a collision course with the Russian girl's head. The rocks are accompanied by excited shouting in an ancient tongue.

Black Rose has posed:
    Yana -had- been hoping to climb up the 'tar-stuck' Triceratops and end it from the weak point (or so she presumed) behind it's skull, but now that screeching is coming from on high. She swears, loudly, and risks a glance around for where the sound is coming from.
    One hand reaches into one of her pouched pockets, looking behind her, then back in front of her. Jean might recognize, and Doug -certainly- would the strategizing going on in Yana's mind presently. No, she's -never- faced anything like this. Men? Sure. She's trained with all kinds of scenarios of people attacking her, but ... one can't train for dinosaurs. Unless, of course, one has a Danger Room.
    She moves, but only a few steps, so that the pterodactayl's path is going to bring it directly in course with the Triceratops and then the room will pick up a murmur from her, something like, "This had better work, ..."
    A couple things happen at once. No longer is the Triceratops slowed, it suddenly is moving again, at it's regular speed - which may, or may not startle or surprised the creature. The other thing that happens is, while a few rocks might strike Yana as she moves into position, they don't seem to hurt her, much - her own barrier field absorbing most of the impact, there.
    And then, the rest of the rocks? Fall. Not normally, either. It's as if all the physics in the world stopped working. Or, more aptly, as if every bit of kinetic momentum were taken out of them, and they just dead-dropped. And, when the pterodactyl hits that wall? It falls victim, too, 'dead' in the water.
    That dampened field only lasts long enough for the giant flying dinosaur to hit the ground, before it's dropped. The signs might be telling - Yana can't have that, and her other manipulations or effects going on at the same time.
    She kicks in her speed again, to gain some distance, moving in a direct line that, should the Triceratops follow? It'll run into the Pterodactyl. It's anyone's guess if the creatures fight it out. But, presently, that seems to be at least her strategy.
    

Cypher has posed:
"She's doing really well." Doug says, "Adapting very quickly." He strokes his chin, "If I had to give you a read off her, she's trained somewhere before." He taps his chin and says "This level of combat awareness does not just appear naturally, no matter how good your powers are... but that's a mystery for another time, I suppose. Then he says, "She's doing a good job of fielding problems coming at her from multiple angles. I'd see how she does if the people attacking her coordinate a bit better--"

Phoenix has posed:
Stubby but powerful legs scramble frantically for a beat as the triceratops' mind and body snap back into sync. Once it stabilizes, it takes a little while longer before it's able to halt its momentum in response to the object of its wrath no longer being front of it. As the rocks and the pterodactyl lose their own momentum, the thundering, snorting beast wheels its bulk around until all three horns are once more pointed directly at Yana; as soon as they are, its head dips and it explodes into motion, weaving to track the nimble girl's movements as best as it can.

"She's definitely trained," Phoenix agrees while briskly splaying her fingers around the perimeter of the arena. "And she'll probably do fine, training with the others, but you know as well as I do that it's different, being out there-- especially with someone like Mojo..."

Rustling ripples throughout the entirety of the green perimeter as the Triceratops' horn bloodlessly skewers the Pterodactyl, eliciting panicked screeching and flailing from the smaller creature. Yana doesn't get the fight she was hoping for, but the Triceratops is momentarily occupied with a thrashing, dying Pterodactyl hanging off its head-- which may have to suffice, because the rustling gives way to a pair of raptors bearing bare-chested, leather-clad warriors. One leaps talons-first at the girl's left flank while the other circles her, trying to remain just inside of her peripheral vision while its rider feints a spear-thrust or two her way. A third raptor emerges opposite the circling one, after a second or two-- and then a fourth, and a fifth.

Collectively, they seek to keep Yana endlessly spinning to watch them, lunging in pairs or trios while her attention is pointed at another of them. Only one of them - its rider bearing a sling and pouches on his belt, and a jug and torch in each hand - remains grounded, feinting and threatening and looking for a moment where she's too occupied with one of his comrades to notice him bringing the jug to his lips, tipping it back--

*FWWWWWOOOOOOOOM!*

-- and trying to set her ablaze.

Black Rose has posed:
    Yana -had- been doing well. In her element, mainly. Apart from the dinosaurs. But, it was familiar tactics to her. This? This is a bit more harrowing, as Jean ups the difficulty levels. "You've -got- to be kidding me," she says to herself.
    She's not quick enough for the first attack, even if she sensed it coming, to react, and her flank is hit by those talons, and she stumbles down to the ground. The computer read out, however, will suggest she took hardly any physical damage from it as her personal barrier was back up as of the previous speed boost.
    She ... does not turn, as they wish her to. She keeps her eyes on the leader, and Doug will recognize something odd in her body language. Despite them being outside of her vision, even behind her, her body language screams that she is tracking them. Slowly, her hand reaches into her pouch, now. Eyes -do- flicker to the Triceratops. It's an enemy in the waiting she can't afford to forget. Her heart is pounding now, from both exhilration and, a little fear. Training, afterall, can only help so much. But that fear, at least, isn't overwhelming her.
    She produces, from the pouch, three metallic ball bearings. Simple. Run of the mill. Buy them at your local hardware store. Steel ball bearings.
    And then, there's fire. She wasn't expecting fire. She manages to dodge. Partly. Some of her hair, some of her clothes, and skin is singed, and she's only able to get out of the way because of her enhanced reflexes. There's a curse, somewhat of the pain of the sharp sting, somewhat in surprise. Then the ball bearing is thrown. Thrown, at the rider blowing fire at her. The ball bearing goes straight through the man's skull, leaving both an entry, and exit wound, instantly killing him, then Yana is hurriedly trying to put out the rest of the fire in her clothing by a quick roll, and quick hand-patting.

Cypher has posed:
"I wasn't going to undermine Sam," Doug says, "Not when he needs to find his confidence as an X-Man." Doug frowns, thoughtfully, his eyes on Yana. "I find myself becoming as protective of him as he is of me. It's a change in our mutual language from before. I was always closer to Illyana, and Rahne -- Illyana is not precisely who she once was, and Rahne holds herself aloof because she thinks that I can't handle her more feral aspect. But I suppose time and circumstances change all things." He doesn't sound precisely happy with either, but accepting of both.

As Yana reacts to the increased cooperation, Doug's gaze is locked on her. "I would stress test her focus. Mix in disorienting lights and noises, see how much sensory stress she can take before she's not able to focus on her attackers--"

Then he says, "...Ah, see, there -- that's why you don't go into these sims without a uniform. The Black and Yellows would've retarded that fire, but now she's left herself wide open because she has to put herself out. Also, she's using lethal force, you may want to discuss when that's warranted with her. And she's able to sense hostiles out of her visual range, somehow--" He leans forward, again. "Yes. I see. Whoever taught her taught her well, but they didn't teach her about escalation of force. She's gone from zero to kill, instantly."

He wrinkles his nose. "It reminds me of the Massachusetts Academy's techniques as much as anything--"

Phoenix has posed:
"How many uniforms were at the wedding?" Phoenix softly, pointedly wonders.

The flamethrowing rider spasms for one final moment before sliding right off of his mount as green eyes widen in the control room.

Sending an opportunity, one of the raptors lunges at Yana as she hits the ground, teeth and claws snapping after the girl; simultaneously, the rider drives his spear downwards a few times in the hopes of catching her as she rolls about, each thrust accompanied by angry shouts. Even when she manages to dampen the fire - and possibly make it back to her feet - the enraged raptor and rider stick to her while the others look for openings that won't lead to them impaling their comrade.

And above it all, the doppler screech of pterodactyls divebombing in stereo splits the air, giving the Russian something of a warning before they sprinkle the clearing with what appear to be coconuts before pulling sharply upwards. The little brown presents are fragile enough to burst on contact with the ground or anything else, however, releasing clouds of thick, foul-smelling smoke into the air when they do. The screeching continues afterwards, but successive dives don't bring any further bombs-- nor attempts at snatching Yana, at least not for the moment.

"Sam's heart was in the right place, sticking up for his peer, and all, but he should've known better-- she wasn't supposed to be there to begin with, so he pushes for her to join a high-risk mission? Confidence is one thing - and he could definitely use it - but that was a little much." The redhead pulls up from being hunched over the controls to massage the bridge of her nose for a moment. "If you think you can help him work on that, though-- I mean, by all means; you're a good influence."

Black Rose has posed:
    Yana can't afford to drop her kinetic barrier presently on herself, so the 'bombs' of the foul smelling gaseous odor hit the ground, but she manages to slip a hard, fast punch into the snout of one of the raptors as she narrowly dodges one of those spear thrusts. And it would seem she's not only able to enhance the phsyical attributes of objects, but of herself, too. The hit is hard enough to careen the raptor, and possibly even make it collapse onto the ground.
    Then she's choking on the gases a little, raising one arm, instinctively and unable to prevent it, to her nose. She makes a 'break' for it, lowering her shoulder and utilizing both her speed, and force, to bowl any raptors down that might be in her way, or, at the very least, get out of that noxious air and once again give herself a brief respite, perhaps cause her foes to move into a file, or a line where she'll have a chance to pick some of them off, one by one. This tactic would likely be readily apparent to Doug.

Cypher has posed:
"We used to have the ability to quick-change," Doug says, "Maybe the heyday of unstable molecules changed that--but I think the problem was, the trouble we were expecting, which was blue and decked out with skulls, wasn't the trouble we got."

Then Doug says, "No, I understand why he stuck up for her. And while I don't necessary agree with his reasons fully, I understand them. In the end, we learn best by doing. All the danger room training in the world doesn't compare to a real trial by fire. And if she's willful, she'll find trouble anyway. Better supervised trouble than unsupervised, goes the idea."

"And besides, he was acting contrary to his own instincts, which were to reject her. He thinks that holding me back from Danger Room training and fieldwork contributed to me getting killed--" He looks up at Jean, "And I both agree and disagree, there. That Smile-Face would have caught Rahne in the back of the head, after all."

"I will drop a bug in his ear to make his stands in private, not in the middle of meetings, though. Fair?"

She's trying to get them chase her. The next time you run this sim with her, introduce a variation here, and have them spread out to encircle her instead."

Phoenix has posed:
"I know, but the real thing burns a hell of a lot hotter," Phoenix murmurs after a moment of jaw-clenching. "Deal, though; his timing was the worst part of it all, for sure."

Snuffling and snorting, the triceratops finally extricates itself from the pterodactyl in time to be inundated with a terrible stench-- which, judging from rumbling ground and roaring, doesn't appear to be to its liking.

As she barrels past one of the raptors and tips another onto its side, a third's rider - now wearing a contraption made with a mammoth's head, glass lenses, and God knows what else over his face - hurls his spear right at the Russian, hoping to catch her from behind while she tries to escape the cloud.

The raptor she deprived of a rider moments ago finally retakes its feet with a blood-thirsty screech, loping after her with its feathers bristling.

Another dive bomb threatens to bring talons down upon her head--

"Okay," rings through the jungle, bringing the world to an immediate stop.

"So, other than the part where you didn't hesitate to murder one of the riders - completely inappropriate, for the record: we try to avoid lethal force whenever possible - you did decently," Phoenix continues as the jungle and its denizens begin to melt into nothingness. "I'm going to recommend that you begin training immediately, under supervision and with others participating in the Mojo op whenever possible; the absolute most important thing'll be knowing how to work as part of a team. Being able to trust them, coordinate with them-- protect them. That sound reasonable to you?"

Black Rose has posed:
    Yana comes to a dead halt, when the world ends abruptly. That's -- a little jarring to the senses. Not to mention the heart. She exhales, taking a few breaths to slow her heartbeat down - something that she was also trained to do, which suggests some measure of martial arts awareness. She leans over, hands on her knees while she takes a few breaths and then rights herself again, running hands through her hair on either side to pull it back.
    She listens to Jean's assessment, looking up now to the control booth. There is a moment when she's about to say something, likely ask a question and then she changes tact, and she nods. She is honest, "I can't say it was only a simulation, because," she recognizes, "That's not what's important to you. What's important is how I reacted." This, she understands. "I'll be more aware, in the future, and use only what I can determine is the best concussive force, Ms. Grey. I appreciate the opportnity. And," she says, sincerely, "I won't disappoint you. Or Sam. Or Dani. I want this."