Story XXIII [23] - Underground (IC Thread)

[Angel Reaver]

Name: Isabella Stone
Location: X-Men Facility - Training Sim (Danger Room)
Team: Alpha

Isabella waited patiently for her team in the observation room. The Alpha’s had met twice this week though they’d stuck to obstacle courses in the gym versus using the Sim Room. For some reason the schedule for the Sim had been jam packed. She discretely looked over each one of her team members as they entered to visually check their gear. All were required to wear uniforms and a harness to emulate what holding a real gun would feel like. The laser tag guns that they used were surprisingly realistic. She had only agreed to this joint exercise because she felt like it would do her team good to blow off some steam. The Omega’s would push them in ways she couldn’t always bring herself to.

“¡Buenos días…”, she greeted gently when most of her Alpha’s were in attendance. There were a few she knew that wouldn’t be happy to see her. She tried not to let it bother her—and didn’t pause on any one person longer than anyone else. “I hope that everyone slept well.”

“We’re going to be running a joint exercise with the Omega’s today. It’s basically mutant laser tag. It’s designed to promote teamwork and experience the abilities of other mutants. Each person will have a certain amount of health points that will be displayed above our heads. There’s no way to regain health, but if you injure an innocent bystander, you will lose more. If the points are brought down to zero you’ll be taken from the Sim and brought back to the observation deck.”, Isabella explained lightly—Figuring that most of her team would understand. “Teamwork is going to make a huge difference. Attacking together and team shooting will bring down an Omega a lot easier than moving in on your own.”

“Headmaster Summers—“, she spoke with an unintentional bit of bite, “Suggested that we add some kind of wager. I’m not sure what it is…But I do know that the losing team will be put on cleaning detail. He mentioned something about the X-Jet being pretty filthy.”

“Please be careful with your abilities. The Simulation Room has settings to mute them somewhat but they will still do damage. The idea is to defeat the Omega’s—not put them in the hospital. Take a moment to ready yourselves but we’ll be starting shortly.”, Isabella smiled at her teammates as she adjusted her domino mask. It wasn’t the same life and death speech that she’d given before their last mission but she hoped to at least provide them with information. There was nothing wrong with mixing a little fun with their training schedule when most of them were incredibly bored.

Gabriel should have been relieved from his cane. The conversation that she had with Elixir had not gone well. He was her senior, that was true, but Gabriel’s actions were her problems to deal with. Just because she’d been out of it for a few days didn’t give him the right take matters into his own hands. He’d cleared the temporary punishment with Summers; which only stoked the growing fire in the songstress. She was furious at the Headmaster for several reasons…This was just the beginning.

“Win or lose I know that you’ll all do well. You can form large groups, small groups, or solo it…But if you decide to go off on your own it will be a lot easier to get cornered. You can chat amongst yourselves before we begin.”

Isabella pulled away from the group when she finished speaking. She was going through the motions of leading her team, and tried her best to keep up with everything they needed, but she wasn’t quite there. The auburn haired sound user felt like a ghost. She looked like Isabella Stone, spoke like her, moved like her…But was she? There was an edge of coldness to her typically warm personality that didn’t belong. It was well hidden, but sharp.

Dark hair slipped over her shoulder as she looked over the parameters that had been set up in the system. She didn’t trust Narcissa not to leave any surprises. When she was satisfied that nothing had been tampered with she headed out of the observation deck and into the simulation room. It was like walking through one of Gateway or Eden’s dimensional portals. Everything was different. The air smelled different. She could hear cars and music from nearby apartments. The Simulations were always so real. It made her feel bad if she accidentally caused harm to a bystander. They were nothing but clever pixels and solid holograms but it still bothered her.

“We’re ready when you are Solaris.”, Isabella called to the Red Queen kindly. She never expected the Omega leader to return her thoughtfulness but she tried anyway. Maybe one day her better angels would lead her to a gentler disposition. She waited a few moments while Narcissa activated the exercise. When the door disappeared and the night sky looked exactly like a starry paradise she knew that the game had begun. “It’s go time!”, she warned her team, feeling the muscles in her neck grow tense.

Soldiers spawned in, some with blue lights, some with red. They turned on either team and began to fire their weapons. The shots that flew from them were visible and almost seemed like blaster bolts. Isabella ducked low and cleared out of the main area. She’d much rather put some distance between the Omega’s, herself, and anyone besides a few soldiers that chose to move with her.

Isabella disappeared down a dark alleyway where the sounds of dogs barking met her ears. She listened for her opponents and pushed further into the city block—looking for sneaky ways to take the high ground.

 

[x-EternalAlice-x]

Aʆєxaηdra Ӎaʀiʆèηє Agηèȿ
Codename:Flairer

❃❂❁❀✿✾✽✼✻✺✹✸✷ ✶✵✴❄❅❆❇❈❉❊❋❖❤❥❦❧ ☀

((I will acknowledge pre-time skip if need be later.))

It had been over a week since the last mission her team did. She had appreciated the break with how the last mission went. During that time, she had been able to focus on her studies and also her hobbies. She even had time to learn how to cook a bit more, adding new recipes to her repertoire. The only times she had to do anything related to her team had been two times where the Alphas did an obstacle course. While exhausting, it had been somewhat fun.

Today though, the Alphas were called to go into the Danger room. The two obstacle courses had been in the gym. While she couldn’t rule out yet another obstacle course, she figured it might be a bit different this time. After all, the Danger room allowed for such vivid simulations. Maybe the obstacle course would be more complex because of that?

She entered the Danger room about the time Bella told them to be there. She stood there quietly unless someone said hello to her. When most of the other Alphas arrived, Bella started to tell them about what they were doing. A joint exercise? Had they ever done that before since she joined the Alphas? She couldn’t recall. Might be fun though. She hadn’t really been able to interact with a lot of the Omegas. So, could be a way to get to know some of them in an interesting game.

Bella continued to explain the game as well as the consequences of losing. She frowned a bit, desiring not to lose if that was the result of losing. But, she wasn’t sure how useful she would be besides being someone that could hear out someone or see someone from a distance. Hopefully, she would not be the reason they lost if they did. It didn’t help that she didn’t have any laser tag experience under her belt. She just remembered seeing it played before on television.

Soon, once Bella told the other team leader they were ready, soldiers spawned out of nowhere. Her eyes widened and her body tensed. The sight of them reminded her of the previous mission. She took a deep breath and gripped the laser tag gun from the harness. As she ran towards one of the alleyways, Alex enhanced her sense of hearing. She cringed a bit at the loudness of the gun shots and dogs barking. But, she did her best to single out any of them that sounded closer to her as she hoped to encounter someone in the madness to team up with soon enough.

❃❂❁❀✿✾✽✼✻✺✹✸✷ ✶✵✴❄❅❆❇❈❉❊❋❖❤❥❦❧ ☀

"We will drink our fill of Alpha
Then, of golden sunshine that spills into Danger Room
Till our brains intertwine with Fellow Alphas and Omegas (No one)"

 

[ephemeral spirit]

Simulation Room - Sub Levels

Katerina spent much of the morning lounging around in the lap of her best friend batting at her hands with little paws. Aurelie was warm. More importantly she felt safe, which was nice, when considering her stint in 'X-Prison'. When she transformed into a kitten or anything that couldn’t really defend itself her instincts always led her back to the ballerina. It would have been a perfect day of freedom if some annoying little harpy hadn’t called for some kind of group therapy session. Playing with a ball of yarn would have been far more enjoyable. Aurelie knew a finger game that for some reason boggled her kitten mind and ridiculously entertained her for as long as her friend was willing to keep playing.

That being said; her newfound liberties left her aching for something to do. Being able to shape shift again had been amazing…But it wasn’t enough. She’d even resumed her bullying sessions with Christian whenever possible but his team/frat boy duties kept his time limited/drunk. Her arms rose over her head as she stretched lazily on the way to the training area. She would never like the feeling of these X-Uniforms…But it kept her from occasionally strutting around in the buff after shifting. She could trade clothes for clothes sometimes but only something skintight went with her when she became something non-humanoid.

Since Rossi had made his grand and threatening departure things had basically settled into what passed for normalcy. Katerina kept waiting for some kind of violent response from Isabella Stone but none came. Not a sneer, no extra work, no cheap shot, team transfer—Nothing. It made her exceedingly suspicious. Her words of forgiveness still threw the former HYDRA agent for a loop. Could she have really meant it? The Alpha leader took so much on faith that Katerina wondered how she’d survived this long. How did Stone know that she wouldn’t try again?

Katerina sighed aloud as she let her body bump into Aurelie playfully as they walked in order to get her attention. “I heard that there’s more cookie dough ice-cream in the cafeteria. And cocoa. The kind with the little-itsy bitsy marshmallows.”, she spoke with a deviant smile, her Italian accent a little heavier on ‘itsy-bitsy’ as she demonstrated the size by holding her thumb and pointer finger together. “We should sneak away.”

It was a happy thought—But Aurelie knew she wouldn’t. The slim brunette would have happily missed out on an X-Men training exercise on most days… Except that now, not showing up, felt like she was admitting defeat. As much of a mind ******** as it was dealing with Summers pet chihuahua she really didn’t want to give Stone any ground. Katerina wasn’t sure why it mattered not to look like the lesser person but it did.

Listening to the rules of engagement with absolute boredom she rolled her eyes. Again, she was stunned by how vanilla the X-Men chose to train their students. There were no real consequences. The damage from their abilities was mitigated? They might as well start child proofing the electrical outlets while they were at it…

When it was explained that there were consequences for a loss her finely arched eyebrow rose. Cleaning? Was Stone serious? Katerina crossed her arms and looked over at Aurelie with a stubborn expression. “We are not losing.”

Moving in the shadows; eliminating targets…That was what she’d been trained to do all her life. The only thing that gave cause for concern was the Omega standard. In general, they were known to be power houses. One tussle with their leader said it all…

How had they gotten the competent captain while the Alpha’s were saddled with a mild mannered mouse?

They followed the group out into the simulation and Katerina found herself unnerved by how realistic the holograms were. She didn’t like technology this advanced. HYDRA had a penchant for it, and it made her nervous that something like this existed. The X-Men used it to gently train their children in to soldiers. Or, as they claimed, to teach their students control. What would the Viper do with it?

When the exercise began Katerina noticed that the Alphas on the hill began to split up as some grunts appeared. At least, that’s what they looked like. Disposable pixel people on either side that could hurt them. At any rate, Katerina looked down at the gun in her hand and shrugged. So…Shoot things? She could do that. The former HYDRA agent brought her gun in the air and aimed with disturbing precision at Christian’s head. She fired a few shots in rapid succession with the intent that it get his attention.

Reflexively she grabbed Aurelie’s hand and began to drag her towards what appeared to be a park with a small wooded area. There was some playground equipment, trees, and small buildings to hide behind. “This will work. If all else fails we have some cover.”

“For now…We wait.”, she stated with a shrug and a little grin. Working with Aurelie meant that they were basically untouchable. Katerina was confident in her skill with a gun—Any gun, really. Her shot was typically dead on…and if she knew Christian, and she thought she did, he wouldn’t back down from her taunt. It was laser tag after all. He liked playing games.

Especially her games.

 

[Little Witch Princess]

xTeam Alpha ❤ Sim Room
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Resituating her goggles on top of her head made it easier to take in the entirety of the sparkling New York City skyline, landing gracefully on solid ground. Eden pulled her ponytail a little tighter as Bella began to explain the exercise to the team. It seemed simple enough - laser tag with super powers. And she’d be lying to say that she wasn’t glad they would be getting to do something besides an obstacle course.

She really hadn’t minded the first one, it was even fun, but did they really need to run two in one week? A little variety never hurt anyone.

The doe-eyed darling gave a sweet smile to those she had met as the team gathered in the observation room. Over the course of the past week, she had made a point to at least introduce herself to most of her teammates. Even if she had only spent any real time with a few of them - namely Thomas, whom she had been bed crashing, and Lachlan, the prim and proper farmboy. She couldn’t ask for sweeter boys to spend her time with, but she did always look forward to getting to know other people.

Outside of her team, she knew virtually no one. Not personally anyway. She had heard stories of some of the Omegas, seen them in passing, but hadn’t formally met any of them. It made her a little nervous about their joint training today, she didn’t really know what to expect of them. Supposedly, some of them had pretty scary powers. She just hoped she wouldn’t get caught in one of them.

When the exercise started she pulled her goggles back down over her eyes and launched into the sky, hovering high above the heads of the rest of the Alphas to get a good look around. She always felt so limited on the ground - particularly in what she could see. Her ability didn’t typically lend very well to any offensive capabilities, but it would do to make her a difficult target to hit. And excellent for surveying an area with a bird’s eye view. The glowing red and blue of their uniforms made it easy to see where everyone was, even in such low light. IIt also reminded her that she could be easily spotted in the sky should anyone look up.

Luckily the shots from the laser guns were easy to spot, and she counted on the distance she had taken giving her enough time to dodge any that flew her way. She quickly zipped out of the way of a couple stray shots, but she could already see the mess of laser shots breaking out down below and wasn’t so sure she would be able to keep up if she found herself caught in that chaos.

Taking note of places she could quickly dive into for cover, she spotted a certain raven haired sound manipulator setting off on her own - even after urging the importance of teamwork to overcome the Omegas. Unless she was counting the sim soldiers. From her vantage point in the air, she could also see her boys down below as well. But as she began her descent toward better cover, she floated toward the siren instead. She had been bummed that she hadn’t had a chance to catch up with Bella since she had joined the team, maybe teaming up for super laser tag was as good a start as any though.

”Siren~” She sang softly as she fluttered up to Bella, down a dark alleyway. ”It looked like you could use some backup.” Her feet landed gently on the ground and she struck a pose like she was one of Charlie’s Angels, gun in hand. She kept her voice low, never worrying that her team leader would have trouble hearing her, and mindful that she shouldn’t be drawing attention to them. Maybe she wasn’t a soldier or a warrior, but she certainly wasn’t an idiot either.

With a small hop she was off the ground again, hovering mere centimeters in the air to mute her steps. She gave Bella a warm smile as she tossed some of the chocolate curls from her ponytail over her shoulder. ”So what do you say?” she asked cheerily, though if the sound manipulator thought she had much choice in the matter then she was mistaken. The perky brunette did notice a certain seriousness in Bella, but even if this was some sort of training exercise, wasn’t it also supposed to be fun? It was laser tag, after all.

Eden could help with that.



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[Dirty Starshine]

✖ Sim Roomxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ PROBABILITY SENSE ↺xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



xSince their first mission, Charlie and Christian had kept themselves busy. When not running team sims with the Omegas, they found other more creative ways to entertain themselves - usually involving alcohol. Today was another training sim, and seeing the gear they would be using, it looked like it was going to be a good one.

Walking into the sim room brought them to a dark New York City - as dark as the Big Apple could get at least. Charlie gave Christian a nudge with his elbow as Narcissa explained the exercise, and offered a grin once he had the werewolf’s attention. His brows rose suggestively, and he was sure his friend would catch on easily enough. It sounded like a ton of fun - he was excited.

They were all in the same color, so it stood to reason that they would all be on the same team. The probability sensor had assumed they would be versing fake opponents. Finding out that the Alphas were the enemy team was a nice surprise. They would bring a lot more variety and more of a challenge than a bunch of simulated soldiers. Having met, and spent time with, some of the Alphas made it all the more fun. He was sure some of the others would take the exercise very seriously, but he couldn’t help thinking of it as anything other than a friendly game.

Hopefully he would run into some familiar faces.

While they waited for the Alphas to ready up, a thought crossed the probability adept’s mind and a sideways smirk found Christian. ”I bet you’re out before me.” he challenged. This seemed like one of those times where Charlie’s ability was more suited to the situation than being able to transform into a menacing beast. Most of the Omega’s had such flashy, hard hitting abilities. His ability, especially by comparison, was incredibly subtle. That didn’t make it any less useful, but it was hard to measure the advantage it could give him since it was such a fine line between natural intuition and his accelerated probability.

Today’s training sim seemed like a great place to flex his probability sense to it’s fullest. A huge werewolf would be seriously intimidating, but also an easy target to hit. Charlie on the other hand, had a leg up when it came to things like quick decision making, and predicting his opponents to dodge or leading shots. It would be the perfect place to push his ability to it’s limits.

”Loser has to clean the room.” In the last week they hadn’t gotten around to cleaning up after their partying. It would be good to have a clean room again.

They set the terms and shook on the wager as the exercise began, then split up. The idea was that they wouldn’t be limited to the same enemies or stuck with the same choices - and they wouldn’t be able to use each other as human shields. It did seem weird that he wouldn’t have Christian watching his back, but he was already scoping out the field to find someone else to team up with.

Spotting Kerrigan, he perked up. They’d fought side by side before, and she was actually really kick a**. He couldn’t even say she was a good substitute for his friend, because the redhead was undoubtedly a step up. Maybe not as his best friend, but certainly as someone to watch his back on a battlefield. And she was the only other Omega with such a subtle ability. It was amazing, but anyone that saw her fight wouldn’t assume ‘mutant’ like they would if they saw her turn into a living ice sculpture.

The team was already starting to disperse, and he caught up to the redhead before she could disappear somewhere within the New York City block they had been given. ”Hey,” he greeted with a smile ”Mind if I tag along?”

”I’m kinda in need of a new partner for today, and I’m pretty sure you kick more a** than anyone else on the team.” Sure, they all had awesome powers - making earthquakes, super speed, blowing things up, etc... - but Kerrigan didn’t need any of that. They both focused on their fighting skills as a way to utilize their abilities, it seemed like it would benefit them in this sim. He would be interested to see how they did. Really, as long as Christian lost first, he was happy, but Charlie could never resist a good challenge.

He wanted to survive. He wanted to win.




xxx

 

[I-The-Fallen]

Roland Anton Chevalier
Location: Simulation Room
Thoughts: Training Exercise, here we go!

A week had passed. The incident in the weight room had been settled without further incident. Roland had kept himself out of the details, but no one had been killed. It was the very least he anticipated at this point. He’d reassured Dimitri the entire time that he wasn’t going to let the situation go sideways without figuring it all out. His initial analysis had simply told him that Dimitri couldn’t have possibly been that stupid to kiss and tell. Being cramped up in a bunker under lockdown, blabbing your mouth like that? Among this rare collection of super-powered young adults? Recipe for disaster, and not just from Daylia. Even if she didn’t have a hell of a temper (and to her credit, a good right hook), her friends could have been just as likely to pursue a pound of flesh of sorts. It was a genetically modified powder keg just waiting to blow.

The downtime had been calm and rather uneventful for him. He spent time with Beast acting as an intern, helping out where he could. He enjoyed some quality time with Kerrigan, even had some opportunities to cook. He’d just gotten onto a bit of a Japanese food kick and got to using the kitchen in style. Soba with sesame sauce, Oyakodon, he even got into working with tofu. It wasn’t his cup of tea, but he wanted to try some new things. He even had a pot of ramen ready to serve coming up. Things were looking good.

So with a heavy heart he sauntered into the Training Room for an exercise. He gently tugged at the gear that had been given to him. It was a tad snug, he seemed to have put a bit of bulk. May need to lay off the weights a bit, he thought to himself.

He was quiet as Narcissa explained the rules, taking in the New York City simulated environment. He wasn’t a New Yorker, but it seemed like it was pretty accurate. Least from what he could imagine from movies set in New York. It was simple; beat up the blue colored folks. Alphas included. Powers were ok to use, but were forewarned that it would hurt. You couldn’t eliminate your own teammates, which he smirked at. He’d have been shocked if the first thing some people did was frag himself or some other teammates real quick. He anticipated something similar on the Alpha’s side.

Winners got bragging rights. Losers cleaned the X-Jet.

He simply nodded in acknowledgement of the rules for the game, simply waiting to start. He was trying to do good, do the right thing. That meant at this point to be quiet and follow orders how best he could.

OOC: I imagine we can let the previous events be described by others. Let me know if things need to be changed!  

[Prairiefox]

Cᴏʟʟɪɴ TᴀᴛʜᴇʀsxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAᴍᴘ

Tᴇᴀᴍ Aʟᴘʜᴀ :: Fᴇᴇʟɪɴɢ Nervous :: Lᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ Room---Danger Room Simulation ::
Cᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ Alpha teammates----Alex :: Wᴇᴀʀɪɴɢ Uniform :: Iɴ Hᴇʀ Hᴇᴀᴅ Damn I really want cake now... ::

Today was making Collin quake in her fireproof boots. The past couple of days she’s been experiencing what it’s like working with her Alpha teammates and it’s made her a nervous wreck. It’s only been obstacle courses in the gym but every so often she wanted to fall into panic. Everyone she was working with was so amazing and not to mention already experienced working with each other for so long- she felt inadequate around them. The main thing she has been worried about was communicating with them properly. Without a proper way to communicate out in the field or some random situation it could mean life or death. She couldn’t imagine all of them learning sign just to understand her; she’d never expect anyone to go that far, so Collin started testing out using her powers to make small symbols for signals, like exclamation points for danger and arrows for different directions. It was easy on her since small things were easier and quicker to construct, so she wouldn’t be using a lot of power doing so, but today would be the day she'd test it's usefulness.

She zipped up her sleeveless high collar jumpsuit almost all the way up her neck and let the x insignia dangle like a charm. She never thought she would see herself wearing a uniform, they weren't really all that expressive, but this uniform was one she would always love. It was probably one of the coolest outfits she owned now. Simultaneously she put on her finger-less gloves and knocked the tips of her boots on the floor,'Okay…I can do this. Piece of cake...mm cake...' Self encouragement was key, and food was great bribery. She took a deep breath and put on a headset, different from the usual pair these were made shortly after she had joined the Alphas. She’d hate if anything happened to her normal pair and they were more battle ready than any ordinary pair. She left her room and jogged to the sim area, or as the others had warned her about before- The Danger Room. She had no clue what to expect going in…

-- Entering the Danger Room’s Observation Room --

Collin was deaf to everything around her entering the observation deck, after she had left her room she turned on something that would put a kick in her step. Upon entering the room the first person she saw was Alex. Collin thought she was really nice, maybe a little talking and they could be friends? The next person to catch her complete attention was the leader of the Alphas, Isabella. To everyone in the room she held her palm out and rest her other by the raised out wrist, a sign for, “Good morning.” In a way they had similar powers, both involving sound, and she was excited to really see her in action. When she first met her back in the art room a week ago she didn’t really seem like herself, but of course none of the seasoned x-men did after what had happened, so the wait would soon be over- though it worried her too. If she was this excited to see her teammates in action it meant she would be watched this time as well. That shaky feeling in her boots began to start again so she quickly made it to a bench in the room waiting for the others.

Soon with the others present Isabella gave the explanation for the exercise that day- basically dubbing it mutant laser tag. Collin's mouth twitch into a crooked grin, trying not to during such a serious moment but she couldn't help it, she loved laser tag! She usually kicked Seamus’s butt and during the tag team rounds she and Reese would dominate over him and Al- but now she was up against mutants, not high school friends. Taking the equipment in her hands she felt the weight of the gun and she really couldn't tell the difference from the one at the arcade back home, but she knew it wasn’t. She pursed her lips while flexing her fingers before getting a comfortable grip on the gun. The music was still playing on low volume around her neck, the smooth harmony calming her nerves. She shot her glance up from her moment of zen when Isabella added something about a punishment and the X-Jet needing some cleaning? It didn’t really faze her all that much, in fact it seemed rather interesting. It was like when she helped Reese and Al detail their bikes and boards- except this was a jet- a mutant jet- really cool mutant jet.

Isabella led the Alphas into the sim room, as they went in Collin prepared her headset around her ears and amassed only a small amount of energy in her free hand. She placed it on her shoulder and it flattened to a shoulder cover- hopefully the signals would work- dear god please let them work. The sim room was eerily real. It was like they had walked into a actual city with real people, shows just how technologically advanced this place was. She watched the people going by, civilians she and the others had to avoid and not "kill" not matter what. Her nerves made her hands shake slightly holding the gun. She almost jumped out of her skin as Isabella gave the OK call and the simulator sent in holo-soldiers. Not one of the weirdest things she's seen in a day but her nerves only got worse.

Everyone scattered and the shooting started. Isabella, or Siren since this was an exercise... had said that they could team up, but everyone just went everywhere- what would she do? Collin pulled from her headset some more energy and flattened it against her arm, creating a small shield and running out of the sight of the Omegas and the holo-soldiers. She shot a few of the holo targets, but bumped into a elderly woman. She felt surprised and started to sight to the woman, “Oh no ma'am I'm so-....” she felt really dumb that she was apologizing to a hologram. She slinked away as a shot hit her sonokenetic shield, making her jump like a scared cat. She ran down a alleyway scared, but it looked like she wasn't followed for the moment. She stopped and knelt down trying to stay calm. When she looked back up she saw Alex not too far from her. The mass on her shoulder made a "!" then she waved to the fellow Alpha. For that moment another one of those soldiers leapt from a fire escape on the side of the alley and was heading for Alex. Without thinking Collin shot it, extinguishing the hologram back into pixels. She jumped again and cringed her expression. Alex had the ability to enhance her senses she had not even thought about that upon firing that shot so close, she could've busted the girl's eardrums. She approached her and put her hand on Alex's shoulder, giving the sign for,"Sorry."

 

[x-EternalAlice-x]

Aʆєxaηdra Ӎaʀiʆèηє Agηèȿ
Codename:Flairer

❃❂❁❀✿✾✽✼✻✺✹✸✷ ✶✵✴❄❅❆❇❈❉❊❋❖❤❥❦❧ ☀

(())

Before the simulation had started, Alex saw Colin greeting her in sign language. While she was no expert in sign language, she did try to learn some basic stuff since Colin joined. Only to make it easier on the new Alpha to not have to rely all the time on writing out stuff. She furrowed her eyebrows and tried to remember what the sign meant. Something to do with morning? Alex did her best to sign out. “Good morning.” But, she might have accidently said “Good evening.” She wasn’t too sure.

Shortly after though, the simulation began and she found herself by herself in an alleyway. She knew she should probably find someone soon. For now, Alex enhanced her sense of hearing and did her best to try and differentiate between the various sounds. Shots from the laser guns, running, and any sort of noise that might be of alarm. Because of that enhancement, she could hear two sets of footsteps heading in her direction. Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell who was closer.

She turned around towards the entryway of the alleyway thinking that person was closer. It didn’t take long for Colin to show up. She breathed a sigh of relief at knowing it wasn’t one of the Omegas or one of the holograms on the opposite team. Otherwise, she might have found herself in a hard place as they say. A small smile appeared on her face as she waved at Colin. In this moment, she found it a good thing Colin didn’t speak if only so it didn’t add more noise.

The second set of footsteps sounded extremely loud in her ears now. She looked over her shoulder to see one of the holograms with a gun. Oh crap. Her hands tightened on her gun as she prepared to fire. Before she could, another shot went past her and hit the hologram first. Her body tensed at the loudness of the shot in her ears. Maybe she should lower her enhancement some if only not to give herself an earache later.

She glanced back over at Colin, who signed to her once again. She tilted her head as she tried to figure out what Colin might be saying. “Um….it is okay?” She couldn’t help but sound unsure in her response. Considering how Colin had been at the kitchen and in the art room the other day, Alex figured Colin might be trying to apologize for the shot. “I will be fine.” She lowered her enhanced hearing enough to make all the noises a bit more tolerable.

“It is nice to see a familiar friendly face.” Alex smiled more and walked over towards Colin. “We might as well work together?” She suggested before faintly chuckling. “That way, I can save you from getting hit next time.” She didn’t think Colin would be opposed to the idea. But, she might as well make sure right? “Though, we should probably head further into the alleyway. We might be easy to be seen at the entryway like this.”

Alex moved away further into the alleyway. While it was clearly apparent the alleyways were not ultra-safe, at least they would not be out in the open. “You have any suggestions? I have not really played this game before. Would be nice if you had some experience so I could get a better idea of how to play it.” Alex added while making sure to stay vigilant of any sounds of someone coming their way.

❃❂❁❀✿✾✽✼✻✺✹✸✷ ✶✵✴❄❅❆❇❈❉❊❋❖❤❥❦❧ ☀

"We will drink our fill of Alpha
Then, of golden sunshine that spills into Danger Room
Till our brains intertwine with Colin"

 

[Klayko]

Thoughts: Having a nice morning Location: [Danger Room] With: Team Alpha

His past few week was practically nonexistent. His social life anyways. He always tended to be that kind of a person to take education a bit more seriously than the usual fun and games. That often meant pacing around the room at trying to solve equations or just reading through books. Whatever the case, he just valued them a bit more than being casually colorful. There was a time for school though and now clearly a time for fun. The latter came in the form of a message when being prompted to come to the Danger Room.He left his books on his bed, away from the arithmetic and onward to something dangerously fun, his reading glasses set aside as he followed others to the Observation Room. That was before he decided to make a brief stop for coffee. He needed that first and foremost.

Stepping inside, a formidable team was already before him. If he was late, he could not care less or if he was just in the middle of time, that worked for him even better. When Collin responded with Good morning, he politely returned the gesture in kind, zipping up his uniform and finalizing it with his gear as he and others were given the crash course of the situation.

Washing the X-Jet didn't seem that entirely hard to him. Would that mean he would toss the game just because it was possible to just wash the Jet off with water and soap at his control? No way! He wanted to bash some skulls in, well not literally of course, but it was the thought that counted. He had the mindset of not wanting to lose like anyone at this point and so he followed some instructions as they were given, not stepping inside of the simulation just yet.

"Anyone wish to partner up?" He had no intention of running into the situation by himself by any means. Most of his encounters, he was working alongside someone, from flooding Pyro out through the mall to the slightly awry mission a few weeks ago. It seemed foolish to go it alone, even for someone with his abilities. "A pair of two, three, or four. Whatever works for you."

He would not dwell on it for long though. Whoever was coming with him, they would or not at all. The latter would suck tremendously, but he learned not to let such trivial things bother him...much. He stepped through the simulation, the concrete jungle laid out before him and already filled with noise, from the sounds of gunshots to the frantic screaming and of course the cars speeding by and horns being blown. There was even the smell of char somewhere, but he put his mind to use. He was willing to see how far this simulation could take him.

He moved calmly through the night, letting stealth guide him as the shoes he wore left hardly a trace of sound. It was called Laser tag, but he thought it more akin to playing Metal Gear Solid Online. The tragedy? He was most likely to be terrible with holding a gun, which is what he was presently strapped with. Mentally, he's thinking to just pull the hammer back, make sure the safety is off and to aim down the sights when he could. Was there anything more to it or was he missing something else? Did he have to reload? Oh boy, he better put every bullet to use if that were the case because he was guaranteed to absolutely goof really bad with that. Unless of course, he could use his powers to not necessarily, but okay...he was totally going to cheat.

He pressed himself up against a wall, looking down the alleyway before glancing back at whoever followed him. "There's a manhole. We should take it."

That was of course if the simulation stretched that far. He knew how the Danger Room operated in that even though while it appeared small, that place could practically simulate anything by making it appear they actually were moving through such a place. Would he be wrong to think to use the Sewers and cut through somewhere else? He didn't think much of it as he moved quickly, looking around before putting his strength to use in lifting the metal object upwards. He would not go first as this was his idea in the first place. He would go last before jumping down himself.

There was a reason why he chose the sewers as the idea to move through. He had a home-field advantage down there to make up for his lack of gun knowledge. If he got through this one, he was certainly going to learn how to wield and use a gun.

OOC: Let me know if this is alright, the suggestion in this post, and I will gladly edit if not. Looking for interaction with anyone if they're looking for something or somewhere to go.  

[I-The-Risen]

Gabriel Byrne
Location: Simulation Room
Thoughts: New exercise, this is going to be interesting

Seven days had gone by, and for Gabe they were rather uneventful. Other than of course getting his leg back to normal. The relief that came with the pain finally being alleviated was enormous. Elixir and Gabriel had a good long talk about the consequences of doing something stupid in the field. Gabe understood the anger and the actual punishment itself, he in fact expected it. Whether it came from Bella or from Elixir, it didn’t matter. Fact is he screwed up in the field and he should face the consequences. The fact that he got shot was only a best case scenario in his mind. For all he knew his team members could have been hurt, if not killed, because of his actions.

He kept working in his shop, putting his nose to the grindstone reading up on computer science. He worked on his coding skills, after all if he was going to do his drone concept he needed to be good. Damn good. He picked up a few books on botany, to learn a bit more about how they absorbed sunlight and processed the energy. If he played his cards right he’d be able to work on a pretty solid proposal for the X-Men. He was fortunate that he lacked a need to sleep as much as the rest of the base, he was able to do more studying and more work. He kept his notes in a series of ledger books. He preferred them over traditional notebooks, the size and the grid structure made things easier to manage. There was also the fact that he could more easily commit the work to memory, writing things down.

He worked better with his hands, to say the least. Writing, drafting, all his work was better with pen and paper. He had a few draft ideas but for now they were just that, drafts.

So now the week had gone by, and he got the call to head on down to the Simulation Room for an exercise. He was given gear to throw on, and even given a laser rifle of some sort. Apparently it was going to be a round of mutant laser tag, in a rendered New York City environment. He was given the run down of what was going to happen, and the wager that they had. Apparently they’d be cleaning the jet. Taking note of his other team members and nodding at them in recognition, he listened to Bella give the all clear, leading to soldiers beginning be generated randomly.

Scanning the environment, he saw that several people were splitting up. Taking note of Kat and Aurie making their way to a park area. He followed behind from a distance, carefully keeping tabs on the area. If anything they’d draw fire, let him place fire down range. Especially with Kat and her accuracy. The way she shoots, she’ll draw in more of those generated soldiers and eventually some of those Omegas. He went into one of the buildings, taking a window on the third story. Opening it up, he drew the curtains enough to block most of his body, letting the laser weapon sit just along the window edge.

“I’ve taken a vantage point, anywhere I’m needed keep me posted.”

OOC: Let me know if I missed anything, need to change things.  

[Witchbane II]

Peacekeeper.

MJ didn't miss the subtle jokingly tone of Raine when she commented on her keeping the peace between 'clans' Omega and Alpha. As admirable as such a role may have been the power mimic coveted zero envy. Playing referee for extraordinary gifted people was nowhere on his bucket list. Saying his own piece on the subject made the gorgeous brunette smile at MJ, she apparently found it refreshing that he was open-minded and even went as far as to offer her famed services of tutoring. Raising an eyebrow at the declaration of his fellow peer being within the top ten of their class made the southerner smirk. Micah was no slouch when it came to academic scores either, a little friendly competition or new study partner couldn't hurt to motivate the slight overachiever to push himself even more.

Taking a seat and dismissing the suggestion to contact Narcissa after Aren informed him that she would have his file already, Micah took the opportunity to compliment Raine based on what her friend sitting beside her had told him. To the ever observant MJ the soft blush that came to the alpha's cheeks plus the joke and humble bragging of her GPA that followed was adorable. He considered the luck that had led him to stumble upon two fellow peers that were laid back and seemingly down to earth. He'd had no idea what to expect from the other students as a newly promoted Omega member but thankfully both Raine and Aren were not douchebags he had to put in their place and easy to hang around with. It made him relaxed enough to let his guards drop and express what he was interested in and ask his teammate about the hardships of his classes.

When Raine took the reigns and explained that it was all of the above for both Aren and another fellow Omega named Felix that she was sure MJ would meet, he couldn't really disagree with her good influence statement. She knew the two far better than he did after all. Aren seemed to agree with the first part as he relayed to MJ that Raine was the only reason he would be graduating, at least when it came to this school. Wherever he was from prior his teammate had enough credits back home.

On the latter good influence statement the size shifter joked that if someone as sweet as Raine couldn't deter his slacker routine he doubted someone of the same gender could. No offense would have been taken in the slightest from Micah regardless of Aren's telling him so. Why take offense to something that's not offensive? Same concept went with being a mutant. Most people couldn't guess MJ was homosexual from the power mimic just being himself, not that one had to act feminine to be of a different sexual orientation of course. Growing up after realizing that he was, it came naturally always being the type to be open about his sexuality if asked. Micah had never been the type to let fear stop him from anything, not after surviving the home invasion that his biological parents didn't. The Aren humor was clear as day and it brought a subtle laugh to MJ's pink lips as he leaned forward from his seated position smirking at both his newfound friends.

"No offense taken, girls don't do it for me. Everyone has their preference."

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ TIME SKIP ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

A week had come and gone. In that time MJ had come to investigate and learn a lot more about his Omega teammates and their Alpha counterparts. Mostly names that he could put to faces without having a big question mark when someone was brought up in conversations. Aside from that his week had been composed of training in the gym, focusing on his academics, playing video games, and working on his culinary skills. Now the light skinned mutant was standing on a hill with his other Omega members inside the sim room listening to their team leader Narcissa. The simulation room's technology would never cease to amaze. MJ's senses took in everything about the setting, he hadn't lived as a New Yorker but downtown Atlanta, Georgia seemed a little similar. As the Red Queen gave her spill of the simple rules and penalities the objective was a basic one. Win the game. MJ stretched out his arms and balanced himself on the balls of his booted feet, his red and black uniform was one he was getting used too.

The thick material made the sleeveless chest piece hung to him like a second skin, primarily the most red portion of his uniform with the only other being his fingerless gloves. His pants, belt, combat boots, and beanie were all jet black. His gloved hands tested the weight of the laser gun as the Omega's fierce leader asked if there were any questions. The laser gun felt fine in his hands, the power mimic was a decent shot. His sister was a better one. Their law enforcement father had thought it important enough to instruct his children on the proper use of how to handle a firearm since he had one locked away in the home. MJ had been to the shooting range several times over in his childhood either to watch or participate in the activity.

Not concerned in the slightest when it came to the laser rifle itself MJ awaited patiently to begin as he watched the Alpha team. The Omega newcomer didn't feel as though he had anything to prove personally in this simulation to his own team. He'd do his best as he did with everything and that would have to be enough. Micah hated to lose and considered competition healthy. He had no intention of going solo in this simulation, getting to know his teammates outside of training was a good thing but knowing how they handled themselves in the field was more important. Gears circulating within his sharp mind Micah thought it best to play a more supporting role in this sim. A part of him didn't want to be too serious with the training and just have a fun time. Another part of him reminded that this was not something to take lightly given the cost of losing. The southerner couldn't help overhearing the bet between Charlie and Christian . He found it amusing and wondered which of the two would take the win.

Isabella Stone, the leader of the Alphas, shouted over that their team was ready to Narcissa. Anticipation seemed to fill the air around MJ as both teams were ready to begin. Upon activation the exit vanished and the night was filled with stars high in the sky. Pixels of soldiers decked out in red and blue were manifested and began opening fire on both squads. MJ swiftly dashed pass Roland as the shooting began. Chaos erupted as several others did their own thing while Micah considered the best possible move he could make was to find cover within the New York block somewhere until it was possible to team or piggy back up on another Omega. As he escaped the blasting zone behind him MJ avoided the alleyways for the time being and found himself instead standing over the entrance to an underground subway tunnel.

Generated city people came and went through the entrance as a part of the created sim, he had no idea how far the simulation might expand or if it was more beneficial to stay topside or go low.

xx xxx xxx xxx xx xxx xxx ❝ x MY MIND'S A LOADED GUN, NO ONE CAN HEAR ME SCREAMING. x ❞
MICAH 》: ANOTHER NIGHT THAT COMES UNDONE, YOU'RE THE ONE THAT KEEPS ME BREATHING!◊◊ WE ALL BREATH AND WE ALL BLEED!
XXXXX XXX XXX XXXXX XXXX ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

Location: Sim Room X||X Company: Unknown X||XMusic: Here X||XOutfit: Here X||xPower Replication: Typhokinesis - OC ||

 

[Rovek-Winter]

There was the possibility that Christian and Charlie had enjoyed their time off a little too much, considering they spent most of it goofing off when they weren’t thrown in training sims. He was glad that Narcissa passed over them as they walked in a little late, thanking that she hadn’t cracked down on their delinquent behavior. He was sure that the alcohol they drowned in would leave a sour taste in their leader’s mouth, and he was determined to do what he could to avoid any spectacular punishments she was rumored to give.

There was a lot going on for Christian as he looked around the sim. Guns, health bars, gear, a cityscape, and a lot of trouble to explain to them that this was an exercise. Charlie gave him a look, and Christian returned it, and at the utterance of laser-tag by Narcissa, Christian’s face warped into an open mouth of surprise, maintaining this look with Charlie for the remainder of Narcissa’s speech. When she was finished, he looked around excitedly, realizing that their exercise was more fun than it was work.

That was when Charlie issued his challenge, and Christian fell for it brilliantly. To hell with cleaning the X-Jet, Narcissa’s fury, or even cleaning their room: this was a challenge between his roommate and him, and a challenge he intended to meet with vigor. “You’re ON!” Accepting the terms, they both gave a brawny handshake to seal the deal, Christian offering a toothy grin to his competitor. He hadn’t missed that they were free to use their powers as they saw fit, so he intended to fully use his lycanthropy to win this challenge. Even if he still didn’t fully understand his friend’s ability, he was too proud of his own to back down from this challenge.

With the exercise started, Christian turned at the same time Charlie did and they both went their separate ways, knowing that the challenge could be foiled if the other purposely got the other eliminated. They had to be separated at some point in the battlefield anyways, might as well do it when there was friendly wager on the line. Unfortunately, that meant looking for a worthy teammate, he had to admit that he couldn’t quite remember the rest of his team’s abilities…

His eyes passed over to the blue-specked forms on the horizon, knowing that he had to either take them out or survive against them, not to mention the generated grunts that were involved in this exercise. His eyes momentarily passed back to the other Omegas dispersing the area, before the sound of fire in his direction caught his attention. He stumbled, fumbled, and fell to the floor as the precise shots missed merely because he was surprised. With the shots flying past him as he sat up on his knees, he looked over to the direction of their source, and his eyes landed on a pair of feminine forms.

One of them was especially familiar.

His eyes narrowed as he saw the pair retreat into a playground with some forested sections. Katerina had issued her own challenge to the werewolf, and Christian realized he had no intention from backing down from this one either.

He should have cursed his luck he was so easy to manipulate, but he flashed another grin. For someone who was going into contemplating going into a fight with someone who can easily kick his a**, he was quite eager to get on with it.

His eyes scanned around him for any threats that might sneak up on him, before he bolted into an alleyway and tried to lose himself in the maze of concrete. He was doing everything he could to avoid any hostilities, even the generic grunts, a task made easier since his heightened senses would warn him of any threats that might sneak up on him. However, he still nearly bumped into a figure as he rounded a corner, and raised his gun clumsily. It was the familiar sight of a teammate, but seeing how his target/predator was a shapeshifter, it wasn’t doing him anything to lower his stress levels, especially since the girl in front of him was a favorite form Katerina liked to take on.The sight of a red health bar floating above her head indicated that she was on his team and the real deal, causing him to quickly lower his gun and utter a quick apology. “Oh s**t, nearly got you there.” he said, before an idea struck him. Katerina was paired up with someone last he saw her, so he’d be walking into a battle out-numbered...not to mention there might be other people near her area that might be hiding. It might’ve been a good idea to partner up with someone to bolster his numbers, especially since Charlie was elsewhere.

“Hey, there’s a few Alphas I’m about to rumble with.” he cautioned her, pointing into the direction he thought Katerina was in. “I wanna be with someone that can kick a**, and from what I hear, you’re pretty good at blowing away competition. How’s teaming up with a werewolf sound?”

She glared at him for a second, before crossing her arms. "Okay... I'll give you one chance. But if I lose because of you, I'll blow you into next Tuesday." she warned him, annoyed tone shining clearly, before she let out a deceptively strong exhale of hurricane-class wind to his face, knocking him backwards (as well as nearby trash and boxes) and off balance, despite trying to brace himself.

On his rear and grounded, Christian’s hair was tousled and his expression bore surprise, before he let out a laugh. “Oh, you’re perfect!” he said, standing up and shaking his head. “Come on, I got a score to settle to settle with someone too, so I’m not keen on get either of us eliminated.”

He beckoned to her as walked past her, picking up his walking pace to a brief jog, expecting her to follow behind him. They weren’t far from the playground area he saw Katerina duck into, and he expected something clever from the unusually skilled woman. He didn’t play enough Time Crisis in arcades to feel confident in his gun skills, but he doubted anyone could just shrug off his transformed state.

It didn’t take them long to reach the now-daunting looking playground, and he tried his best to scan the area from their hiding place in the alleys. Besides a few scattered generated civilians wandering aimlessly in the area, nothing looked to hostile. Still...he had to be cautious. There was a challenge on the line. Two of them.

Christian stuck his gun out from the alley and pointed it towards some nearby buildings, trying to see any movement, before looking over to the forested area near the playground. Nothing yet. He turned to his partner. “You want me to be bait, so you can shoot any Alphas?” he asked her, not a trace of sarcasm in his voice. He intended to transform anyways, because he was sure that Katerina was in the area. Plus, he had to keep it fun for his partner and him.  

[l e a sidhe]

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Mutant laser tag. How ******** fantastic. No sarcasm there. After many boring weeks cooped up inside that frozen hell hole, Magda was pretty much down for anything even remotely exciting. She was genuinely excited for this training session, especially since they were going against the blue team. See an Alpha, crush an Alpha? Not a problem.

Was she exhibiting some of those anti-Alpha feelings so often felt by other Omegas? Or was she so desperately bored she was pretty much willing to crush anyone?

It was likely the latter. She would’ve gladly eliminated anyone blue or red had that been the purpose of this session. Smiling when Narcissa mentioned that winners would be prized with a cookie, she internally vowed to take out as many Alphas as possible. Losing wasn’t something she wanted, but cleaning the X-Jet as a result of losing was not even an option she wanted to consider. Those pretty little Alphas could do that.

Brown eyes scanned the crowd when the exercise started, searching for a particular Omega with hair shifting abilities. The cityscape looked so real, despite being a simulation, and she allowed herself a brief moment to be completely entranced by the accuracy of some of these New York City buildings. The streets, however, seemed far less busy. But what would she know? She’d only been on the streets of NYC during nighttime a few times.

The red and blue soldiers began firing and she quickly ducked behind a dumpster. She was small and it was easy to use her petite frame to her advantage when it came to hiding. Not seeing Orchid anywhere, she decided to find another teammate to pair up with. Going out alone was an option… but not one she was willing to pursue. While it was very likely she’d lose patience with whomever she teamed up with, it was still better to have a fight buddy than to attempt to take out the blues alone.

Even though going solo sounded so much more appealing.

Looking around once more, she spotted a tall guy hanging by himself. She thought for a brief moment and then decided, without further unnecessary contemplation, to try to pair up with him. Orchid didn’t like him, she knew that. But who did Orchid really like aside from herself?

“Psst. Hey you.” She exited her hiding spot and fell into step beside him. Or more like behind him considering the height difference. “Roland.”

“You going in this alone or do you want to pair up?”

Hey, how bad could this be? He had to at least be more tolerable than Felix.

▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆

Location:: Sim Room with Roland

 

[The Bunit]

[ ʈ | ɦ | ҿ ➸ S | i | z | e | - | S | h | i | f | t | i | n | g ]xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxOmega - lounge



When he had issued the no offense to Micah, he grinned when Micah admitted that girls weren't his preference and exchanged a look with Raine. He hadn't seen thaat one coming, but this was just too perfect. "I know you and Felix are an item and all, but PLEASE let me set them up." He joked before letting Micah in on the glib.

"You see, Felix... He's an Omega that you'll meet at some point... Keeps attempting to spread this rumor about my being gay to eliminate the competition. He just can't handle the fact that women find me irresistible." He said, his tone deadpan. "But the repeated failed attempts do make me wonder if, perhaps, he is using dear Raine here as a cover." His composure cracked then. "Okay, okay. So I don't actually believe it's true... But I'd love to watch a man hit on him as payback. I don't have much money, but I'll pay you to take him on a date."

Narcissa paged him shortly after the last episode of the season started, and a jolt went through him as he revisited the invisible link between him and the sun goddess. Excusing himself from present company, Aren announced he was going to scrounge out some food in the cafeteria and headed in that direction. Dimples formed on either side of his mouth as he felt her excitement, mostly because it matched his own. No matter how much time he spent with her it would never be enough. Hearing her voice after any amount of time apart was much like coming up for air when you were certain that the last second would see you drown.

"What was it you said shortly after I was promoted to the Omegas? All brawn, no brain? I'm only trying to live up to your expectations, ki'somma." His knees buckled when Narcissa allowed herself a brush of their tether and the need poured over him.

He invited her to lunch, and though he couldn't hear her sigh... He felt her disappointment. He'd suggested it for her own good. The last time had been the last time; she had sworn it. The dichotomy of what she wanted, what felt right, and what she thought to be was tearing her apart. At the very least, he'd respect her wishes. "Ki'somma, my friend. It's always Taco Tuesday."

He piled food onto his tray before reaching for the warmth that brightened his day. Closing his eyes for a second, he pulled at their bond to get a general idea of where she sat. Sliding up next to her as stealthily as a panther hunting its prey, he dropped the tray on the table as obnoxiously as possible - a small reminder to keep up appearances even if both of them burned on the inside. The size shifter had expected the torch to simmer down by now, but it seemed to be getting stronger every day.

"Fancy seeing you here, ki'somma." He said, feigning surprise as he slumped into a chair directly next to her. "Look, as promised... Tacos." He might have offered her one before beginning to inhale his food, but he knew better.

"Vanilla." He said, catching her scent. It should not have been this large of a struggle to not bury his face in it. "But wait. Do I detect the underlying scent of an Alpha?" The native asked, grinning. "Why, Ki'somma... Are you cheating on me?" Not that he really had smelled Gabe's presence. Rather, he felt her annoyance earlier and that usually meant one thing: a mutant in blue.

Time skip.

He stood next to Narcissa as she explained the rules of the exercise, but fiddled with the laser gun with disdain. "Can't they invent bow and lasers?" He muttered, wanting as much to do with the laser gun as he had the steel piece shoved in his face the day he joined the Omegas.

He caught the rule about not disqualifying himself and Aren chuckled. "Who would do that?" Chocolate eyes darted to the ground as he tried in vain to appear innocent of the charge. Unable to resist the temptation, he caught Narcissa's cerulean gaze with his for half a second, and the feelings he stirred up were enough to suggest she reverse that ruling so they could go play elsewhere.

Pity she was the team lead. Otherwise, he might have been able to convince her to partake in an alternative form of exercise.

[ N | a | t | i | v | e ]

▂▂▂▂▂▂ ▂▂ ▂▂▂▂xxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[iPixie Bunni]

Holding Cell - Sub Levels

Blasted force field. The blond leaned forward and parted her hair so that Kat might inspect her scalp to see that she wasn't trivializing her injury, but the damned invisible wall kept her from getting too close. "I'm sure." She assured her best friend just as she noticed a swollen hand. "What happened?" And why had Scott not treated her injuries? What was with him lately? "Do you need Josh to come down here and take a look at that?"

Swallowing a lump of air, the telekinetic let her gaze fall to the floor as she uttered that she would have come sooner. Trailing off, she struggled to find the right words. "Scott and I found ourselves at an impasse." Disdainfully, she shook her head, clearly frustrated with her beloved mentor. "He..." She let out a huff of air. "I had to break in..." Hooking a thumb toward the group of people who had come with her, she glanced back into the cell and raised an eyebrow. "Thankfully, I've made friends with a few miscreants that were all too happy to help break the rules. It didn't hurt that part of the deal was allowing Felix to annoy Roland..."

Kat apologized to her for not being around, and Aurelie dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand as her own guilt washed over her. Thus far, she had failed the Italian - not the other way around. Maybe if she hadn't gotten hurt... Maybe she might have been able to stop Leo and Kat's fight and her best friend wouldn't have landed in a cell like a common criminal. "Sweetie, you didn't fail me at all. Don't think that for a second." Aurie reached to pull her friend into a hug, only to be met with the invisible barrier once again. Aggravated and falling into a hopeless state, water filled her eyes and she smashed against the wall with the side of her fist.

Unable to stop herself, she asked if anyone had informed Kat how long her sentence was, and her sapphire-imbued eyes trailed the brunette's gaze to the other cell. They narrowed as she stared at the lifelike hologram for a long moment and attempted to sort out the dizzying feelings his image stirred. Settling on the strongest of them, her fingers curled into a fist. "Funny. That looks just as cold." She muttered icily, though an underlying heat indicated how furious the whole situation made her. Leo had to be pried off of Kat because he had intended to kill her... And he'd been let out first?! "Is that some sort of tactic to make you more miserable?" She demanded, anger bridling her words. "He almost killed you." She spat, her blood to the brink of boiling. "And they are letting him galavant around the facility like nothing happened?! While you sit here, caged like an animal."

The former ballerina slid down the invisible barrier to sit on the floor, leaning into it the same as Kat. "Sorry for you?" She repeated, pulling back long enough to catch the Italian's expression. But the next bit left her stunned. Her mouth fell open, but no sound followed for some time. "Well... That's... Noble of her." She said, unsure if she believed it. She certainly hadn't forgiven their leader for what happened just before they headed into their latest catastrophe. Bella's automatic and blatant distrust of Kat being able to fall in step for the greater good, her condescension when Aurelie had defended her... She ground her teeth as the events replayed in her mind.

Kat confessed quietly she didn't know the length of her detainment, and Aurie's heart broke as her best friend's declaration hit the air. All the progress they had made, all the time Aurie had spent trying to heal this woman to make her believe she could be more than just a soldier ready to comply... And the X-men had brought her back to square one. "No they didn't." She promised the woman, shaking her head once again. The blue in her eyes darkened with her mood as she realized how unjust the X-men could be. "They couldn't remember what or rather, WHO you are, because they never truly saw you. They have always seen what they wanted to, and never gave you a real chance." In a lot of ways, it made them just as bad as the Humans Against Mutants movement. No... It made them worse because Kat was one of their own. "They see a background that didn't align with their own." Pressing her palm against the force field to meet her friend's, she thoroughly hated everyone who had decided to keep Katerina Force behind bars.

"Don't you let them make you forget who you are, or who you want to be. Don't let them define you, because you are so much more than just a checkered history, Kat. What Hydra made you do... That wasn't you. That was them, instilling what they are onto what they wanted to be a blank canvas. What everyone here fails to see is that YOU chose to leave that life in pursuit of your own path. And that choice is what should matter the most to them. You chose to be different than what Hydra wanted. You came here looking for a better life."

Rising to her feet in correlation with her growing anger, the blond's lips formed a terse pout as she dusted herself off. "Someone needs to remind them of that. I'll be back. And when I return, I am getting out of here."


Simulation Room - Sub Levels

The telekinetic felt little in the way of team spirit as she adjusted her gear and answered Isabella's summons to the simulation room with her best friend in toe. It had taken some convincing, but in the end, Aurelie had successfully freed Katerina from the cells, with Scott's muttering recommendation that she become a lawyer instead of a pharmacist.

Lost in her own thoughts, she was barely aware that they were walking until Katerina bumped into her. A small smile brightened her features when the shape-shifter subtly suggested they replace the laser tag session with cocoa and ice cream. "I wish." She said wistfully. "But you know we have to go." Neither one of the pair were willing to give Isabella Stone an excuse to lecture them. Aurelie had thus far avoided speaking directly to their leader since their mission, and she had no intention of making it easy to strike up any conversation now.

The rules of their game were simple enough, but she snickered when Kat folded her arms and stubbornly said they weren't losing if they had to clean. "Like anyone can touch us." She whispered back, her eyes flashing to life as a strategy came to life. "I'll keep defenses up, and you just tell me when you're gonna shoot." Tilting her head, she frowned. "Wait. Can these lasers penetrate telekinetic shields?" While that would make it a little more fair playing against her, she suddenly felt naked. Unable to stop the impulse, she glanced down at her uniform to make sure it was still there.

Kat shot toward Christian's head, and Aurelie stifled another giggle as they ducked for cover. Their game of flirtation had been... Interesting to observe. "If they get close, I'm just going to steal their guns from their hands." Firing a shot toward a grunt, she nearly squealed in delight when it hit the target.

Gabe stated something about letting him know if anyone needed cover, and Aurelie pressed down on the transmit button as she spoke. "Got it. Watch your back. After last week, the red queen might be gunning for you."