8/8 Instance: Knock Your Socks Off

[Slarti]

Timelined after Phantom Pains, before Divide and Fall Apart

<Cecilia> Cecilia stood in the middle of the DR, stretching and considering her options for a battleground. A dojo seemed a bit too 'Neo and Morpheus' especially when you considered her race...but Sebastian presumably had an interest in Japan considering how much business he did there so...hm.

<Shaw> When the door slid open, Sebastian huffed quietly, amused by the choice as it materialized around them. He gave Cecilia a wry smile and pressed his palms together to give her a short bow. In his unaccented Japanese, he greeted her.

<Cecilia> Cecilia snorted. "Show-off," she said, opening her arms and gesturing to the room at large. "Es bueno verte también. Espero que os guste el ajuste. Pensé que era muy 'Matrix', si?"

<Cecilia> ((Spanish: Nice to see you, too. I hope you like the setting. I thought it was very 'Matrix,' yes?))

<Shaw> "Oh, yes indeed." He looked around the room, strolling slowly to run his hand along a sliding paper door. It felt real, and it never ceased to amaze him.

<Shaw> "Does this choice mean you hope to keep to a more structured dance for our first session, my dear?' he said, looking over his shoulder at her.

<Cecilia> Cecilia shook her head, laughing a little. "No, despite my choice of room I'm not a fan of rules in combat, I like to fight dirty and I wouldn't be surprised if you're the same." She padded along the tatami mats, also admiring the level of realism, despite having been in this room dozens - if not hundreds - of times. "Besides, I'm not exactly trained in any particular school of martial arts. I just took what I liked from various schools and made it my own."

<Shaw> "Oh, you wouldn't?" Sebastian just gave a dirty grin in response. Turning to face her, he let his gaze travel up to the ceiling and across the room before meeting her eyes. "I've trained in several schools, actually, but mostly for my own betterment."

<Shaw> "What good is it to have lackeys if one doesn't make use of them?"

<Cecilia> "Which ones?" Cecilia asked curiously, expecting Aikido, Judo or Karate. She raised an eyebrow at the 'lackey' comment. "I dunno, you tell me, all I know is if I want something done right it's usually better to do it myself. I think it's best not to rely on as little people as you can. You owe people less favours if you do."

<Shaw> "With my abilities, anything that creates kinetic energy is to my benefit, and so of course anything that avoids blows is counter-productive."

<Shaw> "I have great respect for the Japanese and their dedication to the art of war and self-defense. Some of their more... psychological budo are fascinating, though likely the training was lost on me. I attempted Iaido." He smirked. "I lack the patience."

<Cecilia> "I think that's a pretty smart choice. If you can play on an advantage it seems the wisest course of action to do so," she said, shifting into a 'ready' stance. "Shall we, then?"

<Shaw> "Favors and who owes them are part and parcel of currency at the Hellfire Club," he said, moving into position and smiling down at her.

<Cecilia> Cecilia swayed side to side on her feet for a minute. "I'm careful with who I make deals with," she said simply. "If you gotta be careful who and what you sell your soul to...so any limits here or am I free to try to destroy you? I mean, I usually go with no throat punches or below the belt kicks when I actually spar with someone but other than that I prefer the 'anything goes' rule."

<Shaw> "I'm rather attached to what's below the belt, as you can imagine, so I would prefer you refrain." He feinted a blow at her, just to test her reflexes. "Unless you can reach no higher than that, of course." Sebastian's lips curled back in a playful sneer.

<Cecilia> Cecilia flinched and brought an arm up to block with surprising speed. "The bigger they are the harder they fall!" she laughed wildly, aiming a kick at the engineering professor with no warning and without bothering to try a feint as he had done.

<Shaw> "I was rather afraid you'd be a speedy little thing." He let the blow connect with his thigh, enjoying the jolt of energy, before he backed up to circle her.

<Cecilia> Cecilia summoned her shield armour, keeping her eyes on Sebastian as he paced around. "Small's not bad. I'm take up so little space so I'm harder to hit!" she said, darting forward again and throwing a punch at his ribs.

<Shaw> That strike he blocked, but his forearm slid off the armor before he could follow through with the move to use her momentum against her. "Oh, now that is handy. Protective and slippery - how very prophylactic of you."

<Cecilia> "How very inappropriate of you," Cecilia laughed. "It does come in handy! Now you see why I always take point!"

<Shaw> "When have you known me to be wholly appropriate?" He tilted his head and closed with her, not bothering a feint this time and going for a head-on, open-handed attack.

<Cecilia> Cecilia wondered if she should try to clothesline him with a force-field but decided against that, she did want to see what he could do after all. So, instead, she held her ground crouched low to avoid the on-coming hands and struck out at Sebastian's feet. "Point."

<Shaw> The impact to her shield gave him a small, pleasant jolt and so did the glancing crack to the shins. "Point well made at that," he admitted. For his size, Sebastian was also fast, so he managed to jump over her.

<Cecilia> Cecilia blinked as he jumped over her like a runner over a hurdle. "Did you take track in MIT or what?" she laughed.

<Shaw> "Another benefit of my abilities," he smirked, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

<Cecilia> Cecilia just snorted and threw a shield at his legs to knock him over. "Too bad you're not a precog, yeah?"

<Shaw> He went down, but scrambled quickly to his knees and tackled her.

<Cecilia> "Shit!" Cecilia exclaimed, her shielded head slamming back on the mat as she went down. "Ow...okay. You win. I yield!"

<Shaw> Sebastian's eyebrows shot up. "Are you all right?" He made no move to get off of her just yet, though he did keep his weight on his own arms as not to crush her. "It was your idea to play dirty, if I recall."

<Cecilia> Cecilia grinned wildly, her hand driving hard into his sternum to wind him before she began to struggle out from his grasp. "I can't believe you fell for that!" she cackled.

<Cecilia> Well, it actually had hurt to smack her head off the ground, but the damage was psychosomatic with the shields and not physical.

<Shaw> He oofed but then grinned. "Ah, minx." Her struggling would have been easy to put a stop to if it weren't for her damned shields. As it was, she was sliding from his grasp. So, he used his weight to pin her, shifting a leg to protect his more delicate regions from a sneak attack.

<Cecilia> Well, this was more than a little awkward. "Jesus, are you fighting me or cuddling me?" she said, expanding her shields out and prying him off her before she stood up, taking a few steps back. "Sorry, but you're too heavy."

<Shaw> "Perhaps I just want to make Cortez jealous." He sprang to his feet, fairly energized today even before their little exercise. "How is he, anyway?"

<Cecilia> Cecilia looked somewhat unhappy at this turn in conversation."He's not dead," she said after awhile, "so that's something."

<Shaw> "It is." He agreed, brushing himself off and debating if he even wished to change back into his suit to teach today. It could be amusing to see the looks the students gave him.

<Cecilia> "Not that he was alright," Cecilia continued, gesticulating a bit frantically. "I mean, he almost died on the table. You wouldn't think that seeing him walk around now after Dr. O'Keeffe healed him but he was really fucked up. He started to crash on the operating table and the bullet just barely missed his intestines and his spinal cord so - "

<Cecilia> She sighed and threw up her arms. "I should shut-up more."

<Shaw> "It's all right." He crossed his arms and regarded her. "It's worth concern. This... vocation is certainly not without risk. The X-Men. It's my opinion SHIELD should use its own resources and not involve civilians."

<Cecilia> "I'm an adult," Cecilia pointed out. "So's Fabian. We knew the risks and took them regardless 'cause we believe in a 'cause much larger than ourselves. I can't speak for him but if it means I die then so be it. At least I'll have died for something I believe in and I'll go with little regrets."

<Shaw> "Shinobi is not my son, but he's likely as close as I will come, and he did not ask to be created. As such, I feel a certain responsibility toward him. I hope SHIELD keeps better track of him after their last two failures."

<Cecilia> "He believes he is," Cecilia said, frowning. "I think they're gonna be more careful with who they share their information with for the next little while. I think there's a mole inside their operation 'cause there's no way that attack was co-incidental."

<Cecilia> "'As close as you'll get'? 'Created'? Now those are an interesting choice of words. So I guess you got the results from the DNA test back, huh?"

<Shaw> "He can continue to believe it." Sebastian shrugged, shifting his weight. "He was created in a laboratory, somewhere, from my genetic material, and from the genes of others."

<Cecilia> "...he's a clone?!" Cecilia exclaimed, spluttering a bit in surprise. "Holy shit! How the fuck did that happen?! Did you have one too many drinks with some shady mad scientist or what?!"

<Cecilia> "Oh my God," she said, hands threading through her hair. "No, I don't think he should know that. Can you imagine how that'd feel? Knowing you weren't born but engineered? Oh Jesus, where's he been all this time? Who made him?"

<Shaw> Sebastian's expression spoke worlds of her comment about drinking with mad scientists. "He claims he's from Nebraska." Sucking his teeth, he sighed. "I believe he was created by Essex, possibly when he was working for En Sabah Nur, possibly before."

<Cecilia> "Him again? Why am I not surprised?" she said, looking rather annoyed. "I fought what was left of his personality in Rogue during my first year and I'm glad that's the closest I ever got. Fabian doesn't talk about him much but he has said he was one creepy fuck."

<Cecilia> Another thought occurred to her though. "Oh shit! You don't think he could've taken some of my boyfriend's DNA to make a clone with do you?" Cecilia paled at this. "Oh God! I'm never gonna stop worrying about that!" And she thought the possibility of accidental children from before he met her was bad enough.

<Shaw> "It's always a possibility where Essex was concerned. Cloning was... his personal hobby, I suppose. Cortez isn't wrong in his assessment." Sebastian took in her small panic attack. "Likely, he acquired my genetic material from a blood sample taken when I was inducted into the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club."

<Cecilia> "What do they take your blood for?" Cecilia asked suspiciously. "Is it for identification purposes? 'Cause if that's the case can't you just provide a retinal scan or fingerprints?"

<Shaw> He stepped closer and unfolded his arms to show her his left palm and the scar that cut across it. Meeting her eyes, he smirked. "Blood rites."

<Cecilia> Cecilia studied the scar, swallowing thickly. "What better way to show your commitment?"

<Shaw> His brow quirked up in agreement.

<Cecilia> Silence settled in and for a moment, Cecilia hesitated before she decided that now was as good a time as any. "I saw Jess in Rio de Janeiro," she said. "When we were fighting the swarm there."

<Shaw> He was quiet, taking a step back to study her. "...as a part of it?"

<Cecilia> "I think she's using her pheromones to direct the swarm," she said matter-of-factly. "She ran as soon as we caught sight of her and attacked anyone that tried to follow."

<Shaw> "That is..." Sebastian shook his head, completely unable to process this. If Viper had told the truth - He frowned, looking away from her to stare at a dojo screen.

<Cecilia> "I thought you should know," Cecilia said, brows knitting together. "I'm sorry."

<Shaw> "It's not possible." He rubbed his face, pressing his hand to his mouth.

<Cecilia> Everyone has a price. Yeah, maybe it was best not to say that right now. "We don't know anything for sure yet," she said, raising a finger. "She could've been manipulated or forced into it or just decided she hated us all enough to join a terrorist organization. We're not gonna know anything until she's captured and until then all we can do is reserve judgment."

<Shaw> His own cynicism disagreed, and he suspected she was only saying this for his benefit anyway. "Of course." Closing his eyes, he sighed.

<Cecilia> Cecilia sighed too. "I guess I'm pretty fucking terrible at comforting people, aren't I?" she asked. "A couple people were ready to kill me last semester when I told them it wasn't likely we'd find either John or Jamie alive. I try to stick to the facts and knowledge at hand and not to tell people what I think but I'm sure they can probably guess what my thoughts are."

<Shaw> "I... shall try to take comfort that she's at least alive, and not an insect." Eyes still closed, he rubbed his temples, all earlier joviality now drained away.

<Cecilia> Now was also probably not the time to mention her feelings on those bugs either. Now how did she manage to turn all this around? She thought for a moment then smiled. "What're your feelings on ninjas?"

<Shaw> "They have their uses," he said distractedly. In fact, Yukio had reported to him just hours before, with a lead. Now, he was just exhausted.

<Cecilia> "Do I even wanna question your choice of words right now?" Cecilia asked. No, she decided, she didn't. The clone thing was more than enough nightmare fuel for today. "'Cause I was gonna suggest a ninja melee straight out of samurai film instead of kicking the crap outta each other. I figure we're more likely to be fighting with each other more often than we are against each other." Hopefully.

<Shaw> "No, you do not." He opened his eyes to stare at her, realizing his slip. He was unable to muster any care, however. "However, that sounds like a good idea." Sebastian sighed and shrugged, deciding to admit the truth. "I'm afraid any power boost you afforded me may have just expired."

<Cecilia> Cecilia raised an eyebrow at this but didn't question him further. "Sure, whatever you want." She would later on though, just 'cause she was a nosy fucker that liked to know everything about everyone. She smirked a little. "Well, I can always just hit you again, yeah?"

<Shaw> "I would appreciate it, actually," he managed a tired smirk.

<Cecilia> Cecilia hesitated. "How hard do you want me to hit you?"

<Shaw> "As hard as your little heart desires." He was too tired to play games. "Since I know you have boundless curiosity about abilities, I'll share with you another of mine - the energy I absorb not only boosts my strength, agility and ability to heal. If I maintain it, I've no need for other sustenance." Sebastian considered this. "For a time, at any rate."

<Cecilia> "Well, excuse me, but my heart happens to have grown three sizes since last Christmas so all the who's in what-the-fuck-ville can benefit from its goodness," Cecilia said, raising an eyebrow. "So you should last a long time if I do this -!" Without warning she leashed a forcefield at his front with enough force to send him flying backwards.

<Shaw> And backwards through a screen at that. It was like being hit by a truck - and she was right - the jolt of energy coursed through him and he was back on his feet in an instant. "Oh my, you have been holding out on me."

<Cecilia> Cecilia laughed. "If you're not able to punch a hole through a pixelated person after that then I want my money back."

<Shaw> "Well, let's find out then." More than a little high now, he gave her a wicked grin.

[PanicSwitch]

It makes for an interesting instance when I change my nick right in the middle of it

[Slarti]

Fuck. Should be fixed now.