6/24 Game: Boot Camp

[fourpawsonthefloor]

[mimic] Mimic stands surveying the students as they file into the large empty room.

[Elizabeth] pip pip

[Nocturne] * Nocturne head into the large room, noticing no weapons this time. But hottie mc hots was here..

[Angel_II] Angel trails Scott into the room and looks around. Big.

[Raven] Raven entered the Danger Room with her classmated. She could remember when this room was just a big pile of junk for them to clean out.

[Raven] ((what's with the present tense? We usually play in past tense.))

[Nocturne] ((i am So bad at tenses))

[Summers] Scott looked around the room. "Hey, Mr. Cal." Scott waved.

[Raven] ((Okay. I wasn't sure what was going on for a second.))

[Elizabeth] Lizzie, a scowl on her face, walked into the room after the others, her arms folded.

[Remy] Remy followed TJ in looking around at the other students. While he had nothing against the class, Cal was a huge pain in the ass. Not to mention the looks TJ kept shooting him

[Nocturne] ((its jjust me setting bad examples ))

[Angel_II] "You know that dude?" She whispered to Scott.

[Summers] "Yeah, I've seenhim early in the mornings when I go for my swim. He's usually running." Scott whispered back.

[mimic] "So. How's the running going? You all managing to shave your time's down?"

[Raven] Raven nearly laughed when she saw who was waiting for them. It was TJ's" Sargent Calvin Hotpants" or whatever he was called. This was going to be fun.

[Nocturne] She gave the teacher a smile, but looked away a bit. "Hi!"

[Elizabeth] Lizzie on hearing him talk, started to giggle slightly

[Nocturne] Running? Ugh, yeah right.

[Angel_II] "We supposed to run at this school? Please." She muttered.

[Elizabeth] Running....that was a good one.

[Summers] ((hotpants?! LOL))

[Nocturne] She leaned to Remy. "He was serious about the running?"

[Summers] "Does swimming count?"

[mimic] Calvin frowned. "You all should be working on your stamina as much as possible - you'll find it makes these sessions a lot easier."

[Raven] Running? They were supposed to be running? Raven had been coming down to the danger room and working out, but she hadn't been doing any running.

[Summers] Scott looked at the other students. "Sessions, Mr. Cal? Is this P.E. or something?"

[Angel_II] "My stamina's just fine." She grinned slyly and flashed a look at Scott.

[Elizabeth] Walking ou will make these sessions a lot easier, Lizzie thought to herself but said nothing.

[mimic] Calvin smiled at the newer students - he'd only really had the three of them in his prevoius session. "Yeah, I suppose. More self defense though."

[Nocturne] Talia groaned. She so wasn't a runner. She put her hand up to speak. "Isnt there other crap we could do besides running to like, help with the stamina?"

[mimic] He nodded towards the guy in glasses...Scott he remembered from his file. Optical blasts - nice.

[Summers] Scott rolled his eyes and grinned back at Angel. "If you call making out serious athletics."

[Elizabeth] "I hated PE at school." Lizzie said darkly, thinking back to *that* dreaded PE lesson.....

[Summers] ((argh it ate my reply))

[mimic] "I'm Srgt Calivn Rankin...but everyone here just calls me Cal."

[Summers] Scott rolled his eyes. "Only if you count making out as 'athletics'.

[Elizabeth] Lizzie once again succumbed to a fit of giggles. Cal....so, so American cowboy.....#

[mimic] "Hate it or not, you shouldn't neglect the physical aspects of yourself. It is important to develop your body as well as your mind - expecially when you face additional challenges like you all do."

[Summers] Scott raised his hand half-heartedly. "So we're in boot camp?"

[Nocturne] She shot a look at Scott. What did that mean?

[Remy] Remy snorted at Scott's comment.

[Elizabeth] "Listen, Hal, I was sent here as my parents didn't want me going elsewhere, including Sandhurst. If I'm in military school tell me now so I can give them the good news and see how long it takes to be withdrawn," Lizzie said, calming down

[Remy] "Y'haven't really made out den - it's a pretty damn good work out if y're doin' it the right way."

[Raven] Raven laughed and elbowed TJ. "It's a good thing I wore boots." she said.

[Angel_II] She elbowed Scott. "Tol' you that Xavier cat was doin' something weird here."

[Elizabeth] ((Sandhurst being officer training school for the British Army if you didn't know))

[Summers] Scott tried not to stare at TJ. Thankful none could see his eyes, he wondered at her odd colouring.

[Elizabeth] ((or something like that))

[Nocturne] She laughed a bit at Ravens comment, then blushed at Remy's.

[mimic] "I suppose a boot camp of sorts." he watched the students mill around.

[Summers] Scott chocked. "One track mind, he has." Scott whispered to Angel.

[Nocturne] Turning to Raven. "Wait, were we supposed to bring boots?"

[Elizabeth] "Wonderful news..." Lizzie rolled her eyes

[mimic] "Last time we talked about how you should consider using your powers creatively for defence."

[Raven] Raven put her hand over her mouth to hide her snickering.

[Summers] "One track mind, Remy's got." Scott whispered to Angel.

[Angel_II] Angel snickered.

[Elizabeth] "I once blew a netball up in someone's face, does that count as being creative?"

[Raven] "I could lend you mine and then shift another pair." she said. She was kind of glad she hadn't come as her avatar to class.

[Nocturne] There was a bit of homework TJ definately didnt do....defensively?

[mimic] he began to pace up and down infront of them "You all know that this world is going to have challenges for you." he nodded at Liz. "well its one way."

[Nocturne] "Nah, I don't think they'd fit," she indicated her feet. "They're kinda big."

[Angel_II] "No shit," she muttered.

[Raven] Raven shrugged. "It's probably going to be like 'foot camp' anyway. We're college students, not soliders."

[mimic] Stopping infront of Remy he looked at him and TJ. "You have to become prepared for anything that life can throw your way. And that includes schooling your mind and body, and becoming more intuned to your powers. Learn how to use them. But don't overlook your body's natural capabilities."

[Elizabeth] "Exactly," Lizzie nodded at Raven.

[Remy] Remy rolled his eyes, glad that the glasses covered them. This guy was just so...uptight.

[Nocturne] She smiled at Cal, nodding. "Yeah, totally."

[Summers] Scott shuffled his feet. "So what about me? I have no control..." he muttered.

[Raven] Well, Raven though to herself, she was certainly doing that anyway. She was standing here all blue skinned and red headed after all...

[Summers] ((brb))

[Nocturne] She couldnt help but stare at his eyes. SOOO blue..

[Angel_II] Natural capabilities. Huh. Bug wings. Acid spit. Yeah, those were helpful.

[mimic] "You just need the right tools." He smiled at Scott and wandered over to a couple of boxes that sat in the corner, picking one up and kicking the other infront of him. He drew out a bundle of the first one.

[Elizabeth] Lizzie quickly thought of how intuned she was to her powers and tried to not laugh again.

[Remy] Remy looked with suspicion at the black cloth that Cal held in his hands. It looked supsiciously like the uniformy sort of outfit that Cal was currently wearing.

[mimic] "First you all have to start by wearing the right gear." He smirked at Remy "Torn jeans and an old coat don't make the best workout gear."

[Elizabeth] Oh dear....now the guy was taking things out of boxes. That did not bode well.

[Nocturne] She watched him bend to get whatever he was getting from the box...hello...

[Raven] Raven looked from Sgt Hotpants to TJ and had to cover her grin again. TJ was practically drooling...

[Angel_II] Angel watched Roidy McWorkout pick some spandexy things from a box. Oh, hell, no, she thought.

[Elizabeth] "What;s wrong with what I'm wearing?" Lizzie looked down at her outfit for the day of combat trousers, vest top and an old army shirt

[Summers] Scott also looked askance at the cloth that Cal was holding up, then at Remy's attire. Lucky me, I'm wearing my sweats.

[mimic] He looked down at the tag on the uniform that he held in his hands. "This would be angels." He held out the uniform to her. "They all have a bit of colour on them to help differenciate between them all. Your's is gold."

[mimic] "Standard clothing options allow for a more uniformed and united appearance...Liz is it?"

[Elizabeth] "I'm not fucking wearing THAT! It looks like it came from the bargin bin of a fetish store...."

[Nocturne] She watched as he patched the black bundle over, the slightest hints of gold lining it

[Raven] Raven frowned. Okay, so she wasn't exactly in "gym clothes", but Mr. Wagner let her work out dressed like this. Why not Sgt. Hotpants?

[Summers] Scott looked at the uniform Angel was holding. Hmm. Thank god for loose clothing.

[Angel_II] Angel froze. "Mine?" She looked down at her jeans and babydoll. "Nah, thanks, I'm good in this..."

[Elizabeth] "Elizabeth," Lizzie said deliberately. "My friends call me Liz or Lizzie, my teachers call me Elizabeth."

Japheth enters this room

[Angel_II] "Why we need a united appearance?"

[mimic] "These have each been adapted to your personal needs. Angel's for example has room for her wings."

[Angel_II] "Naw, see, scissors do just fine for adapting shit to my personal needs."

[Nocturne] She notices Japh wandering in late. She waves.

[mimic] He smiled at Angel. "Glad you asked. You need to all feel that you are a part of a team. Learn to cover each others backs. It can be a hard world out there - and you guys need to support each other."

[Angel_II] She ruffled her wings for emphasis

[Summers] Scott glanced at Remy. Yeah right.

[Elizabeth] "This is incredibly wrong......" Lizzie muttered, scowling. Xavier really was a pervert, and she glanced up to see if there was anywhere to hide a camera in he room

[Raven] "So I guess that means I don't get one" Raven said.

[Angel_II] "In case you failed to notice, half of us don't know each other, or regulary fight. Yeah, we REAL united."

[Nocturne] "Why would that mean that?" she asked Raven.

[Japheth] Japh smiles and nods at TJ, "Sorry I'm late, Meany disappeared on me again."

[Remy] Remy watched with dismay at the boxes. Uniforms? Merde.

[Elizabeth] On hearing meantion of a dissapearing slug, Lizzie immediately looked down at her feet. "Did you find him?"

[mimic] "Which is the purpose of todays lesson - but just wait till I hand these out." He picked up another bundle. "Yellow for Scott."

[Summers] Scott turned to greet Japh. "Yo."

[Elizabeth] Yellow? Go Go Power Rangers!!!

[Angel_II] She studied the "uniform" he had shoved into her hands. This wasn't spandex. "Yo, what these made out of?"

[Japheth] "Hey Scott, and yes Lizzie I did find him, in the kitchen.

[Summers] YELLOW?! "What?! Hell no."

[Raven] "because," Raven whispered to TJ, "If I wear clothes and shift into a form that's too big or too small - bye bye clothes. I'll have to shift the uniform." Raven rolled her eyes.

[mimic] He reached into the box again, fishing out a semicircular object. "And this is what I meant about the proper tools. Some of the staff had a look at the glasses that your brother made up and we came up with this for you."

[Japheth] "Oh please let mine have giant bellbottoms, and a lot of sequince"

[Nocturne] "But..you do wear clothes"

[mimic] It should control your optical blasts while still allowing you to discarge them in controlled bursts"

[Summers] Scott backed up a step, raising an eyebrow at the object. "Huh?"

[Japheth] ((brb))

[Angel_II] She studied the thing in Roidy's hands. It looked like a head band.

[Raven] "I know," Raven said. "I like my clothes. That's why this is so lame."

[Summers] ((LOL Japh))

[mimic] "The uniforms are a special polymer fabric that allows for the greatest range of motion, while still being extremely durable. Its cutting edge stuff." Cal guestured at himself "And as you can see it molds to your form quite well - so it doesn' get caught up on stuff."

[Nocturne] "I dunno," she stared uo at Cal. "They could be really hot."

[Angel_II] "Uh-huh," she said, sucking loudly at her teeth. "What the hell we gonna be doing in these, TEACH?"

[Raven] Raven looked at the "optical blast thingy" that Cal had for Scott. It was so Star Trek.

[Elizabeth] "Body fitting? I have piercings....that'll hurt if they're too body fitting," Lizzie muttered and sat on the floor.

[Angel_II] ((It keeps eating my posts!))

[Summers] Scott grinned. Molding to body shape...not good for hiding obvious reactions.

[Elizabeth] "You ever had an inverted nipple piercing?"

[mimic] Cal shoved the visor and uniform into scotts hands. "Its a visor Scott. It has a button on the side to allow the visor to slip up while you hold it down."

[Summers] ((refresh, it helped me))

[mimic] He sighed at the random muttering fromthe group. Oh this was going so well. He reached for the next bundle. "Bronze for TJ. Its got room for your tail too." He passed the package to her.

[Angel_II] Inverted piercings! She hadn't thought of that. She crossed her arms protectively across the girls.

[Remy] Remy watched as TJ took the clothes from Cal. He poked at the fabric inquiringly. "feels weird, neh?"

[Nocturne] TJ grabbed the bundle from Cal. "For my tail?"

[mimic] "Purple for Liz." he tossed her her package. "Dark blue for Raven." He looked at her thoughtfully. "Though you can make your own if you want. But keep it to this design."

[Nocturne] She unraveled it a bit looking at it. It wasn't nearly as hot as she thought. And why bronze?

[Angel_II] Angel held the garment up. No. Like hell.

[Angel_II] She edged over to Scott. "What do you think of all this?"

[Elizabeth] "Purple? PURPLE? Just because I have purple hair you all ASSUME my colour should be purple?" Lizzie snapped and looked at the costume with her nose wrinkled.

[Nocturne] The fabric was kinda odd feeling. 'Wait, whats this made of again?"

[Summers] "Slip up?" Scott looked at the visor. It looked uncomfortable. But the fabric felt good- lightweight, breatheable. "Weird."

[mimic] Cal picked the last two up. "Light blue for Japheth." He passed it over.

[Elizabeth] "It doesn't even match my hair!"

[Remy] "some poly thin'"

[Summers] "What do you think, Angel?"

[Raven] Raven shrugged and shifted to mimic Cal's uniform but with blue details. She slid her now useless t-shirt over her head and stepped out of her shorts.

[mimic] He couldn't help but grin a little as he tossed Remy the last package. "And fushia for you Remy. There's extra pockets for you to store things in to detonate."

[Summers] ((LOL))

[Angel_II] "I think this is bullshit. These're like.....uniforms, like military uniforms. What the hell we need these for?"

[Nocturne] "Poly? Like the cheese?"

[Elizabeth] "Now that is damaging to a man's ego...fushia."

[Remy] Remy caught the package and looked down in it. "Dis is pink. Its not Remy's."

[Summers] Scott looked up and snorted. Yellow was better than pink.

[Elizabeth] "I'll trade! I don't wanna be the Purple Ranger!"

[Nocturne] She looked at Remy's PINK costume. She couldn't help but giggle.

[mimic] Calvin watched as they all fussed with the fabric, encouraged that Raven was at least already...dressed.

[Raven] "Fuschia is nice," Raven said.

[Summers] "I agree. Hey, Mr, Cal, are we supposed to strip right here and put these on or what?"

[Japheth] Jph stared at the suit in his hands, "Well, If I go muscle man bodybuilder, it'll look like I'm naked... sweet."

[Nocturne] "It'll match your powers!" she laughed at remy.

[mimic] "Well, its like dark pink. Hot pink." Calvin couldn't help but smile a little. "We thought it would match you."

[Summers] "It's so YOU, Remy." Scott bubbled, acting like a young school girl.

[mimic] He laughed at that. "No - you can all change in a minute"

[Angel_II] Angel couldn't help but snicker at that.

[Remy] Remy glared around the room. "Remy's not wearin' dis."

[Elizabeth] "I don't see why I should wear it."

[Angel_II] Angel nodded in agreement with Bat-boy's chick . What was her name?

[mimic] "Oh you are all wearing it - to every session with me now too." he fixed Remy with a commanding look. "No more street attire. Wear that or nothing at all." Noticing the sudden grin from Remy he sighed. "Forget I said that. You ARE wearing that uniform LeBeau."

[Nocturne] ((LOL))

[Angel_II] "Are we now." She crossed her arms again.

[Raven] Raven raised her hand.

[Summers] ((omg. I spat my water))

[Nocturne] "It's not SO bad realy..." she looked her uniform over.

[mimic] "Yes Raven?"

[Elizabeth] Lizzie laughed and lay down on her back on the floor. She really couldn't be bothered with this bollocks.

[Summers] Scott studied the visor. It looked like it would fit snugly over his face and around his ears. Hmm...

[Remy] "chere...its PINK." he looked at her in disbelief.

[Raven] "I think what we're really not getting is this whole cohesive unit thing. I mean, when we came here, we were told it was college. Now we're wearing uniforms and being told to fight?"

[Nocturne] "But you look so good in pink," she said, putting an arm arounf him.

[Summers] "Here, hold these." Scott handed the unifrom and his glasses to Angel.

[Angel_II] Angel dropped the uniform to the floor and set her hands on her hips. "What she said."

[Elizabeth] "Mr Hal...Cal...whatever, like I tried to say before, my parents sent me all the way over here from ENGLAND so I WOULDN'T join the ARMY," Lizzie sat up and spoke very slowly.

[mimic] "We aren't fighting, Raven. We are team building. And getting in better shape. You can't deny that there is considerable opposition in some areas to things that are different. You need to be prepared for that."

[Angel_II] "Ooof!" She took the stuff from Scott, but continued to glare at Roidy.

[Elizabeth] "Now, I am being pressganged into a kinky whiplash group, clad in black....clingy stuff. Do you think my parents will be happy about it? I don't."

[Elizabeth] "I'm not happy about it!"#

[mimic] Calvin let out a loud snort at that looking around chaos around the room "Trust me, this is nothing like the army."

[Angel_II] "Word."

[Summers] Scott put the visor on. "Wow." It's lighter than I thought it would - rather tight, but they won't fall off. Hmm, I wonder what this button does-

[Raven] "Yeah, I get to hear all of Mr. Wagner's stories, but ... this just feels different than being prepared."

[Elizabeth] "Yeah, but you've given us unifroms and are talking about us all fighting together, being a unit or whatever....it sounds pretty military to me!"

[Nocturne] She wasnt so sure what the issue was. It was free stuff!

[Angel_II] She tore her attention from the teacher to see Scott put the head bandy thing on.

[mimic] "We aren't fighting." he looked around at them. Where did they get that idea. "you are all going to be running in pairs through an obsticle course."

[Nocturne] "Like Double Dare?" SHIT she remembered that from when she was little!

[Elizabeth] 2THAT'S ARMY TRAINING! I DID THAT IN CADETS!" Lizzie bellowed, her face red.

[Summers] Scott reflexively closed hsi eyes as the visor opened and a blast richochted off the far wall. "What the fuck!" Scott pressed the button again.

[Angel_II] "AAARGH!" She jumped back from Scott. "You okay?"

[Japheth] Japh ducked immediately

[Nocturne] She jumped as the blast hit the wall. "Nice one 'slim'"

[mimic] "Its to learn how to co-operate, how to rely on each other." He pulled a contraption out of the other box holding it up. "You will be linked together but this elatisized rope." he held up a 5-6 foot length of striped rope that had buckles on each end.

[Raven] Raven jumped from the simultaneous surprise of Liz's outburst and Scott's blasting the wall.

[Angel_II] "Yeah, we need THAT in an obstacle course!" She waved at the blasted wall. "Obstacle course my ass!"

[Japheth] "Geez Scott, wait 'till we got the suits on."

[Elizabeth] Lizzie jumped a mile in the air on seeing the blast slam and bounce off the wall

[Remy] Remy watched Scott nearly blow everyone's heads off. "keep y're pants on 'omme."

[Nocturne] TJ smiled at the rope. This was sounding a whole lot more fun.

[Elizabeth] "I have a headache coming on....." Lizzie groaned slightly.

[Raven] "I kind of think the obstacle course sounds fun," Raven said.

[Elizabeth] "Oh god now the man wants to tie us up....." Lizzie added on seeing the rope.

[Summers] Scott turned to TJ. "That name is reserved for people I like. Don't use it again."

[mimic] "You all have powers. You need to learn how to work with them and with each other, or your liable to hurt yourselves or someone else." he looked pointedly at the wall.

[Summers] "Sorry, everyone." Scott looked at Cal. "What the fuck is wrong with you, man? I could have killed someone!"

[Remy] Remy caught the last comment from Scott and turned to him with a glare. Oh let little Scotty be his partner, pretty please.

[Nocturne] She made a face. "Yeah, sue thing boss." she replied to Scott.

[Elizabeth] Lizzie did a quick head count of the students to see how things would tally up....

[Raven] Raven watched Scott and Remy glaring at each other. Yeah. Like they were ever going to be a team.

[mimic] Calvin looked at Scott. "Mr. Summers. The purpose of those is for you to learn control, not to go screwing around with them. Evidently you need to learn how to use it. Rule one, don't open it when you are facing people that you don't want to blast."

[Angel_II] Angel raised her eyebrows.

[Summers] "who said anything about NOT wanting to blast someone?" Scott muttered, looking away from Remy.

[mimic] "Alright. So here is the point of the exercise. You will all be put into a course with your partner, in which you will encounter several obsticals that must be surmounted with working as a team with your partner."

[Elizabeth] Lizzie stayed on the floor and inspected the sole of her boot, wondering how to get out of this one.

[Elizabeth] Lizzie raised her hand. "Aren't there seven of us?"

[Angel_II] Angel resisted the urge to tease Scott about having a brotherly spat. Again. Not the time. She glared at Roidy as he gave instructions.

[Elizabeth] "Unless someone has the pleasure of partnering you, we're odd numbered."

[mimic] "there will be a series of markers or tags along the way that you must touch to deactivate. If you miss a tag, the program sequence will not shut down, and you will not see your exit point."

[Nocturne] This was sounding WAY not fun.

[Summers] Scott glanced around quickly. He took Angel's hand. "I have my partner, where do we change...no exit?"

[Raven] Raven wondered how they were going to pair up. The room was pretty divided into a "This is bullshit" camp and a "This sounds fun" camp.

[mimic] "You are allowed to use your powers. However for those who would consider simply flying through the entire course or levitating themselves over and around obsitcals, you will miss markers that are hidden that way."

[mimic] "You will all be assigned a partner in a minute, if you could just bear me out."

[Angel_II] She snorted at the instructions and squeezed Scott's hand.

[Japheth] "Let me guess, it'll be a giant maze and we're the labrats?"

[Elizabeth] "Squeak."

[Remy] Remy had assumed that he could partner with TJ up till that point and sighed. Oh fucking great. He looked back at scott. Well maybe he would get to play then...

[Summers] Ugh - assigned partners. Scott glanced at Remy. With my luck, he'll be my partner for the rest of the year.

[mimic] "The point is to think of as a pair, rather than as individuals. You must work with each other."

[Angel_II] Angel scanned the room. Greeeeeat. Stuck with one of these honkies.

[Elizabeth] Lizzie glowered at the 'assogned partners' part and regretted opening her mouth. It wasn't fair being partnered up when most of the other's wern't even there.

[Nocturne] TJ huddled close to Remy. Maybe Cal'd pair them up??

[mimic] "You will only encounter regular 'boot camp' obsticles. There will be no guns, lazers or weird stuff. You will basically be running it in a wooded environment."

[Nocturne] ((HONKIES!!))

[Summers] "Great. Doubles was bad enough if I got paired up with a bad player. This is going to suck the big one." Scott said conversationally to Angel.

[Remy] "Woods?" Remy glanced around the bare room. "So den, are we goin' somewhere?"

[Raven] Raven grabbed one ankle and started to stretch out. They were doing this whether they wanted to or not. There was not point in getting hurt because she wasn't warmed up.

[Summers] Scott looked around. "Wooded environment?" I know how to do that.

[Summers] But the mention of lasers and guns worried him. What the hell was up witht his place?

[mimic] Calvin grinned at that. "Not when we have technology at hand." He looked up at a small window that was poised in the middle of the wall and nodded to forge up above. The room shifted around them suddenly.

[Angel_II] "Damn, I hate the woods."

[Nocturne] She stared wide eyed as the room changed. What kinda crazy star wars shit was this?!

[Remy] Remy looked around him, at the sky up above him, the trees seeming to strech on endlessly."whoa."

[Elizabeth] "I have a headahce," Lizzie said lamely, hoping to be excused this session and miss out on the whole partnering....she hadn't really spoken with anyone in the room other than TJ and Remy, not properly.

[Elizabeth] and they kind of deserved to partner each other.....

[Angel_II] "Well, I hate being forced to run around them, anyway," she said to Scott. "Lasers? What the fuck?"

[Raven] Raven stood balanced on one foot, the other one up near her shoulder. Um....

[Japheth] "Dude, I need this in my room," Japh stared around him.

[mimic] "You will all be assigned your own path...and they do not intersect. They are for you and your partner only."

[Summers] Scott's jaw dropped. he reached out to touch a tree that had materialised right in front of him. It felt real, solid to the touch. "What the..."

[Elizabeth] Lizzie then noticed she was sat on a forest floor and fell on to her side, covering her eyes and giggling. This was dumb....duuuumb and trippy.

[Angel_II] "Dammmmn, son...." she twirled in place, staring.

[mimic] "There are boots over there for you all." he nodded to a pile that sat behind the students on a small dirt patch. "One last thing."

[Summers] He looked over at Angel. "Are you seeing what I"m seeing?"

[Raven] "How are we in the woods now?" Raven asked looking around. Forget stretching. This was weird.

[Nocturne] She watched Lizzie fall, and looked around again. What the hell was going on?

[Angel_II] "Yeah," she whispered. "What the hell is this place?"

[Summers] "Wonderland?"

[mimic] "It was customary in my training for everyone to have a code name. Its easier to call out to a partner in that, and we found that it was a good way to indentify ourselves." He smiled, putting his chest out. "I am known as Mimic."

[Angel_II] She had to laugh at that. "Yeah, but a fucked up wonderland."

[mimic] "Use your partners code name. Become familiar with them."

[Japheth] "Well, looks to me like Star Trek had some good ideas after all."

[Elizabeth] Lizzie sat back up, almost calm, then lost it again when Cal introduced himself as Mimic

[Raven] "This room was like, a storage room or something. We cleaned it when we first came here. Remember Remy?"

[Nocturne] "Code names?!" What?!

[Nocturne] Elizabeth> ((LOL!))

[Remy] "Code name? LIke a nick name?" he looked over at Raven and nodded "Oui, Remy remembers pettie"

[Summers] "No shit." Scott looked at Cal. "Code names?" He'd be damned if he was going to have to tolerate someone calling him 'Slim'.

[Angel_II] "Code name? Do I have to say "what the fuck" again?"

[Raven] Raven turned towards Cal. Wait. Mimic? The only code name he was going to have was Sgt. Hotpants.

[Nocturne] "I remember the cleaning...though it seemed more like it was blowing shit up....and that crazy Jean girl."

[Summers] ((Raven>LMAO))

[mimic] Calvin sighed watching the hornets nest stir again. "JUST DO IT." Jesus. And he'd thought the army was hard. It was nothing like trying to teach these kids some dicipline.

[Elizabeth] "I'm sitting in a forest thats iside a room in a house, with a guy called Mimic, two blue girls, a guy who shoots lazers from his eyes....a kinky cosplay costume and I'm about to be given a special name....." Lizzie started to hyperventilate through hysterics

[Summers] Scott stood up a alittle straighter. He knew that tone of voice. His coach emplyed it right before taking him off the court if he messed around again.

[Elizabeth] "God, why, WHY did I leave England? Dez'll be kicking herself for missing this....."

[mimic] "YOU. He pointed his finger towards Scott. "Are Cyclops."

[Angel_II] "Whatever."

[Raven] "Oh wait, what was my code name again? From Piotr?" Raven tapped her chin.

[mimic] "TJ is Nocturne. Remy is Gambit."

[Japheth] "Wormman, no, wormy, no, External Digestive Guy, no. McSlug, no too scottish" Japh thought outloud.

[Angel_II] She looked at Scott. "Cyclops?"

[Elizabeth] "YOU, are a wanker!"

[Summers] "Cyclops?" Wasn't that the one-eyes giant thing form those Greek myths Megan went nuts over?

[Elizabeth] Lizzie announced and started to headbutt her knees

[Remy] Remy looked at TJ "What d'ell?"

[Angel_II] "What the hell am I? McFly?"

[Nocturne] "Nocturne? What the hell is a 'Nocturne'?" this seemed really gay.

[Raven] "Wait, I have to ask my same question again. The one about why are we doing this?"

[mimic] "Acually, we couldn't come up with anything better than Angel for you Angel...it suits you, wings and all. It works."

[Elizabeth] On hearing the name McFly, Lizzie started to hum 'That Weirdo with 5 colours in her hair'

[Nocturne] She turned to Remy. "This is dumb. Whats Gambit?"

[Summers] "You'll always be dragonfly to me, Angel." Scott whispered in her ear.

[Nocturne] ((Angels name wil be Crispin Glover))

[mimic] Mimic clapped his hand on his forehead. "Look. Xavier just asked me to come here, and help you guys learn team working skills and get into better shape. So this is kind of miliaryish. I'M A MARINE. Its what I know. Just do it."

[Elizabeth] "Angel, that means you were the bottom of their list and they were fresh out o ideas!"

[Angel_II] She blinked. "It does?"

[Angel_II] ((LOL!))

[Angel_II] She grinned goofily at Scott.

[Raven] Raven shrugged. "Well, the room is cool."

[Summers] Scott leaned in to whisper into Angel's ear. "You'll always be my beautiful dragonfly goddess."

[mimic] "Liz, you will be Psylocke"

[Angel_II] "Aha! You a marine! You tryin' to make us marines too?"

[Elizabeth] "I asked you not to call me Liz! And what the fuck is Psylocke about?"

[mimic] "Raven you will be Mystique. And Japheth will be...Maggot. Sorry. But it fit."

[Japheth] "What the hell is a psylocke"

[Elizabeth] "See! ARMY! I told you, ARMY!"

[Japheth] "Maggot? Good lord you are a Marine!"

[Nocturne] "WHat the hell are any of these?? I've never heard these words in my LIFE!"

[mimic] "Now for your partners." Jesus just let him get through this and then he'd go have a coffee with extra cream. The kind that came in a bottle.

[Angel_II] "You awesome, Slim," she leaned into him.

[Elizabeth] "Ohh....Psylocke....Psycho! Thanks......"

[Summers] Scott crossed his arms and leaned back against a tree. He WAS in shape, probably more than any of the others too.

[Nocturne] ((ahhh baileys man))

[Elizabeth] "Bastards...."

[Summers] ((goddamn ate my post))

[Elizabeth] ((omg give me baileys now))

[mimic] ((OK. wait for a brief bit of instructions after I had out assignments on how to set up your rooms and stuff - 1 min))

[Summers] "Thank you, dragonfly."

[Raven] "Mystique? That's not what Piotr came up. I was..." Raven jumped up. "The Chameleon!" She struck her chameleon pose. "Remember? At Dez's kegger?"

[Angel_II] ((BRB then))

[mimic] "Mystique and Angel." He passes Mystique the climbing harnesses and rope.

[Nocturne] "Dez's keggar?? Where was I..." she pondered a second.

[Summers] Scott took back his uniform and glasses. He crossed his arms and leaned back against a tree. This is fucking ridiculous. I"m more in shape than anyone else, except Cal. I workout every morning.

[mimic] "Nocturne and Psylocke." He passed Nocturne the equipment.

[Nocturne] Oh, wait. She totally remembered where she was.

[Japheth] "You are lower than low, you are on the bottom of the food chain. You are a Maggot." Japh kept muttering to himself.

[Raven] Raven looked at the harnesses and rope, trying to figure them out.

[mimic] "Maggot and Cyclops." he passed Maggot the equipment.

[Nocturne] She stepped foward taking the stuff from Cal. SHe turned to Lizzie. "Waht the fuck do we do now?"

[Raven] "Do you want to be Angel or Dragonfly?" She asked.

[Summers] "Thank god." Scott muttered, and stepped forward.

[Remy] Remy frowned as scott was partnered up with maggot. Maybe he was getting out of this then - running solo.

[Elizabeth] Lizzie blinked up at 'Nocturne' "Run the fuck away from here!"

[Summers] "Wait - these are our roomates."

[Nocturne] "That sounds fucking good. Wanna go smoke?"

[Elizabeth] "TJ isn't my room mate!"

[Nocturne] She turned. "Lizzie's not my roommate!"

[mimic] "Gambit - your partners already waiting on the left most path." he passed gambit the harnesses.

[Nocturne] ((LOL!)))

[Elizabeth] "Don't smoke the green stuff. I'll drink. I still have rum left from when I was drinking with Warren."

[Summers] "Well, Japh...Maggot's mine."

[Raven] "Yeah, TJ's my roommate. I guess he was worried about too much blue.)

[mimic] ((OK...you are all going to "change" though not in game - just go into your rooms already changed. Bitch in there as much as you want...))

[Summers] ((ok))

[Elizabeth] ((ok))

[Japheth] ((gotcha))

Summers exits from this room

[mimic] ((You and your partner will decide on what obsticles will be on your path...chose normal ones - or even booby trapped ones - but natureific ones OK...like boot camp - not crazy lazer ones))

[Nocturne] ((where's scott go??))

Summers exits from this room

[Elizabeth] ((points))

Remy exits from this room

[Nocturne] ((ahh, gracias!))

Summers enters this room

[mimic] ((some suggestions are - rope bridges - cargo nets - fox holes - tire obsticals - balance beams ect))

[mimic] ((work with your partner in PM's or in aim if you have it))

[Summers] ((WTF are fox holes?))

[Angel_II] ((BACK))

[Summers] ((Macgyverland!))

[mimic] ((make it interesting - show your skills - fox holes are little tunnels in the dirt))

[mimic] ((If you are stuck - mimic will be sitting in the danger room - ask me questions))

[Raven] ((cool!))

[Angel_II] Angel walked over to Raven. "Hey, um, Angel's fine. Mystique, yeah?"

[mimic] ((You will label your rooms with your code names - ie Noct/Psyl))

[Raven] Raven laughed. "Mystique... cool."

[Summers] ((gotcha))

[mimic] ((Have fun.Don't forget to tag the odd marker!! Any qeustions??))

[Summers] ((nope))

[mimic] ((when you and your partner are done - you are done the rp - just exit your room))

[Elizabeth] ((none spring to mind))

[Nocturne] ((try to finish by 7 EST. Thats one hour from now.))

Angel_II exits from this room

[Summers] ((ok))

[mimic] ((OK - fly at er guys))

[Nocturne] ((we'll all meet back in Nightscrawlers))

[Japheth] ((my mind boggles with questions, unfortunately none concerning the RP))

[Remy] Remy looks at the bundle of clothes in his hand and at the path up the way, fairly disgusted at the whole process

[mimic] "One last thing Gambit."

[Remy] Remy turned, arching one brow over his glasses.

[mimic] "Forgot to give you these." he passed over a pair of gloves, the first and last finger of them removed. "That should allow you the protection of the gloves, while you still have fingers free to utalize your powers."

[Remy] Remy took the gloves, nodding at Cal. "Still think dat dis is stupid."

[mimic] Mimic snorted. "Wouldn't think that you'd think any different. But I have one last thing for you." He slipped a metal cylinder out of his side pant pocket. It was about a foot and a half long, and inch wide in diameter and was capped on both ends.

[Remy] Remy took the object, looking at it somewhat puzzled.

[mimic] "Flick it"

[Remy] Remy did as he said, jerking it down sharply. There was a click as the ends of the cylinder extended outwards with the movement, telescoping out.

[Remy] Remy looked at the sturdy metal staff in his hand, impressed. Twirling it around for a minute he tested it, and then struck the end of it in the dirt, testing its strength. The shock in his arm told him that it wasn't about to give.

[Remy] "Now dats cool."

[mimic] Mimic chuckled at him, showing how a release on the side caused to to telescope onto itself, becoming the compact tube again. "Now go get changed, and get in there - you're partner is waiting."

[fourpawsonthefloor]

Nocturne/Psylocke's Course

[Nocturne] TJ looked down the path, turning to watch Remy head down his. Oh, come on! Why couldn't they be paired??

[Nocturne] She turned to Liz. "So, we have to be tied together?"

[Elizabeth] Lizzie shrugs. "I suppose. As if it wasn't kinky enough...we look like we're going to an anime convention."

[Nocturne] "Whats anime??"

[Nocturne] She afixed one side of the rope to her wrist, giving the other to Lizzie. "This seems kinda weird."

[Elizabeth] "Weirdass Japanese cartoons. Lots of magical girls in short skirts and like, people in body suits who fight inside big robots."

[Nocturne] "OH like Voltron?! We used to have that back home!"

[Elizabeth] Lizzie took the rope and attached it to her own wrist. "Nothing against you, but I don't want to be here right now. At all."

[Nocturne] "Pfft, you think I do? Man, there's a fucking loaded pipe in my room!"

[Elizabeth] "I was thinking more Neon Genesis Evangelion...." Lizzie shrugged. "I've got a few DVDs if you're ever interested. Good to watch if you're stoned."

[Elizabeth] "There's a half bottle of rum in my room, a quarter bottle of vodka...and thats it. Warren drank all the whisky."

[Nocturne] "yeah? Then totaly man!" she stopped, noticing the large wall ahead of them. "Shit, do we have to climb this?"

[Elizabeth] "I'm guessing so...." Lizzie said glumly and walked up to the wall and inspected it carefully.

[Nocturne] "How the hell do we do that?" TJ looked up, noticing one of the tags at the top. "Do i look like a monkey?"

[Elizabeth] "It looks kinda climable if you've done this sort of thing before....have you ever done an obstacle course?"

[Elizabeth] "No, you're way too pretty," Lizzie said with a grin. "There are like little notches for your hands and feet.

[Nocturne] She huffed at that. "I've climbed!"

[Nocturne] Pretty though? Hmm...she had a hard time telling if that was a compliment or not.

[Nocturne] Taking the initiative, she tried to remember what Remy had told her about climbing. Uhhh...foot holds and hand holds?

[Nocturne] She put a hand up, finding something to grasp, and felt around with her feet. OK, she could do this.

[Elizabeth] "Fair enough. I suppose we might as well get on with this," Lizzie said glumly and rubbed her hands together before putting her hand in one of the almost invisable holds and her toe in one at the base of the wall

[Nocturne] She pulled herself up carefully, slowly, trying not to look down as they climbed. She really really hated this.

[Elizabeth] "This is so so surreal. I think I've had a spazz attack and been submerged in the collective dreams of everyone in this place.....but there's no freely available drugs or alcohol...dammit. This is real, isn't it?" Lizzie looked across at TJ as she climbed higher, shaking slightly from the lack of g

[Elizabeth] *good holds

[Nocturne] "I guess its real. Like, it feels real. Right?" whoa, was she imagining it too?

[Nocturne] This was trippy.

[Elizabeth] "Total brain melt," Lizzie nodded.

[Nocturne] Finally reaching the top, she pulled herself over, sitting on the edge. Jesus, that was tiring!

[Elizabeth] "We've earned our right to a night out of hard partying just for putting on these fucking costumes and taking these stupid names....I don't even know what half of them mean!" Lizzie boosted herself up on top of the wall and tapped the marker.

[Nocturne] It reminded her why she HATED CLIMBING! Especially when there wasnt a hot guy waiting with weed and tequila.

[Nocturne] "ME NEITHER! What the hell is Nocturne?! Like seriously!"

[Elizabeth] "Oh fuck me..." Lizzie groaned as she saw that the dop on the other side of the wall was a lot bigger....

[Nocturne] TJ looked in the direction Lizzie was looking. "Oh shit, are we supposed to go DOWN?!"

[Nocturne] TJ notices two lines next to them, extrending to the other side of this large drop.

[Nocturne] There were handles at the top of the lines. Wait....were they supposed to..go across? She could see a tag on the other side.

[Elizabeth] Lizzie follows TJs line of focus and gives a squeak "I love those things!"

[Nocturne] Yeah, it seemed like it.

[Nocturne] "I....I don't know." She looked down. "What if we fall??"

[Elizabeth] "I've never fallen off one before. And anyway, I can try and catch you with my power. If not, we fall together."

[Nocturne] They wouldnt let her die would they? This was school.They weren't gonna let her die...

[Nocturne] "You can do that with your power??"

[Elizabeth] "And I doubt if we'd actually die in here. I don't think Xavier is covered for that kind of situation. My parents will kill him for this get up as it is..."

[Nocturne] "Ok then...." she grabbed her handles. "Ready?"

[Elizabeth] "I...In principle I can. I can lift pretty big things, Cal said something about levitating....He must have meant me!"

[Elizabeth] Lizzie thought for a moment on the potential of her power then took hold of the handles. "On three then!"

[Elizabeth] "One...."

[Nocturne] "Levitating? Really? CRAZY!"

[Nocturne] She grasped the handles tighter. "two?"

[Elizabeth] "I was half listening to him.....THREE!"

[Nocturne] She jumped foward with Lizzie, them zipping down the line. Fast. WAY fast.

[Elizabeth] "WAHOOOOO!"

[Elizabeth] "IfuckinLOVEthese!" Lizzie screamed as they shot down the line.

[Nocturne] She looked to Lizzie, who was having a ton of fun. And then down, at the HUGE GIGANTIC drop below them. Oh my god. She closed her eyes.

[Elizabeth] "BRACE!" Lizzie screamed to TJ as she saw the other platfrom getting larger and larger.

[Nocturne] Her eyes shot open at that, seeing the other platform. "Wait, how do we stop?!"

[Elizabeth] Without even thinking, Lizzie willed there to be a soft way to land, like an invisible cushion of air.....

[Nocturne] They suddenly slowed down, coming to a slow halt on the other platform. "Wow, did you do that?"

[Elizabeth] As they came up on the platform, Lizzie slowed and stopped as if someone was helping her, and she turned her head and saw TJ also being slowed by invisible hands

[Elizabeth] Lizzie shrugged dumbly. She just thought her telekinesis was for picking up things and throwing them.

[Nocturne] She reached over and tapped the tag. "Thats really cool."

[Nocturne] "How many more do you think we need to find?"

[Elizabeth] "I guess...I odubt I could do it again." Lizzie said, her head feeling like mush.

[Elizabeth] "Three or so. It's only our first time out." Lizzie scanned the forest from the edge of the platform.

[Nocturne] Suddenly, a large rock fell to the ground beside them. "GAH!"

[Elizabeth] "This isn't fucking real."

[Nocturne] Another came crashing down, dangerously close to Lizzie. Without thinking, TJ let out a bolt at it, blowing it away from them.

[Elizabeth] "THE FUCK?" Lizzie screamed and jumped.

[Nocturne] "They ARE trying to kill us!"

[Elizabeth] "You just....LAZERS! What is it with lazers!"

[Nocturne] "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

[Elizabeth] Another rock fell and this time Lizzie scowled at it and it swerved violently to the side, crashing into a tree.

[Elizabeth] "Don't be sorry! That is so cool!"

[Nocturne] More rocks started to come. "We've gotta...go somewhere!" TJ shot at a few more.

[Nocturne] She began to run into the trees, shooting at the rocks rolling behind them

[Elizabeth] "You made me jump, thats all!" Lizzie beamed, turning four slightly smaller rocks ito a weird Newtons Cradle

[Nocturne] "This is fucking crazy!"

[Elizabeth] Lizzie followed TJ, before the rope yanked her.

[Elizabeth] "We're all a bit crazy, dearie. It's why we're here! Watch your back!"

[Nocturne] TJ turned "What?"

[Elizabeth] Lizzie 'threw' another rock away, before it hit TJ on the head and struggled to catch her bretah

[Nocturne] "GAH! Jesus!"

[Elizabeth] "I don't think...I can get rid of many more..." Lizzie gasped for breath. "TAG!" she suddenly screamed and made a dive for the tag.

[Nocturne] She cheered as Liz tapped the tag, and the rocks stopped. "Thank GOD!"

[Nocturne] Talia noticed the trail leading to...a hole. "What is this?"

[Elizabeth] Lizzie caught her breth while looking around, and npoticed a small pool of water spilling out of a hole that was sunk in the ground.

[Elizabeth] "Mother fucking bastards...." Lizzie spat as she recognised that it probably was and got down on her hands and knees. "You have to crawl into it and push yourself through with your feet an elobows on your belly..."

[Nocturne] "WHAT?! Oh NO"

[Elizabeth] "Take a deep, deep DEEP breath, TJ, this'll probably be filled with wate."

[Nocturne] "Absolutely NOT. I'm not crawling in water!"

[Nocturne] "WHAT! We'll drown!"

[Elizabeth] Lizzie remembered these tunnel things from cadets. The nightmarish chance that you could get your foot caught, and drown in a tiny tunnel....

[Nocturne] TJ started to shake. "Fuck this. I'm not drowning in some stupid tunnel!"

[Elizabeth] "It isn't a long tunnel....it's just hard to push yourself through as it's full of water and the pressure..." Lizzie gave another sudder. "Can you open your eyes in water?"

[Nocturne] "I can, but it hurts. NO I'm not doing it!"

[Elizabeth] "I don't want to do this either....I don't want to be here at all!" Lizzie sighed and crossed her legs.

[Nocturne] "Maybe we can just sit here. And Cal will come get us."

[Elizabeth] "What do you reckon we'd get for skipping out on this?"

[Nocturne] "We'd get to be ALIVE for one thing! How the hell do we get out?"

[Elizabeth] "Sitting here is good...." Lizzie said aimiably and shifted so she wasn't sitting on damp ground.

[Elizabeth] "There's an opening at the other end. That's why you need your eeys open so you can see the edges of the tunnel, grip hold and pull yourself up on out. In cadets we had people standing each end to push us in and pullus out."

[Nocturne] TJ sat next to her. "There has to be a way out that doesn't mean death."

[Nocturne] She sighed. "Is it long?"

[Elizabeth] "I could try to take all of the water out...then we'd still be going through the tunnel. We just wouldn't be wet.

[Nocturne] "How do you do that?"

[Elizabeth] "Not really. It just feels long because its creepy and nasty and you have to hold your breath. You can actually see the other end." Lizzie stood up and pointed where the water was flowing out of the tunnel a few feet away.

[Elizabeth] "With my speciality of the day, ala telekinesis!" Lizzie beamed. "It could work in theory."

[Nocturne] TJ looked and thought a second. OK FINE. "Alright, rfuck it, lets go."

[Elizabeth] "Do you want me to go in first?"

[Nocturne] "Uhh..ok," she nodded. YES definately!

[Elizabeth] "Right. You sure you want to do this?" Lizzie moved across so she was kneeling in the water, her ahnd on top of the tunnel.

[Nocturne] "yeah, lets get it over with." she was gonna need some frikken alcohol after this

[Elizabeth] She was shaking a little, all the horror stories of this obstacle coming back to her. A pebble near her hand started to jump around slightly. She frowned and it stopped.

[Elizabeth] "Right." Lizzie took a deep breath and went low in the water, then pushed herself through the tunnel's opening.

[Nocturne] TJ watched her go, the rope on her wrist pulling her foward. Well, it was now or never. She couldnt sit there.

[Elizabeth] it was COLD! So so so cold.....Lizzie tried not to open her mouth in shock as the water met her face. She dragged herself along, kicking with her feet, the small gravelly rocks skittering under her boots.

[Nocturne] She moved into the water as the rop pulled her, and took a deep breath, following Lizzie in.

[Nocturne] She opned her eyes and the stung HORRIBLY.

[Nocturne] She could see Lizzie ahead of her. Jesus, where was the opening?

[Elizabeth] God, she hoped TJ was okay.....Lizzie pulled herself along, the murky water clouding her vision of the space before her.

[Elizabeth] Lizzie paniced. She should have reached the opening! Where the FUCK was it?

[Nocturne] She followed as closely as she could. Letting a few bubbles escape her mouth. Oh god. She was running out of air! What was going on?

[Elizabeth] She dragged herself forward, her long hair floating out of it' pony tail and into her eyes, blurring her vision.

[Elizabeth] She dragged her hair out of the way and reached her hand out, grabbing at empty space....

[Elizabeth] her hand met with a jagged edge of rock and she used it to pull herself, and came shooting out of the end of the tunnel, gasping for air.

[Nocturne] TJ put her hands foward, grasping Lizzies ankles. Was she out yet?

[Elizabeth] Quickly, Lizzie got up on her knees and hauled on the rope to help TJ out.

[Elizabeth] Noticing a had on her ankles, Lizzie laughed and took hold.

[Nocturne] Talia came out the other end, gasping for breath. She coughed a few times. "That FUCKING sucked!"

[Elizabeth] "Ally oop, then!" Lizzie puled TJ up and pushed her hair out of her eyes, hoping that the slightly stagnant water hadn't ruined the dye.

[Nocturne] "Thanks," TJ said as Lizzie helped her out. "Where the hell is that stupid tag?"

[Elizabeth] "I agree. I need a fucking drink. Brandy maybe....if I had any. Don't have any whisky, either...want rum? I have rum."

[Nocturne] "I LOVE rum. I love ANYTHING. Do you smoke?"

[Elizabeth] Lizzie scanned around and saw the tag a little way along the bank.

[Elizabeth] "Not the green stuff....Not anymore, anyway. I drink. God, do I drink!"

[Nocturne] "Well, I'm up for a drink. Hey, have you ever heard of that drink made with grain alcohol and weed?"

[Elizabeth] "You want the honour or should I?" Lizzie gave a comedy bow towards the tag that was almost hidden in the mud.

[Elizabeth] "I don't think I have....sounds interesting."

[Nocturne] "Go for it," she pulled her hair to the side, wringing it out. "I'm done with this crap."

[Elizabeth] Lizzie doesn't just taps the tag, she telekinetically rips it to shreds.

[Elizabeth] "Ooops. Lets go drink!"

[Nocturne] TJ laughs as the tag all ut explodes. The room begins to dissolve around them "WHoa! Look at that!"

[Nocturne] She stands moving to Lizzie. "Thats the best idea I've heard."

[Elizabeth] "Indeed."

[Nocturne] ((And they drink and like drunkenly ever after))

[Elizabeth] ((oooh yes))

[Elizabeth] ((we done or any more quippage left?))

[Nocturne] ((im done,....unloess you have quippage))

[Elizabeth] ((all done for tonight))

[Elizabeth] ((back to nightscrawlers then isnt it?))

[Nocturne] ((yup!))

[fourpawsonthefloor]

Cyclops/Maggot's Trail

[Summers] Scott walked back into the forest within a room. He's grabbed a pair of boots - also lightweight and made of some very sturdy material. But the suit was a very form-sitting.

[Summers] Scott picked at it, pullit away from his boy only to have it shrinkwrap him again when he let go. "Ugh."

[Japheth] "Yes, I know." Japh looked down at himself.

[Japheth] "Does this thing make my ass look big?"

[Summers] ((sorry emergency dog letting out))

[Summers] "If I say yes, will you sick Eany and Meany on me?" Scott asked.

[Japheth] ((I think we should have think up an obstacle course, not in chat I think he said.))

Summers enters this room

[Summers] Scott looked around, finally nailing what bothered him. There was no sound, no birds, no animals, noone else's voices except his had Japh's

[Summers] ((and))

[Summers] "So...I wonder what those markers look like."

[Summers] He kicked at the ground. It felt like real dirt, and it smelled forest-y. What kind of technology is this?

[Japheth] "I think I found one" Japh pointed at one of the trees. The tree had a hole with a red blinking light coming from within.

[Summers] "Great. Hit it and let's go. I"m sure we're being graded on how many we get as well as teamwork."

[Summers] He picked at his uniform again. Xavier must be a perve. "'Mimic' said to follow the trail. C'mon."

[Japheth] Japh walked over to the tree, reached in and pressed the button inside. "Well that's one. Hope the rest is this easy"

[Summers] Scott started down the faint trail, remembering the time he'd gotten separated fromt he rest of his boy scout troop. "Me too."

[Japheth] Maggot walked with Cyclops up to a river. "Right, a river. What now?"

[Summers] "A river in a goddamn basement." Scott shurgged. "Swim?"

[Summers] Hmm. "Maybe not in these...that would be reallyuncomfortable. LEt's find a bridge or something." Scott followed the river downstream a ways.

[Japheth] "I hope these things aren't dryclean only. I shudder to think how we would look like with shrunken suits."

[Summers] "There's a fallen log conveniently placed." Scott shook his head. Of course. "I shudder to wear a shrunken suit - these are too tight already!"

[Japheth] "You first"

[Summers] "Ok." Scott jumped onto the log, testing his weight. It wasn't old and rotting. "Seems good." Scott crossed the length, looking around. It's a real forest. He noticed a red blinking light in the water.

[Summers] "It's in the water."

[Japheth] "What, the marker? You want me to join you on the log, or how do you want to do this?"

[Summers] Scott looked around and saw a long stick on the other bank, hopping to terra firma he grabbed it and stood at the edge of the water.

[Summers] "Come on over, unless you want to stay over there. Damnit, it's too deep."

[Summers] Typical. Scott waded into the water, and blinked. Was this stuff WATERPROOF? "Shit, I think it's waterproof."

[Japheth] Japh climbed on the log and crossed the river. "I thought you liked swimming."

[Summers] "Totally waterproof." Scott went in waist deep and jabbed the red light with the stick. It dutifully stopped blinking. "Two down howeve rmany to go." Scott said, coming back.

[Summers] "I like swimming, yeah, but just not in something that will shrink." Scott grinned.

[Japheth] "It's a shame we don't get matching water proof watches. Looks like the path goes this way" Japh pointed to a cliff wall.

[Summers] I wonder if the visor is waterproof too. "A cliff." Scott looked up at the dangling rope. "After you, fat ass."

[Summers] Scott smiled to show he was joking. I don't want another fight, expecially with my roomate.

[Japheth] Japh started climbing. "Funny thing is, at highschool I once asked my gym teacher why we had to climb ropes, not like we would do it in real life."

[Summers] "Heh - boyscout training said we will climb the rope, if only to get a badge." Scott hoisted himself up and followed Japh.

[Japheth] When Japh got 3 quarter way up he stopped, "Theres a hole here, either the marker's in here or a smurf is having a disco of a time."

[Japheth] Japh sticked he arm in and pulled out. "It's too deep in."

[Summers] "Smack it and get going, my arms are getting tired. -Damn."

[Summers] "

[Summers] "Let me get that stick." Scott scrambled back down the rope, and got the stick he'd used to get the one in the river.

[Japheth] "Pass it up"

[Summers] He clenched it in his teeth and climbed back up. Securing himself with one hand on the rop, and hit feet dug into crevices, he held the stick up. "Please don't fall, you didn't bring the harnesses."

[Japheth] Japhs arms are getting tired, "of all the things to forget" and he took the stick.

[Summers] Scott snorted. "I don't think Mr. Cal even gave us rope, anyway."

[Japheth] Japh stuck it in the hole, "Jesus, I think the hole bends somewhere, I can't get to it. Fuck it, arms are too tired" Japh let Eeny climb out and unto his arm holding the stick.

[Japheth] "Should have done this earlier" Eeny went in the hole and pressed the marker and climbed back out. "Good boy"

[Summers] "Tell whichever it is to hurry the fuck up."

[ANNOUNCE] Finish up!

[Summers] ((crud))

[Japheth] Japh climbed the rest of the rope.

[Summers] Scott folowed and collapsed onto the top of the cliff.

[Japheth] on the top Japh held out his hand for Scott, "Need help?"

[Summers] "Ugh. I don't want to move. I should have skipped swimming this morning."

[Summers] Scott heaved himself up. "Let's go." he said after a few minutes, wiping the sweat from his forehead. This visor is NOT breatheable.

[Japheth] Japh followed the trail. "Okay, then. I got a feeling our next marker is going to be with a bunch of hillbillys saying, 'Squeel for me boy, squeel real gooaaaaah...'" japh fell down a hole.

[Summers] "Oh, good, downhill." Scott said, following the trail. "Well, if that was an obstacle course, I'm the queen of she-eaaaa!" Scott yelled as the ground below him gave way and he fell into a deep hole.

[Summers] "Japh? Er...Maggot?" Scott yelled. "I"m not hurt, you?"

[Summers] Scott moved each of his limbs, and determined he really wasn't actually hurt. He looked around. No ladder.

[Japheth] "Just a couple scrapes, wait, no they healed."

[Summers] "No way to climb out. You?" Scott called.

[ANNOUNCE] almost done!

[Japheth] "Hey, I think I fell on one of the markers. Looks like my 'fat ass' has a use after all" japh yelled back. "no way out though."

[Summers] "Fuck." Scott looked around,. He was in a hole, no way out. What to do? He looked at the bits of dirt he'd brought down with him. Little broken bits...like that statue. "I have an idea, Japh! Get down as low as possible. I'm going to blow a hole in the wall between our holes."

[Summers] "Ready?"

[Japheth] Japh dropped down, "Ready and waiting!"

[Summers] "Ok." Scott pressed the button and blasted a hole through. He pressed the button again, and realized that it was actually a dial.

[Summers] He pressed the button and the visor slid back closed. "You ok, Mags?"

[Japheth] "Still alive, still alive."

[Summers] "Good." Scott expelled the breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding.

[Summers] "Come on over."

[Japheth] Japh got up and joined scott in his hole.

[Summers] "So...my next big idea is to blast a slope or a series of steps in the side here." Scott said, turning to the other wall.

[Summers] "Stand back." Scott pressed the button again.

[Japheth] "Sounds good to me oh one eyed wonder."

[Japheth] Japh stood behind Scott

[Summers] He twisted the dial forward and the blast range increased, Hmm. interesting. He twisted it backwards and the radius decreased. Very interesting. He blew a rough slope into the side of the hole and shut the visor off.

[Summers] "Well, that's cool. My eyes have settings." Scott said. "Let's go."

[Japheth] Japh followed Scott out of the hole.

[Summers] "And there's the exit. Let's go. While these suits may be waterproof, they are not dirt proof."

[Summers] Scott lead the way through the exit door and they found themselves back in the hallway in front of the door to the danger room.

[Japheth] "I think I got some sand in my pants area, this is why I hate nature."

[Summers] "That was definately weird."

[Summers] "Nature's a lot of fun. You should go camping with me next summer. I know the good places out in Colorado."

[Summers] "But then again, we could just come back here." Scott said, walking back to their room, and ultimately, first dibs on the shower.

[Japheth] "Yeah, can't wait to climb more rope and fall down more holes."

[fourpawsonthefloor]

Mystique/Angel's Trail


[Raven] ((I'm looking for a website with a good ropes course))

[Angel_II] She walked over to Raven. "Yo, Angel's good. You Mystique, right?"

[Angel_II] ((Cool, cause I was having no ideas))

[Raven] "Yeah, Mystique. Remember, I pretended to be Remy at the halloween party."

[Raven] Raven handed Angel her half of the harness.

[Angel_II] "Yeah, that was awesome!" She grinned, remembering. Then she whispered "What you think of all this?"

[Angel_II] She took the harness, still shifting uncomfortably in the god-awful uniform.

[Raven] ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ropes_course is the best I've found. None have a course laid out. This lists typical obstacles.))

[Raven] Raven shrugged. "I guess I thought it was going to be more like college." She said. "I know he said it's just team building and stuff, but why?"

[Angel_II] ((Works for me!))

[Angel_II] "Yeah, exactly. Yo, my friend Tiff -- she in college and they ain't doing this!" She looked around the "woods."

[Raven] ((Do you have AIM by any chance? Idsunki and I have a good trick with AIM for 1 on 1 RPs))

[Angel_II] "So what we supposed to be doing?"

[Raven] Raven looked around too. "Yeah, no doubt. I mean, what's up with this room?"

[Raven] Raven held up the rope holding them together and then pointed at a wall.

[Raven] "It looks like we have to start by climbing that wall."

[Angel_II] ((Yep, gimme a sec.))

[Raven] ((I'm zamelf ))

[Angel_II] ((JeanetteBSlarti))

[Angel_II] She rolled her eyes at the wall. "I could just fly us over that. He said we could use powers, yeah?"

[Raven] Raven wandered over as close as their tether would allow without dragging Angel with her. "It's got rock climbing holds on it."

[Angel_II] She followed her to the wall and inspected the hand holds. "You wanna climb it, or fly?" She grinned.

[Raven] "Can you see that button we have to hit? That's how we should decide. If we can fly to hit it, let's fly."

[Angel_II] She took a step back and looked up, still twitching in the close-fitting uniform. "Yeah, I can see it. I'll just pick you up. Ready? Scott tells me it's pretty smooth."

[Raven] Raven nodded. "I'm ready." She wasn't quite sure what to expect. She'd never flown before.

[Angel_II] A little awkwardly at first, she grabbed onto the harness and made sure she wasn't hurting the other girl. "Okay, I'll get us there and you hit the button. Cool?" She started buzzing her wings at high speed to lift off and rose slowly.

[Raven] "Okay... whoa." Raven said as they were lifted off the ground.

[Raven] Angel was a little more like a helicopter than a bird, but it was pretty smooth even if the buzzing of her wings was unnervingly like hearing the loudest bee in existence.

[Raven] Raven could see the button. It was red and flashing. How silly. "Okay, lower me just a little and I'll hit it with my toe"

[Angel_II] "Kay," she replied, concentrating on lowering Raven just a bit. The girl was lighter than Scott, but this required more control than their wild ride.

[Angel_II] She looked at the button. This was so stupid. She could SO just fly to EVERY target.

[Angel_II] She hovered Raven right in front of the button.

[Raven] Raven aimed and kicked at the button. It stopped flashing. Cake. She was going to have to learn to shapeshift some wings.

[Raven] The next obstacle came into view. A bridge? Were they kidding?

[Angel_II] She lifted them over the wall and set down carefully on the platform to the next obstacle. It was one of those swingy bridges from the movies. What the fuck?

[Angel_II] She let Raven go. "What's the point of this. I mean really. Damn, they make us wear THESE," she indicated the uniforms with a wave of her hands. "And they got a marine sending us through a LAME course in some IMAGINARY woods. Damn."

[Raven] Back on solid ground Raven surveyed the bridge in front of her.

[Raven] "This is really dumb. I mean, I thought this was going to challenge us." She'd actually stretched for this.

[Raven] She took a tentative step on the bridge and saw an indicator light blink on. It turned off when she took her foot away. "Looks like we have to walk across."

[Angel_II] "No doubt," she replied. "Okay, I can walk." She stepped onto the bridge and watched the light return. It swung in a way she really didn't like, but, she could fly if she fell, she supposed.

[Angel_II] She walked, adjusting to the wobble and not paying much attention. "So, you can like shape shift into anybody, right? That's sweet."

[Raven] "Yeah," Raven said, matching strides with Angel as they walked. "Only limited by my acting ability."

[Raven] "It started when I was like 14. What about you, did you always have the wings?"

[Angel_II] She laughed, remembering Halloween. "Worked on that Cajun, yo?" She glanced at Raven. "The blue, though, is that the real you?"

[Angel_II] "Naw, the wings..... they came about eight months ago."

[Angel_II] She reached the end of the bridge and came to another platform, looking across to a nightmare of ropes. "Ugh, how's this one work?"

[Angel_II] She studied it, head cocked.

[Raven] "Yeah, I'm really blue... How are we supposed to get across that?"

[Raven] It was just three ropes hanging there. It was way too far.

[Raven] Even to grab hold of one of the ropes required a huge leap from the platform. It would be crazy to even try it. You'd have to be like Tarzan.

[Raven] Raven looked over at Angel. "Fly?"

[Angel_II] "Yeah, I think that'd be easier. Ready?"

[Angel_II] She took hold of Raven again and lifted off. Carrying people was getting easier every time. Since she didn't see a button, she headed straight over the ropes and looked for a platform on the other side.

[Raven] Raven looked down through her dangling legs. This flying thing was certainly weird, but it wasn't too bad. And Angel seemed to be gaining confidence even as they flew only a second time. Maybe this teamwork thing was working.

[Raven] Except that there was no platform and no button. The ropes disappeared into nothing.

[Raven] "What do we do?" Raven shouted up to Angel.

[Angel_II] "Ah, hell, that ain't right!" She shouted back. She buzzed into the creepy nothingness for just a moment, but was suddenly terrified. "I think we should go back. Maybe we did something wrong?"

[Angel_II] Without waiting for an answer, she turned around and lit back on the platform, releasing Raven. "Now what?" She studied the ropes. "You think there's something wrong with the holodeck, yo, what?"

[Angel_II] *or what?"*

[Raven] Back on the platform, Raven looked around in irritation. They'd flown over that rock climbing thing and that would have been easy, why not this one that was actually difficult?

[Raven] She looked back at the bridge. It was still there, but they hadn't seen it until they'd pressed the button.

[Raven] "Do you think we're meant to cross it somehow? Not flying, but some other way?"

[Angel_II] She stared at it, gnawing her lip. "That's too far to jump, and it they don't want me to fly, then how the hell we supposed to get over there?"

[ANNOUNCE] Finish up!

[Angel_II] "I don't suppose you know how to fly?" She asked Raven. "Can you, I dunno, turn into a bird or something?"

[Raven] Raven squinted at the first rope. She could see a blinking red light there.

[Raven] "We have to touch the ropes," she said. "That's why you can't just fly me across."

[Angel_II] "Daaamn. So, how do we get over there? I can just fly, but I can't carry you, and we both gotta get across...." she thought.

[Angel_II] "We sure can't jump.....You sure you can't turn into a bird, or maybe just make some bird wings? You ever try it?"

[Raven] Raven shook her head. She'd seen Sid become all kinds of things, but she'd never shifted into anything but another person.

[Raven] Angel had only had her wings for 8 months though... She could fly pretty well.

[ANNOUNCE] almost done!

[Raven] Raven shifted, becoming an exact replica of Angel. "Can you teach me to fly really quick?" she asked.

[Angel_II] Angel jumped. Hey, she didn't look so bad in that catsuit..... wait, think.

[Angel_II] "Um, You gotta flap your wings, but real fast....." She thought about it. "I just kinda tense up my back muscles and the wings do their thing."

[Angel_II] She started buzzing her wings and lifted straight up. "You just jump a little with your legs to lift off, and I dunno.... just lean to steer."

[Angel_II] She demonstrated, veering left and right a little.

[Raven] Raven watched. That didn't look too bad.

[Raven] She tensed her back muscles and the wings actually started going. She was actually buzzing! That was weird.

[Raven] She gave a little hop and little lean and ... SIDEWAYS! Whoa! This was crazy! She didn't know whether to flap harder, lean in the other direction, or just stop entirely.

[Angel_II] "Hey, you doin' it, girl!" She laughed. The two hovered above the platform, Raven a little unsteadily. "Maybe we should do this quick," she muttered.

[Angel_II] "Okay, lean a little left, there ya go, and tense up, and you'll go straight to the rope. She grabbed the rope tethering them in her hands, not wanting to go down in flames if Raven jerked.

[Raven] This was doing it? Raven leaned felt herself being swung around as Angel used the tether to steer her towards the rope obstacle.

[Raven] This was totally nuts. She was actually flying.

[Raven] Raven grabbed the first rope hanging from the obstacle and hung on to it, pressing the button.

[Raven] "Okay, grab the next one!" She said, wondering exactly how she was going to fly herself all the way over to the 3rd rope.

[Angel_II] She watched Raven swing wildly on the rope and released her two-handed death grip on the tether to grab the second rope right on the button. Continuing to flap her wings, she swung the rope a bit experimentally. This fucking sucked.

[Angel_II] "Okay, I think if you swing just a bit you can just swing across to the second rope after I let go, and then the third.....unless you wanna just fly for the last one now?"

[Angel_II] She looked toward the other end of the obstacle. "Hey, yo

[Angel_II] "we's doing it right! Look! A door! Hot damn!"

[Raven] Hey! It was working. "We did it Angel! We figured it out!"

[Raven] Bolstered by the site of the door, Raven fixed her eyes on the third rope. It was like, what, 20 - 25 feet away? She could do that. If she did that they were done.

[Raven] "I'm going to go for number three!"

[Raven] Raven started her wings buzzing again and wasn't quite sure she wanted to let go of the rope. When she did, she hovered for a split second and then hurtled in towards the rope.

[Raven] The only problem was, Angel was in the way.

[Angel_II] "Whoa, whoa, whoa, go right.....SHIT!" She didn't even have time to let go of the rope before Raven crashed into her.

[Angel_II] She grabbed at the other girl, catching her harness as they swung. Hey, wait.....the third rope was right.....there.......if she....could "There!" She grabbed it. "Hit the button, hit the button!"

[Raven] "Sorry, sorry!" Great, she was crashing into people now.

[Raven] Raven held out her hand, reaching for the button on the third rope. Almost... She just had to flap a little harder.

[Raven] She got it!.

[Raven] In an instant the gaping chasm they were trying to cross was gone, replaced by floor. She could stop flying now. Relieved, Raven let her feet touch down.

[Angel_II] She closed her eyes as Raven's wings buzzed right in her face. How weird was this?! This was really fucking weird! Damn crazy white people.....blue people.........

[Angel_II] She felt a jolt as Raven lit on solid ground and opened her eyes. Oh, they were done. Thank sweet Jesus!

[Raven] ((And they lived happliy ever after))

[Angel_II] ((LOL))

[Edited on 25/6/06 by fourpawsonthefloor]

[fourpawsonthefloor]

Cypher/Gambit's Trail



[Cypher] Doug waited, staring at the computer terminals. He stretched out a bit, trying to get used to this ... this suit.

[Cypher] Hadn't Mr. Rankin called it his new uniform for practicing in the danger room?

[Cypher] ...and that code! He had no idea there were even computers that advanced, but programming this stuff had almost been as easy as his Sophomore C++ class.

[Cypher] He smiled a bit - it had sure thrown that Forge guy for a loop when he sat down and started typing, and everything worked. Damn, this was a cool power!

[Cypher] He just wondered what his course would be like, and who he would be partnered with. That they'd kept secret, and Forge had been watching him too closely for him to sneak a peek in the files.

[Remy] Remy walked into the area, rounding a "tree". This was some crazy shit...like something out of a movie. He pulled up short when he spotted Doug. He snorted in annoyance, and pushed his shades up higher.

[Remy] That teacher had some wicked sense of humor.

[Cypher] He pushed a few buttons and the terminals faded away, only to be replaced by a large boulder. This was really too cool...

[Cypher] He turned at the sound and saw Remy. "Oh, hey." Then he realized what name he hadn't seen paired up with anyone else's... "So, looks like this is our course?"

[Remy] Remy dropped the bundle he'd been given and watched Doug for a minute. "Looks dat way, oui." He felt really akward. On one hand he was still pretty pissed at Doug, but he'd told Doug's Dad that he'd give him a chance, right? It was the only thing that kept him from turning and walking away.

[Cypher] "So ... pretty weird costumes, huh?" It was weird, not knowing what to say to someone he had once told nearly everything to...

[Cypher] "Anyway, I guess we should get started?"

[Remy] "Dere dumb." Remy glanced briefly at his hot fushia striped number. He was sure that the teacher had done that just to get him, depite the fact that it matched his powers. Fucking PINK?

[Remy] Remy sighed, looking up the "trail" that they were supposed to follow. "Oui, lets get dis over wit'." He tossed Doug a harness, and buckled his own on. Oh Dieu this was lame.

[Remy] he clicked the elasticy rope to his end of the harness and then tossed Doug his end. "So what d'ell did 'e call you?"

[Cypher] He nearly fumbled it but ended up catching it and slipped it on. "Cypher, apparently after the Navajo Code Talkers or whatever."

[Cypher] "Why, what did he call you?"

[Remy] "Gambit." He shook his head. "Dis feels like some dumb boy scout thin'." He looked around the room. "But gotta admit, its a pretty slick program. Didn' know dat dey 'ad dis sort of stuff in real life."

[Remy] He pressed his lips into a thin line. "So y'want t' get dis over wit' den?"

[Cypher] "Yeah, this stuff is pretty intense, I mean ..." he trailed off, trying not to geek out in front of Remy.

[Cypher] "But yeah, let's get moving. I'm sure we'll do fine."

[Remy] Remy strode up the "path", Doug walking with him. The path was wide enough to accommodate them both without having to crowd, and was eerily real. You could hear the crunch of gravel under their boots, could hear birds, and the wind in the trees surrounding them.

[Remy] It was enough to baffle the brain thinking about it, so he decided to just stop. Better to just treat it like the real thing.

[Remy] They came over a bit of a crest and he could see a wall up ahead...the kind that you'd see in those "boot camp" shows that were on TV. He grinned. If it was only shit like this they'd be done in no time.

[Cypher] This was a really good program, and the short walk was more than enough time for him to come up with all sorts of ideas for later. That is, if Forge let him anywhere near his computers again.

[Cypher] Doug's legs were already starting to complain after walking up and down a couple small hills, then over the crest he saw a wall.

[Cypher] "We're gonna have to climb that? Can't we just go around?" He knew the answer to the when he saw one of the markers at the top of the wall.

[Remy] "Apparantly not." remy said after following doug's gaze. "Ah well...it's nothin' really." Remy began to swarm up the wall and then stopped when he felt the resistance of the rope pull tight. He looked back over his shoulder. "What?"

[Cypher] Doug had barely begun climbing when Remy - Gambit - had taken off up the obstacle. "Uh, just a second..." He pulled himself up a little at a time, beads of sweat began forming on his forehead.

[Remy] Remy watched as Doug searched for handholds and slowly hauled himself up. OK...evidently this wasn't going to go as quick as he thought. He kept just ahead of Doug...as far as the rope would allow without actually yanking Doug up after him. Finally reaching the top he hooked a leg over it.

[Remy] Looking down at Doug's progress he snorted. "Need a 'and?" It irked him to ask, but this was going to take all day, and he had things he'd rather be doing...like Talia.

[Cypher] He looked up at Gambit, sitting on top of the obstacle like it was nothing. He considered refusing, but why refuse help?

[Cypher] He climbed a bit more and reached his hand up. "Sure, thanks!"

[Remy] Remy extended his hand down to Doug...or wait. Damnit they were supposed to be using those names now weren't they. Clasping 'Cyphers' hand in his he hauled him of the last few feet so that they were both flopped over the edge. He looked down over the other side. No handholds.

[Remy] Oh well - jumpin was quicker anyway. "Wan' t' get dat tag?" He nodded at the marker that was closer to Doug's side.

[Cypher] He took a moment to catch his breath and nodded, tagging the marker. "There... not so bad ... was it?"

[Cypher] He looked down the wall, noticing the lack of handholds. "Wait, so how are we supposed to get down?"

[Remy] "Jump." Remy grinned into Cypher's sweating face. Maybe this was kind of fun after all - it was worth it to see the look pasted on his face. "Y'ready?"

[Cypher] Jump? All the way down? "Uh, sure..." He got the other leg over to the side and looked down... yeah, he could do this. Right?

[Remy] "OK. Un...deux...trois...." Remy tossed himself off the edge, landing in an easy crouch.

[Cypher] Doug followed off the edge, landing in pretty much a heap next to Remy. "Ow."

[Cypher] He was a bit tangled up in the harness and rope, but managed to stand up and get untangled after a moment. "This sucks..."

[Remy] Remy just chuckled a bit evily to himself and continued the walk up the path, watching as Doug dusted himself of. "Didn' y' ever goof aroun' as a kid? Climb trees n' shit?"

[Cypher] "A little," he said, perhaps a little too defensively.

[Cypher] "No wonder Forge didn't let me program my own path ... no way I would've put something like that in."

[Remy] "Well den, dis isn' any differen'." Remy chucked at that again. "Dat was d'first one. Have a feelin' dat it was more of a warm up den anythin' else."

[Cypher] "The warm up? Hell..." He kept walking, not quite geeking out on this as much as he'd have liked. Athletics? Climbing? This isn't what he signed up for.

[Cypher] "So ah ... are you and TJ still doing okay?"

[Remy] His face softened a bit at that. "Talia's great." He thought back to what Cypher had said earlier. "Programin'? Y'did dis?"

[Cypher] "Yeah, Forge needed some last minute help on some stuff, so I got to program some of the environment for the other trials. Good to hear about you and TJ though...."

[Remy] Remy grunted in response, bumping lightly against Cypher as the path abruptly narrowed. He pulled ahead of him as the path dropped off suddenly reavealing a narrow, but deep gully. Two ropes travassed the drop - one at ground level and one at chest height.

[Remy] Glad that he had the gloves Remy shuffled out on the rope, blancing easily on the bottom rope as he used the upper rope to steady himself. He made room for Doug by shuffling down it and then waited.

[Cypher] He couldn't believe this ... Why couldn't he have wings or something? That would make this a lot easier.

[Cypher] He sighed and grabbed on, imitating Remy and started across with him slowly, trying his best to keep his balance.

[Remy] Remy shuffled along slowly, keeping the rope connecting the two of them fairly taut. The rope beneath his feet suddenly jerked and all the slack went out of the line that connected the two of them. The movement unbalanced Remy, and he scrambled to hang onto the wildly scizzoring ropes.

[Remy] He watched, ill amused as his shades clattered down along the rocks below them. Great. Just fucking great.

[Cypher] He watched the glasses fall down and wondered if they'd actually be on the floor or ... this was confusing. He looked back up at Remy. "Uhm... sorry?"

[Remy] Remy looked dead pan back at Cypher for a minute, before looking away quickly when he realized that with his shades gone, the exact reason that Doug was squeamed by him was now out in the open. "Jus' c'mon."

[Remy] He reached the end of the ropes, and hauled himself up and over the small embankment, reaching down to help Doug over it too, trying to keep his eyes averted at the same time.

[Cypher] He followed and couldn't believe that Remy wouldn't look at him. He sighed ... enough was really enough.

[Cypher] "Look, Ga... Remy. I didn't mean to knock you off balance, it was an accident. And you don't have to hide your eyes or anything."

[Remy] Remy shoulders tightened, as he continued up the path just ahead of Doug. "Don' worry about it." Keeping his eyes resolutely fixed forward, he stepped up the steep slope quickly, not caring that he was setting a harder pace for Cypher. "An' Remy's not hidin'."

[Cypher] Doug followed quickly, nearly getting pulled along ... damn this guy had some energy!

[Cypher] "Okay, but you can at least look at me once in awhile. I'm not going to freak out because you're eyes aren't blue or anything."

[Cypher] (your)

[Cypher] He jogged forward and grabbed Remy's shoulder. "Just stop a second!"

[Remy] "Non...it woul' only be a problem if my skin was blue, neh?" He shrugged his shoulder out of Doug's grasp but stayed still, body still half turned away from him. "Look, jus' want t' get dis over wit' OK?"

[Cypher] "No, it's..." he sighed. "Fine, we'll get this over with. It's just, I've been thinking, and ... you know what? Nevermind." He shook his head and started walking down the path again.

[Remy] Remy wordlessly continued up the path feeling slightly guilty. It seemed his promise to Doug's dad had lasted all of 5 minutes. Yet...Doug had been a really creep about the whole thing. Dieu he hated anything that smacked of a moral dilemma. He saw the shine of sun off metal up ahead.

[Remy] Rounding the next twist in the path, he looked unimpressed at the pipe half buried in dirt and leaves. "What d'y want t' bet dat next markers in dat thin'?"

[Cypher] "I don't know, looks like it could be a trap." He found a decent sized rock and handed it to Remy. "Here, give it a charge and toss it nearby, see if it's a pit trap or something."

[Cypher] Something about this seemed a little too easy...

[Remy] Remy palmed the rock and looked around. "Where d'y want Remy to chuck it? Y'know dat it'll make a pretty good boom, neh?"

[Cypher] Doug's vision went a little ... odd. He could see beneath the illusion the Danger Room was casting into the programming ... he blinked and it was gone. "Whoa."

[Cypher] He gathered himself quickly. "I mean ... a little to the left. Maybe a foot, foot and a half."

[Remy] Remy watched Doug out of the corner of one eye as he looked around. The guy looked a little...odd...for a minute there. "Well den, we probabally don' need dis." he bounced the fist sized rock in his hand. "Cause dat would make a big enough boom t' blow a room up."

[Remy] Tossing the rock to the side he picked up a small marble sized pebble. "Even wit' dis thing Remy'd suggest steppin' back a bit." He suited words to actions, Doug following him and charged the small stone, and flung it where Doug had pointed out.

[Cypher] He did as told and watched the pebble fill with energy, then explode about where he'd pointed out. The loose dirt and leaves fell away after the explosion, revealing a seven foot deep pit three feet in diameter with the pipe sticking up out of the middle. "Huh."

[Cypher] He walked to the edge of the pit, and saw a marker on the now-exposed pipe. He picked up a pebble and tossed it at it, marking it. "Forge is going to need to wake up a little earlier tomorrow if he's going to want to fool me!"

[Remy] Remy's eyebrows raised as he surveyed the trap. He'd not considered the fact that they'd be setting this up as anything more than a little exercise romp in the woods. "Good catch."

[Remy] He walked on down and around the hole, brushing a bit of dirt and leaf bits out of his hair. "'ow did y'know it was dere?"

[Cypher] He looked confused for a second. "I'm not sure ... I mean, I figured it was some sort of trap, no way it could be that easy, right?"

[Cypher] "But for a second ... I don't know. I just sort of knew." He shrugged. "On to the next one, then?"

[Remy] Remy nodded in agreement, thinking for a minute. He scratched at bit at the back of his neck, the sweat making his collar chafe him a bit. "So y're what? Now y'got a crystal ball? Can y' see d'future too?"

[Cypher] "No, no..." He started back down the path. "It was like, computer programming is just code, right? A language? It was like I could see it for a second..."

[Remy] "Could see it?" Remy shook his head and gave up on it. "Well, suppose dat it was much better dan findin' my ass in dat trap." Looking sideways at Doug he muttered out a quick "t'anks."

[Cypher] "Yeah, no problem." They walked on for a little bit.

[Cypher] Coming up over the next area, there was a wide gulf separating them from the next marker, with no bridge in sight.

[Cypher] "Great... Neither of us can fly, right?"

[Remy] "Not last time Remy looked." He peered over the edge, a bit of bank crumbling under his weight. Quickly stepping back he looked at Doug briefly, glancing away still not willing to hold his gaze for long. "D' ground is too loose to climb down, we'll end up slidin' ass over teakettle doin' dat."

[Remy] He looked appraisingly over the span. "An don't think dat Remy could make dat jump, even if we weren' attached at d' hip." He folded his arms across his chest. "So what now den?"

[Cypher] Doug looked around, certain there was an answer.

[Cypher] He spotted a tree a little off in the distance on the other side ... maybe..

[Cypher] "Hey, how good are you at throwing these rocks?"

[Remy] Remy flashed a grin at him. "Damn good." he reached inside his coat pocket. "An got dese too." He fanned out a handful of playing cards.

[Cypher] "...Playing cards?"

[Cypher] He looked at them again. "...for what? Throwing?"

[Remy] "Oui. Was fuckin' around the other day with stuff an' dey work pretty damn good. Suprisin...but dey do." He glanced around "So what d'y' want blown up den?"

[Cypher] "That." He pointed over to the tree. From the looks of it, it was old, but strong. It looked just the right height that, were it to fall right, it would make a nice bridge. "We'll need a closer look. C'mon."

[Cypher] He walked down a little further, directly across from the tree. "Yeah, there's a little weak point in the trunk over there. If you hit it right in that spot, it should fall just so, and voila - a bridge."

[Remy] "Right den." Remy let the energy flow into the card, flicking it across the gully, hitting the spot that Cypher had pointed out dead on. The explosion fountained out a cloud of bark and splinters, and the tree jerked, before ponderously swinging across the crevasse.

[Remy] It landed with a large crash and shattering of tree limbs, Remy jumping back at the last minute to avoid it as it bounced a little.

[Cypher] "Voila."

[Cypher] He hopped up onto the trunk, taking a moment to make sure his footing was secure, then offered a hand down to Remy. "Not so tough, is it Gambit?" He smiled a bit at the codename.

[Remy] Remy looked up at him grinning a little despite himself, and took Doug's hand, heaving himself up. He followed Cypher across the trunk, the broadness of it making it an easy balance. "What d' 'ell is a 'Gambit' anyway?"

[Cypher] "Gambit. Noun. A maneuver, stratagem, or ploy, especially one used at an initial stage." He laughed. "You probably wouldn't like the other definition as much. Just stay away from chessboards and you'll be fine."

[Cypher] He hopped off the edge of the trunk, and saw a marker sticking out of the ground next to the tree, already glowing.

[Remy] "Don' need t'worry about dat." Remy stepped off of it too, watching Cypher wink it out. "y'think dat we're nearly done dis or what?"

[Cypher] "Nearly done? I think so..." They rounded a corner before the forest began pushing in on them, forcing them to walk side-by-side. "Wonder what's at the end of the path?"

[Remy] "Well, if its somethin' big den we know it shoul' be d' end 'opefully." He walked on shoulder rubbing against Doug's as they marched downhill. "What 'appened with Raven anyway? She was plenty pissed wit' y' at the party - but den didn' 'ear anythin' after dat."

[Cypher] "Yeah, she was kind of mad, but I think she got over it. We ended up dancing after everyone else took off... it was nice." He got a slightly distant expression on his face...

[Cypher] "She sure is some kind of girl..."

[Remy] Remy's lips pressed tightly together at that. "Oh Oui? Y'don' say." He fought for words to try and express his misgivings. "So what den? Dis all a big cover up again Doug?"

[Cypher] Now that brought him crashing back down.

[Cypher] He sighed and hung his head. "Look, you guys don't have any reason to believe me or anything ... but she really is a great girl. You and TJ, you're good people too. I'm not going to lie and say I'm all better. Not yet."

[Cypher] "Have you noticed how I haven't tried to kiss her again? I mean, I really want to, but it wouldn't feel right. Not yet."

[remy] Remy snorted. "Y'either accept 'er or y'don'. Not like its some sort of disease, 'Cypher'." The trees suddenly fell away to reveal a large open feild, a mudpit near them, spanned by a series of cargo nets, and a thin balance beam. He sighed in relief. Looked like they were nearly done.

[Cypher] Great, more physical exercises. He was going to have words with Forge and Mr. Rankin after this...

[Cypher] "I know, Gambit. I told you it before it's not that easy. I like all of you guys, but there's this weird gut reaction I get, and until I know I'm comfortable enough around Raven, I'm keeping some distance."

[remy] Remy walked up to the first set of nets leading up. There seemed to be a few tags on this set. One at the top of the nets, and another on the thin balance beam.

[remy] He started to climb the nets, not much caring if he was yanking Doug along. "Jus' don' 'urt her...y'don' need to fuck around with 'er feelin's."

[Cypher] Doug tried his best to keep up, and barely managed it. "I'm not! I'm making sure she knows I don't hate her without giving her the impression that I'm ready for more just yet. Or at least, I hope so."

[remy] Reaching the top of the nets, Remy snagged the first marker, and set his feet on the thin beam, starting to stroll across it calmly. "Y'know what Doug? Y'think t'damn much. Either y'like 'er or y'don'"

[Cypher] "I can't get my brain to shut down so easily ... it's always thinking." He sets off after him, but his footing isn't as sure as Remy's and he slips on a stray bit of mud down into the pit, dragging his partner along with him.

[remy] Remy didn't even have a chance to react, with the rope having stayed stretched between them like that. His air left him in a huge whoosh as he hit the bottom, a fountain of mud cascading up around him.

[remy] He brushed his hair out of his eyes, flicking globs of mud off his fingertips. He was startled at movement beneath him and looked down.

[remy] Oh right...Doug.

[Cypher] Doug broke the surface of the mud coughing, trying to wipe it from his eyes and mouth.

[Cypher] He reached out blindly looking for the edge or the beam or something to steady himself...

[remy] He watched Doug gaping up at him for a minute, face and hair liberally coated with mud, blue eyes shining out of the mask of mud that coated him head to foot.

[remy] He couldn't help it. A chuckle started in his throat, bubbling out of him with snorts first, before he gave it up as a lost fight and tossed his head back to laugh wholeheartedly.

[Cypher] He glared up at Remy

[Cypher] He saw him covered in mud, and knew he must look even worse.

[Cypher] And he couldn't help but joining the laughter

[remy] Remy watched Doug laugh back at him, and felt the last of his irritation slowly fade. Damn. It was easier feeling angry than just feeling hurt. He felt a bit at a loss as to where to go from here. What was he supposed to do now?

[remy] Doug kept going on about how him and TJ and Raven were all good people and all, but was that all to just cover his ass? Remy looked down at his jacket, sodden and shedding clods of muck. How the hell was he going to get this clean?

[Cypher] As the laughter finally faded, Doug pushed himself to a more comfortable sitting position.

[Cypher] "I miss this." He looked over at Remy, not sure what else to say.

[remy] Remy was still half knelt in the mud, it deep enough to come hip height on him. No point in worring about it too much - not like they could get any dirtier. He reluctantly met Doug's gaze for a minute, mouth twisted up in a semi smile. "Moi aussi."

[Cypher] "Look... I know you guys aren't freaks or anything, or less than me or ... anything like that."

[Cypher] "Some of this is still a little weird. I keep waking up and thinking it was all a dream or something."

[Cypher] "I know I still have a lot to work on, but I'd really like it if we could like, hang out sometime." He allowed himself the smallest bit of hope...

[remy] Remy felt himself frown slightly, before he caught himself and smoothed his features out - carefully neutral. He met Doug's gaze with his own full on then, trying to gauge Doug's reaction. "Y'said dat we creeped y'out...what's changed?"

[Cypher] "I guess... Me. I hope. A lot of it was initial shock that just didn't go away."

[Cypher] He looked into those strange eyes and suddenly couldn't see anything else.

[Cypher] "I... I just want my friends back." His voice sounded small and far away to his ears.

[remy] "But, y'can't be lyin' to us Doug. Its no good t'just pretend dat we don't freak y'out jus' cause y're lonely. Don' want dat." he watched Doug squirm beneath his gaze.

[remy] "Just...don' know what t'say." he shrugged.

[Cypher] He wanted to say a million things in his defense, but he couldn't. He took a deep breath and tried again.

[Cypher] "Remy, I'm not lying. I want your help, TJ's help, Raven's help, everyone's help. I want to get through this, but I can't alone. I just... can't." And finally his gaze dropped to the mud in front of him.

[remy] Remy sighed. Doug's Dad had asked for help too...but like help what? He wasn't some shrink to try and work this shit through. What the hell was he supposed to do. He sat watching Doug for a minute, muddy water still dripping from his hair. "What are we suppose' to do?"

[Cypher] He shook his head. "Nothing special. Just don't... hide. Just ... be my friend." He looked back up at Remy and smiled a little. "You know, this would have been a lot easier if you'd just hit me in the first place."

[remy] Remy snorted. "Didn' want t'hit y."

[remy] He grinned at Doug a little. He had missed their friendship. But if he was going to freak out eventually, he may as well get it out and over with now. At a loss as to what to do to test Doug he fell back on old habits, leaning over and brushing his lips against Dougs.

[Cypher] Doug's eyes opened wide in surprise, but there was something about Remy that stopped him from moving, from pulling away.

[Cypher] He found himself relaxing and returning the kiss as his eyes slowly drifted shut.

[remy] Remy was suprised when Doug kissed him back. Well...ok. Maybe Doug was being serious about all of this then. It was odd sitting in a puddle, waist deep in mud, kissing a guy that he'd been pretty pissed at just a short time ago.

[remy] He broke this kiss, and backed off a little, smiling down at Doug's slightly bewildered expression. "OK. Well den. Guess we're good." He stood up, mud slewing off of his form and held his hand down for Doug to help him up.

[Cypher] He stayed frozen a moment, not entirely sure what just happened.

[Cypher] He looked up at Remy and without a word took his hand and stood up. "Okay. Gut. Da."

[Cypher] He slipped into French without really thinking about it - "So... we just need to hit that last one?" He slowly looked over to the thing, still holding onto Remy's hand.

[remy] "Sure - need t' get out of 'ere somehow, neh?" He gauged the distance. "Give Remy a boost?"

[remy] He stepped up into Doug's clasped hand and pulled himself up onto the bar that still sat above their heads and tagged out the last marker. The program fizzled out at one end, a doorway appearing.

[Cypher] They walked up to the door and detached the harnesses, then Doug walked over to a little keyboard next to the door, punched in some keys and stepped back.

[Cypher] As the door opened and light from the hallway spilled in, the mud disappeared like it never existed, and Remy's fallen shades were on the floor five or six feet away.

[Cypher] "Man, this room is so awesome!"

[remy] Remy looked around the area and shook his head. "Don' even want to think about it." he looked back at Doug. "Don' suppose y'could do Remy a favor?"

[Cypher] "Yeah! I mean, what do you need?"

[remy] "Jus' some programmin'" He grinned as they walked out of the door together.