xp_logs | Log: Marie-Ange/Remy/Wanda (Reply)

A training session between Marie-Ange, Remy and Wanda takes a strange twist thanks to her powers.

"Remy swear to god, you raise dat hand and gesture one more time to use your powers, Remy going to cut it off and stick it up your ass!" It had been a frustrating day. Months ago, Remy has started working with Wanda on some advanced hand to hand. She was more suited to LeBeau's style of rough and tumble than Betsy's ninjitsu or Pete's focused forms. During that time, they had worked on her biggest weakness; the use of gestures in the basic functions of her powers. And time and again, they failed.

LeBeau had tried including Marie-Ange's sessions in with Wanda, since she'd had similar problems as a teen and had overcome them. But no matter what they seemed to try, Wanda's habits remained, leading to the explosion. Remy stopped and took a deep breath.

"Sorry. Dis is just getting frustrating. Dere's no reason why dis shouldn't work."

"Perhaps we can just get Mark and Doug to turn a taser into a shock bracelet.." Marie-Ange had taken a break, and was leaning casually against one of the walls, taking the time to replace the cards in her pockets. "And whenever Wanda makes that gesture, it will shock her. They use it on pets. To keep them from barking."

"Please do not make me hate you," Wanda said, hands fisting in frustration
in her hair. "And I think the only person who might be more frustrated than Remy is myself right now. Muscle memory is one thing, this is beyond
stupid." Everything else seemed to go smoothly in these training sessions
with Remy except for the fact she couldn't shake the gestures. They
had gotten smaller, less overt but still.

Her hands dropped to her side and she grimaced, a hint of humor coming through, "Well, since chopping my hands off is right out, any other ideas?"

"Oui. Bondage." Remy shook his head. "Dis is about de worst training technique you can use; builds up bad habits, doesn't cleanly or naturally integrate into you best style, but I've got nothing left."

Remy walked over the side of the mats and picked up a few skipping ropes,
which he used to quickly immobilize Wanda's arms and hands against her body.
Remy's professional knots had left her barely able to flex her fingers, much
less gesture.

"Now, Marie-Ange, you going to attack from de left, and I'll come from de
right. Maybe we can break dis block."

"I liked my idea better." Marie-Ange said. "This way means Wanda can
headbutt one of us." But banter or not, she was already on the balls of her feet and ready. Opting not to use one of her cards, she dropped a glance to the tattoo on her arm, and swung at Wanda's calves with the staff that appeared in her hands.

Instinct led Wanda to dance backwards, barely avoiding the sweep that would
have knocked her on her back. Since Marie-Ange had been the first to move,
she concentrated on her, the red maze of strings shifting into view. The
chaos flared this way and that as Wanda tried to read them but the red head
was coming in fast and the older woman mentally lunged for the power.

Hands straining against the ropes as she tried to ignore the reflex, Wanda
twisted and pulled...and then something went off. In a burst of light
behind her eyes, chaos reacted to something else and a line that she hadn't
even seen before went taut. It was connected to Marie-Ange and yet not at the same time and all Wanda could do was think This might hurt before
she was pitching over backwards towards the floor, unable to stop herself
because of the rope, as her power raced towards the precog.

To Marie-Ange, it simply looked like Wanda had lurched forward, and then tipped over - until the chaos hit her full on, like a bucket of boiling water and shaved ice to the face. She stumbled, legs rather suddenly feeling limp, and fell to her knees, barely breaking the fall with her hands.

Remy stepped forward, grabbing the edge of the rope to stop Wanda's fall and
getting a hand under Marie-Ange's arm to keep her from falling as well. Red
lights crackled along the rope, dancing strange colours as it arced around
the two. Wanda was able to find her feet as Remy let go of them both.

"Dat was... odd. Marie-Ange, you alright dere? We need--" Remy suddenly paused, looking at his hands. The Cajun was glowing a faint purple all around. Remy stopped, a puzzled expression on his face. "What de hell is--"

The sound of the explosion tore whatever words he was forming from his
mouth, and the Cajun slammed against the bricks of the far wall and
slithered down in a daze. His skin was blotched red, and his clothes were in tatters. His eyes were wide open, the stunned expression clear to all.

"...ow."

Wanda stared for a second, eyes flickering between Marie-Ange and Remy before
she regained her wits. There was a darker glow from beneath the ropes and
then they were falling away as if rotted from the outside in, the only way she would have been able to get out of those knots without help. And then
she was kneeling next to the Cajun, though not close enough to catch another
potential explosion in her face.

There was a ringing in the back of her skull, like a guitar string plucked
over and over again, leaving just a raging headache in it's place. "I have
no words," she said simply, "except to ask if you two are at least mostly in
one piece."

"I am..." Marie-Ange started to say, patting herself down for injuries. "Bruised. And my head hurts.." It was throbbing in time with her pulse, and she could feel her left eyelid twitching. "I think we should never do this again. Ever."

"Remy agree wit' dat one." He didn't think he was really injured, but every square inch of skin felt like it had been slapped at the same time. Groaning, he got to his feet, looking at the burnt holes in his clothes. "Dat was new. I think dat I actually charged de air 'round me."

Wanda rocked back on her heels, flexing her hands to get the feeling to return back. Thanks in part to the ropes and in part to the chaos explosion, there were pins and needles all up and down her arms. "Just the air? Good, for a second I was afraid I had caused you to charge your skull or something." Standing up, she grimaced. "Right, that was odd, not something I ever want to do again but I suppose it's something for the notes. Now I just want a shower and coffee."

She was frustrated and confused, not a good combination for her mood.

"Remy say I'd go for a smoke, but maybe I just sit here and smoulder a bit."