Yvette's first Danger Room session - backdated to January 10

[x-penance.livejournal.com]

As agreed, Hank takes Yvette through her first Danger Room session as an X-Man.




Giving one final stretch, Hank picked up his netbook with his feet and passed it to his hands. "Alright," the blue doctor hit a few keys, pulling up a list of his favorite training scenarios. "What shall we start with, hmm?"

Yvette, standing a little awkwardly in her still-stiff trainee leathers, blinked up at the large blue-furred doctor. "Um, something that is not so hard?" she asked. This was to be her first proper X-Men training session and she was nervous. "With no explosions?"

Hank eliminated any sessions with explosions and scrolled through the remaining ones. "We can start with a simple obstacle course if you'd like, something that works with our particular style of locomotion." The surrounding room blurred into a vast grassy field on the edge of a forest. Keying in a few commands he activated the crude scent dispersion units that had recently been installed, adding a meadow sweet smell to the air.

Yvette had used the Danger Room before, with the New Mutants, but those simulations were usually kept fairly basic. She certainly hadn't realised the room could do this. She sniffed at the air, eyes glowing brighter as she took in the foresty-smells. "This is the amazing thing!" she exclaimed. "How is it so real, Dr. McCoy?"

"Beast," he chuckled. "When in uniform we use our code names, Knuckles. Even in here," Hank made a sweeping gesture. "Best to get into the habit."

"Dr. Beast," she amended, then pulled a face at the mistake. "It seems so strange, to not call the teachers by their last names," she admitted.

"You'll get used to it with practice," he smiled, toothily. "Now, are you ready to begin?" With a few bounds Hank was halfway up the nearest tree and holding onto a red, plastic flag.

He was as bad as Logan for the sneaky starts. She looked up at him assessingly. "You want me to be taking the flag from you?" she asked, to make sure she knew what she had to do.

"Close, but not quite," Hank tossed the flag up into the air and it exploded into a flock of bright red cardinals that flew around Yvette before disappearing into the trees. "The goal is simple, use your agility to catch the flags hidden amongst the trees."


Not as easy as she'd thought. Still, it would be fun, and her training with Logan ought to give her an edge. "I understand, D.. Beast," she replied, before she peeled off her gloves and socks and scrambled up the nearest tree. She could see a flag nestled in the branches near the top and she quickly climbed after it, only to have it turn into a bird and fly away as she got close. "That is not fair!" she told it as it fluttered into the next tree and turned back into a flag. She glanced over at Hank. "This is the sneaky training, yes? I have to be quiet and not let them know I am coming?"


Hank smiled and moved quickly up the tree where the flag had landed, grabbing it as he moved before somersaulting onto the tree next to Yvette. "Speed, agility and stealth all rolled into one." Pulling the netbook out of its reinforced holster on the small of his back, "I'll dial down the difficulty if you'd like."

"No, please do not. I would like to try at this level, please?" A certain determined expression came into the small, pointed face as she crouched down on the branch she was perched on, eyes slitting as she cast about for a new target. There was a flag two trees away, and with barely a rustle of branches, Yvette had climbed from tree to tree, keeping to the shadows and the thickets foliage. She perhaps wasn't as agile as Hank or Kurt, but she had her own particular grace and balance, holding onto the branches with both hands and feet. At last, she was within grabbing distance, and she lunged upwards to capture the flag in both hands, long fingers cupping around it so she didn't cut it into pieces.


"Very well done!" Hank said proudly, putting the small computer away. "Only six more to go."

The flag vanished from her hands and she adjusted her grip on the branch with a small, proud smile. "Thank you," she replied politely to Hank, before turning her attention back to the task at hand.

Twenty minutes later, she flailed slightly wildly from an upside-down position at the last flag, hanging literally by her toes. She managed to snag it - barely - and a siren went off, signalling the end of the challenge. It had been quite the work out, with the flags getting wilier and harder to catch each time she caught one. Panting slightly, she swung down out of the tree, landing in a crouch as the illusion dissipated. "How--- how am I doing?" she asked, a bit out of breath.
Hank once again slid the computer back into its protective case and shooed away the cardinal that remained for a moment before disappearing with the rest of the simulation. "You did very well, but may have pushed yourself harder than a beginner should have. My fault really, there are easier exercises, but the thought crossed my mind you may have enjoyed this one." Sitting down cross legged on the floor Hank motioned for her to sit as well, "How do you feel?"

"Tired," she admitted, sitting down gratefully. "But I think that is because I have not been doing so much for the long time, after the operation. I am turning into, how you say? The couch pumpkin?"

A wry smile crossed Hank's lips, "Close, the expression is 'couch potato.' Take a moment to relax though, too much is just as bad as too little, you can hurt yourself and given your condition, we'll take a quick trip to MedLab after this to make sure you're okay."

Yvette wrinkled her nose, but nodded. She understood the need after regular blood tests since the transplant. "There is no pain," she offered, helpfully. "In my back, I am meaning. Where they were operating. So it has healed up properly, yes?"

"I'd say that it has indeed," Hank said closing his eyes for a moment. "What did you think of your first session in the Danger Room?"

"It was not as scary as I thought it would be," she admitted. "From the team journal, it is sounding like the punishment sometimes."

Hank pulled out the netbook and pulled up a program that put them in the middle of a vast meadow of clover and wild flowers. "The danger room is simply a simulator, we can program anything into it- Julian asked me to program in some Japanese obstacle course for him recently. I'm not sure I have time to do that right now, but like life, this room is simply, what you make of it."

"Oh!" Yvette smiled, her powers visibly relaxing as she drank in the scene. "You are very clever, Beast, to be doing such things. Like Mr. Forge."

A chuckle was his only response for a moment as the blue doctor had to restrain himself from tussling the little red girl's hair. "Ready for our journey from here to MedLab?"

"Yes sir, Dr. Beast sir," she replied, but this time the mistake was deliberate and she gave him a comical salute. "Lay on, MacDuff, yes?"