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xp_logsDarcy oversees some of Shatterstar's powers training with Terry in the DR, then they give Terry a bit of time to herself and have a conversation... ((Backdated.))
"I've a theory," Terry said, pulling her hair over her shoulder so she could twist it into a loose braid. "About your powers, Shatterstar. Based on what we saw last week," and some other things she'd seen and researched a bit in the interim, "I want t'see what happens if I harmonise with your sonic frequency when you're usin' your powers. Does that sound alright to you?"
He shrugged noncommittal, glancing up at the controls. He knew Darcy was up there and even liked her well enough, but he didn't really want to be doing this. "Whatever you and Darcy want to do," he said. Since his fight with Haller, his short lived enthusiasm for training his powers had waned and his trust in the other people at the mansion had gone down as well.
Terry nodded, though she was slightly concerned about his lack of enthusiasm. He'd been fine last week, but then Haller had mentioned that something had happened and Shatterstar was upset with him. It was why she'd asked Darcy to step in to help with the control room this time. "Would y'like t'talk about anything before we get started? If no', I thought we'd give it a go with the watermelons again. And a few other types of materials."
Shatterstar scowled at her. "I do not want to talk about anything," he said. He looked up to the control room instead of meeting Terry's eyes. "Darcy, may we have the stuff?" The sooner he did this, the sooner it would be over. He sort of just wanted to be alone, but if he had to be with other people he liked Darcy and Terry okay. Neither of them had lied to him or withheld important information... that he knew of.
"Sure thing," Darcy replied easily. Her hands ghosted over the controls, pulling up a particularly melon and squash forward shooting range, with individual targets at different distances and heights as well as clustered groups in the same pattern. "You have some ear protection handy, Star? If not, I can do a little room muffling."
"Can you do that?" Shatterstar asked her, grumbling slightly because he didn't want to have to rely on anyone else. He didn't want to blow his eardrums out more though. He eyed the fruits and vegetables, trying to gauge how much power would be needed to destroy each one. He really, really wanted to destroy something right now. Maybe this wouldn't be all terrible.
"Sure can hon. Go ahead and blast one of those watermelons for me with Terry harmonising so we can get a baseline, and then I'll adjust it. If you're one of the types that needs special gear for sound limiting, we can talk to Forge. If you just need baseline protection, I can order a pair of the loops like I have." Darcy adjusted one panel to recording, the other to suggestions for muffling. "Whenever the two of you are ready."
It was easier this time to find the power inside of himself, the force of will. It had always come when he didn't want it when he was angry and he was still upset so it was easy to find. He looked at Terry, avoiding her eyes. "Ready?" he asked and didn't wait for a response before he started feeling the vibration in the air, the sound a low pitch as he tried to cast a wide net. Those had exhausted him less in the past. The row of squashes he had been aiming for exploded on impact.
Terry gave the ceiling a somewhat unimpressed look, but as she looked back at Shatterstar, she said, "Excellent control, love. It didn't take y'nearly as long t'get the power built up." She gestured for him to let her see his arm. "How'd that feel for your arms, though? I could track the concussive blast via the soundwave pushin' it forward. Wider than what you've done the past few weeks -- does that hurt less?"
It hadn't made Shatterstar feel any better to destroy those vegetables, not like he had been hoping. Unfortunately, praise from Terry was doing the trick. He shrugged at her question, but let her look at his arms, much less burned and he hadn't needed to stumble back into a stance. He was still tired- he felt like he had gone for a long run around the lake, but so far it was a good sort of tired. "It was already sort of built up," he admitted. "You start humming and I'll do it again?"
"Alright, but try an' go a bit slower for me. Broad as y'like, but slower. It'll take me a second t'get the harmony right," Terry answered. "Is it okay if I touch your hand while we do this? Just the back. It might help me sort out a particular theory."
It was out of respect for Terry that Shatterstar actually took a second to think about it before responding. "No. I don't want to be touched. You can have Darcy monitor me instead." He looked up at the control room. "Can she?" he asked, because he hadn't actually asked what Terry had been wanting to monitor.
"Absolutely," Terry said, looking up toward her friend in the control room. "If y'could, love, focus in on his arms. I think he's creating the sound himself and it's what's makin' an' maintainin' the blast itself. And o'course, anything that changes in the sonic vibration comin' from him once I get the pitch just right."
"Not a problem," Darcy replied. She adjusted the monitoring equipment from her perch and sat back. This probably wasn't a good time to peek in with her own powers, but she couldn't say it wasn't tempting. That was something for another time. "Okay. Star, if you could start slowly, give Ter the couple of seconds she needs, then feel free to explode some melons."
He had never actually used his powers slowly, but if he had been able to speed them up there was no reason he couldn't try to slow it down. He let a broad stripe of his power out, trying to widen out the waves like he had seen Terry do the other day. He didn't realize but the ulna and radius in the arm he was holding out were shaking. The sound was a low rumble.
Shatterstar managed to do what she'd asked perfectly, which gave Terry the perfect opportunity to start humming softly, dropping the pitch until it resonated perfectly with the deeper sound the teen seemed to be creating. Listening as closely as she was, Terry caught the strange but very unique sound of bones vibrating within flesh... but if she'd heard right, they weren't... normal bones?
The moment was over too quickly to discern anything else.
Shatterstar succeeded in making it go slow and broad enough the melons were knocked over more than anything else.
Sweat dropped from his brow. He was exhausted. But he wasn't dizzy, thanks to Terry's humming. And honestly, the exhaustion wasn't unusual. If he were a betting man he'd guess it would have been worse from doing it so slowly if Terry hadn't been there to reverberate off. More spectacularly, he didn't feel like he was in pain. "How was that?"
"Brilliant," Terry said, smiling broadly. "But more importantly, how d'you feel? Second time y'set off the concussive blast last week, y'seemed tired enough t'miss a chair again."
"Tired," he admitted. "But not dizzy yet. And it didn't hurt this time with you humming." He really shouldn't be telling Terry that it was painful otherwise with Darcy here, but somehow he figured Darcy already knew.
Smiling widely, Terry gave a small clap and almost hopped on her toes but managed to restrain herself. "Oh, that's perfect," she said. "Darcy, did Vi catch anything interesting in the second try versus the first?"
"Yeah..." The data on the screen didn't make sense to Darcy. Well. It did, in the sense that Vi's calculations looked right, but it didn't, in the sense that bodies were more dense than that. She tapped a staccato with her nails as she looked over the data from both attempts again. "Hey Star? I don't really want to pry deep into your medical, but have you had calcium absorption issues? Broken bones? Any X-rays since you've manifested? Done the baseline physical here?" Tired but not dizzy. Stamina they could work on. She wondered if he was eating enough for an enhanced metabolism.
Shatterstar looked down bashfully. He was trying to hold onto his anger, but it was really hard with Terry being so excited for him. Instead Darcy got the brunt of his attitude, though he knew she didn't deserve it. He scowled up at the control booth. "Why would I need to get a physical?" He paused before asking curiously. "What are you saying is wrong with my bones?"
"I'm not saying anything, because I'm not a medical professional. But the data suggests that your bones are less dense than the usual." Darcy curled a foot under herself. "And the physical is just for medical to get a baseline on your health. That way if you actually do get sick or injured they know if you need different care than the average. And if your mutation has caused any body changes, that'll get noted as well. For example, my body underwent some changes with my nerves and stuff so I'm not frying myself every time I use my powers. Oh, and I have to eat like. Twice the calories as an average human, more if I'm actively using my powers. Medical's got all that info on me for next time I inevitably land in there." Her watch beeped, and she shoved a hand in the bag next to her, emerging with a protein bar. "Oh, and the tired... uh. You hungry? Thirsty? I have snacks, if you need to refresh before blowing more stuff up."
Shatterstar looked at Terry. "Is it fine if I go eat a snack?" He had a feeling that Darcy's experiences were universal when using powers. It hadn't been a problem when he only used them in rare instances where it felt like he had no other option and they just crept up on him, but now that he was using them regularly maybe he should eat more. He had felt better when Terry fed him after training before. He was sure it would help with the dizziness. He wasn't feeling dizzy currently, but better safe than sorry. Especially if his bones were a problem. Maybe Darcy had something with calcium.
"Absolutely, love. Go ahead," Terry said, still practically beaming and thrilled that Shatterstar had taken Darcy up on her offer for a snack. They'd whittle away at his distrust and apathetic shields slowly but surely. "Oh," she called suddenly, looking back up at her best friend. "Could y'run the kidnapping scenario for me? The short one, just while you two're snackin'?"
"Course I will, babe." Darcy waited for Shatterstar to open the door to the Control Room before she wiped the room to base state and queued up one of the short kidnapping runs that would adapt to Terry's particular set of powers. Vi's voice came over the speakers clearly. "Scenario active in 3, 2, 1."
That taken care of, she grabbed a water and a couple of different bars from her bag. "Hydration and the different flavors I have on hand for energy bars," she explained, toeing one of the chairs out for the younger man to sit in. "Not used to trying to push in a controlled way, are you?"
Shatterstar took a water bottle from Darcy and sat next to her. He had never been in the control room before. It was overwhelming but... interesting. He leaned over the console to watch Terry below. "I'm not used to using my powers at all," he reminded her before glancing at her cache of snacks. "Anything with calcium?" he asked as he took a sip of water.
"The chocolate peanut butter or cookie dough bars have the most calcium, but there's some in the superfruit one too," Darcy confirmed. "Training your powers is tiring at first, but it's better than the exhaustion and pain from accidental outbursts. Of course, using them more will mean you need to adjust your eating habits too. That's why I try to keep snacks on hand. And timers, to remind me that I need a snack." She waved the half eaten protein bar in her hand, bright wrapper crinkling in the quiet. "My stomach's good about reminding me when it's time for lunch and dinner, not so good about realizing it needs extra fuel for my power use in between. And trying to pack more food into my meals was counterproductive."
He took one of the superfruit, preferring the taste to the sweetness of chocolate or cookie dough. It was pretty good, all things considered. He listened to what Darcy had to say, chewing slowly and through a scowl. "That sucks," he said dully. Even Darcy seemed to like using her powers, so he didn't think she would understand wanting to get control of them just enough to not use them. He didn't hate them as much as when he had first started training with Terry but he still couldn't see himself liking it. "Why don't you use them less?"
Darcy finished chewing the last of her bar before answering. "That... is a complicated question with either a bare minimum gloss over answer or a very long, involved story. The short of it -" she broke off with a laugh, imagining Doug's face at the unintentional pun. "Sorry. Anyways. The short answer is if I don't use my powers, they build up and make me a walking static shock. And then when I get strong emotions the power comes out anyhow, and I end up shorting out the electrical or causing other issues. The longer answer involves firsthand knowledge of what can happen to myself and others when I don't have excellent control." The thought of her fight with Laurie still drew her face into a tight frown. "Better to know and control than to fuck around and find out."
She leaned forward to adjust a few of the controls, changing the view on one of the monitors to show the recorded sound waves every time Terry used her powers. "Here, check this out. We can see similar waves with your powers, and when Jean-Phillipe or I are down there we can see how many watts of energy we're pushing out with our strikes."
He pursed his lips at Darcy's explanation. He really didn't hope his powers worked like that- it wasn't fair. Why couldn't they be able to keep them inside? Even with control Darcy still had to let her powers out? He didn't think he wanted to think about that anymore. Sometimes he wished he wasn't a mutant at all. He wondered if Darcy ever felt that way too.
He leaned over where Darcy was changing the controls, finishing his energy bar as he watched her. "Who is Jean-Phillipe?" he asked her, watching the sound waves.
"One of the other mutants in the house with electricity powers. He's the one that started training me after... everything. Well, once we realized it was me. I was exploding lightbulbs and stuff, shorted out a couple of phones. You'll meet him at some point, but you'll probably meet his husband Angelo first, since he's one of the other lawyers. JP's a very good teacher. Thorough. I did a lot of reading alongside practical applications so I'd really understand what I was doing and how much force to use. It's the way he was taught too. A lot different than the way I trained myself when I first arrived." Darcy winced as one of the kidnappers landed a hit on Terry, glad that the programming wouldn't do more than leave a bit of a bruise. "That long story I mentioned. I've only had the electricity powers for..." she trailed off, mentally calculating the time. "A year and a few months, ish?"
Shatterstar had no interest in meeting this Jean-Phillipe guy or his lawyer husband. He was kind of soured on adults around the mansion other than Terry, and Darcy he guessed, and he had never liked lawyers. He shook his head a little as he spoke. He looked surprised at her. Darcy was an adult. Everything Shatterstar had ever heard said that mutations came about when you were a teenager at the latest. "You got your powers as an adult?" he asked, watching Terry fight the kidnappers. He could probably help her...
"These, yeah, although I didn't know I was a mutant for... probably years before I got outed, based on when and how people usually manifest. But my ex - hopefully you won't meet her, and she's not here anymore - there was a fight and our powers were similar enough at the time that we created a feedback loop. She had vastly more experience and control, and I ended up unconscious with my powers burnt out. A few months later..." Darcy shrugged, the topic still uncomfortable. "Blowing out new lightbulbs, killing phones. Shorted a microwave. So I reached out to JP for actual training, and got myself some anti-static bracelets and shielding for my small electronics."
"Huh," Shatterstar replied. He tried to imagine being a mutant without knowing you were and couldn't really wrape his head around it. "Wait, so your powers weren't always so zappy?" He was trying to make sure he understood this right. Powers could change? That would explain, well, it would explain a lot. He glanced at Darcy's wrists to see if she had the bracelets on still. Then he went back to watching Terry. He didn't think she could hear him but he wanted to call out to her to watch her six, though he doubted he needed to.
Darcy shook her head. "No, they were more in the psi family. Perception and persuasion, but very untrained. I trained it just enough to know when I was using it but mostly being able to not, but never did get comfortable training it enough to really hone it and use it. Untrained it was a bit...hm. Headstrong and charismatic, is what my debate teacher said? I couldn't force people to do something they were super strongly opposed to doing, but if they didn't have a strong opinion or were slightly inclined I was basically the voice of encouragement they needed. Like eating the last cookie. My ex had pheromone powers, so when we fought... it did some rewiring in the fuck-up. Now I zap things."
Terry's shoulder hurt, but not too terribly. When the kidnapper attempted to grab her, she'd focused her shield on the 'target' of the kidnapping to make sure none of the attackers got close to them. It'd left her a little exposed, allowing one of the men to grab her arm and wrench her shoulder, but she'd aimed at his face when she whistled sharply and he'd sprawled backward, nose broken. She'd ice it later, if it really needed it. Now she and her protectee were nearly to the extraction point and she was getting tired of the thugs nearly swarming up on her shield.
Not to mention, every time they banged against it -- or sent one of those short bursts of gunfire at it -- they caused her temples to throb. The headache she was likely to have after this was more worrisome for her than her shoulder. Finally, she gave up the shield, causing all of the attackers to stumble for a moment, before unleashing a C major at around the semi-circle and sending all of the men flying backward away from her. "Run," Terry told the woman she was meant to be protecting.
Ten seconds later, they hit the extraction point and the scenario ended, the Danger Room resetting itself to full blankness. Terry let her hands rest on her knees as she took a steadying breath. "Ugh," she muttered to herself. "No' sure why I thought that'd be a good idea." Shaking her head at herself, she headed toward the door.
"I don't like that mutant powers can change," is all Shatterstar could say in response to what Darcy had regaled him. "That shouldn't have happened to you."
He watched Terry's training with interest. He knew Terry wasn't an X-Man, but this was the sort of thing you could do for others, to protect them. It was the sort of thing people at the mansion did because if they didn't who would? He knew he didn't have to join a team and dedicate his life the way Terry was dedicating it to the woman in the kidnapping scenario. But what else was there? He thanked Darcy for the snack and headed down to meet Terry at the door.
Opening the door to find Shatterstar on the other side, Terry smiled at the teen even as she brushed several strands of hair that'd fallen out of her braid behind one ear. "Did y'have a good snack an' chat with Darcy?"
Shatterstar nodded and looked her over to see if the Danger Room had done any damage to Terry. He didn't know why, but he was concerned about her. He wouldn't want her being hurt. "You were good. In there."
Smiling tiredly, Terry said, "Thank y'love. Now, let's get on with a bit more training for you..."
"I've a theory," Terry said, pulling her hair over her shoulder so she could twist it into a loose braid. "About your powers, Shatterstar. Based on what we saw last week," and some other things she'd seen and researched a bit in the interim, "I want t'see what happens if I harmonise with your sonic frequency when you're usin' your powers. Does that sound alright to you?"
He shrugged noncommittal, glancing up at the controls. He knew Darcy was up there and even liked her well enough, but he didn't really want to be doing this. "Whatever you and Darcy want to do," he said. Since his fight with Haller, his short lived enthusiasm for training his powers had waned and his trust in the other people at the mansion had gone down as well.
Terry nodded, though she was slightly concerned about his lack of enthusiasm. He'd been fine last week, but then Haller had mentioned that something had happened and Shatterstar was upset with him. It was why she'd asked Darcy to step in to help with the control room this time. "Would y'like t'talk about anything before we get started? If no', I thought we'd give it a go with the watermelons again. And a few other types of materials."
Shatterstar scowled at her. "I do not want to talk about anything," he said. He looked up to the control room instead of meeting Terry's eyes. "Darcy, may we have the stuff?" The sooner he did this, the sooner it would be over. He sort of just wanted to be alone, but if he had to be with other people he liked Darcy and Terry okay. Neither of them had lied to him or withheld important information... that he knew of.
"Sure thing," Darcy replied easily. Her hands ghosted over the controls, pulling up a particularly melon and squash forward shooting range, with individual targets at different distances and heights as well as clustered groups in the same pattern. "You have some ear protection handy, Star? If not, I can do a little room muffling."
"Can you do that?" Shatterstar asked her, grumbling slightly because he didn't want to have to rely on anyone else. He didn't want to blow his eardrums out more though. He eyed the fruits and vegetables, trying to gauge how much power would be needed to destroy each one. He really, really wanted to destroy something right now. Maybe this wouldn't be all terrible.
"Sure can hon. Go ahead and blast one of those watermelons for me with Terry harmonising so we can get a baseline, and then I'll adjust it. If you're one of the types that needs special gear for sound limiting, we can talk to Forge. If you just need baseline protection, I can order a pair of the loops like I have." Darcy adjusted one panel to recording, the other to suggestions for muffling. "Whenever the two of you are ready."
It was easier this time to find the power inside of himself, the force of will. It had always come when he didn't want it when he was angry and he was still upset so it was easy to find. He looked at Terry, avoiding her eyes. "Ready?" he asked and didn't wait for a response before he started feeling the vibration in the air, the sound a low pitch as he tried to cast a wide net. Those had exhausted him less in the past. The row of squashes he had been aiming for exploded on impact.
Terry gave the ceiling a somewhat unimpressed look, but as she looked back at Shatterstar, she said, "Excellent control, love. It didn't take y'nearly as long t'get the power built up." She gestured for him to let her see his arm. "How'd that feel for your arms, though? I could track the concussive blast via the soundwave pushin' it forward. Wider than what you've done the past few weeks -- does that hurt less?"
It hadn't made Shatterstar feel any better to destroy those vegetables, not like he had been hoping. Unfortunately, praise from Terry was doing the trick. He shrugged at her question, but let her look at his arms, much less burned and he hadn't needed to stumble back into a stance. He was still tired- he felt like he had gone for a long run around the lake, but so far it was a good sort of tired. "It was already sort of built up," he admitted. "You start humming and I'll do it again?"
"Alright, but try an' go a bit slower for me. Broad as y'like, but slower. It'll take me a second t'get the harmony right," Terry answered. "Is it okay if I touch your hand while we do this? Just the back. It might help me sort out a particular theory."
It was out of respect for Terry that Shatterstar actually took a second to think about it before responding. "No. I don't want to be touched. You can have Darcy monitor me instead." He looked up at the control room. "Can she?" he asked, because he hadn't actually asked what Terry had been wanting to monitor.
"Absolutely," Terry said, looking up toward her friend in the control room. "If y'could, love, focus in on his arms. I think he's creating the sound himself and it's what's makin' an' maintainin' the blast itself. And o'course, anything that changes in the sonic vibration comin' from him once I get the pitch just right."
"Not a problem," Darcy replied. She adjusted the monitoring equipment from her perch and sat back. This probably wasn't a good time to peek in with her own powers, but she couldn't say it wasn't tempting. That was something for another time. "Okay. Star, if you could start slowly, give Ter the couple of seconds she needs, then feel free to explode some melons."
He had never actually used his powers slowly, but if he had been able to speed them up there was no reason he couldn't try to slow it down. He let a broad stripe of his power out, trying to widen out the waves like he had seen Terry do the other day. He didn't realize but the ulna and radius in the arm he was holding out were shaking. The sound was a low rumble.
Shatterstar managed to do what she'd asked perfectly, which gave Terry the perfect opportunity to start humming softly, dropping the pitch until it resonated perfectly with the deeper sound the teen seemed to be creating. Listening as closely as she was, Terry caught the strange but very unique sound of bones vibrating within flesh... but if she'd heard right, they weren't... normal bones?
The moment was over too quickly to discern anything else.
Shatterstar succeeded in making it go slow and broad enough the melons were knocked over more than anything else.
Sweat dropped from his brow. He was exhausted. But he wasn't dizzy, thanks to Terry's humming. And honestly, the exhaustion wasn't unusual. If he were a betting man he'd guess it would have been worse from doing it so slowly if Terry hadn't been there to reverberate off. More spectacularly, he didn't feel like he was in pain. "How was that?"
"Brilliant," Terry said, smiling broadly. "But more importantly, how d'you feel? Second time y'set off the concussive blast last week, y'seemed tired enough t'miss a chair again."
"Tired," he admitted. "But not dizzy yet. And it didn't hurt this time with you humming." He really shouldn't be telling Terry that it was painful otherwise with Darcy here, but somehow he figured Darcy already knew.
Smiling widely, Terry gave a small clap and almost hopped on her toes but managed to restrain herself. "Oh, that's perfect," she said. "Darcy, did Vi catch anything interesting in the second try versus the first?"
"Yeah..." The data on the screen didn't make sense to Darcy. Well. It did, in the sense that Vi's calculations looked right, but it didn't, in the sense that bodies were more dense than that. She tapped a staccato with her nails as she looked over the data from both attempts again. "Hey Star? I don't really want to pry deep into your medical, but have you had calcium absorption issues? Broken bones? Any X-rays since you've manifested? Done the baseline physical here?" Tired but not dizzy. Stamina they could work on. She wondered if he was eating enough for an enhanced metabolism.
Shatterstar looked down bashfully. He was trying to hold onto his anger, but it was really hard with Terry being so excited for him. Instead Darcy got the brunt of his attitude, though he knew she didn't deserve it. He scowled up at the control booth. "Why would I need to get a physical?" He paused before asking curiously. "What are you saying is wrong with my bones?"
"I'm not saying anything, because I'm not a medical professional. But the data suggests that your bones are less dense than the usual." Darcy curled a foot under herself. "And the physical is just for medical to get a baseline on your health. That way if you actually do get sick or injured they know if you need different care than the average. And if your mutation has caused any body changes, that'll get noted as well. For example, my body underwent some changes with my nerves and stuff so I'm not frying myself every time I use my powers. Oh, and I have to eat like. Twice the calories as an average human, more if I'm actively using my powers. Medical's got all that info on me for next time I inevitably land in there." Her watch beeped, and she shoved a hand in the bag next to her, emerging with a protein bar. "Oh, and the tired... uh. You hungry? Thirsty? I have snacks, if you need to refresh before blowing more stuff up."
Shatterstar looked at Terry. "Is it fine if I go eat a snack?" He had a feeling that Darcy's experiences were universal when using powers. It hadn't been a problem when he only used them in rare instances where it felt like he had no other option and they just crept up on him, but now that he was using them regularly maybe he should eat more. He had felt better when Terry fed him after training before. He was sure it would help with the dizziness. He wasn't feeling dizzy currently, but better safe than sorry. Especially if his bones were a problem. Maybe Darcy had something with calcium.
"Absolutely, love. Go ahead," Terry said, still practically beaming and thrilled that Shatterstar had taken Darcy up on her offer for a snack. They'd whittle away at his distrust and apathetic shields slowly but surely. "Oh," she called suddenly, looking back up at her best friend. "Could y'run the kidnapping scenario for me? The short one, just while you two're snackin'?"
"Course I will, babe." Darcy waited for Shatterstar to open the door to the Control Room before she wiped the room to base state and queued up one of the short kidnapping runs that would adapt to Terry's particular set of powers. Vi's voice came over the speakers clearly. "Scenario active in 3, 2, 1."
That taken care of, she grabbed a water and a couple of different bars from her bag. "Hydration and the different flavors I have on hand for energy bars," she explained, toeing one of the chairs out for the younger man to sit in. "Not used to trying to push in a controlled way, are you?"
Shatterstar took a water bottle from Darcy and sat next to her. He had never been in the control room before. It was overwhelming but... interesting. He leaned over the console to watch Terry below. "I'm not used to using my powers at all," he reminded her before glancing at her cache of snacks. "Anything with calcium?" he asked as he took a sip of water.
"The chocolate peanut butter or cookie dough bars have the most calcium, but there's some in the superfruit one too," Darcy confirmed. "Training your powers is tiring at first, but it's better than the exhaustion and pain from accidental outbursts. Of course, using them more will mean you need to adjust your eating habits too. That's why I try to keep snacks on hand. And timers, to remind me that I need a snack." She waved the half eaten protein bar in her hand, bright wrapper crinkling in the quiet. "My stomach's good about reminding me when it's time for lunch and dinner, not so good about realizing it needs extra fuel for my power use in between. And trying to pack more food into my meals was counterproductive."
He took one of the superfruit, preferring the taste to the sweetness of chocolate or cookie dough. It was pretty good, all things considered. He listened to what Darcy had to say, chewing slowly and through a scowl. "That sucks," he said dully. Even Darcy seemed to like using her powers, so he didn't think she would understand wanting to get control of them just enough to not use them. He didn't hate them as much as when he had first started training with Terry but he still couldn't see himself liking it. "Why don't you use them less?"
Darcy finished chewing the last of her bar before answering. "That... is a complicated question with either a bare minimum gloss over answer or a very long, involved story. The short of it -" she broke off with a laugh, imagining Doug's face at the unintentional pun. "Sorry. Anyways. The short answer is if I don't use my powers, they build up and make me a walking static shock. And then when I get strong emotions the power comes out anyhow, and I end up shorting out the electrical or causing other issues. The longer answer involves firsthand knowledge of what can happen to myself and others when I don't have excellent control." The thought of her fight with Laurie still drew her face into a tight frown. "Better to know and control than to fuck around and find out."
She leaned forward to adjust a few of the controls, changing the view on one of the monitors to show the recorded sound waves every time Terry used her powers. "Here, check this out. We can see similar waves with your powers, and when Jean-Phillipe or I are down there we can see how many watts of energy we're pushing out with our strikes."
He pursed his lips at Darcy's explanation. He really didn't hope his powers worked like that- it wasn't fair. Why couldn't they be able to keep them inside? Even with control Darcy still had to let her powers out? He didn't think he wanted to think about that anymore. Sometimes he wished he wasn't a mutant at all. He wondered if Darcy ever felt that way too.
He leaned over where Darcy was changing the controls, finishing his energy bar as he watched her. "Who is Jean-Phillipe?" he asked her, watching the sound waves.
"One of the other mutants in the house with electricity powers. He's the one that started training me after... everything. Well, once we realized it was me. I was exploding lightbulbs and stuff, shorted out a couple of phones. You'll meet him at some point, but you'll probably meet his husband Angelo first, since he's one of the other lawyers. JP's a very good teacher. Thorough. I did a lot of reading alongside practical applications so I'd really understand what I was doing and how much force to use. It's the way he was taught too. A lot different than the way I trained myself when I first arrived." Darcy winced as one of the kidnappers landed a hit on Terry, glad that the programming wouldn't do more than leave a bit of a bruise. "That long story I mentioned. I've only had the electricity powers for..." she trailed off, mentally calculating the time. "A year and a few months, ish?"
Shatterstar had no interest in meeting this Jean-Phillipe guy or his lawyer husband. He was kind of soured on adults around the mansion other than Terry, and Darcy he guessed, and he had never liked lawyers. He shook his head a little as he spoke. He looked surprised at her. Darcy was an adult. Everything Shatterstar had ever heard said that mutations came about when you were a teenager at the latest. "You got your powers as an adult?" he asked, watching Terry fight the kidnappers. He could probably help her...
"These, yeah, although I didn't know I was a mutant for... probably years before I got outed, based on when and how people usually manifest. But my ex - hopefully you won't meet her, and she's not here anymore - there was a fight and our powers were similar enough at the time that we created a feedback loop. She had vastly more experience and control, and I ended up unconscious with my powers burnt out. A few months later..." Darcy shrugged, the topic still uncomfortable. "Blowing out new lightbulbs, killing phones. Shorted a microwave. So I reached out to JP for actual training, and got myself some anti-static bracelets and shielding for my small electronics."
"Huh," Shatterstar replied. He tried to imagine being a mutant without knowing you were and couldn't really wrape his head around it. "Wait, so your powers weren't always so zappy?" He was trying to make sure he understood this right. Powers could change? That would explain, well, it would explain a lot. He glanced at Darcy's wrists to see if she had the bracelets on still. Then he went back to watching Terry. He didn't think she could hear him but he wanted to call out to her to watch her six, though he doubted he needed to.
Darcy shook her head. "No, they were more in the psi family. Perception and persuasion, but very untrained. I trained it just enough to know when I was using it but mostly being able to not, but never did get comfortable training it enough to really hone it and use it. Untrained it was a bit...hm. Headstrong and charismatic, is what my debate teacher said? I couldn't force people to do something they were super strongly opposed to doing, but if they didn't have a strong opinion or were slightly inclined I was basically the voice of encouragement they needed. Like eating the last cookie. My ex had pheromone powers, so when we fought... it did some rewiring in the fuck-up. Now I zap things."
Terry's shoulder hurt, but not too terribly. When the kidnapper attempted to grab her, she'd focused her shield on the 'target' of the kidnapping to make sure none of the attackers got close to them. It'd left her a little exposed, allowing one of the men to grab her arm and wrench her shoulder, but she'd aimed at his face when she whistled sharply and he'd sprawled backward, nose broken. She'd ice it later, if it really needed it. Now she and her protectee were nearly to the extraction point and she was getting tired of the thugs nearly swarming up on her shield.
Not to mention, every time they banged against it -- or sent one of those short bursts of gunfire at it -- they caused her temples to throb. The headache she was likely to have after this was more worrisome for her than her shoulder. Finally, she gave up the shield, causing all of the attackers to stumble for a moment, before unleashing a C major at around the semi-circle and sending all of the men flying backward away from her. "Run," Terry told the woman she was meant to be protecting.
Ten seconds later, they hit the extraction point and the scenario ended, the Danger Room resetting itself to full blankness. Terry let her hands rest on her knees as she took a steadying breath. "Ugh," she muttered to herself. "No' sure why I thought that'd be a good idea." Shaking her head at herself, she headed toward the door.
"I don't like that mutant powers can change," is all Shatterstar could say in response to what Darcy had regaled him. "That shouldn't have happened to you."
He watched Terry's training with interest. He knew Terry wasn't an X-Man, but this was the sort of thing you could do for others, to protect them. It was the sort of thing people at the mansion did because if they didn't who would? He knew he didn't have to join a team and dedicate his life the way Terry was dedicating it to the woman in the kidnapping scenario. But what else was there? He thanked Darcy for the snack and headed down to meet Terry at the door.
Opening the door to find Shatterstar on the other side, Terry smiled at the teen even as she brushed several strands of hair that'd fallen out of her braid behind one ear. "Did y'have a good snack an' chat with Darcy?"
Shatterstar nodded and looked her over to see if the Danger Room had done any damage to Terry. He didn't know why, but he was concerned about her. He wouldn't want her being hurt. "You were good. In there."
Smiling tiredly, Terry said, "Thank y'love. Now, let's get on with a bit more training for you..."
