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Post by Nightcrawler on Jun 24, 2023 11:19:11 GMT -5
Date: Saturday, July 29, 2023 Words: 185 Tags: Incognito Notes: Figured this would be a good "first Danger Room session" thread.About two weeks was long enough to get used to a new home, right? Even if the new home was an estate with fellow mutant housemates?
Kurt chuckled to himself, finding it ridiculous that he was trying to convince himself that Mason was ready to face the Danger Room. He had gotten an introduction to the Danger Room, been briefed on what it was all about, when he first joined the institute, of course. Today, though, would be Mason's first taste of the Danger Room.
Kurt wasn't worried. Mason seemed like he was ready for it, seemed to be the type of teenager that is up for challenges. Kurt wasn't going to go too hard on him, anyway.
"Unlike Logan," Kurt murmured to himself, his tail twitching behind him in amusement. If Logan were still at the institute, he would have thrown Mason into a Danger Room session within the first couple of days of his arrival. Mason would have a real challenge so Logan could gauge his skills.
Kurt liked to do the opposite. Start off a little slower and ramp up the challenge as needed.
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Post by Incognito on Jun 24, 2023 19:56:54 GMT -5
He totally got lost.
Mason eventually made his way to the sub-basement where the Danger Room was (and he really wondered who gave it that name), tugging on his new recruit uniform all the while.
Aside from getting used to the uniform's material, he should probably also get used to being called Incognito while wearing the getup. Having a codename was kind of exciting, he had to admit, almost as if he could be a hero like Captain America, but he was definitely curious as to why the institute's administrators felt the need to give them codenames like that. It was a story that he wanted to hear more of, but he figured he could wait to hear it.
Right now, he just hoped he wouldn't get in trouble for being a little late.
"Sorry, sorry!" he said as he caught up with Kurt (or should he call him Nightcrawler right now?). "Took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up by the infirmary, heh. So, uh, what are we doing?"
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Post by Nightcrawler on Jun 25, 2023 7:42:02 GMT -5
Words: 264 Tags: Incognito Notes: Feel free to imagine the obstacles that the towers may have for Incognito!Mason appeared after a few minutes, and Kurt gave him a crooked smile. "Then apologies for not giving you an adequate tour down here," he said. "You'll get used to the place soon enough, I'm sure. Down here in the Danger Room, at the very least, we'll have a couple of scheduled sessions every week.
"Today, though..." Kurt pushed himself off of the center console, his uniform moving languidly with him. The uniform itself was like a second skin to him, despite how long he actually needed to don it in the field. He had mixed feelings about continuing to wear it for the Danger Room sessions with the new recruits, admittedly.
He gestured widely to the Danger Room dome beneath the control room. "You'll have your first taste of the Danger Room. It'll be a simple exercise, just focusing on your limits and control of your abilities."
With Mason's permission, Kurt teleported the pair into the middle of the dome, and Kurt told the computer to begin the simulation. Several columns and towers, all with varying heights and obstacles winding their way around to their tops, were constructed. The tallest tower in the middle had a white flag waving from a pole at the top. When the simulation was done constructing itself, Kurt instructed Mason to move to the side of the right-most column and Kurt himself teleported to the side of the left-most column.
With a grin at the new recruit, Nightcrawler said, "Race you to the flag, Incognito," and used his own wall-climbing abilities to start to scale the closest column.
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Post by Incognito on Jun 25, 2023 21:10:33 GMT -5
"No, no worries," Mason said when Kurt started apologizing. "I just haven't really explored too much down here, that's all."
Not that there was much to explore in the sub-basement. He was pretty sure the new recruits weren't quite allowed to go into the Danger Room on their own or visit the fancy jets in the hangar.
He grinned as Kurt offered to teleport the pair into the Danger Room, then promptly coughed as they reappeared amid some light smoke. "I'll get used to that one day," he promised. Teleporting was an amazing thing, though. He was a little envious of Kurt's abilities.
Then Mason gaped in awe as Kurt worked some magic and made the Danger Room start its simulation. Tall columns, obstacles here and there to impede anyone that tries to climb to the top. Mason hesitated before listening to Kurt's instruction to wait by the right side of the Danger Room dome.
The new recruit blinked in surprise as Kurt--No, Nightcrawler grinned and challenged him to a race.
Rubbing his hands together, Incognito returned the grin as he saw Nightcrawler start climbing his nearest tower. "You're on!"
Incognito leaped up to his own nearest toward, the grooves in the gloves of his uniform aiding his sense of balance as he scaled the column. The column itself was on a slight tilt, spinning slowly with the middle part inflated with occasional spike. Incognito climbed carefully, being sure to avoid the spikes and trying to reach the top.
Once he did reach the top, he avoided looking down and tried to gauge the distance between the current column and the next closest one. He tried to steal a glance at Nightcrawler to see where he was at before taking a leap of faith onto the next column.
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Post by Nightcrawler on Jun 26, 2023 21:35:37 GMT -5
Words: 198 Tags: IncognitoNightcrawler couldn't help but laugh at Incognito watching in awe at the Danger Room constructing his session. He laughed louder when he heard Incognito enthusiastically agree to his challenge and start to race up the side of his own column.
On his part, the climbing was simple enough for Nightcrawler. He didn't want to go easy on Incognito, but he was acutely aware that this was Incognito's first time in the Danger Room and, most likely, freely playing with his abilities. Nightcrawler hung from his own column with his tail, one of the protrusions making a loop that was moving around the radius of the column, as he glanced over to see how Incognito fared.
The new recruit made it to the top of the first column and bravely leaped to the next one. Nightcrawler cast a fanged grin at Incognito's direction and called out, "Try moving faster! There are more obstacles coming that will not wait for you."
Nightcrawler himself nimbly dodged out of the way from a gun that emerged from one of the columns, the gun shooting out a small, soft orb, the size of a baseball. Harmless, but it could still impede one's climb.
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Post by Incognito on Jun 27, 2023 20:32:01 GMT -5
Incognito did a double-take at Nightcrawler hanging from his tail, chuckling at the sight. Seeing how nimble Nightcrawler was moving around the obstacles and up the vertical maze of columns just pushed Incognito to keep going himself.
"I should be thankful you're not teleporting, right?" Incognito called out to the teacher.
Nightcrawler warned him of some other obstacles just before Incognito noticed one of the guns shooting off the nerf-like ball. Incognito ducked, the ball missing, and then he wavered out of view. The gun's sensor wasn't able to see him and Incognito waited until the column swiveled him out of the gun's view before scrambling further up the column.
Incognito let loose, enjoying the fact he was able to use his abilities so fluidly during the session. He wasn't doing too badly, if he thought so himself, especially since he was able to look in multiple directions with his eyes. Sure, he took a few extra seconds to adjust his focus whenever he did look in different directions, but he figured it was worth it.
Until one of the guns caught him off guard, a ball smacking him in the side.
Incognito nearly lost his grip as he was struck, but his abilities allowed him to stay on the column. He slid down a little, muttering a curse under his breath, and he scrambled to get back closer to the top and move onto the next column.
Nightcrawler would probably still beat him, but Incognito wanted to give him a good race.
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Post by Nightcrawler on Jun 29, 2023 7:17:25 GMT -5
Words: 154 Tags: IncognitoNightcrawler actually lost track of Incognito for a few moments, and he was honestly pleased. It seemed that Incognito had a good handle on his camouflage abilities, and he was using it to his advantage in the environment that Nightcrawler had cooked up.
At one point, the new recruit did get hit by one of the balls and Nightcrawler was poised to go and teleport to help prevent Incognito from falling off the column completely. Fortunately, Incognito caught himself and was able to continue his trek upwards on his own.
Incognito did make a quip about how he should be thankful Nightcrawler wasn't teleporting around, and Nightcrawler said, "Ah, then there would be no challenge to that! See?"
Nightcrawler teleported away from his spot to the very top of the column that held the flag, standing there long enough to give a brief bow before teleporting next to Incognito. "How's it going, mein freund?"
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Post by Incognito on Jun 30, 2023 6:22:37 GMT -5
What would have happened if Incognito had fallen? The columns were floating in the air, and there didn't appear to be any safety nets below them. Incognito was sure Nightcrawler wouldn't have thrown him into a dangerous situation like that, but he was tempted to find out...
Maybe the Danger Room was just creating an illusion that there was nothing below the columns. Maybe there was actually a floor filled with pillows--
Incognito almost found out when Nightcrawler abruptly teleported next to him and his grip was nearly lost. He tried to glare at Nightcrawler for startling him, but he couldn't quite keep a straight face.
"Oh, ya know, not too bad," Incognito said, casually responding to Nightcrawler's question. He turned to continue climbing the column, trying to find a good spot to leap to the next column. He fully ignored the fact that Nightcrawler had showed off by teleporting to the top to the flag already.
"The weather's been nice," Incognito continued, grinning as he cast a glance at Nightcrawler. "Got kind of an annoying buzzing by ear, like a gnat, though..."
He leaped to the next column, sticking fast and climbing steadily upwards.
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Post by Nightcrawler on Jul 1, 2023 6:06:28 GMT -5
Words: 170 Tags: IncognitoNightcrawler laughed as Incognito answered his question casually, speaking of the weather and heavily implying that Nightcrawler was comparable to a gnat.
"What a shame," Nightcrawler said, his tone just as casual. "You know, I don't see or hear anything, let alone buzzings from bugs. You may want to watch out for those, though..."
There were more of the soft nerf-like balls, the guns swiveling to try to catch both Incognito and Nightcrawler. The closer the pair got to the top, the more guns appeared to hinder them. The columns themselves were moving more erratically, having dips and odd grooves on them as further deterrents during the climb upwards.
Nightcrawler's impromptu visit to the flag may have caused the program to increase its obstacles a little prematurely.
Nightcrawler himself returned to his side of the program, swinging from his arms and tail as he climbed. He kept an eye on Incognito, aiming to reach the top around the same time as the new recruit.
As long as, of course, Incognito himself didn't fall.
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Post by Incognito on Jul 2, 2023 10:40:38 GMT -5
Incognito didn't get a chance to respond to his instructor's cheeky response. Nightcrawler himself returned to his side just as more nerf-like balls were shot at the pair of them, and Incognito tried to swing out of the way.
His own swinging was not as graceful as Nightcrawler's, of course, and he did almost slip a few more times thanks to the guns and the columns' own natural obstacles. Incognito used his camouflage abilities as often as possible, but the guns' sensors were rather decent.
It took a little longer than Incognito would have liked, but he did eventually make it to the top of the highest column, giving the flagpole a tap in the hopes that it would end the simulation.
Incognito heaved and, when Nightcrawler caught up, said, "That was some workout. Pretty sure my arm muscles haven't shaken this much in some time.
"I enjoyed it, though," he added. "Will all our Danger Room sessions be like this?"
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Post by Nightcrawler on Jul 5, 2023 5:47:29 GMT -5
Words: 186 Tags: IncognitoNightcrawler took his time, keeping an eye on both the obstacles in front of him and Incognito. Incognito soon enough made his way to the top of the column with the flag and Nightcrawler caught up within seconds.
"Simulation Complete."
The Danger Room's holographic technology flickered as the columns themselves faded from view. Mason and Kurt were on top of a small lift that gently lowered them back to the ground as the Danger Room's chrome floor.
"You did very well," Kurt praised. "You feeling okay?
"This was more of a way to gauge how well you use your abilities," Kurt continued. "Our sessions will exercise your powers in a similar manner, but we'll use many different scenarios. How was it to stretch your abilities like that? Were you able to use at least most aspects of your mutation?"
Roy was also under Kurt's tutelage, and Kurt himself was already devising scenarios where the two new recruits would be able to practice together. Occasionally, group sessions with the other new recruits would also be scheduled. Kurt was curious as to where Mason himself would fit in the group dynamic.
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Post by Incognito on Jul 7, 2023 17:48:29 GMT -5
Mason jolted slightly when the Danger Room's holograms flickered out of view and its contraptions retreated. He continued laying down, letting the elevator bring both him and Kurt back to the floor.
"Oh, I'm peachy," he said, grinning up at Kurt when the teacher asked if he was alright. "Seriously, though, I'm fine. Just gonna catch my breath."
He listened as Kurt explained the purpose of this particular training session, nodding occasionally. "Yeah, that session let me use every part of my powers," Mason said. "Aside from my obvious camouflage powers, practicing both my balance and even looking in different directions, was great." He paused. "It's... It's kind of a novelty, still, you know? Being able to be open with my powers around here. I appreciate this place."
He sat up, ready to follow Kurt back to the main control room (and, ultimately, hit the showers). "What was it like when you were a new recruit here? I noticed you right at home in that scenario. Was this exercise one you did often?"
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Post by Nightcrawler on Jul 9, 2023 8:02:40 GMT -5
Words: 354 Tags: IncognitoKurt gave Mason a crooked grin when the teenager mentioned he was just catching his breath, and his grin grew when Mason detailed how freeing it had been to use all of his powers in the scenario.
"I'm glad you feel that way," Kurt said as Mason mentioned he appreciated the Xavier Institute. "That is what we are here for. We hope we can continue to help you grow with your powers."
The pair returned to the control room and Kurt took a moment to fully shut the Danger Room down. He answered Mason's question as the two began to head back toward the rest of the manor.
"Being a new recruit here," Kurt said, "was probably during one of the best times of my life. I was hidden away for the majority of my childhood, not that I blamed my parents. They were only worried about me because of... well." He gestured to himself, blue fur and all. "It was a little turbulent at times, admittedly. We had an amazing family here that only became more chaotic the more we grew.
"But I was also only about your age when the world began to know about mutants," he continued. "We had some true friends, of course, but the majority of the public did not look too favorably upon us. I do believe that mutants will only become more prevalent in time, which is why when I got the chance to reopen this place, I took it. I would like to give the same help and sense of belonging to others that I had received."
Mason asked about the scenario, and Kurt chuckled. "It was a modified version of a scenario that I did often as a teenager, yes," he admitted. "It was more of a capture-the-flag kind of exercise. There were more columns and obstacles and every time I got closer to the flag, it teleported itself to a different area of the room. I wasn't allowed to teleport. Instead, I worked on my speed and agility to see how many times I could reach the flag in a certain period of time."
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Post by Incognito on Jul 9, 2023 17:33:16 GMT -5
Mason smiled as Kurt answered his questions about what it was like when Kurt himself had been a new recruit. Kurt sounded very fond of his teenage years when he was at the institute, although the fact that Kurt had been hidden away sounded a little bittersweet.
Mason supposed he was lucky that his abilities never made his parents make that kind of choice. He was luckier still that his mother supported him so much.
"The other instructors were new recruits with you, weren't they?" Mason asked. "Sierra, Bobby, Jubilee? You're closest with Sierra, right?"
Kurt and Mason reached the elevator to go to the rest of the manor, and Mason leaned against the elevator wall as Kurt spoke about how it was during his teenage years that the world realized mutants were among them. Quietly, Mason asked, "Were you scared?"
Mason did grin when Kurt started describing his version of Danger Room sessions. "Capture-the-flag sounds great, though! Think we'd be able to get a game going with all of the new recruits? Would that be too chaotic?"
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Post by Nightcrawler on Jul 10, 2023 20:37:08 GMT -5
Words: 275 Tags: Incognito Notes: May be a good ending?Kurt nodded when Mason asked to confirm that the other instructors had also been new recruits with him, and he paused when the talk turned to whom Kurt was closest to. "In a way, I suppose," he said when Mason guessed Sierra. "I was part of the older, first class, if you will. Sierra was probably one of the first of the next class with Bobby and Jubilee behind her. Age-wise, I was closest with Sierra, but she... She kept to herself much of the time. Friendly, but I believe her abilities spooked her."
He left the explanation at that, not wishing to divulge any other information that may be more speculation on his part. It was not the first time he wished he had gotten to know Sierra better when they had been teenagers.
In the elevator, the talk turned more serious and Kurt did not hesitate to respond, "Ja, I was. It was scary but... I believe I also was angry. Angry at the world for treating my friends and me like that for merely existing.
"However, I did my best to keep my faith," he continued, "that we would prevail and prove that mutants belong in this world just as much as humans do. We all deserve respect and love."
Fortunately, a lighter note entered their conversation when Mason suggested a group-wide game of capture-the-flag. Kurt grinned and said, "That sounds like a wunderbar idea! It reminds me of house-wide games of baseball and volleyball we used to play... We'll figure that timing out. For now, though, it may be best if you hit the showers. I shall see you at dinner."
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