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Post by Iceman on Jul 18, 2023 6:20:26 GMT -5
Tuesday, July 25, 2023 | 175 words | Critter It would take a little while before Bobby was used to being on the other side during Danger Room sessions. When he arrived back at the Xavier Institute, he was obviously given some time to get used to the place again and settle in, meet the new recruits that were already there, get caught up with Kurt and Sierra, all that fun stuff.
Then he was asked if he'd like to be a Danger Room mentor.
Bobby was all in on that, enthusiastically agreeing before even really thinking about it. Fortunately, he was assigned Willow, who was probably the new recruit that he spoke to the most. Rather, she wasn't one that was shy and was usually found in the kitchen, so she was easy to find. They've had a couple of sessions together, and Bobby knew that she had sessions under Kurt or Sierra before Bobby arrived, so she knew some things about the Danger Room.
This would probably be the first big session.
Bobby himself waited by the control room for his student to arrive.
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Post by Critter on Jul 19, 2023 6:16:55 GMT -5
Tag: IcemanWords: 158 "Hi Bobby!" Willow appeared in the control room, grinning up at the teacher. "Sorry if I'm a little late. I got distracted out in the garden and then remembered that I had some cookies left over, so we now don't have any more leftover cookies. What are we doing today?"
Willow never minded the Danger Room sessions. No matter which instructor she had, she enjoyed the exercise and challenge that the Danger Room sessions provided. She may have been the odd one out in regards to the new recruits in that aspect, but that was okay. Bobby seemed to be her main Danger Room instructor now since the last couple of sessions he was in charge.
She was cool with it -- pun intended -- feeling that Bobby and she got along just fine.
"I hope you're doing well today," Willow said, bouncing on her toes a bit. "I'm looking forward to whatever we're doing. And then dinner after, ha!"
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Post by Iceman on Jul 20, 2023 6:02:47 GMT -5
Bobby really hoped that he would never get tired of Willow's ramblings. Her stories were always rollercoasters and she somehow nearly always tended to return to the main point eventually.
He was pleased to hear that she had just had a snack. He knew of her metabolism and how quickly she burned through calories with her shapeshifting ability. Knowing that she had just eaten was a weight off his mind.
"You're right on time," Bobby said, returning her smile with one of his own. "Figured we'd beat the heat today and have a little fun..."
He turned back to the control panel and set up an area that looked like a field with a few rolling hills and covered in snow appeared in the Danger Room's dome below.
"I'll be in there with you this time," Bobby said, gesturing to the small elevator that would bring them down to the dome. With a cheeky grin, he said, "Today's session is a snowball fight. Shapeshift into whatever animal you feel is best to avoid getting pelted with snowballs. Whenever you're ready, we'll get started."
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Post by Critter on Jul 23, 2023 8:27:48 GMT -5
Tag: IcemanWords: 181 Willow hoped she would always be impressed with the Danger Room. While the name was something that could be improved, she was in awe of the Danger Room's technology. She was looking forward to when she had access to more than just the low-level gym setting.
Bobby revealed he would be doing the session with her and mentioned that the premise was a snowball fight. Willow whooped in excitement and, when she was able to, went right on down to the Danger room.
What would she turn into first? She could be an elephant, scooping up trunkfuls of snow to pelt at her instructor. Maybe a small bird, darting here and there so she wouldn't get hit herself. Or perhaps something that would give her the best of both methods...
With that thought, Willow reached the snow-covered field, morphing and rolling down one of the hills as a monkey. With a gleeful cackle, Monkey-Critter ran as fast as she could over the powdered snow to scoop up ammo with her hands and tail. Using her dexterity, Monkey-Critter hurled snowballs at Iceman.
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Post by Iceman on Jul 27, 2023 6:30:10 GMT -5
Bobby was definitely pleased that Willow seemed so excited about their Danger Room session. He hoped she would feel free enough to stretch her abilities to their limit.
Although, a monkey was definitely not the choice he thought she'd go with.
A penguin, a polar bear, something that liked the cold were animals at the top of his list that he would have bet Critter would have transformed into. She was already demonstrating thinking outside the box, beating Iceman's expectations of her by shapeshifting into an animal that had enough dexterity to create and throw snowballs at him. She was also a little small, making herself less of a target.
"Not a bad start at all," Iceman praised as he got iced up himself. Using his own abilities, he created a shield to prevent Critter's snowballs from hitting him before "surfing" up higher into the air to give himself more leverage. From his vantage point, he created and shot out small icicles at Critter to rain down on her.
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Post by Critter on Jul 29, 2023 22:32:42 GMT -5
Tag: IcemanWords: 224 Critter chittered excitably as her monkey-self when Iceman praised her choice of animal, but it turned into an irritated screech as he avoided her snowballs and shot icicles at her. Iceman had the advantage being higher in the air, and with the Danger Room setting being mostly an open, snowy field, she didn't have many options for cover or to reach him.
She slid and skated over the rolling hills, trying her best to avoid the icicles and toss up more snowballs towards Iceman. She didn't really watch to see if she was able to reach her target with her snowballs, but she hoped they were enough to distract him or throw off his own aim.
Critter toyed with transforming into a larger animal, something that could break his ice slide, but he would be able to avoid it easily enough or fix it with his own abilities. Finding no other option, Critter leaped into the air and shapeshifted into a falcon.
With wide talons and strong wings, Critter snatched some snow and flew up towards Iceman, trying to go over his head to drop her pile of snow right on him.
And, if not on his head directly, maybe she could aim it just right to drop the snow in front of him, ruining whatever path he was creating with his ice slide.
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Post by Iceman on Jul 31, 2023 16:40:27 GMT -5
Iceman couldn't help but laugh out loud when he heard Critter's monkey sounds change from cute chitters to angry screeches.
He surfed along, continuing the assault as he tried to catch the monkey. It was a bit difficult, and he honestly wasn't laughing for too much longer, as Monkey-Critter sporadically threw snowballs at him. More than once, Iceman was pitting his own dexterity against Critter's, maneuvering his ice slide as quickly as he could to avoid being hit. He created loop-de-loops and needed to stop and restart his slides more than once to avoid the snowballs, all while trying to hit Critter with his icicles.
Iceman was rightly startled when Monkey-Critter abruptly leaped up into the air not too far from the edge of his ice slide, and he noted how quickly she was able to shift into a new form. Now a falcon, Critter wasted very little time scooping up snow into her talons to drop the pile from high above his head.
The good news was the snow missed his head.
The bad news was the snow landed hard on his slide right in front of his feet, cracking the ice and tripping Iceman up. He tumbled off the ice slide and rolled into the snow below him, not thinking too hard about how the Danger Room was able to imitate the soft, white stuff to give him a softer landing. Iceman laid on his back, looking up at Falcon-Critter, and directed two steady streams of ice from both of his hands up toward the bird.
Maybe he could clip her wings.
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Post by Critter on Aug 2, 2023 6:28:30 GMT -5
Tag: IcemanWords: 173 Critter was rather pleased with herself at her choice of her next shapeshift, her plan to distract and disarm -- at least temporarily -- Iceman working.
She circled Iceman from above as he tumbled down into the Danger Room's snow-covered field, being sure that he was moving and that she didn't accidentally knock him out. What a report that would be for her Danger Room session. Would she automatically fail if her instructor was knocked unconscious? Would the Danger Room program keep going? How long was this session for, anyway--
Falcon-Critter screeched as Iceman rolled onto his back and began firing icicles at her again. Despite her maneuvering, a couple of icicles did hit her left wing, making her go off course and fall out of her transformation.
"Ooof...!" Critter landed in the snow, getting momentarily distracted by the biting cold before realizing that she should move again.
She shapeshifted into a badger and dug deep in the snow below her, aiming to pop up close to Iceman to shovel snow at him.
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Post by Iceman on Aug 3, 2023 6:28:55 GMT -5
"Ha!" Okay, so Iceman probably shouldn't be boasting that he knocked down his student from the sky with his own abilities, but he was feeling a little competitive considering the scenario he had put forth. Deep down he knew the Danger Room session was supposed to be practice for Critter, but when the scene was full of snow and ice, he couldn't help but want to win in what he considered to be his domain...
Critter, on her part, landed in the snow after being knocked out of her falcon shape and Iceman was close to tossing a snowball at her. However, she moved quickly, and Iceman blinked when she was suddenly a badger and digging beneath the snow.
Iceman lost where she went and he stood still, trying to stretch his senses to see if he could notice any little shifts in the snow below him, hear any scuffling or scratching noises that could give Critter's position away.
After a moment, he thought he could pinpoint where she was. He shot out a steady stream of ice, the end of his stream a little on the blunt side to "shove" the snow away to try to uncover Critter.
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Post by Critter on Aug 8, 2023 5:02:32 GMT -5
Tag: IcemanWords: 190 Badger-Critter opened up her senses, trying to determine where Iceman was standing -- or maybe he was back in the air again already? -- before beginning to shuffle forward through her snow burrow. Within a few minutes, Iceman's snow stream uncovered her little tunnel, ruining the element of surprise, but Critter continued with her plan anyway.
The snow was shoved away, and she continued her burrow just enough to the side to avoid getting bowled over by Iceman's powers. Once she was mostly uncovered, she used her large claws and flung shovels of snow over at her instructor.
She didn't stick around for long to see if she actually hit Iceman or not. The main idea was to distract him enough so she could shapeshift once more. Once a good chunk of snow was flung at Iceman, Badger-Critter turned into Hare-Critter, a snowshoe hare with white fur to blend in with the environment. She charged away, taking large leaps throughout the Danger Room's snowy field to put some more distance between Iceman and herself.
She needed to take a breather, try to gauge how much energy she had left for the session.
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Post by Iceman on Aug 8, 2023 7:02:46 GMT -5
181 words | Critter | Figured we could start wrapping up? Iceman's grin at uncovering Critter was short-lived, particularly after he got a clawful of snow smashing against his shoulder.
He shook the snow off in time to see Critter transform yet again into a rabbit (or hare or whatever -- was there a difference between the two?) and take off further down the holographic field. Iceman took a moment, debating internally whether or not he should pursue Critter or if he should call the session as done.
He guessed how long the simulation had run and wasn't sure how much energy Critter had left in her. He didn't quite fancy having one of the new recruits pass out on him during their session.
"Computer," Iceman called to the Danger Room. "End session."
"Session ended," the robotic voice replied, confirming the order. The snowy field dissipated around them, leaving only the chrome dome of the Danger Room. Iceman shed his iced-form and caught up to Critter.
"Well done," he praised. "I honestly didn't realize how quickly you could shapeshift between forms. Thought it would take you a few minutes to shift. How do you feel?"
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Post by Critter on Aug 9, 2023 20:10:17 GMT -5
Tag: IcemanWords: 176 Notes: Sounds good to me! Thank you! "Phew..."
Willow heard Bobby telling the Danger Room to end the session and she shook herself out of her transformation. Instead of a hare on the floor of the Danger Room, there was Willow laying on her back with her hair sprawled around her and taking deep breaths.
Despite how tired she appeared to be, Willow grinned up at Bobby as he caught up to her.
"Thanks," she said in response to his praise. "Your powers are really cool, too." She paused then suddenly giggled. "Pun not intended.
"I think I was able to shift so quickly because I had a snack right before the session," she continued, sitting up a bit. "I mean, usually I can shapeshift pretty quickly anyway, but I think the energy from the food and the excitement from the session itself really helped my speed.
"I'm a little tired," she said. "I'll be fine, though. Uh, if you could make sure I reach my bed for a nap, or even a couch somewhere, I don't really care, that would be great."
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Post by Iceman on Aug 10, 2023 6:28:42 GMT -5
Bobby was slightly concerned that Willow was laying on the floor, but he gave her a crooked smile for her pun. He wondered if her being a little loopy was from her low energy and the toll all the shapeshifting took, or if that was just Willow herself.
"Thanks," he said with a chuckle in response to her compliment on his own powers. He listened as she spoke about her speed of shapeshifting was in proportion to her energy, and he noted that it could also be tied to adrenaline. He would need to speak more frankly with Kurt and Sierra, and even Willow herself, about Willow's limits and what the back up plans were if she ran out of energy completely thanks to her abilities.
For now, though, he was content with how their session had gone and logistics could be discussed at a later time.
"C'mon, up and at 'em," Bobby said, helping Willow to her feet. "Let's get you bed. Good job today."
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