Sept 2 - X-Team operations building/Danger Room

[Will Stanton]

"Heh. Marcus Kingston: Supercharger for Hire. You could make business cards and everything.


No, this'll be fine, just let me get a little loose. How tall did you say you got, Sara?"

[Sara Stanton]

"About twice my heigth, I think, but I managed to grab a whole bunch of sand too, so maybe two or three times my 'volume'"

[Will Stanton]

Will whistles. "Man, that's something. I'm not sure I can match that. Let me see."

Will closes his eyes and begins to concentrate. All of a sudden he snaps them back open again.

"Shoot, uh, slight problem. I REALLY need to get one of those unstable molecule costumes."

[Marcus Kingston]

"We'll see how it all goes. We could of did more but I don't think Sara's really used to the feeling of getting bigger. We maybe able to try more with you Will."

He laughed. "Yeah. Don't go all Hulk on us and burst out of your clothing."

[Sara Stanton]

"Long live mass-shifting!" With a grin she lets her legs slide into the sand again and leans back, arms behind her head.
"Not shredding my clothes ain't really the problem. The trick part is getting back into them. And that growing thing definately takes some getting used to."

[Will Stanton]

"Well, it's a worse problem than the Hulk, really. A real hassle, honestly--I can save myself from personal embarrassment, but it's hard to be incognito running back to my apartment for more clothes everytime I do anything. I'm looking forward to getting into the X-Teams tomorrow if, for nothing else, the uniform.

Say...maybe this danger room thing-a-ma-jig can work me up something."

Will clears his throat.

"Ahem, Danger Room? Hello? Any chance I could get something in a nice Unstable Molecule?"

[Marcus Kingston]

"Oh. That's true. You could ask it to put a uniform on you. This change can change you attire and everything." He tried to remember what exactly the command for that was.

[Will Stanton]

"Hello, computer? Danger Room Powers, activate? Go Go Gadget costume! Shaz-bot!"

Well, ONE of those seemed to work, because Will suddenly appeared in a blue and yellow spandexy suit. Will looks down in dismay.

"Ick. Well, I'll suppose that'll do for now, but I MUST have a word with the tailor."

Will then closes his eyes again. Nothing happens at first, but as a bead of sweat begins to run down his face, he begins to grow. Six, seven, eight....he finally tops out around 10 feet tall.

"Phew. Gi...gimme a second to catch my breath. It's been a while since I did anything quite so all-inclusive."

[Narrator]

A voice that sounded like nothing so much as Anthony Stewart Head was heard in the room.

"Caution, matter creation protocols are restricted to faculty. What is overlaid on Mister Stanton is a holographic construct. It will not prevent actual damage to his clothing if he mass-shifts."

[Will Stanton]

...

"Well, FUCK. Arright. Well, what's done is done. Thanks, Mr. Computer!"

[Marcus Kingston]

He blinked at the computer's voice. He chuckled softly.

"Sucks dude. I hope you didn't mess up your clothes too bad."

[Narrator]

"Apologies. This unit was having difficulty parsing your request due to vague and contradictory information. Intuitive parser backup unit with dialogue unit had to be loaded to comply."

[Sara Stanton]

Can't help but snicker at the computer-voice and the situation.
"Must... not... ask the computer to turn off the simulation..."

[Will Stanton]

He blinked at the computer's voice. He chuckled softly.

"Sucks dude. I hope you didn't mess up your clothes too bad."

"Well, there's a reason I don't get attached to clothes. And a reason why I just wear jeans and t-shirts, normally.

Ah well. It's not like this has never happened before."

He glances at Sara. "And a har-de-har-har to you to. I'm glad to see you're so understanding in my times of trouble."

Will has trouble keeping the laughter out of his voice, clearly more amused than mad.

[Narrator]

"If this unit may suggest, bathrobes are present in the changing room adjacent to the observation deck."

[Marcus Kingston]

He chuckled. "Ah. The computer's on top of things. I was gonna say I could go find you something else to wear if it was that bad."

[Samantha McManus]

Ms. McManus chuckled and shook her head.

"I was about to tell him it doesn't work that way, but the lad seems a bit impatient."

"I must say though, the dialogue parser definitely seems to Barbara's tastes."

[Sara Stanton]

"Hmm... I wonder..."
Sara seems to be pondering something, chewing on her upper lip before suddenly jumping up and letting herself collapse completely into the sand, leaving behind a slowly disappearing patch of shifting stone and a pile of clothes.

[Will Stanton]

"Again, I'll be OK. With clothes in the next room, this is actually one of the most convenient times this has ever happened."

Glancing around, he managed to spot Sara as she disappeared into the sand.

"Oh, hide and go seek, huh? We'll see about THAT."

[Marcus Kingston]

He jumped when Sara exploded into sand. "Whoa." He smirked at Will.

"Not more paper vs. rock antics." He said, folding his arms over his chest and watching.

[Will Stanton]

"Paper may beat rock; I've got no idea what trumps sand. That's a level beyond me--something that....fluid...I can't imagine keeping control. I hope she knows what she's doing."

Will drops to a knee for a closer look.

[Sara Stanton]

A mound of sand slowly raises up a few feet away, turning from an indistinguishable mess over a rough statue-like face back into Sara's head sticking out from the sand.
"Wee! It works!"

[Marcus Kingston]

"Pretty crazy stuff there Sara!"

[Will Stanton]

Will shrinks back down to a somewhat normal size.

"Well, if that doesn't just take the cake. That's more control than I've got, for sure--I've tried the whole liquid thing, didn't work so well. You've sure shown me up. I'm floored. I'm flattened."

At this, Will throws himself backwards---but, during the speech, he had been progressively thinning himself out, so rather than plummet straight down, he wafted down a bit like a loose piece of paper.

[Sara Stanton]

"It's just like swimming! Well, swimming through mud. There's loose stuff to grab all around, I just gotta push it behind me before letting go."

Her arms wriggle up from the sand and she crosses them in front of her, resting her hand on them just like someone would at the edge of a pool, giggling at Will's speech literal flattening.

[Merle McClintock]

About 30 feet away, Merle faces off with three robotic cowboys. He rushes about on the sand, his crowbar clanging off of their metal exteriors. He grabs one in a headlock as the other two shoot at him with their sixshooters. He rips off its head and, in a moment of inspiration, whirls the robot's torso around like a discus and nails another one. He does a running tackle at the last one and, with a BOOYAH, rips off its head.

"Great job, Danger Room. Those were a bit easy, though. And what weapon do you suggest, considering my overall technique?"

He smiles at Will. "Can it analyze battle technique? It can talk."

[Marcus Kingston]

He watched the three around them all play around with their powers. He just grinned to himself and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, thinking.

[Will Stanton]

Will begins to slowly reinflate himself.

"You say that it's so simple, in theory, but I've had some...poor experiences, shall we say. I've tried water, and it took me hours to pull myself back together again. It was like...", and at this he pauses, trying to find the words. "Like suddenly, I was just getting...swept away. Made me feel like heck."

"It's odd. I can do people, I can do animals to a decent extent, metals, fabrics, the works--up to my limitations, of course. I can do colors, I can do shapes, I can do voices, I can do sizes..but when I try anything less solid, I'm just out of my depths."

He looks like he was going to continue, but the clanging of metal on metal distracts him.

"Oh, hi! Didn't even notice you at first. Very impressive work there."

"It can talk, but it seems to tend to so at the least useful times. Bloody machines."

[Narrator]

"This unit supplied Alpha level combatants as Mister McClintock has not passed any of the environmental hazard or combat certifications. Mister McClintock's account is freshly initialized and this is the first time it has been accessed."

"If this unit could suggest, it is generally inadvisable to perform combat or environmental hazard certifications with others present in the chamber, but if Mister McClintock wishes to try them at another time, perhaps a more suitable opponent could be provided pending certification."

"This unit likewise suggests that Mister Stanton keep his comments to himself, or this unit is more than willing to dissipate the holographic construct currently clothing him."

[Sara Stanton]

"I don't know about liquids or water, I can only do varying degrees of stone, crystalline things. The harder and dense the more straining it is. 'Soft' seems to be easy and since I can move it around faster than stone usually does I learned pretty fast how to move around by imitating flowstone."

She shrugs as if to say 'Who knows?'

[Will Stanton]

"Yeah, who knows the MYSTERIES OF THE WORKINGS OF WHAT'S AROUND US."

"Seesh."

[Merle McClintock]

"Thank you, Danger. How do I pass certifications?"

He wondered if the student handbook had info on this.

"And I prefer Master McClintlock, if we're going to be formal. Mister's considered kind of smarmy by us flesh and blood types."

He laughs, a little, at the machine's comment to Stanton.

[Sara Stanton]

Sara mutters, mostly to herself, and rolls her eyes. "Yes, Mister's kind of smarmy, but 'Master McClintok' is -much- better..."

[Narrator]

"Environmental hazard certifications are represented by a series of obstacle courses of progressing difficulty, ranked Alpha through Omega, each unlocking the ability to relax the environmental safeties by an increment. Early certifications involve static obstacles, while the higher end of the scale involves moving terrain, projectiles, and energy hazards."

"Combat certifications are likewise ranked Alpha through Omega, and gauge the user's combat ability with opponents of varying levels and types of training, alone and in groups."

"Simulation of opponents with paranormal abilities requires certification in both combat and environmental hazard rankings."

[Will Stanton]

In a sotto voice, Will adds "Perhaps 'M'lord' would work best."

[Marcus Kingston]

He peeked an eye open as he listened to the computer explain. He remember going through some of those. They sure weren't easy when he first started, not with his powers anyway.

[Sara Stanton]

"Hehehe. Well I think I'll leave Sir McClintock the Third to his combat certifications. I ought to get ready anyway. Anita wrote about wanting to organize a night out. Could you maybe... uhm..."

She looks over at her pile of clothes with a slight nod.

[Will Stanton]

Will glanced over at the clothes.

"Ah, yes, now, what was all this about wanting to end the simulation again?"

[Marcus Kingston]

It was already too late, as Marcus had gathered Sara's clothing and brought them over to her.

"Here you go. Heh, Will. You need that robe?"

[Sara Stanton]

Sara's expression turns into a rather complacent smirk. "Go ahead if you're not bluffing."