High Bar Topics(IC)

[Ari]

October 20th, 2011, 7.00 A.M.

Subito floated into the Aaron Cage Gymnasium, his bulging gym bag over his shoulder, 'athletic' shoes trussed to his feet, the shorts-and-tight-undershirt uniform of his old school already on, and a sweatband neatly in place over his maddeningly-curly hair. After wrestling with the locker combination locks for the requisite amount of time, he installed his non-exercise gear in the standard cavity, dropped to the ground and stormed('walk' would imply grace) into the weight training room. His old school hadn't had anything nearly heavy enough to tax his newly-boosted strength, and his sister Galanta's ideas were dangerously close to illegal, involving 'train cars' and 'freight' and 'decorative boulders' more frequently than was perhaps wise. The situation at Claremont, on the other hand, was to his eyes ideal, with both weights to challenge those without enhanced muscle power and those with. Taking up one bar that seemed to be on a sort of roller, and possessing a digital sign that had a marker of 'Pounds', he figured he might as well start low, and set the convenient dial to 400. Setting himself in the rhythm of lifting and lowering, he reflected that having these things instead of the regular dumbbells allowed for greater control of the weight attached. He hoped he could have a chance to see how it worked in person. Humming tunelessly, he went to the logical follow-up question: why hadn't the Vorta showed the same powers Eris did? It would have made a perfect juxtaposition between their powers of the mind and the Jem'Hadar's power of the body. Pursing his lips at such a waste of a potential plotline, his humming went on unabated.

[Azuth65]

Victoria shoved her gym bag into the locker she'd been assigned in the girls' locker room in the Aaron Cage Gymnasium. Looking out the window as she entered the weight room she was once again glad to have her teleportation powers, allowing her to skip the chilly morning weather and come directly from her room.

The steady hum of another voice told her she wasn't alone as she made her way to the dumbbells. She moved to her usual set and smiled and the curly haired young man next to her. "Good morning," she offered, as best she could given the early hour. It came out closer to 'goo-ed mornink' as her Russian accent crept into her tired voice.

[Ari]

The other student's well wishes caught Subito entirely by surprise. His powerful hearing allowed him to hear people coming from dozens of yards off, and he had gotten into the habit of anticipating people's arrival. The noises beside him hadn't even registered due to how little advance warning he was given. Starting, he almost dropped the weight, but collected himself in time. Turning slightly to the new girl, his cheerful shout of "Good Morning!" was interrupted by the sight of her white hair and red eyes. He had seen many downright alien students so far, but the ones that looked almost normal but with a details that threw off expectations. As a result, it came out much more cautiously "Hi! Uh, morning! I'm Subito Sondo" after a slightly tense silence he added awkwardly "You're really good at being quiet by the way, didn't even hear you come in. And I can usually hear stuff from way off"

[Azuth65]

The other student's well wishes caught Subito entirely by surprise. His powerful hearing allowed him to hear people coming from dozens of yards off, and he had gotten into the habit of anticipating people's arrival. The noises beside him hadn't even registered due to how little advance warning he was given. Starting, he almost dropped the weight, but collected himself in time. Turning slightly to the new girl, his cheerful shout of "Good Morning!" was interrupted by the sight of her white hair and red eyes. He had seen many downright alien students so far, but the ones that looked almost normal but with a details that threw off expectations. As a result, it came out much more cautiously "Hi! Uh, morning! I'm Subito Sondo" after a slightly tense silence he added awkwardly "You're really good at being quiet by the way, didn't even hear you come in. And I can usually hear stuff from way off"

Vicky saw the other student's eyes flick to her hair and eyes, making her wonder if dyeing her locks wasn't a good idea. "Victoria Knight," she replied, inclining her head politely as she fiddled with the tension settings, bringing it to a solid warm up weight of one ton. She smiled at his comment on her ability to move quietly, "Thanks. I've been training in that area for a long while. Bonus from the training is when I get up early or come in late, I don't wake my roommate."

"So, Subito, what brings you to the gym this early? Usually I have the place to myself at this hour. Not that I mind the company, just making an observation."

[Ari]

"Hm? Oh I just like to exercise a bit before the day properly starts, my sister would prefer if I got up earlier and with heavier weights, make sure I get a real workout, but so far this has been pretty good. Pleased to meet you Victoria!" he said brightly, following that up with "Are you super-strong too? I gotta say, there seem to be a lot of other students here who use the higher-power equipment. Have you seen that Rick Huna guy, the one with volcano powers? Just crazy strong" he declared admiringly.

[Azuth65]

"I can't benchpress mountains or anything but my strength is more than a little past the norm," she said, lifting the weight in a slow curl up and down. As she moved the pink tank top she wore allowed her fellow weight lifting to see her muscles bulge slightly with each raise and lower of the bar.

"Can't say I've met anyone with anything like volcano powers, sounds like some interesting powers. How 'bout you? Super-strength and enhanced hearing all you bring to the table or you have more? Flight, energy blasts, etcetera?"

[Ari]

Stepping back slightly from his previous stance at the bar and beginning a barbell curl, Subito answered promptly "My powers are pretty limited actually/ No energy beams or anything, but aside from hearing really well, being tougher and stronger than most people can be, I can fly and survive underwater pretty much indefinitely, I can't be crushed by high pressure environments, suffer in cold, drown or be poisoned. Also I got this awesome Bande- banner. With it, I'm pretty much bulletproof, and I can fill people's hearts with hope" he shrugged "My..instructor in power tells me I'll never get any stronger or enduring than I am now, but I will begin to get new powers if I use the ones I have right now well" he looked back to her "How about you?"

[Azuth65]

Her biceps and triceps burned slightly, enough to know she was pushing herself but not to a degree she was likely to damage her muscles. Continuing the exercise she answered, "Super-strength and energy blasts for offense, they're mutually exclusive though, I can't lift much more than my backpack if I'm letting a rush of energy go. I recover from minor wounds pretty fast too. And of course, my personal favorite of the pack, the teleports."

After a few more reps she replaced the bars and sets the weight up an extra five hundred pounds, before continuing. "So, a bullet-proof banner? Very nice. I'm sure there were a few Roman Legions who'd have liked that way back when. Sorry, been brainstorming an art project and I've had the Romans in mind for several of them."

[Ari]

The slightly frowning young man nodded several times to demonstrate he was listening, commenting about Victoria's description of her powers "So whatever, uh, 'powers' you can do a lot, just not at once? That sounds pretty handy to be honest, though I obviously have no idea what it's like"

"I don't know much about the Romans" Subito confessed, "but that sounds pretty cool. If you wanna to borrow it for modelling or whatever, feel free to ask. 'Don't go out very often for patrols, coach says it's best if I learn a bit of finesse before I go out to try and help people" he settled into silence for a moment, clearly considering something. After a moment he asked bluntly "You ever watch that Star Trek show that was on the space station?"

[Azuth65]

"After our workout I can give you a lift right to your first class. It won't give you the full picture but a ride-along should give you an idea of what my teleports are like," she replied.

"Yeah, Mr. Archer has me training with the rest of the Irregulars a lot. He's backing off slightly after what happened during the Gorgon incident out in the zen garden but I've gotten stuck in the habit of being here this early. I still need to work on my energy blast, see if I can do anything with it that doesn't involve pushing bad guys' teeth in."

At his mention of Star Trek she almost paused but caught herself and kept going, "Deep Space Nine? Great show. It's my second favorite of the franchise," she answered with a smile, ruby eyes glinting with interest. "What kind of shows do you watch besides DS9? MythBusters by chance?"

[Ari]

"Thanks Victoria, never been teleported before. Look forward to it!" he said eagerly. A little surprised she even knew what he was talking about, he loved a chance to discuss one of his favorite shows with someone besides his family(which always turned into heated arguments about nonsense) "I really only watch older shows like from the 70's to the 90's, 'cause most of my family grew up watching these things called telenovelas, and they're pretty sure a series is only as good as the characters in it, and they think newer actors are garbage" he shrugged apologetically "Not what I think, just letting you know. I've seen a couple episodes of Mythbusters, and it seems pretty fun. Prefer the parts where they set things up, like testing all those theories about how JFK could have been shot, over the ones where massive explosions happen. As for other shows..mostly the old Atom Family Adventures, the Star Treks(most of them anyway), Battlestar Galactica original and remake, those Dr. Tomorrow serials from the 50's, a whole slew of those terrible cartoons from the 70's, and a lot I probably have forgotten by now. My family is pretty big into science fiction, to the exclusion of most else" he shrugged again "I'm pretty sure I'll need glasses in not too long if it keeps up"

[Azuth65]

Shifting from simple curls to cross-body tugs Vicky listened to Subito's list, "I've watched most of those. I couldn't really get into Battlestar myself, either series. The MythBuster's episode with the giant crane-wreckingball Newton's cradle was pretty awesome. Ever run across Deadliest Warrior? It's a pretty cool show, if you're willing to let go of little things like logic in their tests."

"Actually, you look like the kind of guy who'd look good with a pair of glasses. Probably not the best things to wear in combat though," she commented with a shrug of her own.

[Ari]

"Never seen that, I'll try and convince my family to give it a watch at least one. With a name like that I might not even have to try very hard" he smirked slightly to himself at some in-joke "Glasses? Well, my cousin Rodrigo who lives with us has 'em, never wants for friends either. Maybe it won't be so bad" he shrugged as he put his back to the machinery, proceeding with a set of shoulder presses "But yeah, I need to keep stuff safe, clothes on me tear as easily as with regular people's, though the banner seems to be able to repair them. Maybe the Atom family has some kind of special eye-wear line, like their morphic molecule costumes" he sighed slightly "As for Galactica, I sympathize, former seemed a bit too cheesy to take as seriously as would be best, and the later was too grim and hopeless to allow for the kind of story about gutsy rebels fighting robots in space needs, it'd be like if Transformers pretended to be about the meaning of life for battle robots. Just too obviously trying to be what it isn't"

[Azuth65]

"Like I said, don't expect a lot of reality, logic, or empirical testing results from Deadliest Warrior. On the other hand, if all you're looking for is seeing weapons mess up pig carcasses or ballistic gel torsos, oh man will this show have you set."

"Wouldn't surprise me if they did, not every hero can have perfect vision," she commented, "And if your banner can repair clothes, I have a couple shirts damaged from fights that could use some of that magic..."

"Indeed," she said with her own sigh, "Then again, at least they weren't as painfully bad as Enterprise. Or Lost."

[Ari]

He nodded glumly at the last words "I only caught a couple episodes of Enterprise, but it had that feeling that so much of bad television has, never saw more than ten episodes of it. Lost was a tragic waste. Rodrigo watched it for years(none of the rest of us thought much of it)and he'd often tell me about it, speculating how the writers would solve the mysteries" he sighed "He overestimated the writers' ability and interest in making an actual mystery to be solved when they could just make up whatever they wished to distract from what they couldn't explain. He thought the ending had some good symbolic value though"

"Again, if you get a rip, burn or whatever, don't hesitate to ask for the banner, I can't use my powers for my sole benefit anyway, have to ask permission to use them to help others before they work" after a moment he asked "So, do they take warriors from similar times and have them face off in their area of specialty, like having Attila against Genghis Khan?"

[Azuth65]

"Usually they do but sometimes, the match is more than is messed up.  Like the Spartan vs Ninja or Knight vs Pirate matches.  Ninjas aren't meant for a straight fight and once you include gunpowder, evenness in a match goes out the window."

Vicky continued her exercises, picking up speed in slow increments, as she commented on the show, "Still, some were pretty cool like the one between Green Beret and Spetznaz or Viking and Samurai.  Or in the finale of this season, Zombie vs Vampire, their first fictional character fight."

[Ari]

The bar was by now light as a feather, so Subito switched it to twice as much as before, the now-800lbs. of pressure pressing down gave much more encouragement to wandering thoughts. "So, do they ask for viewers to send in requests for match-ups? Because those don't seem all that level. On a different topic, what d'you think of the janitor, Mr. Faulks? Does he seem..creepy to you, or is it just me?"

[Azuth65]

"Not really, otherwise I'm pretty sure we'd have seen Pirate versus Ninja, just to shut the fans up," Vicky smirked. "There is this fun show I ran across on the internet with a similar premise but it's mostly limited to fictional characters except for the one they did that put Justin Beiber and Rebecca Black in a death battle."

The teleporter replaced the weights and moved the the leg lift machine across from where she and Subito had been working out, "I haven't met him personally but from all accounts from the folks here who have, he sounds like it."

[Ari]

"Yeah," Subito answered uncertainly "I keep hearing him saying..just the weirdest stuff all the time. I really worry about him sometimes, I heard him say once that the door to the Rita Kord Dormitory was "Losing its grip" or something. Anyway, just wondering if you had seen or heard anything about him. Glad it's not just me. I'll ask if I can help out, might do some good"

Beginning reps of Preacher curls, he added by way of conversation "Speaking of doing good, I've been hearing a lot about that loose team you're in, the Irregulars, right?"

[Azuth65]

"Yeah, that's the name we came up with. The obvious ones like Young Freedom were taken and Junior Freedom just didn't sound right. Besides, we've got a fairly odd group. A mortal Runemaster, a guy who creates weapons out of nowhere just by thinking about them, an illusionist, an energy blaster who can stop bullets with his force field, and the resident teleporter/strong girl," Vicky commented as she settled down and set the weights for a light slow start.

Before long she felt the burn of muscles waking up in her legs, "How 'bout you? Any other students you've been thinking of forming a team with?"

[Ari]

"I don't know" Subito replied, "I think I've met the weapon maker and energy wielder though, that's Brian and John right? But I haven't met many other students to be honest, and Mr. Summers doesn't want me to go out patrolling until I have a better handle on the finer use of my powers so I don't kick somebody's car in half or something terrible like that" he looked a bit embarrassed at this, clearly uncomfortable with his strength being a liability.

Adjusting his stance a touch to get the weight more evenly across his arms he followed the previous with "I have met this Serge guy, blond with green eyes, I think he calls himself 'Web-Gnat' or something. Never asked him, probably should, can't rely on hearing stuff from way off to get to know people" frowning slightly deeper he added "Besides, I'm really not a good fighter, never had the knack for it my sister does. Know anyone who would teach me?" he asked bluntly.

[Azuth65]

"Other way around but yes, that'd be them," Vicky corrected, "And yeah, I can see why he'd want you to stay on campus. Before coming here I did a small bit of patrolling around my neighborhood in Chicago but... well after spending some time here I see I'm lucky to have avoided a bullet."

"Well, I can see if I give you some lessons. I can't promise I'm a great teacher but I do heal fast so if you do end up losing control of your attacks, I can probably recover quickly. Sometime after Halloween, let's see if you, myself, and some of my group can do some extra combat basics."

[Ari]

Subito nearly dropped the weight bar in surprise. An offer to train with a real super team wasn't the sort of thing you thought was likely to happen even at Claremont. After a moment to calm himself down, he replied as casually as he could "That would be great! I can't wait to meet the others on your team, is it true that there's a Fae on it? Glowstar was pretty awesome, it'll be great to see what he can do! I wonder if Mr. Smith will be there?" he rambled gleefully, going back to the bicep curls with vigor. He practically hummed with excitement, and a definite glow was building around him, vaguely resembling a flag of golden smoke.

[Azuth65]

Vicky watched his workout increase in intensity and quirked an eyebrow at the flag-like billowing smoke. "Good to see I'm not the only one on campus with a good smoke effects budget," she commented, her smile evident in her tone.

"As for the summoning of the Irregulars, I don't want to get your hopes up too high. We're still trying to fully jell as a team in our current state so, not to be rude my friend but, recruitment is currently closed. That said, should you ever need a hand, I'll be there," the young teleporter explained, trying her best to avoid sounding rude or to offend her fellow student.

"So then, training aside, should we get some free time, how are you at first-person shooter games? I'm thinking of pulling together some folks for a video gaming group."

[Ari]

Subito paused, looking surprised "Oh! Nah, I wasn't thinking I could just up and join out of nowhere like that" he laughed with a touch of chagrin at the faux pas "If you guys have stuff to work out I won't push it" easing back into the exercise, he smiled at Vicky's question "My whole family is basically a gigantic house of nerds, even my cousin Rodrigo gets into it sometimes. What kind of FPS's are you thinking of? Raven's shooters? id's? Bungie's? Maybe bring in some stuff by Epic? A video gaming group would need a bit of maneuvering though, wouldn't it? We couldn't play at school I'm assuming"