Two's Company, Four's a Party(IC)

[Scuffles]

I guess the important thing is just to stay calm. This is just a training exercise anyway. No pressure.

"No pressure? Right!" Kristin chuckled. "But if I do flip out and go all wild-things-floating-everywhere-girl feel free to slap me senseless. That'll make it stop!"

She stepped out onto the floor of the Doom room and looked around curiously as she wondered how it worked. The air in front of her shimmered a faint green briefly as she tested her ability to create a barrier around her, then gave a satisfied nod. Marcus transforming his clothes stopped her cold for a moment and she remarked "Wow that's totally a cool trick!" as she watched, secretly itching to ask about the glowing rune on his back.

With a shake of her head she stopped, then put her hands on her hips. "I guess I'm ready too. Let's do it?"

[Ari]

Subito had just learned that the transformation itself didn't require anyone else's benefit to be used(something he had long suspected but never outright asked for no good reason), and was presently floating upside down, dressed in his vibrant gold and blue herald's outfit, the cloth mask that covered most of his face from brow to upper lip appearing to be an extension of his face judging by how clearly it advertised every bit of the anxious look he directed at Net Fly for an instant.

Subito was still unsure what was causing the drive for improvement after the fight at the mall, mere perfectionism would have smoothed it over a while ago into the laundry list of problems to be solved, and his friend hardly seemed inclined towards gloom for its own sake. He pondered the idea that Serge wanted to protect somebody close to himself and thus saw any weaknesses as a risk to them, and dismissed it out of hand, casting the matter aside until after the testing was done.

Righting himself he floated towards the door into the nigh-legendary Doom Room in a soft golden haze, a thrill in his stomach telling him that he had been far more eager for this than he himself had bothered to think. "Let's do this" he murmured to himself, glancing curiously at Marcus and Kristin's signs of power. It would certainly be something to see them in action.

[Ari]

GM

As the four entered the wide enclosure of the simulator, a flat voice sounded "four mk.3 battle robots will be sent against you, defeat them using your individual abilities to assist each other. this test will not be graded or scored beyond a basic 'pass/fail' paradigm, good luck"

It cut out without fanfare, and as it did so four cloumns of light stabbed out from the floor to the ceiling, collapsing into four generically sinister robots with a gun of some sort for a left arm. The voice spoke again, with cold finality "the test will begin in 3..2..1..begun, good luck" and with that it clicked out of existence, and the four holographic robots began to thrum with an illusion of energy coursing through their bodies, lighting. Up their eyes as they turned towards the four students and raised their left arms...

[Ari]

Subito wasted hardly a second gaping at the robotic terrors before him, instead erupting in a flood of golden light that shone like a veritable lighthouse beacon. Raising his Bandera over his head, he shouted aloud "Come, my friends, let us bring our FULL POWER to bear against these metal terrors, and prove we can fight as one!" his words(despite themselves)seemed filled with an entirely real power, filling the small group with a previously diminished feeling of energy and strength. It seemed that whatever he had done left him spent, as he took a moment to get his breath back after the mystical exertion.

[GranspearZX]

Marcus nearly laughed when Subito spoke. Full power to bear... heh.

Instead, he crouched, settling into a stance as the robots appeared. He knew that they weren't real in the strictest sense of the word, but he refused to let that stop him from doing his absolute best. His hands relaxed, then clenched tightly into fists as a violet symbol branded itself onto the back of both hands--a pair of lightning bolts. They were only in view for a few moments as electrical energy shot up and down his hands and half his forearm. He shot forward, surprisingly fast for someone Marcus's size, making a direct path for the nearest hologram and taking a heavy swing at it.

[Ari]

GM

The punch flew through the air, violet energy crackling off of it in sudden arcs, and it collided dead-on with the Doom Room training robot's head.

Sadly, the punch had little effect, merely causing the thing to sway for an instant. Turning its single eye on Arcturus, the holographic robot beside the one attacked by Marcus raised its left arm, bringing it around it a hooking motion to try and punch Marcus in the side of the head. It it hid solidly, the metal club of its limb smashing into the (somewhat)senior's head with deadly force.

The other two, seeing the isolated target, began to close in on Marcus...

[Scuffles]

"I'm glad we got that really in-depth explanation of the simulation!" Glow quipped sarcastically as Subito blazed brightly and called out. The power of his words flowed through her along with a flush of adrenaline as Marcus surged forwards to exchange blows with the first of the Doombots.

The solid blows each of the combatants landed made her wince a little, but as the other bots started to close on Marcus she gathered her focus and shouted out "Hey! None of that!" and lifted her hand to point at the closest of them. The air lit up around it as she exerted her power and caught it firmly.

With a wave she sent the captured bot hurtling sideways, and grinned as it clattered solidly into the next one in line.

[Ari]

GM

The Glow-Propelled missile struck the offending hologram with enough force to smash it to pieces, the scattering shards and bouncing screws, bolts and armor turning to light as they hit to ground. The robot that had been used as a rocket slid across the ground for a few feet, its own feet badly damaged from the colossal impact. Seeing this, the 'bots appeared to be having a slight internal argument, clearly trying to figure out what they should do, their singular eyes rolling from Glow to Arcturus and back again...

"Good job Kristin! Great shot!" came the cheery voice of Archer.

The robot Glow had used to destroy its comrade got to its unsteady feet, aimed its blaster hand at Glow, and fired a pulse of coherent energy.

It sailed over Glow's shoulder.

[Vahnyu]

Net Fly witnessed as his teammates took to action, and he followed suit. From where he was, he crossed his arms in front of his chest, and started charging energy. As soon as Glow avoided the pulse from one of the robots, Net Fly had found his target. Once the vibrational energy had built up in his chest phone, he unleashed a powerful beam attack at the robot, by uncrossing his arms and allowing the energy to flow towards the robot, which, while it got hit, didn't seem to be phazed by the attack.

Putting all of his strength behind the next blow, Net Fly's fists started to glow, as he immediately threw them forward, creating a great sonic blast that hit the robot squarely on the chest.

[Ari]

GM

The second shot proved far effective than the first, whether because of weakening from the previous devastating wave, the resonance being at a better frequency for shattering steel, or mere luck, at any rate smashing the hologram to pieces that were absorbed by the floor. The last two robots seemed to be getting desperate, obviously unsure as to how the sundering blow that contained active lightening had proved less effective than the sonic blast or telekinetic robot-chucking.

At any rate, the last two figured they could do worse than attack the one closest to them. They aimed fully at Arcturus, firing twin barrages of blazing power from their fists. One shot went wild midflight(a simulation of the occasional unreliability of robots in the field?), but the other shot true, hitting Marcus square in the sternum.

[GranspearZX]

Things happened rather quickly, as they often did in a combat situation. One second, he got nailed in the face; he had just enough time to bring his arms up to avoid the worst of a blow to the chest. Still, it was a testament to everything that he'd been to before then that he didn't even so much as flinch at being struck. When an entire cult and a two-ton magical suit of armor were out to get you, robots this size weren't exactly intimidating.

Still, he actually smiled when Kristen threw one robot into the other. Part of his forward rush was him wondering if he could trust them to back him up, and they were definitely carrying their own weight, earning them a great deal more respect from him. He figured now, though, wasn't the time to dwell on it; Marcus bull rushed forward and took another lightning-charged swing at the robot that hit him.

[Ari]

Swinging his trusty Bandera about his head, Subito called to the other students "Guys! Focus on the one I'm about to attack, we're almost there!" with that, he flew just short of the robot maked with the number '3' on its chest, and swinging his arm back he focused carefully and shot forward, his super-powered fist crashing into the robot with deliberated might. However, he misjudged the force with which he punched, and the fact that for the holographic robots the head was a weak point.. With a sound of crumbling steel, his fist plowed through the robot's carpace, ending up on the other side of its head.

Subito stared at it for a moment and said at last "Er..the next one I guess" he hurriedly removed his arm from the vanishing hologram.

[Scuffles]

The battle turned into a bit of a blur for Kristin as one of the robots fired a shot at her and then promptly shattered into pieces under Net Fly's concerted sonic attack. She moved into position to follow up Subito's attack as he flew forward in a yellow and blue rush and had to suppress a snort of amusement as his fist plowed straight through the target.

The last robot was exchanging blows with Marcus, so she stepped to her left again to get a clear look at it, then hammered down on top of it with her telekinesis. A loud clang echoed around the simulator room, but the robot shrugged off the blow. Kristin's grin turned into a bit of a scowl as the rest of her teammates moved in to attack!

[Vahnyu]

Net Fly followed Glow and Arcturus, who had started to pile up on the now lone standing Doombot. He made a run towards the robot, concentrating sonic power in his fists, and swung for it, but in his eagerness to finish the robot, he put too much power and thanks to the momentum, his rapid punches went too wide; a punch almost flew at Arcturus, and Net Fly had to try his all in order to avoid getting the senior hit. What the... how did I miss? Net Fly thought increduly, as he regained his pacing and composure ... I went all in and messed my chance... stupid rookie mistake.

[Ari]

GM

Arcturus's lightening-charged punch slammed into the being of light without fail. However, the thing had apparently been fitted with shock-absorbers, as bent with the punch, the force hardly scuffing its holographic paint.

As the attacks of the young heroes either bounced off or went wide, the robot's targeting reticule(now visible since it was moving through the visible light spectrum)swivled from Glow to El Heraldo, firing a rapid, searing bolt at the novice hero that hissed just over his shoulder, taking out a broad chunk of his costume's left shoulder, causing a small(and hurriedly suffocated)fire on the youth's arm.

The glowing lines of the Ddom Room seemed to have almost imperceptibly shifted, as they all now flowed into the square the last robot occupied.

[Ari]

El Heraldo looked in amazement at the holographic robot as it withstood Arcturus and Glow's attacks. The way things had gone previously, he had assumed that they would easily plow through the things, and the idea they might have trouble even with such small fry as this did a great deal to change his perspective on the so-called 'minions' employed by supervillains. Be that as it may he reminded himself I've never heard of many heroes having all that much trouble with them, and it has only been a few minutes at most. So thinking, he hurled himself into the last robot feet-first, the double impact apparently too much for its defenses to stand up to, and it smashed to pieces on the ground before collapsing back up into the ceiling.

Subito gave a short whistle as he watched it dissolve "I'll bet not many real robots will do that" he commented. Turning to the other three he gave a cheery fist-pump "Alright! Great job guys!" he began to walk back over to the others, thinking to himself Thank you Blue Dame. I return your power, the costume dissolving back into the flag stitched under the overlay of his shirt, leaving him back in his jeans and blue t-shirt.

[Vahnyu]

"Geez, well that was embarrasing..." Net Fly remarked, as he clutched his feet, catching his breath while crouched. Subito was right; most robots would be far more durable than this bunch. Still, even though... easy, the excercise was eye-opening. Glow had performed exellently, as had Heraldo. Arcturus didn't get a chance to really shine, but it was obvious that he was holding back. And as for himself... well... Net Fly's performance was a mixed bag. On one hand, he managed to make up for his shortcomings by sheer dint of effort... on the otherhand, however, that same amount of effort proved disasterous a moment later.

After feeling his muscles relax a bit, he took a deep breath and stood straight and looked around. Going to Marcus, Net Fly apologized, scratching the back of his head "Hey, senior... sorry about that before, I..." looking back, half in embarassment, half in contemplation, he said "... I guess I wasn't really paying attention, and got carried away. I'll try not to let that happen again." Net Fly was sure that even if he somehow had 'miraculously' hit Arcturus during that misfire, the hit probably wouldn't faze him at all. But that was not the point; even the most tallented superhero can miss from time to time, but not by such a big margin. If it hadn't been Arcturus, it would be anotherone, someone who couldn't withstand blows as well as Arcturus, maybe even a civilian.

[Scuffles]

Kristin gave a little fistpump as the last robot went down and faded away, then jogged over to meet her teammates near the center of the room. "Well that wasn't too bad!" she decided, rather pleased that her first real try at fighting with her telekinesis and fighting in a team had worked out well.

"Are you guys alright?" She asked Marcus and Subito. The senior didn't look any worse for wear after swapping punches with one of the Robots, and Subito seemed to have shrugged off a laser blast as well, but she still wanted to check. After all, the Doom room probably had plenty more in store!

Serge got a bit of a sideways glance for being so down on himself. "Stop that! You totally pasted the one that was shooting at me! Thanks for that!"

[GranspearZX]

"I'm alive." He rubbed at his chin, stretching a little. It wasn't quite the workout he was expecting, but he had reliable teammates to thank for that one. He smiled, glancing over his shoulder at the three. "That always counts for somethin'. Nice job."

He flexed his fingers and the Storm Rune faded from the back of his hands, flickering into silence in a handful of violet sparks. He didn't really do much, but he suspected that the room would have compensated accordingly if he had--no sense in putting the other three in unnecessary danger, and there was no telling how they'd react when they saw him take an animal form. He blinked at Net Fly as he apologized, looking genuinely confused. "Sorry for what?" He knew exactly to what he was referring, of course, but it was probably better not to say anything. He figured he could afford to be a little more forgiving in a closed environment, after all.

[Vahnyu]

"Thanks, senior." Serge sheepishly said as he breathed a bit better, upon hearing Marcus' dismissal of his mistake, but he still felt awful about his rookie mistake. Not only that, Kristin's attempt to snap Serge out of it didn't help his unrest. "Kristin, please. Look, I appreciate that you try to steer me out of me being self-defeating, but there's something that you must realise. This is practice, true, but it's not about a game. What we do... is dangerous, not only to ourselves, but to everyone else as well. And while it's important to improve on our strengths, negleting or outright ignoring our weaknesses and shortcomings... is criminal."

Looking downcast, Serge added "I don't know... maybe I AM overthinking this... I mean, I know noone is perfect and all, I know that you can't prepare for everything, it's just that... you CAN prepare for a lot of things, and if you can, why shouldn't you? Why shouldn't I acknowledge my failings and strive to be better? Why should anyone be content about what he can do... when he can become SO much more?"

[Scuffles]

Kristin rolled her eyes a little. Oh he's infuriating! I wonder if I get in trouble for smacking him on the back of the head?

"There's a difference between learning from your mistakes and brooding about them. One helps. The other not so much." she said as she waved her hand at Marcus. "He's not even mad. Nobody got hurt. Walk it off, try to hit the next one!"

She shrugged, then a grin crossed her face. "If you never screw up and never lose then you never get better. That's what this place is for. And you don't think it gets called the "Doom" room because people win all the time right?"

[Ari]

Subito was getting a bit miffed at how Serge was dwelling on his mistakes. On the other hand, he had a pretty good idea that joining the others in reassuring him wouldn't be all that supporting to what he frankly saw as a deeply illogical way of viewing the world. He glanced at the gleaming lines of the Doom Room, wondering what they meant and did.

Instead, he called over to the others "Guys, we should get ready for the next round, don't want to spend all our free time in this place talking' 'bout stuff we'll probably forget about in a few hours" he walked off towards the small waiting area they had arrived at, calling over his shoulder "We don't want to be so scattered next time I bet".

[GranspearZX]

"Life is full of 'maybe's' and 'almost's'," Marcus said, shrugging nonchalantly. The entire thing was rather silly, and it was amusing to think that Net Fly thought that he'd actually be able to hurt him. "Keep lookin' back and you'll never see the future comin'. Besides..."

Marcus smiled broadly patting Serge on the back and taking a firm grip on his shoulder. He smiled and his expression went dark; still under the influence of the Beast Rune, his eyes retained a faint reddish glow, and his canines and incisors were larger than they probably should have been. He leaned in close and his voice deepened, almost as if it were someone else speaking, but Marcus's voice was still recognizable as his own. "If you don't stop talkin' about it, I'm gonna tear your arms off."

He laughed and followed Subito back to the entrance, leaving whether or not he was kidding up in the air.

[Vahnyu]

"Life is full of 'maybe's' and 'almost's'. Keep lookin' back and you'll never see the future comin'. Besides... If you don't stop talkin' about it, I'm gonna tear your arms off."

"Ehehe... Right you are, sir." Serge replied weakly. Trying to compose himself, he followed suit after Subito and Marcus. Putting his mask on again, Serge took the time to check his costume, make sure everything operated within parameters. While he hadn't recieved any damage during the fight, it was not uncommon for his suit to superheat after extensive use of the Sonic Blasts and Beams in short periods, especially considering the immense amount of sonic energy the suit constantly generates. By now the suit had completely cooled off. Checking his gloves, he could easily create sonic waves around his hands. His megaphone also seemed to work properly, and the various suit muscles held just fine.

"Alright, then!" he exclaimed after finishing the check up. "I'm ready. What's next?"

[Ari]

GM

Over the loudspeaker the bright, chipper voice of the teacher Aaron Cage rolled off "Good job, kids! But that's the easy kind of fight, and most supervillains put those guys to slow down your efforts, not stop you outright. That's where the next kind of guys come in. I talked it over with Summers, and he thought two stronger opponents would be a good balance considering the increase in power you'll see" the silhouetted figure moved noticeably, apparently answering a call from landline connected to the operating board. Bits and snatches of the conversation made their way through the loudspeaker "...Yeah Duncan, just fin..." "...nah, the're alright, just need..." "...the surges have settled down...". After a few minutes, Aaron said cheerfully "Sure thing, Duncan! I'll dial it back three notches, that should do it, I'll send you the live feed so you can see how they do for yourself!"

Addressing the students, Cage said "Okay kids, head back to the antechamber, rest up, get a snack or drink if you need it, talk strategy and head back out here in about ten minutes!"

-----------------------------------------------

After the four Claremont students had filled the given time and returned to the field, the dull drone of the Doom Room's computer announcer spoke: "next opponents are substantially more powerful versions of previous foes. general 'type' could be considered a lieutenant of the robots just defeated. equipped with stronger blasters, can fly, see in the dark and detect radio-waves. too tough to defeat individually expect potential case of student Marcus Irons. be safe"

Witha soft *beep!* the message ended and the Doom Room's projectors gave rise to two robots outwardly indistinguishable from the ones that had just been beaten, expect for the small thrusters attached to their torsos and feet. The robots looked at the teens assembled and began a smooth march towards them. In mid-stride the one to the left hand of the students activated its thrusters and soared elegantly into the air, where it quivered with the force of the jets, its single eye widening and visible splitting to track each of the students at once.