"Dey call me Patchworks, or yoo can call me Patchy if yoo want dat okees too. Wat dey call yoo?" Patch tried to sit on the chair, realized it was too small, scratched his head in confusion for a minute and sat on the floor instead. He was then near eye-level to the newcomer. "I not no wat for lunch but de tummy it hungry. I hope dey gots skettios dey gud!"
Ma planted the Guidon in the base at the front of the room, then turned to see the assemblage of heroes...and other things. She couldn't help but grin, what a rag-tag bunch of misfits, herself included. Glow in the dark, furry, patched together freaks.
"You'll want to stand upwind and some ways off," she said as she caught Michael's eye, "especially if your friend has a nose to go with the outfit." She nodded to the smaller person following Michael.
"I sweat ammonia, and I sweat a lot."
((OOC: Part of the incident that turned Janice yellow and caused her to grow to her height, also chemically altered her anatomy. She sweats a light green ammonia-like substance, same as her saliva and tears. It's hard on clothes, and smells like ammonia as well.))
The hero known as Patchworks sounded hungry, so Akazi reached in her fannypack for a meal bar. "Here you go Patchy. These Trainer Bars® taste pretty good. This one has BackAlley Brawler on it. Hope you like peanut butter, it's the only flavor I have. It should get you through until breakfast."
As she talked with Patchy, she noticed more heroes fill up the PT area. The tall woman whose name she didn't catch, came in with the flag she had been carrying earlier. She hoped to speak more with her later on when time permitted.
((OOC: I took the liberty of making a class Guidon for the thread. Hope no one minds.))
Tigonus made sure he followed the large womans advice and stood downwind. He noticed that the girl he had seen talking to her a few minutes ago was now talking to another Cadet. He seemed to talk differently than everyone else as well. Seeing this variety of people, with there different backgrounds skowing in the open made Tig a little nervous, but it also made him feel safe. In his home world, Statesman, had been an evil man, not unlike Tyrant, but a little different. He destroyed differences, if it wasn't his idea of normal, it was obliterated. It gave him hope that maybe this world was different than his own.
Michael followed Tigonus, figuring if his nose was as sensitive as his ears, he would know what a safe distance away from MaDeuce would be. As he observed the exchange between the others, he hoped P.T. would end quickly, it had been 4 hours since he ate last. He wouldn't starve, but he felt as if he would.
"The new girl seems friendly enough," he remarked.
At the point he turned to see...
((Nice guidon, Ilike the blending of the american and british flags. BTW tag whoever wants to step in.))
Willpower has more passive regen than Regen does. Who thought that was a good idea?
Can we get a fix for Energy Melee instead of more new sets?
(OOC: It's spelled Beeme, not Beam. Also, hand-to-hand combat training is now, so report to the gymnasium. Also, nobody got punished, as training was over for the day. Pay attention to my OOCs.)
Last night, in Dr. Malifarious's laboratory...
"I don't NEED thier location, I know where they'll be until at least 5 p.m. Now, unless you have something of WORTH to offer me, remove yourself from the premises or I'll HAVE you removed," as Dr. Malifarious said this, Masheen silently appeared behind the dark figure, ready to obliterate him, should he do anything hostile.
This morning, in the gymnasium...
As Buck, Tommy, and, for the first time, Lazier were waiting for training to begin, they were wondering what would happen today. Nothing ominous or anything, just idle wondering. They all took hits like schoolgirls, and weren't excited to be there whatsoever. Just then, General Outrage, the instructor for the course, walked into the room, and training began.
(OOC: this will be a PvP session, but no ranged or non-melee AoEs. General Outrage is just the trainer for this course, open sparring comes afterward, I'll signal the end of each course so that I can show you where to go next and what you'll be doing on arrival. the Military tactics/history course is taught by Private Party. btw, nobody seems to have noticed, but corporal punishment, the inspiration for Corporal Punishment, is a fancy term for spanking someone if they misbehave. 
)
[B]The Once and Future Official Minister of Awesome[/B]
[I]And don't you forget it.[/I]
[URL="http://paragonunleashed.proboards.com/index.cgi"][IMG]http://gamefacelive.com/bre/joker.png[/IMG][/URL]
Celes awoke to the blaring alarm with a start. She shivered under her covers, covered in a cold sweat from her sleep. She shakenly crawled out of the bed and turned off the alarm. She rubbed at her aching eyes and stared at the time. 3:15. She had at least fourty-five minutes to meet up with Punishment. Sighing deeply and trying to earse the vivid dreams from her mind, she quietly gathered her bdu's and hustled over to the showers. She rested her forehead against the cool tile as the warm water streamed around her. There was still a lingering coldness in her soul, left by the shard that was used.
After showering, she changed into the bdu's. She pulled her hair back into a messy bun. She gingerly touched her horns and sighed. They made wearing hats very difficult. Squaring her shoulders, Celes headed out to the quad. Corporal Punishment smiled happily as she walked up.
"Good Mornin' Sunshine. I think it's time to see how well you can keep the balance, don't you?" he asked, voice loud and hard-edged.
"Good Morning Sir! Sir, yes,Sir!" she replied, her melodic voice solid and strong as she stood ridged.
He smiled as he stepped aside to reveal a chair and two buckets.
"Since it is your mission to maintain the balance here, as you so believe, then my little half-breed prove it to me by balancing these buckets of water," he replied, staring intently at her.
Celes jaw muscle ticted for a moment as she looked questioningly at him. "Sir?"
He picked the buckets up and put them into her hands. "Stand on that chair, hold those buckets out at your side and maintian your arms parrel to the ground. This will hopefully prove to me and anybody else that you are capable of keeping a balance!"
Her face fell as she stepped onto the chair and turned to face him and the barracks. "You will maintain your balance until chow time in one hour. For every drop you spill will be a mile. No cadet will or should help you and you may NOT use any powers! UNDERSTOOD?" he bellowed at her as she lifted her arms.
"SIR,YES,SIR!" she shouted.
"I will not stay to babysit you, but someone will be watching at all times," he replied as he spun on his heel.
"Enjoy the sunrise, Cadet Desmonte," he smiled over his shoulder at her as he continued on his way.
Celes groaned as she stared at the still dark sky.
"God, breakfast will never come..." she sighed into the quiet pre-dawn air. Her shoulders were starting to tense.
(OOC Note: I'm so behind)
Alan got up after a nightmare about everyone from the other day dieing at the hands of a man with no eyes. He woke up and noticed his roommate was gone. He quickly got dressed and ran without giving his dream much thought, he had learned to live with them. He hadn't had a single good dream since he got his powers. He made it in time for the flag raising, Alright not to late.
Then he saw something that made his blood run cold.
Behind Embher was a man who he knew ll to well. He was 6 foot 2 with a eyes that said, yes I know more tham you and I'm furthering the gap everyday. His hair was dark brown with wings of white. The oddest thing was he had this feel of depression, but you couldn't help but feel good around him. "Hello sir, I was wondering if you could tell me where a cadet named Alan Michov or Mended ribs if he goes by that. Oh sorry, I forgot, I'm Psyosis, lead psychologist of Hero Corp." They way he talked made it almost immpossible to feel uncomfortable, Alan wanted to rip him in two, he was the reason he was here instead of being out on the streets doing something important like shutting down a Dyne lab.
"I'm sorry to hear that Doctor." He looked at Masheen, "Don't waste the bullets, I have no interset in killing you. I was hoping to make a deal." He paused for a moment. "Your going to send him to the Hero Academy in Galaxy then, pity. Still it's not my buisness if you want to attack them with heroes about instead of off in the city where noone could help them." He said not even trying to mask what he knew. He looked at Masheen, he was impressed, in his day this was something out of a book. He wondered what else he had missed over the last eighteen years.
Radon awoke with a start to the sound of Vindicated by Dashboard Confessional echoing from his alarm. Grumbling and cursing he forced himself out of bed, he had never really been a morning person. As he stood up a sudden pain shot through his skull, almost causing him to fall back onto the mattress.
"Ow, feels like a ping pong ball is bouncing around my brain. I guess that means that last night wasn't a dream." he thought as a smile crossed his lips despite the throbbing in his head.
Moving across the room he grabbed a towel and headed for the showers. He purposely got up earlier than the others so that he'd be alone. After he was done he headed back to his room and changed into a fresh costume. Looking down at his watch he saw he still had some time before the morning flag raising and hand-to-hand training. Opening up one of the drawers on his nightstand he rifled through the various first aid and medicines until he found some aspirin. After taking the allotted amount he lay back down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling thinking about the prior night's events. Suddenly, a blaring trumpet roused him from his daydreams and he grimaced.
"It's go time." he muttered as he got up and headed for the door.
Once he was in the hall he headed down the corridor towards where they held the hoisting of the flag each morning. With his head down and his eyes focused on the floor ahead of him he bobbed and weaved his way through traffic. All of a sudden someone stepped out in front of him causing him to run straight into them.
"S..sorry...about..that. I...didn't..mean..to run...into you." Radon said quietly not looking up at his "victim".
"Oh I'll show you how sorry you are alright, as soon as the open sparring begins." he replied as he gave him a light shove that knocked him to the floor.
From his newly acquired vantage point he looked up at his assailant. The man was dressed in a full body costume with a blue and black pattern across it. His mask matched the costume and covered his entire face. Although he didn't recognize the stranger, something about him seemed familiar to him.
"I'll see you later punk." the newcomer said as he continued on his way.
"What a jerk, no matter I'm not going to stoop to his level. When it's time for open sparring I'll just refuse to fight him, what's he gonna do?" Radon thought to himself as he got up and brushed himself off.
Dismissing the incident he walked on and finally made it to the staging area for the flag raising. He managed to spot a couple of his allies from the previous night and he also picked out a couple of others he hadn't seen before, but he was having a hard time spotting Celes. After a few minutes of scanning the area he gave up the search, figuring he'd see her in the gymnasium in a few moments anyway as the guidon climbed the flagpole.
"I hope that guy in the hall was just showing off and he doesn't want to actually fight me, because that's the last thing I need right now." he thought as the ceremony ended and they headed for the gym.
(OOC: Sorry if I got anything wrong, I'll edit it if need be, but I was just trying to meld everything that's been going on together.)
Her eyes had been closed as she struggled to keep the buckets aloft. Her back, shoulders, arms, every muscle strained and trembled. She ground her teeth as she breathed deeply. She wanted to cry. It felt as if tiny knives were cutting through her body. She opened her eyes, still trying to push pass the pain. A smile of triumph spread to her lips as she spied the guidon dancing up the flagpole.
Once it reached the top, Celes cried out happily and stepped down, making sure not to spill any of the water. She placed the buckets gently on the chair, afraid of the heavy trembling in her arms. Flexing her fingers to renew circulation, she began to shakingly make her way to the gym. Streching painfully, she winced as she walked into the gym.
"Mornin' Buck, Tommy," she replied spying the two as she began to gingerly rub her shoulder.
She glanced around the gym and shrugged softly, painfully.
"Am I early?" she asked as she continued to strech her taut muscles.
She winced. Man...hand to hand will not be easy today! I am going to be sooo sore tonight!
"Greetings one and all," said Lord Raymond as he approached the group. "Are we going to be having a spot of training today chaps? I'd be happy to teach you all how to take a hit without expeiriencing much pain. That is one thing I have been able to do since long before getting powers."
Lord Raymond was in an etraoridnarily good mood, for him that is, and was greatly looking forward to the days training.
"Go ahead someone, hit me."
Alan spotted the group from yesterday and went to join them, never taking his eye off the bane of his existance. "Go ahead someone, hit me." Came Lord Raymond's voice, Alan felt very in the mood to hit anyone, just seeing Psyosis made him angry. Alan didn't punch, last time he had tried it he had cut up his palm, but he had devoloped a decent kick. Approching from behind, "RAYMOND!" and with that Alan kicked him.
(OOC Note: Psyosis was mentioned before incase anyone cares.)
Celes smiled at Lord Raymond. His good mood seemed infectious. She raised a confused eyebrow as he asked someone to hit him. She shook her head, unable to understand why someone would willing get hit.
She noticed Alan walking in and smiled again. She felt a kinship with him. Maybe it was the soul powers. She was about to head over to him when he shouted and kicked at Raymond.
She stood there, hands at her side, and let her jaw drop.
"What the hel.." she replied outloud.
"Go ahead someone, hit me"
the englishman had said.
Well, all of the Brits I trained with were pretty damned tough, and this little guy looks pretty stout. Embher thought.
Tigonus heard the comment, but didn't understand why he wanted anyone to hit him. He was about to ask Michael, when he heard someone yell, "RAYMOND!"
and kick him.
"Pretty solid kick kid,"
Michael managed yo get out before...
Willpower has more passive regen than Regen does. Who thought that was a good idea?
Can we get a fix for Energy Melee instead of more new sets?
As Radon was about to enter the gymnasium he heard Lord Raymond's voice challenging someone to hit him. He hurried through the doors just in time to see Alan kicking at his rear.
"Darn, he beat me to it." he thought with a smirk.
Looking around the room the first familiar faces, besides Raymond and Ribs, he spotted belonged to Buck and Tommy. They were standing off to the side with some other guy he hadn't seen before.
"It looks like the Dynamic Duo may have turned into a Troublesome Trio." he smiled to himself.
"What in the hel.." he heard Celes say, instantly recognizing her voice.
Making his way over to stand beside her, he looked back to see what was going on between Lord Raymond and Mended Ribs. That's when he noticed two of the new cadets he had spotted at the flag raising watching the spectacle as well.
"Good Morning Celes, looks like the fun's started without me. This could get pretty interesting." Radon said with an amused tone to his voice.
She noticed the other cadets watching the fight. She almost shrank back into a shadow as a hand absently ran the curve of her horns. She felt the slight flutter grow in her chest as her nervousness slowly began to resurface.
"Good morning Celes, look's like the fun's started without me. This could get pretty interesting."
Celes turned to beam at Radon. The instant she heard his voice her nervousness disappeared. She relaxed noticably as she still rubbed a tender shoulder.
"Yeah, it looks that way. Alan has a fairly mean kick, but I think it is just a demonstartion. Raymond asked for someone to volunteer to hit him so he can show how to take a hit...i guess. I honestly do not know what is going on...I kind of just got here," she replied, smiling warmly at him.
"I just hope I do not need to participate today...I'm sore all over," she sighed, looking back at the group," but I think that is a hopeless wish, today."
Radon's smile turned to a frown beneath his mask. Not knowing about Celes' balancing act that morning he thought she was still sore from the previous night. While her eyes were on Lord Raymond and Mended Ribs he extended his hand towards her to heal her with his powers. Suddenly, his hand fell to his side and he stepped back in shock.
"What..what the hell is going on?! My powers aren't working! I've had more exerting battles than that and this has never happened before. What's wrong with me?!" he thought to himself as he tried not to let his panic show.
Turning back to Celes, he found her still watching the exchange between the two heroes. A bit frantic his eyes began surveying the gymnasium looking for anything or anyone who could be causing this. That's when he saw him, the same guy he had bumped into in the hallway was in the corner of the room looking in his direction and even though his face was covered he could tell he was staring right at him.
"Could...could he be doing this!? I've never heard of anyone having that kind of ability before. If it's not him, then maybe I've used up the power that Energyst gave me? But if that's the case is the radiation inside me gone too or is it still lingering within me killing me slowly?!" Radon thought his mind swirling with questions.
Closing his eyes he mentally slapped himself, attempting to calm himself down. After regaining a bit of his composure, he opened his eyes and turned to Celes.
"I..I think I can explain what's going on. Lord Raymond is letting Alan attack him to teach us his methods for taking less damage from punches and kicks. It doesn't look like Alan is holding too much back though, if this keeps up maybe the rest of us won't have to do hand-to-hand today." he said trying desperately to conceal the fear in his voice.
Tigonus heard more voices as he watched the "Demonstration", and turned to see who they were coming from. Apparently there were alot more cadets here than he originally believed. This new one though, there was something about her. He should have smelled her as soon as she entered the room, but he hadn't. She appeared to have some animalistic traits herself. The pheremones that the two cadets were outting off were obvious to him, but he wasn't sure if they realized what they meant, or if they could smell them for that matter.
"Michael,"
Call me Embher when were training or on ops, only Michael when were off duty.
"Sorry, Embher, who are those people, are they students to?"
Embher turned his head to were the Tiger had indicated, and saw two people, looked to be in there late teens, maybe early twenties. You could tell they were infatuated with one another, or perhaps they were just shy; he decided to find out.
" C'mon kitty, lets go introduce ourselves."
"Do not call me Kitty, human."
[ QUOTE ]
"I..I think I can explain what's going on. Lord Raymond is letting Alan attack him to teach us his methods for taking less damage from punches and kicks. It doesn't look like Alan is holding too much back though, if this keeps up maybe the rest of us won't have to do hand-to-hand today."
[/ QUOTE ]
"Fat chance of that happenin' kid. Im gettin in some hand to hand, even if it's with a brick wall,"
Embher extended his hand towards the man. In some cultures, denying a hand shake was an insult, shaking to hard meant you were trying to overcompensate for something, and shaking to softly meant you were intimidated. He wanted to get the measure of everyone he met.
" besides, I think the brit can take alot, tough guys those british. "
As he waited for his hand to be shook, he smiled and looked into the mans face, wondering if he would look him in his eyes.
Willpower has more passive regen than Regen does. Who thought that was a good idea?
Can we get a fix for Energy Melee instead of more new sets?
While Alan let his furtration out on Lord Raymond, Psyosis spotted him as he followed Embher, who wasn't very talkitive or his friend. "Thank you, looks like I'll have to wait abit before I talk to Alan though." He felt something rather interestting as emotions pentrated his psychicc barrier, it was fear and nervesness. He walked over to Radon and Cele, "Good Morning to you both, I'm Psyosis from Hero Corp. Would either of you know Alan?" Meanwhile he felt the mans nervesness, Interseting, kinda the dread of death. "Are you felling alright?" He asked Radon.
Patchworks stood by the edge of the gymnasium by the wall and watched the show. The guy who talked kinda funny asked someone to hit him so Alan obliged. He glanced around and saw all the people he had met so far, and several that he hadn't.
"Yar dere -are- a lots of peeples heer. It like a hol armee!" he mused to the nearby basketball hoop."
Radon's thoughts were interrupted when a tall man in army fatigues walked up. After commenting on the skirmish he introduced himself and extended his hand.
"Kid?! I'm 22 years old." he thought as he gave him a firm handshake.
He'd dealt with military before and was well versed at faking a good impression. He was about to ask about his furry friend, when another guy asked if he was okay.
"I..I'm fine." he lied, starting to feel cornered.
The morning air was crisp and cool. A great day to start anything. Akazi stood among the other cadets, some of whom she had met and others she looked forward to meeting.
A rather stocky man with a British accent was putting on an impromptu demonstration. She decided she would not be the one to take him up his human punching bag offer.
She tried not to stare at the woman with horns, but she was very interesting. She felt an aura* of fatigue from her. She thought of going to her but wouldn't know what to say or do for her, so kept her distance. The man talking to her seemed very concerned for her well being. You didn't have to be a psychic to read that. Although his aura suddenly changed to panic that he tried to hide.
A lot of interesting people...and lots of emotion. She was at ease scanning surface feelings of a crowd, but out of no where she got a stabbing pain. It was a psi signature from someone in the crowd. She let out a cry and fell to her knees.
((OOC: Aura* - the surface thoughts and emotions in someones mind comes to her as auras. Didn't want her to be a mind-probing intruder.))
Janice watched from the wall, waiting for the instructor to indicate what she was supposed to do during the sparring. Part of the understanding with her couselor was that she did not participate in combat with others, even mock fighting. What skills she had at close quarters came from years before, and there was a point at which you stopped practicing with anyone but the enemy.
Some people would joke around. play fake boxing or drop into a combat stance for play. She didn't play that way, couldn't. She remembered a conversation with the close combat instructor at Ft. Bragg, a tiny man from the Phillipines. One of the students had asked why, if he was so skilled, he never sparred with anyone using the rubber knives.
This wrinkled, ancient old man (he had actually served as a guide to US forces in WWII) had told them to sit. A moment later he wheeled out two bayonet-practice manequins, padded imitations of humans, and placed the several feet apart, as though two attackers faced him. Turning his back on them, he placed both hands on his thighs, the first position in his martial art. He asked for two of the wooden dummy knives, designed to leave welts but not make injuries.
"As you say," he had looked at the student asking the question, "I will respond to their attack." His phrasing was always odd, but it meant someone would give the go signal. The student gave it, and Janice had seen something unearthly.
This old man, older even than her grandfather, became a blur, accompanied by a sound like a flat tire at high speed. The dummies rocked, pieces of heavy canvas and leather flew everywhere. It seemed like a split second, but the instructor went on for almost a minute. When he stopped, there were two steel poles with tatters of cloth and padding where the dummies had been, nothing recognizable. The old man had turned, sweat on his brow.
"Even with rubber knife, I would kill you. When you fight, you never hurt the other, you kill them! Fighting is for enemies. When you ready to leave here, you will not spar again. When I spar, only death can match me, and she has not yet." Ma had heard he was still training recruits. Video they watched later had shown the instructor had landed 278 killing blows in 60 seconds, no misses. The man danced.
*Maybe I can do laps or something* she thought, looking at the others. She saw a set of heavy bags near the other end of the gym and started that direction.
((OOC: MaDeuce's flashback is based on a real person, who did instruct at Bragg for several years. The technique is called Pekiti-Tirsia Kali and the man is named Gaje. His speed is documented, so this is not a joke, and Ma is trained not to spar with anyone, only bags and dummies. She may be a blaster, but who says they can't hold their own in melee?))
Problems.... the voice faded in. Patch recognized it as Cybertron, the former owner of his right arm. The girl..... it whispered.
The sparring forgotten, Patch turned and heard Akiza cry out as she fell. In one bounce he was by her side.
"Oooh, yoo not look gud," he said helping her to her feet. "Yoo okay?"
Psyosis heard the cry and quickly felt it out, for him it was easier to sense pain and negitive emotions. He quickly locked on and went to find the owner. He came to a women who was kneeling, a of the cadets had found her before him. He walked over quickly and noticed that she to was a psychic, it was one thing that you could just tell about a person. "What happened?" He reached out and pulled the pain from her into himself, he had spent years learning how to do this without hurting himself much, he locked the pain away somewhere, no one was realy sure how he stored it away, but it was what allowed him to leave his home.
After getting her room assignment, Akazi spent a few minutes setting up her room. She didn't want to miss PT, so she changed into her black sweats. She wanted to keep most of her skin covered. She didn't follow all of the customs of her mother but she tried to cover her skin out of respect. It made her mother happy that she tried to keep the custom. In the company of her relatives, she wore a scarf and black abaya, a pullover worn over clothes. Her mother worked as a translator for the FBSPA (Federal Bureau of Super Powered Affairs). Her job sometimes required her to meet with other Middle Eastern dignitaries, and they followed the customs very seriously.
When she arrived at the PT area, she noticed a colorful hero apparently talking to a chair. As she approached, she sensed the presence of others within his mind. She would not use her gift to pry into others thoughts without their prior consent. She sensed the entities within his mind were protecting him at all times. She walked up and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Akazi. What's your name? Did I hear you correctly? Are they serving Spaghetti-O's for lunch? They are my favorite!"