2013-01-25 A Frosty Reward

Yesterday there had been a pretty big test in Bobby's math classes. One that had students groaning and the teacher none too thrilled either. But Bobby had promised a silver lining. If the classes as a whole did well enough, the following day there would be a reward. So when students arrive at Bobby's classroom today, they'll find a note telling them to report to the rear grounds and bring a coat.
Bring a coat? Well...
The weather reports called for the snow to fall at night but the rear grounds have been covered in a nice blanket of fluffy white snow. Ice sculptures dot the landscape too, random things like castles and dragons as well as a few people from the school. There's even a nice big icy obstacle course set up. People stepping outside will find Bobby leaning back in a frigid lounge chair sipping a hot chocolate and watching a few people already enjoying the fun out there among the snow.
Anole dressed in layers, making sure to wear a coat as directed. IT was cold, after all. Under the coat, he had a hoodie, hood up over his hairless spiked head. His hands are stuffed in his pockets and he's smiling a bit as he looks out to see the wonderscape out there for class. Vic was a good student, and nodded to himself in a bit of pride at the 'reward' he'd helped earn.
While Kwabena Odame wasn't exactly a student, he wasn't exactly a teacher either. Oh, he'd already filled in for a few lessons here and there, teaching students about the survival techniques he'd learned in the wilderness of Africa, and that seems to have been enough for him to have learned, via the whisperings of students, about Bobby's note.
Stepping out into the frigid cold, he's chosen to wear a warm beanie cap, along with his black leather riding jacket and a pair of jeans, complete with a light gray hoodie that sticks out from beneath the jacket. The X-Men uniform remains safely concealed beneath his attire, given that it was an essential aspect of using his mutation without unfortunate wardrobe disasters. Drawing near, he observes what is taking place while a small grin forms at the right side of his mouth. Finally settling his mis-matched eyes on Bobby, the Ghanaian calls out, "Dese ahr all yours?"
When he notices Vic stepping outside, Bobby lifts a hand to wave. "Hey, Vic! C'mon over here. Gotta talk to you about your test," he says, quite pleased with all his students. His attention is drawn by Kwabena next and Bobby flashes a grin right back. "Who else is gonna set up something this awesome, man?"
"Sure thing, Mr. Drake." Vic said as he trotted over towards bobby and stood near the lounging Iceman. "Real nice thing you set up here." he says, with a grin. "Wanted a day off, huh?"
Closing the distance with a crunching of snow beneath his boots, Kwabena's grin broadens. "I sure couldn't," he answers. "Nice job. You're an ahtist." His eyes turn next toward Anole, and he tips his head slightly. "How ahr you, Vic?"
"More like a change of scenery and subject," Bobby replies, making a quick finger-gun gesture at Vic. "No math today but nobody gets to play until they run the gauntlet," he gestures at that obstacle course. "Get through it and you can go enjoy the snow to your heart's content. But anyway...wanted to let you know you got one of the five highest scores on the test out of all my classes. Good job, little dude," he offers a grin. "Thanks, dude. So few people appreciate this art."
Anole's eyes flick to the guantlet, then back towards Shift with a nod. "Hey, I'm doing alright. How about yourself? Settling in okay?" he said, with a little smile to the newcomer to the school. "Well, thanks Mr. Drake." Vic said, grinning at the praise, and giving a nod towards the teacher. "Did this take a long time to set up?"
"As well as some few people might hope," answers the Ghanaian. His awkward phrasing is just a reminder that English is, after all, his second language. "I have been training my mutant capabilities and learning some few things in de process." A closer inspection might show that, indeed, Kwabena seems a bit tired. Most likely he's spent the morning in the Danger Room, but with the warm clothing on, any sweat stains remain safely hidden. "Good job with your classes," he adds, before diverting his attention to Bobby again.
"You know, I think de only artwork I've ever managed is to make messes of things. Well, and I seem to be very good at breaking things. Perhaps I need a new hobby."
"Making messes is an artform in itself," Bobby replies sagely. "As is breaking things," he flashes a grin the Ghanaian's way. Vic's question gets a slight wave of the icy mutant's hand. "Naw. Time flies when you're having fun anyway," he says. "So, you two wanna take a shot at the course?" he asks, an impish little smirk on his face. The course looks simple enough with bars and rings to climb, tires and tunnels to run through, walls to go up, and tunnels and slides to glide. Of course Bobby has an extra surprise or two planned.
Nodding, Anole clapped his hands together. "I think I can take it." he did have an extra leg up in that he was a natural climber. "I'll give it a try. Where is the start?" he wondered, taking a look around.
Kwabena gradually turns his mis-matched eyes to observe the obstacle course. He asides a glance back to Bobby. While he didn't know the Iceman too well, there was something about the quirky way he carried himself that suggests to Kwabena that... you know, this course might be more than meets the eye. Of course, when Anole signs up, he just can't back down. Wouldn't be prudent. "Sure," he chimes in, and makes to move along with Anole. "Be ready for some few surprises," he murmurs Anole's way.
Downing his drink in one gulp, Iceman hops out of his chair and coats himself in his icy armor. "Right this way," he says, leading to an icy starting gate with scultures of cheerleaders holding up a 'START!' banner. He indicates two spots for them stand and then hops his way over to the side. "Whenever you're ready," he says, moving himself onto an ice slide.
Of course things start normal. Run up a ramp, jump a few small gaps, cross some monkey bars...then there's a balance beam across a snow-pit. And that's where the first surprise is. Once Vic and Kwabena start to cross that beam, they'll find themselves under attack by a barrage of snowballs of various sizes from Iceman designed to knock them off the beams and into the pit where they'll get to climb out and start the beam crossing again.
Bounding forward, Vic made quick work of the first bits of the gauntlet, easily making his way across the hazards with his natural agility. Coming to the beam, the snowballs were unexpected- and he found himself dodging in place- before he took up a place clinging to the side of his beam and trying to inch his way forward. Tricksy Lizard.
Kwabena is not exactly the -most- fit mutant in the team. His own strengths lie in different areas. Oh, he's a fast runner, and he has one hell of a punch, but crossing those monkey bars? He's a bit slower than might be expected, and can't help but watch as Anole gets pretty far ahead of him. The balance beam, however, is looked upon with a sense of mirth and dread. He could handle it, of course, unless there were any unexpected surprises...
Like a snowball to the face.
Lethal contact might have instinctively poofed the Ghanaian into smoke, but a snowball? With a thudding sound, his black skin is coated. One boot slips, the other grabs, then for a moment he teeters until another snowball catches him in the chest. "Whoa!" he cries out, then loses his balance and begins to fall.
One leg hooks around the balance beam, and a crackling sound not unlike the cracking of ice fills the air. The hardening of his flesh gives him a bit of unnatural strength, and he swings his free leg up to join the other, so that he can drag his way through the maelstrom of snowballs inch by inch. He gains a bit on Anole, but... not too terribly much!
Iceman keeps the barrage up even as the two on the course find some defense. Every hit gets a little laugh from the cryokinetic and he nods in silent approval when they get across. The next parts are more tame. A fireman's pole to slide down at the end of the beams, ice tires to run run through, and then a tunnel to crawl through. After that, there's another surprise waiting. Bobby lands for this one, placing both hands on the ground and waiting.
It may look like a nice, calm dash to a climbing wall but there's definitely more to it. Vic and Kwabena get a new surprise in the form of small snow 'explosions' popping around them, knocking them off their feet if they're not lucky and just raining down snow on them if they are.
Dashing forward, Vic didn't expect the ground to blow up around him- causing him to fall and stumble with a yelp. "Bwah!" the young mutant said as he rolled and scrambled to his feet and towards the climbing wall where he'd hopefully be able to pick up a little speed, the African mutant having gained greatly, and just about neck and neck by now!
It's a good thing Kwabena hasn't yet poofed out of his clothes! The leather jacket and jeans are doing a nice job of keeping him from getting too terribly snow-drenched. He wasn't sure how the X-Men uniform would handle that. Were they waterproof?
Guess he gets to find out.
The first of those snow explosions is dodged, but the African makes a few quick glances about. A grin appears on his face, and he starts running... but the next snow explosion catches him fully. His jacket, jeans and beanie go flying, and up from the explosion comes a cloud of black smoke! The cloud goes vaulting through the air, arcing until it lands and reforms into Kwabena, garbed now in his X-Uniform. He 'lands' running in human form, only to poof again the next time an explosion hits him.
"You know, -dis- is kind of fun!" he calls out once in human form again. And yes, there's a -huge- toothy grin on his face.
Another stretch of normal comes once they reach the top of the wall. Hop across some more gaps, down a spiral slide, across some rings, over a few hurdles, and then the home stretch. A pair of ice bridges cross over another snow pit. And while they look normal, some spaces are designed to crumble away to nothing under the feet of people passing over them. There's only one path across those bridges that won't break away and it won't be easy to find with...MORE SNOWBALLS flying their way. At the end of it all is one last slide down to a gate marked 'Finish!'.
Bobby meanwhile laughs when he hears Vic's 'bwah!'. There's a moment of concern when Kwabena's clothes go flying, Bobby slightly worried he put a little too much oomph into the explosions. But when the African man reappears and calls out, Bobby laughs again. "Like there was any doubt!"
Up and over the wall, Anole was a bolt, he picked up his speed and really pumped his legs. He was flying now down the track, soaring over gaps and surfing down that slide.
The snowballs continued to rain down cold sloppy wetness and Victor found himself at a pair of bridges. He was barreling fully speed, and hardly had time to stop for anything- taking a leap of faith and trying to clear the bridge all together!
Kwabena is still laughing when he takes the wall in stride, vaulting into the air and climbing the wall in smoke form. Only his hands materialize out of the cloud, proving that he's come close to mastering that gaseous form as he pulls up a much lighter form of his body, which helps to close the distance with Anole...
Only to lose it again during the next string of obstacles. That green-skinned kid is fast!
Kwabena comes upon that bridge a good distance behind Anole, and gasps a bit as the mutant -leaps- across the bridge. He does the same, only he doesn't have the strength or agility of Vic. What he does have his a body that can turn into smoke, and so it does just that. The snowballs go right through the cloud as it soars in a wider arc across the bridge. He lands just off the edge of it, and his boot causes one of the fake sections to collapse, but he's able to recover by a hair's length. He just loses his balance enough to fall down the final slide face-first, and ends up at the finish line in a heap of snow. Laughing.
The snowballs keep coming in but when it looks like both Victor and Kwabena are reaching the end, Bobby stops the barrage. Instead he slides over to meet them by the finish like with a grin. "Have fun you two? I know I did," he says, offering a hand down to Kwabena to help him up.
Anole breaths heavily, half bent over as he sucked in air, grinning wide up towards Bobby, "I did, Mr. Drake. It was a good work out, a lot of fun." he said, with a laugh, as he then stood straight, hands behind his head to bend back and breath deep. "Woo." Vic gave a grin towards the teacher.
Taking the offered hand, Kwabena hops to his feet and breathes a sigh of relief. "Yes, and I am glad to find out dat dese uniforms are watah-proof." He pats some of the snow from his chest and arms, then looks over toward Vic, offering him a high five. "You are one -fast- mutant!"
Chucling, Vic shook his head. "Ah, not so fast. I mean, you know." he took the high five, "Yeah, That disappearing act you did was pretty cool, too." the young mutant offered with a grin.
"Glad you enjoyed. You're now free to enjoy the rest of the snow however you want until your next class. And feel free to come back after. I'll be out here all day," Bobby remarks. "They're only water-resistant," he corrects, teasing Kwabena. "You both did pretty goof there."
A grin is offered to Vic. "Believe me, it was not so cool when I did not undahstand it. You don't want to accidentally turn into smoke without one of these." He pats the uniform on his chest again. "It can be embarassing. Speaking of... where -are- my clothes?" He pauses to look around, eyeing the obstacle course. Sure enough, there lie is leather jacket, jeans and beanie hat, in a pile of snow. "You know," he says, looking back to Bobby, "Dat was a good trick we pulled off. I could see dat being useful." A meaningful look is given, for he's not going to speak about 'the team' in case Vic doesn't know about it yet.
Anole nods and runs off to play in the snow. "Alright, I'm going to go hang out!" he offered to the two older X-Peoples before he hurried of to explore and play through the winter wonderland Bobby had created.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Bobby calls after Victor. Turning to Kwabena again, Bobby shrugs. "They landed somewhere back there," he gestures in the general direction of the snow-explosion field. "That was a pretty cool trick. Our own little version of the fastball special."
"See you, Vic," calls Kwabena after Anole, before turning back toward Bobby. "De analysis machines say dat it's a 'matter phase change' mutation. I can do smoke and apparently liquid too, but I haven't quite figured that one out yet." A pause, and he reaches up to scratch his head. "It -has- happened, but... it can be messy." He gestures toward Bobby then and asks, "I wonder though." He squints his eyes a bit. "How -big- of a snowball can you make?"
Bobby shakes his icy armor off as Kwabena speaks, shrugging a little. "Sounds like it would be messy," he remarks. When asked that question, the cryokinetic mutant just grins. "How big do you want it?"
A glimmer of mirth comes over the Ghanaian's face. "I have an idea." He closes his eyes briefly, then his body poofs into a man-shaped cloud of black smoke. It hovers there for a moment before the general outline of his face appears in the swirling gas. His voice comes next, though it sounds strangely different, almost distant, like being carried on the wind. "Big enough to fit me inside of it?" The tufts of smoke begin forming next into a ball, swirling about each other in mid-air until they get about as tightly wound as they could, about half his normal size.
Bobby arches a brow as the idea is declared. As Kwabena goes smokey, Bobby watches and waits. He's not too fazed by the altered sound of his fellow mutant's voice, used to such crazy things. "Of course," Bobby replies, creating a snowball slowly bigger than Kwabena's smokey form. "It's way easy."
Eyes of smoke flick around as they 'watch' the snow spectacle tacking place. "Alright," says the voice. "Once I'm gone... throw me." Without hesitation then, Kwabena's smoke form moves toward the snowball, filling the tiny spaces in between the crystals. It takes a few seconds, but soon enough, there's not a tuft of smoke left, and that snowball has taken on a decidedly dark gray color. A really close inspection might show that there are still tendrils of smoke strewn throughout it. "Ready!" says a -very- muted voice.
Bobby jumps slightly when Kwabena loads himself into the snowball. He squints at the frosty projectile for a moment and smirks. "There's a dirty joke in here somewhere, I just haven't found it yet," he muses aloud. Winding up, Bobby pitches the snowball back towards the pile of snow Kwabena's clothes are waiting on.
The trick works! Tendrils of black smoke shoot out from the tail end of the flying snowball but they hold tight, carried within the snowball until it lands into the earth with an inglorious -splat-. The tendrils of smoke form back together until Kwabena re-appears, crouched down amongst his snow-covered clothes. "Holy sh..." He stops himself, what with the kids who are still around and all, and spins about toward Bobby. "Dat worked! I cannot believe it!" Laughing, he reaches down to collect his clothes, eyeing them warily for a moment. They'll need a bit of drying. "You find dat joke yet?" he asks, looking up at the Iceman with a big, toothy grin.
Bobby whistles at the end result of the plan. Not quite as dramatic and showy as he imagined but it wokes. Sliding over to join the other mutant, Bobby grins. "Usually I atleast take a guy for coffee before handling his ball," he tries, keeping his voice low enough so that students don't overhear. Not his best but the best one he's got right then. "Of course it worked. I'm the Iceman."
Kwabena snorts. "Yeah, you could do bettah dan dat." The African reaches out and claps Bobby's shoulder. "Well, good work dere, Iceman. I had bettah go and dry dese clothes before de jacket is ruined. See you round." He tips his head upward in a reverse nod, before trodding off toward the school once more.
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