2013.10.29 - Hit Me With All You've Got

It's morning, and Jocelyn was in the Danger Room. She had a session with Shift scheduled today. Jocelyn had just been promoted the previous day by Jean, and so she's dressed in the full X-Men suit for this danger room session. It wasn't a huge change from her previous uniform, and normally it wasn't anything special to remark upon. But it was her first practice with another member of the team as a full member of the X-Men, so she felt she should actually wear the suit. She'd probably go back to normal clothing for most sessions in the future.
Either way, the tall woman was already in the room, and was awaiting Shift's arrival. She had assumed nothing about the parameters of the setting for the room, as she was the junior member here, and figured Shift had something in mind already for whenever he arrived.
When Shift comes in, he's also dressed in his X-Men uniform, but that's normalcy for the matter-shifting mutant. The uniform, by now, has become almost as much a part of him as his X-Gene, and in a way, it serves as a reminder of what's important. The path he's chosen.
When the door slides shut, he offers a grin at Jocelyn. He's proud of the girl, having come so far in such a short time. "I undahstand congratulation is in ordah."
Crossing the way, Kwabena looks up at the taller young woman, his smirk growing broader still. "Well, you dahserve it, Detroit. Welcome to de X-Men."
"Thanks," Jocelyn says with an easy smile. "It's still a little new to me, but I'll get used to it soon enough," the teenager tells Shift. "The uniform fits, but it's still not quite part of me yet". It'll get there though. That, Jocelyn is sure of. "In some ways, it's because you brought me along to Genosha, really". It was her chance to prove herself. "So I should be thanking you".
"So, you had something you wanted to practice I think? It must be important, for you to make it down here this early," Jocelyn jokes. She was far more the morning person than just about anyone else in the building. Scott and Kitty were perhaps on the same level as her in terms of beliving mornings were her friends.
Ironically, Kwabena is not quite in the mindset to have any credit given to him. Jocelyn couldn't possibly have known of the argument he'd had with Rachel, but he's not exactly feeling like the most trend-setting X-Man right now. A dismissive gesture is given. "It was Jean's idea, really. But I did sign off on it." Is there a twinkle of mirth in his eye?
One of the things he appreciated about Jocelyn was that she often cut right to the point. He didn't really come here to talk about his problems with Rachel after all, and it's more than a welcome distraction. "Yeah. I'm, sort of wondahring about something." He peers at her curiously before asking, quite bluntly, "How much focused enahgy can you hit me with?"
There is a small smile at Kwabena before Jocelyn moves on to business. "Hmm. The computer has measured it at about the same as the focused energy of a tactical ICBM," Jocelyn says. In other words, a lot. "I can absorb more than I can shoot out in terms of energy, so I can't attack with as much as I can absorb". Which should give Kwabena some idea of how much force she can dish out at one time. "Just had the danger room test it when I got back, actually, since my power seemed to increase while we were in Genosha," Jocelyn explains to Shift.
Well, there's no shortage of surprise at how much firepower Jocelyn has at her disposal. "Wow," he quips, then nods his head. "Well, I'm not sahprised, you were in close proximity to some real powah-houses." Magneto, Jean Grey, Nate Grey, the list goes on.
He paces for a moment or two, lost in consideration. "So, if you can absorb more dan you can dish out, you could probably contain..." Stopping himself from thinking out loud, he turns back toward Jocelyn, frowning. "How much have you learned about 'particle physics'?" Beat. "Do you know what happens to a gaseous substance when it becomes hyper-excited by high levels of energy, radiation, or heat?"
"I'm far more of a Show-And-Tell kind of girl when it comes to physics and science," Jocelyn admits, pointing at her eyes. "Especially when it comes to way energy interacts with things. I've got some basic physics down, and I've focused more on various types of ways energy interacts with the world. But I only had a quality education for about six months. The rest was in Detroit's public education system". Which was not especially effective.
"So, keep it as simple as possible and I'll probably get it," Jocelyn says. "I've got enough of a reference point to understand the basic ideas before I see it in action," she explains to Shift. Really, a lot of physics was far more of an observational science to Jocelyn than a 'mental' science, given her gifts.
There is a nod of his head and an expression of understanding. "I hear ya," answers Kwabena. "You see, I have a basic knowledge, you know, of how things work, but I'll nevah undahstand de actual science of it. It's just too fah beyond me."
Still, the African's body has already begun a slow change, his arms turning into two arm-like clouds of thick, black gas. Sublimation from solid to gas takes a lot of energy, which explains why Kwabena is always eating or munching on something. His X-Gene does it effortlessly, but it still creates quite a show for someone like Jocelyn, who can literally see energy.
"Ah you seeing what I'm not seeing?" he asks, as the chemical reaction continues to crawl up his arms, ending at his shoulders. There, it ceases, leaving his arms to exist in their pure, gaseous state. Much less energy is exerted to retain that form, though it's likely that whenever he revers them back, a similar (albeit different) form of energy will be registered.
"Yeah, I'm seeing the chemical reaction. It's interesting to watch," Jocelyn admits, observing Kwabena's change. She has, in fact, seen him change before, both in and out of battle, especially when he was stuck in gaseous form for awihle. "You expend a fair bit of energy to make the change. I imagine it takes a bit to change back," Jocelyn adds. Though right now, she's more focused on what Kwabena is intending on doing with it than just watching the change. "I imagine the reaction is similar for all of your states".
"Similah, but different," agrees Kwabena. "Similah enough, dough."
With a sudden sound, like a 'whoosh' of displacing air, Kwabena takes upon his entire gaseous form. The black tendrils hover closely to each other, swirling about in a never-ending effort to remain attached, or close, to each other. He's learned so much about his powers, and is even able to maintain the shape of a man, with something resembling a face. The gas particles in his neck vibrate together, creating sound, like a loud whisper lacking some of the accent.
"When I'm in this state, howevah, the gas can be super charged by a high level of energy. Magneto showed me, in Bastion. I can't do it myself, not without a lot of effort. I want to see if you can, because if we're abah to locate Conquest, I have no idea what he's going to throw at us."
The gaseous face tilts down somewhat, and... and.. is it smirking?
"Hit me with all you've got?"
Even in the Danger Room, there is solar energy, having filtered in from various places. And Jocelyn can see it through the ceiling anyway, which gives her options. The teen first pulls in some energy to boost her physical capabilities. Increased toughness and reaction time seemed useful for this exercise.
Jocelyn then smiles at Gas-Shift and nods to him. "Alright," the young woman says, and she reaches out, pulling in all the solar energy she can find. She could really use just about anything, but she feels like using solar energy today. The charging up process is invisible to the naked eye, and the only way Shift would notice the woman drawing it in would be the focus on the girl's face.
"Here it comes". That's all the warning Kwabena is getting from Jocelyn as she takes a few steps back and opens up with a huge blast of solor energy aimed directly at the man in the form of bright yellow beam of energy. The girl is already ready to either heal Shift or absorb whatever fallout occurs as a result of this attack.
When the solar beam strikes, Shift appears to double over, captured by the blast. It throws him violently toward the far, opposing wall, but the Danger Room was massive in scale. The black tendrils are immediately supercharged, strands of yellow coursing among them as the cloud slows, countering the effects of the solar blast, which seems to pass right through him, scoring the opposing wall.
Those yellow strands turn to white, and keep growing in intensity, when suddenly, a man made of living plasma bursts out from it, soaring high into the air. The air crackles with static discharges all around him as his leap peaks and begins to carry him down toward the floor.
It certainly looks as if it worked. The creature of light strikes the ground without a sound, save for the sizzle that comes when white-hot plasma touches a metallic surface. Even the room seems to be growing hotter as Shift puts out a nearly blinding amount of energy, and he finds himself crouched upon foot, knee, and hand, looking up toward toward Jocelyn.
Jocelyn natural absorbs some of the thermal energy to keep herself from overheating, and quickly shifts her vision to filter out the plasma to avoid a very fast overload. She then slowly readusts her vision to allow herself to see the plasma-form Shift properly. "Wow. That's impressive," Jocelyn says, noting the man made entirely of plasma. "That's pure plasma". Jocelyn recognized that energy form easily enough. Though she did wonder if Shift could even speak in that form. She wasn't actually sure.
"I'd ask if you're alright, but you seem to be moving about well enough". Because yeah, it definitely looks like the charge up worked.
What does it sound like when energy speaks? Because energy can in fact speak. There's even a bright glow as the particles that normally constitute Kwabena's voice-box grind together, creating soundwaves. It sounds electrical.
"It takes a lot of effort. Focus. Energy." The form looks from left to right rapidly, as if the mutant lifeforce inside that living plasma is as supercharged as his body is right now. "I can't last long without fuel. Something to consume." And there's nothing safe to consume in the Danger Room.
"I don't have much time." Suddenly the figure leaps into the air, leaving fresh scorch marks on the floor. It flies upward, then abruptly diverts to one side with a blast of energy. Before Shift strikes the far wall, another blast of plasma stops him in his tracks, and he falls back to the floor only to hover above it by the spread of a few inches.
"Okay," calls the electrical voice across the room. "Now, absorb de excess, quickly. Help me return to normal!"
That's actually something that's not all that difficult for Jocelyn, and she begins to absorb the excess energy. She had questions, but now wasn't the time to ask them. There wasn't anything Shift could consume here, not really. The plasma energy arcs towards the tall woman and disappears into her as she works on clearing up the excess energy. She wasn't absorbing a massive amount at once here, so this wasn't especially difficult for her to do. She's more focused on making sure she doesn't draw in too much at once, in case that would harm Shift.
Steadily, the energy is withdrawn, though it seems that Kwabena's molecular structure seems bound and determined to stick together. Even though strands of the plasma are pulled along with Jocelyn's efforts, the actual biological matter is always pulled back. It ends up appearing as if his body is being ripped away piece by piece, only to be brought back together by force of will.
It looks much worse than it really is.
Eventually, Shift's gaseous state reverts to flesh form with another displacement of air. He draws a sudden breath of air (now that he has lungs of flesh again), and begins taking deep, heaving breaths. Winded, the African leans to the side, resting a gloved hand against the wall of the Danger Room.
"Wow," he pants, looking across the room toward Jocelyn. "Dat was... dat was..." Before he can finish the thought, he abruptly darts over toward one of the Danger Room's storage compartments. "Food. I need food."
Rustling through the compartment, he produces a handful of energy bars, and begins tearing them open voraciously.
The process is studied by Jocelyn as Kwabena is torn apart and put back together. Lifeforce and plasma seperating, in many ways. "I think," Jocelyn says, watching the man go after the food, "I think that we should attempt to find a way to bring you out of that state without draining the plasma," Jocelyn says to the man. Because really, there wasn't always going to be food on hand.
Jocelyn is still holding the plasma energy inside of her, so to speak, as she considers. "I wonder if I converted the plasma around your body, if that would allow you to retake your normal form more easily?" Jocelyn muses. She draws out a small bit of that plasma, holding it in her hand as the energy glows. She focuses and converts it into solar energy, the plasma energy turning into that familiar yellow glowing energy. "Or would that possibly mess with your lifeforce too much to try?" Jocelyn wonders.
Looking up from his quick devouring of the energy bar, Kwabena makes to swallow before replying. "Do you think dat's possahble?" he asks, while walking back across the room toward Jocelyn. "I think..." He pauses, holding up a hand and devouring another energy bar with one, gigantic bite.
"I think it's because you took it away. Absorbed it." He takes a moment to recall his prior experience with the unique power. "You see, I can absorb it myself, but it takes a lot of effaht. And while I've nevah been able to not control it, it's still only happened, oh, some small few times."
Chomp, munch, swallow.
"Wouldn't want to lose control out dere, in de field." A somewhat morose color comes to his face. "I've been disassociated before. Somehow, I maintained life. I stayed alive. But let me tell you, I don't want to evah have dat happen again."
He watches the glowing energy in her hand carefully. Speculatively. "I can refuel myself, so to speak," he ways quietly. "But it's... destructive."
"I think finding a way to pull yourself out of it without exhausting yourself is ideal," Jocelyn says. "I can serve as a backup to shut it off, so to speak. The plasma looks like it's within my range of strength to safely absorb. Though if the power always exhausts you afterwards, then you might also consider it a 'Fight Ender' power. Something you only pull out to finish the fight or in special circumstances". Jocelyn was thinking stategically now.
"As for if I think it's possible for you to find a way to get out of it? Absolutely. I think the process of finding that way will be difficult as hell, because these things always are, but I'm not exactly known for believing overly much in things like limits, not when the chips are down".
A nod is given about refueling himself. "What does it take to refuel you in that form?" Jocelyn asks. She can tell it won't be pleasant, but it was important information.
A rueful smirk forms on Kwabena's face. "A 'Fight Endah' powah. I like dat." He fully understands how difficult these things can be. There's no disagreement there.
Jocelyn's question about refueling draws a frown to him though. He crumples up the wrappings and stows them inside one of his uniform pouches, before turning to walk across the room. "Anything it can burn or destroy can be absorbed. Organic material is best. Trees. Vegetation. Dey have de building blocks of life and nutrition dat won't harm me."
He turns back to face Jocelyn. "But it goes both ways. Lessah metals, you know, softah ones such as coppah? I could end up with a very bad case of lead poisoning." He's looked at the preliminary evaluations in the science lab. "Something about... chemical constructs and da way dey bond with de mutagenic propahties of my biological mattah."
He doesn't even speak about the possibility of absorbing animal life. It happened at Genosha, and he suspects it may provide the best source of fuel of all, gruesome as it may be.
"In other words, absorb too much and there should be a healer nearby to fix you up, or you should be prepared for a lovely visit to the medical bay for some medical drugs and a few days of boredom," Jocelyn says. She doesn't need Kwabena to extrapolate past trees and plants. She can guess that animals, and perhaps even human beings, would provide even better fuel for him. It was just a somewhat disturbing thought. Moreso the humans than the animals. If he absorbed a swarm of mosquitos, Jocelyn wouldn't complain too loudly about their loss.
"It is certainly a very potent power. I wouldn't want to give you a hug while you were in that form," Jocelyn assures the man, finding herself a little bit of wall to lean on. "Also, sorry if the blast hurt too much. You wanted full power. I might be able to tone it down and still kick off the chain reaction," Jocelyn offers. She did, in fact, not enjoy shooting her teammates with her energy blasts.
"Also, it is something we should work on some more. You're only going to get better with it if you practice. I'll start bringing some firewood down here and we can practice," Jocelyn suggests to Shift. Despite being the newest X-Man, there's too much the sports competitor and trainer in Jocelyn to not make that suggestion.
Medical bays. Kwabena scowls. "I could do without evah seeing anodah medical bay."
Fortunately, such conversation is short-lived. Kwabena doesn't say a word about absorbing animal life. Another conversation, another philosophy lesson. Instead, he laughs out loud, and shakes his head. "No, no hugs. Not unless you like third degree burns. Don't worry about de blast. It doesn't hurt, honestly, it's more like... well, I am not sure I can really describe it. Unsettling, yes. Painful? No."
"Plenty of wood to burn around here," he quips. "Dough if we destroy de treeline, Chuck might chuck is right off de team."
He walks across the way, forming a fist and offering it to Jocelyn as something to bump. "I'd bettah go get some food now. Lots of it. Meet me back here in an hour?"
Category:Log