"So, thoughts?" Wolverine asked the guest next to him as he crossed his hairy arms and stood at the Danger Room's controls. The girl with raven hair just sitting patiently in her seat, quite and meticulous about the details she picked up on her fellow students before responding. "At first glance many would say the teams seem uneven... "unfair" with a clear disadvantage for one of them. But, things don't appear that simple."
Logan nodded his head in approval, "Yeah kid, this match'll come down to whoever uses the most wit." he added as he watched each kid rush over to form a circle in their groups down below. The girl sitting forward in her chair as she looked onto the students participating in this intriguing excercise. The man next to her facing her direction as he asked the next question "What are your thoughts on them?" She looked up at him and leaned back in her chair, arms crossed as she casually pushed away the extra strands of voluminous black locks before she replied with her thoughts. "Depending on how they play their cards the match could go either way. Scott has Jean, Katherine, Bobby, and Kurt. All decent additions that can provide both defensive and offensive strategy to their plays once all of their abilities are taken into consideration."
The girl slightly leaned over to her right as she got another glance at the team and continued on with her thoughts "The weak links are obviously Jean and Scott when it moves towards fast paced hand to hand combat territory. One lacking any form of self defense skill and the other with only mild training at best. Katherine gets by on her intangibility as it proves a difficult task when attempting to land any blows on her, or remove her flag. Kurt has the highest levels of mobility and combat speed among the group with his teleportation, along with Bobby being able to prevent any chance of actually getting hand to hand unless you can blitz him." Logan was impressed with her skill in deciphering a situation quickly and efficiently so far, but he kept a straight face as he listened and came with a response when she finished.
"Elf and Bobby, what role do you think they'll play?" was his question as she responded with a look down towards the team. Accessing the situation before speaking with her leveled head "Bobby will most likely be defense, his ability to instantaniuosly freeze his surroundings will be used to protect their leader at all cost along with Jean." "So you think Jean shouldn't provide front line support?" questioned Logan as he wanted to test how far she had thought things through, prompting her to go into more detail. "Yeah, Jean is their only means of communication without alerting the enemy, and her telekenesis though effective and powerful takes too long for her to use at its fullest potential when taken by surprise or overwhelmed by numbers. So, she would have trouble if she ran into Parker, James, maybe even Rayne when at the front lines, not to mention it's too much of an issue once carrying anything above fifty pounds at the moment when it's moving at an accelerated rate. Five seconds is five seconds too long when in combat." The man just sat there, a slight smile at her explanation as he spoke "Alright kid, continue." "Kurt will most likely take front and center stage in an offesive move towards their aggressors. He's fast, agile, and nimble, then his teleportation will prove to be a task on its own to get around. Though I wouldn't say impossible, he has a problem with not thinking things through and a lack of attention to surroundings. Not out of cockiness but out of naivety and a search of fun, a mindset that can result in careless rookie mistakes on his end."
"Sounds like Elf alright" Logan replied with a roll of his eyes before he looked down at the kids to see what was going on. "What about the newbie's team? What do you gotta say about 'em?"
At that moment she then faced towards the others, taking in the sight of who were the kids that made up this group. "They consist of Rogue, Evan, James, Rayne, and that new kid Parker. At first sight it would seem as though they were handed the shorter straw in this excercise as they're best players so far are Parker, James, and depending on the situation Rayne or Rogue. They're players are most useful in only a limited number of situations because of opponents like Katherine and Kurt. Evan's ability to create those bone spikes of his is rendured practically useless against agile and fast opponents such as Kurt, not to mention Katherine's ability means he can't prevent her from closing distance between the two." Wolverine turned towards her direction and commented "I see."
"Rogue is powerless til she can tag someone, and the team knows that so no form of surprise there. Rayne ,though on the faster side, is easily outclassed by Parker and Kurt when it comes to mobility, reflexes, and agility. She doesn't have their means of bringing a fight to the walls and skies if need be for extra cover or a vantage point. So, if she ends up in a standoff against Kurt, and if she can't get the drop on any of the others she will have practically no chance except for perhaps Scott. "So, what do you suggest?" "I suggest that they leave Evan and Rayne to support along with James. Using his clones to create too many numbers for Jean and cover for the others will be the best play. Kurt won't be able to jump in and steal flags unless he steals all of the clones flags first."
Logan nodded in approval as he stood there now wrapped up in thought, the room going silent as neither seemed to bother bringing up any new point of conversation about the event. Or, at least he didn't as he pulled the switch and the room began to change based on the settings, box shaped walls stretched out and stood up from the floors and sides of the room.
"Red team take your places, and Blue team do the same." exclaimed Logan from the speakers into the room of teenagers. Watching them move as he stayed in place at the controls rather then sit in the chair next to this girl he invited up into the observation deck to examine the teams from a birds eye view. She watched him stand where he was and didn't bother saying a word, at least verbally... She knew she wanted to talk, or at least she thought it was what she wanted. Some form of interaction with him that didn't just last ten minutes would have been appreciated. "Hey kid" he suddenly said, the girl looking up towards the man as he didn't even bother looking away from the glass as he did so. "What exactly do you see in me?" he simply asked her in a monotone voice with a reluctance of giving any eye contact. She studied his behavior, his gestures and movements ever since they had gotten into this room, he stood with his chest out. Hands in pockets then out by his sides, then crossed arms to relaxed hands before crossing them again after the switch had been pulled down in slow motion to her. His body offset between the panel and her position was as if he was stuck between two decisions, a light sigh floated outside of her mouth as she noticed the lack of eye contact truly showed how uncomfortable the question made him...
Down with Peter's team
"Alright, everyone remember the plan?" questioned the brunette standing front and center, nods all coming from different positions behind him as his team answered in unison. "Okay, Rogue are you sure that it's only direct skin contact?" Peter asked the gothic one of the group. "Yeah, I need to directly touch ya skin." she said in reassurance as she stepped behind him. Peter nodded once told so and brought her onto his back to prepare for when the horn or whatever rung. "So ya'll will go ahead and try to sneak Kitty from above right?" asked James as he stood with Evan and Rayne.
"Yeah, if we can get rogue to steal Kitty's abilities then it's over, we'll be able to catch Bobby by surprise and get past his defenses to steal his flag, not to mention she'll be immune to Kurt's advances." Evan stepped forward and motioned for his attention. "Well, I'm sure ya'll got this. Good luck to you two man" he commented before the sound of a horn suddenly rung in all of the students ears, planning time was over. "Yeah, now stay together, and James I trust you to provide cover!" Peter shouted as he then jumped off with the girl on his back, luckily her choice in a long sleeve shirt and yoga pants allowed for her hitch a ride on our hero. James answering in return as he took a quick second of concentration and made a few clones. All looking at eachother before coming together for a highfive with the original. "Guess we should start moving slowly then, try to keep the element of stealth to our advantage."
With Peter and Rogue
"Oh my gawd!" she shouted in surprise at the speed they were moving, a foreign thing to her as she's never had the chance to approach any situation this way. Unknown to her this boy had an insane amount of equilibrium, his body no matter how his position changed would always act like it was right side up, his acrobatics and increased motion was second nature to him and it showed. But, along with that it showed how unaccustomed her organs were to these conditions, her stomach floating around when they built up speed in their descent towards the ground. Then with such speed her torso jerked at the drop that brought then to the shining metalic floors. "You alright?" the boy asked her once they came to a halt, looking behind himself he saw her nod and wipe her mouth and face before replying "Just... getting a little motion sick, not all of us move like you and Kurt." she said with a smile.
He nodded and replied "Well I can go slower if you want?", "That would be... Would be nice" Rogue responded with before feeling her stomach sink again when he took off towards a wall. He wasn't as fast as earlier, but still something to get used to. Peter landed on the surface and held onto its edges with the strong grip of his fingers, looking around before finally leaping again towards the next wall and holding onto the edge of that one. They both surveyed the area and looked for any signs of Kurt coming from above as the team had predicted. Silently moving around the field from wall to ground and then to wall again in different orders. "Think he'll come at us from above?" Peter had asked the girl on his back, her arms held tightly onto his neck as they moved from the fear of falling. "I-I believe so. last time we did this that was the way things got done."
Peter jumped to his right, landing in a crouched position before he stood up and leaned back for Rogue to adjust herself and let go. Once on her feet she tapped the ground with the tip of her shoes, almost as if she was testing the waters before she made a dive. A deep sigh left her throat as the girl reached both pale arms to the sky and stretched and was getting used to the relationship she had with the floor. Peter watched the girl as he replied with a smile "We'll take a short break, if you started holding onto me any tighter you would've been dragging a unconscious body next." Rogue turned around and brushed any random strands of white and brown hair before giving a small laugh "Oh, sorry there. Not every day ya go jumping all over the place ya know? well, unless you're... you know, you."
Peter nodded with a grin and a small laugh escaped his mouth before returning a few words, "Yeah, don't worry I understand" the girl returned the smile and replied "So, ready to continue-".
"Hello Guys!"
interrupted a blue haired friend of theirs, his arms outstretched towards the girl before him. Time seemingly slowed down as she turned to the visiter and he reached for her flag with a big smile as if he had victory in his grasp. That was before our speedy hero had his palm wrapped around her covered forearm, and with a sudden yank she was moved towards him and into his arms bridal style. Peter squatted down and extended his legs into a backwards leap in an attempt to escape their opponent. Rogue shouting with tightly closed eyes as everything was happening so fast, to her it was just a second ago that they were completely stationary, yet now she was becoming aquainted with the wind in her face yet again. The breeze from Kurt and Peter's exaggerated movements made strands of hair rise and fall, whipping around in their faces before they came to a halt when landing on the ground. "I'm a get one heck of a heart attack with ya'll."
Peter looked at the girl as she adjusted the hair from blocking her vision, "Oh, sorry. Didn't have much time before Elf over there would've taken his first flag" Rogue looked to Peter "Fair point." Kurt stood up and teleported up onto one of the blocks of cover before commenting "Woah, you're pretty fast Pete." Looking down at the two before stretching out his body and sitting on the edge of the structure. "How did you find us Kurt?" Peter asked the boy while he tried to come up with a plan on how to deal with the slight change in their situation, he needed to be able to stall the blue haired friend of theirs after he got Kitty's flag and powers not before. "Well, I heard the two of you talking. So, I simply followed that and, BOOM! Found ya" he answered in return, his tail swaying side to side as they shared dialogue.
Peter was confident in his speed, he's dodged bullets at point blank and often relied on superior agility and reflexes to win many bouts, and this was no different. But, he held onto his friend Rogue because of the circumstances, he would need to be ready to make a quick retreat or keep her out of any danger if need be. His eyes moved around and surveyed the area while he searched for some form of a distraction or object to take advantage of.
"So, ya got a plan Pete?" the southern bell asked him while staring at Kurt, looking at the boy in search of a reply from the guy who was currently holding her "Yeah, well maybe... Just one sec." Peter was stumped, there were multiple ways to go about this but he needed to find one with the highest chance in keeping Rogue away from harm or Kurt which required a little bit of thinking. "Okay, Like me I assume Kurt is best suited when in open spaces like these I'd have to guess. From what I've heard he's remarkable in mobility. With his teleportation allowing him to get the drop on us more often then not, and I have a passenger and so I can't move as fast as usual either." Kurt sat waiting on Peter to make a move, and when he didn't the boy decided to make one instead. He disappeared in a puff of smoke and a small flash of light before appearing behind the two in an identical fashion. This resulted in Peter's spider sense going off, though from the lack of much lively harm in intent or action it only tickled the back of his neck.
Yet the boy crouched with Rogue in his arms, the girl being surprised by the sudden jolt of motion and holding onto her team mate tightly as he pivoted on his foot and leaped away again. Keeping a few meters of distance between him and their blue friend as he tried to come up with a plan of attack. So, in return Kurt teleported over to them again and reached for Rogue's flag from the front as he lunged at them, Peter tightly holding the girl as he jumped up with a squatted pose in mid air. Landing on the ground as he swung a foot around and planted it behind his body to be ready for a quick dodge if needed. A step that he would save him a fraction of a second as he bended to the right and flipped over onto a wall, jumping off the surface and back onto the ground before ducking again.
The two students, moved like some big game of cat and mouse, Kurt was focused on catching the brunette as his opponent dodged each advancement completely or just narrowly. His blue fingers gliding across the air that surrounded our heroes skin whenever they ended up acting or reacting to eachother near a wall. "Oh I'm gonna be sick!" shouted a naseous Rogue as she held her mouth shut soon afterwords, and the other wrapped around Peter as she didn't wanna fall. He looked down at her and then launched himsef over a structure and onto the other side of its wall before setting her down to rest. "I swear, last time I hitch a ride on ya..." Rogue quitely joked to the young man that set her down, looking up at him as he gave a small awkward smile and she returned one back to him. "Heh, sorry. Well stay here I got Kurt." replied Peter, and this surely caught the girl's attention as the boy then took off in a single bound.
Wagner teleported upwards and on top of the structure, seeing himself met with the boy Peter as the two sized each other up in a single glance before opening their mouths. "Gotta hand it to you Kurt, you're pretty fast no doubt" the kid nodded in return, slightly crouched before replying "Yeah, you're definitely light on your feet." Parker smirked before lunging at the boy and being met with a face of smoke, grabbing the edge of the platform as his fingers slid across its surface and he pushed himself into the air before following with a back flip. His body preparing for a landing as he made contact with the ground on all fours and was met with his blue friend. A three fingered hand reached for the flag as Peter hopped and reached for their flag in retaliation. Both dodging each other's advancement as they came to a slight halt before reaching again. Kurt's body contorting as he spun out of the way and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Peter's spider sense went off and right after that came a flash of light and blue smoke, both of these opponents hands reached for the other's flag but only made contact with air. Peter had brought himself down into a crouch before spinning on the pivot of his foot and swiping the guys feet. Elf met the ground with a thud and then teleported and repeared at the corner of the building before Peter could grab his flag and get him out. The two came to a stand still, neither getting the other's prized possession in the few attempts and so our hero had to rethink his strategy. "I'm faster then Kurt that's for sure, his reflexes don't seem to be on par with mine and neither are his movements. But, that teleporting makes it hard to connect, and even if I do it's impossible to do so without showing off too much. Logan's already noticed, so I need to keep it low expeienced and sloppy looking."
He stared at the guy, and the guy stared at him. He could only assume what he was thinking, how would he take him off guard and Peter didn't wanna stay in one place too long for him to form a plan, so the brunette jumped off the surface. Kurt's eyes widened as he was suprised with the choice of action and decided to chase after the guy in a puff of smoke. Peter free fell to the ground and landed with grace only for Kurt to land beside him and reach for his flag and in return Pete jumped out of the way. The blue and hairy friend of there's preparing to teleport for another shot at it, except that he was interrupted, a feminine hand reached and tapped his neck with a light touch.
The hand led up to Rogue's face as the two shared a short moment of their bodies shaking as a reaction to the sudden shift in energy. Kurt's leg became weak and the wind was knocked out of him as Rogue drained him of power and experience, taking a knee right after her finger left his skin and his lungs began refilling with oxygen. The southern girl then leaned down and grabbed the cloth around his waist before yanking it and claiming the flag. "Awe man..." said Kurt as he rubbed the spot where him and the girl had made physical contact, it felt weird and sensitive as he got to his feet. "I guess that works too" Peter said before walking over to the girl with two-toned hair as she tended to covering her hand in the black gloves from before. Kurt looked to Peter and went for a highfive and smiled when the gesture was met with one as well. "Guess I'll see you two after" the blue boy said as Peter nodded and told him to enjoy the show, which was met with laughter from them all before Kurt teleported out of the arena via his powers.
He reappeared in the observation deck to ask Logan a question "Hey, Logan I--" but, before the furry kid could finish his sentence Xavier had taken over of the situation and began demanding everyone of his students besides Parker to head to his office. Everyone was taken by surprise, and some slightly disappointed in the sudden rush when things were ending so soon and the sound of kids questioning the sudden.
Peter looked around and stopped his gaze on Rogue as things changed back to normal "Hey, what's going on?" sadly she hadn't a clue and just shrugged before walking with him to meet up with the others. The teens making their way to the elevator and then up to the base floor before stepping out and into the rest of the house. "Hey, sorry about the interruption" Scott had said full of dissapointment for his new friend as their game was discontinued. "Oh it's no problem, I'll just head off to my room... I have some stuff to do anyway" Peter calmly said so as he began to walk off towards the bedroom while the other students were on their way to Xavier.
"Well there goes the 'new guy' vibes again..." the boy stated as he walked into the room and closed the door behind him, a sigh leaving his mouth as he looked at the ceiling, a sudden thought coming to mind before he smirked and then jumped to his feet. "Instead of wasting time around here I can do some Spider work, I'll just leave a note saying I went into town and then I'm out." He jumped down to his floor and kneeled before reaching under the furniture and removing his suit from there. Examining it as he quickly stripped down and pulled on the uniform, its tight fit wrapped around Peter like a second layer of skin as he then leaped to the window and left the school grounds.
A few moments later the scene reopens with a red hand performing the signature gesture that resulted in a thick line of web fluid hardened by the air to escape. Slamming against a bulding and sticking to its surface intensely as the Spider-Man traveled by holding to the other end and traveling in a pendulum before letting go at the lowest point. A trick he picked up rather soon in his career that allowed his momentum to be focused forwards and allowing him to pick up higher amounts of speed when needed., or whenever he preferred. After all web swinging had become a thing of relaxation and fun for the teen, and that was exactly what he needed now that he's easing back into the hero biz. A shout left his mouth with the upmost enthusiasm and cheer while his hands moved quickly and efficiently. Next letting go at the height of his swing launched him in the air and he relaxed at the highest point of his accend, both arms spread out and eye closed while he welcomed the momentary pause so high above. Then his body began to go down, its vertical motion heading towards the buildings and streets below as Spider-Man bent backwards and found his posture fixed towards his speeding. His hand outstretched at the last moment before and with a big
WHOOSH
he was headed down the street with a gust of wind. "That never gets old!~" Spidey commented as he yanked on the line and found himself posing with the latest swing. Reaching both hands out and shooting two lines in front of him as he zipped over to a building and flipped through its fire escape, counting the style points in his head as this had some fun to it. It was like one of those skateboarding games where the player was put into a wide open sandbox to roam with and do as they desire trying to gain scores for tricking whenever they could. Peter figured earlier on that if he could have fun, then getting all the practice he needed would be a blast, so attempting to score here when moving through fire escapes or over there when whipping around a corner made him smile in his down time.
But, like all nice things they must come to an end...
BOOM!
A nearby by shop had exploded, its glass hurdled into the busy streets and sidewalk as people ducked for cover and those that were injured screamed a horrid sound. The web slinging wonder shot his head around and twisted towards the building, shooting two web lines at its walls before jetting down and landing on the brick surface. "Is everyone okay??" he shouted as the crowd from below were mostly in too much panic to even notice, people screaming and shouting as they ran from the scene or atleast those who could. A small boy with his mother was crying as his soft hands pushed on the woman's back repeatedly, but she didn't move, the only thing about her with motion being the blood that oozed out of her wound.
"Oh my god!" Spider-Man said as he jumped down next to her and looked to the kid, a tremendous amount of fear in the kid's eyes as they continued to try and wake up their parental guardian.
"Is this your mother?" Spidey asked, recieving a timid nod. "I'm a help her, okay?" were the words he spoke to the kid before looking at the woman's neck, but he quickly noticed that the blood soaked under her torso luckily didn't originate from that area. So, he lifted her body slightly and found that she was bleeding from her back in different places, wounds that the shattered and ridges edges of the glass could easily cause on an average person. Spider-Man webbed the spots where the red liquid was leaving her body, and then proceeded to lift her up into his arms and helping the kid onto his back so that he could get them away from the danger. An action that he did just in the knick of time before jumping out of the way when his spider-sense rung with fair intensity in its attempt to warn the young hero.
He landed on the opposite side of the road before he called out for anyone to call for the authorities "Someone! Anyone! Call 911, this woman is bleeding bad!" people looked on to our protagonist and some did rush for their phones as other recorded the scene.
"Come on Spider-Freak! Ready to get blasted?!" called out a familiar voice. Spider-Man set the woman into someone elses arms as he jumped to the nearest lamp post and watched a man in a yellow and red cushion costume exit the building and charged up his gloves, a sigh leaving him as he replied. "Herman?? The-- how are you here?" "Lets just say I got connections, good connections that help me do what gotta get done!" the man shouted before blasting a wave of yellow energy at the web slinger, energy that was easily dodged by him but made the building behind his body vibrate intensely. "I gotta say when I got here I was kinda upset. People hurt and crying in the streets-" he jumped out of the way of a blast and spun on a street lamp before standing on it horizontally. "I expected someone I'd hate, someone to really give me trouble-" Herman shot another blast and grunted as the kid was already out of the range of his attack "Not a stained mattress with a vibration fetish..." "Shut the HELL up!" Spidey flipped out of the way and webbed up the gloves on Shocker before jumping in for a knock out punch, though the punch didn't exactly have as much of an effect as he expected.
"That's new..." he stated as he flipped over an enraged foe that began swinging his webbed up vibrating hands wildly in the desperate attempt to hit the hero. "Fixed me up some armor to deal with you punk!" he slammed his fist together and the webs had began to finally deteriate and fall to the ground like torn paper. "And do believe me... I plan on dealing with you VERY efficiently" were words he spoke with venom before blasting at the hero again, and the young boy dodged this attack as well. Spider-Man flipped and contorted his body to avoid any of the danger of making contact with one of his vibrations, grabbing onto the corner of a small pharmacy and then moving when the attack was coming for him.
"Woah! I don't suppose we could talk this over huh? Maybe settle this peacefully??" "Sorry Bug, no can do!" spoke Shocker as he then attempted another attack much to the dismay of our friendly arachnid. "Of course... Why don't any of my villains break out of jail to say 'hi', or ask me how my day is going-" Shocker blasted yet again and replied "No need in asking a dead man!" The fight went on for a little longer then expected, with Spider-Man jumping from wall to wall and flipping around in mid-air so much that it was almost impossible to hit him. Much to the irritation and anger of Herman as everyone had practically ran away while things shook and the area got more dangerous. "Okay, Herman I hate to break it to you but this has gone on long enough, tell the others I said hey though!" he told this man as he jumped down in front of him, ducking below a swing and then sweeping his feet. Shocker hit the ground with a grunt as a red blur jumped over the body and webbed the man's gauntlets again, this time to one another instead of singlur. Grabbing the face mask, Spidey yanked with much force and off came the face plating before a knock out punch had ended the scene.
"Ugh... This guy never learns" the hero said as he then went to remove the power source in his foe's armor, feeling around before finally coming to a small device that was crushed easily once he found it. "Enjoy the exclusive trip back to prison cushion head, I got it JUST for you~" and with that remark the Spider swung off into the sky on his way back with the hopes to not bring any suspicion upon his return.
At the Xavior Institute
Peter entered as he usually did, crawling through his window and quickly stripping down to his boxers before then moving onto gathering the regular attire. Sliding on his shirt and then looking at himself in the mirror before catching a glimpse of his costume on the floor before pushing it under the bed once again. The boy then headed outside of his door and made his way down the stairs and into the livingroom, where he had found the rest of his friends relaxing and watching Tv.
"Yo Pete! good to see you back!" shouted the dark kid with blonde hair, waving his hand as the rest began to greet him as well. "Yeah, went out for a stroll in the town. I'm still new here after all" replied Peter, then suddenly Kitty jumped with a smile and made the comment "Oh, we should take you out around town sometime!" Words that caused some commotion in the group as people were found of the idea of taking an afternoon to just roam the mall and walk down the busy streets of Bayville. "Sounds cool, I would appreciate that" said Peter before girl with black hair began to sniff the air while everyone were still talking. She stood up and started walking towards him as he tensed up from the sudden and odd attention. "U-uhm... Sorry, can I help you?" Peter said as she continued to sniff the tainted air around our hero while everyone suddenly got silent while waiting for an answer. An answer that was still missing while the tension wasn't just in the young brunette, but also thickening in the air as she didn't bother to reply to anyone of the teens, not even the one she was smelling. But, she did give a comment, a comment that was stern, blunt, and sharp in her words as they left her tongue while she stood in front of the boy and sized him up.
"You smell like blood."
SO!... It's been a few weeks, lol. Honestly I have been taking some time to try and decide the correct way to approach the character developtment in this chapter, and I think you all will be pleased to see the interactions. Then some of the time off has also been spent working on my art style, as many of you know I draw and would like to make some pieces for this story every once in awhile... Eventually. Most likely first a character sheet of this Peter I have developed and then some sketches of the Evolution cast in my art style. Then once I can work up the gut to actually attempt the backgrounds I'll be trying to sketch for a scene or two maybe... Only time and laziness shall tell.
