[Social] Looking for a Few Pointers

[Will Stanton]

Will walked out of the Danger Room, mopping his forehead with a towel. That was mostly for looks, of course, but it was good to look 'normal' from time to time, even performatively.

He stopped by the screen to check his score, and frowned -- lower, again. Not that he had to set personal bests every week or anything, but his speed had dropped, as had his accuracy. That wouldn't do. That wouldn't do at all.

((Open))

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo walked in, dressed in his X-suit. His mane had been given a half dozen braids on which metal beads of various sizes were artfully placed, giving him a touch of warrior regality.

Catching Will's frown reflected in the observation window, he asked, "Bad score at ultimate minesweeper?"

[Will Stanton]

Will nodded. "I was doing better under Lippencott, for goodness' sake."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Well, he did push us more. Too bad the bastard was only doin' it to take notes on how we tick so he could steal our powers."

[Will Stanton]

"Yeah, well, I don't mind being pushed, and I don't need external motivations to try to better myself," Will frowned. "It'd be one thing if I was plateauing, but I'm getting worse over here."

[Leo Eskandari]

"I'm new at all this so I don't know if I'd be much help, but I do know what it's like to not feel like you're doin' good enough. So if you wanna talk about it I'm all ears."

He was actually relieved to have confirmation that even the experienced heroes had worries about their performance.

[Will Stanton]

"Well, look here," Will said, pointing at a replay of a gout of flame being fired at him. "I'm spending...," he said, pausing to look at the time again. "...an extra two-tenths of a second before I clear the flames. That delays my response to the missiles," he said, pointing again as an explosion enveloped the screen.

Will's training went, uh, hard.

[Leo Eskandari]

Holy shit! Is this guy insane!

"That would, uh... definitely be a problem. Maybe you've got the super-yips, which has to be a thing."

[Will Stanton]

"The super-yips?" Will asked, cocking his head to the side as he considered it.

[Leo Eskandari]

"Yanno, like when an athlete suddenly has trouble doin' what they do best for some psychological reason. But for superheroes."

[Will Stanton]

"I don't know what sort of psychological reason I'd have, though," Will frowned. "Though I suppose it's possible."

[Leo Eskandari]

"That's just the first thing I thought of," he said with a shrug.

"Or maybe it has somethin' to do with that mirror of infinite Wills you've got goin'. Hell, I feel slower just tryin' to imagine how that all works."

[Will Stanton]

Will frowned harder at that. "I mean, I doubt it...but the best times were pre-mirror.

But I was thinking too much then; it should be easier now," he groused, stomping one foot.

[Leo Eskandari]

"You'd think, but powers do weird things sometimes. Mine is thankfully simple enough not to be unpredictable but yours seems complicated."

"And kinda badass. I mean, damn dude you can take a missile!" he commented with an impressed grin.

[Will Stanton]

"Hrm? Oh, no, no, I have to dodge the missiles," Will said, freeze-framing the action.

Indeed, just as Will emerged from the flames, he suddenly shot down in size and mass, the missiles missing him by a hair, and the force of the explosion sending him flying roughly forwards.

"That's SawbladeSkip; knocks me right over the blades if I time it just right."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Well, still, a regular guy would get seriously messed up by the force of that nearby explosion. You can get away with video game physics. Own it."

[Will Stanton]

"Yeah, well, if I can't figure out why I'm slowing down, I'm going to get a Game Over screen before too much longer."

[Leo Eskandari]

He scratched his chin in thought for a moment before he said, "You had, like, multiple yous going in your head, right? Maybe you had a kind of group-think hidin' in there."

[Will Stanton]

"It was a little more complicated than that -- more like being pulled in a million directions at the same time.

You would think clarity and focus would be preferable, but I suppose I can't rule it out."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Well, that's all I can think of. If it's any consolation, I'd probably get roasted before I even got to the missile."

[Will Stanton]

"Well, they wouldn't put you through the same tests. Just like they wouldn't throw me into a telepathic simulator or something. Wouldn't do 'em any good."

[Leo Eskandari]

"How would you test me? Lippincott's idea was to have guys take me until I broke."

[Will Stanton]

"I mean, there's always a degree of that, you know? Push your limits so you know what you can and can't handle when things actually matter.

But Lippencott, oof. Not all of us bounce back like I do, so I can see why his methods wouldn't be...universally appealing."

[Leo Eskandari]

"I at least bounce back better than before my change. And I am in a much better headspace now. Enough that I finally passed the X-Men test."

[Will Stanton]

"Hey, that's great news! Congrats!"

[Leo Eskandari]

"Thanks," he smiled, "Gotta say, that throw down at the battle of the bands really sold it to me that I was capable. Lee's encouragement did a lot but that actual experience was the final push I needed, ya know?"

[Will Stanton]

"Yeah, sometimes you have to be thrown into things to really see your potential shine. Same kind of idea as Lippencott's tests, only with more consequences out there in the real world."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Simulated taser dudes were hardly preparation for facing down a cybernetic shark hybrid taller than I am. But I guess there's no good way to train for the weird shit."

[Will Stanton]

"That's just a lack of creativity on the old man's part, is all. But yeah, the world can throw curveballs at you; which is why it's important to try to cover as much as you can think of beforehand, so you're only truly surprised by the very crazy stuff."

[Leo Eskandari]

"I'm goin' to assume we have a very different idea of what's crazy stuff. Granted, my weird scale has shifted quite a bit in the last six months or so."

[Will Stanton]

"Crazy is anything you haven't thought of beforehand. I've been overthinking things for a long, long time."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Could you be underthinkin' then? Not sure how you can do that for physical stuff when they say clearin' your mind is best though. But you do turn into immobile things that don't have thoughts so maybe."

[Will Stanton]

Will thought about that for a moment, scratching his chin.

"I don't...think so. It should all be muscle memory at a certain point; you don't have time to consciously react to everything flying at you."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Maybe this you isn't the one with the muscle memory."

[Will Stanton]

Will frowned at that.

"I don't like that answer," he said, neither confirming nor denying what Leo said.

[Leo Eskandari]

He shrugged his massive shoulders.

"Just spitballin'. Don't put too much stock in it. Now if you were havin' trouble keepin' your wild side in check, that I'd actually have some idea about."

[Will Stanton]

"Well, we all need to get our wild sides out every now and again," Will nodded. "Just have to develop a system for taking care of it."

[Leo Eskandari]

"I'm still workin' on that," he said with a small, rueful chuckle, "Don't think I'm gonna try to eat any more wildlife any time soon at least."

[Will Stanton]

"Why not?" Will asked, cocking his head to one side.

[Leo Eskandari]

"I may have accepted my inner beast but I'm not, in fact, a wild animal," he said, just a little offended.

"And last time I indulged in stalkin' prey in the woods, even with no intent to do harm I ended up attackin' you."