Xaviers!

Posted: **Wed Nov 17, 2021 9:13 pm**

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))

Posted: **Mon Nov 22, 2021 12:00 am**

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?"

Posted: **Mon Nov 22, 2021 12:06 am**

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

Posted: **Mon Nov 22, 2021 12:30 am**

"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."

Posted: **Mon Nov 22, 2021 12:31 am**

"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."

Posted: **Mon Nov 22, 2021 1:11 am**

"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.

Posted: **Mon Nov 22, 2021 3:04 am**

"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.

Posted: **Mon Nov 22, 2021 10:32 pm**

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."

Posted: **Mon Nov 22, 2021 11:12 pm**

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

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2021 12:06 am**

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

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2021 12:53 am**

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

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2021 1:16 am**

"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."

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2021 3:30 am**

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.

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2021 1:35 pm**

"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.

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2021 3:55 pm**

"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."

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2021 11:47 pm**

"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."

Posted: **Wed Nov 24, 2021 4:40 am**

"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."

Posted: **Wed Nov 24, 2021 1:26 pm**

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."

Posted: **Wed Nov 24, 2021 6:58 pm**

"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."

Posted: **Wed Nov 24, 2021 7:25 pm**

"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."

Posted: **Wed Nov 24, 2021 7:44 pm**

"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."

Posted: **Wed Nov 24, 2021 10:55 pm**

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

Posted: **Thu Nov 25, 2021 5:44 am**

"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."

Posted: **Thu Nov 25, 2021 1:20 pm**

"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."

Posted: **Thu Nov 25, 2021 6:42 pm**

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

Posted: **Thu Nov 25, 2021 10:12 pm**

"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?"

Posted: **Thu Nov 25, 2021 10:35 pm**

"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."

Posted: **Thu Nov 25, 2021 11:13 pm**

"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."

Posted: **Thu Nov 25, 2021 11:26 pm**

"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."

Posted: **Fri Nov 26, 2021 12:18 am**

"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."

Posted: **Fri Nov 26, 2021 5:36 am**

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

Posted: **Fri Nov 26, 2021 1:31 pm**

"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."

Posted: **Fri Nov 26, 2021 6:06 pm**

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."

Posted: **Fri Nov 26, 2021 10:53 pm**

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

Posted: **Fri Nov 26, 2021 11:06 pm**

Will frowned at that.

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

Posted: **Fri Nov 26, 2021 11:36 pm**

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."

Posted: **Sat Nov 27, 2021 2:40 am**

"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."

Posted: **Sat Nov 27, 2021 10:17 pm**

"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."

Posted: **Sun Nov 28, 2021 12:50 am**

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

Posted: **Sun Nov 28, 2021 1:09 am**

"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."

Xaviers!

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