North America Trials

[shiivster]

Jeckle says nothing. she has nothing to say to the kids that would be of help. she moves closer to her twin and leans against the wall with arms crossed and speaks quietly and listens to the 'toys' he's interested in.

'might take a bit. limited on supplies. i don't have the truck . . . its in their storage. but i got it . . stay cool bro and dont sweat the big stuff'

*she moves away from the building now, and its clear that the twin-ness shows as she moves away and resembles her brothers hunched body for hte first 3 paces, then she slowly straightens up and settles down where she was working with the wires and solder.

*if she's ignoring Kris, its hard to say. she's busy working and seems totally focused on that creation than anything else. if scanned by Roan, image of schematics after another seem to pop into view, twirl about and are discarded. some are pulled back a second time, but never a third time. what the things are is hard to know, but she clearly knows what they all are

[dakota]

His remark ignored by Jeckle, Khris refocused on the kids. He nodded to Rock, " Kick some ass out there," he smirked then looked at the girls," all of you."

[albatross]

Rock punches his fist in the air and says, "Let's roll!" The two girls smile at Kris, Peacemaker with quiet confidence and Dancer with nervous excitement.

The three kids in their armor make their way out into the hanger where the United Nations team waits for them, unarmored. Observers from several teams watch from the observation deck, a skybox with bulletproof armored glass.

Rock and Peacemaker wade in and appear to forget all their training. All they do is throw superhuman punches. Dancer avoids combat, skirrting the edge of the fight while Rock and Peacemaker hit their opponents as hard as they can. Getting punched full strength by Rock and he doesn't even defend, slugging anyone who attacks him. His armor means he isn't hurt at all by his opponents. Peacemaker is only slightly less strong than Rock and her punches look like they hurt- alot.

Marv keeps a straight face until the United Nations is pummeled into submission. Then he gruffly leads the kids away. Once back at the locker room he permits himself a small smile as Bel and Roan check the kids over for injury. "Perfect," he mutters. Tiger takes a deep breath. It worked. Most of the observers left in disgust.

The Rock and Peacemaker change into fresh suits of armor and wait for the round.

[shiivster]

*only when the kids were inside in the first round and out of hearing does she mention a simple comment to Kris. 'shouldn't blow up you know. i don't willingly destroy good workmanship. your trust in my work astounds me. don't worry, i won't work on things for you if this is how you react to them'

*she stands up and moves her things into a new patch of sunlight before resuming work. this patch should give her about another 3 hours of light before moving again. she focuses totally on the work at hand and will pointedly ignore the others to finish the work.

[dakota]

"Hey, that isn't what I meant." Khris replied defensively. "I seem to remember a heart shaped designator not that long ago. I don't doubt your ability, it's your sense of humor that concerns me." He stuck his tongue out childishly and returned to the others and congratulated the kids. " You fight like a bunch of drunken sailors, but it got the job done. Nice works." he laughed.

[albatross]

The next round is up almost before they know it. And Marv simply says, "Second round." Rock gets excited, the girls seem slightly nervous, though Peacemaker hides it well.

Marv puts his huge hand on Dancer's shoulder. "You can do this. Rock and Peacemaker will help you." She nods.

The next opponent is Triple Threat, the three psychics. The three of them aren't wearing armor. Rock takes a lighting quick first step as if he is going to punch one of them, but he pulls it, as does Peacemaker. Then as the psychics counter attack, Rock locks one of their arms while Peacemaker chucks another over her shoulder in a body flip throw. The tossed one hits the wall and sprawls senseless.

Dancer steps forward towards the third, but he hits her with a piece of debris using telekineis and steps back, keeping his distance, wary of what happened to the other two.

Rock's opponent rips his arm free of the lock- which breaks his own arm. As he writhes in pain, Rock and Peacemaker dart towards the last one standing: three against one. He throws up his hands and says, " I surrrender!"

Rock smiles and walks over to the one with a broken arm and says what a great match it was and that he was sorry, "about the arm."

Medics tend to the two downed candidates.

Back in the locker room, Tiger is smiling, but Marv watches Dancer carrefully, but leaves her be for now. Rock is decribing the fight to Peacemaker, who says, "Rock, we were all right there. We saw it too."

[dakota]

Khris stood back, and when no one stepped up, he looked at Dancer, " c'mon, take a little walk and we'll have a chat." He looked at everyone else. " Nothing to worry about, just a little private one on one" he winked at Tiger.

[albatross]

Tiger grins and winks back. Marv nods gravely. Dancer gets up and follows Kris dutifully. Her expression is nervous.

[shiivster]

*pauses in her work to glance at her twin. 'you remember uncle taking you out to the barn? . . really thought it was funny how you avoided the leg trap and hte beating . . maybe she'll learn a lesson here too' *cracks a partial smile, then its gone as her head moves to look at Rock 'and you. you need to be able to trust that you aren't alone and you got backup. this is the breather right now. do your stretchs if you think you got time to talk. never know when the other shoe will drop.. use that energy in talking to use the eyes and start lookin . . '

*that said she resumes her work and pauses to look at the wiring and finally nods.

[albatross]

Rock smiles and says, "Yes ma'am." And he starts stretching. Country boy through and through.

Peacemaker confers quietly with Marv and Tiger for a moment while they wait for Kris and dancer to return.

Lt. White drifts over to glance at Jeckle's work. "Whatsit?"

[dakota]

Once they were alone, Khris motioned for Dancer to take a seat before he leaned back against the wall," It's okay kiddo, I'm not gonna do anything. Just relax. I just want to know what's wrong? You've trained hard for this, and proved you're just as ready as Rock and Peacemaker. So what's the problem?" He asked warmly, probably so out of character for him that it was probably worrying her. He smirked," Whot, you din't expect the smart mouthed mick to be the one to show a little compassion?"

[albatross]

Dancer meets Kris' eyes for a moment and says, "I've never been in a fight. The moves I know, when I'm supposed to use them... I tense up." She looks away, conflicted and disappointed.

Its easy to forget Rock and Peacemaker have been competing and fighting their whole lives. If what Tiger has told Kris is true, Dancer can preform any move she has seen Roan, White, Marv or Tiger use. But she's led a sheltered life as a ballet dancer. She's never been in a street fight or a boxing match.

[shiivster]

Jeckle looks up at White and quietly says 'gloves to match the legs. it was hard enough to do it following the human muscles for them . . but these are a little more delicate. but i have it for the robot hand to copy and mimic. will just have to learn how much pressure to exert and stuff. i figure it might be ready in time to dig people out of collapsed buildings and stuff . . '

*she had paused to think how to 'dummy' up the words enough for everyone else to listen too. but now that she finished, she's ready to work on the next installment and work on the arm extendors and most likely a harness to withstand all the pressures and pulling

[dakota]

Khris nodded," I think I understand. But you have a gift that let's you denend yourself on a level the other two can't. Think of it this way, have you ever had to just make things up as you go during a recital, just relax and let yourself do what felt natural? You'll never be one to just wade into a fight and just start swinging like Rock, but then neither am I. Instead let the other two dictate the pace of the fight and just follow their lead. Leading a target in for one of them to clobber is just as good as doing it yourself. Better in fact because it shows your teamwork. You understand what I mean?" He patted the girl on the shoulder as he asked.

[albatross]

Dancer says, "You mean a supporting role? I can do that." She sounds more confident.