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Tweak says, "You should try to eat some of"

Phoenix :+:Jean:+: Burn the lies away (withintheflames) wrote in athinblackline,
@ 2009-06-03 23:50:00

Entry tags:

phoenix

In chess, the Queen is the hardest to beat...
Who: Phoenix OT the White Queen
Where: Green Block
When: Thursday, June 04
What: Block owner and fighter gear up for some training, though resistant as it might be.
Notes: n/a

Jean had woken up in her room that morning, and frowned after looking over the most recent reports on the fighting levels of her block. Green was not doing as well as she had kept it at previously, and her current emotional state and mental issues should never stop her fighters from obtaining and being their best. She would simply not accept that. Something was going on, and she was determined to find out what it was. So far, fighters numbered one through six had all simply gotten lazy in her absence at their sessions, so she simply pushed them harder, all of them gasping for air and incurring serious injury before she called it a day for them. The last on the list for this hour was the seventh, the White Queen. Many spectators had mentioned similarities between herself and this woman, had drawn conclusions that Emma Frost would be replacing Jean Grey in the pits and would soon become the next strongest fighter on the island. The Red Queen herself had simply raised an eyebrow to the concept and carried on. Phoenix, however, had emitted a mirthless chuckle from her vantage point, and had noted the other woman's strengths for her own purposes. As always, Jean had no idea what those could be and never wanted to find out, though that would not change the fate of today's exercise. She was still going to run a session with this White Queen.

A summon had been sent up to her block, to that room, and directions for the woman to be brought down had left at least ten minutes ago, which meant that more than likely, she would be in the door any second. Jean was interested to meet this woman face to face again. They had done this before, training, fighting, working on the common goal of getting this white clothed female to the top of her block and her abilities, expanding what they could work on together, and looking for ways to enhance that which they could not work on together. Between attack angles, flexibility training, and situation assessment, the two of them had sometimes gotten along. This student, if a forced student could be considered such, was very intelligent, and had a will to be vindictive as well as fierce when crossed. She had the ability to rise to the top ranks, and Jean wanted to know what that hadn't happened yet.

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purediamond
2009-06-04 02:11 am UTC (link)

Throbbing. Intense throbbing. That was the first thing Emma felt when she opened her eyes. She felt several bursts of unexplainable pain as she brought her hands up to grab her skull. She had finally gone too far, pushing the limits of what her mind could handle. Her experiments had already begun to affect her attitude, performance in matches, and finally her body. You, of all people, should know delicate the mind is, Emma. Her sensible side reasoned. More importantly, you should know not to experiment on yourself. But it wasn't like she could find another acceptable test subject; especially one that she could monitor properly. That would require her being able to monitor the affects it had on them constantly. They would also have to possess abilities very similar to her own in nature and strength. Whatever she had done trying to counteract the drug appeared to have been too much. The burst of pain probably meant she had damaged some tissue in her pariental lobe. She sat up, delicately swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and placing her feet against the coldness that was the floor. She brought her fingers up to rest against her temples; many called it a trademark of hers. But it was mostly known as a last signal of warning to those that stood in her way. She had begun to attempt to repair the injured brain tissue when she was summoned. As soon as she left her cell she felt the rushing thoughts of others fill her mind. And she found that it much harder than usual to screen it all out. Perhaps she had injured her frontal lobe as well. The rhythmic throbbing coupled with the roaring thoughts helped only to blacken The White Queen's already dark mood. Within the minutes she arrived to the area in which she’d been summoned she had thought of six ways to reconstruct her damaged tissue and twelve ways to kill whoever had pulled her from her chambers.

She waited while the guard knocked once on the door and then escorted her inside. Ah, she should have known. Her block owner. What could they want from her? She said they because it was two entities in one body. Now how the brain managed that one she was unsure, especially an entity such as the Phoenix. On a regular day, she would have loved to muse on the inner complexities of something like that. Perhaps she could figure out a way to give her migraines to them instead. She hadn't felt anything like this since she was a child growing into her abilities. She looked up into Jean's eyes, in no mood to be particularly civil. She had a set of conduct for each of the two. She was always more wary of the Phoenix, as she should be. She was not like most mutants, nothing at all. Finally, after a few long moments of uninterrupted silence she spoke. "You summoned me?"

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withintheflames
2009-06-04 10:04 am UTC (link)

Jean smiled as Phoenix sat in brief attention. This was going to be of interest to them both. Jean because it was more her duty and desire to see her block excel, and Phoenix because displays of ability and power always intrigued her. "Yes, I did." The Red Queen looked directly at her protege. "You've been behind in your rankings, your fighting is getting lazy, and you are getting more and more grumpy. What's going on and why?" She stepped forward with rapt attention, her eyes giving a piercing gaze to the other woman. This would be important to her and she would need to listen to the reasoning as well as attempt to reorganize the situation accordingly.

It wasn't abnormal for her to listen and attempt to solve a problem. It was where she considered her place to be, another cog in the works and another piece of the machine, only her end was faltering, but no one had to know that now. Something would be necessary for the moment, and that something was to keep up with her work. She would maintain that as long as she could. Somewhere inside, Phoenix laughed at the woman's attempts at normalcy. One who housed her would and could never be normal again.

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purediamond
2009-06-05 06:12 pm UTC (link)

Emma stared blankly, already bored with the conversation. "As much as I loathe admitting it, even someone as powerful and intelligent as myself cannot be expected to win every battle, Jean. I would think someone as rational as you are would have more realistic expectations." She explained, flawlessly covering for herself. "Besides, I like to think it ultimately more advantageous to me. Who wants to see someone who always wins? Such predictability can be boring and cause spectators to lose interest. The human mind thrives on conflict, they crave it. So a little change, or in this case defeat, is sometimes necessary. In addition, humans often look for something they can relate to; some weakness they find they can connect to. If I appear too powerful, you can believe they will begin to resent me." She smirked, broadcasting her last opinion telepathically. You of all people should understand that.

Isn't that why they, humans and mutants alike, resent you? She raised an eyebrow. "As a Block Owner, I thought you would be overjoyed that I was learning from you and implementing it for my benefit."

"And as for my attitude, I don't see much to be cheerful about. It's not my nature, besides it might ruin my image as the 'Bitch Queen' "

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withintheflames
2009-06-06 10:54 pm UTC (link)

"If I expected only perfection, then you're correct, I would be out of line. I do expect to see you breaking more than a nail in the ring." Her tone was slightly amused, though she did remain professional. "If you are willing to let yourself bow so low to everyone else, then maintain that opinion. I am not resented by anyone, except mutants like yourself who are still fighting for their freedom. If you choose to resent me, then that is your problem until you can improve enough to leave my block. Will you truly allow you self to be less than all that you could be?" She looked back at the blond woman and raised an eyebrow, using her own abilities to react. Isn't that a bit like being a human yourself? "And I do not mind being, as you say 'too powerful', I find it to be useful when the moment strikes." She added another thought to her commentary using their mind to mind abilities. And you of all people would be jealous of that.

The redhead did not smile, but simply kept her face plain. This was simply another exercise with another of her spoiled children who needed attending to. "Learning from your own assumptions, not from myself. Continue on that pathway, and you will learn nothing but what the blinders you wear show you in the long run. Your attitude, however, is simply showing resistance to Revolve and it's direction. You only have two choices here. Play by the rules and succeed, or do not and be punished. By resisting those and choosing to lose, you find yourself in the same place as before, thus you are not conforming to the direction I have placed before you. Your actions will not attain the goal at hand."

She turned, instead of continuing to face the woman before her, crossing to a panel, and using the computer's holographic imaging to project a warrior for this white one to face off with. She moved back from the panel and took measured steps towards the other. "If you want to create a show, you have to make it look effortless, and I'm afraid that without your abilities, you will lose ever fight you are in. You seem to rely on them far too often, and sometimes, they simply won't work. This subject, for example," Jean crossed to the projection, running a light hand across it's armor before letting that hand also pass through it's particles, "can not be affected by telepathic or telekinetic movement, however, it can interrupt your own. His abilities simply stop your brain from harming his, but his strengths do not stop there. As you will see. Do you have any questions?"

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purediamond
2009-06-06 11:47 pm UTC (link)

"Your talk is high enough but you're still doing their bidding, aren't you? You're just as imprisoned as the rest of us, the cage in which they contain you is simply slightly more appealing. And just as planned, it’s made you compliance with what they’ve told you is freedom." The White Queen did not even attempt to justify anything else with response; she saw it as nothing more than a waste of breathe. The Red Queen could think what she liked but in the end the only opinion that mattered was her own.

She closed her eyes as she listened to the rest of her speech, trying to her best to ignore the throbbing that was starting to fade. It was not dissipating quite as quickly as Emma would have liked. She should have realized that this was inevitable. Someone was bound to notice the changes in her. But those were thoughts for later, when she was alone in her 'room'.

Emma slowly opened her eyes, her ice-blue hues locking upon Jean's face. "None. You may proceed" She admonished, smirking smarmily to herself. If she thought that her telepathic abilities were all she had to offer she would soon be very disappointed. Emma would make for a pathetic warrior if she could not even protect herself adequately in hand-to-hand combat. It might not be her favorite option but it certainly wasn’t disqualified all together. She would take whatever Jean decided to give her and handle it swiftly. She had much more important issues to attend to.

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withintheflames
2009-06-07 12:12 am UTC (link)

"I'm here because this is the closest thing I have to a family. I choose to remain. If I wanted to leave, I could." It was true enough, Jean could walk out with her own title in hand, and seek a life in a world that despised all that she stood for. Phoenix chuckled. It was the same reason that the Firebird had considered, the same need to leave this place and never return. Jean's family was nothing to the divine creature within her. The only family that Phoenix considered was Mia.

After the understanding response of the woman before her, Jean stepped back to allow the fighting projection to surge forward. She watched as it charged the white woman, expecting what she was unsure. Yes, she knew she had underestimated the woman that was being tested, but how badly she did not know. That was what she intended to find out.

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