InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "being fire'd sucks"

Jimmy Proudstar (little_jim) wrote in devolve,
@ 2011-02-12 15:53:00

Entry tags:

jimmy_proudstar, raven_darkhoelme

Who: Jimmy and Raven
What: Breaking stuff
Where: Danger Room
When: Saturday Night
Rating: PG-13 (for violence, language and fake people dying horribly)
Status: Incomplete

Some days Jimmy just felt like ripping off his skin, tearing off his ears and gouging out his eyes. Not because he noticed anything particularly upsetting, even during the runs into the city. But everything just piled up and piled higher until he had to just go and smash something until he was exhausted. Which took big things and a long time. A luxury only able to be simulated in the Danger Room.

They had no idea. He would never tell them, couldn't tell them. How loud they were. In every way. How crowded he felt all the time. Everything was so small, so fragile. He grew up in the vast desert, where he could stand atop a cliff and see for miles. Feel the hot sun beat on his bare skin, the wind blowing through his hair. As close to pure freedom as any landbound person could ever hoped to be.

That was all a distant memory now. Now he was crammed into a small compound and a small trailer where he couldn't get away from it even when he went outside the walls. Then he was crammed into a vehicle for longer periods as they had to further into the ruins of the city to search. Crowded and falling apart and if he touched anything wrong he could collapse a building and draw too much attention or hurt one of his teammates.

Sometimes all it took was a simulation of the desert back home to settle his frazzled nerves. He'd worked with the programmer extensively on that one, to make the false paradise as acceptable to his enhanced sense as the illusion could be. Today, however, it did nothing to calm him and he ordered the computer to switch simulations. To one of Raven's many breaking things scenarios. Part of the reason he respected her so much was because she understood things enough to know sometimes, there was nothing else to do but destroy until you could move no more.

As little as Jimmy liked this need, it was present. He spent all of his time being careful. Careful not to break things, careful not to notice things, careful not to miss things, careful not to intrude or get in anyone's way. It was oppressive and there was little relief in sight.

So, sometimes, a person just needed to break things.

Warpath stood in the ruins of wherever Raven had programmed this place to be. He'd never asked. It was all an illusion, so it didn't really matter. Admiring the scenery wasn't part of the exercise. His long hair was loose and he wore only a ragged pair of jeans that the knees were entirely torn out of and they had numerous other tears. He didn't want to wear anything that couldn't be disposed of. Just because he was bulletproof, didn't make his clothing so sturdy.

Rolling his massive shoulders, Jimmy's face screwed up into a vicious snarl and he slammed both huge fists into the brick wall in front of him. It didn't give, thank Usen. He hit it over and over, letting out an angry yell to vent his frustration better.

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blue_bitch
2011-02-13 02:04 am UTC (link)

Raven sat back in the chair in the booth, pulling her eyes away from the program she was creating to watch as Proudstar vented. He'd seemed on edge while they were out, and it wasn't surprising at all to see him taking it out on one of the created worlds in the Danger Room. As he targeted one particular wall, Raven rolled over to one of the control panels, enhancing the strength of the wall that he'd decided to destroy. The man was much larger and stronger than the average user of that particular program. Might as well give him something a little bit harder to break.

Truth be told, Raven herself wasn't particularly happy with how things had panned out on their mission. There had been a distinct lack of things for her to kill, which had made her more than a little bit angry. Though she wasn't about to admit it out loud to anyone, she was not at all happy that her daughter truly believed that she hated her. She was even less happy that she was so bothered by it. Frowning, Raven leaned over the program and made a few changes, adding some adversaries to kill. Proudstar had the right idea, and even though she didn't get the same satisfaction out of punching walls that he did, she was going to join in on the fun.

She entered the simulation, shifting the weapons she had concealed in her body so that they appeared to be in holsters and climbing up a fire escape, squinting into the distance. She had a few minutes before the program sent the opponents in, and perhaps it was a good idea to let Proudstar know that she was there. She climbed to the roof and hoisted herself over the edge, where she morphed wings and jumped off, heading toward where Proudstar was still beating the wall. She landed on a nearby balcony and leaned on the railing, giving him a good look over as she asked a question that was very much not an actual question. "Mind if I join?"

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little_jim
2011-02-13 02:16 am UTC (link)

The wall was very satisfyingly hard to break. Which was already making him feel a bit better. He finally broke through it when he heard the flapping behind him. He went for the knives sheathed in his belt, figuring there'd been some opponents programmed into the scenario as well. Jimmy disliked killing people on principle, but these were not real people and if this happened in their world, the attackers would need to be destroyed so they would not repeat the mistake.

He looked up to see Raven perched on the fire escape. He nodded to her, not putting away his weapons. "Only if you created enough enemies for me as well," he remarked with a small smile.

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blue_bitch
2011-02-13 06:14 am UTC (link)

"I created enough for now," she replied, removing the wings and leaping down from the fire escape. Reaching into her thigh, she extracted a remote control and held it up. "I can reboot if we run out."

Tucking it away again, she glanced down a neighboring alley. The attackers were set to randomize their methods, so she had no idea where they would be coming from. Still, there were some things about the city that remained the same; certain areas where she could go to thin out the ranks of whatever herd approached. She wasn't sure how much of an advantage that would give Proudstar, though, as she was fairly certain it was safe to say that he'd not spent much time in Berlin.

"Ever been to Germany, Proudstar?" Raven glanced around, not really bothering to give him a chance to answer before she explained, "This map is based on Berlin. Pre-reunification."

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little_jim
2011-02-14 10:49 pm UTC (link)

Then of course she could join him. Raven was one of the few people he did not worry about hurting when they sparred, even though she was not superstrong or nigh invulnerable. She was much faster and more experienced and every time Jimmy practiced with her, he felt challenged. She always had something to teach him. Part of the reason he respected her so much, even after having to endure her jibes at Kurt on the missions. Although sometimes he wondered if it wasn't Mystique's way of showing affection for her son.

He had never been to Berlin. Especially pre-unification, considering he hadn't been born until the year after the Berlin Wall had come down. "No," he informed her. "I'll follow your lead." This wasn't some sort of competition to see who could destroy the most enemies. It wasn't even a training exercise. It was just venting, and Raven had as much right to it as he did.

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blue_bitch
2011-02-15 02:25 am UTC (link)

Raven nodded. She hadn't expected him to have been to Germany. It seemed like he'd spent most of his life on the reservation. Nodding toward the main street at the end of the alley, she started moving.

"Once it starts, there won't be much need... but this street is Wilhelmstrasse. If you follow it up, keep going past the first major street - Liepzeger strasse, you'll eventually see the Brandenberg gate on the left. That ends the level."

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little_jim
2011-02-17 01:58 am UTC (link)

He had, and his stint in the X-Men had been rather brief, considering he'd been 21 when the virus had broken out. He hadn't been on very many actual missions.

Warpath nodded as Mystique explained the exercise. It was simple enough. Concentrating on the area around them, he waited for the first hints their opponents. He went absolutely silent, just waiting and watching like the deadly raptor who was his totem spirit.

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blue_bitch
2011-02-17 02:39 am UTC (link)

She smiled at him as he went quiet as though he were stalking a deer or some equally skittish animal. It was cute, in a way, and she moved forward, not bothering to be any quieter than she was naturally. The simulation had enough natural city sounds in it that their footsteps and breathing and regular movements wouldn't really make a difference, and being silent wasn't going to stop the program from finding them. Not when it was a simple kill and move on type exercise.

Heading out toward the street, she looked up, nodding at Proudstar as sudden movements to the left suggested the first wave of attackers was approaching. Breaking off from him, she headed around a parked car to attack from the side, where the programs probably least expected it.

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little_jim
2011-02-17 03:28 am UTC (link)

Fair enough, although Jimmy was a bit easier to spot than Raven. But if she was flanking their opponents, then he would draw their attention away from her. Launching up to the fire escape she'd just vacated, Warpath looked over the first wave of attackers. Fairly predictable pattern. The car was a good idea for a distraction. Sheathing his knives, he picked out one that was a good size for sending them scattering.

Choosing a different one than the one one Mystique had chosen for cover, Warpath hefted it above his head and threw it into the approaching group. Letting out a loud battle cry, he followed the projectile in drawing his knives as he sped into the fray.

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blue_bitch
2011-02-19 08:07 am UTC (link)

Raven licked her lips as she waited for the attackers to approach, pressing herself against the car and shifting so she blended in with it while she let some pass for Proudstar to take care of. When a car came sailing through the air, she made her move, springing from behind the car and practically diving into the group of attackers, unsheathing the knife from the back of her belt as she moved.

It was easy enough to dispatch the first, and she grinned as her knife slid easily through its "flesh." Blood poured from its throat as it sank to the ground, and she had just enough time to wipe the excess off on her leg before one of the others approached her. She was grinning broadly as it approached and she hopped lightly to her other foot and pivoted, aiming a high kick to its jaw. It wasn't quite hard enough to kill it, and she sheathed the knife again as she leapt after it and snapped its neck.

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little_jim
2011-02-22 11:19 pm UTC (link)

The car had the desired effect, which was to break up their formation, distract them from Raven and cause confusion. Warpath was a powerhouse in his own right. He wasn't nearly as experienced in battle as Mystique was, but he made up for it by being super strong, inhumanly quick and agile, and incredibly durable.

Three didn't manage to get out of the way of the flying car. Two were pinned under it completely, a third trapped halfway. Jimmy landed on the vehicle with a loud and rather sickening crunch. The one partially trapped screamed and opened fire, missing badly from the pain.

And now the others were getting themselves back organized and starting to open fire. While Jimmy was bulletproof to a certain extent, the caliber of weaponry they were using could kill him. So it was time to get moving. Launching off the car, he landed in a group of five of them. Actually he landed on one of them, knocking the man to ground and at least unconscious. The first one who rushed at him got impaled by one of the enormous Apache's knives as he drove it into the man's chest and then twisted.

The other three futile set about trying to attack him with their bayonets, which bounced harmlessly off his skin. Warpath lashed out with a kick, the man's chest making a sickening crunching noise as he went flying backwards, his entire rib cage shattered. Jimmy didn't bother to see where he landed. The other two were backing off wisely, wanting to get some room so their guns might actually effect the behemoth of an Indian man who was tearing through them.

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