InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Allons-y!"

ᴇʀɪᴋ (metalize) wrote in valloic,
@ 2021-02-08 12:59:00

Entry tags:

!: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: erik lehnsherr, ₴ inactive: vanya hargreeves

WHO: Vanya & Erik
WHAT: Training, working on developing Vanya's powers for next time shit hits the fan
WHERE: Island of Genosha
WHEN: Recently? Maybe this past weekend?
WARNINGS: FLYING DEBRIS - but no, not really
STATUS: Complete

Honestly, every time Erik traveled to Genosha (sometimes via flight - gliding, actually, on magnetic fields - or sometimes via boat when he wanted to appreciate the spray of sea salt being closer to the water), it became more and more tempting to relocate to the island on a more permanent basis. He wouldn’t, of course, not realistically - he had Peter on the main island, and Rogue had her job and her friends (they both had their jobs and friends, actually - a nice thought) and Anka Irene was in a good preschool program. The island was kind of isolated from all that, and it was just easier to visit on occasion.

Like right now. A prime place to help someone else practice their powers; he’d been coming here with Vanya somewhat frequently and it was a good spot to get away to, in order to not worry about causing damage. Genosha was simple, despite having been equipped with electricity in one building and flowing freshwater, but anything that happened - Erik was sure he could handle it. He’d built up this island from scratch and he took care of everything to the best of his ability.

Flying over it was always a sight to behold - the sky and the water seemed to fuse into one, a blue-on-blue sort of palette, with a myriad of other tones and the typical scents born of an island; sweet and airy, earthy and floral. When the sun set in the evenings that was his favorite time, when those rays dyed everything gold. No, he wouldn’t stay permanently but it was tempting.

Boots touched down on the ground, on the scruffy beach, and he took a quick look around with senses extended outward to familiarize himself with Genosha once more. “I think we were going to work on shields today?” he asked, checking to see if Vanya still wanted to do that.

Flying was never really her main form of transportation unless it had to be. Her trips to the island had definitely impacted her view of the form of transportation. There was something incredibly peaceful about the journey. It could be the views, it could be knowing that she had the ability to fly that far if she needed to, and being able to trust in her strength to get her there. Her strength. It was probably both.

Vanya never considered making the trip here without Erik, it felt kind of invasive in her mind, but she liked the time she was able to spend there.

When her feet hit the ground, the white light radiating from her dimmed, and the brown colour of her eyes returned as she turned her focus to Erik. “It would be great if I could master shields at the same time as attacks.” she responded with a nod. That had been her downfall in Dark Vallo. The bruises that covered most of her body were nearly healed now, but discoloration was still visible along her neck and face.

“It would be nice to not be taken out by falling debris the next time I’m focusing on a demon something-or-other.” Because in this place, there was probably going to be a next time.

Indeed, there was always a next time - there had been back home for Erik as well; no matter how many times he attempted to retreat away from violence, from destruction, it always found him and was often quite literally brought to his doorstep. Here, it wasn’t as if he felt persecuted - no one was hunted for their abilities or genetic makeup, for example - but there were certainly other instances of violence and attacks, usually the result of whatever kind of dangerous creature happened to briefly infest the place in droves.

Happened on a monthly basis, it seemed. While he’d settled into a decent routine, he couldn’t ever say he was bored, which he supposed was a good thing.

“We’ll practice that very thing,” he assured, and he knew where every bit of metal debris was on Genosha - he could feel it all, a pulse and a thrum, connecting with the properties as if it were all a part of him. As if he happened to be merely an extension. “I won’t throw a building at you straight away, but first - focus and pull a shield around you. Concentrate on making it as thick and as impenetrable as you can manage.”

The corner of her mouth twitched as she attempted not to laugh. Vanya had a bad history with the destruction of buildings, it probably served her right if someone threw one at her. But she was glad she wasn’t going to be starting on that level, even if she thought she might be able to hold it.

But she did what he said. Her shield manifested as translucent blue light that formed a dome around her. In her experience, she’d only been able to get through a shield like this while using her own power, but even the Company’s agent had managed to copy Vanya’s power and keep her out. So she wasn’t entirely sure what the details were there.

Two white eyes focused on Eric, watching to see what he’d say or do next while she held her shield in place. “I don’t know if I can make it thicker, but I’ve never seen anyone get passed this. Other than me.”

Erik studied the shield, hand lifting to press against it from the outside - just a light touch, to see if he could get a sense for how it felt. “I’ll try a variety of different intrusions,” he said. “Focus on keeping it up, but if you need a break or need to take it down for any reason, let me know right away.” The last thing he wanted was to toss debris at Vanya without her shield up and then she had a metal pole through her abdomen.

But he could react quick enough to pull anything back before it could hurt her, that he was certain of. He would just observe carefully, that was all.

First he attempted to pass his hand through, with more force each time - nothing gave, so he took it a step further and, with a flex of mental muscle, broke off pieces of metal from buildings. Shingles, siding, parts of a door frame - they circled the area (some in front of Vanya, some behind her so she couldn’t see them coming) and then he just was the conductor of the great metal orchestra and tossed each projectile at her shield, increasing the force at which the debris made contact.

“Feeling okay still?” he asked. He planned to use one of his own force fields as a weapon next - the shields he made were impenetrable, but if he tossed one at another shield, well. It might be something one had to be prepared for.

Each time he, or one of the pieces of metal hit her shield, she could feel it. She knew where it was, almost like it was poking at an extension of her. It didn’t hurt, but there was a little more pressure each time. It was just a feeling that required getting used to. “So far.” she confirmed with a nod. “I can feel where it hits, but it’s nothing that’s too much.” at least not yet. She knew he was only just getting started, and had probably thought of ideas to test it that would never just cross her mind naturally.

“I met a woman with the ability to mimic someone else's powers. She was able to keep me out. She had more control over my powers than I did.” though this was back home, and Vanya had no idea how she was able to handle her powers more easily than she did. Maybe it all really did come down to your mental control, which could be applied to different abilities.

Vanya lowered her hands, though the shield remained up, the colors swirling each time something came up against it. “You’re holding back on me.”

The ability to mimic powers sounded like something Rogue could do - well, she absorbed other people’s powers, their personalities, their memories. Erik doubted the powers she did absorb came with an instruction manual - he wondered if for this woman Vanya referred to, if mimicking powers and knowing how to use them was innate.

“You will gain control of yours,” he promised. “Try not to compare yourself to anyone else - and for what it’s worth, you’re doing well.” He hadn’t meant to hold back on her either, and he smirked a little - since alright, it must be game on.

Erik focused on forming his own shield, magnetic energy rippling like waves - like water after throwing a stone right into the center. It was a bubble that mushroomed outward - it flexed and shifted, and he used his hands to mold it into something that could be a projectile. Then he lobbed it right at Vanya, pure magnetic energy (magnetism was everywhere, after all, in everything) that sought to disrupt her shield.

He’d just see what happened next.

Not comparing herself to others was a problem Vanya had, and she knew it. She’d been doing it her only life, and she only had one month in her adult life where that hadn’t been an issue. It was that feeling of happiness she kept trying to hold onto through her daily life now. She wanted to get back to that. “When I figure out how to do that, I gladly will.” she said, though she was mostly talking to herself.

She knew when she told him to stop holding back, she was going to get more, but she did not know how much more, so she did her best to brace for the impact she figured was coming.

Holy shit, she definitely felt that. It was not something she had felt before. Is this what Lila had felt when she’d used Vanya’s powers against her? Because she had certainly made it look effortless. Stop comparing yourself.

Vanya wasn’t sure how long she held out for, but every second seemed to be getting longer the more she had to hold it, and she could feel the slight panic start to rise in her chest, even if she logically knew she was probably safe.

If you asked her what happened, she wouldn’t know for sure. She felt something collapse, and she went from watching her shield, to staring up at the sky above her, flat against the ground.

Ah, there we go - the point of these exercises was to push, little by little, to see where the limits were. It appeared as if they’d reached one here, with Vanya’s shield. Erik pulled back immediately when he heard this crack, a sound that was a whip in the air - resembling a bullet fired from a gun. He even saw an actual crack form, wiggling its way up Vanya’s shield before the whole thing flashed away and she was on her back.

Quickly, he headed over to her where she lay on the beach. “That was good - especially since I was lobbing quite a bit of energy at you,” he said, extending a hand to help her up. “Your shield can withstand a lot of physical damage. We can work on building it up to withstand other types of attacks as well. Do you think you can also launch counter-attacks while keeping yourself shielded, or do you only have to focus on the shield itself?”

Either way, Vanya was a force to be reckoned with. He was quite proud of her.

She was vaguely aware that Erik was saying something. She pushed herself up on her hands, shaking her head as if trying to shake out the ringing in her ears. At least that hadn’t been as loud as the gunshot that went off in home. She caught the tail end of his words, and she looked up at him with some confusion. “What?” Vanya pushed herself back to standing, brushing the sand off of her jacket and pants. “Attacks and shields, right. Maybe?” at least she was pretty sure he had asked that.

“I don’t know. I didn’t even think to do it in Dark Vallo. I just dropped my shield, and I’m not sure if it was a conscious decision or not.” Everything had just happened so fast.

Her hand went to the back of her neck, rubbing it with pressure as she looked around the area. Half of her was hoping she wasn't going to physically feel this too much tomorrow, the other half of her hoped she didn’t destroy something next. “One way to find out?”

Well, he liked the enthusiasm and the go-getter attitude. That was something Erik could respect. Still, he didn’t want to work Vanya too hard - when you were tired, that was when mistakes happened. He’d keep an eye on her and make sure he wasn’t pushing her to the brink of exhaustion - that was what a good teacher would do, right?

“Let’s find out, but if you need to stop - you let me know,” he insisted, backing up a little and putting some space between them. He waited until Vanya had her shield up again before he went for another go at it.

This time it was more metal debris - shingles that whipped like knife blades, sharp and fast enough to do some damage. He had finite control over them, however, since he couldn’t afford to slip in that regard. “Keep the shield up but try to use your abilities to destroy the targets coming at you,” he said. “I know you have some options, so whichever works best with maintaining the shield.” Though of course Vanya could experiment as she pleased - there were plenty of things he could keep tossing at her.

Vanya took a few steps back as he did, and instantly raised her shields again. There was instant relief when she saw he was only using metal objects again, rather than his own forcefields. There was no way she was holding those back and attacking at the same time.

She watched the metal shards for a second, swirling around her shields. She could attack the pieces one by one, but that seemed like it would be the slow approach wouldn’t it? Why not just knock them all out at once and end it?

Erik was far back enough, she could avoid him entirely. Another few seconds passed as she focused in on the sounds around her, collecting her strength. But not too much of it, until she had what she needed.

A wave of white pulsed out from her shields moving out in a circle around her several feet, shredding the metal into tiny fragments, nearly dust. Logically she knew he could reform those pieces and do whatever he wanted with him, but she didn’t know if it was possible to complete obliterate all traces of the substance.

“Nice job, Vanya,” Erik complimented from his vantage point, as soon as he saw the otherworldly glow of the white light - and the subsequent shredding of the debris. For most materials, the dust would probably remain as dust - but he could sense metal essentially anywhere (in the ground and even within the human body, in the blood), and could control it as well; thus, the dust swirled in clouds of grey as he focused on pieces forming together with a twist of his hand. Then, clank, the metallic pieces became whole once more.

They floated in the air and he fused them into something bigger, however - a bigger projectile that he let fly at Vanya’s shield. “Again?”

He was just glad he didn’t throw a building at her yet, but oh, there was always next time. You had to keep the students on their toes.

Her mouth twitched into a half smile in an acknowledgement of his compliment. She expected the metal to reform just as easily as she had shredded it. She knew it didn’t have to go back to what it was before, but it was still a little surprising to see it take an entirely different shape.

Still, she was ready. Or she hoped. Her shield remained in place, but it was easier to do when she knew what she was doing, what was coming, and that she was in no immediate danger. But one step at a time.

Rather than throwing out her power all around her, Vanya focused only on the large metal piece that was coming toward her. She threw her own power against it, disintegrating the material from the part closest to her shield all the way back with ease.

“It’s one thing when I know it’s coming.” she said finally. “When I know what’s happening around me and I know what I should be doing.” But she wasn’t trained to react properly in a situation. She could get by with throwing around a lot of power, but that was only going to take her so far.

“The heart of battle is a lot different, yes,” Erik agreed; he’d been hovering in the air a bit, balancing on a see-saw made of magnetic energy, but then he let his feet touch the ground. “Think of this as exercising the muscles. If your muscles are weak you won’t be able to deflect any hits regardless. But we can try more real-life scenarios next time. I might know a place to train specifically focusing on that sort of thing.”

In the forest, there were a variety of training facilities - places similar to the Danger Room he’d been familiar with at the Institute, places where state-of-the-art technology meant that they’d get to simulate a fight. There had to be at least one he and Vanya could borrow for a little while.

“In the meantime, we can cool down here - “ That had been a rather intense session anyway, and he would bet that Vanya was a little bit tired. “I’ll make us some tea, at the house.” She was one of the few people he’d ever invited to his personal domicile on Genosha, besides his family.

She barely remembered anything of her own sessions with her dad when it came to training, they were brief flashes and that came back to her, but she remembered how he had been with their siblings. Vanya was very thankful that Erik seemed to be nothing like him. Time for a rest, and tea? She smiled gratefully and nodded. “That sounds great, actually. Thanks.”

Coffee had always been her first choice, but she could appreciate tea. It was the whole situation in general that made it that much easier to appreciate. “I guess I can kind of get why my siblings had to spend so many hours training.” Even if it was done differently, training the muscle was important, if that’s how you looked at it. Vanya wasn’t sure she wanted to know what his idea of a real-life scenario would be, or how he would make it happen. That was a problem for a different day.