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Post by Ember on Jan 24, 2009 0:36:43 GMT -5
One.... two.... three.... four.... five.... Aideen counted in her head slowly as her body moved fluidly and in perfect form of Chen Style Tai Chi. The room was hot, the thermometer set at 98 degrees and at full blast since Aideen had been working out since 6am. She just finished a vigorous practice of the classic North Shaolin Kung Fu training. Now to cool down, she performed the more difficult style of Tai Chi, that kept her body low and her movements slow and balanced. In the past two months, Aideen grew comfortable on her new team. She celebrated her birthday with receiving her diploma and going on a long ride on her motorcycle, driving all the way upstate in the countryside and not returning until the late evening. She got to know her team, finding her place within them. Though Aideen's patience grew thin with Calorie more often then not, Mason kept him in line. He earned her respect as a Team Captain and she got along with him enough to call him a friend. HeartString had her trust as well, from the moment that Aideen realized the girl kept her secret she earned it. Other than Calorie really, she trusted most of the team. TrueSpirit also became someone she called a friend purely by his calm and quiet nature and old and wise soul that Aideen got from him. After careful analyzing in her mind, she found him to be trustworthy enough to slightly loosen her guard around him and even enough to occasionally make conversation. Aideen's training was important, that was a constant in her life since she was only three years old. Every morning without fail she awoke at 5:30am, took a bath in her bath tub, ate a protein bar and went straight outside for a run. After an hour she would take a break for another protein bar and then hit the gym and weight room for the rest of her workout, finishing it off with a calming session of Tai Chi, just as she was doing now. Breathe in.... breathe out.... hold position...
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Chupacabra
New Mutants
Alejandro Rivera
And from my tortured shape No comfort, no escape
Posts: 104
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Post by Chupacabra on Jan 24, 2009 1:22:37 GMT -5
Alejandro got his two gallons of water ready. It has been the routine for the last two months. He woke at 6:30, got his workout clothes on, ate a small breakfast, and prepared two gallons of water. One gallon frozen the other not. He carried a small bag on his back with an empty water bottle in it among other things, a cooler on his shoulder, and the two containers of water in his hand. He walked down the chrome corridors to get to the weight room. Upon entering, the heat hit his face like it would on a hot summer day in Puerto Rico. The only difference was that it felt more like a dessert than a tropical paradise due to the lack of humidity.
Alex put the cooler down and put the gallons of water inside to protect them from the heat. Alex saw Aideen and gave her a slight nod. In ways that girl scared Alex, her silent nature and the things she did including turning up the heat this high. He was no stranger to heat and worked out in about the same conditions but Alex knew that if he was gonna work out here he would need lots of water.
"Good morning. How's your workout so far?"
Alex walked toward the treadmill to get his blood pumping. Alex took out the unfrozen water and poured a full bottle before he started to jogging on the treadmill. The last two months had meant a lot to Alex. He had made new friends and for the most part liked his team. He thought of Aqua and how he still hasn't told her that her face is the only memory he woke up with. When ever questions about his past or his family arose Alex almost always steered away from the question and changed the subject. The only people he told about his memory loss was his room mate Jasper, and his close friend Chase. It took a while before Alex remotely understood what Onyx would say, but after a while Alex caught on.
Alex drank from the bottle frequently and take breaks to make sure that he would not dehydrate or overheat.
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Ironclad
Corsairs
Mason Rictus
Posts: 197
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Post by Ironclad on Jan 24, 2009 2:21:03 GMT -5
"What the hell is wrong with you kid? I told you already, don't talk to her when she's in the middle of her stuff and mess up her focus," Mason's voice called out across the room when he emerged from the locker room with a towel slung over his shoulders. For about a month now, he joined Aideen in the gym in the mornings. They worked well together and Mason for one was quite pleased that Cyclops insisted she be a Corsair. He liked her right away and was really impressed with her in practice. It wasn't long before he started going over Team Strategies with her and thinking out new ones. That girl knew her stuff and she made the team stronger.
Mason's hard glare now was on the little New Mutant, who already interrupted their workouts several times, for some reason thinking that they were up for small talk. "I ain't telling you again kid, cause when she's thrown off in the morning it pisses her off. Trust me you don't wanna deal with Fox when she's pissed," he said in a low voice, keeping it under the soft Kabuki music that played in the air and threw his towel on a nearby bench where their water bottles sat along with the MP3 player. I really gotta convince Emma and Cyclops to have a sign up sheet for the room, he thought taking a chug of his water. The room was so hot that Mason didn't even bother wearing a shirt when he met her down there. He gave her the heat, it was her thing and he let her have it. She was a good sparing partner and Mason had to admit he had a difficult time keeping up with her half the time, but he only got better himself from it.
He walked over to the metal bar and reached up and grabbed it, easily doing chin ups while keeping an eye on the kid. She should be done soon anyways so she can switch this damn music out to something that doesn't make me feel like I'm at a tea party, Mason thought before counting the chin ups in his head.
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Post by Ember on Jan 24, 2009 2:56:43 GMT -5
Aideen took deep even breaths as she finished her final formation, tuning out the noise in the room and concentrating on the music and her form. The final form always required her full concentration, since she was with her legs spread out, her body low and her torso was curved back in a half moon for with her head about an inch from the ground as her hands moved back and forth with her body, her breaths matching each movement. Slowing her breaths, Aideen slowly and gracefully brought her body up to full standing, hands settling into prayer form. After a few more more breaths, she opened her large dark eyes.
She didn't know when the other kid in the room got there, and frankly she really didn't care. Aideen rarely talked to younger kids, let alone ones who were still relatively new. She walked over to the bench where her water bottle sat and took a long neat sip. She wiped her glistening tan skin with her towel while her slender elegant fingers pressed a couple of buttons on her MP3 player to change the music. The Kabuki music soft and her speakers blasted with System of a Down, knowing Mason would appreciate it after a half hour of Kabuki music.
Aideen smirked up at him and walked to a chair in front of him. "Happy now?" she asked as she began to stretch and wind down a bit from the vigorous morning workout that even she would admit was better with a capable partner than alone.
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Chupacabra
New Mutants
Alejandro Rivera
And from my tortured shape No comfort, no escape
Posts: 104
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Post by Chupacabra on Jan 24, 2009 3:14:08 GMT -5
Alex cringed when Mason silently scolded at him. Alex just as lowly replied, "Sorry sir. Won't happen again." Hijo de la gran puta. That's what I get for trying to be nice. Relax Alex, remember what you been learning. Control. We don't want another incident. Relax control your breathing. Alex stopped running to let him self cool down in more ways then one. He didn't want to lose control again and have a perfectly good shirt get ripped in transformation again.
Alex already finished two bottles of water and was filling up on his third. He took a zip of water and saw Mason giving him a hard glare. Hopefully he doesn't feel like shooting me.
Alex walked over to lift some weights to work on his upper body. That's when he heard the change from the calm soothing music to the erratic tunes of System. I guess she is done with her tai chi.
Even though Aideen was kinda scary Alex enjoyed to watch her. She was very knowledgeable in what she did and Alex could learn a thing or two from watching her. He loaded up the bench press to 100lbs. to start with. He began to do reps while he kept his observant eyes on the two Corsairs.
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HeartString
Corsairs
Tracy Goddard
Trust me, I know what hurts you, I know what you're feeling
Posts: 222
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Post by HeartString on Jan 24, 2009 3:38:23 GMT -5
Tracy came in wrapped in her robe, and carrying her bag of workout gear and bottled water. Her hair was only partly damp from her morning swim, as she toweled it off. Even wearing a swim cap her hair still got a little wet. "Ahhh" she loved the heat after such a cold swim and she loved morning workouts far more now. Watching Mason shirtless, and the great thing about it was now she didn't feel weird about looking at him.
"Feels good in here. Warms me up." Tracy walked over to be closer to Mason as he hung there doing pull ups and dropped her bag. "Good morning Mason." she said batting her eyes at him flirtatiously and giggling. She tried to get him to mess up counting so he would have to start over, she loved him in great shape and really loved it when he pushed himself. His will to overcome his own body's limits was inspiring. She sat down on the mat near him and began her stretching routine. When the heat had warmed her enough she peeled off her robe revealing her Corsair blue one piece bathing suit. She felt the flux of emotion in the room, but as it was settling she tried to put it out of her mind.
She reached into her bag for some water and after re-hydrating she went over to the balance beam, mounting it effortlessly and getting into her rhythm. Tracy had been a gymnast since she was very small and now that she had grown and developed she found her center of gravity was well off of what it used to be. She was still an excellent gymnast, but long gone were the days when the US Olympic Team were calling to recruit her. She would have loved to try out, but she knew her skills were more than good enough for combat even if they were no longer crisp enough for competition.
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Ironclad
Corsairs
Mason Rictus
Posts: 197
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Post by Ironclad on Jan 24, 2009 4:28:51 GMT -5
"Much better," Mason said with a smirk back at Aideen just as his girl walked into the room. His glance lingered on her while he kept up his chin-ups. "Morning Doll," he said looking her up and down, his count still somehow going despite the fact that his girl was right in front of him in a bathing suit that left little to nothing to the imagination. "Good swim?" Mason asked finishing his set and jumping down, his eyes lingering on his girl as she did her thing.
He managed to tear his eyes away from Tracy while she worked out that gorgeous curvaceous body that he had come to know much better since they got together a couple of months back. Mason looked back at Aideen stretching. "You up for one last spar session before we call it a morning Fox? We got the Danger Room tonight so I wanna get some sparring in," Mason said grabbing his water bottle. He gave her the nickname after a couple of weeks watching her in action. She was as sly and cunning as a fox, and as ruthless as a cobra.
Mason's watchful eyes glanced at the New Mutant, not liking the way he looked at his teammate, but didn't think much of it since he was a kid and Aideen barely acknowledged them. "Whaddaya say? You down Fox?" he asked tossing over her water bottle to her.
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Post by Ember on Jan 24, 2009 4:50:34 GMT -5
Tossing her long ponytail behind her and catching her water bottle in midair, Aideen smirk deepened. "I'm in, you sure you are? When Tracy gets into her routine... well I guess we'll see how focused you can be." She stood up and stretched her body up before walking over to the mat. She learned a good deal more in the past months, both from the Danger Room sessions and her lessons with Wolverine, so she was always up for a sparring session to practice.
Aideen's smirk left her face as she walked backwards on the mat, but her eyes glinted from teasing him and challenging him. Mason was a good guy, and these spars never got old whether they were with or without weapons. "No weapons?" she asked moving into fighting stance on the mat calmly, keeping her body movement light and precise.
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Chupacabra
New Mutants
Alejandro Rivera
And from my tortured shape No comfort, no escape
Posts: 104
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Post by Chupacabra on Jan 24, 2009 4:58:06 GMT -5
Alex had just finished the third rep of bench pressing. Alex had already finished the first gallon and was working on the now half frozen gallon. He got up and got a small mat so he could start working on his abdominal muscles. He did five different moves and when he finished doing a whole rep of each he would start over and would make the rep one less until he reached zero.
Alex was half way through when he noticed that they were going spar. Occasionally Alex would be lucky enough to catch these sparring sessions. He decided that it would be a good time to take a break. He took off his drenched tank top, sat cross legged, and zipped on his water.
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HeartString
Corsairs
Tracy Goddard
Trust me, I know what hurts you, I know what you're feeling
Posts: 222
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Post by HeartString on Jan 24, 2009 12:31:17 GMT -5
Doing a dismount from the balance beam, a twisting double back flip in a pike position, Tracy landed solidly with just the tiniest of wavers. "Great swim hon, hold on." she rushed over to kiss him softly at the corner of his mouth and said "Oh, you uh, had a little something right there. Had to get it."
She stepped back over to her bag with a grin on her face and said "I'm here for you guys if you go weapons..uh, nevermind." she realized what she was saying as the words were coming out of her mouth. Ember wouldn't be able to hurt Ironclad even if she did get a strike in on him, and there was no way that Mason would lose his focus or control enough to allow a strike to damage their fiery 'Fox'. It was actually odds on favored that neither would land a blow, but that was what made them so evenly paired. That new Corsair girl was certainly a welcome addition to the team.
She reached into her satchel and retrieved her hand wraps. Rolling her shoulders as she put them on she cleared her mind and walked over to the uneven bars that were set up on the far side of the gym, beyond the weights and tumbling mats. Chalking up she let her mind see the movements. Visualization was a key element in what she did, Storm had made sure to cultivate her talents and then Cyclops had also been satisfied that she could keep herself out of harms way as well, so he also encouraged her to keep up with her Gymnastics training.
Mounting with a dive she grabbed the lower bar and swung under it. Transferring to the higher bar with a corkscrew spin and reversing her grip she went around it backwards and at the apex of her swing switched grips as she turned to face int to giant swing to keep going full force. With her legs in a spit she swung around straight armed keeping her momentum high. She flowed from movement to movement, enjoying the rush of the air as well as the feeling of weightlessness. Her high dismount triple tuck was the closest thing to flight she every would feel and she nailed it. Tossing her arms up she could imagine the scorecards going up ...all tens...ahh, I coulda been great. she thought.
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Ironclad
Corsairs
Mason Rictus
Posts: 197
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Post by Ironclad on Jan 24, 2009 13:49:29 GMT -5
Mason's smirk actually turned into a grin for one split second when Tracy was being oh so caring way of getting whatever was supposedly on his face off. "Yea I bet I did. I just got the most considerate girl ever huh? Would take something off me with her own lips, not that's a catch," he said with a slight teasing tone to his hard voice as he watched her walk away to go her gymnastics. He could a bit of flips here and there, but he had nothing on Tracy when it came to those quick flips and crazy moves. Mason struggled with Aideen too, since she knew quite a bit of gymnastics and whatever other crazy shit she knew. "Don't worry about me Fox, I never failed you before," he said walking over to the brunette.
Getting himself into position, Mason got serious again put his focus into the session. "We'll stick to skin on skin for now, Cyclops will chew me out if we use weapons when the kid's in range," he said glancing over at the New Mutant on the side. "Alright Fox, let's do this," he said and began circling her, knowing he'd have to make the first strike because Aideen never did. His arms were out and and he was ready for any tricks she had up her sleeves. Without warning, his leg up and around in a kick aimed right at her head.
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Post by Ember on Jan 24, 2009 14:04:45 GMT -5
On instinct, Aideen rolled under his kick, sliding across the mat under him and reaching her own leg out to kick his other one from under him. Her two long legs made a rapid spinning motion and her body lifted itself from the mat in a neat spin as she landed upright. Despite the amount of intensity that seemed to stay in the air whenever Wolverine trained her, she remembered his lessons well including Mantis Style Kung Fu. She was a quick learner and her analytical mind adapted to it well, predicting her opponent's move was slowly becoming a second nature for her.
Aideen flipped in the air to the side of him, knowing he'd be there to retaliate in a second without his own maneuver in a second. Her dark eyes focused on his and her hands were up and ready to strike.
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Ironclad
Corsairs
Mason Rictus
Posts: 197
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Post by Ironclad on Jan 24, 2009 14:19:38 GMT -5
Mason landed on his back from the ground from when she kicked his leg from under him with a grunt. He brought his legs back just as quickly and with his heightened speed he was on his feet and behind Aideen in less than a second, one arm across her body and gripping her shoulder while the other hand wrapped around her waist and gripped her hip, pressing her back against his front and trying to get her in a lock position.
"You know, Rumble would kill to be in my place right now," Mason said with a smirk, bracing himself for the blow with extra enthusiasm he knew would come with that comment.
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Post by Ember on Jan 24, 2009 14:30:44 GMT -5
Aideen eyes narrowed and she slammed her hips into his so hard she sent them both to the floor. With the impact of the floor loosening his grip, Aideen rolled out of it and gripped his hands down. She put one knee on his stomach and one foot on his thigh, looking down at him with a glare, her hair slowly falling over her shoulder.
"I'd kill him if he ever got in that position," she said and small grunt when she threw herself back and used her body's position on him to send him flying in the air behind her. Aideen did a back flip on the mat that brought her into an upright position again, glancing back at him with her dark eyes glinting in challenge
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Ironclad
Corsairs
Mason Rictus
Posts: 197
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Post by Ironclad on Jan 24, 2009 15:00:02 GMT -5
Mason slid across the room where she threw him, an amused look in his eyes as he swung his legs back and then forward to pick himself up again and walked toward her slowly. If he could have felt pain, he bet that would have hurt like crazy since he landed head first. "I bet you would Fox, though Cyclops ain't gonna be happy with you," he said and then lunged toward her, grabbing her wrists and trying to flip her back. She may not have always been as quick as him, but Aideen was smart and sometimes it was like she knew what he would do before he did anything.
The sparring session lasted for about another twenty minutes, complete with witty comments on both ends to get the other more riled up. They evenly matched each other when it came to skin on skin, Mason because he had quick moves and was immune to physical harm and he knew a thing or two about fighting, and Aideen cause she had the kind of training that in his mind could only compare to Wolverine's own training, and Deadpool's as well. She was light and quick too, so they both were on equal footing when it came to skin on skin sparring. Weapons were her thing though, he had his guns and she had her sai, and daggers and swords. That was the only territory where he could say that she had a one up on him.
"Ok Fox, you ready to call it quits yet?" Mason breathed out between heavy breaths from the pace of the sparring. He swore her endurance was at some insane level than normal, but since they began sparring Mason was finding it easier to keep up with her with every passing session. Now he had her pinned with her back against the wall with her hands and his thighs were pressed against the area where her thighs met her hips, disabling most of her movement.
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