Baptism By Fire

Posted on Fri Oct 25th, 2024 @ 12:39am by Connor Bruin & Kurt Wagner & Meja Vikström & Kayleigh Marshall

960 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: Danger Room
Timeline: November 5th, 1990

The familiar hum of the Danger Room's systems powering up filled the air. They cast a pale blue glow over the otherwise chrome metallic space. The room's walls were sleek and featureless, the kind of blank slate that only moments before had been a dormant powerhouse.

Connor stood off to the side, hands gloved in the tactile sensors of his haptic system, ready to relay instructions to the team. He looked up at the new faculty member who was shadowing Connor in learning how the Danger Room works as much as he would be assisting in the training. "THEY WILL BE HERE ANY MINUTE. IS THAT WHERE YOU WANT TO BE WHEN THEY ARRIVE?"

The ever-charismatic Nightcrawler hung casually from a nearby bar above the room, his prehensile tail swaying with his usual ease. He smiled, flashing his fanged grin, and bamfed down in a puff of sulfurous smoke to land beside Connor. "Connor, do not fret. Zhis vill be fun, ja? We push them, but not too hard."

"THANK YOU FOR COMING DOWN," Connor said, turning his attentions to the doors in patient waiting.

Kayleigh was wondering just what the danger room exercise would entail, entering the room she offered a polite smile as she greeted Connor. “Thank you, Connor.” She looked towards the blue skinned mutant next to Connor she had yet to properly greet. “You must be Kurt? I’m Kayleigh, it’s nice to meet you.”

"And you, Fraulein Kayleigh," said Kurt with a polite dip of his head. "I am honored to be asked to assist in your training."

Meja entered the Danger Room, downing water out of a large metal water bottle. A light hiss escaped the top when she disengaged with it, smiling around to those already attending. "Hi everyone." Then looking to Kayleigh, "We haven't met, I'm Meja."

“It’s nice to meet you Meja.” Kayleigh smiled warmly before looking towards Connor and Kurt. “So what do you have in mind for us?”

"MEJA CAN MAKE FIRE BUT HAS NOT YET LEARNED TO CONTROL IT," Connor said, "WHILE KAYLEIGH CAN CONTROL AMBIENT THERMAL ENERGIES. I AM CURIOUS TO SEE WHAT YOU TWO CAN ACCOMPLISH WHEN WORKING TOGETHER."

A row of mannequins were on display at the end of the Danger Room. They were alternated between red and blue. After pointing at them, Connor said, "DESTROY THE RED MANNEQUINS WHILE LEAVING THE BLUE ONES UNHARMED IF POSSIBLE."

“Okay...” Kayleigh was wondering just how to accomplish the task, Sure she could use the thermal energy in the room to create fire, but she wasn’t sure how to control it to stop it from harming the blue mannequins. “I can use the thermal energy here to create fire, but controlling it to stop it spreading is another thing.”

"Zhat is vhy we practice, ja?" Kurt offered, unsure of his role here. The least he could do was provide some moral support. "If you fail, no harm done. Zhere is always anosther try."

Meja tapped Kayleigh on the upper arm, a smile growing on her features, burnt amber eyes gleaming. "I have an idea... I can create fire, you can control it... Let's use that, I'll breathe it and you use what I make to take out the targets."

Kayleigh nodded. “That’s a brilliant idea. I just need to focus on controlling the heat.” She gave Kurt a respectful nod for his advice and encouragement. “Let’s do it.”

Meja nodded and jogged forward to allow them to close in on their first target, she began to measure her breathing, taking long controlled breaths in through her nose and lightly through her pursed lips. Her next concentrated move allowed for her to attempt to raise the temperature at the back of her throat.

Kayleigh was hoping she could focus and make their plan work, they could be an awesome team if it went correctly. She could already feel the heat starting to build within Meja, just as she was picking up on the heat naturally given off by other humans.

Meja glanced over at Kayleigh and nodded as she took a deep breath in, taking a half step back so that they lined up. Feeling the surge of heat meld with her outgoing breath, she let loose, expelling the flames.

Kayleigh focussed all she had on directing the flames, focussing on the first red dummy she tried to contain the flames around just it and not the neighbouring blue dummy. Watching as the dummy was consumed by the fire she refocused on the next red dummy.

As the first lot of flames died out, Meja inhaled long and hard before expelling the next bout. She felt the temperature beginning to slowly increase more and more with every outward breath, knowing that she'd have to attempt to get the flames under control soon or Kayleigh may find it difficult to forward them on to their targets without collateral damage.

Kayleigh looked at Meja offering an enthusiastic smile. “I can feed you more heat if you need it, I can focus heat from other sources.”

Connor clapped his hands together and let out a hoot.

"Zhat vas great!" Kurt cheered as well. "God forgive ze targets being in human likeness but zhat vas still great!"

Kayleigh smiled the biggest smile yet. “I take it we did good.”

Meja chuckled and spat out a little flame onto the ground that fizzled out within a few seconds, nodding and smiling as she offered a high five. "Of course we did! I'll keep in mind that you can draw heat from other sources, that could really help out if we need it."

"I WILL TELL PROFESSOR X THAT YOU BOTH ARE MISSION READY," Connor signed with glee.

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