Elements in Play

Posted on Sat Oct 26th, 2024 @ 11:03pm by Connor Bruin & Bobby Drake & Hayden Davis & Aurora Summers

2,842 words; about a 14 minute read

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

The Danger Room felt colder than usual, though not because of the technology. Bobby Drake—better known as Iceman—stood near the center. A casual grin was plastered on his face as he toyed with a small orb of ice in his hand, flipping it from finger to finger like a magician practicing sleight of hand.

Connor stood a few feet away, arms folded as he waited patiently, his speech-generating device clipped neatly to his belt. His haptic gloves rested lightly at his sides, fingers twitching in the occasional movement as he cycled through potential exercises in his mind. The pair had been waiting for a few minutes now, and though neither said it out loud, they both wondered how long Aurora and Hayden would take to arrive.

"So, what do you think’s holding them up this time?" Bobby asked with an exaggerated sigh, tossing the ice orb into the air and catching it without looking. "Think they got lost on the elevator?"

Connor raised an eyebrow, his hands moving to form a response. The device clicked to life as he signed, "MAYBE AURORA DECIDED TO STOP AND ENJOY THE WEATHER."

Bobby chuckled, the ice orb vanishing as he wiped his hands together. "Or maybe they fell into the toilet. Girls do that when you leave the seat up, you know."

Connor tapped his gloved fingers, considering for a moment before signing again. "THAT NEVER HAPPENS."

"I don't think so either but that doesn't stop them from bitching." Bobby shrugged. "Hope they get here soon, though. It’s been a minute since I’ve seen either one. Should be fun." He grinned mischievously. "Plus, you know people hate it when I show off too much."

Connor signed, "YOU SHOW OFF CONSTANTLY."

Bobby gave him a mock look of shock. "Who, me? Never. I’m a humble guy." The smirk on his face said otherwise as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "But really, it’ll be good to see what Hayden’s capable of. I know Aurora can hold her own when she has a mind to."

Connor nodded in agreement. "AURORA'S PREGNANCY MEANS WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL THOUGH."

Iceman let out a small chuckle. "Well, nothing like a good training session to shake out the nerves. You think it’s all fun and games in the Danger Room until Cyclops cranks the difficulty to eleven." He grinned. "That’ll knock the uncertainty right out of you."

Connor’s device beeped as he added, "OR MAKE YOU QUESTION EVERY LIFE DECISION THAT LED YOU HERE."

Bobby snorted. "Yeah, well, you’re not wrong. But hey, that’s why we do this, right? Make mistakes here so we don’t end up as Sentinel bait out there."

Aurora had more or less heard every word echoed through thoughts as she approached the danger room, she wasn’t trying to read any minds, lately her abilities had gone through periods of glitching thanks to her pregnancy. At least that was what she was putting it down to. As the door opened she stepped inside giving Bobby and Connor a smile. “You do realise I could hear all of that right? Your minds were practically yelling it as I came down the corridor.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Don’t bother going gentle on me, the bad guys won’t.”

The revelation made Connor grin. Bobby, on the other hand, went for gusto.

"Oh, don't think I forgot last time," Bobby said. He had shown Aurora the Danger Room before he had left the X-Mansion for New York. "You're going down, chica."

“Is that so?” Aurora offered a wry smile. “I think not icy, be prepared to have your ice melted.”

"YOU SAID ICE WHEN YOU MEANT ASS." Connor started chuckling as he signed.

"Sorry I'm late," Hayden called out as she stepped into the Danger Room. She noticed the others standing around, seemingly in the middle of a casual conversation. "Uh... I'm not that late, am I?"

"You are right on time," Bobby said with at least two extra layers of too much charm. "Now it's party."

"WE ARE NOT GOING TO PARTY," Connor corrected. "WE ARE GOING TO TRAIN. I ASKED BOBBY TO COME TODAY BECAUSE HE IS THE ONLY MEMBER OF THE FIRST CLASS OF X-MEN WITH AN ELEMENTAL ABILITY. FIRE AND WATER ARE OPPOSITES, BUT I BELIEVE HIS ADVANCED CONTROL OF ICE MAY PROVE BENEFICIAL FOR YOU BOTH. ARE YOU READY TO GET STARTED?"

Hayden smirked at Bobby. "Maybe if we do well enough in training, we can have a pizza party afterwards." She turned to face Connor. "I'm ready whenever you are. Let's see what the elements can do."

Aurora nodded in agreement. “Sounds good to me. Let’s show them what we’re made of.”

"WE WILL DO A BATTLE DRILL SOON," Connor explained with a flurry of quick handsigns. "FIRST, THOUGH, WE WILL DO A DRILL WITH POWERS ONLY." He walked over to a crate and removed a fire proximity suit. "I WILL PUT THIS ON AND INVITE YOU ALL TO BLAST ME. WHOEVER DOES THE BEST WILL BE THE WINNER AND GET TO CHOOSE THEIR PARTNER FOR THE BATTLE DRILL."

"We all know it's going to be me," Bobby bragged, "but we can do it your way."

Connor had slid inside the silvery suit and was placing the helmet over his head. Even though he would've struggled to talk, his speech-generating device did just fine. "WHO WANTS TO GO FIRST?"

"I'll go," said Hayden, looking around the Danger Room. "Um, I can't generate water, though. I can only work with what's around me and I don't want to wreck any water pipes in the mansion." She chuckled nervously. "So, here goes." There wasn't a lot of humidity in the Danger Room in that moment, but there was enough for her to gather to launch a water cannon attack at Connor's torso.

"NOW AURORA," Connor signed, unfazed by the jetted water blast.

“You asked for it!” Aurora smiled as she generated two balls of flame one in each hand, they started off small but soon grew massive in size as she launched them towards Connor.

Connor absorbed each fireball like he was soaking in the sun. No effect either.

While Aurora took her shot, Bobby pulled Hayden aside. "Hey, maybe you're thinking about the water all wrong. I don't create cold... I steal heat and use that to power my ability. Once I thought of it that way, the sky was the limit and I could do whatever I wanted. Creating fire... that's like energy, right? She's stimulating the air into releasing it. What if you did the same thing?" Bobby's smile turned crooked as he wondered if he was making any sense. "I'm no scientist or anything but water is just H2O right? What if you pushed those atoms together and forced water to form out of the hydrogen and oxygen in the air?" He shrugged. "Worth a shot at least..."

With that, he turned around and sent a jetty of frigid air current straight into Connor's chest. Despite the insulation of the suit he wore, Connor started shivering. "GOOD SHOT." He took a moment to brush the frost away. "HAYDEN, TRY AGAIN."

Hayden listened to Bobby and nodded along with his explanation, trying to work it out in her head before opening her mouth. "Okay, so cold is the result of the heat you steal. Fire is the energy that is released when she vibrates the air molecules really fast. Or something like that. So, if I can manipulate water, then I can manipulate the base elements of water. Push together the hydrogen and oxygen molecules in the air and water naturally forms...." She grinned sheepishly at the others. "Sorry, it's easier sometimes if I talk it out and hear it."

She turned around at Connor's instruction. "Okay, let's try it." She held out her arm again but closed her eyes this time to concentrate, focusing on pushing the air molecules together. She began to sense the water forming in the air and stuck her other arm out. More and more of the H2O began forming and then combining into larger droplets of water rapidly. She felt like she was about to lose control and so started concentrating on Connor. Unfortunately, instead of shooting a jet of water like she wanted, the air molecules around Connor began to combine and join with the others. Hayden still had her eyes closed and couldn't see the bubble of water forming.

"That's it!" Bobby shouted far too exuberantly. "Keep it going, then let Connor have it!"

Hayden opened her eyes. "It's not what I wanted to do, but...." She let the water bubble reach one foot in diameter and then launched it.

The bubble of water surrounded Connor's head but did not pop or disperse. If anything, it formed an impenetrable barrier.

"HELP," Connor's device said as he signed the word.

"Oh shit!" Bobby shot a cold blast at the water bubble. Once it turned to ice, Bobby made it crack and dissipate into a snow flurry.

Connor pulled off the helmet and started gasping for air. Even though he sunk to his knees for deeper breathing, he still had a grin on his face. "THAT WAS AWESOME," he signed. "GOOD JOB, HAYDEN."

Aurora nodded. “I think we found our winner on this round.” She gave Hayden a big smile.

Hayden's eyes had widened in horror when she saw what she'd done. She had run over to Connor to help him up and apologize. "I'm so sorry about that, Connor. I didn't mean to almost drown you or whatever that was. I just wanted to shoot a jet of water." She then looked over at Aurora. "Oh I don't know about that. I nearly put him in the infirmary. But still, thanks. I appreciate it." She looked at Bobby. "And thank you for stopping that."

"Don't mention it, babe." Bobby winked at Hayden.

"VERY WELL," Connor signed as he stripped out of the proximity suit which left him in his training uniform. "HAYDEN MAY CHOOSE HER PARTNER FOR THE BATTLE DRILL."

Hayden blushed slightly as Bobby winked at her and called her babe. That didn't happen to her very often. Especially since the ratio of girls to boys seemed like three to one around the school. And even then, Bobby was only here for training. "Um, okay, I'll choose Bobby," she said.

"Alllll riiiight!" Bobby offered Hayden a high five.

"COME ON, AURORA," Connor said. "WE WILL BEAT THEM."

“Darn right we will” Aurora grinned as she looked towards Connor.

Hayden grinned and slapped a high five to Bobby's hand. "Let's do it, Iceman." He had already helped her understand her powers a little better and she was looking forward to seeing what else they could accomplish in drills.

"THE BATTLE DRILL TODAY IS STYLED AFTER THE GAME OF KEEP-AWAY," Connor explained. "WE WILL EACH START FROM A CORNER OF THE ROOM AND RUSH FOR THE CENTER WHERE A FLAG WILL BE POSTED. WE WILL BATTLE FOR THE FLAG WHILE A TIMER COUNTS DOWN. WHICHEVER TEAM HELD POSSESSION OF THE FLAG THE LONGEST WHEN TIME RUNS OUT WILL BE DECLARED THE WINNER."

Connor activated the program on the wall console and then trotted to his corner. "EVERYBODY MAKE READY."

The Danger Room computer took over and began a countdown.

3...

2...

1!!!

First off the line was Connor who bolted for the flag, loping on all fours in leaps and bounds.

Bobby jumped into the air and used its acceleration to slide him along an ever quickening path straight to the flag.

Aurora was quick to leap into action, stopping Bobby was her first reaction using a telekinetic barrier to deflecting him off course, her second was to reach out for the flag to stop Hayden from getting to it before Connor could reach it, Remembering how Jean had shown her to focus on differing tasks at the same time.

Running was one of Hayden's hobbies. But there was no way she could outrun Connor and outrunning a telekinetic was out of the question. So she continued at her pace towards the flag while pushing air molecules together and using the water to create fog in the lower parts of the Danger Room. But so that she could still see it, Hayden parted the fog between herself and the flag by about the width of her body.

Bobby felt the telekinetic counter from Aurora, but he was no stranger to such maneuvers. He had trained with Jean for years. Rather than resist the push, Bobby doubled back and slid an ice bridge in a sharp 180 degree half-pipe. The telekinesis propelled him back around from an adjacent angle at an even faster speed than before.

Unfortunately Connor had already reached the flag. He jumped up and down and hooted at Aurora before making a run for it away from Bobby and Hayden.

"Aw man! He's just too fast." Hayden made the fog into water and covered the floor in Connor's path. "Hey Iceman, let's go skating!" she yelled.

"I have a better idea!" Bobby exclaimed as he took to the air on his ice sled. "Connor should go skating!"

Without further warning, Bobby shot a freezing blast which turned the ground beneath Connor's feet into a sheet of ice. Try as he might, Connor couldn't keep traction. The awkward, jerky motions left Connor spinning around until he finally toppled in a breakfall.

"Ha!" Bobby was nothing short of jubilant. "Now's our chance! Get the flag!"

Hayden looked for the flag as she watched Connor slide and fall. She saw it on the ice and started running to it, knowing that she'd need to change things up quickly. When she hit the ice that Connor had slipped on, she stopped running and let her feet skim across it. She bent her knees slightly, her body leaning into the slide, and balanced on the balls of her feet with her arms extended for stability. She dropped to a crouch as she approached the flag and then snatched it up, letting her momentum carry her to the edge of Bobby's ice rink.

"I got it!" she yelled.

Aurora turned her attention two ways, first of all to aiding Connor in getting back on his feet, and secondly in grabbing the flag from Hayden. Grabbing it telekinetically she eventually tugged it free of Hayden’s hand lifting it into the air high above the others. “I’ve got it Connor!”

"Not for long!" Bobby called out. His ice slide went right over the top of her head and snatched the flag right out of Aurora's hand. "Yoink!"

“Not so fast, Bobby!” Aurora waved her hand and toppled Bobby right off his ice slide, whilst making sure he had a safe landing.

Connor front flipped through the air where Bobby had fallen and claimed the flag that had slipped his grasp when he fell.

“Go Connor!” Aurora smiled as she did her best to keep a watch and deflect whatever was coming next.

Hayden shot a quick look at Bobby to make sure he was okay before turning her attention to Connor. She brought the molecules around the flag, and the hand that was holding it, to form a solid sphere of water. If he would let go of it somehow, she might be able to throw the sphere to her and Bobby's side. At the very least, it might provide a distraction.

Seeing his chance, Bobby froze the sphere of water into solid ice.

"Oww!" Connor howled with pain as he furiously shook his fist until the ice ball flung into the air.

"Got it!" Bobby cheered from his ice slide. He tucked the ice ball under his arm and sailed through the air in undulating patterns.

~Chase him, Aurora~ Connor utilized their unique advantage. ~Force him to circle around while I double back. We'll trap him in a pincer~

~Understood~ Aurora nodded and moved to force Bobby around.

BUZZ!!!

With that sound, the round came to an end. Connor dropped to his knees and pounded the floor with his fist. Even without waiting for the Danger Room computer to give the tally, he knew they had lost.

Bobby rushed toward Hayden on his ice slide and grabbed her around the waist. The momentum spun him around, carrying them both away in a twirl. "We did it!" he exclaimed, beaming wide and proud. "We did it, Hayden! We won!"

Hayden gasped as Bobby grabbed her and they started twirling. Then she laughed and joined in the excitement. "Yeah! Team Ice Water takes the gold! Er, um, Team Something-Better-Than-That. Anyway...pizza time!"

Aurora sighed. “Guess I was somewhat over eager there.”

"Pizza!" Bobby shouted, already moving off to celebrate.

At first Connor made to grumble, but he was never one to turn down a slice of spicy pie. "WAIT FOR ME!"

 

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