Air! Water! With Your Powers Combined...! (Ghost)

Jorge had stood there, staring at the air vent and wondering if he was just crazy. Was it really possible that she, or at least her cell phone, were inside the air vent? There could have been a hundred reasons as to why he was hearing music coming from there. After all, this place was a school, maybe some student was just listening to music so loud in there room that it was filtering through the vents. But the coincidence that it started up just as he called Maya was bit telling.

But then…the sound suddenly stopped and Jorge listened onto to dead silence. The phone held up to his ear continued to ring but the song had stopped. Jorge could only then chuckle as he snapped his phone closed.

“The conclusions I jump to,” he said with a sigh as he slid his phone back into his pocket and sighed.

The man had decided to wait for a moment. Ghost was not picking up her phone so that meant that she either may be asleep or was simply busy. Whatever the case, Jorge was going to give her a few more minutes before he called again.

>> "Sorry…Ehm. Late night."

…or not.

“I…can see that,” Jorge said with an arched brow.

Hands stuffed into his jacket pockets, the detective watched the X-Man suddenly appear from a different hall, one that he was sure that he had been down before. But it was not so much the fact that he had checked that hall that startled him, it was simply how she looked. Jorge was not the type of man to judge anyone based on how they looked, but Maya looked simply exhausted, almost as if she had just been suddenly roused from a deep sleep. Her clothes were wrinkled, hair a mess, dark circles under her red eyes…

…suddenly the detective was feeling guilty for having disturbed her.

>> "Danger room session, right? I can let you in, but I'll need to change… do you… are you going to wear that? We have some spare suits."[/color]

“Ugh, I guess I hadn’t really planned wearing anything else.” he said with a shrug. But at the thought of waiting one of their ‘spare suits’ the detective could have help but chuckle and crack a grin. “Heh heh…you’re…serious? The suits? No offense but I’m not a twenty-something that looks good in leather or spandex…”

Just the thought of him running around in a superhero costume made him chuckle. The man was over 40 years old, he doubt he could really pull off the look anymore. But he understood what Ghost was trying to say. If they were going to be training, his clothes could be in danger of getting damaged and the man still had to make it home after this. He did not know what Ghost’s training sessions were like, but apparently she was trying to spare his clothing.

“I guess if the school has some spare sweatpants or something that should be fine.”

Jorge was silent the rest of the way. They passed through the kitchen, which he had been in many times before, and down a few flights of stairs. The detective was amazed as he descended. The cool air from beneath the mansion immediately ruffled his hair and he felt as if he were walking in some whole other world. For as much time as he was spending at the mansion, he had never anticipated that something like this could be down here. He knew the X-Men were here and he had only heard bits and pieces about this ‘Danger Room’, but he had never imagined this.

Then they arrived in that cool, metallic hallway. Jorge actually gawked as he looked around spying the other closed doors but not losing pace behind Ghost as she continued to lead. The whole place was like something out of a comic book. But instead of saying anything, the man remained in awed silence until they arrived at the door that supposedly led to the Danger Room.

A single flash of red…and Ghost grumbled.

A flash of green…and door opened…amidst more grumbling.

She was apparently having a bad day…

“Whoa,” Jorge said as he followed her into the large, empty room. It was a lot more massive than he had imagined it would be…and a lot more empty. A glance around and he noticed that he was being led towards the podium.

>> "Go ahead and look at the controls. These buttons will scroll this screen… you can read the names of the programs and if the programmer wasn't lazy, there should be a description in there too. The ones I made… see that? Author: Ghost. That's me. I have to change, but I'll be back…Ehm. Sorry. I'm kind of all over the place today."[/color]

“A-Alright,” Jorge said as he stared at the evil incarnate known as technology. The man had never been good at machines, that was why the best thing he could do right now was absolutely nothing at all. He would wait for the X-Man’s reappearance. Glancing away from the machine he watched her walk away, looking a little frazzled. “Hey,” he called out gently. “Is everything okay? You sure you’re up for this today?” Even though she was his teacher, he still considered her a friend so there was an obvious tinge of confused concern in his voice.

>> "No. I'll be back. Just some personal stuff going on. I'll tell you about it when you're too tired to drip." [/i]

“Okay,” Jorge said as he watched Ghost disappear back through the door and head for some unseen locker room.

The detective sighed as he stood there, in front of the podium, looking out over the expansive and empty Danger Room. He didn’t see much danger around. Then again, that did not mean that there would not be some later. Judging by the looks of the technology that the podium alone was carrying, Jorge was unsure as to what to expect. Even though the man was not a wiz with machines he get the general workings of one. This thing, though, seemed almost alien to him. He leaned down, gazed the screen but made no motion to touch any buttons.

The last thing he needed was to suddenly send the Danger Room into DEFCON one or something.

Instead, Jorge pulled off his leather jacket and hung it over a nearby bar that jutted out of the side of the podium. He wasn’t sure if that was important or not but he figured that at least it would keep his jacket safe. His jacket was one of his mementos from Miami so he would rather no harm came to.

Stepping away from the podium, he began to walk slowly across the insanely large and high room. He felt like he was someplace extremely alien. Never before had he seen anything like this. The closest he came was when he was working vice back in Miami and had to bust a drug exchange in an air craft hanger. But at least that place had windows. This Danger Room was nothing like that. Looking up, he spied the large glass window that looked as if people to peer down and watch. He wondered if anyone was up there now…

Quickly he shook the paranoia and sighed as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. He had no inkling what was going to happen today, but he trusted Ghost and knew that if there were any X-Man that could train him, it was her. Though she did look frazzled, he believed she would keep her head in the game. Hell, maybe a good workout here will help her open up about what’s going on in her life. Whatever it is, it obviously is having a big effect on her.

>> "You ready?"[/i]

Jorge glanced up at the reappearance of Maya. Now she was dressed in something far more fitting for a superhero than khakis and a polka dot top. And again it only reinforced the point that he could not pull off the super costume. Good thing the man was cop and not applying for an X-Men Internship program…

“As I’ll ever be,” he confirmed. “What’s on the agenda today?”

>> "I thought you might like to be on the other side of the law for once…There's a cat burglar scenario that might work... hold on."

Jorge chuckled at the idea of him being a burglar. There had been times where he had to work on the opposite side of the law when he was working vice, but this was going to be a little different, apparently. He had never really needed to be a full-fledged thief before. This would be extremely interesting and almost fun sounded. But he could see how at the same time it would also help him to gain some control over his new found ability. Be in a water form, or even an air form, would definitely help if you didn’t want to get caught. He wondered, though, exactly how this was going to go about.

A glance around room and he saw absolutely nothing. No training areas, no sets, no nothing that indicating that such a scenario was going to come about. Maybe he would have to pretend it was all there?

And then he saw it happen. Ghost walked over to the podium…pushed a single button…and it was like something out of some cheesy special effects riddled sci-fi tv show…only it was much cooler and very real.

“Wow,” was all he could say as he stood absolutely still and watched the world utterly change before him.

The world literally melted into view around him. From walls the scenario began to unfold of a quiet clearing that included grass and a thick line of trees all around them. It was as if somebody had just wiped away the background of the large, empty room and left them with his beautiful scene, as if it were something painted by Bob Ross. Jorge eyed the setting, completely at a loss for words. How could he possible respond to this? The world literally just sprang up around it and all of it just felt so real. He could feel the grass beneath his shoes and smell the scent of the trees.

It was a beautiful sight that simply robbed Jorge of all words.

>> "It's something to do with holograms and light bending and a moving floor... I'm not all that tech savvy. I just know that if you go walking in any direction, you won't hit a wall. Not unless it's in the program for you to run into one."

“Impressive,” he finally mumbled. He wondered if the precinct could afford something like this. Hell, it would do them good for their own training sessions…

>> "Hope you don't need that jacket…It'll be back when we're done. Oh! I forgot to bring you pants. I'm so sorry."[/color]

Jorge waved his hand dismissively. He could tell that Ghost was distracted but he was not going to push the issue. She seemed preoccupied with something and she would tell him if she wanted to. In the meantime, the man would simply make due with jeans. Hopefully there was not going to be any fires around that would singe his pants. He still needed to go home in these…

>> "Our objective is to retrieve an Oscar from Starling Turner. You know. The famous actress turned paranoid schizophrenic recluse? She's bound to have some security measures in place, but even I don't know what they are. They're random every time. Guards, traps, turrets, weight sensors... The aim of this scenario is to make you change your body's shape into inhumanly possible forms so, expect some of that too…You still up for it?"

Jorge finally turned his attention back to her. Was she serious? He remembered hearing about Starling Turner and as he looked around his surroundings, he wondered if such a fate did befall her. After all the woman was considered one of the highest paid actresses before she simply lost it. He would not have been the least surprised to know it was based on something real. But still, standing here, in the middle of this fake forest, the detective wondered what exactly was going to happen here.

But as she explained what would be expected of him and his abilities, he had to admit that he was pretty much on board. It sounded almost as if it were tailor made for him, even if it was a training session that Ghost had programmed for herself. He could understand where her line of thought was going this time. He had been able to shift into water and back, now he would have to maintain it and use it in a real world setting. She was a good at what she did, he had to admit that…

Jorge nodded as he could not suppress his awestruck grin.

“I hate to sound like an adolescent, but this…” he said in reference to everything, “Is very cool. And yeah…I’m still in.”

>> "Go for stealth."

Jorge nodded and quickly followed up behind the young X-Man…into the “dense woods” that surrounded them. He was still in awe over the elaborateness of the training simulation he was in. When he was at the academy, they had many scenarios where the trainees would be put into live sets where they had to made life and death decisions. The sets were built for the specific purpose of teaching them hard lessons about the jobs they would be going into. But this, this Danger Room was far more than anything he had ever experienced before. Everything felt so real and the knowledge that it was not still managed to blow his mind.

Stepping over the grass and attempting to keep in mind the word “stealth”, the detective watched his movements. The woods were dense which meant that there were twigs and dried grass aplenty. Even if they were not real, for the purposes of this test, it was obvious that they were. Jorge was not the best delicate stepper in the world, but he knew when he needed to keep quiet…

SNAP

Jorge sighed as he looked down and peered into the dark forest floor. A twig was snapped cleanly in half under his shoe. For not being real, it sure as hell felt like it.

He sighed as he stepped off the twig and moved on in an attempt to be more careful where he set his foot. But as he did, he noticed that the moon was getting exceedingly brighter and thus aided his task all the more. He would have asked Ghost if such a bright moon was really necessary, or in fact real, but one glance up and the question never made it to his lips. All he saw was a multitude of blinding floodlights, all surrounding a large mansion in the distance. The place looked more like a high end prison facility rather than an ex-movie star’s home. Ghost had definitely programmed the scenario to make this more difficult…

He followed her example, stopped when she did and eyed the three or four fingers she held up. There were guards up ahead and she was giving him the chance to take the lead. Quietly Jorge agreed as he edged forward, keeping low and unseen as he did so. After all, this was a training session for him, not her.

Slowly moving ahead, he paused as he shuffled bit, wondering if that was audible. It was only then that he heard the sounds of someone speaking…something. A look of confusion flashed across Jorge’s face as he turned back around to look at Maya.

“Is that…Chinese?” he whispered as he looked at her. This was definitely going to make things harder. If he couldn’t understand what they were saying then he was going to have to assume that all of it was directed towards hearing him do something.

Paranoia is healthy.

Closing his eyes and remembering the task for today, he knew that he was going to have to be stealthy and not run around breaking people’s necks or shooting out their kneecaps. A slow breath and Jorge let his mind go blank…and fill up with the sensation of being surrounded by water. Ever since he left Ghost after their first bit of training, the man had been practicing, trying to get the timing down for his water shifts. He had to teach himself to not over think it and instead just literally let his mind drift…

And just like before…he managed the shift. His skin grew fluid and transparent, offering a glimpse of the world directly through him. As his body waved and shimmered, it quickly began to collapse on itself and become a small puddle on the grassy floor. The last time he did this, it took all his concentration to merely stay in one place. But…thankfully the man had been putting in some practice…especially with the help of his girlfriend Gemma.

Slowly, and ever gently the puddle of water seeped out of the pile of left behind clothes and actually began to move forward like an slithering snake made of liquid. It was noiseless and nearly invisible expect for the smallest of shimmers that reflected the illumination of the floodlights. The detective hoped as he was stealthy enough as he made his way around the confused guards…

SPLLASH!

That…felt like a kidney, the puddle Jorge thought to himself.

It was indeed true. Jorge was getting more and more used to his water form. Though it was only a puddle on the ground he could manipulate to move, in this situation it seemed most helpful. While the guards had been distracted with something else, the unseen puddle had managed to move itself further and further towards the compound.

Jorge was slowly becoming more comfortable with this form. While the first time he shifted he felt purely shocked and terrified of falling apart, with practice and Ghost and Gemma’s help, Jorge slowly forced himself to grow more comfortable to it. The sensation of being in some body that was not entirely what he was used to was scary at first. But as the detective had practiced, stayed in the form for longer amounts of time, and even learned to move, it was beginning to feel like a second skin to him. Loose, liquidy skin, but skin nonetheless.

The world was wholly different for Jorge in this form. While it was nothing was comparable to when he was in that “ghosted” form that Maya put him into, this was still a surreal experience. Everything looked like a distorted, wavy version of how it was supposed to look. Even the most static structure looked as if it were lively and bustling with energy. It was like seeing the world through a waterfall, with everything moving and nothing staying in one place. It was very disorienting when he first looked at the world like this, but he slowly grew accustomed to it. Even sound was drastically affected. Instead of the hearing things as a normal person would, Jorge only heard the slight vibrations of sound as it moved through the water and formed something resembling muffled words.

It was hard but the detective had forced himself to manage to somehow make it through without being completely blind and deaf. More practice was all that was needed.

Success! Jorge could see the compound door above him. Gently the puddle moved up the steps, taking a few at a time. When he had just reached the doorstep, though, he felt the familiar vibrations of footsteps coming up on him. The puddle immediately ceased and spread itself still as it had simply stood there when the guard had stepped roughly onto him.

The water shifted and splashed just like regular water and surprisingly enough…Jorge felt nothing. He had been experimenting with being stepped in or having stuff dropped into the puddle and while there was a momentary sensation of the discomfort of being displaced, no sooner than the object was gone that every droplet recombined. No matter how far the water was displaced, the droplets always managed to stream together and reform. Though he hated to know what would happen if he were attacked by a sponge.

The guard growled as he stepped back and out of the puddle.

<What the hell? Someone get a mop!> he yelled as he marched into the compound.

Jorge immediately took this as his queue. Unfortunately he had no idea what happened to the X-Man Ghost, but he had to assume that she was somehow keeping tabs on him. Once the barking guard was gone, off to chastise someone leaving a wet mess near the door, Jorge slinked away, his water form disappearing into the shadows as he slinked across the edges of the wall. His head was beginning to hurt from the concentration of spreading his body so thin, but he knew he had to do this.

As he followed the crease of the wall, the detective kept a metaphorical eye and ear open for Ghost or at least information on where this award was they needed to steal…

Jorge had never felt so much like a spy in his life. Well…he was a literally a watered down version of a spy, but a spy nonetheless! Tiny splishes and splashes echoed around him as he snaked around the corners of the walls, looking for any clues as to either the location of the award or Ghost. From what he would see in his new form, the compound was absolutely massive. Though it did seem as if the very walls were alive, he knew that the only reason they did so was because of his watery vision. Still though, he could make out some of the layout.

He passed a doorway and several halls, one of which he could feel a strong pull of water. Maybe there was a pool or something through one of them. Remaining in the shadows as much as possible, Jorge crept along, trying his best to remain unseen. Except for the tiniest gleams of reflection, he was succeeding. And in doing so, the detective did his best to remember the layout of the compound that he was so far exploring.

But as he was doing so, he came across a strange sight.

Slinking around a corner, he spied a man seemingly struggling with himself. For a second Jorge figured that maybe the man was just crazy or that he was just having some kind of issue. Nervous breakdown? Spazzing out? There were so many possibilities. But as he remained there and watched the wavy image, he began to realized that this was an all too familiar scenario. He eyed it closely and began to realize that the man was indeed fighting with himself…because someone else was also pulling the strings.

Ghost? he thought to himself.

The chattering in foreign languages made it harder for Jorge to understand exactly what was going on but it was obvious that the man was attempting to call in for help. He saw the man’s hand struggling with the radio he held. It was obvious that they could ill afford to have any more people on alert here. As he slinked across the polished floor to help, he felt the sudden vibrations of footsteps shaking across his surface. A glance behind him as he saw the approaching footsteps of another, very large and muscular man.

Uh-oh!

<What’s going on here?> the man demanded.

Jorge knew that they could not risk either of these two getting the word out but using his new powers was still the objective. Concentrating, Jorge spread himself out, the puddle stretching further and further out until he made a nice, nearly invisible puddle across the expanse of the tiles. It felt odd to be this stretched out, but it was a necessity.

As he did so, the man marched straight on, through Jorge and paused momentarily when he felt a slight slip in his step. Confused the man looked down to see the slippery tiles, but as he returned his gaze to the struggling man, all he saw was a hand radio come flying towards him.

There was only the briefest of seconds before the radio collided with his forehead. SMACK![/b] Feet struggling to regain footing, it soon proved to be too late as stomped and skidded before suddenly his feet slipped out from under him like a slapstick sketch! His legs flailed in mid-air before he came to a sudden crash down onto the slippery, tiled floor. THUD!!

A momentary groan filled the air as the man seemed to only see stars before passing out from the fall. Once he was still and unmoving, the water slowly collected off to the sides and began to reshape and reform itself. Jorge still found some difficulty in this part but it was slowly growing easier. Water shaped and reformed into the vague shape of a man before a more detailed appearance began to take form. When it did, skin color dyed the water and within seconds, a very human looking Jorge Cervantes stepped forward…again with no clothes.

Jorge sighed and shook his head. “There has to be a better way.”

He then glanced over to the man who was struggling, with who he hoped was Ghost, and prayed she had managed to get that situation under control…