"Being an X-Man is about being part of a team." Luke's voice was strong and echoed off the walls and ceiling of the large empty warehouse they stood within. Strong bulbs were scattered through the building, but only enough to make small areas of light. At least 80-85% of the building was cloaked in shadows and darkness. Large crates lay scattered through the room, providing even more shadows and darkness as well as obstacles and cover.

"From your files we have at least some idea about how each of your abilities work. Some is information you've provided on th eapplication, other bits were gathered during training sessions or out in the field." Luke continued as his sightless eyes stared at the three applicants. He had fought alongside Alexandra and had at least a decent understanding of how her power worked. Maybe not perfect, but good enough. Kaz he had heard about but most of what he knew was from the files. When it came to Jewel, he only knew information from her file. How would they deal with the challenge he was about to throw their way?

"In the shadows are three assailants. Your job is to defeat them. Killing is not an option, but rending them unconscious or trapping them in some sort of construct is deffinately allowed." Luke continued, "There are a couple of suprises but you'll find those on your own. Ever two minutes, one of these light bulbs will go out. If the assailants disable all three of you, or the light bulbs go out before you can stop all of them, then you lose. If you're counting, you'll see that there are 15 light bulbs so you have half an hour."

Turning, Luke walked away, but paused at the doorway that opened to the stairs that would take him up to the control room. "Oh... and good luck." Stepping outside he closed the door.

(OOC: These three assailants are not your typical challengers. The computer has been programmed to create individuals that are immune to each person's abilities, at least as much as the X-Men know about. There is one challenger that is immune to one persons abilities. They are not all immune to all the abilities. They are also programmed to seak out their target if the three of you choose to split up. These are details that none of you have been given. If there are any other questions, feel free to shoot me a PM. Enjoy!)

Taking in the surroundings Kaz let out a long yawn. Oh no, low light conditions....how dull and normal. While he couldn't see in the dark, as long as there was some light or some kind, he would be able to see quite clearly with his enhanced vision. Beyond that, he often trained and practiced in low-light and, at times, zero light conditions. Is this the best they can come up with? He thought to himself already bored.

While Luke spoke, Kaz continued to look around and make a mental sketch of the area, major formations, clearings he could see major obstacles, which was a short endeavor since his current spot didn't have the best view. Until Luke decided to leave him and the two young women, Kaz had begun stretching. Once Luke made his way away from the group Kaz stood and pulled two collapsible steel batons from the inside of his pant's waistline. With a flick the two batons snapped to their full length.

He had made a decision earlier before stepping into the Danger Room, to not shift unless he had to. Mostly the decision was made just because, but now he had a reason, so he wouldn't be bored out of his mind. Though it was probably a good thing since whoever or whatever these assailants were, they weren't suppose to be killed. Maimed, injured, broken, on their way to death's door without help, that all seemed fair game. Kaz knew that even though he could control himself while shifted, it was still very easy to break things or kill people if he slipped up even a little.

He regarded the two woman a moment before he moved to stand behind them, his back to them, as he covered their backs. If Luke decided to start it up as soon as he got to his position, then he'd rather not be caught off guard. Without turning to look at either, "Well this should be," He stifled another yawn, "Fun. Name's Kaz by the way."

Jewel spent days preparing for the tryouts. She'd always been an overachiever, so saying that she'd probably never spent so much time and effort before any exam she ever had did mean something. In addition, this time it was not about studying and memorizing things; it was about training, and finding the right mindset, and... precision work.
Not being as lucky as Shawn with his built-in silver resources, Jewel decided to prepare for the task in her own way. Training with Sam made it clear that she needed more than a couple of bracelets and some light pieces of bling, so she sat down and did what she did best: made jewelry.
She showed up for Luke's tryout session in her usual simple training gear, but this time the accessories were designed and prepared for a fight: wide electrum bracelets covered half of her forearms, a light silver collar her neck, and the tiny gemstones that were left over from her beloved collection of exquisie jewelry (Papa would have a fit if he knew his Christmas and birthday gifts were turned into defense weapons) were set in the thin belt that circled her waist. As fashion items, they would have been a scandal at any show - but at least they gave Jewel a sense of confidence when she walked into the warehouse filled with shadows and lights.
(Her hair was pulled back from her face and pinned with the silver rose. She hoped Streak was not watching. She only used it to have some extra silver if needed, anyway.)
She hadn't seen the other two trainees before; both of them looked more confident than she was. Great, I'm the newbie on the team. Yay.
The guy seemed pretty laid back as he turned his back to them; his yawns made it clear that he was not nevous about fighting at all. Good for him.
"Name's Kaz by the way."
The Southern girl nodded, her attention focused on their surroundings.
"Nice to meet you, Kaz. My name is Jewel." thinking for a second, she decided to add some more important information, for both of her teammates "... I manipulate precious metals and gemstones."

Alexandra stood unmoving and silent as Luke spoke. This was it. She had prepared so much for these tryouts and if there was something in her mind then it was the simple phrase ‘failure is not an option’. If she did fail these, she simply knew that she wouldn’t have the necessary patience to wait for other tryouts and that provided the much needed motivation.

Blue eyes moved slightly form side to side to see her team mates. Funny thing, although they were supposed to be a team, they didn’t know each other. At least she didn’t know any of them. No idea what they could do, not even what name they had. Funny, indeed. Her eyes moved from her teammates to her surroundings, taking in the details of the location, then back to Luke.

Alexandra sighed, her hand tightening on the metal staff she held. Her fingers moved slightly against the cold metal as Luke left the room. Long before she had entered she had left the emotions out, she had pushed away the importance of these tryouts, her face now bearing an unreadable expression.

As her companions talked, introducing themselves, Alexandra positioned her body so she could cover the other’s two. Teamwork, right? Her eyes were focused on the shadows, waiting for assailants to appear. “I’m Alex.” she replied, after Jewel had finished speaking. “I manipulate molecules.”

Luke took a seat in the control room and sipped at the bottle of water he had grabbed. The speakers in the room were turned up so he could hear what was going on and his sonar was extended up to monitor the team's movements. So far they were going through the basic introductions, getting some idea of what each of them could do. That was smart and deffinately would help them accomplish the goal that they were out to achieve. Now the question was how the team dynamic would work for them. Would one of the three step up and try to take a leadership role or would they simply continue treating each other as equals?

Leaning his head back against the cushion of the chair Luke settled in for what he was sure would be an interesting show.

(OOC: This is my last post until the simulation is complete. Your three targets will be waiting to try to ambush you all unless someone splits up. If any of you split away from the group then they'll try to attack you while you're still separated. Enjoy the RP!)

Kaz took a good look at the two women, who had moved so their backs formed a triangle between them. Kaz kept his eyes and especially his ears open. "Jewel was it. A bit of advice for the future; Ditch all the jewelry. Specifically here, you're the best target since the light reflects off of all that easily. The one in your hair is like a big target sign, when it catches the light, your opponent will know exactly where your head is. I'd ditch'em or move'em so they won't be catching the light, since I'm going to assume you'll be using them."

Kaz began to move away from the light and toward the deeper shadows, as he did he tapped both girls on the shoulder and spoke softly. "This way, out of the light. Let your eyes adjust to the shade since that's what most of this place is cloaked in. Once you're set, it should be a bit harder to be surprised....visually at least."

Kaz held one of the batons parallel to his ulna with his arm up just slight off center of his body, while the other was held semi-relaxed to the side of his body. With either one he'd be able to block or attack. He didn't want to get up against or even too close to the wall, since that was the most obvious thing to do when in the dark, he tried to move them in between the patches of light with enough shade to give them some concealment. If something came at them, hopefully they'd be forced to pass through one of the lights and give their position away.

"Jewel was it. A bit of advice for the future; Ditch all the jewelry."

Jewel arched an eyebrow as she listened to her teammate. Ditch the jewelry. Riiight. Why not walk out of the room and forget about the tryouts? Sure, she could try to use her powers in a different way, but so far keeping her 'weapons' close to her skin was the one she was most comfortable with. What did he know about it any...

"The one in your hair is like a big target sign."

Her cheeks took on a light, angry pink tint at that. She knew better than to argue. Teamwork, mission and all. Kaz apparently was much more experienced than she was. She took a breath, let it out, and the rose in her hair changed shape, turning in to hide itself under the bun of hair. Moving her arms slightly, her bracelets shifted, layers of metal rearranging themselves, and the bracelets darkened to a less reflecting surface. She didn't comment on any of it.

When Kaz tapped her shoulder, she followed, keeping her eyes on their surroundings as they adjusted to the shadows. The situation looked familiar; a frown crossed her face as she remembered the infamous night in the park. Shadows, lights, assailants. Well, at least this time I know we are going to get jumped.

She caught the ghost of a movement beyond the lights with the corner of her eye. The enemy was circling them. Even though she knew it was not for real, her heart rate picked up. Cool metal slid down her arms to cover her hands.

"Kaz. What is your ability?"

Alexandra was only half aware of her two teammates, her ears and eyes mostly focused on her surroundings. She half caught the advice Kaz gave to the girl named Jewel. She glanced at the woman for a second and mentally approved Kaz. Her eyes slid to her own staff, and congratulated herself for choosing a non-reflective surface for it. She hated shiny things anyways.

Her head did not turn when she felt the tap on her shoulder, but the man’s words were heard. She began to move, and enjoyed the feeling of concealment the shadows were giving her. Perhaps fighting in poorly lit conditions weren’t her specialty but in her latest trainings she had tried to cover any kind of conditions. Her eyes didn’t accommodate with the darkness immediately. A few blinks later, contours were more easily distinguished and the first thing that caught her eyes was the dark silhouette of a man moving fast as it passed a patch of light.

The molecule manipulator moved quickly, her hands slightly extended so she could lightly touch her teammates, slightly pushing them behind a miniature tower made from three crates. “Shhh.” Her hands moved back to an on-guard stance as the shadow appeared again, this time, approaching them. The molecule manipulator kept her hand tight on her staff, while eyes were focused on the growing shadow casted by one of their assailants.

A distant click announced them that a light bulb had gone out.

Kaz thought he could feel the annoyance coming from Jewel, though, as he glanced back at her after hearing her take a breath, he saw she had taken his advice. 'Good, at least she can listen and follow through.' He looked at the other girl, the one who seemed to be much more confident, she had picked up on Kaz's actions quickly. 'Maybe they're not too new at this.'

At least that's what he thought before he heard three distinct sounds. First of which came from behind him, past Jewel, the shuffling of feet attempting to be quiet. The second was more foot-shuffling with what sounded like the ruffling of clothes. And the third, he heard quite loudly, came from directly behind him. He turned slightly and spoke softly, "Calm down, if your heart beats any faster, it might burst." He was silent for a moment more, "As for my abilities, they won't be used unless I feel it absolutely necessary to same someone's skin. Or I finally get bored enough."

Alex had taken that moment to touch and light push Kaz towards the cover of a crate. He glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of a shadow moving and a light go out. The girl had a backbone. Though he had heard and been keeping track of that one since he first heard it's movements, when she noticed it, she tried to get Kaz and Jewel behind something, behind her. Kaz noted the figure was moving towards them, slowly, deliberately, and steadily. He still wasn't sure if these were actual people, or something the Danger Room was creating. Either way, the thing moved at them without fear, the sound of it's footsteps lacked something Kaz's had, something he heard in a lot of others' footsteps, confidence. Whatever, or whoever, it was wasn't confident, and didn't know fear. They just knew what they could and would do. No questions asked.

Kaz turned towards Alex slightly, and in the same soft voice he had spoken to Jewel with, "Relax a bit. If you're too stiff and rigid, or your grip too tight, you'll slow down and become an easy target. Take a breath, relax." His head snapped up and away from the floor, eyes looking off into the distance. Something had creaked ever so slightly that he had missed consciously. Okay, that's sort of creepy. He wouldn't say it aloud, but not being able to focus or track the third one worried and unnerved him a bit. Not enough to affect him though, not outwardly at least.

"Calm down, if your heart beats any faster, it might burst."

Did he honestly think saying that would make things any better?! Jewel felt her face flush and she bit back a retort that no doubt would have been very witty. Too bad bantering did not fit the current situation. Her heart did not slow down one bit, but now it definitely pumped more adrenaline.
What a pain in the...
Alex pushed them into cover; she followed her without questioning, she looked every bit as confident as Kaz. Much less annoying though.
She saw the shadows shift again, and heard footsteps. Apparently her teammates could hear them too. Whoever was hunting them was either careless or not really afraid. She voted for the latter, and frowned.
She could hear the first light bulb go out. Lighting changed in their surroundings. She never thought one source of light would make such a noticeable difference. Not to mention two minutes passed without anything happ...

The metal she'd been shifting unconsciously over her arms and hands suddenly came to life as some invisible power yanked it with a force that sent Jewel flying into the darkness. Not too far though. A mere second later her back hit the side of a crate, so did the back of her head, and her electrum-covered arms that slammed onto the wooden surface with an echoing sound as if they were magnetized.
Wait, wood isn't...
The light of a lamp above her glittered on her belt, but made it difficult for her to see anything past the circle of light. She could barely make out the silhouette of a person standing with his arms stretched, as if holding her in place. Her feet didn't touch the ground; all that was holding her was the metal on her neck and arms, and the belt on her waist.
The opponent used her weapons against her.
That's so not fair.
She struggled silently to pry herself off the side of the crate; however tempting swearing seemed, she thought it better to save her breath. All her efforts were in vain - getting off the crate while keeping her metal gear was clearly impossible. She gritted her teeth and focused her powers; for a while nothing happened, then her hairpin, collar, belt and gloves opened up with a series of metallic 'clink's, and she fell to the ground. Fortunately, not on her face, but that was really all she could hope for. She landed on her feet and right knee, and looked up, searching to see her opponent...

Alexandra arched an eyebrow at Kaz’s comment. She wasn’t stiff. She was focused, which in battle made her be the winner. If she ceased to pay much attention when it came to her opponents she always ended up hurt. With this thoughts in mind, her fingers moved slightly on the metal staff she was holding while blue eyes continued to watch the growing shadow.

The next moment was one of surprise, as Jewel, who one second ago was next to her was yanked forward and slammed into one of the wooden crate. What the- Her legs move forward, in an attempt to help Jewel but as soon as she moved her leg, the cold metal underneath her fingers could no longer be felt.

Alexandra glanced at her now bare hands then to her side. In the light that one of the bulbs cast the dark figure of a man was now standing. The staff materialized in his hands. -fuck?

The fact that their assailants had powers shouldn’t have been of surprise for her but it was. At least the fact that he seemed to possess the same powers like her. Alexandra turned around to face the man, her body on guard. Helping Jewel had to wait. The man started to run toward her. He was silent, while his eyes were locked on the body of the molecule manipulator, watching her with a creepy serenity.

Kaz let himself smile at the situation...well, mostly at Jewel, he was having fun getting under her skin with slight little jibes here and there. Alex was seeing like the overly serious type, the rather boring kind at that. He was about to let out a yawn when Jewel was jerked from her spot and slammed, rather hard it sounded like, against a crate not too far away. He turned and looked at her and who he could only assume was the culprit before dropping to his batons he reached inside his jacket into one of the reinforced pockets lining the inside and pulled out four throwing knives roughly eight inches long.

He double checked himself in less than a millisecond and sent two of the knives flying at Jewel's assailant, aimed for the upper right chest and the lower abdomen. In the same moment Kaz began to pivot and rotate as he dropped into a near crouch. Is free hand moved up to Alex's back in an attempt to guide her away from their current position. Kaz timed his throw as best he could. The body moving towards them, and had apparently gotten Alex's staff from her, was just about to place it's weight on it's leading leg when one knife penetrated the flesh nearly all of it's eight inches. A quiver went through it's leg as it began to buckle and put the weight on the rear leg as the other knife copied it's predecessor to near perfection.

"Move!" Kaz said to Alex as he moved away from the crate. Their backs were exposed and a gut instinct told him that it was a bad idea to stay in the same place. The first assailant wouldn't have taken Jewel as it had unless it had a good reason: To create an opening to exploit. He wasn't more than a few steps away when the crate he had been near seemed to implode. Wood splinters and some dust flew up into the air around the crate where Jewel had been. Kaz looked back at the crate and saw...nothing. He focused on the spot and heard the same thing. It took a moment, something he instinctively thought had taken too long, for him to realize there was someone, some-thing, semi-crouched in the debris. The small bits of wood and dust in the air was moving around and collecting on something for just a moment before seeming to disappear. He heard the crack of wood, the sound of weight crushing it, but beyond those two giveaways, this thing was seemingly completely invisible and eerily and utterly silent. Kaz took a guess about one other thing, this thing was fairly strong with how it broke the crate apart as efficiently as it had.

Jewel stood up, ready to defend herself from the assailant who seemed to be copying her powers - but as soon as she got a clear view of him, metal flashed in the patch of light, and a pair of knives hit the mysterious man in the chest and on his side. Jewel shot a glance towards her teammates. Kaz. Right. At least he knows how to fight.
She watched as the man collapsed, clutching at the knives.
Is this his way of 'not killing' someone?...
At the same time, her weapons fell clattering to the ground behind her - the pain was too much for her opponent to keep using his powers. He was kneeling with his head hung, not making any move to defend himself. That's just great.
It was supposed to be great. Problem was, Jewel didn't like to see people suffer, not even if they were the enemy, not even if they weren't even real. On the other hand, her teammates needed her help. Or at least as much help as she could offer. She saw the crate splinter and break under some invisible force, and she saw Kaz and Alex moving aside just in time. She also could see a second assailant collapsing after the flash of knives. Damn he's good.
She glanced back at her opponent. She knew she should make sure he doesn't stand up and attack them later on. Maybe she should just knock him out. That, however, raised a question.
How do you knock someone out?...
Hitting a wounded person was not her style - fortunately for her, it was not even an option in her life so far - and that caused a mere moment of hesitation. And that mere moment was just enough for him to throw himself forward and grab her leg. It was a desperate move with all the force of such moves, and it brought Jewel from the field of ethics back to reality. Random images of their fight in the park came back and flashed through her mind - in the next second, her back hit the ground, then her free foot came up, and collided with the man's temple. He fell down, limp and unconscious.
Oh. So this is how it's done.
She forced herself to get to her feet as quickly as possible; she was already moving towards the shadows as she pulled her weapons back onto herself. She melded all the silver together on her two arms to make it easier; she tied the belt around her hips as she moved for cover behind a crate.
All right, gal, think.
Whatever - or whoever - splintered the crate next to Kaz and Alex was now standing - or lurking - somewhere between them and her. It would have been stupid to try and run over to her teammates. Not to mention dangerous.
Jewel turned around and walked deeper into the shadows between the crates, and quietly as possible. She needed to find another way.

A hand reached her back in an attempt to guide her away. Alexandra let herself to be moved, while her eyes remained on her assailant. Two knives embedded themselves in the attacker's legs, apparently coming out of nowhere. She didn't even bother to look at Kaz to prove herself that this was his move. She gave a mental shrug at this, the fact that the guy wanted to prove that he was better or he was actually doing this to help them it didn't matter to her.

The body of her assailant began to descend a few moments after Kaz's knives hit him. His body, however didn't reach the ground as her staff was quickly used for support. Alexandra blinked, molecular manipulation now focused on the silver metal. The molecular bond of the lower part of it was quickly severed and before her opponent could realize what was happening, he was falling again, this time, without enough time to react.

"Move!

Alexandra listened, as she moved away, following Kaz. She was standing next to him when the crate imploded, sending a rain of wood and dust toward them. Out of instinct she turned to her side as small splinters of wood touched her body. When she turned back, she expected to see a hrid opponent there. Instead, she saw nothing. That one, she supposed, it was Kaz's toy. And speaking of toys, blue eyes searched for her own. She found him, forcing himself to get back up on his feet, his eyes focused on her and Kaz. Strangely, it looked just like her when she was-

Her hands moved upward as her powers picked up the two knives sailing trough the air, invisible to human eyes. She couldn't see them, only feel the metal molecules speeding trough the air, one aimed toward her, the other toward Kaz. When they materialized, their tip was touching her palms, and under her molecular manipulation they were floating trough the air. She closed her hands to form a fist and in the same time the knives disappeared, only to appear in her hands.

A low growl left her lips. This guy was annoying.

Click.

Another light went out, and the soft blue glow in her eyes was more noticeable now. The molecules of her former staff moved under her command, forming two invisible blades, near her assailants position. They sped trough the air and just as they were about to reach for their targets, she increased their molecular cohesion, making them visible. With their density highly increased, the two blades went trough her opponent's knees, their tips coming out on the other side. Her eyes only caught a glimpse of the falling before her eyes turned to the side, in search of Kaz's opponent. She frowned slightly when she saw nothing.

Alexandra closed her eyes and focused on a few molecules of oxygen in the air. She dirrected them toward the place where the crate had been, made them swirl around the air in a crazy dance. If he was invisible, her molecules would eventually hit something and give away his location. Blue eyes snapped open when the motion of her molecules was suddenly stopped. Her eyes searched for anything that could have stopped them but found nothing. Found you.

The two knives in her hands disappeared again, this time going for the new toy.

Three thuds, three times bodies hit the ground off to the side. From the sound of it he guessed Jewel had fallen once, her assailant had been dropped, rather heavily. She seemed safe enough at least that's what he was assuming and he was fine with it. If she couldn't handle her assailant after Kaz had essentially disabled it, then she wasn't fit to be in combat, at least not yet.

Kaz had expected the other to drop to the ground with the knives lodged into it's thighs, but it appeared to have some sort of thought, or just reacted. Either way it didn't fall, but held itself up with Alex's staff, for a short time at least. Kaz wasn't sure what happened but the staff seemed to come apart from the bottom up. Alex had said what her ability was, but he wasn't exactly sure what she had meant, and even after seeing it, he still didn't quite understand. One moment there was a staff, the next it was gone, in another there were two blades plunging through the thing's knees and out the other side. Kaz wasn't sure, but he thought they seemed similar in looks to the former staff.

Kaz made sure all his attention was at the current, and last, assailant. He noticed Alex close her eyes in concentration. That was fine and dandy but it wasn't the best time to do it, especially if it took too long, she could get pummeled well before she finished. At almost the same time Alex's eyes snapped open and the knives she had held disappeared, Kaz cut his palms with another knife that he had clenched between his teeth. Blood rose up and filled his palms with a crimson pools before he threw his hands out and at the seemingly empty space near the crate. The twin arcs of blood spread out to cover most of the area. The cuts on his hands weren't dangerously deep, but enough to flow freely. Unless he stopped the bleeding, he might eventually have to begin worrying about severe blood loss.

'There!' His mind yelled at him as the blood's arc was interrupted, for a moment the blood stayed where it hit, but shimmered and disappeared behind the veil of invisibility. It was all that Kaz needed. His body snapped forward low to the ground, he was only a few feet from the assailant and decided to take a page from his younger days and smashed his shoulder into it's abs. Initially, the body moved and even lifted off the ground a bit, but it's backwards movement halted quickly. At that solid resistance, Kaz tossed himself to the side and was glad he did so as he felt a rush of air breeze across him as he had apparently dodged a potentially painful blow. He got back up into a crouch and noticed he had left a nice trail of blood along the floor, but also outlined the assailants feet with it. If Jewel was conscious and around still, maybe she could do something to hamper it's mobility.