Rebecca was nervous. Emerald got her into contact with the right people, and now the day she was building to for so long had arrived. Ironically, the first person Rebecca met in New York was the X-Men team leader who would be deciding the young Scot's fate. Miss Kealey, the school librarian, was preparing the challenge Rebecca would face, and the student could only hope she would be ready.

Rebecca was uncomfortable. In order to be prepared to showcase her new talent, her ensemble required fair amounts of metal. There were, of course, the bangles and anklets she was accustomed to, as well as the metal plated belt she was wearing the day she met Emerald. She had purchased a pair of unfamiliar cleats-- American football cleats, because they were steal-tipped. (She could only hope the challenge would not be of the stealth variety-- only tap shoes would have left her less prepared.) The pièce de résistance was, of course, the breastplate Emerald's sister Ruby had fashioned her. It was worn over an undershirt and under a cotton tunic, but it was still unfamiliar and chafed more than she would like. With metal spread out around her body, she hoped it would be enough to spread the pressure.

Rebecca was intrigued. The Danger Room. It was impressive to be in, and even more impressive to think about. The Danger Room could basically be whatever it needed to be. Rebecca had no idea what it could possibly throw at her, but she was in awe at the possibilities.

Rebecca was ready. Rigorous self-training magnetically and more rigorous physical training with Emerald had her stronger then she was. She was stronger than she was when she swore to become an X-Man, or when she promised herself that she would protect Agnes, or in her encounters with Malachi and the Sewer King. She was rested, in top form, and nervous but in control.

She spoke out loud to her observer. It was now or never. "Ah'm ready when ye are, Miss Kealey!"

If one thing was true, it was that the possible trainee standing in the danger room had an interesting sense of fashion. Truthfully speaking, Kealey knew that the girl had come dressed for battle, and had armed herself with everything she could think of that would improve her chances of passing the test she was about to take. Still, the cleats almost seemed like a bit much, and the older blond made a note that if Rebecca passed she would need a uniform that suited her better than the hodge-podge she was wearing now.

This, however, was not the time for musing over fashion, and as the redhead called up her readiness Kealey nodded. The girl had come quite a long way from the stumbling shyness Kealey had encountered at the airport and this would no-doubt be interesting. The girl's nerves were palpable, even from up in the control room and for a moment Kealey wished she was allowed to do something about it. What good was being an empath if you couldn't even calm a girl's nerves! It would be fair though, and if one thing was sacred, it was the integrity of the try outs. In fact, it was life or death. If someone made it through who wasn't ready or capable, it put the whole team at risk. So Kealey pushed down her own sympathy and did her best to ignore Rebecca's nerves as she set up the simulation.

Knowing the younger woman's mutation made things a bit simpler than they might have been with another power, and now that Kealey knew that the girl had brought her own metal, it made setting up weaknesses even easier, because that was really the key...dealing with one's weaknesses and seeing what they were capable of. That's what she'd learned during her test...just how much she could do, even in the worst situation. Shin had done her a real service there, and Kealey planned to pay the favor forward to Rebecca.

"Alright then...the floor is yours." The team-leader called down through the microphone as she punched the last few buttons. "And good luck."

>> "Alright then...the floor is yours. And good luck."

The voice was a queue to steel her nerves. It was not going to be easy; the test was designed to test her mettle. The scenario was designed with her in mind, so she would have to be malleable and adapt if she was going to shine.

Okay, that was enough metal puns. Serious face.

The program booted up and the world around her began to change, piecing together a new place. Before she knew it, she was behind the cover of trees, looking out to a small clearing with a cellar door-style opening. She closed her eyes, surveying the underground area she was going to invade. There were large magnetic disturbances through non-metallic tunnels; weapons and mechanics were her best guess.

The bigger concern was a disturbingly blind spot in her sight. There was a large area where there were no detectable disturbances, and Rebecca found it unlikely that a space like that would not have a few doorknobs or something.

The blind spot was a concern for when she reached it; until then, she had two small signals to deal with near the door. They were small; cameras. It made sense, and it was something easy compared to what she had ahead of her. She focused the area around them and pressed inward. Eventually, she could hear the faint crack of glass lenses. Something would be looking for her now, but it was unavoidable.

She ran to the door and willed it open, running into the concrete tunnel. She took several steps, her cleats clacking on the ground. As she already decided, stealth was not going to be her weapon.

Speaking of weapons, as she approached a left turn, she could see something larger and made of metal around the corner. Based on the shape she could almost distinguish, she assumed it to be a turret with a jutting appendage. That would be her target. She rushed around the corner, pushing the field up and was glad to see the turret fire bullets up into the roof. She focused in on the area, straining and grunting until the turret collapsed, crumpling. The bullets stopped firing, and she moved on.

Apparently, the sound of bullets firing into cement drew attention to the tactless intruder. Two metallic objects came flying toward the corridor, and before Rebecca knew it, two hovering robots were approaching her. They had cylindrical bodies and two arms, each ending in a gun. She tried to push the field from between the two, so the arms moved away from her before a round got off. Unfortunately, a few shots did indeed get off, and one rubber bullet grazed her calf. The pain was intense; rubber or not, a bullet cut through her.

She pulled them closer magnetically and decided to take advantage of her combat training with Emerald. She grabbed one of the arms and, using her strength and balance, spun the defender around into its friend as hard as she could, (using aid from magnetic force.) The robot collided with the robot that collided with the wall, and the reassuring sound of machinery cracking could be heard. With some breaks now available, she compressed the magnetic field until the gears either stopped turning or fell out.

With a small pause to assess her situation, she checked out the leg. It was not butchered, but standing on it was cringe-worthy. Now was as good a time as any to take advantage of airborne capabilities. She focused on the area around her, and gently, she felt her feet leave the ground. Soon, she was a good two feet in the air, and her support system handled it; there was mild discomfort tugging on her wrists, ankles and chest, but overall, she was comfortably hovering!

Knowing the challenge was only going to get more difficult, she remained on guard, hovering down the ominous hall.

Kealey nodded as she watched Rebecca work her way through the first few obstacles the Danger Room threw out. The girl knew how to use her powers, which was definitely a step in the right direction. Shocking numbers of mutants knew they could do something with something but ignored the finer points. Rebecca was not only effectively using her abilities offensively, but defensively as well…that boded well.

Something else that boded well was that the redhead’s nerves had calmed as she’d moved further into the simulation, and the small flesh wound from the plastic bullets hadn’t slowed her down at all. Kealey had winced in sympathy, but been impressed by the poise the young woman had shown. She’d have been a fool to not be afraid, but instead of cowering, Rebecca moved on.

Kealey smiled a bit as she punched the button that allowed the simulation to move into its second phase. Now that she’d seen Rebecca use her powers, it was time to see what would happen when they weren’t the obvious answer to a problem.

There was almost a reprieve from the panic, with Rebecca floating through the hall, on guard and concerned about the blank spot in her magnetic vision. Her concerns were put on hold when a thunderous slamming sound shook the hall. Something large was approaching her, but there was no magnetic signal coming it. Ah shoulda brought mah marbles...

Rebecca zoomed toward the left turn to face her opponent before it reached her. "Marbles wouldnae hae helped," she muttered. Slowly approaching her was a stone titan whose imposing form blocked most of the hall. The form seemed top heavy, with her main priority being the colossal arms and fists. The positive was the apparent lack of a firing mechanism. The negative was the assumed strength and force one punch would come with.

The mechanical corpses of her first enemies were too far behind her to use as weapons. (Poor planning.) The walls of the area were still made of metal, but she did not have the magnetic force to just tear away the solid metal walls. (Weak power.) She hovered backward toward the wall as the golem closed the gap between the two. (Fear under pressure.)

She was so gonna fail this test, wasn't she?

She could not fail; she had worked too hard. She faced Malachi, for Christ's sake! (Okay, he left her near death, but the point was, she faced him.) She focused on the only metal things nearby, which were all strapped to her and keeping her safely in the air.

She steeled her nerves, keeping fear off her face, awaiting the beast to get close enough until, sure enough, the first attack came. The creature reared back for a mighty punch, which she was ready for. She pulled her metal to the right, jerking her body out of the danger zone. It was uncomfortable and the metal cut into her skin, but she was not crushed. The wall behind her was, but she was intact.

There was not much time, so Rebecca acted quickly. Her body willed its way toward the space above the punching arm before the hand was unearthed from the crater. The other arm tried to reach her, but the titan was not designed to be that flexible. A flight and a prayer later, Rebecca was behind the construct.

There was not much of an opportunity to go on the offensive, and this was it. Rebecca landed on the ground, kicked off and propelled herself, shoulder-first, into the titan's back while it was trying to turn. The body lurched forward, but caught itself on a hand, delayed, but not fallen.

It was Rebecca that was worse for wear; her shoulder was pulsing in pain. She probably dislocated her shoulder, not that her arm was being useful. Her fighting style was developing, but she did not have the pure force required to deal with a mountain.

She took flight down the hall to regain distance before lightly returning to the floor. There was a metal door clearly stored in the ceiling, waiting to be closed. The door was heavy-- far too heavy for her to manipulate. She looked for a possible control panel, but apparently that would be too convenient. The titan managed to turn itself around and was slowly barreling toward her.

Rebecca could not manipulate the door or the walls, but there was a possible third option. She pressed her hands against the wall and closed her eyes to filter out distractions. (Like the loomy beast of doom.) The wall was dense with metal, but with more focus, there were some empty spaces, which clearly meant mechanisms that controlled the door were contained there.

All Rebecca's energy was focused on the one area, constricting fields, hoping to hear crunching or grinding. If she was unfortunate, which was becoming a trend, she would be targeting the wrong mechanism.

Thankfully, fate's fickle nature chose to benefit Rebecca. Just as the titan was almost withing smashing distance, there was a creaking sound, and the gate dropped, propelled by its massive weight. The titan's arm was reaching for Rebecca and was inevitably caught in the closing gate.

Rebecca looked at the arm; the bouldery fingers were still moving, but the forearm was riddled with fissures, taking substantial damage from the gaping wound with a metal door in it.

There was no promise that the colossus's strength would not be able to lift the door, so Rebecca took back to the air and left the scene as quickly as possible.

The metal walls only continued for a few more yards, eventually being replaced by poor, unwelcoming concrete. She was not in the true danger zone-- there were mechanisms and pipes she could feel in the ceiling.

The problem finally appeared before her: the magnetic deadzone.

There was a rocky clearing, like a cavern, with a large dark grey dome positioned in the center. She approached the dome and pressed her hand against it; cold metal that was invisible to her sight. It took only a moment to piece it together: it was lead, and lead obscured her vision. She never knew of the weakness before, and she was not pleased to discover it mid-exam.

This would be her last test-- it just made sense. She hovered around the lead dome until she found a doorway. She approached it, wondering how to go about opening it.

That would not be the challenge, since the very presence of Rebecca near the door activated a motion sensor and the two walls separated.

And Rebecca's body was jerked into the dome, where there was indeed a strong magnetic field.

A volatile magnetic field that was hidden from her, raging due to the manipulation of giant magnets.

And now she was a girl covered in metal being tossed carelessly as though in a hurricane.