Another night another tour around the place. Kendra thought as she sighed. She recently discovered that people can see her in her dream form, but only in reflections. Ever since she made sure she was appropriately dressed when she went to sleep. Kendra was wearing a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. She had her hair up in a pony tail. Kendra sat on the edge of her bed and started to put ON her shoes. As strange as it seemed she would be walking til morning, and whatever she fell asleep with came into her dreams. She didn't want to wander barefoot all night.

Kendra slipped into bed and shifted around until she got comfortable. She sighed and rolled over to her side. Staring at the wall she waited to fall asleep. Her mind was a buzz with so many things. She thought about everyone she had met since she came to the mansion. Everyone here just about had a mutation, she felt more and more at ease the more she got to know the place. With that, she felt asleep more easily.

Kendra was asleep.  She stood out of bed and looked over her sleeping body.  She took a moment to reach down and pull the covers up over herself.  Stepping out into the hall she made sure the door was completely closed and she shoved her hands in her pockets.  She curled her bottom lip up and blew the bangs out of her face with a huff of air.  She walked pasted a few students who said something about the danger room.  Danger room?  Kendra wondered.  What's that?  Kendra heard them say where it was and she decided to have a look.  She had seen just about every inch of this place.  She hadn't seen the danger room. 

Creepy name for a room, but it wasn't going to deter her from checking it out.  She had nothing better to do.  Kendra yawned and headed over to where the kids said it might be.  She was beginning to see that the halls were less and less occupied.  Most people were retiring to their rooms for the night.  She saw a young red headed woman moving in the same direction.  Is she going to this danger room?  Kendra found herself interested in what she was doing now. Her curiosity was spiked and now she lingered.  She was very pretty.  Kendra blushed a little at the innocent thought that momentarily crossed her mind.  She watched from a distance trying to be as quiet as possible.

It was rare these days for Rebecca to spend her nights at the Mansion. Now in her twenties, the former student had her own apartment in the city, relegating her former home to a place she only frequented for work. She loved the Mansion, but between all her commitments, her time was too limited to spend hanging around the lounge each night, like she once did.

The Mansion at night held so many memories of her early years in New York: her first birthday sleepover, late night snacks with friends in the kitchen, and most of the key moments in her relationship with Agnes. The kitchen, the dorm wing, the library (she thought with a blush,) and of course, the garden. It was possible these days, her choice to spend time away from the Mansion was a precaution to keep her from drowning in nostalgia.

Tonight Agnes was already on her mind, making her question her relationship with Vanessa, so rather than shying away from her memories, she decided to just lean into it. Her focus had been poor lately, and training sounded like the best way to counteract that. She passed by landmarks of her old relationship because it was necessary to get to the Danger Room, where she could work on herself privately, assuming none of the other X-Men wanted a late-night session as well.

The walk was quiet, occasionally punctuated by passing students who were keen on staying up late. It was well past her working hours, so the teacher felt no need to play den mother and tell them to get to bed. Some students would say hi, but let her pass unbothered; they had their own late-night plans, she was sure. Soon she was walking down the empty hallways alone, with the sneaking feeling she was being watched… before remembering the Mansion had security cameras, so a feeling like that was unavoidable.

Becca made it to the first set of sliding doors, using her ID card to grant her access. The off-limits hall would have been where she grabbed anything she might have needed from her costume, but that night, she just passed through. The thought occurred to her to grab her armor to practice levitation, but she wanted to focus today on physical training and using her magnetism on external forces. Once she got to the end of the hall, she granted herself access past a larger set of metal sliding doors that, when finally opened, allowed her to enter the Danger Room.

Now in the currently empty room alone, Becca dropped the duffle bag she was carrying on the ground and started with some light stretching; pulling her arm across her chest before switching to the other arm, lifting both arms over her head, and any other basic stretches to get loosened up. Feeling alone enough to ignore the feelings of being watched, she unzipped her hoodie and tossed it, along with her jeans, toward her duffle bag. Finally in her sports bra and yoga shorts, and with her red hair tied in a ponytail behind her, Becca could enjoy full freedom of movement. In a moment, she would call out one of the training programs designed for her, but first, she wanted to finish her stretches and go through the fighting stances Emerald taught her.

The fiery redhead moved with a swift purposeful determination. Kendra watched as she stalked down the halls. She seemed to pass various things along the way that gave her pause. Only a second's delay, but enough to be noticed by an observer.   Deep within her own thoughts she strolled down the rocky road of memory lane, but she did not slow. Kendra had trouble to keep up with her pace and remain quiet. The soft footfalls of her sneakers deadened by the plush carpet of the mansion's halls.

The more she followed, the more she had to know what she was up to.  The budding curiosity within Kendra was awake now.  Kendra narrowed her eyes as she watched her pull out an ID card and swipe it.  Shit!  She thought.  Kendra moved quickly and quietly to close the gap and slip in behind her.  The door closed just as she slipped through.  Kendra's hoodie almost got caught in the door.  That was close.  She had never seen this part of the mansion. Kendra breathe was stifled.  She didn't realize that she was literally holding her breathe unsure of what would be behind the next door.  It was called the danger room after all.  It didn't sound like a place for clumsy, reckless nosey parkers. 

Kendra followed closely now.  She didn't want to get stuck behind another door.  She didn't want a keycard to deny her access to the mystery's conclusion.  Kendra followed into a large empty room.  What the heck?  What's so dangerous about this place?  Kendra was disappointed.  She was beginning to think it was an ironic nickname for the place.  The danger room? More like the meditation room.  How fitting that we both showed up in yoga pants?  Kendra's jumped to conclusions were given more evidence when the girl set down her bag and began stretching.  Yep.  We're about to do some late night yoga. 

Kendra wouldn't mind watching her stretch out and pose, she was rather cute.  It wasn't exactly her idea of excitement though.  She had all the time in the world and access to the internet.  Nothing she couldn't pull up on her own in the privacy of her comfy bed. Well.... That was anti-climatic.  She thought.  Kendra's shoulders slumped.  She didn't know if she could get out of here without the girl knowing she was snooping however.  If she tried to open the door that'd surely be something to get your attention right? 

Kendra resigned herself to waiting until Ms. Cute freckles was done and she would follow her out.  Kendra's hand slipped into the pocket of her hoody.  She felt the familiar shape of her cell phone.  I could always call the phone in my room.  Wake myself up.  But falling back to sleep is always such a pain in the rear end!  She thought.  Oh well.  Might'as well get comfy.  Kendra found a spot a little off to the side and sat down.  She sat down Indian style with her legs crossed beneath her and started to mess around with her phone.

Kendra's phone like her clothes and anything else she had was invisible it was an extension of herself.  She wasn't really there.  She was just a dream in her sleeping head projected into the real world.  She was careful not to make a sound as she sat down.  She could still be heard and she sat out of the way because she didn't want the girl to accidently bump into her.  That'd be a shock. 

Kendra started browsing the internet.  She sat there quietly with her head propped up on her hand that was resting on her knee as she waited patiently.  Every so often she would glance up and steal a glance of the woman stretching in the tight fitting clothes.  Every time she quickly cast her eyes back down feeling a bit ashamed of the things that jumped out in her mind right off.  Oh what the heck.  Kendra decided.  She locked her phone and slipped it back into her pocket.

Kendra stood up quietly and allowed her jacket to slip from her slender shoulders.  It slid down her arms and she carefully set it on the floor at the edge of the room.  Kendra used her limited dream walking teleport ability to move herself farther into the room.  She was  a few feet away from the girl now.  I could go for a little yoga I suppose.  She thought with a cheeky smirk spreading across her face.  Kendra bent over and touched her toes mimicking the stretch that Rebecca was currently doing.

There was something therapeutic about being able to stretch in peace, enjoying the silence as she loosened her body up from the usual wear and tear of the day. She had a top to toss over what she was wearing in case someone had already been occupying the Danger Room, but she had little reason to be self-conscious while she was completely alone. If one of her teammates walked in, she was comfortable enough in her skin to handle it with grace. Trusting people with her life meant she could afford to trust them with a peek at her midriff; the worst she could expect might be jokes at the expense of her belly button piercing.

Rebecca was feeling aimless with where to go next in her training session. It was pathetic, but stretches and stances had been the extent of her planned exercises. With Agnes and Nessa fighting for space in her mind, all Becca knew was she felt lost and she had some frustration to take out in a safe environment. She could run a basic combat scenario, but she wanted something that would engage her mind and focus her train of thought. Logically, the next option might be a problem-solving program, but then there would be an unfortunate lack of punching.

Rebecca was thinking over her options, going through the motions of her stretching, when she could have sworn she heard a sound behind her. Her head jerked over her shoulder to get a peek at what was going on, but… the room was still empty. Maybe there was an update or a passive routine operating in the Danger Room systems? She justified the sound the best she could, but to her ears, it almost sounded like a pair of sneakers scuffing on the uncarpeted flooring of the room…

Shaking off the paranoia she was clearly carrying due to her overloaded mind, Becca knew she had to settle on something to do for the evening. As soothing as stretching could be, she was already growing bored of the repetitive movements. She had a need to be both mentally and physically challenged by the Danger Room, and after some consideration, she thought of a routine that might hit the spot.

”Danger Room, run Labyrinth Routine, Lodestone Subroutine.” Becca made sure to slip into the American accent she had worked on for the sake of Voice Acting gigs, knowing the Danger Room occasionally had difficulties understanding the way the Scot spoke normally.

The system controlling the room acknowledged her command, and for a moment, it appeared that everything in the room that was not her, including the air, flickered like an old camera adjusting. There was a moment of silence before walls of polished blue cobalt began to emerge from the floor, extending up to the high ceilings. The walls were all over the expansive space, connecting together to form corners, corridors, and dead ends. Cobalt was magnetic, but the walls were all sturdy and merged with the floors and ceilings, so at best she might dent a wall, but there would be no moving or breaking walls. The one advantage she had now was, if she focused, she could feel the walls in her vicinity, but that did involve narrowing her senses when she was surrounded by metal.

She knew her own variation of the program well enough to know that, as most of the maze disappeared from her sight, the halls became populated with copies of METAbots, robots based on comic books, and even traps and treasures.

The Danger Room was a place for serious training, and if she was not careful it could be easy to get hurt, but occasionally, it was hard not to see the potential for the place as a real life video game simulation. Akshay would be so proud.

Kendra was stretching out, loosening her body. The roughest thing thought she'd face was downward facing dog. Kendra raised an eyebrow when the woman started talking to an empty room.  For a moment she thought she had been discovered. She instinctively took a step back. The sound of her footstep dwarfed by the groaning of cobalt moving and shifting to form new pathways. Kendra's eyes went wide.  What in the heck?

Kendra blinked herself to the edge of the room and found that she was standing in front of a wall that had already formed.  It was the unofficial starting line for the labyrinth.  Kendra watched as the redhead not only seemed to know what was happening, but she could have swore she saw a smirk on her face.  There was more to this room than meets the eye.

A few nights ago Kendra had tried to master the hedge maze on the grounds.  She was bored and restless with nowhere to go so she dream walked through the maze.  She got to the halfway point before she gave up and blinked herself out of the maze. As Kendra watched the cobalt metal twist and shape walls and corridors her heart sank as she realized what the walls were creating.  The clank and heavy thud of cobalt plates connecting together echoed all around them piece by piece in and almost musical systematic way.  One after the other until the labyrinth was complete. 

Kendra stood at the edge of the room with her back and hands pressed against the wall.  Did she just change the room?  Kendra watched as not only the structure of the room changed but also the look of it.  The creaking and groaning of metal plates moving had stopped and Kendra was astonished to see that the walls were no longer moving.  The whole room had transformed before her eyes in a matter of moments.  If she didn't know any better she would have thought she blinked to another room entirely.  Though the walls were still that metal cobalt so she knew she had to still be in the danger room.  Okay what jus'happened?  Am'my crazy?  Or did she just make the room transform like an autobot?  That must be her power.  That's awesome! Kendra thought for a moment.  Kendra's chest was rising and falling quickly, her body tingled with the pins and needles feeling of excitement and a little danger. Gotta be careful if she does that again.  I don't want to get crushed by shifting walls.   Kendra knew this was serious but still how totally cool her power was.

What she didn't realizes was that she had misunderstood what was happening and that was just the danger room running a simulation.  Kendra had yet to see her actual power.  Feeling a little braver Kendra blinked herself a little closer.  I guess she was stretchin because she plans on runnin through the maze.  Good thang i stretched a bit.  She looks fast!  Kendra rolled her neck and shook out her hands ready for what she believed was a foot race to the mazes end.  This was going to be more fun than she thought.

Kendra felt her heart beating heavy and fast in her chest.  Her hands became clammy and cold.  The cool draft of the room only moments ago was replaced by a hot muggy feeling.  Part of the simulation perhaps.  Kendra didn't really notice the rise in tempeture.  She did notice the way the other redhead seemed to be taking all this with the composure of a symphony leader conducting an orchestra.  This is so much better than another night watching Three's Company reruns!  Kendra thought and prepared herself for what happened next.

It would be good for Rebecca to do some walking. She was rationalizing to herself that the extra exercise would be worth it so she did not regret forgoing the ability to hover. If she was looking to beat her best time in the procedurally-generated labyrinth, her equipment would have been mandatory, but that was not the goal and Rebecca was not so sure she would even bother running. Have fun. Get a workout. Hit some ****. Three uncomplicated goals.

Walking down the first corridor she was placed at the entrance of, the path quickly diverged at a T-Intersection, giving her the choice of right or left. The Labyrinth routine was not a simple one, and with poor luck, she could be left wandering it for the next few hours, (or until she got tired and shut down the simulation.) Being able to sense metal within fifty yards was helpful, but with her entire scenery currently comprised of metal walls, it was hard to make sense of anything she was “seeing” past a ten-yard radius. Nessa would have claimed she had her own mental “mini-map,” which did give her a sense of whether something was behind the nearest wall, so Becca could at least be thankful for that.

Her ”mini-map” was her only equipment for the moment, however, which was a problem she had to remedy. It might have been wise to bring along her marbles or her shield, but like a proper level one character, she would have to make due.

With no threats in the immediate area in either direction, Rebecca made the judgment call to turn left based solely on the left hallway extending further than the right to get her further away from her starting area. Her pace was leisurely, and she was still taking the time to roll her shoulders and neck to work any tenseness from her body.

There was a faint hum all around her as that she recognized from experience as the “enemies” strewn throughout the maze. Rebecca also could not shake the feeling that she was hearing footsteps behind her, but every time she glanced over her shoulder, there was nothing. It was an odd thing to be hallucinating; perhaps someone had altered the program slightly to… what? Make her feel paranoid?

Looking over her shoulder was distracting, but thankfully her magnetic sense had nothing to do with her eyes, and as Rebecca approached a corner that would force her to turn right, she could feel a new presence approaching quickly, roughly the size of a very thin human. Specifically, the size of a human that was all skin and bones, minus the skin.

A skeleton.

A metal skeleton was coming around the corner.

The skeleton had been running down the corridor, and being a basic enemy in the program, lacked the logic to slow down before the turn, emerging in front of her and colliding with the wall before finally turning to face her. Rebecca would say they were designed to have “low intellect;” in truth, there was a bug in their AI.

Regardless, the clattering skeleton finally regrouped and moved toward her, silvery arm bones flailing in the air. Rebecca’s body relaxed, waiting for the skeleton to get close enough for her liking. It would have been easy to just manipulate the field around the monster to force it into a wall or lift it and slam it on the ground, but Rebecca was looking for a chance to get her hands dirty after all, so why not pick on an easy target?

As the skeleton’s arms dropped down on her, Rebecca used her own forearms, pushing away from her body to deflect the attack to her sides without taking a full hit to her arms. With the attack halted, Rebecca grabbed the skeleton by the skull and hip bone, resisting the instinct to headbutt it, (remembering the last time she made that questionable choice against the iron skull.) Instead, she lifted the light creature, using its own charging momentum to help her toss the loosely connected pile of metal bones over her shoulder at the empty space behind her where logically it would crash into the ground and she could use her magnetic influence to tear what was left apart.

The redheaded mystery began to move forward. Instead of running through the maze however she seemed to be walking and stretching. Kendra wasn't exactly sure what to make of it. She followed her hesitantly. She made sure to stick close by. She didn't want to get lose in this place. That would have been a bummer. She tried the hedge maze outside the grounds and after some time she had eventually given up. The hedge maze had proved to much for her. Kendra felt her chest beginning to tighten with anxiety. Oh man, I can't get lost in this place. What started as simple yoga was turning out to be a lot more than she bargained for.

Kendra knew that she had to make a conscious effort to be quieter.  Every so often the woman leading her deeper into bad decisions turned to see if someone was there.  Nope! Just an empty corridor sweetie keep going.  Come'on let's put'a hitch in our get'along now.  Kendra thought as she tried to soften her footsteps.  She knows I'm here.  Kendra wasn't sure what was going on.  The only thing that kept springing forth in her mind was that maybe she shouldn't have been so nosey.  She was torn between wanting to see what lied at the end of the maze and wanting to be watching reruns of Family Guy.  Kendra rounded another corner in the metal maze.

She watched in stunned horror as a metal monster charged at the bombshell.  For a few moments her vocal cords were paralyzed.  All she could do was stare in disbelief.  She didn't get a good look at it.  Not until the woman causally threw it over her head like a ragdoll and it came crashing down only nearly missing her.  Kendra fell back and landed on her rear end.  Her eyes wide with shock and panic.  "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh"  She screamed as she dove out of the way.  She didn't take her eyes off the creature afraid it was going to get back up again.  "What the hell is that thang?!?!?"  Her voice seemed to echo all around them.  And then she realized that she had just given herself away.  That she had announced her presence.  She didn't care.  She didn't want to get killed tonight! 

Kendra's eyes snapped to the woman in front of her.  She groaned internally.  She knew she shouldn't be here.  Why am I so bad at stealth?  It was like her one marketable skill as a mutant and she sucked at it.  Kendra's eyes moved back to the metal creature whens she saw it begin to move.  It's head turned towards her.  It could detect her even though she was invisible?  Not good.  This is so not good.  In Kendra's own poetic words she was  about to have a f*cked up, very bad, not so nice day.  That thing looked like it could rip her apart. 

She wasn't sure what the hell this place was.  She only knew that it was really some place she shouldn't be.  What the heck did I expect was going to happen?  The place is called th danger room for god's sake!  Kendra scurried to her feet and moved quickly around the beast.  She didn't want to take her eyes off it in case it grabbed her.  She ran around it, and ran right into the woman catching her off guard.  She knocked her down and landed on her. "Oaaafffff!"  She cried as the air rushed out of her.  No hiding it now.  "Hi.....?"

This was going to end either very, badly or...... What the heck am'I thanking? How else could it end?  I'm going to get fussed out and torn apart by a rock'em sock'em robot.  Kendra didn't realize for a moment that she was still lying on top of the beautiful woman however.  Her mind was so scattered and trying to think of what she should do she just kind of laid there a moment like an idiot.  She was smiling nervously, not that the woman could see that.  She wasn't sure how she was going to take the invisible girl crashing her private party.

In theory, throwing a skeleton over her shoulder was uncomplicated. With all the bizarre things she had dealt with thus far as an X-Man, dealing with an army of reanimated skeletons sounded like a completely plausible event worth preparing for. The move was well-practiced, so Rebecca saw no reason for anything to be different from her past training sessions without new variables.

Cue a new, loud variable. The skeleton clattered as it hit the ground hard, but a feminine voice replied with a shout, followed by a confused, panicked question. Warning bells were going off in the X-Man’s head since there was no one she could see behind her, yet clearly, her eyes could not be trusted. Unless someone had tampered with her program and included an invisible damsel in distress, (which would be frustrating to her given the trope nature of the plot device,) Rebecca was sure she had somehow been followed into the maze.

Lodestone was not the only one to recognize the sounds of an intruder, as the shouting drew the ire of the skeleton struggling to keep itself together. Already sensing the wires severed in the creature’s legs, the Danger Room veteran knew enough to realize the skeleton could do little more than crawl ominously, but her guest might not know. Trying to keep patient, Rebecca started to ask, ”Who is thaur?” but was interrupted halfway through her sentence when the invisible person bowled into her, knocking them both to the ground with the more visible of the two visibly landing hard on her bottom.

The voice mounted above her cautiously greeted her, and Rebecca had to take a moment to process what was happening. Two of her senses were lying to her: she could not see this woman and she could not sense any metal on her, (which might have been accurate for all she knew.) Clearly, she could feel the weight of a body on her and hear the sounds and voice the woman generated. There was a scent of strawberries she could only assume was from a(n admittedly appealing) shampoo. The shampoo was less appealing when some strands of invisible hair got in her mouth, confirming the woman was testable.

And now, with an assessment of the situation complete, Rebecca was dealing with the realization that she was in her sports bra with a woman laying on top of her. Feeling the heat in her cheeks, she replied to the invisible woman with a matching, nervous, ”Hi.”

It took the sound of metal bones scraping on the ground toward them to get Becca back into focus. Before the skeleton could get close enough to be a threat, she used her powers and lifted the pile of bones until it collided into the ceiling, before dropping it back down to the earth, where all its functions ceased and the joints and wires between all the bones severed.

”Okay, wait a tick, whit’s gang on haur?”Rebecca wanted to get to her feet, which meant removing the person weighing her down. It was surprisingly difficult to figure out where to get a handle on someone when they could not be seen. Her hands reached for what she thought might be the woman’s waist, but the sensation of her fingertips pressing into soft, squishy flesh made it easy to venture the guess that she had overshot and gone just a bit too high.

Readjusting lower to lightly push the girl by the waist so she could at least get back to her knees and climb up to her feet, Rebecca ignored the likelihood that her freckles were disappearing in the redness of her face brought about through a mix of confusion and embarrassment. ”Fa is thaur an' hoo th' heck did ye gie in haur?” Rebecca tried to think if any of her students could fit the mold of an invisible young woman, but nothing jumped out at her, and from what she had gleaned from her… first contact, her new companion might have been too… mature… to be one of the students.

Kendra felt like a dope! Only one other person in the room and you managed to clobber'em great going! Kendra could see the confusion spurning across the pretty redhead's face. The absolute stunned look on her face. It was almost enough to make Kendra giggle. If she hadn't just seen a walking murder bot. Kendra was about to get up when the girl reached out and her hand grabbed on to Kendra's right breast.... Ummm..... This is awkward.  She thought, daring not to move.  The hand rested there for a moment before sliding down and pushing her off by her waste.  Kendra stood up.  She took a few steps back to give the girl a wide birth. 

She obviously was going to have questions.  Kendra's cheeks were too, burning red.  Though the only know that could verify that was herself.  She was klutzy and accident prone.  And if she wasn't more careful she could possibly get someone hurt.  She didn't know what was going on.  Kendra still hadn't put two and two together that this was just one giant simulation.  She didn't know the rules.  She didn't know weather or not getting hurt in here would really hurt or  if it was all part of this simulation experience, but when she fell it had hurt.  She had banged her knee on the floor and she could already feel it dully throbbing. 

She asked what was going on.  Or at least.  Kendra thought she did.  Dang!  I thought my accent was somethag else.  This gal's voice is like liquid honey in my ear.  She really did like the accent.  Kendra looked around.  She could he a low droning noise all around them. Is that more of'em? How many'o those thangs are there?  It sounded like more of those metal monsters.  She couldn't tell where they were coming from.  She couldn't tell how many.  All she knew was that the danger room was starting to live up to it's name.  Looking back at the woman now after a momentary distraction.

"Umm..I'm Kendra." Kendra said before teleporting behind the woman.   "Sorry about knockin ya down."  Kendra said from behind the woman now. Kendra teleported to the end of the path where there was a choice to make. She turned and looked behind her.  There were two paths one that split off to the right and one that went off to the left.  The path to the right had more of that horrible metal droning noise.  More of the metal beasties.  The path to the left seemed to be dead silence.  Which somehow scared Kendra even more than the metal beasties.  She didn't know what lied ahead of them in this horror house.

Turning back to the girl again she smiled.  It looked as if the girl was having trouble deciding where to look when she addressed her again.  She asked Kendra how she got in here.  Kendra smiled bigger.  "I followed'ya.  You seemed.... Interesting."  She spoke softly.  Kendra admitted this as she looked down at her feet.  She was absentmindedly rubbing her arm and waiting for the yelling to start.  This place was clearly off limits.  The keycards were her first clue.  She was about to be majorly fussed out, but still....  It wasn't the worst thing that could happen.  She could be stuck in here alone with the metal baddies.

Kendra's hand slipped into her pocket.  She felt her phone resting there comfortably.  Seconds seemed to draw out and feel like minutes.  Her phone's phone number was 1 on speed dial.  She felt the button raised up beneath her finger.  All she had to do was press and hold "1" and she would disappear.  This woman would neve know who was accessing the super secret restricted area.  Yeah, but she'd probably spend her time wandering this stupid maze tryna find me.  She'd get herself hurt lookin for you girl!  Can't have that now.  You wanted to snoop face the music.  She hated when she made a good point.  Kendra's finger moved away from the exit button.  She didn't call her body back in her room and wake herself up with a phone call.  Instead she decided to stay and face the consequences. 

Kendra's eyes moved over to the twisted metal carnage on the floor.  She had no idea how she lifted the creature up like that and tore it apart in mid air, but it was scarily powerful.  The mutant before her must be some kind of powerful psychic.  Kendra hadn't really ran into any psychics before.  She was nervous.  If this girl decided that she didn't take kindly to being spied on.  Kendra could easily find herself a twisted mangle on the floor like this poor dead asshole.  That's not how the woman's power worked, but Kendra didn't know that.  Kendra didn't know much of anything that was going on except that she had stumbled into something over her head.

Rebecca went into her training simulation with the understanding that she would be dealing with familiar elements in unexpected layouts and arrangements. She was no stranger to being adaptable, but of all the variables she was anticipating, a living breathing invisible woman had not been on the list and required her to readjust her thinking.

It was important she think quickly, of course, because monsters and enemies were not static in the maze, and it was only a matter of time before a creature or a pack of creatures crossed her path. The woman introduced herself as Kendra, and Rebecca was already running down the names of students she could recall off the top of her head. Last she checked, Kendra was absent from her rosters, so unless she somehow exempted herself from English, the teacher felt safe in her previous assumption that she was not being followed by a student.

For as many questions as Rebecca had, she was just patient enough to listen to Kendra’s explanation. It was… unexpected. With how… well, clumsy Kendra seemed, Rebecca was already doubting the possibility of her being an infiltrator. If she was, she was not one the Scot saw as a threat. Instead, Kendra was just curious, not necessarily about the Danger Room as much as the woman walking into it.

It was oddly flattering, and Becca had to bite her lip to keep from instinctually smiling. Her tone was flat, almost betraying her disbelief. ”Sae yoo're tellin' me Ah caught yer eye an' ye followed me intae a restricted area, nae tae mention intae a dangerous mystery maze til ye knocked me literally aff mah feit?” She paused, looking sternly at the empty space where the voice was originating. ”Most girls start wi’ sayin’, ‘hi, yer cute,’ ye know,” she teased.

Not sure if she was feeling annoyed or pleased to have uninvited company, she did have to point out one thing. ”Thocht really? Sayin' naethin' when Ah took aff mah shirt? Some micht caa 'at rude,” she added, folding her arms over her chest, but still smirking at the audacity of a woman who would tag along into a space clearly labeled “Danger Room.”

Logically, Rebecca should cancel the simulation and send her invisible guest away by putting the fear of God and Mansion Policy into her, but the labyrinth did have safety precautions in place. Maybe it was worth seeing how audacious Kendra was. ”Whitever, all’s forgiven,” she said, waving a hand dismissively. ”Sae ur ye up fer a dungeon crawl? Yer over eighteen, reit? Ah dinnae hae permission slips today.” Sure, bringing a non-X along for her training might be frowned upon, but Rebecca might realistically get away with saying she thought Kendra was a figment of her imagination.

Looking at the paths in front of them, they had two options: a hallway buzzing with the sounds similar to her dearly departed skeleton friend, and the other quiet, which could mean anything from a trap to a stealthy monster to an honest-to-goodness quiet hallway. Regardless of the path they took, Becca wanted to ensure she was prepared, and now she had a nearby pile of metal bones to play with. Focusing on the field around the bones, she summoned the femurs and humeri to her, being careful to avoid where she assumed Kendra was. The four bones spun slowly around her as if caught in her orbit, twirling end over end to create a makeshift defense for the magnet-mancer. ”Sae whit daes yer intuition say? Noisy beasties? Ur th’ suspiciously quiet hallway?”

Just keep your head down. She told herself as she waited for the yelling. Only, it never really came. She looked up to see the woman talking to a wall and that brought a smile to her face. She didn't realize that she teleported again. Being invisible was bad enough, but one that could teleport would be hard to keep track of. One minute you're face to face, the next you're standing there talking to a desk lamp. The thought made her smile a little more than it should have. This was serious. She had encroached on some sort of training. The woman scolded her for her voyeurism. It was harmless enough.  Kendra wasn't actively trying to get herself a peek. She had a girlfriend, but just because she was on a diet didn't mean she couldn't glance at a menu.

"Sorry." Was all she could muster in response. It was embarrassing. She felt like she had got caught peeking in the girl's locker room. It wasn't far off from the truth. She didn't follow her into the danger room because she was eyeing a pretty girl. It was more than that. She saw the brisk purposeful manner. The bright, serious, intelligent face. There was determination in her stride as she moved through the halls of the mansion. She seemed haunted by relics that were unseen.  Quietly remembering ghosts from her past as she moved past this or that along the way. The more Kendra had followed her the more that she found herself anxious to hear the story. People's stories had always fascinated her. When you're invisible with nothing but time on your hands you tend to get yourself into trouble.

Emily, Kendra's girlfriend was fast asleep. So was she for that matter.  Sleeping right next to her in fact, but when Kendra's mind slipped into a dream she was cast out.  Forced into a self created copy of herself and forced to wander.  She didn't want to spend another night just staring out the window so she found something to occupy herself.  Usually it was something harmless, a bit of eavesdropping.  A touch of snooping.  She didn't stalk people though, this had been a special occasion?  Curiosity killed the cat ya know?  "I'm twenty-one"  She stated matter-of-factly. 

Kendra could hear the slightly amused tone to her voice.  Guess I'm not getting booted.  She mused.  That mean's I might run into a few more of those things.  She stared at the lifeless bot on the floor and to her amazement it began to float.  She watched as it slowly ripped apart and began to gravitate around the fiery haired scot.  The metal around her seemed to react to her.  It seemed to pulse in an ebb and flow that was controlled by a mere look.  That was pretty cool!  She thought.  Did she change all the metal panels in the room just by looking at them?

Kendra looked down the two paths again.  As if she was able to read her mind the redhead spoke.  Asking her which path Kendra's gut thought was the right one.  It wasn't like she was trying to impress anyone.  She didn't have anything to prove.  Though the creepy silence of the dead hall was making her gut twist in knots.  Something about it gave her a terrible dreadful feeling.  Alarms were going off in her head that said it wasn't safe.  It was called the danger room.  Not the 'hey this way has nothing that can hurt you room.'  "I say we follow the noise see where it leads us."  She spoke.  Her voice cracked and wavered a bit, like she was unsure.  She was scared that was for sure.  She didn't have any cool power to fight these things.  She was more powerful than she realized, but for now.... All she had was her fists and that couldn't be enough.

"I don't have any weapons.... How many'o those thangs, are in here?" She asked hesitantly.  Her bravery already being called into question with her timid frightened voice ringing out over the low drone of almost certain catastrophe that awaited her.  Kendra didn't make it all the way through the maze last time she tried to conquer one.  Last time I was alone.  I didn't have'a metal bendin badass as'a guide.  You can do this!  All you have'ta do is thank quick on ya feet and you'll be fine.

Kendra swallowed hard.  Her feet felt heavy, reluctant to face what lied ahead in the dark passages.  Still, she forced herself to step closer to the edge of the pathway.  She turned around to the woman who's name she still did not know and smiled.  It wasn't a convincing smile, but she couldn't see that.  Then, with more confidence than even she expected she said.  "Ready to do this or what?"

Becca was glad to have clarification that Kendra was, in fact, twenty-one for two reasons. On a shallow level, she would have felt more awkward if she had accidentally grabbed a teenager’s chest, since that excuse would likely not fly with Human Resources. More importantly, Rebecca felt better about giving another adult the option to tag along on her self-imposed mission. It was unlikely the Danger Room would allow the intruder to be seriously injured, but there was still a risk factor, and she would have felt guilty letting some rambunctious teen put herself in jeopardy for kicks and giggles.

When the invisible girl apologized, Rebecca’s eyes jerked to the new spot where Kendra’s voice was coming from. She was quick, or maybe something more. There were no footfalls that time, so maybe there was more than one way for Kendra to get around? She had plenty of questions about this power that would definitely come up through their travels together.

There were two options for where to go next, but Kendra did not give a direct answer for the path she would choose; instead, she asked about the monsters. ”Och, hen, 'at wee hin' was one ay th' nicer things in haur. Only gits nastier frae thaur.” It was not a delicate answer, but she wanted to give her new companion the truth before she jumped in to something she could not handle. The skeletons would be strewn throughout the maze, but they usually travelled in disorganized packs, so running into a straggler was just beginners luck. ”Th’ maze is loaded wi' surprises.”

Without a weapon, the girl was particularly vulnerable if they ran into a pack of enemies, so it could benefit them to put off that interaction until Kendra was better equipped. Still, even without a proper defense, the girl sounded eager to give the program her all. ”Ready if ye ur, luv. We’re takin’ th’ mystery hall.” The older woman extended her hand cautiously, not wanting to jab Kendra in the stomach by overextending. ”Ah’m Becca,” she introduced, feeling codenames to be unnecessary since Kendra herself was not an X. ”Try tae stay close. An’ avoid th’ bones.” Staying too close could lead to an accidental concussion with the bones swirling around her.

As they walked away from the slowly approaching cacophony of creaking metal and whirring gears and toward the silent hallway, Becca wanted to take a moment to better understand who she was working with. ”Sae what's yer deal? Invisible? Intangible? Probably nae th' lest one, wi' th' noise yer sneakers keep making.” Becca’s eyes watched the spots on the floor where the squeaking sound was coming from and chuckled, recognizing the flaw they inherently posed for someone with such a nifty stealth ability. ”Ah’m tellin' ye, next time? Invest in flats.”

The corner they turned led them to a long hall with tiled flooring. Most of the square-foot sized tiles were a dull grey, but strewn throughout were tiles of cobalt blue spaced out unevenly. Some tiles were one space away from the last, while others might be as many as four up and three over. At the end of the hall there was a door with no handle. ”Oh, exciting! Sae hink ay thes loch... a jumpin' gam? Th' duir only opens if aw th' blue spaces ur pressed, sae ye hae tae gie frae one tae th' next tae unlock th' path. It's important tae be careful thoogh; steppin' oan th' grey micht be... weel, punished.” She knew that the first misstep would lead to a loud siren sound, and every missed tile beyond that would only amplify the sound, making it harder to focus, which led to more missed tiles, and one could see how this could become a problem that might escalate quickly.

Luckily, the cobalt blue tiles were actually cobalt, and Rebecca could technically cheat and push on tiles if Kendra struggled her way into unbearable, ear-piercing misery. Extending a hand in the direction of the path, she smirked. ”Aw reit, Kendra. Welcome tae th' shaw! Guid luck!”

So this place is booby trapped? That's just freaking fantastic. Still, shouldn't be to difficult, even for a clumsy oaf like me. She thought. Kendra stood there a moment staring at the girl who introduced herself as Becca. She took the time to crack her neck and shake out her arms and legs. Get loose.  So to speak. She wasn't actually stretching for anything like this before she was just going through the motions. Now one wrong move could have consequences.

Kendra leaned over slightly. Allowing her arms to dangle as she stared at the mark ahead of her. Focus on the pattern. Remember where you want to go and just...... BLINK BLINK BLINK...BLINK BLINK BLINK BLINK BLINK, BLINK BLINK.  Kendra teleported in rapid succession each time standing on the panel long enough to feel the pressure sensitive plate shift beneath her weight, before teleporting to the next one. She was very clumsy on her feet. She had however mastered teleportation and could move through the world like a ninja if she wanted to. Kendra teleported one final time and found herself in front of the door which had swung open when the last panel shifted into place.

"THAT WAS FUN!"  She called out from across the room. She was proud of herself and she couldn't help but have a wide goofy grin plastered all over her face. It wasn't often that she got to feel like a badass, but she sort of did right now. A lucky break that her power was actually useful in this situation. Kendra waited for Becca to make her way across to her before proceeding any further. Ok calm down.  Let's not go pluckin the chicken before ya laid'n egg. Pretty sure that'was jus level one on this crazy thrill ride!

Kendra turned and peered through the door.  Once again her curiosity was getting the better of her.  Beyond that door was pitch black.  She couldn't see her hand two inches in front of her face.  How'er we gone get through that? She thought.  I have'a flashlight on'ma cell phone, but that's about it.  Kendra hated the dark.  She wasn't so much afraid of the dark itself, but rather what might be lurking in it.  And when you're in a room called the danger room..... What might be lurking in it could be anything.  Kendra's fingers danced nervously at her sides as she waited for her companion to join her.  She had no intentions of giving up.  Now more than ever for some reason she really wanted to prove that she could handle this. 

It wasn't like there were any stakes.  She didn't have anything hanging in the balance other than personal pride, but she wanted to finish this all the same.  She found herself caring about what Becca thought about her for some reason.  She didn't want to be seen as a quitter so she would brave the dark perils of the pitch black room.  The crazy thing about the danger room it seemed, was that it could literally be anything.  You had no idea what to expect next.  Kendra had already finished one part of the room.  No doubt the challenge was only going to rise as the time passed, but she thought that maybe she could handle it.  She was ready to really test herself.

Rebecca was not necessarily expecting Kendra to fail at her first task, per se, but in the short time she knew the other woman, grace was not necessarily a quality she would have assumed. When she told Kendra to move through the jumping puzzle, the veteran of the two had her palms at the ready in case she needed to cover her ears. Much to her surprise, it took seemingly no time at all for the panels to lightly press down on the triggers they rested on top of, triggering the opening of the door. Before she knew it, Kendra’s voice was calling out gleefully from the other side of the hall.

Grinning, the redhead replied, ”Glad tae hear it! As a reminder thocht, death bots loch lood noises!” It was technically part of the drawback of missteps on the jumping path, since the siren would become a beacon calling out to nearby enemies, alerting them to the intruder(s) in their maze. Kendra might have spared them from the worst of it, but shouting was still a great way to turn a head or two in their direction. Rebecca could tell with her magnet sense that no metallic threats were close, but not everything in the maze was a robot.

It was now Rebecca’s turn to cross the hall, and while she knew Kendra’s successful pathing deactivated the sirens, she thought it might feel like a copout to just walk nonchalantly over the tiles. All the jumps were doable, and with her magnet sense, even when Rebecca was not looking in front of her, she could feel where she was meaning to go. Quick on her feet, she was able to leap from tile to tile, landing on one foot and jumping forward to the other foot, making her way across, though not nearly at the same speed as Kendra. Truthfully, there were jumps where Rebecca’s toes might have been resting on a grey tile enough that, if they were still active, a siren would have triggered. The difference was negligible and her jumps were quick enough that, from a glance, her jumps would look on point and seamless, and yes, maybe Rebecca wanted to show off just a little.

Finally on the other side with (she presumed) Kendra, Rebecca looked into the darkness of the upcoming path. Sighing, she knew exactly what this challenge was, and as much as she was enjoying throwing Kendra into problems blind, this section was designed specifically for her and would be dangerous for anyone else. ”Sae thes corridur is designed tae absorb onie lecht completely. It's virtually impossible tae see while yoo're in it.” Kendra could have considered the possibility that her eyes would adjust to the dark, but the hope would be fruitless. ”There's a narraw metal path Ah can sense wi' a ten-fit drap oan either side. Nae. Pleasant.”

Realizing it was important for Kendra to trust her and understand why it was important to trust her, Rebecca elaborated on her powers. ”Ah manipulate magnetism, an' Ah can 'feel' th' cobalt in th' path.” The X-Man offered a hand to the space she assumed Kendra was occupying. ”If ye stick really close, Ah can leid ye safely.” Once they were in the darkness, Kendra could not “watch” where Rebecca walked, so leading her by the hand was the safest way she could think of to keep her new friend from a ten-foot fall.

When they finally started on their perilous path, Rebecca took a step into the darkness, effectively blinding her to all but the sensation of the bending metal path in front of her. She took short steps, barely lifting her feet. The path itself was maybe a foot wide, so a reckless step would lead to trouble. ”Nae big steps. Shuffle if ye hae tae,” she advised her companion.

While they had time to walk (slowly) and talk, Rebecca’s curiosity got the better of her. ”Sae Ah tauld ye mine. Fair is fair. Ur ye jist invisible? An' hoo exactly did ye make sic' quick wark ay th' lest close? What's yer gift, kendra?”

The darkness that surrounded them almost seemed to swallow them entirely. Kendra had always been afraid of the dark.  It wasn't helping that she knew there was death drop below them. Enough at least to make you have a messed up, not so nice, very bad day. Kendra may be asleep in her bed safe and sound, but she could still be hurt.  If she broke her leg in her dream she would wake up with a limp and a dull ache. If she got a cut, she'd wake up with a healed wound and an old scar. Things transferred between the waking world and the dream world, though not exactly.

Kendra still felt pain, so the thought of falling even her dream filled her with fright. Though it was muted. Stiffled. She felt the pain, but it was lessened some how. Like her senses weren't at 100%. She may not feel it in her dream as badly, but the pain was magnified when she woke up. Kendra didn't want to wake tomorrow with any new battle wounds so she listened intently on Becca's instructions and slipped her hand into hers.

Becca's hand felt cold and clammy. It was probably nerves. She was wracked with nerves herself. Not to mention the fact that she couldn't teleport in the dark. That little trick wouldn't work here, and on her feet she was about as clumsy as a gazelle on roller blades. Kendra took quick breaths. She sounded like she was taking a lamas class.  Those little classes that teach you how to breath when you're pregnant and expecting.  She couldn't hide the fear that was coursing through her as they shuffled their way along the narrow pathway.  She briefly thought about keeping her finger on the speed dial on her phone.  To quickly press the button to call and wake herself up before she felt into a dark pit and possibly broke her neck, but she didn't. 

She didn't want to consider the fact that she might fail.  She knew she was clumsy enough to fall, but she willed herself not to.  Keeping her mind on her steps and the sound of Becca's voice she followed.  She didn't know Becca that well, but when she asked her to trust her Kendra absolutely did.  It was an odd feeling putting your life in the hands of a basic stranger, but somehow Kendra felt comfortable doing so.  She had seen what Becca could do, and she believed in her enough to know that she could get the mto the other side unscathed. 

Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.  Just keep swimming swimming swimming.  For some reason that stupid line form the movie 'Finding Nemo' popped into her head.  Like she wasn't nervous enough without trying to get herself distracted with her stupid absent minded tendencies.  She was actually grateful when Becca asked her about her powers.  Something to keep her mind occupied as she moved through the dark.

"I astral project.  I'm not really invisible.  I'm not even really here.  I'm sleepin in room 206, lyin comfy as a clam, probably snoring and keepin my girlfriend awake."  She said in between her little breaths that cut through the silence everytime there was a pause in he speech.  "I don't know how it works, but I can be in two places at once.... Oh! And I can teleport."  She tried to keep her voice lower remembering what she said about things hearing them  in the dark.  She didn't want some horrible beastie to find them while she was playing walk the tight rope!

Kendra found this to be the hardest part of the danger room so far.  Not so much the narrow pathway they were walking, but opening up about herself to a cute stranger.  She wasn't always the social butterfly.  Sometimes when the mood struck her; and it struck often she found herself a little more on the shy side.  It really just depended on the personality of whoever it was she was talking to.  Becca was for all intents and purposes a seemingly sweet and genuine person.  It didn't help matters that their first meeting she had basically watched her start to strip and said nothing.  She was still kicking herself over that, but she felt the tension had long sense faded.  Now, she was pedaling form her back foot.  Trying to beat back the social awkwardness that sometimes flooded her, and just give Becca and honest answer about he powers.

"I'm invisible when I dream walk, astral project, whatever ya'wanna call it.  I didn't mean to be peepin on ya.  I just.... Well, what else I got ta do besides snoop and be nosey when I got nothing but free time and invisibility."  A flimsy excuse, but her mind was a bit occupied on watching her step.  Still she felt a little better having explained herself a little more than a simple "Sorry" for staying silent when she took her shirt off. Kendra was about to say something else when her foot missed the ledge!  Oh no!  She cried out in her head and she had to raise her other arm to counteract the balance.

She managed to correct herself before she fell, or caused Becca to loose her balance.  That was close.  Be more careful fool!  She scolded heself.  Kendra wanted to beat this.  She did have something to prove now.  She had something to prove to herself.  She wasn't some skilled fighter, or powerful mutant.  She was a clumsy country girl with a pension for getting herself into trouble.  More trouble than Becca bargained for perhaps.  Kendra squeezed Becca's hand tighter more afraid than ever of falling as they continued across the pathway.