The girl didn't have a lot of experience with her powers, which Evelyn thought was unfortunate. She considered the room for a moment then got a grin on her face and jumped down, going over toward one of the corners.

"You said last time you figured things out by saving someone from a car? That supports the theory that stress often triggers mutations. The best way to really test an ability is to just take a few risks. I think you are letting nerves get in the way here of finding out something for real."

Evelyn turned around, and was holding a butane torch. She clicked it on and a low flame spouted from the end. She had a calm expression, which probably didn't help. This was for science, there was nothing to be scared of.

"If you catch on fire, there is a doctor anyway. Let's see what happens!"

Evelyns response to the gist of what she’d said had been ‘you should set yourself on fire’, and Amelia’s response was to smile at the very obvious joke.

Haha very funny... unless? Inspiration pointed Amelia excitedly to an idea: Evelyn had given Amelia an inspiration point.

“Sure!” She smirked. “Just let me try— something first.”

Quickly, she moved to a nearby drawer and dug around until she found what she was looking for. Amelia held up a pair of scissors. She grinned. Then, she tried... something.

What she was TRYING to do was either dig out a string from her sleeve or a side seam, or else otherwise procure one. But every time she tried to stab at the hoodie, or cut it, or dig... it weathered the attack and rebuffed it through simple toughness alone. She never stabbed with full force, but—

After a minute or two of fruitless, if entertaining, attempts, Amelia went for the pincushion on the teacher’s desk.

The cushion was heart-shaped... okay, weird. But full of pins and needles! Amelia nabbed a likely one, hauled her arm back for a coup de grace strike, and— broke the needle on her sleeve. Amelia held up the needle, and stared at it in wonder. It was bent.

“Eevee, go get a magicians box.” She said. “And some swords. No. Scratch that. I don’t want to have to pay to replace all those swords.”

To herself, she muttered “Maybe I could take it off and rip a string out by hand... but no. Then it might not have the same properties as... hrm...”

She threw the needle in the trash.

Evelyn wasn't fooled by Amelia, but she turned off the torch anyway. Spoil sport.. Lighting someone on fire would have been more fun than watching her attack herself with a needle. Although, that was strange to watch. The echoes did not enjoy this experiment. It really made no scientific sense. How could the fabric defend itself? How could it stop the needle?

"I guess we'll just have to wait until someone throws a knife at you to know for sure. Since you wouldn't let me light you on fire, I'm guessing you won't let me throw anything at you either." Evelyn tried not to look too disappointed, but it was a little annoying to be denied such obvious fun.

Looking back at the table, she yawned, feeling somewhat tired now. It was the second or third day since she had slept, and that honestly may be to blame for her willingness to throw things at people.

"Maybe fire would be a bad idea... she was adult enough to say that. She pulled up a chair and put her head on the table, fatigue fighting her. "I don't sleep a lot. When I fall asleep, I relive memories. I miss being able to dream." She looked a little less evil now, a little more young. Some days, she did want to be a normal kid who could play and just forget for awhile.

Part of her had thought Evelyn would think the whole thing had been interesting, if nothing else. But at some point, she had lost interest and put out her fire. It seemed like she was disappointed. Magical needle-bending fabrics were not as interesting if they were not on fire.

The girl said cutting words, and Amelia opened her mouth to make assurances that she was not opposed to continuing the experiment in less, er, hot, circumstances. But then, Evelyn yawned and looked away and said maybe fire actually wasn’t such a good idea.

The girl looked exhausted. Or at least, acted it. How had Amelia not noticed that before? The explanation cleared things up.

Amelia frowned. “That sounds... that sounds like a pain in the ass, if I’m being honest. Especially if you have bad memories. I know I have some memories I would rather not relive.” Her face firmed up, toughened up. She clenched a fist.

Some of her memories were good, some embarrassing. Some boring. Some terrifying. And she could not dream.

“Have you tried exercise? Working so hard you pass out and cannot even have a single coherent thought?” She asked. It was that part of why she did not sleep well?

Maybe it was for the best she had not let an exhausted little girl set her on fire.

“You know, I’m not opposed to you throwing stuff at me.” Amelia said. “For science. Maybe we can wait on fire. Start small with rocks, and work our way up to knives. Maybe that will tire you out. At the very least, it’ll be more interesting than the scissors and needles fiasco. Really wasn’t trying to be a bitch about that. I was trying to get a string so I could test its properties with fire... but I couldn’t cut it. Wanted to do the micro before the macro test.”

Evelyn could see her reaction disappointed Ami but she wasn't going to fake interest. Yes, bending the needle was cool. In fact, the scientific side of her wanted to experiment more, but she was losing momentum.

"I...I can't say I've tried working out to that point. I've painted, but, that doesn't make them stop." Evelyn wondered if it was possible to work her brain to the point it wouldn't bombard her with memories? Lately she would try almost anything just to get a solution. But, Mirror had said she was like this in the past, too. What could she learn now that she hadn't mastered so many years before?

Ami threw a line to her though, and Evelyn lifted her head, looking surprised. "You would really let me throw things at you? What if I miss the hoodie? The only things I can throw on target every time are my sai, and those are in the danger room," Evelyn admitted. She had a dubious look now, wondering if Ami would consider letting a seven year old hit her with a pointy weapon. Sai were sort of like knives...

"No, it was a good test, I just, you ever get that feeling where all your excitement just like, deflates on you?" But throwing things had sort of been a second wind. She was trying not to get her hopes up too fast.

"You wouldn't happen to be able to go in the Danger Room, would you? Because, they probably have them saved in the computer..." she ventured hopefully.

Eve had tried, but still the memory dreams came. That sucked.

The power Eve had wasn’t one Amelia was familiar with. She had no idea what Evelyn even did. All she knew of were the memories she relived while she dreamed. That might not even have been connected to a power. Lots of people have bad dreams.

Her offer to let the girl work off some steam by throwing things at her had been a real offer. One she might regret, if she lost an eye to a botched throw from a tired child... but one she had been sincere about.

Amelia nodded, and crossed her heart. “If I get hurt, we will sort that out. This place has medics.” She smiled a wry smile at the girl. “I know you won’t purposefully aim for the head.”

As far as the danger room went... she might have heard Mirror mention that once or twice? Others at the mansion had murmured about it as a place people went to train. There was some reverence to the murmurs. It was a special place.

Evelyn talked about that feeling... the one where you had been excited about something, but the excitement died... and Amelia had felt that before. She nodded.

“Like when you wake up, excited for something you’ve been looking forward to for a while. But then you remember something else... and life stabs your happy until it’s not.” She said. Which was a weird way to phrase anything, but that was how she’d thought of it.

“Like life, getting you down.” Maybe that was a better summary?

Did she have access to the danger room? Did she?

“That... we can certainly check.” She grinned. “I don’t remember much about the past eight years before this age thing. But I was dating an X-man. Maybe they took me there and got me in the system as part of some sort of romantic date? Maybe I was even an X.”

An X with her ex-X. That joke never got old.

She felt a little sad about having learned her and Mirror were no longer a thing. It was depressing. But to them, it had been over for a long time. It would be weird to dwell on the past, even if it were her own past... and relatively recent, to her. Like Evelyn had said, there were different ways they could go.

She would not dwell on a failed relationship. She could move forward. Be happy, make something of herself, something new... and not be morose.

Amelia started walking towards the door. “Lead the way,” she said easily. “I wanna see some sais.”

Evelyn helped Doc Prof enough in her first week here, she shouldn't have been that concerned with injuring Ami. Although, she was certain the old man would drag her by her ear to detention if he found out she skewered another mutant playing with weapons in an unauthorized Danger Room session. But would it be worth it? Of course it would!

Evelyn grinned, and seemed to wake back up as she led Ami through the school. It didn't take long for them to land in front of some very impressive looking doors, and she hoped Ami still had the authorization to access what was inside.

"If it doesn't work maybe we can try some time with Sam. But he would probably make it a training exercise. I don't mind, but I'm not sure you want to volunteer for any combat drills." Evelyn had a sort of weird thirst for challenges, and was probably one of the only voluntary students for the ice mancer. She was also the one trying to break into the chem lab at night.

Actually, to most of the students in this school, she was a kid who presumably had her brains reshuffled in the deaging and came back 90% sociopath. She wasn't a danger...yet. But there was more than enough evidence she would be.

Combat drills?

Amelia shrugged. “Wouldn’t mind figuring out my powers some. But I’m not sure I’m X material. Combat drills sound like X stuff.”

They got to the danger room, and she tested her luck. Would the danger room remember her? She waited one second while it checked its logs— it did!

“Fantastic!” She said, grinning at Evelyn. Now, they could get into trouble. A line sprang to mind from an old television show. She parroted it at Evelyn, duck delivery and all. “Let’s get dangerous!”

—

The room itself was large, and white. And largely white. There was a window up high that could vanish during a scenario. That was meant for observation while someone sat in the control booth. Unless they opted for voice control.

While she’d never been there, to her memory, Amelia got a funky feeling of deja vu. Like she had been there before.

“Danger room,” she announced to the ceiling. “Give me some sais.”

Would it work?

The made their way to the Danger Room, and Evelyn felt more awake already. Standing in the middle of the room reminded her of training with Sam, and she tried not to scare Ami away by her delight when the Sai appeared. "It works! We probably should test on a target first, to be on the safe side..." Evelyn picked up the weapon, and they felt familiar. She suspected the room kept the light ones on preset for her right now. Did that mean the room knew she was there? Probably. Which meant Mirror probabyl got word she was here with someone she probably shouldn't have entered with.

Oh well. At least she got to try this once!

The targets showed up, basic bulls-eye displays made out of wood. Evelyn took her stance and the echoes reacted quickly. She threw, hit her mark. She threw again, same result. It was...honestly a little scary. Muscle memory and the echoes together had a way of making accuracy sort of spooky.

"Uh, where do you want me to hit you with this, anyway?" Evelyn asked, turning toward the older girl. She was assuming the hoodie was the primary target, so somewhere on the torso?

"If it doesn't take enough of the impact i don't want to cause too much damage. Uh, stomach?" Evelyn pointed to a spot near the belly button. If for some reason the clothing didn't stop the metal, it would cause a bruise at most.

Holding the weapon, Evelyn waited for Ami to either say go, or call it off. When the word came, she threw, and the weapon went right where they had discussed, like a magnet straight for a bulls-eye.

The sai did work. Well, that was grand.

Amelia nodded, when Evelyn suggested they try the sais out on targets first. “Sounds wise.”

Just a little test. A warm-up. Then, they could build towards sais with thrown stones. And hey, her aim was quite good! Amelia was impressed.

“Wow,” she said, when the first sai hit the target. The second one was thrown. She hit her mark again. “Nice!”

It was good the girl had proficiency. Bad aim would have given her a bad hair day. Or worse. She raised her hood around her head, all the same. This was no William Tell story. She wasn’t getting an Apple stabbed off her head. Nobody was showing off here. This was entirely on-the-level. Just a simple test that bore repeating. Could she tank knives?

The young girl wanted clarification. On where Amelia wanted to be hit. Hadn’t they said they were going to start small, and work their way up? Oh well. She could not fault the girl for her enthusiasm... and hadn’t she herself said the first time she’d used her powers, it had been in reaction to an element of stress? Perhaps there was some merit to that thought?

Ah whatever. They could sort the logic out later.

“Stomach is fine.” She gestured down in the same general area Evelyn had gestured towards. Well below the area with the heart and lungs. A gut wound would be nasty, but those other wounds would be far more severe.

The girl got into her throwing stance, and readied herself for action. Amelia held her arms out to each side, like a person on a balance beam, to give Evelyn a clear view of her target... and maybe also become less of one? Her hands curled up in her sleeves, as an unconscious reaction to the possibility of a glancing blow. They’d be safer, away from the target area.

“Go ahead.” She held one hand out in front.

Evelyn threw. The sai flew towards her, and Amelia stood fast. Straight and true. She felt something as the sai hit her, like a strong jab from a finger in her gut. There was no point, though. The impact had been blunted, resulting force spread out over a larger area. Amelia took a step back, from surprise and reflex.

“Ow.” She said. “That almost hurt. Bet if I swung my arms, I could knock the next one out of the air.”

It had hurt more than she was letting on. A good, strong finger poking. That’s what it had been like. One that might have left a pointy bruise. But it was the sort of poke one could live through.

Amelia bent to pick up the sai, then walked it back over to Evelyn. “Another?”

Ami did not stop Evelyn from throwing the sai. Honestly, the younger girl half expected her to. This wasn't a trial by fire, but she didn't have to throw rocks at least! That had cheered her up.

Watching the weapon go through the air gave her a moment of concern, but it faded as fast as it appeared. Evelyn knew the moment the weapon left her hand she was on target. The echoes functioned at such a fast pace, they were already guessing what would happen and the only surprise was when the impact hit the shirt. Not that she had ever watched the metal hit a person before, but watching it fall back seemed to confuse her powers a bit.

It fell back. Success! Well, sort of. [Pain.] Oh, crap. Evelyn watched as Ami brought the weapon back, eyes sharp on the other girl's stomach. "I...I don't know if we should. That looked like it hurt you. Maybe we should have started smaller." She was going to be in trouble if she had injured another student. Would Mirror find out? Evelyn was already wondering if she needed to find some type of security footage to erase.

Would Doc Prof really heal someone if she missed and stabbed them? She hadn't wanted to find out for real if that was needed.

Suddenly, Evelyn was wary. Worried. Weary. Wryly, Amelia waved her concerns off with a crooked smile.

“Even the best armor doesn’t completely negate an attack. Bulletproof vests still take an impact. The Kevlar material helps to catch the bullet and spread out it’s force. It’s science.” She said calmly.

At the time, she never considered the idea that maybe, whatever enchantment coated her hoodie might have been wearing thin.

“Whatever I felt was really minor.” She insisted. “If I’d angled my body a little differently. Probably that would have further reduced the impact force.”

Finally, Amelia noted. “It’s good to know these things in low stress situations, so that when the bullets are flying, I know what I can take. And when to run away, screaming.”

The thrust of the sais tip had caused discomfort. Certain armors had weaknesses that went with their strengths. Heavy plate handled slashed and hammering blows, but the joints and gaps needed for mobility and visibility were susceptible to knives and arrows. Silk shirts could help catch arrowheads before they bore deep into a persons vitals. But they did nothing about anything else. Aside from being a good material to avoid infection with (maybe). Good for bandages. Her hoodie probably had its own properties. Places where it shined. Places where it sucked.

Evelyn let herself relax a bit. If Ami was fine with this, she didn't feel as worried. A small part of her disliked hurting someone, but the other side was still excited to study the mysterious hoodie and it's properties. She felt the teeter in her mind between right and wrong at times like this. Was it bad she was fascinated by an experiment if it could hurt someone? Would older Evelyn have continued once she knew there was an injury.

There were questions she wasn't ready to deal with. She was intelligent, but the seven-year-old concept of right or wrong was still struggling to form while her brain continued without her.

Holding her Sai, Evelyn nodded to herself, and to Ami. "I can throw again, maybe try to do something to deflect it better? You know it can absorb the impact outright."

In her mind, it was less risky knocking something from the air than just flat out taking the shot to the torso. There was only so many times she expected someone could do that.

Waiting for the other girl to be prepared, Evelyn threw the sai again. It went through the air with precision, heading for the same place they had planned last time.

>> "I can throw again, maybe try to do something to deflect it better? You know it can absorb the impact outright."

“Sounds good,” Amelia said.

She took a few breaths and focused her mind, then set herself in a ready pose. Without any real martial arts training to speak of, it may not have been the best readied pose in the land. She was pretty sure she had gotten it from some martial arts movie or another. At least it was no Crane style leg lift thing. Daniel-san, she was not.

She opened and closed an upturned hand. A ‘come at me, bro’ gesture if ever there was one. Evelyn threw.

Amelia swept her arms and tried to deflect, best she could. It was not perfect. But she managed something. Knocked it from the air. With her elbow. Very not graceful. It bounced off and spun to hit the floor.

“With a little more practice, I could probably get pretty good at that.” Amelia rubbed her elbow gingerly. “Not hurt.” She told Evelyn. “Just bonked my funny bone.”

Hadn’t they been planning to keep practicing until Eve conked out? Amelia dropped into the ready stance once again.

“Come at me, bro.”

Evelyn watched as her next throw was awkwardly deflected. It wasn't perfect, but it didn't seem to cause as much damage and that made her feel better. Ami took a stance again, and Evelyn had to stop herself from blinking in confusion. Come at me, bro. She knew a lot of things, but she did not get that reference. Pop culture was weird. Was that pop culture? She threw again, the sai going toward it's target.

She threw a few more times, Ami deflected. They got better with effort while Evelyn's energy vanished. She felt tired. It hadn't taken long until her eyelids felt heavy and she yawned. It was like someone pulled a plug and all her energy was gone.

"I...I think I am done." She wanted to curl up right there and crash. She was torn between the childlike desire to just fall asleep wherever she was, and the more adult understanding to get to bed first.