Ted went up to the observation room, and fiddled with the controls. He was quickly getting to know them, and breifly considered applying to work in the danger room when he was older, then fixed his mind back to the task in hand. He soon had it set up the way he wanted it: The door locked so noone could get in without going to the observation room first. Also, when they arrived there a message would appear explaining that he was practising and that if he was transformed and angry that it was ok, and that they had only to wait for him to stop and detransform.

He made his way into the danger room itself, and the object that he had programmed was already there. It was an electric chair, which he strapped himself into. Then it sent electric shocks through his body, causing the transformation. The restraints were adaptive, and grew to fit his new size, as he lost all consciousness.

He opened his eyes, and was greeted with the not-so-friendly surroundings of his mind. It was the expected barren wasteland, with nothing to be seen for miles. But he knew of the dangers lurking in his mind. He turned his thoughts away from his surroundings, and focussed them on the cage. He noticed something strange... where he had broken free before, it was no longer just bars, but hinges, and of more note, a lock. "Hmm... interesting." He reached through the bars, and gripped onto the lock. He tugged, but it didn't budge. He kept on tugging, trying to get it to break.

After a good five minutes of tugging, the lock finally started to show signs of weakness. A few more tries, and he finally had it loose. He opened the door, and stepped through into his mind. In a rush of darkness, he found himself back in the danger room. He looked down, and saw that he was in beast form. Cool. He was still recieving shocks, but they were now faint, and didn't hurt at all. As programmed, the motion sensors in the danger room picked up his movement, and released him. He stood up, and the chair dropped into the floor, to be replaced with a mirror. Exactly how I programmed it. I must be getting good at this. e looked at himself in the mirror, and he was quite a beast. Coarse, brown fur covered his whole body and his jaw had elongated so that it was half a foot long. He opened his mouth, and wickedly sharp, long fangs filled his mouth. The longest were near the front, where he could bite through tough materials. Like meat.

He looked at the rest of himself; he was good bit taller now, and a lot bigger. His muscles had expanded, so now he a lot stronger. He was also still stronger than he looked. And faster. He looked at his hands. These had also elongated, a looked halfway between hands and paws. His nails were no longer finger nails, they were claws. They were horrendously sharp, and a few inches long too. He looked down, and then saw something sticking out behind him. A tail! He turned around and looked at his back; yep, definately a tail.

Happy at this new discovery, he gave it a little wag. It wasn't particularly dextrous, but it was a tail. Did it get any better than this? He turned back, and gave the mirror a push. Like he programmed, it sank back into the floor, and a small obstacle course slid out of the wall nearby. Grinning wolfishly, he looked it over.

It started with four horizontal beams, each one a foot higher than the one in front and a few feet behind it. After that was a six foot brick wall for him to vault, and then some monkey bars. Then a pit that was about six feet across for him to jump, and then a log to be crossed. After wards was a straight run, which led to the next obstacle thirty metres ahead; a twenty foot A-frame. This was a triangular structure with a net up each side, so they slanted toward the middle, and when looked at from the side looked like an A. Hence the name. Then was a twelve foot wall, and a sprint to finish. This could be fun.

He ran at the beams, and took them two at a time, leaping clear of the last one and continued running upon impact with the ground. He leapt the wall without even touching it, and sped through the monkey bars before he had even realised he'd reached them. He cleared the pit with ease, and running across the thin log was like running on flat ground. The run was cleared in super-human time, and he reached the A-frame. He gripped the net, and heaved himself upwards. He was swiftly at the top, and stood briefly on the top bar. He jumped off, landing in a roll, and was off again. He reached the wall, and with a jump almost got his feet high enough to stand on it. He caught it, and hauled himself over. He sprinted for the end, and a screen came out of the ground, showing his time. He had already checked other times, and saw that a team of people with no powers would be lucky to clear the course in seven minutes. He'd done it in two. Wow.

A sure sign that an individual has performed the same task a few too many times, is the lack of a need to pay attention to what is being done. In other words, in the short time Neena had been in the Mansion, her feet had memorized the path leading to her 'classroom', leaving her head and body to concentrate on other things, such as eating and reading.

This particular day found her with a half-eaten banana in one hand, and her favorite-outlaw-hailing book in the other. Nose in the book, she paused at the Observation Room door and let herself in, without so much as glancing up. For that reason she missed the 'in use' message flashing clear as day on the consol. She set her pack on the back of the chair, and sat down, leaning back and propping her feet up on the consol.

The sound of equipment moving finally drew her attention upward, and she realized the Danger Room what in use. She blinked, and uncurled herself to look down at the scene below. One eyebrow raised in mild surprise.

"Talk about tall, dark and furry."

The remark was made out loud, but not meant to be heard by anyone. However, Neena didn't realize her hand on the consol had activated the GodMike, projecting her voice into the room below...

Ted had been about to activate the next part of his training program, still impressed that it was working like it should, when a voice echoed around the room.

"Talk about tall, dark and furry."

He looked around in surprise, then glanced up at the observation room. He waved a claw at her, "Hey grawl, grr nash spittle growl." He then realised that he had less than human vocal chords, and so he would have to hope that she could translate that into "Hey there,hope you don't mind me borrowing the danger room?"

Regardless, he pressed against the panel, and like he had programmed, it slid into the wall. The next task started, and ten appeared. Ten!?! I programmed for one! Ah well, he couldn't rely on his new-found programming skills the whole way. He just hoped that Neena wouldn't look at it and realise the difficulty setting he had set it to...[/i]

The holograms looked like people, but Ted knew that three of them could probably take him. He shrugged, and charged. He leapt onto the nearest one, and tackled it to the ground, and continued to roll past. He spun around, and the hologram was already on its feet. Crap. He ran back at it, but it dodged his strike, caught his arm and let his own momentum land him on his butt. Craaap!!!

This time both eyebrows went up in surprise. Neena had no clue what the mutant was trying to say. For all she could tell, he could have been telling her to mind her own business, or inviting her to tea. She hadn't yet met seen Ted transform, and thus had no idea that it was him under all that fur.

As the training holograms came online, and the were-wolf-like creature began attacking, Neena took a quick peek at the control panel, specifically the difficulty setting. It seemed a bit high, but as she didn't know what else the mutant was capable of, she left it alone.

Her curiosity kicked in, full blast. Setting her book and food aside, she stood up.

"Weapons please, longbow and quiver, and spear." As she entered the main room, the requested weapons appeared along the wall. She slung the quiver over her right shoulder, and took hold of both the bow and spear in her left hand. However, she didn't immediately enter the battle. After all, this was.... his?... trainning session. She merely watched to be sure things didn't get too out of hand.

She watched as the beast-like mutant was promptly introduced to the ground. He seemed to be going for a full-on rush attack. She wondered what he would do when the other nine fighters entered the fray.

Ted didnt even notice Neena enter, pre-occupied as he was with the holograms. He decided to be a bit more patient, and waited until it came near to him. It stepped closer, but he had longer arms than it did, and he pelted it across the room Alright! WHACK! Another one pelted him over the head, and knocked him reeling. He stayed on his feet, and spun around with a snarl. No way are you getting away with that! Making a mental note to pay more attention to the others, he lunged at the hologram, and it was crushed under his weight. Another came up behind him, and he tried to turn to face it, but the one underneath him had hold of his fur, and was not letting go. Damnit!! The one standing kicked him in the stomach, leaving him winded. The underneath hologram kicked him off, and rose to its feet. What the hell did i set the difficulty rating too?? He forced himself to his feet, and the pain became a very dull throbbing as his rage took hold.

He charged at the two at full pelt, and sent them both flying, to be crushed into the wall. He spun as another five charged him, and he managed to floor one, before the others overwhelmed him, and took him down. He sent another one flying with a kick, but there were still three on top of him. He bit into one of them, causing it to cry out. He took the chance to flind it aside, but was repeatedly struck by the remaining two.

<"Maybe that setting wasn't too high after all,"> Neena thought to herself. The furred mutant appeared to be holding his own. She continued to watch.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as the defender's fighting style changed, ever so slightly. Before he seemed to have a definite goal in mind, survival not counted. But now he seemed to be fighting blindly, as if instinct was beginning to take over. When he hit the ground, she stepped in.

There was a high-pitched twaang!!, followed rapidly by four more. The five outlying holograms sprouted arrows momentarily, before vanishing. Several of them had already been taken out by the were-wolf like mutant, but Neena wanted to be sure they were permanently out of commission.

That left the five-on-one battle in the center. One of them was sent flying. In a fluid motion, and without hardly aiming, Neena again strung her bow and let an arrow fly. The hologram vanished midfall. A second was flung aside, and was also quickly dispatched.

Now that the fight was down to three-on-one, Neena returned to waiting patiently to see what else would happen. She kept an arrow strung, however, just in case.

Ted barely noticed the other holograms being dispatched by Neena. Wait, wasn't she in the observation room? Pushing this thought aside, Ted leapt at a robot, but the other two each landed a punch to his stomach, sending him into a wall. Oh, you are so gonna pay for that. Roaring in anger, Ted flung himself at the holograms, heedless of danger to himself. He sent one flying with a punch to the chest, and then grabbed another by the head and smashed it into the wall. It vanished, leaving just the one who was a direct threat to him. He snarled, and the two of them circled. Ted was extremely angry, as this was the one he had throw himself at before the others hit him, and he focused all his rage onto the one opponent.

He ran forward with a roar, and smashed the hologram aside. He followed its flight, and leapt at it as it rolled to its feet. e bit down on one of its arms, and swung his head from side to side vigorously, and then up and down, causing the hologram to smash into the floor multiple times before finally vanishing. He stood up, and gave Neena a wolfish grin. He was slightly surprised to see her holding a bow and arrow, though.

The furred-and-fang mutant dispatched the rest of his opponents with seeming ease, finishing the training round. Then it turned to her, and bared its fangs. Behind her sunglasses one eyebrow raised slowly.

"My, what big teeth you have!" she quipped. She unstrung the bow slowly, and returned the arrow to her quiver. However, in the same motion her grip switched to the spear, just in case. The last part of the creature's attack had definitely been rage-filled, and she'd rather not be on the receiving end of another such rush, if at all avoidable. She also didn't relish the idea of possibly hurting a student either.

"So, can you talk, m'friend? I can't say I remember meeting you yet. Name's Neena." She wasn't sure what all this mutation was capable of, but snarling, growling and potentially-life-threatening, gigantic teeth and claws were still no excuse not to be polite.

Ted shrugged, and made growling noises, to indicate that he couldn't really talk. His vocal chords changed with the rest of him, so he could no longer produce human sounds. Like words. e walked over to Neena, and realised that she didn't realise that it was him. He tried to think of a way of reminding her, and remembered when they first met in the library. He mimed opening a book, and hoped that she was good at charades.

<"'kay, grunts and growls. Mmm hmm. And.... miming??">

Neena blinked. Yes, the big furry mutant was... miming....

"Well, now," she remarked aloud, "this just gets more and more interesting."

On the positive side, he wasn't attacking her, which showed that he had at least some handle on his mutation.

Apparently trying to get something across to her, he began gesturing with his clawed hands. She watched for a few moments; he looked like he was making a shape.... sort of....

"Uh, round? A sphere.... A ball... A head?" It kind of looked like he was cupping his hands together. "A bowl? A water bowl? Are you're thirsty?" No, that wasn't it....

"Uh, sounds like.....??"

It had to be the strangest charades game in the history of the Danger Room.

He shook his big furry head. He couldn't feel the tingling from the shock that had been sent through him. That probably meant that it wouldn't be long until he detransformed. He gave up on the charades, as claws weren't all that helpful. He was alittle bitter at the lack of opposeable thumbs, but nothing was perfect. As he had guessed, he detransformed, and was now just Ted, in some slightly larger clothes. He made a mental note to get a system where he could either stop damaging his clothes, or replace them easily.

"Hi there! Sorry, when I change, my vocal chords change as well. I think I may have pput the difficulty setting a little too high..." He shrugged. "But I'm just getting used to the danger room controls. I havn't actually seen anyone else use them, so it's all alot of guesswork." He shrugged again. "So what do you think? Was I any good?"

Big and Furry shook his head; apparently Neena's guessing was way off. Not a surprise. Since he seemed to be waiting for something, she simply waited with him.

She watched with fascination as he eventually began to change back. Once most of the hair disappeared, and the maw shortened, she grinned. Striking her spear on the ground, she exclaimed, "Ted! Hah! No wonder you're a great remodeler."

"Hi there! Sorry, when I change, my vocal chords change as well. I think I may have pput the difficulty setting a little too high... But I'm just getting used to the danger room controls. I havn't actually seen anyone else use them, so it's all alot of guesswork."

Neena waved. "Ah, no worries. The computer is complicated to figure out. Sometimes pushing random buttons works just as well as a planned program."

"So what do you think? Was I any good?"

She nodded, relaxing her grip on her spear. "Not bad, not bad, considering you had set your program for ten specialists." She winked at him. "So, you're a werewolf, eh? Hmm.... I didn't notice any full moon in the sim?"

Ted laughed. "Nah, the whole full moon thing is a myth. No, I change whenever I'm in pain. You could stab me with the spear, and I'd change. Then you'd have to wait until it healed before I changed back." He ginned, "Or put me to sleep. That works too. I had to program it to give me an electric chair, but i wasn't sure of the voltage to put through, as too little wouldn't work and too much might kill me. So I underestimated, because I didn't expect to be fighting those guys for that long." He only then realised that she had a spear. And a bow and arrows. "What's with the medievil weaponry? Cool as it is, surely you could use much more effective things?"

Neena listened to his explanation, her expression both curious and happy; she always enjoyed learning about the variety of mutations that seemed to be prevelant in the world. Each one seemed as different and unique as fingerprints.

"What's with the medievil weaponry? Cool as it is, surely you could use much more effective things?"

"Medeivil?" She chuckled. "More like Tribal. I grew up learning to hunt with these. I suppose they're not as effective as a sword would be. Or a gun." She didn't bother to hide her distate for firearms. She shrugged. "I'm not an 'up-close-and-personal fighter. These work well enough for the range of battle I prefer." She grinned cheerfully.

She tilted her head. "So now I know what you meant when we were talking earlier. Is this the reason your metabolism is so high?" She circled him curiously, noting his tattered clothes. "How much pain does it take to make you transform? You seem to have pretty decent control over yourself, though I noticed some rage there at the end. Any kind of bloodlust come into the picture if you fight too long? Or hurt too much?"

"I'm not sure about the whole metabolism thing. I just seem able to eat a lot more than I should, and have done since I was a boy." He shrugged. "Might be to do with the mutation, I might just have an especially gifted stomach." He watched her circling him, wondering why, but answered her questions anyway. "I'm not sure how much pain. I've had gun shots set it off, the coolest one being the shotgun that's left all those scars in my back." he rips in the back of his shirt showed off a few of them quite nicely. "But I've also had it from tripping and banging myself on a wall." He grinned, "The rage was all me. I just got annoyed that the darned holograms wouldn't die. Hurting too much either doesn't help or just makes things worse. I seem able to ignore pain, so it becomes more of a tingling, so i can carry on fighting regardless of injuries. But, like most animals, too much pain will cause me to pass out. And from what I can tell, sleeping seems to reverves the transformation. I think. I'm still not entirely sure how it works." He shrugged again; it occurred to him that he really didn't know a lot about his mutation. Ah well, he'd work it out. Eventually.

"So tell me, are you a mutant too? I'm guessing so, as most non-mutants seem to dislike us at best." It would be interesting to see what sort of mutation a danger room teacher would have.