She was a teacher at the Mansion. Even though she never had gotten to run any classes before her rather unfortunate bout of Illness that kept her recuperating in California for the winter. Now that she was back and in rather good health though she felt perfectly able and willing to open the Danger Room for Students wishing to commence in the practice of Mutation Control.

Students having singed up for her class would be informed via a note hung up on the Noticeboard (the real one as well as the internet variety) that today, at this hour her class would be taking place for the very first time in the DR at the Mansion.

Currently the old Lady was waiting along in the yet barren room. She was wearing an appropriate attire. A conservative combination with a flowered skirt that made her look rather youngish. About sixty-five if one was generous. And she was wearing a smile. The students could come.

Today was his first class in the academy, he had only been here a week and still did not have a fixed schedule. That might have a lot to do with the fact that he had only just turned in his request for a university major. He knew that this place dealt mostly with high school students so he might still have to wait a while before they got things sorted for him, but that was ok he was enjoying being able to get to know the school without the pressure of lessons. Today’s class however he had signed up for specifically. It was entitled “mutation control” and to be honest this class was the real reason Sam was here.

He had signed up on the board and written down the time and location of the class: 3 o’clock, the danger room. Sam had had to enquire politely as to what and where was the danger room? People had told him where to find it and only that it was the room used specifically for this class but not much else. However Sam did not really think that “the danger room” could be anything good. Why had they not just called it the “training room” if that was all it was? The whole danger aspect of it was making him nervous. That and the fact that he was feeling a bit sick at the idea of having to show his power to others.
He made his way down corridors he had never visited before, but his sense of direction was good so he did not get lost. He did however hesitate as he reached his destination. The door to the danger room looked like it had been built to withstand a nuclear bomb; the thickness of it was in no way reassuring, mostly because Sam was not sure if it was designed to keep things out or in. Taking a deep breath to steady himself he stepped into the danger room.

And there he saw: a little old lady. Ok this was either a rather desperate joke or a bad dream. Why on earth would a granny be in the danger room? What was he even doing here? Honestly why had he even bothered getting out of bed this morning? This had been a bad idea. But faced with the reality of the situation, all he could do was ask stupidly:

“Is this the mutation control lesson?”

This was his first class. He hadn't had he opportunity to get to any of he previous Danger Room classes until now. Usually he wasn't allowed in there by himself because of his age. Today was different and he was going to be learning how to control his powers from one of he mansions staff.

Teddy was especially looking forward to this class because it would give him the chance to meet a lot of new people. He'd signed up in the hallway just as a few others had done and even though he had been here a while he still didn't really knows many people or their powers. His mutation might not even be affected by this class since it was very independent and it wasn't required for him to be in the Danger Room to practice it.

The time had come and he made his way down the hallway to the room. He'd actually only been there once before and it was an interesting place to be. He walked in just behind someone else that he'd never seen before. The place didn't look like anything yet but he knew that it would be really cool once it got started. So far it was Ted, the new guy, and grandma over there... He sure hoped that more people would show up. He walked up to the lady and said, "I'm ready to go." he was clearly excited and made no effort to hide the fact. Maybe he would get some usefulness out of this practice even though his mutation wasn't dangerous.

Granny stood squarely in the center of the room as her first charge approached. Her smile seemed genuine and her hands, both of them firmly lodged on her walking stick, seemed only slightly shaky with age. A good thing that, was it not? Her flowery dress seemed all the more antique from a closer distance. As the woman behind the stick seemed more amused at noting the hesitancy of her charge.

>> "Is this the mutation control lesson?"

"Young man, it is. Welcome to my Class." The voice was a warm Alto, friendly in its disposition, as were the eyes. Her hands both lifted off the stick to make a gesture that encompassed the nearly-empty room. Interestingly enough her walking aid resisted the normal urge of physics and remained steadfastly upright despite its unguided situation. Or perhaps nearly unguided as its handle was wrapped in an emerald glow. Behind the first boy a second one made his way into the room and proceeded to close in on the pair. Her hands gripped the walking stick again.

>> "I'm ready to go."

As he announced said readiness, Grannys eyes flickered over her watch and decided that any latecomer would bear his or her shame and she would start her lesson now. She faced her charges and stepped back two steps. "Good day, Gentlemen. Before we begin I would like to set out the Rules." her voice made the Capital aptly clear. "As this is a Class involving possibly dangerous situations - training mutations is not easy business - I will make these absolutely clear for you." Her voice had changed from the friendly Alto into something resembling steel with a detatchment that bordred on the militaristic. Her small frame seemed to loom larger in the room. "First: When you enter the Classroom I will indeed presume that you are 'ready to go'. Faliure to comply with thar requirement will result in expulsion from my class and immediate faliure of the course." There was absolutely no humor in her eyes. "Secondly: When I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it. There will be no nagging, lagging or haggling. Faliure to comply will result - for the first offense - in detention. The second time will result in expultion and faliure of the course." Nope. No. Humor. "Thirdly: You will observe rules of conduct becoming your age and station. If you have problems with any of these rules you may conduct your backside out of this classroom at any time, but only today I will give you the opportunity to do this without marking the course as failed. Once you go I will also not accept you back into any of my classes. Finally: You may adress me either as Ms. Stephens..." Indeed. Miss. They should take note of that. "... or as Ma'am. Outside of this Class you may also address me as Granny or Granny Stephens and cry on my shoulder. In this room you may not. Questions, Gentlemen?"

The last was a firm bark. And indeed - if that should still be in question - she had been in the military. Once. In the Vietnam War. Her voice held that steel of command without any appearance of strain - there was no difficulty about. They would conform themselves or she would make them go away. She always made problems go away.

"Young man, it is. Welcome to my Class."

Sam studied his new teacher and wondered why on earth she had been given this job. Maybe she had been the teacher for this class for so many years that no one had had the nerve to tell her that she should retire. Still she seemed nice enough and he felt a bit relieved. He was further comforted in the fact that she knew what she was doing when she let him see a demonstration of her own powers. She held her walking stick in place without using physical contact, which seemed really cool to Sam. Well to be honest most powers, other than his own, seemed cool to Sam right now.

A sound made Sam turn and he noted another student entering the room. A young boy, everyone seemed younger than him here, with a mop of blondish hair who seemed to be really eager to be here. Sam’s feeling was confirmed as the youth declared his readiness, he the illusion mutant really wished that he felt even half the confidence his new comrade appeared to have. But he did not get the time to ponder his lack of confidence because the little old lady that was their teacher started off the class.

Sam was a good student so he stood and listened patiently to all that she had to say. Behind the façade he put on though, a knot was slowly forming in his stomach. It turned out that the nice little old lady was in fact some kind of warrior granny, and it seemed that she was expecting them to turn into obedient little soldiers. By this time Sam was pretty sure that he should have stayed in bed this morning.

The fear that he was feeling came from the fact that he did not have a physical power but a mentally controlled one; which meant that he would probably not be undergoing hard physical tasks but would probably be put under pressure mentally. And he knew that mental strength was not his strong point. So as Ms Stephens finished her speech, he had no questions only a glum rather resigned look on his face.

Ted was starting to rethink this whole idea of joining this class. It wasn't all the time that he saw a grandma go from offering cookies to having Vietnam flash backs. The drill sargent attitude helped keep his attention though. The worst part about this class was that he wasn't sure how effective his powers would be in this class. It certainly was small. Apparently him and this other guy, who looked much older, seemed to be the only ones to sign up for this class.

The last part of her speech seemed less like a question and more like a 'you'd better not have a question or I'll kick you in the face' statement. Teddy just shook his head to signal that he understood and felt worried because of the lack of knowledge she was providing about the tasks they would be doing in this place. One would think that if they were going to be getting put in danger they would need parental consent or something. As it stood now, he just waited for Ms. Stephens to start the class.

If she had been alone, she would have permitted herself a little huffing and puffing due to her age after that long a speech. But she was not alone and children despised weakness in their teachers. At least as far as she was concerned. So she continued to proceed with her Drill Sargeant voice.

"Computer, start Program Class 101" And the world changed in a shimmering of air and technology as Photons were happily redirected and robots merrily popped out of their hidden compartments. The happy group was now standing in a hilly landscape. In fact they were on top of one of the hills and could look far in each direction. Here and there groups of trees - they had needles - dotted the landscape. On the foot of the next hill was what could be described as a colorful assortment of tents. They were not from the current age though - not the small high-tech things coul could buy in camping stores. Neither were the things strewn around the encampment. They were pointy things of metal that were designed primarily to smash in human skulls and expose viscera. A medieval army encampement of the finest sort. To Grannys right appeared a... person. If a person was formed like a nutcracker. "This..." the old woman announced with some glee in her voice...

"... is General Hilarity." The fact that the nutcracker held in one wooden hand a generals Baton and in the other a bloodied mace was maybe a hint. Quite. Subtle.

As it turned out the military style speech was only the beginning as Ms Stephens had apparently only paused for breath. As she ordered the computer to start a program Sam had to look around in surprise. He had of course heard about the danger room and its simulation abilities but there was quite a large difference between imagining a room that could change the scenery and being in one. In Sam’s mind he had seen something approaching a room filled with giant tv screens. However the reality of it was well… much more real than he had been expecting. It felt like he had stepped onto a hill side in spring. Not only did his vision tell him that they were outside but there were sounds as well, so that if he had not known that he was still inside he could quite easily have believed that they had been moved somewhere else altogether.

Once the initial shock had worn off, he turned his attention to the details that were probably going to be important during the up and coming training. They were at the top of a hill, which meant good visibility, so Sam had no problem spotting the medieval looking camp at the foot of the next hill. His science fantasy brain told him at once that they had a good position as they were on higher ground but also that they would be spotted instantly standing out here in the open.

He did not however get much of a chance to think more on the strategic possibilities of their position because a bizarre robot type figure had just appeared. The face and features had a wooden expression and the joints were stiff but that seemed irrelevant considering the fact that it held a weapon in each hand. Sam studied them, one was a blunt baton which would mean a long and painful death and the other well one swipe would probably be enough. But either way letting that thing near you promised nothing good. It was in times like these when Sam wished he had at least ended up with an offensive power, because he very much doubted this thing cared what the person he was bludgeoning to death looked like.

To avoid looking at their newest recruit any longer Sam looked back to their teacher. That proved to be a big mistake, for granny had one of those looks that promised nothing good. Add to that the fact that she introduced the robot type thing as general “hilarity” and it was enough to make Sam feel genuinely sick. To try and calm his nerves he decided to breathe in and out in a slow measured way. He would have looked at his feet as well but he did not trust either the general or granny not to beat him to death while he wasn’t looking.

Teddy had heard about the Danger Rooms' abilities but he'd never really seen it until now. He'd been here once before but it was in a much lighter sense and it was defintiely in a less strict way. The last time he was here it was more of a game.

The Danger Room shifted and they were soon outdoors and overlooking an emcampment. If he didn't know better he'd swear he'd just been beamed to a different place by the Enterprise. It was actually really neat and he'd have to be sure to do this again when he wasn't in a class.

Now would be a good time for a fighting power though. "Is he on our side?" Ted asked, hoping that Miss Stephens would give them a little hint on what they were supposed to do before this guy cleaved their heads off of their necks. He couldn't take his eyes off of the giant toy nutcracker. It was very intimidating with the bloody battle axe and the big baton that looked like it could bash their skulls in without even breaking a sweat.

It was all Teddy could do to stifle a girly scream. He didn't think Miss Stephens would appreciate it in her class and he would proabably get kicked out of the class just for doing it.

His mind started to race. There were a few stuffed animals that he figured might help him out in this situation; however, they were all small and probably wouldn't help much. Now there was only one that he thought might help. His dragon form. Unfortunately he didn't have much control over it so he'd probably be forced to run around like a big 3ft chicken-lizard. Teddy began to focus. At least it was something. "If you can do anything now might be a good time dude." Teddy said to the other guy he didn't really know yet. With that he started to shift.

First his neck elongated. Great a better target to be chopped off first. He thought as he started to grow a tail and shrink. He then started to change colors. His back and top of his head turned a dark olive green, while his arms and stomach turned a purple-ish color. Teddy's face elongated and his ears shrunk and turned into little holes, while his eyes were swallowed up and replaced with little beads for eyes. Aside from all that looking weird he then sprouted wings and a set of horns on his head. He was finally fully dragon. His body was flecked with gold and his wings shown brightly in the simulated sunny sky. There wasn't much hiding him now but he was certainly ready to run. That is unless they got some directions first.

Granny looked. Nothing more. She waited, for reactions, from her young student body. Or rather: Student bodies. One being now quite well along the way to becoming a stuffed toy... dragon? She could work with that. She would. But for now there was the small matter of the other student being quite obviously too terrified to do much of anything.

"Boy..." She addressed the one not presently fuzzy/furry/cuddly. "... I think your fellow studnet is quite right..." And with that she turned around and walked away from General Hilarity and his bloody weapons.
The General seemed to take this as assent. Or maybe this was just the way the program was written, for immediately life infused the wooden joints and a rumbling voice announced: "Kill the Dragon!" So much for nice and quiet. Yes?

"Is he on our side?"

The question came from his fellow student and to Sam’s disappointment it fell on deaf ears. It did not look like Ms Stephens intended to give them further instructions and the look on her face was making him feel increasingly nervous. He wondered what was expected of him and he shot a glance at Teddy wondering if he had any more idea of what was to come next. It turned out that he did or at least that he was running with the worst case scenario.

"If you can do anything now might be a good time dude."

The statement left Sam confused for a few seconds before a very noticeable and unexpected change came over the other boy. He started to grow and expand in ways that made Sam feel uncomfortable; didn’t that kind of morphing hurt? His musing was cut short but a noise that came from the nutcracker, was it his imagination or had that thing just moved? A knot formed in the pit of his stomach and he really wished that he’s stayed in bed this morning.

"Boy…I think your fellow student is quite right..."

Right about what? This time panic was slowly setting in as the situation became more and more weird. On top of that the creaking noise returned once more and as he turned back to general hilarity there was no doubt this time that he was definitely moving. Sam took a step back but he could feel Granny’s disapproving stare boring into his back. Well this seemed like a good time to follow Teddy’s advice; he reached for that feeling his power gave him and focused on the nutcracker.

"Kill the Dragon!"

His reaching became more desperate but nothing was coming out of it. He could feel nothing from their now attacker. Was that why his powers were not working because the opponent was not human and therefore had no memories. Whatever it was it did not bode well for them, he had doubted his power would have been of any use in the first place but now it seemed like a complete write off. For an instant he contemplated using it of Ms Stephens instead but he reckoned that probably would not help much. So instead he went for the only thing left to him and that was to use his body.

He was neither strong nor practiced in any kind of combat but he was going to have to do something or it was going to be a mace to the head. So taking a deep breath he threw himself forward and down at the nutcrackers legs in the hope of knocking him down and earning them a few seconds of respite.

"Kill the Dragon!"

Was he serious? Teddy thought. Well that ain't hapening. He had not intention of dying. Especially in a weird simulator. There was no reason that it looked like it was two on a million. Why didn't she give them any help? She could have at least given them some directions. And Go didn't really count as directions in his book.

It also didn't help that he didn't know what this other guy was going to do, if anything. So far he seemed to freaked out to really try something. Suddenly Teddy was mistaken. The other guy knocked the nutcracker down by throwing himself at it's legs. Teddy didn't think that this was probably the best plan in the world but when your faced with a bad situation sometimes you have to take drastic measures. Apparently it wasn't easy to stay upright if you didn't have knees that could bend very easily. It was to bad that shock wasn't an expression that the General could display. His nutcracker face seemed to be determined and only showed his viciousness.

"A traitor! How dare you?!" Apparently the nutcracker thought the other kid was on his side. It was good to know which side he really was on. As impressive as he may look he certainly didn't know exactly how much help he could be. He'd never tried to fight with his mutation before. Who would expect a stuffed animal to start whooping butt anyways? Maybe it was just a good thing that the first time he was about to fight was against a hologram under adult supervision, even if the adult didn't seem to really mind if they got hurt. What a nice teacher.

The nutcracker then started to get back up. It was a slow process, almost like watching a turtle trying to get up. Since his joints were wooden he didn't exactly move with grace and Teddy was sure he could get the upper hand right now. An idea came to him. He charged the General, who was on his knees, and ran directly into him. He fell over again, only this time he started to roll down hill. If Teddy could shout he would have yelled "Run!' But he couldn't so he watched the general roll away and into a few tents below. That's got to hurt. Teddy thought. Unfortunately it seemed to alert all the rest of the people below and there was a sudden commotion and yelling as people grabbed weapons and started to form ranks to move up to their position. Good thing the General decided to leave his weapons behind when he was knocked down.

Ah, young people... Granny watched the drama unfold quite passively. The dragon-shifting, the tackle attack. Assessing she was, actions, times. All went into a catalouge in her head. But then she proceeded to intervene. Finally her students might think. Even as the General rolled down the slope she turned around towards her students and announced: "Program stop." Things downslope did as the aging alto commanded and obidently stopped mid-motion. Observant students might have noticed the leaves on the trees freezing mid-motion as well. The slight breeze was nonexistent now. But the three on the hilltop generally were. Granny gatheres her skirts in one hand and hiked them up a bit for better walking.

"Come on..." She said to her students as she slowly paced down the hilltop to where the army was frozen in the frantic process of assemblage. She then started explaining, though one was still a big stuffed toy. "Thank you for participation. That was a quick reaction test by the way. Sam..." (She now proved that she had indeed read the profiles of her students.) "...you might want to consider training some more with our physical defense teacher Mr. Johnson." Though making that recommendation galled her more than slightly. The dislike between her and Sam Johnson was becoming the stuff of Mansion legends already. The young, hunky phys-ed teacher whom every girl loved (and who loved every girl as Granny would rather hotly contest) and the old frail woman of sometimes violent temper were two poles of Mansion extreme. Two poles that produced sometimes quite violent explosions.

But back to... matters at hand. Granny was slowly hobbling down the slope, her well-aged bones requiring as always the tempered care of the elderly. "Teddy, you can shift back now..." Still on the move she was. And now... what?

Dragon-Teddy heard all that his instructor was saying. There didn't seem to be anymore of this test that was going to happen today. So Teddy shifted back when she said it was ok. Once Teddy was fully human again he continued to listen to her. She didn't say much so Teddy was thinking that this was either her first class or the class was over for the day.

Sam was regretting having signed himself up for this class, as not only had he been scared half to death but he had in no way had to use his mutation. Granny had casually stopped the program when it had appeared that they were going to be in serious trouble if things continued. And now she was lecturing them on what they had done wrong.

When she told him that he should do some training with the phy ed teacher, Sam had to bite back and angry remark that would have gone along the lines of: “sorry for not knowing what to do when attacked by a giant nutcracker”. Instead he followed their not so understanding teacher and continued to listen to what she had to say, for it appeared that the practical part of this session was over. All that was left was the scolding.

From that point on Sam decided that he could live without military style mutation training. If he needed to find a way to improve his control over his powers he would do it some other way.