Testing (Arik/Kay/Open)

[Kaylee-Anne "Shocks" Swanson]

Where was he? He was supposed to be there at least a half an hour ago. Kaylee-Anne paced, feeling somewhat annoyed. True he was meeting her there was her own request and for her own benefit but even so it was rude for him to be so late.

Finally leaning against the wall, Kay slid to the floor, she clasped her hands together between her knees and looked off in the direction of the door, away from the Danger Room. She wore jeans, a sweater, and a pair of lace up black boots. It was kind of a punk meets catholic school girl style but it was what she liked. For some reason knowing she'd be training with Arik made her decide to wear some eye liner and lip gloss. It didn't matter much though since she still wore her thick, black rimmed glasses that made her look like a total nerd.

She thought maybe he'd decided not to come after all. Or maybe he was already training inside. In any case she'd wait a little while longer and see...

[Arik "Lucifer" Creed]

Arik literally rolled out of bed and fell on to the floor, the thud not even jerking him from his nap. He instead curled up on the floor and kept sleeping, which probably would've been cute if it wasn't for the fact that he had destroyed his bed once again from a nightmare and there were feathers almost all over the room. It was when Arik's phone began to ring that he jumped up and looked around, eyes yellow and glowing, nails extended. He looked down and saw that it was his phone though and relaxed, his eyes going back to their beautiful green and his nails went back to normal, somewhat. Arik had naturally long, sharp nails like his father. It was just the way that things were, not that Arik really minded. He loved having his father's abilities half of the time. Though, the nails did make hand holding difficult at times...

Arik shook his head and picked up his cell. He blinked at the message. "Training with Kaylee-Anne. You're late." Arik read it over once more before he sighed. Well, if he was late already, he might as well be stylish, right? ...no. Arik threw on a pair of basketball shorts and a white tank top and his tennis shoes. He walked out of his room, pocketing his key before yawning. The necklace his mother gave him was still around his neck as he headed towards the Danger Room. Arik blinked when he saw Kaylee-Anne waiting for him and approached her. "Sorry I'm late," he yawned, covering his mouth. "Nap went a little over on time," he explained casually like it was no big deal, because, well, to Victor, it wasn't really a big deal.

[Kaylee-Anne "Shocks" Swanson]

Kaylee-Anne looked up to see Arik approaching and she jumped to her feet, dusting her palms off together and trying to smile. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed, but in anycase she was glad to see him. "It's ok. I didn't have anything else I was going to do..." She said that last part quickly and then inwardly kicked herself. It was a stupid thing to say.

She turned and swiped her hand over the panel that would let them into the Danger Room. "I hope you dont mind, but I didn't set the levels too high. Im not too great with hand to hand combat stuff, it is set up to go progressively higher in difficulty but I figure as long as you've got my back we'll be fine." She glanced at him again with a soft smile. Arik was tough, and she didn't mind stroking his ego a bit, not that he needed it.

[Arik "Lucifer" Creed]

Arik blinked at her a moment when he saw that she jumped to her feet when she spotted him. A small smirk tugged at Arik's tired lips, but he forced it down. He didn't want her to think anything of it. He knew how girls over analyze things. His mother was the exception of course. She took things how they were meant and that's just how it was. He wished all women were like that, but of course, Arik knew better. He definitely had learned that it was best to not do anything to upset a woman whether it was how you smirked, when you looked at her. It was not wise and usually ended painfully. Women...geez, sometimes Arik wished things would stop being like high school when it was supposed to be...not high school. He shook his head a moment before hearing Kaylee-Anne speak. He nodded to her a bit, not actually having heard her. He figured she wasn't furious since she was smiling and she hadn't smacked the bejesus out of him for being late.

Arik watched as she swiped her hand over the panel. He actually listened to her when she spoke again and a grin formed on his face. "It's fine," he said, shrugging his shoulders. He could sense her nervousness now that he was fully alert. Of course he wouldn't let anything happen to her. What kind of man would Arik be if he let a woman get hurt while he was on watch? Especially a student who was training with him like Kaylee-Anne? No. She wouldn't get hurt in any way. Arik watched as the door to the danger room opened and he stepped in. He looked around before he took off his shirt and shoes, leaving them on the outside of the door. It may have been weird for Kaylee-Anne to see, but Arik didn't like being constrained when he worked, besides, like she would complain about seeing him half naked. Wow, that wasn't arrogant, he thought to himself.

[Kaylee-Anne "Shocks" Swanson]

Kaylee-Anne adjusted her glasses on her face and looked around the room. She always got a bit nervous during training but she checked her emotions, making sure not to let them tamper with the equiptment.

"Alright..." She turned just as Arik pulled off his shirt and she instantly looked away and cleared her throat. She hadn't expected that, and certainly hadn't expected him to look so fit. But then again with an attitude like his she supposed she shouldn't have been so surprised.

Clearing her throat once more she said, "Computer, commence program 2.5." She said softly, barely loud enough to be heard at all.

Instantly their surroundings changed into a realistic feeling city street. Even the birds that flew overhead seemed real. Kaylee-Anne took a moment to look at it all...

[Arik "Lucifer" Creed]

Arik heard her speak and clear her throat, making him smirk. He wasn't able to help himself. She had obviously been distracted at least for a brief moment, not that Arik really minded. He knew that she thought he was attractive and he didn't mind. Arik knew he was a fit young man, not that he minded anyone staring of course. It just proved him more right when they did. He had gotten his father's arrogance, of course, and usually soaked it up when people complimented him or said something that sounded remotely complimenting, even if it wasn't supposed to be. Such as when someone commented on his bloodlust, the young man always grinned saucily and said thank you. He knew he had an interesting bloodlust like his precious mother and father, but he had never acted on it as his father had done many many times. Of course no one ever bothered to stop him and the only person who could stop him was Arik's mother.

When Kaylee-Anne cleared her throat once more, Arik glanced at her. He heard her mutter to the computer and smiled, knowing that she was still flustered. Within seconds the area around them had shimmered and was now in the image of a beautiful city. Arik noticed Kaylee-Anne looking around and at once, she saw a man across the street pull a gun. Within seconds, Arik roared and bounded towards him, taking him out like he meant nothing. He looked over at Kaylee-Anne. "You should really pay attention!" He called to her, grinning playfully before hearing another gunshot. His ears twitched a bit before he side stepped and avoided the bullet. The Computer seems slow, Arik thought before he turned and bounded towards the man who had shot at him. He was going to take this one out too, without any effort on his part.

[Kaylee-Anne "Shocks" Swanson]

Kaylee-Anne ducked when she heard the gun fire, but remembered that wasn't how she was supposed to react. She turned in time to see Arik jump at the man.

'You should really pay attention!'

Nodding she turned around to face the other man wielding the gun. She reached out her hand towards him and there was a sudden fizzle and cracking sound. Above him the telephone wires started to vibrate and one burst loose, whipping wildly through the air, narrowly missing the man with the gun who had to leap out of the way.

Seeing the dangerous cable whipping about like a violent snake, Kaylee-Anne worried maybe she'd gone over the top.

"Oops." She said, bringing her fingertips to her lips and watching. The wire fell into a gutter, making the water snap and crackle, electric sparks flying all over the place.

[Arik "Lucifer" Creed]

Arik jumped at the next man, growling territorially as he did so. If there was one exercise that the half feral man couldn't take it was when they did training when people would break into Arik's home or the institute. Arik was naturally a territorial creature and as usual, he wasn't okay with the idea of people breaking into his home, whether it was his mother's home, his shitty little apartment, or the institute. The institute was his home away from his homes and there were people here that he cared about. He wasn't about to let anything happen to them while he was there or anywhere near where he could help. Even if he was trying to do something for himself, he would stop whatever it was and come help. Rain was one of the people who were very important to him and so was Kaylee-Anne. Note why he felt the urge to protect her from a fake bullet. Usually Arik made sure this didn't happen though, to all of his teammates.

After a moment, Arik heard Kaylee's soft "oops" and turned to see what was going on. He saw the giant cable whipping around and snarled a moment before it fell into a nearby gutter. He saw sparks flying and shook his head a moment before he rushed towards it. It may shock him, but he'd survive. He quickly rushed over and pulled innocent people out of the way of the serpent-like cable before he grabbed it using all of his strength and pulled it from the gutter. He kept it as still as he could before shooting a look at Kaylee-Anne. What was she doing? There were "innocent" people around. What was she trying to do? Barbecue them all?! He quickly yanked down, hard. The cable became disconnected and fell to the ground beside him. All the electricity flowed out of the cable once grounded and away from it's source. Arik sighed and shook his head before dropping the limp cable and wiping sweat from his brow.

[Kaylee-Anne "Shocks" Swanson]

Kaylee stood where she was merely watching at Arik took care of her mistake. She clutched her hands together in front of her and tried to keep the embarrassment from showing on her face. He shot her a look that she took as one of disgust and that was when the tears threatened to brim in her eyes.

She could only continue to watch while he tore the cable from the box and shook his head.

"Sorry." She managed to squeak out. She should probably have told him she wasn't very good at this, but usually on this setting she wasn't quite so bad.

Looking around, more men were heading in their direction, armed with weapons. Kaylee-Anne turned in time to throw a punch at one of them, but suddenly their surroundings froze.

"Initiating war sequence. Level Fifty-Five." Came the voice of the computer.

Everything seemed to shimmer and then suddenly the city street became a war ridden battle field. Kaylee-Anne screamed as the screech of falling bombs echoed above them. It landed several yards off and the explosion was enough to make her fall backwards.

"Arik!"

[Arik "Lucifer" Creed]

Arik heard her apology and shook his head before his eyes flicked from one man to the next in the huge mob that was approaching them, weapons ready. He turned on his heel and leaned forward in a very Sabretooth like way and roared at them. He blinked when everything froze up and the computer spoke. Arik's ears perked up. Level 55? That was an intense level, very intense, especially since they had been working on level 2.5. This wasn't going to be good and Arik knew that he had to act fast. There was no way that Mr. Creed would be able to protect Kaylee-Anne from whatever was going on unless he kept on his toes and listened hard for what would be happening. Arik had never witnessed or heard about level 55, but something told him it wouldn't be good when it initiated it's start.

The scenery around them began to shimmer and Arik blinked. "Shit," he cursed as the city around them became a ruined battle field. Kaylee-Anne's scream took less than milliseconds to reach his ears and he turned and looked at her. He heard her yell for him and sighed before he rushed over to her. He quickly grabbed her about the waist, picked her up, and tossed her over his shoulder. He found a bunker and set her inside. "Stay here," he commanded before jumping out of the hole. He dodged bombs and bullets as he raced towards the opposing side. He remembered his father teliing him stories about the wars he'd been in when he was a few hundred years older than Arik and he knew those stories by heart. As such, Arikwas about to play it out. He grinned almost sickly at the thought as he dove at a man, nails ripping in to his "flesh".

[Kaylee-Anne "Shocks" Swanson]

Scared stiff, it was all a blur when Arik suddenly appeared through the dust. The stench of death and dying was too much. She felt herself get lifted and realized he'd flung her over his shoulder. In a moment they were both crouching in a bunker.

'Stay here.'

She blinked at him, was her seriously going to go out there? A second later he was gone and she realized she'd been left all alone. The sound of gunfire and explosions were too much and she put her hands over her ears.

The enemy soldiers attacked Arik in waves, not holding back...

[Arik "Lucifer" Creed]

Arik dove into the line of fire with no problem. As he moved, his eyes narrowed in on men, not caring who they were as he pounced on them. He grabbed one of them and threw him into another one before pouncing on a random soldier. The man cried out in pain as he fell on a boulder and his back was snapped in half. Arik's eyes darted around before he spotted another man who was running at him, gun blazing. Arik quickly dodged the bullets, barely being able to dodge a dropping bomb as well. He roared angrily and jumped on that man as well. This one had some skill though and kicked Arik off. The feral mutant looked at the army man and a smirk formed on his face when he realized that he finally had an opponent who wasn't a complete and utter pansy. He watched as the solider pulled out a knife from his boot and glared at him. The two stood there, glaring at one another before Arik barred his teeth, snarling possessively at the man as he eyed the bunker with Kaylee inside.

Apparently that was cue because the soldier ran at him. Arik roared possessively once more and ran towards him. The man went for a punch and Arik ducked, but not before the man's other arm swung around, knife in hand. It nicked Arik's shoulder, making him growl angrily as he slid under the man and grabbing his legs. The man fell down face first and turned at the right angle to kick Arik in the face. The mutant howled angrily and dug his long nails into the man's leg, making him cry out somewhat. Neither one of these men were going to back down. One of them had a mission to complete, the other wasn't about to let his teammate get hurt or kidnapped because some jackass computer programed soldier wanted her.

[Kaylee-Anne "Shocks" Swanson]

Kaylee-Anne had covered her ears and lowered her chin to her chest. She didn't want to hear the sounds of war, or the screams of death. The stench was something unbearable, but mostly she didn't want to see or hear what was happening to Arik. For a moment, she forgot that this was all a computer simulator and she truly feared for his death.

The computer war went on for sometime until suddenly it all stopped and the images turned fuzzy. Everything around them turned completely blank. Kaylee cautiously removed her hands from her ears and turned to look at Arik, a question on her face.

"Is it over?" She croaked.

Then the computer spoke again. "Initiating level two-hundred twenty-two."

Kaylee's eyes went wide and she rushed towards Arik, terrified of what would happen, but nothing seemed to happen. That is until and unseen force suddenly struck her gut and she flew back several feet. It had felt like an invisable kick to her stomach. She looked at Arik again as two invisable hands grabbed at her arms and forced her up only to knock her down again.

Apparently this level was one with unseen foes...

[Arik "Lucifer" Creed]

Arik growled angrily as he and the soldier went to strike once again, but then the room went fuzzy for a moment before it went away. Arik stopped what he was doing and looked around. His senses were still on edge. It was then that he turned and looked at Kaylee-Anne. He heard her ask if it was over before the computer spoke once again. His eyes widened and he looked at her a moment before seeing her rush towards him. "No!" He called, knowing that was a bad mistake before seeing her get thrown away from him. He cringed and sighed a bit. His ears were on patrol and so were his other senses. This level always kicked his ass since he usually relied on his sight and sense of smell. Of course, machines didn't have smell and without seeing his opponent, Arik was going to have to listen and listen hard. He looked around before hearing something towards Kaylee-Anne. He turned and looked at her. He saw her get raised up before she was knocked back down.

Arik noted how Kaylee-Anne wasn't even fighting back and ran for her. He sort of figured this was probably how it would be in a real fight. He would be doing all of the work while she was the damsel in distress. After a moment, Arik then stopped and stood there. "Computer, deactivate level two hundred twenty-two," he commanded. There was silence before the computer spoke. "Voice recognized as Arik Victor Creed, code name Lucifer. Deactivation successful," said the electronic voice as everything seemed to power down. Arik sighed and approached Kaylee-Anne. "Are you alright?" He asked, kneeling down beside the helpless looking mutant. He sighed. "Did you get anyone's permission to use the Danger Room?" He asked, knowing that this only happened when the Danger Room hadn't been preprogrammed for the students.

[Kaylee-Anne "Shocks" Swanson]

Kaylee managed to get to her feet, feeling jittery. She wrung her hands and shifted on her feet. "Um... sort of." She croaked, on her guard for anything else happening. The room seemed to be alright now. Even so she wondered why the levels had risen so dramatically like that. Maybe she'd entered the program wrong.