The Gravity of the Situation (tagged)

[Cassie Stryker]

Cassidy Stryker.  She had a student now.  That was really odd to think of.  Someone had signed up to train with her.  A Poppy Lockwood apparently.  She'd already planned on training on the field today, so she dropped her duffel on the sidelines and then moved in the middle and stretched her legs and arms, getting ready.  Then she promptly sat down and took out her bottle of Gatorade and started drinking it to pass the time.  She also may have brought a book in her duffel.  She took that out to read up on theories about teleportation.  They gave her ideas for using her abilities, so that's what she would read around training.  Then she could try things out and see if they worked as well as the theories purported they did.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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She was not sure why she had not done it sooner, but she did it then. She signed up for a trainer. This way, she could learn and develope, but mostly use, her powers more. She decided to go with a female trainer and hoped she would not get yelled at for no apparent reason like the annoying trainers she watch on television. Maybe that was why I never signed up for one. With the last name Stryker, Poppy was confident that the training would be a blast.

Holding a water bottle and a towel in the other hand, she made her way onto the training field. There she saw a lady on the bench reading a book. "Cassie Stryker? Poppy." She gave a little wave. "I'm excited to get this going, so what are we starting with?"

[Cassie Stryker]

Cassidy saw the student and looked up from her book.

"Well first I need to know where your power control is at, but I thought we could start with some basic breathing exercises. I also need to know what your power is and how it works otherwise I can't help." She smiled.

"And please. Call me Cassidy." Cassie was the name she gave to her friends, not her students. Lupe called her Cassie. This girl was a student. Cassidy just sounded a lot more official.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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"Breathing exercises?" she muttered under her breath. She hoped it was just a warm-up because she could not imagine just doing 'breathing exercises' for even over an hour.

"Well, Cassidy, I can basically manipulate gravity and its forces," Poppy answered. "I can like turn off gravity and then density does not matter. Works on almost all things. Though on heavier objects doesn't last long." Her mind worked itself to elaborate her power. It had been a while since she had to do any explaining for it. "Besides that, I can change gravitational fields. Though only if I changed it to a living thing. Trees are the easiest. So there's that. SPRITE helped a lot, thank goodness. Nothing new, just that I can project my powers longer with a bigger range, say 20 meters, before the side effects kicks in. Anything else to add, Cassidy?"

[Cassie Stryker]

Cassidy heard the mutters under the breath and arched an eyebrow. Oh so this student was impatient. She had a plan now. Internally she was smirking, but externally there was no sign whatsoever that she had anything planned that was so devious.

"Have you stretched yet? I did, and it's important or you might pull something. That can hinder your power control more. If you use physical motions, it can quite obviously hamper things. If it's mental power control, you'll likely focus on your pain instead of your control. So if you're so AGAINST breathing exercises, do them while you're stretching. After all, you seem to think you know more." Cassidy was no stranger to this attitude. At one point, she'd had it.

"I only really skimmed your file honestly." It wasn't worth the time because she always ended up realizing she'd better understand them if she saw them in person.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Somebody got their knickers in a twist. That was the first thought that entered her mind. Second, the trainer had obviously read her file to know how much physical injuries could affect her power. Third, she had an attitude which Poppy had not figured out yet if she liked it or not. One thing she did knew was that she would take sassy attitude over pointless yelling anyday.

So for the next fifteen minutes, Poppy stretched like she was instructed to instead of talking back like she wanted. Cassidy had valid points, so she kept her body busy before her mouth could blurt out anything else. "Right, oookay." Though that sarcastic remark managed to slipped out. "You know, I may or may not know more. But aren't you the teacher? Shouldn't you perform your teacherly duties?" She did the few breathing exercises she knew. When she was finished, Poppy was anxious to get started on using her ability.  "Was that enough?" 

[Cassie Stryker]

"To hell with my teacherly duties. I'm not a teacher I'm a trainer. I teach you what I've learned about how to control powers and that's where the similarities end." Then she teleported with a POP to be behind Poppy and aimed a slap at the girl's lower back. She wasn't putting much force behind it. It wasn't intended to hurt, only to help sharpen the girl's reflexes. While Cassidy did believe in taking it slow, she also believed in the sink or swim method.

"Part of power control is control in your body. To have that, you need to be able to handle yourself with or without your powers. You can't rely on them. They are just an extension of yourself. We are now in a world where the humans have to try to defend themselves against mutants. Some of them are panicking and some are not. Anyone can get talent bestowed on them. The real trick is having the willpower to figure it out." She grinned.

"I may be a trainer, but you know that monkey Rafiki from the Lion King? Yeah expect me to practically carry that stick."

[Poppy Lockwood]

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One minute she was there and the next she was not. Before the thought could register, she felt somebody swat her from behind. "Hey!" Turning around, there Cassidy was. Teleporter. Why for the love of the lord did she not read up or try to find information on the trainer she signed up for. Without realizing it, Poppy hovered a few inches above the ground. Her power had a way of turning itself on as a defense mechanism. She had used it on herself so often that it had became natural for her to use it to protect herself.

Listening to Cassidy, it dawned on her. It might have not mattered much when the world did not know about the existence of mutants, but now there were bound to be people who would try to create something that her power would have no match for. The trainer's words reminded her of a character, a warrior who wielded a sword. In the end, he learnt that the sword and himself were one. Not two separate objects.

Realizing she had to be smart, she lowered herself down. "Skills first, power second." Much to her disliking. She rolled her eyes. That sounds like fun.

[Cassie Stryker]

"Now you're getting the idea. I'm here to help you protect yourself, but I'm also here to protect humans from us. That's actually the primary reason for helping a mutant control their powers. So they don't hurt anyone. I know what happens when a mutant doesn't know how. People get hurt." She bit her lip and her eyes glazed over briefly thinking of her old boyfriend.

"I don't know how your powers could hurt someone, but even the most innocuous seeming ones can. I'm a teleporter. That's it. And I managed to paralyze someone from the waist down. And whatever I do, I don't want anyone else to have something like that weighing on their psyche. Now do whatever you can to stop me. Without your powers. I'll be using mine. You need to realize what humans are going to feel like if they have no powers and they're fighting you. Power control comes through understanding, and it isn't just about understanding how they work."

[Poppy Lockwood]

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She heard a hint of sadness in Cassidy's tone when she spoke of how one can be if they lost control of their powers. It did not sound pleasing at all, especially if it hurts another.  The trainer managed to paralyze someone and she did not know how to feel about it. Poppy could only imagine what it must have felt like at first to discover you had ruined someone's life. But that was the past and Cassidy seemed more in control of her power. So doubts of losing her legs were washed away with relief.

Her mind thought of the times she had no control of her power. It was usually when she felt any particular emotion strongly. Things usually began floating without her knowledge. "I've never...never really hurt someone whenever I have no control," at least I don't think I have, she continued in her mind.

"Wait, what are you going to do?" Poppy questioned, but instead of getting an answer, Cassidy vanished before her eyes. Well teleported, she knew now. But what she did not know realized was that her mind was subconciously disconnecting her body from the Earth's gravity. Again, she hovered a few inches above the ground without realizing it. Old habits die hard.

[Cassie Stryker]

"STOP FLOATING!" She had teleported behind Poppy again, this time shouting it near her ear. She sighed, shaking her head before getting down and doing a leg sweep towards Poppy, aiming at the knees.

"If a human ever decides they want to get rid of you and have something to even the playing field, you need to be able to fight without relying on your powers. They don't have powers, they don't have that crutch to lean on. You need to stop using it as a crutch. It should simply be another weapon in your arsenal. I'm strong without my teleportation, and I made sure of that by YEARS of training. It doesn't happen overnight, wish I could say it did. But you need to at least have the basics. You don't need to know as much as me unless you're ambitious. There's a reason why I'm a power trainer. Because from the time I got my powers I've been training." She teleported in front of Poppy and aimed a light punch towards the stomach. None of these actions were actually meant to seriously hurt. They were just to let Poppy know that she wasn't invincible.

"You have powers but that doesn't mean someone can't beat you. It's something a lot of us forget. It's something the Inherited count on when they view humans as inferior. If we don't fight well enough without our powers to beat a human that way, then we are no different in our views than the Inherited. We still subconsciously think they're inferior, and that is not the case."

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Before she knew what was happening, she recieved a shout in the ear and a kick at the knees which caused her to make contact with the ground. God dammit. "That hurt!" She said while bringing herself back up. Get a grip!

Standing, she faced Cassidy. "Okay, that wasn't intentional," defended Poppy. "I know, I know. Whatever I can do with my power, it is just a weapon. A very handy weapon. I just couldn't help it that it came naturally. But you said so yourself, it doesn't happen over-night." She should really stop complaining and defending and start focusing on the moment. Because then she was back on the ground. Her mind was filled with thoughts on how not to use her power, she did not realize Cassidy's fist connecting with her stomach. Clutching it and wincing in pain. Should have never skipped gym.

Listening to Cassidy's advice, she took a moment to collect herself. Inhale and exhale. She could do this. She could and she will. Cassidy was toughening her up. While giving herself a pep talk, she recieved another punch from the side. "Ooooww!" Poppy felt like a punching bag. She stared at her trainer. "That was not fair, I wasn't even ready."

[Cassie Stryker]

That hurt. Well duh, it had been meant to. She heard the defenses. She knew they were just excuses, and so she hadn't pulled her punches. And then Cassidy flat out heard a 'not fair' and she laughed.

"Yes because your opponents are going to wait on you giving your flimsy excuses before they punch you. You have to be ready. That's the point of training. So that you are ready in case they pull something you're not expecting. You train so there is very little you AREN'T expecting. In turn, you have to be able to catch them off-guard. Which, might I add, you are doing a crappy job of so far." She crossed her arms and just stood there with a smirk. She was actually kind of having fun with this student. They were willing to learn, and to take the consequences of learning.

"I will say that your willingness to learn and accept the problems that come with it are very welcome. Although the excuses kind of ruin the last part a little, but I will disregard that."

[Poppy Lockwood]

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She laid breathless on the ground whilst her trainer spoke. Cassidy's words were true. In battle In reality, no one was going to wait for her to be ready and prepared. Poppy should already had her guard up and ready for anything. She should have anticipated every possible outcome. Her opponents crave for the times she was not looking because that was when they would strike and it would really count hurt. "Alright," she groaned because Cassidy was right.

She scrambled to pull herself up. But this is training, you should have waited for me to be ready. At least when early in this stage, she thought to say but immediately bit her tongue before Cassidy barked at her again. "Hardy har-har. Well practice makes perfect, right?" Poppy finally manged to get her footing and balance. Her trainer had the pleased look she recalled seeing on Mr. Buckles' face when he first caught her in the midst of setting a prank in his office. "I'm glad you find this amusing," she replied. "I want to learn, but that doesn't mean I won't be an annoying brat. You kicked my butt, so I think I'll be a pain in your ass for a bit." The corners of her lips turned up. "Come at me, bro."

[Cassie Stryker]

"You're welcome to TRY being a pain in my ass but so far you haven't landed a punch so I'll be the judge of that." She smirked. This girl wanted to have a sassy attitude Cassidy was not without her own ammunition.

"How about YOU try now? I can't be the only one putting in effort in this situation it's just TOTALLY UNFAIR." The last two words may have been said with a valley girl accent, but in her defense it was funny and she just had to. Sass was a part of her, and she was feeling good lately with Lupe's love. It was helping her blossom in personality a bit. Cassidy smiled.

"You truly do have potential, but you have to apply yourself."