14732/Avengers Training (May 2023)

Avengers Training (May 2023)
Date of Scene:	02 May 2023
Location:	Avengers Mansion - Training Facility
Synopsis:	Avenger's Training goes off with a few sparks!
Cast of Characters:	Clea, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, Sara Pezzini, Janet van Dyne, Lei Ling, Brian Braddock

---

Clea has posed:
It is Tuesday my dudes!

There had been a bit of a training session scheduled unofficially for the Avengers and Allies. Clea wasn't in charge of anything, but she was also floating around mopey most of the time now. So something had to give. Like punching a bag until the sand was spilling all over the floor. At least she cleaned it up and replaced it before anyone caught her.

Except those pesky cameras.

The sorceress had situated herself again though and was doing better with not letting her emotions get the better of her. "Hopefully no one feels like they are obligated to be here. Just...wanted to do something that was social and didn't involve leaving the grounds of the mansion." she admits as she floats where she is. "Feel free to hit stuff, talk or whichever you feel like doing." she gives a radiant smile to that.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would arrive over and shrug, "NOrmally the point of a training exercise is something to work on combat skills or a particular scenario. I was presuming something more involved." She notes to the Faltine woman after a few moments, and then would shrug at the rest of the team in contemplation. "Perhaps an ambush scenario or some sort of strike?" This is going to involve half the team trying to kill the other half of the team if anyone happens to go along with her..

Steve Rogers has posed:
The door to the training facility slides open and Steve Rogers walks in. He's wearing his deep blue costume with a silver stripe across it and a similarly colored star over his chest, though not helmet. His shield is stuck to the back of the uniform. He has been letting his hair grow out just a little bit, no longer cut quite as short as before.

"See," Steve says with a gesture towards Natasha and a quick, lighthearted smile. "Complaining. Sure sign of military training," he tells the Russian superspy. He rubs a hand across the back of his head. "I was thinking I should probably work on evasiveness, after the Savage Lands," he says. The uniform has been cleaned since then, thankfully.

He goes over to the controls of the Combat Simulation, going through some of the different scenarios that Tony and others have created. "I can set up an ambush for you, Nat?" he offers.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Free time wasn't something Sara often had a lot of, what with her juggling way too many jobs, but the idea of getting to train a little with her fellow Avengers and allies had her rearranging her schedule pretty quickly. The primary issue with training however, was the willingness or not of Witchblade to actually participate. Sometimes he could be downright a pain in the butt.

Just in case her clothing had in fact seen their last days on earth, Sara was wearing an old pair of jeans and a black t-shirt that was a size too big. The first thing she did upon arriving was remove her jacket, should holster and boots. Now if the ancient entity wants to shred, he wouldn't get her favorite jacket and boots.

"Afternoon all," she offered in a cheerful tone. "Natasha needing to be ambushed? I could arrange that, but I don't think that's the point really."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet walks in not far on Cap's heels, just in time to catch his comment about evasiveness. She detours past the console and gives him a firm swat on the rear. "C'mon superstar, you've got that shield for a reason," she chivvies Steve. Clad in her black-and-gold bodysuit, Janet's outfit is certainly built for agility over raw strength. She reaches back and adjusts the clasp that loosens the back of her suit and starts shaking her wings out of a well-hidden seam built into the attire.

She makes a point of sauntering over to Clea while she stretches, pulling an arm across her chest to stretch the shoulder out. The Faltine woman is given a casual hip-bump and a flickering grin of greeting. "You really want to tackle whatever Natasha can dream up? She's got some nightmare scenarios in here. I think they're more dangerous than dealing with some of these threats in realspace!"

Clea has posed:
Clea's head ticks over to the side a little when Nat expected some big ambush scenario, "I am sorry that you are disappointed, Agent Romanoff." she tells the woman. "You are more than welcome to do whatever you like and Cap has even offered to spin up a scenario for you." she states with a nod to the spangled man. Maybe she should have left this whole thing to others.

There is a bit of a smile to Janet when she greets her, "I've already destroyed one piece of equipment today. Didn't want to keep a streak going." she admits. "We might have a few others coming. Just have to see if they accepted their invitations or not." she admits.

Lei Ling has posed:
Lei Ling was fairly certain that she was outclassed in notoriety by the Avengers, but that wasn't an excuse to skip any kind of team training, especially not when she was invited. Showing up in the basement was an exercise in nerves, those first-time jitters making her entrance just that much more dramatic. Lei Ling was quick to text and quick to arrive, but still, she didn't manage to be the first one.

Her usual suit jacket billowed around her ankles from repressed nerves, her feet barely touching the ground as she quietly entered just in time to hear some plan floated by about ambushing each other. "Good afternoon. Perhaps that is the point? The ambushing at least." Lei Ling shrugged. "It would be good to stretch my legs as it were."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would nod over at Clea, "No, this is fine. It's about what the group wishes." She would nod at her and then glance over at Cap, "Very well, Captain, i fyou wish. I am curious to see how well your skills have gone." She would go to give a nod over at him while then gesturing over to the training area in case that he wished to go along with her or not. Not being hte social type.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers turns towards the door as first Janet arrives, and then others. "Some things the shield just isn't going to be able to stop, I'm afraid," he says, without elaborating on what happened with the gigantic birds in the Savage Lands.

As a new faces arrives, Steve moves over to greet Lei Ling. "I've read your files, ma'am. Very impressive. Welcome. I'm Steve Rogers," he says. "If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask."

Steve doesn't follow Natasha when she goes into the Combat Simulation area. "Now you're expecting me, Natasha. That wouldn't really be an ambush, would it?" he asks after she gives him the green light to proceed. He hits the big red "Execute" button, which was probably added so that people from the 40s don't have to run a bunch of commands on the computer.

In four different spots along the walls, panels slide open and a few robots of different designs and weaponry drop into the room, not hesitating before they go on the attack.

"You got them, Nat!" Steve calls encouraging.

Brian Braddock has posed:
One way or another, a little birdie told a certain Brit that there was a training gathering at the Avengers facility. It means arriving in full gear, the stealth-suit in full colors of the Union flag accompanied by its helmet for the sake of friendly anonymity.

JARVIS must have let him in (unless someone left a back door open somewhere).

"It's true though. It's not an ambush if you know the face coming after you. At that point, it feels like a poorly-executed surprise party," he comments as he strides into the training area. Out come the variably weaponized robots and he stops a healthy distance away, watching what comes of the demonstration. "I appreciate the invitation, by the way," the Captain adds with a glance and grin at the general cluster of people. "It's a pleasure to see familiar faces and some new ones as well. Captain Britain." A polite and yet firm handshake is offered to those he hasn't formally met yet.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
That's fair enough, Natasha did ask him! And as soon as the robots are going to activate, Natasha's going to snap out with two small autopistols. Her fingers click the safeties off as she goes to maneuver out of the way of the ongoing festivities just so she's not going to bother theo thers with any ricochets, and to lead the robots away with her. THen she's darting forwards, going to try and give three quick bullet 'taps' at each one. The three bullets are each fired in a cluster, a few centimeters apart (she's not as good as Clint with his arrows) that are aimed at the optics.

They'll be weak points in the armor, not as reinforced due to being sensor mounts for the units. So even if her bullets don't penetrate, they'll at least disrupt their targeting systems some. Which is a slight advantage that she's going to need in a fight. Three bullet shots go out..

And then immediately ricochet off each as built in energy fields go to pop into place to protect them from the ballistics. At that point, Natasha goes to reassess.. And thsoe robots engage her go to fire high intensity, rapid fire stun bursts over at her as they launch wide nets of shock prongs as well to limit her maneuvering room!

Sara Pezzini has posed:
The offered handshake is taken and returned, while Sara tries very hard not to just laugh her butt off. In spite of carrying around an ancient entity from a time when humans didn't even exist, there were still times and situations that surprised her. She used to be a fangirl for Captain America years ago, and now she was on his team, fighting at this side... well, training at his side. To learn in this moment that there is also a Captain Britian, well it made her want to giggle... which would be wrong, very wrong.

"Sara Pezzini," she would offer in return before adding, "Wielder of Witchblade." as if that told a person everything they needed to know.

Glancing around the room she offered more generally, "Witchblade may not cooperate for training, so I may have to resort to NYPD and SHIELD training. That said, if I'm in any real danger he'll respond, he always does."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet's queued up with Clea and Natasha when Brian walks in. She glances at him, then looks away when she sees his head start to shift. Then her focus cuts back, just in time to catch Brian looking at *her*. Janet flashes a charming smile-- and then immediately dismisses him to focus on Natasha's run-up.

It's a good thing, too, because Natasha goes into full offense, and Janet disappears neatly into the redhead's wake. When the assassin comes up short after her initial assault Janet reappears at near full size. "I gotcha Nats!" she crows, and slaps the robot right in the forehead with a fistful of crackling bioelectricity. She vanishes a beat later, something too small to be caught in the netting being thrown about.

Clea has posed:
Clea takes a step back from things and there is a look to the robots and then those that come in the doors. She dips her head to Lei and then Captain Britian, "Welcome to both of you." she greets them with a smile. "Feel free to come in and help sort out robots if you like. Or just make introductions and all of that." she adds. She watches after Janet and there is a smile as there are sparks of electricity.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
That's what the team offers them. Backup. As Janet goes small and moves to -zap- the robot that had been attacking her, Natasha replies over with a prompt "Thank you for the assistance." As the robot is flung backwards, Natasha keeps up her fire to keep it from trying to counter, the heavy shocker dropping it to the ground and disabling it's systems. It falls down with a -HSST-! The remaining active trio of robots now go on the attack towards the duo and any others joining in!

Natasha is now pulling out a series of grenades - which she goes to launch to the ground around the first approaching robot. They're a set of flashbangs and smoke grenades, followed up a second later by a Widow's Bite when the grenades hopefully disrupt the energy field for just a moment..

Lei Ling has posed:
She bowed politely to Captain America, only what manners her mother drilled into her keeping her face straight in the face of a living legend. "The pleasure is all mine." She might be Chinese, but Lei Ling had the internet. The Great Chinese Firewall did little to stop the spread of meme culture, and Steve Rogers had been a staple of many a reaction image. "Aero, at your service for the day." Shaking Captain Britain's hand was an experience in manners, but manners she could do.

The robots coming out of the walls were another story. "Ah, I might. Break the building?" There was air, that much was true, but manipulating it might leave her new allies a bit breathless. She pulled enough of it to make her usual swords with a shrug. "Do I have to pay for repairs?"

Brian Braddock has posed:
"Miss Pezzini, a pleasure," the Captain replies to Sara, his smile quietly confident. He gives no indicator of understanding what this 'Witchblade' thing or entity is, but merely nods. The premise of duality in a personage isn't a new concept to him. "Miss Aero, you as well -- and Miss Clea, delightful to see you once more. If I see a proper moment to step in, I shall."

As he looks back towards the active training zone, full of mechanical sounds of impacts and various onomonopoeaic weaponry, his gaze strafes Janet and Clea. A moment -- the smile -- and there she goes, leaving the Brit smirking faintly to himself.

A soft breath of a laugh before he glances over at Steve. "I heard it was Mister Stark who foots the bill for the repairs?" Lei Ling does ask an excellent question for those unfamiliar with the processes of the Mansion.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers greets Captain Britain, offering a firm handshake. He splits his attention between the training fight underway, and those that he's speaking with. He says to Clea, "I still haven't gotten to see very much of you in action. We should definitely spend some time figuring out how to coordinate with each other."

Cap looks back to the fight. "Nice teamwork, Janet! Natasha, good cover there," he calls after Janet rushes into the fight, and Natasha disrupts the attack with the grenades.

He looks back to Lei Ling to motion towards the explosions. "The room is pretty hardy. Thor and the Hulk manage to do some damage even so, but it's self-repairing. At least so far I don't think we've managed damages it couldn't handle on its own. Tony Stark's technology," he explains to the Chinese young woman.

Steve nods to Captain Britain. "The Avengers originally were bankrolled by him largely. We have some funding that is separate from Stark Industries, though it ties back to his generosity," he says. "And he still does a lot in that."

Steve looks to Sara Pezzini. "Sara, always glad when you're able to make it," he tells her. "How have things been going with the NYPD?"

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Yeah-- didn't need you to tell me that," Janet calls over to Steve. But she doesn't take her focus off the fight. The Wasp dances this way and that, waiting for Natasha to make her next opening. When it arrives Janet zips through the cloud of smoke, loops around from behind, and does a slide-stop kick into a robot's ankle joint with enough force to get her a lifetime ban from the Major Leagues.

Unfortunately she doesn't quite anticipate how fast the robot comes down, and fails to rally in time to shrink out of the way. Instead it lands heavily, and the best she can do is push it aside as it collapses. The steel mass lands heavily on her right hip and the socialite yelps in pain.
     "Goddamnit Tony, why are these things so freaking heavy?" she complains to no one in particular.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
And there is Natasha going to charge on in as Janet is pinned! She moves to her teammate's side, and goes to count down, "On three." One hand going to keep up her pistol, firing at another approaching robot even as the bullets simplyg 'ping' off it's energy field and do little. While she goes to count.

On the count of 'three' she moves to put all of her strength into lifting the metal just a few degrees - hopefully enough room for Janet to yank her way out of and get clear! Which leaves Natasha vulnerable for the robot to go in for another stunblast at her!

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Turning her attention to the practice already in session, she watches Janet and Natasha dealing with the robots and then there's a grenade. Some aspects to all this she still hasn't gotten used to, like military grade weapons, but it was all part of the process of adjusting to being more than a cop.

"The NYPD would like for all this 'other worldly and giant robot stuff' to stop being a part of their life," she then offers to Steve as she looks his way with a grin. "In other words, they'd really like the bad guys to go pick on Metropolis or New Jersey for a while. That said, my new unit is starting to get some respect, we finally got actual, brand new, never been used before computers."

Witchblade was still learning what it meant to be part of a team. What it meant to actually care about something other than himself and his wielder. All of the cues for this come from Sara, so when Janet yelps in pain, his response is to immediately form the intricate gauntlet with large red stone on her right hand and forearm, then 'look' toward the injured woman.

Sara wasn't entirely prepared for that to happen, he normally doesn't bother with those around him, and thus her attention is yanked back to the fighting before she starts to run in. Even as she is moving toward the robot, the tendrils of metal are shredding through her clothing to form the some what revealing armor around her body. Witchblade isn't entirely certain about this technological thing, so he might be over protecting, but either way it's enough armor to body slam the robot before it can sunblast Natasha.

Clea has posed:
Clea sees the stunblast that Natasha has been left open to and there is a surge violet energy that starts to trendil out, but Sara is taking care of the brunt of it. So the sorceress slams another robot into the ground with enough ease to not break a sweat, but there is the crown of flames that keeps showing up when she does it.

Brian Braddock has posed:
"Self-repairing," Brian echoes to himself nonetheless, now giving the training room a far more impressed once-over. Hands rested on his hips in semi-readied stance fall when he sees the robot fiasco with Janet go down. There's a telling step towards the training area until Natasha steps in. Puffing a very quiet sigh through his lips, he nods to himself, still watching how the two teammates --

-- scratch that, three teammates go in to deal with it. It's fascinating to watch armor grow literally out of nowhere from beneath Sara's clothing and even with his hood up, it's possible to tell how the Captain's eyebrows have risen.

"That's a trick," he murmurs to himself. "Righto." A *crack-crack* of his neck and into the ring, he steps.

Nay, lunges, going obliquely around Witchblade to execute a series of whip-kicks to the middling portions of three approaching robots. CLANG-WHAM-CLUNK. A stunblast is fired at him...and neutralizes against his full-body aura of shielding. "Bloody hell, my teeth tingled for that one," he comments half to himself before pushing off into the air, fists upraised and readied in case of aerial issues.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The training scenario, made to be an ambush, is capable of adding more opponents as needed. Steve seems content for now to observe the team's fighting styles and how they work together.

Before Sara jumps into the fight, Steve replies back to her, "Well, I wouldn't mind if they knocked off for good. Though there's really no place that is better than another, I understand how they feel," he confirms about the sentiment the Big Apple's police hold.

He looks over at the computer, not the best at running it, but he knows the basics of it at least from having led many a training mission. Some of the displays showing the force of impacts and the like are a bit high tech, data-intensive for Steve, who seems to prefer seeing it with his own eyes over the readouts.

Lei Ling has posed:
Well, if Tony Stark was footing the bill and the room was designed to withstand the likes of the Hulk? Lei Ling would feel less awkward about accidentally tossing a robot into a wall. But the architect in her zeroed in on the part where the room could repair itself. "Self-repairing? How? Is it proprietary technology or-" A single yelp had her cutting herself off mid-question.

Aero was many things, but slow was not one of them. "Hold that thought please." It was easy enough to surround herself with air, easier still to step through the air above the rest and move with a purpose. One robot was body checked by the woman who grew armor out of nothing, one more slammed by a woman who made fire, and the last three were checked by the embodiment of British nationalism. Showing off was par for the course, wasn't it?

The Chinese woman gave a brief nod to her aerial counterpart as she passed him, on a beeline to one of the robots that thought itself clever. Or, it did before she sliced what might have been its head off with a sword as thin as the wind and just as fast.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet grunts in pain when the robot gets clear but wiggles out fast, nursing her leg just long enough to shrink down and fly back up to land on Nats' shoulder. "God, those things are an absolute unit," she tells the redhead. "Thanks for hauling that one off me. I was worried he'd break my leg if I tried shrinking."

She buzzes her wings angrily, twice, and looks around the training sim. When Lin smoothly decapitates the robot with a near-invisible blade of air, Janet whistles, impressed. "Damn, the new girl's got some moves," she informs Natasha with a low stage voice.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
The next blasts would have hit Natasha, and she's braced for them, trusting Janet to cover her.. Right as the remaining drones are intercepted by Aero, and as Witchblade goes in for the save. "Thank you." she goes to forcibly get back up to her feet, going to reload her pistols. "So, shall we all have at this?" She would inquire to the rest of the team - those participating and those not.

They had to take up the budget in repairing the foundation or Damage Control's stock might drop.

Brian Braddock has posed:
Aero's mid-air nod is returned in curt good camaraderie before the Captain in his ever-so-British colors strafes his attention around the room again. The floor itself is starting to gleam with discarded, damaged, and otherwise doomed bits of robot. There's not been any bloodshed -- yet.

Oh, look, these two robots seem like winged saurian monstrosities with...short-range gatling guns.

"Charming!" the Brit comments before he's leading the two metal monstrosities in a merry chase around the aerial portion of the training zone.

...is he humming? Brian's humming to himself as he seems to play like a swallow over a field; perhaps he's attempting to see if he can get them to smash into one another?

Clea has posed:
Clea's demeanor takes a curious turn when the sorceress stops mid float and seems to be listening to something that is definitely not in the room with them. "I apologize to leave so quickly...but my attention is needed elsewhere at the moment." she tells the others. And just as quickly as she says that, the woman just vanishes. Because this is not the weirdest thing that has happened at the mansion and probably won't make the list!

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers calls out to the group, "Nice job, Aero, Witchblade. Way to have each other's backs." He rests both hands on the control counter, leaning forward as he watches. "Anyone know where Clint is? A few more long distance attacks would really help compliment the team right now," he says as he watches the fight play out.

"I'm not entirely sure how the automated repairs work," he calls out to answer the earlier question. "Though I imagine it's Tony's proprietary machinery. So much of what we have is, apart from the Quinjets."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Taking note of what Aero and Captain Britan were capable of, Sara files that information away as new tendrils move to form wings on her back. Even before they are completely in place, she leaps into the air to hover above Natasha and Janet.

"Oddly Cap, I have ranged... just never really get to practice with it," she offers toward the commander and chief, or at least that's how she views him. "And usually, I end up in the thick of it because I can take the hits when others can't."

Shifting her eyes to one of the drones buzzing around, and ensuring no one else is near it, she lifts her right gauntleted hand, aiming the palm at the thing, and releases a white fiery ball of energy at it. To be fair, she said she didn't get to practice much, so when the blast flies right past the drone and removes a chunk of the wall... the warning was there.

"Ooops," she winces. "Sorry about that... maybe I should just stick to swords and close combat?"