16400/A very Outsiders training montage.

A very Outsiders training montage.
Date of Scene:	23 November 2023
Location:	Sublevel 2 -Training Facilities - The Roost
Synopsis:	X-23 offers to help Kiden with her training. She accepts. And will probably regret the decision....
Cast of Characters:	Laura Kinney, Kiden Nixon

---

Laura Kinney has posed:
Being in the Outsiders involves going on all sorts of missions. For all sorts of reasons. But a lot of the time those missions are dangerous! And that means every member of the team needs to be able to look after themselves.

Is it X-23's job to make sure people are sufficiently trained? Not at all. Her idea of trained is perhaps a touch extreme. But when the new recruit is one of her old friends... Well she doesn't exactly have many old friends out there. And perhaps she's a little personally invested in making sure Kiden has had at least a basic training in various ways she can look after herself.

The training facility has been set up by Laura for martial arts practise. Tables laid out with various weapons around the sides of the room. Padded mats in the middle. A few full body mirrors. So Kiden will be able to see her own form.

She's even set up a camera rig for the same general purpose. To record any sparring for later review.

Her 'invitation' is typical Laura levels of cryptic. Be here at this time. Wear your gym clothes. Does Kiden even have gym clothes? Who can say. Presumably she's resourceful enough to figure something out!

Kiden Nixon has posed:
Laura reaches out before Kiden can make contact, which she was really meaning to do. Not everything will be powers-necessary or even something where her powers would be applicable, so it behooves her to learn some forms of self-defense that aren't reliant on alternate timestreams.

When the text comes in, she responds with a thumbsup emoji. Thankfully she doesn't have to worry about having long hair to tie back or deal with, so she can just focus on the 'gym clothes' aspect. She ends up in an electric blue sports bra and a pair of gray capri athletic pants with a neon yellow stripe running down the outside of each leg. There's some ratty sneakers on her feet and a hoodie covering her upper body.

When she arrives, she finds her way down to the training room (Conner gave her a basic idea of where to go), poking her head into the room. "Laura? You in here?"

Laura Kinney has posed:
It takes a single glance to know Laura is around.

Why? Because every exotic weapon the Outsiders have in the armoury and a bunch of things they don't have (probably from her own collection). There's also the rasp rasp of a blade being sharpened on a wetstone. Who but X-23 would sit around in a gym sharpening a sword? .... Probably Rose or Hope. But they didn't send any text messages!

"First lesson," she calls out. "Be careful in doorways. When people get shot or stabbed it's usually in a choke point where they have limited visibility. It's best to open a door quietly, slip inside, and scan the space before speaking."

She's in black yoga/gym clothes. A sleek fit allowing easy motion. And hasn't bothered with shoes. The better to walk around on the matts without damaging them.

"I know you can cheat with your powers, but there are devices which can jam mutant abilities. So it's best to be cautious."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"Hmmm, fair point. Alright. Here on in, ninja entry." Kiden toes off her shoes before entering the room, closing the door behind her and shrugging out of the hoodie to toss aside. Padding forward, she approaches the weapons table, looking them over curiously.

"Am I going to be learning all of these? I might need to do some strength training to use some of them.. .not opposed, just sayin'. She flashes a quick grin towards Laura.

She moves towards the mirror and camera setup, then chuckles, "Am I going to feature in the next Outsiders movie night? Should I prepare for my face to be permanently red?" Then, on straightening and looking around, Kiden adds, "Kidding. This is good. I want to be able to see what I do wrong so I can correct it. Great idea."

Letting out a breath, she nods, "Yeah, I was actually intending to ask you if you wouldn't mind teaching me how to fight. Because I know that I can't always rely on my powers. Those fucking mutant collars alone can put a hurt on me. So.. thanks for reaching out."

Laura Kinney has posed:
"You probably don't have to learn to use them all," Laura says matter of factly. "But it's a good idea to know what sort of weapons people might use. Some supervillains specialise in weird exotic melee weapons. So you'll want to have an idea how those weapons operate so they don't catch you out in actual combat." As if to make a point she gestures at a comet hammer and a sickle and chain weapon. Probably taken from the ninja section of the armoury. "Some focus on mundane sporting goods or other household objects. Darts, hockey sticks and that type of thing. And goons will often fight with whatever is available like lengths of pipe or chain."

She looks Kiden up and down.

"Yes, I suspect you'll need to start visiting the gym more regularly. Strength and stamina are very important."

She lets Kiden inspect the camera equipment with a blank look on her face. Only allowing a hint of a smile at the end. "If the footage was going to be used for anything more than training I'd say grab a t-shirt before we start." Gym clothes are fine for in the gym, but most people probably don't want to see how they look on a full size cinema screen.

"You know if they've got you in a collar chances are you're past the point fighting will help."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"Oh good. I wasn't sure if the claymore would ever really be something I could use properly. Damn thing is bigger than I am! Probably weighs more, too," Kiden lets out a releieve breath before looking over the weapons indicated with a nod. "Fair. I'm cool to learn whatever I need to. And I'll probably do more training, uh.. in No Time.. once I have a routine down. It's cheating, but I can get months of effort into a single day that way." Yep, Kiden has the best power.. the TRAINING MONTAGE.

A sour expression touches her face at the mention of goons, giving a nod, "Oh I'm already very familiar with those tactics... dodging gangs has become something of an occupation for me. Glad to be able to learn how to fend them off instead of always having to try to run." Then she's smiling once more, "I have to say, reconnecting with you and finding Conner has been the best thing that's happened to me in a long ass time. For the first time, I feel like I'm actually in control of my life."

She flaps a hand at Laura's comment about putting on a shirt first, "I've been put on Youtube and Tiktok wearing less than this... raves are fun. Weird, but fun. I'm comfortable in my own skin." Grinning at Laura, she reaches down to pinch a tiny fold of skin between her fingers, "Not like I have to worry about looking fat. Just.. too skinny. A bit more muscle, better eating... man, I could end up looking super hot!"

Giving a nod, she offers, "Yes and no. Most of the anti-mutant tech has been 'leaked' through various sources. Could probably have 1-2 tech savvy people making those damn collars these days. Not that I want to think about what they would want un-powered mutants FOR... but it could happen."

Laura Kinney has posed:
"If you get months of effort into a single day won't you also get months of damage in during the same time?" Laura points out. "And if not then you won't physical improve. That's a big part of how a work out improves you physically. You exert yourself, cause damage, and then your body repairs it but better." It's not the most technical way to explain exercise. But then Laura's an ex assassin not an ex scientist.

"We'll start with hand to hand combat. Various martial art styles and forms. Incorporate the elements most suitable for your build and what feels natural. Then we'll move onto weapons. Some of the more exotic weapons like blow pipes I'll just demonstrate. No need to actually learn them yourself."

She blinks a few times. "Is that some sort of time keeping device?" she wonders. Social media is not her thing. No matter how hard Gabby tries to explain what normal people do for fun. "Regardless I would personally try avoid being recorded or ending up on the internet. It's too easy for people to find you that way. One recognisable landmark in the background and your cover is blown."

"Last time I saw tech like that it was being used to keep mutants de-powered between cage fights to the death. Rich people would watch and bet on the winner. Someone caught on I was investigating and released some trigger scent they'd got off the black market." She winces. "Well lets just say that particular scheme did not go well." She leaves out how she almost killed a bunch of SHIELD agents who were also investigating. After all. It was only /almost/ killed.

Kiden Nixon has posed:
Kiden grins at Laura, "Don't know! I know I don't get tired or need to eat or drink in No Time. So I don't know if I can build muscle mass there. I don't even know if I can get hurt there... haven't so far, but I also haven't exactly been jumping off tall buildings to find out, either." She lifts a shrug and motions to the weapons table, "Even if the gym work can't be fast forwarded that way... the training time can."

She gives a nod and grins, "Good. It'll be fun to learn what works best for me! And it will give me a chance to figure out a good workout and training routine. Something I can do daily." Kiden gives a quick nod and glances back to the weapons table, some of the more strange-looking weapons getting a quick look.

"Huh? Oh! No, Tiktok is another social media platform. Another way for people to make themselves feel more important than they are. Also to post funny videos of shit that happens." She grins briefly before giving a small nod, "I get that.. but I also am not going to stop living just because I might die. I've lived in New York my entire life. Literally 20 years in the same like 300 square mile radius. I'm pretty sure if someone wants to find me, they can. With or without social media's help."

"Last time I saw them, they were being used for mutant trafficking. Not fun at all. Two or three guys in these little roving packs, hunting down young mutants and collaring them for... well.." She shakes her head and wraps her arms around herself, "Not a good time. But I did some serious damage to the pair that tried to come near me. If nothing else, I got mad hyper-awareness skills from all the street living."

Laura Kinney has posed:
"Easy way to find out. Prick your finger with a pin. If it hurts you then you can get hurt. If you break the pin... Well it's a good sign you're more durable than normal," Laura suggests with a shrug. "Muscle memory is probably more important than muscle mass. You want to go through the techniques I'll be showing you over and over. Until even when you're half asleep, drugged or suffering from a concussion you'll know how to react."

She gets up, putting the katana and the sharpening stone down, and heads over to one of the benches she's set up. "I've got a variety of martial art books here you can take home. They include suggested work outs and daily routines. Don't feel you have to stick to one specific book. Take whichever elements you feel work for you. Any member of the team can use the training rooms but make sure you're training with someone at first. Solo training can lead to bad habits forming or you might injure yourself."

She shakes her head at all the social media talk. "A clock would probably be better," she laments. "I really don't understand why people want to be famous for pretty much nothing."

"Better captives than caught by a group like the Purifiers? They don't carry anything as fancy as a power dampening collar. Just flame throwers, assault rifles and pick up trucks with shovels.."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"I'm going to guess not. Because I already know if I don't bring something into No Time with me... I tend to destroy it if I touch it while in No Time. So... I mean.. I could probably be hurt by a thing I bring with me, but not in general. Which means I probably couldn't like.. do workouts in No Time and get more ripped... but I *can* do training routines in No Time to get better at a skill." Kiden flashes a grin, "It's how I picked up on two years' worth of high school in a matter of weeks."

Moving towards the bench with Laura, she looks over the books and gives a nod, "Very cool. So then I need to grab a training buddy?" She grins briefly at Laura before nodding again, "Got it. Make sure to train with someone that's already a badass so I don't get bad habits."

Lifting a shrug, Kiden grins, "Not really ny thing, I just scroll through now and then when I'm bored. Lots of watching, no posting. I have a Twitter, but I so rarely actually post anything to it."

"Better not caught at all. Not all mutant powers are super awesome.. some of them just make you seem 'exotic'..." she lifts a shrug and murmurs, "I'll never complain about having a useful power."

Laura Kinney has posed:
"It's not just about bad habits," Laura points out solemnly. "Overload a weights bench without someone to spot for you. And you could drop a heavy weights bar on your throat and we wouldn't know you needed help until we found your body." Assuming Kiden didn't freeze time while it was falling. Get out. Make a sandwich, read a book, and then come back to put padded mats down to stop the weight hitting the floor and breaking anything.

"Your training buddy can be anyone from myself to staff at your local gym. To begin with it'll mostly just be physical fitness training. With some basic moves you can use if you get into trouble." She starts stacking the books she thinks are most relevant into a pile. At least a few are police, military and SWAT combat techniques. The better to know the sort of training people the team might be facing will have. "You can't go wrong with an eye gouge, knee to the groin, or striking the side of the knee. It takes a trivial amount of force to dislocate a kneecap if you strike to the side. And once it pops free it makes it really hard for someone to fight you. Or give chase. I'll get you a stun gun to use in the meantime. Just slow time, hold it in position, resume normal time flow and zap. Please don't try test what would happen if you zap them while time is frozen it'll probably be catastrophic."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"I can see that, yeah. I wouldn't want to get hurt and not have a way to get help," Kiden doesn't mention that her powers prevent exactly that sort of situation. There are absolutely other situations that could happen and her powers would NOT be able to solve it! Presumably, anyways. She trusts that it's just a good idea overall. "Also.. graphic. Ew."

Nodding, she grins, "So I'm hearing.. get a gym membership and start on a strength and endurace training regimen." Glancing over the titles of the books set aside for her, Kiden lifts a brow at some of them, "Wow... do I want to know where you got some of these?" THen Laura's telling her some good self-defense tips and she snaps back to, nodding and committing the information about knees to memory. The stun gun option has her wincing, "Yeaaaaaaaaaah... that would be... bad. Potentially explosively bad. Like.. ick splatter xplosion bad."

Laura Kinney has posed:
"Tim buys them online," Laura says with a laugh. "They're all legally obtained. He has corporate security connections through his family. Or he hacked the website and faked the credentials. They not illegal to own or anything. Just books. We can run through some basic physical fitness checks now if you want. Normal peoples ones. I wouldn't expect you to even dare try my workout routines."

Cutting bullets out of the air with claws is a very niche routine anyway.

"You'll also want to take a look at your diet. Make sure you're not just eating junk. At least not all the time. Every now and again it's fine. Just mix in some vegetables for some meals and don't be alarmed if you start eating bigger portions."

Her head tilts to one side. "From what I can gather from a very basic scientific understanding you'd probably cause the water in the tissue between the stun gun prongs to super heat and evaporate. It'd be painful but probably not fatal depending on where you zapped them. Unless your powers impacted the stun gun battery. If that explodes you'll likely lose a hand. So yeah. Best to avoid looking into that without consulting a super scientist. I think the team usually gets one of the Titans to consult on weird science stuff. Nadia Pym-van Dyne if memory serves." Which it does. She might not have an eidetic memory as such but X-23 has trained herself to the point where her ability to recall things is the next best thing.

"Other good tips? Always bring some sports drinks or at least a bottle of water. Plus some energy bars. It's going to be physically demanding and if you don't stay hydrated and well fed it'll burn you out very quickly."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"Yeaaaaaaaah... hacking and faking credentials doesn't really sound 'legal'. Not that I'm complaining, I've gone the five finger discount rate more than once to stay alive, so... you know.. moral relativity." Kiden shrugs with a grin before giving a nod, "Yeah, sure! Let's see if I can beat a high school physical fitness test."

"Ohhhhhhhhh, don't you worry about that. Being able to buy fresh vegetables? Fruit? Good quality meats? Bet your ass I'm grabbing a cookbook and starting to make my own food." She actually does look absolutely thrilled to have REAL FOOD options available to her again. "Man, Laura, gotta say.. I'm still thrilled to finish a full meal. So... I'm excited for it."

"Sooooooooooo.. the thing is... when I'm in No Time, and I interact with something that I don't bring into No Time with me? Let's just say that I can hit things on par with Conner. I broke a guy's arm, both bones, just by lightly poking him. And that was like.. the very first time I used my powers." Kiden offers a wry grin and rubs the back of her neck. "So.. terrible things could happen if I tried to forcefully stun gun someone in No Time..."

She grins broadly, "That one I've already got down. I love having free access to clean water. SO good. And I found some peanut butter chocolate chip protein bars... that's kinda my brakfast, with a banana. Milk. Water. Lots of water."

Laura Kinney has posed:
"I don't know what a high school fitness test includes," Laura points out. "But we'll go on a run and see how long you can go before you hit the wall." An X-23 test usually involves pushing the limits until something is close to breaking. So by hit the wall she's probably thinking more a marathon than a little sprint. "Then we'll take a short break and see how much you can deadlift. Work our way round all the equipment in the gym. If nothing else it'll be a good chance to show you how everything works."

It could be worse though. The last time she helped Gabby with training she ambushed her and chased her round the woods with a paintball gun. So at least she's not going to be digging any pit traps or setting an ambush anytime soon.

Probably.

"If you ever need restaurant recommendations in Gotham ask Phoebe. She's the team expert when it comes to the best food in Gotham. And cooking is a good start. Controlling what you eat means you don't wind up consuming any unnatural processed things which'll make you ill."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"Oh... let's see if I can remember.. its... sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, a sit-and-reach.. some kind of coordination test.. and run a mile as fast as you can. Everything is timed, so it's like... how many of each can you do in a minute, the sit and reach is to see how far you can bend forward, like.. touch your toes or can you only reach your ankles, like that... I don't remember the coordination test.. and then yeah.. how fast can you run a mile." Kiden lifts a shrug and grins, "I was only there a few years, but I still remember."

Still, Laura's is probably better to test her REAL limits, rather than just testing her general normal person physical fitness. "Okay. I can't guarantee much of anything with the deadlift.. but my stamina's pretty good." For a person.

"I'll remember that. She has me working for her, so I'm sure I can get some good recommendations.. but yeah, I'm trying to cook at home as much as possible. I'm enjoying having access to really good FRESH food." Kiden is probably less worried about unnatural processed things as just... not decaying or moldy.

Laura Kinney has posed:
"Normally I would insist we go for the run outside," Laura says with a conspiratorial wink. "But I already know you can tolerate the elements. So we can use a running machine indoors. But do not, under any circumstances, tell anyone I went easy on you or they will all think I'm going soft." Or at least they will until she makes them run until they can't even stand up any more.

"I have a test for reaction speed of my own, but I'm not sure Tim would like me throwing knives at the new recruits. There is one where you have to respond to a beep. Hit a button when you hear it. Your power should honestly cover the reaction speed issue. You can stop time so as long as you have a fraction of a second to pause things you have all the time in the world to respond."

Unless someone uses a power dampening device. But if that's the case everyone is on a roughly even 'Human baseline' footing.

"I warn you though. This time tomorrow you are going to be cursing my name. Your muscles will feel like they're on fire." She pauses a beat. "Make sure Conner knows he'll need to run you a hot bath. It'll help."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
Clearing her throat, she gives a nod, "Survival skills for the win. Surviving negative degree temperatures with a jean jacket, two t-shirts, and a pair of jeans so old you can practically see through them!" Kiden flashes a quick grin, then nods solemnly, "Your secret is safe with me. I'll make sure to tell them how utterly grueling and punishing it was. Outside, uphill, up stairs, minimal clothing... and simulated ninja attacks at random intervals."

"Oh, yeah, my powers are sometimes more instinctive than necessarily... uh, precisely controlled, so like, when I'm in immediate danger, the spike of adrenaline tends to cause the fight or flight reflex, only mine is more like Time or No Time reflex. And yeah, it's fast. I was able to stop time after someone shot at me but before it really went anywhere."

Grinning, Kiden lifts both brows, "A hot bath with epsom salts and my hot boyfriend to help? Oh, no, you bitch..."

Glancing around, she moves towards the running machine and hops on, letting Laura set the pace and speed. The training session is hard, grueling, pushing Kiden farther than she'd really thought she could go. She goes through the endurance run, the weight lifting, the flexibility and athleticism training, all without a pause for more than a few chugs of water and one quick bathroom break. But in the end, the shakiness in her muscles and the tiredness she feels is worth it. And Kiden is feeling better about herself. She gets her hoodie on and grabs her shoes, then grins at Laura, "I'll have Conner film it and send it to you if I start cursing your name tomorrow. Otherwise... see you for the next round!"