16863/Amazon Training: Wally West

Amazon Training: Wally West
Date of Scene:	10 January 2024
Location:	Courtyard: Themysciran Embassy
Synopsis:	Wally stops by the Themysciran Embassy to do some training. Kara and Caitlin pick up on his sour disposition, but can't figure out the reason behind it.
Cast of Characters:	Caitlin Fairchild, Wally West, Kara Danvers

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Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Much of the reasons for the Titan's success is that they don't just train their strengths. They more frequently train their weaknesses. The diversity of the crew means that everyone can find a real challenge in their teammates. Someone who can assail their vulnerabilities and let them learn and improve in a challening, but safe, environment.

For Caitlin, super-speed and flying are the two weakest parts of her defense. She can accelerate much more quickly than people expect and her reflexes are truyl super-human, but she simply isn't anywhere near the same level of speed as Wally and his kin.

Of course for Wally, the challenge is Caitlin's frankly phenomenal technical skill as a fighter. And, the fact that she just needs to get one good grip on him to effectively end the fight!

The terrain of the arena favors Wally. There aren't any walls she can put her back to and he has plenty of room to run, flip and maneuver. Caitlin favors a shield and short spear in her light Amazon armor, and is forced to mostly respond to Wally's testing feints rather than being able to commit to an effective attack.

Wally West has posed:
Honestly? This is a weird way to let loose some tension.

Thinks have been....frankly, pretty fricken' weird between Wally and Cait for awhile. But, Wally's not expecting that to change and his best efforts tend to work against him much to his own chagrin. But, that's not going to stop him from trying to improve and make himself a better hero by increasing his skillset. So, he's there in weird, padded gear that he's not used to using. It's armor. Meant to help him take a hit.

Course, Wally's not NEARLY as superhumanly strong or durable as Donna or Caitlin or Diana or Kara or...literally most women on the Titans team. But, he's wiling to learn how to fight anyway. Course, Caitlin just needs to hit Wally really once with a good enough hit to call the fight as good as done. Though Wally's not proud?

He's stubborn.

Synonyms, I know. But, in this case?

He pops up a spear and tries to hook a shield on his arm.

"Not trying to use my speed. Never know when it won't work or someone tries to slow me down. So bring it."

Well....at least he's brave. Stupid. But brave.

Kara Danvers has posed:
It is amazing to have no known weaknesses!

Ah, a true paragon of perfection.. A symbol of Hope to Billions. A true hero in all things relevant today or yesterday, upholding all the core beliefs of justice and right.

Then there's being that person's cousin.

Kara is a Kryptonian. While there aren't many of them, she has plenty of weaknesses. Most of them have to do with her anger, but when you couple that with a near unstoppable amount of physical capabilities the likes of which could be gauged on MASS DESTRUCTION... Well... losing control becomes a weakness.

And that's one of her biggest concerns.

So she trains herself. Not in USING her powers, but in how not to. Learn to fight in a way that doesn't make her weaker, but capitalizes on her abilities without the need to fully engage them. Amazons are perfect for this. Strong enough to take most of what she can dish out, skilled enough to keep her from hurting them if she slips up, and patient enough to put up with her.

Hovering a little ways above the fighting area with her arms folded, hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, the Maiden of Might just watches. Blue eyes moving back and forth between the pair of Cait and Wally as they start their dance.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"Well, the basic principles don't change," Caitlin tells Wally. "What works slow, works fast. It's about good timing and rhythm. Thinking a few moves ahead." The redhead shuffles her feet and then lunges forward with a pair of quick spear thrusts. The clumsy move is a little overstated, and the purpose is revealed a beat later when she grips the sand underfoot and swings the spear haft sideways with a twist from her hips. The deceptively quick staff-sweep won't break any ribs but if it catches Wally napping, he'll have some red marks come morning.

"You always want to be thinking of 'if I do this, where will they go next?'" she clarifies. Caitlin readies her posture again and once Wally signals he's ready, she delivers another textbook straight thrust, but without telegraphing it at all this time. A fairly simple maneuver, but effective nonetheless. Caitlin wields spear like it doesn't have any mass whatsoever.

Wally West has posed:
"Yeah. I got it."

Wally remarks to the redhead, his eyes forward. Green eyes lower to her feet. To how she stands. He enters a stance himself, shield in front of him, spear facing forward. Though...as Caitlin opens with a pair of spear thrusts? Wally backs up as he tries to block, moving his shield so that the spear blows glide off of the shield rather than suffer an IMMEDIATE and direct hit. But the true purpose is soon revealed. That staff is sweeping outwards!

It should be noted that Wally truly just...sees the world as thoug hin slow motion sometimes. It makes him impatient. What is a 2-second thing for someone else is a few minutes for him. But. The first rule of fighting?

Learn to take a hit.

So, Wally stands there, the side of that spear SNAPPING against his ribcage and knocking him fully off of his feet and onto the floor, his head bouncing off for a moment as he groans. With a crack of his neck, he starts pushing himself back up to his feet, picking up his spear and his shield once again, rolling his shoulders.

"Alright. I can do that."

Granted, he cheats, but he's trying not to use his speed. So he FORCES himself to slow down a little bit. Yet, she had struck with a lunge before. Safe to say she might do it again. She lunges forward with that thrust and Wally sidesteps it than outright block, knowing she has the strength advantage. In return, he tries to thrust his spear forward! It's untrained. It's clumsy. It's telegraphed, therefore easy to block.

Most pressing? His ribs are gonna be a little bit red.

Kara Danvers has posed:
The world moves slowly for Kara, but not nearly as slowly as for Wally. The only reason she's a capable fighter, at least in so far as when she first arrived, was that she was by all intents and purposes: unstoppable. It's a bit of an exageration, of course. There are plenty of people out there who could (and have) beat the breaks off of her. People who are far more skilled than she is strong. Far more delibarete than she is fast. And far more patient than she is able to slow herself down.

A bull running at a matador is far stronger than the matador. A single sidestep? The bull runs right into a sword. A horrible practice, certainly, but an apt one.

Skill is just as dangerous as abilities.

Kara has learned how to fight, at least to some degree, from the Amazons. From the Titans, like Nightwing and Donna.

But she's smart enough to know that as soon as she thinks she's learned everything, someone is going to smack her in the face with a sword just to embarrass her for being cocky. Caitlin, for example.

"The shield is a weapon too." She says down to Wally from where she's hovering. "Every part of the spear, not just the pointy end. Watch what she is doing, how she moves. Like a matador.. hold your shield up-" Bringing her arm up as if she's holding one herself, bending her head forward, "-To hide where you are looking. Everyone telegraphs with their eyes."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Wally anticipates the thrust and is rewarded for it by Caitlin not pressing the attack further. Unlike some trainers, Caitlin's not one to beat a lesson into someone past the point it's been made. Besides, Wally's a smart guy and a fast learner. There will be plenty of more tricks to throw at him over the days and weeks of training. The counter-thrust he launches, she evades with a slight roll of her shoulder. The blunted blade simply glances off her armor and skews to the side, going wide. The deft evasion looks deceptively simple, but a keen eye would appreciate the simple economy of motion she employs. No great jumps or twirls or dodges. Just leaning exactly as far as she needs to, and no more.

"You're.... mostly right," Caitlin tells Kara delicately. "In that you don't want to telegraph what you're doing," she explains to Wally. "If you look at my spear, I know you're thinking on defense. If you look at my shield, you're trying to plan offense. You don't want to completely blind yourself, but you won't get anything from locked, prolonged eye contact. It's like those magic-eye 3D images," she offers. "You have to train yourself not to see just one part, but look at the whole of it at once."

Wally West has posed:
She's right, of course. Wally /is/ an extremely fast learner.

It's how he was able to pick up the basics of chemistry faster than most students can even raise their hand to ask a question. It's how he's made a pretty good dent in *trying* to understand Forensic Science. Here? No different. It helps that he's been a hero for so long, it gives him some basic understanding of bobbing and weaving. This is just more advanced than 'please put your fist here on the face, aim for the nose, strike hard, strike fast, run away. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Though Kara is trying to give Wally advice? He seems to nod ever so softly. "Yeah. Only problem is? I don't have the physical strength to be a matador." He cheekily replies, his eyes ahead towards Caitlin.

"Don't look at your spear. Or your shield. Sure." So he tries to follow that advice.

Look at the hole picture.

He takes a deep breath. Then he tries to do a few practice thrusts at Caitlin, noticeably dodging his own spear attacks. He looks a bit more confident though.

One step forward.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara nods to Caitlin, lowering herself down gracefully towards where the pair are still dancing with shield and spear. Always something to learn. As Kal always tells her, There's always someone bigger and faster. Which seems like a LIE when he says it, but it's pretty solid advice for the rest of the plebs.

Lower until her sandal covered feet touch ground. A bit away from where Wally is test thrusting his spear out, "Pssssh, have you seen some of those guys? Sticks... mostly just bone, colorful shirts, and pantalones." Very cheerful in her intermingling of Spanish.

Giddy about it, even.

"You must learn the song from Mulan, obviously. All training montage require a catchy musical number... or perhaps Hercules would be more appropriate... Yes, Hercules." Big, goofy grin.

"Zero to hero in no time flat!"

Twirl.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin is a tough but fair coach. She doesn't exploit obvious mistakes or put Wally so far on the defensive he's not learning anything. She invites and anticipates his attacks, and rewards him for good execution by letting solid blows land. Between the blunted tip, light armor and her obdurate skin, Wally's not likely to do more than tickle. It makes of her a great training partner, who can tirelessly soak hits that would otherwise be killing blows. No need for him to hold back or parse his strength out.

The two of them fall into a fighting rhythm, Caitlin mostly on defense and Wally pressing the attack. She flashes a grin at Kara's sidebar, and laughs at the mention of one of her favorite Disney films.

"You know Hercules hates that movie?" she tells Kara. "He says they got it all wrong, but at least they got it wrong in a positive way."

A few beats later Caitlin perceives Wally getting overly-aggressive and she responds by smoothly stepping into one of his spear thrusts and sweeping an ankle out from under him. It's done without missing a step and she whips her spear around to rest across her shoulders, aiming the speartip at the prone speedster.

"Don't forget to mind your defense," she advises Wally, and then reverses her grip on the spear to offer him the haft to help pull him to his feet. "It's really easy to throw a lot of strikes but your long-term survival rate goes down to zero if someone can get in a counter."

Wally West has posed:
"Yeah. Sometimes they're better than people with powers." Wally remarks to Kara regarding her trying to keep the mood light and easy about folks doing what they do and nothing but skin and bones, nothing but colorful outfits and a good gimmick. But, Wally was focused. "I love Mulan. Great movie, great message. The remake was crap." Wally remarks with huffs as he puts effort into each jab of that spear. But then Kara starts singing Hercules.

It's distracting.

Distracting enough that Caitlin is easily able to get past even his great perceptions, knocking him flat on his ass as she sweeps his ankles out from under him, the back of his head hitting the ground as he lands there. A low huff leaving his lips as he frowns, staring up at the ceiling. Though, when the spear shaft is offered to him?

Wally gives it a single glance.

Then he gets up without her help, getting his hands underneath him and reaching for his spear and shield again. "Got it. Focus on defense." He's focused, but Wally is clearly 'off' his normal personality game. No jokes. No wisecracks. He's on a mission. Probably why he wants to do training like this to begin with.

Kara Danvers has posed:
The fact that Kara is dancing a little, tapping her feet in small leaps, swinging her arms from side to side, while singing the rest of the song.. at least a few more stanzas anywho.. likely aren't helping the general ambience of destraction energy she's giving off.

Then, when Wally goes down, she grimaces and starts to step over and offer here hand. He's already popping back up before she can, but look at her trying to be helpful! "uhh..." Noticing how serious he seems to be.

A glance spared to Caitlin, then back again. "You know... distractions are pretty effective in fights. Kal tells me about something his father told him... the one here on Earth I mean.. that in the game of pinball, when you start jerking the machine side to side, they call it tilting. But there's a sensor in the machine that will turn it off if you tilt to much or too often. Which is why they call focusing to the exclusion of everything else or ... stepping out of your zone.. going on tilt."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin shares that look with Kara and nods subtly, recognizing that the Kryptonian sees Wally's change in demeanour as well. Normally happy-go-lucky and irreverent, this sudden dedication to hand-to-hand training is just another instance of his behaviour being a bit off. Perhaps not enough for the Amazons to notice, but the Titans have been a close-knit family for years and years. They know each other as closely as family can. Perhaps even moreso.

"Wally, combat training isn't something you pick up overnight," Caitlin advises him. She meets his ready stance but rests the tip of her spear in the sand to show she's not actively sparring. "You have to be in the right frame of mind to really grasp it and put it into muscle memory. If you want to take a break or do this later, I won't mind at all," she assures him.

Wally West has posed:
"I'm alright."

Is Wally's answer, to both Kara and Caitlin. "I'm good at the distractions. Been the distraction for years, you know? I'm fast, so people are too busy trying to say 'what's that?' over actually paying attention to the fight. Or I punch them hard enough to distract them." Wally's lowballing himself. Something's definitely wrong, but Wally seems to look focused. "Going on tilt...huh. I'll keep that in mind, Kara. Thanks. Also, tell Kal I said hi. He's been really cool with me lately, and I appreciate his warmth."

He turns to look at Caitlin. "I don't need to pick it up, Cait. I just need to fall on my back as many times as it takes till I learn it, then move on to the next thing once my teachers and I both agree I got it, you know? I'm good. I'm ready to learn. Trust me, if I put stuff off till later? It probably won't happen because I'll focus on other things." And to say Wally's life is hectic is an understatement.

"I'm ready to continue. Do you need a break?" He asks Cait for a moment.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara squints, but defers to Caitlin. She's the one providing the sessions here and well versed enough in doing so to know when someone needs a break. "Well..." Reaching up to scratch her fingers in the side of her hair, "I'll let him know. I really should go talk to him soon..."

Which reminds her of things she, herself, has been putting off with regards to her Cousin.

A small frown curls the corners of her mouth down a tick, but her blue eyes flick back to Caitlin and her spear stabbed into the sand. Then back to Wally, "You know, if something is the matter, you can always talk to us right? I am probably not as warm as Kal, but I will sing disney songs to you and bring you wieners from wiener hut."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Getting one's ass knocked into the sand is a consequence of achievement, not the cause of it. Though she couldn't put it so well herself, Caitlin knows Wally well enough to tell when he's frustrated and out-of-sorts. Kara confirms her concern when she presses Wally for more information, and Caitlin shakes her head at him before taking off her helmet and dropping it into the sand with her shield.

"Wally, you're not in the right headspace to learn from this training," she tells him. "And I'm not going to let you sit here and hurt yourself going at it too hard in the ring. That won't fix whatever the problem is," she says.

The other Amazons seem to sense something is amiss and drift away from the arena. Caitlin invites Kara a little closer so the three Titans can talk with some measure of confidence. "C'mon Wally, you know we'll just bully it out of you one way or another," she says, and ventures a teasing sort of smile at the speedster.

Wally West has posed:
"Thanks, Kara. He talks about you a lot, actually. Jumped through a portal with him and saved New Krypton a couple of times. Not bad." Wally lifts his shoulders in a shrug. Though, when she mentions that something is the matter, Wally looks at Kara for a moment, his face neutral and his gaze stern. "I'm alright, Kara." He answers her, trying to politely deny Kara's attempts at getting him to open up.

Then of course, Caitlin is lowering her shield and removing her helmet. "We both know I can take it, Caitlin. I'm fine. I can continue. It's not /going/ to get fixed unless I put actual effort into it." He looks at her, sticking his pear into the ground and puttin his fists on his hips. Though Caitlin tries to get Wally to break, something that's usually a talent?

Wally doesn't seem to be budging at all.

"I'm fine, Cait." He remarks towards her. "I need to learn hand to hand combat techniques in case my speed ever gets taken away or I break an ankle and need to adjust until I can heal. At the moment, that's my only talent: running fast. So I'm trying to fix it." Wally is extremely hyper-competent, but he's guarded about the numerous problems plaguing him. "Self-improvement is my way of trying to fix it."

He looks at Kara. "I like Disney tracks though. Ever watch Jungle Book? Guy went above and beyond." He remarks without his usual uplift in tone. "Plus, you're a good singer." He looks at both ladies.

"I'm fine."

Kara Danvers has posed:
So, a little known fact, Kara is actually really really smart.

Before she was any of this Supergirl stuff? She was a scientist on Krypton... or would have been. Enrolled in the best institutes of scientific education on Krypton. She'd discovered a new element by the time she was ten (GET WREKT CAITLIN). Her mother, arguably amongst the brighest individuals in the galaxy, loves telling that story.

Never mind that her brain works in the same way as her body when fully soaked in solar radiation. It's sharp, breaks down details, and decyphers puzzles. Blue eyes tick back and forth quickly. Reconstructing everything she's seen from this engagement.

He's not using his speed.

He's mentioned twice that he must learn to fight without it...

Her head ticks slightly.

"I have watched every Disney movie." She says with a little flickering Ghost of a smile. "My favorite, I think, is Aladdin. I particularly like the remake, actually, but I know this is unpopular. Are you losing your speed?"

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin's brows lift towards her hairline at Kara's incisive observation. She balks, not believing, but a look at Wally gives the question some credence. There is something in Cait's core nature that makes her a terrible poker player. Not that she can't bluff, but she struggles mightily to realize when someone's doing her a heckin' bamboozle. Because, at her core, Caitlin wears her heart and emotions and thoughts on her sleeve, and instinctively assumes everyone else does, also.

"Wally?" It's not really a question; more a cautious, careful statement. But she looks at him with genuine concern in her green eyes, fearing that there is actually Something Really Wrong with one of her oldest friends.

Wally West has posed:
Of all the questions to get asked, Wally doesn't seem surprised by the obvious one, sweet as though it is, though he does shake his head. "No. But thanks for asking Kara. There's a lot of people who hate my guts and know that cold based weaponry or anything that slows down my connection to the Speed Force in general is a serious Achilles heel. I have to win every day. Bad guys only have to win once." Wally shakes his head softly. "The more I can do, the more I can keep trying. Not Batman here, but it's something I can do other than run fast."

He speaks in a matter-of-fact kind of tone. It's clear he's upset but just as clear that he's not actively trying to hurt people. Either by feelings or by actual physical harm.

"I thought they had too much of Jasmine and Genie in the second one and Aladdin felt like a side guy. But to each their own. The music was great." He turns his attention towards Caitlin for a moment when she says his name. She's sweet. She's trying to get an answer out of him.

"I said I'm fine. Don't worry about it." He sets his shield down and actually vibrates his molecules as an easy wait to slip out of the armor, though he kneels down to try and pick everything up. "Thanks for the lesson, Cait. I'll try and be in a better mindset next time I come down here."

When did Wally become a tough nut to crack?

Kara Danvers has posed:
Well this is awkward.

Kara found a new element by the time she was ten and can't figure out what's bothering one of her closest friends. Her expression doesn't really sour, but her lips press together in a little line. "Okay." She murmurs, sparing a glance over at Caitlin. Maybe the pair are out here in these streets plotting.

Maybe they are trying to discover a new element.

With another brisk nod, she smiles to Wally, "When you are ready to talk, wieners are on me. One for each hand." Which she holds up to either side of her face. Pantomiming biting off one, then turns her head to bite off the other. She makes a dramatic, award winning, show of chewing and swallowing. "We will have the processed meats."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Bless Caitlin and her innocent world view; Kara's demonstration is only met with an encouraging nod of support for Wally. Thank god no civilians got that on camera, at least, because it would be green-screened into a PR nightmare overnight.

"I am always glad to train with you, Walls, but most of my techniques revolve around my size and strength," she tells him with a gently apologetic note. "Even the weakest of my sisters can lift and carry a horse over her head. Well, a regular horse," she amends. "How we fight and train integrate the whole, from the individual part to working as a fighting team. For what you want-- what you need," she amends, "I think you'd be better off learning the basics from Richard. We've known him and his brothers forever and even I have to admit they have perfect mind-body harmony. I don't know if I'll ever get -that- good. If you want to fight with superpowers, I'm your girl, but really learning the martial arts, I think no one's gonna be more help that the Robins. And former Robins," she clarifies.

Wally West has posed:
Yeah. Awkward. Though Kara seems to try to cheer Wally up with the promise of processed food? Wally sees her hand gestures as something COMPLETELY different and for a moment, he seems to let a grin chuckle escape. "Sure SG. We'll find an all you can eat buffet or something for all the wieners." Wally remarks. But at least she got /some/ kind of chuckle out of him!

He turns to Caitlin then. "Thanks for that." Wally can lift MAYBE 800lbs, and typically only trying that when he's running. A horse weighs between 900-1200lbs on average. Not exactly a TED talk about confidence knowing that his best is not even an Amazon's minimum. "I'm already at the teamwork part, Cait." He remarks softly. But he sighs. "Well, if you see him or if he remembers we're hear amidst his...whatever he's doing, feel free to let me know so I can reach out. I won't ask Robin for obvious reasons. Rook. Can't keep up with the names."

He shakes his head. "I'll be back tomorrow. Even if you don't think it's perfect training, still good experience to learn Themysciran fighting."

Kara Danvers has posed:
It is entirely POSSIBLE that Kara knows exactly what her hand motions could be mistaken for, but she certainly never lets on. Always grinning, always shaking the crumbs when she takes invisible bites of wiener to either side of her face. The first rule of comedy is to commit. Let it never be said she's not committed to her craft.

"I am the official spokesperson for Weiner Hut in Metropolis." Fact.

Once she's finished eating a wiener that doesn't actually exist, she wipes the corners of her mouth with her thumbs and nods with Caitlin in regards to Robin's being pretty effective training partners. Then to Wally as well, "I do not see them very often, but it may be a good excuse to go say hello."

Hands on her hips, looking side to side. "Themysciran fighting practice always gives me a mighty hunger." Said as she begins hovering back and up, "It is good to see you both, friends. Hopefully whatever is bothering you, you find someone to talk to about it." A great big smile for Wally and Caitlin.