Test scene: Ultra Boy

[pretty_in_orange]

Monstress stepped into the kitchen, wrapped in a purple silk robe with a floral pattern. Her usually-immaculate hair was slightly mussed; she hadn't yet gone through her usual morning beauty routine.

She yawned, stretched slightly, and moved towards the cooler. They had an autochef, of course, but she was more interested in preparing her own breakfast this morning.

Comments

[superpowered_teen_solo]

Jo stumbled into the kitchen, eyes mostly shut. He cursed under his breath as he misjudged his distance from the door frame and softly banged his shoulder.
Hearing movement in the kitchen, he refused to look around or indeed anywhere not the floor, but deciding to be polite offered a slightly groggy "Hello?" The tone was confused but also hopeful.

[pretty_in_orange]

Candi turned, surprised, and offered a beaming smile.

"Well, hello there," she said. "Good morning! I was just making a frittata for breakfast; did you want some?"

[superpowered_teen_solo]

Careful to keep his eyes mostly closed, Jo turns his head to the friendly sounding voice and smiles.

"I would love some! I would also love the lovely lady's name, should she choose to reveal it to this lowly one."

[pretty_in_orange]

Candi beamed. "Well, aren't you just the sweetest? I'm Candi. Candi Pyponte-Le Parc III, or Monstress." She tossed several vegetables into the chopper, collecting them together. "So, how about your name? And any foods you prefer to avoid?"

[superpowered_teen_solo]

He gave Candi a slight bow and said "I am Jo Nah. And no, I am fine with all foods. Far as I know, at least."

Jo shifted awkwardly, uncomfortable with the question he felt forced to ask due to an incident earlier in the morning. "I don't suppose you could direct me to a place to sit?"

[pretty_in_orange]

"Can't see?" She moved towards him and held out a massive orange hand. "I'll guide you to a seat."

[superpowered_teen_solo]

Taking the offered hand, Jo smiled gratefully. "Thank you. I am afraid at the moment I don't trust my eyes. The last time I opened them, something...strange happened. On a *completely* unrelated matter, the quarters I was given smells of ozone."

[pretty_in_orange]

"Well, we'll need to get the Athramites to take a look at it," she noted, setting him down in a chair. "What happened when you opened your eyes, Jo?"

[superpowered_teen_solo]

Clearing his throat awkwardly Jo answered truthfully. "For obvious reasons, I didn't get a very clear look, but if I had to hazard a guess, some sort of heat blasts emanated from my eyes. I'm not sure how to turn that off or even if I can." Jo frowned thoughtfully "Though closing my eyelids almost completely seems to have stopped it. Perhaps it is related to the other powers I seem to have gained?"

[pretty_in_orange]

"I read the file last night," Candi nodded. "I heard about what happened. Sounds like you did some good work out there... and if you're developing Daxamite-like powers, that'd include heat vision." She began whisking the eggs into a bowl.

[superpowered_teen_solo]

A gentle smile appeared on Jo's face. He wasn't particularly used to freely given praise. It felt nice. "Thank you, Candi. And that makes sense." A faint, wry chuckle escaped him. "I guess I was still in a bit of a daze after everything. Seems I wasn't able to fully process everything."

Being lulled into a sense of comfort by the sounds of the whisking eggs, he started to think, muttering loud enough to be heard faintly under his breath.

[pretty_in_orange]

"So have you had a chance to test your powers yet, then?" she asked, pouring the chopped vegetables into the eggs.

[superpowered_teen_solo]

Jerking himself out of his thoughts, Jo looked up, eyes still closed and responded thoughtfully. "Not yet, no." Thinking aloud, he started drumming his fingers on the table. "To be honest, I'm not sure how to get them to work. Are they random? Seems unlikely considering recent events. Do I just think about what I want them to be? Like 'right now I wa-" CRUNCH!

Jo froze, shock throwing his eyes open as he looked at the huge dent in the table.

A few minutes later:

[pretty_in_orange]

Monstress adjusted her gloves. "Alright," she grinned. "It's pretty unlikely that you can seriously hurt me, so don't feel like you need to hold back." She took a sparring position. "What did you want to try first?"

Re: A few minutes later:

[superpowered_teen_solo]

Stretching a bit, Ultra Boy braced himself mentally and physically for what could be a world of hurt.

"Might as well get the most potentially painful one over with. Let's start with invulnerability. Two tests in one."

Re: A few minutes later:

[pretty_in_orange]

"Alright, then."

Monstress swung her huge fist towards Jo's jaw.

Re: A few minutes later:

[superpowered_teen_solo]

Jo felt the blow land and was forced back a step from the force behind it. He felt fine though he knew that would have done more damage had he not received these new powers.

Jo raised an eyebrow "While I can appreciate the 'baby-steps' approach, it has never really been for me. Let's try the 'sink-or-swim' method here. If I don't find my limits, I won't know where I need to stop."

Jo braced himself and hoped that the medical facility was as good as he imagined it to be.

Re: A few minutes later:

[pretty_in_orange]

"I don't want to hurt you, sweetie, but if you can take that..."

She swung both fists down in an arc towards his shoulders.

Re: A few minutes later:

[superpowered_teen_solo]

'Huh', Jo thought looking down, 'wasn't really expecting that.'

When the blow landed square on his shoulders, Jo had a brief image of walking around as a pancake flit through his mind. Thankfully he had just been hammered about a foot into the ground.

Shifting his gaze to Candi, Jo activated his super strength and pulled himself out of the ground.

"Well then," Jo started with a smirk, "I think that it is safe to say that invulnerability works and works well. The only ways to further test this that I can think of would be...less than practical. Since the other powers seem to be heavily offensive, would you like to choose the next test?"

Re: A few minutes later:

[pretty_in_orange]

She smiled at him. "I'd agree, dear. And don't worry about the hole in the floor; we're used to them around here." She moved to the wall and pressed a button, and a target rose out of the floor on the far end of the room.

"Want to try your heat vision?"

Re: A few minutes later:

[superpowered_teen_solo]

"Alright. I have a couple of ideas on how to use this. Let's see if they work."

Jo made sure to concentrate on the center of the target in the distance and braced himself, not knowing precisely what to expect.

He then switched on his heat vision for an instant and then blinked his eyes from the strange sensation.

Re: A few minutes later:

[pretty_in_orange]

She watched as the red beams cut through the air to begin carving into the target.

"Nice work!" she grinned. "Can you see what's on the other side of that wall now?"

Re: A few minutes later:

[superpowered_teen_solo]

'That is a weird sensation,' Jo thought before the question Candi asked registered. 'Wait, is she implying that I have x-ray vision? That would be awesome! I coul- no. Easy Jo, you are a member of the Legion now. Using these new powers for personal gain is not an option.'

After the brief moral quandary, Jo tried activating x-ray vision...

and immediately regretted it. He switched back to invulnerability and felt his vision blur and a splitting headache hit him.

Jo fell to his knees cradling his head.

Re: A few minutes later:

[pretty_in_orange]

"Oh, sweetie, you okay?" she asked, moving to his side and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Re: A few minutes later:

[superpowered_teen_solo]

Still clutching his head, Jo nodded weakly and responded.

"I think so, though I have a nasty headache. Learned a couple of things, though. Namely, that I do have X-ray vision and second my brain can't process all of that new and highly unusual information. Not yet, at least. Maybe practice would help."