Rplog Think Hes Got It

Log Info

Title: I Think He's Got It
Emitter: None
Characters: Linus, Jerry
NPCs:
Place: A Field, Far From The City
Time: 6/3/2010
Summary: Jerry teaches Linus how to use his powers.

Jerry has brought Linus out some ways away from the city on the back of his motorcycle, a few things rolled up in a blanket their only cargo. He slows the bike as they turn in to a farm driveway, and he gets off to open the gate. "This is far enough away from their house that we'll stay unseen, I think. And there's nothing to hit except a couple tree stumps that we'll be removing for them. And the ground, of course." He tosses the blanket-wrapped package to Linus. "Put that on," he says, and indeed the package contains some knee and elbow pads, and a padded helmet.

The trip itself was somewhat unnerving for Linus, who spent the majority of the trek making sure his chin wouldn't bump into the back of Jerry's neck. "I feel like we're going to the space shuttle." is his remark on the situation. He smirks to himself as he gets off the bike and starts to put on the protective gear. "Maybe more apt to say we're experimental aircraft pilots, because that was pretty unstable last time. It shouldn't be as bad this time. The first time is the -worst-. Teleport across the state, shoot into the air, burst into flames. It's really exciting." Those last three words are spoken with a particularly dry wit.

Jerry whistles. "OK, random teleporting would be.. potentially much more sucky than copying my power. At least with it, you might disintegrate some roadway or shoot yourself out of the atmosphere is all," he says as he leads the way out towards the middle of the summer meadow. He's also brought along a couple of tie-on cloth masks, one of which he proceeds to put on. "Because you never know when someone has a freaking cell phone camera these days," he says, tossing the other one to Linus. "At least if they find you unconscious somewhere, most people are not going to be bastards enough to unmask you and splash you all over the internet." Several minutes of walking, and they are in a sea of waist-high grass. "Watch it, 'cause there are surprises hidden in the grass; there are not any cows out here this time, at least." He turns to Linus. "You ready, bud?"

"It happened, Jerry." Linus seems to be casual about it. It happened, it's over with. While following along, he catches the mask and starts to put it on his face. "I bumped into a girl on a staircase when I was 13. I teleported in front of her. And while she was gushing that she never knew anyone else who could do that, I ended up in Cincinnati." There. The mask is tied on. At Jerry's warning, Linus peers at the ground, watching his footing so he doesn't step in any 'fun times'. "Have you ever -been- to Cincinnati? It really sucks. Explaining that one to my mom was really fun. Yeah. I'm ready. We got the worst part over with yesterday." He makes a fist and points it towards Jerry.

"Man, Cincinnati. No, I have not. I've pretty much avoided flyover country my who life," Jerry says. Then he makes the Wonder Twins sign with Linus, transferring his power over. "How's that? Still feel weird?" he says, ready for any sudden blasts, or signs that Linus is going to try to outdo Icarus again.

"I'm from Cleveland, so it wasn't that far from home. Still sucked. OK. Let's do this." He nods and bumps fists with the other boy, who will feel a sudden and sharp tingle on his tailbone and lower spine. Linus has acquired his powers, and does not want to go anywhere. This is probably why the immediate result is a pair of -THUD- noises from the ground two feet from him on either side. To go by the flashes of purple, what he's done is 'punched' the ground… practically gripping onto it. It's hard enough to leave some pretty sizable indentations on the ground. The grass there is flattened by the force and sinks in a good four to five inches. Linus exhales, nodding his head slowly. "OK. We're… we're cool."

Jerry nods as he walks around Linus. "OK, steady. That's my kinetic strength sink; be careful, I think I tap into the Earth's rotation when I do that. That's what I used to throw railway cars around like toys." He pauses. "Now, slowly, try to find the button for my force blast. Point your fists about two inches below the horizon; that'll hit about 100 yards out. There's not a lot to grab onto out here, so it might feel.. fuzzy. Just keep your concentration and it'll firm up."

Linus holds still. "It's really not like a button, is it? I don't even know if I feel these powers like everyone else does." Linus chuckles, though he's focused more on what he's doing than anything else. "It's sort of like having another limb and I don't know how to control it. OK. I'm… letting go of the ground. THis really feels strange." The purple fields of force flicker and die, and then come back again. Letting go, it seems, is not so simple. "OK. Or I'll sit here a while."

"You must feel the Force /flow/ through you," Jerry says with only a half-smile. "More like… it's a river and I choose which way it flows. That's how I think of it; probably why I can't shield myself and do some of the other stuff at the same time. Thing of it that way, and raise your arms at the same time; otherwise you'll blast the ground and probably blow cow crap all over yourself." Just to be on the safe side, Jerry's deflector shield snaps into place around him, a shifting violet soapbubble effect.

"Got it. Midi-chlorians." Linus smirks, and then focuses, closing his eyes for a moment. He hovers very slightly off the ground, and then manages to extend his arms forward, punching at the air with purple force. It's crude, but it does work. "OK. Aaaand I'm drifting." He is, in fact. Very slowly, he's sliding forward and a bit to the right. That he's also rotating counterclockwise is probably an annoyance to him, since he's moving about five degrees a second.

"Whao, whoa.. " Jerry says and arcs over Linus to come up behind him, put hands on his shoulders to stabilize him. "Yeah, negating energy, which is what your flying does, is trickier to control. For now.. concentrate on blowing up that stump waaay out there," he says, floating there and aligning Linus' body towards the dark blot many yards away.

Linus squints. "You want me to…" Linus nods, "Ok. OK…" He's still trying to rotate, but being held is negating that rather nicely. He squints, lowers his arms a bit and inhales. When he exhales, a streak of purple streaks across the field, smashing into the ground with another THUNK. It's a meaty sort of sound, and it sends dirt and grass everywhere, like a land mine just exploded. It is not, however, the treestump. Linus tries again, moving his wrist ever so slightly. The second streak hits the stump and tears it to pieces. His eyes widen. "Dag, yo."

Jerry pats Linus on the shoulder. "Way to go," he says. "Now, blast it again, get all the top layer off it. Then we'll head that way to rip the rest out of the ground." He still keeps a light touch on the other guy's shoulders, keeping him oriented and level. "My power still feel funny to you?" he asks.

"Should I be worried that I'm levitating? I can't stop it." Linus doesn't actually sound worried, so the question may be intended at face value. "This is actually kind of fun. It does feel odd, though. Maybe it's that flow you were talking about." He keeps his fists extended, but pulls his elbows back a bit, as if he's holding two handguns. Someone's played a lot of videogames or seen a bunch of Chow Yun-Fat movies. He sends another pair of purple streaks towards the stump. The first two hit the ground with THUMPTHUMPS that send more dirt flying. He looked a little cooler doing it, though. Pushing his arms forward, he tries again. The second pair shatter the treetrunk with a CRACK noise, sending wood as well as dirt in every which direction. He laughs, "Win."

Jerry mmhmms. "OK, now, try to - slowly - fly over there; you're already off the ground so that's ninety percent of the battle. Just.. push, kind of. Or let it flow through you, which is what I do. Like I'm body surfing, kind of."

Linus flows, alright. He flows forward in a sort of lazy zigzag pattern. He's also moving backwards, though it's in the right direction. "Surfing. Okay. That… hey, I'm surfing backwards!" laughs the power mimic as he does exactly that. "Am I going the…" He looks behind himself, which makes him swivel into the right direction. "Yeah. I am. I am."

Jerry keeps careful pace with the other boy, just in case he decides to imitate a issle once more. Once they're the remains the stump, punky wood chuips blasted over several yards, Jerry lands. "OK, switch back to the strength sink, and we'll rip the thing out by the roots.."

Linus continues moving, even though he's clearly trying to stop, as evidenced by the way he presses his hands forward. He's doing this like he's on ice skates or something. Shafts of purple emit from his palms, scraping against the ground and leaving a trail as if someone's going skiing, aptly enough. It's not slowing him down, but he's not moving more than a mile per hour anyway. "Gotcha. Uh… wow. OK. So, just focus it around the tree and yank it out?" He reaches out and sends purple force around the tree and pulls. In fact, he pulls too hard. It comes out, alright. It comes out and sails into the air. He blinks, "Aaauuaaaaaa…" Not a scream so much as a concerned, amused protest. He gains a few feet of altitude. "It's… well…" it's flying. Not him. The tree stump. He's thrown it.

"Woo!" the other teen yelps and rockets after the tumbling chunk of wood, catching up to it and grabbing it with a grunt. He stops the massive chunk of wood and flies back to hole carrying it. "OK, good job," he says. "Little on the unsubtle side, but you're driving a rental, there." He drops the stump with a hollow THOOM beside the hole. "Target practice time again," he says, moving beside Linus once more. 'See if you can turn the flight off first, though.."

Linus's eyes go wide as he realizes what he just did, but he doesn't even attempt to chase after it once he sees Jerry's doing that. To his relief, of course. "I'm not sure I can. Hang on…" And then a look of pure -nothing- crosses Linus' features as he wipes Jerry's powers from his body. He was a few feet in the air, you know. THis makes him hit the ground with an, "Oof!". He lands on his shins. Not the best two point landing he could have, but he doesn't seem hurt, getting to his feet again. "This really isn't so bad."

Jerry walks over after he lands to check on his bandmate. "You OK?" he says. "Nah, it just takes some getting used to, to restrain the power to do what you want instead of letting it bleed all over the place."

Linus actually reaches for Jerry's hand while he gets up. It's deliberate, of course. Jerry will feel the usual spine tingle, and Linus gets to his feet without more than a brief flash of purple. "Yeah. I'm good. I'm good. I think what you said makes a lot of sense. This sort of… flows? Claire's power is like energy in my head that wants to get out. Sunday's is sort of… well, it sort of oozes out. I get randomly hot and cold when I've got hers. Yours is sort of like being on a river."

Jerry gives a nod of consideration at that, hmming as he hefts Linus up, keeping the contract until he's sure Linus has re-acquired his power. "Yeah, I guess because there's some energy I can always latch onto, all around us. Motion of molecules even, if I haven't gotten my physics confused. I just know it.. isn't me powering it, in a way. I just move and redirect." He lets go of the hand and turns to the stump. "You think you want to try cutting it into chunks?" he says. "The disintegration is something I can manage only by touching it."

Linus, never one to learn his lesson, drifts forard again. "Gotcha. Just… well, what does it feel like you're doing?" He actually manages to stop this time, and he's stopped right in front of the trunk-shards. He places his hands on them and looks up at him.

Jerry keeps a hand on Linus's shoulder, just to steer him. "I just.. mmm, think of it as coming part, sheering off, breaking down at a fundamental level. It's kind hard for me to do, actually."

Linus nods, "THat sounds kind of… okay." Linus nods his head, "Sure. Free my mind." He grins, quoting The Matrix with perfect inflection. He even throws his arms backwards a few times like Neo just before he jumped off the building. "Free my mind." And then he makes contact with the wood and… well, something's happening, alright. It turns purple, with small circles appearing across its surface. Sometimes they're concentric. Sometimes they're intersecting. Some of the circles even seem to get larger and smaller. In the end, he's skimming the surface off, making the air smell faintly of sawdust. "Wow. This really feels strange."

Jerry keeps a hand on Linus's shoulder to stgeady the floating boy. "Doing good, man, doing good.." he says, keeping careful watch on the stump. "There is no stump," he says with a lopsided smile. "Yeh, that's the idea.."

Linus rises a few more inches, body rotating to he's on a 45 degree angle with the ground. He starts to grin as the treestump itself is gradually ground down to nothing. "Holy shit. This really freaking works. Before you ended up here, did you ever have to take the garbage out?"

Jerry floats up with Linus, making sure he's noth about to zoom off. "Concentrate.." he says. "Yeah, it's useful for stuff like that, once you get the hang of it. Blowing the garbage all over the front lawn at 5:30 in the morning? In January? Not so good," he laughs.

Linus starts to push his hands directly into the stump, leaving a hole shaped just like them. It's like something out of a bugs bunny cartoon. He's pushing straight down into the stump and starting to make better progress now. "How did you end up here?"

Jerry watches, noting how Linus uses his power. "Weelll.. let's say that I wasn't a star pupil, and I got into a trouble a lot. When I found I could fly and move really heavy things? I kinda got creative with the cars of some teachers I didn't like and the compromise was me coming here." He pauses. "Juvie didn't sound like a lot of fun."

Linus pushes harder, working his way right into the root. He's focused, really. Not going for widespread damage, but for a precise point. "Oh." Linus smirks to himself. "Yeah. I could kinda… get that. It's kind of funny, I guess. Juvie? I mean, real Juvie? Were they hoping and praying that you weren't a bad guy? Because if you were, it's not like Juvie could possibly stop you."

Jerry blushes a little, but he's out here alone save for Linus. "I think.. I think even after what I did, that they didn't want to throw me in Lockdown with the other powered criminals. I guess.. I dunno. But yeah, like, real Juvie. Prison, basically."

Linus works his way into the ground and then stops. "You know? I think I'm stuck." He grins to himself. "This is -really- cool-. So, they didn't want to put you with the guys in Lockdown. Were you really so bad that they might've thought about it? I mean, so you ate some cars. You didn't try to hurt anyone, did you? The people in lockdown are usually, like, really bad guys. Wait a sec." He pauses, then nods his head, pulling his arms towards him, and then getting them out of the stump. There are two pits in it, now, shaped like his hands. "EPic win."

"I think that's the /only/ reason I'm not there," Jerry says seriously. He claps Linus on the shoulder and concentrates, his other hand laid on the stump and sending pulsing rings of light over and over it, like ripples melding and bouncing off each other; the stump shudders, the already stressed and weakened wood shattering like glass into long splinters as he concentrates with his power.

Purely by reflex, a screen of purple appears from Linus' palm, deflecting any pieces of wood that might have otherwise pelted him. It was supposed to just be him shielding his eyes, but what came out was a lot better than that. If he noticed, he's not saying anything. "I guess you must've done a ton of property damage. Explains why you're doing the superhero thing, really. It's a lot like see? I'm a good guy. Really I am." He grins a bit, "If I could do that kind of damage, I'd probably be looking around for things to blow up. Like when I was at camp one year and we found out that if you throw styrofoam cups into the campfire, they shrivel up. It looked so cool that we put every styrofoam cup and dish we could find in there. And then we couldn't eat."

Jerry actually blushes. "Yeah, I guess I wanna show people I can be a good guy," he says. "Part of the reason I don't go home for summer," he says, his jaw tightening a little. The pulsing energy from his hand shatters the sticks and splinters again, and again, hammering them into smaller sawdust bits, then he clenches his hand into a fist and it stops. "OK, you good?" he says, forcing a smile to his lips as he looks at his bandmate.

Linus turns back to his bandmate and nods, "I'm good. I think I've got a handle on this. Hang on." He looks serious for a moment, and then that same look of 'nothing' crosses his face. It's awfully zen, actually. There are blank expressions, and then there's what he does, which is more like an expression of 'nothing' itself, whatever that means. He then reaches over and touches Jerry on the arm, who will again experience the tingle on his spine. Linus doesn't flash, fly away, or anything, though he does flinch for a moment. "Rock! Yeah. I'm good."

Jerry turns his hand, grips Linus's arm back. "Does that help you? Turning it off and re-aquirring it like that?" he says, curious. "You flinched.. is that good? Means you're getting used to holding my power?"

"If I'm going to lose control, it seems like the second I get it is when it's probably going to happen. I mean it when I say it's like having another arm or something. All of a sudden it's just, like, -there-." Linus bobs his head a few times. "Like I've got another body part I can just wave around. Turns out that if we weren't used to our arms and legs, we'd spazz around sending signals all over the place. Powers are the same way, but I guess since they sneak up on most of us gradually, it's not the same as when I just do instant brain surgery on myself like that." He does nothing but feel himself. A shimmering field of purple appears around his body, and then fades out. He smiles slowly, "Yeah. I wasn't used to that flow again. Was worried I was going to lose it, but I think I've got it."

Jerry lets go of Linus's arm and watches him fire up the force-field, let it collapse. "OK, good; we'll practice some more, then.,. well, if you need to borrow my powers for something, let me know. OK?"

Linus nods, "It's pretty important. I mean, if I bump into you, there's no real danger now. Everyone keeps telling me I'm pretty much supposed to do the superhero thing, here." Linus smirks. "I've only been here two weeks and I'm feeling the pressure. But if I'm going to do that, then I need to get used to people. -Fast-." He seems less worried about what a neohuman hero entails and more concerned with having an oopsie woopsie. Go fig. "I should get going, though. Need to hit the drums again. Later, Jerry. Thanks for letting me borrow your stuff." He grins.

"You're here to master your ability; if you wanna do the cape and mask thing, then cool, y'know? Or not." He flashes a smile at the drummer, and starts back to the bike.

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