[IC] Ascension

[rocketrobie2]

It was a day like any other in The city of Marst, the birds were chirping, the trees were swaying, huge televisions broadcasted news about people's favourite powered heroes across the city for all to see. Now today was a pretty big day for a girl who went by the name of Hope since she was currently in line to take her hero license exam. Hope was dressed head to toe in her costume and was nearing the front of the line where a woman typed furiously in the air. She appeared to be crazy but people in this day and age knew better. What she was actually doing was using her HUD implant to catalogue every hero that passed her by so they could be entered into the governments files.

Soon Hope came to the front of the line, before she could speak the woman spoke without even looking in her direction "Name and Alias please" the woman said in a monotone voice as if it was simply seconded nature to say that line.

[Corporal Lance]

"Oh, uh, Hope Thomas. And, uh, Phantasm," came the young woman's muffled, distorted reply.

She'd bounced ideas back and forth between Deidre and Lynn all week and that's the best she thought they came up with. Although Lynn said 'Phantasma', but Hope had thought that sounded too feminine, like someone would expect her to run around in a skin-tight cat suit or something stupid like that. Hope's super heroine uniform was... actually pretty ghetto. She couldn't afford anything slick and high-tech like some of her blue-blooded competition and had to get an advance of pay to get what she did manage to scrape together... but it had a certain look to it. The soon-to-be super heroine was sporting a black armored vest with a high collar and green accents a la the Sidewinder motorcycle company, with shoulder, elbow, and knee pads for added protection. It wasn't much, but it'd protect her from getting thrown around and it'd probably stop a knife. Probably. Around her waist was a military belt from police surplus with pouches and holsters for different things, and her black hiking pants offered a few more pockets along with being breathable and sturdy, with a simple cloth green tee to follow with the black/green motif. Neon green TruSport running shoes were strapped on her feet for mobility and she kept MMA gloves on her hands, well, more for a look than anything practical but they'd probably serve a purpose at some point.

The standout feature of her patched-together uniform was the mask that she wore. It was a functional gas mask with a green reflective anti-fog eyepiece with an installed vocal modulator that scrambled Hope's voice. Most of the time it was inert and didn't impede breathing too much, but if she so chose she could spin one of its dials and filter the air for a couple of hours. Pretty useful when working with tear gas, she thought she'd need it at least once. She also thought it'd look pretty badass. All in all she looked more the part of a villain than a hero, but Hope didn't really care about that so long as the police didn't shoot her on accident.

The young woman was fairly nervous, choosing to cross her arms and lean her body on the counter toward the group behind her. Everyone looked so... professional? Was that a good word? Whatever the case, Hope didn't look like she belonged there with her pieced-together costume. One guy had a jetpack for cryin' out loud! A freakin' jetpack! The most high-tech thing she had was a stun gun. She'd tried to tell herself that grit and motivation would be enough, but now she was beginning to doubt that a little. If only a little. Hope had been boasting about it for months now, how she'd take the test and set records and get her name in the evening news. It was only just before her time to shine that her nerves got the better of her, and she began to tap her foot impatiently. Patience was never her strong suit anyway.

[rocketrobie2]

After Hope stated her name and alias the secretary chuckled a bit "Phantasm? Really?" she said as she got back to her typing, ignoring any further inquiries from Hope. Soon enough the secretary of scrutiny finished her typing on the invisible keyboards and pointed to a pair of large, featureless, blue doors.

Past the blue doors was a hallway displaying prominent members of Marst's history including the most recent addition being the hero Diamondback. Diamondback was a a lean heroine with tan skin, red hair and blue eyes. Everyone who was anyone knew about Diamondback and her quick grab to fame as she saved the entire city of Marst from its near capture by the dastardly Madame Metal. Madame Metal was a Villian who's origin is largely shrouded in mystery but her incredible strength and flight was enough to make her a force to be reckoned with. She was known to wear a mask made of a bronze like metal and a dark red robe.

Continuing to the end of the hallway there was two doors to either side. To the left was a room with many desks, this was the room where the written half of the test was done, testing the hero's psyche and knowledge of super-heroics. To the right was a sliding metal door, within was the legendary gym where aspiring heroes to be would test their skill and power against each other for extra marks going towards their overall score. Hope would have the choice as to which test she would take first.

[Corporal Lance]

Hope shot the receptionist look a dirty look at her remark, although it resulted in a featureless gaze from behind tinted lenses and a modulated scoff. It almost had her thinking, was Phantasm really a good name? Come to think of it, someone would expect a heroine with a name like Phantasm to turn invisible or walk through walls instead of throw things with her mind. Maybe Poltergeist would've been better.
Nope. Fuck it. Too late to change it. She'd be Phantasm and she would own it.
"Thanks," the black and green psychic seethed, leaning her head in toward the glorified desk jockey to make her displeasure known. Seriously, was it a little much to ask to be some kind of polite? It's not like Hope had been rude or anything. Hope had the urge to tell the bitch to have a day as shitty as she was, but she didn't want to linger. Wasn't worth it anyway.

Through the other side of the doors was a grand hall, flanked on either side by framed screens. Each screen proudly displayed a hero or heroine in a victory pose. The pictures were actually emotive, showing names that would zoom in from the side, crackling special effects, and different variants of different poses. Underneath each screen were plaques giving the name and active period of each individual, along with a scan tag. Immediately to her left was the handsome visage of someone anyone in Marst would recognize: Mach Five. Hope tapped her wrist twice and held it toward the plaque, where her vision changed to show her some biography information and a short informative video. Her HUD was one of those shitty school-issued ones, and you had to get it really close for it to read anything, but it played information just fine. Sometimes she could even watch movies if the reception in her area didn't suck.

"Mach Five, the super hero alter ego of Victor Donahue, is a valuable member of Marston's history. Mach Five is most recognized by his catch phrase 'Gotta jet!'" the video gave the iconic hero's quote in his own voice. Neat. "stylized number five, electric blue costume, and trademark pointed helmet and goggles. Instrumental to Marst's founding, Mach Five holds the honor of being Marst's "First True Hero", and holds an impressive number of accolades to include the capture and recapture of fugitive villain Sector*, leading the evacuation effort during the events of Hurricane Leslie*,and the prevention of the mutual destruction of the earth as we know it*. Mach Five has proudly served for the greater good for over 23 years until his retirement in 2042, where he graciously accepted a position on the Board of Heroic Efforts* as the Lead Representative until his true retirement in 2056. Mach Five currently organizes Heroes for the Homeless*, a charitable organization founded by himself and his spouse, Nora Wales*.

Powers. Mach Five is capable of travelling at over seven times the speed of sound^{2392 meters per second} both on foot and in the air through the rapid vibration of his molecules generating overwhelming force, which Mach Five's body converts into energy to move at incredible speeds. Mach Five is cable of sonic class* maneuvers as well as flight*, super strength*, pyrokinesis*, aerokinesis*, and super durability*. While Mach Five has displayed additional feats of power*, these can be attributed mostly to his incredible speed and no other Gened abilities."

Hope was pretty familiar with Mach Five, considering that she volunteered for Heroes for the Homeless on more than one occasion. It was a pretty cool program where volunteers would work with top heroes to build homeless shelters, although she found herself going less and less when she started working at Traveler's Way. That and how she almost sent a hammer through The Screech trying to show off her powers. He still signed her shirt, though. She tried to activate a link to hear what they had on Mach Five's wife, but... it didn't want to load. Must be the steel walls killing the reception. Awesome.

As the young hopeful heroine ambled down the hallway, she lost herself in the moment. Mach Five was here, and just like her once. Just a nobody starting toward greatness. Ms. Indigo had to come through this hallway on her first day before she single-handedly ended the Rage Riots of '63. Zero Space once walked the same steps before becoming the first and only man to adjust the orbit of the moon. Jack Wild, Priestess, Major Magnificent, even El Matador had to start somewhere. And Phantasm was going to be here one day. The last screen was also the newest induction to the Hall of Heroes, Diamondback. Diamondback earned her spot a few months ago in The Blackout. The Blackout happened when Madame Metal sealed Marst in a shield dome, killing all communication to the outside world and interrupting all domestic services like water and power. The news hounds later found out that she was holding every life in Marst ransom in exchange for something classified by the military or something, but no one in The Dome knew that at the time. Hope, along with everyone else in Marst, was trapped for five days without contact with the outside world. It was terrifying. Nobody knew what was going on, what was happening, why. There were riots on the first night, roving gangs by day four. She was just glad it was over.

But Diamondback saved everyone. Even with a city of heroes, she was the only one to figure out how to get past the barrier to destroy the generators on the outside. Small wonder she was added to the Hall of Heroes so fast. Hope was about to hold her wrist toward Diamondback's plaque when she was shoved from behind.
"Whoops. Sorry," came a deep, throaty growl. The budding heroine turned quickly, prepared to release a verbal onslaught on the offender and came to find a giant, furry man with a punched-in face.
"I didn't mean to," he replied further, sensing the building tension in the young woman. It was then that Hope realized he took up the entire hallway. And that she was just standing there like a ditz.
"Oh! No, my bad! I didn't mean to get in your way," came a warped voice.
"I have a problem with running into things. Hard to see past my arms."
"No, it's okay. I was kinda spacin' out there anyway. Oh hey, I'm... Phantasm." Hope hooked a thumb to herself confidently even if her words weren't. It was going to be a challenge getting used to calling herself that.
"Mad Dog," the obelisk replied. Hope could see why. He kinda looked like a big, brown, walking pug. And the fur probably helped. He was clad in military-style pants similar to hers and a tank top that threatened to snap like string under his massive chest.
"So... can you turn invisible or something?" he rumbled.
"Nah, I can control things with my mind," Hope responded sheepishly. Shit. This was going to happen with everyone, wasn't it?
"...Super strength?" Hope continued.
"Bench of thirteen-eighty five. And I can hear a pin drop a couple blocks away."
"Cool, cool."

They'd started walking at some point, came to a fork in the hallway, and were stopped awkwardly at the intersection. "Mad Dog" didn't seem like he was accustomed to speaking much and Hope's mind was somewhere else.
"Whelp, I'm heading over to the gym. I kinda suck taking tests, so I don't want a low score on the hero's exam to kill my mood, y'know?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna go ahead and take the test first. Don't want to forget some of the stuff I was repeating myself on the drive here."
"See ya 'round, dude. Take care."
"Thanks. You too."
Hope peeled away from the fuzzy walking building to step into a large workout room. It was utterly massive, with a ceiling at least four stories into the air, specialized workout equipment (and some of the standard stuff as well), punching bags, wrestling circles, a boxing ring, and a pretty big court for basketball or something. There was a good mix of people of all shapes and sizes, in costume and out of costume doing a variety of workouts. It blew West Marst High's little weight room out of the water, that was for damn sure. Hope took the time to walk over to an empty bench, pull out her ear buds and queue up some heavy metal to warm up to. Light stretching and agility practice mostly. Hope noticed toward the back of the gym there were large vault doors with numbers spray-painted above. The wall overhead read "SPARRING ROOMS" in big font, and Hope noticed a line forming off to the right that lead up to a thin man in business attire that everyone would speak to before peeling off to enter.

Hope trotted over to join the waiting list of heroes and would-be heroes standing in line, taking her spot behind a tall girl with bat wings.
"'Scuse me. This is the line for taking the hero's exam, right?" Hope inquired, tapping the winged woman on the shoulder lightly.

[rocketrobie2]

The bat winged girl turned around to address hope, She wore her black hair up in a ponytail along with tight suit fitted with some medium grade armouring. Just from looking at her one could tell that she wasn't likely to be one to punch and kick but as most come to find, looks can be deceiving. "Sure is! Just through those doors is where heroes are made, or in my case, fail repeatedly. I've taken this test at least twelve times now." the bat woman exclaimed almost yelling with excitement. She was fairly bruised up with quite a few bandages on her arms and torso. She was obviously very enthusiastic about the tests which was a shocker considering most full blown heroes have condemned the tests saying it wasn't a true test of strength to have the 'young-blood' fight one another. "You know I hear there matching up some of us with actual heroes for this bit of the test, can you imagine that? Fighting the likes of Diamondback or Gatling Bill?" The girl said with a mixture of fear and excitement.

Soon it came time for Phantasm to enter a Sparring room after seeing her new bat themed friend leave a Sparring room on a stretcher but still managed to give a thumbs up to Hope as she was wheeled away. The thin man seemed to look just past Hope, likely checking his Hub but he still had a smile on his face and at least tried to seem like he was paying attention to every person. "Hello miss, alias and powers please." he said with a smile.

[Corporal Lance]

Shit, twelve times? How hard is this going to be?

...No. Nope. Not gonna psych myself out. I'm a badass, I've got this. There's no way I'm letting myself back down.

She took a step back at the winged girl's overly cheery attitude with getting her ass handed to her on a plate several times over, and unconsciously took a step back. Hope chuckled along with her though, out of obligation or because her energy was infectious. Hope couldn't tell, but she seemed a little... unhinged. Maybe she took one too many shots to the head? In any case, she had to admire that suit that she wore. Protective armored plate was a nice touch, Hope wished she had something like that, something actually designed to keep you from bleeding from holes you didn't have before over the stuff she just kind of threw together. It was a mild case of cape envy, she'd admit, but the first thing she was doing with her government funds was getting a suit that would keep her alive. Or, y'know. Electricity for the month or something.

Hope had come to getting a little discouraged. Seriously, putting her up against a bonified hero? That would freakin' suck. She could throw a punch with the best of them and put someone on the ground if she had to, but unless she had a key advantage over someone with her ability the best she could do was keep someone away from grinding her face into the floor. And she couldn't keep that up forever. Someone with super strength wouldn't be nothin' if she could keep taking their legs out from under them from across the room, and she doubted anyone with telekinesis like her could brawl like she could, but if someone came out with something weird like photon rays or teleportation she might be screwed. But she was stubborn. Phantasm wouldn't give up so easy. They could slam her into the ground all day, the floor'd give out before she would.
"Really? I'm kinda surprised, you'd think that someone like Diamondback has better things to do with her time than fight the scrubs. No offense, kinda a scrub too, here," she speculated, any hesitation she had hidden through the modulated voice unit on her face. "This is my first, but I think I'll be good. Unless they can throw a truck at me, they won't even slow me down. And the truck won't slow me down for long."
...The cockiness in her voice, however, was close to impossible to mask.

Hope watched as the line shortened, waiting her turn rather impatiently, wishing that her time wasn't getting wasted. She was amped, she was pumped, why couldn't she fight someone already!? Honestly, how long could it take to put someone out and free up a room? The psychic would-be-heroine gave a friendly "go get-em" to her acquaintance with the wings, but she was being friendly. Hope didn't think she'd make it. Thirteen wasn't a lucky number for anyone, and if she was going in beat up since the last time the odds were kinda stacked. It wouldn't be long now, but that just made Hope more impatient. She took to stretching out her shoulders, stretching out her back, toe touches, anything to eat up time until she get bored and simply stood with her arms crossed and fingers drumming. After what seemed like half an hour, a couple of medics wheeled out another trainee on a cot. Awesome, free room. It actually wasn't too uncommon at this point, Hope had watched people get taken away at least five different times. She'd rubberneck and waste more time and it'd make her a little anxious, but she'd get over it. This time it was someone she recognized. Bat-girl was laid out on a white bed, strapped from ankles to head, looking more bruised than an apple someone chucked down a flight of stairs and she still had that goofy happy-to-be-here grin. Hope gave her a subtle two-fingered salute as she passed and stepped up to the next spot in line. That would be, the front of the line. For-fuckin-finally. At least this guy looked a little more reasonable than the prude at the front desk.

"Phantasm. Telekinesis and Levitation," Hope stated with confidence and a hand on her hip, standing proudly with her shoulders back and chest forward.

[rocketrobie2]

The man smiled a little more than he had been, it now seemed he was trying to keep something bottled up. "Alright Phantasm, room eight please" the man said with traces of laughter in his voice. Room eight turned out to be the very room Bat-girl had come out of and no one else. In the past two people could be seen leaving the rooms after their scuffle but eight seemed to still hold its previous competitor.

Upon entering the room the door closed and it appeared that no one was in there aside from a random brick sitting in the middle of the room. Even stranger, Hope was feeling compelled to go towards the brick by an outside force. Something about this whole thing seemed familiar but Hope was unable to put her finger on it.

[Corporal Lance]

Phantasm had been so completely amped at the prospect of getting her first "official" (Emily Vickers and her stupid ice breath and bitchy attitude junior year didn't count) superhero fight that she hadn't stopped to consider that he was making fun of her name, and strode boldly along the wall to her designated room. She could feel the blood coursing through her veins, the adrenaline kicking in as her anxiety collapsed in on itself to form a compact ball of focus and determination. The only individual stopping her from becoming a hero was just behind Door Number 8, and she was going to turn them into chalk dust. Fuck the stretcher, they'd be leaving in a trash bag. In the line the other rookie heroes would whisper and murmur about Door Number 8. The only people who went in left looking a lot worse on the way out, and whoever was in there had enough juice to keep kicking ass and taking names scrub after scrub for hours at this point. Even now she could feel the eyes boring into the back of her, everyone watching the new meat swagger its way into the grinder. She wanted them to watch. This wasn't a test, it was a goddamn competition, and Hope was gonna thrash it. Let them see her walk out of this room taller than anyone else, harder than anyone else, and better than anyone else. Just let them see.

The steel vault swung open slowly, and Hope dauntlessly waltzed inside to find... nothing. Not a soul. The room was sleek and clean, like a smashball court except maybe tougher. And no one was here. Hope paused for a moment. This was either for dramatic effect, whoever she was fighting was invisible... or it was a trick. Unfortunately, Hope was already high on adrenaline on top of being an impatient person. She instantly decided that she didn't have time for this bullshit.
"Hellooooo-ooo?!" her muffled voice echoed through the chasm of nothing, bouncing off empty walls as the vault eerily shut and spun behind her.
"Are we gonna fight today?! Helloooo-ooo?! Anyone?! ...Is this some kinda stupid joke or what?!" She spun around as she walked toward the center of the room, more than once, but didn't spot anyone. Lying in the middle of the room was a brick, painted as white as the walls were.
...Seriously? So this was some kind of mind game?
"If you're trying to psyche me out, it's not gonna work! So stop wasting my time, get out here, and fucking fight me!"
It was the only thing in the room, so it was obviously significant. There wouldn't just be one brick and nothing else. Probably a trap. The thing is, Hope didn't really give a damn. Whatever would come would come, and she'd tough it out and smoke'em. So Hope did the reckless thing.
Hope reared back, and kicked the brick.

[rocketrobie2]

As Hope kicked at the brick it went flying but there was no sensation when the brick was hit, much like kicking in the air. Suddenly a voice bore itself into Hope's mind "very accurate and obvious observation. Mind games is the game and minds are the ga- wait. I already said that. Greta now I gotta think of something else to say..." The voice said as it trailed off and became inaudible. Suddenly a huge pain struck itself across the back of Hope from seemingly nowhere although there was no force to the strike. "You know, I've been at this all day. I think I deserve a brake from all the wise cracking for a round." the voice chimed again.

[Corporal Lance]

Hope winced, but her instincts told her to lash out. As soon as the pain registered as a sensation she whipped around with her fist out, giving a spinning backhand and taking a quick step toward the source. Of course, she didn't see anyone there, but she was prepared to make him eat the imaginary brick if he was.

The pain stung her hot like burning coals, but sharper. It's almost like she pulled a muscle or something, but it felt like getting hit instead. Her breath labored through her mask, and the sound of her own breathing brought her to her senses. Hope quickly reached up and flicked on of the nozzles in front of her nose, activating the mask. It was a little harder to breath, but if this was some kind of crazy psycho gas then she had it on lock. Besides, Hope had a plan. That plan unfortunately involved enough tear gas to make Erosion gag, which she didn't have, but it was something close enough. Fuck. Should've invested in some basic damn gear.

"So what, you're the crown prince of cheap shots? Fine. You're not gonna fight fair, neither am I," Hope announced to no one in particular. If he was invisible, he wasn't gonna come straight out and fight her, that was for sure. She wouldn't if he would. But she remembered that bat girl was bruised all over and on a stretcher... sooooo his thing was probably disabling someone somehow and kicking the shit out of them while they were down. Hope could tell what he fought with wasn't natural. She would've felt a thump on her padded vest instead of the stinging of a couple hundred wasps. C'mon... C'mon... think, damnit! She'd get him talking. Then she could find him. That might work.

"Y'know, you can take a break if you want. You can take as long of a break you want when I put you on a stretcher and the docs have to cart you out of here, no big deal. Or you can just give up, that'd hurt a lot less."
Hope might've been taunting, but she half meant it. It wasn't gonna be pretty if she got a hand on him. Most importantly, she wanted him to answer. People answered to taunts. She knew that she would anyway. Alright, thinkin' time. He was invisible, but he had to be in the room. She could attack the room, like an area force wave or something. That'd hurt, though, and she believed that she could only make that work once without getting an aneurysm. Wouldn't do much either. But it might find him, and then she could rush him down.

She began to grow uneasy. Hope could deal with a fight, but just waiting for someone she couldn't see to pop her in the face so she could take a shot at him was torture. It wasn't fair. It was pathetic. Heroes were better than that, a real hero would've let her see him once before playing this stupid game with her. So that's the way it's going to be? Fine. Let's try Plan B. Hesitantly, Hope reached for the pepper spray on her belt. This was gonna huuuuuuurt.

[rocketrobie2]

"Before you do what I think you might do, I feel the obligation to tell you I'm a telepath. Normally people don't think as much as you do and I'd kinda feel guilty if I didn't tell you that before we continued. Also the remark about not being a real hero, that's cold." the voice said within Hope's mind. The world around Hope began to warp now almost as if it was a painting melting away. The colours of the cell swayed back and forth making it pretty difficult to focus on any singular point.

Once more a sudden strike came at Hope this time with force behind it. Though no person could be seen there was defiantly someone there whom had delivered the roundhouse kick.

[Corporal Lance]

As her vision began to warp and distort, Hope drew her pepper spray and entered into a lower and more defensive stance with her fists close to her face. A little bit of panic began to set in. If she couldn't focus, her telekinesis wouldn't want to work right... but then the determination set in. She could focus, and she would wipe the floor with him. Hope was the determined sort, she didn't lose the ability to focus when things started going wrong. It just made her more pissed off and rash to act. Focus? Yeah, she could do that. Focus on kicking this guy's ass! If he was a psychic like her, she'd bet that he had to focus to do what he wanted too. Time to take that away.

Hope stumbled from the strike to the next strike to the back, and lunged backwards to turn towards the strike with her dominant hand. This time, she didn't throw another backhand. Hope held her hand with the pepper spray out, thumb over and palm open.
"You're not the only one who gets to fight dirty!" she growled, making the can in her hand the focal point of her aggression.
This is stupid. This is bullshit. This situation is fucked up, what the fuck kind of fight is this?! Of course this guy beat everyone he fought, this isn't even a real fight! I DO NOT have the GODDAMN patience for this BULLSHIT!!
Hope's thoughts rose to a fever pitch and she directed them toward the can in her hand. If she didn't get to see him, he didn't get to see either!

[Hope attempts to use her Telekinesis to cause the can of pepper spray in her hand to explode into a blinding cloud. Because Hope is angry, she overcompensates and uses 10 POWER to do this.

Because something is exploding in her hand, Hope is likely to take damage from this, but the gloves she's wearing might mitigate some of the damage.]

[rocketrobie2]

The pepper spray can exploded and suddenly the entire visage flickered back to normal for a moment, showing a green clad man with body armour. This was Room a fairly popular hero, not a rookie. After clutching at his face for a moment he put the illusion back up but quickly made the room become very dark. "Geez woman! Not coo- well actually I guess that's fair game. Good move." the telepath said through his thoughts. The hero did nothing else and simply kept the room in darkness, void of all sounds but footsteps.

[Corporal Lance]

Hope recoiled with a yelp at the shock of the metal canister exploding in her hand, mentally chastising herself for how completely stupid she was. The gloves she was wearing were not made for that type of abuse, as evidenced by the freaking metal shards going into her freaking hand. The gas mask protected her eyes and face and she didn't breath in noxious fumes, but her hand lit up with the intense agony of a thousand fire ants burrowing into her skin as the spicy liquid seeped into her open cuts. Naturally, Hope let loose a string of all the swear words she knew while fighting back tears.

The Room. The motherfucking Room. She wasn't too surprised it was him, she should've seen the signs before. That's why he could fight all day. The Room played the long game. He'd wait for you to tire yourself out, whittle you down, and then bounce your head across the floor like the gibbering idiot you were. Maybe it was the searing pain, maybe it was the realization that she was fighting a seasoned hero, but Hope's moral and attitude took a gloomy nosedive. She wasn't going to win. He knew what he was doing, it was his job to put down nobodies like her, and here she was making stupid mistakes and acting rashly like she was the baddest thing on the block. Hope sniffled a little and cradled her agonizing hand closer to her body, putting her other hand up in front of her face for protection. She didn't have a plan anymore. That plan backfired. She was going to blind him, rush him down, and get one of her handcuffs on him so she could maybe see him or pummel his face in but that just wasn't going to happen anymore.

Nope. Nope nope nope nope don't do this to yourself, Hope, don't drag yourself down. You can win this, you're tough. He hurts too, his skin probably burns just as much as yours does. He hasn't hit you yet, he wants you to lash out at him, don't do it. Take your time, play the long game. Let's think about this...

Hope's confidence bounced back fairly quickly, she wasn't one to give up so easily. As Hope began to focus, she listened to the footsteps through the space between her own pained breaths, and even slowed her breathing. Carefully, she began to circle with the sounds of the echoing steps, going wide and outward and keeping her injured hand behind her. And as she circled, Hope began to think again and plan her next move. He was a mind reader, so of course he was reading her mind right now. How would she fight something like that? Would it make it easier for him to mess with her mind if she just stopped thinking, or harder? Hope briefly contemplated rubbing her injured hand across her face to get some of the pepper spray on it so that she could focus on the pain and quit thinking to herself like she was, but thought twice. It was another stupid idea that'd do more harm than good. It's not like she had any training to stop a mental assault, she wasn't that kind of psychic. She didn't even really have anything in common with those types and wouldn't even know where to begin. Should she search her mind for a disturbance or some other kind of Jedi bullshit? Nah, probably not the effort. She didn't think he could put her down without touching her, so she wasn't too worried. Otherwise people wouldn't leave here with bruises, he was mostly a cheap-shot artist. So she had to find a way to fight someone she couldn't see or was hallucinating wasn't there or something since getting him out of her head wasn't happening. "Operation Scorched Earth" where she just let loose with energy all around her would be good, but she didn't want to do that right away if she could find another way to beat him.

Testing him, Hope threw a wave of force in the direction she heard the footsteps, but she didn't mean it. It was a kind-of-hard shove type of force, just to see if he was there. She was working towards her other goal: finding a corner of the room. If she could put her back into a corner, he could only attack her from the front instead of hitting her from behind like a coward. And if he came at her from the front, she'd blow him off his feet.

[Hope uses Telekinesis to send a force wave toward where she heard the footsteps, using 5 POWER.]

[rocketrobie2]

The room flicker once more as The Room came into view for a brief moment before disappearing once more though this also gave Hope a brief view at the actual room, giving her an idea of where she was in it. Something odd to not about the man now was the lacerations on his costume, it appeared that Hope's exploding canister had caused some damage to the hero although not nearly as much done to her. "You know, you have a lot of potential. Of course there no way I'm letting you win this but your defiantly not going down as quickly as the last bunch of new-bloods." the man said through thoughts directly into Hope's mind. Suddenly there was another mental attack, this time being a much more powerful one, making some of her muscles begin to spasm.

[Corporal Lance]

The Room's decision to show himself bolstered Hope's confidence a little. He looked like a bomb went off in his chest. Well... one kinda did... but that wasn't the point she was getting to. He'd been fighting junior heroes all day and she didn't remember him looking as scratched up as he did. She was doing damage to him! She could hurt him, she could win!

...or so she began to think. His compliment was well received until the room went dark again, and Hope felt another shock to her system. Her legs began to cramp up, her abs began to twitch, her arms were shaking. It scared her how she didn't have full control of her body, that someone could invade her mind and do whatever he wanted. But she let her body hurt and contract, pushed her muscles to seize up, and sank to her hands and knees. She embraced the pain, took it all in. She'd focus on it. Hope was determined, he wouldn't be able to play with her mind as easily if she could only focus her willpower, so she turned it on the pain that she was feeling. It was real. It wasn't an illusion. Her hand ached, and Hope ran it under her mask to spread the toxins coating it across her own skin. She gasped and heaved as the thick scent and burning sensation inflamed her nostrils and lit up her face with throbbing misery.

That was it. He couldn't read her mind if she didn't even read her own mind. She could push through the pain if she just shut her brain down and acted on instinct. She slowly began to rise, but only managed to get one foot on the ground and upright, her other knee to the floor.

Let him get close, let him get close to me! Fight fair fight fair fight fair! I'll destroy him, I'll put him on the ground if he'd just. GET. CLOSE...!

[Hope elects to take extra damage from The Room's mental attack, and also chooses to coat her face in pepper spray for damage overtime in attempt to make her mind more difficult to read.]

[rocketrobie2]

"Oh my," the Room said as he took down his illusion temporarily "what are you doing to yourself lady, I appreciate the effort and all but seriously this is a little to much. Doesent that hurt a lot?" The Room asked sounding actually concerned for Hope's well being. "Listen lady, just take a breather here and we can duke this out mono y mono, no powers, no gadgets and just see who wins that way. At least then you don't have to scar your face up just so I can't tell what your doing." The Room suggested as he u clipped his utility belt and dropped it on the floor.

[Corporal Lance]

She'd felt something lift from her shoulders just then, a chewing thought in the mind that up and disappeared from her thoughts. Hope's vision returned, but the pain was very real. She should know. She mostly did it to herself. She fell for The Room's ruse. Did this mean she lost...? No, no it can't be! She didn't lose, she was in control! It was her trap, her ruse! While beaten down, Hope wasn't out yet. She was planning on jumping him when he got closer, but it seemed he was more keen on giving her a sporting chance. Was he... was he pitying her!? What the hell!? She was tough, she could fight! Heroes don't just pack it in and take handouts, they slug it out through the suck and they win anyway because they were better than that! Hope wasn't going to be one to take the easy out, and she wasn't going to fight dirtier than he was. She was going to win this, fair and square.

Legs quivering, Hope staggers to her feet through her soreness and ache. Her face burned, her hand burned, her thighs burned and hurt and screamed at her to just lie down and give it a minute but Hope didn't listen. She was always a bad listener. Gasping for breath and relief through her mask, Hope rolled her neck to either side with sickening pops and motioned toward the bonafide hero.
"Put your belt back on," she spat, more out of exhaustion and choking for oxygen to ease her muscular fatigue than out of any malice. She shook her head wearily,
"'F you were a villain you wouldn't've let me get back up, I'm not gonna take an easy win." Hope shifted her shaky legs apart, taking a more offensive stance.
"'F I'm gonna beat you, I want you to try and take me out. Nobody else got it this easy, don't start with me." Hope began to focus again, her thoughts becoming clear as her breathing began to regulate. Once it started again... it was on. No mercy, full bore. The best defense was an unstoppable offense. Even as she spoke to him, she began to throttle her mental energy, waiting for the signal to let loose and ground him. Her thoughts wavered for a moment. There was concern in there too, not just pity. It was too bad that Hope was too serious to have any herself. Being a hero hurt, suck it up or go home.
"I'll be fine," she answered, "It just burns and hurts, all it's gonna do is make it suck to fight you. I wasn't going to use anything that could mess up anyone's skin, the docs are outside anyway."

[rocketrobie2]

The Room gave a chuckle as he just stood there a moment before picking his belt back up and clipping it back on "you have quite a lot of moxie new blood. Don't know how far that's gonna get ha but I know it'll definatly get you far after this. If, or more accurately, when, you get your hero license come find me and I might be able to give you a head start in the biz." The Room said as once more the facade of a shifting and spinning room filled Hope's mind. "Now then, you said you didn't want me to take it easy on us anymore so I think I'll up the ante then, if ya don't mind." The Room said through mental projection. He waited till Hope was ready to fight before starting his (literally) award winning tactic as Hope's finger froze up. He was using his mind control.
It's common knowledge that The Room only cracked out this power for high stake scenarios as it usually took a while to have it take full control over someone but the effects were still devistating when at even a fraction of its full power.

[Corporal Lance]

"Ha... ha haha, bring it," she chuckled wearily. Hope took a few steps forward, allowing her legs to stretch and shaking out the tightness in her muscles. Her face still hurt, her hand throbbed at her, but she could ignore it at this point. She felt energized. Even if he called her a scrub, The Room, The motherfucking Room... had recognized her natural talent and tenacity. Oh was he gonna learn exactly what that meant. She'd show him the limits of what she was capable of! Hope put one foot in front of the other, prepared to take off with a charge, ready to catch him before he moved, and she took off in a sprint.

At least, a couple steps of a sprint. The room churned and heaved underneath her as soon as she started moving and she had to put in a lot of effort not to drive herself headfirst into the floor. This kind of vertigo was worse than the rest, and she felt herself become nauseous and lightheaded. Focusing on the pain helped, and Hope remembered that he could read her thoughts. The pain would save her this time. She embraced the feelings of discomfort, her dizziness, her aching stomach, throbbing hand, burning face, sore muscles, she took all of it in and kept it on the surface of her mind. Anyone any less determined would've collapsed under the sheer weight of their own instinct to succumb and take the easy way out, to lie on the floor and give up. But not Hope. Overtop the sickening mental layer of pain and discomfort was another pool of thoughts.

Not this time, not today. I can't quit, I've come too far, everything is riding on this. I've given up too much time, too much money, I've wanted this too much to lose. I can't back down, I won't give in! I'm not gonna fail here!

It repeated across her mind like a mantra, and her actions began to reflect instinct. No more plans, no convoluted thoughts, just going through the natural motions. A dog doesn't bite because it weighs its options, it bites because its body tells it that's what it should do. Hope's body told her to protect herself, to remain alert, to resist and attack. Through the twisting and heaving facade, through the inability to move her own body like she wanted to, Hope pushed forward. Her senses revolted and her body had a mind of its own, refusing to move the way that she wanted it too but she still had her spirit. That might not mean anything to anyone else, but it meant that Hope could still fight. As long as she could focus and hold out against the mental onslaught, she wouldn't go down so easily.

The rookie hero closed her eyes and shut out the world around. It was a spinning, topsy-turvy mess anyway. Reflexively she attempted to cross her arms across her body as she always did when attempting levitation, but her body still wouldn't agree with her and let her move. Whatever. Her body wasn't in control anymore, her mind wasn't either. Hope was in control with her spirit, and she'd take back that control. Steadily she began to rise until her shoes kissed the floor for one final time. A little over a foot off the ground she hung, and her arms did cross across her chest eventually. She just had to move them with her thoughts instead of with her muscles. Her vision became clearer, but her eyes were still closed. She took in the pain and discomfort, sucked it all up and ignored it like it wasn't there. Like a fly in the room.

...so is this what 'zen' is like...?

[Hope uses 10 POWER to Levitate herself off the ground. Hope is also attempting to make her thoughts much simpler to increase her focus and make her mind more difficult to read, whether this works or not is debatable.]