strangetrip | [GP] training day

There was a trope that in prison there wasn't much to do except work out or read. As colorful as Madonna Inn might be, it was still a prison. And look, somebody had put together a library.

Put fifty some people, many of them military, adventurers, vigilantes, or superheroes of one stripe or another, in a prison with none of the urgent missions or near-death experiences they were used to, the fitness center was going to be a popular place. Maybe almost as popular as the bar.

... Probably not quite that popular.

There were free weights and weight machines, treadmills and ellipticals, yoga mats and exercise balls. A room set aside for classes, if someone decided to lead. A large square had been taped over an area of the floor off to one side as a make-shift sparring space. Sports equipment had been brought back from Bonesville for those who preferred more organized games. And those who had been stuck here longest remembered there hadn't always been a salmon ladder.

In other words, something for just about everybody. And you could usually find someone in there if you were looking for a spotter, workout buddy, sparring partner, friendly competition too.

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Alec fell flat on his face with a slight groan, but he pushed off, up into the air more like a cat than a human, twisted, and tried to bring his fist down at her face in response.

"Tsk," Kitty spit out as he leaped up. Special abilities in use without informing the sparring partner. Not cool. As his fist came down, Kitty simply stood her ground, phased, and watched him pass right through her. She lunged to put her knee to his back and hold him down.

Down he went and groaned when he made contact. "That is so not fair." He spoke into the mat.

Kitty took advantage and pinned him quickly. "And using your physical enhancements without warning me is?" she quipped, more amused than bothered by it.

"You're the one who told me not to hold back." He still spoke into the mat.

"You always use your abilities on unsuspecting civilians?" She glanced down at him and her gaze lit on a tattoo on the back of his neck. It looked like a barcode. "What are you, special forces?"

Somehow Alec doubted she was a civilian with the moves she had and he was about to answer when her next question came out. "Yeah, I guess you can say that. Special, anyways."

He paused. "Can I get up?" Talking into the mat was getting old.

"Guess it's a good thing I'm 'special', too." It came out halfway between a tease and a rebuke. If she hadn't picked up on his enhancements quickly, she might be in bad shape right now.

She stepped back and let him up, waiting for him to make eye contact before asking, "Genetic, magical, scientifically induced?"

He climbed to his feet and stretched his back, backwards. "What's the difference between genetic and scientifically induced?" A real question because the line there was fuzzy for him.

"None if it was gene therapy, I guess," Kitty allowed. "Mostly, I'm asking whether you were born with it or it's Maybelline." Good grief that was a terrible pun.

Alec didn't understand that reference entirely - Maybelline went out of business when the Pulse happened. He did understand the reference. "Born this way, but let's just say the scientists knew what they were doing when they stirred me up in a tube."

Genetic engineering, then. Kitty nodded, lips thin with anger on his behalf. "And the bar code?" She almost didn't want to know, but she was pretty sure she understood already.

A slight shrug. "Got to keep track of your investments." Not that Manticore could anymore what with Max burning their base down and exposing them.

"Yeah, I figured it was something like that." Like the Hounds. Like Rachel. His attitude made a lot more sense now. It didn't make it much more tolerable, but she'd forgive him things she might not forgive someone else. "I was literally born this way. No scientists involved. Hasn't stopped people from trying to turn us into weapons, property, or tiny piles of ash."

"People are generally assholes." He shrugged a bit. "Especially when it's the government." And the military. Basically any sort of organized thing.

Kitty didn't disagree. How could she? "If they don't want to use you, they want to kill you." She'd been in both situations, more than once.

"From what I gather from your world, life is pretty shit for people who aren't just human, huh? I wonder if there's any world just completely okay with it."

The question shot through her, igniting the memories of people who were okay and those who weren't. She almost told him the story of what had happened in Chicago, but memories of Wyatt and Lara were stronger. She smiled, a little wistfully, and said, "This one's pretty close."

[ooc: fade?]

[GP] training day

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