Psionic Training?, Psylocke

[Psylocke]

Zeke seemed very embarrassed. He realized his mistake in mentioning his own affairs. Stating it was just a crush was not enough details to satisfy Betsy. She simply raised a brow, waiting for him to finish with all the details. He was shaky and embarrassed that he was telling anyone. A fearful boy whose heart was in the hands of a girl. Elizabeth had that power over several men in the past. It was cute to see young love though.

He went on to explain that the girl was Molly Hayes. Betsy's eyes narrowed. Zeke couldn't have been serious. Molly was a monster of a girl. She CERTAINLY did not need protection from anyone. In fact, everybody needed protection FROM her. When you look at Molly as a powerhouse, however, you forget that she is still just a little girl. Still, it was a very strange potential couple. Betts couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the thought. Zeke seemed so much more of a.... sensitive guy, for a lack of another word. Opposites do attract was all she could think of.

"I don't think protection will be an issue..." she joked. Despite all the joking, Zeke was serious about this. He honestly wanted to protect the 'girl'. Psylocke had seen Molly take out machinery in the Danger Room that some X-Men would have a problem with. She didn't want to touch a nerve with her joking, but she had to know more. She continued to inquire before they went on training, "...Am I correct in assuming she has no idea you feel this way?..." She knew how the game worked. He was completely infatuated with her. His thoughts were always of Molly, yet he was much too afraid of rejection to inform her.

[Zeke Greyson]

"Yes, she doesn't know. Don't tell her, please!" His voice was pleading, not wanting Molly to know.

He didn't want to risk losing his only friend here, and he knew crushes sometimes broke friendships. Part of him wished he hadn't have said anything, wanting nothing more than to make Psylocke forget. He just stood there, his back now turned to her out of both frustration and embarrassment. He folded his arms across his chest, and just sighed heavily, it being a frustrated sigh. He just stood there, wondering if she had enough of her teasing, or if she had only just begun. Finally he turned around, facing Psylocke, his look determined. He wanted his training, he told her who he crushed on, and that was what she asked.

[Psylocke]

It was very cute the way Zeke begged Psylocke not to tell Moly. It went without saying that Betsy wouldn't tell such a thing. "Of course not, I would never push anyone into something when they arnt ready. But you know... You have to tell her sometime.... or you'll never know if anything can happen between the two of you." If no chances are taken, nothing exciting ever happens.

"Come on, let's get back to it. Maybe your newfound skills will be able to impress her." she was still smiling.

Betsy stood up, dusting the first and grass off her rearend. "Now remember to keep proper posture during hand to hand combat. It shows courage. The most important advantage you can have is by guessing what your opponent was going to do next. I used to take advantage of my telepathy in the past by knowing what they would do just before they took action." Betsy stood taller than Zeke, and towered over him.

[Zeke Greyson]

He nodded, and simply watched her stand. She spoke about propure posture in hand-to-hand combat showed courage, but what was the proper posture. Standing before her, he looked up at her, taking note that she was taller than him. She was an adult, and he was only 13, but he knew he'd grow more later in life. He just waited for instruction, his back being straight as he sorta stood at attention. He made no movements, though he did seem to be smiling.

"What's my first exercise?" He eagerly spoke, ready to prove himself.

[Psylocke]

Zeke's general attitude seemed a lot brighter since he got his crush on Molly off his chest. She made a mental note, but didn't say anything afraid to further embarrass him. She wondered if Zeke had ever really been in a fight-one where it could have been life or death. If he stood the way he was in a battle, he would look like a sitting duck.

"To start, you should be on the defensive for now. Your abilities are a defense, so you'll want to use it in between your own physical assault if at all possible." she didn't know if he had the focus at the moment, or energy, to create his barriers to block Psylocke's attacks.

She continued, "When you see the opportunity to hit back, perhaps after an opponent uses one of their stronger attacks which takes more time, you'll want to get your own attack in and make it count. In normal sparring, you don't want every punch and kick to be at full strength, but at full speed. That allows you to conserve your energy so you can use it when you see the opportunity."

Psylocke brought one fist back behind her, and one palm in front of her in fighting stance. "Let us begin."

Psylocke didn't use any of her augmented strength using her telekinesis. She pushed a fist forward, allowing him to block fairly easily without the use of his powers at first. Slowly, she increased her speed of attacks, using a fist and sometimes a kick, just to see how his attention span was.

[Zeke Greyson]

"Gotcha." His reply was simple, wanting to at least prove he had heard her.

When Psylocke's first punch came, he bobbed to the side, making sure it passed by him harmlessly. When her speed started to pick up, so did his movement, and soon he had to rely on his arms to take the damage rather than his body. Suddenly though, blows were getting past his weak defense, and the were connecting with his body, and quickly Zeke knew what hat to happen. Throwing up his barrier, he stood there, watching her carefully, waiting for the right moment. His eyes followed her movement as accurately as they could, which wasn't very accurate considering her movement.

Here goes, I think I got it!

The barrier shattered, though from his own desire, not her damage to it. He quickly went to kick her side, though before he even got close, a punch hit his stomach, hard enough to send him to the ground. Getting frustrated, he slowly rose to his feet, once more taking a defensive stance around her. He tried to keep up with her, though it was increasingly difficult. He refused to go down again, digging his feet into the ground as he continued to try to block against her. He found it truly difficult, but he was willing to prove that he could. He was blocking them, but at the same time, he was getting hit more frequently than blocking them.

[Psylocke]

Zeke was doing rather well, despite having contact with most of the blows. He needed to think a bit more strategic. There were several ways to deal with an incoming blow that Betsy would have to explain to him. Her sparring pace slowed again, which would allow him to block every attack. It was so that she could instruct, while not stopping. If he was able to reply while still blocking, it would show his mind would be able to do two things at once. It was a useful trait as it could be used to formulate any kind of strategy or maybe even an escape plan.

"You're making contact with much too many attacks. Evade when possible, but remember, evasion isn't necessary; only survival is. If you cannot avoid an attack all together, you'll want to try to avoid the blunt of the attack by moving so that the attack doesn't hit key parts of the body, such as your head or abdomen." That was the trick that allowed Psylocke to last so long in a fight. Her acrobatic ninja skills helped avoid the majority of the attacks, but she wasn't afraid of getting hit. Most of the time, she could avoid the blunt of the attack. After she spoke, she increased her speed once again, but not quite so much that he would have to bring up another barrier.

[Zeke Greyson]

Zeke returned to the defense, and simply nodded as she spoke. He was having difficulty focusing on both tasks, but he was forcing himself to stay on the defense. Listening, he began to evade them more than block, and he kept this up. When there was an attack he couldn't avoid, he moved his body, taking blows in a different spot than where she aimed, keeping mind of his vitals. Now came to difficult part, responding to her as he continued this.

"Evade, and when you can't, adjust the target, got it." Though he took a blow to his abdomen when he spoke, he was still keeping it up for the most part.

He wanted to keep this up, at least until he was fully capable of handling himself. He needed to wait for a right time, he needed to find the perfect spot to strike. If he could even land just one blow, he'd have a better chance at improving himself, than if he didn't land any. He just kept up evading as best he could, and adjusting the point of impact from blows he couldn't evade. Sure, it was incredibly difficult, but he wouldn't give up, no matter how terribly he was doing.

[Psylocke]

Psylocke smiled as she saw that Zeke could take direction rather well, especially for such a young lad. For the majority of the blows she was giving him, he was able to avoid either the blunt or the entire attack. In a teamwork situation, Psylocke predicted Zeke could probably never come to the point where he'd be fighting like this. He would be kept safe by more physical and battleworthy X-Men such as Dia Psylocke and Storm. He'd be useful in protecting the innocents by the very nature of his abilities.

In the life as an X-Man, however, one would have to be ready at a seconds notice to be arms deep in a life threateneing situation. It had happened to Betsy and Hank and everyone before... even at Harry's Hideaway, attacks from angry mobs... Anything really. If Zeke were alone at a moment when he had no one to protect him, he could rely on the tidbits of essential information she was providing him to make a get away. His shield combined would be ingenious for perhaps getting an opponent off his back for just long enough to escape.

Psylocke stopped her barrage of attacks with a smile still on her face. She was proud that he was learning, but he was still no where near good enough to get on the offensive with Betsy. Even if he had a head-start, she'd be able to turn the battle back around. With a lifetime of martial arts training thanks to Kwannon, the British girl inside the exotic asian was a powerhouse to be reckoned with.

"I think thats enough for today... Should be plenty to impress Molly." she brought up his little crush again. "Maybe you could pass along my teachings to her next time you see her? It'd be a good conversation starter to say the least. And if you like, we could resume some training again in two days?" she hoped Zeke would jump at the chance to learn more about self defense. An eager mind was much easier to teach than a reluctant one.

[Zeke Greyson]

"It's not enough, I want to learn more. That sword you made, teach me how to make one myself!" He was breathing heavily, the strenuous training catching up to him now that he was relaxing.

He stood there, falling over a bit, his hands resting upon his knees. Sure, he trained a lot back home, but that was for swimming competitions, soccer, and all the various sports he was in. Never before had he trained in this manner with anyone, yet alone someone that had powers similar to his own. He forcefully stood at full height now, and began to relax in his breathing. He needed to calm himself, he needed to push his limits and extend them further. If Psylocke were to become his teacher, he'd have to focus on maintaining his stamina, endurance, and conditioning for longer that he currently could.