649/The monkey wants a demonstration

The monkey wants a demonstration
Date of Scene:	22 September 2014
Location:	Urbania
Synopsis:	Ziggy and Dillon ask for an earthbending demonstration from Toph, though it starts off somewhat awkwardly.
Cast of Characters:	20, Ziggy Grover, 549

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Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Stupid SHIELD. Stupid stalkery spies. Stupid lying and ungrounded paranoia.

    Not that it gets to Toph, no way. She... just has been hanging out at home and relaxing. And catching up on her reading lessons, finally. Jarvis had finally been appeased, and she's now caught up on her lessons after the two weeks where she was in no shape to do anything besides struggling with eating and staying awake. Little has happened since Natasha's last attempt at whatever it was she was trying to do, so Toph braved the multiverse with a promise to be careful. While she loves Malibu and living there officially now, she's never been comfortable with being cooped up for long. So she set out for Urbania.

    It might be a big place with places for stalkers to hide, but there are many people here, it's made of earth and metal substances for the most part... and it's a fun place to be. The blind girl marches down the busy streets where most of the shops are, just listening to the life and bustling activity. The air might not be the freshest, but just getting out and about helps so much from being inside most of the weekend. Maybe she should head to the park and do some bending there... And then grab some food! And ice cream! Maybe she should bring something back to Tony and Pepper...

Dillon (549) has posed:
The purple monkey device in the back of the car claps two brass cymbals together as they hit 88 MPH and the black Firebird vanishes from the elevated roads of Corinth, appearing in a gross violation of relativity and synchronicioty on the corresponding high-speed track near Urbania. What did they call it, a "fee-way?" It takes a few minutes to find a ramp and get down to the city proper and Dillon smiles as they pull up into a gas station. He's got the appropriate currency this time, and they have GOOD high-octane gas here.

"OK, Zig, let Doctor K know we're ready to start looking," he says as he feeds the thirsty fuel tanks.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
Dr. K's perusal of various personnel files in looking for ways to deal with Venjix usually produced a good amount of ribbing from among the Power Rangers, as she'd taken, lately, to foregoing her usual lab coat and awkward school-girl uniform outfit for pajamas and fuzzy slippers in her near-relentless studying. As she put it, it was far more convenient for her to not change clothes when she was busy studying, and she had a special spray to cut the odiferous scents from not having to change so often...

Summer's occasional enforcement of the shower rules notwithstanding, Dr. K's behavior had basically caught up long enough to have Ziggy keep a respectful enough distance as she studied.

"What's got you so interested, Doc?" Ziggy inquires, as he looks through things.

"Bending," Dr. K responds as she taptaps at the keyboard. "I suspect the energy involved may be related to the universal biofield that your suits tap into."

"Bending?" Flexing, Ziggy notes, "I can bend pretty well."

"Not that sort. Look..."

On the screen was Toph Beifong.

"Oh her. I've met her."

"Good. See if you can get scans on her. I'd like more information myself. Take Dillon with you."

"Wait, what? Dillon...? Doc, I don't know if that's a good idea, I've met her and..."

"Take him with you. I'm curious to ese what she makes of him. Especially if she's a metalbender..."

And so now, Ziggy is sitting there, in Dillon's Firebird, considering just how to break the news to Dillon about why he was along for the ride. He -miiiiight- have left out a few tiny teensy weensy significant details when explaining all this, but he figured 'GAS' would be sufficient enough. "Okay. Anyway, after we fill up, let's call and..."

There's a look towards the street. A whap of Dillon's shoulder. "Nevermind, she's here."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Indeed, Toph Beifong is here. The blind girl might stand out in her current outfit, yellow and green clothes that are clearly not western. Besides, she's walking around with /bare feet/. And she doesn't seem to either care or notice if people are looking at her as she marches into the gas station and walks up to the counter, speaking with the clerk there. And it should be pretty clear what her goal was as she exits shortly after with two hot dogs, already busily eating one as she walks back towards the road. And this time passing just by the Firebird.

Dillon (549) has posed:
"Wait. You came along because you wanted to have a date with a cute girl?" Dillon smirks, observing the target of Ziggy's excited gaze. "My sidekick is growing up. Do we need to have the talk?"

He finishes with the gasoline and the payment and clicks the cap back into place, and wonders if he should bring up that Doctor K has been torturing Ziggy just like all nerd girls torture their intended boyfriends. Nah. Let him learn that on his own. It's more fun to watch. Maybe a betting pool with the other Rangers...

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Do I look like a cradle-robber to you, Dillon?" Ziggy asks indignantly, a finger pointing at his scowling face. "She's what, all of thirteen? If you're going to have the talk, have it with Dr. K. I'll bet you she doesn't know -anything- about the real world out there. She probably thinks babies were brought by the stork... and I don't care if she already knows how reproduction works and how hormones work, DOING is a whole other thing than..." He pauses, considering how Dr. K. might be studying that sort of thing, and shudders. "Oh god, no... that's worse than a cat in a ceiling watching your every move. ANYWAY!"

With that, Ziggy turns, walking away and approaching Toph. "Toph! Hey Toph! Glad to see you're doing well! Not hurting anymore, right?" He can't help it, though, with these little short people, he just -has- to do it... and he does try and do it, reaching out to ruffle the short young girl.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The moment Ziggy speaks up the blind girl blinks. All before she grins and raises one of her hands, still holding the hot dog. "Hey, Zig Zag!" she greets him. "Long time no see!" She hasn't met him since she was at medical after her whole spirit ordeal thing. As for how she's doing? She certainly doesn't look injured or hurting. "Why should I be hurting? I haven't done any missions for some days now, mostly been trying to catch up on my damn reading and writing lessons." Apparently that is something she does not like as she sighs heavily and then stuffs her mouth full with hot dog before she chews away. And decides to continue talking.

    "Sho whoos yah buddeh?" Don't mind the spitting and the crumbs. They are easily wiped off anyway. Even if Toph isn't facing Dillon doesn't mind she hasn't noticed him.

Dillon (549) has posed:
Dillon leans against the Firebird, since nobody is waiting to fill up, and watches the girl as she moves to approximately face Zig. She's barefoot, which is not usually good on urban streets with their fine layers of grease, broken glass, metal bits from cars, not to mention the way asphalt will get hot and stick to skin like something that wants to be napalm ... but she's not bleeding or limping, so her feet must be seriously tough. She's moving differently than most. Clearly aware of her surroundings, but not actually LOOKING at things, and he zooms in on her eyes. Huh. That's ... messed up, is what that is.

"Hey. I'm Dillon. Ziggy's my Zord partner," he says. He moves the car to a parking space and walks over, but doesn't offer to shake hands. Her hands are full and/or sticky.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The hair ruffling earns a blink and a grumble from Toph, though she doesn't seem to want to retaliate just yet. Sure, she might be a kid, but she's not that kind of kid! Few people are allowed to ruffle her hair and get away with it.

    When Dillon introduces himself though, she can't help but look curious. "What is a Zord?" But she waits with further questions until Ziggy can respond.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
At least Ziggy wasn't withdrawing a bloody stump from the ruffle. Emboldened, the erstwhile Power Ranger turns back towards Dillon. "This is Toph Beifong. She's one of these benders.

There was a brief pause as Ziggy considers how to break it to Dillon and Toph, before...

"Oh, a zord! The zords are what Dr. K developed as a way to fight Venjix and his really big monsters. They're vehicles that tap into the universal biofield to help us fight. They combine to form a megazord... a giant robot.

Running a hand through his hair, Ziggy coughs. "Speaking of the universal biofield, Dr. K wanted to see if you'd be willing to demonstrate some of your bending for us to see if it related to the universal biofield. A few tests of your bending..." He hesitates, before jerking a thumb at Dillon. "On him." There. Now the unspoken agenda comes out. And yes, Ziggy is already stepping behind Toph as a means of protection from Dillonface. The one that looks like clenched jaw accompanied by a 'Dammit, Ziggy' look.

Dillon (549) has posed:
Yes, that expression that Dillon is wearing even at this moment. The one that says "you're riding home in the trunk, green boy."

Actually, Dillon has been expecting this. He was there when she was going off about 'bending is control of classical elemental through internal martial arts and cannot work within the standard model, but the expanded meta-standard model allows ... ' and 'analogous energy matrix' and 'translational multidimensional equivalency classes' ... and he's not going to pretend to understand what that means. He's disturbed that he's starting to 'get' the universal biofield thing.

"Hello, Toph Beifong. Let me guess, earth bending?"

People mistake Dillon for stupid. He's not. He's happy to let them do that, if they want. She's barefoot, blind, and doesn't lift her feet off the ground. Kind of a clue.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    When Ziggy introduces her, Toph raises her hand again with a nod of her head. The greatest earthbender of all time present. Though she can't help but blink slightly as she seems to notice something. What's up with Ziggy all of a sudden? Is he... nervous?

    So Zords are large robot things to fight monsters? It kind of reminds her of the Jaegers and the Kaiju, not that she has spent much time around them. She has no clue what this universal biofield is either, but she does look curious when she hears that somebody wants a demonstration of her bending. At least until Ziggy jerks his thumb towards Dillon. The blind girl blinks and even halts her chewing, some ketchup and mustard around her mouth even as Ziggy moves behind her as if hiding from Dillon's wrath.

    But it's not from his partner that the worst attack comes.

    Without warning Toph moves, her elbow moving to slam into Ziggy's abdomen unless he's quick enough to dodge it. "What the CRUD is wrong with you?!" she demands, her expression serious as she turns to /glare/ in his direction. Or rather at his chest, considering her shorter height. "Now I'm wondering if /you/ are the ones with screws loose in your head!" Is... she angry? It might look that way.

    Still holding the half eaten hot dog, she points towards Dillon. "Just because I can do it doesn't make it right to do so! What /dunderhead/ came up with this idea anyway?!" she demands.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
Doubling over with the elbow to the midsection, Ziggy falls down to one knee, wincing. Girl packed a -whallop-. "It... you know, Doctor K's supposed to be a prodigy scientist, but sometimes, I think, she forgets she's -younger- than us..." Ziggy manages to squeak out, before waving a hand at Dillon. "You tell her."

Dillon (549) has posed:
"Which idea?" Dillon asks, levelly. He's got this weird feeling that girl might be stronger than him, or at least that she could wreck him. It's not a comfortable sensation, but he's been forced to realize that there are things out there smaller than him that can mess him up. Tenaya 7, for one.

"Wait, if the Doc wants to know whether this 'bending' thing works like the bio-field? That might explain the changes she made to the Move-it Monkey."

Back in Corinth, it's fortunate that the 'transmit' switch is firmly locked in the 'OFF' position as a cranky, under-slept Dr. K yells, "IT IS NOT A MOVE-IT MONKEY! That is a Dimensional Transition Generator! NOT A MONKEY!" (It's a purple monkey-faced shell that usually looks like See No Evil, around a ridiculously complicated circuit that resists all analysis. It has additional scanners recently added, in the form of the brass cymbals that it clapped earlier.)

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    What idea? "The freakin' idea to bend metal that's inside somebody, dunderhead!" Toph snorts, then takes a bite of her hot dog. Just what the hell is going on? Surely SHIELD can't be behind this, can they? Then again, she doesn't trust that lying two faced lady one bit, not after what she tried to pull. No. This is not good. Besides, even if SHIELD is not involved for some reason, the answer will still be the same.

    Toph finishes chewing the food in her mouth, her expression stern. "In case you geniuses didn't figure it out," she begins, her tone clearly sarcastic, "the answer is no. I can show what I am able to do on inanimate objects though if you want a demonstration." Ziggy isn't a bad guy, but seriously... asking her to bend a /person/? That's just fucked up.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Huh?" was Ziggy's brilliant response, as he looks back at Dillon, then at Toph. "Wait, wuh ... what? Who said... how... what?"

His hands go up animatedly, waving frantically. "What're you talking about? Pulling metal out of him? I mean, like, use him as a -target-. Not pulling stuff out of him. Ew, I might add. That's kind of a bit too intimate. Shoot rocks at him, throw things at him..."

Poking at his comm device, Ziggy calls, "Doc? Doc? You meant to throw things at Dillon, right? Use him as target practice because he's a cyborg?"

There was a brief noise of silence, one that was dangerous because it meant Dr. K was -thinking-.

"Doc? Don't tell me you're thinking about doing it to his cybernetics."

"..."

Dillon (549) has posed:
"Uh, no. No no no. Do not mess with my insides. Bad idea." Dillon doesn't exactly 'sweat' because his bodily responses have been regulated not to do that when it's not required for cooling, but his heart rate jumps from 60 to 70 with alarm.

"Hey, Toph," and Dillon struggles not to call her 'kid' because that would be a bad idea, "I don't need you to mess with my insides. Doctor K just needs to see how it works. She's got a scanner in my car watching us."

He wonders if he should go into Ranger mode for this. It might be safer.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Toph snorts and turns her head slightly towards Dillon. "I'm /not/ going to mess with your insides, believe me. I'm one of the good guys," she states with absolute confidence as she finishes her first hot dog. No, the Union would not approve of harming people like that. Especially not people who are most likely allies. Ziggy is in the Union, so that means Dillon is as well, right?

    "If you wanted a demonstration of my bending in general, you wouldn't have specified that I should do it /on him/," she points out. At least it looks like she's calming down. But hey, Dillon asked her if she was an earth bender, didn't he?

    "I'm the greatest earthbender there is." By the sound of it, she's completely convinced of this. "For ages they said that bending metal was impossible and that no earthbender could do it. I invented it when I was twelve." Just when did this guy get a metal skeleton anyway?

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Doc!"

"Um, yes, just do your bending and Dillon will record," Dr. K responds distracted, keyboard tapping.

"So... you do experiments on him. He's the ideal test subject," Ziggy expands, holding up a finger. "Doesn't get cold, doesn't need much air, can take a licking and keep on ticking. That's what makes him perfect..."

Looking back at Dillon, Ziggy winces. "Better you than me. I'm not standing in front of a cannon the way you can. I'll..." His hands motion to the car. "I'll get the scanner for you."

Dillon (549) has posed:
"Wait, is this going to be another refrigerator thing?" Dillon says, and now you can hear a bit of stress in his voice. "Let's do this slowly, OK? First, leave the monkey in the car. The Doc put it there. Second, I don't think we should be doing this at a GAS STATION because the underground tank of fuel. Third, can we start small?"

Normally, you can't get nearly this much talk out of Dillon, but threatening him with being an experimental target? That works.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Toph sighs a bit, then takes a large bite of her remaining hot dog and gestures for the two of them to follow her. The park is nearby after all. "We can start small," she agrees, not finding this to be a problem at all. "I can show you earthbending first and then metalbending if that's okay."

    She'll let the two guys sort out the monkey thing as she begins walking ahead and eat her hot dog. Man, some people are just so weird...

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Great, thank you!" Ziggy calls out as he pulls out the equipment. That it looked like a portable box and a familiar-looking giant sonic gun was just coincidence, Dillon, honest. Mostly, Dr. K had a rather... unique fashion design, as her design layouts indicated a great deal of arrested development, which was why just about everything she made looked like they were designed by a ten years old with access to the ten basic crayola colors.

Then again, considering Gem and Gemma, it was probably likely -all- of the kids from the Alphabet Soup were just like that...

"Um... okay, Dillon, I'm totally not touching the monkey. I don't even want to touch the monkey. Only Dillon gets to touch the monkey," Ziggy drones, his head bobbing from side to side with every other word. "Do we need to get you anything else, Toph? Food, water... lollipop?" Dillon doesn't need anything.

Dillon (549) has posed:
Dillon's not gonna leave the Firebird sitting at a gas station out of sight. That would be like leaving a kindergarten full of children outside the city walls for the grinder patrols to munch on. Seriously, EXACTLY like that.

Dillon waits for Ziggy to unpack that stuff and then drives the Firebird to the park, letting Zig haul the other parts of the scanning equipment. Dillon has learned that Ziggy brings his own punishment down on his head. It's really almost too easy.

Once at the park he walks over to where Toph is waiting, and lets Ziggy catch up.

"Nice park," he says casually to the blind girl.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Nah, I'm fine. Gonna grab some ice cream later," Toph says, tempted to roll her eyes when he continues treating her like she's a kid who needs treats in order to do something.

    Still, she ignores it as they get to the park. Once Dillon has parked the car and gotten the monkey ready, Toph stretches a bit. "OKAY. Bending. It's something that is native to my world, and not everybody can do it. Neither of my parents are benders, though there were some of them a few generations back it seems. It's genetic it seems, as you can't suddenly bend an element that your ancestors haven't bended" She moves her hand and gestures towards the earth next to her, and suddenly a small spike shoots up into the air and towards Toph's hand, and she grabs the spike, tearing it off and lets the piece break down into sand and dust that sprinkles through her fingers. "You generally learn bending from a young age, and usually it takes many years to master an element."

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Okay!" Ziggy exclaims, arms full of things. "We're..."

Mouth agape, Ziggy turns as the Firebird roars to life and moves... over there. "Oh. Okay. So we're going over there now..." Shouldering the gear, and tucking them under his arms, Ziggy makes his way over.

Ten minutes lafter, he's just managed to catch up and is hurriedly setting up the equipment as Toph launches into her explanation, fumbling and aiming the scannergun at Dillon, while setting the box and a dish up, aimed towards Toph. "Hold on... lemme make sure I got this right."

Please, lord, don't let Ziggy have grabbed Dr. K's sonic gun instead.

Dillon (549) has posed:
Dillon does not laugh overtly. He saves it for later when he replays the monitor video for the other Rangers. Besides, he's staring at that weird thing that the ground just did. Vibration patterns? His cyber-boosted hearing and eyesight definitely caught some harmonics that shouldn't have happened, but there is NO way that explains how she just ... she flexed her left little TOE when she did that thing with her hand and the subsonic was LOUD... this makes no sense. OK, Doc, you might be right. This is worth looking into.

"That's ... OK. I'm gonna morph into my Ranger form so the Doc can check stuff," Dillon says. He does a kind of silly-looking thing where he slams a small cartridge into the bracer on his left wrist, and then does a gear-shift movement, calling out, "RPM! Get In GEAR!" and there's some sensory chaff as a sleek, shining black zentai suit appears on his body, and a helmet with wolf-pup ears rezzes into place on his head.

"You can project that as a weapon, right? Toss something at me about medium-hard, please," Dillon says, not stopping to think about what 'medium hard' might mean.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Toph lets the rest of the sand fall to the ground, and she does look curious when Dillon talks about Ranger form... Though she can feel how there's suddenly something different there, she can't exactly see it. Then again, both Ziggy and Dillon seem a bit strange. Not that she minds as long as they don't do anything stupid or messes with her friends.

    "Fighting is one of my favourite uses of bending, yeah," Toph nods with a slight grin on her face. "I am the local earthbending champion where I come from, and I haven't met an earthbender who can beat me yet." Nor geomancer for that matter. When he asks her to attack him though? That makes her chuckle. "Don't come whining later, buddy!"

    It all happens within moments as Toph shifts, her right foot raised before she slams it into the ground, and a spike rises up in front of her from the ground. At the same time she has moved her arms into a defensive stance, though she strikes out with her right hand, and in response a fist sized rock shoots out at Dillon. While it isn't as hard or as fast as she could make it, it's still not a weak attack. If it hits a sensitive spot, he will most likely feel it. But it's clear she's not out to harm him either.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
The prevailing theory was that bending was a form of accessing the bioelectric field that every being used. It might well have been different for how benders had the ability while non-benders didn't. Certainly, the Power Rangers used them to fuel their weapons, suits that were made of an alloy that was NOT SPANDEX, and zords.

Whatever readings Toph gets would be recorded for analysis, and so Ziggy just sits on a bench, making sure to NOT TOUCH ANYTHING after setting it up lest he bring the wrath of Dr K on his head.

"Ooo, that's going to hurt," Ziggy replies, mouth agape as his hands shifts into a cringe-worthy position.

Dillon (549) has posed:
Dillon isn't quite prepared for the rock to come at 165MPH. He should've been. The foot slamming down, that completely fuzzes out the area with subsonics that he can almost FEEL... well, in his bones, to be precise. The rock hits his right arm, because that's the defensive position he's chosen, and while Dillon's style allows him to ignore many kinds of attack, he gets the feeling that this strike would hit harder than usual, more like his sparring sessions with Ranger Red ... yeah. There's some definite biomorphic kind of thing here. He does a position-shift that deflects the rock back down into the ground.

"That's pretty impressive. Hey, Doc, do you need more?"

Doctor K looks up from her readings, and answers over the comm, which makes it audible for a short distance around Dillon, Ziggy, and the Purple Monkey, which is relaying the data.

"Yes, Ranger Series Operator Black. Ask for a rock the size of your head. You may choose to use the defensive shield later in this exercise."

Dillon shakes his head ever so slightly. This is DEFINITELY going to be like the refrigerator blasters.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    ... /that/ is the Doc? The voice makes Toph blink and arch an eyebrow. "Does she hate you or something?" the blind girl asks, then shrugs. Dillon doesn't seem like a weakling, and if he could handle the first rock she trusts he can handle more. She's not about to try to seriously hurt him, after all!

    The earthbending master sets her feet apart, and she moves her hands down. The ground in front of her moves upwards, and a not too dense ball of earth floats upwards. "Get ready!" she warns him as she sets her right foot back and then punches out again, the floating ball of earth now flying towards Dillon's torso!

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"The Doc... she's younger than we are, older than you are. We've never really pinned her down, mostly because she goes back to her lab. Her people skills could use some work," Ziggy responds, after turning off -his- comm device. "She's just hard on everyone."

After a moment, Ziggy shakes his head, making a no gesture with his arms. "Nah, she's harder on herself most of all, so she figures if -she- can deal with it, -we- can. Ask Dillon about the refrigerator sometimes."

The device beeps, the monkey capers, and Ziggy whistles. "Must be registering something fierce," he says, mostly to himself.

Dillon (549) has posed:
"Of course I don't hate them," Doctor K says, in an almost emotionless voice. She DID hear Ziggy since Dillon's transceiver is still on. "Mostly. I simply require them to be as competent as their potential allows. Our survival depends on it."

The ball of soft earth isn't terribly hard, but the charge of energy holding it together is larger, and the imparted energy as Dillon attempts to block it, and it explodes against him, sends him backwards; he spins twice, and his boots make 'vroom vroom!' noises as he dissipates the strike. Normally he'd use it to beat up six or seven enemies, but this park, unlike every other park Dillon remembers, is somehow free of humanoid robotic murder machines. It's kind of uncanny in that regard.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Most people don't ask me to throw big attacks at their buddies," Toph points out. "Though I figure you guys can handle it, I don't want to go all out either until I'm sure you're tough enough. Earthbending isn't for sissies," she states. No, if they want gentle bending, then they better go find a waterbender.

    Dillon seems to spin a bit, though he doesn't seem to be injured. Good. So she nods and reaches into her pocket, pulling out a few coins. "Now... if you want to see metalbending...!" She throws the coins up into the air, a focused look on her face... and then she strikes out with both hands, fingers spread... and the coins all head towards Dillon! They are small and not all that dangerous, but the force that they fly at him ought to leave a few bruises if they hit.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Ranger Black's better equipped for it than I am," Ziggy notes. "His suit has a five seconds invulnerability shield built into it. Why -he- gets it and the rest of us get other things, I don't know... he's probably the one who needs it least."

Squinting, Ziggy watches the coins flip in the air... before they zip towards Dillon. The equipment was reading something quite differently... a finer sense of control, apparently, involved in the field. Rather like the precision manipulations Summer uses rather than the jagged spikes of energy that Ziggy had in -his- use of the biofield. Which, generally, fit in with the theory that Summer just had better mental aptitude than Ziggy.

Then again, snails had more mental aptitude, as Dr. K would say.

Dillon (549) has posed:
It's Not Spandex, and that's very much something Dillon is glad about. His normal method of dealing with bullets - and these things feel and act a bit like non-lethal bullets - is to avoid or to deflect them, but Dr. K tells him in a direct text that talks in his brain, to just brace and let them hit. Sure. Thanks. SO MUCH THANK YOU ... they hurt. But the impacts are spread a bit by the Ranger uniform and that allows Dr. K to analyze the energy moving them. There will be brief bruises, but the cybernetics will repair that quickly enough

"Thank you for your assistance, Miss Beiphong," Dr. K says over the ranger's 'speakers'. "I would like to test once more with a potentially more damaging attack. Could you propel a silicate sphere of approximately fifty-five centimeters -- that would be the diameter of Ranger Green's cranium -- at Ranger Black, with as much force as you would normally use to finish a combat? Ranger Black, I want you to employ the shield."

Dillon sighs, once. He gets into a defensive stance, left arm forward, and waits for Toph to fling the Arkenstone at him.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The mention of the shield does make Toph relax a bit. "Oh? That sure sounds handy! I guess you can't use it all the time, though...?" she asks, keeping her voice low since she assumes that he doesn't want to spill all his secrets, not even to an ally. Who could be potentially dangerous to him according to a certain organization.

    Stupid SHIELD.

    If it wasn't for the shield, then Toph would have refused to go along with that request. But she can imagine that they want to test just how they are able to stand up to the forces of the multiverse. So she nods. "All right." If Dillon has some solid defenses, then he should be able to handle a serious attack. So Toph brings her arms to her sides, fingers spread as she concentrates on creating yet another ball of earth. Her expression is serious, and she takes a deep breath. And once Dillon shows that he is ready, she begins counting down.

    "3."

    She digs her heels into the ground and brings her arms back to her right side.

    "2."

    Focus on his stance.... aim for his chest again, not his head.

    "1....!"

    With practiced ease Toph throws both hands forward in a split palm attack, and the large rock flies forward with far more force than the previous attacks.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
There's a look on Ziggy's face that practically demonstrates the hamster wheel spinning as the rodent processes the size of 55 centimeters, before going "HEY! Are you saying I have a small head?!"

Whatever answer Dr. K has is lost as the rock whooshes forward with great force, and Ziggy holds his breath. Dillon had better had his timing right for that five seconds barrier...

Dillon (549) has posed:
Dillon manages to make the shield. YAY! It might be noted that the first few times Ziggy teleported, he did things like leaving his clothes behind, teleporting into the rafters, etc. Dillon had his own failure mode. The shield either didn't appear at all, or it failed because of his lack of concentration or belief. Mostly belief. Why that would have anything to do with it, Dillon isn't really sure.

Just before it strikes the Ranger, a glowing blue disk of light appears to intercept it. The rock impacts with a force comparable to a mortar shell, and the shield absorbs all the kinetic force, causing a pile of pebbles to fall in front of him, and then the shield vanishes and Dillon steps backwards, and shakes his head. A second later, he flashes with light and just-plain-Dillon is standing there instead. He shakes his head again.

"That was intense. Doc, I hope you got all that," he says, and there's a happy crooning wordless noise sounding something like Rachmanniof's Fifth as she ignores words in favor of the higher mathematics.

"Huh. I think she got it," Dillon says. "OK, I 'm drained."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    When the rock hits the shield and shatters into pebbles and dust, Toph lets out a low whistle. "Man, that's one hell of a shield..." she muses, falling out of her stance as she steps forward. From what she can tell he didn't even feel that strike. That would be rather useful in battle, and Dillon might be able to fill a defender role really nicely if he's as tough as he seems. Heh, the little girl can appreciate more tough people. And even if he says he's drained, Dillon might have to take a punch to his arm as Toph /grins/.

    "We should all go for a sparring session sometime at Njorun station!" Why not? It would be good training for them. And not to mention fun getting to see what they can all do and prepare for missions out in the field!

Ziggy Grover has posed:
Clapping his hands as Dillon deals with the onslaught nicely, Ziggy pauses, considering the notion of being on the other end of -that-. Uh... He's not saying a word, something rather unusual for the normally garrulous Ranger. Just packing up the things quickly, and offering only a sickly smile and nod.

Dr. K, on the other hand... "That would be much appreciated, Ms. Beifong. Be sure that Ranger Green is in attendance. He's been truant lately to training sessions. Also, as soon as the analysis is completed, I will have a copy sent to you, as thanks for your assistance. If there is anything else we can do for you, do not hesitate to ask."

Dillon (549) has posed:
"Sounds good to me," Dillon says, hunkering down on his knees a bit. The 'drain' was interesting - each of the strikes he dealt with was bled into the biomorphic field, as usual, but instead of building up power like fighting grinders did, they depleted his energy a bit. Creating the shield and then dissipating the energy instead of redirecting it, burned right through his built-up power. That ... might be interesting dealing with a Venjix war-bot.

"You said something about ice cream? I could use something like that right now," Dillon says hopefully. He'll have to get the address and drive there, of course, unless it's right here. Because, once again. One does not just leave one's precious baby in an unguarded parking lot.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    When she's offered the analysis of this little experiment, Toph shrugs. "The Union might be interested. Send it to Major Tony Stark instead, he will know what to do with it," she suggests. Nah, she's not into science, nor is she a brainiac. She's just a simple girl who likes bending and fighting. "You could always pay for my ice cream in return for the demonstration." Because all benders need ice cream. And Power Rangers too, she guesses. "Come on, there's this awesome place right down the street!" Again she takes charge, ready to show them the way. "I want three scoops on mine! With extra toppings!"

    Because awesome bending doesn't come cheap.