Show Me What'cha Got Kid (Axelle)

[Vincent Romanov]

Vincent wasn't allowed to interfere with student's power training at school, but after hours he was a free man to do as he wished. Vincent had taking a liking to one student in particular, Axelle Flint. It wasn't uncommon for Vincent to take a personal interest in a student or two as he was always amazed a the powers some of these kids wielded. Axelle interested in because she was nearly indestructible and wielded immense strength. Her body size wasn't massive or hulking as some students who have similar powers, she was skinny with a slight athletic build and wasn't very tall either. She looked rather weak to be honest and that was perhaps her greatest power right there. Vincent often feigned being hurt and flailed around when being hit, giving his opponent the idea they were winning but in reality all they were doing was feeding Vincent what he needed. Axelle wasn't much different in the fact that she could withstand the punishment dealt to her and get up without a scratch.

Vincent often came down to the local gym on weekends and trained some of the kids in town who wished to learn how to box. Sure, some questioned his reasoning in teaching the street kids how to fight, but Vincent didn't see it as teaching violence, but rather teaching these kids a strict discipline. Boxing demanding seriousness and it kept the kids focused on something else besides drugs and gangs. It wasn't much, but at least he was trying to do something to change things.

Dressed in a pair of grey sweats with tennis shoes and a black tank top, Vincent stood besides the boxing ring. He stretched a bit, as if he really needed to, but it was something to pass the time. His gym bag sat next to him on the floor containing various gym things. Vincent was a simple man and didn't pretend to be something he wasn't. He was waiting on Axelle because she had mentioned her love or boxing as well. Given her ability, it was near impossible for her to find someone who was a challenge. Vincent had the same problem and was rather eager to get into the ring with someone who could stand toe to toe with him.....in a way.

[Axelle Flint]

Axelle was happy to have a sparing buddy. She very clearly remembered her (literal) run in with Vincent while she'd still been at school, and even though she was certain to step into the gym there every now and again, he gave her something much better to spar against, an actual opponent. She was a bit nervous though, she had never sparred with anyone before really (except that one super regrettable attempt with Lucas) and was worried, not so much about not hurting Vince, but being able to spar at all. She’d only ever hit a punching bag that was so mounted and weighted down that it hardly moved when she hit it. Maybe she'd be shit at dodging? She supposed the good news was that she could go to Corbin and he could kiss said bruises better...that was actually heartening.

She entered the gym already in her gym clothes, her bike hooked up to the posts outside. She spotted Vince and headed over to him. "Hey! Thanks again for the offer, it was really nice of ya!" she chirped as she set her bag on a nearby bench, amid the stares of men and women who were much larger than her both in height and width, but what they didn't know wouln't hurt them. Which of course was the fact that Axelle could pick them up and toss them quite far without hurting herself in the least. She opened her bag and started wrapping her hands the way she had a hundred times and more during her years at Hammel. "Okay so, gotta be honest, I don't usually box with people, so I might be legit shit at dodging, so keep that in mind before you lay me out," she explained light heartedly. She was pretty sure that if Vince landed a hit he COULD hurt her. He’d briefly explained his powers all those months ago the first time she'd run into him; mostly because he'd swelled up like a friggin’ puffer fish.

It hadn’t been an unpleasant sight, she liked muscles well enough, but it had still thrown her off quite a bit.

[Vincent Romanov]

Vincent chuckled at the sight of the sprite who bounced through the doors and over toward him. Axelle had this light charm about her. She seemed happy, like way too much so. That didn't bother Vincent, in fact he rather enjoyed it. Too many people took themselves seriously and it was nice to see someone who was just living and enjoying the moment they were living in. Axelle sort of reminded Vincent of his sister just a little. Nat was always so bubbly and happy. Growing up, Vincent was the victim of countless practical joke onslaughts. Hopefully, Axelle would be different in that department or at least have different victims beside Vincent in mind.

Rolling his shoulders, Vincent scanned the room out of habit. The other people there were either too busy in their own exercises to notice Axelle or they were smiling at the site of the sprite walking up to the giant. Axelle seemed at home in the gym and that was good, it meant Vincent wouldn't have to coddle her self esteem any. "Given you skill set, I don't think dodging is something we have to worry about," he said with a chuckle, "You've already fought a car and walked away. Not many people out there stronger than a car," he added with another hearty laugh. Vincent was a loud guy, he came out of the Army after all.

Positioning himself to stand sort of toe to toe with Axelle, Vincent looked down at her. This was going to be interesting to say the least. "You won't be doing any boxing with me per say....Not just yet. I want to see what you know, how you move," he said casually, sort of falling into the roll of teacher rather easily. This wasn't Vincent's first rodeo. With a sigh he climbed up onto the side of the ring and pulled the ropes apart, jerking his head to the side to indicate he wanted Axelle to get in the ring. "Get in and let loose kid. Let's see if you got enough to move an old man," he said teasingly.

[Axelle Flint]

"Thaaaaaat's a good point," Axelle drawled thoughtfully, having completely forgotten about that particular event, mostly because it was extremely embarrassing and terrible to remember. She finished wrapping her hands and grabbed her gloves, refraining from putting them on at the moment. She looked up at him unflinchingly when he put himself toe-to-toe with her and blinked a few times before she smiled again. "Okay, no problem. I've mostly been on my own while training once they figured out how heavy to make the sandbag so it'll be nice to have a coach," she said truthfully as she watched him pull the ropes apart and motion for her to get in the ring.

She licked her lips thoughtfully, sucked her lower lip between her teeth for a fraction of a second and then, with all the grace of a flailing octopus out of water, dove for the ropes, tripped over the bottom one and rolled a few times into the middle of the ring among some curious stares, mirthful laughter and pitying looks. Axelle sat up quickly and hopped to her feet without a considerable amount of effort but lost her balance again and plopped down on her butt. She distinctly heard a scoff that time. Clearing her throat she decided to just push herself up this time and obviously kept her balance better. She bounced a few times to get a feel for the ring, adjusting her balance accordingly since she was more used to concrete floors in gyms than a nice ring. She looked over at Vincent and tilted her head curiously.

"Ya just want me to go through the motions then?" she asked for some clarification. There wasn’t a bag set up and that would have taken effort and a normal bag just wouldn’t hold up. She got a go-ahead type nod from Vincent and fell into her stance easily. She started slowly, working through her usual routine, it was a bit more difficult without a bag to wail on but she’d done the movements so many times it didn’t matter if one was there or not. When she neared the end she slowed down again, finally bringing herself to a stop with her arms up in the position she had started in. Oblivious to everyone else she turned to Vincent with a serious look. “How was that? I know it’s nowhere near perfect, it was mostly just for ya know…stuff…” she suddenly looked a bit self-conscious. She didn’t make a habit of hitting things in front of people…they got nervous.

[Vincent Romanov]

Vincent couldn't help but chuckle as he watched Axelle stumble through the ropes and fall into the ring. He shook his head and dropped it a little, trying to hide the laughter as best he could. He didn't want to hurt Axelle's pride too bad, but as he raised his head once again Vincent was treated to seeing Axelle fall down onto her butt. He laughed out loud this time and entered the ring with a large smile on his face. Vincent had trained some rookies before and was used to watching kids stumble about the ring as they tried to get used to the bouncy weird feeling beneath their feet. Vincent loved that feeling, it was sort of relaxing in an odd way. In the ring, he was more at home. He loved violence, it came natural to him. This wasn't to say he was a mean or bad person, he just liked fighting.

Vincent gave Axelle a slight nod to indicate she should show him part of her routine. He watched her with a careful eye, a teacher's eye. At school, Vincent wasn't a teacher but here, in the ring, he was the expert. His look was somewhat serious and he studied each move Axelle made. He nodded in approvingly here and there and found little fault with Axelle. "Good," he said with a smile, glad to see he wasn't working with total crap. Axelle's form could use some work but all in all, she was pretty good. Vincent knew how hard it was having all that strength and how everyone sort of steered clear of you in the gym. Sure, there were some unofficial circles out there, but they were few and far between. "Good kid. The form is a bit sloppy but not bad," he said giving Axelle a slight shoulder punch, appreciating the resistance he found there. Sure he held back, but still, Axelle was stout.

Putting his hands on his hips, Vincent looked down at his feet and sighed. "Alright, let's test the waters some," he said looking back up to the smaller framed girl in front of him, "I want to see what sort of strength I'm dealing with here. Keep it above the waist and sort of keep in mind we don't want to destroy the ring," he went on with a smile, "It'll be okay kid, you won't hurt me, its impossible......I think," he said with a shrug of his shoulders before he motioned for Axelle to come at him.

[Axelle Flint]

Axelle beamed at the praise. It made her happy that she was getting such support from someone she admired. Even she was the first to admit that her form wasn't the best but at least he had seen potential in it. She didn't move when he punched her shoulder lightly, but she did smile at him and run to get her gloves so she could put them on before she hit him. She didn't appreciate smacking things with her bare knuckles. There was something about it that made her uneasy, not because she could hurt herself...but it was always the what if in the back of her mind.

She slipped on her gloves and approached, smiling as she bounced a little on the floor, damn but that was fun. She shook herself out and started towards him, putting up a guarded stance out of habit before she threw a punch that stopped just short of hitting him. She had to break through that first and damn it was hard. She KNEW she couldn't hurt him...at least not if she hit him, he absorbed that right? What if she did hurt him? How were they going to explain that? Would someone lock her up? Oh god it was the situation with the statue all over again. Axelle took a deep breath and reminded herself that Vincent was several years older than her and knew what he was asking her to do. She'd ran into him full speed and he hadn't even bruised. She could hit him, he was asking her to hit him.

She hit him. It took her a moment to realize she'd done it. Damn, that had been a lot softer than she'd imagined, like a pillow. She thought she might be sick until she realized that the only reason Vincent was so far away from her was because she'd run away from him. She made her way bac amid some laughter, including a few sheepish giggles of her own before she assessed that Vince was fine and not about to keel over. So she set herself and hit him again, and again, and again. It was a lot softer than she’d imagined, but Vince could take a lot. It was a bit like beating a pillow, if the pillow was able to take a punch. When she’d finally tired herself out she stepped back and looked at him. “You okay?”

[Vincent Romanov]

Vincent somewhat realized what he was asking Axelle to do. He knew that fear of hurting someone with all that strength, but it was a fear she needed to get a handle on. He knew once she hit him one good time, the fear would sort of melt away. Vincent could handle insane amounts of kinetic energy, much more than Axelle could dish out. He had took large caliber arms fire to the face, held an exploding grenade in the palm of his hand and a few times had even been run over. Sure, Axelle was strong, but she was still learning and he doubted her strength had reached its full potential. Vincent never flinched, ever. After knowing there wasn't going to be any pain, then the fear of being hit left. It might make Axelle a little uncomfortable seeing someone just stand there asking to be hit with no fear but then again, it might set her worried mind at ease.

The first punch finally came and Vincent smiled. There was some force there, but he could tell Axelle was holding back some. He gave her wink as she back away for a second, a bit unsure of herself. Vincent was still standing, unhurt and unmoved. That wasn't to say Axelle didn't have any strength behind those punches, it just meant he was forever the unbreakable guardian. Seeing that he was unharmed and smiling must have been all the go ahead Axelle needed because she began to turn loose. Punch after punch, each one a little stronger than the last. Vincent could feel the kinetic energy building inside of him with each punch Axelle landed. At this rate, he could stay up for the next two days straight. From the corner of his eye, Vincent could see one or two people staring at them. It must have looked the sight, seeing a little girl using some old man like a punching bag. It was comical to Vincent, but he tried to not let it show. Axelle was here to learn and he would not cheat her of that.

After a few minutes, Axelle finally stopped, looking a bit tired but not as much as Vincent might expect. "Impressive," he said simply with an approving nod. Vincent believed in a tough discipline but he also believed in reassuring people. He had meant what he said, Axelle had a nice form and a good follow through, but it still needed some work. "See kid, unbreakable," he added with a smart grin. It was cute how Axelle seemed a bit worried about hurting him, but Vincent respected her concern. She had compassion and that was more important than physical strength any day. "Pretty good when I'm standing still, but let's see if you have any real aim," he said, as he began to lightly bounce about, moving about the ring in a back and forth pattern.

[Axelle Flint]

Damnit he had nice muscles, she was sure that if Corbin were here with her he would also agree. She'd have to see if her boyfriend could possibly bulk up more...cuz damn. FOCUS! She mentally shook herself, especially when Vincent started to move. Shit, he wanted to test her aim? She'd only ever competed against stationary objects. She wasn't sure her tracking was any good, however, it couldn't be aweful...she was a boxer after all and when she focused enough she could do pretty much anything. Besides, in the end, wasn't he there to coach her? If she was shit at aiming he could fix that for her later through exercises right?

She started trying to track him but the first punch she threw out missed him as he danced away just before it could connect. She swore under her breath, put up her fists and took a step back. She tried to hit him again and missed as she came forward and tried to engage. Huffing in irritation she took a moment to get another feel for his timing. It was random of course but if she could…THERE! Axelle fell in sync with him at the moment she needed to be able to hit him. After that, she could see when it would benefit her to hit, though she missed a little more than half of what she threw after the initial two. It was obvious she had no idea what to do with a moving target. She was a little frustrated but also happy, this was something that she knew she struggled in, she just hated showing weakness in front of other people.

She stepped back again and plopped down for a moment, panting lightly. “Hold on, I need to breathe, I haven’t done this in a while,” she said as she felt her limbs started to feel that weird detached way when they were tired.

[Vincent Romanov]

When Axelle stopped, Vincent stopped looking pleased and not as disappointed as one might expect. Axelle was horrible at trying to hit a moving object, but this Vincent surmised himself. Given her ability and the fear which normally went with it, she wouldn't have had much if any practice with an actually person. There weren't many who would be willing to get in the ring with someone like Axelle. This was why Vincent was here. He could help this girl without fear of being hurt by her. He wasn't here to bring Axelle down or yell at her for failing, he was here to teach. From now on, her failures in this ring were his failures. Vincent sort of liked that fact.

Vincent wasn't even breathing hard, heck he wasn't even sweating. Thanks to the punches from Axelle, Vincent's body had been fed a nice meal. He just simply stood there, looking down on Axelle with a smile as he crossed his arms over his large chest. "It's okay kid, I wasn't expecting much," he said casually, "I'd be willing to bet this is your first time sparring with an actually human being. You'll get better, I promise," he said, but this time the tone in his voice had changed to a warmer one. It wasn't a fatherly tone but more in the way a big brother might talk to his sister. This role, Vincent was all to familiar with.

Holding his hand out, Vincent smiled again, "Let's go kid, it's not break time yet," he said, offering Axelle no quarter. He knew she was tiring, but learning to control your body when it was tired was just another lesson to learn. "You have to show your body you are in charge and you tell it when its time to rest, not the other way around," he added, still holding his hand out, waiting for Axelle to take it. Vincent wasn't going to wait all day and if Axelle didn't move soon, he was going to make sure she had good reason to move.

[Axelle Flint]

Axelle grinned and took Vincent's hand and popped back to her feet easily. "You would be correct. They just showed me what to do and had me hit a bag around when I wasn't doing weight lifting. Hey did you know that I can lift the weight of an elephant? They wouldn't let me lift a real one so I had to just settle for weight. I mean, I can lift way more than that but it’s just fun thinking about picking an elephant up anyway and holding it over my head…like a truck. Oh but there was that whale thing last year at that sex talk thing, did you know that adrenaline works for me like it does for everyone else? Apparently it just helps make me a little stronger," she babbled a bit excitedly as she tried to gather enough energy to do whatever it was that Vincent had in store for her.

Half of her hoped it had something to do with a moving target. The other half was hoping it was something else that she could excel at potentially and look good at in the process. "I'm all for telling my body what to do, but I am definitely sleeping late tomorrow and eating a cow," she half-joked already feeling slightly guilty that she'd probably sleep most of tomorrow and eat everything in the fridge and beg her father to go buy her pizza later...and then Chinese. Maybe she could locust her way from her house to Corbin's? She was sure her boyfriend (YAY BOYFRIEND) wouldn't mind if she ate him out of house and home and crashed with him for 12+ hours. Yeeeeessss, that was definitely something to look forward to, so she focused on Vincent to see what came next.

[Vincent Romanov]

Pulling Axelle to her feet was like lifting a feather. Vincent had to make sure not to squeeze his trainee's hand too tight or he might crush every bone in her hand. Sure, Axelle could take the abuse, but Vincent was something she hadn't had to deal with yet. Of course by now Vincent had an excellent grip on his ability and handling everything with kid gloves just came natural. Not to say he didn't slip up sometimes. Heck, he had gone destroyed six television remotes this year alone. Axelle wouldn't need fear being seriously hurt by Vincent, he made sure to double his attention to detail when dealing with the young woman.

As Axelle found her footing, Vincent released his grip and began to chuckle. The young woman was babbling away about how she thought lifting an actual elephant would be fun. Vincent found Axelle's abundant enthusiasm and vigor refreshing. To have that level of childhood innocence again would be a joy. Axelle knew nothing of the pressures of the world just yet, but sadly those pressures were just around the corner for her. Staying a kid forever was a dream for many, Vincent included.

He just stood there, letting Axelle babble on and on, finding her level of strength rather impressing. He knew she was strong and could tell from her punches that she was still holding back some. After their in ring training, Vincent would have Axelle hit the weight bench to see just how easy she found lifting various amounts of weight. The gym didn't have enough weights on hand though to really test Axelle and so Vincent would have to figure out some way to test that outside of the gym. A few out of the ordinary ideas sprang to mind, but there would be plenty of time for those later. Right now, technique was the main focus.

"Alright rock star, let's work on focus and timing," he said moving away from Axelle and toward the side of the ring. There he had some large pads to put on his hands. Slipping the pads on, Vincent turned back toward Axelle and slowly made his way over to her. He held his hands up and started to move around the ring slowly. "Keep your eyes on the pads, find your own rhythm and then strike. Keep it simple and slow at first. No flurry of wild punches and put any idea of speed on the back burner for now. Speed is good, but it won't do any good if you can't land a solid hit," he said casually, still moving around the ring slowly, hands held out. "I want you to focus on the pads and just the pads. Nothing else needs your attention for the moment. We'll get to splitting your focus in a fight later on down the road. Right now, refining your aim and knowing when to strike come first," Vincent added, his face serious but not stern.