capeandcowllogs | School's in session

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School's in session

WHO: Taskmaster and YOU
WHERE: Tasky's Bronx-based combat school
WHEN: ALL THIS WEEK. Students tag in whatever day (no late night classes. Those are for the Major's vamp troops) they want to have made appointments for, and visitors are welcome to drop by whenever as well.
WARNINGS: Violence and cursin'
SUMMARY: Taskmaster opens his school
FORMAT: Quickin' it up

[It'd taken far longer than he had planned, but Taskmaster's school, once an old abandoned bowling alley of all things, was finally ready for its grand opening. He looked over the newly remodeled main floor from his upper office, pouring himself a shot of extremely cheap bourbon. This was going to be easy. He'd train the kids during the day for chump change to keep up a legitimate cover, and then take care of fatty's bloodsuckers during the night for the real money. The only problem would be keeping the heroes away, and that he could manage.

Taskmaster chuckled and downed the celebratory shot. Now he just had to wait for his first customer.]

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[James shows up in a pair of dull green pants and shirt that have become his practice clothes. He has his shield with him in the usual over-sized bag.

He still thinks this might be a little bit of a bad idea, but so worth it.]

Taskmaster?

[Well at least there's a lot of room.]

[Tasky drops from the open wall of his office, landing in front of James.]

Well well, Jimmy. Was worried you were gonna skip out. [He's grinning under his mask almost as much as his mask actually is!]

It was either this or go to school.

[James does not like that mask... or smiling/grinning masks in general that's creepy.]

How can I tell if you're actually as good as you claim if I don't give you a chance?

Skippin' school for this? [Tasky tsks in an extremely exaggerated manner while folding his arms over his chest.] What would your dad think?

[That remark about his father earns Taskmaster a look, part surprise, part irritation.]

I don't know, but I'm not here to talk about what he'd think.

I doubt anything they teach in school here is as interesting as what I was learning at home.

Edited 2011-03-01 04:41 (UTC)

You got that much right. [He leans over a little, looking at James' bag.] So what's in there?

There are a few things I take with me where ever I go.

[Even though James has mostly given up on a secret identity and even keeping his parentage a secret, after what happened to Gerry he's willing to take steps to make himself a less obvious target.]

You know what I have in there, don't you?

[Taskmaster shrugs and turns his back, walking across the room to his weapons rack.] Hey, I don't know nothin'. Could be anything. Maybe it's a change of clothes. Maybe it's fightin' gear. Maybe it's your schoolwork. [He picks his shield up off the rack.] Or maybe...

[Taskmaster spins around suddenly, throwing the shield at James.]

[Catching the shield is more reflex for James than anything, his hand has started to move to catch it before the thought crosses his mind that maybe he should dodge instead.

Well. Too late. He catches the shield and uses his arm and rotates slightly to absorb the momentum without moving much or being thrown off balance, and the catch puts him in a position ready to throw it back.]

Nice throw.

[But James already knew he could do that.]

[Taskmaster watches, and after the shield catch...he cracks up laughing.] I knew it. Don't know how and don't know where from, but your his kid, ain't ya? Fuck. [The laughter goes on for a bit before finally calming down.] Figures. Even in a different reality I can't get away from the guy.

[James drops out of the stance during the laughter, that wasn't what he was expecting at all.]

If you're talking about Captain America, yes. I'm his son.

Is that a problem for you?

Nah, not at all. In fact, that makes it a lot more interesting. [He could do this subtly, but he wants to test the kid, not hurt him. Too bad, at lleast. So with one big sweeping arm motion, he flings a pair of shuriken he was hiding in his left hand at James.]

Good, I'd hate to-

[James stops mid sentence and he has the shield up to block the shuriken.

There are days he misses his transparent shield. He has to avoid putting this one completely in front of his face if he wants to see.]

Nice reflexes. [More hidden grinning.] So here's how this is gonna work, Jimmy boy. You come at me with everything you've got, I kick your ass around, and then tell ya what you did wrong. [He drops into a defensive position, moves copied from Iron Fist.] Come at me.

As long as I learn something.

[James slips the shield Taskmaster so thoughtfully provided onto his arm with a quick movement and charges, leading with the shield.

His first attack is a straight-up shield bash.]

[Taskmaster immediately dodges low and to the right, sweeping at James' legs.] Too obvious.

[James nearly has his legs knocked out from under him and turns the fall into a roll using the momentum from his failed charge.

He comes out of it on his feet and pivots after a couple steps to throw the shield. It's a shallow, low throw that bounces once off the ground off to the side before coming at Taskmaster at knee height.]

Is that supposed to help me improve?

[He's already moving again, off to the opposite side the shield went.]

[She's definitely learned her lesson in regards to how she signs up for lessons (thanks for spilling her secret ID, Danny)-- so here, she's definitely just Robin. And while she's ditched the cape and gained some pants for the occasion, those oversized shades aren't going anywhere. She glances around as soon as she shows up, looking a little skeptical.

950 a month. It'd better be worth it, is all she can say.]

[Taskmaster is putting his sword back on its mount on the wall when his next student comes in. He looks over his shoulder at her.] Nice costume. [The sarcasm is subtle, but it's there.] You ready to start? [Taskmaster doesn't believe in wasting time.]

Nice face. [Is there sarcasm in that? You can never be too sure. She shifts just slightly and squares her stance, just in case this is one of those I attack you without warning and you learn instructors, and nods.] I'm here, aren't I?

You sure are. [He grabs his shield off the rack. It's the only thing he's using that she needs to see.] Here's how this works. Come at me with everything you got, and then I'll figure where to go from there while you're pickin' yourself up off the floor.

[Gerry knew better. Or, he thought he did, until he decided that this was a good idea. Taskmaster was a bad guy. Spider-Man had said so himself that he was trouble, and dangerous, and that he needed to be careful and stay away from him.

But... He knew something that nobody else could or would teach him, and, given how he'd been treated lately, he needed to get better for people to take him seriously.

So, wearing the new costume that Tony had left him, Gerry slipped into the school silently, taking to the walls and ceiling, hoping to get a look around before meeting Taskmaster.]

[Which would be a great idea, if Taskmaster wasn't anticipating this exact sort of thing. He knew someone would be snooping, and while his memory may not be great he knows that costume.

An arrow flies through the air, sticking into the wall near Gerry.]

That was a warnin' shot. You can either explain your business, get off my property, or get hurt. Pick one.

[Okay, that was unexpected, as in it caught him totally off guard and he slips off the wall dropping down to the floor and landing in a crouch, ready to defend himself.]

You're Taskmaster, right? You said you could teach me Spidey's moves.

[Tasky thinks for a second before lowering the bow.] Ah, right. The Spider-Kid. I saw the suit and assumed...y'know. [It was a stupid move, and he's beating himself up for it mentally.] Well, gotta say we're off to a great start then.

[ Curiosity, of course. She wasn't looking for a new place to teach and she certainly didn't need any classes herself. But this Taskmaster guy seemed interesting, if morally gray. Then again, so was she.

So she stops by one evening when she's in the area. Street clothes and no fear. Then again, she was invited. ]

[Tasky was preparing to spend the next couple of hours waiting for his special late night classes to start, so seeing Selina walk in from his upper office was a pleasant surprise. He slips his mask back on before leaning over the open part of his office wall.] Well hey there. I'll be down in a sec.

[No dramatic dropping down to show off. He just takes the stairs.] Glad ya got around to visitin'.

Thought I'd check out the competition.

[ It's clear from her tone she's joking. ]

Not a bad location.

Yeah, I lucked out. Place was a bargain to. [He gestures around to the last vestiges of bowling alley appearance - namely a big pin on the wall.] Guess no one is interested anymore.

You'd be amazed at the places that get abandoned back home. A hideout for every themed freak.

[ And a home for her and her friends, or so she'd planned. ]

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School's in session

tuesday afternoon

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Wednesday

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