Mutants & Masterminds:Woodland Experimentations

[Dr. Julian Kell]

Julian had needed some time to arrange for their camping trip to the Hanna Flat Campsite. he'd gotten the site furthest away from the others, and had even gotten a pair of large tents for them both. It wouldn't be as comfortable as a cabin, but at least if there was damage questions wouldn't be asked later.

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The drive there was long, but still he smiled inwardly. This was going to be a very interesting week. He parked his jeep and looked to her. "Here we are Jill, let's get unpacked, and get setup, then we can explore some." They had a small clearing all to themselves, the nearest group was about four hundred meters away, at the next campsite. The tents would be somewhat hidden by the Jeep, but they could still be seen some from the main road through the campsites. "We'll have to be careful during daylight hours."

[Jillian Johnson]

Jill had been extremely nervous ever since Julian had told her about his plans to go out camping and find some secluded place to find out about her powers. It wasn't much out of fear he might be out to 'kidnap' her and she making the headline news as part of some serial killer's murder spree. No, she was partly excited and unsure about all this. It had been a few days since the accident and she didn't feel much super. Healthy and strong but not extraordinary.

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She tried lifting up her fridge and couch at home - which if she applied comic book science (considering her very limited knowledge about it in the first place), should be a trivial task after pushing several tons of steel girders aside. - Well, she couldn't, or to put it in relation - she managed to flip over the couch, which was unintentional, but it was far from being trivial. And the fridge at first didn't even budge. Only after she put both her hands under it and pushed with all her body, she managed to lift it and that was also far from trivial. It was heavy but not impossible to do.

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There was no doubt she was stronger than before the accident. She had put on a good 40 pounds of muscle mass and was constantly amazed by her physical appearance. None of her clothes fit anymore. she had to sort out most of her stuff, because she was simply tearing through it now and all that remained was a handful of tank tops, hotpants and some oversized T- and muscle shirts. She'd have to find some custom made stuff if she ever wanted to wear anything resembling normal clothing.

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Anyway - she had packed her stuff which consisted mostly of pre-cooked meals, lots of chicken, rice, rice, rice and supplements to create some milkshakes. Actually it made up most of her stuff. The scarce number of clothes she had fit neatly into a sports bag while she had containers full of food and it was all for her. She had one meal every four hours and everything was pre packed for maximum efficiency.

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As she helped Julian unpacking she slowly felt the anxiety ebb away. The landscape was beautiful and a welcomed change to L.A. She took in a deep breath and smiled. "Julian, this place is perfect. Thanks for inviting me."

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Jill did most of the unpacking enjoying the mini-workout of carrying stuff around while she let Julian find a spot where they were secluded enough to minimize the risk of unwanted visitors. Within two hours they had unpacked everything and were almost finished with establishing their camp. Jill was sweating and slowly getting hungry - "I could eat a horse - how about starting Dinner?"

[Dr. Julian Kell]

Julian nodded. "I have a small camping stove we can cook on. I don't really trust my ability to make a normal fire and not have it get out of hand. He'd dreate too much friction, and she'd probably snap the twigs, so it was best this way. He set the small stove up and began cooking some of the chicken he'd prepared the night before. It wouldn't be great, but it would be something in their stomachs.

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"How good are you at pitching a tent, Jill?"

[Jillian Johnson]

Jill passed him one of her containers with a pre-portioned meal which was easily twice the size of his' while she checked out what they still had to do - like the tent for example. As she tried to remember the last time she built a tent (when she was about 12) and that most of the building was done by her dad she heard Julian's voice slowly tearing through her memory-hazed state.

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"Yeah, pretty good I guess.", she answered and then suddenly realized she wasn't quiet listening to what he actually said.

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"What did you just say?" Did he just ask me for sex? It can't be...

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He could tell by the incredulous look in her eyes that something must've been very wrong but then it quickly dissolved into embarrassed giggling and deep blushing of her cheeks.

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"Oh you mean how good am I at...this", she pointed at the disassembled tent. "I totally understood something differently there for a moment, eh?", she laughed again quickly turning around and randomly grabbing some pieces of the tent. "Now this... might... hmm... or the other way around? Are there any instructions?", she asked him while she tried to figure out how to 'pitch' a tent with the materials they had and cover up her embarrassment. To be honest, she didn't have the slightest idea.

[Dr. Julian Kell]

Julian nodded, reaching into the Jeep and producing a sheet of paper that came with the tent she was working on and handing it to her. "These are supposed to be the easiest way to pitch this tent, perhaps they'll help you out. Each piece is labled, just follow these and you'll be a master of pitching a tent in no time.

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He was using his bored professor tone of voice, and went back to cooking their meal, obviously confident she wouldn't need him to do it for her, and oblivious to the double entendre of what he'd said. He was enjoying himself, and everything seemed to be working well enough so far.

[Jillian Johnson]

Jill pretended to be busy with the parts she just had grabbed before she decided to have a look at the 'instructions'. Either it's me or him... or maybe I'm reading to much into this? It's unlikely I'm his type anyway and he certainly isn't mine.

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The buff amazon took a long look at the paper before she had figured out what all the abbreviations and symbols were supposed to mean. "Julian... if I'm reading this right they recommend 2 people for pitching this tent. Maybe you want to give me a hand?", she asked innocently and inwardly cursed herself again. Somehow everything sounds wrong I say... can this become any more awkward?

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Jill tried to put on a friendly smile but it was slowly showing that she felt increasingly discomfortable. It's probably just me, I'm interpreting too much. Just focus on the instructions.

[Dr. Julian Kell]

Julian nodded, "Alright but in a few minutes I will have to stop to turn the chicken." He took up the instructions from her, and read them at a speed few could, commiting them to memory, and nodding as he took up some of the other parts. "Alright, Insert Tab A into slot B...." and continued on, reciting the instructions as he lead Jill through pitching the first tent, completely oblivious to her discomfort, but his tone suggesting none of the innuendo was intentional. They finished the first tent and he went back to the food, and smiled at her. "Want to go ahead and get drinks ready? I can pitch my own tent after we eat."

[Jillian Johnson]

Jill was stealing looks as they built her tent trying to figure out if he was somehow hitting on her or not. She had never seen him with a woman before and she was fairly positive that he never had any visitors, period... except for her.

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Maybe he does like me?

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Her thoughts kept circling around that idea but she managed to gather up enough focus to not ruin her tent completely and in the end it looked exactly like the pictures on the instructions.

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It's probably me... I'm hearing things I shouldn't and see things I imagine. There's nothing going on here.

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As she kept repeating those thoughts to herself she had shed most of her discomfort and decided not to dwell anymore on it.

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They finished the first tent and he went back to the food, and smiled at her. "Want to go ahead and get drinks ready? I can pitch my own tent after we eat."

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"Sure, I can do that and I gladly help you pitch your tent later.", her eyes flared open again as she realized what she just said and instantly she blushed again, deep red.

[Dr. Julian Kell]

He smiled. "That would be appreciated." They finally got the food ready and sat down in a pair of foldout chairs he'd brought, and Julian smiled. "Things are already going very well. Obviously you have some control of your strength, as you were able to perform that task without bending or breaking anything."

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He looked at her. "After we finish, we'll see about how we can stimulate your abilities to the level they were that first day. Did you pack the loose clothing as I asked, should you end up as you did then?"

[Jillian Johnson]

She smiled at him trying to hide the worries she had. Aside from the increased muscle mass everything had been quiet "normal" since that day. She was stronger but no where near being "super". Was she being selfish if her only worries and thoughts circled around her maybe being "super" and not about how her father for example was doing? Each time she went there it made her heart skip a beat. Excitement probably wasn't the trigger for her powers, else she would've by long shown any superhuman feats.

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While Jill was almost completely self-absorbed by her thoughts she lost entirely perspective as to unreal her current physique actually was. She looked like a pro bodybuilder with muscle definition bordering on the physical possible. Every move she made turned into a mesmerizing display of muscles working underneath her skin, even if it was something as banal as opening a bottle of water and taking a sip. It bordered on being erotic... if you were into women of Jill's "type". She seemed entirely oblivious of the effect she might have and kept wondering what she was doing wrong and why she couldn't lift cars and bend steel.

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"Actually... about that. I tried to 'use' my powers but I don't seem to have any. Maybe I should've told you before we left. I don't feel much super actually... if there's a way to describe it. Are you aware of your powers? Or do you have to do something to make them work. I tried lifting my couch at home - it didn't turn out as easy as I hoped. Maybe it was a one time thing and now it's gone.", she sounded very disappointed, as if a lot depended for her on being extraordinary and not 'normal'

[Dr. Julian Kell]

He took some of the chicken and a bottle of water and sat down to eat. "I see." He took several forkfuls, and waited speaking only once he had finished chewing. "I am aware of my abilities, and they're always on so to say. I take conscious effort to slow down to a normal speed. though it's not so hard as it was at first, I've been doing it awhile."

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"I am somewhat concerned about your inability to trigger your powers, we'll have to see what we can do to stimulate your abilities here."

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:He tried to look reassuring. "From what I know they don not just appear and disappear. Your abilities lay within you, we just need to draw them out again."