Arha had meditated long enough and the blank white of the Sensorium lifted, the white dissolving to a dark cave with craggy rocks and strange formations.  Luminescent lichen cast diffused light that made the water-heavy air almost glow.  She had put herself out of her element deliberately and forced herself to adapt to it.  So much moisture.  

It mattered not what she faced in the dim setting she had chosen.

( Because something simple is cheating. )

"Triceratops Unicorn Thunderzord Power!"

Today's simulated event: a Zord battle. For the first time in many months, the morphed Blue Ranger found himself hurtling through the air, landing neatly in the cockpit of this fine blue mechanical unicorn. For the first time in...forever, though, the other four Thunderzords were not falling into place around him, preparing to merge into the shiny and powerful Thunder MegaZord. This time, Billy would face his enemy alone. He would learn what his single mech was truly capable of.

( In which a robot unicorn throws rocks around like nobody's business )

Mei-Xing had never run into anything as useful as the Sensoriums. Able to take any form she imagined, allowing her to do almost anything she wanted... Whether it was gymnastics, martial arts, driving practice, marksmanship, no matter what it was, she could use it to practice. The only failing was that it couldn't replicate mana. The illusion of it, sure, but if she attempted to draw on it to cast a spell, it was just as difficult as it was in most of the rest of the ship.

Right now, though, she was working on something a little different. Realizing the popularity of twin-pistol wielding martial artists in the trids and sim shows, Ares Macrotechnology had created a martial art, Ares Firefight, designed specifically to teach people to use twin pistols to anyone on the street who wanted to look badass.

That was what Mei-Xing was working on right now. She'd been practicing it for months back home, drilling in the gun katas for several hours a week. And now she was able to put it to the test with actual shooting involved. Stepping to the left, she fires twice out at her sides, then crouches to the right and firing in an arc directly forward, exaggerated pings and clangs coming from the direction of several holographic men in various threatening poses. She flips, firing behind her until she lands, smoothly ejects her magazines and reloads, and whirls to the left, emptying her pistols into a group a distance from her right.

She lets out a slow breath. And laughs. Shaking her head, she tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear and holsters her pistols. "All right, Stacy. Show me how awesome I am." Slowly, images of her hits spring up. A trash can, a vending machine, several dumpsters, a cat, and a single dwarf pop up in front of her, hit portions glowing helpfully. Mei-Xing licks her lips and looks helpfully at the dwarf, staring up at Stacy. "I don't see the hit spot. Did I-" The dwarf rotates and zooms in, a large arrow pointing carefully to the small nick she'd taken out of his ear.

She scowls.

"Freedom is from within."
—Frank Lloyd Wright

Haku's body was a strong one, a mix of corded, snakelike speed and the flexible, boneless way of the cat. It was no surprise when, after weeks of hammering and twisting and clawing the bars had grown bent and bowed outward in a comfortable arc. The snake that fed within him had grown stronger on Haku's waning power with the passing weeks. The Kami slept now, tired, weary, unable to do more than exhaustively watch as his own body snarled and snapped, straining against confinement in a way that wrung mortar from between the stones and sent dust trickling out of the roof above in little dry waterfalls.

The waters bleed and the ocean runs dry, but nothing is infinite.

The demon was impatient— soon enough Haku would die in truth, but it wanted out now. It wanted free. Coil and strike, like a goat ramming the bars and they shuddered and groaned under the pressure, firm coils leaning the dragon's whole self against their weakened strength from the inside.

Ping! Pop! Clang!

The rivets anchoring the bars to the wall finally failed and with the cage opened, the fouled river leapt out with a howl of unholy glee, paying no heed to the way scaled scraped and fell against the narrow walls of the precinct. Flimsy wooden doors met with their exact weight in firewood and the beast surged into the street with a clumsiness that was wholly un-Haku. It leapt, and found purchase in the air, then faltered and met the side of a building with a thump. The second try was more successful