8503/The Right Hand of Judgment

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The Right Hand of Judgment
Date of Scene: 25 July 2019
Location: Roof - Xavier's School
Synopsis: Doug is found after disappearing, with a technoorganic arm. Kitty and Jean find out about the shooting and his communication with the Trans-virus.
Cast of Characters: Cypher, Shadowcat, Phoenix




Cypher has posed:
Doug has found a quiet spot on the roof. He has a blanket wrapped around him, and he's looking up at the moon. He's got a snickers bar in his left hand, and he's eating it, having gorged himself on the rest - there's wrappers strewn at his feet. His right arm is concealed by the drape of the blanket he's wearing.

Shadowcat has posed:
The word coming back that no one else was infected, and the virus did not seem to be trying to spread, had put a lot of minds at ease. Kitty's amongst them. She'd returned to her lengthy stays at Doug's bedside. But having to leave to go to work at Stark Industries, and to take take care of the more important guidance counseling needs at the school.

It was during one of these moments she was gone that Doug went walkabout. Kitty returned to find him gone. "What do you mean you don't know where he is?" she'd asked, eyes wide.

Now she's looked a few places, but the roof was high enough on her list it doesn't take Kitty Pryde too long to check it. She steps out onto the rooftop, the evening air having taken on a chill as night came on. She wraps her arms about herself against it, wearing shorts and a t-shirt that has a goofy picture of a grizzly bear on it and the logo: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Except for Bears. Bears just kill you.

She moves over to take a seat next to Doug without saying anything, and looks up at the moon with him.

Cypher has posed:
"Hello Kitty." Doug says. He looks down, and then offers her the second half of his last snickers. "I was starving. Now... I have a little bit of a stomachache, but I don't care." He says. "It's a nice night... pretty moon. Been thinking about that -- the moon."

"I'm sorry I embarassed you like that. I was just... having a good time, and I didn't -- think. Seems the be the cause of a lot of my problems."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty takes the offered chocolate bar. She takes a small bite of it, more sharing the moment than seeming interested in it as food. Her arm slips about Doug's back and she looks back up at the moon again. "It's ok. It wasn't... it wasn't what you thought," she says, biting her lip for a moment. "It was sweet of you to ask me out. And I'd like to have that dinner with you," she tells him. "But we need to get you better. I'm glad that you're awake, but is it ok being up here?" she asks softly.

Cypher has posed:
"I'm fine." Doug says. "The virus was trying to protect me, and it locked down all non-essential nervous system functions, because it didn't want me lemminging off and hurting myself. ...Just like Warlock, it's a little bit of a nanny when it gets worried." He snorts. "Not surprising." But then he says, "...We reached an agreement." He closes his eyes, and then shifts the blanket off his right shoulder, showing that his right arm is now black as ebony, slightly shiny, and threaded through with gold circuitry. He holds up the hand, and looks at it. "I have no idea what it can do yet. Maybe nothing special."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty catches her breath. "I was so worried when I recognized the virus," she says. "I didn't know where it came from. So it's from Warlock then?" she asks him. Kitty swallows and looks at his arm. "What is it like? Can you feel it? Or is it... like having a cast on, or...?" she asks, trailing off as it's a struggle to even imagine what that feels like.

Kitty reaches up and over, brushing her fingers softly through Doug's hair while his eyes are closed. "You had me so scared, Doug," she tells him, her lips quivering for a moment before she manages to cover it.

Cypher has posed:
"I can feel just fine with it. In fact maybe even a little more acutely. I even feel pain. I know, I tested it." He holds it up. "It's safe to touch," He says. "See?" He moves to stroke along Kitty's hairline with a finger. It's warm, smooth, not hard or cruel. "Hey. I'm fine." he says. "Well... sort of." Then he sighs. "I can deal with this. I'm just going to have to invest in a lot of sleeveless shirts, or... long-sleeved shirts and gloves when I need to hide it."

Shadowcat has posed:
When the finger moves along the edge of the brown tresses, Kitty closes her eyes for a moment. Feeling how gentle the tough is, and very much like it would if it were normal skin. Her eyelids flutter back open as she gazes over to Doug again. "We'll get you something," she agrees. "I'm glad you're ok," she says, letting out a breath.

Kitty leans gently against him as the cool night breeze blows. She reaches over to slide the blanket back up about his shoulders, but doesn't cover his hand with it unless he wishes to. "So we got the computer core. I can't hardly make heads or tales of it yet. It's so hard to decrypt. You're going to live it," she tells him. As they talk, Doug might notice she's wearing the ruby and diamond ring again, though not on her ring finger as she was before.

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Cypher has posed:
"It's a really pretty ring." Doug admits. "I don't think Batman liked me very much, which is OK. I also think he was mad about us being on his moonbase. Someone needs to--" He pauses... "Tell that guy... to quit being so territorial. Never mind." he rubs the back of his neck with his techno-organic hand.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty glances down at the ring. "It is a really pretty ring," she agrees. "It belonged to Bruce Wayne's mother," she says. She's looking like her mind is whirring with numerous thoughts, but then she seems to move on from talking about Bruce Wayne, to instead talk about Batman. "I think that describes him well. Territorial. But, he exposed that base to save us. So, you know... I think he's a really good person at heart, whoever he is. I asked everyone to keep the base a secret, as a thank you to him."

Cypher has posed:
"Well I'm not gonna go telling everyone that Batman has a secret base on the moon." Doug rolls his eyes. "Anyone who actually knows him has already guessed it. What I want to know is what he does with it." Then he sighs, and says, "Listen. Don't... feel obligated to take me up on that. I was just having a good time, and wanted to go on having a good time. I'm still figuring out what I want, and life keeps throwing me curveballs. Sam--" Doug snorts, "He's got this idea in his head that he's looking for his one true love. I'm not wired like that."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty lets out a breath. "It wasn't that I didn't want to go, Doug. It was just... a more awkward moment than you had any reason to think," she tells him. Kitty glances down at the ring. "And I'm not back together with Jason," she tells him. "If you were wondering that. I don't know that I was out looking for that, but I thought I'd found it. Guess life can be funny about that though and show you otherwise," she tells him. She reaches over to Doug, to the black and gold one, and offers him her hand.

Cypher has posed:
"Listen." Doug says, with a sigh. "I was in love with you when I was fifteen years old. But you didn't feel the same way about me, and I was okay with that. I learned a lesson from it. What is... is." He moves to take Kitty's hand in his, black and gold fingers curling around about hers, before they thread through them. He holds her hand, and then says, "But the things that've happened to me have also taught me that our time... runs out. So don't waste it. So. What do YOU want?" Then he adds, "I asked Illyana out on a date, by the way. Imagine what went through my head after THAT conversation." He crosses his eyes.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty's eyebrows go up a bit at the mention of asking Illyana out. She doesn't seem upset by it, just a little surprised. "Um," she says, taking a moment before she's answering again. "I don't know. Mostly I wanted to stop hurting," she tells him. "And... you helped me with that. And I'd like for that to continue. If you're ok with it. I don't know if I'll fall in love. I might. I might not. I wasn't really looking when.. well, before. So I don't know. Maybe it'll just happen again when it's time," she says.

Cypher has posed:
Doug gives Kitty a sidelong look. And then he sighs. "To tell you the truth, I've always felt a little... inadequate. I mean, I was interested in you -- and then Piotr showed up, and..." He holds a hand up in demonstration of Piotr's height, and then lowers it to demonstrate his own. "And as much as I chased the townie girls, sometimes hanging out with Bobby and Sam I felt... kind of like a..." he puffs his cheeks out. "Wuss."

Shadowcat has posed:
"Well, he was a lot older," Kitty says. "And... look, I had a crush on him from the first moment I saw him downstairs in my living room. I just... I was kid with a crush. What can I say?" she tells him. "I always liked you though, Doug. Just because I was crushing on another, doesn't mean I didn't notice how great you were. The heart can really suck sometimes," she says, sighing. She rests her head on Doug's shoulder. "Totally not a wuss."

Cypher has posed:
Doug sighs, and tilts his head, as he looks up at the moon. Then he turns to look at Kitty, and his eyes shine, faintly. "I don't know what tomorrow will hold. I don't know what I'll decide I want. We might just end up friends, who passed some time together and left with some pleasant memories."

"I'd be fine with that."

Doug is sitting on the roof, next to Kitty, holding hands with her. He's wearing a pair of grey sweats, swiped from the emergency suppies, and there's a package of snickers bars, likewise, that he's decimated. His right arm is... black, shiny, threaded through with gold techno-organic circuitry filigree. It transitions seamlessly into his shoulder, the technorganic matter giving way to skin and muscle.

Phoenix has posed:
"Oh, but Piotr didn't just show up, he was here first...it's Kitty who showed up on him," Jean winks playfully towards Kitty as she steps out into the roof, "and gave the Professor a heart attack for it." She moves closer towards Doug, as she quips, "just because Bobby pretends to know what he's doing and acting bold, and Sam has his Southern charm and redneck audacity, it doesn't make you a wuss, Doug." She looks over towards Kitty again, and back at Doug, "you have no idea what glowing assessments I got from Kitty about you."

Cypher has posed:
Doug sighs, and looks up. His shoulders relax, and out of respect for Jean, he stops thinking in a variety of other languages -- which can be dissonant -- and switches to English. "Well, perception and reality can often be two different things." He admits. "Hello, ma'am. As you can see, I'm up and about." He holds up his arm and flexes those black and gold fingers. "This was my compromise." He says. "I'm still not sure precisely what it can do. It might not do anything."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde smiles over at Doug, and one could almost see them in that moment as a pair of innocent 15-year-olds as they just sit there holding hands. Even if they are a few years older and... well, one can debate about wiser.

Kitty glances up as Jean comes out on the roof. "Found him," she says, as if that wasn't obvious already. Kitty gives Jean a soft smile. "Very much not a wuss," Kitty agrees. She looks over to his new arm, and doesn't seem to mind the fact that she was holding that hand. "It's kind of pretty," she tells him. "I mean, other than the... you know, knowing what Warlock's people do with it."

Phoenix has posed:
"How was this compromise achieved...?" Jean asks Doug with sheer interest. Smiling at Kitty as she gives her a double thumbs up. "I also never got to talk to anyone involved in the attack on the club. I'd like to hear about it in person, whenever you feel ready to talk about it, Doug."

Cypher has posed:
"Well, it wanted to upgrade me into a techno-organic life form." Doug says, "For my own protection. I... didn't want that." He says, "So I compromised. I gave it one of my arms, so that it can -- give me the means to defend myself. But I still don't know what that means, and when you're communicating with a Class X Pathogen running rampant inside your body... clarification's hard to come by." He looks over to Kitty. "I'm not going to be converting people into technorganic matter to harvest their lifeglow anytime soon. I still eat food." Then he exhales, and says, "I could tell the instant I set eyes on them that if I didn't let them deal, they were going to kill me. So I made the only choice I could make."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty spent a lot of time sitting at Doug's side while he was in the coma. There was a scare when they realized he had the virus, but then found it wasn't acting contagious as the normal one is. "No, I don't think /you/ are. I just mean... I can't get out of my head you look like the ones they convert," Kitty tells him. "When I saw your blood turn that way in the test tube, and then saw the microscope and realized what it was, I freaked pretty bad," she says. It is a bit of an understatement really.

Cypher has posed:
"It's a Gray Goo scenario," Doug confirms, "Except in this case the Goo wants to make sure my hair is combed right and expects me home before dark."

Phoenix has posed:
"I...can understand that much," Jean tries to sound as calm as possible, though it's obvious what Doug just relied is quite jarring when one honestly thinks it over. "So...it has a will, and it is sentient...is it you? And are you therefore it?" Jean tries to get a better grasp of the situation, her emerald eyes appear to nearly glow with the intense fascination she takes with this subject.

"We are fortunate to have you with us, Kitty," Jean notes, looking aside at Shadowcat, "I missed you while you were in Britain."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty says, "Is it from Warlock then, Doug?" They'd talked about it before, but maybe best to let Jean here that from Doug himself. Not to mention, Kitty doesn't have many details on how that happened so may get enlightened herself.

She smiles back over to Jean. "I missed everyone too," she says softly. "I'm glad to be back. And... even though the reason I stayed instead of returning is... changed. I think I'm going to stay on still," She says.

Cypher has posed:
"It wasn't..." Doug says, "And now it is. It... integrated itself with me, so now yes. It is me, and I am it." He flexes the arm. "Warlock is a mutant, of a sort. I originally thought that it was because he possessed empathy for others while Technarchs as a race are, to put it mildly, sociopaths. But I think it's more than that. A Technarch has complete mutability of form, so what Warlock IS... wasn't just a state of mind. So anything that came from Warlock, would have the same mutation that he did. Including his strain of the transmode virus."

"And nothing that came from Warlock would ever *willingly* hurt anyone."

Phoenix has posed:
"A chief reason for why Warlock was ever allowed with the New Mutants," Jean says with a warm smile, glad to hear that at least at its core, it sounds like the situation of Doug, while alarming, should be kept stable. "Not all things that become us are Warlock, here's hoping in the end, you're just a better you, Doug. Do tell if there's any issues?"

She then stresses again, "anything you can tell me about the attack on the club? I'm thinking of starting to frequent it, just in case I can catch the culprit on a repeat attempt."

Cypher has posed:
"I'll be testing this out. I want to know if I suddenly have gun-arm or if I'm just going to be mistaken for a glove enthusiast." Doug says, before he flicks his gaze up. "They wanted to deal Hook. I threw them out. Then they came back, and whoever their supplier is gave them orders to either open the club up to the stuff or make an object lesson out of me. So they did."

"Whoever is behind this, they're terrified of them. So much so that the idea of reprisal from a group of mutants scared them less than their supplier." Doug flattens his mouth into a line. "So whoever it is, they're bad news."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde frowns as the circumstances of Doug's shooting is mentioned. "Sorry I wasn't around to help," Kitty says. Not that she's usually around there, most recently the time that Doug took her dancing there. "It's really getting bad it sounds like. You'd think even the junkies would hear how addictive it is and stay away. But, I guess sooner or later they give in for a cheap high and... wham." she says with a sigh.

Phoenix has posed:
"You did right to refuse them...not right not to immediately call for backup," Jean murmurs, even though she wasn't there, and it may well be that Doug tried. "Mind if I look into your mind to see if I can identify a face? I'll be wanting to get the X-Men after these guys. This drug is bad news."

Jean nods at Kitty's words, "indeed. We need to find the source, the boogey man that scares them so...I'd hold Miss Rasputin could show them there are other demons in this world."

Cypher has posed:
"They didn't really give me any time to do that." Doug says. "It was a choice, and I made it." He glances back toward Jean, and opens his mind to her, before he says, "I've collected data on all of them already, I've hacked their phones... they can't sneeze without me knowing about it. I intend to use them as a springboard to trace back to the source. It's not worth dealing with them now, like I told Sam and the others... we have to turn the supply of Hook off at the tap. Then we mop up the slime."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty nods to what Doug says. "Good. If you need any help there, you know I'm on boards," she tells him. "Something that addictive... I mean, it gives people power over others. As we found out with what they were trying to do with Sarah and Nadia," Kitty says, her face burning with anger as she makes herself think about that. "Sounds like it is a problem everywhere though. Which means, not just something small that someone's cooking up. It's got a big time source."

Cypher has posed:
Doug lets out a sigh -- and then he leans in to kiss Kitty -- on the cheek. He pushes himself up with that techno-organic hand, and then turns to Jean, and says, "...There's something else I wanted to talk to you about, Jean. I've been thinking... I've been following the pattern. I don't think we should abandon our right to exist in this world. But, there's always going to be these... people, who plan for our genocide. Endlessly. We shouldn't abandon the quest to coexist with humanity, but we need a redoubt where we can exist in peace without the threat of annihilation hanging over our heads. And I have an idea, about that. But I need to do some recon before I give you anything more solid. But if I'm right, it's a place with the potential for a secure base... and endless room for expansion however we might need it."

Phoenix has posed:
Jean nods quietly at Kitty's words, before murmuring, "makes you better understand Emma when you happen by these sorts, but then Emma used to be just such a sort...or well...is? It's hard to keep track," Jean sighs, listening to Doug, and murmurs, "shades of Magneto, but I'll listen...no harm in that, just center yourself. One man can make a difference. It has happened in history, and it would be my greatest honor to ensure the Professor becomes such a man."

Turning once again to Kitty, she thinks at her, <<back with Jason? I see the ring is on, but isn't that the wrong finger?>>

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty smiles at the kiss from Doug to her cheek. She reaches over to give his arm a squeeze. The black and yellow one, a sign of her acceptance of it on him. She looks interested at what Doug is discussing. "I'd like to hear about it as well," she tells him.

Kitty falls quiet then, glancing down at her hand. She thinks back to Jean, <<No. We haven't spoken, and I haven't seen him since... that day. I took the ring back to his father to give back. It had been his mother's and he gave it to Jason for me for whenever the time was right. Well, I gave him the ring back, and he said the promise of the ring had been that I had a place in their family. That it wasn't just of a single relationship. And that I still had that place. And he offered it back to me,>> she thinks. There's more, though Jean can tell Kitty is intentionally suppressing the thoughts. Somewhere dark and expansive. But somehow, modern and technological. A display case. These thoughts are pushed from Kitty's mind by force of will, and the training they've had protecting thoughts.

Cypher has posed:
Doug sighs, and stands, his hair ruffled by the cool evening wind. "I need--" He says, "...Some actual sleep. And then I have to get back to work. Also, I have a stomach ache from all the snickers bars I ate." He looks sheepish about that. "Tensions are high right now, Jean. Between the Sentinels and the Hook, everybody's on edge and things are fraying. Scott and Sam are at loggerheads -- there's a lot to be done. Thank you, for your concern. I'll be okay."

Phoenix has posed:
It's not like Jean to pry and she doesn't, as soon as she senses the great struggle to keep something away, she withdraws, but not before sending a whispered praise <<I'm proud of you, Kitty. You kept training, and it shows.>> Good thing Jean is Jean, Emma might be more inclined to see just what secrets are kept. "What else is new? Sam been going against Scott and myself for a while now, I've had to reprimand him more than once." She notes, before nodding, "I'm all too familiar about that, believe it or not, I've been quite involved with the Avengers on related work about the subject...this Hook directly concerns my students, when it's brought so close by. As far as I know, that's something only we're dealing with."