ArchivedLogs:That's All Folks

That's All Folks
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of Looney Tunes...
Dramatis Personae Logan & Kris
In Absentia	April 28th Kris, one of the new students at Xavier's comes to Professor Logan for her first combat training evaluation. Logan tosses a simulation at her that is a little different, and discovers these two mutants have something in common...
Location Danger Room
Logan has been experimenting. Now... before anyone panics, he has been experimenting with Danger Room simulations (still, don't panic) - specifically, basic scenarios for typical training sessions, rather than intense field/combat simulations. For variety and all that... Upon anyone entering the Danger Room at this time, they would find themselves standing upon the rust-red, crater-pocked surface of a strange moon - a moon so small one can see the horizon curve - against the backdrop of a star-spangled deep-space sky, mostly eclipsed by a much larger swirly-purple gas giant with rings around it. Upon this... moon of sorts, magnificent buttes and spires of rock rise up all around, and in other places the ground gives way to yawning chasms, narrow but bottomless crevices, and geyser-pits that sputter and cough. A yellow road winds its way past an open plain (in which the master - Logan, himself - stands in an X-Men combat uniform), with small wooden signs pointing in different directions. There is a Space Cafe near the road, catering to a diminutive alien with large eyes, in a roman plumed helmet, a coyote and a rooster... ...And it's all done in technicolor drawings. Logan looks over at the blue-silver outline of the exit (near the diner). "OK, kid. Sim's up. You ready or what?" Her power CAN be low-key at times... Though it usually isn't. Right now it rests at her hip in a sheath, in the shape of nothing more intimidating than a marine-issue combat knife. Its presence makes her both more edgy, and more confident at the same time. Which isn't easy. In her jumpsuit and athletic protective gear, she feels distinctly... unfeminine which is alays an irritating sensation for her. What's more, she'd be super-paranoid if she knew Logan and knew he'd been experimenting with a technologically advanced room with DANGER in its name. She thankfully knows neither Logan, nor exactly how dangerous the danger room is. In a throaty voice, she observes, "This is really amazing..." Pause. "... and kind of strange. I feel like I should be suffocating to death." Another pause. "At least it's warm." Another pause as she actually gets a real good look at the pitted landscape and the... diner? She stares. "I am going insane. Clearly I am going insane..." And then Logan is actually SPEAKING to her, and she's suddenly, reflexively at attention. She relaxes the military posture a moment later, and asks, "Y-yes? I... do I catch a roadrunner or something?" Logan snorts, shrugging his shoulders at the student as he crosses the distance toward her. His eyes look her over, examining muscle tone, stance, balance and the weapon at her side (he appears to be more interested in whether or not she appears to be able to USE such a weapon, rather than the weapon itself). When he draws near, the exit closes - its outline glowing blue for a moment, and then fades from view. "Kris, isn't it?" he asks even though he doesn't really sound like he's asking. "Read your file. Not much there, kid. Give me the basics; the sim can wait." "Yeeees," says the little martian fellow over by the diner in an exaggerated, dramatic contralto voice. The fellow hops off his chair and points a little finger imperiously at the Wolverine. "The sim can wait, of course! We are just lowly, lesser-lifeforms to you, Mister Professor Sir with the bad hair! But my plans for galactic--" "--Computer:" Logan interjects with an eye-roll. "Pause sim." The sim - and little Marvin - freezes. Logan looks at Kris again. "The basics, kid. Combat experience and powers." Kris rests a hand on the hilt of the knife. The way she puts her hand on it, it's almost... a comfort-gesture. As if somehow its presence is reassuring to her. When the man approaches, though, she actually seems to... shrink a little, in manner at least. She may be taller, but the man's presence, to her, is huge. The closer he approaches, the more her finger seems to want to twitch, reflexively, as if searching for a trigger of some sort. She gets the impulse under control, after a moment. Hell, the little martian even gets a giggle out of her. All the kid-like joy pours out of her face when asked about combat experience, "I... When I was twelve, I was abducted by the Moro National Liberation Force. Denied my... medications because they thought it was a perversion, and they didn't make for very good soldiers. Until very recently, I spent three years in the jungles and forests of the Phillipines living the life of a guerrila fighter under threat to my parents' lives. Trained in... multiple firearms, melee weapons, and explosive devices. And... I've... used every single one of them for their intended purpose. I... don't know what the bodycount is." That's a bald lie right there. She just doesn't like to think about it. "The government rescued me from that life. I can replicate virtually any weapon I've had five minutes or so to examine and handle. Right now, my Arsenal Includes several melee weapons, the .38 caliber revolver, Smith and Wesson 586 with .357 and .38 special rounds, the M1911 semi-auto, AK-105, AK-47, RPG-7, and my specialty, the Mossberg 500 Tactical." Wolverine's jaw tightens. Something about a kid being used as a weapon, despite his trouble with memory-recall, has him... irked. The distress, half-distorted with anger, is only visible for a fraction of a second and then gone. The man nods. "Okay, kid," he says, circling her with his arms at his sides. "The sim's all about distraction. You have a target - Computer: create target." Behind Logan, the ground crumbles away in a circle-shaped pit that is several meters wide. On a single floating disc that is somehow illuminated rests the Bugs Bunny, all tied up. Sitting in the rabbit's lap is an oversized stopwatch, that has yet to start counting down... from 3 minutes. Logan shakes his head at the ridiculousness of it all. "Rescue the... bunny. You'll have 3 minutes from my mark, and you'll be up against them:" - and he points to Marvin the Martian, Wile E. Coyote and Sam the Rooster. "Them," - and Logan waves a hand at a group of about 10 over-sized space flamingos, all arrayed around the pit and armed with rockets, pistols, swords, grappling guns (ropes, nets), and rayguns (a must). "And..." Logan suddenly turns invisible (no doubt an effect of the simulation holograms). "Me." There are some moments of silence, before he speaks again, his voice amplified to come from... everywhere. "Use whatever means you deem necessary, all your choices will be recorded and evaluated, okay? Safety Protocols are engaged, but they'll only prevent heavy damage. Mistakes will hurt, got it?" He doesn't wait for an answer. "Computer: Begin combat simulation 304." Instantly, the birds all brandish their weapons, Marvin hops down and scoots across the surface toward the pit, and the time in Bugs' lap starts counting down... But Logan is nowhere to be scene. Kris catches... something as it glimmers across Wolverine's face. Though... what that is, exactly, she's not sure. She'll probably be thinking about it for a long time. Something about the fact that it's going to be a... combat sim really hits her now. Elevated breathing. Dilated eyes and nostrils. Flushed skin. There's a certain old familiar feeling of terror and excitement all mixing into one addictive sensation. It's old, and familiar, and a little unwelcome, but it makes her feel... awake. First-timers often freeze when the sensation hits them. Her, it makes her itch to be moving so she won't be quite so exposed. In response to old instincts, the knife blurs blue and is suddenly in her hand. A moment later, and it blurs again. Suddenly, an RPG-7 is couched on her shoulder, ready to fire. Like some sort of talisman, she wraps her usual kerchief around her head, concealing the lower half of her face and covering her hair. "Yes sir. I understand, sir. Distraction, I understand." Invisible Wolverine? That's more daunting than the flamingos with rockets, and she's not quite sure why. She crouches slightly, lowering her profile, and murmurs, "Ready on your mark, sir." "Mark." Now, the area is perfect for cover (for both the attackers and the rescuer), and complete with other obstacles (like geysers) and of course the weird array of characters in the sim. It may be hard to believe Logan actually designed this sim... He probably had help. Peter most likely. As soon as the order is given, all the birds at once being firing in Kris' direction. Those with melee weapons (about half of them), duck for cover like trained commandos (with feathers), and begin attempting to sneak up on the mutant themselves. Marvin stands on the far side of the pit, near the control box for a ramp to reach the tied up rabbit. In his hand, he holds a device with several dials, oversized knobs and levers on it. He holds it up as if it were a weapon of some kind. The coyote leaps behind the counter of the diner and pulls out a stick of ACME dynamite, lights it, and tosses it at Kris. Of Logan, there is no sign. The game is on. She's nothing if not adaptive. Kris fires off her rocket right at the window of the diner as she sees the Dynamite making its arc, then DROPS her weapon, and goes scrambling as far and fast as she can from the place she projects the stick of dynamite will land. Ducking and rolling between rocky outcroppings and finally finding a nice crater to land in. Like any good soldier, she doesn't stop to check if her rocket hit. But now she's unarmed so what... Hand held out low and to the side, the rpg disappears in a blue puff of light, and reappears almost instantly in her hand... Reloaded. She takes a couple of deep breaths to psyche herself out and then raises the butt end of the rpg up to see if it draws any fire. Criteria satisfied, she pops up. A moment later, she does what mutants are most famed for: break some fundamental basic laws of the universe. In this case, matter and energy conservation. She begins to fire what can only be considered a barrage of grenades, as, each time a grenade leaves the tube, propelled by its rocket, another one shimmers in to replace the one just fired. It may seem she is firing randomly at first... But her 'game' will become clear pretty quickly. There is very suddenly a large amount of dust and dirt in the air, which makes seeing... problematic at best. This accomplished her rpg shimmers again. In its place, a long machete, wickedly sharpened. A tool that her hand seems very comfortable holding. In all this, she can only seemed to marvel for the hundredth time at how loud her breathing sounds to her. "Nice move," Logan says from somewhere that feels... very close. But he is nowhere near (visible, at least). The stick of dynamic makes a crater (another one) in the ground and only adds to the cloud of dust in the air. As the dust clears over the Diner, however, one can spot a charred and shivering coyoted sitting in a cloud of feathers (the rooster's). Running from the diner, and firing two six-shooters at Kris (well, as close to Kris as he can manage given the lack of visibility). "Ah say--now, Ah say--Ah say, that just ain't fhar play there, ladeh! Leavin' a Rooster nude onna moon!" The oversized poultry is featherless - stark naked. Fire from the other birds has died down somewhat, given Kris' artful means of creating cover, but three of them (all armed with swords) converge on the girl from three sides, blades swinging. They make no noises at all, but everyone of them has the same glare in its eye... at Kris. There is a cackle from across the pit as Marvin presses a button on the control device, and then turns a knob. A trapdoor opens up in the ground just behind Kris, whilst the circular disc upon which Bugs Bunny sits shrinks in size. The sound of the clock ticking escalates until it dominates the 'moon', and Bugs tries to yell through his gag, pointing with his ears at the clock in his lap. Logan is still... unseen. But he is definitely there. Kris's used to fighting in obscured visibility, it's true. So she's got a small advantage, but the fact is... a small advantage doesn't negate the fact that SHE'S at low visibility, too. When she sees the birds with their blades, she bares her teeth in some sort of odd rictus. Seeing no way to retreat behind her, her weapon transfigures into a long bamboo pole of some sort with a speartip on the end. She rushes the bird. If it doesn't get out of the way in time, it becomes an impaled bird as she jumps. If it does, the point of the spear goes in the dirt, instead. Either way, this ends with her pole-vaulting into the air, slightly above the cloud of dust. Almost as soon as she is airborne, the spear is now an RPG again, and in her arms, being fired in the direction of the rooster's gunfire. As ever, she doesn't check to see if she even hit anything as she lands on the ground. Nor is she actually making any effort to kill or fight anything not directly threatening her. No, she's charging straight for the objective, only leaning low enough to pick up a handful of dirt and shove it in a pocket. To wit, her weapon changes again. This time, an AK-105, being fired directly at the martian himself in a seemingly endless hail of bullets. It jams once or twice, of course, but she merely reforms the thing, flickering it in and out of existence as needed. She's been grazed and even nicked a couple of times by blades and bullets, and dammit if it doesn't sting! But she's had the real thing, and worse. As in the zone as she might be... her teacher said he himself would be one of the obstacles, and his ability to see her easily while she can't see much of anything is... well, it's got her a little jittery. Logan 'dumbed down' this sim, as he usually does with first-evals for students (not his choice, either - Professor's orders), so the is no blood spatter over Kris when she impales the spacebird. The other melee birds have to first disentangle themselves before they can give chase, but the remaining birds now have Kris out in the open and making a dash for the pit, Bugs, and Marvin. One beam catches Kris in the leg; it is a glancing shot, and it burns. It really burns (although there is no skin-damage). Several other projectile shots pass close by, so very close, nicking shoulders, arms - and even hitting the disappearing/reappearing AK-50. Nevertheless, Marvin - amid cries of dismay, denial and impending destruction - is knocked back like a skipping stone by Kris' hail of bullets... but not before hitting one button to put a wall (surging up from the ground) mere feet in front of Kris. There is no activity by the destroyed diner, except for a coyote howling at the sky, and a naked rooster trying to stick his feathers back on. There is no sign of Logan, and the melee birds (the last 2) are almost upon her (both wielding katanas with a modicum of skill). In fact, the skills of the assailants is about what one could expect of street-gang thugs who have firepower, numbers, but little style, finesse or tactics. Well, this is harsh. That burn is PAINFUL. But it also has her adrenaline pumping like crazy. Some sort of strange ululating cry in tagalog escapes her lips as the weapon transfigures into her specialty. The Mossberg shotgun. With a certain ease, she directs a small hail of shotgun blasts directly at the melee birds as they close in, then begins to back up, diving from cover to cover until there is a safe distance between her and the wall. What comes next relies very little on any kind of tactics at all. The RPG is back. Once she judges that she has a clear moment, she rises to send one of those seemingly unending barrages of rockets at the wall... Until she is either sure the wall doesn't respond to rocket fire, or until a hole is blasted through. By now, her voice has become an unending series of low, quiet swears in tagalog. Every second she fires, after all, is one more second she's exposed. Adrenaline or not, that stuff hurts! With a chorus of squawks, the melee-armed birds fall in a heap and little R.I.P. signs pop up in the ground around them. The rocket fired at the wall causes it to explode in a shower of dirt, pebbles and fist-sized boulders whilst the heaviest chunks drop to the ground. Smoke and dust once again fill the area and still the clock is ticking. As the platform upon which the rabbit sits shrinks until he is balancing on a tiny disc barely wide enough for his feet, the clock falls down into the pit with a despairing R2-D2 wail. Rocks pelt the remaining birds that were shooting behind cover... and the shooting stops. A wind picks up the dust near the wall, and shows the silhouette of a man standing there with his arms at his sides. It's Logan. "Less than a minute left, kid," he murmurs just loud enough for her to hear. "Reckon you can get past me before the rabbit falls into the stew?" Instantly his nose wrinkles. "Fuck, that's a bad line. Pete, wherever ya are, that's the last time I let you program a sim with me, sheesh." He looks at Kris and beckons her forward. "C'mon, kid. Show me somethin'." Well. Crap. Her leg hurts. A lot. And dozens of simulated nicks and scrapes all over Kris' body ache. For all that, she's still going strong. Even if she wants to wimper a little bit. She has no idea exactly what Logan can and can't take, and even if she felt safe lobbing a grenade from her launcher at him, she has the sinking feeling he'd probably already planned for that possibility. She takes the direct route. Again. Hand snapped out to her side, the Mossberg appears in it, ready to fire. Holding onto its front mount, she charges Logan's position. When she's closed ALMOST into melee range, the one bit of warning Logan will get is when she murmurs to him: "I'm sorry." Not even loud enough for most people to hear. In that last moment, her gun does not fire. Instead, her hand whips forward, throwing the dirt she'd picked up earlier in a cascade at the man's eyes. The gun shimmers again into a giant BLUNT bamboo pole, and once more, she uses it to try to leap. This time OVER Logan. Her plan? Why nothing less than an Indian Jones-style dive for the objective. Regardless of the efficacy of her plan, she'll hit the ground with pistol aimed straight at the rabbit, as she murmurs under her breath, "A hostage is a burden around the neck of my brothers." Whatever that means. Logan has felt many emotions in his life - most of them dark, dreadful and frightening - but there are times when he gets to experience other feelings in the most unusual of combinations. Today, it is annoyance and admiration all rolled into one. The sand was a complete surprise to him, and has the man growling - really growling - in frustration while he turns his deflective motion into a simultaneous attack: lifting one arm to shield his face, he spins and drops into a crouch all in one move. Then, as Kris' spear strikes the ground to vault her past the Wolverine and into firing range of the hapless rabbit... There is an audible snikt! sound and something sharp and shiny cuts the spear in half, and drops the girl to the lunar surface in a heap. Logan is already smirking, when the gunshot splits the atmosphere of the simulation and the bullet catching Bugs Bunny in the head, even as his ears wave in front of him like a pair of hands going, NOOOOOOO! The bunny disappears down into the pit and Logan, his claws visible in his right fist, rises to his feet. He glances at the disc where Bugs used to be, then at Kris. He arches an eyebrow. "Why?" he asks. Kris lays on the ground, panting, knowing she has lost, and also knowing at the same time, that her aim was spot on. She answers the man, first in tagalog, then in english,"Prenda ay isang pasanin sa paligid ng leeg ng aking kapatid na lalaki. A hostage is a burden around the neck of my brother." She slowly begins to scoot herself up,"So... so many reasons. The Moro, the people who pressed me into service, are islamic militants. If you cannot afford the resources to rescue a hostage, you kill him. It denies the enemy victory. How can they feel they have hurt you if you yourself killed them? Maybe you spare him a painful death. A gunshot is better than slamming your face into the ground. More darkly, some believe someone incompetent enough to be held hostage deserves to die." Some. Not her. She begins to rub the 'burned' leg, checking it over. "When the enemy thinks they have something you want... they have power over you. If you cannot get it back, then the next best thing is making them believe it is worthless to you. Noone is more valuable than the cause." She drops the gun on the ground from suddenly nerveless fingers, and begins to rock back and forth a little. "My stomach hurts." Adrenaline dump. All that adrenaline leaving at once, "This was always the worst part." At least killing cartoon characters won't keep her up at night, "Sorry for throwing sand in your eyes. I didn't know if you'd survive a rocket blast." Logan shakes his head and walks the few steps over toward the young student and retracts the claws into his right arm. "That's not what I meant, kid - Kris, right? - I meant, why did ya say, I'm sorry? Yer forgettin' - or mebbe ya don't know - who yer talkin' to." Logan sits down, or rather crouches on his haunches. "Saw that comin'," he murmurs with a motion of his chin toward the pit and the point where Bugs Bunny used to be. Then he gazes around the field at the diner, the wall, the trapdoor and the spaces in between. The sim has already removed the 'bodies' of dead birds and other cartoon characters. "Took 'em out as quick 'n clean as ya could - and only the ones ya had to." He lifts his chin a bit and stares at Kris' face. "Someone made a weapon outta ya, Kris... and they did a great job - and you did whatcha had to: don't ever apologise for doin' whatcha had to. Doin' it's punishment enough. C'mon." He rises to his feet and offers the student a hand. "Now... we work on bein' more than a weapon." Kris nurses her back as she tentatively takes the hand to rise. "I've... said I'm sorry... every time I've had to hurt someone. Even if you aren't HARMED or killed... Even if you heal... All these things... hurt. They're painful for the people who go through them." She pulls off her kerchief, now soaked with sweat. Her legs are shaking a bit, and she bends over, hands on her knees to gulp in a few breaths. "People here... keep telling me about being more... about raising leaders, making children be children, bettering the future..." She finally straightens, holding her hand out to her side. The weapon transforms into a knife again, and she slides it home in its sheath,"... what I've been afraid to ask... is how you stop being one thing, and start being another... Can you ever leave it behind?" She unbuckles the hip-sheath, and holds it out, knife in tow, to Logan, "Here. This needs to go back in the box." Logan takes the weapon and nods once to the girl. "Those're questions better left for the Professor..." he murmurs, and the shadow of past deeds (ever those he cannot picture but still remain... like faceless ghosts that never go away) haunts him and he lowers his gaze for several seconds. Looking at the sheath and knife in his hand. "You don't think you can be trusted with this, yet?" He asks quietly. "Or they don't think so? Hmph. C'mon, kid. Session's over. You did good." He starts to move away, just as the Danger Room exit appears mere feet from him, and then opens to the corridor outside. He pauses before stepping through. "I'm still a weapon too, Kris," he says without looking at her. "Things don't start to change until you figure out you're a person too." He gives the room one last look before stepping out and vanishing around a corner. "Computer: end sim. ... That's all folks." END SIM.