2013.08.06 - Purrgatory for Kitty

Morning. In fact. It's one of those insanely early mornings. The kind where some will still be curled nicely in their bed, and it wouldn't be considered sleeping in. In these early hours, it's usually Kitty Pryde's norm to go jogging followed by a tough work-out. Both, at the moment, seem to have been tossed in favor of a danger room exercise.

The light of the danger room flashes its normal hue, showing that it is in session at the moment, and the view from the observation, computer area is one of chaos, smoke, and fire. In the middle of a huge riot of people stands one Kitty Pryde. There are bodies strewn haphazardly all about her, broken, and beaten, and still sparking. Her uniform has seen better days, the vibrant blue and gold ripped and tattered, torn and shredded, as twin escrima sticks continue to strike towards the combatants all around her.

It isn't a scenario that is really meant to 'win', for the robots just keep /coming/. For every one that Kitty takes down, three more arrive in their place. Her hair, the curly mass is matted against her head, as a look of extreme concentration echoes within her visage. A blast from the right sends Kitty stumbling slightly to one side, showing she isn't phased - and from the looks of things, hasn't tried /to/ phase during the entire scenario.

A worried looking dragon in the booth looks on, pacing back and forth as he mutters out worried sounding, 'feh'. 'Yipe', and 'MEH' noises.

Doug usually showed up for the tail end of Kitty's training sessions in order to both check out her routine and compare it against his own SHIELD training. Having once got it into his system, it was hard to get out of routine, and he didn't intend to -lose- that edge it gave him.

Still, today's exercise routine was... just a tad excessive even for her, and once he'd assessed the situation, he scruffed Lockheed on the head, before leaning over the microscope. "Abort Danger Room scenario. Override Authorization: Cypher THX-1138."

And then, knowing Kitty was going to protest and try to resume the scenario anyway, Doug adds, "Shut down Danger Room scenarios for the next ten minute."

And then he takes a deep breath, whistles to Lockheed. "Come on, buddy. Let's go see what's gotten into Kitty," he says, as he leaves the booth, and heads down to meet Kitty. And what he gets when the Danger Room doors slide open...

At the sound of Doug's voice shutting down her program, considering Kitty was focused so entirely on the here and now - she doesn't immediately respond. Instead her foot kicks outwards, and then - nothing. Everything is inert, and quiet. The robot goes flying backwards as easily as one might kick a ball across the room. It takes even then a moment for Kitty to adjust, her head snapping towards the control booth, about to respond, when the second command puts the danger room into an inert state, as everything disappears - leaving just Kitty to stand there, and pant.

Busted. Well, at least it's just Doug, and no one else noticing.

As Doug shuts everything down, Lockheed sweeps upwards, wrapping himself about Doug's shoulders as he concurs with Doug's voice with an audible 'Yah'!

By the time the doors open, Kitty's initial irritation is replaced with an expression of cool neutrality, even if her entire body screams 'what the hell did you do that for' - evidenced by the tight grip she holds onto the escrima sticks, the shifted stance, the cool hazel eyes that watch the door open, the line of annoyance churning across her mouth. In all. Kitty's not happy about things ending, she was in the zone! Well, and working out some frustrations.

As Doug and Lockheed appear, however, Kitty's voice offers a, "What? I had the safeties on!" She states fairly defensively, followed by a groused. "Do you ever get the feeling that some days you just belong at the school and should never take an outside assignment?"

"Only on the days when the assignments don't go well," Doug nods, frowning at the inert state of the Danger Room. "C'mon, I'll warm up, you cool down," he suggests, already stretching, while reminding her to do the cool-down stretches so that the muscles wouldn't tighten and cramp on her.

Stretching his arms behind him as he bends, Doug just maintains silence. Knowing Kitty, whatever was bugging her would burst out of her soon enough when she was good and ready... especially since the girl was never one to maintain silence for long (unless, of course, you were on the receiving end of the silent treatment, in which case, you might as well start wearing a parka...)

The sticks in her fingers dance around in circles a moment before being tossed to one side, as Kitty silently agrees with Doug's assessment, moving to roll her shoulders and cool down. In silence, for a bit, Kitty lets her mind whirl, as she gets the muscles relaxed. Lockheed, for his part, dislikes the movement Doug is giving, so lifts himself upwards and lands on the ground, collecting the tossed sticks into his paws, for Kitty - it's the least he can do.

As Kitty works, the silence is broken soon by her asking. "Should I have tried to talk to the Inhibitor, Doug? Should I have? I mean, what did he -do- to Rachel, anyway? Exactly. Why would she react in such a manner, why? Why wouldn't she just have blocked us with her telekinesis? I can see where Isaac is a threat, and I would never have trusted him, but if.. if I didn't try to find out what was going on. If I didn't try to see the good in people, what use is there in fighting at all? I have to see the good in people, I have to try, there has to be some way to reach someone, and I would rather get burned every single time - than ever stop believing in people."

Letting out a curse, an actual curse, Kitty's body is in fluid motion then, as she stretches upwards, then down again, grousing softly again. "Or maybe I'm just too idealistic. Which is it Doug, because right now, I'm wondering."

For a moment, Doug is silent, not looking at Kitty as he continues to stretch, the sequence running through his head. And the one before that too... when he'd first met the Inhibitor and his group, captured two of them... and then walked away when Shift and Rachel interviewed them. An act of cowardice? Protest? Perhaps he could have stayed and changed things, but...

"Sometimes, I guess, you think something has to be -done-," Doug says at length. "But you know you're not the person to do it, so you get out of the way. With Rachel... I guess, she -knows- she's the one to do that, because where she came from, I guess, it -had- to be done that way. Here..."

Bright blue eyes shift to meet Kitty's hazel ones. "Someone had to try and talk to him. Not that _I_ could have." There's a short, dark laugh. "It's kind of difficult to talk when the only thing you can communicate with is body language. Though..." His voice trails off. "Hnh. Oh well, anyway... I don't think you got burned at the end there. I think he was listening."

"At least you were right in the fact, Rachel and Shift and who ever else did torture those mutants." A shudder runs down Kitty's spine at that. "Though getting tossed out from the X-Men is still too rough for any punishment." At least, so Kitty's under the assumption that is what transpired. That was an unpleasant realization and finding out - Isaac tossing it at Kitty with as much righteous vindication as he could. And frankly. Should. Have.

Taking in everything that Doug says, Kitty's head bobs slowly. "Yes. Rachel.." Her voice trails off, as all of Kitty's earlier anger and her /own/ righteous feelings of vindication fading some. "Where Rachel came from, it was kill or be killed. Maybe we just need many, many danger room exercises together, to work together, and be able to know each other much better. Then again." A brief shrug crosses Kitty's shoulders. "There are just some styles that don't mesh together, and right now, I'm wondering if Rachel's more suited for the go in, guns blazing, than the subtle areas that you and I bring, Doug."

As the last of her exercises fade down, and Kitty's feeling a bit better, her hazel gems alight upon Doug with a look of concern. "Hey. Having your powers shunted off is not a good feeling, in the least. It's why you and I work out each day though, even if we aren't able to speak, or phase, we can still fight, if it comes down to it." At the last, Kitty's eyes shift a moment, as though gazing into the horizon. "I really don't think it's over between Isaac and me, either. That look at the end, Doug. That.. that was a look that spoke volumes. We'll meet again."

"We got information," Doug replies, though the answer rings hollow in his ears, and the young man acknowledges that a moment later, with a sigh. "I don't know. Did we learn something that we couldn't have learned any other way? I don't know."

Musing, Doug looks back up towards Kitty, frowning. "There's something else, Kitty. Something about Isaac? His whole body language was almost -like- Shift. And... and he spoke the same language Shift did. Not Haitian... but Dangme. A dialect of Ghana. It's like... it's like for a moment there, he -was- Shift..."

Lockheed, for the time being, remains bored listening to the two talk, while his tummy begins to rumble in annoyance. He's missed breakfast! And this is bad! Still - Kitty is utterly ignoring his loud tummy rumblings, leaving him to just *sigh*.

A distinct scowl forms over Kitty's brows at that revelation, as she muses out loud. "Well, he did say he was from a different place. Doug. It could be that in some alternate world, some alternate earth, Shift -is- Isaac." Rubbing the back of her neck, Kitty relates what Isaac said, in case Doug didn't hear it. "Though - from what I could tell, he didn't believe a word I said. About worlds colliding, and alternate earths. I mean. Who /would/. I wouldn't if I hadn't romped around multiple dimensions in my own time."

A brief shrug, before Kitty shifts her head towards the door. "I'm going to grab some breakfast, you going to work out some?"

"He could have been..." muses Doug as he considers, a process that is interrupted as Kitty asks him if he was going to work out. "Uh... I don't want to but I better do it," he says, grinning. Considering how -much- work it took to get him to do the workouts on his own in the past, at least it was a step up.

Or maybe they were just growing up.

Doug's grin fades a bit. "Should we talk to Rachel? I mean, get her on the same page as us so that we're not... well, doing things on our own?"

There's a pause at that as Doug inquires the part about Rachel, as Kitty's fingers remain on the threshold of the doorway, one hand lifted upwards, the other hanging down. Finally, she just bobs her head slowly. "It'd be best." She intones with a soft sigh, turning around to lean against the door a moment, arms now crossed over her chest - in an almost protective manner. "I just hope she understands where we are coming from, and doesn't just assume we're ganging up on her. Maybe I should talk to her - alone first."

Hazel eyes shift towards Doug, as Kitty offers a brief shrug of her shoulders. "I can only hope she will understand, if not, well, I may have to bunk with you until a new room is put in. I promise, I don't snore. Lockheed on the other hand..." And the dragon just snorts a bit, before Kitty lets out a soft laugh, and heads on out.