driftfleet | [Action]

[She's ready to observe--and then nothing happens. Kitty stands there, all potential and no action, the anticipation of something without any payoff. Leia's words come out tight.]

What is it?

[Beverly's reference to her hands shaking so badly she couldn't continue comes back to her. A dark, cold stone settles in the pit of her stomach. Whether it's an effect of the augment, a warning from the Force, or just her own worries, she can't tell.]

[He can sense her hesitation. She positively reeks of it. It's not as if he hasn't encountered Kitty in a frightened state before, even if it was his Kitty and not this one. But he'd never known her to be apprehensive about a simple operation like this. He tilted his head to glance back at her. His words are patient.]

Fight it. There ain't nothin' you can do that I won't come back from. So just do it.

[Yet even insisting on it gives him a sense of dread. He feels it in the pit of his stomach,. He'd already encountered this when he tried to use a mirror to get to his own neck. He hadn't even got so far as breaking the skin.]

[Laura's eyes narrowed as Kitty's scent changed, considering how abrupt the shift was, it didn't...quite feel natural. Which meant it probably wasn't. Something induced by whatever the chips inside their heads were.]

[She pushed off the wall, crossing the room to stand closer, watching.]

He will be fine. You do not need to be afraid.

I know. [She withdraws her hand for a moment clenching it into a fist close to her chest. It makes no sense to be this afraid of hurting him. She's seen the way he heals. Well, she's seen the way her Logan heals and there's no way frying the thing is going to be a problem and yet she's feeling things she barely even recognizes because it's so foreign to her.]

It must be the augment—programmed to protect themselves or something.

[She closes her eyes. Augment's fault or not she's the one who has to deal with it. And if it's making her feel things that aren't real all the more reason to disable it.

Her hand lashes out quickly as if striking a blow against an enemy except it's a blow that would never land in her phased state. She just can't do it slow and steady—not with the way everything inside her is screaming to stop. Once her hand has sliced through the back of his neck and the augment she jerks back, breathing heavily. She's full of actual terror, body trembling, but she's done her part. Right?] Did it work?

[As far as she knows her powers are still working as they always have here. Everything she's tried has been the same as usual. But she hasn't tried somethings like purposefully phasing through one of the ship's systems because sending them all to their deaths felt like a bad idea. If she had maybe she'd know that her phasing power doesn't disrupt all electronics anymore.]

[It's a fortunate thing he had the foresight to set his beer onto the ground. It takes increasing amounts of concentration for him to sit still. A growing sense of panic rises inside of him and with that comes a primal instinct to lash out. His mind roars at him to lash out and for him to extend his claws and rip her to shreds. He doesn't. His hands clench at his knees as he tightens two fists around the fabric of his jeans and his shoulder shake. Keeping the animal inside never seemed quite so hard.

Though the moment her hand passes through the augment, everything seems to go white. This was the other reason Laura was here. If he went into a berserker state, then she was one of the few who had a real chance at stopping him. But it doesn't come to that. The world comes into focus and Logan is left breathing heavily.]

... only one way to find out. [With a distinct snikt, his middle claw extends from his right hand. The claws is angled towards his augment just as he had before - but just like before, he can't bring himself to go any further. He curses under his breath and lowers his hand again.

A shake of the head was the only answer needed.]

[Laura knows something is wrong the second Kitty's hand disappears into Logan's head, she can feel the change, the tension, the emotions rolling off him in waves of scent and body language. When Kitty steps back, Laura steps in front of her, just to be safe, making certain that if Logan does rage...and it's certainly a possibility, given the fear she can smell...she will be his target. Nobody else in the room would survive it, after all.]

[As the seconds pass the tension fades, the worry easing into simple concern. Okay, she wasn't going to have to fight her ~~clonedad~~ mentor. She steps back when he slides a claw out and fails to cut himself, and then frowns.]

It did not work.

[Leia's hands ball into fists as she watches Kitty reach into Logan's head. It's a horrifying sight, unlike anything she's witnessed before, and it feels wrong. She wants to shout at Kitty to stop, they'll find another way.

She grits her teeth until it feels like they might crack, standing ramrod straight and waiting. And it's all for nothing.]

How are you feeling?

[To Logan, with no small amount of concern in her eyes.]

[Kitty takes a few deep breaths, just trying to get herself fully under control again. It doesn't seem like it's affecting her anymore, but it definitely got her insides all worked up in the process. She folds her arms cross her chest, feeling ridiculous for how hard something so simple was to do. And then it didn't even work. Why?]

Maybe it functions on magic instead of technology? [Or a mixture? But she falls quiet, wanting to hear what Logan has to say. He doesn't seem like he's doing much better.]

[He eyes Laura, wordlessly signalling his approval for her preparations to intervene. The last thing he wanted to do was to actually hurt her - but at least she was made to come back from that. Her willingness to sacrifice was a point of pride.

He slid his claw back into his hand and rested his bare palm against the back of his neck.]

Same as before, only annoyed. Magic or otherwise, phasing ain't doing nothing. So let's try takin' it out. [A pause and he looks to Laura again.] We're gonna need the restraints, though.

[The chains had been left outside, but he and Laura had brought them just in case something like this happened. If he was restrained, then there should be no reason why they couldn't proceed.]

[Laura hesitated at that half-instruction. She new he wanted her to go get the chains, yet she didn't really want to. She had agreed to do this, but agreeing to a theoretical and actually doing it were very different.]

[Still, after a moment of studying him, she just nodded and turned, stepping past Kitty and back out into the corridor, returning a moment later with the pile of metal chains.]

[This is going to be a harder round than the last one, and the last one wasn't exactly easy to sit through. Leia sets her jaw as Laura brings in the chains; when the girl gets close, she holds out a hand, as though to take some from her.]

Want some help?

You felt it too, didn't you? [The fear. Stranger to think of it coming from him than her. She just watches Laura and Leia, ready to help with the chains if needed. She could always fuse them into the wall with her power for some extra security.]

[Tightly locked chains hadn't stopped him before, but people tended to underestimate what he was willing to do with his claws and to his own body. Laura wouldn't though. He stayed seated until he was nice and secure. He even made sure he had good and tested it.]

I felt it. It'll be worse now. So I don't want any of ya backin' down, no matter how much of a fuss I kick up. Understood?

[Laura was going to refuse the offer of assistance, but she'd been getting reminded so often about how she couldn't do everything alone, so after a moment she just nodded.]

[She was quite thorough at hooking up the chains though, picking joints and making sure he couldn't turn his wrist enough to reach them with his claws. Lessons from her childhood, about what to do if she ever caught him, were flaring up in her mind, useful but unwanted.]

[When it was finished, she stepped back from the chains and Logan, studying him for a long moment. She wanted to ask him if he was sure, if there was some other way, but she didn't. She knew what he wanted her to do.]

Okay.

[Was her answer to his request, and she lifted a hand, letting one of her claws slide out, ignoring the faint twitch of pain that always accompanied it. She didn't step forward, though, not just yet...]

[Leia helps with the chains, but without such detailed knowledge of Logan's abilities, she can't do much more than assist. Laura clearly has plans for how best to chain the man up.

And then she steps back, nodding her agreement to Logan's request and hoping she won't regret it. Her gaze strays to Laura's claw soon after, and she can't seem to drag her eyes away.]

[Kitty stays close so if something does go wrong and she needs to phase someone out of harm's way she can. She knows they can all take care of themselves, but no one here wants to be fighting each other so simply being intangible for a moment is a nice way to avoid that.] Understood.

[Kitty glances over to Leia to see how she's taking all the mutant high jinks. She gives her a nod. Meant to be reassuring, but she know the strain of this activity first hand now.]

[He tries to stretch himself and wiggle out of the chains. It's no use, though. Laura is good. Sometimes a little too good. This isn't the sort of thing he wanted to subject her to. Not while she was still on her path to searching for her own humanity. Shame there was no one else.

He looked to Leia, the only stranger in this bunch.]

Ya might wanna look away. This ain't gonna be pretty.

Don't worry about me.

[She's seen horrible things before. This is just one more. One that has her gritting her teeth against that lingering chill of trepidation, but that's beside the point. Leia's not about to back down if she can help it.]

[Laura notices Leia eyeing her claw, but says nothing. She's used to being stared at, honestly. As the room seems to settle she finally steps forward, her eyes on Logan's face, mouth turned slightly down. She didn't want to do this, and as she got closer that feeling grew stronger. But was it because of what she needed to do, or because of the implant in her telling her she didn't want to?]

[Or too much of both, maybe? She flexed her fingers several times, unconsciously working up the nerve before she finally brought her hand up next to Logan's skin, the tip of her claw pressing against it. She thought maybe she should say something, but what? It wasn't as though this would be remotely the worst thing Logan had ever felt. Was her hand shaking? A little...but did it matter, she wasn't trying to be precise...]

[With gritted teeth, ignoring the compulsion, she shifted forward, shoving the metal into wolverine, digging for the implant. Blood was immediately all over her hand and arm but she ignored it. She was breathing fast though, and her other hand was clenched into a ball. Suddenly there was an intense ringing in her ears. She could do this. She could do this...]

[Logan wasn't the kind of man to show fear. He had seen a hundred battlefields and been through hell and back and visited death's door too many times to count. He'd felt fear in those times, but he was always able to work through it and find himself on the other side of it.

This was different though. Even before she began to cut, he felt the apprehension gnawing at him. It was pure instinct when the distinctive snikt marked the emergence of his claws. Yet he was bound too tightly to actually free himself, though he certainly tried. When she began to cut into his flesh, he reacted like a wild beast, Precision was meaningless just now. He was rocking dangerously in his chair, his teeth gnashing violently. He must have bit something in his mouth, because blood began to ooze from either corner of his lips.

Logan wasn't doing much thinking just then. Somewhere inside he knew this was irrational, but this was as close to his berserker state he got without actually being in a battle. He should have been able to reel himself back off, but his augment was signalling every single fight or flight instinct in him and the sum of it meant doing every single thing he could do to try and break free and kill his attacker.

The dangerous thing was, with the way his chains seemed to buckle and crack from his efforts, he might just succeed.]

[Not a good situation. As if the fear that comes with the thing wasn't enough Laura's got to deal with him jerking around too. There's too much blood to even clearly see what kind of progress or damage they're making right now. Kitty can hear the chains straining under the pressure. She glances over at Leia to give her a "be ready" look. Hopefully that translates.]

We need that out now. [Because it's the only thing that's going to keep him from breaking those chains at this point. She can grab and phase Laura if that happens though. She's ready for it.]

Logan, hold it together!

[Leia catches Kitty's eye and nods. Her feet have already shifted into a defensive stance beneath her, knees bending, and her face is white and drawn. The blaster is in her hands before she thinks about it; lacking any real Force training, it's her best defense against the man straining to escape his bonds at this point. For all her skills in hand-to-hand combat, Logan's strength and near-animalistic rage would almost certainly overpower her.

At Laura, she snaps:] Do it!

[Before we can all regret this more than we do.]

[Laura growled at that command, low and animalistic and angry, because she was trying to, damn it. She was fighting every impulse she had to stop, to pull her hand away, to flee the room in a blind panic in order to do it. But she was!]

[She could feel muscle giving way beneath her claws, felt the shrill squeal of metal on metal as the tip of her blade hit the metal edges of Logan's bones, the shiver that ran up her arm at the sensation, almost like nails on a chalkboard. Then there was a hitch, and a shift as muscle parted and her claw hit...something else. Something foreign and hard.]

[The implant.]

[For a split second, through the fear, she felt...triumph? Victory? And terror in sudden, excruciating waves, almost more than she could push aside. But she did, pressing the claw forward more, feeling it slid along the outside of the device, something else gave, it might have come loose...]

[Then suddenly there was a shock, like she'd pushed through something she wasn't supposed to, and her entire body jerked at the fear spasm, and she made a noise that was mostly a surprised exhale, perfectly still for two, maybe three seconds...]

[And then she silently collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.]

[Do it.

There was a moment where Logan was lost to reason and was replaced only with cold hot rage. Flight was never an option for him when it came to simply instinct. The berserker in him knew that he couldn't die. And that moment came like flipping a switch the moment Laura's claw touched his augment. He wasn't Logan anymore. He was the Wolverine. A mad vicious beast only out for blood.

While Laura hit the ground, he snarled and spat and cursed and rattled at his chains. His claws were out but the chains his hands bound and outward so that they could not be turned back on his restraints. But although they had been tested against his strength, they hadn't been tested against this where he tapped into an adrenaline and ferocity not easily tapped into. So when the first link snapped, there was scarcely seconds before his claws were tearing through the steel and Logan was free.

Laura was on the ground and ignored. That left Kitty and Leia - but in truth he only saw the weapon. The other was ignored and he charged, seeing not a face but rather a body to kill. In a fight like this, he could typically tell friend from foe. Leia was an unknown though - just a woman with the bad sense to have a weapon trained on him. So he charged ignoring any risk of harm to himself. His right fist and three razor sharp adamantium claws were directed right towards the center of her.]

[Kitty sees Laura buckling before the chains do and she grabs for the girl. She's surprisingly light, but Kitty's thoughts aren't really on why she has the claws but not the full adamantium skeleton at the moment. She's guiding Laura to the ground with few better options when she hears the sound of metal snapping.

Her head jerks up and he's moving too fast. She's already too late, but she's jumping to her feet without a weapon other than herself.] LOGAN, STOP!

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