The Ghost and the Machine
A New Mutants fanfic by Icon
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None of these characters are mine and you know who they belong to. No permission has been granted, no offence has been intended.
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This is set sometime around the Warlock short-lived ongoing series - The issue with Shadowcat guest starring.
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When the ghost passed through the wall his first thought was "It never felt like this when Kitty did it."
He emerged into an abandoned warehouse. A small group of people were slumped against each other, deeply asleep. Sitting hunched up against a wall was a particularly odd-looking figure that seemed more like a piece of sculpture than a living thing. It had the approximate shape of a young man, but was made out of a strange not-quite-metal/not-quite-ceramic material. There was a constant, subtle shifting of its (his?) appearance, nothing you could put your finger on, but if you were to look away for more than a few seconds chances are you'd notice the difference. Nearby slumped a girl with a shock of blond hair, a bald youth and another girl with long curly brown hair. All looked exhausted and were deeply asleep.
He paused briefly beside the brunette, recognising her instantly. "Well, speak of the mutant! You've really grown up haven't you pal? You're older now than I ever got to be." He crouched down and gently brushed a lock of hair that was hanging over her face. Though his hand naturally passed right through, the girl muttered in her sleep and turned away, batting at the empty air just above her head.
He spoke quietly, even though he knew she couldn't hear him, "I'd love to stay and chat... more than you can imagine, but I have places to be right now. Stay well Kitty."
He turned towards the sort-of-metallic figure. Taking a deep, and purely metaphysical, breath the ghost dived into the machine...
... and emerged deep inside the beings psyche-scape. The ghost floated inside a vast area seemingly composed of the same material as the figure outside. There were no readily comprehensible features, though occasionally shapes emerged from the depths of the walls, faces and objects, random bas-relief of times and people past.
The ghost cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled "Yo, Warlock! Front and centre! C'mon pal, I've come long way to be here."
A part of the wall bulged out and formed into a replica of the figure outside. It separated and floated towards the ghost. A bystander, if such a thing had been possible, would have been struck by the resemblance between the two of them, in profile at least.
"Hi 'Lock! What's the program?"
The new being's eyes popped out on stalks (quite literally) at the sight of ghost.
"Doug? Selfsoulfriend? Can it really be you?"
"Yup, it's me again.., Oh, yeah, you never remember these chats, do you?"
"What do you mean "these chats"? Is self... I mean... am I dreaming?"
The ghost tilted his head slightly, as I listening for a distant sound. "Well yes you are right now, but that's not the part of your mind I'm talking to. I mean that I've been dropping in to talk with you fairly regularly, especially since you became Douglock."
"Are you a ghost? A delusion? A glitch in my subconscious memory engrams?"
Doug laughed, and Warlock knew instantly that somehow this was real. No memory glitch could have a laugh that goofy. Human laughter was something he'd never quite got the hang of himself, and Maker knew he'd tried.
"Faulty engram? I've been called a lot of things in my time, but that's a new one! As you might imagine, I'm a ghost. Actually, I'm technically a revenant." He paused for a moment. "You know, I like the sound of that much better. So much more formal sounding than 'ghost', but less threatening than 'phantasm' or 'spectre', don't you think? I'm babbling aren't I?"
"That just confirms that it really is you! Not that this isn't one of the happiest moments of my life Doug, but why are you here? Have you come to haunt me? The movies and television I have seen suggest that ghosts generally return to seek vengeance on those who caused them pain in life, unless they are really Mr Jenkins the janitor in disguise and those meddling kids get in the way. Are you here because I failed to save your life?"
"Good grief no 'Lock! I don't hold me dying against you. I'm not that sort of ghost. I've met some of them, and let me tell you, they're a scary bunch! Still if you feel you're missing out on something..."
Doug's brow furrowed and suddenly a long, shapeless sheet fell over his head and chains draped themselves around him, manacling themselves to his wrists.
Obviously not able to see where he was going the ghost started turning around on the spot. "Whoooooa... Whoooooa? Booga-booga?" The chains rattled in a half-hearted fashion. It was possibly the most unconvincing haunting in history.
The chains disappeared and Doug assumed his more normal appearance. "Hah! See, all that shapeshifting as Douglock paid off! Most ghosts can't learn to do that anything like as quickly as I did."
He thought for another moment "Nope, I still don't know how those haunting guys can do that all the time. Marley would make Wolverine have an accident."
"Marley? Bob?" Warlock seemed doubtful, but it was the first Marley he had readily available in his memory.
"No 'Jacob'. Check out Dickens sometime. I read it once so you probably have it in my memory somewhere. Actually they're the reason I can visit you."
"Jacob Marley?"
Doug sighed with a weary smile, Warlock clearly tended to be as literal as he always had.
"No Warlock, my memories. You have a fairly complete copy of my memories inside your head, and I have sort of a proprietary interest in them. Since they are there, I have something of an 'out' about coming back to see you. I asked for visitation rights and They let me come.
"Don't ask who 'They' are because you wouldn't believe me even if I could find the words to describe them, and think about who's saying _that_! Suffice it to say that she's a lot of fun, but her little brother is this terribly serious looking sombre guy who probably hasn't laughed in a century or more. Anyway, their only proviso is that you aren't allowed to remember my visits when you're awake, and I have to visit you when you're asleep, it's something the serious guy specialises in for some reason."
Doug stretched out on nothingness and made himself comfortable floating in mid air. He gestured for Warlock to do likewise.
"May as well be comfortable. So what's been happening in your life? Tell me all the juicy stuff. Last time I was here you were thinking about trying a random method of stabilising both our memories to create a more stable Douglock persona."
Warlock was assimilating data at a remarkable rate, though he felt he was being assisted by the acceptance of the absurd that can only come in dreams. He already felt a lot calmer, and a direct question was something he could handle.
"I tried it and it did work, but then something more important happened. I recovered all my memories."
"Oooooh, so you know you're Warlock when you're awake now? That's cool. We thought you were coming close to that the last time I dropped by, but we didn't quite know what the trigger would be."
"You knew I was..? Oh yes... of course you knew."
"You always knew in these chats, it was sort of getting to you. I notice you've stopped referring to yourself as 'self' too. Talking more like I did. That's a new look for you too isn't it? What happened to the hair, wasn't my old look stylish enough?"
Warlock ran his hand across his scalp self-consciously "The new look? Well when I discovered I wasn't Douglock, I realised I really hadn't the right to go on wearing your face. Because of your genetic code being permanently fused with mine, I can't change my default appearance totally anymore, but I could make a cosmetic change or two and hair was something I'd never really had as my old self. You don't mind do you?"
"On you it looks good. Besides, well, it's not like I'm going to be using it again is it? And I don't think you'll exactly so anything to sully my reputation... will you?"
"Never!" Warlock tone was horrified at the very idea.
"Good! Subtly trying to work in a bridge here: how are you and Rahne getting along these days?"
The golden tone of Warlocks cheeks took on a reddish hue for a few seconds.
"Hey look, you can blush too! Well, I think that answers at least part of my question."
"I haven't seen Rahne in quite a while. We sort of got to be more than just friends, but then Excalibur broke up...."
"Excalibur broke up? Aw no! They were such a cool team! When I saw Kitty out there, I thought you were on some sort of mission with her. Is everyone all right?"
"Oh yes, it just seemed the right time to disband. Nightcrawler, Kitty and Piotr wanted to go back to the X-Men, Rahne wanted to spend more time with Moira and Meggan and Captain Britain had just got married."
Doug grinned broadly, "So Brian and Meggan finally tied the knot? Terrific, they should be happy together. What about that Wisdom guy? Last time we talked he and Kitty were dating."
"They split up. Kitty never liked to talk about it."
Doug's expression darkened. "Hmmm, maybe I'll rethink that haunting thing after all! Do you know where Wisdom is now?"
Warlock shook his head, "Leave it Doug. It wasn't easy for Wisdom either and Kitty can take care of herself."
"True... So what are you doing here? Tell me about the other guys I saw out there?" Doug jerked his thumb in an indiscriminate direction behind him. "A new team for you?"
"Not as such. More like colleagues."
"Don't sell that short partner. Friends are harder to find than team-mates and more valuable in the long run."
"When the team broke up I wanted to spend some more time just discovering who and what I,.. we... Douglock... I was, before deciding what to do with the rest of my existence. Then the Red Skull came along and.. well.. I really don't want to go into that now..." Warlock shuddered, and the walls of the psyche-scape turned dark, bubbling ominously as unidentifiable shapes flashed through it.
Doug caught images of a grotesquely deformed Douglock, a rictus grinning skull and a small army of zombie-like humans which were swallowed back up into the walls. He decided not to ask and turned his attention back to Warlock as he continued. "It ended up with me getting all my memories back. I realised that it was duty to make the world safe from the transmode virus, since I was the one who first brought it to Earth. So I set myself the task of going around removing as much of it as I can. Along the way I made some new... friends."
"So let's get our priorities right: Who's the cute looking blonde!"
"That's Hope"
"Pretty name, pretty girl."
"Down Doug! You're dead remember"
"Details, details you technorganic spoilsport"
"She has the transmode virus too."
"Really? She sure doesn't look techno-organic."
"She's not, it's more complicated than that. She's a mutant, she was infected by the virus, but doesn't suffer from it herself, though she can pass it on to others."
"Geez! Sort of like a Technorganic Midas? Can she control it?"
"Not totally. Psimon's helping her a lot, he's the guy sleeping out there. He's telekinetic, amongst other things, which helps us keep Hope away from anything when she gets really dangerous. We're currently up against someone called Mainspring, who seems to want to spread the virus as much as he can."
"Mainspring? And I thought Ani-Mator was a dumb name! That's quite a responsibility to be carrying, isn't it? Even between the three of you?"
"It's my responsibility. I had the best of examples in heroism to follow, and I always had friends I could rely on. Friends like you."
This time it was Doug's turn to blush furiously.. "Don't get mushy on me now pal. Umm, it was me you were talking about?"
Warlock smiled "No, I was actually thinking more of Empath and Farouk."
Doug playfully punched Warlock on the arm. In turn, Warlock threw up his hands in mock terror. For a moment it was like old times for the both of them.
Warlock shifted uncomfortably, there was something he wished to say, but he wasn't sure how Doug would handle it. Still, everything he knew about human interaction decreed that a friend deserved honesty.
"I think I should tell you Doug. I visited your grave."
Doug tried to seem nonchalant "Well, there's nothing much of me left there by now I shouldn't think."
Warlock was about to agree when he realised how grotesque such a statement might sound, even if true. "It's more than that, I... saw your parents there."
The grin fell away from Doug's face and for a moment Warlock saw a sad, lost, almost-sixteen year old boy.
Doug struggled to keep his voice calm. "Oh... Well, you told me that when you were Douglock that you and Kitty and Rahne did that too."
"I didn't see your parents then. It didn't feel right. And after the stunt I pulled the night before your funeral I wouldn't have felt comfortable."
"Oh yeah, 'Night of the Not-so-Living Doug'. Well, you meant well. How... how did they look? My parents I mean?" The effort to sound casual was noticeable.
"They looked well when I saw them."
"Good... good.. That's a good thing.." Doug turned away, shaking his head slightly as if to clear it and making a not very skilful attempt at wiping his eyes.
Warlock looked uncomfortable again "I also checked your body, just in case we'd missed any traces of technorganic virus."
Doug smiled "There was some, but I'm guessing those Phalanx guys took it."
"We've never been sure about that."
"Oh I am, believe me, a part of me was there, and I know it. Creepy looking things the Phalanx weren't they? Didn't you ever wonder why you remembered me dying? If the Phalanx was purely made out of you, then you wouldn't remember anything of my memories that happened after our last Douglock merge."
Warlock scratched his head. "I never thought of it that way, our memories get so caught up and twisted in my mind, that it never occurred to me."
"Still, I'll bet they wished they hadn't done that little bit of grave-robbing!"
"What do you mean?"
"You mean you didn't notice that either? 'Lock, the Phalanx were stymied because their transmode abilities were so screwed up right?"
"Yes, the conversion process was unreliable on humans, especially mutants."
"Tell me, did you ever have a trouble infected anyone?"
"Well, no, not that I ever really infected many people."
Doug pressed on "Then of course there were the times you and I merged into Douglock. That was not only a perfect transmode, but we could convert back afterwards couldn't we? The only reason we could form Douglock was because you could transmode me. And I was a mutant wasn't I? Of course I was, so what was the difference with the Phalanx?"
Warlock stood there with his jaw hanging open. He had genuinely never considered that. Once he'd even infected Illyana too, though she had been able to cure herself with her magic.
"I'm guessing it was something our merged psyches came up with an subconsciously. At some deep level neither of us knew about, your knowledge and my powers must have implemented a security software function on the transmode virus, and when they incorporated you and me, they made matters worse for them. The Phalanx couldn't transmode a sentient properly because we wouldn't let them."
"So....?" Warlock was having a hard time taking this all in, but it was making a lot of sense.
"So things would have gone a lot worse with the Phalanx if you hadn't trusted a human mutant all that time ago. Does that make you feel any better about things?"
"But all the people that the Phalanx killed?"
Doug looked regretful "I'm not saying it wouldn't have been better if there had never been a Phalanx, but without you and me it would have been a whole lot worse. The virus would have spread unchecked and almost instantly. It would have been like having a Magus to deal with."
"Of course the only problem is that the removal of the T-O traces mean I have no easy comeback from the dead." Warlock just stared at him. Doug continued "Sure, I thought about it for a while, but when they extracted the T-O from my body that was really my last chance gone. Of course, I'm rather grateful in some ways. Imagine if I'd come back in the past couple of years. I'd have needed a major change of image"
Doug frowned again and his appearance rippled for a few seconds, growing larger and more bulky. A second later he was an eight foot tall, massively muscled hyperthyroid. He wore metal body armour, a bandana and a massive gun that was somehow still longer than he was tall. Cybernetic weapons grew out of his arms and upper legs and blades merged from his forearms.
Faking a truly awful Arnie accent he intoned "You can call me by my new codename; 'Bad Language!'"
"Oh, oh I know, I know!" Now Warlock was smiling too and adopted a movie trailer voiceover tone "'Bad Language: It's just my mutation that's passive!''"
They both started to giggle rather wildly at that point. Eventually they calmed down and Doug reverted to his more normal appearance and lay back on his invisible lounge chair again.
"Anyway back to business. Is Kitty just visiting you?"
"We sort of ran into each other at a science fair, when Psycho-Man invaded."
"Psycho-Man? As if Mainspring wasn't bad enough, you fought someone called Psycho-Man? What's his deal? Can he transform into Anthony Perkins or something? Or was he just a refreshingly honest serial killer?"
"No, he's an emotion manipulating alien super-villain from a Micro-universe. Don't worry, I'd never heard of him either, but Spider-Man had."
"You met Spider-Man? Wow, I _always_ wanted to meet him! I know you did, but I never got the chance. The X-Men were great and everything, but Spider-Man's a legend. Was he as cool as he always looked in those 'Bugle' photo's?"
"A lot more!"
"Darn! He's about the only superhero whose autograph I'd want. Well, maybe him and Captain America. Ah well, maybe I'll get to meet them someday when they get up here. _If_ they ever do of course!"
Doug looked at his wrist, where an oddly shaped wristwatch was briefly visible. He sighed deeply. "I can't stay much longer Warlock. Your REM sleep period is almost up, and I can't stay if there's a chance you'd remember this on the conscious level. Still, maybe there's just time for...".
Doug was clearly trying to make his mind up about something. Eventually he nodded to himself.
"I have a gift for you 'Lock" A light appeared in the palm of Doug's hand, before shifting into the shape of a slice of sponge cake.
He rolled his eyes and groaned "Oh ha ha! Very funny. I hate dealing with subconscious imagery sometimes"
"What is it?"
"It _was_ a data file, but now it's a cake. Cake... file... Boy, our memories must have fused in a really weird way somewhere!"
"I really shouldn't be doing this, and I'll get into a whole pile of trouble if Mr Sombre finds out, but hey, what's an afterlife without a few risks? When the time is right, you'll know what this is for. Until then I'll put it deep in my memories. You might notice a few changes happening to you, new powers and the like, perhaps a better awareness of what my powers allowed me to do, but that's not what this is really for."
Doug squeezed the image of the cake and it popped like a bubble, but small sparks from it vanished into the substance of the walls around them. Brief flashes of fire danced across their surfaces, but then faded from view.
"That's that then. Hope you like it."
"I'm sure I will, whatever it is..."
"C'mon Warlock. Gimme a hug for old times sake, or are you to much the Technarch to deign to talk to us poor little passive mutant humans any more?"
Any further comment was ruled out by Warlock reaching out and engulfing his friend in a bear hug, his arms extending and bending around Doug in ways no normal human ever could.
"Good thing I don't need to breathe anymore 'Lock!"
"I always have time for friends Doug, I just wish I had more time with them."
There was the rueful smile again "I spent my life wishing that too 'Lock, then after everything that... happened to me I realised that I'd spent, if not the better part of my life time with them then at least the _best_ parts of my lifetime. That's more than many people get to have."
"Will you stop by to see me again?"
"As long as you still have my memories, and want me to of course, I will."
"I think I'd like that, I don't get to speak to as many of my old friends as I'd like anymore and I miss them. Some more than others."
Doug grinned again, but forced his tone to stay neutral "Well, if you just _think_ you'd like it we'll just leave it a casual arrangement for now then shall we?"
Warlock grinned back, and the resemblance between them again became obvious.
Doug started to fade from view. "Don't be a stranger now, have a look through my memories every now and again, and don't forget to try some things that I never did, like..." with that he vanished completely.
"Thank you Doug, but I'm not sure I could be that human."
There came the sound of distant goofy laughter and a very faint voice could be heard from far away. "You were always just about the most human being I knew 'Lock... infuriating, funny, curious, innocent. Those are some of the best human traits going. Don't change a thing."
Warlock looked around the inside of his own head and felt, in a distant disjointed sort of a way, that he was about to wake up. "Like I said, I had the best teacher about being human... but I can't be that innocent again. You can and you always will be now, but I've had to do more growing up since you died."
For a moment he flickered into the form of an eight-foot hyperthyroid and smiled as he vanished back into his own subconscious. "Of course, that doesn't mean I've forgotten how to have a good time with my friends."
End
A New Mutants fanfic by Icon
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None of these characters are mine and you know who they belong to. No permission has been granted, no offence has been intended.
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This is set sometime around the Warlock short-lived ongoing series - The issue with Shadowcat guest starring.
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When the ghost passed through the wall his first thought was "It never felt like this when Kitty did it."
He emerged into an abandoned warehouse. A small group of people were slumped against each other, deeply asleep. Sitting hunched up against a wall was a particularly odd-looking figure that seemed more like a piece of sculpture than a living thing. It had the approximate shape of a young man, but was made out of a strange not-quite-metal/not-quite-ceramic material. There was a constant, subtle shifting of its (his?) appearance, nothing you could put your finger on, but if you were to look away for more than a few seconds chances are you'd notice the difference. Nearby slumped a girl with a shock of blond hair, a bald youth and another girl with long curly brown hair. All looked exhausted and were deeply asleep.
He paused briefly beside the brunette, recognising her instantly. "Well, speak of the mutant! You've really grown up haven't you pal? You're older now than I ever got to be." He crouched down and gently brushed a lock of hair that was hanging over her face. Though his hand naturally passed right through, the girl muttered in her sleep and turned away, batting at the empty air just above her head.
He spoke quietly, even though he knew she couldn't hear him, "I'd love to stay and chat... more than you can imagine, but I have places to be right now. Stay well Kitty."
He turned towards the sort-of-metallic figure. Taking a deep, and purely metaphysical, breath the ghost dived into the machine...
... and emerged deep inside the beings psyche-scape. The ghost floated inside a vast area seemingly composed of the same material as the figure outside. There were no readily comprehensible features, though occasionally shapes emerged from the depths of the walls, faces and objects, random bas-relief of times and people past.
The ghost cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled "Yo, Warlock! Front and centre! C'mon pal, I've come long way to be here."
A part of the wall bulged out and formed into a replica of the figure outside. It separated and floated towards the ghost. A bystander, if such a thing had been possible, would have been struck by the resemblance between the two of them, in profile at least.
"Hi 'Lock! What's the program?"
The new being's eyes popped out on stalks (quite literally) at the sight of ghost.
"Doug? Selfsoulfriend? Can it really be you?"
"Yup, it's me again.., Oh, yeah, you never remember these chats, do you?"
"What do you mean "these chats"? Is self... I mean... am I dreaming?"
The ghost tilted his head slightly, as I listening for a distant sound. "Well yes you are right now, but that's not the part of your mind I'm talking to. I mean that I've been dropping in to talk with you fairly regularly, especially since you became Douglock."
"Are you a ghost? A delusion? A glitch in my subconscious memory engrams?"
Doug laughed, and Warlock knew instantly that somehow this was real. No memory glitch could have a laugh that goofy. Human laughter was something he'd never quite got the hang of himself, and Maker knew he'd tried.
"Faulty engram? I've been called a lot of things in my time, but that's a new one! As you might imagine, I'm a ghost. Actually, I'm technically a revenant." He paused for a moment. "You know, I like the sound of that much better. So much more formal sounding than 'ghost', but less threatening than 'phantasm' or 'spectre', don't you think? I'm babbling aren't I?"
"That just confirms that it really is you! Not that this isn't one of the happiest moments of my life Doug, but why are you here? Have you come to haunt me? The movies and television I have seen suggest that ghosts generally return to seek vengeance on those who caused them pain in life, unless they are really Mr Jenkins the janitor in disguise and those meddling kids get in the way. Are you here because I failed to save your life?"
"Good grief no 'Lock! I don't hold me dying against you. I'm not that sort of ghost. I've met some of them, and let me tell you, they're a scary bunch! Still if you feel you're missing out on something..."
Doug's brow furrowed and suddenly a long, shapeless sheet fell over his head and chains draped themselves around him, manacling themselves to his wrists.
Obviously not able to see where he was going the ghost started turning around on the spot. "Whoooooa... Whoooooa? Booga-booga?" The chains rattled in a half-hearted fashion. It was possibly the most unconvincing haunting in history.
The chains disappeared and Doug assumed his more normal appearance. "Hah! See, all that shapeshifting as Douglock paid off! Most ghosts can't learn to do that anything like as quickly as I did."
He thought for another moment "Nope, I still don't know how those haunting guys can do that all the time. Marley would make Wolverine have an accident."
"Marley? Bob?" Warlock seemed doubtful, but it was the first Marley he had readily available in his memory.
"No 'Jacob'. Check out Dickens sometime. I read it once so you probably have it in my memory somewhere. Actually they're the reason I can visit you."
"Jacob Marley?"
Doug sighed with a weary smile, Warlock clearly tended to be as literal as he always had.
"No Warlock, my memories. You have a fairly complete copy of my memories inside your head, and I have sort of a proprietary interest in them. Since they are there, I have something of an 'out' about coming back to see you. I asked for visitation rights and They let me come.
"Don't ask who 'They' are because you wouldn't believe me even if I could find the words to describe them, and think about who's saying _that_! Suffice it to say that she's a lot of fun, but her little brother is this terribly serious looking sombre guy who probably hasn't laughed in a century or more. Anyway, their only proviso is that you aren't allowed to remember my visits when you're awake, and I have to visit you when you're asleep, it's something the serious guy specialises in for some reason."
Doug stretched out on nothingness and made himself comfortable floating in mid air. He gestured for Warlock to do likewise.
"May as well be comfortable. So what's been happening in your life? Tell me all the juicy stuff. Last time I was here you were thinking about trying a random method of stabilising both our memories to create a more stable Douglock persona."
Warlock was assimilating data at a remarkable rate, though he felt he was being assisted by the acceptance of the absurd that can only come in dreams. He already felt a lot calmer, and a direct question was something he could handle.
"I tried it and it did work, but then something more important happened. I recovered all my memories."
"Oooooh, so you know you're Warlock when you're awake now? That's cool. We thought you were coming close to that the last time I dropped by, but we didn't quite know what the trigger would be."
"You knew I was..? Oh yes... of course you knew."
"You always knew in these chats, it was sort of getting to you. I notice you've stopped referring to yourself as 'self' too. Talking more like I did. That's a new look for you too isn't it? What happened to the hair, wasn't my old look stylish enough?"
Warlock ran his hand across his scalp self-consciously "The new look? Well when I discovered I wasn't Douglock, I realised I really hadn't the right to go on wearing your face. Because of your genetic code being permanently fused with mine, I can't change my default appearance totally anymore, but I could make a cosmetic change or two and hair was something I'd never really had as my old self. You don't mind do you?"
"On you it looks good. Besides, well, it's not like I'm going to be using it again is it? And I don't think you'll exactly so anything to sully my reputation... will you?"
"Never!" Warlock tone was horrified at the very idea.
"Good! Subtly trying to work in a bridge here: how are you and Rahne getting along these days?"
The golden tone of Warlocks cheeks took on a reddish hue for a few seconds.
"Hey look, you can blush too! Well, I think that answers at least part of my question."
"I haven't seen Rahne in quite a while. We sort of got to be more than just friends, but then Excalibur broke up...."
"Excalibur broke up? Aw no! They were such a cool team! When I saw Kitty out there, I thought you were on some sort of mission with her. Is everyone all right?"
"Oh yes, it just seemed the right time to disband. Nightcrawler, Kitty and Piotr wanted to go back to the X-Men, Rahne wanted to spend more time with Moira and Meggan and Captain Britain had just got married."
Doug grinned broadly, "So Brian and Meggan finally tied the knot? Terrific, they should be happy together. What about that Wisdom guy? Last time we talked he and Kitty were dating."
"They split up. Kitty never liked to talk about it."
Doug's expression darkened. "Hmmm, maybe I'll rethink that haunting thing after all! Do you know where Wisdom is now?"
Warlock shook his head, "Leave it Doug. It wasn't easy for Wisdom either and Kitty can take care of herself."
"True... So what are you doing here? Tell me about the other guys I saw out there?" Doug jerked his thumb in an indiscriminate direction behind him. "A new team for you?"
"Not as such. More like colleagues."
"Don't sell that short partner. Friends are harder to find than team-mates and more valuable in the long run."
"When the team broke up I wanted to spend some more time just discovering who and what I,.. we... Douglock... I was, before deciding what to do with the rest of my existence. Then the Red Skull came along and.. well.. I really don't want to go into that now..." Warlock shuddered, and the walls of the psyche-scape turned dark, bubbling ominously as unidentifiable shapes flashed through it.
Doug caught images of a grotesquely deformed Douglock, a rictus grinning skull and a small army of zombie-like humans which were swallowed back up into the walls. He decided not to ask and turned his attention back to Warlock as he continued. "It ended up with me getting all my memories back. I realised that it was duty to make the world safe from the transmode virus, since I was the one who first brought it to Earth. So I set myself the task of going around removing as much of it as I can. Along the way I made some new... friends."
"So let's get our priorities right: Who's the cute looking blonde!"
"That's Hope"
"Pretty name, pretty girl."
"Down Doug! You're dead remember"
"Details, details you technorganic spoilsport"
"She has the transmode virus too."
"Really? She sure doesn't look techno-organic."
"She's not, it's more complicated than that. She's a mutant, she was infected by the virus, but doesn't suffer from it herself, though she can pass it on to others."
"Geez! Sort of like a Technorganic Midas? Can she control it?"
"Not totally. Psimon's helping her a lot, he's the guy sleeping out there. He's telekinetic, amongst other things, which helps us keep Hope away from anything when she gets really dangerous. We're currently up against someone called Mainspring, who seems to want to spread the virus as much as he can."
"Mainspring? And I thought Ani-Mator was a dumb name! That's quite a responsibility to be carrying, isn't it? Even between the three of you?"
"It's my responsibility. I had the best of examples in heroism to follow, and I always had friends I could rely on. Friends like you."
This time it was Doug's turn to blush furiously.. "Don't get mushy on me now pal. Umm, it was me you were talking about?"
Warlock smiled "No, I was actually thinking more of Empath and Farouk."
Doug playfully punched Warlock on the arm. In turn, Warlock threw up his hands in mock terror. For a moment it was like old times for the both of them.
Warlock shifted uncomfortably, there was something he wished to say, but he wasn't sure how Doug would handle it. Still, everything he knew about human interaction decreed that a friend deserved honesty.
"I think I should tell you Doug. I visited your grave."
Doug tried to seem nonchalant "Well, there's nothing much of me left there by now I shouldn't think."
Warlock was about to agree when he realised how grotesque such a statement might sound, even if true. "It's more than that, I... saw your parents there."
The grin fell away from Doug's face and for a moment Warlock saw a sad, lost, almost-sixteen year old boy.
Doug struggled to keep his voice calm. "Oh... Well, you told me that when you were Douglock that you and Kitty and Rahne did that too."
"I didn't see your parents then. It didn't feel right. And after the stunt I pulled the night before your funeral I wouldn't have felt comfortable."
"Oh yeah, 'Night of the Not-so-Living Doug'. Well, you meant well. How... how did they look? My parents I mean?" The effort to sound casual was noticeable.
"They looked well when I saw them."
"Good... good.. That's a good thing.." Doug turned away, shaking his head slightly as if to clear it and making a not very skilful attempt at wiping his eyes.
Warlock looked uncomfortable again "I also checked your body, just in case we'd missed any traces of technorganic virus."
Doug smiled "There was some, but I'm guessing those Phalanx guys took it."
"We've never been sure about that."
"Oh I am, believe me, a part of me was there, and I know it. Creepy looking things the Phalanx weren't they? Didn't you ever wonder why you remembered me dying? If the Phalanx was purely made out of you, then you wouldn't remember anything of my memories that happened after our last Douglock merge."
Warlock scratched his head. "I never thought of it that way, our memories get so caught up and twisted in my mind, that it never occurred to me."
"Still, I'll bet they wished they hadn't done that little bit of grave-robbing!"
"What do you mean?"
"You mean you didn't notice that either? 'Lock, the Phalanx were stymied because their transmode abilities were so screwed up right?"
"Yes, the conversion process was unreliable on humans, especially mutants."
"Tell me, did you ever have a trouble infected anyone?"
"Well, no, not that I ever really infected many people."
Doug pressed on "Then of course there were the times you and I merged into Douglock. That was not only a perfect transmode, but we could convert back afterwards couldn't we? The only reason we could form Douglock was because you could transmode me. And I was a mutant wasn't I? Of course I was, so what was the difference with the Phalanx?"
Warlock stood there with his jaw hanging open. He had genuinely never considered that. Once he'd even infected Illyana too, though she had been able to cure herself with her magic.
"I'm guessing it was something our merged psyches came up with an subconsciously. At some deep level neither of us knew about, your knowledge and my powers must have implemented a security software function on the transmode virus, and when they incorporated you and me, they made matters worse for them. The Phalanx couldn't transmode a sentient properly because we wouldn't let them."
"So....?" Warlock was having a hard time taking this all in, but it was making a lot of sense.
"So things would have gone a lot worse with the Phalanx if you hadn't trusted a human mutant all that time ago. Does that make you feel any better about things?"
"But all the people that the Phalanx killed?"
Doug looked regretful "I'm not saying it wouldn't have been better if there had never been a Phalanx, but without you and me it would have been a whole lot worse. The virus would have spread unchecked and almost instantly. It would have been like having a Magus to deal with."
"Of course the only problem is that the removal of the T-O traces mean I have no easy comeback from the dead." Warlock just stared at him. Doug continued "Sure, I thought about it for a while, but when they extracted the T-O from my body that was really my last chance gone. Of course, I'm rather grateful in some ways. Imagine if I'd come back in the past couple of years. I'd have needed a major change of image"
Doug frowned again and his appearance rippled for a few seconds, growing larger and more bulky. A second later he was an eight foot tall, massively muscled hyperthyroid. He wore metal body armour, a bandana and a massive gun that was somehow still longer than he was tall. Cybernetic weapons grew out of his arms and upper legs and blades merged from his forearms.
Faking a truly awful Arnie accent he intoned "You can call me by my new codename; 'Bad Language!'"
"Oh, oh I know, I know!" Now Warlock was smiling too and adopted a movie trailer voiceover tone "'Bad Language: It's just my mutation that's passive!''"
They both started to giggle rather wildly at that point. Eventually they calmed down and Doug reverted to his more normal appearance and lay back on his invisible lounge chair again.
"Anyway back to business. Is Kitty just visiting you?"
"We sort of ran into each other at a science fair, when Psycho-Man invaded."
"Psycho-Man? As if Mainspring wasn't bad enough, you fought someone called Psycho-Man? What's his deal? Can he transform into Anthony Perkins or something? Or was he just a refreshingly honest serial killer?"
"No, he's an emotion manipulating alien super-villain from a Micro-universe. Don't worry, I'd never heard of him either, but Spider-Man had."
"You met Spider-Man? Wow, I _always_ wanted to meet him! I know you did, but I never got the chance. The X-Men were great and everything, but Spider-Man's a legend. Was he as cool as he always looked in those 'Bugle' photo's?"
"A lot more!"
"Darn! He's about the only superhero whose autograph I'd want. Well, maybe him and Captain America. Ah well, maybe I'll get to meet them someday when they get up here. _If_ they ever do of course!"
Doug looked at his wrist, where an oddly shaped wristwatch was briefly visible. He sighed deeply. "I can't stay much longer Warlock. Your REM sleep period is almost up, and I can't stay if there's a chance you'd remember this on the conscious level. Still, maybe there's just time for...".
Doug was clearly trying to make his mind up about something. Eventually he nodded to himself.
"I have a gift for you 'Lock" A light appeared in the palm of Doug's hand, before shifting into the shape of a slice of sponge cake.
He rolled his eyes and groaned "Oh ha ha! Very funny. I hate dealing with subconscious imagery sometimes"
"What is it?"
"It _was_ a data file, but now it's a cake. Cake... file... Boy, our memories must have fused in a really weird way somewhere!"
"I really shouldn't be doing this, and I'll get into a whole pile of trouble if Mr Sombre finds out, but hey, what's an afterlife without a few risks? When the time is right, you'll know what this is for. Until then I'll put it deep in my memories. You might notice a few changes happening to you, new powers and the like, perhaps a better awareness of what my powers allowed me to do, but that's not what this is really for."
Doug squeezed the image of the cake and it popped like a bubble, but small sparks from it vanished into the substance of the walls around them. Brief flashes of fire danced across their surfaces, but then faded from view.
"That's that then. Hope you like it."
"I'm sure I will, whatever it is..."
"C'mon Warlock. Gimme a hug for old times sake, or are you to much the Technarch to deign to talk to us poor little passive mutant humans any more?"
Any further comment was ruled out by Warlock reaching out and engulfing his friend in a bear hug, his arms extending and bending around Doug in ways no normal human ever could.
"Good thing I don't need to breathe anymore 'Lock!"
"I always have time for friends Doug, I just wish I had more time with them."
There was the rueful smile again "I spent my life wishing that too 'Lock, then after everything that... happened to me I realised that I'd spent, if not the better part of my life time with them then at least the _best_ parts of my lifetime. That's more than many people get to have."
"Will you stop by to see me again?"
"As long as you still have my memories, and want me to of course, I will."
"I think I'd like that, I don't get to speak to as many of my old friends as I'd like anymore and I miss them. Some more than others."
Doug grinned again, but forced his tone to stay neutral "Well, if you just _think_ you'd like it we'll just leave it a casual arrangement for now then shall we?"
Warlock grinned back, and the resemblance between them again became obvious.
Doug started to fade from view. "Don't be a stranger now, have a look through my memories every now and again, and don't forget to try some things that I never did, like..." with that he vanished completely.
"Thank you Doug, but I'm not sure I could be that human."
There came the sound of distant goofy laughter and a very faint voice could be heard from far away. "You were always just about the most human being I knew 'Lock... infuriating, funny, curious, innocent. Those are some of the best human traits going. Don't change a thing."
Warlock looked around the inside of his own head and felt, in a distant disjointed sort of a way, that he was about to wake up. "Like I said, I had the best teacher about being human... but I can't be that innocent again. You can and you always will be now, but I've had to do more growing up since you died."
For a moment he flickered into the form of an eight-foot hyperthyroid and smiled as he vanished back into his own subconscious. "Of course, that doesn't mean I've forgotten how to have a good time with my friends."
End