Kitty Pryde-Barton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
throughaphase) wrote2014-12-18 12:59 pm
throughaphase) wrote2014-12-18 12:59 pm
New York- Thursday
New York hadn't entirely recovered from the attack on it this summer, but it was making strides. Aaaaand now there was a giant monster in the middle of it.
The X-Men were in the Blackbird on their way, aside from Peter, who'd decided that he was just going to armor up and ride on the roof. "Said he felt boxed in," Cyclops explained. "All those months trapped in that lab, I'm not surprised."
"Ain't no harm in a little windsurfing…" Wolverine said.
"He doesn't have to steer this thing," Beast pointed out. "I'm just wondering if it's the jet that feels too close, or us."
"He has been quiet," Cyclops conceded.
"As opposed to the wacky prankster he used to be," Wolverine deadpanned. "Look, I've been a guinea pig in my day. Didn't make me overly sociable."
"You're his bosom buddy, kitten," Emma said, looking over at Kitty. "What do you think?"
Kitty didn't really like talking about Peter that much. She'd gotten into the whole deal with Irene and tried to be open enough with Clint that he didn't decide he had something to worry about, but the situation was bizarre and uncomfortable and Kitty really thought she'd freaked him out by telling him about her boyfriend right away, and basically she just had no idea how to handle it or how to help.
"I think we're here," Kitty said instead, looking out the window to where a giant green monster with a fiery tail was trampling its way through a street.
"Looked bigger on TV," Wolverine said.
"Okay, thing came out of the ground, our best hope is to drive it back in," Cyclops said. "Hank's in the air. Deploy a little artillery, see if you can turn it around. Kitty and Emma, damage control. Civilians out of harm's way or calm enough to be getting there. Logan and I'll flank it, work with Hank on keeping its movement contained."
"I positively throb when he gets that tone," Emma said.
Kitty would give any number of things to have been deaf for the last couple seconds. "Your not saying that would be nifty."
"Emma," Cyclops said, ignoring that because he was all business now, "patch me in to Pete."
Kitty's job in situations like this was pretty much defensive. Colossus had launched himself onto the monster thing, Cyclops and Wolverine were fighting it, Emma was off doing whatever telepathy thing she needed to do, and Kitty got to be on the lookout for people in the path of destruction, phasing them out of the way or phasing whatever was about to hit them till it wasn't gonna hit them anymore.
"Hank! We got him turned!" Cyclops finally called into his comm so Beast could hear him up top. "Keep hitting his back!"
"He goes down the hole, you might want to get Peter off his face," Beast recommended.
There was also the sudden noise of another ship, and Kitty glanced up to see that the Fantastic Four had arrived. Not a surprise, considering they usually handled stuff like this. Also, it was kind of fun in a 'Hey, I know a younger alternate universe version of that flaming guy I already knew!' way.
"Sorry to break into your frequency, Mr. Summers, but I'd be grateful for a sitrep…" Mr. Fantastic greeted them.
"Big monster came out of the ground," Cyclops said. "Thought we'd send it back."
Over the comm, The Thing could be heard saying, "We do big monsters! Big monsters in Manhattan. That's our signature piece!"
Luckily the Fantastic Four was willing to help out in finally getting the thing knocked out, though there was a lot of damage to the street. When things had settled down and they could stop fighting things, Mr. Fantastic said, "Probably one of the Mole Man's creations. They pop up from time to time. head straight for the Baxter Building. Still not sure what brought you people out here- this is a little off your beat, isn't it?"
"Ought to be grateful," Wolverine said, stepping around some fallen scaffolding. "Monstro was practically capped before you bothered to show."
"Didn't they come up with a cure for your kind?" The Thing asked.
"You got a problem with mutants?"
"I meant Canadians."
"We're just trying to get out there more," Cyclops explained. "Do the work we should be doing."
"Your team's saved the world more times than they know," Mr. Fantastic pointed out.
"But not with the Fantastic Four at your side and dozens of news cameras running," The Invisible Woman said, smirking. She got it.
"Well, that isn't exactly a drawback, no," Cyclops said reluctantly.
"That came out wrong," she said. "Of course we'd be nothing but pleased if this helps the mutant community."
"But what if it backfires?" the Fantastic Torch asked. "What if the press brands us a menace?"
"Then you'll get a much more interesting bunch of groupies," Wolverine said.
That took about a second of consideration. "Reed? Can we be evil now?"
"Maybe after dinner," came the answer.
Kitty had mostly been watching to make sure that the civilians were being taken care of, while also keeping an eye out for Peter, at least until The Thing looked to her and asked, "You around next week?"
"Nah, back in Maryland," Kitty answered, knowing immediately what he meant. "I can be around tonight, though, if you want to do a Hanukkah thing. We can see who we can scrounge up on late notice."
"Sounds like a plan."
*****
Hours later when they'd gotten back to the mansion and decompressed, Kitty set to getting in touch with a few of the other Jewish superheroes to see if they were up for getting together with her and Ben, and then got ready to go out for a while before heading back to Fandom for the week. She came downstairs and found her team sitting in front of the evening news. She joined them, watching the coverage, and watching Emma get more and more annoyed.
"Thirty seconds! Thirty seconds of coverage after three minutes about that useless tart dancing topless at a party!" Emma complained. "As if that's remotely remarkable…"
"I got a C-note says our epic battle doesn't even make the nationals," Logan said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Kitty frowned. "I don't see how they can ignore something like that."
"You're missing the point, Kitty," Scott said. "The news isn't there to tell you what happened. It's there to tell you what it wants you to hear. Or what it thinks you want to hear. They already have their stories worked out. They just wait for events to fill in the blanks. When they don't fit, they get sidelined or twisted till they do. 'The mutant menace' is the story. Always has been."
"Check out the lone gunman," Logan said, almost approvingly. "Didn't think you saw it that clear, Summers."
"I've been at this a while," Scott replied.
"He's right," Emma said with a shake of her head. "J. Jonah Jameson'll be tongue-kissing Spider-Man before the X-Men catch a little public favor."
Kitty stared at her. "Why do you insist on saying things I can never un-hear?"
[Taken from Astonishing X-Men #7 with tweaks because the Jewish superheroes getting together is canon enough for the Holiday Specials and I love it too much not to use it. NFB, NFI, OOC okay.]
The X-Men were in the Blackbird on their way, aside from Peter, who'd decided that he was just going to armor up and ride on the roof. "Said he felt boxed in," Cyclops explained. "All those months trapped in that lab, I'm not surprised."
"Ain't no harm in a little windsurfing…" Wolverine said.
"He doesn't have to steer this thing," Beast pointed out. "I'm just wondering if it's the jet that feels too close, or us."
"He has been quiet," Cyclops conceded.
"As opposed to the wacky prankster he used to be," Wolverine deadpanned. "Look, I've been a guinea pig in my day. Didn't make me overly sociable."
"You're his bosom buddy, kitten," Emma said, looking over at Kitty. "What do you think?"
Kitty didn't really like talking about Peter that much. She'd gotten into the whole deal with Irene and tried to be open enough with Clint that he didn't decide he had something to worry about, but the situation was bizarre and uncomfortable and Kitty really thought she'd freaked him out by telling him about her boyfriend right away, and basically she just had no idea how to handle it or how to help.
"I think we're here," Kitty said instead, looking out the window to where a giant green monster with a fiery tail was trampling its way through a street.
"Looked bigger on TV," Wolverine said.
"Okay, thing came out of the ground, our best hope is to drive it back in," Cyclops said. "Hank's in the air. Deploy a little artillery, see if you can turn it around. Kitty and Emma, damage control. Civilians out of harm's way or calm enough to be getting there. Logan and I'll flank it, work with Hank on keeping its movement contained."
"I positively throb when he gets that tone," Emma said.
Kitty would give any number of things to have been deaf for the last couple seconds. "Your not saying that would be nifty."
"Emma," Cyclops said, ignoring that because he was all business now, "patch me in to Pete."
Kitty's job in situations like this was pretty much defensive. Colossus had launched himself onto the monster thing, Cyclops and Wolverine were fighting it, Emma was off doing whatever telepathy thing she needed to do, and Kitty got to be on the lookout for people in the path of destruction, phasing them out of the way or phasing whatever was about to hit them till it wasn't gonna hit them anymore.
"Hank! We got him turned!" Cyclops finally called into his comm so Beast could hear him up top. "Keep hitting his back!"
"He goes down the hole, you might want to get Peter off his face," Beast recommended.
There was also the sudden noise of another ship, and Kitty glanced up to see that the Fantastic Four had arrived. Not a surprise, considering they usually handled stuff like this. Also, it was kind of fun in a 'Hey, I know a younger alternate universe version of that flaming guy I already knew!' way.
"Sorry to break into your frequency, Mr. Summers, but I'd be grateful for a sitrep…" Mr. Fantastic greeted them.
"Big monster came out of the ground," Cyclops said. "Thought we'd send it back."
Over the comm, The Thing could be heard saying, "We do big monsters! Big monsters in Manhattan. That's our signature piece!"
Luckily the Fantastic Four was willing to help out in finally getting the thing knocked out, though there was a lot of damage to the street. When things had settled down and they could stop fighting things, Mr. Fantastic said, "Probably one of the Mole Man's creations. They pop up from time to time. head straight for the Baxter Building. Still not sure what brought you people out here- this is a little off your beat, isn't it?"
"Ought to be grateful," Wolverine said, stepping around some fallen scaffolding. "Monstro was practically capped before you bothered to show."
"Didn't they come up with a cure for your kind?" The Thing asked.
"You got a problem with mutants?"
"I meant Canadians."
"We're just trying to get out there more," Cyclops explained. "Do the work we should be doing."
"Your team's saved the world more times than they know," Mr. Fantastic pointed out.
"But not with the Fantastic Four at your side and dozens of news cameras running," The Invisible Woman said, smirking. She got it.
"Well, that isn't exactly a drawback, no," Cyclops said reluctantly.
"That came out wrong," she said. "Of course we'd be nothing but pleased if this helps the mutant community."
"But what if it backfires?" the Fantastic Torch asked. "What if the press brands us a menace?"
"Then you'll get a much more interesting bunch of groupies," Wolverine said.
That took about a second of consideration. "Reed? Can we be evil now?"
"Maybe after dinner," came the answer.
Kitty had mostly been watching to make sure that the civilians were being taken care of, while also keeping an eye out for Peter, at least until The Thing looked to her and asked, "You around next week?"
"Nah, back in Maryland," Kitty answered, knowing immediately what he meant. "I can be around tonight, though, if you want to do a Hanukkah thing. We can see who we can scrounge up on late notice."
"Sounds like a plan."
*****
Hours later when they'd gotten back to the mansion and decompressed, Kitty set to getting in touch with a few of the other Jewish superheroes to see if they were up for getting together with her and Ben, and then got ready to go out for a while before heading back to Fandom for the week. She came downstairs and found her team sitting in front of the evening news. She joined them, watching the coverage, and watching Emma get more and more annoyed.
"Thirty seconds! Thirty seconds of coverage after three minutes about that useless tart dancing topless at a party!" Emma complained. "As if that's remotely remarkable…"
"I got a C-note says our epic battle doesn't even make the nationals," Logan said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Kitty frowned. "I don't see how they can ignore something like that."
"You're missing the point, Kitty," Scott said. "The news isn't there to tell you what happened. It's there to tell you what it wants you to hear. Or what it thinks you want to hear. They already have their stories worked out. They just wait for events to fill in the blanks. When they don't fit, they get sidelined or twisted till they do. 'The mutant menace' is the story. Always has been."
"Check out the lone gunman," Logan said, almost approvingly. "Didn't think you saw it that clear, Summers."
"I've been at this a while," Scott replied.
"He's right," Emma said with a shake of her head. "J. Jonah Jameson'll be tongue-kissing Spider-Man before the X-Men catch a little public favor."
Kitty stared at her. "Why do you insist on saying things I can never un-hear?"
[Taken from Astonishing X-Men #7 with tweaks because the Jewish superheroes getting together is canon enough for the Holiday Specials and I love it too much not to use it. NFB, NFI, OOC okay.]