Kitty Pryde-Barton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
throughaphase) wrote2013-02-05 04:26 pm
throughaphase) wrote2013-02-05 04:26 pm
Valle Soleada, CA- Tuesday night
The portal dropped Kitty off not far from where Sage had told her to meet them, somewhere secluded and just off an intersection no one ever used, where it was too easy to think in the time that she was waiting for the others. It'd been years since she'd gotten nervous about going into anything like this, but she was kind of nervous that she might be okay with all of it, or that by agreeing to help out this time she was going to keep getting sucked into X-Manning until she was doing it full-time. She was trying to tell herself that A) the fact that her mental response to doing it full-time was still a vehement "nuh uh" was a good sign, and that B) she should probably be flattered they kept asking her back.
When she saw the giant dragon flying in, Kitty knew that was her cue to get up and start walking towards them, because she lived the sort of life where a giant dragon was just a mutant in another form. She could hear Sage talking to the others as they landed and hopped off: "We're facing an adversary whose extraordinary power is matched only by his cruelty. Control over Bishop and the telepath gives him exceptional insider knowledge of the X-Men. He knows our numbers, he knows our capabilities. I'm sure he believes he had every base covered."
That was when Rogue noticed Kitty, and even if she looked different, Kitty'd recognize that accent anywhere. "Sage, you brought in a ringer!"
Well hi to you too, Rogue!
"Who better to blindside the monster than a girl who can walk through walls and, more importantly, whose mind cannot be read. Like Miss Kitty Pryde," Sage said, gesturing to her.
Kitty gave them all a wry smile. "Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in."
They filled her in on what Sage hadn't been able to get into over the phone: there was some sick guy out there named Bogan who considered himself a predator, and mutants were a big deal for him. He didn't like to get his hands dirty, though, so he used a telepath and took control of people, which is what had happened to Bishop, along with a few of the other X-Men who'd been dealing with this. With all that explained, Sage, the living computer, and Amara, whose code name was Magma so that should tell you something, started going over the strategics of where to go while Kitty and Rogue sat off to the side and let them work.
"Been a while, Pryde," Rogue said, offering her water bottle.
"Yup." Kitty had been told some of what was going on with her, with her and Gambit apparently losing their powers, and Rogue was all tatted up and had a real name now. "Anna Raven... I like that name. It suits you."
"Thanks. You good?"
"No complaints. Till maybe now," Kitty said. "You?"
"Pretty much the same."
"Bike mechanic?"
"An honest job, who'da thought? Bartender?"
"Bar manager," Kitty corrected. "Girl's gotta pay the bills."
At the same time they both asked, "Wanna switch?" and at least laughing at that made Kitty feel a little more comfortable about all of this.
At least until Rogue said, "I'm sorry about your dad. I didn't know he was in Genosha when it was destroyed."
Kitty took a drink from the water bottle, giving herself a little bit of time to figure out what to say about it. It'd actually been sort of nice when only a couple people knew about it, just because it saved everyone from telling her they were sorry. And when she was already missing the hell out of her dad after last week... "Wrong place, wrong time," she said finally. "Story of our lives. Only he didn't have superpowers to save him."
"It was a nation of mutants, Kitty. They all had powers. Didn't save them," Rogue pointed out, reaching to touch her shoulder.
Automatically, Kitty moved away, even as she phased. Because you didn't typically want Rogue touching you, even if you were friends.
"No need to flinch," Rogue reminded her, not sounding offended at all. She was probablt used to it. "Nothing's gonna happen when I touch you."
"Old habits die hard," Kitty explained, feeling a little embarrassed by her reaction.
"Ain't like you were so easy to touch back in the day for my power to work. I needed solid contact. Most times, you're as tangible as a ghost."
"How's it feel, being so changed?" she wondered, passing the bottle back to her.
Rogue made a point to touch her fingers with hers as she took it, probably just to show her that yes, she really was harmless. "Best rollercoaster I've ever ridden. Can't remember when I've been so excited. Or so scared." She looked over to Sage and Amara, and asked, "Think Sage'll tell us what she's got planned?"
"When it's time," Kitty answered.
"Don't bother you, her being so secret?"
"Charley taught her, Charley taught Scott, Charley taught Storm. When it comes to management philosophy, some apples don't fall far from the tree," Kitty said dryly.
"Amen to that, girl," Rogue said with a laugh.
"Makes sense, actually, when you think about it," she went on. "Surrounded by telepaths, the most important thing in the world becomes your privacy. Keeping secrets becomes second nature."
"Making sense don't make it right," Rogue said. "What's your take on this guy Bogan?"
Kitty shrugged. "Sage is scared of him."
"Didn't figure that was possible."
"Heaven forbid, for us, things should ever be easy."
Seeing the others finishing up, Rogue stood. "Way I see things, there are guys in the world who make mistakes. Sometimes you gotta nail 'em, sometimes they deserve second chances. And sometimes there are guys with a cause. And maybe you appreciate the goals- and even admire the guy- but a line has to be drawn. And then there's evil. And that has to be stopped."
"I guess I see things differently," Kitty said.
"That why you plan to quit?"
Kitty gestured to where they were. "Like that's proving a big success."
"I'm serious, Pryde."
"Anna," she said, standing and pulling on her jacket, "we can beat guys like Bogan and Magneto till the end of time. That's not the fight that matters. This world's our home. And we- all of us, human and mutant- have to decide whether we have it in us to share. To live together- in relative peace- as the human race. That's the battle I have to win." It was one of the reasons she liked where she was now. She just wished she could figure out what to do with that.
"You're such a dreamer," Rogue said.
Kitty countered, "Hey, Charles Xavier taught me, too."
[Dialogue taken from X-Treme X-Men #42 and 43. NFB, NFI, OOC okay!]
When she saw the giant dragon flying in, Kitty knew that was her cue to get up and start walking towards them, because she lived the sort of life where a giant dragon was just a mutant in another form. She could hear Sage talking to the others as they landed and hopped off: "We're facing an adversary whose extraordinary power is matched only by his cruelty. Control over Bishop and the telepath gives him exceptional insider knowledge of the X-Men. He knows our numbers, he knows our capabilities. I'm sure he believes he had every base covered."
That was when Rogue noticed Kitty, and even if she looked different, Kitty'd recognize that accent anywhere. "Sage, you brought in a ringer!"
Well hi to you too, Rogue!
"Who better to blindside the monster than a girl who can walk through walls and, more importantly, whose mind cannot be read. Like Miss Kitty Pryde," Sage said, gesturing to her.
Kitty gave them all a wry smile. "Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in."
They filled her in on what Sage hadn't been able to get into over the phone: there was some sick guy out there named Bogan who considered himself a predator, and mutants were a big deal for him. He didn't like to get his hands dirty, though, so he used a telepath and took control of people, which is what had happened to Bishop, along with a few of the other X-Men who'd been dealing with this. With all that explained, Sage, the living computer, and Amara, whose code name was Magma so that should tell you something, started going over the strategics of where to go while Kitty and Rogue sat off to the side and let them work.
"Been a while, Pryde," Rogue said, offering her water bottle.
"Yup." Kitty had been told some of what was going on with her, with her and Gambit apparently losing their powers, and Rogue was all tatted up and had a real name now. "Anna Raven... I like that name. It suits you."
"Thanks. You good?"
"No complaints. Till maybe now," Kitty said. "You?"
"Pretty much the same."
"Bike mechanic?"
"An honest job, who'da thought? Bartender?"
"Bar manager," Kitty corrected. "Girl's gotta pay the bills."
At the same time they both asked, "Wanna switch?" and at least laughing at that made Kitty feel a little more comfortable about all of this.
At least until Rogue said, "I'm sorry about your dad. I didn't know he was in Genosha when it was destroyed."
Kitty took a drink from the water bottle, giving herself a little bit of time to figure out what to say about it. It'd actually been sort of nice when only a couple people knew about it, just because it saved everyone from telling her they were sorry. And when she was already missing the hell out of her dad after last week... "Wrong place, wrong time," she said finally. "Story of our lives. Only he didn't have superpowers to save him."
"It was a nation of mutants, Kitty. They all had powers. Didn't save them," Rogue pointed out, reaching to touch her shoulder.
Automatically, Kitty moved away, even as she phased. Because you didn't typically want Rogue touching you, even if you were friends.
"No need to flinch," Rogue reminded her, not sounding offended at all. She was probablt used to it. "Nothing's gonna happen when I touch you."
"Old habits die hard," Kitty explained, feeling a little embarrassed by her reaction.
"Ain't like you were so easy to touch back in the day for my power to work. I needed solid contact. Most times, you're as tangible as a ghost."
"How's it feel, being so changed?" she wondered, passing the bottle back to her.
Rogue made a point to touch her fingers with hers as she took it, probably just to show her that yes, she really was harmless. "Best rollercoaster I've ever ridden. Can't remember when I've been so excited. Or so scared." She looked over to Sage and Amara, and asked, "Think Sage'll tell us what she's got planned?"
"When it's time," Kitty answered.
"Don't bother you, her being so secret?"
"Charley taught her, Charley taught Scott, Charley taught Storm. When it comes to management philosophy, some apples don't fall far from the tree," Kitty said dryly.
"Amen to that, girl," Rogue said with a laugh.
"Makes sense, actually, when you think about it," she went on. "Surrounded by telepaths, the most important thing in the world becomes your privacy. Keeping secrets becomes second nature."
"Making sense don't make it right," Rogue said. "What's your take on this guy Bogan?"
Kitty shrugged. "Sage is scared of him."
"Didn't figure that was possible."
"Heaven forbid, for us, things should ever be easy."
Seeing the others finishing up, Rogue stood. "Way I see things, there are guys in the world who make mistakes. Sometimes you gotta nail 'em, sometimes they deserve second chances. And sometimes there are guys with a cause. And maybe you appreciate the goals- and even admire the guy- but a line has to be drawn. And then there's evil. And that has to be stopped."
"I guess I see things differently," Kitty said.
"That why you plan to quit?"
Kitty gestured to where they were. "Like that's proving a big success."
"I'm serious, Pryde."
"Anna," she said, standing and pulling on her jacket, "we can beat guys like Bogan and Magneto till the end of time. That's not the fight that matters. This world's our home. And we- all of us, human and mutant- have to decide whether we have it in us to share. To live together- in relative peace- as the human race. That's the battle I have to win." It was one of the reasons she liked where she was now. She just wished she could figure out what to do with that.
"You're such a dreamer," Rogue said.
Kitty countered, "Hey, Charles Xavier taught me, too."
[Dialogue taken from X-Treme X-Men #42 and 43. NFB, NFI, OOC okay!]