Summary: In chess, the pawns go first. Kyro Kitty/Pyro
Author's Note: Love X-Men. Comics, movies, whatever. Love.
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. Maybe if I hook up with Stan Lee…?
Chess
In chess, the pawns go first. You can give them up. You can kill the other side's pawns early and without remorse. They can't do anything important, anyway. Not like the other pieces.
I was ready to go into battle. I kept thinking about what was going to happen as I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, glancing into the faces of horrified mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and friends and lovers as I marched next to Magneto toward Alcatraz. I felt prepared. I was loyal to our cause.
I wanted to fight. I wanted to prove to Magneto that I was worthy. I wanted to show the world that we weren't just going to sit around and wait to be killed. We weren't going to be willing victims of a genocide. I wanted to fight... But at the same time, I didn't.
I stood at the end of the battlefield at Alcatraz, tossing streams of fire up at cars Magneto lifted, watching as the fiery slabs of metal crashed down on the soldiers closer to the former jail, their faces writhing in agony as they felt the fire licking at their flesh. It didn't matter. They were pawns anyway. Pawns have to go first.
You get rid of the pawns first because they're boring. They have no personality; they're no fun to play with. They'd never have a food fight with you in the institute's kitchen. They'd never sneak up behind you and phase you through a wall just for laughs. They'd never make a snowman with you and then try to look pissed, but end up laughing after you blow it up in a fiery explosion.
"Ummmm... Truth, I guess." Kitty Pryde's ocean blue eyes locked onto mine, begging for me to be merciful. Yeah, right.
"Well then, Kit-Kat, I guess I'll have to ask you... Who was a better kisser on prom night; the bowflex man, or me?"
A collective gasp seemed to go around the room. I knew Piotr's eyes must be the size of plates, but my gaze was focused on Kitty. At first she drew back a little, looking astonished that I'd have the audacity to bring up our spur-of-the-moment kiss. However, after a moment, the surprise washed off of her face to reveal an uncharacteristic smirk.
"Well, to be truthful," she started, smiling around at the group, then returning her gaze to me, "When I was kissing Peter, I felt like my heart was in my throat. When I was attacked by you, I felt something closer to bile coming up my windpipe."
Rogue let out a huge guffaw, then snapped her mouth shut and covered it with a glove-clad hand. The room was silent as I looked at Kitty, surprise now written on my face. We sat in total silence, just staring each other down, until I started cracking up.
"Wow, Kitten's got claws, huh?" I asked, watching her smile and blush slightly as she looked around the room at everyone who was now laughing with me.
"You're an ass, John; you know that, right?" she asked, rolling her eyes at me.
"I know, Kitten," I answered, smiling.
You get rid of the pawns first because they don't know you. They don't know your strategy plan. They've never really talked to you. They don't know little random things about you, like how you like to write poetry, or how you secretly think that Kurt's jokes are funny. They can't use that kind of information against you.
"It's over now, the Music of the Night!!"
I winced as the Phantom smashed a candlestick into all of the mirrors in his lair, jumping a little bit in my seat as the last one was broken into a hundred tiny pieces. The final five chords rang in my ear as I watched Meg pick up the Phantom's mask and stare at it before the screen faded into darkness.
"So, what'd you think of it?" Kitty asked me softly, turning down the volume on the television low enough so that we could talk, but having it so that we could still hear the music being played during the credits.
"It was alright," I answered, clearing my throat quietly, trying to sound indifferent. She picked up on my little cough and turned to look at me, resting her hand on my shoulder in a comforting way.
"John, are you..." she trailed off as she saw a glisten of moisture on my cheek."Are you crying?"
"N-no," I fake-laughed, lifting my hand to shield my face from her insistent gaze.
"You are!" She looked as if she were trying to hold back a laugh, her teeth lightly biting down on her glossed bottom lip to keep from smiling.
"If you ever tell anyone about this..." I half-threatened, giving her a death stare. My reputation would be totally ruined if someone found out that I was crying at The Phantom of the Opera.
"I won't!" she promised, shaking her head enthusiastically. And she never did tell anyone, as far as I know, but for a month after that, whenever she was near me, I had to put up with her humming The Music of the Night over and over.
You get rid of the pawns first because they don't matter to you. They mean nothing. You don't know them. You haven't laid for hours on end just relaxing in their laps. You haven't laughed with them until you couldn't breathe anymore. You haven't hovered over their lips, lips that were begging to be kissed, and yet taunting you because they know you can't do it.
"John!" Kitty giggled under me, rolling slightly from side to side, trying to fight off my torturous hands. "Quit it, that tickles!"
"That's kinda the point, Kitten," I smirked, trailing my hands up and down her sides, watching her squirm in agonized laughter beneath me, my knees trapping her hips to the ground.
"Okay, okay, I give," she yelled, trying to push my hands away. "Antony and Cleopatra is better that Much Ado About Nothing! There! Are you happy now?"
"Yes," I say, rolling off her onto the soft green grass so that we were lying beside each other.
"Who knew that Mr. Bad Boy John Allerdyce would get so defensive about Shakespeare?" Kitty asked, rolling onto her side to look at me.
"Well, it's not just that I like Shakespeare, Kitten," I retort, closing my eyes against the brightness if the sun and resting my head on my hands. "It's that you went against my opinion of his best play. If there's one thing you should know by now, Kit-Kat, it's that I'm always right."
"Always right my ass," she laughed, giving me a little shove. "What about the time you wanted to steal Logan's hair gel? Or when you thought that Cyclops wouldn't notice if we took out his motorcycle? Or what about the time when you tried to make a firework with Jubilee by setting one of her blasts on fire?"
"Yeah, well, it's times like those that make life fun, Kitten."
"Oh sure, it's totally fun to get blown up, Allerdyce!"
"It's all part of the charm, babe."
"Charm! Yeah right!" she chuckled, snorting a little. "You're about as charming as Steff McKee in Pretty in Pink."
"You don't have to lie and make jokes, Kitty. I know that you're totally into me," I say, grinning smugly. Kitty smirked at me before she crawled over me and fell with her head on my chest.
"You're right, I give in. I've always wanted you, John," she grinned up at me, her expression light and teasing before I flipped her over. She let out a squeak as her body was pinned under mine yet again, and her light smile melted away as she saw the serious look on my face.
My hazel eyes held her own for a brief moment as my hands ran down her arms to hold her wrists to the ground so she couldn't try to push me off of her. I had always been enraptured by her eyes. They were the exact color of the ocean in a little cove I used to go to in Australia when I needed to be alone... To get away from life. Her pure blue eyes searched my own for a minute before I let my eyes drift around her face, taking in her soft expression before resting on her lips, which were parted softly.
My breathing grew more and more rapid as I looked at her. I could smell her strawberry lip gloss and flowery perfume from my position above her, and it made me yearn even more to lean down that last centimeter and close the gap between us. She shifted slightly below me and licked her lips, and I had to hold back a groan.
"J-John?" she stuttered, causing my eyes to fly back to hers, which looked back up at me. I read her emotions through her eyes, and was shocked to find that she wasn't scared. Confused, awkward, and nervous, but not scared. I stood up.
"I'll see you at dinner, Kitty, I forgot I promised Bobby I'd meet up with him today," I say, wiping my hands on my jeans and cursing myself for letting the situation go so far. I needed to be able to control my emotions. Kitty nodded silently, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear as I turned and walked away from her. Again.
You get rid of the pawns first because they're not strategy players. They don't take you in and befriend you just to push you away. They don't make you care about them and then say that they don't care about you. They don't promise to protect you and then let you go just when you need to be protected the most.
"Why, John?" Kitty cried, fisting the front of my leather jacket in her tiny hands. "Why would you even consider following Magneto?"
"Because he wants equal rights for people like us, Kitty," I try to reason with her, placing my hands on her hips to emphasize the word us. "And he's willing to actually go out and fight for our rights! I mean, what're we doing here, Kitty? We're not getting anything accomplished. We need to go out and stand up for what we believe in, not sit in school like good little girls and boys, waiting for someone else to solve our problems!"
"But John, he's, he's--evil!" Kitty yelled, tears running down her cheeks. "I mean, you saw what he did to Rogue... What kind of person would do that to another human being?!"
I sighed, looking down at her, watching as she buried her face in my chest, her tears soaking through my crumpled t-shirt. Her hands wrapped around my waist beneath my jacket and clutched at me as if I would disappear if she didn't keep her hold on me. I wrapped my arms tightly around her shoulders and dropped a kiss to the top of her head, which only seemed to make her cry more.
We stayed like that for God knows how long, just holding each other. Eventually, the sounds of her crying reduced into sniffles as she ran out of tears, and she drew away from me. I just stared at her, taking in the sight. Her eyes were red and wet, as was her face. Her teeth gnawed on her bottom lip, which seemed slightly swollen. Her clothes were crinkled and her hair was falling out of its normally neat ponytail. To me, she had never looked more beautiful.
"D-do you... Do you have to go?"
I felt my heart break as I watched her utter those words, small and frightened, like the little Kitten she was named after. I looked into her soft, tearful ocean eyes, eyes that reminded me of home, of being able to get away from the world and just be who I was. I wanted to say no, I wanted to stay with her forever. But I couldn't.
"Yes."
I almost wished she wouldn't let me go. I wished she would beg me to stay with her, to be with her. I wanted her to take me into her arms, to take me into her heart, and to never let me leave.
"Then... Goodbye, John."
She was gone.
You get rid of the pawns first because you don't want to go out into the deep battle yet. Not because you might get hurt; you stopped caring for yourself a long time ago. You just know that when you do have to go deeper into the chessboard, you'll have to face the other team's pieces. You don't want to hurt them, but you must. You've already pledged allegiance to your King... To the Dark King. So you throw down their pawns and knock out their rooks and blow up their knights. But then you see their Queen. And you know she can destroy you just by looking at you.
I ran through the battlefield, hurtling over dead bodies and darting around other fighting soldiers and brotherhood members, offering my assistance when it seemed to be necessary. The soldiers fell with just one blast of fire thrown at them, but I knew the X-Men, who were bound to show up at the battle, weren't likely to go down so easy.
I finally found who Magneto had sent me out to find... Bobby Drake stood before me, dressed head to toe in leather as an X-Man. I didn't really want to fight the Iceman. I mean, if I'd had to pick anyone to fight, it would be him... Just to see how our powers would match up against each other.
But truthfully, I didn't want to fight anyone. The X-Men were my former allies, even my former friends. But friendship didn't matter anymore. Magneto told me to go ahead and fight Bobby, and that was what I was going to do.
However, as we fought each other, freezing blue ice meeting burning red fire, I couldn't help but think that I had always wanted to fight Bobby. I had always been jealous of him. At first it was just a light yearning for what he had. I wanted the perfect family, the big group of friends, and the constant praise he received from everyone.
Then he met Rogue. He spent less and less time with me, and at first, it upset me. Bobby was supposed to be my best friend, and he seemed to be leaving me and our three years of friendship behind to be with some girl.
Later, though, I realized that Bobby dating Rogue was the best thing that ever happened to me... Or the worst, depending on how you look at it. When he ditched me for a movie in the rec room one night in favor of taking Rogue out, Kitty kinda jumped in. She asked me question after annoying question until I finally graced her with an answer, and a conversation sprouted. That night ended with me putting her to bed after she fell asleep watching Harry Potter with me (her choice, not mine).
We kind of became fast friends after that. I spent a lot of my newly gained free time with her, doing... whatever. We could do anything together. It wasn't like how it was with Bobby, where I felt like I had to prove myself worthy of his friendship at every turn. I felt comfortable with Kitty. I wasn't bad-boy John Allerdyce with her, or even Pyro. I was just John.
I should've seen that I would fall for her. She's the kind of girl that a guy falls in love with, after all. I tried to deceive myself. I told everyone who asked that we were just friends, and I believed it myself for a while. But then the jealous rage built inside me again whenever she was with
Bobby, and I knew that I couldn't hold back anymore.
I knew he liked her. He flirted with her, he gave her sly, coy looks and casually touched her a little too much for "just a friend." And I hated him for it. I mean, he had Rogue already! He had someone! And then he just swoops down and takes away the most important thing in my life?
As I continued to fight Bobby, my hatred became more and more prevalent in my technique. I pushed and pushed... I wanted him to feel my pain, to feel the death I felt inside me when he took Kitty away from me. I wanted him to hurt.
My mind was so overcome with rage that I didn't even realize how close we were before it was too late.
I laid on the ground, shivering roughly, not wanting to get up. I knew that of I got up, if I even raised my head, I would see her, and then my heart would break all over again.
I lifted my head...
In chess, the pawns go first. You can kill them all early in the game, but sooner or later, you'll have to face the Queen, just as I'll have to face Kitty Pryde.
...And my eyes met the salty waves of the ocean, glistening with fresh tears.
Checkmate.