Anger Management Therapy
"Good Afternoon kids and welcome to your first group session of Anger Management Therapy," Psyche-Out said. "Considering how things have been going lately we thought it was time for all of you to do this."
"Way past time for some of us," Pietro glared at Wanda.
"Where are the Triplets?" Todd asked.
"This is just for you older kids," Psyche-Out explained.
"They're beyond help," Althea said.
"All right now we are going to start out with a couple of simple exercises before we open up," Psyche-Out handed them some paper and pens. "What I am going to have you do is write a letter to a parent or someone who has severely hurt you in the past. You are to write to this person and tell them how you feel and how their treatment of you has affected your life. You can do whatever you like with this letter. You can read it aloud if you wish or hide it someplace where no one else can see it. You can even share it with another member of the group or me if you feel like it. It's up to you. The important thing is for you to express your anger on paper. Using your words instead of your powers. Any questions?"
"Yeah I have one," Fred raised his hand. "Decapitate doesn't have a k in it does it?"
"No," Psyche-Out sighed. "It doesn't." He watched as several of the kids scribbled furiously on their papers.
"I need more," Wanda raised her hand. "I have a lot to say."
"Oh yeah," Pietro snatched hers. "It's very eloquent. 'Die, die, die! Magneto! Die, die, die…'"
"PIETRO!" Wanda screamed. "Give it back! That's private!" She snatched it back. "You're not supposed to read that if I don't want you to!"
"Yeah you're invading her personal space!" Fred told him.
"Oh please," Pietro waved. "Like we didn't know who she was going to write about! She's still obsessed with killing him!"
"Can you blame her?" Todd grumbled.
"I didn't say anything about killing him," Wanda snapped. "I wrote I want to watch him die an agonizing death! There's a difference!"
"Well for you that is progress," Pietro said.
"If you don't shut up…" Wanda growled as she made a fist.
"Wanda," Psyche Out said. "Remember? What shouldn't we do?"
"Lash out in anger," She grumbled. "Sorry."
"Pietro," Psyche-Out said. "Isn't there something you want to say to Wanda?"
"Yeah you misspelled a couple of words."
"Pietro!" Psyche-Out admonished.
"Okay, okay I'm sorry. Here," He handed her his paper. "You can read mine if you want."
"How generous of you," She grumbled and looked at it. "What the…? Pietro! This is a letter to Spyke! And it's not about your anger! It's you gloating at him!"
"What?" Todd yelped.
"Listen to this…" She snapped. " 'I always knew I was superior to you and now this proves it! You are so lame! You are the lamest of the lame and I am the greatest of the great! I am the wonderful…' This is your idea of dealing with your anger?"
"Well he did make me angry a couple of times," Pietro shrugged. "What better way of dealing with a person who made you angry than by rubbing their failures in their face?"
"Pietro that's not how this is supposed to work yo!" Todd groaned.
"I can't believe you spent your letter writing about how superior you are to Evan!" Wanda groaned.
"Well I figured you had Father pretty much covered so…" Pietro shrugged.
"Whack Job!" Wanda snapped.
"Psycho!" Pietro snapped.
"You're both Whack Jobs and Psychos!" Lance snapped.
"You shut up!" Wanda snapped.
"Make me!" Lance shouted.
"KNOCK IT OFF!" Psyche-Out shouted. "All of you!"
"Psyche-Out they're not being very constructive with their anger!" Fred said.
"Look who's talking!" Pietro snapped. "This from a guy who bench presses trucks when he loses his temper."
"Yeah well at least I try to take my anger out on inanimate objects now and not on people," Fred sniffed. "Unless they really tick me off."
"Oh yeah that's progress," Lance groaned.
"I don't know about you but I am feeling much better about myself," Althea said to Todd.
"Yeah nothing like seeing how bad other people are to make you appreciate how good you have it," Todd nodded.
"Okay I think we're getting off track here," Psyche-Out sighed. "Forget the letters. Maybe we should have an open discussion now."
"Well I wanted to read my letter," Lance said.
"Please," Pietro rolled his eyes. "As if we wanted to hear you babble on about how Kitty kicked you to the curb some more."
"You don't know if that was what my letter's about!" Lance said hotly.
"This is you we're talking about Lance," Wanda said. "The odds are pretty good."
"Five will get you ten he did," Todd said.
"Forget my letter okay?" Lance sighed. "Psyche's right. We should just talk anyway."
"You did didn't you?" Todd said.
"Okay yes!" Lance snapped. "Happy?"
"Not really," Wanda grumbled. "All the time it's 'Kitty this' or 'Kitty that'! Change the record! Get over her already!"
"Well excuse me!" Lance snapped. "I just broke up with the love of my life a few days ago! I was hoping my friends would show me a little support. I guess I was wrong!"
"Well standing by their friends doesn't seem to be their strong suit," Xi said.
"What is that crack supposed to mean?" Pietro snapped.
"What do you think it means?" Xi shot back.
"Xi calm down," Todd said. "I told you to drop it."
"How can you 'drop it' when they abandoned you?" Xi whirled on you. "Who's to say they won't do it again? And next time you won't be so lucky!"
"You sound like you're really worried about Todd and Althea," Psyche-Out said.
"I will not let them be hurt," Xi said. Then he glared at the others. "By anyone."
"What is this thing you have about Toad and Al being hurt?" Lance asked. "You've been babbling on about that ever since you got here! What's the deal with that?"
"Is it because of Masaru?" Psyche-Out asked.
Xi fell silent. "Who's Masaru?" Pietro asked.
"A real slimeball," Althea told him. "Xi that wasn't your fault. He betrayed all of us. There was no way you could have known."
"But you both got hurt because of me," Xi said bitterly. "And the Blind Master as well."
"That's not true!" Todd said. "He fooled us all yo!"
"Who is this guy?" Pietro asked.
"He was the leader of Stormshadow's ninja clan," Althea told him. "As well as a double agent for Cobra. He captured Toad and nearly killed us both as well as the Blind Master."
"And I let him capture him," Xi said bitterly.
"That wasn't your fault," Todd said.
"Okay," Lance said. "I get it now. You totally trusted this guy and you got burned. And on top of it, you feel guilty for Toad and Al for getting involved. So now you feel like you have to watch out for them in order to make up for your mistake. Am I right?"
"I will not allow them to be harmed again," Xi said.
"We don't want them hurt either," Wanda said. "You're not the only one who was badly hurt by someone."
"Yeah we trusted Magneto and look what happened," Fred said bitterly.
"Take it from us," Pietro said softly. "We know exactly how you feel."
Xi was silent for a moment. "I just don't want to see them hurt."
"It sounds like they're not the only ones you don't want to be hurt," Psyche-Out said. "Am I right Xi?"
"I lost my unit to Cobra," Xi said. "I do not want to lose another one to anyone else."
"Unit?" Wanda asked.
"That's what he called his family," Todd explained. "The others like him Cobra created to be weapons."
"Xi listen to me," Althea said. "We're your family…I mean your unit now. That's not gonna change. But they're now a part of your unit too. You can't abandon them. Like we won't abandon you."
"Trust is a very fragile thing," Psyche-Out said. "You need to work at it to build it and keep it strong."
Xi looked around. "I…apologize for my actions. I will try harder to adapt to all of you."
"Well that's a start," Psyche-Out sighed.
"Group hug!" Fred came over and nearly squashed Xi in a huge bearhug. Then he reached out and grabbed Todd and Althea.
"I can't breathe!" Todd gasped.
"Welcome to the family Xi," Althea groaned.
"Hugs for everybody!" Fred went over to Wanda, Lance and Pietro.
"Touch me and die!" Wanda snapped.
"Back off!" Lance snapped.
"Don't even think about it!" Pietro zipped away.
There was a knock at the door. Psyche-Out went to answer it. It was Roadblock. "How are they all doing?"
"Well I think we've made some progress today," Psyche-Out said.
"I told you not to touch me Fatso!" Wanda screamed as objects started to fly around the room.
"Don't call him Fatso, Psycho!" Lance sent off a tremor.
"Watch it with my sister!" Pietro tackled Lance.
"Stop being such a Drama Queen Wanda!" Althea snapped.
"Are they always like this?" Xi asked Todd.
"Pretty much," Todd said as he watched all of them fighting with each other. "Wanna join in?"
"Why not?" Xi shrugged. Soon all the kids were either arguing or fighting with each other.
"So much for progress," Roadblock sighed.
"Actually I think that went rather well," Psyche-Out said. "Can't wait until tomorrow's session."