Chapter One -or- I like my coffee black.
"I'll have two cranberry muffins, and an espresso," Kurt Wagner said, pointing a two-fingered point to the muffins as he leaned against the glass display. He'd always thought Starbucks was too expensive, but they were the only place that carried cranberry muffins. And cranberry was his absolute favorite.
"Ugh... You know you're probably like the only person to order those? I bet you like keep the whole product line going with how many you eat, Kurt." Kitty Pryde, unlike Kurt, loved Starbucks, and she hated cranberry. "I'll have a Mochachino with whip-cream on top and a blueberry muffin, please. On his tab." She said, jabbing a finger towards the blue-haired teen, who grinned and pushed a twenty towards the café attendant.
"Well, I didn't know my muffins were endangered. Better make that four cranberry muffins!" Kurt grinned, thankful for his holographically induced lack of fangs. He disliked the establishment, sure, but no need to scare away the locals. Kurt finished the first of his muffins en route to the upper deck patio overlooking downtown Bayville, where the two teens found a table. Truth be told, Kurt had always found Kitty a little annoying. She never could stop ragging on his appearance. But then, why shouldn't she? Kurt sighed inwardly, and decided to broach a safe topic. Unfortunately he forgot to chew. "Tho, wah ah yo pahns fo tha thummah?" Kurt's voice somehow found an opening through the mass of muffin he'd inhaled.
"Um... excuse me? Wait, no I think I got it. Plans for my stomach? Kurt, are you calling me fat? I'm not fat! Am I? I mean, like, I exercise all the time and I try to watch what I eat and—"
"Wait! No! I didn't say—"
"Oh come out with it Kurt Wagner! If you think I should lose weight just tell me! We should, like, be honest with each other. For example, I think you totally need a shave. Some dental work wouldn't hurt, either." Kitty licked her own perfect chops for emphasis, and grinned at an argument well won. She always could spin circles around Kurt.
"Hey, now that's not fair! All I asked was if you had any plans for—"
The rest of Kurt's explanation was unfortunately cut short by bang, a crash, and the sound of broken glass hitting pavement. Instincts both battle-trained and bestial came to Kurt's aid, making him instantly alert. Where could the explosion have originated? Some very frightened people who appeared in quite a hurry rounded the corner and kept on running. Perhaps over there? He grabbed onto Kitty, who had phased through her chair in alarm, and teleported the two towards the explosion.
"Hey, like, what gives?" Kitty said, but a quick look around showed her exactly what gave. People were running from the smoking remains of the bottom of the Bank of Bayville, one of the larger buildings downtown. It looked like a large chuck of the west corner had simple caved in. A fire had started, probably an electric fire, and was wreaking havoc on the structure. The heat had weakened glass and another small explosion near the top of the building had the Bank of Bayville sign hanging by a few bolts.
"Oh, that gives. We have to help, Kurt!"
"You know what to do! Remember our training!" The X-men had indeed gone through search and rescue training, and the two present members happen to specialize in recovery.
Kurt and Kitty, through some quick use of phasing and teleporting, helped people to safety as the police and fire department rushed onto the scene. Sirens wailed as Kurt ported a family of three to the end of the block. Firemen poured out of a truck as Kitty phased a man out of his car just in time to miss a giant "A" from the Bank of Bayville building sign. Letters crashed all over the place, making the street scene a hellish alphabet soup. And not a spoon in sight! They'd have to do their best with mere superhuman abilities.
[Professor! We need help at Bayville Bank!] Kurt hoped the Professor would pick up on his thought, a "loud" plea for help. The Professor's response was a curt [Help is sent]. As Kurt returned to his thoughts, a loud metallic groan escaped the Bank of Bayville.
"Kurt! It's going to collapse! Not everyone is out yet! Oh man, Kurt, I don't think we can save them all!" Kitty called frantically, as a giant letter O fell on, and through, her small form.
"We have to try!" Came Kurt's equally frantic response.
Kurt ported his way quickly into the building, deftly dodging debris with well-placed ports and honed instincts. He could feel sweat beading on his forehead from the effort. If he could just save one person before the building caved in... there! A body underneath a fallen display of artwork. Kurt ported over to the body. Still breathing. Won't wake up. Debris directly above! Grab on and try to port away. Face to face, a pressure on the back of his skull, a vision of charcoal-black eyes. And then pain and silence.