X-Men Evolution is a trademarked product from Marvel, all the characters are owned by Marvel and not me. This is a work of fiction based off of said series. I make no money off this, yadda yadda yah. This is my first X-Men Evolution, or even X-Men related fic I've written. Be gentle.
"Angry Situation" - by Val Shrum (kiyonekatz at yahoo dot com)
Chapter 5
**************************************************************************
After some much needed talking down to Logan, they made it back to the institute with no problems. None of the others approached Kitty about what had happened. Xavier let her know that only the teachers knew of her running away, and even then... no one knew what truely had happened (except Logan).
Kitty, clad in her pajamas, tinkered around on her laptop idly. Her roomate, Rogue, stepped into the room. "Hey." Kitty waved idly.
"Hey." Rogue replied, uninterestedly.
'Huh... this is harder than I thought. Most of these files are encoded weird. I can't even open most of them. Now what was that name I saw? Someone I knew... someone from school...'
Click-click-click she tapped away at her keyboard.
"Hey genius. Some of us've got school tomorrow. Mind takin' that downstairs or somethin'?"
"I've got school, too." She continued to type.
"No you don't. You're still on bedrest till the end of the week." Rogue curled up with her pillow, letting out a yawn.
"Shyah, like I'm going to let that stop me. I've never felt better." Kitty kept looking around through the files.
Rogue threw the pillow at Kitty, "I'm turnin' out the light. Do you mind?"
Kitty mocked Rogue, packing up her computer and stepping into the hallway to head downstairs to the living room area. She curled up on the sofa, continuing her search. 'I'm coming up with nothing but gibberish. Maybe Dr. McCoy can help... but... I don't want him to get worried.'
She closed up her laptop in frustration and reached over to the table to fetch the remote control. Kitty turned the television on, lowering the volume just enough to be heard but not bother others.
"Hey Kitty, what're you doing up?" The boy known as Scott Summers asked. He moved from the hall to the living room area, settling down on the couch beside her.
"Just catching up on my shows. I can't believe I missed a week of soaps. That's why God invented VCRs, huh?"
Scott raised an eyebrow, then glanced back at Kitty. "Uh, sure. Say... how was your trip? I heard you were coming back early, then you ended up coming back when you originally planned. How'd that work?" He offered a bowl of chips to her.
Kitty grabbed a few, taking a bite of one. "I don't remember." She shrugged her shoulders.
"Oooookay. Look, Kitty, if you don't want to tell me about it you don't have to play dumb. Just say "Scott, stay out of my business", and I'll be cool with that." He took a bite of a chip.
"I really, really wish it were that simple. But like... it's more or less boring. You really wouldn't be interested. And yeah, I don't remember a lot." She slumped down on the couch, finishing off the few chips she had gotten. "Anything happen while I was gone?"
"Not too much, actually. Nothing from Magneto and his goons or the Brotherhood. I'm starting to worry that they may be up to something." He glanced at the tv with some interest.
"Who's to say what is the right thing to do?" She asked.
"Come again?"
"Like, society has rules as to what would technically be right and technically be wrong. Say like... you know, Star Wars. There are the rebel forces who are from the audience perspective thought of as the good guys. They're trying to make things right, because there are these other guys that are in charge doing all these bad things. However, what if you were an imperial officer just doing your duty? What you're doing is stopping a terrible menace that is trying to ruin your way of life, wouldn't THAT be the morally correct thing to do? Are both sides wrong? Are both sides right?"
"But Kitty, we know the 'Force' is good. The rebel alliance use it to make life better for everyone. It's got a good side and a bad side. We know that the Emperor is bad because he's using the force for evil."
"Oh sure, they blew up a planet. But for arguments sake, let's just look at it without that detail."
"It was more than blowing up one planet. They were building a planet sized super weapon... probably not to keep the peace but to instill fear into others." Scott added, "Whether or not it'd be used for 'good' or for 'evil', they were a powerful organization that kept their subjects in line by means of fear and threats."
"Not all governments are perfect societies, Scott." She thought about it, and turned toward him, "So the rebels... are they're like us? Y'know, like mutants. Small enough in number, but still something to be reckoned with. And the rest of society is like... the imperial army and it's territories. If the government, or even an individual person, was building some kind of weapon or researching a means to keep society in check... say, like from the supposive 'rebel' mutant menace, would it be morally right to stop them or perhaps even intervine?"
Scott made a face, "We're talking about Star Wars, not mutant rights. And well... maybe... maybe not. Perhaps... I don't know. People follow what they believe in."
"You're fine with seeing things from a fictional standpoint, but when the decision is in front of you for real it's a much harder call. Sure, we try to help people understand that we're the same, we've just got powers. But we're a threat. A majority of society is against us because of this and they don't want to change." She paused, attempting to reach for a parallel. "We're just the peacekeepers. Is it like... Magneto and the acolytes are really the 'rebels' while we're just the bounty hunters who make sure they don't screw it up for the rest of the world. The people in between. But they're doing things they believe would bring about a better future, a better society but people get hurt in the process. The government and society do things that they think would be better for their future, but people also get hurt. We stand by the sidelines and try to make a better life for both sides, pissing everyone off in between. Who is morally right? How can the dream work if everyone thinks their right, when it's obvious that being unbiased in a biased world will always have victims?"
"Kitty, you're putting way too much thought into the movie." He sighed.
"So, you asked me how my vacation was?"
Scott blinked, "Yeah?"
"It was like Star Wars." She nodded sagely.
"Geez, if you didn't want to tell me, you really didn't have to make a big deal."
Kitty let out a sigh, "Yeah, whatever. Do you know anything about computer programming and decoding?"
"Not really. I can surf the internet. Why?"
"No reason. Just a problem with my laptop. I'll figure it out. I should get to sleep if I want to make it to school tomorrow." She stood up and retrieved her computer, "Thanks for the silly hypothetical debate. Let's keep this between us, I don't want to explain why I just had quite possibly the second geekiest conversation in my life."
Scott laughed, "What's the first?"
"Oh, there's no first. Nothing can ever achieve first. That's unnattainable. But second? Always." She smiled. "Goodnight Scott."
"Rest well, Kitty. I'll keep your secret safe." He joked.
Kitty mock saluted the boy and headed back to her room to sleep for the night.
***
An alarm clock sounded off inside Rogue and Kitty's room. Rogue sat up, turning the alarm clock off and went to filter through her wardrobe for the day. Kitty rubbed her eyes, sitting up with a yawn and started to do the same.
"Hey Pryde, you're not goin' to get to go. Why're you wasting your time? Go back to sleep." Rogue pulled out some matching clothes.
"Isn't it my choice whether I go to school or not? I gotta track down someone and catch up on homework. They can't hold me here." Kitty opted for a different outfit from her normal attire, a loose button up shirt and some jeans.
"You're funeral." Rogue shrugged.
"Hmmm..." Kitty turned, "I have a question for you."
"If it's homework advice, count me out. You'd have better luck askin' Kurt, and that's sayin' a lot." Rogue began to change.
"No, this is more of a personal question." Kitty sat down on her bed. "Do you feel that your moral judgement is what drives your decisions, or do you always go by the posted rules of society?"
"Were you hit on the head in Chicago?" Rogue asked.
Kitty rolled her eyes, pulling off her shirt to reveal her bandaged side. "No, it's an honest question. Like... stealing a piece of bread to feed your family instead of working real hard to get that bread legitimately. The moral thing is to make sure your family won't starve... the right thing would be to live without food and make the best of the situation. But the right thing is also to steal to save the life of your family."
"Girl, you think too much." Rogue said bluntly. "I'd steal and get it over with. T' hell with anyone who endangers the life of my hypothetical family." She paused, "That looks like it hurts. What'd you do?"
"I fell." She calmly replies, "So stealing, in your perspective, is the right thing the do... even though it's wrong, but it's morally the right thing to do."
"Hey, some people don't follow the rules. Stealin' might be fun for some people, while it's nessassary for others. Y'can't make it into a right or wrong thing. It's still wrong. But people always got a reason to do it."
"True that." She pulled on her loose shirt. "A criminal is only one in the eye of the beholder... or something like that. Causing trouble to cause trouble... that's no good. But to cause trouble for a better future? Where does that leave us?"
"Late for school, if we don't hurry." Rogue headed out of the room.
"Oh... right."
***
"Angry Situation" - by Val Shrum (kiyonekatz at yahoo dot com)
Chapter 5
**************************************************************************
After some much needed talking down to Logan, they made it back to the institute with no problems. None of the others approached Kitty about what had happened. Xavier let her know that only the teachers knew of her running away, and even then... no one knew what truely had happened (except Logan).
Kitty, clad in her pajamas, tinkered around on her laptop idly. Her roomate, Rogue, stepped into the room. "Hey." Kitty waved idly.
"Hey." Rogue replied, uninterestedly.
'Huh... this is harder than I thought. Most of these files are encoded weird. I can't even open most of them. Now what was that name I saw? Someone I knew... someone from school...'
Click-click-click she tapped away at her keyboard.
"Hey genius. Some of us've got school tomorrow. Mind takin' that downstairs or somethin'?"
"I've got school, too." She continued to type.
"No you don't. You're still on bedrest till the end of the week." Rogue curled up with her pillow, letting out a yawn.
"Shyah, like I'm going to let that stop me. I've never felt better." Kitty kept looking around through the files.
Rogue threw the pillow at Kitty, "I'm turnin' out the light. Do you mind?"
Kitty mocked Rogue, packing up her computer and stepping into the hallway to head downstairs to the living room area. She curled up on the sofa, continuing her search. 'I'm coming up with nothing but gibberish. Maybe Dr. McCoy can help... but... I don't want him to get worried.'
She closed up her laptop in frustration and reached over to the table to fetch the remote control. Kitty turned the television on, lowering the volume just enough to be heard but not bother others.
"Hey Kitty, what're you doing up?" The boy known as Scott Summers asked. He moved from the hall to the living room area, settling down on the couch beside her.
"Just catching up on my shows. I can't believe I missed a week of soaps. That's why God invented VCRs, huh?"
Scott raised an eyebrow, then glanced back at Kitty. "Uh, sure. Say... how was your trip? I heard you were coming back early, then you ended up coming back when you originally planned. How'd that work?" He offered a bowl of chips to her.
Kitty grabbed a few, taking a bite of one. "I don't remember." She shrugged her shoulders.
"Oooookay. Look, Kitty, if you don't want to tell me about it you don't have to play dumb. Just say "Scott, stay out of my business", and I'll be cool with that." He took a bite of a chip.
"I really, really wish it were that simple. But like... it's more or less boring. You really wouldn't be interested. And yeah, I don't remember a lot." She slumped down on the couch, finishing off the few chips she had gotten. "Anything happen while I was gone?"
"Not too much, actually. Nothing from Magneto and his goons or the Brotherhood. I'm starting to worry that they may be up to something." He glanced at the tv with some interest.
"Who's to say what is the right thing to do?" She asked.
"Come again?"
"Like, society has rules as to what would technically be right and technically be wrong. Say like... you know, Star Wars. There are the rebel forces who are from the audience perspective thought of as the good guys. They're trying to make things right, because there are these other guys that are in charge doing all these bad things. However, what if you were an imperial officer just doing your duty? What you're doing is stopping a terrible menace that is trying to ruin your way of life, wouldn't THAT be the morally correct thing to do? Are both sides wrong? Are both sides right?"
"But Kitty, we know the 'Force' is good. The rebel alliance use it to make life better for everyone. It's got a good side and a bad side. We know that the Emperor is bad because he's using the force for evil."
"Oh sure, they blew up a planet. But for arguments sake, let's just look at it without that detail."
"It was more than blowing up one planet. They were building a planet sized super weapon... probably not to keep the peace but to instill fear into others." Scott added, "Whether or not it'd be used for 'good' or for 'evil', they were a powerful organization that kept their subjects in line by means of fear and threats."
"Not all governments are perfect societies, Scott." She thought about it, and turned toward him, "So the rebels... are they're like us? Y'know, like mutants. Small enough in number, but still something to be reckoned with. And the rest of society is like... the imperial army and it's territories. If the government, or even an individual person, was building some kind of weapon or researching a means to keep society in check... say, like from the supposive 'rebel' mutant menace, would it be morally right to stop them or perhaps even intervine?"
Scott made a face, "We're talking about Star Wars, not mutant rights. And well... maybe... maybe not. Perhaps... I don't know. People follow what they believe in."
"You're fine with seeing things from a fictional standpoint, but when the decision is in front of you for real it's a much harder call. Sure, we try to help people understand that we're the same, we've just got powers. But we're a threat. A majority of society is against us because of this and they don't want to change." She paused, attempting to reach for a parallel. "We're just the peacekeepers. Is it like... Magneto and the acolytes are really the 'rebels' while we're just the bounty hunters who make sure they don't screw it up for the rest of the world. The people in between. But they're doing things they believe would bring about a better future, a better society but people get hurt in the process. The government and society do things that they think would be better for their future, but people also get hurt. We stand by the sidelines and try to make a better life for both sides, pissing everyone off in between. Who is morally right? How can the dream work if everyone thinks their right, when it's obvious that being unbiased in a biased world will always have victims?"
"Kitty, you're putting way too much thought into the movie." He sighed.
"So, you asked me how my vacation was?"
Scott blinked, "Yeah?"
"It was like Star Wars." She nodded sagely.
"Geez, if you didn't want to tell me, you really didn't have to make a big deal."
Kitty let out a sigh, "Yeah, whatever. Do you know anything about computer programming and decoding?"
"Not really. I can surf the internet. Why?"
"No reason. Just a problem with my laptop. I'll figure it out. I should get to sleep if I want to make it to school tomorrow." She stood up and retrieved her computer, "Thanks for the silly hypothetical debate. Let's keep this between us, I don't want to explain why I just had quite possibly the second geekiest conversation in my life."
Scott laughed, "What's the first?"
"Oh, there's no first. Nothing can ever achieve first. That's unnattainable. But second? Always." She smiled. "Goodnight Scott."
"Rest well, Kitty. I'll keep your secret safe." He joked.
Kitty mock saluted the boy and headed back to her room to sleep for the night.
***
An alarm clock sounded off inside Rogue and Kitty's room. Rogue sat up, turning the alarm clock off and went to filter through her wardrobe for the day. Kitty rubbed her eyes, sitting up with a yawn and started to do the same.
"Hey Pryde, you're not goin' to get to go. Why're you wasting your time? Go back to sleep." Rogue pulled out some matching clothes.
"Isn't it my choice whether I go to school or not? I gotta track down someone and catch up on homework. They can't hold me here." Kitty opted for a different outfit from her normal attire, a loose button up shirt and some jeans.
"You're funeral." Rogue shrugged.
"Hmmm..." Kitty turned, "I have a question for you."
"If it's homework advice, count me out. You'd have better luck askin' Kurt, and that's sayin' a lot." Rogue began to change.
"No, this is more of a personal question." Kitty sat down on her bed. "Do you feel that your moral judgement is what drives your decisions, or do you always go by the posted rules of society?"
"Were you hit on the head in Chicago?" Rogue asked.
Kitty rolled her eyes, pulling off her shirt to reveal her bandaged side. "No, it's an honest question. Like... stealing a piece of bread to feed your family instead of working real hard to get that bread legitimately. The moral thing is to make sure your family won't starve... the right thing would be to live without food and make the best of the situation. But the right thing is also to steal to save the life of your family."
"Girl, you think too much." Rogue said bluntly. "I'd steal and get it over with. T' hell with anyone who endangers the life of my hypothetical family." She paused, "That looks like it hurts. What'd you do?"
"I fell." She calmly replies, "So stealing, in your perspective, is the right thing the do... even though it's wrong, but it's morally the right thing to do."
"Hey, some people don't follow the rules. Stealin' might be fun for some people, while it's nessassary for others. Y'can't make it into a right or wrong thing. It's still wrong. But people always got a reason to do it."
"True that." She pulled on her loose shirt. "A criminal is only one in the eye of the beholder... or something like that. Causing trouble to cause trouble... that's no good. But to cause trouble for a better future? Where does that leave us?"
"Late for school, if we don't hurry." Rogue headed out of the room.
"Oh... right."
***