Through Hellfire and Back,
Part 3
Disclaimer: X-men Evolution is the property of Marvel and Kids WB. All the characters in this story are the property of Marvel and Kids WB.
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"Top of your class........ well balanced in activities....... last
courses taken include advanced sessions in Chemistry, Geometry and
Astrophysics....... although it appears your Home Ec. teachers don't
have such favorable reviews. Well, no matter........."
Kitty Pryde could only sit at attention and wait as Emma Frost,
Headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy, continued to review her
file. She bit her lip and tried to keep from fidgeting. Why couldn't
the school office just write "really good student" and be done with
it? Kitty felt out of place enough, a young freshman dressed in a
uniform white blouse and brown pants, surrounded by antique furniture
and decorations that screamed 'Victorian era'. Ms. Frost was both
wealthy and well educated, and she clearly didn't mind flaunting
either fact in front of her peers and pupils. Absently, Kitty
observed that the headmistress' office was roughly double the size of
the space Principle Kelly occupied back in Bayville, and much, much
more elaborate. Along with the traditional front desk, windows, filing cabinet and chairs, the rooms sported powder blue walls with
white trim, a two thick bookshelves, a vintage couch, coffee table,
trophy cabinet, and...... Kitty raised an eyebrow. Was that a silver
expresso machine tucked away in the left corner? She shook her head
and returned her attention to Ms. Frost.
Ms. Frost, Kitty had decided from the moment she entered the
building, was very well named. Although she was seemingly a very
courteous and polite individual, her face reflected a total ice
queen, causing an involuntary shiver to run down Kitty's spine at
first contact. She had crystal blue eyes and very fair hair, cut to a
sharp medium length. Pronounced cheekbones and full lips, a look of
stone etched on her features, even when she smiled. As headmistress,
she wore very no-nonsense attire, consisting of a short, deep gray
skirt and jacket, with a white blouse and silver rimmed glasses. She
wasn't Darkhome, Kitty released a breath she hadn't known she'd been
holding onto, but she didn't convey the most pleasant of individuals.
At the moment Kitty would have given just about anything to escape
the woman's deep gaze and careful scrutiny of her person.
If the headmistress noticed Kitty's discomfort, she didn't show it.
Rather, she continued to scrutinize the file in her hand, verbally
interrogating her new charge with each passing moment. "Any
particular reason for coming to the Academy?" Ms. Frost reached
across her desk to a glass and jug, each, Kitty assumed, costing more
then Scott's last mechanic's bill, and poured herself a small amount
of water, taking a soft sip. Somehow, even that put Kitty further on
edge. "Although you're hardly the first student to come here in the
middle of the semester, I must admit, I was a little shocked when
your father called to see if an opening was still available. After
all, we'd been under the impression that you'd been sent to a
different school in Bayville, and doing quite well there."
~I was~ Kitty mentally kicked. "Oh, you know, my old school wasn't
challenging enough and my parents thought I'd be better off
here."
"Oh really?" Ms. Frost seemed bemused at her answer, before taking
another sip.
"Yeah." ~That, and they, like, totally freaked because they found out
I was really spending my time after class saving the world for mutant
kind and learning how to walk through walls in high-risk situations.
Oh, and did Dad forget to mention when he called that the reason I
went to Bayville in the first place was to learn how to control my
powers while being monitored by an absolute telepath? Or how I was
dating a walking earthquake and swapping sweaters with girls who
could burn down a forest, light up the sky or blow up building? All
while calling it a perfectly normal lifestyle of course.~
Ms. Frost's eyes suddenly went wide, as she started to cough on her
drink.
Kitty blinked, ending her terraced of thoughts. "Um, are you
okay?"
"Fine, fine darling, just went down the wrong pipe." Ms. Frost
attempted a slight smile, and Kitty felt another shiver. Where did
the Academy find this woman? "Well Miss Pryde I'm happy you've
enrolled here. Judging by what I've seen here today, I believe you'll
fit right in among our more gifted students." Ms. Frost gestured
absently towards the file she laid down on her desk, before standing
up and grasping Kitty's hand in a quick shake. "In fact, I hope you
and I will become good friends." Ms. Frost regarded her more
carefully, and Kitty suddenly felt as if under a magnifying glass.
"Such an intelligent young woman, I'm certain we have a lot in
common."
Calmly, the headmistress reached towards one of the other files on
her desk and handed a sealed brown envelope to Kitty. "There's your
schedule, school ID and general information package, along with a
meal plan. A locker will be assigned to you shortly, and your student
guide will help you find your classes for today. I assume you've been
given your residence accommodations at one of the boarding
houses....?"
Kitty nodded. "Yes Miss." She hadn't unpacked yet, but she had a
room.
"Excellent." Ms. Frost glanced over her once more. "A refined girl,
I'm certain you'll do splendidly." She hit her speaker. "Terry?"
"Here Ms. Frost." A tall girl with straight blond hair and brown vest
in the headmistress's doorway. Her teeth were bone-white, and the
school's emblem was stitched on her right breast, the blouse
underneath neatly tucked into a full length skirt. If Kitty was a
gambler, she'd stake her collage fund that the girl was a prep-queen
wannabe.
"Kitty Pryde, meet Terry Greenbin, your student guide. She'll be
showing you around for the next few days."
The blond girl greeted Kitty with a bright smile, which was
immediately returned. Here, at last, was someone who would get her
out of this office, even if she sensed the smile was insincere.
Grasping her hand, the guide took Kitty out of the office and
immediately began pointing things out, while being polite enough to
engage in small talk on the side.
It didn't take Kitty long to become impressed; between it's
architecture and history, the Academy was something else.
Too bad it wasn't back in Bayville.
**********
As Kitty and Terry left the room, Emma Frost closed the door with an
affirming click, locking instantly. Her eyes sparkled in delight as
her smile reached to a full fledged grin.
It wasn't often Emma Frost could smell a golden opportunity. Usually
she took what she could find and made the most of it, turning burnout
into blood money, a lousy situation into a profitable venture. Let it
never be said that the White Queen didn't earn her paycheck.
However, she wasn't about to let a find like this slip past her
fingers either. The poor, silly girl, by her own thought's admissions
one would think she knew better then to think about such things in
another's presence. Obviously, her former mentor had been a lousy
telepath, and unable to truly tap into the minds of others. Or
perhaps he had been a poor unimpressionable sap with too much care
for ethics to ever read his pupils minds regularly, in which case the
girl had probably, unintentionally let her guard down. Either way,
Emma Frost didn't mind the results: a firsthand confession of the
X-gene, and the possibility of information regarding another rival
organization.
As Emma Frost leaned back in her cozy office chair, she allowed a
slight chuckled of amusement to echo from her lips. Yes, if the mind
was true, she had little doubt that this 'Kitty Pryde' could be worth
a great deal to her, and her superiors.
A great deal.
If the mind was true.
She frowned. She doubted the girl had been lying when she though, but
the sarcasm in her mind had been evident. Miss Pryde could have been
making some sort of crack-whit humor to mentally calm herself down,
the little tramp. Which presented a very minor problem: Emma Frost
would need further proof before she could make Shaw a sales
pitch.
Reaching into her desk drawer, she pulled out her white cell phone,
and clicked a speed dial.
"Hello, James? Call up your recruits. I've got a job for one of
them."