At the X Mansion
Earlier that morning, when the X students got up to get ready for school, Kitty was treading softly around her so-called roommate. When she aroused from her uncomfortable slumber, Kitty tried her hardest not to so much as even look at "Rogue". "Mornin' Kitty." Rogue said. "Yeah...um...morning, I guess." Kitty responded nervously. "What's wrong with you?" Mystique asked, having Rogue's personality down to a science. "Oh, like...nothing wrong. I just didn't sleep well last night." "Well if nothin's wrong, then get ready for school. Everybody is probably already ready to go. " "Okay like, just give me a sec."
Kitty stumbled out of bed trying to keep her nerves intact. She gave a timid smile and phased through the bedroom door and headed to the bathroom. Once she was in, she leaned her back up against the bathroom door. Oh, Pietro said not to tell anyone that Mystique is posing as Rogue. But I can't take it anymore. If I don't let anyone know soon, I'm going to like, lose my mind. She blew a long deep breath and washed up.
Once she finished, she headed downstairs to the dining area where everyone was having breakfast. She took a seat and observed everyone eating while they were involved in their own affairs. Breakfast seemed nice, so she figured she'd go ahead and have a few bites herself. But her appetite suddenly shrunk the moment she saw Rouge enter.
"Hey Rogue!" Bobby shouted. "Yeah what is it?" She responded. "We were all just talking about you. Last night, if it wasn't for you stealing Lance Alvers's power and using it on Wanda, then we'd probably be done for." He said enthusiastically Everyone else agreed in a mutter of 'yeahs' and nodding heads. Rogue simply smiled.
Kitty was sitting from afar repeating in her head, That's not Rogue. That's not Rogue. That's not Rogue! Her thoughts were so loud that the professor and Jean were able to hear just the last part of her distressful mental yelp. Jean asked telepathically. What do you mean 'That's not Rogue'? Kitty felt awful that she allowed Jean to hear her. She redeemed herself quickly. Well, what I meant was...Rogue...Rogue isn't like...you know, being herself. That's all. She smiled a crooked smile. Jean raised a brow. Alright if you say so. Kitty spoke again before Jean ended the telepathic encounter. Oh Jean, if you don't mind, could you like, let me keep my thoughts personal. She smile sheepishly. Jean nodded her head with a pleasant grin.
"Alright everyone!" Scott announced as he stood at the edge of the lower part of the table. "If you're done eating, I suggest you all hurry to the car before I take off without you." Everyone stopped in the midst on their conversations and darted off toward the car. Kurt still had a piece of toast in his mouth as he ran for the door. Scott simply shook his head and caught up with the rest of them.
Kitty was in a hurry because she wanted to get as far away from Mystique as possible without revealing to everyone else that she was running from her. When they got out to the car, she made sure she didn't end up sitting next to her.
Scott started the engine, "Is everyone ready to go?" "Yeah!" They all said in unison. "Alright, make sure you're buckled up. That means you too Kurt." Scott pointed out. "Don't worry Scott, this time I am fastened to the seat." "Good." Scott replied as he started to drive off.
On the way to school, Rogue gave a suggestion, "Hey guys, how 'bout we go down to that abandoned construction site downtown after school, and have some fun? Ya know, get away from the house for a little while so we can use our powers freely without having so many rules around." Kurt was the first to agree. "Yes. Let's do that! I wouldn't mind teleporting all over the place. Everyone keeps telling me that I shouldn't teleport in front of people. But I just can't help it"
Scott agreed as well. "That seems interesting. After all, the danger room is still under maintenance and I could use a little action right now." "That might not be a bad idea." Jean accepted in a matter of words. "What about you Kitty?" She asked.
"Who? Me? Well...it depends on how much work I'll have today and then I'll see." She said nervously. She crept a look over to Rogue and could clearly see a diabolical smirk spread across her face. Kitty didn't like the looks of it. She gulped and fiddled with her fingers. I just can't like, blurt out that it might be a trap. But I don't want them to get hurt because I wouldn't...no, couldn't tell them. What am I going to do. Pietro, why did you ask me to keep silence on this? She cogitated all the way to school.
They had arrived right before the bell rung. As they were exiting the car, Rogue started speaking, "Ah'm gonna go ahead an' go to my class. Sorry if it doesn't seem like Ah'm gonna wait for ya." "That's okay Rogue," Jean said. "You go on ahead. I want to talk to Scott before school starts." "Thanks" After that, she ran into the school building.
Kitty wanted so badly to find out what Mystique was up to, but she didn't want to give herself away. "Kitty?" Scott called out to her. "Are you feeling okay? You don't look well." He said while scratching his head. "No! I'm fine. Really! I'm just worried about Rogue. You know, I think she has a crush on someone and I'm just trying to figure out who it is." She smiled bashfully. "Oh! Now I see why she was in such a hurry. Okay then. But if she wants to keep her crush a secret, there's no need to pry okay." Scott lectured. "Like, sure. No problem. I'll see you after school." She waved as she jogged into the school.
Jean walked beside Scott, "Well that explains why she was thinking so hard earlier." Said Jean. "You mean she's been thinking about Rogue's crush all day?" Scott inquired. "You know Kitty, she hates suspense." "Yeah I guess you're right. So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" "Well..." Before she could finish what she was about to say, the bell rung for the start of school. "I'll just have to tell you later okay." She said in a hurry. Scott scorned the bell that rung at the last minute. He then went ahead and ran for his class. It was his last year of high school, so he wouldn't have to be bothered with that accursed bell any more.
On the inside of the school, Kitty was getting her things from her locker albeit searching for Mystique. When she acquired her needed books, she gingerly searched the hall that was packed with students. Until at last she spotted a head full of dark brown hair with a white stripe. She had to squeeze between people and try to avoid getting her toes smashed by the ongoing traffic to get to the doppelganger.
By the time she was a few seconds away, she could see that she had just got off the phone with someone and placed the phone in her locker. Kitty was becoming more fretful by the minute. Every move she made and everything she said made Kitty's skin crawl and her hair stand up. She quickly walked away before she was discovered.
The bell rung signaling the start of class. For Kitty, it was her English class, so she hurried to her classroom as fast as she could. Kitty was only glad that she didn't share any classes with Rogue. But she was plagued with the thought of seeing her on the phone throughout her whole English lessons. Who was she talking to? What is she planning next? How can I stop her before things get Worse? So many questions raced through her head. She only hoped she could make it through the day without losing her sanity.
After an hour of English class, the bell rung again. It didn't take long for the school halls to be occupied with children. They flowed from their classrooms like water in a conduit. There was laughter, cheers, complaints, and all other emotions that could be expressed out loud y the students of Bayville High. Except for one, quiet, dastard girl, Kitty Pryde.
She made her way to her locker. The stress on her face was beginning to show. She couldn't allow her friends to see her in that condition. She alluded faces that were au fait and successfully made it to her locker. When she opened it, she found a torn piece of paper inside. She knew she didn't leave it there so she picked it up and read it under her voice:
Ask for a bathroom pass so you can excuse yourself from class. Meet me in the back of the school by the bleachers at the tracks as soon as you leave. Make sure you are not followed. Very important. Extremely
TOP SECRET!
Kitty's heart was racing. Oh no! What's if it's Mystique! Is this how they're going to capture me! Oh what do I do? How will anyone even find out that I'm gone?! Kitty was about have an anxiety spell. She felt weak and dizzy as though she were about to faint. Her legs suddenly went numb. The world around her was spinning out of control. She was engulfed in confusion. What should I do? Maybe I should just ignore it. But what if she suspects something. What if she finds out that I know she's not Rogue!
Kitty was literally drowning in herself. She was mentally clawing for a way out. Okay like, maybe I should go. Just to keep the suspicion low. And if she tries to abduct me, then I'll just phase, right? She was so consumed with her thoughts that the sound of the bell for second period snatched her out of her feverish reverie.
She quickly scooped her history books in her arms, as well as the note, and broke for her classroom before she was too tardy. Anxiety had overtaken her so much that it seemed to have cut off her equilibrium. For starters, she nearly tripped on herself trying to make it over to her desk. Then she dropped her books while trying to set them on the table. She was face with discombobulation as the teacher and the other students were staring at her as if they had never seen her before.
Her limbs were vibrating and she was beginning to perspire under her arms and neck. Her face was scarlet from the embarrassment. She only hoped that it would all blow over soon. She controlled her shaking knees as she sat down in front of her desk. The History teacher waited until she was fully settled in her seat before beginning the day's lesson.
Her classmate to her right was still staring. Kitty felt herself being watched. She eased her eyes over to the raven haired girl with braces in her mouth. "Are you okay?" asked her classmate quietly with a look of concern. "Yeah. I think." Kitty replied unsure. Both girls turned back to face the board. So far this has been like, the worst day of my life. Kitty thought.
The teacher bade for everyone to turn to page 127. kitty did as was instructed. In doing so, she spotted the note she had retrieved from her locker not too long ago. She didn't want to argue with herself mentally for too long. While she was thinking on which action to take, she heard her name being called by Mr. Evans. "Yes ms. Pryde?" Kitty didn't realize that she had raised her hand upon mentally fighting with herself. Oh great! She thought before she could sound. "Um, Like, can I go to the bathroom? I don't feel so good." "Sure. And if you need to go to the infirmary be sure to do so okay." He said generously. "Thanks." She said trying to make herself look and sound ghastly ill.
He handed her the hall pass. Once it was in her grasp, she hobbled out of the classroom and stuffed the note in her pocket. As soon as she was out in the vacant hall, she felt lonely and forgotten. Is this how it feels when a person is abducted? Lost and misplaced? If it is, then I don't like it. That certainty made Kitty promise herself that she wouldn't allow Mystique to capture her. If anything went wrong, then she'd fight her off and warn everyone of her fraudulence. Via Jean of course.
Feeling confident enough, she quickened her gait towards the back of the school. Since everyone was in class, no one could see her using her intangible powers. It was easier to phase through to the back of the building rather than walking the entire square foot of the school.
As she approached the bleachers, her guard increased. She flinched every time she heard even the slightest noise. She was so paranoid that her reflexes would react before her brain did. At the same time, all of the noises she was hearing was in her head. Her intense situation left her delusional.
Once again her reflexes acted according to its own will when she felt something touch her shoulder. "Hey Pryde-WHOA!" Yelled Pietro as he ducked from being hit by Kitty's fist. "Oops! Sorry. I'm like, not exactly in my right mind at the moment." she said horrified at her own actions. "Well who were you expecting?!" he shouted agitated. "I thought you might have been Mystique trying to lure me in a trap to capture me." She snubbed. "If you thought this was a trap, then why did you come back here?" Kitty stumbled."Because...because I...I." The question was ineffable. "Anyway," She continued. "Why didn't you like, leave your name on the note?" "I did. It's on the back." he said quickly.
Pietro to a minute to look around and saw that they were still out in the open. "Hold on a second Pryde we can't be seen out here together." he grabbed her hand and sped them under the bleachers. Now their meeting was fully secretive. "Like, warn me when you're about to do that." Kitty complained. "Whatever, just turn the paper over." He demanded.
Kitty took the note from her pocket and flipped it over to the back. She scanned the paper until she found his name on the lower left corner. "Oh!" She smiled an innocent smile. "So what's so important that you had to pull me from the middle of my lessons?" She asked while folding her arms. "Simple." He said before speaking dead serious. "I got a call from Mystique and my father. My father said that we were supposed to have another battle with you. My guess is that the acolytes are up to something if he needs us to act as a distraction again. Secondly, Mystique said that we should bombard you at an abandoned construction site downtown.
The plan is: Mystique is only going to pretend to combat us in the form of Rogue. She was going to get you to tag team up with her to take down Avalanche, which is actually a trap. Avalanche is supposed to look like he knocked her out and you would come to her aid. When you got close enough, she was going to induce you with a cellular paralysis bio-fluid. That will prevent you from doing anything. Even phasing.
She didn't tell me what she was going to do after that. But my guesses are: she was going to make it seem like the brotherhood abducted you and the X men would confront us. We begin another battle so Magneto can buy himself some more time. Right now I'm just speculating. I don't know If I'm right." He explained without once breaking eye contact with Kitty.
Kitty, who listened with undivided attention, asked a question, "Well let's just say for the sake of it that you are right. Like, how are you going to stop all of that from happening without them finding out that we know about their plans? And what will your father do to you if he finds out?" Kitty interrogated. Pietro truly didn't know what to say. "I don't know. But I already decided last night to go with the flow, come what may." "You know I thought the same thing. But being around Mystique is..." Pietro finished her sentence before she did. "just plain creepy. Makes your skin crawl. Makes you pray that you don't get on her bad side."
Kitty was amazed that he said every single word she was thinking. Almost as he was a telepath himself. "Yeah! that's exactly what I was gonna say. I'm going crazy just being around her. And being the only one to know that she's disguising herself as Rogue isn't exactly helping my anxiety. It makes me feel vulnerable. Like she can abduct me at any time and get away with it without anyone suspecting it was her." kitty started to break down in tears, "How long is it going to take? Why can't we just let everyone know what's going on? I'm so scared I'm losing it! If Wanda won't survive what's about to happen, then what are the odds of me surviving? I don't want to die, Pietro. I'm not ready to die!" she sobbed.
For the first time, Pietro had sympathy for her. At the same time, he knew if she was to break completely, then the whole point of them trying to protect their loved ones would cease to be a priority. He grabbed her tightly by the shoulders and yanked her closer to him. "Get a grip Pryde! If you lose it now, then everything that we're trying to do is going to go up in smoke.
We both have something we want to protect! If you fall, then we all fall! Don't you get it! They have Rogue! And if you show them any sign of you knowing the truth about what's happening, they could take her life right there! Is that what you want!? Besides, Mystique is crafty. Very manipulative. She gets to know her enemies to perceive a better copy of them. There's no doubt that she was studying you too!"
Kitty dropped her head with tears still rolling down her face. Pietro's hands moved from her shoulders to each side of her cheeks. He lifted her face upward to make eye contact. He continued. "If my father have even the slightest idea that we know of his plans, he'd surely come at you from another angle. And if you're caught, then What?! You heard what he said last night. You can't stop what you can't touch! So if he has you, then how will there be any hope for me to protect my sister? If you don't play it safe Katherine, then there's no point in trying to stop him.
Like he said, you guys fight with twice as much ambition when you're trying to prevent something. If he sees that ambition and you confront him head on, then it's game over. The same way he going to surprise us, is the same way we're going to surprise him! For now, we're just going to have to play it by ear. Do you understand?" Kitty nodded her head bleakly.
Kitty wiped the tears from her face. "Alright fine." She sniffled. "I won't say anything. But I was wondering..." she paused. "Yeah?" He asked curiously. She finished. "How did you know my full name was Katherine?"
"Ha!" he exclaimed then folded his arms. "that's easy. It was a while ago, when I was digging through some of the school files to get a sneak peak at my report card. The files were unorganized so some of the first names came first and some of the surnames came first. I looked under the 'P' section in case my first name came first, but guess what?" Kitty flustered, "You came across my last name." She said rolling her eyes. "Exactly! So I ceased the moment to see what your conduct was like, and there I saw it! Which made me wonder; how on earth do you get 'Kitty' from 'Katherine'?! I would at least expect something like Kathy, Katy, Kate, or maybe even Kat. But where in the world did Kitty come from?" he smiled teasingly. Kitty's demeanor changed into an annoyed feeling. "Look! It's just what everyone calls me! Like, maybe except for you!" she argued as she pointed her finger at him.
For some reason, Pietro enjoyed that. He knew she was entertaining, but never knew Kitty could be this entertaining. So he decided to give her some advice. "Oh! And for the record to ease some of the tension from being around Mystique, just let her overhear you saying: you found out that the bathroom fell through the kitchen at the brotherhood and that it's a total pig stye! Except my room though.." Pietro ended. Kitty gaped. "Are you like, serious? Did that really happen?"
Pietro raised a brow. "You know you say 'like' a lot. Do you have some kind of a speech impediment?" He questioned disregarding hers. "Answer my question!" She demanded. "Alright fine. Yes it's true." "How did that I happen?" "Come on Pryde, I have a giant living with me. Freddy's grown since then which means he got heavier. Haven't you noticed from yesterday?" "Oh! Well like, that makes sense."
"See! There's that 'like' again! Seriously do have to keep saying that?" "Leave my way of speaking alone Pietro!" "But really! You say it so much that I know I'm not the first person to ask." He said with furrowed brows. Kitty blushed and thought. Actually you are the first person that ever asked. "But anyway," He continued, "hurry up and get back to class before somebody suspect something." He commanded. He then sped off without warning.
Kitty hurried back to her class. When she got on the inside, she looked at the hall clock. Whoa! Was I really talking to him for almost half an hour. That means... the bell rung for third period. ...History class is over. She finished anyway. She went back to her history class to return the pass. "Oh, ms. Pryde. Is everything alright? Your eyes are red." Asked Mr. Evan with concern. "Yeah, like I wasn't really feeling well so I went to the infirmary like you said." "Well I hope that you get better soon. Since you aren't feeling well, I'm going to excuse you from homework tonight." He said kindly.
Kitty was smiling brightly on the inside. "Thank you Mr. Evans." she said weakly, feigning her sickness again. She handed over the pass and went to her desk and gathered her books. Things were finally beginning to get better again.