Michelle "MJ" Jones

When Kitty came back with Peter and Craig, she didn't look the least bit pleased. Without saying a word, she pointed at the table. Peter took a seat next to me, and Craig sat next to him before he leaned over looked at me, Ned, and Betty.

"Shouldn't you three be in class?" Craig asked as he nodded towards us.

"Midtown classes got cancelled," Betty replied.

"…Why?" Peter said.

"Oh, it's simple," Kitty spoke as she sat at the table. We all looked at her. "It seems like there's something in the air that makes people act like little shits."

I heard Craig take in a breath. "Okay, I know what Peter did," he muttered. "What did these three do?"

Kitty smiled bitterly. "Oh, a funny thing happened." We all looked at her. "The FBI and Kraven's men was investigating Midtown because Flash can't stop saying he's Spider-Man's best friend. While that happened, Betty stole an FBI laptop and MJ and Ned orchestrated a chemical fire that cleared out a whole school."

I swallowed and pretended that I didn't see Craig lean over and glare at us. "…What?" Craig whispered out.

"MJ and I didn't know about the stolen laptop!" Ned sputtered out. "Only reason we did it because I was afraid they were going to search through Betty's items and get her actual laptop."

Craig scoffed. "Why would it matter if they get her laptop?"

"…Her fanfiction," I replied. "…About us." I then turned my head towards Craig. "It would have been bad for all of us."

Craig closed his eyes and breathed in. "You guys are going to give me gray hairs before I even reach 21, I swear."

I turned my head towards Peter. "What did you do?"

"Oh, this idiot here decided to tail a guy on a gut instinct." There was a bit of heat to his voice as he opened his eyes. "Granted, he shared his location with me. But he almost got caught. He actually got made before I intervened."

"And there lies the problem!" Kitty practically growled out as she stood up. We all looked at her. "As of this moment, out of the four of you, only one of you has powers! And the one of you who has powers don't even know how to use them wisely!"

"Okay, to be fair, I'm not using magic out in the open!" Ned spoke up in protest.

Kitty slowly turned her head towards Ned. I felt like the air turn cold. Ned really should have kept quiet. "I have a question. Since you know how to open portals, why didn't you simply open a portal to Betty's locker room and grab the laptops yourself?" Ned didn't answer. Mentally, I was kicking myself for not thinking about that. I was usually good at thinking about of a simple solution. So why didn't I think about that then?

I blame Ned.

"So no answer?" Kitty asked rhetorically. She took in a breath. "So let's add everything up, shall we? We have one person who decides to steal a whole laptop from a federal agent. We have two people who decided the best way to retrieve some sensitive information out of said person's locker room is to start a fire – a fucking chemical fire – for the sake of a diversion. And we have a fourth person, who, despite lacking powers at the moment, decides to tail a guy to an abandoned theatre to spy on his meeting. You all could have called me. But you guys didn't. Instead, you committed federal crimes. You got the attention of the FBI. And since Craig had to rescue Peter from his situation, any chances of Kraven and company thinking The X-Men left New York just went up in smoke." She sneered. "But that's fine. We didn't need the element of surprise right?"

"Kitty," Peter spoke up. "I know I –"

"I don't want to hear it from anyone right now! As a matter of fact, I don't want to see any of you for the next few days or so! So here's what's going to happen. Peter, you're going to have Edith upload the footage to our database here. After that, Craig is going to take you guys home. I'm going to trust that all of you won't be doing anything that could get you locked up or hurt for the next few days, because, if you do, I'll personally hurt you myself. Now Peter, have Edith upload the footage so you guys can get the fuck out of here as soon as possible!"

I didn't say anything. No one did. We all knew what Kitty was capable of, even without her powers. Silence was our best option.

A few minutes later, we were out on the road with Craig behind the wheel. The car ride was silent. I didn't say anything. I was in my head, wondering how I could've done things differently. Obviously, calling Kitty would've been the obvious thing to do. I knew we should've let Kitty handle things, even if there was a small, stubborn part of me that wanted to argue that Ned and I did the right thing. I looked to my left at Peter, who was looking out of the window. I knew he felt guilty about what he did – even though I couldn't see his face, this slumped shoulders told me everything. There was a part of me that was mad at him for doing something so reckless, but I guess I didn't have that much room to talk.

"On the scale of one to 10, how angry is –?" Ned spoke up.

"A solid nine, Ned," Craig interjected. "Kitty is at a solid nine."

"How long is she going to be mad at us?" Betty asked from the front passenger seat.

"Well, assuming you guys don't do anything to piss her off even further, I'm going to say about three days – two if you get her a chocolate babka."

"We didn't mean to piss her off," Peter said as he looked forward.

"Pete, I get that, I really do, but right now, things are tense for us, and the last thing we need is for something bad to happen to you guys." He sighed. "I appreciate the fact that you guys want to help us out, and perhaps your efforts aren't fruitless… but guys… next time… call Kitty. She's leading the X-Men until this thing is over and she really, REALLY does not need extra stuff with deal with." He looked up at the rearview mirror and stared at us from the reflection. "And neither do I, okay?"

"Got it," I said.

I was the first person to be dropped off. Before I left the SUV, I told Peter that when he's back to being Spider-Man again that, if anyone asked him while he's under the mask, his girlfriend's name is Silk. I walked away without further explanation. I figured Ned would fill him in. When I got home, my parents were out. I went to my room. After tossing my bag on the bed along with Gwen's, I stepped out of the room and into the bathroom. I turned on the faucet, brought my head over the sink, and used my hand to splash water onto my face.

"You know, I didn't think arson was in your wheelhouse," a voice said. Slowly I straightened myself out and looked in the mirror with a halfhearted glare. Mirror MJ was looking at me with a smirk. That smirk faded as her expression sobered up. "Does Kitty always get this angry?"

"Honestly, no," I replied with a shake of my head. I turned off the faucet. "She's usually the calmest one. But when she does get angry…" I trailed off as I raised my eyebrows briefly. I remembered when the American Idiots told Carmilla about the Valentine's dance. I was a bit surprised to hear that Peter had to talk Kitty down from hurting Brad. "I guess I'm not above making bad decisions."

Mirror MJ made a noncommittal sound. "No one's perfect." She then nodded towards me. "Are you okay?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not exactly thrilled, especially with Peter doing something stupid… again."

"Par the course for being a part of the world of superheroes, isn't it?"

I shook my head. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I – especially since the world of superheroes is the reason I'm in the position I'm in." She frowned at me. "No offense."

"None taken," I assured her. "Though, I have to admit, going underneath the mask for a bit was… interesting."

Mirror Me scoffed. "If I were you, I wouldn't put that out in the multiverse," she warned.

I chuckled. "Maybe you're right," I replied. I frowned. "Still… Craig did get on our cases about us not being deadweight. Even if I don't become a hero, I could pick up a skill. Betty's learning from Jessica Jones and Ned is learning from Doctor Strange. Maybe I should go looking for someone to learn from, too, so I can handle myself."

"I mean, you did almost knock out that one Friend of Humanity member," Mirror MJ pointed out. "Maybe martial arts would be a good route to go."

I narrowed my eyes. "You saw that?"

Mirror MJ smirked at me. "I see everything."

I leaned forward. "And how do you feel about Peter? I mean, about what he did."

"I love him to death. I really do." She shook her head. "But I'm still angry that he didn't keep his end of the bargain, and I'm angry that it took someone getting hurt for Peter to finally come clean. I understand why he did it. He didn't want me to get and the others to get hurt. But, surprise, surprise, I'm fucking hurt." She sighed. "Peter, low key, can be quite the asshole when he gets in his own head, even though he never intends to be."

I tilted my head briefly. "You're not wrong," I admitted.

"We're usually not." She grimaced slightly. "I'm happy he's in a better headspace now, even if his propensity for making the wrong decisions is still going a bit strong."

I scoffed. "Yeah, I wanted to yell at him about it, but I don't think I got room to talk this time."

Mirror MJ laughed. "Unfortunately, you don't."

The following day, school went back to normal. The FBI was still investigating Midtown, but with Betty having the wherewithal to keep her laptop at home, I wasn't worried about my connection with Spider-Man being found out. During lunch, without saying a word, I practically shoved Gwen's bag into her chest as I passed by her. I didn't even look at her. It was probably for the best.

After school, I remained at Midtown for a bit, getting some extra studying in. After that, I decided to go and check out a book. When I found the book – Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis – I pulled it off of the shelf and opened it. That was when a card fell out of it. I closed the book, kneeled down, and picked up the card. I turned it in my hand and looked at the front of it.

"Chikara Dojo?" I whispered to myself as I read the card. I remembered the suggestion that Mirror MJ gave to me about picking up a martial art. Was this place legit? Well, there was one way to find out.

I stood up. I looked over the card once more before I put it in my pocket. I left the library, checking out the book on my way out.

When I got home, I called up Kitty. I was a bit reluctant to do so. I had a feeling that she still wanted to skin every other American Idiot alive, Craig aside. But I needed to know something. After a few rings, she picked up.

"Hello," she said.

"Hey Kitty," I greeted.

She sighed. "MJ, if you're calling me about another situation you got yourself in –"

"There's no situation. I'm staying out of trouble. I promise."

"Well that's good and all, but I'm not in a mood for a social call."

I raised my eyebrows briefly in acknowledgment. I didn't blame her. So I got to the point. "This isn't a social call. I wanted to ask you about something. I found this business card in a library book at school. It's for this place called the Chikara Dojo. Do you know anything about it?"

"I'm more than well aware of it. I even took some lessons there back in the day. It's not really active like that anymore. Colleen Wing, the owner of the dojo, stopped taking students a while back. I think it's mostly because she's doing her own vigilante work as the other Iron Fist."

"Wait, there are two Iron Fists?"

"Indeed they are. They're a couple, too. Anyway, why you ask?"

"I was curious," I replied. "…And I guess I'm looking to pick up a fighting skill or two."

"I see," Kitty replied. "Well, I already had the mind to have Craig and Carmilla train Peter. I can give Colleen a call and see if she's willing to train you. She owes me a couple of favors, anyway."

I scoffed. "How many heroes owe you favors?"

"A lot. When Craig and I moved to Manhattan with Scott and Carmilla, we did a lot of work with and for a lot of different heroes. Needless to say, we do favors for them and they do favors for us. Anyway, I'll talk to Colleen."

"Thanks," I said. I was grateful for that. I frowned. "Also… I'm sorry."

"…MJ… you, Peter, Ned, and Betty… you all mean a lot to me and the rest of the X-Men," Kitty uttered. "I understand you guys want to help us. I really do. At the same time, though, I don't want you guys to risk your lives or your futures over X-Men related stuff. I understand things happen, but if you can keep your involvement to a minimal, that'd be great – for all of our sake. Anyway, I got to go. You have a good rest of the day."

"You too, Kitty."

I hung up the phone and took a breath. For a moment, I wondered what I got myself into. I then sighed.

"Well, there's no backing out now," I said to myself. I then groaned. "I better be a whole Tekken fighter after this."