[TENNIS BALLS] my liege, tag; Kitty, Il Sung, Jean

[Sadie Slade]

February 9th. 5:15pm. Tuesday


Scorn and Defiance, slight regard, contempt and any thing that may not misbecome the mighty sender, doth he prize you at. Thus says my king…

In the moments of battle, she never thought to think of the French and the English’s disregard for one another in Henry the Vth. This was definitely a case of sending tennis balls to one’s king as a merry slaughter. No doubt the text message Sadie sent to Kitty was just that. Tennis balls. A mere shove for war. She was not the Dauphin, this time around, no. She was playing the role of Constable. Wishing to bring peace terms between the two kings, as the French did fall and fail to destroy the army the obviously outnumbered. She was going to make things right, offer the figurative Kate to the King as a wife for peace. She was offering her apologies, for sending the tennis balls or dead cat to the wrong side of the playing field. In fact here she was alone.

She sat in the same spot the large blue man had approached her at the past two meetings, the past two times she had messed up her relations with someone she finally reached out too. She was going to make things right, she wanted him to come back. Someone so intelligent could not be bound to the laws of the X-Geeks. He talked to her, he thought she was intelligent. He understood her. While he may have been a thespian, she was a literature enthusiast, the drama section was no different from any other part of history. The two of them had connected. Every phrase he shot at her she could throw another back like a skilled game of tennis. She wasn’t willing to loose that. In this world there were very few things she already had in her life, now she wasn’t going to loose anymore.

She would have called Piotr, to show him that she had the capability to be human. He would have been proud of her. And she wasn’t going to hesitate to tell him of her encounter. The attempt to be the bigger man. Maybe Lance would stop being so offlandish to her then. Well she did steal his phone for a moment Maybe things would turn out for the better this time. She was going to explain herself, not deny that she wasn’t crazy. But she had figured out that whatever was wrong in the Amygdala., or the left side of her brain, or even the frontal lobes. Had caused her emotions to go haywire had been successfully short circuit and required by the momentary coma that Il Sung had put her in. She was back to normal, so to speak. And after her chat with Piotr, things needed to get fixed.

She inhaled, running her hands along the back on the amphitheater, expecting to face the entire school. Kitty Pryde, Sadie knew, was no hero. She was going to bring someone, hopefully not Lance, she wasn’t ready for that. So now was the time to man up, ”Now is the winter of our discontent.” she muttered quietly, narrowing her eyes at the back of the theater, turning to hear footsteps. The show must go on.

[Kitty Pryde]

Bring whomever you want. To be honest, it wouldn't have mattered if Chameleon said that, or forbade it - Kitty wouldn't phase through that girl with a ten foot pole if she could avoid it, and she'd definitely never meet with her alone. Even though Harpoon was 'apparently' gone, it wasn't enough to make Kitty dumb enough to risk another confrontation like at Halloween. It wasn't like Sadie pulled her hair, or randomly kissed Lance (not that she would have cared about that because she didn't even like him anymore and arguably, she didn't even really like him when she 'liked' him half the time, what with all the fighting), or stole her compact, it was murder. And being home with her parents over winter break only made her appreciate it more, that she was still alive.

It was totally morbid, as was the fact that she'd been totally obsessing over this for days (and bringing up rather frequently with Il Sung even though he didn't seem very interested in it). She frowned down at her pink jacket, zipping it the rest of the way up with one gloved hand. Jean had driven them to the park, herself and Il Sung, and although she was grateful that they were here, it was still... "I really don't want to do this," she admitted anxiously, glancing to the telepath first (as, well, Il Sung wasn't really known for his tactful reassurances in would-be dangerous situations), "What if it is an ambush? I wouldn't know, I mean, the girl only talked to me once - right before she hit me with a gun so..." There were traces of bitterness there, an apprehension and a grudge that Kitty didn't intend to let go of anytime soon (and for good reason; the whole 'almost-dying' thing? It put a damper on any mood).

The amphitheater loomed up into view - and it did remind her of Mr. McCoy, which was something Kitty felt a little 'irritated' over (or hurt, maybe). She'd asked Jean at lunch what that was all about - and granted, she hadn't been at her most mature (and she was missing some facts but, well, she was 'sensitive' over this issue). Having total pow-wows with would-be murderers now? And she wasn't even told? Next thing you know, Storm was going to be having Mystique over for tea, ooh, surprise! Not that she could talk, but, like... "You remember what we talked about, right? Just...don't even mention it, don't even act like you know anything about him, even if she brings him up," she insisted after a few more nervous seconds, and twisting of her fingers at her sides.

Kitty had been fairly vocal - um, yes, she and Lance were totally done and no, she didn't care about him at all and didn't want anything to do with him and did not -care- what anybody thought but no need for Sadie to know that, okay? She didn't deserve the satisfaction of knowing, plus, like, she seemed like a total homewrecker-lunatic-girl and regardless of what happened with Lance, she would not be able to stand to see him with Sadie. Or have that girl gloating over it! Over the fact that, thank you very much, Kitty hadn't been the one to screw this up! He was the one that totally bailed on her after that stupid kiss, she didn't do anything. This time. It was just so dumb. This was all Lance's fault (somehow). But, like, surely he would never hook up with a girl who shot him, right? But, well, he did kiss a girl who, like, insulted him every two seconds and slapped him and always argued with him so... That would be -so- tacky.

But beneath and around all those mixed up, worried thoughts, Kitty had to reluctantly consider what Jean said. Maybe Sadie wanted to talk, she said she wanted to end- what did that even mean? A sleepover? Braiding eachother's hair? She would have taken ten Riley's over this...because there were certain things you just couldn't fix, especially since Kitty had the sneaking suspicion it wasn't like Sadie woke up one morning and instantly decided she 'liked' her now. It didn't work that way so...so whatever the reasons were...it just seemed weird. Not genuine. And how did you even apologize for nearly murdering someone? That would be interesting to see, and maybe she was being petty or immature or whatever, but- well, she was here, wasn't she? That was the first step. She saw Sadie, or, well, the back of Sadie's head as the first step became many steps, avoiding the slick bits of ice around the amphitheater and trying to keep herself as composed as possible. "What is, like, the plan? Jean? We should just let her talk, right? And then...we can so get out of here if it's another 'prank'." Prank, in loose terms, since Sadie was so -crazy-.

And looking at her now. Okay. Kitty could not bring herself to smile, but she didn't say the million things that were on the tip of her tongue. She stopped a couple feet away from the other girl and crossed her arms, expression as flat as her tone, "Jean, Il Sung, you two know Chameleon..." Introductions, done, and the initial glance around? She didn't see anyone here with Sadie, but that didn't mean anything. "What do you want?" she curbed her tone towards the end so it didn't come out too harsh, but that was the million dollar question. "Last time I saw you, you seemed pretty intent on killing me so...excuse me if I don't really believe you." Referencing the text, anyway.

[Kim Il Sung]

Around thirty one mentions of this Sadie Slade since the initial text message. Apparently there was some sort of a misunderstanding here. Minor villains did not reoccur after they’d already been foiled. Clearly this was some sort of a mix up. After all, it was simply improbable that someone who kidnapped the Secondary-character-that-gets-into-trouble-often-to-be-rescued-by-the-Hero could be a main antagonist. Besides, he had Principal Darkholme for that, and everyone knew the best Archenemies always had dual (or more) identities. It was like a measure of their worthiness. Since Principal Darkholme happened to be a shapeshifter, she was obviously the Greatest Threat. Despite what some people said about that guy wearing the helmet. Obviously this was just a case of poor advertising on the part of Principal Darkholme. She needed better PR.

There was of course the potential that this was one of those Switch-of-Factions-to-stir-up-character-relationship-drama moments. But that seemed unlikely as the person in question was honestly not that interesting. Besides, she disappeared into the background. As a power. Clearly that just wasn’t exciting enough to draw any real drama. There were no explosions. What could anyone expect of someone that was incapable of creating explosions, really? Nothing critical. Just the average kidnapping and attempts at murder coordinated at public school events on national holidays. Ah, and she had to use a gun. And Wolvie frowned upon guns for some bizarre old school reason, so obviously this Switch-of-Factions thing could not happen.

Speaking of which, the gun was now snugly tucked inside the inner pocket of his well chosen dramatic long wool coat. It had silver buttons. The coat, that is. In light of this potential crucial-plot confrontation, he’d dressed mostly in black, clad in the black coat, black jeans, a black turtleneck sweater and a pair of black sunglasses that only somewhat hindered visual perception as the daylight was starting to fade. But all the excessively dramatic encounters always happened in the dark in minimal but spotlighted lighting and sunglasses gave the air of enigma. Some things had to be sacrificed for the good of presentation. Like the ability to see well before potentially handling a gun.

“Please, we can’t have an ambush, it’s a weekday,” he replied reassuringly to Muffin Kit in his sensitive manner as they walked towards the specified location (which was just dramatic enough to possibly be the setting of an unexpected plot twist). “As I already told you at lunch, very well, we will not discuss him. I’m sure your nemesis already knows he dresses poorly anyway.” Really, who could miss that? Muffin Kit was doing the overly anxious thing again. Really, he didn’t know why she’d ramble to him past midnight—twice—about the whole break up with the semi-her-guy who couldn’t dress well and failed to present him with Christmas gifts despite the fact that he’d saved his poorly-dressed life, if she really didn’t want him to relay the sentiments to the general public in his far more eloquent speech and more pleasant voice. But he supposed he could indulge in her whims, yes. He was dressed to be broodingly enigmatic anyway; minimal conversation would best accentuate his sunglasses. “How long did your coma last?” Well, the important questions still had to be asked, and Muffin Kit had just gone through the obligatory introduction and mistrust statements, there was no better time.

[Jean Grey]

She knew the basic facts of the display. Even someone who had committed the worst of crimes, deserved at least a chance to speak before they were dammed to death. Jean’s question this entire time had been why? Why did Sadie do something like this? Jean only knew the quiet girl that sat in the back of creative writing minding her own. A brilliant girl when the grades came to it, but a Brotherhood member none the less. Something never seemed right about her place, how she was quiet and gentle. She never seemed to lash out. She wondered what had possessed her. The housemates she called family? Mystique? Jean was curious, but this talk seemed more to the Sadie Jean had known in the beginning.

It was no surprise that the literary genius of Miss Slade had caught the interest of Mr. McCoy. Thought he was a new effect to the team and seemed troubled when the confrontation with Kitty was mentioned to him. Whatever had gone down between them upon their next meeting had weighed heavily on his mind. Even now she recalled in order to pulled Beast away from Jean-Viv in his feral Beast state Sadie started reciting some sort of literature before Psylock knocked her out. Pieces didn’t fit properly together. Jean felt interested herself to hear what Sadie had to say, and not from Kitty’s one sided mouth…

”Understandable, and no one jump into losing their tempers. We’re suppose to set the better example.” Jean put a hand on Kitty’s shoulder to try and ease the nervousness that was about her. She narrowed her eyes, Now is the Winter of out Discontent. Sadie was already here, reciting in the large amphitheater where they’d found Hank the first time around. She watched as Sadie familiarized herself with the walls, and moved around like everything around her was dream-like. Much like when Jean had first known her. ”Kitty, I can’t hear anyone but the four of us. There’s no one else here.” she looked to Kitty. Her eyes fell on the girl as they brought themselves to the stage.

”Sadie.” Jean bowed her head slightly when she was introduced. She kept close to Kitty, looking at her carefully hoping that she wasn’t going to go too overboard with the hate that seemed to bottle up inside her. She looked at Il Sung and put a hand to her forehead, sometimes she wondered about him.

[Sadie Slade]

It wasn’t liked they were being very quiet. Sadie hadn’t been talking very loudly, and in fact she could hear their footsteps in the crunching snow. She didn’t turn immediately when they started coming up to the stage but instead continued to place her fingers over the cracks and bruises on the theater wall. Finding them far more fascinating than the company she was about to received. It didn’t make her seem less crazy that before. But she was trying to calm herself with the soothing surroundings rather than the open ended glares of the three patrons approaching her domain. This was going to get ugly real fast.

She turned as the sharp tongue of Katherine Pryde snapped at her. She looked to Jean, with her arm falling across her chest in a chivalrous bow, and to Il Sung as well. She didn’t hesitate to answer, ”A day, and I thank you.” she said with a nod of her head. Approximately Twenty three hours, fifty minutes, twenty four seconds.” She turned to the English King, or Queen, and put her arms behind her back. ”An understanding.” she replied, her eyes closed wearily and the monotone girl felt her head begin to throb, already annoyed with the presence of the valley girl tones of the witch before her. But the French had lost. ”You have every right not to believe be, I understand. But there were medical and reasonable conditions on the way that I acted in which the shocks that put me into a coma fixed. Believe it or not.” she said with her eyes falling on Kitty, no fear, no emotion. She showed nothing.

Sadie took a hesitant breath, ”Now what I wanted to come here was at least to offer an apology, though one can understand that an apology to being held at gun point doesn’t come accepted as easily.” Sadie’s eyes flickered to the telepath. She wasn’t afraid of the red head reading her mind when she was being honest. She looked up to the top of the amphitheater, ”Do not be mistaken, Katherine, by no means do I like you, and by no means do I suggest we even breach the barriers of acquaintances.” she spoke logically and quickly. ”I’m here to offer my apologies and whether you choose to accept it or not is your decision. But the sin is no longer on my plate.” she said with her head raised in the way she was properly taught, keeping her posture up and her words crisp and to the point.

”I am truly sorry. What I did was not who I want to become, the pressures of the Brotherhood house and the world around me were conflicting with my insomnia and the loss of a friend.” she explained, ”I’m happy for your safety, and the things I said about Lance and about you, I take back.” she let her hands drop to her sides. ”Have at thee.” she raised her arms level before letting them drop. Go Katherine, say all you want to say. She had said what she wanted to.

[Kitty Pryde]

Kitty just rolled her eyes - what did weekdays have to do with ambushes? Nothing. He always brought up the most random things ever, even in mega high stress situations. "Ohmigod, Il Sung, it's not about his clothes," she protested impatiently - had they not been over this? A lot? Yes, okay, he didn't dress the best, but that wasn't the point. "It's kind of a style, you know. Like, grungy or something. He kind of does it on purpose." Her tone suggested (distractedly) that she really sure what the 'purpose' was, but there was a reason. It wasn't just super-cluelessness. Speaking of, though, Kitty wondered if he knew this was going on, that Little Miss Fatal Attraction over there wanted to meet up. Maybe. Maybe he didn't care. He was a massive jerk, after all, and probably figured that one bullet was enough for now (but boy, was -that- overly optimistic considering where he lived and with whom). But enough about Lance because- because here was Sadie Slade. The brunette gave a very reluctant nod, indicating she heard Jean but didn't really like the reminder. The better example. Right. Even with someone like -her-? "Kitty, I can’t hear anyone but the four of us. There’s no one else here.”

Good. It was a surprise but...good. Kitty poked Il Sung non-so-subtly in the side for the coma question, which was not the point of this conversation. She gave him a 'look', general disapproval tugging at her features for a second. Which then faded with some kind of perplexity - because who thanked someone for putting them in a coma? What, did she expect Kitty to thank you for the I'm-going-to-shoot-you thing? Um, no. And what did Sadie want? An 'understanding' which, for once, Kitty wasn't that interested in. Maybe with the pictures or the dead cat, sure, but to her it was pretty obvious what had happened. And with a very loud thought of, I can't -believe- this, Jean. Kitty didn't interrupt. The whole, there are 'medical and reasonable conditions', like...what? Really? Really? It wasn't like she didn't know what a gun could do! Or how totally creepy and disgusting dangling a dead animal from somebody's locker would be!

But she apologized, and Kitty wasn't sure what to do - except of course, scoff at the fact that, oh, this girl probably didn't have a lot of experience with saying 'sorry', because you usually didn't follow it up with a huge insult about how much you dislike the other person. "It's totally mutual," she assured, just as tactfully as possible. You could kiss people who accidentally almost caved a building on your parents, but you could not become BFFs with someone who played with dead animals. Ew. Ew. There was a line. Kitty put a hand on a hip with an expectant - and kind of offended - 'are you done?' expression. 'But the sin is no longer on my plate.' She could deal with the apology, as insincere as she thought it was, but that? Oh no, she couldn't just say all that and then shove it on Kitty. Oh wow, okay, she could check her 'sorry-I-tried-to-kill-you' box off and be done with it? Ri-ight.

"You had a gun Chameleon!" Kitty retorted, nowhere near as calm though she quite in the yelling-at-Lance-volume-range yet, "Murder isn't like swapping a pair of bad shoes! You don't get to take it back now and claim it's all 'okay' because you didn't like the way you looked!" She didn't get to pick what was or wasn't the 'right' thing to do after pulling something like that, and she didn't deserve forgiveness just because she put a pretty little speech together and prove she wasn't a raging psycho twenty-four hours a day! "I didn't do anything to you, I didn't even know who you were! And one attempt at an apology four months later isn't going to make those last three months go away, you don't get to make that call!" Killing somebody? It was PERMANENT, it was a 'no-refund policy'! It was not something you could just 'apologize' for and that's that. "If you did kill me, if he was too late, what you would have done to my friends, and my family? My parents?" Having a dead daughter was not the greatest Halloween prank ever or anything... "Those are not near good enough excuses to go from taunting somebody to killing them!" People did not come back from that.

And whatever, okay? Sadie wasn't the 'only' one dealing with the Mark thing, and insomnia and 'pressure'? If she was really sorry, she'd check out of the boarding house and check into a high-security hospital or something. "And um, okay, I know all about your 'pressures' at the boarding house," she added with an exasperated stomp of her boots that had very little to do with the cold, and more with her frustration. Lance was just as bad about this kind of thing. "But you guys chose to do that, and you choose to stay there, that's not our problem! It's not our fault." She hesitated, because this was really more Jean's area than hers, but she didn't see the 'rocket science' in all this, why it was such a hard connection to make, "If you don't want to be that kind of person, then stop working for a terrorist! Just leave." It seemed -so- simple to Kitty, and even if they claimed they had 'nowhere' else to go, the X-Men weren't the ones keeping them out of the Institute (though Kitty would definitely voice her disapproval if Sadie actually, seriously, tried to join). They could be protected there, but they didn't want that! They just kind of used for an excuse every time they stood around and let bad things happen- like kidnappings!

And to be honest, Kitty still didn't believe this- okay, maybe Sadie was 'sorry', but it was only because of Lance. Even if he had...dumped her...or whatever, it didn't mean Sadie had a shot! Or, another one since she'd already hit him once...right? "I mean, why now?" Kitty demanded, with genuine curiosity. 'Believe it or not', she didn't need an apology, really, as much as she wanted Chameleon to stay away from her. It just seemed to bizarre, and it was February. It was unexpected.

[Kim Il Sung]

A day. He really needed to test this more. Clara’s had only lasted a day as well. He wanted to be able to do weeks, months. Even years. That would be fun. There were always all those people on television saying that someone had woken out of a seven year coma. Of course, Clara hadn’t really thanked him for the experience, but obviously it was a unique experience and perhaps it was only right that people thank him for being able to try such a special experience. Hm. Perhaps. That would by extension make it only charitable to offer such experiences to people. Humans had boring lives. Maybe they wanted more excitement in their lives. Or Muffin Kit’s other guy. He happened to be a mutant, yes, but there were no dramatic life-changing, life-threatening day to day occurrences in his life. Obviously a boring life. He could provide excitement and inspiration to strive to get more out of each day. This could really be a good program for all those bored, depressed people out there. Unfortunate for them that he had no desires to use his powers on all the random people of the world.

She was still talking. This wasn’t even the time for an evil villain monologue. What was this unnecessarily excessive dialogue given to the uninteresting minor villain-slash-some-undefined-plot-position-that-would-be-defined-by-this-conversation? An apology to being held at gunpoint. The gun in his pocket still lay flat against his chest, the barrel of the gun securely in the inner pocket of the coat, comfortably enough, though it’d been too large to fit in entirely. Maybe it’d be easier for Muffin Kit to accept an apology to being held at gunpoint given that they were holding Muffin Kit’s archenemy at gunpoint while doing it. It was something to consider. But of course Muffin Kit had to steal all the spotlight after the archenemy-of-Muffin-Kit finished talking. What was all this, the Muffin Kit chapter?

Murder really wasn’t like swapping a pair of bad shoes though. What a good slogan. They could put that on bumper stickers. He needed new shoes. White dress shoes. They never made enough white dress shoes. That was something to write a letter about. But in the meantime, Muffin Kit’s stress levels were going up. No Angry Muffin Kit Eyes, but more of an intense fury for the glare and a lot of vocal shouting. The unreasonable segment on ‘what would have happened if Muffin Kit died’ was kind of hurtful. To him, of course. Obviously, he would have saved Muffin Kit before that. Muffin Kit really needed to learn to trust people more. But she would make Angry Muffin Kit Eyes were he to suggest they work on this issue, because Muffin Kit was just a tad defensive about these things like that. But he could accept that.

What the reasons for this whole encounter was obviously not a matter worth addressing, since really, there were ever only two reasons for repeat archenemy encounters, revenge or change, but oddly enough this was getting to some odd semi-agreement-to-disagree, which was hardly entertaining at all. Alas, poor Muffin Kit and her lack of worldly Hero ways in dealing properly with a potentially-scheming archnemesis. “I have an idea,” he broke in after the brunette’s questions to the Brotherhood girl, before anyone else could address the issue. Of course he had to provide all the answers. Being the one that knew things was so much work sometimes, but he could do it for Muffin Kit. “Why don’t we shoot you and call it even?”

[Jean Grey]

Jean couldn’t not admit that she was impressed with the girl’s honesty. She answered questions with crisp and blunt replied as if this were some interview. Jean was here to be a rather voice of reason, a referee. While she didn’t particularly appreciate her friend being held at gun point, she knew that Sadie would have called this meeting less she had some problems with it. Jean was a people person. She took into account that they were only human, human with extreme amounts of stress on their shoulders, more so than normal humans. They had to walk this earth knowing they were different, that people may never accept them for who they were because they had an unfair ‘advantage’. From the looks of it Sadie was merely trying to make peace. If Henry saw something in the girl, Jean would try.

This had to be the most Jean had ever heard the young girl speak. But she made some decent points. She didn’t expect Kitty to forgive her, and Jean knew that Kitty wasn’t going to let this go. Nor was Jean or Henry or anyone. But the first step was admitting that she was wrong, there were people that could help her. Jean could help her, because trusting humans often came hard for mutants, and if she was part of the Brotherhood she must have had some vendetta. She watched the young girl with somber eyes as she recited like she was reading from script. Each word carefully placed in a place like she’d recited this for hours. Jean was also keeping an eye out for other signs of movement, making sure that Sadie was keeping to her word.

Jean cringed at her choice of words, Have at thee. Of course Kitty was going to say a mouthful, but Sadie’s conscious was cleared. Jean could see it. The moment she apologized and said what she had to say, explaining herself with no emotion in her voice. She had been washed of her vicious problematic sin…Now Kitty had the harder part, forgiving for such a dark deed. That would never come so easy. Forgiving a person for the crime they had committed, is that hardest thing, but it would eat at you and eat at you till you did it. The motive for Sadie was a bit extreme, but understandable if you knew her background. Jean knew about as much as the Professor did when it came to the Brotherhood. The affection Lance showed Sadie once lingered in her subconscious and she grasped for it due to her lack of affection in her family. And according to extreme insomnia and the loss of her only close friend – along with Mystique – proved to be a reasonable bout for Jean. Most X-Kid’s, including Kitty, didn’t know what the Brotherhood face every morning. While the X-men complained about danger room sessions, the Brotherhood had to worry about which arm Mystique was going to break if they were late, and which gun she’d be using, how fast they’d have to move if she shot at them. She’d seen it in Lance’s head.

But the question was indeed why now. She glanced to Il Sung, feeling a bit of a bad idea coming on as she stood there. But an idea was an idea, shoot you ”Il Sung!” Miss Grey hissed at the boy. She put her hand to her forehead, ”We are not sinking to that level.” she turned to Sadie, ”Because as X-men we are above unnecessary violence.” She watched Sadie carefully.

[Sadie Slade]

She felt like Hamlet. She had sat around and moped for months. When the Brotherhood members had left to be Acolytes she moved around the house like a ghost. It was go to school and back to her room. Everyday, sometimes there was training with Mystique, other times she went for a jog. She liked talking to Piotr when she ran into him. Maybe if she waited she ate with JV or someone else in the house. But often times it was in her room with her music staring at her ceiling wishing she hadn’t done what she had done. She stood there now reciting lines like she was some actor in the works of Shakespeare, monologue of apologies, maybe she’d use that for her literature class to show voice. But her speech came to a close and she watched their expressions, surely Katherine riled back up in reply.

She knew she had a gun, she was pretty sure she fired that gun. She didn’t budge, of course the valley girl would relate this to shoes. Perhaps she could have been a tad more intelligence and references to something like masks or books, something a little more mysterious and intellectual, but she used shoes. Sadie held her breath as the woman screamed at her in anger. Her expression never falter her voice never rose. While they weren’t sinking to her level of violence, she wasn’t going to sink to their level of high pitched harpy screeching and bad analogies. All was even in their debate tactics, except Sadie’s were a tad more sophisticated. For a few moments she made eye contact with Jean Grey, wondering if the woman was scanning her brain for a plan, some sort of lie. Sadie had nothing to hide from the older telepath. They kept locked for a moment before Sadie turned her gaze back to the speaker.

”Of course not.” Sadie replied agreeing with Kitty for the first time since they almost never met. She knew murder wasn’t taken lightly, but even Sadie was unsure if she was going to be able to pull the trigger. Shooting Lance was a mistake, tormenting Kitty was a minor draw back. She didn’t want to explain herself to Katherine because each time she did it fell on deaf ears because she didn’t get it. Sadie was trying to avoid spitting fire at the girl this round, ”Not directly.” she replied. It was like a mother lion fighting for one of her cubs. Did Kitty honestly believe if she kept up the constant bullshit with Lance that the mother lion was going to let the gazelle get away with beating up her cub? Honestly, people knew nothing. She closed her eyes briefly, trying to control her anger to the ignorance of the girl. She had apologized, but of course the brunette knew nothing of the philosophy of ‘apologizing’. She offered her forgiving, there were no ‘attempts’ she apologized. Now the forgiving seed rested in her chest, weather she were to release it to bloom better flowers of friendship, or hold it till it bloomed into seeds of hate that would in turn eat her inside out instead of Sadie. Fair enough.

”No, you don’t.” she shook her head. Lance couldn’t even begin to explain it to Kitty, Kitty didn’t understand. ”We are mislead. And then we are trapped.” she replied softly. There were some things Sadie knew that Mystique probably didn’t want her to give out. Thing that the Brotherhood did that would be destroyed should the peep a word. They held an oath, ”She’d kill us first.” she replied honestly. She let her hands cross over her chest, ”Every broken arm, every injury he comes in with, are defiance to her majesty.” she rolled her eyes, ”You haven’t the faintest idea with the fires of hell taste like, don’t act like you know.” she hissed with a bit of venom. She closed her eyes, letting her hands drop.

”Because the seed of hate and despair is one that can kill.” she said placing a hand over her chest, ”I had gone far to long wishing what couldn’t be rewritten instead of writing what could be writ.” she tensed a little at the suggestion of getting shot, but rose no voice to protest, instead lowered her head in some sort of defeat. So be it? Maybe. But Jean interjected and Sadie raised her eyes to her. ”Thus says my Queen.” she whispered, reciting Henry V under her breath with a mild smile, ”What world would we live in if the X-men did?”

[Kitty Pryde]

Kitty wasn't going to forgive anybody anytime soon - and she was perfectly fine with that. She didn't feel guilty or immature - she was not a 'saint', okay, she was fifteen years old and watched her semi-boyfriend get shot by a girl that had a major obsessive crush on him and maybe she was simplifying it just a little bit, but who cared. Kitty didn't think she was dealing with a 'martyr' here, some kind of innocent person 'pushed to the edge', no, not even, no way; of all of them in that room, Sadie was guilty. And that girl could spout all the Shakespeare she wanted, it didn't make what she did any more justified. Whatever. It was just plain old teenage jealousy with an I'm-an-unstable-girl-with-a-gun twist. And it didn't matter what Sadie said, and it didn't matter that she was 'sorry' because the point was, she did it, she planned it, and manipulated the situation like a total coward because she didn't have the guts to confront somebody face-to-face (until that somebody had been stunned and tied to a chair, oh yeah, that's great diplomacy there).

Kitty could acknowledge what it took for Sadie to come here by herself, but it didn't really make her any more predisposed to 'forgiveness'. Just thinking about it made her feel bitter, and admittedly, it wasn't totally Sadie - it was everything, and she was just here and she was part of the problem! Kitty could deal with fighting the Brotherhood, she could deal with the dangers of facing mutants like Mystique or Magneto, but Sadie tried to kill her over LANCE. It wasn't some super noble reason, or some combative response in the midst of a fight, it was premediated, obsessed over, and completely, totally unprovoked! Kitty's (former-semi) relationship with Lance was nobody's business, especially not the business of creepy girls who could blend in with walls. They were kind-of making it work, sometimes, maybe, and things would have gone a lot smoother if Sadie hadn't started all that to begin with! It wasn't like he was just up and decided to dump her for no reason (even if it seemed that way because he had really jerk-y timing), and those three months didn't really 'help' the situation.

Or maybe it did. Maybe it was totally inevitable- why was she even considering this? Okay, it wasn't going to fix anything! And she didn't care! She was over that. And it was the same thing, the Brotherhood thing that she didn't get - being 'misled' was not an excuse for participating in kidnappings and attempted murders. When it came down to it, it was all about personal choices and whether or not you were brave enough to do the right thing! And Lance did. Sometimes. He tried. Sadie didn't really 'get' that benefit. ”Every broken arm, every injury he comes in with, are defiance to her majesty.” "Well maybe you shouldn't have shot him then!" she snapped back, before running the words over again in her head. Wait, what? So...her majesty being...Mystique? "Get over yourself, Sadie!" And now she was just mad because she really just didn't like -this- girl talking about -her- semi-ex kind of boyfriend. "Lance makes his own decisions, he never needed -you- to point him in the right direction!" Or point a gun -at- him, really. "He already picked you guys, okay?" Oh, well, um, that wasn't what she -meant- to say and after repeating herself so much to Il Sung about it-, "So don't even start with that, about how much being with me is, like, an issue, because it's not an issue anymore!"

And it was really way harder to say th- whatever. No, no way, not again. Kitty just shook her head, pushed it aside, moved on, "Everytime you guys do what she or Magneto wants, you're just making things worse!" And whatever, it was 'hell'? It was that bad? She just didn't get it- she didn't get how anything could ever make you give up your principles, provided you really, honestly, wanted to keep to them. "What you do is wrong, and if you really believed that, and understood that, it would be worth the risk to walk away!" She didn't believe it, that Mystique could 'kill' them if they left, if they joined the Institute. Professor Xavier was much stronger than that. And the X-Men protected eachother (and not with guns except Il Sung but he was a special case).

And Kitty was so sure she could have gotten over this, she didn't need this...except that Sadie decided to randomly contact her. Hence the question. February was a big deal because...? “Why don’t we shoot you and call it even?” Kitty gave a startled look to Il Sung, but she didn't exactly, um, say 'no' right away- not like she would have let it happen! It was just- he was so sweet sometimes! It was just...no, of course, Jean. Right. Above that level. "She's right, Il Sung. We don't shoot people." Not even when they maybe kind of deserved it. No guns. Wait, speaking of- "Are you armed?" she hissed at him, not exactly disapproving (sort of, maybe). Apparently Kitty should have paid better attention to her 'back-up'.

She glared at the other girl, though she could sort of understand the whole wishing-you-could-go-back thing. It only made her uncomfortable, so she didn't say anything about it. "Even if we were," Not above unnecessary violence? "The world would still be a better place." Than having -you- guys around, was the unspoken finish. Kitty gave some exasperated sound, glancing at Jean, then Il Sung, back to Sadie. "Are we done?" Hesitation. Maybe Kitty should have said something, like, 'I appreciate you doing this' (no, not really) or 'It was brave of you to come out here' (as opposed to when you tied me up and hit me with a gun when I couldn't phase out) or something. But no. Okay. She just wasn't at that point where she could 'fake' it (and Kitty had never really been good at 'faking' anything). The conversation had come to a close without any ambushes or massive mutant battles, and that was good enough for her though perhaps it would be disappointing to Il Sung. "I just- I want to go home." I just want to get -out- of here, she added, and it was meant for Jean to hear. "You guys ready?" No last minute designs to stick around? Okay then...

She wanted to leave and- well, Kitty thought that she'd be just fine if she never had to talk to Sadie Slade again.

[Kim Il Sung]

Everyone was a critic. Unjustly so, since really, Jeannie hadn’t been involved in the detailed schematics of what this conversation related to in the first place. Had Jeannie saved Muffin Kit’s ex-semi-guy? No, that had been him. Had Jeannie put Muffin Kit’s archnemesis in a coma? No, that too, had been him. Had Jeannie spent eighteen dollars getting an entire outfit dry cleaned because Muffin Kit’s ex-semi-guy had bled all over it? No, that tragedy had also been his heroic obstacle. Really, Jeannie had just tagged along for the mistakenly advertised excitement that had failed to take place in this scene. But he was too polite, far too nice to point such things out.

But since Muffin Kit didn’t want to shoot the Muffin-Kit-archnemesis either, there was really no more fun to be had here. “I am wounded that you would even suggest such a thing, Muffin Kit,” he replied, a drastic expression of said wounded emotion by a hand to the chest that also served to flatten the pistol against him. Nice and safe. “Don’t you know Wolvie doesn’t like guns? But I presume your archenemy has one, since that seems to be the documented standard of behavior,” a motion towards the Brotherhood girl in front of them to indicate the importance of this point. He believed it too. It was hardly unexpected. Despite this conviction, he was generally unconcerned, nor would he have been lacking a gun of his own. Because as he recollected, that was what they’d brought Jeannie for. Telekinetics were useful.

No more time wasting. He cut in after Kitty’s question, because heroes took charge of a situation and knew when to end things. “We’re done. You may leave,” emphasized by a dismissive wave of the hand, ushering the girl away before putting a hand on Kitty’s shoulder, tugging her slightly towards him. “If you attempt to assault Muffin Kit again,” he made sure to dramatically take off his sunglasses here, even though the lighting was too poor to properly grant an overcontrast as these situations professionally called for. “I will put you in a much longer coma that you may or may not awake from.” He wasn’t sure whether that was possible, yet, but no chance like taking down Muffin Kit’s archnemesis to try. Wolvie never let him experiment otherwise anyway.

“Or we’ll shoot you.” That was an option too. Self-defense was acceptable. Who would save the world if all the heroes died? That said, he turned to Muffin Kit and Jeannie once more, because there was really no point in listening to anything the villains said. They just monologued about their tragic reasons for being villains anyway. “I want to pick up brownies on the way back to the mansion.” he added to the Muffin Kit’s note of desires to return to the manor, always helpful in providing advice of what to do next. Because he wanted brownies, and did not wish to wait the time to make them. Besides, brownies were great for great psychological conflicts.

[OOC: Bry, you can wrap up with Jean or Sadie (or both, if you prefer).]