The Xavier School- Thursday early morning
Kitty
It started out like a totally normal day. Peter and Logan were already eating breakfast in the kitchen when Clint and Kitty came down, the mansion was quiet, and as far as Kitty knew, all was well. Except for one thing.
"Coffee?" she frowned, noticing that it wasn't already made, and then sighing as she went to start making some.
Clint
Clint made a positive sounding noise because yes, he very much needed some coffee. Then he could make actual words, which would most likely be words of thanks.
Kitty
"Gonna assume that's a yes," Kitty half-teased, because it was early for her too, thank you. "I'm guessing we're all the first up."
Clint
"We could always go back to bed," Clint said. To his credit, he didn't give her a dirty look because they weren't alone, but it was totally implied in Clint's mind.
Peter
And that would be Kitty's poor ex clearing his throat, because nope, and saying, "Coffee would be good."
Emma
Coffee and bed would both have to wait, because that was Emma's cue to burst into the room with a single perfect tear running down her cheek.
"Scott!" she cried. "Oh, god, I need... Scott's gone!"
Clint
That got Clint to perk up almost as much as the coffee would have. "What do you mean gone?" he asked. "What happened?"
Emma
"Where's Henry?" Emma asked, distressed. "We have to... Logan, please, find Henry."
Logan
"Probably in his lab," Logan said, getting up and already heading out. "I'm on it."
Clint
"Do you need to sit down? Maybe you should sit down," Clint said, since that was about as helpful as he could be.
Emma
"No, I can't," Emma said. "You should see Scott."
Kitty
"Yeah, we should," Kitty agreed.
Scott
When they got to Scott and Emma's room, they found Scott still in yesterday's clothes, toppled over sideways on the bed. He wasn't moving, and while his glasses were off and his eyes were open and unblinking, there weren't any beams shooting from them, which was a problem in itself.
Kitty
"Scott!" Kitty ran right to him, trying to get a pulse or make sure he was breathing.
Clint
"Oh wow," Clint said, looking Scott over. The lack of laser eyes was the first thing he noticed, although he was pretty sure that wasn't a good thing. "What happened?"
Emma
"I just found him- he was fine when we went to bed," Emma explained. "I can't get in his mind!"
Peter
"We'll take him to the lab," Peter said, picking Scott up like it was nothing. "Do you think he's lost his power?"
Clint
"I thought everyone who lost their powers already lost them?" Clint said. Not that he didn't appreciate not being fried at the moment.
Kitty
"Could always be something new," Kitty said. "People get depowered- temporarily- more than you'd think..."
Emma
"This could be some sort of attack," Emma added, burying her face in her hands.
Clint
"We don't know that yet. I'm sure Hank can figure out what's wrong with Scott," Clint said soothingly. He glanced to Peter, trying to make sure he got that hint.
Emma
Peter answered that with a nod, and started carrying Scott out.
"Kitty, you should check on the students," Emma told her, and looked to Clint. "Would you escort me back to my room? I can't bear to see him like this."
Clint
"Yeah, of course," Clint said, glad to be of use. He held out his arm for Emma and gave Kitty a soft smile before walking Emma out.
Kitty
"Right," Kitty said, noticing Lockheed hovering by the doorway before she looked back towards the bed. Something here didn't fit. "I'll do that..."
Kitty
Kitty had a bad feeling about this, and she wasn't sure she liked being ordered around by Emma right now, but she should check on the students. Since it was still early, the common room was empty, except for one person sitting in an armchair with her back to the door.
"Hey, listen," Kitty said. "Have you been up long? I was wondering if you saw anybody new..."
And then she realized when she got closer that even if she couldn't see the girl's face, there was something she didn't recognize, and didn't that just figure. "I'm sorry. I don't know your name," Kitty said.
Negasonic Teenage Warhead
"I dreamed about a kitty cat, kitty kitty catty," the girl replied. Creepily.
Kitty
Ugh, dammit. See, in a sane setting, Kitty would hightail it out of there because this was probably walking into a trap. But she was a superhero, and they had a current problem, and she had to find out what it was, so she kept walking towards the chair. "I don't know your name."
Negasonic Teenage Warhead
"I dreamed you phased away," the girl continued, turning to look at her as Kitty began dropping down through the floor. "I dreamed you couldn't stop."
Kitty
Kitty had really good control over her powers, because it was a necessity for her to function as an actual person. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't manage to unphase, and found herself slipping through the floor, then the foundation of the school, into the ground and below.
Emma
Leading Clint off to her own room, Emma waited until she was inside before she said, "I just can't imagine what could have happened to him."
Clint
"Considering everything that's happened to you guys, I almost find that hard to believe," Clint said. "I would have thought you'd seen almost everything that could be thrown at you by now."
Emma
Emma took a seat on the edge of the bed and said, "It's different, sometimes, depending on who's on the receiving end of it."
Surely he'd understand that.
Clint
Clint frowned, and nodded. "It's always worse when it's someone you care about," he said. "I'd say it could be worse but that's just asking for trouble."
Emma
"It always gets worse," Emma said seriously. And it would in this case. She knew these things.
Clint
"And then it'll get better," Clint said, sitting down next to her. "Hank will figure out what's wrong and Scott will be fine." Clint wasn't trying to think about it getting worse. Clearly, he hadn't made enough visits to the mansion yet.
Emma
"You don't know that," Emma said, and opened her mouth to say more until the phone on the bedside table rang.
She got up to answer it, and after putting the phone to her ear for a moment, held it out to Clint and said, "It's for you."
Clint
Clint didn't hide his surprise when he took the phone and put it to his ear. "Hello?"
"Hey little brother," Barney said, and he didn't exactly sound happy to hear Clint's voice. "I was hoping to get your voicemail. Assuming you have one set up."
"Barney? What's going on?" Clint asked. He shot a glance at Emma, and turned a little so he could pretend like he was getting some vague sense of privacy. "You got me, what's up?"
"I--listen, Clint, I don't expect you to understand."
"I can't understand anything if you don't tell me what the hell is going on, Barney," Clint snapped. "Are you in trouble?"
"No, but you are," Barney said. "You're always in trouble, and I'm tired of trying to deal with it for you. I'm leaving the city."
Clint felt himself get a little pale, and gripped the phone tighter. "Okay," he said slowly. "Where are you going?"
Barney's growl was clear, even through the phone line. "Now why the hell do you think I'd tell you where I'm going? You're the one I'm trying to get away from!"
"Barney, wait. Just... just tell me what's going on. Please." It wasn't right for him to be begging his brother for anything - but it wasn't right for Barney to abandon him either, and that's what he was doing, wasn't it?
"Please Barney, don't go," Barney mimicked in a whiny tone. "You're pathetic, you know that? I don't know why I ever thought coming back would be a good idea. You can't protect Kitty, you can't protect me - you're useless, and I can't take it anymore. Good luck, little brother, 'cause you're gonna need it."
"Barney?" Clint said, swallowing hard as the dial tone resonated through the phone. "Barney, wait! Come back!" But all he could hear was the beep of the tone, over and over.
Kitty
Being unable to stop phasing was literally Kitty's worst nightmare, since she knew that it could actually kill her if she couldn't get herself together. It was enough to make a girl freak out, which was exactly what she had to stop doing. She could beat this. She wasn't about to be Purple Manned by some goth punk. She was going to keep focusing on the fact that Clint was still up there, with Emma.
Emma, whose reactions today hadn't sat well with Kitty. Emma, who had directed everybody where she wanted them. Emma, who'd said a lot of weird stuff this last year about how being an X-Man didn't always agree with her, and how she wanted someone around to watch her, just in case...
Focusing on that, Kitty was finally able to stall her descent. She was far down there, in some dark cavern with stalactites and stalagmites all over, and when she let herself down she splashed down into a shallow river. All right, she could make herself solid again.
Good. Emma had made her move, just like Kitty knew she would. It was a good move, too. But now it was her turn.
Hisako
Hisako was having a terrible morning. Currently she was having to be helped along by Blindfold because she'd just used way more power than ever before and was still way too tired but today was sucking way too hard.
And when they passed the lab, Hisako peeked in and found that it was just straight-up ruined. Cyclops was laying on a table with his eyes open all creepy, and Colossus was shirtless and unconscious on the floor like he'd been in a fight, which probably explained why all the machines were in pieces around him. What could take out someone code named Colossus?
Kitty
Kitty had figured that most people would be around Scott, so when she popped up through the floor (startling the two teenage girls in the doorway), she didn't expect this scene.
"Peter!" she cried, making her way over to check to make sure he was still breathing. He was bleeding from the nose and definitely out, but at least he should be okay?
Hisako
"What's going on?" Hisako asked, coming inside. "Everybody's... Miss Pryde?"
Kitty
"Tell me what you know," Kitty said seriously.
Hisako
"Well... all the other students are asleep, I think. But we were in the bathroom and Wolverine came in trying to hide... There's something wrong with him," Hisako said warily. "He kept talking about a blue moose, and screamed like a girl. And Dr. McCoy tried to eat us- he doesn't look very moose-like, though- and I had to armor up, and... I'm not going to get detention for punching a teacher, am I?"
Kitty
Kitty shook her head. "Happens more than you'd think. What about everyone else? What happened here?"
She was trying not to think too hard about how Peter, Hank and maybe Logan were down, and she hadn't seen Clint yet.
Hisako
"We just got here," Hisako said apologetically. "What's going on?"
Kitty
"That's what I'm going to find out," Kitty said, standing. "You and Blindfold stay here. I doubt anything's coming back here for a while."
Hisako
As she watched Kitty phase through the wall to leave, Hisako called, "That's not very reassuring!"
Kitty
Kitty's next step was to try and find Logan. Hisako had said something was wrong with him, but if he was conscious then at least maybe there was a chance to get him back to normal so she had some help.
She found him in the woods behind the school, peering out from behind a tree. "Logan!"
Logan?
"Shhh!" he hissed, bringing a finger up to his lips. "You'll bring that monster back. And I don't know where Logan is. In his cups, no doubt."
Kitty
...She didn't even know what that meant. "Logan, it's Emma. She's messed with your brain," Kitty said, kneeling next to him. "And she's not alone."
Logan
"That doesn't make any sense," he said. "There's a monster, possibly moose or bear, but blue, and he ate my leg but then I made claws, and I stabbed him and he scampered off but he ate a good portion of my leg which seems to have grown back, thank the lord, but none of the household staff is about and there was a bald lady who was very nice though one suspects she ought wear a wig for propriety's sake..."
Kitty
This would be hilarious if it wasn't the opposite of hilarious right now. Pulling herself back to her feet, she said, "Okay, you stay here. I'll take care of this."
Sure, the whole team was down, and she would have to do this alone. She had this.
Emma
In a secluded part of the school, Emma was standing off to the side, watching the others she'd been colluding with argue amongst themselves.
"No one told me we'd need her! I mean, why did we have to wait all this time anyway-"
"I've been saying that from the beginning."
"Prudence, ladies. Now that the X-Men are out of commission-"
"As if that doesn't happen regularly enough-"
"Totally! There's a dozen times we could've-"
"It's irrelevant, until we have young Pryde back from the bowels of the Earth-"
"It's not my fault!"
"Shut up!" Emma snapped. "Just shut up!"
The others stared at her.
She collected herself and said, "I cannot hear myself think. Or anyone else, with your babbling. ...Does no one else hear that?"
When she looked around, she was alone again. There was nothing of note around except for the mirror on the wall, with her reflection staring back at her. "You," she said to it. "Do you really think you could hide in there?"
A second later, a fist had broken out of the mirror, and hit her in the nose.
Kitty
Kicking Emma's ass through a wall might not have been on Kitty's bucket list, but she was adding it on just to check it off.
She grabbed the collar of Emma's costume and pulled her forward to smash her face into the mirror, then extended her leg to kick her away again. Then she popped through the wall herself with another punch. "Hide? From you?"
Emma
"You know what they say," Emma said, shoving Kitty back hard into the wall.
The end of that sentence was cut off by Kitty then pulling her through the wall, and down.
Kitty
Sure, they were tumbling through everything below the school, but Kitty couldn't resist getting a dig in. She didn't have to be mature all the time. "'Ahhh?' They say 'ahhhh?' You are pathetic."
She stopped when they hit one of the small pockets of nothing well below the school. There was enough room for maybe two people, and no one would be able to stand. It wasn't a problem for Kitty, who was only solid where she needed to be. She grabbed Emma by the collar, keeping her phased and making sure her head was half in the wall.
"You get in my head, rocks get in yours," Kitty threatened. "Who are you working with?"
Emma
"The Hellfire Club, of course," Emma said, pulling herself back together.
Kitty
"Of course. Who?" Kitty pressed.
Emma
"Sebastian Shaw. Cassandra Nova. You haven't a prayer against her," Emma told her.
Kitty
"Who's the kid?" Obviously there was at least one new player, and Kitty wanted to know who'd been able to screw with her like that.
Emma
"Negasonic Teenage Warhead," Emma replied.
Kitty
Kitty frowned. "Wow, we really have run out of names."
Emma
"It's fun having the upper hand, isn't it?" Emma said coolly.
Kitty
"Who else?" Kitty demanded.
Emma
"It's just the four of us. You can turn my brain to slate- which you won't, by the way- but that's the truth," Emma said.
Kitty
"You're right," Kitty nodded, pulling Emma's head out of the rock. "I'm not gonna kill you. I'm gonna let you stay down here and think about what you've done."
And with that, Kitty stepped up and started phasing back up to the school.
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. Taken from Astonishing X-Men, written by Joss, so I'm sorry in advance. Preplayed with the fantastic so_hawkward!]