Work Text:
No New Year's day to celebrate,
No chocolate covered candy hearts to give away.
No first of spring,
No song to sing.
In fact here's just another ordinary day....
"Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on!" Evan Daniels, code-named Spyke, snatched up the phone. Not that it was his room; heck, not that it was even his side of the hall, the Professor being a little fussy about teenage guys and gals sharing too much space.
But ever since that weekend he'd spent with his parents - when, if you believed Rahne, he'd missed one of the weirdest days to hit the Xavier Institute, ever - Shadowcat had been... distracted.
Oh, she was still the Chicago Valley Girl. Still the terror of astrophysics and the dance floor, Kitty being of the firm conviction that the rhythm of one led to the beat of the other. But instead of hitting the mall on a regular basis, she spent half her free time stuck with her head in a computer, the Blackbird, or a deck of cards she wouldn't let him see and Kurt wouldn't go near. And she was getting phone calls at the weirdest times.
Like now, for instance. "Hello," Spyke sang out.
"Pryde."
Huh. A guy, maybe his age, maybe Scott's. And chilly as one of Bobby's frost-em-up specials. "Wrong answer! But if you guess our second-chance question you get a shot at a lifetime supply of-"
"Put. Pryde. On."
"Sorry, no can do." Given that Shadowcat had just gone into one of the Professor's surprise after-school Danger Room sessions, and anybody distracting her would suffer the wrath of Logan. Painful. Not that I want to mess her up for you, guy. Kitty's putting up with this? "Tell you what. You give me your name, and if she wants to call you back, she will."
"Who are you?"
Spyke grinned uneasily. Guy sounds like Wolverine short on coffee... nah, nobody's that bad. "That's for me to know, tough guy, and you to find out."
"So it is."
Click.
"You got a stalker you didn't tell us about, 'Cat?" Spyke arched blond brows her way.
Towel wrapped around crinkling hair after a quick shower - two hours in the Danger Room left you just ewww - Kitty gave the dark skateboarder a tired glare. She loved Ororo Munroe like the older sister she'd never had. And Ororo's nephew wasn't that bad, for a teenage guy. But her stomach was growling, she still had homework to get to, she was standing in the hall in her bathrobe, for goodness' sake, and her afternoon was totally shot. And he wanted to talk personal?
"What happened?" Scott Summers said darkly, one hand touching ruby-lensed glasses.
Worse, Spyke wanted to talk personal in front of Cyclops. Could the day get any more miserable?
"Weird guy calls up. Pryde, he says." Spyke struck a haughty, nose-in-the-air pose, affecting a low tenor. "Put Pryde on. Wouldn't give a name, or a number, or anything."
I had to ask. "So what did he say?" Kitty said numbly. Stay calm. This might not be what you think. Could be some buddy of Magneto's, or Mystique's. Not him.
Right. Think positive.
"Wanted to know my name." Spyke rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right."
"Did you tell him?" Kitty said, feeling rather as if she were back in a Chicago blizzard, watching a hapless Volkswagen Bug skid into the path of the Snowplow from Hell.
Spyke snorted. "He said he'd find out. As if."
Kitty winced.
"We should trace the call," Scott frowned.
"Japan, Domino City, basement of the Kaiba mansion," Kitty sighed, pushing past Spyke. Heading for her room, clothes, and with any luck, dinner. "And Spyke? Back up all your computer assignments on disk. Like, now." Assuming it wasn't already too late.
"Huh?"
"Hacker. You. Ticked off. Connect the dots."
"Call him back," Scott ordered.
"On my allowance? Yeah, right. Email, Cyke." Kitty checked her watch, did a quick calculation in her head. "Besides, he's in class right now."
"Night course?" Spyke asked, still confused.
"Japan." Door open, Kitty pronounced the word slowly and precisely. "Last message said he had an idea how to upgrade the Blackbird's maneuverability three percent. Guess he wanted to bounce it off me real-time. Thanks, Spyke. Thanks a lot."
Slam.
Sky-blue blouse in her hands, Kitty sat on her bed and swiped at her eyes. She wasn't crying. She wasn't.
She wasn't, even if Seto Kaiba had wanted to talk, and she'd missed it.
Not fair. Not fair at all.
No April rain
No flowers bloom
No wedding Saturday within the month of June.
But what it is, is something true
Made up of these three words that I must say to you.
"You have mail."
To: blue_eyes@ kcorp.com
From: kpryde@ xinstitute.org
Subject: Missed Phone Call
Kaiba-senpai,
Like, try not to do anything really twisted to the guy who picked up the phone, okay? He's an idiot, but he's our idiot, and he's got enough problems with his computer homework on a good day. And he was trying to be nice. Sort of. Kinda.
On the Blackbird notes: I think we need to cross-check the projected yaw. (Calculations attached.) Something looks a little funky.
Fire Princess and Molten Destruction! Wahoo!
Dōmo arigatō gozaimasu,
Pryde
I just called to say how much I care;
I just called to say....
Pryde-kun,
>I think we need to cross-check the projected yaw.
I believe I see the difficulty. Xavier's made some hull alterations - probably to affect temperature and electrical tolerance, given Monroe-san's habits. Interesting.
>Fire Princess and Molten Destruction!
A good combination. Consider adding Little Chimera if you plan to stick with Fire; many Duelists target Field Magic cards. Burning Land is one surprise Yugi's sprung on a number of unsuspecting opponents. Blast With Chain can also be a rude awakening if your strategy depends too much on one card.
>Like, try not to do anything really twisted to the guy who picked up the phone, okay?
You refer to Evan Daniels. Two parents, relationship good with neither of them, nephew of Monroe-san, current classes Introductory Spanish, College English, Social Studies, Introductory Astronomy, Gym, Algebra, Art... would your extreme skateboarder be interested in knowing precisely how much of his checkered life is available on-line? (See attached files.) I advise you to inform Xavier to have the Web scrubbed, soonest. Otherwise your band's enlightened interference in unusual affairs may come to a crashing halt by way of a bored intelligence analyst.
If you believe I would waste valuable time squashing such a bakayarō, you are mistaken. And I would never interfere with his schoolwork.
That would be far too easy.
Kaiba-san
No summer's high
No warm July
No harvest moon to light one tender August night....
Man, it was dark in here. And cold. Professor's taking wilderness survival scenarios a little too seriously, Spyke thought, sneaking up to join Wolverine on his perch at the edge of a windy holographic cliff.
"Shadowcat's with Nightcrawler?" Wolverine didn't take his eyes off their target; the Danger Room's hologram of Mystique and an unknown mutant, assembling a dangerous-looking piece of equipment about twenty feet below them.
"Again," Spyke grumbled. "Okay, so I screwed up her phone call. She could at least stop jumping every time I get within ten feet of her."
"Survival sense," Logan said dryly. "You're a walking target."
Spyke rolled his eyes. "Come on! There's no way this guy can be that scary."
"Try scarier."
Yeah, right. Computer hacker. Martial arts expert. Guy who could apparently call the energy form of a dragon when he was seriously ticked off. So what? "I heard about that weekend. Kaiba didn't take you on."
Logan made a huh noise. "Didn't need to. I didn't make him lose face."
Face. Spyke mouthed the exasperating word as some of the critical lights on "Mystique's" equipment went from amber to green. Forget it, we should go-
Adamantine fingers closed on his arm. "Not. Yet."
An empathic tap from Jean signaled the rest of the X-Men were in place. Logan nodded, and they both leapt at their opponents. His board was lined up, his spikes were flying true, and everything was perfect-
"Activate Trap Card!"
Kaiba's voice, dark and triumphant.
No way! Evan thought in mid-air. He's in Japan - Professor would've told us if he were here-
"Gravity Bind!"
The ground slammed into him, hard. Caught in the same unnatural pull, bone spikes rained from the sky, outlining Evan like a knife-thrower jazzed on espresso. What the-
A tall figure in a dark blue trench-coat smirked down at Spyke, holographic wind ruffling chestnut hair. One finger lifted, drew a glowing blue slash in mid-air, even with Kaiba's green shirt collar. "Expect the unexpected."
A soundless step back, and pixilated shadows took him.
Storm-blue eyes vanished last.
No autumn breeze,
No falling leaves....
Xavier's office was still enough to hear a pin drop.
"I find your behavior completely reprehensible!"
Logan winced as the telepath's voice smashed against sensitive ears. But he didn't pull back his hearing. There were two sides to this conversation, and if he was going to salvage this mess, he had to hear both of them.
"I hired you to provide security for our programs, not to break it," Professor Charles Xavier bit out. "You're well aware of the delicate nature of Danger Room exercises. A slight alteration in angle, and one of my students might have been skewered!"
"If he can't handle the risks, he shouldn't be in the game." Logan could hear the smirk in Seto Kaiba's voice. "I'm surprised, Xavier. I thought you had your students in a survival program."
"Which did not factor in your interference!"
"Pity. But then, I suppose that would make it too much like real life."
Logan switched the phone to speaker before Xavier could spontaneously combust. "Kitty says your stunt switched on safety protocols in that area." So even if the spikes had been aimed at Evan, the Danger Room itself would have deflected them.
"Of course it did." Kaiba's voice cooled; an even chill, without so much of the mocking edge. "Gravity Bind's a simple Trap. It only prevents some monsters from attacking. Now, unless you have something important to bring to my attention...."
Xavier's lips thinned. "This is not over, young man."
"Then it's your move, isn't it? Sayōnara, Logan-san."
Click.
"Not good, Charles," Logan sighed. "You do not want to make this personal. Trust me."
"And I suppose you think I ought to let this - this reckless trespass on our systems slide?" Xavier said darkly.
"Teenagers, Charles." Logan hung onto his patience. Xavier might be a telepath, but just reading minds didn't give you the bone-deep appreciation for what face was, and the lengths a guy like Kaiba had to go to if he wanted to keep it. "Evan stung his pride. Kaiba stung back."
"Using my Danger Room!"
"Hell of a lot safer than the alternative," Logan pointed out. "You want Kaiba showing up on our doorstep?"
"That's completely out of proportion to the-"
"No. It's. Not." Logan stared down dark eyes. "Seto Kaiba is the head of Kaiba Corporation, Charles. When he makes a call, it goes through. Or heads roll." Logan straightened. "He lets that slide just once, just once, and his competition will kill him."
Literally.
The fact hung between them like a dark curtain. Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters left deadly danger outside the walls. Magneto's associates might raid here, but they knew better than to stay. Kaiba's life was a deadly dance of power, magic, and bullets.
"That's no way for a child to live, Logan," Charles said softly. "Not for him. And certainly not for Kitty."
"Kids live how they have to live," Logan shrugged. "You want to point fingers? Or do you want to help?"
No Libra sun,
No Halloween,
No giving thanks to all the Christmas joy you bring....
Fists on her hips, Kitty glared up at Scott. "What do you mean, you don't want me talking to Kaiba?"
"You saw what happened in the Danger Room." Scott faced her down, anger and smugness rolling off him in palpable waves. "He's reckless."
"Shyeah, he broke Spyke's ego." Kitty made a rude hand gesture. "We're gonna need a cast the size of the Empire State Building. Will you get over it!"
"Guys, guys," Jean Grey waved calming hands, slightly off to the side. No way was she stepping between those two. To an empath the air crackled with anger. Scott's determination to protect his team mixed with pure alpha-male glee at getting one up on a rival for territory. Combine that with Kitty's hurt, and the first, dark growl of Shadowcat's rare fury.... At least Scott picked the library for this. If Kurt and the others were refereeing from the sidelines - it could get ugly. "I'm sure we can work this out...."
"We're X-Men, Shadowcat," Scott cut across her words. "Because we work as a team. We don't need that kind of loose cannon." Behind ruby lenses, his gaze cut to the Deck-sized lump in Kitty's jacket pocket. "Not when we're trying to do something important."
Okay. Ugliness is a given. Jean drew a breath. //Professor, help!//
"Janus wasn't important?" Kitty's eyes were dangerously bright.
Scott frowned darkly. "Janus was a fluke. There's no reason to believe any mutant abilities like that will ever surface again-"
"That crazy shaman who tried to steal Storm's soul wasn't important?" Kitty's voice rose.
"Look, we don't know he wasn't a mutant-"
//As a matter of fact,// the Professor's dry mental tone stepped into the fray, //We do.//
Thank you, Jean thought gratefully, feeling her friends' hot anger go from boil to simmer.
//You know where to find the aspirin,// the telepath said privately. //Scott. My office. Now.//
But what it is, though old so new,
To fill your heart like no three words could ever do.
Notes for her English essay spilled over three books. Two pages of neat calculations for Trigonometry were stapled together and tucked into the front cover of her textbook. A sketch for an assigned computer program balanced on top of a library book on the Revolutionary War and a dog-eared copy of Sci-fi Cooking.
Perched on her bed yoga-style, Kitty fingered the Magic Card on the top of her Deck; two hands interlaced, a Warrior and a blue-gauntleted Spellcaster, crackling with orange lightning. United We Stand. Yeah, right.
I want us to be a team, Scott. I want to help. That's what X-Men do, right? Help people. Even if they're different. Even if they can do things that are - scary.
And they didn't come much scarier than the Shadow Realm.
But the genie's out of the bottle. The Shadow Realm is out there. Duelists are out there. And one of these days, Magneto is going to find one.
Kitty shivered. Yami's ruthlessness had shocked the whole Institute, and he'd just been protecting his people. What a Duelist who'd bought into Magneto's "Homo Superior" bull might do - brr.
I want to be able to stop him. I want....
//I know.//
Too late to yank the covers over her head? Yeah. "Come on in, Professor," Kitty sighed.
The door thumped open, rubber whirring across her floor as the Professor wheeled over to her. "A good card?"
Nice try. "Magic Card," Kitty answered. "It lets one of your Monsters get help from all the others you have on the field." She shuffled out a few more cards. "With this and three other Monsters on the field - any Monsters, even if they were all just one-stars - my Fire Princess could take on the toughest Dragon in the game."
"The power of unity." Xavier nodded. "A worthwhile goal."
"Cyclops doesn't think so," Kitty grumbled.
"Scott has difficulty dealing with the idea that not everything worth learning can be found within our Institute's walls. I must admit, I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea myself." Xavier wove his fingers together, regarding her frankly. "Particularly given that the paranormal force Duelists call magic appears to tap a far more - primal - set of instincts than mutant abilities."
"Beast would argue that one," Kitty said, unhesitating.
"Hmm. So he would." His bald head dipped, acknowledging the point. "I only ask that you be careful, Shadowcat. Everything Solomon has sent me indicates this... Game... can be fatal." Xavier paused. "And Kaiba's not inclined to play for anything less than the highest of stakes."
"We just talk, Professor." Kitty shrugged. "There aren't that many people at his high school who can get worked up about high-tech airplane design, you know?"
"Indeed. Kaiba Corp. is known for being in the forefront of many... interesting technical capabilities." Xavier smoothed his troubled look into quiet interest. "Were you planning to make an early night of it?"
"Well... it's Friday." Which was why they'd all had that Danger Room session in the first place. The Professor didn't like to schedule too much on school nights. "Dance floors are still open."
"I only ask because I happened to send an email regarding proper phone etiquette, which I will be instructing Evan on, and received a rather interesting reply." A dark brow lifted. "It seems Mokuba plans to kidnap his brother's paperwork for this evening - rather early tomorrow morning, our time - in order to secure Kaiba's undivided attention to at least one meal this week."
Then again... dance floors would be open tomorrow, too.
I just called to say how much I care, I do
I just called to say....
"It's good to hear your voice."
Looking out into the first light of dawn, Kitty smiled, half-eaten pancakes set aside in favor of that sticking point in the Blackbird calculations. In the background she could hear a giggle as Mokuba pounced on his brother's laptop, a slide of bowl as the little black-haired terror shoved a late dinner and chopsticks into Seto's reach. "Yeah, you too."
...And I mean it from the bottom of my heart.