SINS OF THE FATHER

By Yannick Lamarre

NOTE: This series takes place before the events of Uncanny X-Men #1

Xavier’s Institute For Higher Learning, Westchester County, New York. Piotr Nikoleivitch Rasputin is in many ways a long time resident of this venerable mansion. Through his many years here, as a member of the mutant super-hero team called the X-men, he has seen many things other men have barely dreamed of. And yet tonight, as his soul is overtaken with dread and worry for a fellow teammate, the only image that comes to his mind as he gazes out of his room’s window is the face of a girl he once loved… might still love… Katherine Pryde.

*BAMF*

The smell of sulfur filled the room as Nightcrawler, using his powers of teleportation, materialized in Piotr’s room.

“Is something wrong, mein freund? You have been here all evening!” the elf-looking mutant asked.

“Nothing is wrong, comrade,” Piotr reassured his friend, walking away from the window.

“Kitty can take care of herself, you know,” Kurt told his friend, putting his hand on Piotr’s shoulder.

“I know, but… I can’t help but feel like something wrong has happened to her. There was this Friends Of Humanity meeting tonight, and…” Colossus began to explain, stopping in mid-sentence as he realized what Kitty’s plan might have been.

“Peter?” Nightcrawler asked.

“I am going out,” the Russian mutant suddenly announced, taking his coat and walking out of the room.

Shaking his head, Nightcrawler watched him leave before teleporting back to the living room.

Kitty was barely coming out of shock when she noticed they were all around her. The Friends Of Humanity were surrounding her menacingly, some armed with baseball bats and the such. Their intentions were clear, but Kitty didn’t care anymore. The only thing in her mind was getting to her father, no matter what or who she had to go through. He was still on the stage, looking down on her like some madman watching his prey. Her mind didn’t even bother to try and find an explanation to all this. He would give it to her once she reached him. Without thinking, Kitty, forgetting even to phase, jumped into the crowd.

“DAD!” she called out blindly, completely unaware of all the men rushing her.

Her body went to complete automatic, her fighting skills taking over as she kicked and punched her way through the angry crowd. Angry F.O.H. men piled onto her, trying to slow her advance. But she kicked one in the crouch, and threw another one above her head at the one who were coming up on her to slow them down. The whole time she never took her eyes off her father, who took a few steps backwards, impressed by the ferocity displayed by his daughter. His eyes grew wide as men after men fell in her wake. She was literally fighting her way through hundreds of enemies, and winning, without even phasing.

“DAD!” she screamed again.

In one moment the mature Kitty vanished, replaced by the child hidden within her, scared of losing her only family, who would do anything to get it back. Tears flowed freely from her eyes, but she didn’t even seem to notice. The Friends of Humanity were starting to organize themselves, and tried to surround her instead of simply charging into her. Kicks, punches, hairgrabs and the like came down on her, and, as focused as she was, they finally began to get through. She stopped her advance and finally realized her situation.

No, what was I doing? she finally thought.

She was mere meters away from the stage on which Carmen Pryde still stood. He watched her with a dark smile now, knowing that this stop had been a fatal mistake.

“Dad, why?” she called at him.

“Take her down,” Carmen told the others, completely ignoring her question.

They all came down on her at once. She was crushed under them, punches and kicks useless against the sheer mass of them all upon her. She tried to consciously phase, but before the thought was finished she was unconscious. When they finally got off her, her body was badly damaged, and her face barely recognizable. Her clothes were torn, and patches of blood could be seen all over her body. Carmen Pryde smiled at the sight, but some part of him screamed in anguish.

“Beaten, body and soul,” he whispered.

When consciousness returned to her, the only thing she could feel was the pain. Her whole body hurt, and it felt like she’d been run over by a dozen trucks. Her head hurt like never before, and she could taste the blood in her mouth. She was surprised to still be alive. She tried to open her eyes, but the sheer wave of nausea that invaded her discouraged Kitty from doing it. She managed a moan. Something felt wrong. She couldn’t move her arms or legs, but there was something else. She couldn’t feel the ground.

I’m flying! her disoriented mind told her.

She had to see. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes. She found herself staring right in the eyes of her father, but from above. Behind him, she could see a crowd. Some were banged up pretty bad. Memories returned to her, and she finally realized she had done the damage to them. She tried to say something, but it came out as another strange moan.

“Good to see you awake, Katherine,” her father said.

Kitty looked in his eyes. There was something in there. The kindness she once knew was still there, but buried deep somehow. How could that be? She realized she was attached to something, suspended somehow. That’s why she wasn’t on the ground.

“Whhhhhhhhyyyyyyyy?” she managed to moan out again.

“You’re a mutant, that’s why!” he shouted out loud, causing the crowd to cheer. “You’ll make a fine sacrifice in honor of our beloved Creed’s memory!”

Her vision was unblurring. Kitty was beginning to think clearly again. She could make her way out of here if she could just concentrate enough to phase. She briefly wondered why she wasn’t naturally phasing. Her natural state was supposed to be phased, right? For some reason that didn’t seem to be true anymore.

Don’t think of it, her mind shouted at her. Now’s not the time to get analytical about everything.

Carmen Pryde turned from his daughter to look at the rest of the crowd. He began a speech about the monster that are mutants, and how they must all be cleaned from humanity. About how this world is tainted by mutants. The usual, Kitty thought grimly. She knew by now her mouth wasn’t working right, but her mind was on the right track. If she could only phase out for a few seconds, grab her father, and get out of the room. She’d be able to know what in the world was going on here. She concentrated, and just as her powers were finally returning to her, just as her mind finally worked clearly again, the doors to the room crashed in, torn asunder by a powerful steel fist. Kitty shook her head and tried to see who was coming in. Colossus ran in the room, swinging at the Friends of Humanity with a ferocity she had rarely seen in him. It somehow reminded her of the time Piotr had beaten Pete Wisdom after he’d seen the him and Kitty kissing.

The Russian mutant fought his way in, clearing the path as easily as he would swat a fly. The Friends were thrown to the floor, or into walls. Most were already escaping. Kitty phased out of her bonds and landed on the floor, but fell to her knees when they gave under her. She was still too weak. Her father turned to look at her, and then at the approaching steel giant.

“DAD! Wait!” she screamed at him.

But he obviously feared the Russian, and decided to flee. He started running away from the scene. Kitty painfully got back on her feet and tried to run after him. He was too fast though, and quickly escaped her backstage.

“Damn!” Kitty said, looking back at Colossus.

If he hadn’t shown up when he had, she could have gotten to her father on her own, and dealt with this in her own way.

“KITTY!” Colossus shouted, getting rid of the last F.O.H. before jumping on stage and joining her side. “All you all right?” he asked her, seeing how beaten up she looked.

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO GET INVOLVED!” she screamed at him angrily, moving away from him to head backstage after her father.

“Kitten, look at you, you can barely stand! I only came to help!” Piotr tried to explain, switching back to his human form.

Kitty ignored him and continued walking backstage. Piotr stopped her by grabbing her arm.

“Kitty, we have to get you back to the mansion. You don’t realize in what shape you are!” he told her.

“NO!” she snapped back at him. “I’M NOT A KITTEN ANYMORE! I CAN HANDLE MY OWN! I KNEW WHAT I HAD TO DO BEFORE YOU SHOWED UP! DIDN’T YOU SEE WHO IT WAS ON STAGE WITH ME?” she shouted at him, trying to release from his grasp.

“No, I… was too far away. Kitty, I…” he started to say, strengthening his grip on her arm.

Kitty twisted around and hit Piotr straight in the face with her fist. He fell to the floor, more shocked then hurt.

“It was my dad, Peter. And because of you I’ve lost him again,” she said coldly before painfully walking away into the night.

Piotr remained on the ground, rubbing his hurting jaw for a good half-hour, returning home only at the sound of sirens approaching the area.

When Kitty reached the mansion a while later, she went straight to the infirmary, where Lockheed was still unconscious. She was too angry to talk to anyone, and didn’t want to face any questions the other residents of the house might have. She smiled slightly at the sight of the small purple dragon resting peacefully in the pale artificial light of the infirmary. She briefly checked his condition, and was relieved to see it had improved. Her entire body still hurt, and she felt nauseous every time she moved. Her eyes were swelling, and she had trouble to see. Kitty walked around the small room and took a few things to treat herself a bit. She would probably look like hell in the morning, but that’s not something that really concerned her. She coughed slightly and finally sat down in a small chair beside Lockheed’s bed.

“Hey there, Lockheed. guess what?” she told the sleeping dragon, gently picking him up in her arms. “I saw my dad today… and…” she whispered out. “… he had me beated up…”

Tears started to flow from her eyes again, and she strongly held onto Lockheed like she would a life boat.

“I don’t know what to do, Lockheed. He’s my father… Why would he…” she said, before sobbing so strongly it hurt.

She stopped talking, and just stayed there, crying, holding Lockheed in her arms.

“It’s impossible to get a bloody cab in this town!” Peter Wisdom complained loudly as he stepped out of the airport.

It was a windy night. His trenchcoat was floating with the wind, and he had troubles to light his cigarette. He preferred to think it was because of the wind then because he was so nervous he was actually shaking. He had truly loved Kitty, but… He just didn’t know what would happen tomorrow. It was late, around midnight. Maybe he could get an hotel room in Westchester and be at the mansion early the next morning. He approached the streets. Yellow cabs were running everywhere.

“TAXI!” he called out.

Ororo gently opened the door of the infirmary. It was around two in the morning. She hadn’t dared try to ask Kitty what had happened, but now, after hearing what Piotr had to say, she just had to talk to her.

“Kitty?” she called out.

The lights were closed. She stepped a bit more in the darkened room.

“Kitty? Are you here?” Storm asked.

“I don’t want to talk,” came the cold reply.

Ororo sighed and tried to approach Kitty.

“I heard from Piotr what happened. It must have been horrible, kitten. If you…” Ororo continued.

“Get out, Ororo. I’ll talk when I’m ready. Just leave alone for now,” Kitty answered.

Ororo stopped her approach and nodded.

“Very well, Kitty, if that’s the way you want it,” she replied.

Storm turned around and left the room.

Logan opened the infirmary door, but didn’t step inside. He instead just waited on the opposite wall, staring into the darkness. No sounds came from inside. But Logan could hear both Lockheed and Kitty in there. It was two thirty by now. He could also tell Kitty had cried. The air was salty.

“Life has a funny way of dealing with us humans,” Wolverine stated out. “One surprise after the next, no matter how painful they are. Sometimes it even takes away from us what we thought would never change. What we always figured would be there for us. It takes it away and doesn’t look back on how it affects us. We’re left empty, with nothing to hold onto. But there’s always something to hang onto. A light of some kind. Even in the darkest times. Sometimes it’s people who depend on you. Other times it’s people you can depend on. Even when life does its thing and deals you a bad hand, or betrays you, others, who’ve been betrayed by life too, are there for you. Not everyone betrays you. Some are friends to be trusted forever.” Logan lighted himself a cigar.

“Now, why in the world was I talking to an open door?” he said, closing the door and walking away.

Kitty looked up briefly at the closed door.

“Thank you, Logan…” she said in the dark.

The sun was slowly dawning in New York. Its light seemed to fill the dark canyons between the buildings, washing away the darkness of the night. Kitty barely noticed the sun as it came through the window of the infirmary. She felt a bit better. She had fallen asleep after Logan had came by the previous night, and she was awakened by a gently movement in her arms. Her whole body still hurt, though. Luckily for her she didn’t have to work today. She opened her eyes and saw two eyes looking back at her gently. Lockheed purred gently when he saw her awake, and Kitty smiled. She hugged him gently and rose from her chair. Her legs seemed to be working properly, at least.

“Lockheed, I’m so glad you’re all right,” she told him gently.

The dragon got out of her arms and flew around the room to prove he was completely recovered.

“Let’s get out of here,” she told him, walking out of the infirmary.

Lockheed flew in her arms and she took him downstairs. She felt ready to talk to Ororo now. In fact it would make her feel better. She walked towards the kitchen passing before the front door when the door bell suddenly rang. Kitty hurried to answer, unaware of how she looked or of the fact she had a purple dragon in her arms. She opened to door.

“Pete…” she said, shocked.

Pete Wisdom took a few steps back, surprised himself. He wasn’t exactly expecting Kitty to answer the door.

“Hey Kitty.”

NEXT ISSUE: Wisdom is here for Lockheed, but Kitty’s just barely got him back, and she’s not letting him go again. Wisdom and Kitty work things out at long last, and S.H.I.E.L.D. comes calling. What do they want? Find out next issue!