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Tweak says, "learn how to use apostrophes!"

Kitty Pryde (prydegoeth) wrote in x_flashback_x,
@ 2008-07-27 03:34:00

Entry tags:

shadowcat, wolverine

Who: Shadowcat; tag Wolverine
When: Thursday, July 17th, 2008 (afternoon)
Where: Second Sub-Basement
What: Training
Status: completed
Rating: PG

Sweat framed Shadowcat's face, plastering hair to her skin; she always considered her power to be largely physical. She couldn't control the elements, fly or shoot laser beams out of her eyes; instead, she had to run, jump, phase her way out of trouble - and that was the problem: she could only phase her way out of trouble. Sure, she could phase a few people with her, but only if she touched them, and only if there weren't very many people she had to phase. In the Danger Room, it was Iceman or Wolverine or Storm or Colossus who took charge; often she found herself standing in the back of the group, staring at her hands or twiddling her thumbs. Phasing was protective; Kitty was protective. But she could only protect herself.

With a sigh, Pryde followed her training group out of the Danger Room, the holograms dissipating and leaving a vacant, metallic chamber behind. She raised the back of her hand to her forehead, wiping off the sweat. A year ago, she felt like she was a part of the team, especially during Alcatraz. After the infected attacked the walls, she hadn't done very much: tagged along with various groups, worried about Iceman, watched. At first, she hadn't thought very much about it; what could she have done? But it had been eating at the back of her mind ever since, and it was about time she did something about it.

Standing in the sub-basement corridor, Kitty watched her colleagues split up into the locker rooms and the elevator. She had already decided she would ask Wolverine; most of the other older X-Men wouldn't understand, especially when they had much flashier powers than phasing, but she felt Logan would be the one who could teach her how to fight. While she wasn't expecting anything in particular, she just wanted to be able to contribute - be more offensive. Mr. "The best defense is a good offense" would understand. At least, she hoped.

After a slight hesitation, Kitty jogged after him. "Hey, Wolverine?" She called, stopping once she reached him. "Can I talk to you?" She asked, eyes falling to his chest.

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aint_pretty
2008-07-29 10:10 pm UTC (link)

"Ya already are," Logan said as he stopped his stride and turned to acknowledge Kitty. Wolverine had been waiting for the day when she would come to him after a danger room session. It wasn't hard for him to figure out what a five-foot, female genius wanted from him; either to learn how to fight or to lift a box, and Pete (or any number of other guys) could've helped her lift a box. Her big, brown eyes didn't help her situation (so far as transparency goes).

Logan rested his hands on his hips and dropped his gaze down to her level. "What'd ya need, short-fry?" He was burning up in his suit, so he unzipped the front while he waited for what she had to say. He didn't remove the jacket, though. If she was ready now, he'd drag her back in with him. No sense wasting time.

WOLVERINE

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prydegoeth
2008-07-30 01:14 pm UTC (link)

The humor of Logan's words flew over Kitty's head; although, a joke about wanting to discuss the philosophical implications of some piece of literature crossed her mind. Instead, as he unzipped his jacket, she shifted her gaze to her hands, wringing them subtly while she tried to figure out how to phrase what she needed. She had been thinking about this for a long time, but the actual going up and asking for help part seemed to have slipped her mind as, you know, one of the vital steps in the plan - did she have a plan? It was more like, 'Get help, train, be better.' "I need-"

With a deep exhalation, she looked up, meeting his gaze. "I need to fight, Logan. Not just - protect myself," as she continued, her voice got louder and a little shakier, "but actually fight." Kitty took a soft breath before explaining, "I need your help."

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aint_pretty
2008-08-01 09:33 am UTC (link)

"About time." Logan said with a smirk toward Shadowcat. "I was waitin' for you to come ask me." Kitty was an overachiever at about everything she did. He knew the day would come she'd want to help out more with the team. She could only trick idiots into running into walls for so long; though that never got old.

"Head to the gym. We'll start as soon as you cool down." Wolverine promised. He had to get out of this freakin' suit. "You can change if you want. I'll meet you up there in five." Hey - if she wanted to do it, she was going to do it when he had time. He had time now.

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prydegoeth
2008-08-01 02:05 pm UTC (link)

Five? The whole suddenness of the situation became explicitly clear. Okay. Five. She could do that. She wouldn't have enough time to shower, but maybe change and get some water. It wasn't as if she was sore from the Danger Room, but she had never tried to exercise right afterwards; in fact, she had done very little that actually tested her limits. Kitty could handle this. She heard that Wolverine had trained Storm similarly, and the last time she saw the weather witch in action, she was impressed. Maybe she should keep that image in her mind to keep sight of the end.

"Okay," she said, nodding. "Okay, cool. I, um - thank you." Bridging the gap between them, she wrapped her arms around his stomach, pressing the side of her face against his chest. Pulling away, she smiled up and him and repeated, "In five," before turning and lightly jogging over to the girls' locker room; after all, if she only had five minutes, she wasn't going to waste it walking.

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aint_pretty
2008-08-02 08:43 pm UTC (link)

Logan still wasn't used to that. He patted her back a bit as Kitty got him with a surprise hug. Girls. He wiped the smile off his face when she pulled back and could see him once again. "No problem." His head swiveled around to see if anyone had noticed their conversation. Didn't look like it - the hallway had emptied quickly.

As she jogged away toward the girls locker room he headed for the mens. He was done with this suit. He changed into his sweats and made his way up to the padded section of gym. He knew what she could do - it was time to see what she thought she could do.

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prydegoeth
2008-08-02 10:42 pm UTC (link)

As she splashed water on her face, the twenty-year old tried to figure out what was in store for her. Training sessions with Cyclops started out with a thoughtful plan, but most of those were about teamwork; with Xavier, he liked to make sure she followed every step of the way. With a man named Wolverine? What could she expect? He might demonstrate a few moves and send her on her way, or, on the other extreme, he might actually fight her.

After shuffling through her locker, she found a t-shirt with 'Xavier' along the front and a pair of black yoga pants she used for dance sometimes. She grabbed a water bottle, practically inhaled it, and tossed it in the recycling. Glancing at a mirror on her way out, she thought she looked horribly nervous, wringing her hands in anticipation, her hair still disheveled from the Danger Room. Entering the gym, she saw Logan and moved towards him. Kitty cleared her throat and asked, "So, um, what are we going to do?"

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aint_pretty
2008-08-05 06:44 am UTC (link)

"Know anything about the Samurai?" Logan assumed Kitty knew a little bit about everything at this point. She was only a hair past twenty and the girl was a walking encyclopedia. He figured if she wanted his help she wanted to learn something a little more interesting, stuff she couldn't just pick up from Cyke. He knew Kitty had discipline and perseverance; she could probably take whatever he threw at her. But it'd have to be interesting enough to keep her coming back for more. There wasn't going to be any of that 'the student has become the teacher' crap - not this soon anyway.

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prydegoeth
2008-08-07 02:35 pm UTC (link)

Pulling her gaze to the side subconsciously, she considered what she knew. "Weren't they servants, protecting land and states - you know, the military. I think they lived by an ethical code," called Bushido, but she didn't want to look like an ass and pronounce it incorrectly, "and if they broke it, they could regain their honor through ritual suicide." Ending with her gaze on him, she noticed the broad strokes of the samurai included not their weapons, but how they chose to end it all; of course, she hadn't even considered equating the intensity of their training to the real deal - not just in seppuku, but in everything else. Sure, Logan wouldn't create a McDojo in the X-Mansion, but they didn't have a lifetime; not to mention they weren't fighting feudal peasants, but people with ridiculously long tongues or who could regenerate limbs in seconds. How do you beat that with a knife and fan?

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aint_pretty
2008-08-09 10:42 am UTC (link)

Yeah. Pretty much what he expected, she knew a lot about samurai. Hell, she probably knew a lot about everything. But those really weren't the parts he was getting at. "Okay," they needed to get a little more specific. "Discipline." he said simply. Logan knew most fighting styles, warrior codes, and armed forces required it but he had a great deal of knowledge about the one in question. Since, apparently, he'd been trained in it. Sometime in his life. Just one of the things he'd discovered while he had been away in Japan.

"They have great discipline. There are two ways to fight. Crazy..." Which he was also an expert in. "Or with control. I think you'll agree the second is better for you. We'll start with some simple moves but I'm gonna try and break your concentration, make you mad. You need to stay focused." If anyone could, it was this one.

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prydegoeth
2008-08-09 01:54 pm UTC (link)

Crazy was a way to fight? Had Kitty not been in that situation, she probably would have laughed. He was certainly a different style of teacher than any of the other X-Men. As he continued to outline their plan, she felt more and more comfortable. While she hadn't experienced a training lesson like this, knowing what was going to happen would allow her to prepare for it. She doubted he would continue to allow her that luxury, so she grabbed it while she could - and tried not to dwell on the idea of him trying to make her mad. Instead, she tried to clear her mind, how Xavier had taught her; a lesson in focus would couple well with, well, focus. Nodding, she took a breath and said, "Okay."

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aint_pretty
2008-08-13 12:56 am UTC (link)

"Defend yourself; no powers." Logan wasn't surprised at how well Kitty had taken to the situation, he knew she didn't rattle easy. He paced a bit side to side in front the of the younger mutant, the gym mats squished beneath him while he found his footing. This was gonna to be a much different experience than his training lessons prior. Logan hadn't taught many girls one on one. Storm was more advanced or at least more confident, headstrong. Kitty, despite her Danger room time and basic lessons with Cyclops, was more or less a clean slate. Should be fun.

He paused so that he was flanking her a bit to the right. Logan closed the distance between them so that he was within arms length of Kitty but still out of her reach. He let a hook fly with his right hand aimed for her head, something easy to block. Then his left fist followed a more direct path. Neither punch was particularly forceful. He needed to get her moving again and he needed to see exactly what she could do.

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prydegoeth
2008-08-15 10:36 am UTC (link)

Logan's 'no power' qualification turned a knot in Kitty's stomach. She had never even tried to train without powers; at Xavier's, it was just one of those things that defines a person, something they couldn't change. She wasn't Kitty in the Danger Room, or on missions, or on the jet; she was Shadowcat. Not to mention Xavier helped train her to assume a phased state on instinct as an immediate reaction to loud noises or movement. Taking another deep breath as Logan began to pace, she tried to calm her quickly beating heart.

At his first shot, she felt herself start phasing, but managed to avoid it and step back, out of his range; she didn't want to try to block and then find herself slipping through his arm. She hadn't yet tried to phase through adamantium, and something about it told her it wouldn't be fun. Catching sight of his shoulder pushing into another shot, she quickly told herself to stay solid. Sliding her body to her left side, she let her left arm swing with her and make contact with his wrist with an open palm, pushing it away.

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aint_pretty
2008-08-19 09:34 am UTC (link)

"Good," Logan said as she deflected his second punch. He was a little surprised she hadn't phased. Logan knew it was burned into her brain to use her power to defend herself, but if that was enough, she wouldn't be here now. Most of the younger X-Men had a large supply of untapped talent and potential. Kitty was no different and her years spent learning to dance only helped her when it came to combat.

Wolverine would never admit it but he'd been itching for a chance to have more one on one time with some of the X-brats (something that was less and less likely as the longer they stayed in their current state).

He planned to show her what she was capable of, even if she didn't know it. How do you know where your limits are if you don't test them? His free hand moved to grab her by her wrist of her extended arm. With minimal force he pulled the small woman toward him and launched her into the mats on the other side of padded area. Wow, she was even lighter than she looked. That would probably rile her up; he'd only had to throw Storm once before he thought she was going to forget about the 'no powers' rule. "Hey, keep your feet on the ground will ya?" Logan said through a smirk.

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prydegoeth
2008-08-21 07:57 pm UTC (link)

Ow. She hadn't hit the ground before. In dance, she rarely ended up on her back, and in the Danger Room, she did less flying through the air than she was doing now. Sitting up, she looked at Logan in disbelief, still trying to figure out how she ended up supine and not on her feet. At least she was on the ground and not through it. She guessed that was improvement, but how quickly he grabbed her and just chucked her was disheartening. She thought she had been doing really well when she deflected him, and even better when he complimented her. Guess not.

Standing slowly, she adjusted her shirt and raised her gaze to meet his. She still couldn't believe how little of a threat she posed. She wanted to say something to let him know that while she was disappointed he had literally thrown her back, she knew it was for a reason. It made her want to get back at him for it - as if. More realistically, she felt stupid; it proved why she needed training in the first place. All she could say was, "I'm okay, thanks for asking," giving her words some bite and a sarcastic smile to frame them.

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