Rogue drove the jeep, while Kitty took the shotgun seat. They cruised downtown for a while, both just enjoying the breeze blowing through their hair. "Hey, there's a club we haven't visited," Kitty pointed. "Let's go," Rogue smiled, turning into the parking lot. She jumped out first, then gentlemanly helped Kitty down. "You don't need to do that," Kitty said, sounding obviously pleased that Rogue was. "I may not have to," Rogue smiled, "But I want to." Offering her arm, she and Kitty walked into the bustling night club together. It was a fairly mixed crowd, men and women of various types at the bar, sitting at tables, or dancing. The music was pure pop, and a bit of smoke hung in the air. They both felt searching glances as they walked to the bar together. 'I don't think I want to risk booze tonight,' Kitty thought as she ordered a soda. Rogue ordered a beer, producing a ID when asked, slipping it away with a smile. Carrying the two glasses, she led them over to a corner table, where they both settled down with the drinks. Finally Kitty just had to ask, "Was that a real ID?" Rogue just smiled mysteriously and drank her beer. She put her cup down and asked, "Do you want to dance?" Kitty looked around them nervously, "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rogue shrugged, "I think we can handle anything that comes up." She paused, "And I guess I'd like to be as open about loving you as I am about being a mutant." Kitty sat silent a moment, absorbing those words. "There are times when I wonder if you're not the smart one," Kitty finally said with a smile. She got up and offered Rogue her hand, "Let's dance, then." Just then, the radio started up another song, "Hero" by Chad Kroeger. The two young women swayed together on the dance floor as the slow song continued on. Rogue held Kitty close, savoring the feeling of being with her. She looked over Kitty's shoulder, and nearly stopped cold as she saw who was coming. "Kitty, is that who I think it is?" she whispered in Kitty's ear, turning her so she could see. "Oh hell," Kitty sighed, recognizing at a glance the Asian woman pushing through the crowd towards them. 'What's Lady Deathstrike doing here?' she wondered. Sage looked across the table at Heather Cameron, and found herself wondering what she was doing here. 'Because you were foolish enough to say yes when she asked you out,' Sage thought to herself ruefully. Heather tried not to smile at how nervous Sage was, sitting there. With a gentle smile, Heather asked, "Have you ever been out with a woman before?" Sage was a bit startled, answering honestly, "Yes, once or twice. Why?" Heather smiled slowly. "I was wondering if you were just looking for someone to... initiate you, so to speak. Not that I'd mind that very much." Sage went beet red. "I'm not that inexperienced," she protested. Heather suddenly smiled, "Good." She looked at Sage across the table and asked her directly, "Have you ever been in love before?" "Once or twice," Sage answered, falling back on teasing to deal with Heather. 'She's so straight forward and brash,' she thought. Heather chuckled at that, "Me, too. Unatainables, mostly people who I knew weren't really interested in me, or otherwise involved." Sage looked across the table, suddenly struck by memories of the Professor. She nodded, admitting "I guess I've done that, too." Her eyes narrowed, 'Is that what I've been doing with Storm, too? I knew she wanted someone else...' "I guess it's safer," Heather nodded, "no risk of rejection." She paused, "I'm trying not to do that anymore, so if you are unavailable, please tell me now so we can both bail out before any damage is done." 'She's giving me a perfect way out,' Sage blinked, 'tell her I'm in love with someone else, and we're done.' She looked across the table at Heather, opened her mouth to lie and said, "I'm free as a bird." "I'm glad," Heather smiled, gently covering Sage's hand with her own. 'Why didn't I...' Sage wondered, even as a odd warmth began to spread through her body at the touch of Heather's hand. The hand landed on Kitty's shoulder, turning her about and out of Rogue's grip. "Defend yourself," Lady Deathstrike said simply, the fingers of her other hand extending into claw-like blades. Quickly Kitty offered, "Let's take this outside, shall we?" Deathstrike met her eyes, then nodded slightly. "Quickly," she said coldly, forging a path through the crowd to the doors. "What does she want with you?" Rogue asked as they followed her outside. Kitty sighed, "That's what I'd like to know." The street was mostly deserted, the sun sinking away and leaving darkness behind it. Kitty took off her jacket to hand to Rogue, while Deathstrike dropped a cloak like coat to the ground. Her arms extended, all ten fingers stretching out into deadly blades. "What do you want, Deathstrike?" Kitty asked, stretching her hands, rising up then settling down on the balls of her feet. 'This lady normally has a beef with Wolvie,' Kitty thought, 'and had herself changed into a cyborg to take him on evenly.' "I've come to fight you, Shadowcat," Deathstrike said coolly. "Other than that," she smiled, "it really doesn't matter." With that, she leapt. 'I could phase,' Kitty thought in the moment she had before she reached her, 'it'd fry every circuit in her cyborg body. But it could kill her, too.' She moved smoothly, a half step and a strike, all in one motion. Deathstrike hit the ground with a very satisfying thump. "Don't you dare play with me," Deathstrike snarled, pulling herself to her feet. "Fight me," she demanded. "I wouldn't dream of playing," Kitty said softly, taking up her stance again. Her eyes met Rogue's for just a second, silently telling her not to interfere. Deathstrike leapt for Kitty, and this time Kitty met her mid-air. They tangled a moment, separated, then came together again in a blur of motion. 'I can't believe this,' Rogue thought, watching helplessly from the sidelines, 'Kitty isn't even phasing. She's keeping up with this psycho on pure skill alone!' There was a cry of pain, and Deathstrike staggered backwards, holding her arm as if it pained her. "How?" she asked hoarsely. "Some of the circuits pop up as you move," Kitty said, her guard clearly up, "it wasn't hard to use your momentum to tear one free." Deathstrike looked at her, obviously gritting her teeth at Kitty's calm analysis of the situation. With a incoherent cry she leapt, and Kitty was ready and waiting. Ororo relaxed in Raven's arms, taking a moment to rest before they began again. "Do you want something to drink?" Raven smiled, getting up to pad towards the nearby phone. Raven's blue skin was lightly furred, something Ororo had discovered was quite pleasant when they lay together. It thickened and thinned across her body, nearly completely gone someplace where Ororo expected to be visiting more than a few times tonight. "Two orange juice, please," Raven ordered, setting the phone down. She looked over to where Ororo was stretched out on the sheets, looking for all the world like a jungle cat, lounging after the hunt. Her dark skin contrasted wildly with her white hair and blue eyes, making her terribly exotic looking. "Why juice?" Ororo asked as Raven lay down beside her. "Well," Raven chuckled, "we do have to keep your strength up." She kissed Ororo teasingly, adding "Mine, too." "Was it as good as you hoped?" Ororo asked Raven teasingly. Raven seemed to give it a bit of thought, "No." As Ororo began to look worried Raven smirked, "It was better!" "Why, you!" With that, Ororo began to tickle Raven, and quickly discovered she was quite sensitive around the ribs! "He, ha ha, he, no! Stop that!" Raven protested, tears in her eyes. Struggling, the two rolled on the floor, Ororo underneath. "Ow!" Ororo protested, rubbing her bottom. "Oh, did that hurt?" a worried Raven asked, then she smiled slightly, "Do you want me to kiss it all better?" The waitress carried the tray with two orange juices to the door, and knocked gently. Receiving no answer, she pressed her ear to the door. She giggled softly, opened the door a bit and quickly sat the tray on the stand by the door. She wasn't able to shut the door before hearing a sexy voice, "Let's do that again!" Finally, she just ran out of steam. Deathstrike kept charging and attacking, all the while Kitty whittled away at her, little strikes that built up the damage on her opponent. Finally, she got tired and clumsy, and Kitty dropped her with a carefully placed blow. As she struggled back to wakefulness, she heard them talking. "Why didn't you phase?" Rogue asked softly. "Because it'd probably kill her," was Kitty's direct answer. 'She didn't phase,' Deathstrike realized, understanding that Kitty had defeated her by pure skill alone. She let them see that she was awake, and Kitty went on guard again. "No," Deathstrike said, holding up her hand, "you have beaten me honorably. It seems that all the stories going around about you are right." "Stories?" Kitty asked. "Stories?" Rogue echoed. "You defeated Vargas," Deathstrike shrugged, "one of the greatest fighters in the world. A Hand master assassin has chosen to become your apprentice. The stories say that you are now the best, and it may even be so." With that, she was gone. Kitty began to swear softly, even as Rogue looked at her in surprise. "What's wrong? I thought you'd be complimented," she said. "Think about it," Kitty sighed. "Have you ever wondered why Wolvie gets into so many fights?" she asked. "His wining personality?" Rogue said dryly. "That, too," Kitty chuckled. "But in the underground, he's considered to be the best there is at what he does. So if you want to be considered the best, you have to...." she trailed off leadingly. "Beat him," Rogue finished. Her eyes got wide, "But now Deathstrike says that the word is that you're the best now!" "Which means all those wackos are going to start coming after me, now," Kitty said grimly. She sighed, "I just hope she heard wrong, or something."
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