Origins and Endings Several days later Kitty waited until Wendy left the tea and biscuits, studying her companions thoughtfully. "When we first met Mr. Gentleman called me a detective," Kitty Pryde said as she stood in the ornate office, "but what I really am at heart is a scientist. I develop theories, devise experiments and collect data before coming to my conclusions." "And what conclusions have you come to?" Joker asked, the blonde haired Englishman standing by Mr. Gentleman's desk. The three of them were the only ones in the room, Mr. Gentleman in his wheelchair, Joker and Kitty standing calmly in front of the desk. "That the Library were the creators of the original Ijin," Kitty said simply. "Preposterous." Joker answered promptly. Mr. Gentleman looked at Kitty thoughtfully, the ornate eyepatch he wore glittering slightly. "And how did you come to this conclusion?" he asked. "It began with my interview with Kenuichio Harada, the Silver Samurai," Kitty said, "he revealed that it was whispered that a foreign power was responsible for the creation of the Ijin, a British organization." Kitty began to pace, warming to her topic, "Of course that doesn't mean much, especially coming from him. He is a crime lord, after all, so I wasn't prepared to take his word as gospel. However, it did make a plausible theory." "Almost as soon as I heard about the original Ijin I wondered where they came from, and more importantly why they were made. The scheme to devastate the population seemed.. out of character for one of Sinister's projects or any of the other villains I know of who possess cloning technology," Kitty noted. "Such as Miles Warren, Sinister, Stryfe and Apocolypse," Joker noted, his stance casual. "Exactly," Kitty agreed. "So the Ijin were created by a new player in the cloning game," Mr. Gentleman nodded thoughtfully. "I kept it in the back of my mind as we investigated the 'Ogun and Sinister alliance, but I didn't find real hard evidence until our raid on Sinister's headquarters," Kitty revealed. "Oh?" Joker raised a eyebrow. "I did a partial download of his private files while I was getting internal maps of the facility," Kitty explained, "they were encrypted, but I managed to break the codes with some programs a friend of mine devised." "What did those files say?" Mr. Gentleman asked. "Mr. Sinister slipped into the program early, using his ability to shapeshift to pass as a normal lab tech," Kitty revealed. She looked at Joker, "Using the name Mr. Carpenter Joker founded the cloning project, the purpose of which was to create a hybrid clone of unusual capacity." Joker ran a hand through his hair, his shoulders tense as he puffed out a sigh. "To try to house Mr. Gentleman's essence," he finally confirmed. "It's true, then?" Mr. Gentleman frowned, "You were involved in this?" "Yes, sir," Joker bowed slightly, "I'm sorry I didn't inform you, but I wanted to maintain plausible deniability for the library at large." "I am..." Mr. Gentleman seemed to be searching for words, "most displeased. Did it not occur to you that I didn't want to continue on in another body? I've had a good run, and all things must come to an end eventually." "Are you dying, sir?" Kitty had to ask. "Age catches up to me," Gentleman casually waved it off. He gave Joker a furious look and demanded, "Well?" "I'm sorry sir," was all that Joker could find to say. As Kitty stood there she felt her ribs aching, bruises on top of bruises making her body pulse painfully. Walking over she slumped into a soft chair even as she asked, "So what now?" "Joker?" Gentleman asked. "Our end of the cloning project was shut down not long after we found out about Sinister's activities," Joker said, "the surviving clones will be monitored and watched over, but other than that we have no intention of interfering with their lives." "Fair enough," Kitty sighed. "What do you intend to do with the information you have, Miss Pryde?" Gentleman asked her curiously. Kitty thought about it for a moment, weighing her impressions of the two men versus her instincts. "I'm going to give you the laptop," she said, "but I'm keeping copies of the data in a safe place. If I hear so much of a hint that you are starting up this project again, I'll take whatever steps I feel are necessary." "Thank you," Joker said with a relieved sigh. "Don't," Kitty suddenly gave him a furious look, "the only reason I'm not taking you out right now is that Yomiko still believes in you." Mr. Gentleman picked up his cup of tea, taking a drink. "This may not be the best moment to ask you this," he said to her wryly, "but I was wondering if you might be interested in joining the Great British Library?" Kitty looked at him in disbelief, "You're kidding me." "The Library protects the world from many threats, if ones of a more esoteric nature than the X-Men," Gentleman said. He smiled faintly, "You seem to fit in quite well, and this would give you an opportunity to keep an eye on Joker, too." "Sir!" Joker protested. Kitty levered herself up, swaying a bit then steadying herself. "I'll consider it," she said, "that's all I can promise right now." "Thank you for that," Mr. Gentleman nodded as she left. Yomiko looked up happily as Kitty walked up to the couches that she and Drake were waiting on. She practically jumped to her feet then looked at Kitty worriedly, "Are you all right?" "Just sore," Kitty said, reaching out unconsciously to take Yomiko's hand. "So what did you have to see Joker and Gentleman for?" Drake asked curiously, standing beside them to look down at Kitty fondly. "Just clearing up some final details of the case," Kitty said with a slight smile. She grinned, "So how are Amelia and Yukio?" Yomiko laughed softly, "Well, we have agents keeping an eye on them, but otherwise they seem to be doing well." "I'm glad," Kitty admitted as Yomiko guided her to a seat beside her, "I liked them, oddly." "Me, too," Drake conceded. He flashed a grin, "I understand Joker's considering offering them jobs once they get run through all the tests." "They'd be good at it," Kitty nodded, "and it'd be a waste of their talents to let them go." Yomiko squeezed Kitty's hand gently as she softly said, "Rumors say that you've been offered the chance to join, too." "Gee, I wonder where you heard that from," Kitty gave Drake a look, noting how he was trying to appear as innocent as possible. "I have no idea what you're talking about," Drake smiled. "Well?" Yomiko asked, looking into Kitty's eyes intently, appearing just a little worried. Kitty met those eyes as her thoughts raced. 'I may not trust Joker but the rest of them... they're good people,' she admitted. "Yes." she smiled at Yomiko, "I'm staying." "I'm glad," then Yomiko bent forward, gently brushing Kitty's lips with her. Kitty blushed, feeling Drake's amused gaze on her, but she returned the kiss gently. "I'm not sure..." she started to say. "It's all right," Yomiko smiled, "we have time." End Notes: I never planned on this going quite as long as it did, but I'm happy with it overall. The connection between Nancy and Kitty seemed a no brainer to me, as did the probable romance between Kitty and Yomiko. This is set between the end of the OVA and the ROD TV series, combined with my own imagination of course. Obviously I wanted to wrap up the key plot points but it's set up to continue if I feel like it, but for now this is the end.
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