Kitty Pryde and Wolverine

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Name: Kitty
Location: Airport / Ogun Temple / Warehouse
Tagging: Logan

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The old man from Japan had been at the airport for a long time. Flight US 5023 from JFK to Beijing had been delayed by an unexpected snow storm in New York City. Others might have felt irritation but for the old man the hours meant nothing more than the blinking of the eye. Forgotten by the Chinese waitresses, he sat alone at a small table, upon a straight-backed chair. A styrofoam cup of containing Chinese green tea stood before him.

Ogun waited, and plotted his revenge.

*The delayed Flight US5023 from New York has landed.*

The old man did not rise immediately, but waited another twenty minutes before he stood and made his way towards the exit with slow, casual strides that were remarkably agile for one of his age.

Fanned out, approximately 50 meters behind him six other men also headed towards the exit.

***

Kitty had been looking out of the window when the Chinese coast came into view and she had watched, nose pressed against the window, when the plane began its descend and landed on Chinese soil. "China!" said Joan, a fellow dancer of Stevie's troupe. "Or, the People's Republic of China. Wow, has a ring to it, doesn't it?" Kitty chuckled. She unfastened her seat belt and stood, reaching for her laptop and handbag she'd stored in the overhead luggage compartment.

Half an hour later she was pushing her luggage cart towards the exit where a bus was waiting to take the dance group towards the Mandarin Garden Hotel.

A man bumped into Kitty from behind, a clumsy collision that caused her to stumble and stop. "Oww! Look where you're go-", the words died on her lips when she looked into the yellow, Asian face. The man's face was as impassive as an Asian caricature, but the eyes were cold and calculating. Dread filled her senses, and she retreated, blindly reaching for the luggage cart. Before her, a crowd had filled the gap between her and the others of her group, effectively separating her.

When she realized the bump might not have been accident, it was much, much too late. Something hit her from behind and her world went dark.

***

It was night when she came to. The first thing she heard was the sound of engines and she smelled oil and gasoline. The surface beneath her sloped, and she felt vibrations course through her body. As she tried to move her wrists and ankles had been tied with thick ropes that felt slick agains her skin.

"Miss Pryde. I'm glad you are with us again." said a voice in perfect English.

"You must be confused. I understand, and I promise all will be made clear very soon."

"But first I imagine you wish to be rid of your ties."The voice continued, sounding patient and slightly amused.

"Please, by all means, Miss Pryde, rid yourself of them. They were in place only to appease those of lesser who do not yet understand that normal means may not hold such a creature as yourself."

Kitty phased out of the ropes and came to her feet, fists raised before her in a defensive stance.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"So fierce," the voice chuckled. "My name, young one, is Ogun. And you are the instrument of my revenge."

"Uh huh,"she said. "Not a chance, mister!"

There was no reply. She had expected an argument; laughter maybe. Or an attack. But nothing came.

Silence.

Then she felt it, an alien presence in her mind. Kitty pressed her fists against her temples and backed away.

"I'm afraid you will have no choice, miss Pryde. You see, you made some people very angry. They make demands" Ogun's voice explained inside her mind. "Now, I care not for their anger, nor their complaints... but their wishes coincide with mine."

"We have been humiliated. Reputations have been sullied and fear diminished. And all this by a former student of mine."

"This stain shall be wiped out and you, Miss Pryde, will be the instrument."

She could not help but listen, the words poured directly into her mind. No, she told him, but knew she wasn't heard.

Images flashed before her mind's eye of a younger man standing before Ogun. She didn't recognize him but she knew he had to be important. In whirlwind speed the lessons Ogun had taught this man replayed in her mind and her body remembered. Faster and faster the lessons came and, as Ogun took control over her mind, came the anger, and then... hate.

She didn't remember passing out but when she came to, she found herself dressed in black, a thin strip of cloth covered her face except for the eyes, and she wore two katana's, one at each hip.

No one needed to tell her where she was, or the reason why she was there. She knew. One reason only, one task that was the sum of all her desires. Kitty glanced up the building and phased, using the air as stepping stones towards the roof. She was a shadow, moving soundlessly to the top of the building, where she crouched and looked down through a skylight upon the crates, and the lone man hauling them around.

Wolverine.

Her target.

Through Ogun's knowledge Kitty recognizes the man below.

The apprentice. Wolverine. The stain upon his past, soon to be wiped clean.

A chill smile creeps along her lips when she recognizes him, and she phases through the roof, in a controlled fall directly from her crouched position. It's a long drop and she solidifies in midfall to draw both katanas and crosses them before her. Another phase, and then she is on the warehouse floor behind Wolverine.

She has Ogun's knowledge, his skill and his hatred; and all of these come together in the lightning quick strike of her right hand weapon at Logan's back. There is nothing insubstantial about the weapon now; in that second it's as real as life and death.

And then it isn't.

Kitty phases herself and the weapon to avoid it becoming stuck in Wolverine's powerful torso. She sweeps the weapons wide and back into the defense cross before her chest as she backs up. Ogun knows Wolverine won't fall in one strike; he needs distance to use her talents. Let the beast come to her; it will receive a nasty surprise.

But the slender hand holding the katana trembles, and for a heart beat doubt flickers in the girl's eyes.

Kitty shakes her head. There's confusion written all over her face. "I don't even know you?" she replies, in English. He barely has time to see the young woman's eyes harden as she slashes the Katana's outward, an obvious 'come hither'.

"Kill her if you can." The girl's voice is the same but the uncertainty is gone. Her Japanese is flawless, with an accent that is hauntingly familiar. "You'll find it a harder task than you may believe."

Had it been just Kitty Logan's claws would've have pinned her to the wall, but Ogan knows his former pupil and Kitty's lips project a faint smile when Logan comes for his puppet and she moves forward to meet him. And phases, naturally.

It is Logan's reluctance to kill the girl that saves him. It's a move Ogun hasn't planned for. He has seen Wolverine train, has seen him fight for survival with skilled precision. Ruthless. And Kitty barely knows what is going on. She feels the sword and at times feels the hatred coursing through her, and a pleasure that terrifies her. The man is going to die by her hand, whether she wants this or not. Her mind screams in fear when Wolverine storms at her, but her reflexes and Ogun's knowledge come to her aid. She phases at the last instant, barely saving herself from a crippling blow. Her body turns and the katanas descend in a deadly arc, guided by her unwilling hands. "I can't stop it!" Kitty cries out, despairingly. "He's too strong!"

But Wolverine isn't where Ogun had expected him. He held back, and Kitty is much closer than she should have been. The katana's decapacitating blow is awkward, hampered by the closeness of his body.

She tries to stop the blades, willing her muscles to obey but Ogun has played this game for generations. Her will is overwhelmed by his powers, and already the adrenaline rushes through her body. Ogun can taste his victory, he is hungry for Wolverine's blood. She feels his mounting excitement, so intense it's almost physical. Through their link she sees the frail-seeming, old man abruptly raise his head, a cruel smile upon the thin lips. In their shared minds she sees his dreams, the outcome he wills to happen: death. Kitty's mind screams out against those visions but Ogun ignores her struggle. She has no more chance than a kitten versus a cobra.

The katanas come to a grinding halt against Wolverine's palms and she feels Ogun's disbelief, and then rage. His blind fury floods her sense, and for a split-second neither she, nor Ogun can see. He is ancient, and his self-control is restored almost as quickly as he had lost it. For Kitty, it seemed like a mere blink of the eye. Her vision returns and she sees Wolverine's face mere inches away from hers. A scream rises her in throat and she feels a shock that isn't hers just before pain explodes in her head and her world goes dark.

The first rays of dawn cast a dim light through the sky lights when Kitty awakens. Her head feels as if someone put a slicer through it, but Ogun's presence is gone. She groans and pushes herself up until she sits. A trembling hand comes up to touch her head. She winces and raises her gaze to notice the man standing near her. He looks at her with no emotion on his face, and she lowers her hand back to the ground. "Alright," she says, with just a slight tremor in her voice. "Who are you, and what the hell is going on?"