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She didn't used to be like this.
In the early years, she had been innocent -- and if not exactly innocent, then naive about the way things were in the world around her. She had barely become a teenager when she had found out that she was so very different from all of her friends and school mates.
Mutant.
It was all so exciting and a little bit overwhelming at the same time. However, just as she had always done with everything else, she threw herself into her studies and the training regimen for her powers. She was a mutant, yes, but she was also working towards being a super hero like the X-Men who had found her. She was still a student; still a dancer; still Kitty. She was aware of all aspects of who she was and she willingly embraced them all.
And yet, she never considered that she would ever have to choose between being a human and being a mutant. Why should she have to choose? They were both critical parts of who she was. She didn't think that she needed to worry about taking sides in a war between her humanity and her powers.
That all changed when Stryker came into the picture. "Reverend" Stryker or whatever he was claiming to be that day. He was behind the attacks on people just because they were mutants. He was the first real experience with hate that Kitty had ever had. Her outlook changed when he pulled a gun and pointed it at Kurt. When he wanted to kill Kurt over what he looked like -- or didn't look like.
Kitty protested and the gun had been pointed at her and for the first time she had been aware that she was staring at death.
In that instant, she hadn't thought about what she was doing or who everyone believed her to be.
She spoke up.
She made a choice.
She took a stand.
She didn't used to be like this, strong, independent, always ready to take on any fight that came her way.
Until she made a stand and made a difference.
Muse: Kitty Pryde // Shadowcat
Fandom: X-Men et al
Words: 356