3/13 Game: Dangerous Minds

[Slarti]

Timelined Thursday, March 22

Miranda wrapped a long strand of hair around her pen and sighed, sliding lower into the chair. "You guys observe the ten minute rule here, right?"

"I only know the ten second rule." Kyle said with a shrug.

Pietro looked over at her, "No idea, normally the staff are here already..."

She turned around. "Ten seconds? That's even, like, better! We coulda been gone!"

Jay sat on his reversed seat, yawning hugely, arms crossed over the back. "Ah ain't goin' nowhere. Was up 'til five finishin' dat assignment." He rubbed his eyes. "Even den, Ah think if Darren hadn't helped me on it..."

Pietro kept quiet on the assignment, like most of his homework he'd finished it in less than ten minutes.

"It is, Kyle... and eating it off the floor..." he shook his head.

"There was homework?" Her face fell at Kyle's explanation. "Oh..." Wait. "Wait. Ew?!"

Jay's wings fluffed a little before he tucked them against his back. "Oh man, quit it, Ah'm hungry."

Hepz wandered in, and found a seat next to Kyle. She wrapped her tail around around her hindclaws. "So - where's the prof?"

"Prob'ly waxin' lyrical over a rose again."

Pietro tensed a little hearing Hepz's voice. He'd gotten good at avoiding her since Christmas.

Miranda snapped open her phone and checked the time again. "Three minutes I'm out, folks. Who's with me?!"

Jay dropped his head onto his arms and raised his hand. "Totally."

"I like this ten minute rule." Kyle said, looking from Miranda to Hepz.

"I'll be infront of you, Miri," she joked, edging away from Pietro as much as she could and resting her head on top of Kyle's.

"Well I can think of plenty of things to be doing instead..." Pietro replied to Miranda.

"Seriously? Ah'd rather jus' be smoking or...somethin'. Anything's better'n showin' my southern comfort."

Erik opened the door and floated between the student's desks to Ororo's desk, he turned and leaned up against it as he watched the class. "I am sorry for the delay children, but Ororo is temporarily unavailable, and Professor Xavier has asked me to fill in for her today. I hope you don't mind the switch." He smiled easily. "And for the record, it is fifteen minutes for a senior faculty member or a doctor."

Pietro raised an eyebrow. Oh joy, the weird electronics teacher.

"Nap!" Miranda played with her hair. "Maybe a deep conditionin....well shit." She turned around slowly in her chair.

Jay raised his head to stare at Lehnsher from under locks of red hair. "Oh...suck." He muttered tiredly, pushing himself up and sighing, flipping his notes open. Time to pretend to pay attention and try not to fall asleep...

"There does getting outta class early..." Hepz sighed and slid into a chair, between Jay and Kyle and pulled out her notebook.

"Fifteen minutes? Really?" Miranda wrinkled her nose. "I'm totally sure that Crain was a doctor, but we left after seven minutes because she was a total..." She stopped and smiled.

Pietro smiled and shook his head.

Jay rolled a shoulder, wincing at the crack. "See, Ah was home-tutored. Cain't get outta lessons early dere."

Erik shook his head with a small smile, "You will not need your notebooks today, please bring up your homework and put it on the desk. We will be doing a class discussion today. Your daily grade will be based upon participation." He explained.

"Nope, and if you don't show up they come and find you...." Pietro agreed with Jay.

"I was pulled out of school when I was 11." She glared at Pietro for a moment, then went back to her notebook, looking for her CD with her assignment on it.

"Oooh, participation. Like, talking? I can do that!" She pretended to look through her notebook and pulled out the first paper with writing on it to turn in - just to keep up appearances.

Jay smiled tiredly at Pietro. "Yeah. Ah was in a wheelchair. So Ah couldn't escape." He shrugged, pushing himself off the seat and picking up his homework and plodding to the desk, hand in his jeans pocket as he handed it in.

Pietro took out his assignment and brought it up to the desk. He looked over at Jay, "Wow, I have the greatest sympathy for you there...." He sat down again.

Miranda blithely ignored the serious talk. "I played basketball and cheered in the fall, so, like I totally got out of class all the time for that. Was sweet!"

Kyle got up and thought for a second, "If it's just the em.. the discussion that counts for the grade, do we still need to hand in the homework?"

Jay sat back in his chair, cheek smooshed against the back of it. "Ah'm not not handin' dat bitch in." He yawned. "It'll make up for me fallin' asleep today, Ah'm sure."

"Yes, you still need to turn in the homework. Ororo will want to know that you take her class seriously." He smiled at Kyle and listened to the little banter between the students.

Kyle sulked and grabbed the papers on his desk and went put it with the rest of the assignments. "Wish dog ate my homework worked." he mumbled as he went back to his seat.

Hepz tossed her CD onto the prof's desk and swayed back to her desk. She bit back a yawn and chuckled at Kyle as she crouched back in her seat.

"Alright..." He said finally, taking all the papers and lining them up on the desk, then slipping them in his brief case. "Not quite certain what you have been studying as of late, but I had the idea for discussion as I was walking over here." He looked over the students, "I want to have a little talk with you all about 'the ethics of being an X-man' as our little team is called."

Jay eyed up Kyle with a smirk. That reminded him that he needed to see him soon...he yawned again. After sleep.

Pietro leaned back in his chair and frowned a little.

"'Thou shalt not kill' is pretty much d' only one, ain't it?"

"You could just eat it yourself and say a squirrel ate it instead." She nodded.

"I'm a little fonder of 'an eye for an eye' rule of thumb myself," Hepz threw in, doodling with her pencil. She grinned at the squirrel comment.

"Paper doesn't taste nice." was Kyle's reply to Miranda.

"What ethics?" She considered Kyle's answer. "You could feed it to the squirrel and then eat the squirrel?"

"Alternatively you could actually get a squirrel to eat it..." Pietro tossed in, "Though if Selene's to be believed, they're just as likely to go and tell on you...."

Miranda grinned that Pietro agreed. "See, good plan!"

"Well that is one of the things I think we should talk about." He said, nodding to Hepz and Jay. He looked at the rest of the class, barely minding him, "I might remind you that you are being graded for this class period, squirels are not on the agenda."

Jay was about to argue with Hepz...but closed his mouth. "...Eye for an eye's good for some things." He said instead. "Ah mean, if Ah ever find out who did d' sewers over..."

He clenched a fist, before raking it through his hair.

"Even if we're discissing the ethics of raising a squirrel army?" Pietro asked the proff.

"Yeah, totally! doesn't that one girl control little animals like that?"

"I mean, what if they don't want to be controlled?"

Hepz put a hand on Jay's shoulder and squeezed it. "Yeah..."

"Mass insect rebellion?"

"What was the question?" Kyle asked.

Jay froze at the touch, but relaxed, giving Hepz a grateful smile. "Yeah, Ah'd say what happened down dere was...pretty unethical." He closed his eyes, rubbing his scarred shoulder and shuddering slightly.

Erik picked up his note pad and made a few notes on it. "Interesting, but no." If this is how Ororo runs her class, no wonder she wanted the day off. He thought to himself for a moment, waiting for the class to die down so they could get started.

"I mean, I don't know exactly what the ethics we're talking about even are... all I've done as an X-Man is wear a kickin' S&M uniform." She looked down. "... and get blown up."

"Hey, suit yourself, Ah just have to wear trousers." Jay gave Miranda a grin.

"I've done less than you..." Pietro looked over at Miranda, "Think I might be glad if getting blown up is on the agenda..."

Not really following the train all too well, Kyle added his two bits. "I got blown up once. And got shot. Twice I think."

He nodded, "Yes... the uniform in unique. But speaking of being blown up. How does it feel to be a victim?" He settled his gaze on Miranda, knowing that she had been at the hospital durring the bomb attack.

"Oh, Miri - stick around. You might find yourself kidnapped, have your teeth and fingernails pulled out, kept in a cage, poked, proded, killed... all manner of unforgetable memories to be had." Hepz' tail slapped against the chair leg. "But the uniform is kick ass..." She wondered if she was going to fit into hers much longer.

Miranda pulled her legs up into the chair, wrapping her arms around them. "Um..." She gave Hepzibah a wide-eyed look. "Not good..."

Pietro frowned and sank lower in his chair with a sigh as Hepzibah said her piece.

Jay leant against the chair, listening to Hepzibah's list and wincing. He'd only been back at the school briefly when the kidnappings had happened - and when he'd left in the first place, a load of kids had been taken. "Say what y' like about Jono, at least we never got..." He trailed off.

"I've been studying the recent history of the school, and have noticed a disturbing trend of late. I know the MRA has put a damper on many of our activities, and has painted a target on mutants in general. But why have we been merely reactive, taking blow after blow from all sides..."

"Well isn't that what Farouk's trying to address with this tournament stuff?" Pietro asked.

"Because anythin' else would make us d' same."

"Because...it's not self defence unless they hit first?" Kyle asked.

"Because too many of us are cowards," Hepz growled.

Miranda just shrugged.

"Non." Jay shook his head at Hepzibah. "Ah'm no coward. But wouldn't it make us worse if we hit first? Prove d' mutant haters right in dat we're violent animals?"

Pietro wondered if he was being paranoid or if Hepz's comment was also aimed at him.

"Jay - die has been cast. When they enacted the MRA, they singled us out. How different is this from what the Nazis did to the Jews?? How much longer till mutants are rounded up and put into camps??" The stories she'd heard from her papa were resounding in her mind.

He smirked at Pietro, "Secret clandestine operations are none to effective if you go around telling the people you are hiding it from." He turned to Jay, "You would rather be put down without a fight? Do the people fighting against us play by the same rules? You would rather be target practice?" He raised his eyebrow.

Jay shrugged. "It ain't come to dat yet. Dere's still time to turn it round, an' tryna be d' biggest bullies on d' playground won't do dat - just give dem justification."

"Diplomacy's always the better option..." Pietro put in.

"That it is. Has it worked?" He turned to Pietro.

"My ex hated me so much he decided he hates all mutants and wants to, like, I dunno, kill all of us, but... I didn't do anything." She rested her chin on her knees. "Not really... not to, like, warrant this..."

"Clearly not as well as people hoped...."

"And with growing suspicions and hate groups campaining against us, do you think it will get better?"

"Target practice?" Jay's wings flared a little. "Dere's a little somethin' called 'd' better man' Ah try to live up to." He pulled his wings back in. "Ah mean, Ah don't doubt sometimes violence needs to be met with violence but..." He remembered the sewers again.

"Besides, how do we know where d' next hit comes from?"

"It probably won't get better, but that's no reason to stop trying."

"Hell no. Ah mean, if we hit dem, dey'll hit back harder - but if we talk, well...who knows."

"They might just get bored and cave...?"

"Certainly hiding like sewer rats helps us to find out future threats..." He smiled, "That is right, we should try, and hope, and pray... Let me know how that goes. Does that bring back the friends and loved ones we've lost while we talked and they murdered?"

"Get bored and cave?? Are you a complete moron?!" Hepz's claws dug into the chair.

"So you think it's better to go on the offensive and take from them?" He turned to look at Hepz, "Have you got a better suggestion?"

Jay's hands clenched at Lenhsher's words in his lap, and he stared at the back of his chair, gold eyes narrowed as he tried to reign in his temper.

"We fight!," Hepz said very quietly. "I'd rather die fighting than die in a cage."

"Ah'd..." Jay swallowed, trying to get the thickness out of his voice. "Ah'd rather not die at all."

"I don't want to fight, or any of this. I just wanted a normal life..."

Ah to be normal.... that'd be a blessing... "Fighting won't get anyone anywhere..."

She looked from the professor then at Jay and Miri. "We ALL die Jay. And any hope of a normal life went down the shitter the second your xgene clicked on. They won't let you have a normal life - or live in peace. You know I'm telling the truth!"

"I'd rather not die at all. That's why I kind of, um, kind of like being like this, I guess."

Jay closed his eyes, leaning his head on the back of the chair, rubbing the back of his neck. "Y'all think Ah don't know dat?!" He looked up to shoot Hepz a venomous glare. "My sister-" He cut off, shaking his head, forcing himself to take calming breaths. "Ah like my wings." He tacked on lamely.

"That is certainly untrue Pietro. If no one faught, do you think there would be any Jews left in Europe? The history of mankind is litered with people who faught for what they believed in." He looked at Miranda, "Dear girl, you no longer have a normal life, the sooner you accept this, the sooner you can move on."

Pietro rolled his eyes. Now they were fighting with each other. Good job, proffessor.

"Well you can go on and fight, I'd rather try talking some sense into the people at the top."

Miranda narrowed her eyes at the professor and Hepzibah. "I was fucking normal until I met you people."

"You are a complete moron." Hepz stated flatly as she looked at Pietro. "At the top? Like you're old man??"

Pietro turned around, "Don't bring him into this."

"Ah didn't say dat dere should be no fightin'. Look at Egypt an' shit, sometimes it's needed. But Ah don't believe we should go in fists flailin' 'just in case'. 'Just in case' is never a good fuckin' justification."

Erik watched the class continue, making small notes on his pad, listening to them take sides in the arguement. He stayed silent for a while.

"Why not??" Hepz stood up. "He's a perfect example of what we're talking about here! Humans abusing mutants while the rest of us stand by and talk about it!" She bared her fangs for a moment.

Jay looked between Pietro and Hepzibah. Ooooh, yeah, he was staying out of this.

"And he's not doing it anymore." Pietro turned back to face the front of the class. He was not having this discussion now.

"Why? Is he dead?? Because he really didn't seem to have ANY qualms with torturing Mayhem or I! So I don't really see a sudden moral epiphany happenin'! And you don't just stop when you are at the top!" Her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.

"I destroyed everything, that's why." He replied, still staring resolutely ahead of him. "He has nothing left to work with and no more contacts that want to help. He's no longer 'at the top'."

"Bullshit." Hepz growled.

Jay's wings twitched a little at the tension, but at least they were off anything that would make his temper flare. He shared a look with Miri and shrugged slightly.

He turned again, "Which part?"

"Now Hepzibah, none of that, this will be a civil discussion." He admonished her. "But that is interesting Pietro. You faught against him, and something happened. Did your talks with your father not produce results?"

"Starting at the part where your lips started moving..." she hissed back, but reined herself in a bit at Lehnsher's warning.

Pietro frowned again then looked at the professor, "Only the kind of results that hurt people."

Miranda turned in her seat to watch this back and forth. She'd totally missed something...

"Interesting. And you'd like to continue with those kind of results on a national level?" He smiled.

"No. I'd like to find someone that knows how to listen and doesn't believe that what they're doing is for 'the greater good' no matter how many people they kill along the way."

"You ain't gonna find many of dem." Jay sighed. "Not in d' ones dat are really tryin' to hurt us."

"The people at the top are always doing what is best for 'the greater good'. That is why they are there. But mutants are not part of the 'greater' that will be recieving the good. We are a minority."

"Then we should try and convince the majority we deserve our place in the world so they can vote the right people in."

"That's not fair, though. I mean, we're, like, still Americans and we have rights..."

Jay nodded to Miranda. "Totally."

"We are at a very peciliar time in America though. African Americans had no rights for hundreds of years before that was fixed. And how did that happen by the by?" He asked.

"Do we Miri? Do humans have to 'register'?" Hezp sat back down, her tail curling in her lap again.

"I'd rather hoped we were past riots and watching good people get shot...." Pietro muttered.

Jay sighed. He hated biased discussions. "Look, d' problem is not every war can be won wit' violence, not every negotiation works with words. Sometimes y'all need a mix of both - it's findin' out what d' right mix is."

"But black people started out with no rights, but we didn't... they can't go backward." She looked around. "Can they?"

"They can and they will, the same thing happened with the Jews in Germany. They had all the rights allowed everyone, and slowly but surely they were stripped of their basic human necessities, one at a time, until there was nothing left."

"They already have. They did that when they made the Registration Act complusatory. It's just the fist step down a very slippery path. One that is going to either lead to the death and enslavement of all mutants or to war. Take your pick."

Jay shrugged, putting his head on the back of his chair again.

"But they just want us to register. They don't really do anything with it beyond that... right?"

Hepz nodded in agreement with the teacher. "Abraham Feldman could have taught a lecture on that."

"Hepz is right though..." Pietro said, "Now they've got this through, who knows what will be next?"

She turned her head, surprised Pietro would agree with anything she had to say. "Start monitoring us. Telling us where we can go, where we can work, where we can live...that's how it started for the Jews."

"Although... the Jews didn't have crazy powers... we're at an advantage there..."

"Only if we fight..."

"That we are. That we are." He nodded, "And should we press that advantage? Or merely let it go to waste?"

"Which goes back to d' point. How do we work out when t' fight?" Jay looked up. "Like Ah said. Sometimes words work, sometimes dey don't."

"Not everybody has crazy, or, like, useful powers..."

"Which is why reactive is better.... at least then they can't use it against us."

"Yeah. What can Ah do? Fly an' sing. Dat's...not really up dere on useful shit."

"Neither is running stupidly fast, but I get by..." he shrugged, "But if you put them all together I'm sure it's pretty useful... Which is probably what Xavier's getting at with this place."

"Everyone has a talent they can use. No one's mutation is trivial." Hepz sighed.

"Everyone is useful Miranda, we just have to find a place for everyone, maximize each of our potential to make up for our lack of numbers." He told them all.

"My mutation couldn' save-" Jay cut himself off, looking down at his hands again, wings curling around himself.

"Used to think making people want to screw was pretty useless. But - with some help," she looked at Pietro dangerously, "found out it can also make people very... agreeable."

Miranda choked a little and again looked between the two of them.

Pietro rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah..." he muttered. And he'd being doing so well not thinking about it.

Jay smirked weakly, remembering the barfight at New Orleans. "Unless y'all have a stupid cockatiel dat don't know when t' fold with y'all."

Hepz grinned back at Jay. "Stupid Cockatiel? I see no stupid cockatiel!" she joked. "Who wants to turn down a loosing hand?"

Jay smiled back. "Tweet. An' clearin' out a bunch of drunk newbs was not a smart thing t' do, lady." He winked.

He winced. "Though...breakin' up d' bar probably didn't endear 'em to mutants..."

"Not as much as you would imagine." He grinned, agreeing. "But I am certain it put a healthy respect of the mutant kind in the humans that day."

"Yeah - don't fuck with d' 'angel' who's better den y'all at poker." Jay smirked back. "...An' near blind-drunk on absinthe. Ah need to stop drinkin' dat stuff."

Pietro really wasn't sure that was the best approach for getting the regular folks on the side of the mutants but he wanted to avoid further provocation of Hepzibah so he kept quiet.

"Well... Lets get back to the topic at hand. Quick review, discussed the situation with Pietro's father, how talking worked, and how action worked, touched breifly on the tragedy at the hospital, where talking was not an option. Lets see if we can find any more examples and situations in our pasts." He looked across the class, they'd started to get quiet and there was still time on the clock.

Since his life mostly consisted of battling with his father over one thing or another, Pietro declined to bring up another example.

Jay shrugged. "Cain't say Ah've really been in many situations dat required violence, sir."

"I just get blown up a lot..." Miranda shrugged.

"Not many, bar room fights aside, but it was my understanding you were a member of the 'Fringelocks', isnt that right?" He asked quietly, not wanting to press too hard at the point. "I don't believe the rest of the class knows much about that, would you care to tell them what happened?"

Jay's knuckles suddenly went white on the back of the chair, the question taking him completely off-guard. "U-uh-" He bit his lip, wings flared. "W-we, y-yeah Ah was..."

Pietro's frown deepened. This guy either had no tact or was all about pushing people's buttons.

He swallowed. He could totally talk about this. He hadn't mentioned it once when he'd come back, past the 'I was there' bullshit, tried not to think about it but...it was...ages behind him, right? He offered a tight smile. "Wh-what d' ya wanna know?"

"If it is not too dificult, I would like you to tell the rest of the class what happened to your friends." He ask him, knowing the boys testimony would be a powerful argument against any doubters of humans intentions with mutant kind.

Miranda frowned at the teacher, then at Jay. She knew something had happened to him... but now she was curious.

Hepz looked between Jay and the professor. Her brow knit up a bit. She'd heard of the Fringes, but didn't know much about them, except they all died.

Jay scraped a hand through his hair, feeling a little hot and...oddly...slightly removed, like he was observing this. "U-uh..." He could do this. "W-well..." He bit his lip. "W-we were hidin'...hidin' in d' sewers...be-because it was meant to be safe dere, y' know?"

"A-Ah mean...Jono...he l-led us dere..." He tried to swallow. "...Dey...dey came from nowhere...m-most of d' k-kids...were asleep..."

Pietro went back to staring out of the window as he listened to Jay.

Jay stayed staring at the table in front of him. It helped if he thought he was talking to himself.
Sewers?! Ew! She muttered her 'ew' quietly, however.

Hepz's breath caught in her throat at the mention of 'kids'. She bit her lip and covered her stomach with her arm as her eyes were fixed on him.

"Ah was...was...p-playin' c-cards..." He shook his head, about to say he couldn't do this, already feeling sick to his stomach, hands gripping his seat. He grit his teeth. No, fuck it, he could talk about it. He could do this, it was only words. "Ah was playin' with a kid my age..."

"...When we heard d' first shout we thought dat...d-dat a couple of d' a-adults were fightin'...d-den we heard gunshots an'...and screams..." He stared at his hands. "A-Ah don't remember much, just...smoke...lots of smoke...a-an' blood...d-dere were other m-mutants dere, as well..."

"Oh my God!" Miranda nibbled on her thumbnail.

He shook his head, aware that his vision was blurry enough that he couldn't focus on anything. No, no, he couldn't do this, he wanted to get out of here, h-he couldn't - "S-so many dead...d-dere was sc-screamin'...b-bodies everywhere..." His voice was monotone.

Erik listened as the boy told his painful story, nodding and watching the reaction in the other students. He wrote a few more notes on his pad.

Pietro turned his gaze from the window to glare at the professor. Happy now?

Her lips tightened as she listened. "Who did this, Jay?" her voice was quiet and angry. "Who attacked the Fringes?"

Jay let out a dry sob. "A-Ah don't know. O-only s-saw o-one of d' mutants clearly. H-he..." He ran a hand over the scars on his chest and side. "J-Jill w-was...she..." He buried his face in his hands, shoulders shaking.

"Your sister," Hepzibah ventured. "They killed your sister... didn't they?" Maybe it was good that she had no family.

There was a nod and a larger sob. Jay tried hard to stop crying, wings curling around him.

Pietro gave Jay a sympathetic look, unsure what to do. He wanted to yell at the professor but that probably wouldn't be the best course of action. So, once again, he stayed quiet.

"...oh my God." Miranda pulled her knees back up.

Hepz took a breath, feeling sick at her stomach. "I'm sorry, Jay. I'm so sorry..." she whispered, taking a step closer.

Jay tried to get a handle on himself, swallowing thickly, pulling his hands away from his face and wiping it savagely. "Why? D' fuck y'all gotta be sorry for?" He bit out. "Y' weren't dere, you didn't do it. You didn' see it either. So don' be fuckin' sorry for me. At least Ah survived."

"But your sister didn't. They came into your home and murdered your family. And why?? Because your were unlucky enough to carry an x-gene." She turned back to the class. "And you think these 'people' will be willing to listen to reason? To 'talk'??"

"Not everyone hates mutants, Hepzibah... Some people are on our side." And as soon as the lesson was over, he was calling one of them.

Jay slammed a hand on the table. "Weren't y'all listenin'? Dey weren't humans! It was other mutants. You will not use my fuckin' sister an' family's death as a vendetta!"

Erik shook his head, sad for the boy and his tragedy, and his undirected and unused rage. Such potential in some of these kids...

"They weren't humans?? Why would mutants attack other mutants??" Hepz's brow creased in confusion. Where she came from the freaks all stuck together.

"Great, so we're not even safe with 'our own kind,'" She made air quotes.

Pietro could hardly believe someone who'd been a 'guest' of his father could ask that question.

"Ah don't fuckin' know! Ah didn't stick around to ask either, seein' as dey wiped every single fuckin' Fringe member out like we were nothin' but fuckin' gum on dere shoes!" Jay shook, trying to control his temper and failing miserably. "Ah ran, with my sister's fucking body. Y'all wanna call me a coward now?"

"No Jay, you are not a coward. Some fights are merely too big for us alone, it is why people band together. Strength in numbers, staying vigilant, seeing threats for what they are and taking care of them before they come to fruition... Why should we react? When acting in the first place could save an unforeseen number of lives in the future?"

"Because reacting stops people from blaming us when our pre-emptive strikes go too far." He folded his arms.

"Strength in numbers? Dere were three fuckin' times more Fringe members down dere den whoever attacked us!" Jay stood, shaking, fists balled, knowing he needed to calm down but - but - angry was better then - and he wanted them to fucking suffer, whoever they were, and they weren't here.

"Dere ain't no reaction - or pre-emptive - to dat bullshit. Dat was a slaughter, an' Ah'd love to fuck with dem - but Ah don't even know who it was! Who dey were, where dey came from, who sent 'em, nothin'."

"Who the fuck cares if they blame us?! They are going to blame us regardless!" Hepz snapped. "There has to be a way to find 'them'. If they were mutants, they deserve a bullet between the eyes - same as humans."

"Pietro. Why do you insist on siding with the masses stacked against us. I understand the position of devil's advocate, often playing the part myself, but I don't understand your argument. You would with more stories like Jay's happened? That's what happens when you let others do to you as they please. It was a slaughter, one that had no repercussions, no investigation by the authorities that are sworn to protect us."

"I'd rather no one got hurt at all." Pietro replied, "And I don't see why you're trying to steer us towards agreeing that hurting people is sometimes the right thing to do, because it never is."

"That wasn't what you told Hector and Monet," Hepz sneered at him.

Pietro winced but ignored that comment. Not now.

"Never?" Jay rounded on Pietro. "Never right? So...what, what do Ah do when Ah see my sister's killer? D' guy who did dis to me?" He gestured to his side. "Do Ah offer him tea, recommend him a good fuckin' therapist, slap his wrist for bein' a bad boy?"

His voice was climbing in volume, the windows vibrating slightly. "WHat d' ya suggest Ah do, Pietro? Play nice, when Ah had to watch her die?"

"We find the bastard responsible and put him down like a dog. No offense Kyle..." she turned to see him sound asleep and drooling on his desk.

"Do what you think is right..." Pietro told him, "Everyone's entitled to react in their own way. I choose not to hurt people when I can."

"But why? You are so very very good at it!" She snarled at Pietro. "You're just too big a coward to do the 'right' thing. Or let others do what has to be done. You know what I'm talking about."

Jay already knew exactly what he was going to do to the people responsible. He turned away, rubbing his temples distractedly before raking his hands through his hair. Needed to calm down. He went and sat, head in his hands. These were the wrong people to be angry at.

Pietro sighed, leaning to pick up his bag. "I can only say 'I'm sorry' so many times." He stood up, "Sorry Professor, but I need to leave now. I'll be happy to do any extra work you set as punishment."

He tried to hold on to the detached feeling, slowly losing the heat of the temper and feeling oddly empty afterwards.

"You can say it as many times as you want! When I finally stop having nightmares and Mayhem's mind and legs are mended, we'll think about listening!" She imagined launching a book at his head that looked just like the photo in the album hidden in Hector's room.

He stuffed his notebook in his bag and put the bag on his shoulder. "Let me know when that happens..." he walked out of the room.

"Alright that is enough of that." He took control of the room again, raising his voice.

"Little late," she snorted, gathering her own things. Apparently, class was about over, since half the class wanted to cry or kill the other half.

Hepz snarled and slung her books off the desk. "You wanna start doing something about humans abusing mutants?? Start with his fucking family!"

"Please gather up your books, I do believe that we are at the end of the period." He gave Hepz a hard look. "I warned you earlier, this would be a civil talk. Since you cannot behave yourself, you will have detension and kitchen cleaning duty for the next two weeks."

Jay shook his head, standing up and picking up his books, quickly heading out without a word. He'd get the homework later or...something, he just needed space and silence and to be alone.

"Fuck you! You talk standing up against people abusing mutant - but you're just talk! A civil conversation my ass! Why don't you go meet with that bastard's old man and have 'civil conversation!!" She stormed out, leaving her books in the floor behind her.

Erik held his tongue, he would have a talk with Charles later about her. He made the rounds and woke up the students that had spaced or slept through the entire class and sent them on their way. "So... That went well..." He had a small smile on his face regardless.

[JackSkulls]

glad chris wasn't there. he'd be in a mega dilema

[puppygirl]

Probably a good thing wasn't there for this ... all this dodgy talk would have to have been reported right back to SHIELD