CHAPTER 179 — THE PAST AWAKENS
The Danger Room hummed like a beast behind walls. Lights blinked red and gold. Metal panels slid into place. For Kitty Pryde—age thirteen, shoes barely tied, heart hammering—it felt like stepping into a dragon's mouth.
Her palms sweated. She tugged at her sweater, wishing she could melt into the floor. The floor, of course, obliged. Her foot sank through it a little. She squeaked, hopped back up.
"Don't worry, Kitty!" came Nightcrawler's cheerful voice from the control booth above. "All zis—" he waved dramatically, tail curling—"is just rubber and foam. You cannot get hurt."
Storm's voice followed, calm, reassuring. "Child, you are safe. Trust us."
Logan's laugh barked rough from behind the glass. "Yeah, half-pint. Chuck went soft. Took him weeks riggin' this place so nothin' sharp touches ya. You're fightin' pillows today."
Kitty's cheeks burned. "I… I'm still scared."
Angel leaned forward, wings shifting. "Think of it like a game, Kitty. Run the course, reach the other side. That's all."
Colossus smiled, soft as spring. "You can do this, маленькая сестра."
Thunderbird grunted, arms folded. "She better. If she freezes, she'll get us all killed someday."
Logan's glare snapped over. "Ease up, John. It's her first run."
The console beeped. The room shifted. Panels unfolded, walls rose, a pit opened like a yawning mouth. Kitty swallowed hard.
'Okay. Just… walk. Just get across. Don't think.'
She shut her eyes, clenched her fists, and stepped forward. Her body slid through steel walls like mist, through spiked barriers like air, through the gaping pit as though it wasn't there. She didn't run, didn't dodge. Just walked.
On the other side, she opened her eyes. She was safe.
Silence hung. Then—
Logan chuckled. "Well, I'll be. Didn't even break a sweat."
Nightcrawler clapped his hands. "Bravo! You vanted proof of your power? You just ghosted the whole room!"
Thunderbird smirked. "Some X-Man. Close her eyes and pray."
But before Logan could snap at him again, Kitty swayed. Her knees buckled. She collapsed.
"Kitty!" Storm shouted, slamming the console. The Danger Room froze.
They rushed down in a blur—Angel swooping low, Colossus bounding, Logan already kneeling, checking her pulse with rough fingers.
"She's breathin'," Logan growled. "But somethin's wrong. Real wrong."
They carried her to the infirmary. Minutes dragged. Machines beeped. Then—
Kitty's eyes opened.
But it wasn't Kitty in them.
She bolted upright, gasping—and the first face she saw was Nightcrawler's, leaning over with worry. Without hesitation, she flung her arms around him, burying her face against his furred neck.
Nightcrawler froze. "Ah… Kitty? Zis is… unexpected."
Tears streaked her cheeks. "You're alive."
The X-Men exchanged glances.
Storm frowned. "Alive? Child, what are you—"
"I'm not your Kitty," she said, pulling back, voice older, heavier. "Name's Kate. Kate Pryde. From the future."
Thunderbird scoffed. "Oh, come on."
Logan's nose twitched. He narrowed his eyes. He caught the tremor in her voice, the grief in her scent. This wasn't a scared kid bluffing. This was truth carved deep.
"Spill it," he muttered.
Kate's voice cracked as she told them—about the Sentinels, the camps, the graves. About friends dead, about the world teetering on nuclear ash. About Mystique, the Brotherhood, the assassination of a single man spiraling into apocalypse.
The room fell to silence.
Storm whispered, "No… it cannot be…"
Colossus shook his head, hands trembling. "So many dead…"
Thunderbird frowned, arms crossed, but less sure now.
Kate turned to Logan. "You—" she swallowed—"you fought, Logan. You never gave up. You joined the resistance. You—"
Logan cut her off with a crooked smirk. "Heh. Knew I'd go down swingin'. No surprise there." His eyes hardened. "She's tellin' the truth. I can smell it."
Storm drew in a long breath. "Then… what do we do?"
Logan popped a cigar between his teeth, unlit, chewing it instead. "We do what we always do. We fight. And we stop this before it starts."
He looked around at the team, voice low but iron. "Get the jet ready. We're headin' to the Pentagon. Time to babysit a politician."