I Bet You

Note: Woohoo third chappie. I'm on a roll. BTW, I want to clear up something someone said in their review which is why would Kitty drag Kurt along even though he didn't want to go? C'mon, how many girls drag their unwilling boyfriends (or in this case just good friend) along with them to the mall? A bunch. Also, why did Kitty say no powers when she got to use hers? Well, maybe I didn't explain this very well in the story but Kitty was upset because she felt like the Danger Room thing was too hard for normal mutants, meaning she thought Kurt's teleporting gave him an unfair advantage over the other mutants. He doesn't have to work to avoid anything—he just 'ports around. There, I hope that clears things up.

Now, thank you very much Sidney, Zewy, and CSD for the reviews. Oh, and Sidney kind of gave me an idea on how to finish this story up, so some credit is due there. Thank you again, guys. Read on!

Disclaimer: I don't own friggin X-men Evolution already. Do I have to do this for every story?

Chapter 3:

oOo

"Keety, are you sure about"—

Kurt was cut off my Kitty, who put a finger over his lips. "Relax, Kurt. It's totally, like, fine. I swear. You need to get out more often, fuzzy."

The two were standing outside the Bayville shopping mall. When Kitty looked up at the towering building, she saw glittering windows filled with shiny clothes and shoes. When Kurt looked up, he saw a dark shadow of doom, and the doors in front of him were a gaping maw.

Kitty took Kurt by the hand and led him inside. On the walk to the mall, they'd gotten plenty of curious looks and a few double-takes, but nothing serious. Kitty was long used to it. Kurt, on the other hand, was fidgeting like a frightened child. Well, he was a frightened child.

Inside, there were lots of people, but it wasn't as bad as Kurt imagined. A few strange glances passed by them. Some people whispered. Nothing Kurt couldn't handle. He fought down his paranoid feelings and tried to relax. Kitty seemed happy enough. She was inspecting the directory and planning a shopping route.

"Ah! We're totally going to Aeropostale. Right now," Kitty exclaimed. He grabbed Kurt's hand with a death grip. "C'mon, you fuzzy elf."

Kurt followed along. It wasn't really like he had a choice—Kitty was surprisingly strong and managed to drag him along quite easily.

Kitty checked out everything. Aeropostale and bunch of stores similar to it, Victoria's Secret—Kurt had politely asked to wait outside for that one—and a few other clothing stores whose names he'd forgotten. Kitty was still getting warmed up. Kurt couldn't believe the attention span she possessed when it came to shopping. He was dead bored, but thankfully Kitty had let him go get ice cream and had waited while he poked around in a video game store for a minute.

"Oh, Kurt, I wanna go in there," Kitty begged, tugging at his arm. Kurt shrugged. The store was fluffy and full of pink things.

"Ja. I'm gonna sit out here, ok? I zink I might die from ze pink overload in there."

Kitty giggled a little. "Alright. I'll be back in a minute." She dashed off excitedly.

Kurt sighed. Yeah, a 'minute' really meant half an hour, he'd discovered. He wandered around a bit. This could take a while.

Inside, Kitty pawed through racks of clothes, looking for anything cute. She was having a great time. Kurt had bugged her at first by complaining that people were giving them weird looks, but he'd shut up after a few minutes. Overall, he was a pretty good shopping buddy. He had more stamina than Rouge or Amara did. She couldn't believe he wasn't dead bored. (She was way too excited to notice that he obviously was.)

Kitty was searching through a sale rack when she heard a German expletive, followed by her name.

"Die Hölle von mir weg! Kitty! Hilfe!" The voice was distinctly Kurt's. Kitty also heard another voice, angry and harsh, shouting something very unpleasant back. There was a crash.

Kitty dropped what she was doing and rushed out of the store. Outside and nearby, Kitty saw three boys standing in a circle, surrounding Kurt. Kurt was curled up on the ground, hands around his head. Two of the boys were kicking him in the ribs.

"Shut it, mutie!" one of the thugs snarled, kicking him hard in the gut. Kurt cried out, but did nothing to fight back.

A small crowd was forming around the fight. Horrified, Kitty phased her way through the gathering spectators and came up right between two of the boys.

"Leave him along, jerks," she cried out in her most intimidating voice.

One of the boys glared at her.

"Get out of here, bitch," he snapped. "Unless you wanna join your friend over here." He made a gesture to Kurt's limp form.

That was not cool. Nobody touched her friends, nobody got away with hurting them, and nobody called her a bitch and lived to talk about it. A righteous anger built up inside her tiny body, and an instant later, she started releasing it. The boy closest to her got a kick in the thigh. It didn't seem to hurt him much, so she phased her hand through his head and pulled him to the ground. A second kick in the back of the head seemed to do him in. The guy next to him received a dead-on blow in the family jewels. The last guy raised his hands in defeat and scrambled off. His two buddies jumped up and limped off as well. Kitty snorted like an angry bull, momentarily satisfied with herself.

She noticed Kurt again and bent down to his level. Everything seemed to be moving really quickly. Wow, on an adrenaline buzz are we?, she thought. Kurt was still curled up in a ball, whimpering quietly. He flinched as Kitty brushed her fingers along his shoulder.

"Kurt?" she asked quietly. "You ok, fuzzy?"

Kurt shivered. "Keety, help me," he whispered, barely audible. Kitty drew closer.

"What's wrong?"

Kurt said nothing. Gingerly, Kitty pulled his hands away from his head and helped him sit up. He was bleeding from the mouth and looked pretty bruised around the chest, but other than that, he seemed fine, physically. His eyes were glazed over and distant.

Kitty led him outside. He sat down along the edge of the building and buried his face in his hands. Kitty sat beside him, not sure what to do. "Kurt, like what's the matter?"

"I'm sorry, Keety. I just…got scared back there. I panicked. I don't know vhy…"

Kitty put a hand on his shoulder. "What scared you?"

"I don't know," Kurt replied quickly and dismissively.

Kitty tugged at one of his hands. "Yes, you do, fuzzy. Out with it. Something's got you scared to death."

Kurt sighed and looked up at Kitty. His eyes were still very distant, but when he spoke, his voice was calm, serious. "Ever since I lived in Germany," he said, "being around people has scared me. People….have not always been kind to me." Kitty nodded, understanding the implications. "I've been beaten up before, lots of times, and I just get scared when I'm when I'm in crowds. I feel like I can't do anything."

Kitty rubbed his arm sympathetically. "Like, I'm sorry I made you come with me, Fuzzy. I didn't know it bothered you."

He nodded. "I didn't fight zose boys because I guess I felt like I did vhen I lived in Germany. I always lost fights back zen. I felt helpless." He sighed again. "Does zat sound stupid, Keety?"

"No, not at all. I totally understand. Listen, fuzzy, I'm really sorry I make you uncomfortable all day. Any way I can make it up to you?"

Kurt smiled a little. "Ice cream?" he suggested.

"Uh, we already got ice cream once today, Kurt," Kitty pointed out.

"And your point is?" Kurt grabbed one of Kitty's numerous bags. (Don't ask where the bags were when she was fighting because I don't know. They magically ended up outside, ok? Ok. Good.)

Kitty shouldered a few bags herself. "Oh. Like, why'd I even ask?"

"Kurt shook his head. "Girls."

oOo

Yeah, my first finished multi-chapter story. *Pats self on back*. That was fun. If you liked it and want more, review it for meh. Danke.

-The Ember Raven