Sept. 11th: Anger Leads to Hate, Hate Leads to Suffering...

[Sofia Santiago]

((open))

Sofia was standing in the common room, staring out the window at the gates. There weren't as many protesters as there were previously, just a handful really, but a few dedicated people still milled about with signs.

Sofia glared daggers at them. She was gripping her cell phone tightly in one hand and looked downright murderous.

[Alex Maurell]

Alex steps into the common room, backpack slung over on shoulder. He spots Sofia at the window and follows her stare at the small rally in front of the gates.

"They never quite seem to go away do they." A statement, more than a question. It's been annoying to see the hate group reappear once every few days.

[Sofia Santiago]

For a second, Sofia is quiet. Her silence lasts just long enough to make Alex wonder if she heard him.

"They are trash," Sofia finally says quietly.

Surprisingly, despite how angry she sounds, Sofia sounds like she's about to cry.

[Alex Maurell]

He sets his bag by one of the chairs near the window before sitting down himself. He had planned on using this time to study but this seemed more important.

"<They're ignorant.>" He murmurs back in Spanish. He remembers that she spoke it at the party and figured that it was her mother tongue, just like it was for the majority of his family. One's mother tongue was easier to use if you wanted to speak from the heart, as his aunt would say.

[Sofia Santiago]

Sofia smiles, but her smile is cold and bitter.

"<They are not ignorant,>" Sofia says. "<They know what they're doing. They're scum. Wastes of flesh.>"

Sofia is gripping her phone so hard her knuckles are white.

"<I should go down there and...>"

She stops herself before she can finish the thought.

[Alex Maurell]

"<And what? Prove them right? Prove to them that mutants are dangerous?>" He watched her hands, trying to gauge what would be the right words in the right tone.

"<I know it hurts. But this isn't a fight you can win with your powers.>" He'd like nothing more than to do just that but experience taught him how dangerous that type of thinking can be.

[Sofia Santiago]

"<Who the fuck cares if they're right or wrong?>" Sofia snaps at Alex. "<And don't tell me how much you think I'm hurt. You have no idea what I'm feeling right now, do you?>"

Sofia presses her hand against the glass. A chill runs through the room as cracks appear in the window, "<I just want to hurt them.>"

[Alex Maurell]

Alex flinches a little, tensing in preparation to run just in case she decides to target her powers on him.

"<I know your hurting enough to do something stupid.>" He rubs his thumb over the scar on his right palm nervously, "<But if you were, they'd simply become martyrs to their cause and you an example to use against others like us.>"

"<Do you really want to make it harder for mutants out there than it already is?>"

[Sofia Santiago]

"<I don't care about other mutants,>" Sofia says angrily. "<They can all go rot in hell.>"

[Alex Maurell]

"<I don't think you actually want that.>"he says softly.

[Sofia Santiago]

"<You don't even know me,>" Sofia says bitterly.

"<...All I can think about is hurting them,>" Sofia says. "<They get to attack us and yell at us and hurt us, but we have to stand there and take it? Why? What good does it do to let the world know that they can take away everything and we will do nothing.">

[Alex Maurell]

"<Don't have to know you that well to know you're a good person.>"

"<I'm not saying simply take it but attacking back will only lead to more trouble.>" He sighed, glancing from her to the protest outside. "<Civil rights are never won at the end of a gun. MLK, Gandhi, hell even Malcolm X knew this.>"

[Sofia Santiago]

<"I don't care about any of that,"> Sofia snaps again, her voice raw with anger and bitterness. <"This isn't about getting rights or dignity or respect or any of that horseshit. They killed someone I loved. They killed her. Are you going to tell me to just let that go?">

The casing of Sofia's cell phone cracks and splinters in her hand. The lights are flickering and the room is getting cold enough to see your breath.

[Alex Maurell]

He could feel a vague pressure in his chest, instinct to run mounting as the construct voice their concern in the back of his mind. Still he remains where he's seated.

"<Yes.>" A simple statement with possible dire consequences but he trusted that Sofia wouldn't actually hurt him.

[Sofia Santiago]

Sofia pauses for a moment.

"Fuck that," Sofia says finally. The window explodes outwards in a shower of glass shards.

"I'm going to give those ugly bastards something to be afraid of."

[Alex Maurell]

He flinched, surprised by the sudden explosion. He could only sit there and watch her in shock. Perhaps he should have kept his mouth shut.

[Sofia Santiago]

Sofia jumps out the window, spectral ribbons catching her and breaking her fall, and starts heading across the grounds towards the gate.

[Alex Maurell]

"Shit." Alex is up the moment she's out the window, watching her touch down on the ground safely does not make him feel any better.

Still he's not going to jump out of the window after her. Instead he rushes for the stairs and out the door as quickly as he can.

[Sofia Santiago]

((And the thread continues here!))