That cat was the devil incarnate. Drew was sure of this. His bloodied arms were proof enough. Scratches crossed his arms from the hands up to his biceps. He would be wearing a t-shirt on the day he was called on to save a cat from a tree. Yes save a cat from a tree. He would have left the animal alone if it's owner, a young girl, hadn't been crying as though her birthday, Christmas, Halloween, and Easter had all been canceled. In fact he'd tried to ignore her too. But he didn't make it more than a few steps past the girl when he'd felt a tug on his shirt and had turn to see her giving him a watery hopeful stare.

"Will you save Sweetums Mister?" she'd asked in a tearful voice.

Curse him for being such a sucker. He couldn't say no. So there he was up a tree in a park not a block from the mansion staring a large ginger cat down. Why did he think a staring contest with a cat would work? He didn't but darn it if he wasn't going to try and win against the beast somehow. It stared at him for several moments with nothing but blank contemplation in it's face. Then it turned away and started bathing a paw. Meanwhile below the girl was calling to the cat.

"Sweetums! Sweetums come down! He won't hurt you Sweetums! The nice man is just trying to help!"

Andrew snorted. With a name like Sweetums is it any wonder the cat had rebelled and climbed up a tree?

"Come on you blasted cat. All you have to do is let me take you down there and she'll probably spoil you rotten with all the tuna and milk you can eat."

He reached for the cat again, only to get a swipe of claws across his cheek for the trouble.

"Hmph. Sweetums. More like Satan."

Being an X-man was not always as glamorous as one might think; at least it wasn't killing giant claythulhus every day. Sometimes it was more of a... Community service. In order to improve the public image of the X-men, and in close relation, mutants as a whole. They had to do something extra, right?

So when Saphirus spied, from across the street in a little park, a little girl staring up a tree, he had to stop in and offer assistance. He had just been out patrolling, so he was decked out in his Masochist uniform, and he had to admit he looked pretty damned heroic stopping those jay-walkers and low level muggers. Still, the everyday small time stuff was worth it for when the real action happened.

"Citizen, is there something I may assist with?" He called from across the street, looking both ways(to set a good example), before jogging toward her. As he neared, he realized that someone was already up the tree... Damn! He'd been too late.

Or... Had he? It looked like they were having a little trouble. Hmmm... Maybe he would come in handy after all. An X-man surely had a better chance of charming down a frightened, innocent animal than some well meaning street kid, right? He walked up to the tree, looking up at the man in it. "Having fun up there?" He figured he didn't have to take his hero tone with everyone. People in their twenties just didn't respond as well to it.

"You look like you could use a hand."

He'd opted not to use a mask as the Masochist. If he was going to act as a member of the X-men, even as a trainee, he might as well do it openly and proudly. Plus, smiling went a long way when it came to people trusting you.

The tone of the voice when he first heard it made Drew think that maybe he'd stumbled onto the set of some superhero movie. Who spoke like that? Drew looked down the tree to see someone vaguely familiar decked out in what Drew could only assume was a uniform of some sort. Well, if nothing else he had the body for it. Drew appreciated the view until the man turned and looked up at him. That afforded him a better look at who he was and the emblem on his chest. He'd seen this guy around the mansion from time to time but he'd never spoken to him. Drew had generally had other places to be and other things to do. The man switched up his tone of voice when talking to him. That was good. That heroic stuff would have gotten old fast.

"Loads of fun. Come on up and join the party."

He smirked at the man.

"Hey if you want be a scratching post for a little while be my guest."

Having said that Drew shifted his position in the tree a few branches so that the guy could have a clear path. He was quite willing to let the new guy acquire a few battle scars to prove the cat's viciousness before trying to help again. He got comfortable as he could in the tree branches. Then Drew fixed the cat with a glare. It had better not cuddle up to this guy like he was some kind of animal whisperer or something. The cat glared back and then returned to it's bath.

Saph had a feeling he'd seen this kid's face before. Prolly around the mansion, as he'd been in charge of keeping an eye on the security cameras(which he still hated) monitors. He saw lots of faces throughout the day, so he couldn't really be sure; best not to say anything about it.

A cocky grin appeared on Saph's face as the man invited him up. He turned back to the little girl. "Don't worry. We'll have your pet down in no time!" He was up the tree pretty quickly, considering he did most of the climbing with one side of his body. When he got into place, he turned to the kid.

"I got a secret weapon... I ain't worried." He then reached up with his right hand. The cat lashed out at it with a hiss, but it's claws didn't seem to sink in at all. It tried again with both claws, batting at the hand to no affect. Saph grinned. It was near impossible to cut him on the right side- now all he needed to do was grab this little pest.

The cat was a quick learner, though, and it decided to switch tactics. Instead of just batting at the hand, it jumped right into his face and scratched up a storm.

"AGH!! Son of a B#$%#@%@%ing sl$#^@@!^^@ popcorn @#%@!^^ toast!" He quickly lost his balance, and fell right from the tree, spinning in the air and landing on his right side, ironically, much like a cat. The left side of his face was peppered in little lacerations. He sat up slowly, apparently unharmed otherwise.

The cat was still in the tree... It looked like it had jumped off when it felt them falling. Wait... Was it... Smiling? Could cats smile? He swore it looked like it was getting some kind of... sick kitty joy from this. With a few twitches, a momentary probe of the cuts on his face, and a clenched fist, he climbed to his feet, looking up just in time to see the cat spring at Drew's face as well.

He quickly went over the ethics of punching a cat in the face in his head.

He had a secret weapon huh? Drew watch skeptically as the man reached for the devil cat. It's claws seemed to bounce right off of him. Really? If he succeeded then Drew would be really annoyed. However the devil cat lived up to it's previous performances. It learned quickly and attacked the man's face. Drew couldn't help himself, he smirked. It was not the nice thing to do but he smirked anyway because he really didn't want a stranger with a conveniently helpful power to succeed where he had failed. The string of foul language that escaped the man's mouth was impressive. He'd never heard the words popcorn and toast used in that context before.

"Careful, young ears are present."

You could probably hear the smirk in his voice. Unfortunately he didn't have long to gloat because the evil beast apparently decided that he'd been spared long enough. It launched a new offensive against his face. Drew did his best to fend the ginger tabby off but it had taken offense to his face and would not be deterred. When it finally settled back onto it's branch he was graced with many new scratches and a bite or two. The cat merely sat back and smirked in its feline fashion. He could have sworn it was laughing at them.

"You're doing this for the girl." Drew muttered under his breath.

That became his mantra as he reached out again toward the cat. It considered his arm for a long minute. Drew felt hopeful that the whole thing might be over. Then an unholy glee entered it's golden eyes and it chomped down on his hand. It was all Drew could do not to swear and fling the vile critter against the tree.

Saph almost laughed as he watched his seemingly sarcastic partner in heroism get scratched up... Almost. He was too busy hating the cat to feel anything either way. He did look to the girl, who didn't seem to care much about his string of curses. She let out a squeaky. "Don't hurt him! He's really a nice kitty!" Yeah. Right...

They needed a different approach if they were gonna get this right. Saph used the force he'd gathered from falling off of the tree to hop up the other side, grabbing a hold of a couple branches and pulling himself in. "Ey, Guy... What's your name, by the way? Ima try and get him from this side. Distract 'im." Saph struggled to get through the branches of the tree; it was thicker on this side, so it would take a little work.

"alright... almost... there." He reached his hand out to get into the best position, and felt something squishy... "Oh... No... awwwwww SICK!" He didn't even think it was possible for a cat to crap in a tree! It was like he'd planted it as a mine! Saph was busy trying to wipe his hand clean when the cat gingerly hopped up above Drew, just outside of his reach, and popped a squat.

This thing really was evil!

After a couple of minutes the cat let him go and Drew pulled his arm back. He heard more than saw his fellow attempted cat rescuer re-enter the fray.

"Andrew Leroy."

He kept the introduction short since they were essentially "at work". Distraction huh? Well he could do that well enough. All he had to do was reach out to the cat. Unfortunately it seemed the cat had prepared if his colleague's shouts of disgust were anything to go by. The cat, not content with hitting only one of them with that particular tactic chose that point to hop to a branch above him and attempt to replicate it. Drew would have none of it. Except that being in a tree was not conducive to being able to move quickly and safely. While moving from branch to branch his grip slipped and Drew was left with an abrupt fall and an abrupt stop.

Luckily there had been a branch perfectly situated to catch him. Not so lucky was how the branch had caught him. Drew looked up to see where the cat was because he certainly wasn't moving just yet. There was the blasted cat, a mere two branches above him, with the closest thing a real cat could get to a Cheshire grin on it's little furry mug.

"Is it animal cruelty if the animal is the one being cruel?"

After a long minute Drew got up from his fall and began climbing back up into the upper branches, following the path of the sadistic feline.

"This thing actually dropped a load in this tree! I think it did it on purpose!" Nah... Keep your head straight, Masochist... Cats didn't do stuff like that. They didn't have the mental capacity to enjoy the pain of others... right?

"They call me the Masochist."

He heard Andrew fall, and froze in place. Wincing as he gathered where he'd hit from the sounds coming from that direction. Ouch. He decided to try and get a better position while the cat was distracted, milking up poor Andrew's anguish. He got pretty far up before he stopped, and looked down. Andrew was coming up... And the cat was slowly drawing up higher... But it looked like the cat didn't see him above them... A triumphant grin appeared on his face as he held up a finger to shush his accomplice, and waited for the cat to be chased right into his open arms.

This might be easier than he thought!

Numerous things were conspiring to ruin his perfectly good anger. Chief among them was that he was chasing the rascally feline right into the now named Masochist's arms. Second however was the name of his associate. Masochist? Seriously?! Who named themselves that?! He'd have broken up with laughter if he didn't think the cat would understand and suddenly realize the trap. Drew continued chasing the cat upward into Masochist's waiting arms. It was hard not to smirk. Soon they'd have the beastie right where they wanted...aha!

The cat was on a branch right within his partner's reach. Hopefully it hadn't seen him yet. If he could grab the furry devil by the scruff of the neck or something they'd have it and could be rid of it. The girl had better be thankful after all of this. Drew was going to be scratched up and sore for days. He sure wasn't going to DocProf for another lecture. Maybe this cat was put here to make him suffer more? It seemed likely. Someone or something took offense to him not having some drama going on in his life and decided to put a devil cat in his path.

"Come on...." he muttered under his breath.

They were so close!

Yes. They were close! Saph, in his precarious balance on the branch above, looked down upon Andrew with a grin as he leaned forward to reach for the cat... and a tiny branch snapped beneath his foot.

Crack! The cat looked right up at him... Right into his eyes; right into his very soul. It let out a surprised hiss, and then jumped up, using his head and face as a ladder to get above him. The face scratches would have been bad enough, but he was already off balance. The small bit of added force was enough to pitch him forward, and he found no branches to reach out and stop himself on...

"Ahhh craaaaaaaa-" Saphirus half expected a lumberjack to come out of nowhere and scream 'TIMBER!' as he fell right at Andrew, trying anything he could to try to prevent the tragedy that was bound to happen here. There wasn't a whole heck of a lot he could do.

So close, yet so... so far away.

Drew shared a grin with his compatriot. Soon they would triumph over the beast and there would be much celebration. They would have proven their superiority over the cunning animal. At least they would have if Mother Nature wasn't favoring the animal that day. The Masochist, which was still a really goofy alias, nearly had the cat when a small branch snapped. The Cat was warned and used the other man's face as a launching pad to go further up the tree.

The other man couldn't keep his balance.

Drew suddenly felt very like Charlie Brown.

"Oh brother." he managed to say before the inevitable crash happened. They tumbled to the ground.

"That cat is just plain evil. It even has the tree in on its scheme."

Drew sat up and looked at the other guy.

"You ok?"

Stupid question really but he was putting off going back up that tree.

The next thing Saph knew, he was on the ground, the other guy, Andrew, was next to him. He lay there for a second, not answering when Drew asked him if he was okay for at least a few seconds.

He had fought the worst crimes, and killed some of the most devious villains... But a little cat was kicking his arse. "Yeah... Yeah I'm okay."

The little girl ran up to check on them. "Are you okay?!" She shouted, worried... He nodded. "We're both fine." Alluva sudden, Saph paused, and looked up at the girl, looking a bit confused. She tilted her head a little. "What is it, mister?"

"Nothing." He replied quickly, before tapping Andrew on the shoulder. "I have a new plan. C'mere, we'll talk it over." With that, he climbed to his feet, and walked down the sidewalk a little, waving the other man to follow.

Well at least they were both ok. Though that cat was staring down at them triumphantly.

Yeah, you smirk you devil cat. Just wait till I get my hands on you.

The girl was concerned about them apparently and asked if they were ok. After the other guy replied Drew smirked and muttered.

"Nothing hurt but what little pride I had left."

Oh! Apparently there was a plan! Joy of joys! Ok, maybe he was exaggerating a little there but it was his mind and Drew could exaggerate as much as he wanted to. Still, a plan was better than no plan so he got up and followed the other guy down the sidewalk a little ways.

"So what's the plan? Ditch the cat and go get some bandages and a beer or two?"

Because stranger or not he was a mansionite and apparently an X-Man like Maya-slash-Gawain. And really, what else would you do after you got defeated by a mangy feline?

Saph walked out of earshot of the little girl. Looked back, and smiled to her, waving. She waved back. He then turned to Drew with a serious look on his face. "Something ain't right."

He looked back to the little girl once again, and then back, shivering a little.

"Y'see... I got this thing... When people or objects move fast around me, I can feel it. It's like my sense of touch just... extends past my skin. I can't feel everything, just things that are moving fast... I can't believe I didn't notice it until now, but when that cat moved, and when that girl ran up to us... I didn't feel a damn thing. It's like... Like they ain't even there."

He looked back one last time, as if he expected the child to disappear. She just smiled sweetly. "Another thing... Where are her damned parents? They just let their kid hang out in a park?" He didn't know exactly where he was going with this... Every conclusion he thought of didn't make a lick of sense. Was she a figment of both of their imaginations? If so, what about the damned cat? He still had stinging scratches where the damned little devil had tried to cut him to ribbons. He paused, and then ran a finger across one of the wounds, bringing it to his nose... it didn't smell like the coppery smell he'd grown way too used to... hell, it didn't smell like anything... He then realized he'd used the same hand he'd gotten the cat gift on... and... it didn't smell like that, either...

"Something ain't right at all... But we can't act like anything is wrong... We gotta go find this out. You game?" He clapped his hands, as if they just finished having a productive meeting on tactics.

"Brilliant!" He then turned and headed back... realizing at the last second that they didn't think of any ideas on how to pretend they were trying to catch the cat still. "And yeah... A drink sounds great after this."

Ok, so the girl apparently didn't exist. What the hell?! Drew's brows furrowed as he tried to think through the confusion. Ok, apparently this guy had some sort of movement sense that didn't go off when it should have when the cat and the girl moved. That was pretty creepy. But the scratches were real weren't they? Apparently the other guy thought of that at the same time Drew did because he sniffed at the wounds and at his other hand. Drew curiously followed the same routine with his own wounds. Nothing. There was no telltale smell of blood. What the hell? Drew ran a finger down one of the bleeding cuts. It hurt but when he pulled his finger away there was no blood.

So now their job was to figure out what was happening without giving a hint that they knew something was up? Great. Just perfect. Why did everything have to go weird around him? Allison would love this. She'd probably be laughing at him. With a sigh he followed his compatriot back to the tree and the girl. Just how were they to search for the culprit behind this illusion or whatever it was without letting on that they knew something was up? That wasn't exactly something that had been touched on in the strategy meeting in which he had had nothing to say. The girl was looking at them curiously as the got closer again. Thinking quickly, Drew went over to the girl.

"What does Sweetums like? Maybe if we know that we can get whatever it is and coax him down?"

The girl looked thoughtful for a moment.

"He really likes fish and catnip and um...his squeaky mouse toy!"

Drew pretended to give it thought, hoping that Masochist (seriously what a name!), caught on to what he was doing and started looking around.

"Well maybe there's a store nearby that we could go to and get some fish or something."

Please let this work. Drew would rather not go up in that tree again!