Template:Featured Articles/9-2017
 Cecilia shook her head. "The answer to death isn't more death. That's not — that's not how justice is supposed to work." She knew what was coming, and so she shook her head. "And I know that the system's broken, obviously, I know as well as anyone and maybe better than most. I mean, hello. Look at me." Her face was growing hot, her speech getting faster. "But you don't respond to murder with more murder, Quentin. That's not what you do, and it's an insult to all the people who we've lost to cops and bigotry and hatred and the people who—" She squeezed a fist, trying to center herself. This wasn't someone she wanted to lose composure in front of. Not again, anyway. "These are people. She's an awful monster, sure, but she's a person with a life. You don't kill her to make a point." The ice cream was going to melt if he didn't put it in a freezer soon. Still, watching the doctor get flustered and stumble was more delicious than frozen sugar milk. Quentin flipped the coin, caught it, and when he opened his hand, it was gone. "Isn't that what the American justice system really is about, though?" he challenged her. "That's the point of capital punishment. 'You did this terrible thing, now you lose your life, and let this be a warning to any other poor SOB who tries to do the same thing.' So this serial killer, whoever they are, they're kind of a patriot. God bless America." "And you believe in capital punishment?" Cecilia raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? Just because something exists doesn't make it right. Don't straw man like that with me." "I'm just saying he's following the spirit of the law and enforcing it where the state fails." He sauntered towards her, smirking, and reached a hand up behind her ear to conjure the coin again. "Isn't that kind of Chuckles's whole gig? Fill the void to protect mutant interests where the authorities fail to do so." Her force field kicked in, stopping his hand a few inches short and sending it rebounding slightly in the other direction. She tried not to look too satisfied with that. "Following the spirit of a broken law. I don't think Charles thinks murder is in the mutant interest. He understands that lives have value. Even wasted ones." Taken by surprise, Quentin dropped the coin from his sleeve, and tried to recover his poise by stepping back with the same blase attitude. A wave of his fingers telekinetically returned the coin to his hand. "That's just the dementia setting in," he retorted. She rolled her eyes as the coin settled back in between his knuckles. "Charles is a lot of things. Senile isn't one of them." He snorted. "You're right. He's also deaf, blind, and an ineffective leader whose life's work to improve the sociopolitical status of mutants has generated no substantive results. About the only thing he's good for is free rent and an overabundance of stealable ice cream." Cecilia stood there for a second, sizing him up again. "You're ridiculous," she finally said, with a smile, because she suspected it might tick him off. "You live here rent-free, entirely cared for, with nobody asking you to do anything or be anyone. And you spend the whole time complaining, insulting people, doing whatever it is you do, pretending to have next-to-no-empathy, even though we both know that isn't entirely the case. But, fine." She held up her hands in mock deference, because it felt appropriately condescending. "You hate everyone. You hate everyone so much, that you deride a man with a vision and a plan, which, okay, sure, doesn't seem to be working. But hey, you know, he's trying something." She crossed her arms. "What do you do, Quentin? Besides get high and write screeds to teenagers, or maybe recite the same political viewpoints that you probably saw somewhere on a 'We Are The 99%' Facebook group or read in the Wikipedia article for Marx? All those people you want to help? They're out there, buddy. They're waiting for somebody to do something, to help solve all those problems you talk so much about. So, Quentin, what are you gonna do besides sit in your free mansion bedroom, eating free Cherry Garcia and jacking off to free online porn?" |
