Kitty Pryde: Shadow of the Cat

OUT ON THE TOWN

By Yannick Lamarre

NOTE: This series takes place before the events of Uncanny X-Men #1

The Xavier Institute, Westchester County, New York. An honorable mansion which, in its many years, has withstood many calamities, has succumbed to others, but has always been rebuilt to protect its owner, Charles Xavier, and his extended family, the X-men. Many are the ones who came here willingly and called this house their home, but, to Professor Charles Francis Xavier’s greatest disappointment, many are those who also left it, willingly or not. And today might be another such day.

“Kurt, you don’t understand, I don’t think hiding here and waiting for something to happen is the right way of doing things!” Katherine Pryde, they mutant known as Shadowcat was arguing in Professor Xavier’s office.

“But Katzchen, we can’t very well go out there and…” Kurt Wagner, known as Nightcrawler, replied, only to be cut short by Professor Xavier.

“Kurt, please, let’s hear what she has to say.” he calmly said, and all eyes fell on the one who was once the youngest among them.

The Professor’s office currently held four members of the X-men, the yet silent one being Storm.

“Sigh, maybe this is harder for the lot of you to grasp because you all had, well, not so normal lives before you came here, but I didn’t. I had a life once, and I’d like a taste of that again. I’m not asking to move out of the mansion or anything. All I want is go out there with a normal resume and my school certificates and prove to all that… I don’t know… That mutants can also live normally among humans, make friends with them… Isn’t that what the dream is about? Peaceful coexistence? How is that achieved by us hiding in here all day long and going out only to fight the bad, evil mutants out there?” Kitty said, trying her best to prove her point and win the others over.

“So you want to go in New York city and get a job, is that it?” Charles Xavier asked.

Kitty looked at him and nodded.

[Why am I even asking him about this anyway? I’m not a teenager anymore…]

“I don’t know you’re even bothering to ask me about this. You’re not a teenager anymore, and the role of surrogative father isn’t mine to play anymore…” Xavier said with a sigh and a smile, and Kitty knew she had won even before she entered the office.

“Just be careful out there,” Kurt added.

“Nervous, Kitty? I thought you were beyond that,” Ororo Munroe, the woman also known as Storm, told her as she was about to leave.

“I’m probably as nervous as anyone would be when trying to find a job. I doubt I’ll get anything on my first day out…” she said, checking herself in the mirror once again.

She didn’t think she had ever been dressed this cleanly in all her time as an X-man… In all of her life in fact. She wore a suit, black, of course, with a small mini skirt. As if she was going out there to work as a lawyer or something, instead of a clerk somewhere. Her long brown hair still flowed freely, though.

“‘Ro, you really don’t think I’m a bit overdressed? I’m not applying to a bank or anything,” the young woman commented.

Ororo smiled and shook her head. Kitty picked up her purse, looked in it to see if all she needed was in it, and closed it again.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be then. My first job,” she said, looking outside to see if her cab was there.

She could see it coming up Graymalkin Lane. She walked away from the window and towards the door, where she put on her small jacket.

“Well, see you later, ‘ro, wish me luck,” she asked before heading out.

“All the luck the bright lady has to offer,” Storm said.

Kitty smiled one last time and headed out. And, unseen from the window of his room on the second floor, Piotr Nikoleivitch Rasputin watched.

A few hours later, a small McDonalds near Times Square.

“Well, I don’t really need anyone right now, but as soon as I do, I’ll be sure to contact you,” the woman at the counter said, smiling.

Kitty smiled back and thanked the woman before heading out. This was probably the 12th such response she’d had ever since starting out that morning. It didn’t look too encouraging, especially considering the fact nobody seemed to need anyone. As she walked down the street, looking for the fated “Help Wanted” sign, she had to wonder if the continuous refusals were because of something she was doing wrong. There was no way all the employers she had visited had any notion that she was a mutant. Or even a jew, for that matter, her star hidden under her suit. And besides, she doubted she’d have unluckily fallen on twelve consecutive racists.

“I guess I’m simply out of luck…” she stated out loud, seconds before her eyes fell on a small electronics store she hadn’t seen before.

And on the sign on its window. “Help needed”. Kitty smiled and couldn’t believe this turn of event. Coincidence, luck, or miracle from God, she’d never know. She entered the small store. The first thing to hit her about the place was the music, followed by the humming. Celine Dion’s Titanic song. Not the kind of thing she was used to hearing in England, and not the kind of music she appreciated all that much either. Someone at the deep end of the shop was half singing, half humming the song. Various equipment sounds could be heard from the backstore, while the front of it was filled with electronic equipment of all kind. Computers, televisions, radios, cellular phones… All the kind of stuff she had begun feeling familiar with. She had a knack with computers. It was the only way to explain it. Kitty began walking down the aisle towards the counter. She caught sight of a boy working behind it, using a welder to solder two parts together. He didn’t seem all that old either. Looked her age, even. He was wearing a welding mask, though, so she couldn’t very well tell. Another guy was at a nearby computer, apparently trying to figure out some bug in the system. And a girl, about her age when she joined the X-men, was sitting at a table back there too, looking over some papers. When she reached the counter at last, a strong looking man came out of a small room she hadn’t spotted before and walked towards her.

“What can I do for you, li’l missy?” he asked.

He looked old enough. Mid-fifties, at least, but still going strong. He had white hair, with the stray black hair left here and there, and had taken a few pounds with his age, but his face was warm and friendly. He looked like an old farmer out of place in this computer shop. Kitty smiled at the man.

“Um, I’m here for the sign…” she said, pointing back to it back in the window in front.

“I’m afraid that’s not for sale,” the man replied smiling.

“No, I mean for the job. I’m…” she explained herself.

“I know what you mean. I was just kiddin’ with you, girl. So you wanna join our crew, huh?” he said waving his hand at the back of the shop to indicate what he meant by his crew.

The place looked friendly enough. All the others looked up at her when he said that, except for the one welding. He probably hadn’t heard over the noise he was making. And it wouldn’t be hard work for her here. Computers is what she was good at, after all.

“Yes, sir, this place looks good, and I’ve always been good with computers,” she said.

He smiled warmly and nodded.

“Well then, let’s have a look at your credentials then…” he said, again with that smile.

That’s when they came in. Three men opened the door and walked in the small shop. Kitty realized with a bit of surprise she hadn’t even noticed the name of the shop before walking in. The apparent owner of the place, the man she had been talking to, looked up at the three strangers. They were all dressed casually, nothing overly spectacular about them, but the way they walked in the shop and headed to the front of the counter, without looking at any of the stuff in the aisles, and the way one of them kept staring nervously at her tipped her off that something was wrong. This didn’t seem natural at all.

“What can I do for you?” the owner asked.

When the most advanced man looked at her with an hand in his jacket, taking something, she knew something bad was going to happen.

“You better step back,” she warned the older man.

“MUTANT SCUM!” the man shouted, taking out a weapon and aiming it at her.

“All of you, DUCK!” she screamed as loud as she could as the other two men also took out their weapons and aimed them at her.

The first among them fired. Kitty reacted at the speed of thought, her powers kicking in. She phased and let the energy ray released from the weapon pass harmlessly through her. It hit a wall behind her. She leapt at whoever the man who had fired at her was. She had no idea how they knew she was a mutant, but this was exactly what she wanted to avoid today. This didn’t put her in a good mood. The other two men were already firing at her. She solidified and rolled down on the floor, letting the beams pass above her and into the equipment nearby. She swept her leg at the first man who had fired, and, taken by surprise before he could fire again, he went down, landing in a bunch of equipment nearby. The other two fired again, and she phased once more, the beams missing her anyway. They weren’t really good shots. One of them even looked pretty nervous. Shadowcat took the time to let a glance behind her at the backstore. No one was in sight. Good. They had listened to her. But this probably meant she would have the job either. The punch hit her by surprise. She had gotten too close and had dephased without her even realizing it, going in to put the man down, like Logan had taught her to do. She went down, shocked by the sudden pain that hit her. Square in the jaw, too.

“HA! The Friends of Humanity will show you mutie that you can’t fool us!” the man announced.

[The F.O.H.? How in the world did they know about me?]

The man walked up to where she had fallen, probably to kick her while she was down. Kitty grinned. The man brought down his foot, but it passed through her as she phased. He lost his balance, almost falling himself, and Kitty grabbed him, flew him over her head and down the aisle, where he landed head first with a loud thud. Only one left. She turned around to face the remaining man. He was now standing behind the counter, his nervous glance looking all around for help. He held the owner hostage, weapon aimed at his temple. From this range, he wouldn’t miss.

“You’re going to come with me, P-P-Pryde, or I’m going to sh-sh-shoot him,” he nervously announced.

Shadowcat locked her eyes with his.

“What if I don’t?” she asked. “You’re really going to shoot another human? I’ll spare you the trouble. Shoot me instead!” she taunted him, pointing at herself.

“You’ll ph-ph-phase, like they told us you could do,” the guy said.

“Who told you I could do that? Who’s after me?” Kitty asked.

“C-C-Come with me, or I’ll shoot him,” he repeated.

“Shoot me, I won’t phase. Or are you too scared, boy?” she taunted again.

That was the last straw. He let go of the man and aimed at her, shooting almost instantly. But because of his nervousness and previous lack of precision, he sorely missed. Kitty leaped almost instantly, jumping over the corner using the agility of a dancer and slammed both of her feet into his thorax. His breath cut, the man fell to his knees. Kitty finished him up with a knee kick. He was out. She let go of a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding. She looked at the others who came out of their hiding place.

“Anyone called the cops?” she asked.

He was tired. His whole body hurt, and even flying, something that was so natural to him, hurt more than ever before. It was a pain he wasn’t sure his small body could take. But his objective was in sight. He could see the opening in the roof, leading to Kitty’s friend’s room. She would protect him. Kitty would protect him. With the last of his strength, he headed down towards the window. But he came in too fast and crashed through it, landing hard in the X-men’s attic. Storm, who was watering her plant at that instant, gasped in surprise and leapt back from the window. When nothing moved, she approached to see what had fallen through, and she set eyes on the broken body of something she hadn’t seen in quite a while. A purple, alien dragon.

“Goddess! Lockheed!”

A minute earlier.

Logan was the one watching the news when Piotr, the man otherwise known as Colossus, saw what had happened.

“… As today, in this little Times Square shop, this young woman stopped three robbers from stealing an important amount of material…”

“Kid took a hit to the jaw,” Logan remarked, his eye as sharp as usual.

Colossus took particular interest at this point on.

“She’s our teammate, one of us should’ve gone with her today,” the Russian said, watching the rest of the newscast.

“What do you answer to those calling you an heroine?” the reporter asked Kitty.

“I’m no hero. Just doing what any good minded person would do,” she answered with a smile.

But neither Logan or Piotr were fooled. There was something in Kitty’s eyes that didn’t look so reassuring.

“She’s planning on doing something. I’ll offer to help…” Colossus began again.

“Somethings you have to do you yourself, kiddo. It’s the case with Kitty here. Let her do this on her own,” Logan warned.

Before any other discussion could take place, Lockheed crashed into Storm’s attic.

It was only a few hours later when finally Kitty was able to leave the cops and all their lengthy reports to finally head home. She didn’t feel like taking a cab back, and so walked, letting the fresh night air cool her down. She was angry. She was lucky she still had the job at Sam’s Electronics. His thanks for saving his life, he had said. Sam was the owner, as she had previously guessed. But still, someone had been after her today. And by hiring the Friends Of Humanity to bring her here, that person proved he knew what she was. Not only could she had been killed, but the others in the shop too. Her jaw was still sore, and she unconsciously rubbed it gently, trying to dispell the pain she felt. She flinched a little, and stopped what she was doing.

[I’m going to get to the bottom of this. I won’t be played for a fool this way…]

Determined, she continued on her way back to the school. She was going to track down the F.O.H, then whoever had hired them, and get to the person who wanted her so badly.

“You’re not getting away with this,” she said to the night.

London, on the other side of the ocean. The Weird Happenings Organization headquarters. His office was pretty small, but he was happy with it. Or so he guessed. Pete Wisdom had really no idea why in the world he was here. After his little stunt with Black Air, and then with Excalibur, why he would get in this field of work again was beyond him. He knew, somehow, he was bound to get involved with other mutants again. Maybe even with what was left of Excalibur right now… Maybe with Kitty? He brushed the thought aside, slapping the side of his head as punishment for allowing himself to think of her just now. What they had together was past, time to get on with his future. He sighed and sat down at his desk, looking through some files he had to report on. Maybe something interesting would pop up. The door to his office suddenly opened. Wisdom looked up, and a man he had never seen before threw a file on his desk.

“Here, lad, I was told this might interest you,” the man said, then left. Wisdom took the file, and lit himself a cigarette before opening it. It fell from his mouth the second he turned the first page.

“I’ll be bloody damned,” he said.

In bold letters, under a picture, it said: ALIEN BEING ESCAPED FROM THE SHIP BRINGING IT TO US. IT WAS LAST SEEN HEADING FOR AMERICA. IMMEDIATE RETRIEVAL ORDER TO ANYONE READING THESE WORDS.”

Pete cursed himself for reading the file. On the photo, a purple, winged, fire breathing dragon rested on the shoulders of a girl he still loved. And above the photo, two words.

DESIGNATE: LOCKHEED

NEXT ISSUE: Kitty returns home to be shocked by Lockheed’s appearance. Piotr and Kitty have a fight over her independance. Kitty’s first day on the job! All new friends, all new challenges. And why is the Helicarrier hanging over New York anyway? All this and more next issue!!

 

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