ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

By Yannick Lamarre

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

Kitty watched the sun rise as she walked down Graymalkin Lane with some degree of wonder. She had been working at Sam’s Electronics for a week now, and nothing strange had happened ever since her conversation with Ogun. Lockheed was completely healed, and Wisdom had returned overseas without any problems. For now, at least, only one thing remained that could still affect her. Her father. The F.O.H., after their very public meeting where she had last seen him, were now hanging low, and to Kitty it only meant this was the calm before the storm. Lockheed screeched after her from the mansion, and she turned back to see him flying towards her, flapping his wings as hard as he could to reach her. He was healed, but still a little weak, and it took him a small extra effort to get to her.

“Lockheed!” she said, “You know you can’t come with me! People can’t know I count an alien dragon as my best friend!”

But he cooed gently, and she smiled, putting him gently around her neck, resting her head against him.

“But I guess you could always hide somewhere until I’m done,” she added. “Besides, I need the company.”

He cooed again, and rested his head on her shoulder. She gently pet him on his head, and he responded by rubbing it against his hand.

“But you can’t stay there, I’m taking the bus,” she told him, opening her handbag.

It was big enough, and she always kept it pretty empty, just in case something like this did happen.

“Hop in,” she told him, and he left her shoulders to lie down in the bag, his head popping out of it.

She smiled at him, and continued on her way to the bus stop. As she walked, memories of her father, Carmen Pryde, came back to her. His face torn by rage, but his eyes showing something else. Some deep sense of sadness. She shook her head then looked into her bag, only to see Lockheed looking back up at her curiously. He gently cooed what she knew was a question.

“I’m okay, I guess. I’m just still shocked, you know?” she responded, and he cooed that he knew. “Something just doesn’t fit,” she continued. “My dad isn’t a murderer. He never said anything that I can remember against mutants. This makes no sense, I’m a mutant! The Carmen Pryde I know never would have gone into the F.O.H. And he never, never would have tried to… Kill me.”

The reality of it sank in again, and she felt she would cry again, but Kitty shut her eyes, willing herself not to let this happen. And it didn’t. The sadness subsided, and she was in control again. Lockheed looked at her, waiting for her to continue, like he knew she would.

“Anyways, I thought I could try calling mom about all this. Maybe she knows something I don’t about him. Like why he’s in the Friends…” she finished.

They were at the bus stop now, and it was empty of people, as always. Most of the time only residents of the Xavier Institute who didn’t own a car and didn’t want to take a cab waited for the bus here. Lockheed hid himself completely into the bag, and Kitty zipped it close, leaving a small hole for him to breathe easily. She stepped in the bus, and headed out towards New York City.

Kitty reached the back door of the workshop 15 minutes too early. It was still locked. Sam probably hadn’t arrived yet, so she walked around the block a little, watching the people in Times Square come and go. It was less crowded during the day, but there was still it’s fair share of people. She finally decided on a dark alley where the sun couldn’t get through between the tall buildings, and where no one walked into. She stepped into it, put her bag down, and unzipped the handbag. Lockheed crawled out, a bit angry at having to be stuck into so small a place.

“Sorry, but I can’t let you be seen. I’m going to have to go soon. Maybe you could hang around the rooftops around here, or the one above the workshop,” she explained to him, and he nodded.

She pointed to the huge digital watch on a building nearby where the time of day was clearly shown.

“I get off for lunch at 11h45. I’ll eat alone for your sake,” she said, smiling. “Catch up with me around then, I’ll be waiting behind the workshop for you. I’ll get you something to eat.”

He growled a bit more about being stuck in the bag, but then cooed that he understood what she’d said. She nodded, and he flew off toward the rooftops, careful to stay in the shadows cast by the buildings. He was so high up now people would think he was a bird anyway. Satisfied, she walked out of the alley and returned to the workshop. When she arrived there Sam Young had arrived, and was in the process of unlocking the door. Rachel was listening to her discman, eyes closed, beside him. Rachel didn’t even notice Kitty had arrived.

“Hey Sam! Good morning!” she told him warmly.

“Good morning to you, Kitty!” he responded, shaking her head and smiling.

He looked at his daughter, expecting her to say something, but when she didn’t he shrugged and turned the key, opening the door. He walked in and Kitty held the door open for Rachel to walk in. She seemed to notice her for the first time and she smiled, nodding slightly her thanks. Kitty nodded in response and stepped in, leaving the door to slowly shut itself. Sam was busy opening the lights of the shop. Rachel finally took off her discman, putting it down carefully on her work table.

“Don’t you have school today?” Kitty asked, trying to spark some conversation.

“Nah, day off. I’ve got a three day weekend,” Rachel explained, sitting down in front of a table where various unopened bills waited for her.

“Oh. Well, you’re a lucky one then,” Kitty answered, trying to get Rachel to smile, but the young teenager simply shrugged and started opening a few letters.

Kitty watched her for a few seconds, trying to guess just what was going on in that girl’s head, then simply gave up and walked toward Sam’s office.

“Was I ever like that when I was 13?” she wondered.

She stepped in Sam’s office, and waited while he finished some placing some files in a folder. It wasn’t a really big office. It had a desk, and a file cabinet, but not much of anything else. Sam finally turned from the file cabinet and smiled at her.

“Don’t just stand there, girl, get in here!” he said, smiling.

Kitty smiled in return and walked in. She threw a glance at Rachel, who was busy working already.

“It’s weird seeing a 13 years old do the bills for a place like this,” Kitty said, sitting down on a chair in front of Sam’s desk.

“She’s a genius when it comes to numbers. She hasn’t made any major mistakes in the six months since she started doing this, and I trust her,” Sam said, going to the coffee machine just outside of his office.

He had activated it on his way in, and now the coffee was ready. He took out a small plastic cup and filled it.

“Want some coffee?” he offered.

“Yeah, please,” she answered, and he filled a cup for her.

Sam sat down in front of her and handed Kitty the cup.

“We got some new computer parts from some company in Maine last night. I’d like it if you could test them sometime this morning. Some folks have asked for them, and they’ll come pick some up this afternoon,” Sam said, stopping to drink some coffee.

“Okay, I’ll do it right away,” she said, taking a sip of the coffee, then rising from the chair to head into the workshop.

“Good, glad to see you’re feeling better,” he said, smiling at her.

“I… I wanted to thank you, Sam, for giving me this job. I mean, I didn’t even have to do an interview or anything,” she said.

Sam smiled and shook his head slightly.

“It was my pleasure, after what you did for us,” he said, looking at her with a strange look she couldn’t quite recognize.

She assumed he meant the attack by the F.O.H.

“I’m sorry about that too. It was me they were after,” she replied, but he simply shrugged.

“It happens,” he responded. “Don’t worry about it.”

He took out a few order files from his desk, and took out a parts catalogue.

“Well, I’ll be going then,” she said, and walked out of the office.

Rachel had put her discman back on while she was reading. Kitty looked around to see if anyone else had arrived while she had been talking with Sam, but no one else was there besides her and Rachel. Kitty looked at her watch. If anyone else was working this morning, he or she had 5 minutes left. As if on cue, the back door opened, and Jonathan Niles stepped in. He looked around the store to see who was there, locked gaze with Kitty for a second, then continued on in the shop to sit down at his workstation. He activated his computer and waited while it slowly started up.

“Well, good morning to you too,” Kitty said, staring at him.

Jonathan turned around and looked at her with a puzzled glance.

“I’m sorry, did you speak to me?” Jonathan asked.

“Aw, just forget it!” Kitty said, walking behind him into the workshop.

The boxes with the various new parts were waiting at the back of it. She studied the various components, quickly taking mental notes of their uses and the various ways she could test them out. The back door opened once again, but the sound of the voice that followed was enough for Kitty to know who was in.

“Hang on to your hats, boys and girls, Meli’s in the house!” Melissa Heartridge announced proudly, walking into the store and laughing.

“Great, now all we need is the Boy Wonder,” Jonathan stated out.

Kitty threw a quick look at the schedule on the wall just in front of her. Michael’s name wasn’t on the list for Friday. His day off.

“Hey there, Kit-Kat, how’s it going?” Melissa asked, joining her side to take a look at next week’s schedule.

“It went fine until you used that silly nickname!” Kitty said with a smile.

Melissa returned it then headed for Sam’s office.

“Hey pup!” she told Rachel as she walked beside her.

Rachel didn’t reply. She seemed completely lost in her work. Melissa continued on her way as if that was normal, and knocked on Sam’s door, entering without waiting for the reply.

“Hey boss, what’s the workload for today?” she asked, closing the door behind her.

“Girl’s like a damned tornado,” Jonathan said coldly.

“At least she’s alive,” Kitty replied, but Jonathan seemed as involved in his work as Rachel now was.

Her thoughts suddenly flashed to Michael Ramsey. It had been a shock at first, and that feeling of weirdness had stayed for a day or two afterwards every time she saw him. He looked so much like Doug, it was crazy. The two had very different attitudes though, and that was usually enough to break the illusion. He had some of Doug’s traits, like some of his genius, but Michael was much more forward where Doug would have been more on the shy side. She smiled, remembering some of the time she had spent with Douglas working on some computer project or another. She shook her head, clearing it of those thoughts, then got to work. It was time for another day to start.

Around two hours later, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier reappeared above the New York skies. Nobody seemed to mind it. These days it had become a common enough sight. But aboard the massive flying headquarter, general panic spread as every system suddenly went out of anyone’s control. A man walked inside Nick Fury’s office after he had been subdued by mercenaries of all kinds, and looked at one of his henchmen.

“Are we ready to broadcast?” he asked.

“Yes sir, ready when you are!” the soldier replied.

“Good, another 13 minutes and we will,” he said.

Kitty had a small 15 minutes break at 10:15 that day. She turned around from the keyboard and rose from her chair, heading for the telephone in the corner of the shop. Melissa was busy in front of the store with two clients, Jonathan hadn’t moved all day, and Rachel was taking a glass of water beside the coffee machine. Sam was busy with another client who had asked to see him about a reservation. She opened the phone and quickly dialed her mother’s number in Chicago. She had moved there a while ago, and was working in a small clinic there. The phone rang twice before someone picked up.

“Hello?” the voice said.

Kitty recognized it at once.

“Mom? It’s Kitty! How’s it going?” she asked with a smile.

Hearing her mother’s voice was always welcome. It had been an especially long time since she’d last heard her, let alone see her.

“Kitty! It’s been so long! What have you been up to?” her mother responded.

“Oh, a few things. I found myself a part-time job. You knew I was back in the States, right?” Kitty said, smiling.

“Yeah, I got your last letter a while ago. You should visit sometime soon!” her mother said.

“I’ll try! I’ve been pretty busy!” Kitty replied.

“So, why are you calling anyways?” her mother asked.

Kitty took a deep breath. Why was she calling anyway?

“Um… Have you heard anything about dad, recently?” Kitty asked hopefully.

Anything might be a good start toward some kind of explanation. Her mother seemed to think it over for a few seconds, the sighed into the phone.

“No. It’s starting to worry me in fact. I haven’t heard from him in almost a year,” she said.

“About the same time I last heard from him too,” Kitty realized but didn’t say anything.

“What about you? Did you?” Kitty’s mother continued.

“I think I saw him a few days ago in New York. That’s why I was asking. I’ll call you back if I see him again, okay?” she asked.

“All right! Call back as soon as you can, honey! It’s good to hear your voice!” her mother said.

“I will. I love you, bye!” Kitty said.

“Bye!” Kitty’s mother responded, and she hung up.

She sighed and looked around the workshop. Nobody seemed to have heard her conversation. Good. It had been rather useless anyway. She wasn’t more advanced now then she had been before making the phone call. What in the world could have pushed her dad, a reasonable man who affected Kitty’s life as a mutant, who had never said anything against mutants his entire life, to go as far as to join… heck, even achieve a high ranking place… in the Friends Of Humanity. It was beyond her. She needed some fresh air to clear her thoughts. It was still her break time for another 10 minutes anyway.

“I’m going for a walk,” she said.

Nobody responded, but they had heard her. She walked out the back door and looked a bit around for Lockheed. No sign of him. She took in a fresh breath, or as fresh as it could be in a city like New York, and headed out into the street.

“Do it now!” the man in the Helicarrier ordered.

Lights went on the various consoles, and he knew he was ready. The powerful speakers on the Helicarrier activated, and the transmitter did too. He was ready to talk to the citizens of New York.

She had walked about 2 minutes when the powerful voice boomed across the city, surprising her and everyone around Kitty. They looked around for the source, but didn’t see anything. Kitty looked up, and was amazed to see the Helicarrier looming there, right over their heads.

“What do they want now?” Kitty thought with some worry.

“ATTENTION CITIZENS OF NEW YORK! MY NAME, AS YOU NO DOUBT WANT TO KNOW, IS CARMEN PRYDE!” the voice announced.

Kitty felt herself go numb, but managed to stay up by sheer force of will. Panic was seizing the city little by little. A giant monitor in the middle of Times Square showing the local news was quickly taken over by the Helicarrier’s transmitters, and a face appeared on screen. The face of her father, and it looked like it was looking directly at her.

“I AM THE NEW LEADER OF THE FRIENDS OF HUMANITY, EVER SINCE THE DEMISE OF OUR BELOVED GRAYDON CREED, ASSASINATED BY THOSE MONSTERS CALLED MUTANTS. WE HAVE TAKEN OVER S.H.I.E.L.D.’S HELICARRIER, AND ARE PLANNING TO USE IT. IT IS IN OUR RIGHTS NOW TO STRIKE AGAINST THOSE MUTANTS LIKE THEY HAVE STRUCK AGAINST US. AND WE WILL NEED YOUR COOPERATION TO DO SO. I WANT YOU TO BRING EVERY MUTANT YOU CAN FIND AND BRING THEM HERE, IN TIMES SQUARE, WHERE THEY WILL RECEIVE THE TREATMENT THEY DESERVE FOR WHAT THEY DID! IF ANY ATTEMPTS ARE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES OR SUPERHEROES TO STRIKE AGAINST US, WE WILL OPEN FIRE ON THE CITY. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. YOU HAVE AN HOUR TO OPERATE.”

“No!” Kitty shouted in anger, staring at the screen.

A shadow appeared in front of her, and she looked up to see Lockheed flying towards her. He seemed a little panicked, and she could understand why. People all around her were starting to panic. Surprisingly enough, her father’s face on screen looked down exactly at her now. Of that she had no doubt. Somehow he knew exactly where she stood.

“YOU WON’T ESCAPE ME THIS TIME, KITTEN! YOUR SOUL WILL BE MINE! NO ONE WILL HELP YOU NOW!” he said, the same look of sadness in his eyes as she had noticed before. But the rest of his face was torn by anger. And what was that about her soul? A sudden dread appeared in Kitty, and suddenly she knew what was going on. Her father reached something to his right off screen, and then put it on his face. It was a red Japanese mask. A demon’s mask.

“Ogun.”

The dark laughter echoed into the city streets before the screen finally went blank.

NEXT ISSUE: Our final issue! Kitty must find a way to reach the Helicarrier before it’s too late for the entire city! For the sake of her father, as well as the sake of New York, Kitty faces Ogun in a final battle that will change her forever!