[DC X Marvel: AU] Pryde: The Red Queen

Streaking above the sky of Metropolis City was a line of fire that lowered into one of the city's highrises, a side of its walls opening for the fire to stream in, shutting behind it.

Arriving at their location, the fire dispersed as Rachel softly landed in the expansive room with Katherine in her arms.

Her hair and eyes reverted to normal. With her hands on Katherine's shoulder, she gently peered into her eyes, which seemed to be somewhere else entirely, gazing over her entire body, the smell coming off of her making her nose crinkle.

Sliding her hands from her shoulders to her cheeks, Kitty was back in the real world. With a soft smile, Rachel guided her out of the room. "I have so much to tell you, but first, " she paused. "You need to shower."

"...Ok." Katherine blankly responded, going into the bathroom.

"There are towels in the cabinets, along with body wash and shampoo. I'll bring you some clothes." She smiled. "Take your time, Kitty. Let the stress of the past hour leave your body, okay?"

"Ok."

Now alone in the restroom, Kitty let out a breath she didn't know she was holding before her knees gave out and she fell to the floor. Looking at her palms, she watched as they shook.

Clenching them into a fist, she calmed herself, it was over, for now at least. Right now, she needed to think of the revelations shown to her in only hours.

First, the most life-threatening issue; a creature, no, a man of sorts was hunting after her, not only her, but also all metahumans, that went to the second matter, she was a Meta-Human? Just the idea had her brain scattered, she was a Meta-Human? A Meta-Human!

Moreover, her ability seemed to be the ability to go through things. Was there more to it, she'd have to try and learn more later. Finally, the second biggest shock to her was her fiery friend, a superhero. It's insane, she's been friends with a superhero the entire time she's been in Metropolis... Maybe it's not that shocking honestly.

Pulling herself into the shower, she began lightly humming to calm herself, lulling into her thoughts, until she was in a new change of clothes and stepping out of the steaming bathroom, well more like accidentally walking through the door.

After walking through the door, she rounded a corner to find stairs leading down into a large open space, in a large open kitchen Rachel was sat on a stool at the island, swirling a spoon in a cup.

Her eyes were downturned on the cup letting out a sigh before taking a sip, a smile slipped onto her face.

Seeing the woman coming down the stairs, Rachel pulled out the seat next to her. "You finished then, I'm glad to see you freshened up."

"I'm glad to be freshened up," Kitty chuckled.

"Want something to eat? We have some baked salmon and baked potatoes in the microwave, don't worry it's kosher, I got it for you."

Softly smiling at the gesture, Kitty looked out the large windows. "Then I'll take it, thank you." She tapped her fingers on the table as she watched Rachel quickly heat the meal.

Kitty let out a breath, "...Who was that Rachel?" She quietly asked.

With a short pause, Rachel leaned on the countertop, the two facing each other. "Harvest. He calls himself. I don't know his actual name or where he is from, but I do know his goals. He wishes to execute the entirety of the Meta-Human kind." 

"But..." Kitty sighed, "How did he know of me? I-I've just awakened to being a Meta-Human, so how did he know ME?!" She paused, "And he called me something else, Shadowkat? Why? I'm sorry for asking so many questions, but do you know why?"

"... I don't know, I'm sorry I can't tell you more. But you have to be careful, I've—we," she quickly corrected herself. "Have already learned of the deaths and disappearances of many Meta-Humans in the past two months."

"How come I haven't seen this on the news?"

"The only time people like us are put on the news is if they were to fight a hero, villain, or cause chaos in some way." She sighed in frustration, "Any other news is seen as unimportant to the media, government, and the public."

"... The unfortunate truth," Kitty silently muttered before slightly smiling at the scent of fish sliding up to her nose.

"Dig in, after that, there are some people I want you to meet."

"Are they the "we" you mentioned?"

"Yep!"

With a nod, Kitty slowly ate the food, humming in delight at the first bite. It didn't take long for her to finish. Once she was done, Kitty thanked Rachel, before the ginger led her out of the room.

The two walked down a corridor, before Rachel pushed open a pair of double doors, revealing to her a wide room, one with seats and couches spread around, tables with maps and plans covering them, and a large virtual display over one. 

On the wall was a digital map with markers and notes written on it. Everything in this room showed that it was some form of leisure and briefing room at the same time. That can't logically work, can it?

The two ideas interfere with each other completely. "This setup makes absolutely no sense, is this supposed to be a leisure room or a planning room?"

"Both? Both, it's supposed to be both," Rachel shrugged. "The last boss was a workaholic, made this room for rest, but didn't even bother doing that and turned it into a planning room. I swear he never sleeps. The man was always up planning or researching something."

"Last boss? Who was that?"

"Batman."

"... Batman? Isn't he a part of the Justice League? Why would he be a part of this team?"

"The Justice League, while heroes are stuck under the laws of the UN, and sometimes there are missions that need to be done that require moving outside those laws. Something the Justice League can't do due to politics."

Kitty groaned, "Even heroes have to follow these silly politics, why even be one when you can't save people without government approval, it's silly."

"Then you get it," Rachel smirked. "That's why the big bat and a few others made the team. Batman was a vigilante first after all. Nothing new about taking the law into his hands."

"So who is you's guys leader now?"

"Black Lightning."

"Black Lightning..." Tapping a finger on her chin, Kitty's mind swirled about in thought. "The hero who is the principal at Garfield High."

"Yea–How did you know that?"

"It was pretty easy actually. The man isn't the best at hiding his identity, he wears simple goggles, and his beard is too recognizable. Now tell me, Principle Pierce's daughters get kidnapped by the 100 gang. After years of inactivity, the hero is suddenly back into action saving two kids. Explain in what way where that isn't Mr. Pierce."

"Reasonable..." Rachel mumbled, "I didn't know of his identity until the boss told me."

"I'm not your boss, just the leader." A deep and smooth voice broke into the room, catching the women's attention. "I guess coming in costume was unnecessary, seeing as you already know who I am."

Walking into the room and his black, blue, and yellow suit, with lightning designs etched into it. The large man strolled into the room with a confident stride to stand in front of Kitty with an outstretched hand.

"Black Lightning, but I guess you can call me Jefferson Pierce."

Taking his hand with a smile, "Kitty Pryde, no hero name, Mr. Pierce. Sorry if I ruined your entrance. You probably wanted to look cool right?"

Laughing at her comment, he shook his head. "Well, my daughters are growing up. Nobody is going to see me as cool in a few years."

"Don't be like that, I'm sure your kids will still respect you, seriously, you're a superhero."

He smiled, "You should tell that to the media, they title me a vigilante." Moving away from her, Black Lightning moved in front of the table that held the virtual display.

"So, you called me here, Askani. You wanted to introduce your friend?" He questioned while swiping his hands at the display, changing the scene to central Metropolis. His voice quickly turned from lax to serious, "Did this have anything to do with you?" He turned to Rachel.

"No."

"It was mainly me, actually." Kitty hesitantly responded.

"Explain," He demanded.

Rachel spoke up, glaring at the man's tone of voice. "It was Harvest. He was after her."

Ignoring Rachel's look, he looked towards Kitty once more. "Harvest only goes after Meta-Humans, are you-"

Kitty gave a half-hearted shrug, "It seems so, recently awakened. I awakened the moment he attacked me." Slouching on a couch she put an arm over her eyes.

The man's brows furrowed, "Harvest has been getting more active in recent weeks, he's gotten in a multitude of scuffles with the Teen Titans as well, but it appears that he has been up to something more serious recently." The display showed Superman arriving on the scene to help return the order. 

Shifting the display off, Black Lightning sighed before he began messaging his temples. Bringing up his arm, he began typing on a pad placed on his forearm. 

Looking back and forth between Kitty and Black Lightning, Rachel sighed. Gently taking Kitty's hand, she gently smiled at her before motioning for her to stand. "Where's the rest of the team?"

"They went out, Batman wanted them to help. Some problems in Gotham, you heard about the Arkham breakout. He wants them to help round up the patients."

"Batman asked for help?" She questioned in a tone of amazement.

"Well, he's off planet at the moment. Working with Green Lantern and Martian Man Hunter with something on the space station."

"Okay then. I'll be taking her to the training room so that she can get a grasp on her powers."

"Go ahead, I'll be in the communications room if you need me. I'll also be telling Batman about your friend here."

With a wave, Rachel pulled Kitty across the room, and through a set of doors that led down a hall, she pulled them into a large and empty white room.

"This is our training room, I'm going to throw you through a multitude of tests to see how you do and see the basics of your abilities."

Looking around the room, Kitty Walked ahead of Rachel before standing in the middle of the room. "Pretty nifty room." She stretched a bit, "So what will we be doing?"

"Well firstly, Dodge!" Hurling a ball of flames at her unaware friend, Rachel watched as it flew straight through her, she whistled. "So you can become... what's the word, ineligible? Invisible?"

"Intangible."

"Yes, that. Well, either that or you can make things go through you."

"That's what being intangible means Ray."

"Moving on!" She shouted, "How did you do that?"

"I just concentrated... There was this sense I got when I was attacked by Harvest. I've been feeling it ever since, and whenever I focus on it, I'm able to... phase through things."

"Alright," Rachel's grin grew wider and wider. "You're a natural, Kitty. Just keep doing that, we'll continue then."

With a deep breath, Rachel was engulfed in flames, her hair stretched out and turned into pure flames that also pooled out of her eye sockets. Rising off the ground, she summoned hundreds of fireballs.

"Now, dodge."

With that single sentence, the fire began to launch after her. After the first fireball made contact with the floor behind her, another was right behind it. Moving out of the way, they only began to track after her.

Diving out of the way of another, Kitty stopped her hands from going through the ground before launching herself into the air only to find that she was still in the air.

Grinning at the revelation, she made steps in the air before running across the air, dodging the fire as she would suddenly jump higher into the air, or suddenly drop before launching herself in random directions.

Laughing at her abilities, Kitty kept her focus on moving through the air. Before she knew it, she was quickly grasping how her power worked.

They had been in the room for hours before she finally got a full grasp on them, learning to maintain focus on staying in the air, incorporating the movements she already knew with her phasing abilities.

"Dodge!"

Rachel's sudden shout startled Kitty, causing her to fall. She accidentally dodged the flying punch the redhead had aimed at her head.

With a burst of fire, she chased after the brunette. "Come on!" With her shout, Kitty tucked her legs into her chest before she made contact with the ground, landing with a roll.

Busting back onto her feet, she faced the oncoming redhead, moving her head to the side, clenching her right fist before slamming it into Rachel's stomach, sending the woman away from her.

Kitty fell through the floor, disappearing from Rachel's line of sight before she came launching out of the ground, aiming a fist at the redhead's head.

Swiftly bending out of the way, Rachel hopped back, shaking her arms out as she was still reeling from being gut-checked moments ago.

Kitty's laughter echoed throughout the training room, "You and I both know that I was always the better when it came to hand-to-hand, Ray."

Rachel raised a brow. "Oh, really?" Her hair and eyes returned to normal before she took a stance with a smirk. "What say we end this without the wacky abilities?"

Getting into a similar stance, Kitty brushed the hair out of her face. "Fine by me."

With a second of silence, the two made agile steps in their charges at one another, One swung, and the other dodged. Swinging a kick at Rachel's side, Kitty had her leg blocked befor receiving an an elbow to the knee.

Pulling back she moved to the side, barely dodging Rachel's axe kick, pushing forward with two quick jabs, hitting her in the shoulder once before stepping back.

Rachel took quick steps toward Kitty, slipping into a crouch to swipe her legs under Kitty's forcing her to jump over them to avoid it, following it with a grab of her legs to spin before tossing her away.

Falling into a roll, Kitty stayed crouched with her hand touching the ground, before launching herself forward, keeping her body low as she moved toward Rachel, swiftly moving to the side to avoid the woman's attempt to knee her, Kitty positioned herself behind her, wrapping her arms behind her waist before pulling her in a suplex.

With a grunt, the two fell to the ground, out of breath from the short spar and the training hours from before.

Catching her breath, Rachel turned her head to look at Kitty, who moved to lay beside her. "Did… did you just… supplex me?"

"... Yep," Kitty muttered with a tired smile. "It was fun." She took in a deep breath, "It's the most fun I've had in a while. We haven't sparred in a while."

"I know… just been busy with this–"

"I get it. You were being a hero." She went silent, closing her eyes as she focused on her breathing.

The two went into a soft silence, the both of them battling with exhaustion and their mental battles as they lay on the floor with their eyes closed.

"It's getting late," Rachel said. Now on her feet, she wiped her pants. You can rest in one of the spare rooms near the bathroom. I'll walk you home in the morning."

"Gotcha."

…

Crashing into the bed with a thump, Kitty let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

As her form sank into the mattress, the day's events played through her head. The stress, the fear, and the shock coursing through her.

She had put up a tough front when speaking with Rachel and Black Lightning, but as the seconds passed in bed that exterior began to crack and whither.

Her entire world had just been flipped on her head, what she thought she knew about herself had been left to crumble, and new truths took their place, she was a Meta-human. Not only that, she was being hunted by a psycho with an unfounded amount of hate for her, and it knew her name.

Why did everything have to happen to her like this? She simply wanted to go through school, graduate, and follow her dreams, now she had to be worried about her life being threatened.

Squinching her eyes at the thought, Kitty let out a deep sigh. Closing her eyes, she mumbled to herself, "Tomorrow… Worry… about it tomorrow…" With that, she fell into her dreams.

***

After waking in the morning, Kitty simply lay in bed staring at the wall as time quickly passed by her, by the time Rachel came to check on her it was already two in the afternoon.

"Is everything okay?" Her red-headed friend questioned from the doorway. There was a soft yet sad look in her eyes as she gazed at the still body of her friend.

With a hum, Kitty shook herself out of bed, sliding onto the floor before slipping onto her feet, "Never been better." She muttered. Slipping on the clothes she had come in yesterday, now clean, she made her way out of the room. "Let's go," Kitty simply said while slipping by Rachel to make her way to the front door.

Black lightning stopped her on their way out, a serious look on his face. "If you ever feel like using these new powers of yours to help the world, don't be scared to give me a call," he gave her his business card, "Principle Jefferson Pierce". "Also," He fished into his jacket, "Think about calling them too." Handing her one more card, he made his way out of the building first with a slight nod to Rachel.

Reading the card over, Kitty read the large and surprising words on its display with a sense of amazement, "The Justice League…"

There was a hint of awe in the young woman's face before it crumpled into frustration, stuffing the two cards away, she marched into the elevator.

Taking hold of Kitty's hand, Rachel pulled her to look her in the eyes, "Speak to me, Kitty. What's wrong?" 

Struggling to look away from the steely gaze of her best friend, Kitty slumped her shoulders in exhaustion, her face revealing her fear and uncertainty.

"It's just… Meta Humans aren't treated right. There are few exceptions, but those who aren't are treated with disdain and hate." She sighed, "I'm just worried, forget hurting me, what if someone aims to harm my family."

Rubbing her thumbs across the back of the anxious girl's hands, Rachel sighed before a gentle smile stretched her lips. "You worry for them, I understand. This world is dangerous for us and our loved ones of course, but the answer is simple don't you see. It has been with you this entire time."

Kitty's eyes shook, "W-what do you?" She croaked out.

"You, dummy. You're here."