True Forms – a Runaways AU

By Lady Comet

Disclaimer – none of these characters belong to me, they are already the property of Marvel Comics and the people who created them. If they were mine, though, things would totally happen this way.

Spoilers - …for pretty much everything after the Pride is defeated. Sorry that's so nonspecific, but hey, I need to cover my ass.

Note – do NOT read this if you are anti-fat, homophobic, or otherwise prejudiced. I change a few canon things to reflect what I'd like to see, in both the origins of certain characters and their fates, creating my own little Alternate Universe for them. If you're still cool with that, read on, and I hope you like. 0

True Forms – Part 1

Celebrations were not held at Xavin's birth.

Her father, De'zean, prince of the Skrull, had expected something else. The Skrulls were at war, and strength was necessary. Any sign of weakness was ridiculed at best, punished extensively at worst. The only body type that was acceptable, unless one was only shifting temporarily for espionage, was a perfectly muscled one. Gender did not matter, but every man and woman had to show a form totally dedicated to strength, displaying a spirit inside the body that was ready to fight to the death for the victory of their race.

So when his princess Abhita gave birth to a chubby little female, he was not exactly pleased.

Then one year later, De'zean led the Skrulls to attack Earth, and everything changed.

They were stopped by two Majesdanians living on Earth in human disguise. In return for sparing their world, they pointed the Skrulls toward their home planet, which they had sought to conquer and plunder for years. De'zean was not confident of their offer at first, unable to tell whether the coordinates they provided would really lead to Majesdane. However, as assurance that they were telling the truth, the "Deans" offered their only daughter, not even a year old, as a bride to the Skrull leaders. They assumed that as rulers of such a militaristic race, De'zean and Abhita would have a male heir, not a female one.

The Skrulls did not correct them, and took two days to decide upon it.

"A Majesdanian bride would give us much leverage in the conquest of that planet," Abhita advised her husband.

"But they do not know we have a daughter," De'zean countered, "and while gender does not matter to us, it will matter to them. The intelligence we have collected on these two Majesdanians reveals that they are very prejudiced, and among that prejudice is homophobia."

"Then for their purposes, we shall have a son instead."

The prince agreed, and the Skrulls moved on to attack the Majesdanian homeworld. Three years later, the esteemed warlords told their daughter what had happened, and showed her a picture of Karolina, the small girl that would grow to be her bride.

"But you must be a man to her, Xavin," her mother warned. "There is not much tolerance for ambiguity on that planet, and her parents will have passed that intolerance down to her. Besides, she cannot shapechange, and one of you will need to be male in order for your joining to produce heirs. Do you understand?"

Already fascinated by the blond-haired child so unlike herself, Xavin agreed, shifting her body to masculine form for the first time.

Soon afterward, the child had to begin preparations for the life expected of "him." Despite his "extra weight," which he shapeshifted away once he knew how, Xavin took to combat with fervor unmatched in his early years. He enjoyed it, but deep inside, he knew he was doing it to please a father who had not approved of the body he was given. To make matters worse, he did not get much attention from his parents at all. Both of them had little time for their child, as the war with Majesdane took up all of their attention. Because of the war, too, they expected Xavin to become a great warrior - an example to his people. They left his parenting to tutors and mentors who would train him to follow that path. This left little time for friends, or anything other than training for what his parents wanted of him. Approval could only come from one place – success on the battlefield. So for that he trained, pouring his whole life into it.

His childhood was thus a cold one. He grew stern and serious, not playful, and while he longed for compassion, he knew not to expect it anywhere in his world. He rarely let himself slip into his true form, and when he did, he found that this female body seemed to naturally put on weight. The "baby fat" had not disappeared, and by the time he was almost into his adolescence, he was sure that he would always have more flesh to his body than his father wanted. From then on, the time he spent in his natural form without any shapechanged adjustments became even less. Only for brief moments would he relax into his birth-given female appearance, curving with soft flesh that signified a comfort no Skrull was allowed to have. At the onset of puberty, he started his Super-Skrull training as a future prince, not a princess. Even when the war raged, and both De'zean and Abhita were claimed by it, Xavin remained a man and took his father's place, not his mother's, ruling their people.

Only two years passed between the death of his parents and his decision to seek Karolina. In that time, the battle continued, claiming thousands of Skrulls and Majesdanians alike with neither side gaining any ground. Even though the Skrulls were ruthless and powerful, it was obvious, at least to their Prince, that to continue this war would mean death for them all. He had sent some spies to keep an eye on Karolina a few months before his decision, but had not intended to draw her into the conflict. However, on the day that he realized this war could not be won, one of his spies sent him an image of Karolina in her natural form, which she had started assuming in place of her human disguise.

As he stared at the hologram, he was lost for words. He had seen Majesdanians before, of course, seen their light and shining bodies, felt the warmth that radiated from inside of them. Despite that, the whole race combined was nothing compared to the beauty and grace of the woman Xavin looked upon now.

"A Majesdanian bride," he whispered, shifting unconsciously back into his thick female form in that moment of awe. He caught himself, and changed back, the idea settling into his mind. He would go to Earth, seek her out, and bring her back here to marry him. The marriage of a Majesdanian and a Skrull was the only hope of mending this conflict.

It was made very clear to Karolina Dean from a very early age that fat was bad. Her mother didn't necessarily diet, as their family's eating habits were always healthy and nutrition-conscious, but she would often badmouth other actresses who seemed to have gained weight.

"Ugh, look at Tina," she'd grumble in disgust as she and her husband watched their rivals on other shows. "She looks like she's put on at least ten pounds. Pleeeeease KILL me if I ever look like that disgusting cow, Frank."

"Leslie, dear, you're perfectly slim," he'd smile, then turn a wrinkled nose to their colleague on the TV screen. "I know you'll never let yourself go like that."

This cemented in Karolina's young mind that being fat, and all the "big" words associated with it, was a fate worse than death. Throughout her childhood and into her teenage years, she ate consciously small meals, watching a figure that would have remained thin naturally. Though she never joined in on her parents' ridicule of fat people, their comments made her look at her own body with more scrutiny, policing it for even a pinch of extra flesh. She avoided looking at the fat people she passed on the street, and was even sometimes uncomfortable around Gertrude when their families met at the Wilder home every year. She hated it, this part of herself that judged others, but she could not stop herself. She had been well taught.

Then she started figuring out that she might be a lesbian, and she hated her body even more. Her parents had also made it clear that they thought homosexuality was disgusting, clearly oblivious to the possibility that their own daughter might turn out to be gay. Knowing this, the desires stirring in her body and heart made Karolina sick. She tried to deny it, but it was impossible when she noticed constantly that women were beautiful, and even more impossible when Nico was around. So she kept it a secret, internalizing the fear of her own sexuality and her body itself, deep down just wanting to be loved.

That is, until a certain Skrull "prince" entered her life, showing her that she might be lovable after all.

To be continued...