Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters, locations and concepts belonging to Marvel Entertainment. No claim of ownership is made or implied by me in using their property. No part of this work is intended for material gain of any kind. It is intended for the sole purpose of creative exercise and the entertainment of others.


The Adventures of Kitty Pryde

Issue 11, September 2006

Cover image: Kitty is sitting in a metal folding chair, facing forward. Her posture is compact and uncomfortable, her expression nervous and uncertain. A voice from off camera says, "All right, Kitty, in this issue we're sending you off to Limbo."

Kitty gasps. "You mean, I'm going to be subjected to years of obscurity and non-use, just like after X-Men #100?"

"No, no. Not that Limbo. I meant the dimensional otherplace infested with demons, dark magics and horrors unimaginable."

"Oh, thank goodness! You had me worried there for a second."


The main doors of the mansion open and Kitty Pryde steps inside, looking bright and cheery. She is wearing jeans and a T-Shirt emblazoned with the logo and assembled castaways from the television show, LOST. A large shopping bag from a local department store is slung over one shoulder.

"I'm back!" she announces in a sunny voice. "Nothing like a little shopping therapy after a bad day."

The only other person in the main foyer is Warren Epps, who is sitting at the bottom of the room's large stairway. The young student says nothing, but the glare he fires at her is message enough.

Kitty balks a bit at the sight. "What's wrong, Warren?"

"Feh," Warren says sullenly, "Like you care."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kitty asks, looking perplexed. "Is this about Emma firing me? Don't worry, Warren. I'll still be living here in the mansion. I just won't be teaching or running off to interviews anymore."

Rising to his feet, Warren sneers. "Yeah. You seem real happy about it, too."

"Warren, that's not true," Kitty says in a consoling voice. "You just don't understand-"

"I'm not a stupid kid!" Warren suddenly yells, turning around. "And you're not the person I thought you were!" With that, he runs up the stairs and disappears down a hallway.

"Warren!" Kitty calls after him, to no effect. "Warren, come back!"

When it becomes apparent that he will not, in fact, be coming back, Kitty wanders toward the main common room, muttering, "What was that all about?"

As she steps into the common room, she sees a group of her teammates sitting and standing with their backs toward her. Scott, Peter, Hank, Logan, plus a few others. "Sorry I was out so long, guys," she says. "So, what are we all watching…"

Her voice trails off as her eyes suddenly grow wide and a wave of ice rushes from her fingers and toes to her heart. The shopping bag slides off her shoulder, forgotten. "…tonight?" she finishes in a horrified whisper.


The others in the common room have turned to face her. They all have flat, unfriendly looks. Hank's catlike snout curls into a half-snarl and one blue-furred paw opens to reveal his claws.

In the middle of the group is herself, wearing her yellow and black field uniform. Her expression is the most hostile of them all. "That's her," the young woman says. "The imposter I was telling you about."

Stan Lee does not present:

Identity Crisis


"No!" Kitty cries out, recoiling. "I'm the real one!"

The others in the room start to move toward her, stepping around furniture with deliberate menace. Her accuser remains where she is, clinging to Peter Rasputin, who wraps her in a protective embrace.

"Looks like you were right after all, Pun'kin," Logan growls, unsheathing his claws. A pair of sharp, rapid "snikt" sounds herald the arrival of the deadly metal blades.

"We're sorry we doubted you," Scott agrees.

"She's lying!" Kitty vows, furious. "And I'll prove it!"

Rushing forward, she makes herself intangible. Hank dives for her, but passes through as if she were a ghost. Logan swipes at her with his claws. The dense metal that coats them draws no blood, but as she phases through them a jolt of pain spikes through her. Adamantium always has this effect on her when she phases through it, but this time she ignores the pain. All she cares about is her target.

The couch proves to be no more of a barrier than Hank or Logan's claws. "It doesn't matter what any of them believe," Kitty thinks. "They can't touch me. They can't stop me from getting to her, and then I'll show them who she really is."

Thief.

Fraud.

Doppelganger.

Kitty draws a fist back, ready to strike. With impossible speed the other one thrusts her palm forward, ramming into Kitty's forehead with casual ease. The blow sends Kitty flying backward, tumbling back over the couch, in what feels to her like slow motion.

"She... hit me!" Kitty thinks. "But, that's impossible! I hadn't gone solid yet!"

Kitty strikes the ground hard enough to leave her dazed for a second. "What's happening?" she thinks as she works to recover. "I can't phase!"

Looking up, she calls out one final plea. "Peter! It's me! You have to believe me!"

Peter's face shows no pity, no affection. He draws the other woman even closer and says, "Stay away from my Katya, you monster."

The other X-Men draw close, and as Logan's adamantium claws thrust forward, she catches her reflection in their smooth surfaces.

Her mess of wavy brown hair frames a face that is blank of all features, as though it had been wiped with an eraser. No eyes. No nose. No mouth. Only smooth skin. She is briefly reminded of what the Morlock known as Masque had done to her all those years ago when she was kidnapped to make good on her promise to stay with one of their own forever. It was different then. The jealous mutant's powers had left her blind and unable to breathe. This time she can see and she can breathe.

And she can scream.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"


"-HHHHH!!"

Kitty awakens in a fit, thrashing about, clawing at the air above her as the blanket covering her piles around her legs and waist in a mess of dark fabric. As her senses return Kitty hauls herself up, using one arm to cling to the back of the couch she had been sleeping on. She gasps for breath, heaving toward her upraised knees while her eyes stare wildly into nothing. Her skin is drenched in sweat.

"Oh, damn! That was... Damn!"

The lights in the living room switch on and Kitty turns to see her friend, Lou Somme, standing in the doorway that connects the living room to her bedroom. The sleepy alien's mane of green hair hangs loose and slightly unkempt.

"Kitty!" Lou says, concerned. "Are you-?"

"Fine," Kitty says, holding one hand to ward her approach. "I'm fine, Lou. It was just a really bad, extremely vivid nightmare. I'm talking Elm Street grade."

"I have seen those movies," Lou says as she steps further into the room to inspect her friend. "You do not appear to have suffered physical injury. Your vibes are very disturbed, however."

"Heh," Kitty laughs bitterly, "I'll bet." She slides her feet around so that she is sitting with her back against the couch and rubs one of her cheeks tiredly. "I don't think I'll be getting much sleep tonight."

In a perfectly straight face, Lou says, "Are you sure you would not be more comfortable sleeping in the bed? It's quite spacious."

Kitty's cheeks redden. "Ah, that's all right, Lou. The couch is fine, and it's not really customary for friends to do that in this part of Earth, anyway."

Lou gives Kitty a blank look. "Do Earth customs often prevent rational behavior?"

"No comment," Kitty says wryly. "Y'know, sometimes you remind me an awful lot of another friend of mine. His name was Douglock. I often had to explain things to him, too, except he wasn't an alien. Well, he was, kinda, actually." She sighs. "It's complicated."

Kitty takes a moment to look over the layout of Lou's living room. It is an unusual sight. Other than the couch it is vacant of furniture, and stacked into a strange formation against the opposite wall are a set of tables and bookshelves. Part of the arrangement that makes it so odd is the fact that the bookshelves are on their sides, forming the top and bottom. Within the various drawers and shelves is a strange and apparently disorganized collection of CDs, paperbacks, picture frames with the store-supplied photos still inside, a gumball machine, some potted plants, a car jack, a small fishbowl and a set of Star Wars action figures. A hollow square remains in the center of the chaotic structure to make room for a small television.

"Besides, if I'm not sleeping, I can entertain myself by trying to make some sense of this room. Have you considered redecorating?" Kitty asks, partly to change the subject.

A serene look suddenly crosses Lou's face. "Follow me," she says, heading for the kitchen.

"What? Why?" Kitty says.

"I have an idea for something else that might ease your vibes," Lou answers absently.

Kitty shrugs. "Midnight snack? Couldn't hurt, I guess." As she makes her own way to the kitchen she says, "If I was still at the mansion, and if Rachel wasn't in the middle of outer space right now, we'd probably be down in the kitchen this very moment, putting some serious hurt to a couple pints of…"

As she crosses the threshold into the kitchen she sees that Lou has opened the door of her freezer. Inside, stacked as they might in a convenience store, are dozens of ice cream pint cups in a wide variety of flavors.

Kitty's face splits into a wide grin and she places a hand on Lou's shoulder. "Are you sure we weren't separated at birth, Lou?"


The two of them sit facing each other at Lou's kitchen table. Each of them has a pint of ice cream in front of them. They are wielding their spoons like they mean business.

"Thanks for putting me up for the night," Kitty says. "I just couldn't stand to be in the mansion for another minute!"

"It's no trouble," Lou says around a mouthful of mint chip. "It was the least I could do after you saved me from those soldiers."

"Hmm," Kitty says, taking a bite from her own pint. "Too bad Emma didn't see it that way. I still can't believe she wants to fire me. She's the one who insisted I come back and work there in the first place! I didn't even want to come back, but Scott kept telling me how much they needed me. So much for that, huh? He's probably going to flip when he gets back from his mission."

Lou is silent, watching Kitty with a curious expression.

Kitty eyes her warily. "What?" she says.

"You miss it already," Lou states in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Of course not," Kitty insists. "I'm glad. It's a weight off my shoulders I never wanted in the first place."

"This air of indifference is an act," Lou says offhandedly. She scrapes at her cup. "I need more ice cream."

"I'll get it for you," Kitty says, rising from her chair. "More mint chip?"

"Cherry chocolate, please."

Opening the freezer door, Kitty reaches in and pulls out the requested flavor. "Peter was pretty upset about it, though," she says as she shuts the freezer. "So were some of the kids. Warren- he's the kid who pretended you were his mom- wouldn't even talk to me. He just hung at the back of his friends and glared at me."

Kitty returns to her seat and hands the pint to Lou. "I don't know what it was about the way he looked at me, but it almost made me feel like I ran over his puppy with my car or something."

"That is because you will miss being his teacher," Lou insists.

Heaving a sigh, Kitty dips back into her own ice cream. "Well…" She looks at Lou and anxiously chews at her lower lip. "Maybe. But I hated dealing with the media. That's something I'll never miss. Scott told me I was given the job because I'm non-threatening and good with people, but I think Emma just enjoyed the fact that I was always the one with a camera shoved in my face after a big, sweaty battle. Someday I'll have to ask Susan Richards how she does it." Kitty's eyes suddenly widen as she realizes what she has said. "Er, that is-"

"See?" Lou says, smiling. "You miss that, too."


Kitty tries to give a sheepish smile, but it becomes more of a guilty grimace, "'So about that claw you gave me,' she said, changing the subject…" Kitty orates, "How did you find it, anyway?"

"It found me," Lou says without hesitation. "Or rather, your imposter did."

"You've seen her?!" Kitty says, momentarily forgetting her ice cream as she leans over the table toward Lou. "When?"

Lou stirs at her ice cream for a moment. "As I was coming home from our battle with Gloom," she says in her lazy singsong voice. "She attacked me. It was very disturbing, for I am almost never taken by surprise."

"What happened?"

"She jumped through a wall," Lou tells her. "She caught me while I was flying and knocked me into an alley. Before I could do anything, she stabbed me with the claw and then ran through another wall. Fortunately, she only damaged my armor. I do not know where she came from or where she went."

Kitty settles back into her seat with a thoughtful expression. "First Stevie, now you? That can't be a coincidence. She knew this would get back to me. But why now? Why didn't she come after me years ago, when she was pretending to be me?" Kitty pounds a fist into her palm in frustration. "What did she look like?"

"Exactly like you," Lou confirms. "Except her costume was different, and she seemed… wilder."

"That sounds about right," Kitty says, sounding satisfied. She picks up her glass of milk and notices that it's empty.

Without appearing to notice this herself, Lou says, "I would like some juice, while you're up."

Kitty smirks. "Guess you knew I was heading to the fridge."

Lou nods. "Vibes."

Kitty exits her seat and moves to the refrigerator. When she opens the door she notices her reflection staring at her from the back. With a wry smile she says, "Watching your weight, Lou?"

"What do you mean?" Lou says from behind.

"I just noticed this mirror you have inside the fridge."

"I have no mirror," Lou says calmly.

"I'm looking right at it," Kitty says. "It's strange, though. My reflection looks a bit odd."

The face that Kitty is looking at warps into a malevolent grin and a pair of hands suddenly reach out to seize her shoulders.

"Kitty, look out!" Lou yells.

"Oh sh-" is all that Kitty manages to say.


The world around Kitty suddenly becomes an ocean of swirling pastel colors and flashing lights. She is thrown backwards, pushed by her attacker, and the world ripples around her as she falls into a bottomless vortex.

As she becomes fully immersed in the sparkling lights and kaleidoscopes of color, a music so beautiful it tugs at Kitty's heart fills her senses, and she is nearly lost in a strange, overwhelming euphoria. It is only the presence of the woman steering her through these realms of enchantment that allows her to keep her presence of mind.

She is her double in nearly every way, from the gentle sweep of her nose to the wavy locks of her brunette hair. Her hands are tight around Kitty's shoulders and her face is locked in concentration as they fly from one ethereal ambit to the next. The only readily available way to distinguish the two is their difference in dress, for Kitty is still in her nightshirt and her double is wearing the unusual costume that served as her uniform prior to her resignation from the X-Men so long ago.

"You!" Kitty finally blurts.

Her double manages a mocking smile. "Yes, 'you.' In more ways than you know."

"What's happening?" Kitty demands. "What are you doing?"

"Little trick you haven't learned yet, punk?" her captor says through clenched teeth. They veer off, but by now directions seem meaningless. "Figures. Still tied to the quaint, insignificant use of your power to phase through the elements of one tiny Plane of Existence. I'll bet you still think detaching yourself from the Earth's rotation is an achievement. Amateur. For me, there are no barriers, not even the walls between dimensions."

"Wow. Do you always brag this much?" Kitty asks.

"Stay calm," she thinks to herself. "Keep her talking until you can figure a way out of this."

"You'll have to use funnier, or crueler insults than that if you intend to distract or enrage me," the double says. "But that's probably your best material, so I have nothing to worry about."

"You actually fooled everybody with this behavior?" Kitty says in disbelief. "I mean, the whole 'rebellious phase' excuse might have gotten you through the door, but I'd have thought after a month or two around that mouth somebody would have tried to shove you out an airlock."

Her imposter says nothing, her jaw set. A thin sheen of sweat has formed around her brow.

"You've never done this with a passenger before, have you?" Kitty notes.

"Pff. It's still more than you've ever done."

"True," Kitty says, "but it probably means your focusing too hard to prevent me from doing THIS!" With that pronouncement she throws her hips forward and drives one knee into the double's gut.

"Oof!" her kidnapper gasps, eyes wide in pain and shock. Kitty seizes the opportunity to wrench one arm free and slam her fist into her face. The two attacks are enough for Kitty to wrestle free of her doppelganger's grasp, and she quickly falls away from her.

"No!" the double yells, reaching toward her before vanishing into the miasma of color.

Kitty has a moment to regret her decision as a much more violent sensation of falling overwhelms her. The world spins around her and her insides seem to spin with it. The sensation is mercifully brief, however.

"Whooooaaaa!" Kitty yells before she suddenly hits solid ground. "Unf!" she cries as her back collides with the unyielding earth.

"Not smart, Kitty," she thinks to herself. "That could have been a great way to get yourself killed."

She hauls herself to her feet and looks around. "Oh, well," she says. "No sense worrying about it now. I have more immediate problems, such as..."

She appears to be in some massive cavern. The unhewn stone walls and rows of stalagmites would suggest as much. She cannot see the cave ceiling, however, only a dull greenish light high above her. At her feet a sickly mist plays about her ankles and stretches the entire length of her surroundings. The stench of death is all around her.

"...Where am I?"


Suddenly, in a dozen small places throughout the cave, the mists part. Thin, clawed hands reach up, grasping at the air. Batlike wings shift to and fro. Within moments a small force of waist-tall demons and imps have risen from the mist as if awakening from a long slumber, all facing towards Kitty. Their forms are varied, but equally grotesque and nightmarish, and each wears a different deep, leathery colored hide. Round, blocky and triangular faces leer as one as they take in the sight of her.

"Oh," Kitty says as realization dawns on her. "Great."

"Meat!" one of the demons says. It resembles a pasty white slug with bulging eyes and a gaping, fanged mouth.

"Human meat!" a demon with spindly arms and a goblin face clarifies.

"Baby?" another says. It has no eyes and seems to be nothing but mouth and stubby limbs, like a twisted version of the Tasmanian Devil enraged.

"Not baby," a winged imp tells his companion.

"Aww. Like baby," the maw demon complains.

Knowing she's surrounded, Kitty sets her feet and turns her head to track all of them as they crawl, slither and flit toward her.

As they draw closer, some of them wag their tongues at her, as if tasting her scent. Many chuckle at the prospect of the meal they see before them.

Before they get too close, Kitty flings one of her arms out as if she were going to throw something at them. Her palm is out, the pose not unlike those assumed by those X-Men capable of firing bolts of energy from their hands. In a loud, clear voice she utters a sudden incantation.

"Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!"

The demons grind to a sudden, cautionary halt. Some flinch. The air goes still as they await whatever doom she might have called down on them.

Nothing happens.

The demons give each other curious looks and then glare at Kitty.

Kitty shrugs, her mouth forming a slightly foolish and embarrassed smile. "It was worth a shot," she says.

Unimpressed, the demons descend upon her, howling with fury and glee.


The demons move in a single mass, expecting easy prey to fall before their fangs and talons. As the closest gets within striking distance and Kitty drives her fist into his face, caving it in upon itself, they realize their error.

"So, are you guys the Welcoming Committee?" Kitty asks, twisting to meet the onrush of demons. "Because you really don't have to bother…"

When the second to attack dives for her, and to its great surprise passes right through her, they begin to suspect that they might have bitten off more than they can chew.

"…I don't want to be here in the first place!"

"Her flesh is as vapor, my brothers!" the attacking demon cries as its momentum carries it into another.

Kitty crouches low, grabbing one smaller demon around the neck and smashing another two with a brutal roundhouse kick. They fly back, spitting jagged teeth.

"This part more like stone!" one of them grunts.

A demon that was charging at Kitty with its jaws wide open suddenly freezes as Kitty thrusts her hand into its gaping maw, phasing through the back of its head. It rolls its eyes back, nervously looking at what she is up to. The hand doubles back on itself, grabbing a fistful of the demon's stringy hair and then with a fierce yank pulls back through the demon's head, turning it inside-out.

The demon staggers about, hands flapping as it paws at the mangled flesh of its own head. "Oooh, what she did!" it cries in a garbled voice. "What she did!"

Kitty stands ready, fists raised, knees apart. "Anybody else want some?" she asks the demons, who are now keeping their distance.

Without warning, the earth erupts around her as two massive jaws snap shut like the halves of a bear trap. She barely has time to glance at the enormous sharp teeth and cry out before she is completely engulfed. A titanic sized demon sits up from the spot it had been laying, cloaked by the mists so that it seemed to be part of the landscape. Its single eye squints as it gulps down the unexpected meal and it pats its belly with a smile.

"I can't believe I ate the whole thing," it says, sounding pleased.


The Cyclops demon is licking its chops while the other demons gather around to complain. All except the one whose head Kitty had turned inside-out, which continues to wander helplessly around the spacious cavern.

"Selfish!" a demon cries out, shaking its fist.

"Should share!" the slug demon agrees.

"Heh," the larger demon chuckles. "Settle down. Caught her fair and square, I did." His mirth is cut short, however, by a strange thumping sound. His eye bulges uncomfortably and he slaps two clawed fingers over his mouth while his cheeks puff up. "Mmp!"

The leathery skin of the demon's belly shifts and rolls. Then, without warning, part of it thrusts outward, as if something has exploded inside him. It happens again, then twice, faster each time, and the unfortunate demon clutches at his belly and moans.

"Still alive!" one of the smaller demons says.

"Kill her!" another says.

"Get her!" says a third.

"Eat her!"

They climb up the demon's leg and tear at his belly, hoping to be the first to recover the victim they had lost.

"Easy, now!" the Cyclops demon slurs. "That hurts, you know!" The only response he gets is intensified clawing from the others.

"Yearggghhhh!!!" the demon howls, trying to swat them off, but it is not long before they have ripped his stomach open. The Cyclops demon staggers back and falls, landing atop a stalagmite. The massive stone spike pierces his chest with a sickening crunch. The demon lets out one last scream of pain and then lies still. The remaining demons rush to the hole they have torn in its belly and eagerly peer inside. All they find, however is a pile of steaming entrails. There is no evidence of Kitty.

Just they are starting to become disappointed, however, a voice emerges from further up the slain demon. "I am not in the mood for this."

They look to see Kitty, phasing her way out of the demon's head in a way that almost makes it look like she's climbing out of its mouth. Her hair and nightshirt are limp and dark with demon saliva and her eyes are bright with rage.

"Not that I'm ever in the mood for a trip to this nightmare of a dimension, but I usually don't have to deal with it while in my nightshirt!"

"Slay!" one of the imps says, pointing a finger in Kitty's direction.

"My thoughts exactly," Kitty says with a snarl. Despite her obvious fury, her stance shows complete discipline and control. From the set of her feet to the position of her arms, she looks every inch the deadly warrior.


The demons rush toward her, howling, but Kitty runs toward them as well. She launches herself from the Cyclops demon's chin and uses both of her hands to catch the tip of the stalagmite protruding from his chest. Using it to swing around, she drives both of her feet into the winged imp that was flying toward her the fastest. The impact breaks the creature's spine, and it vanishes into the mist below with an agonized whimper.

Kitty vaults off the stalagmite, launching herself through the air and toward the other demons, who are either too slow or too wild to get out of her way. She lands on the maw demon's lip, throwing him back upon the others as they all fall into the belly they tore open. With the grace of a gymnast, Kitty leaps off of the demon's head and flips through the air. She lands near the fallen demon's waist, facing toward her assailants and primed for another attack.

The demons claw their way out of the cavity they themselves created, hissing and spitting. "You fight well," a purple-skinned demon cackles. "Like a great demon warrior, almost. Doesn't she, brothers?"

"We still catch you," a bright-red demon promises. "We still eat you!"

"Think so?" Kitty says. "Well come on, then."

The demons all laugh, and one of them says, "We wait. Warriors not fight so well when poisoned." He wags one of his clawed fingers meaningfully, and Kitty notices that it is wet with freshly drawn blood.

"Wha?" Unable to resist verifying the demon's claim, Kitty's eyes drift lower to inspect herself. She finds a long tear running down her lower leg, a thin trickle of blood gathering around her foot. Anger and adrenaline had masked the pain, but Kitty's eyes grow wide with horror as she now becomes fully aware of the wound. "No!"

"Yes!" a demon gloats from behind. It is the one Kitty had mangled at the start of the fight. Somehow it has managed to mostly restore its face and head, but it is still grossly deformed. It rakes its claws up Kitty's back, scattering bits of her nightshirt and bright droplets of blood everywhere. It is a vicious, unsporting blow, but then again, demons are not famous for fighting fair.

"Ahhhhhhhh!!" Kitty cries out as she is wracked by intense pain.


"Now we eat!" the demons cry and rush toward her. The demon who struck her works to readjust his face a little more while rivulets of drool spill from between his fangs. Kitty collapses to the ground, clutching her stomach in pain as the poison begins to course through her veins.

Before they can strike, however, a bolt of yellowish energy strikes three of them, burning them to cinders. The others freeze and fearfully look in the direction of the attack.

"Begone!" a commanding voice intones.

Descending from the sky is a well built woman with long, flowing blonde hair. She is wearing shining silver armor that wraps her legs and arms in eldritch steel so pliable it is almost a second skin. The midriff is left bare, which would normally call into the question the battle usefulness of such garb, but the nimbus of power that radiates around her entire body speaks of other defenses. Atop her head the woman wears a horned crown, the silver spikes curving up as they might on a bull or a gazelle. A great silver cape flutters behind her while a steady glow of magical energy surrounds her hands.

"'Tis her!" one of the demons wails.

"The Darkchylde!" another says.

The woman's eyes flash dangerously. "You shall address me properly, for I am Magik! Do your feeble minds also recall that it is I who rules Limbo?" she declares. "This human is under my protection. Seek your victims elsewhere!"

Not wishing to dare her wrath, the remaining demons scamper off, grunting and whining like wild animals.

The woman lands near Kitty and places a gentle hand on her back. "Steady, Kitty. I've got you."

Kitty trembles from the pain of her wounds, but lifts her eyes to regard her rescuer. "A-Aman-?"

"Shhh!" the woman says, cutting her off. "No names here in the open. Come with me. I can heal those wounds, but I need to get you someplace safer, in case those demons return in greater numbers."

With that, a glowing silver disc appears beneath them and rises quickly. As it traces a path to their heads, their bodies below vanish, until the disc completes its journey and it too, disappears. Once again, the misty cavern is silent.


In another part of Limbo that resembles a lush garden with ivy-covered brick walls, a new teleportation disc rises from the ground, allowing Kitty and the woman who calls herself Magik to materialize. The blonde woman walks Kitty over to a stone slab that might normally serve as a bench and gently lays her upon it.

"We should be safe here," Magik tells her. "Just hang on, Kitty. The poison will work slower if you stay calm."

Kitty's face contorts with pain and she grunts in response to the woman's plea. "Whatever you say, Doc," she says through clenched teeth.

Magik passes a hand over Kitty, and a greenish vapor seeps through Kitty's skin, gathering around the sorceress' waiting palm. Kitty's back arches as she twists in pain. "Gnah!" she cries.

"Shhh," Magik says in a soothing voice. "Almost done." Another moment and the remaining vapor leaves Kitty, who collapses back to the slab with gasping breaths. "There," Magik says, clenching her palm into a fist, watching with satisfaction as the offending vapor vanishes in a puff. "It's done."

"Hahhhh..." Kitty groans as she begins to relax. "Always a party, this place. I can see why you hardly ever leave it."

Magik smiles at the comment. "Well, I'm not a licensed practitioner of medicine, but my experience with the X-Men has taught me that these weak stabs at humor are usually a sign of recovery."

"Hard to argue with tradition," Kitty says, reaching a hand up. Magik acknowledges the unspoken request for help and takes the hand, lifting her to a seated position. "Thanks for the save back there. I was a few seconds away from becoming demon chow."

"You're welcome," the sorceress says politely. "Not to sound like I don't appreciate the visit, but what are you doing in Limbo, Kitty? And alone! That's just asking for trouble."

Kitty rubs her shoulder and frowns. "Believe me, I know that better than anyone. And coming here wasn't exactly my idea, depending on who you ask."

"Depending on who you ask?" Magik repeats incredulously.

Looking around, Kitty says, "Ah, is it okay to go back to names, here?"

"Yes," her friend confirms. "This place has wards to keep enemies away. You don't have to call me Magik if you don't want to."

Kitty nods. "Thanks, Amanda. How I got here's a little confusing, but I'll tell you everything I know, and hopefully I can get you to do me a little favor..."


Not much later...

Amanda Sefton, the second woman to bear the name Magik, sits next to Kitty on the stone bench, wearing a somber expression. "So, this imposter spent six months pretending to be you, vanished right before Peter died, and now you've found yourself here in Limbo after she tried to kidnap you."

"That's basically it in a nutshell," Kitty confirms. "Although I've been having a bit of trouble with getting people to believe me."

"Actually, it explains a few things," Amanda tells her. "The X-Men helped me battle Belasco during that period, and you- I mean she- was involved. Belasco took her soul and I kept the rest of her in the Soulsword until I could save her. As soon as I healed you I knew that you were not the same person." The sorceress places a thoughtful finger on her chin. "And yet..."

"What?" Kitty asks.

"Well... It's just, the only reason Belasco was able to summon you- I mean her- to Limbo was because of a spell he placed on you during your first encounter with him."

Kitty's face tightens and she makes a fist. "I remember that..." A memory flashes in her mind of that battle, one her first adventures with the X-Men. Belasco had captured her and encased her in a giant crystal, and to ensure that she wouldn't try to phase out of it, he pulled her skeleton from her own body. She was only thirteen years old. "It was horrible. He made my own skeleton wave at me. I've had worse things happen since, but it was one of the first times I ever experienced true evil."

Amanda nods in understanding. "So if he placed the spell on you, how did she wind up in Limbo instead?"

"Someone from an alternate dimension who got stuck here, perhaps?" Kitty says with a perplexed shrug. "It's happened before."

Amanda shakes her head. "No, that can't be it. Limbo exists in all places and all times. That's its nature. It connects all the dimensions, links them like a hub, but what happens here happens once. You are the only one who is bound by that spell. No clone or duplicate from another dimension could possibly share it with you."

The news causes Kitty to shift uncomfortably in her seat. "So what you're saying, then, is that even though she isn't me, she is me?"

"In a manner of speaking," Amanda says thoughtfully.

"I have to know more," Kitty says. "Whoever she is, she's been hurting my friends to get at me." She takes one of Amanda's silver-sheathed arms in her hands and looks pleadingly into her eyes. "Can you help me?"

Slowly, Amanda nods. "I'll try."


With a wave of her hand, Amanda summons a trio of scrying mirrors, all shaped like long crystals. They ripple with so much magical energy the air that surrounds them grows dark. A low hum emanates from their illusory surfaces.

"I can't guarantee this will uncover anything useful," she tells Kitty, "but if there is a common thread between you and this imposter, we might be able to find more about her by hunting for it. To do this, I will have to pry your soul as well, for in all likelihood the link lies there. Do you accept this?" The look on Amanda's face clearly states that she is not asking the question lightly.

Taking a deep breath, Kitty says, "Do whatever you have to."

"Very well. This will probably tingle a bit." With that, Amanda snaps her fingers and a trail of golden light snakes out the leftmost mirror and drifts toward Kitty. When it reaches her it expands to the point where she is completely sheathed by the magical glow.

The sensation causes Kitty to involuntarily suck in her breath. "Oh!" she says in surprise. "It's like my insides are being splashed with ice water!"

"The feeling will pass," Amanda assures her. Focusing on the third mirror, she traces a pattern into the surface and then presses her palm to it. The mirror suddenly glows red, pulsing with a heartbeat rhythm. A small tendril of the red light quests to the center mirror, while a similar thread of golden light from the mirror linking Kitty does the same. Upon contact, the central mirror flashes a bright green. "Almost..." Amanda reports, maintaining contact with the rightmost mirror and shutting her eyes in concentration.

"Got it!" she says, as the mirror she is touching suddenly changes to a pale blue.

"What?" Kitty says curiously. "What do you see?"

"It's not that type of scrying mirror, Kitty. It does not produce visions. It merely points the way to the information I seek based on the search parameters I supply."

"It's a magical Google?"

"In a sense," Amanda says. "I'm having trouble getting anything useful, however. The connection is hazy."

"Can we start with who she really is?" Kitty says, trying to sound casual.

Amanda silently communes with the mirror for a moment and says, "Your answer does not lie in who she is, but rather in who she isn't."

"Oh, perfect. Is all the information this thing gives that helpfully vague?" Kitty grumbles sarcastically.

"I told you the link was hazy, didn't I?" Amanda snaps back. "I'm starting to get a little more. This might be more useful, but-" The sorceress' eyes suddenly jolt open with alarm. "No!"

A crack rips its way across the mirrors, and a moment later they shatter in an explosion of spectral shards. The force knocks Amanda back into one of the walls of the garden.

"Amanda!" Kitty shouts.


Despite the spectacular explosion, the woman known as Magik seems largely unharmed. Even her horned crown is not out of place as she rises back to her feet. "It's all right, Kitty. I'm fine. There was some unexpected feedback, is all. I'm afraid the last bit of information I acquired is all that I'll be able to give you."

Kitty nods. "I understand. Anything's got to be better than the pointless dead ends I've been chasing so far."

Amanda grimaces at Kitty's optimism. "I wonder if you'll still feel that way after I've told you what I found. Your answers lie in the place your imposter was trying to take you to."

"What?" Kitty says, just as upset as Amanda had predicted. "You mean if I had just been a good little hostage I might already know who she really is?"

"Perhaps, or you might be dead, depending on what she was planning," Amanda reminds her. "If you're willing to risk it, however, I was able to get a general location. I'm not sure what you'll find, but if you wish it, I can safely teleport you there."

"Just me?"

Amanda shakes her head. "At the moment, things are not as stable as I would like here in Limbo. I won't be able to join you."

A nugget of doubt creeps across Kitty's face. "But, how will I get back home, then?"

"I was able to sense a powerful dimensional gateway in the area," she tells Kitty. "I'm not sure of its nature, but there's a chance you can use it to find your way back home. If I sent you back to the X-Men instead-"

"No," Kitty says in a calm but decisive voice. "She'd probably just find me before I could convince them to help, and you've already taxed yourself enough. I'll have to do this alone. I would like to ask one favor of you, first, though."

"What's that?"

"Can you magic me up some clothing?" Kitty asks, pointing her palms toward the shredded nightshirt that is barely clinging to her. "I'm not exactly dressed for action, here."

"Oh!" Amanda says with a laugh. "Of course!" With a wave of her hand the clothing Kitty had been sleeping in shimmers white along the edges and slowly changes until she finds herself wearing her field uniform.


Kitty inspects the work with a pleased look on her face. "Ah, this is more like it. Never thought I'd be glad to be back in the colors again after- Well, never mind that."

Amanda is silent for a moment, as if she is deciding if she should say something. "Kitty?" she ventures.

"Something wrong, Amanda?"

"I was just wondering, before you go, how Kurt's doing. I haven't heard from him in a while, and I'm getting worried."

"Oh," Kitty says, looking uncomfortable. "I guess nobody told you. He ran off with Rachel and-"

"Rachel!?" Amanda blurts, her face lit with disbelief and what looks like outrage.

"Whoa! Poor choice of words there," Kitty apologizes. "They're helping Professor Xavier and Alex deal with a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Amanda says, looking worried.

"I don't know all the details," Kitty says, "but they have to get to the Shi'ar and stop a disaster from happening. None of us have heard anything since they left Earth." She gives Amanda a measuring look. "You still love him, don't you?"

Amanda raises a mildly threatening eyebrow. "Well, if we're going to start discussing ex-boyfriends, there are a few questions I've been meaning to ask you..."

"Ah-heh," Kitty says, laughing uncomfortably. "Point taken. No romance talk here." With that, Kitty's face becomes serious again, as does Amanda's.

"Be careful out there, Kitty," the blonde sorceress says.

"I promise," Kitty nods.

Amanda raises her hand, and as she does so a silver stepping disk manifests below Kitty and climbs to her head. In a short moment the young woman is gone.

A tall figure slowly steps out from the shadows behind Amanda. She has an ageless face and smooth green skin. Her hand rests on a long, mystic staff and she is adorned with a ram's horn headdress.

"Hello, mother," Amanda says without turning around.

"I'm surprised at you, Jimaine," her mother chides, using her daughter's true name. "Letting your friend run off with only half the story. Weren't you going to tell her about that little something extra you found while you scanned her soul?"

"No," the woman known as Magik replies. Her face is grim as she keeps her eyes on the spot Kitty had stood only moments before. "She isn't ready for that."


Kitty materializes in a rocky, barren wasteland. A tall, but thin shroud of multicolored fog shrouds the landscape, and the sky is a dull blue with greenish clouds floating high above.

"Oh, more fog," Kitty thinks. "Well that's just lovely."

Looking in every direction, she says out loud, "So how am I supposed to figure out where I'm supposed to go if-"

She stops short as she reaches the point where she is facing the opposite direction she arrived in. Through the fog Kitty can clearly see the dark shape of a massive structure, most likely a castle, in the distance resting upon a high cliff. It rises hundreds of feet in the sky as two thick, conjoined towers. The sheer angle of the castle's rise is suggestive of ancient Mayan temples, but that is where the similarity ends. Large protrusions, too thin to be anything more than decorative, sprout at regular intervals up the sides of the building, hooking upward to collectively point toward some unknown spot in the sky. A similarly angled sculpture stands at the very top, like a crown for the two towers, the abstract shape evocative of a starfish or bird of prey standing with one foot on each tower. The castle cannot be more than one or two miles away from where she stands.

"Oh," Kitty says. "Guess that answers that."

She starts to step toward the castle when she notices a small part of the rocky ground carved away from the level earth around it, forming a long, but generously wide trail leading to the mighty cliff and the castle that stands atop it. "Hey, look," she thinks. "It's my own personal yellow brick road. If Lockheed were here I'd be tempted to start calling him 'Toto.'"

A curious mental image sweeps through Kitty, almost against her will, of her friends and teammates in the various roles of Dorothy's companions from The Wizard of Oz. Peter's steel form is blended with the metal plates and cap of the Tin Man. Hank, the catlike, blue-furred Beast, sports a long tail with a puff at the end. Logan is wearing a straw hat, his nose is painted red, and bits of hay spring from his knuckles in place of adamantium claws.

Kitty stifles a giggle. "Guess that only leaves two more for the Wizard himself and the Wicked Witch, and the latter's a pretty obvious choice," she thinks. She becomes more serious a second later. "Only, I don't think I'm going to solve this problem with a bucket of water and three taps of my ruby slippers."

The young woman feels a sudden chill and instinctively hugs herself. "Brrr!" she says out loud. "I hope it's warmer in that place." With that optimistic statement she takes her first step toward the castle and whatever waits inside.


In not much time Kitty follows the trail to the ground floor of the odd-looking castle, her eyes studying the dull, yellow-orange surface for any signs of danger. "I'd better stay phased," she thinks. "With any luck that will help disguise me from any proximity alarms until I can find a proper way in." She pauses to ponder the place in its entirety. "What kind of place is this, anyway? It looks ancient stonemasonry, but everything else feels like it came from thousands of years in the future, or even another planet. Why would my imposter want to take me to a place like this?"

As she steps carefully around the walls of the building, she finds a small depression that proves to be an underused side-door. "This looks promising," she says, and moves closer to inspect it. "There's something here all right" she thinks, zeroing in on a small plate she finds on the wall next to the door. "The cover of a control panel? Well, that certainly rules out old world architecture. Looks pretty flimsy, though. I bet I could pry it open fairly easily."

She reaches up and allows her fingers to solidify enough to clasp the edges of the plate and, as she had suspected, the thin metal easily pulls away, revealing a nest of wires and circuits within.

"Nice," Kitty thinks. "Looks like the main circuits of this door's alarm and locking mechanism. Something like this would probably keep out most unwanted guests..." she reaches her hand to the panel and phases through it, causing the electronics within to spark and short out. "...But then most unwanted guests can't scramble those systems with my phasing power."

As if to punctuate her point, the door swings open with a grinding sound of stone scraping against stone. "Presto!" Kitty thinks with delight. "Now to find out what's inside, although in a place this size I'm more likely to get hopelessly lost than solve any mysteries."

Kitty cautiously steps inside, looking at the contrast between the heavy stone blocks that form the walls and the smooth metal surface of the floor. "Even for Limbo, this place is pretty strange. It doesn't feel right. Now that I'm inside I'll have to stay on guard even more. Who knows what other traps are waiting in a place like this, or how many guards it has. I've been lucky so far, though..."

As Kitty walks, her feet brush past a small figure, the size of a child's doll, standing in the cracks between two blocks of the wall. When she passes, it silently steps into the hall and begins to follow her.

"...it looks like I haven't been noticed yet."


As Kitty penetrates deeper into the mysterious lair, it quickly becomes more sophisticated both in build and contents. The walls change from smooth stone to some gleaming metal of unknown origin, and strange vents, panels and sensors play along the ceiling at regular intervals. Valves, tubes and pipes run the length of the hallways, their purpose indecipherable. The halls are lined with containers and blocky cabinets that bristle with advanced technology.

"Everything's so still," Kitty thinks. "It's as if no one has used this place in ages, yet not a thing's out of place and I haven't spotted so much as a single speck of dust. From the looks of things, the place could be automated to do everything, even perform its own upkeep. I'd love to spend a year or too studying this place if I had the chance."

Her appreciation for the place becomes secondary in her mind, however, as she passes a doorway leading to a very large observation room. "Aha! This looks promising."

She steps inside and finds a room with wall-to-wall monitoring equipment, computers, and an array of other sophisticated devices of unknown purpose. The ceiling looms high above her, and a railed walkway circles the upper limits of the room. More doorways can be seen at the top level, leading elsewhere in the complex.

The tiny man who has been following Kitty finds a section of wall with numerous switches and protrusions and slowly climbs it.

"Now this is more like it!" Kitty says, sounding pleased. She finds a chair located in front of an odd-looking keyboard and makes herself comfortable. "Time for the Goddess of Computing to take the wheel!"

Behind her, the small figure reaches the railing of the upper walkway and without hesitation flings itself to the ground, kicking off to increase the speed and force of the impact. When it collides with the ground it glows with a throbbing energy and suddenly swells many times its original size. It is now more easily recognized as a muscular man with orange skin, wearing a strange purple armor with matching wrist braces, boots and helmet.

"You go no further, intruder..." the man says, flexing his arms menacingly.

Kitty gasps and spins in her chair, alarmed by the unexpected arrival of the man who has just revealed himself. "I'm caught!" she thinks. "But how did he sneak up on me?"

"...It is here that you shall fall. Remain still, and I shall make your death a quick one."


Kitty rises to her feet, fists at the ready. No longer surprised, she quickly takes note that the man threatening her is half her size. "I don't think so, Tiny," she says, springing toward him with deadly grace.

"Whoever this guy is, I don't know his capabilities," Kitty thinks. "Better take him out quick, before he has a chance to attack or sound the alarm."

In a second she is upon him. She sweeps low, kicking his legs out from under him and then grabbing hold of his shoulders. She easily lifts him, and after a quick spin, chucks him at the sturdy, unyielding surface of one of the far walls. He strikes it with a loud "Wrang!" and drops to the ground.

"That ought to do it," Kitty thinks, but she remains on guard, in case he should rise.

And rise he does, doubling in size so that he is as large as a fully grown man.

"Oh, this isn't good," Kitty says, her eyes growing wide.

"Fool!" the man says, stepping toward her menacingly. "Strike me all you wish. Your blows shall only make me larger and stronger than I was before, though I am certain even this is more than enough to deal with a frail thing such as you!"

"Big talk," Kitty taunts, carefully moving back as she does so. "Think you can back it up?"

Kitty studies his approach carefully as she prepares her next move. "His power sounds a bit like Sebastian Shaw's," she thinks, recalling the Black King of the Hellfire Club, sworn enemies of the X-Men. "His power to absorb kinetic energy and convert it into strength has allowed him to go toe-to-toe with Peter in the past, and win! If I'm going to take this guy down, I'll have to be smart..."

The strange man suddenly springs on her, launching a heavy fist at her face. Kitty ducks between his legs to avoid the attack, tucking into a roll and emerging behind him. "...starting with not letting him hit me!"

"Run all you like!" the man bellows. Ignoring him, Kitty works to put some distance between him and herself. "You cannot escape me!" With that, he turns and rushes towards her as if he intends to ram her with his own head.


The armored man charges toward her with terrifying speed, but as he gets close, Kitty performs her own special brand of levitation to move out of his reach, stepping upon the very air and phasing her way up until she is well above the man. "Can you fly?" she asks cheerfully.

To her surprise, however, the man does not slow his step or turn to face her, choosing instead to hurl himself into the other wall. He smashes into it, wrecking the electronic monitors that dot its surface. Once again his size magnifies and turns to face her.

"Your tricks will not save you," he vows. "No matter how high you climb, I shall grow tall enough to catch you, and then you shall be crushed between my fingers!"

"Come and get me, then!" Kitty says, and runs across the air for the other side of the room. Without hesitation the man does just that, his increased size making his charge all the more fearsome.

When he strikes the wall he once again grows more massive, now nearly thrice Kitty's own size. "Soon I shall fill this room, woman! Where shall you flee then?"

"Well, now that you've obligingly grown too tall to fit through it," Kitty says, suddenly dropping back to the floor and gently landing on her feet, "I was thinking I'd take the door!" She springs into action, dashing out of the room. Without looking back, she rushes down the sleek corridor while the growing man bellows in fury.

"So much for the quiet approach," Kitty thinks as she runs.

Suddenly the wall in front of her explodes outward, showering the hall with debris. She instinctively phases, allowing the stone and metal to pass harmlessly through her. "That was close!" she thinks as the dust clears.

"Little coward!" the growing man says as he steps into the hall. He is now more than fifteen feet tall and his face is clenched in anger. "I am a stimuloid! My master built me with the power to overcome any barrier! Your death at my hands is only a matter of time!"

Kitty's fearful visage suddenly changes at his boastful words. "You're a robot?" she says with a hint of amusement. "Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?"


Kitty sprints toward the self-styled stimuloid, her eyes determined and confident.

Seeing this, the man crouches low to intercept her attack. "You no longer flee? This is good. I prefer to slay a fighting foe."

"Oh, don't mind me, bub..." Kitty says as she somersaults into the air. He reaches toward her, but as his palm comes in contact she phases right through it and then his own chest, emerging behind him. "...I'm just passing through."

"More tricks?!" the man yells before his limb seizes up and his jaw drops in disbelief. "I cannot move my arm! What have you done to me?" Awkwardly, he attempts to rise.

Calmly, as if nothing unusual at all were happing, Kitty walks back to where she had been, phasing though one of the stimuloid's legs along the way. The damage done, he collapses to one knee. "My phasing power scrambles electronic systems. It's rather nasty if you happen to be a robot, but I'm sure you've noticed that by now." She climbs toward his head as if taking an invisible stairway. Kitty thrusts her hands into the man's face. "Now open wide and say 'Ah.'"

"Ahhhhhh!!" the man shrieks as his face trembles violently. A rain of sparks fly from his eyes and ears, and a second later he drops to the hall floor, black smoke rising from his joints.

"That takes care of him," Kitty says. "But I have a bad feeling that my troubles are just beginning. I'd best get out of here before anyone else shows up."

She starts to rush off, but before she has taken two steps she is struck from behind by a beam of red energy. "What!?" Kitty cries out. An instant later she is frozen in place, the red energy surrounding her like a translucent coat of wax. "No!" Kitty thinks. "Some kind of stasis field! I can't move. Can't phase!"

"Leaving so soon?" a voice says from behind. "You've only just arrived."

Kitty feels herself being lifted as if by invisible hands. The mysterious force turns her to face the man who is speaking, and her face pales as she lays eyes on her captor.


He is a tall, ominous figure standing proud as he gloats over his prisoner. He wears what looks like a loose fitting environment suit of green fabric accentuated with a purple belt and matching trim. The outfit also includes purple gloves, cape, helmet and thick boots which go all the way up his thighs. His face is cloaked in blue, so perfectly is almost seems like his natural skin. Only his eyes and mouth are left exposed by the cover, and two lighter colored seams run the length of it, bisecting his eyes and skirting the edges of his mouth. These strange markings make his face look both alien and horrifically artificial. His bizarre clothing does not diminish the imposing figure he presents. The man stands like one accustomed to power, who takes pleasure in the domination of all who oppose him.

"Welcome, mutant," the man says. "I have been expecting you. You may cease your futile struggling, for whether you wish it or not, you are now an honored guest of Kang!"

Next: Hail to the Kang!


Notes:

This story takes place during while Cyclops and the other originals are still involved in the events of Civil War: X-men.

The castle Kitty finds is modeled off the one shown in Avengers #268.

Amanda was once briefly a member of Excalibur, spending most of her time with the team while Kitty was dating Pete Wisdom.

No demons were harmed during the production of this fanfic.


THE CAT'S MEOWS

Fired!?!? Emma's such a witch! I can't believe that she fired Kitty. After all the stuff that she has pulled, she actually has the nerve? Keep up the good work.

Kitty Rasputin

Thank you! It seems when it comes to tormenting poor Kitty, Emma's willing to do quite a bit, but don't count Kitty out just yet!

Geez, Emma, who other than Donald Trump says "fired" anymore? And isn't she mention overstepping herself a little? I thought she and Scott were co-headmasters; at least she should discuss this with Scott before laying down the axe.

Hmm, could it be written into the story that this situation may be part of what's been leading to the friction between Scott and Emma we saw before Torn? Or is this another variation of the old cop movie cliche where the main cop isn't able to solve a case until his captain orders him to turn in his gun and badge? To your credit, you wrote both sides of the Kitty/Emma argument so neither was wrong; I could see Emma's POV as well as Kitty's. Too bad you weren't writing the REAL Civil War!

Okay, we know that Kitty's still on the staff(or at least in the team) after this arc(set pre-Torn), but maybe getting away from the mansion might do Kitty some good. Let her solve the 'clone' mystery once and for all and put it behind her. I look forward to the next chapter, effendi.

Kirayoshi

Thank you, Kirayoshi! The clone mystery is indeed nearing its shocking conclusion, although Kitty probably won't like the answers she gets.

Incorporating this story into the Civil War event was a last minute decision. I was originally going to have Kitty stay with Stevie Hunter and shift the events of Issue 8 to follow the Parent-Teacher Night arc, but this seemed to flow better.

Its a good arc.
Well thought out.
Have you tryed to do it as a story board layout?

drkraven01

Thanks, drkraven! I have visualized certain scenes as panels on a comic page from time to time, especially to pace out an action scene. Glad you're enjoying the ride so far!