"English"
{Russian}
I do not own X-men or Young Justice
*Xavier Institute for Higher Learning: November 10, 10:30*
Logan had assigned Laura as Kitty's roommate in hopes that the girls would learn from each other. Unfortunately, all she's learned so far is that Kitty didn't make sense. True her only example of typical normal teenage behavior was her cousin Megan, but she felt the point still stands.
It was nothing against Kitty, but Laura honestly didn't understand most of the girl's worries. One prime example was waiting for her in their room, as she returned from a training session in the Danger Room to find Kitty crying into her pillow.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Laura it's a disaster!" Kitty cried, tears running down her cheeks. "Piotr Rasputin has a girlfriend!"
It took a considerable amount of effort on Laura's part not to roll her eyes. She could now understand why Logan hoped she could give Kitty some perspective. But before Laura could try and tell Kitty she was overreacting; her roommate had taken her silence as the go ahead to tell her what happened.
So, Laura had no choice but to listen as Kitty explained that a woman with a "cute" Russian accent had called the school looking for Colossus. Kitty tried to listen in on the call but Piotr switched to Russian so she couldn't understand what they were saying.
"They were making plans to meet!" Kitty screeched. "Commie jerk! I'd like to meet her in a dark alley. She wouldn't be so cute once I got through with her…"
"Kitty!" Laura interrupted. "You're jumping to conclusions" she sighed knowing that Kitty probably wouldn't be letting this go. "There's a simple way to clear this up. We'll follow Piotr when he leaves."
Surprised that Laura would be willing to do this for her, Kitty threw herself at Laura, wrapping her arms around the other girl.
"Thanks, Laura! Thank you!"
Finally proving too much for her, Laura gave in and rolled her eyes.
That night the girls "borrowed" Logan's bike (Kitty was silently praying he'd never find out) and followed Piotr as he took a cab from the Institute.
"You went through this already with Siryn" said Laura. "Wouldn't it be easier to just tell Piotr how you feel?"
"You're right" said Kitty. "I'll tell him tonight, I promise."
Unaware that he was being followed Piotr's cab brought him to a private airfield where he found two old acquaintances waiting for him. One a woman with long blonde hair dressed in a skintight black bodysuit. The other was redhaired man dressed in a white tunic, with a long blue cape, and a hammer and sickle strapped to his belt.
{You should not have called me directly, Laynia Petrovna!} Piotr said angrily. {I do not wish to give those at the Institute the wrong impression.}
{The situation has worsened since we last spoke} the blonde woman, Laynia replied. {There is no time for…}
{If you are ashamed of honorably serving our motherland, Piotr Nikolaievitch…} someone interrupted. Stepping out from the plane, the speaker revealed himself to be a man encased entirely in a robotic suit of armor. {…Perhaps you should have taken better precautions against being followed.}
Piotr was shocked by the accusation. He was certain that no one even knew he was leaving the Institute.
{What? But I was not…} he tried to argue
{Shut up and get in the plane!} the armored man snapped, not interested in hearing what he considered to be excuses. {I will deal with these spies. They shall fall to the might of the Crimson Dynamo!} he declared as his armor's sensors locked onto Laura and Kitty, and his weapons system came online.
From their hiding place amongst the trees surrounding the edge of the property, Laura had been spying on the meeting, while Kitty kept asking for details.
Maybe I should just give her the binoculars? Laura thought to herself, as Kitty asked what was happening for what felt like the hundredth time. She was about to just give up and let Kitty see for herself, when she noticed Crimson Dynamo looking right at them.
"Kitty…"
"What?! Are they kissing?!"
Not bothering to answer that, Laura tackled Kitty to ground just as Dynamo fired an energy blast at the girls.
"What the hell was that for?!" Kitty freaked, as Dynamo's blast passed overhead.
"We're in for a fight" said Laura, climbing to her feet.
"Oh no! I need to make sure Piotr's ok!"
Laura gave Kitty a look of disbelief as the girl phased into the ground, sneaking away to tend to her crush.
Logan wasn't kidding. It was going to take a lot of self-control on Laura's part not to punch Kitty when this was over. But for now, her frustration with Kitty would have to be put aside, as Laura turned to face the Crimson Dynamo.
{I recommend you surrender little girl.} said Dynamo. {As combatants we are most mismatched.}
{I couldn't agree more} Laura growled, unsheathing her claws.
With a savage war cry, Laura lunged at Crimson Dynamo, leaving deep gashes across his armored chest.
Watching from the airfield Piotr was shocked to see their mystery spies were none other than Laura and Kitty.
{No, they are friends!} Piotr cried.
Worried about the girls' safety, Piotr rushed forward to try and call off the Crimson Dynamo, but before he could reach them, Laynia blasted him from behind with a beam of dark energy.
{Forgive me, Piotr. But this is a matter of life and death for our country} said Laynia. Piotr turned to face the Russian woman, glaring angrily. Though she wished things could've gone differently, Laynia was on a mission and didn't hesitate to fire a second more powerful blast of energy at Piotr, knocking him out. {You have been deputized into the Winter Force and as such I must insist you come with us immediately.}
With Piotr defeated Laynia and her partner carried him onto the plane. But just before they could strap him down, Kitty arrived on the scene, phasing up through the floor.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing with my, uh, boyfriend?" Kitty demanded, sounding a little unsure about what to call Piotr, torn between her wishes and reality. "Yeah! That's Right! He's my boyfriend! And I want you to let him go!"
"We are saving our mother land from destruction child!" said the red haired man. "And Vanguard shall not allow anything to stop us!"
Crossing his hammer and sickle, Vanguard released a pulse of kinetic energy catching Kitty completely off guard as she was sent crashing into the side of the plane, dropping to floor unconscious.
Curious about Kitty's abilities, Laynia moved to check on the girl, giving a small sigh of relief that she was still alive, and an idea began to form.
{Did you see, brother, how this girl phased her molecules right through the plane?}
{Yes…I wonder Dark Star} said Vanguard, the same idea forming in his mind. {I wonder if we came to America to retrieve one savior, only to discover a far better one?}
While his allies were making plans, Crimson Dynamo was learning it was big mistake to underestimate Laura, as the clawed girl stood over his fallen form.
"It appears I underestimated you" said Dynamo.
The man beneath the armor was a Russian man with short black hair, a thick bushy mustache, and beady black eyes. Said eyes were glared at Laura, as the girl removed the armored man's helmet.
"Yes, you did" said Laura. "What do you want with Piotr Rasputin?"
The Dynamo stubbornly kept silent. Laura was considering using more extreme methods of interrogation, when Vanguard's voice started transmitting through the radio in Dynamo's helmet.
{Crimson Dynamo! This is Vanguard! Return to the plane. We're taking off the other girl with us.}
Distracted by the Winter Force's capture of Kitty, Laura forgot about Crimson Dynamo. Taking advantage of this break in focus, Dynamo grabbed Laura's ankle, before she could react the armored Russian released a powerful electric jolt, knocking her aside.
{En Route, Vanguard} Dynamo replied, retrieving his helmet, and flying off to return to his team.
As always Laura was quick to recover, getting to her feet in time to see Dynamo entire the plane with the rest of his team.
Sorry Logan. Grabbing Logan's bike, Laura road down to the airfield trailing after the plane as it started down the runway.
Determined not to let them get away with Kitty and Piotr, Laura kept up her pursuit, pushing Logan's bike to the absolute limit. But no matter how fast she was going, it was obvious she was never going to get ahead of the plane. It was gaining speed and was moments away from completing take off, as the landing gear began to retract.
Changing her approach, Laura broke off her attempt to get in front of the plane, instead focusing on the landing gear.
The plane had already started to leave the ground when at the last minute, Laura jumped from the bike, just managing to grab hold of the landing gear as it finished retracting into the plane.
Just hang on Kitty. With them already in the air and no way for Laura to make it to her, for now that was all she could hope for. As she prepared for what was sure to be a long and uncomfortable flight, Laura once more vowed to herself that she would save Kitty.
*Siberian Tundra: November 11, 03:40 NOVT *
After a long 15-hour flight the plane was finally beginning its descent. Not wanting to risk detection, Laura dived out from beneath the plane. Going into freefall for a good several thousand feet, Laura saw that the plane was landing outside an old nuclear facility. While this wouldn't be a problem for Laura thanks to her healing factor, the same couldn't be said for Kitty.
With the ground growing ever closer by the second, Laura maneuvered herself towards the forest surrounding the compound. Extending her claws, Laura caught herself on the bark of a tree, slowing her decent. Though it was still far from a painless landing, Laura's healing factor made short work of the damage.
Never have I been so glad, Kitty uses such fruity shampoo. Even with the air thick with the smell of metal and radioactive fallout, the scent of Kitty's shampoo still managed to shine through and that was all Laura was going to need to track her down.
Following Kitty's scent, Laura snuck her way inside the nuclear plant. From the broken and worn out equipment and damage to the facility it was obviously no longer in use. Though that didn't make it any less dangerous.
Silently moving her way through the plant, Laura made her way to the central chamber. nothing more than a broken-down mess of rock and ruble, with no sign of the machinery one would expect to find in a nuclear plant. Which of course raised the question: where was all the radiation coming from?
But that would have to wait for standing in the middle of the ruins were the three members of the Winter Force along with a new member dressed in a grey hazmat suit. But there was no sign of Kitty. Using the surrounding debris for cover, Laura approached the group, intending to listen for a clue to Kitty's location.
{I don't like this} said the man in the hazmat suit. {They've been down there for hours.}
{What do you expect us to do, Mikhail?} Crimson Dynamo argued. {We have now way of knowing what's going on down there!}
{There she is!} Laynia exclaimed, pointing to where Kitty had begun to rise through the floor.
Immediately Laura noticed how slowly Kitty was phasing through the ground.
Come on, Kitty. Laura was worried, Kitty had told her that she could only phase for as long as she could hold her breath. If she didn't finish passing through the floor soon, she wouldn't survive. Abandoning stealth, Laura immediately raced down to Kitty's side, forcing her way past the Winter Force, begging for Kitty to hold her phasing ability.
"Kitty just hold on!"
But to her dismay, Kitty just couldn't hold it any longer. Time seemed to slow down as Kitty's gasping for breath, turned into agonizing screams before falling silent, dead just as Laura reached her side.
No. No. Laura had seen death before. She'd been the one to deliver it to so many. But the sight of Kitty's corpse broke something her. Logan had hoped, had trusted Laura to have Kitty's back, and she failed. It was her idea to follow Piotr and it ended in her death. But there was still one thing she could do for her.
Popping her claws, Laura turned to face the Winter Force, rage burning in her eyes. It may have been her idea to follow Piotr, but they were the ones that brought Kitty there, and Laura was going to make them pay for it.
While his team all braced themselves for attack, the man in the hazmat suit, Mikhail stepped forward, accepting Laura's challenge.
{The intruder has gone completely insane. But I shall match her claw for claw…} the hazmat suit exploded as Mikhail transformed into a large brown furred humanoid bear. {…As only Ursa Major can!}
With a savage roar, Laura lunged at Ursa Major, while the rest of the Winter Force watched from the sideline.
{Vanguard, we can't let Ursa Major do this!} said Laynia. {He is a mere cadet – not even an official officer of the Winter Force. And he removed his hazmat suit! With all the radiation…}
{We have little choice, Dark Star!} Vanguard argued. {Time is running out. Hopefully Ursa's thick fur will protect him from contamination as well as my force field does!}
{Still, who can blame the girl} said Crimson Dynamo. {To see her comrade die right in front of her.}
{Shut up, Dynamo!} Vanguard snapped.
As their battle progressed it was made painfully obvious that Ursa had Laura beat in raw strength. But that wouldn't be enough for the Russian super soldier to beat her. Using her claws to deflect Ursa's, Laura used the opening to break through the Russian's defenses, delivering a quick slash across Ursa's chest.
Enraged, Ursa swung his arms down, attempting to crush Laura under his weight. But the former teen assassin proved too quick for such tactics, using her size and agility to evade the attack, sliding herself between Ursa Major's legs, slicing at his Achilles tendons as she passed, causing him to fall to his knees, before delivering two quick slashes across the humanoid bear's back.
{We don't know how long we have until all of Russia is destroyed. We must help our comrade subdue the intruder!}
As Laura prepared to land the finishing blow, Vanguard stepped forward, crossing his hammer and sickle, causing a barrier of kinetic energy to surround Ursa Major. This also had the misfortune of gaining Laura's attention, but before she could attack the Russian redhead, Laynia stepped up sending her flying across the room with a blast of dark energy.
{Forgive me, I had no…it can't be} to Laynia's disbelief, her blast did nothing more than to barely slow Laura down, as she quickly climbed to her feet. {That was my strongest Dark Force blast! How can she brush it aside like that?!}
{Make no mistake. Do not underestimate this child} said Crimson Dynamo. {I did when we faced each other in America, and she destroyed by other set of armor!} The armored Russian super soldier fired a barrage of energy blasts at Laura, forcing the girl to take cover amongst the rubble. {I will not make the same mistake twice!}
Crimson Dynamo kept up his assault hoping to force Laura out into the open. His efforts seemingly proved successful as Laura emerged from behind cover, only to leap up onto the rafters.
Thinking she was trying to escape, Dynamo aimed another blast at Laura, only for her to dodge, leaving the blast to weaken the ceiling supports.
{Dynamo, stop!} Laynia cried. {You'll bring the whole roof down on top of us!}
{Fine then I will handle her personally.}
Taking to the air the Crimson Dynamo flew up after Laura, who waiting until the last minute used her claws to slice through one of the ceiling supports, dropping a large slab of concrete on the armored Russian.
{This is will not stop the Crimson Dynamo!} he declared arrogantly, using his armor's weapons to blast the slab into pieces.
{Dynamo, look out!} Ursa cried.
But it was too late, using the slab as cover, Laura dived down at Dynamo slashing her claws across his back as she passed, destroying his flight systems, and sending the Crimson Dynamo spiraling out of control crashing violently into the far wall.
Two down, Laura turned her attention to Laynia and Vanguard, only to be held back by one of the redhead's barriers. Driven by rage Laura brutally assaulted the forcefield, hoping to tear her way through, as Vanguard struggled to maintain it.
{Careful brother!} Laynia cautioned.
{S-she doesn't tire – doesn't show mercy} said Vanguard, struggling under the pressure. {It's all I can do just to maintain the field!}
{Can you make a small opening in your shield just enough for me to project some Dark Force out?}
{I-I can try.}
Vanguard managed to create an opening in his barrier, allowing Laynia to project her Dark Force out, creating a fist she wrapped it around Laura's body and lifted her into the air.
{Perfect! Now I will do my best to reason with her!} said Laynia, before turning her attention to the struggling girl in his grip. "Laura! Your name is Laura, yes? Your friend Kitty told us that. Though yes, initially we took her from your country against her will. But once we explained our predicament to her and your schoolmate – our countryman, Colossus – both agreed to help us voluntarily!
When the reactor here overloaded, the core began sinking right through the earth. If the magma hits the groundwater beneath the concreate foundation, the resulting explosion will be three to five megatons strong. Nearby cities will be leveled and much of Europe rendered uninhabitable!
Our government did not wish to contact the League. So, we recruited Colossus, hoping his great strength and armored form meant he could deflect the core away from the aquifer. But we realized Kitty Pryde could phase him even further below ground. And we are all saddened she has fallen in the attempt. But know Laura, that she will be a hero to the Russian people forever…"
Laynia paused to look back at Kitty, only to find that her body had vanished. Shocked by the this turn of events, Laynia lost her focus, allowing Laura to break free of her grasp. Dropping through the opening through the opening in Vanguard's barrier, planting her feet into the back of Laynia's head, knocking her out as she slammed against the ground.
{Sister!} Vanguard raged, brandishing his hammer and sickle. {Mindless beast! With these symbols of a civilized people, I will send you where you belong!}
Vanguard charged at Laura, only for her to shatter his weapons with two quick swipes of her claws, before flooring him with a solid hook to the jaw.
"The effect is more extreme than I anticipated, but the outcome is still the desired one."
Unbeknownst to Laura and the Winter Force, Kitty was still very much alive. Together with Piotr she was in an underground chamber surrounded by flames. Standing before them in the heart of the inferno was a man surrounded by a golden aura, with multiple faces – man, and women, all with unique expressions.
The strange entity was speaking into their minds, showing them the battle between Laura and the Winter Force.
"What was that?" Kitty demanded. "What did you do to Laura? To us? Aren't we underground? Isn't this supposed to be a melting nuclear reactor core? How…"
"QUIET!" the entity snapped. "Just let me…I have just recently come into being, and I need time to make sense of things. I scanned the all the nearby minds and realized projecting an illusion of your demise could buy me time by delaying the 'rescuers' above."
"But why? Don't you want to be rescued?" asked Kitty.
"Who are you?" asked Colossus. "Did you work at the power plant, or…"
"Power Plant?!" the entity roared, the surrounding flames growing intensity in response to his rage. "They told you this was a power plant?! Why do you think I have no interest in being 'rescued' by anyone who works for the State?! Do you think a mere power plant could produce a freak like this?!
The Kremlin has long feared the sheer number of superhumans in America. While our own have never numbered more than four or so! In response, a secret program was approved in which Russia's own mutant population would be brought to this facility, and bombarded with radiation in hopes of enhancing their powers. Pregnant mothers were placed in irradiation chambers so their unborn children might develop powers.
The fools! There was a malfunction in the cooling system – the core melted down. There was a flash of light – maybe one of us used a latent power – for we became as you see us now. A collective being more unified than any institution fostered by the State. Truly, we are the Supreme Soviet!"
Kitty and Piotr shared a look, wondering just how long the entity had been trapped down there. Piotr cautiously stepped forward hoping to reason with the being before them.
"And you will be worthy of that name if you use your vast power to save the land. Destroy the nuclear pile bellow us before it reaches groundwater."
"No!"
"What?" Piotr was shocked. How could someone be so callous.
"The State nearly killed us with their cruelty and incompetence. Once they learn of our survival they will double their efforts. Why should we lift a finger to help them?!"
"Forget the State!" Piotr snapped. "The Soviet Union has long since fallen. Your enemies are gone! All you are doing now is endangering innocent people!"
"What of the people that chose to look the other way when we were ripped from our families?! They did nothing and now their indifference shall be repaid in kind."
Seeing there was no reasoning with the collective being, Colossus charged at the entity.
"Rather I think, we shall add your strength to ours."
A beam of light shot forward from the collective entity hitting Colossus causing him to vanish without a trace.
"Piotr!" Kitty screamed in horror.
"Fear not, Kitty Pryde. He is with us…" Colossus's armored face appeared with the amalgamation of others forming the collective "…body and soul."
"Oh, my god" Kitty gasped, taking an involuntary step back. I am such a coward! I never told him how I really felt about him!
"Here we have found our purpose. To absorb all mutants into our collective being" the collective then fired a beam at Kitty, adding her to their being. "No human tyrant shall ever exploit us again! And I sense at least four mutants in the ruins above, to add to…to….to….to…No!"
Against the collective's will, a beam of energy was fired from Kitty's face, hitting the reactor core beneath them.
"This can't be! A single mind has taken over our collective body!"
Using her control of the collective body, Kitty used the energy to lift the reactor core out of the ground and shot it straight up, sending it crashing through the floors above until it finally made its way into space.
Vanguard charged at Laura, only for her to shatter his weapons with two quick swipes of her claws, before flooring him with a solid hook to the jaw. With the Winter Force beaten, Laura stood over Vanguard, ready to make the first kill when suddenly what appeared to be a large fire ball came shooting up from the floor, and through the ceiling, being more than enough to catch everyone's attention.
Adding to their confusion the collective entity, now piloted by Kitty came flying out of the hole in the ground.
"It's ok. I'm in control now" Kitty's voice projected out to their minds.
"K-Kitty?" Laura was stunned. She'd seen a lot of strange things in her life but this was definitely one of the strangest.
"Yes, it's me. There's no reason to fight anymore. But the radiation levels here are still dangerously high. We must go."
With a wave of their hand, Kitty had the collective teleport them all a safe distance away from the nuclear facility.
"Now for my last act as the designated driver of this collective body is to de-collect it!"
In a flash of light the collective being vanished and in its place, were Kitty, Piotr, and the victims of the experiment. After explaining everything, the Winter Force assured them that they would bring those responsible for the experiment to justice, and that they would make sure nothing like it would ever happen again.
While the Russians made plans for what to do next, Laura pulled Kitty aside.
"I just have one question."
"Yes, I would have totally gone berserker too, if I thought you were finished too" said Kitty. "I had no idea you cared so much. I mean I admit I was afraid you hated me…"
"Kitty, I admit I do not always understand you" Laura interjected. "But I do not hate you. That said you can be annoying. Which is why I really need to know: did you finally tell him?"
If Kitty would finally end all the drama over Piotr, then as far as Laura was concerned it was all worth it.
"No, and I won't" said Kitty.
"Why not?!" Laura demanded. After everything they went through, Kitty was going to need a very good reason.
"When I got absorbed by the Supreme Soviet or whatever; it was my intense feelings for Colossus, right at the front of my mind when I got sucked in, that let me overwhelm the collective and take over. and while I was in charge I could see into Piotr's heart, and I saw he just doesn't feel the same way about me. He thinks of me more as a little sister."
Ok that's good enough Laura acknowledged. "So now you're going to move on, right?"
"Hell no!" Kitty declared, a determined look in her eyes. "Now I'm going to spend every waking moment changing his mind!"
Laura tried. She really did. But everyone reaches their breaking point eventually.
*Xavier Institute for Higher Learning: November 12, 19:47*
Back in America Laura and Kitty found themselves staring down an angry Logan. They had just finished explaining where they'd been for the last two days. Needless to say, he was not happy.
"So not only did you put yourselves in danger Logan growled. "You stole my bike!" he then zeroed in on Laura. "And you went and clocked her."
Laura looked over at Kitty, who was now sporting a swollen cheek.
"It was a light hit" said Laura.
Logan's face softened into a smirk.
"Never been more sure I was right to pair you two together. And since you're such good friends now, you won't mind spending the next two weeks on extra chore duty."
Kitty groaned, while Laura took it in stride. Extra chores didn't seem so bad too her.
"Oh, and Laura, your Danger Room access is revoked."
Now that bothered her.
"Now I think the Blackbird could use a wash."
Smirk still on his face, Logan took some pleasure in getting payback for his bike. He was happy to leave the girls to their punishment, when suddenly he vanished right before their eyes in a flash of light.