CHAPTER 4
After closing the door to the office of the Director, Kitty turned to Kristina. "Go on to your office and call Wolverine and Psylocke. I will meet you then down in The Cave. Don't forget to bring your workout clothes with you. We don't have much time to waste."
"Okay, Kitty. I will meet you there." With that, Kristina proceeded down the hall to her office, located at the opposite end of the building from the Director's. Kitty proceeded to the stairway, and opened the door. After hearing the door shut behind her, she leaned over the railing at the stairs below. Taking note that no one was on them, Kitty hurdled the railing and began to fall toward the basement floor of the stairwell, phasing through any rails or steps that were in her way. Just before reaching the bottom, she floated softly to a stop just above the concrete floor. With her feet now planted firmly on the ground, Kitty opened the door in front of her and entered the dank, cold area few people in the building went to, nicknamed The Cave.
After walking down a narrow hallway, Kitty came upon a metal door that had a security latch and a card scanner next to it. Slipping her ID badge through the scanner, she took note of the small, dark object that magically appeared from the wall. It was a retina ID scanner she had installed herself. She used it as an extra security measure for the rooms that appeared behind the metal door, the area she called The Cave. After leaning over and placing her eye in the viewfinder, she heard a small beep and a clicking noise, followed by a pinging noise. Standing up again, she pulled on the handle to open the door. As the door opened, the scanner slid silently back into the wall, and Kitty proceeded into the dark void in front of her.
As she closed the door behind her, the room suddenly became bright and active. A computerized voice suddenly spoke out. "Good morning, Kitty. How may I serve you today?"
"Morning, Cerebro. Please prepare the training room and the main office. Also, Abernathy Kristina will be arriving here shortly, so prepare the secondary office please."
"Right away."
Kitty walked across the entrance room to another door labeled with her name on it. This was her office in this building, away from the other agents and only accessible by people in the need-to-know area of her business. Kitty put the attaché case on the chair just inside the office, and pulled out her battle gear. "Might as well get some training in while I wait for Kris," she thought to herself.
She then walked back out into the entrance room, and went over to another door marked 'Training Center'. After pulling open that door, she had three options to where she could go – the Action Center, which was kind of like the old Danger Room in the X-Men's old mansion; the Viewing Center, where people could watch what was going on in the Action Center; and the Dressing Room, which was like a locker room. Kitty proceeded to the Dressing Room, to change into her battle gear.
Entering the Dressing Room, Kitty proceeded to her designated changing area. Bigger than most locker rooms in the gyms she had trained in once before, it allowed her plenty of space to change and to stretch out. Kitty pulled up a bench and laid her battle gear on it. She then proceeded to take off her jacket and hang it on a hanger. Next came her pants and then her turtleneck, and finally her boots. After tossing the pants and the turtleneck in the locker behind her, Kitty began to stretch her muscles. To be as flexible as she wanted to be, Kitty always had to do stretches every few hours to keep herself nimble.
After a few minutes of stretching, it was time to put on her battle gear. Kitty unfolded the black, one-piece outfit and unzipped it until it was completely open down to the waist. Stepping into it like a pilot suit, Kitty pulled it up her body, letting it slide over bike pants and jog bra. After slipping her arms in the armholes, Kitty pulled the zipper up her body, all the way to her neck. The gear felt loose on her, but it wouldn't be for long. Thanks to Shi'ar technology, the material started to shrink and mold to her body, like a second skin. Once this process was completed, it outlined every curve of her body dramatically, and it would remain there in place, stretching with all of her movements. The zipper that had been in her hand to close the outfit sunk slowly into the material, disappering from sight.
Kitty then leaned down and slipped her boots back on, the tops of which closed in around the leggings of her outfit. Finally, before leaving the Dressing Room, she grabbed the dark gloves and utility belt lying on the bench and carried them out to the entrance room. After velcroing the belt into place around her waist, she pushed open the Action Center door, and walked in. Hearing the door shut and lock behind her, Kitty pulled on her gloves and spoke in a loud voice to the computer. "Cerebro, begin full attack mode training, levels 52 through 69, on my mark. Stop attack mode upon arrival of Abernathy Kristina. Begin!"
With that, the once bare room began brimming with action. Kitty prepared silently for any attack that would come her way. Suddenly, behind her, stood two street thugs swinging nightsticks. Kitty lashed out with a violent motion, knocking the two thugs off balance. Before they could recover, Kitty executed a low sweep of her legs, knocking them to the ground. Pouncing like the cat she is partially named for, she leapt on top of the taller one of the two and delivered a thunderous punch to his face. Without hesitating, she then did a sidewards roll and slammed her hand in a karate chop motion across the neck of the second thug. Both thugs then materialized away, and Kitty somersaulted into position, awaiting the next attack.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something approaching rapidly. Whirling with both speed and grace, she grabbed the figure lunging at her with a knife and pushed him into the wall. Before she could deliver the next blow to the back of his head, everything around her disappeared and the lights came on.
"Abernathy Kristina is here, Kitty," said the computerized voice.
"Thank you, Cerebro. Please direct her to my office. I will speak with her there."
"Right away."