#amalgam!verse

[djinmer4]

Dream 2 (Amalgam!verse)

Had another dream about the Amalgam!verse.  Nota bene: again, this is not how Kitty discovered Ryder and Nightcreeper were the same person.  NSFW

White light flooded Kitty’s vision as her body seized and came.  Her muscles tensed, her inner walls clamping down on the cock thrusting inside her while her limbs pulled her lover as close as possible.  As the waves of pleasure died down, her eyes closed and her muscles went limp.  Her right slipped away from the scratches she’d made down her partner’s back and in her left something papery crinkled. 

Her hips shifted and she realized that the older man was still hard inside her.  Odd, Ryder usually was on a hair trigger and rarely lasted longer than she did, sometimes coming before her.  He made up for it by having an insanely fast recovery time.  Either he was learning to restrain himself or he’d come back up while she was still recovering.  “You don’t have to hold back for me,” she breathed.

A short pause, then wild laughter filled the air.  Familiar laughter.

Kitty’s eyes popped open.  The familiar features of Kurt Ryder loomed over her.  Or were they?  Even as she watched, blue eyes changed to yellow between one blink and another, and as his lips spread in an insane grin she saw his teeth elongate and sharpen.  His skin was still pale but was beginning to turn sallow and greenish.  Even his hair, normally loose black curls, was turning a verdant shade.    He leaned down to peck her on the nose.  “Uberraschung!”

For a brief moment, she froze in panic.  When she’d agreed to start dating Ryder, she hadn’t expected to bring Nightcreeper into the equation!  But after a few seconds, she forced her muscles to unwind.  This wasn’t Department K.  If things got out of hand, she could phase through the bed and the floor and call Logan or Jubilee to pick her up.  And she didn’t really object to the idea of sleeping with Nightcreeper.  She’d turned him down when he’d asked her, but only because she had already said yes to Ryder.  This would, perhaps, be her only chance to indulge her curiosity over the path not taken.

As if waiting for a signal, Nightcreeper slipped his arm behind her back and pulled her up as soon as she relaxed.  The sudden change in position surprised her, causing her to wrap her legs around his waist and dig her nails into his shoulder to keep her balance.  That drove his cock even deeper into her body and brought her front up against his chest.  From there, she could feel smooth skin be replaced by velvety fur.  The change in texture stimulated her nipples and her clit and she found herself gasping in arousal again. 

She saw his mouth open to let out those bone-breaking chortles again.  “Shut up!”  She grabbed the back of his head and pulled him down, slamming her lips over his own to swallow the manic roars that characterized the vigilante.  Kitty had no idea how Kurt had managed to conceal his identity from his neighbors but she wasn’t going to be the reason he had to change locations.

Despite that, she could feel the rumble of amusement in his chest, but he didn’t fight her, instead adjusting her legs so that she was kneeling over his own.  He gripped her hips and set up a fast pace, the movement rubbing her nipples and clit into the green fur that spontaneously grew.  So distracted by the sensation, she barely noticed something else joining in until she felt it poking another lower orifice.

She froze up again.  She and Ryder had tried pegging before and while she hadn’t hated it, it hadn’t done much for her either.  Still, Kitty couldn’t know what the differences between Kurt and Nightcreeper were.  So she took a deep breath, tensed and then relaxed, allowing...  it must have been his tail to slip into her other opening.  For all his mania, he was actually pretty careful, slowing down his thrusts and slowly pushing in, allowing her to adjust.  Sharp teeth pricked her neck in distraction, and he only started thrusting in earnest once she had relaxed again.

The sensation was actually quite different and left her moaning.  With both her holes filled, there was a feeling of pressure and fullness that had been missing in her prior experience.  The fur rubbed against her nipples and clit, sending electricity throughout her body.  She found herself clinging to her lover, her thighs squeezing him closer and her nails digging into invulnerable flesh.  “You like that, do you?”  Kitty bit down on Nightcreeper’s lower lip to silence the madman, and yanked on his shoulder-length hair, smothering the peals of laughter that threatened to disturb the neighbors and break her eardrums.

The additional stimulation had her coming even faster than her first orgasm.  As her cunt seized around her lover, she felt Nightcreeper swell, then flood her cervix.  Kitty spent a few minutes trying to get her breath back after the rush.  Then she felt more than heard Nightcreeper chuckle.  “Aw, did I tire you out too much, liebchen?”

The blonde lifted her head to glare at him.  The transformation was complete, the man’s eyes as gold as old coins, his ears and fangs needle-sharp and covered with green fur the same shade as new grass.  Based on the giggling, her bedroom eyes probably didn’t do much to improve the intimidation factor.  Exasperated, she dropped her hands from his hair to his neck and tried to strangle him.  Not that it made any difference, he just laughed louder.  “I’m not finished yet.”

“Hihihi!  Maybe this time you’ll manage to last the night!” 

She didn’t.

------

Kitty woke up with her head cradled on someone’s lap.  Opening her eyes, she saw Kurt, back to his baseline human form, softly stroking her hair while he read something on his tablet.  She was sure she hadn’t made any sound to alert him, but after a few minutes he looked down at her, not at all surprised she was awake.  “Hey.”

“Hey,” he whispered back.

She cleared her throat.  “I don’t suppose you could have told me you were part of the tights-and-spandex club before we started dating?”

Pale cheeks flushed red, easily seen above the black shirt he was wearing.  “That would be easier if Nightcreeper was wearing at least that much.”  Blue eyes drifted away from hers.  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I was . . . embarrassed?  It’s one thing to admit you go out and stop crime as a vigilante in your free time.  It’s quite another to say that your alter ego all but strips naked and is one of the people on watch lists for his insanity.”

“I feel like an idiot.  I know you’re friends with Dark Claw and I even knew that you knew Logan’s, Jubilee’s and my civilian identities.  It never occurred to me that there might be another reason Logan trusted you with that information.”

“Yes, well, Dark Claw was right there when the change first happened.”  When it was clear she wasn’t pulling away, he resumed stroking her hair and put down the tablet.  “He’s also the one who makes the counteragent that keeps me stable and not laughing like a loon all the time.”

“That explains how he knows who you are.  But how did you find out about his secret identity?”

He shook his head to dismiss the question, causing his loose dark hair to fall over his shoulders and face.  “Nothing special about that, it’s just good investigative skills.”

They spent a few more minutes in silence.  But there was one question that had been nagging her that refused to be ignored any further.  “What happened last night?  You seemed fine and then suddenly you were green and fuzzy.  What triggered the transformation?”

He coughed then held his hand out to her.  In it was one of the nicotine patches he used.  “What?”

“You probably don’t remember, but you pulled that off during the first round last night.”

“This is the counteragent?”  Kurt nodded.  “Am I going to get sick?”

He snorted, “No, you’ll be fine.  That stuff is completely harmless to normal people.”

“I hadn’t realized that Dark Claw was so skilled at biochemistry.”

“His Little Lord Faulteroy act is incredibly effective.  He goes around like an airheaded bimbo.”  

She laughed a bit at that.  “Logan’s a bit too short to qualify as a bimbo.”  She pulled herself up to lean on his chest.  She raised one hand to toy with the loose ends of his dark hair.  “I haven’t forgiven you yet, but I will eventually.  In the meantime, could you tell me how you became Nightcreeper.”

His breath hitched as she settled on his lap.  “Alright.  It all began because I was investigating a gangster meeting down in the Seaport district.”

[djinmer4]

Snippets 4/4 (Amalgam!verse)

“Hey sis, whatcha doin’?”

The White Witch gave a brief nod to her twin but her attention remained focused on the other side of the space station cafeteria.  “Do you think . . . someone should maybe . . . perhaps-”

“Warn Colombina or Nightcreeper about the other?” Her twin overrode her stuttering.  He passed her her tea and took a sip out of the energy drink he’d procured for himself.  “Sure, but which one?”

“What do you mean?”  The two people in question were speaking in a corner, with Colombina seated at a two-person table while the green-furred man perched on the back o the other chair.   They were too far away for Wanda to hear their conversation but it must have been fairly light-hearted because the normally somber blonde was smiling at the brunet’s comments.  Nightcreeper leaned even closer to whisper in her ear, which caused to start laughing outright.

“Well . . .” Mercury juggled his empty can and the saucer from her tea.  “On one side we’ve got Nightcreeper.  We may not know much about him but he is a good guy and Colombina’s an ex-assassin who used to work for the Hyena.  I’m not sure what good seducing or corrupting him might do but if she’s putting on a show with the intent of harming us all later,” he shrugged.  “Guy doesn’t deserve to have his heart broken again after Kokoro, does he?  But it’s not like that any of that stuff is a secret and the ‘Creeper’s a big boy.  He can handle it.”

“That thought did cross my mind.”  

“On the other hand, Colombina’s a badly traumatized,” green eyes darted over.  “Badly traumatized teenager and while we don’t know much about Nightcreeper, he’s got to be a lot older than her.  It’s, dare I say it?” 

“Puns aren’t nearly as funny as you think they are, twin.”  Wanda’s exasperation did nothing to wilt Pietro’s enthusiasm.

“It’s creepy!”  The speedster laughed at his own joke for a minute.  “If anyone would need a warning about him, it’s her.  But frankly, Colombina’s always struck me as too cynical to fall for any of his lines.  Besides, the seniors have been pairing them up together on missions for the past year.  She probably knows more about Nightcreeper than anyone other than Dark Claw and that’s only because Dark Claw’s a paranoid loony.  So she doesn’t need to be cautioned or threatened or whatever either.”

“I guess you’re right.”  Wanda lifted her chin from her hands and drank her now perfect temperature tea.  “But still, they make for a rather disturbing couple.”

“My eyes are up here, Vera,”  Kurt said dryly. 

“Sorry about your shirt, kraut,” said Vera, not sounding sorry at all.  “Oh, and it was coffee all over your white formal too.  Should I go tell Remi that he’s going to have to lend you another shirt for tonight’s show?”

He shook his head as he loosened the cuffs and unbuttoned the front.  “It’s fine.  I’ve got a spare in my office, I’ll just change into that.  But if this happens again, I’m going to make you pay for the replacement, Sweet.”

“Hey, my show’s doing really well now.  I could afford it easily now.”  The blonde tossed one last zinger over her shoulder.  “Better watch your back, Ryder.  I’m going to pass your viewer numbers any day now.”

“In your dreams.”  Kurt watched her leave, then turned to his companion.  “So let me guess, you’re going to say Sweet was eyeing me too?”

Kitty just smiled.  “No need, you already know she was.”

“The coffee was kind of obvious.  There was nothing there for her to trip on and the liquid wasn’t even steaming.  This stuff’s bad enough when warm, it’s undrinkable even for us when cold.”  He finished taking his shirt off and walked through the halls, cutting a swath for the younger woman to easily follow in his wake.

By the time they got to his office, she was giggling softly.  “You are such a show-off.”

“Cold coffee not only tastes disgusting but it feels disgusting too.  Besides I can’t help where people direct their eyes.”  The slight tilt of her smile showed that she didn’t believe one word he said.  Fair enough, he did like showing off when given the opportunity.  “I’ll stop if you want me to.”

“It’s fine.”

“You won’t get jealous?”

“I trust you.  Besides,” she reached over.  With him standing and her sitting, she was too short to reach his face but she could definitely reach other things.  “They all might get to look but only I get to touch.”

He pretty much melted at the point.  “You’re the only one I want touching me.”

“So why should I be jealous then?”

[djinmer4]

Snippets 2/? (Amalgam!verse)

“Can we turn on the radio?  It’s creepy here.”

“I don’t see why not,” Kurt responded absently.  “There’s only you, me and Vera here this weekend after all.  It won’t bother me.”

Vera had slightly higher standards.  “No heavy metal or punk rock!  I can’t think through the noise.”

“No metal,” agreed Remington Cord.  A few adjustments to the volume knob and some searching for a channel that wasn’t playing the local game, and the reporter finally settled on a station.

Well I could have been an actor but I wound up here I just have to look good, I don’t have to be clear Come and whisper in my ear Give us dirty laundry

“Oh, I love this song!”  Kurt perked up on hearing the music.

“Of course you do,” cooed Vera Sweet.  “You pretty much live this song.”

“I never wanted to be an actor!  That’s base slander!”

“Oh not again . . . “

We’ve got the bubble-headed bleach blonde who comes on at five She can tell ya ‘bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye

“That’s you, Vera.  That’s entirely you.”

“I’m not that bad!  Remi, back me up on this!”  The junior reporter held up his hands as his senior co-workers argued, trying to avoid being drawn into the fight.  “Guys, can’t we all just get along?  We’ve got deadlines for tomorrow.”

The two of them ignored him.  “You’re just upset you lost that bet about the heir dying to the boys in the newsroom,” shot Vera.

“And you're angry the critics said your new show was ‘Full of dancing and singing but when it’s said and done she hasn’t told you a thing.’“

Dirty little secrets Dirty little lies We’ve got our dirty little fingers in everybody's’ pies We love to cut you down to size

“I should have just put up with the creepy silence.”  moaned Remington Cord.

“Your Twitter’s going to give someone a complex,” noted Kitty.

“Really?”  Kurt looked over his most recent Tweets.  “They’re not that sarcastic.  Remington is worse with his.”

“Not the snark.  I meant the clown comparisons.”

“They’re not specifically about clowns, they’re just things that remind me of the circus.”

His girlfriend put down her tablet.  “You didn’t happen to be a clown when you worked in that circus during your childhood?”

“Would it matter?”

“I’ve got coulrophobia.  If you were a clown, well, I may just have to break up with you.”

“Ouch!”  Kurt leaned over and easily swept her into his lap.  “Well, it was a small circus, so everyone did a little of everything.  But no, I was an acrobat and an escapologist.  So no need for you to worry.”

She cuddled closer to him.  “That’s good.  I have enough nightmares, I don’t need any more added.”

“I am so sorry about this!”

“Gotta dance!”

“Jubilee, when you told me you were going to hire a stripper for my birthday, this is not what I expected.”

“I don’t know how he even got here!”

In the center of the Misfits’ living room, the Nightcreeper casually tossed his boa over to Koriand’ru.  Her dark skin prevented the others from seeing her blush but the wide smile on her face showed just how much she appreciated the show.  Rahne, on the other hand, shrieked and covered her eyes.  Not that she had much reason to, between the collar, cuffs, and the pants Nightcreeper was actually wearing more than he usually did.  And he looked good.  The black actually went well with the green fur and the skin-tight black did a good job emphasizing all the muscles that were usually covered with a fine layer of green fuzz.  He slipped off the cuffs and collar and did a few pelvic thrusts in time to the music.

“If you’re blue and you don’t-”  Kitty reached up and covered his mouth with her hand.  It was too bad Nightcreeper’s voice wasn’t as good as his looks but no one was perfect.  “Eugh!” she drew back after he licked her palm.

The insanity was definitely another flaw.

He drew another breath to continue the song and the newly of-age Misfit took the opportunity to head him off at the pass.  “Hey, ‘creeper, perhaps you could give me a private dance instead?  Then I could touch you for real.”

“As you wish!”  With that, the tall man lifted her easily and swept out of the den towards Kitty’s private room.  The other three Misfits just continued to stare in shock for a few seconds.  Rahne finally broke the silence.  “Does she . . . should one of us rescue Kitty?”

Jubilee dismissed her worry.  “Kitty can handle him easily.  More important question: what happened to the guy I actually hired?”

As Ryder slammed the ink cartridges back into the printer then picked it up to place back on the table, the other reporters and journalists applauded.  “Thank you, thank you!”  He gave a deep theatrical bow to his audience.  “But seriously, why do we have an industrial printer that only can be unjammed and the cartridges replaced from the back?  Or at least a smaller printer so that the back could be more accessible?”

“Because our boss is stingy as hell and doesn’t want to spring for a newer model,” said Vera dryly.

“Still, I’m impressed,” noted Remington Cord.  “I can’t move that printer when something goes wrong.  It must weigh over a hundred pounds.”

“Just under it, I think.”  Several people lined up to start making copies and scan stuff in.  The German immigrant moved off to the side and gratefully drank the paper cup of water his junior handed to him.  “I’m so tempted to toss that thing out the window whenever this happens.”

“Please don’t!  Until IT returns our other one this is the only one we have.  The department will grind to a halt if we don’t have a working printer.”

“Point for your side.”

“Still, what I said earlier stands.  How on earth did you get that strong?  You make heavy office equipment look like it’s filled with feathers and not electronics and machinery.”

“It’s not that easy.  But do you want to know a secret?”  The younger man nodded eagerly.  “You know how I nearly got to the Olympics on the fencing team?  Well, in addition to fencing, I was also a pretty good acrobat in akademie and college.  Not as good as fencing but much better than the average person.”

“I don’t get it.  So that makes you very flexible but-”

“Remi, if I can hold up my entire body weight while balancing on one hand on a chair, hauling that printer around is easy.  I weigh a lot more than that printer, after all.”

“Oooh, that does make sense.”

“You’ll never guess what showed up today while I was testing the new plagiarism algorithm for the update.”

“Oh?”  Kurt pressed down hard on the ball of her thumb and Kitty sighed and melted onto the bed.  Sometimes she wished thought about giving up being a Misfit and moving back to New Gotham.  But after being imprisoned by Department K then bossed around by the Hyena, she wasn’t ready to give up her independence yet.  She knew Kurt also had his concerns about leaving Gotham and moving to Jump City.  In a few years.  Maybe after Martenitsi makes her majority, I’ll consider moving here.  “Yeah, picked up a kid pretty much taking one of your articles wholesale.  The one about the relationship between alcohol and special effects in movies.”

“I don’t remember- wait.  Was that the one I wrote while I was drunk?  It was completely incoherent and I called Michael Bay a ridiculous wannabe who should stick to explosions and not bother to try directing movies because he couldn’t plot his way out of a paper bag?”

“The one your boss actually made you issue a public apology for even though it never got printed.”

“How’d he even-”

“You’ve got it up on your blog, remember?  Idiot lifted it wholesale, grammar mistakes and all.  I had to double check during the demo, it seemed so unlikely.”

Ryder facepalmed, then buried his face in her stomach.  “That article was so wonky, I think I’m more embarrassed for that student than offended.”

“Oh, don’t worry.  The guy’s professor was there for the demo.  He was outraged enough for a dozen people, never mind just you and him.  That kid’s about to have a terrible Monday and he probably deserves every bit of it.”

[djinmer4]

Snippets 3/? (Amalgam!verse)

“You can’t wear that!”  Kurt Ryder looked down at his suit.  “Vera, what’s wrong with what I’m wearing?  I wore this same outfit to the Interview with Cardinal Law and it was fine then.  And I was exposing the continued cover-up of sex scandals in the Catholic Church, so it can’t be because people find this outfit offensive.”

The blonde shook her head.   “It’s not that, it’s the color.  The boss is having us try the Chroma Key background today and the stuff they’re using is colored green.”

And Kurt’s suit and button-up shirt were both green and fairly close shades.  “Today?  I thought they weren’t coming until next week.”

“Yeah, well, apparently the indie movie stuff they were supposed to do this week backed out.  So they called and offered a discount if we moved our engagement to this week, so here they are.  The new weather girl was lucky she was planning to go out tonight, she had to do her segment in a cocktail dress because she came in wearing green too.”

“I didn’t bring any other clothes tonight and I don’t have time to go back home.”

“I’ll ask around then.  Maybe someone can lend you a shirt.”  Vera gave him a brief up and down look.  “You’re sitting on the couch, so your pants should be fine.  Not sure if anyone’ll have a jacket in your size though.”

Vera and Remi came through but just barely.  “Absolutely do not move.  I don’t think the seams of my shirt will take the pressure.”

“You’re a lot more muscular than I thought,” Vera was staring.  “Do you get your shirts tailored or something?”

“Tailored or I just buy a bigger size.  The jackets usually cover up any problems.”  Kurt attempted to raise his arms but stopped as soon as he felt a thread pop.  “It’s a good thing tonight’s supposed to just be a softball interview.”

“If you rip the seams,” warned Remington, who was down to his undershirt.  “I’m making you pay for the repairs.”

“I rip the seams, I’ll buy you a new one,” Kurt promised.

The interview went fine for the first half-hour.  But just as they were reaching the home stretch, the new Secretary of Education just happened to state one fact that was false.  Ryder pounced on that opening and hammered at the weaknesses of her defensive arguments.  Finally having gotten her cornered, he abruptly stood up, slammed his hands down on the table and shouted his show’s catchphrase, “YOU’RE WRONG!”

The seams pretty much disintegrated and the sleeves fell off the shirt.  There was a moment of shocked silence, then the director yelled for them to switch to the technical difficulties screen.

It was pretty much the end of the show so, Kurt and company were shooed off the stage (not without a nasty glare in Kurt’s direction, while he gave the Secretary a smug smirk in return).  The talk show host walked over to Vera and Remington.  The blonde wasn’t even trying to cover her laughter, the brunet did a somewhat better job but the edges of his lips kept twitching upwards.  Kurt looked at the two of them then hung his head and sighed.  “The two of you are never going to let me forget this, are you?”

“That was live TV.  With the Internet, no one’s ever going to forget it!”  Sweet just laughed harder.

The doorbell rang and Kurt pulled away from Kitty with a groan.  “Something wrong?” she asked.

“Just my next door neighbor.  She always seems to know when I’ve had a bad day and she brings over pie.  But every time, she catches me in the shower.”

“Hmm.  Do you want to just ignore her?”

“Nah, she’s really nice.  Just has a terrible sense of timing.”  The two of them got out and Kurt grabbed a towel then ran to the door while Kitty searched the bedroom for her robe.

The older woman really was just as nice as Kurt had said, and Kitty loved the cherry pie she brought over.  It was also the first time Kurt had introduced her as his girlfriend to anyone and the woman was really supportive and wanted to know all about Kitty.  They could only give her the edited version of her past but even then she was compassionate and didn’t push the blonde’s boundaries.

When she left, it was with a promise that Kitty would knock on her door the next time she visited.  Although, apparently there was one thing Kurt hadn’t noticed.  “She totally came over to ogle you, you know that?”

He looked down at her.  “How on earth-”

“She kept staring at your chest the whole time she was here.”

“Huh, I wonder how she knew I was in the shower though?”

“Probably the plumbing.  I can hear Piotr singing whenever I’m in my bathroom at the same time.”

“Well, I guess I can’t blame her.  I am very handsome and muscular after all.”

“Show-off,” teased Kitty.  “She was probably wondering what a stud like you was doing with a plain Jane like me.”

That made the smile drop off of his face.  “You’re not, you know.”

“Not what?”

“Plain.  You’ve got golden highlights in your hair, huge blue eyes and very soft, rounded features.”

“And a flat chest.”

“I’m not going to lie and say you could have been a model.  For one thing, you’re way too short for that.  But you’ve got this strange misconception that you look average or barely above that.”

“I guess . . .”  She ducked her head down to stare at the table.

“You don’t seem to believe me.”

“I’m not blind, Kurt.  I’ve met Kokoro and some of the other women you’ve dated over the years.  I look nothing like those women, with their movie-star good looks and hourglass figures.”

“Hmm, that’s true.  But you know something else all those women have in common?  Not a single one of them would have stayed if they knew about Nightcreeper.”  He paused for a second.  “Except for Kokoro, who left because of Ryder and Kantique.  But my point is, I was choosing most of my partners because of their looks.  Maybe I finally grew up enough to realize those weren’t everything.”

“So what’s your point?  That I should be happy that your settling for someone like me?”

“No.  My point is that I’m not going to run away and abandon you just because another pretty face joins the JLX or shoves her cleavage in my face on TV.  I love you, Kitty.  I’m not saying that it’s forever because we can’t predict these things.  But you don’t have to compare yourself to the people I chased before because that’s not the reason I’m with you now.”

Kitty finally looked up again.  “I’m going to try to believe you.”

“That’s all I ask.”

“I don’t like the new guy’s outfit.  He’s fighting crime in a football jersey!”

Every member of the JLX turned to stare at Nightcreeper.  Finally, Dark Claw took it upon himself to break the silence.  “You are absolutely the last person to be criticizing anyone else’s outfit!”

“I am never contacting Nightcreeper again,” said Mr. X, wincing and rubbing his forehead.

“What’s wrong?” asked Apollo.

“Trying to enter his mind when he’s in that form is like . . . “ the alien had to think for a second to come up with a metaphor the Earthling would understand.  “Riding a rollercoaster while intoxicated and fireworks go off right next to you.”

“That sounds terrible,” the energy projector grimaced.

“If I’d stayed any longer, I probably would have thrown up and I’m not sure I actually have that reflex.”  The green man reached for some cookies to ease the headache.  “It’s fine when I have to contact him in his civilian form but this may prove an issue.”

There was a long pause in the conversation.  “The Nightcreeper has a civilian form?”  Apollo grimaced as if he couldn’t imagine it.

“Yes, although I can’t tell you who he is.  That’s need-to-know-only information after all.”

“Yeah, I understand.”  The younger man sat back and thought for a while.  “Maybe we could pair him up with someone?  That way you could just contact that person and he or she could relay the information to Nightcreeper.”

The alien nodded.  “An excellent idea, but who?  The only people willing to work with him are the New Gothamites, and we usually call on him because Dark Claw and Sparrow aren’t available in the first place.”

“Isn’t he with the Newblood team?  Shouldn’t they already be partnered up?”

“He is but they don’t like working with him either.”  The two put more thought into the issue.

“What about Colombina?”  The younger man finally came up with a suggestion.  “You’ve been in her mind before and it was fine, right?”

“I wouldn’t say she’s fine but her mind is tolerable, yes.”

“Not a lot of people are willing to pair up with her either.  But there’s no way we’re letting her go out on her own.  And she lives in New Gotham too.”

“That does seem to be a good choice.  I’ll bring it up with Dark Claw the next time I see him.”

Linda sighed and unlocked the door to her apartment.  What was that quote?  “The best-laid plans of mice and men, often go awry.”  Yes, that was it.  And life had just done that to her.  It’s not like she had meant to get hit by that bus.  She was lucky it had just cracked some ribs.  Her doctor said she wasn’t going to be able to be back at work this week but fortunately she had some vacation time accrued.

She stopped and stared.  There on the kitchen island was a vase of freshly cut star lilies, her favorites.  She looked around more carefully.  Her plants were watered.  Her goldfish was fed.  There was a cat she’d never seen before lounging in her bed.  She even checked her fridge and the milk and eggs that had been about to expire had been thrown out and replaced!

Severely creeped out, she turned back to the vase of flowers.  Underneath the vase was a note.  Inside there was the strangest letter she’d ever received.

Hello Linda!

I used to hear you every Friday while patrolling the city but you weren’t here this weekend.  So I took the liberty of watering your plants, throwing out your trash and feeding your goldfish and cat.  I’ll check again on Tuesday to see if you’ve come back.  Hope you recover well from your accident.

Nightcreeper

Nightcreeper?  What on earth?  The guy was real?

A chill ran down her spine.  She’d been yelling at the walls every Friday as a form of stress relief.  As a joke, she’d been addressing her rants to Nightcreeper.  The guy was supposed to be able to hear everything in the city, right?  Except he wasn’t supposed to exist, he was just one of those neo cryptids that came from urban legends, like Bloody Mary.

But someone had broken into her apartment.  Someone who knew about her plants and her goldfish and her accident and her favorite flowers.  Someone who passed by close enough every Friday to hear her rants.

Linda stared at the flowers.  Should she throw them out?  Would it even be safe to do that?  Or would Nightcreeper get offended?  Should she call the police?  She decided to err on the side of caution.  “Thank you, Nightcreeper,” she called out.  She wasn’t sure if he counted as a stalker or if he had been trying to be helpful.  Linda would also call the police as soon as she’d taken a shower.

A loud meow interrupted her train of thought.  Okay, she’d call the police after she figured out what to do about the cat.  Where did that thing even come from anyway?

[djinmer4]

Snippets 1/? (Amalgam!verse)

Logan heard a thump coming from the main staircase and shot right out of bed.  The security system should have taken care of most intruders but as the Hyena and Abominite had proved, it wouldn’t keep out the more determined supervillains of New Gotham.  He pulled his gun out from under his pillow and after a second’s hesitation, also found a taser from the closet.  He had his claws if he needed to drop his weapons and it might be worth taking whoever it was in.  On the other hand, if it was the Hyena, Logan would need all the firepower he could get.

He crept around until he got to the staircase.  The manor was isolated enough that no streetlights could be seen, but there were security lights all over the building.  They tended to be pointed away from the windows but enough light leaked through to allow him to at least see the shapes of everything.  And there on the steps, climbing slowly was a tall, muscular figure.  Logan stayed still long enough to notice something odd about the way the figure was moving before he moved to tackle the shadow, taser sparking in his hand.

He slammed into the man and realized what was so odd.  The person had been ascending the stairs backward.  Also strange, whoever it was hadn’t even flinched when the 200 kg superhero had slammed into him.  Now worried, Logan pressed the taser to the intruder’s skin and pulled the trigger.  “Hahaha, that tickles!”

Well, that voice was familiar.  Logan stepped back and turned on the light.  “Nightcreeper,” he said dryly.

The lunatic didn’t turn around but he could hear the pout in the other man’s voice.  “Aw, Logan!  You turned on the lights!  Now I have to start all over again!”  Damn the man had no indoor voice.

“Kurt, what are you doing here?”

“I just turned in this article to the paper about the ‘Bloody Mary’ legend going around homeless kids and I decided to see if the there was any truth to them.”

Logan was pretty sure he was still half-asleep because that sentence wasn’t parsing.  “Doesn’t that legend involve laying the mirror on the floor, covered with sea water and chanting her name?  Why are you in my house?”

“It does!”  The green man pouted.  “But when I tried it nothing happened!”

No surprise there.  No one sane would willingly answer a summons sent by the Nightcreeper, not an angel or demon.  Hell, why do I listen to the guy?  

“So I’ve been trying different variations of the legend all night to see if I could get something to happen.”

“But that doesn’t explain why you are here.”

“The oldest version I’ve found involves walking up the stairs backward in a darkened room while holding a mirror and a candle for light.  But the staircases in my apartment building are always lighted.  So I thought of your home first.”  The invulnerable man clasped his hands together and made puppy eyes at Logan.  “May I pretty please with a cherry on top continue my experiment?”

The hero rubbed a hand over his eyes.  “Fine.  Have fun.”  Then he reached over and shut off the light.

“I will!”

“American beer is so tasteless.  Isn’t there anything else I could drink?”

“I told you, Ryder.  Just skip the beer and drink the whisky instead.  Their lagers suck but their bourbon’s not bad.”  

“I don’t want whisky.  One of us is going to have to pay bail after you tear up the bar and I’ll be too drunk to do that if I’m drinking whisky all night.”

Logan shrugged.  “Suit yourself.  I intend to enjoy my evening.”  He skulled his drink, then waved to attract the bartender’s attention.  “Two more and a Shirley Temple for my friend here.”

Kurt glared at him.  “A Shirley Temple?  Really?”

“Man, if you don’t want to be DD for the night, you’re gonna have to up your game from American beer.”

“We walked here.  Neither of us needs to be concerned about staying sober.”

“Hey, aren’t you that reporter from TV?”

Kurt looked up.  The woman who had approached him was blonde, blue-eyed and very busty.  He straightened up and smiled at her.  “As a matter of fact, I am.  From You’re WRONG!  Unless you were thinking of some other handsome, blue-eyed reporter from New Gotham?”

She beamed at him.  “I knew I’d seen you before!  Bartender, could you take a picture of us together?  My friends’ll be so jealous!”  A bored Cardinal leaned over the bar to take the camera and framed the two of them in front of the giant fountain.  After passing it back, the blonde resumed the conversation.  “So what’s a celebrity like you doing here?”

“This is the hottest nightclub in New Gotham.  And I just finished an interview and was jotting down my note while it was still fresh in my mind.”

“Really, so you’re done with work now?”  She leaned over to give him a look straight down her cleavage, toying with one yellow curl to ensure his attention was in the right spot.  Kurt appreciated the view.

“A few more minutes.  Just long enough for someone to powder their nose.”

“Well, I think I need a quick trip to the powder room.  But don’t go away.  I feel we’ve got a lot to ‘talk’ about.”

“Oh, I won’t.”  He blatantly watched her as he sashayed out of the room.  Once she was gone (and his notes were recorded and stowed, he was a professional after all), he took out a small canister of breath spray and gave himself a double spritz.

“This is a respectable establishment, not a hookup bar.  Do you even know her name?”  He turned to see Cobblepot giving him an exasperated look.  It wasn’t too different from the look the Penguin gave Nightcreeper whenever they met.

“I never implied it was a hookup bar.  But if I want a little company after work, it’s no one’s business but my own.”  The blonde was making her way back to them, so Kurt stood up and met her halfway.  As they left the club, Kurt tossed a brief wave over to the bar.

“He definitely doesn’t know her name.” Stated Cardinal.

“The playing around would be almost amusing if he wasn’t so obnoxious about it.”

“Oh my God, what did you do?  It looks like a massacre in here.”  Colombina’s wide blue eyes took in the red gore splattering the small kitchen.

“It’s just tomato sauce!” protested Kurt.

“You’ve got a red stain all over the back of your shirt.  How . . . . does that even happen?  Did you turn away from the stove just as it exploded?”

“I was so careful this time,” he moaned.  “It makes no sense!”

“And finally, for the State of Bavaria, the winner of this year’s Senior Fencing Cup is Kurt Ryder.”  The teenager waved at the screaming audience and came up to the stage to accept his trophy.  Before going back down, the principal grasped his arm.  “Before I conclude this ceremony, I have one more announcement to make.  As the Olympics are later this year, tryouts are now starting for the team.  According to the judges, the three top fencers from each state senior circuit, assuming they are old enough, may participate.  Qualifying trials will be next month at -”

Kurt sat down with a thud as the official started fielding questions from the crowd.  He’d have to tell Mama and Marie about this immediately.  The trials were unfortunately in the middle of the circus season but the chance to be an Olympic athlete didn’t come around very often.  This might be his only opportunity to do something like this.

He went home to a surprise party.  “Congratulations!  I told you you’d win,” Irene smiled.  She and Marie had worked all day to prepare the party for Kurt.

“Yes, Mamma.  I should know you’re always right in your predictions.”  He kissed her on the cheek.

“And I’ve already arranged for you to stay with the Wagners this summer.  You’ll have to help out with their farm when you’re not practicing but they’ll take you to Munich for the trials.  And you can move straight in after the Olympics.”

“Jimaine’s gonna be disappointed,” teased Marie.  “She was looking forward to doing your ‘Lover’s Act’ again this year.”

“She’s just going to have to live with it.”  Last year had been fun, but Jimaine apparently was reading more into the act than Kurt felt.  He might have considered pursuing a real relationship with her but while Jimaine was content to be a circus acrobat (no small feat in itself), Kurt wanted more than that.  She didn’t understand why he was so interested in attending a Universitaten or was considering leaving Germany at all.  He’d even found her trying to tear up his Abitur results.  Fortunately, he had stopped her before she did any real damage but the act just solidified his decision that they really wouldn’t be a good couple.

“Maybe you’ll find a cute girlfriend to cook for you in the Olympics.  Or maybe after the trials, at the University of Television and Film.”

“He’d better hope so,” Irene muttered.  “He’s not going to ever get better at cooking.”

“I’ve been trying,” he protested.  “Cooking’s a difficult skill to learn!”

“True,” his sister backed him up.  “Miracles have been known to happen.”

He frowned at both of them.  “With family like you, who needs enemies?”

[djinmer4]

Triptych 1: A Missing of the Minds (Dresden/Amalgam Cross-Over)

Kitty would not admit it, but she always felt a little sick whenever she met a new alternate version of herself.  Sometimes she could get over the feeling (meeting the Lightning Force version of herself had just made her sad and angry, and the Age of Apocalypse one had been a good friend once they got over the initial awkwardness) and sometimes she couldn’t (if she never met the Black Queen version again it would be too soon).

She hadn’t made up her mind about the newest set of dimension-hoppers.  A wealthy, refined (or at least could put up a good facade) Logan who was best known for always being prepared and a good hand with technology?  Jubilee leading her own team . . . and not a vampire?  Yana focusing almost exclusively on white magic?  Heck, at least their version of Piotr was almost exactly the same as the one she’d grown up with.  Otherwise, she wouldn’t have known what to think.

Frankly, it was that universe’s alternates of herself and Kurt that made her most uncomfortable.  It was like looking at a pair of exaggerated caricatures.  Nightcreeper was older, larger and more beastlike than her Kurt.  Colombina was younger, smaller and a shrinking violet compared to herself.  Not to mention the two of them stuck together like glue.  Kitty had never liked Beauty and the Beast comparisons for herself and Kurt, but that was the only thing that popped into her head whenever she saw the other pair.

“I think I may have offended Nightcreeper.”  Kitty looked up from her tablet at Kurt.  He was running his hand through the hair on his head.  It was growing out from the crew cut and the curls were starting to show up again.

“How so?”

“Well, I remembered how well the thing with the Age of Apocalypse versions of us went so . . . got a very long lecture from the Creep about fidelity and consent and how I shouldn’t blatantly cheat when I’m clearly in a relationship with you.  I think when I said sex he thought I was trying to proposition Colombina-”

She smiled with amusement.  “Which you were.”

“-behind your back.  I didn’t even get to the part about the menage a trois before he jumped in.  Literally, he landed on my back.  I’m lucky I’m as flexible as I am otherwise I’m pretty sure he would have done a lot more damage.”

“Ouch!  He’s got to be at least 185 centimeters tall and he’s built.  Want me to massage your back?”

“Yes, please.”  Kitty heated up the paraffin bath and got out the oils and latex gloves.  As Kurt stripped down and she waited for the bath to heat up she mused aloud.  “I’ll go and apologize to them tonight.  I’ve got first the twilight patrol so if I go right after, I’ll probably catch them just before they go to sleep.”

Kitty yawned but continued determinedly to the guest wing.  One last thing and then she could go to bed.  When she got to the room assigned to the girls from Jump City (she wondered what the equivalent city in this world was) she slowed then stopped.  There was a thick haze of lust in the air, heavy enough that she could feed on it if she so chose.

The former X-Woman flushed.  Were Sparrow and Colombina in a relationship?  She didn’t think of Jubilee in that manner, but they were from an alternate universe.  She should go and apologize to the Nightcreeper first.

Before she could leave she heard voices from beyond the door.  One she recognized as Colombina, the other sounded like Nightcreeper.  What was he doing in the room?  And that overwhelming feeling of lust and jealousy?  Now worried, Kitty put her hand on the doorknob.  She could just phase in but she wanted to make as big a scene as possible.

“Oh man, are Ryder and Kitty still going at it?”  Martenitsi’s voice interrupted her.  Kitty whirled around to look at the other two female members of the Misfits.

“You know how jealous Ryder gets.  Kitty’s gonna be lucky if he lets her get any sleep tonight.”  Sparrow noticed Shadowcat standing in front of the door.  “Oh hey, we were just looking for you.  Is there any way the two of us could get a separate room?”

“I could do that,” she answered absently.  Then realizing she could get some more information, “The two of them are in a relationship?”

She received two confused looks in return.  “Aren’t you and Nightcreeper- sorry, Nightcrawler in a relationship?  You weren’t exactly trying to hide it.  Speaking of which, you should know he tried to proposition Colombina earlier today.”

“We’re in an open relationship.”  The answer came automatically.  “But isn't he a little too old for her?  Kurt and I are only two years apart.  Colombina looks quite a bit younger than I do and Nightcreeper looks quite a bit older than Kurt.”

Sparrow took it upon herself to argue with her, while Martenitsi stayed a few feet back to watch.  “They’re only twelve years apart.  And Kitty’s twenty-two, she’s old enough to make her own decisions.  And how old could you possibly be, you look seventeen!  You can’t possibly be older than our Colombina.”

“I’m twenty-four,” she responded dryly.  “So he’s not taking advantage of her?”

“She’s got the same abilities as you do.  If she really objected, she could just phase out of his reach.”

“You can take advantage of people in ways that don’t involve physical force.  Again, is this relationship really voluntary on both sides?  He’s not manipulating her or anything?”

“You seem to have this strange idea that she’s an innocent to be protected.  It’s not like he took her virginity and that makes her his property or anything.”

“Sexual experience is no guarantee that you can’t be pressured into a relationship.  Believe me, I’m very well versed in the concept of ‘dubious consent’.”

Sparrow sighed.  “Look, let me put it this way.  How many people have you killed?”

Now, this was a strange turn in the conversation.  “A few.  Less than a dozen, even if you count the robots.”

“And how many people has your Nightcreeper- Nightcrawler, I swear I’m going to get that right someday, killed?”

“Just one and it was in self-defense.”

The Asian pointed into the room.  “Nightcreeper, body count: zero.  Colombina, body count: Unknown but definitely over fifty.”

Well, that put a different spin on things.  While Kitty digested this new piece of information (that shy little thing had a body count that could match Wolverine!) a very familiar moan came from behind the closed door.  After a few seconds, she could hear the Nightcreeper talking again.

“We’re not done yet, liebling.  I’m not going to be satisfied until you know who you belong to down to your very bones.”

“I’m not (pant, pant) . . . I didn’t-” Colombina cried out, a noise that Kitty knew didn’t mean she was in pain.

“Next time you won’t test me, right?  You’ll turn down that offer right away rather than having me speak for you, richtig?”

“Really?  Because that doesn’t sound very loving to me.”  

The two Misfits blushed.  “He’s not always like that,” put in the blonde.  “He just gets really uninhibited in this form.  If he was in his civilian identity, he’d be so embarrassed that we’re listening in right now.”

“Civilian identity?”

“Sure!  I mean yours doesn’t go around with blue fur and gold eyes all the time, does he?”  A pregnant pause.  “Oh my god, you mean he always looks like that?  It’s not an effect of the chemicals?”

“Technically, the Creep’s in his natural form right now,” piped up Sparrow.  “He needs a patch to bring his body back to human baseline.  But the point is, Kurt Ryder is the original, not Nightcreeper.”

This was so confusing.

“Oh God, Kurt!”

“So, a new room!”  Kitty brought her hands together with a clap.  Time to change the subject.  “Somewhere far from the noise I take it?”

“Please!”

“I think I owe the two of you an apology.”  Nightcreeper had staked his claim rather flamboyantly this morning by pulling Colombina into his lap and feeding her by hand.  Colombina had blushed but gone along willingly.

“You don’t owe anyone an apology, your boyfriend owes you an apology for his rampant infidelity.”  Colombina straightened up to look her counterpart in the eye.

“Yeah, I do.  We’ve got an open relationship and I’m aware of what he’s doing so he’s not cheating.  In any case, he was asking on my behalf, not his own.”

“Yours?”

“Let’s just say it’s one of the differences between your world and mine.”  She could see the cloud of confusion coming from both of them.  “I know your group is hiding things, so let’s just say it’s one of Excalibur’s secrets in return.

“But anyway, what I want you to know is that we’re both sorry for making you uncomfortable and no one’s going to expect anything from the two of you.  If there’s anything I can do to make up for this-”

“Actually I have an idea!”  The green man interrupted.  “I heard you had something called a Danger Room, worked a bit like those holodecks in Star Trek.”

“Lord of the Rings crossed with Pirates of the Caribbean.  He’s definitely your counterpart, Kurt.”

“But you can’t say you’re not having fun, Katzchen!”

[djinmer4]

Food Network (Amalgam!verse)

After ‘Christmas in July’ but before Colombina discovers that Ryder and Nightcreeper are the same person.

Kurt was just finishing up his list of questions for tonight’s live interview when the phone on his desk buzzed.  Picking up the receiver, he spoke.  “Good morning, Kurt Ryder speaking, who’s this?”

He heard the tinny voice of the front desk receptionist in return.  “Ah, Ryder, there’s a young woman here, says her name is Kitty Pryde.  She’s brought your lunch?”  He hesitated before answering.  His focus on social justice meant he occasionally had to field assassination attempts, and it wouldn’t be the first time someone had used the name of a friend to try to get to him.  “She also said something about how the smell of burnt squid takes forever to clean up and that she’s blaming you.”

“Send her right up then.” He said with a smile.  The burnt squid had been his attempt to make dinner for the Wayne household yesterday, probably not something an enemy would know about.  It had prompted the entire household to eat out, but they did that often enough that it wouldn’t set off any alarms.

“You bastard, making me walk all the way down here just to deliver your lunch.  You’re lucky we’ve got a half-day at school otherwise I’d just leave you to starve.”

“I could buy my own, but your cooking is so much better Kitty.” He said, eagerly digging into the paper bag she had brought him.

“Aww, no fair.  I want a pretty girlfriend to bring me lunch too!”  At the open doorway, Remington Cord and Vera Sweet were looking in.  Cord had an open smile on his face, while Vera had a scowl.

“I’m not his girlfriend.”  “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“She’d better not be.”  Vera gave Kitty a thorough up-and-down and apparently approved.  “She looks a little young for you, Ryder.”

Kitty bristled.  “I’m seventeen.”

“And he’s twenty-nine.  Watch out for cradle-robbers little girl.”

Kitty took the comment with ill-grace but refrained from arguing.  As the two junior reporters walked over by the desk, she looked up at Remington Cord with an expression of awe on her face.  He noticed and grinned down at her.

“Impressed?  I’m flattered that you tossed Ryder over for plain old me.”

She shook her head, making her amber curls bounce.  “Well, sort of, but not for the reasons you might think.  You’re the fourth tall, black-haired, blue-eyed male athlete I’ve met in the past year.  I’m just surprised at the coincidence.”

“Logan’s not tall.” Ryder interjected.

“Compared to me, everyone’s tall.”

“Oh and here I thought I could beat Ryder in the good looks department.  Guess I’ll just have to settle for being younger and wittier.”

Kurt leaned forward, resting his chin on his clasped hands.  “Younger, but not wittier.  Also definitely poorer.”

“Enjoy your gold diggers, kraut.  But seriously, if you’re not his girlfriend, why are you dropping off his lunch then?”  Vera turned towards the teenager.

“Because I cooked it for him.”

“And he couldn’t cook for himself?”

Kitty gave them all an incredulous look.  “Cook?  Kurt?  How many people do you want to kill?”

The two junior reporters turned to look at Ryder.  He nodded his head.  “It’s true.  Last time I cooked, I set the fridge on fire.”

Cord asked the obvious question.  “And how long ago was that?”

“Last night.”  A pregnant pause filled the air as two people tried to imagine how that could happen, and two others recalled the very vivid images of the previous evening.  Shaking his head clear of the memories, Kurt turned back to his fellow reporters.    “So I take it that you're done with your interview with Oswald Cobblepot?”

“We are,” agreed Remington.  “From what I can tell, this should probably go into entertainment or maybe food.  He honestly seems to be going straight now.”

“We tried.  I even snuck around the back, but the worst I could see was that he was slightly paranoid about security.  And given his history, I can’t say I blame him.”  Griped Vera, pointing to a stain on her skirt.

“Hmmm, Triple J will be disappointed, but not enough to demand changes.  Have you decided who’s going to do the article?”

“I will,” announced the blonde.  “He’s volunteered to do the editing this time.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?  Your name’s not going to be featured.”

“Entertainment’s not my thing.  Besides, it will give me more time for my hobby.”

“What is your hobby?” asked Kitty, who had been watching the interaction with fascination.  Ryder and Sweet groaned while Cord perked up.

“I’m glad you asked.  I like to study cryptids.”

“Now you’ve done it.” whispered the eldest reporter.  “He’ll talk about these things for hours.  Your interest will die, be memorialized and forgotten before he stops.”

Remington gave them a mock glare.  “You know, I was right about Abominite.  There really was a horrible monster living in the sewers of New Gotham.”

“You were right about that,” conceded the female reporter.  “But that was once, out of eight times.  If you were a horse, I’d shoot you.”

“So who, or rather what, are you researching now?” asked Kitty, trying to keep the peace.  Kurt would have told her it was futile.

“The Nightcreeper!”

“Who doesn’t exist,” hissed Ryder.  “Some of the others I could believe that they were possible, but this time you’re chasing a fantasy created by drunk criminals to explain to their bosses why they don’t have the money that they drank away.”

The younger man narrowed paler blue eyes at the other.  “I’ve got over a dozen witness accounts, from people who weren’t drunk.  I’ve got photographs of the graffiti he’s left behind.  I’ve plenty of proof if you would care to observe.”

“Cryptids are your obsession, not mine.”  Kurt sighed and turned back to Kitty, who was staring at them all with wide eyes.  “I’m sorry you had to see that.  So are you staying this afternoon or . . . “

“No, Jubilee’s got this anime club she wants me to attend.  I’m on my way to that.”  She made her way over to the door.  “So, um, bye, uh?”

“I’m so sorry Kitty, I should have introduced you.”  Kurt stood up and gestured to his right.  “This is Vera Sweet.  She works as the meteorologist for the station, but is looking to become a field reporter.”  The two women gave each other a brief nod.

“And this,” now a gesture to the left.  “Is my protege Remington Cord.  Remi’s shows a lot of potential as a reporter.  Someday he may be almost as famous as me!”  Remington gave her a big smile and stepped up to shake her hand.

Kitty raised an eyebrow but accepted the handshake.  “Damned by faint praise?” she whispered to the younger man.

“The faintest,” he agreed.

“Remi, Vera, this is Kitty Pryde.  She’s Logan Wayne’s newest ward.”

Vera looked at her with cool eyes.  “You’re living with Logan Wayne?  Why on earth are you hanging around delivering this loser’s lunch?”

Kitty looked her straight in the eye.  “Because he’s my guinea pig.”

Kurt shrugged.  “It’s true.  Kitty is learning to cook and needed someone to taste test her creations.”

Cord stared at his mentor.  “You are an incredibly brave man.”

The youngest one shot him a glare.  “Anyway, give me a call tonight and tell me how it tastes, alright?”

Ryder gave her a smile and a lopsided salute.  “Will do.  Give the others my apologies.”

Once she’d gone, Kurt turned to his protege.  “I’m not that brave.  She’s really an excellent cook.”

Cord wasn’t paying attention.  “Seventeen, huh?  Not that young actually.  Not that young at all.”

Vera raised one hand and waved it in front of Remington’s dreamy eyes.  “You’re going to regret introducing them one day.” she predicted when her fellow reporter didn’t even react.

Kurt just sighed and started to unwrap his lunch.

[djinmer4]

Family Ties (Amalgam!verse)

Takes place no more than a month before ‘Fashion Faux-Pas’.

“-die nachricht weitergeben.  Ja, wir sehen uns im Dezember.  Habe dich lieb Mama.“  Kurt hung up the phone and turned to the other members of the New Blood.  “There, you see?  Irene’s perfectly fine.  That letter you received was clearly some sort of prank.”

Runaway just curled further in herself.  She muttered in a low voice, “That’s good tah know.  But Ah don’t think the letter was referring to our foster mother.”

Kurt frowned.  “In that case just disregard it.  We certainly owe no care to the woman who abandoned both of us.”

At this point Kokoro broke in.  “Wait, I thought the two of you were only foster siblings.  Are you saying you’re actually related?”

The older man took up the responsibility of answering questions.  Clearly Anne-Marie wasn’t up to participating in long discussions right now.  “Yes, actually.  Irene never told us, but it’s the same name on the birth certificates.  Raven Darkholme.”

“So you have the same mother and foster mother?  That’s an odd coincidence.”

“No foolin’.”  Runaway roused herself to help her brother explain.  “Irene was listed as legal guardian by my parents.  When Dad died, she came tah the States tah adopt me.”

The British ninja turned to the other half of the sibling pair.  Kurt just shrugged.  “I just got dumped on Irene’s doorstep.  I guess since Raven saw she was willing, she felt fine dumping a second kid on her.”

“Irene and Raven are friends.  That’s what Irene says.”

“Mom puts up with way too much shit from this Raven chick.”

“Okay, time out.”  Wraith lifted his hands from where he was massaging his girlfriend’s shoulders.  “We’re getting off topic heah.  The point is-” The pitch-black man turned to the ninja, who only having walked in during Kurt’s phone call had missed some important parts.  “Runaway has received a lettah, stating that if she didn’t come to the-” He took a quick glance at the paper on the table.  “Dworshak Dam, in Clearwater, her mother would be killed.  The question is, do we go or not?”

“I vote no.  We have no proof that letter isn’t a hoax or a prank or a trap.”  Ryder crossed his arms and tactfully didn’t mention the lack of caring on his part.  It was pretty clear that wasn’t a winning argument with his little sister.

“Not your letter, mine.  Therefore my decision.  Ah’m going.”  Anne-Marie was usually fairly easy-going, but on this issue she wasn’t going to budge.

Finally Kurt lowered his eyes.  “Fine.  But not by yourself.  I’ll accompany you as Nightcreeper.”  He looked around.  “Anyone else want to come?”

“Ah’m coming!”  Announced Todd.  “It wouldn’t be right if Ah didn’t come to support my girlfriend in her hour of need.”

“I’m not,” stated Angelhawk.  “Actually I’d prefer if most of us stay here.  Amazon and Dark Claw currently have a lead on Green Skull and are pretty close to tracking him down.  We need to stay here to provide back-up once they find him.”  Runaway looked up with shock, fear and betrayal in her amber eyes.  “A-although I guess we can spare one more person to go on this . . . snipe hunt.”

For a while there was silence.  Kurt wondered if maybe he should back out.  Most of the JLX was uncomfortable dealing with Nightcreeper, perhaps they’d have more volunteers if he didn’t go.  Just as he was about to make the offer, Kokoro spoke up.  “I’ll go.”  She turned a glare on the taller man.  “But just to be clear, I’m doing this for Runaway, not you.”

He rolled his blue eyes.  “Ja, ja.  I’m over your.already.  Stop projecting.”

“Fine.”  The young woman with the bi-colored hair took charge, knowing that the sniping would go on for hours if no one did.  “We’ll leave tahmarrah, in the late afternoon.  That’ll give us enough time to case the joint before we attack.”

“Kokoro, what do you sense?”  Asked Wraith.

“About two dozen cult members, armed and acting as guards.  Not exactly brilliant but we’ll have problems if they gang up together on any of us.”  The ninja’s eyes glow pale white in the dim lighting.  “A couple more inside, probably high ranking members.”  She frowned.  “Several anxious individuals, but no one panicking or despairing the way a hostage would.  If they’ve got her, she’s been knocked out.”

“Can’t rule it as a prank yet then.”  Runaway bit down on her lip nervously.  “Okay, Nightcreeper, Wraith, you’re on distraction duty.  Kokoro and I will sneak it while their attention is focused on you.”

“Hihihi!  As you wish, mein schwester.”  Nightcreeper followed words to actions, teleporting directly in front of one of the spotlights.  While the cult members cried out in surprise and opened fire on the invulnerable mutate, Wraith charged a handful of cards and threw them at the helicopters they could see parked on the tarmac.  Amidst the smoke and confusion Kokoro and Runaway made their way to the wall.  Kokoro cut a hole in and they slipped away from the fighting.

Inside the telepathic ninja guided their way, avoiding the guards rushing out to reinforce their fellows.  Finally the two of them made their way to a large door.  Behind it they could hear a woman calling out for help.  Runaway looked at her co-worker.  Kokoro cast out her psychic senses.  “Only one living signature.  But muted.  I think there’s some shielding in the walls.”

“Okay.” said Runaway, and promptly punched the reinforced steel door in.  The two New Blood burst into the room, but unfortunately no hostage did they see.  Instead it was, “Graydon Quinn!”  The leader of the Pro-Earth movement, anti-alien movement.

“Hah!  I knew that letter would send the JLX running to investigate.  It’s only too bad that the other half of my trap didn’t pan out!  But I can kill the two of you and claim a job well done!”  The madman cackled behind his glass cage, pressing a button that called up a set of reinforced walls and opened up some spray nozzles.

“Gas!  Quick, make a hole before we’re overwhelmed!”  Runaway tried to punch an opening in the wall, but the gas made her dizzy and weak.  Kokoro was no better.  She raised her swords to cut they’re way to freedom, but saw them fizzle and fade away.  Strange, she should have greater resistance to the gas than Runaway but instead her strength was fading even faster.  As she looked at the glowing green mist she realized why.  “Runaway, they’ve got kryptonite mixed in!”

The human woman stopped trying to punch her way through the walls and started trying to block the nozzles.  But there were too many and placed too far apart.  At the going rate they were both doomed.

Then an explosion blasted one of the walls out.  Debris showered over the two women, hammering down on their bodies and cutting into their skin.  But it also brought blessedly fresh air as well so they didn’t care.  As they took a few moments to recover, gunfire cut through the air . . . and the glass walls of the control center Creed had been hiding in.  A pale woman with red hair, dressed in white and wielding a large automatic stepped into the room.  “Anne?  Anne, are you here?” she cried out.  When she saw the two of them, she rushed over.

The woman hesitated when she got there, looking at Kokoro then Runaway.  But when the latter looked up, exposing the starburst in her hair, the red-head rushed over to her with an expression of relief.  “Oh thank the Gods, you’re still alive!  I thought I was too late!”  With that she shoved the automatic off to her back and helped the younger woman stand up.

As the three of them made their way out of the compound, Kokoro got a good look at their rescuer.  “Kantique!” she hissed, summoning her swords again.  They were short and the blades looked brittle, but she dare not go undefended in this creature’s company.  “How dare you show your face here?”

The older woman looked at her coldly, clearly not recognizing her from their first encounter.  “Rescuing my daughter of course.  Who are you?”

“My name is Elizabeth Tatsu Braddock.  You killed my parents.  Prepare to die.”  With that she lunged towards the other two.

Kantique moved her daughter to a sheltered position behind her, using the gun to block Kokoro’s strikes.  “Braddock?  Braddock?  Oh yes, the Kryptonian survivor who went native on this planet.  I knew I should have spent more time cleaning up lose ends.”

“Well, you won’t have to worry about that anymore!  This is one loose end intent on cleaning up you!”  Kokoro continued to slash at the alien assassin while Kantique maneuvered her towards the edge of the dam.  Finally the red-head side-stepped a thrust, moving into the ninja’s personal space.  One hand on her shoulder, a well-braced stance and a quick shove were all she needed to knock the other over the guard rail.

As Kokoro screamed, she felt someone grab her, then smelt a familiar puff of sulfur and the usual disorientation that accompanied Nightcreeper’s teleports.  The two of them were back on the edge of the bridge, listening to Kantique answer Runaway’s questions.  “I’ve had many children over the years.  But you’re my only daughter.  You matter more to me than all the rest.”

“Well, that answers some questions about my childhood.” muttered Nightcreeper, wrapping his tail around Kokoro to prevent her from going after Kantique again.  “Mood lighting, action, the reveal after the fight, I give it four stars!”

“If Ah mean so much to you, why did you abandon father and Ah when Ah was only three?”

The older woman sighed.  “I’m an interstellar assassin in the employ of Thanoseid.  I stayed with Mark and you as long as I could.  But Irene warned me that my enemies were catching up to me.  I had to leave you for you to be safe.”

Runaway sank to her knees, shaking her head.  The look on her face was disbelief warring with shock.

The other sighed.  “Just stay away from your brother’s ploys in the future.  Not that he’s going to be having a long one now.”  She turned to where they could hear a helicopter rising.  As it crested the dam they could see Graydon Quinn inside, a look of hate distorting his face.  Upon seeing Runaway, Kantique and Kokoro together, a look of unholy glee came upon him.

“All three alien bitches here together!  Truly a sign from the Lord!”  He tried to open fire, but Kantique was faster.  She managed to clip his rotors with her spray, causing the helicopter to start spiraling down.

Runaway’s mind was still far away.  “Wait, Graydon Quinn’s my brother too?”

“Half-brother.  With some army officer named Creed Quinn.  Don’t worry my dear, I’ll take care of him shortly.”  With that the alien pulled a detonator out of nowhere- “Trouserspace!” crowed Nightcreeper- and pressed it.  Explosions rocked the section of the bridge they were on, and it began to separate from the rest of the damn.

Upon seeing this, the green man grabbed Kokoro and his sister and teleported them back onto dry land.  There they saw that section of the dam, plus thousands of tons of water go crashing down on the helicopter Quinn was on.  After all the rumbling they, plus the exhausted Wraith (”Don’t go skipping out having fun without me, pardner.”  “Ja, ja, es tut mir leid.”) spent time looking for both Graydon Quinn and Kantique.  But they turned up nothing.

Back at the station, Runaway and Wraith were taking time to recover in private.  Nightcreeper had delivered a report of what happened, to the frustrated, irritable Dark Claw.  As he applied the patch and started to shed fur and too sharp teeth and a tail, Kokoro decided to confront him.

“So your Mom’s Kantique.”

“Irene’s my mom,” he corrected forcefully.  “Kantique’s just the glorified egg donor.”

“Runaway doesn’t see it that way.”

“Anne-Marie still idolizes Raven.  It’ll take her a while to recover from the disappointment.”

“And you?”

The last of the fur fell away and dissolved on the breeze.  Kurt shrugged and started putting on his every day clothes (suit, shirt, tie and even matching vest).  “I’ve always known that my mother must not have cared for me.  The feeling’s mutual.”

Kokoro nodded, but seemed distracted.  When he was finally dressed, she sauntered over.  “Stay away from me.”

“Was?”

“I said, stay away from me.  Stay away from my brother and Angelhawk too.  And Gloria Mundi.  Don’t ever go to England if you can help it.”  She leaned up to speak directly into his ear.  “If I ever fucking see you again, I’ll take your head off!”

With that she stomped off.  Wraith, who had slipped in as shadow while they weren’t paying attention turned to watch her go.  Once the door had sealed behind her, he looked back at Ryder.  “Did she mean that for the super-heroing as well?  Because it’ll be hard to be on the same team if she wants to kill you every time she sees you.”

Kurt finished buttoning the vest and shrugged.  “Ah, it’s alright.  Dark Claw says he wants me to help mentor a new team that’s being created.  So I was going to leave the New Bloods anyway.”

Wraith was less sanguine about the matter.  “Hope you get along better with this one.  God knows, you can’t do any worse.”