Title – Reversed
Disclaimer – I do not own any of the X-Men cartoons, nor the comic, nor the books, nor the movie. I would also like to credit Jet Wolf with the inspiration for this fic. Her story (The Untouchables, which is a work in progress) gave me this idea.
Author's Note – This fic is based off of (or right after the events of) Self-Possessed.
The Professor was baffled. Nothing like this had ever happened before. When Rogue touched someone she borrowed their powers and that was supposed to be it, but not this time. This time, Kitty Pryde had suffered direly from the prolonged, skin-to-skin contact with that creepy freak. All because she had wanted to help her…
"Everyone will split up into pairs and search the streets. When you have found her, contact me immediately and wait for backup. And be careful," The Professor stressed, "Rogue is not herself and may be dangerous."
The X-Men had no trouble believing that. Rogue had just been flying above the rooftops, producing an uncontrolled thunderstorm, firing an optic blast from her eyes and sporadically morphing into each mutant that she had ever absorbed into her psyche. The personality clash was apparent, but when they had tried to calm her and take her home, she had bamfed away. They had to find her before she inadvertently hurt someone -- or herself.
Kitty partnered with Kurt, but his method of searching consisted of repeatedly calling out Rogue's name.
"Kurt, shut up! She isn't, like, just gonna walk out and greet us, in case you didn't notice."
"Sure she vill! No one can resist za fuzzy dude," he said with a grin.
"Ugh, whatever," said Kitty, rolling her eyes.
"Lighten up, Kitty. I vas only goofing," he said.
Kurt ceased his ridiculous shouting, but something still didn't feel right. It was like they were looking in the wrong place and, somehow, Kitty knew it. She slowed her pace, let Kurt get some ways ahead of her and then quietly phased through the wall of a nearby building. Hopefully the Professor wouldn't be too mad at her for disobeying orders. She couldn't help it; she felt sorry for Rogue and figured that she would probably want to see another girl anyway. Two girls could just connect on a level that a guy couldn't hit.
After phasing through a few more buildings that led her away from her droll colleague, Kitty spotted someone ahead. The person was wrapped in shadows, but she knew it wasn't Rogue – the figure was too tall. Actually, now that she thought about it, the lithe figure had a remarkable resemblance to Mystique. As the female figure ran under a street lamp, a flash of red hair confirmed Kitty's suspicions, but Mystique had been drained at the concert miles away. She figured that Rogue was still going through some wacky shape-shifting episode, so she chased after the shadowed figure. She reached the corner, but the Mystique silhouette was gone. Then something hard hit her in the back of the head and she fell onto the pavement. A voice above her said something that she vaguely registered as: "Nighty-night, pretty kitty."
Kitty glared at the ceiling, trying hard to remain focused. She had tried working on her laptop, but that had only frustrated her because it made her lose her concentration.
When she regained consciousness, she found herself gagged and tied to a chair. She phased through the rope that was supposed to keep her bound and untied the bandana that was in her mouth. There were faint voices coming through the door and, curious, she moved closer to listen.
"Rogue came. We don't need to hold the other X-Man here anymore." That was Mystique's voice.
"So, what? We just let her escape, yo?" And that was Toad.
"No," Mystique said sharply. "You and Fred will take her away from here. Dump her in a river for all I care, but I don't want her telling Xavier where we are."
"Right, boss lady."
A breeze moved through the room and Kitty quickly moved away from the door and glanced around the room. There was a boarded up window, so she assumed that that was the way out. She moved toward the wall and then fell to the ground, unconscious. She had been whacked again.
Someone rapped lightly on the door. Kitty ignored the knocking and wished she had locked the door.
The next time she came around she didn't move right away. She had been left facedown on the floor. There was someone in the room that had heavy footsteps, probably because they were wearing boots. She waited, trying to determine how quickly she could get onto her feet. The person in boots knelt down beside her.
"Ah'm sorry, Kitty."
Before she could tell – or show – Rogue that she was awake, her ungloved hand was on Kitty's lower jaw. Her eyes flew open at the unique sensation of Rogue's touch; her body tingled as if all of her limbs had fallen asleep, her eyes unfocused and she knew that Rogue had taken her powers. Then her vision became dark and she passed out.
Kitty turned her head to look out the window. Whoever had been knocking opened the door and invited themselves into the room.
She awoke next on the Blackbird with an excruciating headache. She felt as if she were falling and lifted a hand to her temple, closing her eyes as if that would make the throbbing go away. She shrieked suddenly as she fell through the seat that she had been buckled into. She screamed. A moment later Kurt was below her with open arms prepared to catch her, but she phased straight through him as well. Kitty screamed louder, panicked and terrified.
"Kurt!"
Then suddenly she wasn't falling anymore – Jean had hold of her with the power of telekinesis. Kurt bamfed behind her, put a hand on her shoulder – or, rather, into her shoulder – and teleported them back into the Blackbird. Jean's mental hold on Kitty kept her hovering above the ground as she fought back tears of confusion and, with a little aid from the Professor, managed to keep her afloat the entire ride home.
Back in the mansion, Jean lowered her onto the floor and tentatively released the telekinetic hold she had on Kitty. She instantly began to fall through the red carpet of the mansion until Jean exerted her powers once more, lifted her up and kept her floating.
"Kitty, I want you to concentrate on not phasing."
It was one thing to concentrate on phasing through a body of mass, but she had never had to do the opposite before. Jean placed her on the carpet and again she started to sink, but then she closed her eyes, on the verge of hysterics, and concentrated to prevent herself from slipping down further. Her fall slowed and finally stopped, leaving her up to her shoulders in the ground; she carefully pulled herself out of the floor.
"Professor, like, what's happening to me?"
He shook his head. "I do not know. Tell me what happened and perhaps we can figure out the reason for the… troubles with your powers. I'll help you concentrate so that you don't phase through the floor again."
She told him about Mystique, about being clobbered twice in the head by someone who she guessed was Pietro, about how Rogue had touched her, and Xavier seemed to put the pieces together as she spoke. Whatever pieces those were.
"When Rogue borrowed your powers, she might have temporarily shattered the control you have on them. How long did she remain in contact with you?" he asked.
"I don't know. I guess twenty or thirty seconds," she said.
"I know that might not seem like much, but even twenty seconds is a long time to hold on for, Kitty. Are you sure?"
"Well I didn't, like, count or anything, but that's what it felt like," Kitty said huffily.
The Professor made a steeple with his hands and tapped his fingers against his lips. "I can't be certain, but I believe your powers are working in reverse right now. Whatever control your psyche, or your mind rather, had on your powers may have reacted oddly with Rogue's ability," he said slowly.
"So, what does that mean?" she asked.
"Rather than having to concentrate in order to phase through a body of mass, you now have to concentrate on not doing so."
The door creaked and then clicked shut. A pair of boots moved, for the most part, quietly along the carpet.
"How're ya doin'?"
"Don't talk to me," Kitty snapped.
"Well excuse me! Ah was just tryin' ta be nice," Rogue said sourly.
"Yeah, it was, like, so nice of you to do this to me," she said, purposely allowing her legs to phase through the bed. She pulled them back out before she fell through herself.
"Ah didn't mean ta an' ya know it. Ah didn't know this would happen!" Rogue shouted, turned and stalked back to the door.
Kitty crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, miffed. She stuck out her tongue at Rogue's back, who slammed the door loudly on her way out. She nearly fell through the bed in her temporary lapse of concentration, but she caught herself. Rogue hadn't even attempted to apologize - but it wasn't like she would have accepted it anyway. There was no apology big enough to make up for what she had done to her.
Normally she wouldn't act like this, but she was cranky because she hadn't slept in almost a day. Not only that, but the Professor had told her that this… aftereffect of Rogue's power would have fixed itself hours ago. A tiny morsel of doubt had crept into her mind and Kitty wondered – despite trying not to think about it – if her condition might be permanent. If it was, it was Rogue's fault.
Finally she got up and sought out the Professor. He smiled sympathetically and escorted her back up to her room.
"Just lie down, Kitty, and try to sleep. I'll keep your mind focused while you do," he said.
"But, Professor," she mumbled, her eyes already closed, "that could be hours."
"This is only a temporary solution. By the time you wake up, you should be back to normal."
It took much effort to get the words out of her mouth. "But, you said that… hours ago."
"Uhh, yes, I did. These effects are lasting longer than I had predicted," he said deliberately. "Just try to rest, Kitty."
"Mmm…"
She was already asleep.
Both Professor Xavier and Hank where in the room when she woke up. The clock on the nightstand read 7:12 A.M.
"Oh my gosh, Professor! How long did you stay in here?" Kitty asked, wide-eyed, as she sat up.
"I have not been in here the entire time," he chuckled.
Kitty felt a twang of hope. "So does that mean that, like, my powers are back to normal?"
The Professor frowned and shook his head. Kitty sighed and reluctantly took back the job of keeping herself solid.
"Is this permanent?" she asked.
Hank stepped forward. "We believe so, yes. A most unfortunate predicament, and peculiar that Rogue's mutant endowment would have such an effect on your own."
Kitty folded her legs and sat on her bed, still in her clothes from yesterday.
"I have been working rigorously to produce something that may aid you in your current dilemma," said Hank and held up an assortment of items that could have been passed off as jewelry. "Something similar to Kurt's image inducer, except much more intricate."
"Like, what is all that supposed to do?" Kitty asked, staring at the jumble.
"If my hypothesis is correct, your atoms vibrate so rapidly that it allows you to 'phase' through a body of mass. This apparatus is designed to restrict their movement and allow you to remain palpable," he explained.
She only nodded as he handed her the items: a belt, a necklace, bracelet, wristwatch and a pair of anklets. It all fell through her hands, through her lap and onto the bed as her concentration wavered. She hastily regained her composure and looked at Hank, who had on a sympathetic grin that revealed his bottom fangs. Just because she couldn't control her powers didn't mean that everyone suddenly had to treat her differently.
"These devices will work cohesively to stabilize your molecules," Hank said and pointed to one of the metal bracelets. "If you should desire to turn off the contraption, you would simply push the blue button."
Kitty nodded. "Thanks, I guess."
They stared at her a while longer as if they had something more to say to her, or as if they were waiting for her to say something else. It was annoying and, for the first time in a long time, she wanted to be alone right then.
"Okay, well I'm gonna change into some different clothes and, like, see if this stuff works."
"Very well," said Xavier, who turned and wheeled himself out of the room.
"Please inform me if the apparatus does not function properly," said Hank. He closed the door gently behind him as he left.
Kitty peeled off her X-Men suit – she couldn't believe she was still in it – and grabbed an outfit out of the dresser. She picked up the belt from the pile of metal and stared at it. It was hideous, plain and silver, which didn't look good on her. Almost reluctantly she fastened the thin object through her pant hoops. She snapped on the rest of the items – all of which were just as awful. All of this metal made her look like a prisoner, except she was missing the big thick chains. She pressed the blue button on the watch and also set it to the proper time.
It was difficult to force herself not to concentrate because it only seemed to make her concentrate harder. Eventually, though, she was able to tell that Hank's invention was indeed working. Kitty felt somewhat relieved, but the idea of sleeping with all of these accessories on sounded both weird and painful.
She headed down to the kitchen for breakfast. Everyone was bumping into each other as they tried grab their toast or get their cereal and she habitually stuck out her hand to phase through the body in front of her. Amara jumped and whirled around when her fingers poked her back.
"Ouch! What was that for?"
"Oh, sorry," Kitty said as she reached around Amara and snagged a banana for breakfast.
She had to remember that she wasn't able to control her power; had to remember to tap the button on her watch if she wanted to phase through something. All it would take is a little time to get used to, that's all.
Author's Note - The explanation/theory in this fic of the way Kitty's power works is one of two actual theories. (There's an X-Men book out there that explains some of the mutant powers.)The other theory, the one I actually prefer, explains that the atoms in Kitty's body can disperse to allow her to pass through the empty space of other atoms, which allows her to pass through solid objects.
This story was originally intended to have only this one part, but then I saw the potential with this… and I realized I could use it to play around with a couple I haven't seen written about: Kitty and Pyro.
Fic Recommendations – Queen of Hearts by Freeverse - It focuses mainly on a slowly developing relationship between Rogue and Remy. Also, at no extra cost, it includes a brief reasoning as to why Remy is part of Magneto's group – the Acolytes – and also has some Kitty and Piotr (Peter/Colossus) on the side.
Planned Update – Gah. Working on so many fics right now. Unknown.