KATE

At first glance, the Bishops seemed like a perfect high-society family. The magazines loved to focus on the single father who had raised two daughters into strong, successful women after he lost his wife to cancer, and Derek Bishop loved pretending to be perfect.

He could be a doting father, but all too often he was overbearing and judgmental. The daughters weren't exactly perfect themselves. The older daughter, Susan, worked for one of the top law firms in New York but, in reality, had cheated her way into—and through—law school. The younger daughter, Kate, was still in high school but was already seasoned in brainstorming excuses for getting out of high society gatherings. Today, she wasn't so successful, and the three Bishops found themselves at a party in one of New York's most exclusive hotels.

Susan stood in the crowd mingling with the fellow elite like a second skin. Meanwhile, Kate sincerely wanted to impale someone with her stiletto.

"Say that again, asshole," she said through gritted teeth, her foot already in the air, ready to retrieve the weapon. The asshole in question loomed over her, at least several inches taller than her and several inches broader too.

His face twisted into an ugly snarl, and for a second, she thought he was going to come at her, and for a second, she really wanted him to try, but then a tipsy couple giggled their way toward them and he plastered a fake smile on his face as they approached.

His breath smelled like stale alcohol as he hovered in front of her. She crossed her arms, daring him to try something. For a moment, he stood there with his fake smile on his face and venom in his eyes until he finally retreated. Brushing past Kate, he slunk away into the crowd of people. "Bitch."

He didn't even have the balls to say it to her face.

Kate lingered at the party for a few more minutes before she felt confident that no one would notice or care if she left. She wandered out back to stand by the catering trucks near the loading bay. The area behind the hotel was just isolated enough to give her space without making her feel in danger.

It was a cool night, and she didn't have her coat, but the brisk temperature felt freeing even as it raised goosebumps on her arms. After a minute, she reached in her purse a dug out a cigarette. She didn't smoke, but sometimes she pretended to because it rankled her father.

"Hey, do you need a light?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin, but if anyone asked, she would say that she was only acting surprised so that no one would be suspicious about how honed her senses were. In reality, she had no idea where the boy came from, but judging from his uniform, he could have been lurking in the back of the catering van.

She gave the boy a once over. He didn't seem like the lurking type. He was around her age, and his catering uniform seemed a bit too large for his slender build. He was about her height and had some acne scattered across face. She hadn't been looking for company, but his smile was earnest and she found herself beckoning him over to stand next to her.

"I don't really smoke," she said, wagging her unlit cigarette. "Just wanted an excuse to not be inside."

"How edgy," he said playfully.

She rolled her eyes.

"I don't smoke either," he said. "I don't even have a lighter. Good thing you didn't take me up on that."

"What's your name?"

"I'm...um..." he blushed. "Crap. It's...it'll come to me."

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm Kate. Let me know when you remember your name."

"It's Jack. Jack."

"Sure, Jack," Kate said dryly.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Okay, so that's not my real name. The truth is that I'm actually a superhero in disguise as a caterer because I heard that supervillains might be targeting this party."

"Yeah, okay." She crossed her arms, leaning her head back until in rested against the wall and letting the cigarette dangle in her fingers. It was late, and she wasn't quite in the mood for such inane conversation. He didn't seem dangerous, but he was seriously getting on her nerves. She wasn't sure who this kid was or why he decided to mess with her.

He smiled, and then his features morphed. Long black hair sprouted from his head. Even his clothes changed. In front of her stood a perfect imitation of herself right down to the exact stiletto heels she was wearing.

At first, no words came. Then, she breathed out. "Holy shit."

Kate had seen shapeshifters on TV, but it was still downright freakish to see one in person, especially one taking her shape. It was unsettling.

She kept her features neutral as she gazed at her double. "You're planning to take down a group of supervillains on your own?"

"Yeah," her doppleganger said. He—or she—or it—even had Kate's voice. "Well, not alone alone. I have a partner. He's already inside."

"I want in."

He grinned. "Cool. What's your power?"

"My wit," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Of course you don't have a power. Okay. Okay. You can still help out if you don't tell Bill...er...my partner that I blew my cover to you."

"You can count on me."

"Thank god you're not one of the supervillains." He paused. "Wait, you aren't one of the supervillains, are you?"

It was somehow even weirder to hear her voice coming out of someone else than seeing her exact duplicate.

At that moment, gunshots sounded from the building. That was not a good sign.

They jogged inside just in time to avoid being stampeded as people rushed toward the exits. As they entered the ballroom, the shapeshifter switched from Kate's double into a green hulk-like teen.

"You can call me Hulkling."

The supervillain was some guy dressed as a pineapple shooting shockwaves. He had a group of henchmen who were wearing solid black knit bodysuits and, in place of the traditional ski mask, yellow quilted face masks that matched the supervillain. Somehow, Kate was not surprised.

Hulkling's partner, Bill or whatever, turned out to be a magic kid who was shooting lightning back at the pineapple man. The magic kid raised his staff and unleashed a mighty lightning blast at the attackers. When the lightning cleared, the pineapple man's suit smoked a little, but he seemed otherwise unharmed. The henchmen, on the other hand, were out for the count.

"His suit's insulated," Kate called. "Try something else."

She clenched her stiletto tightly in one hand and dove to dodge a stray lightning bolt heading her way. Bill really needed to work on his aim.

The pineapple man surged forward, grabbing the mage by the scarf. Kate liked the splash of color from the magic kid's scarf, but while that kind of design element looked cool, having something so grabbable could always backfire. He squirmed, gasping for breath as he struggled to get out of the villain's grip.

"Give up now, and I'll let the kid live," the man said. Speaking of unfortunate design elements, his quilted costume included a quilted mask that muffled his words and made him sound ridiculous.

Hulkling's face twisted in anger and concern, and if Hulkling was anything like his namesake, pineapple would not like what was coming.

"Hey, bad guy," Hulkling cried out. Said bad guy whipped his head around but tightened his grip on the mage. Hulking turned a paler shade of green. "Um. Hulkling smash?" he said, his voice rising in pitch.

He raised his arms, ready to strike, when Kate saw an opening. She put her head down and dashed forward. In a swift motion, she embedded her stiletto heel straight into pineapple's hand.

He dropped the mage and cradled the wound. "Owwwwww."

Before he could retaliate, Kate swiped her leg in roundhouse kick and knocked the villain to the ground. He hit the ground hard, and Hulkling gave him one last knock on the head for good measure.

Kate pumped a hand in the air. "Take that, Pineapple Man."

"That's the Shocker," the mage said, his voice raspy. He coughed and Hulkling rushed over, taking his hand. "I'm okay. I'll be okay," the mage said. He turned to Kate. "So, that was completely badass, Miss..."

"Kate. Kate Bishop."

"Thanks, Kate. I'm Wiccan."

"I'm Teddy," Hulkling said, giving a small wave.

"Hulkling, we just met her," Wiccan said, using his staff as a crutch to help himself to his feet.

Hulkling shrugged, lifting Wiccan the rest of the way. "She saved your life."

Kate felt the adrenaline begin to recede from her body. "Don't worry. You can trust me, Bill."

"Teddy..." Wiccan twisted out of Hulking's arm to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Billy," Hulking responded.

"I thought we agreed on having secret identities!" Billy said, burying his face in his hands.

"In fairness, you don't even wear a mask," Kate pointed out.

"That's because I cast a spell to conceal my identity when I'm Wiccan."

"Really?" Kate and Teddy both asked.

"No. But I would do that if I wasn't such a shit-tier witch."

"You're not a shitty witch," Teddy said.

"Thanks."

"But if you are," Teddy said, engulfing Billy in a bear hug, "then you're my shitty witch."

After the police came to take the criminals away, a portal opened right where Kate was standing. Luckily, it didn't slice her in half. Instead, two figures stepped through the portal—a smaller, sleeker Iron Man wannabe and a teenage Captain America knockoff.

"Iron Lad, Patriot! You made it!" Teddy grinned, spreading his arms in greeting.

"They didn't make it! They're late. Like super late. Like how-can-someone-with-a-time-machine-be-this-late levels of late," Billy said.

Teddy rubbed the back of his head. "You were the one who warned us this attack was going to happen," he said to Iron Lad.

"We missed it? What is that 21st century expression—my bad?" Iron Lad said. "I'd say that I could take us back in time a half hour and help you defeat the Shocker, but it seems that you were successful without us."

"He's from the 30th century," Teddy whispered to Kate, which explained...something.

Finally he seemed to notice Kate's presence. "And who are you?"

Teddy clasped a hand to her back. "This is our new recruit, Stiletto Girl."

Kate glanced at the now-discarded stiletto across the room. It was covered in blood, and she was never wearing that particular shoe again. "No, that is not going to be my code name," she said, rolling her eyes, "but I'm game to join your group. Someone needs to pick up the slack for the Avengers after the snap."

"My historical records have no matches for you," Iron Lad said, tilting his head. "What are your powers?"

Kate picks up her other, not-yet-weaponized stiletto. "Next person to ask that gets a stiletto through the brain."