Who: Xanatos and Kitty What: Showing off her powers When: During his party Where: Xanatos's Lair Status: complete Rating: PG
Xanatos watched over his party, a small smile on his lips. So far, it was going exactly as he had hoped; he hadn’t given Miss Forbes much time to plan the party, but she had exceeded all expectations. He couldn’t see anyone who looked disappointed by the way the party was going as he scanned the ballroom floor. And then, he caught sight of a face that looked familiar.
He must have missed her when she walked in, since he had been keeping a special eye out for her at the door. Perhaps it had been when he was paying Caroline. He approached her, a flute of champagne in hand. “Kate, isn’t it?” he asked. “From Valarnet?” He offered his hand. “David Xanatos.”
“Hello.” Kate took his hand, shaking it firmly. She’d dressed up, though she wore dark slacks and a matching blouse. She’d, mostly in a fit of annoyance, recently cut her hair down to her shoulders and it hung loosely.
“I have to say, this isn’t the worst party I’ve ever attended.” Flashing him a grin, she added, “Maybe even top five.”
“Well, we can’t all be number one,” Xanatos said. “Considering the whole thing was organized in less than a week, I suppose I’ll take what I can get. Caroline Forbes at Picture Perfect Events helped make all of this possible, if you’re ever in the market for a party planner.
“I’m glad you could make it,” he added. “I was enjoying our conversation on Valarnet, so I’m pleased that we’ll be able to continue it in person.”
“Not usually but I’ll keep her in mind.” She knew of her from the network, so at least keeping it within the family so to speak if she ever did throw an Agency bash was probably a good idea. Kate smiled, liking her test of changing her name. Like she’d done in her dreams. It felt like it was about time.”Like I said, I have my own party tricks.”
“So you mentioned,” Xanatos said, a mischievous, nearly hungry glimmer in his eye as she brought it up. “I have been looking forward to a demonstration since you first mentioned it. Is it a party trick that will require a certain degree of privacy?”
“Depends on how badly you want to freak people out,” Kate replied, her grin spreading. “Because this party trick can freak people out.”
She gestured in the direction of the hallway, and hoped he wasn’t thinking she was suggesting something else, “Saw a room that way.”
There was some small chaotic part of Xanatos that almost wished that he could freak out some of his more boring guests. There were a lot of people from Valarnet here, and he was sure that they would be fine. But upsetting his more wealthy guests probably wouldn’t pay off in the long run, and so he smothered the impulse before it really took hold.
“As far as I’m aware, it’s not in use,” Xanatos nodded. He was doing his best to keep the party contained to the ballroom and to the garden for those guests who thought they needed the air. And the room he’d set aside for the children, of course. He offered Kate his arm so that he lead her to the unused room.
She nodded, taking his arm for the walk to the room, “That’s perfect. Don't’ get me wrong, I enjoy making people lose their minds, but you should probably get to see what it is first.”
Kate glanced around, seeing that there was no one around. She promptly walked them through the door without bothering to open it. They were safely through to the otherside without any smushed noses or bruised faces. She let go of his arm, twirled around and posed, “Ta~da!”
When being promised an interesting time, Xanatos rarely resisted, but even so, he nearly raised a protest when Kate seemed to be guiding him toward the door without opening it. But one moment, he was looking at the door, growing every closer, and the next, he was staring into the room beyond. He was sure he had kept his eyes open the whole time, that he hadn’t flinched or closed his eyes, and yet somehow…
He turned around, looking at the door, and then released Kate’s arm so he could lay his hand against the solid mahogany, as if somehow Kate had managed to replace his door with a hologram without any of his staff noticing. But no, the door was still completely solid, even when he pressed his hand flat onto it, and then he curled his hand into a fist and rapped sharply on the door.
He couldn’t help the joyous laugh that escaped his throat, turning back to Kate, his face split into a nearly boyish smile. “That is incredible!” he exclaimed. “How do you do it? I’d guess that you somehow manage to shift your atoms so that they pass through the atoms of the door, but to change mine too… Can you move through anything?”
“I reverse the polarity on my molecules,” Kate explained, his excitement infectious. “And I can pass through anything. Even become lighter than air.” She started to float a little off of the ground, “I’m limited by how dense a material is. Iron can take a little longer. Platinum is a strain. There’s a rare metal that is even worse. Plus I tend to fry electronics not on my person that I pass through.”
When Xanatos had first moved to the OC, chasing rumours of parallel worlds accessible through dreams, magical powers, and even a stormtrooper/ewok war (which was, by far, one of most outlandish things he’d heard in some time), Xanatos wasn’t sure if he was quite willing to believe. He had chased many such rumours over the last decade, and inevitably he’d always wound up disappointed - sure, he’d corrected ancient artifacts said to hold untold powers, but he’d never been able to figure them out, and ancient curses and magicks had never manifested before him.
And yet, here he was. The proof of the OCs strangeness staring him in the face, hovering just inches off the ground.
“Well, hopefully you’ll stay away from the technologies at Xanatos Labs,” Xanatos chuckled, teasing lightly. “Some of them are quite delicate. You could be quite the cat burglar with these powers. Do you often have chances to use them?”
"I could have been a cat burglar, but I prefer to put my skills to good uses, just like the whole white hat thing," Kate explained. She landed lightly, folding her arms with a smile, "They're great in a fight. In my dreams, it's a fight for equality and survival, with other people and their unique powers against the world. In this world, the fights are to defend people."
And maybe get revenge once in awhile, considering. Kate could still feel the metal claw in her forearm, a present from one of the myriad Earths she'd dreamed of.
“Ah, the noble sort then,” Xanatos said, with an almost teasing smile. “I’ll take comfort in the fact that I won’t need to worry about someone literally slipping past my security.” The world did need heroes, at least, and he’d have been worried if there really was a thief who could simply slip through his vaults. “It sounds almost like your dreams are filled with superheroes. It sounds fascinating.”
“Unless you’re the bad guy,” Kate joked. She winked at him, “Then you might have some problems. I didn’t set out to be one, though. I was kind of born this way. In that world, I mean. An evolutionary mutation. In fact that’s what we’re called, mutants.”
Xanatos laughed at the joke. “Mutant, huh? I would say that it sounds nearly like an insulting name, except for the fact that most evolutionary mutations tend to be beneficial for the species.” Not always, such as the dodo losing the ability of flight. “Especially your particular brand of it. I don’t suppose you’ve any idea what caused the mutations?”
“It’s called the X-gene. While the proliferation coincided with the atomic age it’s been around for thousands of years.” Her eyes flashed as she thought of En Sabah Nur, the one they called Apocalypse. One of the oldest, if not the first, mutant. “It’s not the weirdest scientific craziness in my dreams though.”
Would that be the Hulk or the Fantastic Four?
Xanatos frowned to himself, the term “X-gene” tugging at some part of his memory but eluding him every time he nearly caught it. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling; there was nothing Xanatos couldn’t recall when he willed it. He wondered if it had been something that he’d learned during from Gen-U-Tech, one of his subsidiaries that Xanatos took especial interest in.
“That is fascinating,” Xanatos said. “I suppose none of the ‘scientific craziness’ in your Dreams is applicable in our world? It seems a shame to have it all go to waste.”
“Kind of sort of?” Kate shrugged her shoulders, “You’ll meet some folks here who would be that kind of crazy. Literal magic users, for example. People who gained super powers from Gamma Rays or through experimentation. Warp drives and teleporting. That sort of thing.”
“I would have thought that the laws of our universe would prevent such things,” Xanatos said, frowning to himself. But then, maybe the laws of the universe worked differently in this small section of the United States. Or maybe, they’d been misunderstood all this time, and all it would take to unlock them would be one, simple trick.
That was the sort of thing he’d be better to contemplate on his own, however, in the sanctity of his office, instead of when he was trying to entertain guests. “Sorry,” he said, shaking his head clear of it. “That’s just a lot to absorb. I’m going to have to thank you at some point for opening my eyes to all fo this.”
“I’m a bit of a drama queen, so I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t enjoy it.” Kate was at least trying to be better about the when and how, though. Didn’t need a repeat of some previous incidents.
“But I should let you get back to it, and go and have a drink myself.”
“The bar is open,” Xanatos said. “There are several people from the Network here as well, so I hope you’ll be able to find someone you know.” He extended an arm out to her. “But first, I hope you’ll show me out of the room again.” He hoped that now that he knew what to expect, he might enjoy the trip through solid matter a little more.
Kate grinned at him, “Oh, I’d be delighted. Keep your hands and limbs inside the car.”