𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆.

kitty didn’t pay much attention to what clint was saying – she was frantic at this point, trying to figure out what had happened and why she couldn’t seem to phase. “just stay still for a second,” she told him, and braced herself, counting to three in her head. she ran at him as fast as she could, figuring if she didn’t phase she could possibly hit her head hard enough to wake up from whatever nightmare this was. but she didn’t knock him or herself – she moved through him as seamlessly as she should’ve been able to move through anything, but even before she had completed phasing her mouth opened and a horrible, horrible sound came out. she spun on her heel, staring at clint with wide eyes, fingers over her lips. “did i just honk?” she whispered, as if afraid speaking would make it happen once again. “seriously? a costume change? that’s all they could come up with for you?” she all but stomped her foot on the ground in frustration, the only thing really stopping her the knowledge that its reflective surface with a newly orange hue would move in dizzying ways. “you still look cool, and you’re freaking hawkeye, and i just involuntarily honked! how is that fair?”

kitty bit her lip to stop herself from talking, waiting patiently ( though arguably so ) for riri to express her breakthrough. when the silence started to feel antagonizing – which didn’t take long, considering her anxiety about the situation in full – she whispered, “does this happen a lot for you?” it felt stupid once she said it, but she pushed forward. “i’m just asking because it doesn’t happen a lot for me. or it hasn’t seemed to in an annoyingly long time.” kitty was a smart person, but the longer she was in this place, the more stupid she felt. everything she thought she understood about the universe and the physical world was being flipped on its head, and that was kind of supposed to be her specialty.

“oh, no.” kitty shook her head, answering definitively. “no, no, no, no. i mean, hell is real, but this definitely isn’t it. i know of a girl that’s been to hell before and it’s way different than this. there’s a grim reaper.” although... not completely, she supposed, in the fact that it seemed as impossible to escape hell as it was to escape this place. she clung to that word – seemed – as a way to convince herself that this was not their new forever. that somehow they’d still make it back home. “plus, i’m pretty sure i’d still be able to phase in hell. i probably couldn’t phase in or out of hell – not that i’ve ever tried – but on a molecular level i think it would be less weird than this.”

“thanks for that, jeanie.” kitty sighed, collapsing down onto a piece of rubble and putting her head in her hands. no matter what she tried or how hard she concentrated, nothing about the way she could interact with this place changed. “i hate it. i hate it. i hate it.” if it hadn’t been for reuniting with illy and lockheed, she might have really lost it. the purple dragon was with her now, and moved from her shoulder to her lap in an effort to comfort her. “thanks, buddy,” she said quietly, and looked back up at jean. “i’ve never been good at taking no for an answer, and this whole ‘your newfound cosmic powers don’t work here’ thing is the biggest ‘no’ i’ve ever experienced.”

“dr. richards?” you too, huh? despite her tone she smiled when she greeted him. whatever caused this universal catastrophe had apparently taken no prisoners – despite the vast emptiness of this place, everywhere she turned she glanced another familiar face. for that she was grateful – especially when it was someone like reed richards. “the professor hasn’t turned up, no.” kitty sighed, shaking her head. “i’d feel a lot better if he did.” his question was one she’d been dreading, because the answer wasn’t one she wanted to give. hope was a big mantra in the mutant community, and the truth of her experience so far didn’t have very much of that. “more or less.” she sighed and shook her head, raking both of her hands through her hair. “i don’t know. it doesn’t make sense. the buildings are essentially the same as back on earth and i have no problem phasing through them, but the actual place? like the ground? nothing. it’s the only solid thing i’ve ever come across since the black vortex.” 

kitty stood in silence, head bowed, eyes on the reflective surface of the ground around her. it was like something out of a dream, or a feature of wonderland. “through the looking glass,” she whispered, but her attempt at a joke fell flat as her words seemed to disappear into a soundless void. she tapped her foot and watched the silvery ground ripple in complete silence. it was the first time she really understood the difference between silence and quiet. quiet was peaceful. silence was horrifying. and suddenly it was pierced with what she first thought was her own breath until it happened again – and this time, she could swear she heard a voice. a whisper in the wind. she looked up, eyes wide – and when she heard another, a chill went down her spine. she was grateful when the silence was interrupted by someone else’s approach. kitty turned on her heels, trying to hide how stricken she was. “hey,” she said, feeling stupid. “talk about ‘i’ve got a bad feeling about this’, right?”