A pizza joint in Manhattan where Star-Lord and AoA Kitty Pryde are currently facing a dangerous situation:
She is wrong! Star-Lord announces. Kitty refuses that idea. She is wrong about Doom and wrong about this pizza joint! he clarifies. God Doom is the creator of everything! she shoots back, and this is the place she is looking for. Then can they just skip to the part where they eat pizza? he pleads.
The techno-organic beings facing them, the New Mutroids, announce their hideout has been discovered and attack. Kitty and Peter hide behind a table. This would all be easier if she let him go, Peter points out. Unimpressed, Kitty replies she could take all five of them, with two of Peter attached to her arm.
‘Sunspot’ smashes the table. Kitty slashes him with her claws. Peter asks, if she is so sure Doom created everything, then why does she search for objects disproving that theory? She jumps over the counter with him, while pointing out those objects are only anomalies. They study them and prove that they substantiate Doom’s orthodoxy, dumb-ass. Well, have they ever had an anomaly—
Can they pause the theological discussion until after the killer-robots? she interrupts. They take cover from the heat blast, which melts down ‘Cannonball.’
An anomaly that can talk for himself, he continues. She wishes he wouldn’t, Kitty sighs.
As they dodge ‘Moonstar’s’ arrows, Peter insists he is an anomaly who can tell her where he came from. There was a world before Doom. He knows, because he lived three! He throws a stack of pizzas at robo-Moonstar and adds that Doom is a liar.
Kitty calls him a heretic as she phases her fist through ‘Moonstar’s’ face, causing her to malfunction. Annoyed, she faces robo-Magik, who complains about being a demon queen.
Star-Lord silently thinks the robots were kind of fun, but this is insane. She is so exactly like his Kitty. Super smart. Gutsy as heck. Really determined. And just as beautiful. Not that there aren’t differences. She worships Dr. Doom. She’s like this total hard-ass. Plus, claws (which she is using to demolish the Magik-bot). Which is to say, he is kind of afraid of her.
What’s left is a furious Warlock, who shouts those were his friends. Kitty notes he is using proper pronouns instead of the usual self. She cuts off his arms and slices him open to reveal Doug Ramsey inside.
She announces that he and his robots work for Gambit the Collector. They steal for him. Where is Gambit the Collector? she demands. Cypher whines, Gambit is gonna kill him, but Kitty proves more scary. The museum in midtown shaped like a snail. There’s something in there he wants real bad. Kitty lets him go and tells him he made the right decision.
Cypher fumes at the deaths of his friends, then he recognizes Kitty and says her name. Wait until everybody hears about this. Kitty’s expression turns feral then she guts him with her claws.
Horrified, Star-Lord swears and asks her why she did this. Shut up! she orders, while Warlock, with his friend dead, starts a self-destruct countdown. Moments later, there is a detonation.
Later:
The Union of Doom square:
Peter sits on one of the stone steps. Kitty is lying next to him, covered with his jacket. Kitty awakens and asks what happened. He explains the shockwave took her out. But she phased them at the last second. She saved their lives.
She notes he has opened the shackles. Peter grins that he is an old hand at lock-picking and he had to kill time somehow. Kitty realizes he could have escaped. He replies she saved his life. Least he could do is make sure she was okay. He offers her pizza. Taking a slice, she muses he must really love the other Kitty. Yeah, he admits. And he ain’t really the loving kind either. Not until her. She’s the best person in the whole galaxy. Was, he amends. She was the best person in the whole galaxy. The old galaxy. He still can’t believe it’s all gone now. And her with it.
And she is like her? Kitty asks. She is nothing like her, a surprised Peter stresses. Now he’s judging her, Kitty snaps. Last night, he couldn’t keep his hands off her. His Kitty never would have killed that Cypher guy! he shoots back. Maybe she’s never been in a position where she had to, she retorts angrily. Maybe she’s not a freakin’ psycho! he grimaces. She takes off his jacket and shouts he’s a terrible singer. He accuses her of being a terrible kisser. She should have let him get blown up with the pizzas! she screams. He should have left her buried in pepperoni! he screams back. They both turn away angrily.
If she’s so important to Doom, why doesn’t she just pick up the Doom phone for backup? he finally asks. Kitty calls him a dumbass and adds it’s complicated. Peter believes he gets it. She’s not supposed to be here. That’s why she killed the guy, so he wouldn’t tell. Why is she really here?
What did she do to deserve all this? Kitty mumbles. She tells him to try to follow along. The Foundation, the hand of Doom, is devoted to science. The other hand of Doom, Sheriff Strange and the Thors, they are the law, devoted to upholding the word of Doom. And sometimes those two pursuits clash. Drama ensues. Heads roll. The nature of these anomalies is too dangerous. That’s why her mission is a secret… even from the Thors. So she doesn’t get any back-up. She’s out here alone. He admits that sounds intense. How did she get into that line of work anyway?
She was a spy for the kingdom of Apocalypse. She was caught stealing intel and given a choice: Serve Doom or die. And so will everyone she ever loved. She doesn’t do this for Doom or herself. She does this for them. She looks away sadly and Peter understands.
She decides she needs to get moving. She decides they are even and offers her hand. Don’t make trouble and she’ll forget she ever saw him. Hesitating, he offers to help. He’s a thief… Kitty groans. He points out this is his fault, because he ruined her deal with Gambit. Finally, she comes around and decides to let him help. Hail Doom! he shouts. She calls him an idiot and explains that they are heading midtown for the Doomenheim museum.
Doom made his own museum? Peter asks on the roof. Doom doesn’t care about this sorry shack, Kitty snorts. It’s run by desperate supplicants - - buttkissers. Doom has a fandom? Peter muses. A fan-doom?
Kitty takes his hand and they jump phasing through the roof. Inside, Peter grabs a curtain to break their fall. Nevertheless, they land hard. Or he does. Kitty lands on him. For a moment, they are about to kiss but then Kitty looks up and sees Gambit’s bag on a pedestal.
She runs toward it, all caution forgotten when suddenly she is faced with a small flying electronic being – Widget – who uses its technology to tie them up.
Kitty finds she cannot phase through their metal bindings. She explains that means the little trash can is an alternate version of herself. This is a trap, she realizes.
Very good, Cherie, Gambit who walks in grins. What will Valeria say when she learns Kitty fell for a decoy? Cypher didn’t lie. Gambit just told him to bend the truth. There is something here he cannot wait to add to his collection - -she!
