Agent Kat

Chapter 33: Gaining Trust

Kat was frozen in place. How could her mother expect her to kill one of her friends? Then she remembered that Katja was supposed to lock them in a gassing chamber anyway, so it would make sense to test her by asking her to kill one of them now.

"I would ask a question," she said in an overly-happy voice.

Adala nodded. "Yes?"

"How must I kill them?"

Sighing, Adala took a gun that was in between her pants and her back. "Here. Use this. Now, kill one."

Kat nodded and took the gun from Adala and nervously fingered the trigger. How was she supposed to do this? Looking at the five SHIELD agents, Leroy, the boy who had stuck by her side the whole time; Nova, the girl who was always a bright light; Freya, steadfast and logical; Nani, the hard headed and fierce; Dian, the light-hearted jokester...

She knew that the only way to get out of this was either to shoot Leroy, who was regenerative, or to kill her mother.

Which one did she choose?

Aiming the gun at her friends, she found her target: Leroy's chest. With her telepathy, she said to him, Listen, I'm not a clone. I'm Kat. I need you to do everything I say, or we all die.

Why should I trust you, traitor? he thought back.

Kat held back the hurt as she ignored him and thought, When I shoot you, fall down and pretend like you're dead, okay? Then I'm going to shoot my mother and we're all going to make a run for it.

What if you really are the clone? If you're a clone of Kat, you'd have her powers.

"Shoot him already!" Adala yelled.

Kat's grip tightened on the gun. Trust me. She pulled the trigger and the bullet came flying out of the barrel at lightning speed. It hit Leroy in the sternum and he stumbled back, gasping for air.

Adala grinned and hugged Kat briefly. "Oh, my sweet Katja. It truly is you." Kat's smile wavered. She didn't even notice the small knife Adala held in the sleeve of her shirt.

Brendan gasped silently as he saw Adala pull the knife out of her sleeve.

"Did you really think you could fool me, child?" she hissed. Kat backed up slowly.

"Mo-mother, what are you doing?" she said, barely over a whisper.

Adala's eyes narrowed as she took in Kat's frightened figure. "You thought I didn't know the boy was regenerative? I created him! I know everything about him. And you thought you could shoot him and get away with it?"

As she spoke, Leroy was getting back on his feet, the wound already have healed. He shook his head like a dog and leaned against Dian for support.

Thinking quickly, Brendan snuck up behind Adala and pulled out his own gun. Becoming visible, he said, "Drop the knife, Adala."

Not turning around, Adala chuckled. "Oh, dear. Did you really think I didn't know you were there the whole time?"

She whipped around and snarled. "You cannot kill me. I am invincible! I am the ultimate mutant."

"Wha--what do you mean?" Kat stuttered, still getting over the fact that her mother had nearly killed her.

Adala grinned. "Where do you think you got your powers? I am telekinetic, invincible, flexible, incredibly smart, a shape shifter, and I can fly. Just like you, Katja."

Kat narrowed her eyes. "My name... Is not Katja."

Rolling her eyes, Adala held the knife out to Brendan and dropped it. "If you want a fight, I'll give you a fight."

Brendan got into attack stance and said, "Come at me, bro."

In milliseconds, Adala had changed into a ferocious tiger-woman. Her dark hair turned into orange and black fur, and her ears pointed and shifted to the top of her head. Her skin darkened in stripes, and her teeth sharpened into fangs. Her fingernails grew out into claws and they gleamed in the bright lights of the lab.

She pounced on him and he yelped, not expecting her to be as heavy as she was. She raised a clawed hand to scratch his stomach, but she was stopped by a sudden flash in front of her.

Freya and Nova were holding hands and running as fast as they could to separate Adala and Brendan. They ran in circles around Adala, and Adala's eyes flashed back and forth, not being able to keep track of where they were at any given point in time.

This was the other's cue to jump in.

Kat saw the knife on the ground and leapt for it, only for Adala to kick it away. Glaring daggers at her daughter, Adala said, "After I kill your friends, I will kill you slowly, painfully, in every way I know you fea--" Her words were stopped by a swift blow to the back by Dian, who was floating above her.

"Shut up, witch," he hissed.

Adala chuckled and levitated to be level with Dian. She changed her form into that of a vulture. Her neck stretched and wrinkled. Her mouth hardened into a sharp beak, and her eyes became small, and beady. The rest of her body shrunk and was covered with feathers. Her arms cracked sickeningly as they became the shape of the bird's wings.

Dian dropped to the ground quickly as she dove for him. "Watch out!" he cried as he fell onto Freya.

They both let out a breath of air as Dian rolled off of her. "Sorry," he apologized.

"No time for apologies," she said quickly. She punched the flying bird in the gut, and it changed back into Adala's human form.

Leroy and Brendan teamed up to jump on Adala, pinning her to the ground. She shrieked as her head smacked onto the cold floor.

She closed her eyes and her body shrunk once more. It became thin and slinky. Her teeth once more became fangs, but much thinner and sharper. Her neck became one with the rest of her body as it changed into a cobra. Her ears fanned out into flaps of the cobra. Her eyes turned beady, black, and full of hatred.

She hissed and Brendan hopped off of her. Leroy, however, stayed on her and held her down. "Grab the knife!" he yelled.

Kat found it and slid it across the floor to Leroy. She looked away as he raised the knife and brought it down on Adala's neck.

When she turned back to the scene, she expected to see blood surrounding the body of the snake. But there wasn't any. The snake hissed and changed back into a human.

"Fools!" she cried. "I am invincible! I cannot be killed!"

Kat got an idea. "Guys! Follow me! I have a plan."

During all of that, Nani was off to the side, watching the whole thing. When Kat started towards the exit, she moved to block her. "I don't think so."

Confused, Kat asked, "What are you doing? We have to get the Monestone and get out of here."

Nani nodded. "Yes. I will be getting the Monestone. However, you guys won't be alive to see it." She snarled at the other five agents. "You're all so pathetic. I am stronger than all of you combined. I deserve the knowledge of the universe so much more than any of you, or SHIELD."

Nova started to walk slowly over. "Nani, take a deep breath. You need to calm down, you're not thinking straight."

"Not thinking straight?" Nani's eyes changed to a silver colour and her skin started to lose all colour. "I am thinking perfectly straight." Her hands gnarled into claws. Her back stretched with a crack as she grew in size. Her face lengthened into a long gray-silver snout. Her SHIELD uniform stretched with her as spines grew from her back. She stood on all fours as a large, silvery dragon, with scales and everything.

Her tail swished back and forth as she eyed them all. "I would suggest you run if you want to live."