Madam Marvelous: Chapter One -- BADGE POWER TRAINING 101 (Collaborative, if any new heroes want join in for testing purposes)

 "Working... access verified...", stated the computer voice.

The screen blinked from the standard greeting display into a 4-panel divided security array.

The first panel showed Kitt'n entering the food court and making her way towards the vending machines.
The others showed empty tables from various angles.

As the footage continued, the image of Kitt'n moved from monitor to monitor. After a few minutes, Kitt'n, seated at a table, seemed to speak to someone, but there was no image of who she spoke to.

A few more moments passed, and Kitt'n stood from the table, took a few steps towards the elevator corridor, then turned with a confused expression back to clear her table, and moved toward the monitor station.

"Footage complete... next inquiry?...", voiced the monitor.

I put my hand up to my forehead to see if I had a fever. Had I imagined the young girl? Was this some type of hazing ritual new BADGE agents were put through? A test?

Yes. A test. Of course. This was all part of my training. They wanted to see how I would react to a some unknown stimuli.

So, what would be the best course of action. I'd made contact with an unknown entity. It disappeared from sight, but didn't seem to be in distress. It did display unusual abilities, but hadn't been overtly threatening in any way.

I considered the options put forth to me in the official BADGE Field Training Handbook. It wasn't a high threat, but unusual activity on all BADGE properties needed to be documented to the active watch commander.

"Computer, who is the on duty watch commander at the moment?" I asked. "I need to file an U.E. 191 report with them."

I detailed my experience in my video log and morphed into the form of the girl as I saw her. Amber lights flashed on the screen and a strange message interrupted my recording.

ALERT. UNKNOWN SPATIAL DISTORTION DETECTED. ALERT.

As quickly as it appeared, it ceased. In the shape of the young red-haired girl, I had to drag a chair over to the monitor so I could use it again. Everything seemed to be normal. "Hmmm. They really need to get the tech crew in here to figure out what's going on here."

I finished my report and sent it to the watch commander, adding a link to my assigned quarters for follow up questions. I started to jump down from the chair, but a second thought struck me. Since I worked with Ms. Fae today, perhaps I should copy her in on my message. I really, really needed her to have a good opinion of me. I tapped a few buttons and added a copy of my message to the watch commander to her as well.

Well past my bedtime, I put the chair back and hurried to my quarters. I hope I passed their test.

Krystal heard the 'ding' of an incoming message, but since there was no 'emergency' signal included, she dropped back off to sleep.

As soon as she was awakened by the 'alarm voice' system, she checked the messages.

"Only one... from... Kitt'n, as a CC of a report to the late shift watch commander."

As she watched, Krystal saw the image of the child that Kitt'n replicated.

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Kitt'n, sitting in the food court once again, this time behind a respectable, half-eaten stack of pancakes, forked the half of a sausage into her mouth, tasting of the maple syrup that covered the contents of the plate.

Krystal, with her own stack, came over and gestured to sit. Kitt'n nodded, interested to find out what Ms. Fae would say about the overnight message.

As Krystal covered her plate with syrup, she said,
"I saw the 'alert' from last night... I'm fairly certain I know what occurred... give me a moment to confirm..."

Krystal closed her eyes for a moment, and her expression shifted... As she continued to sit, her face shifted from an expression of concern to a small smile.

"Well, young lady... it seems my daughter has taken an interest in BADGE's newest recruit.", Krystal said with a grin, "... I'll inform the watch commander that the alert has been disposed of."

Krystal continued to grin as she dug into her pancakes, continuing her obvious internal dialog with her unborn child.

 I almost choked on my mouthful of pancakes at Ms. Fae's revelation. "She can do that? She's not even out of you yet."

As I wiped my face with a napkin, cleaning up syrup that ran down the sides of my mouth, Ms. Fae smiled and looked up from her belly and into my eyes. "There were some unusual circumstances at the end of last year that needed some... equally unusual actions to be taken. To be honest, it has made me feel much more connected to her that I expected. But you are the first person I know of that she has 'visited' in such a manner. You must have made an impression on her."

I nodded. I didn't have a great deal of experience as a child, but I did remember moments of loneliness during my younger days. I didn't have friends or anyone to play with instead of Mom and Dad for some time and I yearned to meet other kids like me. The development of my powers kept me from having what most would consider a typical adolecence. "How much can she do? I mean do you know yet? Is here being able to project out of your tummy part of being a Fae like you or is it a Morphon power like mine?"

"Actually, I'm not quite sure... Fae children often have their powers 'bound' by their parents before birth, but I don't really agree with that practice.  Fae children typically have not received Morphon exposure, either.
It may be both, either, neither, or any combination of those."

"Gem's mental age, due to the circumstances I mentioned, would be consistent with the image you saw... I, of course, am in nearly constant contact with her, but I do have moments where, I'm sure, my thoughts cease to hold her interest... and I do sleep occasionally.", Krystal continued.

Kitt'n tilted her head in thought.

"Well, I certainly didn't mind 'meeting' her... she was friendly, cute, and the spitting image of her mother, if I may say so...", said Kitt'n.

Krystal smiled and continued eating.

The second morning of my training fairly uneventful compared to the first. I reported to Dr. Henderson, and she put a number of testing leads on my body and placed me in an isolation tank half full of water. I was instructed to shift into various forms while immersed. I could speak to her over a built in intercom, and every so often when she spoke to me, I could overhear loud alarm-like beeps going off, but each time I asked if there was a problem, she said everything was fine. That it was just her equipment acting up.

I had lunch alone in the cafeteria. There was a man there I'd seen at the 4th BBQ party, but never spoke with. He carried a large metal tray through the room with the box I had observed in the arboretum set on top of it. He looked like a scientist, or at least he walked like one. His eyes were locked on the strange black box like it was the only thing in the universe.

I wanted to follow him but I didn't have much time before I needed to report to combat training class. I really looked forward to learning how to fight with more finesse. Most of the time I relied on the strength or skill of whatever shape I took, but if I could turn into a grizzly bear and have the skill to fight like an ninja, that would be awesome.

"Well, good morning, Kitt'n" a familiar drawl greeted her as she entered the combat arena.  The western garbed Angelus stood along a counter full of guns of every description. in front of that was a long range of various targets.

"Oh! Hi Angelus" she grinned. " I was here for combat training, maybe I have the wrong room."

"Nope, little lady. You are exactly where you are supposed to be", he gestured to the weapons. "This is your combat training, and I am going to be your instructor today."

"Aren't you a newbie yourself?"

"I am!" he laughed. "But I am the best shot in the county, and the 142nd fastest gun... in the west"

"142nd fastest, huh?  Should I call you Irving?", she replied, proud of herself for catching the reference.

"Angelus will do, Kitt'n", he snickered.  "So B.A.D.G.E. is sure you can fight while in any of your other forms. What it doesn't know is if you can fight if your powers don't work.  There apparently some people out there that can counter morphon powers.  If that happens in the middle of a fight, you need to be ready, willing, and able to fight with whatever weapons you can grab."  He gestured to the amazing array of weapons, from clubs to knives to a bazooka.

"My Goodness - Why would there be a bazooka just lying around??"

He grinned at her. "Sometimes you find the weirdest things on the streets of New Amsterdam."

He then started taking her through the ropes of how to throw, shoot, and fire off any and all weapons he had displayed.  She was nervous at first, but the fun of making things explode got the best of her and she found herself enjoying the session.  She was a little disappointed in that she didn't get to learn hand to hand today, but learning to kill things at a distance with Angelus turned out to be a lot more fun than she realized.

"Well, now Kitt'n, you took quite a shine to that!  You sure you never fired a gun a'fore now?"

"Nope, ever" she said as she shook her head, pleased at his praise.

"Well, you got another class coming up, and I have more students coming in.  You have yourself a fun time in your sessions, Kitt'n" he grinned as she waved goodbye.

Kitt'n beamed as she left the room, liking the smell of gun powder that wafted around her as she went.

Using the guns Angelus showed me was unexpectedly fun. I never gave using firearms or guns much thought. Shapeshifting and fighting tooth and claw had been my typical mode of fighting. The simple exercise left me with a great deal to think about. Were there some opportunities I hadn't considered before to my crime-fighting ways?

The session ended just before dinner time. I hurried to my room and cleaned up before heading to the cafeteria. They had posted on the menu board that this evening would be Japanese night, so I was ready for some Hibachi cooked chicken with fried rice and Yum-Yum sauce. I decided I might even try some sushi.

When I reached the dining hall, it was almost full of people in the main room. There were separate rooms that adjoined where some private meetings were taking place and I could see people venturing in and out from them with plates of food. Nothing like a working dinner.  I wonder what they might be meeting about? I started to head over to the closest room until I caught my first whiff of fragrant grilled meats.

The meetings could wait. Working with Angelus left me hungry, so if I didn't eat soon, I might become h-angry. Safer not to risk hurting someone, I made my way over to the service line.

With so many people in the room, I felt slightly out of place, being the only youngster in the bunch. Everyone else around me was at least 20 or older. Everyone talked about work and their families, vacation time and their mortgages, or the latest sports scores. Didn't old people have anything more interesting to talk about?

I needed to find more younger heroes closer to my age.  

After I finished eating, I took my tray of empty dishes to the dish pit. Mom always taught me to clean up after myself and not make others do it for me. Even though I knew she wasn't on the space station, part of me couldn't shake the feeling that if I didn't do as she instructed she would somehow manage to be right behind me, shaking her finger at me.

Ethereal pre-natal children happened here and everyone knows that there is nothing more powerful than a mom on a mission.

"Madam Marvelous" A tall man approached me after I set my tray in the bin. "I've heard that you have been taking lessons from Angelus."

"Yes," I replied. His dark black costume with red trim gave him an ominous bad-boy vibe.

"I wanted to let you know about some classes I will be offering off-site, should you ever have an interested in learning more than what BADGE might deign." He held out a card to me.

Hanzo Ninja Clan School of Anything Goes Martial Arts

I looked up after reading the plain text on the card, only to find the man who offered it to me had disappeared.

Classical mysterious move.  

"Good... Hello, Krystal," Catalyst said as he walked into the science lab. He bumped against a table ledge as he approached, his gaze locked at the starry space-scape outside the space station's windows. "Never know if should say morning, afternoon, or night when up here."

"I typically use station time as my indicator," Krystal said. "Imagine what it is like for me having to reconcile between HR Earth time, my home dimension time, and station time. I think sometimes I don't know when I am."

Catalyst nodded, the auditory computer implanted in his brain clearly relaying her message, but his eyes wistfully stared out into space still. "It beautiful, but makes me feel lonely."

Fully aware of the loss of his mother in a space accident over a decade ago, Krystal's understanding of how he felt was only amplified by her telepathic senses. "Thank you for responding to my message. We've located a strange device in the arboretum. I was hoping that you might be able to take a look at it and see what you can make of it. They have it in the isolation lab."

"Certainly," Catalyst said. "Any initial thoughts on what it is?"

"I'm fairly certain that it's some kind of 'bugging' device since it was tied into the communications array...  the questions would be what data types it transmits, range, and to determine how long it was in position...", Krystal replied.

"Once we know those things, we can theorize on who planted the device, and whether we remain compromised... certain adversaries of late have been far too knowledgeable about BADGE's movements and concerns."

"I look into it. BADGE needs to be secure." Catalyst wandered over to the window and stared into space. "Do you ever think about the Dreamcatcher project again? Going out and exploring out there?"

Krystal shrugged. "I don't know. Not in the immediate future. There is too much going on here. The missing avatars. Arx going to the dark side. The unknown organization that attacked Nova. I think there is enough mystery on Earth right now for me."

"You right." Catalyst moved out of view of the window. "Isolation lab. I go there to see what I can figure out. How did you find in first place?"

"I didn't. A new recruit did. Madam Marvelous and I were engaged in a shapeshifting training exercise and she located it. Speaking of which, I don't think we ever finished her session that day. I might need to reschedule a follow up meeting with her."

Catalyst nodded. "Your baby getting bigger."

Krystal raised an eyebrow, sensing that Catalyst had developed an insight he previously hadn't had. "She has, of course, but how are you aware of her?"

He tapped the strip of metal implanted at the back of his neck just below the skull. "Made a modification. Limited ultrasound and echolocation."

"Pretty soon you're going to have an app for every location," Krystal smiled. "Thanks for asking about her."

Catalyst gave her a thumbs-up gesture and headed out of the room.

I went to my room, changed for bed into a t-shirt and shorts (meaning I put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt; I didn't become them). I wanted to be ready if I received a visit again from Gem. Getting into bed, I propped my back against the exterior wall and turned on the reading lamp so I could see her when she arrived.

Seeing that tonight was going to be my last night on the station before heading home, I really hoped she would show up. At least long enough for me to say hi and it was nice to meet you.

My eyes kept drooping closed after half-an-hour of waiting. Each time I caught myself drifting to sleep, I would shake myself back to consciousness. As much as I wanted to keep alert, my body wanted nothing more than to recharge after they busy day morphing and shooting. I fought to recall the memory of holding Angelus's six-shooters, the kick after pulling the trigger, and the smell of the gunpowder in the air.

I imagined I was a cowgirl in the old west. Riding a beautiful white stallion over green pastures. Leaping over creeks and fences. My pistols in hand, I would shoot at rusty tin cans on posts, knocking them from where they rested with a loud clang as they all but leapt to the ground. Shooting the last one, I headed back to my small home village of Almond Grove, ready to join ma and pa for dinner...

I nodded off once more...

As I turned to head back into the village, I noticed that a  little girl, about 5 or 6, had been watching me shoot from behind a cactus.

She was wearing a green printed gingham dress, carrying a well-made, if somewhat worn, ragdoll, and had bare feet.  She also had striking red hair.

The child grinned and waved, then ran towards the village before I could approach.  As she reached a fairly large boulder, a gust of wind threw up a cloud of dust.

When I hurried over, a line of bare footprints approached the boulder,  but they trailed off to nothing abruptly behind it.

As I headed on into the village, I let out a small sigh, then assumed a wistful smile.

At least Gem did visit tonight, after all.

The station alarm rang, rousing me at 7AM Station Time. "Good Morning, Kitt'n. It's time to wakey, wakey, eggs n' bacy."

Was I still asleep? I opened my eyes and found myself still propped up against the wall. Did Gem come to visit me, or was she only there as part of my dream?

I chuckled as the computer droned on with my itinerary. Clearly, Angelus's nickname for me had begun to stick. I wondered how he got the station computer to recognize me as Kitt'n. For a cowpoke, he had some modern skills as well. At least his message for me was far more entertaining than the monotone computer voice.

Today I had to be ready for anything. The BADGE training program last day was a complete mystery to me. I didn't know if I would be doing hand-to-hand or more morphing. I hoped I would be able to work with some of the other well-established agents. Maybe Gar. I'd never tried to change into a living gargoyle. What would it be like to shapeshift into him?

What the heck? I summoned his unique image into my mind and pictured myself as him. I grew taller. Denser. My skin turned to stone...

And alarms sounded from in my cabin and all over the station. I ran to the hallway to find out what was causing the commotion.

Having a living statue's body involved great strength and great weight. I felt as if my entire being pulsed with might. My feet scratched the flooring and when I made it to the doorway, I felt the large wings scrape against the wall. How did he manage his way around the station with them? I thought tails were difficult but these wings made me feel like I had an entire tent strapped to my back. I could even feel the pressure of the air on them as I ran into the hallway.

People were already in the corridor searching for clues to the alarm being triggered or poking their heads out of their doorways with concerned looks on their faces.

"Sir," a woman in fuzzy pink bathrobe said. "What's going on? Why are you in this sector? Are we in danger?"

"I don't know," I said as I looked around me, searching for any signs of trouble. Fortunately, the alarm stopped bleating, so I was able to start thinking clearly again. "Why wouldn't I be in this sector?"

"Well, I suppose I don't know," she said. "Do you think we will get an all clear signal?"

I moved to a computer panel built into the hallway wall. There wasn't any sign of a warning or alert in progress. "Maybe the station computer is just glitching. It has been really sensitive for the past few days."

"If you say so?" She turned to go back into her room, but stopped before closing the door. "Are you feeling all right? You don't sound like yourself?"

I don't sound like myself? I slapped my forehead as a feeling of chagrin passed over me. "I'm fine. I was just trying this body on." I shifted back into my standard young woman shape.

The double take she gave me was priceless. I swear she looked as if she were on the verge of passing out  and then pure rage flushed up her cheeks. She stepped back and the door slid shut. I could hear her yelling through it, though. "George, we're never having kids! I hate em. I absolutely hate them!!"

    Astra ran down the corridor along side Doug in his robotic body.  She saw the young heroine Madam Marvelous.  Astra was using her psionic powers to gather information.  Doug was trying to help people get to safety.

    "Madam Marvelous, can you tell me anything about what is going on?" Astra asked.  She wasn't much older than Madam Marvelous.  She just had more experience.  Madam Marvelous noticed Astra actually slowed down to talk with her.

    "Astra?  Why are you here?" Madam Marvelous wondered.  "Are we under attack?"

    "Not to my knowledge," Astra stated.  "I came here with Doug so he can train with his new body.  My mom came along because 'Someone needs my help.'" She made air quotes.  "She's so cryptic sometimes."

    "Your mom?  Where is she?" Madam Marvelous asked.

    "Oh, she went to find Krystal Fae," Astra explained.

"I'm about to go an have breakfast," I said. Astra seemed so confident and strong. I'd read over a few of the mission reports she filed previously, having dealt with extra-dimensional beings and aliens. I really wanted to hear more about her time as a hero, but doubted she would want to hang out with a newbie like me. "Have you ummmm... I mean... did you want... I hear there is an omelet bar today in the cafeteria? Do you like omelets?"

Astra glanced at her companion, Doug, and shrugged. "You want to?"

"Madam Marvelous. That 's a bit of a mouthful. I don't know if I can eat after saying your name." Doug said. He seemed a bit nervous. No, not nervous. He seemed off, as if he were wearing a new pair of shoes and was trying to get comfortable in them.

"A friend started calling me Kitt'n. I suppose you can call me that instead," I replied. I offered to shake his hand.

"Doug. Nice to meet you Kitt'n," he said. He squeezed my hand firmly, almost a bit too hard. I pre-winced. You know what that is, right? It's the face you make just before you know something is going to hurt you and you brace for the pain.

He released my hand. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I hurt you."

"No, you're fine. You've got a bit of super-strength I see."

"A bit. Sort of." He smiled with relief when he realized he hadn't hurt me. "Omelet bar, you said? Sounds egg-cellent to me."

Astra rolled her eyes. "Puns. Already? I didn't miss those."

Together we headed to the elevator to the cafeteria, each trying to out-zing the other. It felt good being around other young people again.

    "My friends call me Keri, now," Astra stated.  They found a table to sit down at.  "I train with my mom most of the time.  With Starmaster for things she can't teach me."

    "I still call you Kevin," Doug interjected.  "You got the ultimate glow up, but it seems weird calling my best friend by a girls name."  He took a bite from his omelet bar.  "I'm just getting used to having a body again.  It's so cool, I can change it's shape, make weapons, fly..."

    "What can't your mom teach you?" Kitt'n wondered, "Also, Kevin?"

    "That has to do with my origin story," Astra said. "Basically, my powers came out when some aliens switched my gender.  My real parents declared me dead.  Futurina adopted me and gave me a whole new identity.  So, start calling me Keri, Doug." She glared at him.  "Anyway, Futurina doesn't have the power of Astral Projection, so Starmaster has been training me in it's uses.  She has been to the Astral Plane just not under her own power."

    "It's just going to take some time, Kev, I mean Keri," Doug chuckled.  "We still have to come up with my hero name."

    "How about Block Head," Astra teased.  "Futurina believes that Mind, Body, and Spirit are all connected.  So I do a lot of physical training as well as mental.  Spiritual has been different.  Basically train on how to fight supernatural threats, demons, ghosts... Those sort of things."

    "I was thinking more like, Robot, Bot, but with something else," Doug stated.  "How is your training going?"

"My training has been going great. I got to work on my shapeshifting with Ms. Fae and trained with firearms thanks to Angelus," I replied. "I don't know what the plan is for today, but I'm sure it will be exciting."

"I think you're one of the few people who call her Ms. Fae. She probably likes that." Astra giggled a bit. "When you feel comfortable enough, she'd be just as happy if you called her Krys."

"Oh, I couldn't do that. Mom always tells me that I have to respect my elders," I said. I couldn't imaging calling Ms. Fae anything but Ms. Fae. It would be like addressing Director Nova by Steve or whatever his first name was. Unimaginable.

"My superhero name needs to go with Astra, somehow. I know. We can be Astra and ROIDS. You know. Asteroids." Doug tapped at his chin while chewing at his breakfast. "R.O.I.D. - Robot Outside Inside Doug."

"Are you going to spend all day thinking up names?" Astra asked.

"Well, Ya!" Doug nodded gleefully. "Did you come up with Astra in two seconds? I don't think so. I remember how long it took for you to pick the name for your last dog."

An alarm chimed on my comm unit. I glanced at the screen and saw I was being summoned. "Wow. I've been called to my next session. I'm supposed to meet with Gar for some aerial flight maneuver training and hand-to-hand." I gritted my teeth together, nervous to be called to meet with Gar. "I hope he didn't find out I took his shape this morning."

"You made yourself look like Gar?" Astra asked. "Would you be strong enough to fly like him, I wonder?"

"I think so," I said. "I could feel his strength inside of me when I became him. It was like nothing I've felt before. He is so very powerful."

"So whatever you change into, you don't just look like it, you fully become it?" Astra tilted her head. "He's fueled by the last vestiges of an ancient Mythic's powers, like Santa and E.B. are."

"I don't know a lot about the Mythics. Maybe you can tell me more over lunch?" I stood up and grabbed the last bit of bacon off my tray. I popped it in my mouth and gathered up my tray. "But I've got to go. Can't be late. Bye."

"Bye," Astra waved.

"Could I shapechange into one of these Mythics?" Doug asked. "That sounds pretty cool, or it probably does if I knew what a Mythic was."

"You can look like one of them, but your shapeshifting is mostly to alter your appearance, not to actually become something else." Astra said. "I wonder if Mom knows any other shapeshifters that can do like she says she can."