A failed experiment

Kitty reappeared from the wall of a hallway, smirking at the chaos she'd caused. "All right, Babs, I've done my part. Power's not coming back on any time soon," she reported. "Wanna come down here and join the party? I could really use your help right now."

"You know I can't say no to you," Barbara answered, swinging down from the catwalk. "I'll be there in a minute. You okay?"

"Could be worse," Kitty replied. "See you soon."

After a few minutes, Barbara arrived, landing gracefully next to her girlfriend. "So how've things been going?" she asked.

"Eh, not bad. The guys they've sent after me have turned out to be nothing but chumps." Kitty said as a few thugs rounded the corner and opened fire on the pair. She phased through the bullets, grabbing the lead thug's gun and phasing it into the wall behind him.

Meanwhile, Barbara had disarmed the rest of the thugs with relative ease, taking them down with a series of well-placed strikes. "I don't know what Bane & Deathstrike are paying these losers, but it's way too much," Barbara remarked, dusting herself off.

"No kidding. Why would they--"

Kitty was cut off by a familiar 'snikt!' sound... but something was off. The sound was slightly lower in pitch than the one she was used to hearing from Logan. Then she saw the source of the sound; a hulking beast of a man, venom pumping into his veins from tubes attached to a backpack on his back. The beast had one blade extending from each wrist, looking more like a misshapen sword than Logan or Laura's claws. The creature's skin was a sickly grayish color, and he was drooling as he glared at Kitty with a crazed look in his eyes.

"Uh-oh." Barbara commented, looking at the giant. "Looks like we've stumbled onto a 'successful' experiment."

Kitty nodded slowly, looking at the monster in front of them. "Any ideas, babe?" she asked, her eyes never leaving the creature.

"Let's see..." Barbara considered, her mind racing. "With all that metal in him, my standard strategy of disconnecting the venom tubes would kill him... so that's out."

"Shit... I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really wish Magneto was here..." Kitty griped.

"Priorities, Kitty," Barbara said. "Maybe you can phase him into the floor? Incapacitate him that way?" she suggested.

"It's worth a shot," Kitty nodded. "Just give me some cover. I need to get close."

"Say no more," Barbara answered, throwing a batarang at a set of overhead pipes, causing steam to burst out, obscuring Kitty's approach to the monster, who was already wildly slashing in every direction. With the element of surprise, Kitty managed to phase her hands into the creature's chest.

"Alright, big guy," Kitty grunted, trying to phase him into the floor. "Let's see if you'll go down for a nap." Of course, success wasn't that easy; as soon as Kitty had a grip on him, the monster began thrashing violently. She could feel her energy rapidly draining as she struggled to maintain her intangibility. Still, she kept her focus, trying to ignore the burning sensation throughout her body. Her mentor had the highest pain threshold of anyone she'd ever met; he'd taught her a lot about pushing through agony.

"Come on... just... a little... more..." Kitty strained, her teeth gritted in pain.

"You've got this, Kitty!" Barbara urged as she dodged the creature's wild swings, trying to distract it as best she could. "Keep going!"

With one last, **** push, Kitty managed to get the creature phased halfway into the concrete floor before she had to let go, the strain too much to bear. The creature roared in fury, unable to move from his position.

"He's not smashing through anything. That's a relief," Barbara noted. "We should get out, now. Hopefully he tires out, but if he breaks free, I don't wanna be here for it."

"What'll happen to him? Is he even fixable?" Kitty asked, leaning against Barbara to catch her breath.

"Batman & I can take care of that," Barbara replied confidently. "I'm not sure he can be helped, but if he can, we'll find the right people for it."

"I guess that's the best we can ask right now," Kitty sighed. "Let's keep moving."