Chapter Text
"Woah... okay! Um, wow. Can't believe this is actually happening!"
High school sophomore Kamala Khan managed to sneak into the girl's locker room during her free period. The eager teen stood in front of a mirror in the girl's locker room with a big grin on her face. The excitable Kamala Khan managed to stop her shaking for a moment to take a deep breath and psyche herself up. "Alright, Khan! Focus!"
Kamala outstretched her arm. Narrowing her eyes and gritting her teeth, Kamala's arm started to elongate and stretch across the locker room. "Haha! Cool!", feeling proud of herself, Kamala then willed her other arm to stretch. After taking a few steps back from the mirror, Kamala struck a pose and flexed her superhumanly elongated arms.
These powers were a recent development for the Jersey girl. A week ago, Kamala snuck out of her house with her best friend, Bruno, to attend a superhero convention and win a cosplay contest that, at the time, meant everything to this introverted nerd. But then a poorly constructed Captain Marvel statue detached from its hinges and threatened to crush a girl right in front of Kamala. Time seemed to slow down, and then all of a sudden, Kamala's arm stretched for the first time, and her hand "embiggened" to catch the statue before it could kill the girl.
Kamala was the hero of the day, and thanks to her costume, no one knew her secret yet. She was grounded as soon as she returned home, but in the grand scheme of things, Kamala didn't mind. After all, she has powers now. The possibilities were endless!
But how did she get these stretchy powers? Kamala couldn't recall getting bitten by a radioactive inflatable tube man that day at the convention.
Ah, questions for another day.
Kamala is stretching both her arms and her legs now, bending and twisting her rubber-like limbs in unusual directions and only stopping her growth when she reaches the ceiling. Kamala then forms a fist and she wills it to grow to the size of the boulder just like in the convention. "Sweetness!", Kamala exclaimed, still giddy, "I should probably start coming up with some moves for this. Like an extra big flying punch for mech suit bosses. Yeah! And for groups of goons, a good sweeping slap..."
In her excitement, Kamala impulsively enacts this "sweeping slap" with her enlarged hand. Unfortunately, it hit one of the lockers. Her untamed power accidentally causes the metal locker to dent on impact, and then half of the lockers in the row are uprooted and then knocked down.
"Oh crap! I didn't mean...", in her panic, Kamala took a couple steps back and tripped. Thanks to her increased mass, a pair of wooden benches were crushed underneath the weight of her, erm, rump. "Crap! Crap! Crap!"
As Kamala gets up, her head collides with a ceiling light. Kamala feels a shooting pain on her head, but that's nothing compared to how busted up the ceiling light is.
Exasperated, Kamala shouts, "Body! Stop being big! Shrink! Shrink!"
It takes a bit, but Kamala reverts to her normal size. She takes a moment to cringe at the property damage she caused in the last few seconds. Her throat suddenly felt dry as Kamala said to herself, "Um… I should probably go…"
Kamala then heard the doorknob turn. "I'm gone!"
As she moves quickly towards the other door, Kamala promises herself to be more careful with her newfound powers.
After all, with great ability comes great accountability. Yeah, that's how that saying goes.
With that bullet dodged, Kamala went on with her day. Her good mood even returned.
After a few class periods, Kamala walks up to her other best friend, Nakia Bahadir, eager to gush about her new powers.
"Nakia! I made a breakthrough with my, uh, "physical fitness,"" Kamala said, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Nakia rolled her eyes and grinned, "Does it have anything to do with the girls' locker room getting trashed this morning?"
"For legal reasons, I'm required to say "no," but I finally nailed it! I can do the stretchy thing at will now! Isn't that great?!"
"Good for you, dude," Nakia nodded, "Does this mean you'll start living that "superhero life" you've been talking about?"
"You know it!", Kamala nodded, "As soon as Bruno mails me my super suit, I can start hitting the streets! You still good for being my "guy in the chair"?"
"Considering Bruno is on the other side of the country, I guess I am," Nakia remarked, "I'm already the adult in our friendship, so it might as well be true for your superhero thing too."
"And that's why I wuv you so much!", Kamala said in a cutesy voice as she wraps her arms around Nakia's shoulders in an embrace.
Nakia giggles. "Just make sure you get better at sneaking out of the house. I prefer not to have wasted all that time learning how to computer with Bruno's hand-me-down set."
"Ammi and abu will never know I'm gone," Kamala proclaims confidently.
"Isn't that what you said before the convention?", Nakia points out sardonically.
"Hahaha, shut up."
As they continue walking, Kamala sees a new girl walk by, one that she definitely hasn't seen in the school before. The girl looks Asian with short black hair. She is wearing a black hoodie, has black nail polish, and has a rather detached look on her pale face. She wouldn't be the only goth girl in this school, but Kamala swore that she saw her face before.
As they pass the girl, Kamala asks Nakia, "Hey, do you know who that is?"
Nakia briefly looks at the girl behind her and responds, "Yeah, she's new here. Her name is Cassandra Wayne. I heard that she's from some rich family back in Gotham."
Kamala gasps. No wonder she was familiar. "You mean Cassandra Cain-Wayne?! Adopted daughter of Bruce Wayne? The richest man in Gotham City?"
"I guess?", Nakia said shrugging and a little weirded out by her friend's enthusiasm, "Any reason why we should care about some one percenter family in another city?"
"Bruce Wayne is bankrolling Batman and his crew! And now his daughter is attending our school! This is huge!"
"Wait, so this Bruce Wayne and Batman are in Jersey City now? What?"
"No. Last time I checked, they are still in Gotham, but I read in the news somewhere that Cassandra and him had a nasty falling out. Maybe she moved here to get away from him," Kamala then started jumping, "Do you think she knows Batman? Or better yet, Batgirl?!"
"You know what, why don't you just ask her? I gotta get to class. Let me know how joining the Batgang worked out or whatever."
The two part ways to get to class, but Kamala couldn't shake her curiosity about Cassandra.
Should she seek her out and just ask about what she knows about the Batcrew? Given how close the Wayne family is to the Bats, it's very likely that Cassandra knows a few juicy details. Maybe even a secret identity or two!
But then again… It would be weird for some rando girl to just come to someone like Cassandra and just demand information like that. And the more Kamala thought about it, it would be a major red flag to do so.
"Yeah… Maybe I shouldn't act like a psychotic fangirl," Kamala tells herself, "If it happens, it happens. No need to be hit with a restraining order if I don't have to."
It's now the end of the school day. As Kamala makes her way to the buses, she sees Cassandra Cain sitting on a bench, staring off into the distance and as still as a statue. Kamala initially wanted to just pass her by, not trusting herself to not act like a stalker around an insider source of superhero information.
But the more she looks at Cassandra, the more off she comes across. Kamala can tell that there was something wrong with her, but she hesitates, wondering if she should say something. But before she can decide, Cassandra looks up and catches her standing close.
"Hello," Cassandra says rather robotically.
"Oh, uh, hi," Kamala replies trying to be as normal as possible as she gets closer to the other girl, "You're Cassandra, right?"
Cassandra nods, and Kamala takes a seat next to her on the bench.
"I'm Kamala. Nice to finally meet you."
"Likewise."
They fall into an uncomfortable silence, both not knowing how to proceed with this conversation. Kamala can't help but notice how sad Cassandra seems despite her detached exterior.
"Is everything okay?"
Cassandra hesitates at first, but then she nods. "Yes. It's just... Adjusting to a new city is hard. Gotham may be a hellscape, but it's home, you know?"
Kamala nods understandingly. "Yeah, I hear you. But Jersey City's not so bad once you get to know her. There's a lot of cool stuff here. Have you checked out the waterfront yet?"
Cassandra shakes her head. "No, not yet."
"Well, I know this great ice cream place down there. You should pay it a visit sometime. It will change your life, I assure you."
Cassandra breaks her emotionless expression and actually giggles, encouraging Kamala. "I think I will," Cass says as she gets up from her bench, "Maybe you can take me there sometime?"
Kamala looks surprised, but something about Cassandra puts her at ease for some reason. She gets up and says, "Yeah. I can do that. Maybe next weekend? I'll be free then."
Not to mention ungrounded.
"Sure. See you then," Cass says before leaving.
As Kamala makes her way to her bus, she can't stop smiling. Sure, she didn't get any good detes on the Bat Family, but she might have found something better. A new friend.
Kamala knew of Cassandra before ever since her father publicly announced his support for Batman, but she never thought she would get to see what she is like in person. She's more… Approachable than expected. Plus…
"Did she always have that sparkle in her eyes?", Kamala thinks idly as she boards her bus.
A couple days later, Kamala is inside Nakia's white Nissan. The car is nice, but the back seat is cluttered with some vital supplies and Bruno's computer stuff, including a mobile router, that he left for Nakia before moving away to Caltech.
While Nakia is driving to nowhere in particular, Kamala, who is now wearing her new prototype super suit (a super polymerized, blue and red burkini that stretches with her body along with a blue domino mask to protect her identity), has her eyes glued to Bruno's laptop, which is currently running a program that taps into local police scanners (try not to think too hard about the legality of that).
The two girls have been driving for hours, and of course, Nakia is starting to get bored. "You know, I should be happy that no one is getting mugged or killed tonight, but… Gah! So bored! Can we just call it a night?"
"Crime doesn't rest and neither will we," Kamala says with a grimly serious look on her face. She takes a sip from her large, rainbow flavored slushie for extra seriousness.
Nakia rolled her eyes. "You know, it's times like this that I question our friendship."
Finally, Bruno's program pings. Kamala gets excited. "We got something! Home invasion at 101 Wilson Drive! Haha! Let's go!"
Kamala inputs the address for Nakia, and her faithful friend starts following the trail.
"Yes. I'm also happy that an innocent family is getting brutalized by common thugs right now," Nakia snarks.
Kamala realizes how screwed up her previous excitement was. With an embarrassed blush, she rubs the back of her head and says, "Right. Sorry."
As soon as Nakia parked the car across the street, Kamala bolts out and enters the house through an already busted down door. Inside, Kamala can see the home invaders, common thugs wearing cheap Halloween masks.
One thug in a Batman mask was holding a pistol at the parents, who were cowering in the living room. A thug in a clown mask is trying to carry away a struggling and shouting toddler, while another thug in a bear mask is trying to pry away a teenage girl, who is holding on to the stair railings for dear life.
The last thug, the leader it seems, is wearing an army man mask, and she seems annoyed by the delay. "Fuck guys! How hard is it to take a couple brats?! Start breaking fingers for Christ's sake! I don't care!"
"Boss! Look!", "Batman" points at Kamala.
Suddenly, all eyes are on Kamala. Her energy is now gone, replaced by anxiety and doubt. This is it. Her first real outing as Jersey's first (and currently only) superhero. In a dangerous situation with civilians on the line. And guys with guns. Guns that can shoot her dead.
Can she really do this?
"Army Woman" mocks the underage heroine. "What are you supposed to be, kid? Dollar store Robin?"
"Probably some lame character from an online fanfic!", "Batman" mocked.
As the two thugs laughed at her (the other two were too busy with their kids to care), Kamala felt self-conscious. Her stomach curls, and at the moment, she would like to hide in a shell.
"Army Woman" tells "Batman," "Boss'll pay for an extra kid. Take her."
"Batman" nods and makes his way to Kamala with his gun. Time slows, and Kamala starts to freeze. But then she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
"I can do this," she whispers to herself. She's been training for days. She's stronger than these fools. She has superpowers. She can do this. She can be like Captain Marvel.
Kamala opens her eyes, and "Batman" is now pointing his gun at her face.
"Alright kiddo. Head to the van in the driveway if you don't want a bullet in your…"
BAM!
Before "Batman" could react, Kamala embiggened her fist and clocked him with an uppercut. The masked thug hit the ceiling before landing back on the ground. He is not getting back up.
The room is silent for a moment. Everyone inside, thug and civilian, is looking at Kamala, specifically at her enlarged fist, in shock. A surprised grin took over Kamala's face.
"She's a mask! Kill her!", "Army Woman" commanded her remaining goons. "Clown" and "Bear" let go of their kids (the former just dropping the toddler on the floor) as they rushed Kamala.
The young heroine knows that she has the advantage when comes to reach (a very big advantage), so before "Clown" and "Bear" can get close, Kamala stretches her arm towards the closest attacker ("Bear") and grabbed him with her embiggened hand, restraining him. As "Clown" approaches, Kamala extends her leg and kicks him hard in the chest, sending them flying before laying him out in the living room next to the cowering parents.
The "Bear" struggles to free himself from Kamala's grip, but her superhuman strength is too great. She landed a swift punch with her stretched arm on his jaw and he is unconscious like that. Kamala drops "Bear," and she only has "Army Woman" left to deal with.
"Kids… More trouble than they're worth!", she said before pointing her gun at Kamala. She manages to get one shot off before Kamala extends her arm, grabbing the weapon and yanking it out of her grasp. She then embiggened her other fist to knock out "Army Woman" with a vicious left hook.
Still high on adrenaline, Kamala continues to tense up and scan the area for more enemies. But then she realizes that all the masked thugs are on the ground unconscious. She just won her first fight as a superhero.
"I did it…", a big smile then grew on her face, "I did it! Haha! Yes!"
"Um… Ma'am?", the teenage girl asked, "Is it… Is it over?"
Kamala looks at her and nods. "Yeah. Yeah, you're safe now," she glances at the goons splayed out on the floor before looking back at the girl, "Got any duct tape?"
"Woohoo!"
Kamala is still high from her victory as she makes a ruckus on Nakia's passenger seat. Nakia also is grinning from ear to ear. She may not be as into all this superhero stuff as Kamala, but she is happy for her friend. Truly.
"I wish you could've seen it! I was, like, possessed or something! I got moves, man! They were like nothing! I'm like Batgirl! Stretchy blue Batgirl!"
"Alright, "Batgirl." I'll take you at your word," Nakia says as she stops at a light, "So you're really doing this? You're a real superhero now?"
Kamala nodded eagerly. "Yeah. I got good feeling about this, Nakia! I think… I think I really am meant to do this, you know?"
"Then I guess I'm doing this too," Nakia says at the green light, "I mean, we can't do this every night. There will be tests and stuff, but I got you, Kam."
That might mean more to Kamala than beating up those thugs. "I really can't thank you enough for being here. With me. With Bruno gone, Aamir moving out with his wife, and all this craziness since that night at the convention… I'm glad I still have you. Even if everything else changes."
"I'm glad too," Nakia speaks softly, "So… Have you decided on a name yet?"
Kamala shrugs. "Nothing comes to mind. Maybe I should let the news name me. Worked out well for Captain Marvel. Batman too."
"Alright, but if CNN names you "Stretch Armstrong" or something, don't say I didn't warn you."
Kamala laughs hard. "Shut up."
There was one more ping. Despite Nakia's protests, they drove up to a known homeless camp near the docks to help with an assault in progress. Kamala, however, promised that this will be the last one for the night.
Kamala can hear fists pounding on flesh, screams, and bones breaking as she jumps the fence and nears the collection of tents in the distance. She needs to act fast, Kamala thought. People are really getting hurt in there.
The young heroine takes cover behind a tent. Her nerves are starting to act up again, but she quickly calms down with a deep breath. After a brief affirmation to herself, Kamala enlarges her two fists and runs out of cover, ready to break up this fight.
But what she finds next leaves her stunned.
The thugs attacking the homeless camp (who are also wearing Halloween masks for some reason) were already taken care of. Kamala can't see any homeless people, so they must have left. At least she doesn't have to worry about civilians here, but that's not what caught Kamala's eye.
She sees the back of a hooded figure wearing a black bodysuit with yellow outlines along with a sheathed sword strapped to their back. This mysterious figure is holding one of the thugs by the collar of his shirt, and he looks utterly terrified.
"Please! That's everything I know! I swear!", for his cooperation, the thug was awarded a swift punch to the face, knocking him out.
After dropping the unconscious body, the figure turned around to see Kamala. To the girl's shock, this "ninja person" wore a black face mask that looked stitched together, giving them an eerie resemblance to a scarecrow.
Kamala thought that she endured the worst when that goon pulled a gun on her face. But this… Figure is on a whole other level. Thankfully, the ninja pulls a grappling gun from their utility belt and glides away to parts unknown before Kamala can embarrass herself.
Kamala got back to Nakia's car, looking like she saw a ghost.
"That was quick. Did you have more "moves" under your belt, or were you fighting complete chumps?", Nakia jokes. When Kamala doesn't answer back, however, she knows something is up. "Kamala? What's wrong?"
After hesitating for a bit, Kamala finally sighs and says, "I think I'm not the only superhero in Jersey."