Author's Notes: This is the fourth part of my Crisis on Earth 929 section of Chrysalis, a story which details the exploits and adventures of Alain Desrochers who is currently trapped in the Omniverse undergoing training for a purpose he is still unclear on, although he knows it involves God and Demons of some kind.
Currently he has been detoured to Earth 929 by Roma to assist in solving a crisis of chaotic magnitude; so far he has tangled with four members of the Brotherhood, the Shadow King, the Red Skull, Venom and Carnage as well as encountering a host of heroes and becoming fast friends with several members of the X-Men and to a lesser extent Peter Parker AKA The Amazing Spider-Man. His guilty conscious however has overtaken him and now he finds himself preparing to take a leave of absence from Roma's mission, he needs time to sort things out and get over his killing of both Red Skull and Cletus Kasidy, all of which is exploited in the stories titled Of Spiders and Mutants, Avenger's Assemble and Rampage in NYC. Now Alain Desrochers going under the assumed name of Allan Rutherford on this Earth is going to get some much needed rest; and his soul will be lightened of it's burden here in the story aptly titled Sea of Turmoil... And who knows maybe his slowly blossoming romance with the X-Man Rogue may heat up with a passion.
The disclaimer is as follows; I do not own any of the characters in this story except Allan/Alain and his daughter Amy, I make no claims to own them and have not written this out of a desire to profit from them. I simply borrowed the characters to play with them; ultimately all characters in this story are the property of Marvel or Hasbro Inc.; and I thank them all for creating such wonderful characters, and so without further ado I present Chapter One of Sea of Turmoil...
Prologue
I had left the mansion; now I was hovering above the state of New York deeply troubled by the recent events in my life. The X-Men had proven concerned for my decision; though I couldn't very well blame them, but I just couldn't remain here any longer. I needed a place to heal my soul; alleviate the guilt I felt at allowing myself to begin this process once more, killing should only be for defense and only when there was no other choice. Death was all too easy to dole out when you fought as a warrior of the ancient world; I wondered if Xena had to deal with these kinds of problems, considering her soul was constantly being reincarnated. Still; where could I go? I had no actual idea on what I should do; and to top it all off a storm front was coming in off the coastline, I was overwhelmed by it.
Dark swelling clouds that looked less peaceful up close surrounded me; and it became very humid up here the heat surprised me, but then again I knew nothing of meteorological phenomena. I took this opportunity to recharge; absorbing bursts of lightning like a sponge and marveling how well I felt. I allowed the storm to carry me along for the ride; using my mastery of gravity to create a pocket of zero G around me, thus I could be pushed along like a leaf in the wind. It wasn't as taxing as exerting the control necessary for propulsion of my own and also saved me the trouble of tracking my course. The storm lasted a surprisingly long time and a good two and a half hours after it had formed the storm dissipated; I found myself over unfamiliar territory, which wouldn't have been much of a problem if not for the three F-Fifteen's heading directly my way.
Now this in and of itself wasn't a large problem; for all I knew they could have been out on maneuvers. However in the Marvel universe; or as this was, one of it's counterparts I should have known better. I called out to them at close range thinking to speak with one of the pilots; it was only then, now that they were much closer, that I noticed the decidedly unmilitary paint jobs their fuselage sported. Black and purple launched twin cluster missiles at me; fortunately for me blue and black roared past causing a horrible thundering assault, which destabilized the missiles gyros causing premature detonation and really set my teeth on edge. Red, blue and light grey; however, took a different approach by inverting on his axis into a horizontal position and firing twin beams of violet energy.
A normal human would have been vaporized; then again a normal human would also not be roughly thirty thousand feet in the air without a plane of his own. The nature of those energy beams was well known to me; upon coming in contact with them every nanoprobe in my body froze up and I remained a split second longer in the air before plunging as dead weight. Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker; for that was who the jets actually were, disappeared on the horizon barely registering the incident with typical Decepticon nature. My last conscious thought was a call to the Professor; a very loud and frightened call, hoping that he could, if not outright halt my descent… At least find some way to slow it down so that I would not be killed upon impact and leave a whole lot of questions for whoever found me.
Crisis on Earth 929
Sea of Turmoil
Despite what anyone might tell you regaining consciousness rarely involves shouting out weird half phrases; or involves waking up in glamorous settings with friends and loved ones. This particular time I felt battered and bruised in every part of my body; there was a painful tingling as the effects of the null ray wore off and I think three molars had fallen out, either that or I had rocks in my mouth. My call to Xavier must have been worth it because no bones were broken; and judging by the impact crater I'd hit relatively slowly. Being dead weight however would have meant I'd still hit hard; my current surroundings appeared to be a quaint looking garden. Personal property then; good I could take five and finish internal repairs, so to speak, closing my eyes I let the word fall away and entered a restive state.
The young eleven year old girl stumbled upon the man a few minutes later in surprise; she shrieked startled by his appearance there and three of her friends rushed over.
"What's wrong Krissie?" The eight year old Vietnamese child asked.
"Who's that?" The first blonde wondered as the second knelt beside him; twisting her bandana back so she could see better, all four girls were wearing relatively regular looking outfits. Although one of them had on a Tee-Shirt with the band Jem and the Holograms printed on it.
"I don't know Ashley." Krissie replied her initial shock and fear replaced with concern and curiosity. "Ba Nee don't get too close." She exclaimed as the youngest of the group knelt beside the man and began rummaging around in his pockets.
"I'm just looking for identity." She returned brushing aside a strand of her long luxuriant black hair; the other unnamed blonde reached for her, but Ba Nee pulled away.
"We really shouldn't be looking through a strangers' pockets." She chastised; Ba Nee ignored her; a look of determination on her face.
"We can't help him if we don't know who he is Deidre." She surmised finally managing to free the errant wallet from the back pants pocket and flipping it open to the driver's license. "Allan Rutherford." She read aloud.
"Sounds' important." Krissie observed with a calm expression; Ashley impatiently stood to one side wondering why the man was in their back yard, he could very well be a stalker for one of the band.
"Fourteen Zero Seven Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center; in Westchester County, New York." Ba Nee stated reading the address off of the man's driver's license, which strangely enough featured a picture that looked very unprofessional.
"Wow, he's pretty far from home." Ashley chimed her fears seemingly proven; she hated stalkers, they always gushed after one of the Holograms until the police got involved. "So just why's he in our back yard?" She demanded bitterly.
"Look at all those bruises; he's hurt!" Krissie exclaimed suddenly noticing the injuries running down the left arm; Deidre rose from her crouched position, which was giving her some bad cramps in her knees.
"I'll go get Jerrica; she'll know what to do." She offered turning and sprinting back for the house, which was sitting prominently in the background; the others decided to get a little closer to watch over this strange arrival. Ba Nee returned the man's wallet and sat down in the grass crossing her arms over her knees; thus she was the first to spot the sunken imprint in the grass.
"Hey… How'd that happen?" She wondered attracting the others' attentions.
"What?" Ashley wondered moving as close as she dared to; the sight that met her was even more mysterious, even more so if she'd bothered to notice some of the bruises seemingly vanishing as the man's internal repairs continued.
"He left a… Well I guess it's a dent, in the ground." Ba Nee stated sounding as innocent as could be; Krissie examined it carefully and suddenly scooted back fear on her face.
"Only someone falling out of the sky does that; he must be dead." She whispered in sorrow and anguish; she never liked death, it was just so final.
"He's still breathing dummy." Ashley pointed out at the gentle rise and fall of the man's chest; Ba Nee shot her a scalding look and she lowered her head regretfully. "I mean Krissie." She apologized for the rude comment; that's when Deidre returned, Jerrica, Kimber and Aja in tow.
"There is someone here." Aja exclaimed in surprise. "Sorry for doubting you Deidre." She added by way of apology as the older women took their turns examining the young man.
"Should we call the authorities or the ambulance?" Kimber asked turning to her older sister a look of expectancy upon her features.
"We should call where he lives." Ba Nee stated before the head of the household had a chance to even mull over the matter. "He could be lost or in trouble." She pointed out sensibly; Kimber shook her head, it was amazing how the Starlight Girls behaved at times.
"Yes." Jerrica agreed with a smile. "We'll get Rio to help bring him inside and phone them at once before doing anything else. This could all be a cruel joke on his part, but I want to make certain before getting the authorities involved." She explained; turning back to the mansion she beckoned the girls to follow her back inside while Kimber and Aja stayed behind to wait for Rio. If any of them knew how he'd wound up there in the first place they might have been concerned; in fact they also might have reconsidered the whole authorities' angle, but then again Jerrica Benton had always been raised to show equality to everyone unless proven otherwise.
The phone rang a little after Three PM and Charles Xavier answered promptly; he'd been expecting Al to call eventually, but was surprised when the voice on the other end was a woman's.
"Ah yes, good afternoon Ms. Benton; I am Professor Charles Xavier head of the institute." He returned with a stoic expression.
"Institute?" Jerrica exclaimed suddenly very worried; Xavier smiled at the woman's open thoughts.
"Yes, a school for gifted youngsters; how may I be of service?" He inquired; Jerrica calmed down immediately and pursed her lips wondering how to approach the subject in question.
"A young gentleman… Arrived here earlier this morning and I was afraid he was trying to break in." She explained feeling openly foolish explaining this all to a total stranger, who was smiling at the thoughts he was picking up; Ms. Benton was relatively brimming with emotions at present. "A mister Allan Rutherford." She elaborated for the benefit of a man who knew all to well what had actually occurred.
"Ah yes; he was actually on his way for a few days leave from his teaching job here, when he ran into an unfortunate bit of… Turbulence." Charles revealed smirking at his clever play on words; whoever claimed he was lacking a sense of humor clearly didn't know the man.
"I see then he'll be leaving once he… Regains consciousness." She hazarded uncertain as to his condition; nothing seemed to indicate a lack of consciousness on his part, but she was no medical practitioner.
"Perhaps." Xavier agreed, but knowing Al as well as he did presently… Well the young man was from an Earth with certain elements that seemed to dictate some of his actions, like his attempt to keep Spider-Man's identity secret. "Or he might request to remain there while he recuperates; you see I'm afraid he's been through quite a lot in recent weeks and he truly had no plans, though I wouldn't count on this too much, still he is a highly unusual young man at times." Xavier elaborated doing his best to read how the young Ms. Benton took this information; it wasn't too difficult, her shock and confusion was apparent.
"Why on Earth would he do that?" She demanded; Xavier couldn't help, but smile at the thought of how Al would so easily turn that phrase around and forget what planet he was on.
"He is quite the extraordinary young man; and he tends to latch onto those who help him out without any thought for his own well being. That's how I got him on as a teacher actually, but as I said I can not read the man's mind, so I have no idea how he'll react upon returning to the land of the waking." Xavier returned in a calming tone; Jerrica nodded on her end and considered his words as best as she could, being on the outside of this entire situation.
"I'm certain we'll be able to handle whatever develops on our end." She admitted with a soft sigh. "Thank you for your help." She added.
"Of course young lady; good bye and good luck… Ah; and thank you also for alerting us to his condition." He stated biding the young women farewell before hanging up; Logan was standing right behind him and he smiled.
"Kilowatt?" He asked; the Professor nodded as he turned to face the shorter man, though you'd never know Xavier was taller due to his condition.
"Yes, apparently he's near Los Angeles at the Starlight Mansion." Xavier informed; Logan's eyes widened in surprise.
"That's a considerable distance; how'd he get all the way out there?" He wondered.
"From what I could determine earlier during our brief mental contact he traveled with a storm front. That is until it dissipated and he ran into a rather unsought for encounter." Charles explained his expression not admitting his severe curiosity at the logistics behind the chances of said encounter.
"Another mutant." Logan surmised with a grunt.
"Three Decepticons actually." Xavier clarified still in awe that the young Technorganic Borg could survive such an encounter; then again after all he'd seen, it really shouldn't have come as such a shock.
"What was he doin' fightin' them?" Logan wondered sounding highly impressed; Xavier knew the scrappy Canadian had always wanted to test his talents against those particular invaders.
"He wasn't; simply a chance encounter." Xavier returned moving towards the window and glancing out at the recovering members of his team; true they had not suffered too many physical injuries, but they all had become quite accustomed to Al's presence. "I hope he knows what he's getting himself into; I hardly think Roma would approve of a vacation at this time."
"Relax Professor; Kilowatt may be many things, but unreliable ain't one of'em." Logan stated moving to join the Professor in watching Jubilee and Kitty help train Illyana for better control. "'Sides, I have a feelin' ol' Roma wants him ta do this." He added with a knowing smile; Charles nodded, he had sensed something amiss during his brief conversation with Ms. Benton, as if something going on over there was more then what it appeared.
"Well?" Kimber asked unable to contain her curiosity any further; Aja and Rio were equally curious, but far more adept at keeping their feelings inside.
"He's legitimate." Jerrica replied as she lowered the receiver and turned to the others; her lips were still pursed slightly and she appeared deep in thought. "Apparently he's a teacher at this institute for gifted youngsters; he's on vacation."
"A teacher, outrageous." Kimber exclaimed her usual catch phrase having become so accustomed to her she could think of nothing else to say.
"So he'll be leaving us then." Aja stated with definite approval at this notion in her eyes; Jerrica didn't want to repeat what the man, Charles wasn't it? Had said to her concerning this particular individual's eccentricities.
"Most likely." She agreed with a nod though her tone was lacking any sense of conviction and Aja easily picked up on it; Kimber's face fell, just her luck some major hunk of a man seemingly falling from the sky and now he'd be gone before they could get to know him.
"A pity, he's cute." Was all she said though; for fear of being teased mercilessly.
"Where'd you put him?" Jerrica asked suddenly concerned; Aja shrugged.
"Your room for now." She replied. "It was the closest and he's heavier then he looks." She elaborated with a wince as she rolled her shoulder around.
"Well I suppose that should be fine." Jerrica returned preoccupied with other matters; she left the foyer and headed for her home office. "Tell the girls not to disturb him I've got to go over our next tour." She called back before vanishing around the corner.
"She was hiding something again." Rio muttered annoyed; despite certain things he was still hard pressed when it came to those who deceived and lied in his presence.
"We could always ask Synergy, she would have heard everything." Kimber pointed out; at one time she would never have dreamed of mentioning the special computer in Rio's presence, but that was all in the past.
"No, if it's important she'll let us know in her own time; besides it might have something to do with our unannounced guest." Aja returned with a shake of her head; Rio nodded and left the room to go speak with the girls, Aja turned to Kimber. "Cute?" She asked with a sly smile; Kimber's face flushed and she averted her eyes.
The loud sounds of music awoke me breaking me from the restive stasis-like slumber; I was in a strange bedroom on a four poster bed and feeling significantly better then the last time. Although I was quite surprised not to be in a hospital with cops hanging around considering how it must have appeared to whoever found me. Sitting up I stretched terse muscles and glanced around my surroundings; a relatively non-descript looking bedroom, but obviously belonging to a woman. Hopping off the bed I made my way to the door and was rewarded with a face full of wood; letting out a Cybertronian curse I quickly staunched the flow of blood.
"Oh I'm terribly sorry." A slightly shorter blond haired woman in her mid-twenties or thereabouts exclaimed rushing to see if I was all right.
"That's ok." I stated in a pinched nasally tone. "Helps me remember I'm alive." I added with a chuckle.
"We should really look at that it could be broken." She continued moving over to where a first aid kit was resting; my head was buzzing slightly from the sudden jerking motion those words elicited.
"No really it's ok." I dodged trying to hide the fact that my nose was no longer bleeding and healing rather nicely.
"Quit acting like a child." She scolded pulling out some tissue like substance. "I'm surprised a teacher is behaving in such a fashion." She added finally grabbing my wrist; despite my attempts to the contrary, and pulling my hand away. She froze in obvious surprise as she caught sight of the blood ascending back into the nostril instead of seeping out.
I began to run through many options and explanations shooting each one down in rapid succession, the woman smiled as she returned the kit back to its resting place.
"It's ok Mister Rutherford we are quite open minded in this house; though I must admit I've never played hostess to a mutant before." She remarked in a gentle, understanding tone; I sighed with relief, no sense in revealing everything about me to everyone.
"Thank you." I whispered graciously. "Most people seeing that would have had a hard time adjusting." I added with a small sigh.
"My father raised a very tolerant young woman." She returned with a warm smile. "My name is Jerrica Benton by the way; and you're in Starlight Mansion." She informed introducing herself; I quirked my head to one side scrunching up my brow thoughtfully, both names rang clear warning bells within letting me know that I'd heard them from somewhere before.
"Charmed I'm sure." I returned sub-consciously as I felt an internal buzzing sensation; glancing at my watch face, careful to keep it from Jerrica's line of sight I watched as it switched readouts. A holographic disguise was blocking off half the room from visual observations and I was surprised at the sophistication levels.
"Shall we go downstairs and meet the others?" She wondered smiling. "I'm afraid everyone is most anxious to make your acquaintance." She added apologetically; I shrugged as I indicated she should lead the way out the door.
"Why not; I haven't any immediate plans." I returned slipping past her and pulling the door open. "Ladies first." I insisted.
"How gallant." She returned with a grin; I made a quick focused scan as we left, something kept nagging my memory engrams and I was determined to facilitate remembrance, despite the annoying dizziness that swept over me.
We came out close to the upper landing and she led me towards the stairs; halfway there an Asian woman with strikingly blue hair and a stunning ensemble of tight designer pants and a matching top joined us.
"Mister Rutherford this is Aja Leith; she lives here as well and is a member of the band Jem and the Holograms." Jerrica introduced; that barreled into me like Astrotrain in locomotive form, unfortunately the shock hit me just as I made my first step downstairs. I jerked, throwing off my balance, twisted my ankle and went sailing over the banister colliding with an antique looking end table. Made all the more embarrassing by the fact that I landed at the feet of two more people; what some might consider a handsome young man with light purple hair, a designer outfit and a very attractive looking young woman with light red hair, an outfit similar in design to Aja's and some features that bore striking resemblance to Jerrica.
"My God, are you all right?" She asked rushing to help me up before her friend could; I considered it a miracle I hadn't broken any bones, but I seemed to recall adjusting gravity during the fall.
"Only my pride." I replied careful to hide the wince of pain as I applied pressure to my twisted ankle. "That and I feel like I should have yelled in typical comical fashion." I added with a mischievous smirk in an attempt to lighten the mood; as if this sort of thing was nothing new, by now Jerrica and Aja had joined us.
"What happened?" Aja wondered amused to note the red head hadn't relinquished my arm from her grip; I let out a tiny exclamation of pain as I turned on my bad ankle, though the flare of agony was already dwindling.
"Jem and the Holograms." I explained with a shrug deftly slipping my arm from her grasp and maneuvering over to the mirror in the hall so I could see if I'd cut myself. "The name took me by complete surprise."
"I take it you've heard of us then." The red head observed with a look of longing in her eyes; I sighed inwardly, but smiled in acknowledgement of her words.
"You could say that." I returned adopting a quizzical look. "So you would be?"
"Kimber Benton; Jerrica's smarter, cuter and very available younger sister." She introduced eagerly clutching at my hand and shaking it boisterously.
"Rio Pacheco." The young man greeted awkwardly trying to get past Kimber to shake my hand in turn; with a gentle gravimetric push I forced Kimber back and took Rio's hand. He squeezed with great force and I returned the gesture smiling as his eyes widened slightly; if he wanted to play the typical dominant male game I was all too happy to oblige. Maneuvering quickly between Kimber and Aja I turned to Jerrica and smiled warmly.
"You most likely hear this all the time, but meeting Jem and the Holograms in person has been a small dream of mine." I admitted with a sheepish smile.
"But you're a teacher, don't you find that rewarding Mister Rutherford?" Kimber wondered.
"A teacher?" I exclaimed clearly taken by surprise. "Oh right… Heh, heh. Yes that can be rewarding; however it isn't as fun as you might think. Take that BAT incident a while back; when you live around New York you never know quite what to expect." I stated with a sigh; that particular incident had not been fun, fortunately I'd failed to catch sight of my burnt and blackened carcass.
"I guess that's why you took this vacation." Aja surmised as we past a few rooms and found ourselves in a spacious living room cluttered with numerous girls of all ages.
"Indeed." I agreed growing decidedly nervous as all eyes fell on me; a young Vietnamese girl approached first and smiled as she brushed her black hair back out of her face; I found myself being reminded of Amy slightly.
"Hi." She greeted as she shifted on her feet nervously; I smiled kindly and knelt down so we'd be at eye level of one another.
"Why hello there; and who might you be?" I asked my whole demeanor changing as I opened myself up into parent mode; the girl smiled wider and giggled slightly at the ease with which I'd accepted her.
"Ba Nee." She stated; I nodded and bowed slightly despite my cramped position, I just couldn't shake this habit of mine.
"An honor to meet you Ba Nee." I stated sincerity clear in my tone. "Quite a brave young girl to meet a total stranger with a smile." I added complimenting the child who beamed with pride and pleasure.
"All of our Starlight Girls are." Jerrica interjected smiling with surprised delight at the way I treated the child; most adults tended not to give children too many credit, they always seemed to either talk down to them or think themselves superior. Having spent the last five years or so in the Twenty-Fourth century and having a daughter of my very own, I knew better; as well I just seemed to have this natural knack with kids.
"And who are they all?" I wondered adopting a more serious adult tone as I climbed back to my full and imposing height. "Quite a lot; I hope I can keep names to faces." I added glancing about at the others who were all silently staring back at me; some with surprised delight like Jerrica, while the younger ones seemed in awe of my physical stature.
"From left to right we have… Joellen, Deidre, Anne, Nancy, Lela, Becky, Terri, Krissie, Marianne, Delaree and Ashley." Jerrica stated shooting each girl a warm and loving smile as she introduced them. "We run this place as a home for orphaned girls." She explained; though of course I already knew that, having come from an alternate reality where they too were a favored pastime for some people. Though of course no one here knew that; so I chose to acknowledge this information with typical Allan Rutherford air.
"I see, a most noble endeavor." I stated bowing my head slightly once again out of habit; spotting a free couch and still somewhat sore from my tumble over the banister, I headed over and sat down. Kimber immediately sat down next to me making moon eyes at me; I sighed inwardly once more, life as a buff almost, though not quite male model type had its disadvantages. Some of the girls giggled; I chose to ignore it and quietly popped my shoulder back into place before returning my gaze to Jerrica. "I must apologize for my unwanted arrival here; it wasn't on the itinerary." I reiterated doing my best not to lose my stride; it was becoming harder to concentrate, glancing at my watch I was surprised to learn I was suffering from a concussion. That fall must have been harder then I thought, but the nanoprobes would deal with this minor nuisance in due time.
"It's not a problem." Jerrica assured with a warm smile.
"Yeah; it's the most excitement we've had since the summer began." Ashley added blushing slightly when Jerrica glanced at her in a semi-stern glare.
"Please don't scold her for speaking her mind; I can remember a time the summer always felt dull to me too." I elucidated with a chuckle; boy was it that long ago? I suddenly felt ancient sitting here; ah well it could be worse, I could look it too.
"Well I'll go see to dinner; Rio will you be so kind?" Jerrica asked turning to her boyfriend, he smiled and joined her.
"Of course." He replied thoughtfully.
"I should help too." I began moving to rise; Kimber grabbed my arm so fast that I felt the air leaving my lungs when my back collided with the sofa.
"Nonsense you're the guest." She stated heedless of the giggle fest going on. I merely sighed and offered a weak smile; certainly different from the X-Men and I couldn't help, but think I needed this kind of change. Jerrica offered an apologetic smile for her sister and left with Rio; I in turn took the opportunity to study the décor, you could certainly tell that a lot of women lived here. The place really stood out as fashionable and the television set alone was state of the art; as opposed to the more functional one at Xavier's.
"Oh; I just realized I haven't got a clue what state I'm in." I blurted without thinking I might have to come up with a plausible reason for that.
"California." Aja stated oblivious to my apparent lack of knowledge.
"But if you flew here from New York." Ba Nee observed; out of the mouths of babes.
"The school owns a private jet; we wound up caught in a really bad storm and thrown completely off course." I hastily explained; that was obviously a mistake, because I just remembered I wound up in the back yard when I crashed here.
"So how'd you get in our backyard?" Krissie wondered curiously; I began to rub the back of my neck in my growing nervous habit and wondered what to say to that.
"Ah, well you see…" I trailed off moving to tug at my collar with growing nervous tension; without warning a very strange tone began to ring out causing me to leap off the couch and assume a defensive pose before realizing that my watch was not only making that noise, but it was using a function I'd completely forgotten about incorporating into the design.
"I should really get this checked." I quipped trying to cover up my embarrassment at overreacting to the alert; some of the girls were eyeing me funnily as was Kimber, but I shook that aside and quickly tapped the tiny button usually reserved for lighting the watch face up in the dark on an ordinary watch. "Rutherford speaking." I stated acknowledging the call.
"Good; that number Q-ball gave us works." Logan's unmistakable tone spoke up from the tiny watch face; his familiar gruff tone bringing a small smile to my features. "Hey Kilowatt you left in such a hurry; the Prof figured you'd need a few essentials. Me and Rogue are outside right now with the Blackbird, so hurry up and get yer luggage bub." He snapped obviously impatient with me; my face fell as soon as I heard Rogue had come, our relationship was still on uncertain terms and I really didn't know what to expect. I knew she had feelings for me, but she was still wary about starting something up with me; I wasn't going to pressure her into anything, but whatever she decided I would support her.
"Yeah, yeah I'm comin' honestly Logan why don't you ever lighten up?" I teased striding towards where I remembered seeing the front door and severing the link before Logan's colorful response could be heard by the impressionable young minds in the room, Kimber, Aja, Ashley, Krissie and Ba Nee curiously followed after me.
The Blackbird sat on the asphalt of the driveway; its sleek curved appearance and black color scheme really did wonders, the group as a whole let out a gasp upon seeing it. This kind of vehicle was a private jet for a school? It just seemed suspicious and yet miraculous all at the same time; the ramp slid down as soon as the young man approached and a shorter, gruff looking man with wild unkempt looking hair, rather hairy muscular arms and a cigar perched in one corner of his mouth came striding down the steps. He tossed a rather ordinary looking suitcase at the other man who somehow managed to catch it; the girls were clearly impressed, of course they didn't realize that Al had managed to catch it only because he had manipulated gravity.
"Thanks." He grunted sounding less then grateful; a stunning red head woman in a skintight green and yellow jumpsuit followed after the scruffy individual who paused to take a drag from his cigar before eyeing the Starlighters curiously. She had on very long gloves as well for some reason; she eyed the young man uncertainly as she held up the small plastic shopping bag, Al took it seeming a little awkward.
"Your medical tricorder." She whispered to Al; Kimber being the second closest managed to overhear that and eyed him curiously, but didn't say anything. "And a gift from Tony Stark; a self-replenishing solar battery for regeneratin' purposes." She explained; Al smiled at that.
"Tell him thanks for me." He returned in a soft whisper; the woman continued to stare at Al as the awkward moment between them grew, she was nervous and uncertain on how she should do this. But finally she moved in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, which seemed to take him by surprise.
"Keep in touch sugah." She requested; Al lowered his gaze seemingly upset.
"I make no promises; I've got to sort a few things out Rogue." He returned stepping back from and turning to the other man. "Excellent Timing." He mouthed Aja catching him in this act and smiling knowingly, she'd been in those kind of awkward moments herself; especially when she first met Craig's' parents for the first time, Stormer had been there at the time. The man in question grinned his burly arms crossed over his chest; he passed the man a hidden thumbs up and briefly glanced down at Ba Nee seeming to remember something judging by the pained look in his eyes.
"You take care Kilowatt and don't do anythin' I wouldn't do." He stated with a grunt; Al laughed out loud at his words and took a step back as the engines to the jet suddenly roared to life, apparently the woman had made a swift retreat after giving him the small bag. He waved farewell and shot Ba Nee a friendly smile; something that seemed slightly out of character for the tough looking individual, then he rejoined his friend inside the vehicle and the ramp closed behind him.
"Is something wrong?" Al suddenly asked seeming to pick up on the strange silence the others had watched this scene with.
"That's a very strange private jet." Aja pointed out; Al chuckled as the engines roared even louder and the vehicle took off into the sky rather suddenly.
"We have a deal with Tony Stark; he gave us the prototype, or so I was told when I came on staff. Apparently it was a donation, but I think it was just a way to make another convenient tax write off." He returned smoothly; that made some sense, at least the way he'd phrased it, but Krissie still looked a little suspicious. She didn't say anything though as Al hefted his suitcase up onto his shoulder and eyed Kimber thoughtfully. "Any where I can stow this?" He wondered.
"Oh of course; you can store that in one of the unused guest rooms." She returned smiling hungrily at the thought of this man perhaps staying longer then one night. "Ba Nee please show Mister Rutherford to a room." Kimber requested; she seemed to suddenly remember that kiss and her expression fell a little as she allowed Aja to lead her back inside. "Do you think that was his girlfriend?" She whispered hopefully.
"I don't really know Kimber, but was there anything strange about those two?" Aja wondered in return; Kimber eyed her confusedly. "They didn't exactly look like teachers." She pointed out; Kimber shook the suspicion aside and laughed lightly.
"Oh come off it Aja, he's a teacher in a private school; who knows what kind of strange people they hire there." She scoffed; after the two of them vanished back into the house Al turned to Ba Nee with a very friendly smile, but the young eight year old could clearly see a deep loss in his eyes.
"Well then, lead the way little…" He began indicating the mansion; he trailed off as if realizing he'd been about to say something that shouldn't have been said for some reason. Ba Nee grinned deciding to ignore the sense of sorrow she was easily picking up and quickly led the way, Ashley and Krissie following after the both of them.
"Who exactly was that man?" Ashley wondered striking up a conversation in an attempt to get rid of the awkward silence.
"Gym instructor." Al replied though he seemed slightly disgusted with himself; perhaps because to Ashley, Ba Nee and Krissie it was obvious that he was lying about being a teacher. They didn't know why he was lying to them, but they knew it had to be for a good reason; probably for their own protection from some kind of threat. The rest of the journey through the house was had in silence; Al seemed to not want to have to lie to them any more and he was more interested in studying his new surroundings. Ba Nee paused in the hallway and glanced at some of the doors; most of these rooms belonged to the Starlight girls, she didn't know which one was considered a guest room. Considering most of the actual guest rooms were in the old servants quarters, which had been renovated a few years ago after a particularly nasty attempt at breaking into the mansion; finally she decided upon the room beside Anne's and across from Ashley's.
"Here you go." She stated as boisterously as she could muster as she realized that after tonight the young man who had become a pleasant diversion from the usual boring summer was going to leave tomorrow.
"What's wrong?" He asked yet again easily picking up on their moods as he placed the suitcase beside the door on the inside of the room.
"Well after tonight you're gonna leave." Ashley explained with a tiny frown. "And then we'll be pretty much stuck alone again; Jerrica and the others are really busy this summer and Mrs. Bailey left for vacation last week so we've been cooped up here for so long." She continued.
"Yeah; if another grownup was around at least we could leave the mansion; go to the zoo or something." Krissie added adopting an innocent tone picking up on what the older Ashley was planning. "Video and Danse sometimes stop over to make sure nothing bad happens; we really shouldn't be left alone, but with Raya gone and the others in town unable to get away from work…" She trailed off as the man sighed and tossed his bag onto the bed; a strange looking square device slipping out slightly.
"I can't just ask to stay here with you; Starlight Mansion is a home for orphaned girls if my memory serves, a single man living with you for a little while during his vacation… People could talk." He stated pacing slightly. "But then again it can't be a coincidence that I wound up here." He muttered speaking more to himself now as his voice grew softer and almost harder to hear. "I know I said I needed to get away, think things through and try to deal with… But still, Roma wouldn't just let me walk away… Something might happen here that could need me, when dealing with chaotic forces one can never be too sure." He grew silent as he regarded the three girls as if suddenly remembering they were still in the room; he smiled widely.
"Why don't I have a private conversation with the other adults tonight; see what their reactions are, so why don't you tell the rest of the girls not to eat with us tonight?" He suggested; Ba Nee broke into a wide hopeful grin.
"You bet." Ashley exclaimed practically bouncing on the balls of her feet at the thought of having someone new to learn about and test boundaries with. "And thanks a lot Mister Rutherford." She added as the three girls raced off; once again Al sighed and picked up the tricorder, he nearly collapsed as he fumbled to open it his vision blurring slightly. Apparently the concussion was strongly affecting him and his special nanoprobes weren't healing him fast enough; he ran the diagnostic tool over his body and head ensuring there were no other injuries, and then with a deft flick of his wrist his assimilation tendrils slipped out and shifted the function to a specific healing tool.
After fully healing himself he picked up Tony's solar battery; opened the window and placed it in a spot where it would start to collect the sun's energies.
"Self-replenishing solar battery." He scoffed with a chuckle and a smirk. "Who comes up with these names?" He wondered before deciding to find his way downstairs and to the kitchen.
"Shana Elmsford." The light purple hued haired African-American woman greeted as I entered the dining room.
"Allan Rutherford." I returned with a grin; this was so cool and worlds' of fun, here on this Earth I felt a strange connection like I'd never felt before, not even in my home reality. It was as if a part of me belonged here; fighting the good fight and helping those who couldn't fend for themselves deal with the threats presented in a world with Super Heroes, Super Villains, Ruthless Terrorist Organizations and Warring Alien Robots from another planet.
"I hope you like Choy Meine." Aja called as she brought the meal in with Jerrica and Kimber.
"Gotta taste better then Gahk." I muttered softly remembering the Klingon dish Neelix had insisted I try and then had to eat for nine months because Amy would only eat what I ate until her grandmother pointed out that Omnivores and Carnivores had different needs.
"I beg your pardon?" Rio asked from my right startling me; I couldn't tell if he was asking me to repeat myself because he had heard me, or hadn't.
"Oh nothing important; I'm not as picky as I used to be." I explained with a chuckle. "The constant traveling I've had to do, you tend to lose inhibitions… Except when it comes to Haggis." I admitted with a shudder; this elicited a chuckle from Kimber who quickly sat down to my left while Shana and Aja sat opposite us.
"That's strange the girls aren't here." Shana noted with a slight frown; I fidgeted slightly under the table because it was my fault they weren't eating with the adults tonight, but I could just never say no to pleading requests from children… At least not since I took charge of Amy; it was probably a trait brought on by all those years being denied certain reasonable requests from my own parents, although I have to admit they did spoil me more often then not.
"Joellen said they'd eat in the kitchen; something about not wanting to hear our business discussions anymore." Jerrica revealed with a slight shrug; Shana sighed as she served herself.
"I hate that we're all so busy right now." She admitted. "But with the Stingers out of the picture these days and the Misfits floundering miserably Starlight Music and the Holograms take up so much of our time." She added.
"Yes." Aja agreed with a tiny frown. "Delaree mentioned a fashion show she wanted to see on Thursday; but now that, that tour is coming up we're just so busy." She elaborated passing the dish across the table to Rio who began to serve himself eliciting a nod from the rest of the gathered band members; I smiled at my still empty plate carefully hiding it from the others, opportunity was knocking.
"I do not mean to presume." I began accepting the dish from Rio and proceeding to place a heaping portion upon my no longer empty plate. "But Krissie, Ashley and Ba Nee made a startling request to me earlier." I added glancing up at the gathered adults all hint of amusement now gone from my expression. "I am currently on vacation after all; and being that this was a somewhat unexpected vacation I never took the time to make too many plans, I was sort of in a drop everything and get out of here mentality at the time." I continued pausing in my speech to take a small bite of the meal and also seek out the best way to delicately put this request across; after all they didn't even know me very well.
"Since I don't have anything to do; and the girls request seems to be more then reasonable to myself, I would gladly offer my services for as long as they are needed; to watch over the girls and let them get out of the house every now and again." I finished getting straight to the point; an uneasy silence filled the room then as the Holograms and Rio mulled over my words, I couldn't tell what they would think of such a request, but I knew I had to at least try for the girls sake… Something had brought me here; a perfect place to heal and remember why it was that I had agreed to Roma's request, these people were so far removed from the community I'd left behind in New York. And my soul did need the chance to heal after being responsible for the deaths of two men; no matter how evil they may have been.
"I don't know." Jerrica began seriously contemplating my words.
"I don't like it." Rio stated loudly interrupting his girlfriend; at least I assumed they were still an item. "You'd be staying here in the Starlight Mansion, correct?" I nodded. "One lone grown man in a house populated by a large number of girls, not to mention the Holograms and Jerrica." He pointed out waving his fork in my face; calmly I took another bite of my meal before addressing this concern.
"Are you implying something, pretty boy?" I growled; apparently some of B'Elanna's bad habits when it came to questioning her honor had rubbed off on me the longer I stayed around the half-Klingon.
"If the shoe fits." He shot back a semi-smug expression on his face as he leaned back into his seat.
"You insult my honor Mister Pacheco." I stated in a low almost dangerous tone of voice. "I merely wished to help out; it is part of my nature, and there is of course the fact that I have a daughter of my own whom I rarely get to see these days, perhaps my desires to play the part of the father are clouding my judgment, but I would never… Never; do something like what you are implying." I snapped flicking my fork slightly as I spoke and causing a bit of noodle to fly off and slap Rio in the cheek.
"So you claim." Rio returned glaring at me as he wiped the stray speck of food from his face with a napkin; I felt my muscles tense up, this was not going as well as I'd hoped and I was taking offense too highly, perhaps this is what Rio was trying to do. Gauge my reaction; goad me into doing something that might prove him right, would that I could slap him across the face with one of my assimilation tendrils or perhaps jolt him enough to give him static cling.
"Have I done or said anything to imply that I am untrustworthy?" I asked straight forwardly doing my best to take calm meditative breaths to fend off the growing anger, a remnant from a past I tried perhaps too hard to lay aside, my temper always was one to flare up swiftly my mother was the same way.
"No." Rio admitted with a slight incline of his head. "But you must admit it is a rather unorthodox request." He stated; I closed my eyes and mentally counted to ten, taking another bite of my food to hide my slightly meditative nature.
"Apparently my request is too much for you." I began with a slight curl of my lip; I was calmer now, but still prone to expressing my inner emotions with body language. "I'm sorry that I have come across in such a manner; and you have my word I shall leave first thing in the morning, now if you'll excuse me I've suddenly lost my appetite." I informed shoving my meal aside and rising to my feet; Jerrica glanced between us and Aja also looked surprised at the gallantry I was displaying, spending time with Xena had indeed paid off in the manners department.
"Mister Rutherford wait." Jerrica called bringing me to pause halfway out of the room. "Rio; I don't see any harm in him staying here, I mean the girls do need supervision and Video and Danse can only do so much." She pointed out.
"I agree." Shana spoke up. "It's always bugged me that we've had to leave them home alone so often." She added.
"Apologize to him Rio; please." Jerrica pleaded, Rio and I shared a look; he seemed to be weighing the pros and cons. Jerrica was glaring at him slightly; urging him on, she looked as though perhaps she knew something was amiss, that my arrival was no mere accident.
"Oh all right." Rio finally relented. "I'm sorry Rutherford, I didn't mean to call you a… Or imply that you're a…" He trailed off unable to even voice the word; I smiled softly showing that I completely understood.
"Apology accepted Rio." I returned using his first name to show that he and I might still become friends. "And I must offer an apology as well; I'm afraid I let my temper get the better of me in this situation, but if you only knew what I'm like around my daughter…" I trailed off as once again the sorrow filled me; I longed for her, I ached, my mind was so unused to being empty after the many years I'd spent with her presence inside of me, the innocence, the love, the fear, the exuberance… It had made me feel like a child again myself; something that had been slowly slipping away from me ever since Xena's world and then of course my assimilation.
"Where is your daughter?" Kimber wondered. "Do you have a picture of her?"
"None on me at the moment." I returned. "She's… Safe, with a friend; I have… What I mean is." I trailed off and moved to sit down again no longer capable to remain standing. "The job I lead; the way things are in the world, it's not easy to raise a little girl, especially when she's an… Well let's just say that she's one of those mutants whose mutation is physical." I stated almost blurting out the truth about her alien nature; Rio of all people moved to place a comforting hand upon my shoulder a small smile playing across his lips, one of understanding and a pain I didn't quite comprehend.
"The Friends of Humanity." Was all he said; and a darkness seemed to pass over the others, I eyed the man confusedly.
"We had a girl here once much like your daughter… She was five years old at the time." Aja began trailing off at the hurt the memory caused.
"They took her one night from backstage at our concert." Shana added. "We found her body the next day on Starlight Mansions' front lawn… Even the Misfits showed some compassion for the loss." She relayed choking back a few bitter tears; my eyes were dark now, narrowed and shrouded by shadows from the lights.
"Would that I had been here that night; they would know the wrath of the Shadow then, I can promise you that." I exclaimed without really thinking; the women eyed me quizzically.
"Shadow?" Rio repeated for the sake of the group; I smiled sheepishly and quickly strove for another harmless little lie.
"A nickname my daughter gave me once; upon our first encounter, it was rather dark at the time and I guess I looked kind of like a shadow come to life when I burst into her hovel of a home and took her from her guardians of the time." I fabricated keeping a smile that seemed fake plastered on my face at all times.
"Well Mister Rutherford." Jerrica began breaking the group of its collective mood of sorrow and awkwardness. "We'd be honored to have you stay here and it is a big help to us, if it's no trouble with you." She returned eyeing me uncertainly; her tone portrayed a slight hint of worry.
"It's really no trouble at all." I returned in kind. "I need this far more then you could possibly know." I whispered aside to myself before beaming up at the head of this rather large household, and I did not envy her the position. "And please, call me Al." I requested; the others shot similar smiles towards me; with exception of Rio who merely smirked slightly behind the palm of his right hand, obviously he was a little bemused at the tone I'd been taking during this conversation.
Later that night I unpacked my suitcase; the others had thought of everything, there were four pairs of pants, several assorted shirts and socks, a change of underwear for every day of the week and a picture of Jubilee, Kitty and Illyana with Hurry Back scrawled on the back. I smiled thoughtfully at the gesture and placed the picture on the nightstand; the medical tricorder was secreted away in the bottom of my underwear drawer and I tested out Tony's battery making sure not to make to much noise.
It felt good; not like other times when I'd draw upon existing sources of power for a quick boost, this was almost like regenerating in and of itself because it was a natural type of energy. Solar energy must be really good for the little buggers that made up my technorganic self; with a tired sigh I slid under the covers and contemplated my reason for staying here. Was it selfish of me to take R&R when there could be countless dangers happening back in New York? Would Roma rip into me for doing this? Well if she did, tough; I'm still human after all technically a Technorganic Human, Borg hybrid, but we don't need to be technical. Stifling a yawn I turned over on my stomach and quickly surrendered to slumber…
Kimber, Jerrica, Aja and Shana were sitting around Synergy roughly the same time their new guest was falling asleep; they were having a late night meeting to discuss their new house guest, the other three band members having dragged Jerrica into the room so to speak so that they could all figure out just what was bothering her since the telephone call she'd made to Xavier's.
"Ok girl, spill; what's the big deal?" Aja demanded eyeing her friend knowingly.
"It's just, well that Xavier person said Al might choose to stay here for the duration of his vacation; I found it odd that a man would admit to such a thing about another man." Jerrica explained.
"Do you think he's a spy?" Shana wondered. "You know trying to find out your real identity?" She added.
"No way." Kimber retorted. "The only people who'd ever even think about spying on Jerrica still are too busy with their failing business to still care about who Jem is." She added.
"I hate to say this, but Kimber's right." Jerrica agreed. "Besides when we spoke to that Fury character he guaranteed that any and all records pertaining to Synergy would be erased from existence." She added; the others sighed, it was a big responsibility keeping Synergy safe from those who would use her powers for evil. She was one of only a handful of sophisticated holographic generators on the planet; of course the Holograms were unaware of the X-Men's Danger Room, or it's Avenger's Mansion equivalent, or even some of the other holographic technologies that had been perfected in the years after her father passed away and left Synergy in their care, but Synergy was the first human made holographic generator.
"I wish we knew the whole story surrounding that guy though." Aja exclaimed.
"So; why don't we do a little nosing around?" Kimber suggested with a sly smile, Jerrica eyed her sister dubiously; she wasn't keen on rummaging around the guys things, especially while he was a guest in their home.
"We'll do it." Shana stated pulling Aja into a half-embrace. "You can stay here Jerrica." She added; the leader of the band and head of Starlight Music shook her head.
"No; if anyone's doing it, we're all going to be doing it." She stated; and thus all four women left Jerrica's room and headed down the long hallway to where their guest was currently sleeping.
Slowly opening the door Kimber peeked in to make sure the coast was clear, Al was definitely asleep; his breathing seeming normal enough, but as she looked at him sleeping there she almost thought that there was an unnatural quality to it. As though he was perhaps a machine mimicking a human's natural sleep cycle, but that was crazy; she'd felt his flesh and boy was it ever flesh… Flushing a little she signaled the others to enter.
"This is so wrong." Shana remarked in a soft whisper. "I mean… Oooo what's this?" She wondered picking up the solar battery and eyeing it curiously.
"Looks like a solar battery; he probably uses it to recharge his laptop or something." Aja returned picking up the man's wallet and rifling through its contents, she wanted a closer look at his papers; especially that birth certificate he was carrying around.
"He has nice taste in clothes." Kimber remarked eyeing the shirts he'd hung up in the closet.
"Odd; if this is the man's vacation where are his bathing suit? Toothbrush, toothpaste and the like?" Jerrica wondered coming out of the bathroom where she'd been looking around.
"Maybe he's one of those people who doesn't brush." Shana returned thoughtfully; Jerrica shook her head.
"That doesn't explain why he didn't bring a bathing suit to LA, there's tons of areas to swim around here and that's what most vacationers go for." She pointed out.
"You're just being nitpicky." Aja scolded; Kimber shook her head and opened one of the drawers in the dresser, she quickly slammed it shut her cheeks growing red hot and the other three shushed her.
"Sorry… Underwear." She explained; Jerrica shook her head while Aja smirked.
"Boxers or briefs?" She asked.
"Oh definitely boxers." Kimber returned with a shy smile; that was when the man stirred suddenly in his sleep and everyone grew silent, normally he slept soundly though the Holograms were unaware of this, but tonight because of everything that had been happening so quickly, he was naturally in a state of unrest due to stresses on the mind.
"Amy." He called out in his sleep one hand reaching for someone that wasn't there. "Amy." He repeated turning over and thrashing about under the covers; his face was contorted in an expression of loss and sorrow, he was clearly upset by some dream surrounding this Amy person.
"Who's Amy?" Shana whispered; Aja and Kimber both shrugged simultaneously.
"Maybe that's his daughter?" Jerrica hypothesized.
"Why would a grown man be sleeping with his daughter?" Aja shot back.
"He never said how old she was." Kimber pointed out. "And little children often seek shelter with their parents when they have nightmares." She added recalling a time she'd needed her father badly; it was a few years after she'd been born and some bullies had been picking on her because of her shabby looking clothes.
"Destiny." He groaned shifting once more; this time one of his bare legs escaped the confines of the covers and hung over the side of the bed, he looked suddenly very troubled and his hands grasped the covers tightly as if he might be holding some kind of weapon.
"Kimber what are you doing?" Aja hissed; Kimber looked up strangely as though lost in a daze, she wasn't aware of it, but she'd been approaching the sleeping form of their guest while watching his troubled sleep. She was standing beside the bed now and looking at him; shaking her head slightly she glanced around.
"I think we've done enough for tonight; it's obvious we won't learn anything this way." Jerrica informed briefly glancing at the picture of the three teenagers sitting on the nightstand, the others reluctantly agreed and all four began to leave. Kimber however stayed back briefly; something compelling her to reach out and brush a hand through the man's hair, she couldn't explain it, but it seemed to her that as soon as she touched him he fell into a restful doze and lost the troubling dreams of Amy and this destiny he spoke of.
"Sleep well my champion." A voice barely whispered from somewhere beyond space and time; though Kimber failed to hear it as she left to go to bed. "It is never easy to take life, those you have killed before have been monsters, demons, followers of Ares." She added smiling gently, understandingly down upon the man she had gifted with such a great burden. "Here; you will find happiness again, and a means to lighten your soul." She finished before her presence vanished; using the woman Kimber as a brief conduit had been taxing and she did not wish to upset the delicate balance already hanging precariously on the edge of infinity.
Eric Raymond looked uncertain as he regarded the vehicles parked inside Misfits' Music's' parking garage. When he'd approached them a few days ago in New York he'd hoped that his problems would be over with; unfortunately he should have known better, his blasted greed had got him into this situation and there was really no one to blame but himself. Still he'd much rather live for another day rather then die at the hands of a monster; unfortunately he had no idea when the attack was to occur, and neither did his bodyguards.
"Well Mister Raymond time to head home." The Porsche remarked sideling up next to him; he tugged at his tie in order to straighten it and offered a squeamish smile to the driverless vehicle.
"Lead the way Jazz." He returned as the driver's side door flew open and Eric climbed in; he still wasn't used to having a car drive itself for him, and he doubted he'd ever get used to it.
To Be Continued; Next time, Day One of Al's vacation watching over the Starlight Girls; what predicaments might crop up in LA that would require his unique talents? Find out in... Chapter Two of Sea of Turmoil.