New York City, New York.
"What is that?"
Logan slid to a stop next to Jean. Scott was right behind them, along with Emma, Kitty, Peter, Hank, Kurt, Bobby, and Warren.
Above them was a giant. And not like a sentienl, but an actual giant.
"X-Men!" It's voice boomed across New York. "I am glad you could make it!"
"What the hell?" Bobby asked, his eyes wide.
"My name is Giant Tim," said the giant. "And I have succeeded in luring you here!"
"Uh-oh," Kitty said. "That doesn't sound promising."
"Luring us here for what?" Bobby yelled.
"For this!" There was suddenly a loud boom across the sky, and a swirling vortex appeared in front of the X-Men.
"Aw, crap," Logan said before they were sucked into the vortex.
Not New York City.
The X-Men landed on the backs, goraning. The sound of Logans claws extending could be heard.
The X-Men all sat up, looking around. They had landed in a green meadow. A perfect blue sky was above them, and birds were singing.
"Oh, God," Logan said.
"Do you know where we are?" Jean asked.
"Yeah," Logan said, helping her up. "Hell."
"Welcome, story-goers!" Giant Tims voice boomed.
"Where have you brought us?" Hank yelled.
"This is my realm. You're going to begin your first story soon."
"Story?" Scott said. "What story?"
But the vortex had already appeared, and sucked them back in.
Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire
Scott sat up, in shock. He was in a tree. Looking around, he realized he wasn't wearing glasses. Excited, he smiled happily, but then remembered he had been sucked into some kind of world.
Shaking his head, he climbed down the street. Looking down at his clothes, he noticed he was wearing soft, brown leather shoes, green tights, and a green vest over a brown shirt. A quiver of arrows was on his back, and a bow leaned up against the tree he had been in. He pulled a green hat off his head. It had a feather stuck in it.
Scott sighed and walked towards some talking a few feet away.
Logan, Bobby, Kurt, Kitty, Peter, Emma and Warren sat around a fire. Warren's wings were gone, Kurt wasn't blue and didn't have a tail, and Logan was grumbling about something under his breath.
"What's going on?" Scott asked.
"That damn giant took our powers away," Logan grouched. "He's making us go through fairy tales. We have to do them without using our powers."
"Fairytails?" Scott said.
Warren raised his hand. "Alan-a-Dale."
"Will Scarlet," Bobby said.
"Friar Tuck," Kurt said.
Logan glared. "Little John."
Kitty frowned. "I don't have a name. I'm just a Merry Man. Emma and Peter, too." Peter nodded.
"Wait," Scott said. "So that means I'm . . ." He looked around disbelivingy. "Robin Hood?"
"Boyscout," Logan grumbled.
"But, there are villians in this story, too!" Scott said. "The Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Guy of Gisbourne, Prince John. Who are they?"
The others looked at each other. They shook their heads, and Scott frowned.
"Hey," he said, looking around. "Where's Hank and Jean?"
-Meanwhile, in the Kings Castle . . . -
Jean sat straight up. She was lying on top of a cushy bed, dressed in an elegant renisance dress. Slipping her feet into a pair of shoes by her bed, she opened the heavy door and went into the hall.
She wondered the hallways until coming to the great hall. She decended the staircase and joined a few others.
" . . . Don't know how we got here, one minute I'm in Italy, the next I'm in some fairytale portraying Prince John."
Jean gasped as she entered the room, and three heads turned to look at her. Count Nefaria, who had been speaking, wore much gold and had a long, red cape, and a gold crown shinning on his head.
Beside him, Mister Sinister wore black and silver, a sword at his side.
And on the other side of Nefaria, Pietro Maximoff stood, wearing blue tights and a pouffy shirt. He wore a quiver of arrows on his back and had a bow in his hand.
"Ms. Grey," Sinister said. "I see you've been transported here as well."
"Sinister," she said gravely, stepping closer to the men. "Where are we?"
"Nottinghamshire, as it would seem," Nefaria said. He straightened up. "I was made Prince John."
"And I the Sherrif of Nottingham," Sinister said.
"Apparently, I'm Guy of Gisbourne," Pietro frowned.
"And I guess that I'm Maid Marian?" Jean asked.
"It would appear that way," Nefaria said.
"Tell me, was Scott transported here as well?" Sinister asked, his eyes lighting up.
"We all were," Jean said cautiously.
"Our powers are gone," Pietro perked up miserably.
"Really?" Nefaria asked sarcastically. He suddenly brightened up. "But we do have guards! Swords, and archers . . . and if the X-Men find that they're without Ms. Grey . . ."
"Oh, no," Jean said, holding her hands up. "No, no, no. I am not going to be the damsel in distress."
"You have to be," Sinister said. "It's the fairtale." He looked thoughtful. "And it's a chance to kill the X-Men."
Jean threw her hands in the air with an annoyed sigh. "Pierto, you can't agree with them!"
Pietro looked nervous. "I'm pretty sure Guy of Gisbourne was more of a keep-to-himself kinda dude."
Jean glared at him.
He rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright. Guys, it would be morally wrong of us to keep Jean hostage." He put his hands on his hips and looked at Jean. "Happy?"
Sinister and Nefaria looked at each.
"Two against two. We're bigger than both of you, we win." Nefaria signaled for the guards. "Guards, please escort Marian to her room and lock her there."
Jean sighed, rubbing her temples.
-Sherwood Forest -
Emma slung her leg over her horses back with ease and looked at the others. "What? What's wrong with you? Haven't you ever been on a horse?"
The X-Men shifted uncomfortably. "Well of course we have," Kitty said. "It's just . . ."
"You two had private lessons and everything," Bobby frowned.
Emma rolled her eyes. Warren, who was also already on his horse, grinned at her. "Just put your foot in the stirrup and pull yourself on. Honestly, it's not that hard."
Emma waited impatiently as she waited for the others to get on their horses. It was nearly dark when they were all on, and Emma lit a lantern and nudged her horse, signaling for it to walk.
About twenty minutes in, Bobby's teeth were chattering and he was rubbing his arms. "G-g-god. What is that? It's this really weird feeling, like . . .like . . ."
"You're cold?" Warren grinned.
"But, I've never been cold!"
"Welcome to our world," Warren said.
"Look, there's the castle," Scott pointed. Indeed, you could see towers rising up in the distance. "That must be where Jean and Hank are."
"We should wait until tomorrow to go in," Logan said.
"He's right," Kitty agreed.
"Alright," Scott said. "Well, we'll set up camp here. First thing in the morning, we head for the town."
-The Kings Castle-
Jean sighed as she sat in her bedroom.
Okay, so it wasn't really the part that she was being kept prisoner that bothered her. It was the intense boredom.
She sat by her window, looking out over the town and the forest.
Her cheek pressed against her hand, her eyes started to drift shut . . .
But then she saw it. Smoke rising from the forest. And the way it was rising . . . it was an X! She could just barely make it out, but as it rose, it formed an X.
Jean looked around her room for something that she could make a rope out of. She threw open her wardrobe, and quickly grabbed all the garments she could find. Tieing them together, she made a decently long rope. She tied one end to her bed, and threw the rest out the window.
Shimmining her way though the small opening of the window, she cautiously climbed down the rope and landed on the roof of the stables. Looking down, she saw a man get off his horse just outside the stable. He went inside, and Jean saw her chance. She dropped down onto the horses back, held on for dear life, and kicked.
The horse took off running, and Jean could hear the angry yells of the stableman behind her. she weaved her way through the town, and headed for the forest.
"There you are!" Jean pulled back on the reigns as she saw Scott running towards her from the woods. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down. "I wad worried about you!"
"So was I," she said, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him.
"What happened to you?"
"Story-book. Maid Marian. All that good stuff." She winked and smiled. "Are you my Robin Hood?"
"Indeed I am," Scott grinned, stealing a quick kiss.
"Scott, listen - Sinister, and Nefaria, they're here too. And Peitro as well. They kept me hostage so that the X-Men would come after me and they could attack. I don't even know if they've noticed I'm gone yet."
"Oh, we noticed." Jean was suddenly yanked away from Scott by Sinister.
"Hi, Peitro," Scott said to Peitro, who stood behind Sinister.
"Hey, Scott."
"Guy of Gisbourne, huh?"
"Yeah. Robin Hood?"
"Uh-huh."
"And I, as the Sheriff of Nottingham-"
"Seriously, Sinister, you're taking this way too seriously."
"-Find it upon myself to escort Miss Grey back to the castle." Grabbing Jean's upper arm, he turned towards the village, pulling her along. He stopped after a few feet and looked back at Scott. "You'll be attacking at dawn I presume?"
"We'll be there."
Sinister nodded and, pulling along a very annoyed Jean, made his way back to the castle.
Peitro rubbed the back of his neck. "So, isn't Guy of Gisbourne supposed to attempt to assiasinate Robin Hood?"
"Yeah," Scott said. "But I once read a verison that after words, Robin invites Peitro to be a Merry Man."
"Can we just skip to that part?" Peitro asked hopefully.
"I don't see why not," Scott shrugged. He help out his hand. Peitro went to shake it.
"Hold it right there!" boomed Giant Tim's voice.
"What?" Pietro and Scott scowled.
"Part of the story, my friends! Guy of Gisbourne must attempt to assinate Robin Hood! Otherwise, the story will be told incorrectly, and I will incinerate you all."
Scott sighed and rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine!" He spread his arms. "Try and assinate me."
Pietro nodded and grabbed an arrow from his back, aiming at Scott's chest. He let the arrow loose, and veered way off to Scott's left, and disappeared into the woods.
Scott frowned. "What was that?"
"I don't know, I'm not Hawkeye!"
Scott shrugged and shook Pietro's hand. "Well, hey, you tried."
"That's true."
"Welcome to the Merry Men."
"I can hardly contain my excitment."
-Nottinghamshire - Dawn-
"Alright, everyone!" Scott called. "Listen, since we pretty much have no training with sword combat or archery, we're probably all going to die."
Everyone stared at Scott. "Well, that's not very supportive," Kitty said.
"What? What do you want me to tell you?"
"I got this, Scottie," Logan said, pulling his horse to stand beside Scotts. He cleared his throat.
"I see a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny! You have come to fight as free men. And free man you are! What will you do without freedom? Will you fight? Fight and you may die. Run and you will live at least awhile. And dying in your bed many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here as young men and tell our enemies that they may take our lives but they will never take our freedom!"
The rest of the X-Men clapped and cheered. Logan beamed.
Scott frowned. "But, that's not fair! He just used the speech from Braveheart!"
"The people want what the people want, Scottie," Logan grinned.
Scott sighed. "Let's just get on with it!"
They galloped into the town towards the castle. When they were almost there, Nefaria ordered the archers to fire.
The X-Men weaved in and out of the line of fire. As they approached the gate, they jumped off their horses.
"Pete!" Logan yelled. "I know you ain't as strong as you usually are, bub, but I need you to do something fer me!"
"Throw you?"
"Yep!"
"Fastball Special!" Kitty yelled.
The X-Men ducked as Peter swung Logan around and threw him.
5
Jean sat in a different room, this one higher than the last. She rubbed her temples.
Then she screamed as something hit the wall outside of her room.
Jumping up, Jean ran to the window. Dangling from the windowcill, was Logan.
"Hiya, Jeannie," he grunted. "Little help?"
Jean grabbed his hands and helped haul him in. He landed on his back and took a breath. "Ouch."
"Are you okay?" Jean asked, leaning over him.
Logan grabbed her by the back of her neck and drew her into him, kissing her passionatly. After a moment, he realeased her, and pushed himself to his knees. "I am now."
He stood up, took a running start at the door, and hit it as hard as he could. The door flew off the hinges and hit the wall. Logan took Jean's hand and pulled her out of the room.
"This is nuts!" Jean said.
"Yer tellin' me," Logan said. "Little John. Who the hell does that narrator think he is, anyway?"
They entered the greathall, where the X-Men were in full swing fighting the King's men. Logan and Jean joined in the fight as well, and the X-Men were in action (Except for Hank, who was still mysteriously missing).
"We're out numbered!" Scott called.
"What do we do?" Jean called back.
"Enough!" Nefaria grabbed Jean by the back of her dress and the great hall fell quiet (Except for Jean, who had more than a few colorful things to say to Nefaria).
"Now. There will be a competion. A competiton for Maid Marian. Or, in this case, Jean Bloody Grey."
"What's the point?" Logan yelled. "Even if we did lose, you'd keep Jean and the story would be wrong! We'd be stuck here forever!"
"Not neccesarily," Giant Tim's voice suddenly boomed. "Oh, what a delightful twist! Here's what we shall do: If the X-Men win, they get Miss Grey. But if they lose, Sinister will get Miss Grey, and they will be sent back to the real world - together!"
"What?" Jean screamed as Sinister's eyes lit up at the chance to capture Jean's DNA.
"That's terrible!" Scott yelled.
"That's wonderful!" Sinister yelled. "We'll accept the offer!"
"Don't think I don't know what you want, Sinister, and the answer is no way," Scott said, jabbing Sinister in the chest.
Sinister smiled. "Ah, but Mister Summers. This is our story. We have to make it."
"Fine," Scott says. "But until the competition, Jean stays with us."
Sinister and Nefaria looked at each other, and shrugged. "Either way, you'll have to compete. Be here tomorrow at noon."
-Sherwood Forest-
"Okay, so what's the plan?" Logan asked.
"The plan is, we win." Scott poked the logs in the fire.
"Win?" Emma asked. "Scott, in case you haven't noticed, none of us are exactly top notch archers."
"Emma is actually right on this one," Jean sighed. "None of us have ever trained for this."
"I don't care," Scott said. "He's not taking you."
"Calm down, Scott," Jean said. "Let's not panic. You'll just have to do your best, okay?"
He nodded and slid his hand into hers. "Guys. Just so you all know, if this doesn't work -"
"Oh, not another terrrible speech!" Kurt groaned.
Scott frowned. "They're not that bad!"
"Here, I'll handle it," Logan said. He cleared his throat.
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder or Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."
The X-Men cheered, and Scott jumped up. "But, that doesn't even have anything to . . . but . . . Blade Runner! He's just . . . " Scott sighed.
"I guess I had better go and practice."
-The Kings Castle - Noon -
"The person who's arrow strikes closest to the bullseye wins. Archers, take your position!"
Scott and Sinister looked at each other, and they took their spots.
"After you," Sinister said.
Clenching his teeth, Scott drew an arrow and notched it. Taking a deep breath, he drew his arrow back, concentrated, and let the arrow loose.
It hit the ring right outside the bullseye, and the other X-Men cheered. Scott let out a deep breath of relief.
Then he saw Sinisters arrow hit the Bullseye.
Then X-Men fell silent, and Sinister smirked with satisfaction.
"Oh, no," Scott whispered.
Sinister gave a laugh of victory. "Well, that is that! I suppose in the particular fairytail, the 'bad guy' wins!"
There suddenly was a wooshing noise past their ears, and another arrow hit Sinisters arrow right down the middle.
Everyone froze, and then slowly turned.
The one and only Hawkeye was on his stomache, his bow still in his hand. "Not bad, eh?"
"Barton!" Logan said. "What the hell?"
There was suddenly a scream, and a lot of thumping noises behind Hawkeye.
"Owwww. . ."
Tony Stark rolled over onto his back, blinking into the sun.
Beside him, Steve was sitting up, along with Natasha, Janet, Peter, Matt, Jessica, and Luke.
"What's going on here?" Janet asked.
"It was that giant!" Luke said.
"Uh, hi, guys," Kitty said.
The Avengers looked up, shocked. "X-Men! You're here, too . . .?"
"We have been for days," Logan said.
"Yes. And if you'll excuse me," Sinister said, grabbing Jean by the arm. "I believe I'll be leaving now."
"Hawkeye split your arrow!" Logan said.
"He's not a part of this!" Sinister looked up to the sky. "Giant Tim?"
A portal suddenly appeared in front of Sinister and Jean. "Well. Be seeing you, X-Men," Sinister said.
Something suddenly swung from a tree and grabbed Jean by the waist.
"If I recall," Scott said, as he swung his rope over to join the X-Men. "Robing Hood takes from the rich . . . " He gestured to Jean. "And gives to the poor." He clapped Logan on the back. "There. Take care of her while I beat the living hell out of Sinister."
"Oh, what a fantastic twist!" Giant Tim's voice bellowed. "Indeed, he did take from the rich and give to the poor! Bravo, Mister Summers! Bravo!"
"Wait! Wait! Waaaaiiiiiitttttt!" Everyone turned to see Hank running towards them.
"There you are, Hank!" Jean said. "Where were you?"
"King Richard!" He bellowed. "I am King Richard!" He clenched his fist, and hit Sinister square in the jaw.
The portal expanded, and the X-Men, Avengers, and Villians were sucked in.44444