A Patient Awakens! The Arrival of S.H.I.E.L.D.!
At the hospital where the two comatose patients were, the doctors were looking over some scans. One of their best physicians, Dr. Stephen Strange, took the day off at Tony's behest. They were looking over the charts of the two patients and found them to be perfectly healthy aside from their current states. The nurses were looking over the X-rays when one of them found something odd about the female. Apparently, Tony and the doctors failed to notice the wings on the female until now. "That's odd. How come no one's pointed out that we were watching over a mutant?" asked the nurse, who was a Caucasian woman.
An African-American nurse answered the question. "It was at Tony's request when he had this place built that we treat all patients equally, mutant or not. Besides, I never noticed the wings before."
"Well she and her friend there were brought here for a reason. God has a plan for all of us. Mr. Stark's probably just following through to make sure that our patients, mutant or otherwise, don't endure any more hardships than they already have," said the doctor. "All it takes is a matter of faith and endurance through the hard times. When you really think about it, we're in no position to discriminate against mutants. They're humans like you and me. Unfortunately, folks like Senator Kelly and his Mutant Response Division can't see that."
Suddenly, the girl began to stir. She opened her eyes and looked around. She saw the frightened Caucasian nurse as well as her colleague and the doctor. "Where…where am I?" she asked. She then saw her friend in the bed beside hers. "Brad! What did you do to him?"
"We didn't do anything to you or your friend, Miss. We're just watching over you until you awoke from your coma," the doctor explained. The girl was having none of that. She stood up and revealed the pair of wings that identified her as a mutant. They were red with a white claw in the middle part. She flapped hard one time at the window, causing it to break. The Caucasian nurse saw that she was going for the still-comatose Brad, so believing that she was going somewhere to eat him, she leapt into action and grabbed him, causing the winged woman to release her grip.
"Grrr. You won't get away with this!" she exclaimed before flying out the window. The hospital personnel in the room were stupefied at the scene, but the nurse who 'rescued' Brad called the M.R.D. to report the mutant, much to the chagrin of the other two present.
Tony happened to supply Logan and Soifon with a motorcycle to make transportation a little easier since he couldn't bring his own from St. Louis. He liked the feel of it, but he saw a pattern with the color scheme. It was red with gold accents and an ARC Reactor for an engine. The headlights looked like Iron Man's eyes while the taillight was normal. While it did feel odd for Logan to be driving one of Tony's vehicles, he had to admit that it did go fast. "How much longer until we find the nearest hero on the list?" asked Soifon.
"I'm not sure! I can't exactly look at a picture and automatically pick up on their Spiritual Signatures, you know!" Logan said as he maneuvered the Malibu traffic. "I actually have to see the person themselves!" Suddenly, a missile came by and narrowly missed the two former lovers. The turbulence knocked them off the bike, though. "What the hell?" They looked and saw a chopper and several transport vehicles with the insignia for the M.R.D. on them.
"Logan? Who are these guys?"
"This, Soifon, is Robert Kelly's Mutant Response Division, or the M.R.D. They really enjoy their job unless the X-Men are involved, especially Wolverine. Because of the initials, people tend to call them 'Mardies'."
"It sounds like the Assassin's been doing his homework. I don't know why the call was place to go after you, kid, but if they say that a mutant is running rampant, then I have to arrest them. I also can't allow you the opportunity to assassinate Senator Kelly, so you and your little friend are under arrest," said the Commander, who was a blonde man wearing the standard M.R.D. uniform. Suddenly, another helicopter dropped by, this time with an emblem of an eagle in a circle. More men came out and made Logan and Soifon realize they were surrounded.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.," said a disgruntled Logan. Among the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents was an African-American man with an eye patch over his left eye. He was bald with a goatee. The agent had a smirk on his face.
"Not so fast, Fury!" exclaimed the M.R.D.'s leader. "I've got orders from Senator Kelly to bring this kid into jail! You're not going to interfere with this one!"
"You idiots know that he's not a mutant, right? Unless you're trying to prevent Senator Kelly's assassination, you have the wrong target," said the man, identified as Nick Fury. "Besides, I need him for a little help."
"Sorry, you two, but we're not going with either of you!" Logan exclaimed, gathering his Spirit Energy up. "Chidori Flash!" Soifon shielded her eyes while Logan had his sunglasses over his eyes. The agents from both sides were blinded. When the light cleared, the two of them were gone, along with Tony's motorcycle.
"Well I'll be damned. He's got chi control," Fury remarked.
The two Assassins were riding away from the scene, the top speed of the motorcycle allowing for plenty of distance. "If this doesn't get us away from S.H.I.E.L.D., then I don't know what will!" Logan exclaimed.
"Luckily, I can appreciate the speed on these vehicles!" Soifon said. "You need to kick up the top speed on yours! It's a turtle compared to this one! What's the deal with S.H.I.E.L.D. anyway?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. themselves, I have no problem with! It's Nick Fury that ticks me off! He's known for blackmailing anyone he approaches! As their Director, he has access to a lot of information and uses it against anyone! What I want to know is why the Mardies were after me! I made it clear that I don't want anything to do with politicians, especially Robert Kelly and the President!"
"I think it's more of Kelly's sense of fear than anything else! From what I understand, he's paranoid! He's afraid that mutants and Assassins will try to take his life!" Suddenly, a call came from the Helicarrier, so Logan moved it to a private channel and put it on a three-way call with Chun-Li and Cammy.
"Logan, what's going on? We picked up some of your activity with 'Chidori'," said Tony. Cap and the girls were wondering the same thing.
"We were on our way to find the nearest hero, but we had a little run in with the M.R.D.! After that, S.H.I.E.L.D. showed up! I would've been more cooperative with the latter, but I can't stand Fury! I used 'Chidori Flash' to get us away!"
"We can tell, darling," said Cammy. "You are wearing your sunglasses. Have I told you that they look good on you?"
"Thanks, Cammy, but in all seriousness, Fury's probably tapping the line right now! Isn't that right, Nick!?"
"As clever as always, Logan," said Fury, who popped up in another window. "I honestly didn't expect you to borrow Tony's bike. Then again, you couldn't exactly put yours on that plane."
"Jackass," Logan muttered under his breath, getting Fury to laugh. This served to tick him off even more. Soifon moved her right arm from under her ex and tapped his shoulder. She nervously pointed to a S.H.I.E.L.D. chopper following them. "Oh you son of a…"
"Language. You do have a lady with you."
"Yeah, I would make a joke about that remark, but I don't want her to risk us crashing! Later, Fury!" Logan exclaimed before looking to Soifon. "Hang on!" Before she could object, he kicked the motorcycle to high speed. They saw a ball flying over their heads. From the bomb came several spikes. Logan couldn't stop in time, so he drove into them, causing the tires to go flat and him and Soifon to fall off the bike. They landed on some spikes themselves, which caused a good deal of pain for the both of them. Logan looked and saw that Fury was about to have the chopper land. Suddenly, a winged woman appeared, grabbed the Assassins, and flew off.
"Now where did she come from?" Fury asked before turning to the pilot. "Follow that mutant! I don't want to lose sight of Logan Washburn!" The pilot acknowledged the order before pursuing the woman.
Logan and Soifon recognized the woman as one of the patients in the hospital. Apparently, she had just woken up from her coma, but Logan could sense that the other one was still there. He knew he had to get answers as to why he was still there, but he was more worried about dealing with Fury for right now. He would have to ask later when the three of them caught a break. "Is there any way to shake this guy off our tails?" the woman asked.
"Whenever Nick Fury sets his mind to something, he usually sees it through! Sorry, but the only way we can shake him is if we had a little help!" Logan exclaimed, explaining how Fury works.
"Well unfortunately, if I'm not in a closed space, I can't give out a gust of wind! We'll need help from another!"
"Where is Captain America when you need him?" Soifon asked. The three of them looked forward and saw that they were near Downtown Los Angeles, giving the mutant woman an idea. She threw Logan and Soifon onto the side of a building before flying off. The two Assassins used their 'Flash Steps' to run to the top in order to avoid S.H.I.E.L.D. "What's going to happen to our new friend?"
"Remember what we learned from Cloak? When it comes to Exonians, expect the unexpected, especially from their mutants," Logan explained.
The chopper made its way to the corner, but they couldn't find Logan or Soifon. Suddenly, the chopper's hull was shot, thus starting a fire. They looked up and saw the woman with two pistols drawn. She spread her arms and wings out before crossing the former. She did one hard flap and sent wind towards the chopper, pushing it down hard and spreading the flames on it. She got back to Logan and Soifon, the former of which had a smirk on his face while the latter had a curious look on hers. "That should take care of that," she said.
"Thanks a lot. I've been trying to find a way to get Fury off my back for a long time."
"You're welcome. This 'Fury' person isn't the only one I've done that trick on. Now I want to know where I am."
"It's more like you need to know. Welcome to Earth, Miss." The explanation surprised the woman, so she sat down for a bit to process it.
"Logan, I believe that introductions are in order," said Soifon. Logan nodded before the Squad 2 Captain proceeded to introduce herself. "My name is Shaolin Feng, but my peers, including Logan here, call me Soifon." It took a bit before the woman noted that Soifon was talking to her.
"Huh? Oh right. My name's Crystal Hughes. I'm not from this world as you can tell," Crystal said, introducing herself and showing them her wings.
"Wait, you're Crystal?" Logan asked, getting a confused nod. "I'm Logan Washburn. We're friends with Cloak." Crystal's expression turned from confusion to shock. Logan didn't know that Crystal knew Cloak's identity as Todd Platinum and the same went with her. Neither one of them didn't want to somehow accidently reveal it to the other.
"You know Cloak?" Logan confirmed with a nod. "Well, do you know where he is?"
"I'm afraid we don't aside from him being on this planet. Logan's got a special ability called 'Spirit Sense', but that little fiasco with Nick Fury wore out his energy some. We'll have to call and see if he can answer his cell phone," explained Soifon. Logan checked the signal for any interference from S.H.I.E.L.D., given that a certain Director can be a real pain in the neck when it comes to virtually everything. Soifon saw that there was some interference, so she pushed the icon that showed the interference. She pushed a button that completely got rid of it. "There. Now you don't have to worry about him."
"Thanks, Ms. Smart-Ass," Logan said. The interaction made Crystal believe that the two of them were together. The Assassin called Cloak's number and listened for an answer.
"Hey, Logan, what's up?" Cloak said, answering the phone after a while.
"You're not going to believe this, Cloak, but Soifon and I ran into your girlfriend at the Pacific Coast Highway."
"I'm going to ask you your favorite question. What in blue blazes are you guys doing with Crystal at the PCH?"
"It's a long story. Right now, Crystal, Soifon, and I are at Los Angeles, but chances are, Nick Fury's going to get another helicopter to chase us in."
"I hope the line isn't tapped. Pitch and I will meet you guys in Malibu. See if you can get away from Fury as quickly as possible."
"Got it."
"What did he say?" Soifon asked after Logan hung up.
"We're going back to Malibu to meet up with him and Pitch. This means that we might have another run-in with the Mardies."
On the way back to Malibu, Logan and Soifon explained to Crystal what the M.R.D. was about. She wasn't that worried about them, but Logan was, given that Kelly was paranoid. Soifon had kept an eye out for another S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter, but so far there were none. They looked and saw that the motorcycle was gone, so Logan chalked it up to Fury's men grabbing it. He was going to have to get it back eventually, but right now, meeting up with Cloak was their current objective. Crystal looked down and saw Cloak and Pitch waiting on a building. She took Logan and Soifon by surprise by swooping down to him.
Cloak had a look around until he saw his girlfriend coming down carrying Logan and Soifon…and not exactly focusing on that since she let them go, causing the two Assassins to roll on the roof. Crystal wrapped her arms around Cloak and brought him in a bear hug. Though the Symbiote hero couldn't breathe, he managed to return the hug. "Oh, I missed you, Cloak!" Crystal said excitedly.
"I…I missed you too…Crystal," said Cloak, barely getting a word in. Suddenly, the mutant realized that she was hurting her boyfriend, so she loosened her grip on him. She noticed Logan and Soifon barely getting up, still hurting from a combination of the rough landing and the tacks from earlier. "So, now we're just missing Brad and Miranda and the set would be complete."
"What about that idiot Blur? Did you ever figure out who he was?"
"He was Sonny Seconds. And now, thanks to McSleez targeting me, he's dead." Crystal growled at the news, mainly because she wanted to be the one to tear Blur to pieces. Another side of her felt that Jet should've been the one to do it since he and Blur were rivals in the first place. "There's no need to get angry for that. Logan over there killed McSleez to stop an attack on his own city. He had the help of a friend of ours that's more powerful than Soifon there. His name is Ichigo Kurosaki, and according to what I've seen, he's a Substitute Soul Reaper that's more powerful than Soifon, who is a Soul Reaper Captain herself. In essence, Seconds' has been replaced. This guy's name is Nathaniel, a young man who calls himself the 'Silver Lantern'."
"Is he similar to the Orange Lanterns?"
"First off, no," Logan said after recovering. Crystal was nervously scratching the back of her head as Logan dusted off the roofing material from his skin and clothes. "Nate's power runs on the emotion of Freedom. Second, the so-called 'Orange Lantern Corp.' you guys have encountered on Exanton is actually a series of constructs. The power source of the Orange Power Battery is Greed. The only true Orange Lantern, Larfleeze, refuses to hand out the rings."
"Oh, so there was only one Orange Lantern. Now I get it. So where's Nathaniel now?"
"I'm not sure. My girlfriend and I haven't heard anything from him in a while."
"Not since the LexCorp Cyborg incident? You mean to tell me that he's disappeared off the map?" asked Cloak.
"More like he and Sharel had gotten married and are now on their honeymoon," Logan said with a teasing smirk. "In all seriousness, though, is your friend still in a coma?"
"You must mean Brad. Yes, he is. I'm afraid I had no other choice but to leave him in the hospital since one of those idiot nurses grabbed him from my hands," Crystal explained. "I believe she was scared of me because I was different. Speaking of which, you two, why is it that you're not freaked out?"
"That's simple," Soifon said. "We've encountered worse-looking beings in the Spiritual Realm."
"And even some butt-ugly humans." Suddenly, Logan's Spirit Sense kicked in. Soifon and Cloak could tell since he started looking around. He looked on a higher building and saw the Mardies. "Damn. I was afraid of this."
Up on the building, the Commander looked at the readings on the computer. It classified Crystal and Logan correctly as mutant and human respectively, but it put Cloak in the latter category. He mistook Cloak for Venom or the black-suited Spider-Man on account of the Symbiote. He was also confused as to why the computer wasn't getting any visual on Soifon, not knowing that she was a spirit. "Fire!" he ordered. A soldier with a bazooka fired a shot at the four of them, which turned out to be a net. Logan launched a hidden blade like a whip and cut the net in half with the chain and the blade. The chain retracted and Logan retracted it. "I should've known he was going to do that."
"I dare you to try that again, Commander!" The Commander growled and gave the order. The shots were fired at all of them except Soifon, the same reason being the reason why they were unable to scan her. Nevertheless, she took cover as well. "Great. Now we've got to get out of here as soon as possible," Logan said to the others. He remembered that they didn't fire at Soifon since the scanners couldn't pick her up. He tapped her on the shoulder, getting her attention, and pointed at the Mardies. The look on her face told her that he wanted her to take them on. The Squad 2 Captain nodded and used Flash Step to charge towards the enemy. Cloak and Pitch noted that Logan had a solemn look on his face.
Crystal thought it was something else. "Are you trying to get her killed?! Why did you have her take on the M.R.D. on her own!?" she asked. "I thought you two were together!"
"We used to be. I still care about her, but we're uneasy around each other. Every time Soifon and I get together, we wind up arguing lately. Besides, Soul Reapers are spirits, so she's technically dead anyways. Those bullets aren't going to hurt her one way or the other." This got Crystal to understand the meaning of what he was saying.
Soifon knew to avoid using her Zanpakuto on the M.R.D. since she wasn't allowed to use it against humans. She jumped in the middle of them and kicked two soldiers down. Using her training under Yoruichi, she grabbed one, kneed him in the stomach, spun him around, and threw him at his fellow soldiers. The Soul Reaper Captain then bounced on their heads and made them dizzy. She even did a handstand on two guys' heads and slammed them together. The Commander surprised her with a sucker punch and sent her towards two of the men still standing. 'Dammit. This is embarrassing,' Soifon thought, feeling her pride being wounded.
"Well, well, the one of the group that the computer couldn't scan. That must be why Washburn sent you after us," the Commander said.
"Not just that," she said. "This too!" She stepped on both of their toes, making them let go, and jumped into the air.
"Oh she is not going too…" Logan began, seeing a familiar pattern that she was using. Once Soifon was sky-high, she spread her arms like he usually does. "Yep. She is."
The guns were fired at her, forcing her to keep moving. She had no idea that this decreased the power behind the attack. "Skydive Assault!" she exclaimed. She shoved the Commander's face to the ground and created a much smaller shockwave than what Logan's version usually leaves. Still, it was enough to send the troops away. They had recovered and trapped her though. Before the others could come to her rescue, an energy blast sent the troops away from her.
While Cloak and Crystal were confused, Logan looked around until he saw a man with a facial structure similar to Tony's, but the grey was more visible. He had on a pair of black shoes, black pants, a blue shirt, a peculiar pendant on his neck, and a red cape with a high collar. He even wore a yellow sash on his waist. "I'm afraid that's enough, Commander! You will not harm these people anymore!" said the man. "I suggest you fall back!"
"Okay, magician, you win this round!" said the Commander. "But the next time, none of you will be so lucky!"
"Oh you've got me quaking in my black shoes!" the magician said sarcastically. The Mardies pulled out, leaving the heroes with the new guy. "So, I understand that there's trouble brewing. Your Soul Reaper friend will be alright." Naturally, they were all baffled as to how he knew about Soifon being a Soul Reaper. "Come. We shall talk in the hospital. Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. are on their way here as well." He enclosed everyone in a circle of light and disappeared with them, leaving behind a pissed-off Fury, who wasn't too far off.
At the hospital, the six heroes (Pitch included) teleported in the same room that Brad was now in. The stranger had a look at him and saw that he was still in a comatose state. Cloak saw no point in staying in his hero state for long since a nurse could freak out at the sight of him. Since Crystal had a pair of wings that were pretty obvious, he couldn't do anything about it. The magician was shocked to say the least while Logan and Crystal were surprised that the other knew. "You know, now that I had a good look at you without the Symbiote, you look a whole lot like this patient here," said the wizard.
"That's because that's my twin brother. My name is Todd Platinum, sorcerer. This here is Brad." This essentially proved Logan's point to Soifon. The stranger tried to use his magic to bring Brad out of his state, but something was interfering with it. Todd could tell that the man was having trouble. "It's the Symbiote in his bloodstream. It must be trying to protect his mind from your magic, seeing as how Brad and I have never been exposed to anything like it," explained Todd. "Let me try something. Since he and I are twin Exonians, we have an ability called 'Twinlepathy'. It allows us to communicate through our minds."
"Very well, Todd. While you wake your brother, I must be filled in on the details." While Logan began to explain the failed robbery at the Captain America exhibit by Doctor Doom and Magneto, Cloak focused on Brad's mind with the Twinlepathy.
'Brad, I know you're there. You must awaken. It is time you woke up,' he said to his brother. Soon enough, Brad woke up slowly. As he looked around, there was a look of relief on the others. Pitch jumped on his chest in his 'Shadow Fox' form and licked his face.
"O-Okay, Pitch, knock it off! I'm glad to see you too, you crazy fox!" he exclaimed, trying to get Pitch off of him. The fox got off of him, allowing him to see everyone except Blur and Miranda. "Hey, guys. Where am I?"
"You're on Earth, Brad. Better start looking for Miranda and start making a life here," said Crystal. "Just to make a long story short, Blur turned out to be Sonny Seconds and was killed by Yukon McSleez, the bastard that sent us here. McSleez himself was killed by Logan Washburn here alongside a friend of his named Ichigo Kurosaki."
"By the way, wizard, I don't think we got your name," said Logan, indicating towards the magician. This made the man smile.
"Yes. Now that Brad Platinum is awake, I suppose I do need to introduce myself. My name is Doctor Steven Vincent Strange. I am a neurologist here." Soifon, who found Strange's garb peculiar, finally figured out why he dressed like that.
"No way," she said in astonishment. "You're the Sorcerer Supreme."
CHAPTER 4 END
Okay, I was going to bring Crystal and Brad out of their comas and bring in flameblade89's OC Todd Platinum/Cloak eventually, so I wrote this for a friend of his, whom we're borrowing Crystal from for this story (in my case) as well as his story that I'm co-writing with him, 'Cyborgs & Symbiotes'. Naturally, we have her permission, just like I have his permission to use this Cloak. Since the Cloak that is part of the Cloak & Dagger duo isn't in UMvC3, I'm home free.
So the woman, Crystal Hughes, awakens from her coma and helps Logan and Soifon escape Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. They, in return, reunite her with Cloak, who brings his brother Brad Platinum out of his coma using their Twinlepathy. They also meet the hospital's best doctor, who turns out to be the Sorcerer Supreme. Now what's going to happen next? Stay tuned.