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Chapter 04: Domino Effect: Part One

Three years ago

She awoke in a swirling collage of greens and blues, suspended in what must be a liquid of some sort. How she got there she did not know. Thinking hurt what could only be her "head", the knowledge of the word seeming to be a totally new concept, yet familiar at the same time. Who was she?

Noises were wafting through the liquid, drumming against her newly awakened consciousness; throbbing. Voices, she believed they were called. But where were they coming from? She squirmed slightly in the sea of warmth, not able yet to do anything more. The voices seemed to falter, anticipation coloring the sounds as dark shapes moved about in front of her view, close but far, far away.

With a sudden whoosh, she and the liquid were flooded out and spilled to the floor in front of the dark shapes. The light was blinding, scraping against her new eyes like shrapnel from a blown up jet. She shut her eyes tight, curling her naked body like a newborn baby in the fetal position on the floor in front of the dark shapes.

Silence for a brief, glorified second before the murmuring of voices began again. "Stand up," a voice said, sharply. She couldn't understand how she knew what was being said, but her body acted of its own accord. She placed her hands in front of her and pushed herself to her feet. She straightened, her muscles seeming to develop on the spot as if designed to know what to do. She forced her eyes open to see what was going on.

"Your name is Neena Thurman," the voice said. A man. She could not see his face; her eyes were still not conformed to light yet. "You have one purpose in this life, Neena Thurman. You are to kill the alien known as the 'Golden Warrior'."

Present day

Caliwone walked down the hallway of the Xavier Institute, not really caring who shared the walkway with him. Today was the day he would find out that little mystery that had been bugging him about the one called Kurt. On day one at the Institute, he could tell there was more to him then met the eye.

Rogue and Karma pushed themselves against the wall as the Saiyan passed, walking down the center of the hall, not leaving room enough on either side of him to allow normal passage. Their grumbles of Louisiana accent and the French language bounced off him as he focused on his goals. He made it to the main entryway that he had come in on the first day, then out into the front doors. He swept an eye around, searching. He saw nothing on the snow christened ground.

He lifted himself into the air and set himself down on the top of the mansion, not really in the mood for hide and seek. The breeze up here was so calming to him, though. Despite the fact that his Saiyan nature and upbringing had turned him cold by human standards, he did enjoy certain things on this planet.

His gaze went to the backyard where that new girl, Feral, and Rahne were chasing each other through an obstacle course with Beast and a few others watching and cheering. Caliwone watched with amusement as Rahne attempted, and failed, to jump from one rope to a swinging tire and miss spectacularly. She landed in a dug out ditch as Maria swung by, jeering.

The start of a car engine turned Caliwone's attention. The red car with the two white stripes was getting ready to head out, apparently, with Scott and Jean the only two in the vehicle. It wasn't long, however, before the other new girl, Kitty Pryde, Karma, and Kurt came running out and hopped into the vehicle. Caliwone grimaced, knowing it would be considered rude or some such by Xavier to simply fly down there and scoop up Kurt. And besides, Kurt could teleport and simply escape his clutches.

The car peeled out, the other three in the car yelling their excitement as they passed through the gates and out into Bayville. Curious, Caliwone leapt into the sky and followed them.

Kitty Pryde climbed out of the car a little shakily. She had been in fast moving helicopters, jets, high-speed chase vehicles, yet the 'Scott Experience' was by far worse. She swept her hands back through her wildly wind-swept hair, trying to at least put her hair into a quick tie, disgruntled with the wasted hour she had spent on it that morning. She pulled her hair through the tie, and patted everything down.

By the time she was done, everyone else was had already made it halfway to the mall entrance. Jean, with her mental powers, still had her perfect hair flowing around her. She huffed slightly as the group turned and yelled back toward her through the bustling crowd to hurry up. She double checked her card and made her way to the group, being forced to physically phase through several shoppers in the process.

The group made their way into the Manhattan Mall. They entered into the extravagant mall with the glass elevators and decretive waterspout in the main hallway, which must have been a recent addition since her last visit there. Of course, with the constant haze she used to walk around in when shopping was involving, it could have been there since the mall's conception without her notice.

The first store they hit in the long line was Charlotte Russe on the first level. Jean and Kitty have always been used to trend setting and were intent on giving Karma that same life style. Some of the new stuff there seemed a bit over the top, but they found enough to start out with. An hour and 1,500 dollars later, the group headed to Afaze, then Express. Scott, nearly collapsing under the eight bags of women clothes and accessories, finally called a stop to sit down in the cafeteria.

The girls left Scott at the table and headed to the Cajun Café, leaving Scott only slightly affronted. About halfway there, a voice rang out, "Mutant scum!"

Having put up with this kind of verbal assault for the past eight years, such a cheap insult was not even worth getting upset about. Kitty simply continued walking and blew the speaker a sweet kiss and smile. They continued to the Cajun Café and paid for their food, then headed back out to where Scott was blissfully resting his feet.

A group of five young adults, four men and one woman, all of about twenty to twenty five, stood in their path, looking every bit prepared to escort the mutants out of the Manhattan Mall. "Alright, muties, time for you all to be make like a mutant and vanish."

"Oooo, clever," Kitty said, a tone of mixed of irritation and amusement. "Why don't you children go sit down somewhere and think of something that might actually be keen."

The male leader took half a step forward, as did Jean. "We are giving you one final warning, mutants. Get out of our mall."

"We have just as much right to spend money here as you do. Or do you really not listen to our president?" asked Jean, an amused smile on her face.

"He is one man," the girl said as the rest of the group stepped forward, "with only one man's opinion." The passerby's began to take note of the confrontation even as Kurt with his image inducer stepped up next to Jean. Recognition of the first publicly identified mutants, Jean and Kitty, began to slowly create that ring that always surrounded a good fight.

"So, let me get this right," Xi'an said, being the last of the group to step forward. "You are planning on fighting hand to hand against a set of powerful mutants?" Karma snorted. "Perhaps you should try to grab the army first." The leader took a step that covered the remaining distance and raised a fist.

He followed the group of mutants to a structure on a small island not too far from the mansion. From his sky view, Caliwone concluded the building must be some kind of place of congregation. A shopping mall.

He had lost sight of them as they and their vehicle parked, but managed to set his eyes on Kitty as she ruined her natural hairstyle to one of human flatness and entered the mall with Jean, Scott, Kurt, and Karma. He entered via the second level, not through any intended entrance, but through a window high near the rafters. A window more suited to his customs, as the whole section was already being replaced for glass more suited to keeping winter out, and warmth in.

The group entered a store whose name was spelled out above the entrance. His ability to understand and speak the most common languages of this planet did not endow him with the ability to read the languages, however, and so was not able to translate the alien script. After nearly an hour of waiting in the shadows above the humans, Caliwone allowed himself to wander out of sight. The smell of human cooking caught his attention, for once seeming actually enticing to his alien senses.

After a bit of searching, he found himself in a cafeteria. A group of eight humans seemed to be walking around by the tables and food windows with a suspicious attitude, a purpose in their eyes visible to even Caliwone high in the rafters. Even as he watched, the group converged on a group of two young girls, sitting together peaceably enjoying their food. Words were exchanged between the two respective groups and ended with three of the confrontational group escorting the others out of the cafeteria and out of sight.

Not fifteen minutes later, the group from the Xavier manor meandered their way in, dropping Scott off at the table and heading out to get food. Caliwone witnessed the confrontation's beginning and sat back to watch, interested in how these mutants would handle their business.

Men in black suits caught Caliwone's eye, weapons drawn as they rushed forward toward the cafeteria from way down the halls. As interested as he was in staying out of everyone else's business, the actions of the human group previously as well as these men in black gave Caliwone cause for consideration. His tail gave a wave as he considered what might be going on here.

If those mystery men were in league with those mutant haters and they managed to take the Xavier group, he would probably not have a chance to find out about Kurt's little secret. Besides, he did not want anything to happen to these kids.

His body moved before he really had a chance to catch himself with that final argument and retract it. He dropped down silently just as one of the boys in the haters' camp lifted a hand that would never reach any of the mutants, with or without his intervention. His booted feet crushed the human into the flooring, and he crouched to absorb the impact and reduce actual damage the boy.

Caliwone stood slowly, placing a foot on the boy's throat and stepping off him with the other. His prominent blue outfit and cold, inhuman eyes froze the human group. "I would advise you all to retreat before any fireworks begin," Caliwone said, quiet acid dripping from every word.

The humans didn't need to be told twice. They broke and ran, as did the crowd that had formed around them. Caliwone turned to face the X-Men and Scott as he ran up to them, removing his booted foot from the boy's throat so he could vacate as well. "There are men in black suits coming for you," he informed the shocked mutants. "Hurry and go."

"Actually, it's not them they are here for," came a voice from the side of him. Caliwone turned his icy killer's eyes on the speaker. She was a woman, wearing a tight, turquoise jump suit that matched her short hair and paint that surrounded her left eye. She was pointing a very large weapon of some kind right at him with two smaller weapons strapped to her waist and one more under her right arm. "You are mine, no matter what."

Her training had been what most would describe as physical Armageddon. Day after grueling day, she had been forced to drag herself through mud and water, over barbed wire fencing, being shot at... She had been alive for three years, genetically aged to be the perfect soldier in the body of a twenty year old, designed only to kill one target.

She had been deemed a failure, her powers and skill not strong enough to carry out her mission. Well, right now, this failure had her mark dead in her sights.

The twenty-nine inch barrel of her M107 .50-caliber rifle did not waver as she held its twenty-eight and a half pounds of destructive power pointed at the 'Golden Warrior'; the reason for her misery. He looked at her with his cold black eyes, nearly as hateful as her own, completely unafraid of her preferred weapon.

"Can I help you, little girl?" Caliwone asked, his eyes drilling into her steel ones. It was truly amazing; he was everything she had expected this person to be.

"You are the alien that terrorized Earth for three years?" Neena asked, just to confirm.

"Formerly, perhaps," Kurt spoke up.

Caliwone turned and looked at Kurt. "You and I still have some business," he said, causing Kurt to shrink away slightly.

"As soon as I finish mine," Neena said.

Caliwone turned to look back at Neena, stretched patience now showing on his killer's face. "You must be joking," he said, taking a step forward toward her and her rifle. "Do you really think that your bullets can harm me?"

"This holds no ordinary bullet," Neena said, taking a step back to keep him within her preferred range. "This weapon is equipped with hollow spiral tipped rounds that can drill their way right through you with a force like Superman. Not even you will survive this."

Caliwone cocked an eyebrow and a smirk. Jean stepped forward and started to raise her hand. Neena shifted her sight abruptly to point at Jean. "Don't try it, Red. Not even you are powerful enough to stop a bullet traveling 2,800 feet per second, so don't try." She shifted her aim back to Caliwone.

At this point, all of the hundreds of mall crawlers had vacated the cafeteria, still forcing themselves down every hall. The men in black were still trying vainly to push their way toward the confrontation. Caliwone vanished from Jean's side as Neena fired. Like a sound from a cannon, the spiraled tip bullet zinged mere inches to the right of Caliwone. Caliwone stopped in mid movement, staring at the smoking barrel and Neena's cold eyes.

Caliwone tried again, being sure to keep her aim away from the human mutants as the woman fired round after round, all with extreme accuracy. It was after perhaps the seventh shot that Caliwone was done with this game. He stopped, even as plaster and siding crumbled to the floor from where stray shots had dug themselves in, and swung his hand at his incredible Saiyan speed. The bullet aimed dead on him careened off course and into the floor a few feet away.

Caliwone shook his hand slightly at the tingling that remained even as Neena fired twice more. Again with two swipes of his hand, Caliwone deflected the bullets. Neena hit a button and the clip fell out, empty. Caliwone made his move even as she threw the weapon aside and drew out her two pistols; she flung herself to the side to avoid his rush and fired after him. Glass, signs, and siding fell crashed as the blaze of weapons echoed the large cafeteria.

"Freeze!" came multiple bellows from all directions. Suddenly, more than a dozen guns were pointed at Caliwone, the X-Men, and Neena. The men in black had arrived. Neena swore even as a few more of the barrels shifted in her direction. Caliwone looked around. He had assumed that the men in black suits were allies with this woman. Apparently not.

Kitty stood calm next to Kurt and Scott, complete confidence in her own abilities. She was within easy reach of the other two in case the bullets started to fly. Like was typical, the thought had just crossed Kitty's mind when the woman leapt sideways toward her rifle that still lay on the ground. The room was suddenly and violently ablaze like never before. Scott's eyes blasts caught several of the black suited men full on and flung them through glass and tabletops.

Jean managed to grab several of the gun barrels in a mental grip, and twisted the barrels to an unrecognizable mesh. Caliwone, of course, was managing just fine as Neena slid to her rifle, sliding a new magazine into the semi-automatic and letting loose.

Kitty saw Neena take aim and flung herself at Caliwone, her arms flung around his neck as the spiral tipped bullet passed through them harmlessly due to Kitty's powers and caught one black suited man in the shin. Caliwone pushed Kitty away as more bullets flew their way.

Neena didn't flinch as the bullets passed within inches of her face and continued to let fire erupt from her weapon. For her, ten shots, ten downed enemies, all with injuries to non-vital sections of their bodies. No deaths, but they probably wouldn't be moving comfortably for a while.

She had barely started to stand when she was lifted off of her feet by her shirtfront and slammed ungracefully into a wall. She grunted as she hit it, for a moment dazed by the surprise and recoil of her head bouncing off the hard wall. When she was able to see through the fog in her mind, she saw the murderous face of the Saiyan glaring at her. "You have thirty seconds to spill your guts," he snarled, not really taking the threat to his life very well. "Or I will spill them all over the floor for you."

She choked slightly as his fist squeezed. Before Caliwone could do any permanent damage to her, Jean reached out and pulled him away from Neena. He glared back at her, clearly unwilling to let her go without some major bruising. He slid past her and Jean, still holding the woman where she had been slammed in a mental grip, walked up to her. "Why are you doing this?" she asked, her brow wrinkling as her mind seemed to strain.

Neena stared down, professional training allowing her to clear her mind of all thoughts. Jean frowned, realizing that she could not read this person's thoughts. The large light above them gave a flicker. Neena smiled slightly. It was about to be their unlucky day.

With one last flicker, the lighting swung down from one side and fell right toward Jean. Everyone else was caught looking around for any other possible threats, even Caliwone. Before anyone could even take notice, the lighting slammed into Jean with a force that would have collapsed a horse.

Neena was released from Jean's force grip as she lost both focus and consciousness. As Neena hit the ground, she tossed three smoke grenades, taking careful note of where her weapons lay. With no one in the group possessing any heightened smelling or seeing abilities, it was a simple matter for her to collect her weapons and escape unnoticed as the others bumped and tripped over themselves. By the time the smoke had cleared, she was gone.

Logan growled slightly as Scott and Kitty explained what had happened in the mall. Caliwone, of course, had gone off somewhere, presumably to go lick his failed wounds. "Well," Professor Xavier said as he sat behind his desk. "I guess we are fortunate that the rest of you are unhurt and Jean only ended up a concussion. From what you tell me, it could have ended up much worse for her."

Kitty nodded. "We had everything under control at the end. It was just really unlucky, I guess."

"Yes, it would seem." Charles glanced over at Logan briefly, and then looked back. "Thank you, you two. I need to go see to Jean in medical."

The two got up and left. "Domino," Logan said as the door closed.

"Yes," Charles said. "It would seem she has resurfaced again."

"She'll be gunnin' for us now, Chuck. Ya know that, don't cha?"

"I fear that is correct," Charles said as he dipped his head.

Logan sighed. "I'll go talk to Fury, see if he can't get a handle on this. Probably take half-pint with me, too."

Xavier nodded. "I will see what I can do from this end. Perhaps it's time for the teams to learn how to handle someone like Neena Thurman."

"Good luck, Chuck," Logan said as he existed the study.

To be continued...

What an episode! Caliwone is really beginning to change and even he is noticing it.

Will he finally accept that his planet is destroyed and no one is coming to rescue him? And what is going to happen to Neena Thurman?

Here is a little shout out to all you X-Men fans so make sure to keep reading.

REVIEWS are good ;P