Chapter 4
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DISCLAIMER: Own them, I do not. Want to, I do not either. Talking like Yoda, gives head ache, it does.
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It was strange, Serena reflected. Their past was in their face, and there so many questions to be answered. All they had to do was ask. But all the scouts could do was gape - the guys were totally hot!
Star grinned at Hang Glide as they watched the jaws drop on Lita and Rei - it was a reaction the guys never ceased to attract. All in all, the five made an imposing entrance. Star stood there in her purple and black costume, sash and all swirling gently in the night breeze. Her costume was cut free on the shoulders to allow maximum freedom of movement. Black fingerless gloves of the toughest material protected her forearms. She made a colorful yet dangerous-looking figure.
Ace stood slightly behind her to the right. Dressed in a black bodysuit, the light from Rei's temple glinted of his armoured chestplate, protective plate and metal boots, hints of deep midnight blue reflecting the glow. _Wow_ thought Jupiter. _He doesn't look ANYTHING like Freddy!_
Opposite Ace, Hang Glide stood there, casually smiling at the scouts. Her cheerful face was honest and open - positively friendly, a direct contrast to Star and Ace. Dressed in a light violet toga-style garb, the back was completely free so's not to hinder the movement of her large, snow-white wings that quivered slightly as she looked from one person to another. It wasn't just her ice-blue skin that caught their attention - glancing down, Mina couldn't help but gasp quietly. White, violet and black boots came up to Hang Glide's knees but the toes of the boots were cut away to reveal razor-sharp talons.
One hand resting protectively on Glide's shoulder, Barricade stood next to her, giving the sailor scouts another friendly smile. His grin widened when he saw Lita and Mina - he waved at them. They blushed as they remembered fighting with the two of them earlier that day. Barricade wore shades of red and black leather-like material - fitting for a person who projected solid fields of red energy, mused Amy.
Finally, Warp pushed her way to the front, anxious to see the Scouts she remembered from so long ago. Warp was a petite little thing, wearing what looked like a metal costume over a black spandex like material to protect her skin from the suit. Her hair spilled out of the metal headgear, framing her face like a halo. _She looks WAY too young to be a warrior,_ Serena thought, staring at her. Star shifted impatiently.
" Are we going to just stand here and gawk?" she asked, irritated. Serena snapped her eyes back to Star.
" Let me call Darien - he has a right to be here," she said as she stood, suddenly anxious to be free of that seemingly uncaring gaze. Star nodded and the whole group sat down to wait. All seemed content to wait for Darien to arrive before engaging in any actual conversation.
When Darien arrived a few minutes later, he saw the two groups staring at each other warily.
" Did I miss anything?" he asked as he sat next to Serena who latched on to him. He was quickly filled in on what the scouts had already been told. By the time the story had been run through, Star was yawning.
" Nice recap of our life story," she said, shooting a look at Luna. " Most of it anyway."
" Enough for now," Luna said firmly.
" There's something I don't understand," Amy said suddenly. Star glanced at her.
" Yes?"
" When we were sent to the future by Queen Serenity, we were born into new lives. However, you seem to have come straight from there - or were you born here on earth too?"
" Nope," said Star. Warp straightened and polished her nails. Star threw her an amused grin. " Knock it off kiddo!"
" I'm going to assume she had something to do with it, am I right?" chuckled Amy, watching the exchange.
" Another hole in one!" Barricade applauded her. " Y'see, Warp's nifty little inter-dimensional travel deal, also has some interesting, added benefits."
" Such as?" asked Rei.
" Time travel."
" Yeah right." Lita looked skeptical. Barricade grinned.
" Somehow, I KNEW someone was gonna say that!"
" How could Warp transport you all here without killing herself?" Luna asked.
" She couldn't," Star said soberly. Warp seemed to shrink back into herself. Ace wrapped an arm around her waist comfortingly. He glanced at Star.
" I think they need a little more background info."
Star sighed. " All right. The last battle against the Nega-verse in the Moon Kingdom. Remember it?"
The scouts nodded.
" We weren't there. We had actually been INSIDE the Nega-verse, battling Beryl's minions face to face on their home turf."
" All five of you?" asked Mina.
" All THREE of us," corrected Barricade. " But we'll get to Ace and Glide later."
" Anyway," Star continued. " The rest of the team had been killed, picked off one by one by Nega-goons." Her eyes flashed at the memory. " There was nothing we could do for them......"
(FLASHBACK)
" Come on Star!" Barricade shouted as he braced against the fire. " You can't help them!" Star's eyes filled with tears over such a waste of life, but resolutely brushed the tears away.
" Your sacrifice will not be forgotten," she whispered, sparing the dead a final glance. She stood and lunged over to where Barricade was holding back the nega-verse with a wall of energy.
" Where's Warp?" she shouted over the sounds of energy crashing. Barricade winced as a bolt of power jolted the entire wall he had created. " Barricade!"
" I'm fine!" he shouted. " Warp's around here somewhere - she got the crystal from Jedite!"
" I'll be damned," Star murmered. " Did she use it yet?"
" Do you see the Nega-verse crumbling?"
" No."
" There's your answer!"
" We have to set it off - it will buy Serenity the time she needs!" Star thought quickly, and reached out with her mind. *Warp! Where are you?*
* Coming!* a faint reply echoed in her head, and Star jumped back as a small hole opened above her. Warp spilled through and collapsed to the ground. She weakly held up her hand, the crystal dangling from her fingers.
" It took some fancy teleporting, but I did it," she whispered.
" You did," Star smiled at her. Lifting it up, Star focused her energy. " Time to blow this joint!"
" You said it!" Barricade waited until she nodded, and then dropped the wall. Nega-energy collided with the dark crystal energy and time seemd to freeze. Suddenly it began to glow a sickly color.
" Warp - ready to roll?" Barricade looked at her frantically as she nodded. They dove through her portal just as space seemed to implode around them, the death cries of the nega-monsters echoing across the galaxy. They materialized in the destroyed courtyard of the Moon Kingdom. Warp stumbled as she landed.
" You did good, kiddo," Star said, helping her to her feet. Barricade gasped in horror as he pointed across the courtyard.
" We're too late!"
Queen Serenity lay draped across a slab of marble that had once been a proud column. Star raced to her side.
" Serenity!"
" You did it," the queen murmered weakly. " You bought us the time we needed."
" How can you say that?" Star gestured to the destruction. Queen Serenity smiled.
" You held back the majority of their forces. Had Beryl's entire army made it through, everyone would have been lost to us."
" You mean.." Star looked up, hope in her face.
" Serena and her scouts were sent to the future," Serenity nodded. " Luna and Artemis will be with them to protect and teach them of their time here."
" They won't remember us?" Barricade spoke up.
" Not unless you wish it," Serenity said, but she looked pleadingly at Star, who looked away.
" It's better if she grows up not knowing me," Star said finally. " She needs to stand on her own two feet."
Serenity looked at them sadly.
" It may not matter - I do not have the strength to send you all as well."
" That's a good thing," Star said. " We're taking a different route."
Serenity frowned - and then her eyes widened.
" You must not," she said firmly. " Warp, it will ki-"
" I know the risks, my queen," Warp said, bowing formally. " It is my choice."
" She won't die, Serenity," Star said. " I won't let her."
Serenity nodded slowly, knowing nothing she could say would change their minds. She smiled to herself faintly - it was those very traits, their stubborness and determination, that had made them the formidable fighting force they were. She closed her eyes suddenly.
" It's time," the queen gasped, as pain spiked through her. Star gulped and bowed her head. Serenity raised one hand and tilted the young warrior's face to meet her own.
" You have always been the strong one Star," she murmered. " I know you will be alright. Take care of your friends."
" I will, Serenity." Star clasped the queens hand in a rare sign of devotion. " I promise." *Mother.*
" Farewell daughter. Be strong." Serenity smiled as she felt the love flow through her daughters mind into hers, banishing some of the pain. She released her daughter's hand, tears flowing, but her strength in her belief of her daughter shone through. Star stepped back and Warp raised her arms.
" Let's go!" she cried as the winds kicked up, energy swirling into a black hole. Sweat beaded Warp's face as she focused all her energy on throwing the portal forward through time, envisioning light, hope for the future. _I MUST do this!_ she thought desperately, and screamed as pain tore through her. Star felt the world slip away as the doorway closed. Her last glimpse of the place she had once known as home, was her mother's hand dropping to the ground for the last time.
(PRESENT)
The scouts had tears in their eyes as they heard the tale, but Star's face was like a closed book.
" The Queen must have meant a lot to you," Lita said quietly. Star had not revealed the lineage between her and the Queen, and was content to keep it that way.
" You could say that."
" I fought many battles in the nega-verse - but I don't remember any mention of you three," Darien frowned. Barricade shrugged.
" Your memeories of us were erased, but even if they hadn't been, you wouldn't have had much to go by anyway."
" How do you mean?"
" We didn't spend a lot of time in the Moon Kingdom - most of our lives were spent battling." Warp sighed.
" But you're so young!" Mina objected. " I can't see the Queen allowing a young girl to throw her childhood away for a lifetime of war!"
Warp shrugged and smiled mysteriously. Star intervened.
" That's not important."
" So you have telepathic powers?" Rei directed her question at Star.
" Kind of, " Star shrugged. " Let's just say if I can't find my cell phone, I still won't miss too many calls."
Barricade and Star laughed. It was rare when Star made a joke. The scouts smiled at this first sign of humanity from her and seemed to relax a bit.
" What happened when you arrived here in the future? DID you just arrive here?" Amy asked, trying to decipher the intricacies of time travel.
" We didn't land here," Barricade said. " We landed in what's called a parallel dimension."
" And here's where my comic books become good studying material," Serena grinned. Ace chuckled.
" Where I come from, super heros are a dime a dozen girly - you don't need comics!"
" I'm assuming you landed on Ace's home planet?" Luna asked.
" You assume correctly, me lady," Ace saluted her.
" You mean you're not human?" Serena gasped. Ace sweatdropped.
" Of course I'm human!" he snapped. Star put a hand on his shoulder.
" Easy Ace," she said calmly. " She's not being racist. She doesn't know what it was like for you."
" Now I'm confused," Lita sighed.
" Ace is a mutant - a human with special powers, derived from birth," Star answered her. " And where he comes from, mutants are treated with open hostility."
" Why?" Amy asked.
" People fear what they don't understand," said Ace. " And they don't understand why I have the ability to turn everyday objects into bombs."
" Huh?"
" Watch." Ace leaned forwards and placed his hand on a sheet of paper. It glowed briefly before exploding in a small shower of sparks.
" That doesn't seem very scary," Lita said, watching the small light show. Ace chuckled.
" That's nothing. You think I'm going to set off a huge explosion inside this temple?"
" Oh," Amy nodded. " How big can your explosions get?"
" Think of a nuclear bomb," Star said, memories flooding through her. Ace frowned slightly. Mina broke in.
" How do people know who's a mutant? You look human to me?"
" I'm one of the lucky ones," Ace said." Some mutants have powers that are...painfully evident."
Seeing as they were getting off topic and into some nasty-memory territory, Luna brought them back to the story.
" You landed on Ace's planet?...."
" Huh? Oh yeah." Star settled herself back. " Well..."
(FLASHBACK)
" Oohhhh.." Star murmered as she opened her eyes slowly. "...what hit me..."
" I'm guessing a Mack truck," a cheerful voice said. She bolted upright.
" Huh? What?"
" Easy!" A handsome, brown-haired teen leaned over her, pressing her shoulders back to the bed. " You look like you were just in the fight of your life."
" My friends..."
" Are here." Suddenly, the boys cheerful expression took on a morose look. " The guy...."
" Barricade," she supplied. He smiled wryly at the name and continued.
"-Barricade, will be fine."
" And the girl?" Star sat up again.
"-Is resting for now. Her body was dangerously over-heated - we've got it....taken care of." The boy smiled impishly. Star felt herself smiling back, albeit reluctantly.
" Who are you?"
The boy grinned and flipped a card into his fingers before tossing it at her. She looked at the single black Spade.
" Call me Ace."
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" How is Warp really doing?" Star sipped at a drink the boy brought her. " And how do you know she's being taken care of?"
" Because my friends are the ones helping her," he answered. " They'll be here in a minute."
" How did you find us?"
" You kind of appeared in our lawn," Ace grinned. " People have a tendency to do that."
" What do you mean?"
" We have so many interdimensional travelers coming to and from this place, we should construct a landing pad on top of the Gazebo," he snorted. " All that wierdness builds up the temporal energies over a period of time. Your friend's teleportation powers probably felt that energy and let itself be carried to us."
Star could sense no hostility, but she grabbed him by the throat anyway.
" What do you know of her powers? Are you working for the nega-verse?"
" Nega-verse?" he gasped. Suddenly, he slipped from her grasp. " Never heard of it."
Star didn't know how he got away from her so easily. " Right."
" About time you woke up, miss," another cheerful voice said. Star turned around to see a blue furry thing bounding over to her bed. She did the only thing she could think of. She slammed her power out and pinned him to the wall.
" Stop it! He's a doctor!" Ace brought another card from his pocket and threw it at her. She would have snorted at such a paltry attack, until it exploded at her feet. The shock and the blast knocked her to the floor. She looked up, weak and confused. " Who are you people?"
Ace and the blue thing looked at each other. Ace shrugged. " Tell her, Beast."
The ape-like man adjusted his glasses and assumed what he certainly thought of as an imposing stance.
" We're the X-men."
Star stared for a minute, taking this in.
" Who are the X-men?"
(PRESENT)
" What a powerful meeting that was," Ace chuckled. Star glared at him.
" I had just been transported thousands of years into an alternate future, my friends were somewhere where I couldn't see them, and a giant blue teddy bear had just said he was my doctor. How did you expect me to react?"
Lita laughed. " What a sight that must have been."
The tension in the room had eased remarkably. Evidently this story was a lot less painful for them to tell, Luna noted. Even Star seemed to be enjoying herself now. Mina leaned forwards.
" So who were the X-men?"
" To make a long story short, they were outlaws who fought evil mutants." Barricade said.
" We protected humanity." Ace agreed. " And we took these ingrates in."
" Ingrates?" Warp growled. Ace laughed at her outraged expression.
" Just kidding."
" So how did Warp survive the teleport?" Amy asked, curious to know the technical details. Star sobered.
" The main problem with Warp's powers is that harnessing the necessary energy to transport, overheats her body. She literally cooks her system each time she does. And for this jump, she fried her nervous system - she was boiling before their eyes."
" Fortunately, Beast, the doctor, saw what was happening and knew what to do. He needed to cool her off in seconds - normally an impossible feat," said Ace." But we had a mutant there whose power centered on ice. So - he froze her."
This stunned everyone. Ace looked up, confused. " What?"
" You..froze her." Serena said slowly. Barricade nodded.
" Ice-cold Warp on a stick."
Warp hit him with a pillow.
" Ouch."
" Well, it obviously worked," Luna observed.
" Yup - Beast also eventually helped design this neat armour - it absorbs most of the energy for me, and I use my powers to manipulate it once it's stored," said Warp, thumping the metal chest plate enthusiastically. " Now the strain is taken off."
" So that's how you've been able to do so much," Luna said.
" So where does Hang Glide come in?" asked Amy.
" Glide was living with the X-men," said Ace. " She's a Kree native."
" Mutant?" asked Mina, still trying to absorb all of this.
" Alien," said Glide, laughing as the scouts crashed to the floor in shock.
" Do I wanna know?" asked Serena. Darien nudged her.
" It's important we know their history." Amy rubbed her head.
" An alien." She took in Glide's pale blue skin and white wings. " Does your entire race look like this?"
" No - I'm a throwback," she said softly. Barricade rubbed her hand gently. Ace shrugged.
" With her culture, it's worse then the warfare between humans and Mutants. The Kree fought with a race of birdlike beings, known as the Shi'ar. And her mother committed the ultimate sin - she fell in love with a Shi'ar male."
" I was born with the blue skin of the Kree, and the birdlike structure of the Shi'ar," Glide said. " But to make me even more of an outcast - I grew wings. Something the Shi'ar had evolved past and considered inferior."
" So you were rejected by both races," Darien said sympathetically. Glide nodded.
" How did you end up on Ace's planet?" Amy asked, fascinated by what she was hearing.
" The X-men were no strangers to the Shi'ar - our leader, professor X was the love of the Empress Lilandra, leader of the Shi'ar, who had taken pity on Glide."
" Lilandra gave me a home where I wouldn't be tormented - but I was still alone. After the X-men had come to the Shi'ar home world and helped Lilandra deal with a problem she had, she asked the professor to take me in, as he had done for countless others born with different...attributes."
" So she came to the x-mansion." Ace finished. " I lived there my whole life - my father, codenamed Gambit, was one of the second string of X-men. Soon after Glide arrived, these three did."
" So why did you leave?" Artemis asked.
Ace shrugged. " It sounded interesting - and I wanted to travel. It also didn't hurt that I admired the leader of such a brave group-" he shot Star a sly look."-and Glide here fell in love with Barrier-boy."
" They knew of our past, and wanted to see the world." Star added. " So we became our own team."
" When did you come here?" Rei wanted to know.
" Oh, a few years ago. But we travel to so many times and places, I keep forgetting," Star said casually. " It's not that important anyway."
" So you've been battling the nega-verse for some time now," Lita said. " Why haven't we seen you before? Why did you only show up when those sea-creatures did?"
" Well...." Barricade hedged. Star grinned.
" We don't actually spend a whole lot of time here," Star began. " We....help, a lot of other realms."
" Cosmic do-gooders?" chuckled Amy.
" Not quite," Warp looked away with a guilty smile. Star sighed.
" I suppose the closest term you could use would be mercenaries."
" WHAT?!?!?" The scouts shouted.
" I knew they wouldn't like this," Warp grumbled.
" You use your powers - for profit?" Amy asked with dismay. Star shrugged.
" So?"
" It's not right! You should be helping because its the right thing to do!" Lita stated. Star leaned forward and her eyes flashed again. _Uh oh_ thought Ace.
" Excuse me - but I don't recall asking for your approval," she said softly, dangerously. " I couldn't care less, whether you hated or approve of what we do. We have our reasons, and since we're not about to change anytime soon, I suggest you grow up and get over it. Got it?"
" Got it!" Serena whimpered. Star rolled her eyes and sat back. Lita crossed her arms, fuming, but said nothing more. Amy broke it up quickly, fearing a fight.
" So what were those sea-creatures we fought today?"
" A contract gone way wrong," said Barricade. " We were supposed to deal with them in their own dimension - the N'ga are bloody murderers, bent on conquering their corner of the galaxy by any means necessary."
" Including whole-sale slaughter," Warp added.
" But they got hold of a piece of technology that allowed them to cross over realms," Ace said, casting an apologetic glance at Star who closed her eyes. Glide smacked his arm.
" Don't say it like that!"
" What?" asked Mina.
" They captured Warp," said Star flatly, refusing to open her eyes. " I let my guard down and they got past me."
" It wasn't your fault," soothed Warp. She faced the scouts. " I wasn't paying attention either - and they grabbed me and knocked me out before I could escape. By the time I came around, they had already stolen a part of my temporal energy aborber armour and duplicated it. The rest, as they say, is history."
" They teleported here," guessed Amy. Warp nodded. " We figured out that they could only come to this dimension because that's what I focused on the most. So we came back to try and stop them. And we ran into you."
" Wow," breathed Serena. " That's some story."
" A piece of it anyway."
" There's more?"
" Nothing you need to know," Star said abruptly, cutting her off. " I say we cut it for the night - what's left of it anyway - and start hunting these things tomorrow. The sooner we destroy the N'ga, the sooner we can go back to our dimension-hopping lives and leave you guys to create your Crystal Tokyo."
" How'd you know about that?" Serena asked in shock. Star sighed.
" Never mind," she said as Warp generated a portal. " Meet you guys here mid-morning."
" But-"
" They're gone, Serena," Rei said, watching the black hole disappear. Lita frowned.
" What do you guys make of all this?"
" I believe them," Amy said slowly. " I believe they're our allies, and I believe they're here to help."
" Buuuuuut?" prompted Mina.
" I also believe they're very dangerous," she finished. The other scouts exchanged glances before nodding solemly. Serena curled closer to Darien as she glanced out the window.
_They're also hiding something, something important_ she thought. _But what?_
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