Disclaimer : Marvel owns the X-men, I'm just borrowing them.
Explosive Combination
Chapter Seven : To Boldy Go
Jubilee looked up and gave a quick wave to Rogue as she floored the gas pedal, sending the car lurching forward as the engine roared. Angelo was screaming curses in Spanish as well as clutching to the upholstery for dear life. He had long since wrapped his excess skin around the seat, fastening himself tightly to it as they sped down the country road. For Angelo, cartoon physics applied as his face stretched back and started flapping in the wind, control lost to the sheer panic he was feeling with the maniac he had freely climbed into the stolen car with.
Jubilee cast a look to Angelo and gave a sigh as she let off the gas, finally as their velocity slowed, she applied the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road she waited for Rogue. Angelo stared off at the road ahead, long since slipping into a slight catatonic state. Rogue soared overhead and then swooped down, picking up her car as she flew back to the mansion. Looking over the door, Jubilee saw that they had to be at least twenty stories into the sky now as Rogue flew back to the mansion.
"Hey Angelo? You afraid of heights?" Jubilee asked as she looked over to Angelo as he finally drew back to reality.
"Yeah Chica, why?" Angelo asked, not knowing their situation.
"Well then, just take a look over the door then." Jubilee said with a devilish grin on her face.
Angelo shrugged and loved over, letting out a scared yell as he pulled back to the seat, tightening his skins grip on the seat.
"Yeah, Skunky caught us." Jubilee replied as she turned off the engine and put it in standby, keeping the tunes blaring as they flew back to the mansion.
Back at the mansion, Remy was sitting on the front porch with a beer resting on the step, and a cigarette pinched between his fingers. Tilting his head, he looked off to a speck on the horizon, as it grew closer. As it did so, he could swear it was a woman carrying a Miata. Finally as the car grew closer, he could recognize the kind of music that Jubilee enjoyed, as well as the form of Rogue underneath the car as she carried it. Setting the car down gently before the steps, Rogue crawled out and looked into the car, glaring as Jubilee as she lounged in the car listening to a song.
"Out!" Rogue yelled.
"Sec. Fav song." Jubilee replied as she turned up the volume.
With an alarming display of speed and strength, Rogue unbuckled Jubilee and plucked her from her car, while Angelo took this instance to peel himself off the car and jump out. Rogue set Jubilee down and jumped into the car, but paused as she looked to the ignition.
"Where are mah keys?" Rogue inquired in a flat voice as she looked to Jubilee.
"Keys? Like what would I need those for?" Jubilee asked as she grinned down to Rogue a moment before she joined Remy on the steps.
A shrill shriek was heard as Rogue flew out and picked up her car, walking it back into the garage.
"Her time of the month or something?" Jubilee inquired with a chuckle as she looked to Remy.
"Eh? Non P'tite, der be some people who don like it too much when you borrow der t'ings. Wit'out de keys. Like sports cars." Remy replied, shaking his head a little as he smiled down to Jubilee.
"Oh? Wow. Will wonders never cease" Jubilee replied with false shock as she lay down on the steps and looked up to the sky.
"Hey Rem, what's about the size of a football stadium, shiny, metal, and breaking through the cloud?" Jubilee inquired with the air of a riddle to her voice.
"Don know P'tite, what?" Remy asked as he took a sip of his beer.
"Dunno, but if you look up, you'll find out." Jubilee said as she pointed to the sky, and as Remy looked up he spit out his beer.
"Like, ew. Scuse me while I go have a shower and change now. Oh, go and ask the X-geeks why they got something outta a bad sci-fi movie floating over their house." Jubilee remarked as she got to her feet and walked off.
Minutes later Remy found himself in the War Room of the mansion, with the assembled X-men before him. Charles walked in moments later with a regal looking woman at his side, while he was wearing an odd suit himself. Remy cast a curious glance to the man he knew to be crippled from a war injury. Xavier paid him no heed as he walked to the head of the table with a grim look on his face.
"You may be seated my X-men. We have very important business to discuss." Charles said as he sat down, looking about the room.
The others sat down, with only Logan and Bishop choosing to stand out of the X-men. Remy chose to leaning against the wall as he smoked a cigarette, looking to the woman as she leveled her gaze about the room.
"I see you have had some recent additions to your flock my beloved." Lilandra said as she glanced at the younger members of the team, composed of Chamber, Blink, and Skin.
"Indeed. And the Gentleman off in the corner is Remy LeBeau, a guest for the time being." Charles said as he gestured over to Remy.
"Allo Chere, mind telling Remy where you come from dat you bring a spaceship on house-calls?" Remy inquired as he looked to Lilandra.
"My pardons. I am Empress Lilandra of the Shi'ar Empire, an Empire spanning a vast area of space, ruling over numerous sentient life-forms." Lilandra replied as she gave a slight smile to Remy.
"Ah. Dey X-men keep interesting friends, non?" Remy mused as he looked back to Charles.
"Indeed, our relationship with the Shi'ar Empire is a thing of pride, though there are more pressing matters to attend to. Empress Lilandra has come to us for our help." Charles remarked as he waited to ensure he had everyone's attention.
All eyes focused on Charles and Lilandra, while Remy merely watched with a casual glance as he smoked on his cigarette. Off in the distance he could hear the sound of heavy footsteps drawing closer to the room. Charles, hearing this, decided to wait a moment longer. Suddenly Jubilee burst into the room, a towel wrapped about her hair and a scowl on her face.
"Your out of hot water! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get shampoo out of your hair with cold water!" Jubilee shrieked as she glared at Charles, then tilting her head afterwards.
"Hmm, probably not. But it's freaking hard! Oh, and your spaceship is double parked." Jubilee finished as she looked to Lilandra before taking a seat.
Those in the room held expressions of shock, amusement, disbelief, and wide-eyed terror. The wide eyed terror came from Bobby, who had been working with the mansions plumbing during his latest prank, though he had apparently put the delayed shut off for the hot water on the wrong pipe, having aimed for Hank's shower.
Charles looked up to Lilandra who gave a chuckle at Jubilee's antics. After a moment to regain composure with the sobering thought of the peril her empire faced, she gave a nod to Charles.
"As I was saying, the Empress has come to us for our help. An Interstellar Civil war has erupted in the Shi'ar galaxy. Supporters of Deathbird, Empress Lilandra's sister, have gathered under her banner and lead a battle to see her as the Empress. In a final act, they have stolen the M,Kraan Crystal, seeking to use its powers to alter fate." Charles explained as all in the room who knew what had just been spoken of looked at him with fear evident.
"M,Kraan Crystal? Deathbird? I'd like to buy a vowel, Y?" Jubilee asked as she looked to Charles.
"My dear, the M,Kraan Crystal is a thing of immeasurable power, a nexus of all realities. Those whom can exploit it can affect reality." Hank explained.
"Oh, so in other words it's not just some regular hunk of rock. Fine. All reality, I guess that even hits home here eh Remy?" Jubilee remarked as she looked back to her partner in crime.
"Oui P'tite." Remy replied with a nod of his head as he stubbed out his cigarette.
"K, so we're in. You want us to steal it back or something?" Jubilee inquired, looking to Lilandra.
"Well, actually that is exactly what we had hoped for." Lilandra replied as she looked down to Charles.
"Fine, you X-men get me and Remy in, and we'll work on stealing the rock. A little compensation wouldn't be that bad either though, as it's not often, if ever, that Remy and I have worked for free." Jubilee replied as she leaned back in her chair smiling.
"I'm sure we can compensate you for your help. We shall be leaving now. Dithal, please transport us to the bridge." Lilandra said as a glow surrounded everyone.
As everyone rematerialized on the bridge of the ship, Jubilee fell onto the ground with a loud thud, while Remy stumbled back as the wall he had been leaning against had vanished. The others had jumped to their feet at the moment of the word 'transport', leaving them in various states of standing up.
"Little warning next time." Jubilee grumbled as she climbed to her feet.
"My apologies, but we haven't a moment to waste. The last time the M,Kraan crystal was involved in a plot by my family, the Phoenix force that guards it caused immeasurable destruction." Lilandra replied as she took a seat on the bridge with Charles sitting beside her.
"De last time? You mean to tell Remy dat dis kind of t'ing has happened before?" Remy asked as he walked up to Lilandra, only to be halted by Imperial guards.
"I'm afraid so, that is why we must hurry." Lilandra replied as she waved off the guards.
"Merde. P'tite, when we be done with dis, lets get into a more safe business, like nuclear arms dealing." Remy replied with a hint of sarcasm as he walked over to Jubilee and stood behind her protectively.
"I'm with you on that one Gumbo. So, like, you going to leave us fighting your war in house coats and T-shirts?" Jubilee asked.
"Of course not, we will outfit you as you require. Nessas, please escort the X-men and their guests to the guards quarters that they might find proper armor and whatever they might desire in weaponry." Lilandra said, and a guard quickly saluted as he waited for them to follow.
Jubilee and Remy watched as the X-men dressed in replicas of the costumes they had all grown to love. Shaking her head, she tried to hold back a laugh at Logan with the points rising from his cowl. The only one's who seemed to have any taste were Rogue who was dressed in a skintight forest green cat suit for obvious reasons, Chamber who was dressed in leather with his psonic flame burning strongly, Angelo with a short jacket and pants, and Blink dressed in a simple leather jacket and jeans.
Remy and Jubilee took to their usual attire, trench coats and their body suits that helped to absorb shocks and absorb various energy weapons while too armored against bullets. Jubilee had been able to emulate the body armor that Remy owned a few months after their meeting, and after acquainting herself with the computer program that created the clothing; she was able to do so once more. A few decks of cards and Bo staffs were also replicated, and Jubilee smiled, as she finally owned a copy of the beloved Bo staff Remy owned.
"Ready to go to work buddy?" Jubilee asked as she did the last fasten on her boots.
"Do ya even need to ask P'tite?" Remy replied as he shuffled away at his cards.
The assembled X-men watched as their guests with appraising glances, breaking off into their collective teams as the ship traveled through space to the wormhole back to their galaxy. The curious looks did not go unnoticed by Remy and Jubilee.
"So, what's the plan?" Jubilee asked to no one in particular.
"Well, since Remy and yourself seem intent on the 'theft' aspect of this mission, we shall work to provide and entrance and distraction. Logan, Bishop, Chamber, Rogue. You will be the entrance team. You will guard the entrance and ensure a safe exit for them. Storm, Blink, Angelo and Marrow, you will work on a distraction. Phoenix and Hank, your with me on another distraction." Scott said in a serious tone as his mind worked through the possible threats they would face, for it had been too long since they had last fought against the Shi'ar Empire.
"So, tell us about dis Deathbird." Remy inquired, as he looked Scott square in the eyes with his own demon eyes.
"She was once the Empress of the Shi'ar Empire, possess super strength and incredible speed. Razor-sharp wing-spurs, razor sharp talons, and is prone to berserker rages. By no means nice, and rather psychotic." Scott remarked in a 'mater of fact' tone as he looked to Remy.
"Eh? Dat all, den you haven't seen de P'tite on a sugar high." Remy remarked as he tried to ease the tension in the room created by the younger team members as they listened to the odds they were up against.
Meanwhile Jubilee was peering out a window of the ship as space folded about them and vanished in an odd glow.
"Who went to light speed?" Jubilee inquired as she looked back to Scott.
"No one. We've entered a wormhole, traveling under light speed, though just using a quirk of physics to take a short cut." Scott remarked, earning a glare from Jubilee.
"Like, I know what a wormhole is 'Scooter'. Ya don't need to patronize me like some little kiddy. Before my parents were killed I was pulling straight A's at Beverly Hill Prep." Jubilee growled a moment before she turned back to the window as the light vanished and normal space stretched out before them.
Off in the distance a red planet hung in a set of rings, various starships in orbit as they guarded the home of the dissident Imperial forces. Suddenly the lights on the ship shifted to red and began flashing, while an annoying siren rang.
"Red Alert Mr. Tuvok. We're going in." Jubilee whispered as she stared at the Starships powering up and lurching towards them.
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