CHAPTER SEVEN

Superhuman

Krystal's eyes fluttered open and she left out a soft groan before lifting her head off of the…soft pillow?

She certainly hadn't expected to wake up in a situation as comfortable as this after getting knocked out in the middle of Central Park, but what she also hadn't expected was the human woman with billowing red hair sitting next to her placing a cold compress on her head.

"Easy there." she said softly…without moving her mouth. "You don't wanna get yourself more injured than you already are."

"You can use thought-speak?"

"Yep. So can you from what I can sense."

The woman held out her hand to Krystal and began to actually use her mouth to speak, her quick demonstration of her power having strongly impressed her guest.

"My name is Jean Grey, though a couple of my friends sometimes call me Phoenix"

"I'm Krystal. Good to…ow…"

"Easy. Just lie back. You're safe here."

"Where…am I?"

"This is a dorm room in the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning...though we usually just call it the X-Mansion. It's a boarding school for Earth's mutants, though judging from what I saw in your head, you're not from Earth, and you're no mutant."

"Mutants? …never mind."

The two were interrupted by a young girl poking her head through the doorway.

"Excuse me, Miss Grey? Professor Xavier wants to see her."

"Okay. Thanks, Lexi. And please, call me Jean."

Without another word, Jean helped Krystal out of the bed, steadying her as she started to slump over. Once Krystal had properly gained her footing, she let Jean lead the way down the halls, surprised when she saw that none of the teenage boys and girls looked at her in an odd manner. She was a walking and talking fox with blue fur, and they were acting like it wasn't a big deal.

"Because it's not." said Jean, having listened intently to what Krystal had been thinking. "Not to us, anyway. Your genes don't decide what kind of person you'll become. You do. That's one of the things we really stress here, and by the looks of it, it's working out pretty well for us."

"I see…so you're just born as mutants?"

"Yeah. Why? Is that a problem?"
"No, of course not…but I didn't think that humans would have powers as extraordinary as yours."

Jean laughed. She liked this vixen already.

"Then you've got to meet the professor. Here's his office."

The two stepped through the double doors and entered a room with its walls lined with book shelves, sun streaming in from the large windows and a beautifully crafted desk near one of said windows. What caught Krystal's attention the most, however, was the bald man sitting in an electric wheel chair reading a book that was levitating in front of him, though telepathically placed it on the desk when Jean and Krystal entered the room.

"Krystal, I'd like you to meet our institute's founder, Professor Charles Xavier."

Xavier smiled and held out his hand to Krystal. When she placed her hand in his, she felt the warmth of a kind heart but also the discomfort of being spied on, not realizing for a few moments that like Jean, Xavier could read her mind.

"You seem surprised to encounter so many telepaths."

"I…I suppose so…sorry I seem so out of it right now. I just had a run-in with this enormous robot."

"Ah, a Sentinel. We've had our fair share of them giving us a hard time over the past several years. It's fortunate that Logan found you."

All of a sudden, the door swung open and in walked the same man who'd saved Krystal the night before. She had the thought to thank him for his courage and generosity, but then she let her intimidation get the better of her when she remembered him taking down a thirty-foot tall robot, as well as those ferocious-looking claws of his. They were retracted for now, sure, but a brief look into Logan's head warned her that he'd pull them on someone in an instant if he wanted to.

"Somebody call?" he said in his gruff voice.

"No, but always nice of you to drop in, Logan." Jean said with a smirk.

Logan offered his own smirk before turning to Krystal.

"Hey, listen, some guys from S.H.I.E.L.D. just called. You with them?"

"Pardon?" Krystal asked, Logan's sudden attention to her throwing her off if only slightly.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury. Big copter piece a' junk in the sky. You with them?"

"Yes."

"Okay, good. 'Cause they're comin' to pick you up. Rogers and some guy named Fox McCloud."

Krystal breathed a sigh of relief at the mention of Fox. Just the person she was wanting to see, especially after what she'd been through. She had every thought to try and talk him into just dropping everything and going home before things got any worse, but she knew he couldn't accept defeat from scum like the Anglars. Neither could she after what Zoldge had pulled on her.

"But I didn't ask to see you for that." Professor Xavier spoke up. "I understand you encountered a mutant calling herself Psyrin last night."

Bringing up Psyrin immediately shot the horrible experience Krystal had had with the illusion back into her mind, but she nonetheless stayed firm and questioning. To defeat one's enemy, one had to first understand them, and it seemed that Professor Xavier had the explanation she needed.

"Yes. What about her?"

"In truth, she was a student here not long ago. Her real name is Rina Gregorin. Like a good deal of mutants, she had a relatively unstable upbringing. It didn't help that she houses many different telepathic abilities, including inducing psychotic breakdowns like she did with you. She was very nearly incarcerated when she induced such an attack on her stepfather. By accident, of course, but that hardly convinced him that she wasn't a 'menace' if my memory serves me correctly."

"Good Lord...and you took her in?"

"Yes. The institution never turns away a single mutant if they can be helped."

Jean grimaced, attracting Krystal's attention in a fraction of a second. In response, Logan grunted and cocked his head at her.

"She can tell ya all about that." he muttered.

"Not a good time to be an ass, Logan." Jean replied. "But yes. I was taking care of her. She seemed innocent enough. I mean…she didn't want to hurt anyone. She wanted to find some way to use her powers for good, and I figured since she and I were similar in nearly every way, I'd try to help her out. I didn't even have to read her. She told me everything about herself, even all the people who called her a monster."

She smiled, though there was a certain sadness to it. Like a mother missing her child.

"She felt like she could trust me above everyone else."

"Alas, even some of her fellow students couldn't bear to be around her sometimes." continued Professor Xavier. "Every once in a while, her power would get out of control and she would accidentally cause someone to experience their deepest fears . One night, she simply vanished. She couldn't take the stress of trying to keep her power in check when so many feared her for it."

As odd as it seemed, Krystal knew what that was like. Feeling alone and unloved enough to leave a perfectly good life behind…and become the very thing they never wanted to be.

"So do you have any idea what she was doing with the Anglars?" she asked.

"Magneto, probably." Logan growled. "The Brotherhood of Mutants. They'll take anyone in if they're vengeful enough."

"And I take it they're not the friendliest bunch."

"Real damn perceptive, ain't ya?"

Jean scowled in disgust at Logan's rudeness, but nonetheless carried the conversation back to Psyrin.

"I've been on the lookout for her ever since she left, but I could never find her…and I didn't think in a million years she'd resent humans so much that she'd actually join with someone that wants to dominate them."

"People do strange and sometimes terrible things when they're pushed to their limits…" Krystal said, trying as hard as she could to not give anything away despite knowing Professor Xavier could hear everything.

The room remained silent for another few moments before Professor Xavier rolled his way to Krystal, gently taking her hand and looking into her eyes in an almost pleading manner. Krystal knew what he was going to ask even before he did, and she knew her answer the moment she heard Psyrin's story.

"Krystal, if it isn't too much to ask, I'd like you to bring her back here by any means necessary. Now that you have her scent and her yours, it's only a matter of time before the two of you encounter one another again, especially if she plans on impeding you and your allies again."

Krystal smiled and nodded, pleasing Jean and the Professor the moment she did so. As she opened her mouth to confirm her answer, however, the door flew open. The sound of concerned yelling on the other side should have been warning enough, but the girl that came running in and doubled over added further fuel to the fire.

"Professor!" she half-shouted. "It's…it's the Brotherhood! They're here!"

"That time of the month, huh?" Logan growled, unleashing his claws and running through the door. "I'll deal with 'em! Jean! You and the fox get the kids someplace safe!"

Jean rolled her eyes and grumbled something about Logan being too reckless despite effectively being invincible, but nonetheless led Krystal out the door. Krystal herself stopped a moment and looked back at Professor Xavier.

"Wait, what about…" she started.

"Don't worry." he said with a grin as the doors started to close on their own. "This place is like a part of me. I'd love to see the Brotherhood try and take it while I draw breath."

Satisfied, Jean began herding the fleeing students to safety, and while Krystal prepared to join her, something pinged in her brain. A warning siren, basically, and it only got stronger when she looked at the girl that had given them the warning.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked. "Get moving! They're coming!"

"They're already here, by the looks of it."

"Wha…oh, shit."

The girl didn't have time to get out of the way before Krystal's fist made contact with her stomach and her foot made contact with her chest. She stumbled backward, looking up in irritation before she began to change shape before the vixen's eyes. Her skin faded to a light shade of blue, her hair shortened and colored itself red, and with one blink, her eyes changed to a strange yellow hue.

"Jeez, first Charlie and now a talking fox reading minds, huh?" Mystique sighed as she cracked her neck. "Will wonders never cease?"
"Nice shape-shifting trick." Krystal said as her staff appeared in her hands. "Got anything else to back it up?"
"I guess you're dying to find out."

Mystique pounced, Krystal vaulting backward and then stabbing forward again. They pinned each other against the walls, struck each other hard across the face, and vaulted themselves down the halls and up the stairs of the mansion to keep each other at bay. Though Krystal was no slouch in terms of athletic ability, Mystique moved in a way that reminded her of a snake: so slippery and so agile that Krystal wondered if she even had any bones holding her together.

Then again, Krystal herself had a few tricks up her sleeve. She reached out telepathically and seized the first large object she could sense, in this case a bookshelf that she threw headlong at Mystique. The blue-skinned femme fatale slid underneath and vaulted backward when Krystal stabbed at her again. Unfortunately for her, Krystal was still one step ahead, spinning forward and whacking her hard against the side of her head. Mystique slid backward into a cat-like crouch, clutching at the smarting spot on her head before glaring up at Krystal.

"Nice stick." Mystique said with a sly grin. "Looks almost Asgardian. You know Thor?"

"I've heard the name, but no. I don't know him at all."

"Figures. He's a real player, but I'm not sure he's into fur."

"Oh, shut it!"

They clashed some more, throwing strike after strike at each other as they chipped away pieces of the walls and floor every time they slammed against them. At this point, Krystal began to understand just how capable these so-called mutants really were as Mystique finally started to gain the upper hand and push her back. She stabbed at her again, regretting it when her staff was ripped from her hands and caught her under the chin. She stumbled back against the wooden banister overlooking the first floor, and that was when Mystique slammed her foot against her chest.

Still not satisfied even after the vixen cracked her back hard against the floor below, Mystique leapt down after Krystal, the staff still in hand.

"Sorry to say it, but you really put your faith in the wrong guy." the mutant said before throwing the spear at Krystal like a javelin.

Perhaps Mystique spoke too soon, for the floor pulsed underneath her and launched her upward. With that tiniest of distractions, Krystal flipped to her feet and seized the staff in mid-air before intercepting Mystique with a flying kick.

"I guess you really do have everything under control." Krystal mentally called to Professor Xavier, getting a laugh in return.

"I'm not one for overconfidence, after all." the professor replied.

Mystique pushed herself back to her feet, now thoroughly irritated and ready to murder Krystal. Luckily, a certain clawed ruffian landed between the two and snarled at the blue-skinned mutant before she got the chance to close the distance.

"Logan. A pleasure as always." Mystique scoffed.

"I do take pleasure in tearing you punks a new one." Logan growled before he lunged headlong at her.

With the shapeshifter out of the way, Krystal suddenly sensed a new threat through the nearby wall. Charging fast and hard, ready to smash through any boundary before it.

"I don't think so." she said.

She stood at the ready, her hands outstretched as the target started to close the distance. She sensed the entire shape. It was big, but not unstoppable. Not for her, anyway. Right as it made contact with the wall and burst its head through, Krystal sent out a pulse through the entire wooden surface, tensing it and sealing the shape in place. A shape she could now see was another mutant, a dome-shaped helmet covering most of his face.

"What the bloody…you little rat!" he yelled in a thick Australian accent. "Don't you know who I am?!"

"No, but I'll tell you what you look like: a really big idiot…by the way, I'm not a rat."

The man broke through the wall in a matter of seconds, leaving Krystal in complete shock when she realized that he was over ten feet in height and so muscular that it put even the largest bodybuilder in the world to shame. She instantly regretted what she had said, especially when what he said next boomed through the hallway like an explosion.

"Wrong! I'M THE JUGGERNAUT, BITCH!"

He swung, again surprising the cobalt vixen with his speed despite his size. He wasn't quite fast enough for her to be unable to dodge his might punches, but she could feel his massive fists cut through the air every time he swung at her. She wasted no time in jumping backward and slamming the tip of her staff into the ground, shaking it just enough to through Juggernaut off-balance.

"Oh, I hate resorting to cheap shots…" Krystal sighed before doing exactly that.

Juggernaut's knees crumpled, but he quickly looked back up and snarled before slamming into Krystal at full force. When she slammed against the wall, she gave the residents of the X-Mansion (or X-Men she supposed she could call them) a lot of credit. If they somehow managed to put up with more rogue mutants than Mystique and Juggernaut, they were far more resilient and powerful than she could give any of them credit for.

Luckily, one such resident kept on looking out for her as she lay tired on the ground and barely able to push herself to her feet. Every time Juggernaut tried to close the distance, the floor pulsed and stumbled him or a bookshelf or table flew across the room and slammed into him. Finally, when Juggernaut had somehow managed to push through all of that and raised his fists to finish Krystal off, Professor Xavier materialized in the room and held up his hand. With that, Juggernaut was frozen in place, angrily trying to move his arms and yet meeting too much resistance.

"Finally showed up to fight us yourself, eh, Xavier?!" he shouted. "Guess the books don't do it for ya no more."

Xavier said nothing and simply pushed, launching Juggernaut back through the smashed hallway he came from. Right on cue, Logan had Mystique pinned, his claws dangerously close to her throat.

"Piss me off. I dare ya." he snarled.

"Challenge accepted." she spat.

She planted her feet against his chest and vaulted him off of her, but luckily for everyone, that was when the sirens kicked in outside. Juggernaut let up a roar and charged for the heroes again, but Mystique knew precisely what was happening and they frankly were better off not making things worse.

"Juggernaut!" she shouted. "S.H.I.E.L.D.'s on the way! We need to go!"

"The bloody hell I'm leaving before I turn this brat into mincemeat!"

"You don't even know what that is, do you?"

He switched targets while Mystique threw her arms up and made her escape. Professor Xavier smiled and settled into his chair, and for a good reason. Even as Logan and Krystal watched and wondered what in the world he was thinking, he relaxed and looked at the front door.

"Three…two…one."

And lo and behold. A familiar shape to Krystal was among the many that burst through the door with his gun trained on the hulking mutant. To say the least, he wasn't happy his fiancée was being threatened.

"You lay one finger on her and I'll break you in every way you can think of." Fox growled.

"Yeah?" Juggernaut growled. "Better idea! I'll break you!"

"Bad idea. Cap!"

Fox held his arm backward, a metallic howl ripping through the air as Captain America's shield landed in Fox's hand. He held it up just as Juggernaut threw his mighty punch, and it absorbed every single bit of the impact and returned it to its sender. Just like that, Juggernaut was sprawled out on the ground, and when he found the strength to stand up, he had dozens upon dozens of guns trained on him with Captain America himself standing front and center.

"Ah, damn it…" Juggernaut growled. "Fine. You win this one, but your fishy friends ain't done with ya by a longshot."

He bowled several of the agents over as he charged through the far wall and escaped, several of them having the full intention of following them but advised against it by Captain America.

"He'll tear you apart in seconds." he said.

Meanwhile, Krystal finally regained her strength and let Fox pull her into a tight hug, relishing in every second of it. Fox just thanked the powers that were that she was safe. He didn't have any idea who the people that took her in were supposed to be, but it hardly mattered to him.

"I like the suit." Krystal said.

"Thanks." he replied with a short laugh. "Fell in the East River…"

Fox was tempted to tell more, but something in his brain told him otherwise. Not his subconscious, but…it didn't matter. It wasn't important. They were broken apart once Captain America stepped toward them with a smile.

"So this is your friend, Fox?" he asked.

"Captain Rogers." Krystal said with a smile. "A pleasure to meet you. You know Fox idolizes you?"

"Figured that out myself. He's not the first hardened guy to have an idolization for me."

Fox flushed while Krystal laughed, the X-Mansion's students starting to pour out of their hiding places now that the coast was clear. Professor Xavier rolled up to his newest visitors, with Captain America giving him a nod as he did so.

"Professor Xavier. Good to see you. Thanks for holding on to Krystal for us."

"Thank you for coming when you did, Captain Rogers." Xavier said with a smile. "It's good to know we have your support in these situations."

Captain America held up his shield right as Logan took a swing at him. The claws bounced right off, their owner smiling as he let them slide back out of sight.

"Vibranium versus adamantium. Round two ends in a draw." he said.

"Good to see you, too, Logan." Captain America said with a roll of his eyes. "If we're all finished here, we need to head out. We've got some other things to look into."

"Be sure to give us a call if you need anything. Brotherhood of Mutants plus your fish guys equals a recipe for disaster around here."

Captain America nodded and led the way out of the mansion. Before she followed the rest of her companions, however, Krystal turned to look back at Professor Xavier. She hadn't forgotten his request nor would she, and though she dreaded what could happen, she wouldn't let that turn her away. Not when someone potentially needed her.

"Don't worry, Professor." she said. "I'll find Rina and bring her home no matter what."
"Thank you, Krystal." the professor said. "That means the world to me."

With that, Krystal followed Fox and Captain America outside. Krystal took in the air and looked at the morning sky. Somehow this felt similar to Corneria, and while she was sure she wasn't the only member of Star Fox that wanted to get home as soon as possible, she at least felt like this truly was the place they would be establishing proper contact with in the coming years.

"So we got some good news from Tony and Natasha." Fox said to her. "They got Octoman. Steve and I got Zako."

"And Falco's gone off the grid?" Krystal asked after a quick sense of Fox's brain, picking up something else but keeping her focus on that subject in the meantime. "I can feel him somewhere…someone has him."

"Hostile?"

"It's hard to say…unhinged, but relatively harmless unless Falco gives him a reason to hurt him."

"Well, that works, I guess. Nothing Falco can't wriggle out of."

Krystal nodded.

"So where are we headed?" she asked.

"The Triskelion." Captain America answered. "We've got Zako and Octoman detained there. Natasha's on her way there, too, so we'll try to get some answers out of them."
"Right. Let's just hope they're willing to share."
"Whether or not they're willing, I think we'll get something out of them. From what I gather, you're pretty good at probing minds for information."

That she was, but speaking of probing minds, she now let herself think of what else was going on in Fox's head. She'd met some resistance, but not from Fox himself. Something else. Something scrambled and without much of a solid conscience. Something that was gaining energy the longer it was within him.

In fact, it had almost sounded like it was speaking…telling Fox that he was perfect for it.

"What are you?" she asked it.

She received no response, and suspected she wouldn't until it chose another time to speak. When that happened, she dreaded the repercussions and feared what would become of Fox.

He'd saved her enough times already. Now she needed to be ready for when she needed to save him…even from himself.


Well, I certainly took my time getting this done, didn't I? I mean, shit. The last time I updated this, Winter Soldier was still in theaters and Star Fox Zero was still in a pre-alpha state. Oh, well. Nothing says coming back with a fresh mind like taking two years to update the damn story.

And Civil War is the best superhero movie ever. Fight me on that, bro.

Don't actually fight me. Violence is never the answer...'kay, thanks.

SOUNDTRACK SO FAR

Briefing- The Avengers theme

Our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man-"I'm Spider-Man" from The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Krystal and Wolverine versus Sentinel-Theme from the 90s X-Men animated series

Fox and Black Widow versus Hammerhead and Zako- "Corneria" from Star Fox (SSBB version)

Falco, Black Widow, and Iron Man versus Zazan, Octoman, and Abomination- "The Mob Rules" by Black Sabbath

Fox versus Zako: Round 2-"Space Battleground" from Star Fox: Assault

Captain America- Main theme from Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Krystal versus Mystique and Juggernaut- "Corneria" from Star Fox Zero