Salem-X

Issue #51 – Winter's Flame - Part Two

Salem School of Witchcraft

"Hey, just wanted to let you know that I've officially changed my codename to Crimson Arrow, not sure if I told you sense you kept referring to me as Eagle in the meeting," Jason said as he stepped aside with Mike after the meeting.

"Oh, sorry, been a little distracted," Mike said as he looked over to the group on the other side of the room.

"So Illyana is back?" Jason Strongbow asked as he followed his teammate and friend's eyes.

"Yes, she appeared a few hours before I called the meeting. It seems something had gone down in her dimension and she came here looking for Wade's help," Mike answered as he glanced over at the more mature woman he had once fallen for before she had left the team and their dimension.

"What's going on?" Jason asked.

"I don't know, she wouldn't say and she kept changing the subject when I pressed. All I know is that a lot of time has passed in her dimension and a new threat had been born and is now endangering the peace they've worked so hard to establish the past twenty some years," Mike said.

"Wow, I can't believe time moves so fast there compared to ours. I was gonna say, she looked a little older but she can't be that old?" Jason added in amazement as he stared at the woman.

"Well, the nature of her powers, she ages a little slower than most. She may look a young thirty but she is actually in her forties," Mike responded.

"Did you tell her about Wade and the others vanishing?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, I filled her in on everything that has happened since she left. She was hoping to talk to Wade and really wouldn't tell me any more of what was going on. I tried to probe and offer our help but said she needed time to think about Wade and what her next move is but in the meantime she has agreed to help out here until she is able to generate a portal back home," Mike answered.

"You think she's hiding something?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, but until we find out, I just need to keep a close eye on her," Mike said as his feelings for her started to play games on his senses.

"So did you take his last name?" Portal asked with excitement for her old teammate.

"We don't quite do that, we combine them now. So I guess it would be Illyana Rasputinblaze.

"So, you're married?" Mike asked suddenly feeling jealousy and anger eat at him as he and Jason approached the group.

"Yes, to Dan. After you all left we grew very close living and fighting together for so many years we decided to bind ourselves to one another," Illyana said as she looked away with a strange sadness in her eyes.

"Why didn't Dan come with you?" Mike asked with a tone.

"Because, he's dead," Illyana answered as she stormed out of the room.

"Oh, Mike," Tyllas said as she spread her wings and flew after the woman.

"Not cool," Portal said as she followed.

"I didn't know," Mike said as he looked at everyone staring at him.

"Hate to interrupt but it seems we have an alert coming in on the Hex System. It appears there is a battle going on just up the hill from us," Bryce said coming into the room and switching on a large monitor.

"Bring it up," Mike said as everyone gathered into the room, including a very hard faced Illyana who would not meet his eyes.

"That appears to be Lord Sirus and his Demon Squad," Python said.

"Well, what's left of them," Scarlet Arrow said as he looked at the screen.

It seemed the only two left fighting were Lord Sirus and Spideress. Skull was nothing but a pile of frosty bones. Draco's entire body was encased in ice while his head, also encased in ice lay severed and a few feet away from his body. Sharptooth laid flat on his back with what looked like a large sword made of ice sticking out of his chest. As they glanced at their opponent they saw a woman, in her twenties, with white skin and blue hair, wearing a blue outfit with a white cape flapping in the wind that appeared to be at her command. Mike didn't know if he should be concerned or relieved she was taking out one of their foes.

"My son, I've got to go help him," Analee screamed as she stepped into the room and then bolted back out of the room.

"Analee, wait," Mike called after the woman who was already gone.

"Who is that?" Salem asked as he eyed the woman in white and blue.

"I can't believe she followed me here," Illyana said as she stared at the monitor and growled.

"Followed you? Who is it, I don't recognize her," Reaper asked.

"You wouldn't, time has passed since you've left," Portal said as she elbowed the man from the same dimension as SilverFlame.

"Yeah, who is she?" Mike asked wondering what trouble Illyana had brought to their Earth.

"That's Winter Blaze, my daughter," SilverFlame said as her skin suddenly turned to organic steel and she bolted out of the room.

"Not only is she married but they had a kid too?" Crimson Arrow asked in shock as he ran after Mike and the others heading out into the field.

"Looks like it and maybe she's the reason she came here looking Wade. It's not Dan's but Wades?" Python questioned as she got along side the two.

"Maybe, Lucy, I want you and the rest of the staff to stay inside and watch after the kids. Salem-X members only outside, that includes you guys on the field as well," Shaman said looking at Portal and the others.

Shaman, Portal, Salem, Time Witch, Elementa, Reaper, Scarlet Arrow, SilverFlame, Crimson Bolt, Shadowoman and Natura arrived up the hill just in time to see Spideress encased in ice and Analee step next to her son. Shaman saw that the woman was causing a strong wind to pelt the two causing the area around them to start to frost over. Analee and used her magic and transformed into a creature made of lava but even in that form she was barely keeping the area around her melted as well as maintain her hot form. Lord Sirus was keeping an aura of fire around himself but it was all he could do to keep it up to keep himself from freezing. He looked pretty beaten. Shaman just couldn't imagine how this woman could best a being who was part demon, part witch and part vampire.

"Winter, stop this instant," SilverFlame said as she now stood a good distance a head of Salem-X and gaining ground towards her daughter.

"Oh, mother, there you are. I was on my way to find you but ran into these demon infested creatures and had to kill them," Winter said as she slammed her hand down upon the ground causing a large gust of wind to flow at Lord Sirus and Shifter making the grass freeze in it's path until it reached the two and rose up and over incasing the two instantly in ice. "That should hold them long enough for me to deal with family."

"Winter, you are pushing to hard, you need to calm down or," SilverFlame began to say.

"Or what?" Winter said turning to face her mom.

"Or your other side will take over," SilverFlame answered.

"I have it under control. You know my hunger to kill demons quenches that side," Winter said as she stepped towards her mother.

"Killing only feeds your inner demon. The moment you lose control of your emotions and powers it takes over," SilverFlame pleaded.

"You would like that so you can finally kill me and be rid of me, wouldn't you mother?" Winter said as the wind blew around her fists and suddenly a large sword made of ice formed in each of her hands.

"I don't want to kill you, I love you. I just want to find a way to help you," SilverFlame said as suddenly a large blade of steel shot out and formed where her left hand had once been.

"Is that why you came to this world?" Winter said as the wind gave her speed and she flew at her mother swinging her swords.

"I," began to saw when the sound of Winter's right blade shattering against her right steel arm drowned out her words.

"What is going on?" Shaman asked as he stopped near the two women fighting just as SilverFlame brought her sword around and broke her daughter's remaining sword in half.

"This is why you came here. You came to get my real father," Winter said as a strong gust of wind blew her mother aside and she looked right at Shaman.

"Father?" Shaman asked as he looked over to SilverFlame.

"Mike, did I forget to mention that we had a daughter?" Illyana asked as the three stared at each other in shock while the rest of Salem-X stood speechless.

"You mean, I have a daughter? That's impossible," Shaman said in confusion as he looked at the girl with blue hair that looked like frozen fire.

" I guess mom lied about you abandoning me or by your reaction it's true you never wanted me, either way, you both will die," Winter said as suddenly her body exploded in flame as she went from blue and white to red and black.

"What the?" Shaman asked Illyana as he saw the woman who might be his daughter now had red skin, boots and cape with a black outfit in addition to her hair now looking like a true burning flame and her eyes went red with a flame made of ice for pupils.

"It's the nature of her powers and curse. Her demon side has been freed," SilverFlame said as she transformed into her demon form while her steel sword became one of flames.

"Yes, and I will eat you all alive," Winter screamed as the South Wind blew causing fire to form all around her and then with a wave of her arms the flames took on shapes of fiery demons and launched themselves directly at her parents and Salem-X.


Young Avengers

New Recruits – Part Two

Patriot & Archtress – Mission: Argo the son of Hercules

"Is that Sandman?" Archtress asked as she shot arrow after arrow that when it hit a sand warrior it released as substance that caused them to become real moist and melt to the ground in a puddle of goop.

"No, looks similar but way too young. Looks to be about our age, maybe a pretender," Patriot said as he raised his shield to shield himself from the impact of the sand warrior's fists but was thankful that the gym had finally cleared out.

"You can call me Sandstorm. I am the son of the original Sandman, well technically I'm a clone but I prefer the term offspring," Sandstorm said as he started to move towards the Young Avengers when a rumbling caused him to pause.

"Who dares attack the son of a god?" Argo asked in anger as the large debris that had fallen lifts up in the air as Argo holds it up with his strength to reveal the boy he was wrestling to be lying, unconscious but safe right by him.

"Great, he not only knows who he is but he's got an ego too," Archtress signed as she loaded an arrow and sent it flying at Sandstorm.

Sandstorm smiled and exploded in a fury of sand going everywhere allowing the arrow to pass right through and hit the far wall. Then a large mallet formed out of the sand and hit Argo sending him flying back wards as Sandstorm then reformed kneeling down by the young wrestler and held a hand over his face.

"One move and I will suffocate him with sand," Sandstorm threatened.

Without missing a beat, Patriot threw his shield with great speed and strength. Sandstorm shouted in anger as he turned his head to sand letting the shield pass through him. Sandstorm was about to make good of his treat when suddenly the shield sent out a pulse and Sandstorm found himself being drawn after the flying disc as some magnetic force was pulling particle of sand by particle of sand to it. To avoid his fate he quickly pulled all sand into him and reformed himself completely solid. To his surprise, seconds after he had done this, Argo stood behind him and thunked him on the head sending him into unconsciousness.

"And Argo saves the day," Argo said with a large smile as he winked at Archtress.

"Whatever. Quick thinking," Kate said as she stepped over to Patriot as his shield had returned to him.

"Got to love the new shield," Patriot said as he saw Argo walking towards them.

"Are you guys the Avengers?" Argo asked.

"Not quite, we are the Young Avengers," Patriot started to answer.

"Oh, and you want me to join you in your heroics? Mom said I'm supposed to keep a low profile," Argo said interrupting Patriot and then looking at Archtress with a huge smile, "but as I see I've already broke that promise I might as well."

"Great," Kate said rolling her eyes and then glanced over to their attacker, "looks like our guy got away."

"I can hear sirens, we better get out of here as well," Patriot said as he started to move towards a side exit in the gym.

"Can I go with you?" Argo asked.

"What about your mom?" Kate countered.

"I've known since the day I was born that I was the son of Hercules and my mom has always made me promise never to reveal that to anyone especially my dad. Today was the first time I really got to use my gifts and I'm tired of hiding," Argo said as he seemed to show a softer side of his egotistic persona.

"Let's pay your mom a visit. If she agrees then we'll take you back with us," Patriot said as he would need her on their side to help cover this incident up and Argo vanishing.

Stature & Hulkling – Mission: Kevin Masterson the son of Thunderstrike

Cassie saw the substance coming at them and her instincts kicked in as she shrunk down to insect size as her costume formed around her and she spouted mechanical wings to give her flight. She easily flew out of the path and made a quick pass by the high school bullies pinned to the wall zapping them with her stinger blasts with enough power to knock them out. She then turned to see that Hulkling had avoided the goop as well and was in his Hulkling persona. Unfortunately, Kevin was now standing in the middle of the hallway with a strange substance that covered his whole body except his shoulders and head. The rest was trapped in a very hard substance he could not get free from.

"What is this, the Avengers?" Kevin asked looking at Cassie.

"No, we're the Young Avengers and we're here to help you. I'm Stature and this is Hulkling," Cassie said giving Kevin the quick hint to not blow their secret identities.

"Oh please, like you're anything like the real Avengers. Unlike me, I am more powerful than my idol, the Trapster. Say hello to Trap Lad," the young villain said as he shot a few pellets right at Hulkling.

The pellets hit the floor and began to crate a strange foam. Hulkling quickly sprouted his wings and took to the air to save himself. Cassie flew to Kevin's right side and began to blast away with her singer blasts trying to get Kevin free. She could probably do it faster but to do so would be to grow and risk getting stuck in the foamy substance on the floor. Hulkling was currently flying and dodging keeping Trap Lad busy.

"So, you guys formed your own team?" Kevin asked as he watched the little flying girl chipping away at the substance that held him tight.

"Yeah, there's about ten of us now. All connected to the Avengers in some way, but I assure you, we are not a part of nor do we take orders from the Avengers themselves," Stature said as finally a big enough chunk fell off that Kevin was able to pull his right arm free and flex his hand.

"That's good, cause you know, all things considering, I still am very angry with Cap, Thor and them," Kevin said shocking back the tears as he thought of his dad and how Thor and the Avengers had abandoned him and left him to sacrifice his life for them and then allowing his mom and evil step-dad to take him away.

"Kevin, I'm so sorry about your dad," Cassie began to say.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry. You lost your dad too and I wasn't even there for you," Kevin said as he looked at down at the tiny girl who had started to fly up to his face.

"It's okay. We both have lost and we both need to move on and stop blaming them for the death of our fathers. Both of them dead to save others, that's what being a hero is all about and it's a great legacy to follow," Stature said as she grew to normal size and stood on the chucks she had blasted off to stay off the foam.

"I know, but why are you here?" Kevin asked.

"Because I want you," Cassie blurted out.

"What?" Kevin asked in shock.

"I mean, we want you to join us," Cassie corrected herself as she blushed a little.

"How can I do that? I'm just a kid, who's strapped," Kevin said in confusion.

"Actually, you're not. You do have something we all need," Cassie said making sure her words came out right this time. "Hulkling, now!"

Kevin watched as the one she called Hulkling pulled something from a bag and threw it right at him. Kevin held out his hand in reflex and turned his head waiting for impact. He was quickly surprised when all he felt was a small thump and realized he was holding something. He turned his head back and opened his eyes and gasped as he realized he was holding a large hammer in his hand. What had shocked him was that this was no ordinary hammer, it was his father's enchanted weapon given to him by a very powerful being from a place called Asgard.

"Thunderstrike, how did you?" Kevin asked in amazement as he couldn't take his eyes off his father's hammer.

"We have our methods, now, you going to help us out here?" Stature asked with a wink.

"Here goes nothing," Kevin said both excited, scared and apprehensive about using his father's weapon but closed his eyes and slammed the hilt down against the side of his rocky prison causing lightening to strike down upon Kevin, shattering the prison that had bound him.

"Okay, when I agreed to go after the Masterson boy, they didn't say anything about having to go up against Thor. I'm out of here," Trap Lad said as he shot too pallets at the ground causing fog to go up to cover his escape.

Kevin stared as he saw the villain get away and Hulkling and Cassie both staring at him. He then turned and looked at his reflection in a door's window. He looked just like his dad when he became Thunderstrike. He dropped to one knee and began to cry as Cassie knelt down and held him.

Kid Vis & Talon – Mission: Sebastian Druid the son of Doctor Druid

"Jonas!" Talon screamed as she saw the explosion go off.

"Don't worry, you forget I can phase," Kid Vis said with a smile as he walked out of the blast unharmed.

"So what is she, some kind of spawn of the Inhuman Queen?" Talon asked as he composed herself and moved next to her teammate and faced the woman with long red hair that seemed to crackle every time it hit something near her.

"No, I am a mutant who was cast aside by her family for being different. Because of my similar abilities I was asked to take the honor of modeling myself after her, one of the original Frightful Four," Miss Medusa said as her hair seemed to get longer.

"Scans show that when her hair makes contact with something it creates and absorbs kinetic energy that she seems to use to either make her hair grow long, give herself enhanced physical abilities or as we saw, send it all out in one blast using eye contact as a focal point," Kid Vis said as he compiled the data and informed his teammate.

"Well, let's see how she likes my powers," Talon said as she opened her mouth and unleashed ear piercing squawk.

"You think that will stop me?" Miss Medusa swore as she covered her ears and whipped out her hair and wrapping it around Talon's neck.

"Talon," Kid Vis began to say as he turned to his teammate struggling to breath.

"Stop right there. One move and I snap her neck," Miss Medusa said as she held tight to the struggling Talon while building her energy for one of them to make eye contact with her.

"I can't believe I finally managed to escape that box, not sure how…what happened to my comic shop?" Sebastian began to say as he came around the corner and then screamed when he saw the comic book shop in ruins.

All three turned to see a kid about eighteen with long black shaggy hair and marching beard wearing sweats and a black t-shirt that barely covered his very large belly. If Talon hadn't been struggling to breath and had been able to speak she was have shouted in frustration that they were here risking their lives to rescue that. Even if he had magical talent, he was in no shape to be an asset to the Young Avengers. Kid Vis just nodded and confirmed out load that this was Sebastian Druid.

"How did you get out?" Miss Medusa asked in anger causing the fat guy to turn and face her.

"You did this. You destroyed my comics!" Sebastian shouted as suddenly a strange energy built around him and then a weird mystical blast flew out right at Miss Medusa causing her to step back, releasing Talon right before the blast hit her and she vanished from sight in a huge flash.

"Holy cow!" Talon said as she chocked catching her breath and rubbing her throat.

"How did I, did I just kill her?" Sebastian asked in horror.

"No, scans show a strange residue. Someone teleported her out before you hit her," Kid Vis said as he moved towards the fat kid.

"Who are you and what's going on here?" Sebastian asked as he continued to stare from the Young Avengers to the place where the comic shop used to be.

"This has got to be a joke," Talon mumbled to herself.

"Attention all Young Avengers! This is Lady Sword. Something's happened to Iron-Lad. He went off and now I've lost all communication with him. I am in route; please meet me at the coordinates I am sending you. Please hurry!" Came Susan Bishop's voice over all their com units as Talon took flight and Kid Vis followed after using his strength to try and carry the screaming fat man as he took to the air as well.

Next: Issue #52 – Winter's Flame - Part Three & Young Avengers: New Recruits – Part Three