The SuperStarr Chronicles
Disclaimer: "That would be an ecumenical problem!" - Father Jack Hackett, Father Ted
Review Response time!
LycoX – Thanks! I'm glad you liked the chapter! It really is interesting seeing how characters can evolve when you spend lots of time writing them. I'm glad you liked the scene with Craig and Lance. When I saw that scene in the original episode, I figured our new arrivals would not take that well. Lance acted like an idiot, and Craig was not going to accept that.
This fic is on TV Tropes! Just punch in "The Super Starr Chronicles" on the search bar on the site!
Chapter 4: Growing Pains, Part 2!
Bayville High School
It was a good night for a game of soccer at the Bayville High School's soccer field. The school's girl's soccer team, the Lady Hawks, were facing off against another local team. A quintet of the X-Men (Cyclops, Rogue, Spyke, Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat) were in attendance, as well as Professor Charles Xavier himself. After all, Jean Grey was playing for the Lady Hawks, and they wanted to show their support. Unknown to everyone in the arena, they were being observed.
Sitting on the announcer's box was the alien bounty hunter known as...Bounty. Yes, that was what he was known as. He was paid to track/find/capture/kill other beings, not come up with a clever codename for himself. The Karidian being was observing the game. Nobody saw him thanks to some tech in his armor that made him invisible.
Hmmm... Bounty thought as he observed the soccer game. I have to admit, this Terran sporting event is...quite interesting to watch. It kind of reminds me of Arcturan kickball...with less spiky areas and fire pits. He looked at one of the goalkeepers. Also, the guardians at their goal areas is similar to Kree crashball. He looked down at his arm...which was invisible. Heh. I'll have to remember to thank that Yautja I swiped this inviso-tech from again...after he gets out of traction. He continued to observe the soccer game. His helmet's scanners alerted him to something.
"Bio-signatures detected." The helmet's onboard computer announced.
"Good. Where are they?" The bounty hunter asked. His helmet's HUD created a map of the soccer field and the surrounding area. It pointed out four points of light heading towards the parking lot. "Excellent." He got to his feet.
"I still think this is a bad idea." Fred Dukes said as he and the rest of the Brotherhood hung out in the parking lot near the soccer field, clad in their uniforms.
"I heard you Blob, you won't shut up about it." Lance grumbled. "Okay, let's go over the plan. Todd."
"Yo!"
"You sneak into the announcer's box and get his mic. It's piped to the loudspeakers. Then you basically get the crowd's attention."
"Yes, sir!" Todd saluted eagerly. "You want me to make a speech or something?"
"No, just calling for attention will be fine."
"You sure?" Todd asked as he pulled out a piece of paper from a pocket in his costume. "I wrote a little speech."
"It's fine." Lance insisted. "Pietro."
"What you need?"
"I need you to get the spotlights on us as we stand on the announcers' box."
"Okay, but aren't you worried that Fred will make it collapse?" Pietro pointed out, jerking his thumb at Fred.
"Hey!" The large Texan exclaimed.
"No offense, but you're hardly svelte." Pietro pointed out.
"I may hardly be sv...sofa...what does 'svelte' mean?"
"Thin, basically." Todd explained.
"Oh." Fred nodded in understanding.
"It can hold him up!" Lance groaned.
"Lance, I still think this is a bad idea." Fred said. "Mystique said-"
"Forget Mystique, Dukes!" Lance snapped. "She's not here! She got blown to bits on that asteroid, remember?! Now look, fellas. Maybe it's about time that the world gets to meet mutants. After all, we shouldn't have to hide our special gifts."
"He does have a point, yo." Todd admitted. "I mean, look at me! Look at Fred! It's pretty obvious we ain't normal! And we don't have the luxuries those damn X-Geeks have! All my life, people have trashed me for how I look! Well, maybe it's time they start bein' scared of me for once! That'd be nice! To be the big man for once! For people to look at me with fear than disgust! For people to wince because they think I'll whup their asses instead of treating me like a punching bag! I'm with ya here, Lance!" He looked at Fred. "...Blob? You with us?" He saw that Fred was looking way from the other Brotherhood members.
"Uhm...we got guests." Fred noted.
"Well, well, well..." A familiar voice piped up, making the other three boys turn. Clara Creed strutted up to them, wearing a costume of her own. Her costume was a tan bodysuit, with pale yellow fur ringing her wrists and ankles. The suit had a ring of matching fur over her shoulders. Above the mane to her neckline, the suit was black. She also had a black cowl that let her blonde hair free. She also had on brown gloves and boots. The costume's design was completed by a black stripe that went down the center of her body. "Look at you, all wearing your fancy suits." She glanced at Fred. "Not one for you, big guy? I think blue spandex would fit you."
"Oh God, now I got that image in my head." Pietro groaned. Lance and Todd suppressed a snicker.
"...I'm not into the funny costumes." Fred told her.
"What's with the outfit?" Lance asked.
"I wore this costume when I served with the Canadian Home Guard during WWII." Clara took a bow. "Sabreclaw at your service. Protecting Canada from Nazi scum. If you boys are good, I'll tell you a few stories about my time beating up Nazis with the first Major Mapleleaf and Nelvanna. You boys would have loved Nelvanna..."
"...the what?!" Todd blinked in confusion.
World War II, what? Is she nuts? Lance shook his head. No way she was alive during that! "What're you doing here, lady?" He asked.
"What're you doing here, little earthshaker?" Clara teased in response. "Getting up to a little bit of trouble as teen boys are wont to do?"
"We got a little inspiration from Principal Kelly's little speech earlier today." Lance explained. "We decided to take his advice and show off our...unique talents."
"Figures." Craig Starr grunted as he walked up to them. Unlike Clara, he wasn't wearing a costume. He was wearing his traditional leather jacket/metal shirt/jeans combo. The Los Angelan glared at Lance. "You learned nothing from the scoreboard incident earlier, have you?"
"Maybe we're not like you, man." Lance snorted. "Maybe we're tired of hiding who we are."
"I know I am." Todd grumbled.
"Not being stupid about your powers isn't hiding." Craig said.
"Oh look, Mr. Miyagi is being wise again." Pietro rolled his eyes.
Whap!
"OW!" Pietro screamed, rubbing his head. He glared at Craig. "How did you-!"
"Me, stupid!" Lila Cheney snorted as she walked up from behind them, her Laser Crossbow in her hands. She pointed it at the Brotherhood.
"This is a bad idea, guys." Paul Starr warned as he appeared from behind Clara. "We figured you guys were going to...make a spectacle of yourselves at the big pep rally tonight."
"Uh, Lance..." Fred looked at Lila nervously. "She was able to knock me out with that thing. Maybe we should just go home."
"Listen to the Big Guy here." Lila advised. "He's using his head right now."
"You're going to make people afraid of us." Paul said. "Causing a ruckus at the pep rally is only going to cause problems."
"So, what do you want us to do? Hide ourselves?" Todd asked. "Look at me! Look at Fred! Hell, look at you and your brother, with those stars on your faces!"
"Nobody's talking about hiding." Paul said. "We're saying that you should be smart when it comes to your powers."
"Like the scoreboard incident earlier today." Craig added. "You were stupid, Alvers. We can't afford that. Not with our abilities."
"Look boys, we don't need to do this." Clara said, trying to defuse the situation. Yeah, these boys definitely need some adult supervision. "We don't need to fight again."
"Especially since we thrashed you all last time." Lila smirked. She nudged her Laser Crossbow in Fred's direction. "I got another sleeping gas bolt just for you, big fella."
"You think we're scared of you?!" Pietro taunted with a laugh. "We know more about what you four punks can do now!"
"Not to mention..." Lance held his arms out wide. "We're in an open area. No need to worry about scoreboards or roofs coming down on people's heads now." He smirked at Craig. "See? I can learn from my mistakes."
"You learned the wrong thing, you moron." Craig grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why am I not surprised?"
Fred looked at Lila's Laser Crossbow. "...guys? Maybe we should just go home. This whole thing was a bad idea anyway."
"Are you kidding me, Blob?!" Lance explained. "She ain't so tough without her fancy bow!"
Lila smirked. "I've been in a few brawls in my time, mate."
"Guys, wrecking the soccer field isn't going to help you out!" Paul yelped out. "You'll hurt someone!"
"Hey, I've taken a few beatings in my time, yo!" Todd snapped. "I ain't afraid of you, Starboy!"
"I don't want to fight you." Paul shook his head. "I will if I must, but I'd rather we all just calm down and go home."
"You gonna make me sleepy again?!"
"...I don't like using my hypnotic powers." Paul answered. "But if I have to stop you that way, I will."
"Well, you may not wanna fight, but I want a rematch with your psycho brother!" Pietro glared at Craig. "I want to pay you back for nearly crippling me!"
"Speedy, if you want to be crippled so badly..." He pulled out his nightstick and started twirling it in his hand. "I can arrange that for you."
"I ain't afraid of you! You got lucky with that little laser trick!"
"Not luck. Smarts." Craig snorted. Pietro growled angrily at him.
"I'm going to punch you into paste!" The speedster roared. "And smear you all over the ground!"
Craig smirked as he started twirling his nightstick. "Big talk, loudmouth. That's all you are." The two quartets of mutants faced off. The tension in the air seemed to build like a overpressurized boiler ready to pop.
"Earthshaker..." Clara started.
"Avalanche. Call me Avalanche."
"Okay." Clara nodded. "Avalanche, I have heard about your little stunt earlier. That was very dangerous. Not to mention irresponsible."
"I heard this from Darkstar over there." Lance snorted. "I don't need it repeated."
"I don't blame him." Clara said. "I can understand why he was angry. He had good reason to be."
"I didn't mean to bring down that scoreboard!" Lance snapped. "I just wanted to shake things up a bit!"
"I get it, you wanted to show off." Clara smiled. "I do, kid. Having abilities like ours can be pretty cool. But they can also cause major problems. That's why we have to think before we use them. You know, you seem like a decent kid to me. A bit rough-and-tumble, but there's somethin' decent in ya."
Pietro laughed. "Oh, is she serious?" His laugh morphed into a cackle. "Oh that's rich! That is so rich, lady! What, you think he's going to be swayed with a speech?" Pietro's laughing prevented him from noting the change in Lance's demeanor.
"...really." Lance frowned.
"I think so. I mean, you lead this little group of yours, right?"
"Someone has to." Lance grunted. "With Mystique blown to bits and all..."
Huh. So Raven was leading this bunch, eh? Explains a lot. Clara thought. And she's dead? That's new. However, the Brotherhood found their face-off interrupted as they heard what sounded like metallic footsteps.
"What in the-?" Lance wondered. Bounty then shimmered into sight, making the geokinetic's eyes widen. The alien bounty hunter stalked towards the group of mutants. "Holy crud!"
"Oh dear..." Paul winced in worry.
"Oh, hell..." Clara groaned.
"Oh, no..." Lila groaned, facepalming in embarrassment. Craig whirled his head, glaring at the British girl.
"Oh man, that dude looks freakin' scary! Awesome, but scary!" Toad yelped.
"The hell is that?!" Lance blinked.
"I told you!" Craig snapped at Lila. "I told you this would happen!"
"What is that thing?!" Pietro exclaimed.
"Where is the gem?" Bounty demanded, pointing one of his arm cannons at the Brotherhood and Clara's crew.
"Gem?" Fred blinked in confusion. "What gem?"
"The gem Lila stole." Craig reminded. "We mentioned it when we got here."
"Don't you remember?" Pietro groaned.
"Let me guess, K'Thalon sent you?" Lila snorted.
"Uh, who's that?" Fred whispered.
"Likely the guy they stole that gem from, Einstein." Pietro cracked. He looked at a shuddering Paul. "Hey, starboy. Who is this guy?"
"He's called Bounty." Paul gulped. "He's a Karidian bounty hunter."
"A bounty hunter who calls himself Bounty." Pietro snorted. "That's hilarious."
Whap!
"OW!" Pietro exclaimed, rubbing his head. He glared at a smirking Lance.
"Man, it feels good to finally tag you." The earthshaker smirked.
"He's supposed to be one of the best." Paul continued. "He's pretty tough."
BZOW! BOOM!
Bounty fired a blast of energy from his cannon, blowing a hole in the parking lot between the two groups.
"I will not ask again." The Karidian powerhouse pointed his cannon at Clara. "Where is the gem?"
"Why should we tell you?" Lila snapped.
"My client wants it back. Plain and simple." Bounty explained. "I was hired to retrieve it, and my client does not care if I have to vaporize you to get it."
"Oh, for the love of-!" Lila rolled her eyes. "It's one bloody gem! He gets like this over one bloody gem!"
"...I feel like we stumbled into an episode of Clone Wars." Lance grumbled. "All we need is for some Jedi to show up."
"That would be pretty cool." Fred thought with a smile.
"Knowin' our luck, that just may end up happenin', yo." Todd grumbled. "And they'll be angry at us for some reason!"
"Punching a Jedi would be cool..." Fred thought.
"You go back to K'Thalon and you tell him that he can go jog on!" Lila yelled at the bounty hunter, pointing her Laser Crossbow at him. "He can't possibly miss one lousy bloody gem!"
"I am paid to retrieve the gem, not to question why my client wants it retrieved."
"Just following orders. Wonderful." Lila sneered.
"We'll give you back the gem!" Craig grunted. "We give to you, you go away, right?"
"Yes."
"Fine!" Craig grunted. "I know where Lila locked it up. I'll take you there."
"Oi, that greedy bird bastard doesn't need that blasted thing!" Lila snapped.
"I don't want to get blasted by the lovechild of Samus Aran and the Predator over here!" Craig snapped back, pointing at Bounty.
...what's a 'Samus Aran'? A puzzled Bounty thought.
"Are they always like this?" Lance asked Clara as the Brotherhood watched Lila and Craig argue.
"Normally, no." The Canadian feral woman explained. "But then again, they butted heads over that gem ever since Lila got her little paws on it."
"This is hilarious! I'd get some popcorn, but fatso here would eat it all." Pietro snorted. "Gack!" Fred angrily grabbed the speedster by the throat and got in his face.
"Don't. Make. Fun. Of. My. Weight." The Texan mutant growled. He then pitched Pietro at Bounty.
"Oh, no!" Paul gasped.
"Yeah, that was not smart, Fred." Clara winced.
"But it was funny, yo!" Todd cackled as he recorded this on his phone.
"Wha-?!" Bounty grunted as the screaming speedster collided with him with enough force to knock him over.
"Good throw." Lance complimented.
"Ooooh boy." Clara groaned.
"There's going to be a fight now, huh?" Paul winced.
"Yup, there is." Clara sighed, shaking her head. Craig groaned and threw up his hands. Meanwhile, the X-Men were happily enjoying Jean play soccer with her fellow Lady Hawks.
"Look at her go!" Evan whooped.
"Ja!" Kurt agreed. "Go Jean go!" The German mutant grinned at Scott, who was watching with a smile on his face. "She's good, isn't she?"
"Yeah..." Scott answered in a manner that seemed to hint that he was slightly distracted. "Yeah, she is..." He noticed that Kurt had a wicked grin on his face. "What? What?!"
"You were staring at Jean the way that the Blob stares at a chocolate cake."
Evan snickered. "Are you saying he wants to eat Jean?"
"Aw, stop it." Scott muttered, his cheeks turning red.
"Oh, brother." Rogue rolled her eyes. Back with the Brotherhood...
"ACK!" Lance grunted as he hit the ground. "God, this day sucks..." He groaned as he got to his feet.
"WahhhhOOF!" Todd yelped as he landed on the geokinetic.
"Get off me, you dipstick!" Lance snapped.
"This guy's like Space Juggernaut, yo!" Todd groaned.
"Yeah, like we needed to face that guy again..." Lance grumbled.
FWAZZ!
Craig and Paul fired lasers from their star-covered eyes, but the purple beams of light seemingly could not damage the alien bounty hunter's armor.
"Dammit! We wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for you, Cheney!" Craig snapped.
"Oh, grumble, grumble, grumble!" Lila retorted as she fired a volley of energy arrows from her Laser Crossbow at the alien. "We got a ticket to Easy Street! Not my fault that greedy old birdman can't let go of one gem!"
"And you really thought that a greedy old rich alien would let you walk away with something that belonged to him, even if its worth an extremely tiny fraction of his fortune!" Craig yelled.
"I tire of your ridiculousness!" Bounty growled as he grappled with Fred.
"You can't move me!" Fred taunted. "I'm the Blob! I'm unmovable!"
KA-BOOM!
"Urgh!" The Karidian grunted as Lila hit him with an explosive bolt.
"Keep him still, big man!" Lila called out, loading another explosive bolt. She fired it at the Karidian, causing another explosion.
"It's not working! Blob, get back!" Lance ordered.
"You got it!" Blob gave the bounty hunter a shove as he broke the grapple, sending the alien tumbling over.
"Prepare to get your world rocked, ya alien punk!" Lance growled as he made the ground underneath Bounty shake as the bounty hunter tried to get up.
"Yeah!" Todd whooped, leaping up and pumping his fist in the air. "Don't mess with Earth, yo!"
How many humans here have these powers?! Bounty thought as he tried to stay on his feet.
"Hey, Earthshaker!" Clara waved. "Do that little rock trick you tried to pull with me!"
Lance blinked a moment. Rock trick? Then it came to him. Oh, yeah! "Hey Bounty! Enjoy the ride!" Lance caused a large rock to sprout from the ground like a growing tree. It sent the alien flying into the air...and then gravity took hold, causing him to head towards the ground.
"Hey, Fred! Remember when you said that you always wanted to punch an alien?" Clara asked.
Fred scrunched his face in thought. "Yeah..."
She waved at Bounty. "Here's your chance, big guy. Try and hit him before he hits the ground."
"I dunno. He's pretty tough."
"But so are you, big fella." Clara smiled in assurance.
"Well, okay..." Blob took a breath to steel his nerves. Then the powerhouse Texan ran towards the falling Bounty as fast as he could. Considering that he was not known for being fast, well...there you go. However, he was fast enough. He yelled as he cocked back his fist, preparing to throw a mighty uppercut. The Karidian bounty hunter turned his head.
"Wha-?"
WHAM!
The powerhouse threw his uppercut, nailing Bounty in the jaw and sending him flying.
"Whoa! Nice shot, Fred!" Todd whooped, pumping his fist triumphantly.
"Look at that big guy fly!" Paul grinned.
"Uh...guys?" Lila piped up. "You do see where he's flying, right? Looks like he's headed to crash into the football field."
"Naw, the football field is over there." Fred pointed it out. "I thought about joining the team, but the coach said I needed to lose weight."
"Lila's English, Blob." Craig pointed out. "They call soccer 'football' over there."
"Almost every other country in the world calls it 'football'." Lila added. "But you Yanks have to be rebels." She rolled her eyes.
"Hey, I'm no Yankee! I'm from Texas!" Blob grunted.
"Wait...Lance?"
"What, Toad?"
"Remember your little plan to reveal ourselves at the pep rally/soccer game goin' on right now?"
Lance blinked. "...yeah?"
"Looks like we may end up doin' that after all." Todd realized.
"...dammit!" Lance cursed in frustration. "Nice work, Fred!"
"Hey, it's not like I got a chance to aim or anything!"
"We're going to have to stop him." Clara grunted.
"How?! The guy's like the Juggernaut, yo!" Toad exclaimed.
"...who?" Paul, Craig, and Lila asked in unison.
"Long story." Lance groaned.
Rogue had continued watching the game rather quietly. The Southern mutant then noticed something flying towards the soccer field. "Uh guys?" The other X-Men looked where Rogue pointed.
"Is that a shooting star?" Kurt asked.
"That's no shooting star!" Evan blinked. Jean then noticed the falling object.
"EVERYONE! RUN!" She cried out to the other players. The other players obeyed, making the audience murmur in confusion. The flying Bounty then crashed into the field. The audience gasped and whispered among themselves.
"Holy Toledo!" The announcer exclaimed. "We got ourselves a meteor here! Maybe it contains a Kryptonian baby! Or an alien zombie virus! Who knows?! Either way, I'm not sticking around! I'm out of here!" The Karidian cyborg climbed his way out of the crater and and looked around.
Looks like I ended up interrupting their ritual. Bounty thought. The sight of him made the audience murmur amongst itself.
"Is this part of the show?"
"Cool cosplay!"
"What exactly is he cosplaying as?!"
"He looks kinda mean..."
"I want that outfit!"
"And it's an alien! We have an alien!" The announcer continued to rant.
"...is this part of the show?" Scott blinked in confusion.
"What is that thing?!" Evan exclaimed.
"It's butt-ugly is what it is." Rogue winced.
"Like, Rogue!" Kitty hissed, lightly slapping her friend's arm. "That's not nice!"
"Ah'm sorry, but he is!" Rogue then noticed the Brotherhood running into the arena. "Oh, no..."
"The Brotherhood!" Kurt groaned.
"I should have known they'd be involved with this!" Scott groaned.
"Hey, is it just me, or does there seem to be more of them?" Evan noticed.
"Yeah, Scott and I like, met the twin brothers there." Kitty recalled. Bounty looked around at the confused crowd.
"Attention, humans!" Bounty announced. "I am after a gem stolen by this group of people." He made a quartet of holographic images appear above his head. The images depicted Paul, Craig, Lila, and Clara. The large images moved in a circle around the sky, allowing the audience to see them.
"...the hell is going on here?" Kelly blinked.
"Uh, Jean?" Taryn asked the redhead.
"Yes?"
"...what is going on here? And is that Paul Starr? I-I met him earlier today!" She yelped.
"Really?" Jean blinked.
"Yeah!" She nodded. "I saw him play guitar and sing earlier. He was really good. That...guy is saying he is a thief?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, Taryn."
"Sorry, Professor." Scott apologized as he grabbed his backpack. "But-"
"It's alright." Professor Xavier reassured. "Go stop that...whatever that is." He watched the X-Men leave, then put his fingers to his head. "Storm! We need you!" He called out telepathically. The young mutant heroes quickly changed into their costumes and raced out onto the soccer field.
"I think I saw that thing in an old comic book." Kurt remarked.
"Who are you?" Scott asked the alien. Bounty turned his head towards the teenage mutant.
"Warning! Bio-scans indicate that human specimens have genetic modification beyond Terran norms!"Bounty's computer warned him.
"Explain." Bounty commanded.
"These Terrans have unique genetic coding, granting them enhanced abilities."
Incredible! Bounty thought. How many humans have these enhancements?!
"Uh...what did he say?" Evan blinked at Kitty.
"Like, that computer basically said we're mutants." Kitty translated.
"You got that right!" Scott snapped. "Who are you?!"
"None of your concern." The alien bounty hunter said. "I am here to complete an assignment. Once it is done, I will leave peacefully." Scott looked at Xavier.
"Professor?"
"I cannot really enter his mind, possibly due to this being's brain presumably being very different from human ones." Xavier said. "But I can sense he is being truthful."
"What exactly, like, are you after?" Kitty asked.
"As I said, I have come to retrieve a stolen object." Bounty pointed at the Brotherhood. "And these Terrans know where it is."
"Oh, it figures you clowns have something to do with this!" Rogue snapped.
"What'd we do?!" Blob exclaimed. Paul smiled and waved at the X-Men.
"Hi. Name's Paul! Nice to meet you!"
"Hi there, Paul." Kitty waved at him. Rogue frowned at her.
"You know one of those yahoos?" Rogue asked.
"Yeah, remember? I told you about him." Kitty reminded. "That's his brother Craig right there." She pointed him out.
"Oh." Rogue tilted her head at him. "Ah see." He's kinda cute. Dorky, but kind of cute.
Kitty smirked at Rogue's face. "Told ya he was cute." Lance over heard this and gave Paul a look.
"...really?"
Paul shrugged. "It's a thing with me, man."
"Oh, brother..." Craig groaned.
"What is going on here, Alvers?" Scott asked.
"Ask this girl here." Lance jerked his thumb at Lila.
"Wait, who are you?!" A confused Scott asked, looking at Lila. He then looked at Clara. "And you?!"
"Sabreclaw at your service." Clara bowed dramatically. "Adventurer, and bon vivant extraordinaire."
"That doesn't mean a candy expert." Fred added.
Well, that explains the other two signatures the Professor detected... Scott noted. Xavier watched this, hands steepled and deep in thought.
"Wait..." Rogue narrowed her eyes at Lila. "Ah heard that Guthrie kid talkin' about someone lookin' just like you. Said you fell out of a tree."
"Lila Cheney's the name. Intergalactic thievery is the game." Lila smirked. "Call me Starway. Nice to see the cute farmboy's thinking about me."
"Ooh, Sam has a girlfriend!" Kitty grinned.
"Not now, Pryde!" Rogue snapped.
"I have no desire to fight you." Bounty said to the X-Men. "I wish to retrieve the gem I was paid to get, and then I will take my leave." The X-Men all looked at each other.
"Oh, that greedy old birdman can't stand it. One lousy gem..." Lila grumbled. The X-Men looked at each other again. "Enough to get us on bleedin' Easy Street, but he just haaaaas to be a misery about it..."
"...Birdman?" Kurt asked.
"Only Birdman I know of was the one from that old Hanna-Barbera cartoon." Scott recalled. "But he was a good guy..."
"Enough of this nonsense!" Bounty exclaimed. "I want that gem!" He fired his energy beams into the air, making the crowd flee.
"Like hell!" Lila fired a bolt from her crossbow. The bolt sailed through the air, and landed on the faceplate of Bounty's helmet. The bolt exploded, and the bounty hunter found himself blinded by a sticky beige substance.
"Grrrrrr!" Bounty growled as he yanked at the substance. Scott used his optic beam to create a small ditch for Bounty to stumble over. And with that, the fight was on.
"RRRROWL!" Clara roared as she leapt at Bounty, only to get knocked away.
"Urg!" Bounty grunted as he felt the ping of his armor being pelted by bone spikes.
BAMF!
Kurt teleported himself on top of Bounty.
"Maybe we can just remove your helmet, like with the Juggernaut." Kurt thought out loud as he tried to find any sort of latches on the helmet.
"I do not know who this 'Juggernaut' is..." Bounty grabbed the German teleporter. "But I doubt he is that formidable if a being like you could overcome him."
"Bye!" Kurt teleported away in a cloud of brimstone.
FZAP!
Scott blasted at him with his eye beams. But they barely managed to even knock the alien back.
"Great. Another Juggernaut." Scott grumbled.
"Yeah, no kidding." Lance concurred. He and Scott looked at each other. "You know, it's weird that we're on the same side again."
"That's twice now, right?"
"I think so."
"RAAARGH!" Clara roared as she leapt at the alien bounty hunter again. This time, she was carrying a piece of metal she had ripped out of the stands. Bounty tried to blast at her, but Clara nimbly ducked and dodged the energy shots, and she whacked at him with her improvised weapon. Lance and Scott watched this and looked at each other.
"So...what's her deal?" Scott asked.
"You remember the twins, right?" Lance pointed out Paul and Craig.
"...yeah?" Scott nodded.
"Well, they had two more friends." Lance pointed out Lila. "That's Lila..." He pointed at Clara. "And that's Clara. She and her crew crashed near our home, and now they basically moved in with us." Lance said. "By the way, you remember Sabertooth?"
"Big ugly blond feral guy? Yeah." Scott nodded.
"Clara claimed that she's his sister." Lance said.
Scott's eyes widened. "...sister?! That man has relatives?"
"Guess so."
"Like, I don't think this is working..." Kitty noted.
"She's right." Scott agreed. "We have to overwhelm him." He looked at Lance. "That means we gotta work together again."
"Wonderful." Lance groaned.
"Hey, we did it once, we can do it again, Lance!" Kitty reminded.
"Anybody got a plan? We could use one right now!" Evan asked.
"I'll try something!" Lance let out a whistle. "Pietro! Tornado!" The earthshaker ordered.
"I got this!" The silver-haired speedster grinned cockily. He raced towards the alien bounty hunter, then ran around him in a circle. This action churned up the air around him, creating a small tornado. Underneath his armored helmet, Bounty frowned. He fired at the ground in front of the silver-haired mutant.
BOOM!
"AHHHHHHHH!" Pietro screamed as the explosion sent him flying. The speedster flew through the air...and ended up hitting the goalpost, crotch-first.
THUM!
"AWWWWWWW!" Every male in the arena winced in unison...well, except for Professor Xavier. But his face showed he was trying hard not to wince himself.
"Waaaaaaaugh mah boys..." Pietro wailed in a soprano voice. "Why?! Why God why?!" He then slid off the goalpost and fell to the ground. "Ow."
"Okay, that didn't work." Lance said.
Bounty blinked at this...then shook his head. This planet is screwed up... He heard the noise of metal creaking and saw Fred rip the Bayville High hawk statue out of its foundation.
"Have some fried chicken on me, E.T.!" Blob yelled as he tossed the large statue at the alien bounty hunter. Bounty blasted the statue.
Boom!
The statue got blown to pieces, sending flaming debris flying everywhere.
"Oh, no!" Kitty exclaimed as she saw the stands getting ignited.
"Oh dear." Paul winced.
"Oh, that's gonna leave a mark." Clara frowned.
"I always thought that big hawk rather reeked." Lance shrugged.
"Oops." Blob winced.
"Nice work, you big bonehead!" Rogue roared.
"Aw, man! Auntie O would be real helpful right now." Evan winced. Out of sight of the X-Men and the Brotherhood, Principal Kelly watched this whole battle.
"What is going on here?" Kelly blinked in confusion. "Times like this, I wish the First Line was still around..."
Kitty then snapped her fingers as some inspiration hit her. "Like, I got an idea."
"We could use one." Scott said.
"You know I can short out electronics when I pass through them?"
"Yeah, that's how you shorted out the cameras." Scott said as he watched the other X-Men ad the Brotherhood engaging the powerful Karidian. Well, trying to at the very least.
"Maybe his armor has electronics I can short out by passing through him." Kitty suggested. Scott put his hand under his chin in thought.
"What if it doesn't work?"
"You saying she can't fry his systems, Summers?" Lance growled.
"Lance! Like, I got this!" Kitty exclaimed.
"Alright, Kitty. Give it a try!" Scott nodded in approval.
"You got it!" She gave a thumbs up. The brunette ran towards Bounty, who was trading blows with Fred while trying to blast at Kurt. "Hey metalhead!" She raced towards the alien cyborg. "Hope you like getting fritzed up!" Kitty ran through the bounty hunter. True to her prediction, as the petite brunette used her power to run right through him, Bounty seized up and electricity ran up and down his armor.
"Guhn!" The Karidian hunter winced. "Computer!"
Error! Er*squawk*! The internal computer sputtered.
"You two! With the stars on your faces!" Scott called out.
"Call me Darkstar." Craig told him.
"And they call me Starchild!" Paul added.
"Fire your beams with me!" Scott ordered. "At one point!" Scott fired his optic blast at Bounty's side. Paul and Craig added their own. The twin purple beams hit the spot Scott was firing at.
"Is it working?" Jean asked.
"We need more power!" Scott exclaimed. "Rogue! Touch us!"
"What?!" Craig asked.
"Rogue's power works when her skin touches others!" Scott explained. "She can absorb powers!"
"Is that why she was always so covered up?" Paul asked.
"She can't shut it off."
"Oh. That's sad."
Man, I feel like an idiot right now. Scott thought. Looking back, it was kind of stupid to let Forge just...walk off like that. He could have built a gadget to help Rogue. Ah well. What's done is done. Hope he's okay...
"Here!" Paul cut his beam and held his bare hand out to Rogue. "You can use my laser!"
"...Ah'm not going to get any perverted thoughts, right?" The Southerner winced.
"He's not Pietro, you redneck!" Craig snapped. Rogue decided to ignore the insult. She can put off punching Craig out for now.
"Alright." Rogue took off her glove, and tapped Paul's hand with hers. "Ughn!" She shook her head as she received Paul's memories...and powers. A green version of Paul and Craig's 5-pointed star-shaped birthmark appeared over her right eye, and it started to glow green.
"You okay?" Paul asked. Rogue smiled.
"Ah feel tubular." She responded. "Did Ah just say that?"
"Start blasting, you redneck!" Craig yelled.
Rogue blinked, then glanced at Paul. "Ah'm gonna murder your brother."
"Please don't. He's the only blood relative I have left as far as I know." The two then added their own lasers to Scott and Craig's beam. Paul noted that amusingly, Rogue's laser was bright green. The four energy beams were able to pierce the alien's armor, making Bounty yell out in pain.
"Let's give him a bit more pain!" Scott said. "Evan! Make a javelin!"
"Yeah, sure." The bone spike generator grew a long bone. Scott turned to Blob.
"Take that javelin and jab him where we hit his side."
"Uh...okay?" Blob blinked.
"Scott, don't you think that's a bit much?" Jean asked.
"I don't want to kill him, I'm hoping that hurting him a bit will make him back off." Scott explained.
"Or maybe we can give him the damn gem and he'll go away." Craig muttered.
"Do it! Do it now, you big lardbrain!" Rogue snapped. Blob frowned at her, then charged at the alien bounty hunter.
"Welcome to Earth, ya alien varmint!" Blob yelled as he slammed the javelin into Bounty.
"RRGH!" The alien growled.
"Gee, this guy's like a tank!" Evan winced.
"Jean, try to use your TK to throw him around a bit!" Scott ordered.
"I'll try..." Jean concentrated. "This guy is heavy..."
"I bet it's that armor." Kitty suggested.
"What?!" Bounty exclaimed as he found himself being lifted into the air.
"Uhn..." Jean grunted as she slammed Bounty into the flaming stands. She then lifted up the Karidian powerhouse with her telekinesis, and then smashed him into the ground.
"Ugn..." Bounty grunted. Underneath his metal mask, Bounty glared at Jean. He aimed his wrist blasters at her, and they started to glow.
"Nope!" Evan fired a group of spikes at the bounty hunter. The spikes lodged themselves into the nozzles of his cannons.
BOOM!
"Agh!" He screamed as the cannons exploded.
"Give it up, Bounty!" Scott snapped. "You can't win!" Bounty looked at the group of mutants.
The human in the visor has a point. Bounty thought. I am injured, and my armor is damaged. Further combat would be fruitless.
"Indeed, human." Bounty agreed. "But mark my words. I will return." He then vanished in what appeared to be a column of glittery blue light.
"What happened?" Blob asked.
"He teleported away, kiddo." Clara said. "Like Lila here can."
"We scared him off, ha ha!" Kurt whooped, pumping a fist in the air. "We did it! We sure showed him not to mess with the Earth!"
"God, look at this place..." Kitty sighed sadly as she looked around at the destroyed and burning soccer field. "It's wrecked."
KRA-KOOM!
A sudden downpour came down, dousing the flames. Flying high up over the field was Storm in her uniform, her hands up in the air. Her cape whipped in the winds. She floated down to the ground as the rain made short work of the flames.
"Good work, Storm." Xavier complimented as he rolled up to her.
"Thank you, Professor." Storm returned. "But now our secret is out."
"...maybe that's not such a bad thing." Paul suggested. "We can't hide what we are forever. And besides, we're heroes!"
"There's a new age on the horizon, Weathergirl." Clara pointed out. "Those four astronauts, that rich guy in Malibu with his fancy armor, a couple of vigilantes in New York. One with wings, and one that can climb walls and spin webs. I've even heard about sightings of some green monster and a blond guy with a funny hammer in the Southwest." She smiled fondly. "A part of me was hoping to see a new age of heroes. Since the First Line fell..." He smile turned sad. Oh Robbie, my old friend...I wish I could have saved you...
"Maybe I can alter their memory of what has happened here..."
"No! There are too many people here!" Storm objected. "Even your mind could not withstand such a strain!"
"This'll bite you in the ass, baldy!" Craig snapped. "Better to be truthful now!"
"My little Darkstar has a point, Xavier." Clara agreed. "If we have to be exposed, then so be it. At least we can provide some context..."
"I have no choice." Xavier said. He put his fingers to his head and concentrated.
"Yes, you do!" Craig yelled. "You can choose not to do this!" He saw the students get dazed as Xavier's powers altered their memories. "You old coward!"
Kelly watched this in shock. Xavier tried to hit him with the mind-whammy, but the strain was too much for the bald telepath, and he blacked out. Clara noticed the principal.
"Hmmm..." She muttered to herself. Paul looked around at the dazed students...and a chill went down his spine.
This is why I don't like using my hypnotic powers. Paul shuddered. This is creepy...
Bounty's ship
"Hrn..." Bounty grumbled as he removed his helmet, revealing a head with wispy white hair. He went over to the communications console and pressed some commands in.
"Ah, Bounty." K'Thalon greeted. "I trust you have good news. Do you have my gem in your possession?"
"Unfortunately, I do not." Bounty told the elder Shi'ar. His jaw dropped and then he shook with anger.
"...HOW DID YOU FAIL THIS?!" K'Thalon exclaimed in anger. "You're supposed to be one of the best!"
"The targets ended up in an area of Earth that was a hive of superhuman beings." Bounty explained. "The beings there are well-trained and well-versed in combat with their abilities."
"Those young punks have always been lucky..." K'Thalon grumbled. "So, you will try again?"
"Indeed." Bounty answered with a nod. "My fee has increased."
"Increased? How much?"
Bounty scrunched his face in thought. "...twenty percent."
"TWENTY PERCENT?!" K'Thalon yelped out, utterly dumbfounded.
"There appears to be some interference in the transmission, I cannot quite hear you." Bounty said as he reached for the "off" button on his console.
"Alright fine, extra twenty percent." K'Thalon grumbled. "But do not fail me again!" He cut off the transmission. The Karidian found himself staring at the blank screen for a few moments.
"Hmmm..." The alien warrior sat back in his seat and put a hand on his chin in thought. There are more of those superhuman Terrans than I thought. I will have to engage them very carefully next time...
The Xavier Institute
Professor Xavier, Storm, Logan, and Scott were in the infirmary as the bald telepath recovered from his overextension of his powers.
"I fear that I may not have been able to keep our secret from Principal Kelly." Xavier sighed.
"I'll check on him next time I go to school." Scott offered.
"Good idea, Scott." Ororo nodded. "I just hope we can explain things to him."
"Yeah, but now there's another issue." Scott reminded. "The Brotherhood's ranks have expanded."
"Indeed." Xavier agreed. "It's interesting that their group expanded so quickly, considering they...lack the resources we have."
"To be fair, the two I did meet seemed...alright." Scott admitted.
"Where did they come from?" Ororo wondered.
"From space." Scott said.
"Did they really come here in a spaceship?" Logan asked in disbelief.
"That's what the twins said." Scott confirmed. "And honestly, I'm not that unwilling to say it's impossible. I mean, this is a school full of superpowered people."
"I know an old student of mine would have a quote for this." Xavier recalled fondly. "I am rather open minded to the idea myself, I must admit. Considering those...other events that Sabreclaw mentioned, the idea of a spaceship crashing here is hardly implausible. And who knows? Maybe these new members will be a good influence on them." He noticed Logan looked a bit deep in thought. "Logan? Are you alright?"
"...I'm not sure, Chuck." Logan admitted. "That woman with them. I can't help but get a feeling that I've seen her before..."
Bayville High
Principal Kelly stood in his office, looking out the window. He then turned and saw Clara Creed smirking at him. She was in her civilian clothes.
"Hello, Eddie." She greeted.
"...Miss Creed!" Kelly gasped, clutching his chest. "You startled me!"
"Sorry about that." The blonde feral apologized sincerely. "You seem a bit deep in thought."
"How'd you get in here?"
"I have my ways." Clara explained. "I've gained a lot of skills in my crazy life. You seem a bit rattled about something." She took a seat in front of his desk and put her feet up on it. "Care to talk about it? You look like you need a friendly ear right now."
"Yeah...I could use one..." Kelly took a seat. "I have no idea what I just saw...I...how did...in my mind..."
"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that." Clara smiled. "And I figured you need some of this right now." She put a rectangular bottle of alcohol and a pair of shot glasses on the desk. "Jack Daniel's Black Label." The blonde leaned forward, her hands under her chin. "I figured that you and I could...discuss a few things..."
Woof, this was a tough chapter to write. I had discovered while writing this that I am...well, not that great at writing battle scenes. Yeah. I hope you all enjoyed it.
You may have noticed Kelly mentioning the First Line. Well, they're an actual Marvel super-team. They first appeared in Marvel: The Lost Generation #12 (March 2000). The mini-series (that went backwards from issues 12 to 1) told the tale of a "lost generation" of super-heroes that appeared between the end of the Golden Age of Comics and the debut of the Fantastic Four. Clara's mentioning of "Robbie" is a reference to First Liner Robert Paine, aka Black Fox. He as basically a Batman pastiche.