Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men
Copyright: I own Arlien so please ask me if you wish to use him.
Coming Home
The X-Men were all assembled and the professor came into the room in his hover chair. He looked around at his X-Men and wished that he didn't have to tell them what he knew. They deserved a break and yet the world wouldn't let them have one. He was tired of having them fight constantly but it seemed that their jobs were never done.
"My X-Men it seems that the Brood is once again stirring and this time they are after a queen. I have gotten that much information," the professor said calmly as he always did.
"Professor we have beaten them before and we will do it again," Cyclops said dutifully.
"I hope that is true Cyclops but it seems that the Brood are getting stronger and learning new ways of fighting," Xavier said.
"Dat be all right professor. De X-Men will win as we always do," Gambit said happily as he smiled around the table at his fellow X-Men.
"We may need help with this one my X-Men and I will see if I can find the help that we need," Xavier said as he left the room.
* * * * *
The ship landed in a remote area outside of New York city and to keep the ship hide they used the cloaking mechanism to make it appear to be nothing more than a small hill. No one would think twice about a hill next to some other hills and a stand of trees.
"You know that the people here on this planet will look a lot like you Arlien and though that fact may be true they will fear you if you show them your powers," Kress said in way of caution to Arlien.
"I won't show my powers unless I need to Kress you know me better than that," Arlien said in his stone voice that he always used. His voice never held any warmth and Kress was starting to worry about that. He knew that Arlien had nothing to live for and he truly felt sorry for the man but he was a weapon and they needed him in order to battle the brood.
"Well let us go into this city and do not attract any attention to yourself please," Kress said and all Arlien did was look at him with the same cold expression that he always wore.
They walked into New York City and Kress was glad to be back where he originally got started in what he was doing. It was here in this human city that he learned of the X-Men and over time got some of their DNA so that he could later use it in order to make himself a weapon.
He was sent to Earth to find ones with power for his experiment. Arlien was his experiment but no one but Kress and the Empress Lillandra knew about it. Kress smiled as he thought about what he had told Arlien. Don't draw attention to yourself. Arlien wouldn't try to but his looks would be enough to do it for him.
As they walked down the street Arlien drew many looks but mostly from women and that was something that Arlien wasn't used to. Back home in the Empire the women had found him not as attractive due to his half-human heritage. He was part terran and that was different and they had a hard time looking at him as if he was a handsome man.
While they were walking down a street a woman came up to Arlien and said, "Hey handsome you want a good time. It will only cost fifty bucks."
Arlien frowned at her and said, "You do not need to sell your body lady. You are pretty and should have some other way of making money. I shall give you the fifty bucks but I don't need a good time."
The woman shook her head and walked away. As she did Arlien noticed a badge on her purse and he asked Kress about it. Kress started to laugh and he said, "That was a police woman who was working undercover Arlien. If you had agreed she would have arrested you."
Arlien shook his head because he didn't understand but then he didn't need to understand he was on Earth for one reason and that was to kill the Brood. Anything that got in his way was going to suffer the same fate as the Brood because any world that sided with the Brood needed to be killed.
* * * * *
The Brood had brought in it's hunters who it was using in hopes of finding a suitable body for the queen or in finding Arlien and killing him. They were skulking around outside of a strip club where a woman worked who was a mutant and one who they thought might just be good enough for the queen.
They waited outside after all they were good at waiting, because they were hunters. They were different than the Brood assassins who were sent to kill renegade Brood queens. The hunters were not as tough but they were just as dangerous because they could stalk a person through anything and follow anywhere without being seen. Only one who had been trained to search for them could hope to find a trace of them and luckily there was no human who could do that.
The Brood assassins were on their way though because the major queen wanted Arlien dealt with. The assassins were the best chance of killing Arlien and all of the Brood knew it including the assassins. The hunters though weren't worried about that because they had a job to do. They were going to capture the woman by the name of Destiny. The queen already had a body but it was always nice to have an extra just in case and that was why they were there.
The hunter's had numbers on their side just in case some of the X-Men showed up. There were more than ten hunters and they knew that if the X-Men found them there would only be maybe two or even three. The hunters were sure that they could take three X-Men.
"It is almost time," the leader hissed to his companions as they watched the Strip Club. The door opened and a woman stepped out and started to walk down the street. She was oblivious to the fact that she was being followed but of course not even the most astute person wouldn't have noticed her being followed.
The hunters followed along behind her at an even pace to match her. They didn't want to get too close because they weren't sure what her powers were and they didn't really want to find out until it was time to take her. They were content to follow at a distance cloaked in the darkness that was everywhere in New York City.
* * * * *
"This Arlien is what is called a Strip Club. It is a place where the women of this planet take their cloths off for money," Kress was explaining to Arlien as they walked down the street. Arlien didn't ask any questions because he didn't feel that he needed to know about the planet that he was on. All he knew was that the more you knew about the planet the more you wanted to stay and the more attached you became to it.
"I don't really care Kress," Arlien said is his monotone voice that never changed except when he was fighting the Brood. Then all it became was a cold howl of fury. It was a howl that would chill the most brave of men on any planet.
"Arlien you should really learn to care about the planets that you save or you will become nothing more than a killing machine," Kress said exasperated with his charge.
"That is what I am Kress. You know it and I know it so why deny it. I am here to kill not make friends. Friends that I would make I would leave right away anyway," Arlien replied patiently with his watcher.
Just then the door to the strip club opened and a woman stepped out. She was beautiful with long black hair and green eyes that seemed to hold an unlimited amount of compassion. She was tall Arlien noticed standing possibly six feet tall without high heels though at the moment she was wearing high heels that made a clicking noise on the pavement as she walked. She was wearing a tight fitting pair of jeans that had a tear in one leg on the thigh and a red shirt that hung just above her belly button. She didn't even glance at Arlien but then again it was something that Arlien was used to. He had long ago given up on ever finding a woman who he could learn to love.
She walked down the street and it was then that Arlien noticed something shimmer in the darkness in a alley that was across from the Strip Club. Arlien didn't like things that he didn't notice right away and that was something that shouldn't have been there no matter what kind of planet he was on.
He walked across the street dodging cars that honked at him and taxi drivers yelling curses at him. He was oblivious to it all though because he had a feeling about what he was going to find. He came to the mouth of the alley and sniffed. He didn't smell anything but that didn't mean anything.
He walked into the alley to where he had seen the shimmering. He walked around the area sniffing and listening but he couldn't detect anything and just as he thought that he had been imaging things he picked up a faint stench. It was a smell that he knew only too well for he had been killing them for a very long time. He growled deep in his throat and walked back across the street to the same effect as before with the curses and yelling.
"I thought I said not to draw attention to yourself Arlien. That definatly drew attention to you no matter what you think," Kress said from where he was standing underneath the Strip Club sign that read in bright pink letters The Cat's Tail. Kress had his arm crossed and if he had his feathers showing they would have been puffed up. Of course that was something Arlien didn't care about the feelings of Kress who was a Shi'ar empire member.
"Well I am going to draw a lot more attention to myself before the night is over Kress. That woman that we saw come out of the building you are standing next to," Arlien said but was interrupted by Kress.
"This building is a Strip Club now say it with me," Kress said but thought better of it by the look on Arliens face. It was a look that usually meant death to the ones it was directed at.
"What is it Arlien," Kress asked more seriously this time.
"That woman that came out of the building is being followed by a group of hunters," Arlien said as he turned to look where the woman had went.
"So she will be raped by some men it is nothing new Arlien you have seen it happen and I know you don't approve but it has happened on this planet many times and it will continue to happen because men can't control their sexual urges," Kress said by way of explanation.
"Not those kind of hunters Kress. The Brood hunters are after a host body for the queen that is here on this planet. They want that woman and I aim to stop them. This time I will save someone before they are turned or I will die trying," Arlien said as he started down the street that the woman had went down.
* * * * *
"X-Men it seems that the professor has found that there are some Brood here in New York. He has told us that they are following a woman who they intend to capture. Now we all know what will happen to her if she is captured so let's get going," Cyclops said to his gathered teammates.
In the room was Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine, Jubilee, Jean, Iceman, and Beast along with Cyclops. The rest of the team was off trying to find out where the base of the Brood was but they hadn't reported back yet so it was up to the small group to deal with the Brood menace in New York.
"It is no problem Cyke," Logan said from his seat next to Jubilee.
"You can count on us Scott," Jean said from next to him.
"All right then to the Blackbird. We have some Brood to exterminate," Cyclops said as they team all started to leave the room.
"Now you're talking one eye," Wolverine said on his way out of the room and that caused Cyclops to smile.