A fan-fiction Sailormoon/ X-Men crossover.
BIRD HUNT
Disclaimer : none of the characters in this fan-fiction are mine
but one ( Read note in Chapter 2).
The Sailor Senshi, Tuxedo Kamen, Queen Serenity, Queen Beryl,
Queen Metallia, Luna, Artimis, Chibi-Usa (Chiba Usagi) and
Tsukino Shingo are the copyrighted property of Takeuchi Naoko.
The X-MEN, GENERATION-X, EXCALIBUR, the Starjammers , Shi`ar Empire,
and the Watcher are all copywrited property of Marvel Comics.
NOTE: Since I do not know if the X-Men's Rogue has even divulged
her name, I'm giving her one. Say hello to "Drusilla."
Chapter six- The Storm.
A week ago their friends were starting to be terrorized by dreams.
A day ago they were readying to meet each other.
An hour ago they were eating breakfast.
A minute ago they were getting ready for war.
A second ago they were on earth.
That was a lifetime ago.
Now, Tsukino Usagi, Tsukino Shingo, Hino Rei, Mizuno Ami,
Kino Makoto, Aino Minako, Chiba Mamoru, Tomoe Hotaru, Ten'ou Haruka,
Kaioh Michiru, and Meiou Satsuna were on the moon.
With them were their Lunar cat allies, Artemis and Luna, and their
newly-made (and tested) friends: Shadowcat, Wolfsbane, Nightcrawler,
Collosus, Pete Wisdom, Everett, Paige, Jubilee, Monique, Pennance,
Wolverine, Storm, Gambit, Sabertooth, Mystique, Scott and Alex Summers,
Jean Summers, Kella Summers, Emma Frost, and Sean Cassidy- the mutant-
heroes.known to the outside world as the X-Men.
Against (and around ) them were the forces of the Shi'ar Empire.
"We're home, again." Usagi said glumly.
"X-Men !" A voice Boomed. "I am Gladiator of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard !
We were once allies! This is no concern of yours ! For the deep feelings of
your teacher for our Majestrix - we would leave you in peace ! Go, now !"
"Xavier sure know how to pick a girlfriend !" Gambit smiled.
"Charlie always did have trouble with the ladies." Wolverine growled.
"Lilandra's as screwy as her brother, D'Ken !"
"The Royal House of Shi'ar was never known for their mental stability",
observed Satsuma. This last comment brought a chuckle from Kella.
"And here I thought the Summers clan held that proud distinction ?",
Scott said.
"Big brother," Kella answered, "our family history goes back, what,
three-hundred years ? Shi'ar Royal-pains go back a thousand." Scott and Alex
snickered at that.
"What's so funny ?" Minako asked.
"Gallows- humor, Minako-chan." Makoto said.
Kathryn got up and spoke. "Gladiator ! I understand the Earth was part of
a bargain to entice the Shi'ar into a war ! Well, the bargaining parties
are dead, and the deal is off!" She tensed, awaiting a reply.
"You know the Shi'ar WELL, Shadowcat ! Then you must also know this - the
Shi'ar always remember their words. And keep them ! Can the X-Men say the
same ?"
"We gave our word honorably, thinking that the Majestrix would keep hers !"
Scott Summers said. "The Majestrix failed to be as honorable ! And as Shadowcat
said- all deals for the Earth are null and void !"
A ball of plasma lit the lunar sky seconds befor it hit the moon, scattering
the defenders.
"Not have long to wait for Imperial answer !" Kella noted. "Only good quality
of Guard !"
She turned to Usagi and then bent over and bit her arm, drawing a tiny trickle
of blood. Usagi winced.
"Nani?" Usagi asked.
"Blood bond," Kella told the Princess, "among Mother's people, only thing that
break it is death !"
"Thank you." Usagi hugged the Mephistoid. "It means a lot."
"Hey !" Kella said. "Mama-Tigers gotta watch out for one another !"
The Imperial Guard swiftly closed the gap between the forces. "Spread out !"
Usagi shouted. "Moon Crystal POWER !" With these words, Tsukino Usagi vanished
in blinding streams of energy.
In her place stood Sailor Moon !
"Mercury Star POWER !"
"Mars Star POWER !"
"Jupiter Star POWER !"
"Venus Star POWER !"
"Uranus Planet POWER !"
"Neptune Planet POWER !"
"Pluto Planet POWER !"
Silently, Sailor Saturn appeared on the scene, glaive at the ready.
"Shi'ar ! Show no mercy !" The call was answered by a stampede of intergalactic
warriors.
"I'll take these, thank you !" Shadowcat said as she sprinted through the
Imperials, phasing as many weapons out of the Shi'ars ranks as she could before
doubling back.
"Butch do good work !" Kella said.
"Thanks, Sundance !" Shadowcat said, handing Kella a blaster. "Now let's see
what we can do against these Federales." The two girls started firing as they
moved to better sniping positions, slowing a Shi'ar line as they moved.
"Rahne ! Shingo !" Kathryn called out. "Care to help ?"
The snipers made their way into a crater and up an adjacent rise.
"OK, people !" Shadowcat ordered. "Make every blast count!"
"Shi'ar!" Sailor Uranus called out. "You were warned! URANUS PLANET SHAKING!!!"
The resultant quake from the energy sphere left only the most solid or fleetest
of the Imperial army standing.
As the quake subsided, Sailor Neptune pulled forth her Deep Aqua Mirror.
"SUBMARINE REFLECTION !!!"
A sudden wave of water, then another, crashed into the members of the Shi'ar
armies from some unknown sea. Those who had not regained their footing disappeared
into the fissures caused by the quake. The survivors of the quake were met by
blaster-fire from the concealed marksmen. Those who fled the battle were met by
the blistering fire of the advancing Shi'ar.
"Hold it right there !" Sailor Jupiter shouted to Gladiator. "That's as far as you
go !"
"Bold words!" Answered the Captain of the Guard. " How do you plan to back them
up ?"
"Like this! JUPITER... THUNDER... DRAGON!"
The energies of the Senshi were echoed by lightning and hurricane-winds as Storm
joined in the attack.
"Demon! Gladiator! Your Majestrix' evil has caused my Kitten pain !" Ororo roared
as a lioness. " I will NOT have my kitten torn from me ! I lost her once. I drove
a wedge between us. But, by all I hold dear- I WILL fight until my last BREATH for
her !" Wind and lightning crackled from the African towards to offending Shi'ar.
The Captain of the Guard just laughed as troops redirected the energies of the two
warrior-woman back at themselves. Two charred bodies fell, one from a great height,
to the lunar dust.
For a second, all, even the Shi'ar, stood in silence. "Ororo!" Rahne whispered
through her tears. All Kathryn could do was try to keep her eyes dry enough to
see.
Sailor Venus was the first one to react.
"VENUS METEOR SHOWER !"
The energies discharged from the heavens scattered the Shi'ar forces, allowing
for skirmishes to break out all along the front line. The melees blurred the
battlefield with Lunar dust.
Minako, Pennance, and Monique charged into an invading party. Each warrior was
ready to pay back the Shi'ar in kind for the blood just spilled. Venus' Love
Chain energy created a pile of Shi'ar around her, as bodies were stunned,
then dragged to their death. Pennance, with her razor-sharp skin, was busy
peeling the Shi'ar armored troops like oranges as she discarded those inside
like seeds. Monique was the least subtle of the three, tossing and beating her
foes into submission.
As reenforcements were moving in to fill the holes in the Shi'ar, Scott and Alex
and Jean Summers were busy trying to thin them out. Jean's telepathy would scan
the armies through the rising dust for Scott and Alex, who would proceed to blast
those armies apart. Unfortunately, to problems arose quickly. The first was that
some of the troops were telepathic "black holes", unable to be pinpointed, or even
detected. The second problem was more dangerous. What tracks can be tracked.
"We must protect the Princess !" Hotaru cried.
"A good idea," agreed Wolverine. "Only, we're out in the open ! Shi'ar deposited
us right where they wanted us! All of us seem scattered across half the moon."
"Why don' tha' not surprise Gambit!" The Cajun smiled grimly. "Rogue, cher!
You take Hotaru to cover! Me and Wolverine, we cover you!"
"I'll stay to help you !" Setsuna answered.
"No you won't !" Wolverine said.
"Logan .."
"'Tsuna, listen to me!" Wolverine said. "If we can't hold'em off, you and Rogue
an' Hotaru may be the only ones left to hold off the Guard! Now, get!"
As the women withdrew, the two men exchanged glances.
"Here's where the fightin' starts, Cajun."
"Den let da fun b'gin, Wolverine ." Gambit replied.
"Where ya'll goin'?" Sabertooth yelled to Wolverine as he, Mystique, and Nightcrawler
fought against a Shi'ar skirmish line.
"Fighting a Rear-Guard action !" Wolverine yelled.
"Don't suppose we could help each other?" Mystique grinned.
"We sll aeem to be headed in the same direction, mein Freund." Nightcrawler observed.
"Come on in, den !" Gambit answered. "Jis' don' forget t' keep firin'!" As if to
illustrate the point, he tossed a couple of energized cards at a trooper readying
to fire point blank at Mystique. The resultant explosion took out three other
troopers nearby.
"Danke, Gambit !" Mystique said.
"Anytime, Mystique."
From a rise on the valley floor, Everett, Tuxedo-Kamen, Jubilee, and Sailor
Mercury could see the dust and hear the din that was moving to some odd ruins
beside a lunar canyon. Checking through her visor, Mercury appraised the situation.
"It's our people!" she said. "And they need our help !"
"Can you blind the Shi'ar from hear, Mercury ?" Jubilee asked.
"From HERE ?" Mercury asked. "Well, it's a pretty long stretch. I may only be
able to dim their vision a little."
Jubilee thought this out. " By how much?"
"By half", Mercury replied.
"That'll do !" Jubilee turned the Everett. "Ev ? I need you to synch with me."
"What are you gonna do, Jubilee ?" Everett asked.
"I'm gonna firecracker that whole area. Hopefully the sparklers will react with
the fog to blind the Shi'ar, at least long enough for our side to get some distance."
"What do you want me to do, Jubilee ?" Mamoru asked.
"Get down to where we saw Usagi. She'll need your help." She turned again to Mercury.
"Are you ready ?"
"Just say the word."
"You ready, Ev?"
"Ready."
Jubilee looked to the crater from where she heard the blaster-fire. "Hope I make
you proud of me, boss-lady", she whispered.
"OK, Mercury. Take it."
"MERCURY ... BUBBLES ... BLAST !!!!"
Automatically, Jubilee and Everett synched and Jubilee cut loose with a wide-ranging
pyrotechnic field that further blinded the Shi'ar. Or so they hoped.
As if on an unspoken cue, Kathryn, Kella, Rahne, and Shingo laid a field of
blaster-fire into the fog bank.
Mamoru moved steadily on to Usagi. Soon the tuxedoed-warrior was out of sight.
A burst of plasma then hit the cliffs above Mercury, Jubilee, and Everett,
causing an avelanche.
Not far from the snipers' crater, Jean, Scott, and Alex Summers were still
defending their portion of the lunar valley. Scott's optic blasts and Alex'
cosmic jackhammering was having the desired effect on Shi'ar troops.
Unfortunely, even Jean's telepathy could be blindsided. So it was that Oracle
and Nightshade, two of the vaunted Imperial Guard, came up behind them. There
was no warning, no chance for surrander, and lttile time to react. Blaster fire
cut through the three X-Men. The assassination squad had done it's work well.
Or so they thought. For, somehow, Jean had survived the first blast. She was
too wrecked to offer resistance to the second round of fire, but not too weak
to cry for help.
"Jean !" Kella cried out. "Scott ! Alex !" Kella could see their deaths sharp
in her mind. The tears would fall later. With the ease of a practiced markswoman,
Kella picked up the long-range Shi'ar blaster-rifle and fired in the direction of
her brothers and Jean. Oracle proved an easy target. But, it was only Jean's dying
thoughts that guided her to Nightshade. The dark assassin went down.
Now Kella could feel the release of her tears. And Kathryn's easing hand on her
shoulder.
Setsuma, Hotaru, and their X-Men allies came to a group of ageless ruins. Once
inside, the fighters begane to take stock of their situation. Rogue gently lowered
a weary Hotaru.
"It'll be alright", Rogue said. Was she trying to reassure Saturn or herself? Rogue
let her eyes adjust to the dimness. "What is this place?"
"Feels familiar", Wolverine said. "I think I been here once."
"You have, X-Man." The voice came from a shadowed hall.
"Who are you?" Sabertooth demanded.
"Careful, Victor", Mystique cautioned.
"He is Uatu," answered Setsuna. "He is the Watcher."
"Thought this place smelled familiar." Wolverine remarked. "Watcher ! How goes
the battle ?"
A scrying crystal pulsed at the Watcher's command. The scenes caused even Sabertooth
and Wolverine to choke back tears. "Goodbye, Jubilee", Wolverine whispered.
"Is there no hope ?" Gambit asked.
"I am not to meddle in the affairs of time!" The Watcher said. " But you may see
what shall come to pass." Once again the crystal pulsed to life.
"Mein Gott !" Cried Nightcrawler. Mystique tried to speak, to cry, but she was
in shock.
"Well, mi cousines," said Gambit. " We best leave. The future calls."