Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men, or any of its original characters. Nor do I have any type of claim to those characters. However, the characters of my creation belong to me, and cannot be used without my permission.
Friendly Faces
(Foreign X-Change Part IV)
By
Moonchampion
Jean lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. It had been about an hour sense the session in the Danger Room, but still it was the only thing on her mind. Jean took a deep breath as she turned and looked out her window. The sun was beginning to set. As she gazed into the red glow of the setting son, she heard a knock at her door. She remained quiet, because at the moment she didn't want to be disturbed. Hopefully, whoever was knocking what catch on. Instead, the knock came again.
Jean sighed in frustration, but still did not move. Then, the handle began to turn, and the door was pushed open slightly. Jean turned towards the door to see Peter stick his head into the room. She caught his eyes and could see his gentle nature, despite the strength he had shown in the Danger Room. Peter looked at the teenage redhead and offered a smile. "I... am not intruding, am I?" he asked.
Jean watched him for a while, his head perched just beyond the door. He stood there almost as if he were a small, timid animal afraid to enter. Jean smiled. "No, come on in. Have a seat," she said. Peter nodded and pushed the door open. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him. Jean slid to the end of her bed and stared up at Peter. She had nearly forgotten how tall he was. Peter walked towards Jean's work desk and pulled the chair out before sitting in it. "So, how's Betsy?"
"She is fine," answer Peter. "However, that is not the reason I came. I was worried about you."
Jean's eyes widened in surprise at Peter's response. "Really?" Jean's look of surprise was immediately replaced with a warm smile. "Well, Mr. Rasputin, I assure you that I couldn't be better." "I... don't think so," said Peter.
Jean forced a laugh as she rose from her bed. "Now, who's the telepath," she said. She turned around to look at Peter. "I'm glad that you were concerned, but honestly Peter, I'll survive. There's no need to worry."
Peter rose from the chair and walked towards Jean. He looked down into her green eyes. "If there is one thing I have learned about you, is that you will always survive." Peter smiled at Jean and then turned towards the door.
"Peter, wait," said Jean. Peter paused and turned around. "Uh, you know what. I could use a little fun right now. Would you mind humoring me?"
"Of course not," said Peter. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well, how about a movie," Jean suggested. "I know that it sometimes takes a few extra weeks for most films to get released in Europe."
"That would be nice," said Peter.
"Great," said Jean. "Let me grab my sweater." Jean walked over to her closet and grabbed a sweater. She draped it over her arm and walked towards Peter. "Ready." Peter nodded. Jean twisted the door knob and opened the door to find Scott standing there, his hand raised as if he were about to knock on the door. "Scott?!"
Scott smiled as he saw Jean, but the smile faded as Peter stepped into view behind Jean. "I'm sorry. I… I didn't know you had company."
"It's okay, Scott," said Jean. "In fact, Peter and I were just on our way out. We were going to see a movie."
"Oh, well," said Scott. "Perhaps, Betsy and I can join you." Suddenly, Betsy stepped into view, with a bit of a forced smile on her face. "So how about it?" Jean stared from Scott to Betsy and back to Scott. She could sense telepathically how badly he wanted her to say yes. After a few seconds of debating with her guilty conscience, she finally agreed to it and nodded. "Great. See you two at my car in… ten minutes?"
Jean forced a smile on her face and nodded. It was the most painful experience of her life. Scott smiled, then turned and left with Betsy telepathically cursing herself about her luck. If Jean hadn't agreed to come, she would have had Scott all to herself. Jean managed to take some delight in knowing that she had thwarted Betsy's agenda.
"You always could have said no," said Peter. Jean turned around to face him, and smiled. Peter shook his head. "Tell me, are all American girls this competitive?"
"Let's just say we hate losing to the British," said Jean as she led Peter down the hall.
Nearly an hour later, the teens were walking down along the sidewalk of downtown Bayville heading towards the movie theater. Jean watched as Betsy and Scott walked arm in arm in front of her and Peter. Jean sighed and felt Peter's hand grab her own. She smiled at the gesture and squeezed his hand gently as they continued on their way to the theater.
The couples came to a crosswalk where they waited for the signal to walk across the street. While waiting, Scott turned to look behind him to see Peter and Jean holding hands. Scott cleared his throat as he began to speak. "So, Peter," began Scott, "what movie did you want to see?"
"Actually, I thought I'd let Jean decide," Peter replied.
"Well, you'd probably get stuck at some chick-flick that way," said Scott. He saw Jean's eyes widen, and knew that he'd crossed the line. "I mean, uh…." Scott glanced over at Betsy. She slightly amused by how red he'd become. "Uh… let's stick with something everyone will like. Something like… uh… like… fire."
"Fire?" said Peter. "I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with that film. Jean?" Jean shook her head as well, confused by what Scott had said.
"No! Fire!" said Scott, as he pointed behind Jean and Peter. The teens all gazed in the direction that Scott was pointing in. There was in fact a building that was on fire. The black smoke rose from the flaming building and filled the sky. "Jean, is anyone in there?"
Jean closed her eyes and did a psychic scan of the building. However, just as she completed the scan, she could hear Betsy's voice speaking the exact words that she was about to. "There are two small children in an apartment… third floor." Jean's eyes opened on Betsy, who only offered smiled briefly in triumph.
"Okay, let's move!" said Scott. The four teens began sprinting in the direction of the building. As they got to the building, they were surprised to see that no one was standing there watching the blaze. "We must be the first ones here! That means its up to us to get those kids out of there!"
"Wait, Scott! It's too dangerous!" said Betsy. "I'm… I'm scared."
Scott sighed as he looked into Betsy's eyes. Then, he nodded. "Okay, don't worry," he said softly. He took one of her hands into his own. "Stay here with, Jean." Betsy's mouth dropped open in surprise. Scott turned to Peter. "Let's go!" The Russian teen nodded and stood tall. His skin became covered with organic steel as he followed Scott into the burning inferno.
"Why did he go in there?!" cried Betsy as Scott and Peter disappeared from sight.
"Damsel in distress… how original," said Jean. "Did you really think…." Jean quickly brought her hands to her temples. A brief flurry of images flooded her mind… images from Betsy. Once the images had flashed through, Jean walked towards Betsy and turned her around only to find tears in her eyes. "You really are scared. You… you lost your father in a fire?"
Betsy pulled away from Jean's grasp and wiped the tears away. "It's okay to be afraid, Betsy," said Jean. Betsy remained silent, unable to meet Jean's eyes. Jean sighed and closed her eyes. As she closed them, she sent a telepathic image to Betsy, one that could not be ignored.
Betsy instantly saw the world before her fade away and replaced by darkness. The darkness disappeared, and was quickly replaced by an explosion of light and heat. Betsy raised her hands to guard herself from the flames. She looked out to see that she was surrounded. There was no escape. Then, she heard a feint cry. "Jean! Jean! Help!" Betsy looked across the flames to see a young girl with red hair trapped in her bed, surrounded by flames. The girl couldn't have been more than ten or eleven.
"Sara! Sara!" Betsy looked to the opposite side of the room. There was another girl in her bed. The sweat was pouring from her forehead. This girl was Jean, only younger… about thirteen. Jean got up from her bed and ran to the door. She looked back at the younger girl… her sister crying out to her. "Jean! Help me, please!"
Suddenly, part of the ceiling began to fall. Sara cried out in terror. "Ahhh! Jean!" the girl continued to cry. Betsy watched in horror as the girl disappeared from view. The young Jean dropped to her knees, tears in her eyes. "Sara!" cried the young Jean. Suddenly, the flaming debris that had fallen began to shake. Betsy continued to watch. The heat was starting to get to Sara. Her eyelids were getting heavy. The heat was too much.
However, Betsy's eyes quickly moved back to the young Jean. The young redhead was now floating slightly above the ground. Her eyes clenched tightly shut, the flaming debris quickly slid out of the way. It crashed into the far wall. Jean then opened her eyes and looked at her sister. Betsy followed her gaze to see, Sara floating across the room, barely conscious into the arms of her sister.
Suddenly, the bedroom door burst open. It was Jean and Sara's father. He stepped into the room, to find his daughters cradled next to the door in each other's arms. He reached down, scooped up her girls and ran from the room. The next image Betsy saw was the inferno from outside. The firemen had come and were extinguishing the flames. Still, through the chaos, Betsy saw managed to find the two sisters, still holding each other. Black smudges smeared across their faces, and tears still running from their eyes. "I love you, Jean," said the young Sara to her older sister. "I love you, too."
The image quickly faded, and Betsy found herself on her knees with Jean, both of the girls embracing each other tightly after having relived the tragic experience. The look of surprise was clearly etched on both of their faces. For some time they both remained silent, just staring at each other, until Jean broke the silence first. "I guess we have more in common than we thought," she said.
Betsy watched Jean for a moment, before pushing herself to her feet. "It's not the same thing," said Betsy. "You didn't lose someone. You saved her!" Betsy was now on the verge of tears. "But I… I didn't."
Jean got to her feet and started after Betsy. "Betsy, we are different people. Our powers are different. There's no way you could have done what I did," said Jean. She took a few steps toward Betsy. "It wasn't your fault. You have to stop blaming yourself."
Scott and Peter made their way up the stairs and through the blazing inferno. The heat grew more intense as they made continued forward. Still, Scott was determined not to fail. Those children's lives were at stake, just like his and his brother had been before. Scott knew the fear they must be experiencing… it was a fear that no child should endure.
Peter and Scott came to the apartment door where the children were. The door was covered in flames, but through the roar of the fire, Scott and Peter could hear the children screaming. Peter was about to burst through the door using his own metallic body. Scott raised his hand to signal for Peter to stop. "That's too risky! You might bring down part of the ceiling on the kids! Leave this one to me!" cried Scott over the roaring flames. Scott pulled his glasses down from his eyes, and fired an optic blast at the door. The charred wood scattered into the apartment, and Scott and Peter rushed into the apartment.
Scott spotted the children crying out near the window. He rushed over towards them, and kneeled down. Peter was right behind him. "Peter get these kids out of here!" Scott looked towards the door. "The smoke may be too much for them if we go the way we came!"
"I can take them through the window," said Peter.
"But there's no fire escape," Scott said.
"Do not worry, comrade," Peter answered. "I can survive the fall. The children will be safe."
Scott nodded. Peter scooped the children into his arms and turned towards Scott. Scott pulled his glasses away from his eyes once again and fired an optic blast at the window. "What about you?" asked Peter as he turned to Scott.
"Don't worry about me," replied Scott. "I'll be fine. Just get the kids out now!" Peter nodded and leapt through the window. He landed on the sidewalk, and because of his steel skin and heavy weight, he ended up leaving two large footprints engraved in the concrete. The loud commotion quickly got Betsy and Jean's attention they ran back towards Peter who had the children cradled in his arms.
He kneeled down and let the children go. "Quickly, call the fire department," he told the children. The simply ran off towards a pay phone down the street. Peter looked back up at the window he had just jumped from. There was a sudden burst of flames from that opening. "Bohze Moi! There's no way he can get out that way. I must go back for him!"
"No way, love," said Betsy. "The only way you can make it to him in with your organic steel skin. In like that, I doubt those floors can support your weight. You'd never make it to Scott. You'd only bring the entire house down on top of you if you tried."
"Then, it's up to us!" said Jean. She turned to Betsy. "You up for it?" After a brief moment of hesitation, Betsy bit her lip and looked up towards Jean and nodded. "Good, then let's…." Jean's jaw dropped as she felt a psychic disturbance. She looked towards Betsy, and realized she had felt the same thing. "Scott!" Betsy's eyes widened with worry, and the girls looked up towards the burning building with a new fear in their heart.
"No. No, not again," said Betsy. She looked over towards Jean.
"Come on," said Jean. "We have to save him!"
Scott looked out the window and watched as the Peter landed safely on the ground. He smiled with a little bit of relief in his heart. Then, Scott could hear the sound of wood creaking. He took a step back just in time to avoid a falling wooden beam from the ceiling. The beam fell right in front of the window. "Hmm, so much for using that exit," said Scott.
However, there was another sound of creaking. Unfortunately, it didn't give Scott enough warning to dodge this beam. The beam came loose from the ceiling and swung down at Scott. The beam hit him in the head, knocking him to the floor. Several other beams and debris from the ceiling fell to the floor, encircling the young unconscious Scott Summers.
***
"Kurt? Kurt, wake up?" said Kitty. Her head quickly snapped to attention as she heard footsteps heading her way. She looked over at Kurt and Rahne. Both were still unconscious. Kitty bit her lip. "I can't move both of you. And if the police find us here, they're gonna ask a lot of questions!"
"Gordon! Check behind those bushes!" said a distant voice.
"Aye!" called Gordon, a young British police officer. "Of course. Send Gordon to do the dirty work. Bloody well, serve 'em right if that behemoth comes back while I'm down 'ere."
Kitty could see Gordon working his way through the shrubbery. There was nothing she could do. In a few seconds, she be as good as caught. She fumbled with Kurt's wrist trying to activate his holo-imager. If they were found like this, chances are they could find a way out of this mess undetected. But if that officer, Gordon, saw Kurt's blue fur, they'd be in more trouble then they could imagine.
"Oh, bloody hell! What's with these bushes?" called Gordon. Kitty looked up at the shrubs. They seemed to be moving and growing. In all, they were doing their best to keep Gordon from getting any closer. "Hey! What gives? Bleeding branch just spanked my rump!" Gordon quickly stepped away from the bushes, massaging his rear. "Oh forget it. Not like there's anything down there anyway."
Kitty let a sigh of relief go as Gordon stomped away from the shrubbery, leaving herself and her friends unfound. "That was fun, eh?" said a voice. Kitty turned around to see a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. On her shoulder was perched a small purple dragon. She smiled as she looked at Kitty. The girl, wearing a blue X-uniform, then turned her attention towards Kitty and Rahne. She waved her hands in the air, and the grass beneath them began to grow, lifting their bodies off the ground. She then began to look them over.
"Who are you?" said Kitty as she sprang to her feet. "And what are you doing to my friends?"
"Dinnae worry," said another voice, "Illyana won't hurt yer friends." Kitty looked into the air. She could see several other people flying towards her: a boy, a girl and a large flaming bird. The boys had blonde hair and his outfit was patterned after the Union Jack. The girl had red hair. Her uniform seemed close to the X-uniforms that Kitty knew, but it was green instead of blue. The girl also had a type of cape that was attached to her suit. Finally, there was the large flaming bird… a phoenix.
As the phoenix neared the ground, Kitty saw that it wasn't a bird, but actually another girl with red hair. Within the phoenix's talon was an older woman wearing glasses. Once her feet touched the ground, she ran immediately towards Rahne.
"Rahne? Are ye all right?" she asked.
Young Rahne slowly began to stir. She felt her face being cradled in familiar hands. She opened her eyes and smiled. "Mum!" Rahne reached up and wrapped her arms around her mother.
"Dr. MacTaggert? Moira MacTaggert?" asked Kitty. The woman slowly pulled herself from her daughter's embrace and pushed her glasses back onto her nose. She nodded at Kitty who let out a sigh of relief. "Then, the rest of you must be her students, Excalibur."
"Yes, they are," said Dr. MacTaggert. "Introduce yerselves while I see to this young man." Moira moved over to get a closer look at Kurt.
The blonde boy stepped forward first. He nodded at Kitty. "Hi. Name's Brian. They call me Britannic. I'm the field leader of this team."
"Co-leader," interrupted the redhead with the green X-uniform. "I'm Theresa Rourke. Syrin, the other field leader of this team." Theresa sneered towards Brian, annoyed that he'd conveniently forgotten that he shared leadership of the team.
The girl with the dragon still perched on her shoulder began to giggle as the rivalry between Brian and Theresa continued. She took a step towards Kitty, still smiling. "I'm Illyana. They call me Magik. You probably already met my brother, Piotr." Kitty nodded. "This is Lockheed." Illyana lifted her shoulder, and the dragon gave a brief screech as he spread his wings. "Shh, not so loud Lockheed." The dragon reset itself, and Illyana continued. "And that's Rachel Summers. We call her Phoenix… for obvious reasons."
"Summers?" echoed Kitty. "Any relation to Scott Summers?"
Rachel looked up surprised when she heard the name. "Uh, yes… we're distant relatives," she answered. Rachel cleared her throat. "So, what happened here? It looks like a truck ran through this place! Everyone's on edge. I can sense the tension in the air."
"It vas the Juggernaut," said Kurt as he began to come around. He shook his head as he got to his feat. "He vas vith someone else too. I can barely remember. I think he said his name was… Tom."
Theresa's eyes widened. "Dr. MacTaggert. Do ye think he could be talking about me uncle, Black Tom?"
"That he could," said Moira. "And if that's so, then we know what they're after."
"Wait, what's going on?" asked Kitty. "What would they be after?"
Brian had turned his attention towards Theresa. He knew what her uncle would be after. It was the same thing that his family had sworn to protect in addition to these isles. Brian turned to face Kitty and the others. "What Black Tom and the Juggernaut are after is the very item that will make them truly unstoppable. They're after… Excalibur."
"You mean the sword?" asked Kurt. "But I thought that it vas just a legend?"
"No my friend," said Brian. "And if Tom Cassidy gets his hands on that sword, he and his friend… the Juggernaut will truly be unstoppable."
"What are we gonna do?" asked Rahne.
"The only thing ve can do," said Kurt. "Stop them."
TO BE CONCLUDED…
