Here continues my new epic saga of the X-Men. Inspired by a number of groovy fic-writing friends!
Credits and acknowledgements will follow the final installment. Chocolates go to the original X-Factor.
Challenges are Field Trip and Murphy's Law and apply to all of the drabbles in this part.
Most of the characters are not mine but belong to various weird companies. Dont sue.
Epic : The Field Trip Across Country, X-Men Style, Part Five : All Kinds of Hell and Heaven and Limbo Too
Characters: X-Men, Xavier institute students, plus a few original characters
'Verse: X-Men Evolution post-series
Ratings: PG This is a family friendly story.
Words: 100 each
lj-cut text"Roads to Everywhere"
1 Meetings and Messages
Professor Xavier called a council of the leaders of his X-Men and students.
Ororo, Logan, Alex, Magda, Sam, and Rogue filed into the room and they talked all night, trying to make plans.
The meeting was almost over for wont of a better idea than to wait, when a scroll case popped into being, tied with red hair.
Logan took one sniff and grinned.
"It's Jean's hair."
The Professor read it and then passed it around and they all read it.
"Trapped in limbo. Headed towards a gate city. Take care of the kids. We'll meet you at Disneyland."
The handwriting was Scott's.
2
Scott and the others materialized in a strange red landscape.
The demons turned to attack them but scattered before the onslaught of the X-men's powers.
Belasco teleported himself and his army away before any more could be killed vowing to destroy them.
Bobby sank down on his haunches, moaning.
"Oh, great we're trapped in Limbo. It cant get any worse."
Scott winced even as there was a rumbling and the earth split open and out of it came another wave of demons, this group looking different.
Hank cuffed Bobby on the back of the head even as the team retreated.
"Dont ever say that again."
3
They were resting on a hill far from where they had entered the weird world of Limbo when Jean turned to Scott with a grin on her face.
"At least we escaped the field trip!"
"Yeah, unless you consider this as one, considering how much we are learning about a whole new dimension."
"Somedays, Scott, you take the fun out of things."
Scott ignored Bobby as he watched the surroundings.
"The best laid plans of mice and men oft go agley."
Hank's cultured voice was gentle.
Warren landed and reported that he had seen no demons far off, but there was a city in the distance.
4
Charles shook his head in wonder.
The students could bounce back from anything.
They had all been morose or outraged on discovering the trip was going on towards Disneyland without the missing ones.
Charles had hoped for some quiet time to go astral and see if he could reach limbo, but such was not to be.
But as the day went on, they slowly lost that fear and anger and started getting more excited as they realization of being but a day away from Disneyland dawned on them.
By just before lunch they were positively bouncy and had begun to sing.
Badly.
Charles sighed.
5
For lunch, they stopped in the small city of Beterion, where Charles hoped to see one Doctor Angeles, a pen pal of old.
They arrived and most of the team and students went on to the Benevuto Restaurant.
Alex, Ororo, and Magda accompanied Charles to the Empers Clinic where Doctor Angeles and their penpals all were.
They separated to find their penpals.
Magda was walking down the hall when she saw a masked man sneaking in.
She called for help as the man jumped at her. She fired a bolt at him and he fell at her feet. So much for a quiet visit.
6
Ororo walked into the garden and found her pen pal Kai tending the garden flowers.
She smiled and assisted him as they talked
She was surprised when she looked up to see two hours had passed and bid her friend a joyous goodbye.
She entered only to confront a group trying to rob patients.
She summoned her winds and drove the men to slip and fall and incapacitated them, even though one got off a shot that winged her, making her control slip.
Hail suddenly filled the corridor.
By the time she gained control the hall was snowbound and icy.
7
Charles and the others rejoined their friends and they resumed their journey down the road, crossing the California border.
They had a jolly time singing their songs and Charles wondered how Scott and the others were doing.
Even then, Scott's group were running from a small gang of demons seeking some place to hide.
They had run into the demons as they were plucking strawberries that seemed safe to eat.
Scott was beginning to think that bad luck was following him around like a stray dog.
Murphy watched from a hilltop far away and laughed. His master had sent him here to finish things.
8
Scott and the others were helped by a mysterious figure who told them of a City where the Gate of worlds resided and could get them back to Earth at a Nexus point, one of which was Disneyland.
They used a scroll and case and added a hair from Jean's head, and the mysterious person sent it to Earth.
They set out for the city and home.
They avoided the main thrust of demons but somehow managed to run into a small group of them and once more were off in a run, cursing bad luck as the demons got closer and closer.
9
Charles and the Field Trip were enjoying a completely uneventful day, making most of them look around nervously a lot.
But as the day stretched into evening relatively little happened.
Oh, a flat tire here and a burst drink there, but nothing serious, and they all began to relax.
They arrived at their last stop of the day, and all were excited as they piled out and went into the Swertin Restaurant for dinner.
Charles thought of his missing students and sighed wondering if they were ok.
Hank was cautiously leading them now over treacherous ground, as they approached the now looming city.
10
Even as they approached the city and began to skirt it towards the Massive gate on the other side, Bobby was gripped by hunger.
He gobbled several handfuls of the odd strawberries while following the others and as he ate the last of them began to feel odd.
As they arrived at the point where they would wait for the best time to go through he began to feel pain in his gut.
He convulsed and began to change, his body altering as he was transformed into a new form taller and more grotesque than Beast's.
The others rushed to help him.
11
Scott and Jean cursed as Bobby's cry attracted attention, but their attention was riveted on their teammate who was changing into a new form, somehow mutated by, and here Scot smelled strawberries and leaped to the right conclusion, mutated by that fruit they had found.
He finally stopped changing, now a tall, oddly grotesque yet beautiful being, no longer appearing human really, especially in the alien looking eyes.
Scott and the others helped him up, supporting him as they ran for the gate, their cover lost.
They made it to the gate and gazed at the silver surface and golden frame,thinking of Disneyland.
12
Everyone cheered as Disneyland and the hotel they would stay at came into sight.
It faced the park and thus would give them a huge view of where they would spend the next week or so.
They all got out of their parked vehicles.
Alex, Sam, Logan, and Ororo directed the kids to stowing their stuff and cleaning up and then led them to where they would be eating dinner and watching a show.
As they passed a mockup of an old Ferris wheel, marked with Halloween symbols, it began to glow and shudder and spin, and a silvery surface sprang up.
13
Scott and his team ran towards the gate.
From his overflight, Warren rained down his trademark scatter grenades stunned and scattered demons out of their way.
Hank was carrying the groaning Bobby, who was still woozy.
Jean used her telekinesis and swept some away from their path.
Belasco suddenly stepped in front of the gate with a strangely garbed man who laughed at them all.
The team charged and Scott fired repeatedly.
Murphy cast his power against them but something went wrong and one of Scott's beams slammed into Murphy, blasting him through a wall and crushing him.
The team leaped into the Gate.
14
Colossus and Ororo swore as Scott, Jean and Hank leapt through the surface, Hank carrying a stranger and Warren flying right behind them.
And behind them came a horde of demons.
Before their eyes the five turned to fight the horde, and with a roar, their comrades joined the fight.
Attempting to use his powers during the battle, Bobby discovered they still worked but he could now emit fire as well when he tried, though it was erratic.
The others all formed up and Ororo, Sam, and Scott's orders overlapped like graceful clockwork, training and camaraderie coming together with their frustration as they attacked.
15
The demons retreated and the gate vanished from the human side.
Then they all came together.
There were reunions and surprises as they all gathered together and then Bobby collapsed.
Hank took him into the X-van and treated him as well as the other travelers.
They then went on to dinner, Bobby's new form gathering some attention and Bobby feeling depressed and morose until Jubilee came up to him and admitted that she thought he looked kinda noble and almost cute.
There was laughter and toasts and chatter as they all cheered at the end of a long day and at Disneyland tomorrow.
To Be Continued...
There ya go, the fifth and penultimate part of this insanity is complete! Feedback is adored and the next piece will be posted sometime tomorrow.
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