CHAPTER 5: Thorny Olive Branches
"Man, we always miss the good stuff!" groaned Forge once the Professor had finished, "Even the New Mutants get to see more action than we do!"
Remy sighed, "Trust Remy, mon ami, you were incredibly lucky to not have gone through such an ordeal. Merde, and I thought trying to go to Bayville High again during the mobs and protests was uncomfortable for Remy enough!"
"Are you referring to the battle with H.A.T.E. or the awkwardness at running into G.I. Joe and the Misfits?" Hank asked in a quiet, reasonable, yet solemn manner. The red-eyed Cajun needed a few moments to actually ponder that one.
"Both actually, Mr. McCoy," the young adult finally admitted.
Kitty was next to Piotr on the couch with a frozen look of misery and disbelief, her face white and her eyes glassy with shock. She still couldn't believe she just did that, that she just told Lance to his face that she wanted to be with Piotr instead, and as a result, she felt the pressure of guilt threatening to crush her back and shoulder, tightening her chest and nearly suffocating her. Jean then tried to cheer her teammate up by placing her arms around Kitty's shoulders before she said gently, "It's all right, Kitty. You're still just running a high gamut of emotions after seeing Peter injured like that and after working up the courage to tell Alvers the truth. Look, I know it may not feel like it now, but you made the right choice, and the sooner you understand that, the better. Besides, Peter's the better choice considering he's loyal, considerate, honorable, and an X-Man and teammate you could trust your life with."
"Jean, for God's sake, will you just shut up and back off?" snarled Rogue, hearing this and shooting the redhead a most poisonous look.
Jamie then growled before Jean could retort back, so totally uncommonly hostile it literally made some of the adults drop their mouths in shock, "Jean, we love you and all, but say one more bad thing to bash Lance with, and I swear to God I don't know what I'm gonna do to you, but it will be ugly! So leave Kitty alone and mind your own dumb beeswax!"
Jean's lower lip trembled a bit as she looked at the young, brown-haired adolescent before she limply dropped her hand to her side, her face shocked and humiliated. If it were Rogue or Tabitha or one of the Misfits, yes…but never Jamie. There was an uncomfortable silence as Jamie glowered at everyone in the room, daring anyone to speak up. Hank then coughed uneasily as Jake laid a cool paw on Jamie's shoulder.
"I must say, Charles, that these current events and plethora of news is quite…troubling to say the least. If it were Magneto, the Hellfire Club, Juggernaut or even the Friends of Humanity, it would be something we have been tirelessly dealing with for quite some time in a predictable and prepared manner. I would not say that it is simply water off a duck's back, but to now deal with possible aliens from the Fourth Dimension and who are led by a tyrant far worse than Magneto and who suddenly have a fascinated yet lethally morbid interest in us and our students is undoubtedly on a whole new level of danger."
"I still cannot believe it," Ororo murmured, trying to sip water from her glass despite her shaking hands.
"Da, talk about things taking a turn for the worst, Professor," Piotr commented wearily as he and the rest of the X-Men pondered on what they had been briefed on. All of them were back into their civilian clothing and met in the living room for the informative session between General Hawk, Maggie Sawyer, and Commissioner Gordon. At first, Xavier and most of the adults argued that only Scott, Jean, and Forge of the X-Men should be allowed to hear of this information, but all the New Mutants and the X-Men that were not mentioned raised a huge stink, nearly at an uproar at being left in the dark. The X-Men adolescents heatedly debated with their elders that at least knowing would prepare them against any force sent by the new dangers of Apokolips and that trying to shelter them from sensitive information would be not only condescending but hazardous to their safety as well. As they pointed out, if this concerned the X-Men, then all of the X-Men and not just the senior members should be made a part of whatever they could to defend each other. And if they weren't going to hear it directly, then they would certainly have no trouble getting what they needed to know from Jake or the Misfits or by eavesdropping, consequences be damned. It also didn't help that Hawk, Sawyer and Gordon agreed with the children and refused to follow through the briefing unless all of the X-Men were present in the room and that Jake and Hank both readily agreed against the Professor's initial judgment. Overwhelmed at all sides, Xavier finally conceded. For the past two hours, General Hawk, Maggie Sawyer, and Commissioner Gordon had told all of the X-Men and the New Mutants the crisis in precise detail. They learned about Apokolips, a strange alien world that resided in the Fourth dimension that was full of warmongers and ruthless bloodthirsty tyrants bred on the slavery and misery of other races, and how Live Wire was recently broken out of Stryker's Prison Island by a splinter group of these aliens called the Female Furies. Though not much was known about the Female Furies, Gordon and Maggie explained about how they used to back Granny Harkness, a depraved matron-figure that used to lead Intergang back at Metropolis and how Darkseid leads his faithful followers on a never-ending quest to seek the Anti-Life formula, and if Earth didn't have it, despite a tentative and unstable treaty formed by New Genesis and the High Father (one of the good guys), he would simply destroy and conquer it like he had done with countless planets before. Then Maggie gave a brief overview about the Justice League and how they were formed five years ago to combat such threats such as Darkseid and how it proved that there were good aliens who wished to live in this world in peace alongside other Earthlings and make a harmonious life for themselves.
However, what wasn't clear was why Darkseid was interested in them and the Misfits nor were they clear on why H.A.T.E. was even involved in the first place, but all three of the lawful humans were willing to bet everything they had on it. It was no coincidence that H.A.T.E. had ambushed both of the groups so quickly at the carnival just like how it was not unintentional that the alliance between H.A.T.E. and the Friends of Humanity had centered their operations in Gotham City and Metropolis. Unfortunately, there was no clear lead between all of these events, which made the dead ends all the more frustrating. Which was why a small battalion of G.I. Joe troopers led by Flint, Snake Eyes, and Quick Kick were on the X-Mansion grounds along with Mainframe, Bazooka, and Dial-Tone helping Hank, Forge, and Jake increase the perimeters and firepower of the mansion's defense mechanisms. After the session, Hawk, Maggie, and Commissioner Gordon promised to keep in touch before they left.
Now that they had been informed and prepared themselves as much as possible…all the X-Men could do now…was wait.
"You know, after today, I'm beginning to wish we were facing off Juggernaut or Mojo and his weird dimension again or even Magneto and his Acolytes," groaned Roberto, "ANYTHING has got to be better than being targeted by aliens who could give Superman a run for his money."
Ororo then remembered what Maggie and Gordon had told them and she added an additional worry, "And since the Justice League isn't available as of yet, we are all left to fight this threat on our own, and even with the help from the Joes and the Misfits, it may not be enough to stop some of these characters. Goddess, if they could so effectively kill most of the security at Stryker's Island, then there is no telling how soon they will be able to overpower us and reduce this mansion to rubble."
"And by doing so, they might kill us. They might kill all of us," murmured Amara, her face white as she pondered the macabre thought, invoking strong feelings of nausea within her.
"What I don't get is why these bubs would be targeting us, Chuck," Logan said, "We don't have any idea about this Anti-Life formula crap that Darkseid has been trying to locate, and I also doubt any of us had former ties to any of the members in the Justice League. Hell, even Hawk knows them better than we do, and yet for some reason, Live Wire has been sent here to get both us and the Misfits, just because we're mutants."
"I remember that," Scott said at Logan, "I overheard Live Wire say something about how you were one of them when she electrocuted you and tried to burn you into a crisp, whatever that meant. If it wasn't for your healing factor, you would have died."
"Mr. Logan, what do you think she meant by that? I mean, even though a lot of your past is shaky and blank, could it be possible you ran into these minions from Apokolips before?" Piotr asked.
"I'd doubt it," Logan said as he shook his head, "Working as a past agent for S.H.I.E.L.D? Possible. Being a subject as a scientific, human guinea-pig for some program called 'Weapon X'? Hell, yeah. But running into aliens and stuff? That's new to me and certainly not part of my style."
"It also wouldn't add up," Forge mused, rubbing his chin, "Sawyer and Gordon said Apokolips showed up to Earth for the very first time around eight or nine years ago, and the first occurrence when they attacked our planet was when they tried to storm Metropolis and reduce it to rubble. They even managed to get Superman to deflect to their side for a bit before it was later revealed that he was brainwashed, but other than that, there was never any evidence that Darkseid sent any of his henchmen to Earth in the first place. Since Wolverine's been around longer than that, it's too far out on a limb to say he's met them before."
"Rogue, what about when you managed to touch Live Wire when she arrived at the Mansion, unannounced?" Jean asked, "Did you get a clear reading on her thoughts or have a glimpse of what she was ordered by Darkseid to do?"
Rogue shook her head as she explained, "Nothin' that stands out, but what I do remember after touching that pompous goth-wannabe was one word that stuck in my mind…'phase'."
"Phase? You mean, like, my mutant powers and junk?" Kitty asked, her head jerking up.
"Nah, not that kind of phase. I mean the word 'phase', like some sort of plan. Like, a time in which there's some sort of task to do during a certain period to achieve something…like, I guess….oh damn it, it's hard to explain!"
Hank then supplicated, "In other words, a phase, such as a distinguished part of a course of development or cycle in which a condition is met. In other words, it's a stage in some sort of grand scheme or plan."
"Yeah, exactly Beast!"
"Is there anything else you remember, chere? It could help us out here," Remy asked, interested.
"Nothing much, but along with that word, I got the following gibberish. The words that kept ringing in my mind were: restart, research, recruit, and reclaim."
"Restart…" started Professor X.
"Research…" blurted out Kurt in disbelief.
"Like recruit…" asked a confused Kitty.
"…and reclaim?" finished Sam with shock, "Hate ta' tell ya' this, Rogue, but that doesn't really help. We only know a bunch of plans with some sort of names like a word-puzzle, but we don't much other than that! If we knew what one of these plans was, maybe we could piece it together."
"But other than the names and the fact they all start with 're-', all we can do is guess what they could be planning, but we still don't know why Darkseid wants with us," groaned Ray.
"So now what do we do?" Forge asked no one in particular.
"There is nothing we can do, Forge. However, with some of the Joes making a 24-hour guard around our home and with additional support by the police departments in both Gotham City and Metropolis thanks to Maggie Sawyer and James Gordon, we may not be in so deep as we have thought," Professor Xavier sighed.
"It's something at least," Scott agreed wearily.
"And the Misfits will certainly want to help out during this problem since the umbrella also covers under their home and security as well, and considering that they have two new members, it may be the right time to mend the burnt bridges."
"As if we would want to," muttered Jean darkly.
"Normally, I would agree with you, Jean, especially around that lunatic Shipwreck, but if the students' lives are in danger, I am willing to endure their barbaric company for such help," Ororo said as she agitatedly fingered her glass of water.
"And it doesn't seem too bad," Bobby put in, "Lina and that Whitelighter guy seem really nice. And they've got really cool powers! Not lame ones like Xi's invisibility and genetic-code reading and Fred's ability to just stand around like some sort of indestructible punching bag."
"That I would agree with you on, Bobby," Xavier said as he rested his elbows on the arms of his wheelchair, "When we returned back to the Mansion after our altercation with H.A.T.E., I had Forge give Cerebro a power boost while I scanned for their mutant signatures back at the Pit and learned quite a few things."
"Such as?" Scott leaned in along with the rest of the X-Men, interested.
"For starters, though Justin and Lina are still learning and are having some difficulty meeting it, they both have some noticeable potential. Granted, they aren't be as powerful as say Althea, Jean, Scott or Ororo, but they are certainly unique. Whitelighter has the ability to teleport by deconstructing his body matter down to the molecular level and reappear again in any place he chooses by reconstructing back his mass in a matter of seconds and via light energy. And he can take several people with him in this teleportation manner should he be strong enough, and it is also this ability that allows him to reconstruct matter back to its original form, like how he healed Peter's flesh wound and reformed his metal armor! And what is amazing is that the boy also can telekinetically teleport objects or even quantities of energy to him and cause them to reappear wherever he chooses."
"Oh yeah, I remember that!" Bobby exclaimed, "He called it 'orbing' and that's how he was able to take that pipe out of your stomach, Razor! He just…called on it, and it reappeared in his hand! It's sort of like mixing Jean's telekinesis with Kurt's teleportation, except he has to do it verbally. But the problem is he still has a lot of trouble with his mutation. I think he's still not used to it yet."
"Mein Gott!" marveled Kurt.
"And Lina is certainly just as unique as well," Xavier continued, "Despite her physical appearance, her mutation has caused her body to undergo some improvements. Like most insects, her body is lighter in density than normal humans around her weight and height, which does allow her to fly and possibly act as a form of transport should people need to ride alongside her during emergencies. And because of this, her strength is slightly stronger than a normal human is capable of, not superhuman, but certainly stronger. And her wings are indestructible, like Peter's metal armor and can move at sonic speeds and could slice through reinforced steel-metal with ease. In fact, I daresay her wings are as strong as Logan's claws but I wouldn't test it in that manner. And along with her healing silk protein she can regurgitate from her mouth, her antennae are also a great gift. Those appendages are not just for show. I sensed that over time, Dragonfly can use the antenna to sense her surroundings and incoming dangers, sort of like an insect's sixth sense to be aware of anything approaching near its vicinity like Spider-Man has."
"Whoa, so Lina'll have something like Spider-Man's spider-sense?" Roberto asked, amazed. The Professor gave Logan a brief glance as he emphasized.
"With the proper and correct training, the girl Dragonfly could develop senses that are as keen as yours and Spider-Man's combined, Logan."
Logan grunted; that certainly was impressive.
"Like totally cool," Kitty beamed.
"Hmph, what a waste," muttered Piotr.
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway, Peter," Jake chastised gently, "Misfits or not, I'm sure Lina and Justin would want to be friendly with us, despite being on different teams. Just because we're on different teams doesn't mean we're not working in the same department. And there's no point complaining about it because it appears that it doesn't change the fact that Justin and Lina enjoy staying with G.I. Joe at the Pit."
"Not exactly, Jake. We could show those two that they may enjoy staying at the X-Mansion even more…" suggested Xavier, bringing his fingers together.
It took only the X-Men a second to get what the Professor was planning.
"So we could try getting Lina as a new recruit? To have her come with us as one of the X-Men!" Bobby said excitedly, almost leaping out of his seat with anticipated eagerness. Some, such as Jean, Remy, and Forge were also just as equally interested.
"From what I can tell, their roles and identities as Misfits is a bit shaky if not nascent, and perhaps this may be an excellent time to show them around the Mansion and get to know Justin and Lina a bit better, especially since they hardly seem to be the lunatics and dysfunctional wrecking crew the Misfits pride so much on being, like what happened when we were interested in asking Low Light to join us. And I'm sure that if their parents were willing to allow them to join G.I. Joe, then they would be just as willing and complacent to let Dragonfly and Whitelighter join the X-Men should it be a better choice for them."
"It would be cool to have more people," Ray voiced slowly, "and they are really nice and more importantly, sane. Heck, they could pass off as normal."
"And it would be a nice little victory for us X-Men, homme," Remy grinned impishly.
"I don't know," Kurt voiced slowly, "Things are already bad between us and trying to steal their team members may make things worse, especially since it's not really fair to the Joes and the Misfits. They found them first, so it should mean that the Misfits have the right to welcome Whitelighter and Dragonfly as part of their family."
"I agree with Blue. Just leave them alone and let's just try to patch things up. With H.A.T.E. and this weird Apokolips stuff going around, I don't want to fight with Althea and the others any more, especially since they really haven't done anything wrong," Tabitha piped in, eager to convince her teammates to abandon the thought.
"And we wouldn't like it if the Misfits stole some of our members, so why should it be any different for them?" Jamie shot out, his voice uncharacteristically hard. God, why is it only he and a few others could see that this was crossing a big line?
"We're not stealing them," Forge smiled mischievously, "We're just making sure they realize that there are other options and that they don't have to be stuck with the lowest common denominator."
"Yeah, we're just stopping them from making a big mistake and wasting their lives," added Roberto.
Scott then reasoned gently, hoping that he could convince the German pacifist the truth, "And we're really helping them for the better, Kurt. C'mon, you know how the Misfits corrupt every single person who's crazy enough to live with them, right? I mean, look at General Hawk and the Joes! Sure they're important, noble, and they fight for freedom and for justice, but they're also nothing more than a bunch of drunks, gamblers, and lunatics! Granted, we have our share of chaos and immaturity here at the Mansion too, but it's definitely more stable than the Pit can ever offer them. Look, Justin and Lina are really nice guys right now, but once they spend enough time with the Misfits…well, what's the old saying? 'Those that lie with dogs wake up with fleas', right? Well, if Whitelighter and Dragonfly joined us, they would definitely have better control of their powers and be something they could be proud of! And besides, General Hawk always said he didn't want to force anyone if they didn't want to be a Misfit, right?"
Amara then added, "So what's the harm in helping Justin and Lina make sure whether or not they want to stay as Misfits? I agree with Scott and Forge, Kurt, and you know it's not bad. We're not taking them away…we're just helping them grow up and mature."
"No, Amara!" Tabitha protested, "Look, it would be cool and all, but I don't like it!"
"I agree with Tabitha. This ain't right," Rogue frowned.
Bobby then pointed out, almost a bit too fervently, "Hey, you should talk, Rogue! You left the Lance and the other idiots in that brigade and joined up with the X-Men back when they were still the Brotherhood! How can you just sit there and say it's wrong when you're one of the people who did it in the first place? The same thing can be said about Dragonfly!"
Rogue didn't mention it, but it wasn't lost on a lot of people that Bobby was only concerned about Lina's membership as she argued back, "Hey, when they were the Brotherhood, it was different! They were led under Mystique and Magneto so of course it was a good idea to get out while we could! Now, they're the Misfits, so it's completely in a whole new cotton-field altogether, ice-cube!"
"Cherie," Remy soothed in a cajoling tone as he rubbed her shoulders, "it's sweet you're defending them and all, but Remy need to point out that whether those morons were the Brotherhood or the Misfits, the fact is, Remy agree that those two kids be better off with us instead."
"And besides, what about the times the Misfits tried to steal potential new members away from us by trying to be around when Cerebro goes off? Remember all that fiasco when those nuts started to teleport here every day with their Mass Device, just so that they could get the first-hand scoop about new mutants poppin' up? Well, this isn't any different, Rogue. We're just evening the playing field is all," Sam said.
"He's got a point," Jean mused, "and remember when Shipwreck was around, he'd be especially sneaky? So if the Misfits can do it to us, there's no reason why we can't do it to them! After all, turnabout's fair play and everything."
Jake then said softly with crossed paws over his chest, "Yes, Jean, but have the Misfits ever managed to convince one of you to join them instead? It may not be as even as you think."
"As much as I would like to be neutral, I have to agree," Hank said, raising an eyebrow, "Trying to recruit someone first is a far different flavor than trying to consort a mutant who is already established on a team in the first place."
"Wait a minute! Jake, you can't be serious here! I mean, you're on our side!" Piotr cried out, flabbergasted. Jake looked at him wearily, wishing the kids could understand that in his point of view, there were no sides in this matter.
The kat said slowly, "Keep in mind, Peter, that one of them saved my life…not that I would have minded dying to be with Chance again, but anyone who does that sort of act on a stranger can't be all bad, and General Hawk seems like a good human. He was concerned about the X-Men's safety as well as the Misfits, so he's not narrow-minded in only being anxious about his soldiers."
"Good or not, I'd rather have Lina and Justin with us. We could do more for them than the Joes ever could," Jean said flatly which earned her a glare from Rogue, Kurt, Tabitha, and Jamie.
Logan then said shortly, "Chuck, even if it was true, there's no way in hell the Misfits and the Joes wouldn't catch on, especially since they're not stupid. Besides, the last thing I want is even more out-of-control monsters to look after and drive me up the damn walls and making me lose whatever sanity I have left."
"Well, maybe now that we're all in danger and Hawk's trying to make us cooperate, the Misfits wouldn't mind if we did a little something to show some good faith and call some sort of cease-fire so that both of our teams could work together. That might give us the chance to work with Justin and Lina without the Misfits getting too defensive of anything suspicious," suggested Scott, a small, cunning smile growing on his mouth.
"Such as?" the Professor asked.
000-
"They want to WHAT?" yelled all the Misfits and their parents in disbelief. General Hawk had just recounted a request sent by Professor Xavier himself in the middle of the living room of the Misfit Manor to the mutants and the Joes. Lance, predictably, was not with them and had instead, hardly left his bed in his bedroom ever since that fateful encounter with Kitty back at the Bayville Commons and though Justin, Xi, Toad, and Spirit all tried to coax him out (and Althea had threatened to call on Fred to use force if Lance wouldn't stop moping), the teen was inconsolable and wouldn't even speak much less move. And after Daria, Quinn, and Brittany tried to kidnap him using a crane and a bulldozer (not that Cover Girl and Roadblock were pleased with the new holes in the house), surprisingly, Lance just glumly walked the two miles back home without a word before he curled back on his demolished bed.
Upon realizing it was a lost cause, everyone decided that it was best if Lance was left alone with Spirit checking up on him periodically from time to time.
General Hawk sighed after the ringing in his ears ceased from the thunderous and vociferous outburst before repeating himself, "The X-Men would like to try to have a miniature exchange-visit in which two or three of the X-Men will visit here to spend time with you at the manor for one night, and for another night, they would like the two new recruits, Lina and Justin, to come stay at the X-Mansion for dinner and a movie."
"In other words, we get some of the X-Geeks to come over here to spy on us, and then we send chubby-cheeks and Lina over so that Xavier and Summers try to turn them against us and be X-Men instead!" Pietro groused bitterly.
"Xavier made it clear he wanted to do this because he felt there was too much bad blood between both our groups, and that if we are to fight alongside each other against the Furies and Apokolips, it would be nice to try and make some effort to introduce Jake, Justin, and Lina so that they can know the other affiliation and be more at ease, plus use this as a step to get both our sides to talk to each other. And Hank and Ororo pointed out that just because the old members may have some grudges doesn't mean it is fair to expect Lina, Jake, and Justin to carry those same feelings considering all three of them are in the middle of this cross-fire," Hawk said in a flat, tired, and monotone voice.
"Hawk, you know I support making up with a hug and kiss," Roadblock versed in a hard voice, "but you can't tell me you possibly believe this! The Misfits and X-Men still need time to adjust, and I can say this dinner invitation's gonna be a bust! Lance is hurting and the X-Men hardly care! They just wanna use this time to take Justin and Lina outta our hair!"
"Roadblock's right. Remember when we tried to get the Professor to help me with my nightmares by going into my mind and psyche when I was outed as a mutant? Boy, did that one backfire. Not only did nothing get fixed, but our relations with the X-Men went several steps backward on that day when we found out Storm and Xavier wanted to try to get me to stay with the X-Men as well as when Shipwreck mooned the Professor," Low Light reminisced, rolling his eyes behind his sniper goggles.
"I still laugh whenever I look at the picture we got of the Professor's face at that moment," chortled Quinn behind her hands.
"Look, General, we want the X-Men to be safe, and I speak for all of us when we can say if Live Wire or H.A.T.E. attacks them again, we'll be there upon a moment's notice to help them fight against them, but we're not exactly thrilled with the timing of this request to patch up things. True, Xavier is sincere in his beliefs, but after what he saw from Lina and Justin, we're not sure it would be a good thing to do this, especially since it's really suspicious that he asked that only Justin and Lina come to the X-Mansion," Cover Girl explained, her eyes a bit troubled. She grew to love Lina like her own daughter, and she would be damned if she would willingly stand aside and let Xavier take her. Had Lina wanted to join the X-Men of her own free will, yes, Courtney would have had no problem and would have treasured Lina all the same from the long distance. Yet this wasn't the same, and the discreet Trojan Horse in the offer was very obvious to everyone.
"WAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" wailed Fred in a mournful voice, already picturing the worse, "Lina and Justin are going to go to the X-Men and leave us when they see how much better off they are than us! Like Lance did for Kitty when he tried to join the X-Geeks! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"
Justin awkwardly offered Fred a Kleenex box, really uncomfortable at the subject matter, as he said, "Fred, we won't leave. We promise, and I won't leave Blind Master, especially since he saved my life back when we first ran into each other. So no matter what happens, you'll be stuck with us."
"Waaaaaaaahhhhh!" sobbed Fred as he grabbed Justin an emotional bear-hug and started to squeeze the teenager for all he was worth in appreciative closeness, which led to the wide-eyed Justin feeling like he was being crushed to death in a very painful, suffocating vise while his face turned blue. By Reptilion, not even Bronto-Thunder hugged him this hard, and he could swear he head his spine snap in two.
"So who're the X-Men coming here?" Althea asked, frowning yet at the same time, a bit curious, picking at the threadbare arm of the easy chair she was sitting on.
"Since they're not foolish enough to send Kitty, Jean or Scott, the adults decided to allow two of the kids to tag along with Jake, especially since Jake wanted to get a chance to meet you personally."
"Jake? You mean the cat guy? The new teacher back at the Mansion?" Daria asked, her eyes shooting up with surprise and pleasant eagerness.
"You know anything about him?" Wanda asked the young mutant genius, her raven and red locks bouncing back and forth over her forehead.
"Yeah, give us the dirt on him!" Pietro said eagerly, his eyes gleaming with wickedness while rubbing his hands together in anticipation for potential blackmail, "So what's his story? Is he an escaped convict? A serial killer? Stole millions of dollars from a town's treasury fund? Is a retired secret agent? Went swimming naked in Central Park in New York City with the State Representative's daughter?"
Xi gave Pietro a deadpanned look as he commented, "Pietro, that last one was you. You got that charge for indecent exposure two weeks ago by the New York City Council, remember? That was also the day you were declared a menace and public pervert and had a mass restraining order filled out by a hysterical Representative that bans you from being within five-hundred feet to anything female and in a skirt within the limits of the Big Apple."
"Oh please," waved Pietro in a prideful manner, "He was overreacting! I've done a lot worse! And besides, it's not like I hit on his wife or anything!"
"Uh, actually, you did, yo," chipped in Toad, "Remember? That was the day before when the reporters caught the two of you doing the Brittney Spears' bump-n-grind moves in a foam party during the ribbon cutting of the new golf course at the Atrium Plaza penthouse."
"Hey, the guy's over seventy!" protested Pietro hotly, "How was I supposed to know that twenty-year old, Swedish model was his wife?"
"Anyway, getting back to the subject that's actually important," Wanda said a bit impatiently, her voice slightly louder and more forceful than normal, before turning back to the Delgado Triplets, "So what's the deal with Jake? I mean, anyone who wants to meet us after hearing the horror stories the X-Men have probably piled on him has got to be a little bit weird. I'm a little surprised he's so willing to set foot on the Pit."
"Give it time and we'll change that one…" smiled Daria secretly as she then said, "And from the e-mails Jamie sent us, he told us his real name is Jake Clawson and that he's not really a mutant. He's actually from another dimension, a parallel world like Earth where cats ruled and became the dominant species instead of humans. The X-Men accidentally traveled to his dimension and got stuck there, and when they ran into him, he helped them get back home. Since he didn't have anywhere to go, the X-Men invited him to live with them in our world, especially since he didn't have any family or any place he wanted to stay in. From what we've been able to deduce, Jake lost everyone he cared about to a ruthless band of criminal syndicates that formed some sort of alliance against him, and as a result, he was all alone."
"An alternate dimension?" gaped Roadblock, "Girl, that's really pushing the bar cause it's one of the weirder things we've heard so far!"
"It's true," piped up Brittany, "Even the Professor will tell you the same thing."
"Weird, but how did the X-Men even manage to do it in the first place and travel to a parallel universe?" Xi asked, amazed.
"Take a wild guess."
"One of Forge's brilliant inventions backfired again, didn't it?" Althea asked flatly, deadpanned and a bit sardonically.
"You win, Sis! How'd you know?"
"It actually wasn't that difficult to guess to begin with when you think about it," Althea said with an amused face.
"So he's all alone and trying to get over his past grief and loss by trying to be an instructor for hyperactive, mutant teenagers? Wow, that's rough," murmured Shipwreck, raising an eyebrow. He could have honestly felt sorry for Jake; he wasn't so sure how he would cope if he lost his children, especially since he already experienced the pain of having Mara leave him.
"Freddy, what's wrong, yo?" Todd then asked, seeing that Fred was frowning thoughtfully at the mention, his mind concentrating in frustration at trying to piece together something he had forgotten long ago.
"Hmmmm…something about his name…I dunno why but I swear, the more I hear his name, the more I get the feelin' I've heard Jake Clawson from somewhere before," Fred announced.
"Doesn't ring any bells with me," Althea said, shaking her head, "Although if you want, I can have Mainframe and Dial-Tone try to dig up anything they can find on this guy, but I don't think it'll help. If Jake's from an alternate dimension, we're not going to have any public or secret record about his status quo and persona here in our dimension. He would have never existed."
"So who're the two X-Geeks who're coming with this Razor guy?" Pietro asked crossly, tapping his foot a bit.
"And exactly how much did Xavier and the adult X-Men bribe them?" Wanda finished in a dry tone. General Hawk actually managed to prevent himself from grinning as he took a sip of coffee from the mug that the Blind Master offered him.
Hawk said, "Actually…they volunteered. It's Jamie and Tabby. They wanted to come visit you and see if Lance is doing all right. From what I can tell, they're really worried about him, and they also stated that they missed all of you very much so. And since they're close to Jake, they naturally wanted to join in on this."
"Well, I'd rather have them than Summers or perfect, stuck-up Jean come over," Todd said after pondering this, "Plus, Tabby and Jamie are cool, yo, so I'm game for this. It'll be nice if we can get Jake to like us! And besides, if Xavier thinks he's gonna be able to take our team members away from us Misfits, he's gonna have another thought comin'!"
"Yeah!" chorused Fred, Pietro, and Trinity at once eagerly.
"Maybe we can get Clawson to join the Misfits and leave the X-Men after meeting with us," suggested Shipwreck, and on cue, everyone, save Justin, gave Shipwreck a deadpanned look of disbelief, a look that clearly said, "Are you possibly that dumb?" Shipwreck then sheepishly scratched the back of his head while his bearded face turned bright red.
"Well…it's possible," he muttered insistently, embarrassed and slightly backpedaling.
Meanwhile, Fred noticed Lina stepping out of Lance's room with an uneaten tray of food, and surreptitiously, the large, big-boned mutant stepped as gently as he could towards the dim hallway while the Misfits and the Joes were animatedly talking about the proposal.
"How is he?" Fred asked in a worried, soft voice. Lina was a bit startled, but upon seeing it was Fred, she smiled a bit with ease despite the fretting discomfort over her heartbroken brother.
"He hasn't eaten at all," she murmured worriedly, "In fact, Lance hasn't even touched his food nor has he come down for meals. And it won't do any good to force-feed him. I guess he's still in shock, and hopefully, his private sessions with Psyche-Out and Spirit will have more success than we've had so far. From what I can tell when Xi and Trinity wire-tapped Psyche-Out's office, Lance is opening up to Spirit, but everyone can tell he's still hurting despite the counseling. An hour of therapy only goes so far, and this will probably take weeks if not months. He didn't even want to go out to torture Beach Head and turned down an invitation from Toad, Althea, the Triplets and Pietro to booby-trap Senator Kelly's office along with the X-Mansion."
Fred whistled as he commented, "Wow, that is bad."
The Mohawk-bearing mutant then eyed the sandwich, milk, and celery sticks on the tray hungrily, and spotting the longing look, Lina's smile grew even wider with amusement as she held the dinner up suggestively. Upon needing no encouragement, Fred started tucking in.
"Thanks," Fred said though mouthfuls of ham and cheese before he continued, "Uh…Lina? Do you…uh, do you really want to go to the X-Mansion, just you and Justin? I mean…uh…I mean…"
The insect-girl cocked her head a bit quizzically, but touched all the same at the concern.
"Are you worried about me?" Fred nearly choked on the celery stick in his mouth, now so nervous at trying to find a hidden cover to his true answer he was dying to say.
"Uh…well…I, uh…" but the large mutant Texan was so tongue-tied, he couldn't even think, staring at the floor in edgy discomfiture and awkwardness. Lina then felt a bit perturbed as she then asked a difficult question.
"Fred…how…how would you feel if I did go join the X-Men?" she asked hypothetically. God, she didn't even know why she asked that one; it came from absolutely nowhere. Fred looked up, horrified, desperate to do anything to beg her not to follow through on such a notion or to confess how it would greatly hurt him if she joined them and how painful if he lost her.
A voice of insecurity echoed mockingly in his head, Are you kidding? She'll laugh in your face if you try telling her that you have feelings for her, that you'd be heartbroken if she left to join the X-Men and didn't be a Misfit anymore. Granted, if she even was an X-Man to begin with, you'd still be nice to her and defend her all the same, but you sure she'd even like you, fatso? I mean, c'mon! You've seen how the other X-Boys looked at her at the carnival! They love her! She's nice, patient, gentle, soft-spoken, and even just meeting them for a few minutes, the X-Men already trust her and want to know her better…while you were tossed out into a garbage yard on your first day of school and the girl you had a crush on threw your words back in your face! She's everything you'd never be…she's everything that's too good for you. Lina is too good for you, fat boy. The minute she sees the single heartthrobs like Drake or Roberto or Ray, she'll drop you without a second thought! You're way out of your league with her, fat boy!
"Uh…I…well…whatever makes you happy, I guess. I mean, will that make you happy? Are you even happy here?" Fred finally finished lamely, trying his best to hide the sadness from his voice. Lina looked a bit disappointed; that wasn't the answer she was expecting, hoping for really…
Like that's a surprise, her reason told her in a disdainful tone, Look at yourself! Who would even want to date a girl who looks like a bug, a creature who wants to be nothing more than a target to be squished and squashed like a pesky fly? You think Fred'll suddenly announce that he loves you regardless of what you are on the outside? Please, you're so hideous, you'd make Quasimodo look like Prom Queen of the Century! That's the only reason you try to be nice and gentle, because it's the only way you can compensate being so hideous! You think Fred will want no one else but you? HA! There are so many girls who'd love him, will love how he's so dedicated to his friends and tries to see past the exterior and judges a person on the inside and not to mention he's becoming an excellent cook to boot thanks to Roadblock and studying to be a psychologist like Psyche-Out. He's smart, considerate, doesn't pick on the weak, and tries to act a peacemaker in the Misfits…he's a catch all right, just not for you, Insect-girl!
"Uh…" Now Fred wasn't the only one who was tongue-tied. Fred's face fell as he saw how Lina couldn't answer that last question.
Lina couldn't take it anymore as she whispered in a meek, mousy voice, "Fred…do you…do you…?"
Oh God, Fred would have rather requested to be dumped in a volcano full of snakes and boiling water than answer the question he knew was coming. Fred tried to say a resounding "YES! MORE THAN ANYTHING!" but his voice died in his throat from nervousness until he did the only thing he could think of.
"I gotta go take this to the sink," he said hurriedly as he rushed to the kitchen with the empty tray, not turning around to see the look of hurt and shock on Dragonfly's face, but it was just as well considering she couldn't see the look of humiliated brokenness and self-loathing on Blob's face. Blob felt lower than dirt as he mentally kicked himself.
"Why couldn't I tell her?" he groaned softly to himself. And back in the shadowed hallway…
"Why couldn't I tell him?" Lina moaned softly to herself.
000-
"Hey Toad, Althea!" Tabitha said cheerfully as she, Jamie, and Jake popped in the front yard of the Misfit Manor thanks to the teleportation of the Mass Device and with Shipwreck, Roadblock, and Blind Master. It was late in the morning on a beautiful Saturday and the Misfits had finished their training sessions half an hour ago, and it was time for the chosen X-Men to drop by for their visit to the Pit. All the Misfits, including Lance, were waiting for them. Jamie was dressed in a usual T-shirt and jeans while Jake was wearing his treasured, frayed mechanic outfit complete with his red baseball cap turned backwards. Tabitha was dressed in her usual pink shirt and tan slacks.
"Welcome, Tabby!" Pietro called out with a big smile, "Glad to see our little resident psycho-blondie again!"
"Funny, I'd thought you'd have taken over that title already, Speedy," shot back Tabitha, laughing, as she grabbed Pietro in a fierce hug, "And by the way, you guys better not stop by the Mansion for a little while until things cool down. Before we left, Jean and Scott were screaming and hollering something fierce about needing to take the Aquain to the Pit so that they can pay you guys back for the pranks you pulled on the Institute by personally seeing that certain Misfits lose important body parts."
"Which one are they referring to, yo?" Toad asked, grinning like Christmas had come early, "The fake fake dog-poo?"
"No, but thanks for reminding me: Rogue says you owe Peter a new drawing pad."
Wanda then asked, curious and eager to know more, "Was it the slime mold in the shoes? The one we made from a mixture of Toad's slime, Beach Head's sweat, ground up dirty diapers of Claudius and Barney, and the bog swamp-water from Reptilion?"
"Reptilion? Hmph, that's a new one…no, but speaking of which, Kitty wanted me to tell you that when she gets her hands on you for that, she'll do things that would even make Magneto wince and request her for ideas on violent torture sessions. She's still trying to get the smell out of her feet, and I'm pretty sure you gave her foot fungus now. And you also ruined her favorite and most expensive pair of Doc Martins."
"The special, laxative-induced mayonnaise?" Xi asked, smirking.
"Blue got that one, and judging by how long he stayed in the bathroom for afterwards, it made me really glad I only use mustard on my sandwiches."
"The special fruit basket which had apples filled with Airtight's homemade formula?" Althea grinned.
"Actually, that got to Logan and Hank, and you probably don't want to be around them for a while until that hoax blows over with those two as well. You should have heard how loudly Beast and Badger screamed when they found out that thanks to the tampered fruit, they can't drink any alcohol of any sort for the next three weeks until the stuff passes out of their system. Unless if they don't mind passing off chunks for a good hour. In fact, we had to lock them up in the Danger Room to prevent them from hunting you guys down while Mr. McCoy and Wolverine threw total screaming fits, complete with twitching eyes and metal breakdowns. We even got pictures of Wolverine breaking down right there and then on his knees and sobbing when we cleared his beer out of the fridge to lessen the temptation."
"How much?" grinned Pietro.
"Ten bucks for a set of three, and if you pay now, we'll throw in a photo of Beast losing his lunch right into the pot that contained Storm's rare 'blooms once every six months during the full-moon' plant in her greenhouse."
"As much as it was classic," Jake said, raising one eyebrow and a corner of his mouth twitched upwards in order to show a fang jutting out of his mouth, "you Misfits really shouldn't have done that. I mean, jokes are funny and all, but it does pain me a bit to see you do it to the X-Men, especially since these aren't you run-of-the-mill pranks and it's really causing a lot of chaos back at the Mansion. Hellkats, you little nutcases could even make Feral cry."
The Misfits rolled their eyes at the kat for the lecture, but Tabitha could see that Jake was doing his best not to smile.
"Like you didn't enjoy the look on Logan's face when the Professor decided that you get to have all his beer," Tabitha smiled, "In fact, Logan tried to kill you at that point, saying if he could enjoy his alcohol, then you wouldn't be able to either by default once he ripped your windpipe out of your throat."
"I said it wasn't right…but I never said it wasn't as funny as hell," Jake smiled at last, his toothy grin impish and mischievous like a young scamp.
Meanwhile, Jamie started whining for someone to help him as Daria, Quinn, and Brittany tackled him all at once to the grassy ground, trying to smother the adolescent with a multitude of kisses and hugs.
"Ah! Aaaah! Get them off me! Get them off! And yeow, stop undoing my pants! Get your hands off my zipper!" Jamie hollered shrilly as he tried to fight them off, but the fact that three, ninja-trained eleven-year old girls were sitting on top of him made it quite difficult for Jamie to try and scurry off out of their clutches.
"Kissy time, our little stud-muffin!" Quinn cheered as she and her sisters kept trying to peck Jamie on the face while Justin, Fred, and Cover Girl were doing their best to restrain and drag the Triplets off the poor X-Man. Though it was hard to argue that it wasn't funny as well.
"Hey, you should be grateful, Jamie," smiled Jake, "Not a lot of people can brag that they are the simultaneous player target for affection of triplet sisters." Then the kat, Jamie, and Tabby could see Lance looking at all three of the guests, his face pale and his eyes weary and bloodshot but still managing to give a small, hesitant smile. Jake recognized the look of hurt, of misery, of lingering, aching sadness. It was the same one mirrored on his own face whenever he reminisced about Chance, and Jake honestly could have said his heart went out to the human teenager.
"Hey Rocky," Tabitha said, shedding off her carefree façade as she went over to her friend, truly and deeply concerned…and pained. Jamie, sniffing a bit, ran over and gave Lance a powerful hug around Avalanche's waist; he didn't forget how much of a protective big brother Lance became when they found Jamie was nearly dying of alcohol poisoning months ago before the blowout. Lance felt a bit better at the gesture as he patted Multiple's hair.
"You holding up?" Tabitha asked tenderly. Lance's face fell a bit grimly as he shook his head briefly before he turned to Razor who was already offering a paw out to Lance with soft eyes.
"We never formally met, but I'm Jake. Jake Clawson…and I can honestly say it's a pleasure to meet you face to face finally, Lance. I was a little worried when you left before we could actually say hello," the brown-furred X-Man said in a sincere and friendly voice as Lance took his paw and shook awkwardly. There was still a bit of suspicious wariness and guarded caginess in the geokinetic's eyes (along with some of the other Misfits), and upon spotting it, Jake just smiled sadly.
"Just because I'm an X-Man doesn't mean I don't care about people, young kitten," Jake said before he turned to the driveway leading to the garage of Misfit Manor and saw Lance's army jeep. It wasn't hard to guess, considering that Tabitha regaled wild tales of how she stolen his car back when they were the Brotherhood, and from the fact that the jeep body was clean, the tires shiny with not a speck of mud, and the leather seats still shiny with polish, Jake could tell Lance was an avid lover of his car and motor-vehicles in general.
"Nice Jeep, an Army Hotchkiss M201 model complete an adjustable backseat from what I can tell from the appearance," Jake said automatically. Lance's eyes shot up a bit in surprise, but he nodded a bit gratefully, slightly opening up.
"Yeah, but I haven't driven it for a while. Pietro threw something in the motor when he took it for a joyride last week, and as a result, the transmission's dead along with getting some funny noises from the front axle every time I shift it into neutral."
"Mind if I take a look? I'm the resident mechanic back at the X-Mansion. I'd be glad to help you out," Jake offered warmly. Lance still was incredibly hesitant; the Jeep was his baby, his treasure, one of the few things he took great pride and care of in the world along with his woobie and his family, and the only people he allowed to touch it were Spirit, Cover Girl and Althea. Jamie nudged Lance, whispering a bit.
"You can trust him, Lance. Jake's cool, and he's the nicest guy…uh kat, you could ever know, and he treats all the jets and cars and the Aquain back at the Institute like they were his own children. Trust me, Jake knows how important cars are, and he can do magic on anything mechanical." Lance just numbly looked at the kat, not sure if he wanted to endure throwing his caution to the winds again and risk getting hurt by an X-Man of all people. Rolling her eyes, Althea gave Lance a push forward to get the ball rolling as he, Jamie, Justin, and Jake went over to the Jeep for a look.
As it turned out, it went much better than anyone could have ever hoped. While Tabitha spent the day gossiping and laughing with the other Misfits along with watching a whole set of DVD movies, Lance and Jake worked together over the Jeep while Jamie and Justin mostly watched, chuckling altogether under the stifling heat and greasy parts while tinkering and fiddling. Justin was staring hesitantly at Jake, giving him thoughtful glances, and though Jake gave brief glimpses at Justin in return out of the corner of his eye, he did not show any indication that he was bothered by being watched intently. Jamie was curious at the odd behavior, but he didn't think it was incredibly obtrusive, and indeed, Jamie and Justin became fast friends, laughing at small jokes and stories of the hectic life at the X-Mansion. And eventually, Lance and Jake managed to get the Jeep working in perfect order and had it purring smoothly like a content kitten. Overjoyed, Lance invited Jake and Jamie to come along with him and Justin to the Joes' motor pool for a joyride, and Spirit and the Blind Master just smiled contently from the sidelines at seeing the four laughing while Jake and Lance (and even Jamie) took turns behind the wheel. Upon meeting several Joes, Jake got along famously with Airtight, Wild Bill, Cross Country and Bazooka and spent the afternoon and early evening touring the various vehicles, tanks, and aircrafts and even helping Wild Bill work on the turbo engines of a Blackbird military jet. The Joe pilot especially bonded well with Razor considering his vast knowledge of mechanics and jet engines.
And it was over dinner of chili dogs, corn-on-the-cob, and fruit salad back at the Misfit Manor when Jamie accidentally blurted out that Jake used to be a SWAT Kat, which immediately sparked up the dawning recognition from a lot of the Misfits and some of the adults…
"I knew it! I knew I heard the name Jake Clawson from somewhere before! I knew it! You're Jake Clawson, the guy who's also Razor and a protector and vigilante of Megakat City! Just like on TV!" cried out Fred excitedly, his hunger momentarily forgotten.
"Wow, just exactly like from TV, yo!" laughed Todd with glee, his mouth full of hot dog and corn and a s a result, was a bit rudely spattering flecks of food out of his mouth onto the table, "That's cool, yo! I mean, we actually find out something we watch on TV is actually real and exists in some sort of parallel universe, yo! This is really, really cool! Just think of what else on TV exists in other realities, yo!"
"Jamie, what part of keeping my identity a secret did you not understand, you little scamp, you?" Jake gave Jamie, who was sitting next to him, a mock glower, and blushing, Jamie tried to dart out from the table, but he was too slow as Jake grabbed the younger kid and started tickling him unmercifully. Jamie squealed for intervention, which led to the Triplets and Lance dog-piling on Jake for fun while Tabitha, in the spirit of fun, started throwing cobs of corn like little throwing daggers, out to defend Jake's honor.
This, predictably of course, led to a food fight between the Misfits and Jake, Tabitha, and Jamie, and though Lina, Justin, and the Misfit handlers took no part of it, they smiled, chuckling at the scene of frolic and ruckus.
"Kiwi-slices ninja stars!" yelled Wanda as she flung them at Tabitha, getting a few good, direct hits on the blonde X-Girl as well as the nearby wall and lamp.
"Butter Stick Bazooka!" shouted Jamie as he tossed several of the aforementioned objects, getting them stuck in Althea and Pietro's hair.
"Slime attack, yo!" laughed Todd as he slimed Lance, Wanda, Jake, Pietro, and Xi all at once.
"TOAD, PREPARE TO DIE!" they all roared, laughing, as it led to a furious chase scene, leading to a demolished living room as the teenagers took it outside, running around the house in circles while trying to tackle the madly hopping frog-mutant. Jamie wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes as he helped clean up the mess along with the adults. Althea, Shipwreck, and Low Light spoke to Jamie privately.
"Jamie, is there a reason why Chance didn't come along with Razor? I mean, when Daria told us Jake lost everything to some band of ruthless criminals, does that mean…?" Althea trailed off but Jamie could tell what she was trying to ask.
"Chance is dead. He got killed by Dark Kat and the Invincible Alliance trying to save the city, and Jake was so heartbroken when it happened. He even tried to kill himself with a bomb in some attempt to take out Dark Kat with him as a suicide attempt, and if we didn't stop him in time, it might have happened," Jamie explained softly in a mournful voice. Althea looked pained and sympathetic.
Low Light shook his head sadly as he picked up the trampled remains of a chili dog, "Poor guy."
Shipwreck smiled optimistically as he said, "Aw, he'll get through. Nothing a few drinks and time won't cure. Besides, didn't you notice how fast he bonded with the Misfits and how protective and understanding this guy is towards Tabby and the kid? He's healing. Slowly, of course, but anyone with half a brain can tell he loves those kids a lot. It's giving him some kinda purpose."
"Half a brain, huh? Doesn't really explain then why you're able to see it, Pops," Althea quipped, smiling slyly. Jamie and Low Light rolled their eyes at each other amused; they could see Shipwreck setting himself up for that one a mile away.
"Har har," Shipwreck glowered at his daughter dryly, but a yell from outside got everyone's attention.
"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU LITTLE NUTCASES!" yowled Jake as the Misfits and the Joes in the house saw the kat sprinting for his life while being closely followed by Daria, Quinn, and Brittany, all of them holding strange, surgical metal instruments and squealing happily.
"Come back, Razor! We're not going to hurt you…much!" Quinn giggled.
"Besides, we're only following state law! The PETA says that all household pets have to be spayed and neutered!" cackled Daria as she wielded a tough pair of surgical clamps.
"And we need a test subject to try out our experimental and soon-to-be patented Neuterator 3000!" Brittany said as she held a device that looked like a cross between a pizza-cutter, a metal-claw, and a laser, "And we need a subject who's big enough that doesn't bleed very easily like the ten hamsters we tried this on before!"
"SOMEBODY SAVE ME! THESE KIDS ARE PSYCHOPATHS!" Jake hollered as he did his best to outrun Trinity while darting in and out between the tanks as the Triplets tried to tackle him.
"Uh…shouldn't we help him?" Justin asked, very fearful and concerned, "I mean…neutering him is kinda cruel and unusual, even for Trinity."
Tabitha grinned as she chuckled walking up to the front porch where they all gathered to ogle, "Nah, Jake's not in any danger. The Triplets may rough him up a bit, but Jake's gonna come out with his body and family jewels intact. They're just trying to psyche him out."
"And how are you so sure?" Fred asked, really puzzled and a bit suspicious.
Tabitha's grin grew wider as she explained, "Because Badger back at the X-Mansion had personally paid each one of those maniacs a hundred bucks each if they made Jake's visit to the Pit a living hell. Nothing that results in bodily injury, but he specified, and I quote, 'something that will scar the hairball for life and make him come crying back home with his tail between his legs'."
"That's not very nice," frowned Justin gently, his voice slightly scolding.
"It may not be nice, but it's sure as funny as hell," Jamie grinned, echoing Jake's earlier words.
000-
"Wow," murmured Lina, wearing a backless white blouse and black slacks and brown sandals, dressed by Cover Girl's expert eye and good taste.
"Yeah, wow," Justin echoed dumbly, wearing a casually-buttoned dress-shirt and jeans. Both Justin and Lina were standing at the front lawn of the X-Mansion and were nervously gaping in awe at the building and grounds. It certainly was impressive, with its beige colored walls, luscious green lawns and gardens brimming with statues and wildflowers of all assortments (the pride and joy of Ororo), and the Institute itself seemed spacious, luxurious, and certainly part of the distinguished upper-crust of society. Yet despite the exquisite tastefulness and rich sophistication of a prime academy, it seemed a bit daunting as well.
Justin shivered a bit as he explained weakly, "It's so…big."
"I know you're nervous, but try to relax and have fun like how Jamie and Tabitha and Jake had fun over at our dinner several days ago. The X-Men are good people and they would never hurt you like the people had done to your before in your childhood during your hate curse. I know you feel uneasy around large groups of people, but the X-Men will treat you and Lina well and as respected guests," said Blind Master draped his arm over Justin's shoulders in an attempt to calm down Whitelighter. He and Cover Girl both decided to drop off Lina and Justin to the X-Mansion, and they also volunteered to General Hawk to take part of the sentry duty along with some of the other Joes around the X-Mansion, just to ease their worry and to keep a closer eye on their charges. Hawk didn't object in the slightest.
Cover Girl then told them softly as all four of them walked up the cobblestone walkway, "Now remember, mind your manners and try not to get so easily offended at what they say about you or us. And for God's sake, don't blab out all our secrets, especially you Justin. You have the tendency to say stuff before you think of it, and I don't want you to rub off the wrong way on the X-Men, especially since we're trying to patch things up between both of our groups. And Lina, don't tell them too much about what we've been dealing with and such like the encounters with the Dinosaucers or the island adventure with the giant creatures, and there's no need to answer more than necessary. Don't volunteer information if you can help it."
"You make it sound like you don't trust them," Lina commented skeptically as they stepped in front of the main entrance, directly facing the polished mahogany door with golden handles and hinges. Cover Girl sighed.
"I do trust them, Lina, but there are certain tidbits of information that we feel the X-Men are not ready to listen or hear yet," the female Joe solider clarified, feeling a bit conflicted but knowing it was for the best.
"Is that why you had us bring our wrist-communicators along with wearing these special devices that block telepaths from reading our thoughts?" Lina asked as she pointed to the flesh-colored band-aid on her temple. Cover Girl nodded as Blind Master rang the doorbell, hearing the rich chimes echo in the room along with the stamping feet of a fast approach.
"But over all, just have fun and try your best to be friendly and peaceful, OK, kids?" Gabriel asked warmly, smiling, and both Lina and Justin nodded respectfully as the door opened to reveal a smiling Kitty and Bobby who was even more awestruck on seeing Lina.
"Like, hey, you guys are just on time! We've been wanting to give you guys like a total tour of the Mansion!" Kitty said eagerly as she took the stunned Justin's hands and dragged him into the foyer before Justin could even yelp in surprise.
"Uh…Blind Master, Cover Girl? Don't you guys want to come in and join the tour with Lina and Justin?" Bobby asked, but the Joes shook their heads.
"We have to talk with Snake Eyes about guard duty and plan some strategies for dealing with H.A.T.E. Besides, this is really a time for Lina and Justin to know you X-Men better and we'd be intruding on it, so by all means, don't mind us and have fun."
Bobby nodded very eagerly as he took the shy Lina's hands and joined along with Kitty and Justin as they went up to Professor Xavier, Scott, and Jean who were waiting for the visitors at the bottom of the grand stairs leading into the upstairs wings and rooms. Lina couldn't get over how nicely and richly furnished the entire house was in, and though she could detect various incidences of fire, explosions, and refurbished and renovated repairs all over the walls and floor, the entire Institute of Gifted Youngsters was like something out of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous".
"Ah, welcome, Mr. Moore and Ms. Chakram," the Professor smiled warmly as he shook their respective hands, "Welcome to the Institute and I must say I am very pleased to finally have a chance to meet the both of you, especially since you both have saved Bobby and Jake from succumbing to lethal injuries after the battle with H.A.T.E. Please, make yourselves comfortable and we hope you enjoy your time here."
"Uh…likewise, Mr. Xavier," Justin said, giving a small bow of respect, as he politely shook the mentor's hand, "It's…it's really nice of you to invite us here."
For the past half-hour, the five X-Men led the two new Misfits all over the mansion and outside of the gardens where they also met Logan, Hank, and Ororo, the main instructors of the X-Men. Justin was especially scared upon seeing the fierce, animal-like Wolverine ad he couldn't help but cower slightly as he tried to shirk behind Kitty, but Lina really didn't seem too intimidated (she had to deal with an angry Beach Head at the infirmary when she had to administer a rabies shot when he got attacked by a pack of Junkyard's dogs due to the fact that someone mysteriously switched his cologne with beef extract). And after the tour, the X-Men waited in the living room where they ran into the other X-Men and the New Mutants. Though Dragonfly and Whitelighter would have preferred to not really talk too much, it was hard to not open up to a group of very talkative and curious mutants around their age. And it got easier when Tabitha, Jamie, and Jake arrived in the room to greet their visitors.
"Hey Jamie, Tabby, Jake!" exclaimed Lina happily, and Justin turned bright red when his eyes met Jake's and embarrassed, Justin hurriedly glanced back to the carpet, but Jake chuckled as he sat next to the extremely nervous teenage boy.
"So, what's it like being a Misfit?" Roberto asked while sitting on the davenport, "I mean, how did your parents take it after they met up with them?" Lina looked down, a bit restrained and hesitant; ever since her parents discovered her being a mutant, they heartlessly disowned her, but Justin, upon seeing the traces of regret on his teammate's face, jumped in blithely.
"Well, it wasn't easy, and to tell you guys the truth, my family wanted to contact Professor Xavier at first, but my father was dead set against it, and when I ran into the Misfits and the Joes, it got a little…tense, especially between my Dad and Blind Master, but eventually Allo and the others saw that Hawk was sincere and thought it would be better for me to go with them, especially since they saw how great they are with their own powers."
"Allo? That's a weird name…are you from another country, like me? I'm from Roma Nova, so I've dealt with names that aren't very common. Is your family from another country or what?" Amara asked, curious and amiable. Justin felt like kicking himself; he had inadvertently opened his big mouth and inserted the shoe-store.
"Uh…something like that," he lamely covered. Luckily, the X-Men didn't take too much notice about this, and Scott was more interested in another fact.
"Wait…so at first, your parents wanted you to join the X-Men?" he said, his eyebrows perking up a bit. Justin nodded.
Jean then jumped in a bit insistently, "So, if we talked with them, would they still be willing? I mean, it would help your parents if we showed them what life could be like for you and Lina if you guys stayed at the Mansion with us."
Now Justin was looking especially fearful, almost like he wanted to jump and hide somewhere dark and secluded, sorry he even brought it up. Lina's voice was a bit curt and blunt as she retorted back to the telekinetic's question.
"Don't bother; it won't help."
Jean looked a bit insulted, but a quick jab by Scott into her side kept her silent as he hissed discreetly, "Don't. She's obviously had a rough time with her parents if she acts like this. Just let Lina be."
Kitty then asked a bit hesitantly, trying to make her voice sound nonchalant but failing miserably as she stammered, "Uh…so Lina? How…how's…how's Lance doing? Is he OK?"
Piotr was frowning, incredibly irate and snubbed, at Kitty's back at the question, but Lina softened up when she could tell that Kitty was still worried about Lance and how he was taking being dumped. She truthfully answered, "Well, he's doing better…but after that day, he would do nothing but stay in his room and mope around, not even coming out for dinner. To tell you the truth, when Jake, Tabby, and Jamie came out to visit us, that was the first time Lance managed to venture out of his room, but don't worry. He's getting better and starting to adjust."
"See, Kitty?" Piotr then interrupted forcefully, trying to cover the bitterness in his voice as he pleasantly hugged his girlfriend, "Lance is fine, so you were worried over him for nothing."
Kitty cuddled back against Piotr, but deep inside, she was still deeply concerned.
At dinner, things got a little easier, and it was not lost of the Professor, Ororo, and Scott that Lina and Justin were quite cordial and polite, saying 'please' and 'thank you' generously along with having decent manners, not displaying the usual crudeness of the other Misfits' eating habits. Lina was chatting quite well with Sam, Bobby, Tabitha, and Rogue while Justin nervously and mostly kept to himself, though he did join in some small talk with Piotr, Jamie, and Remy. Yes, it wouldn't be difficult if Lina and Justin joined the X-Men, especially since Jean told Xavier via a telepathic mind-link that Justin's parents originally wanted to contact the X-Men when Justin's mutation first arose.
"Ummm…Forge…could you pass the salt, please?" Justin asked timidly, but upon the word salt, to everyone's surprise, the salt-shaker vanished in a mass of sparkling, white lights and flashes before reappearing into Justin's outstretched hand, and gasping Justin looked incredibly jumpy and panicky as he went into full apology-mode.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to use my powers! They just happened! I still have trouble controlling it! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to break any rules or anything!" he said in an anxious, fearful rush. Yet none of the X-Men were angry in the slightest.
"Wow, that was completely awesome, Justin!" Kurt marveled, his eyes wide.
"Is that your…telekinesis?" Rogue asked, interested, to which Justin nodded, still slightly hyperventilating. Logan then clamped his hand on Justin's shoulder and said gruffly, frowning and tired of this foolishness.
"Kid…breathe. Stop being so damn emotional and calm down."
The Professor then asked, trying to keep his voice even and casual, "Justin…do you still have trouble controlling your…'orbing'?"
"Well, kinda…but Blind Master is helping me with controlling my telekinetic orbing so that it can work whenever I want to invoke it and not just when I get too scared or surprised. I'm…I'm making progress."
"But not as fast as you would like, am I right?" Xavier pushed gently, "If the Joes are having such a difficult time with your mutation, then perhaps your father and Gabriel wouldn't mind if I gave you some additional help. It would be of no trouble with us, and I would be more than glad to do so to help you out should you desire. With Cerebro and proper counseling, I can help you and Lina more than you can ever receive from the Joes and the Misfits." Lina immediately bristled at the hidden insinuation, feeling her antenna shooting straight up like steel rods with indignation while Justin was sweating from being under the gaze of so many people.
"I…uh…" Thankfully, Lina and Justin's communicators crackled to life, and though they were grateful for the interruption, the very words made their blood run cold.
"Lina, Justin, get the X-Men out of here! You're all in danger!" the Blind Master's voice rang out in dire urgency as the X-Mansion suddenly rocked from an explosion outside and the students could hear the unmistakable sounds of energy blasts and screams and hollers of a vicious fight outside.
"Dad?" gasped Justin. Cover Girl's voice then rang out.
"X-Men, Professor, get out of here! The mansion's under - !" but the transmission died, and Lina looked up fearfully at the X-Men as she leapt out of her seat.
"Something's wrong!" she cried out, but upon cue, the far wall of the dining room exploded in a firestorm of charred wood, plaster, metal, and glass. Jean immediately placed a telekinetic force-field around everyone, shielding as many people as she could while Piotr transformed into Colossus and deftly picked up the dining table (which happened to seat twenty people) and used it as a makeshift shield to block the whizzing, deadly projectiles.
"What the hell?" roared Logan as the dust settled, his claws coming out threateningly with a sharp, cold snikt, and then his eyes widened in horror upon realization as he exclaimed at the scent of strange pheromones, "Shit, Chuck! We're in trouble! Get these kids outta here! These guys aren't even human!"
"Hey, we may not be Earthlings, but us Female Furies take pride at not being men!" snapped a deep, woman's voice as the dust and plaster settled down, revealing to the mutant adults and teenagers their deadly foes. The X-Men could recognize Live Wire smirking at them, and Justin and Lina could see Big Barda, the woman who attacked them at the Bayville Carnival several days ago, but the rest were complete strangers. All of them were women wearing strange armor and wielding foreign but deadly weapons. One was a wild woman with black claws similar to Wolverine's and a skin-tight, beige suit and with a mane of busy, wild, green hair, but her glazed eyes were so wide, they could see the whites all around the glazed pupils of a psychopath. Next to her was a huge, hulking woman with a massive build of muscle, overly mammoth like a bodybuilder, and wearing a cowl and black shades along with a metallic red and yellow uniform and metal boots. A third woman with black, raven hair and cold blue eyes of a glacier had strips of metal wrapped all along her body and black, skintight uniform, and in her hands, the woman was wielding a long, pliable metal strip of steel like a whip. A short-haired woman with a hag-like face and her hair styled to look like devil-horns was wearing a robe of green and black and in her hands, she was wielding a wicked knife. Next to her was another girl, but dressed entirely in black from head to toe with absolutely no skin showing and her eyes hidden by black goggles and having a skull and crossbones logo imprinted on her chest. And Logan wasn't sure but there was something…familiar about the girl. And in the middle of a group of cybernetic hounds was another young, well-built teenage girl of supreme beauty, but in her hands, she held a wicked looking crossbow. And in the very front, her power truncheon still glowing from the energy discharge, was a very old woman with white hair.
"Hello, my dear little children…" Granny Harkness smiled wickedly as she leered upon the X-Men, her black toad-like lips so wide and triumphant, it was marring her sinister, wrinkled face.
Author's notes: Sorry I was so late with this chapter, but I had so much to do at work, so I had some writer's block, but I managed to get it in on time for Friday, like I always try to! Next week, the Misfits, Joes, and X-Men fight the demonic Female Furies along with the arrival of Batgirl and Supergirl! But will they succeed in driving them off or shall the New Gods of Apokolips succeed in Phase recruit? And you will receive a big hint to what Darkseid is planning for the six chosen mutants? You will be surprised to see who exactly he is interested in, but until then, read and review! Constructive criticism welcome!