WS- Yes, a lot of chars. More to come, too. I hope ya'll like it! Oh, and Wind is another of my made-up characters. . Please ignore it if I get something wrong about Phoenix; I don't know much about her, only the X-Men before that happened to Jean Grey.
Chapter Three: The Arrival
Reed walked over to Superman. He seemed to be the leader of a few of them. A few of them, not all.
Diana, Wonder Woman as some called her, seemed to be one of them who was in Superman's group. Jhonny was trying with no success to flirt with her.
Diana sized him up, and seemed to be getting ready to choke Jhonny when Hawkgirl stepped in. "Ignore him, Diana. He'll get what's coming to him when he tries that on Seline," she said.
Reed shook his head, overhearing them. Jhonny is going to get us all into trouble.
Superman turned his gaze to Reed and chuckled. "You might want to keep Human Torch in eyesight. Hawkgirl is right; if he tries it on Wind, he'll get a lot more than a black eye."
Reed smiled, and nodded. "By the looks of who he's tried, I'm surprised he hasn't already," he replied. "Anyway, he should get set straight. He won't listen to anyone else. Maybe that'll show him not to hang with girls who don't want him."
"If you say so," Flash replied. "I'm just surprised. He's just as persistent as I am with the chicks." He had just zoomed up with his super-speed, and stopped next to both of them.
Superman shook his head. "That he is. At least you know when to let it go so you won't get hurt. Go show him the rules, Flash."
Reed replied after Flash had zoomed off in Jhonny's direction. "Down to business, how are we going to get Suzie out?"
"You mean the Invisible Woman? We're not totally sure of the layout of where she's being kept. We're going to have to wing it," he answered.
Hawkgirl walked over. Hearing Superman, she cleared her throat. He knew what she meant, when her eyes darted to her wings.
Reed chuckled. Superman said, "Oh, sorry. We'll have to make up the plan as we go." He smiled slightly as Hawkgirl nodded her approval.
"Let's do it then," Reed replied. "What are we waiting for? If Shade is as bad as they're all saying here, then we need to hurry."
"Yes. First, we need to wait for a few more people to get here, though." This was Hawkgirl.
Reed blinked. "More!"
"There are a lot more, but we're only waiting for a few. Phoenix has recently come to our side, thankfully. She's awfully powerful, but not coming on this mission. Instead, it's going to be Wind (who's also powerful), Firestar, Iceman, Spider-Man, Black Cat, and possibly a few others, if Professor Xavier asks them to," Green Lantern said, from up above them.
Suzie shrank back against the wall behind her. The claws clicking on the floor earlier had been that girl. What was she? A hybrid?
But she had to concentrate on getting out of here. It was hard. The darkness around her seemed to constrict her, to make her dizzy and lightheaded, and cloud her mind so she could hardly think at all.
What was going on? How could she get out? When would the others finally get here? Were that guy, in black, and that cheetah-woman going kill her? She had no idea about any of those questions.
"It looks like everything's secure until they get here. Wind is always quick, and she gets everyone else to be, too. They'll all be here soon," Dark Panther told Superman.
"Good. We'll know beforehand if we're about to be attacked, then?" Superman asked.
"Yes. Unless someone can go through the ground and come up in between everyone, then it's secure. And I don't know of anyone good or bad, except for Jonn who can do that."
"So, uh, how do we know if they're in trouble?" Ben asked, his question directed at Cyclops.
Before he could answer, Jubilee said, "Com-link. A snazzy little thing that Professor Xavier gave to us X-Men, and Batman made for the Justice League. The loners like Dark Panther have their own that's tuned to both frequencies, though."
"We should have heard from then by now, though. Suppose something happened so they couldn't contact us?" Scott—Cyclops—suggested.
Without saying a word, Gambit took his com-link out of his trench coat. It was small, circular, rimmed with black, and with a black X on it. In between the lines it was red.
He turned it to Rogue's com-link only, and spoke into it. "Che-ri? It's Gambit. We're getting worried over here."
Rogue, staying at her post to one side of the clearing, felt her com-link vibrate and then heard someone speaking from it. She looked around, and saw that no one else were acting like theirs was. Maybe it was turned especially to hers? Gambit was the only one who would do that.
"We're fine, sugar. How's it going there?"
She heard him answer. "It's fine over here. Boring, but that's better than fighting. Is everyone there?"
"Everyone who was supposed to be when we got here. But Wind and the others haven't gotten here yet. Tell Cyclops it's clear to come over, if ya'll think you should re-join the group," she replied.
Cyclops nodded, over-hearing. "Then we're going. Let's hurry and be there by the time everyone else has arrived."
Gambit turned back to his com-link, and said, "We're coming over. Tell the others." He shut it off, and got into the X-Jet with Cyclops and Jubilee.
"Come on! We can't fly the Javelin without one of the Justice League, so we need to leave that here. There's more than enough room for you to come in here with us," Cyclops said, when Ben hesitated.
"Well, alright…." He stepped up and I into it. Like in the Javelin, it didn't rock at all. Cool. He sat down and buckled in. It was small, but you could stand up in it, and there was enough room for about ten people. Cyclops and Gambit were at the controls. The top lowered into place, and the ship lifted, guided by Scott.
Hawkgirl was watching the forest and sky around her post intently. She wasn't nervous at all. She had complete trust in her abilities for her post, and for the others at their posts.
She was in the air, watching everything from above, where you could get a good view. She heard something behind her, and smiled slightly. She turned her head when a hand touched her shoulder, and felt Green Lantern's lips caress hers for just a moment.
She chuckled, and said good-naturedly, "Not now, John. We're working. Get back to your post before Superman sees you're gone."
He half-smiled, and shrugged. "There's enough people watching. I was assigned to watch everyone and make sure they have back up if they need it at their post," he said.
Hawkgirl sighed with amusement. "Then shouldn't you be watching everyone, not just me?" She smiled.
"True. We'll finish with you when we're back at the Watchtower." He winked, and left to take a look at all of the posts.
She shook her head, still smiling, and turned back to the small bit of land she was assigned to watch.
About two minutes later, Cyclops contacted Rogue. "We're about there. You're within sight. Make sure they don't shoot us down, will you?"
Rogue answered. "Of course, sugar. I think I see you. To the south-east? Yeah, that's the X-Jet, alright. I'll tell him."
"Thanks."
"Yes, Rogue?" Superman asked. He was doing the same as Green Lantern. He was also wondering why Rogue had abandoned her post.
"The X-Jet's on its way with the ones we had to leave to guard the ships. Can you tell everyone not to shoot it down?" she asked.
"Of course," he replied. "Is that it there? Yeah. Okay, now go back to your post."
Suzie was alone except for the soft clicking sound from Cheetah's claws on the hard floor. She wanted to look around, to see her surroundings and to know if something was sneaking up on her, but she couldn't.
She thought of making herself invisible, but that was only a fleeting thought. They would still know where she was.
"Looks like they're not the only ones coming. I can see Wind's vehicle in the distance. She's coming quick, and on time, as usual," Superman commented to himself.
Green Lantern flew up. "Yeah, that's her all right. I wonder if she came with anyone else."
"Most likely. She's probably also giving a ride to the others who are coming. I wonder how the Fantastic Four will react to her…."
"Oh, quit worrying. She'll probably stay away from them anyway. You know she doesn't warm up to anybody quickly, and ignores most of the ones she doesn't know well. Of course, she might give Human Torch what's coming to him," GL replied, and smiled slightly.
"True. She sure gave Flash something to think about." Superman grinned, remembering the black and blue mark that was only covered by Flash's mask. That had been well-deserved to Flash and entertaining to watch from the others' views.
"Anyway, we ought to go meet her. Come on." GL took off in the direction of the ship. At closer range, you could see the details of it. It was carved with markings that covered the entire exterior. They didn't mean anything to the untrained eye, but if you knew Wind, you'd know they had a pretty important meaning.
Five minutes later, the ship had landed and the heroes got out of it after the top lifted, showing lights flashing and more designs on the interior.
Iceman came first. He was named well: he seemed to be completely made of ice, but shaped like a human man. He waved to GL who came up to give any assistance if necessary.
Firestar followed him out. She wore a form-fitting yellow jumpsuit and had long red hair that tumbled over her shoulders and down her back. Her boots were red and so was her mask. Jhonny marked her as his next target.
Spider-Man was next; he wore a red suit that was blue on his sides, and had a black web-like design on his chest and the symbol of a spider on his breast. He wore a mask that covered his entire head and was red, having two white places for him to see through. He seemed agile when he climbed out.
Black Cat climbed out like a …well, like a cat. She wore a black costume that showed off her form, and had white fur around the ends of her legs and arms. She wore an intricate black mask, and had pure white hair. And, of course, she was on Jhonny's list. He was very happy here: lots of pretty women.
But, Reed and Jhonny both wondered where Wind was when she climbed out. But, they missed the way she moved because they spun around, hearing something else landing. Cyclops, Gambit, Jubilee, and Ben had gotten there.
They nodded in greeting as the roof lifted. None of the others did anything but keep to their posts or wait for orders. They seemed to be used to this kind of thing, two ships at the same time.
Reed waved to Ben as he got out, and Ben walked over. Jhonny did the same. About two seconds later, they remembered to look back to see Wind, but when they did, they couldn't see her.
Jhonny asked Superman, who was pretty close next to him, where she was.
"She went to check on others at their posts. She usually keeps to herself, anyway; you wouldn't have been able to talk to her very much. Anyway, we all have work to do. Now that everyone's here, we're going in to get the Invisible Woman."
"Okay, but why so many people just to fight one guy and get my sister back?" Jhonny asked suspiciously. The whole thing had been nagging at him ever since he had gotten there.
"Shade is very dangerous, and when dealing with him, you need back-up. Cheetah is most likely with him, too, though. Along with that, there are probably many more. Most likely, this is all an intricate trap. That's why we have so many people: if we're attacked and can't get out, then the others can come to our rescue, and we have more chance of spotting an attack and fending it off."
"Oh."
Meanwhile, Suzie's time was running out. She didn't know that, though. All she knew was that she was in big trouble, and the others better come soon or else. She didn't even know that the rest of the Fantastic Four had found more superheroes—or that the other heroes had found them.
"Is everything in order?" Shade asked, in a room other than Suzie's holding cell. He didn't want her to hear this.
"Of course, Shade. What do you think I am, cheap?" It was yet another villain: Quicksilver. He wore a silver suit, and his head was exposed; no mask. He had white-blond hair, and a fit form. He raised a slanted eyebrow. Plus, he was a part of the Brotherhood—the X-Mens' worst enemy.
Shade didn't answer. He didn't need to answer an ignorant teenager who could think of nothing beyond using his powers to gain money, a good house, and all the girls.
They heard a hiss from the doorway, but neither turned. There was the clacking of claws on the floor, and a voice came from behind them.
Cheetah raised onto her back legs, standing up straight, and said, "They are all here, Shade. Even Wind has come. I trust everything is set?"
"Yes, Cheetah. They won't survive if they come looking for their dear Susan Storm," Shade said, and his teeth glinted in the faint light as he grinned evilly.
Cheetah purred with satisfaction, and lowered back down to all four legs. "Good." She walked gracefully back into the room where Suzie was encased in darkness.
They were all sure that Shade was right—their enemies were walking into their doom as they spoke.
WS-Well, it's not as long as usual, but I found this a good time to stop the chapter. Sorry it's taken a while to update. My mom's been using the computer to fill taxes for a week, and I've been suffering severe writer's block.