No Need For Farewells

Part 3: Jono & Paige: The Never Ending Romance (Or, Love Is So Damn Complicated)

By Kairi Taylor

2006

To say that Paige & Monet was surprised would be an overstatement of the obvious.

Before them stood their longtime teammate, Jonothon Starsmore, grinning from ear to ear, enjoying a cup of tea. Never mind the fact that he had a cup of tea in his hands, the mere fact he had a mouth to use was shocking.

"Girls, I have to tell ya," Jono said as he sipped at the cup, "you miss so many things when you don't have the ability to eat. The other day, I think I gulped down 3 large subs before Cyclops stopped me."

"Uh…are we seeing things?" Paige asked Monet.

"Definitely not." Monet replied.

"And then there was the gallon of orange juice I had the other day, man what is so addictive about the stuff…" Jono continued. "And BREATHING! God I missed having my own set of lungs. I can actually smell things now too! By the way, is Akane's cooking always that pungent?"

"Not at first, unless you had gotten downwind of the scent from---wait, you ate her food?"

"And lived to talk of it?" Paige added.

"More or less." Jono answered back, rubbing his sides. "I'm lucky my sides didn't explode."

"Ok, who are you & what have you done with Jonothon?"

"No tricks luv, it really is me. I mean, didn't you find it odd I have been hardly seen for the past 3 years?"

"No, people around here have a tendency to disappear at will. Nightcrawler had let us know you went off on some journey awhile back." Monet explained.

"Ah, I see. Well, I better fill you in on the story. See…"

2003

Jono stood at the window, staring off into the distant night. He was currently on a ferry bound for the city and his mood entrenched in yet another of his many states of despair & frustration. His former gal pal, Paige was seeing Warren, a senior member of the X-Men. Many different aspects of that revelation bothered the young Englishman. For one, he was many, many years older than her and no one seemed to notice this. And she seemed to get into a habit of falling for rich blonde men. Did I already mention he was much older than her? Seriously? Of course, Jono understood that Warren was a bit lonely. After all, Psylocke had bit the big one a while back & it didn't look like she was going to resurrect herself anytime soon. Jono himself wasn't exactly faring too well with the romance department himself either. His latest relationship was, in a matter of speaking, a freaking disaster. A British pop star? What was he thinking, really? One who was so transparent & manipulative & he actually thought he could pull a miracle off with that one. He certainly learned his lesson about human nature.

But when things got simplified, he found one thing had stuck; it all came down to his feelings about Paige Guthrie. Jono's constant distant behavior & sullen attitude was a barrier to some of the feelings he had still locked away, deep inside. He really did care about her a lot, despite the things he said. But then there was one other problem that kept tugging at his pant legs…

The huge gaping hole in his body.

The day that his mutant powers scarred him in ways that even he could not have possibly imagined. Distancing himself a times from his friends, shunned by his family, envy & frustration at the difficulty he had with handling the power, Jono had to deal with all of it. His luck with women was a problem too. Sure, girls did occasionally swoon at the mere mention of his name, but that was something he didn't particularly care for. The attention was nice, but he couldn't allow himself to get too close to a girl. He was afraid, greatly, of hurting someone as badly as his first one. Paige tried to understand, but his pride & concern continuously shut her out. He didn't really want to, but being as open as Paige was, that was hard for him. He had a hard enough time containing the rage he felt at his family. Jono had one other dilemma in his life. It was something he didn't want to divulge to anyone, something that was inevitably drawing closer.

He was dying.

The thing about mutant powers is, at the core, the most basic form of the mutant manifests itself at puberty. Jono's power, which was the psionic furnace that he possessed, came fiercely, in a manner that should have killed anyone else. By all accounts, having any type of energy burst forth from your body, eradicating most of your vital upper organs, would mean an instant demise. Jono survived, however. The theory among many is that the body that Jono had was a temporary one. In all the battles he had up to date, he had not bled once, not even from a scratch. He is said to have a pure energy form, a psionic essence so to speak. However, there is a problem. People like Bobby Drake & Johnny Storm are able to shift their bodies back & form from one state to another. (But the Human Torch was a bit different. Since he wasn't a mutant) Jono had no such luxury with his powers. He was stuck where he was, a man cursed with only a partial body. And slowly, but surely, he was losing it. As days waned, he found it harder & harder to keep his mind focused, as if he was slowly being separated from the world as he saw it. His limbs seemed to be getting lighter, as if energy was quietly leaking out. He didn't know how much time he had before his body would completely deteriorate; he just knew that his time was slowly running out. While working undercover, Weapon X temporally found a way to help him out, but the body he received was too weak & eventually it failed.

"Are you always gonna continue to mope like that, or is this going to be your trademarked look?"

Looking up, Jono regarded his current partner, Gaia. She had long left the team to explore the world on her own, hardly contacting the team unless there was something of vital importance to do, like laundry. Emma had wanted Gaia to come back to the academy & take her studies a little more seriously, but Gaia, ever mysterious girl that she was, opted to wait. She didn't explain why to Emma quite yet, but she assured her that she would return when she felt she was ready.

For now, she was traveling with Jono across the country, taking in many unusual sights as they did private investigations for a plethora of unusual clients. In one case, a certified public notary had hired them to figure out who had cast a death curse on his entire company. Turned out the CEO had done it, for reasons that are so complex & multi layered that it would take 5 chapters to explain it.

Jono turned to Gaia, who was eating a large pretzel. :Oh you know me, luv. Always the brooding type. Just become accustomed to sitting about, staring into the sky, a moody look in me glowing eyes. That's my whole gig, ya know:

"Because of the whole 'no upper' body thing, I know." Gaia sighed. "You do have friends to talk to, remember that."

:Me? Being open? Not something I'm easy with.:

"At least you have people to be open with. I have no family to talk to about my problems."

:Oh…sorry about that.:

"No, don't apologize for that, it's not your fault or anything." Gaia sat down, crossing her arms. "The circumstances concerning my own family were bad enough. I mean chaining me up there to stabilize that particularly useless realm, what kind of father does that? And I'm not familiar with Earth at all. I still had trouble just getting used to the idea of playing movies on a plastic round disc & that whole multiple Earth merger had happened."

I guess we both have something in common. Our parents are jerks. Still, you should swing by the academy sometime. Things are picking up a bit.:

"Maybe. It's gonna be a little strange seeing Monet again. I mean, we both had something with Everett. Actually, we had many things…"

:You know, you're the third one in the inner circle to have admitted to breaking down & getting horizontal with your prospective mate.:

"Uh actually, we went vertical. In my realm there is this technique where—"

:I DON'T NEED TO KNOW:

And neither does the audience

"Speaking of ex mates, what is up with Guthrie anyway?" Gaia inquired.

Paige Guthrie has lead a very interesting life so far. A young woman of high intelligence, excellent fighting skills & potential to someday lead the X Men (or so it is believed among certain teachers) she has done many great things & will go on continuing to do these feats.

But she wasn't doing anything of the sort now.

With the recent events that had come to pass, relations between the Earth & various planets throughout the universe had become to pick up & improve. Jurai, who had for multiple centuries considered the Earth to be under their care, decided to make the first step. They installed a embassy on each on of the Earth's major countries & encouraged the citizens of both planets to be cordial with one another. There were problems of course: ignorant humans being naturally distrustful of anything & Juraians who looked down on humans because they weren't as advanced or enlightened as they were. The prospect of meeting new beings however outweighed such illogical bull, so the alliance between Earth & Jurai was set within a few months time. Other planets, not wanting to look bad, also made the efforts to do the same & it was only a matter of time before ideas, as well as new technology & customs, were traded with the new neighbors.

It was at this point in time that the Galaxy Police, in conjunction with the Earth's governments, decided to set up a training facility/headquarters around the Earth. Working together alongside U.N.I.T. and others, the new GXP Training Academy was completed within 2 years time. The same academy that Paige now attended & would soon graduate from.

And at that moment, Paige, a mutant with the ability to change her sking into any material she saw fit to, a mutant who also now discovered she had a bit of super speed in her, was being taught by someone who is, by every calculation, the most dangerous form of packaged chaos theory ever to don a GXP uniform.

Mihoshi sat with Paige at the controls of their patrol ship, clipboard in hand. Kiyone, her long time partner, seated herself next to Mihoshi, her overly cautious gaze set upon the panel. Kiyone considered Mihoshi many things, but a competent instructor? Not a chance in hell.

"Ok Paige, today, we're going to continue with learning how to operate the weapons systems on your patrol ship. You're not nervous, are you?" Mihoshi asked.

"Oh, no, I'm fine. I'm kind of used to working with big machines." Paige said enthusiastically. "I like to work with programs like this anyway. I have to admit though, it is a little daunting." Mihoshi smiled, patting Paige on the head & assuring her "Don't worry. I was very nervous when I first learned to pilot this ship & I've found a way to improve."

"Have you now?" Kiyone muttered, choosing not to point out the recent path of destruction she inadvertedly caused. The thing with Mihoshi was that she had indeed caught the criminals she was after.

It was her service record, which was the problem. Mihoshi had caused extensive amounts of collateral damage in the years since she was a First Class Detective. And much of the funds in one department's budget had been allocated just to cover any potential damage left in her wake. It's not that the GXP didn't appreciate her work ethic. She was one of the most enthusiastic & dedicated detectives they had. She was just the equivalent to a mad bull in a mall full of china stores.

"For today's assignment," Kiyone said to Paige, "we're going to practice using these specialized concussion missiles. They are perfect for taking care of any large, heavily armored spacecraft. Alright Paige, take us through the process."

Rubbing her hands, Paige carefully went through the process. "First, run through the systems, make sure all the weapons are stable…check the radar to make sure we're not locked onto any friendly targets…shields are fine…and uh, wait, I know this, the next step is to…"

"Press this."

"Mihoshi, WAIT!"

Mihoshi had meant well. She meant to fire the missiles at the asteroid floating by the ship. The area was chosen specifically for such training exercises. But in her eagerness to help out Paige, Mihoshi pressed the wrong button. A pair of spiraling laser shots shot out from the ship's cannon, into the inky void.

"Wow…I've never seen that weapon before."

"Yeah, it's the newest weapon we just installed on the ship. I forgot we had been cleared to give it a field test."

"Oh, so that is good, right?"

"No, you dunce!" Kiyone snarled. "I did a second look & it turns out SOMEONE didn't make sure we were locked on to that asteroid! Good God, who knows what you just hit."

"Hey, we have an incoming com link." Paige sighed to herself, thanking the Power That Is for the quick interruption. One of the things she hated was seeing Kiyone being hard on Mihoshi for almost anything. The person contacting them was a fellow GXP officer. "Detectives, did that last laser shot come from your ship?"

"Uh, more or less…how bad is it? Did she hit a cruise ship."

"Actually, we called to thank you for the assist. We were trying to stop a stolen cruiser from escaping pursuit a while ago. The shield they had couldn't be broken and we were about to call for some backup, but your weapon was able to do the trick. Thanks!"

"Uh sure…" Kiyone's jaw had dropped & Paige smiled. Not all of Mihoshi's luck was bad. It turned out that the system was indeed locked on to two targets, the asteroid & the fleeing ship. Mihoshi just forgot she left that weapon inline.

Well, I bet you are wondering, just how did Jono get that new body anyhow? Ah, you kids are so impatient sometimes. But I think you need to know. It happened a year after the talk that Jono & Gaia had on the ferry. And the incident that had triggered him receiving a new body was a fight. A real big fight.

Jono's case was simple at first: get into a crime lord's hideout & retrieve intel on his smuggling deals in the city. However, when he had downloaded the info from his computer & tried to leave quietly, he was spotted by a guard who had taken a smoke break. And that's where things went straight to hell.

He stood in the center of the room, surrounded by bayous sized men in black suits, all wielding very nasty assault weapons. At the foot of the stairs was the leader himself, Mr. Rene Mercado, who had a face best described as what would happen if a Gargoyle & a Skrull had kids. "Pity kid, that you had to break into my little home away from home." he hissed.

:Yeah, and it's a bleedin' pity you look like you do.:

"Cute. Look, I'm in a bit of a hurry. I've got people to sell, profits to make, drugs to peddle. Tell me where that disc is & I swear I'll only just behead you."

:Sorry, but the US government doesn't take too kindly to slave traders. You understand. You should be able to explain it to them, since they will be here any minute.:

"Really? Somehow, I don't believe you. Boys, kill him."

Jono really wished he didn't have to resort to what he had to do. The stress on his body that day had slowly built up to the point where he could barely tell he had hands. Of course, with all the guns trained on him, he didn't seem to have many options opened. What he needed to do now would be nothing short of suicide.

:Oh well, at least I will literally go out in a blaze:

As the mobsters cocked their weapons, Jono clenched his hands & thrust them in the air. Then, with little or no warning, a sudden, bright burst of purple psionic energy burst forth in a tremendous arc, shattering windows, walls, guns & many a body. Rene himself was sent face first into a nearby wall. His looks still haven't improved to this day. As the remaining foes rose to their feet, they saw that Jono stood tall, two psionic swords formd in his fists.

"Aw, shit."

Gaia kicked the door down. She was praying that she had made it in time that day. The readings she had receive had all indicated what was going wrong with Jono's body. It was imperative she reached him if her "associate" was to do his work.

In the center of the chaos she found Jono, laying down on his side. His skin was a bright beige, his eyes burned with an intensity she hoped she would never see. It looked like his energy was literally leaking out. :Oh…good, you…got my text message…: Jono's speech was slow, but for the moment intelligible. Gaia smiled, seeing that she had indeed come at the right time. "Looks like you did some real damage, kid." Gaia carefully took the CD out from Jono's jacket. It was still safely intact, no damage done thanks in part to the special sleeves built in. "I'll make sure the feds get this but for now, we need to see a pal of mine." Creating a shield around his body, she added "He also has a bit of business with you."

The net time Jono opened his eyes, he found himself on a examination table in a large lab. Nearby was a wall of televisions, all for the moment turned off. The throbbing he had recently felt in his head was one & his breathing was calm, relaxed, at a pace of…

Wait, did I just say breathing?

Jono looked down towards his chest. The very first thing he noticed was that he wasn't wearing a shirt. In fact there was no indication of what was once a huge gaping hole there. He also seemed to possess, of all things, a mouth, nose, lungs, ribcage…you know, the normal things he should have. Not sure what to think, he raised his hand and concentrated. A plume of psionic flame formed in the palm of his hands.

"Ah, awake now? Good. Let's talk. Here, you might want to put this on."

A white t-shirt was tossed into Jono's hands. As he slipped it on, he was greeted by a man with round spectacles, wearing a black lab coat over his small frame.. He had short blond hair & yellow eyes. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zeke & for all intents & purposes, I am a god."

"Ok…" Jono was a bit shocked, not just because of the body he had now seemingly regained, but more so because he was talking to someone who may be a deity. "I'm a bit confused though, since my experiences have taught me not to trust anyone who claims to be omnipotent. Just what the hell happened?"

"Kind of a tough way to explain…"Zeke pulled up a chair. "I'll start with me. I'm sort of a guardian over time on Earth. I monitor all the activities concerning the many time streams involved with that planet. The merging of several multiple Earths hasn't exactly made my job any easier, by the way. It's my duty to keep watch for any incidents that would alter the time rifts negatively & to correct any thing that would endanger life on Earth because someone would tamper with time space."

"Sounds fun."

"Indeed. I get to sample so many different foods when I got out on a mission. Like pilaf. Man, that is good eating!"

"Ok, but the whole time space deal, what does that have to do with me?"

"Well, to be frank, everything. Something big is going down & it involves some of your friends. Marvel is, or will, attempt to do something with the Earth that can be summed up as utterly catastrophic & I need all the help I can get. The last thing I need is for one of the chosen to die because he can't control his power."

"Ah, I see. Or I think I see. I would say I'm surprised but hey, Marvel has pulled some weird shit lately."

"Yeah. None of you know this, but these guys have been doing experiments in time dilation, temporal rift management, all that stuff. Whatever they got lined up, we need to have it stopped. You were chosen because of your potential leadership skills, but someone wants to make sure that certain people are out o the way. Your mutant powers were tampered with via a means of a discreet injection into your spine a while ago when you went undercover at Weapon X. Fortunately, since I am a god, I get to do cool things like save your ass."

"Thanks, I guess. And I will guess you didn't just give me a body for free."

"Yes I did. The only condition I ask of you is to save the Earth. Nothing wrong with that. Gaia's been doing a good job, last I heard."

"Right...wait, just where are we?"

"Oh this place? Long story, really. By the time I finished, a friend of yours will arrive to pick you up."

As for Paige, who also is important to this story, she was out with Kiyone celebrating her graduation from the academy. Kiyone swished her drink around in the small glass it was contained in as Paige drank another glass of Sprite. "Good thing this place serves in non alcoholic stuff. I'm a terrible drunk."

"I'm impressed by your work, you did real well in your time in the academy." Kiyone told Paige. "I think you're gonna make a great officer."

"Thanks, that means a lot." Paige replied. "Hey, where's Mihoshi?"

"She's off to see her mother." Kiyone sighed, downing another shot from her glass. Paige noted that Kiyone kinda looked depressed. "So, what's on your mind?"

"Me? Oh, just some paperwork I meant to take care of. It's been nagging at me all day."

"Really? Because the sad look you have in your eyes don't exactly say 'paperwork' so spill it."

"Ok, fine. Look, it may be the booze talking & I will totally deny this when anyone asks…but I miss Mihoshi."

"Yeah, I kinda figured so." Paige laughed.

"Don't laugh, it's all serious." Kiyone replied.

"Well, you have to admit, sometimes you are a bit hard on her."

"Let me tell you something, Mihoshi is a constant drain on my sanity. She sleeps in late, she destroys almost anything in her path on the job, she loses focus the minute something interesting pops up, she is so blatantly naïve it's troubling. Still…"

"Ah, there is more to the story."

"She's also very kind, trusting, dedicated to her friends. She gives Tenchi's dad half of her paycheck every month, goes out of her way to try to cheer me up. I mean, I've dedicated my life to getting promotions, always blaming Mihoshi for anything that I felt held me down. I barely managed to keep myself from strangling her when I was stuck in that weird dimension for a time."

"And then, when I had heard one time she had possibly been killed in duty," she continued "I had celebrated. I thought I was finally going somewhere with my life & that I would make a name for myself. That's when I realized just how much of a dumbass I was. I was actually HAPPY someone like Mihoshi died. Happy. What kind of a person does that/ It wasn't until I started thinking about it that up until I met with Tenchi & the others that I had no one to call friend. She was the only one who considered me one, so that's I guess I love her so much."

"Yeah, it must be the drinks." Paige agreed, refilling her drink. Of course, Paige had decided that she wouldn't inquire if Kiyone knew that the others suspected she had intense feelings for her longtime partner, but hey, we're going off topic.

"What about you? You're dating an older man. What's the deal with that?"

"Long story there. But it's nothing romantic really. We just like hanging out a lot, and mostly it's Warren musing about life & junk. He's still pining over Betsy."

"So if Jono was more open…"

"Yeah, I'd take him back in a heartbeat. But it'd take a miracle for that to happen."

Fortunately, the market for miracles was very productive.

Now lets go back to 2006, shall we?

On the porch of the academy, with Paige in his arms, resting her head on his shoulders, Jonothon Starsmore looked at the night sky, this time with not a moody look, but with a cheerful outlook. Paige sighed, cherishing the moment she had longed for. "So…just what do we do now?"

"Hmmm, good question. Let's start simple." Paige gently held the sides of Jono's head & kissed him deeply, a kiss that was, by the author's estimate, 5 years too long in coming. Jono broke off the kiss, looked deep into Paige's eyes & said to her "You know, there's something I've been meaning to get off my chest, pun intended, & I think I'm comfortable in saying it now."

"And that is…"

"BRACE YOURSELF FOOL!"

The two bodies that dropped down from the roof of the academy, next to the two lovebirds were Bobby Drake & Bishop. Who had volunteered to fix the roof. Bobby dusted his coveralls off. "I told you we were leaning out too far."

"Hey, ease dropping isn't an exact science you know!" Bishop shot back.

"I can see this will take time for everyone else to adjust to." Jono said to Paige.

And elsewhere, Emma Frost & Monet walked into a room in the Masaki residence to find 3 things:

1: A rice cooker

2. A table with some snacks long since eaten.

3. Kiyone kissing Mihoshi full on the lips. And Mihoshi, by the looks of it, happily enjoying it.

Emma turned to Monet, who gave her a questioning gaze.

"Not my handiwork."

Angelo: Ah, finally FANSERVICE!

Paige: Quiet you!

Jono: This lovey dovey stuff kind of goes on in the next chapter

Monet: Yes, we delve deep into the strange love between Mr. Cassidy & Ms. Frost

Angelo: So, just what keeps the two together anyway? And how did two maniacs like that get to raise a kid?

Emma: Who is insane, Mr. Espinosa?

Sean: A word with ya, lad.

Monet: We'll be sure to touch on that in Chapter 4.

Jono: A whole story without Jubs or Kairi again? Can we continue like this for another tale?