Take the Long Way Home
Well, here's chapter fourteen. Ya know, I'm surprised that no one asked about the CD Hack gave to Shawn. I hope…*Explosions sound inside my muse room* Excuse me. What the hell is going on in here! *Shawn's body flies past, then slams into a wall* "You pitiful fools think you can take me?! FINAL FLASH!!!" *Draco slams into the same wall, only a little crispier than Shawn* I see the others have met my new fight scene muse. *Everyone stops, looks at me, then at the, spiky haired, five foot nothin' figure that's been kicking their butts* Guys, this is the new member of our little team, Prince Vegeta. "You're kidding, right?" Maria asks from the other side of the room. She appears to have attempted to slash Vegeta in half, her claws are all chipped. 'Fraid so; I noticed that my fight scenes just weren't doing the story justice, even with Draco's help, so I brought in a freelancer. Didn't I tell you guys? "No, no you did not," Shawn deadpanned. Draco is looking around, a bemused expression on his face. He looks at Shawn. "Momma?" "Don't look at me! I aint cho mamma!" He looks at me. "Momma?" Ohhhhh no!
Animeluvr1- Glad to have you back! There was a reason for the reference. Think about it; if the Tetsaiga is Slash's family sword, what does that tell you about his ancestry? And I'll see what I can do with Rick. Who needs math anyway?
L1701E- Jubes will be there my friend, don't worry about that! And about the superkick, I believe I've got something even more painful in store for him. Read on to find out what!
Naja-well…technically Tom saved his life. And I think that Shawn should be able to live with that.
marie lebeau- Okay, those are good excuses. And I have two little words that are guaranteed to solve any disagreements with a sibling. Cattle. Prod. Personally, I'm basing Tom partially on a friend of mine. Only my friend is at least twenty times more insane than Tom.
Alleycat588- I said possible recruit. And there will be another poker game soon, in about three chapters. One more thing…I'm not moody! (For those of you that don't get it, read her bio.)
AzureDragoness- Trust me, you aint seen nothin' yet! And please, don't say that where Maria can hear you.*Points to where Maria is chasing Shawn around with a rusty axe while Draco and Vegeta look on* "Popcorn?" Draco asks. Don't mind if I do.
P.S.: This is only half of what I had originally intended to write. But due to certain factors, I have decided to cut this extremely long chapter into two far shorter ones. That is all.
Disclaimer: Vegeta walks onstage. "Any fool who believes that this simpleton owns X-men: Evolution, stand up now so I may Final Flash you into oblivion! *Sounds of crickets chirping* "I thought so." Vegeta walks offstage.
"AAA"-talking
'AAA'-thought
AAA-telepathy
AAA-self debate, or conversation with feral side in Shawn and Rahne's case.
Chapter 14- Rock N' Me
"When questioned as to why police officers did not attempt to apprehend the mutant, one of the officers on the scene commented 'We just didn't have the heart to arrest the poor basterd after what had just happened to him'. The man responsible for defeating the mutant refused to comment, but has been identified as Tomas O'Reily, a respected martial artist who owns and operates a martial arts dojo in Pennsylvania."
"In other news, computer experts are baffled by a mysterious new computer virus that has been dubbed the "Dot Hack" virus. Different reports have come to light of this strange, seemingly untraceable virus destroying entire hard drives. Other reports have it tightening security for different corporate mainframes. And an unnamed government source has confirmed the rumor that several major cyber-criminals have been arrested thanks to tips sent through the virus. One thing remains consistent though; whenever a computer becomes infected, a message comes up on-screen proclaiming "You've been hacked!" as soon as the virus has accomplished whatever it sets out to do. In a related story…" Tom O'Reily reached over and turned the television off. He turned to his nephew, who was slumped in an armchair, exhausted. Bobby was there too, looking curiously at the pair.
"What exactly was the deal between you and that Thanatos guy?" he asked. Shawn opened his mouth to answer, but Tom cut him off.
"Thanatos was a mercenary that was working for an extremely dangerous man. As you can probably guess, the Zanzoken could be a very powerful tool if placed in the wrong hands. And since I have contacts with several bodyguard agencies and with several, shall we say unscrupulous businessmen…"
"You mean gangsters?" Jaime asked excitedly, popping out from behind the couch.
"GAHH! DON'T DO THAT!" Tom shouted. He thumped his chest as if to restart his heart. "You nearly gave me a heart attack, kid. And no, not really. More Hell's Angels types, than anything. And the specific people I'm talking about are a group of assassins that I helped with a problem. When I first started my dojo, I let my friends on both sides of the law know that I wasn't going to teach my secret technique to anyone from either side. Anyway, Thanatos' employer wanted the technique for his own purposes, so he hired Thanatos to get the secret of the technique from me." He paused. "The jackass decided that the best way to do that was to beat Shawn and hold him ransom. It might have worked too, but Shawn turned out to be more than he could handle. In the end, he tried to take Shawn out with a grenade. But he mistimed his throw and it blew up in his face. Blew a hole in the stadium floor too; dropped him into a lower level. Everyone assumed that he was dead. It was a sixty foot drop."
"He must have felt like I feel right now," Shawn groaned.
"C'mon kid, that was only about three fourths of what you used to do!" Tom exclaimed, ruffling his student's hair. Shawn shot him a dirty look. He had just finished his new exercise regimen for the first time. It mostly involved running on his hands around the backyard, with weights strapped to his wrists, ankles, biceps and thighs, while avoiding various punches, kicks and other attacks from his sensei. He thought about saying something that was very, very, very rude, but decided against it. Is that even physically possible? Bahumut asked. I don't know, but I think it might be if you applied the right amount of pressure to certain joints.
X-men, please report to the War Room. the professors telepathic voice echoed through their heads. Tom 'yiped' and spun around looking for the owner of the voice. "He's a telepath uncle, remember?" Shawn arched an eyebrow. Tom rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Oh yeah," he muttered. Shawn led the way to the War Room, Mozart padding along behind him, meeting up with Maria and Jubilee on the way. Bobby sidled up next to Jubilee, while Shawn acknowledged Maria with a nod, a tiny flush creeping up the back of his neck. From behind him, Tom and Mozart shot each other a look, then nodded in unison.
"Either of you know what's going on?" Shawn asked. Jubilee shrugged, while Maria just grunted a negative. When they reached the War Room, Logan was leaning against the doorframe. They filed in, but when Tom tried to enter, Logan blocked his way.
"X-men only bub," he growled. Tom held up his hands in a peace gesture and turned around to backtrack. But while Logan was preoccupied with glaring at Tom's retreating back, Mozart slipped around him and settled in a shadowed corner, eyes alight with curiosity. The rest of the students and the instructors ignored him, concentrating on the Professor. Logan walked back in, and settled into a chair. "So what's the big deal Chuck?"
"I believe that a new mutant has come to light in Cleveland." The professor turned and looked at a screen behind him. A picture flashed onto the screen, but before he could continue the briefing, Jubilee let out a long, drawn out squeal.
"Kiiiiiid Raaazooooor!!!!!!" she shrieked, going off like a fire siren. Most of the people in the room covered their ears in pain, most noticeably all of the guys. Even Mozart covered his ears with his paws and let out a little whimper. While he clamped down on his ears, Shawn studied the picture. It was of a young man, about his age. Some people thought that his clothing choices looked somewhat strange, but this guy's clothes had him beat by a mile.
The strange youth had on white tights with red-and- black razor blades all over them and "Rock 'n' Roll" on the back. He had on an Ozzy Osbourne shirt and jacket and wore boots that were red with black- and-white fringe as well as white kneepads. His fingerless gloves were white. Over them, he had Heart Break Kid-style wristcuffs with white fringe and a red- and-black razor blade on each one. His face was painted in a manner similar to the Ultimate Warrior, mostly white with red-and-black streaks. To top it all off, he had on a pair of white sunglasses with heart-shaped frames and red-and-black lenses. In his hands he carried a guitar with a blue-and-green planet-shaped body. It was the guitar of the deceased rock 'n' roller legend, Ronnie Rocker's "Ringer" guitar, or a very good replica.
Jubilee's shriek was cut off when Kitty clamped a hand over her mouth. She looked at her friend for a minute, then said "I'm like, going to let go now. Will you be quite?" Jubilee nodded vigorously. "Good." Kitty let go and Jubilee sank back into her seat, a huge blush spreading across her face. The professor looked at her for a moment.
"May we proceed?" he asked; a slight smile on his face. Jubilee nodded sheepishly. "As I was saying, we have reason to believe that this "Kid Razor" is a mutant. Even though Cerebro hasn't been able to pinpoint his location, this may just be a side effect from his powers."
"And the reason for the big powwow is…?" Shawn asked, leaning back in his chair. Maria nudged him discreetly with her elbow, and he sat back up.
"The purpose of this little "powwow", as you put it Shawn; is to pick the right team to attempt to recruit him. I believe that he may prove a valuable addition to the team. And I need to put together another team to investigate a new mutant signature in Texas." Jubilee immediately raised her hand and began to bounce up and down in her seat. "No Jubilee, I think it might be best if you stayed here." Scott and Jean stood up.
"We'll go to Cleveland professor," Jean said. He nodded.
"Very well then. Beast, you, Cannonball, and Wolfsbane will go with them. Logan, you, Kitty and Rouge will check out a reading Cerebro picked up in Texas. Logan, you three will leave immediately; the other five will leave in an hour. Hank, I'm afraid that you'll have to take a holowatch. People in Cleveland are more mutant tolerant than most, but better safe then sorry. Meeting adjourned." As everyone filed out again, Mozart turned transparent and ghosted through the wall. He reemerged in the rec room. Tom was sitting on one of the chairs, reading a comic book.
"Well?" he asked, putting down the book.
"What do you think the weather's like in Cleveland this time of year?"
"Stow-away on the jet?"
"You read my mind."
"You have a mind to read?"
"Very funny mister 'I still read comic books'."
"I'll have you know that it's considered readable art."
"Uh huh, sure it is. Now get your butt in gear, we need to get stowed away within the next half hour."
--Elsewhere in the Mansion—
"Hey Maria," Shawn called from behind her. She turned and shot him a look.
"What?" He paused for a moment, then…
"You ever seen the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame?"
"No."
"Me neither. Ya wanna go see it?"
"Where exactly is it?"
"Cleveland. And if we get caught, you can just say that I fast talked you into it." As he said this Shawn shot her a look that said, "you up for the challenge?" She folded her arms and looked away for a moment, then turned back, a small grin on her face.
"Very well, but if we get caught, you take all the blame." Shawn nodded so vigorously that it looked like his head was going to fall off. You realize that you probably look like an idiot right now, right? Bahumut asked in an innocent tone. Whatever it takes my friend, whatever it takes Shawn sent back. Awwwww, does widdle Shawny-wawny have a widdle crushy-wushy? I don't know when, I don't know how, but mark my words, you will receive retribution! I'm shaking in my size fifteens kid Shawn snapped out of his little trance and grabbed Maria by the wrist.
"C'mon, we need to get primo hiding spots," he said excitedly, half dragging her behind him. *Snickt* "Or…we could wait and go when you're ready," he added nervously, admiring the very good (and very sharp) points she had just made.
The two of them eventually made their way to the hanger after about a half hour, and managed to find a compartment to hide in together. When Maria had asked why they didn't each use a separate compartment, seeing as there were three total. Shawn shot her a look. "This way you can immediately blame me if we're caught." Any excuse huh? And what would you do in the exact same situation? Your point
About ten minutes after they had settled in, with Maria giving him graphic details of what would happen if he attempted anything in the least bit like hitting on her, Mozart and Tom made their appearance. Tom was moving on silent feet, while Mozart's claws made absolutely no noise on the metal of the plane's floor. Mozart sniffed silently at the compartment that hid Shawn and Maria, shook his head at Tom, and ghosted into the center compartment. Tom held onto the spirit's tail as he turned transparent, going ghostly as well, and was pulled noiselessly through the cover hatch.
As Tom vanished through the hatch, one other person made their way into the jet. The currently unidentified person made their way to the last unoccupied hatch, opened it quietly, and silently climbed in, closing it after themselves. Not ten minutes later, the Cleveland team boarded. Two minutes after that, the X-jet was airborne.
-Location Unknown-
"The package has left the Institute, current heading and speed put it in Cleveland in an hour," a technician made his report to a shrouded figure. The figure's lips curved in a sinister smile as it dismissed the technician with a gesture. The figure leaned over and spoke into a small intercom.
"Tell our delivery boys that they are going to Cleveland. They should arrive in time to set up an ambush. And tell them that, if they fail, they will not receive payment." The figure, which was now identified as a woman due to her voice, sat back up, and linked her fingers. "Soon we will regain our blueprint," she smiled to herself.
-Ten minutes outside Cleveland-
Beast was toying with a small experiment he had decided to bring with him on the fight, so Scott was flying, with Jean as his co-pilot. Sam had decided to play a little game to get his and, in his mind more importantly, Rahne's mind off of the monotonous flight. "Ah spy with mah little eye something…white." Rahne heaved a huge sigh. It had been a little cute when it started, but now it was starting to annoy her.
"Another cloud, lad?"
"No, it's that piece of cloth sticking out from under the center cargo hatch." Jean's head turned as she caught that little bit of information.
"Check it out Rahne," she ordered. Rahne got up and shifted to her wolf form. She cautiously padded over and sniffed at the cloth. Then she took it in her teeth and gave it a hard yank!
"WHOA!" Tom yelled, as he was pulled out of the hatch by his sleeve. He had been forced to crouch down on all fours because of the cramped quarters of the cargo space. Mozart looked up from where he had settled down to nap alongside Tom, and gave a small nod of acknowledgment to the lupimorph. "Uhhh, hey guys, whassup?" Tom grinned from the floor.
"Not you at the moment Tom," Beast quipped from the small foldout table he was using for his experiment. A little laugh from the cargo hold closest to the cockpit had heads turning. The laugh was followed by an "ow, what was that for?". Tom got up and, backed up by Rahne and Sam, casually swung the hatch open. Inside, Shawn and Maria were as far apart from each other as they could get in the small space. Even so, she was nearly sitting in his lap. Shawn was rubbing the back of his head, while Maria had a pissed expression on her face. Tom kept his expression neutral as he spoke. "I think we'll just leave you two kids alone." He began to close the hatch. * Snickt* "Jesus H. Christ, you got a worse temper than that wolf dude." He paused and peered closely at her. "You related to him?" he asked. Maria just sailed past him.
"I swear she learned that from the princess." Shawn quipped. She turned and shot him a death glare. Shawn held up his hands in a peace gesture.
"Kidding, just kidding," he said nervously. Maria turned around again with a "Hmmph!" "She's crazy bout me," Shawn smirked.
"Yeah, she was ahn(on) you like mud ahn a pig," Sam observed dryly. Shawn airily waved the comment away.
"Now, what exactly possessed the three…" Beast was interrupted by what sounded suspiciously like a cough from Mozart, "Excuse me, the four of you to stow away on board?" Maria pointed at Shawn.
"He fast-talked me into it," She declared. Shawn shrugged nonchalantly.
"I asked her if she'd ever seen the Rock N' Roll hall of fame. She said no and I took it from there." "Ah'm(I'm) impressed," Sam whistled "With my abilities of persuasian?" Shawn asked eagerly.
"No, with the fact that Maria didn't turn you into shish kabob within the first ten minutes," Sam laughed. Maria smirked as she turned to face them.
"I threatened to cut off his bits and pieces if he tried anything," she stated calmly. Even Scott winced as she said it. Beast ran a hand through his hair as he thought.
"The question remains, what to do with you all?" he asked them.
"Dr. McCoy, we've arrived in…WHAT WAS THAT!?!" Jean's announcement suddenly turned to a cry of alarm as a blonde blur covered in a rainbow energy field shot past the cockpit. It suddenly stopped in midair and backtracked. It was Kid Razor. He appeared to look both Scott and Jean up and down for a moment. Then he winked at Jean, and promptly showed Scott the birdie. Then he was gone as fast as he had come. Scott was stunned for a moment, then snapped into leader mode.
"Jean, open a hatch! Shawn, since you're here you might as well make yourself useful. Tail him and see if you can keep him still long enough for us to catch up and talk to him." Shawn mock saluted as the side door opened, then jumped headlong out into space, wings booming out to their fullest as they caught the air. As he went, he could have sworn that he heard Jubilee's voice calling for Razor to come back. But he shook it off and continued to track the rainbow colored spark that was just in his vision range.
Suddenly he dipped downwards, towards a large bank that was surrounded by police cruisers. An officer that looked like he could probably tie with Cyclops when it came to shoving a stick up his butt was barking commands through a megaphone to the crowd, which was going wild at the sight of the superstar superhero. He landed at the fringes of the crowd and clasped his wings around his neck like a cape, effectively hiding his tail from view. He approached one of the people at the edge of the crowd, a boy with green hair. "What's going on?" he asked, tapping the other teen on the shoulder. The boy turned around.
"Tusk is trying to rob the bank." He said in a matter-of-fact voice. There was a sudden scream as the crowd scattered. Several armed gunmen had streamed out of the buildings to either side of the bank and were shooting into the air. Naturally, people fled, the green haired youth among them. Even the cops were backing away, except for the one cop who looked to be an even bigger hard-ass than Scott. Suddenly, one of the bank windows erupted as Kid Razor was thrown through it. Several of the gunmen pointed their weapons at him as a large mutant walked through the doors of the bank. He was large, nearly seven feet tall. He appeared to be covered in brown fur, and had a mammoth shaped head, complete with trunk and tusks. He was Arnold Torrence, the mutant known as Tusk.
'Ya know, that is distinctly unfair,' Shawn thought as he studied the situation from a safe vantage point. Razor was outnumbered ten to one! Suddenly, Jean's voice rang out in his head.
Shawn? Can you hear me? Loud and clear Red. You better get here fast, I think this Razor guy's really stepped in it today. There was a pause while Jean conveyed his message to the others. Then, We're on our way. Oh, Jubilee stowed away too. Shawn nodded, then realized that she couldn't see the gesture and replied. Gotcha. Razor's in trouble, I'm goin' in! He ignored Jean's mental yell to stay put and spread his wings, seeming to shake as his scales emerged, and uncurling his tail from around his feet. He leapt down into the fray with a karate yell. Half a block away, his teammates could be seen running towards the scene.
"Bon Jovi Booster!!!" Kid Razor yelled, plowing through two of the gunmen. Tusk was sitting comfortably on a nearby bench, watching the fight. "I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this!" he chuckled to himself. A yell from above caught his attention as a gray form descended. "What the hell?"
"Don't you know you could put an eye out with that thing?" Shawn quipped as he knocked the gun out of one of the men's hands. He quickly spun around, tail-whipping the unfortunate goon into the dirt as he lashed out at another one of the gunmen with his fists. He had left his walkman and his Bo at the Institute, not believing that he would need them.
"Who're you?" Razor yelled over the gunfire, leaping around the trajectory of one bullet as he strummed his guitar and fired a beam of rainbow energy at another gunman. He blasted him into a wall.
"The cavalry," Shawn hollered back. He spun around to find himself face to muzzle with an AK-47. The gunman gave a vicious grin under his mask, before an explosion of what seemed to be fireworks snapped to life in his face. He reared back, blinded, before crashing to the ground under the combined weight of Mozart and Wolfsbane.
"This a private party, or did someone just forget my invitation!" Tom whooped, knocking another generic goon cold with a reverse punch. Jubilee had an expression of fierce determination on her face as she hurled firework after firework at the different goons. Wildcat sliced through one of the guns, then kicked the man in the gut. Jean lifted the second to last bad guy into and sent him flying as Scott blasted the final ones gun away. They paused for breath as Tusk began to yell and flail his arms.
"DAMN YOU KID RAZOR, WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE!?!?" he screamed. He charged at the Juke Box Hero then, intent on making superhero shish kabob. The Kid merely jumped over him, letting his momentum carry him into the bank.
"Do you think we should help him?" Beast asked, pointing at the two. Scott shook his head.
"If this 'Tusk' fights as well as the Browns or Indians play, Kid Razor's as safe as possible." Razor and Tusk screeched to a halt at that. They looked at each other.
"Shall we?" Tusk asked. Razor nodded.
"As long as no one finds out, I say we go for it." With that, the two of them turned and began to advance on Scott.
"Scott, I would run now if I were you," Tom warned. Scott, who had his back to the fight, turned to see what the matter was. Only to meet Tusk's fist.
"That was for dissing the Browns!" Tusk yelled. Razor strummed a riff on his guitar, energy building up on the end, before firing it at Scott.
"And THAT was for the Indians!" he grinned. Shawn winced as the two descended on the team leader of the X-men.
"Ooooooh, he aint pretty no more." As the X-men tried to extract Scott from the wall he was embedded in, Razor confronted Tusk.
"What do you think you're doing robbing a bank? It's not your style. And since when do you have help? You've always been a solo act." Tusk glared at his archenemy, before grinning maliciously. He started to answer, when a trench-coated blur slammed into Razor.
"IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou!!!" Jubilee chanted as she hugged the rock n' roll hero tightly. Razor grimaced as he tried to get out of her grip. It was no use; she was like a black haired leech.
Tusk laughed at his enemy's discomfort, before deciding to answer the question. "Since you're going to die anyhow, I suppose that it's only fair. Some organization hired me and a few others to retrieve something for them. In return, I get a nice big chunk of money and help killing you." Razor, who had managed to get out of Jubilee's grip and was holding her off with one hand, looked around at the unconscious bodies laying around on the ground.
"These idiots? Even you can't be that stupid, you ice age reject!" A sudden crashing cut off any more insults. A huge man in a domed helmet crashed through a building on the group's left, while a shaggy haired man with claw-like fingernails in a trench coat leapt down from the building to their right. Mozart snarled, hackles at full attention, at the larger man while Maria glared at the smaller one, claws at the ready. Tusk smirked.
"No, I teamed up with winners. Juggernaut and Sabretooth."
Tom summed up their situation with one phrase. "Houston, we have a problem."
-The Warehouse District-
A lone man stalked through the abandoned warehouses, his red trench coat flapping in the breeze. Cool green eyes scanned the area, as he fitted two gauntlets onto his hands. Two pistols, one black, the other white, rode in holsters on his hips. A large broadsword was strapped to his back. The man also had long, white hair. Suddenly, a shape leapt at him from the shadows. The man calmly sidestepped, and raised one of his pistols. He shot the shape straight between its blood red eyes. Black ichor sprayed the wall behind the creature. "I suppose the leader of this small clan should be around here somewhere," The stranger mused. More creatures emerged from the shadows. None of them showed any signs of having ever been human. The man sighed. "Why do they always insist on trying to fight?" he asked himself rhetorically.
---To Be Continued---
And there's the first half of my first big fight. See what happens when the team finds out exactly what the three villains are doing. And Shawn will finally tap into his powers full potential. And the mysterious new character will make another appearance. He'll feature even more in coming chapters. But until then, Read & Review!