Take the Long Way Home
Well, folks, now we go on to chapter 24. Shawn's B-day, some plotting on the part of Magneto, and Slash and his mysterious sensei make an appearance. Also, Coyote has received a promotion from mere "story character" to "humor muse". Throws confetti in the air. Yea Coyote! All my other muses make a whoop-de-do gesture with their fingers "yea."
PUBLICITY-Hey people, I've come across a really cool Star Wars fic by Legendary Warrior. If you're a fan of the SW: KOTOR game, check it out!
Shadow Beast- I know, but LW made some modifications to Dante, changing his history and giving him a few weaknesses. And we decided to change the names of his weapons, to make him more original. Therefore, his sword is now called the Reaver, his pistols are Life & Death, and his gauntlets are the Hellfire gauntlets.
Midnightangel3- Thanks, I'll see what I can do about explaining a bit about their pasts. And Slash will make an appearance this chapter. I think the Inuyasha fans amongst the readers will be pleasantly surprised by who his sensei is too.
KyLewin- Thanks, I'm glad you appreciate my story so far. I hope that it continues to please.
Azuredragoness- LOL, yeah, he might be. You'd have better luck bonding with a rabid mountain lion ya know, my sister is NUTS.
L17O1E- Thanks, I think that Razor the Raptor is one of my finer creations. And you have just given me an idea. A wonderful idea. A simply wonderful, wretched, awful idea that will have Scott babbling in panic while curled up in the fetal position and sucking his thumb.
Sick Minded Sucker-Heh, I just thought it would be a great gag if ole buckethead reacted like that.
LW-reread the last chapter, really, really carefully. He's in there.
Goofn1-I'm not that great at writing angst, I'm more of a humor/action type of guy. But hey, I may put some in there, maybe.
Andivari-Okay, so I lied, there ISN'T a real clue in there about who else is joining the Brotherhood. I'll give you a hint though, one of the two I have planned to join is someone I've already put into the fic, but hasn't joined the X-Men. Ummm, actually, I don't read comics. What details are you talking about?
animeluvr1- well… it may be Rick, but there's someone else who gets nabbed as well. Yeah, I'm gonna take care of the whole claustrophobia thing pretty soon too.
Soulstress-you're half right about who Buckethead wants. Thanks, I try.
Allycat588- Welll…not really his big sister. But in most Indian lore, the different animals call each other "Brother" and "Sister". And the only reason Coyote is Raven's little brother is because he has the mental maturity of a four year old. Coyote: "I resent that!" Why? "It happens to be a three year old." Muses, oy.
-AAA- Translation
AAA-telepathy
AAA-self debate, or conversation with feral side in Shawn and Rahne's case
Disclaimer- AUGH!! WAUGH!! Sounds of swords slicing through the air and various body parts being forcibly removed, followed by a heavy thud That concludes our demonstration. Any…questions?
Chapter 24-Birthday Surprise, and The Fox & The Hound
Shawn picked listlessly at his breakfast. It had been two days since "The Incident", as he and Bahumut were calling it. Rick sat down on one side of him, next to Tabby, while Maria sat on the other. The two of them were the only ones who didn't seem to be as freaked out as the rest of the Institute. Jean had gotten out of the med ward yesterday, and seemed extremely jumpy.
"Not hungry?" Rick asked. Shawn was currently in the midst of making a freeform sculpture of a bird with the remains of his scrambled eggs.
"Uh-uh. I just wish everyone would stop looking at me like I betrayed them or something you know? It's not like any of them would have believed me!" Rick patted him on the back, while Maria did her best to send some sort of silent comfort. She was by her nature, not a touchy feely person in public, or in private for that matter, so this was the best she could really do. Shawn let loose a shaky sigh as he used his fork to remove his sculpture's head. Conversation around the table suddenly fell silent.
Shawn looked up, and suddenly felt the need to bang his head against the table really, really hard. A pair of mischievous eyes; his eyes, were floating above the table. No nose, no mouth, no other features at all, just a pair of eyes hovering above the plate of bacon. A miniature sword appeared and began to write in the air, leaving a glowing trail behind. When it finished, a smirk appeared below the eyes before both smirk and eyes disappeared. Shawn, going with his gut feeling, got up from the table, and began to bang his head against the wall repeatedly. WHAM Everyone else was to busy laughing to notice. WHAM Here's what the words said: Hey Shawn, don't get to down; your birthday's coming up in a few days! Oh, and by the way… I seeeeee yooouuuuu.
WHAM
"That can't be healthy," Rick remarked.
WHAM
"Do you think we should stop him before he makes another hole in the wall?" Tabby asked conversationally.
WHAM
"I think we should," Rick confirmed.
WHAM
Before they managed to get his head out of the wall, Shawn had proceded to make an impressive three and a half inch dent in the beam behind the drywall.
-Magneto's Base-
Magneto, recovered from his rage of two days ago, sat; deep in thought. He had had Gambit and Thanatos make a compilation describing the different members of the X-Men, their powers and personalities, and which would be most receptive to the mental reconstruction he planned to inflict upon whomever he finally decided to "take into the fold". He turned off the television with the video of the girl, "Magma" transforming into her alternate flame form during an outdoor training exercise. He rubbed his temples under his helmet, before his eyes fell on one of the files. He picked it up, and examined the picture and the dossier. He smiled. "This one will do nicely," he said to himself.
In another room, Colossus and Pyro were at rest. Pyro was at one of the computers scattered throughout the base. He had logged into the video files and was watching something with intense concentration, strange behavior for the insanely happy pyro. Colossus looked up from the sketchpad in his hands. "Vhat are you doing comrade?"
"Well, mate, I'm looking over those X-men sheila's dossiers. There's some video clips saved in here too. Maybe I'll get some insperatio-hnuuuunnnnguuungnneeeep". At St. John's sudden strangled squeak, Colossus got up to investigate. What he saw had him extremely close to face palming, a little trick he had picked up from Shawn at the last poker game, after Gambit had bluffed them all out of the last pot with a pair of twos. "Are you alright, Pyro?"
Pyro continued to stare straight ahead at the screen. "You have reached St. John Allerdyce. Pyro is not available right now, so if you leave a message after the beep, he'll get back to you…BEEP." Colossus felt that this was now a face-palm worthy situation, so that's just what he did. After that, he took a closer look at the small movie clip the Australian was watching. His eyes widened.
Oh no.
Ohhhhhh no.
The clip showed a dark skinned, dark haired girl, transforming into a blazing figure, black patches swirling over her form. Shawn and Gambit had both told him about this particular X-girl. Amara Aquila, codename Magma. Literally one of the hottest girls in the X-lineup.
And apparently Pyro had just fallen head over heels for her.
This would not turn out well.
-The Institute-
Logan clumped inside from getting the mail, passing the rec room; he looked inside, noticing Shawn. He was currently in a whispered conference with Jubilee and Bobby. Jubilee was giggling now and then, so he assumed it was another one of Shawn's pranks. Then he saw the "handbook" in Shawn's hands, a copy of the "Triad Handbook" that Hack had left with Shawn. Definitely a prank session in the works. "If I'm gonna end up covered in flour paste again Scales, you won't live to see your birthday," he growled, entering. He popped his claws for emphasis. Shawn waved him off airily.
"Relax, you aren't the target anymore. Instead, it's…" Shawn caught himself in time and clamped his lips shut. Logan cracked a smirk.
"Fine then Scales." He turned to go, but stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Oh yeah, there's a crate outside for ya. Smells like it has somethin' electronic in it too." Shawn, curious, went to the door, followed by Bobby and Jubilee. On the steps was a medium sized crate. Bobby read the label on it over Shawn's shoulder.
"Care of Dragonfire Dojo; handle with care." He looked at Shawn. "Any clues about what it is?" In the meantime, Shawn had a half laughing, half mournful look on his face.
"I thought he'd have forgotten about that by now," he muttered under his breath. Jubilee looked at him curiously.
"Forgot about what?" she asked.
"After I pulled a prank on sensei, involving grape jell-o and some hairspray…" At the looks his friends gave him, he gave a lopsided grin. "Long story. Anyway, he threatened me with karaoke at my next birthday party." He looked at the crate like it had something poisonous in it. "It looks like he made good on that threat." Jubilee and Bobby shared a look behind Shawn's back, but quickly hid it as he turned to face them. "Listen guys, I need you to keep this a…" he trailed off as he caught something passing between the two of them. He sighed. "You guys are gonna blab, aint cha?" They nodded in unison. "Damn! Well, since you're gonna tell anyway, I might as well invite the Brotherhood to the party too. Give everybody a fair chance to ruin our hearing."
A few minutes later, Shawn had managed to gather of the original team of X-Men, including Logan, who had decided to eavesdrop, just in case, as well as a few of the New Recruits. "So what's the big announcement?" Scott asked, taking a sip from his pop. Shawn couldn't help but grin a little as he envisioned his "leader's" reaction to this little piece of news.
"Oh, it's not really that important, I just wanted you guys to know that I intend to invite the Brotherhood to my birthday tomorrow. Immediately, Shawn was treated to a glorious spit take, made even funnier by the fact that Scott had managed to completely soak Jean from head to toe in Big Red™. The other's reactions weren't quite as funny.
"ARE YOU MENTAL?!?!" Kurt yelled. Most of the New Mutants seemed to be a little confused by the reactions of the older students, and began to murmur, making even more racket. Dante walked in right then. He surveyed the situation, weighed his options, and settled on the most tactful approach to the situation.
"QUIET" he barked. It got quiet. Logan had to give him credit; the guy knew how to shut the kids up. "Now," he growled, "what the hell is the problem here?"
"He says he wants the BROTHERHOOD to be allowed to come to his birthday!" Jean exclaimed, almost forgetting that her fifty dollar shirt was ruined. Almost. Dante just looked at her.
"So?" he asked, as if this was the dumbest thing he had ever heard. And it probably was. Jean just gaped at him for a moment, before she recovered enough to give a full display of her brilliant logic.
"B-b-but they're the Brotherhood!!" Dante made a gesture for her to keep going.
"And?" Jean looked like she was trying to catch flies by letting them fly into her mouth. Shawn grinned.
"So it's alright if I invite them over, right Logan?" he called. Logan, looking sheepish for the first time in a long, long time stepped into view. He had contacted Xavier via mental "yelling", and the professor had monitored the conversation through him, sending Logan the final answer.
"Sure kid, if that guy whose takin' care of em comes too." Shawn nodded.
"If I know Coyote, he wouldn't miss this for the world." He grinned sardonically. Oh yeah, he's gonna have a ball when he gets here. Bahumut added, with a mental grin and a wink.
-Bayville Sewers, That Night-
Two figures trudged through the dank sewer systems of Bayville. One was tall, his head only about a foot from the ceiling of the tunnel. He wore his long red hair in a ponytail, leaving the rest of his hair in a loose mass. But his most outstanding traits were his ears, and…six tails? Yes, perched atop his head was a pair of fox's ears, their white tips seeming to shine in the darkness. His tails seemed to move as one, each a perfectly formed red-brown brush with a shining white tip. He wore a pair of modified jeans that didn't restrict the movement of his tails, and a black t-shirt that seemed to absorb what little light there was in the tunnels. His feet were bare, revealing that his toes possessed similar claws to the ones on his hands. He looked back at his companion, and gave a fond smile. 'Like his ancestor in so many ways, yet almost as different as well,' were his thoughts as he watched the young man behind him try to keep up with the fox's long strides.
"Shippo-sensei, wait up!" he called. The fox, Shippo, stopped and waited for his charge to catch up to him. As he waited, his mind wandered back to another time, when he had been a young kit. He remembered watching a wedding between a dark haired woman and man, and swearing to himself to protect their line for as long as he lived, for the friendship they had shown him. He remembered how he had beseeched the woman, Kagome, to allow him to guard the jewel that had brought her to his time, so that she could free her mind of worry that her children would become targets of other demons that might come seeking the jewel. And he remembered the night he had used the power within the jewel to surpass his limitations and transcend to the form he possessed now, absorbing the jewel into his being. Shippo, the small Kitsune, had become a Time Fox, a near immortal being of great power, in order to watch over the family of his friends.
As the years passed, he had watched faithfully in the shadows, guarding those that could not protect themselves. He had watched from a distance as the great-grandson and great-granddaughter of four of his closest friends had wed, binding the two families together. And he had watched in horror as they were consumed in a blinding flash, leaving only the father and one son, who had traveled to America before The War. He had rejoiced when the son had wed and even more so at the birth of his son, watching from outside the window of the hospital, feeling a small stirring of the old power his descendant had possessed within the babe curled within his mother's arms. And he had wept yet again, when the father, his wife, and his two greatest friends had been taken in a car crash that he could do nothing to prevent. On that night, he had shown himself to the baby's grandfather, and explained who and what he was. He told the man of the power the child carried, and that he wished to train him in its proper use when he came of age. The man had agreed. (AN: The blinding flash, as many of you have probably guessed, was the bombing of Hiroshima. Although I am not of Japanese descent, I feel that this was one of America's worst moments in history.)
So it was that Shippo, the Time Fox, came to be the teacher of Sebastian Kamiya, the descendant of the hanyou Inuyasha.
Sebastian caught up with his teacher, and stopped for a moment to catch his breath. As he leaned over, he caught sight of himself in the water in the bottom of the tunnel. He grinned to himself as he thought what his best friend's reactions would be to his new 'look'. His formerly black hair had turned bright silver; his formerly dark eyes were bright amber. He studied his image in his reflection for a moment longer. He was about five foot six, with a thick head of messy hair. He seemed to radiate a serious air, but if you looked hard, you could see the spark of mischief and beneath the cloak seriousness and intelligence. Though he had changed outwardly, his personality remained the same.
The most noteworthy change he had undergone however, were his ears. They now perched on top of his head, pointed and a little fuzzy. He had to wear a hat now when he went out in public, unless he was going someplace where he didn't care if people thought he was weird, which was just about everywhere. All that mattered was what his friends thought of him. And speaking of friends, he wondered whether or not Shawn had gotten that picture he had sent to him.
As he straightened, he adjusted the scabbard at his side. As he did so, he felt the gentle pulse of power radiate from the Tetsaiga. The ancient sword, handed down through the generations, was one of a set of two, both forged from the fangs of the same ancient dog demon. The sword itself also possessed a sort of sentience, one that Sebastian could understand, since he was connected to the sword through a bond of blood. And right now the sword was in a petulant mood. This probably had something to do with the fact that the sword was currently not made of metal as it should have been. This was Sebastian's fault, so to speak. His power was one that quite a few people would kill for. He possessed the power of transmutation, the ability to turn one substance into another, like lead into gold! He had used his abilities to turn the sword to wood, in case he had to use the sword to defend himself against someone he had no wish to harm. It was also a useful way to practice his swordsman's skills without harming anything in the vicinity. He shot a questioning look over at his teacher.
"Remind me again why we're trudging through the sewers in a town we've never been to before?" Shippo sighed.
'Maybe they're more alike than I thought,' he thought, not for the first time. "As I said before, you need to put the skills you've learned into practice. It's not enough to merely practice your moves, you have to put them use in a real fight. And I've heard that there's a group of mutants in these sewers that know how to fight quite well." Slash nodded in understanding.
"So you want me to challenge them? And what if I lose?" Shippo made an understanding face.
"Then we train until you win. If they allow us, we may stay with them as well."
"So…how do we find these guys?" In answer, Shippo sat down. "Let them find us huh?" Shippo nodded. Slash made himself comfortable, gently shooing away a rat from the place he wanted to sit in. "Go on little guy, I'd like to sit here."
When the rat had disappeared into the darkness, Slash sat down and propped himself against the slope of the wall. He looked over at Shippo as he took a headset and CD player out. "Is it okay if I listen to some tunes?" Shippo waved the question away.
"Why not, it may allow us to be discovered quicker. Go ahead." As Slash leaned back and began to bob his head in time to 'The Baha Men'; letting out a quiet "who let the dawgs out" every so often, a rendezvous was taking place deeper in the tunnels. The rat that Adam had gently shooed away stopped at the feet of a shadowed figure, and began to chitter at it. A paw-like hand reached down; the rat stepping into it without fear. A strange conversation began, in squeaks and chitterings. After a moment the figure set the rat down, and, after giving it a small piece of food, it scurried off. Two other figures, one shorter than the other, looked on impassively. "What did it say?" the taller one asked, identifying it as a girl. The first figure turned, profiling it. It had a distinctly rodent profile, oversized ears and a slightly pointed snout. You could just make out whiskers near the end of the snout.
"Visitors," it said, marking "it" as a him "And they're looking for the Morlocks." He looked from the girl to the smaller figure and back again. "They appear to be resting right now. We'll move when they fall asleep. Exo, since you can cloak yourself, I want you to watch them. If they detect you, get out of there on the double."
"Alright Capps," the small figure replied, identifying it as a young boy. There was a strange sound, like gears whirring and metal snapping together magnetically, as the boys figure was obscured by some sort of strange cloud. When it faded, a four-legged figure, about three fourths of Exo's original height, stood there. Red optics gleamed as Exo loped silently down the tunnel towards Slash and Shippo.
-The Hood House-Earlier that night-
The phone began to ring in the kitchen. Fred, a pot and spoon in hand, used two of his fingers to pluck the phone off of its cradle and perch it between his ear and shoulder. "Chez Hood, chef Freddy speaking." As he answered, Coyote wandered in from the living room, where Lance, Pietro and Todd were all clustered around the tube, hooting at the game, yelling in disgust or cheering at the screen, depending on how the game was going.
Raven was outside with Wanda, showing the girl some of her favorite constellations. Being the only two women in the house, they had bonded quickly, with Raven trying to help Wanda move on from her father's betrayal in small ways; lending a sympathetic ear for girl, or just someone to confide in. Raven was one of the first people that actually seemed to care less that Wanda's powers could seriously hurt her, possibly even kill; she only seemed interested in the young girls wellbeing. But back to the topic at hand. "Who's on the line Fred?" Coyote asked. Fred held up a finger, signaling quiet for a moment.
"Uh-huh. Yeah? Okay, I'll ask him." Freddy looked over at Coyote, putting on the best 'puppy-dog eyes' he could muster.
'He's gonna ask for something that might not be such a good thing to agree to,' Coyote groaned mentally.
Quit your whining brother! Raven admonished through the special telepathic link they shared. Their special telepathy was undetectable by human telepaths, making it handy for talking to one another over medium distances. It needed a quite a bit of concentration to perform over long distances however. Coyote performed the mental equivalent of sticking your tongue out, before turning his attention back to Fred.
"Whadda ya need kid?"
"Shawn's birthday is tomorrow and the X-men are having a party. Shawn wants to know if we want to come. He says he already got permission from Xavier." He intensified his "puppy-dog eyes" to Pup-con 4, maximum effectiveness. And even though it was Freddy who was using them, they were effective. Coyote pretended to think about it, before nodding his head in agreement.
"Ah sure, why not? You go tell the others, I'll finish up in here." As he finished, Freddy bounded past him, shoving pot, spoon and phone into the spirits hands. Coyote chuckled for a moment before putting his ear to the phone. "Hey kid, Coyote here. We'll be there, count on it." As he hung up, he heard Fred in the living room.
"Hey guys guess what!" As Fred told them the news, Coyote chuckled. It looked like this would be one of the most memorable birthdays Shawn had ever had. And that was including the time he and Tom had gotten drunk and bought sixteen white tigers and set them loose on the dojo grounds. He had heard the paperboy was starting to show signs of upper brain activity.
---To Be Continued---
Well, for all you folks who wanted to meet Slash, there he be. Next time, things get messy as the Brotherhood comes to the party. Rick has an idea, Shawn gets a picture, Dante gets an admirer, and Logan just gets drunk. Plus more Slash and Shippo. And an appearance by Magneto. Until next time, Read & Review!