The SuperStarr Chronicles

Disclaimer: "This is what I am, Greg." - Jirard Khalil, The Completionist.

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Chapter 3: Growing Pains, Part 1

Bayville High School

"Hmmm..." The brown-haired man looked through the contents of the file folder in his hands. Robert Edward Kelly glanced up at the woman sitting across from him in his office. The stunning blonde smiled at him. He was able to get a slight peek at the burn scars on the left side of her face, despite her wheat-colored mane-like hair covering them. He also noted the black line on her forehead that clearly was the strap of an eyepatch. They seemed to give her face a rugged quality, but she was no less beautiful. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Clara. Clara Creed." She said.

"I see." Kelly nodded. He held up one of the file folders. "And these three kids of yours. They're your...wards?"

"Yup." Clara nodded. "They were orphan children that I took in some time ago. At least, as far as I know."

"Ah, I understand." Kelly closed the folder he was reading through and put it down. "Forgive me, I've only recently taken this job. The previous principal had mysteriously disappeared some time ago."

"Wow." Clara blinked in genuine surprise. "What happened, if I may ask?"

"We're actually not sure." Kelly admitted. "Miss Darkholme just up and vanished a short while back. The cops were baffled."

"Darkholme, huh? Sounds familiar." The blonde frowned in thought, acting like the name struck up a memory. "Wait...her name wouldn't have happened to have been...Raven Darkholme, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, how'd you know?"

"Oh, I read about it in the paper. She and I were...old friends." Clara explained. A wicked grin crossed her face. "She and I? We used to raise quite a bit of hell back in the day."

"Huh." Kelly leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin. "From what I was told about her, I can't imagine her being any sort of 'wild child', as they say."

"People change." Clara shrugged. "And it was a long time ago. Unfortunately, things went sour between us. A shame, really. But that's in the past."

"Were you hoping to heal some old wounds?"

"Actually, I wasn't aware she was principal here at all." Clara answered truthfully. It was a geniune surprise to the feral mutant.

"Yes, she also was the caretaker for a group of teenagers that she enrolled here." Kelly said. He pulled out a quartet of file folders and held them out to Clara. "Unfortunately, she left us no instructions for what to do in this situation, and we have been unable to track down any family members, so..."

"I believe I know which quartet you're talking about." Clara nodded. She opened up one of the file folders and looked over the contents. "If you like, I can watch over them for you." Besides, those four come off to me as in desperate need of adult supervision.

"Are you sure?" Kelly asked. "From what I understand, these four have a bit of a...reputation for troublemaking." He noticed something out the window of his office. He got up and peeked out.

"Principal Kelly?" Clara blinked.

"That boy sitting at the tree, playing guitar." Kelly noticed. "With the black hair. Is he one of your kids?" Clara got up and walked to the window. The blonde feral saw Paul Starr sitting at a tree, strumming an acoustic guitar, singing a song. He also had attracted a bit of an audience, as there were several students sitting around him enjoying the show. The young mutant used makeup to cover his purple star-shaped birthmark.

"Yes, Paul Starr. He's one of mine." The blonde feral smiled. "He's a sweet kid."

"Looks like he's got himself some fans there."

Clara chuckled. "Yes, he has a knack for that." The two watched Paul play on his guitar, entertaining his audience. After a moment, they went back to their conversation.

"'Cuz me and the boys will be playin', all night..." Paul finished up his acoustic performance of the Kiss song "Beth", making the small group of teenagers sitting around him clap. He smiled, waved his hand with a flourish, and did a bow.

"Wow, that was really good." An Asian-American girl complimented. Paul gave her a charming smile, which she found very cute.

"I'm glad you liked it, Miss..."

"Taryn. Taryn Fujioka." Taryn introduced.

"That's a nice name." Paul complimented sincerely. "What do you want to hear next?"

A boy looked at his watch. "We should be going. We have class soon."

"Oh?" Paul looked at his own watch. "Ah, right! Would not be right to keep you all. Don't want to get into any trouble on the first day of the new semester." He got up and put his guitar in his case as the other teenagers headed towards the auditorium. I had heard they were doing an assembly today. Evidently the school got a new principal. I hope they're very nice... He slung his backpack over his shoulders, and then picked up his guitar case. Paul was about to leave for the auditorium when someone called out at him.

"Hey, cupcake!" The voice yelled. Paul turned around and saw a trio of Bayville High Hawks football players walking towards him, clad in matching dark red and white letterman jackets and jeans. The one in the lead with the neat short black hair, was clearly the one who called Paul out. One of the other two had blond hair in a mullet, and the third was Latino with brown hair. A smirk formed on the leader's face as he cracked his knuckles.

Oh dear...Paul thought. "Sorry, gentlemen. The show is over for now, if you understand what I mean."

"We wanted to talk to you." The jock snorted. "We noticed you're new around here."

"Yes, I am." Paul smiled warmly. "I'm originally from Los Angeles." He bowed dramatically. "Paul Starr, troubadour extraordinaire." He held out his hand for shaking, a charming smile on his face. "And you boys are?"

The brown-haired Latino jock spoke up. "Well, I'm Raoul..." He pointed at the blond-mulleted kid with him. "That's Chad..." He pointed at the raven-haired leader. "And that's Bill."

The named Bill grumbled at Raoul and smacked him upside the head. "You just ruined the effect, ya idiot!"

"What?" Raoul blinked. "He said he wanted to know our names, man!"

Paul blinked. "Oh, I get it." He pointed at Bill. "You're the stereotypical angry jock, and you and your friends want to beat me up. Presumably because you want to establish to me the 'pecking order', right? I've seen this in a lot of high school movies."

"I noticed that you got my girl Amelia all ga-ga over your little singer act."

"Which one's Amelia?"

"The brunette in the pink shirt." Bill said.

"Oh, her." Paul nodded. "Didn't really get to talk to her much, I'm afraid."

"You really got her into your singing."

"Well, I can't help that people enjoy my singing." Paul smiled. "I used to busk a bit."

"...the hell is busking?" Raoul asked.

"Street performing." Paul explained. "I sing and play on a street, and people give me money."

"Oh." Raoul blinked. "That sounds neat."

"It was." Paul nodded. "Although we did have to be careful. The streets could have some..." The young singer/guitarist winced. "...rather odd people wandering around. Especially at night. Luckily, my brother and I could handle ourselves."

Bill snorted in derision. "Well, la de da. Ain't that fascinating. This ain't New York City."

"I'm from Los Angeles."

"Whatever! You listen here, punk." Bill growled, jabbing at Paul's chest with his finger. "I don't like the way that you got my girl goin' gaga over your crappy tunes."

"...the songs I sung are classics." Paul pointed out. "You never heard any of them before?"

"You sayin' I'm stupid?" Bill shoved Paul. The young mutant frowned.

"Now that's not very nice..."

"Oh, I'll show you not nice!" Bill threw a punch...only for Paul to grab his arm and force it into a hammerlock. "GAHHHH!"

"I can protect myself if I need to." Paul told him nonchalantly. He then shoved Bill away.

"Grrrr..." Bill snarled as he shook his arm, trying to get some feeling back into it.. He glared at Chad and Raoul. "Get him, you idiots!" The two jocks looked at each other.

"Uhhh, you sure about that?" Raoul asked, glancing a the frowning Paul. He was standing there with is arms crossed.

"Yeah, I think this guy's tougher than he looks." Chad agreed.

"I have studied judo." Paul smiled.

"Aw, don't be an idiot!" Bill snorted. "Look at him! You think this 80s reject is some kind of badass?!" He waved a hand at Paul's outfit, making the young mutant look down at himself. The purple denim jacket, the KISS t-shirt, the purple jeans. The black sneakers covering his feet. The white bandanna tied around his leg and the matching one around his neck. The colorful bracelets around his wrists and the black biker gloves on his hands.

"I think I pull it off." Paul shrugged. Unknown to him, Clara and the new principal were watching.

"I don't like this." Kelly frowned. "I'd better see if I can get it broken up."

Clara held up a hand. "I would not be so quick, Principal Kelly." The blonde feral told him, a small smile of confidence on her face. "My little Starchild over there can handle them."

"...Starchild?" Kelly blinked in confusion. Her confident smile widened.

"A little in-joke." She said.

"That's it!" Bill snapped. "I'm going to knock your head off and send it back to California!" He charged at Paul with his fist raised. When he was close enough, he threw the fist...only to miss. "GAH!" With surprising speed, Paul not only dodged the fist, but then grabbed the jock's outstretched arm and used it to flip him onto his back. "Uhf!"

"See? I told you I can defend myself." Paul said nonchalantly. A growling Bill got to his feet. "Are you hurt? I'm sorry if you are."

"You're gonna be sorry, you little jackoff!" The football player yelled as he charged at Paul again. The musically-talented mutant sighed and shook his head. He waited for Bill to get into the right position, then lifted up the jock into a Fireman's Carry and dropped him with a Samoan Drop.

"Agh!" The football player yelped. Paul got up.

"This is silly. Can we just stop now?" With a scream, Raoul and Chad charged themselves. Without even looking in their direction, the mutant musician stepped back so they'd miss him, then conked their heads together. He shook his head. "It's a shame. They never learn." He noticed Clara and Principal Kelly run towards him. "Oh, dear..."

"You alright, little man?" Clara asked, looking Paul over.

"I'm okay. Thanks, Clara." Paul nodded with a smile. He then noticed Kelly. "Hello!" He greeted warmly.

"Oh uh...hello." Kelly waved.

"Urrgh, you little..." Bill growled as he got back up to his feet, Raoul and Chad also doing so, but slower than him. "I'm gonna pound you into-YI!" He yelped as Clara had effortlessly grabbed the front of his shirt and lifted him up with one hand. "GAH!" He thrashed his legs and grabbed at the feral mutant's arm. It didn't bother the blonde woman in the least.

Holy cow! Kelly's jaw dropped. That kid is no small fry! How is this lady that strong?! Paul looked at the principal in amusement.

Clara is quite a woman, sir. He chuckled.

"Holy crap..." Raoul mumbled.

"That's scary, but also kinda hot..." Chad muttered.

Whap!

"Ow!" The jock rubbed the back of his head where Raoul had smacked him.

"Help me!" Bill screamed. Clara pulled him close to her.

"Leave. Him. Alone." The blonde feral growled at the football player. "He's merciful. I'm not." She tossed Bill onto the ground. "Now beat it!"

"Yes, ma'am!" A nodding Bill whimpered. He scrambled to his feet. "Let's get out of here!" The three football players ran away like they were on fire.

"Run away! Run away! Run away!" Raoul howled.

Clara snorted. "Punks." She turned and smirked at Kelly.

"Wow." The brown-haired bespectacled man blinked at the smirking blonde. "That was...impressive."

"Thanks." Clara grinned at the principal. "I'm a bit of a fitness nut." She flexed her arm.

Paul smiled at the feral mutant. "You didn't need to inconvenience yourself. I had it handled."

"I don't doubt that, little man." Clara ruffled Paul's hair. "But it's better to have backup available and not need it than have none and need it." She pointed at Principal Kelly. "This is Robert Kelly. He's the new principal here."

"Nice to meet you, sir." Paul said politely, shaking his hand.

Kelly chuckled. "Well, this is nice. I wish more kids his age were this well-mannered."

"He was raised well." Clara smiled proudly. It's a shame the boys didn't grow up together. But maybe that's for the best. They balance each other out well.

Bayville High Auditorium

"Man, this bombs, yo!" Todd grumbled. He noticed a fly buzzing around his head. "Even the flies are doin' better than us." He quickly lashed out with its tongue. The sticky appendage managed to catch the fly and bring it into his mouth.

"So...this is Bayville High, huh?" A frowning Craig noted as he looked around at the auditorium.

"Yup. This is it." Lance nodded.

"...I'm not impressed."

"Yeah, it can be pretty boring." Fred concurred. "Messing with the X-Geeks is one of the only fun things to do around here." He pointed out Scott and Jean sitting in the stands. "See? There's two of them right there."

Craig blinked. "You mean the guy with the funny glasses and the redhead?" Fred nodded.

"Yup."

"Huh." Craig then snorted. "They don't look very tough. Hell, I could break that skinny punk's spine just by looking at him."

"If you can get past his eye beams first." Lance reminded. The earth-shaker's gaze then turned to a certain petite brunette member of the X-Men: one Katherine "Kitty" Pryde. The sight of the X-Girl caused Lance to smile a bit.

"Look at him. Drooling over the kitty cat." Pietro scoffed at the taller mutant. "I bet he wants to get her up a tree. Heh heh! K-I-S-S-I-!" Lance growled and moved to smack the silver-haired speedster. However, Pietro was able to zip behind Fred, preventing Lance from hitting him...and causing him to accidentally smack Toad.

"Ow!" The frog-like mutant yelped, holding his nose.

"Ha ha, too slow Alvers!" Pietro taunted.

Whap!

"Agk! Hey!" Pietro yelped, rubbing the back of his head. He glared at a smirking Craig.

"Always watch your surroundings, speedy." The Los Angelan advised mockingly.

"Who do you think you are, Mr. Miyagi?" Pietro scowled.

"Your stupidity is annoying."

"So you should be hating Freddy here." Pietro jerked his thumb at the large Texan. Craig glanced at Fred. He only blinked in confusion.

"What? What?" He asked. Craig turned back to Pietro.

"...He doesn't annoy me." Craig said, jerking his thumb towards Fred.

"You know, I'll get you back for nearly crippling me." Pietro glared at Craig, who glared at him right back.

"Maximoff, if I had wanted to cripple you, you would not be walking right now." Craig growled.

Fred chuckled at this. "Man, this is better than Springer."

"Yeah!" A laughing Todd agreed. "Yo Pietro, you don't want him to laser yer foot again, do you?"

"Listen to the frog here, Silver-Head. He's smarter than you." Craig said, getting a glare from Pietro in response.

"Sorry I'm late, guys." Paul said as he joined the boys. "I got a bit held up."

"What happened?" Todd asked.

"A group of very nice football players introduced themselves to me." Paul smiled. "We had a nice...conversation."

"You got into a fight, didn't you?" Craig realized, speaking to his brother telepathically.

"You're assuming that it was a fight." Paul quipped. The others looked at each other.

"Why are they staring at each other like that?" Fred asked. "Is that a twin thing?"

"Telepathy." Paul explained, tapping the side of his head. "Craig and I can communicate telepathically."

"Telepathy?" Lance blinked. Like Red and Baldy...

"Yes." Paul nodded. "But the only mind I can read is Craig's."

"Well, that sucks." Todd snorted.

"Not really." Paul shrugged. "It allowed us to find each other."

Pietro smirked at Craig. "Must suck having him in your head." He jerked his thumb at Paul, making Craig sneer.

"Rather his than yours, punk." Craig grunted. The silver-haired speedster then noticed that someone was missing.

"Hey, where's your little hottie friend?"

"Her name is Lila." Craig reminded him. "And God knows where she went off to."

"She told me she wanted to check Bayville out." Paul recalled with a shrug. Craig rolled his eyes.

Knowing her, she likely went to find a jewelry store to rob or some crap. Craig grumbled.

The Xavier Institute

Contrary to Craig's assumption, Lila Cheney had actually decided to pay a visit to the Xavier Institute. The British-Indian mutant rocker/former superthief was safely nestled in one of the nearby trees. She was gazing at the building holding a pair of futuristic binoculars.

I did promise Paul that I wouldn't steal anything. However, I didn't say I wouldn't scope any place out. The British girl giggled to herself. And boy am I glad I did. She blinked at the readings the binoculars' scanners were reporting to her. The scanners in my binoculars indicate that this place has one hell of a security system. Beyond the norm around here. The location is also surprisingly remote. I heard this place was a school...but what kind of school has a security system like this? The rocker's ears perked up when she heard what sounded like a small rocket firing. What in blazes-?! She got pulled out of her thoughts by what looked like a human comet streaking by her.

"Bloody hell!" Lila exclaimed. The force of the comet blasting by pushed her back, making her lose her balance. "Whoa whoa whoa WHOA!" She found herself falling backward off her branch. The British-Indian mutant screamed as she fell, but...

"Gotcha!" A Kentucky-accented voice said to her as she was caught.

"Wha-?!" The British-Indian girl looked around and saw that she was in the arms of a handsome blond teenager. "Oh, hello there..." Wow. Cute.

"Uh...hi." The boy smiled at her. Wow. Pretty.

"Uh, not that I don't appreciate the save or anything, but, uh..." She looked around. The interstellar teleporter then felt a strange prickling on her skin. It didn't hurt or anything. This feels familiar. Is he...is he generating a forcefield? This feels like a forcefield. "...we're kind of flying and we're not in any craft of any kind."

"Oh, that's just me. Ah'm Sam, by the way. Sam Guthrie. Folks 'round here call me Cannonball."

"The name's Delilah Chopra-Cheney, luv. Call me Lila. Although some call me Starway." Considering the way he's flying, he's obviously a mutant like me. "I can see why they call you Cannonball. You a American Southern boy?"

"Little higher up. Kentucky." Sam explained. "Ya from England, ain't ya? Ya sound like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins."

Lila snorted in mock annoyance. "That man can't do a proper Cockney to save his life." Sam put her down outside the Institute's door. "Appreciate you savin' me, luv."

"Thanks." Sam said. "You oughta be more careful. Climbin' trees can be dangerous."

"I'll keep that in mind, Sammy." Lila smiled. The two blushed slightly.

Wow...she's so pretty when she smiles. Sam thought in amazement.

He's kind of cute, in that farm boy way. Lila noted. "The flyin' trick of yours is pretty neat." Certainly would have made a very helpful partner. He could bring down a bank vault just by barreling at it!

"Uh, thanks." Sam said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Where'd you pick it up?" She asked.

"Ah...Ah was kinda born with it." Sam admitted. "Ah first used it to save a few friends of mine. We were exploring an old closed down mine when it caved in."

"Sounds like you got lucky." Lila said. "Mines can be very dangerous. And not just from cave-ins."

"Ah learned mah lesson." Sam smiled, holding up his hands. "No more abandoned mine explorin' for me."

"Well, that's good." Lila nodded. She glanced at the Institute. "You live here?"

"Ah'm stayin', yeah." Sam nodded. "Haven't see you around. You new in town?"

"Pretty much." Lila nodded. "Although I don't think I'll be staying very long."

"Really?" Sam asked. Lila nodded.

"Yeah. Let's just say I'm a bit of a traveler." The English girl explained.

"Ah." Sam nodded. "So, what were you doin' up in that tree?"

"Eh, nothing much. Heard about this place around town and just wanted to check it out."

"By hanging in a tree?" Sam said.

"I didn't want to be a bother."

"Ah." Sam nodded. "If ya want, Ah can show ya around."

"I'd like that." Lila smiled. "But I want to check out the rest of this little town first. But I definitely would like a tour of the Institute." She tapped Sam's nose. "As long as you get to be my tour guide."

"Uh, sure!" Sam said. "I'd be happy to show you around the Institute!"

"It's a date!" Lila said. "See you around, Sammy." She walked off. Hmmm, that Guthrie guy's got a good trick. Handsome, too...

Bayville High

Paul had noticed that Lance had returned to staring at Kitty Pryde.

"You should just try talking to her." Paul advised.

"What?" Lance blinked.

"Just try talking to her." Paul repeated. "And be nice." Lance looked unsure. "No harm in trying."

"...yeah, I suppose." The earthshaker headed to the stands.

"This'll hopefully be amusing." Craig chuckled. He glanced at his twin brother. "Got in a fight, huh?"

"Yes, unfortunately." Paul answered. "But I had it handled. I know judo." He watched Lance try to greet Kitty.

"Oh, look! It's the walking Richter scale." She grumbled in annoyance at Lance. "Shouldn't you be erupting somewhere?" This made Pietro, Fred, and Todd start snickering. Craig just rolled his eyes. Paul gave the geokinetic a sympathetic look.

"Oh, dear..." He sighed. Lance just glared at the five mutants. Paul frowned at Fred, Todd, and Pietro.

"That's not funny, guys!" The wild dark-haired mutant whispered harshly.

"Yes, it is." Pietro snickered back. "He'll never get the hint."

"Well, you are not helping!"

"And now everyone, let's give a warm Bayville High welcome to our new principal, Mr. Robert E. Kelly!" A teacher at the podium shook the man's hand as he got up.

That Creed lady was...interesting. Kelly mentally chuckled to himself as he headed to the podium and arranged the papers in his hands. I wonder what she meant when she said that she had some errands to run. He noticed Paul and Craig with the Brotherhood. From what some of the teachers here have told me, those boys are delinquents. I wonder why a nice kid like Paul Starr would hang out with them...

She wants an eruption, huh? Lance smirked evilly. I'll give her an eruption! Lance made a fist...and the building started to shake. The students in the stands started to gasp and mutter in fright.

"Whoa!" Paul yelped.

"Yipe!" Todd stumbled around, trying not to fall.

"Gah!" Fred fell against the wall.

"Hey, this is messing up my hair!" Pietro exclaimed. "I just had it gelled AIGH!" He held the spot on his head where Craig smacked him. The Los Angelan then glared at Lance. Thankfully, the quake only lasted a short few seconds. Kitty Pryde had unknowingly joined Craig in the glare-fest. Lance waved at her cutely in response. She turned away and giggled, making Lance pump his fist triumphantly.

"Whoa..." Todd shakily got back to his feet. He noticed that both Paul and Craig seemed unbothered by the shaking. "Yo, what's with you two?"

"We're from SoCal." Paul shrugged. "Earthquakes aren't weird to us."

"California is right on a fault." Craig added.

"Hey, Kitty! Wanna see some real shakin'?" The earthshaker then caused a more intense earthquake.

"What is he doing?!" Paul whimpered.

Alvers, you idiot! Craig mentally screamed. Up on the ceiling, the scoreboard started to come loose.

Oh, no! Paul gasped in horror, clasping his hands over his mouth. The scoreboard came down like it was dropped from Heaven. Robert Kelly looked up and screamed in fright. It seemed like his tenure as Bayville High's new principal would end as quickly as it began, and in a rather...fatal way. Craig and Paul looked at each other, and their right eyes started to glow purple.

Alvers is a dead man! Craig growled. Luckily, the Starr twins did not have to reveal their eye lasers, as Jean Grey used her telekinesis to send the scoreboard flying away from the leaping principal. The large device then crashed into the ground behind the sitting teachers. Paul sighed in relief, powering his eye down. Craig did as well, but he was still tense with rage. With gritted teeth, he glared at Lance.

"Whoa." Todd blinked. "He's furious."

"I don't blame him." Paul frowned. "That was really stupid." Scoreboard aside, Lance could have brought the roof down on our heads! What was he thinking?!

"Lance, get a clue, okay?!" Kitty angrily admonished, leaving Lance utterly confused.

"Since when was Bayville on a fault line?" Kelly joked in an attempt to ease the tension. It seemed to work, as the students started laughing...well, except for Lance. He was pouting. Kelly then broke into a welcoming speech for the new semester. The Brotherhood weren't really paying attention...except for Paul, of course. He was recording it on his phone.

I think this will be nice to show Lila when she gets back from...whatever she's doing. Paul thought. The Los Angelan noticed his twin was not paying attention to the speech. He was glaring bloody murder at Lance. Oh, boy...I don't think I've seen Craig that angry in a long time. He shot a sympathetic look at the earthshaker. Hope your insurance is paid up, buddy. You're going to need it...

A short time later, the student body left the building, jazzed about the pep rally Kelly talked about in his speech. Lance found someone had grabbed him.

"Hey!" He yelped as Craig dragged him around the corner. The brown-haired mutant gasped as Craig Starr nailed him in the gut with a hard punch. The ex-gang member then gave Lance a knee to the face, then slammed him against the wall.

"You friggin' idiot!" Craig growled, smacking Lance upside the head. Paul, Pietro, Fred, and Todd had followed them and watched Craig tear into the Brotherhood's leader. "Nearly bringing the whole building down just because you think it'll impress a girl! The hell were you thinking?! No, wait! You weren't thinking! Because if you were thinking, as in using your brain for something besides decorating the inside of your skull, you wouldn't have done something so stupid!"

"What do you care?!" Lance hissed back at him.

"Oh, gee, let me think!" Craig responded. "Let's see! Maybe because you could have brought the whole roof of the building down on everyone's heads!" He whispered harshly. "You are damn lucky that that redhead was able to keep the scoreboard from falling on the principal's head!"

"He's not wrong, Lance." Paul piped up. "Craig's harsh, but he has good reason to be angry here. Scoreboard aside, what would have happened if the entire roof came down? You would have killed almost everyone in the building."

"The powers we have are not a joke, Alvers." Craig added. "We can't use them cavalierly like this."

"Oh God, is he serious?" Pietro groaned.

"Deadly." Paul told him.

"You don't strike me as the hero type." Lance countered.

"I'm not." Craig said. "But something you need to realize that I learned the hard way." He glared. "There's a dark side to what we are, Alvers. The power we have..." He looked at his hand. "This world has a long history of people being given great power. And not all of them have used that power to do any good."

Paul took this moment to speak up. "What Craig is trying to say, Lance, is that you have to use your head. You have to think about the potential consequences of your using your powers. You could have killed everyone in the auditorium. Do you want that on your conscience?" The earthshaker blinked at that. He had to admit, he didn't consider the roof coming down, or even the scoreboard.

...maybe I owe Kitty an apology. Lance thought.

Fred looked at Craig. "...does that mean we're like, dangerous or something?"

Pietro scoffed. "Okay, I get for Lance, but look at Toad!" The silver-haired speedster pointed at his amphibious comrade. "He's too much of a doofus to be dangerous!"

"You sayin' I'm a clown, yo?!" Todd glared.

"Oh look, he can think." Pietro sneered.

"Considering how high he can jump, imagine if he learned savate." Paul responded.

"What's that?" Fred asked.

"A French martial art." Paul explained. "It's a form of kickboxing."

"Oh, like in Kickboxer?" Fred realized. "I like that movie."

"Sort of, yeah." Paul nodded.

"That sounds cool, actually." Todd noted.

"Yeah, I think you'd be a natural at it!" Paul grinned.

"Yeah, right." Pietro cackled.

"Can we be serious for a minute?" Craig grumbled. "Next time Alvers, keep in mind that you have a brain and you should consider using it every once in a while."

"Yeah!" Pietro snickered. "Remember, Lance..." He jerked his thumb at Fred and Todd. "It's their job to be the idiots."

"Hey!" The two mutants objected.

Whap!

"Agh!" Pietro yelped. He started rubbing the spot on the back of his head where Craig slapped him. "What are you, a ninja?!" Later on, Scott was standing in front of his car. He noticed two girls walking towards him, one blonde and the other a brunette with pigtails.

"Hey, Sandy. Have you seen Jean?" Scott asked the pigtailed girl.

"Uh-uh." Sandy Hawkins shook her head. She and her blonde companion giggled as they walked away. Scott looked at his watch impatiently when he heard Kitty speaking.

"Laaaance, just forget it!" Kitty exclaimed at Lance. He was standing in front of his Jeep. Fred, Todd, and Pietro were in back, while Paul and Craig were cramped in front.

"Hey, I said I was sorry for the scoreboard thing." Lance said. "Come on, don't be mad!"

"Can't blame her." Craig mocked. "She clearly ain't into idiots."

"Let it be, man!" Paul groaned.

"You are such a jerk!" Kitty exclaimed, turning to leave. Lance grabbed her wrist.

"Not helping your case here, dude." Paul warned. Craig got out of the jeep and shoved Lance away, making him break his grip.

"Back off." Craig growled at the geokinetic.

"What is going on here?" Scott asked as he walked up.

"Go recharge your batteries, Goggle-Boy!" Lance snapped.

"I got this, Glasses. Go back to your car." Craig told Scott.

"Wait, who are you?!" The optic blaster asked.

"None of your business!" Lance snapped. Craig glared at Lance briefly, then turned to Scott.

"The name's Craig Starr." Craig introduced.

"I'm Paul!" Paul added with a friendly smile and a wave. "Nice to meet you!"

"Uh...nice to meet you, I guess." Scott said. This is...new. Where did the Brotherhood find these guys? And one of them is...friendly. That's...actually pretty refreshing. "Where'd you find these two, Alvers?"

"Why should I tell you?" Lance mocked.

"I doubt you can believe it." Craig said.

"Like, you do know your new friends have superpowers, right?" Kitty reminded.

"Yeah." Craig nodded. He pulled down his shades, and made his eye glow.

"Whoa..." The phaser gaped. Craig smirked and pulled up his shades.

"Cute trick." Scott smirked. "I can make both my eyes glow." Craig rolled his eyes.

Craig rolled his eyes at Scott's retort. "Good for you, want a medal?" The Los Angelan snorted, not taking the bait. "We're going to get out of here."

"Hey, since when are you in charge?" Lance snapped.

"Since it's clear that someone has to do all the thinking for you around here!" Craig snapped back, jabbing his finger in Lance's chest.

"Is that, like, all you can do? Make your eye glow?" Kitty asked in an attempt to calm things down.

"He tried to cripple me." Pietro pointed at Craig, glaring at him.

"Cripple you?" Scott asked in disbelief.

"Yeah! It was great, yo!" Todd laughed. "Darkstar here fired this laser beam from his eye, and it hit Pietro's foot. He screamed like a little girl!" He and Fred started laughing.

"That's not funny!" Pietro snapped.

"Yeah, it is." Fred snickered.

"He got lucky!" The speedster snapped at the powerhouse.

Fwap!

"OW!" Pietro screamed, glaring at Craig and rubbing the back of his head. "How do you keep doing that?"

"Because he's awesome." Paul laughed.

"Okay, this is pretty funny." Scott smiled in amusement. I oughta tell Evan about this guy. He'll be laughing all week long.

"How'd you find these two, Lance?" Kitty asked.

"Aw, you'd never believe it." Lance grumbled.

"Alvers, I can shoot concussive beams from my eyes, and Kitty can phase through objects." Scott reminded.

"Summers, you still would not believe this." Lance grunted.

"They crashed here." Todd said.

"...crashed here?" Scott blinked. "Like in an airplane?"

"Spaceship." Fred said, munching on a candy bar he had fished out of his pocket. "Like something out of Star Trek."

Lance snickered at Scott and Kitty's faces. "See? Told you you wouldn't believe it."

"That's...new." Scott finally blurted out.

"Yeah. That...is." Kitty agreed.

"Not alone, either." Pietro smirked. "They brought a couple of hotties with them."

"One of them talks like that guy in Mary Poppins." Fred recalled.

"Because she's English, yo." Todd said.

"Wait...so you two are...aliens?" Scott blinked, pointing at the Starr twins.

"Nope! LA boys!" Paul smiled. "We spent some time out in space, but we're Earthlings." The two X-Men were left gobsmacked.

"Uh..." Scott mumbled.

"Let's just get out of here." Lance groaned.

"Yeah." Craig agreed. The two mutants got in the Jeep and drove off.

"Nice meeting you!" Paul called out as the Brotherhood drove away. Scott and Kitty stared at the Brotherhood driving away, then they looked at each other.

"Well, that was...something." Kitty said. She looked at Scott, and she noticed he seemed to be deep in thought. "Scott? Like, you okay?"

"Yeah." He nodded. He turned and walked towards his car, Kitty right behind him. "This morning, I overheard the Professor and Logan talking about something."

"What?"

"Cerebro detected some new mutant signatures." Scott explained.

"So, we found them. And the Brotherhood got them." Kitty realized.

"If what they said about some spaceship is true, they likely crashed near where the Brotherhood live." Scott deduced. "But there's just one problem."

"What?"

"...Kitty, they said they detected four mutant signatures. Who are the other two?"

Elsewhere in space

Bzat! Bzat!

"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" Someone grumbled as they approached the viewscreen. The source of the voice was a muscular male being, a powerful cyborg. His head was silver and vaguely reminiscent of a Xenomorph in shape. His hands were covered by silver gauntlets with blasters mounted on them, and the brown bodysuit he wore had gray armored pieces, with a pair of bandoliers across the chest. He pressed a button on a control panel, and a face appeared on the screen. "Bounty here. Whatcha want?" *

"Ah, good!" The face on the screen nodded. He was a thin Shi'ar, with graying feathers at his temples. "I'm glad that I have managed to find you. You were off the grid for a while." K'Thalon greeted.

"I was on a job." The Karidian bounty hunter said. "Had to find a missing person."

"I take it that you are available. I want someone found."

"Yeah, I'm free. Who do you want?"

"This Terran girl!" The screen showed an image of Lila Cheney. Bounty studied the image.

"Terran, huh? They tend to stay on their world. Only other Terran I know of out here is that royal A-hole Quill and his bunch of morons..."

"This Terran girl has the power to transport herself across the stars without a ship." K'Thalon explained. "She is also in the company of other Terrans." He showed images of Clara, Paul, and Craig.

"...what do you need them found for?" Bounty inquired.

"They stole a gem from one of my vaults on Chandilar." K'Thalon showed an image of the red gem Lila stole. "It's worth over 5 billion credits."

"Huh." Bounty leaned back on his chair in thought. "No wonder they made off with it. That thing alone could put them on Easy Street for the rest of their lives."

"I do not care about why they took my gem! The point is, they stole it, and I want it back!" K'Thalon snarled.

"You're one of the richest beings in the known universe." Bounty pointed out. "It's one gem."

K'Thalon shook with anger. "...IT WAS STILL MY GEM!" He exclaimed. "It's the principle of the thing! That space trash had no right to take my gem! I want that gem back! I do not care if you vaporize those Terran brats! Just get me back my gem!" Bounty fought the urge to roll his eyes underneath his faceplate.

"Fine." Bounty said coolly. "Do you have any idea where they were last? It would help in finding them." K'Thalon let out a breath.

"According to the last transmission from my men before they got shot down, they last headed towards the Terran system." An image of Earth's solar system appeared in a small window on the screen. Bounty looked it over.

"Huh." The bounty hunter mumbled. "The third planet's encountered extraterrestrials before. Heard some big Skrull invasion hit it about a couple of their decades back."

"Whatever." K'Thalon grunted. "Just get my gem."

"I'll want my usual payment." Bounty told his new employer.

"Very well." K'Thalon agreed. "I'll send you half it now, other half on completion of the job." He ended the transmission.

"Mm." The Karidian muttered. He punched up the image of Earth and its Solar System again on the screen. He leaned forward in his chair, as if he was trying to study the image in a search for a hidden detail. This won't be an easy one. "Computer, has he given me half my payment?"

"Half your pay for the job has been deposited into your account." The computer announced. Bounty nodded in satisfaction.

"Good." He said. "Set a course for the Terran system."

* - Bounty is another obscure Marvel character, first appearing in Silver Surfer #123 (December 1996). I decided to sleek up his look a bit, as his original appearance was very...90s busy, for lack of a better term to describe it.