Color Guard, a X-Men + Ghost Rider Crossover fanfic

TITLE: Color Guard
AUTHOR: MikeJaffa
SYNOPSIS: Fixing a whole lot of continuity snafus in both X-Men and Ghost Rider. Yes, Ghost Rider.
DISCLAIMER: Marvel owns everything, but I hope they don't sue me.
8

Rahne entered the small clearing on Krakoa. She looked around and saw no one was around. She got down on her knees, clasped her hands, and bowed her head.

She said, "Heavenly Father, it's been a long time since I've talked to you. And maybe you don't mind that, given that I was something of a windbag. But something's up with Illyana. No one will tell me anything, and I don't know who else to turn to." Her anger flared. "And with all the other heathen gods running around, you'd think you'd show yourself for once! I'm tired of looking foolish." She calmed down. "Sorry. I want to help, but if I can't do anything if I don't know what's wrong. And if I don't find out, I'm leaving the team and Krakoa which I don't want to do. Please help me. Amen." She got up and started back the way she'd come.

"Rahne."

Rahne turned and saw Hela standing behind her.

Rahne shifted to half wolf. "Hela! What are you doing here?"

"You were praying," said the Asgardian goddess of death.

"Not to you!"

"I know, but aside from the fact you don't know how prayer works, I was in the neighborhood anyway and I was asked to take the call."

"Seriously?"

"Rahne, the one thing no god can do for a worshipper is talk to them as a friend. Trust me. No worshipper wants that, and it sounds like that's what you need right now."

"And my God asked you to do that? Just like that?"

"Welll…it's more complicated that that, but that's essentially correct. And in your case, I have other reasons for taking an interest. I have a soft spot in my heart for you and your fellow New Mutants. Danielle is a passable Valkyrie if difficult to work with, and your fellows have aided me on occasion. And you mated with Hrimhair. That makes me your great-great-aunt-in-law. I take my familial obligations seriously."

"I think you left out a few 'greats.'"

"I think you don't realize how old Hrimhari is. And you are not his first Celtic, um, I believe the term is 'baby momma,' although his affection for you is genuine. I swear, I can't leave Hel without promising to give you his love if I see you. Which I have, by the way. Are you hungry?"

"Wot?"

"Hungry. I'm starving. I know a place in Vegas."

"Pass."

"I insist."

Rahne blinked, and the world changed: She was in human form in a yellow and black pants suit. Hela stood opposite her, in a dark green pants suit. They were on a brightly lit street in the middle of the night in front of a storefront.

Hela said, "This place is open all night and serves the most delightful confections. They deliver to my penthouse, but sometimes, I just have to get out. Shall we go in?"

"Don't have much of a choice, do I?"

Seated across from Hela in a booth in the restaurant, Rahne leaned back from the empty plate in front of her and burped.

Hela grinned. "See? Was that so bad?"

"It is an improvement over fighting for 20 minutes before talking things out."

"Oh, I know! All that fuss and bother and grunting and property damage before they finally sit down and talk. This is so much more civilized. Now, Rahne. Come. Tell Auntie Hela what's bothering you."

"What were you doing poking around Krakoa?"

Hela's smile faded. "What you people are doing with death puts you in my bailiwick, so I had best keep an eye on it." The smile came back. "But that's not what you were praying about, was it? Come now, Rahne. Tell me your story."

Rahne sighed. "I suppose I should begin at the beginning. It all started when we decided to have some pizza."

"Pizza?"

"Aye. Two of the things Krakoa is lousy about are internet access—which, to be honest, I don't miss—and pizza. Apparently not one mutant in existence can make a decent pizza. Fortunately, there's a place in Salem Center we ate at as kids that would still deliver to the old school. So Dani and I went through the Graymalkin gate to take the delivery…"

When Dani and Rahne came out of the gate at the old school into the morning air, they found Wolverine already there.

Rahne said, "Logan! What are you doing here?"

"Unfinished business," Logan said. "Call it a side project."

"Need any help?"

"No, squirt, I've got this-"

"Logan. I thought you were going to be alone."

Rahne looked past Logan and saw two red-haired women. One of them, the speaker, wore a cowboy hat and a poncho. Rahne didn't know her.

The other redhead wore a red hooded cloak over her robes. Rahne had never met her, but still new who she was. She shifted to half wolf. "I know you from your file," she snarled. "You're Witchfire—Belasco's daughter! What's your business here?"

Dani put a hand on Rahne's shoulder. "Easy, kiddo." She nodded to the women. "Ananym. Sister Sara."

Caretaker nodded back. "Moonstar. Logan? You haven't answered my question."

"They're not with me," Logan said. "They're here to get a pizza delivery. See?" Logan pointed: a car could be seen turning to the end of the long driveway.

Caretaker's mood softened and she said, "Is it any good?"

"There isn't an X-Man who doesn't swear by it," Logan said, "and yes, they have locations in the five boroughs so you can get delivery in Brooklyn. I'll give you the number if you want."

"Cool."

Witchfire grumbled, "We're wasting time."

Caretaker said, "I guess it's been a while since you had a good pizza."

Logan smirked and said, "She's Canadian. She's never had a good pizza." He glanced back at Dani and Rahne. "Ladies? Don't wait up." He, Caretaker, and Witchfire walked away.

Rahne changed to human and turned to Dani. "Dani?" she hissed. "What's going on? I don't know who that Caretaker is, but I thought Witchfire was one of Illyana's enemies. What's Logan doing consorting with her?"

"Not now," Dani said as the delivery car came over to them.

Dani insisted they not speak of it during the party in the New Mutant's house on Krakoa. Rahne decided to hold off until they had eaten but kept that thought to herself.

As the last slices of pizza were being consumed, Rahne made her move. She thought it best to start with another topic. She said, "Ok, Illyana—there's a mystery you have to solve."

"I have to solve?"

Rahne swallowed the last of her pizza. "Aye. Something I have always wondered about, and I'm finally getting around to asking. Did Lady Moria ever call you 'Abby'?"

"No. Why?"

"It was strange. Back in the day, she would ask, 'How are you getting along with Abby?' And I'd say, 'Who?' And she'd say, I meant 'Illyana—Annie.' Never explained it. So what's the story?"

Illyana ate the last of her pizza and drank some beer. "No idea, Rahne. This is the first I've heard of it."

"Yes, well. Ok. There's another matter I wanted to bring to your attention. I think you should know we saw Belasco's daughter at the Garymalkin gate. She had some business with Wolverine."

"Did she now?" Illyana didn't look at Rahne. Dani and the other O. G. New Mutants tensed slightly.

"Aye. She was with someone called the Caretaker, and Logan went off with the two of them. Now, I wasn't there at the time when you came back—something I remain sorry for—but I thought this Witchfire was your enemy."

Illyana didn't answer. She drank some more of her beer.

"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Rahne said. "Something involving her? Or Belasco? I thought he was dead, but Pixie said there was a flash and no body. So is he back? Is that why you don't spend as much time in Limbo as you did? Come to think of it, you used to find things or people by going to Limbo and casting scrying pools. You don't do that anymore. Is that why? Please. I want to help."

Illyana drank the last of her beer, put down her glass and got up. "C'mon. Let's go for a walk."

Rahne followed Illyana out into the night.

Illyana stopped with her back to Rahne. She said coldly, "Rahne you really have to learn not to meddle in things that don't concern you."

"What are you talking about? Of course, if you're in trouble it concerns me. Now what's going on?"

Illyana transformed into her demon form as she lunged at Rahne and grabbed her collar. She snarled, "You have always been an annoyance to me! Even without your religious prattle, your sanctimony and self-righteousness are irritating! Mind your own business before I forget we're supposed to be allies."

"Illyana," Rahne said, distraught, "what's happened to you?"

"What's happened to me?" Illyana let go of Rahne. "Nothing has happened to me. You get one warning. That was it." Illyana changed to human and vanished into a stepping disk.

Dani came up behind Rahne. "That went well."

"Dani, for the love of God, what's going on?"

"You heard her, kiddo. Let it go."

"But of course, you didn't let it go," Hela said.

Rahne shook her head. "I kept poking around. Even talked to Tarot and some of the others in the old Hellions for—for Pete's sake. Almost nobody knew, and the ones who did wouldn't tell me anything. I decided to force the issue, and I could think of only one way to do that…"

"Are you sure you want to leave the Krakoa?" Professor X said, meeting with Rahne in his command center in the House of X.

"And the team as well," Rahne said.

"Of course. But if you'll forgive me, that didn't go so well last time."

"I'd be more careful about it. The Asgardians have a colony in Brooklyn. I'll contact Jane Foster and see if I can get situated there."

"And you're sure this is necessary? You feel that strongly about Illyana's…situation?"

"I feel that if we can't help one of our own when she needs us, then everything we swear to is meaningless. I'll not be a part of it if we're going to be a gang of hypocrites."

"I'm sorry you feel that way." The professor turned to his console. "Let me know if you need help moving."

Rahne just stared. 'Damn,' she thought. 'He called my bluff.'

The professor's voice sounded in her head: 'Never play poker with a telepath, Rahne.' He smiled slightly.

"Professor," Rahne said aloud, "please, what's going on? If it were me, if I was in some kind of jam, Illyana wouldn't rest until she had done what she could to help. Even when I was a religious idiot who barely gave her the time of day, she wouldn't hesitate it to lay it on the line for me. I owe her to at least try. If you know what is happening, please, tell me."

The professor turned to her. "I'm sorry, Rahne. There's nothing I can do."

"…I didn't know what else to do, so I went to the glade and prayed for guidance. And that's when you showed up. And here we are."

"Yes," Hela said. "Well, Rahne, I'm not doing myself any favors, but I know what happened. My understanding was that all mutants and super people who were directly involved were sworn to secrecy. But you deserve to know. And I consider you family, so I will fall back on that if I need a reason.

"First of all, it won't surprise you to know it wasn't all that straightforward. There were many parties involved—including myself. A lot of fuss and bother and fighting as you can imagine. And some time loops and paradoxes. But essentially, a human had detonated a device that cancelled out Illyana's mutant side and—unintentionally, I'm sure-let the darkchilde run wild."

"General Callahan's 'gifts.' Yeah, I know. I wondered what it would do to her."

"Nothing good. Because Illyana is stuck mid-way between human and demon, the two halves of her nature are, on their own…useless, really. Or annoying. Or dangerous. Depends on how you look at it. But it was in the best interest of many parties that she either be destroyed or restored. Obviously, the X-Men chose restoration, but that was…trickier than they expected, and the only one who really knew how to do it was Belasco."

"Who was dead. Or was he?"

"He was rescued at the last second…by the X-Men."

"What!?"

"Your compatriots and other…interested parties went back in time, erased their past selves' memories—an impressive feat, I admit-brought him forward in time and healed his wounds. Even then, he wanted…something in return for helping Illyana. And for the sake of saving her teammates from…other interested and not as benevolent parties, Illyana agreed to his terms."

Rahne was slack jawed. "Wot!? What could she have possibly agreed to that she wouldn't want anyone to know about?"

Hela looked away for a moment, then looked back. "This is going to upset you, Rahne, but there's no way to sugar coat it, but if it's worth anything to you, in this case, I sympathize." Hela took a breath, then went on: "Illyana agreed to marry Belasco."

"WOT!?"

"They are now husband and wife," Hela went on solemnly. "They both rule Limbo. Now, Illyana did pull at fast one and sent Belasco several centuries into the past. He had to watch while events he had been part of unfolded. Although he did stay busy enough to be a thorn in Mephisto's side, even while his past self was in suspended animation in the Savage Land." Hela pinched the bridge of her nose. "Time stuff gives me a headache, so please don't ask me to explain that again."

"Oh, no, Hela, I completely agree with you on that. But getting back to your point, even if he and Illyana are…in separate bedrooms, Belasco isn't going to leave things like that, is he?"

"Probably not."

"That's why she stopped wearing our colors. When we first joined the team, the professor gave us these yellow and black uniforms. We were meant to discard them and make out own costumes when we graduated, but they were everything to Illyana. When Shan bankrolled a new team, first thing Illyana did was make new uniforms for us. I think she found this artist in Canada to design them. But now she's back to this leather go-go dancer getup…"

"Actually, it's an Aku cosplay. I believe Roberto da Costa is a fan of, what is it called, 'Samurai Jack'?"

"That he is, and it would be just like Bobby not to notice. But that's not the point. Ditching her yellow and blacks, it's her way to create distance between us, to tell us to stay out of it. Probably thinks she's protecting us."

"That's not without cause, dear. Depending on what Belasco's long term plan is, he won't let anyone come between him and Illyana. You really are better off staying out of it."

"If you know me at all, 'Aunt Hela,' you should know I can't do it."

Hela smiled slightly. "I don't suppose you can. And I have to admit, there's something appealing about the idea of you and your friends giving Bela a bloody nose. He deserves it. But there's still the question of what you can do about it?"

"I know exactly what to do about it, Hela."

"There's my girl! Well, then, I'll settle the bill and take you back to Krakoa."

"Ok," Mondo said, "just to play he devil's advocate, but why should we do this?" All the New Mutants, minus Illyana, were gathered in their house on Karkoa to hear Rahne's proposal.

"Seriously? We owe her, Mondo, our lives and our souls several times over. Even you and Chamber. She pulled your butts out of the fire even when you were slacking off. If those colors mean anything to you, we can't leave her hanging."

Dani said, "You don't have to sell me on team spirit, Rahne. I'm with you. But I was there and Illyana hasn't let me in since. What could we possibly do to get through to her now?"

"Isn't it obvious, Dani?"

"Dani?" Illyana called as she entered the house. "What do…you…" She stopped in the middle of the living room. "Hello?"

Rahne's voice came from up the stairs: "Sorry, Luv! Coming right down."

Rahne and Dani came down the stairs. Illyana gawked: Rahne and Dani were wearing copies of Illyana's black leather top, boots, and hot pants.

Illyana stammered, "Wh-what…"

She heard Bobby's voice behind her: "Do I look good in this or what?" Illyana turned to see Bobby, Doug, and Sam in leather tank tops and pants.

Boom Boom came in behind them with Mondo and Chamber. Mondo only had leather shorts on, Boom Boom echoing Dani and Rahne while Chamber was dressed like Bobby and Sam.

Boom Boom said, "Hope I didn't miss much, guys, but Chamber cannot do anything without having at least one martini first."

Illyana pinched the bridge of her nose. "If there's a sane explanation for this, would someone please tell me what it is before I turn violent?"

Rahne said, "It's very simple, Luv. We all know about Belasco…"

"How? Who told you?"

"Does it matter? The point is, we want you to know we're with you. Whenever this bloke pulls whatever he's going to do, you won't be facing it alone."

"You're crazy, Rahne. You don't know what you're up against. You have never faced anything like Belasco."

"Wrong, 'Yana," Rahne said. "Belasco has never faced anything like us. You of all people know we're strongest when we're together."

"Idiot!" Illyana snapped. "You're just going to get yourself killed…if you're lucky." Illyana turned her back on the others.

Rahne said, "I've never told anyone this—not even Dani—but that first night at Lady Moira's, after she rescued me from my father's mob, I half woke up, and there was some….thing in my room. A foul presence it was, like something out of the pit of hell. I was too scared to look. I thought it was a dream, but months later, long after I had moved to America, I felt it again, right after you moved back into the mansion. It was you, Illyana. You watched over me that night. I was a stranger to you, and you were still willing to risk yourself for me. Since then, we've saved each other over and over again. The only reason we two haven't been to Hell and back is because Mephisto is Amara's ex! After all that, after all we've been through together, after all the times we've been there for each other, if you honestly expect me to let you face this alone, then you're the idiot. You're the sister I never had, and I love you, and there's no way I am letting you face Belasco alone!"

Illyana spun and convulsively pulled Rahne into a hug. "You are an idiot, Rahne Sinclair," Illyana said, her voice shaking, "but you still have a talent for kicking my ass exactly when I need it."

"'Course. That's what a 'little sister' does."

They disengaged. Illyana said, "All right. Point taken. You want in, you're in. Just don't have any illusions about what you are getting yourselves into." Her mood brightened and she went on, "Now will you all please change your clothes? You all look ridiculous."

Bobby folded his arms. "And you don't?"

"Well, I rock it, of course," Illyana said, "and I admit, Bobby, that your ass looks good in anything. But you all still look ridiculous."

Dani said, "Yeah, well, there's a problem with that. See, the New Mutants are now famous—or infamous—for all dressing the same. Which means one way or another, you can't stand out."

Rahne added, "Unless, of course, you're not on the team anymore. In which case, there's the door."

"We've discussed this and all agreed," Dani said. "And as team leader, I am going to be very strict about enforcing the new rule: You can't be on this team without wearing the team uniform, whatever it is. So which is it, 'Yana? Are you in or out?"

Illyana gawked at her teammates.

Then she smiled.

Professor X came up to Wolverine at the door to the council building. "Logan? Any sign of our war captain?"

"Here she is now." Logan smiled. "And I think she has her head on straight for once."

Professor X followed Logan's gaze and smiled. "Agreed."

They weren't smiling because Illyana was approaching the council flanked by the other New Mutants.

Logan and Professor X were smiling because all of the New Mutants—including Illyana—were wearing yellow and black.

THE END