The Strato-Jet's engines whined as the craft flew through the air, headed towards a small island on the South Pacific. The jet was fully staffed with the team now known as the X-Men. However, the 8-man aircraft also had one empty seat. To Cyclops' complete unsurprise, the man known as Sunfire had quit the team before ever formally joining. It was a thing Shiro did. A lot. In later years, it would really grate on Scott's nerves, but it was something he would reluctantly accept about him.
"Three…" Scott began to count down, muttering to himself, "Two…"
Mainly because it made Shiro Yamada almost predictable as hell.
"Hey, Bossman," John Proudstar, now clad as the legendary Thunderbird in bright reds and deep blues, spoke up from the co-pilot's seat, "There's someone following us." He paused, a grin on his face, "Making quite the airspeed record, to boot."
"I don't even need to look, John," Cyclops' face split into a grin as he began to flip a few switches on the center console to release the rear hatch, "It's Sunfire, isn't it?"
"Yeah, but I think he's still got the stick up his ass," Thunderbird glared at the flying, burning man as the streak of flame curved towards the rear of the Strato-Jet.
Scott didn't laugh, but Logan noticed the leader's shoulders shaking with quiet laughter as Shiro stepped aboard and extinguished his flame. Ororo Munroe, now with the moniker of Storm, frowned deeply as Sunfire took his seat beside the African-American woman.
"So," Kurt Wagner, going under his performance name of Nightcrawler, grinned as he kicked his feet back and reclined his seat, "The prodigal mutant returns! Why did you change your mind, Sunfire? Afraid to go home alone?"
Sunfire whirled to glare at Kurt through his fish-faced flame mask, "My reasons are nobody's business but mine alone, misfit. You'll do well to remember that."
Kurt leveled a glare back at Sunfire, but didn't say anything. Scott mentally shrugged. If the timeline kept itself intact for the rest of Krakoa despite his interference, Shiro would be leaving again in a matter of hours. If not, well… he'd deal with it when the time came. Right now, Scott had some other things in mind.
An hour passes, then two. Finally, the forsaken atoll known only as Krakoa looms full before the viewports of the Strato-Jet. The Island was like many of the area, large wooded forests coated liberally in lush and green foliage. Where it wasn't green and brown of nature, you could see several mountains dotted among the land, with one looking like it might be a dormant volcano. The wide crater of what Scott nicknamed Mt. Krakoa yawned widely, looking like the gaping maw of the monster the island would once become.
Even though he knew what should eventually happen, Scott couldn't help but have a chill run up his spine. Krakoa was far from his first failure, but it was certainly his worst in his early career.
"So, that's where the so-called X-Men decided to ditch you, Bossman?" Thunderbird joked as the Strato-Jet began the first of many orbits around the island.
"Can't say much for your taste in vacation spots, Slim," Wolverine cracked wise, toying with the omnipresent unlit cigar, choosing to chew on the tip after speaking.
Scott smiled grimly as he remembered what would happen, "If we find them having a beach party, the first round of beers is on me." He looked out the main windscreen, keeping an eye out for solid landing locations, "Keep on guard, though. I'm sure whatever took us all out is still around. Codenames only when we're on the ground, no telling who might overhear."
"I'm not fond of the name, Bossman," Thunderbird groused a little, crossing his arms as he did so and frowning deeply at the bright red tassles running up his biceps, "The Thunderbird may be a legend, but I'm not one for telling old stories."
Cyclops turned to look the Apache in the eyes, or as best he could, "Then choose another when we're home. The Professor did choose your codename, but your name is a part of who you are. What makes you, you." Cyclops flicked on the autopilot, and turned to look at everyone, "I've set the jet to land a half-mile out at sea. We've all got the ability to recall it with our X-Emblems on our belts, at which point the jet will find and land on the nearest plot of land."
Gesturing to the opening bomb bay hatch running up the center of the Strato-Jet, Scott continued, "You all know what to do. Assault Team Alpha are Ororo and Piotr, you'll both come in from the north towards the rally point. Terrain looks to be mountainous, but remember that valley we spotted." Turning to the next pair, he continued, "Sean and Logan, you're Bravo. Land on the beach, and keep in touch." he paused, a smile cracking his serious face, "Keep an eye out for a redhead in a bikini, if they really did pull a beach party."
Logan only chuckled in reply, flashing his leader a brief thumbs-up.
"Shiro, Kurt, you both are Gamma. Take the South, keep an eye out for anything strange." Scott paused again, looking out the window at the south coast, "Just make sure not to burn down the entire forest, ok?"
"No." Sunfire nearly shouted, "Not him. Not the Misfit."
"I did not hear our leader give you a choice, matchstick," Kurt replied as he unintentionally stole a nickname from Ben Grimm.
"That leaves Delta, Thunderbird and myself. We're taking the west side of the island." Scott looked to Thunderbird, waiting for any questions. None came. "Perfect. We're coming up on the South side of the Island right now. Gamma, ready up!"
"I don't care for your tone, Cyclops," Shiro continued to object, but moved to follow Kurt out of the jet.
Shiro flamed on as he fell from the opening, falling like a man walking off the pirate's plank. Kurt chose to make a show of it, pulling a fancy diving maneuver like it was the olympics. Shiro pulled up above Kurt, extinguishing his hands as he grabbed Kurt's own.
"Bravo, move out!"
Banshee dove out of the plane, waiting until he was clear to let out a bellowing yell which pushed him afloat like his namesake. Logan plummeted through the air like a metal-cored stone, eventually using his adamantium claws to slow his fall by dragging himself along the trees until his momentum slowed to a halt.
"Alpha!"
"That is our signal, Storm!" Piotr laughed with an innocent glee as he jumped out of the plane, almost like a kid into a swimming pool.
Ororo gasped in shock as she dove after the man, using the winds themselves to push her afloat just enough so she was falling under her own power. Scott held in a laugh, he'd forgotten how carefree Piotr was in the early days. A few minutes passed as the Strato-Jet circled around once more to the west coast of the island Krakoa.
"Looks like the girl and the Commie have landed," Thunderbird observed, "That makes all of them.
"Perfect," Scott nodded. He unbuckled his safety harness as he made sure the Strato-Jet was going to move out to the half-mile distance, "Ready, John?"
Thunderbird did the same, cracking his neck and his knuckles, "Lead the way, Bossman."
The two jumped out of the Strato-Jet's bomb deployment doors without a second thought.
The first time he took the team to Krakoa (first timeline? Original time? Whatever.), Scott has been shocked to see the plane vanish as soon as he turned his back. This time, that wouldn't be an issue, as the Strato-Jet should be perfectly safe that half-mile away. However, Scott has thrown himself into a new predicament: falling out of a plane without a parachute.
Thunderbird hadn't cared, plummeting to the earth like a cannonball himself. The man's enhanced reflexes and durability did him credit, allowing him to bounce off a few solid tree trunks with well-placed kicks and nudges to slow down his momentum. Only once the Titan of a man landed with an earth-cracking thump did he look up to see where Scott was.
And was greeted by a crimson pillar of raw kinetic energy slamming into the ground not 30 feet away. The loud droning noise of Cyclops' optic blast only increased in intensity as the leader lowered himself to the ground. A smooth ditch of superheated (due to friction) dirt lay in front of Cyclops as he finally touched down like a feather before dropping to one knee.
"Always wanted to try that," Scott grinned, feeling out of breath for a second.
"Not bad, bossman." The Apache warrior clapped slowly as he walked over to Cyclops. Patting his boss on the back, he helped Scott to his feet.
"Thanks, Thunderbird." Scott patted John on the shoulder as he steadied himself. He could already feel his strength returning, thanks to the solar battery he somehow was drawing energy back from the sun.
Slowly, the ground began to quake beneath the two men. Off in the distance, toward the center of the island, Scott could see an ancient temple erupting from the ground below. A towering pillar of stone with what could be intricate carvings, which Scott knew was meant to lure himself and the X-Men inside.
"Huh." Thunderbird scratched at his chin, "Don't remember seeing any of that before we jumped out of the plane."
"It's a trap." Scott replied simply, shaking his head, "Without any other leads, though, it's the best we have." Cyclops began to move into the underbrush, using thin lances of his optic blasts to cut away the tangle of vines before them.
"It's a trap but we're going anyway?"
"Yes." Cyclops stopped to turn back at Thunderbird, "You've got my back, I think we're good."
Thunderbird grinned as the two began to make their way to the temple that was in no way suspicious.
Author's Notes:
Once more, thank you guys so much for the awesome reviews. I love that people are enjoying my take on the X-Men, and especially Cyclops. As you may be able to tell from this chapter, I am running with specific canon for other things as well, like the Optic Blasts being kinetic energy and not heat based.
I confess, I'm trying not to plan too much ahead at this time. I've noticed it tends to wear away at my enthusiasm, and an open-ended story like this is something I want to keep going. However, I have an idea for John Proudstar, and an inkling or two for Madelyn right now. I'm also wondering if I can get away with a Blue team and Gold team in the Bronze Age. Or a Substitute X-Men team. Time will only tell.