Sailor Moon X: Lunar Eclipse
a Sailor Moon/X-Men crossover
Epilogue
12-9-2018
by Grey-X
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the creation and property of Naoko Takeuchi and Toei Animation. X-Men is the creation and property of the late, great Stan Lee, Marvel Comics and Disney.
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The examination table felt surprisingly chilly, as did the whole infirmary. It all had a cold, sterile air to it. Of course, that was kind of the point, but it still unnerved Naru a little, and it was quite unwelcome on a day like today.
The professor was righter than he knew, not letting the mansion's lower levels be the first thing I saw, Naru realized. She warily watched the X-Men's chief physician look over the results of her exam. All she could do was sit on that examination table, able to feel the metal parts that weren't covered, given she only had on a white sports bra and cotton panties. A little cold could still easily affect her. Perhaps it was for the best, a reminder that she was not invincible. As if that lesson wasn't about to be drilled into her.
"Well, your physiology is a bit unique, even when compared to fellow mutants with enhanced strength and durability," said the doctor, looking from printed readouts to some screens and back.
She turned to eye Naru up and down, long dreadlocks swinging as she did so. Unlike McCoy, who was usually warm and friendly, Dr. Cecilia Reyes had this air of reluctance, as if she felt she didn't belong here.
"But as far as I can tell, Ms. Osaka, you are in excellent health," That hint of reluctance in her voice again, knowing she was cutting Naru loose to go get beaten within a millimeter of her life again and again. And she would have to stitch her back together. "Granted, with invulnerable mutants like you, hands-on examination techniques can't tell me as much as I'd like." Naru couldn't help but snort a little. Dr. Reyes raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Is something funny?"
Naru still couldn't suppress a smile, and she wasn't sure why. "It's nothing, really. It's just... The last time a dark-skinned mutant with dreadlocks got her hands of me, she was trying to break every bone in my body."
Reyes smirked, but it was a humorless smirk. "Ah yes, I've heard of Joanna Cargill..." she grumbled. "At any rate, I can find no trace of any potential debilitating, lingering harm from that encounter, or whatever else you ran into up on that rock. You're no Wolverine, but you still seem to recover in short order. Even some of those older wounds are fading."
Reyes eyed Naru's belly. Naru looked down, noticing how the scar Usagi left with her tiara had almost disappeared completely. Not to mention, there was no sign Wolverine had ever given her intestines an adamantium injection. The former scar had lingered for quite some time, but only now was it fading fast. Was it because she had finally let go of all her anger toward her old friend, stopped blaming her? Or maybe all the anger she had held onto period?
Naru sprang off the examination table just as Reyes walked up, holding the folded-up uniform Remy initially brought to Japan. "So, for better or worse Ms. Osaka, I hereby declare you fit for duty," said Reyes. She tapped Naru's right shoulder with her other hand, then her left shoulder, then her right again. "Congratulations, you're an X-Man. Now try not to wind up right back on my examination table, will you?"
"Uh, yeah, sure thing," said Naru anxiously. She took the uniform after a moment's hesitation, then started putting it on.
"Well, how does it feel?" Reyes asked.
Naru looked down at herself as she finished zipping it up, and tried to flex her legs. "It's a little hard to move in," she said sheepishly. "It feels like I'll rip it to shreds if I try moving too fast."
"Yeah, I hear that a lot," Reyes said aloofly. "It'll loosen up in time. Especially considering where you're supposed to report to."
"Don't remind me," Naru grumbled. "Thank you, Dr. Reyes," she said, heading for the exit. The metal double doors slid open, leading out to a hallway that felt just as cold and sterile as the infirmary. It was such a stark contrast to the splendor of the school above. How did the X-Men stand coming down here? Oh well, I guess I'll get used to it in time, Naru figured.
She walked through the halls, trying to remember where to go. The lower levels weren't THAT big, so it probably wouldn't take long. Along the way, Naru turned to see her faint reflection in the polished, metal wall, and stopped for a moment.
There she was, finally in her up-to-date X-Men uniform, a superhero costume everyone insisted she had earned the right to wear. Never would she have imagined such a day would come. And how often had she dreamed of one of those sailor fukus magically appearing on her, heralding a far different destiny?
But her own destiny was on a different path. Thankfully, this didn't make Naru as sad as it once had. Makoto was right. There was an opportunity here at this school, and she had to seize it. And even though fate had different plans for both Naru and Usagi, and an ocean separated them now, Naru felt closer to her old friend than she had in a long time. They both had different battles ahead, but the cause they fought for was now the same.
At last, Naru found the entrance to the Danger Room. The huge metal doors with the X symbol slid open, as if expecting her. It was quite dark inside. Like most of the lower levels, the walls were of that cold, polished, silvery-grey metal, but arranged in squares, like a grid. It was similar with the floor. However, there was also a circular arrangement to everything, culminating in a huge, circular platform at the center, where there was a big, glowing X.
Naru was taking all this in, and almost didn't sense that two people had moved in behind her as she walked deeper into the Danger Room. She turned and suppressed a gasp. Two rather big men eyed her appraisingly.
The first was a bald, dark-skinned man with an M tattooed over his right eye. Like her, he wore a sleeveless black uniform, but also had a red scarf. He brandished a rather huge rifle Naru would rather not be on the receiving end of, invulnerability or no.
The other guy was even bigger, though his skin wasn't nearly as dark. He also wore a sleeveless uniform, but it had some differences. The design of an eagle's head was affixed above the center of the X on his torso. He also wore a domino mask and some face paint. Naru could see feathers poking out from whatever he used to tie back his hair, whereas she only had some black string tying back her own. He packed as much muscle as Colossus, perhaps more, and Naru suspected he didn't need to turn to living steel to outmuscle her.
"Er, hi," Naru finally got out. "I'm, uh, Naru Osaka... Y'know, Eclipse? I'm, uh, reporting for my first training session. Are, uh, you two my instructors?"
"Lucas Bishop and James Proudstar will be assisting in this lesson, yes. I requested their participation, to show you how experienced, battle-hardened X-Men operate, lest you begin thinking you're already quite the expert after getting lucky on Asteroid M," came a voice that sounded familiar.
Naru turned to it and shivered. Unlike most of the other X-Men, this Emma Frost insisted on wearing white, having once been dubbed the 'White Queen', making her stand out from the other students a good distance behind her. Naru recalled Kitty didn't exactly trust her. She had a sinking feeling she was about to find out why.
As Frost sauntered toward them, Proudstar eyed her icily. Naru wondered if he had a grudge against Frost as well. "Give the girl a break, Frost," Proudstar snapped. "The lesson hasn't even begun. And say what you will about what happened on Asteroid M, but Osaka's shown she's got plenty to offer."
"I agree," Bishop added. "In the X.S.E., a 'veteran' was someone who survived the first battle."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys," said Naru sheepishly.
"Still, a good deal of training is necessary before Eclipse can be permitted to enter the fray again," Frost said coldly. "And she will be working with people much different from the Sailor Senshi. So come, Ms. Osaka, meet your squadmates, who are also more or less full-fledged X-Men."
Frost turned to walk back to those other girls in uniform. Confused, Naru looked back to Bishop and Proudstar. Bishop nodded silently, telling her to follow Frost.
There were four other girls, all a bit older than her, standing together in a line. At the far left was another girl of Asian descent. Along with her black uniform, she had a yellow coat and weird, pink sunglasses. Next to her... was something out of a fairy tale! A girl with pink hair, pointed ears, and wings like a fairy!? Unsurprisingly, she seemed quite cheery, a stark contrast to the girl at her left. She also had pink hair, but far more noticeable was the crown of bone sprouting from her forehead, making her look demonic. Bits of bone protruded along her bare arms as well, and Naru could see more sprouting from her back! At the far right was a girl with long, black hair, and also had a sleeveless uniform. There didn't seem to be anything outlandish about her, except she had a colder air about her than even Frost. Like Bishop and Proudstar, she eyed Naru appraisingly.
"Naru Osaka, allow me to introduce you to Laura Kinney, Sarah, better known as Marrow, Megan Gwynn and Jubilation Lee, better known as Jubilee," said Frost, indicating each of them in turn.
"Er, um, hello," Naru said nervously before bowing, remembering too late that wasn't exactly the custom here in America. "You might've heard of me, Eclipse... It's, uh, nice to meet all of you..."
Jubilee stepped forward, eyeing Naru up and down. "Yeah, we've heard of you. Hmmm, also hails from the East, came from a rich family, lost it tragically, has a tendency to cause some serious hoopla..." Naru eyed Jubilee anxiously, but was still caught off-guard when Jubilee rushed forward and embraced her in a bear hug. "I have found my soulmate!" she teasingly declared.
Naru just stood there, frozen in place. This certainly wasn't customary in Japan, except if your name was Usagi Tsukino. Judging by the looks from the other X-girls, it wasn't exactly normal here either.
"Wow, Jubes, give her a little room to breathe," said Megan.
"Yeah Jubilee, there'll be plenty of time to drag her to the mall later," Marrow added brusquely. "For now, we're here to see if she's got what it takes. Looking at her now... Seriously, THIS is the girl that had all the norms in Japan crapping their pants?"
"Indeed she is, Marrow," said Frost. "There's a reason Xavier put considerable effort into recruiting both her and her boyfriend. In fact, he has volunteered to help monitor this first training session, given how he encouraged Osaka to practice using her powers the last few months."
The girls' gazes drifted up to the window up above, beyond which was the control center for the Danger Room. Umino, seeing this, waved anxiously, withering a little under the gazes of all these new mutant girls.
"You must be joking. THAT little pencil neck's the guy you hooked up with, Osaka?" Marrow scoffed. Naru was quickly realizing Marrow was that one teammate everyone had trouble getting along with. Laura also came off as cold, and remained silent. Would she be difficult as well? "I've hunted down and munched on rats sturdier than him!"
Naru was about to throw up in her mouth a little when Laura said, "Perhaps so, Sarah. Yet I imagine Eclipse with break every bone in your body should you even look at him funny. And then force-feed you the ones you house externally." She delivered that in such a calm, matter-of-fact way, even her teammates, possibly used to it, looked taken aback.
Still, Jubilee looked more amused than anything else. "Damn Laura, really?"
Laura looked to her, puzzled. "What, too cliché?"
Jubilee thought for a moment, then said, "Naw, it was pretty good."
Naru felt like this was getting out of control. This was her introduction to people she would be working with for a long time. They were already joking about her pasting people, as if the old Eclipse was among them.
Thankfully, Frost broke it up. "As you'll soon see, Eclipse is indeed a formidable fighter. It's up to us, however, to get her used to being part of a team. Our team. There are many techniques essential to operating as an X-Man that Eclipse has yet to learn, as I shall now demonstrate." Frost fiddled with some sort of control pad. "Ms. Osaka, you are aware of what the Danger Room does, right?"
"Uh, yeah, Sailor Moon explained it to me," said Naru. "It uses a bunch of machines and holograms so we can practice using our powers, right?"
"Among other things," said Frost. "Allow me to demonstrate the hologram part." She hit a button, and suddenly a piano materialized out of thin air.
Naru stared at it blankly. "I-I-I don't get it. What, am I supposed to play it or something? What's..."
Naru fell silent when her arm reached out, shooting out a tendril, against her will. It wrapped around the piano, raised it several meters above her, then retracted.
The other girls jumped back as the piano came crashing down onto Naru. Naru was so baffled by what happened, it took her a moment to rise up from the piano's mangled frame, splinters and piano cords flying everywhere. Marrow didn't even try to hold back her laughter, but Jubilee and Megan at least stifled their giggles, albeit not very well. Laura, Bishop and Proudstar just looked on, nonchalant.
"Making me drop a piano on myself!? Seriously!?" Naru demanded. "What, did you binge-watch a bunch of cartoons this morning!?"
"Just a friendly reminder that you've lost your protection against telepathic probes," said Frost coolly. "Which means, like the other non-psychic X-Men, you'll have to be trained to resist mental attack the old-fashioned way. To prevent someone like me from reaching into your head and doing THIS." Another tendril lashed out unbidden, this time flinging an anvil right toward Naru's face.
The impact didn't even make Naru topple. It simply knocked her silly for a second, her pride hurt far worse than her body. Now Naru understood why Usagi so dreaded having to face Ms. Haruna every day. She wondered if it was too late to fly back to Japan and get fitted for a sailor fuku.
Marrow guffawed again, and this time Jubilee and Megan couldn't hold back snickers. When Frost spoke again, though, it was they who got a tongue-lashing. "I'd advise you not to alienate Ms. Osaka so soon, ladies. For the upcoming simulation, you may have to rely on her intimate knowledge of the threat you face."
That got Jubilee and Megan to stop giggling and pay attention. Even Laura looked a bit concerned. "I don't understand, Ms. Frost," said Laura. "Just what sort of simulation is this?"
"Ms. Osaka is a close friend of the Sailor Senshi, don't forget, and will be our liaison for our future dealings with them," said Frost. "And through our partnership with the Sailor Senshi, we have a wealth of new information, regarding menaces we never knew existed. And past threats that will make excellent training material." Frost looked up to the control station. "Mr. Umino, boot up our first simulation." Umino nodded anxiously, then started typing in commands.
"Ooooh baby, new bad guys to beat up!" Jubilee cried, slinging an arm over Naru's shoulders. Naru just looked to her, bemused. Jubilee was indeed friendly, but quite different from Usagi, and would take some time getting used to being around. "Don't worry, Naru, we got your back. And Marrow's right, you know. Once we're done slogging it out in here, we've GOT to hit Manhattan and light up the town! Granted, I bring the light while you bring the darkness, but still..."
"Let's just concentrate on getting through this session without looking like fools, Jubilee," Megan admonished. "So Eclipse, any idea what it is we'll be facing?"
Naru shook her head. "There's... been a lot of enemies the Sailor Senshi have fought, real powerful ones..."
"Oh come on," Marrow sneered. "How hard can supervillains who got beat by a bunch of prissy Japanese schoolgirls running around in short skirts really be?"
Naru fought the urge to slap Marrow silly, and didn't even trust herself to open her mouth to fire back. Bishop, however, filled in for her. "From what I've read of the files exchanged during our partnership with them, Sarah, I think you'll be surprised."
And then, without warning, the Danger Room did its thing. In the blink of an eye, everything changed. It went from a cold, sterile, spacious chamber to a landscape dotted by the crumbling remains of some palace. Naru got a look at the ground beneath the smoldering ruins. Was that... rocks and dirt like that on the moon!? Panicking, Naru looked up to the starry, night sky, and saw Earth instead of the moon.
"OK, NOW I think I know who we're fighting," said Naru anxiously. "I'm hope I'm wrong, but..."
Cackling laughter cut Naru off. Naru spun to see exactly what she feared, standing a few dozen meters away. She had never seen this woman in person, but after spotting her projected image, Naru knew exactly who this was supposed to be. A pale-skinned woman with long, cascading red hair and a purple dress, with spikes protruding from her shoulders and clutching a staff with a glowing orb fixed at the end. This had to be Queen Beryl, the one who had caused the collapse of the kingdom in Usagi's past life.
And of course, she was flanked by her four generals. Naru could pick out Jadeite and Kunzite, as Usagi had talked about them, even pointing out that she had seen the former before. Zoisite, however, Naru remembered all too well. The only face in the universe more punchable than Fabian Cortez's.
But her rising rage was quelled upon seeing Nephrite's projection. Cold and calculating, no trace of the man who learned of love again, and sacrifice for it. After how he had saved her again only weeks ago, it was still too soon. Frost might as well have had her mother be the new Dark Phoenix host or something.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! Queen Serenity has fallen, and her kingdom now crumbles at my feet!" Queen Beryl brayed. "You X-Men are too late to save her reign from Queen Beryl, and will suffer the same fate!"
"OK, not too original with the hammy supervillain speeches, I'm sorry to say," said Jubilee.
Naru just glared at Frost. "Ms. Frost, you are pure evil."
"So I've been told," said Frost dismissively. "Anyway, we have met the enemy, so it's time to go to work. As a team, don't forget. First, we launch our opening salvo, to soften their defenses..."
Frost pressed her fingers against her temples. Without Nephrite's passive protection, Naru could FEEL the psychic energy radiating from her new teacher. Those projections of Queen Beryl and the Shitennou felt it more. Beryl clutched her head with her free hand, screaming, while her generals fell to their knees.
"And while you have your opening, strike in unison!" Frost finished. She charged ahead, cape billowing behind her, motioning for all of them to do the same. As she ran, Naru saw Frost's body changing the way Colossus's did. Only she became glistening, living diamond instead of metal.
Frost ran up the length of a fallen, white pillar, then jumped off the end, aiming to bring her fist crashing down onto Beryl's skull.
Queen Beryl, unfortunately, had other plans. It was no surprise even a projection of Usagi's oldest foe shook off a telepathic whammy so fast. As Frost came down, Beryl snarled and swung her staff. There was the crackle of dark energy, and Frost was blasted away, her body smashing into part of the decimated palace.
Naru risked a moment to glance at where Frost's body had disappeared. "Oh yeah, I'm filled with confidence about my new teacher," Naru scoffed.
"Eyes up, Eclipse! Stay sharp!" Proudstar admonished, who had Bishop's flank. Bishop had been firing that rifle while charging ahead.
Kunzite, however, was protecting himself with some sort of forcefield, and now went on the attack. Weird, bladed boomerangs made of pure energy lashed out at the pair.
Proudstar drew a pair of knives, crossing them in front of himself to block a shot, while Bishop did nothing to defend himself. He allowed Kunzite's attacks to land, and his body seemed to suck them up, while those knives did the same. The next instant, Bishop channeled that energy right back at Kunzite as Proudstar slashed the air with his knives, hurling back that energy as well. Kunzite barely got his forcefield back up in time, and the sudden onslaught hammered him to his knees.
Well, those two got Kunzite covered. Now to starting pulling my weight, Naru thought. She looked around, at all the debris from the fallen palace, and grinned wickedly.
Oily tendrils shot out everywhere, grabbing up huge chunks. Naru flung them at Beryl and the other generals, forcing them to fall back as they blasted apart the projectiles.
"Woohoo, look at the newbie go!" Jubilee cried. She vaulted herself over another fallen pillar with one hand, her other clenched in a fist. Naru could see globs of multicolored, glowing somethings fluttering around Jubilee's fist. "But now it's time to get my licks in! Eat a plasmoid flash, sucka!" Jubilee brayed. She flung those globs right at Nephrite's face, just as he blasted apart the last of Naru's volley. They exploded around Nephrite in a flurry of blinding, brilliant light, powerful enough to make him stagger back, crying out in pain. "Marrow, that one's wide open! Waste him!"
Naru got a glimpse of Marrow sneaking up behind Nephrite, reaching behind her. She actually drew two of those bones protruding from her back out of her body! They were like daggers!
With a howl of fury, Marrow struck, her bone daggers slashing deep. Nephrite howled and came at her with a spinning kick, but Marrow was swift enough to duck under it and strike again. This time, though, Nephrite blocked her strike, but Marrow was proving to be a challenge up close and personal. Considering how easily Nephrite dealt with Zoisite's minions, that was saying something.
Meanwhile, Jadeite had taken to the air, but that was Megan's element as well. She flew circles around Jadeite, and Naru saw some weird dust spread out from those wings.
"What in... Where did all these flying, singing pink bunnies come from!?" Jadeite demanded, swatting away at the air.
Some sort of hallucinogen? Naru wondered. Oh well, might as well take advantage of it. Naru grabbed a hunk of moon rock twice her size and hurled it up at Jadeite. It smashed into Jadeite while those hallucinogenic visions distracted him, taking him far from the battlefield.
That hardly bought Naru any respite. No one had Zoisite covered. Naru heard that infuriating chuckle of his right before a flurry of those flower petals rained down.
Naru ducked and rolled out of the way, but when she looked up, she saw Zoisite had readied a volley of fire. "Zoi!" he cried, unleashing his fireballs.
They would have seared Naru's hide, had Laura not dove and knocked her out of the way. Laura's tackle knocked the two of them behind cover. Still, Naru could feel the heat from Zoisite's pyrotechnics, not to mention hear his taunting. "Come, Naru, we're not playing hide-and-seek, are we? What would the Sailor Senshi think, if they saw you now?"
Projection or not, Naru was ready to jump back out and pound Zoisite's face to mush. Laura grabbed her wrist before she could. "Wait a moment, Osaka. I take it this one is quite vain and conceited, and thus easily flustered by the unexpected?"
Naru stared at Laura for a moment. "Uh, you could say that."
"Then help me handle him," said Laura. "My... father tells me you've already mastered the delicate art of the fastball special."
"Your father?" Naru asked dubiously.
Laura raised her fists, and out popped two gleaming, razor-sharp claws from each hand, the center ones mysteriously absent. Naru gaped at them for a moment, suddenly understanding. There was a lot Logan had yet to tell her about himself, obviously.
It would have to wait. Zoisite had hovered around and spotted them, ready to fling more fireballs. Naru nodded to Laura, then grabbed her and hurled her up at Zoisite. Zoisite's face fell as Laura shrieked, brandishing her claws. They sank into his heart and gut, and they both tumbled to the ground.
"Well, first day on the job is going better than I hoped," Naru told herself, trying to boost her confidence. But the session was far from over. Naru looked around, and saw Beryl blast apart a chunk of a pillar Frost had thrown at her, then blasted Frost away again. Megan tried to close in on Beryl, wielding some sort of glowing dagger.
Unfortunately, Beryl ensnared Megan with her hair, then slammed her to the ground, knocking her out. Beryl whirled around, aiming her staff at Jubilee. Jubilee tried to counter her attack with those weird fireworks, but they were nothing compared to what Beryl could dish out. Jubilee tried to roll aside to avoid the barrage, but some of it still struck her, eliciting a shriek.
Beryl grinned evilly, aiming her staff again at Jubilee, who lay on the ground, twitching. She was so like Usagi, outgoing and welcoming... The sight of Jubilee being treated like this filled Naru with rage.
In an eyeblink, Naru teleported herself right behind Beryl. As Beryl turned around, Naru said, "Princess Serenity says hello," right before planting a fist in Beryl's face.
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Umino was overseeing the Danger Room session, but he was hardly the only one privy to what was transpiring. Emma Frost's own Hellfire Club once had an infiltrator bug the school's own systems. What made them think the same couldn't be done by another, and far more subtly?
Naru Osaka's first-ever Danger Room session played out on several screen feeds. The likenesses of Queen Beryl and the Shitennou were not going down easily. But the White Queen's opening telepathic whammy, and the X-Men hitting them so fast and hard they couldn't rally and use teamwork themselves, gave the X-Men an edge early on. And Naru Osaka, the infamous Eclipse, was working perfectly in synch with the X-Men, as if she had been fighting alongside them all her life.
"Interesting. Quite interesting," Nathaniel Essex muttered to himself. He swiveled in his chair to look at another screen, his blood-red eyes narrowing in anticipation. Eclipse's punch had slammed Beryl into a bit of wreckage, yet the sorceress was getting back on her feet. "I wonder, would the genuine article prove as resilient?" he asked no one in particular. Eclipse closed in again, throwing punch after punch, but Beryl blocked her blows with her staff, the dark power coursing through it dissipating their force.
"Magneto really lost out when this one slipped through his fingers," said Scalphunter. He stood behind Mr. Sinister's chair, beside his fellow Marauder, Arclight. "The kid's a powerhouse, that's for sure."
"I could take her," Arclight scoffed. She pounded her fists together. Mr. Sinister caught the momentary flash from the power Arclight kept bottled up. "This kid thinks she's hot stuff? Give me five minutes alone with her, and the little lady'll learn a thing or two about punching above her weight class."
"In time, Philippa, in time," said Mr. Sinister slyly. "For now, the poor dear has been through a good deal. Give her time to finish mourning her losses, allow her this brief respite among the X-Men. In the end, Naru Osaka will serve my needs."
"You mean by harvestin' her DNA, the way Magneto hoped to do?" Scalphunter asked. "There's somethin' special about some of her mutant genes, right? Magneto couldn't hang onto any samples, but you'll snag some soon, I bet."
"Of course, John. After all, I like to keep genetic samples of all the X-Men," said Mr. Sinister. "And indeed, there is something unique about the dark power Eclipse wields. Magneto had some inkling of just how special it is, but unsurprisingly, he couldn't quite grasp the whole picture. But alas, ultimately it's not Naru Osaka herself that will further our goals."
"I don't get it, Sinister," said Arclight. "If her powers got more use than even Magneto knew about..."
"You know me, Philippa, I strive for perfection," said Mr. Sinister. "As great as Eclipse's potential is, ultimately her mutant gene for dark power was a hand-me-down. Furthermore, her experiences with Magneto and Erina Kizachi have left her less... malleable to my influence. She will be on guard for some time. No, I will require aid from the genuine article."
"The genuine article?" Arclight repeated dubiously. "But who's..." She followed his gaze, at another screen showing the battle between Eclipse and the projection of Queen Beryl that raged on. "Hold it, you mean Queen Beryl herself? But how? When did you ever swipe some of her DNA, to be cloned after death like us Marauders?"
"A resurrection such as this cannot be accomplished merely by my cloning techniques, sadly," said Mr. Sinister, smiling as he pressed his fingers together. "It will be some time before things are in readiness, but our eager new X-Man will ultimately be the key to bringing Beryl into our fold. The Sailor Senshi believe they are rid of their old nemesis forever. How wrong they will soon learn they are. In the meantime, other pieces must be moved into place. What is our progress on that front?"
"We've reached out to Cain Marko, promising a steady, long-term gig," said Scalphunter. "He hasn't bitten just yet, but enough green and a shot at pulping X-pukes oughta bring the Juggernaut around in the end."
"As for Selene, she's got a steady gig still in the Hellfire Club," said Arclight. "Getting her to do double-duty for us sounds like a tall order, but she sounded intrigued."
"Oh, I imagine she did," said Mr. Sinister knowingly. "Very well, this is promising. It almost makes up for your failure a month ago. You were quick to mock Magneto for letting Eclipse slip through his fingers, Scalphunter? What about how Wade Wilson slipped through all of yours?"
Mr. Sinister smiled again, hearing the two Marauders shift about anxiously. Their punishment for allowing Deadpool to escape their ambush had been quite... severe. Worse, S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken an interest in them. Such complications were most unwelcome.
A soft chuckle from the shadows added to Scalphunter and Arclight's displeasure. They groaned as they turned to the sound.
"Good thing there's still time before we need him too, right Essex?" jeered the girl. "Otherwise your flunkies would've needed Wilson's healing factor too."
Mr. Sinister swiveled his chair around to stare at his newest pupil. The girl's face was still obscured by shadow, but given how she wore mostly black, she might as well just have disappeared in the darkness like Nightcrawler. She essentially wore a flight suit with armor plating, but the parts visible along her arms and legs had an organic quality. Like a mix of muscle tissue and writhing vines. Worked into those portions along her arms were circular depressions with spinning gears inside. The girl had designed the suit herself, not trusting in him to help, no doubt suspicious he would slip in something nasty if she ever got out of line.
Mr. Sinister smiled at the thought. The girl would go far. "Curious. I would imagine you'd be most anxious to acquire Wilson sooner rather than later," he said teasingly.
"For now, let my mother languish in prison as cancer eats away at her," the girl spat. "We've got a good year or so, so no rush."
"Now now, I've come to admire the woman," Mr. Sinister admonished. "It's not often I come across someone so adept at playing so many sides against each other. Not to mention, like me, she was not born a mutant, but sees the necessity of their ascendancy. It's a pity, though, how a shortsighted need for retribution blinded her, that she resigned herself to never seeing how it all would play out."
"She was blinded by plenty of other things before my 'death'. Before you found me and gave me a new lease on life, after the Makai Tree decimated that condo," the girl said testily. She leaned forward a little, and Mr. Sinister could see her lips twist into a snarl. "You can argue that everything she did, she did in my name. It doesn't change how beforehand, she wasn't exactly Mother of the Year."
"Yet we both know that it's in our best interests to save your mother, Erika," Mr. Sinister reminded her.
"Don't call me that anymore," Erika snapped. "Erika Kizachi more or less died when the Makai Tree wrecked the condo. What you later revived is someone entirely different, I realize that now."
"I see," said Mr. Sinister, leaning forward a little in his chair. "Then tell me, my dear, what would you have us call you?"
A pause on Erika's part. "I've given it a lot of thought. Ironically, it comes down to the happier memories with my mother. Namely, that one vacation, where we unearthed Babylonian artifacts. I've studied that ancient civilization, its beliefs, its gods. There's one in particular that's fascinated me, and the word's meaning in English perfectly embodies what I've become." Erika stepped forward into the light, which made her long, blond hair glisten. It was done up in twintails, similar to Sailor Moon's. But instead of odangos, two hair scrunchies resembling black roses held them in place. Sparkling, blue eyes filled with bitterness narrowed at them. "Sin."