TB: MOSH PIT! *dives into the studio, leaping off like he's expecting someone to catch him, but makes a Wile E. Coyote like hole in the ground* OWWWW!
KKD: *walks over and looks down the hole* ARE YOU OKAY DOWN THERE?!
TB: No need to yell, I'm fine. I thought someone would catch me. But here I am, in a f*CAW!*in' hole.
KKD: *groans before helping TB out of the hole* That's what you get for randomly assuming something's gonna happen.
TB: Anyway, this is the climax to my story and boy is it a doozy.
KKD: I can only imagine that.
TB: It has to be, considering the last chapter ended with her parents being taken and her being knocked out with a tranquilizer.
KKD: Point taken.
TB: Also, I would like the readers to keep in mind that there's going to be a surprise in the end. I won't tell you what it is, but I want you to remember it.
KKD: Right. Now where're the disclaimers?
TB: They're right here. *pulls disclaimers out of hole and then puts them on the screen*
DISCLAIMERS: No one from Team Toku Riders owns anything in this fanfiction except for the original concepts within. The rest are owned by Marvel Comics, Disney (since they own Marvel), Marvel Studios, Fox (since they make the X-Men movies), Stan Lee, and their respective owners.
After what felt like hours, Jessie groaned, struggling to get up, until she held her neck and winced a bit in pain.
"You alright, Miss?" a very distinct voice asked her as an aging man with white hair that was balding, a white mustache, and some red shade glasses while also wearing a gray shirt, blue jeans, and white shoes approached her, "You look like you've been out for quite some time."
"I… I'm not sure…" Jessie groaned, struggling to get up to her feet, but ended up stumbling a bit.
"I don't think you should push yourself, Miss," the man replied, helping her a bit before making sure Jessie was at least able to sit down, "I found you laying in front of your house so I wanted to see if you were okay."
"Ugh… huh? My parents! I gotta help them!"
"Wait a moment, are you gonna be okay?"
"Yea, I'll be fine. I just have to recover a bit and then I'll go where I need to," Jessie panted before she started walking down the road, so as to not risk drawing any attention at first. She then found the minivan Lewis took off in before she took cover and listened in on what was going on.
"Why didn't you kill that girl, Mr. McCarthy?" one of the guards asked him.
"Because she's important to the plan. I want still want her to join me," Lewis informed, "I had a feeling she'd say no, so if we take her parents hostage, we can use them as leverage against her, then we shall see if it produces the desired result."
'No! Mom, Dad… I can't let them do what they want to them!' Jessie thought to herself nervous about her situation, but calmed down enough to think things through, 'Well, at least I know how he plans to win me over, but how would I be able to outsmart him?'
-Ms. Devon, do not attempt to intervene with the matters at hand yet,- she heard Professor X instruct her in her mind, making her gasp in surprise.
'Chuck? But… how? I'm not even...'
-I'm communicating to you with assistance from Cerebro. Now I don't believe that you are fully recovered after receiving that tranquilizer shot. I suggest you come to the mansion to recover.-
'But… what about my folks?!'
-You will have time to rescue them later, you're recovery is more important now.- Xavier ordered, making Jessie mentally sigh before she sneaked away from the minivan and took flight away from her target.
Later, Jessie had returned to the mansion, and was in the nurse's office to be treated of any other possible injuries. Luckily, there wasn't anything wrong with her aside from the dart to her neck.
"Thank goodness," the nurse told her, "There's really nothing vitally injured. I'm sure you'll be fine now."
"Thanks," Jessie replied, getting up before walking out to go see Professor X who was actually rolling right toward her.
"I am pleased to know you are unharmed, Ms. Devon. Although, I am displeased that you tried to go after the enemy after you just woke up from your state," Xavier replied, "You shouldn't attempt something like that; you'd more than likely get yourself killed."
"Hey, my folks were taken from me; wouldn't there be many more mutants here aside from myself who would do the same thing if their families were in danger?!" Jessie responded in a frantic tone.
"If their families cared for them as much. You see, Ms. Devon, many mutants here are either orphaned because their parents were killed, or they were abandoned, but we here try our absolute best to make sure that these people are capable of leading the best lives they can once they have to leave. I'm sure that you understand what I am saying, am I right?"
"Hmm… well… oh. Sorry, Chuck," Jessie apologized, "I feel sorry that the mutants… no, the people in here have lost their families because of their powers. My family still loves me despite my powers, though. I'm not ready to leave them behind just yet, Chuck. And because they still love me, it's all the more reason why I gotta save them."
"...I see… in that case, I wish you the best of luck, Ms. Devon. You will need some help locating them though, will you not?" Xavier replied.
"Indeed I would. I'm not sure where they'd be thanks to that idiot who tranquilized me like… well, a wild animal."
Charles almost chuckled at that before he cleared his throat and closed his eyes to begin telepathically locating where her parents are being held. It didn't take very long to locate them this time, and saw that they were held inside an empty warehouse.
"They are located in a warehouse in Boston, you need to head there right away. Time to suit up Animal."
"Yes sir, Chuck," Jessie replied, giving a salute to Professor X before she got her suit, opened the window and took off into the air, with Xavier smiling after she left.
It didn't take Animal that long to get back to Boston thanks to her speed, and finally arrived at the empty warehouse. She landed gently on the ground and began walking inside the warehouse, carefully trying to not alert anyone to their presence. It wasn't long however, until she caught glimpse of her parents strapped on separate metal chairs. She gasped in response before she ran towards them, unaware that there was someone hiding higher up who fired a sniper shot at Animal, hitting her in the shoulder and knocking her on her back.
"JESSIE!" the parents shouted in shock and horror, worried that Jessie was killed.
"...Don't worry…" Animal grunted as she got up, turning part of her body into that of a reptile, pulling the sniper bullet out and healing the wound, "I can heal faster than they can kill me."
"I had a feeling that a sniper wouldn't kill you," she heard a voice before Lewis walked in holding up two guns that held syringes which contained some kind of aquamarine colored formula, "I see you've made it to save your family."
"Cut the act, Lewis. I know you plan on using my parents as leverage to get me to accept your stupid offer. It doesn't matter what you do, the answer is still no!" Animal snapped, making Lewis' eyes twitch a bit before he adjusted his tie.
"But you never figured out how though," Lewis replied, before he brought up the two syringe guns, "Do you recognize this formula? It's the same formula that aided in activating the majority of your latent mutant powers. Now, either you agree to my offer to join me or you're family will suffer the same fate that you did!"
"WHAT?! NO!" Animal gasped, not wanting the madman to turn her parents into mutants as well.
"So… what'll it be, Animal?" Lewis asked as Animal sighed and walked towards him.
"I'll take you up on your offer…" Animal started, about to pull up her shake his hand before… "...NOT!" She suddenly knocked the syringes out of Lewis' hands and kicked him away before speeding over to her parents and turning her hands into claws to slice off the restraints.
"Thank goodness," Jessie's mom smiled.
"Go, get outta here!" Animal urged, as her parents got out of the warehouse before Lewis got up with a crossed expression on his face.
"Grrr… stupid…" Lewis growled before he picked up the two syringe guns, "You stupid mutant! You ruined EVERYTHING! I knew your kind wasn't to be trusted, but no! I gave you one chance to get the one thing mutants don't get, respect! I gave you the opportunity of a lifetime, but you threw that away!"
"I don't need that. You know why? Because I am who I am… and I'm proud of it!" Animal declared, loud and proud, which made Lewis scowl.
"Very well then, if you won't see things my way, then I suppose I'll have to kill you," Lewis growled, taking the syringes out of the guns before he put them both on each side of his neck and screamed in pain as he injected the formula into himself.
He then started convulsing and contorting in pain as his body began to mutate, growing a bird wing and a bat wing from his back, his teeth turning into those of a shark, his head becoming alligator-like, a tail like that of a rattlesnake, his legs becoming like a lion and his torso becoming that of a gorilla before he let out an unworldly roar. Animal gasped in shock at the monstrosity that stood before her with a sick smile on his face.
"Well then, Animal… prepare to meet your fate… at the claws of… THE CHIMERA~!" Lewis shouted, his voice sounding much deeper and more gravelly than it was before he charged at Animal, tackling her and barging out the warehouse, tearing down one of the walls and throwing her into a nearby car which pretty much dented on impact.
"Ouch… that hurt," Animal winced in pain before Chimera grabbed her by the neck and slammed her into the street, making a crater, "Okay, ya hate me, I get it! KNOCK IT OFF!"
"I'm actually kinda surprised you're still kicking after all this," Chimera laughed as he began pushing his foot down on Animal's chest, making her scream in pain, as he kept stomping on her.
However, before Chimera tried again, Animal grabbed his foot and pushed him off before grabbing him by the tail.
"If ya wanna brawl, then let's brawl," Animal replied before flying off with Chimera in the air and she began to spin, twirling Chimera like mad before letting go, sending Chimera flying towards a small building before he stopped himself, hovering in midair thanks to his wings.
They then flew at each other, colliding with each other, punching and kicking multiple times before Chimera gripped Animal around the waist and began taking her higher and higher up in the air.
"Let's see how long you can survive being near the vacuum of space!" he shouted as he continued to fly.
"No fair! I didn't get to pack a space suit with me," Animal retorted as they ended up above the clouds and she felt much colder, having a more difficult time with breathing, and feeling a bit lightheaded, "Air's starting to get a little thin."
Animal struggled a bit, but she was able to turn her body into humanoid wolf and use her claws to scratch Chimera's alligator snout. Chimera roared in pain, instinctively letting go of her to grab his snout where the pain came from, but then Animal turned back to normal before turning her arms into gorilla arms and dived forward, rapidly punching Chimera before they fell into the water below. When they opened their eyes, it turned out to be near a harbor back in New York.
"Whew, that was close; almost went Apollo 13 up there, and that splashdown… that was refreshing," Animal joked, before she saw a nearby dock, "I gotta get back on la-"
As she said that she was suddenly pulled down underwater by Chimera, in an attempt to drown her, keeping her submerged for as long as he could, thankful he got the gator head. However, Animal recalled something she rarely used but decided to pull, suddenly forming gills on the sides of her neck, and suddenly feeling like she could breath, and even speak underwater.
"Nice try, Louie, but you ain't getting me to sleep with the fishes," Animal quipped before she kicked him in the snout, her foot having turned into a horse hoof, before she quickly turned both feet webbed so she could swim up, and then her gills vanished, allowing her to breath air normally before she surfaced and climbed on the dock, "Man… It's not often I have to get the gill on, but it came in handy."
Suddenly, Animal heard a splash, turning around in time to see Chimera bursting from the water before he punched her so hard it sent her flying into the Upper East side of Manhattan, sliding across the concrete.
"Okay, Jessie, just shake it off," Animal groaned to herself as she shook her head before looking up to see the roaring Chimera, who in turn grabbed a bus before he lifted it up and threw it at Animal, but she caught it before she gently put it down.
"Stupid animal… I WILL CRUSH YOU!" Chimera roared.
"Sounds to me like you're getting dumber the longer you're in that form," Animal noticed, which made Chimera growl in response.
"HOW DARE YOU MOCK ME!" he responded before he charged at her again before she rushed forward, slid between Chimera's legs, and then Animal leapt up into the air before turning her feet into kangaroo feet to deliver a dropkick to him.
Chimera was then kicked into a nearby building, making a hole in the process. Chimera, though, recovered quickly before charging at Animal, sending her flying into a construction site and hitting a metal pipe hard with her screaming in pain in response. Finally, Chimera smirked, dropping the pipe before punching Animal in the face, actually leaving some scratches on her cheek.
"I still cannot believe that you turned down a chance to be respected by the public. So sad and pathetic," Chimera taunted with a sick smile as he continued wailing on Animal, punching her in the face and kicking her when she was down, "You'll never be respected! You are a freak just like the rest of them!"
He then continued punching and kicking her everywhere, the gut, the face, just everywhere. Animal was getting beaten so hard and so fast, her reptilian healing just couldn't catch up with all the pain. It all ended when Chimera bit into Animal's shoulder, making her scream in agony, before he threw her a couple feet away. Animal, bloodied and bruised, the bitemark visible in her shoulders, her face having many cuts and bruises, and it almost looked like she nearly broke an arm, struggled to get up before Chimera just grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up.
"You're nothing, you stupid girl. You really think that you can win the people over by being their savior, but they'll always see you as a freak, a degenerate… a monster. Especially your family," Chimera taunted as Animal felt like she was losing consciousness, "But you don't have to worry about your parents… because when I'm done with you, I'm gonna finish them off, nice and slow."
Chimera dropped Animal to the ground with an evil smirk before opening his jaws wide and about to chomp down, but he was stopped by her holding his jaw open. She struggled to keep him off, a look of determination on her face.
"If anyone's a freak here… it's you! I will fight with every last breath of my being to protect everyone I care for! I don't care if they see me as a savior or not, the important thing is that I did the right thing to help people!" Animal responded, growling, her wounds and injuries starting to heal much faster, her grip on Chimera's jaw increasing in power before her hands were covered in scales, followed by claws unlike most known to modern creatures, and then she shoved his jaws back, breaking the lower jaw, to Chimera's shock before pushing him off.
"What the?! What's going on?!" Chimera gasped despite his jaw being busted as he saw Animal stand up, wounds and injuries gone as she began to shift once more.
Her legs went digitigrade again, but the tail and resulting feet made it clear what she was becoming as her big toes grew the most prominent claws, some feathers growing on her tail and the back of her head in place of her hair before her head began to shift. Her nose and mouth grew longer and her teeth grew sharper. Her scales looking reddish orange for the most part, but the scales on her front and under her chin were more of a yellow orange, the feathers that grew being a bright white, while her eyes were reptilian, they too were an orangish color.
"I-Impossible! There's no way you could've, but you turned into a dinosaur… a raptor!" Chimera gawked before Animal screeched a seemingly unearthly roar at Chimera and ran towards him.
She then began clawing him in the face like a wild animal, her feet claws piercing through Chimera's torso, making him roar in pain. Animal then began front flipping and started whipping Chimera with her tail before landing gracefully, staring Chimera down.
"Welcome to Jurassic Park, bitch," Animal smirked before leaping once more and then actually biting down on Chimera's head, the mutated monster roaring in agony before she grabbed both of his wings and tore them off with her claws, Chimera screaming in pain, and then Animal jumped off again, tapping her large claw on the ground as if ready for another strike.
"...What're you waiting for? ...Kill me now… With what you're doing now, you're just like the Brotherhood. You think you're doing the right thing? You, the X-Men AND the Brotherhood are the same! So come on… Kill me! KILL ME!" Chimera shouted, and yet when Animal was about to strike again, she stopped, took some deep breaths, and reverted to her human form.
"Why would I kill you? I'm not a sadistic scumbag like you," Animal scoffed, "I know when to let up. I don't kill bastards like you… that's the difference between an animal like myself… and a monster like you," As she finished her sentence, she heard sirens from nearby, indicating that the police was arriving, "Now if you'll excuse me, I believe the hunters are here to catch their prey… you."
With that, Animal flew off as the police came in and surrounded Chimera, all pointing their heavy artillery at him. However, after the beating Animal gave him, and with all the blood loss, Chimera just fell to the ground, exhausted, before he fainted.
Animal then decided to fly back to Boston to check on her parents, and she managed to find them near a restaurant, safe and sound.
"Jessie, honey, are you okay!?" her mother asked frantically.
"Don't worry… I'm fine," Jessie assured before her parents hugged her, "Ow, not too hard please. I'm still trying to recover from all the scratches I took."
"Sorry, Jessie. Are you sure you're gonna be okay? We saw your fight with that… thing on the news," her father asked.
"Yea, don't worry, I'll be fine. Honest," Jessie assured, before her eyebrows raised, "Wait a minute, my fight was on the news?!"
"It was all over the news; every station covered the story and how the fight ended up going to New York," her mom added.
"Please tell me nobody's looking at me," Jessie whimpered, looking around nervously.
"All they saw was someone taking on the monster; the news was more focused on… whatever that thing was to see you clearly," her dad informed as the footage showed up on a nearby TV screen, showing the fight, and it really was more focused on Chimera then it was on her.
"Well, that's a relief. ...Uh… Mom… Dad? If it's all the same with you guys… I think it'd be best if I move back to Professor Xavier's School for the Gifted."
"Huh?!" both her parents gawked.
"But… but why? We've only just reunited after three years, why stay away from us for even longer?" her mom responded, with tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Because… I love you guys. And as much as I want to be with you, I love you more that I'd want to protect you. And if anyone like that monster were to come for me, they would have to get to me through you. Also, because it's a place where people, like me, can be accepted without hesitation or second thought," Jessie explained.
"...Well… if that's what you want, Jessie, then go ahead. We'll be here if you need us, you have our support, and we'll always be with you…" her dad smiled before tapping her chest where her heart is, "...in here."
"...Thank you guys," Jessie thanked before she started tearing up and hugging her parents, "I'll come by to visit you every now and then… okay?"
"Okay," her mother replied, on the verge of tears, "...I'm gonna miss you so much. Don't forget to write, okay?"
"Gotcha,"
With that, Jessie smiled before taking off into the air, waving bye to her parents, before flying back to New York.
Xavier was in the middle of looking through some files before he saw Jessie, back in her normal clothes, walk into his office.
"Ah, Ms. Devon. Welcome back. I heard what happened with the man formerly known as Lewis McCarthy. I think we'll add Chimera to our list of rogues," Charles replied, putting the files away before Jessie sat in a pretzel position on one of the chairs.
"Yea… right. Also, um… if it's okay, Chuck… I'd like to move into your school." Jessie offered, which made Xavier nod in understanding.
"In order to protect your family from rogues such as Chimera, correct? I understand. I'm sure they understood your choice as well," Charles nodded.
"So… is that a yes or a no?" Jessie asked, a bit unclear.
"Yes. You are more than welcome to stay with us," Xavier smiled, "Jessie Devon, welcome to my School for the Gifted, and welcome, to the X-Men."
"Thanks Chuck. Really appreciate it," Jessie smiled, before she got up and walked out.
"...I must admit… that nickname has grown on me a little," Charles admitted.
A few weeks later, Jessie was in the middle of training with Logan, when…
-Ms. Devon, you have a visitor here to see you,- Xavier informed Jessie telepathically.
'I'll be right there,' Jessie told him, signalling Logan to stop their training session before she went to Xavier's office.
She soon arrived at Professor X's office, and with him was a tall black man with a goatee, an eye patch over his left eye, and wearing an all black attire including a black shirt, black jeans, black shoes, and a black leather trenchcoat.
"Who are you? Some kind of pirate or something?" Jessie joked.
"Ms. Devon, show some respect. This is Commander Nick Fury, the leader of the government organization S.H.I.E.L.D.."
"I've heard a bit about S.H.I.E.L.D.. Weren't they the guys who helped form the Avengers?" Jessie inquired.
"Indeed, Ms. Devon. And I have a proposition for you," the man stated with a near-Brooklyn accent, but the tone was clearly that of a man with authority.
"I'm listening."
"I would like to inform you on a new initiative that we are starting up. It's something that we call… Project Young Avenger."
TB: Holy S*CAW!* WHAAAAT?!
KKD: *sees TB's jaw hit the floor and then picked it up, putting it back into place* You sound like you didn't expect this to happen.
TB: That's exactly what I wanted to sound like. That's right, people, we are gonna make Young Avengers. Just… expect some more Marvel stories involving the other members before we get to it.
KKD: Which reminds me, we should've included some sort of hinting towards the next Marvel hero story we'll be working on.
TB: We'll do that in the next one, don't worry. Anyway, favorite parts before we get to said story?
KKD: Hmm… overall, I really like how Jessie turned out as a character. That's what I like about Marvel and will always prefer them over DC; you get these likeable characters with unique pasts and powers. But my personal favorite has to be the scene where she went raptor on Chimera's butt.
TB: Marvel makes their heroes likeable and relatable, don't forget that part. My favorite part was really, that entire battle scene. It was awesome from start to finish, and I really liked writing it.
KKD: Yea, same here. So… anything else you'd like to say?
TB: All of you Marvelites meet us over at the next Marvel story… or should I say stories? Anyway, this has been the Lone Rider, TokuBrony…
KKD: ...And I'm the Crossover King, KKD, thanking you once more for reading. And in the spirit of the franchise we have, and with this story being finished, instead of our usual ending phrases, True Believers, we proudly say…
TB & KKD: EXCELSIOR!