Chapter 71

An Allman

Family Confrontation!

Disclaimer: I got to thinking about this while at work and decided to run with it. I don't think L1 ever actually gave Craig's adoptive parents first names but if he has, I apologize in advance.

The Skid Row Neighborhood In Los Angeles

A dark red SUV pulled up in front of a house that had seen better days in the Neighborhood officially known as Central City East, but also went by the more unofficial name of Skid Row. "Are you sure about this, Craig?" Asked Jean Grey gently to her gruff friend and fellow Mutant.

"I am, this has been a long time comin', Red." Craig 'Darkstar' Allman-Starr told her with a grunt.

"You say the word and I'll be in there with my bat." Sarah told him supportively and causing Jean to scowl at her.

A short lived chuckle came from Craig before he got out of the SUV. "Well, I'll be damned, is that you, Craig!?" Called out one of the neighbors as he spotted him.

"Ya know any other punks with a birthmark like mine, old man?" Asked the young man in a gruff and rhetorical manner.

Ignoring Jean's reprimand from the SUV as Sarah grinned fondly while the old African American man just merely laughed. Long used to Craig's way of things when interacting with others. "Ha! I suppose not, boy! I suppose not! But what in the Sam Hell are you doin' back here!? Ain't no trouble with any Terrorists is there?"

"Nah, just needed to have a word with my old man is all."

The old man's eyes widened in surprised shock at hearing that and let out a breath. "Hot damn!" Craig grunted with a nod and made his way to the front door of the home he'd grown up in, or to put it more accurately for him, the Hell Hole he'd grown up in.

Not bothering to be polite, Craig banged hard on the door until it got him the reaction he wanted. "WHAT THE FU-CRAIG!?" Roared out Rudy Allman in confused anger.

"Yeah, Pops, its me." Replied the young man as he roughly shoved past his adoptive father and into the house he hadn't been in for a good while.

Not even wincing when the door slammed as he took note of all the beer cans and other trash laying around in the living room. "Where's Ma?"

"She's in bed, sick again. Now what the Hell are you doin' here, Mr. Big Shot Army Boy?"

Scoffing at what he'd been told, Craig left the subject of his adoptive mother alone for the time being. "I'm here to find out somethin', old man."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"How did I end up bein' adopted by you and Ma?" Asked the young Mutant bluntly.

Rudy blinked, not having expected that. "What ya wanna know that for, boy!? Looks like ya done found your real so called family accordin' to the news anyhow so why ya wanna know that?"

"So we can find out how exactly me and my Brother were separated, obviously." Came the sarcastic response and the man scowled unhappily at him for it.

"Don't you disrespect me in my house, boy!"

"When there's something to respect, I won't do it."

Snarling furiously, Rudy went to strike at his mouthy punk of a worthless son but found his fist caught in Craig's hand. "Yeah… No." Was all he said and then twisted the fist painfully.

Making Rudy fall to one knee with a yell of pain and a woman's faint voice could be heard somewhere in the house asking what was wrong but was ignored for the time being. "Let… Let me go!" Demanded the man but Craig was refusing to do so.

"Not until you tell me what I wanna know, Pops. Did you and Ma have somethin' to do with separating me from my brother!?"

"N-No! I swear, boy! We had nothin' to do with it and I wish I hadn't let your Momma convince me to adopt your worthless, disrespectful ass after the adoption agency told us about you!" Informed the man painfully as Craig stared him down nonplussed.

He then leaned in while keeping a grip on Rudy's fist. "Out of the two of us, you're the one who's worthless considering what a piece of garbage you are!"

And before Rudy could retort, the man found himself knocked out thanks to Craig's own fist. Letting out a breath, the young man sneered at the knocked out man. "That felt really good. Makes me wish I'd have done it sooner."

"Rudy! What's going on!?" Came Nancy Allman's voice from elsewhere in the house.

Knowing exactly where his Ma was, he headed for the master bedroom and grimaced at the sight of his adopted mother's state. A state of a haggard and beaten woman thanks to time and Rudy Allman's abusive behavior. "Rudy? Is that you?" She asked while trying and failing to see out of her black eyes.

"No, Ma, its Craig." He told her in a more gentle tone than what he would've used with most anyone else as he knelt down on her side of the bed.

"O-Oh, Sweetheart! Your dad knows you're here, ri-right? Y-You know h-he doesn't like surprises."

"He knows, Ma, he just so happened to go out when I showed up." Smirked the young man and unable to help himself with that action.

"O-Oh, that's… That's go-good, Sweetie."

"Yeah, well… What's about to happen is even better."

"What, what do y-you m-mean?" Stammered out the woman in confusion and then let out a startled yelp when she found herself being picked up.

Something that Craig had no difficulty doing thanks to her thin frame. "I'm takin' you outta here, Ma. Might not necessarily have had the greatest relationship between us but you did try and I owe it to that to get you outta this dump and away from the old bastard."

Nancy tried to protest it but the unexpected move of being picked up and barely having any energy as it is meant that she ended up passing out instead. Making his way through the house, Craig decided to use his Eye Laser on the front door to wreck it before kicking what was left out of his way to leave as Rudy remained where he was on the floor. The sight of him carrying an unconscious woman surprised and alarmed the Grey Sisters but Craig's voice got them into action when he told them to open the door for the backseat. "Oh God, what happened to her!?" Sarah asked in horrified shock as they gently got her in the back seat of the SUV.

"Life and my bastard old man. Red, did you get anything from his head?"

"Only that he was telling the truth about how he and your mother adopted you, along with what the Orphanage was called that you were adopted from." She told him shakily as she checked over Mrs. Allman.

Craig sighed disappointedly. "Well, s**t. Guess that's the next step. At least after gettin' her back to base anyway."

"Not a hospital?" Jean asked and unable to stop herself and wincing.

"And have the old man track her there? Nah, too damn risky." He told her and Jean nodded.

"Okay, her head is resting on my lap as comfortably as she's going to get." Announced Sarah as the old man from before approached them.

"Craig, you make sure your mother never comes here again ya hear?"

The old man never had any love for Rudy Allman and he wasn't the only one but sadly, nothing they ever did had been able to be of help. Often times it had caused problems since Rudy hadn't taken the interference too well and the old man knew it was gonna be like that again but he and the rest of the neighborhood would be able to handle it. "I will, you take care, old man."

"You too, son, you too." And with that, the Greys and Craig were gone from the area as the old man and several curious others watched the SUV leave.

Elsewhere In The Country

"One way or another, I am taking you down!" Shouted out the marvelous marvel known as Ms. Marvel, aka Carol Danvers, to a 10 story green and robotic Penguin.

The giant Penguin made a noise at her before making a waddling charge at her and Ms. Marvel made her own charge as well. The resulting clash made for a loud boom and a lot of shaking to occur because of it. "And that's that!" Shouted out Ms. Marvel victoriously as she stared down at the defeated and ruined green Penguin.

But who created this thing? And why?

Author's Notes: Funnily enough, while re-reading L1's 'Uncanny Kid Razor' for the first time in a good while, I got inspired by an incident that occurs in the story where Ms. Marvel keeps seeing a green Penguin that keeps bothering her. Gotta love inspiration!