CHAPTER FOURTEEN: NIGHT ON THE TOWN
Xavier Institute, February 21, 2008
It was Friday afternoon at the Institute as Alison donned her uniform, trying to stay cool. School had let out for the day...but she still had one doozy of a test, left.
The X-Man Qualifying Exam.
A few days ago, she'd managed to score the 100,000 points in her training session to be considered for the Exam. After several days of more intense training, she was ready for it.
Alison couldn't help but be nervous. Only Clark and Logan would be watching her, but that still didn't do anything for her nerves; fewer people would see it if she screwed up...but one of those few would be her tausha, the man she respected above all others.
Then, Alison smiled softly to herself; Clark would still respect her no matter how she did, as long as she did her best. 'I can do this.' she thought. 'I can ace that test!'
Alison turned to her computer, to just briefly check her e-mail before she headed to the Danger Room; she had a few minutes. She logged on to MSN...and frowned as she saw the countless e-mails she'd gotten. That on its own didn't bother her; she enjoyed getting mail from her fans.
But half of the mail wasn't from her fans.
Alison rolled her eyes as she saw who had sent those messages; they were from a guy she'd once had the misfortune to date – of all the losers and creeps she'd encountered, he was the worst: arrogant, pompous, chauvinistic, and he'd wanted to get in her pants from the get-go.
Essentially, he was the Anti-Clark; Clark was everything that he wasn't.
Alison promptly deleted every single one of his messages, and then promptly logged out of MSN. Taking a deep breath, Dazzler left her room, and headed for the elevator.
Reaching the control room, Dazzler saw that Superman – Clark – and Wolverine were already there, in uniform. Superman smiled at her, and Dazzler smiled back nervously. "Ready, Ali?" Superman asked.
Dazzler lightly giggled. "As ready as I'll ever be!"
"This ain't your usual session, Diva." Wolverine said. "This is the kinda stuff that the X-Men do in training. You take three hits, and the test's over."
Dazzler nodded. "Got it." she agreed.
Superman smiled. "Just do your best, Ali; that's all we ask." he added. "I know you can do it."
Her tausha's vote of confidence made Alison blush. "Thanks." she cooed. "Well, here I go!"
"Good luck, taushi!" Superman said. Dazzler just smiled at her sweetie, before taking the elevator down to the Danger Room. As she stepped out into the Danger Room, she switched on her music, and took a deep breath, tapping the boundless confidence she used on stage, as the test began.
Almost instantly, countless laser-turrets popped out of the floor – much more than she normally encountered in training – and began firing on her, with greater accuracy and force than usual. Dazzler quickly channeled her stored energy, forming the sparkling, shielded second-skin over herself, lightly wincing as laser-blasts pelted it; these things hit a lot harder than the ones in her previous sessions.
Well, that was fine with her.
Dazzler clenched her fists, focusing energy into them, before pulling back and letting them fly, unleashing the light-bombs she'd just formed. The concussive blasts lanced through the air, landing in the center of the turrets, erupting in twin explosions that ripped the turrets apart.
Turning, Dazzler was just in time to dive out of the path of numerous robotic drones as they started to open fire on her. Her eyes narrowing, Dazzler quickly generated her hard-light "hover-board," and hopped on, flying over the small army of drones, firing sweeping laser-beams from her hands, utterly destroying them.
Seconds after the last robot was nothing but scrap, a powerful blast shook the air a few feet to her left, causing her to lose focus, her board dissipating. Dazzler fell towards the floor, but quickly rolled into the fall, landing unharmed...to see three large, powerful cannons.
'I hate these things!' Dazzler thought, her eyes narrowing in annoyance. She charged up one of her beams, taking aim...but the floor under her feet suddenly shot up, tossing her into the air, spoiling her aim, as the middle cannon took aim at her.
Dazzler quickly generated a cloud of sparkling haze around her as she turned the motion into a back-flip, causing the cannons to lose their lock on her...and she landed on her feet, unleashing her beam, blasting one cannon apart.
Darting to the side as the remaining two cannons fired, Dazzler formed two hard-light holographic versions of herself, sending extra energy into them; it was time to try a new trick. Concentrating, Dazzler focused the energy in her duplicates, as well as in herself; all three Dazzlers fired energy beams at the second cannon, slicing it in three places, utterly destroying it. Dazzler re-channeled the energy used to make her duplicates, focusing it into a sphere in her hands, and then let it fly at the final cannon, destroying it in a massive blast.
Seconds after the last cannon was destroyed a large buzz-saw extended from the wall, coming straight at her; Dazzler managed to back-flip away, giving herself enough time to generate a hard-light force-field dome around herself, protecting her from the saw, as it clanged harmlessly against the dome. Her eyes narrowing, Dazzler focused more energy into her dome, causing it to glow a brighter gold. She concentrated on the dome, taking aim at the saw; energy collected at one spot on the dome's surface, as a powerful beam shot from the dome, slicing the saw apart, as it clattered harmlessly to the floor.
"Simulation complete."
Dazzler breathed a sigh of relief as she heard that, her dome dissipating, as she sank to her knees, exhausted. She managed a weak smile as Superman walked into the Danger Room towards her, smiling. "Ali, you did it!" he exclaimed. "I knew you could!"
Dazzler smiled. "Thanks." she cooed. "I had no idea that the X-Men's training could be this taxing!"
Wolverine's wry chuckled came in over the audio system. "Well, you'd better get used to it, Diva. You're an X-Man, now, like it or not."
Dazzler beamed at that. She was an X-Man, now. The Institute's finest; the best of the best.
Superman smiled. "I'm so proud of you, taushi." he said, as he helped her up.
Dazzler lightly blushed. "I couldn't have done it without you, tausha." she cooed. "Your training and encouragement really helped me." She smiled. "You're an amazing leader, and a great teacher."
Superman smiled. "You're a great student." he replied. "You've really earned this."
Dazzler smiled shyly. "I hope the other New Mutants aren't upset that I got promoted first."
Superman shook his head. "They're happy for you, Ali. Don't worry." he assured her.
"Okay, show's over, Flyboy. You and Diva can flirt on your own time."
Superman chuckled. "We should probably go." he said, smiling that utterly charming boyish grin, the one that made her knees get wobbly. "Can I buy the newest X-Man a soda?"
Dazzler nodded, smiling. "Definitely...Flyboy!" she teased, before she darted off, giggling. Laughing, Superman ran after her.
In less than a minute, Superman had caught up to Dazzler, and quickly lifted her into his arms, mercilessly tickling her, causing her to erupt in giggles. After a few minutes, Superman stopped, and set Dazzler down. Dazzler smiled up at her boyfriend, looking into his oh-so-impossibly blue eyes, the eyes of the man she loved, who always supported her and was there for her. "I love you, Clarkie." she cooed.
Superman – Clark – smiled, his powerful arms encircling her waist, causing her to sigh; his embrace always made her feel so safe. "I love you, too, Ali." he whispered, and he leaned down to her. Alison smiled, her eyes closing, as she stood up on her toes, anticipating his kiss...
"Argh!!"
The angry exclamation interrupted Clark and Alison's tender moment, as an angry Jean, in uniform, stormed by, followed by Cyclops. "Jean, wait! I didn't mean it like that!" Scott stammered.
"Save it, Scott Summers!" Jean snapped. "Contrary to what you might think, I do not need some 'big, strong man's' help, all the time!!" With that, she stormed off. Sighing, Cyclops headed off after her.
A bewildered Superman and Dazzler could only watch as their friends left. "Okay..." Superman said.
"What was that about??" Dazzler exclaimed.
"Beats me." Superman replied. "We should probably go talk to them."
Dazzler smiled. "Damage-control?"
Superman smiled, nodding. "I'll go talk to Scott; something tells me that Jean doesn't want to hear from anyone with a Y-chromosome, for the moment."
Dazzler nodded. "Okay." she agreed. With that, they both headed after their friends.
Dazzler found Jean in her room, pacing angrily, in her street clothes. "Hey." Alison greeted. "Everything okay?"
"Oh, just fine," Jean said icily, before shouting into the wall, "unless you include having a chauvinist jackass for a boyfriend!!"
Dazzler arched an eyebrow. "I'm guessing there's a story, here."
Jean sighed. "I was doing some one-on-one training with Amara in one of the lower Danger Room levels." she said.
Alison's eyes widened. "Aren't those a little dangerous?"
"I had kept the settings low." Jean replied. "Anyway, we were doing fine, until things started to get a bit hairy; I could have handled things...until Mr. Macho shows up and 'saves the two damsels in distress'!!"
Alison lightly frowned. "He said that?"
"Not in quite those words." Jean muttered. "He said something like, 'no need to thank me; that's what heroes do.'"
Alison frowned. "I'm surprised you didn't kick him, right there."
"I was honestly tempted!"
Alison looked worried. "But...you guys are still okay, right?"
Jean sighed. "I suppose...but I just don't want to deal with him, right now." she said. "I'm just going to hit the mall for a little while..." she smiled slyly, "...using Scott's car, of course."
Alison couldn't help but smile. "No-one would blame you." she said.
Jean lightly smiled. "Sorry if we wrecked yours and Clark's moment."
Alison shook her head. "Don't worry about it." she assured her friend. "Clark and I were going to go out to celebrate my passing the test."
"Congratulations!" Jean exclaimed, giving Alison a quick hug. "We all knew you could do it!"
"Thanks!" Dazzler replied.
Jean lightly smiled. "I hope you and Clark enjoy your date." she said. "Right now, I'm just going to call Taryn and go hit the mall." With that, Jean headed off, heading downstairs. Sighing to herself, Dazzler went to find Clark.
Hopefully, things were better on his end.
Superman found Scott in his room, in his street clothes. "Hey, Scott." he greeted. "Everything okay?"
Scott grimaced. "I screwed up, Clark; big time." he said.
"How so?"
Scott gulped. "I was just going to run a training simulation in the Danger Room – nothing too dangerous – when I saw the monitors for one of the lower levels; Jean and Amara were there."
Superman's eyes widened. "Aren't those levels a bit dangerous?"
"That's what I figured." Scott said. "I just figured I'd check things out, make sure things were okay."
"Sounds reasonable." Superman observed. "What went wrong?"
"When I got there, things were getting a little nutty." Scott continued. "When I saw Jean in danger, I...I panicked, and I blasted the training drones, before stopping the simulation."
"Okay."
Scott's grimace returned. "Jean...was mad that I'd interfered; she said that I thought that she couldn't handle it." he said. "What I'd said before...didn't help, either."
Superman arched an eyebrow. "And that was..?"
Scott gulped. "I'd said, 'No need to thank me; that's what heroes do'."
Superman slapped his forehead. "Scott...you dumbass!" he cried. "Suicide! No wonder Jean was angry!"
"I know!" Scott cried. "The minute I started to say it, part of my brain started screaming 'Abort! Abort!' I told you I was screwed!"
Just then, they heard a car start up, outside, and drove off...a convertible.
Superman grimaced. "I think she just swiped your wheels."
"Hey, I don't mind, right now." Scott said. "At the moment, I just need to lay low, until I can figure out a way to smooth things over with Jean; she can have one scary temper, Clark."
"That might be a good idea." Superman said. "Good luck with that."
"Thanks." Scott replied. With that, Superman left, heading for his own room.
After donning his street clothes, his glasses and his image-inducer, completing his clumsy, nervous persona, Clark headed out of his room, into the corridor, meeting Alison, who was in her "incognito" outfit. "Ready?" Clark asked.
Alison smiled. "Ready!" she replied. Clark smiled, and extended his arm to her. Alison took it, and they headed off.
Bayville Mall
It hadn't taken Jean too long to get to the mall, and met Taryn there. After Jean had explained the situation to her friend, they had both went to the stores they'd needed to go to; Jean stopped by the music store to pick up the newest CD from her favorite group, and then picked up a pack of computer paper; her printer had run out, and there was a big essay coming up. She'd then gone with Taryn to the clothing store, to pick up the dress that Taryn had put on layaway for the annual Girls' Choice Sadie Hawkins Dance in the next month or two. After that, they had both headed to get a coffee.
"So, do you think you and Scott will be okay?" Taryn inquired, sipping her cappuccino.
Jean sighed. "Probably; we just need a little time to cool off, I guess." she said. She still loved Scott, but she just couldn't deal with him, right now.
Taryn smiled. "Good!" she replied. "No matter what he said, Scott's still tons better than over half the guys in Bayville High!"
Jean had to smile in agreement. "True," she said, frowning, "but that doesn't change the fact that sometimes he can be so stupid!"
Taryn chuckled. "I guess when it comes to girls, all guys are a little stupid!" she laughed. She sighed. "As loathe as we are to admit it, that's part of why we love them!"
Jean nodded, smiling. "Thanks for the talk, Taryn." she said.
Taryn smiled. "No problem, Jean!"
Not for the first time, Jean felt horribly guilty about keeping her powers secret from her friend; she and Taryn had been friends ever since she'd come to Bayville, about five years ago. She'd always been Jean's best friend...
...next to a certain ruby-quartz-wearing boy, of course.
Part of Jean wanted to tell her friend her secret, to confide in her the biggest secret she had. She honestly felt that Taryn could handle it, would understand; Taryn was a sweet girl...if just a tiny bit spoiled.
Taryn smiled. "Did you hear about the latest Superman sighting?" she exclaimed.
Jean couldn't help but smile at her friend's infatuation with Clark – the Man of Steel – who had, a few days ago, rescued a medical supply-plane that had nearly been shot down over Afghanistan. "I think so." Jean replied, managing to keep the knowing smile off her face.
"He's so awesome!" Taryn gushed. "Why won't he show himself? Why is he hiding?"
Jean shrugged. "Who knows?"
Taryn then checked her watch. "Sorry, Jean; gotta go." she said. "I hope you and Scott patch things up!"
Jean smiled. "Thanks!" she replied. "Later!" With that, Taryn headed off, and Jean headed for the parking lot, to head home...
"Hey, Jean! Wait up!"
Turning, Jean saw Amara and Tabitha run up to her. "Hey." Jean greeted. "Anything wrong?"
"We were hoping you could give us a lift back to the Institute." Amara said.
Tabitha chuckled. "We heard that you swiped Fearless' ride."
Jean chuckled. "I suppose I could give you a lift." she said. With that, the three of them headed to the parking lot, piled into the convertible, and drove off.
As they drove, Tabitha said, "Guys can be such idiots, sometimes."
Jean nodded. "They certainly can."
"And they can certainly be glory-hogs." Amara added.
"I hear you." Tabitha said. "I mean, sure, Clark does good stuff, and I'm sure he doesn't do it for the glory, but it still gets kinda old hearing about how Superman saves the day, again."
Suddenly, Amara pointed ahead of them, crying out, "Look!"
Jean quickly followed her finger...and spotted the black van, fleeing from police cars ahead of them. The van swerved into a sharp turn, as the police tried to follow, but missed the turn, careening into a dumpster.
Her eyes narrowing in determination, Jean quickly turned the car into a right turn, taking a road parallel to the one the van had taken...a road she knew would turn onto the road the van was taking. "Jean!! What are you doing?!" Amara cried.
"Stopping the bad guys." Jean said. "Now, hang on!" With that, she gunned the engine, tearing down the street.
In seconds, they came out onto another street, the van just ahead of them; no-one else was on the road.
Perfect.
"Amara, use your flame-blasts to melt that van's tires." Jean instructed. "Tabitha, when they slow down, blast off the van's top as soon as they get into range."
Tabitha grinned. "Sure thing!"
"O-Okay." Amara agreed.
Jean accelerated, slowly catching up to the van. Amara took aim, firing a blast of pure flame at the back wheels on the van, superheating them and melting off the tires. The van started to slow down, getting closer to them; Tabitha charged up a few bombs and lobbed them onto the van's canopy as soon as it was in range, blasting a hole in it. At once, Jean used her TK to yank out the two criminals inside the van through the hole, using her telepathy to knock them out. Jean stopped the car, using her TK to hit the brakes on the van, stopping it, before setting the two crooks – drug dealers – in front of their van, and then drove off, leaving them to the police.
Once they were well out of sight, Jean stopped the car, to catch her breath. "Whoa!" Tabitha exclaimed. "Nice driving, Jean! Who'd have thought that Little Miss Perfect was such a maniac driver?"
Jean chuckled. "Thanks...I think." she said. "You two weren't so bad, yourselves." Then, she remembered what she'd seen in the minds of those two crooks before knocking them out. "We'd better head back to the Institute." she added. With that, she drove off, heading back towards the Institute.
New York City
The sun was just starting to set as Clark and Alison sipped their coffees, smiling at each other. It had been easy for Clark to fly them to New York, touching down in an empty alley. They'd gone for a nice walk in Central Park, before stopping at Alison's favorite coffee shop, enjoying the cool crispness of the February air, as well as the blazing orange light of the sunset.
Alison smiled. "This was a great idea, Clarkie." she said. "The sunset is beautiful."
Clark smiled back. "I thought you might like it." he replied.
Alison giggled. "The only thing better would have to be watching the sunrise at over 1000 feet."
Clark chuckled. "One of the perks of dating Superman, I guess." he said softly.
Alison smiled sweetly. "I have to share Superman with the whole world," she whispered, "but I'm content to keep Clark Kent all to myself."
Clark was smiling so much, he was surprised his face didn't cramp up.
Alison then looked worried. "But I hope that Scott and Jean work things out." she said.
"They will." Clark assured her. "Those two have been crazy about each other for as long as I can remember. They'll work things out. This is just the first time that the 'respect' issue in their relationship came up, like it did for us, a couple of months ago."
Alison nodded. "Yeah, I know!" she agreed. "I was seriously mad at you, because I thought you didn't think I could handle the higher Danger Room settings, and I was also hurt that you doubted me."
Clark nodded sadly. "I'm really glad that we worked it out, soon, Ali." he said. "I don't think I could have stood you being angry with me for too long."
Alison lightly blushed, as her hand reached his, her fingers entwining comfortably with his own. "You needn't have worried." she cooed. "Angry or not, my heart was yours, the minute I saw you, again."
Clark smiled. "And I do respect you, taushi." he said softly.
Alison sighed. "I'll never get tired of you calling me that, tausha." she cooed. And with that, she leaned towards him, her eyes closing. Clark smiled, and leaned towards him, chuckling as Alison grasped his collar and pulled him the rest of the distance between their faces, to show him just how delicious chocolate-laced mocha could be.
As their kiss ended, Clark smile warmly at the woman he loved...and then froze, as his hearing picked up a distress call. "Uh-oh."
Alison giggled, knowing that phrase all too well. "You'd better get going." she cooed. "I'll wait right here for you."
Clark grinned. "Have I told you lately how absolutely wonderful you are?"
Alison giggled, her face taking an alluring rose color. "Not lately." she sweetly pouted.
"Well, you are." Clark said, punctuating the sentence with a quick kiss. "I'll be back soon, baby; I promise." With that, he hurried off, darting into an empty alley, before removing and hiding his clothes and inducer, revealing his uniform underneath, and then taking to the sky, flying off at top speeds, a sonic boom echoing behind him.
As Clark headed off, Alison smiled happily to herself; she had to be the luckiest girl in the world...
Suddenly, her cell-phone started to ring, and she answered it. "Hello?"
"Hello, my dearest Alison."
Alison frowned, her good mood dispelled by his voice as easily as thoughts of Clark could summon it. "What do you want, Shaw?"
The 20-year-old Shinobi Shaw chuckled on the other end of the line. "Oh, not much. I was merely hoping that we could have dinner, tonight."
Alison suppressed her disgust. "Didn't you hear? I already have a boyfriend!"
"So I've heard." Shinobi said, his voice edged with disdain. "Alison, my dear, you can't be serious about some nobody!"
"Don't talk about my sweetie that way!!" Alison snapped.
"But honestly, what can this 'Kal' give you that I cannot?" Shinobi asked. "Next to my father, I am one of the wealthiest..."
"That's your problem, Shaw!" Alison snapped. "You always think that the world will revolve around you if your wallet is big enough; that if you throw enough money around, everyone will bend over backwards for you!!"
Shinobi chuckled. "That didn't stop you from going to dinner with me."
Alison gritted her teeth, remembering the one time she'd gone on a date with him. "I dated you, Shaw, because I honestly thought that your cultured, gentlemanly act was real!" she retorted. "Now, I know better! Not only that, I'm with someone; someone who's better than you in every conceivable way!"" She smiled wryly to herself, as she remembered putting him in his place after he'd tried to persuade her to come to his place. "I suggest you stop calling me, Shaw, and that you stop sending me all those e-mails; otherwise, I'll track you down, and kick you in that place, just like I did before! And this time, I'll be wearing steel-toed boots!" And with that, she hung up.
Alison sighed to herself. 'I can't believe I even dated that jerk.' she thought. It had been when she'd just started her career, when doors were opening for her; she'd been a little star-struck by the whole thing, and at how all sorts of hot guys were showing interest in little her. She'd quickly learned that most guys on that scene were absolute jerks...with Shinobi Shaw – the son of the richer-than-sin industrialist Sebastian Shaw – was the biggest jerk of them all; his lifestyle was disgustingly decadent, and he assumed that anything – and anyone – was his to buy.
Well, not her. After realizing her mistake, Alison had tried to leave their date, but Shinobi had tried to coax her into coming back to his place...
...at which point, Alison had kicked him in the groin.
Suddenly, Alison overheard a radio bulletin, snapping her out of her recollection: "...reports are coming in of five known drug dealers on the run from police; two have been chased to Bayville, while the other three are on the run in New York..."
Alison stopped listening to the report as a black car streaked in front of the coffee shop...followed by four police cars. The crooks were heading down a side street...towards a populated area.
She had to do something.
Quickly, Alison zipped into an empty alley, shedding her own street clothes, revealing her own uniform underneath; like she'd once said, Clark's habits were rubbing off on her. After hiding her clothes, Dazzler concentrated, forming her hard-light board, and flew up out of sight, above the building-tops, and flew after the crooks. As she flew, she snapped open her communicator. "Dazzler calling Superman." she said. "I'm tracking three perps over New York; I may need backup."
"I'm on my way." Superman replied. With that, Dazzler shut off her communicator, and chased after the crooks.
Dazzler followed the car into a particularly nasty part of New York – one less-than-affectionately known as Hell's Kitchen. Dazzler kept the car in her sight as she followed it from above, out of sight. Suddenly, one of the crooks leaned out of the car window, opening fire at the police cars, causing the lead police car to swerve, blocking off the others, allowing the crooks to get away.
Her eyes narrowing, Dazzler formed a flare-blast, flew down a bit, and lobbed it in front of the getaway car; the flare erupted in a flash of light, blinding the crooks, causing the car to spin out of control...
...towards a little old lady on the sidewalk.
Dazzler gasped in horror, and tried to form a force-filed to protect the old lady, hoping it wasn't too late...
Suddenly, a powerful gust of gale-force wind picked up from nowhere, blowing the old lady out of the way, taking her well away from the car, which crashed into a building, at the spot she'd just been in. Confused but grateful, the old lady hurried off.
Dazzler breathed a relieved sigh, and lightly smiled as Superman hovered beside her. "Oops..." she said sheepishly.
Superman looked at her sternly. "Be more careful, next time, Ali." he said.
Just then, the three crooks got out of the wrecked car. "L-Let's get out of here!" he cried. "T-This is the Devil's turf!!" With that, the three crooks started to run.
With expert aim, Superman unleashed a blast of his freeze-breath, coating the asphalt with ice, causing the last crook to slip and fall, out cold. Concentrating, Dazzler formed a hard-light wall in front of the second fleeing crook; the crook ran right into it, knocking himself out.
Only the last crook managed to escape into the nearby alley...as a blur of dark red darted above the alley.
Dazzler's eyes widened. "What was that?"
Superman's eyes narrowed. "I think I might know." he said. He flew towards the alley, floating above it, and Dazzler followed.
The last remaining crook ran through the alley, his eyes wide with fright, his breathing ragged, his heart racing. 'Oh man, Mikey and Jimmy are gone...the Devil got 'em...and he's gonna get me, too, I know it...'
Suddenly, the crook heard something, and nearly jumped out of his skin, whirling around...and saw nothing. He turned back to run off...
...and was suddenly yanked right off his feet, dragged screaming straight up...to come face-to-face with him.
He was tall, his frame athletic, his entire body completely red, with only a jutting of human flesh at his chin and mouth – like an afterthought – and a belt around his waist, with his crazy billy-club-cable-shooter in his hand, the cable around his ankle, and red boots on his feet...to hide his cloven hooves, probably...and his eyes...
...his eyes were pure, glassy red, no iris or pupil whatsoever.
It was the Devil himself.
"Oh, God, don't hurt me!!" the crook bawled.
"Who put you up to this?!" the Devil roared.
The crook whimpered. "I...I can't..."
The Devil snarled, and held him over the edge menacingly. "TELL ME!!!"
"It was the Kingpin!!" the crook cried, tears of fright streaming from his eyes. "He wanted this job taken care of quickly, 'cause he's got some new client coming in!"
"Who?!"
"I swear to God, I don't know!!!" the crook bawled. "All I know is that this new guy wanted some shipment of heavy-duty firepower; it's coming through Bayville, tomorrow night! That's all I know, I swear!!!"
The Devil's mouth twitched with disgust, as his fist slammed across the crook's jaw, knocking him out.
After knocking out the crook, Daredevil lowered him to the ground, for the police to find, flicking his wrist to release the cable of his modified billy-club, retracting the cable and clipping the club to his belt. His job finished, he turned to go...and stopped.
Someone else was here.
He could feel them; a regular sound was pulsing through his enhanced senses. His world was dark, illuminated by the sounds around him. 'Heartbeats.' Daredevil thought, tracking the regular pulses of blue-silver illumination that rippled his "second sight." 'There's two of them...and they're fliers; they're right above my heads...wait.' Daredevil paused. 'One heartbeat is normal, but the other one...the pulse-pattern...it's all wrong...'
Daredevil looked up, his senses now perceiving his 'guests'; one was a man, and a powerfully-built one, judging from the silhouette his senses were picking up, and he was floating there, in the air; it was his heartbeat that was different – it was regular, but its pattern was nothing like that of a regular human's. The other was a young woman, and she was also flying...no, she was standing on something, judging by her stance, as his senses picked up something beneath her feet; it barely registered with him, but it was there.
"Daredevil." the man said. "Spider-Man said that you patrolled this neighborhood; hope you don't mind us on your turf."
Under his cowl, Daredevil blinked...and then that statement registered with him. "Word is that Spider-Man has a friend in high places," he said, "and I'm guessing that's you...Superman."
The silhouette nodded. "We managed to get the other two criminals." he said.
Daredevil's eyes narrowed behind his cowl. "If you're expecting a 'good job,' don't hold your breath." he growled; this 'Superman' was just a kid...just like Spider-Man.
Superman didn't even bat an eye, judging from his heart-rate. "There's an arms shipment coming through Bayville, is there?"
Daredevil nodded. "I'll have to pay Fisk's goons a little visit." he said; he'd been waiting for the Kingpin to make a move.
"Need any backup?" the girl asked.
Daredevil frowned. "I work alone." he snapped. "Stay out of my way." With that, he darted off, running across the rooftops, leaping from one roof to the next, until he was certain that he hadn't been followed.
Superman and the girl weren't following him.
Changing direction, Daredevil headed for an old clock tower, using his cable to climb to the highest level, standing before the massive steel door with three combination locks in it. Reaching out, Daredevil spun them all at once, listening, and then stopping each one as it clicked, before opening the door, and closing it behind him.
He was home.
Alone, Matthew "Matt" Murdock removed his cowl, before hanging it up, and then hanging up his belt and billy-club, before changing out of his costume, to take a long shower, to soothe his aching muscles.
He'd been doing this for a while, now...and it didn't get any easier.
As the hot water soothed him, Matt frowned, his sightless eyes narrowing. He finally had a chance to strike at the Kingpin, the man who'd taken his sight...and his father.
Matt had lost his sight as a child, from a leaky vat of radioactive waste that Fisk had been moving illegally through Hell's Kitchen; it had taken his sight...and super-enhanced all his other senses. Then, when his father, the boxer Jack "The Devil" Murdock, had refused to throw a fight...Fisk had him killed.
That was why Matt fought criminals as a lawyer during the day...and as Daredevil during the night.
Getting out of the shower, Matt headed for the specially-constructed vat of Epsom-salt-water that he slept in, to take a brief nap before starting his nightly patrol.
Crime never slept...and neither did he.
Superman and Dazzler could only watch as Daredevil darted off. "So...that's Daredevil." Superman commented.
Dazzler frowned. "Nice guy."
"Yeah; Spider-Man said that he was an...'acquired taste'."
Dazzler lightly chuckled, before smiling sheepishly. "Sorry about that mishap." she said. "I guess I still have more training to do."
Superman lightly smiled. "Well, no-one was hurt, so no harm done."
Dazzler nodded. "I guess you're going to check out that arms deal, tomorrow night." she said. She chuckled. "Won't Daredevil be surprised!"
Superman nodded, smiling...before he froze. "Uh-oh."
Dazzler smiled. "Trouble again?" she asked.
Superman nodded. "Sorry."
Dazzler shook her head, before kissing him on the cheek. "Don't worry about it." she said. "Just get going; I can catch the bus home!" Superman smiled, and then took off at top speeds, as Dazzler flew her light-board back to the alley near the coffee shop, to pick up her clothes and go home.
By the time Jean, Amara and Tabitha had returned to the Institute, it was very early in the evening. Jean had time to think on the drive back to the Institute...
...enough to get an idea.
After parking Scott's car, Jean quickly sent a telepathic message to Rogue and Kitty, telling them to meet them in the living room, which was thankfully empty. Once they were all there, Jean simply popped a DVD into the DVD player, and sat down to watch. 'Everyone sit and watch, so no-one gets suspicious.' she sent to them.
Confused, the other girls complied. 'Why are we talking like this?' Rogue thought.
'So Clark doesn't hear us.' Jean answered.
Kitty blinked. 'Why don't we want him to hear us?' At that, Jean quickly informed the others of what she'd discerned: there were two arms shipments coming through Bayville – a large one, tomorrow night...and a smaller one tonight.
After Jean had finished, Amara thought, 'Shouldn't we tell Clark?'
Jean shook her head. 'Clark's hopelessly honest; if we told him about it, we'd also have to tell him how we found out...at which point he'd be obligated to tell the Professor.' she sent to them. Smiling slyly, she added, 'Besides, I thought we could handle this one.'
Tabitha lightly grinned. 'So, what's the plan?'
Kitty's eyes widened. 'Wait...we're actually doing this?!'
Rogue shrugged. 'I'm in.'
Amara nodded. 'Okay.'
Jean turned to Kitty. 'What do you say?'
'O...Okay.' Kitty agreed.
'Good.' Jean sent to them. 'Now, here's what we'll do...'
Night had fallen over the warehouse district of Bayville, and a calm silence had fallen over one warehouse...which was broken by the sound of engines.
Several black vans pulled up to the warehouse, stopping as numerous armed men got out, several of them opening the back doors of their vehicles...revealing numerous heavy-looking crates.
"Okay, guys, we gotta make this quick." the leader said. "The boss wants this stuff moved in as soon as possible, on account of the rest comin' in tomorrow night, on the other side of the district." At that, the criminals got to work, lifting up the crates and starting to move them into the warehouse.
Suddenly, two crooks stopped in mid-carry, as a single, small glowing sphere rolled in front of them. The criminals looked at the sphere in confusion...
Pop!
The sphere exploded in a loud burst, startling the crooks and forcing them to drop their crate, which crashed on the ground, spilling its contents – high-powered rifles – onto the street.
At that moment, streams of pure flame streamed in from the darkness, setting the crates ablaze. The crooks let out a yell, and ran to put out the fires consuming their contraband cargo; they managed to extinguish the flames, but the weapons were damaged beyond repair.
As the criminals looked at their cargo in despair, an unseen force suddenly yanked their firearms from their hands, tossing them aside. "What the hell is goin' on?!" the leader yelled...and then he saw them.
Five figures – five girls – standing at the edge of the shadows. One had darker skin, and long brown hair, clad in black leather pants and a black halter-top. One had light skin, with mid-length white-streaked auburn hair, wearing black pants and a black jacket. One had mid-length blond hair, in black pants and a black backless halter-top. One had long brown hair tied in a ponytail, in a black halter-top and black pants. And one had long red hair, clad in a black vest and black pants. All five were wearing black shades.
They had done this.
Enraged, the criminals ran at the five, murder in their eyes. As two closed on her, the redhead whirled into a spin-kick, taking out one, and then following with a foot-sweep, taking out the other.
The blonde backed away from the three crooks that were closing on her...before she grinned, holding out a handful of glowing spheres, before tossing them at the crooks; the bursts temporarily blinded them, allowing her to take them out with ease.
The pony-tailed brunette ran at one crook...and seemed to go right through him, before leaping towards a wall, and then leaping off of it, tackling him and knocking him out.
The dark-skinned girl's eyes narrowed, as she pointed at two criminals, unleashing blasts of flame, sending them running.
The auburn-haired girl slammed one criminal with a side-kick, before getting a second with a back-kick, and then finishing with a split-kick, taking out two more.
By then, the gun-runners had decided enough was enough, and ran for their vehicles, piling inside and starting the ignition...and then the pony-tailed girl ran through the engines, shorting them out, somehow. Then, as police sirens began to echo in the distance, the five girls slipped away, leaving them to their fate.
As they darted away, to watch the police arrest the gun-runners from a distance, Jean felt a surge of triumph. 'Well, those weapons won't be seeing the light of day.' she thought.
"That was awesome!" Kitty exclaimed.
Tabitha grinned. "We rock!"
Jean smiled, and then her expression turned a bit grave. "This was a good start," she agreed, "but there are probably plenty more criminals out there."
Rogue smirked. "Then whah don't we go teach 'em a lesson?"
Amara nodded. "So...what should we call ourselves?"
Jean smiled. "How about...'the Bayville Sirens'?" she suggested, and the others all nodded. "Let's go!" With that, they darted into the night, to find more crimes to stop.
It was very early in the morning when Deadpool got the call. Granted, he wasn't too thrilled at having to come in at this hour...
...but when the Kingpin himself told you to report in, you didn't say no.
Deadpool had quickly reported to the high-tech office that was the hub of the Kingpin's criminal empire, and stood in front of the desk where the big man himself sat. "I understand that you were involved in a small debacle, some short time ago, Mr. Wilson." he said.
"Yeah...I admit it, I goofed." Deadpool said, as he remembered how those freak kids – and Superman – had made a mess of his job with that weirdo Mesmero.
Fortunately, he'd demanded a deposit on that job.
"Indeed." Fisk said. "I have just heard of another such debacle, involving a shipment of mine."
"Ouch."
"Yes." Fisk agreed. "I have another such shipment coming in, this coming night, and I require some...protection for my investment."
Under his mask, Deadpool grinned. "Is that right?"
Fisk nodded, smiling. "I assure you, you will be well compensated for your time."
Deadpool chuckled. "Consider your stuff safe, big guy!" he laughed.
The Kingpin smirked. "I appreciate the sentiment, Mr. Wilson, but I am afraid that I require more than your services alone." he said. "On this assignment, you will have assistance."
It was at this point that Deadpool noticed someone else standing in the shadows...who walked into view.
He was fairly tall, and of athletic build, his head completely bald, with a target-reticule-shaped tattoo in the middle of his forehead, and a thin beard around his mouth, and cold blue eyes, clad in a black overcoat and black pants.
'Bullseye.' Deadpool thought. 'Terrific.'
The assassin known only as Bullseye smirked, walking fully into view. "I think I can give ol' Wadey a hand." he said, his voice having an Irish accent.
"Good." the Kingpin said. His tone turned cold. "Do not fail."
Deadpool nodded. "We won't, boss." he said. "Anyone tries anything, we'll stick it to 'em good."
It was Saturday morning at the Institute when Superman returned from his patrol. After changing in his room, Clark headed down to the kitchen, where the others were having breakfast...all except Scott and Alison. Scott, he knew, was avoiding Jean for the time being, but as for Ali, he didn't know.
"Hey, CK." Evan greeted. "Busy night?"
Clark shrugged. "A little."
Kitty giggled. "Crime-fighting sure can be strenuous, huh?" That statement earned a giggle from Amara and a knowing smile from Tabitha.
Clark arched an eyebrow, and was about to ask what on earth that was about, when Bobby spoke up. "Hey, did you guys hear? A whole bunch of crimes got busted up by a group of vigilantes calling themselves the 'Bayville Sirens,' last night!"
"Yeah, I know!" Jubilee agreed. "Hey, Clark, did you see them, last night?"
Clark shook his head. "Sorry; I was mostly over Europe and Asia, last night; there were a few incidents that I had to help with." he replied. "Hey, has anyone seen Ali?"
As if on cue, Alison walked into the kitchen, in her blue bathrobe, holding a heart-shaped box of chocolates, a frown on her face. "Wow, Clark, chocolates?" Kitty exclaimed. "You sure know how to treat a girl right!"
Alison smiled weakly. "If only these were from Clark, Kitty." she explained. Frowning, she added, "These are from Shinobi Shaw, an ex-date of mine who can't seem to take a hint! God, first he calls me, yesterday, and now this?!" Her eyes narrowed. "If he thinks a few dumb candies are going to win me over, he's even dumber than I thought!"
Clark suppressed a sheepish smile; he remembered accidentally overhearing part of that cell-phone conversation. At the time, it had made his blood start to boil, to think of his precious taushi being mistreated by someone like that...and he had been proud to hear how she'd handled herself. "I'll just go ask Scott if he wants anything." Clark said...noting the light frown on Jean's face at the mention of Scott's name.
She was still a little mad.
"Good idea." Alison said. Chuckling, she handed the box of candies to Roberto. "Don't say I never gave you anything, DeCosta." she quipped.
Chuckling, Clark excused himself, to check on his teammate...and stopped as he realized that Alison had followed him. "Clarkie," she said sweetly, a knowing smile on her face, "when Shaw called me, yesterday...were you listening in on me?"
Clark's face had to be as red as his cape. "Uh...well...a little." he admitted. "But it wasn't on purpose! I was just checking the emergency frequencies when I happened to hear your voice...and then I heard that guy Shaw's voice..."
Alison smiled, and gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek. "Then you know what I said to him." she cooed. "Clark, he's nothing compared to you; he's just a spoiled, chauvinistic creep." She smiled at him lovingly. "I love you, tausha."
Clark smiled. "I know that, taushi." he said. Frowning, he added, "It just makes me mad to actually think of someone like him mistreating you. You deserve so much better than someone like him."
Now it was Alison's turn to blush. "Well, I did give him a swift kick when he started acting up."
Clark chuckled. "I would have given anything to see that!" he chuckled. His expression saddened. "I just wished I could have met you again sooner, Ali."
Alison lightly chuckled. "Maybe it's for the best that we reunited when we did." she cooed. "I would have loved to date you a year ago, Clarkie, but I think I would've been terrified if you'd asked me out, back then." She smiled. "I'm just happy to be with you, now."
Clark smiled. "Me, too, Ali." he said, and he embraced her, holding her close, savoring her happy sigh. Looking down, he saw that the hem of her robe had slightly loosened, revealing the creamy skin of her swan-like neck, as well as the blue strap of her sleepwear over her shoulder. Clark leaned down, and placed a gentle kiss upon the side of her throat.
Alison lightly gasped with pleasure. "Wow, Clarkie," she cooed, "Kitty was right; you do know how to treat a girl."
Clark lightly smiled. "I just wish I could give you chocolates, taushi." he said. "As an intern at the Bugle, with a boss as tight as JJ, my salary is practically nonexistent."
Alison giggled, sweetly kissing the tip of his nose. "You big blue goof." she teased. "You've already given me the best gift of all; something that Shinobi Shaw – with all his money – can't give me." Her eyes shone at her next words.
"Love."
Clark smiled, and leaned down to his taushi, to capture her lips with his own...
...when his hearing picked something up.
Clark must have groaned out loud, judging from Alison's giggle. He chuckled. "I must have the worst sense of timing!" he joked.
Alison laughed. "Probably!" she teased. "But that's one of the many reasons why I love you." She smiled. "I guess you'll be helping Daredevil, tonight?"
Clark nodded. "As much as I'd love having a crime-fighting partner as lovely as you, Ali, you might want to sit this one out; these guys are going to be moving some high-powered weapons..."
"Don't worry, Clark." Alison assured him. "After that little mess-up, yesterday, I think – at least for now – I'll leave the crime-fighting to you."
Clark smiled. "Thanks for understanding."
"Don't worry...now get going!" Alison laughed. Chuckling, Clark darted into his room, shedding his clothes, clad in his uniform once more, and then darting to the nearest window, opening it, and flying off at top speeds.
The sun was just beginning to set by the time Scott ventured out of his room. He'd spent the entire day working on his upcoming English paper...
...which also served as the perfect excuse to stay out of Jean's way.
Coming down into the living room, Scott saw that no-one else was there; the New Mutants – most of them, at least – were off doing other things, and Jean had gone out...as well as Amara, Tabitha, Kitty and Rogue, which Scott found a bit odd.
Shrugging, Scott sat down to watch some TV, as well as think of a way to make up with Jean...
...when he saw it.
It was a video clip of those vigilantes, the Bayville Sirens, caught on tape as they fled the scene. The image was slightly blurred...
...but the ruby-red hair of one of the Sirens was unmistakable.
Scott quickly hurried out of the living room, meeting Kurt just as he was coming back into the Institute, returning from his date with Amanda. "Kurt, I need your help." Scott said.
"Vat happened?" Kurt inquired.
"Suit up and meet me outside, Kurt; I'll explain on the way." Scott replied. With that, they both hurried off, to help their friends.
Alone in her room, Alison was sitting at her computer, checking her e-mail; thankfully, all her new messages were from her fans. Absently, she clicked on MSN News...
...and saw the video clip of the Sirens.
Alison's eyes widened in horrified recognition. 'Jean, Kitty, Rogue, Amara and Tabitha are the Sirens...and they're probably going to go after that arms shipment! The one that Clark and Daredevil are going after!' she thought. Her friends could be walking into a war-zone...
She had to tell Clark.
Quickly, Alison suited up, before forming her hard-light board and flying off, hoping she had enough energy to get there.
She hoped she wasn't too late.
As the darkness of night fell over Bayville, Daredevil crouched on the rooftop overlooking the warehouse where the deal was to take place. His brow furrowed as his senses probed through the warehouse's walls. 'There's a good twenty guys in there, all with access to heavy firepower...this is gonna be tricky...'
Suddenly, his senses caught another sound; a heartbeat...but it was like no heartbeat he'd ever heard before...except for one time...
"Need any help?"
Daredevil softly cursed under his breath as Superman touched down. "Didn't you hear me, kid?" he snapped. "I work alone."
"Well, since you were in my neck of the woods, I figured I'd do the neighborly thing and help you out." Superman replied. "Looks a bit tricky, in there."
"I know." Daredevil muttered. "Twenty guys, all with access to high-powered weapons."
"I counted twenty-two." Superman corrected. "Two of them aren't your regular crooks. I recognize one of them – Deadpool – but the other's new; he's in a black overcoat, all bald..."
Behind his cowl, Daredevil arched an eyebrow. "...and a targeting symbol tattooed on his head?"
"How did you know?"
"Bullseye." Daredevil said, his voice edged with ice. "We've met." 'And I damn near lost the woman I loved because of him.'
"I see." Superman said. "Is he dangerous?"
"He's one of the deadliest assassins in the business." Daredevil muttered. "He can kill anyone with any thrown object."
Daredevil could hear the frown in Superman's voice. "Great."
Suddenly, Daredevil's senses picked up another heartbeat; this one was normal. Seconds later, his hearing revealed the glowing echo-outline of a young woman hovering in the air, standing on some kind of board.
It was the same girl from yesterday.
"Dazzler?" Superman said. "What are you doing here?"
"The Bayville Sirens are our friends, Superman!" the girl – Dazzler – exclaimed. "They're Jean, Kit, 'Mara, Rogue, and Tabby! They're probably going after the same crooks you guys are!"
Daredevil's eyes narrowed as his senses picked up the sounds of conflict coming from inside the warehouse. "Sounds like they're here." he muttered.
Superman nodded. "We'd better get moving; they have no idea what they're in for." he said. Daredevil nodded reluctantly, before firing his cable, swinging towards the warehouse, followed by Superman and Dazzler.
Inside the warehouse, the Kingpin's hired goons were busy unloading the crates of weaponry, as Deadpool and Bullseye looked on. Bullseye scoffed. "This is stupid. Why are we gettin' paid to babysit a bunch o' chumps?"
Deadpool chuckled. "Hey, money's money!"
Suddenly, several small glowing spheres rolled into view near one crate...and exploded, sending high-tech rifles flying everywhere. Deadpool whirled around. "What the fu..?!"
Seconds later, blasts of flame streaked in from the shadows, setting numerous crates ablaze, sending the goons into a panic. "Can it, ya wankers!" Bullseye cursed. "Someone get the fire-extinguishers!"
As several workers ran for the extinguishers, an unseen force lifted them up into the air, before slamming them into each other, knocking them out. Scared, the rest of the workers ran for it, leaving the two of them to deal with this. Deadpool snarled, and drew his machine-gun...as five teenage girls, all in black, walked into view.
The "Bayville Sirens."
Deadpool took aim at them, his eyes narrowing, as he recognized some of them. "Still sticking your noses in other people's business, huh?" he snarled. "Not this time!!" With that, he opened fire.
The redhead raised her hand, forming some kind of shield in front of her, which repelled all of Deadpool's bullets. At that, Bullseye grinned, before pulling out a handful of throwing-stars, and throwing them at an angle...causing them to ricochet around the shield...
...only to be blasted away by a red beam, seemingly coming from nowhere.
Cackling like a maniac, Deadpool opened fire again, peppering the spaces the Sirens had been with bullets. As he quickly reloaded, the pony-tailed brunette ran at him, grabbed the barrel of the gun...and somehow made it slip right out of his hand, as she tossed it aside. Snarling, Deadpool drew his knife to slash at her...but she just passed right through him.
Bullseye had taken notice, and threw a handful of throwing-stars at her, causing her to dodge them, messing up her counter-attack. Bullseye grinned, and readied another barrage...
...when a cable with a heavy grappling-tip lanced in at him, knocking him back.
Bullseye staggered back, momentarily dazed as a figure in red dropped from the ceiling. "Fisk doesn't pay you enough for what I'm about to do to you, Bullseye." he growled.
Bullseye's face twisted in fury. "Killing you, Devil, is something I'd do for free!!" With that, he let fly a barrage of throwing-blades...
Suddenly, a sonic boom echoed overhead, as Superman dropped through the skylight, landing effortlessly, Bullseye's blades bouncing off his chest harmlessly.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to throw things at people?"
Bullseye's eyes widened in surprise...before they narrowed in pure rage. "You...made...me...MISS!!!!"
Deadpool was just as steamed as Bullseye at the sight of Superman. "YOU!!" he snarled. "Bet you thought it was pretty funny, watching me scorch my hands on my own grenades, eh, Boy Scout?!" He quickly drew a grenade, and pulled the pin. "That ain't happening, this time!!" With that, he lobbed the grenade at Superman...
...only to have it hit a shimmery force-field that had just appeared, to come flying back towards him.
Deadpool's eyes widened in horror. "Oh...FUCK!!!"
Deadpool only had enough time to dive out of the way of his own weapon, which blasted a hole in the warehouse wall. At that, he heard a feminine giggle, as a blonde-haired teenage girl in a silver uniform stepped into view. "Superman just said not to throw things." she said. "Weren't you listening?"
Deadpool snarled, drawing another firearm. 'The Devil's right...I ain't gettin' paid enough for this...'
Superman's eyes narrowed as he assessed the situation; if those burning crates weren't contained, the fire could spread. "Dazzler, use your force-fields to smother those flames!" he instructed. Dazzler nodded, and generated a force-field around several burning crates, depriving the flames of oxygen.
By then, Jean and the others had recovered enough to realize what they were doing; Jean quickly formed a telekinetic shield-bubble around Dazzler, giving Superman the opportunity to use his freeze-breath to extinguish the rest of the flames.
Snarling in fury, Bullseye picked up a few sharp pieces of wood, and threw them at Superman...but Daredevil intercepted the attack, using his billy-club to deflect each and every one, before closing on Bullseye and slamming him with a haymaker-punch, knocking him back...right into the waiting hand of Rogue, whose bare hand instantly drained the assassin, knocking him out.
By then, Deadpool had started to rummage through some of the wrecked crates...and found a flamethrower. His eyes glistening with mad glee, he strapped on its pack, took aim at Kitty and Amara, and fired a constant stream of flame at them...causing them to fizzle into nothingness.
Deadpool was confused...until a beam of light sent him flying, as Dazzler chuckled, standing next to the real Kitty and Amara. Deadpool growled in fury, and pulled the trigger...but nothing happened.
The fuel line to the flamethrower had been pulled, as a cloud of brimstone lingered where he'd just been.
Amara darted over to Deadpool, lightly igniting the pack, forcing him to remove it, and stamp on it to put out the fire...giving Kitty enough time to grab the rest of his weapons and phase them off of him.
After Deadpool had extinguished the flames, he noticed that he was standing in a small field of glowing spheres.
Tabitha laughed as her bombs started to go off, causing the mercenary to start hopping around like a character in an old western movie whose feet were being shot at. Once all the blasts had gone off, Deadpool fell, out cold.
By then, police sirens had started to sound, and Superman knew that they had to go. "Well, it was nice working with you, Dare...devil?"
Daredevil was gone; he'd left without a sound. At that, Superman, Dazzler, and the others promptly left the warehouse, leaving things to the police.
Superman, Dazzler, and the "Sirens" had regrouped on a rooftop. Superman frowned, his arms folding as he looked at his friends. "What exactly were you five doing in there?" he said sternly.
Jean frowned. "The same thing you do."
"Yeah!" Tabitha agreed. "You go out every night and bust a few heads! Why can't we?"
"Here's one good reason." Superman countered. "I'm bulletproof, Tabitha. When I fight crime, I have a little less to worry about than you do." He looked to Jean. "Can you honestly say that you can cover the others from gunfire all the time, Jean? You – all of you – could have been seriously hurt. Is that what you want?"
Superman's eyes narrowed. "If you wanted to fight crime because you wanted to make a difference, that's a different issue altogether." he continued. "But if you did this just to prove a point...that's just plain stupid. None of you needs to earn anyone's respect at the Institute; you've always had it," he glanced to Jean, "from everyone."
Dazzler nodded. "The only reason I came out here was to warn Kal that you guys might show up." she agreed. "I'm not in any hurry to try this stuff again."
The five Sirens looked thoughtful at those words. "Are...you going to tell the Professor?" Kitty asked.
Superman's expression was neutral. "I don't think it's my place to tell him." he said. "I'll let you decide whether or not to tell him...provided that tonight was the last appearance of 'the Bayville Sirens'."
Jean nodded. "That's fair." she said.
Superman smiled. "Let's go home, then." he said. With that, he took to the air, as Dazzler generated her light-board, and the others headed down to their vehicle, to head back to the Institute.
It was nearly midnight when Wilson Fisk got the news; he was meeting with his buyer, hoping to inform him that his merchandise was safe and sound.
"I've just received word of the operation." he told his client. "There was another...incident. The merchandise has either been destroyed or confiscated." He sighed. "I am truly sorry for this, Mr. Shaw. I assure you, these kinds of failures are not tolerated in my organization."
Sebastian Hiram Shaw – CEO of Shaw International – smiled calmly. Sebastian was tall and lean, in his late forties, his black hair kept tied back, his green eyes glinting with cold mirth. He was wearing black pants under a dark purple overcoat, with a white silk shirt underneath it. Sebastian calmly sipped his glass of wine. "There's no need to get too upset, Mr. Fisk." he replied. "These things do happen."
Wilson lightly smiled. "I hope this will not affect any future dealings of ours."
"Of course not." Sebastian said. "I still trust your organization; tonight was an unfortunate mishap, through no fault of yours."
"I appreciate your understanding." Wilson answered.
Sebastian lightly nodded. "Handling employees is like raising children, at times; you must have both discipline and compassion to get the best results." he commented. He got up. "I am afraid that I must be on my way; I have my own matters to attend to." He turned to go, heading out of the Kingpin's office, and into the elevator, heading down to the ground floor, before heading outside, and into his waiting limo.
As the limo drove off, Sebastian heard his cell phone ring, and took it out. "Hello?"
"Shaw."
Sebastian lightly smiled. "Ah, Victor," he greeted Dr. Doom, "things are well, I trust?"
"Did the exchange proceed as planned?"
Sebastian smiled wryly. "Perfectly, my friend." he answered. "Mr. Creed and his associates purchased the components, as expected; I must say, it was one of the most lucrative deals I've ever made."
"Excellent." Dr. Doom said.
Sebastian chuckled. "But what intrigues me the most is what you've told me of this 'Superman'. Truth be told, I'd dismissed him as mere myth, until now. And he's an alien, you say? Most intriguing; what was his name, again?"
"Kal-El."
Sebastian nodded. "I see." he said. "Well, once your scheme is carried out, perhaps the Hellfire Club and its Inner Circle will take an interest in him."
"As you wish." Doom replied. "If your assistance is required again, I will contact you." With that, he hung up.
Sebastian smirked to himself, putting his phone away. 'So, he's destined to lead our race, is he? Interesting.' he thought. In truth, Sebastian was a mutant, as was his son, and the rest of the Inner Circle. His own ability allowed him to absorb many forms of energy that were used against him. Under the right circumstances, it was quite useful.
But it was as nothing compared to the power of that 'Superman,' Sebastian had to admit. He would undoubtedly be a formidable foe, if it ever came to that.
But in battle, it was not the mightiest who gained victory, but the smartest.
Still, it was easy to see why Doom and his associate wanted to enlist Kal-El in their cause. 'With him at our side...the Inner Circle could dominate the world in days.' Sebastian mused. 'Possibly less.'
He knew he would have to one day step down as the leader of the Circle – the Lord Imperial – and he would need a successor. His own son was unsuitable; his decadence repulsed Sebastian – Shinobi was unsuited to lead. But Kal-El...
Sebastian smiled to himself. 'Interesting, indeed.' he thought. Then, he simply sat back, as his limo took him home.
It was late at night by the time Rogue and the others had gotten home. Thankfully, the rest of the Institute's residents were sound asleep. Rogue snuck up the stairs, heading for her and Kitty's room, as Kitty had stopped at the bathroom. She reached for the door...
"Busy night, chere?"
Startled, Rogue whirled around, to see the red-on-black eyes of Remy LeBeau, as he casually leaned against the wall. "Gawd, Swamp-Rat, ya scared the livin' daylights outta meh!"
"Desole, cherie." Remy replied. "It's jus' dat Remy couldn' 'elp but notice dat y' be comin' in pretty late...which wouldn' be too strange, norm'ly, but when y' add in dat outfit...Remy be t'inkin dat a certain jolie fille been up t' somet'ing...wit' four other filles."
Rogue's eyes narrowed. "Are ya gonna rat on meh?"
Remy arched an eyebrow. "Remy ain' no snitch, chere; 'e ain' gon' spill de beans on y'...provided dat y' consider Remy's request."
'Oh, Gawd.' Rogue thought. "What do ya want, Swamp-Rat?"
Remy grinned. "One date." Remy said. "Next week. Y' get t' choose what we do; jus' as long as Remy get t' spend an evenin' wit' y', 'e be 'appy."
Rogue's eyes narrowed. Sighing, Remy added, "An' if y' still don' like Remy after de date, Remy swears, on de 'onor o' de T'ieves Guild, 'e won' ever bother y' again."
Rogue sighed. "Fahne."
Remy grinned. "Merci, mon cherie." he said, and he headed off.
Groaning, Rogue went into her room, and flopped face-down on her bed. 'How do Ah get mahself into these messes?' she inwardly lamented. She closed her eyes, trying to get a little sleep...
...but it was difficult...due to a fluttering in her stomach that she just was too tired to explain.
It was midnight when Jean, in her nightgown, decided to get a little snack before turning in. She walked into the kitchen, opening the freezer and taking out a carton of Cookie Dough ice-cream; it was her and Scott's favorite, ever since they'd been kids.
Suddenly, Jean paused...and smiled, despite herself. "You can come out, now, Scott."
Slowly, Scott, in his sleeveless t-shirt and shorts, stepped into view. "I...was just going to get a snack."
Jean arched an eyebrow. "What's stopping you?"
Scott didn't answer.
Jean sighed, lightly smiling. "You can help us at the warehouse, but you can't have a snack with me?"
Scott's face went neutral; his perfect poker face was a trait Jean had long envied. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Jean chuckled. "Sure." she said. Frowning, she added, "I admit, at the warehouse, we did need your and Kurt's help, but yesterday, I really could have handled things myself!" Calming, she added, "It was the thought of you not respecting me enough to trust me that got me mad."
Scott frowned. "Well, excuse me for not wanting to lose anyone else I love on that stupid day." he muttered.
Jean froze. "What did you say?" she murmured.
Scott froze, his face going neutral again. "Nothing."
Jean wasn't about to let that go. "Scott...who did you lose, yesterday?"
Scott's face looked pained. "Don't."
"The only people I ever knew you lost were...your..." Jean said...and she gasped. "Oh my God...Scott...yesterday...was the day your parents died, wasn't it?"
Scott's automatic flinch told it all.
Jean felt tears start to burn in her eyes, and she got up and hugged him tight. "You big idiot," she whispered, "why didn't you tell me?"
Scott's voice echoed with pain. "Because I've always tried to forget that stupid day." he murmured, as he hugged her. "But when I saw you and Amara, yesterday, Jean, I...I freaked. I saw it all again; I saw my parents try to save Alex and I, and I was just a stupid little kid who just let it happen..!!"
Jean hugged the man she loved tighter. "Scott...there was nothing you could have done."
"But that wasn't the case, yesterday." Scott whispered. "This time, I could do something, and I did." He grimaced. "And then I screwed it all up."
Now Jean felt incredibly guilty for wigging out on Scott like she had; she understood, now – she understood completely. She gave him a tiny kiss on his cheek, smiling lightly. "How did we ever let this happen?"
Scott lightly smiled. "Well, I don't know about you, Jean," he said, "but I have it on good authority that I'm a dumbass."
Jean laughed. "Yeah, you are!" she teased. "Now kiss me, dumbass." Scott grinned, and leaned down to meet her lips with his own.
After a few wonderful minutes, their kiss ended. "So...are we okay?" Scott asked.
Jean smiled. 'What do you think?' she sent to him.
Scott smiled. 'So, what was it like being a vigilante?'
Jean chuckled. 'It was nice, using our powers to do good, even though our reasons sucked.' she sent back. 'For now, at least, I think I'll leave the super-hero business to Clark.' She smiled. 'Pull up a chair, handsome, and I'll tell you more.' Smiling, Scott got a bowl, and sat down across from Jean, as they each took a few scoops of ice-cream, and started to talk.
Author's Note: Sorry about the delay. Between university and trying to find a job, I haven't had much time. Hopefully, I should have more time, this week.
Coming Soon:
Wolverine's past comes back to haunt him, as an old friend needs his help…
As the Master of Magnetism steals dangerous technology, heroes new and old race to get it back…
Can the Man of Steel help his friends stop Magneto's schemes?
Find out in "War Wounds," coming to your computer soon…