The SuperStarr Chronicles
Disclaimer: "That would be an ecumenical problem!" - Father Jack Hackett, Father Ted
Review Response time!
LycoX – Thanks! I'm glad you liked the chapter! It really is interesting seeing how characters can evolve when you spend lots of time writing them. I'm glad you liked the scene with Craig and Lance. When I saw that scene in the original episode, I figured our new arrivals would not take that well. Lance acted like an idiot, and Craig was not going to accept that.
This fic is on TV Tropes! Just punch in "The Super Starr Chronicles" on the search bar!
Chapter 4: Growing Pains, Part 2!
Bayville High School
It was a good night for a game of soccer at the Bayville High School's soccer field. The leaves had not begun to turn yet, and the air was a rather comfortable temperature. Not too warm, nor was it too cold. The school's resident girl's soccer team, the Lady Hawks, were facing off against another local team. A quintet of the X-Men (Cyclops, Rogue, Spyke, Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat) were in attendance, as well as Professor Charles Xavier himself. After all, Jean Grey was playing for the Lady Hawks, and being her teammates and friends, they wanted to show their support. The students were all in high spirits. After all, the Lady Hawks had themselves a nice little winning streak going, and they were eager to see another team fall to them. Unknown to everyone in the arena, even Xavier and Jean themselves, they were being observed.
Sitting on the announcer's box was the alien bounty hunter known as...Bounty. Yes, that was what he was known as. He was paid to track/find/capture/kill other beings, not come up with a clever codename for himself. The Karidian powerhouse was observing the game sitting on one knee. Nobody saw him thanks to some tech in his armor that made him invisible.
Hmmm... Bounty thought as he observed the soccer game. I have to admit, this Terran sporting event is...quite interesting to watch. It kind of reminds me of Arcturan kickball...with less spiky areas and fire pits. He looked at one of the goalkeepers. Also, the guardians at their goal areas is similar to Kree crashball...without the cannons and armor. He looked down at his arm...which was invisible. I'll have to remember to show my gratitude to that Yautja I swiped this invisibility tech from again...after he gets out of traction. He continued to silently observe the soccer game. His helmet's scanners alerted him to something.
"Bio-signatures detected." The helmet's onboard computer announced.
"Good. Where are they?" The bounty hunter asked. His helmet's HUD created a map of the soccer field and the surrounding area. It pointed out four points of light heading towards the parking lot. "Excellent." The still-invisible alien got to his feet. However, the bio-signatures were not what the bounty hunter was hoping for. Instead, they were a certain quartet of young mutants that were often seen by society as delinquents...
"I still think this is a bad idea." Fred Dukes said as he and the rest of the Brotherhood hung out in the parking lot near the soccer field, clad in their uniforms.
"I heard you Blob, you won't shut up about it." Lance grumbled. "Okay, let's go over the plan." He glanced over at Todd. "Todd."
The amphibious mutant perked up. "Yo!"
"You sneak into the announcer's box and get his mic. It's piped to the loudspeakers. Then you basically get the crowd's attention."
"Yes, sir!" Todd saluted eagerly. "You want me to make a speech or something?"
"No, just calling for attention will be fine."
"You sure?" Todd asked as he pulled out a piece of paper from a pocket in his costume. He unfolded it and held it out to Lance. "I wrote a little speech."
"It's fine." The geokinetic insisted, waving it off and rolling his eyes. "Pietro."
"What you need?"
"I need you to get the spotlights on us as we stand on the announcers' box."
"Okay, but aren't you worried that Fred will make it collapse?" Pietro pointed out snidely, jerking his thumb at Fred.
"Hey!" The large Texan exclaimed, knowing exactly what the speedster was insinuating.
"No offense, but you're hardly svelte." Pietro pointed out.
"I may hardly be sv...sofa...uh, what does 'svelte' mean?"
"Thin, basically." Todd explained.
"Oh." Fred nodded in understanding. He then glared at Pietro. "I may not be svelte, but I can pound you into paste!" He snapped, showing the speedster his fist.
"You'd have to catch me first!" Pietro mocked, arms crossed and a smug smirk on his face.
"It can hold him up!" Lance groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"Lance, I still think this is a bad idea." Fred insisted. "Mystique said-"
"Forget Mystique, Dukes!" Lance snapped. "She's not here! She got blown to bits on that asteroid, remember?! Now look, fellas. Maybe it's about time that the world gets to meet mutants. After all, we shouldn't have to hide our special gifts."
"He... he does have a point, yo." Todd admitted. "I mean, look at me! Look at Fred! It's pretty obvious we ain't normal! And we don't have the luxuries those damned X-Geeks have! All my life, people have trashed me for how I look! Well, you know what?!" A scowl crossed his face. "I'm tired of being a joke! Maybe it's time they start bein' scared of me for once! That'd be nice! To be the big man for once! For people to look at me with fear than disgust! For people to wince because they think I'll whup their asses instead of treating me like a punching bag! I'm with ya here, Lance!"
"That's the spirit, Toad." Lance complimented with a smirk. Unbeknownst to the four mutants, Bounty was observing them.
"These are not them." The alien bounty hunter whispered to his computer.
"New bio-signatures detected." The computer announced.
"That must be my quarry." Bounty deduced. He then moved into position.
Todd looked at Fred. "...Blob? You with us?" He saw that Fred was looking away from the other Brotherhood members.
"Uhm...we got guests." Fred noted.
"Well, well, well..." A familiar voice piped up, making the other three boys turn. Clara Creed strutted up to them, wearing a costume of her own. Her costume was a tan bodysuit, with pale yellow fur ringing the wrists of a pair of brown gloves, and the ankles of a pair of matching brown boots. The suit had a ring of matching fur over her shoulders. Above the mane to her neckline, the suit was black. She also had a black cowl that let her blonde hair free. Around her waist was a pale yellow utility belt, the oval buckle showing a design of an "S" with a slash mark through it. The costume's design was completed by a black stripe that went down the center of her body.
An impressed Pietro let out a low whistle, clearly impressed with what he was looking at. Clara's outfit did not show any flesh outside of her mouth and chin, but the tight suit showed that she was quite Amazonian in build. "Hommina hommina..." The speedster mumbled. My God. She certainly does make up for that half burned-up face of hers...
"Well, look at the lot of you, all wearing your fancy suits." Clara noted, an amused smile on her face. "Cute helmet, Earthshaker." She glanced at Fred. "Not one for you, big guy? I think black spandex would fit you."
"Oh God, now I got that image in my head." Pietro groaned. Lance and Todd suppressed a snicker.
"...I'm not into the funny costumes." Fred told her.
"What's with the outfit?" Lance asked.
"I first wore this costume when I served with the Canadian Home Guard during WWII." Clara took a dramatic bow. "Sabreclaw at your service. Protecting Canada from Nazi scum. If you boys are good, I'll tell you a few stories about my time beating up Nazis and fifth columnists alongside heroes like the first Major Mapleleaf and Nelvana. You boys would have loved Nelvana..."
"...the what?!" Todd blinked in confusion.
"Who?" Fred added, equally as confused.
Pietro rolled his eyes and groaned. "You all are idiots. Don't any of you know any history? The Canadian Home Guard were a team comprised of Canadian superheroes active during WWII. Like the lady said, they kept the country safe from the Nazis."
World War II, what? Is she nuts? Lance shook his head. No way she was alive during that! "What're you doing here, lady?" He asked.
"What're you doing here with your cute little helmet, Earthshaker?" Clara teased in response. "Getting up to a little bit of trouble as teen boys are wont to do?"
"We got a little inspiration from Principal Kelly's little speech earlier today." Lance explained. "We decided to take his advice and show off our...unique talents."
"Figures." Craig Starr grunted as he walked up to them. Unlike Clara, he wasn't wearing any sort of costume. Instead, he was wearing his traditional leather jacket/metal shirt/jeans combo. The Los Angelan glared at Lance. "You learned nothing from the scoreboard incident earlier, have you?"
"Maybe we're not like you, man." Lance snorted. "Maybe we're tired of hiding who we are."
"I know I am." Todd grumbled. "It's not like I got a choice in the matter anyway."
"Not being stupid about your powers isn't hiding." Craig said.
"Oh look, Mr. Miyagi is being wise again." Pietro rolled his eyes.
Whap!
"OW!" Pietro screamed, rubbing his head. He glared at Craig. "How did you-!"
"Me, stupid!" Lila Cheney snorted as she walked up to Clara and Craig from behind Pietro, her Laser Crossbow in her hands. She pointed it at the Brotherhood.
"This is a bad idea, guys." Paul Starr warned as he appeared from behind Clara. "We figured you guys were going to...make a spectacle of yourselves at the big pep rally tonight."
"Uh, Lance..." Fred looked at Lila nervously. Well, more like he was staring at her Laser Crossbow. "She was able to knock me out with that thing. Maybe we should just go home."
"Listen to the Big Guy here." Lila advised. "He's using his head right now."
"You're going to make people afraid of us." Paul said. "Causing a ruckus at the pep rally is only going to cause more problems."
"So, what do you want us to do? Hide ourselves?" Todd asked. "Look at me! Look at Fred! Hell, look at you and your brother, with those stars on your faces!"
"Nobody's talking about hiding." Paul said. "We're saying that you should be smart when it comes to your powers."
"Like the scoreboard incident earlier today." Craig added. "You were stupid, Alvers. We can't afford that. Not with our abilities."
Clara frowned at the kids. The Canadian woman could smell the tension in the air. Teenage hormones, tempers, and superpowers. Not the best of combinations. Best to try and defuse the bomb before it goes off. "Look boys, we don't need to do this." Clara said, her tone indicating she was trying to keep everyone calm. Yeah, these boys definitely need some adult supervision. "We don't need to fight again."
"Especially since we thrashed you all last time." Lila smirked. She nudged her Laser Crossbow in Fred's direction, shooting the Texan powerhouse a cocky look. "I got another sleeping gas bolt just for you, big fella." Fred tried to not make his nervous gulp obvious.
"You really think we're scared of you?!" Pietro taunted with a laugh. "We know more about what you four punks can do now!"
"Not to mention..." Lance held his arms out wide. "We're in an open area. No need to worry about scoreboards or roofs coming down on people's heads now." He smirked at Craig and tapped his head with a finger. "See? I can learn from my mistakes."
"You learned the wrong thing, you moron." Craig grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why am I not surprised?"
Fred looked at Lila's Laser Crossbow. "...guys? Maybe we should just go home. This whole thing was a bad idea anyway."
"Are you kidding me, Blob?!" Lance explained. He pointed at Lila. "She ain't so tough without her fancy bow!"
Lila smirked. "I've been in a few brawls in my time, mate."
"Guys, wrecking the soccer field isn't going to help you out!" Paul yelped out. "You'll hurt someone!"
"Hey, I've taken a few beatings in my time, yo!" Todd snapped. "I ain't afraid of you, Starboy!"
"...I don't want you to be afraid of me. I don't even want to fight you." Paul shook his head. "I will if I must, but I'd rather we all just calm down and go home."
"You gonna make me sleepy again?!" Todd growled. The dark-haired mutant sighed.
"...I don't like using my hypnotic powers." Paul admitted. "But if I have to stop you that way, I will."
"Well, you may not wanna fight, but I want a rematch with your psycho brother!" Pietro glared at Craig. "I want to pay you back for nearly crippling me!"
"Speedy, if you want to be crippled so badly..." He pulled out his nightstick and started twirling it in his hand, a wicked smirk on his face. "I can arrange that for you."
"I ain't afraid of you! You got lucky with that little laser trick!"
"Not luck. Smarts." Craig snorted. Pietro growled angrily at him.
"I'm going to punch you into paste!" The speedster roared angrily. "And smear you all over the ground!"
Craig fought the urge to burst out into laughter at the silver-headed mutant teenager's threats. "Big talk, loudmouth. That's all you are." The two quartets of mutants faced off. The tension in the air was already high, but right now it seemed just about ready to explode like an overpressurized boiler that reached its breaking point. Clara looked around with worry.
Yeah, it's definitely getting out of control. The blonde feral thought. A super-brawl here would cause a lot of problems... "Earthshaker..." Clara started.
"Avalanche. Call me Avalanche."
"Okay." Clara nodded. "Avalanche, I have heard about your little stunt earlier. That was very dangerous. Not to mention irresponsible."
"I heard this from Blackstar or whatever he calls himself over there." Lance snapped, pointing at Craig. "I don't need it repeated!"
"Darkstar." Craig corrected.
"I don't blame him." Clara defended. "I can understand why he was angry. He had good reason to be."
"I didn't mean to bring down that scoreboard!" An outraged Lance snapped. "I just wanted to shake things up a bit! To impress Kitty!"
"I get it, you wanted to show off." Clara smiled in understanding. "I understand that, kid. I really do. Having abilities like ours can be pretty cool. But they can also cause some major problems. That's why we have to think before we use them. You know, you seem like a decent kid to me. A bit rough-and-tumble, but there's somethin' decent in ya."
Pietro laughed. "Oh, is she serious?" His laugh morphed into a cackle. "Oh that's rich! That is so rich, lady! What, you think he's going to be swayed with a speech?" Pietro's laughing prevented him from noting the very slight change in Lance's demeanor.
"...really." Lance frowned.
"I think so. I mean, you lead this little group of yours, right?"
"Someone has to." Lance grunted. "With Mystique blown to bits and all..."
Huh. So Raven was leading this bunch, eh? Explains a lot. Clara thought. And she's dead? That's new. Raven's not exactly the type who goes down easily... However, the Brotherhood found their face-off interrupted as they heard what sounded like metallic footsteps.
"What in the-?" Lance wondered. Bounty then shimmered into sight, making the geokinetic's eyes widen. The alien bounty hunter stalked towards the group of mutants. "Holy crud!"
"Oh dear..." Paul winced in worry.
"Oh, hell..." Clara groaned.
"Oh, no..." Lila groaned, facepalming in embarrassment.
"Oh God, this guy..." Craig growled out. He then angrily whirled his head, glaring at the British girl.
"Oh man, that dude looks freakin' scary! Awesome, but scary!" Toad yelped, hiding behind Fred.
"The hell is that?!" Lance blinked.
"Hey, is that an alien?" Fred asked.
Craig growled furiously at Lila, his star-covered eye glowing as if it was trying to punctuate his fury. "I told you, Cheney!" He snapped at the British-Indian girl. "I told you this would happen!"
"What is that thing?!" Pietro exclaimed.
"Where is the gem?" Bounty demanded, pointing one of his arm cannons at the Brotherhood and Clara's crew.
"Gem?" Fred blinked in confusion. "What gem?"
"The gem Lila stole." Craig reminded. "We mentioned it when we got here."
"Don't you remember?" Pietro groaned.
"Let me guess, K'Thalon sent you?" Lila snorted.
"Uh, who's that?" Fred whispered.
"Likely the guy they stole that gem from, Einstein." Pietro cracked. He looked at a shuddering Paul. "Hey, starboy. Who is this guy?"
"He's called Bounty." Paul gulped. "He's a Karidian bounty hunter."
"What's a Karidian?" Todd asked.
"An alien." Paul said. "Well, from his perspective we're aliens, but yeah..."
"A bounty hunter who calls himself Bounty." Pietro snorted. "That's hilarious."
Whap!
"OW!" Pietro exclaimed, rubbing his head. He glared at a smirking Lance.
"Man, it feels good to finally tag you." The earthshaker smirked.
"He's supposed to be one of the best." Paul continued on as if he wasn't aware of Pietro receiving a smack on the head. "He's pretty tough."
BZOW! BOOM!
Bounty fired a blast of energy from his cannon, blowing a hole in the parking lot in front of the group of mutants.
"I will not ask again." The Karidian powerhouse pointed his cannon at Clara. "Where is the gem?"
"Why should we tell you?" Lila snapped.
"My client wants it back. Plain and simple." Bounty explained. "I was hired to retrieve it, and my client does not care if I have to vaporize you to get it."
"Oh, for the love of-!" Lila rolled her eyes. "It's one bloody gem! He gets like this over one bloody gem!"
"...I feel like we stumbled into an episode of Clone Wars." Lance grumbled. "All we need is for some Jedi to show up."
"That actually would be pretty cool." Fred thought with a smile.
"Knowin' our luck, that just may end up happenin', yo." Todd grumbled. "And they'll be angry at us for some reason!"
"Punching a Jedi would be cool..." Fred thought out loud.
"You go back to K'Thalon and you tell that arrogant birdbrain that he can go jog on!" Lila yelled at the bounty hunter, pointing her Laser Crossbow at him. "He can't possibly miss one lousy bloody gem!"
"I am paid to retrieve the gem, not to question why my client wants it retrieved."
"Just following orders. Wonderful." Lila sneered.
"We'll give you back the gem!" Craig grunted. "We give to you, you go away, right?"
"Yes."
"Fine!" Craig grunted. "I know where Lila locked it up. I'll take you there." Craig started to stomp off.
"Oi, that greedy bird bastard doesn't need that blasted thing!" Lila snapped, grabbing his arm.
"I don't want to get blasted by the lovechild of Samus Aran and the Predator over here!" Craig snapped back at her, pointing at Bounty.
...what's a 'Samus Aran'? A puzzled Bounty thought.
"Are they always like this?" Lance asked Clara as the Brotherhood and Bounty watched Lila and Craig argue in disbelief.
"Normally, no." The Canadian feral woman explained. "But then again, they butted heads over that gem ever since Lila got her little paws on it."
"This is hilarious! I'd get some popcorn, but fatso here would eat it all." Pietro snorted. "Gack!" Fred angrily grabbed the speedster by the throat and got in his face.
"Don't. Make. Fun. Of. My. Weight." The Texan mutant growled. He then pitched Pietro at Bounty.
"Oh, no!" Paul gasped.
"Yeah, that was not smart, Fred." Clara winced.
"But it was funny, yo!" Todd cackled as he recorded this on his phone.
"Wha-?!" Bounty grunted as the screaming speedster collided with him with enough force to knock him over.
"Good throw." A clapping Lance complimented.
"Ooooh boy." Clara groaned. The action managed to make Craig and Lila stop arguing.
"There's going to be a fight now, huh?" Paul winced.
"Yup, there is." Clara sighed, shaking her head. Craig groaned and threw up his hands.
"Well, you may not have wanted it..." Lila smirked wickedly, pointing her Laser Crossbow at Bounty. "But this little British-born babe has been itching for another shot at this cyborg blackguard!" Meanwhile, the X-Men were happily enjoying Jean play soccer with her fellow Lady Hawks, completely oblivious to what was going on in the parking lot.
"Look at her go!" Evan whooped.
"Ja!" Kurt agreed. "Go Jean go!" The German mutant grinned at Scott, who was watching with a smile on his face. "She's good, isn't she?"
"Yeah..." Scott answered in a manner that seemed to hint that he was slightly distracted. "Yeah, she is..." He noticed that Kurt had a wicked grin on his face. "What? What?!"
"You were staring at Jean the way that the Blob stares at a chocolate cake."
Evan snickered. "Are you saying he wants to eat Jean?"
"Aw, stop it." Scott muttered, his cheeks turning red.
"Oh, brother." Rogue rolled her eyes. As the X-Men were enjoying watching the soccer game, the expanded Brotherhood were trying to fight Bounty. Despite their expanded ranks, they were understandably having some trouble...
"ACK!" Lance grunted as he hit the ground. "God, this day sucks..." He groaned as he got to his feet.
"WahhhhOOF!" Todd yelped as he landed on the geokinetic.
"Get off me, you dipstick!" Lance snapped, shoving the amphibious mutant off him as they got to their feet.
"Aw God, this guy's like Space Juggernaut, yo!" Todd groaned, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah, like we needed to face that guy again..." Lance grumbled. The brunet mutant fought the urge to shudder slightly as he found himself remembering the time that he and the other members of the Brotherhood had to join forces with the X-Men to face the red-clad seemingly-unstoppable dormant mutant. (Author's Note: in the episode "Survival of the Fittest")
FWAZZ!
Craig and Paul fired lasers from their star-covered eyes, but the purple beams of light seemingly could not damage the alien bounty hunter's armor. They were blasting at his back, as Bounty was grappling with Fred.
"No good!" Paul sighed. "I doubt we could ever generate a laser powerful enough to punch through!"
"Dammit! We wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for you, Cheney!" Craig snapped.
"Oh, grumble, grumble, grumble!" Lila retorted as she fired a volley of energy arrows from her Laser Crossbow at the alien. "We got a ticket to Easy Street! Not my fault that greedy old birdman can't let go of one gem!"
"And you really thought that a greedy old rich alien would let you walk away with something that belonged to him, even if its worth an extremely tiny fraction of his fortune?!" Craig yelled.
"I thought it would take longer for him to notice!"
"Well, you thought wrong!"
"Guys, can we table this for now?!" Paul yelped. "Fred needs our help!"
"Yeah, Mr. Happy's right." Lila agreed. She sighed as she looked in her quiver. If I had a nuke bolt, that likely would help...and level half of upstate New York in the process... The British-Indian mutant frowned as she pulled an explosive bolt out of her quiver. Paul blinked at the bolt.
"You think that will do any good?" Paul asked.
"No..." Lila sighed. "But it may help distract the big cyber-lug a bit..." She loaded the bolt into her Laser Crossbow.
"I tire of your ridiculousness!" Bounty growled as he grappled with Fred.
"You can't move me!" Fred taunted. "I'm the Blob! I'm unmovable!"
"Nothing is immovable, human." Bounty retorted. "Not even you." The armored alien powerhouse pushed harder against Fred.
"Says you!" Fred pushed back.
KA-BOOM!
"Urgh!" The Karidian grunted in annoyance as Lila hit him with an explosive bolt. It didn't do much more damage than the Starr Brothers' eye lasers, but it did manage to grab his attention.
"Keep him still, big man!" Lila called out, loading another explosive bolt. She fired it at the Karidian, causing another explosion. Come on! There's gotta be a weakness in this guy's armor...
"It's not working! Blob, get back!" Lance ordered.
"You got it!" Blob gave the bounty hunter a shove as he broke the grapple, sending the alien tumbling over.
"Prepare to get your world rocked, ya alien punk!" Lance growled as he made the ground underneath Bounty shake as the bounty hunter tried to get up. The shaking caused the alien to have trouble getting back to his feet.
"Yeah!" Todd whooped, leaping up and throwing a rude gesture at the alien. "Don't mess with Earth, yo!"
How many humans here have these powers?! Bounty thought as he tried to stay on his feet.
"Hey, Earthshaker!" Clara waved. "Do that little rock trick you tried to pull with me!"
Lance blinked a moment. Rock trick? Then it came to him. Oh, yeah! "Hey Bounty! Enjoy the ride!" Lance caused a large rock to sprout from the ground like a fast-growing tree. It sent the alien flying into the air...and then gravity took hold, causing him to head towards the ground.
"Hey, Fred! Remember when you said that you always wanted to punch an alien?" Clara asked.
Fred scrunched his face in thought, but then it came to him. "Yeah..."
She waved over at Bounty. "Here's your chance, big guy. Try and hit him before he hits the ground."
"I dunno. He's pretty tough."
"But so are you, big fella." Clara smiled in assurance, patting his shoulder.
"Well, okay..." Blob took a breath to steel his nerves. Then the powerhouse Texan ran towards the falling Bounty as fast as he could. Considering that he was not known for being fast, well...there you go. However, he was fast enough. He yelled as he cocked back his fist, preparing to throw a mighty uppercut. As he fell, the Karidian bounty hunter's body turned around, causing him to see Fred's fist fly towards his face.
"Wha-?"
"WELCOME TO EARTH!" Fred yelled, throwing his meaty fist.
WHAM!
The powerhouse's uppercut was right on target, nailing Bounty in the face and sending him flying.
"Whoa! Nice shot, Fred!" Todd whooped, pumping his fist triumphantly.
"Look at that big guy fly!" Paul grinned. Lila frowned as she mentally calculated where the alien was going to land.
"Uh...guys?" Lila piped up. "You do see where he's flying, right? Looks like he's going to crash into the football field."
"Naw, the football field is over there." Fred pointed it out. "I thought about joining the team, but the coach said I needed to lose weight."
"Lila's English, Blob." Craig reminded his blond-mohawked compatriot. "They call soccer 'football' over there."
"Almost every other country in the world calls it 'football'." Lila added. She then rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. "But you Yanks just have to be rebels."
"Hey, I'm no Yankee! I'm from Texas!" Blob grunted. Todd watched where Bounty was flying towards, and it made the dirty blond teenager notice something.
"Wait...Lance?"
"What, Toad?"
"Remember your little plan to reveal ourselves at the pep rally/soccer game goin' on right now?"
Lance blinked. "...yeah?"
"Looks like we may end up doin' that after all." Todd realized.
"...dammit!" Lance cursed in frustration. "Nice work, Fred!"
"Hey, it's not like I got a chance to aim or anything!"
"We're going to have to stop him." Clara grunted.
"How?! The guy's like the alien version of Juggernaut, yo!" Toad exclaimed.
"...who?" Paul, Craig, and Lila asked in unison.
"Long story." Lance groaned.
As the Brotherhood tried to fight off the alien bounty hunter, the soccer game had continued unbothered. The Lady Hawks were well on their way to a victory in the first game of the season. The audience cheered in support and encouragement of their team. Well, except for Rogue. Rogue had continued watching the game rather quietly. The Southern mutant sighed. She never could get into sports. Especially soccer. Why did the rest of the world enjoy this game so much? As far as she was concerned, it was dull. Very dull.
She found her eyes wandering, hoping to take in something more interesting. It was here that she noticed something flying towards the soccer field. "Uh guys?" She pointed up at the sky. The other X-Men looked where Rogue pointed.
"Is that a shooting star?" Kurt asked.
"That's no shooting star!" Evan blinked. Jean then noticed the falling object.
"EVERYONE! RUN!" She cried out to the other players. The other players obeyed, making the audience murmur in confusion.
BOOM!
The flying Bounty then crashed into the field, kicking up a plume of dirt and dust. The audience gasped and whispered among themselves.
"Holy Toledo!" The announcer exclaimed. "We got ourselves a meteor here! Maybe it contains a Kryptonian baby! Or an alien zombie virus! Who knows?! Either way, I'm not sticking around! I'm out of here!" He fled from the announcer's box. The Karidian cyborg climbed his way out of the crater and looked around.
Looks like I ended up interrupting their ritual. Bounty thought. The sight of him made the audience whisper and talk among themselves.
"Is this part of a halftime show or something?"
"Cool cosplay!"
"What exactly is he cosplaying as?!"
"He looks kinda mean..."
"I want that outfit!"
"And it's an alien! We have an alien!" The announcer yelped. "At least, I think it's an alien!"
"...is this part of the show?" Scott blinked in confusion.
"I...I don't think so..." Kurt answered.
"What is that thing?!" Evan exclaimed.
"It's butt-ugly is what it is." Rogue winced.
"Like, Rogue!" Kitty hissed, lightly slapping her friend's arm. "That's not nice!"
"Ah'm sorry, but he is!" Rogue then noticed the Brotherhood running into the arena. "Oh, no..."
"The Brotherhood!" Kurt groaned.
"I should have known they'd be involved with this!" Scott groaned. He then noticed Clara in her Sabreclaw costume. The sight of the costume seemed to get something going in the young mutant's mind. Wait, I think I've seen her before...
"Hey, is it just me, or does there seem to be more of them?" Evan noticed.
"Yeah, Scott and I like, met the twin brothers there." Kitty recalled, pointing them out. Bounty looked around at the confused crowd.
"Computer, is the universal translator undamaged?" The armored alien asked.
"Affirmative." It told him. The alien nodded.
"Good." Bounty nodded. "I can continue communicating with these lifeforms. Activate the speakers." He heard a bleeping noise, confirming the speakers were now active. "Attention, humans!" Bounty announced. "I am Bounty. I am here to retrieve a gem." He showed an image of the red gem that Lila had kept in the spaceship. "It was stolen by this group of humans." He made a quartet of holographic images appear above his head. The images depicted Paul, Craig, Lila, and Clara. The large images moved in a circle, allowing the audience to get a view of all of them.
"...the hell is going on here?" An utterly puzzled Kelly blinked.
"Uh, Jean?" Taryn Fujioka asked the redhead after carefully approaching her.
"Yes?"
"...what is going on here?" She pointed at one of the images. "And is that Paul Starr?" Her eyes widened in shock. "I-I met him earlier today!" She yelped.
"Really?" Jean asked.
"Yeah!" She nodded. "I saw him play guitar and sing earlier. He was really good. That...guy is saying he is a thief?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, Taryn."
"Sorry, Professor." Scott apologized as he grabbed his backpack. "But-"
"It's alright." Professor Xavier reassured. "Go stop that...whatever that is." He watched the X-Men leave, then put his fingers to his head. "Storm! We need you!" He called out telepathically. The young mutant heroes quickly changed into their costumes and raced out onto the soccer field.
"I think I saw that thing in an old comic book." Kurt remarked.
"Who are you?" Scott asked the alien. Bounty turned his head towards the teenage mutant.
"Warning! Bio-scans indicate that human specimens have genetic modification beyond Terran norms!" Bounty's computer warned him.
"Explain." Bounty commanded.
"These Terrans have unique genetic coding, granting them enhanced abilities."
Incredible! Bounty thought. How many humans have these enhancements?!
"Uh...what did he say?" Evan blinked at Kitty.
"Like, that computer basically said we're mutants." Kitty translated.
"You got that right!" Scott snapped. "Who are you?!"
"None of your concern." The alien bounty hunter said. "I am here to complete an assignment. Once it is done, I will leave peacefully." Scott looked at Xavier.
"Professor?"
"I cannot really enter his mind, possibly due to this being's brain presumably being very different from human ones." Xavier said. "But I can sense he is being truthful."
"What exactly, like, are you after?" Kitty asked.
"As I said, I have come to retrieve a stolen object." Bounty pointed at the Brotherhood. "And these Terrans know where it is."
"Oh, it figures you clowns have something to do with this!" Rogue snapped.
"What'd we do?!" Blob exclaimed. Paul smiled and waved at the X-Men.
"Hi. Name's Paul! Nice to meet you!"
"Hi there, Paul." Kitty waved at him. Rogue frowned at her.
"How did you meet these new yahoos?" The X-Men's resident Gothic Belle asked.
"After school, remember? I told you about Paul." Kitty reminded. "That's his brother Craig right there." She pointed him out.
"Oh." Rogue tilted her head at him. "Oh, right. Ah remember now." He's kinda cute. Dorky, but kind of cute.
Kitty smirked at Rogue's face. "Told ya he was cute." Lance over heard this and gave Paul a look.
"...really?"
Paul shrugged. "It's a thing with me, man."
"Oh, brother..." Craig groaned.
"What is going on here, Alvers?" Scott asked.
"Ask this girl here." Lance jerked his thumb at Lila.
"Wait, who are you?!" A confused Scott asked, looking at Lila. He then looked at Clara. "And you?!"
"Sabreclaw at your service." Clara bowed dramatically. "Adventurer, and bon vivant extraordinaire."
"That doesn't mean a candy expert." Fred added.
Well, that explains the other two signatures the Professor detected... Scott noted. Wait, Sabreclaw? Of course. She was a Canadian superhero way back in the day! She appeared in a couple of old Liberty Legion comics! Xavier watched this, hands steepled and deep in thought.
"Wait..." Rogue narrowed her eyes at Lila. "Ah heard that Guthrie kid talkin' about someone lookin' just like you. Said you fell out of a tree."
"Lila Cheney's the name. Intergalactic thievery is the game." Lila smirked. "Call me Starway. Nice to see the cute farmboy's thinking about me."
"Ooh, Sam has a girlfriend!" Kitty grinned.
"Not now, Pryde!" Rogue snapped.
"I have no desire to fight you." Bounty said to the X-Men. "I wish to retrieve the gem I was paid to get, and then I will take my leave." The X-Men all looked at each other in confusion.
"Gem? What gem?" Evan asked.
"Oh, that greedy old birdman can't stand it. One lousy gem..." Lila grumbled pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. The X-Men looked at each other again. "Enough to get us on bleedin' Easy Street, but he just haaaaas to be a misery about it..."
"...Birdman?" Kurt asked.
"Only Birdman I know of was the one from that old Hanna-Barbera cartoon." Scott recalled. "But he was a good guy..."
"You don't suppose she's talking about Nighthawk, do you?" Evan suggested. "He's got that bird thing going on."
"You mean the comic book character, Evan?" Jean remembered.
"Yah, him!" Kurt grinned. "He's awesome! Ever saw zat cartoon they did with him in ze 90s?"
"Oh yeah, that was a good show." Scott nodded. "That and the 1989 film were my first exposures to him." Bounty watched this in disbelief.
This planet is bizarre... The alien thought.
"Enough of this nonsense!" Bounty exclaimed. "I want that gem!" He fired his energy beams into the air, making the crowd flee.
"Like hell!" Lila fired a bolt from her crossbow. The bolt sailed through the air, and landed on the faceplate of Bounty's helmet. The bolt exploded, and the bounty hunter found himself blinded by a sticky beige substance.
"Grrrrrr!" Bounty growled as he yanked at the substance. Scott used his optic beam to create a small ditch for Bounty to stumble over. And with that, the fight was on.
"RRRROWL!" Clara roared as she leapt at Bounty, only to get knocked away.
"Urg!" Bounty grunted as he felt the ping of his armor being pelted by bone spikes.
BAMF!
Kurt teleported himself on top of Bounty.
"Maybe we can just remove your helmet, like with the Juggernaut." Kurt thought out loud as he tried to find any sort of latches on the helmet.
"I do not know who this 'Juggernaut' is..." Bounty grabbed the German teleporter. "But I doubt he is that formidable if a being like you could overcome him."
"Bye!" Kurt teleported away in a cloud of brimstone.
FZAP!
Scott blasted at him with his eye beams. But they barely managed to even knock the alien back.
"Great. Another Juggernaut." Scott grumbled.
"Yeah, no kidding." Lance concurred. He and Scott looked at each other. "You know, it's weird that we're on the same side again."
"That's twice now, right?"
"I think so."
"RAAARGH!" Clara roared as she leapt at the alien bounty hunter again. This time, she was carrying a piece of metal she had ripped out of the stands. Bounty tried to blast at her, but Clara nimbly ducked and dodged the energy shots, and she whacked at him with her improvised weapon. Lance and Scott watched this and looked at each other.
"So...what's her deal?" Scott asked.
"You remember the twins, right?" Lance pointed out Paul and Craig.
"...yeah?" Scott nodded.
"Well, they had two more friends." Lance pointed out Lila. "That's Lila..." He pointed at Clara. "And that's Clara. She and her crew crashed near our home, and now they basically moved in with us." Lance said. "By the way, you remember Sabertooth?"
"Big ugly blond feral guy? Yeah." Scott nodded.
"Clara here claims that she's his sister." Lance said.
Scott's eyes widened. "...sister?! That man has relatives?"
"Guess so."
"Like, I don't think this is working..." Kitty noted.
"She's right." Scott agreed. "We have to overwhelm him." He looked at Lance. "That means we gotta work together again."
"Wonderful." Lance groaned.
"Hey, we did it once, we can do it again, Lance!" Kitty reminded.
"Anybody got a plan? We could use one right now!" Evan asked.
"I'll try something!" Lance let out a whistle. "Pietro! Tornado!" The earthshaker ordered.
"I got this!" The silver-haired speedster grinned cockily. He raced towards the alien bounty hunter, then ran around him in a circle. This action churned up the air around him, creating a small tornado. Underneath his armored helmet, Bounty frowned. He fired at the ground in front of the silver-haired mutant.
BOOM!
"AHHHHHHHH!" Pietro screamed as the explosion sent him flying. The speedster flew through the air, his body flipping over and over like a coin being tossed...and ended up hitting the goalpost, crotch-first.
THUM!
"AWWWWWWW!" Every male in the arena winced in unison...well, except for Professor Xavier. But his face showed he was trying hard not to wince himself.
"Waaaaaaaugh mah boys..." Pietro wailed in a soprano voice. "Why?! Why God why?!" He then slid off the goalpost and fell to the ground. "Ow."
"Okay, that didn't work." Lance said.
Bounty blinked at this...then shook his head. This planet is screwed up... He heard the noise of metal creaking and saw Fred rip the Bayville High hawk statue out of its foundation.
"Have some fried chicken on me, E.T.!" Blob yelled as he tossed the large statue at the alien bounty hunter. Bounty blasted the statue.
Boom!
The statue got blown to pieces, sending flaming debris flying everywhere.
"Oh, no!" Kitty exclaimed as she saw the stands getting ignited.
"Oh dear." Paul winced.
"Oh, that's gonna leave a mark." Clara frowned.
"I always thought that big hawk rather reeked." Lance shrugged.
"Oops." Blob winced.
"Nice work, you big bonehead!" Rogue roared.
"Aw, man! Auntie O would be real helpful right now." Evan winced. Out of sight of the X-Men and the Brotherhood, Principal Kelly watched this whole battle.
"What is going on here?" Kelly blinked in confusion. "Times like this, I wish the First Line was still around..."
Kitty then snapped her fingers as some inspiration hit her. "Like, I got an idea."
"We could use one." Scott said.
"You know I can short out electronics when I pass through them?"
"Yeah, that's how you shorted out the cameras." Scott said as he watched the other X-Men and the Brotherhood engaging the powerful Karidian. Well, trying to at the very least.
"Maybe his armor has electronics I can short out by passing through him." Kitty suggested. Scott put his hand under his chin in thought.
"What if it doesn't work?"
"You saying she can't fry his systems, Summers?" Lance growled.
"Lance! Like, I got this!" Kitty exclaimed, glaring at the earthshaker.
"Alright, Kitty. Give it a try!" Scott nodded in approval.
"You got it!" She gave a thumbs up. The brunette ran towards Bounty, who was trading blows with Fred while trying to blast at Kurt. "Hey metalhead!" She raced towards the alien cyborg. "Hope you like getting fritzed up!" Kitty ran through the bounty hunter. True to her prediction, as the petite brunette predicted, Bounty seized up and electricity ran up and down his armor.
"Guhn!" The Karidian hunter winced. "Computer!"
Error! Er*squawk*! The internal computer sputtered.
"You two! With the stars on your faces!" Scott called out.
"Call me Darkstar." Craig told him.
"And they call me Starchild!" Paul added.
"Fire your beams with me!" Scott ordered. "At one point!" Scott fired his optic blast at Bounty's side. Paul and Craig added their own. The twin purple beams hit the spot Scott was firing at.
"Is it working?" Jean asked.
"We need more power!" Scott exclaimed. "Rogue! Touch us!"
"What?!" Craig asked.
"Rogue's power works when her skin touches others!" Scott explained. "She can absorb powers!"
"Is that why she was always so covered up?" Paul asked.
"She can't shut it off."
"Oh. That's sad."
Man, I feel like an idiot right now. Scott thought. Looking back, it was kind of stupid to let Forge just...walk off like that. He could have built a gadget to help Rogue. Ah well. What's done is done. Hope he's okay...
"Here!" Paul cut his beam and held his bare hand out to Rogue. "You can use my laser!"
"...Ah'm not going to get any perverted thoughts, right?" The Southerner winced.
"He's not Pietro, you redneck!" Craig snapped. Rogue decided to ignore the insult. She can put off punching Craig out for now.
"Alright." Rogue took off her glove, and tapped Paul's bare hand with hers. "Ughn!" She shook her head as she received Paul's memories...and powers. A green version of Paul and Craig's 5-pointed star-shaped birthmark appeared over her right eye, and the eye started to glow green.
"You okay?" Paul asked. Rogue smiled.
"Ah feel tubular." She responded. "Did Ah just say that?"
"Start blasting, you redneck!" Craig yelled.
Rogue blinked, then glanced at Paul. "Ah'm gonna murder your brother."
"Please don't. He's the only blood relative I have left as far as I know." Paul said. She then touched Scott. That action caused the powers of the two boys the Gothic Belle touched to combine in a rather...unusual manner. Paul noted amusingly that Rogue's beams seemed to come in two colors. The star-covered eye shot out a green beam, and her other eye shot out a pink beam. The four energy beams were able to pierce the alien's armor, making Bounty yell out in pain.
"Let's give him a bit more pain!" Scott said. "Evan! Make a javelin!"
"Yeah, sure." The bone spike generator grew a long bone. Scott turned to Blob.
"Take that javelin and jab him where we hit his side."
"Uh...okay?" Blob blinked.
"Scott, don't you think that's a bit much?" Jean asked.
"I don't want to kill him, I'm hoping that hurting him a bit will make him back off." Scott explained.
"Or maybe we can give him the damn gem and he'll go away." Craig muttered.
"Do it! Do it now, you big lardbrain!" Rogue snapped. Blob frowned at her, then charged at the alien bounty hunter.
"Welcome to Earth, ya alien varmint!" Blob yelled as he slammed the javelin into Bounty.
"RRGH!" The alien growled.
"Gee, this guy's like a tank!" Evan winced.
"Jean, try to use your TK to throw him around a bit!" Scott ordered.
"I'll try..." Jean concentrated. "This guy is heavy..."
"I bet it's that armor." Kitty guessed. "Like, it looks heavy."
"What?!" Bounty exclaimed as he found himself being lifted into the air.
"Uhn..." Jean grunted as she slammed Bounty into the flaming stands. She then lifted up the Karidian powerhouse with her telekinesis, and then smashed him into the ground.
"Ugn..." Bounty grunted. Underneath his metal mask, Bounty glared at Jean. He aimed his wrist blasters at her, and they started to glow.
"Nope!" Evan fired a group of spikes at the bounty hunter. The spikes lodged themselves into the nozzles of his cannons.
BOOM!
"Agh!" He screamed as the cannons exploded.
"Give it up, Bounty!" Scott snapped. "You can't win!" Bounty looked at the group of mutants.
The human in the visor has a point. Bounty thought. I am injured, and my armor is damaged. Further combat would be fruitless.
"Indeed, human." Bounty agreed. "But mark my words. I will return." He then vanished in what appeared to be a column of glittery blue light.
"What happened?" Blob asked.
"He teleported away, kiddo." Clara said. "Like Lila here can."
"We scared him off, ha ha!" Kurt whooped, pumping a fist in the air. "We did it! We sure showed him not to mess with the Earth!"
"You got that right, pal!" Evan whooped, high-fiving the German teleporter.
"God, look at this place..." Kitty sighed sadly as she looked around at the destroyed and burning soccer field. "It's wrecked."
KRA-KOOM!
A sudden downpour came down, dousing the flames. Flying high up over the field was Storm in her uniform, her hands up in the air. Her cape whipped in the winds. She floated down to the ground as the rain made short work of the flames.
"Good work, Storm." Xavier complimented as he rolled up to her.
"Thank you, Professor." Storm returned. "But now our secret is out."
"...maybe that's not such a bad thing." Paul suggested. "We can't hide what we are forever. And besides, we're heroes!"
Lance snorted. "Heroes. That's a laugh."
"What?" Paul blinked. "We'd be just like all those other superheroes on TV!"
"My little Starchild is dead on." Clara spoke up, walking towards Xavier. "I've been doing a bit of catching up since I came back to Earth. I don't know if you X-Men have been keeping up, but there's a new age of superheroes on the rise. All starting with those four astronauts a couple years ago. Then that rich guy and his fancy suit of armor started flying around Malibu. In New York City, a couple vigilantes started running around. One with wings, and another that can climb walls and spin webs like a human spider. I've even heard about sightings of some big ugly green monster and a blond guy with a funny hammer in the Southwest." She smiled fondly. "A part of me was hoping to see a new age of heroes. Since the First Line fell in 1988..." He smile turned sad. Oh Robbie, my old friend...I wish I could have saved you...
"Maybe I can alter their memory of what has happened here..."
"No! There are too many people here!" Storm objected. "Even your mind could not withstand such a strain!"
"This'll bite you in the ass, baldy!" Craig snapped. "Better to be truthful now!"
"My little Darkstar has a point, Xavier." Clara agreed. "If we have to be exposed, then so be it. At least we can provide some context..."
"I have no choice." Xavier said. He put his fingers to his head and concentrated.
"Yes, you do!" Craig yelled. "You can choose not to do this!" He saw the students get dazed as Xavier's powers altered their memories. "You old coward!"
Kelly watched this in shock. Xavier tried to hit him with the mind-whammy, but the strain was too much for the bald telepath, and he blacked out. Clara noticed the principal.
"Hmmm..." She muttered to herself. Paul looked around at the dazed students...and a chill went down his spine.
This is why I don't like using my hypnotic powers. Paul shuddered. This is creepy...
Bounty's ship
"Hrn..." Bounty grumbled as he removed his helmet, revealing a head with wispy white hair. He went over to the communications console and pressed some commands in.
"Ah, Bounty." K'Thalon greeted. "I trust you have good news. Do you have my gem in your possession?"
"Unfortunately, I do not." Bounty told the elder Shi'ar. His jaw dropped and then he shook with anger.
"...HOW DID YOU FAIL THIS?!" K'Thalon exclaimed in anger. "You're supposed to be one of the best!"
"The targets ended up in an area of Earth that was a hive of superhuman beings." Bounty explained. "The beings there are well-trained and well-versed in combat with their abilities."
"Those young punks have always been lucky..." K'Thalon grumbled. "So, you will try again?"
"Indeed." Bounty answered with a nod. "My fee has increased."
"Increased? How much?"
Bounty scrunched his face in thought. "...twenty percent."
"TWENTY PERCENT?!" K'Thalon yelped out, utterly dumbfounded.
"There appears to be some interference in the transmission, I cannot quite hear you." Bounty said as he reached for the "off" button on his console.
"Alright fine, extra twenty percent." K'Thalon grumbled. "But do not fail me again!" He cut off the transmission. The Karidian found himself staring at the blank screen for a few moments.
"Hmmm..." The alien warrior sat back in his seat and put a hand on his chin in thought. There are more of those superhuman Terrans than I thought. I will have to engage them very carefully next time...
The Xavier Institute
Professor Xavier, Storm, Logan, and Scott were in the infirmary as the bald telepath recovered from his overextending his powers.
"I fear that I may not have been able to keep our secret from Principal Kelly." Xavier sighed.
"I'll check on him next time I go to school." Scott offered. "Hopefully, we can convince him to keep quiet." He rubbed his chin in thought.
"You thinkin' about somethin', One-Eye?" Logan asked.
"...yeah." Scott admitted. "When I saw the Brotherhood's new leader in her costume, it got me thinking. I knew I saw her somewhere before."
"Do you know where from?" Xavier asked.
"It took me a moment, but I finally remembered from where. She's Saberclaw."
"Saberclaw?" Ororo asked.
Scott nodded. "Yeah. Hang on one second. I'll be right back." He quickly left the room. He then returned, holding an object in his hands. He handed the object to the Professor. The bald telepath looked it over.
"A...comic book?" Xavier asked. The cover depicted members of the wartime-era homefront-protecting superheroes known as the Liberty Legion fighting alongside some other superheroes against what looked like some kind of monster.
Scott nodded. "Look, see these characters here?" He pointed them out as the other two adult X-Men crowded around the comic. "These are the Canadian Home Guard. They were the protectors of Canada during WWII."
"That looks like..." Ororo noted.
"Yeah. That's Sabreclaw." Scott said. Logan stared intently at the cover. The sight of Sabreclaw on the cover got his mind going.
Her voice... Logan found himself thinking back to the battle. I know her from somewhere. Why does she sound so familiar?
"How did you obtain this comic?" Xavier asked. "It looks quite old."
"I got it in one of the back issue bins at a comic shop. It's from the 1960s." Scott explained. "It's actually a reprint. Getting the original from the 1940s would have been...difficult and expensive." Xavier nodded in understanding.
"I don't understand." Ororo said.
"Back in the day, they used to create comics about the superheroes fighting in the war. Created stories based on their actual adventures." Scott explained. "It was done for wartime morale."
"Propaganda." Logan stated, crossing his arms.
"Admittedly, yeah." Scott nodded. "There was a war on, after all."
"A superheroine from World War II now leading the Brotherhood." Xavier frowned. "I wonder how that came to be..."
"I think I know." Scott admitted. "And it also explains the other problem we have: The Brotherhood's ranks have clearly expanded. Not counting the new kids, their numbers now equal ours."
"Indeed." Xavier agreed. "It's interesting that their group expanded so quickly, considering they...lack the resources we have."
"To be fair, the two I did meet seemed...alright." Scott confessed. "Craig Starr seemed...intense, but his twin brother Paul was...surprisingly nice."
"Where did they even come from?" Ororo wondered.
"Well, Paul Starr said he was from Los Angeles. But Blob claimed they came from space." Scott said.
"Space?" Ororo blinked.
"Yeah. They came here in a spaceship."
"Did they really come here in a spaceship?" Logan asked in disbelief.
"That's what the twins said." Scott confirmed. "And honestly, I'm not that unwilling to say it's impossible. I mean, this is a school full of superpowered people."
"I know an old student of mine would have a quote for this." Xavier recalled fondly. "I am rather open minded to the idea myself, I must admit. Considering those...other events that Sabreclaw mentioned, the idea of a spaceship crashing here is hardly implausible. And who knows? Maybe these new members will be a good influence on them..."
Bayville High
Principal Kelly stood in his office, looking out the window. He was trying to contemplate what he had just witnessed. It seemed like something out of a movie, cartoon, or a comic book. People in colorful costumes displaying powers and abilities beyond those of mortal humans, battling a monstrous being. The phenomenon was hardly an unusual thing in this world. Superheroes and supervillains had existed for decades. Historians had traced such activities as far back as the days of the Old West, when masked gunslingers like the Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid used their skills in slapping iron to defend the helpless against those who would mean them harm. During World War I, a group of costumed characters known as Freedom's Five emerged to help save the world from the Central Powers.
When the fires of World War II burned through Europe, threatening to engulf the rest of the world as well, the first major generation of heroes with actual superhuman abilities emerged. The Invaders, led by the super-soldier Captain America, took the fight to the Nazis in Europe, while the large grouping of costumed heroes known as the Liberty Legion helped protect the United States from spies and saboteurs. From there, it seemed that costumed heroics had become a part of normal life.
But those activities seemed confined to only the major cities. This kind of thing didn't happen in Bayville. And most small towns certainly didn't have student bodies full of superhumans. How did something like this happen? The kids seemed so...normal.
The principal heard a noise. He quickly turned around and gasped. He saw Clara Creed smirking at him. She was in her civilian clothes.
"Hello, Bobby." She greeted.
"...Miss Creed!" Kelly gasped, clutching his chest. "You startled me!"
"Sorry about that." The blonde feral apologized sincerely. "You seem a bit deep in thought."
"I...I...How'd you get in here?" He asked.
"I have my ways." Clara explained. "I've gained a lot of skills in my crazy life. You seem a bit rattled about something." She took a seat in front of his desk and put her feet up on it. "Care to talk about it? You look like you need a friendly ear right now."
"Yeah...I am..." Kelly took a seat. "I have no idea what I just saw...I...how did...in my mind..."
"Aaaaaaah." Clara nodded. "Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that." A wicked smile grew on the face of the blonde feral mutant. "And I figured you need some of this right now." She put a rectangular bottle of alcohol and a pair of shot glasses on the desk. "Jack Daniel's Black Label." The blonde leaned forward, her hands under her chin. "I figured that you and I could...discuss a few things..."
Elsewhere in Bayville.
"Weird..." A lanky raven-haired teenage boy muttered at his phone. He wore a blue t-shirt bearing the iconic round shield of Captain America on it, and a pair of khaki shorts. He had laid back on his bed, in the middle of his bedroom. His bedroom was seemingly that of a typical teenage boy, with beige carpeting and green walls. The room had a couple bookshelves, with action figures on them. His walls were decorated with posters of superheroes, as well as of musicians. On the wall across from the bed was a flat-screen TV attached to the wall, with shelves below it containing movies, video games, and a couple consoles.
Roger Gruenwald frowned as he brushed a blond-dyed bang from his face. He looked over the footage he had captured of the strange alien being that had attacked the soccer field. At least, that's what it was supposed to be. Instead, the footage was all static, like someone had interfered with it.
"Did something screw with my phone?" The teenager frowned. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that it was hit some kind of interference...maybe Eddie can do something with this."
Woof, this was a tough chapter to write. Over the years writing, I have discovered that I stink at writing battle scenes. Yeah. I hope you all enjoyed it.
You may have noticed Kelly mentioning the First Line. Well, they're an actual Marvel super-team. They first appeared in Marvel: The Lost Generation #12 (March 2000). The mini-series (that went backwards from issues 12 to 1) told the tale of a "lost generation" of super-heroes that appeared between the end of the Golden Age of Comics (the era of the Invaders and the All-Winners Squad) and the debut of the Fantastic Four. Clara's mentioning of "Robbie" is a reference to First Liner Robert Paine, aka Black Fox. He was basically a Batman pastiche.