The SuperStarr Chronicles
Disclaimer: "That's the skag smuggler! Minus one ear!"
Chapter 6: Operation Fixer-Upper!
Bayville Park
Clara Creed whistled a jaunty tune as she looked around the park.
"Man, what a beautiful place." The feral woman smiled to herself. "This reminds me of that habitat area on Selzon III..." The blonde took a seat on a bench near a small lake. She saw some ducks happily swimming along on the lake, quiet but for the occasional quack. Clara smiled as she looked down at the object in her hands.
The object was a small bag of duck feed. Bread actually was not very good for ducks. The mutant woman scooped some out and gently tossed it into the lake, watching the ducks chow down.
It does feel good to be back on Earth... Clara thought. I saw some incredible things out in the stars. Nebulae forming new stars, planets with amazing natural wonders, C-beams glittering in the dark at the Tannhauser Gate, that kind of thing. Maybe I should write a book about that, heh heh. Of course, considering my life, it likely would be seen as a mix of historical fiction and sci-fi, ha ha! Unnoticed by her, Logan was sitting on another bench, his face hidden by a newspaper. He glanced at the feral woman.
How do I know you? Logan thought.
Clara had continued to feed the ducks, when she picked up a particular scent. It made her gasp a bit. It...it can't be! She whirled her head around to the bench Logan was at...to find it empty. That...no way, not after all these years...but then again, if I could live this long...maybe he could as well...
The Xavier Institute
Professor Charles Xavier was in his office, reading a newspaper.
Hmmm... The bald telepath thought as he looked at the headline. 'Avenging Angel Foils Drug Ring'. Fascinating... He glanced at the headline's accompanying photograph: A blond haired man with white-feathered birdlike wings clad in a red-and-blue costume, his identity hidden by a cowl that let his hair free. I know there was a vigilante called the Angel back in the days of World War II. Maybe this new one is connected to that one? He sensed Scott walk in. "Ah, Scott. How are you?"
"Fine. I talked to Principal Kelly."
"And what did he say?"
"Well..." Scott rubbed the back of his head. "I found him at the water fountain, drinking water like there was no tomorrow. He said he wanted to talk to the X-Men as a group. He said he knew about us, but Clara Creed managed to convince him to keep quiet, on one condition: That we do not use our powers on school grounds."
"Hmmm..." Xavier steepled his hands. "Considering the situation, it does seem like the best possible outcome."
"It feels like blackmail to me." Scott said.
"I can understand why, Scott." Xavier nodded. "But it could have been worse."
"Could it really have been that bad, though?" Scott asked. "I mean..." He picked up Xavier's newspaper. "Considering that we've been seeing these other new superheroes running around...and it's not like it's a rather new thing. I mean, people have seen superhumans since World War II. The Invaders, the Liberty Legion, the All-Winners' Squad, the First Line..."
"Indeed, Scott." Xavier agreed. "But mutants...that's likely another matter. They used to be rare. The vast majority of the known superheroes of the past gained their abilities in other ways."
"What're you saying, Professor?"
"What I fear is that if the existence of mutants is made known, it may convince humanity that their time as the dominant species of the Earth may be at an end. And some may not be able to handle that well..."
Bayville High School
After the Bounty incident, it seemed that life had returned to normal at Bayville High. And for one particular student, another day had begun.
Taryn Fujioka had pulled out a book for her latest class from her locker. She was about to close it when she noticed something on the mirror she had put on the inside of her locker's door. She closed it and turned around.
The girl noticed a skinny boy with dirty blond hair walking towards her excitedly. He was dressed in a white t-shirt with a cartoon drawing of the angry face of a certain Green Goliath on it with the words "I Survived The Hulk" on it, blue jeans, black sneakers, and a red open leather vest.
"Oh, hey Roge." Taryn greeted. Roger Gruenwald waved back at her.
"Hey, Taryn." He grinned at her. "Check this out, girl!" He showed her some footage on his phone. It depicted a man in bulky golden armor battling another man in what looked like an orange bodysuit with green boots and gloves. The man also wore a green helmet shaped like a horse's head with a horn between the eyes. The suit also had a black stripe going up the inside of the legs until it formed an emblem of a unicorn's head on his chest.
"Oh." The Japanese-American girl blinked. "I see Iron Man, but who's that?"
"Some new villain calling himself Unicorn." Roger explained. "He shoots laser beams out of his horn. I think Stark's got a new suit, too."
"Looks just like his old one, but gold-plated." Taryn observed. She then snorted. "That Stark really can't help but show off, can he?"
"I dunno, I think the gold looks cooler." Roger shrugged. "From what I had heard, there were complaints the old gray armor was a bit too scary-looking."
"My horn shall make even your armor buckle, Iron Man!" Unicorn roared, his voice showing a Russian accent.
"The only way you'll kill me is by making me die laughing!" Iron Man mocked. Roger then noticed somebody walk by.
"Yo Taryn, that glam rocker's here." He pointed out Paul Starr, who was walking to his locker.
"You oughta hear him sing, Rog. He's great." Taryn grinned. "Come on, I'll introduce you!" She brought him over. "Hey, Paul!"
"Huh?" Paul blinked as he noticed Taryn walk up to him, Roger right behind her. "Oh, hey Taryn!"
"Hi!" She smiled. "This is my friend Roger Gruenwald."
"Nice to meet you." Paul shook Roger's hand. He noticed the footage playing on his phone. "Hey, another Iron Man appearance?"
"Yup!" Roger nodded excitedly. "Fighting some new supervillain called the Unicorn."
"Cool!" Paul grinned.
"I think he looks goofy." Taryn pointed out.
"No goofier than the kinds of villains the First Line used to fight back in the day." Roger shrugged.
"Well, well, well..." A new voice mocked. "Look who it is..." Paul turned and saw a certain trio of jocks he...befriended.
"Oh, hello boys." Paul smiled. "How are you?"
"Hello there, Starboy." Bill smirked. "You remember us, right?"
"Oh, God..." Roger facepalmed. "These three have to be such stereotypical stooges..." Bill scowled at Roger, but then turned back to Paul.
"I ain't forgotten what you pulled yesterday."
"To be fair, I was defending myself." Paul pointed out. "You guys were trying to beat me up for some strange reason." A shrug. "Beats me why you wanted a piece of me so badly..."
"Maybe he was PMSing..." Roger muttered with a smirk before a scowling Taryn smacked his arm.
"Oh, I'll give you a beating, Starboy." Bill smirked, punching his fist into his hand. "That big blonde ain't here to save your butt this time."
"Is she single?" Raoul asked. Bill and Chad shot him a look. "What? She's hot!"
"Dude, did you see her face? Half of it looked like burnt toast!" Chad pointed out.
"That's not very nice..." Paul frowned.
"The rest of it looked fine!" Raoul argued."OW!" He yelped when Bill slapped him upside the head.
"Can you please concentrate on this right now?!" He snapped at his comrade.
"What'd you do to anger these guys, man?" Roger asked.
"I dunno." Paul shrugged. "He got insecure because his girlfriend liked my performance."
"Oh, that explains it." Roger frowned.
"I dunno, Bill." Chad said. "He did a pretty good job thrashing us last time."
"That's not how I remember it!" Bill snapped at Chad.
"Guys, just...go away and huddle with each other like you guys love to do so much." Roger snorted.
"You want a beating too, nerd?!" Bill yelled.
"A-hem." A voice coughed behind them. The three jocks turned and saw a tall broad-shouldered bespectacled man wearing black shoes, brown slacks, and a red polo shirt frowning at them. "I take it you three have something better to do?"
"Uh...uh..." Bill stammered. "Uh...nothing, Mr. McCoy."
Hank McCoy smiled. "Well, maybe I can have you three help me clean up the lab. My class made a bit of a mess."
"Oh, would you look at the time, we gotta get going, come on guys!" Chad and Raoul ran off, dragging Bill away.
"This ain't over, Starboy!" Bill yelled. "I will pound you!"
"I am sorry about them." Hank apologized as he walked up to Paul. "I'm Mr. McCoy. I teach science and gym."
"Nice to meet you. Paul Starr's the name." Paul shook Hank's hand. "Wow. You have big hands."
"I get that a lot." Hank chuckled. "I take it you have a class to get to?"
"Yeah, we gotta go." Taryn agreed. A pair of girls watched this, one with short purple hair, and the other with a rather recognizable brown-and-white style.
"That's the Starr boy you told me about, right?" Risty Wilde pointed out.
"Yeah, that's him." Rogue confirmed with a nod.
"...He does look like a bit of a dork." Risty noted.
"Yeah, but he's kind of cute." Rogue said. "Ah heard he's a pretty good singer."
"A singer, huh?" Risty smirked. "Maybe we can get him to perform for us." Who is this kid?! The disguised Mystique thought. Where the hell did he come from?!
The Brotherhood House, later that day
"Hmm." Craig Starr grunted as he fiddled with one of the cupboard doors. "What is up with this thing?"
"What's wrong with it?" Paul asked as he washed some dishes. "I know this place could use a cleaning, but..."
"More than that, this place is a wreck." Craig grunted. "Makes me glad we stay on the ship. How's Lila coming along with the repairs?"
"I'm not sure." Paul admitted. "She has Todd helping her out, so it might be done faster than you think."
"Good." Craig nodded. "Personally, I can't wait to get the hell out of here."
"Why's that?"
"Paul, this place is full of idiots." Craig remarked. "Between the irresponsible rockhead, the frog, that fat dope, and the speedster, I'm surprised they haven't gotten themselves killed yet."
"Eh, I dunno." Paul shrugged as he continued to wash. "Fred seems alright, as long as you don't make him mad. I think these guys just need someone to lead them."
"Bounty's still out there, Paul. He'll be back to face us again. You and I both know this. The smart thing for us to do is to get the hell out of here."
"I know." Paul nodded. "But I have to admit, I've grown fond of this little town." It was here that Lance walked into the room.
"What are you two doing?" The earthshaker scowled.
"Just doing the dishes." Paul asked.
"What's the point?" Lance snorted. "They're just going to get dirty again."
"It's better to eat from clean plates." Paul pointed out.
"Dirty dishes aside, this place is a dump." Craig scowled as he continued fiddling with the door. "The hell is up with this door?"
"It's not like we can fix up this place." Lance said. Meanwhile, Clara had made her way back to the Brotherhood House a bit lost in thought. She then made her way to the kitchen, where she barely acknowledged Paul and Craig talking to Lance.
"Yo, Blondie!" Lance yelped.
"Huh?" Clara blinked.
"You here with us?" The earthshaker asked.
"Oh, uh yeah." Clara nodded. "Sorry about that." Paul and Craig looked at each other.
"She's distracted by something." Craig noted to his twin.
"Seems like it." Paul answered. "What could be bothering her, though?"
"Knowing her, it could be anything."
"What's up?" Clara asked.
"How long are you going to be here?" Lance asked. "Surely that fancy ship of yours has to be fixed up by now."
"I'm sure Lila is on it." Clara answered. "Why, you really that eager to see us go?"
"I kinda want to get out of here myself." Craig concurred. "Bounty's still out there. And this place is a dump."
Clara looked around. "I hate to say it, but yeah." She ran her finger on a wall and looked at the dust on it. "How did you end up in a house that looks like this?"
"Knowing the circus we got stuck with, they likely caused the house to be like this." Craig grumbled.
"How do you know?" Lance sneered.
"Paul and I lived in an old abandoned movie studio before we met Clara, and it was in better shape than this hovel." Craig responded.
"Mystique dumped us here." Lance said. "Said it would toughen us up."
"Why do I get the feeling that statement is garbage?" Craig grunted.
"Doesn't surprise me." Clara ran a finger on the wall, then frowned at the dust on it. "Raven hates kids."
"This place could use a bit of fixing up..." Paul admitted. Lance frowned at the blonde feral.
"How did you know Mystique, lady?"
"She and I crossed paths a few times." Clara explained. "But we didn't exactly agree on things." The blonde sighed. "It's a long story."
"With you, it tends to be one." Craig rolled his eyes. Clara smirked.
"When you've been around as long as I have, you tend to have them."
"Really?" Lance snorted. "I highly doubt you have been alive as long as you say."
"You can cause earthquakes, but you can't believe I'm quite a bit older than I look?" Clara teased.
"Yup."
"This world is crazier than you think, kiddo." The blonde feral smiled, ruffling Lance's head. "Mutants are just the tip of the iceberg." She looked around again. "Yeah, we're going to have to fix this place up. It'll give you boys something to do." Lance rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. I'm going up to my room." The earthshaker muttered as he left the room.
"Try not to bring the roof down on us." Craig taunted.
"Go screw a cactus, Starr." Lance grumbled. Clara left as well. She eyed Pietro and Fred in the living room. Pietro was watching TV...well, more like flipping through the channels at super-speed. Fred was reading a comic book.
"Boring...lousy...hate that show...hate that episode..." Pietro muttered. Clara snapped her fingers and pointed at Fred.
"Hey big boy, I need to borrow you."
Fred blinked at Clara's statement. "...you do?"
"Yup." Clara nodded. "I need to borrow you."
"...for what? ...you're not planning to skin me alive, are you?" Clara frowned in disbelief.
These kids watch way too many horror movies. She shook her head. "No. I'm going to run an couple of errands, and I'm going to need those big strong muscles of yours."
"Well, okay..." Fred got up and followed Clara out. The sound of Lance's jeep being driven off could be heard...followed by Lance racing down the stairs.
"Somebody took my jeep!" He exclaimed. The earthshaker glared at Pietro, who was still flipping channels.
"Gwok!" The speedster squeaked out as Lance grabbed him.
"Where's my jeep?" He growled.
"What?!" A confused Pietro said.
"Where's my jeep, you silver-haired jackass?!" Lance yelled.
"Calm down, you idiot." Lance heard Craig state as he walked into the room, Paul right behind him. "Clara took your jeep."
Paul looked around. "Looks like she took Fred, too."
"Why would Clara steal my jeep?" Lance wondered. "And why would she take Fred?"
"She said she wanted to borrow his big strong muscles." Pietro informed. "Like you could find any under all that blubber."
"Be nice, Pietro. It doesn't hurt to do so." Paul sighed. "And I wouldn't worry, Lance. Clara wouldn't hurt Fred. Or your jeep."
"Knowing her, she likely used it to run an errand." Craig remarked.
"Can't she get her own damn car?!" Lance grumbled as he dropped Pietro.
"Ughn! You're forgiven." Pietro muttered, rubbing his sore butt.
"She'll be back soon...hopefully." Paul said. It was then that Todd and Lila walked into the house, the British-Indian interstellar teleporter wiping her hands on a cloth.
"How're the repairs going?" Craig asked.
"Surprisingly swimmingly." Lila smiled. She patted Todd's head. "Especially thanks to this guy's help here."
"Eh, it was nothin'." The amphibious mutant shrugged.
"He's got a knack for this stuff." Lila said.
"That's great to hear, Lila." Paul smiled.
"So we can get out of here. Good." Craig nodded.
"I'd appreciate that myself." Pietro muttered.
"Same here." Lance agreed.
"Well...not quite." Lila winced.
"The warp engines are shot." Todd explained. He jerked his thumb at "She says the ship can't leave Earth without them."
Craig threw his arms up in the air. "Oh, wonderful!"
"We can still travel anywhere on Earth." Paul pointed out. "I've always wanted to visit Hawaii myself."
"Japan here." Lila said. She noticed someone was missing. "Where's Clara? And Fred?"
"She made off with Fred and my jeep." Lance grumbled.
"Why would she make off with Fred and your jeep?" Lila blinked.
"Because God hates me." Lance grumbled. A couple of hours later, Lance's jeep pulled up to the Brotherhood's home...hauling a small rented trailer. The brunet mutant stomped up to the jeep as Clara and Fred emerged from it.
"The hell you been?!" Lance yelled at the blonde.
"Hi, Lance." Fred waved.
"And what were you doing with her?" The geokinetic snapped at the large Texan.
"Helping!" Fred smiled. "Clara said she need my big strong muscles." Fred flexed his arms, still smiling.
"And those big strong muscles certainly were helpful, big fella." Clara grinned, playfully pinching Fred's cheek. "Now be a dear and help me unload the jeep." The two mutants removed some bags of groceries from the back of the Jeep and went inside the house, a grumbling Lance right behind them. Upon entering, the two placed the bags on the ground. Pietro zipped in, Todd not far behind him.
"About time!" The silver-haired speedster grinned at the food. "We were getting a bit threadbare in our cupboards."
"Hold it, speedy." Clara said, holding up a hand. She then whistled. "Paul! Craig! Lila!" The three teenagers ran into the hall. Clara pointed at the bags. "Load these up into the ship, please." Without a word, the three obeyed.
"Heh." Lance smirked. "Big bad rebel Darkstar being a good obedient son." Craig briefly sneered and shot Lance the finger.
"Be nice, earthshaker." Clara said. "I got a job for you and your three compadres."
"...what kind of job?" Lance blinked.
"Well..." She looked around. "Seeing this place, and considering that incident with the scoreboard, it has come to my attention that you boys are in desperate need of some adult supervision."
"She wants us to clean this place up." Fred explained.
"Not just clean it up, but fix it up." Clara explained. "This place is in a bit of disrepair."
Lance, Todd, and Pietro looked at each other in disbelief. "...you're joking." Pietro finally said.
"Nope." Clara grinned. "Take a look what's in that trailer." She pointed at the trailer that was attached to the jeep. The three mutants went over to the trailer and opened it up. The trio gaped at the contents of the trailer.
"What the hell..." Lance said.
"Looks like...cleaning stuff, yo." Todd blinked.
"Stuff for cleaning and home repair." Clara smiled.
"How can you afford all this?!" Lance exclaimed.
"When you've been around as long as I have, you can build yourself up a nice little nest egg." Clara said. "Now, let's get ourselves to work! We have a house to fix!"
"Too bad this ain't one of those 80s sports movies, yo." Todd chuckled. "We could get this done real quick with a montage set to music!" (Author's Note: Play "One Foot in Front of the Other" by Bone Symphony from the Revenge of the Nerds soundtrack)
Fred moved the vacuum cleaner around the living room, when he noticed Pietro lounging on the couch, reading a magazine.
"Uh, Pietro? Clara told you to dust this room."
"I'll do it later." Pietro responded, turning a page in his magazine.
"Uh, you should do it now."
"Freddy, I got super speed. I can dust this entire house in a few seconds. I can do it later."
"She wants you to do it now." Fred said. "If you do it now, you can get it over with."
"Freddy, she's not my mother." Pietro snorted. Fred frowned. He looked at the vacuum cleaner, and a wicked little idea hit him. The Texan powerhouse hefted the cleaning device up and turned it on. Pietro yelped as the vacuum sucked up his magazine and Fred ran it up and down his face.
"MMMMPH!" Pietro screamed.
"Dust this room!" Fred yelled.
"I'm blue, da ba dee da ba di, da ba de da ba di..." Todd sang as he stood atop the steps, trying to hang up some wallpaper. He mistook his step, causing him to tumble down the stairs. "AHHHHH!" On the way down, he got himself tangled up in the wallpaper. "OOF!" He landed on the ground in a heap, and he ended up with a bucket of glue on his head. He looked up and saw Clara looking at him in concern.
"You okay, Froggy?"
"I've had worse."
"Okay..." Lila said as she closed up a panel on the droid.
"You sure this thing will work?" Todd asked as he and Fred looked the small robot over. It was clearly built from salvaged parts. It slightly resembled K-9 from Doctor Who in body shape.
"It should." Lila said, holding up a remote. "This cleaning drone with help fix this place right up! Let's go!" She activated it. The robot shook.
"Exterminate! Exterminate!" The robot yelled, sprouting several laser cannons and firing them.
"What in tarnation?!" The Blob exclaimed.
"Yipe!" Todd yelped as he and Lila dodged the energy blasts. Fred raised his fists and smashed the robot.
"Fred, I could have just shut it off!" Lila exclaimed, holding up the remote.
"Alright, be careful!" Clara ordered as Fred held up the fridge.
"Getting a second fridge was a good idea." Lance admitted as he and Clara watched Fred, Pietro, and Craig move it next to the first fridge.
"Figured with Fred's appetite, it was necessary." The Canadian feral nodded in agreement. "And I admit, I've been known to pack away a meal myself. Doing great, boys!" She gave them a big thumbs up.
"Thanks, Clara!" Fred turned and smiled at the feral woman. He gave her a thumbs up. Unfortunately, it caused him to lose his grip on the fridge.
"Fred, grab the fridge!" Craig yelled as the fridge slipped and landed...on Pietro's foot.
"GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The speedster screamed. "MYFOOTMYFOOTMYFOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! IT'S THE ONE DARKSTAR LASERED!"
"You better not have broken that fridge!" Craig snapped, smacking Pietro upside the head.
In the kitchen, Paul Starr hummed happily as he polished the faucets.
"Okay, I think I got it fixed." Craig said as he got up from under the sink. He looked at the shiny faucets. "Nice work, Paul."
"Thanks, bro." Paul smiled. "Makes the kitchen look a little better already!"
"Alright, let's turn this thing on." Craig ordered. Paul turned one of the faucets, and...
FWOOSH!
"AUGH!" Both boys yelped when they got blasted by a stream of water...from the drain. After a moment, the soaked and shocked twin mutants looked at each other in confusion.
"What was that?!" Paul exclaimed.
"How did that even happen?!" A confused Craig mumbled, scratching his head.
"Now be careful, Fred." Lila warned as Fred moved the paint gun up and down the wall. "You have to watch what you're aiming at with that thing."
Fred smiled at the British girl. "Don't you worry, Lila!" He assured her. "I got this! What could possibly go wrong?" Unnoticed by the two mutant youths, Pietro was walking by. His eyes widened.
"FRED WATCH IT AIEEEEEEE!" The silver-haired mutant screamed as Fred accidentally blasted him in the face. "MY FACE MY FACE MY BEAUTIFUL FACE IT'S IN MY MOUTH AUUUUUGH!"
"For God's sake, Pietro! Wear goggles!" Lance was heard taunting.
"Hey, speedy! You're not supposed to drink the paint!" Craig also taunted, followed by him and Lance laughing in unison.
Lance muttered and grumbled as he sprayed some Windex on the window. He glared at the cloth in his hand.
"I cannot believe I'm doing this..." The earthshaker mumbled as he wiped the window. He noticed Todd hop up to him.
"Clara asked me to check on you." The amphibious young mutant explained.
"Great." Lance rolled his eyes. "Stays here a couple of days, and she already thinks she's our new boss."
"I like her." Todd admitted. "She don't yell at me like Mystique did."
"Yeah, the Brit said you've been helping her out with fixing the ship." Lance noted.
"Yeah, Lila's nice." Todd nodded. "I like her, yo. She don't look at me like I'm a freak." He smirked. "You don't like her, huh?"
"Eh, I think Paul and Lila are actually alright." Lance shrugged. "It's Craig and Clara I can't stand. Who the hell do they think they are? Clara thinks she's our new den mother, and Craig won't get off my butt about how much of an idiot I am..."
"Maybe he has a point, yo."
"About what?" Lance sneered.
"Kelly aside, you could have brought down that roof on our heads." Todd pointed out. "We're not all Blob, yo. I actually like the idea of not being crushed." Lance scowled.
"Make one mistake, and people hold it against you forever..." The earthshaker muttered. He then noticed a car on the end of the road. "What on Earth..." Said car happened to be occupied by members of the X-Men.
"...what exactly are they doing?" Rogue asked, her head tilted to show her confusion. They were watching the Brotherhood remodel their house.
"I think they're remodeling their house." Scott said.
"Well, at least they're staying out of trouble." Kitty suggested.
"True..." Scott admitted. "But it's weird. They don't seem like the type to take on a project like this. At least, not on their own initiative."
"I'm guessing that big blonde made them do it." Evan theorized.
"That makes sense." Scott agreed. "I wonder what her deal is." He turned to Rogue. "Did you get anything out of Paul when you got his powers for a while?"
"Not much." Rogue admitted. "Ah didn't touch him long enough to really get anything. Although thanks to him, Ah now know how to sing every song on Destroyer."
"Destroyer?" Evan blinked in confusion.
"The Kiss album." Rogue explained. Evan nodded with an "Ah." They noticed Lance walk towards them.
"What're you doing, Alvers?" Scott asked.
"Directing the next James Bond picture." Lance mocked. "Whaddaya think?"
"Ah'm guessing that blonde told ya to fix the place up." Rogue deduced. Pietro zipped up and smirked proudly.
"Well, it was actually my idea." Pietro bragged. "You see, I figured that since these guys needed something to do, I figured that I'd have them clean up this pigsty of a house." As Pietro continued to talk, Lance and Scott looked at each other. Their facial expressions basically communicated that both boys knew Pietro was just puffing himself up again. Craig Starr stomped out of the house carrying a nail gun. Pietro didn't notice this as he continued running his mouth.
Oh, this'll be good... Evan thought as he pulled out his camera. Craig scowled and pointed the nail gun at the unsuspecting silver-haired teenager.
Thok!
He fired the nailgun, sending a nail into the speedster's backside. The silver-haired mutant's eyes widened to the size of small saucers.
"YEAAAAAARGH!" The speedster screamed as he seemingly leapt sixty feet in the air, clutching his keister. Evan, Kitty, Rogue, and Lance burst out laughing.
"Oh, this is beautiful!" The spike-maker cackled. "This is so beautiful! The Best of Pietro, Vol. 1."
"MY BUTT! MY BUTT! MY BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL PERFECTLY-SHAPED BUTT! MARRED FOREVER!" Pietro screamed, hopping up and down. A growling Craig grabbed his ear. "Ahh!"
"Get back here and help us out, you no-good lazy..." The ex-gang member growled and cursed as he dragged the whimpering Pietro away.
"Ah admit, Ah needed a laugh today." Rogue wiped a tear from her cheek.
"So, fixing up the house, huh?" Scott smirked in amusement.
"Yeah. Evidently, Clara's decided that we need adult supervision." Lance rolled his eyes.
"Can't blame her." Rogue smirked.
The Brotherhood House, that night
"Well, I expected you lot to be efficient, but I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised." Clara smiled in approval as she looked around the refurbished house. "Now will come the real challenge: Keeping this place neat and tidy."
"And how do you plan to do that, Blondie?" Lance smirked. "Don't you have places to go?"
"Bounty is still out there." Craig reminded.
"True." Clara nodded in agreement. "However..." She threw her arms over Fred's shoulders. "As I said earlier, it's clear you guys need adult supervision."
"So, we're staying here." Craig said. "You do realize Bounty could come back?"
"We'll beat him up again." Fred smirked, punching his hand. "He won't mess with the Brotherhood!"
"Fred, we needed the X-Geeks to beat him, remember?" Pietro reminded.
"So you're going to stay here...for how long?" Lance asked.
"Until you boys can handle yourselves." Clara smiled. "And no offense, you boys look like you can't handle yourselves for very long."
"So we're staying." Craig rolled his eyes. "Lovely."
"It's not so bad." Paul smiled. "Bayville is full of people like us."
"Mm-hmm." Lila nodded in agreement. Not to mention I found something to catch my interest... The British-Indian girl found her thoughts wandering towards a certain blond-haired Kentucky boy...
Cleveland, Ohio, one week earlier.
"And dream of Neo-Tokyo tonight..." A teenage boy sang softly to himself as he closed his locker. Robert R. Parsons smiled as he looked down at his math book. "Heh. I love math class." The skinny kid was dressed in a Metallica "Ride the Lightning" t-shirt and jeans with black sneakers. His brown hair was in a neat short cut.
"Hey, Bobby!" A girl's voice called. He turned and saw a smiling girl walking towards him. Her brown hair fell to her shoulder blades. She wore blue jeans, and a white blouse with a brown sweater vest, her outfit being completed by a pair of white sneakers.
"Oh, hey Joan." Bobby waved. Joan Frehley gave him a hug. "How ya doing?"
"Fine, thanks." She showed him a picture on a phone. "You know who showed up again."
"I thought you hated the guy." Bobby frowned.
"I do." Joan nodded. "The guy is obnoxious, but I have to admit...it's neat to see Cleveland have a superhero of its own. I mean, considering those new ones popping up recently..."
"I'm sure he means well." Bobby shrugged. He then noticed someone. "Hey, look over there." He pointed at another girl standing at her locker, muttering.
"Yeah, that's that Harsaw girl." Joan blinked. "What's her name, Ellen?"
"Eileen." Bobby informed. The two walked over to the girl. She was blonde, with her hair in a ponytail. She wore a purple polo shirt and slacks. She also wore a pair of purple cat eye glasses. The source of her muttering was her smartwatch.
"Come on, you stupid watch..." She muttered, smacking it lightly. "This thing is only a couple days old..."
"Hey, Eileen!" Bobby greeted, Joan giving her a wave.
"Oh, hello." Eileen greeted back.
"Having trouble with your watch there?" Joan asked.
"Yeah." Eileen nodded. "It's been weird. Lately, I've been having some issues with electronics I own. My phone, tablet, my watch..." She shook her head. "There are times when they just go...wonky for a while. It's so weird."
"I imagine that would be a pain for a tech-head like you." Bobby chuckled. Eileen nodded.
"Yeah. I'm beginning to wonder if I touched a cursed circuit board or something." The blonde shook her head. "I'll figure it out."
"I'm sure you will, Eileen." Joan smiled. "You're one of the aces on the school's robot-building team."
"Thanks." She smiled. A beeping was heard from her watch. She glanced at it. Oh, now ya work right! "I gotta go. Got history class with Mr. Reznek. See ya!" Eileen waved as she headed off. Joan and Bobby watched her leave. The brunet boy then noticed that the girl was chewing on a pencil.
Hoo boy... Bobby thought. I know what that means when Joan does that...something's got her thinking...
"Huh." Joan said. "I don't know about you Bobby, but my reporter's instincts tell me there's more to Eileen's mysterious malady than just electronics going bonkers."
Sadly, Joan...my superhero instincts are agreeing with you on that. Bobby thought. I think it's time for a certain Juke Box Hero to check this out...
In the episode "X-Treme Measures", there's a seen with a blond-haired boy befriending Evan after he gets pranked. I was inspired to give that kid a bigger role and give him a name. Roger Gruenwald is named in homage to Roger Stern and Mark Gruenwald, two Marvel writers who are known for using continuity in their work. Appropriate for a kid I wanted to characterize as a superhero fanboy.
The Unicorn appearing here is based on the Milos Masaryk incarnation, who first appeared in Tales of Suspense #56 (August 1964).
The WWII-era Angel that Xavier mentioned is surgeon Thomas Halloway, who first appeared in Marvel Comics #1 (October 1939). Yup, Warren Worthington III was not the first superhero to use the Angel codename in the Marvel Universe. I thought it would be a nice little nod.
And finally, Eileen Harsaw herself. She is an actual comic comic character as well, first appearing in X-Force #6 (January 1992). She was a member of an incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants led by Toad.