The SuperStarr Chronicles
Disclaimer: "Deal with it, Smoothie Man!" - Jirard Khalil, The Completionist
Author's Note: Hope you liked this New Year's gift! Sorry I took so long, but Infinity Crisis has been giving me a ton of plot bunnies I had to chase down first. Hope this makes it up to you all for your patience! Also, I'd love if you'd all visit the story's TV Tropes page!
Chapter 10: Phantazia of the Rock Opera, Part 4!
Bayville, New York
Duncan Matthews sat in his car as it was parked in front of a store, bobbing his head to some tunes playing from the car's music player. He was waiting for a friend to finish running a couple of errands.
"Man, this band is truly, truly awesome." The blond-haired jock smiled as he continued bobbing his head. He looked into the store he was parked in front of. "What is he doing in there, buying one of everything? How long can it take to buy some chips?" He frowned for a moment, then went back to enjoying the music. "...I wonder what Jean is up to right now? I think she'd like these guys..." He heard a noise. It was the sound of wheels on pavement. "Huh?"
"Hey, Matthews! You suck!" Roger Gruenwald taunted as he rode by on a skateboard.
"What?" Duncan blinked in confusion. Ain't that Gruenwald, that superhero nerd? What is that weird up to?
"YOU DIE TODAY, GRUENWALD!" The jock heard Ethan Meyer yell.
"What?!" The football player blinked, then saw the bully's fist coming towards his face. "WAITYOUMORONI'MNOT-!"
WHAM!
"Ughn!" Duncan fell backwards, out cold.
"Gotcha!" Meyer grinned. He then peeked into the car. "Wait a minute..." He blinked at the dazed football player. The bully gazed and blinked at the blond jock for a minute. "Hey, wait a minute! You're not Gruenwald!" He roared up into the sky. "GRUENWAAAAAAAALD! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS! YOU MADE ME LOOK STUPID!"
Cleveland, Ohio
Polanski laid a map out on the table of the interrogation room. He, Briscoe and the X-Men gathered around it. Kid Razor just stood back at the corner with his arms crossed.
"Here's your map, kid." He told Rogue. The Southerner looked over the map, her mind sifting through the memories of the Dark Watch mercenary she had touched during their fight at the bank. Jubilee had noticed that Razor wasn't with them and decided to join him. She smiled adoringly at him, making Razor blink.
"If you glomp the Kid of Rock, you'll get blasted."
"You know, it's really cool that you get to be a superhero."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool." Razor said.
"Chatting up the fangirl?" Ronnie teased. Razor shot his ghostly mentor a sneer.
"Go eat a proton pack." The teenage rocker/superhero grunted.
"I envy you. You get to go out and punch supervillains. The X-Men don't let me come along on missions." Jubilee said.
"Yeah, because Cyclops said you flunked out of something called a 'Danger Room'. What is that?" Ronnie asked.
"Eh, its a fancy room we X-Men use to train our powers. It's supposed to help us master them. At least, that's what the Professor tells us." Jubilee shrugged.
"How did that happen, if I may ask?" Ronnie wondered.
Jubilee scowled. "I had an awesome idea to overcome this one obstacle, but Cyclops was like 'blah blah blah, you do like this, blah blah blah, you don't do it the cool way, blah blah blah'. So I tried to do it the cool way, and I think Cyclops sabotaged it, because it all went to Hell." She pouted. "Maybe I oughta leave them and be a solo hero." Ronnie burst out laughing at this.
"The hell you laughing about, Phantom of the Arena?" Polanski asked.
"Your mother." Razor mocked as Ronnie calmed himself down. "We're discussing her sexual misadventures over in Cincinnati." Jubilee snickered at that. Polanski growled, and the X-Men could have sworn that his face was about to turn purple.
"No, no, no..." Ronnie assured the officer with a wave. The teenage rocker rolled his eyes, then turned to Jubilee.
"Well, the Kid of Rock didn't need no fancy Institute. The Kid of Rock graduated from the School of Hard Knocks." Razor bragged with a smirk, pointing at himself. "Magna cum laude. No better teachers there."
"I helped out." Ronnie shrugged. "Razor's a bit dopey, but kid's got some potential."
"Yeah, yeah." Razor grumbled.
"You know, Cleveland is a pretty big city." Jubilee noted.
"Yeah. It is. It's no small cul-de-sac." Razor said. "So?"
"Well, I was thinking..." Jubilee smiled at the rocker. "Have you ever considered getting yourself a...partner?"
"Partner?" Razor blinked.
"Well, yeah." Jubilee nodded. "You know, someone to watch your back. Somebody to help you out. Maybe..." She gave Razor a doe-eyed look. "You and I would be one helluva team..." She purred.
"...yeah..." Razor winced. "Listen, babe. The Kid of Rock likes ya, but he's strictly a solo act. The Kid of Rock is not one to share spotlight."
"And yet, here you are, doin' a team-up. And also, he's got me." Ronnie snickered. Razor shot his ghostly mentor a sneer.
"The Kid of Rock thought he told you to go eat a proton pack."
"Just sayin', Rockerboy." Ronnie said. "And she's not wrong. Cleveland is a big city. It's tough for one person to protect. The cops can't handle the stuff we face."
"That don't mean the Kid of Rock needs a damned partner." Razor grumbled.
"Jubes is right, even if she's only wanting to hook up with ya." Ronnie noted. "A little help wouldn't hurt." Razor fought the urge to roll his eyes. Since when did Kid Razor need help? He was the Kid of Rock 'n' Roll! People needed his help, not the other way around!
"...and Ah think they're here." Rogue pointed to a spot on the map.
"You sure, Rogue?" Briscoe asked.
"Ah think so." Rogue nodded.
"Alright." Polanski agreed. "We got a solid lead for once in this case." He glared at Razor. "Hey Rockerboy! Stop makin' eyes at Lucy Liu there! We got a lead!"
"Yeah, Razor. Stop makin' eyes at me." Jubilee cooed. Razor ignored her, mainly because he was too busy glaring at Polanski.
"The Kid of Rock would like to kick him in the eyes..." Razor growled under his breath.
"Take it easy, rockstar. We're all on the same team here." Ronnie patted his shoulder.
"Alright. Thanks to Scarlett O'Hara over here..." Briscoe grinned at Rogue. "This is where the Dark Watch are headquartered for now." She pointed at the spot on the map Rogue pointed out.
"Who?" The Mississippian mutant blinked.
"Kids." Polanski shook his head with a chuckle. He looked at the spot on the map Rogue pointed out. "That's an old abandoned steel plant."
"A steel plant?" Ororo asked.
"Yeah." Polanski nodded. "Ya see, back in the late 70s and 80s, Cleveland shuttered several steel plants due to a major recession at the time. Thanks to that, as well as a bunch of other factors, Cleveland's unemployment rate was higher than the national average at that point."
"Some of those old plants are still standing." Briscoe recalled. "Would make a convenient headquarters for Zola."
"Well then, let's kick his ass!" Razor punched his hand. "He wants a rematch with that little witch of his! Nobody controls the Kid of Rock!"
"Hey smart guy, we should consider the possibility that she's doing this against her will." Scott remarked dryly. Razor scowled at him.
"Cyclops is correct." Storm agreed. "There is the possibility that somehow, Zola has put the poor girl under his control."
"That's not an unfair assumption." Polanski agreed. "From what we understand, Harsaw ain't the type to willingly engage in criminal activity."
"It is likely that she is not acting of her own free will, officer." Ororo stated. Polanski looked at Jean.
"Red, you can read minds. Was the girl under some kind of mind control?"
The redhead frowned as she thought about it. "It's possible. Her mind was...well, it was like turning on a TV and seeing static."
"She was moving unnaturally stiffly." Scott added. "Almost like a zombie."
"Not unreasonable to assume she is under mind control." Jean agreed.
"I can imagine Zola would not care about whether the kid wants to work for him or not." Ronnie agreed with a sneer.
Elsewhere in Cleveland, A short time later
A group of police cars, led by a certain pair of Mustangs, parked in front of a steelworks. Polanski and Briscoe and the X-Men emerged from their vehicles. Razor landed nearby.
"Alright, everyone!" Polanski ordered the policemen. "The superheroes, Briscoe, and I will go in! We'll signal for you all if we need you!"
"Uh, question." One cop raised his hand. "How will we know the signal?"
"Pal, it's Polanski and Briscoe. I think we'll know." Another cop smirked at his compatriot, then at Polanski and Briscoe.
"He's got a point, Jim." Briscoe agreed.
Polanski looked at Cyclops. "You! With me!" The officer and the young optic blaster ran up to the sides of the large blue doors of the steelworks. The policeman had his gun in a standby position, and Cyclops had a hand on the side of his visor.
"Alright." Polanski said to the young mutant. "We have to be ready for anything."
Jean, do you sense anything? Scott asked telepathically.
No, I do not. Jean responded.
"I don't sense any auras. I think the place is empty." Ronnie said. "I can look around inside."
"That's a good idea, Rocker." Polanski agreed. He looked at Cyclops. "When I give the signal, you blast the doors down-!" Razor rolled his eyes and ran towards the doors.
"ROCK AND ROLL FOREVER!" The Kid of Rock 'n' Roll yelled as he ran, his feet glowing with the Power of Rock. He leapt up and dropkicked the doors.
CLANG! BOOM!
Razor's dropkick brought down the doors.
"Oh, dammit..." Polanski groaned, facepalming.
"Is he always like this?" Scott asked.
"Sadly, yes." Polanski sighed.
"The hell you two old ladies whining about?" Razor sneered at them. "Ronnie said there was nobody in here! He sensed no auras here, and Red Hot Mindreader here..." Razor jerked his thumb at Jean with a smirk, making Scott scowl and Jean frown. "...said she didn't sense anybody in here!"
"I also said that Zola's basically an electronic consciousness now." Ronnie said. "A telepath can't detect that."
"That doesn't mean you should still charge in like a bulldozer on cocaine, you whackjob!" Polanski snapped. Razor rolled his eyes.
"Dude, The Kid of Rock is a rockstar. He's got this." Razor smirked. He then waved. "Let's go beat up the robo-Nazi, save the world, save Harsaw so she can fawn over me and talk about how awesome the Kid of Rock is and all that other good stuff."
"Razor, if Zola is in there-!" Scott started.
"He'll get the honor of experiencing a heavy metal-powered Cleveland-style ass-kicking." Razor smirked as he strutted inside. "HEY ZOLA! WHERE YOU AT?! COME ON OUT HERE AND COME GET YER BEATING, YA ROBODORK!" Rogue looked at Briscoe.
"That guy is insane." The Southerner mumbled.
"I think he's awesome." Jubilee grinned. Rogue rolled her eyes. The X-Men and two policemen slowly followed Razor inside.
"Keep your eyes open, people." Scott ordered. "Be ready for anything."
"Hey Visor-Boy, can the Kid of Rock ask you something?" Razor asked as he looked around.
"It's Cyclops, and yes."
"The energy beams from your face. They're from the fancy visor, or are they part of you?"
"Part of me." Scott said. "My eyes constantly blast them. The beams hold them back."
Razor blinked. "If your eyes are constantly blastin' those beams, then...how do you see?"
"Just fine, thank you." Scott smirked.
"You X-Men are weird, you know that?" Razor frowned as he kept looking around.
"Coming from the guy with a magic guitar and the ghost mentor in a city with a duck PI." Scott snarked at him. Razor blinked as his sensitive ears picked up something.
"The Kid of Rock hears something."
"I don't hear anything." Scott blinked.
"Razor has super-strong hearing." Jubilee explained. "It's why he's such a great musician." Razor ran to a spot on the floor. He got down and put his ear on the ground. The rocker frowned, then got up, and blasted the floor.
"What is he doing?" Kurt asked.
"Ah think he's insane." Rogue said.
"There's something down here." Razor pointed at the hole. Polanski walked over to it and saw that Razor had blown a hole in a hidden door.
"Well, I'll be damned." Polanski muttered. "He likely had a hidden HQ under here. Alright, everyone. Let's go down carefully." The group did so, and found that Zola had a hidden lab.
"Whoa..." Scott blinked.
"Incredible." Ororo gaped. Briscoe just whipped out her phone and started taking pictures.
"How did Zola set this up?" Polanski wondered.
"Hey look, an actual good question from you for once." Razor grinned at the policeman. Polanski noticed Evan walking towards a slab. "Okay, let's try and disturb everything as little as possible. This is all evidence." Scott noticed some blueprints on a nearby table.
"Hey, look at this." Scott noted. The group gathered around the blueprints.
"What is it?"
"Looks like...some sort of collar." Kitty blinked.
"Likely what Zola is using to control Harsaw." Ronnie realized. Razor frowned as he looked around.
"Is something wrong, Razor?" Ororo asked.
"The Kid of Rock hears something." Razor's frown deepened. The group looked at each other. Razor scowled at a console. The rockstar ran towards it and pressed his ear against the bottom of it. "Here!" He jammed his guitar into the crack between the console and the access panel. He wrenched the guitar, trying to force open the panel. Unfortunately, Razor did not possess superhuman strength, so wrenching open the panel was...a bit of a challenge.
"Need a hand?" Scott smirked. Razor glared.
"Yeah." The blond denim-and-leather-wearing glam rocker noticed a wrench on the console. How convenient... He took the wrench and handed it to Scott. "Do the Kid of Rock a favor and smack yourself in the nuts with this, would ya? The Kid of Rock would do it, but he's kind of busy right now."
"I'll do it." Jubilee raised her hand. "Gimme the wrench."
"NO." Scott said to her as Razor wrenched the panel open.
"Got it!" He peered into the bottom of the console. "Awww, Bon Scott's Ghost!"
"What is it?!" Evan asked, looking in the console. The spike-maker's eyes widened. "Ohhh, God..."
"BOMB!" Razor yelled.
"CLEAR OUT! EVERYONE CLEAR OUT!" Polanski called out. The group fled, Jubilee quickly grabbing the blueprints as they did so.
"There wasn't enough time!" Evan yelped. "We're dead!"
"Game over, man! Game over!" Kurt whimpered.
"Not yet! Razor, throw up a force bubble!" Ronnie ordered.
"One force bubble made to order coming up!" Razor strummed his guitar, and a bubble of white energy with rainbow-colored Kirby Dots appeared around them.
BOOM!
"Whoa!" The cops outside yelped as the steelworks went up in a massive explosion.
"My God!" Jim yelled. "Call a bus!"
"Wait, look!" Another cop noticed that the smoke was being twisted by wind, taken high into the sky to dissipate harmlessly. The dissipating smoke revealed the heroes, safe and sound under Razor's force bubble.
"Never thought I'd say this, but thank God for Kid Razor." Polanski said.
"Good work, Storm." Cyclops complimented.
"Well, now what do we do?!" Briscoe groaned as she watched the remnants of the steelworks burn.
"It's not a complete loss." Kitty smiled. "You still got those pictures, right?"
The blonde policewoman blinked for a moment. "Wait, yeah!" She pulled out her phone and looked into her camera roll. "And in HD!"
"And I got the blueprints!" Jubilee grinned, holding them up.
"Smart work, kiddo." Polanski complimented.
"Yeah, ya did good." Briscoe smiled. She ruffled Jubilee's hair, making the Chinese-American heroine giggle.
"Alright, we still got evidence!" Evan whooped.
"But we now have no idea where Zola and the Dark Watch have harried off to. Wonderful." Polanski groaned.
"Something will pop up." Ronnie assured.
"How can you be so, like, Zen about this?!" Kitty asked.
Ronnie smirked. "Because I always believe good will win out in the end."
Bayville Park
A purple-haired girl took a seat on the bench, carrying a green lunchbag. She placed the bag next to her and opened it up. Risty Wilde took out a sandwich and began to eat it. During her meal, the British teenager let her mind wander. However, the thoughts she was having were not normal thoughts for what most bystanders would assume was a normal teenager.
Hmmm... the disguised Mystique pondered as she chewed on her sandwich. When I came back home and found Irene, she was hungover...and there were plastic cheese wrappers everywhere. She rolled her eyes. What was with Irene craving cheese when she drank? She shook her head. The blue-skinned shapeshifter had long accepted that her long-time lover had...quirks. She kept saying that it was all going off the rails... A frown, then another bite. Going off the rails. That's not good. Her frown deepened as she recalled when Irene had recovered from her drunken misadventure in their kitchen. She said she was back on Earth. The shapeshifter bit down a growl. Clara Creed was back. The last thing I need in my life is that blonde bimbo. At she bathes, unlike her brother. She unconsciously found herself rubbing her jaw. Never got a chance to get her back for that disaster in '82... Mystique flashed back to that day in Canada, a contract gone wrong. Who would have thought that Pierre Trudeau had such a good right hook?
"Tweet, tweet!" A bird sang, momentarily taking the woman out of her thoughts. Mystique blinked at the bird for a brief moment, but then shook her head. A sudden thought struck her mind. Could she be the reason for that Starr kid Rogue and I saw sometime back? Rogue seems to have taken a slight shine to him, said he's a good singer. I'll have to keep an eye on him... She heard a noise. A noise of wheels rolling. "Huh?"
"Booooornnn to be Wiii-illllde..." Roger Gruenwald sang as he rolled by on a skateboard. Risty blinked.
Oh yeah, him. The so-called 'superhero historian' of Bayville High. The shapeshifter recalled. He's an idiot.
"GRUENWALD! I'LL KILL YOU!" Another voice roared in rage.
"Gwok!" The disguised Mystique yelped as Ethan Meyer smashed his way through the bench she was sitting on, knocking her aside. The bully was riding an ATV.
"DIE!" He yelled as he revved the ATV and chased after Roger. The disguised Mystique blinked at this.
"Oof!" She grunted, careful to maintain the English accent. ...I hate this town. The shapeshifter groaned as she rubbed the back of her neck. Nothing felt broken or out of place, so...that was a relief. I hate this town so much sometimes.
I had intended for Duncan to be listening to The Steeltown Rockers, who first appeared in Steeltown Rockers #1 (April 1990). But I got the miniseries for Christmas, and I read through it. It ended up inspiring me to maybe do something with the Brotherhood maybe meeting them in the future.