The SuperStarr Chronicles
Disclaimer: "We don't know that!" - Greg Wilmot, The Completionist
Chapter 11: Phantazia of the Rock Opera, Part 5!
Acolyte Headquarters, Location Unknown
"Grrrrrrrrrr..." Victor Creed, Sabertooth, growled angrily as he stomped towards one of his fellow Acolytes' chambers. The blond-haired feral man angrily pounded on the door. He could hear the sounds of drums being pounded and cymbals crashing, accompanied by loud music. In particular, the sounds of the Who. Little bastard thinks he's Keith f$%&ing Moon... "Open up! OPEN UP, YOU LITTLE MORON!" The playing and music stopped. The door hissed open, revealing a certain orange-redheaded Australian.
"Hello, Kitty-Man!" Pyro grinned. "How may I help yougwak-!" A growling Sabertooth grabbed the Australian pyrokinetic and pulled him close to his face. Pyro winced at Sabertooth's breath. "Mate! I'm beggin' ya! Tic Tacs! For the love of God!"
"You listen here, you little SOB..." Victor snarled. "I am fed up with you and your little drum kit! Give me one good reason why I don't shove it into you via both ends?!"
"If you're gonna kill me, can you at least brush your teeth first?!" Pyro begged.
"What is going on here?" An accented voice asked. Both Sabertooth and Pyro turned their heads and saw a woman with long dark curly hair frowning at them. She wore a rainbow-colored sundress and white sneakers. Around her wrists were golden bracelets, and she had a matching choker around her neck. She had a cup of coffee in her right hand. Under her left arm were some blueprints.
"Hi, Astra." Pyro waved.
"What do you want, woman?" Victor grunted. Astra was the newest of the Acolytes, a teleporter. She was the most mysterious of the group, as she wasn't the most...social of them. Magneto had claimed to have found her in Israel, she was good with gadgets, and that's all the others seemed to know about her.
"You know that Magneto will not be happy if you gut him." Astra reminded.
"Somehow, I'd think he'd understand if I explained myself." Victor grinned evilly at Pyro, making him gulp.
The Israeli woman rolled her eyes. "There is a simpler solution to this problem."
"...throw Pyro out of an airplane?" Victor suggested.
"Airplane ride sounds fun." Pyro said.
"No. I can soundproof his room." Astra offered. "It will allow him to pull his whole Neil Peart routine, while not bothering anyone with the noise."
"Ooh, sounds great! I'm all for that!" Pyro grinned.
"...I'd rather throw him out of an airplane." Victor grunted.
"I would rather not incur Magneto's wrath myself." Astra snorted. "After all, the human bloodstream contains iron, which is ferrous."
"Ferrus? Like a wild animal?" Pyro blinked.
"Magnetic, stupid." Victor growled.
"Also, gutting Pyro would make you a target of Unuscione's wrath." Astra reminded. "She has...a bit of a thing for him, as you are undoubtedly aware."
"Chicks dig rockers." Pyro grinned. Victor burst out laughing.
"Her?! Aw, I can handle that frail!" He then smirked at Pyro. "She can't be that bright if she's into you."
"Your claws cannot penetrate her psionic exoskeleton." Astra said. "She can also shock you with her exoskeleton."
"Yeah! Like that training session yesterday!" Pyro cackled. "She fried you, then pitched you six miles into a mountainside. That was hilarious!"
Victor growled. That was one of the more...humiliating experiences in his long life. "You really want your death certificate to have 'Suicide by Sabertooth' written on it, don't you?"
"I'm just saying!" The Australian pyrokinetic grinned. "It was funny!"
The Avenue Shopping Mall, Downtown Cleveland
"Hmmm..." Joan Frehley thought out loud as she looked through the books in the bookstore. "Now where are you...Ah!" The brunette's eyes widened in delight, and her mouth formed a matching smile as she found the book she was looking for. "There you are!" The cover depicted what looked like an Indiana Jones-esque character wielding a ray gun blasting some purple-scaled yellow-clad aliens while clutching a golden artifact under his arm. The new Sam Starwin novel! Mine at last! Joan thought triumphantly as she walked towards the cashier.
The cashier smiled as Joan gave him the book to scan. "It is nice to see young people like you taking an interest in books."
"You'd be surprised." Joan said as she paid for her book. "I've been anticipating the new Sam Starwin novel for a long time. F.D. Robertson is a hell of a writer."
"His fifth now, I believe, right?"
"Seventh." Joan grinned as she put the book and receipt in her bag. "And they get better and better." Too bad Bobby isn't here. I wonder what he's doing now... As if fate had answered her question, she heard the sounds of destruction and screaming.
"What the-?!" The cashier asked.
"Stay here!" Joan ordered the older man. "I'll take a look!"
"Kid, it might be dangerous!" The cashier said. Joan smiled.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful." The teenager assured. She ran out to the railing and looked down. "Oh, hell..." She winced. She was able to see the entrance of the mall, where a smug Zola was looking around. With him was the controlled Eileen Harsaw, Doughboy, and some Dark Watch mercenaries. Zola smiled at the controlled girl.
"Everyone, let's get some attention." Zola smirked. "I cannot wait to give our little new weapon another showing. Perhaps we should seek out the Fantastic Four next? A shame Captain America and the Invaders are no longer active..." The robotic scientist noticed the large oval-shaped fountain/pool. "Would have loved to have drowned that infernal Human Torch in that...if that pool was deep enough."
"There is another Torch flying around." Commander Reinhardt pointed out.
"Ah, yes. I have heard of him. The Storm boy." Zola snorted. "A pale imitation."
Joan blinked at this. Yeah, that's a supervillain, alright. Which means that... she rolled her eyes. That idiot Kid Razor won't be far behind. Lovely. Absolutely lovely.
The Police Precinct
"Hmmm..." Polanski frowned as he looked over the photos of the lab Briscoe had taken on her phone. "This is some advanced stuff. I wouldn't have the foggiest idea what half this stuff actually does."
"That's not surprising." Ronnie Rocker agreed. "Zola is a monster, but he's a smart one."
"I just wish we were able to find any clues as to what he is planning next." Briscoe sighed.
"What I'm wondering is...what is this thing?" Scott asked with a frown as he looked over the blueprints. Yup, letting Forge wander off was a massive mistake. If we had him here, he could help us figure out what this thing is and what to do about it. I hope he's alright...
"It looks like some kind of...collar." Evan blinked.
"It's certainly ugly." Kitty scrunched her nose in disgust. "Yech."
"Zola didn't make this thing to be fashionable." Ronnie scowled. "I'm no tech-head, but I've been around a few in my time, so I've picked up a bit here and there. And I'll bet you all dollars to donuts that this baby is what Zola is using to control the Harsaw kid."
"But we've seen her short out police cars." Ororo pointed out. "Why hasn't she shorted this out?"
"My guess is that Zola's hardened it against her powers." Ronnie suggested. Kid Razor was leaning against the wall, playing a Nintendo 3DS. Jubilee noticed this and went over to him. She looked at the game he was playing.
"I like playing as Cloud myself." Jubilee said.
"The Kid of Rock is perfectly fine with Ryu, thank you." Razor muttered, concentrating on the game. "Yeah! Eat that, Bowser!"
"So...you given any thought about having a partner?" The mutant firework factory said. "I'm just saying. I don't think it would hurt."
"And the Kid of Rock told you he is strictly a solo act." Razor grunted. "The Kid of Rock is no one's opening act, nor does he share the spotlight with anyone. The Kid of Rock was born to be in the spotlight. And those other so-called superheroes?" He smirked. "They wish they were the Kid of Rock."
"Well, I think we'd make a great team." Jubilee grinned. "Think about it. We both are pretty flashy..."
"In your plain black outfit." Razor said, concentrating on his game.
"...yeah." Jubilee looked down at herself. "I'm thinking of maybe putting a cool coat over this."
"You think those X-Guys will let you do that?" Razor smirked, still not looking at Jubilee.
"I think I could pull it off."
"If you say so." Razor shrugged, still concentrating on his game.
"Why are you so against having a partner?" Jubilee asked. She shot him a teasing grin. "Afraid of being overshadowed?"
Razor snorted in amusement. "The Kid of Rock fears nothing, babe. That's why they call him the Fearless Kid Razor." He smirked. "Besides, it's not like any other superhero out there could outshine me. They could bring back that flag-wearing jackwagon Captain America, and everyone would still think the Kid of Rock is cooler." Scott heard Razor rant, and it made him scowl.
This guy is so full of himself. The optic blaster thought. What does Jubilee see in this dipstick? I get that he's a rock 'n' roll superhero, but it wouldn't kill him to stop being such a pain.
"Yo! When are we finally going to beat up RoboNazi?" Razor called out impatiently.
"Relax, you diva!" Scott snorted. "A little patience won't kill you."
"He's right, rockerboy." Ronnie agreed.
"Well, excuse the Kid of Rock!" Razor sneered. "But the Kid of Rock is the Action Man at heart. He don't like waiting around to kick some bad guy butt."
"We need a strategy, you moron." Scott scowled. "I get that you've never fought anything tougher than bank robbers, but-!"
"Actually, he has fought supervillains." Jubilee smiled. "Tusk, Whitesnake, Doctor Reptile, Motorhead, Diva Divine, Johnny Guitar and Doctor Sax, the Band of the Bland. Hell, he's fought more supervillains than we have!" The X-Men looked at her. She smiled. "I've followed Razor since he first debuted about a year or so ago."
Razor smirked cockily. "Yeah, Captain Laser-Eyes." He crossed his arms. "The Kid of Rock knows a few things about kicking supervillain heads in."
"And where was that knowledge when Harsaw was turning you into the Human Torpedo?" Scott mocked. Razor snarled.
"Oh, hell..." Polanski groaned.
"You really want the Kid of Rock to cripple you in front of your girlfriend here, don't ya?" The Fearless One sneered at Scott, and pointed at Jean.
"And you must really want to know what my optic blasts taste like!" Scott snapped.
"You ain't so tough without those fancy eye beams!" Razor snapped back. He grinned lecherously at Jean. "Hey Red, how'd you like to dump this visored zero and let a real rock 'n' roll hero take you around the world?"
"That's it!" Scott threw a punch, but Razor's superhuman reflexes and reaction time allowed him to easily dodge it. Polanski, Kurt, Jean, Rogue, and Evan moved to pull Scott back. Well, Jean used her telekinesis to help pull Scott back.
"Cool it! Cool it!" Kurt said to his friend.
"Come on, little man! Come on!" Razor grinned, doing the 'bring it' gesture. "Try to hit me again!"
"Dammit, Razor!" The Polish-American cop snapped at Razor. He turned to Scott. "Don't give him what he wants!"
"Like, what is wrong with you?" Kitty frowned at Razor.
"That was unnecessary, Razor." Briscoe agreed, also frowning at the Fearless One.
"Damned idiot!" Rogue muttered as she helped calm Scott down.
"He is known for being a bit of a firecracker." Jubilee grinned.
Razor shrugged. "That guy is a punk, and he needed to be reminded who the man was around here. Agh!" Razor rubbed the back of his head as Ronnie smacked him upside it.
"Razor, we're all on the same side here." The ghostly glam rocker frowned.
"Aw, gimme a break!" Razor grunted as he scowled at Ronnie.
"I'm good! I'm good!" Scott said, holding his hands up. The others let him go. Scott took a breath and glared at Razor, who smirked at him.
"Razor, I get that you live to annoy the hell out of everyone around you, because it's something you enjoy..." Polanski growled.
"Hey pal, it's not easy being the Kid of Rock." Razor rolled his eyes. "The Kid of Rock is the very first superhero in the long history of them to be actually awesome!"
"Captain America could whup you." Scott taunted. Razor scowled.
"Who?!" Razor mocked. "That old flag-wearing relic? With the fancy hubcap?!" He laughed. "You're joking, right? That old fossil is nothing! Besides, he vanished decades ago."
"Wasn't there one in the 50s that went crazy?" Briscoe blinked. Polanski nodded.
"Yeah, but the FBI claimed he was an impostor." The elder cop remembered. "But that's not important." He glared at Razor. "We don't need you picking fights simply because of your big fat ego!"
"He is right, rockerboy." Ronnie agreed.
"Fine fine, whatever." Razor grumbled. "Let's just kick the robot Nazi's head in."
"There's still one big problem." Ronnie pointed out. "How do we free Harsaw?"
"Well...my powers can short out electronic devices when I pass through them." Kitty suggested. "If I can, like, get close to Eileen and put my hand through her collar, shorting it out."
"That might end up injuring Miss Harsaw." Ororo pointed out.
"Yeah, we want to save her, not get her killed." Rogue agreed.
"Not to mention she was able to shut all of you down when you faced her last time." Razor reminded with a smirk.
"Hey, you didn't do so hot against her last time either, pal!" Scott snapped. "She sent you flying like a missile!"
"At least the Kid of Rock's powers still worked." Razor snapped back.
"No, we are not doing this again!" Ororo interjected herself between the two boys.
"Yeah!" Jubilee agreed. "Scott, you won't be of any help if Razor knocks you out." He glared at her.
"Who's side are you on?" He asked. Razor laughed.
"She ain't wrong." The rockstar cackled.
"Will you stop?" Ronnie frowned. Kurt raised his hand.
"I think I may have an idea." The German mutant piped up.
"We could use one." Evan said.
"Well, I was thinking. What if I teleport Kitty behind Eileen, she shorts out the collar, and I teleport it off her?"
"That's still pretty risky, Kurt." Scott said. "It still endangers Eileen."
"It's not like we have many other options." Rogue said.
"None that involve having to take more...drastic measures." Briscoe winced.
"We're also assuming that her powers work by line of sight." Scott added. "I wish we knew more about Harsaw can do..." Another cop burst in.
"There's a commotion down at the Tower City Center!" He announced.
"That's downtown!" Briscoe realized. Razor smirked.
"Alright, then!" The Kid of Rock and Roll whooped, pumping his fist. "Let's Rock and Roll!" He smirked at Scott. "Time to show you X-Guys how to be a superhero!"
"I hate that guy." Scott muttered.
"Join the club." Polanski agreed.
The Avenue
"Holy-!" Joan yelped as she dodged a thrown kiosk. She peeked out from behind a column at the scene at the ground floor. There was chaos down below. Arnim Zola cackled as the ESP Box on his...well, where his head should be fired red laser beams everywhere, and Doughboy was throwing things around. Eileen Harsaw just stood quietly next to Zola.
The shoppers were fleeing the chaos. My God...what is going on down there... She whipped out her phone and started to secretly record this. This will make an interesting article. The brunette girl heard a crash. Oh no...
"HELLO, CLEVELAND!" A familiar voice yelled. Joan rolled her eyes.
Of course. Him. She mentally groaned.
"And I see the superpowered rabble has arrived..." Zola said as Kid Razor flew in, his allies right behind him.
"Freeze! Cleveland PD!" Polanski yelled.
Huh? Joan turned her phone towards the X-Men. Who're these guys? New superheroes?
"Amusing." Zola snorted. "You lot really believe I will just surrender to you all."
"That would be nice." Briscoe admitted. Zola turned to the controlled Eileen.
"Young lady, you took care of them once, I'm sure you can handle them again." The robotic mad scientist ordered. He also glanced at the Dark Watch. "Kill them. I wish to...browse this mall. Maybe I'll find a bookstore here. I do enjoy a good novel..." Eileen rose into the air.
"Take 'em out, Dark Watch!" Commander Reinhardt ordered. The mercenaries fired at the heroes, backed up by bolts of violet-covered lightning provided by Eileen Harsaw.
"Alright, people!" Scott said. "Scatter!" He dodged a purple electrical bolt, then fired an optic blast at her. She managed to dodge it. "Don't let that lightning hit you!"
"Forget ze lightning! Watch ze bullets!" Kurt yelped as he leapt onto a wall to avoid some gunfire.
"Let's make it more difficult for them to target us!" Ororo summoned a fog around the young mutant and the mercenaries, helping the X-Men engage them.
"Adorable." Zola snorted in amusement. Razor heard a heartbeat. The Kid of Rock whipped his head and fired a magic blast from his guitar at a Dark Watch sniper.
"Gah!" The sniper yelped as the magical attack knocked him into a wall and into dreamland. The windrider glanced at the Kid of Rock.
"Sniper. Heard his heartbeat." Razor smirked, then tapped his ears. "Because the Kid of Rock is awesome." He waved. "I know, I know. I'm awesome and good-looking. I get that a lot." Ororo rolled her eyes.
"Hey! Get off me!" Jubilee screamed as Doughboy got a hold of her. "Get off!" She fired her fireworks at the monster, and it roared in frustration and slight pain.
"Jubilee!" Kurt yelled.
"Let her go, ya ugly blob!" Evan yelled, firing some spikes at Doughboy. The spikes hit the creature, making it growl and toss Jubilee into a clothing store. The Chinese-American girl found herself landing in a pile of clothes.
"Oof!" She groaned for a moment, then she swam and wrestled her way out of the pile. She glared at Doughboy. "That's it! Nobody throws Jubilee around!" She ran out of the store, her uniform now covered by a long yellow overcoat, and a pair of pinkish-red shades on her head. The storekeeper peeked up from behind the counter.
"Hey! Hey, kid! You gotta pay for those!" She called out.
"Hey, stupid!" Jubilee yelled at Doughboy. "Get your big ugly butt down here!"
"Your fog trick is quite fascinating, mutant." Zola said. "But ultimately ineffectual." The red "eye" on his ESP Box started to glow.
FZOW!
He fired a powerful red laser from the Box. Storm barely dodged it in time.
"What kind of monster is he?!" The windrider exclaimed.
"An ugly robot." Razor sneered. He played a riff. "Time to take this jackass to the junkpile!" He blasted at Zola. The white-colored beam with the rainbow-colored Kirby Dots slammed into a forcefield. "Oh, for the love of the Beatles!"
"You all really thought I would not be prepared for you lot?" Zola frowned.
"Nobody can prepare for a heavy metal-powered beatdown from the Kid of Rock!" Razor yelled. "It's been scientifically proven by fifteen universities!"
"Will you shut up and help us here?!" Scott yelled as he blasted a Dark Watchman.
"We really would appreciate that!" Polanski added. He and Briscoe were crouched behind columns, trying to trade fire with the Dark Watch. But the two cops were having a tough time, as they didn't want to accidentally hit any of their mutant allies.
"I'm running low!" Briscoe said.
"Same here." Polanski muttered with a frown. He saw Doughboy attacking Jubilee and Spyke. He pointed his gun at the monster.
Blam! Blam!
He fired two shots at the monster. The bullets impacted the monster, grabbing its attention.
"Harold, the hell you doing?!" Briscoe yelped.
"Trying to keep that monster away from those kids. They can't fight that thing!"
"They have powers, Harry! I think they can handle themselves!" Briscoe exclaimed. She looked up at Eileen. "I hope..." A growling Doughboy floated towards them.
KRA-KOOM!
"Behold my lightning, monster!" Ororo cried out as she blasted the monster. Doughboy growled at the windrider.
This is getting too chaotic! Scott thought as he dodged a blast of purple lightning and then got behind a column to evade some Dark Watch gunfire. He then blasted back at them with his optic beams.
"GWAH!" Commander Reinhardt yelped as an optic blast hit him and knocked him into a wall.
"Night night!" Razor said as she smashed Reinhardt in his helmet-covered face with his guitar. The commander grunted and fell unconscious. Razor snorted and gave him a light kick in the leg. "Hhmph. That's the thing about fighting regular mooks like this. They stop being a challenge at some point."
FWZAP!
Zola tried to blast at Razor, but the Fearless One blocked it with his guitar. He grunted as he felt the beam force him to his knee.
"Ha!" Zola smirked. "All mouth and no mind."
Jubilee gasped in horror. "Razor!" She ran towards Zola, firing her fireworks at the mad scientist. "LEAVE HIM ALONE, YOU JERK!" Zola frowned as her fireworks harmlessly hit his forcefield.
"Insolent child." His ESP Box head's eye started to glow as it turned towards Jubilee. He then found himself lifted into the air. "Agh!" Jean Grey, standing behind a column, grunted as she used her telekinesis to raise the mad scientist into the air. "Shadowcat! Nightcrawler!"
"Wow! That girl's a real marvel YIPE!" Briscoe yelped as she dodged Doughboy. Storm blasted the creature, frying it with her lightning. The white-haired mutant glared at the smoking remains of Doughboy.
Unnatural monster... She mentally muttered.
"Right!" Kurt grabbed Kitty and teleported to a point in the air above Zola. He dropped Kitty and teleported away.
"Bombs away, you jerk!" Kitty yelled as she passed through the robotic madman.
"GWAHHHHHZORKGRRRRRR!" Zola yelped as he spasmed due to Kitty's powers interfereing with his systems. Eileen turned her head slightly.
"Gotcha!" Razor tossed his guitar at her. The magical instrument hit the girl, knocking her down to the ground. "Yo, Ghost Girl! Do your thing!" He yelled as he ran towards her. Kitty passed her hand through the collar underneath the neck of her suit. Razor tore open the suit's neck, then charged his hand with the Power of Rock. He hit the collar with a karate chop, breaking it. He pulled the broken collar off and tossed it aside. Kitty turned Eileen over and pulled her mask off.
"Ohhhh...my head..." The blonde girl moaned. "Where're m'glasses?"
"Okay, Jean. I think you can put him down now." Scott signaled.
"Finally..." The redhead muttered. She "dropped" Zola, making the robot crash to the ground. The robotic scientist continued to spasm and spout out gibberish. Polanski and Briscoe walked towards him, a smirk on Polanski's face.
"You're going to jail, punk."
"Or the scrapyard." Briscoe added. Jean walked up to them as the X-Men gathered around Eileen to check on her. The redhead noticed something new about Jubilee.
"Jubilee, where did you get that coat and those shades?" Jean asked. The living firework factory grinned.
"I ended up with them when that thing tossed me into a clothing store." Jubilee answered, jerking her thumb at the remains of Doughboy. She then happily tugged on her coat. "I am so keeping these."
The shopkeeper ran towards Jubilee. "Hey, kid!" She exclaimed. "You ran out of my store with that stuff!"
"Oh! Right!" Jubilee then reflexively went to her hip to get out some money...only to realize that she did not have her purse. "Oh...I have no money."
"The Kid of Rock has got this." Razor smirked as he walked up to the shopkeeper and put his hand in his jacket. He pulled out a wallet and produced a golden credit card from it. "Here ya go! Put it on the gold card!"
"Yes, sir!" The shopkeeper grinned happily as she eagerly accepted the card and ran back to the store. Razor then found himself glomped by Jubilee.
"Ohthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthaaankyouuuu!" Jubilee squealed in delight.
"Ack ack ack!" Razor hacked out as he tried to breathe. Ronnie Rocker burst out laughing. Scott smirked at the ghostly rocker.
"My visor has a built-in camera." Scott told Ronnie. "It records what I see. And I have a great view of this right now." Scott's smirk grew more smug as he watched Razor try and free himself from Jubilee. Yup, I am going to enjoy this...
"Okay, Jubes. Time to release the nice rockstar..." Rogue said as she, Evan, and Kurt tried to pry Jubilee off. Times like this Ah wish Ah had super-strength...
"Where on Earth did he get a gold card?" Briscoe blinked at Polanski. The elder cop suddenly realized something and patted his pockets.
"What? My wallet!" Polanski growled at Razor. "You stole my wallet!"
Razor rolled his eyes. "Oh relax, you big baby!" He gently tossed the wallet back to him. The wallet bounced off Polanski's forehead and landed in his hand. "The Kid of Rock wasn't going to keep it." Polanski's growl deepend as he stuffed it back in his pocket.
"That's it!" Polanski snapped as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. "I'm going to do what I should have done when I first met you!" He marched towards Razor. The Fearless One smirked and whipped his guitar into a playing position. "Kid Razor, you are under arrest-GWAH!" He got knocked on his behind as Razor strummed his magic guitar's strings and floated into the air, his body covered in a corona of the Power of Rock. The eruption of the forcefield was what knocked Polanski on his butt. Razor chuckled as Polanski tried to get back up to his feet, helped by Briscoe.
"Sorry, Pole-ass-ski!" Razor taunted. "The Kid of Rock would love to do the whole Law and Order interrogation routine with you, but unfortunately, he is booked right now. He's got stages to rock, and bad guys to beat the snot out of." He smirked at the X-Men. "It's been real, X-Men. See ya in the funny pages!" He flew off. Jubilee smiled at the sky in adoration as Polanski yelled up at Razor in English and in Polish.
"Wow...what a dreamboat..." Jubilee sighed dreamily.
"HE NEEDS JAIL! HE NEEDS A WHOLE LOT OF JAIL!" Polanski screamed. Scott sighed and face palmed.
"God, I'm so ready to go home." The optic blaster muttered.
"You alright?" Jean asked Eileen. The blonde mutant girl nodded.
"Yeah, I guess..." Eileen sighed. "I admit, I just want to go home, take a hot bath...and get a lot of therapy..."
"Ah know the feeling, Blondie." Rogue smiled sympathetically. "Ah, know the feeling."
Later that day
The X-Jet flew through the skies on its way back to New York.
"It's a shame that, Eileen decided not to come to the Institute." Kitty said.
"Can't blame her." Rogue said. "Considering what she went through."
"At least she's agreed to visit every so often so she can get a handle on her powers." Jean said. "Not to mention help with any mental scarring she got after that whole thing..." She noticed that Scott seemed deep in thought. "Scott? Are you okay?"
"Huh?" Scott blinked. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I was just...thinking."
"About what?"
"When we brought Eileen home, Polanski and I had a bit of a conversation..."
Scott and Polanski watched the other X-Men talk to the Harsaw family.
"So..." Polanski looked at Scott. "Where exactly do you mutants...come from?"
"Come from?" Scott blinked. "Well, I was born in Anchorage."
"You're from Alaska?" Polanski said. Scott nodded. "Huh. First time I've met someone from there."
"If you're talking about mutants in general, we come from a lot of places." Scott said. "Jean's from Red Hook. Rogue's from Mississippi. Evan's from New York City. Kurt is German. Ororo had a Kenyan mother. Jubilee is a Beverly Hills girl..."
"So...mutants can be everywhere."
"I guess so." Scott said. He looked at Polanski. "You're thinking about something."
"How many of these...mutants do you have at your school?" Polanski asked.
"Quite a few." Scott answered. "Why?"
"So...Harsaw there is not likely going to be the last kid to suddenly have powers." Polanski said. "Also, I've been hearing in the news about the Fantastic Four over the last couple years. Iron Man in California. That nut claiming to be Thor in New Mexico. That Hulk monster in plenty of places. Those two bug people in Jersey."
"Ant-Man and the Wasp."
"Yeah." Polanski noted. "Even that Spider-Man kid, that supposed "Daredevil of Hell's Kitchen" guy, and that wannabe-Hyperion calling himself Captain Brooklyn in New York City. But you all..." He shook his head. "Nothing. It's like you all appeared out of the blue."
"Well...to be fair, we...try not to grab the spotlight." Scott said.
"You X-Men camera shy?" An amused Polanski smirked.
"Well, the thing is..." Scott said. "...we have concerns about humanity finding out about us."
"People suddenly getting superpowers? Yeah, I can see that." Polanski shrugged. "If it helps, Briscoe and I won't say a word."
"Thanks." Scott nodded. "But what about Razor?"
"I know the kid." Polanski said. "He's a royal pain in the neck at times, but he's no gossip. But I think I should warn you of something."
"What?"
"You can't keep this under the lid forever." Polanski said. "I doubt Harsaw is going to be the last of these mutants. If you ask me, you should try and give people a good first impression of mutants."
"...you think so?"
"People are going to find out about mutants." Polanski shrugged. "Maybe you X-Men can at the very least soften the blow."
"So, what're you going to do?" Jean asked. Scott sighed.
"I think I need to talk with the Professor..."
Bayville High, the next day
"So...what'd you get up to?" Kitty asked the earthshaker.
"Aw, you'd never believe it." Lance said.
"Really?" Kitty smirked in amusement. "Like, I went to Cleveland and met Kid Razor."
Lance's jaw dropped. "Wait, Kid Razor? The musician-superhero?"
"The same."
"Ha, I love his music!" Lance grinned.
"Jubilee was, like, over the moon." Kitty laughed. "We fought an old Nazi in a robot body."
"Well..." Lance ate some of his sandwich. "We went to Scotland. Helped out a friend of Clara's. An old friend."
"Clara?" Kitty blinked. "Oh yeah, she must be that woman who took over the Brotherhood. I saw her walking out of Principal Kelly's office before that whole Bounty thing."
"Yeah, that's Clara." Lance muttered.
"...you don't like her much, do you?" Kitty noted.
"I want to know where she gets off." Lance muttered. "Crashes on our doorstep, and then acts like she's our new den mother."
"Well, if you ask me..." Kitty smiled at the brunet teenager. "I think she's good for you guys."
"Really?" Lance frowned in disbelief.
"Yeah." Kitty nodded. "I saw you fix up your house, remember? Like, I think you should give her a chance." The two ate in silence for a minute. "So...Scotland, huh?" Lance nodded. "So...tell me about this old friend of Clara's..."
Cleveland, Ohio, that night
Eileen Harsaw sat in her room, playing a video game. She heard a tapping at her window. The blonde girl blinked.
"Huh?" She opened the curtain of her room and saw Kid Razor floating outside. "Oh! Kid Razor..."
"Howdy." Razor smiled. "How ya doing?"
"...alright, I guess." Eileen said, rubbing her arm. "As alright as I can be, I think."
"Yeah, the Kid of Rock don't blame ya if that whole thing with being Zola's toy messed you up a bit."
"Well, I'd be lying if I said it didn't leave me with a bit of anxiety." She sighed. "Luckily, those X-Men guys said I can visit their Institute if I need their help."
"That's good." Razor nodded. "Listen, the Kid of Rock has been thinking..."
"About what?"
"Well, the Kid of Rock is wondering if you'd like to use your powers to do some good..." He smirked.
Well, that was a fun little adventure! Man, am I gad to be done with this. I cannot write fight scenes...
Now, you may be wondering, "What were the Brotherhood doing while the X-Men were rocking Cleveland?" Well, don't you worry about that, as in the next chapter, we're going to find out the answer as they go to the Highlands of Scotland and they try and survive...the Night of the Daemons.
Astra first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #366 (January 1999). I brought her in to give the Acolytes a little extra power. And with Astra being a teleporter who is also a gadgeteer, she's kind of their response to Lila Cheney, ha ha! And Carmella Unuscione first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #298 (March 1993). I added them because I thought with the expanded ranks of the Brotherhood, the Acolytes could use a little extra power to match them when the Day of Reckoning hits. That won't be for a while, though. So don't worry about that.
Johnny Guitar and Doctor Sax first appeared in Dazzler #20 (October 1982).
The Band of the Bland first appeared in Marvel Treasury Edition #12 (1976).
The 50s-era Captain America that went crazy that Briscoe mentioned is a reference to the William Burnside Captain America. He first appeared in Captain America #153 (September 1972), but was retconned to have been the Captain America that first appeared in Young Men #24 (December 1953), and appeared in subsequent comics in the 1950s, until Steve Rogers was revived in Avengers #4 (March 1964), which revealed that he had been frozen since 1945. Burnside was basically a way to bring those 1950s-era Cap stories into Marvel Universe canon. Burnside also legally changed his name to "Steve Rogers", but his birth name wasn't revealed until Captain America #602 (March 2010).
Captain Brooklyn is a New Universe character, first appearing in Justice #31 (January 1989).