Chapter 7: Love and Battle of the Sumo Mutants
-Xavier Institute-
Three days later…
"Well isn't this just a fine kettle of worms." Calvin sighed as he, Josh and Nikolai looked at the X-Van.
The vehicle in question now had a sizable dent in the hood where they had accidentally dropped the (currently) partially shrunken cannon of the Dutchman on.
The boys hoped to try and do some maintenance on the ships parts one by one to avoid suspicion by shrinking them down and then resizing them in the garage or yard.
However, it seemed that outside the bottle, they had retained their mass even when shrunk. This led to the current predicament.
"The prof's gonna kill us…" Josh groaned.
"Only if we don't buff out the dent." Nik muttered. "But we're not strong enough for that." He added.
"And all the mechanics I know are halfway across the country…" Calvin sighed.
"Or closer than you think." A new voice spoke up, causing the three boys to turn around and see a new face walkin up to the garage.
He had a body that could rival many of the marvel heroes—massive shoulders and arms, and towers above everyone at around 6 '7", but looked like a gentle giant.
He also had brown hair styled into a short fohawk, a short stubble beard, relatively tanned skin, and blue-green eyes.
The only thing preventing this from looking like an absolute god is the absence of his left leg below the knee. He looked like he was once part of the military, but was probably discharged after that part of his body was blown off or injured beyond repair, but the cause wasn't apparent to the boys.
"Who're you?" Josh questioned.
"Name's Bronson. Bronson Calebs, Charles made a deal with me so I'm the mechanic around here." The man replied as he noted the dent in the X-Van. "What happened there?" He wondered.
"We'd tell you the exact cause, but then we'd have to kill you." Calvin said as he looked at the man, showing his hidden blades.
"That's cute." Bronson chuckled, clearly unphased.
"I'm Josh Landbrecht, that's my Mafia friend Calvin Bryant, and our friend Nikolai Kravenoff." The invisible teen replied. "The cause was this." He stated, gesturing to the cannon that was currently still shrunken.
"That tiny little thing?" The man questioned with understandable skepticism.
With a snap of Joshua's fingers, the cannon grew back to standard size. That made any doubts from Bronson be replaced with surprise.
"It's a long story." Joshua told him. "We'll explain later, but can you fix the dent?" He asked.
"Easily." The ex-military man nodded in reply as he walked up to the X-Van.
Right as the man got to work though, a familiar blonde woman could soon be seen heading out to the garage next to Logan—and Chelsea's eyes widened when she saw not the cannon or dent on the van—but the mechanic working on it.
"Bronson?!" She exclaimed in surprise, causing the man to turn to her and be just as surprised as she was.
"Chelsea?!" He gasped.
"Peg leg, you two know each other?" Logan questioned in surprise.
"The two of us met when we were in Nevada." Bronson nodded in reply. "I didn't know she had escaped HYDRA until she told me… And when she had to leave with the others to get ahead of them." He added.
"Yeah. I'm… Really sorry about that." The Dragoness sighed, right before the man hugged her close.
"I'm just glad you're alright…" He sighed. "I guess this means that you guys are finally putting your HYDRA lives behind you?" He asked.
"Yeah. We're actually trying to reconnect with our families, at least whatever's left of them in some cases." The blonde nodded. "What about you? What're you doing in Bayville of all places?" She asked.
"I came here because business in Nevada started dropping. I figured greener pastures would do me good." The mechanic replied with a shrug. "Not to mention Dakota and I picked up a hobby of Sailing and Fishing. We even have our own sailboat." He added.
"Dakota's still alive?!" Chelsea exclaimed. "Oh Kai and Pele are gonna be over the moon!" She smiled, before she noticed the dent. "Hold up. What's with the dent?" She questioned, getting Logan's attention as well.
"Uh… We tried to get maintenance done on the Dutchman's cannons discreetly and, well, this happened." Joshua explained awkwardly.
"Turns out the damn things retain their mass while shrunk outside the bottle." Calvin nodded. "So we ended up dropping it by accident and it bounced off the van before returning to full size." He added.
"Okay, that's a pain in the ass." Logan admitted with a grunt.
"It'll be an easy fix." Bronson shrugged. "You two going on a date or something?" He asked as he got to work.
"No. We're heading out to try and recruit a new mutant that popped up recently." The scraggly man replied.
"And what if we were? You jealous or something?" Chelsea smirked teasingly, arms folded.
"No, we broke up mutually four years ago, remember? Pretty sure we both moved on since then." The one legged man chuckled back as he kept working, not even upset at the jab. "Honestly I'm glad you're back out there. After the shit you and the others went through? You deserve it." He added.
"Ain't that the truth." Nik remarked, having chatted with Chelsea the day before and learned a thing or two about her that he hadn't learned when they sprung her from Fisk.
"First HYDRA and then being under the unwilling employ of Wilson Fisk." Calvin nodded. "Yep, shit is definitely an accurate description of that." He added, causing Bronson to bang his head on the hood as he shot up at that.
"Gah!" He hissed. "You were unwillingly employed by a crime boss?!" He questioned, holding his head.
"As an Escort, Stripper and Enforcer, yeah." Chelsea sighed in aggravation as she ran her hand through her hair. "It was not something I enjoyed, believe me." She growled while the man continued working.
"I can tell." Bronson groaned as his head throbbed.
Off to the side, Nik leaned into Joshua's ear.
"Think this guy could make a good shipwright?" He whispered to his captain.
"I was just thinking the same thing." Joshua whispered.
"Chelsea! Where the hell did you put my sleep… Medicine." Marcus groaned as he came into the garage and his face soured upon seeing Bronson. "You." He growled.
"Oh great, you again." Bronson deadpanned, and the three teens present could practically taste the friction between them. "Hello Marcus, still an absolute mess, I see." He noted.
"Shut up, Calebs." The man hissed.
"Alright that's enough, guido." Logan said, getting between the two.
"You stay out of this, Logan. This is between me and the ex over there." Marcus snarled, right before a female had slapped him across the face.
"No! You are not starting this shit again, Marcus!" Chelsea snapped, grabbing him by the collar and lowering her voice so no one else could hear. "First it was when we were together, then when I was dating Bronson, then it was when I was trying to make things better between us when Fisk was on us, and now with Logan?" She hissed. "No. Not. This. Time! I am done with you refusing to let me be happy because you can't handle me not letting you do whatever the fuck you want and letting you stroke your ego." She growled. "Now shut up and don't pull this again." She snarled.
She then shoved the man back so hard that he nearly fell through the doorway.
"Your sleeping pills are in the medicine cabinet, get them yourself, dumbass." The blonde stated coldly.
Marcus just stared at her for nearly thirty seconds, as if not sure what he just heard—before he stormed off in displeasure, his face obviously hurt. Joshua frowned, seeing that the man was clearly not mentally fit to join his crew. In his opinion, Marcus would need to shape up before he was fit for service aboard his ghost ship.
"That was cold." Calvin said, looking at Chelsea. "Seriously, are you trying to drive him to suicide?" He questioned. "Cuz I had a cousin who had a similar argument with his girlfriend after he came home drunk—we found him dead in the family garden the next morning—hanging from the olive tree our great grandfather planted." He added.
"I'm not going that far. I'm trying to get him to grow up and shape up." Chelsea corrected.
"Yeah, well, word of advice? Two hard a hand is practically a death sentence." The mafia teen told her.
"Change of subject." Bronson said as he finished working. "So you were able to reunite with your brothers? How'd they take it?" He questioned, wiping his hands clean.
"It went a lot better than I had hoped." The blonde smiled fondly. "They turned into people I didn't even expect them to be." She added.
"That's great, really. I'm happy for you." The man nodded as Jean arrived soon after. "Well, you're good to go." He told them.
"Thanks, Bronson." Chelsea smiled as she hugged him once more. "Come on, guys. Let's get moving!" She called as she hopped in the van's passengers seat.
"Right behind you, Scales, keep your shirt on!" The clawed mutant exclaimed as he hopped in the driver seat and Jean hopped in the back.
"Uh oh." Bronson uttered. "Logan gave her a nickname already? He must really like her if that's the case." He said as the van drove away.
"What? Think they'll start dating?" Calvin asked.
"Shhh!" Josh hissed.
"That must be painful to think about." Nikolai sighed.
"Honestly? I don't think so. If she finally finds a good partner in Logan then I say good for her—especially if being together makes them feel happy." The mechanic said as he walked inside so he could work on another issue he was called in for. "It's like my grandfather once told me: our pain is a small price to pay for their peace." He added.
The boys looked at each other before nodding. This guy was definitely cool.
(Later)
"Bronson!" Kai and Pele cheered as they ran towards the man and hugged him.
"Hey, you two. It's been a while, hasn't it?" The mechanic chuckled at the two's reaction to seeing him.
"It's good to see you again, Bronson." Bast smiled. "What're you doing here?" She asked.
"You too, Bast. I'm actually here to work on the Danger Room." The man nodded as he hugged her. "… So, planning on going back to med school?" He asked, noticing a textbook in her hand.
"Oh yeah." The woman nodded in reply. "At last I can finally do what I've been wanting to do—especially since I don't have to deal with… that again." She sighed with a shudder. "I gotta go, I got a study date scheduled at a cafe in town." She said. "I'm going to see my brother again." She added.
"Well, I hope things turn out okay." The mechanic told her with a nod as the woman left.
"Bronson!" Romano called happily as he came in from the kitchen.
"Romano!" The veteran smiled.
"You son of a bitch!" The light controlling mutant grinned as they locked in a Predator handshake.
The two started to mid air arm wrestle, and Romano seemed to be slowly winning.
"What's the matter? Working here got you pushing too many pencils?" He grinned.
"I was gonna say something like that about you being on the run! Life like that doesn't leave much room for a workout routine!" Bronson smirked in response.
The two men laughed and hugged it out as they stopped wrestling.
"Got a job open at my shop if you're interested. Could be worth some extra cash." The man offered.
"I'll definitely think about it." Romano nodded as Bronson continued to the danger room with the three boys.
Upon reaching the area in question, they soon found themselves face to face with Xavier and Ororo, who were currently observing two of their students—Gabriel and Gideon specifically—doing tailored exercises before the repairs had to be done.
Gideon was busy running on an infinite treadmill to show his speed and Gabriel was doing Grendel style Sumo training—which included him doing some sort of rolling move, knocking over LMD robots like they were bowling pins, before opening his belly and inhaling them.
Then he puked one of them up as a high damage projectile, the splash damage taking out some others.
"Well that's gruesome." The mechanic noted, getting the attention of the two teachers.
"Ah, Bronson, perfect timing." Xavier smiled.
Ororo, meanwhile, seemed particularly pleased to see the one legged veteran—and Nikolai was quick to notice this.
"Pst." He hissed to the other two.
"What's up?" Josh asked as the adults continued talking and they left to go check on the Bonny brothers.
"Ororo looks like she might have a thing for Bronson." Nik told them.
"What makes you say that?" Cal questioned as they headed to get the Dutchman so that they could show it to Bronson when they got him on board.
"She looked particularly happy to see him the second he entered the room, her body started producing pheromones and I'm pretty sure she was slowly getting aroused." The Australian-Russian teen stated. "I get the feeling this has gone on for a while." He added.
Josh was silent for a moment as they entered his and Cal's room, allowing him to get the Dutchman's bottle.
"Okay, but why bring this up?" He asked.
"Life on a ship, especially in situations where crew mates are the opposite gender and even more so when they already like each other—is a fertile field for those same individuals to begin to lust after each other." Nik replied. "I propose, we nip this potential problem in the bud and get these two together forthwith." He proposed.
"How do you propose we do that? None of us know anything about matchmaking." Joshua remarked.
"True, but I believe we know two people who do." Nik nodded, looking at Cal. "One I believe you're related to?" He added.
"Roxy and Anne? Are you serious?" The Calico eyed teen groaned. "Well, then again they are probably the most experienced girls we know." He admitted.
"I'll get them informed." The captain nodded as they headed down to the dock.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile at a monster truck derby in Texas, Chelsea, Logan and Jean were in the middle of awaiting the arrival of the mutant they were meant to see.
But as they waited, watching the show to pass the time, Logan decided to ask Chelsea something that had been bugging him since they left the garage.
It was about Bronson and Marcus, specifically.
"Scales, mind filling me in on the beef between pegleg and the druggie?" He requested.
"If you don't mind me asking you why you're asking." The blonde countered, munching on popcorn and drinking soda she got from the concession stand—she would've gotten beer but it was five dollars a bottle, no thanks.
"The friction between them was pretty tense. I'm just wondering what the deal is." The scraggly man replied.
"Part of it has to do with the fact that Marcus is still trying to get me to get back together with him after I broke up with him when he started really abusing the drugs he was already on." Chelsea sighed in aggravation.
"Yeah, what's up with that?" The clawed mutant questioned.
"Marcus' powers allow him to warp and rearrange things on an atomic level. And he used to be prone to episodes where his powers went haywire and he would use them at random while acting purely on instinct." The blonde explained. "His drug use was supposed to help keep that in check by lowering his energy levels and keeping him mellow, but as his body required more and more, it slowly became a problem and a liability for us." She continued.
"And what made you date him in the first place?" He questioned.
"Back when we were in HYDRA's coils, Marcus and I talked through our cells when we were in solitary confinement. He was the first man other than my brothers that really understood me for who I was, and was probably the only person besides Bast and Romano that kept me from going insane." Chelsea explained. "We just… Grew to care about each other and thought it was romantic—but then I slowly realized that we were just not right for each other." She sighed.
Logan seemed to be pleased at this as he turned back to the derby. "Yeah, yeah I can get that." He nodded.
"You have a similar situation?" Chelsea asked.
"Once. Girl's name was Rose." The mutant nodded. "We were childhood friends—from what I can remember from when I was in my youngest days—we ran away together not long after I stabbed the man I thought murdered my father when my claws appeared, bone ones." He explained. "We lived together for nearly a decade together, at least until my feral side caused me to nearly kill her twice." He admitted. "We parted not long after, I couldn't risk being together with a woman when I couldn't keep myself from killing her." He sighed, clearly still aching from what little he could remember of his old lover.
"Fuck…" Chelsea muttered, seeing clearly that Logan had really drawn the short end of the stick in the romance department in his early years. "You ever found anyone else after?" She wondered.
"A couple times. The odd girlfriend here and there as the decades passed—then I used to live in Japan and had a wife, Itsu Kagaiyama, who was with me before I was snatched up by whoever messed with my body—I ended up finding her dead and later found out our kid was cut out of her." He began. "Then another time I was engaged to a girl Mariko, who I parted with after she died of poison." He added.
"Damn." The dragoness hissed. "Those sound kinda like me and Bronson." She noted. "Minus the death part." She amended.
"How'd you two meet, anyway?" Logan asked. "If you don't mind me asking." He amended.
"That's quite the story…" The blonde began as she recalled that day.
(Flashback start)
In a 50s style diner called the Sasparilla House in Jasper Nevada, Chelsea could be seen dressed in a pair of jeans, her favorite jacket, boots and shirt, with her hair done up in a ponytail and an apron across her front.
She was working as a waitress to help Bast and Romano get more cash for them to live off of—and was currently working on getting a table's orders.
"Hey, what'll it be?" The blonde asked, notepad ready.
"I dunno, doll, I was kinda hoping I could get a slice of cake to go with my coffee." A man in a cut off sleeve flannel shirt, jeans and boots with a ball cap—probably a redneck—leered lecherously as his hand drifted to the Dragoness' rump.
"You even lay so much as one finger on my ass and I'm snapping your arm off at the elbow." The woman warned him—causing him to pause as the guy across from the pervert told her his order, allowing her to jot it down.
Then she went and handed it to the cook to carry out, and went to another table.
"Have you decided what you wanted?" She asked, looking up from her notepad and seeing Bronson for the first time, who was sitting at his table with his Belgian Malinois, Dakota.
Needless to say, his appearance nearly caused her heart to jump out of her chest due to how handsome he was.
'Holy crap, he looks amazing!' She gasped mentally.
"Yeah, I'll have my usual." He replied.
"Um… Sorry, I just started here. What's your usual…?" She questioned, her brain finally starting to work again.
"Bronson, Bronson Calebs." The man replied. "I figured you had to be new, since I've never seen you before." He nodded. "Yeah, I'm a regular here. My usual is the bacon cheeseburger chimichanga with Rancheros sauce, salsa verde and a fried egg on top, with a side of fries and a vanilla milkshake with an Abita Amber." He told her.
"Alright, I'll get that to the cook." The blonde nodded as she filled it out.
After she got the order to the cook, she went back to her other duties before bringing out food as it came along, and noticed that when she brought out Bronson's food, there was a steak bone on the tray as well.
Deciding to just roll with it, she presented the food and the man immediately gave the bone to his dog.
"I guess this happens a lot?" She asked.
"Yeah, Dakota's just as much a regular as I am." He nodded. "… Pardon my manners, ma'am—." He started.
"Chelsea." She told him. "Just call me Chelsea. I'm no ma'am. Trust me." She stated.
"Well, Chelsea. You new in town?" The man asked as he started with his food.
"Moved here just last week." The blonde replied with a nod. "Me and my friends are staying nearby." She added.
"Well, as a guy who used to be used to moving around a lot, I can tell you that it's easier getting settled in when you have friends." Bronson nodded, understanding her situation. "So if you ever need anything. Don't hesitate to ask." He added.
"Thanks. I'd like that." Chelsea nodded.
(Flashback end)
"So that's how you met?" Logan hummed with a raised eyebrow as more people started showing up, getting ready for the main event.
"Yeah. We started dating not long after, about two weeks of flirting and Dakota being a sweetheart with the other—until four months later when we had to break up because HYDRA found us." The blonde nodded with a soured expression at the memory of the day in question.
(Flashback start)
Fast forward about four months later, Chelsea and Bronson had gotten along well as time went on. The time since Chelsea had arrived had been some of the genuinely good memories she'd made since she escaped from HYDRA.
That was until she rushed back to where she and the others were staying to get them ready to leave—they were found.
"Where are you going, Chelsea?! What's going on?!" Bronson questioned as the gang frantically gathered their things.
"People have been chasing us, and now they've found us again. We gotta go before they can get us!" She told him, not meaning to come off as harsh as she probably sounded.
"Who's after you? Why?" The man questioned before he grabbed her. Goddamn it! What aren't you telling me?!" He nearly yelled.
"We're being hunted by megalomaniacal extremists! We're mutants and they want to turn us into soldiers and breeders—experimenting on us and torturing us—We need to get moving before they catch us!" Chelsea told him hastily.
"Chels, wait." Bronson said, holding her tightly. "Please, don't go. Let me help you." He told her. "I promised you I would, didn't I?" He questioned. "…Does our promise mean that little to you?" He muttered.
"It means more to me than you think, Bronson, but this… This is something beyond your ability to help with." The blonde told him. "For your safety, and mine, I need to leave. I don't want you to get hurt in all this." She added tearfully.
"… Wrong time, wrong place." The man muttered, getting an equally sad nod from the dragoness.
"Yeah." She nodded. "But I'll always miss you." She told him as she kissed him.
"Stay safe out there." The man told her as she got the last of her things together.
(Flashback Ends)
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Logan told her, placing a hand on her leg. "Guess we both have that in common." He noted.
"Yeah we do…" The blonde sighed as the main act of the show began. "Huh. I wonder what kind of act they got planned for this." She mused.
"Probably has something to do with our mutant." Jean offered as a rather large teen with a Mohawk stepped out into the arena.
"And now ladies and gentleman, our main attraction: the world's strongest teenager—Fred "The Blob" Dukes!" The announcer exclaimed.
"… A mutant sumo…Now I've seen everything." Chelsea muttered, sweatdropping.
"Trust me. There's crazier things out there." Logan told her as Fred stared holding onto chains connected to two monster trucks and kept them from moving.
"… Think Gabe would be a good match for him if he goes Brotherhood?" The blonde asked.
"I can see that happening." Jean nodded in agreement as Fred–in an impressive display of strength–yanked on the two monster trucks, bringing them to him right as he jumped up and landed on their rear bumpers.
"Kid's good." Logan nodded, right before Fred fell face first in the dirt, causing the three to wince.
"And unfortunately clumsy." Chelsea winced in sympathy as everyone started laughing at him.
"Poor guy…" Jean muttered.
They couldn't see it, but Fred's face was reddening in anger and embarrassment.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, Bast was currently at a cafe in town in Bayville—keeping her tail and fur hidden through her clothes—while having a London Fog and reading her textbook.
Her moment of alone time was stopped however, by someone approaching her.
"… Fatima?" A voice with an ever so slightly noticeable Middle Eastern accent uttered.
Turning to the one who uttered her name, her eyes widened when she saw who it was.
It was her brother, Suleiman, and he looked so different compared to before.
In terms of appearance, he actually looked like a younger version of Bast if she was a guy–minus the cat features. Right now the young man—as he was now on leave—was wearing an emerald green shirt, gray jeans and a pair of black sneakers.
"Suleiman!" The woman gasped in shock as she jumped up and hugged her brother as tightly as she could—nearly knocking over her drink in the process.
"I can't believe I found you again…!" The young man gasped in happiness, nearly breaking down as he clung to his sister. "I'm so happy you're alright." He whispered.
"I thought you abandoned me when I needed you the most." Bast admitted as they pulled back.
"No, Fatima. No!" He told her, shaking his head. "I swear to you, I thought you were dead." He explained. "I had to live years knowing that my inaction likely hurt you the most." He breathed. "Abandon you?" The man muttered. "Oh 'ukht, I mourned you!" He choked. "I missed you so much!" He sniffed, hugging her again.
"And I you, 'akh." She whispered back, returning the hug.
After a brief–but very heartwarming— hug, the two reunited siblings pulled apart.
"I heard what happened—I'm so sorry you had to go through that." Suleiman sighed as they sat down together.
"I'm just glad I survived it all." The woman sighed as she took a sip of her drink. "I heard from some good people that you joined the American Military. How's it treating you so far?" She asked.
"I've been… Doing well, truth be told." The marine nodded. "And… What of you? Are you alright?" He asked.
"Much better now than I have in a long time." The woman sighed in reply. "I'm planning on getting back into medical school. I want to finish up what I didn't." She added.
Her brother looked like he was about to say something, but shook his head, deciding that it would be selfish of him to not support his sister after what she'd been through.
"I'm glad." He smiled, holding his sister's hand.
(Later)
Suleiman ended up leaving Bast be so she could study more and promised to visit her as often as he could possibly manage.
About an hour passed and the woman soon finished her studies before she got another visitor, but this time it wasn't her brother.
"Johan?" The woman blinked in surprise.
"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" The SHIELD agent asked sheepishly as he sat down. "I can leave if you'd prefer to be alone." He told her.
"No no, you're fine." She told him rather quickly. "I just didn't expect you to come here is all." She added. "Is there something you needed?" She asked.
"I was going to ask if you'd be able to help me track down what facility you and the others were held at, but if it's too soon for that, we can talk about something else." He admitted.
"Thanks, I appreciate your honesty." The woman nodded. "But there's not much I can really tell you about. The base I was in before I was transferred to where the others were held was some kind of coastal complex in Mexico." She explained. "The one we were held at since then was an island—we stole a boat to escape on, and I think I saw vessels that were marked with the logo of the NWO, but I just assumed those were mainly for cover." She continued.
"The NWO?" Johan blinked before frowning. "There's only one place they operate out of that I know of: Plover Island, just off the coast of Port Clovis." He told her.
"This Island, is one of its nicknames Site P?" She asked.
"Yep, and there are tons of conspiracy theories regarding the place from weather control to UFO storage." The SHIELD agent nodded in reply. "Could the NWO be in cahoots with HYDRA?" He wondered.
"Or they could be a branch of HYDRA under a figurehead name." Bast muttered.
"Either way, this really helps." Johan nodded. "Thanks for sharing this." He told her gently.
"You're welcome." Bast nodded.
There was a silence between the two before either spoke again.
"I talked to my brother today." The cat woman told the man. "And it's all thanks to you." She smiled, taking his hand in hers. "Thank you." She purred happily.
"My pleasure." Johan nodded in reply, smiling.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, back with Josh and the others, Bronson was now staring up in awe and abject horror as the Flying Dutchman loomed over him, much to the amusement of Cal and Anne.
"Wh-Wh-What the fuck?!" He stammered, eyes wide.
"That's it, Bronson. Take it in, take it all in." Calvin grinned.
"I'm pretty sure he must've peed his pants." Anne chuckled.
"I did not!" The mechanic denied. Unlike other cases, he was actually being serious since there wasn't a dark spot on the front of his pants.
"Okay, okay, enough of the teasing, you two." Joshua chuckled as he held his ledger. "Anyway, given that you're a mechanic and you have a boat of your own, I figured it would make sense to try and recruit you to be the shipwright." He told the man.
"Wait, seriously?" He questioned. "Who're you stealing from? Not many wars for modern pirates to be in." He noted.
"Privateers, man. After our crew gets established, Nick Fury's offered us a contract to do privateering for him." Cal corrected.
"Okay, against who?" The one legged man asked.
"HYDRA." Joshua replied… Before blinking when his ledger suddenly vanished from his hand.
"Stealing from Nazis turned world dominating organization? I'm game." The former soldier smirked as he wrote his name in the ledger and handed it back to Joshua.
"That was fast." The teenage captain remarked in surprise.
"Part of that wouldn't be because of how HYDRA drove you and Chelsea apart, should it?" Cal questioned.
"Or because Ororo is our helmsman?" Anne teased.
"Well, I'd be lying if both of those weren't on my mind." The man admitted.
"Well I don't blame you. I'd have an ax to grind with anyone that drove away my loved ones." Joshua shrugged. "That said, we won't be setting sail for a while. We're not ready yet." He added.
"Still shy a few roles?" Bronson asked.
"Yeah. But I have a feeling they'll come soon." He nodded.
(Timeskip)
It was a week later and Fred Dukes had just started attending Bayville High, but we aren't focusing on him now.
Currently, the peanut gallery of Anne, Rogue, Roxy, Wanda, Josh, Cal, Gideon and Nikolai were currently conversing with each other about the best method to try and set their new shipwright with their beloved helms woman and arguably favorite teacher.
"Think we can set them up on a date?" Joshua questioned.
"That could be too obvious." Anne pointed out.
"What if we made it where it seemed like it was their idea?" Calvin offered.
"That'd work. Problem is, how do we do that?" Rogue pointed out.
"Maybe make some subtle suggestions that drive them to do so?" Gideon proposed.
"Any ideas on how to get to that point?" Wanda questioned.
"I think I may have a few." Nikolai nodded.
"Alright. We'll reconvene at lunch." Josh nodded as everyone scattered.
(Elsewhere)
In the halls, Fred was trying to figure out just where his next class was but was completely lost.
He was trying to find someone to help him, but everyone didn't seem to be paying attention.
Even Joshua and Calvin didn't notice the large teen as they walked by—though that was probably because they were passing by while singing a sea shanty.
"There once was a ship that put to sea—." The Dutchman's quartermaster sang as he suddenly ducked from Fred's hand without breaking his stride.
"And the name of the ship was the Billy-o-Tea—." Joshua picked up, swinging his locker door open and grabbing his books in one motion.
"The oars pick up, the bow dips down, blow my bully boys blow! Ha!" The two laughed as they doubled high fived each other before rounding a corner out of sight. "Soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum—one day, when the tonguin' is done we'll take our leave and go!" They sang, soon going out of earshot.
'Uh… What?' The overweight boy thought in total confusion before shaking his head.
Then he found Duncan and decided to try and get some help from him.
This poor sweet summer child…
"Hey, where am I supposed to be?" The large teen questioned.
"I dunno, how about a sideshow?" The jock laughed.
"Why you!" Fred growled as he tore a set of lockers free and picked it up, threatening to crush the now scared Duncan with them.
"Hey!" A voice called, causing Fred to turn around and see Anne standing behind him. "I take it you're new here, love?" The girl questioned as the now flustered mountain of blubber set down the lockers.
"Uh, yeah. I am." He nodded. "New, I mean." He admitted.
"Well my name's Annabeth Bonney, but everyone calls me Anne. It's nice to meet you, sweetie." The Irish teen replied, looking over at Duncan. "Really, Duncan? I always figured you weren't the brightest bulb in the box, but I never realized you were that stupid." She deadpanned.
"What? He looks–" The idiot tried to say before being cut off.
"Just get out of here, you moron." The redhead deadpanned, which made the jock run off. "Okay, need help with anything?" She asked.
"Yeah, I can't find out where I need to go." The blonde told her, handing her his schedule. "I'm Fred, by the way, Fred Dukes." He added.
"Thanks for saying." The redhead nodded as she looked at his schedule. "Hm, okay, your next class is down this hall. Take a left, and you'll find it through the second door on your right." She told him as she pointed in the specified direction.
"Oh, thanks." The mohawked teen nodded as the girl handed his schedule back.
"See you around." Anne smiled as she walked away with her typical sexy sashay.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile in the next class over, that being literature class, one Calvin "Calico" Bryant was less than pleased with the subject matter of the lesson—play readings.
He'd never really been much of a stage drama fan. He'd occasionally dabble in the occasional play if it was one he recognized from other media, but in general? He disliked plays—particularly Shakespeare—save for a few specific plays like Midsummer's Night Dream or MacBeth.
Joshua had a very "meh" opinion on plays, but largely avoided them. They just weren't his cup of tea.
"As long as I get to do a role from something like Midsummer's Night Dream, I'm fine with doing a reading." The calico eyed teenager noted.
"Oh yeah? And what role would that be?" Scott questioned.
"If I had my way? Puck or King Oberon himself." The boy stated.
"I'd prefer not to have a part in any of this, if I had my way. Not my thing." Joshua shrugged.
"Why would you want to be Oberon? Dude manipulated his own wife with a magical flower." A guy in the class, Paul, asked.
"That's how Shakespeare wrote it. Not necessarily inaccurate but if you research the actual mythology you'd find that the entire point of the prank was to show how foolish blind, obsessive devotion masquerading as love truly is." The quartermaster stated.
"Which is, admittedly, a good life lesson." The Dutchman's captain admitted.
"I'm glad you think so." Their teacher said, interrupting their conversation. "Mr. Bryant, if you believe that the role of Oberon is so poignant, then you and Miss Sinclair will do a scene between Oberon and Titania from Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream." He told the two.
"Me and my big mouth." The bespectacled boy muttered.
"Mr. Landbrecht, you will be partnered with Miss Bonney." The man continued, causing Anne to look up from her textbook, having ignored the entire conversation. "A scene from Shakespeare's Henry V between Henry and Katherine should be fitting for you two." He added.
"Oh lovely…" Joshua groaned in exasperation at being made to do a scene from a play.
'A romantic scene with Josh?' Anne thought as she looked at the boy, before burying her face in her book as it turned pink. 'Could he pick a more cliche way to tempt me to jump that boy?!' She thought to herself.
(Later)
It was now lunchtime, and Fred was pretty eager to eat. Off to the side, Joshua and Anne were looking over their scripts for the roles they were supposed to practice while they ate their lunch.
"This is going to be embarrassing…" Joshua sighed.
"Why? It's just acting." Anne pointed out.
"I know, but doing a romantic scene even from a play isn't exactly something I'm too sure about." The captain admitted.
"Again, why?" The redhead questioned.
"It's… Complicated." The boy sighed.
"Well… I find it awkward, too. You're not alone there." The Irish bombshell told him with her own sigh.
As this was going on, Cal nearly spat out his drink all over Rogue when he saw the mountain of food Fred was carrying.
"The hell?!" He coughed, causing Rogue to look at him before looking where his gaze was directed and widened her eyes as well.
"Okay, that ain't right." She muttered in shock.
"I know he's big, but he could eat out the whole cafeteria and still want seconds…" Calvin muttered in agreement. "If he didn't quite get enough, that is…" He amended.
Though as soon as Fred sat down…
SNAP!
His seat snapped out from under him, causing him to fall flat on his ass, and everyone else to wince.
"Oooh, that had to hurt." Gideon winced.
"I hear ya." Scott winced in agreement.
This caused everyone to start laughing at the boy, and the second that happened—Fred "The Blob" Dukes completely lost it.
"STOP LAUGHING AT ME!" He yelled angrily as he got up and started throwing food around, effectively starting a food fight.
"Well, time to go!" Joshua exclaimed as he shielded his paper from the flying food.
"Aye, Cap'n!" Cal nodded as he, Josh and the rest of the crew immediately booked it out of the cafeteria as things got outta hand.
"Fred! Fred!" Anne yelled as everyone ran. "Oh for bloody fuck's sake! Will you calm down?!" The shark girl growled as she tried to get the boy to calm down—and ended up having to judo flip him and then sit on him. "… Ya done?" She questioned.
"Yeah…" The boy groaned as he passed out.
(Later)
"Well, that was an inconvenient turn of events." Roxy remarked, having decided to ditch the mess in the cafeteria and stick with her cousin and his friends.
"I don't know about the guys, but I could use a shower…" Anne groaned, gesturing to how she and the rest of the girls sans Jean and Kitty were covered in food.
"I guess the new guy hates being laughed at." Calvin noted.
"What was your first clue?" Josh groaned as Nik picked a pickle from his hair.
"We could use a shower too." The Russian-Australian teen noted.
"Yeah, we'll be heading to the locker rooms to get washed up. If any of our teachers ask, tell them about what happened in the cafeteria." The captain told the group, who nodded in reply. "Pseudo meeting adjourned." He declared, wanting to get washed up.
"Aye." His quartermaster and best friend nodded as the girls and guys went separate directions.
(Later)
After getting his stuff where they needed to be, Joshua headed to the locker room for his shower. He was grumbling a bit about being splattered with food– he still had slices of pepperoni in his hair– and was really looking forward to feeling clean again,
However, as he walked, he failed to notice that he made a wrong turn and headed for the girls' locker room by mistake.
The first clue he made a wrong turn was the smell of the room; It smelled slightly of perfume that girls used.
The second was…
"J-Joshua?!" A familiar voice squeaked, causing the boy to freeze.
It was Anne, clad in nothing but a towel with her face as red as her hair.
"U-Uh… Wrong turn!" He yelped as he turned and was ready to bolt out of the room.
"Peeping Tom!" Roxy exclaimed as she chucked a bar of soap at him—right as the boy turned invisible and got out of there as quickly as possible.
"He said it was a wrong turn, and I heard him grumbling. Guess he's still salty about the food fight." Anne told her as she tried to reign in her blush.
"Guys who sneak around are the worst about peeping. Especially ones with things that make it easy." The scorpion girl stated—right before she yelped as she felt someone smack her rear from behind and then a gust of wind.
"... What's that mean for Gideon?" Jean asked after a beat passed.
"That he's a right fucking tease, that's what!" Roxy groaned as they all got into the shower together.
"Please don't…" The shark girl gagged. "Also, if Joshua heard what you said, Roxy, I think he'd take offense to it." She added.
"Oh come off it, Bonney!" The gray skinned girl retorted. "Aren't you the one who's slept with over a hundred guys by now? What makes Josh so special?" She questioned as the girls started scrubbing themselves down.
"He's been getting reactions out of me that I haven't with other guys, that's what!" The fellow Irish shark girl shot back in reply.
"Whoa, like seriously? When'd this happen?" Kitty asked as she helped Rogue scrub her hair.
"It's been happening for a while now." The Irish redhead replied, washing some mustard off her shoulder. "When he talked to me after mine and Roxy's last argument, I felt my heart racing. Just today, when we were set up with a Shakespeare romance scene, I felt my face heating up badly." She continued, blushing again when she recalled said moments.
"Wait, you don't think she's actually…?" Jean whispered to Rogue in surprise, their whispers drowned out by the running water.
"Ah think so." The auburn haired girl nodded.
(Elsewhere)
"How are you not dead right now?" Cal questioned as he and the other guys were taking showers—the question being directed towards Gideon.
"I was too fast for them to catch." Gideon chuckled in reply. He knew he was fast, and he showed it.
"What possessed you to smack the girl with stingers in her wrists on the ass?" Joshua questioned.
"Maybe because she likes it?" The speedster retorted.
"You'll have to forgive me for finding that hard to believe." Scott said skeptically.
"Oh, she does. She tightens up every time I do it." He chuckled, causing the guys to all turn and look at him in unison.
"Bro, you do realize that you're talking about my cousin in front of me, right?" Calvin questioned with a raised eyebrow. He didn't want–let alone need– to hear about how his cousin reacted to certain things.
"Tighten up? You mean she lets you do that?" Nik questioned.
"What? Jealous I'm bangin' a girl and yer not?" The Irish teen questioned.
"Can we just not have this conversation right now?" Joshua groaned in exasperation.
"You're one to talk—given how you've been drooling over my sister." Gideon retorted.
"Oh piss off!" The captain snapped with a blush.
(Later)
The school day was finally over, and Anne was on her way back to the Institute. Her mind was still on the fact that Joshua had accidentally walked into the girls' locker room in his grumbling. She was not ready for that.
Especially given the fact that he basically saw her naked.
Normally that really wouldn't be much of an issue for the shark girl, but ever since rather recently, she'd been becoming more and more uncomfortable about being seen naked by other guys and had been becoming less and less comfortable with having sex with every guy in school.
But the thought of either of those things happening with Josh… It actually caused her to become even more aroused than she thought.
'Could he actually be the one…?' She wondered, the idea gradually becoming more and more clear.
"Hey, Anne." Fred said as she walked up to her.
"Oh, Fred. I didn't see you coming." The redhead blinked as she came out of her thoughts. "Need something?" She asked.
"I was… Kinda wondering if you'd be okay with going out with me?" The large teen asked.
"That's sweet, but… I'm actually already seeing someone." She told him.
It wasn't a total lie, recent events did make her think that asking Josh out was the best move.
"Yeah, and that someone is gonna be me." The large teen insisted, and he seemed dead set on this.
"Fred, I'm warning you." The shark girl growled as she moved away from him where they couldn't be seen, turning into her shark girl form and manifesting a gauntlet from her bone and Bioelectric armors, and her Shadow tail armor. "I told you, I'm not interested. So don't fuck with me, unless you wanna end up dead." She snapped, flashing her Shark-Human hybrid teeth.
"No! I'm not giving up! You have to go out with me!" Fred exclaimed defiantly, clearly thinking his brawn would win this.
"Idiot." The girl snarled as she twisted out of his grip and flipped onto his back, before she grabbed him by the face with her electric armored hand and started electrocuting him.
Surprisingly, Fred was able to tank a large amount of them due to all the fat in his body. This allowed him to overpower her in return—throwing her into a wall where cinder blocks fell on top of her.
However, seconds later, Anne broke out with her bone armor—which had an appearance like that of a shark version of Skyrim dragon bone armor—and proceeded to beat him with her encased fists, legs and a powerful strike with her tail.
Unfortunately, due to how fatty Fred was, most of the kinetic energy behind her blows was absorbed, again by a combination of muscle and fat. This really only served to infuriate Fred more.
Swapping out to her Shadow armor, she finally decided to resort to lethal force, coating her body in toxic liquid and proceeding to attack with it.
Fred actually got affected this time, slowly feeling the poison make him sluggish. He tried to subdue Anne, but she was making it difficult.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, back at the institute…
Kurt and Kitty were busy doing some training with their powers. The objective was to keep a football away from the other, and right now, Kitty had it.
"Well, this is one way of getting training done." Chelsea remarked.
"That's it, half pint, keep it away from the elf." Logan nodded as Kitty phased through a tree to slow Kurt down.
Both he and Chelsea were dressed in martial arts gi that they used for training—and the scraggly mutant and his draconian female companion couldn't resist the temptation to take note of how good the other looked in the garments.
Kurt, meanwhile, ported in front of her and snagged the ball before appearing on a tree branch.
"Watch where you're portin'!" Logan groaned, right as the branch snapped and caused the boy to fall.
"What do you think? Teleports before he hits the ground? Or lose the ball before eating it?" Chelsea whispered.
"The second one." Logan whispered back.
As if the universe was on his side, Kitty jumped up and phased through him and took the ball with her. As if to mess with the blue boy, she pulled on his tail a bit, getting a yelp in response.
"What kind of a move was that?!" The Wolverine groaned with a facepalm.
"Kffmph!" The blonde guffawed. "She just pulled the Kurt equivalent of a slap and run!" She laughed.
"Shut up!" Kurt exclaimed indignantly.
"Hmm hmm, innovation, adaptation." Xavier nodded. "It's what they're here to learn." He stated, looking at Logan.
(Elsewhere)
A confused Joshua was walking to Jean's room. He had been hoping to get some practice done with the script he and Anne were supposed to cover, but the shark girl was nowhere to be found. He knew this wasn't like her, so something was wrong.
His plan was to ask Jean to look for her and see what was up… After apologizing for the locker room incident, ideally.
Arriving at the redhead's door, he knocked three times and waited. A moment later, Jean answered.
"Oh, Josh. Need something?" She asked.
"Two things. 1: Sorry about the locker room incident earlier." He began, handing her a container of watermelon slices. He wasn't trying to say he was in love with her, so he decided fruit would be more appropriate for this.
"Well, at least you're honest about it." The redhead shrugged, picking up on his thoughts with her telepathy. "What's the second thing?" She asked.
"Have you seen Anne anywhere? I was hoping to do this Shakespeare scene we were supposed to practice, but I can't find her anywhere." He asked, totally confused and worried.
"I haven't, oddly enough." Jean replied, looking just as confused.
"Think you can use your telepathy to find her?" The stealth specialist inquired.
"Sure." The redhead nodded as she concentrated and found her. "Oh no…" She muttered in concern.
"What?" Josh questioned.
"It's Fred, he's trying to kidnap her." Jean told him.
(Elsewhere)
"Ill be met by moonlight, proud Titania?" Calvin read as he and Rogue were seen sitting across from each other, rehearsing a scene.
"What, jealous Oberon! Fairies, skip hence: I have forsworn his bed and company." Rogue retorted, already getting into character.
"Tarry, rash wanton: am not I thy lord?" The boy countered, easily sliding into character.
"Then I must be thy lady: but I know, when thou hast stolen away from fairy land, And in the shape of Corin sat all day, Playing on pipes of corn and versing love To amorous Phillida. Why art thou here, Come from the farthest Steppe of India? But that, forsooth, the bouncing Amazon, Your buskin'd mistress and your warrior love, To Theseus must be wedded, and you come To give their bed joy and prosperity." The auburn haired girl bit back in her character's tone—right as Josh and Jean arrived.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we have a problem!" Jean told them, catching her breath.
"What's wrong?" Calvin asked, seeing something was up.
"It's Fred; He's trying to kidnap Anne!" Joshua exclaimed in reply.
"What?!" Rogue gasped in alarm.
"That dude's huge, how're we gonna—wait." The Calico teen said before an idea hit him. "Where's Gabe?" He questioned.
"In the Institute's kitchen getting dinner ready. Why?" Jean asked in reply.
"Cuz I just had an idea." The Dutchman's quartermaster replied with a grinch-like grin.
(Elsewhere)
In the Institute's kitchen, Gabriel was busy getting a new recipe of Confit Byaldi—a more sophisticated version of Ratatouille—that he learned of in class. He wanted to see what Romano, Bast, Kai, Pele and Marcus thought of it, so he started whipping one up.
"Tomato and roasted pepper purée sauce, shingled sliced squash, zucchini, tomato and eggplant, drizzle with oil, and herbs…" He hummed as he checked off his list—before pulling out the dish from the oven and plating it up for the others. "It's not my specialty, that's mainly Irish and Japanese food—but I'm sure it's good." He admitted, but nonetheless confident.
"Well, let's give it a try." Bast shrugged as she and the others took a bite… And swore their minds went to a different dimension for a second before returning. "... Wow!" She exclaimed in amazement.
"Chingada Madre—and you're sure this is your first try, cabron?" Romano nodded, equally surprised at how well the dish was made despite it being a new recipe for the chef in training.
"Yeah, this is way too good to be your first time making it!" Pele exclaimed with wide eyes. "I mean, I can't stop eating it, and I hate vegetables!" She added.
"Can I have seconds?!" Kai asked with puppy dog eyes.
"There's plenty to go around." The young man chuckled. "Marcus? What about you?" He asked.
"Haven't had anything this good in years! We gotta get this onto a personal menu for you!" The man exclaimed, and he was clearly trying to avoid wolfing it down. "This is better than the cheap stuff Fisk's pocket change got us or the scraps HYDRA let us have, I'll tell you what…" He added.
"Then by all means, eat to your heart's content." The cook smiled, feeling a sense of joy that he remembered feeling when he watched his sister eat the first food she probably had eaten since leaving Port Clovis.
It felt… Really good.
(Elsewhere)
And meanwhile with the others who just learned about it…
"Get on!" Logan called as Chelsea hopped on his bike, putting a helmet on.
"Ya know, I was gonna say that you look good in orange—then I remembered that we're in crisis mode." The Dragoness noted as she hugged his waist.
"Chels, trust me. You're fine." Logan stated as he revved up his bike. "A compliment meant to lighten the mood can sometimes be enough to make someone calm enough not to do something stupid." He added as they sped away.
"Point taken!" She yelped as he popped a wheelie.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, Anne was seriously cursing her luck. She thought her toxins would've knocked out Fred by now, but the large teen was way tougher than he looked. Now they were at an abandoned shack at the far back of the school.
She figured she would be home free by now, but Fred wouldn't let her go.
'I'd give him points for determination, but I am too aggravated right now!' She thought in total displeasure. "Fred. For the last fucking time: Let me go—or I swear to God almighty—I will kill you!" She shouted—shifting again to her bone armor and this time, started forming an arm Lance on her right hand.
"No! You'll be mine, no matter what!" Fred yelled defiantly, showing clear signs of obsessive love that would go nowhere.
"Then you're a deadman." The shark girl stated coldly as she leveled her Lance at the teen's most vulnerable area—his stomach.
Before she could launch herself at him and run him through with it, however…
BOOM!
Grendel burst through the front door in full costume, roaring through his stomach mouth. Then he brought out a spiked club and twirling it a bit before settling in a batting position—performing a sumo stomp.
"About time you showed up, big bro! I was about to run this idiot through!" Anne barked.
"And the Brotherhood says we're too genteel." Gabe scoffed, looking at Fred. "Very well, away with chivalry." He said, tossing his club aside and performing another Sumo taunt at the Blob. "Let us have monsters." He grinned.
"Bring it on! You can't take me!" Fred snapped, ready to fight.
The older boy then jumped and tucked into a roll, barreling towards the teen at breakneck speeds, before colliding with him.
The large teen was actually shocked when he was sent flying through the air, landing in a small back room.
"What the–?! I-I'm too heavy for anyone to do that to!" Fred exclaimed in disbelief as he got up.
"I was birthed with this power that makes me similar to you, in all my innocent obscenity." Gave grinned, hoisting his club as he opened his gastric maw and sucked Fred in like black hole—before prematurely closing it and sending him flying with a swing of his club. "I… am Grendel." He growled, roaring with his stomach-mouth.
Fred, meanwhile, was sent flying out of the abandoned building and screamed as he flew.
"And he's outta here!" Gideon called as he zipped in with the others following close behind. "Aw! We missed it!" He groaned with a whine.
"Hey, ADHD, in this case—that's a good thing." Chelsea told him as she walked up to Anne. "You okay?" She asked.
"Winded, and a little bruised, but nothing I can't walk off." Anne replied… Before her stomach rumbled. "... I could use a good meal, though." She added with an embarrassed blush.
Chelsea couldn't help but chuckle at this as she hugged her. "I knew there was a reason why I liked you." She smiled. "Gabe, got any ideas for dinner?" She asked as Joshua arrived.
"How does Chanko Nabe, Japanese Hotpot, Sushi and eater's choice Ramen sound?" The gourmet mutant replied.
"That sounds pretty good." Joshua nodded, before he immediately hugged Anne as everyone started to leave.
"J-Josh?" The girl gasped in surprise as she returned to her human while his hug tightened.
"Thank god you're okay…" He breathed.
"... You were actually worried about me, weren't you?" The redhead hummed as she returned the hug.
Joshua was silent before he suddenly pulled back and decided to do what his head and heart had been telling him to do this entire time—he kissed Anne.
The girl herself was actually startled by the abrupt kiss, but then she felt how right it was. She couldn't stop herself from melting even if she wanted to as she wrapped her arms around his neck while one of her legs perked up.
"… I love you." The two said in unison as they separated.
"Never let me go…" Anne breathed, tightening her arms around his neck and burying her head in the crook of his neck.
"Never." The boy nodded, hugging her back.
(Timeskip)
Fast forward about a week, and the kids were now attempting to set up Ororo with Bronson, and Cal already figured it out.
"So I got four tickets to a theater that I got in an online slot game, and I'm thinking that if I give two to Broson—he'll decide to take Ororo with him." He explained.
"Okay… But what about the second pair?" Rogue questioned, confused.
The bespectacled boy simply grinned and handed her one of the extra tickets.
"… Wait, you wanna go to the movies with me?" She gasped in surprise.
"I mean, if you're not opposed to it." Calvin shrugged in reply.
"Smooth, Cal." Gideon snorted, getting chuckles from Kurt and Roxy.
"Ah, shaddup!" The quartermaster snapped.
Kitty, meanwhile, nudged Rogue.
"Rogue, you should totally go! You're always saying you want to get closer to people, here's your chance!" She whispered. "And the best part: You guys can make physical contact without your powers getting in the way!" She added.
Oh, how Rogue both loved and hated how true that was. She was glad for the chance, but worried she'd screw something up.
"Ah… Okay, sure. Why not?" The southern Belle nodded.
"Right on. I'll see you Friday." Cal smiled, putting on a face of coolness, but inside was simultaneously sighing in relief and being absolutely pumped.
It was at this point that they reached Bronson's place of business.
Joshua, meanwhile, was now sneaking into the mechanic shop as he slipped the tickets under Bronson's office door and then walked away.
"Alright. Everything's set." He told them.
"Now I guess all that's left is to deal with Fred." Nik noted.
"What job do we even want him to fill?" Wanda asked.
"Probably one of the ship's heavy lifters, and probably Gabe's secondary chef, so he can keep an eye on Blob. We're gonna get a ton of heavy stuff, so we'll need another brute to handle the load." Joshua mused.
"And you know what they say: If you wanna know where the food is—Follow the fat guys!" Cal added with a laugh.
The others laughed at that as well.
ThermalsniperN7: Well, we seem to be on a roll here. Bronson and Ororo have a thing, we got to see what happened when Bronson and Chelsea met and more… But the main focus was Gabriel/Grendel, who has shown that he can counter Blob.
Dragon Emperor0: Yeah. At this point, I'm thinking if we keep doing a chapter of this story and The Crow in between other stories, we'll not only make up for lost time but we'll likely also free up more room for newer projects as well. That said, I'm glad we decided to have Josh and Anne get together this chapter—given what happened, it seems at the very least thematically appropriate.
ThermalsniperN7: Agreed… Though that locker room incident was equally awkward and funny. Those kinds of incidents can make people go "SHIT, I'M SORRY!" faster than Sonic can run.
Dragon Emperor0: Except for Gideon who seems to enjoy doing slap and runs on his girlfriend. Yes, Gideon and Roxy are dating, Gideon asked her out a couple chapters ago and Roxy already had a crush on him—if you do the math it pans out. Side note: Keep an eye on the story of Cal's cousin, it'll be more relevant as Marcus' story goes on
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah. Stories like that aren't one off mentions; They'll have importance later. Anyway, see you guys next time.