Contiunation of Part 12 Of Gen X

The Biosphere again. The only place left in the school as yet unaffected by the current happenings outside
of it. But something else is happening in here.

"You're... an alien? In our Biosphere?", Husk asked again at the blue woman sitting in the small treehouse.

"Yes. My intergalactic translator allows me to understand you, and you to do so as well.", the Blue Lady
said.

Elizabeth shook her head to try and clear it so it would enter right. Let's just say an alien in their backyard
isn't something she expected right now.

"So, um, Ms. Blue Lady, why are you here?", Elizabeth asked.

"Actually...", the alien began.

She didn't have time to finish before the doors to the Biosphere crashed in and an enraged Mondo came in,
looking around the large enclosed forest for them. He spotted the treehouse and came that way.

"No, we have to get out of here before...", Paige began, reading to shred her skin into something useful.

But then her eyes met Leech. Conscious. No powers for her today.

"No...", she muttered under her breath.

And out he came, appearing from literally nowhere. A strange humanoid thing, made completely out of
vegetable matter, appearing from the ground just in front of the treehouse. He shot a look back at them...
No... At Franklin, before attacking Mondo. The two, their powers so similar, almost seemed to merge
during the fight. Lots of screams, mostly from Mondo, echoed through the otherwise silent Biosphere as
everyone, fascinated, watched the fight. At one point Mondo burst in flames, and screamed in agony and
fear. Elizabeth and Paige looked at each other. They couldn't let this continue.

"Mondo!", Paige screamed, stepping from the tree, followed by Elizabeth.

But before they could get there, it was over. The two creatures seemed to melt together into the ground,
and both vanished without a trace.
****

"This never would have happened if I were still with the X-Men.", Jubilee repeated yet again, but this time
the White Queen had enough.

She stopped running and turned around to face the teenager.

"Jubilee, listen to me. We're not the X-Men! This team barely has any experience! As it is, I'm not even
surprised by the catastrophe all this has become! None of them except you has much combat experience,
and all you can do of your training time you spend in senseless chatter!", the White Queen reproached, her
tone accusing.

"Well maybe if you two took your duties as teachers a bit more seriously, and sent us a bit on the road we'd
get some kind of experience! Ever since M died and Penance vanished, we've been captured by the OZT,
attacked in our nightmares, defeated the blob at a freaking carnival show and had our collectives asses
kicked by one of our own! That's NO way to get a training, lady! When I was with the X-Men, and this
time you'll listen, I DID MY FIGHTING TRAINING ON THE ROAD, LEARNING AS IT CAME! The
mansion was ruined, and I spent my time with Wolverine all around the world, got that?", Jubilee responded
in kind, her tone very much on the border of yelling.

Emma's eyes sharpened and she took a few steps towards Jubilee, stopping right before her.

"If you want to go back, the doors are open.", Emma said, her voice cold.

Jubilee took a step back and shook her head.

"No. My place is here now, among friends... And to keep an eye on you.", she said, smirking.

Emma nodded.

"Then this discussion is closed. Let's go."

The two started down the various halls again, until Emma suddenly stopped cold.

"Someone... Calling me... Through the interference...", she muttered.

Jubilee watched her, and suddenly she shifted direction, walking right through a vine wall.

"What the?", she asked, before following.

They reached a small room where they found Banshee hanging on a vine wall, eyes wide open, looking at
them, his mouth blocked by various vegetation.

"Well, Cassidy, a fine mess you've gotten yourself into this time...", White Queen said before proceeding to
freeing him, taking out the vines with a small pocket knife after Jubilee weakened them with one of her
pyrotechnic explosions.

"Free me, lass, and I'll show ye how much of a bloody mess I can do meself!", he said, his accent worse
then ever.

He was pissed. And with good reasons.

"What's wrong, Se...", White Queen began.

"Have ye found any of the others?", he asked suddenly.

"I was with Paige and Elizabeth, but we got separated."

"Bloody...", he began swearing.

"Sean, what...?", Emma began asking.

"Later! Let's find the girls and get Franklin and the kids in the Biosphere. Then me and Tom'll settle this
once and for all.", Banshee said, anger in his voice.

Emma and Jubilee looked at each other. This didn't look good. But the two nodded and followed Banshee
back to the Biosphere.
****

Meanwhile, back in the Biosphere.

"My name is Tana Nile. And yes, I'm alien to this world.", the Blue Lady explained to Elizabeth and Husk,
who, along with Franklin, Artie and Leech, were listening to her tale.

"What are you here for?", Elizabeth asked.

"I come from a race who has been watching the Earth and its habitants for a long while now, and who feel
that the time has come for you to advance to the next level. And our race is prepared to help you do that.",
she replied, watching the two girl's reactions very carefully.

Paige Guthrie's eyes grew wide. She had heard the tales from her brother often enough in the past. But to
confront an alien face to face... It was beyond her wildest expectations... As a Gen.X member that is.
Maybe in the X-Men, but here? Elizabeth raised an eyebrow of suspicion. This looked too good too
suddenly, and frankly she doubted she could go through another betrayal without snapping. She was
beginning to distrust pretty much everything and everyone around her. Alien or not.

"So why announce this to us?", she questioned again.

"This wasn't where I wanted to land. Some kind of interference stopped my journey to the city you call
New York.", Tana answered.

Elizabeth nodded, but still wasn't so convinced.

"In fact...", Tana added, "would you happen to have some kind of communication console here? I could call
my ship from there, and might even be able to help you in your... current predicament.", she continued,
showing with a gesture of her hand the state the school seemed to be in.

"You mean you could help us with all this?", Husk asked, suddenly very interested.

"In a... how do you say... flash!", Tana assured her.

"Then follow us, we'll show you where it is, right Elizabeth?", Husk said, looking at Elizabeth for back-up.

Elizabeth sighed. This was against her better judgment, but what could she do?

"Yeah, sure.", she answered.

"Good, then let's go!", the over joyous Paige said.

If this worked, she'd have made the best decision all day. She'd get the leadership of the team for sure.
****

Back in the small cave where Chamber, Skin and Synch are still prisoners of.

*You guys ready?*, Jono asked the two others, who both nodded.

With a blast of his power, he undid the vines holding his chest, his weight becoming too much for those left
on his arms and legs, and he fell to the floor. Rising, he carefully blasted away the ones holding his two
teammates, and in a few seconds, they were freed.

"There, now that wasn't too hard, was it?", Synch said.

He wiped the blood off the side of his face, and the place where a scar would surely appear was evident.
Something that could surely last his whole life.

"Well, amigos, shall we get out of here?"

Chamber and Synch nodded, and, Synch taking from Jono's powers, they both starting blasting their way
out.
****

When the White Queen, Jubilee and Banshee reached the Biosphere at last, door torn open, they
truthfully expected the worst. Franklin, Artie and Leech came to them running, and all three started talking at
once.

"Elizabeth and Paige went with the Blue Lady somewhere and told us not to leave unless they came back or
you came to get us and I didn't know what to do and that big monster thing came and...", Franklin said,
mimicked by Leech.

Artie showed frantic of everything that had happened to them.

"The Blue Lady?", Sean asked Emma and Jubilee, who both shrugged.

That's when the ground blasted open and Skin, Synch and Chamber came out of it, relieved to be out of the
ground.

"BOYS! Ye're alive!", Banshee shouted.

"Looks like it, Mr.Cassidy.", Synch responded.

Jubilee ran to them and hugged Synch. Then she looked up at him and noticed the slash on his face.

"Oh my god! What happened to you? Who did that?", she asked him.

"There'll be time for that later...", Sean said. "Right now someone in this school has a lot of explaining to do,
and it's high time we turned the tables on HIM!"

TO BE CONCLUDED!!
Merry Christmas and a Drinking New Year from everyone at Visions !!


NEXT ISSUE:
The conclusion of Black and White as the final showdown with Black Tom takes place! Who comes out on
top, you ask? Well, return here next month to find that out!! Plus, what's with the Tana Nile? Friend? Or
foe? And how will Elizabeth and Husk react when they find out?

THE LETTER PAGE

Only one letter this month, folks! What happened to all of you? We love reading your comments so much,
we made a section just for them!! Come on, write us at lama1@videotron.ca

Tell us how you love what we've done!

On with the letter!

Re: 1st part of "Black and White."

Good. Very interesting. Unless something happens, we've already managed to eliminate three
characters. *evil grin* And that bit with Franklin Richards was good, the reality-shaper if I
remember correctly. Because he decided they could do it, they could do it.

Sean Duggan

Thanks for the kind comments, Sean! I'm glad you found part one of Black and White
interesting. Tell us what you thought of part two! I don't know why you'd want to eliminate Synch,
Skin or Chamber, though. That's half our current team! Although if roster changes is what you're
looking for, don't miss next year's Gen.X issues, because change is the order of the day! We've
got a mega saga coming up you won't want to miss! As for Franklin's powers, although they
weren't really the factor used here, they still might have played a part in things. And they yet still
might do so again! Keep watching!