Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight
by Ben Church
The X-men are the property of Marvel Comics. Characters used
without permission. Feedback is always appreciated.
b_church@yahoo.com
If you wish to use my charectors, go for it. But send me a
copy of the story.
Chapter 2
The boy, Will Davidson had been in the infirmary for a week
now, recuperating from his wounds. Beast had left the infirmary only
two times since Will's arrival. Jubilee had started visiting daily.
"Hey Furball, how's studmuffin doing?" Jubilee asked as she
entered the room. "I will not show concern. I will not show
concern." she thought.
"My prognosis, is that he'll be fine in a couple of weeks."
Beast replied. He'd been sure not to notice Jubilee's interest in the
boy, sure she would not want him to. "Would you mind watching him
while I go get something to eat?"
"Matchmaker, Matchmaker, call me a matchmaker." he thought.
"Sure no sweat." Jubilee agreed. A bit to readily, she
thought.
"She's got it bad for this guy." Beast thought smiling as he
left the room. "Ah springtime."
It seemed to Jean Grey that Professor Xavier always recruited
in groups. No sooner had their infirmary recieved it's current
occupent, then two new mutants enrolled in the school.
Their names were Daron Shaw* and Adam Hogan.
Daron was from Alaska, and had the power to change his shape
into anything he wanted. Adam was from Austrailia and could create
illusions so realistic, that only the highest level PSI wouldn't be
fooled.
Jean sat in the airport awaiting the arrival of Xavier's newest
students. She was looking forward to meeting them. She looked up and
lowwered the book she had been reading when the PA system came online.
"Flight 209 from Alaska now arriving at gate 26."
"That's Daron," she thought. "One down, one to go."
She looked for him as the passengers began to disembark. Then
she saw him, a boy with long red hair carrying a suitcase.
"Daron? Daron Shaw?" He looked up, when he heard his name
called. "My name is Jean Grey. I'm from the institute."
"Pleased to meet you." he said, shaking her hand.
"We'll be going just as soon as the other new student arrives."
"Flight 402 from England now arriving at gate 27."
"That should be him now."
"Well isn't that convenient." Daron thought.
When Will awoke, the pain from his injuries had dulled to
slight aches. He looked around, startled. He'd woken up three times
already and had just begun to get used to a doctor covered with blue
fur. But he had to admit, the pretty Chinese girl who now sat by his
bed was a huge improvement.
"Okay," he thought. "Step one, see how mobile I am."
"Hi." he said out loud, sitting up. "So far so good." he
thought. She looked at him and smiled.
"Hey." she replied. "You're awake."
"You noticed. How sweet. I've probably already been told
this, but despite the pleasant effects of Morphine it does have it's
drawbacks and probably affected my memory. So, two questions. One:
Where am I? And two: Who are you?"
"In order, you're at the `Xavier Institute for the Gifted`.
And two, my name's Jubilation Lee, but everybody just calls me
Jubilee."
"Pleased to meet you Jubilee." Will said. He extended his
hand, testing the mobility in his arms, and shook her hand. "I'm
Will." He blushed, and fretted when he missed her hand. "Um," he said
worriedly. "There seems to be something wrong with my depth
perception." He tried to open his left eye, to no avail. "Uh, you
wouldn't happen to know what happened to my eye would you?"
Two Weeks Later
Beast had finally pronounced Will recovered enough to get out
and about.
"But I'd stay away from the Danger Room for a while." he
cautioned him.
"The what room?" Will thought.
He walked down the hallway towards one of the many living rooms
in the mansion. Now that he could walk, he thought he had finally
found a way to vent his grief at the death of his parents. Not to
mention the fact that he'd killed five people. "Well I'm gonna deal
with that right now." he thought.
As he entered the room, he saw a mirror on the wall. He'd been
avoiding mirrors lately, not sure he'd like what he'd see. But now he
could not resist looking. He recoiled in mock horror at the sight.
The patch over his eye made him look like a pirate. "That's actually
pretty cool." he thought. "I could get used to this."
Turning, he found what he'd been looking for. A grand piano.
He sat at the bench and dug an old photograph from his pocket. Not
many things had been salvageable from his family's apartment, but Logan
and Worthington had brought back enough for him to start over here.
Most important to him however, was this photo of his family. He set
the picture against the music stand, and began to play.
Jubilee listened to the soft, sad music as she watched him
play. She felt empathy for Will, she to had had her parents killed.
Though admittedly not for the same reasons. She wondered briefly if he
might blame himself for his parent's deaths. They had, after all been
killed because he was a mutant. And besides her feeling of empathy,
she had to admit, to herself anyway, that she was attracted to him as
well. A tear rolled down his face as he played.
"That eye patch looks good on you." she said entering. "I will
not show enthusiasm, I will not show enthusiasm." she thought.
"Thanks." he said softly.
"What song is that?" she asked.
"Who Want's to Live Forever, by Queen."
"And an uncomfortable silence ensues." Jubilee thought.
"Is that your family?" she asked finally, glancing at the photo
on the piano.
"Yeah, the girl is...was my twin sister. She died when we were
seven. She was allergic to bees, and got stung. We never knew
because she was mute."
Jubilee opened her mouth to reply, but as a huge shadow
eclipsed the light from the window, what came out instead was a gasp of
fear.
Elsewhere in the Mansion, Adam and Daron sat in the library,
they had gotten into an argument over which was more dangerous, the
Australian Outback, or the Alaskan wilderness.
"I'm telling you, an Alaskan bear is the most dangerous animal
on earth." Daron insisted. "Do you have any idea how many hikers and
campers they kill just so they can brag about it to their friends?"
"And I'm telling you it isn't. You can survive a bear attack
just by bein' prepared and bringin' a gun. But a crocodile will drag
you under, and drown you before you know what hit you."
"Oh yeah?" Daron started. "Well....I've run out of dangerouse
animals let's change the subject. Are you really related to Paul
Hogan?"
"That's right mate. He's me uncle. A great guy. And aren't
you descended from some Civil War hero?"
"Yup. You know your American History. Colonel Robert Gould
Shaw of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers. The first black regiment.
He gave his life for his country and his men."
"But he never married."
"Yeah, well," Daron said sheepishly. "Actually, I'm descended
from his cousin. But I'm still related to him!" Acting on a sudden
inspiration, Daron shape-shifted into the form of the famous colonel.
Grinning, Adam created an image of ten Confederate soldiers. He lost
his concentration when he heard a crash from the other side of the
mansion.
"What the hell was that?" he asked.
"Whatever it was it probably isn't good." Daron answered.
Jubilee screamed as the Sentinel's hand crashed through the
window. Will ducked and rolled, barely getting out of the room in
time, but Jubilee was caught. The giant robot snatched her up and
pulled her outside.
"What a time for the X-Men to be away on a mission." Will
muttered. Then he saw something on the side of the Sentinels head.
An antenna. The Sentinel was being remote controlled. He ran to the
computer room and logged on. "Here I come to save the day!" he sang.
Jubilee was as close to panic as anyone was ever likely to see
her. Her arms were pinned to her sides so she couldn't throw any fire
works at the Sentinel. Not that she thought it would have done any
good anyway. Sentinels were notoriously hard to destroy.
Suddenly, there was a roar off to her right. She looked and
her eyes widened. A large Tyrannosaur was bearing down on the
Sentinel. "Now I've seen enverything!" she said.
The Sentinel however, did not seem to notice it. As the beast
neared, it vanished. But right behind it was another one.
This time the Sentinel noticed it. The robot fired at it
but the dinosaur was too quick. The T-Rex roared and leaped. The
Sentinel dodged, but was knocked to the ground, jarring Jubilee.
Throwing the dino aside, the Sentinel rose, then paused. It
stood stock still, staring off into space. Then it gently set Jubilee
down, and took off. When it was a few miles off, it exploded.
The T-Rex shrank back into the form of Daron Shaw and Adam
joined them.
"What just happened?" Daron asked. "I was under the impression
that they didn't usually do that."
"I happened." said Will behind them. "I very conviently used
the super computer in the war room to locate the frequency that whoever
was controlling the Sentinel was using, and then I took it over. I set
it's self destruct."
"Clever." Adam said. "You're name wouldn't happen to be Zero
Cool would it Mate?"
"No, Hotshot." Will answered. "You hack?"
"No, my sister does, maybe you've heard of her, Crash Master?"
Will grinned. "Your sister is Crash Master? Woah! She and I
are like that!" he held his thumb and forefinger together.
"You're wierd even for a mutant." Jubilee grinned. "I like
that in a person."
That night, Will sat in his bed, playing `Dust in the Wind' on
the guitar that had been salvaged from his apartment. He looked up at
the knock on his door. He hesitated, but finally let his visitor in.
"Look," said Jubilee. "I may not be the most sensitive person
in the world, but I can tell when someone's hurting. C'mon, enough
angsting we're going to a movie."
"Why Jubilee," Will said smiling. "Are you asking me on a
date?"
Jubilee kissed him.
"Yes." she said.
To be continued...
in
Hotshot's Crusade
(
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