TEEN TWO: INVASION
By Aaron Thall [thall@netset.com] and Ben Church [bchurch@su.edu]
Hotshot, the aliens featured, and all of the
X-Tremes belong to Ben Church. Tornado belongs to
Aaron Thall. Jubilee, Generation X, all other
members, and a few others belong to Marvel Comics,
and are used without permission. Send all
complaints to president@whitehouse.gov.
Deep Space
The ship continued on it's course, as it had
for millennia. Leaving a trail of death and
destruction in it's path. The populations of
countless planets wiped out, save for the few who
possessed powers beyond the norm of their people.
Those were spared for the games.
Now the ship continued on it's path towards
it's next destination. A planet rich in
contestants for the games. A planet the
inhabitants called, Earth.
Xavier School For Gifted Youngsters,
Massachusetts
"Yo!" Angelo's voice rang from the front
hall. "Amigos and Amigas! Gather round!"
"Sup Ang?" Everett asked, emerging from the
TV room, followed by Artie, Leech, Mondo and
Paige.
"Where's everyone else?" Angelo asked. "I
want everyone to hear this."
"Well, Monet and Paige are studying," Mondo
said. Chamber and Penance are in the biosphere, Mr.
Cassidy and Ms. Frost are in some conference about
Jubilee's grades, and Jubilee and Aaron are
avoiding them."
"How do you know all that?" Everett asked.
"You've been watching TV all day."
"It's not hard to know things when you are a
part of everything around you." Mondo answered
simply.
"All right well I won't wait for them then."
Angelo said. "I'll tell them later. Guess who just
scored us all tickets for the Lila Cheney concert
this Saturday night in Boston?!" Angelo shouted.
"You got Lila Cheney tickets?" Everett asked
in astonishment. "Beast! How man?"
"Trade secrets mi amigo." Angelo said
mysteriously. He didn't want to tell them that the
tickets had come in the mail from a friend of
theirs. Some things just didn't need to be common
knowledge.
"Can Leech and Artie come too?" Leech asked
eagerly.
Angelo and Everett looked at each other. How
could they say no without disappointing them?
"Maybe when you're older." Everett said.
Leech's face fell, and he began to pout.
"Leech tired of waiting till he is older."
Artie concurred with an image of him with a
beard.
Angelo sighed. "Kids." he said.
Davidson Tree Farm,
West Virginia
Will Davidson tuned his guitar carefully,
preparing for the biggest gig of his life. To date
anyway. His band, The X-Tremes had only been in
existence for about a month, give or take a week.
It was due to a major amount of luck, talent, and
their revolutionary gimmick that had landed the job
they were to do tomorrow night.
Nearby, the lead singer, looked on. Mike
O'Connor, was a mutant who had joined the team
shortly after he, and some of his friends had
been the victims of an attack by the Friends of
Humanity.
Things for mutants had improved greatly since
the incident in New York, but some people just
didn't want to change.
The band was a combination of Humans and
Mutants. That was the gimmick that had helped
land them this job.
Will was the guitarist, occasional
keyboardist and manager of the band, but since he
couldn't sing to save his life, Mike had taken the
job as lead male singer.
The bassist was usually a girl named Kat,
Zach's girlfriend, a human. But sometimes she let
Zach play. Andy and Marian, Mike's friends from
Summer Theater camp were back up singers,
occasionally getting to be lead. The Keyboardist
was Steve, a human friend of Mike's. The drummer
was another human friend of Mike's named Jim.
Mike was a 19 year old acting major at a
small college in Virginia, he and Andy, Marian,
Steve and Jim were all originally from the DC
area. Mike's power, was imitation. He could
imitate any sound or voice he had ever heard. He
could throw his voice, actually make the noise he
made come from somewhere else, and imitate several
different sounds at once.
Andy could control people's emotions towards
her, Marian could either physically draw people
towards her, or just the opposite. Mike had
another friend, Stanley, who was also a mutant
but had declined the offer to join.
The last, and newest new member was also the
lead female singer, and Will's girlfriend. She'd
shown up one rainy night, unsure of where she was,
or how she'd gotten there. She told stories of a
hellish world where Apocalypse ruled, and she was
still getting used to this world. She'd shown up
two weeks ago and had just fit in.
"Our group has grown so much." Will thought.
"We're not even all in the band. Maybe I should
start a roster or something."
"Tell the folks at home what you're doing
Roger!" Mike sang, a line from the new musical
Rent. Will hadn't seen it, but he got the joke.
"I'm writing one great song." he answered.
Mike winced. "Man it's a good thing you
aren't the lead singer." Suddenly he was smacked on
the back of his head.
"Ouch!" he complained. "No fair ganging up on
me Rebecca."
The Concert
Generation X managed to get to their seats
with a minimum of shoving, mainly due to Mondo's
size.
"You realize of course," Aaron said to Angelo.
"That eventually you will have to tell us how you
got these tickets."
"Forget eventually," Jubilee said. "Spill it
Skinny."
"You'll see." Angelo grinned. At that moment,
the lights cut out.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" a familiar voice
announced from the stage.
"Is that Don Pardo?" Paige asked in amazement.
"Opening for Singing Sensation Lila Cheney,"
The voice continued. "The X-Tremes!"
Aaron gasped in recognition and realization.
"Angelo, you got those tickets from Will!"
"Si." Angelo smiled. On the stage a spotlight
shone on a lone boy who looked about 19. He had
long hair pulled back in a ponytail and wore
black shades. He also wore a white T-shirt with a
huge black M on the front. He began to speak, at
least it looked like he was speaking, but the
voice was that of Martin Luther King.
"I have a dream!" he said, and continued to
quote from that famous speech, and then suddenly
cut off with the voice of Rodney King; "Can't we
all just get along?"
Then the light's on stage kicked in revealing
the rest of the band. Some wore M shirts and some
wore H shirts. The music cut in immediately as the
first boy began to sing.
"Ahh," Mondo said. "Punk Ska."
"Very good!" Everett said. "You've been
studying. It's pretty good too."
When the first song ended the boy said; "Yes
ladies and gentlemen we are the X-Tremes a band
dedicated to the notion that we can live in peace
and harmony as is evidenced by the array of races
you see before you. The M indicates a mutant and
an H means human, and we would just like to
remember today as the day that human and mutant
alike stood together and shouted to the
anti-mutant racists..." The music had started
again. "We're not gonna take it!" he sang.
"No! We ain't gonna take it!" another boy
wearing an H shirt joined in.
"We're not gonna take it, anymore!"
The song escalated, and the audience began to
join in on the chorus. Afterwards, the lead male
singer of the group spoke once more, this time
with the voice of Ed Sullivan. "Now before we
bring out the star of our really big show, we have
one more little number for you, to demonstrate the
singing talents of our lead female singer." With
that, a black disk opened behind him and he
stepped back into it, while a girl stepped through
it to take the mike.
Aaron recognized immediately the familiar
strains of Zombie by The Cranberries. "Yet another
politically motivated song." He mused. He stole a
sidelong glance at Jubilee, and was shocked at the
expression on her face. It was one of shocked
recognition.
Jubilee, along with most of Generation X
stared at the girl. She looked older, her hair was
longer, she had a strange tattoo on her face, and
she was obviously not shy, but the purple tinge to
her skin were unmistakable. The girl on stage was
none other than Clarice Ferguson.
"Guys?" asks Aaron. "What's wrong? Guys?"
No response. Aaron turns to Mondo, the only
other one there not staring in shock.
"Any ideas how to snap them out of it?"
"Nope."
"Figures..."
"No way..." says Jubilee.
"Jube, what's the story?"
"Aaron! That's Blink! She was one o' us!"
"I have a feeling that there's a lot more to
this story than you're telling me."
Jubilee and the rest get up and begin heading
for the stairs. "We'll explain on the way!"
*****************
Time passes, as does the X-Tremes' time on
stage. Jubilee has just finished explaining
everything to Aaron.
"Well..."
"Aaron?"
"Makes just as much sense as the rest of the
X-men's adventures!"
Will and the rest of the band walk off stage.
"Hey guys! Glad you could make it!"
"I have to admit, it's a bit of a surprise to
see you again so soon Will."
"Nice to see you again too Thall*."
(Will finds last names to be more informal than
first names. Yet another victim of Mulder-and-
Skully-itis.)
"Will, did ya happen ta know that yer lead
singer's an old friend o' ours?"
*****************
The ship comes ever closer to Earth. It
begins to scan the planet for possible targets. A
city called New York is filled with such
individuals. Many such individuals are apparently incarcerated in a
building in an area called
Colorado. There are also small groups in
Washington DC, Michigan, England, Angel Grove,
California, and Boston, Massachusetts.
These are all powerful individuals. Some have
similar powers, such as those in Angel Grove, but
New York and Boston... Those have such variety!
And must be investigated! After all, the games
must go on...
First Helm Xakari unfurled his long snout in excitement. Never had
there been such a planet
rich in contestants! As the discovery of this
system was his, he would be assured an excellent
reward. Minuscule ripples went down his snout
just thinking about it.
"M'seiras!" he called. "My lord, come see!"*
*(everything said by the aliens is translated
from their language)
"What have you found this time 'Kari?"
M'seiras and Xakari were old friends, but because
of Xakari's navigational skills he had been
steered in a different direction than the
charismatic M'seiras, who'd swiftly risen through
the ranks of the Xarn Games World.
"By the Great Star!" M'seiras proclaimed.
"When the Matriarch sees this you will go far
indeed my friend!" As would every one on this
scout ship. The Xarn believed in sharing credit.
The crew leader's eight, lidless, arachnid-like
eyes shone red with delight. "I for one look
forward to seeing the games that will come from
this." he said. After each invasion, the weakest
supers were weeded from the strong quickly. But as
time went on, the games grew more and more
impressive.
"Thought," Xakari mused. "I do not envy the
ground troops." Ground Troops were the first step
in every invasion. They were to identify, and
capture the supers, and eliminate any and all
norms. Air support was usually sent in quickly to
aid them, as well as heavy artillery. The time
each invasion took varied from world to world, but
the end result was the same. A dead world, devoid
of sentient life. The weak perished, the strong
got stronger. And Xarns entertained by both the
invasion, which was treated like a hunt, and the
games as always. The days to come would be
glorious indeed.
Boston Massachusetts,
Backstage
Clarice gazed, openmouthed at the people
before her. She had tried to prepare herself,
knowing that the day would come when she would be
confronted with ghosts of her past, but she was
still caught unprepared.
It had been hard enough, meeting the boy she
had loved and had seen die immediately after
arriving on this world. When the bombs had begun
to fall, she had panicked and teleported into the
M'Kraan Crystal. She had found herself in the yard
of a lit house, in the middle of a rainstorm.
Her greatest shock had been when Will had
come to the door. When only minutes before she had
witnessed his death at the hands of Apocalypse's
followers. To his credit, he and others who had
accompanied him to the battle had acquitted
themselves well. Hotshot and Psylocke were the
last to fall. While all around them their fellow
Ghost Riders fell, Dr. Strange, Emplate, Penance,
Namorita, Cloak, Flash Thompson, Jameson, Black
Cat, Yukio, Mary Jane, and The Ghost Rider
himself.
In her world, Hotshot had followed Magneto
for a time, but his desire to avenge the deaths of
his sister and parents drove him to join Ghost
Rider and his Spirits of Vengeance. Their reunion
at the final battle had been brief and bittersweet.
But then she'd been reunited with him. She smiled remembering the scene.
She'd knocked on the door, hoping to find
shelter, and the door had been answered by a
sleepy looking Will. For a moment she'd stared
shocked. His hair was shorter, he was missing the
beard and mustache, and he still had both eyes.
Then she'd seized him in her arms and kissed him.
Surprising him to no end. She still laughed
inwardly when she remembered his words when she'd
released him. "Do I know you?"
Later, she had been told of the world she'd
found herself in. In this world, the man she had
followed for so long was a terrorist, working
against the man in whose memory he had formed the
X-Men in the first place. Many of her friends were
dead, like Morph. And more still, like Vincente
and even Sabertooth were villains. That thought
still brought her pain whenever she thought about
it. Mr. Creed, the most decent and kindest man
she'd ever known, was a cold blooded serial killer.
And many of her worst enemies, Havok, Beast and
Cyclops were heroes.
And, as was evidenced here, many of her
friends who had died in the battle with
Apocalypse were alive and well. In many ways the
man Bishop had been right, this was a better world.
But in many ways, he seemed to be wrong as well.
She shook herself out of her reverie and
studied the people who were at the same time
studying her. Claudia was not hooked up to a
computer, apparently spared the incident that had necessitated such
extreme measures. Chamber's
face was almost gone, who knew what had happened
to him. But they were alive. When Colossus had
told them that Generation Next had been killed,
she had mourned their deaths greatly. But here
they were, standing there. The girl in the yellow
trenchcoat she had met briefly in the final battle,
she had been one of Gambit's fellow thieves. And
then there was Aaron.
Yes, Aaron. While she didn't know what he was
like in this world, in her world, he was one of
the most powerful assassins in Apocalypse's ranks.
In her world, he was known by only one name.
Hurricane. He was ruthless. Calculating.
Relentless. She had faced him several times,
always barely surviving for the next encounter.
Rumor had it that Hurricane had his own agendas,
and that he was actually playing Apocalypse like a
harp. But then rumors are just that. Rumors.
Hurricane had been there at that final battle.
She had seen him just as she teleported into the
crystal. Who knows how many he had killed before
the wave engulfed all present?
Aaron was not to be trusted. Not at all.
Hurricane had killed several good friends. He
tortured them with thoughts of escape, and then he
simply exterminated them with a casual snap of the
fingers, removing the air pressure outside their
bodies and letting them explode. Or he
occasionally removed inner air pressure and let
them implode. She had watched as he had done this
to an entire camp of humans once. Truly a gruesome
sight. Such evil. How could this version be any
different?
She narrowed her eyes. Then she felt Will's
hand on her shoulder.
"Clarice, this is..."
"I know who he is..."
"Here he's one of the planet's greatest
heroes. He calls himself Tornado."
"Hero? I know that things here are different,
but there's no way that this monster is a hero!"
"Monster? You must mean Hurricane!"
"You know of your counterpart??!! How?"
"He crossed over along with Jube's
counterpart. They're monsters all right. Cold
blooded killers."
"I take it that you've faced them?"
"Understatement."
"But the Jubilee I met was a hero as well!"
"When she crossed over, she became embittered
by the knowledge that her world and friends were
all gone. She wanted revenge on us for our
happiness."
"So she joined Hurricane."
"Yes. Hurricane fell in love with Jubilee
during the final battle. He saved her life and
activated a time bubble that sent them to this
reality. Once here, Jubilee changed her name to Deathsparkle."
"Tragic."
"I know. The worst part is that I almost
ended up like him. If it hadn't been for
inspirations like the Fantastic Four and
Spider-Man, as well as Jube here, I might have
been what Hurricane became."
"Lucky that you didn't."
Will interrupts. "Guys, I noticed a few FoH
guys in the audience. Think an appearance by the
famous Tornado and Jubilee would shut them up?"
"Do ya even have ta ask?"
"I have misgivings about this." says Monet.
"Same here Monet, but if it can help
human/mutant relations, I don't see why not."
"Well L.C's just about done up there. I'll
tell the guys in charge that we have a special
bonus for them."
"Right Will. I'll go wit' ya."
"Same here. One can only keep the strong
vibrations in the air from deafening one's self
for so long."
Aaron and Jubilee walk off with Will.
"I hope they know what they're doing."
***********
New York...
Spider-Man swings through the cool night air
on a slender and impossibly strong webline.
"What a night! Five muggings, three
shoplifters, one holdup, and not one partridge in
a pear tree! New York! Gotta love it!"
He reaches out and fires another line. It
adheres to a flagpole and he pulls up. And then
he feels the familiar tingle of his spider-sense.
"Trouble? Where?"
He looks up.
"Oh. There."
He has no time to dodge as the light of a
teleportation beam shines on him from somewhere in
space...
*************
Will walks into the manager's office.
"Hello Will. Nice show your group put on."
"Thank you sir. Ummm... Listen. Some friends
of mine showed up and I think that the audience
might enjoy meeting them."
The manager chuckles. "I'm sure."
"See for yourself."
Aaron and Jubilee, now in their uniforms,
walk into the room. The manager's mouth drops.
"T-them??!!"
"Us. We thought it might be a nice touch for
the ending."
"Sides, our buddy can use all the help he can
get, considerin' what he's preachin."
"So, can my group go up again?"
Obviously, the manager said yes. As they
leave, he turns and calls the television stations
to tell them about this last minute surprise.
*******************
"Well?" asks Ev.
"We're on."
The announcer's voice is heard.
"Ladies and gentlemen, here once again are
the X-Tremes!"
Cheers erupt from most of the audience. Jeers
come from the small number of FoH.
Will and the band walk on stage. Will takes
the microphone. He sees the television cameras
setting up.
Can't hurt to have a little publicity, now
can it?
"As some of you may know, the Friends of
Humanity decided to stop by for a visit."
Boos erupt.
"Well I have two very good friends that have
something to say to them. Guys, please allow me to welcome..."
"IT'S SPIN DRIVE TIME!!!!" The voice is heard throughout the
building.
"Tornado and Jubilee!"
They race out onto the stage.
"The show must go on! Let's rock and roll!"
Tornado then begins a short speech,
completely unaware that an alien ship was waiting
for just the right moment to strike...
NASA Listening Post,
New Mexico
The first signals were detected at about 9 p.m.
"What is it?" General Matthews asked, picking
up the phone to listen in. "And why do I feel like
I'm in a sequel to Independence Day?" He listened
to the noise for a moment and put the receiver
down. "You realize that I have only your word that
anything at all is happening? As a layman I can't
make heads or tails out of these signals."
"Well sir perhaps these will convince you."
the man by the fax machine said grimly." He took
the papers that had just arrived and handed them
to the General. "Satellite photos, just in."
General Matthews looked at the pictures for a
moment. "How close is that thing?" he asked.
"Close. Closer than the moon."
"And we're just picking this up NOW?"
"Yes sir, well sir, our data shows that
until about five minutes ago, this thing was,
um, cloaked."
"Cloaked?" the General asked incredulously.
"You're telling me we're being attacked by
Klingons?"
"All we know is that it suddenly appeared on
our instruments. But if they were, well, cloaked
sir, than Klingons might not be too far off."
"Get me the president on the phone."
Xarn Games Ship (Also known as the Mothership)
"We will be entering their atmosphere in 2
venters." Mohash said.
"Did the Super survive transport?" High Lord
Manai asked.
"Yes." Communications Operator Xaka answered.
"But The Matriarch has proclaimed that all further
captures are to be made by Ground Troops as set
forth by the Gaming Creed. Unless they prove too
much for the troops to handle."
White House
"If they entered our space cloaked then they
must be hostile." The President concluded. He
covered his eyes with his hand and sighed.
"Activate the emergency broadcast system."
Somewhere in the Solar System
Undetected by Terran technology, a Shi'ar
outpost sat. Lilandra had ordered one placed
there shortly after making Xavier's acquaintance.
It's purpose was to notify the Imperium if the
earth was ever in need of their assistance. Always
before, Earth's own defenses were sufficient. When
the Xarn uncloaked, the call went out.
"Intruder.....Intruder....Intruder...."
New York...
The attack begins. People rush for cover as
the Xarn ground troops open the attack. It is
swift. Brutal. A failure.
The assembled heroes of the city, the
Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Fantastic Force, New
Warriors, the X-men, Power Pack, Daredevil,
Punisher, and several other vigilantes immediately
leap into action. Details are not necessary. All
one must know is that their counterattack is quite successful.
"Ain't even enuff ta work up a sweat!" says
Benjamin Grimm, better known as the Thing.
"This was too easy people." says Captain
America.
"I ain't too sure that they were the main
attraction. LOOK!"
In response to Wolverine's words, the heroes
look up and see a teleportational beam shine on
them. When it clears, the Fantastic Four, Thor,
Captain America, Wolverine, Psylocke, Gambit,
Rogue, Cyclops, Powerhouse, Hercules, Firestar,
and Iron Man are gone. Leaving the remaining
heroes bewildered, confused, and with a city to
protect.
***************
Boston...
"Hate is the force that drives us apart! But love for
your fellows, may they be man or woman, human or mutant, pulls us back
together! Listen to me. By giving into
hate, you become no better than those who enslaved the Africans and
African Americans so many years ago! No
better than the evils that threaten our planet! No
better than Adolph Hitler!"
Tornado continues his speech. Besides one or two reluctant FoH
members, his words are met with cheers and applause.
"And there are men no better than Hitler
represented here tonight. Hate groups like the Friends
of Humanity preach that all mutants are threats.
Obviously, this is not true! While some are threats like Magneto, others
are heroes, just like us! Some of them
are here tonight! Guys?"
One by one, the members of Generation X come onto
the stage, given costume eyemasks to protect their faces from future
recognition.
"These are not threats, as some claims them to be!
They are true friends! And heroes!"
There is more applause. The remaining FoH-ers
finally shut up and begin to listen.
Tornado smiles.
"NOW LET'S PUMP THE JAM! ROCK THE HOUSE!" Jubilee yells.
How were they to know that the song would never
finish?
*****************
Ravencroft, New York... John Jameson watches the viewers.
"I can't believe this! Those heroes just vanished!"
He utters a silent prayer. He then turns to a
security camera focused on one Cletus Casady. This
psychotic was the mass murderer known as Carnage. If he
were to get out with so many heroes missing...
Then it happens. A light shines in Casidy's cell. Jameson loses
sight of him. Then, when the light clears, there is no Casady to see...
"What in?" John jumped from his chair in shock. He quickly hit the
alarm. "Casady has escaped!" he shouted over the intercom. "Repeat,
Casady has-" his voice died when he saw the monitors for other cells. "My
god!" he
said. "They've all escaped!"
Suddenly, the front doors of the asylum were
blasted from their hinges. Several tall green skinned creatures entered
the main hall, shooting the guards
and orderlies present. "Intruder Alert!" he shouted. Intruder Alert!"
Daily Bugle
"Robby it's absolutely incredible!" Jameson fumed.
"New York is under attack by Aliens, some of our most powerful heroes have
vanished, and our best photographer
is nowhere to be found!"
"I know Jonah but Parker's a smart kid. He'll be all right." Robby
said calmly. Though he projected an image
of calm stability, inside he was terrified.
Xarn GameShip
The Magistrate watched the recording of the
preliminary probing attack with delight.
Xarn Troopers swarmed the streets, blasting every
and any Norms they could find. The screams of the dying
were drowned out by the sound of Xarn death rays and
screams of panicked Norms as they trampled each other in their rush to
escape.
A mother collided with another trying to escape and
in the collision her daughter fell from her arms. The
woman dove for the child but was soon brought down by
the hundreds of feet running aimlessly down Broadway.
Her daughter however was miraculously spared the same
fate as a blue blur streaked across the street,
snatching the girl from harm's way. Depositing the
child in an alley away from the fighting, Quicksilver
smiled reassuringly at her. "Fear not child." he said.
"No harm will come to you."
Another Xarn fell to Thing's assault.
"What are these things?" Johnny asked, blasting
another with flame.
"Who knows and who cares?" Thing replied, Alien
laser's glancing off his rock hide.
Dare Devil's radar sense alerted him to the
presence of another Alien behind him. A quick back flip reversed it's
position, and a swing of his leg brought
it down. "They're testing us." he thought.
Across the city, The Combined might of the
Avengers, Fantastic Four and X-Men were beating back the Alien invaders,
but Punisher did not know that, nor did
he care. His machine gun fire was keeping them at bay,
but it wasn't penetrating their armor. Behind him, a
group of homeless cowered in the shadows. "Well if my
guns ain't doin' the trick," he thought. "I'll just have
to get hold o' one o' theirs!"
With that, he shrank back into the shadows, waiting
for his prey. He did not have to wait long. With a sweep
of his leg he knocked the Xarn's feet out from under it. Grabbing up the
dropped gun, Frank opened fire once
more.
Gambit threw the last of his cards at, fortunately,
the last of the Aliens in sight. "Well Mon Ami," he said
to Bishop, who was brimming with Alien Disrupter energy. "Are we having
fun yet?"
The brave troops had done well. They would be long remembered. She
had decided that the situation did
indeed warrant use of the teleporter. But she felt disappointed. The
Teleporter cheapened the hunt.
Boston
"I would like," Mike said.
"Oh you would, would you?" the audience shouted
back dutifully.
"If I may,"
"You may not!"
"To take you on a strange journey." The music
started then, drowning out the audience's question of
"How strange was it?". Mike began to sing using a voice
he had practiced often. "It's astounding, time is
fleeting, madness, takes it's toll-"
A huge explosion rocked the auditorium, throwing
Mike off his feet. "The Hell?" he asked dazed. Then the screams started. A
platoon of green skinned creatures entered and began to fire on the
gathered humans.
"Um, bad things." Will said.
At the same time Aaron said, "Mike, a set up line
if you please."
Mike rose to his feet and exchanged a look with The
X-Tremes' leader, Hotshot. Mike was no good in a fight,
and he knew it. He continued to train, however his role
in battles was primarily distracting and confusing the enemy, a role he
enjoyed and did very well.
Will nodded to him and said. "It's go time
X-Tremes!"
Mike nodded and provided Tornado with the set-up
line he'd requested. "Hey Kids: what time is it?!"
"IT'S SPIN DRIVE TIME!!"
************
Spider-Man awoke in an unusual room. Strapped to an examining table.
"What is this? A b movie marathon?"
He easily rips the restraints.
"More like d or f if you ask me."
Two Xarn enter the room. Two haymakers later, he
webs them up and leaps into the ventilation system.
"If they grabbed me, they might have grabbed some
of my buddies too! Looks like it's Spidey to the rescue! Again."
************
Angel Grove... The five Rangers, Tommy/Red,
Kat/Pink, Justin/Blue, Adam/Green, and Tanya/Yellow,
watch the battle in New York.
"This is not good."
"We've got to do something!"
Their communicators beep.
"Tommy here. Go ahead Alpha."
"YO YO YO! We got us an emergency in Boston! Looks
like yer old friends could use yer help!"
"We're on our way. SHIFT INTO TURBO!"
*********
Tornado delivers a devastating sidekick to one of
the aliens. It falls back.
"Where did these creatures come from?"
"Space."
"Duh Jube. Real funny."
"WILD FLOOR SHOW!"
"AWESOME!"
"COOL!"
Monet hears the comments from the audience.
"Wonderful! They think it's a show!"
Will fries one.
"So what do we do about it?"
"There is very little we can do Will."
"BUT MAYBE WE CAN!"
All turn at the sound of the voice of the Red
Ranger. The Turbo Rangers and the Blue Centurion stand before them.
"HALT! You are disturbing the peace and instigating
a riot! You're under arrest!"
"Allow us Centurion!"
"TURBO R.A.M.: CANNON MODE! FIRE!"
The weapon launches a barrage of energy, frying the aliens. Cheers
erupt from the spectators.
***********
The Magistrate watches the battle's conclusion.
"These Rangers add up to a dangerous equation. We
had best teleport the lot of the supers up. ACTIVATE THE TRANSPORT!"
She turned away, angry that once again, the thrill
of the hunt was gone.
*************
The Members of Generation X and the Rangers come together, along
with the X-Tremes.
"What was that about?" asks Everett.
"We don't know. But a number of other heroes have vanished from New
York, including Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four."
"Aw man..."
"And if the pattern holds true..."
Tornado feels a disturbance in the wind.
"LOOK OUT!!"
His warning comes far too late. A teleportational
beam spirits all of them away, including the human
members of the X-Tremes.
*************
San Francisco...
Eddie Brock watches as a small group of aliens
moves towards a smaller group of homeless.
He feels the familiar tingling of the Symbiont.
"Not yet. These things are attacking innocents
across the planet. We must get to the source of the problem."
The alien covers him. His skin becomes black. A
white spider logo appears on his chest. Large rows of
teeth gleam.
"Venom has arrived."
He leaps out and grabs one of the aliens.
"Take us to your leader."
*********
New York...
Chris Powell looks from the rooftops at the damage below. He sighs a
sad sigh.
"I should be down there helping. But I have a
feeling that the missing heroes are going to need me."
He grasps the magical amulet. He is instantly surrounded by dark
energy. Within a few seconds, Chris Powell is gone, replaced by Darkhawk.
"What's that?"
He extends his wings and flies down into an alley.
"A damaged ship! Just what I need!"
Darkhawk quickly gets into the cockpit.
"I have a feeling that whatever's going on, it's up
in orbit! And Darkhawk's gonna be there too!"
The ship begins to climb up into the night sky.
************
The Magistrate turns to the individual before her.
"So let me get this straight: You want me to fight heroes from my
planet?"
"Correct."
"Can I kill them?"
"Yes."
"Cooolll..."
Carnage begins to smile an insane smile...
* * * *
On Earth
Juggernaut looked at the little green men
incredulously as they blasted him with their guns.
"You've gotta be kiddin' me!" he laughed. "I've seen
some pathetic attempts in my day but you smurfs take the cake!" His laugh
died as he was caught suddenly in the
Xarn Teleportation beam.
"Hulk smash!" And he did. Xarn's scattered as his tremendous fist
crashed into a low flying Xarn aircraft. "Puny Aliens cannot beat Hulk!" he
shouted. "Hulk
strongest one there is!" Gripping the aircraft in one
hand, he hurled it from his island. "No one beat's
Hulk!" he shouted. "No one!" Then he too was caught in
the beam.
The Xarn ship Ecliptic sped over the mountains in search of prey.
"Our scanner indicate heavy norm
activity in this area!" the pilot said, his snout
extending.
"Destroy them!" Captain Neros said. They were
having a good day.
Until the huge purple being rose up before them.
"Mission:" The Sentinel said. "Destroy Alien
aircraft and troops. Alien Aircraft, targeted." It's
hand smacked the ship, sending it careening into the mountains below. "And
destroyed."
In orbit:
"Have the aliens detected us?" Magneto asked.
"No My Lord Magneto." Exodus answered. "We are cloaked."
"Good," Magneto said. All that was left to be
decided was what to do, if anything."
* * * *
Mike O'Connor woke slowly, his head buzzing. "What happened?" he
asked himself. He opened his eyes and saw
Andy looking concernedly down at him. He attempted to
raise one eyebrow and failed. "Wish I could blame recent events for that."
he thought. Aloud he said. "Well
there's worse sights to see when waking up after being abducted by aliens."
he said, struggling to his feet.
"Judging by that quip," Andy said, helping him up.
"I'd say you're fine."
Mike stood, but the room began to spin, making him stumble. "Fine
may be too optimistic a word." he said.
"Not dead is as positive as I'm willing to get right
now."
"At least the Aliens were nice enough to put us in
the same room." Andy said, smiling at him.
"Why Andy," Mike said, his balance quickly
returning. "Ah didn't know y' cared." he finished with
the voice of Doc Holiday from Tombstone.
"Yes you did." Andy said. "Ever since the Hot Tub incident. Changing
the subject, what do you think the
Aliens want?"
"Perhaps they want us to breed." Mike said with the same voice. "But
ah suppose that's too vulgar a topic
for circumstances such as these." He quickly examined
the room, there were no windows, no visible doors. "In
any case, ah surmise they want us t stay put."
"Magistrate," Minister Morg said. "Several norms
were beamed up with the supers from the Earth city of Boston. What do you
want us to do with them?"
"Norms?" The Magistrate said. "How did norms get in with the supers?"
"They were in a group with them." Morg said. "Shall
we terminate them as usual?"
"Perhaps," The Magistrate said. "They may prove
useful however, I'll consider the matter."
"Yes Magistrate."
The black void opened in an empty room, spilling
Blink and Hotshot back into their cell. They had just attempted to use
Blink's teleporting power to escape.
"Weird," Will said. "Another room exactly like the
one we just left. Amazing."
"Apparently they have some sort of power dampners
in here." she said. "I can use my power, just not escape with it."
Suddenly, a door appeared at the end of the room. A heavily armed
Xarn entered. "You will come with us." it said, using a translator so they
could understand.
"We will?" Hotshot said, surprised. "And we will do
this...why?"
The Xarn shook it's snout, their version of a shrug. "Suit
yourself."
It stunned the both of them.
Stanley found himself in a blank room, by himself.
Last he remembered, he was using his powers to dissuade
Aliens from killing his fellow students in high school.
Now he was here. What the heck was going on?
The Games Coordinator studied the files of some of
the newest Supers carefully. He pretty much had the
schedule worked out, but he wanted to fine tune it.
Mike O'Connor a.k.a. Synthesizer: Power: Sound
Duplication.
Zachary Jase a.k.a. Machine Master: Power: Control of Machines.
Andy Smyth a.k.a. Venus: Power: Control of Emotions
Towards Her.
Marian Kray a.k.a. Pole: Power: Attract People or
Objects Towards Her or Vice Versa.
Jasmine Khan a.k.a. Electra: Power: Control of
Electricity.
Patch Fox a.k.a. Fang: Power: Retractable Bone Claws, Healing Factor.
Note: DNA analysis shows relation to Subject: Wolverine.
Rebecca Davidson a.k.a. Freezer Burn: Power: Cold Generation, Impervious
to Damage From Sharp Objects.
Note: DNA analysis shows relation to Subject: Hotshot,
Mute.
Rebecca Shaft a.k.a. Nail: Power: Extension of Nails
Into Razor Sharp Claws.
Carrie Chun a.k.a. Medic: Power: Healing any Physical Ailment.
Victor Price a.k.a. Necromancer: Power: Control of Dead Tissue.
Damion Forrest a.k.a. Pan: Power: Flight, Increased
Fighting Ability.
Stanley Kube a.k.a. Instant Karma: Power: Control of Bad
Luck.
"I could get some interesting fights from these."
the Coordinator thought.
Fang slashed at the wall again, to no avail. "Well
I guess if it didn't work after ten times, it's not
going to." he said. "I feel helpless. I hate that."
"Look on the bright side," Becky said. "At least
we're still alive."
Extending one nail, she traced a line on her arm,
not deep, but enough to bring pain. She smiled.
Victor shuddered and turned away from her. His bald head and the
number 666 tattooed across his forehead gave testament to the fact that
he'd had enough of pain as a Genoshan Mutate.
Will awoke in a huge arena, Blink by his side. He
got to his feet, irritably. "I'm really getting tired of that!" he said.
"If I get stunned, one more time today,
I'm never coming here again!"
"You got that right Dead meat!" a familiar voice
called from nearby.
Hotshot groaned and looked to his left. There, Hurricane and
Deathsparkle stood, glaring at him. Or at least Hurricane was.
Deathsparkle was staring in shock
at Clarice.
"You two?" he said. "Man they let ANYBODY in!"
The wall parted to reveal a huge monitor. Mike and
Andy saw what was happening and realized what was going
on. "They want us to fight?" Mike said. "I'm screwed!"
CURRENT MATCH: BLINK VS. DEATHSPARKLE
UPCOMING MATCHES (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)
HOTSHOT AND BLINK VS. HURRICANE AND DEATHSPARKLE
TORNADO VS. CARNAGE
HULK VS. JUGGERNAUT
X-TREMES VS. GENERATION X
SABERTOOTH VS. CARNAGE
Mike stared in shock at the list, looking for his
name, sure enough, near the bottom he found it. "Who the hell is Ruckus?"
he asked.
Blink dodged the initial blast with ease. She still could not
believe what was happening. Here was someone
she had known, if briefly, and fought alongside, and now
she was fighting her. The stories that she had heard
about Jubilee's new identity had shocked her. And now
they saddened her.
Blink leapt through a portal and tackled
Deathsparkle. "How could you do it?" she asked her,
pinning her to the ground. "How could you betray your
friends?"
"Friends?" Deathsparkle sneered angrily smashing
Blink in the face with both fists, throwing her off. "I
have no friends here except Hurricane!"
"Hurricane?" Blink snarled. "How can he be any
friend of yours?! He represents everything you ever
fought against!"
"My friends are dead!" Deathsparkle shouted,
blasting her. Blink opened a portal in front of herself, teleporting the
fireworks behind her opponent. "No
they're not!" she said through clenched teeth, anger and grief both
welling up inside her.
****
Tornado, Jubilee, and the Rangers look at the list
of matches with surprise.
"This is bad."
"Ya gotta fight Carnage??!! Geez!"
"Thanks for those words of support Jube."
"Your friends are finished if we can't stop this
before they face Hurricane and Deathsparkle!"
"I know. Any suggestions?"
Monet walks over and joins them.
"Perhaps we should attempt to commandeer this
vessel."
"Duh."
"That won't work. We don't even know where the
control room is nor how to get there."
"Maybe I can help!" says a voice in the ceiling. An unseen grate is
kicked out and the head of the ever
amazing Spider-Man sticks out.
"Glad to see that you're all right!"
"Same here! Listen: I think I can find that control room! I'm going
to need help."
Tornado turns to all present.
"Justin. Monet. Dr. Richards. I don't think that it would be asking
too much to request that you help our
webbed friend, would it?"
Blue Ranger leaps into the shaft, followed by the flying M. Reed
Richards begins to snake into the shaft.
"Not at all Aaron."
They quickly vanish from sight. Tanya jumps up and replaces the
shaft's grate.
"Now that that's settled, how do we go about
stopping the battle between Will, Clarice, Hurricane,
and Deathsparkle?"
Thing speaks up.
"Only one thing we can do. Absolutely nuthin'!"
**************
The ship piloted by Darkhawk links to the mother
ship.
"This oughtta be interesting."
Several Xarn swarm around the ship to help what
they think is an injured flyer. A dark force blast
knocks them all unconscious. Darkhawk flies up and
out into the maze of corridors...
**************
Blink dodges Deathsparkle's blast.
"You say that all from your world that you cared
for are dead? You are wrong Jubilee!"
"IT'S NOT JUBILEE!!! IT'S DEATHSPARKLE!!! DEATHSPARKLE!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Blink throws a piece of rubble even as Deathsparkle fires full
force. Both attacks hit at the same time and
both are knocked unconscious.
The Magistrate watches.
"Draw."
**********
"NEXT MATCH: TORNADO VS. CARNAGE."
"Crap. Why now?"
"I know that ya can do it Aaron!"
"I have to stop Carnage before he has a chance at
any more bouts."
"We're counting on you man."
"No pressure, right Tommy?"
***********
Carnage slowly enters the arena. He looks around.
He wants so badly to leap into the stands and kill all
the spectators. And he will. It's all just a matter of
time. But first he gets to make a new name for himself.
As the man who killed Tornado.
Tornado teleports into the arena. He narrows his
eyes at the sight of the insane killer.
"Bring it on."
Carnage races forward, spears forming from every tentacle. Tornado
leaps up, avoiding being turned into
Swiss cheese.
"Strike one!"
Carnage lets loose with a barrage of dart like
projectiles. Tornado catches two and throws them back at
Carnage, who merely reabsorbs them.
"Strike two!"
It's time I went on the offensive!
Tornado hammers Carnage with a Hyper kick and a
Cyclone Punch, neither of which affect the killer in the
slightest.
"This is bad. Better take out all the stops!"
Tornado concentrates. He feels his power surging.
It feels like a raging wind in the pit of his stomach.
Then he lets the raging wind loose.
"OXYGEN DRAIN!"
The resulting implosions rock Carnage, but still he
stands, impossible as it seems.
Tornado sees a piece of debris hit an invisible
field and get destroyed by electricity.
Now that gives me an idea!
Tornado ducks under an ax and pulls out his Battle
Board.
My Board is an excellent conductor of electricity,
and Carnage is vulnerable to electricity! This adds up
to KO
Tornado tosses his Board to Carnage, lightly.
"Catch!"
A single tendril snakes out and grabs the weapon.
"Stupid."
"I assume you are talking about yourself?"
Tornado races in and shoves Carnage into the
electric wall, making sure the Board touches the field.
Carnage is completely engulfed in energy. He smokes
for a second, and then drops to the ground, not as
Carnage, but as Casady.
Tornado picks up the Board.
"Strike three. Yer outta here!"
**************
Mike stepped into the Arena warily. He'd seen the
fight between Tornado and Carnage and thanked his lucky stars he hadn't
drawn that psycho. The Xarn who'd come
to fetch him had told him that he need not kill his
opponent, another lucky break. He also now knew what
Ruckus' power was, they'd told him that as well, and he
knew he had a chance.
His power had strengthened his ear drums, sound
could not harm him as much as it would a normal person,
or even any other mutant. "Okay time to look confident
Mike." he thought. "Just think of it as an action scene where you're doing
your own stunts."
"Hi there kid." Ruckus said, walking calmly to the
center of the ring. "Ready to lose?"
"I's ready, you's ready?" Mike asked. Then,
imitating Will Smith, "I beat you so bad you're
grandchildren gonna be bruised."
Ruckus merely smiled and lit a small fire cracker.
"Cool!" Mike said, now as Beavis. "Fire!"
Ruckus threw the firecracker in the air and it went
off. Mike looked at Ruckus. "That's very impressive." he
said sarcastically. "What else do you do?"
"This." Ruckus opened his mouth and out came the
sound of the firecracker amplified by ten. The sound
threw Mike on his back. Anyone else could have been
deafened by the noise, but he merely had a slight
ringing in his ears.
"Not bad." Mike said. Then he prepared to
retaliate. He concentrated on where he wanted the noise
to go. He concentrated hard on Ruckus's eardrums. "Hope
this doesn't do any permanent damage." he apologized.
Then he imitated the amplified firecracker explosion, but
he projected the sound directly into Ruckus' ear canal.
Ruckus reeled as the explosion rocked through his
head. Mike took advantage of his distraction and kicked
him in the stomach as hard as he could. Ruckus bent
double and fell under the impact of Mike's arm on his
back. Planting his foot on his back, Mike said; "Give
up?"
Ruckus brought his hand up to his ear, and found it
bleeding. He looked at Mike with grudging respect, if
some resentment. "Yeah kid." he said. "I give up."
NEXT MATCH:
X-TREMES: BLINK, HOTSHOT, SYNTH, VENUS, POLE, ELECTRA,
FANG, FREEZER BURN, NAIL, MEDIC, NECROMANCER, PAN,
INSTANT KARMA
VS
GENERATION X: CHAMBER, JUBILEE, M, MONDO, SKIN, SYNCH,
TORNADO, AND SEVEN OTHERS OF THEIR CHOICE
"This is bad." says Jubilee. "Monet's still gone
too!"
"Actually Jube, that may work to our advantage."
"How?"
"If Monet is not here to fight, then that battle
must be postponed."
"But doesn't that also mean that they'll be lookin'
fer her an' the others?"
"All we can do is wait Jube."
*********
Spider-Man crawls through the systems, followed
closely by M, Blue Ranger, and Mr. Fantastic. He feels a
familiar tingle.
"HOLD IT!"
"What's wrong?" asks Justin, obviously
uncomfortable in the presence of other, much more
experienced heroes.
"Motion detectors. We must be getting close to the
control room."
"What do you suggest Spider-Man?" asks Reed.
"Blue Ranger, can you fire that weapon of yours
with pinpoint accuracy?"
"I guess so."
"Please, no guesses." says Monet. "Yes or no."
"Yeah. I can do it."
"Aim for that power module on the back of that
scanner. Blast it at a 40 degree angle, or the Xarn
will know that it didn't burn out on it's own."
"Okay. Here goes nothing!"
"Wrong: here goes everything."
Justin fires his Auto Blaster. He nails the module
and the scanner becomes inert.
"Excellent work son. Now we can move unhindered."
"In this shaft Dr. Richards? Not a chance!"
****************
The last Xarn ship returns from San Francisco.
Venom steps out with three Xarn.
"Thank you for your hospitality. We appreciate your
cooperation. We'll make sure that your deaths are
painless."
Several pseudopodia whip out, razor sharp, killing
the three Xarn. Venom quickly disguises himself as a
Xarn and races off to put an end to the madness.
***********
The Magistrate prepares herself for the next battle. It's obvious
that Generation X will win. This battle is merely a formality.
A messenger runs in.
"Magistrate! Four of the supers are missing!"
"Well find them! I have a battle to observe."
"I'm afraid that you don't! One of the missing
supers is a member of Generation X. The one called M."
"Blast! Now we'll have to send in Juggernaut and
Hulk before them."
"Also, three of our crew were found dead in the
holding bay."
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes. A super calling himself Darkhawk is running
rampant throughout the ship. He is heading near the
holding bay."
"Find this Darkhawk and whoever killed those
crewmen. Then destroy them."
***********
Darkhawk flies through the corridor. He didn't like
hurting those aliens, but what other choice did he have?
Two Xarn leap out and fire their blasters. Darkhawk
erects a force shield, which blocks the blasts. He fires
his grappler claw and wraps it around the hands of one
of the aliens. One healthy tug later, that alien is unconscious by dented
metal. A third Xarn appears and
snaps the neck of the second, right before morphing into
Venom.
"VENOM!!??"
"Darkhawk. We remember you."
"Listen, I know that you want to protect innocents.
Well I need your help to find the missing heroes and
villains!"
"You are suggesting a temporary alliance?"
"It's better than duking it out, isn't it?"
"Agreed."
With that, Venom and Darkhawk race down the
corridor to face the next challenge together.
*************
Each of the heroes strike the walls of the giant
cell at the same time, but their efforts are in vain.
The Thing and Hercules cannot get through. Powerhouse
and Synch cannot disintegrate out. Thor and Iron Man
cannot blast through. The other heroes save their
strength.
Captain America throws his shield. The unexpected
happens.
The shield goes right through without damaging the
walls.
Tornado runs over and shoves his Board into the
wall. It goes through easily.
"Fascinating! Apparently this unbreakable wall
doesn't exist!"
"So how come we ain't breakin' through?"
"Most likely a slight hypnotic suggestion that
keeps you from going past this point."
"So what do we do about this?"
"I'm not exactly sure. Firestar might be able to
scramble the suggestion."
She walks over.
"I'm ready if you are."
"Should I surround us with a force field?" asks Sue
Richards.
"No. That would be counter productive."
"They're right sis."
Firestar flies up and prepares to attempt to
scramble the suggestion without frying all present.
Every hero crosses their fingers.
***********
The Xarn fill the arena once more, even as two
competitors walk in. Hulk and Juggernaut.
The Magistrate can be heard.
"LET THE GAMES BEGIN!"
Juggernaut looked at the man he was about to fight.
"Woah," he said. "Finally a challenge!"
"Puny Juggernaut cannot beat Hulk!" Hulk yelled.
"Hulk strongest one there-"
"Put a sock in it Greeny!" Juggernaut uppercuts
Hulk, sending him reeling. The green giant flew into
the air and landed several feet away.
Hulk rose, and grew. "The madder Hulk gets, the
stronger Hulk gets." he said. "Hulk smash!" He rushed
Juggernaut and slammed into him at full speed.
In the corridor, Mike was being led back to his cell
by two Xarn guards. Behind him, he heard the fight of
the century going on. "Too bad I'm missing this." he
thought. "But, escape comes first." Then he projected
sounds of a fire fight straight out of Star Wars into
the corridor to their left.
The two guards drew their weapons and rushed into
the corridor, leaving him behind.
"God these Xarn are stupid!" he said to himself.
"How'd they ever take over so many planets?" Entering
the cell ring, he stopped at the first door, and
activated the release mechanism. Held inside was a
large, creature that looked like he was made of black
diamond.
"Come on!" Mike shouted. "We's breakin' outta he'!"
Grake didn't understand a word the little alien had
said, but it wasn't a Xarn, so it must be escaping. That
was fine with him.
The rest of the X-Tremes had been gathered together
for their battle against Generation X.
"All right now listen," Hotshot said. "I don't know
why the Jolly Green Giant and Jug Head went on before us
and I don't care, it gives us more time to plan."
"Plan what?" Freezer Burn signed. "Do we really want
to defeat Generation X? And out of curiosity, do you
think we could?"
"If it was just us and them?" Hotshot said. "In a
second. We would have the advantage of numbers, and
knowing their powers, don't forget I was in
Generation X. For about five minutes. They know next to
nothing about us. But with seven people that they
choose, it's a toss up." He waved his hand
dismissively. "But that's not the point! I've been
thinking about this, not one word Sis, and I think that
with us, Generation X, and the Seven others, well
between the all of us I bet we could bust out of here."
At that moment, the wall to their right vanished.
Synth stood outside with an Alien, apparently from a
previous planet. "What are ye all standin' around
for?!" Mike asked. "Do ye not know a jailbreak when ye
see one?!"
The Magistrate was furious. The situation had
deteriorated quickly. Many of the supers had escaped and
two had snuck onto the ship somehow. This had never
happened before; what was it about the Earth Supers that
was so different?
"Bring the norms here." she ordered. "It seems they
will indeed prove, useful."
"Yes Magistrate."
"How goes the surface operations?"
"We hold our ground Magistrate, but that is about
all for the moment. The uncaptured supers continue to
hold off our forces, though we are capturing more
every minute. The norms are putting up quite a fight as
usual but that will be ended once the supers are all
gone. They gained some ground when their defense
robots surfaced, but we have destroyed the base where
they were being manufactured and our aircraft are
holding their own."
"Magistrate!" the scanner crew member shouted.
"What now?" she sighed.
"Several unknown ships have orbit!"
Lilandra had chosen to oversee the operation
Personally. Beside her stood the Vizier and Gladiator,
her most trusted aides.
*Charles,* she called telepathically. *Where are
you my love?*
*Lilandra!* Xavier answered. *What are you doing
here?*
*I have come to help your people Charles.* she
said. *What is happening?*
*The situation is grim I'm afraid. The destruction
and death is almost overwhelming and many of earth's
heroes and villains alike have been captured. Including
many of the X-Men!*
*Fear not Charles.* Lilandra assured him. "Open
fire." she ordered. "Disable the ship but do not destroy
it."
The Xarn ship rocked with the impact of the Shi'ar
weapons. "Are our shields holding?" The Magistrate
asked.
"Yes!"
"Then return fire! Destroy those ships!"
***********
Firestar radiates energy, praying that she can make
a difference.
The walls vanish from the minds of the assembled
heroes.
"Good work Firestar." says Cap.
"Now where do we go?" asks Powerhouse.
"We wait. I have a feeling that things are having
an unexpected turn."
In response to Cap's words, the ship shudders at
the impact of the Shi'ar's attack.
***********
Spider-Man kicks out a ventilation shaft and drops
into the control room. The others quickly follow.
"It's your show from here guys! Hey! Blue! We'll
keep an eye out while M and Reed do their stuff."
"Right."
Mr. Fantastic and M get to work on the controls.
"Incredible! These creatures are teleporting
villains up as well. Carnage. Shriek. Juggernaut. And
more my the minute."
"Can you teleport them back?"
"I believe that I can. Monet, please keep an eye on
the monitor."
Reed begins to tinker with the controls. The signal
for Carnage and most of the villains fades out,
signaling their return to their original locations.
"Success!"
"Glad to hear it Doc! One problem! We've got
company!"
************
The Hulk slams into Juggernaut again. He shrugs off
the blow and hits Hulk with his pile driver punch.
The Magistrate watches, concerned by the events
plaguing these games.
How could this be happening? Supers escaping, two
sneaking on board, the Shi'ar attacking... Perhaps this planet will have
to be destroyed completely.
********
John Jameson and Dr. Kafka hides under her office
desk while the Xarn swarm around, unaware of the
presence of two humans. Other humans are either dead,
hiding, or have escaped.
There is the sound of a coin dropping. The Xarn
ground troops turn and see Daredevil burst in, followed
by the rest of Power Pack and Justice of the New
Warriors.
Energizer takes the blasts from the Xarn death rays
and uses them to power up. Lightspeed swirls around the
Xarn, tying them up with ropes. Mass Master blinds a
second group of Xarn, allowing Daredevil to do his
stuff. Justice checks on John and the Doctor.
"Are you two all right?"
"We are now. Thanks to the five of you."
"You will be happy to know that your inmates have
all reappeared in their cells."
"But how-?!"
"I think we can thank our missing heroes for that."
"Let's hope."
*************
Tornado looks at the corridors. He realizes that
something must be wrong. The aliens should have realized
that the suggestion was gone... unless they had
more pressing matters.
"Kat."
Pink Ranger walks over. "Yeah?"
"I'm worried about something. What do you think is
going on with the human members of the X-Tremes?"
"Who knows? It's probably not good though."
"Yeah. But one other thing... what will the aliens
use to destroy a planet that they can't conquer?"
Jubilee joins them.
"Aaron? What's wrong?"
"I wish I knew Jube."
"I hate just sittin' around here!"
Kat's communicator beeps. She presses it and
responds.
"Kat here. Go ahead."
"Katherine," says Demetria, "Are you not aware of
the Shi'ar's attack on the very vessel that you now
occupy?"
"Oh no..."
"Kat! Contact Justin! Tell him that we have to get
the heroes off the ship! And to locate the missing
humans!"
"You've got it!"
"It's time ta rumble!"
*************
The Magistrate watches the continuing battle. Both
the Hulk and Juggernaut are worthy opponents. But one
must fall. She thinks of the problems plaguing this
mission again.
"Release the Devastator. If we cannot conquer this
planet, we will destroy it entirely."
The general behind her brings up an extra few
points. "But what of the missing supers on this ship?"
"We will have to destroy them. Prepare a complete
biological sweep. I want every organism on this ship
dead. And make sure that there are enough escape
pods for us."
"It will be done Magistrate."
The Magistrate turns away. And smiles. Victory will
still be hers...
The Shi'ar vessels continue to bombard the ship.
Lilandra watches from the lead ship.
"Fear not Charles. We will save your X-men."
************
Wolverine pops his claws. "I'm sick o' waitin'!"
"You don't have to any longer Wolverine! Just hold
on for a minute." says Tornado.
He turns back to the Rangers and Blue Centurion. "I
hope this works."
"So do we! We have to stop those ground troops!"
"Agreed. They are disturbing the peace and they
must pay the price!"
"Is Centurion always like that?"
"Yes."
"D'OH!"
Iron Man and Psylocke scan the area.
"We've got trouble. Xarn soldiers are heading this
way."
"We need that transport now!"
***********
Justin and Spider-Man hide on either side of the
door.
"I'm not getting a warning from my Spider sense.
They're friendlies!"
Darkhawk and Venom enter the room and see the four
heroes.
"Welcome to the party guys."
"Weee. What fun. Can we go now?"
Venom looks at Spider-Man. "Can he be lost in
space?"
"WOAH! Danger Will Robinson! Save it for the aliens
Brock!"
Reed Richards comes over to them.
"I've prepared the teleportation systems to take us
home. However, I can't get a lock on the missing
humans."
Justin's communicator beeps. Kat's on the other
end.
"Justin, Tornado, Jubilee and the rest of us are
going to look for the X-Tremes. Care to join us?"
"In a heartbeat. Coming guys?"
Darkhawk nods.
Reed hands them small devices.
"These will keep a teleportation lock. Just press
the red button when you're ready to transport. The
computer will do the rest."
Venom grabs one.
"We have some unfinished business."
"Fine. But be careful, okay?"
"All right guys, Darkhawk and I are porting back.
Tell the others to just press the red button on the
device we're bringing to get back to the surface."
Justin and Darkhawk vanish. Venom heads down the
corridor.
"Ready Doc?"
"Absolutely. Coming Monet?"
"Of course."
They push one more button and vanish from the
control room before it seals itself off from the rest of
the ship.
*********
Justin and Darkhawk reappear in the midst of the
other heroes.
"Ready?"
Several heroes nod.
"Then get in close and someone hit that button."
Cyclops turns to the Rangers, Tornado and Jubilee.
"Are you seven sure that you can handle those
troops alone?"
"We just gotta do that super hero thang Cyke."
replies Jubilee.
"Besides, we still have to get at Hulk and Juggy
too."
Cyclops nods. "All right. But be careful. You two
should know something though."
"What?"
"You'll make fine X-men someday. Rangers, our doors
are always open for you."
"Thanks."
"YO! CYKE! ARE YA COMIN' OR ARE YA GONNA GOSSIP ALL
DAY?!"
He turns in response to Wolverine. "Let's do it!"
The heroes vanish.
"Here we go!"
Xarn soldiers appear. Death rays fire, but so do
Jubilee's plasmoids, Tornado's bee stingers, and the
Rangers' auto blasters. The aliens are easily
outmatched and quickly retreat.
"After you." The Rangers rush by Tornado and
Jubilee at top speed. Tornado extends his board and
Jubilee gets on behind him before they race after the
Rangers.
********
The Magistrate turns away from the battle between
Hulk and Juggernaut, no longer interested in the
outcome.
"Activate Devastator."
***********
The heroes reappear on the battered streets of New
York. They see Punisher finishing off a small remainder
of the Xarn with the assistance of Friday the
Smartship, Cloak and Dagger, and several members of the
New Warriors.
"Need help?" asks Spider-Man jokingly.
"No." answers Punisher, with absolutely no humor
whatsoever.
A large shadow falls over the heroes. They look up
and see a giant, robotic Xarn warrior.
Blue Centurion steps forward.
"Stand back. I'll handle this. Go help evacuate the
civilians."
The heroes waste no time arguing. Obviously the
Centurion is better equipped to handle the situation.
"Robo Racer: power up!"
A giant police car appears on the horizon. It is
trailed by a number of normal police cars. The Robo
Racer quickly transforms into battle mode. Blue
Centurion takes the wheel.
"Prepare to face justice for your crimes."
********
"Activate the bio sweep. And begin standard
evacuation procedures. Start with those closest to the
escape pods."
*************
Xarn swarm towards the escape pods. However, when
they arrive, all the ships have been destroyed. Venom
rips out the controls to the Magistrates ship.
"All flights have been canceled. Have a nice
afterlife."
He presses the red button on the transport
activator and fades away.
**********
The X-Tremes rush through the corridors. A sudden
blast of energy forces them back.
"WHAT THE?!"
Hurricane and Deathsparkle come from the shadows.
"Blink. It's time we finished our little chat."
"Hello again little candle. Are you and your
pathetic team ready to be snuffed out?"
"We're more than willing to take you on!"
"HOLD IT!" Tornado and Red Ranger leap between
them.
"We have more important things to take care of
right now! According to the Turbo Navigators, in ten
minutes, this entire ship will be cleansed of all
alien life. We have to locate the human members of your
group, as well as Hulk and Juggernaut, and get out of
here!"
"Tornado's right." Tommy hands Hurricane, Hotshot,
and Blink activators. "Just press the red button to get
transported back to the surface."
"And why should we help you?"
"Does the term: I can blow up your receiver ring
any bells?"
Hurricane scowls. "You'll pay for this Tornado."
"Later. We don't have time to argue."
Tommy's communicator goes off.
"Red Ranger here."
"This is Blue Centurion. I require your
assistance."
"We're on our way. Looks like you're on your own.
Good luck."
"You too."
The Turbo Rangers teleport out.
The remaining heroes, plus the two evil refugees
from the AOA, race off to finish the job and tie up
loose ends.
"Tornado I gotta tell ya," Hotshot said. "We've got
to stop meeting like this."
"Hey Emplate showed up before we did last time."
"Good point. Okay, we've got a small problem, you
said we've got ten minutes to get off this Death Star
before it's immune system kicks us into the next
world. Personally, I don't think we've got time to get
both, our people and Hulk and Juggers."
"So what are you suggesting?" Tornado asked
incredulously. "That we leave Juggernaut and Hulk here
to die?"
"Of course not!" Hotshot said indignantly. "I'm
suggesting that you and the others get the two Titans
whilst me and the X-Tremes get our friends."
"You really think you guys can handle an entire ship
of pissed off Aliens?"
"I know we can."
"All right then." Tornado said. "Good luck Hotshot.
You would have made a great Gen Xer."
"Thanks Tornado." Hotshot said. "It's been great
working with you. I'll see you in ten minutes, well,
eight now. Besides," Hotshot added, lowering his
voice. "A minute more in Hurricane's company, and Blink
may very well just decide to blink him into pieces."
Tornado stole a quick glance at Hotshot's
girlfriend. She was glaring at Hurricane with death in
her eyes. "Good point."
Tornado and the others ran in one direction and the
X-Tremes in another. "All right I got my posse
together," Will said. "It's time to vent some hostility.
Fang take point, sniff out our human friends." Pointing
at Stan, Will struggled for a moment. "Uh, the guy in
the shirt, with the hair..."
"Call me Instant Karma." Stan said.
"Okay Instant Karma and Pole, keep people off our
back if you would. Necromancer, see what you can do
with Synth's big friend there."
Almost immediately, while in the middle of a huge
intersection, they were set upon by what seemed like the
entire population of the Xarn ship. They came
from every one of the many corridors, swarming towards
them. Being the first to meet them, Fang ripped into
them with his claws. Immediately after, Nail extended
her nails and joined him.
Pole and Instant Karma kept the Aliens in back at
bay, Pole merely pushed them away with her power, while
Instant Karma caused them to trip, run into one another,
and caused their guns to backfire. Hotshot's power
protected him from the Aliens' guns, and his heat blasts
scattered several. Despite their anger at the Aliens,
none could bring themselves to kill them. Synth created
general chaos with a barrage of overlapping sound
effects, that if one listened carefully would be able to
identify half a dozen sci-fi movies, including Star Wars
and Star Trek.
Machine Master took control of security system and
trapped most of the Xarn behind force fields, Electra
shorted out most of the guns, while Medic stood,
protected in their circle.
Two Xarn managed to get past their defenses, but
were stopped when Venus made them terrified of her. They
dropped their guns and ran.
Freezer Burn froze a group where they stood and went
to help her brother, who was melting the floor beneath
some Aliens. Blink merely teleported an entire
regiment away.
Meanwhile Pan was having the time of his life.
Crowing at the top of his lungs, he mercilessly teased
the Xarn while defeating them. He flew over their
heads and kicked them as he went by.
Through it all, Necromancer stood silent. His eyes
closed, he let his power seep into the Stone Giant. This
Alien would be his link to the souls of the dead on this
ship. Through that, he realized that this creature was
not only the only survivor of his race, but also the
only surviving contender in the games. Earth had been
the Xarn's last chance it seemed. Necromancer called out
to the souls for help. And they answered. He immediately
knew the history of each race the Xarn had wiped out. He
knew the location of their friends. And finally he
granted the souls the revenge they had wanted so badly.
The corridors of the ship were filled with an
unearthly, chilling wailing. The wailing of a hundred
angry souls. The Xarn never had a chance.
"We should go to our friends." Necromancer said to
Hotshot. "None of us want to see what's going to happen
next. I have initiated a bio sweep of my own."
Ignoring the ghosts as best they could, the
X-Tremes pressed on. Finally they reached their
destination. And stopped.
The Xarn Leader and her closest advisors each had
one of the humans by the neck, with a gun to their head.
The Magistrate quivered with anger, but also with
renewed hope.
"You will surrender yourselves to us, and accompany
us, be our new champions in the new games," she said
through a translator. "Or your friends will die.
Slowly and horribly."
Hotshot eyed the Magistrate coldly. Then he uttered
the code phrase for the plan they'd thought up long ago
in case of just such an emergency. "Shoot the
hostage."
Blink displaced the human prisoners for a fraction
of a second, knocking them out. The Magistrate and her
advisors looked in surprise at their comatose
prisoners. Which was all the distraction Blink needed.
The Humans were quickly teleported into the protective
circle formed by the X-Tremes.
"Bye now." Hotshot said. "It's been real......well
terrible I guess. Don't think it hasn't been a little
slice of hell!" He pressed the red button on his
teleporter and the X-Tremes were gone.
**********
Tornado and Jubilee burst into the arena. Hulk and
Juggernaut turn to face them, momentarily startled.
Unfortunately, it doesn't last.
"Well, well well... Look who decided ta join the
party! Xavier's favorite boy scout and his little
sidekick!"
"Hulk remembers Tornado."
"Oh great. Dumb and dumbest. Listen up: both of
you! There's a biological sweeping beam coming through
this ship! It's going to destroy everything alive
on board!"
"You have got to be kidding me!"
"Puny Tornado threatens Hulk!"
I can't believe that he lost his intelligence
again!
"No Hulk! I'm crazy, but I'm not stupid. The aliens
that brought you here did it."
"Tornado lies! Tries to trick Hulk! But Hulk will
crush puny Tornado first!"
"Get in line Greenie! This yo-yo is my half
brother's best shot at achieving his pathetic dream! I
crush him and poor little Charles will be set back
years!"
"Geez! Listen ta us! Ya ain't got much time before
that beam comes through! Here!"
Jubilee tosses two activators.
"Just press the button... unless you're afraid."
"This is pathetic! Just because we don't buy your
stupid bio sweep story!"
"Is the big bad Jughead scared o' a little wed
button?" mocks Jubilee.
"Hulk fears nothing!"
"It's your funeral kiddies."
They both press the buttons and vanish.
"Good thinkin' Aaron!"
"Wouldn't have worked without you Jube."
"Ummmm... where are Hurricane an' Deathsparkle?"
"They ditched us when we came in here!"
A laser strike destroys Tornado's activator.
"NO!"
Hurricane laughs from somewhere else in the ship.
"Thanks for the opportunity Nado! Have a nice rest
of your life!"
There is the sound of an activator going off. And
then silence.
The beam appears on the opposite side of the arena.
"MOVE!"
**************
The Rangers reappear in the city.
"Man! Look at all this!"
Tanya looks up and points.
"WRONG! LOOK AT THAT!"
Robo Racer throws a punch at Devastator, which
shrugs off the blow and returns with laser blasts and
explosives capable of demolishing a small building.
Robo Racer's blade comes out and it slices at the
robot, but to no avail. More blasts fire, but the Robo
Racer's shield appears in time to block it.
"Looks like Blue Centurion does need help!"
"Well he's going to get it Adam!"
The Rangers make the call together.
"WE NEED TURBO MEGAZORD POWER NOW!"
Somewhere in Angel Grove, a street opens up and the
five Turbo Zords roll into action. They teleport to New
York. The Rangers leap into the cockpits. "Let's do it!"
Wind Chaser splits into two parts and transforms
into arms before combining with Mountain Blaster. Dune
Star and Desert Thunder raise their bumpers and
link to Mountain Blaster as well. Red Lightning leaps
into the back of the makeshift tank.
"TURBO UP!" Tommy puts his Turbo Key into place and
turns.
"TURBO UP!" The other Rangers follow suit.
Tommy's wheel becomes handlebars and he hits the
breaks. The zord begins to rise, extending feet and
pushing the back of red Lightning down to reveal the
head of Turbo Megazord. Mountain Blaster's lightbar
comes up, finishing the transformation.
"POWER RANGERS TURBO!"
*******
Magneto watches the alien mother ship.
"It appears that this invasion has come up short."
"My lord!" Uniscone runs into Magneto's throne
room.
"Yes?"
"It appears that two mutants are still present on
the station."
"And why did you bring this to my attention?"
"One of them is your nephew."
"Aaron? It appears that I will play a small role
after all."
*********
Tornado activates his communicator.
"Blast! Teleportation's down! It can't break
through the bio sweep!"
"Try contactin' the Rangers!"
He does. No response.
"This is bad."
The sweep heads towards them.
"RUN! IT'S OUR ONLY CHANCE!"
"Jube, we'd just be delaying the inevitable! Reed
was too smart! He sealed the control room off!"
The green field moves closer. Tornado and Jubilee
rush into the next room. And stop cold.
"DEAD END!"
"And the Magistrate!"
"You have ruined everything! Everything!"
"Hey! I can understand her!"
"I have learned your language. Enough to tell you
this: although I perish this day, I will still have the
pleasure of watching the two of you die first."
*******
The Turbo Megazord fires it's artillery at
Devastator. The robot reels from the attack. A
handcuff like projectile launches from Robo Racer.
"Rangers, it's time we ended this fight!"
"Agreed Centurion! TURBO MEGAZORD SABER!" The
weapon appears.
"Synergizer Blaster Mode!" A large gun appears in
the right hand of Robo Racer.
"Turbo Megazord Spinout!" The zord begins to spin
as it races at the robot.
"FIRE!" Robo Racer lets loose with a barrage of
missiles.
Both attacks strike simultaneously, destroying
Devastator.
"Mission accomplished." Robo Racer and Blue
Centurion vanish.
"We did it guys!"
The Rangers teleport down.
"Hey! Where are Tornado and Jubilee?"
Hotshot runs towards them.
"They're still up there!"
"But that sweep! NOOOO!!!"
********
Hulk and Juggernaut continue to slug it out.
Suddenly, Juggernaut is teleported away.
**********
Alpha 6 watches from the Power Chamber.
"YO! Juggy! If ya can't play nice, ya don't play at
all! Capish?"
*******
Juggernaut is dropped in the Atlantic ocean.
"Looks like I gotta walk back! Jeez! What a day!"
*****
Tornado and Jubilee appear near Blink.
"The Magistrate's dead. Leaped into the sweep."
Tornado replaces his board and drops his transport
activator.
"Very neat and tidy ending, isn't it Hurricane?"
responds Blink.
"WHAT?! But how did you-?!"
"Know? Easy. I know you."
"You just got on our hit list Blink. Watch your
back."
"I'll hold my breath and count the minutes."
The two AOA dopplegangers body slide out.
"Jerks."
************
Tornado and Jubilee watch as the sweep comes
closer.
"Looks like this is it."
"Looks like."
"Jube, you should know that no matter what happens,
I'll always love you."
"I know Aaron. I love ya too."
They embrace and kiss.
Suddenly, a magnetic field engulfs them and pulls
them from the ship.
"NOOOOOO!!!!!" The Magistrate cries out in vain at
revenge lost, mere seconds before the sweep consumes
her.
*********
All eyes turn towards the ship as the sweep is
completed. Eyes tear at the thought of two heroes lost.
"I can't believe it! Aaron... Jubilee... gone..."
"It can't be true! Can it?"
The questions are quickly answered as a magnetic
bubble comes to the ground. It slowly dissipates,
revealing a very much alive Tornado and Jubilee. The
heroes gather round.
"Who would have thought that my uncle would
actually have some use?"
"Not me."
***********
Venom watches the others from the shadows.
"Our mission is accomplished. San Francisco awaits
our return."
The alien costume reforms into clothing and Eddie
Brock walks away towards the airport.
**************
Darkhawk flies up to the rooftops. Spider-Man
swings up and joins him.
"You did really good today Hawk."
"Think so? I barely did any good."
"You kept the aliens from looking in the control
room. Those distractions of yours probably saved us all
today."
"Thanks. I still don't believe you."
"Have it your own way."
Spider-Man swings away, snapping pictures for the
Bugle.
Darkhawk looks down again. Spider-Man was right. A
Darkhawk can still make a difference.
If he could smile at the moment, he would have.
Instead, he merely sighs and glides off into the
night...
*******
Magneto watches as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents begin to
board the Xarn mother ship.
He knows that he could have just left Tornado there
and ended their family feud. But that would be a victory
hollow. No. He will crush Tornado. But he will do it
at a time and place of his choosing.
Magneto turns away and walks off to another
corridor...
***********
Will turns to his group.
"Some gig, huh?"
"You could say that." answers Zach.
"How are they Medic?"
"They'll be fine. Just a little nauseous in the
morning."
"Good."
"Here's a good idea: Let's go home."
***********
Lilandra watches from her ship, already heading
back for Shi'ar space.
"Good luck to you all."
*Lilandra? Leaving so soon?*
"I am afraid so Charles. My duties demand that I
return."
*I understand. Good journey.*
"To you too my love."
**************
Tornado turns to Skin.
"Angelo."
"Aaron?"
"The next time you get tickets in the mail..."
Jubilee interjects.
"I'm paffing em ta Kingdom Come."
The other heroes laugh. And the sun rises...
THE EVER LOVIN' END!
Notes: This story occurs after issue 25 of Tornado and
Jubilee, which, at the time of this writing, has not
been posted.
The Turbo Rangers and all related effects belong to
Saban Entertainment Inc., and are used without
permission.
The Xarn, that funky black diamond creature, Hotshot,
and the X-Tremes, with the exception of Blink, are
copyright 1997 by Ben Church.
Tornado, Hurricane, and Deathsparkle are copyright 1996
by Aaron Thall.
All other characters are copyrighted by Marvel Comics,
and are used without permission.
Don't sue us. Your janitors have more money than we do
right now. Hiring isn't out of the question though! ;)
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