Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction ❯ Ultimate Bubblegum Crisis ❯ The Beginning - Part 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Ultimate Bubblegum Crisis - The Beginning Part 3

 

 

MegaTokyo, 2032

 

 

 

“Where the hell did she go?” Chris asked himself as he walked through the maze of corridors between warehouses in Aqua City. The whole area was dark and visibility was next to nothing, so Chris extended his senses as far as they would go to help guide him.

 

A form leapt from the shadows at him, but Chris easily avoided the attack, as he felt his attacker's anger before they were able to pounce. Chris flared his psychic fire, illuminating his assailant. She was already on her feet, half-crouched in a ready fighting stance. Chris recognized her clothing as that of the rider of the boomer chased motorcycle. Now that he could get a better look, Chris could see she was a beautiful young woman with long brown hair and fiery red-brown eyes. And it was apparent she had been roughed up a bit.

 

“Whoa, I'm not trying to hurt you. I followed you to make sure that combat boomer didn't kill you.” Chris said holding his hands up, palms outward to show he wasn't trying to pull anything.

 

“Why should I believe you?” Priss asked. “And what the hell kind of boomer are you?”

 

“First off, I'm not a boomer, I'm a mutant, an X Man in fact. Big difference. I'm just as much a human as you are. As to why you should believe me, well I can't give a great reason, but I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do.” Chris stated. < And why do I feel like I should know you? > Chris silently thought.

 

Priss stared at him for a moment studying the young man before her. His piercing green eyes seemed to almost glow in the light of the small ball of flame that engulfed his left hand. He was dressed in black leather with prominent X's on each shoulder and his long brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. For some unnerving reason, Priss believed him, even though people just didn't do something because it was the right thing in her experience.

 

“Well X Man, I appreciate the offer, but I'm fine, so you can go on your merry little superhero way.” Priss said.

 

“Right.” Was all Chris said in response. “And my code-name is Phoenix, by the way.”

 

“Whatever. Goodbye.” Priss replied as she turned on her heel to continue down the alley. She went about twenty feet down the alley when from the roof of the building to her right a large shape dropped in front of her. The large male figure stared at Priss, its features contorting in inhuman ways and tearing to reveal the boomer hidden beneath.

 

“Shit!” cursed Priss.

 

“Get down!” came the command from behind Priss and she barely prostrated herself flat on the ground before a large flaming claw from some immense firebird took the boomer full in the chest and drove it into a wall with enough force to cause jets of orange stream from the boomer's joints. The now dysfunctional boomer slid to the ground, head turned completely around backwards.

 

“Now will you accept my help?” Chris asked.

 

An exasperated sigh escaped Priss' lips as she realized that without her hard suit she WAS at a distinct disadvantage here. < Maybe he's not lying. > Priss thought. Still feeling the whole situation was unbelievable, Priss said, “C'mon hero boy.” And she continued down the alley.

 

Chris caught up with Priss, and walked leisurely beside her. “Why was the boomer chasing you, Miss?”

 

“It's none of your business. You asked to come with me, not the other way around, so shit-can the questions. Got it?” Priss responded.

 

“Whatever you say. Can I at least get your name?”

 

Priss thought about it for a moment and responded, “You can call me Priss. And what kind of name is Phoenix anyway?”

 

Chris chuckled at the way she tried to turn everything around and replied, “It's a code name to protect our families or loved ones and a way for our founder to market the team and fund the organization. You can call me Chris though, Priss.”

 

Returning his grin, Priss said, “Chris will do, for now.” < Did I just say that? What is wrong with me? I just met this guy and I feel like I've known him all my life. >

 

Before Chris could respond the two of them came out into a large courtyard between a group of warehouses. On the far side of the quad was a little girl in a pink dress drawing in chalk on the wall of a warehouse. Priss spotted her immediately and rushed over to her, Chris following close behind.

 

“Cynthia? Are you Cynthia?” Priss asked the little girl.

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“Well I'm here to help you get back to your Mommy and Daddy, okay honey?”

 

“There's no such people, lady.” Cynthia responded.

 

“What? What the hell's going on here?” Priss asked to no one in particular, frustrated and confused.

 

“Priss, I don't think she's human. I can't feel anything from her.” Chris said to the kneeling woman.

 

“Not human? You mean she's a boomer? And how do you know?” Priss fired at Chris as she put herself between Chris and Cynthia.

 

“I'm an empath as well as a telekinetic and pyrokinetic. I can feel emotions from people and unless she's a Zen master in deep meditation, I would feel something. Boomers and androids don't have true emotions.”

 

“Very good. It seems you have figured out some of the mystery. Too bad you won't live to piece it all together.” Came a voice from a shadowed doorway. From the opening a group of people emerged, about ten in all. At the head of the group was a redheaded man with a purple suit on.

 

“Frederick.” Priss spat out the name like a curse.

 

“Ah, yes. I have been your quarry for most of the evening, haven't I young lady? My people have treated you with nothing but kindness this entire evening and how do you and your compatriot respond? By destroying one of my friends, who was just sent to welcome you here.” Frederick said with an evil sneer.

 

“Funny way to show your hospitality, boomer.” Chris remarked.

 

“Well, well. It seems that you can sense things most cannot. You wouldn't happen to be a mutant now would you? A psi- of some type, perhaps? It doesn't matter. Cynthia, come here, play time is over.” Frederick said. He extended his hand, obviously expecting the little boomer to adhere to his commands.

 

“Lady…” Cynthia cried as she hid behind Priss' leg. Priss' hand fell to the top of the little girl's head.

 

“Keep Cynthia and yourself behind me Priss. If you see an opening, take off.” Chris said, his voice taking on an air of command that seemed to be a natural action for him. The combat boomer that had chased Priss to Aqua City began to move forward as she reached down and picked up a steel pipe to defend herself and Cynthia.

 

Chris sprang forward, the phoenix effect engulfing him. The combat boomer roared a challenge and rushed to meet him. Chris stopped, flared his wings and rose from the ground. Twin claws of psychic flame grappled the boomer as it tried to close on the young mutant. The boomer's progress was halted by Chris' mental strength but it was quickly becoming a stalemate and Chris could see four more boomers shedding their skins and moving forward.

 

< This is not good. I have to finish this quickly. > Chris thought as he struggled with the combat boomer, beads of sweat forming on his brow. Changing his tactics, Chris continued to hold the boomer with his left claw, giving ground as the boomer strode forward, but this allowed Chris to drive his fiery right talon into the boomers head. The boomer's head was ripped from its neck, droplets of molten armor streaming behind it as it spun back towards the advancing group of boomers, and its body fell to its knees then forward onto its chest, not moving. < One down, way too many to go. > Chris thought as he prepared for the rest of the boomers to begin their attack.

 

The boomers pressed their attack, some using arm mounted lasers to force the trio back as Chris tried to deflect the shots. One slipped through and took Chris in the left shoulder, intensely burning initially, and then leaving his entire left arm numb.

 

“Fuck that hurt!” Chris cursed. The flames that made up his firebird seemed to burn hotter than before to Priss, and she could hear the roar of the fire and heat as Chris began to gather it around his right hand in what appeared to be a roiling mass of white flame.

 

It was one of the strangest sensations she had ever experienced as on her side facing Chris felt as if it were next to a blast furnace and her side opposite of Chris actually felt a chill. < He's drawing heat into his hand! > Priss thought. As this realization dawned on her, Chris' right hand shot up, the mass of fire spewing forth and catching three foremost boomers in a large fan of intense flame. The flames rushed forth, which created a rapid superheating of the air, and caused a near gale force wind to accompany the fire.

 

Priss watched in fascinated horror as the three boomers nearest to them changed color from their normal blue armored look to a dull glowing red, to a glowing yellow, to a final white hot, intense glow. The three literally became walking molten metal that after a couple of steps became puddles of rapidly cooling molten metal. Chris stood in the same position he had when releasing the fire and heat, his right arm extended, while his left dangled uselessly by his side. Priss could see his breath was labored and he wasn't reacting to the boomers still coming at them.

 

In an instant Priss drew her hand gun and loaded it. She leveled the barrel at the closest boomer and just before she squeezed the trigger yelled, “Hey Chris move your ass!”

 

Chris, awakened from his stupor by Priss screaming at him, dove to his right, trying to keep his injured left arm against his body. He rolled to a ready position with practiced ease just in time to see a boomer take three slugs from Priss' rather large gun and keep moving.

 

“Shit.” Chris heard Priss curse as she hastily reloaded and squeezed off two more rounds just before the boomer arrived at her location. The boomer reached down with its left hand and crushed the handgun before she could fire another shot. With its right hand it nonchalantly backhanded Priss, sending her into a pile of boxes and building materials stacked next to a warehouse. It continued stalking Priss as Chris started to move towards the machine to intercept it. He never made it though, as a boomer sent him flying through the air with an attack from behind, buckling his personal force field with the force of both impacts.

 

The field collapsed completely as the boomer grabbed Chris by his throat and lifted him from the ground, his oxygen cut off. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Priss was in the same situation as he was, suspended off the ground by a mechanical hand. Cynthia, the boomer child that this entire mess seemed to be about, was cowering against the wall in a fetal position.

 

“So are you two going to tell me who you work for?” Frederick asked as he approached the two young people. He waited a couple of seconds before he continued, “If you aren't going to answer then your usefulness is at an end. Dispose of them. Come, Cynthia.” He held out his hand and waited for the child to come to him.

 

Metallic hands began to tighten their grips on both of their throats when cannon shot echoed through the night and Priss fell to the ground gasping for breath. The boomers began to scan the horizon to react to this new threat, but not before another shot rang through the night removing the boomers arm choking Chris, which resulted in him crumpling to the floor of the courtyard. The boomer who had just lost his arm screamed in rage and lashed out at the nearest thing to it, Chris.

 

Barely conscious from lack of oxygen, Chris was nearly unable to bring up his force field to lessen the impact of the blow as the boomer drove its left hand, claws extended at him. His force field shattered with the force of the blow, but deflected the claws enough so they barely grazed Chris' left side as he rolled out of the way. The boomer kept up its pursuit of the wounded X Man, and as it followed him the chest plates of the boomer's armor opened revealing an array of energy projectors. Energy began to crackle around the projectors as Chris tried to focus past the pain of his left side, not too mention the injured left arm that decided at that moment to regain some of its feeling. Unfortunately, for Chris, the feeling was that of intense pain.

 

< Oh Shit. > Chris thought as he prepared for the inevitable coupe de grace the boomer was about to deliver. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the boomer's chest emitters began to glow. The boomer looked down on Chris, who idly realized the permanent grin it bore had caught the moonlight and become even more sinister. One moment Chris was staring at the boomer's horrifying visage and the next its face and upper torso are obscured by a torrent of plasma pfaffs that exploded upon impact with the boomer. As the smoke cleared, Chris saw the boomer had lost its head and had clearly ceased to function.

 

“Thanks, Jubes.” Chris said as he turned towards the source of his salvation.

 

“Don't call me that. We're teammates and I'm backing you up. You decided we wouldn't be more.” Jubilee replied. Inside, she wanted desperately to check on Chris who was obviously hurt, but she pushed those feelings aside. < I will not let him hurt me again. > Jubilee thought.

 

“Whatever you say, Jubilee, now is not the time to discuss this.” Chris replied in the emotionless monotone he used when barking orders on the battlefield. He turned and surveyed the ongoing conflict. Priss was doing her best to keep a boomer at bay with a steel rod of some kind. The boomer appeared to be toying with her and oblivious to the suit of white power armor that produced an energy blade from its palm and split it in two as Chris and Jubilee watched.

 

The two X Men began to move over to Priss' side as two more suits of powered armor could be seen battling the remaining boomers. The olive colored one was obviously better at combat than the pink suit, but overall they seemed to be holding their own. Their attention turned back to Priss, who had just been sent skittering across the ground by the attacking boomer. Before the young X Men could react, the white armor dispatched the offending boomer and stood guard between Priss and Cynthia and Frederick who had started towards the pair.

 

Cocking his head to one side, Frederick asked, “And just who are you?”

 

“We're the Knight Sabers.” Sylia answered him in a modulated voice.

 

“Why are you getting involved? What do you hope to accomplish?” Frederick countered.

 

“To deliver justice and make the world a better, safer place.” Sylia replied.

 

“That's rich! Well to accomplish that you're going to have to go through me!” Frederick bellowed. To the horror of those witnessing the events, Frederick's lower body burst through his false skin revealing a writhing mass of tentacles. The tentacles slid across the concrete till reaching the unmoving form of a headless combat boomer. Tentacles moved inside the open space where the boomer's head had been as Frederick fused with the boomer.

 

“Are you scared now, little ones? You should…” Frederick's rant was cut off by a cannon shot that struck his left eye and sent him stumbling back into a pile of industrial refuse. An inhuman roar released from the prone Fredrick and his tentacles began to infect the area around him. Frederick's mass doubled in the space of seconds, and he continued to integrate himself with everything around him.

 

Sylia turned to Priss and said, “Get out of here! We'll handle this!” At that Priss grabbed the crying Cynthia by the hand and began to run out of the area.

 

“Chris! Thanks!” Priss shouted as she ran from the area, Cynthia in tow. Chris waved his acknowledgement, but continued to concentrate on the monstrosity growing before him. Priss, for her part, could not believe she just did that.

 

Linna and Nene stopped for a moment, looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. They had little time to question their teammate's actions though, as the fusion boomer, which at one time had been their quarry known as Frederick, began lashing out with large tentacles the size of tree trunks made from Aqua City itself.

 

“This thing is a boomer?” Chris yelled out towards the Knight Sabers as he used his TK to deflect a tentacle away. Beside him Jubilee was thrown to the ground as a gigantic `root' moved through the area where she was standing assimilating the material as it went. She was quickly to her feet and moving with the grace of an Olympic gymnast as she pirouetted and cart wheeled her way out of immediate danger.

 

“It looks like it is making Aqua City part of itself!” Linna replied after a failed attempt at reaching the core had resulted in her being flung back into the wall of an as yet uninfected warehouse.

 

“And it appears that the boomer has gone rogue! That means the only way this thing is going to stop is by destroying the core!” Sylia screamed.

 

“Great.” Chris muttered as he lifted himself and Jubilee from immediate danger to the relative safety of a nearby rooftop with his telekinesis. After a couple of moments of doing the mental exercises the Professor had taught him as a boy to clear his mind and shut out external distraction, Chris turned to the nearby Jubilee. “Jubes, I need you to work with me on this one. No personal bullshit.” Chris waited for her to nod, then continued. “I want you to lay down a wide dispersal of pfaffs to act as a smokescreen. I'm going for the core. I figure my TK shield can get me closer if it's distracted.”

 

“Understood.” Jubilee said in a business like manner.

 

“Good. Start when I give you the word, ok?” Chris asked.

 

“Be careful, Chris.” Jubilee said to him, the straight face she wore cracking and showing her concern.

 

“Hey, it's me.” Chris said, giving her a grin as he dove off the rooftop his firebird wings spreading to ride the air.

 

“That's what scares me, moron.” Jubilee said to herself.

 

 

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Priss was pissed off by the way the night was turning out. It had started out with her searching for the missing little girl, Cynthia, and ended being up being attacked, then kidnapped by boomers. The kidnapping had been fortunate in some ways, as she had learned the location of Cynthia, Aqua City, and had even been able to find Cynthia before the boomers caught up with her. Now the entire man-made island of Aqua City was becoming part of the fusion boomer that had formerly been known as the computer technician Frederick, which resulted in her and Cynthia being separated.

 

She reached the Silky Doll box van that the Knight Sabers sometimes used as a transport and opened the side door to access the hard suit storage area. Priss ignored the protests that Sylia's brother Mackie made about her not being in any condition to fight.

 

“I have worked too hard to let those bastards have her!” Priss growled as she pulled on her blue helmet. The helmet clicked into place and Priss stepped out of the box van.

 

 

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“Can you hear me, Jubilee?” Chris asked as he spoke into the commlink that each X Man carried. He was about 100 yards above the rogue fusion boomer's `face'.

 

“Loud and clear, Phoenix, I'm in position.” Jubilee responded.

 

“Alright, here we go. Provide the distraction please.” Chris said as he began to descend on the boomer. He could see the three Knight Sabers fighting valiantly against this monster, but for all their armament, they were being pressed and making very little progress. A large stream of plasma pfaffs began to shower the boomer's body, little detonations occurring across the boomer, and blanketing the area in smoke and debris.

 

Chris concentrated on pouring all his strength into his force field as dove towards the rogue boomer. The boomer was flailing about with its tentacles in a vain attempt to clear the smoke. Chris noticed with pride that Jubilee had aimed her pfaffs at parts of the monster that contained bits of rubber and plastic, creating a noxious, but very thick smoke to cover him. < My turn. > Chris thought as he dove into the mouth of the boomer and headed towards its center.

 

 

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“Sylia, how are we going to beat this thing?” Linna asked as she dodge yet another tentacle.

 

“I don't know Linna, the only way is to get to the core. Some…” Sylia stopped in mid sentence as she saw the young woman in the black leather trench coat cover the rogue boomer in a blanket of some kind of plasma discharge. The attack did little damage to the monster, just creating a large amount of smoke. Sylia was confused for a millisecond until her sensors picked up the form of the young man who was helping Priss earlier diving directly at the behemoth's mouth. “Pour it on Knight Sabers!” Sylia commanded.

 

“Hey Sylia, miss me?” Priss asked as she rocketed by on her moto-slave, heading for where Chris had entered the boomer.

 

“Priss!” Sylia exclaimed as she saw the blue hard suit disappear into the boomer's open maw. “Okay ladies, two people are inside that thing working towards the core. Let's try and distract this monster so they can make it!” The other two Knight Sabers reacted instantly bringing their weapons to bear against the fusion boomer.

 

“Here I go!” Priss yelled as she guided her moto-slave into the rogue's mouth. Once inside, the moto-slave transformed, becoming a battle mecha that integrated with her hard suit. Rockets fired and she sped down the boomer's gullet, just behind Chris, who was a small point of flickering light ahead of her.

 

 

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Chris plummeted down the throat of the massive rogue boomer, his force field being tested every foot of the way as tendrils of living metal struck out at him as he passed. Pushing the limits of his abilities, Chris raised the temperature of the tunnel he was traveling in just to the brink of combusting the air. The extreme heat had its desired effect, as it caused the expansion and even a material breakdown in many of the components the tendrils were made of. Some the weaker metals even melted into slag as he passed by in his journey to the core. Absently, he wiped the nosebleed he had developed from the strain of extending past his limits and continued on.

 

The arms of metal striking at Chris became thicker, and as a result more resistant to the heat wave he was projecting ahead of himself. With thundering precision the tentacles battered Chris, each strike by one weakening his shields and slowing him slightly. Then all at once he reached the end of the shaft and came out into a small womb-like area, and in the middle was suspended a boomer head that still had a tuft of red hair cling to it just behind the left ear. Innumerable cables and metal struts were connected to the head, and the digital eyes told of an uncontrollable insanity that a man could never hope to comprehend.

 

“Finally!” the battered X Man exclaimed to himself as he began to draw his energy reserves to him for the final strike to end this madness. His phoenix effect began to flare and Chris could feel his nose begin to bleed anew with the effort, but he would not stop. Not now. He was too close to quit.

 

Just before the claw of fire and kinetic force left Chris' hand where it formed, thousands of metal shards shot from the around the boomer's head, overwhelming Chris' already weakened TK shield. His shield was able to deflect most of the metal flechettes before they impacted with his body, but the few that came through clean cut through his leather X Man uniform and flesh alike without slowing much. Reeling from the savagery of the attack, Chris stumbled back into the wall of the chamber he was in. He had blood in his eyes from a cut to his scalp and he was having trouble telling which way was up. His clouded mind began to shut down as exhaustion and injuries took their toll. < Sorry, Jubes, looks like… > he thought as blackness claimed him.

 

 

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Priss came into the core chamber in time to see Chris fall to the ground, bleeding from numerous wounds, anger welling in Priss as she witnessed the scene. The boomer took notice of the distraught Priss and laughing the laugh of a raving lunatic, revealed its mouth blaster as it prepared to use it on the new interloper.

 

“Die you bastard!” Priss screamed while she unloaded the entire mini-gun belt from her moto-slave into the boomer's core. The slugs ripped through the armor protecting the boomer's head, all traces of the boomer erased into a whirling cloud of armor pieces and microchips. As the last round left the barrel, Priss popped the release on the moto-slave battle mecha and jumped to the ground at a run to get to the fallen X Man.

 

Kneeling beside his unmoving form, Priss pulled her helmet off to check Chris. At first she feared he was dead, but when she ran her armored hand along his cheek, a soft moan escaped the fallen mutant. Chris' eyes fluttered open, even that movement hurting tremendously.

 

“Hi Priss.” Chris croaked. “Nice armor.”

 

“Hi yourself.” Priss replied, a wave of relief going through her. “Let's get you out of here, this place is not going to stay together for long.” She snapped her helmet in place and gently picked Chris up.

 

“Hold on Chris, I can't fly, I just have jump jets.” Priss said. She looked down at the X Man and saw that he had passed out again.

 

 

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His eyes opened slowly, the light stabbing at his brain. Quickly, he closed them again to relieve the searing pain the sunlight filtering in through the window was causing. Carefully, he opened his eyes just a bit to allow them time to adjust. Snoring lightly in a chair beside the table, a book opened against her chest, sat Jubilee. Chris smiled at seeing her, watching over him, even after he had broken her heart.

 

< I do love you, Jubes, just not the way you want or how I used to. > Chris thought as he sat up. The effort to rise from his prone position was tremendous and his head swam as he became upright, but after giving himself a couple of moments to clear his mind using an exercise the professor and his mother had taught him, the momentary dizziness left him. Slowly, and feeling like one big bruise, Chris swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

 

Stubbornly, Chris rose and pulled on a robe since he was clothed only in a pair of boxers. As he pulled the robe on he noticed the numerous bandages that covered various parts of his body. < That boomer fucked me up. > he thought as he made his way to the door, his belly growling, determined to find something to eat. The door opened and allowed even more light into the room, which caused Chris to stop for another moment to adjust to the new light levels.

 

Barefooted, the tiles that paved the way to the kitchen and living room area of the apartment were cold to the touch, sharpening Chris' awareness of his surroundings. Ahead of him in the kitchen he could hear voices discussing something. Every part of his body was sore, but Chris eventually made his way to the kitchen. Leaning against the doorframe, Chris took in the sight before him. Three people were arrayed about the kitchen; Logan, who was leaning against the counter in a corner; Mariko, Logan's girlfriend and a fellow X Man, who was at that time preparing something that smelled suspiciously like miso soup at the stove; and seated at the breakfast bar drinking a cup of coffee was a pretty woman with black hair, dark eyes, and a very business-like manner.

 

“Well, look who rejoined the land of the living.” Logan said with a grin, being the first to notice Chris.

 

“Good morning, Logan. It is morning, right?”

 

“Yes, Chris it's morning.” Mariko said as she walked over to him. Gently, she guided him over to the breakfast bar to a seat by the unknown woman. After he was seated, Mariko went to the coffee pot and poured Chris a cup.

 

“Chris, let me introduce you to the young lady seated to your right, Miss Sylia Stingray.” Logan said.

 

“Miss Stingray.” Chris said as he bowed his head towards her.

 

“Mr. Summers. I am glad to see you are recovering from your recent activities.” Sylia said, a small smile touching the corners of her lips.

 

“Thank you.” Chris replied as he shot a look at Logan.

 

“Relax, kid. Sylia's here to meet with the professor about a possible arrangement between her organization and the X Men.” Logan responded. < Kid's way too serious like his old man was. > Logan thought.

 

“The professor's here? How long have I been out?” Chris asked bewildered.

 

Logan chuckled at that, which drew a sharp look from Mariko. A look of defeat on his face, Logan said, “You've been in a healing coma for about two days. Mariko came over from the States and was able to heal the worst of your injuries. As for the professor, he's…”

 

“Right here.” Came a voice from behind Chris.

 

Chris turned to see an elderly bald man in a wheelchair coming into the living room. The Professor's gaze pierced Chris' as the their eyes met, “I'm glad to see you're doing better, son. We'll have to have a talk about what happened later, because right now I need to speak with Miss Stingray about business.”

 

“I understand, Professor.” Chris answered, knowing that the talk would be a harsh dissertation of his rash decisions and cavalier actions.

 

“Good.” Professor X said. “Now Miss Stingray, if you would join me in the library, we can get down to business.”

 

Sylia rose from her seat and started to follow the Professor from the room when she stopped and turned to Chris, who was nursing his coffee. “Mr. Summers?”

 

“Call me Chris, please Miss Stingray.”

 

“Alright, Chris.” Sylia said with a smile. “I wanted to thank you for keeping one of my people safe against the boomers and for the sacrifice you were willing to make. You were very brave.”

 

“You're welcome.” Chris said, stunned by how much this woman knew. He just sat there with his mouth hanging open as Sylia and Professor X left the room.

 

“Close your mouth, Chris, you'll catch flies.” Mariko teased as she sat a bowl of miso soup down in front of him. “Now eat your soup, doctor's orders.” She said sweetly, a sparkle in her eyes.

 

“She is way too good for you, old man.” Chris said to Logan in between mouthfuls of soup.

 

“Hell, you ain't telling me something I don't know, kid.”

 

“So are you going to tell me the story on Miss Stingray, and for that matter how things turned out in Aqua City?” Chris asked his friends.

 

“You've already met Miss Stingray, junior. She's the leader of the Knight Sabers, the one who wears the white hard suit, as they call their armor. As for what happened I'll give you the reader's digest condensed version. You pulled your stunt of going down the boomer's throat and apparently had the shit beat out of you. The blue Knight Saber, I think her name is Priss, finished the boomer off and carried your sorry ass out of there. Then for a reason I'm not to sure one of those idiotic satellite weapons was fired and Aqua City sank to the bottom of Tokyo Bay. Jubilee contacted me and Kitty and we picked you guys up. The professor and Mariko came as soon as I called. This appears to be bigger than we thought, kiddo.”

 

“Sounds like things are getting hot here in MegaTokyo. Good thing I like heat, eh Logan?” Chris asked as he scratched at one of his bandages.

 

“You are a bloody cornball, you know that kid?” Logan chuckled.

 

“Yeah, I know.” Chris said smiling.

 

 

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Atop the Genom tower Chairman Quincy stood on an observation deck overlooking MegaTokyo as the sun set in the west. He stood planted so still as to seem almost a statue, the setting sun creating strange angular shadows across his craggy features.

 

“Madigan how goes the hunt?” Quincy asked without turning around to face the approaching woman.

 

“We've run into a couple of difficulties, milord.” The purple haired woman stated as she bowed deeply.

 

“Oh? And what are these difficulties?” Quincy asked in his deep baritone voice.

 

“The X Men are in MegaTokyo, milord. I don't believe they suspect us, but it won't be long before they connect the dots.” Madigan responded.

 

“I wouldn't have it any other way, Madigan. Survival of the fittest requires a certain amount of conflict. Proceed with our plans and keep me abreast of the X Men. You are dismissed.”

 

“Aye, milord.” She responded in her Scottish accent as she turned on her heel and left Chairman Quincy to his sunset.

 

 

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End of The Beginning Part 3