CCC #69 Crossovers - Voting Thread

Morty Smith sat in the passenger seat quietly smiling to himself as his grandfather, Rick Sanchez, busied himself with dials and buttons as they flew over Seattle in Rick’s space cruiser. “Ready when you are, Rick.”

“Nobody likes smug, Morty! Okay.” Rick snapped as he rummaged about. “Somehow, you were right *urp* and now you get to have your little extra adventure!”

“Mermaid puss!” Morty cheered.

“Well, now you’re talking!” Rick smiled and swigged from his flask. “I thought it was going to be like that stupid fantasy quest where you nearly got finge…”

“I TOLD YOU TO NEVER SPEAK OF THAT AGAIN!” Morty roared as he launched across the cockpit, only held back by his seatbelt. “%^$# RICK! GEEZ! I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES ABOUT THAT $#1+!!”

Rick looked at his grandson in horror, noting the rage in his eye as his little fingers clawed towards his face. “Might have to mind blow this one. Okay, okay *urp* let’s go get some mermaid tail!”

“…I changed my mind!” Morty huffed, folded his arms and looked out the window. “Just take us home.”

Rick stared at Morty. “No! No way! You’re getting this little extra adventure and you’re getting it now! I’m not having you keep this up your sleeve like some jealous girlfriend!”

“I’m not your girlfriend! I’m your grandson! Geez!”

“Then start acting like it!” Rick yelled, spittle flying about the cabin. “Mermaid puss?”

“Is there anything out there in the infinite spectrum of parallel universes that has better mermaid puss?” Morty asked.

Rick paused, wiped his mouth and thought about it. “That for once is a brilliant deductive question, Morty. Maybe you are getting smarter from all this dimension hopping.”

“Really?”

“No!” Rick sneered back. “If normal mermaid puss was phenomenal, imagine what Mega Mermaid Puss is going to be like!”

Morty’s eyes drifted up and to the left where eyes go when you’re imagining things, his body convulsing at the thought of even more sensual sexual encounters than what he’d experienced. “Aw geez!”

Rick laughed as he opened the side window and fired his portal gun, making a giant green shimmering circle in the air. “Wubba Lubba Dub-Dub!”

The cruiser flew through the shimmering green hole. Rick screamed as they exited the portal to be confronted with a building. “What the %$##?! What the hell? That shouldn’t be there!”

“RICK!” Morty squealed, his fingers burrowing into the dashboard.

“God dammit!” Rick sent the cruiser into a sharp bank, veering left and narrowly avoiding a pancake style death.

“I thought you were taking us to Atlantis?” Morty questioned.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Rick yelled as he spun the cruiser towards the ground. “GPS has us in the right location, but this is all wrong.”

“Wrong twice in one night huh?” Morty smirked as they landed. “This place looks like the citadel.”

Rick ignored his grandson as he stepped out of the cruiser, took a breath and promptly vomited. “Holy $#!+!! Seriously! The toxicity of this place *urp* wow, and this coming from the guy who has inhaled some horrible stuff!Morty! Gas mask! NOW!”

“Aw geez!” Morty fumbled around the cockpit. “It smells like burnt dreams and gasoline fried diapers!”

“Enough with the adjectives!” Rick snapped. He looked around at the crowd of people gathering. “DO. YOU. SPEAK. ENGLISH? HABLA? POLY VOUS? The air must’ve made them all stupid!”

“Who you callin’ stupid ya spugwit!” yelled a woman from the crowd.

“Well it’s almost English,” Rick groaned as he took the gas mask from Morty. “Look lady, how about you go back to your dystopian nightmare life so me and my grandson can head off on our slightly weird sexual adventure to the kingdom of the merpeople, okay?”

“EVERYONE FREEZE!”

“GRUD! Jays!” the woman yelled, and the crowd ran like cockroaches when the lights go on. Rick and Morty looked at each other.

“I got a bad feeling about this,” Morty whined as the sound of a large fuel burning motorcycle bore down towards them.

“Oh, look the local constabulary,” Rick feigned horror and shock as he tuned up his portal gun. “Let’s just go before this becomes a…”

“I SAID FREEZE!” The Judge fired, his shot exploding Rick’s portal gun and his hand in a brilliant burst of green light.

“^%%$@!” Rick yelped as he hit the floor writhing in pain at the sudden amputation of his hand.

“RICK!”

“It’s okay Morty,” Rick quickly removed a metal tube from his lab coat and generated himself a name mechanical hand. “Son of a &!+^#! Hurts every time!”

“Control this is Judge Roiland requesting back up! I have two mutie perps in a UFO. Perp one has illegal firearms and bionics, the other stupid looking ugly has, well he’s ugly!” The Judge got off hisLawmaster and took cover. “Multiple Criminal Code violations.”

“Morty!” Rick threw his grandson a black stick. “Cover me! I’ve got to make us some portal fluid to get us out of here or we’ll be stuck in a poor man’s version of a Stallone film forever.”

“I dunno Rick, I thought Demolition Man was pretty good.”

Rick huffed, rolled his eyes. “Would you just shoot already!”

Morty grasped the stick and it morphed into a snake like gun that vomited up bolts of lightning. Judge Roiland leapt to safety as the balls of energy blasted his bike to pieces.

“Control! I need back up NOW!” Judge Roiland turned the dial up on his Lawgiver blaster from one to seven. “High Explosive!”

“RICK!” Morty yelled as three rounds of molten death came from the Judges weapon.

“Can’t you do anything?” Rick moaned as he pulled a black circle from his belt and tossed it into the air, the rounds going into it and disappearing along with the hole.

“What was that?” Morty asked as he pumped the snake to make more lightning.

“What the drokk was that?” Judge Roiland asked himself as he clicked the Lawgiver up to nine.

“Portable black hole, never leave home without one.” Rick said looking directly at the viewers at home, winking and the slogan for Harmon’s Portable Holes ™ popped up.

“YOU TWO ARE UNDER ARREST!” Roiland yelled as he fired a gas round above them. “ALL YOU ARE DOING IS ADDING YEARS TO YOUR SENTENCE!”

“God, I hate bureaucrats!” Rick spat as he ground up some dirt. “Morty, I need something shiny!”

“The guy shooting at us has a badge!” Morty answered as he returned lightning. “It’s all gold and shiny.”

“Perfect! Draw his fire.”

“What?”

Rick groaned, grabbed Morty by the collar and lifted him up.

“What are you doing?!?” Morty yelped.

“Drawing fire!”

“Armour Piercing!” Judge Roiland grinned as he took aim. Rick tossed another hole into the air and screaming from it came the shots fired by the Judge earlier. “Oh, Drokk me!”

BOOM! Judge Roiland exploded into pieces.

“Morty, find that badge!” Rick yelled. “We’ve got abou…”

“RUBBER RICOCHET!” roared Judge Dredd as he landed on site, dropped from a Judge hover platform. Rick hit the floor, his jaw broken from the high velocity non-lethal round.

“Aw geez!” Morty said as he raised his hands. Dredd eyeballed the young man and Morty reluctantly got down on his knees and then to his stomach.

“You perps are off for a long stint in the slab,” Dredd stated as he surveyed the scene. “At least a dozen violations for that illegal ship alone.”

“We’re not from around here, sir!” Morty pleaded.

“Illegal aliens too!” Dredd said putting his foot into the small of Morty’s back, making him squeal and wheeze for air. “Should’ve guessed. Control, perps under wraps awaiting transport to the Cubes.”

Morty watched as a pair of Judges clapped large shackles on the unconscious Rick before throwing him into the back of a hovering box. Dredd picked Morty up by the scruff of the neck and cuffed him.

“Any questions?”

Morty looked the helmeted lawman right in the visor where his eyes would be. “When my Rick wakes up, you’re all &^%$@#g toast!”

“You two scum killed a Judge!” Dredd pressed Morty’s head against the visor making his nose bend at an irregular angle to the point of near breaking. “He had a wife and family! Roiland put his life on the line every day to protect Mega City One from spugs like you!”

“Yeah, well, he should’ve picked another career shouldn’t he!” Morty replied defiantly.

Dredd snarled and tossed the young man from another dimension across the way and into the back of the Cube transport. The door slammed neatly behind him.

__

Morty Smith sat in the cold concrete room, hands trapped in oversized cuffs that went up to his elbows then chained to the floor. He didn’t know how long he’d been here, it felt like forever. His grandfather Rick had been carted off in one direction by these Judges. The air tasted like the remnants of a pool filter in a poorly run nursing home.

“Can I have a lawyer?” Morty asked aloud. “I think I’m allowed to have a lawyer.”

The metal door slid open and in strode Judge Dredd, the man who’d locked him up. He was a formidable presence in the small room.

“Name!” Dredd barked.

“Um Morty Smith C-132, sir.” Morty gulped as Dredd stared at him. “Lawyer?”

“You have been judged, found guilty and sentencing will be carried out shortly. For the execution of Judge Roiland, for the possession of illegal flying devices, possession of sugar, causing a public…”

“Sugar? Sugar is illegal?” Morty was confused. “Aw geez that’s just dumb. Like how do make cakes or sweets or…”

“Intent to distribute and manufacture confectionary, TEN YEARS!” Dredd yelled into the boy’s face.

“Say it don’t spray it,” Morty groaned as he tried to wipe his face but couldn’t due to the cuffs.

__

Rick Sanchez erupted back to consciousness. “I swear I didn’t *urp* in you Diane! Oh god! Wait… where am I?”

“Eisenhower General,” said a robot-doctor rolling up beside the bed. “Prison wing. Your jaw has been reset and fixed, and your hand has been regrown. The illegal bionics have been confiscated by the Judges who are awaiting to transport you…”

“Yeah yeah thanks Threepio,” Rick started to get up out of bed when several metal tentacles shot out of the bed and restrained him. “Hey! I like bondage as much as the next guy but I’m just not in the mood right now.”

“As I was saying, Mr Sanchez, the bionics have been confiscated, as have your guns, teleportation device and your flask of…”

“MY FLASK!” Rick roared. “YOU GIVE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW OR I WILL REWIRE YOU SO YOU CAN EXPERIENCE PAIN!”

“Code Purple!” the robot-doctor stated as a large hypodermic needle emerged from the bed. “Patient is having a delusional psychotic episode, one hundred twenty mills of Eszopiclone-7 to be administered.”

__

“Dredd, are you playing nice?” PSI Judge Cassandra Anderson asked as she entered the room. Dredd stood up from his intimidating stance over Morty.

“I don’t play.”

“This is all too true,” Anderson smiled. “How about you let me take it from here. Because last time you dealt with someone from another universe it went so well."

Dredd harrumphed, folded his arms and snarled as he recalled his encounters with a certain dark knight.

“Hi, I’m PSI Judge Anderson,” she smiled and sat beside Morty. “You’re…”

“Morty. Morty Smith. Dimension C-132.”

“I was going to say hard to read, your mind is like white noise.” Anderson rubbed her temples to alleviate the growing pain in her mind.

“That’s why Rick keeps me around,” Morty shrugged. “Also, I’m a good listener and he likes me more than Summer, well only just.”

Anderson nodded. “You seem sweet kid, but you’re still going to be shipped off to Titan for a life sentence for killing Judge Roiland.”

“He actually killed himself,” Morty replied. “Technically.”

“Excuse me?”

“He fired the shots that killed him. Rick just threw up a portable hole, the Judge shot himself.” Morty explained. “I did blow up his bike, I’ll admit that, that’s on me. My bad.”

“Illegal firearms, ten years. Destruction of Judge property, twenty years.” Dredd added.

Anderson looked deep into Morty’s eyes. “He’s…telling the truth, Dredd. We need to get in touch with ballistics.”

Dredd scowled at the PSI Judge before turning on his heels to exit. “GET ME BALLISTICS! NOW!”

__

“Oh %^$ this!” Rick bit his tongue causing his whole body to turn into liquid metal and melt off the bed, reforming into Rick beside the robot-doctor. “How’d you like that, Doctor Google?”

Rick slapped it across the back of its dome before ripping open a hatch and replugging wires like a mad telephone exchange operator. “This should…teach you…some bedside manners!”

The robot doctor went offline, slumped and then suddenly rebooted. “I am Maximillian!” Two large spinning blades popped out from the doctor and it suddenly attacked the bed, sparks and circuitry flying about the room. The door flew open and in burst Judge Chalke.

“What in Grud’s name?” Chalke said as the robot doctor and the bed fought like mechanical versions of an octopus against a combine harvester.

“I need your *urp* clothes, your boots and your motorcycle!” Rick said as he stood naked before the female Judge.

“Control! I have a…” Her words were cut off as Rick karate chopped her across the throat, taking her out.

“The line is, you forgot to say please. Man, how can these dystopian apes not even GET classic cinema like Terminator for ^&%# sake!” Rick mumbled as he dressed himself. “Now let’s get my stuff!”

__

Dredd listened to the report coming in on his earpiece. “Copy that Control! Dredd on route. Anderson! Lock that little drokk up, seems his partner in crime has escaped.”

“If you just let me go, we’ll leave, and nobody gets hurt,” Morty said.

“Threatening a Judge, five years!” Dredd snapped.

“I’M NOT THREATENING YOU!” yelled Morty. “If you don’t let me go, my grandfather will level this entire city to get me. Not because he loves me, but because he thinks of me as HIS property! And if you take something from Rick Sanchez, he’ll shift the immovable object to get it back. I’m just saying so that lots of people don’t die, okay. Geez, is that helmet on too tight?”

“From what I’m getting from the snippets I can read from the kid’s primitive brain, seems he’s right.”

“Anderson, if you’re suggesting…”

The PSI Judge glowered at the veteran Judge. “I’m not saying he gets off, I’m saying that to keep the peace in Mega City One, sometimes we have to err on the grey side. Your blind devotion to the law sometimes boxes you in from seeing the bigger picture. And if the ballistics report is right on Roiland…”

“Perp stays in an Iso-Cell!” Dredd ordered as he stormed off to the motor pool. “That’s an order, Anderson!”

“Sorry kid, but it’s the law.” Anderson said as she led him back towards the cells.

“Aw geez!”

__

Rick Sanchez laughed as the Lawmaster raced along the road. In hot pursuit were two H-Wagons. Rick swerved around the slower vehicles and he swigged from his flask.

“Oh, I missed you too,” He said sweetly to the flask rubbing it to his cheek. “Did those naughty Village People wannabes hurt you?”

He gunned the bike and head towards the Grand Hall of Justice, the headquarters of the Judges of Mega City One.

To be continued in part 2

Jeremy cursed himself again for getting himself in this messed up situation. He had gotten so annoyed by Quentin Quire that he used his powers in a way that he had never intended. He fled the school, and took a step as far as he dared, which was to Chicago.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t been to Chicago before, but this time was seriously different. First off, when he stepped, he almost collided with a man that was flying. Being a mutant, this wasn’t overly unusual to him, but what made this one unusual was the cloak the man seemed to have. It had no substance, and when it went by him, he could have sworn he saw green glowing eyes on it; four of them in fact.

Shortly after that, stunned by the encounter, he staggered away from the step, and into a woman. At first glance, he would have said she was beautiful, almost perfect, but then he saw her eyes. They weren’t human. She also radiated cold, like he had walked into the heart of winter. She grabbed his arm, and he was terrified when it went cold, as if he was being held by pure ice. To make it even more surreal, she just shook her head, saying “If it wasn’t bad enough that I had to deal with Outsiders, now I must deal with a young wizard who just helped someone just as bad as those Outsiders.”

That had been what he thought was only minutes ago. It was hard to tell since when she brought him to her place, a construct that was literally made of ice and snow, his watch seemed to go completely berserk. To make it worse, the place was almost frigid. All the time, the woman paced around, and Jeremy could hear her actually trying to calculate how bad things could be.

Eventually, he saw two individuals arrive, a man and a woman. The woman looked like she was of age, but half the age of the man, and even he looked like he was close too, or older than the woman pacing. Both, however, bowed and addressed her as if she were their ruler. “You summoned, your majesty.” The bottom went out of Jeremy’s stomach then. This was becoming worse than dealing with Quentin’s juvenile actions.

He watched silently, since he had that feeling that he should remain silent in the woman’s presence, as she spoke to the two individuals, although, she seemed to address the man more. “My Knight, it seems that the individual we had to settle things with has had a bit of luck in his favor that we will need to correct.”

Jeremy tuned out the discussion, wondering what the hell he had gotten into. He caught a few words, like the man saying “Hell’s bells,” and the young lady saying “Harry” a few times. He even heard the name Nicodemus mentioned once or twice. Judging by how each of the three people looked at him, he felt like they dubbed him evil, and that was farthest from the truth. He wasn’t an evil person, just a guy trying to learn how to control his powers.

Eventually, the man and the young woman came over to him. The man was obviously the taller of the two, and seemed to favor having some sort of walking staff with him, and wearing a leather duster. He also seemed to have an air of authority about him, and radiated power. The woman also radiated power, but on a different level, but it seemed the man was in charge, especially as he said, in a surprisingly calm tone, “So, you are the guy who inadvertently helped the leader of the Nickelheads.”

Jeremy was puzzled for a moment, especially by the name. “The knucleheads?” Apparently, his response resulted in a bit of laughter from both. He wondered if that was something that might save him from the madness he had entered into her. He took a chance, and said, “If that’s the case, I’m sorry. I was just trying to get away from another knucklehead. I can get us back there, hopefully before that guy causes any problem.”

The statement caused the laughter to stop, as the tall man nodded. “Yeah, that might be best. Hopefully you weren’t gone too long from there. Time can move in weird ways in the Nevernever.” The tall man then looked at the girl, and said, “Grasshopper, what do you feel from him?”

The young lady, who looked fantastic to Jeremy, closed her eyes for a moment, and nodded. “I’m not sensing any malevolence. He’s confused though. Although, he’s not so confused that comes with first exposure to the Nevernever. I think he’s run across some of the supernatural before.”

With that, Jeremy felt both of them staring at him. This was just getting weirder by the moment, and to be honest, he didn’t want to tell them about the school, or at least everything about the school. He just shrugged, and said, “Given what I can do, do you think this is out of he ordinary.” It was, but he didn’t want to let on about it.

To his surprise, the tall man let out a short bark of a laugh. “Kiddo, if you are staying calm like this while in the presence of the Queen of Air and Darkness, in her place of power, you have definitely seen a lot of strange shit.” The man then extended his hand, while introducing himself proper. “Harry Dresden, Wizard, Private Investigator, and current Winter Knight. If it’s any help to you, Mab doesn’t think you intentionally did wrong, but your own powers concern her on multiple levels.”

When he took the man’s hand, he almost froze because he knew the name of Mab. She was as the man had said, but there was more to it. Jeremy had read all sorts of things, and he knew who Mab was. Jeremy had really stepped into a bad situation, and if they were pursuing this guy he had inadvertently let go into New York, was it wise to help them. What he didn’t fully understand was why he didn’t seem to be getting a bad feeling about these two.

As if reading his mind, or possibly his feelings, he saw the young lady approach him, and offer her hand. “Relax. Not all of the Winter Court appears to be evil. I’m Molly Carpenter, current Winter Lady. Besides, I’m sure you don’t want any of the Fallen where you are from.” He knew what the Fallen had to refer to. There wasn‘t anything else they could refer to. All of a sudden, Jeremy had an image in his mind. He would admit that he didn’t think Quentin would team up with something like that, but there were rumors he befriended Krakoa.

He shook his head, and said, “No. Definitely not.” He sighed and then said, “Just put your hands on my shoulder, and step when I say to.” He watched as they both nodded, and then stepped behind them. In an instant, he felt them each put a hand on his shoulder. Once he felt both, he closed his eyes for a moment, and focused on where he wanted to go. Soon, the air in front of him changed, and he opened his eyes to see the outskirts of the school grounds in front of him. “Now!” was all he said, and they all stepped through.

He felt disorientated for a moment, but soon, they were at the school grounds, but something seemed wrong. The other two were looking around, and the girl said, “Harry, do you have any idea where we are?”

Before Harry could answer, Jeremy offered up the location. “We are at the Jean Grey School, in Central Park, New York City.” After saying those words, he heard sounds of spluttering come from both, as if the words had caught them both off guard.

The girl was first to recover, by saying, “Central Park, in New York City. We traveled that far in one step?” There was genuine shock in her voice, and he didn’t understand why.

The man, however, took exception at another thing. “JEAN GREY SCHOOL. You mean you are part of the X-Men, or one of those groups. Hell’s Bells. We didn’t just travel all those miles in one step, we freaking jumped dimensions. No wonder Mab is freaking out. Hell, the White Council will have their collective undies in knots by now.”

Jeremy didn’t understand what that was all about, but he did sense something wasn’t right now. There was an eerie quiet around the area, and that wasn’t normally the case with the school there. He then noticed something coming towards them, and at high speed. It took him a second to realize it wasn’t a thing, but a person. He quickly yelled, “Look out!” as he dived for the ground.

It had been a good thing he did, otherwise, the flying figure would have knocked the other two down right away. Judging by the speed they had flown in with, the figure would have seriously injured one of the two. That impact, however, would have killed the figure, under normal circumstances.

The lady looked over at figure, and said, “Harry, I don’t know who that was, but I don’t think they survived. I don’t see them breathing.” Jeremy knew that didn’t mean anything. While the figure wasn’t his mentor, he has spoken with her enough times to know her own story, and ran over to them.

He disregarded the man, when he shouted, “Hold up, Kiddo. That kind of impact is likely to kill anyone mortal.” Inwardly, Jeremy laughed at the statement, since again, he knew the story behind the individual.

He quickly got to the figure‘s side, and turned their face, while looking them over. He saw no visible injuries to her, but that didn‘t mean she was completely alright. He yelled back to the other two, “Maybe, but she‘s not mortal.” He didn‘t look back to check their reactions, but he wanted to make sure the figure was alright. He took a chance, and lightly slapped her face, addressing her as urgently as possible. “Miss Lee. Miss Lee.”

Before he could say anything else, or even slap her a second time, she grabbed his hand, and he took a sharp intake of breath. He forgot how strong she could be, given her condition, but was thankful she hadn‘t tried to crush his hand. Her tones, however, hinted that there was something serious going on. “Jeremy, you know better than to try to rouse me that way. I‘ve cautioned all the students about that.” He helped her get up, and he heard sounds come from the other two: sounds of utter shock. The sounds, he noticed, drew Miss Lee’s attention, and she was almost ready to attack them. “Don’t tell me these two attacked you.”

Jeremy quickly jumped in front of Miss Lee, holding up his hands, knowing full well that they wouldn’t stop her. “No, Miss Lee. I sort of ran into them with my powers, and in the process, sent a danger here that they can help with.”

While she didn‘t stand down, Jeremy could tell Miss Lee was being more cautious than normal. He would have liked to know how she ended up being thrown into the area, since he was certain she couldn‘t fly. After a moment, she finally said to the individuals “What‘s your experience when it comes to someone with mouths on their hands?”

Jeremy watched as the tall man stepped forward, at little on guard, and responded to her question. “I‘m familiar with those mindless constructs. We just need to find the summoner, and cut him off from his magic.” Jeremy blinked when he heard that, but noticed that the man still seemed on his guard.

The stand off might have lasted longer, Jeremy realized, had not another voice entered the mix. This one sounded a bit rough, as if the speaker had his throat crushed at one point. “That may not be so easy, Dresden.” Everyone, Jeremy noticed, turned to look at the figure. It was the same man who had passed him when he had arrived in Chicago. He was still in a dark suit, with his shadow literally acting as a superhero cape. It was then that Jeremy noticed the thing around the man‘s neck was a noose. In the brief moment he saw him before, he thought it was tie of some sort.

It was the tall man, Dresden, who spoke first. “I heard you had come here, Nick. I suppose this is going to have to be done the hard way, before you hand off another Dinari to some unsuspecting soul.” To Jeremy‘s shock, he saw a smirk cross the flying man‘s face, and Dresden straightened up in shock, which include him saying, “Crap.”

Just then, another figure flew into view, one Jeremy knew only from the records all the students had to read up since the curfew was set. The figure was that of Monet St. Croix, who definitely didn‘t look dark-skinned as her Algerian background would dictate, but grey-skinned. There was a look of pure malevolence on her face, making her black outfit look more sinister. It also didn‘t help that her hand had mouths on them, with long tongues lashing out of them. She spoke, however, to the flying man, and her voice was mixed with a malevolent male voice. “So this is one of the people you warned me about. He doesn’t look like much of a challenge. Of course, the matter that Jubilee‘s vampire nature combined with a wizard will just make this a more entertaining encounter.”

The last statement cause a side glance to go between Jubilee and Dresden. Jeremy had a feeling that Dresden was a bit more wary of Jubilee now, but before he could ask, she said, “It‘s a long story, and I will explain after we take care of the gruesome twosome. Maybe you can explain Monet‘s new trick while we take care of the two losers.”

Jeremy saw Dresden look at M-Plate, and ask, “What…” It was then that they all saw four more eyes appear on M-Plate forehead, all glowing green. Something about them radiated an ancient evil. Dresden finally spoke, changing his statement entirely. “Crap. Just what we didn‘t need. A freakingFallen Angel teamed with a malevolent mutant.”

Jubilee spoke again, talking to Jeremy this time. “Once we get this taken care of, Jeremy, you, Jono, and I are going to have a talk about where you‘ve been the past week. As for right now, we need something to tip the odds in our favor.”

Almost in an instant, bright lights flooded the area. It caused both threats to shield their eyes. The figure that was M-Plate was quick to say in the grave mixed voice, “I thought she lost her powers, prior to becoming a vampire.” That puzzled Jeremy as well.

He looked back, only now remembering the young lady in their group. She had apparently disappeared, but he heard her voice come out of nowhere. “That‘s the power of the One Woman Rave. Go get ‘em, Harry.” Obviously, she had already been preparing for this, possibly thinking at first that Jubilee would have been the problem.

Jeremy started to hang back, hoping he could find her, and realizing he would be no good in this fight. As he did, he heard Harry say to Jubilee, “Not sure if the old customs still apply here, but a truce until we get this all settled and can talk?” Jeremy could tell they both saw one another in the light show, and he saw Jubilee nod. He then saw Harry point his staff towards the duo in the air, and then shout, “INFRIGA!” With that, a blast of ice went flying at the duo, and the battle was on.

I remember spiraling out of control, as our plane was about to hit the ocean. It was my job as a flight attendant to make sure that the passengers maintained a position as safe as possible before hitting the ocean surface, but I knew that in this case that it didn't matter. Something had happened to the pilots in mid-flight and we couldn't get into the cockpit. It wasn't hijackers, they don't crash civilian airliners into the ocean in the middle of the night. This was something else, something which I don't know and never will. I was certain that I was going to die, but my mind was not thinking about it, not specifically. Instead I was thinking about pantyhose of all things. I had just been to Paris the week before and had bought one of those expensive pairs that feel just like silk. I was wearing them now, but they had cost me over $20. That may not seem like a lot of money, but keep in mind that all of this was happening in 1978, and things were a bit cheaper back then. Anyway it was all that was on my mind, that I had wasted that $20, because I could have died in a 50 cent pair and no one would know the difference. They might find my body, or they might not, but the clothes that I was going to be wearing were an afterthought, and no one cared about the denier count on a cadaver.

Some specifics are missing in my memory, but I can tell you a few things. The flight number was AA310, American Airlines 310, traveling on an overnight leg from New York City to Paris. The crew was comprised of two pilots and ten flight attendants, as well as 185 other souls on board. I was the only non-American on the crew, I had grown up in Quebec, but thanks to a grandparent from Northern Vermont, I had American citizenship and so getting a job south of the border was not hard. My ability to speak French had gotten me the job with the airline, but even then I was not necessarily supposed to be on that flight. That is another detail that I still remember, Rachel Clerk. She had called in sick for the flight, though a handful of us knew that she wasn't sick, rather she was caught up in an affair with a married man and it was not always easy for the two of them to have time off together. He eventually broke up with her and went back to his wife. How do I know that? Well you might say that because of my abilities with time travel that I have some sort of omniscience, but it is not true. I just looked her up on facebook later on, and pieced it together. Anyway, it is not really important. It was because of her that I was on that flight, but I don't hold it against her. It was fate and it was meant for me.

Of the 197 of us onboard there were only 88 bodies that were ever found, but what none know is that there were not 197 fatalities ... only 196. Have you ever had one of those moments where everything flashes so fast in front of you that time seems to be standing still? I had one of those moments as we were about two seconds from impact, but it was not for the regular reason. My body felt like cement as I tried to move, but I did force myself, even if others seemed to be frozen in time, though in fact they actually were frozen in time. It was then that I saw him, he could have been any other person on that plane, albeit maybe one from first class but he wasn't. He was dressed in a dark suit, well maintained, but also somewhat aloof. I still remember him talking the first time:

"Amy Baxter! I have come for you!" I guess I would come to know with experience that time lords always sound so melodramatic, but at the time, I just thought that he was the angel of death, come to claim me for the land of the unliving.

"Take me!" I had said, certain that I had accepted the invitation to the afterlife, and not really knowing what I was getting into. Just like that, I was an apprentice time lord. He had explained that it was so hard to pluck people from the time line without interfering with the time cycle - people usually come looking for bodies after all - and so I had been a lucky find, especially so that he told me that I had an innate ability to manipulate temporal mechanics. He introduced himself only as Mr. Hunter, and that is all I have ever known him as. A little bit vain, a little bit of a nutty professor, but still someone who took his role seriously as a time lord. Maybe even a bit too seriously, and that is basically where we get ourselves now. We had already eliminated various other anomalies in space time, but we were working on some odd cases at the moment, specifically dealing with a concept that seems that hardest for some to comprehend, romance and love. Time lords especially seem a bit clueless in this department, as I have never seen one so much as bat an eyelash towards someone that they might consider attractive.

I didn't really see the problem in these two cases, in one case a young woman transplanted through time to find love in the body of another. In another case a young girl got to live her future, and to see where she might go wrong, returned to her modern day to make the decisions that should have been made. The doctor calls it temporal autoscopy, but that term wouldn't make sense to most. Essentially it means having an out of body experience while combined with time travel. Sometimes that person's soul remains anchored in the new time, sometimes it doesn't. One of the lessons that he is always trying to impart upon me is that time cannot be meddled with, even for the most trivial of reaons. As he says, if one life is saved from modifying the time stream, then it can and most likely will cause the deaths of thousands more. Then again, there is a reasons that I am not yet a time lord, despite literally already having an eternity to prepare for it. Also, maybe I am a little bit biased, but I am a big fan of the 80s - big hair, power suits, the end of disco - I never got to live through any of it, so why am I working so hard to mess up the lives of some otherwise happy women from that decade who also happen to be inadvertent time travelers. The doctor says that he must stop them, I will try to help them as much as I can.

The Commonwealth- 2287

Dr. June ran to the lab. “I’ve found them, the perfect specimen.”

“What are ye on about neh, human?” asked a large super mutant wearing a white lab coat and goggles. They were standing in a large laboratory, large energy pylons shot lightning throughout the room.

“Look in the Dimension-Glass, Lomonosov.” Dr. June told her master. “They are a breed of mutants, like yourself. Each has their own specific powers.”

Lomonosov picked up a large, metal helmet with small pistons and pylons moving on top of it. He hooked it up to the main pylon and put it over his head.

“Bah, they’re humans, June. Inferior.” He kept watching. “Hmmm… they are interesting... “

He took the helmet off. “June, light up the DImension-Shanghaier. Time play with some new friends.”

**

Westchester, New York- 1992

Wolverine growled “Get off my lawn, Victor.” as he unsheathed his claws and sprang at Sabretooth, who grabbed him by the throat and slammed him to the ground. Several glowing cards hit Sabretooth in the face and exploded as Gambit jumped into battle. Sauron flew down, grabbed Gambits shoulder and flew back up in the air. A lightning strike hit near Sauron causing him to drop the cajun. Rogue swooped in and grabbed Remy.

A rumbling sound echoed over the grounds of Xavier’s School for Gifted Children as Juggernaught came charging in and throwing a large rock straight at Rogue, dropping her to the ground.

Magento floated in the sky as his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants came running onto the battlefield. Jean Grey floated out of the X Mansion, carrying Professor X telepathically.

“Stop this, Magnus. There are children here.” Professor X shouted telepathically to all involved.

“The war has begun, Charles.” Magneto yelled to his old friend. “Either you are with us, your fellow mutants, or you are against us, with the humans.”

“War, old friend?” Professor X replied back in a calm voice. “War never changes.”

Suddenly the battlefield glowed a purple and orange color as both the X Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants diappeared.

**

Commonwealth, 2287

Sabretooth woke up. He looked down at his ribs as Wolverine’s claw marks began to heal up.

Then he looks around him. The buildings and cars surrounding him are long destroyed.

“Apocalypse do this?” he thinks. Then he hears gunfire and screams. He smirks. “My favorite sound.”

To be continued..

"Urk!" screamed Brainiac 5. "For the millionth time: quit eating my wiring every time I modify something in this lab!" He threw a scanner at the little gray creature, and it bounded off of the round workstation, just dodging the device.

Tenzil Kem clambered out from under the same workstation with a mouthful of wiring, and managed, "Whuf's gun oin?" between chews.

"Matter-Eater Lad! You too?" scowled Brainy.

Tenzil took a big gulp, and protested, "Well, he was having some," pointing a thumb to his right, towards Urk. Urk blew a raspberry at Brainy and ran out of the lab. "This inertron wiring is tasty."

Brainy closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm himself. After several seconds, he started, "Tenzil, y--"

"--Oh my... where did you get that!?" shouted Tenzil, pointing at the table Brainiac 5 had been working at. On it lay an organic mass that looked like some kind of weird cross between a lobster, a scorpion, and a humanoid hand, only scarier.

Brainiac looked at the table, clearly distracted from the rant that he was about to go on, and annoyed that he was interrupted by the very person he was about to rant at. "What? That? Oh, Phantom Girl brought it up. Tinya wanted me to see if I could figure out a way to stop these things. The ship that our lost Legionnaires disappeared on came back with a bunch of these things in it. They're still inside with more of the team, trying to clean them up. There's one that seems to be--"

Tenzil sounded panicked. "There are more of those things? Here?! Has that one implanted its young?"

"Well, no," said Brainy as he turned the creature over with a couple pairs of forceps. Then standing upright suddenly, he turned to Kem and said, "Wait. How did you know it implan--"

"BRAINY! LOOK OUT!" shouted Matter-Eater Lad.

The creature had suddenly leapt from the table, and its nightmarish tail was wrapped around Brainy's throat from behind, the finger-like appendages reaching over his head, trying to get to his face. The appendages suddenly spread wide, about to attempt to spear Brainiac 5's face from all sides, when Tenzil grabbed it and took a bite, making it squeal and squirt green blood. Tenzil continued his attack, taking several bites that removed appendages, until finally, the creature lay dead against Brainy's back, dangling from his throat.

The Coluan unwrapped the tightly coiled creature with some annoyance. "You needn't have worried, Tenzil. My force field belt was protecting me from being choked, being implanted, and fortunately, from the creature's acidic blood that you've gotten all over everything!" he said with disgust, as he used a force field protected hand to wipe the green blood away from himself.

"You're welcome," Tenzil said dryly. "Where are these things? Where is the ship?" he asked quickly.

"Out on the quad in front of the clubhouse," said Brainiac 5. "You know what these things are? Tinya says that one of them is--"

"Yes! And Brainy, if you ever take anything I say seriously, you need to--"

Brainiac 5 held up a finger to shush Tenzil as he spoke into his Legion flight ring. "Tinya, Matter-Eater Lad knows what these things are. How is it going in there?"

"They're everywhere!" screamed the answer. "Kid Psycho is dead! One of things like I brought to the lab! It just...it leapt on his face, and wouldn't let go, and...and...and soon after, this other thing just burst out of his chest! There's one on Supergirl, but she seems to be handling it, but it's actually causing her pain! There are bigger creatures in here too! They're so fast! Oh my god! Jo!" There was a loud, animalistic squeal. "Brainy! We're outnumbered here! We need reinforcements! More than just this one creature! Supergirl just burst through the hull, headed for space! I think she needs more sunlight! Br--"

"--AINY!" shouted Tenzil, punching the Coluan's force field in the shoulder area. "You have to secure that ship now! If Supergirl has punched her way out, now they have a way out too! That can't happen!"

Brainy shrugged away from the affront of being touched. "What are you--"

"NOW, BRAINY!" shouted Tenzil.

Brainiac 5 spoke into his ring again. "Brainiac 5 to ship's computer. Containment procedure alpha- extend ship's force field. Let nothing in or out except Phantom Girl."

"Confirmed," answered the ship, followed by, "Done."

"There," huffed Brainiac 5. "Now wha--"

Tenzil held up a finger to shush Brainiac 5, and spoke into his ring, "Matter-Eater Lad to all Legionnaires aboard the ship in the quad! Respond to those creatures with lethal force! Do you hear me? Lethal force!"

Brainiac 5 spoke into his ring with anger. "That's a violation of the United Planets protoc--"

"They're not giving us a lot of choice, Brainy!" came the shout of Wildfire, followed by the sound of his anti-energy blast. "These things just keep coming at us, and the only way to take them down is to take them down hard!"

"That is the only way," confirmed Tenzil. "And Drake... you have to get them all. Every egg, every facehugger, every soldier, the queen, and anyone implanted with those things. Just one left means disaster."

"Roger that, MEL," answered Wildfire. "Brainy, you good with that?"

"No," came the curt answer, "But I suppose I'll have to adjust. Just bring me samples."

"Don't bring him anything," Tenzil said forcefully. "Burn, it Drake. Burn every bit of it."

"You heard the man, Legionnaires!" came Wildfire's shout over the rings' communicators. "Take these things out!"

The various blasts of powers, and the horrific squeals upped in pitch. Brainiac 5 and Tenzil listened silently for a few more seconds before realizing that the communicators had stopped, and they were hearing the noises from outside of the clubhouse. Clearly, the ship had erupted into all-out warfare.

A sonic boom was heard, and then there was a thunderous crash that shook the complex. "Brainy!" came Supergirl's voice over the ring. "Let me back into the ship!"

"No can do, Supergirl," started Tenzil.

"Kara!" Brainy shouted into his ring. "You're okay?"

"Thanks to a page from Kal's playbook, yeah. I was able to get into space in direct sunlight, making me stronger. I was able to cough up the creature inside of me, instead of it bursting out."

"Did you kill it?" Tenzil asked excitedly.

"What? No," answered Supergirl.

"Go back and get it!" shouted Tenzil. "Go back and get it right now! Burn it with your heat vision! Freeze it with your breath and break it into a million pieces! Throw it into the sun! But kill it, Supergirl! Kill it!"

"Tenzil?" she asked with confusion.

"Kara," Brainy said calmly. "He's the only one that knows what these things are. If he says kill it, kill it. Or bring it back here so he can. This threat is apparently level omega."

"I... okay," was her only response, and then there was nothing more.

Just then, the rings sounded with another voice. "One of these things is not like the others! One of these things does not belong!"

Brainy made a sour face, and started, "Is that--"

"--singing?" finished Tenzil.

"It's one of those monsters," came Phantom Girl's voice. "It took Kid Psycho's ring! It's actually been helping us against these things! They're after him as much as us!"

Brainiac 5 looked at Matter-Eater Lad with raised eyebrows. Tenzil stared back at him in disbelief, and then hesitantly, he told his ring, "May-maybe...um...maybe save just that one."

"WILDFIRE!" shouted Phantom Girl. "NOT THAT ONE!"

"What?" was heard in the background.

"Oh, grife!" Tinya said before the communicator stopped.

"Warning!" blared a the ship's computer over the clubhouse's communications. "Warning! Ship's hull has been breached by Phantom Girl and one of the creatures!"

"Is it...I can't believe I'm going to say this," Brainy sighed. "Is it the one that was singing?"

"Affirmative," stated the computer.

"Clubhouse computer, dispatch containment drones to Phantom Girl's position immediately, and contain the creature that is with her," ordered Brainiac 5.

"Affirmative," stated the clubhouse.

As the vibrational hums of the drones' propulsion systems were heard leaving the clubhouse, the final peals of battle toned down in the ship.

"That's the last of 'em," came the voice of Ultra Boy. "Knock knock, Brainy. Let us out."

"Sit tight," answered Tenzil. "Ship's in quarantine until we get hold of Infectious Lass. She scans everyone, and clears you of having any foreign organisms, then you get off the ship. Call's in now."

"Ah, sprok!" complained Ultra Boy, and the communicator shut off.

Tenzil smirked nervously to Brainiac 5. "He's not going to be happy when he gets out of there."

Brainy just shrugged.

***

The containment drones came into the lab towing an inertron chamber reinforced with a force field. Inside was a sight that made Tenzil Kem recoil like a child. "Oh my... Brainy, it's really them. It's really them!"

Brainiac 5 put a firm hand on Kem's shoulder, and shook him. "Tenzil! It's contained! Get it together! What are these things?" he demanded.

Tenzil gripped the hand on his shoulder tightly, gazed at Brainy for a moment with a look of complete horror, and then pulled himself up to his full height. "Th-they... they're called Xenomorphs. They just...they seem to just exist to multiply, and they multiply by... by killing everything else they come across."

"By implantation," Brainy said in a detached manner which oddly seemed to calm Tenzil a bit.

"Y-yes," he sighed as Phantom Girl and Supergirl entered. Supergirl was carrying the frozen pieces of the creature she'd coughed up in space. She tossed them on the table as Tenzil continued, "Bismollians hadn't had the ability to eat matter for too long when the ship carrying the Xenomorphs crashed on our planet. We were still recovering from the microbial poisoning of our organic food sources, and then these... things swept across the planet. It was a massacre- one we nearly didn't survive. We finally regrouped, and fought back, and managed to wipe them out."

"How many were implanted?" Supergirl asked, rubbing her chest as she remembered her pain, and imagining the pain that anyone less powerful than her must have felt.

Tenzil shrugged. "None."

"None?!" the three Legionnaires balked simultaneously.

Tenzil shrugged again. "We eat matter- Xenomorphs count. They're a little spicy, but it was like a force-fed buffet." He thought about it for a moment, then reached for a piece of the frozen creature on the table, and popped it into his mouth. "Never tried them cold before." He chewed a few times, and said, "Pretty good."

Phantom Girl phased her head through the lab wall, and the sounds of retching could be heard from the hallway.

Tenzil grimaced, and called weakly, "Sorry, Tinya!"

Tinya just waved him off as she phased back into the room.

"Anyway," he continued, "the massacre was just from... well, everything else about them. They claw, and bite, and stab with their tails. They were mowing through the population pretty good when they realized implantation wasn't going to work. We marshaled our forces, grabbed some weapons, and finally fought back. It finally took just about every able-bodied Bismollian and a grid search of the entire planet to wipe those things out. The queen had gone mobile, and made nests in several spots. It took a long time to get them all." Tenzil went silent as he remembered the horrors of that long conflict, until Supergirl put a comforting hand on his back. He smiled at her briefly, then looked back to the containment chamber.

"So, what do we do about him?" asked Brainiac 5, pointing at the containment chamber.

"I don't know," said Tenzil, walking up the chambers window, emboldened by Supergirl's presence. Speaking into his ring, he said, "I've never heard of a sentient Xenomorph. How is this possible?"

"...And he was this big. I asked Herman what happened, and he said, 'I swallowed five watermelons'..."

"What the sprok?" asked Phantom Girl.

"It's...it's a camp song...from the twenty-first century," Supergirl said with confusion.

"Camp song?" asked Brainy.

"It's for kids, Brainy. It's a nonsense song to entertain kids," said Kara.

"Hey!" shouted Tenzil. "What the grife are you?"

"...And he was... Oh, what?" asked the creature, but its mouth didn't move. "Oh, yes! The creature you see before you is just as wild and menacing as all the rest, but I have control of it."

All four Legionnaires now stood at the window, staring incredulously.

"Down here," said the voice, and their attention was drawn to the bottom of the window as the creature's flight ring tapped on the glass. "That's it, look closer. He's not moving while I've got him."

They all four leaned in very close, and just as their noses were about to touch the glass, the voice yelled, "BOO!" and Tenzil recoiled in horror. "Bwah-hahahahaa! I couldn't resist! I'm so sorry! Hey, will this thing hold him if I let go?" the voice asked.

"Without doubt," stated Brainy.

Supergirl leaned in and said, "I see it. It's...a worm."

"Not just a worm!" it said. "You can call me Earworm!"

Kara started "You look like--"

The worm's eyes got big, and it said, "Ah! I see you know my ancestor! Yes! I'm a descendant of Mister Mind!"

"Mister...? Brainy? Can we get him out of there?" asked Kara.

Brainiac 5 motioned to the chamber with one hand, and said, "Tinya? Do you mind?"

Phantom Girl phased her hand into the chamber, and gently lifted Earworm and the flight ring in the palm of her hand. She then phased them out of the chamber, and the Xenomorph immediately started squealing, and clawing at the chamber's inertron glass. Phantom Girl handed Earworm to Supergirl, since she seemed to know what they were dealing with.

"How did you wind up in one of these things?" asked Supergirl.

"Oh, I was trying to take over the queen, and couldn't quite do it. I had to escape to that guy," said Earworm, nudging his head towards the chamber. "I was trying to take command of the entire army, but when it didn't work, I figured maybe I could just use him to make a new army out of you guys." The inchworm-like creature's body almost seemed to shrug.

"You... you were going to use us to make an army of those things? On purpose?" Supergirl asked in shock.

"Well, yes," Earworm said simply. "Still intend to. Think I'll start with you," he said to Supergirl, and just like that, Kara went rigid, now under Earworm's control.

"Oh my god!" shouted Tinya. "He's got--"

Fzzzzt! came the sound of an energy blast, followed by Ssss, as Earworm sizzled into vapor. Supergirl shook herself out of her mind controlled stupor, and everyone looked to the doorway of the lab.

"Someone order a flash-visioned worm?" asked Ultra Boy.

"Jo!" shouted Tinya as she ran across the room and flung her arms around his neck.

"You're supposed to be in quarantine!" shouted Tenzil. Ultra Boy gave him a hard look, and Kem said, "I mean...um...if you don't mind...why are you out of quarantine?"

"Infectious Lass cleared me," answered Ultra Boy, "and I came to see if I could help with anything."

Tenzil sighed with deep relief. "Uh...thanks," he said simply.

"Why 'Earworm' for a name?" asked Brainy.

"It's slang, Brainy. Twenty-first Century slang," answered Kara. "It means a song that gets stuck in your head, you know? One you can't stop singing?"

Brainy thought for a moment, and said, "No, I don't know."

Supergirl patted his chest lightly, and smiled. "I'll explain it to you later. He must have time traveled with me somehow. I'm really sorry, guys." Looking to the containment chamber, she asked, "What do we do with him?"

Jo simply ripped the inertron door off the chamber, caught the creature as it leapt out, and ripped it in half, spraying green blood everywhere. He had switched from strength to invulnerability, and was protected, just as Supergirl was protected by her invulnerability, and Brainy by his force field. Phantom Girl phased and let it pass through her, but Tenzil got splashed by a good amount of it. He wiped his face with his hand, licked it off of a finger, and walked over to the table with the frozen pieces on it. "I'm...um...just gonna..." he threw a thumb over his shoulder towards the door.

Tinya ran towards the opposite wall and phased through. Blarghhhh!

The others looked at Tenzil who shrugged and smiled weakly. "What? they're good."