The X-Men characters featured in this
story are property of Marvel Inc and used without permission.
No profit is made from these works.
AJ Rovner/Unicorn was created by Abby
Rovner and is used with permission.
Ziska Xavier is my own creation.
Still holding on, Charles and Lilandra make it to some safety, as her desk is bolted to the floor. His arms sore from the work, Charles can finally get some rest; physically, at least. He looks around, but unfortunately his hover chair is on the far side of the room already, and he did turn it off after all.
“Are you hurt?” He asks out of breath.
Lilandra shakes her head, but her body still shivers from the shock of what happened. Someone tried to kill her for a second time in just a few days. If Charles wouldn’t have caught her, what would have happened to her?
“Deathbird.” Lilandra whispers.
Lilandra had known for some time now that a lot of her subjects are very unhappy that her consort is an outsider. Any lineage that comes from them will not be pure Shi’ar. More than a few have prodded her to take someone more suitable as consort. If for no other reason that he would be more available than her hero love is now.
Charles already came to the same conclusion about Lilandra’s sister, but he was in no position to do anything about that now. He couldn’t reach anyone telepathically. He has reason to think they are in danger as well. He sees the force fields carefully balancing the residence, but it was far from safe. He had previously been under the impression that the fields were supposed to activate if there were even a small degree change. So why are they now dangling the way they are?
They hear something grind. The pressure of the residence’s weight against the force field won’t hold for much longer. It’s now that Charles realizes what must have happened. Someone disabled the force fields, with the intent they fall to their death. But apparently they missed a few. And while they are here waiting, Charles and Lilandra watch as on of the plated dome windows starts to crack. For now, there is a small hole.
“Where is Gladiator?” Charles asks.
“A neighboring star system, it was advised that he go there to prove that I was unharmed.”
Charles is getting frustrated. “Someone really thought this through.”
Lilandra’s eyes tear up. “Deathbird rarely leaves things to chance these days.”
******************************************
The guards are a bit more careful in the palace than they are in the shopping center. Everyone has been split up and their powers have been rendered useless by cells specifically designed for them. There is, however, a large difference between powers and brains. Morse code may take forever, but at least they could communicate. It doesn’t help them much for now. But at least, they knew that they were relatively close together.
And that four people are unaccounted for.
******************************************
AJ prods the communicator one last time before she officially gives up on it. She clips it to her new belt, resigned to the fact they are on their own. “How long do you think we have?”
From the opening of the dead end alley, Ziska tries to listen if anyone is coming their way. “No idea. We have the slight advantage that I do know the terrain a little rather than running completely blind. And if we don’t use our powers they can’t trace us.”
“But we have to be ready to use our powers when they show up.’ AJ adds.
Ziska sighs. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Not necessarily.” William calls from above.
AJ had been so busy with the communicator she hadn’t even paid attention to where William went.
“New power of yours?” Ziska asks.
William is clinging to the side of the building, although still struggling with the balance. “The sales guy did pitch something about super tactile traction or whatever. I am pretty much sticking to the walls here. Think it will do us any good?”
“Well, it’s not using our powers.” AJ replies.
“I’d call that a plus.” William replies.
Ziska takes a step closer. “Do me a favor; see if you can hang upside down with those.”
“Are you kidding me?” He asks in return.
“Hanging off the side of a building kinda makes us noticeable.” Ziska answers. “But if we are holding onto something from underneath we’ll have cover from above and since we all have darker uniforms we’ll be covered by shadows.”
“Unless they use some kind of flood lights.” AJ chimes in.
William approaches an overhang, but he doesn’t find any grip. “I think the gloves and boots can do it, but I just don’t have the strength to hold on with my hands.”
Ziska rubs her eyes. “It was worth a shot.”
As William makes his way back down, he accidentally disturbs a bird’s nest, which promptly attacks him. Ziska does soften his fall with telekinesis, but now they run for better cover as the scanners picked up Ziska’s power. The bird doesn’t pursue them very far.
But it does give William an idea. “Hey AJ, think you can turn into that type of bird?”
AJ considers. The bird before them reminds her of a peacock with its long train, but it is the size and color of a cockatoo. “It’s shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve blended other animals before. But then what?”
Ziska has an answer for that. “If you don’t mind, check the residence to see if Dad and Lilandra are alright.”
“What about the other X-Men?” William asks.
“The prison compound is beneath the palace, a bird can’t really help there.”
William turns his attention back to AJ, who in the meantime already shifted into the little bird. She cocks her head at him, then at Ziska.
“We’ll stick around here AJ.” Ziska replies to her unasked question.
And with that, AJ flies off, leaving behind the communicator.
******************************************
He should have called by now. This isn’t like him. Not that Corsair distrusts his son or anything like that. But Scott usually manages to get in touch when he’s in the neighborhood. And a one way communication between the Shi’ar to Earth followed by some gate activity usually means just that. But where there hell is he? His crew is steering clear of him, but this close to Chandilar everyone is on edge. They might get a long with Lilandra, but there are always those who are not willing to put out the welcome mat. Best to be careful.
“I have something.” Raza calls from his station.
“What is it?” Corsair asks.
“You must see for yourself.” Raza replies and activates a main screen. The Starjammers watch as the royal palace has an explosion on the base of the Royal residence. They watch in silence, the shock still setting in. Then, a bulletin scrolls across the screen insisting the perpetrators have been captured. The X-Men.
Corsair practically jumps from his seat. SCOTT! “This is a set up!”
“Is that to say we are about to render assistance?” Raza asks.
“That’s a fact. Everyone to your stations.” Corsair calls. “Check if any of the frequencies the X-Men use have an open channel.”
******************************************
One would think that, after all this time, someone would somehow get into the residence to see if anyone was hurt, particularly if the resident is supposed to be the sovereign. Maybe it wasn’t safe for a normal person. But there were plenty of people here who are not normal. Exhausted and still not poison free, Lilandra drifted off to sleep a few minutes ago. Charles can’t find anyone close by. Considering his predicament, he’s having a hard time focusing too far away from himself.
He notices a shadow passing overhead. While at first he hoped for rescue, he quickly notices it’s just a bird that keeps circling the dome. Almost… as if it is looking for something. Charles’s suspicion is confirmed when the bird gingerly lands on the open area from the crack. Rather than fly away, the bird flies into the residence and lands on the desk that Charles and Lilandra are holding onto. The bird then jumps to the floor and wedges itself against the ground. The bird transforms into AJ right in front of him.
“Are you hurt?” She asks.
“No.” Charles assures her. “But Lilandra is still fighting the poison. Where are the others?”
“Zee is
pretty sure that Hank, Jean,
Charles nods. “Good, at least you three are safe for now. This means, saving the day is in your hands.”
“Any idea who is behind this mess?” AJ asks.
“The mastermind is probably Lilandra’s sister Deathbird. But she must have had help. If it hasn’t been done already, try to get a hold of Gladiator, the guards will listen to him.”
“Sorry to be blunt, but how are we going to do that?”
Charles hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t know. Perhaps… the rooms within the palace are genetically encoded.”
“That doesn’t help much.”
“Lilandra once said that to save time they don’t necessarily encode a complete genetic code for entry but only for people to be kept out of areas. I have full access to the palace.”
“And if they didn’t program your full genetic code, so might Ziska.”
“That’s as good a theory as I can come up with.”
AJ steadies herself a bit. “Let’s see if you are right.” She transforms back into the bird and takes off.”
“You’re right.” Lilandra says weakly after AJ leaves. “We don’t program full codes. It’s much more useful to do so when we want to keep someone out.”
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for.” Lilandra answers and wraps herself around him. “You’re always here when I really need you. That’s what matters.”
******************************************
“What’s taking her so long?” William whispers.
“She may be taking a breather.” Ziska answers. “I can’t imagine flying with a tail that long is easy. And it is what, at least a mile flight?”
William and Ziska are hiding on a ledge about twenty feet higher than where AJ took off from. A handful of guards are patrolling the immediate area. And while Ziska is sure they wouldn’t be that much of a challenge, the back up they would call would be.
Meanwhile, William is grasping the communicator AJ left behind. “You know, they don’t trust you that much anymore.”
“I know.” Ziska replies, as if it doesn’t bother her.
“And?”
“And what?” Ziska shoots back.
“Doesn’t it bother you?”
Ziska sighs. “What do you expect me to do?”
“Stop acting like the Queen of Sheba maybe?”
“It’s complicated.”
“How?”
“This time line is better than mine. People are happier. I got the feeling whatever I do, I mess up their lives, but when I keep my distance, I also mess up their lives. So tell me, who’s wining here?”
“Is this still about that damned car? Bobby said a million times he’s sorry!” William realizes he’s getting a little loud, but the patrol seems none the wiser.
She sighs again. “Remember what Jean said before about me ‘pulling that face’ in front of Lilandra?”
William rolls his eyes. “You seriously need to stop eavesdropping.”
“I… can’t.” Ziska replies exasperated. “Over the last four years, I never used telepathic blocks and my powers were always on. I… can’t turn them off anymore. But on the other hand, I can’t hear when people are actually trying to contact me. It’s selective telepathic hearing, except I’m not the one doing the selecting.”
William is confused. “In a city full of telepaths, isn’t that right up there with a permanent migraine?”
“At first. But it gets easier. Then all information kinda becomes a viral video. You knew things as they happened. It’s hard to give up, especially if you forget how. So…. Waitaminute.”
William follows Ziska’s gaze into the darkening sky. He watches as the outline of AJ’s bird for comes towards them. She must have spotted them on her flight in. After she lands, AJ turns around, and lies down on the ledge between William and Ziska.
“Well, the Professor and Lilandra are trapped in the residence and it doesn’t look like anyone is in a rush to help them either.” She then turns to Ziska. “You father is figuring that using his genetic code, you could get entry into the palace. What’s that beeping?”
“I don’t hear anything.” Ziska answers.
“William.” AJ whispers. “What’s in your pocket?”
“Just the communicator.” He replies and scrambles to get it out. “Crap, how’d they get access?” He asks, but then his eyebrow furrows.
“Who is it?” Ziska asks.
“Someone named ‘Starjammer.’”
“Maybe it’s a crossed signal?” AJ asks.
“Starjammers… wait, that’s Scott’s dad!”
******************************************
“We are not receiving any answer from the signal.” Raza announces.
Chris is getting more nervous. Usually, Scott is the one who holds an open channel from his communicator. So, if he has an open channel that they can contact, why isn’t he answering? The others have been trying to calm him down, but it’s not helping.
Without warning, the loudspeaker comes alive. “Starjammers, come in.”
He doesn’t recognize the woman’s voice, but he may get some answers this way. “Please identify yourself.” Chris calls into the microphone as calmly as he can.
“My name is Ziska.” The woman answers. “I’m going to guess you already know that things are not going so well on Chandilar?”
“We are cloaked in orbit.” He replies, and realizes after the fact he probably just said too much.
“Alright, here’s the short version then. Professor Xavier and Lilandra are trapped in the residence.” Then there is a short silence. “This doesn’t seem like it will hold much longer. Scott and a few others are trapped in the prison compound. Is there any way you can get a hold of Gladiator?”
Chris looks over to Hepzibah and she makes her report. “It will take time for him to arrive.”
‘Ziska’ is becoming impatient. “So we need a distraction down here. Think you can help?”
“Why should I trust you?” Chris asks.
“Because your son is like a brother to me. Trust me, this is complicated.”
Chris leans forward. “What did you have in mind?”
******************************************
Scott hates being cooped up in this cell. Knowing Jean is just a door over but not being able to help her was even worse. On and off, he can hear guards walking by the enclosed cell, just making rounds. His optic blast is useless against the door. As are any and all of their powers.
******************************************
“Everyone ready?” Corsair asks his crew.
As they brace themselves to enter the atmosphere, Hepzibah has some more news. “Response from Gladiator. He was aware something wrong, and already on his way back. The additional information will make him hurry more.”
“How long?” Corsair asks.
“Twenty minutes at least.”
Corsair
sits back, readying himself for entry.
“Hope those kids know what they are doing.”
******************************************
While making their run on the palace, they have a handful of run-ins with patrols. But being the newcomers pays of in the way that the patrols have no idea what they are dealing with. Having Ziska alternate between pyrokinesis and telekinesis doesn’t hurt either.
“Everyone ready?” Ziska asks as they are in sight of the gate.
On cue, the Starjammer enters the atmosphere, keeping all the forces occupied.
“Go!” AJ calls.
The two guards at the gate are so shocked by the ground under them becoming soft and them sinking into it that they never saw the three running their way. AJ simply tore the weapon from one guards hand while William opted to knock his out. Ziska meanwhile approaches the gate itself. She puts her hand into the scanner and it begins to read her.
“Come on, come on cooperate here.” Ziska replies getting even more impatient. But sure enough, the gate opens for them.
“Preoccupied with the “attack from above” most guards ignore them and others just glance at them. Perhaps word didn’t get out about the new clothes.
******************************************
Scott hears the alarm going off. Someone or something is attack the palace and everyone is in a hurry to get to their station. How much worse could this day get?
******************************************
“How many frikkin stairs are there?” Ziska mumbles to herself.
“Hey, watch your language young lady.” William teases from a few steps back.
“Cut it out you two.” AJ chides.
Ziska hits a few buttons, which translates the text on the door to English. “This is it, they’re in here.” She turns to AJ. “You know, that liger thing worked well.”
AJ smiles. “Let’s see if royal guards have the same reaction.”
******************************************
Who let
“Not exactly.” William replies.
Scott
follows his gaze as a massive wild cat holds the Shi’ar guards in check. Further to his left, Scott watches as Ziska
is letting Hank out of his cell, followed lastly by
“We gotta move, Dad and Lilandra are still stuck in the residence and I don’t know how long your father is willing to draw fire for us.” Ziska says as she walks by Scott.
“My father? How’d he get into this?”
“You are in the area and didn’t call, he got worried. Consider it a compliment. Can we go now?”
No longer concerned with hiding their powers, Jean decides to carry the guys telekinetically, while Ziska and AJ fly on their own power. In a few moments, they are top side again.
Hank is shocked that the singular force field holding up the residence is still holding, but evidently, not for much longer. “We have to get them out of there, quickly!” He shouts.
“Why the hell didn’t anyone fix
this thing yet?”
But within moments, they are being target. “Because everyone is too busy trying to find a patsy maybe?” Ziska shots back fireballs and starts flying just out of gun range.
“Hank, do you think you can fix the force fields?” Scott asks.
“I’ll go find out.” Hank replies. “William, would you please help me?”
“Right behind you.” William calls.
Turning momentarily human, AJ looks at Scott and Jean. “I’ll go back to check on them” AJ then turns into a hawk, darting between energy blasters to make it back to the little hole in the dome.
******************************************
It looks like the Fourth of July out there. Charles thinks to himself. He saw the Starjammers arrive, and the fact they were immediately attacked more than told him that someone was pulling strings here, even now. But why are they here?
“I would have expected Gladiator to come by now.” Lilandra mentions.
“He’ll come. Things will be alright.”
“Ever the optimist I see.”
“Someone has to be.” Charles replies and fakes a smile. A moment later, Charles hears something. Now a falcon was coming through the little hole, and AJ this time transformed mid air. The cavalry has arrived. Charles eyes his hover chair across the room. “Can you reach that?”
AJ tentatively walks on the sharp incline, the soles of her new boots giving her plenty of grip. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Alright, I don’t need you to guide it, just turn it on. We’ll have to figure out then how to get out of the dome.”
AJ cautiously walks to the hover chair and under the professor’s guidance turns the machine on. As it starts to buzz with electricity, it responds to the Professor’s telepathic command. “Couldn’t we have done this earlier?”
“It might have caught someone’s unwanted attention.” Lilandra answers and pulls herself up against the massive desk. She then helps Charles up. She may still be weak, but her Shi’ar strength was more than enough to hold him until the chair comes in reach.
******************************************
Hank and William are working against the clock. Luckily for them, rather than destroy the field generators, someone merely unplugged them. The bad news is, none of the plugs are color coded, leaving them with a massive guessing game.
William comes up with the idea of mimicking the one untouched panel, and it seems to be working. Unfortunately, not the way they intend it to.
As the first force field springs to life, it comes up to the side of the residence, in fact tipping it further, and rolling it off of the remaining force field, which in turn starts to crush the dome.
“Oh my God!” Jean manages to scream as she watches the residence about to plummet.
******************************************
Lilandra had just settled down on the hover chair, technically in Charles’s lap, when the massive residence starts to roll. Still close to the ground, the chair is bumped and Lilandra looses her balance. Charles isn’t fast enough to grab her arm. Now at a full tilt, Lilandra is in freefall with all the items in the residence.
“Lilandra!”
Unable to move, Charles watches in horror as Lilandra is falling beneath him. His chair’s propulsion system is meant to keep him up. He’ll never be able to catch up with her. And AJ can only work with gravity, and therefore try as she might, she won’t be able to catch up.
******************************************
Across the planet’s surface, people are glued to the news as it is happening at the palace. They watch in terror as someone falls out of the residence.
Someone who looks a lot like the Majestrix.
******************************************
“Jesus, lock teleporters, NOW!” Corsair orders.
The Starjammer takes another hit. “We cannot. If we start up the teleporter, the next hit will destroy us.” Raza shouts back.
Corsair looks at the screen again. “I’m sorry, Lilandra.”
******************************************
Hidden far away from the planet, Deathbird couldn’t be happier with what she’s seeing. Charles must still be in the residence, Gladiator is still too far away to save her, and Lilandra is falling to her death, possibly even to be crushed by her home. And who is left but herself to rule?
******************************************
I can’t help but listen. Ziska tells herself. For a moment, she does believe her father should have used the hover chair sooner. She intends to yell at him for it later. Then she was almost cut in half by the new force field going up. The one that just taped the residence the wrong way. But Hank and William have no way of knowing it. She hears Lilandra’s terrified thoughts; her father’s scream; the whole planet gasping for breath was the worst part.
And in that moment, the guns stop firing.
She’s wrecked their happiness once already. She won’t do it twice if she can help it. Now all she can do is hope she is on target. Sorry Lilandra, but this will hurt. She tells herself. She spins, technically flying sideways to intercept Lilandra. She lowers her pitch as she realizes Lilandra is falling faster, and then speeds up herself.
“Gotcha.” She says as she catches Lilandra. She spins one more time to offset Lilandra’s momentum.
But it doesn’t spare Lilandra what’s coming next.
******************************************
“You aren’t coming back with me, are you?” Lilandra asks between sobs.
Charles is near tears himself. “Be honest now. Do you want to be with someone who just abandons his children when something… else comes his way?”
Finally, Lilandra pulls away, keeping Charles at arms reach. “No, I suppose I wouldn’t want that either. I just don’t understand how it is we’re only down to these options.”
“Gabrielle and I have joint custody. It means she has an equal say if how Franziska lives her life, even when she is on my time. And, for now at least, she can’t wrap her head around how safe space travel is in your part of the universe.”
Lilandra had spent a few weeks here on Earth, getting to know her step-daughter-to-be. Their wedding was all but finalized. But could she bear being responsible for Charles loosing his daughter? No. She knows she can’t do that. “So… where does that leave us?”
“I… I don’t know, Lilandra.” He answers, now in tears himself.
Both turn startled as they hears foot steps running away from the office door.
Dear God. Did she hear all that?
******************************************
Even though people stopped firing at her, Ziska still has to be cautious of the other force fields coming up around her and various kinds of debris coming down on top of her. Lilandra is out from the shock of the zapping. Probably a good thing. Finally making it safely to the ground, Ziska collapses exhausted. Keeping up the passive field to avoid injury as well as keeping herself and Lilandra airborne as well as the occasional defensive fireball was draining. She is starting to get a migraine. In short order, Ziska finds herself surrounded by guards pointing their weapons at her. She hears the others running her way, but she isn’t sure she’ll be awake long enough to explain things in the meantime. She looks up, and sees that the residence was now well balanced between the surrounding force fields. Why the hell couldn’t that happen sooner?
“Stand aside!” A deep voice barks from behind the gathered guards. Ziska looks up and watches a massive figure walk towards her.
She’s pretty sure it’s Gladiator. But as she passes out, she doesn’t really care.
******************************************
Hank and William come back out of the control booth, happy to see the residence precariously balanced between the force fields. They see Scott and the others talking to an imposingly large figure.
“Gladiator has finally arrived.” Hank remarks with a smile.
“Sure, after the drama is over.” William mumbles.
The closer they get, the less they like what they see. Scott seems to be arguing with Gladiator. And when Hank looks down, he sees Lilandra sprawled across the floor. “Oh my stars and garters.” He whispers to himself and starts to run towards the group.
Again, William is having a hard time keeping up. But of course, why does he always choose to run behind people with extra long limbs or animal powers anyway? But his disposition goes south too when he realizes that Ziska herself is also lifeless on the ground. Did she get shot down?
Still some ways away, William watches as a few people try to slink off from the group. Gladiator spots them, but when he turns his attention towards them they start to run. Considering what William already knows, he does the same thing to them he did to the cruisers. He trips them with a small bank of earth.
The guards quickly take this small group into custody, and William resumes his course towards his friends. “What just happened?”
“You just caught the traitors. Congrats on being a hero.” Hank answers.
William
looks down as Lilandra is being loaded onto a medical gurney and
The other share a quick look, and Hank seems as confused as William is. “It’s a long story.”
Unfortunately, the facts have changed for everyone. All in the group now remember what happened with Charles, Lilandra and Ziska. It might not excuse Ziska’s behavior today. But it certainly is an explanation.
******************************************
As Ziska comes to her senses, the first thing she is aware if is that she is very sore. She landed badly on her foot, twisting it quite good. But since she wasn’t able to tell anyone, no one probably checked it. So it hurts. A lot. Then she realizes she is in medical clothing.
She slowly starts to stir, but then feels a hand on her wrist. “Don’t move; you need to take it easy.” Ziska opens her eyes and sees her father watching over her.
“How long have I been out?” Ziska asks.
“A few hours. You’re quite stubborn.” He replies with a smile.
She looks to her left, and realizes she’s looking out of a space ship. We’re going home already? She asks herself. “How’s Lil?” She asks.
When did realize Ziska start calling her that? Charles wonders. “She’ll be fine. She still actually needs treatment for the poisoning. But so far, the only person they can’t find evidence on for her involvement is Deathbird. The others are in custody already.” Charles replies and looks to his left.
Ziska follows his eyes and realizes that she is in the same room as Lilandra. “How did you swing that?”
“Well, you did save her from certain death.”
Then Ziska really comes to. She touched Lilandra. Lilandra now has her memories back. And so does everyone else. “I’m sorry Dad.”
His head snaps back to look at her. “What possibly for?”
“For wreaking your wedding in my time line.”
Charles’s expression switches from shock to sympathy. “As I remember it, you were quite ready to have a step-mother.”
“I was. But mom didn’t see it that way.”
“No.” Charles corrects her. “Your mother couldn’t stand the thought of you wandering around some far off galaxy. It wasn’t your fault Ziska.” He turns to Lilandra again. “For now, she is coming with us to Earth on holiday, while the residence is being repaired. We can start over. One day at a time.”
“Glad to… gah.” Ziska cries out as she tries to sit up.
Charles slides back and releases her hand, thinking she hurt her wrist. “What is it?”
“I… kinda landed bad on my ankle. Hurts like hell. Must have sprained it or something.”
“Let me have a look.” When Charles looks at her ankle, he makes quite a face. “That certainly was a hard landing. You ankle isn’t sprained, it is right out dislocated!”
“Swell, mind popping it back in?”
“I’m not touching it until we get some kind of X-ray.”
“Oh for the…” Ziska responds as she creates a passive force field to scan her own leg. “There, nothing broken.”
Charles sighs and comes closer again. “You’re not going to give me any peace of mind, are you?”
Ziska looks up with a smile. “Where would the fun in that be? Someone has to give you a hard time.”
Again, Charles sighs, and place on hand on Ziska’s leg to steady her. “This will hurt. And I will still have Hank x-ray you later, and put a cast on you if necessary.”
“I’ll live.” Ziska replies. In an instant, Charles twists her ankle back into place. “GAH!”
The End