Enter the infamous legal disclaimer NOW:
I do not own any of the following. I wish I did. OH how I wish I did. Do you know how much money some of these bring in? But alas, I am but a meager college student working towards a teaching degree. That's right; I am in college, and going to be a teacher. Going from no money at all (college student) to no money at all (teacher). Please don't sue. You'll get a crappy pen set that I got from my brother many moons ago. Now, onto everything I do not own. Repeat. Don't own. I don't know sexual orientations or personalities either. DON'T OWN, DON'T KNOW!
Nsync, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Pink, Christina Aguilera, The Wallflowers, and any other celebrities. I also know nothing of their sexual orientations.
Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and all related characters.
The Anita Blake Vampire Hunter book series by Laurell K. Hamilton.
The Vampire Chronicles, Tales Of The New Vampires, The Mayfair Witches, all series and characters written by Anne Rice.
Buffy & Angel television series.
Birds Of Prey television series.
Star Wars
Star Trek, Star Trek TNG, Star Trek DS9, Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek The New Frontier, Enterprise television series, movies, and novels.
Ok, now that that is taken care of, a little publicity for my co-authors. Go read these four stories in the Boy Bands, and Celebrity sections:
Tales Of A Real Dark Night (The series that started it all.) celebrity/boy-bands/tales-of-a-real-dark-knight/
Marvel Knights celebrity/marvel-knights/
Tales Of A Super Hero Band celebrity/boy-bands/tales-of-a-superhero-band/
Tales Of A Young Mutant celebrity/tales-of-a-young-mutant/
There may also be a new writer up and coming. Good luck! I love the storyline I've seen so far dude! Keep writing!
I am sorry it took me so long to get this up and posted, I have been very busy. With what you may ask? I am president of my schools GLSBT Alliance, am a member of the Student Teachers Association, and a Senator of my schools ASB. Throw into that that I'm taking 14.5 units and getting ready for a trip to Washington DC, I'm overwhelmed. So, I shall post once every two weeks from now on. I will try and get the next chapter out sooner, but... sorry. I'm busy busy little bee.
Finally, this is it I promise, we are entering into a section of the story where 4 stories converge. I am hoping that this is not confusing, but exciting for you all. So, enjoy!
The Story of the Birds Of Prey Chapter 2: Out of the shadows and into the night
I just laid there in my bead staring at the ceiling all night. I thought about nothing and everything. It got to the point that my thoughts would blend from one to another and I couldn't keep the least bit track of them. Time seeped away in my state and before I knew it there was a knock at my door. I stood, wearing nothing but my boxer briefs, and answered. Jean stood there wearing a black leather one piece.
"We have breakfast set up downstairs for those who want to go give a hand at the site." She eyed me a bid, and smiled. "You may want to get dressed before coming down. The girls, and some of the guys, might get distracted and forget to eat." She turned and started down the hall.
I went back in my room, grinning to myself from the compliment, and grabbed my bag. I was about to unzip it when I stopped myself. I set it down and went to stand in front of the mirror. I thought about the landing at Lance and Eric's house, and simply making an outfit. I used my powers and started fabricating clothes. I started by creating a pair of black jeans, then created a blacks long sleeve that formed to my body. I floated a few inches above the ground and made some basic black tennis shoes, and finished off with a leather jacket.
I stood before the mirror a bit amazed. I rubbed my hands along the jacket and it felt real. The shirt felt like cotton, and the jeans felt like denim. I smiled to myself, ruffled my hair with my fingers to make it look messy, bed head always worked on me, and headed for the dining hall.
After blindly wandering for a little bit I finally found the dining hall. I walked in and looked around, realizing how alone I was on the East Coast and was about to leave without eating before I noticed Eric and Lance. Eric motioned for me to go and sit with them, so I went and grabbed some food then joined them.
I noticed a group of people near by that Lance seemed interested in. I had to do a double take at them before I accepted what I say. I had never seen auras like some of them were sporting. Three had auras like I had seen the night before on the person called cloak. Two had orange and green auras. And one was just green. I was looking, while avoiding looking like I was looking, trying to figure it out. "How did you sleep last night?" Eric asked.
I considered telling them the truth, but decided to avoid worrying them. They were fast becoming friends. "Well. I miss Josh. And with all that's happening... I want nothing more than to protect and hold him. Also... my powers are acting weird. When I'm in Phoenix Form, I can always see an aura around people, even Vampires. I'm seeing it with my normal eyes as well. Mutants, Humans, Vampires, they all have a different color." I leaned in to whisper to Eric. "And those people over there." I motioned to the people at the other table. "They have a different color than all the others. But I don't sense anything off about them. How did you guy's sleep?"
"I didn't sleep well," Eric said. "Too many thoughts running through my head. I can't believe what happened. I was on campus when the first plane hit. After I got home, Lance and I saw the towers fall. Where were you when the World Trade Center attacks happened?"
"In bed. The east coast is three hours ahead of us. Andrea's mom, my sorta surrogate, called me and Josh. We all got together... and when the towers fell..." Thinking about it I started to hear them again. I couldn't help wondering if it was the same for the psychics in the school. "I heard their deaths." My end of the conversation dropped after that, and I just ate.
We all changed into our costumes and then headed out to the site via van. Getting to the actual disaster area was hard since the entire area was closed off. With some... encouragement... from the psychics we were able to get to what had been dubbed Ground Zero. None of us were prepared for what we saw. The area was still smoldering in parts, fire fighters attempting to put out the flames, and there were so many dead. Jean and I, having psychic powers, started by scanning the rubble for survivors. Everyone was holding on to hopes while watching us search with our minds. When we finished we broke the news that there were no survivors. Ororo then split us into teams to go to work. Scott, Jean, Cloak who I had learned is named Ty, and I were sent to start clearing away debris.
"Phoenix. You control your powers very well. Doesn't the personality overwhelm you?" Jean was using her powers to move the debris aside.
"From what the Mother Phoenix told me, my Phoenix has no actual mind. The minds of the Phoenix are collective personalities and memories of all the people they inhabit throughout the ages. I am basically going to always exist as long as this Phoenix is alive." I lifted a large steel pylon rose into the air. Cyclops was cutting them in the air and then I would send them into the backs of waiting trucks.
"Tell me more about the Phoenix. I know all about the mythical creature, but what of the entity?" Cloak was creating black portals bellow large chunks of debris that sent them into the trucks.
"The Phoenix is an ageless entity. It was guardian of the Emcron Crystal, an object of power coveted by the Shiar Empire. A mad dictator that ruled the Empire sought to destroy all of existence by breaching the crystal." Jean moved kept directing debris aside while telling the story. "The Phoenix came to Earth along with Lilandra, the rightful heir to the Empire, seeking aid in the battle to save all. The X-Men, including me, were attempting to rescue people aboard a space station above the Earth at the time. Phoenix was drawn to my psychic powers, and we became one. After a lengthy battle we defeated the tyrant, and I took the crystal into the heart of the sun."
"We thought she was dead." Cyclops went to the next large chunk of debris I was raising. I froze when a small form fell from the debris I had lifted. I lowered it off to the side and walked towards the child.
"Oh, God." I kept repeating it, praying that I was mistaken. When I got to the child, a little girl that looked no more than 5, I fell to my knees. One of her arms was missing, and the side of her face was mangled. She was covered in blood. I started to weep. Her good eye was still open, looking into the sky vacantly. I closed here eyes and lost it. The Phoenix erupted out of me, screeching into the dust filled sky. I regained my composure and pulled in the powers. I then rose and took the child to the area that the Red Cross was keeping the dead. I used my powers to dissipate the blood on my suit and went back to work. No one in our group spoke much after that.
When we got back to the institute I decided to go for a walk. I ended up out on the basketball court. I looked around. So peaceful, so quiet. I looked up at the stars, found the big dipper, followed the pointer stars, and finally found the northern star.
"Blake sweetie, if you're scared while at camp this summer, look up at the sky. You see that?"
"Yes mommy."
"That's the North Star. It's always in the same place. You find it by finding the Big Dipper. You follow the two stars in the front and they point you right to it. Just look at the sky, look at that star, and I'll look at it too. And we'll both be looking at the same star and we'll be together."
"I love you Mama."
"I love you too Monkey. I love you always."
I hadn't thought about that night with my mother in years. I looked at the star and wondered if somewhere, somehow, she was looking too.
"Say, I'm looking for a giant flaming canary. He's a wimp, and has a sucky ass club, you seen him?" I turned and smiled seeing Jessica walking towards me.
"Hey. What are you doing here?" I pulled her into a hug.
"Garret, my Watcher, found some information that the X-Men will need. I brought it." The pleasure of seeing Jessica soon faded, thinking over what brought me here, and back to the tattered form of that girl. She must have seen the look cross my face because she frowned. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"Today... we went to help at Ground Zero. My team was helping move debris. I had lifted a large steel column into the air to be cut when a small girl's torn body fell from the debris. I lost it, and haven't really found it yet." I looked back to the stars.
"I'm so sorry Blake. That's horrible." I turned to her, trying to get over the pain and fear.
"I want him with me so badly. I want him, and I want my sister." She looked at me and smiled.
"So, why not bring them to you? She has the Green Lantern powers from what I've heard. Your Watcher will have nothing against you her coming to help. Devin is a powerful wizard and can take over patrol for a while." She smiled.
"Thank you Jessica." She turned and headed back for the Mansion. I lifted my arm up and pressed the display of the watch. "Contact Owl." The watch beeped and I waited for a response.
"This is Owl, go ahead Phoenix."
"Owl, the situation here is getting pretty big. How is there?" I walked towards a bench to the side of the court.
"Situation is pretty quiet Phoenix. I think all the Vampires are awaiting some sort of word." He sighed on his end.
"Owl, would you be able to hold down San Fran? Green Falcon would be a great asset for us out here." I awaited his response.
"I should be able to. I've had a lot of training in defense against the dark arts, and should be able to hold down patrol. I'll contact her and let her know." I smiled at his answer. They would be coming.
"Thank you Owl." We signed off and I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. I dialed home and waited for Josh to answer.
"Hello?"
"Josh, this is Blake. I was wondering if you would come out here. I don't know if I can do this without you." Josh sighed on the other end.
"You don't know how badly I wanted to call and have you come get me. I want to be there with you so bad. To make sure you're ok." I smiled, he sounded so relieved.
"Ok, pack up a bag, I'll call Andy and ask her to fly you. She's coming out to lend a hand." I smiled, so relieved.
"Ok. I love you Blake."
"I love you too Josh. See you soon." We hung up and I dialed Andrea. After a few minutes she answered. "Andy, can you pick up Josh on the way? He and I both want him out here."
"Sure. I wanted to try this thing out with the ring. I wanna see if I can create jets and cars and stuff. I don't see a limit to this things power. Well, I really need to go. Devin just told me to hurry up and get out there. Can you call Serenity and tell them something? The club should be able to run without us. Hiring another manager was a great idea." We both laughed.
"Ok, see you soon. Hurry." I hung up and dialed Serenity. After tell the manager that Andrea and I would both be out of town on a family emergency for a unknown amount of time, and to keep the club closed to the public for another 3 days and then reopen, I started back in.
It took me 15 minutes of searching, but I finally found Jean and Scott in the dining hall sharing a meal.
"Jean, Scott. I hope you don't mind but I have two people coming it. Green Falcon, my partner in Frisco, and my fiancé. I know space is limited so they can stay in my room."
"It's no problem Blake." Jean smiled.
"Yeah, we can use all the help we can get." Scott said.
I thanked them and started back for my room when I heard an alarm going off. I turned and saw Jean and Scott start running for the hall. I ran after them. "What's going on?"
"We have an injury coming in." I followed them into the lower levels where they entered a silver control room.
"Status?" Scott said looking to Ororo and a man covered in blue hair. I think his name was Hank.
"Professor Xavier is injured, Eric is bringing him in now. Magneto attacked him with a Sentinel under his control." Hank said.
Everyone was checking monitors, Scott looked at Ororo. "Storm, get in the air and make sure that nothing comes near the school." She started for the door.
"I'll help Storm. Two eyes are better then one." Scott looked at me. "Oh god, no insult intended I just... I'll go and help Storm watch for Sentinels." I turned, blushing. And Saw Jean giving me a weak smile. Storm and I ran through the corridors for the surface. When we got their I saw her lift into the air in a gust of wind. "You take the south, I'll take the north." She called down to me. I shifted into my Phoenix costume. I had realized that when I did this, the Phoenix managed to somehow remember how to reform things such as my cell phone, wallet, and keys when I changed back to street clothes.
I lifted into the air and flew a few hundred feet above the north side of the campus. With my enhanced vision I could see the clear sky's with perfect clarity. After a half hour Ororo flew up next to me, just clear of the wings blossoming from The Phoenix. "Scott just radioed me, the Professor wants to meet with us all."
"So he's ok?" I asked.
"That's hard to say. The Professor tends to ignore injuries and fight on. We should head back. If anyone was going to attack, they would have done so by now." I nodded and we headed back to the grounds.