I’m Forge and I was working with the X-Men a number of years ago. Banshee and I were trying to reassemble the X-Men after they were supposed to have been killed off earlier. We found Jean Grey, Callisto and Colossus in New York. Dazzler, Storm and Wolverine were enroute to New York. I used to have a relationship with Storm, but I don’t know how she feels about me. I received a telepathic message from Betsy AKA Psylocke to meet her and a girl at the dock in Los Angeles. She gave me the name of the freighter coming in from Asia. I didn’t know who this other person was but I flew out to L.A. I was pretty heavily armed because the Reavers were suspected of being in country. I developed specially hardened, diamond tipped shells. They were designed to penetrate adamantium. I rented a van and headed over to the dock area and found the ship. I spotted Lady Deathstrike, one of the most feared members of the Reavers approaching the ship. She was a cyborg, half woman, half machine. I got out my miniature bazooka and armed it with my special shells. I positioned myself between the ship and Deathstrike. I hit her where her heart would have been, if she had one with two shells. It caused a large explosion, followed by an intensely hot fire. After a few minutes I went over and saw the burning mass that had been her body. I saw some of her adamantium fingernails. Betsy and a young teenage girl came around the corner and the girl yelled at me for almost killing them. Betsy was beautiful but she was a bit thin, tired and worried looking now. The girl was feisty, skinny and about 14 or 15 years old. Betsy called her Jubilee and said I was a friend and could be trusted. She thanked me for coming and I said I had a van nearby and that we needed to escape quickly. I led the way and pointed out what was left of Lady Deathstrike. I picked up some adamantium fingernails and said I wanted to study Pierce’s work. Jubilee said “eww, gross!” Jubilee said she and Logan fought with Pierce and she used her explosive power to blast him into a wall. They left him under the rubble before they left Australia. We got into the van and I asked Betsy if she could detect any Reavers in the area using her psychic powers. She couldn’t find any. I said we were heading for New York ASAP. As I drove away I asked how their trip was and they both groaned. Betsy said they ran into several days of stormy weather and that they were both seasick. Jubilee said “but, you were claustrophobic too Betsy.” I said it sounded like a bad trip. They both went silent as we continued heading east. We finally got to San Bernardino and I said it was probably safe to stop. The girls perked up a bit at that news. We stopped at a fast-food place. Jubilee got two double cheeseburgers and Betsy got one. They both wolfed their dinners down. Betsy is a fastidious eater usually, so she must have been starving. They seemed to feel better afterwords. I turned in the rented van and got a sedan to throw off anyone who might be looking for us. We rented a couple of rooms at a motel in San Bernardino for the night. We met the next morning in motel lobby at 0700 for the breakfast. The girls seemed to be feeling much better. Jubilee ate a plate of everything. We got back on the road. Betsy helped with the driving. We exchanged rental cars periodically. Gradually, I found out their stories. Betsy told about the X-Men’s exile in the Australian outback and their escape from the Reavers. She ended up in Hong Kong with amnesia. She was brainwashed and programmed to be an assassin by The Hand. Jubilee somehow followed the X-Men girls back to Australia from the U.S. and hid out, avoiding detection. She witnessed the crucifixion of Logan by the Reavers. She said she saved his life and helped him escape. They ended up in Hong Kong where they met Betsy who was working for The Hand by then. Betsy was supposed to brainwash Logan but the plan backfired. She got her memory back as well as catching Logan’s insanity. The three of them turned on their captors and escaped. Later, Logan bribed a freighter captain to let Betsy and Jubilee stow away on his ship. They were given an empty storage room to live in. After a rough crossing they arrived back in the old USA. Betsy used her yoga skills to help her calm her claustrophobia and seasickness. She taught it to Jubilee and it helped. I told them about developments in New York. Banshee and I found Jean Grey, Callisto and Colossus in New York. Colossus had amnesia for a while. We battled the Morlocks and escaped intact. Later on Dazzler, Storm and Logan surfaced and were enroute to New York. Jubilee was especially excited to hear about Logan. We continued our journey and arrived in NYC after 5 days travel. When the three of us entered the X-Men’s fortress, there were a lot of people in the front room. As we stepped in Jubilee saw Logan and rushed to him shedding tears of joy. They had a touching reunion. Logan introduced the group to Miss Jubilation Lee who saved his life in Australia. She blushed a little at first but soon was basking in the attention she received. Looking around the room I saw Banshee, Storm, Dazzler and the others. Seeing Storm reignited my feelings for her. Betsy and I turned to each other and hugged and she gave me a kiss. She was so relieved to be with old friends again and ran over and soon they were hugging, greeting and crying tears of joy. Storm came over and said that Betsy told her that I killed Lady Deathstrike. I said I had, and she embraced me and gave me a kiss. I forgot what a great kisser she is and how stunningly beautiful she is. Storm announced that there was another hero in their midst and said I killed Lady Deathstrike. I was a little embarrassed and said I did what any of them would have done. Soon I was getting lots of attention. As happens in gatherings like this, the men and women gathered in separate groups. The girls were talking about their feelings. Then they moved on to discuss shopping expeditions. The men went to another room. Banshee said I had all the luck. I replied “poor Irish, you never get any breaks.” I showed them Lady Deathstrike’s adamantium claws. Logan said the claws might be stronger than his. Then he produced some Cuban cigars, but I passed up the opportunity. Logan suggested that we hit several bars he knows in NYC. Storm came into the room, stood next to me and put her hand on my shoulder and announced that the Reavers were in the area and that no one was going anywhere that night and that dinner was being prepared. After she left the room, Banshee said “I’ll bet Storm has a crush on you Forge.” Then he asked who was the better kisser: Storm or Betsy? I said that a gentleman never discusses such matters. Logan said “That’s right bubs!” At dinner, Jubilee had a pizza and the rest of us had Chinese. Logan showed off his skill with the chopsticks. I sat next to Storm on one side with Jubilee on her other side. I asked Storm how she knew that the Reavers were in the area. She said Betsy and she could detect their thoughts telepathically. She said that Pierce was angry that Deathstroke was dead and he wanted revenge. Logan said “I say we take revenge on him.” Storm said that the next day we would have a recon-in-force and find out if the Reavers really wanted to fight. She continued that for now we should celebrate. After clean-up we watched an old movie. I was preoccupied with Storm and tomorrow’s battle that I don’t really remember it. I went to bed early because because I have guard duty at 0600 tomorrow.
Renewal of the X-Men (Fanfict)
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