Franny came back to life with lightning in her veins and a stinging sensation in her shoulder. "Get up and get your questions out of the way," said Tessa, putting away a syringe, "We have work to do." Franny felt around her stomach. Still laying in one of the school's subterranean labs her stab wound had been healed.
"The alarm?" asked Franny.
"Yet to be determined, but in your absence Kenna Knox responded to the concern with Laura Kinney."
"Fuck."
"Fuck, indeed."
"What's the damage?"
"Shield spotted her draining a reservoir forty minutes north of us."
"What? Why?"
"I'm not aware, my attempts to contact her with 'Cerebro' were not successful."
"Are you telling me she developed telepathic countermeasures?"
"No, an amplified telepathic connection was established. However she doesn't how to communicate properly."
"But you just think the words. It's not that hard."
"You are correct, but all I was getting was a loud continuous scream."
"Ugh, I'm on it."
"You're lacking a fifth."
"You told me where she was, I think I can live without the tracker."
"What if she moves?"
"I guess I'd follow the path of destruction."
"Get a fifth or I'm waking another team."
"Blue team basically operates with four people, why can't I?"
"Warren Worthington, even without his wings, is more effective as an X-men than you'll ever be."
Franny glanced at the empty blood bag on the table "I'm just saying, he can't donate this much and expect to do anything significant in the field. I still can't believe they let him fly the jet like this.Let him retire or teach business or something. I think he's earned that."
"It's Scott's call, and it complies with X-men doctrine."
"Where am I even going to find someone at this hour?"
"I don't know, but you best figure it out swiftly," she said, throwing Franny a key ring.
If missing a fifth member wasn't bad enough no one else was answering their comms. She walked to Crystal's room gripping her side. Her freshly knitted wound pulsating with pain. When she arrived there was no attempt at patience or pleasantries, just a claw across the cheek. It woke the elemental up instantly in a panicked stupor. "We don't have time for this! Get your uniform, we got to get Jono and Yuuto!" When they turned to leave a bandaged Noriko was blocking the door.
"Sup," said Noriko.
"Shit," said Franny. She quickly flung herself out of the window, stumbling across the lawn towards the male dorms, "You'll never get your clothes back!"
"I'll find you! I don't need superpowers to find where your swamp-ass sleeps!" she yelled after her.
"Hi Noriko, did you see my new banjo?" asked Crystal.
"Did you finish your side of the project?" Crystal quickly flung herself out of the window, stumbling across the lawn towards the male dorms dressing herself as she went.
Franny kept calling the rest of her team repeatedly over the comms. Even Jono's nauseating telepathic voice would have saved her the trouble of going all the way to his room. Which was locked, and highlighted with an eerie neon purple glow and low hum. "Open the fucking door!" yelled Franny banging her fist on the door. When no answer came Franny ordered Crystal to break it down. She complied with zero hesitancy. "Wait! I need to-" before she could either close her second set of light mitigating eyelids or finish her sentence the door was broken down. Bathing them both in an intolerable light.
A large tarp was thrown over the source before either of them got a good look at it. "What was that!?" asked Franny.
"Science project?" said Elliot. He was not alone. Jono, Yuuto, and even Chudame were there too. They were all wearing tin foil hats and welder masks in a dorm room that had been transformed into a disorganized garage.
"Jono?" Franny asked with suspicion. He looked at Elliot who shook his head. "Jono!" Franny yelled. Jono slid off his reflective hat.
"Time machine," Jono broadcasted.
"Fuck you no it's not! You are not building a time machine!"
"You don't understand! Quentin, he's crazy! Like low-key megalomaniac enslave us all crazy . This is the only way we can stop him!" yelled Elliot.
"We literally have bigger problems right now! Jono! Yuuto! Suit up, we got to go!"
"But!"
"I don't care! Crystal lob it out the window!" Which she did, again, without hesitancy. Much to the horror of the gentlemen in the room who watched their hard work get forced through a small window and explode when it hit the ground.
"Why did it explode!?" yelled Franny.
"It was using an unstable alien power source!" yelled Chudame.
"Where did you-" before the question could even be finished the lockdown doors closed around them.
"Disregard everything we are under attack," said Tessa.
"Cancel the lockdown that was me!" Franny yelled with a finger up to her ear.
"You caused the explosion? How?"
"Inadvertently."
"Be more specific."
"Crystal threw a time machine out the window and it exploded."
"That's odd."
"Is it?"
"Something is wrong with the camera feed."
"So what you're saying is that all of my surveillance shifts all this time amounted to nothing."
"Possibly."
"Great."
"Continue with your recovery efforts, I'll work on the surveillance breach," she said as the great metal doors rose back up.
"Copy."
The garage had quite a selection of vehicles within. Various specialized vehicles were lined up among the collection showcased in such a way that would inspire great confidence to those who were going to use them. Franny, however, was handed the keys to an old beat up Chevy cargo van with a black paint job. The only distinction their method of transportation had from any other commercial vehicle was a 'x' stylishly painted on either side. From the way it drove it was difficult to tell if it was to designate it as an X-Men asset or as a lemon of a van. Franny told Yuuto to stop at the gate.
"What's wrong?" broadcasted Jono. Franny rubbed her temples.
"Getting our fifth," said Franny rolling down the window. She began a throaty screeching, shifting between lower and higher tones until she got a response. It was only a few nightmares at first. A hand with wings, a leg with legs, and a rolling head was the envoy that led the rest of the marching gore to them. Their union punctuated the parade. The mutated pieces of person slowly slotted themselves together until it vaguely resembled a person.
"Mazey, I have a need," said Franny.
Maizey chirped with interest.
"I'll give you the amulet."
Mazey chirped with great interest.
"Get in the van." As the fifth got in the van Franny placed a finger to her ear. "Sage this Glow-stick we have our fifth and are moving out."
"Who's your fifth?" asked Tessa.
"Mazey," said Franny.
"You're taking a Morlock?"
"Yes."
"Interesting, her operational designation will be 'Patch-work'."
"Ugh, copy."
"Your contact with Shield will be a special agent Phil-,"
"Just Phil?"
"Coulson, my apologies. I was re-authenticating our records. Intelligence designated him as K.I.A."
"Maybe they have their own Elixir?"
"Irrelevant, don't worry about a rendezvous point he'll find you when you get there. Transferring coordinates now. Make good decisions Green Team."
She scowled, motioning Yuuto to press onward. Aside from Franny's occasional directions the ride was silent until Crystal finally raised hand. "This isn't a classroom, just ask," said Franny.
"Food?" said Crystal.
"No, and don't start with that shit. I'm not Kenna and this isn't some pity trip to indulge an overpowered psychopath. We have a clear mission that needs to be handled in a delicate and professional manner."
"Which is?" asked Jono.
"Kill Kenna," said Franny. Crystal raised her hand again with great concern. "Again, not a classroom."
"What!?" yelled Crystal.
"You heard me, we may have to kill Kenna."
"That's different then what you said," said Crystal. Mazey chirped in agreement.
"Essentially we need to find Kenna, assess the situation, and find out why we need to kill Kenna."
"Do we have to kill her?" asked Jono.
"I guess 'we' don't, but 'I' will. I may require support as I have been stabbed recently," said Franny. Crystal raised her hand again. "Just say it!"
"What!?" yelled Crystal.
"If anybody has an issue with this, speak now or-," Yuuto pulled the van over. "Really? The child assassin, who has already nearly killed her once, is concerned with finishing the job?" He pulled a notecard seemingly from nowhere and handed it to her.
"The engine died," the notecard said.
"Bullshit, we just did a maintenance check on this thing," she looked back at the rest of her team, "Right?" Yuuto pointed at Jono who pointed at Crystal.
"It looked maintained," said Crystal sheepishly. Franny popped her claws, but reluctantly drew them back in. Opting instead to turn around in her seat wrapping her dangly lure light around her finger.
"Kenna's post X-cell assessment was not great. Danielle's report described her as a pendulum. Only acting in either one extreme or the other. And while I'd say she is still Kenna she was acting very off-brand the last time I saw her. Which is why I'm asking you to be prepared to save her and others from herself," said Franny.
"Is there anything else we should know?" asked Jono.
"She's soaking up a lake like a terrifyingly scaled dinosaur grow capsule."
"Should have led with that."
"I shouldn't have to but sure, whatever. Are there any other questions?" Mazey chirped in confusion. "Yeah, the ceiling girl from class," said Franny. Crystal raised her hand. "Ugh, you may speak."
"You know Mazey's noises?" asked Crystal.
"Well yes and no. Mazey talks through a combination of sounds, smells, and telepathic jargon. I understand it but can't speak it. It's like how she knows English but doesn't have the anatomy to actually say anything. Are there any other questions about the mission? No? Good, punch it Yuuto." Yuuto raised an eyebrow. "Re-able whatever you dis-abled." Yuuto twisted the key as hard as he could and pretended to drive the van with exaggerated enthusiasm. "So you weren't stopping the van in some act of defiance?" Yuuto shook his head. "Oh, can you fix it?"
"Yes, but no time," the note card said.
"Damn, options?" asked Franny.
"Walk or set the sails."
"Set the sails."
"That was a joke."
"Well the joke is on you, because it's happening 'Make-Shift'," said Franny. Their journey began again with a renewed life after Yuuto affixed some make-shift sails to the van which allowed Crystal to propel it forward with intense winds. Some trial and error might have been involved, but by using Jono's energy blasts for added maneuvering they were able to make it.
As they approached the designated coordinates a warm thick fog overtook them. It became so limiting that Franny had to get out onto the windshield to light the way. The deeper into the fog they went the more abandoned vehicles they found, but there were no signs of people.
"Hello Glow-stick," said the quad-copter-like drone with a surprisingly warm electronic voice. She signaled Yuuto to stop.
"With whom am I speaking with?" asked Franny standing on the hood of the van.
"Special Agent Phil Coulson of Shield."
"That's an odd thing to say out loud for an organization that's not supposed to exist."
"You're correct, but you'll find anonymity is quickly becoming a luxury nobody can afford."
"What's the situation like?"
"The enhanced variant is in the reservoir generating a dense cloud of considerable heat."
"That's it?"
"Getting a visual has been challenging due to the circumstances."
"How do you know she's even still there?"
"If the information your organization has provided us is accurate, we would have seen her move."
"You're not wrong."
"We'll continue to run interference with the public while you perform retrieval operations. We'll need to resolve this problem within the next hour before the sun rises and this becomes much harder to hide from the public eye. Is there anything you require of Shield at this time?"
"No, we're good."
"Good, take the provided earpiece. Keep us informed," said the drone launching the device at her face.
"We will," she said, catching it. While affixing a second earpiece to her head she gave a hand signal to the others that it was time to go to work.
The reservoir was low. Franny, Crystal, and Jono walked trying not to betray their approach. What would have been a difficult path down a steep embankment into a sauna had become trivialized by the elementalist. The mud reshaped itself into stairs, the heat cooled around them, and the waters parted as they went with Franny's light continuing to burn through the haze. When they got to the bottom of the lake Crystal pinged Franny's earpiece. Franny turned around. "I told you don't do that, that's a Jono and Yuuto only feature," Franny whispered.
"But I like the sound it makes," whispered Crystal.
"Well when you lose your tongue or mouth for one reason or another I'll let you do it too. What do you want?"
"Do we have to be so sneaky?"
"I prefer to see before being seen."
"I think she's hurting."
"That's probably a safe assumption," she said looking into the mist.
"Maybe we could be seen before we see?"
"No."
"Maybe Jono could think to her, maybe?"
"We tried that already technically and I'm afraid he'd give away our position broadcasting that openly."
"I could go alone. That way you'd be safe."
"No no no. I team leader. You squad member. We're sticking to the plan. Yuuto and Mazey are providing security while the big guns are assessing the situation. Slow is fast, fast is slow. The fact that there's a cloud here instead of a colossal sad sack of meat probably means there's another party in play. Do you understand?"
"Kenna!" yelled Crystal into the morning air. Franny drew her claws to Crystal's face. They were hovering just above the skin shaking with barely checked restraint.
"Fine! Whatever!" she said, dropping her hands, "Stay here! I'll go get her attention! I'll go get everybody's attention! Just promise me that you'll kill whoever blows me out the sky."
"Okay."
Franny flew into the sky lighting herself up. Her bioluminescence radiated with such intensity that even with closed eyes it was hard to face. She held it for as long as she could until thick tendrils of darkness eclipsed her light. To the rest of her team her abduction resembled a creature of the deep devouring unsuspecting prey. Jono pinged her. "I'm fine! I think! standby!" said Franny. He unzipped his jacket.
Kenna brought Franny up to her face and studied her, admiring the squirming creature with the same wondrous interest a child would have with a freshly caught firefly. Holding Franny in her orbit in the same way the Earth holds the moon. Franny was talking, but she didn't hear any of it. Franny was alive and that's all she needed to know. Not that she couldn't hear the many concerned vocalizations of her friend, but that she chose not to pay them any attention.
Franny was released next to a crumpled hunk of metal that vaguely resembled a taxi. It was sitting on Kenna's knee elevated just barely above the shrinking waters, bleeding all manner of fish. She approached it cautiously, scanning the wreckage and its inhabitants with her emerald searchlight until she spotted a pair of familiar horns poking out from a cocoon of fish. "Glow-stick to green team I found Lin," she pulled her out, checking for a pulse, "Alive, no sign of X-23 at this time." A great sigh echoed from above her, causing her to jump. "Patch-work fan out and see if you can catch her trail anywhere."
"Uh, Elementelle to Glow-stick, was that Kenna?" asked Crystal. Franny glared at the vast formless cloud above her.
"Yes."
"Is she okay?"
"She appears to be biting into her own forearm as a way to both hinder her swelling and produce concealment. Can you push back all the water around my position?"
"Where are you?" Franny blinked her lights with enough intensity to allow Crystal to see her and perform her careful craft. The waters receded into a swirling vortex around them allowing the muddy bottom a moment of exposure. The reprieve gave Kenna a chance to shed her mass. A chance she didn't take. Removing her teeth from her arm she stayed as she was.
"What are you doing?! We have thirty minutes to get you in that van before this gets real!"
"No," said Kenna. Even as her voice warmed up the air vibrated. Her word deep, powerful, and lingering. Franny took Lin over her shoulder flying up to Kenna's face, perching on her nose.
"No?" asked Franny with contempt.
"It's not over."
"Yes it is. Whatever you're talking about, yes it is. Let's go before you make the situation needlessly more complicated."
"He's not dead."
"Who and what?" Kenna raised her clenched fist up to Franny opening it. Facedown in her palm was a corpse of a man dressed with no style in mind. Pale and twisted in unnatural ways. Franny wiped the sweat off of her face. "Fuck."
"He's just waiting."
"Kenna you're already in deep shit and now you're clutching yet another dead guy."
"To hurt me."
"Did you hear me?"
"Again."
"This isn't good."
"Take Lin and Laura back."
"And now you're telling me what to do."
"I'll stay, and wait."
"Don't do that, not you."
"For the bird monster to come back." Kenna grabbed her wings, pinching them between her fingers. She slowly peeled Franny off her face. Placing her back down on the cold wet earth below.
Twenty minutes left, she took a deep breath finding a moment for herself amongst the noise. Scott said it was important to find such a thing in these conditions, to prevent making brash decisions. She adjusted her grip on Lin before calmly and collectively touching her earpiece.
"Chamber take her down." The force of Jono's radiant psionic blast knocked Kenna over. Franny watched with a measured glee as Kenna struggled to get a footing against such a force. Her entertainment was interrupted by a small piece of Mazey. An enthusiastic big toe with segmented legs hopped with the vigor of grasshopper to her shoulder emitting a series of low buzzings. "You did? Where?"
Franny tried following the piece of Mazey up the muddy embankment, but the sharp stabbing pain of her wound dropped her into the sludge. The various short term solutions that had propped her up thus far were crumbling. Mazey chirped back at her.
"Yeah, but just to get me up. Don't go crazy." Mazey bit into her, her eyes dilating for a second. "Oh boy, oh yeah, that's the stuff."
They continued up the hill running into another piece of Mazey that was actively avoiding the impossible sharp blades of Laura. "Laura, stand down, we're going home," said Franny. Laura stopped, looked at her, looked at where she stabbed her, chuckled to herself, and turned to walk away. It wasn't until Franny threw a rock at her did she charge with claws in mind, but before she could reach her she was bathed in a slow strobing blue light. "You're eleven right?"
Laura stopped, her attention stolen by Franny's dangly lure gently swinging from side to side. A strange calmness overcame her unlike anything she had felt before. "Good, watch the fairy," Franny said with a voice as soft as velvet, "Just like that. It's your friend. It loves you, more than anybody else in the world." Laura smiled, filled with emotions that she had been denied since her inception. "It wants so much for you. It wants to take you away, far away. From all of this, from all that troubles you."
"Franny we have a problem," said Jono telepathically. Franny twitched refocusing on Laura
"It wants you to sleep. It wants you to close your eyes and surrender to the world behind them." Laura did as she was told without resistance or complaint.
"What's wrong?" asked Franny over the comm.
"She's not going down."
"She is a target rich environment with no water source. How is this a conversation?" Jono didn't respond. "Chamber I lost you, respond. Glow-Stick to Elementelle, what's it looking like over there?" There was no answer either. "Mazey do you have any part of you over there that can get me a read on the situation?" Mazey squeaked while extending membrane like flaps.
It was only then did Franny realize how dark the scene had gotten behind her. Jono had stopped his assault. "Glow-stick to Make-shift do you copy?" Yuuto pinged his comm, "X-23 is pacified. She is located on the western side of the reservoir on the horn, I need you to get her to the van as quickly as possible." Yuuto pinged in acknowledgement.
She slid back down the muddy hill to an unsettling splash. The water that had been so carefully curtailed by Crystal had returned. Mazey screeched at her. "Because of course she did. Incapacitate her in such a way that she's not helping Kenna anymore and standby for the 'Franny Horror Picture Show'. Glow-Stick to Makeshift, grab Elementelle, Chamber, and Lin and take them back to the van as well," Yuuto pinged in acknowledgement.
"Franny, it doesn't appear as if all is going well over there," said Coulson over her other comm.
"What makes you say that?" Answered Franny.
"We are currently recovering one of your team."
"Which one?"
"Chamber, we're trying to provide medical attention but our medics aren't sure how to treat him."
"Read his file."
"We did, but they're lacking the training on how to treat sentient psionic energy."
"Just leave him alone he'll be fine."
"He was thrown a mile away from the operational area."
"He's built different, he'll be fine."
Dawn broke, but Franny remained in darkness. Overshadowed by Kenna's gradual standing form blocking the sun's light. Franny carefully removed both earpieces dropping on the ground. Basking in the sound of uninterrupted thought she lit herself up once more. "I hope you can see me Kenna," she said as hordes of Mazey's limbs and viscera fitted and formed around her, biting into her body. With veins bulging, pupils dilating, and her wings fluttering so fast they looked as if they weren't moving at all, her light strobed with a different color like a chromatic nightmare. "I'd hate for you to miss the show."