Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight
by Ben Church
The X-men are the property of Marvel Comics. Characters used
without permission.
Author's note: This story takes place just after X-Tinction Agenda,
a little before Bishop's arrival. The first section is largely an
excerpt from X-Men: Night of the Living Brain Dead. This is because
up to a point, everything happened exactly the same way. This is the
first story in a series of Hotshot Stories that take place in the true
Marvel Timeline. Previously called the Hotshot Saga, it's now called
The Hotshot Series.
Will Davidson, Daron Shaw, and Adam Hogan are my creations and
anyone who wishes to use them in a fan-fic must first have my
permission. Chances are I'll give it. Feedback is always appreciated. rlchurch@erols.com
Chapter 1
Burlington Vermont
Will's week was a hectic one. On Mondays he had Kung-Fu class,
and Tuesday through Friday he had music lessons with a different
instrument each time. On Tuesdays it was piano, Wednesdays: guitar,
Thursdays: harmonica, Fridays: fiddle. Then on weekends he hacked into
the information superhighway. In school he was in the choir, and the
band. As a result, he had very little time for school work.
Fortunately, due to his eidectic memory, he managed to get all A's and
B's.
Will returned home that Monday night tired from his martial
arts class, and ready for a nice sleep before school the next day.
Arriving at his building, he took his key from his pocket and started
to unlock the door. But the door was already unlocked.
"That's weird," he said to himself, "What idiot left the door
unlocked?" He shrugged and entered the building. After locking the
door behind him, he ascended the stairs to the apartment he shared with
his parents. They'd moved to the city soon after the death of his
sister 10 years ago. Having lived here for so long, he was used to the
climb and was in good shape so the climb didn't faze him.
Walking down the hallway, he smiled, remembering the new female
student in his class. He now had yet another reason to look forward to
Mondays. But all thoughts of romance left him when he reached his
apartment.
The lock on his door was broken, and the smell of smoke filled
the air like a fine mist. But what he noticed the most was the message
spray-painted on the door: "DIE MUTIE DIE".
Fearing the worst, he burst into the apartment and tripped over
something on the floor. He picked himself up and turned on the light.
The scene before him froze his blood. His parents were lying on the
floor blood seeping from gaping holes in their heads.
Will barely made it to the bathroom before his stomach reacted
violently to what he had just seen. He crouched over the toilet for a
moment allowing himself to calm down. He clenched his eyes shut in
vain attempt to hold back the tears. His parents had been all he had
after his sister had died, the rest of his extended family being
scattered to the four corners of the U.S. His parents had brought him
through the pain and shock of her death. And now they had been
murdered.
Suddenly, he remembered the smoke. Being careful not to look
in the direction of his parents, he followed the smell of smoke to the
kitchen. He entered to find smoke seeping from the oven. He opened
the door, and drew back, as a great cloud of noxious smoke poured out,
choking him. Coughing, Will waved for the smoke to away and saw that
tonight's dinner was ruined as well. Then he saw the bomb.
The explosion sent him hurtling out the window like a
cannonball. He bounced off the wall of the building next door, and
fell to the alley below. He plummeted nearly ten stories, but more
damage was done to the ground than to him.
For a moment, Will lay on his back, watching the flames pouring
out of the windows, in shock of what had just happened. Then he
gingerly picked himself off the ground. He was amazed to find that he
was not hurt at all. Even though his clothes had been burned beyond
recognition by the explosion, he was not even singed. Nor had he been
hurt from his fall. He'd not known until now just how invulnerable
he was. He'd never put his power to the test. His undamaged state was
to change drastically however.
"Well well well, my friends what do we have here?" said a voice
behind him. "Looks like the freak here didn't die after all." Will
looked up. Standing in the alleyway, blocking his escape, were five
young men. He recognized one from school but he didn't know any of the
others. Before what the leader had said could register, the closest
one threw a brick that connected solidly with his chest. Though not
hurt, he was knocked back into the alley, and they closed in.
The first hit him in the head with a length of lead pipe.
Will's head rocked back, and bounced off the wall. But much to the
boys' astonishment, he not only wasn't hurt but he was ready to fight.
Will let loose with a flurry of punches that quickly brought his
assailant to the ground. Before the others could react he took a
flying leap at the leader and felt his foot strike his jaw. The
leader went down like a marionette whose strings had been cut.
Another boy had managed to get around behind Will, while he was
occupied. He quickly got Will in a full nelson, and stood on his feet
immobilizing him. The two remaining boys produced knives from their
pockets, and came towards him.
The first grinned, and sliced open Will'sleft arm, laughing at
his scream of pain. A minute later they had produced several deep cut
in his arms and legs.
"Why-why are you doing this?" he gasped, the pain was almost
unbearable.
"Because€you're a mutant, fucker. And we couldn't let such a
marvelous effort go to waste could we?"
Wills face reddened with fury. "You killed my parents?"
"That's right my mutilated freak. And now we're going to kill
you."
"You son of a bitch!" Will screamed, and slammed his head into
the nose of the boy holding him. When he was released, he hit him in
the neck with his elbow, then cracked his head against the wall. The
first boy with the knife lunged at him. Will dodged effortlessly, and
caught his wrist. He gave it a twist and heard bone snap. Then he
took hold of the front of his jacket and threw him into the side of a
nearby dumpster.
The last remaining boy threw himself at Will. Will grabbed the
boy's hand and concentrated. The blade of the knife glowed red, then
white. The boy screamed as he felt his flesh melt and burn. The
scream snapped Will out of his rage. He released the boy's wrist and
stared in shock at what he had done.
The leader probably had a broken jaw, and the others were just
as seriously injured. Will gasped and stumbled. Then he turned and
ran out of the alley.
"Fucking mutie." the boy with the burned hand muttered and
drew a gun from his jacket with his good hand. He aimed the gun and
fired. The bullet entered through Will's left temple, and exited
through his left eye. Will howled with pain and thrust unthinking out
behind him with his power. The wave of heat left nothing behind in the
alley.
Jubilee heard the explosion from four blocks away. She and
Rogue had been sent to contact a mutant that Professor Xavier had
recently found with Cerebro.
"C'mon Rogue!" she yelled taking off in the direction of the
noise. "That sounded like it came from his apartment building!"
Jubilee quickly fell behind as Rouge flew at top speed to the source of
the explosion.
By the time they arrived, the fight had ended. The mutant
they'd been sent to find lay bleeding at the mouth of the alley. He'd
been shot, and had severe lacerations in his arms and legs. Jubilee
knelt at his side and felt for a pulse. She felt a faint throbbing.
"He's alive, but barely." she said. "We've got to get him to
the mansion. Now."
"No need to tell me twice Sugar." Rogue said. She scooped up
the boy in one arm and Jubilee in the other, and took off.
Beast sat reading the latest Stephen King novel in his room.
He hoped that good would win out in this one. They seldom did in
King's books. Beast couldn't really say why he liked King, truth was
certainly stranger than fiction these days. The intercom on his wall
beeped.
"Beast!" He'd been leaning back in his chair, and the call
came so suddenly that he fell backwards.
"I'm glad no one was around to see that." he said to himself.
Aloud he said, "What's wrong Warren?"
"We've got an emergency patient for you in the infirmary!"
"I'm on my way!" he replied and ran from the room.
To be continued...
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