Invasion



The sounds of explosions and screams that filled the hallway went unheard by the young mutant as she fled from danger. The only sound she could hear was the sound of her own heart, racing through her chest. Clarice Ferguson turned the corner and saw the flight of stairs, her only means of escape, only a few yards away. As she neared salvation, the young mutant found herself falling to the floor. Clarice’s chin smashed into the floor. She wheeled around and discovered that something had grabbed her leg.

The tendril wrapped around her ankle appeared to be a mixture of black and gold metal, but felt as if it were pulsing with life. Clarice could feel the tendril pulling her in the opposite direction, away from the stairs. No matter how hard she resisted; it all seemed to be futile. Suddenly, Clarice felt that her ankle was no longer being pulled. She looked up to find an outstretched hand in front of her. As Clarice reached up and took the hand, she felt herself being pulled to her feet.

The hand belonged to Jonothon Starsmore. Like Clarice, Jono was a student at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in Snow Valley, Massachusetts. Neither of them were normal teenagers, but mutants. Their mutations were also quite visible.

Clarice was young girl, no more than fifteen. She had vibrant red hair and lavender skin. Also, upon her face, near her eyes, appeared special unique markings that seemed to be a part of her mutation. Her ears were pointed and similar to the ears of an elf or fairy. The most amazing mutation of Clarice is her ability to distort spatial energy and teleport using "blinking" holes in space.

Jono was seventeen years old and from England. The manifestation of Jono’s mutant powers had dire results. Jono is not only a telepath, but has the ability to project a strong bio-blast of psionic energy from his mouth. However, when his powers first manifested themselves, the release of the energy caused Jono to lose the lower portion of his face as well as much of his chest. As a result, Jono generally wraps that portion of his body, and communicates telepathically.

"Are you okay, Blink?" asked Jono telepathically, as he pulled Clarice to her feet. She nodded as she stood. Then, she felt herself being pushed aside as Jono reached for the cloth covering his face. Jono pulled the cloth down, and a huge blast of psionic energy erupted from his face. The blast completely incinerated a piece of the end of a tendril similar to the one that had grabbed Clarice’s ankle.

"What are those things, Jono?" asked Clarice. Jono didn’t take time to answer her question. He simply grabbed her arm and began to race down the stairs. When they reached the bottom floor, they noticed that everything had become quiet. Then, a faint rumble interrupted the silence. Clarice and Jono began to look all around the room to find the source of the rumbling. Their eyes gazed back up to the top of the stairs. The calm that was before them was replaced by complete destruction. The wooden banister at the top of the stairs exploded into splinters of wood as a massive black and gold metallic figure burst through the second floor railing. Jono and Clarice brought their hands up to shield themselves.

Suddenly, a piercing howl filled the room. The shriek was so powerful that it shattered the metallic figure, and pushed the debris back onto the second floor. Jono and Clarice rounded to find their headmaster floating to the ground. His name was Sean Cassidy. The Irish-born mutant, also known as Banshee, has the genetic gift of a destructive sonic scream, which also enables him to fly.

"Are ye two all right?" asked Sean. Both of the students nodded as they noticed the look of concern on their headmaster’s face. "Where are the rest of ye?"

The wooden door, which led towards the kitchen, shattered to pieces as several young students came bustling through the door, followed by an older woman dressed in white. They appeared to be pursued by the same gold and metallic creature that had pursued Jono and Clarice. A small and very young Asian girl turned around and raised her hands at the oncoming menace. An explosion of fireworks erupted from her gloved fingertips and collided with the creature.

"Take that creep!" yelled the girl. Her fireworks held the creature at bey for a moment. However, Jono fired another bio-blast and the creature fell to the ground in pieces once again. "Hey! I had him!"

"Jubilee, we haven’t the time to be playin’ hero!" said Sean to the Asian girl. "Emma, I think we need to alert, Xavier," said Sean to the older woman in white.

"You’re right, Sean," replied Emma. Emma Frost was the headmistress of the school, and a mutant as well. She is one of the strongest telepaths in the world. However, she keeps the past events of her life to herself, never sharing any details with her students. "Clarice, we need you to open one of your ‘blinking’ holes to the Xavier Institute in Bayville, New York."

Clarice looked shocked. "I don’t know how. I don’t know where it is!"

"Come here quickly," ordered Emma. Clarice walked over to Emma, who placed her hands upon Clarice’s temples. "I’m going to implant an image of the estate and of Charles Xavier in your mind, so that you will understand how to get there." Emma closed her eyes, and began projecting the images of Bayville Xavier Institute and of Charles Xavier.

Before Emma could finish, the floor just in front of the door exploded. The same and gold and black metallic creature emerged from the crevice. This time, however, the creature had assumed a humanoid form. He immediately extended a tendril from his arm, which wrapped itself around one of the students. The tendril had wrapped around a student with gray skin. The young mutant started to extend his skin across the room, towards his fellow students for help.

"Angelo!" called another of the students. It was a girl with short, blonde hair. She ran towards Angelo and tried to free him from the tendril binding him very tightly. Another tendril exploded from the chest of the metallic creature and shot around the girl’s wrist.

"Paige!" called Sean. He ran towards the girl, wrapped his arms around her waist, and began to pull. Paige’s hand was pulled free, but the skin on her hand had been ripped off. Paige looked at her hand and saw the shiny steal coating that was covering her hand. "Get movin’ girl! You’ve got warn, Xavier!" said Sean to Paige.

"But, Mr. Cassidy," protested Paige, "what about Angelo? We can’t leave him!"

"Ye’ll do what ye’re told! As team leader, it’s your responsibility to see the rest of the kids to safety! Do ye understand? ‘Cause if ye don’t, I’ll give the job to someone else!" replied Sean.

After a moment of hesitation, Paige turned around and beckoned the other students to gather around Clarice. "Clarice open the hole now!" ordered Paige. Clarice shut her eyes and a few inches above her head, a circular yellow disc of energy appeared. "All right, everyone! Through the portal!" The students began to file in through the portal. Jubilee jumped through first, followed by Jono. Then, a tall dark-skinned girl with long black hair leaped through the portal. She was followed by a young boy, also with dark skin and a shaved head. Finally, Paige gestured for her headmistress, Ms. Frost, to go through next.

As she was about to leap through, a black and golden tendril grabbed wrapped around Ms. Frost’s waist and jerked her away from the portal. Paige turned to see that the creature now had both of the school headmasters wrapped in its tendrils, as well as her classmate, Angelo.

"Leave girls!" called Ms. Frost. "You’re the only chance we have! Remember you must warn Xavier!" Paige bit her lip as if debating whether she should comply with her mentor’s orders. "Paige please! Ahhhhh!"

Paige and Clarice looked on in horror, as the creature pulled all three of its prisoners inside itself. When they were no longer visible the girls turned and leaped through the portal. The metallic creature began to race after them, but the portal closed before he could reach it.

"You cannot escape me. I am Harvest!" called the metallic creature. He closed his eyes, and began to search within himself. Then, his eyes exploded open. "Bayville. They’ve gone to Bayville to get help from Charles Xavier." Harvest turned and prepared to exit the door. He opened his mouth, and an ear-piercing shriek escaped its mouth, shattering the large wooden door. "I will succeed in my mission. As I absorb more mutants, I will become stronger. Then, nothing will stand in the way of the Phalanx Empire. And Earth simply becomes another acquisition of the empire." Then, Harvest began to soar into the sky and fly towards Bayville.