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A HERO AND A ROSE written by Brawl Synopsis: An insane telepath transports Paige and Jono into a version of the Beauty and the Beast, Jono playing the role of the Beast. They must discover their true love for each other before it is too late and they are trapped in the telepath's world forever... Disclaimer: Chamber, Husk, Generation X and all related chracters are property of Marvel Comics and aren't being used to gain profit on my behalf. Jakob Faron is my creation, please don't use him without my permission. There are some similarities to Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Please forgive me. @--}----- "Jono!" Jonothon Starsmore snapped out of his daydream. Emma stood directly in front of him. He smiled in his own way. {Yeah Emma?} he replied. "Would you answer the question?" she said. {Uh,} he studdered, {what was the question exactly?} "Was there really talking utensils in the original story of Beauty and the Beast, like there was in the Disney movie?" she asked. Jono thought for a second. 'Why are we talking about faerie tales?' he thought. 'Oh yeah, lit class.' {No,} he said. Emma smiled and nodded. Telepathicly, Jono breathed a sigh of relief. Before anything else happened, the alarms went off in the school. Emma cursed under her breath. Sean ran into the room. "What e'er 'tis," he said, his Irish brouge being a little more severe, "we cannae find it." Emma turned to her pupils in Generation X. "Split up an' search, team," she said. "Jubilee and Monet, Ev and Penance, Angelo and myself, Jono and Paige, and Sean will stay here. Okay team?" Jono and Paige glared at each other for an instant, but nodded. "Okay move!" @--}----- Paige followed Jono outside onto the school's grounds. They quickly went towards the woods. Quickly, Jono started plowing through blindly. "Jono!" Paige exclaimed. "Ah think we ought to go th' other way." He spun to face her. {Would ye let me lead here? Or does your bloody ego need you to lead?} "Watch it buddy," she argued, "ah'm a better leader then you'll ever be." {Would you two stop arguing and find me?} a playful voice said inside their heads. {What?} Jono said. "Show yerself!" Paige said. {You insist.} A man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties jumped in front of them from the trees overhead. {Jakob Faron at your service,} he said. He was roguishly handsome, but had a crazed look in his eyes. His hair looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks and had twigs and leaves stuck in it. He smiled insanely. {Welcome to my world!} he cried out. He held up his hand. Before Paige or Jono could react, they blacked out from Jakob's telepathic wave. @--}----- Paige LaBelle woke up looking into the face of her beloved, Jakob Faron. She sat up, rubbing her head. "What happened?" she asked Jakob. She stood and brushed her dress off. 'Dress?' Paige thought, 'Ah was wearing jeans and a T-shirt.' Just as sudden as the thought came into her mind, it faded away. "You were thrown from your horse when she was spooked by a terrible roar from the castle," he said, still kneeling and pointing to the castle. "Do you think the rumors of that horrible beast are true?" she asked him. Jakob shook his head. "I'm as sure that they're false as sure as I am of that fact I love you." He stood and kissed Paige. She melted into his arms. His kiss was incredible. She suddenly pulled away. "No," she muttered, "Jono." "Who's Jono?" Jakob asked. "Ah don't know," she said thoughtfully. 'Jono?' she thought, 'why is that name so familiar?' "Come love," Jakob said, "we must leave." She nodded and got back on her horse. Jakob got on his horse and rode to the side of Paige's horse. He kissed her. Paige returned the kiss with the love she felt for him. He rode off as Paige gazed back at the castle. She decided to return that night and investigate the rumors of the beast. She spurred her horse to follow Jakob's, glancing at the castle one last time. @--}----- Jonothon L'Or roared again. He hated his monsterous form. He was a creature to contempt and nothing more. He lashed out with his super-power at the mirror in his chamber. The blast of energy shattered it, but didn't destroy it. He looked at the image in numerous shards of glass. "No," he said, "NOOOOO!!!!" 'I have a voice!' he thought for an instant. He raised his horrible, disfigured hands to his face. With excitment bubbling inside him he realized that he had a mouth and jaw and the front of his neck and top part of his chest. Then he forgot why that seemed so odd to him. He spun to his door, and to his butler, the small living clock called Montre. "What do ye want?" he said angrily with his deep bass rasp. "Sir," Montre said nervously, "dinner is ready." "I'm not hungry!" "Sir, the kitchen staff is requesting that you eat since you haven't eaten all week." "I don't care what the bloomin' kitchen staff thinks," he said. "Jono," Montre said with his voice softening, "is this about the rose starting to wilt?" "How did you know about that?!?" he roared with rage in his voice. Montre wilted under his master's furious stare. "I heard from the cleaning staff," he stated, too scared to say anything else. Jono heaved a sigh of relief. That rose was starting to wilt. The real rose was hidden from everyone but him. He hoped that rose hadn't started to wilt. He would have to check it after Montre left. "Very well," Jono said softly. "Tell the staff I'll be down shortly." Montre smiled. "Yes sir." The clock-man left. Jono slumped down into his chair. He looked out the window with the strangest feeling overcoming him. He wondered what would happen that night. @--}----- Paige slipped away quietly from one of the many parties that Jakob threw since their engagment. She loved him, but something wasn't quite right about it. He was just odd in some way. She went out into the stable and put a saddle and blanket on her horse. She felt almost like it was all a lie. For one thing Jakob reacted differently to the fact that she was a powered one than any one else she had met, even other powered ones. She started riding along the road that she had ridden down earlier that day. In the forest she could see strange figures all around her. She shook the images off as her imagination. Then she started seeing more definite images as she neared the castle. Then three of the images jumped out in front of her in the road. 'Bandits!' she thought. She husked into a diamond form. The nearest bandit extended his hand towards Paige. The husk wore off, reverting her into human form. She realized that these were no ordinary bandits, but part of the ruthless Underground, evil powered ones united to steal from all others, powered and not. "Alright chere," one of the bandits said. "Go to the side of the road until we're ready for you. Leave any purses, necklaces, rings, or other valuables that you have on the horse." Paige followed his instruction in fear. She feared what he meant by 'ready for her.' Before she could think about it further, a roar came from behind the bandits. "Leave the lady alone!!" a voice growled. The bandits spun. "Ou es-tu?" one of the bandits said. "Right here Frenchy!" The bandit was tackled by a flying mass of robes and fur. The creature turned to the other bandits. "You wanna be like ton ami here?" he said, mocking the bandit that he had just knocked out. One drew a dagger from his belt. "Who are you?" he asked with a Spanish accent. "El Diablo?" "Worse." A blast of energy from the creature hit the Spaniard. The dagger, and the hand holding it, disappeared in a burst of flame. The Spaniard grabbed his wrist to stare at the remains of his hand. He started screaming Spanish curses and ran off into the woods. The last bandit stared wide-eyed at the creature for an instant and ran into the forest screaming. "You okay?" he said to Paige. She nodded. "Good, 'cause I'm not." He grunted and collapsed. Paige gasped and ran to his side. She grabbed he horse, which had stayed the whole time, quite amazingly. She hefted the creature up onto the horse's back. She led the horse towards the castle. @--}----- Jono awoke looking into the girl's face. She smiled at him. "You stayed?" he said in amazement. "Ye helped me Paige? The girl drew back. "How do you know mah name?" she gasped. "I didn't," he said. "I just said it." He had no idea how he knew this girl's name. For that matter he had never seen her before in his life. 'Yes, you have!' he thought. 'You know Paige and love her.' He shook his head. She shook her head at that exact instant. "Is your name Jono?" Paige asked. "Yes! It is!" "Ah wonder how ah knew that." She sat back in the chair she was sitting in. Jono sat up. "You're beautiful," he said. "I must disgust you." He turned his horrible animalistic face away from her. "No, no," Paige said. "You don't. How did you know to come out? You saved mah life." "I don't know," he said. "I just had the urge to take a walk." After he checked the rose and eaten dinner he had the urge to leave the castle and go out into the woods. Leaving the castle had been unheard of to him before then, much less going out into the forest surrounding the castle. He happened upon the robbery and decided to stop it. "Mah goodness!" Paige exclaimed. "Jakob!" She rose. She looked even more beautiful in that instant. Jono put his hand out towards her. "Wait! Don't leave! Will I see you again?" He struggled to get up. Paige rushed back towards him. She laid him back down. "Ah can't say for certain," she said, "but ah hope so." She smiled at him and left. Montre and his chief steward, Sympa, came into the room. The small living candlestick smiled. "So monsieur," he said. "Could she be...?" "Possibly," Jono said. "Leave it at that please." "What do you think of the lady?" "I'm not certain," Jono replied, scratching his chin. The two enchanted beings left the room. His brow furrowed in frustration. How did he know Paige's name? Why did she come? How did he know to go out just in time to save Paige? He got up and went to the window. He watched Paige ride off towards the village. Then something caught his eye. Although they weren't following Paige, he could see a group of bandits on the road leading to the village. He wondered if they were Undergrounders. He hoped not. He didn't have the strength to fight powered ones just then. He left the room for his bed chambers. He needed some sleep. @--}----- Paige left her horse in the stable and went home. When she got there Jakob was waiting. "Where have you been?" he asked, his voice full of concern. There was something odd about his tone of voice. "Riding," Paige lied. An angry look crossed Jakob's face. "Don't lie to me," he said, "you know my powers." "Then why did you ask me where ah went?" "I thought you were going to tell the truth," he said, "now you've forced me to do something drastic to keep you away from that beast!" "He isn't a beast!" Paige exclaimed. "He saved mah life! Leave Jono alone." "You know his name?!?" Jakob's face was becoming red from rage. "You have forced me to do this!" Paige looked into Jakob's eyes to see, not the man she loved, but a madman. He held his hand out at Paige. A flash of energy hit Paige. She cried out in pain. Jakob stepped outside as she blacked out. "Tell the other Undergrounders that the time has come to kill the beast in the castle," he said to a man Paige couldn't see. "Go now!" He came back inside and looked at her. "Are you still awake? Oh well." He walked over to Paige and slugged her. Her world finally went black. @--}----- Jono checked the rose before he went to bed. Horrified, he saw a petal fall. "MONTRE!!!" The clock rushed into the room. Jono held the rose in his hand. "It's wilting. How long do we have?" He looked at it for several seconds. "A few hours at the most," he stated weakly. "NOOOOOO!!!!" Jono dropped the rose and rushed past his butler. "Where are you going master?" Montre called after him. "To Paige!" He rushed into the stables. He chose the biggest and fastest horse and set off bareback. As he rode, images started coming to his mind, images of other teenagers. Images of Paige and himself fighting strange beings. Images of a bald Negro youth and a small Asian girl. Images of an Irish man and platnium blond woman teaching them. Images of a Hispanic young man, a black girl and a mute youth with diamond skin. Images of Generation X. Images of Chamber and Husk and Banshee and Jubilee and Synch and White Queen and Skin and Monet and Penance. Images of his true past. In that instant, the beast Jonothon L'Or ceased to exist and the hero Jonothon Starsmore reappeared, fully human. Jono raised his hand to his face only to realize he had his face. A triumphant cry echoed through the country side. The rose stopped wilting. One petal remained. @--}----- Paige struggled against her bonds. She had woken about a minute earlier. She had to get loose and warn Jono about the Undergrounders. She could hear the mob outside the cellar. "This beast has kidnapped my beloved!" Jakob cried. "Then he killed her. He sent me her ring to mock me!" Paige could picture Jakob holding the ring into the air like some horrible trophy. "He must die for this injustice!" Paige struggled harder. The mob had been driven into a frenzied rage. Jakob left them to simmer to a higher point and came to mock Paige. The cellar opened just enough for Paige to see the pitchforks and torches carried by the townfolk. Jakob slipped in carrying a torch. His insane smile had grown wider. His eyes had become bloodshot and he walked bow-legged and hunched over. "I'm sorry love, but for this plan to really work you have to be dead at the castle. I'm lucky one o' th' Undergrounders is a teleporter. And when they find an Undergrounder with your body, they'll think that the beast worked with them and after the townfolk kill the beast, they'll go after the Undergrounders and my world will be perfect." Jakob started laughing insanly. He held up the torch to strike her down. "Tell Saint Peter I sent you!" "Stop!" The cellar door imploded. Wood splinters cut at Paige's face. "You have one chink in that plan friend!" Chamber stood at the top of the stairs, a field of energy surrounding his hand. A sudden onslaught of telepathic information flooded Paige's mind. She remembered everything about Generation X and her life. "I'M THAT CHINK!!!!" Chamber hit Jakob with a bio-blast. Paige jumped to her feet and rushed up the stairs to Jono, hands still tied behind her. Jono untied the knots and Paige husked. In her adamantium form, Paige jumped out of the cellar with Jono close behind. Jakob rushed out behind them. "How'd you...? No matter now. Kill them!!!" he cried. About a dozen Undergrounders appeared around them. Jono fired on one with a bio-blast. He fell. "Fight hard love," Jono said. "See ye after it's over." Paige rushed the nearest Undergrounder. It was tackled by about four hundred pounds of speeding adamantium before it could move. She turned to the next Undergrounder and swung wildly at him. He dodged and disappeared in a blur. He reappeared just behind her. He swung his arm down at Paige's neck. The adamantium protected Paige well, as the Undergrounder broke his arm on her back. She kicked his knees hard. She heard the kneecaps crack in two. He fell. Jono finished off the last Undergrounder before Paige realized that anything had happened to them. He turned to face Jakob. He smiled his insane smile. "You win Gen Xers," he said. "But you won't win round two." He raised his arms and the remainder of Generation X appeared. The look on Jakob's face told Chamber and Husk that he hadn't intended on that happening. Emma stepped towards Jakob. "Surrender, Jakob Faron," she said. Jakob screamed and a wake of light blossomed out around Jakob. Paige was blinded. @--}----- "She's waking up!" Jubilee exclaimed. Paige opened her eyes. Chamber was looking down at her. "Jono, are we...?" {Yes,} he said. Paige laughed and sat up. On the next bed Jakob was sprawled out unconscious. "What about him?" she asked. Chamber smiled in his way. {Nick Fury from S.H.I.E.L.D. is coming to pick him up,} he said. {He tried committing phsycic suicide. Emma stopped it though. I hear that S.H.I.E.L.D. is really interested in the way he sucked us into his own little world.} Paige laughed again. Then she looked into Jono's eyes. "How'd you get past the Undergrounders?" Paige asked. {I was human right? They just didn't notice me until I blasted the cellar.} Jono smiled without smiling again. "Your face..." she said, touching his face just above the bandages. {It's alright, I'll be fine.} Paige could feel the hurt in Jono's voice. Jubilee gagged behind them. "You two know you're not the only ones here don't you?" she said. "Ah guess so," Paige replied. "An' ah don't care." Paige got off the bed and stood on her tiptoes to kiss Jono's forehead. The sound of the others in the hall caught Paige's attention. She turned and smiled to face her friends. Jono and herself had some story to tell. THE END
