Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men or any related characters
This is it, Rise of the Dead, part three in my MArvel series following Cry of the Phoenix and Echo of Destiny, reading those ones would be central to understand that a lot of things have changed. A few people have come back from the dead. This fic answers the question, how did Laurie Collins come back from the dead. Also my OC Gothica becomes a greater threat then he'll ever be in my True Heroism story. Joining the X-men will be my OC's Sieg, Azure Eagle, Driver, Albion and Aeon so if your a fan of OC's you'll have plenty to chew on.
So read and enjoy
The Rise of the Dead
Chapter 1: Reunion
It had been a year after the invasion from the forces of Karabai and already things had returned to normal. Or at least as normal as things could get in the world where people could fly without wings (or with actual wings). Norman Osborn was still at large and Fury was pouring most of his resources into finding him. Some of the major cities had been repaired, though there was still some work to be done. The X-men had moved back to Westchester, with a bigger mansion but smaller classes, considering most of the world's mutants had gone to Magneto's new Utopia. Hank McCoy stood in front of his chemistry class, most of which consisted of new faces and an old one. Laurie Collins hadn't completed her high school diploma, so she was doing a GED. The mystery behind her strange and sudden resurrection hadn't been explained, but people were thankful she was back. And people wouldn't get worked up about it now considering what day it was. Jean and Scott organised a reunion for all the X-teams, even Brian Braddock was coming over and a few other Ex-X-men.
"All right class, if you could all have your projects on chapter four back to me by next week we'll consider a field trip" Hank said, dismissing his class.
The children gathered their books and began walking towards the door. Hank looked to Laurie, who was taking longer than the others.
"How are you doing Laurie?" Hank asked.
"It's a little daunting Professor McCoy, having to go through this again I mean" Laurie said.
"How's your mother been doing?"
"Cried as soon as I got through the door, kept saying I died over and over, still I'm going over there for dinner tonight, I just find it strange coming back to a load of change" Laurie explained.
"You could talk to Jean and Elizabeth about it, or maybe half of the team" Hank chuckled inwardly.
"It's okay, I'll just settle for dinner at my mom's" Laurie smiled.
"You could bring her over if you wanted"
"She doesn't exactly like this place, although I am taking someone from the mansion over there"
"A date?" Hank asked.
"Well we might be" Laurie said as a blush crept across her face.
"Go on then Laurie, you go get ready for your "might be date"" Hank chuckled.
Hank smiled as Laurie walked out of the door. He looked out of the window and gasped in happiness as a car rolled up to the doorsteps. Opening the window, Beast leapt out of the classroom, flipping in midair and landing smoothly in front of the guests.
"Jubilation Lee, my stars and garters look how you've grown" Hank said, hugging the young Asian woman.
For old times sake, Jubilee had taken to wearing her yellow coat again, but wore a casual green tank top and jeans. Beside her were her old generation X teammates Paige Guthrie and Jono Starsmore, the latter of whom was wearing a scarf to conceal his resemblance to Apocalypse. Hank picked them all up, wrapping his ape like hands around them.
"Ah the next generation all grown up" Hank sighed.
"Yeah, that means you lot are now the old folks" Jono said.
"Careful, some of these old folks could still kick your ass bub"
"LOGAN!" Jubilee yelled, running up to her old father figure and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Good to see you Jubes, St' Croix is inside along with a few others if you want to see them" Logan said gruffly.
"Did Theresa bring the baby?" Paige asked.
"Yep, and Warren bought Betsy" Logan said.
"Oi, watch your mouth mate" Jono growled.
"Or what Apocalypse Junior?"
Hank stepped in between the two men, smiling sheepishly.
"Anyway how about we get inside and see little Jamie and Theresa, Hope's getting bigger too" Hank said, putting his around Jono and Paige's shoulders and leading them inside.
"Good to see you Logan, stay out of trouble you hear" Jubilee said, following Hank inside.
Logan grunted before walking over to a tree. He laid down against it, tilting his hat over his face.
"Logan, I hope you weren't thinking of picking a fight with Jono!" Charles Xavier said telepathically.
'Daken got out of prison Chuck, so have Mystique and Juggernaut, and here we are just gathering targets, Jubilee, Sophia and Rictor don't have any powers to defend themselves' Logan thought.
"But they can look after themselves you know, you need to have more faith in them"
"Maybe Chuck, maybe!" Logan sighed.
Siegfried Wallace awoke from his slumber and looked around the room. It was the same old room that once belonged to Julian Keller. Sieg felt that he was an intruder in the mansion; he wasn't getting on well with X-23 either. The girl loved Julian, but ever since his murder she seemed to have drifted back to her cold demeanour. Looking over at his regular clothing, Sieg sighed. The hoody and shirt had long since been abandoned. Now he had two choices, a polo shirt and jeans, or jeans and shirt with tie. Of course he needed to wear something formal considering whom he was meeting. He needed some professional advice.
"Excuse me Mrs Summers, which ones better shirt and tie or polo?" Sieg asked, hoping both his thoughts and voice would reach the telepath.
"You want advice about style darling you should come to me, I was a model longer than Jean was, I recommend grey shirt without the tie, grey cause it matches the hair, no tie cause its shows your trying too hard, leave the top button undone and their should be some brown slacks in Scott's wardrobe" Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock explained.
"Um, thanks Psylocke" Sieg muttered.
"When in doubt just ask the ninja Sieg"
'Unfortunately not all ninja's are like you' Sieg thought, rubbing his eyes.
He didn't know where Aeon was, whether he was staying under cover or on the streets. Ever since he came back during the invasion, Aeon had either been saving small people from fires and Earthquakes, taking rescue missions for S.H.I.E.L.D. or just waiting for something to happen. But Sieg had been looking at Colleges, training with the X-men, socialising with the students and even applying for a job at the coffee shop Noriko Ashida worked at.
The partnership he imagined forming with Aeon was non-existent. Sieg leaned his head back, he was glad that Sven was back, but at the cost of Slade Muga's life and worst of all Gothica was still at large plus Celeste and her sisters had lost their emotions after having to fuse their minds to fight Karabai's general Meijin.
'Let's face it Sieg, things can't get any worse' Sieg thought.
"JUST GREAT! JUST WHEN THINGS ARE BAD THEY GET WORSE!!!" Nathan Summers or better known by his mercenary name Cable was in a very bad mood as he looked out of the window.
"If your going to go to a party you might as well arrive in style" Bobby Drake said.
"Braddock is going to be arriving in style, Ororo will arrive in style, we're going to arrive with freaking heart attacks" Cable explained.
"Oh come on our transport isn't that bad, Driver's got a sweet ride" Anole said.
"Maybe, but his antics are unprofessional, with the rate he drives at I'm surprised anyone hasn't had a heart attack as for Deadpool…I may not be old anymore but god damn it he still gets my blood pressure up"
"But he doesn't drive fast" Dust pointed out.
"He just doesn't stop talking" Sam Guthrie shivered.
"Well look on the bright side, at least we're eating at a good place" Elixir said, lying on the sofa with his girlfriend Loa.
"Why cant we just stay at the mansion, we've got a big enough dining hall?" Ink asked.
"I guess Charles wants a different atmosphere" Dani Moonstar said, flipping through a page of a book she was reading.
"I thought the whole idea of a reunion was to be in a familiar place and talk about old times" Indra chuckled.
"Some of our old times can be painful" James Proudstar said, looking out of the window at the graves on the school grounds.
The X-men and women in the room lowered their heads, remembering everyone they had lost.
He couldn't fly, so he needed to rely on other methods of transport. Sometimes they weren't legal, but he never regretted the end result. Jumping over the African hut, the man in grey armour punched a lowly bandit across the head. They were men seeking to take advantage of the recent invasion, offering "protection" to the tribes. The men never even knew what hit them, every time the armoured man knocked one of them out he ran at another. Bullets bounced off of his armour as he threw two giant shields at the shooters hidden under cover. The shields threw them back, sending them rolling across the floor. Reaching for the assault rifle on his back, the armoured man fired a volley of bursts, shooting several of the rebels in the knees. Jumping over one of the huts, he then ran to the downed rebels.
"I know you understand me, so don't pretend that you don't, stay right there or I will shoot you" He said.
The rebels let go of their weapons and raised their hands. As the Wakandan authorities arrived, the armoured man ran away, jumping onto the back of a cargo truck. Pulling the covers over his body, Aeon relaxed as the truck took him to an airport. Dismantling his rifle, Sven, threw the parts in the nearest bin and crumbled the bullets to dust. Throwing on a coat and hood, he crept across the airfield towards a plane that would be going to America. He leant against the wall, closing his eyes as he rested.
"All right Sven, no more guns, that's the last time" He said to himself.
He couldn't restore hope across the world; alls he could do was stop any more people from dying. In the aftermath of the alien invasion, a crime spree had begun in every major city, with most of the emergency services assisting in repairs heroes like Spider-man and the Fantastic Four had to play as law enforcement for a while. Of course Sven hadn't been approached for this task, he was focusing his power on independent work. And his independent work wasn't too expensive; he'd just have a lot to answer for if the authorities ever found him.
"Now Sven, don't go regretting what your doing…the law isn't everything" He said.
The registration act was something he never would have gone along with. He came back to a world where everything had changed. Leaning his head back, Sven closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. The plane would arrive at Washington soon.
Sieg looked at himself in the mirror, he looked good enough for the occasion. Of course it was a major improvement over clothes that never got washed and a big sword on his back. His sword had shattered when Aeon was bought back but his powers hadn't faded. The super strength, energy projection, even the second skin armour. And there was no cure available, even the Initiative's Spin tech had no effect on super humans connected to Aeon. Combing his hair, Sieg nervously moved towards the door as his date softly knocked. Swinging the door open, Sieg blushed at whom he saw. Laurie Collins AKA Wall Flower wasn't a sexy girl like Celeste, but she had her own beauty. Her hair was hanging off her shoulders like always; she wore a simple pair of jeans and a purple shirt.
"Good to see you made an effort" Laurie said.
"You look pretty Laurie, are you sure your ready for this?" Sieg asked.
"You make it sound like I'm doing something for the first time"
"Well technically neither of us have…then again you've been dead and I've been an obsessed super hero…I was asking about you having dinner with your mom actually" Sieg said nervously.
"Oh yeah I um…well my Mom would hopefully have cleared up, I mean she was upset when the X-men turned up at her doorstep, then I come out of the blue alive and well…I'm surprised she isn't in an institute" Laurie explained.
"Yeah…so are we ready to go?" Sieg asked.
Laurie nodded her head, trying to contain her blush as she and Sieg walked towards the front door. Logan put on a suit for the reunion the team would be having. Both Scott and Jean were already prepared and waiting for the transportation to arrive. Xavier walked out of Cerebra, sighing as the three Cuckoo sisters continued to work inside the amplifier. They wouldn't be joining the party, but they weren't the only ones. Ink wouldn't be coming; neither would the new arrivals Molly Hayes and Klara Prast from the Runaways were staying too. Michael Pointer was another that was staying as an unofficial baby sitter. David and Noriko weren't going to the reunion party either. Xavier assumed it was because they had their own plans.
'Its too bad there are some old friends we'll never see again' Xavier thought.
Logan lit up a cigar and growled as two limos drove up to the mansion. Out of one came one of the most annoying men that Logan had ever met. Deadpool was dressed in his usual costume, although this time he had a red tuxedo over his uniform. An equally annoying man then stepped out of the grey and red limo beside Deadpool.
"All right everyone, what are we waiting for, the party cant get started without the hosts right Deadpool?" Driver asked, tilting his sunglasses.
"Indeed it cant start Driver, everybody hop on the Deadpool express so we can start this adventure" Deadpool said.
Cable slapped his forehead, to think he actually worked with an idiot like that.
"Hey Charles, have you seen James?" Domino asked.
"No I cant say I have, he'd better get ready…patience is one thing Driver doesn't have" Xavier said.
"Actually Professor, James said he wouldn't be coming today, I guess he just wasn't in the mood" Sam Guthrie said.
"Very well, everyone take your transportation and meet us at the diner" Xavier said, walking with Sam, Dani, Illyana, Piotr, Hank, Domino and Roberto towards Driver's vehicle.
Cable huffed as he, Domino, Paige, Jubilee, Monet, Darwin, Laura, Jono and Tabitha climbed into Deadpool's car. Logan got on his bike while Jean and Scott drove with the younger X-men, half of who were in Sophia Montega's car. Laurie and Sieg walked on the pavement, waving goodbye as the cars drove past them. Eventually the X-men arrived at the diner that had been cleared out for them to use. A lot of journalists and fans were their, taking photographs as they walked on a red carpet towards the door. Before Jean and Scott could walk onto the carpet there was a sudden gust of wind. The X-men looked up and widened their eyes as a veteran floated onto the carpet, the Queen of Wakanda Ororo Munroe. She was dressed in an incredible white costume with her African style crown and cloak.
Next to arrive in style was Brian Braddock, wearing a military style uniform. After him came Warren Worthington with Betsy Braddock in his arms. She was wearing her first X-men uniform while Warren was dressed in a fine business suit. The X-men walked into the restaurant, the platters of food and wine had already been laid out for them. All of the women were in dresses that fit them, even the colours fit them. Jubilee wore yellow, with the men drooling over her.
"Man, Jubilee became a hottie!" Santo said.
"Pick up your jaw Santo" Cessily said, adjusting the strap of her red dress.
"Anyone going to tell me why Yoshida's here?" Logan asked.
"Guys an X-man, besides we gave Gambit a second chance" Warren said.
Xavier raised his glass and the X-men old and new looked towards him.
"This year has been one of recovery, we've lost much, yet also gained stronger bonds between ourselves and the public…though he isn't here today we owe a great debt to Siegfried Wallace, he set us back on a path"
"You mean got Jean and Scott back together" Logan interrupted.
"As I was saying…we have much to be thankful for, and much to regret…let us look to the past and remember the good times, the times of victory over impossible odds, the time of lessons learnt and the days when children became adults, the days when my students became X-men" Xavier explained as he raised his glass. "To the past!" he said.
"To the past!"
Sven awoke from his sleep, his left arm glowing a silver colour. If he were a being of flesh he would probably be sweating right now. But he still felt the feeling of anxiety. As well as that itch one would get on the back of the head, or to some it would be a pressure in their chest. Whatever it was, it was a feeling of things to come. The instinct that something bad was going to happen in the future. Elsewhere the fist of a blonde haired man slammed into a punching bag. His eyes glowed a gold colour as he walked away from the bag. Even further from America hundreds of Blue birds flew in a circle. A young brown haired man looked at the birds and wiped a drop of sweat off his brow. In the Crowner building, Gloria clutched her chest as sweat ran down her face. Her boss James was in his bedroom with the Black Cat. If he had felt what Gloria sensed then he would have been out in a flash.
'Gothica!" Gloria thought as she grabbed her phone on the coffee table in front of the TV.
She quickly dialled in a number into the mobile, pressing it against her ear as she wiped the sweat off her face.
"Did you feel it too?…Yes I know…go to Westchester…I'll gather some professionals and then some….James doesn't need to worry himself with this, we'll keep it between us…thank you…Lazlo!"
Gloria sighed as she put the phone down and sat on the sofa. She only hoped that she was wrong. Back in Westchester, Sieg twisted his neck round. He too had an odd feeling, and for once it wasn't his hormones.
"Are you okay?" Laurie asked.
"It's all right, I'm just a little nervous" Sieg said.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Just one thing!" Sieg smiled.
Laurie widened her eyes as Sieg pressed his lips against hers. The sudden shock caused her to release strong lust pheromones. Suddenly Laurie wrapped her arms around Sieg, who grabbed her hips and picked her up, pulling her deeper into the kiss. She gripped the back of his head tightly, their tongues practically wrestling in one another's mouths. When they separated, both Eighteen year olds blushed ferociously.
"Well, I'd guess we'd better get to my mothers" Laurie said, rubbing the back of her head.
"Yeah…wouldn't want to keep her waiting" Sieg chuckled, combing his hair a second time.
At Xavier's mansion, Michael Pointer shook his head as Klara and Molly argued over what to watch on the television. Rogue and Gambit had gone out for their own night out and who knew where Proudstar was. Right now Michael was left with only two girls, Ink, Cipher and Theresa Cassidy for company. And of course since he was the man who killed Alpha Flight and absorbed the mutant energies left from M-day he wasn't exactly the number one guy to go to for friendship.
"Mr Pointy, Molly broke the black box that controls the bigger black box" Klara said.
Michael sighed; this was going to be a troublesome night. Suddenly Kurt Wagner teleported into the room, grinning as he carried several board games.
"Who vants to play Monopoly?" He asked.
"I get to be the car!" Molly said.
Michael then raised his head as he looked out of the window. Standing on the school grounds were four of the X-men's deadliest enemies. Juggernaut, Mystique, Vargas and Daken.
"Kurt, be ready to get the children out when you need to" Michael said, opening the window.
A yellow aura surrounded him as he floated towards the four villains. Daken was without his Dark Wolverine uniform, his chest exposed with his hair in its usual style. Juggernaut was in his classic brown armour while Vargas was wearing his usual robes. Mystique was wearing black rubber trousers and boots with gloves and a tank top.
"Xavier isn't here at the moment, though I'll be happy to throw the trash off his land" Michael growled, energy sparking in the palm of his hand.
"Maybe you should tell us where he is before we decide to kill you" Daken said, popping a trio of claws out of his wrist.
"Or maybe you can leave quietly!" Michael's eyes flashed for a moment before they widened in fear.
Sieg sat at Miss Collins dining table; enjoying the food she had given him. This surprised both Laurie and her mother, who wasn't the best of cooks.
"Thank you Miss Collins, I can help with the dishes" Sieg said.
The woman narrowed her eyes; if this boy was from the Institute she could only hope he wasn't like Josh Foley. Josh was charming, but ended up hurting Laurie cause of the affair he had. He didn't seem any different, obvious physical mutation with his hair, silver and long, he'd made an effort with the shirt but he clearly didn't believe in haircuts yet.
"So Sieg, how did you and Laurie meet?" She asked.
"Um well you see…it was during the invasion a few months ago" Laurie said.
She wasn't really sure whether she should tell her mother that Sieg had been an insane beast when they first met. The thought of an innocent girl calming a monster might have sounded romantic in her head. But her mother would probably judge her differently.
"We were team mates, after the invasion we just connected" Laurie began.
"I helped Laurie study for a few tests…eventually we asked one another out, just a friendly coffee as friends" Sieg said.
"We both sort of became an official couple at Christmas, best moment was when we shared our first kiss" Laurie said.
Sieg smiled, his Christmas didn't start off well. Celeste had dismissed his attempts for affections and Aeon was nowhere to be seen. But eventually the Christmas started getting better. He had snow ball fights with the younger X-men, drank a beer with Logan and even found Aeon.
Sieg run as fast as he could through the suburbs. He stopped when he came to a house. Aeon was at the door, waiting for the owners. He ripped off the armour covering his eyes and mouth.
"Is this your…"
But Sieg couldn't finish his question as the door opened.
A woman stood at the doorway, looking at Aeon in shock. She put her hand to her mouth.
"I didn't have a good gift for you" He said sheepishly.
A second woman, closely resembling the older one then walked to her mother's side. She widened her eyes, looking at the man standing before her. For a moment a boy grinning with a blue coat that was too big for him replaced the image of a man grinning in front of her. Two boys ran to her side, both hugging her legs as they looked at this strange man.
"Are they…?" Sven said.
"Slade, Jason…meet your uncle!" The young woman said, a tear falling down her cheek.
Sven Reilly hugged his mother, sister and two nephews, tears of joy crashing down at the doorstep. Sieg smiled at the moment, he thought Aeon spent his Christmas alone. But then he realised he was never alone. Flying back to the mansion, Sieg gave his present to Laurie.
"Oh my god, its beautiful" Laurie said.
It was a bracelet, with the engraving "my Saviour" because to Sieg that was what Laurie was. They both looked at one another and the people around them giggled.
"Stick to the tradition kids" Logan chuckled.
They looked up; Lockheed was floating above them with a grin on his face and mistletoe in his hand. Laurie and Sieg smiled as they bought their faces close together. Pressing their lips together, the two of them shared a gentle kiss that caused the room to erupt in applause. Even Pixie was applauding, she realised that Laurie was a woman that could make Sieg happy. Christmas was a time of joy and that was precisely what it was.
"Best kiss of my life" Laurie said.
"So far!" Sieg cut in.
Miss Collins looked at the two of them, holding one another's hands. They were cute to look at, but the question she had was whether this relationship would work. Suddenly, Sieg's eyes flashed a brilliant blue colour as he got off his seat. He clutched his head, breathing heavily. Running out of the house, Sieg looked to the sky, he couldn't see the moon anymore. Westchester had been covered in a darkness that wasn't night.
Daken and Juggernaut were smirking at Michael, the man stood with his eyes wide in shock. But Mystique wasn't stupid enough to think is was because of them. Turning around, Mystique widened her eyes in horror as well. Walking through the gates was a man enshrouded in a black hood. But it wasn't this man that shocked her; it was the others following him. Some looked healthy, while others were rotting, wearing the robes of the Purifiers and the uniforms of the Hellfire club guards. But there dead men amongst the group that she recognised, all of them had pale skin apart from Blink, the old Generation X member. She was dressed in a black uniform, carrying a quiver of diamond spears. With her were Synch, wearing a black version of the Generation X uniform as well as Skin another dead team member of the X-men. Now she saw why Michael Pointer was so shocked. Standing before them was the members of Alpha Flight he had killed, the two Pucks, Vindicator and her husband Guardian, even Shaman. The Former X-man Gazer, in his War incarnation and the Leper Queen. Right beside the hooded man was Wither, Senyaka, a resurrected Pyro and even Mystique's former lover Destiny, dressed in a black version of her Brotherhood costume.
"What's the matter, you all look like you've seen ghosts!" The hooded man said, cackling as he revealed his pale white face to the gathered group.
Juggernaut growled as he took a step towards Gothica. But the man raised his hand, a boy stepped out from behind his legs and Cain stopped in his tracks. He collapsed onto his knees, for standing by Gothica's side was Sammy the Squid boy. The young teenager he had befriended when he was an X-man, the young boy that he considered his first true friend. But he was also the boy who cursed his very existence, who died tragically without realising that Cain was only trying to be a hero.
"Oh don't worry, there's plenty more weapons where that came from" Gothica laughed.
A dark mist swirled around in Gothica's hand as he raised it. Smirking, Gothica fired a blast of dark energy into the air. Mystique and Nightcrawler widened their eyes as the darkness stopped at the sky and spread, blocking the light of the moon and stars. People looked to the sky and screamed in terror as the darkness moved diagonally towards the ground. Those outside Westchester were faced with incredible shock as a massive dome of pure blackness had covered the whole area. Everything was dark and Gothica smiled, he could already feel the fear.
"On this day everyone in Westchester will die and rise again!"
Next Chapter 2: Response to a disaster
And so it begins, a new version of Necrosha, new villain, some new heroes, but one thing that wont change is that the dead will rise, a lot of dead. Hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter, the second will be a bit of action but more of a strategy session as the main players arrive in Westchester to help the X-men. So until next time leave me a review please!