Hotshot's Crusade
                                  by Ben Church
       All major characters are the property of Marvel Comics.  Except
    Hotshot who is owned by the author.
    
                                   Chapter 4
       Jubilee felt useless as the ships approached Paradise Omega.  After
    Thanos' diversion, the sensors detected mines ahead of them.  Havok and
    Cyclops left the ship to dispose of them.
       After a while, the word came from Havok that they were done.  But
    before they could be brought back onboard, the ship lurched wildly, and
     Thor's hammer smashed through the front of the ships.  "Double hull breach
    and propulsion down!" Reed cried.  "The Quinjets are out of the picture! 
    Everyone into the escape pods!"
       Jubilee found herself in an escape pod with Black Cat and Namor.
       "If I were you two," Namor said.  "I'd brace for impact."  There was
    a sudden jarring thud as the escape pod crashed to the ground.
       "I'll go first." Black Cat said as she opened the door.  She'd not
    taken two steps before she was felled by one blow from Namorita.  Namor took
    off after her.
       "Do not persist in this sister!" he cried.
       "I will not fail the Goddess!" she retorted.  A fierce aerial
    fistfight ensued.
       Jubilee cautiously exited the escape pod.  She checked Black Cat and
    found that she was alive.  She heard a rustling in the bushes beside her, but
    before she could turn, Hotshot leaped at her and hit her with a right cross. 
    Her shades flew off her face and clattered to the ground.  She looked
    disbeleivingly at her boyfriend.
       "I pulled my punch, Lee." he said.  "Believe me, I don't want to hurt
    you, but you mustn't interfere with what we're doing."
       In answer, Jubilee blasted him.  Now it was her turn to stand over
    him.
       "I don't want to hurt you either Hotshot, but you've got to stop
    resisting us."  Hotshot stood slowly, and looked at her sadly.
       "I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, Lee.  I truly did."  His knee
    shot up and hit her in the stomach.  He followed with an uppercut to her jaw,
    and a kick to the back of her knees.  Hotshot looked at her, unwilling to
    hurt her anymore.  
       Because was focusing all his attention on her, he failed to notice
    Namor charging at him.  At the last minute, he saw him coming.  He sent a
    blast of heat at him but missed.  The force of Namor's punch shot Hotshot
    into a tree three feet behind him.  The impact did more damage to the tree
    than to Hotshot.  He stood, grinning.
       "I'm sorry," he mocked.  "Was that supposed to hurt?"
       Namor was shocked.  He'd held nothing back, how could this whelp still
    be standing.
       "Maybe this will hurt!" a recently recovered Black Cat said.  She
    slashed at him with the claws on both hands.
       Hotshot screamed and clutched his wounds.
       "Yeah," he said painfully.  "That hurt."  The claws had cut deep. 
    Hotshot collapsed.
       Namorita came to the aid of her friend.  She hit Namor with enough
    force to knock him out, and send him crashing into Black Cat.  Cat was down
    but not out, and Jubilee was starting to get up.  Namorita dispatched them
    with one punch each, then stooped next to the unconscious Hotshot.  
       "Namorita to Cathedral." Hotshot and I have taken out Jubilee, Black
    Cat and Namor, but Hotshot is in need of immediate medical attention."
       *Ackknowledged, bring him here, then proceed to sector U2."  Namorita
    cradled Hotshot in her arms and took off towards the cathedral.  Before she
    got there however, she stopped in midair and stared her eyes glazed over.
       "Yes Goddess," she murmered.  "Let it begin."
       She saw a bright light on the horizon, as the sun exploded.  She never
    knew what hit her as she was instantaneously engulfed in flame.  Hotshot
    survived the holy fire of the super nova only to die in the vacuum of space. 
    The same thing happened all over the universe.
       But a split second later, everything was as it had been.  Hotshot, and
    Namorita were still alive.  It was as if the holocaust had never happened. 
    Indeed, it hadn't except in theirs and the Goddess' mind.  No one suspected
    the massive battle that took place on the astral plane that day, as Warlock,
    Thanos, and Professor X. defeated the Goddess.
       Hotshot's wounds were healed, and he and the others were teleported to
    Avengers' Headquarters.
    
                                   Epilogue
       Jubilee sat on the dock outside the mansion.  Her jaw still sore from
    the beating Hotshot had given her.  She heard someone coming, but she didn't
    turn to look.  She knew who it was.
       "Hey Lee."  Will shifted nervously from foot to foot.
       "Hey." she said, not looking at him.
       "I...I know you can't ever forget what I did, but...I...could you see
    your way clear to forgive me?" he asked.
       Jubilee stood and faced him.
       "Let me put it to you this way." she said.  She threw her arms around
    his neck, and kissed him hard.
    
                                    The End
    
                       The Hotshot saga continues in...
                                    X-Men of Tomorrow
                               also look for...
                                 A Family Affair