Chapter III: Day of Jubilee

I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series, X-men, The Shadow or Lethal Weapon. The first two are owned by Joss Whedon. The next ones are owned by Marvel Comics, Walter B. Gibson and Richard Donner respectively. Please note that the Latter two crossovers are minor and will only come into things occasionally...

Lamont's Shooting Gallery
August 9th 1999

Detective Kate Lockley walked calmly into Lamont Cranston's little establishment, laying down her money and heading for the range. Lamont's was a favoured place for the L.A.P.D. to work on their marksmanship while off duty. It presented a cool and calm atmosphere that could not be had at the station and allowed the cops to get to know some of the more savoury marksmen of the city. The, shall we say, less then savoury types were intelligent enough not to frequent a place that was popular with the cops. Kate was personally of the opinion that the reputation cops had for liking donuts was something that cut down on donut shop robberies by 75%.

It was as she finally arrived in the range area that Kate could not hold back a grimace. It was just her luck that she would choose to visit the place at the same time as Martin 'the Lethal Weapon' Riggs. Even Riggs' own partner was rumoured to be wary of the man's questionable sanity. And the fact that his wife Lorna was with the I.A.B. was not something that enhanced his already shaky popularity.

Next to Riggs was someone who Kate had never seen before. The eye-patch and assorted small scars made him look like he belonged in the seamier parts of town and the maniacal look in his eye as he glared out challengingly at Riggs made her kind of nervous. It was only the warm smile that the boy was flashing that assured her that the lad wasn't about to attack the unstable officer. "Fifty bucks?" the boy stated questioningly.

Kate blinked. What was that about? Martin's eyes and grin were equally maniacal. "You're on, Junior. Fifty bucks on who can paint the prettiest picture. All we need is an impartial judge…" Kate rolled her eyes. Somehow she doubted paints would be used in any way to 'paint' these pictures. "Hey Lockley!" Kate cringed at Riggs' shout. She didn't want to get involved in this.

L.A.P.D. 23rd Precinct
August 9th 1999

Kate groaned internally. It had been a long and arduous process, judging the assorted 'pretty pictures'. Say what you will about Martin Riggs, the man could use a gun. Amazingly though, the boy was equally proficient, displaying a certain creative zeal that disturbed her. Xander, as he'd introduced himself, was a P.I., just getting his business off the ground. His firm, or so he claimed, was being formed to deal with the strange and disturbing type of cases.

Kate could not help but glance long and hard at the file of the case she was currently working on. The 'Kitty-Cat Killer' as the press had dubbed him/her was becoming very troublesome. Six deaths by exsanguination, left on their own front stoops with a dead and headless kitten left beside them. No other link to what had drawn the killer to them and the only evidence were some finger-prints that could not be matched to any other crime in California that she could find.

The case was exactly the sort of thing that Xander had claimed that his little crew had dealt with. Kate shook her head. It was irrelevant. To share information with Xander would have been a lovely way to lose her job. This was a police matter. The last thing she needed was some gung-ho Private Eye getting mixed up in things and getting himself killed. Kate nodded in confirmation even as the phone rang. "Lockley."

"Kate? We've got another one…"

Kate sighed. Here we go again. "Where are you, Pete?"

Friends of Humanity Rally
August 9th 1999

"Do you want people like this, living in your neighbourhood?!"

The shout of the speaker was accented by a youthful oriental girl being tossed on the dais in chains. Jubilation Lee was not having a good week. A mere few days ago she'd been exposed as a mutant at the worst time. Her father, a staunch member of the Friends of Humanity, had publicly disowned her and handed her off to the organisation with a disgusted look. For a young woman who had long been raised as Daddy's little girl, this turn of events was nothing short of devastating. Her once stylish cloths were badly torn, she could not project pyrotechnic energy very effectively with her hands cuffed behind her, and her only method of escape would be to explosively charge her cuffs, which would likely result in blowing her hands clean off.

And so, here she was, on display before the Friends of Humanity rally, ready to be executed publicly for daring to be different. If, by some chance, the cops should stop by and free her before her death, it was highly likely that she would be taken by a military project that had use for mutants like her. She shuddered at the very thought. Who'd have thought that death would be the more pleasant alternative she would face today.

Two men crept quietly out of the back of the crowd as the rhetoric built up even louder. "Are you sure you want ta do dis thing, Alexander?"

"You can hear them as well as I can, Sam. I haven't heard of one damn thing that girl has done except for being different."

"Agreed. My only problem is numbers. There've got to be at least thirty-odd people out there and we are just two, with a possible third kneeling and cuffed."

"I know. You remember the plan?"

"I also remember Kendra claiming you were crazy. I'm starting to see why now."

"Now you're catching on? Took you long enough."

Things were developing towards a climax. Jubilation allowed tears to trickle freely down her cheeks. If you couldn't cry during your own, undeserved execution then when could you cry?

It was then that the power went out, plunging the building into darkness. What in the name of God was going on? A deep voice echoed through the room. "I am Outage! All transgressors against the brotherhood that is mutant-kind will all DIE!" With that the sound of bullets flying caused Jubilation to clutch the ground more fervently, as did everyone else.

As the sound of bullets continued to echo, killing who knows how many based on the frightened screams, a man-shaped being slipped casually to her side, snapping her cuffs with a set of bolt cutters and then holding out his free hand. "Come with me if you want to live."

Jubilation was too frightened to contemplate the choice of words of her rescuer as they made there way to the door, by which another man-shaped figure stood, holding a few objects in his arms. Abruptly the bullets seemed to cut off and the two men dragged her out the outer door at top speed, long before whoever might still be alive had figured out that their sacrifice of choice was M.I.A.

Friends of Humanity Rally
August 9th 1999

Police were baffled by the panicked 911 call from the 'Friends of Humanity', saying that some psychotic mutant killing machine named Outage had attacked their rally with machine guns.

The member who called in the crank call was arrested and almost charged over the incident. After all, how can a crowd be raked with machine gun fire and yet no one, not even the floor or the walls, had suffered a bullet wound. The story was ridiculous.

X-File Investigations
August 9th 1999

Jubilation was furious. "What in the name of god were you doing? Do you have any idea how many people you've killed today. And when the police catch up with you they'll try me as an accomplice."

The man in the patch, Xander, merely grinned benignly. "Killed who exactly? I don't remember killing anyone. Do you remember killing anyone, Sam?"

The black man, Sam, matched Xander's grin. "Not dat I recall, Alexander."

Jubilation could not believe what she was hearing. Did they have no concept of the damage the number of bullets they must have expended could do? Had she been thinking clearly she might have wondered how two men could even fire that many bullets. "You fired bullets into a crowd by the bucket-load, you morons! What do you think happened to those people, they went home without a scratch?"

Xander's irritating grin widened. "Bullets? What bullets?"

Jubilation turned to Sam. "Please tell me he's not insane."

Sam smirked in response. "Oh, I'm afraid dat he is crazy, Miss Lee, but he's also correct. We did not fire a single shot."

At Jubilation's gob-smacked expression, Sam turned on a boom box he'd been carrying and allowed the sound a bullets flying to break free once again.

Jubilation was, if possible, even more shocked. "You mean?"

"You'd be amazed what a man can do with some electrical skills, a CD containing WW2 sound effects and a big megaphone."

Xander nodded at Sam's comment. "And another man with some experience creeping about in the dark and a good set of bolt cutters. So, what's your handle?"

Jubilation stopped dead for a moment. "My what?"

Xander rolled his eyes expressively. "Your handle? Your mutant name? I know your birth name is Jubilation Lee, but what's the name you took when you discovered your abilities?"

Jubilation Lee stared consideringly at the older youth before her. Daddy had always taught her to be wary of strangers. Then again, Daddy had also told her to take her medicine like a good girl when he'd handed her over to his 'Friends'. "I'm Jubilee."

Xander grinned broadly in response. "Well then, this is X-File Investigations, Jubilee. Our charter is to deal with the crime of the supernatural kind, though we'll probably be called in to deal with a few mutant and anti-mutant terrorists too, given the current climate in the wide world. I was wondering if you'd like to come aboard."

Jubilee couldn't believe her ears. "You mean I can stay?"

Sam nodded solemnly. "Or go, if dat is your choice, Miss Lee. We are not here to force anyone, though we will readily admit that someone of your special talents might be useful to our organisation…"

Jubilee shuddered slightly. "No experiments, you hear me?"

Sam looked vaguely insulted. "Of course not, Miss Lee. Who do you think we are, the people we rescued you from?"

Jubilee smiled at that. She was already beginning to like, Sam. The big guy reminded her of Daddy before he'd gone all Anti-Mutant on her. "Alright then. Where do I sign up."

Xander's grin widened further, impossible as that might seem. "Welcome to X-File investigations, Jubilee. We seek the truth."

And I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Jasper