"Are you insane?" Rita hissed at her friend. Her eyes flashed as she stared the other girl down. "Beast said those time-pods might not work!"
The frizzy-haired blonde held up her hands in self-defense. "Hey, he only said they might not work."
Harry and Meggie were on Rita's side, which was pretty scary. Harry and Rita never agreed on anything.
"Amber," said Meggie, "if we use your idea, we could destroy the space-time continuum, possibly even ourselves. If we don't, however-"
"I'll never see my dad again," said Amber coldly.
Meggie bit her lip. Amber's father had been killed when she was 8, and Amber and her mother hadn't fully recovered from it.
"So, for me at least, it's a lose-lose. Alter the timeline and talk to my dad again, or miss him forever and save this crappy era." Amber kicked a random rock. "Not that there's much to save," she added angrily.
Her hair stood on end as she used her powers and a bolt of lightning escaped her wimpy body. She came back sparking slightly, but much calmer.
"Feeling better?" Rita asked.
"Much," said Amber.
Kevin, Amber's on-off boyfriend and Meggie's younger brother, jumped up. "I'll go with Thunderbird," he said, using her X-Men name. "She can't do it alone."
Meggie rolled her eyes. Kevin was always ready to take part in Amber's idiotic schemes, even if it was during their third break-up that month.
"And I'm coming too," said a fourth girl, Crystal. She finished polishing her glasses and put them back on. The left lens was cracked, and Crystal herself had a cut lip and several bruises because of anti-mutant violence. "Amber's my best friend, practically my sister. No offense to you," she said to her twin.
Harry spoke for the first time, and his voice had a definite southern accent. "Sorry, Crys, but did you take a few too many hits to the head? A stupid idea is a stupid idea. Suppose Lily or Kinsey ceases to exist? If Kinsey disappears, Mom an' Dad will be ticked. An' let's not forget that Lily's an only child."
He would have said more, but Meggie stopped him.
"Speaking of Lily, she's waking up," she whispered, pointing to one of the two small children.
"What are you talking about?" Lily asked, blinking sleepily.
"Nothing that you should worry about," said Joy, Crystal's twin, who was much less beaten up than her sister. "Go back to sleep."
Lily nodded, but Amber stopped her.
"When she wakes up," she said, "can you tell my mom that we had to go somewhere? Just don't tell her where."
Lily was wide awake and listening now. Everyone had always said that Lily knew more than most kids her age, and with loudmouthed informers like Crystal, who couldn't keep a secret unless lives depended on it or someone would get mentally scarred, it was no wonder.
"Tell her that we've gone on a mission, only kids that have powers allowed," Amber added quickly, as Lily's eyes lit up like she wanted to come along. The 6-year-old huffed, but listened carefully to her instructions.
"And not until we're gone," Rita finished. She had long since changed her mind about this and decided to come with her friends.
Meggie, Harry, and Joy all seemed to be having some sort of mental conversation.
"We'll come, too," said Meggie.
"None of you can stay outta trouble for more than a day at a time," Harry continued. "I reckon y'all need a few babysitters."
"They're right," said Joy. "This is a stupid plan, but if stupidity is a disease, than I just caught it."
Kevin took Amber's hand. "So, we're leaving?"
Amber nodded. "Right now. You know the adults will try to stop us until Beast is positive those pods work. The sooner we leave, the better."
"Let's hope we don't blow up first," said Harry, who usually thought in the negative zone.
Rita snorted. "There's a comforting thought," she said sarcastically as she followed Amber and Meggie to the place where the pods were hidden.