From Camp, With Love
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of X-Men Evolution. Disney does… ugh. I also don't own the song Don't Stop Believing… unfortunately. I want that song. And Kurt. Yes…
A/N: This is ONLY HALF of this story. You heard me, only half. I'm writing about the girls' adventures at Camp Granite Hills, and about the Brotherhood's car trip. For the scoop on the X-Men's road trip and the boys' time at camp, visit the page of my marvelously talented male counterpart, fuzzyblueboy. And if you notice anyone who doesn't seem to belong, they're probably people the two authors met during our ACTUAL stay at Granite Hills, in Prescott, Arizona.
"Raven, please reconsider!" Magneto begged.
"No, Eric. I'm taking the kids up to Granite Hills for the week. It'll do them good, teach them to hide their powers better… you haven't forgotten the last time we let Pietro into a crowd, have you?" asked Mystique, turning towards him from where she had been packing.
"Victor, you of all people should be able to talk some sense into her! Victor?" Magneto turned to Sabertooth, who was packing for the week-long trip. "Toothpaste for the brats… Advil… More Advil… Pietro's Ritalin…" mumbled Sabertooth, putting stuff in a tote bag. "Don't try arguin' with her, Boss. I already tried."
"Why are you taking Victor?" asked the Master of Magnetism, confused. "Why not one of the Acolytes?"
Raven smiled widely. "Piotr is visiting family in Russia, Gambit's not old enough to chaperone, and Pyro said something about going up to New York to meet up with a few old college roommates." Eric opened his mouth and she held up her hand. "And before you go all 'What about me?' on me, you're staying with Charles at the mansion. I asked him to babysit for me while I was away."
Magneto made a face at the word 'babysit', but otherwise accepted his fate.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch… I mean, at the Boarding House…
"I don't want to go to any stupid camp!" whined a certain Maximoff loudly. No, not who you think, either. Wanda stood up after zipping her bag closed. "And another thing, why do we have Sabertooth as a chaperone? Are they TRYING to kill us all? And why do I have to…"
"Wanda? Shut it." said Pietro moodily. "You're starting to remind me of myself. Gosh, I can see why you're always hex-bolting me now."
"Oh, come on, guys!" called Freddy. "It won't be that bad, I'm sure. I mean, has Raven ever steered us wrong?"
There was absolute silence.
"Yeah, you're right. Never mind. This is gonna suck." said Freddy dejectedly.
Todd was straining at the zipper on his bag. "Darn it all, it won't close, yo!" he snarled. Fred reached over and held it down while Todd zipped it. "Thanks, yo." he said, smiling at his larger friend.
"Kitty… I'm gonna miss you." mumbled Lance, texting the words into his mobile phone. "I'll call you every day to say goodnight and good morning… Love and kisses… Lance."
"Oh boooooooooooooys!" trilled Raven from downstairs. The boys (and Wanda) groaned and dragged their luggage downstairs and out to the front yard… where they all stopped dead in their tracks. The van they were faced with looked straight out of the seventies, complete with psychedelic flowers and a peace sign. It was, for all intents and purposes, a hippie bus. A hippie bus with 'Honk if you love Jesus!' spray painted on one window. Raven stood in front of the back doors, revealing that the trunk was already partially loaded. The teens threw their bags into the leftover space, and climbed in soundlessly. Well, almost.
"We are going to die." moaned Wanda quietly.
Two hours into their trip and they had discovered some things. First, that Pietro and Wanda can NOT be allowed to sit next to each other on long car trips. They WILL get into a heated discussion over who is actually the oldest twin, and Raven WILL get weird looks when she confirms that it was, in fact, Wanda and that she knows because she was there. Second, Raven is a good driver, but Sabertooth is not. Third, Toad is easily carsick, fourth, Lance has sympathy-vomiting down to an art, and last, but CERTAINLY not least, a group of teens in a car for more than an hour will quickly become bored and start whining.
"I swear, if one more moron honks at us as we drive past those churches, I'm going to explode!" growled Lance. The others nodded in agreement. "Are we there yet?" groaned Pietro moodily. "Not yet. We still have four hours to go." said Raven calmly. The teens groaned. "Hey, how about a song, eh?" asked Raven perkily. Anything to distract them… The teens sighed, but no objections were heard from the backseat. Raven took a breath. It's been a while since I sang this… "Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world…"
The teens cracked. Laughter was heard throughout the bus as Raven scoffed in indignation. Even Sabertooth was laughing hoarsely. Then a voice came from the back. "She took a midnight train goin' ANYWHERE!" The whole group joined in on the last word. Soon the entire bus was singing raucously and laughing. Within the next hour, they had sung more songs than any of them thought they knew. Even Sabes had started them in on one. Of course, as soon as they reached the chorus, Raven had recognized the song and smacked her co-pilot in anger. "Don't get them singing stuff like THAT!" Pretty soon, though, there was silence from the back. Raven's eyes flicked to the mirror and found her boys (and girl) fast asleep. She chuckled quietly. "That's them out for another two hours or so." There was comfortable silence for about two hours, during which Sabes took the wheel. Mystique smiled to herself as they passed into the tiny town of Granite Hills, pointing to the sign up above the street reading 'Annual Pancake Festival!'
"That's been up for about twelve years now. They never take it down anymore. I remember it from my first time at Granite Hills Youth Camp." Sabertooth shot her a surprised glance. She smiled back at him. "Eric, Charles and I served as Camp Counselors a few years back. That's when I first met Charles, actually. A colleague of my boyfriend from back in his college days…" Sabes grunted softly. "Whaddaya know. We're here." Raven smiled as they pulled in, but Victor frowned. "Assemblies of God… Raven, what is this place anyway? What have you gotten us in to?" And sure enough, the sign read, 'Granite Hills Youth Camp: An Assemblies of God Ministries Youth Camp.'
They had arrived.
And welcome to Granite Hills, ladies and gents! Read fuzzyblueboy's stories. He's writing the other half of this fanfiction, and he's the most talented writer EVER! Love ya, Nerdguy, I really do. Oh, and next chapter: Those of you that know me IRL, look for a cameo by the authors!