Disclaimer: X-Men: Evolution and all related characters and other names are the property of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. Lucky Charms is the property of General Mills, Inc.
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"Letters"
By William Logan
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As the sun's first rays of light fell on the Xavier Institute on that Saturday morning, a figure could be seen moving stealthily toward the site of the reconstruction of the home that had been situated there for many years. At the recently rebuilt doorstep it stopped, pulling a small piece of paper out of its pocket and sliding it into the doorframe so that a stray breeze wouldn't cause the paper to flutter away. The figure then swiftly moved off, not wanting to be seen, and vanished down the road. Half an hour later, the door opened, revealing a person seemingly more animal than man, covered with blue fur and having sharp fangs, as well as the stooped posture of an old silverback gorilla, and, lastly, one strangely out of place item: reading glasses perched on his furry nose. He noticed the small piece of paper drop to the ground and bent to pick it up, studying the sloppy writing on the front of the envelope.
"Hmm," he said, stroking his chin for a moment as a knowing smile crossed his face, Hank McCoy turned and called back into the house, "we have mail here for one Kitty Pryde." A girl in a pink nightgown bounded down the halls, almost tripping over the construction materials left there. She reached for the envelope and snatched it from Hank's hands and smiled.
"Thank you, Mister McCoy!" she said as she ran back down the halls to her temporary bedroom in the basement.
"Ah, the exuberance of youth," McCoy said with a soft sigh as he gathered up the newspaper from in front of the door and closed it, heading to the kitchen for his morning bowl of Lucky Charms, for, as he often reminded the students at the institute, they were quite "magically delicious."
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Kitty sat on her cot, studying the envelope, turning it about in her hands, debating whether or not she should open it. After the words they had exchanged the other night, things simply hadn't been the same, there was no way they could have been. Chills went down Kitty's spine when she remembered how she had told him that he was "just a hood," probably the most hurtful thing that someone like Lance Alvers could have heard from the girl he had loved. He had then said that he would never be good enough for her, anyway, in a way that implied that was how she really felt. She still couldn't decide if she deeply hated him or if she still loved him as much as she had. She smiled softly as she thought back on the times they had spent together, like the Sadie Hawkins dance, which would have been great, if it hadn't been for the untimely arrival of the dragon-like creatures from another dimension. As ridiculous as that sounded, it was things like that which often ruined the moments they had had together. The fact that the two love birds were both mutants, and mutants on opposing teams, at that, had strained their relationship badly. Kitty bit on her lower lip and slipped a finger under the seal of the envelope, trying not to rip the paper while opening the letter. As she slid the piece of paper out, a knock came on the door, startling her to the point that she nearly phased through her bed. She quickly hid the letter underneath her blanket.
"Come in," she said, hoping that her eyes weren't too watery from thinking about her failed romance. The door flew open, and in stumbled Jamie, who tripped and ended up filling half the room with duplicates of himself.
"Hey, Kitty, it's almost time for Pokemon! C'mon, we'll miss it if you don't hurry up," the real Jamie, or, at least, Kitty thought it was him, said. She watched Pokemon every Saturday morning with him, just to be nice to the younger mutant, who hadn't made too many friends since coming to the institute. The only other student who had been particularly nice to him had been Rahne Sinclair, but her parents had taken her away from the institute when they grew concerned for her safety after the mansion's destruction.
"I may have to skip out on that today, Jamie, I'm really sorry," she said, "but, like, next week, okay?" Jamie grimaced, then nodded, gathering together his duplicates and leaving, the last one closing the door behind him. Kitty breathed out a sigh of relief and reached for the envelope again, pulling the slip of paper out and starting to read it, smiling a bit at Lance's sloppy handwriting. She started reading, tears starting to blur her view of the words. She had barely gotten past "Dear Kitty," when a blinding flash of light appeared in front of her, followed by a billow of pink smoke that smelled of sulfur. As the smoke cleared, a boy who had the appearance of a fuzzy blue demon, complete with the tail, could be seen. "Kurt!" Kitty yelled, more than a bit irritated, "Don't you know how to knock?!"
"My apologies, I just vanted to let you know that breakfast is disappearing very quickly, and if you vant some, you may vant to head upstairs now," the German teen said, dropping to the floor, "hey, is that letter from---" he reached out a three fingered hand towards the paper that Kitty held.
"Yes, it is," she said, keeping it out of his reach, "now get out of here!" She cried, losing any courtesy that she had displayed before.
"I can take a hint," Kurt said, vanishing in the same flash of light and smoke that he had appeared in. Kitty grit her teeth together and began to read the letter, hearing Lance's voice echoing in her mind.
"Dear Kitty,
Maybe we were never right for each other, I don't know. I'm writing this letter to apologize if I hurt you during the fight last night, but I know for sure that you hurt me pretty badly, though I don't expect an apology for that. You were right, I am nothing but a hood and that's all I ever will be. I will never be as good as you and your friends. I'm not being sarcastic in the least, Kitty, I agree with you fully. I just wish things had turned out differently between us.
Sincerely,
Lance"
A tear struck the page, making the ink run a bit. Kitty's hands trembled as she finished reading. "Oh, Lance..." she murmured softly. She hopped out of bed and started digging through her makeshift desk, where she had put everything that had survived the explosion of the mansion, as well as some things she had picked up since then. She pulled out a sheet of pink paper and a pen and began writing, carefully choosing her words so as not to do any more damage than had already been done. After she was finished, she sealed the letter in a pink envelope and closed it, writing the name "Lance Alvers" on the front in her neatest penmanship and doodling a small heart in the corner. She got up and got ready to go out and face the world, showering, dressing, and putting on her makeup. Finally, she pulled her hair up into a ponytail, though it sagged a little lower than normal because it was still wet. She tucked the envelope in her jeans pocket and headed upstairs, grabbing a leftover muffin off of the table, trying to avoid all her fellow students as she exited the house and headed to the nearby Brotherhood house.
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In the Brotherhood Boarding House, the rather heavy mutant Fred Dukes and the small, green teen mutant named Todd Tolansky were excitedly telling Wanda Maximoff about the events that she had missed that night at the school assembly, when Fred, Todd, and Lance, as well as Bayville High's biggest jock, Duncan Matthews, had all attacked Scott Summers and the rest of the X-Geeks. Lance was sitting on the couch, brooding quietly as he sipped at a can of Pepsi.
"...and she crashed into that little snob Kitty Pryde, who ended up smashing her head into a car. Pow!" Fred said excitedly. Wanda shook her head with disapproval.
"You guys really need to drop the whole macho act," she said, "it's really disgusting. And teaming up with Duncan Matthews? I thought you guys hated him!"
"Hey, Summers ditched Mystique at that government installation, I think we had every right to some payback, even if we had to stoop to teaming up with Duncan," Fred said. Todd nodded rapidly in agreement.
"But the best thing was when Lance told off his little Kitty Kat!" Todd said with a grin, "tell her, Lance!" Lance shot a glare in Todd's direction. Wanda's eyebrows raised and a thin smile crossed her lips.
"Yeah, Lance, let's hear it," she said.
"Well, when we walked out with Duncan to confront Summers, Kitty told me that I was nothing but a thug. I replied that she was right, and that I'd never be good enough for her," he said, not a hint of emotion in his voice. His eyes told her that every ounce of it had already been drained.
"Wow, I'm impressed, Lance. You finally overcame your lovesickness."
"But I haven't, my Scarlet Sweetheart!" Todd said, leaping beside Wanda with his lips puckered. She grabbed him by the back of his collar.
"If you come near me again, I will break every bone in your body," she said with a sneer. Todd immediately backed off, but he continued staring at her from across the room, batting his eyelashes in what he thought of as "cuteness."
"Poor Lance was heartbroken that night," Fred said mockingly, "he cried all night long..."
"You know that's not true!" Lance said, jumping to his feet, his fist clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. A small tremor shook the house.
"All right, all right, don't bring the house down, yo," Todd interrupted, "he only cried for the first few minutes we were home." Wanda smirked. Lance just turned red. It was then that a soft knock was heard on the front door. Regaining his composure, Lance walked to the door and opened it to find no one was there. He looked down at the ground and saw a small pink envelope lying there. He bent to pick it up and turned to go back in the house, to find Fred and Todd standing there.
"Oooo... a love letter," Fred said, grinning, "you and your pretty Kitty make up, Lancey-poo?"
"Aw, look, she drew a little heart on the envelope, ain't that the cutest thing you ever seen, Fred," Todd said, batting his eyelashes and beginning to prance around, "Ooo... Lance, I have seen the light... I love you, I love you, I love you..." he sang in a high falsetto.
"Shut up, you morons, at least I can get a girl to come within two feet of me," Lance snarled, tucking the letter into his pocket and marching up the stairs, finding Wanda standing in his doorway.
"Fraternizing with the enemy, eh, Lance?" Wanda asked, her face deadly serious, "I'd be careful if I were you... you may end up on the same list as Pietro and Magneto..."
"Hey, I am not a traitor," Lance said defensively.
"You left Fred and Todd once before to join the X-Men to get closer to Kitty, how do we know that you won't do it again?" She was serious, and if Lance didn't know better, he suspected that there might even be a little concern in her voice.
"Look, if she can't appreciate who I am, then it really ain't worth it, is it?"
"Yeah, but..." Wanda trailed off, glancing at the floor for a moment, "forget it, just don't forget how I feel about traitors." She brushed past him and went into her room, slamming her door behind her. Lance shrugged and went into his room, closing the door and locking it, not that locks were much use in this place. He sat on his bed and sighed, opening the letter, and began to read Kitty's letter. Her careful, precise handwriting brought a smile to his face.
"Dear Lance,
I'm sorry that I called you a hood the other night, it was just that when I saw you all ready to beat up on Scott, that's the only part of you that I saw. I don't think anything between us will ever be the same, but I suppose we never know what the future holds for us. I'm sure I'll see you soon, just don't forget, I still care about you.
Love,
Kitty
PS Of course you're good enough for me, don't be ridiculous. I was in the wrong for making it seem like I was better than you."
Lance thoughtfully reread the letter, smiling at bit that Kitty had actually admitted that she was wrong. He wondered if he'd even be able to look her in the face the next time he saw her, though. He placed the letter back into the envelope and stuffed it in a dresser drawer, exiting his room, noticing that Wanda was standing in the hall, leaning on her doorframe.
"So things are all right between you and Kitty, I gather?" She said, studying his features.
"I don't know yet," Lance said, suspicious of her question, since Todd and Fred certainly were not genuinely concerned with that element of his life.
"Well, I hope things work out the way you want them to," she said, lingering for a moment in the doorway before going back inside her room and closing the door. Lance smiled to himself, maybe everything would be all right between him and Kitty, after all. Eventually, anyhow.
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FIN
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"Letters"
By William Logan
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As the sun's first rays of light fell on the Xavier Institute on that Saturday morning, a figure could be seen moving stealthily toward the site of the reconstruction of the home that had been situated there for many years. At the recently rebuilt doorstep it stopped, pulling a small piece of paper out of its pocket and sliding it into the doorframe so that a stray breeze wouldn't cause the paper to flutter away. The figure then swiftly moved off, not wanting to be seen, and vanished down the road. Half an hour later, the door opened, revealing a person seemingly more animal than man, covered with blue fur and having sharp fangs, as well as the stooped posture of an old silverback gorilla, and, lastly, one strangely out of place item: reading glasses perched on his furry nose. He noticed the small piece of paper drop to the ground and bent to pick it up, studying the sloppy writing on the front of the envelope.
"Hmm," he said, stroking his chin for a moment as a knowing smile crossed his face, Hank McCoy turned and called back into the house, "we have mail here for one Kitty Pryde." A girl in a pink nightgown bounded down the halls, almost tripping over the construction materials left there. She reached for the envelope and snatched it from Hank's hands and smiled.
"Thank you, Mister McCoy!" she said as she ran back down the halls to her temporary bedroom in the basement.
"Ah, the exuberance of youth," McCoy said with a soft sigh as he gathered up the newspaper from in front of the door and closed it, heading to the kitchen for his morning bowl of Lucky Charms, for, as he often reminded the students at the institute, they were quite "magically delicious."
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Kitty sat on her cot, studying the envelope, turning it about in her hands, debating whether or not she should open it. After the words they had exchanged the other night, things simply hadn't been the same, there was no way they could have been. Chills went down Kitty's spine when she remembered how she had told him that he was "just a hood," probably the most hurtful thing that someone like Lance Alvers could have heard from the girl he had loved. He had then said that he would never be good enough for her, anyway, in a way that implied that was how she really felt. She still couldn't decide if she deeply hated him or if she still loved him as much as she had. She smiled softly as she thought back on the times they had spent together, like the Sadie Hawkins dance, which would have been great, if it hadn't been for the untimely arrival of the dragon-like creatures from another dimension. As ridiculous as that sounded, it was things like that which often ruined the moments they had had together. The fact that the two love birds were both mutants, and mutants on opposing teams, at that, had strained their relationship badly. Kitty bit on her lower lip and slipped a finger under the seal of the envelope, trying not to rip the paper while opening the letter. As she slid the piece of paper out, a knock came on the door, startling her to the point that she nearly phased through her bed. She quickly hid the letter underneath her blanket.
"Come in," she said, hoping that her eyes weren't too watery from thinking about her failed romance. The door flew open, and in stumbled Jamie, who tripped and ended up filling half the room with duplicates of himself.
"Hey, Kitty, it's almost time for Pokemon! C'mon, we'll miss it if you don't hurry up," the real Jamie, or, at least, Kitty thought it was him, said. She watched Pokemon every Saturday morning with him, just to be nice to the younger mutant, who hadn't made too many friends since coming to the institute. The only other student who had been particularly nice to him had been Rahne Sinclair, but her parents had taken her away from the institute when they grew concerned for her safety after the mansion's destruction.
"I may have to skip out on that today, Jamie, I'm really sorry," she said, "but, like, next week, okay?" Jamie grimaced, then nodded, gathering together his duplicates and leaving, the last one closing the door behind him. Kitty breathed out a sigh of relief and reached for the envelope again, pulling the slip of paper out and starting to read it, smiling a bit at Lance's sloppy handwriting. She started reading, tears starting to blur her view of the words. She had barely gotten past "Dear Kitty," when a blinding flash of light appeared in front of her, followed by a billow of pink smoke that smelled of sulfur. As the smoke cleared, a boy who had the appearance of a fuzzy blue demon, complete with the tail, could be seen. "Kurt!" Kitty yelled, more than a bit irritated, "Don't you know how to knock?!"
"My apologies, I just vanted to let you know that breakfast is disappearing very quickly, and if you vant some, you may vant to head upstairs now," the German teen said, dropping to the floor, "hey, is that letter from---" he reached out a three fingered hand towards the paper that Kitty held.
"Yes, it is," she said, keeping it out of his reach, "now get out of here!" She cried, losing any courtesy that she had displayed before.
"I can take a hint," Kurt said, vanishing in the same flash of light and smoke that he had appeared in. Kitty grit her teeth together and began to read the letter, hearing Lance's voice echoing in her mind.
"Dear Kitty,
Maybe we were never right for each other, I don't know. I'm writing this letter to apologize if I hurt you during the fight last night, but I know for sure that you hurt me pretty badly, though I don't expect an apology for that. You were right, I am nothing but a hood and that's all I ever will be. I will never be as good as you and your friends. I'm not being sarcastic in the least, Kitty, I agree with you fully. I just wish things had turned out differently between us.
Sincerely,
Lance"
A tear struck the page, making the ink run a bit. Kitty's hands trembled as she finished reading. "Oh, Lance..." she murmured softly. She hopped out of bed and started digging through her makeshift desk, where she had put everything that had survived the explosion of the mansion, as well as some things she had picked up since then. She pulled out a sheet of pink paper and a pen and began writing, carefully choosing her words so as not to do any more damage than had already been done. After she was finished, she sealed the letter in a pink envelope and closed it, writing the name "Lance Alvers" on the front in her neatest penmanship and doodling a small heart in the corner. She got up and got ready to go out and face the world, showering, dressing, and putting on her makeup. Finally, she pulled her hair up into a ponytail, though it sagged a little lower than normal because it was still wet. She tucked the envelope in her jeans pocket and headed upstairs, grabbing a leftover muffin off of the table, trying to avoid all her fellow students as she exited the house and headed to the nearby Brotherhood house.
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In the Brotherhood Boarding House, the rather heavy mutant Fred Dukes and the small, green teen mutant named Todd Tolansky were excitedly telling Wanda Maximoff about the events that she had missed that night at the school assembly, when Fred, Todd, and Lance, as well as Bayville High's biggest jock, Duncan Matthews, had all attacked Scott Summers and the rest of the X-Geeks. Lance was sitting on the couch, brooding quietly as he sipped at a can of Pepsi.
"...and she crashed into that little snob Kitty Pryde, who ended up smashing her head into a car. Pow!" Fred said excitedly. Wanda shook her head with disapproval.
"You guys really need to drop the whole macho act," she said, "it's really disgusting. And teaming up with Duncan Matthews? I thought you guys hated him!"
"Hey, Summers ditched Mystique at that government installation, I think we had every right to some payback, even if we had to stoop to teaming up with Duncan," Fred said. Todd nodded rapidly in agreement.
"But the best thing was when Lance told off his little Kitty Kat!" Todd said with a grin, "tell her, Lance!" Lance shot a glare in Todd's direction. Wanda's eyebrows raised and a thin smile crossed her lips.
"Yeah, Lance, let's hear it," she said.
"Well, when we walked out with Duncan to confront Summers, Kitty told me that I was nothing but a thug. I replied that she was right, and that I'd never be good enough for her," he said, not a hint of emotion in his voice. His eyes told her that every ounce of it had already been drained.
"Wow, I'm impressed, Lance. You finally overcame your lovesickness."
"But I haven't, my Scarlet Sweetheart!" Todd said, leaping beside Wanda with his lips puckered. She grabbed him by the back of his collar.
"If you come near me again, I will break every bone in your body," she said with a sneer. Todd immediately backed off, but he continued staring at her from across the room, batting his eyelashes in what he thought of as "cuteness."
"Poor Lance was heartbroken that night," Fred said mockingly, "he cried all night long..."
"You know that's not true!" Lance said, jumping to his feet, his fist clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. A small tremor shook the house.
"All right, all right, don't bring the house down, yo," Todd interrupted, "he only cried for the first few minutes we were home." Wanda smirked. Lance just turned red. It was then that a soft knock was heard on the front door. Regaining his composure, Lance walked to the door and opened it to find no one was there. He looked down at the ground and saw a small pink envelope lying there. He bent to pick it up and turned to go back in the house, to find Fred and Todd standing there.
"Oooo... a love letter," Fred said, grinning, "you and your pretty Kitty make up, Lancey-poo?"
"Aw, look, she drew a little heart on the envelope, ain't that the cutest thing you ever seen, Fred," Todd said, batting his eyelashes and beginning to prance around, "Ooo... Lance, I have seen the light... I love you, I love you, I love you..." he sang in a high falsetto.
"Shut up, you morons, at least I can get a girl to come within two feet of me," Lance snarled, tucking the letter into his pocket and marching up the stairs, finding Wanda standing in his doorway.
"Fraternizing with the enemy, eh, Lance?" Wanda asked, her face deadly serious, "I'd be careful if I were you... you may end up on the same list as Pietro and Magneto..."
"Hey, I am not a traitor," Lance said defensively.
"You left Fred and Todd once before to join the X-Men to get closer to Kitty, how do we know that you won't do it again?" She was serious, and if Lance didn't know better, he suspected that there might even be a little concern in her voice.
"Look, if she can't appreciate who I am, then it really ain't worth it, is it?"
"Yeah, but..." Wanda trailed off, glancing at the floor for a moment, "forget it, just don't forget how I feel about traitors." She brushed past him and went into her room, slamming her door behind her. Lance shrugged and went into his room, closing the door and locking it, not that locks were much use in this place. He sat on his bed and sighed, opening the letter, and began to read Kitty's letter. Her careful, precise handwriting brought a smile to his face.
"Dear Lance,
I'm sorry that I called you a hood the other night, it was just that when I saw you all ready to beat up on Scott, that's the only part of you that I saw. I don't think anything between us will ever be the same, but I suppose we never know what the future holds for us. I'm sure I'll see you soon, just don't forget, I still care about you.
Love,
Kitty
PS Of course you're good enough for me, don't be ridiculous. I was in the wrong for making it seem like I was better than you."
Lance thoughtfully reread the letter, smiling at bit that Kitty had actually admitted that she was wrong. He wondered if he'd even be able to look her in the face the next time he saw her, though. He placed the letter back into the envelope and stuffed it in a dresser drawer, exiting his room, noticing that Wanda was standing in the hall, leaning on her doorframe.
"So things are all right between you and Kitty, I gather?" She said, studying his features.
"I don't know yet," Lance said, suspicious of her question, since Todd and Fred certainly were not genuinely concerned with that element of his life.
"Well, I hope things work out the way you want them to," she said, lingering for a moment in the doorway before going back inside her room and closing the door. Lance smiled to himself, maybe everything would be all right between him and Kitty, after all. Eventually, anyhow.
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FIN
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