There Must Be Some Kind of Way Out of Here
Chapter 18
Author's Note: Stuff surrounded in ~ are thoughts. I love you all.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from X-Men: Evolution - Marvel and Kid's WB do. I do own my original character, John Jashback, but I don't *really* own him, meaning you could use him and all I could do is...nothing. Unless you live on my street, where I could well..still do nothing.
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John Jashback stood and stared and the doors that led into the cafeteria. People pushed past him and went inside, and more than a few muttered complaints about 'the damn kid who won't move.' John just ignored them. Fishing his hand into his pocket, John pulled out a few random bills and a handful of change.
~I really gotta find a job or something. Maybe they give an allowance at the Institute...~
Either way, John wasn't going to eat a very big lunch. He walked over to a set of vending machines near the doors, threw in fifty cents and got a soda.
~This'll have to do for now. Nice day out, I can eat out there.~
He took his 'lunch' and headed for the set of doors that led outside down at the end of the corridor. Luckily, the first half of the day had gone by uneventfully, and John prayed it would keep up. As he approached the doors, a large meaty hand reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him in. John's vision nearly kicked into vertigo, as everything suddenly shifted very quickly to the right. Once he had regained his senses, he found himself face-to-face with a pair of overalls that had to have been tailored for an elephant and his jaw dropped. His eyes steadily traveled upwards to a multi-chinned, scowling face with a blond mohawk on top of a clean-shaved head. His eyes then traced from the head, down a gigantic arm that led to a huge fist that held a tight grip on his shoulder. John, mouth still on the floor, stared at the fist that could hold him still, even if he had super strength.
"Is this him?" the thing holding John said.
"Yeah, that's him," a familiar voice said.
John turned his head to see Lance Alvers sneering at him. "Miss me?"
"I wish I could say yes," John said sarcastically, while trying to shake off the big guy's vice grip.
There were some other people with Lance. A strange, white haired boy and an ugly little whelp who's skin looked eerily yellow, sitting down in a crouch.
"Let him go, Blob," Lance ordered. The tightness on John's shoulder vanished.
John rubbed his shoulder, but kept his eyes on Lance. "Thanks. I'll be going now," he said, turning around. He didn't manage to get very far. The fist reached out and took hold of him by the shoulder, and yanked him backwards, John's back slamming hard into the wall. He locked his knees to keep from falling on his face, and leaned against the wall for support.
~Fuck me, that hurt!!~
John's eyes were shut tight, his fists balled up tight, and he was biting his lower lip HARD. He shook his head, back and forth, fighting the pain.
~Don't yell. Don't cry. Stay calm. Stay calm. Holy shit, that hurt...~
John opened his eyes and looked up at the giant and then over at Lance. "What the hell do you want, Alvers?"
"This is the new guy with the X-Geeks? He doesn't look so tough, yo," said the little yellow skinned boy.
"Yeah Lance. This is a waste of our time," the white haired boy said hurriedly.
Lance ignored them and walked up to John. "You still got that smart mouth. I figured you'd have left it at home after the beating I gave you yesterday."
"Right. You sneak up on me from behind. Real manly of you." In his head, John was telling himself to shut up. Talking is what got him in this situation in the first place. "I guess me being held here with your friends proves that. So come on, punk. Let's get this over with."
Lance hadn't expected such a reaction - he had hoped John would turn tail and run or cry. But this...
"Fine by me," he said, cracking his knuckles. John just stared at him, preparing for the impending blow.
~Kitty, I hope you're happy...~
"What's going on here?" said a stern voice from behind. "You boys wouldn't be fighting, would you?"
"Uh...Principal Kelly...uh, no, we were just introducing ourselves to the new kid. That's all," Lance said quickly. "That's all."
The principal turned and faced John. "Is what he said true?"
John looked back over and stared at Lance, long and hard.
~I'm gonna regret this...~
Looking back at Principal Kelly, John said, "Yes sir, he's telling the truth. Nice people here in Bayville. Well, I think I'm gonna go now..." John turned and walked over to the set of doors that led outside the building. He turned around and saw Lance looking back, a very neutral look on his face. He stepped through the double doors and outside, and sat down on the concrete steps.
~Why did I just do that? Oh right, I like living.~
John twisted and rubbed his shoulders. Lance Alvers, he could potentially handle, the yellow skinned boy looked to be a pushover, and the white haired boy seemed pretty girly, and probably wouldn't put up much of a fight. But the big guy... John involuntarily rubbed his back.
~And I thought this would be a good day! John, you're an idiot. But I wonder if the big guy and the other two are mutants, like Lance...~
John made a mental note to ask Scott or Kurt later. But as of right at that moment...
~I've got at least twenty minutes until the next class. What the hell am I going to do?~
He stood up and poked his head back into the school. He didn't see anyone, so John stepped inside and headed back over to the vending machines. His soda was nowhere to be seen, so if he wanted to eat, now was as good a time as ever. He paused to get a drink of water from a fountain when a girl walked up to the soda machine. She wore a very tight pink shirt, and a very tight pair of pants. She looked like she overdid it with the makeup, as her cheeks were a rosy red, and she had a....unique hairstyle. He watched as she rubbed her hands together and stuck something into the coin slot. The machine...shook and bounced a little, and a soda came out from the bottom. The girl bent down and pulled it out, and took a long drink from it.
"Wait a second...how did you just do that?" John asked.
She looked like she swallowed a toad. "How did I do what?"
"You stuck something in the machine and it freaked out... What did you do to it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, and she turned around and walked away, her hips shaking with every step. John was reminded of a cheesy phrase, but something that fit in this situation.
~I hate to see her go, but I love watchin' her leave.~
John shook his head and bought a new soda and headed back outside, waiting to see what other surprises were in store for the day.
**********
The rest of the school day went by fine for John Jashback. He found his new classes with relative ease, received the same judging stares from the other students, but wasn't bored at all. He didn't have a class with any of his fellow X-Men, and couldn't quite decide if that was good or bad. When the final bell rang to announce the end of class, John stepped out into the milling crowds in the hall with the other students.
~Maybe what happened at lunch was just a one-time thing. Everything else today has gone fine.~
John wanted to believe it was true, but something in the back of his mind told him no. He wondered if any of the others at the Institute had days as eventful as his... As he fought his way through the people, he noticed Scott leaning against a locker, staring off into space, it seemed. You could never tell what he was looking at, not with his sunglasses on.
"Hey Scott," John said, walking up to him.
"Huh? Oh hey John. What's up?"
"Nothing really. I'm just glad school's over."
"Heh, you and me both. Say...where were you at lunch?"
"Lunch?" John quickly fished for a lie in his head. "I was uh, getting a head start in looking for my uh, next classes. You know, since I didn't finish the whole day yesterday."
"Right," Scott said, not looking at John.
"Is uh, something bothering you?"
"You might say so," he said, pointing down the hall.
John looked and saw Jean talking to a big, blond haired guy wearing a letter jacket. He screamed 'jock.'
"Is that uh, Jean's boyfriend?" John asked.
Scott's face darkened and he mumbled something. He looked over at John and said, "Well, I'm gonna be going now. See you later."
"Uh, yeah. Bye."
~I guess Scott likes Jean, but she's with that other guy. I guess that explains him yelling last night. Not that I blame him. She's hot.~
John reluctantly took his mind off a certain beautiful redheaded telepath and on to more pressing matters (if there can be such things to the male teenager). But yes, there were more important things - like getting a ride home. John fought his way out to the front of the school and looked around for the van that brought him here, but didn't spot it.
~Maybe I've got no ride. Or maybe the ride isn't here. Or maybe I'm on the wrong side of the school. Dammit John, these are important questions you need answered BEFORE a situation like this happens.~
John sat down on a stone bench and angrily cursed himself in his mind. So caught up in it, he didn't notice the person sneak up and reach for a wallet that wasn't there. At least, not right away. The pickpocket got frustrated when he found no wallet, and became careless. John felt something touching his bottom. He turned around and saw one of Lance's friends, the yellow skinned one, crouched down behind him.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
The yellow skinned boy flashed a sickly grin, revealing a mouth of ugly stained teeth and...hopped away.
John stared slack-jawed for a moment before coming to his senses again. "Hey! Get back here!" He jumped up and ran after the other boy, who quickly found that hopping through crowds of people wasn't the best means for escape. John quickly caught up and grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar and yanked him back towards him. He soon realized how big of a mistake that was.
~Oh man, he smells worse than Kurt.~
The stinky, yellow skinned boy pulled himself out of John's grip and hopped away. John let him go - he hadn't stolen anything. But the gall of him... John thought back to yesterday's stay in the nurse's office, and things started to make more sense.
~Lance is Avalanche...the big guy is Blob, that's easy to see. Besides, that's what Lance called him. The yellow skinned one is Toad. Thanks makes sense. He sure smells and moves like one. I guess that makes the white haired guy Quicksilver. I don't think I saw Boom Boom, or whatever the last one was. I guess that makes them the Brotherhood.~
"Hey Lefty, come on," a voice called. John turned around to see Roberto waving to him. "C'mon, out ride is here. And it's Friday, so let's get home!"
~He seems energetic.~
John followed him and saw the familiar black van up ahead.
~Heh, looks kinda like the A-Team van. I wonder who gets to be Mr. T?~
He grinned as he stepped in, and found Sam and Bobby in the back talking, and Jamie sitting in the front row, who motioned John over.
"And how was your first *full* day of school, John?" Ororo called from the front.
"Oh uh...well, it was better than yesterday," he replied, grinning. "I didn't get into any fights. I did come close, twice, though."
"Oh?" the white-haired woman called from the front.
~Doh.~
"Er, yeah. Well, the Brotherhood tried to do something during lunch, but Principal Kelly broke it up. And uh, earlier, before you got here, that Toad guy tried to take my wallet, but luckily, I didn't have one."
John could see her raise an eyebrow in the reflection from the rear view mirror and winced on the inside.
"I think we need to have a talk with the Professor when we get back."
John slumped his shoulders.
"No fair!" Jamie exclaimed. "You said we were gonna do stuff after school."
"Well, you're just going to have to wait, buddy."
Jamie made a disapproving noise.
The other students piled into the van, filing into the seats farthest in the back. In some weird twist of fate, Amara ended up next to John. John spent most of the ride back talking to Jamie, but kept an eye on Amara, but if she had any interest in him, she didn't show it. John looked behind at Rahne who just smiled and winked at him. John turned around and shook his head.
~No matter how long I live, I don't think I'll ever be able to understand women.~
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If you guys have any suggestions on something you'd like to see in the story, by all means tell me, cause your guess is as good as mine as to what's gonna happen next.
Oh, and I couldn't resist taking a crack at Pietro. Too many original characters end up as his love interest, and so...well, it was a cheap blow. As for who John will end up with...probably nobody. But like I said, your guess is as good as mine as to what's gonna happen next.
Author's Note: Stuff surrounded in ~ are thoughts. I love you all.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from X-Men: Evolution - Marvel and Kid's WB do. I do own my original character, John Jashback, but I don't *really* own him, meaning you could use him and all I could do is...nothing. Unless you live on my street, where I could well..still do nothing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------
John Jashback stood and stared and the doors that led into the cafeteria. People pushed past him and went inside, and more than a few muttered complaints about 'the damn kid who won't move.' John just ignored them. Fishing his hand into his pocket, John pulled out a few random bills and a handful of change.
~I really gotta find a job or something. Maybe they give an allowance at the Institute...~
Either way, John wasn't going to eat a very big lunch. He walked over to a set of vending machines near the doors, threw in fifty cents and got a soda.
~This'll have to do for now. Nice day out, I can eat out there.~
He took his 'lunch' and headed for the set of doors that led outside down at the end of the corridor. Luckily, the first half of the day had gone by uneventfully, and John prayed it would keep up. As he approached the doors, a large meaty hand reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him in. John's vision nearly kicked into vertigo, as everything suddenly shifted very quickly to the right. Once he had regained his senses, he found himself face-to-face with a pair of overalls that had to have been tailored for an elephant and his jaw dropped. His eyes steadily traveled upwards to a multi-chinned, scowling face with a blond mohawk on top of a clean-shaved head. His eyes then traced from the head, down a gigantic arm that led to a huge fist that held a tight grip on his shoulder. John, mouth still on the floor, stared at the fist that could hold him still, even if he had super strength.
"Is this him?" the thing holding John said.
"Yeah, that's him," a familiar voice said.
John turned his head to see Lance Alvers sneering at him. "Miss me?"
"I wish I could say yes," John said sarcastically, while trying to shake off the big guy's vice grip.
There were some other people with Lance. A strange, white haired boy and an ugly little whelp who's skin looked eerily yellow, sitting down in a crouch.
"Let him go, Blob," Lance ordered. The tightness on John's shoulder vanished.
John rubbed his shoulder, but kept his eyes on Lance. "Thanks. I'll be going now," he said, turning around. He didn't manage to get very far. The fist reached out and took hold of him by the shoulder, and yanked him backwards, John's back slamming hard into the wall. He locked his knees to keep from falling on his face, and leaned against the wall for support.
~Fuck me, that hurt!!~
John's eyes were shut tight, his fists balled up tight, and he was biting his lower lip HARD. He shook his head, back and forth, fighting the pain.
~Don't yell. Don't cry. Stay calm. Stay calm. Holy shit, that hurt...~
John opened his eyes and looked up at the giant and then over at Lance. "What the hell do you want, Alvers?"
"This is the new guy with the X-Geeks? He doesn't look so tough, yo," said the little yellow skinned boy.
"Yeah Lance. This is a waste of our time," the white haired boy said hurriedly.
Lance ignored them and walked up to John. "You still got that smart mouth. I figured you'd have left it at home after the beating I gave you yesterday."
"Right. You sneak up on me from behind. Real manly of you." In his head, John was telling himself to shut up. Talking is what got him in this situation in the first place. "I guess me being held here with your friends proves that. So come on, punk. Let's get this over with."
Lance hadn't expected such a reaction - he had hoped John would turn tail and run or cry. But this...
"Fine by me," he said, cracking his knuckles. John just stared at him, preparing for the impending blow.
~Kitty, I hope you're happy...~
"What's going on here?" said a stern voice from behind. "You boys wouldn't be fighting, would you?"
"Uh...Principal Kelly...uh, no, we were just introducing ourselves to the new kid. That's all," Lance said quickly. "That's all."
The principal turned and faced John. "Is what he said true?"
John looked back over and stared at Lance, long and hard.
~I'm gonna regret this...~
Looking back at Principal Kelly, John said, "Yes sir, he's telling the truth. Nice people here in Bayville. Well, I think I'm gonna go now..." John turned and walked over to the set of doors that led outside the building. He turned around and saw Lance looking back, a very neutral look on his face. He stepped through the double doors and outside, and sat down on the concrete steps.
~Why did I just do that? Oh right, I like living.~
John twisted and rubbed his shoulders. Lance Alvers, he could potentially handle, the yellow skinned boy looked to be a pushover, and the white haired boy seemed pretty girly, and probably wouldn't put up much of a fight. But the big guy... John involuntarily rubbed his back.
~And I thought this would be a good day! John, you're an idiot. But I wonder if the big guy and the other two are mutants, like Lance...~
John made a mental note to ask Scott or Kurt later. But as of right at that moment...
~I've got at least twenty minutes until the next class. What the hell am I going to do?~
He stood up and poked his head back into the school. He didn't see anyone, so John stepped inside and headed back over to the vending machines. His soda was nowhere to be seen, so if he wanted to eat, now was as good a time as ever. He paused to get a drink of water from a fountain when a girl walked up to the soda machine. She wore a very tight pink shirt, and a very tight pair of pants. She looked like she overdid it with the makeup, as her cheeks were a rosy red, and she had a....unique hairstyle. He watched as she rubbed her hands together and stuck something into the coin slot. The machine...shook and bounced a little, and a soda came out from the bottom. The girl bent down and pulled it out, and took a long drink from it.
"Wait a second...how did you just do that?" John asked.
She looked like she swallowed a toad. "How did I do what?"
"You stuck something in the machine and it freaked out... What did you do to it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, and she turned around and walked away, her hips shaking with every step. John was reminded of a cheesy phrase, but something that fit in this situation.
~I hate to see her go, but I love watchin' her leave.~
John shook his head and bought a new soda and headed back outside, waiting to see what other surprises were in store for the day.
**********
The rest of the school day went by fine for John Jashback. He found his new classes with relative ease, received the same judging stares from the other students, but wasn't bored at all. He didn't have a class with any of his fellow X-Men, and couldn't quite decide if that was good or bad. When the final bell rang to announce the end of class, John stepped out into the milling crowds in the hall with the other students.
~Maybe what happened at lunch was just a one-time thing. Everything else today has gone fine.~
John wanted to believe it was true, but something in the back of his mind told him no. He wondered if any of the others at the Institute had days as eventful as his... As he fought his way through the people, he noticed Scott leaning against a locker, staring off into space, it seemed. You could never tell what he was looking at, not with his sunglasses on.
"Hey Scott," John said, walking up to him.
"Huh? Oh hey John. What's up?"
"Nothing really. I'm just glad school's over."
"Heh, you and me both. Say...where were you at lunch?"
"Lunch?" John quickly fished for a lie in his head. "I was uh, getting a head start in looking for my uh, next classes. You know, since I didn't finish the whole day yesterday."
"Right," Scott said, not looking at John.
"Is uh, something bothering you?"
"You might say so," he said, pointing down the hall.
John looked and saw Jean talking to a big, blond haired guy wearing a letter jacket. He screamed 'jock.'
"Is that uh, Jean's boyfriend?" John asked.
Scott's face darkened and he mumbled something. He looked over at John and said, "Well, I'm gonna be going now. See you later."
"Uh, yeah. Bye."
~I guess Scott likes Jean, but she's with that other guy. I guess that explains him yelling last night. Not that I blame him. She's hot.~
John reluctantly took his mind off a certain beautiful redheaded telepath and on to more pressing matters (if there can be such things to the male teenager). But yes, there were more important things - like getting a ride home. John fought his way out to the front of the school and looked around for the van that brought him here, but didn't spot it.
~Maybe I've got no ride. Or maybe the ride isn't here. Or maybe I'm on the wrong side of the school. Dammit John, these are important questions you need answered BEFORE a situation like this happens.~
John sat down on a stone bench and angrily cursed himself in his mind. So caught up in it, he didn't notice the person sneak up and reach for a wallet that wasn't there. At least, not right away. The pickpocket got frustrated when he found no wallet, and became careless. John felt something touching his bottom. He turned around and saw one of Lance's friends, the yellow skinned one, crouched down behind him.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
The yellow skinned boy flashed a sickly grin, revealing a mouth of ugly stained teeth and...hopped away.
John stared slack-jawed for a moment before coming to his senses again. "Hey! Get back here!" He jumped up and ran after the other boy, who quickly found that hopping through crowds of people wasn't the best means for escape. John quickly caught up and grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar and yanked him back towards him. He soon realized how big of a mistake that was.
~Oh man, he smells worse than Kurt.~
The stinky, yellow skinned boy pulled himself out of John's grip and hopped away. John let him go - he hadn't stolen anything. But the gall of him... John thought back to yesterday's stay in the nurse's office, and things started to make more sense.
~Lance is Avalanche...the big guy is Blob, that's easy to see. Besides, that's what Lance called him. The yellow skinned one is Toad. Thanks makes sense. He sure smells and moves like one. I guess that makes the white haired guy Quicksilver. I don't think I saw Boom Boom, or whatever the last one was. I guess that makes them the Brotherhood.~
"Hey Lefty, come on," a voice called. John turned around to see Roberto waving to him. "C'mon, out ride is here. And it's Friday, so let's get home!"
~He seems energetic.~
John followed him and saw the familiar black van up ahead.
~Heh, looks kinda like the A-Team van. I wonder who gets to be Mr. T?~
He grinned as he stepped in, and found Sam and Bobby in the back talking, and Jamie sitting in the front row, who motioned John over.
"And how was your first *full* day of school, John?" Ororo called from the front.
"Oh uh...well, it was better than yesterday," he replied, grinning. "I didn't get into any fights. I did come close, twice, though."
"Oh?" the white-haired woman called from the front.
~Doh.~
"Er, yeah. Well, the Brotherhood tried to do something during lunch, but Principal Kelly broke it up. And uh, earlier, before you got here, that Toad guy tried to take my wallet, but luckily, I didn't have one."
John could see her raise an eyebrow in the reflection from the rear view mirror and winced on the inside.
"I think we need to have a talk with the Professor when we get back."
John slumped his shoulders.
"No fair!" Jamie exclaimed. "You said we were gonna do stuff after school."
"Well, you're just going to have to wait, buddy."
Jamie made a disapproving noise.
The other students piled into the van, filing into the seats farthest in the back. In some weird twist of fate, Amara ended up next to John. John spent most of the ride back talking to Jamie, but kept an eye on Amara, but if she had any interest in him, she didn't show it. John looked behind at Rahne who just smiled and winked at him. John turned around and shook his head.
~No matter how long I live, I don't think I'll ever be able to understand women.~
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If you guys have any suggestions on something you'd like to see in the story, by all means tell me, cause your guess is as good as mine as to what's gonna happen next.
Oh, and I couldn't resist taking a crack at Pietro. Too many original characters end up as his love interest, and so...well, it was a cheap blow. As for who John will end up with...probably nobody. But like I said, your guess is as good as mine as to what's gonna happen next.