Kurt wasn't sure what Alexia meant about "playing". But when he asked, Alexia and Zydane just shrugged innocently and told him he'd see at the rock quarry.

At ten-thirty, when they were sure all the younger kids were asleep, they left. There were twelve all together that went, including Alexia, Kurt, and Zydane. While those three drove to the quarry in Zydane's car, everyone else took dirt bikes and four-wheelers.

The quarry wasn't very big as far as quarries went, but it was big enough for them to play with explosives and not set any trees on fire. Kurt could see ominous craters and black spots scattered across the dirt ground of the area, and he had a feeling that when they were planning today was mild compared to some of the stuff they had done before.

Alexia tossed Kurt a tupperware container. Opening it, Kurt could see a pinkish gel inside.

"Vhat is this?" he asked.

Alexia grinned and lifted some glass bottles half-filled with gasoline and stuffed with cloth - the Molotov cocktails - out of Zydane's truck. "It's this stuff my mom uses to cook with. It's like fire in a tub."

"Vhat are ve going to do vith it?" Kurt inquired.

"We're not going to do anything with it," Zydane told him. "That's Alexia's department. She puts it on her hands and lights it, absorbs the energy, and then gives us a light show."

"Oh."

Once all the "combustibles" - as Alexia liked to call them - were unloaded, the burn-fest began. Alexia picked up one of the glass bottles, lit the cloth, and threw it. It hit the far side of the quarry and shattered into millions of burning pieces. Kurt could help but grin at how cool it looked. Zydane threw another one, and everyone cheered.

"Are you sure this is legal?" Kurt asked, the fact that it might not be suddenly dawning on him.

Alexia shrugged. "I dunno. I know we'd get in big trouble if the rangers caught us, but I don't think they patrol this area very often. And it's not like anyone is getting hurt."

She opened the tub of gel and called Zydane over. He grinned and got out a lighter as Alexia smeared the pink goop all over her hands.

"Step back," he told Kurt as he lit the lighter and Alexia held her and out to it.

Kurt nodded and stepped back. When the gel on Alexia's hands met the flame, it caught on fire and glowed with blue-hot light. The change was almost instant: Alexia's eyes began to sparkle, then shine, as though flashlights had been turned on in the back of her head, and her hair began to stand on end. The air around her became electrified, and when Zydane reached for her playfully, a visible stream of energy shocked him, causing him to cry out and jump back. He grinned.

They repeated the process of putting gel on Alexia's hands and then lighting it and letting her absorb the energy from it until when she touched the tub of gel it burst into flames. She grinned up at the kids and her hands started to glow. Everyone moved back and watched as a ball formed between her hands, it was small, no bigger than a hackey-sack, but Kurt could see the heat shimmering off of it. Alexia tossed it back and forth in her hands, then she narrowed her eyes a bit, and they all watched as the ball rose from her hands and started to spin in the air. Then, Alexia raised her hands and out of them shot two thin streams of light that made contact with the ball causing it to explode. The explosion was so bright that it made Kurt see spots.

Alexia grinned as everyone cheered, but refused to do anything else. She released the rest of the energy pent up inside her and started to suggest that Luke set off the fire works when a boy on a four-wheeler came barreling into the quarry, shouting hysterically.

"David, why the heck aren't you watching the road?" Zydane cried as the four-wheeler came to a fast halt. "You're supposed to be on the look out for Rangers!"

"That's why I'm here! There are cars coming this way, and motorcycles! I can hear them. They're almost here. We gotta split!" The boy panted, waving his arms to get his point across.

There was silence from the group, then Alexia suddenly shouted, "Leave everything! Don't waste the time packing up! All you guys on ATVs get your butts outta here and head back to the Bungalow via different routes! We'll follow in the rear in Zydane's car!"

No one bothered to stand still for all of the orders. Before Alexia had started talking, many people were already on their vehicles and were revving the engines. Alexia grabbed Kurt's hand, and pulled him over to the car. "Hurry Zydane!" she shouted as they climbed in.

The sound of the ATVs of the other kids had died away, but now it started to sound as though they were headed back up the road. Kurt could hear motors in the distance, and a thought occurred to him as Zydane jumped in the car and yanked on his seat belt. "Since vhen vould forest rangers drive motorcycles? Don't they usually have just cars or jeeps?"

Zydane and Alexia exchanged terrified looks, and Kurt had a sinking feeling that they knew he was right. Zydane turned the ignition, shifted, and floored it, speeding his way out of the quarry and onto the road. As they pulled out of the quarry, Kurt looked behind them and saw headlights, a lot of head lights, not so far behind them.

Zydane glanced in his mirror and shifted again. "Since when to so many rangers come out just to call an end to something going on in the quarry?"

Alexia and Kurt kept their eyes fixed on the lights behind them, and Kurt noticed that one was getting larger very quickly. "They're gaining on us!"

"It's a motorcycle Zy, we could try to out run them," Alexia said, fear apparent in her voice. The air in the car was starting to get cold.

"I can't go any faster unless you wanna be made a permanent part of a tree, Alex!" Zydane shouted as he turned a corner. "Do something to get him off my tail!"

"Like what? And how? It's not like they're threatening us!"

Suddenly a loud bang sounded from behind the car and hole appeared in the middle of the back window and then the windshield.

"THEY'RE SHOOTING AT US!" Kurt cried, ducking in his seat.

"I think I'd consider that a threat!" Zydane shouted, stepping on the gas a little more.

Alexia thought quickly, then reached up and hit the button that opened the moon roof. "I think I can do something!"

She opened the window to allow more warm air from outside to flow in at her, and she absorbed all the energy she felt safe having. Then she quickly undid her seat belt and carefully climbed up so her head was poking out of the moon roof. "Kurt! Hold my legs so I don't fall!" Kurt reached out and grabbed them, gritting his teeth against the mild shocks he received.

Alexia stood up all the way so that from her navel up was out of the car. The headlights were bright in her eyes, but she forced herself on concentrate on the one that was only about ten meters behind the car. Using her mind, she told the energy that was pent up in her body to twist itself together and form spheres of light and heat. Once she had two golf-ball sized spheres in her hands, she willed them to go at the man on the motorcycle. They outshone the headlight by a long shot, and while she couldn't control them exactly, the little she could do, along with the brightness of them, surprised the man on the motorcycle enough to cause him to serve away and crash into a ditch.

Next, Alexia turned her attention to keeping the rest of the vehicles away. As Zydane turned a corner, Alexia looked around to see where they were. "Take Lockview Road! Then double-back up Talon!" she told Zydane. He did as she advised, and as they turned onto Lockview, she aimed a large bolt of energy at a large tree. Like a laser, the energy cut through the base of the tree and it fell behind them, blocking the road. I've always wanted to do that, Alexia thought with a grin.

Zydane quickly turned on to Talon road as Alexia eased herself back into her seat. She was shaking from nerves, but she was really happy too, which made her feel kind of sick and twisted.

"I've never heard of rangers firing on people like that," Zydane said tensely as they drove along on the back roads, taking the longest, most confusing route possible back to the Bungalow. "Maybe firing at the tires, but not through the windshield. Look! A few more degrees to the left, and they would have hit me!"

"Well they didn't," Alexia told him, and she took a deep breath. "I don't like that. They didn't have sirens like the police or firefighters, and they didn't act like rangers. Who do you think they are?"

"No one good," Zydane answered. "When we get back, I'm assigning shifts of people to patrol the area, while everyone else gets rest. I don't like the way this weekend's headed."

--------------------------------------

When they reached the Bungalow, everyone else was already there. As Alexia walked in the door, her older brother Luke ran over and hugged her tightly. "I thought they had got you guys," he murmured.

"No, they didn't," Zydane replied. "We lost them, but I have a feeling they're still out there. I want people to be on patrol tonight. I'm thinking four groups of two, one group for each of the compass points."

Everyone agreed that it was a good idea, and instantly there were eight volunteers.

"I want to go," Alexia said, grabbing up her helmet, but Zydane snatched it away.

"No, you and Kurt are not going," he told her. "You're going to stay here. You're our best weapon of defense, and if they do get here, you're our only hope of keeping the little ones safe."

Alexia furrowed her brow. "What about you? You can't go! You're important for defense too!"

"Neither of you will go. We have the eight volunteers, so it's not really necessary for you guys to fight. Beside, Alexia, if you got hurt, not only would mom have a fit, she'd kill Zydane, and then we'd be lacking both of you," Luke said, stopping the fight before it got started. "I'll handle the communication between the groups for the night. You three should go upstairs and crash. I have a bad feeling nothing good is gonna happen tomorrow."

To Kurt's surprise, neither Zydane nor Alexia argued Luke's instructions. Instead, Alexia took Kurt's arm and the three of them headed up stairs.

Zydane smiled sheepishly. "We're going to all have to share the big master bed...some of the pyro kids had an accident with a few of their mattresses, so we're short a few beds."

Kurt blinked in surprise. "Ve'll be sleeping in the same bed?"

Zydane nodded. "Yeah. I know it's not the most comfortable idea, but we trust each other, and we're all friends."

Alexia said nothing, and when they reached the room, she just kicked off her shoes and collapsed in the middle of the large bed. In an instant she was sleeping peacefully.

Zydane shrugged. "Looks like you have your choice. Right side or left?"

"Ummm...right I guess...there's not much difference, it there?"

Zydane grinned. "Not really, except for the fact Alex kicks in her sleep."

"Unt how vould you know this?" Kurt asked as he took off his top shirt.

"She's been my best friend for six years. I'm supposed to know these things," Zydane said, and then yelped in surprise as Kurt turned off his image inducer with out thinking.

"You really are blue!" Zydane breathed, examining the young mutant.

Kurt blushed. "You thought that Alexia vas lying?"

"Well, no, normally we say someone's blue when we mean they're really rich, you know, blue-blooded...she probably did clarify, I just didn't hear her. I do like the tail though, it's a nice touch." He kicked off his shoes and lay down on the bed beside Alexia. She stirred and opened her eyes.

"Where's Kurt?" she mumbled sleepily.

"I'm right here," Kurt said, turning off the light and lying down on the other side.

"That's good," Alexia yawned, and her eyes closed again.

Kurt stared into the darkness for a while, unable to sleep, when Zydane's voice sounded over Alexia's sleeping form. "Can you turn out your eyes? They're glowing yellow, and they are kind of freaking me out."

"Sorry," Kurt whispered. "I just can't sleep."

"You wondering about that chase earlier tonight, too?" Zydane asked, sitting up slowly. Alexia stirred again, and moved so her head was on Zydane's lap. He didn't even seem to notice very much, and began to stroke her hair absent-mindedly.

"Ja. It seems funny how they shot at you vhen they gave no other varning. Unt I vould think they vould have shot at Alexia vhen she vas standing through the moon roof."

Zydane nodded. "Exactly. And I've never seen that many vehicles up here at one time before. Not at night anyway. It doesn't make any sense. I mean, today was kind of weird. Almost running into that black car, seeing that man just walking along that road up here, that chase...it's like some weird dream that doesn't make sense and won't until the morning."

"The patrol groups will contact us if they find anything out of the ordinary, right?" Kurt asked, sleep finally starting to come over him.

"Yeah," Zydane told him. "Good night, Kurt."

"Good night," Kurt mumbled as he slipped into sleep.