SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW BRIDGE.
by Todd Jensen.
DISCLAIMER: X-Men: Evolution characters belong to Film Roman Entertainment
and Marvel Enterprises. All Marvel Comics characters featured here belong
to Marvel, not to me.
1. THROUGH THE PORTAL.
"Just a few more adjustments... There. That should do it."
The young mutant inventor known only as Forge stepped back, reverted his arm
from machine-form to flesh, and turned to the three other mutants watching
him. "We're ready to test it."
"You're sure that this is gonna work properly?" asked Logan, looking at the
complicated machinery before them with a decidedly skeptical frown. "Cause
the last time that you did something like this, we wound up facing an
invasion of pygmy tyrannosaurs."
"Don't worry, Logan," said Forge. "If anything tries to get through from
the other side of this one, I'll switch the dimensional portal apparatus off
in a hurry. Besides, this is a whole different parallel universe. No fire
and brimstone or miniature dinosaurs this time."
"Then let's begin," said Professor Xavier. "I'm interested in seeing just
what this parallel universe that your machine's connected to looks like."
"And so am I," said Beast. "It should make for some fascinating study."
"Then here goes!" said Forge. He operated a few switches, and pulled a
lever.
The large metal doorway-shaped frame mounted on the right of the control
panel began to shimmer. The laboratory wall behind it disappeared, replaced
by swirling colors in a rainbow hue. And then, they dispersed, to reveal
what definitely was not the inside of
the laboratory in the basement of Professor Xavier's mansion.
A forest of pine trees swept all the way towards distant mountains, rising
majestically towards the heavens. The sky above was winter-pale, and snow
lay upon the tree branches, sometimes filtering down upon the ground. A
keen chill wind blew through the portal into the lab.
"Well, I must admit, it looks much more Earth-like than I had expected,"
said Xavier, after a moment's silence.
"I agree, Professor," said Beast. "It looks a great deal like Norway, in
fact."
"Yeah, you're right," said Forge, sounding a little disappointed. "I
wonder if I did something wrong. I mean, maybe I miscalculated a little,
and just opened a window on Norway rather than another dimension."
"I don't think so," said Wolverine, pointing at something descending from
the heavens. It looked like a golden eagle, but much larger than was normal
for such birds. "They don't grow 'em that big in Norway."
"Oh my stars and garters!" cried Beast, his eyes widening. "I do believe
that the bird can sense us!"
He was right. The eagle was swooping straight towards the portal,
approaching with dramatic speed. It screeched loudly as it came, staring
straight at the four mutants on the other side.
Wolverine unleashed his adamantium claws at once, ready for battle. But
Forge moved quicker. He reached for the level and pushed it back to its
original position. The world beyond the portal, including the eagle,
vanished abruptly, and the laboratory wall appeared in its place.
"That was certainly a close one," he said, letting out a relieved breath. "A
few more seconds, and that bird would actually have broken through. And
then things would really have gotten ugly."
"I most heartily concur," said Beast. "It does appear that this parallel
dimension certainly has some serious hazards within it. We will need to
take some precautions before embarking upon our next investigation."
Xavier nodded. "Yes, I cannot place my students in danger," he said.
"Until we can keep whatever is on the other side of that portal from
breaking through into our own world, I am in favor of immediately suspending
this experiment."
"Yeah," said Wolverine, also nodding, as he sheathed his claws. "That
makes three of us, Chuck."
"Good point," said Forge. "Tomorrow I'll see if I can do some fresh
adjustments to this portal. Make it more like a window, less like a door,
so that nothing can get out that way. Then it'll be safe."
"I must admit, though," said Xavier, "that I did find that eagle quite
interesting. Not only was it much larger than normal, but I could sense
something different about it. Almost as though it was intelligent. If I had
had a little more time, I would have reached out to it, to see if it was
sentient enough for me to establish telepathic communications
with it."
"Yes, that would be fascinating if it were," said Beast eagerly. "Think
what we could learn from it! An actual intelligence equal to our own, in an
avian body! Who knows what kind of outlook upon the world it might have?
It would be almost like making contact with intelligent life-forms from
another planet!"
"If you ask me, it was looking for a scrap, rather than a civilized
conversation," commented Wolverine dourly. "But at least it can't get at us
now."
"Well, I believe that that's enough of this experiment for today," said
Xavier.
"We'll have to continue this tomorrow, or whenever Forge completes his
fine-tunings. For now, it's time for us to leave this place and lock up."
The others concurred, and followed him out of the laboratory. Forge closed
the door behind him and locked it tightly. "That should stop anyone from
getting in."
That would have been the case in a house with normal residents. However,
Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was not such a house.
* * *
"Hide!" cried Bobby, motioning to the others. "They're coming this way!"
Jubilee, Sam, and Ray joined with him in ducking down the corridor
branching to one side and flattening themselves against the wall as Xavier
and the others walked past. None of them breathed until the four of them
were out of hearing range.
"That was close," said Jubilee, in a whisper. "Bobby, is this really worth
it?"
"Of course it is," said Bobby. "Don't you want to find out just what
they've been up to in there?"
"Well, yes," she said, nodding. "But - look what happened to us the last
time we tried doing something like that. We almost got fried by the Danger
Room equipment."
"That only happened because that little tagalong got into the control
room," replied Ray. "As long as he doesn't show up, we're fine."
The four members of the New Mutants team, as the new students at the
Institute informally called themselves, reached the laboratory door. Bobby
tried to turn the handle, but it wouldn't budge. "Locked," he said, in a
disappointed tone of voice. "It figures."
"So what do we do now?" asked Ray.
"Pity that we can't talk Kitty into helping us out here," said Bobby. "Or
Kurt, for that matter. They could get us in there easy."
"Well, I don't think that either one of them is going to agree to that,"
said Jubilee. "So that leaves us back where we started."
"I've got an idea," said Sam, moving backwards down the corridor, preparing
for a run. "Get away from the door, all of you!"
"What, are you nuts?" cried Jubilee. "If you break down the door, they'll
know that we got in, and -"
But the Kentucky youth paid her no heed. Instead, he came charging
straight for the door, charged up with his mutant thermo-kinetical ability.
The other three New Mutants pressed themselves against the wall just in time
as he rammed through the door, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of it.
"I'm in!" he called out to them, sticking his head
through the hole.
"Well, Jube, you've got to admit, it got us in," said Bobby cheerfully. He
and Ray climbed through the hole, with Jubilee following.
"So what is this stuff, anyway?" Ray asked, looking at the control panel
dominating the room.
"It looks like another one of Forge's contraptions," said Bobby. "Kind of
like the one that he built when he wanted to find out about that place that
Kurt pops into whenever he's bamfing around."
"Ugh, I hope not," said Jubilee, shuddering. "That's all that we need.
More of those creepy dinosaur-things on the loose."
"They probably wouldn't do as much damage as you four already have," said a
voice from behind them. The four youngsters turned around to see Amara
standing there, looking at them disapprovingly. Roberto, Rahne, and Jamie
were right behind her, climbing in through the hole.
"Uh, hi, Amara," said Bobby, doing his best not to sound nervous, and
feeling relieved that at least it wasn't Scott or Jean or one of the
grown-ups who'd caught them at it. "What are you doing here?"
"Keeping an eye on you," she replied. "You people certainly need it, in
light of your constant inability to stay out of trouble. And I'd thought
that you'd learned your lesson after what happened when you decided to take
the Blackbird for a joyride. Didn't having to clean it up afterwards teach
you anything?"
"Hey, I wasn't one of the ones on board!" shouted Ray at her, indignantly.
"So don't go blaming me for it!"
"We have a saying back in Nova Roma," Amara said, in the tone of regal
dignity, almost to the point of disdain, that she was so skilled at using.
" 'If you keep company with ruffians, then you are to be judged as one.'"
"Come on, Amara, lighten up!" said Bobby. "What's the harm in what we're
doing, anyway?"
"Since you do not seem to comprehend, allow me to explain it to you," she
answered. "First, you have demolished the laboratory door. Second, you have
broken into the laboratory itself, and were obviously about to meddle with
that device over there, a device that you have not been given permission to
handle - and which probably shouldn't even be used at all, in light of the
trouble that's come from using such things before. Need I say more?"
Rahne, Roberto, and Jamie had walked past her in the meantime, and were
looking closer at the machine itself. "I wonder what Forge was building
this thing for," said Roberto to the others.
"I dinna know, and I'm nae certain that I want to know," said Rahne, eyeing
the control panel suspiciously, as though it might come to life and attack
her and her fellow mutants. "I'd let it be, if I were you."
"Sound advice," said Amara, nodding. "I still say that we should leave -
and that the proper thing for you to do, Bobby Drake, would be to first
admit to the Professor what you and your friends did, and then repair that
door. Now, before anything worse happens."
"What do you mean?" protested Ray heatedly. "After all the trouble it took
us to get in here, we have to leave without even getting to switch that
thing on?"
"Exactly," Amara answered.
"Well, I want to see what it does," said Ray.
"And so do I," said Bobby. "I'll just switch it on for a moment, anyway,"
he continued, walking over to the lever. "Just a few seconds. How much
harm can that do?"
"Knowing you, a considerable amount," said Amara sharply. "Bobby, I'm
warning you. If you don't move away from that machine before I count to
ten -"
Ignoring her, Bobby pulled on the lever. Amara raised her hand and a ball
of fire formed in it. "Move that lever back to where you found it, now!"
she shouted.
"You wouldn't dare, 'Lava Lamp'," Bobby replied, looking her defiantly in
the eye.
"Lava Lamp?" cried Amara, glowering at him. And then, she threw the
fireball. Not directly at him, of course, merely aiming a little to the
right, as a warning.
What Amara had not anticipated was that Bobby would at once shoot a small
blast of ice back at the fireball, as a hurried defense. The two mutant
attacks met each other in mid-air, with the result that both, upon making
contact with one another, veered off course from the force of the impact,
and hurtled directly into the portal just as it was activating. There was a
mini-explosion, and sparks flew out from the framework. Hardly any of the
New Mutants saw that, however. They were too busy watching the
confrontation between Bobby and Amara.
"Care to try that again, Lava Lamp?" asked Bobby, a superior-looking grin on
his face.
"Indeed I will, Frosty," she retorted. "You just see!"
"Um, guys?" asked Roberto suddenly, pointing to the portal. "Is it
supposed to be doing that?"
Everyone else turned to look at the door-frame. The swirling rainbow-hued
colors were already dispersing, and a wintry forested landscape had come
into view. But the framework was continuing to tremble and emit sparks. And
then, the tugging sensation began. It pulled at all eight youngsters,
dragging them closer and closer to the threshold of
the portal.
"Now see what you did?" Bobby shouted to Amara, attempting to grab hold of
part of the control panel to anchor himself, and failing.
"Me?" she retorted, struggling against the suction and failing likewise. "If
you hadn't gone about meddling with that machine to begin with -"
But she never had the opportunity to complete the sentence. For the force
from the doorway now reached its climax, drawing all eight New Mutants to
itself, as inexorably as a piece of metal responding to the summons from
Magneto's magnetic abilities. And then, they found themselves hurtling
helplessly across the threshold and into its
depths. Eight terrified screams resounded through the laboratory. And then
there was silence, and the room was empty again.
by Todd Jensen.
DISCLAIMER: X-Men: Evolution characters belong to Film Roman Entertainment
and Marvel Enterprises. All Marvel Comics characters featured here belong
to Marvel, not to me.
1. THROUGH THE PORTAL.
"Just a few more adjustments... There. That should do it."
The young mutant inventor known only as Forge stepped back, reverted his arm
from machine-form to flesh, and turned to the three other mutants watching
him. "We're ready to test it."
"You're sure that this is gonna work properly?" asked Logan, looking at the
complicated machinery before them with a decidedly skeptical frown. "Cause
the last time that you did something like this, we wound up facing an
invasion of pygmy tyrannosaurs."
"Don't worry, Logan," said Forge. "If anything tries to get through from
the other side of this one, I'll switch the dimensional portal apparatus off
in a hurry. Besides, this is a whole different parallel universe. No fire
and brimstone or miniature dinosaurs this time."
"Then let's begin," said Professor Xavier. "I'm interested in seeing just
what this parallel universe that your machine's connected to looks like."
"And so am I," said Beast. "It should make for some fascinating study."
"Then here goes!" said Forge. He operated a few switches, and pulled a
lever.
The large metal doorway-shaped frame mounted on the right of the control
panel began to shimmer. The laboratory wall behind it disappeared, replaced
by swirling colors in a rainbow hue. And then, they dispersed, to reveal
what definitely was not the inside of
the laboratory in the basement of Professor Xavier's mansion.
A forest of pine trees swept all the way towards distant mountains, rising
majestically towards the heavens. The sky above was winter-pale, and snow
lay upon the tree branches, sometimes filtering down upon the ground. A
keen chill wind blew through the portal into the lab.
"Well, I must admit, it looks much more Earth-like than I had expected,"
said Xavier, after a moment's silence.
"I agree, Professor," said Beast. "It looks a great deal like Norway, in
fact."
"Yeah, you're right," said Forge, sounding a little disappointed. "I
wonder if I did something wrong. I mean, maybe I miscalculated a little,
and just opened a window on Norway rather than another dimension."
"I don't think so," said Wolverine, pointing at something descending from
the heavens. It looked like a golden eagle, but much larger than was normal
for such birds. "They don't grow 'em that big in Norway."
"Oh my stars and garters!" cried Beast, his eyes widening. "I do believe
that the bird can sense us!"
He was right. The eagle was swooping straight towards the portal,
approaching with dramatic speed. It screeched loudly as it came, staring
straight at the four mutants on the other side.
Wolverine unleashed his adamantium claws at once, ready for battle. But
Forge moved quicker. He reached for the level and pushed it back to its
original position. The world beyond the portal, including the eagle,
vanished abruptly, and the laboratory wall appeared in its place.
"That was certainly a close one," he said, letting out a relieved breath. "A
few more seconds, and that bird would actually have broken through. And
then things would really have gotten ugly."
"I most heartily concur," said Beast. "It does appear that this parallel
dimension certainly has some serious hazards within it. We will need to
take some precautions before embarking upon our next investigation."
Xavier nodded. "Yes, I cannot place my students in danger," he said.
"Until we can keep whatever is on the other side of that portal from
breaking through into our own world, I am in favor of immediately suspending
this experiment."
"Yeah," said Wolverine, also nodding, as he sheathed his claws. "That
makes three of us, Chuck."
"Good point," said Forge. "Tomorrow I'll see if I can do some fresh
adjustments to this portal. Make it more like a window, less like a door,
so that nothing can get out that way. Then it'll be safe."
"I must admit, though," said Xavier, "that I did find that eagle quite
interesting. Not only was it much larger than normal, but I could sense
something different about it. Almost as though it was intelligent. If I had
had a little more time, I would have reached out to it, to see if it was
sentient enough for me to establish telepathic communications
with it."
"Yes, that would be fascinating if it were," said Beast eagerly. "Think
what we could learn from it! An actual intelligence equal to our own, in an
avian body! Who knows what kind of outlook upon the world it might have?
It would be almost like making contact with intelligent life-forms from
another planet!"
"If you ask me, it was looking for a scrap, rather than a civilized
conversation," commented Wolverine dourly. "But at least it can't get at us
now."
"Well, I believe that that's enough of this experiment for today," said
Xavier.
"We'll have to continue this tomorrow, or whenever Forge completes his
fine-tunings. For now, it's time for us to leave this place and lock up."
The others concurred, and followed him out of the laboratory. Forge closed
the door behind him and locked it tightly. "That should stop anyone from
getting in."
That would have been the case in a house with normal residents. However,
Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was not such a house.
* * *
"Hide!" cried Bobby, motioning to the others. "They're coming this way!"
Jubilee, Sam, and Ray joined with him in ducking down the corridor
branching to one side and flattening themselves against the wall as Xavier
and the others walked past. None of them breathed until the four of them
were out of hearing range.
"That was close," said Jubilee, in a whisper. "Bobby, is this really worth
it?"
"Of course it is," said Bobby. "Don't you want to find out just what
they've been up to in there?"
"Well, yes," she said, nodding. "But - look what happened to us the last
time we tried doing something like that. We almost got fried by the Danger
Room equipment."
"That only happened because that little tagalong got into the control
room," replied Ray. "As long as he doesn't show up, we're fine."
The four members of the New Mutants team, as the new students at the
Institute informally called themselves, reached the laboratory door. Bobby
tried to turn the handle, but it wouldn't budge. "Locked," he said, in a
disappointed tone of voice. "It figures."
"So what do we do now?" asked Ray.
"Pity that we can't talk Kitty into helping us out here," said Bobby. "Or
Kurt, for that matter. They could get us in there easy."
"Well, I don't think that either one of them is going to agree to that,"
said Jubilee. "So that leaves us back where we started."
"I've got an idea," said Sam, moving backwards down the corridor, preparing
for a run. "Get away from the door, all of you!"
"What, are you nuts?" cried Jubilee. "If you break down the door, they'll
know that we got in, and -"
But the Kentucky youth paid her no heed. Instead, he came charging
straight for the door, charged up with his mutant thermo-kinetical ability.
The other three New Mutants pressed themselves against the wall just in time
as he rammed through the door, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of it.
"I'm in!" he called out to them, sticking his head
through the hole.
"Well, Jube, you've got to admit, it got us in," said Bobby cheerfully. He
and Ray climbed through the hole, with Jubilee following.
"So what is this stuff, anyway?" Ray asked, looking at the control panel
dominating the room.
"It looks like another one of Forge's contraptions," said Bobby. "Kind of
like the one that he built when he wanted to find out about that place that
Kurt pops into whenever he's bamfing around."
"Ugh, I hope not," said Jubilee, shuddering. "That's all that we need.
More of those creepy dinosaur-things on the loose."
"They probably wouldn't do as much damage as you four already have," said a
voice from behind them. The four youngsters turned around to see Amara
standing there, looking at them disapprovingly. Roberto, Rahne, and Jamie
were right behind her, climbing in through the hole.
"Uh, hi, Amara," said Bobby, doing his best not to sound nervous, and
feeling relieved that at least it wasn't Scott or Jean or one of the
grown-ups who'd caught them at it. "What are you doing here?"
"Keeping an eye on you," she replied. "You people certainly need it, in
light of your constant inability to stay out of trouble. And I'd thought
that you'd learned your lesson after what happened when you decided to take
the Blackbird for a joyride. Didn't having to clean it up afterwards teach
you anything?"
"Hey, I wasn't one of the ones on board!" shouted Ray at her, indignantly.
"So don't go blaming me for it!"
"We have a saying back in Nova Roma," Amara said, in the tone of regal
dignity, almost to the point of disdain, that she was so skilled at using.
" 'If you keep company with ruffians, then you are to be judged as one.'"
"Come on, Amara, lighten up!" said Bobby. "What's the harm in what we're
doing, anyway?"
"Since you do not seem to comprehend, allow me to explain it to you," she
answered. "First, you have demolished the laboratory door. Second, you have
broken into the laboratory itself, and were obviously about to meddle with
that device over there, a device that you have not been given permission to
handle - and which probably shouldn't even be used at all, in light of the
trouble that's come from using such things before. Need I say more?"
Rahne, Roberto, and Jamie had walked past her in the meantime, and were
looking closer at the machine itself. "I wonder what Forge was building
this thing for," said Roberto to the others.
"I dinna know, and I'm nae certain that I want to know," said Rahne, eyeing
the control panel suspiciously, as though it might come to life and attack
her and her fellow mutants. "I'd let it be, if I were you."
"Sound advice," said Amara, nodding. "I still say that we should leave -
and that the proper thing for you to do, Bobby Drake, would be to first
admit to the Professor what you and your friends did, and then repair that
door. Now, before anything worse happens."
"What do you mean?" protested Ray heatedly. "After all the trouble it took
us to get in here, we have to leave without even getting to switch that
thing on?"
"Exactly," Amara answered.
"Well, I want to see what it does," said Ray.
"And so do I," said Bobby. "I'll just switch it on for a moment, anyway,"
he continued, walking over to the lever. "Just a few seconds. How much
harm can that do?"
"Knowing you, a considerable amount," said Amara sharply. "Bobby, I'm
warning you. If you don't move away from that machine before I count to
ten -"
Ignoring her, Bobby pulled on the lever. Amara raised her hand and a ball
of fire formed in it. "Move that lever back to where you found it, now!"
she shouted.
"You wouldn't dare, 'Lava Lamp'," Bobby replied, looking her defiantly in
the eye.
"Lava Lamp?" cried Amara, glowering at him. And then, she threw the
fireball. Not directly at him, of course, merely aiming a little to the
right, as a warning.
What Amara had not anticipated was that Bobby would at once shoot a small
blast of ice back at the fireball, as a hurried defense. The two mutant
attacks met each other in mid-air, with the result that both, upon making
contact with one another, veered off course from the force of the impact,
and hurtled directly into the portal just as it was activating. There was a
mini-explosion, and sparks flew out from the framework. Hardly any of the
New Mutants saw that, however. They were too busy watching the
confrontation between Bobby and Amara.
"Care to try that again, Lava Lamp?" asked Bobby, a superior-looking grin on
his face.
"Indeed I will, Frosty," she retorted. "You just see!"
"Um, guys?" asked Roberto suddenly, pointing to the portal. "Is it
supposed to be doing that?"
Everyone else turned to look at the door-frame. The swirling rainbow-hued
colors were already dispersing, and a wintry forested landscape had come
into view. But the framework was continuing to tremble and emit sparks. And
then, the tugging sensation began. It pulled at all eight youngsters,
dragging them closer and closer to the threshold of
the portal.
"Now see what you did?" Bobby shouted to Amara, attempting to grab hold of
part of the control panel to anchor himself, and failing.
"Me?" she retorted, struggling against the suction and failing likewise. "If
you hadn't gone about meddling with that machine to begin with -"
But she never had the opportunity to complete the sentence. For the force
from the doorway now reached its climax, drawing all eight New Mutants to
itself, as inexorably as a piece of metal responding to the summons from
Magneto's magnetic abilities. And then, they found themselves hurtling
helplessly across the threshold and into its
depths. Eight terrified screams resounded through the laboratory. And then
there was silence, and the room was empty again.