Okay, I don't own X-men: Evolution. But you knew that already, didn't you?
Smart reader. I also don't own the brand name Pop-Tarts. Kellogg's owns
them. I do own a couple boxes of "brown sugar and cinnamon Pop-Tarts",
though. Mmmmm... I don't own Batman. I am mixing oil with water (namely,
DC with Marvel), but oh well. It works. And finally, I don't own Martha
Stewart. She owns me. That is why I endorse all her products fully.
(Sarcasm, in case you can't tell.) And guess what? I now know that Hawaii
is about five hours behind New York! Woot! Who bad? You bad!
Lorna
Even rushing along towards the hotel district, I got a great view of the Hawaiian sunset. This must sound corny, but the brochures were right. From any direction, the vivid colors of the blazing sun were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I leaned back for just a second to catch a glimpse of the fiery sky, and Alex noticed.
"Hey, no worries. I've got this sunset timed down to the second. There's this great view," he said, speeding up, pulling me into a run. "Right." He turned onto the beach where I first saw him surf. We ran into the surf, the water lapping around our shins. "Here."
The beach faced west. Oh! The sky was ablaze, with a red half-disk sinking into the blue ocean that reflected all of the activity. There were still surfers out there, that that was it. Little black figures against a beautiful fading sky. Perfect. Just perfect.
Once the sky had transformed into the hazy gray-blue of twilight, I realized that I was still holding Alex's hand from our race from the Batcave. What's more, my head was leaning on his shoulder, and we probably looked pretty cozy.
Too cozy, I'm betting. There's something about sunsets that maims all inhibitions.
I quickly stood up straight, and started looking for Jake's dad. There he was, same place I left him, but seriously more red. He said he was coming to soak up some color, but I have a sneaking suspicion that red wasn't the color he was going for...
"There's your chap," Alex said.
"Yeah... It was great meeting you." I was forgetting someone. Who was I forgetting? "Oh, and your brother." For some reason, Alex's smile grew ten feet when I almost forgot Scott. I guess that's the price one pays as the younger brother. I don't see why Alex would be forgotten though. Scott is one big stick in the mud.
"Yeah, it was great getting to know you too, Lorna." He rubbed his neck with his free hand. He looked like he was going to say something, so I decided to wait 'till he got up the nerve. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi, five Missi- "How long are you going to stay in Oahu?"
"We're leaving in two days." Let's kickstart him. I knew he's going to ask something. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, if you're not doing anything tomorrow, I could teach you how to surf." Surf? That'd be fun. I could chalk it up as another useless life skill, along with interpreting Dickens and building a park bench in a day.
"I'm free. When should we meet?" Early morning? Sure. I'm an early riser. Late morning? Okay. I could look good by then. Maybe. If I get all the other girls in the band to help me get ready.
"About six? And wear a sturdy swimsuit." Looked like he was really having a tough time saying the next part. "N-no-no string bikinis."
I punched him on the shoulder. He deserved it. "Suck up the drool, Batman. Your fan club only wears one-pieces." Which was the truth. I owned only two swimsuits, and they were both a tourist's dream. Can't lose the top, it's connected! "If that doesn't matter," he shook his head, "it's a deal. See you here tomorrow morning."
He held out his hand to shake mine. "Okay. How will I recognize you?"
He's got to be kidding. I know he noticed my green hair. It's the first thing anyone ever does. I'd only started dying it with black streaks recently. Before, it was all brown. "Won't the hair be a dead giveaway?"
"Not if you wear a hat."
"I won't." Count on that.
He let out a big breath. "Good. I like the dye job, by the way. Where'd you get the black dye?" I'm sure I looked like a great big tuna he'd just caught, with my mouth opening and closing without any sounds.
How'd he know? What gave me away? I bet he hated me now that he knows I'm a mutie. Next, he'll find out that I'm a walking magnet! Great, there it goes. Now that I was thinking about magnetism, his watch is already being pulled towards me. Hope it doesn't break.
"Lor! C'mon! We gotta get back to the hotel!" Who? Oh, Jake and Amy. My fellow trombone players.
"Coming!" Time to say goodbye. I guess it's for the best, huh? " 'Bye, Alex. I guess it's."
"See you tomorrow morning, Robin." He gave my hand one last squeeze and pecked me on the cheek. Nothing special.
Nothing special?! How stupid am I? That was the sweetest thing anyone's ever done! The first guy who didn't run away after sort of figuring out that I'm a mutie! Sigh. And he's teaching me to surf tomorrow. Great big gusty sigh.
"Who's that?" Hmm? Oh, Jake asked me a question. Well, in a word, Batman. Um, don't think they'll get the reference.
"Alex Summers. He's going to teach me to surf tomorrow morning." Amy looked at me; I looked at her. Immediately we decided that this warranted a true celebratory screech.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Jake plugged his ears with his fingers, a little after the fact. I feel sorry for the poor guy. He really has it hard, surrounded by all us girls, no matter what he says.
**
Early the next morning, I got into the favorite of my two swimsuits and grab my towel. I started to leave the hotel room, but the stupid door had a mirror. I looked like a freaking grasshopper. Figures that my towel would be the same green as my suit. Maybe I could change into the other suit?
I pulled it out of the suitcase. Wonder upon wonders. Green. You'd think that I liked the color. Well, I certainly didn't like the shade of that suit. It had faded to a lima bean color. That mixed with the grass on my head (some call it hair, but I know better) to create a color scheme even Martha Stewart, not to mention Kitty, would cringe at. Oh well. Guess I looked okay.
I will never put a mirror near a door when I decorate.
I left a note with Jake's dad telling him where I was going to be. Don't look at me like I'm not responsible. I'm the only one who does anything like that. I even left him my cell number. Like I was going to have my cell while I was surfing. Pfft.
By then, it's 5:50 and time to run. I got to the beach with two minutes to spare. I'm a fast runner. No, seriously. I don't even break a sweat. I may breathe a little harder, but I never break a sweat running.
Alex was waiting on the beach with two boards, one shorter than the other. "Running late?"
"Why - pant - do - gasp - you - deepbreath - ask?" I asked, hands on my knees. Not like it was hard to breathe, or anything. Just catching my breath. Really.
Alex grinned. Well, at least someone is having a good time. "Well, are you ready to surf?" He took off his aloha shirt (what they call Hawaiian shirts in Hawaii) and put it into his canvas bag. I know I saw him in the same get-up yesterday, but that view never gets old. I wiped the drool off of my chin and took off my shirt and shorts, revealing my swimsuit.
As I followed his example, stuffing everything in my backpack, I saw his eyes bug out of his head. Oh come on. He can't be so desperate as to find me attractive.
We started the lesson with paddling, Alex on the short board and me on the long board. It took me a couple of tries, but I got it pretty quickly. Alex handed me my backpack and placed his big in front of him, and we paddled out to this surfer spot that can be reached by surfboard, and...that's about it. Whatever, the surfers have claimed it, or so Alex tells me. It seems pretty deserted to me.
After we dropped our stuff off, it was time to surf! Or drown, to be technical. He kept on telling me that I'm doing great for a first-timer, that he couldn't even catch a wave on his first time on a board.
Of course, his first time on a board was in preschool.
While we straddled our boards about two hours into my voluntary torture, my stomach decided to speak out loudly and without abandon.
"Did you eat breakfast?" Wow, Batman doesn't miss a trick, does he?
"If I said no, would you happen to have food ready?"
"Yeah, let's paddle in." We headed to Non-Existent Surfer's Cove as I've started to call it, and believe it or not, there were still no surfers! Wow.
Alex dug into his sack and pulled out two packs of Pop-Tarts. Gotta love them. He started handing me one of the packs when that hand started jerking around and ended up pointing behind me. Now that's a cruel joke.
Wait, there's something wrong with his hand. Almost like strings on a puppet, and all the strings were connected to...his watch? I've messed with his watch once before on accident, but that wasn't me, now.
"I see that you recognize the power of magnetism, Polaris." I whirled around to see some strange man with a bucket on his head step out of the shadows, holding his hands out to us like some devil-savior.
Alex muttered, "Magneto." Magneto? What sort of name is that? For that matter, what kind of name is Polaris?
'Ah, Havok, I must say, I'm not surprised to se you harboring a fellow mutant, but she is my priority now." He was looking at Alex when he said Havok. Is it some sort of nickname? A codename? And what did he mean by 'fellow mutant'? Alex isn't a mutant...is he?
This freak now turned to me, and acted like he's the answer to all my prayers. Like he knows what I pray for. "Lorna, I know of your mutant powers. I too, share those gifts." I suppose he meant the gift of being a living refrigerator magnet. Woo, metal things stick to him too. I'm so impressed.
"I am here to teach you to control your powers." I seriously began to back up from this guy. I could handle them all these years, keep them secret. Why not keep on like that?
"I can teach you, my dear, not only to control simple metal objects, but I can teach you to manipulate the magnetic field of the Earth itself!" I sensed him reaching out with his powers, digging into the core of the Earth. He used the waves coming from the center to propel himself up, floating a foot above the ground. I'd thought that it might be possible in theory, but to see someone fly right in front of you...
He must have seen me step back, because he releases his grip on the magnetic waves, sinking to the ground again. "Lorna, you can trust me." Now where did I hear that before? Oh yeah. My last foster home. That one lasted all of two months.
"I will be your mentor." This man controlled magnetism as if it was simply another manner of breathing. Maybe I could learn something without getting caught up.
"You will be my heir, Polaris."
Hold on! That's a little fast!
This bright blast came to my rescue, knocking 'the great Magneto' off of his feet. For the master of magnetism, he sure can't land gracefully. "Lorna has her own life, Magneto. She doesn't need yours!" Alex stood with smoking hands. Wait- smoking hands? He shoots blasts of...whatever? Energy? But he's so normal! He can't be a mutant, right?
That gene runs in the family, right? I heard that on TV somewhere. Could that be why Scott wore those weird shades? What was he hiding under those? This is all too much. I need some alone time.
Magneto treated me to a sickly-sweet fatherly look. I wanted to look away from his face, but it was like a train wreck, too terrible to look away from. "Let's let her decide that."
Now I know why I didn't trust him from the beginning. Okay, there was that whole breaking in on privacy thing, but this is more important.
He was trying too hard to be kind. It wasn't in his nature; I could just tell by the way he looks down his nose at me. It's as if he's bestowing a gift on me, but he doesn't believe I deserve it. I am no disciple to his Jesus. Wouldn't he be afraid I'd become a traitor once I've learned all I need to know? He probably thought he would have had ample time to bend me to his cause.
And Alex? He didn't lie to me. I never asked him if he was a mutant outright, I just assumed he wasn't. If he was an example of the opposition, then viva la resistance.
"Magneto..." I reached out my hand to him, feeling the metals in his body armor, the caress of the slightest trace of metals in the soil, the radiating waves from the core. "I can teach myself!" All the power I had allowed to seep through me became a repellant force, sending him flying back into the sphere that he came in. The second one continued to remain empty, because I certainly wasn't getting in.
"You think this is done?" Magneto said, pushing himself up. Well, I did, up until you pushed yourself up like that...
Alex punched forward both fists, and a blinding blast came shooting out. That must have been his full power, because it seemed to take almost as much out of him as it did Magneto, who passed out under the force. "For now." Oh! That's a good answer. He turned to me and pointed at Magneto, comfortably slumped over. "Those containers can close, and they're all metal..."
"Right." This I can handle. I hope. I concentrated, feeling the alloy, deciding what magnetic mechanism could close them. In the instant that I felt what parts to fill with opposite charges, the spheres slammed closed. Well that part's done. But how did I make them fly across the sky? I experimented, trying to lift them, anything. "They're closed, but I can't move them. I'm not strong enough."
"Then we'd better get outta here." Alex pulled out a pen-communicator thingy. "And when I say outta here, I mean outta Hawaii." He turned the mike on and said, "Hello? Professor Xavier? This is Alex." He paused and looked from me to the spheres. "I'm ready to join."
The speaker replied after a while in a clipped, educated voice, "Wonderful, Alex. I'll come with Scott to pick you up."
Alex kept his gaze directed towards the metal spheres. "Could you hurry? We'll be on the west coast of Oahu, with two big shiny objects."
There was a slightly longer pause before Professor Xavier said "We will see you soon." I have a feeling that not all that pause was time lapse, either.
Even rushing along towards the hotel district, I got a great view of the Hawaiian sunset. This must sound corny, but the brochures were right. From any direction, the vivid colors of the blazing sun were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I leaned back for just a second to catch a glimpse of the fiery sky, and Alex noticed.
"Hey, no worries. I've got this sunset timed down to the second. There's this great view," he said, speeding up, pulling me into a run. "Right." He turned onto the beach where I first saw him surf. We ran into the surf, the water lapping around our shins. "Here."
The beach faced west. Oh! The sky was ablaze, with a red half-disk sinking into the blue ocean that reflected all of the activity. There were still surfers out there, that that was it. Little black figures against a beautiful fading sky. Perfect. Just perfect.
Once the sky had transformed into the hazy gray-blue of twilight, I realized that I was still holding Alex's hand from our race from the Batcave. What's more, my head was leaning on his shoulder, and we probably looked pretty cozy.
Too cozy, I'm betting. There's something about sunsets that maims all inhibitions.
I quickly stood up straight, and started looking for Jake's dad. There he was, same place I left him, but seriously more red. He said he was coming to soak up some color, but I have a sneaking suspicion that red wasn't the color he was going for...
"There's your chap," Alex said.
"Yeah... It was great meeting you." I was forgetting someone. Who was I forgetting? "Oh, and your brother." For some reason, Alex's smile grew ten feet when I almost forgot Scott. I guess that's the price one pays as the younger brother. I don't see why Alex would be forgotten though. Scott is one big stick in the mud.
"Yeah, it was great getting to know you too, Lorna." He rubbed his neck with his free hand. He looked like he was going to say something, so I decided to wait 'till he got up the nerve. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi, five Missi- "How long are you going to stay in Oahu?"
"We're leaving in two days." Let's kickstart him. I knew he's going to ask something. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, if you're not doing anything tomorrow, I could teach you how to surf." Surf? That'd be fun. I could chalk it up as another useless life skill, along with interpreting Dickens and building a park bench in a day.
"I'm free. When should we meet?" Early morning? Sure. I'm an early riser. Late morning? Okay. I could look good by then. Maybe. If I get all the other girls in the band to help me get ready.
"About six? And wear a sturdy swimsuit." Looked like he was really having a tough time saying the next part. "N-no-no string bikinis."
I punched him on the shoulder. He deserved it. "Suck up the drool, Batman. Your fan club only wears one-pieces." Which was the truth. I owned only two swimsuits, and they were both a tourist's dream. Can't lose the top, it's connected! "If that doesn't matter," he shook his head, "it's a deal. See you here tomorrow morning."
He held out his hand to shake mine. "Okay. How will I recognize you?"
He's got to be kidding. I know he noticed my green hair. It's the first thing anyone ever does. I'd only started dying it with black streaks recently. Before, it was all brown. "Won't the hair be a dead giveaway?"
"Not if you wear a hat."
"I won't." Count on that.
He let out a big breath. "Good. I like the dye job, by the way. Where'd you get the black dye?" I'm sure I looked like a great big tuna he'd just caught, with my mouth opening and closing without any sounds.
How'd he know? What gave me away? I bet he hated me now that he knows I'm a mutie. Next, he'll find out that I'm a walking magnet! Great, there it goes. Now that I was thinking about magnetism, his watch is already being pulled towards me. Hope it doesn't break.
"Lor! C'mon! We gotta get back to the hotel!" Who? Oh, Jake and Amy. My fellow trombone players.
"Coming!" Time to say goodbye. I guess it's for the best, huh? " 'Bye, Alex. I guess it's."
"See you tomorrow morning, Robin." He gave my hand one last squeeze and pecked me on the cheek. Nothing special.
Nothing special?! How stupid am I? That was the sweetest thing anyone's ever done! The first guy who didn't run away after sort of figuring out that I'm a mutie! Sigh. And he's teaching me to surf tomorrow. Great big gusty sigh.
"Who's that?" Hmm? Oh, Jake asked me a question. Well, in a word, Batman. Um, don't think they'll get the reference.
"Alex Summers. He's going to teach me to surf tomorrow morning." Amy looked at me; I looked at her. Immediately we decided that this warranted a true celebratory screech.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Jake plugged his ears with his fingers, a little after the fact. I feel sorry for the poor guy. He really has it hard, surrounded by all us girls, no matter what he says.
**
Early the next morning, I got into the favorite of my two swimsuits and grab my towel. I started to leave the hotel room, but the stupid door had a mirror. I looked like a freaking grasshopper. Figures that my towel would be the same green as my suit. Maybe I could change into the other suit?
I pulled it out of the suitcase. Wonder upon wonders. Green. You'd think that I liked the color. Well, I certainly didn't like the shade of that suit. It had faded to a lima bean color. That mixed with the grass on my head (some call it hair, but I know better) to create a color scheme even Martha Stewart, not to mention Kitty, would cringe at. Oh well. Guess I looked okay.
I will never put a mirror near a door when I decorate.
I left a note with Jake's dad telling him where I was going to be. Don't look at me like I'm not responsible. I'm the only one who does anything like that. I even left him my cell number. Like I was going to have my cell while I was surfing. Pfft.
By then, it's 5:50 and time to run. I got to the beach with two minutes to spare. I'm a fast runner. No, seriously. I don't even break a sweat. I may breathe a little harder, but I never break a sweat running.
Alex was waiting on the beach with two boards, one shorter than the other. "Running late?"
"Why - pant - do - gasp - you - deepbreath - ask?" I asked, hands on my knees. Not like it was hard to breathe, or anything. Just catching my breath. Really.
Alex grinned. Well, at least someone is having a good time. "Well, are you ready to surf?" He took off his aloha shirt (what they call Hawaiian shirts in Hawaii) and put it into his canvas bag. I know I saw him in the same get-up yesterday, but that view never gets old. I wiped the drool off of my chin and took off my shirt and shorts, revealing my swimsuit.
As I followed his example, stuffing everything in my backpack, I saw his eyes bug out of his head. Oh come on. He can't be so desperate as to find me attractive.
We started the lesson with paddling, Alex on the short board and me on the long board. It took me a couple of tries, but I got it pretty quickly. Alex handed me my backpack and placed his big in front of him, and we paddled out to this surfer spot that can be reached by surfboard, and...that's about it. Whatever, the surfers have claimed it, or so Alex tells me. It seems pretty deserted to me.
After we dropped our stuff off, it was time to surf! Or drown, to be technical. He kept on telling me that I'm doing great for a first-timer, that he couldn't even catch a wave on his first time on a board.
Of course, his first time on a board was in preschool.
While we straddled our boards about two hours into my voluntary torture, my stomach decided to speak out loudly and without abandon.
"Did you eat breakfast?" Wow, Batman doesn't miss a trick, does he?
"If I said no, would you happen to have food ready?"
"Yeah, let's paddle in." We headed to Non-Existent Surfer's Cove as I've started to call it, and believe it or not, there were still no surfers! Wow.
Alex dug into his sack and pulled out two packs of Pop-Tarts. Gotta love them. He started handing me one of the packs when that hand started jerking around and ended up pointing behind me. Now that's a cruel joke.
Wait, there's something wrong with his hand. Almost like strings on a puppet, and all the strings were connected to...his watch? I've messed with his watch once before on accident, but that wasn't me, now.
"I see that you recognize the power of magnetism, Polaris." I whirled around to see some strange man with a bucket on his head step out of the shadows, holding his hands out to us like some devil-savior.
Alex muttered, "Magneto." Magneto? What sort of name is that? For that matter, what kind of name is Polaris?
'Ah, Havok, I must say, I'm not surprised to se you harboring a fellow mutant, but she is my priority now." He was looking at Alex when he said Havok. Is it some sort of nickname? A codename? And what did he mean by 'fellow mutant'? Alex isn't a mutant...is he?
This freak now turned to me, and acted like he's the answer to all my prayers. Like he knows what I pray for. "Lorna, I know of your mutant powers. I too, share those gifts." I suppose he meant the gift of being a living refrigerator magnet. Woo, metal things stick to him too. I'm so impressed.
"I am here to teach you to control your powers." I seriously began to back up from this guy. I could handle them all these years, keep them secret. Why not keep on like that?
"I can teach you, my dear, not only to control simple metal objects, but I can teach you to manipulate the magnetic field of the Earth itself!" I sensed him reaching out with his powers, digging into the core of the Earth. He used the waves coming from the center to propel himself up, floating a foot above the ground. I'd thought that it might be possible in theory, but to see someone fly right in front of you...
He must have seen me step back, because he releases his grip on the magnetic waves, sinking to the ground again. "Lorna, you can trust me." Now where did I hear that before? Oh yeah. My last foster home. That one lasted all of two months.
"I will be your mentor." This man controlled magnetism as if it was simply another manner of breathing. Maybe I could learn something without getting caught up.
"You will be my heir, Polaris."
Hold on! That's a little fast!
This bright blast came to my rescue, knocking 'the great Magneto' off of his feet. For the master of magnetism, he sure can't land gracefully. "Lorna has her own life, Magneto. She doesn't need yours!" Alex stood with smoking hands. Wait- smoking hands? He shoots blasts of...whatever? Energy? But he's so normal! He can't be a mutant, right?
That gene runs in the family, right? I heard that on TV somewhere. Could that be why Scott wore those weird shades? What was he hiding under those? This is all too much. I need some alone time.
Magneto treated me to a sickly-sweet fatherly look. I wanted to look away from his face, but it was like a train wreck, too terrible to look away from. "Let's let her decide that."
Now I know why I didn't trust him from the beginning. Okay, there was that whole breaking in on privacy thing, but this is more important.
He was trying too hard to be kind. It wasn't in his nature; I could just tell by the way he looks down his nose at me. It's as if he's bestowing a gift on me, but he doesn't believe I deserve it. I am no disciple to his Jesus. Wouldn't he be afraid I'd become a traitor once I've learned all I need to know? He probably thought he would have had ample time to bend me to his cause.
And Alex? He didn't lie to me. I never asked him if he was a mutant outright, I just assumed he wasn't. If he was an example of the opposition, then viva la resistance.
"Magneto..." I reached out my hand to him, feeling the metals in his body armor, the caress of the slightest trace of metals in the soil, the radiating waves from the core. "I can teach myself!" All the power I had allowed to seep through me became a repellant force, sending him flying back into the sphere that he came in. The second one continued to remain empty, because I certainly wasn't getting in.
"You think this is done?" Magneto said, pushing himself up. Well, I did, up until you pushed yourself up like that...
Alex punched forward both fists, and a blinding blast came shooting out. That must have been his full power, because it seemed to take almost as much out of him as it did Magneto, who passed out under the force. "For now." Oh! That's a good answer. He turned to me and pointed at Magneto, comfortably slumped over. "Those containers can close, and they're all metal..."
"Right." This I can handle. I hope. I concentrated, feeling the alloy, deciding what magnetic mechanism could close them. In the instant that I felt what parts to fill with opposite charges, the spheres slammed closed. Well that part's done. But how did I make them fly across the sky? I experimented, trying to lift them, anything. "They're closed, but I can't move them. I'm not strong enough."
"Then we'd better get outta here." Alex pulled out a pen-communicator thingy. "And when I say outta here, I mean outta Hawaii." He turned the mike on and said, "Hello? Professor Xavier? This is Alex." He paused and looked from me to the spheres. "I'm ready to join."
The speaker replied after a while in a clipped, educated voice, "Wonderful, Alex. I'll come with Scott to pick you up."
Alex kept his gaze directed towards the metal spheres. "Could you hurry? We'll be on the west coast of Oahu, with two big shiny objects."
There was a slightly longer pause before Professor Xavier said "We will see you soon." I have a feeling that not all that pause was time lapse, either.