Here we go, the disclaimer that tells you all of my pop trivia. I don't own X-men: Evolution, the historical account of the Donner Party (look it up), Cheerios, Rice Krispies, or Frosted Mini Wheats. Well, actually, I own a box of Rice Krispies right now because they have those bobble head things, but I sure as heck don't own the name. That's copyright infringement, and that's wrong. Bad Niteflite! Go stand in a corner! Alex

About fifteen minutes after I called the Professor, this big swooshing sound announced the arrival of the Blackbird. I'd only seen it once or twice before, but in order to look like I know what I'm doing I play it cool. Of course, that act isn't helped when I keep checking the little pod dealies every fifteen seconds to make sure Magneto hasn't woken up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lorna look up at the jet, and her jaw drops. Seeing what she learned today, I'm surprised she wasn't in shock.

"You said they're from New York?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. Fast plane."

"Yeah."

The jet got close enough so that I could see a bit of blue and red at the controls. C'mon, Kurt's flying? As if Lorna wasn't already in shock because of Magneto and me and probably Scott, they're figuring 'let's go the whole nine yards with the mutant look'. The Blackbird landed vertically in the cove, leaving about five feet all around. Well, Kurt is great at parking the big plane, I guess.

I sauntered up towards the lowering ramp and hollered, "What took you so long?" I looked around to gloat at Lorna, but she was hanging back, taking it all in. Guess I can't blame her.

Scott jogged down, decked out in the full spandex and visor regalia. Okay, you don't need to frighten the bejeezus out of her, bro. Whatever happened to recruiting in civilian clothes? "Hey, I was in school, Alex!" Right. And you're always in school with the X-men outfit on. Ten to one that Scott was in the Danger Room.

Kurt bamfed to the ground, blue and fuzzy. Well, this day keeps on getting better and better, doesn't it? "C'mon, Scott, you can't complain. Ve're in Havaii! It's a cosmic rule or somezing zat you have to be laid back."

Lorna started stepping out of the shadows. Good girl. Talk to them before some other genius leaves the plane. She didn't really have the guys' attention though. I gave her some moral support with a little cheerful wave. Sure it's more disgruntled than my usual, but we'll say semi- cheerful, okay?

"Blue?" she asked Kurt. He practically jumped out of his skin at being seen. "I thought green hair was hard to hide. How do you go out in public?"

"Umm, my image inducer. He pressed the button on his watch, became this short kid with black hair, and pressed it again, turning back into the blue demon. Personally, I'm more comfortable with him blue. I feel like he's more wild and free then. "I know, you can't resist ze fuzzy man. Sorry, I'm taken."

"So'm I." What? She's taken? But she was flirting with me! I think...

Kurt brushed over this and realized the important part in Lorna's comment. "Vait, your hair is naturally green?"

"Yeah. See the roots?" She pointed at the part in her hair, which, now that I wasn't looking for black, was so obviously green. I guess it's just that I was looking too hard for normality that I saw only what I wanted to.

Whoa. Am I philosophical or what?

Just at the moment when we all had this mutant teen bonding thing, and Lorna seemed to be fitting in as 'one of the guys', the Professor rolled down the ramp. Dun-dun-duhhhhhhn! He took one look at Lorna and us guys, raised an eyebrow, and did a mind-talk thingy at me. Not with. At.

Alex, who is that?

Lorna Dane.

And why is she here? I assume you want me to attempt at recruiting her.

Nah, just protect her. She's a mutant with green hair and the power of magnetism. Magneto showed up this morning and he tried to take her with him, but we both knocked him out. He's in that sphere over there. He thinks that just because she has the same powers as him, she'd be his heir. Kinda like Jean is to you.

Jean?

Yeah. You know, she's got powers that may someday be exactly the same as Magneto's, and Jean's power works the same way with yours.

Ah, I see. And the Prof rolled his way towards us all. "Cyclops, perhaps we all should be going. I've been told that Magneto resides in those spheres over there, and that it is in our best interests to keep Miss Dane away from him." Okay, he just make all the fighting Lorna and I did before he got here sound like afternoon tea. How does he do that?

"Wait!" All of us turned towards Lorna, who had her hands up. "I need permission from my teacher to leave this city, and I need permission from my foster parents to leave the state of Oregon!"

Xavier gestured towards the jet. "Then let's go obtain permission."

**

We were over Idaho when Lorna asked the twenty million dollar question. "How did you do that?"

"Do what, Lorna?" Now we're over South Dakota.

"Talk my teacher into letting me leave Hawaii and her custody with complete strangers, half of whom I only met yesterday, and the other half thirty minutes ago. Then, talking my foster parents into placing me into your custody for the remainder of the school year, when I had to beg them for a year to let me go on this Hawaii trip. And I've only lived with them for three months!" Michigan, now.

"I'm very...persuasive...when need be." Lake Erie.

"No kidding." Whoa! We were landing. This jet is fast, I'm telling you. Forget eighty days, this baby can make it around the world in eighty minutes.

When we finally made it all the way into the cliff hangar, there was a welcoming committee. For Scott.

"Scott! Where were you?" Jean ran into his waiting arms the moment that he got off the ramp. "Hawaii? And Alex is here too? Great!" Well, obviously she has no scruples whatsoever about reading minds.

"Hey, Jean. How's Duncan?" Okay, I know. Break up their love-fest. But if I don't get a moment like this, they don't.

Scott grinned sheepishly and started to let go of Jean, but she gracefully laced her fingers behind his neck and stated, "Dumped."

Just then, Lorna walked out of the jet and waved 'hello' at Jean. "Hi, Jean. I've heard so much about you."

Jean arched an eyebrow. Even when she's being snooty, she does it perfectly. "Who are you?"

"Alex's groupie," Lorna said with a straight face. Jean's other eyebrow shot up in surprise.

Scott stepped in, setting everything straight like a good leader. "This is Lorna, the girl I told you about yesterday." Jean's first eyebrow went down, and I figured that she didn't really approve of this 'Lorna' creature. It takes sheer talent to convey so many snotty opinions, just with the eyebrows.

Lorna pointed casually at Jean. "Love the hair. Is it natural?" Well, she pointed casually, but she was probably sizing up Scott's girlfriend. Her eyes had this 'I'm going to kill you if you make any wrong moves' glint.

Jean remained draped around Scott as she replied, "Yes. Is yours?" Her look simply said, 'After you'.

Lorna fingered a green forelock. "Only the green." Before they could continue their...um...sizing up, this guy comes running into the hangar tugging on a uniform boot.

"Hey, you've already left? Come on!" He ran up to Kurt and popped his fist on the elf's shoulder. "You said I could fly next time!"

"I remember saying 'next time zere is no emergency'. Zis vas an emergency!" Kurt said, porting out of the way of another hit on the shoulder.

The brown-haired kid looked Lorna and me up and down, like he owned the place. Ha! "Since when was picking up beach bums an emergency?" Beach bums? Where does he get that? I changed out of my swim trunks in the jet, and Lorna changed into a t-shirt and shorts at her house! Scott caught my eye, and brought his foot up to tap his sole with his hand.

I looked down. Well, I am barefoot. But what does a shoe have that a sand- covered foot doesn't, huh? Oh, wait... Ohhhhh. Well, he still doesn't have the right to call me an "emergency" complete with air-quotes.

"Look, dude, I'm Alex Summers, this is Lorna Dane, we're both tired, ticked- off mutants. We just finished fighting Magneto who, oh, by the way, was going to kidnap her! I think that could maybe pass for emergency in my brother's- Scott's -opinion!" Okay, maybe a bit rough on the kid, but I was hungry, and I was still recovering from that big blast I gave Magneto. Not like it was easy.

This recognizing look came onto the guy's face. "Oh, you're Alex!" Duh. "The name's Bobby. Look, don't hurt me, I'm cool." To prove it, he immediately covered himself with a sheet of ice. Aha. Iceman. Makes sense, I guess.

Lorna cleared her throat from right next to me. Guess she snuck up on me. "I hate to break this up, but I need to be shown the kitchen before I go all Donner party on you people. I haven't had breakfast."

Bobby looked very confused. "Breakfast was this morning. It's two o'clock."

Kurt bamfed next to him and muttered, "Havaii." He even threw in a mock- hula. It was wrong on so many levels...

Iceman still didn't get it, so I explained it, although not quite in his language. "The sun is just coming up over the magical islands of pineapples and volcanoes." From his blank look, I gathered that I would have to talk caveman. "Hawaii: morning. Me from Hawaii. Me: hungry. Me like to eat Popsicles." Bobby jumped a mile and set up an ice-slide thing in midair.

"Uh... Follow me." He swooshed off, and Lorna and I just kind of stood there, not being able to move quite that fast, considering.

Kurt grinned. "I'll show you. Anyvay, I know a shortcut." He placed a hand on each of our shoulders and bamfed us into the kitchen. How did I know it was a kitchen, you may ask? Elementary, my dear Watson. The fridge gave it away.

Kurt pointed at various cabinets saying, "Zere's vhere ve keep ze cereal. Cheerios, Rice Krispies, and Frosted Mini Vheats have enough for at least one bowl. Ze rest are decoys." Ah, people empty the boxes, then put them back on the shelf. My kind of people. "Zere's enough milk in ze fridge, just don't pour from any vith names on zem. Zey drink straight from zem." Well, at least we had the kitchen connoisseur showing us around. Food was the only thing I could manage right at the moment.

Lorna grabbed some Cheerios while I snagged the box of Rice Krispies. She poured the box into a bowl and poured some milk on it. She didn't pour much, and I gathered that there wasn't much milk left. So, I decided to improvise.

"Hey, Lorna, check this out." When I had her attention, I got the cranberry juice out of the fridge, checked for a name, and then poured it onto my Rice Krispies. She made a kind of 'eew' face. Well, I really can't blame her, but this is the best way to eat my Snap, Crackle and Pop. "Before you say yuck, try it." She carefully stuck her spoon in, scooped up some cereal, and popped it in her mouth.

This surprised look came onto her face. I hope that's good. She smiled as she took her spoon out of her mouth, and waved the hand with the spoon. It stuck to her palm.

There was no humor whatsoever in her being a walking magnet. Really. So we cracked up. I think the stress from the morning had gotten to us.