Meanwhile, a stranger is walking up the gravel path, his red shoes
crunching as he goes. Well, he's currently a stranger to you as the reader,
because I haven't introduced him yet, but he's no stranger to Charlie.
Jean was getting thoroughly sick of constantly having to let in one of Charlie's old friends and finding them somewhere to stay. Or, more than anything (since more often than not they were quite happy to share Charlie's room) finding them something to eat, a near impossible task.
She's in the kitchen, as it happens, when the doorbell rings. She was trying to find the necessary ingredients for a sandwich (bread, for instance) in the mess that is the X-Kitchen, but as the doorbell rings, she climbs carefully over a mysterious looking green stain on the floor and goes to let them in.
Charlie's old friend is clearly impatient, because he thumps the doorbell several times until it goes "clunk" and gives up, at which point he just beats the door with his fist.
"I'M COMING!" Jean yells, just as Katherine yells, "Can someone please answer that?"
Angrily, she rips the door open to reveal a grey-haired man dressed entirely in red and black (except his socks are orange, and clash HORRIBLY, Jean thinks). Jean giggles. Anger forgotten, she turns to automatic flirt- mode. Okay, so he must be about seventy, but Jean doesn't care much. "Hiya," she says uselessly.
"I'm looking for Professor Xavier," he says coldly.
"Who are you?" Jean enquires, not so stupid that she'd let a total stranger into the house.
"I am the one they call Magneto." And with that, he strides into the house.
"Nutter," Jean mumbles when he's out of hearing range.
Charlie, sensing something important is happening (after all, he IS psychic, you know), brings himself down to the ground floor, leaving Ororo in his private bathroom, and greets Magneto.
"Maggie dude!" He grins. "Long time no see!"
"Charlie dude!" Magneto returns. "I've been very busy, having children and so on."
"That must be a LOT of fun," Charlie says enthusiastically. "What did you call them?"
"There's Pietro. And a daughter of mine who is insane, so I never talk about her."
"Pietro... why didn't you call him Charlie?" Charlie looks indignant.
"I'll call my next child Charlie if you die before me," Magneto says.
"Radical."
And upstairs, Ororo is in the "private bathroom". Which looks basically, like the other bathroom, only with more hippie posters on the walls. Ororo is irritated by the lack of gold toilet, bathtub, taps, etc, but uses it anyway.
* * * * *
Now it's evening, and all the X-Men have assembled in the TV room to spend the evening with "Maggie dude".
"These are my kids, in a way," Charlie explains. "This is Crawler dude, and Wolvie dude, that's Ororo dudette, and Jeanie dude, and Kitty."
"Katherine," Katherine corrects him.
Charlie shrugs. "Yeah, that. Anyway, Maggie, they're my little team of superheroes. Go out and save people's lives, that sorta stuff."
"Actually," Katherine couldn't help inputting, "the last life we're supposed to have saved was nearly three years ago, and I can't help thinking that if we hadn't have run that cat over first, there would have been no reason to have to take it to A&E department at the local vet's."
"Well, you have a good time," Charlie says, unfazed by fact. "What was it Crawler dude said this morning? A hundred and fifty-seven miles an hour, he managed, in that van of ours."
Magneto looks worried. "Isn't it dangerous to drive that fast? You could really hurt someone."
Charlie has a look of utter disappointment on his face. "Maggie, what happened to world domination and all that?"
"Oh, that. My psychiatrist said that's bad for my health."
"Oh, boring. Do you have any new hobbies, then?"
"Well, actually I've taken up knitting," Magneto admits. "It's very relaxing. The doctor says I need to relax more, because of my blood pressure."
"I've started wheelchair racing," Charlie explains. "And sometimes me and Crawler dude have eating competitions. And of course, I have a lot of plans to take down Spider-Man."
Magneto is thoughtful for a moment. "Have you ever thought of kidnapping him?"
Charlie's face breaks into a grin. "That's perfect! You're great Maggie, really you are."
"Well," Magneto tries to look modest, "I do try."
Katherine is thinking hard. "Where do you plan to find Spider-Man? So far, our luck on finding him has not been good. I know Ororo thinks she saw him, but she also claims to have seen penguins on that particular night out."
"It was a pelican," Ororo argues.
Katherine coughs. "Anyway, the point is, it's almost as if someone's informed him we were coming and told him to hide."
Everyone looks round at each other and eventually all gazes fall on Katherine.
"It wasn't me," Katherine says firmly.
Jean snorts in disbelief. "Well, I know it wasn't me or Ororo, Kurt's too lazy to do that, and Logan wants Spidey dead. And Charlie wouldn't tell him."
"Whoever it was it was an inside job," Ororo says importantly, not entirely sure what that actually means but hopeful all the same that people will think she's smart.
"Duh," says Katherine, a momentary switch of speech style leaving her with only Ororo-type things to say.
"Unless it vas a spy," Kurt says cheerfully. "I bet it vas a spy."
"Absolutely, Crawler Dude," Charlie says. He's a big fan of any kind of conspiracy. "We must be being stalked. Everyone, get changed and into the X- Van! We must find this stalker, and Spider-Man-Dude too!"
Jean was getting thoroughly sick of constantly having to let in one of Charlie's old friends and finding them somewhere to stay. Or, more than anything (since more often than not they were quite happy to share Charlie's room) finding them something to eat, a near impossible task.
She's in the kitchen, as it happens, when the doorbell rings. She was trying to find the necessary ingredients for a sandwich (bread, for instance) in the mess that is the X-Kitchen, but as the doorbell rings, she climbs carefully over a mysterious looking green stain on the floor and goes to let them in.
Charlie's old friend is clearly impatient, because he thumps the doorbell several times until it goes "clunk" and gives up, at which point he just beats the door with his fist.
"I'M COMING!" Jean yells, just as Katherine yells, "Can someone please answer that?"
Angrily, she rips the door open to reveal a grey-haired man dressed entirely in red and black (except his socks are orange, and clash HORRIBLY, Jean thinks). Jean giggles. Anger forgotten, she turns to automatic flirt- mode. Okay, so he must be about seventy, but Jean doesn't care much. "Hiya," she says uselessly.
"I'm looking for Professor Xavier," he says coldly.
"Who are you?" Jean enquires, not so stupid that she'd let a total stranger into the house.
"I am the one they call Magneto." And with that, he strides into the house.
"Nutter," Jean mumbles when he's out of hearing range.
Charlie, sensing something important is happening (after all, he IS psychic, you know), brings himself down to the ground floor, leaving Ororo in his private bathroom, and greets Magneto.
"Maggie dude!" He grins. "Long time no see!"
"Charlie dude!" Magneto returns. "I've been very busy, having children and so on."
"That must be a LOT of fun," Charlie says enthusiastically. "What did you call them?"
"There's Pietro. And a daughter of mine who is insane, so I never talk about her."
"Pietro... why didn't you call him Charlie?" Charlie looks indignant.
"I'll call my next child Charlie if you die before me," Magneto says.
"Radical."
And upstairs, Ororo is in the "private bathroom". Which looks basically, like the other bathroom, only with more hippie posters on the walls. Ororo is irritated by the lack of gold toilet, bathtub, taps, etc, but uses it anyway.
* * * * *
Now it's evening, and all the X-Men have assembled in the TV room to spend the evening with "Maggie dude".
"These are my kids, in a way," Charlie explains. "This is Crawler dude, and Wolvie dude, that's Ororo dudette, and Jeanie dude, and Kitty."
"Katherine," Katherine corrects him.
Charlie shrugs. "Yeah, that. Anyway, Maggie, they're my little team of superheroes. Go out and save people's lives, that sorta stuff."
"Actually," Katherine couldn't help inputting, "the last life we're supposed to have saved was nearly three years ago, and I can't help thinking that if we hadn't have run that cat over first, there would have been no reason to have to take it to A&E department at the local vet's."
"Well, you have a good time," Charlie says, unfazed by fact. "What was it Crawler dude said this morning? A hundred and fifty-seven miles an hour, he managed, in that van of ours."
Magneto looks worried. "Isn't it dangerous to drive that fast? You could really hurt someone."
Charlie has a look of utter disappointment on his face. "Maggie, what happened to world domination and all that?"
"Oh, that. My psychiatrist said that's bad for my health."
"Oh, boring. Do you have any new hobbies, then?"
"Well, actually I've taken up knitting," Magneto admits. "It's very relaxing. The doctor says I need to relax more, because of my blood pressure."
"I've started wheelchair racing," Charlie explains. "And sometimes me and Crawler dude have eating competitions. And of course, I have a lot of plans to take down Spider-Man."
Magneto is thoughtful for a moment. "Have you ever thought of kidnapping him?"
Charlie's face breaks into a grin. "That's perfect! You're great Maggie, really you are."
"Well," Magneto tries to look modest, "I do try."
Katherine is thinking hard. "Where do you plan to find Spider-Man? So far, our luck on finding him has not been good. I know Ororo thinks she saw him, but she also claims to have seen penguins on that particular night out."
"It was a pelican," Ororo argues.
Katherine coughs. "Anyway, the point is, it's almost as if someone's informed him we were coming and told him to hide."
Everyone looks round at each other and eventually all gazes fall on Katherine.
"It wasn't me," Katherine says firmly.
Jean snorts in disbelief. "Well, I know it wasn't me or Ororo, Kurt's too lazy to do that, and Logan wants Spidey dead. And Charlie wouldn't tell him."
"Whoever it was it was an inside job," Ororo says importantly, not entirely sure what that actually means but hopeful all the same that people will think she's smart.
"Duh," says Katherine, a momentary switch of speech style leaving her with only Ororo-type things to say.
"Unless it vas a spy," Kurt says cheerfully. "I bet it vas a spy."
"Absolutely, Crawler Dude," Charlie says. He's a big fan of any kind of conspiracy. "We must be being stalked. Everyone, get changed and into the X- Van! We must find this stalker, and Spider-Man-Dude too!"