Through Hellfire and Back,

Part 24

Disclaimer: X-men Evolution is the property of Marvel and Kids WB. All the characters in this story are the property of Marvel and Kids WB.

Enjoy!

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"So she dumped you." The voice on the other end of the line spoke with sarcasm that could be cut with a knife. It was times like this that he really hated Wanda Maximoff's "I-told-you-so" voice.

"She didn't dump me!" Lance Alvers defended, left hand grabbing the black cord of the public pay phone and twisting it in a strangling motion as he leaned back against the glass. "She's just...... upset for some reason. Which is why I think it might be a good idea for me to stay here a little longer."

"'Till when? Hell freezes over? Hold on......" The Scarlet Witch retorted. Lance listened as he heard a shuffling of the phone, along with a "He's your problem, you talk to him!"

"Todd here." A new voice picked up on the receiver, and Lance let out a breath of relief. The Toad was the youngest of the Brotherhood group, but he and the Blob were far more empathetic to the earth shaker's woes. "Look Lance, just forget about her yo."

....most of the time.

Todd continued. " She's obviously not interested in you anymore, and the longer you stay, the more you're just gonna keep making yourself miserable. Come back, go to a nightclub or something and find someone new."

Lance gritted his teeth, taking a certain amount of self restraint in not shaking up the pavement as he half-hollered into the receiver. "I don't want someone new Toad! I came here to salvage an important relationship. What, you want me to just toss all the times we've had, all my feelings aside, just like that?"

"Yeah man, just like that. Look Lance....." There was a short pause, and it sounded like Todd was taking a moment for some deep thought. "Being dumped an't easy yo. But it's something we've all gotta go through at some point, no matter how hard it hurts. Sounds like K-girl's trying to give you a message. You sure you're not just hiding from the truth?"

The earth shaker went silent for a moment.

"Todd, I......" Lance took a breath in his own speech, eyes slipping from the black phone to his shoes, recalling his thoughts from the night before. "I..... look, it's not that I don't know what you're talking about, but...... it's not just that. There's something.... something not right about her man, and she's been like this for a while. I just don't want to leave until I know what that something is. Maybe you're right, maybe she's fallen in with a different crowd and wants nothing more to do with me, but....... until I know for sure that's it, I don't want to leave. I don't want to just give up the best thing that's happened to me in..... in a long while. I don't want to walk down the streets one day, and realize I could've had it, if I just hung in there."

There was a distinct pause on the other end of the line. A distinct, lengthy pause.

"Todd? Todd you there?" Lance questioned into the mouthpiece. He frowned at the receiver, knowing full well the Brotherhood phone line wasn't best in the country. Damnit to hell if he'd been cut off on the long distance.

"Yeah yeah, I hear ya buddy." The silence continued for a moment more. Then, finally..."*Sigh* Well, if that's the way you feel it is, then stay put, and call us when you're ready to check out and come home. I know love an't easy...." Lance smirked, recalling Todd's continuous crush on the wily Wanda, "....and if you really think you've found that special someone, well then man, go for it. I just hope Kitty realizes what kinda guy she's got that's waiting for her man."

"Yeah, me too. Thanks Todd. Tell Freddy and Wanda I'll call again soon, promise."

Lance hung up the receiver, before shifting a hand through his long mop of brown hair and leaning heavily against the inside of the phone booth. Well, that was interesting, now what? He'd already attempted to call Kitty not long ago, only to receive no answer. He could try her dorm room again, but it was late- if she wasn't in now, she probably wasn't going to be back for a while yet. Besides, if she wasn't in it would look bad..... really bad, considering over half of those stuck-up snobs now knew he was in town and who he was after. The last thing he wanted to do was give those jerks more ammo.

Offhand, he reached into his jeans, and pulled out his wallet, fumbling through the meager bills and loose change that humbled its sense of worth. He hadn't told the others that even by staying at a minus-star hotel, his cash funds were starting to run low. What few amounts he'd made off of machines, handouts and other short-term methods were coming to an end: enough for minimal food, shelter, and gas for the trip home, but he stayed much longer he'd probably have to bunk in his jeep for the rest of the week.

Possibly he could make a few bucks selling one of the item's he had packed in the jeep, but..... no, no. If he gave that up, he might as well turn tale and head back to Bayville right off.

Lance shook his head and stepped out onto the street, heading for the jeep that was parked a few shops down. A long drive around town might be in order while his mind attempted to sort out the most recent developments to his fading love life.

All things considering, Snow Valley was a pretty nice place to live. Although not all of the town was upper crust, much of the area was kept in good condition with clean streets, bright lights and polished buildings. It was Bayville without the Brotherhood: sure, not all who lived there had the privilege to be hanging out in some swank mansion every night, but most people did pretty well for themselves, making the effort to keep their streets safe, and their community clean. Trees remained upright..... garbage in disposal unites off the streets.... graffiti-clean fences and mailboxes...

How could anyone stand it?

Pulling out his keys in front of Randy's Hardware supply, Lance smirked as he glanced at the parking meter, which was now leaning left while reading nothing more then "Tilt". That was one money-saving gift his powers had granted.

Offhand, as he opened the jeep's door and slouched in, he caught sight of two teenage girls walking down the street. Or half-running, half-jogging more like it, as fire seemed to be igniting from the heels of the first's dress shoes, her pleated skirt trailing in the wind as her backpack was clutched like a shields to her side. Her companion however, was far more relaxed, exercising enough speed to be called a fast pace, but in more of a speedy walk rather then an Olympic tryout. White blouses, long brown skirts and shoes... more precious Academy students. Poor, poor little babes who probably discovered that their new Mercedes busted a tire, and they were now -oh dear- late for their meeting with prep snobs anonymous.

The first stopped in her tracks to turn and glare at her slow partner. Obviously, she wasn't keen on the other's doddering.

Whatever; he rolled his eyes at the display, and moved his attention to more important matters, such as finding his keys and prepping the engine.

"Hurry up Lucky girl! Kitty-kat tell us to meet at eight o'clock, and it now five to!"

Lance froze, the car keys in his hand forgotten, even as they slipped and fell to his feet. Hold the phone, back up, replay. Kitty? As in his Pretty-Kitty? These two were friends of hers?

~Well of course Alvers you bum. It's not like she was gonna slum it at this school. Heck, do they usually even admit kids whose parents don't make an eight figure income?~

Lance glanced in their direction, observing their appearance. The runner was of thin stock, with long legs and.... was that *lavender* in her hair? The second was a bit more of a knockout: a busty blond, with enough makeup to appear attractive, but not quite trashy. It was close, but not quite; he'd learned the difference the hard way back when Tabitha, Boom Boom Smith, had been in the Brotherhood. The memory still sent shivers down his spine, and all because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Needless to say, between her and Wanda, Lance had become considerably more careful about vocalizing his thoughts, particularly if they were aimed at a girl who could easily put him in traction for a week.

Suppressing another shudder, he focused his attention on the two girls. Attempting to remain inconspicuous, he made a shift in the side-view mirror, forcing it to project clearly the objects of his grasped attention, while at the same time allowing him to glance at it casually as he reached down and fiddled with his keys on the floor.

"Like, I'm running as fast as I can Sharon. Geez, relax will ya?"

"Relax?! We is late because of you! Stupid blush emergency!"

"Hey, it was blush and lipstick! Besides, you heard Kit-kat, there's gonna be some new tail over there tonight. I mean, I can't just get in there looking like some *ordinary* valley girl! One of those so-called X-men might be cute!"

Lance's eyes grew wide at that remark, and he nearly dropped his keys again. X-men, as in the X-geek X-men? Kitty's former team, in town? Normally, seeing Summers again was one of the last things on his 'to-do' list, however, if they were here to talk to Kitty, after how she'd been behaving.... Coincidence?

All in all, this news just kept getting better and better.

"Lucky girl, you is sl-sl-sl...." The lavender haired cutie stuttered, unable to get the word out.

Her friend seemed to grin ear to ear at the obvious frustration. "What's wrong deary? Cat got your tongue."

Ouch! Lance risked a direct glance for the reaction.

Lavender's response was a red face and violent amount of curses, many of which Lance couldn't recognize due to the girl's unusual accent. Finally, a consensus was made. "You is BIMBO!"

Bravo. There was hope for the kid yet.

"HEY!" It was Blondie's time to snarl. "Watch it you little minx!"

"You watch it! Watch when Kitty and Ice-teacher kick butt when we not there on time. You think men not like you if no have makeup? Think of how they react to black eye and brain damage!"

Blondie paled.

"Oh crap, you're right. RUN!"

While she hadn't been moving fast before, Blondie started going warp three now, the other girl not far behind. Now officially deciding to forget the ride, Lance locked his doors and hopped out onto the pavement, starting to move as his chocolate eyes locked onto the trailing brown skirts before they could vanish around the corner. The ground gave a jump at his determination, and ignoring the shock of his fellow pedestrians, he started to run. While he'd never bothered to join the team, his track and field skills weren't half bad, as he'd once proved to Summers and Sergeant Hawk. His abilities at physically tailing without getting spotted weren't too shabby either; he'd learned long ago that street survival skills were an asset. Now apparently, he was going to use them.

Moving at top speed, he swept across the sidewalk, and around the corner. From what he'd pieced together, it was obvious something was going down. Something big; something that involved the X-geeks.... and Kitty.

Deep within, Lance's heart started to race.

Damned if it wasn't going to involve him too.