A/N: I have this disorder, and it forces me to put these at the beginning and end of every chapter. I am home! With ideas aplenty! My cousins are excellent for inspiration, but useless for everything else. Oh well, inspiration is always a good thing.
Panther Nesmith- Okterberfest, don't you consume large amounts of alcohol too? Oh well. Hockey is an amazing sport, and I don't play it! Nope, I can barely skate, so I'll stick to writing about hockey. And I hope that this chapter's long enough for you!
Wizard1- You're just full of wonderful suggestions! Yay! Thank-you! I'd actually forgotten Gordon Campbell, but they will meet, along with Mike! Go Mike! I am toying with Red Green stuff, for fun, and West Edmonton Mall? Wunderbar!
Taineyah- I don't know where Summerfolk is, unfortunately. I'd love to include it, if you could tell me what province.
psychobunny410- the speed limit on Alberta highways is 100 klicks, so I'm adopting it as a uniform speed limit. Scott just can't remember that Canada's metric, along with the other 98% of the planet.
Etwa- THANK-YOU!
ishandahalf- I like potatoes, but I like meat better. And nearly pointless reviews are fun, hey?
princess-freak- I think Charlottetown was named for the king's daughter or sumthin, what a great birthday present.
'Guess what sweetie? Instead of that horse you wanted, daddy named a town in the child country Canada after you!'
Shawshank- Since I got bored of my old name. They will hit the Stampede, and they'll find a way to amuse themselves in Saskatchewan…
Tazzen- Sabretooth ordered the lite beer, and NS will come after PEI, what fun they will have in Halifax.
I'd like to remind all readers, that I own nada, nothin', zip, zilch, not even my floppies, which this is stored on. How sad.
"Jamie! Rahne!" Scott was calling out to various members of the missing team. He had also found some string and tied the remaining mutants to himself and Jean.
"This is unbelievably embarrasin'" Rogue griped under her breath. Another explosion occurred, this time coming from the bumper cars. Scott turned, and dragged the mutants behind him. Freddy followed because Scott had promised him an All-You-Could-Eat-Buffet if he co-operated. Rogue, Wanda and Lance were all fumbling with the knots Scott had tied. Wanda managed to pull hers apart, and ran away, far away, right into the hotspot of the explosions. Rogue followed, mostly because she wanted to get away from the fireballs.
"Well, les filles jus' can't stay away from Remy." Rogue turned to see Wanda and the Swamp Rat standing in front of her.
"Yoah stalkin' us." Rogue glared, while Wanda allowed her temper to grow.
"Non, Remy was only standin' here, mindin' his business, when deux filles come running towar's him. Now, what was Remy s'posed to do?"
"Run away." Wanda's monotone broke Rogue's concentration and she stopped glaring for a moment.
"Y' hurt Remy."
"Good." Rogue turned and entered the first building she spotted.
"The haunted house? Hmmm…Remy tinks he's found something else t' do." Remy walked up to the building, absent-mindedly tossing the card he'd been holding over his shoulder. Wanda watched it fall, not quite registering what the slight glow meant until…
Rogue wandered the twisted corridors. 'What kinda haunted house is this?' she wondered to herself. She'd seen scarier things when the students had been woken up at four for a training session. 'This is pitiful. Where're the mall rats when ya need 'em?' Rogue sped through the mansion as fast as she could, and began to search the fair grounds for her fellow mutants, to 'liven up' the haunted house.
Tabby had roped Kitty, Amara, John and Ray into joining her at the bumper cars. This was their fifth go, and there were only a few others who were willing to risk their lives. John kept toying with the sparks, Ray supercharged his car, Amara, Kitty, and Tabby were just driving as they usually did. There were three others who had witnessed the activities, and thought they could handle them. They were so wrong it was funny.
Amara and Kitty started off by slamming the cars into one of the strangers. Tabby turned hard enough to lift a side of the car a centimeter off the floor. Ray flew through the other two strangers, while John made good use of the flying sparks, and began to throw fireballs around at random. Tabby started to throw her boom-balls. Rogue leaped to the side as a boomer and fireball collided in mid-air in front of her face. Ray spotted Rogue and put the pedal down. He went so fast, that Rogue had only a moment to leap to the side while Ray crashed through the wall. The car, still juiced up, continued on, stopping just in front of the caramel potato stand.
A crowd began to gather, oohing and awing at the destroyed bumper cars. The other four mutants climbed out, cursing Ray for ruining their fun.
"Why did you have to, like, do that? That was totally awesome practice for when I get to drive!" Ray gulped, as Amara nodded in agreement with Kitty.
"This fair stinks, but Ah found a haunted house, any ideas?" Rogue had several of her own, but she had to get the others all involved. She had seen Kurt use this trick on the others many times before, so why wouldn't it work here?
"A haunted house? Woohoo! C'mon! Let's go!" Tabby began to dance away, but Rogue grabbed her shirt.
"It sucks, so Ah thought we could spice it up a bit." Tabby began to grin, as did the others.
"Spice vhat up? These caramel potatoes taste pretty good. You should try them." The small group turned and saw Kurt, with Rahne trailing close behind.
"I cannae find the lad. Do ye think he's gone back the hotel?"
"Jamie? He's, like, totally freaked out about Piotr. Something about his size, and a dream." Kitty and Rahne began to talk to each other, and Tabby and Amara joined in. Rogue grew impatient.
"All of yeh, just follow me! That haunted house needs to be fixed, now!" Rogue glared at all. All cowered, and nodded in a very submissive and non-threatening way.
"I'd hate to meet her at the wrong time of the month." John whispered to Ray and Kurt, who both moved their heads the tiniest bit in acknowledgment. Rogue led the group away.
Evan, Roberto, and Bobby were bored out of their minds. The roller-coaster was okay, but after three rides…They decided to create their own entertainment. They set to create a skateboard park. Roberto powered up, and began to mold scrap metal into useful shapes. Evan pin-cushioned the trees, creating ramps and hills. Bobby was creating slides, rails, you name it, Bobby had sculpted it. After an hour or so of work, they saw what they had created, and saw it was good. Evan retrieved three of his skateboards, and the other boys found helmets from God knows where. Evan then proceeded to show off to the other two. Before long, all three were pulling off moves that weren't half bad.
A small crowd, similar to the one that had surrounded Ray, began to gather. In the front were three girls and their boom-box. Snickering, they put a disc in, and cranked the volume up to a level that was impossible on most boom-boxes. Some familiar words began to blast out.
He was a boy, She was a girl, Can I make it any more obvious?
He was a punk, She did ballet, What more can I say?
Bobby jerked his head, and the loaned skateboard flew out from under his feet, leaving him flat on his butt, having broken the ice rail he'd been grinding. Roberto looked and stopped himself before he started down the ramp. Evan heard the song, and began to show off even more. The three girls giggled. Bobby shrugged off the feeling that he was being watched, and rebuilt the rail. He returned to his skating, and crashed three more times. Roberto picked up his board, and sat down on the grass, near the three girls and their boom-box. Furious bouts of giggling ensued. Roberto turned his head slightly and smiled, enough to send the three girls tittering again.
Bobby landed on his back, only to watch Evan fly high overhead once more. Groaning in defeat, he stalked over to Roberto, and sat down. The three girls gave Bobby a sympathetic look, and then they all began to laugh again. The sound of applause distracted Bobby. Evan was finished his show, and took a bow. He joined his two friends, and only then noticed the girls. All his confidence melted away, Roberto smiled again, while Bobby looked at his feet. The girls picked up their stereo, and slowly walked over. Evan looked like he was ready to bolt, Roberto seemed perfectly calm, and Bobby…He decided that he needed to prove something. He iced over. The girls laughed.
"Well, I've heard of ice queens, but this is a new one. Whatcha think Kath? Think ya can melt 'im?"
"This one looks like a jelly-fish! So cute!" The shortest girl hugged Evan, who wished he could trade everything-well, everything but his skateboard-for Kitty's ability.
"Why don't you boys take us down to the beach tonight? There's gonna be fireworks…" Kath mimicked Roberto's smile.
"What time and where?" Roberto asked, being the only male mind able to comprehend what was being asked.
"I can't believe I froze! I'm a total crackhead!"
"Yeah, well, at least you didn't literally freeze! Rob, why didn't you stop me?" Roberto said nothing, and continued walking. "Don't give us the cold shoulder! C'mon!"
"I didn't give anyone the cold shoulder." Bobby turned red, and his face would have melted any ice he created. "Buck up, hey? We have dates, which is more'n the others can say."
Jamie was one lost little boy. If he was any younger, he'd would have sat down and cried for his mommy. He'd sent several clones off, but was getting nothing.
"Nuts. Well, they'll find me eventually." Jamie sat down, as did the thirty one clones that were all over the fairground.
Sam had been wandering, rather absent-mindedly, all over the fairgrounds. He'd been mentally compiling a list of the little boxes, their labels, contents, and current owner. It wasn't until the seventh time circling that he realized that sulky Jamie clones covered the fairgrounds.
"Hey! Get lost kid?" Sam tapped one Jamie on the head. The others immediately disappeared, and the one jumped up and gave Sam a bear hug.
"You found me! I'm not lost anymore!"
"Right, now, could ya let go a me Jamie? Ah need ta keep walkin' and it's kinda tough with you hangin' offa me like this…" Jamie didn't even loosen his grip. "Damn."
Remy was cursing inwardly. Who gets lost in a haunted house? A very bad haunted house? Nobody! He heard voices, and threw himself out the nearest door. It led to the roof. Looking down, there was a three story drop. No problem there. What scared Remy was what was at the bottom. A singed Wanda, and a righteously angry Todd.
"Yo can't hide in there forever yo! Yore gonna have ta come out sooner or later, and when ya do, I'm gonna slime ya, and body slam ya yo!" All of Todd's threats were similarly lame. What frightened Remy was the Scarlet Witch.
"Remy in trouble. Wait, is that chere?" Remy looked carefully, and indeed, it was Rogue, leading a team of very cowed mutants. "Ah, chere organize teammates to help out Remy. Oui, why else she come back? Merci beaucoup!" Remy watched as Rogue & Co. approached the sentinels of the house, and then walked on past. "Remy tinks dat dat not a good sign."
Rogue's team, which now also included Jubilee and Piotr, spread themselves throughout the house. Those with alternate forms assumed them. Kitty sat in the kitchen, ready to stick her head up through the table, or phase through the floor. Kurt was porting wildly around, making faces. Piotr set himself up as a suit of armor right in the entrance, complete with clanky screechy metal noises. Ray toyed with the electrical system, while Rogue oversaw the entire proceedings. Before long, the house truly did seem haunted. Guest after guest ran out shrieking. The mutants were really beginning to enjoy themselves. And there was a line beginning to form. The other fairgoers saw the line, and got in it, figgering it had to be something good. Wanda and Todd kept the line in check, allowing no more than ten people at a time in the house.
John played with the fire place, writing messages in the flames, creating faces, just freaking people out in general. Rahne sat in one room, and whenever someone passed by, she put on a huge show, slowly changing to a semi-lupine form, and then rushing the visitor. Sometimes she curled up in front of John's fire, as a friendly dog, but when someone tried to pet her, she'd become her were-self. Rogue had 'borrowed' some of Kitty's power, and was wandering the halls, her make-up making her look like a ghost. She had also dug up some chains, and was rattling them wherever she walked. Jubilee and Tabby got the worst jobs, they got to create special effects. Thunder and lightning.
"This stinks!" Tabitha grouched, as she passed by Jubilee. "They get to have all the fun!"
"I don't know, seeing the people run away from the Fire Demon Amara can be kinda funny." Tabitha opened her mouth to argue, but spotted Todd hopping through the halls furiously.
"Hey! Rogue sent me to find ya all! Scott, and Jean just came in. Heh, Lance is still stuck tied to Scott. Rogue said to put on an extra special show for 'em, got that? Good, I still gotta find Kurt yo!" Tabitha and Jubilee grinned evilly, and rushed off.
"I can't believe you did that Rogue! I thought you were more responsible! And you Kitty, how come you didn't stop her?"
"It was, like, the first time I'd seen her excited about something since we crossed the border."
"Ja! You're just angry because we all scared you in front of Jean!" Scott glared at Kurt.
"Seven times." John reminded everybody solemnly. The younger mutants began to laugh again.
"Shut-up. We still need to find Jamie." Scott began scanning the fairgrounds. "And everyone else who's missing, and find out something about this province."
"Yah can scratch th' first off yore list. Ah've found Jamie." Sam dragged himself and Jamie over to the group.
"And the last one too. Potatoes are their major export." Kurt smiled with the pride of having remembered the fact.
"And here come Bobby, Ray, and Evan." Jean rushed to say.
"So we've found every body?" Scott looked over the group, counting the mutants.
"We found something else too, dates!" Evan high-fived Bobby, while Roberto settled for looking very smug. The other mutants began to grumble about their companions luck.
"We're missing someone…" Scott had finished his count. "Where's Remy?"
"Where is Remy now? Didn't Remy pass dat room ten minutes ago? Shit. Anybody want t' help Remy? Anybody? Hello?" People walking by stared at the once again boring haunted house.
A/N: I just had to leave Remy in the house. Just had to. Anyway, I would end this here, but, I'm on a roll, and can't wait to get to Newfoundland. Not that I have anything against PEI, just cuz I do, and I'm putting NS for NF, and my fellow Canucks, you should know what I mean by that. Anyway, my cousins are extremely inspirational, so this continues on!
Evan, Roberto, and Bobby had all put on their swim stuff, with a t-shirt, and a sweater if it got cold. They were ready to go, but they needed a ride. None of them had a driver's license, so they asked Scott.
"You want me to drive you to pick up your dates, and then drop you off at the beach?" The trio nodded.
"But you'd have to bring someone, other it looks really bad on us, hey?"
"Yeah, like you icing over didn't." Evan retorted.
"Like, Where you all going?" Kitty asked, poking her head through the door.
"The beach, now buzz off."
"Really? Can I come? Please Evan?"
"We're going to end up dragging everyone, I just know it!" Bobby moaned to no one in particular.
In the end, they only needed two vans. Scott brought Jean along, Kitty came, and Kurt followed, Amara hopped in, followed by Tabby, Ray, Jamie, and Mr. McCoy. Kurt stole the keys from Tabby, preventing the possibility of her driving. Roberto, Evan, and Bobby all went in the first van with Scott and Jean. They arrived at the place, where the three girls were waiting, and giggling. They piled into the van, and Scott followed Kurt's van to the beach. (A/N: It's still relatively early, let's say…five)
While Kurt understood the metric signs, and went the appropriate speed, it only took ten minutes to get to the beach. Upon arrival, the seven mutants piled out of the van and took to the beach. Tabby, Kitty, and Amara decided it was too late to do any tanning, so they followed the three boys down the sand and into the water. The people in Scott's van were just getting out, as the six young mutants leaped into the surf. And leaped back out.
"That water's cold!" Amara screeched. The three natives laughed.
"You and yore friends really aren't from around here eh?" The shortest girl, Shannon, asked.
"The way we talk?" Evan asked. His date nodded.
"That'n you're not used ta the water."
"Watch out fer jelly-fish!" Kath called out to the swimmers, who were slowly inching their way into the water.
Hank was combing the beach, in search of native wildlife, flora and fauna, that sort of stuff. He also wanted another sample of sand for his collection. When the beach offered few results, he began to wade into the ocean. He'd smell worse than Toad tomorrow, but for the sake of science, sacrifices had to be made. He glanced over towards the younger mutants. All but Jean and Scott were in the water. They were splashing each other, happy. Jean and Scott had spread out a pair of beach towels, and were talking quietly. Smiling to himself, Hank returned his attention to the water.
"What was that?" Kitty swam furiously away from the spot she had been standing moments earlier.
"Aw, it was probly just some seaweed, nuthin' ta be afeared of eh?" Kath dove down, and returned to the surface holding a large black mass. "See? It's not gonna hurt ya." With that she turned and flung the mass at Kurt, who still had his image inducer on. It hit him square in the chest.
"Ach! It'll take me forever to get this slime out of mein fur!" He shouted without thinking.
"Ye have fur?" Shannon looked at the boy quizzically. She and her two friends had only seen the furless German, not the fuzzy dude.
"Ach! Nein! Heh heh! Nothing to see here! Absolutely nothing!" Kurt waved his hands, as if trying to disperse a crowd. Shannon shrugged her shoulders.
"Do any of you know how to catch jellyfish?" Roberto's date spoke for the first time.
"No, we don't. Care to teach us Jackie?" In response, the three girls began to scan the water, Jackie saw one, and went after it. Forcing her hand onto it, she pushed down, and flipped her hand and brought the jellyfish to the surface.
"Like that!" She held it out toward Kitty and Amara, they both backed away, frightened looks on their faces.
"Don't they sting?" Roberto asked.
"Only some kinds." Kath dove after one, and neatly brought it to the surface. "Wanna hold it?" She asked Bobby. Bobby nodded nervously. Kath walked over, and slid the shapeless creature into Bobby's hands.
"Cool! It feels like a handful of jelly!" The boys and Tabby began chasing after jellyfish. Before long, everyone had caught at least one, except Ray. They were having so much fun, they didn't notice Hank walking toward them until he suddenly dove under, after some small creature. When he appeared again, he gestured for the teens to come closer. They all did, with some reluctance on the three Canadians parts.
"What is it?" Tabby asked.
"A crab!" Shannon shouted. Hank nodded. A slew of questions followed.
"Don't they bite?"
"I thought they were much bigger!"
"Can we cook him and eat him?"
"No, they don't bit Kurt. They will snap at you with their pincers however. Certain species can grow to be much bigger, and I don't think you'd get much meat off this little one Evan. You can find them all over th- !" A string of explicatives rolled off Hank's tongue, as he shook his giant hand up and down. The tiny crab was hanging off Hank's left forefinger. With a mighty final shake, Hank slung the crab off into the distance. By that time, Kitty and Amara had run out of the water, and were sitting just where the waves were lapping at their feet. Their eyes were darting across the beach, keeping a careful lookout for the small critters. Shannon, Kath, and Jackie were all laughing. The group, minus Kitty, Amara, and Ray then began to bodysurf. Ray returned to his hunt for a jellyfish.
"Got one!" He shouted after a half hour of failed attempts. The others rushed over, but once Jackie saw the jellyfish, she began to yell.
"Let go of it! Let go!" She shrieked.
"Why?" Ray asked, as the long tentacles draped over his arm, and brushed against his leg.
"That's a stinging jelly! That's why!" Kath backed away from Ray as quickly as she could. Ray's eyes widened, and he threw the jellyfish in a fair imitation of Hank and the crab. Unfortunately, the tentacles followed the jellyfish, and whacked him in the face.
"Yore gonna be hurtin' tomorrow I tell ya." Shannon said, as she watched the jellyfish disappear. Ray whimpered, as the group made their way through the waves, to the shore. It was beginning to get dark, so they all spread out their towels in the sand, waiting for the fireworks.
Kurt, Jamie, Ray, Kitty, Amara and Tabby were sitting together, poking fun at their companions who had paired up.
"Do you think the fireworks will distract them?" Amara asked, looking at Jean and Scott.
"Let's just hope they don't go much farther." Kitty shuddered at the memory of the other night. Kurt made a face.
"Why did you have to remind me? I had just forgotten all about that!"
"Looks like Robbie's having a ton of fun with whatserface." Ray sniggered, and then started scratching the red marks that were all over his face, arms, and legs. (AN: Speaking from personal experience here! Jellyfish stings leave great red welts, and for the first few days they itch like crazy! Then, when you scratch them, they burn! Oh they burn!)
"Stop that now, you'll only get them infected. Put this on." Hank handed the young powerhouse some cream. Ray took it, and rubbed it all over.
"What does Shannon see in him anyway?" Tabby was looking pointedly over at Evan and the short girl, who looked very close.
"I don't know, maybe she's spotted his brain and figures that she better not let it outta sight." Kurt laughed at Jamie's remark. Kitty opened her mouth, but whatever she said was lost, as the first firework went off. Most of the mutants jumped. Kitty halfway phased through the sand, Tabby made a fist, ready to fling a small object at someone, Kurt bamfed away, and reappeared hiding by some nearby grass, Amara suddenly became fire demon, and Ray's hands began to glow brightly. The couples continued what they were doing, oblivious.
When the mutants realized that it was the fireworks, they powered down, and moved in the general direction of where they were coming from. It wasn't too far away. The girls returned immediately afterwards, and the boys followed after seeing them launch a few more rockets.
The display was viewed, with a few oohs and ahhs, but not many. Fireworks tend don't tend to captivate teens as well as they do young children. What did catch their attention, was the last firework to go up. It exploded into a shape.
"What is that?" Jamie asked, staring up.
"I don't know. I haven't seen it before…" Kitty stared up too.
"Well, We can stop at a library and find out, tomorrow." Hank began to round up his young charges. Herding them all back to the vans.
AN: There we go, a new chappie. PEI turned out to be a very long stop. Next, they hit Nova Scotia! Heh heh. That's where I spent the last three weeks. Quick poll, should they stop at Cape Breton Island, or Halifax? I'm making this up as I go, so it's not a problem. I don't own Sk8er Boi, I just used it because the lyrics just seem to be Evan's theme song. I just had a scary thought, I don't even like the song, and I know the lyrics. You think it's been played on the radio too much? Oh well, Avril Lavigne's Canadian, so what the hey. I still prefer Barenaked Ladies, and they're Canadian too! Whoo! There's lotsa Canadian groups, but I'm not a huge music buff, so I can only name…three, I think, maybe four. Oh well. I'm rambling, so I'll let you go now. Except JaSSie! I don't know Sum 41 very well, but I may use the concert idea, just a different band. I don't know. And the snowboarding idea is wunderbar! I didn't respond to your review earlier, so apologies! Holiest of Holies! Nine pages! Funkydoodle!