X-Men Evolution is a trademarked product from Marvel, all the characters are owned by Marvel and not me. This is a work of fiction based off of said series. I make no money off this, yadda yadda yah.
"In The Garage" - by Val Shrum (kiyonekatz at yahoo dot com)
Chapter 9
***************************************************************************
Two days until the audition.
It was thursday afternoon. Lance picked up Kitty and Kurt from school and headed back to the Brotherhood house for one of their final practices together. Kitty slouched in her chair, sunglasses over her eyes. Kurt sat in the back seat, idly tapping the tips of his drumsticks onto the seat in front of him.
"You sure you're up for this Kitty? You look tired." Lance asked, concerned.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine once we start." She waved a hand nonchalantly. "I'll sit down or something while we practice. It's just been a long week."
"We don't have to practice today, we can just practice tomorrow." Lance frowned.
"No, tomorrow I have to go to the mall with Rogue to shop for this thing. I don't own anything that resembles suitable attire. Give me one day of rest, at least."
"Suit yourself." Lance shrugged.
Kurt looked back and forth between the two. It was an odd moment of tension which he hadn't seen for a while between the two. He broke into the conversation, "I think we're doing very well, considering we've only been together for a week."
"You're lucky Wanda plays a mean bass." Lance commented back.
"But what about the name?" Kurt asked, "Are you seriously going with that?"
"I like the name." Kitty said softly.
"That's because you thought of it." Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Well, I think it's witty. And it's not like we're going to be making albums together, it's just a name to get through the audition with. I'm not expecting a following, here."
"Exactly. Just something different sounding." Kitty agreed.
"Kakumei Evolution. It sounds so... weird." Kurt managed.
"You know you like it, Fuzzy." Kitty joked.
"I guess." Kurt replied.
Lance pulled up to the house. Everyone got out and headed to the basement for practice. Kurt moved over to sit behind the drum set. He started to lightly drum through a pattern. Kitty followed to stand next to him.
"Kurt, I think I know how you could do that easier." Kitty commented. "May I?" She held out her hands for the sticks.
Kurt looked Kitty over, "Okay..." He handed her the drumsticks and stood up, taking a step aside for Kitty to sit down.
Kitty took the drumsticks and moved the stool a little closer to the set. She looked at Kurt, "A lot of songs carry the same pattern, I've noticed. Lucky thing we're not doing anything TOO complicated. So wait, lemme think of a song we're doing." Kitty paused and thought about it, "Oh, okay. So 'Girl All The Bad Guys Want'. You always look so tired afterwards."
"At first I did. I hit the hi-hat with my left hand in a constant stream. That's enough to make anyone tired." Kurt sympathetically rubbed his left arm.
Kitty pointed a drumstick at him, "Ah-hah. That's pretty much it. There's a few ways to do that so you won't be tired. First, there's the crossover." She put her left stick on the snare, and crossed her right arm over it to sit the tip of the drumstick on the metal edge. "This is easier if you're right handed." She pulled back, "So Girl All The Bad Guys Want has that pattern almost all the way through it..." She demonstrates, tapping the hi-hat to the tune. "You just lift up your left slightly to hit the snare on that fourth beat, or whatever it is. With that song, you have to do a little back and forth, but you can do that with the left in that position still, and then just cross over to the ride cymbal and back. I can just do it, I don't know what it's called." She turned to Kurt. "But if that's too hard, you can always do this. I saw some kid do this, it was pretty cool. Tap the Hi-Hat... alternating left-right-left, then put your right on the snare and hit the hi-hat and snare together to create that sound, and just repeat so it doesn't wear out one single arm. You can play around with it." She demonstrated for a brief moment. Kitty smiled as she stopped, looking back up at Kurt, "You've been working really hard to get better at this. I'm proud of you, Kurt." She handed the drumsticks back to him. "Just do what's most comfortable for you."
"When did you learn how to play drums, Pryde?" Lance commented back over to them.
"I didn't. I just fake it really well. You know what they say, drummers are just frustrated guitarists." Kitty smirked.
"Hey!" Kurt seemed annoyed.
Kitty laughed and nudged him, "C'mon, have a sense of humor." She headed over to where her guitar was, picking it up and setting herself down on a chair.
Lance looked over a piece of paper as Wanda entered the basement and set herself up, "So... I'm thinking for the audition we stick with our version of 'Ordinary World' and maybe do 'Influence of Rock', cool?"
"I like 'Little Differences' better than 'Influence of Rock'." Kitty commented as she tuned.
"That's because you get to sing." Lance commented.
"Yes, and it's faster and more upbeat. More fun in general, despite being a little more complicated than the others."
"Oh God, please forgive me - I've turned Kitty into a Ska fan." Lance pretended to pray.
Kitty threw a wadded up piece of paper at Lance, "Lance! Shut up! You're the one who lent me that cd."
Lance chucked and dodged. "Okay, okay. I'd like to do 'Influence of Rock', but it IS a bit of a harder edged song. So... 'Ordinary World', 'Little Differences', and if they allow one more, 'Influence of Rock' is the closer."
"What about all the other songs we practiced?" Kurt asked from the back.
"That's if we get to the main event, blue boy. Five songs is enough, and we can't do 'Girl All The Bad Guys Want' in a audition situation and play the other songs because of the tuning. It'd take too long. Might want to replace that with one of their lesser known tunes if it comes down to it."
Kitty nodded, "Right. So let's practice those three songs and then wrap this up by eight. I've got a ton of homework to do."
Lance nodded. He walked over to the sound equipment, adjusting some levels and pushing a few buttons. Practice began.
***
Friday. Only a little under twenty four hours until the audition. They had a band, they had a name, but they didn't have clothes. Or, at least Kitty and Kurt didn't. Neither of them had a piece of clothing in their wardrobe that even whispered rock and roll.
"And why am I doing this again?" Rogue looked at Kurt and Kitty.
"Because... like... if I pick out any clothing myself, I'll end up looking the opposite of what I want. And Kurt's a boy. You can't really expect him to pick out his own clothes." Kitty brought up that point.
"Ever get the feeling you're a punching bag?" Kurt pretended to look annoyed.
They pulled into the Bayville Mall parking lot. Rogue locked up the X-Van as the other two passengers got out of the vehicle. "So let me get this straight... I get to dress you up like some kind of punk-rock girl... and you're okay with this? What is it they call that again?"
"I think it's called being a poser. But I'm okay with it. It's for a good cause." Kitty nodded.
"I'm gonna hafta get pictures of this." Rogue commented, then pointed at Kurt, "What about him?"
"I think he's too clean cut. Not a drastic change, but something a little more grungy... if that's the term." Kitty guided the three into the mall. She let out a small sigh of relief. "Ah, my second home." She moved over to a store directory marquee. "So... what looks good? Where should we start?"
Rogue looked over the board and commented, "Well, if you don't mind the pre-fabricated corporate-punk-whatever, we should try 'Hot Topic' first."
"You mean the place where all the wanna-be goth kids hang out?" Kitty asked.
"Bingo. C'mon." Rogue headed into that direction.
Kurt shoved his hands into his pockets, walking alongside Kitty. "You're really going all out for this, Katzchen. I know you're just doing this for Lance and..."
"Whoa, Fuzzy. Stop right there. Sure, it started out as something to get Lance out of his shell and do something with his talent, y'know. Along the way it kinda became about me. An against all odds sort of thing. I'm barely a reasonable backup guitarist, but... it feels good to do it right. It's fun to play like that with friends. I can see how garage bands start if it's always like this. I'm just... I don't know. Happy."
Rogue stopped leading and pointed into a store with red jagged lettering above the door. 'Hot Topic', it read. Even in the brightly lit store, it seemed like the color black was the predominant color among the clothing and racks. The hesitant group of three stepped into the store to browse, and hopefully find something Kitty or Kurt could walk away with.
Pants with chains, zippers with no purpose, and straps all over them. Shirts with witty slogans and old pop-culture references along with alternative, punk, and rock bands lined the far wall. One shelf with psuedo-military gear, another with clothing suitable for a night club. Kitty didn't even know where to start. She moved over to Rogue, "... I am SO lost."
"You're a little out of your element." Rogue nodded. "Come with me over here." She dragged Kitty over to a section of girl-like shirts and jackets along with unique pants and skirts. "What do you want your image to be in this?"
"Asking the wrong person. I don't even know what would look best." Kitty shrugged.
"Ya'll got instruments. I say you need something comfortable that looks nice, but not too complicated."
She picked up a pair of low rise black pants with a carpenter strap and button up pockets on both the front and back with zippers along the lower part of the leg to either make it straight-legged or a flare. Kitty took them from Rogue and held them atop her, like as if she were trying them on while still on the hanger.
"... this looks good."
"It's the first thing I picked." Rogue sighed.
"I'm not going to be picky, Rogue. I really have no idea." Kitty commented.
"Fine. Well, I'm sure it'll look good on ya. Now... for a top. Don't forget accessories, too." Rogue went through a few shirts. "If you see somethin' you like, just let me know."
Kitty thought about it. She tried to imagine music videos she watched on MTV during those alternative rock hours. Her eyes wandered over to a belt and jewelry rack. She settled on a red canvas-web type belt with the two-hole eyelets circling the entire thing. Kitty managed to also find black and red-checkerd wristbands. She walked over to Rogue. "Okay, for a top? I'm looking for something red."
Rogue nodded and moved over to the color of choice. She fingered through a few and pulled out those she thought were interesting, or at least suitable. She started to hold out the choices for Kitty.
"Nice... but no. Errr... no. I kinda like that one. Oooooh, that one is perfect." Kitty grabbed the fourth one. It was a red low collared shirt with a v-cut. On the front it had in text, 'This kitty is feisty'. She held it up to herself, "Kinda appropriote, don't you think?"
Rogue rolled her eyes, but she smiled. "Sure Kitty. That'll look great with what we picked out. You gonna buy just that?"
"I'm on a budget. I'll get this. I've got some sneakers at home that could go with this. Man, this is going to be so much fun! It's like Halloween but without the free candy!"
"Way too excited there, Kitty. Let's head over to Gadzooks to put something together for Kurt. This place is way too... dark for him."
Kitty paid for her items and ushered Kurt out of the store with Rogue's help over to another boutique.
"Look, I don't think my wardrobe is that bad. I've got a nice pair of pants at home with a few rips in them. That'll work, ja? And perhaps a hat? I'll get a hat."
"You need more than a hat, Kurt." Kitty looked along the mens section of the store. "Here, how about this?" She held up a grey shirt that faded from light grey down to black. She then walked over and picked up a pair of black pants with a few extra buckles on them. "And this."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll get a grey hat and we'll call it a day." He found a light grey hat with some non-descript design on the front. "Let's go already!"
"Fine, don't be a baby about it." Kitty helped Kurt with the outfit to the counter. The main steps were complete. All that left now as the audition.
***
"In The Garage" - by Val Shrum (kiyonekatz at yahoo dot com)
Chapter 9
***************************************************************************
Two days until the audition.
It was thursday afternoon. Lance picked up Kitty and Kurt from school and headed back to the Brotherhood house for one of their final practices together. Kitty slouched in her chair, sunglasses over her eyes. Kurt sat in the back seat, idly tapping the tips of his drumsticks onto the seat in front of him.
"You sure you're up for this Kitty? You look tired." Lance asked, concerned.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine once we start." She waved a hand nonchalantly. "I'll sit down or something while we practice. It's just been a long week."
"We don't have to practice today, we can just practice tomorrow." Lance frowned.
"No, tomorrow I have to go to the mall with Rogue to shop for this thing. I don't own anything that resembles suitable attire. Give me one day of rest, at least."
"Suit yourself." Lance shrugged.
Kurt looked back and forth between the two. It was an odd moment of tension which he hadn't seen for a while between the two. He broke into the conversation, "I think we're doing very well, considering we've only been together for a week."
"You're lucky Wanda plays a mean bass." Lance commented back.
"But what about the name?" Kurt asked, "Are you seriously going with that?"
"I like the name." Kitty said softly.
"That's because you thought of it." Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Well, I think it's witty. And it's not like we're going to be making albums together, it's just a name to get through the audition with. I'm not expecting a following, here."
"Exactly. Just something different sounding." Kitty agreed.
"Kakumei Evolution. It sounds so... weird." Kurt managed.
"You know you like it, Fuzzy." Kitty joked.
"I guess." Kurt replied.
Lance pulled up to the house. Everyone got out and headed to the basement for practice. Kurt moved over to sit behind the drum set. He started to lightly drum through a pattern. Kitty followed to stand next to him.
"Kurt, I think I know how you could do that easier." Kitty commented. "May I?" She held out her hands for the sticks.
Kurt looked Kitty over, "Okay..." He handed her the drumsticks and stood up, taking a step aside for Kitty to sit down.
Kitty took the drumsticks and moved the stool a little closer to the set. She looked at Kurt, "A lot of songs carry the same pattern, I've noticed. Lucky thing we're not doing anything TOO complicated. So wait, lemme think of a song we're doing." Kitty paused and thought about it, "Oh, okay. So 'Girl All The Bad Guys Want'. You always look so tired afterwards."
"At first I did. I hit the hi-hat with my left hand in a constant stream. That's enough to make anyone tired." Kurt sympathetically rubbed his left arm.
Kitty pointed a drumstick at him, "Ah-hah. That's pretty much it. There's a few ways to do that so you won't be tired. First, there's the crossover." She put her left stick on the snare, and crossed her right arm over it to sit the tip of the drumstick on the metal edge. "This is easier if you're right handed." She pulled back, "So Girl All The Bad Guys Want has that pattern almost all the way through it..." She demonstrates, tapping the hi-hat to the tune. "You just lift up your left slightly to hit the snare on that fourth beat, or whatever it is. With that song, you have to do a little back and forth, but you can do that with the left in that position still, and then just cross over to the ride cymbal and back. I can just do it, I don't know what it's called." She turned to Kurt. "But if that's too hard, you can always do this. I saw some kid do this, it was pretty cool. Tap the Hi-Hat... alternating left-right-left, then put your right on the snare and hit the hi-hat and snare together to create that sound, and just repeat so it doesn't wear out one single arm. You can play around with it." She demonstrated for a brief moment. Kitty smiled as she stopped, looking back up at Kurt, "You've been working really hard to get better at this. I'm proud of you, Kurt." She handed the drumsticks back to him. "Just do what's most comfortable for you."
"When did you learn how to play drums, Pryde?" Lance commented back over to them.
"I didn't. I just fake it really well. You know what they say, drummers are just frustrated guitarists." Kitty smirked.
"Hey!" Kurt seemed annoyed.
Kitty laughed and nudged him, "C'mon, have a sense of humor." She headed over to where her guitar was, picking it up and setting herself down on a chair.
Lance looked over a piece of paper as Wanda entered the basement and set herself up, "So... I'm thinking for the audition we stick with our version of 'Ordinary World' and maybe do 'Influence of Rock', cool?"
"I like 'Little Differences' better than 'Influence of Rock'." Kitty commented as she tuned.
"That's because you get to sing." Lance commented.
"Yes, and it's faster and more upbeat. More fun in general, despite being a little more complicated than the others."
"Oh God, please forgive me - I've turned Kitty into a Ska fan." Lance pretended to pray.
Kitty threw a wadded up piece of paper at Lance, "Lance! Shut up! You're the one who lent me that cd."
Lance chucked and dodged. "Okay, okay. I'd like to do 'Influence of Rock', but it IS a bit of a harder edged song. So... 'Ordinary World', 'Little Differences', and if they allow one more, 'Influence of Rock' is the closer."
"What about all the other songs we practiced?" Kurt asked from the back.
"That's if we get to the main event, blue boy. Five songs is enough, and we can't do 'Girl All The Bad Guys Want' in a audition situation and play the other songs because of the tuning. It'd take too long. Might want to replace that with one of their lesser known tunes if it comes down to it."
Kitty nodded, "Right. So let's practice those three songs and then wrap this up by eight. I've got a ton of homework to do."
Lance nodded. He walked over to the sound equipment, adjusting some levels and pushing a few buttons. Practice began.
***
Friday. Only a little under twenty four hours until the audition. They had a band, they had a name, but they didn't have clothes. Or, at least Kitty and Kurt didn't. Neither of them had a piece of clothing in their wardrobe that even whispered rock and roll.
"And why am I doing this again?" Rogue looked at Kurt and Kitty.
"Because... like... if I pick out any clothing myself, I'll end up looking the opposite of what I want. And Kurt's a boy. You can't really expect him to pick out his own clothes." Kitty brought up that point.
"Ever get the feeling you're a punching bag?" Kurt pretended to look annoyed.
They pulled into the Bayville Mall parking lot. Rogue locked up the X-Van as the other two passengers got out of the vehicle. "So let me get this straight... I get to dress you up like some kind of punk-rock girl... and you're okay with this? What is it they call that again?"
"I think it's called being a poser. But I'm okay with it. It's for a good cause." Kitty nodded.
"I'm gonna hafta get pictures of this." Rogue commented, then pointed at Kurt, "What about him?"
"I think he's too clean cut. Not a drastic change, but something a little more grungy... if that's the term." Kitty guided the three into the mall. She let out a small sigh of relief. "Ah, my second home." She moved over to a store directory marquee. "So... what looks good? Where should we start?"
Rogue looked over the board and commented, "Well, if you don't mind the pre-fabricated corporate-punk-whatever, we should try 'Hot Topic' first."
"You mean the place where all the wanna-be goth kids hang out?" Kitty asked.
"Bingo. C'mon." Rogue headed into that direction.
Kurt shoved his hands into his pockets, walking alongside Kitty. "You're really going all out for this, Katzchen. I know you're just doing this for Lance and..."
"Whoa, Fuzzy. Stop right there. Sure, it started out as something to get Lance out of his shell and do something with his talent, y'know. Along the way it kinda became about me. An against all odds sort of thing. I'm barely a reasonable backup guitarist, but... it feels good to do it right. It's fun to play like that with friends. I can see how garage bands start if it's always like this. I'm just... I don't know. Happy."
Rogue stopped leading and pointed into a store with red jagged lettering above the door. 'Hot Topic', it read. Even in the brightly lit store, it seemed like the color black was the predominant color among the clothing and racks. The hesitant group of three stepped into the store to browse, and hopefully find something Kitty or Kurt could walk away with.
Pants with chains, zippers with no purpose, and straps all over them. Shirts with witty slogans and old pop-culture references along with alternative, punk, and rock bands lined the far wall. One shelf with psuedo-military gear, another with clothing suitable for a night club. Kitty didn't even know where to start. She moved over to Rogue, "... I am SO lost."
"You're a little out of your element." Rogue nodded. "Come with me over here." She dragged Kitty over to a section of girl-like shirts and jackets along with unique pants and skirts. "What do you want your image to be in this?"
"Asking the wrong person. I don't even know what would look best." Kitty shrugged.
"Ya'll got instruments. I say you need something comfortable that looks nice, but not too complicated."
She picked up a pair of low rise black pants with a carpenter strap and button up pockets on both the front and back with zippers along the lower part of the leg to either make it straight-legged or a flare. Kitty took them from Rogue and held them atop her, like as if she were trying them on while still on the hanger.
"... this looks good."
"It's the first thing I picked." Rogue sighed.
"I'm not going to be picky, Rogue. I really have no idea." Kitty commented.
"Fine. Well, I'm sure it'll look good on ya. Now... for a top. Don't forget accessories, too." Rogue went through a few shirts. "If you see somethin' you like, just let me know."
Kitty thought about it. She tried to imagine music videos she watched on MTV during those alternative rock hours. Her eyes wandered over to a belt and jewelry rack. She settled on a red canvas-web type belt with the two-hole eyelets circling the entire thing. Kitty managed to also find black and red-checkerd wristbands. She walked over to Rogue. "Okay, for a top? I'm looking for something red."
Rogue nodded and moved over to the color of choice. She fingered through a few and pulled out those she thought were interesting, or at least suitable. She started to hold out the choices for Kitty.
"Nice... but no. Errr... no. I kinda like that one. Oooooh, that one is perfect." Kitty grabbed the fourth one. It was a red low collared shirt with a v-cut. On the front it had in text, 'This kitty is feisty'. She held it up to herself, "Kinda appropriote, don't you think?"
Rogue rolled her eyes, but she smiled. "Sure Kitty. That'll look great with what we picked out. You gonna buy just that?"
"I'm on a budget. I'll get this. I've got some sneakers at home that could go with this. Man, this is going to be so much fun! It's like Halloween but without the free candy!"
"Way too excited there, Kitty. Let's head over to Gadzooks to put something together for Kurt. This place is way too... dark for him."
Kitty paid for her items and ushered Kurt out of the store with Rogue's help over to another boutique.
"Look, I don't think my wardrobe is that bad. I've got a nice pair of pants at home with a few rips in them. That'll work, ja? And perhaps a hat? I'll get a hat."
"You need more than a hat, Kurt." Kitty looked along the mens section of the store. "Here, how about this?" She held up a grey shirt that faded from light grey down to black. She then walked over and picked up a pair of black pants with a few extra buckles on them. "And this."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll get a grey hat and we'll call it a day." He found a light grey hat with some non-descript design on the front. "Let's go already!"
"Fine, don't be a baby about it." Kitty helped Kurt with the outfit to the counter. The main steps were complete. All that left now as the audition.
***
