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 11
***************************************************************************
It had been a strange and wonderful day yesterday. Kitty rose out of bed with a stretch. It was sunday. The breakfast was on the downstairs table. A light knocking at her door and a voice, "Hey Kitty, time to get breakfast." let her know what time it was.
She had gotten dressed and headed downstairs to fill up a plate. Most of Kitty's peers were already at the table. The newer class was out for some sort of training session. "Goodmorning everyone!" She announced.
"It's way too early in the mornin' for you to be that cheerful, Pryde. Yah need to tone it down just a tiny bit." Rogue grumbled.
"Not my fault you're not a morning person." Kitty sat next to Kurt. "Sleep well, Fuzzy?"
"Oh uh... sure." Kurt smiled, "My arms are still a little sore. I may never get used to drumming."
"You're doin' great, really. Much better than I am." She took a bite of toast.
"Don't kid yourself! You've really gotten into this guitar thing. You're a natural." He smiled and encouraged his best friend.
"Thanks, Kurt." She smiled in return.
"So how did the show go?" Jean asked.
"We're in the competition! It's next week. Everyone should come, it'll be great." Kitty added gleefully.
"Sounds like a plan, doesn't it Scott?" Jean asked.
"Right, Jean." Scott looked over at Kitty. "I wouldn't miss it. Say, Kitty... after breakfast I need to talk to you."
"Huh? Sure thing, Scott." Kitty finished her meal and followed Scott. Scott lead her to his room.
"Take a seat." He gestured.
"Uh oh, I got a bad feeling about this." Kitty sat down on the edge of Scott's bed.
Scott closed the door. He sat down next to Kitty on the bed and started, "So... the show went really well, huh?"
"... duh. That's what me and Kurt were TALKING about not but like... five minutes ago." Kitty seemed confused.
"You and Alvers have been getting pretty close because of this, huh?" Scott questioned.
"... sure, Scott. I'm not exactly sure where you're going with this?" Kitty looked at him oddly.
Scott touched Kitty's shoulder and gently squeezed. "Look, I know you think you know what you're doing... but Alvers, he's a bad seed. You getting involved with him again can only create problems for you in the long run."
Kitty rolled her eyes and looked away. "Scott, I do realize what you're trying to tell me here. And I hate to break it to you, but things have been going really great with Lance lately. I know how much you dislike him, but you're going to have to like accept that he's my boyfriend."
"Kitty, it's not even about my dislike. It's about you." He spoke up. "Last night. Did he pressure you?"
"... what?!" Kitty was surprised. Scott KNEW about last night? "No!"
"He will. Just wait. The problem is, you've given him the signal that it's okay to push your limits."
"Omigod, Scott. It's not even like that! Not even close." She was embarassed, but fought and defended her position.
"Are you so sure? Kitty..." Scott sighed, "I know Jean talked to you about this, but from a guy perspective? He may be teaching you to play guitar, but he's only thinking about the payment after everything is said and done. Alvers also has a tendancy to get angry easily. Last night you may have said no and he was okay with it, but that can't be said for later."
"I can't believe we're having this conversation. How DARE you spy on me. It's my private life!" She looked at Scott, a little hurt.
"... no, it's not. You may be entitled to your own life, but the instant it starts to move into that grey area... like last night? It becomes something that can not only get you into trouble, but the Institute as well."
"So you're just doing this because Professor Xavier asked you to?" Kitty replied.
"No, I'm doing this because I care for you. Alvers can be a great guy, probably seventy five percent of the time. It's that twenty five percent that worries me, Kitty. We wouldn't even be having this conversation if you were of legal age. I'm just worried." Scott tried to sound genuine.
"Always the boy-scout, Scott? You could have totally handled this better. Jean trusts me, why can't you?"
"Jean didn't see what I saw last night." Scott added.
"WHY were you spying on me?!" She punched him in the arm.
Scott rubbed his arm muscle, "I wasn't spying. Kurt said you were in the garage. Since he 'ported up, I was told to go check surveillance to make sure he wasn't lying so you sneak in after curfew. Don't blame me for you getting caught red handed. All I'm saying is be careful, okay? We've all been through this before."
"... why can't things just like... be normal around here?" Kitty finally asked.
"You'd be surprised how 'normal' this really is. Think of this as your typical... big brother, little sister talk. I guess that IS pretty foreign to either of us, huh. Either way, I trust Jean on this, and I trust you. I just don't trust him, okay? I just wanted to make sure you understood that."
"Sure, Scott." She stood to leave.
"Kitty..."
"What?"
"You know, if you have any problems - you can come talk to me. Or even Jean. We're here if you need it."
"I know, Scott. Maybe someday I'll take you up on that offer." She stepped over to the door, "Gotta get ready for band practice. Thanks 'Bro'." She smirked.
***
"Alright guys, let's take it from the top." Lance signaled.
The mixture of instruments meshed together. The harder rock edge to the song sounded nice in thier small practice area of the Brotherhood Boarding House basement.
Lance started in with the lyrics, "I've finally made it home, all my friends look alike and they party every night but then I... really want to know, why the air is so thick. Smells like everyone is sick I guess I... really want to know, I really want to know."
Kurt jumps in with a different drumbeat. Lance went into it, "Am I here, am I there, am I goin' anywhere. Doesn't anybody know?"
Wanda and Kitty came in with their voices for the chorus along with Lance, "Guess it makes it easy, not to blame it on me. Raise the industry stock... Teenagers that die, under the influence of rock."
The second verse kicked in. Lance began, "Finally made it home, if they'd just read my letter. I explained it so much better than they... Really care to know, now they all want to settle with the blame on Heavy Metal do they... Really want to know, they really want to know." His voice almost growled the lyrics. He extended his range a little bit, giving it that rougher edge that the song needed.
"Why I'm here, and not there, why this really isn't fair, Can't you see me from below?"
The others joined in for the next line that repeated, "I know they don't believe..."
Kitty continued with backup while Lance went into a strong guitar solo. The drumbeat changed again.
"Am I here, am I there, am I goin' anywhere, Doesn't anybody know? Why I'm here, and not there, why this really isn't fair, Can't you see me from below?" Lance continued.
The others joined in for the last verse. "Guess it makes it easy, not to blame it on me. Raise the industry stock... What an obvious choice, blame my absence on noise. Sell the story with shock. Teenagers that die, under the influence of rock."
The song ended. Lance turned to see the others. "That sounded great! We should take a break."
Wanda put her bass down as Kurt teleported from his place at the drumset to somewhere not in that room.
"I know I haven't really said this, but Wanda - We couldn't do this without you." Lance complimented.
"It's not like I have anything else better to do." Wanda deadpanned.
"... so you're saying this is a last resort at entertainment?" Lance asked.
"You said it, not me." Wanda walked upstairs. "I'm getting drinks. Be back."
Lance set down his guitar and walked over to Kitty, who was now just sitting down on a deteriorated couch, looking over some notes. He sat down next to her. "Hey stranger."
"Oh...uh, hey Lance." Kitty voiced, shyly.
"... now I know somethin' is wrong. What's got you down, pretty Kitty?" Lance asked. He reached over to put a hand behind her back. She cringed slightly under his touch and moved forward.
"Nothing's wrong. Just, y'know, really into this." Kitty said.
Lance looked at his hand, then back to her. He looked confused. "... can I get a kiss?"
"... Lance, we're at practice. They hate it when we do that stuff." Kitty urged.
"Yeah, but they're not here." Lance scooted closer.
Kitty had flashbacks about the conversation Scott had dealt her earlier that day. Did he make her paranoid of Lance and his intentions? "... No. No, Lance. Not the right time." She got up off the couch.
Wanda had arrived back downstairs, offering cans of soda for everyone. Kitty met Wanda halfway and took one.
"Thank you." Kitty added.
Wanda tossed the other one to Lance, who barely caught it.
"What's with you?" Lance stood up too. He followed Kitty and turned her to face him.
"Nothing is with me. Why?" She took a sip.
Kurt teleported into the room and back to his drumset. He leaned forward to listen to the conversation with Lance and Kitty.
"You're doing that thing. That girl thing, where you say nothing is wrong when really something is." Lance accused.
"No. I really mean NOTHING is wrong when I say it. But I'm starting to FEEL like something may be wrong if you don't leave me alone about it." Kitty added.
"Hah, so there is something." Lance snapped.
"NO! Geez. Pay attention to what I say. Stop making something out of nothing."
"Then stop ignoring me."
"I'm NOT ignoring you, Lance."
"You're such a liar! You haven't said maybe THREE words to me today. Every time I go to touch you, you're all moving away or phasing out of my touch. What's the deal, Pryde? We were fine last night. You didn't seem to mind then."
Kitty growled. "What the hell, Lance! All I want to do is get through practice, we can argue about this later."
"I don't want to argue about this later." Lance got into her face, "We're doing this here and now. What did I do to deserve being treated badly, huh?"
"... I don't want to do this in front of Kurt and Wanda." She said under her breath. "It's really not polite."
Lance grabbed Kitty's arm, "Screw being polite! Don't 'What the Hell' me! I thought things were different!"
"Things WERE different, Lance. Then you had to go and blow up on me because I'm not in the mood to be the loving girlfriend at this very second. Get a clue!" She phased out of his grip. Kitty balled her fists, ready for a fight.
"A clue? You're the one who needs it. Straighten out your priorities, Kitty. You're the one who started this."
"I did? Fine! I did! Then guess what? I'll finish it. I quit." Kitty said the words loud enough for everyone to hear.
Lance looked like he was smacked very hard, but no physical exchange occured. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but he couldn't. His voice wouldn't come to him.
Kitty narrowed her eyes and walked to the stairs, leaving the house to top off her dramatic exit.
***
Influence of Rock, by 12 Volt Sex
"In The Garage" - by Val Shrum (kiyonekatz at yahoo dot com)
Chapter 11
***************************************************************************
It had been a strange and wonderful day yesterday. Kitty rose out of bed with a stretch. It was sunday. The breakfast was on the downstairs table. A light knocking at her door and a voice, "Hey Kitty, time to get breakfast." let her know what time it was.
She had gotten dressed and headed downstairs to fill up a plate. Most of Kitty's peers were already at the table. The newer class was out for some sort of training session. "Goodmorning everyone!" She announced.
"It's way too early in the mornin' for you to be that cheerful, Pryde. Yah need to tone it down just a tiny bit." Rogue grumbled.
"Not my fault you're not a morning person." Kitty sat next to Kurt. "Sleep well, Fuzzy?"
"Oh uh... sure." Kurt smiled, "My arms are still a little sore. I may never get used to drumming."
"You're doin' great, really. Much better than I am." She took a bite of toast.
"Don't kid yourself! You've really gotten into this guitar thing. You're a natural." He smiled and encouraged his best friend.
"Thanks, Kurt." She smiled in return.
"So how did the show go?" Jean asked.
"We're in the competition! It's next week. Everyone should come, it'll be great." Kitty added gleefully.
"Sounds like a plan, doesn't it Scott?" Jean asked.
"Right, Jean." Scott looked over at Kitty. "I wouldn't miss it. Say, Kitty... after breakfast I need to talk to you."
"Huh? Sure thing, Scott." Kitty finished her meal and followed Scott. Scott lead her to his room.
"Take a seat." He gestured.
"Uh oh, I got a bad feeling about this." Kitty sat down on the edge of Scott's bed.
Scott closed the door. He sat down next to Kitty on the bed and started, "So... the show went really well, huh?"
"... duh. That's what me and Kurt were TALKING about not but like... five minutes ago." Kitty seemed confused.
"You and Alvers have been getting pretty close because of this, huh?" Scott questioned.
"... sure, Scott. I'm not exactly sure where you're going with this?" Kitty looked at him oddly.
Scott touched Kitty's shoulder and gently squeezed. "Look, I know you think you know what you're doing... but Alvers, he's a bad seed. You getting involved with him again can only create problems for you in the long run."
Kitty rolled her eyes and looked away. "Scott, I do realize what you're trying to tell me here. And I hate to break it to you, but things have been going really great with Lance lately. I know how much you dislike him, but you're going to have to like accept that he's my boyfriend."
"Kitty, it's not even about my dislike. It's about you." He spoke up. "Last night. Did he pressure you?"
"... what?!" Kitty was surprised. Scott KNEW about last night? "No!"
"He will. Just wait. The problem is, you've given him the signal that it's okay to push your limits."
"Omigod, Scott. It's not even like that! Not even close." She was embarassed, but fought and defended her position.
"Are you so sure? Kitty..." Scott sighed, "I know Jean talked to you about this, but from a guy perspective? He may be teaching you to play guitar, but he's only thinking about the payment after everything is said and done. Alvers also has a tendancy to get angry easily. Last night you may have said no and he was okay with it, but that can't be said for later."
"I can't believe we're having this conversation. How DARE you spy on me. It's my private life!" She looked at Scott, a little hurt.
"... no, it's not. You may be entitled to your own life, but the instant it starts to move into that grey area... like last night? It becomes something that can not only get you into trouble, but the Institute as well."
"So you're just doing this because Professor Xavier asked you to?" Kitty replied.
"No, I'm doing this because I care for you. Alvers can be a great guy, probably seventy five percent of the time. It's that twenty five percent that worries me, Kitty. We wouldn't even be having this conversation if you were of legal age. I'm just worried." Scott tried to sound genuine.
"Always the boy-scout, Scott? You could have totally handled this better. Jean trusts me, why can't you?"
"Jean didn't see what I saw last night." Scott added.
"WHY were you spying on me?!" She punched him in the arm.
Scott rubbed his arm muscle, "I wasn't spying. Kurt said you were in the garage. Since he 'ported up, I was told to go check surveillance to make sure he wasn't lying so you sneak in after curfew. Don't blame me for you getting caught red handed. All I'm saying is be careful, okay? We've all been through this before."
"... why can't things just like... be normal around here?" Kitty finally asked.
"You'd be surprised how 'normal' this really is. Think of this as your typical... big brother, little sister talk. I guess that IS pretty foreign to either of us, huh. Either way, I trust Jean on this, and I trust you. I just don't trust him, okay? I just wanted to make sure you understood that."
"Sure, Scott." She stood to leave.
"Kitty..."
"What?"
"You know, if you have any problems - you can come talk to me. Or even Jean. We're here if you need it."
"I know, Scott. Maybe someday I'll take you up on that offer." She stepped over to the door, "Gotta get ready for band practice. Thanks 'Bro'." She smirked.
***
"Alright guys, let's take it from the top." Lance signaled.
The mixture of instruments meshed together. The harder rock edge to the song sounded nice in thier small practice area of the Brotherhood Boarding House basement.
Lance started in with the lyrics, "I've finally made it home, all my friends look alike and they party every night but then I... really want to know, why the air is so thick. Smells like everyone is sick I guess I... really want to know, I really want to know."
Kurt jumps in with a different drumbeat. Lance went into it, "Am I here, am I there, am I goin' anywhere. Doesn't anybody know?"
Wanda and Kitty came in with their voices for the chorus along with Lance, "Guess it makes it easy, not to blame it on me. Raise the industry stock... Teenagers that die, under the influence of rock."
The second verse kicked in. Lance began, "Finally made it home, if they'd just read my letter. I explained it so much better than they... Really care to know, now they all want to settle with the blame on Heavy Metal do they... Really want to know, they really want to know." His voice almost growled the lyrics. He extended his range a little bit, giving it that rougher edge that the song needed.
"Why I'm here, and not there, why this really isn't fair, Can't you see me from below?"
The others joined in for the next line that repeated, "I know they don't believe..."
Kitty continued with backup while Lance went into a strong guitar solo. The drumbeat changed again.
"Am I here, am I there, am I goin' anywhere, Doesn't anybody know? Why I'm here, and not there, why this really isn't fair, Can't you see me from below?" Lance continued.
The others joined in for the last verse. "Guess it makes it easy, not to blame it on me. Raise the industry stock... What an obvious choice, blame my absence on noise. Sell the story with shock. Teenagers that die, under the influence of rock."
The song ended. Lance turned to see the others. "That sounded great! We should take a break."
Wanda put her bass down as Kurt teleported from his place at the drumset to somewhere not in that room.
"I know I haven't really said this, but Wanda - We couldn't do this without you." Lance complimented.
"It's not like I have anything else better to do." Wanda deadpanned.
"... so you're saying this is a last resort at entertainment?" Lance asked.
"You said it, not me." Wanda walked upstairs. "I'm getting drinks. Be back."
Lance set down his guitar and walked over to Kitty, who was now just sitting down on a deteriorated couch, looking over some notes. He sat down next to her. "Hey stranger."
"Oh...uh, hey Lance." Kitty voiced, shyly.
"... now I know somethin' is wrong. What's got you down, pretty Kitty?" Lance asked. He reached over to put a hand behind her back. She cringed slightly under his touch and moved forward.
"Nothing's wrong. Just, y'know, really into this." Kitty said.
Lance looked at his hand, then back to her. He looked confused. "... can I get a kiss?"
"... Lance, we're at practice. They hate it when we do that stuff." Kitty urged.
"Yeah, but they're not here." Lance scooted closer.
Kitty had flashbacks about the conversation Scott had dealt her earlier that day. Did he make her paranoid of Lance and his intentions? "... No. No, Lance. Not the right time." She got up off the couch.
Wanda had arrived back downstairs, offering cans of soda for everyone. Kitty met Wanda halfway and took one.
"Thank you." Kitty added.
Wanda tossed the other one to Lance, who barely caught it.
"What's with you?" Lance stood up too. He followed Kitty and turned her to face him.
"Nothing is with me. Why?" She took a sip.
Kurt teleported into the room and back to his drumset. He leaned forward to listen to the conversation with Lance and Kitty.
"You're doing that thing. That girl thing, where you say nothing is wrong when really something is." Lance accused.
"No. I really mean NOTHING is wrong when I say it. But I'm starting to FEEL like something may be wrong if you don't leave me alone about it." Kitty added.
"Hah, so there is something." Lance snapped.
"NO! Geez. Pay attention to what I say. Stop making something out of nothing."
"Then stop ignoring me."
"I'm NOT ignoring you, Lance."
"You're such a liar! You haven't said maybe THREE words to me today. Every time I go to touch you, you're all moving away or phasing out of my touch. What's the deal, Pryde? We were fine last night. You didn't seem to mind then."
Kitty growled. "What the hell, Lance! All I want to do is get through practice, we can argue about this later."
"I don't want to argue about this later." Lance got into her face, "We're doing this here and now. What did I do to deserve being treated badly, huh?"
"... I don't want to do this in front of Kurt and Wanda." She said under her breath. "It's really not polite."
Lance grabbed Kitty's arm, "Screw being polite! Don't 'What the Hell' me! I thought things were different!"
"Things WERE different, Lance. Then you had to go and blow up on me because I'm not in the mood to be the loving girlfriend at this very second. Get a clue!" She phased out of his grip. Kitty balled her fists, ready for a fight.
"A clue? You're the one who needs it. Straighten out your priorities, Kitty. You're the one who started this."
"I did? Fine! I did! Then guess what? I'll finish it. I quit." Kitty said the words loud enough for everyone to hear.
Lance looked like he was smacked very hard, but no physical exchange occured. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but he couldn't. His voice wouldn't come to him.
Kitty narrowed her eyes and walked to the stairs, leaving the house to top off her dramatic exit.
***
Influence of Rock, by 12 Volt Sex
