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 16

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Her muscles were tense. All the way down her back and arms. She swallowed, only feeling a tight knot in her stomach. She felt like she could be sick, or worse. The butterflies moved around, almost as much as the different people all around in the backstage side area of the performance hall. Performance anxiety. The teen girl known as Kitty Pryde leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes and took in a deep breath to attempt to calm herself.

"Whoa, you look sick. Did you eat something bad this morning, Katzchen?" Kurt reached over and touched her shoulder.

Kitty's arms were crossed. She opened her eyes to stare at her not-so-fuzzy-looking-right-now best friend. "Huh? No."

"He's right. Are you okay, Kitty?" Wanda asked, uniquely concerned.

"I'm not cut out for this." Kitty admitted. "I can do theatre. I could do musicals. But I'm so terrified I'll suddenly be on stage with like an eleven string guitar and I don't remember how to play it and I'll just... I'll forget the music. I'll forget everything!"

"Did you have another weird dream again?" Lance asked, raising his eyebrow.

"YES! It's like a total nightmare! Give me Logan's training sessions over this, anyday." Kitty looked exasperated.

Lance looked to Wanda and said, "You tell her."

"Tell her what?" Wanda glanced at Lance. He made a gesture. Wanda pursed her lips, "Oh... right."

Kurt looked like he was going to say something, then Wanda put a hand on his arm.

"Kitty, your lack of confidence is driving me nuts." Wanda started, "I can honestly speak for everyone when I say you're good. More than just good. I mean, you won't be writing your own cantatas or anything tomorrow, but you certainly can play a solid guitar. And I'm not just being nice. Look at me, do I LOOK like someone who's trying to humor you?"

"... no, you don't." Kitty took in a deep breath, "I'm sorry. I'm really nervous. But... why should I be? I've got you guys." She smiled.

"Feel good time is over with. We're on in fifteen." Lance said after a director looking person motioned to him. "Time to show Bayville how to rock."

Kitty looked terrified again. Kurt gave her a gentle squeeze on the shoulder and said, "Look at it this way, it'll be over soon."

"Not reassuring." Kitty joked, then said softly, "I'm fine, really. I've done this before. Sort of. I'm ready."

**

Stage hands moved across the stage, clearing the instruments from the last group of the stage, then quickly moving the new instruments on. The stage half in darkness. Lance signaled. They moved onto the stage to get prepared for their set. A voice echoed over the loud speaker as they announced the band. The spotlight focused on them. The stage now lit up and they were on.

In what felt like a haze, they started to play their instruments together. Kurt closed his eyes and concentrated solely on the rhythm that he, alone, was responsible for. 'This is amazing!' He thought to himself, 'The crowd is really cheering... for us! Best not be a disappointment!' He focused on the objective and played his heart out.

Black spikey hair bounced against Wanda's forehead as she rocked to the beat. Her right hand keeping up with the song's pace, playing the bass notes skillfully, that only she could do. She glanced into the audience and skimmed it for anyone she knew. Their friends were there, and even Pietro. She mentally smiled. It felt good to be up there. It was right.

His voice projected clearly through the microphone. Lance played his lead guitar with ease. It didn't even seem like he was breaking a sweat. He would occasionally glance over at Kitty and Wanda, to see how they were doing. In between lyrical statements he smiled. He felt at home on the stage. The crowd cheered as they transitioned from one song to the next.

Kitty took her place and sang her heart out. Her eyes shifted occasionally down to her hand positioning, making sure everything was going a-okay. She was no longer shy. No longer scared. She just did her job. The final song shift was effortless. They closed the set to a cheering crowd.

Almost as quickly as it began, they rushed their equipment off stage so that the stagehands could set up the next act. Almost like a blur, the cheering faded. It was over.

***

"Here." Lance said. He handed a bottled water to Kitty and sat down on the couch beside her.

"Thanks." Kitty replied as she opened it and took a sip. She offered the bottle to Lance, who declined by holding his palm out to her.

Wanda sat across from them in a chair. She leaned forward, arms resting on her knees, in a crossed position. She grumbled, "Where'd Kurt go off to?"

"Who knows, probably signing autographs for his adoring fans." Kitty joked.

"That sounds more like your department." Lance retaliated.

Kitty rolled her eyes, "Well, I'm glad this is over with. I can finally just... relax again. Well, as much as I normally relaxed." She leaned back, falling against Lance's shoulder. He instinctively moved his arm to set his hand on her shoulder.

"What did he say he was doing?" Lance asked Wanda.

"Just getting something quick to eat and drink..." Wanda noted.

"Uh oh. That's probably like... the stupidest thing to ask a teleporter, you know. He'll go across town if he's hungry enough." Kitty made a face.

Kurt snuck up on Wanda, placing a cold soda against her bare shoulder. She shrieked, then subconsciously zapped him. Kurt made a 'Eek!' noise, falling back against the floor onto his behind.

"...owwwwww... that's the last time I ever try to sneak up on you!" Kurt whined.

"I thought you would have learned that lesson already." Wanda stood up and helped Kurt stand back up.

He handed her a soda, then sat down in the chair nearest to the couch. He opened a bag, "Donuts? They're as fresh as they get." Kurt smiled.

"Oh sure."

"Yeah!"

"Thanks!"

He passed the donut bag along so that the others could get what they wanted. Kurt leaned back and propped his feet up onto the table that sat in the center of their seating area. "Aaah! This is the life!"

Kitty relaxed against Lance. It was strange, how after only a short while she was finally able to think of him as just her boyfriend. Not one of the Brotherhood. Not a guy she had a crush on at some point, but as something more. Something with substance. Kitty let out a soft sigh, then looked up at Wanda and Kurt.

Wanda held onto the donut bag. She pulled one out and took a bite.

"C'mon Wanda, stop hogging the bag." Kurt teased.

"What, you wanted some? I thought you were being generous... this is the last one." Wanda looked down into the bag. Her voice gave off a tone of purely not serious.

"What?! Impossible! Give it here!" Kurt, however, sounded shocked.

"But I'm not done..." She teased, pulling the bag just out of reach.

Kurt's tail slipped out of the back of pants, wrapping quickly around the Wanda's wrist and the bag that held the donuts.

"Kurt!" Kitty widened her eyes.

"...Yikes! Sorry." He quickly tucked it back. Kurt pouted in his chair before Wanda finally offered the bag to him.

He looked into the bag, "You were lying to me! That's not a nice thing to do." He grabbed a donut.

"Turnabout is fair play." Wanda leaned back and sipped her soda.

Kitty ahemed, "So uh... what exactly is this?"

"What?" Wanda blankly stared at Kitty.

"... uh... you guys? Like, maybe I'm bad at reading signals... but... yeah. What's going on with you two?"

"Going on?" Kurt looked even more puzzled than Wanda. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said.

"I seriously hope you don't mean what I think you mean." Wanda said flatly. "It's nothing."

"Nothing? Right..." Kitty didn't seem to believe them.

"What is nothing?" Kurt exchanged looks between the two girls. "I seem to be missing a page... in the script?"

"Don't worry about it, Kurt. I think you're better off that way." Lance laughed.

A man dressed in black from across the room spoke up, "Attention everyone! They will be announcing winners to the musical portion shortly. If you participated in the musical section of the contest, please file out down the left hall and listen for your name from the wing. If you are called, you and your group will be expected to accept your prize on stage, then wait until pictures and any press opportunities are finished. Good luck, everyone."

Lance leaned forward and carefully stood. "Looks like it's the moment of truth."

"Yeah." Kitty stood. "Finally."

"Let's go." Lance motioned toward where the stage-person pointed them to and headed that direction.

***

"Fifth place and the one hundred dollar prize goes to... 'The Mole Babies'!" The announcer voiced out. The band filed onto the stage.

"Fourth place and the two hundred and fifty dollar prize goes to... 'The Brimstone Boys'!"

Lance looked over at Kitty, "Man, if we didn't get fourth or fifth, I doubt we even placed at all. So much for that." He sighed. Kitty squeezed his arm, reassuring him.

"Third place and the five hundred dollar prize goes to... 'Kakumei Evolution'!"

"... what?" Lance looked up.

"Hey! That's us! Let's go!" Kurt grabbed Kitty's arm, who in turn still had a hold of Lance as they got tugged along onstage. Wanda followed without the tugboat effect.

They were greeted by photos being taken of the four and were presented with a check for the amount. The band moved over to the side for the final two winners to be anounced.

"Second place and the seven hundred and fifty dollar prize goes to... 'Neo-Music'! And finally, the winner of the grand prize and one thousand dollars is... Alison Blair! Let's give a hand to these talented kids! They earned it!"

After the excitement died down, the group moved from on the stage to off as they went through the other categories for the night. The Brotherhood boys congratulated Wanda and Lance, while the Xavier Institute kids gathered around Kurt and Kitty.

"You guys were awesome! I couldn't even believe my ears... was that really you playing guitar? I must be dreaming." Tabitha joked.

"Of course I was, Tabitha. Lance is way better at it than I am, so he probably covered up for my mistakes." Kitty stuck her tongue out.

"Hey sis, you've really got a whole awesome-rocker-look goin' here." Pietro put a hand on his cheek, "I'm impressed."

"Cut it out." She pushed him, almost playfully.

"So babycakes, when you gonna show me those moves at home?" Toad leered at Wanda.

"Yuck. Go away, Toad." Wanda looked disgusted.

"I'm just a lonely heart, yo. Don't blame me, blame it on the rain." Toad moved closer. Wanda pushed him back quick enough to slip between the crowd over to the Xavier kids.

"-- and you learned to play drums in a week? Who knew Alvers was such a motivational teacher." Scott smirked. He noticed the newcomer, "Oh, hey Wanda. Great job on stage up there. I guess these last few weeks really did pay off."

"Yes. Appears to be that way. Thanks." Wanda nodded.

"So guys, how about we take this back to the mansion and celebrate?" Jean raised her voice so that everyone could hear.

"Yeah!" "Let's go!" "Par-tay!"

***