Regina: I've been busy. We're on holidays you see, for the end of the first
term. This is my senior year, so it's been a bit of a wild ride so far -
although definitely not as interesting as the senior year of a few mutants
I can think of. On the up side, I get to do things that I wouldn't have
been able to do otherwise. But that new responsibility comes with a
downside. I have to go to school in the holidays. No, I did not fail
anything, I'm going to go do computer classes. Now, if you've read my most
recent chapter of 'Trial by Fire', then you know what I'm gonna say - if
you have, skip on down to the actual story - but if you haven't, listen to
what I have to say. These computer classes will help me with my websites,
which will - hopefully - have cool things like Flash in them. So I'll let
you know how that goes, and if it works, go visit my sites. They're listed
in my bio, including my new Yahoo! Group, 'Beauty of the Beast', which is
devoted to Hank McCoy, if you haven't guessed.
Before I forget, I have something which I have been meaning to say for the past couple of chapters, but I keep forgetting to put it in. Anyone heard that song 'Hit That' by The Offspring? 'Cause every time I hear that song I keep thinking of Pietro and Petra. You might be able to guess what bits are the ones that keep triggering those random thought processes in my head. For Pietro it's the bits which go something along the lines if 'I'm on a roll, with all the girls I know', and for Petra it is, 'I'm on the run, I'm chasing guys for fun'. I apologise if I wasn't too accurate on the actual lyrics, but I haven't heard that song in a while. But now that you think about it (hopefully you are thinking about it) it does kind of make sense, in a random sort of way.
Oh, and I own absolutely nothing mentioned in this introduction/chapter/story - even my websites are about stuff I don't own (like the X-Men movie).
Role Reversal
Chapter Fourteen: Pictures Last Way Longer
"I said, 'say cheese'!" said Petra, when nobody followed her instructions.
"I think we'd all be better off if we did what she said," said Pietro. "Trust me on this."
"CHEESE!" said everyone, and the camera made a clicking sound as Petra took the picture.
"There," she said. "That wasn't too hard now, was it?"
Nobody said anything.
"I said, that that wasn't too hard now, was it?"
"No, Petra," everyone chorused.
The speed demoness smiled. "Thank you." She examined the camera, and the photograph she had just taken, then frowned.
"Petra? What's the matter?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Now what do we do?"
"Huh?"
Petra frowned again. "Well, I only got this stupid thing because John over there said, 'Take a picture, it'll last longer'. Now the novelty's worn off."
"After one photo?" asked Grey.
"We go through this every time, yo," explained Tonya. "We get her something for her birthday or Christmas, and five seconds later she's bored with it."
"Pietro's just as bad, yo."
"We don't get her anything now," added Fredericka. (Amazingly, this is only the third time she has spoken in this entire story, the first time to tell her Doppelganger that she had finished eating - followed by a burp - and the second time being to ask if they were having duck for dinner - after the discovery that Bobby's surname was different to his Doppelganger's. His was Drake, and Bobbi's was Duck.)
"And you wonder why I don't like you," Petra shot back, before anyone else had a chance to blink - except for Pietro, who had been about to say the exact same thing, except Petra had beaten him to the punch.
"I know I'm gonna regret this later," began Evan, "but-"
"But what?" demanded several voices.
"Let him finish!" replied Eva.
"- since we've got a camera, we could use it to take pictures-"
"Wow," Pietro said drily. "Anyone would think you just invented that thing, Daniels."
"Let him finish!" repeated Eva.
"- of us," Evan finally got to say.
"Us?"
"Us and the Doppelgangers."
"Us and the Doppelgangers?"
"Is there an echo in here?" asked Evan, a tinge of annoyance in his voice.
"Is there an echo in here?"
"Maximoffs!"
"It would be a neat thing to have," said Kitty. "I mean, how many people can say that they've met themselves from another dimension?"
"Twenty-seven, last time I counted," replied Pietro.
"Twenty- hold on," said Carter, looking around. "One, two. . . ten, eleven. . . sixteen, seventeen. . . twenty-six, twenty-seven." He looked up from his count. "I hate to say it, but he's right."
Pietro looked smug, as he always did, but said nothing.
"I think it's settled. We're going to be taking pictures of. . . ourselves." For some reason Scott did not look too thrilled at the prospect.
"You can start with me," ordered Petra, walking away with the camera. Slowly people followed her, as she had the camera.
As his Doppelganger walked away, Pietro said to Lance, "You know what? I hate that woman. She acts as though she's the best thing in the world, and all she ever thinks about is herself!"
Why does that not surprise me? Lance thought to himself. But out loud he said, "What's bothering you about that? Have you forgotten that she's you or something?"
"Huh. Now that I think about it -"
"You can think?"
"- there's absolutely nothing wrong with her. Why can't all of my girlfriends be like that?"
This time Lance said nothing.
*
"Why do I get the feeling that I should be concerned about the students?"
"I have no idea."
"Maybe it's the fact that we left them to their own devises with the henchmen of our greatest enemy, and their Doppelgangers?"
"Could be."
"You're right. It's probably nothing to worry about."
*
Contrary to what the adults were thinking, the students were having a merry old time, making a photographic record of the fact that there was two of each student, one boy, and one girl.
"Hey, Forge and Form! Say cheese!"
"We're trying to work here!"
"What's that a picture of? Wow, his head really is shiny, especially from above."
"My turn with the camera!"
"Käse!"
"Huh?"
"It's German for cheese!"
"What's German for crackers?"
"Kurt!"
"No, it's not! Don't trust her!"
"Hey, Flame-Boy, look behind you! Forest fire!"
"Where?"
After a whole range of candid shots, it came to the shots that Scott and Scarlett had asked for: posed photos of each set of Doppelgangers ("Okay, Piotr and Portia, take a step back. Okay, a bit further. Bit further. I said a bit further!")
Of course, something like that is too big an ask for these teens to do without causing some sort of mayhem.
And it was Pietro and Petra who caused it. Duh.
Somebody had suggested that each pair stand together, one arm on their Doppelganger's shoulder (save for John and Flame-Boy, who were still sore over their fight for Amara's affections), as if they were friends, or siblings, which might be a better term, as they were genetically identical, save for their twenty-third chromosome (for those who did not take, or failed High School Biology, that's the one that determines the sex of the individual).
But, of course, one of the Maximoffs decided that they had to liven things up a bit.
"Okay, you two, say cheese," said Kitty, but in the split second before she pressed the button, Petra grabbed her Doppelganger. Nobody saw what she did until Kitty looked at the photograph half a minute later.
"Petra!"
"What did she do?"
Petra was silent, and so was Pietro, although the others later attributed it to shock.
"She kissed him, yo!"
"Tipped him right over and gave it to him!"
"Hey, Pietro, you all right?"
Pietro blinked a few times, his brain function seemingly slowed, an odd occurrence for someone like him. "Yeah."
"What is it?"
He blinked a few more times, then broke into a huge grin. "I knew I was a good kisser, but not that good!"
"Pietro!"
Before I forget, I have something which I have been meaning to say for the past couple of chapters, but I keep forgetting to put it in. Anyone heard that song 'Hit That' by The Offspring? 'Cause every time I hear that song I keep thinking of Pietro and Petra. You might be able to guess what bits are the ones that keep triggering those random thought processes in my head. For Pietro it's the bits which go something along the lines if 'I'm on a roll, with all the girls I know', and for Petra it is, 'I'm on the run, I'm chasing guys for fun'. I apologise if I wasn't too accurate on the actual lyrics, but I haven't heard that song in a while. But now that you think about it (hopefully you are thinking about it) it does kind of make sense, in a random sort of way.
Oh, and I own absolutely nothing mentioned in this introduction/chapter/story - even my websites are about stuff I don't own (like the X-Men movie).
Role Reversal
Chapter Fourteen: Pictures Last Way Longer
"I said, 'say cheese'!" said Petra, when nobody followed her instructions.
"I think we'd all be better off if we did what she said," said Pietro. "Trust me on this."
"CHEESE!" said everyone, and the camera made a clicking sound as Petra took the picture.
"There," she said. "That wasn't too hard now, was it?"
Nobody said anything.
"I said, that that wasn't too hard now, was it?"
"No, Petra," everyone chorused.
The speed demoness smiled. "Thank you." She examined the camera, and the photograph she had just taken, then frowned.
"Petra? What's the matter?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Now what do we do?"
"Huh?"
Petra frowned again. "Well, I only got this stupid thing because John over there said, 'Take a picture, it'll last longer'. Now the novelty's worn off."
"After one photo?" asked Grey.
"We go through this every time, yo," explained Tonya. "We get her something for her birthday or Christmas, and five seconds later she's bored with it."
"Pietro's just as bad, yo."
"We don't get her anything now," added Fredericka. (Amazingly, this is only the third time she has spoken in this entire story, the first time to tell her Doppelganger that she had finished eating - followed by a burp - and the second time being to ask if they were having duck for dinner - after the discovery that Bobby's surname was different to his Doppelganger's. His was Drake, and Bobbi's was Duck.)
"And you wonder why I don't like you," Petra shot back, before anyone else had a chance to blink - except for Pietro, who had been about to say the exact same thing, except Petra had beaten him to the punch.
"I know I'm gonna regret this later," began Evan, "but-"
"But what?" demanded several voices.
"Let him finish!" replied Eva.
"- since we've got a camera, we could use it to take pictures-"
"Wow," Pietro said drily. "Anyone would think you just invented that thing, Daniels."
"Let him finish!" repeated Eva.
"- of us," Evan finally got to say.
"Us?"
"Us and the Doppelgangers."
"Us and the Doppelgangers?"
"Is there an echo in here?" asked Evan, a tinge of annoyance in his voice.
"Is there an echo in here?"
"Maximoffs!"
"It would be a neat thing to have," said Kitty. "I mean, how many people can say that they've met themselves from another dimension?"
"Twenty-seven, last time I counted," replied Pietro.
"Twenty- hold on," said Carter, looking around. "One, two. . . ten, eleven. . . sixteen, seventeen. . . twenty-six, twenty-seven." He looked up from his count. "I hate to say it, but he's right."
Pietro looked smug, as he always did, but said nothing.
"I think it's settled. We're going to be taking pictures of. . . ourselves." For some reason Scott did not look too thrilled at the prospect.
"You can start with me," ordered Petra, walking away with the camera. Slowly people followed her, as she had the camera.
As his Doppelganger walked away, Pietro said to Lance, "You know what? I hate that woman. She acts as though she's the best thing in the world, and all she ever thinks about is herself!"
Why does that not surprise me? Lance thought to himself. But out loud he said, "What's bothering you about that? Have you forgotten that she's you or something?"
"Huh. Now that I think about it -"
"You can think?"
"- there's absolutely nothing wrong with her. Why can't all of my girlfriends be like that?"
This time Lance said nothing.
*
"Why do I get the feeling that I should be concerned about the students?"
"I have no idea."
"Maybe it's the fact that we left them to their own devises with the henchmen of our greatest enemy, and their Doppelgangers?"
"Could be."
"You're right. It's probably nothing to worry about."
*
Contrary to what the adults were thinking, the students were having a merry old time, making a photographic record of the fact that there was two of each student, one boy, and one girl.
"Hey, Forge and Form! Say cheese!"
"We're trying to work here!"
"What's that a picture of? Wow, his head really is shiny, especially from above."
"My turn with the camera!"
"Käse!"
"Huh?"
"It's German for cheese!"
"What's German for crackers?"
"Kurt!"
"No, it's not! Don't trust her!"
"Hey, Flame-Boy, look behind you! Forest fire!"
"Where?"
After a whole range of candid shots, it came to the shots that Scott and Scarlett had asked for: posed photos of each set of Doppelgangers ("Okay, Piotr and Portia, take a step back. Okay, a bit further. Bit further. I said a bit further!")
Of course, something like that is too big an ask for these teens to do without causing some sort of mayhem.
And it was Pietro and Petra who caused it. Duh.
Somebody had suggested that each pair stand together, one arm on their Doppelganger's shoulder (save for John and Flame-Boy, who were still sore over their fight for Amara's affections), as if they were friends, or siblings, which might be a better term, as they were genetically identical, save for their twenty-third chromosome (for those who did not take, or failed High School Biology, that's the one that determines the sex of the individual).
But, of course, one of the Maximoffs decided that they had to liven things up a bit.
"Okay, you two, say cheese," said Kitty, but in the split second before she pressed the button, Petra grabbed her Doppelganger. Nobody saw what she did until Kitty looked at the photograph half a minute later.
"Petra!"
"What did she do?"
Petra was silent, and so was Pietro, although the others later attributed it to shock.
"She kissed him, yo!"
"Tipped him right over and gave it to him!"
"Hey, Pietro, you all right?"
Pietro blinked a few times, his brain function seemingly slowed, an odd occurrence for someone like him. "Yeah."
"What is it?"
He blinked a few more times, then broke into a huge grin. "I knew I was a good kisser, but not that good!"
"Pietro!"