Thanks to:
Snowee2003 – hope you like this one too!
DemonRogue13 – glad you liked it!
Rogue14 – soon enough for ya? Enjoy!
XX-Goth-gal – hope you think this one coulda gone this way too…
X00001 – glad you liked it!
LadyEvils – I love Lancitty too and there's gonna be plenty!
Enfant-terrible – I do agree with what you said and trust me, the trials of Lance and Kitty don't end here…
Firefly25 – the presentation was my biggest worry, coz I had problems with it. There's gonna be no non-evo characters introduced (I don't think so anyway!) Thanks for you review and I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
Disclaimer: Uh, the disclaimer disappeared under a pile of rocks in a mysterious avalanche (glares at Lance).
Kitty Pryde ran into the drama hall, the stage still set from that morning's rehearsal. She was simultaneously angry, terrified and ashamed. That guy, Lance, seemed to be following her around ever since he's seen her fall out of her locker – straight through the door. And then he'd thrown that bitch Riley out of the sandpit by shaking the ground, waved at her casually from the roof as if causing earthquakes was no big deal…
With a yell of frustration, Kitty kicked the chair off the stage. The way she'd freaked out, everyone would know she knew something about it. Enduring random acts of Riley's cruelty was one thing, they were infrequent and rarely too serious. But the other girl had a reputation for being vicious when she had a vendetta against some one and Kitty had no doubt she'd just made the shit list.
But what did it matter anyway?
All Kitty's anger suddenly evaporated, leaving behind only depression and misery. When people found out what she could do, she'd probably be taken to a lab and studied like a freak. With Lance Alvers in the next cage. No need to worry about Riley then.
With a sigh, Kitty leant against the table, which promptly tipped over, spilling her off and sending the fruit bowl flying. As it came down she instinctively tried to catch it, only for it to pass through her hands as if she were no more solid than a shadow.
I'm dead, she thought suddenly. I died and now I'm a ghost and that's why…
Don't be stupid!
To dispel the notion, she tapped the upside-down bowl. It made a noise, she could feel it, her hand didn't sink into it. She took her hand from it for a second before reaching out to touch it again, concentrating…
Her hand went right through the bowl.
"Kitty?"
She snatched her hand away as if it had been burned, her heart accelerating. It was a male voice, but it couldn't be Lance – he hadn't had time to get to the drama hall from the roof. Unless he could pass through the floor too.
"Kitty, are you here?" A boy walked into the hall, older than her, brown hair, red shades. She recognised him. She'd bumped into him, literally, as she'd run from the long jump, from Lance, from the craziness that had taken over her life. She didn't think she'd seen him around school.
"That Ra-Ra Riley a friend of yours?" The only reason she could think of for him being anywhere near the long jump was to check that Queen Bitch was OK, meaning he was probably her boyfriend. Could this day get any worse? "'Cause y'know, like, I had nothing to do with what happened out there in the sandpit."
"Yeah, I know." The boy walked up the steps onto the stage and Kitty backed up a few steps until she was against the wall. "I'm not a friend of Riley's."
"Oh yeah?" She had to admit, he looked too preppy for Riley, except for the shades. Even with them, she could sense his close scrutiny of her. She pulled the mask from the wall and covered her face with it.
"Kitty, there's no need to hide." The boy seemed unsure of what to say next, but any satisfaction she might have gotten from that was wiped away with his next remark. "I, uh, know what's been happening to you since last night."
"You like, don't know ANYTHING!" yelled Kitty, horrified. How many people knew she was a freak? "And neither does that creepy guy out there!"
"Lance? You don't have to worry about him. This is about you and your new powers. I'd like to help you understand them…"
"Look, I don't want any of this! It's hard enough just being normal, y'know?"
"Oh yeah, I know all right." He seemed to come to a decision. "Just watch this, OK?" He pointed to one of the wax apples that had scattered from the fruit bowl and pulled his shades up a little. Instantly, a red beam shot from behind them and completely obliterated the fruit. He replaced them in less than a second, almost letting Kitty believe that she'd imagined the whole thing if not for the pieces of wax littering the area and the small hole in the stage floor. She looked at the older boy in open-mouthed wonder and he seemed embarrassed, glancing towards the hole. "I do have a visor, but the shades attract less attention."
"How d'you do that?" Her voice was shaking.
He shrugged. "Same way you walk through walls, I guess. One morning I just woke up, opened my eyes and POW! No ceiling. Trust me, at first I hated it too, but y'know, having special powers can be pretty cool."
Cool? A voice in Kitty's head spoke, one that she didn't even recognise as her own. He's insane. Get away from him right now!
"No. NO! I don't believe you, it's a trick!" Kitty covered her face with her hands and ran through the stage door.
"Shit." Scott stood on the stage for a moment or two, debating what to do now. He'd just decided to phone the Professor when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he turned to find himself face-to-face with an irate Lance Alvers.
"Piece of advice, Goggle-Boy." Lance tightened his grip and Scott fought the urge to punch the other boy in the face. "I'm the only friend that girls gonna need and I'm gonna teach her what's what. So you just back yourself off." With that, Lance turned and left the same way he'd come in.
Scott groaned. Perfect. Two potential new recruits alienated and this after scaring the crap out of Kitty's parents that morning. The Professor was going to be pissed.
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Jean sat in the passenger seat of Ravens rental car, her hair brushed back and a baseball cap on her head. Destiny had predicted the presence of the X-Men and she didn't want to risk being noticed by Scott. "Kitty's going to meet Lance. Summers really freaked her out before and she's confused and agitated. She's begun to see Lance as a kindred spirit almost, some one who'll look out for her."
"Excellent," replied Mystique from the drivers seat. She was disguised as a teenager, a blonde cheerleader type. "And Lance?"
"He wants her to use her powers to get into the office so he can steal midterm results."
"Such ambition. Anything else?"
"Uh…he's beginning to have second thoughts. He likes her and he knows that normally she'd never look twice at him. But that's not gonna stop him using her to get the results. He thinks she'll stop needing him soon and he may as well get what he needs before she doesn't want to know."
"Will Kitty try to stop him?"
"Probably. She's never needed to cheat and she's never even considered it."
Mystique sighed. "Is nothing ever easy?"
"Excuse me Mystique, but I don't feel very comfortable doing this." Jean looked at the floor, not used to questioning the older woman. "I mean, I think from what I can see in her mind that her parents'll get used to her powers, they'll accept her no matter what. That family's so happy it's nauseating."
"We have to do things this way. Irene assures me that without our intervention, Kitty will go with Xavier and Lance may go too. We both know that doing so will ultimately be their deaths. Quite possibly ours too. We have to prepare for war, Jean. This is the best way to bring them both into the Brotherhood."
"I know. I just don't feel right about it." Jean frowned. "And I don't see how cheating on a test is going to help us recruit them."
"Destiny assures me that's the catalyst."
"I'd like to meet this Destiny one day – wait. They've just met up." Jean put her hands to her temples and focused all her concentration on the minds of Kitty and Lance.
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"How do you take control?"
"By admitting to something that no one wants to cop to – that we are outsiders and there is something wrong with us."
Kitty looked at the floor miserably and Lance felt guilty for deliberately making her feel bad about herself. He put his hand under her chin to bring her head up and she looked up into his face, her blue eyes still sad but her expression shy and trusting. Man, he was gonna have to get it together, try to remember that she was just another stuck-up middle-class bitch and he'd never be good enough for her. At least she could get him the test results and if she never gave him that innocent, trusting look again, he'd just have to keep in mind that she would never have glanced his way if she wasn't a freak of nature.
Just like him.
He smiled down at her. "Hey, don't fret it, embrace it. The way I see it, fate dealt us wining cards – if we play them together."
He's right said a voice in her head. Together, two people with your abilities could do anything.
She looked away from him again. "Nothing's making any sense."
It makes perfect sense. You're different to others. You need to stick together.
"That's why I'm here, to light your path. And the first step leads us right into that office."
Lance understands the voice in her head spoke up again. He knows how scared you are, how your parents are ashamed of you…
Screw it.
Kitty walked towards the office, concentrated – and walked straight through the wall. She ran to the door and unlocked it to let Lance in, beginning to feel excited about her new abilities for the first time. "Didja see me? Didja?"
"Yeah!" Lance walked into the office, trying not to grin too widely. The answers were as good as his and the money would soon be rolling in. "Wow Kitty, how did it feel?"
Surprising him, Kitty threw her arms around his waist. "Oh, it was like, totally unbelievable!"
Putting his arms around her and returning her embrace, Lance replied, "You're making it yours Kitty. Once you own it, nothing can own you."
He's right. That voice in her head again, that she hardly recognised as being her own. You're more evolved than other people. The future belongs to those like you and Lance.
Lance was reluctant to take his arms from around her, telling himself he had plenty of time to get those test results. Just one more minute of this…
"Get your hands off my daughter!"
Turning, Lance muttered, "What the…"
Kitty gasped.
"Daddy!"
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"Trouble," said Jean sharply. "The parents just turned up with Summers in tow."
"Xavier must have located them." Mystique glanced towards the school. "We'll have to go to the backup plan."
"But Xavier – "
"Just do it!"
Closing her eyes, Jean removed her influence from Kitty's mind and focused on new targets.
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"Far enough, old man!" Realising that things had just gone badly wrong, Lance set off an earth tremor that knocked over a bookcase, knocking Mr Pryde down and pinning him to the floor. Scott began trying to pull the furniture off him whilst keeping his balance.
"No, stop!" Kitty grabbed Lances arm as the earthquakes got fiercer.
"We should have known!" Kitty's father pulled himself from beneath the bookcase and glared at the girl. "You turn out to be a freak, then start hanging around with all the other freaks – I'm ashamed you're my daughter!"
"We don't ever want to see you again!" added her mother from the doorway.
Professor, something's wrong! Scott could read the devastation on Kitty's face, the anger and disbelief on Lances.
I'm here Scott. And so is some one else -
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Jean screamed as a bout of vertigo hit her. As she was forcibly ejected from the Prydes heads she found her mind drifting in a void, not knowing where she was, who she was, up from down…
…And then she was on the floor of the car, shaking, sobbing and nauseous, but basically OK.
"Wait here!" ordered Mystique – as if the teen was in any shape to go anywhere – and hurried out of the car, her shape changing even as she slammed the door. A sleek black cat ran towards the office building as the ground started shaking and cracks appeared in the walls.
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"Kitty, wait!" Scott looked nervously at the ceiling, hoping it would hold up under the force of the tremors. "Don't go with him!"
"Sweetheart, I don't know why I said that!" said her father desperately. "We love you!"
"Listen to him Kitty, please!" Her mothers voice was close to breaking.
Lance grabbed hold of Kitty's wrist and focused a tremor beneath the outer wall of the office, bringing concrete and plaster avalanching down and leaving a large hole. "Too late. You're with me now!"
"Yeah," said Kitty quietly, lacing her fingers with Lances. "Yeah, I'm with you now."
The pair stepped through the hole in the wall and ran away from the school, hand in hand, trying to lose themselves in the throng of people emerging from the school, mostly teachers and detention dwellers at this time. They were not followed. When they reached the top of a hill that overlooked the school, Lance stopped for a breather and tried to think of a plan. He hadn't anticipated things going this far and he didn't know what to do next…but he forgot all that when he turned to look at Kitty. Her hands covered her face and her shoulders shook with the force of her sobs.
"Oh, hey Kitty…" Lance couldn't think of a way to continue and instead put his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest and let him hold her while she cried. Behind her, Lance could see police cruisers and fire trucks pulling up to the school, crowds of people gathering to watch. There were flames emerging from a window – one of the tremors must have caused a gas pipe to rupture. It didn't seem real. He'd done that, less than half an hour ago, yet it felt so far distant it might have been something he'd seen on TV. There was no way they could hang around here now. Half the school had collapsed, Kitty's parents had disowned her and it wasn't as if he'd be missed at the foster home. He was leaving this town for good, and it looked as though he'd have to take Kitty with him.
Hell, he could think of worse fates.
Eventually, Kitty lifted her head from Lances chest and wiped her eyes. He smiled at her gently and tucked a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear.
"So like, what am I gonna do now?"
"Don't worry Kitty. You're with me now. I'll look after you."
"OK, so what're WE gonna do now?"
"Truthfully? I have no idea," he admitted, which earned him a watery smile. "We can't stay here, that's for sure. We're gonna have to…"
"I'd say you've blown your chances at this school, haven't you?"
Lance stood protectively in front of Kitty as he watched the dark haired woman approach them, wondering how she'd managed to sneak up on them like that. "And you are?"
"Your new advisor. I've made openings for you at Bayville High." Kitty gasped and Lance stared in shock as the woman's features began to change and her skin turned blue.
"I have much to teach you – both."