A/N: Lizzie McGuire and X-Men are not owned by me. The plot is, however, my own.

Lizzie stared out the window sullenly, watching the trees go by, and then saw the sign that announced they were leaving state. Moving, she decided, was the worst punishment that could be inflicted upon a girl.

When she had discovered she was moving, she announced that she wanted to be known as Mara, not Lizzie, because Mara meant bitter.

Of course, it didn't stick. But never in her life had Lizzie been so depressed, frustrated, and angry. When she thought back to when she had told her best friends, Miranda and Gordo, about it, tears sprung to her eyes as the dreadful scene played inside her mind once more...

"So, Lizzie, why have you invited us over on a Friday afternoon again?" Miranda asked. "I thought your parents said Friday was family day or something weird like that." Lizzie twisted her hair anxiously and gnawed on her lip.

"Yeah, well, something important came up and they made an exception." "Whoa," Gordo said, taken aback. "It must be really important."

Her eyes narrowed with concern, Miranda leaned forward. "Yeah, come on, Lizzie, tell us."

Lizzie eyed both of her friends, feeling a lump in her throat. She took a deep breath, and said quickly, "We're moving." For a moment, no one spoke. Then Miranda burst out, "WHAT??" as Gordo asked, "Why?"

"Because my dad got a really great job offer," Lizzie said, taking another deep breath. "Wait," Gordo said, suddenly feeling sick. "Where...where is his new job?"

Lizzie gulped. "Massachusetts." "Wow," Miranda said numbly. "That's...really far away."

"Yeah," Lizzie said, tears springing to her eyes. "But you can email, IM, or call me whenever, you know. Maybe we can even get WebCams."

"Maybe," Gordo said numbly. "I...I gotta go, Lizzie," Miranda said, getting up quickly and running out the door, and Lizzie could hear the faint sound of sobs as Miranda exited the house.

She stared down at her lap, for a second forgetting that Gordo was still there. "I'll call you later," he said quietly, and left.

Lizzie stared after her friends, and then cried.

Lizzie wiped tears from her eyes, furious with herself. "Focus," she said sternly. She was almost unaware that Matt had come up next to her. "Hey, Lizzie, can I borrow your Walkman?" he asked.

"Yeah, whatever," she said absently. "And your punk-rock CDs?" he asked hopefully. "Yeah, whatever," she said again.

"Rest-room break!" her mom announced moments later. Lizzie, not needing a break, still got out of the car anyway, and walked around the back of the rest-stop area, just exercising her legs.

Suddenly, a green ray struck her, and she cried out with pain. The agony seemed to last forever, and then it was abruptly gone. Lizzie collapsed to the ground, her body a mass of pain, her head throbbing, her legs and arms cramping.

And then suddenly, she was fine. Carefully, she tested her legs and arms for tinctures of cramps, but none remained.

She looked around for the source of the green ray, but it was nowhere to be found. Feeling a little fearful and cautious, she headed back for the car.

In the car again, Lizzie claimed her Walkman amidst her brother's cries of "Unfair!" and "I hate you!"

She plugged in Vanessa Carlton and listened the teen's haunting yet cheery songs as she stared out the window again. Suddenly, her eyes went blank and she stared into space, her jaw slackened a little.

But inside her mind, there was a flash of color, and a spinning sort of motion that made Lizzie feel as if she was falling, and then there was a picture of their car on the highway, just entering West Virginia, narrowly avoiding a collision with a pick-up truck.

And suddenly she felt like she was falling up, and there was another flash, and then she could see again. She breathed in deeply, her heart thudding about a zillion miles an hour.

She eventually dismissed it as a freak incident, and continued to listen to Vanessa, trying to calm her fast-beating heart.

An hour later, they were about to enter West Virginia, and Lizzie had practically forgotten about the picture she had seen. Her dad and mom were arguing over the map, and Matt was talking on the cell-phone with Lanny.

Suddenly, Lizzie screamed, "Dad, look out!" Sam slammed on the brakes, squealing to a stop, just narrowly avoiding a collision with a pick-up truck.

He got out of the car with her mom, Jo, to talk angrily with the other driver as Lizzie murmured in shock to herself, "I saw that. I saw it, I did."

"Oh would you shut up," Matt snapped at her, shaken by the close call, and then hurried to say, "Oh, no, not you, Lanny. My dumb sister..."

Lizzie got out of the car dazedly, and looked back at the road they had just traveled. And she knew that somehow something had happened to her- something that was definitely not normal. And she had to find someone to help her fix it.

A/N: Okay, this is gonna be such fun!! Lizzie meets X-Men! I hope you enjoy reading it, because I am having such fun writing it!