PrettyBlondie14: omg! Gordo! Miranda's hurt, or needs us or something...I heard her scream, we have 2 help her, what should we do???????????
Genius174: r u sure it was miranda
PrettyBlondie14: GORDO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Genius174: well, what should I do???
Genius174: what if im next????
PrettyBlondie14: come 2 the school like YESTERDAY!!
Genius174: how?
Genius174: u said urself on im that u couldn't outrun them so whats the point?
(pause)
PrettyBlondie14: I DON'T KNOW!!! I JUST DON'T WANT U 2 GET HURT!!!
Genius174: lizzie! Hurry up, I am not interested in being killed!!
PrettyBlondie14: okay, just chill 4 a sec
Genius174: !!!!!
PrettyBlondie14: just stay there im coming 2 get u
Genius174: and how would u suggest doing that
PrettyBlondie14: um...don't worry, I just will
PrettyBlondie14: if im not there within an hour, start coming to the school
Genius174: kk
Genius174: u had better hurry
PrettyBlondie14: I will bye
Genius174: bye
(PrettyBlondie14 logged off)
(Genius174 logged off)
Lizzie slammed her laptop shut, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. She knew that Jean had leant her her powers, which meant that Lizzie could probably do it as well. How was the question. She knew that Jean, Storm, and Scott both knew how to fly a jet. So, all she had to do was tap into one of their minds and get the information she needed. She crossed Scott off her list. She was mildly intimidated by him, for which reason she knew not why.
Storm...Well, she didn't actually know Storm, and didn't want to get off on the wrong foot with her. Jean would understand, she told herself, and started searching the school for Jean.
She flickered in and out of several different people, including Scott, where she panicked and scrambled to get out before he detected her. Finally, though, she reached Jean. She paused for a moment, trying to find out if Jean was aware of her. She wasn't. "Probably sleeping," Lizzie said to herself. She took another deep breath, and hesitantly looked around Jean's mind.
She looked around for a while until she found what she needed. She smiled. Lizzie, still not quite sure how to transfer other people's information to her own, stopped for a while, and mentally pulled at it. The information she needed was now her own, while Jean still had it as well. Lizzie silently rejoiced.
She was about to withdraw, but suddenly realized she had no idea where the jet was. She groaned, and dug around again, this time a little carelessly. Just as she found it, she realized that Jean was aware that someone was digging around. She grabbed the information and stopped telepathically searching her.
Lizzie took a few moments to remember everything she had stolen from Jean, and then realized with another groan she was still disabled. She closed her eyes, already weak from using her telepathy powers, and wearily set off to find someone who could spare energy.
She found him. Seconds later, she was aware that Scott was feeling a little dizzy and weaker than he had before, but now, having only had to drain him of a small amount, she was stronger than she had been in days. She telepathically sent him a message: "Sorry," she said. "It's an emergency-once everything is over with, I promise I'll reimburse you."
Lizzie scrambled out of her bed, and ran down the halls, past students who were giggling and playing hand-held video games, or just using their powers. Once Lizzie ran into a force-field wall. The user laughed. Lizzie growled at him, stood up and shouted telepathically at him at the top of her lungs: "GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!!!" The boy clutched his ears, and let the force-field fall, so Lizzie continued on her way.
Finally, Lizzie reached the staircase to the lower levels. She ran down the steps, her heart pounding in her ears not only from exertion but also from fear. She checked her watch. She only had half an hour to reach Gordo.
Suddenly, she heard a laugh. She glanced wildly around the stairwell. Then, she realized it was only Magneto in her mind. "You think you can outrun me?" he laughed. "Reach your little friend before I will? Fool!" Lizzie squeezed her eyes closed, and tried a new technique: blocking. She scrambled around in her own mind as Magneto taunted her until she found a small button. She pressed it, and Magneto's voice was silent.
Forgetting herself, Lizzie laughed out loud. It was almost like blocking somebody on IM. "Lizzie!" came Jean's frantic voice. "Lizzie, you don't know what you're doing! You can't possibly do this with successful results without at least someone to back you up!" "This is my battle," Lizzie shot back at her. "It's my friend, and I have to do this." "Lizzie, do not think you can beat the bad guy on your own," Jean warned her. "You can't. This isn't the movies! This is real life, and you need someone to watch your back!" Lizzie was silent for a while. Then she finally said, "Send Shadowcat." There was a pause, and Jean said in disbelief, "What?" "Send Shadowcat!" Lizzie repeated impatiently. "I'll work with her. If you try and stop me, I'll...I'll go by myself. Your decision." There was silence again. Finally Jean sighed and answered, "Fine. But be careful." "What gave you the impression that I wouldn't be?" Lizzie asked indignantly. There wasn't an answer.
Lizzie reached the lower levels, and looked around. She groaned inwardly. There was a handprint scan. She glanced around wildly for another way. There was none. She slumped against the wall, head in her hands. A dead end. Gordo was as good as dead, just like Miranda.
Suddenly, the door whisked open. Lizzie's head shot up, and saw Shadowcat's smiling face. "Let me get that for you," she quipped. Lizzie grinned, and accepted Shadowcat's hand up. "Lizzie," she said, holding out her hand. Shadowcat accepted the handshake and acknowledged, "Shadowcat, or Kitty during school hours." Shadowcat's smile turned into a quizzical frown. "But why did you choose me? I really can't do that much." "It'll be enough," Lizzie encouraged her. "All I have is telepathy and telekinetic powers. Besides, I wanted to work with someone my age."
Shadowcat laughed. "Cool," she said. "I have too. I hope you can join the X-Men. I like you already. Plus, we only have three teenagers. Me, Rogue, and Nightcrawler. By the way, what are we doing?"
They were rapidly walking to the jet. "Rescuing my friend," Lizzie answered her. "Magneto threatened to hurt him and my other best friend if I joined the school or became an X-Man. Now Miranda is gone to I-don't-know-where and Gordo is next."
They clambered up into the jet, and Lizzie flicked several buttons and switches and the door opened up so that they could see the sky. "How do you know how to fly a jet, especially this one?" Shadowcat asked as they buckled themselves in. Lizzie paused, and swiveled around in the chair. "I, um...that is to say," she balked. "I kind of stole information."
"It's okay, you can trust me!" Shadowcat encouraged her. "I won't tell a soul!" Lizzie sighed, and answered as the jet rumbled to life, "I stole information from Jean-telepathically. And while we're at it, I drained Scott of his powers for a few minutes so that I had strength."
"Wow," Shadowcat said as the jet shot off into the air. "Yeah, wow," Lizzie said sarcastically, suddenly feeling like she had to be defensive. "Hey, Liz!" Shadowcat said. "It's fine! I've done some pretty bad things too. And this is only a minor offense...you'll probably only have detention for a weekend or something."
"How can you have detention on a weekend?" Lizzie wondered. "You just have to stay in your room and do extra homework," Shadowcat answered. "But since this was a good cause, you might get off easier." "Oh," Lizzie said awkwardly. There was a silence for a while, and then Shadowcat said, "What's your name?" Lizzie glanced back with a hesitant smile. "Um...Lizzie," she laughed. "Remember?" "I mean your X-Man name," Shadowcat said.
"Oh. Well, since I haven't joined the X-Men I don't have one," Lizzie answered. "You should come up with one," Shadowcat persisted. "Well-"Lizzie started, and then gasped. "Oh, thank God! It's Gordo's house!" Then, "Wow, that was fast!" "Yup," Shadowcat said cheerfully. "This thing can go really fast when it wants to, or when it senses that it needs to go fast." "Are you saying it's alive?" Lizzie asked skeptically.
"Well..." Shadowcat said, but just then gasped and pointed out the window. Lizzie whipped around and saw Magneto's plane in the distance. "Let's go!" Shadowcat barked in a voice that Lizzie hadn't heard her use before.
The jet landed on the lawn, and Lizzie jumped out of it and to Gordo's house. "Gordo!" she shouted through the wooden door. "Let's go!" There was a scuffling and the door opened, showing Gordo's white face, and his parents' even whiter faces. "Let's go NOW!!" Lizzie ordered. The four hurried to the jet, and Mrs. Gordon gasped as she saw the spider-like jet looming closer.
"Get IN!!" Lizzie cried frantically. She could feel her pulse speed up, and sweat on her brow. She was NOT interested in seeing Magneto again. Finally, they were all inside. "Now, back to the school," Lizzie said. "NO!" Shadowcat cried out. Lizzie glanced at her in alarm. "WHAT?" she shouted. "WHY?" "He can't know where we are!" Shadowcat explained, her voice tense. "It would be destruction!"
"Well, I don't want to fight him!" Lizzie argued, feeling tears gathering in her eyes out of stress and fear. "What do we do?" "Well, do SOMETHING besides argue!" Gordo shouted at them.
"QUIET!" Shadowcat and Lizzie shouted at him. Just then, the jet landed. Mrs. Gordon sobbed. Shadowcat looked Lizzie in the eye, and Lizzie stared back into Shadowcat's dark green eyes. "We fight them," she said firmly. "If we can only put them back for a few minutes, we can escape quickly." Lizzie nodded.
They both leaped out of the jet, and locked the doors. Magneto's powers only opened them again. Mrs. Gordon's terrified scream split the air as the rivals stared each other in the face, Lizzie at Magneto, Shadowcat at Mystique. "What happened to your toad?" Shadowcat asked. "Did you dissect him? Or did his tongue get himself into a sticky situation?"
"That is no concern of yours," Magneto growled. Lizzie swallowed her fear, and stood tall. "What did you do with Miranda?" she asked him. Magneto laughed. "She is with me," he answered. "I didn't know you went for younger women," Lizzie shot back, amazed at her bravery.
Lizzie smiled at his silence, and broke the unspoken truce by raising her hand, bringing Magneto with it. Her hand shook with the effort as Magneto used his own powers to hold himself down by the jet, but finally she prevailed. Magneto hovered in the air for a moment, and then crashed into the Gordons' house. He was instantly up. Lizzie spared only a glance at Shadowcat, who was fighting with Mystique-and winning.
Lizzie grinned, and telepathically whispered to Shadowcat, who was wrestling Mystique to the ground: "Get the jet ready." Shadowcat risked a worried glance at Lizzie who nodded, and she vanished into the side of the jet.
Lizzie held both Mystique and Magneto at bay, and sweat trickled into her eyes with the effort. "You cannot win," Mystique hissed at her. "He said that before," Lizzie answered. "I won." As the jet started with a roar, Lizzie stepped back, and let go while at the same moment shoving them, and they slammed into each other. Lizzie ran to the jet, closed the doors, and mentally held them shut while getting the jet into the air. They blasted off, and Lizzie looked back. The two were merely standing, looking at the jet as it flew into the distance.
"We won," Shadowcat said with relief. Then she laughed and hugged Lizzie. "We did it! We, only two teenage mutants, beat two grown mutants! Can you believe it??" Lizzie laughed, and put her hand on one of Shadowcat's. "We did!" she said in disbelief. "We actually beat them!" Lizzie mentally steered the plane, leaped up, and hugged Shadowcat. They jumped around in victory, laughing themselves silly.
"After this," Shadowcat said, taking a deep breath to calm herself, "they'll HAVE to let you into the X-Men." Lizzie laughed again.
They had won. But one victory did not compensate for a defeat they had already suffered. Could they change it in time to save Miranda?
A/N: Whew! I really got into this chapter! It's probably the longest I've typed...well, I enjoyed it. Please R and R, cause nobody 'cept Romulan Empress is! Many thanks to you, Val!
