Lucky Me
Chapter 033
Scott looked at me, and I couldn't even open my eyes to look at him. I was so tired. D-M wanted a heart-to-heart and I gave it to her. She was confused about all the boys in her life. It took her forever to go through the list of why everyone was just 'so perfect' for her, and why they were not. The list went on and on.
"Are you with us today Kerry?"
"No, I'm dead," I uttered, slumping over on the weight machine trying to get more comfortable.
"That's good because the dead can't get in trouble for taking nearly a month to read the reports and records on her team. The dead can't get told that if she doesn't step it up, I'll make the training exercises even earlier and more strenuous." Scott sure had a mean way of getting his point across.
"The living thanks you, the dead doesn't care."
I couldn't tell you if he snorted or laughed, either way, Scott told me to finish reading the files before long, and to get back to bed.
The last half of his order I followed with no problem.
"You look sick."
"Why thank you for your careful observation, I was wondering why I felt like crap," Chris barked out.
"Someone crawled out of the wrong side of the cave this morning," D-M chirped out, turning her nose up in the air. I decided to stay out of this conversation; all the others were just as nasty as I was when we were told we had a Wednesday morning practice session in the Danger Room. It was bad enough that I had to wear it on a Saturday, but must I also strut around in it in the middle of the week?
"Settle down kids," came the god voice. "Adam, remember what we discussed earlier this week."
Adam nodded, "Yes, sir."
I guessed whatever they discussed had something to do with why he was so sad on Saturday.
"Countdown, in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."
What was this? A movie studio? But who had time to think about that, because before I knew it, the steel and metal melted into a jungle, complete with river and, of course, cannons. I think they like the cannons a might too much.
My com-link crackled, "I feel like I got stuck in the Discovery Channel," Chris muttered.
"Then where's the guy in khaki shorts who likes to ride crocodiles?" D-M shot back, then Adam informed them the links weren't meant for personal chit-chat.
"Adrian, where are you?"
"In the middle of the river with the snaked. Really big snakes. Oh, and a crocodile." Then to prove it, I heard him scream and a lot of splashing. Guess he was trying to kill those snakes. So far the cannons didn't shoot, they just hung overhead like a bad reminder that they could take us out at anytime they wanted to.
"Are you sure it isn't an alligator, there is a difference you know." They started into the discussion about differences of crocs and gators before Professor's 'god' voice told them to get back to the mission.
I wonder what it was. Were we supposed to save Tarzan or something?
"Chris?"
"In the trees, where the hell else didja expect?" Chris was in a bad mood, even for Chris. And that was saying a lot.
"Daisy?"
"Are leaves supposed to growl at you?" She paused, "I'm by a big cave. And I can see Jean! Hi Jean
The goddess voice cut in, "Daisy-Mae, you're supposed to treat this like a real life situation, not a Girl Scout jamboree."
Oh ha ha! Poor Daisy!
"Kerry, what about you?"
"Uh," I started out, and then decided to fly up to see where I was. "I'm -AH!" The cannons fired before I knew it. With a solid thud, I hit the jungle floor, and wheezed out "-grounded." Ouch, my shoulder hurt (probably because I landed on it) and I could feel my skin just begging to go 'black'.
"Okay, so we are stuck below the tree line?" Adam questioned. "And our mission is to find one another, but we each have a different obstacle."
"Where are we supposed to meet up?" It seemed like a logical, well thought out question, and amazingly enough it came from me!
"Uh, I don't know. It doesn't say."
"Guys, there's a cat looking at me. A really, really big and hungry looking kitty!" I guessed D-M found out what was living in that cave.
"I can't believe you didn't back me up in there!" I screamed, throwing the towel I had been using to stop the minor blood scratch I got from the fight in the Danger Room.
Genius told Chris to help Adrian with the alligator problem, but there was one problem that Mr. Science didn't think about. Water was a lovely conductor of electricity (Chris' power) and Flex's power deals with metal so zap! We all ended up in the med. lab after the little episode. And then all of senior staff, who wanted to, came and chewed on us (me and Adam) about bad command decisions.
I spoke the truth and said it was not my fault, since I did not have any say so in the choice Adam made, and even he reluctantly agreed with me. But the Professor, Scott, and Miss Oreo, said the leaders were always working together, and that if one makes a bad choice, and the other does not try to stop it, then it was both their fault.
I looked to him for help, he only looked away. And after I left the med. Lab (I was last because my wings were slightly crispy), he was waiting on me.
"What was I supposed to do? Tell the Prof he was wrong?"
"No! Just say that I was right." I turned around; we were in the middle of the men's wing hall. "There is a difference."
"I've been here long enough to know that I don't want to get Xavier in a bad mood," he contended. I had only seen him angry once and now again. His temper, I had discovered, was pretty hard to light, but once it was, oh my goodness did it burn bright!
"So you'll let him chew me out for something I didn't do, instead of trying to take a chance and save me?"
"I don't think you were the one who got fried. So you had to hear him complain about what a lousy job you did. Big deal! Live. With. It."
"Grow a spine!" I shouted at him, marching to my room.
"Grow a heart."
Ouch. Big, painful ouch.
"Sit down, Kerry; we'd like to talk to you."
Great, just what I needed a face-to-face confrontation with the two men who were wrecking my life as it was. Okay, so they weren't really, the only one who was playing with my head was my 'buddy' who I still refused to talk to since our fight two days ago.
He was so immature.
"As you are aware, there have been-issues with the leadership in your team." Professor said, I was two syllables away from jumping down his throat and telling him it was not my fault. But he must have read my mind, and held up a hand to keep my big mouth shut a while longer. "Please, let me finish. It has come to our attention from some of your team, and some of the X-Men that the recent accusations were not correct."
Well duh.
I was not a telepath, I couldn't read or control Adam's mind (though it probably would help me in the science and math parts of my school).
"The higher class believes that a change in leadership must be made," Scott continued, leaning up against the desk in front of me. I could still see the Professor, but now Scott was right in my way.
'Change in leadership'? Did this mean I flunked and they were making D-M leader? Save us all if that ever happened.
The Professor smiled at me, in what I was going to guess, amusement (either that or he just passed gas or something, you know, like when baby smiles for that reason?).
"Am I fired?"
Scott even smiled, shook his head, and started, "You aren't. Your leader was."
"Adam was fired?" And I wasn't? Adam loved being leader! Of course whenever (as rare as it was) we beat the trouble that the 'god' people in the control room threw out at us, he'd want to study the parts and see what made it run (he got zapped a lot).
"More like, demoted." A nice way for saying the same thing action. "And as it stands, we do not think any of the other three are ready for either position of leader or co-leader."
So what? Are we a democracy now?
"It is a natural allowance for the co-leader to step up when the leader role is opened up."
Oh crap. If that wasn't the biggest whooping hint to ever be spoken, I don't know what was.
Chris shoved another candy bar in his mouth, and made a noise about how good it was. Jerk. I couldn't have candy, but I did discover that later in the year in Home Ec, we would be making cookies. Yum! And there wasn't a thing Summers could do about it!
"If you ignore your teeth, they'll go away," D-M chided walking into the men's wing study. There was a meeting going on in our group to announce the new leader and we all needed to choose code-names. Oh joy.
"Does that trick work with you as well?" Chris grumbled throwing his wrappers at her. Adrian rolled his eyes. Adam put down the book he was reading, and started the meeting. The first thing he said that all but Adrian had to choose a codename, this brought about a headache of its own.
"What about if Adrian changes his name to 'invisible man'?"
"What's that got to do with my powers?" Adrian raised an eyebrow, much like everyone else did.
"Because nobody's going to see your chicken yellow butt after the fight starts."
"Oh har har," was D-M's reply, rolling her eyes. "What about 'fried noodle boy' for you?"
"Go away, hayseed," Chris snapped, nice to know his negative attention was diverted away from me and Adrian for once.
"I'm keeping my name," Adrian announced. "I think it's pretty neat."
"Sounds like an exercise machine-Flex! Works great for your abs and buttocks!" D-M sure was noisy today, she said what I was thinking but still, she was noisy.
"Chris? Do you know what you want to be called?" Adam was really trying to keep this going, but it seemed like the rest of us didn't want to leave. If that made any sense I don't know. It's just that we didn't have anything better to do.
"Master? Lord?"
Everyone gave him the same in-your-dreams look.
"Loser? Stink bomb?" D-M chirped in.
"Refuses-to-use-soap-boy?" I asked, smirking at him as he glared at me.
"I got your codename," Chris leaned back in his chair until it was balancing on the two back legs, crossing his arms behind his head. "Scott's Mini-Me."
And you think for a moment I missed the opportunity to get revenge? Oh heck no. No silent revenge this time. I kicked his chair, and…crash! Down went the chair. Down went Chris.
Up came a cussing Chris, and a slightly wobbly chair. "Grow up." He growled, thumping down hard in the chair.
"When you bathe."
He did take showers, but everyone picked on him because of all the grease he kept in his hair.
"Okay, we're not getting anywhere with this. So whenever you all decide on your codenames, tell Kookie so she can type them in the system." Adam said, and then started to leave.
"Why not you, lizard lad?" Adrian questioned, "Aren't you suppose to be the one doing all that stuff?"
"Kerry's the leader now, not me." I couldn't tell if he sounded depressed or like a great stress had been lifted.
"Aw man, does that mean I have to pretend to get along with you know?"
It was my turn to give a nasty look, but quickly replaced it with a too sugary sweet smile, "Only if you want to live, Sparky."
"Why me?"
She stopped watering her flowers to turn around and give me her full attention, "I'm no leader, and I'm not even the cheerleader type. I'm more of the type who sits in the audience doing something completely different."
I was told I had a few days to decide on whether or not I really wanted to take the position offered to me, and if I had any questions or doubts to talk to Miss Munroe (actually they said Storm, and I still couldn't get her first name right). So later that night after the codename-yelling match, I went up to see her and became jealous of her enormous room. Miss Oreo had the whole attic for her bedroom due to some psychiatric problem (she freaked when in tight spaces).
Miss Storm smiled, "No great leader ever thinks they deserve the job." She let her smile slip as her next question struck her, "That is only if you want the job."
I ran both my hands through me hair. No one ever asked my permission for messing around with my life. "Does it matter if I do or don't? I'd be stuck with it all the same."
"No, you wouldn't. A leader who thinks he is undeserving is far different from a leader who is doesn't wish to lead. Whether or not you want to be the field commander of your group is up to you in the end."
"Why was I picked anyway? I mean, Adam got along great with everyone. I don't. I don't know anything about fighting or anything at all about anything." I couldn't believe I was having a heart-to-heart with a woman I barely ever spoke too.
The 'weather witch' sat next to me, "You are able to do things. It is not what you are able to do now that makes us think of you as a possible good leader, but the things you are willing to learn. The major deciding factor in the election of your new position was not that you took so long to learn to fly, but all the reasons why you learned."
She got up and began to water her garden again from some little cloud which appeared out of nowhere, "Kerry, you above all the others, seem to be able to deal with the pressures that were presented to you with or without your consent. Even though you did have a rocky start after finding out about Chris' unique problem, you handled it well. To prove your unprejudiced new outlook on him, in the next Danger Room session, you were the one to save him when no one else would. That affected the team greatly, and now it is as if he merely had a cold."
Okay, so this was the only speech I'd ever listened to, so call me self-centered because I listened only because it was about me. I know, how vain can you get? It was about my life, and for once someone asked me about what I wanted. There was a strong resemblance between saying 'you really should do this' but at least it wasn't a 'you should do this' like Professor and Scott like to do.
"Do you know, yet, what it is you want?"
What a loaded question.
A few months, heck weeks, ago I would have said what I wanted was out of here. But now, now I wasn't so sure that's what I needed to do. It could be I just got told I needed to grow a heart, which translated into 'get your head out of your behind and start caring about some others' and also he was just really irritated with me. I couldn't blame him for it, but dang it, he was confusing me. One moment he was this way, and when eyes weren't looking, he was that way…I was going to need a psychiatrist when all of this was done.
I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair for about the thousandth time that day. I was going to be as bald as Professor if I didn't stop. Me with no hair-oy. Mind let us not go down that road, eh?
"I don't know what I want," I confessed.
Miss Oreo smiled, and nodded her head, "An excellent answer, child."
"It is?"
"Of course, any action or opinion must be well thought out if it is to be for the best." So procrastinating in this case would be—good? "Things of this nature can never be rushed into. They take time, as I am sure Charles instructed you to take time to come up with your answer."
If you called a glare looking over steepled fingers an answer, to me it came off more as a warning.
"How did you decide who was going to be in charge of who?" Where'd that come from? I must remember to remind my mouth it must first check with brain before speaking, otherwise I was going to wallow in trouble until I was eighty-of course, if I stayed here, I might be dead by then. In fact I think it was a pretty safe bet, except for the Professor, I didn't see any old people strutting around this place.
"We are a very diplomatic household, and therefore, we voted on it."
Oh, that was scientific. A popular vote. Sheesh, I was thinking they pulled names from a hat or something.
"What about Blyt?"
I nearly fell out of the chair (thankfully it was bolted to the ground and I didn't) when big booming voice started to talk to me. My first response was going to be 'God?', but this time my mouth checked with my brain, and I looked to see it was only (ha-ha) Mr. Bishop. He also had monitor duty tonight. I was sitting in front of the screens with a list of possible code-names from the team. Chris had a superiority complex and listed several names like the ones he suggested earlier. D-M lived up to her girly-girl way and went as far as to suggest 'flower power'…I just scratched that out and kept going.
"Blyt?"
"Yes. Isn't that the name of the guardian angel?"
How in the world did he know about that? My mouth hung open again. No one could have known about that!
"How do you know about him?" My mind raced, trying it's best to think of how this man could possibly have known about that old story. "I made him up!"
Mr. Bishop sat down and took out his usual clipboard to write down any odd happenings, which I had yet to see. "I know." For once he started the conversation, "Why did you make him up?"
He was actually curious about me? How weird. Strangely it made me less on edge but it was still weirder than anything. "I made him up because my little sister, Darcy, was scared of thunderstorms." Or when my parents fought. "And she'd always come into my room. I got annoyed with her, and made up stories to tell her about why she shouldn't be scared."
"Indeed." I was going to take that as a 'please continue'.
"Blyt was the scraggliest angel that there was. He was short and always messy. He was completely different from the tall, muscular, and handsome angels that everyone was used to. But no matter his size or his appearance, he was one of the most courageous." I started to remember Darcy, and then Mom, and then Daddy.
"And he was the only one with black wings, which were mostly unkept, and his feathers would occasionally float down to earth." Wow. "How do you know about him anyway?"
"I'm from the future, as you are well aware, and the Blyt stories are one of the good memories I have from that time. I, too, told my younger sister his stories to calm her down." He turned his head to look at me in the eyes as he spoke.
"But how did you find out about him? I-don't like, publish a book or anything?" I tried my best to give a smile that dripped with nice sarcasm (was there such a thing?).
"No, not by a book, but by word of mouth." Oh man, don't tell me I was going to be that old and still kicking.
"Whose mouth?"
"Your grandchildren, actually, one of them, Shayna."
Oh. My. Goodness.
I was allowed to breed?
And who the heck did I breed with?
Come Saturday, we had our next Danger Room session. I was allowed a trial run; they said for my benefit, I think it was more for their own. Chris had a codename, one he finally agreed to that didn't give him any kind of power trip, Shockwav. I had no idea if the name was already taken by anyone besides the company that made all those downloadable games, but at least he didn't choose Napster. Anyway, Adam and Daisy-Mae were the only ones without names of any sort. I had gone with the one that Mr. Bishop suggested, I actually got to be the character I had created so long ago, and I was 'Blyt' on the field from then on, pretty neat huh?
On Monday though, I had to fend the overly-happy Kenney away, put up with boring lectures and Mr. Drakes' how-to-balance-a-checkbook-for-dummies' class. Every time he mentioned about how hard it was to fail a class, he looked directly at me. What a Jerk.
But as I was leaving Monday (Mr. So-Sorry-No-Sweets-Summers was picking us up to go get an official check up with a lady doctor, Dr. Cecilia?) this nameless guy in sunglass and a black suit ran up to me, shouting my name. Of course when someone calls you 'Miss Kerry Demon!' you are bound to look and glare.
"Sign here." He breathed out; apparently he wasn't used to running. I, like a true learned robot, did as he told me to and then got a long envelope shoved into my hands. "Thank you, Miss Demon."
"It's Dee-moon," I growled and uttered a 'welcome' (living with so many Southerners were starting to rub off on me) and traipsed to the vehicle.
Having completely forgotten about the envelope, it wasn't until I started to do my homework later that night when I saw it staring at me, and opened it.
It was in a different language as far as I was concerned. There wasn't a single word printed on the papers, except my name, that was less than three syllables. It also had my mom's name typed in a few blanks; this needed to be translated into the idiot's version for me to know what to do with it. So a-hunting I did go for the big blue, fuzzy, PhD totting mutant known as Dr. Hank.
I found him and several others (Mr. Warren, Mr. Remy a/k/a looks good without a shirt, Bobby-Jerk, Scott, and the new guy Mr. Jean-Paul) watching some sports thing on the TV. I waited for a commercial break, I had been with my Daddy enough to know never stand between a man and his sports' show.
So when the commercial finally did come on, Bobby-Pervert announced that I was there, and apparently unwanted.
"There is a female on the premises. She must not know the rules."
"As if she follows dem anyway." That did not help Mr. Remy, but thank you for the smile.
"Dr. Hank, you're smart right?" Not the most intelligent question to ask, but it was late, and I had been pricked and poked all afternoon by Dr. Reyes (nice nice lady, she gave this whinny teenager a lollipop as well as little kids).
He laughed, as did Mr. Warren before drinking some more—whatever he was drinking. "I do know a thing or two." Dr. Hank replied with a toothy smile.
"Great, then could you translate this into words of one syllable or less?" I handed him the paper, and as expected the guy on either side of him read over his shoulder.
"Oh my stars…" Uh, that didn't sound too good.
"Sounds like a witch," Mr. Jean-Paul commented, so that was two strikes against the letter.
"You're being emancipated, Kookie." Dr. Hank looked real serious now, as did Mr. Warren and the others. I started to fidget.
"And that's a bad thing?"
"It means your mother's disowning you—legally." Dis-own-ing? Three things fell at that moment.
My heart, which shattered.
My stomach, which shriveled into the size of a pea.
And my knees, which hit the floor.
So that's why she wanted to know where I was, to get rid of me—permanently.
