Lucky Me
Chapter 064
"Blyt, get Chris." Yeah sure, easy for Mr. Boss Boy to say! He wasn't the one holding off a goofy Jurassic Park reject dinosaur. If I left now (which I couldn't because I was holding the dumb thing by the front of its jaws) it would eat D-M or me. I didn't feel like getting plucked from the sky by a robot lizard, thanks!
"I'm busy!" I screamed back.
"Listen to her!" Kia added, scampering away. I was starting to feel the strain and bend backwards in a very unpleasant and unnatural way.
"Adam!" Adrian screamed over the comm. link "Get moving! Shockwav needs back up!"
I managed to push back on the dinosaur and jump into the air as the weight of its body and its unstable balance made it crash mouth first into the jungle floor. Sweat was pouring from my face because those that were behind the control buttons believed that the landscape should be as real as possible. Meaning complete with climate control. It felt like we were practicing on the freakin' sun!
Toasted X-Citers, now on cable rated Y7!
Wait, with a name like that, our rating would not be G or PG.
Back to the matter at hand, Adrian was barking off commands while he sitting nice and safe in a tree. Adam couldn't help Chris (who was trying to fry a water-type creature, but only ended up annoying it) because he was trying to either throw off the twenty little critters with two tails that were nipping at him-or he was bonding with them, I couldn't tell.
"Why don't you get your lazy behind down there and help?" I asked (none too gently because I did a flying kick to the tree Flex was hiding in, making it fall over).
Not to worry, he was able to jump from the limbs and land safely at the base of another tree. "Was that necessary?"
"Ordering us around while you just sit in the tree like some type of demented parrot?" He glared at me harder, "Yeah, I'd say it was necessary."
"You are supposed to follow my orders without hesitation."
"Do as I say, not as I do?" D-M asked as the scenery faded away from us and Adam sighed in relief (or sadness) as the little snot monsters with scales disappeared with the exercise program.
Flex went to say something, but before he could, Professor told him to meet him in the War Room as soon as possible (a/k/a ten minutes ago).
Life would never cease to shock the feathers off of me.
Adrian was standing before me as mad as my new 'pet' cat when I refused to allow it to sleep on my bed (I did the first night and it ended up trying to tear feathers off!).
There was a very small blood vessel popping out over his right eyebrow and his jaw was probably going to hurt in the morning because it was locked so tightly.
His brown eyes were like burning-well, they were burning with some type of 'I'm-doing-everything-not-to-hurt-you' fire.
"What's wrong?" I asked, backing up to the library table. Because my final report in English was due in a week (one week before the finals) I was going to get a book. Apparently I was followed.
"You're what's wrong."
I played the cool and collected, Cyclops girl again (it was becoming a quick transition since I was using it so frequently nowadays).
"You sound like my shrink." I turned my back to him, but stayed ever aware of his location, grabbed the book I was after and went to leave.
He beat me to the door and slammed it shut.
"We have to talk. Now." What was-no, this was too good not to say out loud.
"What is with you guys and the sudden overflow of heart-to-hearts?"
"This isn't a heart-to-heart, Blyt." Oh he was definitely mad (as if his twitching eyebrows didn't give that away). "This is about you being so stubborn and selfish and making others hurt." Thank you, Mr. Psychoanalyst. "I've tried to make it painfully obvious what you need to do, but for some dumb reason you want to ignore everyone and me."
It's a talent.
"If you're going to use me as a verbal punching bag because you just got your hind chewed by the Professor-then forget it." I started to the door again, but he didn't move and just crossed his arms. I guess he was trying to look intimidating or something. I'd seen this guy in his boxers, he couldn't intimidate me after seeing Care Bears on him.
"You will hear me out."
Oh sure, I rolled my eyes and flung my hands up in the air.
"Fine, have it your way." So I headed for the window. I had wings, why not use them? Because apparently Adrian had been practicing 'long distance' strikes or something. Just as I went to open the window, a sharp blade sped past my face and embedded itself between the window and the frame.
Following the long silver blade back to its owner, I blinked and squeaked out, "You have my attention."
For the first time I actually didn't have a smart aleck thought running through my mind when he told me to sit. Now if he had told me to beg that would have been a different matter completely. I sat down on the couch and Adrian didn't say anything for about ten seconds and then it all came out.
"I don't know how you can be so dense, what else do I have to do to make you do what I want you to do?" Speaking in riddles was never a fun thing, but when it sounded like I should be an obedient slave, something was wrong. I went to protest but he cut me off by continuing. "I have screwed up on purpose with the team, Julie, and Xavier. I think Cyclops wanted to blast me through the wall at one time because I would try my hardest to do my worst in his little 'leadership classes'. I've done all of this and you still refuse to be unselfish."
Mind-blown-away...
"Y-you're being a complete failure on purpose?"
"Isn't that what I just said?" Adrian sat down on the table in front of me (a good five feet away and out of my kicking range should I feel the need). "I don't want to be leader. I never did."
"Then why did you take the position?"
"Because you were acting like a baby by not taking responsibility during Hell Week, I really thought you'd fight me when I made those stupid decisions!" He was back on his feet again, pacing around. "Then, when the team wanted you back, you again refused. I blamed everything about Sabertooth on you because I thought you'd see how much I did not want to be the 'head of the team'-it's not worth putting up with all the gripes and stress from Scott and Xavier."
My mind was slowly starting to reform with this new information. Very, very slowly wrapping itself around what he was saying and what he meant.
"So, let me get this straight, you never wanted to be leader and you made us miserable because you wanted me to be leader? Do you realize that makes no sense whatsoever."
His brown eyes rolled heavenward.
"I wanted you to start acting like a leader when we needed you. I have been part of a team, Alpha Flight, and I know how to follow orders-giving them is something I don't like to do. I'm not hard enough."
I was not sure if I was supposed to be flattered or seriously insulted by his little 'you-be-diamond-girl' statement. Absorbing this type of information and confession took me a minute and my tired mind was burnt out from studying and training so much in the past weeks. Shaking away the cloud of shock and sleepiness, "Why don't you just resign?"
"Because I can't. Not without someone willing to take the spot. They don't believe in democracy apparently. There has to be a team hierarchy for some dumb reason." Well, duh. If you didn't have a leader and everyone was 'equal' then nothing would be done because everyone would want to do it their way. That was one of the base lessons in Scott's class. Duh.
"So you want me to take up the leadership again?" My voice was clipped and straight forward.
Adrian only nodded.
At school Thursday I trudged along, yawning into the back of my hand as I dropped down in my Western Civ. class. Mr. Poovey was on his personal warpath again.
"I don't want to hear a sound from any of you as I explain this. Do not raise your hands until I have finished explaining your final project. I will only go over this once. Most of the information is on your handout so I don't want to see pens or pencils in anyone's hands. Am I clear?" Like we were going to be dumb enough to answer that rhetorical question. He went on about the project.
As luck would have it, it was a partner project and, oh yippee, I got stuck with Chris. I think Mr. Poovey got recruited by him, although he never said anything more about prom after our discussion.
We were supposed to write a script (a humorless script) on a major event in history marked on the page. Then we had to act it out in class (something fun in this man's class? I think I was going to sprout horns next! I was that surprised). If all that wasn't shocking enough, the fact he was going to let us work on it in class and actually talk to one another was going to send everyone in cardiac arrest.
"Any questions? Good. Get to work. Do not get out of your desk after you sit by your partner. Am I clear? Good. Go. Be quick and be quiet."
Chris dropped down in Adrian's seat as Adrian had to go find his partner, which turned out to be some girl named Liesl. "I guess this means we have to be civil to each other."
"Maybe. What's the thing we're supposed to do?"
I could have checked, but why do more work when I could push it onto someone else? The surprised look on his face wasn't very reassuring, "The Reign of Terror."
"Professor on a rampage? Mr. Logan without beer? Mr. Remy becoming a eunuch?" He glared at me, "Oh the French one. Maybe we can make a little guillotine or something."
"And who do we use it on, genius?"
"My cat or Mr. Poovey, who ever gives us the least resistance." I smirked at Chris' half smile, "Of course in the second one's case, we'd need a big guillotine. A really, really big guillotine."
"Miss Summers!" Oh great! Mr. Bat-Ears Poovey! "Get to the office this moment! I'll send your write up in a moment."
"I can't believe you got called to the Principal's office." I coudln't believe they keep calling Scott and Mrs. Summers to come and talk to the principal, what was I? In fourth grade or something? Sheesh. "Again."
Thanks, Scott.
"Calm down, it was just misplaced humor." What was this? Try to kill Kookie by shocking her to death day? "I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it." Can't-breathe- "This, Mr. Poovey sounds like a real pain anyway, he wasn't the most pleasant man to speak to." I was dead, that's it!
I grabbed the fabric above my heart and went into a theatrical death scene on the back-back seat (I got sent home for the rest of the day, dumb punishment). I didn't think anyone saw me until Mrs. Summers started to clap her hands slowly, mockingly. The noise had sarcasm all over it.
After a moment I sat back up and stared at the two people in the front seats. I'd been around the mansion long enough to know what a telepathic talk time looked like. They apparently were having one. It was probably about me and I didn't like not being able to eavesdrop on a conversation when I was the main topic/compliant/predicate nomative-whoa, that's the last time I fall asleep reading my English book! There was one sure way to get them to pay attention to me again.
"I want to talk to the Professor."
I could have sworn Scott swallowed his tongue. In the past I usually didn't request to talk to the Professor because I had a problem with his chair (which sounded like it was humming Skip to my Lo) and his office. But they escorted me up there once we reached the mansion; needless to say the Prof had prior warning to my coming (thanks to Jean, who, after fighting on my side a few minutes earlier, deserved to be called Jean again).
"Is there something you wanted to discuss, Kookie?" No, not really, just thought I'd take in the view of your office once more. He raised an eyebrow at me. Heh, mind readers, they could steal your thoughts but not your sense of humor.
"Actually there is," I took a deep breath and they didn't move. I felt like a mouse in a cage (with them and with my cat, I could have sworn he was making a trap for me to fall into so he could eat me). "I've decided to resume the role of leader in the," gross, "X-Citers. Adrian's already agreed to step down."
A smile spread across his face as he leaned back in his wheelchair.
"That is excellent news, Blyt." I could see the long 3,000 word speech form in his mind; thankfully I was able to cut him off long before he got warmed up.
"But," I started, "before I tell the rest of my team, I have one requirement."
His smile disappeared.
"And that would be?"
"Boots. I want real boots for my uniform."
