I feel motivated, lets wrap this story up!
Wolverine jammed his hands into his pockets and squinted against the salty ocean's breeze. It was almost eight, and he was waiting for the orange ball to slip below the sea's horizon. He was standing on some docks for no apparent reason; he'd gone out earlier that day in a good mood and figured this was a pleasant way to end it. He wasn't into the sappy stuff about sunsets and all; but it felt good to know that there was something else in the world that was ancient and persistent. It continued its tread across the universe, undaunted – falling after rising, rising after falling, and sometimes pulling things down with it.
His shoulders slumped and he sighed. I need ta stop hangin' out with women, I ain't got time ta contemplate sunsets n' shit.
With that, he turned and kicked at his bike stand and pushed off, driving back through downtown and eventually the school.
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Mr. Stillman sat in his armchair, fingers steepled, and looking over the sorry excuse of mutants standing in front of him. There was a big angry guy with claws and teeth, and idiot with a metal umbrella helmet, some blue chick, a green guy sitting on his haunches, and someone else who he presumed was Magnet-o sitting on the other side of the room.
"So…" he began, "This is your team?"
Magneto narrowed his gaze and sat forward a little more. "Were you expecting something else?"
Mr. Stillman heard his chair groan a little and felt it buckle a bit. I hate, hate, HATE mutants. "I… wasn't sure what to expect, actually."
Magneto released the little rivets in his partners chair and leaned back again. He studied the guy over and smiled. He looked a bit like a bank accountant - a little short, very weedy, pale, thick gold-rimmed glasses, very… bookish. But he had a harsh face; his eyes were too small and shrewd, and he looked the type of person who'd poison the office water cooler if you took his stapler.
"So, Mr. Stillman, you came all the way here from Germany to see how your business is going?" Magneto tsked and feigned disappointment. "You hurt me."
"It's not just you, Magnet-o." Ernest paused and watched as Magneto squirmed a bit when he said his name. "I came to find my daughter; I think the X men took her."
Magneto nodded slightly, "Yes, the little stone one isn't it?"
Little? "She's here then?"
Magneto looked over to where Mystique was leaning against the wall. "Yes… I remember Mystique saying something about a little griffin in the basement when she gave the bag to the X men."
"So they did take her…" Ernest trailed off.
Magneto waited for Stillman to say something else, but he seemed to be off in La-La-land. "Ahem?"
Mr. Stillman looked back over to Magneto. "Ah, I think we might have a change in plan, then… if Lorelei has truly been kidnapped."
"You'd like me to rescue her?"
Mr. Stillman nodded and looked down, "It's why I hired you…" he mumbled.
"Ernest I wish you wouldn't mumble, it's a coward thing to do." Magneto frowned. "Speak up."
Mr. Stillman hated it when his subordinates referred to him by his first name. "I wish you wouldn't call me that, Magnet-o."
Magneto cocked an eyebrow, "Well, once you start saying my name right I'll definitely look into it."
Stillman opened his mouth to argue and Magneto held up his hand before Ernest could respond. "I will get your daughter for you," Magneto promised, "but in return, there's something I'd like you to do for me."
"What?"
Magneto smiled, more to himself than Stillman. "We'll discuss that at a later date."
"I'd prefer to do it now." Mr. Stillman did not want to make deals without the other side naming their price; otherwise all hell would break loose when they made an outrageous request.
"Later."
Mr. Stillman got up quickly and made to confront Magneto. "I said-"
Claws-and-teeth made a growl and turned his creepy face to German drug-dealer. "Uh…" Stillman stuttered, "Okay… later then."
"Good." Magneto turned to leave and the rest of the group followed after.
Ernest Stillman stayed at his desk, staring into the door for a while longer before finally sinking back into his seat. He rubbed his brow tiredly, soon. He thought to himself. Soon this will be all over – no more Magnet-o's, no more superpowers. No. More. Mutants.
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
"Und the hair…"
"Nein Lorelei, Professor X has no hair."
Lorelei looked up from her picture to her blue warden. "Hair is good."
"Ja, but you made him look like a clown."
"Only because I used the red crayon."
"You mock the Professor."
"He is beautiful like this." Lorelei drew a fat circle in the middle of the Professors face and snickered. "Now, he is a real clown."
"NEIN!" Kurt shrieked and tried to take the crayon away from the crazed girl.
"THAT'S MY CRAYON!" She howled.
The two collided and rolled around on the floor, grappling for control of the crayon.
"I swear I vill bash your face in again!"
"BITE ME!" Kurt howled and teleported them both to the kitchen, crashing down onto the large island in the middle.
"That HURT!" She shouted in his ear. Neither one was about to let go, and they both rolled off the side.
"Guys! Whoa-" Bobby nearly tripped over them, and Kurt teleported again.
Now they were in the foyer.
"And this is where you will be – HEY!" Scott flattened himself against a wall to keep from being pulled into the fray. The new girl that was being shown the mansion was run over as Lorelei managed to get the crayon and tried to scamper away. Kurt tackled her and brought her to her knees and teleported again before she could hit his face.
Kurt rolled as he teleported and made sure to land on top of Lorelei so she couldn't get away, "This is mine." He said through gritted teeth as he tried to pry open her fist. Lorelei's mind was still reeling from the last jump, and she fumbled for the griffin switch at the back of her mind.
"I vill crush your soul!"
"YOU COULDN'T EVEN CRUSH A SODA CAN!" He screamed and grabbed a hold of her shoulders and teleported again, adamant on wearing her out and taking that damn crayon.
"Shit…" Lorelei's vision flickered and she tried to get away from Blue Monkey. They were somewhere in the garden now. She rolled on top of her crayon enclosed fist and curled into a ball. "You must pry this from my COLD, DEAD HAND if you vant it!"
"That's vat I'm planning to do!"
He poked her hard in the side and she reflexively punched in his direction. He dodged her hand neatly and grabbed it; she had used the one with the crayon in it.
"Nein!" she half cried. This battle was more than a fight over a crayon; or even a clown picture. This was a battle for dominance. This was a battle of who was really alpha-male in this mansion, and Lorelei was not about to lose to a sassy ass blue monkey!
She shoved her foot into his crotch and they teleported only three feet. Kurt rolled to his side and made a high pitched whine.
"HA! I AM ALPHA!" she screamed.
She turned and stumbled a bit, then felt a hand clamp down hard on her neck.
"I've had enough of you, Griffin."
"Too bad," she hissed, "your cup's about to runneth over, priest!" She ducked down and did a half-hearted somersault to get away. Kurt collapsed on top of her in a bear hug and Lorelei felt her stomach lurch again.
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Sabretooth stopped, and sniffed at the air. Ducking, he dove into a bush a full minute before Wolverine blew past on his bike. He grinned; it's good to be downwind.
Logan continued onward, unaware of the threat; he was going too fast to catch a whiff of anything. He reached the school grounds thirty minutes later, just in time to see Lorelei and Kurt rolling in the grass before teleporting off. He scowled and parked in the garage, hoping his relatively good day wasn't about to sour just three hours before it ended. After dismounting and kicking Forge's leg in greeting, he entered the mansion via the basement.
"Logan, a moment of your ti-"
"No," Wolverine brushed past Beast without so much as a nod. "I'm having a good day."
"Uh… oh?" Beast watched his friend walk down the hall, and leave the basement.
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Lorelei lost to the sassy ass blue monkey. It wasn't even a fair fight; after the garden episode, Kurt teleported to fifteen different locations in a span of five seconds. Her head was reeling so hard she couldn't tell if she was upright, sideways, or inside-out.
Kurt watched as Lorelei tried to rise again, but fell flat on her face. "You should lie down Lorelei; you are only going to hurt yourself." The quick teleports was Kurt's favorite move; it worked very well on almost everyone. A few people had some resistance to the multi-dimensional jumps he did, but… he watched as she flipped onto her back and tried to get up London Bridge style… most did not.
"I vill crush-"
"Stop saying that." Kurt threw the crayon in the air and caught it again, "It's getting old."
"It vasn't me, it vas-"
"That's getting old too."
Scott walked into the living room where the two were sitting and stopped at Lorelei's drawing. He bent down, picked it up and stared at it. "What's this?"
Kurt got up and stood beside him as they both took in Lorelei's art. "Lorelei made fun of the Professor."
"She did?" Scott asked. He cocked his head and squinted, "This is just a badly drawn picture… besides its crudeness, there's not much-"
"She gave Professor X a clown nose."
Scott stared at the large circle in the middle of Xavier's face. "That's not…"
"It's red and obscene, and I don't appreciate it."
Scott looked over to Kurt, back at the picture, then back to Kurt. He sighed, shook his head and handed him the drawing. "Well I can't tell – everything I see is red."
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Forge pulled himself out from under the jeep he was working on and rubbed the oil on his hands onto his pants. Done, he smiled to himself. He was just about to start packing up his tools when he felt a sharp pain at his neck, and fell unconscious.
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Lorelei stayed drooling on the carpet when Kurt left to go to the bathroom. She continued drooling when that… guy. Oh… vat's his name? Baldie said it was… Gorge? No… Surge! No… FIX IT FELIX! Her mind wandered as the metal legged guy hefted her over his shoulder and muttered about shitty defense systems.
Hey, Kitty. Lorelei tried to wave as Kitty trailed after them and asked what was going on. She shifted her head a bit when a guy came out of nowhere and punched Kitty through a wall. You'll never get to second base like that, "You're supposed to take her to dinner first!" She cried hoarsely at Angry Biceps guy. He turned to her briefly, and was tackled by the guy she killed a month or so ago. Uh… wolverine. Metal Leg was running.
Lorelei was tossed down a hallway as Metal Leg suddenly turned into… Jean? Red-Lenses was unfazed by his girlfriend, and made to smack her with his eyebrows. Eye… beams. Optic… laser pointers. Whatever. Magic-Lady Jean started screaming and covering her ears and basically having a seizure; she collapsed onto the ground and changed into a blue woman. Heh, Lorelei grinned, I can see her boobies.
Scott ran up to Lorelei. She looked dazed; her eyes were everywhere and she was drooling. "Stay here." He told her.
Okie-dokie.
He got up and ran off to find someone, and colossus nearly stepped on Lorelei when he sprinted downstairs.
"Little Bird, this is not the time for naps!" he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "This is the time for fighting!"
Lorelei grinned, "Did I tell you the joke about this metal guy?"
Colossus grabbed her and carried her upstairs to one of the rooms. "Not now."
"I forgot how it goes but I remember the punch line…"
"I will be right back." He set her down on the bed and put his fingers to his lips in a "shh".
"He's always… rushing… around. GET IT? RUSSIAN!"
"Lorelei you must hush!" Colossus left, but returned three seconds later with Angry Biceps. Well, Angry Biceps shoved him through the door.
"You're all here! PARTY!" Lorelei yelled. She tried to mosh, but it's a hard thing to do when you're lying on a bed by yourself.
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Colossus turned down the hall and nearly ran into Sabretooth. Sabretooth used the off-balanced metal mutant to bash through the door; he could smell this kid's scent from the room. She ain't scared… he realized. He'd have to move fast, he'd shoved wolverines hand down a garbage disposal, and his finger bones got stuck between the rotor blades. He'll rip that shit quickly, we gotta move fast. He dodged colossus's blows and grabbed at the wriggling girl, but missed. What the hell is she doing? He jumped over the bed and pulled her with him, making a beeline for the window.
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Lorelei almost moshed off the bed, but Angry Biceps grabbed her before she fell. Such a gentleman, she sighed, I'll give you two cookies for that. He grabbed at her jacket-front and tried to drag her out the room. NOT THOSE COOKIES! … What is it with this guy not asking girls to dinner first? Maybe he's just shy. She petted his ass and told him he was beautiful in the inside as he spun in little circles.
"WHEEEEEE!"
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Kurt teleported to Colossus's room just before Sabretooth dove out the window. The feral mutant spun in a circle, surrounded by Colossus on one side and Kurt on the other. Kurt watched in morbid fascination as Lorelei patted Sabretooth butt, told him he was pretty on the inside, then screamed like a kid on a merry-go-round.
"Put her down, Sabretooth." Kurt spoke evenly.
Sabretooth just grinned, and motioned for Kurt to make the first move.
It was Colossus who moved first, however. He leaped forward and grabbed Lorelei, turning his back to Sabretooth so that his claws would miss her. He felt the man land on top of him, and he tried to keep himself from crushing the little German beneath him.
"Kurt…" he heaved. He felt himself teleport along with Sabretooth… but Lorelei wasn't with them.
"Where is Little Bird?" he cried to the two above him.
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Lorelei was trying to inch out from under the dog pile when everyone suddenly disappeared. She looked behind her, disappointed.
"So no more mosh?" she asked to no one in particular.
Logan suddenly rushed passed the door, then backtracked and stopped on the threshold. He looked at her, nodded, and then went back the way he came.
"MOSH VITH ME!" she screamed after him. She folded her arms and fell over onto her side, off balance again. "I don't even like broccoli."
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Magneto watched the happenings from afar… it looked dismal. The plan had been a good one; Charles was out of state with Storm, Rogue, Remy and a few others to find a new mutant. Lorelei was usually in bed by nine and up by five, so all they had to do was sneak into her room and grab her. Something… unplanned has happened. He straightened his helmet and made to enter the school grounds. He had hoped to stay out of the mess, but if you want something done right…
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Lorelei wandered down the hallway, adamant on finding someone to mosh with. There were a lot of screams and scary noises coming from downstairs, but Lorelei didn't like those kinds of parties. She wandered out onto the third-level balcony, and watched as a man in a bucket helmet and bed sheets made the little turrets in the front yard explode.
"Hey!" Lorelei shook her fist at him, "Stop ruining the grass!"
Bucket Head looked to her then used one of the turrets to levitate up to her. She backpedaled as he landed softly before her.
"Cool! You do what I do! Except I do what I do with rocks and stuff. I do. Do. DOO DOO!" Lorelei bent over and tried to keep herself from crying as she laughed. "THAT'S A GREAT JOKE!"
Magneto frowned. Stillman did not say his daughter was an idiot. I'm charging him extra for her mouth.
Lorelei busied herself with pulling pieces of hair from Magnetos cape and telling him to rinse it with cool water to keep its color from fading.
"Lorelei?" he asked, shooing her away from his cape.
"Ja?"
"I'm Magneto; you're going to come with me."
Lorelei looked up into the old man's face. It was harsh, like a desert sun; it was serious, like a worldwide epidemic; and it was timeless… like a clock. She smiled sweetly up at him, and gazed into his big blue eyes…
…And screamed.
"STRANGER DANGER!"
Magneto covered her mouth with a strip of metal and wrapped her up with the remainder of the turrets. This child could not possibly be worth the hassle, he seethed. What am I doing here, acting like a foot soldier? Stillman… Magneto's frown deepened. He and I are going to have some words.
WORDS I SAY!
Thanks for your continued looking-overness of my story! Stay sassy!