Malibu Mall Madness
Disclaimer: "Not in the ocean. INSIDE the ocean." - Nathan Explosion, Metalocalypse
Chapter 7: A Quiet Moment
The Malibu Mall
Scott Summers sipped on his milkshake, deep in thought. Across from him, Jean Grey was also sipping on her own milkshake.
"Mmm..." Jean smiled. "It was amazing the flavors that ice cream place had. This red velvet milkshake is absolutely delicious. How're you liking that peanut butter pecan one, Scott?"
"Hm?" Scott blinked for a second. "Oh, yeah. This milkshake is really good."
"You were thinking about something."
"Your telepathy tell you that?" Scott teased.
"No, you have a tell." Jean smiled. "What's on your mind."
"Something just came to me." Scott explained. "You know that guy we met in Muir Island. Wildstar?"
"Yeah, what about him?" Jean blinked. "He was very nice."
"Well, I was thinking." Scott explained. "You know that star he had over his eye?"
"That blue one? Yeah." Jean chuckled. "Funny little thing, that birthmark. It's a perfect 8-pointed star, with longer cardinal points."
"Indeed." Scott nodded. "I just realized something."
"Yeah..."
"Well, I noticed something. Paul, Craig, and Jenni Starr. They all wear stars similar to Wildstar's on their faces when they perform."
"They are a family, Scott." Jean reminded. "They probably do it in homage to him. Think about it. He's probably the reason why the band are open mutant rights-supporters. And besides, the stars they wear don't match Ace's."
"Yeah." Scott concurred. "Paul and Craig's are respectively purple and black, with five points. Jenni's is red with four points."
"You know, the Starrs' facial makeup kind of remind me of Kiss." Jean chuckled. "They don't cover their faces completely, but it does for some reason."
"Not surprising." Scott sipped his milkshake. "The Superstars have said that if it weren't for Kiss, they wouldn't be around. ...You know, do we really know anything about the Superstars?"
"There isn't a lot about their early lives..." Jean admitted. "I looked at their website. There is some stuff about their early lives. Paul and Craig weren't kidding when they said they were orphans."
"Indeed." Scott nodded. "And Jenni's a Chicago girl. Although you could tell that from her accent."
"And the Starr boys are from LA." Jean added, then sipped her milkshake. "Makes you wonder how they and Jenni met. How they learned of each other...and what inspired them to form the band."
"Yeah, it does. All that really bugs me." Scott wondered. "But then, the Superstars don't do a lot of interviews. And when they do, they don't go into their origins much. Rang some alarm bells in my head."
"Maybe you're being a bit jumpy, Scott. This Gathering thing has got us all on edge." Jean suggested.
"Maybe." Scott admitted. "Maybe. It's just it keeps nagging at me, you know? I keep thinking there's more to the Superstars than meets the eye."
"Maybe they're aliens." Jean joked, making Scott chuckle.
"Yeah, and they're here to turn the Earth into a gigantic glam metal arena." The optic blaster added on to the joke, making the two young mutants laugh harder. "Ha ha...Jean, it's been too long since we laughed like this."
"I'm hoping that we can laugh like that again after the Gathering." Jean remarked. "We need it."
"Yeah..." Scott looked at his milkshake. "I hope so, too."
Elsewhere in the mall
Bobby Drake had a lot on his mind. His encounter with Lila Cheney had...an effect on him. He was angry at her. Angry at Jenni Starr. Angry at the Superstars. He wanted to tear into her for what she had done, beating up his father. Yes, he did disown Bobby for being a mutant, and he had accepted that his family wanted nothing more to do with him...at least, he thought he did.
I guess I'm not quite over it yet. Bobby sighed. I was stupid. Lila meant well, but... He shook his head. I don't know. I just don't know... A storm of emotions was churning around inside the young mutant when...
"HEY!"
Whump!
"Oof!" Bobby grunted as he fell over. "Hey, you-"
"Watch it, you son of a-!" The person he collided with grumbled as he got up.
"Oh, no..." Bobby groaned as he realized who he collided with.
Craig Starr.
"Oh." Craig blinked. "It's you."
Another Superstar. Bobby mentally sighed. "Sorry about that, dude."
"Yeah, whatever." Craig shrugged. He then narrowed his eyes. "You're one of those X-Men guys."
"You've heard of me."
"You have been in the papers and on TV. And the Internet buzzes about you guys quite a bit."
"Ah, yeah..." Bobby blushed, rubbing the back of his head. "We do tend to make headlines, don't we?"
"If you X-Guys actually bothered to leave your mansion and join the rest of us in the real world every now and then, you'd know this." Craig frowned, crossing his arms.
"Considering all the craziness out there, you can't blame us for staying in the house all the time." Bobby chuckled lamely. Craig rolled his eyes.
"If that's your idea of a joke, it's not very funny." Craig grunted.
"People do tend to say that about my jokes."
"Then why do you keep cracking them?"
"Because I think they're funny." Bobby grinned.
"Whatever." Craig shrugged.
"Not a personable sort, are you?"
"What do you think?" Craig scowled.
"Look, I've just had a moment with your friend Lila. I just-"
"A moment, huh?" Craig snickered.
"Yeah, why?" Bobby grumbled. "I am pretty angry at her. You know she punched out my dad."
"She does get that way around you." Craig snorted.
"The hell you mean?" Bobby blinked.
"We once saw a commercial on TV for that TV movie that was about you and your family."
"Oh, for God's sake!" Bobby groaned, throwing his arms up. "That stupid movie!"
"From what I heard, the movie was pretty lousy." Craig chuckled. "Lila was pissed when the commercial came on."
"...she...she was?" Bobby blinked.
"Yeah." Craig nodded. "Last time we saw the commercial, Lila demanded we change the channel or else she'd throw the TV out the window."
"Wow." (1)
"Yeah."
"That film wasn't about her. Why was she so angry about it?"
"You mean besides the fact that it was built around a lie, and its only purpose was character assassination?" Craig snorted. "She felt bad for you, what's so strange about that?"
"It seems strange to me, is all." Bobby shrugged. "You guys are famous rock 'n' roll musicians. She is one of you. Why the hell would she care about someone like me? I'm well-known for all the wrong reasons. I'm a mutant who was thrown out of his family, humiliated by a TV movie, I am the butt monkey of the universe! Why would she care about me? Can you explain that?"
"Are we famous musicians? Yeah, I'll give you that." Craig nodded. "As for why she would care, well...why wouldn't she?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well...we're people, aren't we?" Craig answered. "Just because our names are known by many people, doesn't mean we aren't any different than any of those people." A shrug. "She felt bad for you about that whole thing with your family."
"And?"
"Let's just say she was betrayed by people she loved and we'll leave it at that." Craig explained.
"...Oh."
"Yeah." Craig nodded. "Just because someone is famous doesn't mean they can't feel or care about or for others, Drake. Keep that in mind."
"I...see." Bobby nodded. "Is that all you have to say?"
"Just this. Stay away from Kyle today." Craig warned. "He's really testy today."
"From what I heard about him, he's always angry about something."
"Yeah, he's got a temper." Craig snickered. "Let's just say the X-Men really tend to bring that out in him."
"I thought you guys were pro-mutant rights."
"We are." Craig confirmed. "Kyle's older brother is a mutant. That's why he's all for mutant rights. He hates the way his brother gets treated by anti-mutant jackasses. You X-Men and Misfits come along with your crazy antics, and it doesn't exactly make life any easier for him."
"Is that his problem? I thought he just is a jerk."
"Kyle hates everybody, but he has different reasons." Craig shrugged. "He doesn't hate people just for the sake of hating someone. He loves his brother, and he hates what he has to go through. People have spat at him, and vandalized his family's home. Even sent death threats. But he goes along his merry way."
"We X-Men are trying to stop that."
"How?" Craig snorted. "By going on television and making complete asses of yourselves? It angers Kyle because you guys help paint public opinion of mutants. And you guys make them look like out of control maniacs that should be locked up."
"We don't intend that." Bobby argued. "The Misfits screw everything up!"
"Do they always?" Craig countered. "Trust me, Drake. You're better off hearing this stuff from me than him. I'm no fan of you X-Men either, but you are still better off hearing that from me than from Kyle."
"And why's that?" Bobby frowned, crossing his arms.
"Because Kyle's temper tends to do the thinking for him when he's set off. And considering how much you X-Men set him off, well...you don't want to know what he'd do to you." Craig explained. "Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to go to the food court. I've been wanting a sub from Subway." The bassist walked off. Unbeknownst to either one of the young mutants, a disguised figure was loitering nearby. The figure was looking at a watch.
"It's time." The figure remarked quietly.
Well, well, well! Looks like business is about to pick up! What insanity will happen next? Who was the mysterious figure? Will Kyle confront Bobby? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!
(1) – In the fic "Reaction II", written by me.