Subject: [OTL]: neXtwave: The Missing Years Chapter 3 (PG) Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 16:57:27 -0700 (PDT) From: Phil Hartman Reply-To: outsidethelines@Mailing-List.net To: Outside The Lines will1@earthling.net neXtwave: The Missing Years Chapter 3 by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: Ororo, Forge, Raven, Kitty, Pete, Kurt and Amanda are Marvel's. Danny, Alexa, Tara and N'Kara are mine. Please don't sue. -------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere along Michigan Avenue, 6/10/2007: 09:00 hrs EDT: -------------------------------------------------------- "Stupid kite," N'Kara Munroe frowned. The 7 1/2-year-old white-haired girl fought with the kite her father had made for her, and tried to get the winds to catch it. A gust from the lakefront not only shoved the kite back down, but nearly knocked N'Kara over too. "Try it again, honey ! Wait until the wind shifts," her father yelled from a nearby park bench. He sighed; the visits weren't nearly long enough for him ... "Thinking ? Good grief, David, give yourself a day off," a familiar voice teased from the "bag lady" sitting beside him. Forge rolled his eyes at Mystique, who assumed her regular form - their days in X-Factor, coupled with Raven's espionage work during the Second Civil War of '04, had earned her the same civil rights accorded all enhanced power beings under the Kelly Memorial Parahuman Rights Act of '05 - and purred at him seductively. "Raven, I TOLD you, I only have room in my life for one woman right now," Forge muttered. "Besides, doesn't Irene need you ?" "You're just bitter that you lost custody of N'Kara during that entire mess back in '98," Raven pouted. "Blame Havok. I do." "Everybody does, but it never helps," Forge snickered. The ex-lovers laughed, finally wiping their eyes, and smiled as N'Kara ran over. "I think I got it," the dark-skinned girl said hopefully. Her blue eyes, so much like her mother's, flashed with power, and the kite lifted off. Only to be caught in a downdraft, and plunge towards a huge tree. "NOOO!" 'Kara cried. She tried not to cry as the kite slammed into the tree, but gasped in surprise when a large monkey brought it down for her. "Someone lose this ?" a kind voice called from the monkey's mouth. N"Kara cheered when the monkey shifted into a tanned, teenaged girl with brown hair and laughing brown eyes. "DANNY !" N'Kara cheered. Daniela Creed hugged her "cousin" and smiled, "Hey, kidlet. How's Chi-town treating my fave little weathergirl ?" "S'Ok," 'Kara smiled. "Daddy's out at Argonne all th' time, but Mommy - hi, Mommy !" Forge repressed a whistle as Ororo descended from the clouds, a giant banner reading "Goddess Greenhouses" tied to one foot. #After all these years, she's still got it,# he thought. Ororo removed the banner before landing, hugging N'Kara while she smiled politely at Danny. "Daniela. How are you ?" she asked. "Pretty good," the daughter of Graydon Creed said. "Dallas isn't a bad town, even if the public school kids still don't quite get the fact that I can't imitate Lila Cheney's VOICE as well as her looks ..." "You'll do fine," Ororo said. She nodded to Forge and said, "Thank you, David. I know you and N'Kara have ... little time together." "Not your fault, Ororo," Forge said softly. He looked at her apologetically as the windrider's gaze fell upon Mystique. "I was just teaching Danny hunting techniques," Raven shrugged. "GRANDMOTHER," Danny groaned, rolling her eyes at her guardian. #I've got to find a way to -# the girl thought. "Ororo !? ORORO !!" a joyful cry rang out. The mutants turned, N'Kara shrieking in joy and Danny breathing a sigh of relief, to see an unlikely party running across the grass towards them. A 20-something young woman with brown hair - and a purple dragon slung over her shoulders - ran towards them, a grinning little girl with black hair and overalls beside her. Huffing behind the three of them was an unshaven man with thinning black hair and an "Stamp Out Scottish Coffee Abuse" T-shirt on. "KITTEN !!" Ororo cheered. Ororo and Kitty nearly tackled each other with the force of their hug, while Kitty's daughter Tara hugged N'Kara nearly as forcefully. "How're ya !" Tara grinned at her friend. "Great ! How was Britain ?" 'Kara asked, wide-eyed. "It was SO cool !" Tara gushed. "We saw Unca Brian an' Aunt Meg an' their daughter, Kerry, an' Stonehenge an' where Daddy proposed t'Mommy an' - an' - Daddy, what's th' store where ya got y'r first cig'rette called ?" "Ah, th' Rolled Bliss, darlin,'" Pete said with a dreamy look in his eyes. Kitty groaned and said, "I can't BELIEVE you took Tara there. It took a week to get the smell of burnt death-weed out of her clothes." "Hey, she asked," Pete pleaded. Kitty muttered something and turned to N'Kara, grinning, "Hey, kiddo !" "Aunt Kitty ! Daddy made me a kite - wanna see it ?" 'Kara asked. "Sure," Kitty smiled. "YAY !" Tara laughed. Lockheed woke, smiling, and took flight as the girls got the kite flying. "Tall Rifle," Pete nodded. "Long time, Wisdom," Forge nodded back. "Still scaring the living hell out of anyone who looks crosseyed at your girl ?" "It's a living," Pete shrugged. "Better'n bein' an insurance investigator. Or a bloody hitman. B'sides, Kitty keeps us goin' with her computer store an' th' royalties from th' Language of the Gene." The mutants smiled; "The Language of the Gene" was still one of the best-selling postmodern ballets on the international circuit since it had appeared nearly two years earlier. #After the X-Men had disbanded in the wake of Onslaught, Kitty had t'go an' do somethin' cathartic,# Pete reminisced. The resultant ballet told the story of a young woman who was shown her own innate strength and ability to stand alone against darkness by a bald-headed and wise, if flawed, wizard. With the help of a wind goddess, the young woman grew to adulthood, repudiated the advances of a steel man, fell in love with a grizzled knight, and eventually told her own daughter the tale. #Sellout shows whenever the X-Men get wind o'it,# Pete smirked to himself. His eyes met Raven's, and he winced inwardly at her smirk. "Ah, Pete. Domestic bliss ?" Mystique asked. "'M doin' well enough," Pete replied evenly. "Any word on Irene ?" "She's coherent these days," Raven said, venom in her tone. Any mention of Destiny set her on edge; the psionic damage Legion had left the precog with in 1996 had very nerly killed Irene, but the old woman was tougher than she seemed. "YAY !" Tara's cheer made the adults look over and smile. The kite was flying high, while Danny had manifested wings from her back and was chasing a delighted Lockheed. #C'ld only be one thing that'd make this day better,# Pete thought. ~Ask and ye shall receive,~ a laughing mental tone replied. The mutants turned, gaping and smiling, to see a yellow-and-red-clad woman with flowing red hair appear from midair. "Just wanted to offer you all front-row tickets to the Wagner Family Circus," Amanda grinned. "Amanda !!" Kitty waved. Tara and N'Kara handed the kite off to Ororo and ran to hug the sorceress, who smiled and said, "How're my favorite clowns ?" "OOH - Aunt 'Manda !" Tara giggled ... -------------------------------------------------------- Wiggenbotham Theatre: 18:00 hrs: -------------------------------------------------------- The applause died away as the audience got up to leave, but the Wisdoms, Munroes, Forge, Danny and Raven took the stage to greet their old friends. "Kurt Wagner, where the DEVIL have you BEEN !!" Kitty teased, hugging her favorite fuzzy elf. "Ach, Katzchen, my native Germany just can't get enough of us," Kurt grinned. "Can they, mein wunderkind ?" "Hey, if you got it, work it," Alexa winked at her father from where Raven hugged her. She looked over and shrieked, "DANNY ! OMIGODIT'SBEENYEARS!!!!" "'LEXA !!" Danny cheered. The 15-year-olds hugged each other, laughing, and ignored the adults' smiles as they headed backstage. "Has it really been two years ?" Kitty sighed. "Hey, two years of relative peace and quiet," Raven replied. "The XSE's done a better job than I'd've given them credit for," Kurt admitted. "Not that they don't have quality people, but I never really pictured the Professor's dream involving mutant police." "But isn't assimilation into normal society what he - what we - wanted, Kurt ?" Kitty asked. "Even if - and I can't BELIEVE I'm saying this - I miss the spandex ..." Pete grinned wickedly for a moment until Kitty mock-threatened him with one of Kurt's juggling pins. "OK, OK, let's relax," Amanda teased. "If you've got so much energy, you two can help us clean up before we have to leave for our next show ..." -------------------------------------------------------- NEXT: What's 5,000 years old, has really bad aim with blue lipstick, and can't stand 98-lb-weaklings? Connor, Deirdre, and Melanie Summers are about to find out ... -------------------------------------------------------- end _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com