Shattered Images (XO,X-Men,UC,TEEN) Pt 11 - 2/20/04 [WIP]

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Bored to Mundane life
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 58
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2002 7:04 pm
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Post by Bored to Mundane life »

Hi there. I'm back, with the new part. And I know majority of you have been waiting anxiously to this, so I'll just cut to the chase. Special thanks to Pheobe04, ezriboots, Sternbetrachter (x2), pandas2001, LEL (x2), Lady_without_a_clue (x2), Roswell Slayer, Chelbert8, Serena, Asabetha, AdemaChic284, angeleyes, Calinia, Luvya, coracat and NScotian. Extra thanks to NScotian from well done beta job. And now...to the FB...

Sternbetrachter Thanks...even though I'm still having a hard time understanding the fact that I won.

As for winning here...we'll see. I'm not that optimistic about it.

LEL :oops: ...

coracat *raises an eyebrow* So far it seems that way, but I'm still considering myself a tad better than average...somewhere around 5% area or so.

And as for keeping up the good work, you can count on it, even if the RL (better known as school) is kicking me to the rear.

NScotian :oops: Hey, you earn some credit too, otherwise I would be posting rather embarrasing material. And thanks for pointing out the parts that weirded you out. I did my best to fix them.

Well...now without further delay, part 9. We'll see when the next two parts will be posted, but I know it won't be soon.

Title: "Shattered Images"
Author: Bored to Mundane life
Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell or X-Men : Evolution. I'm just borrowing them for this. But if it HAS to be necessary, I promise that I won't damage any of them too badly.
Summary: Things are going from bad to worse. Liz supposedly slept with Kyle, to prevent the the end of the world Future Max told her about. Now no one except Kyle and Alex are talking to her now. If things weren't bad enough already, Liz suddenly gets abnormal pains. When she lost consciousness from a really intense moment of pain, she seeks help from a doctor, and discovers that she's terminally ill. Now Liz must race against time to find the cure, but with little to no allies at disposal, can she survive through this before her time runs out?
Category: Crossover with X-Men : Evolution, with reasonable additions from me.
Pairing: Roswell: Mi/L, Ma/Ma, the rest is CC. X-Men: Remy/Rogue, Scott/Jean, no clue from the rest.
Rating: PG-13, possibly R at some point
Feedback: I don't think I have to tell you how important FB is, now do I?

["*"] indicates thoughts.
-"*"- indicates telepathical communication.

Part 9

West Roswell High, 7:50 a.m., School Hallway

Liz and Alex were heading to the principal's office, while talking with one another. There had been some things that Liz wanted to straighten out, most notably about his lack of knowledge about the aliens. With his telepathy, he could have found out easily. Too easily for her comfort. Alex HAD already told her how he had been unable to get any information from her and Maria, and he also told her about his inability to read the alien quartet's minds mostly because of his unfamiliarity with them before. But now she had remembered another source who could have told him everything...or two to be exact.

"So how come you didn't learn about the aliens from Topolski?" Liz asked silently, while looking at Alex intently. She didn't dare to raise her voice. With some of the students milling around the hall, she definitely didn't want to draw attention by 'projecting' her thoughts to Alex. "I mean...she must have given you a lot of reasons to ask question from me...or them."

"Oh, she did bring up a few questions in me, but I chalked it up as the mental rantings of a maniac," Alex said.

Liz blinked. That wasn't the answer she had expected. "Huh?" was all she managed to say.

Alex scratched the back of his head, searching for an explanation. "Ok, what I got out from Topolski was...to say the least, organized chaos. She was thinking about one thing first, then her thoughts completely shifted focus, going into something totally else, and then changing again into ANOTHER completely strange line of thinking. I swear, I felt dizzy in her presence. I did get some thoughts about you, Max, and Michael; something to do with that blood sample I gave you, to substitute it for Max's...which I later changed into a different sample. I also got something else I couldn't decipher. So I brushed it up as her being delusional...for a while," he said.

Liz nodded. Alex probably meant the time she had asked him to hack into Topolski's laptop, and finding out she was an FBI agent. Although now, when Liz thought about it, it had probably confirmed Alex's own suspicions about Topolski.

Alex watched Liz carefully, trying to find out what she was thinking, now that he was unable to read her thoughts, which was pretty refreshing change for him, considering the fact how other people were open books for him. Although...Alex wouldn't mind being just an average American teenager...without superpowers. Yes, he was a telepath, but with that power, far too many doors were opened in his mind. Since he couldn't possibly keep the thoughts out from his mind, he had managed found a way to actually keep them at bay for some time, but it was hard. Sure, some of the knowledge he got out from the jocks could prove useful to get him out from a tight spot. Luckily he never had to resort into that kind of blackmail. But in truth, Alex would be more than happy to live without his powers. Even through the cacophony of thoughts, he could tell which thought belonged to whom, and some of the things he got out from of them...Alex shuddered at the thought of it. There were students who really had their minds in the gutter...and the same went for the cheerleaders, as well as the 'popular' girls who weren't cheerleaders. Some of them were amusing, he admitted it, but there were so many things that he would certainly like to live without. He winced when he passed Pam Troy, but not because she had sent an obvious glare towards him and Liz, but at the obnoxious thoughts she had in her head regarding her current boyfriend...as well as the poor bastard who Pam was 'doing' behind her boyfriend's back. ["Is it REALLY that hard for them to NOT think about that kind of stuff ALL the time?"] he asked from himself, inwardly groaning when he picked up another 'not-so-clean' thought from one of the girls...involving Isabel and the shower room...and now Alex didn't know whether to feel jealous or mortified at that VERY clear thought.

Liz glanced at Alex carefully. "You ok, Alex?" she asked. She hadn't missed the glare Pam had sent her, but she had to be blind to miss Alex's obviously disgusted look when they passed Pam Troy. In fact...if she remembered correctly, Alex's facial expression always tended to shift from nonchalant to revolted at the drop of a hat...and until now Liz had never truly realized why. She briefly wondered how it would feel like to pick up every stray thought from the kids around them...she grimaced. She CERTAINLY didn't want to know what was going on in Pam Troy's mind, and DEFINITELY not what was going on inside the school jocks minds. Only now did she realize how much secrets Alex could possibly keep from every single student and teacher at the school...and she started to feel sorry for him.

"I'm fine...other than the fact that I REALLY need to find some way to get some disturbing images out from my head," Alex said, but his voice was strained.

Liz nodded. "Ok...I won't pry," she said. Alex didn't say anything, but there was certain amount of gratitude visible in his eyes.

"Thanks, Liz. Although...I can't help but wonder if Isabel knows that one of her clique friends has the hots for her," Alex mused to himself, earning a wide eyed look from Liz. And as much as she wanted to press Alex for more details, she refused to do it. No doubt Alex was aware of that little information thanks to his powers, which only emphasized the fact that Liz would much rather be like she was now than being a telepath.

Liz blinked when Alex suddenly stopped, and was watching him with a confused expression. "Why did you stop?" Liz asked.

"We ARE going to the principal's office, remember?" he said, and pointed at the door which said 'school office'. Liz blushed slightly and they made their way inside. About an hour later, they came back, Liz watching at Alex with mortified look.

"I can't BELIEVE that you did THAT," Liz said after she managed to get her bearings straight. It had been somewhat difficult for Liz to tell her reasons for transferring to another school...one on the other side of the country, no less, but she had managed. She hadn't lied...for the most part. Her mutation was something she hadn't told to the principal. She HAD told him the 'why', that she was transferring to another school because it was close enough to a hospital facility that could help her to find a cure for the leukemia. Liz sometimes was scared of her ability to 'lie-yet-tell-the-truth' at drop of a hat. But that wasn't what scared her the most. No, it was what Alex had done. When the principal had asked if their parents knew anything about this, Alex had said deadpan that they fully supported his transfer, and that he had a relative in that area where he could live, but Liz had been unable to say anything. Then she had seen, for the first time, a side of Alex's power that really gave her the creeps. His right eye had glowed, and the principal's eyes had turned glassy, as if he were looking at something else at far away. Then he had asked that either their mother or father would to sign the papers, and Alex had signed for his father...and Liz couldn't even start to speculate when he had learned to do something like that. Liz had signed the papers for her mother...something she didn't like to do, but it had to be done. Liz had actually sighed from relief when they had walked away, but Alex had, again, done the 'eye-flashing' thing to the secretary when she had picked up the papers.

"All I did was make sure there wouldn't be any uncomfortable questions later," Alex said.

"Well, if that's the case, then why did you...do whatever it is that you did to that secretary," Liz demanded.

Alex shook his head. "I just put a small mental nudge to make sure that those papers go to Bayville NOW rather than in 2 weeks," he said, but then added, "and I did NOT cause any permanent damage to either of them."

"You just seemed so...like it wasn't a big deal," Liz said, watching him carefully.

Alex stopped and stared at Liz. "Liz, first of all, I did NOT enjoy what I just did, but it was necessary. Secondly, it WAS a big deal, because I don't want to manipulate people like that," he said.

Liz stared at him for a while, then nodded. "I'm sorry...it's just that...you have so much power over people that..." she started, but Alex stopped her.

"That you think I wouldn't even blink if I'd have to do it again?" he asked. Liz didn't answer. He sighed. "Did you know that Topolski drugged me?"

Liz's eyes widened from that. "What?" she asked.

Alex sighed again. "I take that as a 'no'," he said. "You remember the day after Michael swapped Max's blood sample with mine...and which I changed later to another sample?"

Liz nodded. "Yes...I saw you talking with Topolski and decided to intervene before she could ask any awkward questions," she said, recalling what had happened then...though it felt like it had happened a long time ago rather than a year ago.

Alex nodded. "Actually, I think 'drug me' is a too strong word...more like she slipped me something that made me...less resistant. It also took most of my inhibitions away," he said.

Now Liz was worried. She had already seen how little control he had over his powers, and loosing that control altogether could have had disastrous results. However...she did remember him speaking his mind to her after Topolski had disappeared from sight. "You told me straight out what you thought about me then," she said.

Alex shook his head sadly. "Actually...that was the only way that I could think of to keep myself in control at the time...yelling at you. You have NO idea how hard it was for me...how every single fiber in my body was screaming at me to just go into your mind and find whatever it was that you were hiding...no matter what the damage it could do to you...or what I could lose by doing it. Actually...the only good thing about this power is that nothing can affect my mind unless I allow it...but drugs are a completely different story. I can fight off the effects...but not fully. I was wrestling with myself REALLY badly, but I did manage to get a hold of myself," he said.

Liz's mind processed what Alex was saying...wondering when he had managed to get a hold of himself. A day later or...her eyes widened a bit when she realized the possibility. "Was it...when your nose started bleeding?" she asked.

Alex nodded, but then grinned. "I think I hid my headache well...and the need to rip the information out from Max's head when he came talking to me later," he said. Then he frowned. "Although...now that I think about it...I doubt that I could have done it at the time. I would have probably given BOTH of us a new definition for headache."

"I'm sorry, Alex," Liz said, turning her gaze away from him.

Alex shrugged. "Hey, it's over and done with. Besides, after you told me about them, I managed to put the pieces together...even though I was still skeptical about it," he said.

Liz shook her head. "You still manage to surprise me, Alex, even after the 6 years I've known you," she said.

Alex grinned. "There's still a lot you don't know about me, Liz, but let's keep the interrogation off from our schedule for the time being. Now we don't have that much to do until our ride is here," he said.

"Let's empty my locker now. We can worry about how to kill time after that," Liz said as she started to make her way to her locker. Alex shrugged, not really able to suggest anything else at the moment. They were walking in silence when Alex suddenly started to feel uneasy. Something was definitely off...and the feeling was getting stronger. He could still hear thoughts around him...but they were being silenced by something stronger...like someone was projecting their emotions so strongly that it was overshadowing everything else. But it didn't make any sense, to feel the need to sulk THAT strongly would require a tremendous emotional turmoil from someone, and Alex doubted he knew anyone with THAT strong a need to vent their emotions to practically anyone that came in their way. But when they neared Liz's locker, the emotions he felt kept intensifying exponentially with every step he took. ["What the heck is going on?"] Alex thought, as his mental shields adjusted to keep the pressure away...with little success. ["I only know ONE person who could project emotions THIS strongly..."] he stopped that thought process the minute he realized who he was thinking about. Maria. She had always been more than an open book to him. She NEVER kept her opinions and emotions at bay...well, not around her friends. She voiced out her feelings in both a verbal and mental way equally...although Alex was the only one who could 'hear' her mental rants. He wasn't unfamiliar with Maria's mental ranting...quite the opposite in fact. But this was different...in a VERY drastic way. First and foremost he could tell was that Maria was VERY unhappy about something...but what, he couldn't tell. There were too many things going through her mind...far too many for him to get a clear idea of what was going on, and then there was the intensity of her emotions. They were now overriding her thoughts so much that Alex couldn't tell what she was thinking even if he tried...and she was even overpowering the other students' thoughts and emotions from him. But what he COULD read from Maria was...troubling. Betrayal...that was the clearest emotion he could sense. The second was anger, he had little doubt about that. The third was...hurt. Again, there was no doubt about THAT particular emotion. Alex's brow furrowed, wondering what could have possibly stirred THOSE particular emotions in her. He hadn't talked to her...not even at the meeting. He had been rather distant from her, but he knew that THAT wasn't enough to bring these three emotions out in her. Alex groaned, earning a confused glance from Liz in the process. The emotions were getting thicker, pounding his defenses with wild abandon now.

"Are you alright?" Liz asked.

"Have you talked to Maria without my knowledge?" Alex asked, trying to keep his face as impassive as he could, but the obvious strain was there. Liz could see it clearly...and she suspected that Maria and their alien friends could see it as well if they bothered to look long enough.

Liz shook her head. "No...I haven't. Not since I fainted," she said, and was quite surprised when Alex used his telepathy to talk to her.

-"Maria is at your locker...waiting for you. I can't tell for certain what is going on in her mind right now, but she's angry and hurt. But the strongest emotion I can get from her is betrayal...which troubles me. But the fact that she's projecting her emotions so strongly suggests that she's...pissed off, to put it lightly,"- Alex 'said', not trusting to keep his voice down enough so that other students wouldn't hear them.

["But what could possibly get her that angry, Alex?"] Liz projected to Alex, glancing warily at some of the students who were milling about.

Alex wanted to shrug, but resisted the urge for the moment. -"Beats me...her emotions are overpowering her thoughts so I have a little difficulty figuring that part out...and it isn't helping that the closer we get to her, the stronger her emotions keep pounding at my mental shields,"- he 'said'.

["We'll soon find out,"] Liz projected to him when they came to the hallway where her locker was. They both could see Maria leaning against Liz's locker, her arms crossed over her chest. Maria's expression was unreadable...which troubled Liz. She had never seen her friend like this, in a way that there was no hint of showing no emotion. Maria would always ensure that people around her knew EXACTLY how she was feeling, but this was different. Maria could probably give Michael a good competition if wearing a stonewall became a sport.

"Maria?" Liz said tentatively, not really sure how her friend would react. At first it seemed that Maria hadn't heard her, and Liz was about to speak again, when Maria turned her gaze to Liz. Liz flinched from the raw emotion she could see in Maria's eyes. So she wasn't completely oblivious to everyone around her, it seemed.

"Why?" Maria said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Liz blinked. "Why what?" she asked, not understanding what Maria was talking about, but fearing the worst. She glanced at Alex, and stifled a gasp when she saw Alex's right eye glow...brighter than it had in the principal's office. But the troubling thing was that Maria didn't seem to notice.

-"I'm using my powers, that way that other students can't see or hear us...and so that Maria doesn't see the fact that my eye is glowing,"- Alex 'said' to Liz, who had to resist the urge to nod. She was unable to stop herself from flinching when Maria snarled at her harshly.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were...a mutant," Maria said, barely able to keep her voice even. She didn't miss Alex's wince at her tone...and she could care less at this point. She turned her gaze to Liz. "Well?"

"Maria...I...I didn't...I didn't know how you would react. And considering how you reacted to the whole 'aliens exist' thing I told you, you do realize why I was worried," Liz said, trying to force herself to calm down. Unfortunately...she wasn't succeeding very well. Good thing her mental lock was on...and that she had took her painkillers before she came to school.

"Oh...so you thought that I would react the same way to you as I reacted to the 'Czechoslovakians'?" Maria asked, her voice edged with sarcasm. "Well...it was close, but you forgot that just the mere fact that our Czech friends are, I don't know, a tad more 'out there' than what you are, and it did help me cope better. It DIDN'T help me that my own MOTHER turned out to be like you...and like you, she lied to me ALSO!! So I ask again...why didn't you ever tell me about THIS?!" Maria demanded, her voice rising to a yell. Liz flinched at Maria's tone, but didn't back away.

Alex raised an eyebrow to what Maria said. ["Amy is a mutant?"] he thought, thinking about the possibilities of that fact. He glanced at the other students, worried. He had the students' minds, in this and all the adjacent hallways, along with teachers and students from the classrooms clouded. But if Maria kept yelling, someone else might hear her...someone whose mind he couldn't control. If he could just get them somewhere else...the eraser room was a good choice, but the fact that there already was a couple 'occupying' it didn't help. He turned his gaze behind him, and smiled. Janitor's closet. That should do for a while, and the good news was that it wasn't 'occupied'. Any noise Maria would make would be dampened effectively, and he would have a better chance at preventing others from 'listening in'. "I think we should go somewhere...more quiet, don't you think?" he said.

Maria glared at Alex, who just barely managed to not flinch at the emotions that were hurtled at him. "And you...what do you know about this!?" she demanded...rather loudly.

Alex shook his head, and grabbed Maria's arm, pulling her to the janitor's closet, while Maria demanded to know what he was doing. Liz followed Alex, but she felt bad inside for what Maria had said. The fact that Amy was a mutant hadn't registered in her mind yet.

Once they were finally inside the closet, Alex locked the door and turned to look at Liz and Maria. Maria was shooting daggers at Alex, and Liz couldn't look in Maria's direction.

"What the Hell do you think you're..." Maria started, but gasped when Alex glared at HER...and his right eye glowed angrily, illuminating the janitor's closet with a dark bluish light.

-"Maria...do Liz and me a favor and SHUT UP for a minute!!"- Alex mentally yelled, causing Maria to flinch away from him, her hand immediately going to her temple. She...she had heard him speak...but she heard it inside her mind. -"And...don't 'talk'...you THINK what you want to say."-

"What..." Maria started, but then her eyes widened when the evidence sunk in. "You're a mutant TOO!?" she yelled in disbelief.

-"WHAT DID I JUST SAY TO YOU?!!!"- Alex mentally yelled at her, and Maria flinched back again. She had never seen...or even heard Alex like this. Well...'hearing' wasn't probably the right word at the moment. And besides...seeing Alex like this was scaring her.

["That...I should think what I say from now on,"] Maria thought...not really believing that Alex could hear her, but was shocked when Alex's features softened, and the glow in his eye dimmed.

-"Much better,"- Alex 'said', turning to Liz. -"Can you hear me?"-

Liz nodded. Maria was looking at both of them with wide eyes, trying to take in what was happening. She had...'heard' what Alex had said to Liz, but she didn't expect HER to 'hear' it. Alex turned to Maria, switched on the light and said, -"Now...I suggest you start tossing us your questions."-

Maria opened her mouth, but then thought better of it. She stared at Alex for a minute...before thinking, ["If he's a mutant, what's his power?"] She hadn't taken into consideration that Alex heard that too.

Alex smiled. -"I'm a telepath, Maria. You know...able to read thoughts and communicate without saying a word out loud...and much, much more,"- he 'said'.

Maria nodded dumbly, shifting her gaze between Liz and Alex. ["What about...Liz?"] she thought.

Alex looked at Liz for a moment, before turning back to Maria. -"I can't talk for her, Maria. She has to tell you herself. But...I don't know if I should let her,"- he 'said'.

["Why NOT!?"] Maria thought loudly, surprising herself how easily this was going.

Alex glared at Maria. -"Damn it, Maria! You hurt her when you yelled at her. You should start THINKING first, THEN start asking the '20 questions'. Now, what the hell did you mean when you said your mother is a mutant?"- Alex asked. He was a bit worried about Liz. He had made sure that this mental conversation was something all three of them could hear. There was no doubt in his mind that Liz WAS hearing them...but it was just that Alex couldn't hear her, and it was bothering him. He had no idea what Liz was thinking...or if she was thinking at all. ["I wouldn't know that anyway, with her own mental defenses up at the moment,"] he thought grimly.

Maria huffed. ["Well...Liz's mom came to our house last night, and she and mom talked for a while. Mom then tells Nancy that she's a mutant...and provided a good demonstration of it as well. But it's what I heard later...that my father left because he was afraid of her...that was something I couldn't take well,"] she thought, providing Alex the images of the conversation between Amy and Nancy.

Alex scratched the back of his head, frowning. It was amazing that his uncle wasn't able to track down Liz...let alone Amy. True, he had only recently started to use Cerebro in his quest to find mutants, but still...Alex had seen Cerebro, and it should have been able to locate Amy. It hadn't. He filed the information away for the future. The bell rang, signaling that the classes were about to start. He watched Maria for a while before he narrowed his eyes to her. -"Don't you have class?"- he 'asked'.

["I have study hall,"] she thought, shrugging.

Alex shook his head. -"Maria...did you blow up at Liz because you didn't hear this from her?"- he 'asked'.

Maria nodded...not able to form words vocally or mentally. -"That's what I suspected. Maria, Liz is still your friend...she was just afraid that you might shun her if you ever found out that she is a mutant,"- Alex 'said'. -"Besides...I KNOW you have some...reservations towards mutants."-

Maria stared at Alex for a minute before she uttered a comment...or a thought. "Have you been reading my mind?" she asked out loud, practically growling at him.

Alex grimaced. "No," he also said out loud, surprising Maria. "You aren't a very quiet thinker, Maria. You think your rants are bad? Trust me, it's at least 100 times worse when I hear it in stereo, from BOTH your mouth AND mind. And I can't help it...it's hard enough to keep THEIR," he pointed the closet door with his thumb, "thoughts out from my head. You are practically broadcasting yours so loud that my mind can't help but take it in like a lightning rod."

"Why didn't you say anything?" she asked, hurt by what Alex was saying. "And before you answer to THAT question, just let me get some facts straight. Just because you knew what I have been thinking, doesn't mean that you would know my reaction to this type of information. God, I've been through enough weird shit with our Czech friends; that dealing with this should be relatively easy. I'm just...it hurt...to find out that your best friend was keeping a secret from me...and apparently not just one friend...but two."

"Can you blame me?" Liz asked in such a small voice that Alex and Maria didn't almost hear it.

"What?" Maria asked.

"Can you blame me for not telling you?" Liz said, turning to face Maria. Maria, however, was unable to say anything. Her eyes were locked on Liz's...yellow eyes. "I knew how you'd react if I'd tell you about this...and it seems I was right." Liz dropped her mental lock, and brought forth her true form. Maria backed away a bit, caught off guard by Liz's appearance. Light blue skin, dark red hair with yellow eyes. Liz shook her head sadly, closing her eyes. "You considered the 'Czech's' as monsters as well, Maria. I couldn't take it if you'd consider me as one too."

Maria closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to get some of her composure back. She hadn't expected this. She thought that Liz had kept this from her because she didn't trust her. That couldn't have been far from truth. Liz hadn't told her...because she was afraid of her. But what Liz said next took her breath away. "I guess...now that you know what I really am, you also should know that I'm dying."

"What?!" Maria blurted out, not understanding at first, but then it hit her. Liz was sick...that much they all knew. But terminally ill...Maria stifled a sob when it hit her. Maria glanced at Alex, who wasn't looking at them. He was giving them as much privacy as they needed. "Chica...I'm SO sorry. But...wait, you could go to Max...he could heal you..." she started, but Liz's outburst stopped her.

"He can't heal THIS!! And even if he could ensure that I live, I CAN'T go to him!" Liz yelled, not caring who would hear them. Alex and Maria winced at her tone...which had become a bit louder suddenly. Alex, however, didn't let that distract him from keeping the students outside from hearing them. That was his task at the moment.

"Why not?!" Maria asked, stunned by Liz's behavior, even if she was blue skinned...she shook her head. ["Better not go there now, DeLuca,"] she told herself, and sends a glare to Alex. ["And not a WORD from you!"]

-"Wouldn't dream of it,"- Alex answered dryly.

There were tears in Liz's eyes, but it was from both sadness and anger to the situation she was in at the moment. "Alex...I dropped my mental shield. Show her why I can't go to Max with this," Liz said to Alex, who looked at her, surprised. Maria blinked, some of her own tears spilling.

-"You sure?"- Alex asked, slightly worried. Maria wasn't exactly someone who could keep her mind clear, and he was worried what could happen.

"I am NOT in the mood to go through with this again. Show her," Liz said evenly.

Alex pondered it for a moment, then nodded. He turned to Maria. "Maria...what is about to happen will be shocking...to say the least. But if you want to know the truth...you have to remain calm," Alex said.

Maria exchanged glances with Liz and Alex, not sure what to say. But she wanted answers. She wiped her tears away and nodded, and took a vial of cedar oil from her backpack. She took a couple of deep breaths, pulling the aroma of the oil into her lungs. Liz smiled at that...at least some things didn't change. Maria took another deep breath and counted to 10, put the vial away. "I'm ready," she said.

Alex nodded, and his right eye glowed brightly, and then Maria went speechless. She saw everything Liz had seen and experienced. Future Max and what Liz did in order to save the world, the hurt that she felt when everyone except Alex and Kyle had avoided her, the sudden jolts of pain, the doctors office and finding out that she was terminally ill from leukemia and how little chance of survival she had; her father telling her to get out, Nancy telling her that she would always be her mother, no matter what, and then the knowledge that she was adopted. Liz going to Alex, and they both trading secrets about their true selves. Alex suggesting that they go to his uncle, who could help her in finding a cure. Alex doubted that Maria wanted to see Liz going to Michael, so he avoided that particular memory and then showed Maria how Liz felt when she had practically exploded right in front of Liz's face. The knowledge of all this was enough to send Maria reeling, and there were fresh tears falling. Liz had her eyes closed, willing the tears to not come...not now. She raised her mental defenses, cutting Alex's telepathic feed to Maria abruptly. Alex winced, but didn't say anything.

"Liz...I...I don't know what to say," Maria stammered. "Other than that I'm really, REALLY sorry."

Liz looked at Maria, and smiled. "Thanks...although I should..." Liz started, but Maria stopped her by grasping her hands.

"No...you DON'T have ANY reason to apologize to ME. And definitely not to the 'Czechs'," Maria said. "Liz...they should apologize to you...just like I did. I mean...Liz, you gave up your happiness to save the world. What could they possibly say to that?"

Liz closed her eyes, few tears finding their way through her lashes. "Yes...I saved the planet...by giving up my own life," she said.

"Don't say that!! You aren't dead yet," Maria insisted, and Alex agreed with that.

Liz shook her head. "I have 8 months to live...and I...I can't go to Max. And even with Alex's uncle's help, the chance of my survival is slim," she said.

"Why do you have to be so damn...noble?" Maria asked, exasperated. "Liz...Chica...what do I have to do to make you understand that it's alright to be the person who everyone wants to help?"

Liz sniffled. "I haven't done anything to earn that kind of attention," she said. Maria shook her head and pulled Liz into a tight hug. She was surprised how different Liz's body felt. It was like...her body was...vibrant somehow. ["Weird...just as weird as her being blue with yellow eyes,"] she thought as quietly as she could, remembering Alex's power to read thoughts. THAT power unnerved her a bit more than what Liz looked like at the moment or how her body felt.

"But you have, Chica, don't you get it? I don't know where any of us would be if it weren't for you. And that is more than enough reason for US to be there for YOU," Maria said, her voice muffled a bit.

Liz tightened the embrace, choking out the words, "Thank you."

Maria pulled away from the hug, and looked into Liz's to the eyes, then to Alex. "So...what do you want me to do? And WHAT is your power anyway?" she asked, raising an eyebrow to Liz.

Liz chuckled a bit. "Shapeshifting, Maria. I think you know what I mean," she said, turning into Maria right in front of her. Maria gasped and looked at Liz in astonishment.

Alex was laughing at Maria's expression. Maria glared at Alex and swatted him to the chest, effectively shutting him up. "Don't laugh at me. It wasn't funny," Maria said. Liz morphed back into her 'normal' form, grinning at Alex.

"Yeah...you wouldn't want me to turn back into Isabel...wearing a VERY tight tube top and skin tight leather pants?" Liz said, arching her eyebrow. Maria turned look at Liz with puzzlement, but then giggled when she saw Alex blushing furiously.

"I REALLY hate being a telepath...we have too vivid an imagination for our own good," Alex grumbled.

Liz coughed, being serious again. "As for what you have to do...nothing much. Just...make sure that Kyle doesn't feel isolated when Alex and I are gone," she said.

Maria nodded. "Well...we aren't THAT close friends...even with the recent developments, but I'll see what I can do," she said.

"You ok, Liz?" Alex asked, but he could already tell that she was.

Liz nodded, smiling. "I am now. And I'm also glad that YOU were wrong about Maria," she said, smirking at Alex.

Alex raised his hands in a 'I surrender' gesture. "Ok...so I was wrong. I accept that," he said.

"Good!" Maria and Liz said at the same time. Then Maria glanced at Liz with a thoughtful expression. "So...you are able to turn into ANYONE?" she asked.

Liz grinned, and morphed into Kyle, much to Maria's surprise...again. "Yes...and in VERY accurate detail," she said.

Maria blinked, and then her eyes widened. "You mean..." she couldn't finish it, but pointed at 'Liz's' groin. 'Liz' smirked and nodded. "Oh my GOD!!" Maria exclaimed. "Does it...work?"

Alex smacked his hand to his forehead, not believing that what he was hearing this. 'Liz' shrugged. "I haven't 'tried'...but if I ever do, I'll let you know. However...it DOES stir a bit whenever I see a good-looking guy," she said with a grin.

Alex started to shake his head, mumbling 'I did NOT hear that' over and over again. Maria burst into laugh. "Oh God, you could pull unbelievable pranks with this power, Liz," she said between gasps of laugh.

Liz, however, didn't laugh. She morphed back to her 'normal' self, thinking. Maria managed to stop herself from laughing, and wondered what Liz was thinking. "What is it, Chica?" she asked.

Liz smiled. "You know, I've been thinking about using my power that way, but I never wanted to do it. It wouldn't be fair. But...Pam has been working rather fervently to spread nasty rumors about me," she said.

Maria snorted, rolling her eyes. She was all too familiar with the rumors Pam Troy had been spreading about Liz, and had been more than happy to get into Pam's face...even if she had been staying away from Liz at the time. "Tell me about it. Latest rumor was that you were pregnant because you slept with Kyle, thanks to that dizzy spell you had yesterday. I quelled that rumor before it even started," she said, her voice laced with distain.

"Trust me...for someone like Pam, it's easy to spread those kind of lies. Especially if she wants to draw people's attention away from herself," Alex said.

Liz's smile turned into a grin, and she morphed into Pam Troy, much to Alex and Maria's surprise. "Would you two help me and get Pam out of the way for the lunch hour?" she asked.

Maria and Alex exchanged glances. "Why?" Maria asked.

"Oh, nothing much...I just want to spend an hour as Pam Troy...and flirting with the chess club," Liz said, her smile widening a bit.

Maria blinked, then grinned as well. "I KNEW you had a mean streak going in there, Chica," she said, laughing.

"If you want to know more details about her...I'll be more than happy to provide them," Alex said, smiling.

"It seems that the 3 musketeers are together again," Liz said to herself.

"Yeah...and our goal for today is to get a REALLY good laugh at Pam Troy's expense," Maria said. And while she was alright with Liz being a mutant...a blue skinned one, but she was over it, there was still some angered emotions lingering towards her mother. However...under the light of what Liz and Alex had said to her...she decided to at least give her mom a chance to explain herself. But if Amy refused...all bets would be off.

TBC...
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Bored to Mundane life
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Post by Bored to Mundane life »

Hi. I hope you all didn't think I had disappeared from the face of the Earth or anything like that. Nope. Just been waiting Josée to finish the beta-work, and guess what, she finally managed to send me betaed text. So the wait is FINALLY over. Hopefully posting part 11 wont take this long. Ok, special thanks to Zevrillion, Ladeia3, Sternbetrachter (x2), polar vixen (x4), pandas2001, Lady_without_a_clue, beeeyaaatch, Ansleyrocks, luvya, angeleyes, LEL, AdemaChic284, Calinia, coracat (x2) and stargrl678. Extra thanks to NScotian from the beta-work, and the reason it took her this long to get back to me with a new part 'cause she was at the hospital, and got out from operation 2 weeks ago. So don't give her any hard time over it.

stargrl678 Thanks from the bump. :)

coracat No, not particularly. Granted, it's an ego boost, but I rarely get THAT much satisfaction from it. *shakes his head* It's just isn't me.

Sternbetracher Believe me, that IS a scary thought. I refraim from voicing my own opinion about the subject for now. And the DeLuca showdown is scheduled to part 12...unfortunately. Hope you enjoy THIS part, though.

Oh, and in other news, this story has won it's SECOND fanfiction award. This story was awarded with 'Best Crossover' award at the 'Polar Attraction Fan Fiction Awards'. I was FLOORED when I found out about it. I wonder how well I fare here...even IF this story is only in one category. But I don't care. Just getting nominated here is good for me. Winning...that's something else.

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Now, since all the niceties are over and done with, let's just cut to the chase and post the LONG overdue part 10. Enjoy!! :D

Title: "Shattered Images"
Author: Bored to Mundane life
Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell or X-Men : Evolution. I'm just borrowing them for this. But if it HAS to be necessary, I promise that I won't damage any of them too badly.
Summary: Things are going from bad to worse. Liz supposedly slept with Kyle, to prevent the the end of the world Future Max told her about. Now no one except Kyle and Alex are talking to her now. If things weren't bad enough already, Liz suddenly gets abnormal pains. When she lost consciousness from a really intense moment of pain, she seeks help from a doctor, and discovers that she's terminally ill. Now Liz must race against time to find the cure, but with little to no allies at disposal, can she survive through this before her time runs out?
Category: Crossover with X-Men : Evolution, with reasonable additions from me.
Pairing: Roswell: Mi/L, Ma/Ma, the rest is CC. X-Men: Remy/Rogue, Scott/Jean, no clue from the rest.
Rating: PG-13, possibly R at some point
Feedback: I don't think I have to tell you how important FB is, now do I?

["*"] indicates thoughts.
-"*"- indicates telepathical communication.

Part 10

Bayville, New York, 1:00 p.m. (10:00 a.m. Roswell), Xavier Institute For Gifted Youngsters, Cerebro chamber

Professor Charles Xavier frowned when he studied the results from his scan. ["This can't be right,"] he thought, and initiated another scan again. A few minutes later, the mutant-tracking device rendered the same result. Nothing. Xavier leaned back in his wheelchair, crossing his fingers underneath his jaw, contemplating this new turn of events. ["Not a single mutant signature in Roswell. Or anywhere else inside a 200 mile radius from the New Mexico desert."]

A *swish* sound brought him out of his thinking, and he turned around to see Hank McCoy, or known as Beast, approach him. He hadn't sensed him, mostly because his attention was completely elsewhere at the moment. "Hank," Xavier said as he turned his attention back to the Cerebro.

Hank 'Beast' McCoy is a mutant who was gifted with superhuman strength allowing him to easily lift at least a ton, as well as enhanced endurance and agility. He also has slightly larger hands and feet because of it. Xavier had approached Hank during his teenage years, soon after his powers had first emerged. Hank had refused the offer, and Xavier had respected that decision. However, Hank McCoy's life started to slip away when he started to suffer from spontaneous bursts of anger. Hank, while physically strong, is also very intelligent man, and had managed to create a technique to keep his rage in check...until then, it stopped working. His body had adapted to the formula due to his frequent use of it, and his bestial rage had started to surface again. When that happened, he approached Xavier and asked for his help in quelling down the beast within, but Xavier had been unable to help him, advising Hank to use his own willpower to control the beast within him. Hank was unable to do it, and tried his technique again...with dramatic results. The beast inside him didn't calm down. Instead, it pushed its way to the surface, driving Hank into fits of rage, attacking Principal Kelly in the process. With the help of the X-Men, Hank had finally gotten his mind under his control, but the damage was already done. While his human mind was now back in control, his body had turned and remained as a gorilla-like beast, with large hands and feet, larger muscles and covered with a bluish gray fur. Now unable to interact normally with the rest of the human society, he became an instructor for the New Mutants at the Institute. Now, however, with the presence of mutants as public knowledge, things had become more troubling than ever, mostly because of the prank calls and vandalism.

Still, even after everything that had happened, like the time he was mistaken for Bigfoot by a group of scientists bent on finding the Beast, resulting into his brief capture, Hank couldn't really say that he abhorred his current life. Yes, there were things he could do without, but at least he could still interact and teach kids, even IF most of the time they were more interested in using their powers to start an all out war among themselves. And...he was still amazed by the sheer size of the spherical room that housed the Cerebro computer.

"Professor," Hank replied, studying the holographic map of New Mexico and the surrounding states. "So...any luck in finding new mutants?" he asked with a crooked smile.

"Yes and no," Xavier replied as he punched some commands. Hank frowned.

"What do you mean?" Hank asked, suddenly very interested. He studied the map again, and saw something strange. While he knew there should be several mutant signatures in New Mexico, there was none where Roswell was located. THAT confused Hank, mostly because he knew that Xavier's nephew lived in the area...and HIS mutant signature should be visible. "Does this have anything to do with the fact that you are unable to locate young Mr. Whitman?"

Xavier nodded. "Yes...and I'm also having trouble finding any other mutant signatures in Roswell's general area," he said, and focused. He had just amplified the power input on Cerebro, but he was still unable to find anything. "This is most unsettling and interesting at the same time."

Hank studied the readings Cerebro had picked up. "Hmmm...could it be that there's a malfunction in Cerebro's system?" Hank asked, still studying the results.

Xavier shook his head, removing the Cerebro headset. "No. If that was the case, I would be unable to locate other mutants, which I AM able to do. However, for some reason, Roswell and several cities near it and the surrounding areas are completely 'blank'...even when I KNOW that there is at least one mutant in the area," he said, his voice weary.

Hank suddenly got worried. "Do you think Magneto might have built a base there?" he asked. Magneto had the technological knowledge to prevent himself and his Acolytes from being picked by Cerebro. Mystique, for whatever reason, was also able to evade Cerebro's scans.

Xavier shook his head. "No. Eric wouldn't risk being located THAT easily. An area that is completely devoid of mutant signatures is not exactly uncommon, but there ARE several faint signatures from latent mutants. However, Roswell, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Amarillo, Lubbock and in between remains completely devoid of ANY mutant activity. However...there is SOMETHING in there that is blocking Cerebro's attempts to locate mutants," he said.

Hank rubbed his furry jaw for a moment. "Do you think this is the reason why you were unable to pick up on young Mr. Whitman's and his friends' mutant signatures?" he asked.

Xavier nodded, now thoughtful. "It would seem so. But that is not what I'm worried about at the moment, Hank," he said, a touch of concern in his voice.

Hank frowned. "Why is that?" he asked.

"Because, we have no way of telling how many active mutants could be located in this area," Xavier said, gesturing the now green sphere that covered Roswell and the whole South-East corner of New Mexico, along with a piece from Texas. "And IF there are other mutants in the area, most of them wouldn't be teenagers."

"You mean there could be adults hiding there as well?" Hank asked, nodding thoughtfully. This was a more serious matter than it first seemed.

"Yes. But...the lack of news regarding incidents, strange events AND property damage are scarce, which could mean that the mutants, how many there are, have been able to keep their presence hidden for some time now," Xavier said.

"But I think the question is...how long are they going to STAY hidden?" Hank said, worried. Even Xavier had to agree that Hank's fears were valid.

A small group of mutants could be dangerous if they didn't know how to control their powers. A small group of adult mutants who ARE in control of their powers are potentially even more dangerous. Xavier's and Hank's fears were valid, but the mutants residing in the Roswell area and near it wanted nothing but peace...even if they had to force themselves to hide their identity.

************************************************************

West Roswell High, 10:47 a.m., Girl's locker Room

Pam Troy got out of the shower, fastening a towel over her chest and midriff while making her way to her locker. She smirked as she opened the locker and proceeded to put her underwear on. She has yet to see 'Little Lizzie Parker' at school today, which, in her book, was a VERY good sign. Although...Maria DeLuca was still around, and she was someone that she really didn't bother to trouble herself with. Besides...no matter how much intimidation power you had, because even Pam had to admit that Maria DeLuca, when pissed off, was VERY dangerous. Her verbal lashings were impressive enough to keep the rest of the 'populars' out of her way. Pam sighed. Maria had the potential for being one of the 'popular' ones, but as the stubborn girl had pointed out, she SO didn't want to be a...how did that praise go...oh yeah, 'A airhead lemming'. Maybe Pam was sugarcoating it, but that had been the gist of it.

["Well, it's not like it's a total loss,"] Pam mused to herself as she put on her skirt. Besides, she had other plans for today. Thanks to the rumors she had been spreading about Liz, she was the main target of the rumor mill in the school, and not in a positive way, even if Maria had been able to subdue some of the rumors. Like most of the girls at West Roswell High, Pam also found Max a VERY handsome. Oh, who was she kidding? There were very few men in her opinion that could compete with Max Evans in her opinion...and NOW she had a chance to make a move on him. There WAS one troubling aspect, though. That little blonde girl that practically attached herself to him from the very first day she enrolled in school. Now, Pam didn't blame the girl for having a good taste, but what she DID NOT like was the girl's flat out refusal of becoming one of the 'inside' group. Instead...the girl was only focusing her attention solely on Max, the ex-insider Isabel and that creepy kid Michael Guerin...even IF the boy had the looks to compete with Max. The rest of the girls definitely got starry-eyed every time they saw his raggedly clothed body at the cafeteria, which Pam personally found hard to believe.

["Well...if 'Tess' or whatever her name is, she is just going to have to back off if she understands what is good for her. *I* want Max Evans...anyone else who gets in my way will suffer,"] Pam thought, smirking as she checked her hair in the mirror. She nodded in approval and closed the locker, adjusting her clothes just a bit. She needed to make a VERY lasting impression on Max, and if she had to show a bit of skin to do it, so be it. Her clothes were mainly consisting of a black skirt, leather boots and a dark blue button up shirt that was just a bit too small for her, but big enough to cover her midriff, showing her belly button. A touch of red lipstick and a bit of blush was added to the mix, and she was ready to go. She reminded herself that she had to come back and change her clothes eventually, or face the wrath of the principal for wearing such a...'risqué' outfit, let alone a possible suspension or detention for the rest of the year...or worse, expelsion. ["Who knows...maybe I can lure Max to the Eraser Room and show him EXACTLY what Parker and that blonde girl obviously can't give him."]

A cough interrupted her thoughts, and she swung around to identify the person who was bothering her. What she saw, though, was a mirror image of herself leaning against a locker, glaring back at her.

"Pam, I knew you were a slut, but to wear something like THAT to school is just plain stupid," Pam's dupe (Liz) sneered, wrinkling her nose, very Pam-like, a show of disgust. To Liz, mimicking that small gesture wasn't that difficult, mostly because Pam always reacted that way whenever Pam saw her.

Pam stared, wide-eyed, at her dupe. Yes, that was definitely a right analogy at this point, even though she was clearly wearing the clothes she had on this morning...and which she was going to change into after lunch, just to make sure to stay at principal's good side. But Pam knew, REALLY knew, that this...copy of her was not HER. "Who the HELL are you?" Pam demanded, glaring at Liz-turned-Pam.

To Pam's surprise, her dupe just smirked. "Oh, just someone who's going to take your place for a while," the dupe said, straightening herself and walking slowly towards Pam. To Pam's shock, her dupe started to change into...something; the hair lengthened and straightened a bit, turning from strawberry blond to blood red, hazel eyes turning yellow and the slightly tanned yet still creamy skin into...light blue. To say Pam was aghast would be an understatement. She was terrified. Pam, for her part, had also noticed that the...creature's body had also changed, along with the face. It was good for Liz that Pam was too afraid to really look at her, or she would have noticed some distinction between the two.

"J-just...stay away from me, y-you...thing," Pam stuttered, taken aback when she realized that she had backed against the lockers, and that the creature was slowly closing in on her. Pam's eyes widened in fear when the creature's yellow eyes flashed from obvious anger. Pam briefly wondered if the...thing in front of her was a mutant. What she saw at the moment was more than enough evidence to back up her estimate, but she was too scared to say anything at the moment.

["Alex, would you PLEASE knock her unconscious before *I* do it with my fist?"] Liz projected, only marginally able to restrain herself from lunging straight for Pam's throat.

-"Will do,"- Alex 'said', and then, Liz saw Pam's eyes roll up and her body slump against the lockers she had leaned herself against in a desperate attempt to keep Liz away from her. Maria jumped in from her hiding place, easing Pam's unconscious form to the floor...and then Maria let her 'slip', causing Pam's body to fall on the floor with a small *thud*. Maria glanced at Liz who had raised an eyebrow for what just happened. Maria just shrugged and smiled innocently. "Sorry...she's just so heavy that she slipped," she said.

Liz rolled her eyes and walked to Pam's prone form, grimacing in disgust. She had hoped that Pam would have dressed herself like she always did; with class, yet with a clear message to the 'unpopular' boys that said 'You can look, losers, but don't even dream about touching me!' Now, however, Pam had definitely dressed for the kill...figuratively speaking, of course. Liz briefly wondered who Pam 'oh so obviously' planned on seducing NOW. "Any idea of who has been in her mind recently, Alex?" Liz said out loud, but at the same time projecting it to Alex, just for Maria's sake.

Maria nodded in agreement. "I'd like to know that too, 'cause I've seen what Pam can cook up with a little make-up and clothes, and the guys ALWAYS end up out of breath for whatever reason," she said, thinking what she said at the same time. She didn't know if Alex could hear their voices, and doubted that he could, so she had to think about it as well.

Confused, both girls blinked when Alex didn't answer them immediately, and exchanged a worried glance. "Alex, are you alright?" Liz asked.

-"Oh, I'm fine...although I REALLY have to consider getting some of those disturbing images of her, Max and the Eraser Room wiped out of my mind as soon as possible. I swear, that girl has WAY too much time to think about such things...but then again, she IS two-timing her current boyfriend as it is...only she NOW plans to play BOTH of them,"- Alex 'said'. Maria stared at Pam for a moment after hearing that, then shuddered from disgust.

"Eew, I knew she was a slut but THAT image just proved me how much I've underestimated her so far," she said.

Liz stared at Pam for a moment, with a thoughtful look in her eyes. Maria knew that look. Liz was thinking something, and Pam had pretty much made sure WHAT she thought about Liz at the moment, which was that Liz was nothing but a mousy little girl who should let dating for 'women' like her. Then Liz smiled, and Maria resisted the urge to shudder. "Alright, since she obviously wants to spend some time in the Eraser room, let's grant her wish. Except...she won't be getting Max there, that's for sure," she said as she morphed into Pam...current clothing included. Maria again blinked when she saw Liz turn into Pam...right down to all the little details. It was mind-boggling. Then she frowned. A thought occurred to her when she saw Liz's hair change.

"Chica, could you turn back to your real self for a moment?" she asked, and Liz blinked, but did as Maria asked.

"What's wrong, Maria? We DO have a tight schedule, you know?" Liz asked, slightly worried that someone might walk in on them, but still confident in Alex's capability to warn them in advance if that happened.

"Your hair," Maria said. Liz blinked in confusion. "Are you able to do ANYTHING with it because of your powers...even IN your normal form?"

Liz swallowed. There was a slight hint of accusation in Maria's voice, and that never bode well for anyone's health. Still, Liz nodded. "Yes...I'm able to do pretty much anything to my hair...even if I'm in my 'normal' form," she said.

Maria nodded slowly, then took a deep breath. "So...you're saying that my work with your hair when you won that blind date from the radio station was REALLY for nothing, 'cause you would have been able to do the same damn thing with just a blink?" she asked, glaring at Liz.

Liz gave Maria a nervous smile. "Actually, more like with a small tilt of my head," she said. To prove her point, she stayed in her real form, but curled her blood red hair. Maria's eyes widened in disbelief. Then she seemed to stay still, her eyes closed. Liz got worried, but then Alex said, -"She's counting to 10...VERY slowly, too."-

Few moments later, Maria opened her eyes and gave Liz a tight smile. "I REALLY wish you had come clean with this before, Chica. 'Cause I would have been more than happy to just suggest a few things, instead of actually dragging you to that hairdresser. Would have saved some money too in the process," she said, but muttered the last sentence. Then she blinked, and raised an eyebrow to Liz. "Now I realize why there was the exact amount of money I paid on your behalf was in my locker the next day."

"I'm really sorry, Maria," Liz said sincerely. Maria waved her off.

"It's cool, Chica. I mean, I really didn't give you a choice in the matter, and since I obviously didn't lose anything in the whole thing, there's no reason for me to get that angry with you," she said, and Liz sighed, relieved. Then Maria gave an 'envious-glare' to Liz. "Now I REALLY wish I had that kind of power."

Liz shook her head and shuddered. "Trust me, you DON'T want my power THAT much. It isn't that easy...not forgetting the obvious disadvantages," she said, gesturing her blue skinned body.

"Ok, point taken, but I still hope I would be able to do that with my hair. Would have saved a LOT of trouble from actually GROWING my hair," Maria said.

-"You ladies DO realize that we're on a tight schedule here?"- Alex's slightly irritated 'voice' resonated in their mind.

"Keep your pants on, Alex. We just cleared up some more air between us," Liz said to Alex, shaking her head in exasperation.

"I swear, the boy has no patience," Maria quipped.

-"I HEARD that, Maria,"- Alex's voice boomed in Maria's head, making her wince. She rubbed her temple a bit. "Not so loud," she said.

Liz sighed, and morphed back into Pam, clothes and all included. Then Maria decided to have another epiphany. "Liz?" she said, getting Liz's, now Pam, attention.

"What is it now?" Liz asked, in a very Pam-like voice, which caused Maria to wince in disgust.

"I was just wondering...I know Pam has a...big...chest area...so...umm...does that mean that you...?" Maria stammered a bit, pointing at Pam's chest, and then at Liz's.

"Yes, Maria, everything in me at the moment is pretty much 100% real. Even IF Pam had gotten a surgery to 'enhance' her breasts, mine would still be very real," Liz said, but her tone clearly said that she didn't want to talk about THAT subject.

This time Maria did make an envious sound. "Damn it, now I REALLY am envious of you, Chica. I pretty much assume that this works the same way as your hair, so that means I SO would have saved myself from the trouble of wearing my aqua bra earlier this year," Maria said, but then got a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Say, why HAVEN'T you given yourself an...'improvement'? You would have been able to get a lot of guys' attention that way."

Liz grimaced. "I SO don't want THAT kind of attention, Maria. And Maria, you DO realize that not just the students would have noticed THAT kind of change in me. Unlike you, who have been able to keep your distance from the teachers, allowing you to wear your 'aqua bra' without a hitch, *I* sure as hell would have been sent straight to the principals office," she said.

Now Maria REALLY smiled. "So you HAVE thought about it. I'm SO proud of you," she gushed, and this time Liz COULDN'T stop herself from blushing.

-"Maria...please stop your train of thought, 'cause I'm very uncomfortable with the mental images you're projecting,"- Alex 'said', discomfort obvious in his 'voice'.

"Wuss," Maria said to herself.

-"Is that a fact?"- Alex's 'voice' asked. -"Ok, how about this to even the score?"-

Maria frowned, but then her eyes widened from shock and she actually screamed, "Good GOD, I did NOT just see that!!! I'm BLIND!!"

"Alex, what did you just do?!" Liz demanded, worried.

-"I just showed her an image of Jim Valenti with her mom...in a very intimate way. Emphasizing the word 'intimate',"- Alex 'said'.

Liz shuddered. "Ok, now I'm sorry that I asked," she said.

"Sheez, it's bad enough that Kyle causes bad images to appear in my head with his comments about his dad and my mom, but THAT was TOO vivid for my taste," Maria said, visibly shaking from revulsion.

-"Actually, that was a memory I picked up from Kyle some time ago,"- Alex 'said', rubbing it in a LOT. Liz could hear the word 'payback' ringing in his 'voice'.

Maria's eyes were now wide from disbelief. "Please, please, PLEASE tell me you're joking, Alex!" she pleaded.

-"Maria, I'm really sorry, but it DOES seem that your mom and Jim are...well, rather active. And it WASN'T a good experience for Kyle either,"- Alex 'said', this time sounding genuinely apologetic. -"Now...we REALLY should hurry up if we want to get the best out of this little 'plan' Liz has conjured up."-

Liz and Maria nodded and they lifted Pam from the floor. They were carrying her by the arms, supporting the unconscious girl with their shoulders. Maria was pretty much muttering 'Eeew' over and over again, and Liz could obviously see that Maria was NOT comfortable with what Alex had made her see. Ok, so they had caused his mind to conjure up a lot of bad images already with their conversation, how could they not expect payback from it? ["Sure works for me,"] Liz thought to herself, this time not projecting her thoughts. ["Are we clear?"] she projected when they reached the door.

-"We are invisible and soundless for the rest of the students, but be careful. I may be able to cloud their sight and hearing, but I CAN'T make us intangible,"- Alex 'said'.

Liz nodded, and they started to make their way to the Eraser Room. To Liz, it was pretty weird to see some of the students lingering at their lockers, yet she KNEW that some of them had glanced in their direction, yet hadn't seen or heard anything to warrant their attention. She didn't dwell on it too long, and they eventually managed to make it to the Eraser Room. Once there, they sat Pam's body on one of the stools and leaned her against the wall in a way that she couldn't fall down.

"Now what?" Maria asked, still visibly shaken from that disturbing image of her mom and Sheriff Valenti doing...she couldn't finish that thought, it was WAY too disturbing. "That was uncalled for," she whispered to Alex.

Alex grimaced. "With the images I NOW have in my head, I'd say we're even," he said. Maria was about to object, but thought better of it. When she and Liz had been talking in the janitors closet, she had heard Alex say that he had a more vivid imagination then any normal human had, so that pretty much meant that his mind had been conjuring images from her and Liz's conversation with more clarity than what she had seen of her mom and Jim. ["Ok...so maybe I had that coming when I called him a 'wuss',"] she thought. She glanced at Alex, and saw that he was giving to her an apologetic smile. Then she felt that disturbing image fade away slightly, but not disappear completely from her mind. She WAS grateful that the details had been clouded a bit. ["Thanks."]

-"Don't mention it. I didn't want to erase it just 'like that',"- Alex said.

Maria nodded, then glanced at Liz, and frowned when she saw that she had opened the top buttons from Pam's blouse. She glanced at Alex briefly, and saw that he had turned his head away. She didn't comment on it, mentally or verbally. Then she frowned when she glanced at Pam again. ["Black silk? Boy, she REALLY was trying to drive Max insane,"] she thought, but then blushed when Alex groaned. ["Sorry."]

-"Just don't do that again, please,"- he pleaded.

["I'll try,"] Maria thought.

"Ok, she's set. Now you two go to the cafeteria and see how many people there are. I'll come in later," Liz said. Maria and Alex nodded and left the Eraser room, but not before Alex had telepathically checked if there was anyone around and made sure that they weren't seen. Now alone with Pam, Liz leaned closer to the unconscious girl.

"You really went all the way when you started all those rumors about me, didn't you, Pam?" Liz whispered, not really expecting an answer. "Well, after today...YOU'RE going to be the hottest topic of West Roswell High's rumor mill, and for a VERY long time."

-"Liz?"- Alex's voice resonated in her mind.

["Yes?"] she answered.

-"The cafeteria is just as you might expect during lunch hour. Our 'alien' friends are also here, but for whatever reason, Max seems to be brooding. Not something I would have expected considering the blowout at yesterday's meeting. Pam's 'friends' are here as well...and I can clearly see both of Pam's 'boyfriends' here,"- he 'said'.

["Ok. Now, Alex, I want you to give me a run down on the most dirtiest secrets between Pam's 'clique' friends and also to show me who's the poor guy who Pam is using behind her boyfriends back,"] Liz projected to Alex, and steeled herself for the very disturbing thoughts inside Pam's mind. She knew Randy Olsen by look, mostly because he and Pam didn't hide the fact that they were an 'item', but if she wanted to toss mud over Pam's reputation, she needed every advantage she got. Pam knew enough details from her life to use it as leverage, now the tables were going to be turned. And then the memories flooded into her mind. These memories, thankfully, were showed from Pam's point of view, and they only gave Liz insight of what was going on in Pam's head at the time, Alex wisely didn't give her any emotional ties with the memories. Not that there weren't much of those to give. Pam had little feelings towards her current boyfriend to begin with, she felt nothing for the guy she used behind her boyfriend's back and her 'friends' backs. They were followers. Lemmings. Nothing more. However, the amount of dirty laundry that Pam had on her friends was something Liz had not counted on. Some of them were even more hurtful to Pam's 'friends' than to Pam herself. However...there was enough other information she could use to take Pam down from the self-proclaimed throne she had placed herself on to lead her posse. All it took was breaking the trust Pam's friends held, mostly 'cause Pam had promised to not reveal anything...for a price, of course. ["Well, payback is a bitch, Pam. And her name is Liz Parker."]

With that thought, and armed with enough information, Liz left the Eraser room and put her plan in motion. After the lunch hour, Pam Troy's reign over West Roswell High would be nothing but a memory. Liz didn't doubt for a minute that Pam would find SOME way of getting at least some of her social status back, but the damage Liz intended to do would be too much for Pam to reclaim her role as a 'leader'.

************************************************************

West Roswell High, 11:06 a.m., the Cafeteria

Isabel Evans sighed as she took a seat at their usual table in the cafeteria. She WAS surprised to be the first one to show up there, but not overly so when she saw Kyle Valenti give a brief glance at her and then seat himself as far away from her as possible. Isabel sighed again. After her 'talk' with Alex, she had lost most of her 'indignant rage' that had been brought forth when her brother, Max, had been hurt by 'Liz and Kyle sleeping together'. Isabel still resented Kyle for it, but she wasn't that quick to jump up and want to strangle him for his stupidity. She was brought out from her thoughts when Michael sat next to her.

"Hey, Iz. Where is everyone?" Michael asked, briefly wondering where Maria had disappeared. Usually she was either chewing his ear off because of Courtney, or just giving him the silent treatment. Michael personally preferred the latter to Maria's verbal lashing, even IF the silence made him feel less than dirt. ["And we just CAN'T ignore the fact that I find Liz very attractive. If Maria was to find THAT out, then she'd probably would kill me on the spot,"] he thought.

Isabel shook her head. "I don't know. I haven't seen Max or Tess since morning, Kyle is sitting as far away from this table as he can, and I haven't caught a glimpse of Maria or Alex since the meeting yesterday," she said. Technically, she wasn't lying, but she HAD seen and talked with Alex after the meeting. She just didn't want to bring it up.

"Well, they better show up soon, 'cause what I have to say can't wait too long," Michael said impatiently. Then he seemed thoughtful, an expression Isabel rarely saw on Michael.

"What is it?" she asked.

Michael shook his head. "I was just thinking about where Liz could be at the moment. She's..." he started, but was shocked when Isabel spoke.

"Dying," Isabel whispered, and noticed Michael's shocked reaction to her statement. "Alex...told me."

"Alex? Alex told you??" Michael asked. Isabel nodded. Michael didn't get a chance to ask anything more when Max and Tess showed up. They took a seat on the opposite side of the table.

"Has either of you seen Liz today?" Max asked, and didn't see, or ignored, the way Tess glared at him. With Max, it was always about Liz, and while Tess WAS worried, being ignored was starting to eat her up inside.

"Nope," Michael said indifferently, even though he was as equally worried about Liz's well-being as Max was. Even IF Max wanted to find out the truth about Liz and Kyle first. Max scowled at Michael, and turned to Isabel, who shook her head. Max sighed.

"Where is she?" he wondered out loud.

"We don't know, Maxwell. Besides, there's something I have to..." Michael started, but stopped short when he saw Maria walk into the cafeteria...and head straight to Kyle. Michael raised an eyebrow. "What is Maria doing?"

Isabel, Max and Tess all turned their attention to Maria, and Max actually bristled when he saw Maria talk with Kyle, who was vehemently shaking his head. Then Kyle's expression turned to a grimace, and he got up and followed Maria, who had her 'success' smile on.

Maria took a seat next to Michael, but still kept her distance. Kyle stood awkwardly, not knowing where to sit...and it wasn't helping that Max was glaring daggers at him. Tess sighed from exasperation and patted the spot next to her. "Sit here," she said, and Kyle did...warily. He still stole worried glances to the alien quartet, expecting them to jump him any moment.

"Oh, don't worry about them, Kyle. They can act all mean, but they can't do anything to you. Not unless they want to get ME pissed at them," Maria said, earning surprised looks from the aliens. Kyle seemed to relax from that statement, but he still seemed ready to bolt.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Max demanded from Maria, who glared at him.

"Like Alex pointed out last night, you're NOT my, or Kyle's, leader. So if you have a problem with us sitting here, feel free to move your overly controlling ass to another table," Maria said, and Isabel actually found herself biting back a laugh, which came out as a snort. Michael seemed to have a hard time hiding his amusement as well. Tess gave a small smile to Kyle, who didn't know whether to run or just keel over and laugh. Max stared at Maria in disbelief, but didn't make any comment. He didn't want to have Maria yelling at him, already feeling sympathetic towards Michael who managed to take Maria's verbal lashings on stride.

"Where IS Alex, anyway?" Tess asked, a bit frightened. The mental kick Alex had given her last night told her clearly that he could do something even more drastic if he was given enough motivation...or if he was provoked.

"He's over there," Maria said, pointing to a spot over her left shoulder. Tess's gaze followed Maria's direction, and sure enough, Alex was sitting at the table near the exit. Tess was shocked when Alex looked STRAIGHT at her for a moment, then turned his attention back to his lunch. It was as if he knew that she SPECIFICALLY was interested on where he was, and Tess suspected that Isabel was slightly hurt that Alex was keeping his distance from them. Then she heard a small gasp, and saw Isabel blush furiously, and there was a hostile look in her eyes when she tried to calm herself down. No one else had noticed it, and Tess frowned. She looked at Alex again, and saw him smiling. Tess shook her head. She didn't need to get herself involved into the 'dance' between Alex and Isabel. She had enough problems as it was.

"Michael, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Isabel asked, trying to get her mind away from Alex wearing nothing but sweatpants. ["That bastard! Did he HAVE to do THAT?!"] she thought angrily...and as much as she hated to admit this, from her embarrassment.

"It's about Courtney," Michael said, and ignored the glare that Maria sent to him.

"Why should we care about your new girlfriend?" Tess asked.

Michael counted to three before answering. "First, Courtney is NOT my girlfriend," he said.

"Sure she isn't, Mikey G," Maria muttered sarcastically.

["Why me?"] Michael thought incredulously, keeping his face impassive. "Two, the reason you should care about this is because she's a Skin," he said. That statement earned the shocked looks he hoped to get, and he gave Tess a smug look. "NOW are you interested about what I have to say?"

"You're absolutely SURE that Courtney is a Skin?" Max asked, his interest now fully peaked. At least it was something to get his mind away from Liz, even if it was temporary.

Michael nodded. "Oh, I'm pretty sure of that, Maxwell. I think it was a dead give-away when part of her skin peeled off," he said.

Maria gave him a sharp look, and demanded, "WHICH part?" Michael seemed slightly uncomfortable for a moment, but he didn't say anything.

"This is bad," Tess said, and the rest of the group, along with Kyle, nodded in agreement. "I mean, first Whittaker, now Courtney. There's no telling who else could be a Skin."

"We have to find her and question her on what she's doing here," Max said, with the 'I'm-the-King' air audible in his voice.

"Yeah, if we can find her," Michael said.

"Well, we DO know where she lives, Michael. We COULD search the place," Maria suggested a bit snidely, but at the moment she didn't care. The fact that Michael wasn't telling her HOW he found out about Courtney being a Skin irked her. ["But...I DO hope that whatever Liz has in store for Pam is amusing,"] she thought, ignoring the argument that started with the Podsters as to how they should approach the situation. Max insisted that they should track Courtney down, where ever she might be hiding. Michael argued that they would have better luck if they would search through her apartment, to which Tess agreed. Isabel, surprisingly, suggested that they should search Whittaker's office as well, but Kyle then pointed out that Liz was no where to be found...which meant that the only way the Podsters were going to get IN to Whittaker's office was way of a breaking-and-entering, and while Jim MIGHT be willing to look the other way, the deputies might not be inclined to do so, and then Jim would have no choice than to arrest them. The argument stopped when they saw Pam Troy (Liz) walk into the cafeteria...wearing clothes that Isabel would label 'seductive'.

"What's her deal NOW?" Isabel wondered out loud, making Maria smile, which earned a confused look from Kyle. ["Since WHEN does Maria remain quiet when Troy shows up? I remember quite vividly all the times she made some 'not-so-nice' comments about her,"] he thought.

Liz, for her part, could feel the stares she was receiving. She knew what most of the stares were about. at least 40 percent of the student body in cafeteria was staring at her with lustful eyes, which wasn't that hard to figure out, judging by the leering looks from the jocks and the wide eyed reaction of the 'non-popular'. 30 percent, which consisted of Pam's 'friends', was looking at her in confusion, obviously, from the fact that Liz was NOT headed towards Max...as Pam had so obviously planned. The rest were just staring at her, not knowing what to make of the situation...even if Liz was sure that at least some of them were staring at her...or Pam's...figure oh-so-obviously. But Liz couldn't give a damn about it at the moment. She was on a mission, and now she had reached the table where the Chess Club was eating their lunch, while watching a chess game between Edward Wilkins and Harry Mendell. Both boys were intelligent, not that bad looking...but definitely lacking in the clothes area, that is if Liz watched them from Pam's point-of-view. ["Well, time for phase 1,"] Liz thought, and she took a seat next to Harry, whose eyes widened in disbelief, along with rest of the table...and pretty much the entire cafeteria, aside from Maria and Alex.

Liz took in Harry's features. Short, strawberry blond hair, brown eyes, average face with a lanky build. He also wore khakis, flannel shirt and a jacket. His backpack was underneath the table. Liz smiled, and asked, "What are you doing?"

"HUH???" Harry, along with every occupant on the table, said. Even the 3 female members of the club were shocked.

Liz resisted the urge to sigh. Instead, she smiled and crossed her legs, showing off enough skin to make Harry blush bright-red. ["Poor guy. He's going to faint at any time,"] Liz thought sympathetically, as she leaned a bit closer to Harry. "I asked what are you two doing?"

"P-pl-playing chess," Edward, a boy with brown, mullet hair with average features and fashionable glasses managed to say. Liz gave the best 'thank-you' smile...the Pam way, making the boy blush double compared to Harry.

Liz then turned to Harry, who was staring at her with disbelief. "Which one of you is winning?" she asked, making her voice drop slightly. Both boys were rendered mute. Anna, a redhead girl, shook her head in disdain and said, "Harry is." ["What the Hell is wrong with them?! Or...what in God's name is wrong with Pam???"] she thought incredulously.

Liz stared at the chessboard for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully. "Whose turn is it?" she asked.

"M-m-mine," Harry stammered.

Liz (as Pam) looked him straight to the eyes, making the poor boy tremble from his nervousness. He, like almost every single guy at school, had fantasized about Pam, but the fact that she was sitting next to HIM...in clothes that leave very little to the imagination. THAT was so out there that he was wondering that if he was dreaming or something.

"Aren't you going to make your move?" Liz asked, causing Harry's eyes to nearly pop out of their sockets, and causing him to sweat a lot. Liz then points the chessboard, and Harry dumbly nods. He starts to move his pawn, only to be stopped short by Liz. "You sure you want to do that?"

That startled Harry, and he dropped the pawn he was about to move under the table. He mentally let out a string of curses for being such a klutz, but he still wonders why Pam is being so...'social' with him. Alex smiled from his vantage point, having heard every syllable from poor Harry's thoughts.

Liz blinked as she stared at the spot on the floor where the pawn was. "You dropped it," she said and started to reach out to it, leaning her body towards Harry's lap, and THIS earned an interesting reaction from everyone. At the E.T. table, Maria burst out laughing when she saw the shocked looks on Pam's clique friends, and she fell from her seat. Michael glanced at her, but then turned his attention back to Harry, whose eyes were staring at his lap where a bundle of hair could be seen. The rest of the Pod Squad was just as shocked. The same scene played out throughout the cafeteria, with some of the students spitting out their drinks from the absurdity of the display. There were few exclamations of outrage, shock and few whoops from some of the guys.

Liz eventually straightened herself and presented the pawn to Harry. "Here you go," she said, only to frown when Harry's eyes rolled over and the poor boy fainted with a loud *thud* sound when he fell to the floor. Liz blinked, then stared at the rest of the Chess Club, seeing that the guys were all frozen in place, but the girls...they were having a hard time digesting what they had seen. Liz shrugged and put Harry's pawn back in the spot it was before Harry dropped it, and then stared at the chessboard intently. Then she smiled, moving the bishop a bit and said, "Checkmate."

Edward blinked, and stared at the board dumbly, only to see that his king was trapped, and that he had no way to get rid of the bishop. He blinked again, and turned to Anna. "Could you slap me? I think I'm dreaming or something," he said.

Anna blinked. But instead of slapping him, she pinched him...HARD. Edward yelped from the pain...blinked again...and fainted.

Liz smiled innocently and stood up, smoothing her skirt a bit and headed towards Pam's 'friends'. ["Phase 1 worked like a charm. Now...to phase 2,"] she thought deviously as she sat next to Brenda, one of Pam's 'closest friend'. Maria had managed to pull herself together by now, and was now staring at the show with a mischievous glint in her eyes...much to the Podsters confusion.

"What in God's name do you think you're doing, Pam?!" Brenda hissed angrily. "I thought you planned on making your move on Evans."

Liz stared at Brenda as frigidly as she could. "Brenda, I could care less what you think I'm doing. But I can assure you, I know EXACTLY what I'm doing, and I don't need you telling me what I can do and I cannot do," she said, and looked to the other members of Pam's posse. They all were exchanging strange looks. ["Good, their opinion of Pam is wavering already,"] Liz thought.

"I knew it. The power finally went to your head," Brenda said in disgust.

"Oh? And you spreading the rumors about Emily having herpes wasn't a desperate attempt to gain power?" Liz questioned, which earned two sharp gasps. One from Brenda, and one from Emily, who was staring at Brenda with as much hatred as she could muster.

"THAT WAS YOU!!!??" Emily screamed, glaring with as much venom at the slightly older girl as she could.

Liz nodded in agreement. "She sure was. She even asked for my approval for it, and I consented...although I seem to have forgotten WHY I did that..." she said thoughtfully, then shrugged, "well, it was funny, but not even nearly as funny as it was when I found out that Grace was sleeping with her friend Janet's boyfriend behind Janet's back."

On a table not too far away, a kid with a letter jacket winced, as two new sharp exclamations were heard. "YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN'T TELL!!!" Grace screamed, and tried to create a good explanation to a very pissed off Janet.

Liz shook her head haughtily, much to Maria's growing amusement. A few snickerings could be heard from some of the non-popular students. "Please. Without me, you wouldn't have been able to keep it as a secret this long," Liz said, and then turned around to address one of the non-populars. "Sarah, isn't it?"

The brunette blinked from confusion, but nodded. "Did you know that Kimberly was the one who spread all those lies about you to your boyfriend, who then broke up with you and hooked up with her?" Liz asked, and Sarah's eyes widened from disbelief, when she stared at Kimberly and David, her ex-boyfriend. Kimberly, for her part, stared at Pam with outrage, while David stared at Kimberly. "Is this true?" he demanded.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO HELPED TO MAKE UP THOSE LIES FOR ME, PAM!!!" Kimberly screamed, ready to pounce on Pam. Liz just shrugged. "So? I did it to get a few laughs...but this is so much more amusing."

Kimberly was shocked, but that was anted up when David broke up with her there and then, and went to Sarah, apologizing for believing anything from Kimberly. Sarah was peeved, sure, but she still smiled when David came back to her. "I KNEW it was Pam behind the scenes the whole time!!!" Maria whooped from her table, scaring the crap out from the Podsters and anyone else near her.

"What has gone into you, Pam?!" Haley, one of the three members in Pam's posse to be left unscratched so far, demanded.

Liz regarded Haley with annoyance. "Is it so hard to figure out? I'm just sick and tired of you losers and I'm tired of keeping your secrets. Besides, I remember quite clearly your infatuation with Elise that you wanted to keep as a secret, for being afraid of how people would look at you," she said, and the whole cafeteria was struck silent by this, even Maria. Elise was shocked to hear this and turned to look at Haley, who was...crying. Haley had dug her nails on the table, painfully.

"Well, as fun as this was, I have to have a talk with my boyfriend," Liz said and made her way towards the table where Randy sat.

"You really were attracted to ME?" Elise asked from Haley, who mutely nodded, crying silently. Elise was struck speechless for a moment, then patted sympathetically Haley's shoulder, getting the distraught girls attention. "I...don't exactly have those kind of feelings to you, Haley, but I WAS freaked out by the way you kept staring at me. You should have told me."

"I...I just couldn't," Haley managed to utter, and finally broke down, crying. Elise shook her head in dismay, and glared at Pam...along with rest of Pam's group. Liz smirked to herself, but turned somber for a minute. ["Phase 2 went better than I thought. Although...I probably shouldn't have brought Haley's crush out like that. But it does seem that Elise isn't that freaked, which is good in my book,"] she thought. ["Well...time for phase 3."]

"Ok, could you explain to me why you suddenly burned every possible bridge with your friends?" Randy asked, a bit apprehensively. At first when he had thought that being Pam's boyfriend would be great, he had no idea how wrong he was. Oh, the sex was great, no doubt about that, but Pam was always so...cold, something he had always suspected. Now, his suspicions were confirmed.

"They were never my friends, Randy. And...there IS something I have to talk to you about," Liz said. THIS was going to be the hardest thing to do, 'cause Liz felt sympathetic towards Randy. He was a nice guy, for a jock, and didn't deserve what Liz was about to bring out. But in her opinion, Randy probably would be better off with Anne, to whom Pam had suspected he had a crush on. She had, not so subtly, snatched him right underneath Anne's nose, so to speak. ["Well, hopefully the two can get together in spite of this,"] Liz thought.

Randy suddenly felt like something BAD was going to happen. He liked Pam, he really did...but it was all physical. That thought made him wonder if it WOULD be so bad if Pam would just break up with him. "Well...what is it?" he asked. Everyone in the whole cafeteria held his or her breath.

"I've been cheating on you," Liz (as Pam) said deadpan, not even a hint of emotion in her voice. ["Damn, I'm TOO good with this impersonation business,"] Liz thought ruefully when she took in Randy's shocked expression.

"What!? WHY!!??" Randy demanded, standing up and glaring at Pam straight in the eyes.

"See, why couldn't you be like that from the start? A bit more aggressive. But no, you had to be the nice guy, not even a hint of a backbone in sight. That's why I slept with John behind your back. At least he wasn't afraid to be a bit more rougher with me," Liz said, inwardly wincing at the pained expression on Randy's face. Then Liz turned to look at John, who looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. Randy might be a nice guy, but he was willing to deck someone if he saw it fit. "Oh, and John...while I admit that sex with you was great, you aren't much of a conversationalist, so...don't expect me to call you...ever."

With that, Liz made her way out of the cafeteria, but not before slipping a piece of paper to Harry, who had regained his consciousness to see 'phase 3' unfold. The paper read, 'Meet me in the Eraser Room as soon as I leave the cafeteria. I have a surprise for you.' When Liz finally walked out of the cafeteria, the whole student body erupted into a cacophony of voices, everyone trying to figure out what had just happened and the worst gossipers leaving to spread what they had heard. Even the Podsters were too busy to figure out what had happened to see Maria and Alex quietly leave the cafeteria, and head outside to the parking lot, where Liz was sitting on a bench, in her 'normal' form and her belongings packed in her backpack.

"Liz, that was UNBELIEVABLE," Maria exclaimed as she sat down next to Liz.

"I know. I just wish I wouldn't have brought up Haley's sexuality out in the open like that," Liz said, a hint of remorse in her voice.

"I'd have to agree with that, but I think it'll be quickly overridden by the Pam's disturbing behavior," Alex said.

Maria nodded in agreement. "Besides, you did some good stuff in the process as well...but I admit without shame that the look on everyone's face when you bent over Harry's lap was priceless," she said, giggling at the memory.

Liz grimaced. "Well, I don't know what their expression was, but I DO know that Harry is FAR from being a small boy," she said, and shuddered. "That tent in his pants was a dead give-away of that fact."

"You're kidding me...right?" Maria asked, her eyes wide. Liz shook her head. "Wow," Maria breathed.

Alex shrugged. "Anyway...do you have any suggestions as to what we do now that you and I are officially out of school?" he asked from Liz.

"I don't know," Liz said.

"Well, *I* know what I'm going to do. I'm going to go and see Pam Troy's face when she finally emerges from the Eraser Room to face those VERY pissed off ex-friends of hers," Maria said, and stood up, only to be startled by a very loud scream from the school.

"DAMN!!" Maria cursed, and started to run back to the school. "She woke up already and I don't have my camera!!!"

Alex and Liz watched her go, slightly bemused. Liz then turned to Alex. "Well, shall we go?" she asked.

Alex shrugged. "Why not? While I admit it would be fun to seeing Pam's face right about now, I would much rather be AWAY from school than IN it at the moment," he said.

Liz nodded and they both started to make their way back to the Whitman household, hoping to kill some time before their ride to Bayville comes. And even if Liz felt slightly bad for hurting Randy and Haley, she felt slightly giddy from the fact that Pam's reputation was now in more shambles than hers was.

TBC...
Last edited by Bored to Mundane life on Thu Feb 12, 2004 11:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Bored to Mundane life
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Post by Bored to Mundane life »

Hi again, my devoted readers. I'm really glad you liked part 10, 'cause I had my reservations from it. But anyway, here's Part 11, and which also means that my other fics are going to be getting updates soon. Special thanks to Ladeia3, Ansleyrocks, polar vixen, beeeyaaatch, pandas2001, Adian, Sternbetrachter, nmcook, creative nickname and Luvya. Extra thanks to NScoatian from beta-work. Now...to FB...

Ladeia3 Glad you liked the part. And here's more.

Ansleyrocks :oops: Um...thanks. I had my own reservations from the humor-bit in the part but...glad you liked it. From what I remember from the show, Maria had this fixation on 'improving' herself...without surgery. Liz's shapeshifting powers would be valuable in that line of thinking. And yea, Pam had it coming from the start.

polar vixen Glad you liked it. :oops: You've missed me? Ok, maybe I was gone a really long time, but I couldn't post anything since I was lacking finished material. That's over and done with now. And here's more, as requested.

beeeyaaatch :D Thanks. Glad you liked my attempt for humor. *raises his brow* And you really wanted that scene to go on forever? Come on, it wasn't THAT good. But then again, you're the reader so you're free to disagree with me as much as you want. And since you loved it, who am I to argue with you.

pandas2001 Glad you approved. Sorry from the long wait, though.

Adian *blink* IS there a 'best Pam Troy revenge scenario' around here? I have yet to see one. Glad you liked it.

Sternbetrachter Hola, Trude.

*innocent smile* I don't know WHAT you're talking about, Trude.

*blink* Gee, it wasn't THAT original. And are you referring to a fic or someone in real life?

Pam may be a ditz, but she isn't THAT dumb. Besides, if *I* would be confronted by someone who looks JUST like me, I would know without a doubt that *I* would be real. Same goes for Pam.

Yes, someone else PROBABLY would have noticed it, but people have the nasty tendency to look at the obvious differences a bit too closely. If Pam would have IGNORED those differences (fat chance of THAT happening), THEN she would have noticed the similarity with Liz. But since she didn't...

Yea, well, Maria couldn't miss an opportunity to mess around with Pam, even if she was unconscious.

Not really.

Hey, you do realize that Maria would have NOT missed a chance to use that kind of power to improve herself. 'Aqua bra' ring a bell?

Really? I tried to stick very 'in-character' with her in this one. Did I succeed?

I'm glad from that. And yes, the musketeers worked so well together. But there's always the question how LONG are they going to stick together...thanks to the feelings between Liz and Michael...which will continue to grow when the time passes.

Keep hoping that. I've yet to get there, and in my minds eye it's not processsing as well as it should be. But then again, I've always managed to get some of my best work done by just writing it.

Ok, you lost me here.

They will. Eventually. And I'm glad you brought this up, because in this case, Liz's stunt did not just hurt Pam. It did get other people hurt as well. Granted, most of them got it coming as well, but as you saw, Hayley and Randy didn't deserve it, nor did Harry and Edward. Usually I see authors showing this type of situation as a good thing for the rest, bad for those who deserve it. It doesn't always work that way. That's something I wanted to point out.

And...here's more.

nmcook A new reader. Glad you like my work. And...it would be 'crossover God', but I really don't deserve THAT title. :oops: And there really is no need to bow.

creative nickname Glad you liked it. And I'm sorry from the long wait, but I only post when my beta clears the fic. Since Josée was stuck at the hospital for a while, she wasn't able to get a look at the parts. Don't go blame her from the long wait, though.

Luvya I aim to please, even if I'm always a bit worried that the part isn't as good as it should be. But I'm happy that you are there to point out how wrong I am.

Title: "Shattered Images"
Author: Bored to Mundane life
Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell or X-Men : Evolution. I'm just borrowing them for this. But if it HAS to be necessary, I promise that I won't damage any of them too badly.
Summary: Things are going from bad to worse. Liz supposedly slept with Kyle, to prevent the the end of the world Future Max told her about. Now no one except Kyle and Alex are talking to her now. If things weren't bad enough already, Liz suddenly gets abnormal pains. When she lost consciousness from a really intense moment of pain, she seeks help from a doctor, and discovers that she's terminally ill. Now Liz must race against time to find the cure, but with little to no allies at disposal, can she survive through this before her time runs out?
Category: Crossover with X-Men : Evolution, with reasonable additions from me.
Pairing: Roswell: Mi/L, Ma/Ma, the rest is CC. X-Men: Remy/Rogue, Scott/Jean, no clue from the rest.
Rating: PG-13, possibly R at some point
Feedback: I don't think I have to tell you how important FB is, now do I?

["*"] indicates thoughts.
-"*"- indicates telepathical communication.

Part 11

Bayville, New York, 7:10 p.m (4:10 p.m Roswell time), Xavier Institute For Gifted Youngsters, The Hangar Bay

Logan scowled as he smoked his cigar near the SR-77 Blackbird, or better known as the 'X-Jet'. And while the X-Jet WAS fast enough to get them in Roswell within 15 minutes, they had to keep low profile about this whole thing, which meant that they would have to land the jet in the desert, and from there head to Roswell with the X-Van. That would take at least 15 to 20 minutes extra, since the landing site had to be further away from the town, AND he had given the kids enough time to finish their homework and do whatever it is that they do before they were good to go. He himself wore faded jeans, boots, white t-shirt, leather jacket and a worn fedora. He exhaled, blowing out some smoke in irritation as he checked his clock. 4:19 p.m. ["They're late. And if I have to go and drag their asses out here, I'm going to be..."] he thought, but his train of thought was interrupted by the *swish* sound from the door. He glanced up and saw Gambit saunter in, that irritating smirk on his face. Gambit had decided to wear something similar as Logan. Jeans that had torn knees, boots, black t-shirt and his favorite trench coat...which was worn and had several cut marks in it. Courtesy of Logan and one of their training sessions.

"Bonjour, Logan," he said, and glanced around. "Remy be de first one to arrive?"

Logan growled a bit, but nodded as he took a drag from his cigar. Remy seemed a bit disappointed, but shrugged it off as he fished out a deck of cards from the interior of his trench coat and started to shuffle them with skill and ease that told from years of experience. He did that for a while, but Logan's glare made him stop. "Quoi?" he asked.

"Where's your image inducer, Gumbo?" Logan asked curtly. Xavier had given Remy an image inducer that would make his 'demon eyes' appear like regular brown eyes, but Remy had refused to even consider wearing it. He had never needed one, and he sure didn't need one now. Xavier HAD argued that it would be for his own protection, but what Remy had said next stopped the small argument. Remy was born with his demonic eyes from birth, and they didn't give him that much trouble from the other kids...or adults. And if he DID, THEY were the ones who got hurt, not him. So the matter was dropped, but Xavier still wished that Remy would reconsider his decision. Apparently, he hadn't.

Remy scowled, as his eyes flashed crimson briefly from anger. "Look, homme. Remy isn't de type to hide behind false faces. He don' need to," he said.

"Believe me, Gumbo, I get that. But this mission is supposed to be low-key, and we don't want to attract any unwanted attention," Logan said, taking another drag from his cigar.

Remy sighed. "D'Accord. Remy be wearin' sunglasses, but dat's as far as he goes, bien?" he said, and Logan shrugged indifferently. As long as Cajun didn't show people WHAT he was, Logan would be happy. Another *swish* sound was heard, and Rogue walked in, the ever-present scowl on her face. In a way, Rogue could be equally anti-social as Logan was, but her reasons were a bit more drastic than his. Rogue's power was absorbing the life-energy, and a person's physical attributes as well as their memories. In the case of mutants, she also absorbed their powers for a short while. What was really tragic about her abilities was that she had no control over it, which forced her to keep others at arms' length all the time. That was something she had Irene, her foster mother to thank for. Irene had told her that she had a skin condition, and had asked her to wear clothes that didn't leave that much of her skin bare. Well, in a way, Irene had been right...even if it was before her powers manifested. But what really bothered Rogue was that Irene had been doing some kind of work for Mystique...according to the memories she got from that shapeshifter in her first year here. And she hadn't had the chance to talk with Irene to find out why she did that or why she hadn't even told her anything.

She had decided to change her clothes to something more casual; black jeans with torn knees, sneakers, black halter-top, black gloves and purple shirt tied at the front that fell off on her shoulders, revealing skin. She glared at Remy, who was giving her that damnable grin of his. "What're ya staring at, swamp rat?" she demanded.

"Rien," Remy said, still grinning. Rogue shook her head in disgust.

"Where's Half-pint and Elf?" Logan demanded, but before Rogue could answer, a *BAMF* sound was heard, and Kurt was standing near the X-Jet, waving off a few trails of the brimstone smoke that were always present whenever he teleported. Kurt, unlike Remy, had to wear an image inducer to hide his demonic appearance. Most of the time Kurt only wore his X-Man uniform, allowing the image inducer to make it seem like he was wearing normal clothes. This time, however, he had decided to wear normal clothes, which consisted of a light khaki sweater, blue jeans and running shoes...of course, since his feet were...unique when compared to normal people, he had decided to wear the boots that Xavier had given him for his X-Man uniform. His image inducer gave the rest of the world an appearance that told them that he was wearing normal running shoes. Logan raised an eyebrow, 'cause to him, elf seemed a bit...embarrassed.

"Sorry. Ich had a...bad hair day?" Kurt said sheepishly. Remy gave him an exasperated look, but didn't say anything. Rogue sighed and Logan grimaced.

"Well, that just leaves Half-pint to grace us with her presence," Logan said as he ground his cigar in his left hand, the sound of burning flesh making Rogue nauseous. Logan flicked the remains of his cigar away and crossed his arms over his chest, a bit impatient. Remy started shuffling his cards again, much to Rogue's annoyance. Kurt crouched, feeling more comfortable that way. Then, Kitty came through the door, or phased, thanks to her mutant power to turn intangible, running as fast as she could.

"Like, sorry I'm late," she said as she came to a stop, ignoring the stares she got. "I, like, REALLY had to go to the bathroom and..."

"As much as I'd like to hear your story, we're on a schedule here. Now, everyone get on board so we can get BACK here before your curfew," Logan said and boarded the X-Jet. Kurt stared at Kitty for a moment, then teleported inside, a loud *BAMF* signaling his departure. Remy and Rogue got in, with Kitty on their tail. Once they had strapped in, Logan punched several buttons and fired up the X-Jet, gunning through the landing bay and through the waterfall that hid the entrance to the hangar.

"We'll reach New Mexico in...10 minutes," Logan said from the pilot's seat.

"This is, like, so COOL!" Kitty gushed, fidgeting in her seat. "We are going to Roswell."

"So?" Rogue scowled from her seat. "Since when have YA started ta believe in aliens?"

"Hey, it's, like a big Universe out there Rogue," Kitty said as she turned to look at her roommate. "You can't possibly say that humans and us mutants are the only intelligent beings in the vastness of space."

"Ah'm not saying THAT," Rogue said, giving Kitty her patented 'Glare-of-Death'. "Ah'm just saying that it's DUMB ta believe that aliens would be interested in THIS mud ball."

"Gee, I would have ASSUMED that you would be interested since you were locked up in Area 51 and everything," Kitty said, turning away from Rogue.

"Half-pint, I was there too, remember, and I sure as Hell didn't see or smell anything weird there," Logan growled from his seat.

Kitty huffed, but then frowned when she noticed Kurt and Remy staring at her. "What?" she asked.

"Remy has to ask, petite...do y' 'ave a pink fetish?" Remy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by THAT?" Kitty asked, glaring at him. She stared at her clothes. A bright pink halter top, blue jeans with a pink belt, pink framed sunglasses and sandals...with pink straps. Added to that was her pink cardigan.

Remy blinked. "Rien," he muttered and turned away, still shuffling his cards.

Kitty stared at him shuffling his cards for a moment, then asked, "Do YOU, like, have a fetish for cards?" She just raised an eyebrow when Remy glared at her. Rogue snorted, trying to hide her amusement. Kurt didn't say anything...he just stared out from the window, strangely sober considering his care-free attitude.

"Non. Remy just do t'is when he's bored," he said, cutting the deck. He shuffled again and spread out the cards. "Pick a card."

Kitty stared at the cards apprehensively. "They're...not, like, gonna blow up in my face, are they?" she asked.

Remy shook his head. Kitty shrugged and picked a card. Remy de-fanned the cards and flat out said, "Queen o' Hearts."

Kitty blinked. "Wow," she breathed and showed that it really was the Queen of Hearts. "That was impressive." Rogue snorted in disdain.

Remy glanced at Rogue for a moment, then took the Queen of Hearts back from Kitty and gave a kiss to the card, then put her back in the deck. "Why did you do THAT?" Kitty asked.

"She's Remy's lady luck. With her, Remy's been able to get out from a lot o' jams. And Remy ALWAYS saves her for last," he said, continuing to shuffle his cards.

"Why DO you carry cards all the time, anyway?" Kitty asked, genuinely interested. "I mean, you could use something else."

Remy shook his head. "Non, petite. De cards are light, easy to t'row an' dey're easy to hide. Besides, wit' t'ese, Remy be having 52 grenade class explosives tucked away in one petite pocket. And Remy always carries at least 5 decks with him," he said, grinning at Kitty's wide-eyed look.

"We're here," Logan said, and started the landing procedure. They were going to land at least 13 miles away from Roswell, in the most isolated spot in the desert as they could.

"That was, like, fast," Kitty said as she unbuckled herself.

"Time DOES fly quite easily when you talk," Kurt said from his seat. Kitty nodded to that.

After the landing, Logan opened the cargo bay and lowered the ramp, which would allow the X-Van to disembark from the jet with little trouble. Logan was in the driver's seat, Remy was riding shotgun, with Rogue, Kurt and Kitty in the back.

"Do you think we have time to go see the UFO Museum?" Kitty asked as she leaned forward.

"Nope," Logan said, and peeled off the cargo bay, causing Kitty to fall back on the backseat.

************************************************************

Crashdown Café, 4:47 p.m.

Jeff Parker sighed wearily as he wiped the counter. It was a relatively slow day at the café, but it wasn't too busy or slow. Just something he desperately needed, because he had a lot on his mind. It didn't help that Maria was giving him venomous glares every chance she got, along with Michael. Even Alex was giving him nasty looks, and he had arrived only shortly with one of his band friends. What was his name...Chris? Ok, so they knew that he had kicked Liz out of the house, but Jeff doubted that they knew the real reason behind it. But...he was starting to doubt if he HAD made the right decision. He didn't like mutants. He truly didn't. They thought that they were better than them, the common folk. That they could do whatever they wanted without getting caught or punished. Mutants like Magneto got to him. Hell, if he spotted a mutant in his café, he would fetch his shotgun that instant and drive them away. But Liz...his daughter...she is a mutant as well. THAT knowledge was something Jeff had a hard time accepting. And then Nancy packed up and left. Before she did that, she said that Liz wasn't his biological daughter. That was something that he only managed to remember a bit later, thanks to his gigantic hangover after last night's drinking binge. His life was literally falling apart. His mother had died, Liz started showing symptoms of...something, then telling them that she is a mutant. He reacted to the news by kicking her out, even WHEN he knew it was a clear death sentence. Nancy leaving him and then telling him that Liz wasn't his...their daughter.

Jeff shook his head. How did his life get so complicated? How? The door chime interrupted his brooding, and he saw Max and his sister Isabel walk into the café with that small blonde...Tess, in tow. Kyle was with them as well. Jeff frowned when he saw Isabel glare at him, but the others didn't look at him. ["Strange. I would have expected Max to jump me the minute he laid his eyes on me. I was actually hoping he WOULD do that,"] Jeff thought, then continued cleaning the counter...something he had done three times already.

Liz, morphed into Chris, was watching Jeff carefully from the booth she and Alex used. Her father...yes, she still thought of him as her father...looked like Hell, and that was putting it nicely. The rest of the day was spent by preparing to leave Roswell, and Liz had stopped by at the DeLuca's to have a talk with her mother, when Liz had realized that she had completely forgotten her laptop. Liz had reassured her mother that she would be all right, and that she would call and write as much as she could. She then had picked her laptop after her talk with Nancy by sneaking into her room while her father was busy downstairs, and had a little trouble getting out. After that they had put Liz's suitcase, laptop and backpack in Maria's Jetta. Now all she and Alex had to do was to wait for their escort to arrive.

"What's on his mind?" Liz whispered to Alex, as she sipped some of the Cherry Cola she had ordered. The slightly weirded out expression on Maria when she had brought out her order told Liz that her girlfriend had a hard time telling if Liz was here or not. But, taking the form of one of Alex's friend was a good cover in case Max and the others were looking for something suspicious. A complete stranger showing up would definitely attract their attention, but so would the people who were picking her and Alex up.

-"He's...troubled. Confused...and a bit depressed. Other than that and a slight headache...he's fine,"- Alex 'said' to her, but she resisted the urge to nod to the information. Instead, she just projected her acknowledgement. ["How long until our ride is here?"] she 'asked'.

-"Not long,"- Alex 'said'.

Liz glanced at the booth where Max, Isabel, Tess and Kyle were sitting. They were talking about something important...that is if the expression on Max's face was any indication. Liz sighed. Things had been unbelievably hectic with them, even when they were together. And then...that damn message from Max and Isabel's birth mother had broken any dreams she had about them. But she still wanted him, and had thought that she could finally be happy when Future Max had appeared. That had been the last nail in the coffin, which held her last hope for her and Max being together any more. Too much was at stake now, and she knew she had changed the future. But if that was the case, WHY was Max still after her? Yes, Tess was with him, giving him support and love, but he was so...adamant, wanting to know that it was all fake, that the fact that she and Kyle hadn't sleep together. His suspicions were true, but Liz couldn't tell him that. Too many lives were at stake. Not to mention the obvious fact that there was the possibility that he wouldn't accept her if he ever found out that she is a mutant.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the ringing of the door chime, and when she turned to look, she saw five distinct persons make their way to the last free booth. Liz absently took in their appearance. One of them was short, about as tall as her...maybe shorter. He was obviously the adult of the group. Then there was the tall kid with sunglasses and trench coat. He looked handsome...especially when he was grinning devilishly, taking in all the girls in the café, and apparently every girl in the café seemed to take notice of him as well. ["Definitely a flirt."] Liz managed to stifle a un-manly giggle when she saw that Maria and Tess were also looking at him with wide-eyed expression and their mouth wide open. There was another boy as well, but something in him stoke Liz the wrong way. His hair was...indigo colored, and he...slouched, as if he was shy. And his fingers...they seemed to be stuck in a Vulcan salute. ["Weird,"] she thought. Then she took in the girls. One of them definitely seemed odd to her. The girl she was looking at was pale...VERY pale. She also had auburn hair with white streak. The girl also was covered quite well from some reason. Then Liz stared at the other girl...who was wearing FAR too much pink for her taste.

-"That's them,"- Alex 'said' to Liz. She stared at him with wide eyes, not believing him. Then Liz saw something odd. The girl in pink was smiling at Alex, who was smiling also, and probably said something to her telepathically since the girl started to giggle for no apparent reason. The short man, however, was staring at HER, specifically, as if he KNEW that she wasn't who she appeared to be. Liz frowned when the man just turned his attention back to the kids.

Rogue, from her seat, just glared at people who were staring at them. ["Ah swear, Ah'm gonna scream if these yahoo's don't turn their heads away now,"] she thought, but then glared at Remy, who was smiling at one of the girls...and it just HAD to have a hysterical giggling effect on her AND her friends. Thankfully one of the waitresses walked to them...but to Rogue's dismay, even THIS girl had to stare at Remy like he was a celebrity or something.

"Hi, my name is Maria, and I'll be your waitress today," Maria said as she handed out menus to the group. The girl with auburn hair and white streak ignored her completely, which confused Maria a bit.

"Don't take it personally...Maria. Rogue doesn't like to talk wiz strangers," the boy with indigo hair said, and Maria noticed a hint of German accent in his voice.

Maria nodded absently, still staring at the girl who obviously didn't get enough sun. Then she turned to look at the VERY handsome boy, who grinned at her. She couldn't see his eyes, but the rest definitely made up for it to her. She shook her head to clear the slight dizziness. "So...what would you like to order?" she asked.

"Do you have, like, anything else than a salad on the vegetarian menu?" the girl with a lot of pink asked.

"Sorry, but no," Maria said. ["Definitely a valley girl if I ever heard one,"] Maria thought.

"That's ok. I'll just take that and...a Cherry Cola," Kitty said, and Maria wrote it down.

"What about you, handsome?" Maria asked from Remy with a flirtatious smile. She missed a raised eyebrow from Michael.

"Well...Remy be fine with a Pepsi, chère," Remy said, and Maria blushed furiously when he kissed the palm of her hand. There were collective sighs throughout the café from the girls. There were a few growls of disappointment as well.

"I...um...one Pepsi, right," Maria said, struggling to keep her head clear. She turned her attention to the pale girl in the corner, but changed her mind when she saw her glare at her. Maria turned to the boy with the German accent. "How about you?"

"I'll have...three Vill Smiz Burgers, one Trekkie Special with Space Fries, one Alien Blast and a Cherry Cola," the boy said, rendering Maria silent for a moment.

Maria blinked, and then repeated the order. "You must be hungry," she commented under her breath.

Kurt nodded, a goofy grin on his face. "Ja."

"You are ALWAYS hungry, Fuzzy," Kitty said, and Kurt just shrugged. ["Fuzzy?"] Maria thought, then made a face. ["If I'd eat that much, I'd be fat within a week."] She looked at the older man at the corner. "How about you, sir?" she asked.

"Just a beer," he said curtly.

["Gee, anti-social much? He reminds me of Michael...on a BAD day,"] Maria thought as she wrote it down. "I'll be right back with your order," she said and walked away.

"Did ya HAVE ta order THAT much food, Kurt?" Rogue demanded as she kicked him on the shin.

"Ow!" Kurt exclaimed, rubbing his shin. "Hey, I didn't eat zat much at ze Institute. Can you blame me if I have to eat more zan ze rest of you?"

"Will you all be quiet?" Logan growled, silencing them both. "Besides, I think you all noticed Alex by now?"

There were nods from everyone except Remy, who just stared at them weirdly. "Would dis 'ave anyt'ing ta do with petite chatte giggling for no reason?" he asked, and tried to ignore another set of dreamy sighs from the girls in the café.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "I didn't 'giggle' for nothing. He said I looked pretty, and at least he has the courtesy to be polite...unlike some people," she said with a huff.

"Remy sorry he asked," he said dryly.

"Anyway, did you see the guy opposite of him?" Logan asked.

"Ah did. He was also checking us out," Rogue said.

Logan shook his head. "Not a 'he', a 'she'. Guess we spotted our contact already," he said.

"You positive, herr Logan?" Kurt asked, giving a quick look to the boy sitting opposite to Alex.

Logan just tapped his nose. "Elf, the 'kid' has the wrong smell. Too girly to be a real guy," he said.

"So...now what?" Rogue asked.

Logan shrugged. "We wait," he said, leaning back in his seat.

"Logan," Remy suddenly whispered, knowing that the older man could hear him. "Y' did notice dat were being watched?"

Logan nodded slowly, knowing what the Cajun meant. The boy posing as a girl were staring at all five of them, and immediately focused his attention to somewhere else when one of them would look into his way. There was also a group of kids further ahead who were looking at them. Well, one of the blond girls was staring at Remy, but the rest were studying them as well, as if they were a threat or something. ["I've only seen people like us being THAT weary of strangers. Something's up, I can tell,"] Logan thought, then nodded curtly to that waitress who brought their orders. Kurt wasted little time to eat his meal...or inhaling it, much to Maria's shock. Kitty took her time with her salad, while Remy and Logan were just lounging. Well, he was. Remy was giving smiles to every other girl at the café. Rogue just seemed bored out of her skull, glaring at everyone and no one in particular. ["Or tryin' to ignore Cajun's obvious flirtin' with everyone who isn't her,"] he thought.

Then trouble started. Apparently Remy had made one friendly smile too many, because four jocks started to make their way to him. ["Oh, great,"] Logan thought.

"Hey, Frenchie!" one of the jocks with a blonde hair yelled.

"Oui?" Remy said, raising his eyebrow.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" another jock asked, getting right in front of Remy's face.

Remy just feigned ignorance. "What? Remy's jus' bein' friendly," he said.

"Too friendly," Rogue muttered under her breath.

Third jock grabbed Remy by his trench coat and pulled him up. "You think that fake accent of yours is something to be proud of?" he demanded. Remy glared at the jock, although the only hint from that was the furrowing of his eyebrows, thanks to his sunglasses. It was also a good thing he HAD them, since his eyes flashed crimson from anger because of what the jock had said. He was from New Orleans, and while he may not be a full French, he certainly was raised by people WITH French accent. It was something that got stuck with him.

"Hey, now...zere's no need for zat," Kurt said as he stood up. A glare from one of the jocks startled him a bit, but he didn't back down.

"What, we have a German here too? Sieg heil and all that crap?" the jock sneered, and Kurt couldn't help but flinch from the hateful tone. But then his expression darkened. He could deal with people who got scared when they saw his real appearance, but he DIDN'T like people who would treat him like scum just because he was German.

"Sprechen Sie nicht mit mir wie dem," Kurt said with a low voice. If Kurt's image inducer had been turned off, the jocks would have seen Kurt's eyes flash and his fur bristle from anger. It was a good thing that Kurt was able to keep his tail in check, but it was only through great effort. His tail tended to act on Kurt's mood, and now Kurt was angry, thus his tail would either lash out at something or would wound itself around the table or SOMEONE'S leg...and start crushing it. Logan raised an eyebrow to the hostility in Kurt's voice, while Kitty resisted the urge to shudder from fear. Even the jocks were surprised...even if they didn't understand what Kurt had just said.

"Take y' hands off of Remy's coat...or y' be findin' y'self in the emergency room pretty soon," Remy said. He had dealt with more than one thug in his youth, these kids were just another add to the LONG list.

"You think you're something, don't you?" the jock holding him said, and started to pull his fist back, only to be stopped when Jeff Parker walked to them.

"I just called the sheriff. I SUGGEST you stop this right now...or spend the night at jail," Jeff said, and the jock seemed to ponder it for a moment. Long enough to let Remy push the boy off of him. The jock tried to get to him again, but Logan had managed to get past Kurt by now, and was now standing in front of the boy. He, while being smaller when compared to the jock, could still be intimidating enough.

"You only get one chance to drop me, bub. Make it count," he growled. He had to fight off his urge to pop his claws out in the open. And considering that Logan's skeleton was covered with Adamantium, a metal that was virtually indestructible, a fist to the face would hurt the jock a lot more than him.

The jock swallowed, and backed away. "Come on, guys. Let's go," he said, and the four of them left the café, dragging their girlfriends with them. When they got outside, the loud yelling from the girls could be heard quite clearly, much to the amusement of some of the patrons.

Jeff sighed. "I'm sorry about that. It's good that no one was hurt," he said, and Logan nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, well...we better get goin' anyway," Logan said, and Kitty and Rogue stood up and started to make their way outside. Kurt and Remy followed them after a while. Logan gave some money to Jeff. "Keep the change."

Jeff stared at the 50-dollar bill for a moment, then at Logan who already was outside.

-"Let's go,"- Alex 'said' as he stood up. Liz nodded and they both left the café.

************************************************************

Outside

"That went well," Rogue said sarcastically as she leaned against the X-Van. Kurt made a quick glance around him and teleported on top of the X-Van. Rogue and Logan glared at him, and Kurt shrugged, not really seeing a problem since no one saw him. Remy seemed impassive enough, but inwardly he was grinning. While the attention from the jock who had been holding had been distracted, he had managed to steal the money from the jocks wallet with little problem. He WAS a thief, even IF he didn't go around and break into peoples houses anymore. Remy was a bit disappointed that he wouldn't be able to see the jocks face when he would realize that all his money was gone.

"Well, Alex was there. Now all we have to do is wait here," Kitty said, tightening the cardigan around her. It wasn't cold outside, but she still couldn't stop herself from shivering.

"You won't have to wait too long," Alex said as he made his way to them. Kitty smiled and ran to him, nearly toppling him to the ground with the force she impacted on him when she hugged him. "Hey now. No need to give me a concussion," he said with a laugh.

Kitty blushed and pulled back. "Sorry, Alex. It's just...I haven't seen you in a while," she said, a bit sheepishly. Rogue shook her head, exasperated.

"Ya saw him last summer, Kitty. It wasn't THAT long ago," she said. Kitty stuck her tongue at her.

"Hey, dude," Kurt said, waving to Alex from his perch on top of X-Van.

A cough from the boy who had followed Alex brought them back to present. Alex scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry. Um...guys, this is Liz," he said, gesturing the boy.

"Liz?" Remy said, raising a disbelieving eyebrow.

Liz sighed, and morphed to her 'normal' form. She didn't morph back into her real form. Instead, she slowly removed her original morph and before her real form took over, she brought her 'normal' form forth. "Yeah, Liz," she said. She was a bit surprised, and worried, how easily she could do some things with her power. She made a mental note to look into it in the future...if she lived long enough.

"I'm Kitty Pryde," the girl with lot of pink said as she extended her hand. Liz blinked, and shook her hand.

"Ok," Liz said, a bit awkwardly.

"Logan," the man who really was as tall as Liz was said. Liz waved.

"Hallo," the German boy waved on top of the van. "Kurt Vaugner."

"Hi," Liz said, giving a small smile to the boy, who ducked away bashfully. ["I was right...he is shy."]

"Ah'm Rogue," the girl with the white streak said curtly. Liz nodded, wondering why this one was so...hostile.

Then the handsome man stepped in. "Remy LeBeau, at y' service, petite," he said as he kissed the palm of Liz's hand. Then he frowned when he saw Liz's wide-eyed, and shocked, look.

"L-l-leBeau?" Liz uttered in bewilderment.

This reaction hadn't gone unnoticed by the rest of the group, and while Logan was curious, they had to go. "Ok, since we've made the introduction and everything, why don't we go pick up your stuff and be on our way," he said, bringing Liz out of her daze. She nodded, but couldn't stop staring at Remy.

"Already done," Alex announced as he dropped Liz's luggage at the side of the van and started to load it in. "Um...I take it my old stuff at the Institute has gone up in flames?"

Logan scowled. "Pretty much, Blue eye. Not much was left anyway," he said as he put Liz's backpack away.

"Are you talking about the Institute blowing up? It was on the news," Liz asked. ["Why did Mr. Logan call Alex...'Blue eye'? Maybe it's 'cause of the fact that Alex's right eye DOES glow blue,"] Liz thought.

"Yep. But you should hold any questions until we get to the Institute. I'm sure the Professor can answer most of them better than I can," Logan said, and was about to toss the bag that held Liz's laptop in the back, when Liz stopped him.

"That's fragile," she said as she took it away. Logan shrugged, and gestured towards the van. "Take a seat."

Liz nodded and got in the van, marveling at the interior...but at the same time wondering about Remy. ["He said his name is LeBeau. Could he be...related to me?"] she thought as she stared at the back of Remy's head. And throughout the car drive to the X-Jet, Liz kept wondering.

But she wasn't the only one. Remy was also thinking about Liz's weird reaction to his name. ["I don't know de fille. But...she seemed to know me. Or, at least my last name struck home for whatever reason,"] he thought. When he glanced at the back, he saw that the girl was staring at him. Probably had been doing it the whole time now.

Rogue, for her part, kept staring at Liz. She didn't like shapeshifters...or one in particular, but unlike Mystique, this girl didn't rub her the wrong way. She seemed...nice. A bit shy, but not as shy like Kurt. But what disturbed Rogue was the girl's reaction to Remy. ["Ah wonder why she reacted that way,"] she thought.

TBC...

Translations:
- Bonjour = Hello
- Quoi? = What?
- homme = man
- D'Accord = To agree with something
- bien = alright
- Rien = Nothing
- Ich = I
- petite = small (when referring to someone, 'little one')
- chère = darling or precious (something on those flirtatious lines)
- Ja = Yes
- petite chatte = little cat (referring to Kitty)
- herr = mister, or mr
- Oui? = Yes?
- Sprechen Sie nicht mit mir wie dem = Don't talk to me like that (Something like that)

NOTE: Kurt's last name is written 'Wagner', but it is spellt 'Vaugner'. So someone who isn't German would say 'Wagner', but Kurt or another German would say 'Vaugner'. Did I make any sense?
Last edited by Bored to Mundane life on Fri Feb 20, 2004 3:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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