Fan Fiction From Power Pages #50

Katie Power lazily looked through the features section of the newspaper, skimming through the wedding announcements. One couples' picture grabs her attention. "Julie! Come look at this!"
Julie stopped working on her poetry. She came into the living room and looked over the top of the recliner Katie was sitting in. "What is it, Katie bear?"
"Look! Cyclops and Marvel Girl are getting married!"
"Are you sure it's them? Wait...that is them!"
"Let's go see them and say congatchalations!" Exclaimed Katie, brimming with excitement.
"Since they're members of the X-Men again, their wedding will probably be at the New Mutants' old school. Mom and dad are working late again tonight, they won't be home until eight. We can go up there, say hello, and be back in time for them to be home. Let's go over to the school yard and get Jack and Alex. Costume on!"
At the school yard, Alex and Jack had just finished a grueling game of 2-on-2 basketball. "That last shot was pretty smoothe, bro'." said Jack.
"Hey, Alex, Jack!" Katie cried out in a shrill little voice as she and Julie emerged from the alley, having costumed off.
"What's up," asked Jack,"have a hangnail?"
Julie quickly explained to her brothers what she and Katie had found out. Alex and Jack agreed to go along with the other two.
After a 47 minute trip from New York, the Pack arrived at the X-Mansion. As they landed on the roof, the wedding reception was in full swing.
"Cool," said Jack,"they've got a huge cake!"
"Don't get any ideas," barked Julie,"we're just here to wish Marvel Girl and Cyclops good luck, not act like gluttons."
"Ooooo! Is that Artie and Leech?" asked Katie, leaning out over the edge of the roof and accidentally disintegrating part of the gutter.
"Look out, you butthead, you're going to fall!" hissed Jack. He grabbed her collar as she started to fall and was pulled over as well. They landed on top of the wedding cake, splattering Revanche, Professor X, and Bishop who were situated nearby.
The Pack hastily explained everything. They then gave their congratulations to the newlyweds.
"I hope you have a happy and wholesome marriage," said Alex.
"May your life together be long and wondrous!" recited Julie.
"Congratulaions, Cyke, that's one heck of a gal!" said Jack, afterwhich Julie hit him on the arm.
"I hope you have lots of kids that I can be friends with," giggled Katie.
"Thanks to you all," said Cyclops and Jean.
After a hearty banquet and a lot of visiting with old friends, and making new friends, the Pack headed home. "What a beautiful reception," said Julie. "Yeah, and the cake wasn't bad either!" stated Jack.
---

WwhhooOOAAAA!! Alex screamed, or thought he screamed, at least.
Well, you would scream too, if you could, if you were going through what Alex was. Ok, here's a little description to help you understand what all he went through: Imagine yourself sitting on the couch, watching tv and, suddenly, your body is thrust into a dimension of light and color. Yes, that is hard to visualize, isn't it? Well then, try this: You're on a roller coaster going straight down a humongous hill at the speed of light, only minus the roller coaster, minus your body, minus the Earth below, with trillions of electro-magnetic waves as your companions. Pretty scary, huh?
Rebecca? Are we alive?
Yes, Alex. We're 'lectro-magnetic light waves now. I converted our mass to light waves. I'm sorry that I brought you with me, but you grabbed my foot when I transformed. We should be at North Dakota in about two minutes. Why don't you just turn back so we can get the others?
I can't! Somebody's controllin' me...controllin' my powers! That's why I took off an' couldn't stop. Somebody gave me the impulse to get my dog back. I accidentally left Skippy at the Right. The Right! Then they're the ones who're controlling you! Probably through the sensor glasses they gave you. Well, I guess it's just you and me, kiddo, up against the Right's entire organization. I doubt my flight power will be much help, but we'll see. Hey, do you think we've passed Michigan already? There's really no way to tell how much time or distance passes here in the light dimension.
Oh, that's too bad cuz I have this friend who lives in Mattawan, Michigan...but never mind, you don't know him.
Just tell me his name.
Jason Kimble.
Never heard of him.
Anyway, I was just thinking that if I had been carrying Julie and Jack, everyone but Katie could've helped you.
I don't know about that. I'm surprised that I was able to 'port you, because I've only teleported my dog before and even he gets lost sometimes, but I usually find him again. Where does he get lost at?
Somewhere called "Elsewhere". I've never been there, though. Have you?
No, but Molecula has.
Oh, wow! You mean Julie's been to Elsewhere?
No, Katie has. She's Molecula now.
I thought she was Starstreak!
Our powers got mixed around. Now I have Katie's old power and Julie has my old power and Katie's got Julie's old power and Jack still has the gravity power like the last time we saw you.
Wow! That's a really big mess and-- uh-oh!
What?
We're slowing down. We're almost there. Get ready to be blasted into the matter dimension. Whoaaa! (Here's the part where you imagine the roller coaster slowing down at the bottom of the hill.) Suddenly, Alex found himself in a gigantic cornfield. "Where are we?" He asked. "Right up that lonely road and around that bend is The Right's secret organization!" This was a joke, right?

The building of The Right spread out before Alex like a prison, and somewhat like a castle. It loomed above him ominously.
"I guess we should go in," Alex said, his voice wavering slightly.
"Well," Rebecca replied,"I do want to get Skippy back as soon as I can." "Let's go then." Alex said grimly.
Alex was totally unsure of himself. All I can do is fly, he thought. And Rebecca can teleport. Big deal. What I really need is an offensive power like the Destroyer power. Not only that, but I have no idea what we're up against. Who knows what awaits us in there? Maybe even crazies like Carmody. I wonder what kind of sick individual could run a place like this. I wonder. ..
Meanwhile, at the very heart of the organization, Dr. Right and someone else await the arrival of Rebecca and the boy she's brought with her...
"Only one? Only one!" A man ranted.
"I'm sure it's only a mistake, Astin," said Dr. Right soothingly. "Remember, I have complete control over young Rebecca. She is the pawn who has brought you Alex Power, and she is the one who will bring you the rest of Power Pack." "But when? When?!" Asked Filmore W. Astin anxiously. "Very soon, my cousin. Very soon." "But how soon? How soon, dear cousin?" "I said, very soon, you...you--"
"What?"
"Never mind. I was starting to lose my temper. But never fear--Rebecca will bring you Power Pack and you will have your revenge. I promise." "You promise?" "Yes." Said Dr. Right, gritting his teeth. "Really?" "YES!! Now shut up you snivelling idiot!" "Well you don't have to get snotty about it. All I did was ask a question."
Meanwhile, Alex and Rebecca are approaching the building slowly. Rebecca suddenly looks over at Alex with a strange gleam in her eye.
"Rebecca? Rebecca, what's wrong? What's going on?" Rebecca was just standing there, very still, with a slightly pained look on her face.
"I...I don't know, Alex. I feel...weird. Something's...something's happening...to...me..." Rebecca's voice trailed off. Her pupils began to dilate and gleam with a pale green light. Her face took on a stiff, rigid look.
"Rebecca!" He cried, shaking her,"Rebecca, snap out of it!" Rebecca's hands suddenly clenched Alex's arms with inhuman strength. "You will come with me now." Her voice had taken on a metallic, robotic sound.
In a burst of light, they were gone...

Alex found himself standing in a control room, still being gripped by the android-like Lighttrakker. Well, this definitely was the quickest way to get to the bottom of the place, although it might not prove to be the safest.
"Hello, Alex Power," said Dr. Right, stepping forward,"you are cordially invited to attend the death of Power Pack."
"No way!” Alex exclaimed, wrenching free of Rebecca's iron grip and flying into the air. "you're not killing the Accelerator!"
"Idle words. Rebecca, please retrieve our guest."
"Yes, master." Rebecca monotoned, teleporting to Alex and re-gripping him.
"Now that we're all settled down and cozy once more, I'd like you to meet the man who's made this all possible." Astin stepped forward from the shadows,"Hey, kiddo, remember me?"
Alex's mind was suddenly filled with many different images: dolphins, toxic waste, disease, dying, death. "Y-you! " Alex stuttered.
"Yes. I'm the guy whose lawn you and your siblings dumped 3000 tons of toxic waste on. You--"
"But we only did it to save the dolphins! Your toxic waste was killing marine life! We had to teach you a lesson for dumping that stuff into the ocean!"
"Aww...dolphins, shmolphins. Who cares about some overgrown fish? Besides, what you did was much worse than my killing a few fish that probably deserved to die anyway. You caused me to go bankrupt removing all that waste and paying for the damages. Then the local authorities got suspicious and investigated me. They found out what I had been doing and imprisoned me· I spent a few horrible months in that prison and nearly went mad. And all on account of you bratty mutant children!" "But how did you know it was us and how did you find us?" "Oh, it was an INGENIOUS plan. You see, my men who took that last load of toxic waste told me that a group of mutant kids calling themselves Power Pack had caused this. But they had no idea where you lived. Finally, I called my cousin, Dr. Right here, to come bail me out of prison. He did, and he said he would help me track you down using his secret organization. Well, he had no 'Power Pack' on file, so he searched all his files on known mutant kids until he came to one promising file: that of Rebecca Littlehale. She had spoken, on national tv, of a group of mutant kids who had saved her. We had hoped that this was you, but we had no idea of Rebecca's current whereabouts. Sooo...having agents all over the country, we finally traced Rebecca to a small town in Nebraska. It was easy to manipulate her parents into sending her to our 'school', as we called it. First, we caused her powers to go haywire using a special device. Then our agents left a pamphlet about the Right on their doorstep. It was only a matter of time before her parents would finally give in and send her here, which they did. After running some tests, we gave her the sensor glasses, which, unknown to her, can control her mind and her powers. All I had to do was instill within her mind the impulse to escape and find Power Pack, and the trap was set into motion, with Rebecca as the pawn to drag you into our tangled web. But it seems that Rebecca has only succeeded in bringing you. Next time, though, she will not fail." "Just one question, Mr. Mastermind."
"Yes, Alex?" "Why would anyone go to all this trouble?" "Revenge, Alex m'boy. Pure and simple."
(ed's note: this series was supposed to be continued in a series called "The Destruction of the Right!", but Aubrey never wrote it. We all need to write Aubrey and tell him to get on with it, we can't leave Alex and Rebecca in the badguys' clutches forever. Well I could, they're not exactly my favorite Pack characters anyway...)

After Mass-master had deposited her near the heart of the disaster, Energizer had been helping to free people trapped in the debris. After disintegrating a few I-beams and part of a tool shed, she had already built up quite a charge and had to release a power ball after becoming "filled up". Suddenly, her sister's voice rang out in terror:
"Oh no, Jack!" Energizer spun on her heels and saw the construction crane bearing down on her brother's prone form.
"No!" Twin power balls shot from her glowing form and struck the crane, severing the boom just above the base.
The loss of the boom's weight allowed the remnant of Massmaster's density field to shove the vehicle upright before drifting apart. However, this left him barely conscious and unprotected as the boom's leading end flipped over and dropped towards him.
Lightspeed dove after it, trying to bring her brother back to his senses. "Jack! Jack! GET OUT OF--oh darn it!" she said as she turned to the burden in her arms. "Gee! ALEX! SNAP OUT OF IT!!!"
Gee came to just in time, as they met the falling boom. His palms slapped against it, and together, they managed to end its descent...with Lightspeed's feet scant inches above her younger brother's head. His head clearing, Mass-master rolled out of harms way and managed to create a weak field against the boom as it swayed towards the street. The threesome carefully lowered the boom to a safe resting place.
With the danger passed, the children sagged against each other on the ground, drained of strength. Finally, Gee spoke up, "Come on, we have to get up. There's a lot left to do here."
Lightspeed moaned in protest. "But Al--I mean, Gee, we're all exhausted! How can we keep going?"
At that moment, Energizer ran up and joined the impromptu group hug. The instant she touched them, a familiar glow enveloped the four. Suddenly, the three older children felt as if they had just awakened from a long sleep, refreshed in mind and body.
They exchanged puzzled looks, but Gee quickly realized what had happened. "Our healing power! It must have kicked in, just when we needed a boost!"
He looked at Lightspeed and Mass-master, who were flexing their muscles, testing their newfound strength. "Well, come on, guys!" he shouted. "There's no telling how long this will last us, so let's get busy!"
They set to work. Lightspeed funneled the last of the smoke and dust away. The others continued the search for the trapped and injured, with Mass-master's density fields lifting out those too injured to move. Help quickly arrived in the form of police and paramedics, as well as concerned citizens.
Fast on the heels of the ambulances were the local camera crews and reporters.
"Guys, over here!" Gee called, as the first TV camera was setting up. The other children converged on him and followed as he slipped behind the damaged crane. Producing a pencil and paper from the pocket of his costume, he swiftly wrote for notes. "Camera crews and secret identities don't mix," he said, handing a note to each sibling. Into four pockets went the notes, which read: "Masks." "Costumes off!"
"Costumes on!"
A swirling displacement effect wrapped around the foursome. Their costumes shimmered for a moment into their clothes, then back, but now, masks extended from the necks of their costumes to cover their faces to their foreheads.
"Okay, back to work!" Gee said, but as the others left, something out of place caught his eye. Near the gas tank of the crane, a faint light was visible. Moving closer, he saw a digital readout, changing from :22 to :21 as he watched. Just as he realized it was counting down seconds, he got close enough to see the whole object: a small black box, connected by wires to a bundle of red shafts.
"Dynamite. A bomb! IT'S A BOMB!"

Monday, August 5, 1996
Dear Diary,

Last week was our anniversary. I still can't believed Jim remembered. I don't know how many years that it's been that he's forgotten it. Oh, he remembers eventually- usually by the middle of the month.

So when Thursday (the Ist) came and went without any news flashes, I assumed it was business as usual. Then on Friday afternoon, my wonderful husband shows up early from work. He tells the kids that he's got something back at the office that he's been working on that he wants me to come look at. The kids suggest that he take me right then and announce that they'll work on dinner being ready by the time we get back. Julie takes over the salad I'm working on and Jack said he'd watch the oven to see when the meatloaf was done.

I can't believe I didn't get suspicious right then. I mean, when's the last time Jack volunteered to help with ANY part of the diner preparation? I think I may have suspected something but Jim didn't give any nods or winks that let me know when he's up to something. All the way to "Jim's office" he's carrying on and on about the project he was working on-- just like he usually does when I catch a ride with him in the morning. I've gotten so used to shutting him out and finding something to read that I never noticed that it took so long to get to the destination. By the time I finished the article on "Is Your Love-Life All It Should Be?", we were well out of the city. Then I knew something wasn't right.

So I asked Jim where the heck we were. He started off on some splurge about how this new project required remote testing and blah, blah, blah. After listening for a couple miles, I went back to the magazine and let him ramble on. Probably the thing that kept me the most convinced that we were actually going to see Jim's latest project was how he rattled on and on about it. I did, however, wonder what the kids were going to do when we were gone an extra hour on this little mission.

Before I knew it, we were pulling up in front of this huge house. I guess you'd call it a house -- it was enormous. The only houses that big in the city are in parts that I'm not rich enough to even bother driving through. And it was beautiful. There was a peaceful little pond in the back with a mother duck teaching all the little ones how to swim or something. A perfect little wrought-iron fence ran along the front. As a kindly older fellow came out to help Jim with the bags, I noticed the sign that said "Smith House - Bed & Breakfast."

"James Douglas Power! Where on Earth are we?" I yelled. He got this silly grin on his face and said, "Happy Anniversary, Margaret Anne Power." It was the same goofy grin that I saw when he proposed, and the same goofy grin he had at the wedding reception. So I did what I always do when he's got that stupid grin on his face-- I jumped in his arms and made him carry me inside. Mr. Sheffield followed us in with the bags. The Sheffield's bought the Smith House about ten years ago. They had both retired and were ready to move outside the city. They didn't want to become inactive-- just take things a little easier. So they bought this old house and had it restored. They said the bed & breakfast business gives them a chance to keep up on what's going on and still pretty much relax. Mrs. Sheffield already had dinner on the table. It was a huge table -- there were at least 16 chairs around it. She told me that there were two other couples staying the weekend but that they had already eaten and had gone out to take a walk around the pond.

Between bites, I questioned Jim about the arrangements. I assumed he had forgotten something and we would have to call the kids. It seems this thing was Jim's idea, however, the kids did all the planning. They had thought of everything. Alex and Jack had made the reservations. Julie and Katie had packed everything we needed for the weekend. Before Jim would give his approval, they had to show him a "Just In Case" sheet with actions to be taken (and number to call) for every conceivable emergency situation. The only thing he had to do was get off work early on Friday and get me to believe the story about going to see his latest project. And I never had a clue.

You'd have thought Jim was back on our honeymoon again the way he acted Friday night. We sat in front of the fireplace (in our room) and talked about nothing. And he never mentioned anything about work. If he hadn't started talking "shop talk" again, I was going to suggest a visit to the psychiatrist-but he was back to normal once we were back in the city. But not a word of it the whole weekend-- it was heaven. All eight of us ate breakfast together. The other couples seemed nice enough, but I had the most fun just chatting with Harriet (Mrs. Sheffield). She reminds me a lot of my grandmother on my mom's side. She's already convinced Jim that we should come back next year (with a little help from yours truly). She said she'd call us in late July to make sure everything's still "go."

Saturday afternoon, Jim disappeared into the woods while I sat chatting with Harriet. When he returned with a handful of wild flowers, I scolded him for picking them. Harriet said, "nonsense, Maggie, why else do you think the good Lord put them there?" She told Jim where to find a vase and he took them up to our room. Jim talked to the Sheffields and found out about a little Italian place just down the road. We ate dinner there. Candlelight, soft music, great food and an entertaining waiter made it an evening to remember. Still I couldn't help wishing we were eating back at the Smith House. Jim, however, suggested that this would be a terrific time for Mrs. Sheffield to get to talk to somebody besides me. I just gave him "the look." He just giggled. If you ask me, the man hasn't giggled for almost 13 years. It must've been the wine-- it's probably been 13 years for that as well. He was a regular Romeo after that. First we danced in the moonlight by the pond. Then a terrific back rub and a little more wine in front of the fireplace. It was well into morning before we went to sleep.

Mrs. Sheffield had just put breakfast on the table as we wandered into the dining room. I swear that woman has E.S.P.-- either that or the floors are thinner than I thought. The others had finished breakfast "just a little bit ago," she said, and had gone to play golf somewhere. Jim and I ate half our breakfast, grabbed two Sunday papers and returned to our room to read. We both fell asleep reading and woke up sometime around dinner time. The Sheffield's believe clocks just make you have to stay on a schedule so they don't have any in any of the rooms. There's one at the desk where they handle all the paper work for the guests but, other than that, everything just kind of runs on a time all its own. It's so relaxing. After dinner, it was time to pack up and head back home. The Sheffield's seemed genuinely sorry to see us go. I would guess most of their guests are return patrons. After you've been there, you can't help but want to go back. Jim and I talked about the kids on the way home. They grow up so fast. The days fly by and turn into months. Little Katie's turning into a young lady and Alex & Julie will soon be as tall as Jim and It was a terrific weekend. It seemed to last forever while we were there but as soon as it was over it seemed like it was so short. The kids met us at the door. I poured milk for everybody and Jim got out the homemade cinnamon rolls that Mrs. Sheffield had sent home with us. The kids have already written Harriet to thank her for the rolls and to guarantee that we'll be returning next year. I think they enjoyed us being gone just a little too much!

Back to Main