Categories > Cartoons > X-Men: Evolution > That Stupid School Project
September 6th: The Project
0 reviewsJohn and Marie meet in the park to work out their plan for the project. Instead the taxonomy of trees is discussed.
0Unrated
The grass under the tree was springy and soft. Slightly longer close in to the trunk than the other neatly clipped grass of the park. John’s heavy, black back pack thudded down. It was soon joined by the gangly Australian.
It was just after 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon. The trees had yet to turn color, although Kitty had promised John that they would soon. School had been hell, John had carefully stayed out of Marie’s way in every class, except for English, and he couldn’t help that. On the up side, it meant that he had learned a lot more about his fellow students at the Freak Academy, but John missed hanging out with Marie’s friends.
There was that pragmatic view of life, the simple dynamics of the group, and the strange friendship of its members. All of these things fascinated him. Why, for example, was Pietro, easily the most popular guy in school, hanging out with someone like Todd?
John pulled out his notebook. He looked at the notes he had made, there were a few doodles as well as the spiky handwriting cluttering up those pages. He flipped to a fresh page.
The sun warmed the tree trunk he was leaning against. The bark was rough, which was good because he felt that he was going to fall asleep if he got any more comfortable. There was the sound of young children laughing as they played tag less than 100 feet away. There was the splash of the fountain that greeted people at the entrance to the park.
John realized that his eyes were closed and he snapped them open to look up in to Rogue’s heavily made up face. His English partner was glaring down at him. Today she had gone for that stark black and white look; John was surprised that she wasn’t turning to bursting into flame every time she came into direct sunlight.
“Well, so, you uh, made it sheila. I thought you weren’t going to show,” John grinned up at Rogue, hoping to dissipate the omni-present glare.
“Well, that’s not mah fault. Yah told me ta meet yah undah the big elm tree near the kiddies playground. Yah weren’t there.”
“I am, too! How on Earth can you say that I’m not where I am?” John was indignant.
“’Cause this is a maple tree, dumb ass.”
“Oh,” John had the grace to look embarrassed, “Look, woodsy stuff isn’t my strong point. Let’s just say that it was the fact that I can’t tell a maple tree from a strawberry tree and move on.”
“Strawberries don’t grow on trees,” Rogue was trying not to smile.
“I said let’s move on, didn’t I?” John growled.
Rogue sat down opposite from him. He noticed that she had left a good amount of space between the two of them. He must remember that, she didn’t like being near people. It was a good character insight.
She glanced at John’s notebook. Why did he always have that thing? No, she didn’t want to know. Why should she care about what this stupid Aussie did?
“Have you got any plans for what to do on the project, Marie?” John broke the uncomfortable silence.
“Yeah, Ah do,” Rogue didn’t elaborate.
“And they would be..” John motioned with his hands for her to continue.
“Well, the project is that we are supposed to write a novel or short story about teen years, rahght? So, Ah thought that we could write about life in Bayville only AU stahle, yah know?”
“AU?” John was non-plused.
“Yah have got to get out and around to some sci-fi stuff Johnny. AU, as in Alternate Universe,” Rogue said very slowly, as if talking to an idiot. “Yah know, where everythin’ the same, only different?” Rogue looked over to see the puzzled expression on her partner’s face get replaced by a disappointed one, “Not exactly what yah had in mind, huh?”
“Well, I thought that we could do the whole Bayville thing, only we would follow relationships and stuff,” John was studying the grass at his feet intently.
“Romance,” Rogue choked. She didn’t know if it was from laughter or the thought of having her friends make fun of her for the rest of her life, “Yah can’t be serious Johnny. Mahndless fluff, that’s all it is. Even Miss Perfect Shade of Red Jean Grey doesn’t read that shit.”
“Hey look,” John yelled hotly, “It’s what I like to write, OK? What would you have us do? Space Invaders from the Planet Krypton?” he was blushing angrily.
“Naw,” Rogue snorted, “Ah have no intention of gettin’ sued by DC comics, or whoever it is that owns Superman, for copyright infringement. But Ah do think that we ought tah be doin’ a sci-fi. Those thin’s are fun tah write.
“Mah idea was more along the lines of symbolism. Look, what does every person feel that they are during those teen-aged years? We all feel that we’re freaks at one tahm or another. So, we make our main characters freaks. They have super powahs, and they try tah cope with them, even though they’re plain dangerous. It’s the perfect metaphor for bein’ a teen, we all feel lahk we’re powahless and everythin’s goin’ outta control. For these characters they aren’t powahless, but they are totally outta control, no one will listen to them because their freaks, but as they grow up they master their powahs and thin’s stop bein’ so tense for them. We can use our own friends and enemies as starters for our characters, and work up from there.”
John nodded, “I like the idea of using friends and enemies as characters. It would be fun to get a few people back for everything they’ve done. But I don’t think that anyone should know that these people are freaks for a while. It would add to their tension having to keep it a secret from everyone. Oh, and as to our own characters, I can control the AU version of Rogue, and you can control the AU version of Johnny. That way we don’t make ourselves perfect Mary Sue’s.”
“Fahne bah me. What are Mary Sue’s?”
“Those characters that are perfect in every way. They’ve got everyone falling over them and they get everything handed to them on a silver platter. Honestly sheila, you’ve got to check out romance more often,” John couldn’t resist using a condescending tone.
“Oh, yeah, Ah’ve seen it happen tah some otherwise good stories. So, who should we have do what?”
“Well, I’ve been taking a few notes about the people around here,” John took out his notebook and flipped to a page that had a list of names on it next to some numbers.
Rogue scanned the list. Most of the X-kids were on it. So was one of the football players, a thick set quarterback named Duncan Matthews. There was one of the girls soccer players. Here was one of Kitty’s friends, some weirdo computer nerd who called himself Arcade; he probably played Dungeons and Dragons. Rogue noticed her name next to the number 13, something about that set up seemed a little ironic. After her name was a complete list of all of her friends, as well as a few teachers.
She reluctantly handed the note book back. She would have liked to see what ‘notes’ John had made about her. Or maybe she wouldn’t like to see them; they might be a little too accurate for her liking.
“So, we focus on a few of these people, an’ expand from there, huh? How are we gonna pick them?” Rogue looked at John with a raised eyebrow.
“Uh, I hadn’t really thought that far. Why don’t we just pick a couple of people to do the first chapter on? Let’s see here, we should have maybe five or six characters. Any more and it will get confusing. We could choose them by running our fingers up and down the list with our eyes closed. Whoever we pick will be who we write about.”
“OK, but Ah will be doin’ the pickin’. Yah probably know the whole list by heart an’ what’s the point of having yah eyes closed then?” Rogue shut her eyes and reached out for the notebook with one hand. He passed it to her, being careful to test out his theory about her. As he let the notebook slide into her out stretched hand he carefully brushed her fingers. He noted that she flinched slightly as she felt his contact. Interesting.
The notebook was placed in the grass and Rogue lay on her stomach as John used a highlighter to mark the names that she indicated. Rogue opened her eyes eventually and stared at the names in front of her.
Scott Summers
Jean Grey
Kurt Darkholme
Professor Xavier
Ms. Darkholme
Todd Tolensky
“Hmm, looks lahk what evah we’re gonna be writing is gonna star the X-Kids,” Rogue didn’t look too happy with this.
“Hey, we could always pick again. I mean Jean’s nice and all, but neither she nor Summers are very exciting casting material,” John tried to appease Rogue.
“That’s nahce Johnny, but Ah think that we should stick to what we have here. Ah figure that the Academy is the perfect place for all of the weirdo freaks to hang out. That place is practically a mansion, rahght? So it could be lahk a secret school or somethin’. Hey, look, Ah got guitar lessons in an hour, Ah gotta go. Can yah make a copy of that list for me? I’ll see you at school on Monday,” Rogue jumped up, grabbed her bag and ran off.
It was just after 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon. The trees had yet to turn color, although Kitty had promised John that they would soon. School had been hell, John had carefully stayed out of Marie’s way in every class, except for English, and he couldn’t help that. On the up side, it meant that he had learned a lot more about his fellow students at the Freak Academy, but John missed hanging out with Marie’s friends.
There was that pragmatic view of life, the simple dynamics of the group, and the strange friendship of its members. All of these things fascinated him. Why, for example, was Pietro, easily the most popular guy in school, hanging out with someone like Todd?
John pulled out his notebook. He looked at the notes he had made, there were a few doodles as well as the spiky handwriting cluttering up those pages. He flipped to a fresh page.
The sun warmed the tree trunk he was leaning against. The bark was rough, which was good because he felt that he was going to fall asleep if he got any more comfortable. There was the sound of young children laughing as they played tag less than 100 feet away. There was the splash of the fountain that greeted people at the entrance to the park.
John realized that his eyes were closed and he snapped them open to look up in to Rogue’s heavily made up face. His English partner was glaring down at him. Today she had gone for that stark black and white look; John was surprised that she wasn’t turning to bursting into flame every time she came into direct sunlight.
“Well, so, you uh, made it sheila. I thought you weren’t going to show,” John grinned up at Rogue, hoping to dissipate the omni-present glare.
“Well, that’s not mah fault. Yah told me ta meet yah undah the big elm tree near the kiddies playground. Yah weren’t there.”
“I am, too! How on Earth can you say that I’m not where I am?” John was indignant.
“’Cause this is a maple tree, dumb ass.”
“Oh,” John had the grace to look embarrassed, “Look, woodsy stuff isn’t my strong point. Let’s just say that it was the fact that I can’t tell a maple tree from a strawberry tree and move on.”
“Strawberries don’t grow on trees,” Rogue was trying not to smile.
“I said let’s move on, didn’t I?” John growled.
Rogue sat down opposite from him. He noticed that she had left a good amount of space between the two of them. He must remember that, she didn’t like being near people. It was a good character insight.
She glanced at John’s notebook. Why did he always have that thing? No, she didn’t want to know. Why should she care about what this stupid Aussie did?
“Have you got any plans for what to do on the project, Marie?” John broke the uncomfortable silence.
“Yeah, Ah do,” Rogue didn’t elaborate.
“And they would be..” John motioned with his hands for her to continue.
“Well, the project is that we are supposed to write a novel or short story about teen years, rahght? So, Ah thought that we could write about life in Bayville only AU stahle, yah know?”
“AU?” John was non-plused.
“Yah have got to get out and around to some sci-fi stuff Johnny. AU, as in Alternate Universe,” Rogue said very slowly, as if talking to an idiot. “Yah know, where everythin’ the same, only different?” Rogue looked over to see the puzzled expression on her partner’s face get replaced by a disappointed one, “Not exactly what yah had in mind, huh?”
“Well, I thought that we could do the whole Bayville thing, only we would follow relationships and stuff,” John was studying the grass at his feet intently.
“Romance,” Rogue choked. She didn’t know if it was from laughter or the thought of having her friends make fun of her for the rest of her life, “Yah can’t be serious Johnny. Mahndless fluff, that’s all it is. Even Miss Perfect Shade of Red Jean Grey doesn’t read that shit.”
“Hey look,” John yelled hotly, “It’s what I like to write, OK? What would you have us do? Space Invaders from the Planet Krypton?” he was blushing angrily.
“Naw,” Rogue snorted, “Ah have no intention of gettin’ sued by DC comics, or whoever it is that owns Superman, for copyright infringement. But Ah do think that we ought tah be doin’ a sci-fi. Those thin’s are fun tah write.
“Mah idea was more along the lines of symbolism. Look, what does every person feel that they are during those teen-aged years? We all feel that we’re freaks at one tahm or another. So, we make our main characters freaks. They have super powahs, and they try tah cope with them, even though they’re plain dangerous. It’s the perfect metaphor for bein’ a teen, we all feel lahk we’re powahless and everythin’s goin’ outta control. For these characters they aren’t powahless, but they are totally outta control, no one will listen to them because their freaks, but as they grow up they master their powahs and thin’s stop bein’ so tense for them. We can use our own friends and enemies as starters for our characters, and work up from there.”
John nodded, “I like the idea of using friends and enemies as characters. It would be fun to get a few people back for everything they’ve done. But I don’t think that anyone should know that these people are freaks for a while. It would add to their tension having to keep it a secret from everyone. Oh, and as to our own characters, I can control the AU version of Rogue, and you can control the AU version of Johnny. That way we don’t make ourselves perfect Mary Sue’s.”
“Fahne bah me. What are Mary Sue’s?”
“Those characters that are perfect in every way. They’ve got everyone falling over them and they get everything handed to them on a silver platter. Honestly sheila, you’ve got to check out romance more often,” John couldn’t resist using a condescending tone.
“Oh, yeah, Ah’ve seen it happen tah some otherwise good stories. So, who should we have do what?”
“Well, I’ve been taking a few notes about the people around here,” John took out his notebook and flipped to a page that had a list of names on it next to some numbers.
Rogue scanned the list. Most of the X-kids were on it. So was one of the football players, a thick set quarterback named Duncan Matthews. There was one of the girls soccer players. Here was one of Kitty’s friends, some weirdo computer nerd who called himself Arcade; he probably played Dungeons and Dragons. Rogue noticed her name next to the number 13, something about that set up seemed a little ironic. After her name was a complete list of all of her friends, as well as a few teachers.
She reluctantly handed the note book back. She would have liked to see what ‘notes’ John had made about her. Or maybe she wouldn’t like to see them; they might be a little too accurate for her liking.
“So, we focus on a few of these people, an’ expand from there, huh? How are we gonna pick them?” Rogue looked at John with a raised eyebrow.
“Uh, I hadn’t really thought that far. Why don’t we just pick a couple of people to do the first chapter on? Let’s see here, we should have maybe five or six characters. Any more and it will get confusing. We could choose them by running our fingers up and down the list with our eyes closed. Whoever we pick will be who we write about.”
“OK, but Ah will be doin’ the pickin’. Yah probably know the whole list by heart an’ what’s the point of having yah eyes closed then?” Rogue shut her eyes and reached out for the notebook with one hand. He passed it to her, being careful to test out his theory about her. As he let the notebook slide into her out stretched hand he carefully brushed her fingers. He noted that she flinched slightly as she felt his contact. Interesting.
The notebook was placed in the grass and Rogue lay on her stomach as John used a highlighter to mark the names that she indicated. Rogue opened her eyes eventually and stared at the names in front of her.
Scott Summers
Jean Grey
Kurt Darkholme
Professor Xavier
Ms. Darkholme
Todd Tolensky
“Hmm, looks lahk what evah we’re gonna be writing is gonna star the X-Kids,” Rogue didn’t look too happy with this.
“Hey, we could always pick again. I mean Jean’s nice and all, but neither she nor Summers are very exciting casting material,” John tried to appease Rogue.
“That’s nahce Johnny, but Ah think that we should stick to what we have here. Ah figure that the Academy is the perfect place for all of the weirdo freaks to hang out. That place is practically a mansion, rahght? So it could be lahk a secret school or somethin’. Hey, look, Ah got guitar lessons in an hour, Ah gotta go. Can yah make a copy of that list for me? I’ll see you at school on Monday,” Rogue jumped up, grabbed her bag and ran off.
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