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You can all come out now. This is it. ;)
Dedicated: To Bevy, my twin and the other IRCers. Alphabet Soup 13/13by ALC Punk!"Oh, come on, Alex it sounds like fun.""Lorna, I--" Lorna Dane tossed her long green hair and snorted at her long-time boyfriend. "Scott's already done one." Always pull out your Ace-in-the-hole early was her motto. And it worked, too. A resigned look crossed Alex's features. "All right. But don't expect me to enjoy it." "We can go out for ice cream afterward." Lorna promised, taking his arm and waltzing out of the room. ---- "This looks like a good place to put this letter Y. It's the letter that comes after X and just before Z. I bet Havoc doesn't know what this letter is!" Lorna mused. "Skedaddle... skedaddle... skaddle-UP! I bet you think Havoc does not know what this letter is." Alex frowned and tried not to laugh at the same time. Lorna smirked. "Well, Havoc, do you?" She challenged, her eyebrow raised, eyes sparkling, lips twitching. "No." He sighed. The script was already annoying him. He really, really wished she hadn't been able to talk him into it. "I didn't think so." Lorna looked, if possible, even more smug. "It's very pretty! It starts out with one line at the bottom and splits into two lines at the top." "That's what it looks like. But what is this letter called?" "I do not know." Alex sighed. "Tell me." "Y." "Because I want to know." "Y." "So I can be smart. Please tell me." Alex was beginning to look less than pleased. Not that he'd looked all that pleased before. "I already did!" Protested Lorna, her eyes shining brightly with suppressed laughter. "You did?" "Uh-huh." "Would you tell me again?" Alex fought to get the note of pleading out of his voice. "Y." "Because I did not hear you before." "Y." "I don't know! Maybe my ears are on backwards! How should I know?!" Alex's voice roughened in annoyance. "Havoc, let me give you a little hint." Lorna said placatingly. He took a deep breath. "All right." "This is the letter that you hear at the beginnings of words like Yoda, yonkers, Yakko, and yo-yo." "Hmm... It has a cute little yih-yih sound, but I still do not know what it is called." "Y." Lorna immediately realised her mistake. Alex's face went crimson. "Maybe because NO ONE WILL TELL ME!" He lashed out. "Y!" Desperately sticking to the script, she hoped Val would end the madness soon. "How should I know?! Maybe no one likes me!" "Y!" "I don't know why no one likes me!" Alex cried, his face gone blotchy red and white, tears shining in his eyes. "I try to be so nice. I know I'm not Scott, but I can't help it..." "The answer is Y! Y-Y-Y!" Lorna yelped, finding an end to the madness as Alex continued ranting on his elder brother. "The letter is called Y, like W, X, Y, Z!" Alex took a deep breath and then paused, looking suddenly exceedingly embarrassed. "...That's the letter Y?" he mumbled. "That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Lorna confirmed, nodding slightly abashedly. "... I am sooo embarrassed..." Alex whimpered, then lowered his face into his hands. "Cut!" Valerie Cooper called as she stood up and slowly approached the two. "Alex? Lorna? Thank you..." Lorna nodded abstractedly at her. "Alex?" His shoulders were shaking. Lorna looked up at Val, a bit worried. "Alex, are you--" Val stepped back in surprise at the mirth on Havoc's raised face. "I--*laugh*--deserved that, I think." He laughed a bit more then stopped. His hands swept up and wiped his face and then hair. "There. Much better. Lorna?" He turned to his lover, his eyes twinkling wickedly. "M'dear, you're going to pay." "Will I enjoy it?" She asked, hopefully. Val suppressed a laugh as they exited the room. "Ma'am?" The technician's voice sounded absolutely exhausted and the dark circles under her eyes were even worse. At some point during the long night, she'd downed a gallon of coffee with tons of sugar and creamer. It had made Val nearly gag, but had apparently kept the girl going. "Yes?" "How many more?" The tone of voice said there had *better* be none. "Two." Val winced at the dissapointment in the girl's eyes, then shrugged. "Can you handle that?" "Yeah. As long as they're quiet." ----- "Don't be an ass, Ange.*I* hadda do it." Jubilee snapped her gum and nodded concisely. Then smirked at her teammates' glare. Angelo Espinosa drew again on the cigarette he'd bummed off of Pete Wisdom. "No, chica, I don't." "Yes, you do, Espinosa." The White Queen corrected coolly. "I've already informed Cooper that you, Everett, Artie, Leach and Cassidy will be joining her in the studio shortly." "Now look here, woman, I never said--" Sean began a bit heatedly. "Oh, come now Sean. If they're willing to do it..." Emma gestured at the glowering Angelo, the bored-looking Jono and the semi-bouncy Everett. She raised an eyebrow, elegantly inquiring. "Fine, fine. Daft woman." Sean muttered under his breath. "Come along, lads. Let's find Leach and Artie and head for the studio." "And don't think you're escaping, Mr. Brood." Emma poked Jono as he would have slipped back to his seat in a corner. "You're going, too." {But--} "No excuses." ---- "This ignonimy will *not* befall a daCosta." "What be this 'zap'?" Shatterstar interrupted what was nearly a fierce debate between Cable and Roberto. "Is it close to this 'zoom'?" He looked enquiringly at Cable, the script ruffling in his hands. "You're all going." Domino nodded, smiled and walked off. The men standing there looked at each other, recalled the semi-murderous look in the dark-haired mercenary's eyes and as one began moving meekly towards the studio. ---- "Rhodes." "No." "Yes." "Ah, hell." James Rhodes gave in. But not gracefully. There was just something in the look Tony Stark was giving him that promised something he would NOT enjoy if he didn't go. A moment later, John Walker, US Agent, gave in just as gracelessly. "You owe me, m'man." ---- Val stared around her in surprise. Pete Wisdom had even corralled the purple dragon and Feron. Both of whom were glaring at him in annoyance. Micromax was chatting amiably with Hawkeye about security measures at some company. For some reason, Piotr Rasputin was chatting with the alien, Century. Of course, maybe they *did* have a bit in common. After all, both were alienated from their respective--Val stopped that thought, smacked her brain and decreed a LONG sleep for herself soon. Brian Braddock, Hank McCoy and Henry Pym were chatting softly on--most likely--scientific subjects. There were even MORE men, and some boys, clustered near the microphone area. Most were avoiding it, though the room was small to do that. "All right. Um. Hi. Thanks, guys. I'd like to assign you all your words. And get on with this. Sound checks, soon." Val turned to look in the booth. The tech had gone blank-faced, as if she was fighting semi-hysteria or insanity. Val understood both those feelings. ---- They'd gotten organised. The X-Force boys: Sam, 'Berto, Shatterstar, Cable and Rictor were joined by the Excalibur gentlemen: Brian, Kurt, Feron, Micromax, Douglock, Pete and Piotr. They'd been elected to say "Zoom!" Throughout the script. US Agent, Tony, Kylun, Hawkeye, James, Hank McCoy, Pym, Bishop, Lockheed, Wonder Man, Quicksilver, Ben Grimm, and Century had been given the "Zigzag!" word. The rest of the group, comprised of Scott, Prof X, Alex, Jono, Artie, Leach, Captain America, Angelo, Sean, Gambit, Nate Grey, Warren, J Jonah Jameson (under extreme protest), Reed Richards, Jonny Storm, Jamie Maddrox, Strong Guy and Random were to sing "Zap!". Of course, a few had been chosen to say the opening lines. "What's the letter after Y?" demanded Cable. "Z!" replied Random and Alex, both studiously avoiding the other's eyes. "What's the last letter of the alphabet?" "Z!" "You want to sing a Z song?" "Yeah!" The music began, bouncy a bit triumphant, definitely catchy. The technician had mumbled things about levels, Val recalled as the men started "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..." ing. She doubted that the microphones would be much use after this boisterous session. "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz." "Zoom! Zoom!" Group one yelled. Group two attempted to outdo them. "Zigzag!" "Zap!" Group three boisterously tried to top the others. Shatterstar looked suddenly bereft from Group one, as if the zap were missing in his life. "ZZZZZZZZZZZZ!" "Zoom! Zoom!" Group two belted out, "Zigzag!" "Zoom! Zoom!" Looking triumphant, Cable led his crew in their encore. "Zap!" Group three replied defiantly. Val had debated the idea of making them do the next bit over three times, then had bowed to the technician's better judgement and ordered them all to sing it.
"Zippy! Zippy! Zing! Zing! "ZZZZZZZZZZZZ!" "Zoom! Zoom!" They yodeled. "Zigzag!" Group two yodeled louder. "Zap! Zap!" Again Shatterstar looked morose as Group three sang with gusto. Without him. Group one put their all into it. "Zoom!" "Zang!" Shouted Shatterstar, overcome. "ZONK!" They all replied, shattering something in the electrics of the studio. Sparks showered down on them all and someone hastily opened the door and began ushering people out. Val looked around the studio, abruptly chastened. Men in spandex, tights, overalls and other things were standing around looking puzzled. The sparks had stopped showering down, but worrying fizzles came from some of the equipment. Val stepped around them and headed for the booth. The technician looked up at her dully. "Did you save it? Can it be saved?" "It's all still here." The technician patted the computer. "We'll have to have a small group do the ending and it's done." "All of it?" "Yes." ---- tbc....
Yeah, yeah, 13/13.. But there's an epilogue. ;) © 2000 ALC Punk! |