Pixie

Megan had been here a few times over the past couple of years, hoping that it would feel less sombre, more magical than she had remembered… This was a place that was supposed to be so full of life…

She was amazed Kate managed to capture a little bit of that. Of all that Megan had hoped it could be…

Pixie followed her into the store, skidding to a halt as Kate stopped suddenly.

“Stitch” she answered, a little lost at the whirlwind of this conversation. He was kind of like a misunderstood mutant… He was relatable she guessed. And adorable.

Megan grinned as Kate picked up a pair of purple ears. She chose herself a pair and pulled the headband into place. “What was your favourite ride?” she asked, wondering why in all her trips here, she’d never ventured from further than that one spot in front of the castle… She’d never explored. Maybe all she’d needed was someone to explore with.

Kate smiled at Megan’s answer. “So you like a little chaos,” she asked with a laugh.

She watched Megan place the headband on her head. Kate leaned in to tuck a few hairs the headband missed behind her ear. She then turned the camera back on them and made another cheesy face for another picture.

“Big Thunder Mountain,” Kate answered as she looked through more of the merchandise. She found a Stitch plushie with one of those old slap-bracelets in place of his arms. Kate bent the bracelet part wrapping it around Megan’s upper arm. “It’s a shame we don’t know how to work the rides. My sister and I would wait hours in line just for a couple minutes of pure joy on it.”

She looked around at more of the shop, stopping to look at the bags. She picked up a Meg one for herself. Meg was Kate’s favorite Disney character. She loved her sass and fashion sense. “Which one do you like,” Kate asked Megan. “We should take some stuff back. I’m sure there’s a lot of kids back there that could use the morale boost. Plus, we can probably gather a few snacks for the rest of our exploring.”

She smiled for the camera, almost forgetting that they were the only people here, almost forgetting she'd only just met this girl... For a moment, the world felt right again. And she was in Disneyworld of all places!!

"I wish I could have ridden it... I always wanted to ride Space Mountain" she admitted as they walked the aisles and aisles of merchandise. She came across what she was looking for; Avengers. There was a little boy she'd seen around Haven, his Mum was an Avenger, but she'd never seen him without a Captain Marvel doll that was looking a little worse for wear. Grabbing all the Captain Marvel merchandise she could, she stuffed a carried bag she found on the floor full with it. His Mum, like all the XMen, had risked her life for the world more than once, it was the least she could do.

She rejoined Kate and appreciated her bag, picking out a Stitch one for herself, quickly bypassing the Tinkerbell merchandise.

Kate and Megan

Megan wondered for a moment if Kate would understand why she found this place so disturbing as it was currently… She remembered begging her grandparents to bring her here as a child. Birthdays, Christmas’… But she had never had her chance. 

It had clearly been abandoned as the panic and uncertainty had spread surrounding the zombie plague. There was no one left behind… And it had been left like a  ghost town. 

Kate looked back to her and Megan was surprised at the words that came out of her mouth. She followed as Kate pulled her closer to the iconic castle. She laughed as they came to an abrupt stop. “How are we supposed to pose?” the young girl asked, pulling her pink hair back and looking at Kate with large, black eyes. 

Once they were the perfect distance from the castle, Kate began looking through the discarded bags on the ground. It looked to have been abandoned rather quickly, people dropping souvenirs for a better chance at escape. It didn’t take long for her to find a camera. She tested it out. Amazingly, it still had a third of its battery life remaining. She turned it towards them.

“All the cheesy poses we can think of, of course,” she laughed and began posing, pulling Megan in closer to get them both in the frame.

After quite a few pictures, she grabbed Megan’s hand again and led her into one of the shops on Main Street. “Who is your favorite character,” Kate asked her as the entered the shop. She looked around, hiding the devastation she felt once again at the state of the place. She quickly found the part of the shop she was looking for.

She was amazed Kate managed to capture a little bit of that. Of all that Megan had hoped it could be...

Pixie followed her into the store, skidding to a halt as Kate stopped suddenly.

"Stitch" she answered, a little lost at the whirlwind of this conversation. He was kind of like a misunderstood mutant... He was relatable she guessed. And adorable.

Just Laura, Gabby, Daken, Jimmy, Erista, Amiko, Reine, Avery Connor, Shadowcat, Jubilee, Pixie, Rogue, and Armor going on wild adventures with Logan while he grumbles through several dozen beers.  

Also have Storm, Jean Grey, Spider-Man, Cap, and Molly Hayes show up periodically.

Kate laughed at the idea, though pretty sure she’d rather not hallucinate at all.

When Megan started uttering her spell, Kate closed her eyes and leaned into her. From her experience teleporting with Billy, it was always better to do it with your eyes closed. You only make that mistake once.

Even with her eyes closed, Kate could tell they had finished teleporting by the complete silence. In Haven, there was almost always a general murmuring or buzzing to be heard from people coming in and out. Wherever they were, it was dead silent.

Kate opened her eyes at Megan’s words and looked up at the giant castle looming over them. “The most magical place on Earth,” Kate murmured to no one. It was a slogan that had been drilled into her head from birth. Kate had been to Disney World countless times during holiday growing up. It was easy for her father. He’d let her and her sister run about while he conducted business. Kate loved Disney World; to her it was magic. But seeing it like this struck her hard. And for the first time her brain began processing everything that happened in the last three years. For the first time, Kate felt the full effect of what an apocalypse was. “It looks like even the Most Magical Place on Earth couldn’t withstand Zombie forces.”

Kate gripped Megan’s hand tighter. She needed another moment to process what she saw. Finally, she looked up at Megan, holding a couple tears back. She took a deep breath and smiled. “Maybe it’s our job to return the magic,” she said, tone slowly springing back.

“Come on, I’ve been here a hundred times, I’ll show you what it used to be like,” she laughed, pulling her along. “First stop is always the picture in front of the castle. We have to pose”

Megan wondered for a moment if Kate would understand why she found this place so disturbing as it was currently... She remembered begging her grandparents to bring her here as a child. Birthdays, Christmas’... But she had never had her chance. 

It had clearly been abandoned as the panic and uncertainty had spread surrounding the zombie plague. There was no one left behind... And it had been left like a  ghost town. 

Megan frowned as Ororo agreed with her, she couldn’t imagine how much heartbreak must have overcome the child’s parent at having to leave her out here in the cold and dark… 

Pixie remained stood, eventually moving to hover slightly in the air, keeping watch as Storm crouched to look at the bag. It was dark, but it never seemed to stop the zombies finding them. Especially if the parent or parents of the little girl were nearby… 

Ororo searched through the bag, finding a few spare diapers, a soft blanket, and a fluffy toy bunny with a faded care tag which had the initials HD written on it in permanent marker.

“That must have been terrifying,” she said respecting the woman even more. Kate laughed back. “What’s your idea of a good hallucination,” she asked, curious.

“Yeah, it was pretty disturbing. My best friend kicks multi-dimensional portals, and has led us to some pretty strange places,” she laughed.

“I’ve never been to limbo, but from the sound of it, I’m sorry you ended up there.”

Kate’s head perked up. “See,” she asked. So, it came down to whether she trusted this, basically, stranger not to teleport her off to somewhere that would kill her. Somewhere in her head she heard Clint remind her to trust her instincts. Her instincts weren’t always the greatest. She was too impulsive overall. But she did want to go and her instincts told her she could trust Megan.

“Yeah, I do,” she said, holding out her hand.

Megan shrugged with a grin, “I don’t know. Singing tigers or dancing hippos... Something like that” She wasn’t so sure she could control the finer details of someone’s hallucinations, but unless Kate turned out to be evil, she’d have no need to use her pixie dust.

Pixie smiled as the other girl agreed to come with her. She took her hand and uttered her spell, enveloping the pair of them in a pink light and transporting them across the county. 

They reappeared in the shadow of a large structure. The late afternoon sun low in the sky. Silence, surrounded them, not another person in sight... 

Kate looked over at Megan and smiled. She looked the closest to peaceful as Kate had seen anyone in years. It was a nice change of pace. It almost made her feel like she could put her guard down a little. Around everyone else, she felt the constant need to try to fix and mitigate things. She scrunched her eyebrows. “She stole your soul,” she asked before hesitating. “Did you get it back?”

Kate laughed at the second half of Megan’s statement. “Don’t like her very much? I’d hate to see what someone would have to do to make you hate them.” As Megan told Kate her story, Kate felt the urge to reach out for her hand to show compassion, but caught herself, realizing they’ve probably had enough awkwardness for two people who just met. “Well, then let’s be really glad you’re a mutant,” Kate said unsure of what to actually say. “So if I start seeing psychedelic mushrooms…,” she asked, trailing off jokingly. “There’s not really much to know about me. I don’t have powers or anything. I just shoot arrows, kick ass, and have an unending amount sass,” she said deflecting a little. She was more interested in hearing about Megan’s adventures than talking about all the drama she was surrounded by. “So, do you you teleport out of here a lot? Been anywhere really weird? Or really creepy,” she asked. “I was once in a dimension where everyone was a lobster. That was crazy.”

“Yeah, I did...” Megan smiled, mostly at the sound of concern in Kate’s voice. 

Megan thought back to that day. For some reason, becoming a mutant had never been a big deal to her, it had always just felt natural... She loved being a mutant, even if the world didn’t love her for it. 

She grinned again at Kate’s comment, she clearly had a good sense of humour. “Don’t worry, I'd make sure your hallucinations were interesting than that...” she teased right back. 

Kate turned her head to make sure Megan could see her raise her eyebrow. “Pixie? I’m going to be honest with you here, that’s freakin’ adorable,” she laughed out.

“Oh,” Kate asked, utterly confused at how the woman was going to fly her to safety without grabbing onto to her. But it was clear once her feet were on the roof.

She let go of Megan and took a step back after she realized she held on too long as she got her bearings. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

Kate laughed. “It’s not my first time being teleported,” she said, feigning innuendo. “But, yeah. I was just expecting you to fly me up. Took me by surprise, is all.”

Kate sat back on the ledge. “So, have you always been able to teleport?”

Megan shrugged, “the ears, the wings… X-Men naming is usually based in the literal. Have you met Glob? Dust? Magik..?” 

She bit her lip nervously again as Kate took a seat on the edge of the building again. Maybe people that couldn’t fly shouldn’t sit so close… She moved to sit beside her and swung her legs gently back and forth as they sat under the slowly setting sun. 

“No, I don’t know any of them, but I get your point,” she laughed. “It’s cute though. Did you choose it or did they?”

Kate ran her fingers over the brick of the ledge as she watched the sunset and chatted with Megan. It was nice to feel like she was maybe making a friend after losing so many.

“So, is this Illyana your like mentor or girlfriend or something,” Kate asked. The name seemed to keep coming up and get curiosity got the best of her.

“Oh, That Must have been tough having that adjustment added at such a confusing age,” Kate noted.

"Ilyana..? No. Definitely not. She stole part of my soul. Twice... I don't like her very much" Megan felt too harsh using the word 'hate' about another person.

"Yeah. I was thirteen. A student driver swerved his car and hit my bike... Only I wasn't on the bike when he hit it, I was a few feet above by then. I think I would have died if I hadn't been a mutant" it sounded dramatic, but her bike was underneath the car by the time it had stopped.

The young girl blushed a little as Kate asked a question, "I can actually... It's more of a hallucinogen than anything magical though" she answered, while silently begging her not to call her Tinkerbell.

Kate turned her head to make sure Megan could see her raise her eyebrow. “Pixie? I’m going to be honest with you here, that’s freakin’ adorable,” she laughed out.

“Oh,” Kate asked, utterly confused at how the woman was going to fly her to safety without grabbing onto to her. But it was clear once her feet were on the roof.

She let go of Megan and took a step back after she realized she held on too long as she got her bearings. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

Kate laughed. “It’s not my first time being teleported,” she said, feigning innuendo. “But, yeah. I was just expecting you to fly me up. Took me by surprise, is all.”

Kate sat back on the ledge. “So, have you always been able to teleport?”

Megan shrugged, “the ears, the wings... X-Men naming is usually based in the literal. Have you met Glob? Dust? Magik..?” 

She bit her lip nervously again as Kate took a seat on the edge of the building again. Maybe people that couldn’t fly shouldn’t sit so close... She moved to sit beside her and swung her legs gently back and forth as they sat under the slowly setting sun.