It was a sunny afternoon in summer and I was on the train home from a day wandering the city. Life was fine, not very exciting, but then that isn't always a bad thing, and I was reading a comic. It was the latest of the "Oracle" comics, and I was catching up on what had happened to my best friend recently. Oh, wipe that look off your face. I'm not saying that my best friend was a comic character, but that one of my close friends had been taken by a bunch of "higher beings" and transported to this other universe where all the comics take place, gaining an inch and a half, some curves, an unlimited credit card and the powers of the Delphi Oracle. It is a little easier to believe that I am a lonely little person whose only friend is made up, I admit, but it's the truth, no matter how crazy it sounds, and I thought that I was taking it all very well. The fact that we could still communicate and have conversations bothered me a little, but that's another issue. On the afternoon in question I was thinking of none of these things and was finding out about the different ways that what happens can be twisted from one universe to another via a comic company. I was diligently ignoring all of the other passengers on the train, when sflink, I was somewhere else.
While I have a few odd things happen to me on the train before, they have never had sound effects like that. Nor, strangely, have they involved old looking people in blue. But then the train had never disappeared either so I was pretty much shocked on all counts. Looking around me I saw, well basically space, lots and lots of it. By now I had a fairly good idea about what was going on, and I was not very happy. I set out to prove this by swearing for a little while, which didn't last long, because while our world has good hygiene, it doesn't really have good swear words. I think maybe these two facts are related. It seemed, however, that the Little Invisible Omnipotent Beings, as my friend and I had named them, had researched me quite well, because they didn't seem all that surprised. They waited calmly until I had finished, by which time I had repeated myself about four times. Then one of the announce in solemn tones.
"You have been chosen." And had to wait for me to finish swearing again before continuing.
"You are not making this easy." The one said sternly.
"Good." I wasn't terribly pleased about this. I had a good idea that this would lead to me being dumped in some other universe and how many people would enjoy having that foisted on them? How many of those are actually sane?
"You have been chosen," another started "for your imagination, and your sense of right and wrong."
"Could it also be that I sort of know that this other universe exists, and as such am an easy target? Or perhaps it's that you have made some sort of stuff up, seeing as transporting people isn't exactly good form, and you want me to clean up some mess?" I was rather unhappy about this, and wanted to share my angst around. From the rather annoyed expressions on the faces of the Little Invisible Men, I thought that maybe I was succeeding.
"Just listen to us. Delphi is doing her job well, too well in fact. There appears to be some danger of her losing her moderation." They appeared to have given up on the formal language. "We need someone who will remind her not only of what she was, but how she thought, which was the main reason we picked her in the first place."
"Oh no, there is no way that I'm going to anywhere that Sarah has a serious role in the running of things. I'm loyal to my friends sure, but not suicidal."
"You will be rewarded in a similar manner to your friend." Another pointed out.
"Hah, bribery!" I said, but my heart wasn't in it. I had noticed myself from the snippets that I had picked up from our conversations that she had become inured to the blood that was sometimes spilt around her. For that matter, she seemed to think that death was the best way to solve problems, and my old friend had never thought like that. Meanwhile the Little Invisible Omnipotent Bast 85Beings watched me think all of this out. I gave it one last try.
"But the comics are just made up." Now everyone knew I was giving in, because I hadn't thought of them as imaginary in a long time.
"You will have the power of balance." Intoned what may have been the first, getting into the stride again.
"What the hell is that?" Formality has never been my strong point.
"You will be able to see the truth in people's souls."
"What good and evil, and stuff?"
"Mostly and stuff. If you think about it, you will see the weighting of a persons soul in 2 contrasting factors, be they good and evil, joy and sorrow, amiability and sheer bloody-mindedness." Everyone's a comedian.
"Great, and so just before someone mugs me or fires a cannon at me, I will be able to tell if they've been a good boy or not." I had some ideas about how this other Universe worked, and it was not a tea party, unless you can picture the sort of tea party that Dracula enjoys.
"You will also have power over probability, to change the balance of the laws of chance." They continued. I thought about this. I had always liked the thought of that sort of power, and was about to agree when something occurred to me.
"Just a minute. How well do you know me?" I could swear that one of them was blushing. "I get it, give the girl the chance to manipulate luck and she will never be on time for a train again." This is a point which may require clarification. I have weird luck and the sort of sense of humour which seems to encourage bad luck. If I was in charge of my own luck, breaking mirrors were going to be a big part in my life. Probably the best part.
"All right, I'll do it. But I have a few requests. First I want an unlimited credit card too, and I would like to be a little different looking. 6 inches is not necessary but I would like to be fitter and just for a change, is good hair an option?" We got down to some hard core bargaining. I got a little healing factor, a higher pain tolerance and a nearly photographic memory. I thought for a second about some other things but I figured that if I was in charge of my own luck something would go wrong anyway, so I wouldn't push it. They seemed to be in a bit of a hurry by the time that I was ready to move on. Again the world went SFLINK.
And that was how, in fulfilment of my own prophesy about bad luck, I arrived, fit, credit card, good hair and all in the middle of a Canadian blizzard. In shorts and a t-shirt. This luck thing was going to take me a while to master.
Fighting to keep my footing in the fierce wind I considered another bout of swearing, but I decided in favour of finding some where safe, and above all, warm. Peering around me I noticed a very dim light and set off for it. Six or seven ditches, three fences and a small pond later I arrived at a tumble down barn and threw myself at the door. It opened a few moments later and in a rush I dived at the small fire in the middle of the room, and collapsed in a shivering puddle practically on top of it. Who ever it was that had opened the door closed it again and walked around me, then stood on the other side of the fire and looked at me. I was too busy inspecting myself to see if I had all my digits, and my nose, to pay attention to my companion. Contrarily, now I was out of the wind and snow I felt even colder, and the shaking began in earnest. It felt like my body was trying to shake apart, and all of my concentration was directed at keeping my arms and legs on. Obviously the person whose fire I had collapsed at took pity on me, because a blanket was wrapped around my shoulders and a pair of hands gently removed my sneakers and socks and rubbed my feet. It took for ever to get feeling back, and when I did it hurt. Soon after that I fell asleep and in all that time I didn't get a good look at my saviour and neither of us spoke a word.
It must have been early the next morning when I woke, toasty warm and starving. After counting my blessings, which didn't take all that much time, especially seeing as, after last night, it was hard to tell that I had at any stage had good hair, I officially called myself awake. Then I got up and wandered over to the door and seriously considered opening it. A voice called out from behind me.
"I wouldn't open the door, the snow's probably piled up against it." At this point I decided to find out what my kind if involuntary companion looked like. Sitting up against a long neglected hay bale sat a short, stocky man in a flannel shirt and jeans, his black hair sticking up and what appeared to be a 3 day growth of beard on his face. I didn't even make it to a hay bale before my legs gave way and I thudded to the dirt floor on my butt.
"You're Wolverine." I said weakly, then added "Ow this dirt's hard."
He looked nearly as surprised as I did. But he managed to be threatening with it. "How do you know me?"
I decided that a little first aid was due to myself. I put my head between my knees and took a few deep breaths. I muttered between breaths "I think maybe a formal introduction is needed. I'm Melanie and I'm a stranger around here."
Even Wolverine has a sense of humour sometimes.
"I'm Logan, and curious as to where you're not a stranger."
I looked up and shrugged. "I guess that I am a stranger every where now." Then burst out laughing. "Now I'm speaking in cliches too."
Wolverine obviously came to the conclusion that I wasn't a threat and put another piece of wood on the fire. I was getting back to relatively normal and stood up. "You wouldn't by any chance be able to direct me to the nearest town?" I asked hopefully. The way I figured it if I could get into a town, I would be able to use my credit card to buy some warm clothes and then 85 I didn't know what I would do then.
"There's too much snow for us to get out now. I doubt anybody'll be able to travel far for the next few days." Wolverine informed me. I was sure that he was enjoying himself, then he added. "That gives you plenty of time to explain how you know me." It was going to be a long few days.
I managed to avoid explaining where I knew him from for all of about half an hour. In that time I thought frantically trying to find a way without mentioning comic books, alternate Universes, or really vindictive people who wear blue. I couldn't think of a way to do it.
Naturally after that peaceful half an hour in which we had collected some wood from the more fallen down parts of the barn to feed the fire and carefully looked at what food we had, in his case some tinned stuff and in mine a block of chocolate, a tin of coffee and a lemon from my shopping trip before all this had started, he asked me again.
"How did you know who I am?" Inspiration struck, I would tell the truth, or something similar.
"I have a friend who got really interested in mutants after watching something about them on TV." I started, not explaining that it was a children's cartoon. "Then she began to collect as much information as she could," in the form of comics but he wasn't to know that. "and she gave some of it to me to look at. Naturally the X-men were part of the huge pile of stuff and you being part of the X-Men were mentioned." I was getting into my stride now. "This was years ago, we were at school and then, not long afterwards she turned out to have powers." Aha, I had made it seem like we had been early teens when all this had happened, now I just had to explain how I got here. "I have a feeling that it was something to do with her that made me arrive here so suddenly." It was more than a feeling. "One minute I'm in Australia and the next, sflink, confusion. Then snow, which is a real bugger because I've never seen snow up close and personal like that before, and I don't think that I want to ever again." I looked closely at him, hoping that he would fall for what I had said.
"So what's your friend's name?" He asked, "I might know her."
Argh, now that I wasn't expecting, but I've played this game before, and the one thing you don't do is show any hesitation.
"I wouldn't think so. She was an Aussie too, and keeps a low profile." Just keep talking while you think of a way to answer. I got it. "But then again, her real name is Rachel Daniels and her code name is Myth." Hah, now that was a mixture of several stories Delphi had had going before she was sflinked.
Wolverine shook his head, and I shrugged, not surprised. "She may have changed her name since then, we haven't seen each other in yonks." I added, giving the impression that it had been somewhat longer than a year and a half, and not mentioning that the last time I had heard her voice had been about four days ago. Speaking of which, I thought, I wonder if anyone's told her why I've stopped answering.
"I know that you're lying about somethin', kid." Wolverine said shattering my confidence, "But I figure that most of what you told me was true. So from now you don't lie to me, and I won't do anything drastic." So much for my brilliant acting ability. I guess a movie career is just not going to happen. Figuring that the most diplomatic thing to do now would be to go somewhere else, I wandered off to have a look at the rest of the barn.
I needed some warm clothes - while the blanket was keeping me from freezing now, I couldn't stay in the barn until spring. It was time to try my luck. I though about warm clothes and felt my mind sort of flick, and then... nothing. At least it felt like nothing, and when you have never had a mental power in your life, you are pretty sure to recognise nothing when it happens, or doesn't happen, as the case may be. Sighing I continued around the stalls. I was looking in the last one, when I saw a big garbage bag up the back and sidled up to it, hoping that it didn't contain a dead body or something really gross. I prodded it with my foot, and it gave. I reached out with my hand and opened the top, leaping back just in case. The only thing that emerged from the back was a musty smell, a smell I recognised. Anyone who had ever been in a second hand clothes store would recognise this smell, the smell of old, though clean, discarded clothes. At this point, I leapt out of the stall and hid in the next one, and only peeked out as Wolverine, or Logan as he wanted me to call him, came near.
"Is there a snake or rats or what?" He asked gruffly, with his claws out and looking rather sharp.
"I'm not scared of rats or snakes," I said haughtily, adding in an embarrassingly shaky voice "Could you just check what's in that bag please?"
Suspiciously he ripped the bag open, and out tumbled a big parka and a pair of bright blue ski pants. He grinned. "I was wondering how far we could go with you in those clothes." He said, politely not mentioning the fact that t-shirts and shorts were not generally considered winter gear. "What're the chances of findin' clothes in here? They must have been left by the.." he trailed off, having just noticed that I was heading towards the door and whimpering.
I refused to poke my head out of the blanket for the next hour.
After I had done so, we shared a meal of tinned stew and he had a strong coffee while I had some hot lemon and water. Over the next few days nothing much was said, as we waited until we could leave. We found a pair of broken snow shoes and I mended them as he went to collect some more wood. Then we'd sit around and try to keep warm. In the end we exchanged stories, nice impersonal ones about "This guy I knew once," or "a friend of a friend." You could almost call them companionable days, except for the fact that neither of us ever spoke about anything personal. He did yell at me a few times after I remembered the other part of my ability. What with the boredom factor I bet I know more about Wolverine's soul than he does, you know things like, cat person versus dog person came up, and chocolate versus vanilla. Finally he declared that it was time for us to leave. I was in the jacket and snow shoes before he finished the sentence. Of course he then got the privilege of teaching me how to snow shoe, and I am sure that behind those sunglasses and the scarf he wrapped around his face he was laughing as I stumbled through the snow that day. It took us 12 hours to get to a town. I was seriously afraid that I would never walk again.
Thankfully Wolverine was able to check me into a hotel, and I insisted on paying for at least a room for him as well. The luxury of a warm bath and a proper bed was something that I revelled in, swearing never to leave civilisation again. I had, however, thought of something not so pleasing. I was not stupid enough to think that Wolverine had forgotten that I knew about the X-Men and while I had convinced him that I was not a danger, I didn't want to have to convince the rest of the X-Men of the fact. I had an advantage here, as Wolverine had not seen me at my best. Just imagining what he must think of me caused shudders up my spine. Scared of bags of clothing, stupid enough to be put in a snow storm with no preparation, easily frightened, a klutz, all in all not a complimentary image. Using this I staggered into my room and swore not to move for the next 24 hours. Having said that, I forced myself out of bed the next morning at just after 5 and staggered stiff-legged down to the reception desk. Luckily there was someone on, although they were a little unhappy to have a customer insisting on leaving at that hour. Fortunately, they were tired enough that they accepted my credit card and the bill for my room for one night and Wolverine's for the next four. I then left and caught the next train for anywhere else. I was determined to get as far from Wolverine as possible as soon as possible. Again my luck was with me, and apparently he didn't even come near my room until around three that afternoon, and the night watch at the desk mixed up the papers so that no one at all knew I'd left until I had hit Toronto. I was feeling very lucky.