Back to Gatefold#57 by Brad Horton
October 2017 Featuring Neutrina, the Lost X-Man! |
“SAY MY NAME"
Years Ago.
Professor Charles Xavier, adorned with a fedora and sunglasses, thrust the wheels of his manual wheelchair forward on the cobblestone path through the mansion gardens. He wore a dull brown blazer with a pale yellow shirt underneath, neatly completed with a striped black and maroon tie. A plaid blanket also covered his paralyzed legs.
“Neutrina shall be your codename,” he said. “Neutrinos are subatomic particles generated in space that rarely interact with other matter. With your weak force phase-shifting abilities, I think that describes you to an absolute tee, my dear.”
The teenaged girl of Italian and African-American decent nodded excitedly. She was the first ethnic X-Man to be officially recruited and enrolled at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. She wore the traditional gold and blue uniform that was a bit too loose for her. The fabric was actually a lightweight bulletproof canvas-kevlar blend, particularly reinforced under the gold portions.
Her olive skin and jet black hair basked in the late morning sun, “I think that’s perfect, Professor!”
She paused for a moment, causing Professor X to roll ahead of her.
“Wait! Waitwaitwait! Si attende!” she huffed as she ran ahead of him, emphatically stopping with her arms crossed.
“Ah, yes…” Professor said with a smile. “I do apologize. When you were out of my gaze, I forgot for a moment what I was doing out here.”
Neutrina exhaled as she laughed, “Sorry, sometimes I blurt out Italian. Can you…perhaps remind yourself of me, so I don’t get forgotten?” Neutrina asked. “You have one of the most powerful minds on Earth—I was hoping you’d be able to…I don’t know, be immune to my shifting?”
Professor X bowed his head, “I will create a mental subroutine within my own brain to remind myself every hour.”
“Promise?” Neutrina asked nervously as she uncrossed her arms and placed them on her hips. “My mom forgot to get enough groceries to include me. My own mother.”
Charles smiled assuredly, “I promise.”
“Professor!” Cyclops yelled as he rushed up to meet the two. “Sorry to interrupt your private tutoring lesson.” He had a similar gold and blue uniform.
Neutrina pulled her mask over her face and pulled her hair through the tiny slit on the back of the mask. She knew from the tone in Cyclops’ voice that there was a mission beckoning.
Physically, Neutrina was merely average. Where her combat skills lacked, an abundance of confidence swelled from her mutant powers. She was literally untouchable and undetectable to all senses (including telepathy) if she concentrated just enough to shift her atoms into a muonic or “slippery” state, taking advantage of the fundamental weak force of the universe.
Her powers also had an unfortunate and uncontrollable side-effect—if she didn’t say or do anything to get an observer’s attention, she would be forgotten until she would be able to make herself known. It even extended to electronic surveillance.
“Cerebro is picking up mutant activity, and it doesn’t look good.” Cyclops said. “I wanted to let you know before we—”
“—suited up and got the jet prepped,” Charles said, finishing his sentence for him. “You will do just that. I will alert the other X-Men.”
“Yes, sir!” Cyclops said as he darted towards the mansion.
Neutrina was there with the other five X-Men: Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, and Marvel Girl on Cape Citadel to stop Magneto. It was her ingenuity that led to their victory. Their first official mission to the public. Of course, the press only counted five.
Before she realized it, however, the sleek black jet ascended into the air and rocketed towards its destination.
Neutrina removed her mask, “You’ve gotta be kidding me…”
The Professor’s gaze landed on Neutrina, startling him, “Oh! Neutrina…”
“Yeah,” she stated matter-of-factly with widened eyes. She sighed, “I guess I can catch up on all of my homework now.”
“We’ll work on it,” Charles assured his student with a light hand on her shoulder. “I will remind the others as much as I can.”
Neutrina smiled, somewhat begrudgingly, but understandably, “Okay.” She stood behind Charles and pushed his wheelchair back towards the mansion, “Now, I’m gonna keep talking so you don’t forget who’s pushing you.”
Charles chuckled, “Very well.”
“I had an idea…instead of writing my reminder notes on scrap pieces of paper and tacking them to a wall, what if the paper was just a small square and notepad yellow and had some kind of sticky adhesive on the back of it…?”
***
Later.
The Krakoa mission had been completed and the X-Men were reunited. Through Neutrina’s and Jean’s pushing a few years earlier, they had managed to convince the Professor to upgrade and redesign their uniforms to reflect themselves individually.
Jean got the credit for that one.
“What are we gonna do with thirteen X-Men?” Iceman exclaimed. “I mean, I know we have enough rooms here. From a team dynamics perspective, it might get a little crazy.”
“Fourteen,” Neutrina corrected. “And I was thinking we could split the teams up. Nothing set in stone, but it might be a nice way to get the new members integrated. We could call them Blue and Gold or even Alpha and Omega. I’m not sure.” Krakoa managed to latch onto her and drain her abilities. She was briefly forgotten—even when Polaris shot the entire island into space. Add surviving re-entry to her bucket list.
“I am SO sorry,” Lorna said as she hugged Neutrina. “Really.”
Neutrina, ever the optimist even in the face of dire circumstances, smiled, “At least I found out I can survive in a vacuum.”
Amidst the commotion, the Japanese hothead known as Sunfire in his red and white costume, proudly declared, “Well, I am leaving. I hate you all and this X-Men thing is utterly stupid!”
“Shiro..,” Cyclops pleaded as Sunfire flew out of the door.
“Let him go,” Charles said.
“There goes the Fire and Ice thing I was planning,” Bobby deadpanned. “Now, what are we gonna do with twelve X-Men?”
“Thirteen—never mind…” Neutrina grumbled.
“Fear not, child,” Banshee, the shaggy-haired Irishman dressed in lime green and gold said as he patted Neutrina on the back.
“Sorry. Bobby and I have had at least fifty relationships. Some of them lasted more than a day,” Neutrina said with a half-smile.
“Ye have an interesting power, lass,” Banshee said. “N’er forget that. Even when people ignore ye.”
Neutrina smiled, “It’s just my power, I know it’s nothing personal. Still, it’s frustrating at times…but I’m a big girl now. I’ve got my astrophysics degree and I’m going for my masters and maybe even doctorate.”
“Ye could do great things when no one’s lookin’,” Banshee said with a wink.
***
Later Still.
“I just don’t get it, Uatu,” Neutrina muttered as she clutched her knees to her chest on the Blue Area of the Moon. “Why would Jean sacrifice herself like that…?”
Uatu, Earth’s Watcher, like the denizens of his race, simply stared at the young mutant. Even in his silence, he had a knowing look on his expressionless face. Upon discovering him, Neutrina developed a close bond with the Watcher.
“Hail, young mutant!” Gladiator of the Imperial Guard bellowed as he descended on Neutrina’s position.
“That’s far enough!” Neutrina growled as she pointed her Kree energy weapon at the mohawk-wearing Strontian. Uatu was gone.
Gladiator smirked, “That weapon will not harm me.”
Neutrina’s hair turned white and her skin tone became darkened, the shadows on her face revealing the surrounding stars, “I’ve made some modifications.”
“You are cosmically-aware?” Gladiator asked with an arched eyebrow. “Is that how you defeated Smasher and three of my Guardsmen so effortlessly?”
Neutrina’s visage returned to normal, “Jean was my friend…”
Gladiator extended his hand, “Join the Imperial Guard, there is much potential you can achieve. As an extension of goodwill between the Shi’ar and the X-Men.”
“This is my home,” Neutrina said matter-of-factly.
Gladiator looked down in disappointment, but he understood Neutrina’s loyalty to her home world. He reached for his belt, pressing a button, which released a small flat piece of metal. He handed it to Neutrina, “Perhaps this will help in lieu of joining us. It is advanced Shi’ar technology. You could use it to enhance that Danger Room I hear about. Hard light holograms are a bit less expensive than oversized circular blades, is it not?”
Neutrina took the metal rectangular piece of metal and slowly walked around the outer perimeter of a crater. When she was out of Gladiator’s view, he completely forgot why he was there, alone on Earth’s moon, talking to no one.
***
Even Later.
“It’s the only way!” Neutrina exclaimed as she delivered a swift uppercut to Scalphunter’s jaw.
“The Siege Perilous?” the cloaked Psylocke exclaimed as she dodged gunfire from the cybernetic mercenaries, the Reavers. “I’ve got a bad feeling about that!”
“I know, Bets…and it doesn’t end particularly great for you…but then again, every new beginning is a chance to start anew,” Neutrina said as her cosmic-awareness sifted through the various timelines and futures stemming from Psylocke going through the mystical portal, which has grown into a rectangular doorway from its normal handheld size.
But by the X-Men going through the portal, it led to the eventual reunification of the teams, which the world needed.
“You’ve got to convince the others to go through!” Neutrina exclaimed as she fired her Kree blaster at the Reaver, Fuego…enveloping her muonic field around her causing her teammates and the X-Men to forget about her. “You’re the only one to remember me right now…the others are too distracted and can’t hear me from all the gunfire.”
Tears welled up in the former British model’s eyes, “What about you?”
“Get through the doorway…I will find you,” Neutrina pleaded as she kissed Psylocke’s forehead. “Havok might be a Summers, but I’ve been an X-Man longer. That’s an order!”
Neutrina backed away slowly, waiting for Psylocke to glance to the side.
When Psylocke returned her gaze to find a friend that may or may not exist, that friend was gone. All that remained was an urge to get the other X-Men into the portal to escape the Reavers.
***
A single bullet.
That was all it took to change her life forever.
Neutrina had worn the X since a teenager.
A single bullet took the man that pulled her out of the river of the unknown all those years ago. A bullet that split the “X” cadre in two and drove the younger generation to further extremes. She couldn’t even remember what they were called, or their names.
Ever since the Reavers stormed the X-Men’s Outback base, Neutrina wandered the world down under, saving mutants and outcasts from oppression, beginning with young William Takken.
A phantom guardian angel that leapt into battle when needed and disappeared from sight and thought just as quickly. She saw the future and potential of each and every individual she saved. She saved so many that she forgot their names.
Her own birth name was a faint memory. She had been Neutrina for so long, she didn’t remember.
Was this her purpose?
Ever since gaining cosmic awareness during the X adventures, she began to lose herself to the infinite.
She needed a rudder to course correct.
The Hectatomb…the mass-resurrection of mutants snapped her out of her daze. She had not seen it coming, which rendered her cosmic awareness inert.
A flood of sound and light flooded her senses as she was suddenly in a small Salem Center pub. The patrons stopped what they were doing as this blue-haired X-Woman stood before them. She had a Shi’ar chest plate armor, winged Valkyrie boots, a dagger from Limbo in her belt, and Kree gauntlet-blasters…souvenirs from her various adventures with the X-Men and New Mutants, her first group of students, as well as her brief stint with the Starjammers.
“Sorry,” Neutrina managed to squeak out, clearing her dry throat after years of seemingly remaining in stasis. “I need to go.”
She grabbed the circular X comm-link that was in her hand the whole time, attaching it to the buckle of her belt.
The bartender sitting in front of her mumbled a name she hadn’t heard in years. His eyes lit up as he leapt over the bar and embraced his original six teammate, “Dude, you are a sight for forgetful eyes! OG X-Men in the heeeezeeeee! How’s about some shots of tequila…for old time’s sake?”
Neutrina simply smiled, “Hey, Bobby. And it’s Neutrina while in uniform, but thanks for saying my name anyway…I was beginning to forget.”
She cleared her throat.
“You used to do shots with Warren, but then the Prof would punish you two with extra Danger Room sessions and volunteer work.”
Bobby stopped in the middle of cutting limes into wedges (he had already leapt over the bar again in his excitement) “Right! Um, sorry…yeah. Teenagers sneaking in alcohol. How original of us. Warren could pull off 21 pretty easily with the wings making his shoulders all puffy. Square jaw…it’s coming back to me.”
Neutrina chuckled as she placed a hand on her hip, “You know what? I think I could use a drink.”
“Are you here to stay, then?” Bobby asked as he filled two shot glasses. He arched an eyebrow, diverting his gaze to the ceiling, “I know it takes awhile to get back up to speed when we see or hear you, but I have a feeling you were gone for more than a little bit.”
Neutrina lifted her shot glass, “I know. I think I’m back now.”
“Powers have quirks…gifts and curses…blah, blah, blah,” Bobby explained. Her pointed his finger at Neutrina’s glass as he held up his own chilled shot glass, “Hold on, I like it a little chilled. Try it now.”
“To friends…old and new again,” Bobby toasted before throwing the sweet Mexican signature drink down the hatch. He smacked his lips. “I forgot the…where…? Was I just talking to a woman here a minute ago?”
Silence.
“Smitty, hey…who did a just take a shot with?” Bobby asked. He shook his head, placing the tequila bottle back on the shelf, “No to you, old friend. Whew! You guys want the game on or what?”
Neutrina smirked to herself as she exited Harry’s Hideaway through the back. The X-Men’s phantom guardian would have to wait a little longer to reveal herself until the time was right.
Professor Charles Xavier, adorned with a fedora and sunglasses, thrust the wheels of his manual wheelchair forward on the cobblestone path through the mansion gardens. He wore a dull brown blazer with a pale yellow shirt underneath, neatly completed with a striped black and maroon tie. A plaid blanket also covered his paralyzed legs.
“Neutrina shall be your codename,” he said. “Neutrinos are subatomic particles generated in space that rarely interact with other matter. With your weak force phase-shifting abilities, I think that describes you to an absolute tee, my dear.”
The teenaged girl of Italian and African-American decent nodded excitedly. She was the first ethnic X-Man to be officially recruited and enrolled at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. She wore the traditional gold and blue uniform that was a bit too loose for her. The fabric was actually a lightweight bulletproof canvas-kevlar blend, particularly reinforced under the gold portions.
Her olive skin and jet black hair basked in the late morning sun, “I think that’s perfect, Professor!”
She paused for a moment, causing Professor X to roll ahead of her.
“Wait! Waitwaitwait! Si attende!” she huffed as she ran ahead of him, emphatically stopping with her arms crossed.
“Ah, yes…” Professor said with a smile. “I do apologize. When you were out of my gaze, I forgot for a moment what I was doing out here.”
Neutrina exhaled as she laughed, “Sorry, sometimes I blurt out Italian. Can you…perhaps remind yourself of me, so I don’t get forgotten?” Neutrina asked. “You have one of the most powerful minds on Earth—I was hoping you’d be able to…I don’t know, be immune to my shifting?”
Professor X bowed his head, “I will create a mental subroutine within my own brain to remind myself every hour.”
“Promise?” Neutrina asked nervously as she uncrossed her arms and placed them on her hips. “My mom forgot to get enough groceries to include me. My own mother.”
Charles smiled assuredly, “I promise.”
“Professor!” Cyclops yelled as he rushed up to meet the two. “Sorry to interrupt your private tutoring lesson.” He had a similar gold and blue uniform.
Neutrina pulled her mask over her face and pulled her hair through the tiny slit on the back of the mask. She knew from the tone in Cyclops’ voice that there was a mission beckoning.
Physically, Neutrina was merely average. Where her combat skills lacked, an abundance of confidence swelled from her mutant powers. She was literally untouchable and undetectable to all senses (including telepathy) if she concentrated just enough to shift her atoms into a muonic or “slippery” state, taking advantage of the fundamental weak force of the universe.
Her powers also had an unfortunate and uncontrollable side-effect—if she didn’t say or do anything to get an observer’s attention, she would be forgotten until she would be able to make herself known. It even extended to electronic surveillance.
“Cerebro is picking up mutant activity, and it doesn’t look good.” Cyclops said. “I wanted to let you know before we—”
“—suited up and got the jet prepped,” Charles said, finishing his sentence for him. “You will do just that. I will alert the other X-Men.”
“Yes, sir!” Cyclops said as he darted towards the mansion.
Neutrina was there with the other five X-Men: Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, and Marvel Girl on Cape Citadel to stop Magneto. It was her ingenuity that led to their victory. Their first official mission to the public. Of course, the press only counted five.
Before she realized it, however, the sleek black jet ascended into the air and rocketed towards its destination.
Neutrina removed her mask, “You’ve gotta be kidding me…”
The Professor’s gaze landed on Neutrina, startling him, “Oh! Neutrina…”
“Yeah,” she stated matter-of-factly with widened eyes. She sighed, “I guess I can catch up on all of my homework now.”
“We’ll work on it,” Charles assured his student with a light hand on her shoulder. “I will remind the others as much as I can.”
Neutrina smiled, somewhat begrudgingly, but understandably, “Okay.” She stood behind Charles and pushed his wheelchair back towards the mansion, “Now, I’m gonna keep talking so you don’t forget who’s pushing you.”
Charles chuckled, “Very well.”
“I had an idea…instead of writing my reminder notes on scrap pieces of paper and tacking them to a wall, what if the paper was just a small square and notepad yellow and had some kind of sticky adhesive on the back of it…?”
***
Later.
The Krakoa mission had been completed and the X-Men were reunited. Through Neutrina’s and Jean’s pushing a few years earlier, they had managed to convince the Professor to upgrade and redesign their uniforms to reflect themselves individually.
Jean got the credit for that one.
“What are we gonna do with thirteen X-Men?” Iceman exclaimed. “I mean, I know we have enough rooms here. From a team dynamics perspective, it might get a little crazy.”
“Fourteen,” Neutrina corrected. “And I was thinking we could split the teams up. Nothing set in stone, but it might be a nice way to get the new members integrated. We could call them Blue and Gold or even Alpha and Omega. I’m not sure.” Krakoa managed to latch onto her and drain her abilities. She was briefly forgotten—even when Polaris shot the entire island into space. Add surviving re-entry to her bucket list.
“I am SO sorry,” Lorna said as she hugged Neutrina. “Really.”
Neutrina, ever the optimist even in the face of dire circumstances, smiled, “At least I found out I can survive in a vacuum.”
Amidst the commotion, the Japanese hothead known as Sunfire in his red and white costume, proudly declared, “Well, I am leaving. I hate you all and this X-Men thing is utterly stupid!”
“Shiro..,” Cyclops pleaded as Sunfire flew out of the door.
“Let him go,” Charles said.
“There goes the Fire and Ice thing I was planning,” Bobby deadpanned. “Now, what are we gonna do with twelve X-Men?”
“Thirteen—never mind…” Neutrina grumbled.
“Fear not, child,” Banshee, the shaggy-haired Irishman dressed in lime green and gold said as he patted Neutrina on the back.
“Sorry. Bobby and I have had at least fifty relationships. Some of them lasted more than a day,” Neutrina said with a half-smile.
“Ye have an interesting power, lass,” Banshee said. “N’er forget that. Even when people ignore ye.”
Neutrina smiled, “It’s just my power, I know it’s nothing personal. Still, it’s frustrating at times…but I’m a big girl now. I’ve got my astrophysics degree and I’m going for my masters and maybe even doctorate.”
“Ye could do great things when no one’s lookin’,” Banshee said with a wink.
***
Later Still.
“I just don’t get it, Uatu,” Neutrina muttered as she clutched her knees to her chest on the Blue Area of the Moon. “Why would Jean sacrifice herself like that…?”
Uatu, Earth’s Watcher, like the denizens of his race, simply stared at the young mutant. Even in his silence, he had a knowing look on his expressionless face. Upon discovering him, Neutrina developed a close bond with the Watcher.
“Hail, young mutant!” Gladiator of the Imperial Guard bellowed as he descended on Neutrina’s position.
“That’s far enough!” Neutrina growled as she pointed her Kree energy weapon at the mohawk-wearing Strontian. Uatu was gone.
Gladiator smirked, “That weapon will not harm me.”
Neutrina’s hair turned white and her skin tone became darkened, the shadows on her face revealing the surrounding stars, “I’ve made some modifications.”
“You are cosmically-aware?” Gladiator asked with an arched eyebrow. “Is that how you defeated Smasher and three of my Guardsmen so effortlessly?”
Neutrina’s visage returned to normal, “Jean was my friend…”
Gladiator extended his hand, “Join the Imperial Guard, there is much potential you can achieve. As an extension of goodwill between the Shi’ar and the X-Men.”
“This is my home,” Neutrina said matter-of-factly.
Gladiator looked down in disappointment, but he understood Neutrina’s loyalty to her home world. He reached for his belt, pressing a button, which released a small flat piece of metal. He handed it to Neutrina, “Perhaps this will help in lieu of joining us. It is advanced Shi’ar technology. You could use it to enhance that Danger Room I hear about. Hard light holograms are a bit less expensive than oversized circular blades, is it not?”
Neutrina took the metal rectangular piece of metal and slowly walked around the outer perimeter of a crater. When she was out of Gladiator’s view, he completely forgot why he was there, alone on Earth’s moon, talking to no one.
***
Even Later.
“It’s the only way!” Neutrina exclaimed as she delivered a swift uppercut to Scalphunter’s jaw.
“The Siege Perilous?” the cloaked Psylocke exclaimed as she dodged gunfire from the cybernetic mercenaries, the Reavers. “I’ve got a bad feeling about that!”
“I know, Bets…and it doesn’t end particularly great for you…but then again, every new beginning is a chance to start anew,” Neutrina said as her cosmic-awareness sifted through the various timelines and futures stemming from Psylocke going through the mystical portal, which has grown into a rectangular doorway from its normal handheld size.
But by the X-Men going through the portal, it led to the eventual reunification of the teams, which the world needed.
“You’ve got to convince the others to go through!” Neutrina exclaimed as she fired her Kree blaster at the Reaver, Fuego…enveloping her muonic field around her causing her teammates and the X-Men to forget about her. “You’re the only one to remember me right now…the others are too distracted and can’t hear me from all the gunfire.”
Tears welled up in the former British model’s eyes, “What about you?”
“Get through the doorway…I will find you,” Neutrina pleaded as she kissed Psylocke’s forehead. “Havok might be a Summers, but I’ve been an X-Man longer. That’s an order!”
Neutrina backed away slowly, waiting for Psylocke to glance to the side.
When Psylocke returned her gaze to find a friend that may or may not exist, that friend was gone. All that remained was an urge to get the other X-Men into the portal to escape the Reavers.
***
A single bullet.
That was all it took to change her life forever.
Neutrina had worn the X since a teenager.
A single bullet took the man that pulled her out of the river of the unknown all those years ago. A bullet that split the “X” cadre in two and drove the younger generation to further extremes. She couldn’t even remember what they were called, or their names.
Ever since the Reavers stormed the X-Men’s Outback base, Neutrina wandered the world down under, saving mutants and outcasts from oppression, beginning with young William Takken.
A phantom guardian angel that leapt into battle when needed and disappeared from sight and thought just as quickly. She saw the future and potential of each and every individual she saved. She saved so many that she forgot their names.
Her own birth name was a faint memory. She had been Neutrina for so long, she didn’t remember.
Was this her purpose?
Ever since gaining cosmic awareness during the X adventures, she began to lose herself to the infinite.
She needed a rudder to course correct.
The Hectatomb…the mass-resurrection of mutants snapped her out of her daze. She had not seen it coming, which rendered her cosmic awareness inert.
A flood of sound and light flooded her senses as she was suddenly in a small Salem Center pub. The patrons stopped what they were doing as this blue-haired X-Woman stood before them. She had a Shi’ar chest plate armor, winged Valkyrie boots, a dagger from Limbo in her belt, and Kree gauntlet-blasters…souvenirs from her various adventures with the X-Men and New Mutants, her first group of students, as well as her brief stint with the Starjammers.
“Sorry,” Neutrina managed to squeak out, clearing her dry throat after years of seemingly remaining in stasis. “I need to go.”
She grabbed the circular X comm-link that was in her hand the whole time, attaching it to the buckle of her belt.
The bartender sitting in front of her mumbled a name she hadn’t heard in years. His eyes lit up as he leapt over the bar and embraced his original six teammate, “Dude, you are a sight for forgetful eyes! OG X-Men in the heeeezeeeee! How’s about some shots of tequila…for old time’s sake?”
Neutrina simply smiled, “Hey, Bobby. And it’s Neutrina while in uniform, but thanks for saying my name anyway…I was beginning to forget.”
She cleared her throat.
“You used to do shots with Warren, but then the Prof would punish you two with extra Danger Room sessions and volunteer work.”
Bobby stopped in the middle of cutting limes into wedges (he had already leapt over the bar again in his excitement) “Right! Um, sorry…yeah. Teenagers sneaking in alcohol. How original of us. Warren could pull off 21 pretty easily with the wings making his shoulders all puffy. Square jaw…it’s coming back to me.”
Neutrina chuckled as she placed a hand on her hip, “You know what? I think I could use a drink.”
“Are you here to stay, then?” Bobby asked as he filled two shot glasses. He arched an eyebrow, diverting his gaze to the ceiling, “I know it takes awhile to get back up to speed when we see or hear you, but I have a feeling you were gone for more than a little bit.”
Neutrina lifted her shot glass, “I know. I think I’m back now.”
“Powers have quirks…gifts and curses…blah, blah, blah,” Bobby explained. Her pointed his finger at Neutrina’s glass as he held up his own chilled shot glass, “Hold on, I like it a little chilled. Try it now.”
“To friends…old and new again,” Bobby toasted before throwing the sweet Mexican signature drink down the hatch. He smacked his lips. “I forgot the…where…? Was I just talking to a woman here a minute ago?”
Silence.
“Smitty, hey…who did a just take a shot with?” Bobby asked. He shook his head, placing the tequila bottle back on the shelf, “No to you, old friend. Whew! You guys want the game on or what?”
Neutrina smirked to herself as she exited Harry’s Hideaway through the back. The X-Men’s phantom guardian would have to wait a little longer to reveal herself until the time was right.