Iceman

Beast

Harry

Tanya Redfield

Sherry Redfield

Welcome to Harry's Hideaway. Seventh Heaven to the locals of the small Salem Center come night time. It's the realest place Bobby Drake knows of. Which is probably why he acquired an occupation here. As a former member of the outlaw band of mutants known as the X-Men, he makes his way across the wooden floor towards one Tanya Redfield, a young woman who he's recently befriended.

At the moment, she's his only escape from the life that seems to be catching up with him. Mysterious assaults, with unthoughtful motives. The two had a plan to spend the evening together, and he wasn't about to stand her up. As he runs a hand through his tossed light brown hair, he forces a smile to hit his face as he slips next to her at the bar counter.

"Hey-ey there, beautiful." Bobby flirted, leaning his forearm against the counter's edge. "What's it take for a girl like you to buy a guy like me a drink?"

"Probably a few more ounces of alcohol in my bloodstream." Tanya tapped the bar lightly as her date for the evening had arrived.

"Can't have that happening so early in the night." Bobby nodded for Harry to come his way, then looked back down to Tanya. "How long you been waitin'?"

"Not too long." Tanya smiled reassuringly, though it had been well over half an hour. "Talked to some folks, had a drink, you know."

"Cool. Soon as I pick up my check from Harry, we'll giddyup." Bobby squinted a bit. Though he had ice slid from the orchards not far from Harry's with ease, it may not fly on Tanya for the evening.

"Hope you don't think I'm not an Alpha Male for asking this, but you think we could take your car? I got uh, screwed at the auto-repair and they'll be hanging onto my car for awhile..."

"Oh... sure." Tanya smiled awkwardly, then shrugged lightly to herself.

Elsewhere.

"Thanks a lot for taking me shopping for my mom's birthday present, Mr. McCoy." Sherry spoke excitedly as she walked beside Hank McCoy, her hand grasped onto his large paw. Though an image inducer hid his real form from the public, she still knew there was no difference.

"Remember to tell Bobby thanks too, Sherry." Hank McCoy smiled, walking slowly beside the young girl. "If it wasn't for him taking your mom out tonight, you may have not gotten the chance to shop for it."

"Yep." Sherry agreed as she walked beside Hank. Pondering on the idea of Bobby and her mother going out with each other, Sherry became quiet for a moment before her innocence peered in. "Hey, Mr. McCoy?"

"Yes, Sherry?" Stopping their pace, Hank looked down to Sherry with full attention. A brow rose on Sherry's forehead as she asked:

"You think if Bobby and my mom like each other a lot, they'll get married, and Bobby will be like, my dad?"

Hank couldn't help but chuckle a bit to himself. Just the idea... Bobby Drake, a farther. It was a bit hard to imagine in his mind, but he was dealing with sensitive forces. It wouldn't be right to give the child too much hope.

"Maybe. But I think maybe your mom and Bobby are just friends. I'm sure he would like to do things that your farther would do, though." Hank smiled a sympathetic smile as Sherry glanced back down the aisle, stiffening her nose a little.

"I hope so. I never really had a Dad before..."

Two aisles over.

"Are you sure this is gonna work, Griz?"

"Don't worry about it, Gib. I got it all planned out."

They're two of the biggest losers the super villain business has to offer, and their in a Wal-Mart completely decked out in their crime fighting outfits. Not just the super villain business, but the super hero business as well. The Grizzly and the Gibbon are two former members of the unofficially labeled Legion of Losers.

After helping Spider-Man bring in their two former partners, Spot and the Kangaroo, these two decided to dedicate their life to becoming super heroes. But when the Fantastic Four declined their application of membership, and the Avengers shut their gates on them, the Grizzly had another plan in mind.

"See," Grizzly whispered, offering a hand to help explain himself. "If we kidnap a kid, stick 'em in some warehouse, then send out a ransom letter from some phony kidnapper, we can rescue the kid and get our publicity out as super heroes!"

"Eh, but is it really right?"

"Sure! It's not like we're gonna hurt the kid, right?"

"Alright, alright, alright." Gibbon caved, taking a look around the aisle they were standing in. "So what kid we goin' for?"

"Shh!" The Grizzly put a finger to his mouth as he put Gibbon into a headlock against his ribs with his free arm, then whispering. "That one guy with the round glasses that walked in with that girl... he looked pretty gullible. I'm sure we can separate the kid from him without a big ruckus."

The Prince of Valhalla...

Bobby thought to himself as he waited in line beside Tanya at the Timeless Movie Theater. The young, green eyed woman gave her date a look of curiosity as he stood somewhat distracted.

"Bobby?"

"...Yeah?"

"Something on your mind?"

"Nah," Bobby smiled, shaking the thought from his mind as he met eyes with Tanya. "Why you ask?"

"Well, you got quiet all of a sudden. That's not like you." Tanya smirked, elbowing him lightly.

"Sorry." Bobby was barely phased by her elbow shot, though he did slip his arm around her shoulder gently. "I was just trying to count all those popcorn colonels in the popper behind the counter over there."

Tanya chuckled lightly, deciding inwardly that it wasn't best to pursue the bothersome matters of her date. Her first date since Sherry came along...

"So, Revenge of the Booty Snatchers... right?" Bobby mused as he reached back and pulled out his wallet. Tanya gently shoved him away as he drew his arm from her shoulder.

"No!"

"Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back?"

"Close, but no cigar." Tanya pointed proudly to a poster.

"...From Hell?"

"Mmhmm."

"That's nothing like Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back!"

"Oh well, it's what I want to see."

"Gruesome lil' minx, aren't we?" Bobby held a twenty from his wallet up with one hand, and put up two fingers with the other, smiling.

"Enjoy your movie, sir." The man behind the counter grinned as the machine fed out two tickets. Bobby tore the two tickets from the machine, and nodded.

"Thanks."

Bobby stood up straight and posed properly, sending a warm smile to Tanya's face as she took his arm with hers. The man's eyes stayed focus on Bobby and Tanya as they made their way down the hall of the theater, the grin never leaving his face.

The duo of Hank McCoy, and the young girl, Sherry made their way to the magazine section near the center of Wal-Mart. Leaving his side without a word, Sherry made her way to the ladies' bathroom.

Reaching up to a magazine rack, a large hand pulled down a magazine gently from it's place among others. As Hank McCoy fingered through this issue of "Science Bug Weekly," a tune started from his lips. With every note that left his lips, the tune became even more evident as the Pink Panther's theme music.

Grizzly made a nod and motion to Gibbon for him to move to his side behind the isle before the image-induced hidden Beast. Across his tippy toes, the Gibbon glid across the floor without as much as a squeak against it's a sleek tile. With the final step though, the Gibbon would've wished he hadn't of rushed himself so much.

Hank lifted his head as he heard the Gibbon stumble over his own feet and crash into the Grizzly, collapsing to the ground of the dog isle. The tune shortly returned to Hank's lips as he failed to notice any sudden movement, merely hearing only the crash. Along with the returning tune to his lips, his mind reached out to the article he was reading.

Gibbon attempted to regain his posture quietly, but the Grizzly was able to swiftly move to his feet and smack Gibbon across the back of his skull. Lifting his fist to return the physical discomfort to his partner Grizzly, the voice of reason was able to overcome the Gibbon, reminding him of the mission at hand.

Slipping to the end of the aisle, the two stacked heads to see if their target's guardian was aware of their presence. As an employee moved a train of shopping carts before the view of Hank McCoy, Gibbon and the Grizzly disappeared from the aisle wall they were hiding behind.

Taking another look up from his magazine, Hank's tune was forced away from his lips as the clanking of metal shopping carts echoed in annoyance through his ears. When the employee and the train of carts had moved further down the isle, Hank gradually went back to his magazine, and tune.... The Grizzly and Gibbon tightly compacted next to each other between the ladies' room entrance, and Hank McCoy.

Grizzly nodded for Gibbon to enter the ladies' room, but Gibbon's opposing nod forced the two into a silent slap fight. Before a victor could become of the two, two police officers had appeared before them, along with the manager of Wal-Mart, and head of security. Smiling in unison, the two waved as Hank's performance of the Pink Panther had came to it's climatic ending.

"Wuh-AH!"

"Hey-ey--- OOF!"

*KA-THUMP!*

It wasn't in their minds to fight back, merely try to explain why they were sneaking around the store after a little girl. Though they did have the power, the Grizzly and Gibbon knew it would've started more than they wanted to fight.

Too bad they couldn't think of a good enough reason to not be literally thrown out of Wal-Mart. As the two looked to each other, a shrug came over the Grizzly.

Later that night.

Bobby and Tanya walked down the sidewalk leading away from the movie theatre, Bobby slurping down what was the rest of his soda through a bent straw.

"Mmm." Tanya stretched as Bobby chewed on the straw of his soda, a light smile coming to her face. "I wonder how Sherry's doing."

"Lessee..." Bobby started, tossing the cup into a trash can in front of a closed shop. "Being babysat by Hank... I'm betting she's learning what Twinky Gumbo is."

"...Twinky Gumbo?" Tanya inquired, a brow raising.

"Old family recipe. You'll taste it sooner or later... seeing as how the taste sticks in the pot for weeks." Bobby shrugged his head to the side, as he stopped to look to Tanya.

Tanya turned her body to Bobby, who smiled as his arms moved around her waist. To adapt to the situation, Tanya moved her hands around his neck.

"So even though the movie kinda sucked, was tonight in any way enjoyable?"

"Mmm." Tanya considered, looking up into Bobby's ice blue colored eyes with an intoxicated smile. "Yeah, actually."

"That's good..."

Tilting his head down gradually, Bobby pressed his lips against Tanya's gently. At that moment, the two had completely lost themselves in each other. The worries that had trailed both of them in their life at that time were gone. But for how long...?

NEXT ISSUE: Grizzly and the Gibbon take a stop by Harry's Hideaway to drown their sorrows as failed super-heroes, and hey, maybe this issue will even have Bobby interacting with the story a bit more!