CH 47: Date and Mysterious Island
They fell together from the edge of the atmosphere, arms wrapped around one another as the curvature of Earth slowly grew larger beneath them. For a while there was nothing but the silence of space and the sensation of weightlessness, with Kara holding Lex close enough that neither needed to worry about drifting apart. As they descended far enough for the atmosphere to begin catching them, the silence gradually gave way to the rushing roar of air, while the temperature climbed rapidly around them. Neither had anything to fear from the cold of the upper atmosphere or the heat generated by their descent, so they simply remained together, enjoying the strange intimacy of falling toward the world they could already see spreading beneath them.
By the time they reached the lower atmosphere, the wind had become loud enough that talking normally would have been pointless. Lex opened his eyes and looked down, only to find an endless expanse of blue stretching beneath them, with a scattering of islands breaking the surface some distance away. Fortunately, one of them was close enough to make the landing interesting, and as they slowed their descent to a manageable speed, they began stripping off their outer clothes until they were left in their swimwear. Kara caught Lex's hand as they dropped the remaining distance, and the two of them plunged together into the warm tropical water.
"Oh, I like this," Lex said once he surfaced, laughing as he floated on his back for a moment before beginning to swim. "The middle of the ocean is probably the best possible place to go swimming."
"And the fish are much better out here," Kara replied as she swam beside him, occasionally dipping beneath the surface just to look around. "You'd never find this many close to a city."
Lex glanced toward the island in the distance, then back toward the surrounding ocean. Something about it immediately caught his attention, because the island seemed oddly isolated even though there was no obvious reason for it to be. He couldn't quite explain the sensation, but it didn't feel as though it belonged to the same environment as the surrounding ocean, almost as if it had been placed there rather than naturally formed.
"That island is strange," he remarked. "It doesn't feel connected to the rest of the world somehow."
Kara turned toward it with growing curiosity, her expression brightening as she realized where his thoughts were going.
"Do I smell an adventure?"
"Definitely," Lex agreed, unable to stop himself from smiling. "But before we investigate mysterious islands, I want to see what's down here. We came all this way for a date, so we might as well explore."
They dove together, leaving the sunlight behind as the blue water gradually darkened around them. Lex let himself sink toward the ocean floor while schools of fish scattered at his approach, though a few curious ones apparently decided that the strange two-legged creatures were more interesting than frightening. Kara followed him down, laughing silently when a small fish darted close enough to poke her before immediately swimming away as though it had accomplished something impressive. The deeper they went, the more the pressure and darkness increased, but neither of them had any difficulty with either, allowing them to continue until the seafloor finally appeared beneath them.
"Look at these shells," Lex said telepathically as he crouched near a collection of unusual shells half-buried in the sand.
"Forget the shells," Kara replied through the same mental connection, already pointing excitedly toward a tiny school of brightly colored fish. "Look at these little guys. Watch this."
She slowly extended her hand and moved her fingers through the water, and several of the fish curiously followed the motion. Lex watched her for a moment rather than the fish, finding the sight more entertaining than he expected. There was something wonderfully carefree about seeing Kara, a woman who could cross continents in moments and fight beings capable of threatening entire cities, completely fascinated by a handful of tiny fish.
They continued along the ocean floor for some time, discovering coral formations, strange shells, sunken debris and all sorts of small creatures hiding among the rocks. At some point their exploration brought them across something much larger, and Kara's playful expression slowly disappeared as she noticed the enormous shape lying against the seafloor ahead of them.
"Lex," she said, her voice suddenly more concerned. "What's that whale doing down here?"
They approached carefully and found the animal resting on the ocean floor, its movements weak and irregular. It occasionally attempted to shift its massive body, but each effort seemed to accomplish little, and Kara immediately looked troubled.
"I've heard that sometimes old whales become too weak to keep themselves at the surface," Lex explained quietly. "If they can't reach the surface to breathe, they can eventually drown."
Kara stared at the whale for several seconds, her expression falling.
"That's horrible. Can't we do something?"
"We could keep carrying it back up whenever it sinks," Lex said, "but once we leave, it'll eventually end up in the same situation."
He had intended to leave it at that, but the sadness in Kara's expression made the decision for him. Lex moved closer to the whale and made a tiny cut across his finger before letting a single drop of blood escape. With Telekinesis, he guided the drop through the water and into the whale, carefully restricting the effect so that it would grant only the rejuvenation and regeneration he intended rather than the entirety of what his blood could provide. The change was gradual at first, but within moments the whale's movements became stronger, its body shifting with renewed energy before it began swimming upward.
Kara watched as the enormous creature slowly disappeared into the brighter water above them.
"That was nice of you."
Lex smiled.
"Couldn't exactly leave you looking sad on our first proper date, could I?"
Kara's expression softened, and for a moment she simply looked at him through the clear water before turning her attention toward the whale's distant silhouette.
"Wanna ride it?"
"Nah," Kara replied, shaking her head. "Let the guy enjoy his newfound youth without two weirdos climbing onto him."
They resumed their exploration, walking along the ocean floor as though they were strolling through an underwater park rather than several kilometers beneath the surface. At one point Lex became fascinated by the sand itself and crouched down, digging into the seafloor with his hands.
"What's so interesting?" Kara asked.
"I've never tried digging underwater before."
Kara looked at the hole he had made.
"You're discovering some pretty advanced science today."
"Don't mock the process."
He continued digging until he had created a shallow depression, then used Telekinesis to hold a portion of seawater inside it while forcing the surrounding water away. It took considerably more concentration than he had expected, but eventually he managed to create something resembling a tiny underwater cooking pot. Lex then raised a hand and sent Force Lightning into the isolated water, using the electrical energy to heat it while his Telekinesis kept the water from immediately dispersing into the surrounding ocean.
"Kara, look," he called through their telepathic connection. "I'm going to cook a fish underwater."
Kara immediately looked around before grabbing a particularly plump fish that had been following them.
"Cook this one. It's fat and it keeps trying to eat me."
"You know I'm pretty sure that's just how fish behave."
"Are you going to cook it or not?"
Lex sighed and took the fish, placing it into the superheated water while maintaining his telekinetic barrier. Unfortunately, his control over the temperature was considerably less impressive than his control over the water itself. The moment the fish entered, the water became far hotter than intended, and what had been meant to become a simple underwater meal instead turned into an overcooked mess that quickly resembled a very strange soup.
Lex stared at it through the water.
"...I think I just ruined fish."
Kara floated beside him, looking at the culinary disaster before bursting into laughter.
"You did stupid shit and got stupid rewards."
"That's harsh."
"You made soup out of a fish underwater."
"That's fair."
She drifted closer and slipped her hand into his, still smiling as they began swimming away from the failed experiment. The strange little cooking project was hardly what Lex had imagined when he'd suggested their date, but somehow that made the whole thing better. They hadn't planned a restaurant, booked a table or even decided where they were going beforehand; they had simply fallen out of the sky, discovered an island, explored the ocean, helped a dying whale and attempted to cook a fish beneath several kilometers of seawater. For Lex, there was something strangely comforting about it, because for once he wasn't thinking about the next enemy, the next mission or the next problem waiting for him, and neither was Kara.
As they swam side by side through the clear blue water, Kara squeezed his hand and looked toward the distant island.
"So," she asked, her voice carrying through their telepathic connection, "are we investigating that weird island now?"
Lex followed her gaze, then smiled.
"Absolutely."
"Good."
Kara pulled him forward, and together they began swimming toward whatever waited beyond the horizon.
They soon rose into the sky, leaving the ocean behind as they flew toward the strange island they'd spotted from below. Kara descended first, landing lightly upon the sandy shoreline, while Lex touched down beside her a moment later, his attention immediately drawn toward the ground beneath his feet. Something about the island felt wrong—or perhaps more accurately, alive. The sensation wasn't quite like sensing a creature nearby, nor was it simply the presence of some unusual energy source; the entire island seemed to possess a faint, almost imperceptible presence that made the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
<The island itself is a living structure. Energy signature is consistent with mutant biology.>
Raphael's analysis came almost immediately, answering the question before Lex had even finished forming it in his mind. That revelation only made the island more interesting, because whatever had created or become this place was clearly far beyond anything resembling a normal geological formation.
"There's someone over there," Kara said, turning her head toward the interior of the island. "Actually, I think there are several people. What would anyone even be doing on an island in the middle of the ocean?"
Lex followed her gaze and caught the faint sound of voices carried across the trees.
"Let's find out."
They moved inland, following the sounds while keeping their senses open for anything unusual. They had only gone a short distance when a dark-skinned woman suddenly passed overhead, flying several dozen meters above the treetops while scanning the island below. Her white-haired figure stood out clearly against the blue sky, and the distinctive uniform she wore left little doubt that she was one of the people they'd heard.
Lex glanced upward for a moment before leaning closer to Kara.
"Does she know that people on the ground can see her underwear?"
Kara followed his gaze, and a mischievous smile immediately appeared on her face.
"Hey, lady!" she called upward. "You might want to be careful. You're distracting my boyfriend with those white panties."
The woman immediately faltered in midair.
For a moment she simply stared down at them, apparently trying to determine whether she'd heard correctly. Then her gaze dropped toward her own uniform, and the faintest flush appeared across her cheeks as she realized exactly what Kara had pointed out. She had spent years wearing this uniform and had never expected a stranger to comment on it quite so directly, especially not someone who had shouted it across an island.
Kara leaned toward Lex with an innocent expression.
"Now she knows."
Lex had to suppress a laugh as the woman slowly descended toward them, clearly attempting to recover the composure she'd possessed moments earlier.
"I'm sorry, miss?" she asked, looking between the two of them.
"Kara. Kara Zor-El."
The woman gave a small nod before turning toward Lex.
"And if I'm not mistaken, you're Lex?"
"We've technically met before," Lex replied with a nod. "But I suppose this is the first time we've actually had the chance to talk. You must be Storm."
"Ororo Munroe," she confirmed, offering them a polite smile.
Before either of them could ask why she and the others were here, hurried footsteps sounded from deeper within the forest. A man wearing a visor came running toward them, followed closely by a young red-haired woman whose expression was considerably calmer despite the urgency in her pace.
"Storm!" the man called. "Jean found them. They're alive, but they're trapped somewhere underground. She did psychic to them."
Jean caught up a moment later and shook her head slightly.
"I wouldn't describe it quite like that. I don't think I'm doing anything I would call a psychic but I have established several telepathic links with people beneath the island."
Scott's attention shifted toward the two newcomers, and the moment he noticed Lex and Kara properly, his posture became more guarded. His hand moved toward the visor covering his eyes, not quite touching it but close enough that the gesture was clearly deliberate. From his perspective, two extraordinarily powerful strangers had simply appeared on an island that his team was currently investigating, and he had no reason yet to know whether they were friendly or not.
"Who are you?"
"Calm down, Scott," Ororo said before either of them could answer. "They're friends."
Scott glanced toward her, then back toward Lex and Kara, apparently deciding to take her word for it for the moment. Lex didn't particularly mind the suspicion; considering how suddenly they'd appeared, he probably would have reacted similarly if their positions were reversed. Besides, he had already met Ororo once before, even if that meeting had been brief enough that calling them acquaintances was probably more accurate.
Before the conversation could continue, more footsteps sounded from behind Scott and Jean. Jubilee came walking out of the trees alongside Bobby, and she was still talking about something until her eyes landed on Lex. Her words gradually died away as she took in the sight of him standing there in nothing more than his swimwear, the effects of the Transcendent Self making even a casual appearance look almost absurdly polished. There was no awkwardness or hesitation in her expression, either; the nineteen-year-old simply stared at him with the kind of open admiration that made it painfully obvious where her attention had gone.
"Damn..." Jubilee murmured, looking him over again. "I didn't know you had friends this hot."
Kara heard her perfectly and leaned closer to Lex, a mischievous smile already forming.
"Lex, you might want to put some clothes on before she starts licking you."
Lex glanced toward Jubilee and, rather than being embarrassed by the attention, seemed to take the comment as encouragement. He straightened his back, casually puffed out his chest and gave Jubilee an even more confident smile, clearly deciding that if she wanted to admire him, he might as well give her something worth admiring.
Kara rolled her eyes, although the amusement in them made it clear she wasn't particularly bothered. Lex was enjoying himself far too much for her to pretend otherwise, and considering how much time they'd spent together, she knew exactly how easily his ego could be fed whenever someone complimented his appearance.
Then Lex noticed something else.
Bobby had stopped walking.
The blond man was staring at him too.
For perhaps two seconds Lex continued smiling, assuming it was nothing more than surprise, before he noticed the expression on Bobby's face and finally understood that it wasn't simply curiosity. His confidence immediately evaporated, his shoulders becoming noticeably less relaxed as he glanced down at himself and then back toward Bobby, suddenly far more aware of how little clothing he was actually wearing.
"...Oh."
Kara followed his gaze and immediately covered her mouth, failing spectacularly to hide her laughter.
Lex quickly crossed his arms over his chest.
"Okay, that's enough."
Bobby finally seemed to realize that he had been caught staring and immediately looked away, his expression becoming awkward as he tried to pretend he'd been examining literally anything else on the island. Jubilee, meanwhile, seemed completely unbothered and was still looking at Lex with considerably more confidence than he was currently managing.
Ororo sighed as she looked between the two younger members of the team.
"Jubilee. Bobby. Please try to act like adults."
"We're looking respectfully," Jubilee defended herself, although the grin on her face made the claim rather unconvincing.
Bobby coughed into his fist.
"I was just... surprised."
"Yeah," Lex muttered, still keeping his arms folded. "So was I."
Kara finally lost the battle and laughed openly, leaning against Lex's shoulder while he gave her an offended look.
"You were enjoying it five seconds ago."
"That was before I realized I was apparently everyone's type."
"Apparently not mine," Scott remarked dryly from nearby.
Lex looked toward him.
"Thanks, man. That actually makes me feel better."
Scott's mouth twitched slightly, although he quickly returned his attention to the situation around them.
Jean, apparently deciding that allowing the conversation to continue would only make matters worse, turned her attention back toward Lex and Kara.
"So, what brings the two of you here?"
"We were on a date," Lex explained. "We were flying over the ocean, saw the island and decided to check it out. It felt strange from the moment we landed, so we figured there might be something interesting here."
Jean's expression softened with a hint of amusement.
"That sounds rather romantic, although I'm not sure this is going to be the most relaxing destination."
"Yeah, I gathered that much."
"We're looking for several people who disappeared," Jean explained. "Professor Xavier believes they're somewhere on the island. I've managed to establish those telepathic connections, but we haven't been able to determine exactly where they are."
Ororo nodded in agreement.
"I've searched most of the island from the air and haven't found anything either. There are several areas I can't properly see from above, though, and the island's structure makes searching more complicated than it should be."
Scott looked toward the group before gesturing toward the forest.
"Either way, you two should continue your date and leave this to us. We've got enough people already."
He turned and started walking away, apparently assuming the matter was settled.
Nobody immediately followed him.
Scott took several steps before glancing back and discovering that his entire team was still standing where they'd been.
"What?"
Jean smiled faintly.
"Nothing."
Ororo simply looked toward Lex and Kara.
Jubilee looked far too interested in whatever was happening next, while Bobby seemed content to follow along regardless of where they went.
Lex glanced at Kara, and she looked back at him.
Neither needed to say much.
Their date didn't have to end simply because they'd stumbled across a mystery, and finding a few missing people on a living island wasn't exactly something either of them could comfortably ignore. They had come here because the island had felt strange, and now they knew there were people trapped somewhere beneath it. Besides, if they could help while still enjoying themselves, there was little reason to choose between the two.
"Well," Lex said, looking toward the others, "I suppose we can investigate while we're here."
Kara smiled.
"That's what I was hoping you'd say.”