X-Men Evolution: Rogue Evolution

Family 10.2

"Got oil in the engine."

"Got oil," Anna confirmed while she leaned her front against the passenger side of her car, Banana, with her arms folded on the lightly rusted top.

"I checked the spark plugs," Scott straightened a second sooty finger as he continued to count. "I checked the brakes before we started." He paused and looked at her from across the car's top. "You check the tire pressure?"

"Toped 'em up at 25 like you told me."

He ran his fingers over his chin, "Alright, I think she's ready for a test drive."

Anna smiled wide enough that her cheeks obstructed the very edges of her vision. "Oh hell yeah! It's about time we saw what she can do!" She popped open the passenger side door when she heard the sound of light metal scraping on the car's roof. When she looked back up, she found the car keys sat within arm's reach just in front of her. She looked back at Scott. "Seriously?"

"Well, yeah. She's your car after all."

"Yeah, but what about all that stuff you said about 'making sure the car feels right'?"

"We've been doing this long enough you should know how she should feel." He rounded the front of the car to the passenger side and put his hand on the top of the open door near her arm. "Now come on. You're in my seat."

Anna snapped up the keys, slapped him on the arm, and jogged to the driver-side. "Alright, Scotty! Just hope you know what you're getting yourself into!" She jumped more then sat in the driver seat and jammed the keys in the ignition. She glanced over at Scott and when he nodded, she cranked the ignition.

The engine sputtered and sounded like it was giving its best effort to turn over, but it just wouldn't give. By the time Anna started hammering the gas with her foot, Scott signaled her to cut the whole thing off. She let go of the key, let her foot off the pedal, and the pair stewed in a dumbstruck silence as they both stared at the dashboard.

"Scott"

"Yeah?"

"Did we put gas in the car?"

He let out the longest sigh Anna had ever heard in her life before climbing out of the passenger door. She heard a sloshy 'clunking' sound as a steel jerry-can full of gas was half placed but mostly dropped on the garage floor followed by the pop of the car's gas cap. A couple of minutes later Scott returned, and with lips pursed he flicked his hand toward in the direction of the ignition.

Anna did her best to suppress a snicker as she cranked the key a second time. There was a loud cough, a clunk, a backfire of black smoke out the tailpipe, and then the engine they had spent weeks meticulously reassembling roared to life. Anna and Scott both shouted and pumped their fists in the air. Looking at each other, amazed, they high-fived over the center console.

"It works! It actually works!" Scott shook his hands in front of his face.

"Did you have any doubt in our capabilities, Scott?"

"Well, maybe not in our capabilities. More like the capabilities of a car almost older than both of us combined."

"Hey! None of that. There is no age shaming in this car." Anna ran her hand along the car's dashboard as if soothing a feral cat. "Isn't that right, baby? I won't let the mean boy talk smack about you. You can do just as much as any other poser car out there, can't you?"

"That remains to be seen." Scott nodded towards the open garage door. "Ready to take her for her maiden voyage?"

"Ready since the day we brought her home." Anna buckled her seatbelt.