School Spirit: The Sting
An X-Men Evolution fanfic by Remedy=Chill. Set right before the last football game of Scott and Jean's senior year. Written as a part of Jaganashi's writing challenge #2 – Lets hope I included everything. smirk
Kitty giggled. Almost uncontrollably as she and Rogue strolled down the ramp towards the football field. They were fast approaching two large boys from the opposing team, both of whom seemed to have identically broken noses.
"And that's when Ah told him." Rogue began to ad-lib. "Ah just don't look raght in polka-dots."
She had caught the closer boy's attention but he didn't comment. So Rogue smiled and looked him in the eye. "Do I?" she asked, drawing the waistband of pants a good two inches to reveal something that only he could see.
He took half a step forward and began to blush, deep and red, as his friend began to chuckle at him.
A shadow quickly darted behind them, not that they would notice.
"Not, ah …" He regained himself as she let her waistband go and it slipped back in to place. "You look fine to me." He said. "You're the kind I'd like to try …"
"To stay away from? As a rule?" Rogue teased him. "Ah understand."
Kitty was holding in her hysterics as Rogue took her by the arm and pulled her around a corner and out of sight.
The first boy stood stunned as his friend began to chuckle openly at him. "Now what was that about?" The first boy asked.
"About six seconds." He friend laughed. "And about as funny a tease as I've ever seen."
The first boy exhaled in disappointment and turned around, then punched his friend twice, hard in the arm.
"Keep your eyes open." The first boy said. "We're working here."
Around the corner, both Rogue and Kitty leaned conspiratorially close and laughed with each other.
Rogue lifted her head and searched the distance. Finally she found Scott and met his gaze. She tapped the side of her nose twice and Scott smiled, nodded once, and was gone.
Scott slipped away, headed for the other side of the building. He stopped quick and ducked in to an alcove as Duncan and a few of the home team passed, headed for the locker room. They all looked depressed and spoke very little.
When they reached the locker room door, Duncan held it open for the others. "Now I know this isn't how we wanted to go out, but we can still give 'em a good game and maybe walk away winners." He slipped in to the room behind them and Scott resumed his trek down the hall.
He had to hurry in order to be on time for 'phase two'.
The bleachers were beginning to fill up and people were beginning to dot the hallways.
Very quickly he rounded the corner and slipped up on to one of the bleacher seats, in full view of another set of burly twins from the opposing team's school. These two were also standing at attention and looking around.
Scott waited until one of them had stepped close enough to him, and … Scott threw his weight to his left and landed in a pile at the bottom of the bleachers.
He fought back his grin and said "Who just pushed me?" As he began to lift himself up.
And every face on the bleachers turned to look at the two boys from the opposing team.
"Whoa there." The closest boy said, holding up his hands defensively. "You slipped man." He said, helping Scott up. "Loose board or something."
"Yeah." His buddy said, backing him up and slipping up next to him. "You okay?"
Scott dusted himself off as a bulky shadow slipped quickly past from behind the two 'concerned' young men.
The crowd was losing interest and the tension was abating.
"Sure." Scott smiled, almost too knowingly. "Thanks."
The two boys slipped back towards the hallway and eyed the crowd hesitantly.
Scott slipped around the corner and saw that something was wrong. There were too many people in the hallway. Too may kids from the other school.
"Hey" Scott called out. "Did you hear? Two kids from Armwood are in trouble for knocking a guy from Bayville off the bleachers! And I think they were on the team!"
"When did this happen?" A guy in a letterman jacket asked.
"Right now. Down there!" Scott pointed back the way he came and stepped back to stand in front of the trash bin that sat in the alcove.
"Let's go." The letterman said to a friend, and the hallway cleared out to follow.
"Ach, Thank you Scott." Kurt slipped out of the alcove shadow. "He vas getting heavy." He hefted what looked like a bowling bag.
"Come on, we've got to meet Rogue." Scott stepped out first and scouted ahead as Kurt followed quietly.
They slipped up to the door of the girl's bathroom and knocked once.
"Where does the path of glory lead?" Rogue asked in exasperation from behind the door.
Scott smiled. Beast sure knows how to plan a crime. He thought. "To the grave" He replied, paraphrasing the poet Milton.
Rogue opened the door and stepped out. She took the bowling bag from Kurt.
"Oh, he's heavy." She said.
"I know." Kurt agreed.
Rogue cast a glance each way and slipped down the hallway that led to the girl's locker room. She stared down two cheerleaders who eyed her with disdain. And she stopped outside the Girls Locker Room and knocked once.
"Alas, poor Yorick!" Kitty chimed from behind the door.
"Just open the door. He's heavy!" Rogue replied.
Kitty opened the door, looking slightly miffed and lightly stomped her foot.
Rogue just shoved the bag at her. "And hurry up. The game's gonna start soon."
Kitty took the bag, shocked by it's weight and disappeared in to the girl's locker room.
She slipped to the back of the room and then through the wall and in to the boys locker room where she set the bag down on a wooden bench.
She slipped back, almost completely in to the wall, and hissed. "Psst!" And again a moment later "Pssst!!"
A young boy leaned back around the lockers.
"What the?" He eyed the bag and stepped over. Kitty heard it unzip as she hid herself in the wall.
"Guyz! You're not gonna believe it! Hey guyz!" The boy called.
Kitty slipped back in to the girl's locker room and then out to meet Rogue.
"Did they find it?" Rogue asked.
"Yeah. Let's go watch." Kitty grinned.
A moment later, they had taken their seats with Scott, Jean, Kurt and Bobby.
And then – the fireworks began.
"Now taking the field!" The speaker announced. "The Home Team from Bayville! The … wait! What is that that the home team is holding up … It's the Armwood mascot! Arnold the Armwood Armadillo!! For the first time in ten years, Bayville has stolen the Armwood Armadillo! This is incredible!"
Duncan ran by, extending Arnold to the crowd and holding him up with both hands. The crowd went wild.
Duncan raced down to the fifty-yard line and put Arnold down gracefully as Armwood's coach and water boy raced out to reclaim him. Duncan raced down the bleachers, one arm extended toward the crowd – who went wild.
Duncan smiled, gratefully, as though he knew something – when his eyes met Jean's.
"This is so cool!" Bobby breathed. "They actually got the Armwood Armadillo!"
Scott smirked. So did Kurt.
"Yeah." Jean said, nuzzling up to Scott. "It is pretty cool."
"Ja." Kurt agreed. "And after they tried to get him last night and couldn't." He smiled knowingly.
"Well, obviously, someone got him." Kitty smirked at Kurt and bumped him affectionately with her knee.
Kurt grinned bashfully and looked away.
"I'd think those Armwood guys would kill to keep Arnold away from Bayville." Bobby breathed.
"So?" Rogue whispered, close to Bobby's ear. "Ah had to eat TWO of Kitty's brownies last night after dinner!"
Bobby looked at her, serious as he had ever been. "Stop it." He told her. "You're scaring me."