Changes

Disclaimer: Marvel are the legal guardians of the world. It changes when the world turns 18.

Author's Notes: I learned a very important lesson after the last one of these things. Never and I do mean never, ever put Logan down. So what that in mind, this story will possess little or no Logan bashing. Have a nice day and remember to keep it frosty. Cheers.

Prologue.

Every year, about this time, the strangest thing happens to the mutants of the world. It's a phenomenon known as PPT, Power Proximity Transfer. What causes it and what it only lasts a day is unknown to scientists but then again what do they ever know. It's never the important stuff, like a soap that doesn't gradually disintegrate and jump out of your hands when you're in a men's prison. Important stuff like that. But anyway that's not the point is, this thing happens and this year it happened in Westchester. So for this one day, everything went to the dogs.

The night before:

"Are all the preparations in place Scott?"

"Yes Professor, everyone has been issued with the necessary equipment. There's nothing else we can do I suppose."

"I suppose you're right. We'd best turn in. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." The Professor sighed, his voice strained with the anxiety that this time of year brought.

Scott nodded and left the Professor to his thoughts. As he left Xavier noted the small smile on his face. Xavier realised he was looking forward to all this.

"Lord help us all" he murmured.

The Morning:

The bird shifted gently on its perch, enjoying the early morning sunshine. This is the life it though. Nice morning, worms in my belly, nice old building to dump on. Life couldn't get much better.

In fact it got a while lot worse as a good deal of the nice old building disappeared as crimson red beam sliced through the wall, singeing the bird's butt in the process.

From within the wall came a loud wail.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh"

"Shut your eyes and put on the glasses Jubes, put on the glasses." A voice tried to reassure her, holding her by the shoulders to stop her from looking at them.

Scrunching her eyes closed as if they depended on it, Jubilee fumbled until she found the glasses, which Scott had handed her the previous night.

"Ah crap. What did I have to get the eyebeams?" she muttered as she carefully unscrunched one eye at a time until she was looking out at the world through crimson tinted glasses.

"Could be worse," Kitty said from behind her letting go of Jubilee.

"How?"

"I'll get back to you."

The two girls slumped down on the bed, looking out on the grounds from their newly constructed window.

"What a perfect start to the day." Jubilee said glumly.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Scott whispered into Jean's ear.

"Mmmm," came the tired reply.

"Notice anything different?" Scott asked, somewhat impatiently.

She turned slowly in the bed and noticed immediately that he was looking at her with his own big brown eyes.

"Oh darling" she said and held him close. He started to kiss her on the forehead and for an instant he could feel a gentle pull as suddenly, a thought entered his mind from Jean.

He let go instantly and looked at Jean, she looked pale and surprised for a second before the colour started to return.

She pushed away from him on the bed.

"Well now we know who got Rogue's powers."

Scott slumped down.

"Just for once, I thought we might be able to enjoy a day without those blasted glasses and instead, I get…ah crap."

They sat there for a moment in silence before Scott spoke again, thinking over what he had just absorbed.

"Honey. Do you really like Logan's butt?"

She started going a bright red as suddenly Remy came through the door. Without opening it.

"Oh excusé moi, mes Amis. I thought this was the girl's room."

Neither said a word but just sat in stunned silence, as he looked at a barely-dressed Jean up and down and then left as quickly as he had come. They looked at each other for a moment before Scott stumbled out of bed after the Cajun.

After a few mishaps, the entire school gathered in the hall to have breakfast. People were just sitting down when a freshly shaven Logan, or at least it walked and sounded like Logan, walked into the room.

"What? What you looking at?" He asked grumpily as more then a few people stared. He went to unsheathe a claw but then decided that walking around with holes in his hands for the day would be rather foolish just to save face.

He sat down with the rest of the team where they all looked at him in amusement. Ororo was the first to speak.

"I don't know what it is, but there's something different about you today."

"Laugh it up." Logan replied, throwing a piece of bread at her.

The table laughed at Logan's discomfort.

"Alright, so I shaved. I figured that it might be the last chance I get to see what I look like under all this hair for a year so I might as well take it."

The others nodded in agreement, all having plans to do something different today. Logan became distracted as he picked up another piece of bread and held his cigar lighter under it, slowly "toasting" it.

"Now if I could just shake this urge to set fire to everything I'd be doing very nicely."

BOOM

"Sorry, me again."

The whole room looked over to where Kitty had just destroyed another cup. She was doing her version of the Midas touch where everything she touched got filled with kinetic energy. The academy was running out of cups fast.

"This is getting embarrassing." Kitty mumbled under her breath to the others at the table.

They all held their faces. Well except Jubilee who sat glumly in her glasses.

John smiled. "Cheer up Jubes, you're getting everyone down."

"Cheer up? I look like Bono in drag. How the hell am I supposed to cheer up?"

"Good point"

You could take your clothes off.

"What?"

The whole table looked at her in surprise.

"Who said that?"

"Said what Jubes?"

She looked them all again. They all looked at her in concern.

"Nothing, I must be hearing things. No wonder Mr Summers is so strange."

Scott sat dejected as well. His plans for the day were pretty much in tatters. He had great plans but they all revolved around being able to touch people to some degree or another. He really did get all the shitty luck.

Kitty destroyed two more cups before breakfast finished and decided to find Remy to get a handle on how to control the flow of kinetic energy. Remy, who hadn't come to breakfast was busy phasing from room to room looking at the cool and interesting things everyone had. Being able to walk through solid objects certainly made breaking and entering easier.

Scott was walking back to his office when *BAMF* Professor Xavier appeared beside him.

"What a marvellous way of getting around." Xavier said, a large smile on his face.

"Mmmm," Scott replied, his thoughts elsewhere.

Xavier hid his own joy as he informed Scott of what he was thinking.

"I'm concerned Scott, that given the nature and chaos of the day that Eric may take this opportunity to strike."

…At that moment on an island off the coast…

CRASH!

"This is great." The voice deepened dramatically, "Fear me for I am Toad, mutant master of magnetism."

In his room, in his bed, Eric hid under his pillow as he fought the craving for raw meat. It was going to be a very long day.

…Back at the academy…

"Okay, professor. I'll make sure that defences are working and *BAMF*…I'll…never mind."

The Professor obviously decided that appearing out of nowhere and frightening some one was more fun then discussing tactics. He was probably right.

Marie and John sat alone at the table. John was busy making little gusts of wind and knocking cutlery over while Marie played nervously with her hair.

"John?"

"Ah ha," he replied, not paying any attention.

"Ah was thinking that seems as Ah am able to touch and all that maybe you and Ah could…"

"Just one sec," John interrupted as he, with the tiniest of drafts, knocked a spoon off the table. "This is just the business. Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Oh nothing. You have fun now."

With a sad frown she left John to his one-man demolition of the kitchen. She heard him laugh as another plate went crashing to the floor. She looked at her list and scratched off his name. Next on the list was Remy. He was a pure lady's man so she should have some success there surely.

Kitty who had had no luck finding Remy sat in the den with Bobby who was half looking at her out of the corner of his eye, thinking over and over in his head, "It's hot in here."

Kitty looked around the room and then looked at Bobby.

"Bobby, is it me or is it hot in here?"

"Sorry what? Oh Kitty, sorry I was away in a world of my own. Ah what did you say?"

"Do you think it's hot in here."

"In here? No. Seems okay to me."

Take your top off because it's so hot.

"I don't know, I must be coming down with something." Kitty mumbled as she took off her sweater.

Bobby couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, I'm sorry, I was just thinking of a joke."

"What joke," she asked suspiciously.

"The…ahhh…"

There is no joke. Sit down and forget this ever happened.

"What were we talking about again?" Kitty asked, her expression vacant for a moment.

Bobby, fighting hard to keep from leaping in the air and singing, just looked at her as if she was strange.

"Were we talking?"

"I'm going to the doc, I don't feel so good."

"Okay Kitty, be safe."

"Yeah," she nodded as she made her way out of the den.

Bobby put down the book that he had been "reading", upside down no less. Screw this book he thought as he made his way out of the den to make more mischief. Why would he need the book when he could do what it taught for real?

The book lay half open on the couch. "How to win friends and influence people."