A BROTHERHOOD CHRISTMAS

It was a snowy and beautiful December. All over Bayville, snow covered the ground like a soft, freezing blanket. Everyone was happy and cheerful, well, almost everyone. On the edge of town, at the Brotherhood house, things weren't going well. "Aw man! It's like freezing in here!" whined Todd, as he hopped down the steps. "I know, the heat got turned off," said Pietro, who was wrapped in a big fluffy blanket. "Hey! Give me back my sweater!" growled Fred, which resulted in big tug of war over the over large sweater. Fred gave a huge tug, which not only resulted in getting him his sweater back, but flung Pietro across the room, and out the window. "Ah man, now its just gonna get colder," moaned Todd, who was crouched down by the fire place, trying to start a fire. "You're doing it the hard way, let me try," said Tabitha, who dropped one of her energy balls in the fireplace. The resulting boom not only put out the small fire Todd made, but knocked loose all the soot in the chimney, covering Todd in ashes. Lance had just walked down the stairs, and stared at the soot covered living room and the broken window. He immediately turned around and went back up stairs. "Yo, not funny. These are my best clothes, now they're all dirty," mumbled Todd, as he tried to clean his clothes off. "Awww, Toady. Don't worry, odds are the slime will help it come right off," giggled Tabitha. Todd was just about to make a crack at her, when he was hit in the face with a snowball. "HAHAHAHA! Got ya!" yelled Pietro, standing in front of the broken window. He used his super speed to start a chain of snowball fire. Soon, Fred, Tabitha, and Todd were being pelted by snowballs. "Ah man! Two can play at this game," grumbled Todd, who bounced out the back window. He returned a second later and started a return fire at Pietro, which only resulted in Fred and Tabitha getting pelted from both sides. "Ok! That's It!" yelled Fred, who gathered all the scattered snow into one huge snowball, and hurled it at Pietro. The super speedy teen easily dodged the attack, but unfortunately, the door way didn't, and yet another huge gapping hole was in the wall. Pietro zoomed into the open space in the wall. "Hmmm, ya know, I think we have the first drive in living room," he remarked, which only got him three snowballs in the face. Todd, Fred, and Tabitha chased Pietro outside, and a free for all snowball fight ensued. Fred, being an easy target, was soon nothing more than a huge walking snowman. Todd used his keen reflexes to dodge snowballs, though, Pietro's super speed was more of an advantage. He had used his super speed to build himself a fort. Todd and Tabitha figured to just use Fred. "PREPARE TO DIE!" laughed Pietro, as he started another round of snowball fire. Todd and Tabitha were crouched behind Fred. "Heh, check this out," grinned Todd, who made a stack of snowballs, and slimed them. "Ha! Green snowballs. The only thing worse than yellow ones," laughed Tabitha. Todd laughed and jumped up and lobbed a green slime ball at Pietro. Pietro dodged. "Ah man Toad! That stuff stinks!" yelled Pietro. Tabitha tossed one high in the air, making it land on the snow wall of Pietro's fort. "Ha! Looks like the girl doesn't have the arm to stand up against me!" laughed Pietro, a superior smirk on his face. BOOM! The snowball exploded, demolishing Pietro's wall, also burying him in snow. Fred, Todd, and Tabitha were rolling in the snow, laughing so hard they started getting tears in their eyes.

Their activity was cut short by a sound that always made them grin. The phone was ringing. "Oh yeah! Looks like Lance is getting a call from his little kitty cat!" grinned Pietro. He and the rest of the brotherhood raced in doors. Todd jumped up and clung to the roof. He used his tongue to snatch the extra phone off its cradle, making sure to not make it clang and alert Lance. ".... No way Kitty! I don't care if the Professor thinks its good. He doesn't know them like I do!" they heard Lance saying. "Listen Lance, I'm not any more thrilled about it than you, but the Professor thinks that since we were able to bring you to our side for awhile, that maybe a Christmas with us at the Mansion would help settle differences between us and the Brotherhood," said Kitty. Todd looked at Fred wide eyed. "Man! Lance is a spy! They're using him to try and take us over!" he said, which resulted in Pietro and Tabitha hitting on the head and shushing him. "Listen Kitty, I'd love to spend Christmas over there, you know that. It's just, these guys are a hand full. I mean, you said yourself that Tabitha was a handful, take her and multiply her by three. I mean, look at the damage we've done already!" exclaimed Lance. "Yeah I know, except all those other times, they had someone bust down the gates for them. This time though, you guys are welcome. Plus, not really much more damage you guys can do. Iceman and Cannonball sorta gave us a new shallow end in the swimming pool. Not to mention a new exit, on the second floor," groaned Kitty. The four remaining members of the Brotherhood grinned. They knew exactly what to do. "Sure we'll come Kitty!" said Pietro on the other line. "Tell the Professor we'll be there with bells on," he laughed and hung up.

They heard Lance say something loudly up stairs, then him running down the stairs. "What do you guys think you're do......" he started to say, but not having witnessed the snowball fight, he hadn't been aware that Fred had melting snow all over the house, he slipped in a puddle and skidded through the living room, out the hole in the wall, and into the street. The other four members watched him slide, but all looked away when they heard the loud crash. "Well, I never really did like that mail box," muttered Todd. "So, when are we gonna go?" asked Fred. Lance limped into the house, and glared at them all. "Yeah Lance, when is this little party?" asked Pietro, grinning madly. "I don't know. I didn't ask because we're not going!" growled Lance. Lance was about to lunge at Pietro, when he noticed the phone cord leading to the ceiling. "....Ok, so we're gonna spend the night? K, we'll be there. Later yo," said Todd, who jumped down from the ceiling and slammed the phone down. Lance's face went white with fury. Todd only laughed and jumped behind Fred. "Hey, the X-Geeks want us to like go Christmas Eve and like spend the night. Something about the whole Christmas feeling thing. I dunno. So, where can I find bells?"

A few day later, Lance was in his room packing. He had considered packing his uniform, but remembered that the new members of the X-Men had gone home for the holidays. This brought a bit of comfort to him. He didn't want to save their butts again and have to keep the rest of the Brotherhood inline. Lance shrugged and just tossed in a few clothes into his pillow case and wrapped it all up in a blanket. He was looking forward to spending time with Kitty, but he could only guess at what trouble the rest of the Brotherhood could start.

Todd was also in his room, a little more hyper than usual. He had swiped a new back pack just so he could pack for the evening. "Oh boy oh boy oh boy!" he kept saying, as he hopped around his room, packing some of his less dirty clothes. He stopped in front of his dusty, cracked mirror and smiled into it. "I'm finally going to have an actual Christmas! I won't be in an alley out in the cold, alone, and hungry....." he said to his reflection, his little heart warm and full of Christmas spirit. He wasn't even planning on causing trouble either....

Fred himself was actually looking forward to Christmas. He wasn't thrilled with the fact of spending it with the X-Geeks, but the thoughts of all the food that mansion held on Christmas easily over powered his hate. "Huh, who knows, maybe we could have fun," he muttered, packing a bag full of candy bars and chips.

Pietro and Tabitha, however, had other views on the matter. " Man, I can't wait to get back there and cause some damage. Plus, I bet blue boy misses me," said Tabitha, smiling as she and Pietro packed their bags, not only with clothes, but with special supplies. "Hey, focus! This is not a mission of love! We're gonna finally be able to do the real damage we've always wanted. Instead of only being able to get me on the inside, all us will be there. Of course Lance is gonna be stick in the mud and try and stop us, but hey, we'll just have to get him caught in friendly fire. Let's see, stink bombs, shaving cream, eggs, super glue, and my favorite, itching powder..." rambled Pietro, running around the room, packing more and more prank items into the already stuffed bag. Once it was finally forced closed, Tabitha and Pietro stood back and grinned. "This is gonna rule," said Pietro, a grin of pure evil on his face.

"Oh man, they're here Chuck," groaned Logan. He was standing by the window in Professor Xavier's office. "Now Logan. Lance was willing to come on his own free will, maybe if we can show the rest of them that we mean no harm, they will join our cause," said the Professor, his chair moving to the window. " All I know is one false move and I'm sending them back home on a tornado," groaned Ororo. "I know those kids, they were in some of my classes. That Todd kid really seems to have bit of a B.O. problem...." remarked Hank. The adults weren't the only ones unhappy with The Brotherhood spending the night. "I am not sharing a room with that jerk Pietro!" yelled Evan. Scott sat on a couch, rubbing his temples, his headache already forming. "Don't worry. The guys will the empty rooms left by the new members, and Tabitha will just get to use her old room," he muttered. "Oh no! She is not!" said Rogue. "Don't worry Rogue. When these little sour milk balloons hit them, they'll run like little mice," said Kurt, grinning as he held a few foul smelling balloons. Jean held her nose and moved back. "The way Todd smells, I don't think they'd notice." Kitty stood in the back, furious. "HEY! Why don't you guys like stop being such jerks and give them a chance! If you hadn't been so mean, Lance would of stayed!" All the X-Men turned and looked at her, none of them knowing what to say, mostly because she was right. "All right, we'll give this a chance," mumbled Scott, taking a pain killer.

Lance parked his Jeep in the garage, and led the Brotherhood into the huge entrance hall of the Mansion. The X-Men stood there, and the two teams stood apart from each other, neither side showing any sign of welcome. "Ah, so you have arrived. I'd like to thank you and welcome you. I hope your stay here will be pleasant," said the Professor, wheeling himself between the two groups. The Brotherhood mumbled a few words, for the most part sounding like a form of thanks. Todd was crouched down, smiling. Him and Lance were the only ones who didn't seem completely sickened by being there. "So, where we staying, yo?" asked Todd, trying not to sound excited, but failing miserably. Everyone's eyes followed him as he continued to hop up and down. "Yes, um , you will be staying the empty dormitories on the third floor. Tabitha and Lance will be able to use their own rooms," explained the Professor. Both Lance and Tabitha's eyes widened. "You mean you haven't given 'em away?" asked Lance. "Of course not, If you came back, where would you stay if we did?" growled Logan. "Now, why not get moved in already?" The Brotherhood quickly went up the stairs, feeling it wise not to make Logan madder than he already was.

Kurt sighed as he opened up one of the empty dorm rooms for Todd and Fred. Todd barely gave him time to move aside before hopping inside. His little eyes widened as he looked around the large room. "MAN! This is like the coolest room I've ever been in. Even the rooms back at the boarding home when I was little weren't this big or fancy," he exclaimed. Fred walked in, pushing Kurt aside, who merely growled and teleported away. Fred threw his things on one of the beds. "Well, I'm gonna go see if I can find the kitchen," he mumbled and lumbered back out of the room. Todd didn't even noticed. His little heart was beating a mile a minute. He yelled out loud happily, jumping up almost to the ceiling, doing three mid air flips, landing on his back on the soft bed. "Man, this is gonna be a great christmas, yo," he said, closing his eyes and trailing off to a light sleep.

Lance was settling back into the room he had only moved from a month ago. He looked up as Kitty walked through door, literally. "I'm glad you came," she said, smiling. Lance grinned a little, but quickly frowned again. "Listen, I'm gonna try my best to keep the guys under control," he said quickly. "Lance, don't worry. We stocked up on tear gas already," laughed Kitty. Lance could only look in Kitty's eyes and smile. The two of them sat there for awhile, until a large cloud of gas filled the room. The two of them jumped up. "What the.....?" yelled Lance, standing in front of Kitty. Kitty gasped, and quickly held her nose. "Oh yarg! That smells worse than Toad!" she screamed. Lance covered his nose with his shirt, hearing familiar laughs. He growled and used his powers to bust open the door, knocking Tabitha and Pietro on their backs, pinned down by the door. "HEY!! What's the deal Lance!" yelled Pietro angrily. Both Lance and Kitty stood above them, glaring down at the two teens. "What happened?" yelled Evan, as he and Kurt raced up down the hall. "Oh, Pietro and Tabitha let off a stink bomb in Lance's room," hissed Kitty, standing on the door. "Oh, no wonder it smelled like Toad up here," laughed Kurt. His laughter was cut short by a water balloon exploding his back. Only, these balloons didn't contain water, they had sour milk in them. "Now who smells bad fuzzy?" growled Todd. Kurt glared at Todd, and launched himself forward, tackling Todd. Soon the whole hallway erupted in fighting. Fred, Scott, and Logan were just walking up the stairs, when several spike spears flew by their head. "What the heck?" growled Logan, extending his claws. "Oh no, what caused this?" moaned Scott, as he saw the members of the X-Men and Brotherhood fighting. Todd was wrestling on the floor with a very well slimed Kurt, Pietro was running circles around Evan, who was shooting spears frantically in an attempt to stop the speedy teen. Tabitha and Kitty looked like the were about to rip each other part, if it wasn't for Lance standing between the two screaming girls that is. Fred sighed and walked up to Todd and Kurt, and used his great strength to tear the two boys apart, holding them up in mid-air. Scott did a flying tackle and brought down Evan, while Logan caught Pietro by the back of the shirt, pulling the teen off balance. The fight between Tabitha and Kitty ended when the both took a swing at each other, both blows landing on Lance's face, knocking him out. Everyone froze and stared at the two girls as Lance's body fell to the floor with a loud THUMP. "Um, maybe it's time we go down stairs, yo," squeaked Todd.

Several hours later, and in Kurt's case, several showers later, The Brotherhood and the X-Men were gathered in Lounge. Lance was laying on the couch, an ice pack on his head. Kitty by his side, constantly apologizing. Todd and Fred were trying to get a game of Pool started, eventually getting Scott and Evan to reluctantly agree to play. "Ya know, I haven't heard from Pietro or Tabitha lately," mumbled Todd, trying to aim his pool stick. "Oh, yeah. Her and Kurt went to go see "Attack of the Slime Toads part 2," replied Evan. Suddenly, there was a loud, ear piercing scream. "What the...? That sounded like Jean!" said Scott, jumping to his feet. Everyone raced into the hallway, only to be knocked over by a blur, leaving a trail of women's underwear. Then there was jean, hair wet and in a towel, chasing after it. "OHHHHHH! When I get my hands on you, you're gonna eat your own pants!" she screamed. "We gotta get him outta the house too," said Evan, grinning at little watching Jean hopelessly try and catch Pietro. "Yeah, for his own safety, yo," agreed Todd.

"NO!!!!!!!!" screamed a voice, stopping Pietro dead in his tracks, only to be tackled from behind. In the entrance to the hall, stood Rogue and Risty. "What are they doing here?!" demanded Risty. "Yeah, I'd like to know what's up too," said Rogue, glaring at all the members of the X-Men. "Well, the Professor invited the Brotherhood over for Christmas," explained Scott, glancing over to Pietro, who was being beaten over the head with a brush by Jean. "So, that's why you guys let me have Risty over, so I wouldn't complain about being stuck with the worst mistakes of my life on Christmas!" yelled Rogue, who ran down the hall to her room. Risty glanced over at Todd. He was staring at her. "What do you want you little Toad??" she hissed. Todd just sat there, crouched, staring. "You know Risty, the way ya yelled at us, and your eyes........ it's like I know you from somewhere....." said Todd, trailing off. Fred and Lance looked over at Risty. "Now that ya mention it Todd, she sorta does seem like someone we know," agreed Fred. Lance just stood there, staring at Risty hard. The teen girl took a step backwards, a look of shock and surprise on her face. "Oh come on, I'm not even from the same country as you freaks, how would you know me?" she asked, trying to put an edge in her voice. "I dunno, that's why it's odd," said Todd, shrugging. Suddenly, Pietro zipped up behind Risty, leaning on her shoulder. "Oh, I know where I know you from Risty," he whispered in her ear. Risty's eyes widened and she froze. "Really?" Pierto grinned and moved his lips near her ear. "Oh yeah. You're the Christmas angel that's been running circles in my head," he whispered, grinning. All the members of the Brotherhood erupted in laughter, the X-Men joining them. Risty's face flushed red, and she elbowed Pietro in the ribs and ran to Rogue's room. Pietro fell to the ground laughing. Logan just then walked up the stairs, surprised to see everyone laughing. "Uh, it's time for dinner," he grunted, and walked back down the stairs.

Walking into the dinning room was enough to stop the Brotherhood in their tracks, but seeing the feast on the table simply fried their little minds. "WHOA! They have actual food! This might be the only time I had a meal not containing hotdogs," said Todd, sitting down in a chair, shocked and amazed. Fred pulled up two chairs, and sat next to Todd. "Man, it's sorta like back on the farm, except that I've never seen anything prepared this fancy without being on t.v. or a magazine." Lance and Pietro pulled up seats, Lance mildly surprised. Pietro was nursing his many wounds, and was too used to fancy meals to even notice. The rest of the X-Men were already seated, except for Rogue and Risty. "Uh, I think this might be good time to remind you all that Risty doesn't know about our "gifts" and it would be wise not to use any odd eating habits," said the Professor, looking from Kurt to Todd. "Right, no tongue lashing the yams, got it prof," said Todd, eager to get the meal going. Kurt sighed, " and no hanging from the lights to grab food in the middle of the room." Risty and Rogue entered the room, and walked to the end of the table. Pietro grinned and pulled out a chair. "For my lady?" he said, but Risty just glared at him, and pulled the chair at the very end. Rogue sat in the pulled out chair. "You touch me once, and I'll knock you out, you grease ball," hissed Rogue. The rest of the Brotherhood snickered at the shot down Pietro. With that everyone started to fill their plates, though only after waiting for Fred to take a little more than his fair share. Ororo was constantly moving from the kitchen to the table, bringing in extra food. Todd took the familiar foods, yams and turkey. Fred took three turkeys, a ham, four bowels of yams, green beans, potatoes, a baker's dozen loaves of bread. Not to mention using a Titanic amount of gravy from the gravy boat. Lance took normal portions, but was more busy making eyes with Kitty. Pietro tried making eyes with Risty, but only ended up with an eye full of yams. Kurt almost jumped to the lights to try and snag another helping of turkey, but was luckily tugged back down by Evan. Todd was about to grab a fly with his tongue, but Jean used her powers to push Todd's plate into his lap, distracting him. Todd leapt up out of his seat, and onto the lights. "HEY! What was that for?!" he yelled at Jean. Kurt looked up, anger in his face. "HEY! If I can't hang on the lights, what makes you think your slimy butt can?" he growled. Fred stood up and grabbed Kurt by the neck pulling him across the table. "What makes ya think you can talk to him like that?" Fred growled. Risty was about to stand up and hit Fred in the head, but Lance stood up and pulled Kurt free. "BLOB! Cut it out!" yelled Lance, anger clear in his face. Rogue quickly pulled Risty out of the room. "You saw what she did to Todd, and what he said was out of line Lance," said Pietro, moving next to Fred. Tabitha moved behind Lance. "Yeah Lance, who side are you on?" she hissed. Lance looked at the Brotherhood, to Kitty. "Listen, we're guests. We don't need to start trouble. "THEY STARTED IT!" yelled Fred. Todd hopped down. He looked a little disturbed. "Um hey, let's drop it, yo. I guess I did something to deserve it." Fred looked down at Todd, with a look of shock. "Oh man! He's been brain washed!" yelled Pietro. "No he hasn't!" yelled Kurt. Logan and Ororo looked at the Professor. "Listen, there has just been a misunderstanding. I think it's best we all return to our rooms and cool off," suggested the Professor. " Forget that, I'm going home," said Pietro, standing up. "Yeah me too," said Fred, following Pietro to the entrance hall. "Wait up guys, I'm coming," said Tabitha, jogging after them. The three of them stood at the entrance, and looked back. The members of the X-Men were standing there, but Lance and Todd were in the back. "Come on guys, we don't have to leave," said Lance. Todd nodded. Pietro narrowed his eyes, and Fred growled and pushed open the doors. He and Tabitha walked out. "You know Lance, I thought you really had been back with us, but I guess Kitty means more than friends huh? Not only are you turning your back on your friends, your dragging off our team mates to the other side. We let ya back, but don't think we're gonna give you another chance. Bye, and you better watch out for Toad, he doesn't know what your dragging him into," said Pietro coldly, slamming the door behind him. The dark outlines of the three teens could be seen walking down the driveway. Out of nowhere, flashes shot towards the outlines, which raced back to the mansion. They burst back into the doors, slamming them shut. The Professor slapped his forehead. "Oops, sorry, the security systems were put online." Pietro slid to the floor. "So much for a dramatic exit."

After the security devises had been disabled, the three Brotherhood members left. Everyone went to their rooms. Lance sat on the edge of his bed, staring out the window at the falling snow. He couldn't believe he had turned his back on his friends, again. If Pietro had been serious about kicking him and Todd out, then he was stuck here. He wouldn't mind, things were only bad the last time because everyone accused him of everything. He was worried about Todd. If the teen was rejected from the X-Men, he had nowhere to go. There was a knock at the door. "GO AWAY!" growled Lance. "Yo, man. It's me," said Todd. Lance got up and opened the door, letting the small teen in. He sat crouched in a chair across from Lance's bed. "Sorry, I couldn't sleep." Lance looked at Todd, the young teen's face a little more fallen than usual. "Excited about Christmas?" asked Lance. Todd shook his head. "No man, Christmas is gone. I mean, I thought it would be cool, having one of those fancy movie-like Christmases. The one where everyone was happy, and everyone lived happily ever after. But, it's just nothing without the ones ya care about, ya know?" said Todd, looking up at Lance. Lance looked at Todd's eyes, knowing exactly how the young boy felt. "Yeah I know man. Just ain't the same without your family. We messed up pretty bad huh?" Lance said, sitting on the edge of the bed. Him and Todd sat in silence. Suddenly, a snowball erupted against the window. Todd and Lance both rushed to the window and opened it. There stood Tabitha, Pietro, and Fred, in caroler outfits. "OK! Let's hit it," said Pietro. They pulled out sheets of music.

"Oh they're starting to look alot like X-Geeks, even poor little Toad! Why would they wanna be X-Geeks? This we'll never know!" sang the three teens. They turned to new sheets. " Baldy old Xavier, won't you leave them alone? There is something special we got here, now you listen well! Christmas Eve is here today, and now you mean old man. This is all we ask of you, let our brothers go!" When they finished, the three looked up at the window. "Well, in case ya can't tell, we're asking for you guys to come back," said Tabitha, smiling up. "Yeah, we sorta figured that it just wasn't Christmas without you guys," said Fred. Lance and Todd looked at each other. Lance climbed onto Todd's back, and they jumped down to the ground. The members cheered, slapping each other back, a few hugs. "Well, now that we're together, its time for one last bit of final business," said Pietro. Todd grinned. "I say we show those X-Geeks that trying to rip the Brotherhood apart is a big mistake." The rest of the teens cheered. They huddled up, and only whispers could be heard.

The next morning, the X-Men awoke to find the mansion destroyed. The tree was covered in toilet paper, the presents were gone, the room was completely covered with snow and slime, and the walls were covered with markers and shaving cream. On the ceiling was written a large message, "BROTHERHOOD FOREVER!" Kitty looked at the destruction. Her face went red. "OHHHH! I'm going to kill him" she screamed, and stormed off to her room. Risty walked into the room, and looked around, and turned right back around and went to her room. Logan looked to Professor. "Looks like the Mutants that Stole Christmas."

Meanwhile, at the Brotherhood house, the teens were sitting around, opening gifts. They all laughed and tossed paper at each other. "Man Todd, good idea about ripping off the gifts," said Fred, opening up a box marked for Evan. "Ah man, what am I gonna do with a skateboard?" he complained. "Yo, Blob! Trade ya that for this fruitcake," offered Todd. "Deal!" Tabitha was up to her chin with sweaters and perfume and jewelry. Lance put on a pair of brand new ruby shades. Pietro danced around the room, listening to his new walkman. "Man, this has been the best Christmas ever! Gifts, food, and we showed the X-Men that we're still on top of our game, yo," said Todd, smiling happily. Everyone laughed in agreement. "HEY! Give me that sweater speedy!" yelled Tabitha, yanking on a sweater Pietro and taken from her. "No way! You got enough! I like this one," he said, pulling back. They started to toss ribbons, bows, and boxes at each other. Fred was about to bite into his new fruit cake when a box hit him in the face. "HEY!" he yelled, and threw a box at Pietro, who only dodged it, resulting in Todd getting hit in the back of head. He stumbled forward into the bank of snow that had built up from the hole in the wall. He jumped up and flung a snowball, hitting Lance in the ear. "HEY!" he growled, and soon, the room was a blurr of wrapping paper and snow. The Brotherhood kept the fight up all day, ending it all in a tired heap, falling asleep together on the floor peacefully.

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author: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Risty: What about me?? I had to spend my Christmas Eve with those idiots!

X-Men: YOU?! We had our house trashed and everything stolen!! Merry Christmas indeed!