Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Probably never will. They're fun to play with though.
Notes: This is and is not set in second season. It is as I mentioned a few things that happened in second season, but is not as I forgot to include Beast and Tabitha at all. Or the new recruits, but then no one ever uses them anyway. This is also set before any of the weirdness of Joyride, which I have not seen but have heard about. Here, Lance still has the crush on Kitty, but she doesn't seem too interested. Hm. That's like early second season, isn't it?
Note #2: I'd just like to say for the record that I don't hate any of the characters. Frankly, I think they're all cool in one way or another and I usually keep a pretty open mind about these things. As such, any bashing of characters that is done in this story is done simply because I was doing it from a character's point of view and was trying to portray their opinions, not mine. Unfortunately, some of the characters on here do hate each other, and they think accordingly. Thus said, please don't get mad at me if I say something you don't like about a character.
"This is, like, going to be so cool!" Kitty exclaimed in general enthusiasm, looking around the lunch table at her friends.
"Ja, I know!" Kurt agreed. "I've never been to a concert before."
"What, never?!" she asked incredulously. It seemed impossible to her that there possibly could be a teenager on this green earth who hadn't been to concerts before. She herself had started going when she was thirteen, with her family.
Kurt fiddled with his image inducer, flipping it off and then on again. For one moment he was the distinctive elf they knew at home; blue fur, golden eyes, and three fingered hands becoming apparent. The image just flickered there for a second before he became a normal looking, raven-haired boy again. "Well, its not like I could exactly go into public places, looking the way I used to," he told her dryly.
"Oh, right," Kitty said humbly. "I, like, forgot."
"Kurt!" Scott snapped. He'd seen what the younger boy had done. "We're at school! Don't do things like that."
The sophomore looked at him irritably. "What?! It's not like the inducer has never conked out at school before!"
"That's still no reason to turn it off purposely. What if someone had seen you?"
Kurt settled back in his chair, muttering, "Party pooper."
"Kitty's right, though," Evan spoke up, a cheerful look on his face. "This IS going to be cool! Especially 'cause nothing ever happens in this town, so when something does its gonna be big. I bet the whole town shows up for this!"
Jean smiled at him. "It'll be fun," she agreed. "Bigger than any of Duncan Matthews's parties."
The Goth at the end of the table snorted at this. "Like any of us cares what Duncan Matthews's parties are like," she said in a derisive tone, causing the redhead to bristle. Evan saw the storm gathering and quickly moved to prevent it.
"How about you, Rogue?" he asked. "Are you going to go to the concert with us?"
"Ah might as well," she said in a bored tone. She couldn't hide the slight smile that played about her lips, however. "Actually, it does sound like fun. Better than just staying at home on a Friday night, anyway." From Rogue, this was high praise indeed.
Evan grinned at her. "Cool."
"Then everyone meet up at my car at eight thirty," Scott said. "And I'll drive us there."
The bell rang to announce that lunch was over. Used to this, the coterie of teenagers picked up their trays and gathered their things together. "This is, like, so awesome!" Kitty exclaimed, still excited. "I guess I'll see you all tonight then!"
Rogue rolled her eyes to Evan as they walked off to Field Biology together. "Did she forget she lives with us?" the girl asked rhetorically. "She'll see us this afternoon anyway."
"Ah, leave her alone, Rogue. She's just excited."
"Yeah, but with someone with that high an IQ, she sure can act like an idiot sometimes." So saying, they walked off. The others also dispersed; talking among themselves about all the fun things they were going to do that night.
***
Scott drove them home, as usual. How six people managed to fit into a little two-door convertible was a mystery even they didn't understand, but they managed it somehow. The ride home was a bit more boisterous than usual. Kurt kept bouncing up and down in his seat and Evan would insist on singing along loudly with the radio when "We Will Rock You" came on. Finally, however, they made it home. A rather sick looking Rogue got out of the back seat, slamming the door.
"Don't ever sing again, you hear me?!" she yelled at Evan. He had the good grace to look sheepish as cheers of agreement rose from the rest of his friends.
Ororo came to the door of the mansion. "Come inside, all of you," she called shortly.
Exchanging puzzled glances, they did so. "What is it, Auntie O?" Evan asked, a crease forming on his brow. "Is something wrong?"
She sent an unreadable look around the group of children. "It's nothing that any of you did. Come into the parlor. The Professor and Logan have something to tell you."
The group followed the stately, white-haired young woman, all looking nervous at this unknown problem. They entered the parlor, a large room with a fireplace and a few comfortable looking chairs. Logan was there, still dressed in the outdoors jacket and faded jeans he always seemed to don when he was traveling somewhere. He'd been gone for a few days, as he often was, with no explanation of where he had gone or why. Now he was speaking to Professor Xavier in a low voice, sitting casually on the arm of one of the upholstered chairs. They both looked up when the door opened and seven people crowded inside.
Scott was the first to speak. "What's going on, Professor?"
Xavier raised a hand reassuringly. "Nothing to be overly worried about, I assure you. Have any of you watched the news recently?" Blank stares met his question. "Well, maybe you should do so now," he said with a great deal of patience. The remote to the small TV sharing the room with them was on his lap. Now he picked it up and pointed it towards the machine. The picture clicked on and the Professor quickly flipped to the local news channel.
A perky brunette appeared, looking down at her notes. "Local authorities are puzzled by the body of a fifty year old man that was found on the outskirts of Bayville this morning," she reported in a serious voice. "The man was apparently mauled by a wild animal of some sort and probably died almost immediately." A quick picture flashed up on the screen. It showed the body lying on some grass from several feet away. It wasn't too graphic but was more than enough to make Kitty turn away, looking sick.
"Oh. Eew!"
The brown-haired newsperson was shown again. She looked up at the cameras frankly. "The strange thing is that the claw marks found match no known beast that could be identified. Rumors of an unknown monster lurking around the town's border persist despite experts' assurances that there must be a logical conclusion. But this is perhaps small comfort. On this day, many people are staying indoors, and locking those doors early. In other news..."
The Professor turned the television off again. "You can see why I might be concerned," he said.
"Yeah, that's awful and all. But what's it gotta do with us?" Rogue asked. "Ah mean, you don't think it's a mutant, do you? All that talk of some scary 'monster' just sounded like a load of crap to me. People always talk about stuff like that when they're scared. It was probably just a bear or something that did that to the guy."
"I'm not so sure about that, stripes," Logan replied. He hadn't moved from his perch on the chair arm and she was standing straight, but he still managed to look her straight in the eye without craning his neck. "I think I might have seen that thing today." He raised his voice over their sudden burble of voices, pitched with questioning and alarm. "Only for a moment! And I didn't get a clear look at it, just something in the woods that was way too large to be some lost hunter. But when I came back to the Institute and saw the news, I thought of it." He stared at them stonily. "Now if there is something wandering around out there then I think we'd all do well to follow that newsie's advice and stay inside tonight."
Again, the voices were raised. In protest this time.
"What?! No way!" Kurt exclaimed.
"But why?!" Jean asked rather plaintively.
"You can't do this to us, Professor!" Evan appealed, turning to the wheel chair bound man. "It's not fair!"
"Fairness has nothing to do with it, Evan," Xavier replied, quieting the room with his soft voice. "I have to think your and the other student's safety first. I'm afraid Logan is right. Until this situation is dealt with I must insist that you all stay at home at night, and come right back here after school instead of wandering about. Do I make myself clear?" Quiet though the words were, they held authority. A mumble of disappointed yeses was heard. "Good. That's all we wanted to tell you. You may go."
The group trekked dejectedly past Storm and out of the room. "Oh man! This bites!" Kurt burst out as soon as they were out of earshot.
"Tell me about it," Kitty agreed heartily. "I really wanted to go to that concert."
"YOU wanted to go! At least you've been to one before! I really wanted to see what it was like."
Jean sighed heavily. "Well, there's no point in complaining about it now," she said, sounding very depressed herself. "If we can't go then we can't go. I'm going to go listen to some music." And with that, she ascended the palatial stairs to her room.
Kurt shot a defiant, angry look around the room in general, and then teleported away without a word, a smell of sulfur rising in the air.
Scott shook his head. "Kurt's right. This does bite. But I suppose there's nothing to be done about it. Maybe we can appeal to them tomorrow, when they're not so worked up about this whole thing." This was said with a comforting look at the three still remaining, like he was trying to reassure them. Then he too turned and walked up the stairs. Kitty started to follow, only to have her arm caught by Evan.
"Kitty. Wait up a sec," he said. Over his shoulder the brunette could see Rogue smiling grimly. The two had been quiet earlier, talking amongst themselves. "This rule's completely unfair!" the black boy said, adding his sentiment to the general pile. He looked at Kitty slyly. "Just how badly DO you want to go to the concert?"
She looked at him confusedly. "Like, what are you talking about?"
"Just this." And he explained. By the end of it, Kitty's smile matched Rogue's tooth for tooth.
Review please. I want to know what you think of it. Not too much action in this chapter but it will most definitely pick up in the next one or two. I know this as I have already written about twenty pages of this story. So keep checking back. New chapters will come frequently. And please REVIEW! I need to know what to change and what's good and what you think. I just need to, that's all.