Uncanny Wolfsbane
Chapter 4: Team Wolfsbane
By
The Uncanny R-Man
Disclaimer- All familiar characters belong to Marvel.
The Xavier Institute for Higher Learning-
'No! I don't want to!'
'Come on, Seth.' Rahne Sinclair said as she struggled to get her son dressed. 'Everybody else is ready. Ye don't was t' keep them waiting, do ye?'
'Don't wanna go!' Seth sulked, crossing his arms over his chest.
'Now Seth, be nice.' Rahne told her son. 'If ye don't get dressed, then I wilnae be able to buy ye any nice things, will I?'
Seth thought about that for a moment before allowing his mother to dress him. Rahne smiled to herself as she wrapped up her son against the cold. She didn't know why people complained that being a parent was difficult. It was easy!
'Now, there's a good boy.' The redheaded Scotswoman smiled at her son as she took him by the hand. 'Let's go and see how the others are doing, shall we?'
Rahne led her son down the stairs to where Moira MacTaggart was standing in the foyer with Little Moira and Doug, Seth's siblings.
'Everybody ready?' Moira Senior asked.
'Somebody was a wee bit reluctant t' get ready, but I soon convinced him to cooperate.' Rahne told her foster mother. 'Is Warlock no' with ye?'
'He was conveniently indisposed.' Moira Senior explained.
'Ach. Ye'd think he doesnae want t' come shopping with us.' Rahne rolled her eyes.
While the adults were talking, Seth had taken it upon himself to start picking on his sister. The middle Sinclair child stuck his tongue out at his older sister.
'Stoppit!' Little Moira hissed at her brother. 'Mummy'll be mad.'
Seth just blew a raspberry at his sister and punched her on the arm.
'Ow!' Moira yelped. 'I'll get you for that!' The elder Sinclair child threw a punch at her brother, hitting him on the arm.
Seth clutched his arm and moaned dramatically.
'Mummy! Moira hit me!'
'Stop arguing, you two.' Rahne ordered her children. 'I want this to be a nice peaceful day out, okay? So I dinnae want any of yuir nonsense, Seth. Moira, ye should know better than t'encourage yuir brother.'
'Yes, mummy.' Little Moira nodded obediently as she held her mother's hand and walked out the door. Holding Rahne's other hand, Seth glowered at his sister. She was such a goody-two-shoes. He was going to get her back, no matter what.
Salem Centre, later-
After Moira had parked the car, everybody headed off to start shopping. The triplets were growing quickly, so they needed many changes of clothes. Not to mention all the times they had transformed into wolf cub form, tearing their clothes to pieces in the process. Then there was all the mud stains and the like when the children played outside in the muck, even though Rahne told them not to. Unlike most young mutants, whose powers manifested at puberty, the Sinclair triplets had their powers from birth. Nobody really knew why that was. It was theorized that the sudden offset of mutant powers was due to the triplets being half-Technarch, but they had yet to show any shapeshifting powers like their father.
'Mummy! I want an ice-cream!' Seth demanded as he tugged his mother towards a sweet store displaying a menu of frozen treats.
'I'm no' buying ye an ice-cream.' Rahne her son. 'It's far too cold.'
'Aww.' Seth sulked as he scraped the tip of his foot across the pavement.
'And don't scrape yuir shoes like that.' Rahne told him. 'Ye'll make a mess.'
Seth sighed heavily and looked about from something else to occupy himself. He noticed a stall displaying novelty egg timers. He looked up to make sure that the adults weren't looking. His mother was talking to Nana Moira and the lady keeping the stall. With the adults occupied, Seth reached up and turned the dials of all the egg timers.
'Come on, let's see if we can get ye some clothes.' Rahne said as she nodded towards a child's clothing store. 'God knows ye get through enough of them.'
'That's the trouble of havin' wee ones that can change into wolves.' Moira Senior pointed out. 'They go through clothes like ye wouldnae believe.'
'Could we no' buy clothes out of that stuff that the Fantastic Four uses for their clothes?' Rahne suggested. 'Y'know, like when the Human Torch doesnae set his clothes alight when he flames on.'
'What, unstable molecules?' Moira responded before shaking her head. 'Far too expensive. Not to mention all the patents Reed Richards has on the stuff.'
'Pity we don't have those Shi'Ar machines that could make yuir outfits.' Rahne smiled. 'They would be a godsend with the wee ones. Save a load o' money too.'
'Mummy, are you cross?' Little Moira asked. 'Cos we always get our clothes messy and stuff?'
'Of course I'm no' angry at ye, lass.' Rahne smiled as she tousled her daughter's hair. 'It's just that times're hard f'r everybody nowadays and we have t' be more careful with our money.'
'The blonde lady must be really poor.' Little Moira blinked. 'Cos she doesn't wear much at all.'
Rahne and Moira Senior just smiled at each other knowingly.
'Emma isnae poor.' Rahne explained to her daughter. 'She dresses that way because…'
The mutant werewolf looked at her foster mother for help, but Moira Senior just shrugged in response.
'I'll tell ye when yuir older.' Rahne sighed. The redheaded Scotswoman couldn't tell her daughter how she really felt about Emma Frost. Such feelings wouldn't be suitable for young ears.
Later-
With clothing purchased, Rahne and company headed for something to eat. Miraculously, she managed to fight the impulse of buying her children matching outfits. She just found it tacky when parents gave their children matching clothes. Besides, there was no way that Seth would wear anything remotely similar to his sister. Rahne didn't know how Doug, her youngest, felt about it. The poor boy was the runt of the litter as it were, and was often dominated by his elder sibling's more dominant personalities.
'Are ye alright there, Dougie?' Rahne asked her youngest. 'Enjoying yuir donut?'
'Yes thank you, mummy.' Doug smiled thankfully, his face smeared with chocolate from the particularly well-filled pastry.
'Come here, ye've made a right mess…' Rahne said as he reached to clean her son's face with a handy handkerchief. 'There, all better.'
'Mummy, I'm hungry.' Seth piped up.
'Of course yuir still hungry, ye didnae finish yuir cake.' Rahne told her son. 'Eat up and I'll make ye something when we get home.'
'Don't want it.' Seth sniffed as he pushed his barely eaten slice of cake away before pointing at the cake Little Moira was eating. 'I want that one.'
'Ye cannae have that cake.' Moira Senior stated. 'That's yuir sister's cake.'
Seth reached out to make a grab at his sister's piece of cake, but was fended off with a swat from Little Moira's spoon, and a glare from the little girl. He was lucky a swat from the spoon was the only thing he got, Little Moira was notoriously short-tempered when it came to people taking her food without asking.
'Mummy! Moira hit me!' Seth whined dramatically as he clutched his hand. 'Tell her!'
'Then ye should have tried to steal her cake, should ye?' Rahne countered. 'Yuir lucky she didnae bite ye. Ye know how yuir sister gets about her food.'
Seth rubbed his hand and grumbled to himself.
'Well, it looks like somebody's grumpy.' Moira Senior said. 'How about we all go home and I tell ye a story?'
'Yay, story!' Little Moira and Doug both clapped happily. Seth was still sulking.
BRRING-BRRING-BRRRING! BREE-BREE-BREE! BEE-DEEP-BEE-DEEP!
A cacophony of ringing and electronic beeping came from the direction of the novelty egg timer stand. Rahne and Moira Senior both stood up in an attempt to get a better look at what was going on.
'What on Earth?' Rahne blinked in confusion before turning to regard her eldest son. 'Seth, did ye have anything to do wi' that?' Seth just smiled innocently.
'What?'
TBC…
Next: Sins of the Father
When Rahne finds out that a Purifier cell has appeared in Scotland and Reverend Craig, her biological father, is leading it she demands to be a part of the team to take them down. Guest-starring: Uncanny X-Force!
