Howdy my peoples!
Guess what!!!! I have no idea why but I am in an especially hyper, silly mood! So sit back, relax, and let me tell you my tale...
Misa1126-
Did I get your name right? I had some trouble reading my own writing...Anywhoozles, thanks. I am glad you enjoy this.xmengirlzrule-
Hey I am glad you like it. Hmm, so you like Lance in this huh? Well, he definately has much more in store for everyone; and he is not the only one...Vingirl-
I'm glad you like it.me-
Very Glad!whiterose934-
I'm glad you feel welcome. After all, what kind of host would I be if the guests into my world didn't feel welcome? I'm sure that the Mind-Erasing Reviewer Donkey and the Ninja-like Swedish Monkeys will be great friends. They salute you for providing them with a friend. Anywhoozles, I'm glad you like it. Thank you so much for the Spanish correction. I did say I speak Spanish like a French cow. My sister is soooo dead! She's been going around using that in context...I feel like such an uber idiot. Thanx a megaton for the cookie too :)ishandahalf-
My parents made me wear one of those stupid pink harness leashes as a li'l kid. That's where I got the idea (and I think the abhorrence of pink...) Yeah, I loved doing Remy's reaction to the leash-thingies. Hm, I don't think girlish screaming is too bad for your health...howlerdrode-
Yes, I actually do have some experience with kidlets in toy stores. For one thing, I have a little brother and sister. Not to mention my twin who acts like a three-year-old herself sometimes. I based the little ones' reactions on my littlest sister. NO! You have it all wrong! You see, the sugar bowl stealing monkeys are solely native to Kenya. But yes, these are the same monkeys who attempted to invade Brazil a while back. They were exported to me cuz the Brazilians didn't like them too much. They even sent a spy to make sure that I keep the rascals in check. But you'd have to ask Roberto about that; he'd know the WHOLE story (seeing as he's the spy...) Ok. Thanx for the answering of the question. So, Southern kids can all ride huh? By the time they are six!?! Wow! That's good to know... Becky makes Jean likeable?!? I did not know that was even possible! She wasn't meant to come out so...witchy...but I based her on this girl at my school. Yeah, the human base is just a cruel little snob but I always have loved the name (I have a grandmother named Becky :) ) But anyway, I was angry with her for ditching team practice and I kinda let my anger form the character. *shrugs nonchalantly* Hmm, Jean would do well in that job wouldn't she....But the poor customers...crazyspaceystracey
- Awesome name. Glad you like the story.SperryDee
- I am glad you love it.Avid Fan-
Hee Hee, glad you like my digressions and intros. I am also glad to hear that my "black humor" worked. I was slightly worried that it would be too much. I thought itty-bitty-Kitty interrupting the would be Lance/Carmen flirtation was priceless. It seems that you find so much to enjoy with my work. Who knows? The penguins may pop in for a visit sometime...It is really weird with lyric and song "glue" isn't it?EviltwinAlix-
Its about time you reviewed this, you lazy bum of a twin sister! So you think this is too sweet? Ah go see the dentist. Yes! I deliberately put the plot hole you picked up in there! Nobody noticed! So congrats. Anyhow, U shall see my sister. Well its your own fault! If you didn't keep staying out late partying with your friends, you wouldn't be grounded, now would you? You're going to make her make curfew earlier! I heard her and Dad talking about ten! Again, it is not my fault the story is so sweet but you are right. These people definately are blind. I added that detail that you picked up on expecting a million WHAT??????'s. And I only had you notice...Maggie-
You are right. Lance would be a good nanny. In answer to your question, yep, I have a littler sister, and a little brother who is two years older than my littlest sister. I also have a twin who's six minutes younger. So I can base this story on those experiences. Being the oldest and supposedly most mature, I have dealt with it all. I like your theory...Thanks for answering the question. By the way, your English seems fine to me :)Lady Farevay-
I am glad you love it. Yeah, the leashes are cool. And Remy probably could escape. But the shock and indignance prevented him from remembering that. Yeah, Lance is pretty cool. I'd have to say that he is my second favorite X-Men Evolution guy, after Remy of course. I'm glad you like "my" Lance. So you like Wanda being all sweet and maternal, huh? So do I. It does make a nice change from the homicidal witch that she started out as in the show. But even then I thought she was cool and I knew that she was just angry and that wasn't really her.Marie LeBeau-
(x3) Ok. So the first chapter is lame but I did warn against that. It gets better I promise. Oh by the way congrats. You were the first person to give me a completely mean review. On to your second review, glad you like chapter 2 at least. Third review, glad you like it. Thanx.Disclaimer-
*raises right hand* I solemnly swear that I do not in any way shape or form own any part of X-men. Evolution or otherwise. *whispers* But....I have an interesting lead on the magic pink sock so don't give up hope my peoples.:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
The teens who drove home hurried. Certain members of the bunch were getting cranky. Rogue, for one, was becoming upset and snapping for silly things. The first incident was while Lance held her hand on the way to his jeep. He had been holding Kitty in one arm, and in the other, he held the leash handles of Scott and Remy (who was muttering incoherently in French and Lance was sure he did not want to understand what was being said. But a few times the phrases "When de Guild hears 'bout dis" and "y' gonna git in BIG trouble" were definitely audible.) But Anyway, to protect the feisty three-year-old, he had insisted on directly holding her hand instead of just her leash strap (which was coiled around his wrist). Scott had suddenly tripped and Lance stopped to help him up. Rogue had stumbled on the fallen four-year-old's foot. She went down hard. She had immediately made a move to kick Summers. Remy had caught her and told her that bruising her poor foot wouldn't help take the pain away-or make Scott less klutzy. So for the rest of the short trip to the Jeep, Remy winced and stopped every four steps to rub the forming bruise on his ankle.
When they got to the Jeep, Lance quickly put Kitty into one of the car-seats he had just bought. He forced Rogue into another. She wasn't too happy but she was too tired to resist to the full extent of her abilities. Since he didn't want any problems, he put Remy into the seat next to Rogue and Scott up front. Neither of them had baby seats. They were all so tired that they were asleep almost immediately.
Lance sorely wished he had a camera for the sight that he found just after he grumbled and climbed into the driver's seat. He turned back to the kids and found Rogue with her head leaning on Remy's. Kitty had dropped her head onto Rogue's vacant shoulder. Even Scott in the front seat had nodded off adorably leaning on the door.
"How is it that when you guys are awake, you frequently make me want to dive off a bridge into a heap of rocks but I feel like I have to protect you and keep you safe from harm when you are sleeping. Jeez you guys go from demons to angels in minutes. I wonder if all kids are like this." The older boy mused to himself. Then he chuckled. "I suppose I might as well hope that Xavier magically grows a whole head of hair. That is more likely to happen than it just being you four midgets."
On the way home, Lance detoured at a CVS. He picked up a few cases of band-aids, some anti-biotic spray, a few ice packs, a giant box of lollipops and a basic first aid kit. Something told him that it would be used a lot.
When Lance finally arrived at the institute, the kids were still sleeping. So Lance enlisted the aid of Piotr, Amanda, and Sam to carry Remy, Rogue, and Scott respectively into the mansion, while he gently brought in Kitty. The kids were all put into their beds. Piotr had had the people who brought the furniture and stuff arrange the beds so that each little kid was accompanied at least by an older teen. And while Lance and the others had been a few hours at Babies-R-Us, Piotr, Jamie, and Evan had set up guard rails on the beds so that the little kids could sleep in the beds that were already there except for Amara and Toad. They were both so little and fragile that they required cribs.
Piotr, Jamie, and Evan had also set up a play pen in the rec room. Or rather it was four large playpens put together to equal one big one that was separated by age groups.
After about half an hour of nap time, the mini-mutants were awake and bouncing with renewed energy. The big problem this caused was that while the kids were all hyper and wired, the older kids were still partially recovering from the ordeal in the store.
So, into the playpens they went. The biggest section was for the six two-year-olds. New toys were strewn into all the pens. The two-year-old mutants had safe-and soft-toys and dolls. There were a few remote controlled cars but they were little kid safe.
The pen Amara and Toad were put in was lined with pillows and fluffy stuffed animals. Two of those things where the baby can play with like shapes, a bell, a kid-proof radio, and hanging things were set up in the center. It had been predetermined that the two littlest of their age reduced friends were able to crawl. But in the event that they were watched carefully, Sam and Wanda (who if you remember each had either Toad or Amara) decided that baby-walker devices were a good idea.
As for Rogue and Jean, the two in the three-year-old pen, the trio of toy-shopping boys had picked an abundance of dolls, Barbies, cute animals, and a box of clothes for "dress up". Apparently, they had all entirely forgotten Rogue. She nearly had a conniption fit at seeing the pen she was unceremoniously deposited into contained mostly pink and purple "girlie toys".
She had scurried to the edge of the pen and stared enviously at Remy and Scott. Their pen had been equipped with "cool toys" like cars, robots, sports stuff, and of course the beloved TV, with the new N-64 system Jamie had insisted on.
The young girl seemed to think it was quite unfair. She stared at a small heap of Barbie dolls near her feet. She gingerly picked one up. She sneered in pure disgust and hurled it at Remy.
"Fun in the Sun" Barbie hit the back of the four-year-old's head. "Ow!"
He rubbed his head and turned. "What?" He asked, slightly exasperated.
"Ah'm bored." She grinned angelically. "Ah don' lahke (like) these toys. They all pink an' ickeh (icky)! Ya gots anehthang (anything) Ah could play with?"
He smiled and came over to the division of their play areas. "Sho' (sure)." He pulled one of his new decks of cards out of his pocket. "Y' know how t' play "Go Fetch" ("Go Fish" in little kidlet talk)?"
"A li'l." She smirked smugly. The two sat down and Remy clumsily dealt the cards through the fence. The two quietly began to play.
"Ah'm realleh (really) sorreh (sorry) Ah got mad earlieh (earlier). Ah shouldn'ta (shouldn't have) kicked ya."
"'S okay, Remy guesses. But dat did hurt."
Rogue shrugged. "Mama says dat Ah git dat from heh (her)."
Lance smiled as this scene unfolded. It was just too cute. And he was also thanking his lucky stars that those two were quietly playing with no blood shed. He also thanked God that Jean was occupying herself with the dolls and junk and Scott was glued to the N-64 system playing Pokemon Stadium.
Lance was not as lucky with the largest group of toddlers. The six two year olds were all being rowdy enough for about sixty kids their size. Suddenly the phone rang.
"Hello, mutant manor, Lance speaking."
Forge's voice chuckled over the phone. "You sure its safe to answer the phone that way man? With all the anti-mutant garbage going on?"
"Don't worry dude, two words for you: caller Id." Lance grinned. Then he grew hopeful. "So what's up? Have you fixed it yet?"
A sigh. "Sorry Lance, I am working on it. That is actually why I 'm calling. I have some uh...very bad news."
Lance frowned. "How bad is very bad?" He asked almost afraid to find out.
"Uh...well...this may be...a permanent thing...."
"WHAT!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!?" Lance bellowed, instantly he was full of temper and rage.
"It isn't definite." Forge tried to explain quickly. "Whatever happened is just not covered in any of my data. I have to start from square one...I am trying really hard to figure it out. I am almost positive I can recreate the experiment exactly."
Lance gulped. "So, are the little ones destined to have fifteen years of deja vous? If they are what happens next?"
Forge's voice grew sorrowful. "I guess that you'll just have to get used to having little kids around. I am really sorry man."
Lance swallowed. His eyes threatened to tear but he fought it. "I...I know. But you said it might not be permanent thing right? So I can still hope..." Lance broke off, disgusted with himself and the high, almost whiney pitch his voice had taken. He knew he sounded pathetic.
"Look, Alvers, you really should call Xavier." Forge said in a haggard voice. "He and McCoy might be able to do something. Or at least help out. Besides, you can't keep them as kids. What about their families? What do you say when Shadowcat's parents or Summers' little brother call? What would you say to the freaking royal family of Nova Roma? 'Uh sorry to tell you this but princess Amara is unable to talk right now. No, she doesn't have a cold or something. She's unable to come to the phone because she's getting a diaper change?'" I think that wouldn't sit too well with the king and queen."
"Its your freaking fault! You deal with their parents!"
"Lance, be logical. Even if I did that, the parents would flip out. Call Xavier. I'll put a bit more effort into finding the solution to whatever the heck went wrong. Please Lance, you are all still kids. Let the adults handle this one..."With that, the time suspended mutant hung up. Lance slammed the phone onto the base and swore bitterly.
"What was tha' abou' (about)?" Rahne asked, a bit startled by his behavior.
"Just Forge." Lance sighed and peered into the eyes of the fourteen-year-old girl. She seemed excited.
"Did he figure this whole mess out?" Her big puppy dog eyes (hee-hee literally) shined with hope.
"Look kid," he started. He was going to tell her the truth. But this new-found mature side of him couldn't bear to take that smile off her face or the hope out of her eyes. "No he hasn't." Rahne's face fell. "Yet." Lance smiled. The girl had grinned wide and happily. "But, look, don't get your hopes up on it being too soon, okay Rahne?"
The girl nodded and hurried over to Jubilee to talk about some girlie-gossip thing. Lance cast a weary glance over the room. He realized he couldn't bear to tell any of them the truth. He sighed inwardly and started to get used to the idea of having kids around all the time.
Lance was dragged out of his thoughts by multiple screams. It appeared that several arguments had broken out.
"Me think it poople (purple)!"
"Nuh-uh! Pink!"
Lance turned toward the sound of two little girls screaming at each other. Apparently Kitty and Tabitha had started an argument about something.
"Poople is so de pwettiest cowoah (purple is so the prettiest color)!!!" Tabby howled.
"You wong (wrong)! Pinks the pwettiest. Poople is stupid. (pink is the prettiest. Purple is stupid)!" Kitty argued.
Lance sighed and made his way over to break it up as Tabby threw a hit towards Kitty. Pietro made it faster.
"Whoa-cool-it-Pryde. Boom-Boom,-don't-hit-its-bad." The older boy mumbled as her dragged the girl's apart. He placed Kitty into Lance's out stretched arms and shook his head as Tabitha ran over to where Kurt, Bobby, and Pyro were fighting over a toy car. She snatched said car up with a defiant "MINE!" Of course, the three boys grew upset. They chased her as she ran around the pen. She knocked over Freddy, who was complaining about his hunger in loud angry tones. This of course caused a chain tripping reaction. And shortly, five two-year-olds were crying. Kitty observed this and of course cried for the sake of crying.
As if this wasn't bad enough, Todd and Amara kept bellowing because they were being ignored and woken up and hey, if the others were screaming, obviously there was a reason they should join in.
Eight of the older teens immediately ran to the aid of the kids. Lance went to Kitty, Pietro to Tabby, Amanda to Kurt, Jubilee to Bobby, Piotr to Pyro, Sam to Freddy, Rahne hurried to calm Amara. And as she would swear later, Wanda only went to comfort crying Toad cuz no body else moved to him.
It took a few moments to calm all the upset children. After all the tears had been controlled, Rogue cleared her throat and turned two large emerald orbs toward Wanda, whom she seemed to trust for reasons unknown to everybody else. "When we gonna git lunch? We hungreh (hungry). At home Ah git mah lunch bah (by) noon. Iss gotta be later than that now cuz Ah'm hungreh (hungry). An' Ah thank (think) all of everybody else gots ta be too."
A few teens smiled at the little child. "We'll get started right away, how's that sound Marie?" Lance said kindly. He headed to the kitchen before she could respond.
Once inside the kitchen, Lance groaned. He realized one crucial factor. Storm was gone. Remy and Blob were both toddlers. Same with Rogue. Sam couldn't cook to save his soul-or at least so he claimed. That meant all the experienced cooks were not available. Lance had done most of the cooking at the Brotherhood. The trouble was that his idea of cooking involved the strenuous task of dialing out for pizza, Chinese, grinders, or anything else that could be delivered. And that stuff wasn't exactly baby-safe food.
He opened the cabinet door and scoped out the contents. He was still rather baby-illiterate. He wasn't too aware of what little kids could eat. He decided on Spaghetti-O's (a product of a company that Heartsyhawk does not own.) They looked pretty hard to choke on and they were quite palatable (that means tastes good) for kids and teens of all ages. So he cooked a few cans of the stuff and called everybody in.
After locking the kids into highchairs (much to the dismay of a few select individuals. Take a wild guess.) Lance served each toddler a baby-safe bowl (a bowl with a suction cup on the bottom that sticks to the tray of the high chair) of the Spaghetti-O's.
This was the cause of mixed reactions. Some, such as Kurt, Freddy, and Tabby launched themselves into it and pigged out immediately. Kitty took a more picky approach. She delicately ate a small "O". She decided it was edible and dug into the meal like she was starved. Jean sniffed in indignation.
"There had best not be one "O" more then 57." Jean snapped at Lance, who calmly counted back from 10.
"Eww!" Rogue stated as she looked into her bowl. "Ah don' like Sketti-O's. (Spaghetti-O's) Peez don' make me eat em." Rogue smiled angelically.
"Ro-Marie, Please?" Lance begged.
"Alright, yah asked nahce. (nice)." The small girl grimaced and took a bite off of the spoonful. She swallowed and grimaced again. "Ah'm done." She took her spoon and broke the suction cup device's hold off her tray. She put the bowl on Remy's tray. He smiled in appreciation and reached for it.
"T'ank y' Marie." She watched him, halfway between amused and repulsed. He ate his serving and then proceeded onto hers.
"How kin y'all eat that stuff?" Rogue wrinkled her nose in curiosity.
"Its nummy (yummy = tastes good) Mawie! (Marie)" Kurt laughed. She smiled shakily.
Pyro ate his fill and then decided that the rest of his portion made an extra-ordinary face paint/shampoo.
Lance gazed skyward. "Why me?" He shook his head in dismay. "What did I do to deserve this?"
Pyro then decided that he should not just paint himself. So he tossed a small handful at Jean who immediately shrieked. Apparently, she did not enjoy having orange hair and skin.
"For-the-love-of-Pixie-Stix!" Pietro cried as a fistful of orange, gooey, "o's" hit him full in the face. "This-has-to-stop! Somebody-quickly-get-that-bowl-away-from-that-little-pest!"
Quickly, Lance removed the almost entirely orange pint-sized pyromaniac from his high chair. He looked as if he had just been told to swallow a live worm at the prospect of holding the messy child but his face and heart softened at the amused giggle that escaped the kid's grin.
"Now don't you do that kiddo." Lance tried to sound serious, but his grin gave him away. "Don't waste food. Or throw it. Or put it anywhere but in your mouth. Do you understand me?" The two year old nodded innocently.
"Good boy." Lance looked at his friends, teammates, and the toddlers. "Guys I think that these little cretins are all in need of a B-A-T-H." He spelled so there would be no crazy fits or tantrums.
Several of the older kids nodded in agreement. The three and four year olds all seemed to know what was being referred to. Amazingly, Rogue had no argument. Jean sneered at Lance. "All I can say is that I have very pensitive (sensitive) skin. I need speckle (special) soap. And my water must be lukewarm." Everybody ignored the girl's demands.
"Ok, before we get into this, I think we should avoid any guys supervising girl's baths and vice versa," Amanda said logically. "That would just be wrong on so many levels." Everybody nodded in agreement. "And there are only three full bathrooms that we have access to. Those are the one's down by the rec room and the guys bathroom and girls bathroom upstairs. So we are going to have to space this out."
Everybody nodded and Pietro coughed. "If-no-body-minds-I-need-a-quick-shower. I-have-to-get-to-a-date-with-uh...Michelle-or-Melissa-or-something-in-twenty-minutes." Lance nodded and the speedster rushed off. In two minutes, he was back, fully showered, dressed nicely, and hair perfectly styled in its usual gravity defying style.
"See-you-later-slowpokes!" He called behind him as he rushed off.
"Uh, doesn't he, like, have twenty minutes?" Jubilee asked confused.
"That's Pietro for you." Lance said in a voice that was difficult to distinguish from brotherly affection or disgust. It may have been a healthy mix of both. "That gives him twenty extra minutes to flirt with other random girls he meets on the way."
"But, Monica's his girlfriend!" Jubilee gasped.
"No, Monica was three days ago. Tonight's date is Mina." Lance said grimly. His disgust in his best friend's dating habits. Most people would peg lance as "the bad-boy type" as Wanda had once joked. However, he took dating and romance and other matters of the heart VERY seriously. He hated how Pietro was with a different "girlfriend" every night. The super-fast albino never loved any of the girls he led on. He would make them think he did, certainly. But with such great speed comes a terribly short attention span. He grew bored with the girls he dated almost the instant they accepted dates. He had a strict policy of one date per girl. Lance...Well, Lance hadn't dated a girl other than Kitty Pryde since he had met her back at their hometown in Illinois.
"My brother is so..." Wanda wrinkled her nose. "I can't even think of the right word!"
"Ok, yeah, I am so sure all of us could keep going about the negative stuff about Pietro." Evan assured her. "He's always been that way, when I first met him in second grade he flirted with the teacher to get out of detention! And then..." Evan would have kept going but Amanda had cleared her throat and was giving a rather stern look.
"Look, this is all really intriguing but we can all exchange Pietro hate stories after we have remembered that we have twelve toddlers to care for. They have to be our first priority."
Lance nodded in agreement. The teens put all the kids into the play areas. Lance, Evan, and Sam were the boys who administered baths for the boys. Wanda, Amanda, and Jubilee took the girls. Piotr helped Jamie clean up Toad who was slightly difficult as it seemed he was terrified of the water. At least until they gave him a small rubber frog. He seemed to enjoy that and he gurgled and splashed happily.
Rahne pretty much followed the advice given to her by Jubilee to clean up Amara. That little girl cooed happily and threw a screaming fit when she was removed from the water.
Roberto took off because he had a soccer practice to get to. So Sam took Bobby and Kurt.
A few minutes after they had gone up to the boy's bathroom upstairs, Sam was frustrated and grumbling about blue fur in the tub. Bobby kept complaining that the water was too hot for him, even though Sam argued that it was almost freezing.
After five minutes, Amanda took Rogue and Jean up to the girl's bathroom. Lance brought Freddy and Pyro to the down stairs bathroom. Pyro was screaming and crying and clinging to everything on the way.
"NO BATH!" He sobbed. "Please NOOOOO! I'm gonna die! The wateh (water) gonna kill Johnny! Noooooooo!" Lance was extremely worried that somebody passing the institute would call the police.
He hurried through the process and the kid was still screaming as he was put into the water and didn't even realize when he was done. It was only when he found a fluffy towel wrapped around him did he reduce it to mild sniffles.
"Was it really that bad?" Lance asked in exasperation. He rolled his eyes at the reproachful glare the two-year-old boy gave him.
"You bad. I hate you!" He spat viciously. "Bad Bath!"
Lance rolled his eyes and brought the kids back down to the play areas. "Next" he called, wearily.
Amanda brought Rogue and Jean into the bathroom. There were no real problems except Jean throwing a mild temper tantrum because she wanted the shampoo to smell like strawberries but Amanda used peppermint on the two girls.
The last two sets of baths were Kitty and Tabby who were given Wanda as a chaperone and Evan's crew of Remy and Scott.
The upstairs boy's bathroom opened and Evan told the two boys he was temporarily in charge of to hurry up to the bathroom.
"Remy knows how t' bafe (bathe) 'imself!" The indignant four-year-old frowned and grumbled stubbornly. "Besides, Remy don' wanna be watched!"
"Fine then, I'll sit outside the door. Which is fine by me. Just go on." Evan grumbled. He wanted to go hang with his friends and skate but no, he had to baby-sit for his teammates. He felt it was so unfair, Pietro had been allowed to leave and go on the four dates he had but Evan was restricted to the mansion for bath-time.
From the girl's bathroom, a sudden scream erupted and was followed by a loud splash. Tabby and Kitty hurried down the stairs as quickly as two-year-old girls can go. Tabitha was completely dressed in a yellow t-shirt and denim shorts. However, Kitty was only wearing a baby blue t-shirt and training pants and socks.
Wanda erupted down the stairs. She was soaking wet and looking furious as she followed the escaped girls.
"The little brat bit me!" She growled to Lance and Amanda, who looked about ready to laugh. "I got Tabitha dressed after a bit of an argument. Then, as I was working on Kitty, Tabitha, that terrible monster, bit my wrist. I slipped on a puddle that had been splashed out of the bathtub and fell into the still draining tub! Then both of the devils escaped! And-you two think this is funny don't you!?!" She growled.
"Sorry Wanda." Amanda smiled. "We didn't think they'd be that way for you. But it is just that...well, you are soaking wet. And you are kind of funny when you are mad."
Wanda rolled her eyes. "Ha ha. Very funny. Did you see where either of the little terrorists scampered off to?"
Piotr re-entered the rec-room-turned-play-room. In one hand, he gently dragged a struggling blonde two-and-a-half-year-old. Kitty was in his other arm. He smiled and handed Kitty to Wanda. "I believe you lost this." Then he put Tabitha into the play pen.
"Out! Out! Out!" She demanded. "Let Tabby out!" She tried climbing the pen and failed. The tall silent Russian merely smiled and clipped her into her harness and tied her to the bars. She could still move and get to toys but it was clearly punishment.
"Thank you." Wanda smiled gratefully at Piotr who nodded in response.
"It was nothing." The Russian nodded, with a slight blush to his face. "My sister Ilyana vas (was) an imp as a baby as vell (Well)." A distant look crossed his face.
"I'm sorry." Wanda said gently.
"Vell (Well) anyvay (anyway) you had best go finish taking care of Kitty." He smiled. Wanda nodded and a few minutes later returned with Kitty wearing a pair of pink overalls over the training underwear and t-shirt.
Suddenly the mansion's front door burst open. Pietro entered with a tremendous scowl in place. "Honestly!" He screamed, talking to himself. "You'd think that just because you mess up a girl's name she would forgive you, but no! Of course not for me!"
"Hey Pietro, weren't you supposed to have four dates tonight?" Lance asked wearily.
"Yeah. The first went fine. Then I got to the movies for the second one, the girl got all ticked off because I got her name wrong."
Lance sighed. "What did you call her and what's her name?"
"Her name is Stacey but I called her Casey."
"So, that's close, at least you didn't call Emily, Rosanna or something like again. So what's the big deal?"
"Casey is Stacey's twin sister. I was out with her two nights ago."
"Oh, I got it. Not the best way to start a date. No girl likes the fact that her current boyfriend was dating her sister just a few days ago and then calls her by that name."
Pietro grumbled. But before he could respond properly, Scott came dashing into the room. He was fully dressed but his hair was sopping and splashing water all over the floor. His eyes were wide, or at least the highly raised eyebrows indicated that over the rim of his red sunglasses which were strapped to his head by a special swim band.
"Eban (Evan) said a real bad word on font (in front) ob (of) me an' that mean brat with scawy (scary) eyes!" He tattled.
"Who Remy?" Amanda asked, obviously distracted by the squirming infant whom she was trying to force into a nice change of clothes. "What did he say?" She asked as Amara whined and tried to tug her arm out of the sleeve hole.
"Not Remy! Eban (Evan) said...he said the bad word that rhymes with...duck!" The boy whispered in awe.
Amanda gasped in shock. Along with her, the unanimous gasp of all the x-men present rang out. Amanda shook her head and grabbed the four-year-old's hand and stormed up to the boy's bathroom furiously.
"Evan!" Amanda snarled.
The boy jumped in surprise. "Uh, hey Amanda. What's up girl?" He already had a slight guilty edge to his voice.
"You'll never guess what Scott just told me." She crossed her arms in irritation.
"Uh, I don't know. What?"
"He says that you just said something that is definately not appropriate for children's ears to hear."
He gave her a blank look.
"He says you said a bad word." She glared.
Remy, at this moment opened the bathroom door and peeked out. He was still fully dressed except for his shoes and socks. His hair was dry so it was obvious that he was still waiting for a bath.
"Uh, I did?" Evan scratched his chin in confusion.
"Uh huh!" Remy chirped cheerfully. "He did! He said-"
Amanda screamed in shock at the exact moment the impish four-year-old Cajun said the word.
Shame and recognition flickered in Spyke's eyes. "Oh yeah...that...."
Amanda began inhaling short angry breaths. "What exactly did you say to these two, Daniels?" She asked in the dangerous tone Rogue usually took when infuriated.
Evan gulped nervously. "I...uh....well..."
A set of large red-and-black eyes glittered fiestily. "He said , an Remy quotes him zactly (exactly) "Mam, ah wish dat ah wasn't stick ob baby-sipping duty. Dis whole LeStrangement is cereally ducked up." On'y he di'n' say ducked! (Man, I wish that I wasn't stuck on baby-sitting duty. This whole arrangement is seriously (YOU KNOW WHAT GOES HERE!!!!!) up)" The young Cajun grinned.
"Um, oops?" Evan offered.
For a moment, Amanda looked like an almost erupting volcano. Then she shook her head to clear it and gritted her teeth. "Evan Daniels! I sincerely hope you are proud! You now have a four-year-old saying that awful word!"
She looked like there was a huge lecture ready to attack him, but he wisely took the opportunity to turn and run-very fast in the other direction towards his bedroom.
Aggravated, she turned to the smirking boy who leaned against the door. "Ok, Remy. I NEVER want to hear you say that word again okay?" She asked as gently as she could.
"Kay." He hung his head sheepishly. Amanda smiled and ruffled his hair, much to his annoyance.
"That's a good little boy." She smiled again.
"Jus' got un problem." The toddler looked her directly in the eyes. "Y' di'n' say pweez. (please)." With that, the tiny terror took the opportunity to run off, laughing madly.
Amanda groaned and chased after the kid. He wasn't watching where he was going and so he abruptly ran into the corner in the hall. Amanda caught up with him and just as she did, she heard a dull "thud" and then there was screaming.
"Oh my gosh!" She ran over to where the kid sat on the floor clutching his nose, which was bleeding slightly.
Remy whimpered a little and yelped as she picked him up and gently touched his nose with a tissue from the bathroom. "Owie!" He sniffled and struggled to get out of Amanda's grasp. "Lemme go!" He whined.
She rolled her eyes and sat him up on the hamper for dirty clothes at the end of the hall. "Nope. Let me see where you hit." She pried his hands away from his nose as gently as she could. "It isn't too bad. You'll be okay."
"On hearing that he wasn't mortally wounded for the rest of his life, the crying seceded to quiet sniffles and whimpers. But he decided to milk the sympathy for all it was worth.
"Remy's nose hurts." He pouted.
"I know," Amanda smiled. "But you're being such a big brave boy." He smiled with the air of some tragic hero who returned from a terrible war.
"Kin Remy have a pop-pickle?" He asked with big, sad-puppy-eyes. (pop-pickle= Popsicle)
Amanda laughed. "We'll see. But first we need to get you a bath."
Remy scowled. "Don' need a baff (bath). We could just skip dat part." He informed her hopefully.
The older girl shook her head. "No, I don't think so." Before he could bolt again, she scooped him up and carried him back to the bathroom. She was so focused on not dropping the squirmy four-year-old, she accidentally walked straight into Pietro who was angrily muttering to himself as he walked-yes you read that right it said walked-down the hall to his room.
The two collided with an "oops" from both.
"Hey-watch-it!" Pietro snapped. "Oh sorry Sefton."
"You okay?" Amanda asked hesitantly. He was acting awfully distracted and not as impatient as normal.
"No. But, its-just-girl-trouble. You-wouldn't-understand." He sighed.
"Try me." She said with a raised eyebrow as she shifted Remy's weight in her arms. " After all, I am a girl." She pointed out,
"Fine. I-went-out-with-Mina-to-the-movies. That-went-fine. But-on-the-second-date, I-called-the-girl-by-her-twin-sister's-name. It-just-so-happens-that-I-had-dated-her-twin-a-little-while-ago. So-she-got-all-offended-and-called-her-best-friend-to-rant. Well, I-had-no-clue-that-the-friend-was-my-third-date-but-she-canceled-when-she-found-out. Then-the-girl-called-her-cousin-who-coincedentally-was-my-fourth-date."
Amanda blinked and let this information soak in. "Oh. I'm...sorry." She said awkwardly. "But maybe this ought to teach you something."
Pietro gave her a scathing glance. "Yeah, to-do-background-checks-on -all-my -dates-before-they-begin-so-I -know-which-ones-are-psychos-before-the-date."
Amanda sighed. "Not the lesson I was hoping for." He smirked. "Look, Pietro, I am actually glad you are here. Evan was supposed to help out with getting Gambit cleaned up. But, it appears that he has some...issues with language in front of four-year-olds." With this last statement, she shot an agitated glare to Evan's closed bedroom door.
Pietro smirked in amusement at the fact that his foe was getting in trouble with a girl who he wasn't even dating or anything.
"Can you do it? Please? I would but it would just be weird, you know? I am a girl with no desire to see any guy with no clothes, especially one who is really older than me but in a four-year-old's body. I think I would need some serious therapy after that."
Pietro smirked and nodded in agreement. "Look Sefton, after this experience, all of us are going to need some psychiatric help. That is a given."
"Yeah, so will you do this one thing?" Amanda smiled gently.
Pietro sighed. "Fine. I-guess. I-don't-have-anything-else-to-do-anyway."
"Oh thank you so much!" Amanda grinned. Pietro frowned suddenly.
"Don't-mention-it. Really. I-don't-want-it-to-look-like-I'm-going-soft-or-anything. I-DO-have-a-reputation-to-uphold-you-know." He said with a serious look on his face but a twinkle in his eye.
Amanda burst out laughing. "Ok. I get it. This is a one time thing huh?"
"Um-Hm." Pietro nodded. "Don't-tell-a-soul-okay?"
Amanda shook her head and handed the four-year-old's hand to the smirking albino.
As soon as Amanda had left and returned back downstairs, Pietro quickly shoved Remy through the door and closed the child into the bathroom.
"'Ey! No pushin' Remy!" the boy called through the door crossly.
Pietro rolled his eyes and slumped into a chair outside the bathroom door. He impatiently relived the date he had messed up somehow in his head. Just as he was making a solemn vow to never date twins again, his charge called him again.
"Uh...Remy need a li'l 'elp s'il vous plais!." He said urgently. "Can' turn de wateh (water) on!"
"Freaking-Moron-Cajun." Pietro grumbled under his breath. "Why-my-father-even-hired-him-is-beyond-me."
The older boy grumpily threw the door open. The kid was still fully clothed except his shoes and socks. However, he was trying with all the strength and energy in his young body to turn on the faucet. The four-year-old was obviously frustrated by his failure. Suddenly, the knob he was trying took on an eerie, pinkish-orange glow.
"Oh Shi-talking mushrooms!" Pietro gaped. He wasn't even talking too fast. He had caught himself before he swore but his blue eyes had just widened comically. Suddenly his speedy brain and reflexes kicked in. "SOMEBODY-GET-UP-HERE-LIKE-NOW! WE-HAVE-A-FREAKING-SITUATION-HERE! THE KID-CAJUN-STILL-HAS-HIS-POWERS!!!!!!!!!!!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs.
To the now frantic and panicking Remy, he tried to speak calmly-and failed miserably. "Ok-come-on-kid-just-picture-the-knob-how-it-was-before-it-started-glowing-don't-panic-just-calmly-try-to-imagine-pulling-the-nice-glow-into-your-hand!"
"Talk sloweh (slower)!" The panicky four-year-old cried. "Remy don' unde'stand y' when y' talkin' a bajillion miles a hour!"
Pietro took a deep breath to calm himself. He spoke slow and clear to be sure the kid understood. "Focus on the knob NOT blowing up. Try to pretend you can pull the glow into your hands. Think about how it looks when it isn't exploding."
Remy raised a skeptical eyebrow towards the older teen. "Y' crazy?"
"Just-do-it-LeBeau!" Pietro snapped.
The four-year-old pouted and closed his confused red-and-black-eyes. In a few seconds the knob faded into his small hands. He opened his eyes and appeared dumbstruck.
"What 'appened?" He seemed shocked and terrified, but not nearly so much as Pietro.
Breathing heavily, he stared in shock at the boy who apparently felt he had done something bad as he hung his auburn head in obvious shame.
"Remy sorry" he said in a small voice.
"Just-just-hurry-up-and-get-clean." Pietro said in a voice that came out meaner than he intended.
He stepped outside the door and grumbled. Lance, Piotr, and Wanda all stood there apprehensively.
"So what were you yelling for?" Piotr asked anxiously.
"It sounded urgent..." Lance trailed off, uncertain at the look on Pietro's face.
"What's wrong?" Wanda asked her twin nervously.
"Gambit-has-his-powers." Pietro said in a voice that was half astonished and half bitter and miserable.
The trio looked at the stressed teen's face for approximately two seconds before breaking into a hybrid of relieved and hilarious laughter.
"You almost had me there, buddy." Lance chortled and grinned, patting Pietro on the back. "That was a good one." He, and Wanda continued laughing, and even Piotr smiled a bit.
Wanda suddenly looked up at the indignant look on her brother's face. She immediately stopped laughing and some mystic twin thing made her realize something. If it had been a joke, he would have been cracking up too and be teasing them about being gullible. He would not be standing there looking hurt and indignant and sad. She had never seen him look so earnest in her life.
"Guys," she began quietly. "I don't think he's joking."
"Vat makes you think zat Vanda? (What makes you think that Wanda?)" Piotr cocked his head to the side and he regained his serious composure.
"Call a twin-thing or women's intuition, but I think he's being...honest."
"Honest? Pietro? Wanda you are his twin! You of all people ought to know that Pietro Maximoff and honest do not fit into the same sentence unless you put "is not" between them." Lance raised a skeptical eyebrow.
Wanda studied her brother. His face was crestfallen. She could hardly blame him; his so called "best friend" was sitting there and calling him a liar right in front of him.
"Don't you say that!" She snarled. "You're right, I AM his twin. I can tell when he's being honest!"
"Wanda, its true." Lance sighed. "You may be his sister, but I am his best friend. I know him slightly better than you do since-" He broke off as Pietro made a rapid choking noise and shook his head franticly.
"Since what?!" Wanda asked angrily.
"Since guys talk." Lance finished lamely. "But anyway, I thought you hated him...Why are you defending him?"
"Are you nuts?" Wanda said in a dangerously low voice. "He's my little brother! I have to defend him!"
"I thought you were twins..." Lance said confused.
"GRRRRRRRRRRRRR." Wanda growled and rolled her eyes. The room was beginning to glow blue. "We are! But I am 27 minutes older. I feel like I have to protect him! And I may not get along with him but I don't hate him!!!!" She screamed at the older boy.
"Well still, chill out. You need to calm down." Lance looked severely frightened by the fact that the whole room was glowing with fierce blue energy and static.
"Apologize to my brother and I will." Wanda growled angrily.
"What!? Me!? Apologize to him?!" Lance's temper started to rise. "Not happening! Its true! He rarely tells the truth and you know it Wanda Maximoff!" A fierce quake rumbled the room but Wanda was unphased. Things were shaking and blue and it was hard to tell who was in control of the shaking as Wanda was clearly fuming, with her fists clenched.
"Take it back!!" She yelled. "My brother isn't all that bad and YOU know it Lance Alvers! You are his freaking best friend! Some friend you are!"
"Sorry Wanda but I have issues trusting a kid who claimed to be my best friend and then betrayed the one's he called his brothers!" Lance sneered. "Or did you forget that tiny detail? Huh? HE BETRAYED US! ME, BLOB, TOAD, AND OF COURSE YOU!"
"What the heck are you talking about?!" Wanda screamed. "YOU ARE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE!!! HE NEVER DID US ANY HARM!"
Lance's furiously opened mouth suddenly snapped shut. Lance blinked. Pietro was having a coughing fit in which sounded oddly like "coughcoughmemorymodificationcoughcoughdon'ttellher". Lance had completely forgotten about that detail. He realized that she really had no clue as to the validity of his accusation. He felt horrible when he noticed the hurt in her eyes.
"Lets drop this." He said dully, avoiding eye contact with her. He turned instead to Pietro, who looked amused and astonished about the fight. "Are you serious for once Pietro?"
Wanda slowly recovered by taking deep breaths and focusing on happiness and joy. Lance's temper, thankfully didn't ever last long even though it was quite fearsome when it was flared up.
Pietro opened his mouth to respond. But before he got the answer out- "BOOM". A terribly loud noise sounded and the bathroom door blew open with force. Upon quick examination, the bathroom was completely covered in shampoo. Including the four-year-old who stood there, wearing his originally clean clothes, and who was holding the remains of what may at one time have been a bottle of shampoo.
"Remy din't do nuttin'!" The child panicked and dropped the exploded bottle. "It was a at-se-dent!" He pleaded with his eyes.
"Does that answer the question Avalanche?" Pietro sighed.
Inside the room, the toddler looked scared-no terrified. "Di'n' mean it." He kept repeating. When Lance stepped closer, he bowed his head and refused eye-contact as if he was gonna get a whipping or beating.
"What happened?" Lance asked bewildered as the small boy sniffled another apology.
"Remy jus' picked up de bottle t' put it back on de rack an' it 'sploded. Honest. Dunno how it happened."
Lance said something that really wasn't too four-year-old friendly and then grimaced. "Of all the kids to still have powers it had to be a dangerous one didn't it?" Lance asked nobody visible as he looked skyward.
"Why y' talkin' t' de ceilin'(ceiling)?" Remy asked curiously. "Don' t'ink it'll answer y'."
"Look kid, just...uh...take another bath. I'll go get you some new clean clothes that don't have shampoo all over." Lance shook his head and grumbled. Just what they all needed; another mess and more laundry to get done. Oh the inexpressible joy.
Remy nodded slightly and looked flustered. He turned around and stepped into the bathroom again.
After Lance brought a new set of clothes in for Remy, he and all the other teens met down in the kitchen. They were all severely panicked.
"Do you think its just him?" Amanda asked anxiously.
"With my luck, not a chance." Lance sighed.
"What do we do?" Wanda groaned. "A shampoo bottle is one thing. What if next he charges his clothes or one of the other kids or something?"
"Lets not even think about that." Lance said seriously. "We need to be optimistic."
The phone suddenly rang. Lance dove for it. "Forge? What's up?"
A moments pause. "No Forge, it is not going okay." Lance said through clamped teeth. "Why? You know how they've been jokingly called "mini-mutants"? Well guess what!" Lance's eyes flashed. "Yes exactly. The little toddlers we have to take care of are FREAKING MUTANTS!"
"What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks do you mean you knew that?!" Lance screamed. "What do I mean? GAMBIT JUST USED HIS POWERS AND CHARGED A BOTTLE OF SHAMPOO! IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME COME ON BY, THE GUYS' BATHROOM IS COVERED IN THE JUNK. COCONUT SHAMPOO! AND NO I WON'T CALM DOWN!" Lance growled into the phone.
"Lance chill" Pietro interfered.
Lance took a soothing breath. "Do you know what could have toddlers with mutant powers Forge?" Lance asked in exaggerated calm. "I thought they didn't hit till puberty did..."
Lance put Forge on speaker phone so everyone could hear the answer.
"Well, it isn't necessarily puberty that triggers the mutation. Its actually a high stress situation that does it. Usually they say puberty because it is generally the first major stress a person goes through. But it is possible in the case of the test subjects, the procedure of forcing their bodies backwards fifteen years should have removed their powers but the stress may have re-established their manifestation." Forge obviously knew what he was talking about but it was mostly lost on the ears of the teens in the room. They all released a simultaneous groan.
"This-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-worst-days-of-my-entire-miserable-life!" Pietro grumbled. "First-the-de-aging-thing-then-the-shopping-spree-then-my-dates-got-messed-up. Then-the-rotten-brats-have-powers. This-has-got-to-be-second-only-to-the-day-father-took-Wanda-and-OOPS!" He said breaking his rant short. Wanda gave him a confused look and Pietro pleaded with Lance to bail him out.
"Will you shut up about the wrecked dates?" Lance asked grumpily. "You aren't the only one. For those of us who are lucky to get any dates on a Saturday night, one date is special. And guess what? My date which would have been the highlight of my week, is now ruined and do you know why? The girl I would be on said date with is two years old. Making me seventeen years older than her as opposed to the two I would be if she was her proper age."
Lance scowled miserably. He felt he never should have let Kitty vollunteer. Looking back he felt like he should have stopped them all but especially his beloved Kitty. He had no clue how he would feel or react if it turned out this was permanent. For a brief moment he pondered how it would be if Pietro had gone back instead.
He was so unfocused, that he completely missed what Forge was saying. Until something major clicked.
"Whoa! Back up Forge! What did you just say?" Lance asked excitedly. But he didn't want to falsely boost his hopes in the event that he had just done some wishful thinking.
"Oh, I said I have a 95% accurate idea of what went wrong." Forge repeated proudly.
Lance beamed. "So what is it? How long will it take to fix?"
The group could practically hear Forge raise his eyebrow. "You are asking me to explain the schematics of an invention that some of the best inventors and scientists would not comprehend? No offense meant, but I doubt any of you would be able to stand listening to it without being reduced to a meaningless babble."
"Fine." Lance nodded. "You are probably right. So when can you fix it?"
There was a heavy silence for a nerve-wracking two minutes and thirty-four seconds. "...That's the thing. You see, its one of those things. I could have it in a minimum of two or three days...or it may take weeks or even months." There was another hesitant pause. "...There is also the chance that it could take years.......or even.....never......And of course the 5% chance still exists that I have the wrong idea all together...." Forge's voice was lace with sympathy. "Look, my advice is to seriously go talk to Xavier. It would help a little bit."
"Could everybody stop telling me that?" Lance rolled his eyes like an angry child. "We can deal with this." All around the room, people gave Lance pitying looks. Many of them sighed. The boy was being way too stubborn.
Forge sighed too. "Okay fine maybe later. But in the mean time, take care of them, will you? They are just little kids. Their needs have to come before dates or skateboarding or shopping and everything." At these words, Pietro, Evan, and Jubilee glared at the phone.
Lance rolled his eyes and sighed reluctantly. "I know that Forge. Get working on the cure please? Bye." With that Lance hang up the phone.
The other teens in the room looked depressed. "What's wrong? That was good news!" Lance was exasperated.
Some of the others looked at him like he was an idiot. "Um-hello-Alvers! Anybody-home?" Pietro sped up to his best friend and knocked lightly on the older boy's head. "This-whole-thing-could-be-permanent! We-could-have-the-brats-for-the-rest-of-their-natural-lives-unless-parents-want-to-re-raise-babies. And-I'm-pretty-sure-that-once-is-enough-if-they're-anything-like-how-they-are-with-us-with-their-parents."
It hit Lance pretty hard. He was the only one who could see the silver lining of this cloud. The 95% had previously been for this mess being permanent.
"And what about the kids who don't even have families to go back to?" Amanda looked sad. "Like Rogue, and Toad, and Scott, and Tabitha? We can't just abandon them. They are all pretty much runaways or orphans. And Tabitha is in the care of Child Services."
"Do not forget Gambit and Pyro." Colossus spoke gently, in a deep, yet sad voice. "They were both disowned from their families. The families would not want them back in their lives if the two of them were found dying on the side of the road."
"Oh, how sad!" Amanda exclaimed.
"Vell, it vas not too bad on them since Remy vas sixteen and John vas fourteen. They had the vorld at their feet and then Magneto contacted them." Colossus smiled ruefully.
"I, like, really think that we should call Xavier." Jubilee piped up. "He is reasonable. We can, like, explain what really happened. He'll understand. And he can help us."
"No!" Lance pleaded. "The professor left me in charge. I should be able to handle this, they're only toddlers!"
"Lance, you're doing your best, we all know that. But there is a reason you aren't a parent. Especially of twelve toddlers." Wanda said tentatively. "None of us are really ready to be parents yet. Especially of twelve mutant toddlers. This may come as a shock to the system, but right now, you are the only legal adult besides Sam. The rest of us are still reliant on our guardians and...parents. We still need to be taken care of."
While the group downstairs was arguing, Remy had gotten cleaned up. He dressed himself and the only problem he had was that he put his new black sweatshirt with a Dragon Ball Z (I don't own that either.) logo on backwards but once that was fixed he was fine.
He walked out proudly. He had proven that he could clean himself up. He didn't need any help at all. He hurried down stairs and waited by the pen for one of the big kids to let him back in.
Rogue smiled at him and told him to come on in so they could play. He grinned back and looked desperately to the kitchen. He shrugged and his friend pouted.
Remy thought hard for a moment. Then he remembered that he was part of the thieves' guild. He decided to climb the fence. He knew Tabitha was shaking the bars but he was pretty confident that he could make it. So he started climbing.
Back in the kitchen, Lance was weakened to the point of surrender. "Fine. I guess I can call but I am going to make it perfectly clear that it is not my fault."
Just as the boy hesitantly reached for the phone, a blood curdling scream echoed through the kitchen from the rec-room...
:):):):):):)):):):):)
So what did you think? Let me know because the Ninja-like Swedish monkeys are in need of their pay. So review and make them happy monkeys! Oh and I have this awesome quote!
We can learn a lot from crayons;
Some are sharp...
And some are dull...
Some have weird names...
And all are different colors...
But they all have to live in the same box.
What do you think? Isn't that so awesome...and true? My Ag Secretary Ms. Hazel put that up in our hallway. And I was all, like, whoa! I love that! So I thought I would be nice and share it with all of you. So this times question is...
Is Chicken of the sea tuna fish or chicken?
No seriously the X-men question is... Why does Rogue hate cats so much but her best friend is Kitty? (Hee-hee :) ) Seriously though, why does Rogue hate cats?
