DISCLAIMER: I don't own the X-Men or any other characters, etc. Marvel, etc.
Reviews:
To kurodo: Thank you so much.
To enchantedlight: Thank you very much.
To chicita: Thank you. I hope your exam turns out well. Your review was a bit of a pick-me-up for me cause I was having a really, really, really, bad day. Rogue and Jean and Kitty, add Amara and Tabby and that equals Bayville Syrens! Lol. One of my favorite episodes is "Walk On The Wild Side."
To Cat2Fat900: Thanks a lot. I'm glad you like my version of Jean. Lol. And um, thanks for the pepsi, the "not spiked" pepsi. Lol. Don't worry though, I'm old enough to drink legally.
To They-Call-Me-Orange: I'm sorry, Orange, but Carol is not a man. I have a couple dark secrets that may or may not be revealed. It depends on how Carol behaves herself. For instanse: If she pulls Kurt's tail again, Rogue will spill a secret, etc. . . I'm glad you liked it so much, thank you.
Chapter Nine:
Monday morning, Rogue wakes up sore from her training. She was training on the weekend with all the boys and decided to keep her new found powers to herself until her next private training. She knows Magsy will be extremely excited and very proud of her. A snore from across the room draws her attention. Remy is still asleep. She smiles at his sleeping form and goes to take her shower and get ready for school. She's anxious to see Wanda at lunch and tell her all about Saturday's fight.
She glances at the headline on the morning paper and then the story. "Mr. Guy Spears, CEO of Spear Corp., a newly formed maker of Sports drinks, was found dead in the explosion that turned his factory into ruins. This mysterious explosion is under investigation. Police have no leads at this time, but they believe it was caused by a bomb." She reads out loud. "Hmph, Ah doubt it. More like Evan's new friends finally got their revenge."
A pair of strong arms wrap around her. "Good morning, chere."
"Morning, are ya ready ta go, now, Remy?"
"Whenever you are, petite."
She groans, "Ah'm not looking forward to this. Carol's gonna be there today."
"Remy t'inks you can handle t'at girl just fine. No powers allowed, remember?"
"Ah'm gonna have ta write it on my fist. It's just too tempting ta use the snob's powers against her."
"Like you did at the Skating Competition?"
"Uh huh." He laughs at her. She gives him a mock offended look and then breaks down in laughter too.
Piotr walks in with John, who doesn't look happy. He's not much of a morning person. "What is so funny?" asks the Russian.
"You'd have ta be there." Rogue states, She smiles at the Boys and Remy and Rogue head out.
Carol doesn't want to go to a new school. She was happy at her old school. Sure, she hadn't been back since her brother died. She didn't want to know what her old friends must think of her, now that they knew she was a mutant. It isn't fair. I was the Homecoming Queen, and I would have been Prom Queen. She smirks, perhaps she can still be Prom Queen, and join the Cheerleading Squad. She doesn't know Jean is the Captain of the Cheerleading Squad.
She gets up lazily and glances at the bed across the room. Kitty isn't there. She looks up. Only five minutes until she had to leave. "Why that little. . ."
A knock sounds on the door and Scott's voice is heard, "Carol, hun, are you ready yet? Kitty said you were having trouble deciding what to wear. They've all gone ahead, deciding to walk."
"Just a minute." she calls. She quickly grabs the first outfit she can find, a pink tank top and khakis. She brushes her hair and applies makeup at lightning speed. She is out the door just in time, but she doesn't have enough time to eat breakfast.
"So, Kit." Amara calls, "Why wasn't Carol down for breakfast?"
"Oh, well, it being her, like, first day and all, she just couldn't decide what to, like, wear." an evil grin quickly disappears from her angelic face.
Jean seems to be the only one who saw it. "Really." She raises her eyebrows.
Kitty blushes. "Okay, I, like, totally turned off her alarm clock, like, last night after she went to bed. It was just a silly prank."
The whole group laughs at her prank."Vow, Katzchen, I didn't know you had it in you!"
Needless to say, Carol is fuming when she arrives at the school. Scott volunteers to show her around. So, they aren't around when Rogue joins the others before homeroom.
"So, what're all y'all so happy about?"
The whole group, Kitty, Jean, Kurt, Amara, and Tabby, have been laughing rather hard. They stop gradually at Rogue's question.
Kurt is the first to calm down. "Oh, Rogue, Kitty has finally joined ze ranks of ze pranksters."
"Do tell." Rogue grows a look of amusement on her Southern face.
"I, like, totally, turned Carol's alarm off, like you know, last night, after she, like, went to, like, bed, and some junk. Then, I told everyone that she was, like, picking out her outfit."
"And then," Jean says. "Carol gets here, after not having any time to get ready, and she had grabbed Kitty's tank top and khakis by mistake. The one's that Kitty was going to throw away because," but she was laughing so hard she couldn't continue.
"Okay, like, I keep all the clothes I'm, like, throwing away on the same side of my closet, because I, like, throw them away on the weekend, but I, like, totally forgot and."
"Would y'all just get to the point?" Rogue asks them, completely and utterly exasperated. She's rubbing her sore neck.
Amara blurts out, "The pink top has this huge grass stain on it, because Bobby and Jubilee knocked Kitty over on accident and, and," more giggles.
Tabby takes over, "The pants, oh the pants. . ."
Jean has gained enough composure to continue, "Kitty was planning on throwing the pants away because the fabric is rotten. There was a huge rip and she noticed that mending wouldn't fix it, and Carol is bigger than Kitty so the pants ripped again on the way to school."
"Right on her butt!" Kurt laughs. "Oh, ze look on her face vhen she valked up and I said 'Nice granny panties, Carol.' She vas horrified. She ran to ze bathroom and zen she valks out and grabs Scott's jacket to tie around her vaist!"
"Well, sounds like she's gonna make a great first impression." Rogue finds herself giggling along with them.
Everything is normal, until second period when Lance finally gains a new partner, Carol. Some how the timer doesn't go off on Kitty's batch of oatmeal cookies. Rogue looks at the burnt cookies and then at Carol. "Is THAT the best ya can do without your powers? What a wimp."
Carol is angry, but she's too upset with having to work with her enemy and put up with Rogue at the same time.
"Ah mean, really, Carol. If ya want ta get even, at least come up with something original. Kitty ALWAYS burns cookies. It ain't like she gonna be upset or nothing. And Ah've learned neveh ta put anything in my mouth that she's had a hand in making."
The teacher comes up behind Carol. "Carol, did you really have a hand in ruining Kitty's cookies? Detention. I will not allow that kind of malice in MY classroom."
Scott scowls as Jean, Kitty and Rogue stifle their laughs.
"Detention!" a shocked Carol exclaims, "I've never had dentention in my life!"
"There's a first time for everything, Ms. Danvers. And I'd try to hide the fact that you're a mutant during detention. Mr. Clark is not so tolerant of your kind as I am."
Rogue sits down at her usual tree and eats her lunch, reading a book and watching the horizon for any sign of Wanda. She'd been waiting all morning for this. When the bell rings and Wanda hadn't shown up, Rogue is disappointed and very worried.
The first class she has after lunch is French. She excels in it, because she already speaks French, and Creole, but oh well. Pietro is also in that class.
"Psst, Piet!"
He looks up from his desk to see Rogue's frantic looking face. She's motioning for him to come over. He "accidently" drops his pencil and keeps kicking it "accidently" until he reaches her desk. He bends down to pick it up. "Whatisit?"
"Have ya seen Wanda, today?"
"Huh? No, nowthatyoumentionit. Idon'tthinkIhave."
"Rogue, Pietro, votre attention, si vous plait."(1) Pietro walks back to his seat to focus on the lesson.
Rogue is now even more worried about her friend than she was before. She pushes a piece of white hair behind her ear and taps her fingers nervously on the desk. Where could she be? She has been fine, living with the Brotherhood. She even said she was getting along with Pietro, the Daddy's boy. She's got ta be in trouble. Ah just know it. She has trouble concentrating the rest of the day. She notices Todd had been in school all day either.
Somewhere, miles away from Bayville, a man in his early twenties sits at a desk. A letter has been sitting on his desk for several days now. He looks at it. He'd nearly forgotten it with his busy schedule. Every time he went to open it, something else happened. He sighs and picks up the letter. It is a plain white envelope, addressed to him and postmarked Bayville, New York. Who does he know in Bayville, he wonders. The letter has no return address. He goes to open it when a large man with auborn hair and hazel eyes walks in.
"Mr. Creed, I'm sorry to say this, but I can find no trace of her. Her caretaker seems to have moved leaving no forwarding address. Apparently the girl just disappeared."
Mr. Creed runs his hand through his short brown hair. He opens the letter.
"Dear Graydon," it begins, "I know you've been worrying about me, Graydon, but you can stop worrying now. I don't think you'll care anymore after you read this. I'm not with Irene any more. I had to leave. I had to run away when this happened. I'm okay. I'm with someone who will take care of me. I've found my birth family. I know that won't make you very happy. I'm not living with them. I'm living in the same building with your father, Gray. I'm sorry. I know how angry you must be. But you won't be angry over that for long. So, here it is. I'm a mutant. There, I wrote it. I've always known, Gray, but I just never had the heart to tell you. Don't come looking for me, please. I know you're angry. I know you hate me. I wish there was some way to make you not hate me, but I know how you feel."
There was more, but Graydon couldn't read it. Just to be sure, he checked the signature. It was signed Anna. "You can stop looking now. I know where the girl is."
"Yes sir. Now about our new headquarters?"
"I've just discovered the perfect spot." His mouth curves into an evil grin, "Bayville, New York."
Kurt is walking home today, because of a fight he had earlier with Scott. It involved Carol's granny panties and Kurt's tail. He plays the scene over in his head.
Flashback:
"Come on Kurt, it'll be fun." Tabby pleads with him. "It's just a jacket."
"I don't know, you guys. That jacket's hiding the rip in her pants."
"Like, what's the worst that can happen? She, like, gets totally embarrassed?" Kitty's eyes are big pools of blue. They beg him to help her embarrass Carol.
"Vell, okay." He backs up just close enough for his tail to grab the jacket. He yanks hard and the jacket comes flying down. He quickly hids his tail.
"Ahh!" Carol screams, drawing more attention to herself than is needed or wanted. Half the cafeteria is looking at her underwear. The jacket isn't the only thing that fell down. Her pants did as well. She hastily grabs her pants and the jacket pulling them up and turning around. Kurt, Kitty, Tabby and Jean are laughing hartily at the prank.
Scott's face is red as his glasses. "Who did it? Kurt?"
Kurt, a little scared, nods his head.
"You little furry devil! How could you do something like that! And to our own teammate! Not to mention my girlfriend!" His popularity, which was already low because he's a mutant, plummets to new depths at that statement. "I can't believe you."
"Vould you believe, Tabby made me do it?" he asks sheepishly.
"No! I wouldn't! What has gotten into you? I thought you were my friend!"
"But I am your friend!"
"Obviously not! A FRIEND wouldn't have deliberately humiliated my girlfriend like that!"
"Scott! I'm just trying to make you see ze real Carol! She's a nasty, stuck-up, little ..."
But Scott cuts him off. "That's it!" He punches Kurt in the jaw. Kurt is stunned and doesn't do anything but reach for his face. "You can walk home today."
"Fine, I vouldn't vant to sit in ze same car vith her anyvay!" he snapped. "or vith you either!"
End Flashback
Kurt is still angry at the fact that Scott's choosing Carol over all his old friends. He mumbles in German under his breathe about the girls being in too much shock to say anything. He's lost in his own thoughts when Toad hops right in front of him and almost knocks him over.
"Toad! Vhat are you? Vhy are you? Vhy veren't you in school today?"
Toad looks nervously around to make sure they're alone. "I need your help, yo."
"Remy?" Rogue asks him on the way back to the mansion. "Has anything unusual happened today?"
"No, not that Remy remembers. Buckethead sent Sabretooth out on another mission alone, t'at's all. Why?"
"Oh, nothing, it's just. Well, Wanda's been meeting me at lunch, right?"
"Yeah."
"She didn't come today. And Pietro hasn't seen her eitheh."
"Roguey, Remy t'ink you are overreacting. Wanda probably just went out to kill her fat'er again, t'at's all."
"Ah hope you're right, Remy. But Todd wasn't in school eitheh."
The bike slows to a stop at a red light. "What? Toad wasn't t'ere either? T'at's odd."
"Ah got this horrible feeling, she's in dangeh and Todd went ta try and save her. He's got a huge crush on the poor girl."
"Rogue, why is t'is girl so important to you?"
"She practically my sister, sugah, and she's my friend. Afteh you, love, she's my best friend."
"Remy'll help you find her, chere. Don't worry your pretty little head over it. If she is in danger, he'll help you. Remy would say he'd do it himself, but he knows you'd just get mad and knock him out."
She smiles. "Got that right, Swamp Rat!" she hugs him tighter as the light turns green. "Remy?"
"Yeah, chere?"
"Thank you. You always know how ta cheer me up."
"C'est because Remy loves you, chere."
"I love you, too."
They reach the base just then and Rogue jumps off. As she pulls her helmet off she notices another vehicle in the garage. Remy notices it too. "Remy wonders who t'at belongs too?"
"Ah know who that belongs to." Both her hands turn into fist as she drops the helmet on the floor. "Mastermind!"
"Who? Petite, t'at's an expensive helmet!"
"Oh, like ya really went down and bought it, Remy! Just like ya went down and bought the motorcycle?" She rolls her eyes and heads quickly into the base. Remy follows close behind. He's not sure why this Mastermind person's car would make her so angry. He doesn't know who Mastermind is.
Technically Rogue doesn't either. She only has Magneto's memories of the man and therefore she knows what he is capable of. She also knows her "sister" is missing.
"Rogue, honey, can't we talk about t'is?"
"No. ERIK!" she yells as she storms towards Magneto's office.
Magneto groans. Rogue only uses his real name when she's angry and he hates it when she's angry. "Rogue, care to have a seat?" he offers, trying to remain calm as she bargs into his personal office, a bewildered Remy right behind her.
"Ah'd prefer ta stand, ya lowlife! Did ya honestly think Ah wouldn't find out! That Ah would know what ya were up to!"
"Chere? Don't you t'ink you should tell t'e man why you're screaming at him?"
"Yes, Rogue, what is the matter?"
"Ya know well enough what the matter is, ya over-grown magnet!"
"Really, I'm not sure what you are talking about."
Just then a man who looks as if he could be the missing link, walks in. Surveying the scene, he suggests, "Maybe this is a bad time, Magneto."
He starts to walk out, but Rogue twirls herself around to face him, "AND YOU! You don't wanna know what Ah'd like ta do ta you right now!"
"Ah, Mastermind, this is Rogue and Gambit."
"Ah know who he is, Erik! Ah have your memories, remembeh? And because Ah have your memories, Ah know what that monkey is capable of!"
"Monkey?" Mastermind cringes, "Is not nice to call names, you skunk."
Remy has had enough. He punches Mastermind square on the jaw. "No one talks about my girl like that!" Anger forcing him to use first-person.
"Gambit! Rogue! That will be quite enough." Magneto says in a final tone.
If it was anyone else, they would have listened. Rogue, however, turns quickly around to face him again. His statement causing her attention to focus on him once again. "What have you done ta her? Where is she?"
"Where is who, Rogue? I don't know what you are talking about."
"Wanda!"
His face grows pale. How could she know about Wanda?
A/N: Hey, sorry it took so long. But the last chapter wasn't much of a cliffhanger. I've been busy trying to catch up on the Red Witch's Misfit-verse. And today my Grandpa had a stroke, so. Sigh. Anyway, I hope you like this little turn of events, especially the Carol bashing everyone.
Still to come, where is Wanda? Did Magneto really do anything to her? What's Toad up to? What will Carol do to get even? Will Scott ever find out she's using him? What's Graydon up to? Will Magneto ever find out about Rogue's powers? Hmm, you'll just have to wait and see. I am trying to follow some things that happened in the episodes, sort of. There's not much of a plot just yet. I'm still working on it.
TRANSLATION:
(1) "Your attention, please."