Disclaimer: I do not own any of the X-Men or any NHL franchises. The Xavier
Cup is still safely stored in my own brain, though. Ending probably merits
at least a PG rating.
And now our exciting conclusion. Hopefully my ending won't offend any hardcore Jean fans. Hey, I couldn't resist! : -D
Sitting on the bench during the intermission, Bobby could sense his young team starting to wear out. He couldn't blame them; the older mutants had given them everything they could handle in the last 20 minutes. He was starting to get tired from diving all over the place to stop shots, and Ray and Sam had had no luck trying to stop Evan on offense. Everybody could sense that they had their backs to the wall.
"What are we gonna do?" asked Amara. "They're kicking our butts!"
"We just can't stop Evan!" said Sam dejectedly.
Bobby held his hands up, trying to restore order. "Look guys," he said. "I know we're struggling, but we can't give up yet! If we lose, Jean will never let us forget about it,"
Everybody on the bench shuddered at the prospect of her highness, Queen Jean Grey lording the victory over them all.
"Our problem is that aside from Rahne and Jamie, we really haven't been able to use our powers much," said Bobby. "But now we're gonna change that. Roberto, do you think you can take goal for this period?"
"I've never played goalie before," said Roberto. "What'll happen when Evan starts shooting?"
"If I have anything to say about it, he won't get the chance," said Bobby. He explained that he was going to act as a utility skater and play both offense AND defense. Now that he was out of the net, he'd be able to put his powers to use in his natural environment.
"I thought Jamie was the only one who could be in two places at once," said Jubilee.
"Trust me, I'll make it work," Bobby said. Somehow, he thought to himself.
"We're also going to reverse our lines," he continued. "Last period, we barely got any kind of offensive pressure because we were too busy trying to stop Evan. This period, we're gonna send in our big men and make THEM play defense. And there's one person in particular that we're really going to stick it to," he finished, pointing at Jean across the rink. "You're all fed up with her acting like a queen around us all the time, right?"
"YEAH!" came the resounding response.
"Well, let's go out and show her we mean business!" he said, very worked up.
The young X-Men all cheered, and joined gloves in unity before heading back out onto the ice.
The older mutants lined up at center ice for the face-off across from their younger counterparts. Jean caught a very strong mental burst from Bobby. She glanced at him to see a very intense look on his face, his icy eyes staring daggers at her. Jean was determined not to be intimidated and shot back a mental "bring it on," but inside she felt just a small amount of nervousness about Bobby coming out of the net.
The puck dropped and the 3rd period was on. Sam won the face-off and passed it to Ray who took it into the older mutants' zone. Rogue tried to check Ray against the boards but Ray passed off to Bobby and moved out of the way, and Rogue slammed up against the wall by herself.
Bobby had been jockeying with Scott for position on the ice. He pushed off against the visored mutant, driving him back a bit and getting open for the puck to come to him. He turned towards the goal. Finding himself open, he wound up for a shot, but he felt something reach out and grab his stick. He looked over his shoulder to see Jean pointing at him, using her powers to freeze his stick. She laughed as Rogue skated past and took the puck away from him. Bobby growled and skated quickly back across the ice.
Jean chuckled at her own cleverness. Why hadn't she tried that sooner, she thought. She took the puck and skated past Jubilee. As she lined up to shoot Amara shot a ball of fire at her. The fireball hit Jean's stick, reducing it to cinders in seconds. "Hey!" Jean shouted. "That's illegal!"
Beast simply shrugged his shoulders. "Don't look at me," he said. "Besides, all she did was burn up your stick. We have plenty more to go around,"
Jean scowled and quickly skated over to get an extra stick. Amara laughed mockingly at her. "I'm the only queen around here," she said.
Jean ignored the younger girl's fantasy comment and got back into the game.
Bobby skated up to Amara. "Great going! Next time she comes up here." he whispered into her ear, and Amara began laughing devilishly. Bobby switched with Jubilee, putting her on the offensive line with Ray and Sam and waited for Jean to come into his zone again.
Jean took the puck from Kitty, determined not to let the younger mutants show her up again. As she crossed into the younger mutants' zone, Amara let loose with another fireball. Instead of hitting Jean, though, this one impacted the ice and melted through it. Jean came to a hard stop, and her skates actually landed inside the tiny hole that Amara had made. Before she could step out of it, Bobby shot a blast of ice at Jean's feet, freezing her skates to the rink.
Everybody on the rink laughed as Jean struggled to free herself. Even Logan and Xavier, watching up on the balcony, were amused.
"Bobby!" Jean shouted angrily.
"What's wrong, Jean?" asked Amara derisively. "Step in something?"
At this point, Beast stepped in. "Sorry, Bobby, as funny as that is, I have to call that a penalty,"
"Hey, I was just trying to fix the hole in the ice," Bobby said gamely. "It's not my fault Jean stepped in it!" Before skating off the ice to serve his penalty, he gathered his team in. "Ok, they're gonna be looking for Evan now. Don't be afraid to use your powers to stop him, and don't be afraid to get creative,"
Jean managed to extricate herself, and the older mutants took the power play. Surprisingly, Kitty led the charge into the younger mutants' territory. She deftly skated around Amara and shot at Roberto, who threw his arms up and screamed as the puck sailed right at him. He felt a thud and looked down at his glove to see the puck resting there.
"I stopped it!" he shouted. "Hey, that wasn't so bad after all. Ok, bring it on!" he yelled out daringly.
For the next two minutes, Roberto proved to be just as adept in goal as Bobby had been, stopping every shot that came his way. Meanwhile, Ray and Sam had moved back to defense and were stifling the older mutants' attack. They took turns covering Jean, playing very close to her. Jean was not used to this sort of physical treatment. She got the puck, but Ray checked her hard against the boards, stunning her for a second. Ray passed the puck back up the ice to Bobby, who took off, flanked by Jubilee and Amara.
Jubilee and Amara had taken Bobby's advice about using their powers creatively. As Bobby skated closer to the goal, Amara shot a fireball at the ice in front of Kurt, melting it and sending up a cloud of steam. At the same time, Jubilee unleashed a barrage of fireworks. Bobby lost sight of the goal for a moment, but quickly found a target and shot. Between the steam and the flashing lights, Kurt never saw the puck whiz by him. Bobby quickly repaired the ice and rushed off to join his teammates in celebrating.
Jean was getting concerned. The game was now tied again and there were less than 10 minutes left. She took the next face-off herself, determined to even up the score again. She saw Bobby scoop up the puck and start moving up the ice. She moved to stop him and checked him hard into the boards, her stick striking Bobby's chest. Bobby went down in a heap, and Beast blew the whistle.
"Jean, that's cross-checking. 2 minutes," he said sternly, gesturing at the penalty box.
Jean skated off the ice angrily, unable to believe that she had gotten a penalty. From the box, she watched as the younger mutants again went on the power play. She watched in agony as Amara and Jubilee again teamed up to blind Kurt, but somehow the furry mutant was able to stop Sam's shot. Jean had a glimmer of hope, but it faded as Jubilee shot the rebounding puck off of Scott's skate and into the goal.
Jean looked up at the clock worriedly. The game was now tied, and there were just 2 minutes to left to play. For the first time in her life, defeat was staring her in the face. She skated up to Evan. "Evan, we need to score quick," she said desperately.
"Don't worry, Jean, I got 'ya covered," said Evan, determined not to let Bobby beat him. "Just get me the puck and stand back,"
The older mutants won the ensuing face-off, and Jean quickly passed up to Evan. Evan got past Sam on defense and pressed on. Bobby was in the defensive zone now and interposed himself directly between Evan and the goal. As Evan skated towards him, Bobby simply moved out of the way.
Evan couldn't figure out why Bobby had just moved out of his way. At the last second, he realized why as he saw a wall of ice standing where Bobby had been. He twisted to avoid colliding with it but at the same time lost control of the puck. Bobby got it and quickly passed it ahead to Ray. "Shoot it low!" Bobby called as he skated in behind Ray.
Ray pressed into the older mutants' zone as the clock hit 10 seconds to play. He passed to Sam to keep Scott from checking him, and then got the puck back. He fired a shot flat against the ice, just as Bobby had instructed, as the clock hit zero. Kurt saw the puck coming and moved to block it. Before he could stop the puck, though, Bobby used his powers again. He created a small ice ramp right in front of the puck. The puck shot up the ramp and went over Kurt's shoulder.
The younger mutants mobbed Ray and Bobby in celebration. But their party was interrupted by Beast. "Bobby, I can't give you that goal. That was a deliberate use of your powers. The score is still tied, and I'm awarding the older mutants a penalty shot. This shot will be for the game,"
The air went out of the younger mutants, and now it was the older mutants who celebrated at still being in the game. Scott called the older mutants together. "Ok, we've done all we can as a team. Now it's up to one person. Who wants the shot?"
"I do!" said Jean. "We have to win this game, and I'm the one who can get it done,"
Both Evan and Kurt looked at her upset. She wasn't the ONLY good skater on this team. But Scott agreed and Jean skated out to take the shot.
When Bobby saw that Jean was going to take the penalty shot, he quickly asked for time out. He skated up to Roberto. "Roberto, you've done a great job this period, but let me take this one. Jean and I started this, and we're going to finish it," Roberto agreed and handed over his padding and stick to Bobby. A few minutes later, Bobby was again wearing the goalie's pads and got ready for Jean.
Jean saw Bobby take over in the net. Perfect, she thought. Who better to beat than him? I'll show him just how dumb hockey really is! They locked eyes for a moment, and Jean took off with the puck.
Bobby saw Jean skating in on him. She started to go to his left, but then moved back to the right. Bobby moved with her, expecting her to come back to the left again. At the last second, she moved back left and shot the puck in high. Bobby moved to block it, but wasn't fast enough. He watched in agony as the puck sailed past his outstretched glove.
CLANG!!! Went the puck as it bounced off the goalpost and ricocheted harmlessly away. Everybody was in silent amazement for a second as the reality sank in, and then Bobby was swarmed under by his teammates as they piled on top of him in celebration. Meanwhile, Jean was in shock. She had missed! She had lost! She stood by slack-jawed, unable to believe what had just happened.
"Well, it looks like the first ever Xavier Cup ends in a draw," said Beast.
The mutants were joined in celebration by Logan and Xavier, who had come down from the balcony. Logan shook Bobby's hand. "Way to pull your team together, kid,"
Xavier, who was very relieved that the mansion was still in one piece, also offered his congratulations to Bobby for his excellent leadership.
Roberto was smiling from ear to ear at having won, but his smile vanished as a ray of sunlight hit his face. He looked up to see the sun emerging from behind the clouds. "Oh no! Guys, I'm sorry about this!" he said before bursting into flame.
The rink melted with a woosh of steam, and everybody was left drenched and sitting in a small lake that had once been the Institute's front lawn. Kitty wailed and ran off to find the nearest bottle of conditioner to restore her now-ruined hairstyle. Beast was so soaked that he looked like a drowned animal; Kurt was similarly saturated. "Ack! Great game, but next time let's stick to something a little less messy, ja?" he requested before shaking himself off.
Everybody glared angrily at Roberto, who gulped and soared away before Logan could slice his head off.
Xavier spun his wheels, trying to get out of the mud. Finally, he resigned himself to being stuck and sighed, trying to calculate the size of the landscaping bill that lay in his future.
Epilogue- The younger mutants collected on their prize that very weekend. Jean and the other mutants had had to spend several hundred dollars for tickets, food, and other souvenirs. Despite their financial downfall, most of the older mutants had a good time, especially Kurt, who had always wanted to see a hockey game live. Jean was the only one not enjoying herself. Not expecting the arena to be as cold as it had been, she had worn only a thin blouse to the game, and as a result the fans sitting nearby had spent as much time staring at her as they did watching the game. Jean spent most of her time shooting angry glances at people and trying to cover up as best she could. Finally, she got fed up with the eager stares and asked Scott if she could borrow the jersey he had bought. She slid it on, and the fans gradually went back to watching the game since there was now nothing else interesting to look at. Next to her, Bobby and the other mutants jumped out of their seats as the Rangers scored a goal. "Just wait until soccer season, Bobby!" she muttered. "Oh, I hate hockey!"
Coming up next: Fed up of the Brotherhood's lack of cooperation, Pietro tries out a classic role-playing game where he is, naturally, the master. Will the other "slaves" rebel or just get bored? Tune in next time!
And now our exciting conclusion. Hopefully my ending won't offend any hardcore Jean fans. Hey, I couldn't resist! : -D
Sitting on the bench during the intermission, Bobby could sense his young team starting to wear out. He couldn't blame them; the older mutants had given them everything they could handle in the last 20 minutes. He was starting to get tired from diving all over the place to stop shots, and Ray and Sam had had no luck trying to stop Evan on offense. Everybody could sense that they had their backs to the wall.
"What are we gonna do?" asked Amara. "They're kicking our butts!"
"We just can't stop Evan!" said Sam dejectedly.
Bobby held his hands up, trying to restore order. "Look guys," he said. "I know we're struggling, but we can't give up yet! If we lose, Jean will never let us forget about it,"
Everybody on the bench shuddered at the prospect of her highness, Queen Jean Grey lording the victory over them all.
"Our problem is that aside from Rahne and Jamie, we really haven't been able to use our powers much," said Bobby. "But now we're gonna change that. Roberto, do you think you can take goal for this period?"
"I've never played goalie before," said Roberto. "What'll happen when Evan starts shooting?"
"If I have anything to say about it, he won't get the chance," said Bobby. He explained that he was going to act as a utility skater and play both offense AND defense. Now that he was out of the net, he'd be able to put his powers to use in his natural environment.
"I thought Jamie was the only one who could be in two places at once," said Jubilee.
"Trust me, I'll make it work," Bobby said. Somehow, he thought to himself.
"We're also going to reverse our lines," he continued. "Last period, we barely got any kind of offensive pressure because we were too busy trying to stop Evan. This period, we're gonna send in our big men and make THEM play defense. And there's one person in particular that we're really going to stick it to," he finished, pointing at Jean across the rink. "You're all fed up with her acting like a queen around us all the time, right?"
"YEAH!" came the resounding response.
"Well, let's go out and show her we mean business!" he said, very worked up.
The young X-Men all cheered, and joined gloves in unity before heading back out onto the ice.
The older mutants lined up at center ice for the face-off across from their younger counterparts. Jean caught a very strong mental burst from Bobby. She glanced at him to see a very intense look on his face, his icy eyes staring daggers at her. Jean was determined not to be intimidated and shot back a mental "bring it on," but inside she felt just a small amount of nervousness about Bobby coming out of the net.
The puck dropped and the 3rd period was on. Sam won the face-off and passed it to Ray who took it into the older mutants' zone. Rogue tried to check Ray against the boards but Ray passed off to Bobby and moved out of the way, and Rogue slammed up against the wall by herself.
Bobby had been jockeying with Scott for position on the ice. He pushed off against the visored mutant, driving him back a bit and getting open for the puck to come to him. He turned towards the goal. Finding himself open, he wound up for a shot, but he felt something reach out and grab his stick. He looked over his shoulder to see Jean pointing at him, using her powers to freeze his stick. She laughed as Rogue skated past and took the puck away from him. Bobby growled and skated quickly back across the ice.
Jean chuckled at her own cleverness. Why hadn't she tried that sooner, she thought. She took the puck and skated past Jubilee. As she lined up to shoot Amara shot a ball of fire at her. The fireball hit Jean's stick, reducing it to cinders in seconds. "Hey!" Jean shouted. "That's illegal!"
Beast simply shrugged his shoulders. "Don't look at me," he said. "Besides, all she did was burn up your stick. We have plenty more to go around,"
Jean scowled and quickly skated over to get an extra stick. Amara laughed mockingly at her. "I'm the only queen around here," she said.
Jean ignored the younger girl's fantasy comment and got back into the game.
Bobby skated up to Amara. "Great going! Next time she comes up here." he whispered into her ear, and Amara began laughing devilishly. Bobby switched with Jubilee, putting her on the offensive line with Ray and Sam and waited for Jean to come into his zone again.
Jean took the puck from Kitty, determined not to let the younger mutants show her up again. As she crossed into the younger mutants' zone, Amara let loose with another fireball. Instead of hitting Jean, though, this one impacted the ice and melted through it. Jean came to a hard stop, and her skates actually landed inside the tiny hole that Amara had made. Before she could step out of it, Bobby shot a blast of ice at Jean's feet, freezing her skates to the rink.
Everybody on the rink laughed as Jean struggled to free herself. Even Logan and Xavier, watching up on the balcony, were amused.
"Bobby!" Jean shouted angrily.
"What's wrong, Jean?" asked Amara derisively. "Step in something?"
At this point, Beast stepped in. "Sorry, Bobby, as funny as that is, I have to call that a penalty,"
"Hey, I was just trying to fix the hole in the ice," Bobby said gamely. "It's not my fault Jean stepped in it!" Before skating off the ice to serve his penalty, he gathered his team in. "Ok, they're gonna be looking for Evan now. Don't be afraid to use your powers to stop him, and don't be afraid to get creative,"
Jean managed to extricate herself, and the older mutants took the power play. Surprisingly, Kitty led the charge into the younger mutants' territory. She deftly skated around Amara and shot at Roberto, who threw his arms up and screamed as the puck sailed right at him. He felt a thud and looked down at his glove to see the puck resting there.
"I stopped it!" he shouted. "Hey, that wasn't so bad after all. Ok, bring it on!" he yelled out daringly.
For the next two minutes, Roberto proved to be just as adept in goal as Bobby had been, stopping every shot that came his way. Meanwhile, Ray and Sam had moved back to defense and were stifling the older mutants' attack. They took turns covering Jean, playing very close to her. Jean was not used to this sort of physical treatment. She got the puck, but Ray checked her hard against the boards, stunning her for a second. Ray passed the puck back up the ice to Bobby, who took off, flanked by Jubilee and Amara.
Jubilee and Amara had taken Bobby's advice about using their powers creatively. As Bobby skated closer to the goal, Amara shot a fireball at the ice in front of Kurt, melting it and sending up a cloud of steam. At the same time, Jubilee unleashed a barrage of fireworks. Bobby lost sight of the goal for a moment, but quickly found a target and shot. Between the steam and the flashing lights, Kurt never saw the puck whiz by him. Bobby quickly repaired the ice and rushed off to join his teammates in celebrating.
Jean was getting concerned. The game was now tied again and there were less than 10 minutes left. She took the next face-off herself, determined to even up the score again. She saw Bobby scoop up the puck and start moving up the ice. She moved to stop him and checked him hard into the boards, her stick striking Bobby's chest. Bobby went down in a heap, and Beast blew the whistle.
"Jean, that's cross-checking. 2 minutes," he said sternly, gesturing at the penalty box.
Jean skated off the ice angrily, unable to believe that she had gotten a penalty. From the box, she watched as the younger mutants again went on the power play. She watched in agony as Amara and Jubilee again teamed up to blind Kurt, but somehow the furry mutant was able to stop Sam's shot. Jean had a glimmer of hope, but it faded as Jubilee shot the rebounding puck off of Scott's skate and into the goal.
Jean looked up at the clock worriedly. The game was now tied, and there were just 2 minutes to left to play. For the first time in her life, defeat was staring her in the face. She skated up to Evan. "Evan, we need to score quick," she said desperately.
"Don't worry, Jean, I got 'ya covered," said Evan, determined not to let Bobby beat him. "Just get me the puck and stand back,"
The older mutants won the ensuing face-off, and Jean quickly passed up to Evan. Evan got past Sam on defense and pressed on. Bobby was in the defensive zone now and interposed himself directly between Evan and the goal. As Evan skated towards him, Bobby simply moved out of the way.
Evan couldn't figure out why Bobby had just moved out of his way. At the last second, he realized why as he saw a wall of ice standing where Bobby had been. He twisted to avoid colliding with it but at the same time lost control of the puck. Bobby got it and quickly passed it ahead to Ray. "Shoot it low!" Bobby called as he skated in behind Ray.
Ray pressed into the older mutants' zone as the clock hit 10 seconds to play. He passed to Sam to keep Scott from checking him, and then got the puck back. He fired a shot flat against the ice, just as Bobby had instructed, as the clock hit zero. Kurt saw the puck coming and moved to block it. Before he could stop the puck, though, Bobby used his powers again. He created a small ice ramp right in front of the puck. The puck shot up the ramp and went over Kurt's shoulder.
The younger mutants mobbed Ray and Bobby in celebration. But their party was interrupted by Beast. "Bobby, I can't give you that goal. That was a deliberate use of your powers. The score is still tied, and I'm awarding the older mutants a penalty shot. This shot will be for the game,"
The air went out of the younger mutants, and now it was the older mutants who celebrated at still being in the game. Scott called the older mutants together. "Ok, we've done all we can as a team. Now it's up to one person. Who wants the shot?"
"I do!" said Jean. "We have to win this game, and I'm the one who can get it done,"
Both Evan and Kurt looked at her upset. She wasn't the ONLY good skater on this team. But Scott agreed and Jean skated out to take the shot.
When Bobby saw that Jean was going to take the penalty shot, he quickly asked for time out. He skated up to Roberto. "Roberto, you've done a great job this period, but let me take this one. Jean and I started this, and we're going to finish it," Roberto agreed and handed over his padding and stick to Bobby. A few minutes later, Bobby was again wearing the goalie's pads and got ready for Jean.
Jean saw Bobby take over in the net. Perfect, she thought. Who better to beat than him? I'll show him just how dumb hockey really is! They locked eyes for a moment, and Jean took off with the puck.
Bobby saw Jean skating in on him. She started to go to his left, but then moved back to the right. Bobby moved with her, expecting her to come back to the left again. At the last second, she moved back left and shot the puck in high. Bobby moved to block it, but wasn't fast enough. He watched in agony as the puck sailed past his outstretched glove.
CLANG!!! Went the puck as it bounced off the goalpost and ricocheted harmlessly away. Everybody was in silent amazement for a second as the reality sank in, and then Bobby was swarmed under by his teammates as they piled on top of him in celebration. Meanwhile, Jean was in shock. She had missed! She had lost! She stood by slack-jawed, unable to believe what had just happened.
"Well, it looks like the first ever Xavier Cup ends in a draw," said Beast.
The mutants were joined in celebration by Logan and Xavier, who had come down from the balcony. Logan shook Bobby's hand. "Way to pull your team together, kid,"
Xavier, who was very relieved that the mansion was still in one piece, also offered his congratulations to Bobby for his excellent leadership.
Roberto was smiling from ear to ear at having won, but his smile vanished as a ray of sunlight hit his face. He looked up to see the sun emerging from behind the clouds. "Oh no! Guys, I'm sorry about this!" he said before bursting into flame.
The rink melted with a woosh of steam, and everybody was left drenched and sitting in a small lake that had once been the Institute's front lawn. Kitty wailed and ran off to find the nearest bottle of conditioner to restore her now-ruined hairstyle. Beast was so soaked that he looked like a drowned animal; Kurt was similarly saturated. "Ack! Great game, but next time let's stick to something a little less messy, ja?" he requested before shaking himself off.
Everybody glared angrily at Roberto, who gulped and soared away before Logan could slice his head off.
Xavier spun his wheels, trying to get out of the mud. Finally, he resigned himself to being stuck and sighed, trying to calculate the size of the landscaping bill that lay in his future.
Epilogue- The younger mutants collected on their prize that very weekend. Jean and the other mutants had had to spend several hundred dollars for tickets, food, and other souvenirs. Despite their financial downfall, most of the older mutants had a good time, especially Kurt, who had always wanted to see a hockey game live. Jean was the only one not enjoying herself. Not expecting the arena to be as cold as it had been, she had worn only a thin blouse to the game, and as a result the fans sitting nearby had spent as much time staring at her as they did watching the game. Jean spent most of her time shooting angry glances at people and trying to cover up as best she could. Finally, she got fed up with the eager stares and asked Scott if she could borrow the jersey he had bought. She slid it on, and the fans gradually went back to watching the game since there was now nothing else interesting to look at. Next to her, Bobby and the other mutants jumped out of their seats as the Rangers scored a goal. "Just wait until soccer season, Bobby!" she muttered. "Oh, I hate hockey!"
Coming up next: Fed up of the Brotherhood's lack of cooperation, Pietro tries out a classic role-playing game where he is, naturally, the master. Will the other "slaves" rebel or just get bored? Tune in next time!