The Trick Part 2, or BoePeep

by Yma

The Sequel to The Trick, Kurt gets creative revene on the Brotherhood members. This story can be read on it's own, depsite being a sequl. Please RnR!

OK, you asked for it, here it is, the second part of The Trick… Boe-Peep! If you have not read part 1, then don't worry, this can be read seperatly and understood.

Oh and one brief note, this happens just before the episode 'Adrift' and, in part, explains how Kurt knew to fiddle about with his holo-watch.

Please RnR if you liked it!

Disclaimer: This story is like a rented ball gown. I borrow it from it's rightful owners, wear it to a ball, have fun in it, then give it back for cleaning.

The Trick Part II

Boe-Peep

The inhabitants of the Xavier mansion were worried about Kurt. It wasn't that he was trying to keep his hologram on 24/7, that was to be expected from one who had recently had his fur dyed pink (though the dye was beginning to fade, his fur was now more of a lavender shade) . 

            It wasn't even the way he grumbled constantly about the Brotherhood and 'revenge,' as they had been the ones who caused his fur to be dyed pink.

            It was the way he would pause in the middle of doing something, rub his hands together, and giggle. There was no pattern to it; he did it during training, during eating, even in school. He said it was because of 'inspiration,' the rest of the X-men thought it was more to do with sanity.

            Little did they know of the wicked and subtle mechanisms that went on within the fuzzy dude's mind.

            About one and a half weeks after the incident with the pink hair dye, Kurt summoned his team mates to his room.

            'It'll be good to know what all this has been about,' muttered Rogue, 'all that giggling and hand rubbing, it really worries me.'

            'Yeah,' agreed Spyke, 'but that's not what gets to me. What gets me is the laughter, you know, the sudden bursts.'

            'Don't forget the words,' added Kitty, 'they, like, totally freak me out.'

            'Words?' asked Scott in puzzlement, he had not been present during any of Kurt's little outbursts.

            'Yeah,' replied Kitty, 'Like, sometimes he calls out these words before he stars laughing, like, hysterically.'

            'Uh… what kind of words?'

'Well, most of them are German, but he sometimes he slips into English. Like, there was this one time he said 'feather duster.'

            'And there was the time he came out with, what was it now…? oh yeah, 'PVC.'

            'Don't forget the little outburst before breakfast that one stared with 'pigtails.'

            'Yeah, the weirdest one, though,' said Kitty, 'was a couple of days ago; we were just sitting in maths, when he starts giggling, like, uncontrollably. Mrs Henderson asked him what was so funny, and he just came out with 'Boe-Peep,' then he, like, broke down into hysterics. He got a detention for that one.'

            'Do you have any idea of what he's up to?' Scott asked Jean.

            She shook her full mane of red hair, 'no' she replied, 'Kurt's been avoiding me, and keeping up his shields, like he doesn't want me to know what's going on. But I'm pretty sure this is to do with the Brotherhood, it doesn't take a telepath to tell that he's eager to get his own back on them.'

            'Maybe,' said Scott, 'but if he's been holding back on us, then we can be pretty certain he's up to no good.'

            'Wouldn't be so sure of that,' said Kitty, a smile turning her lips, 'you know what a showman Kurt is, he's probably just holding back so he can surprise us all when everything's, like, ready.'

            It turned out that Kitty was right. Kurt had put on quite a show in his room, borrowing some random chairs so that his teem mates could all sit down in a semicircle, facing him and a large clip-board. Currently on it were some (rather bad) drawings of the Brotherhood.

            He marched up and down in front of them, in the manner of a general outlaying military plans.

            'Ladies and gentlemen,' he began, 'I've gathered you here to reveal my plans, my plans for revenge. My plans to pay the Brotherhood back for the… embarrassment they have caused me.'

            'OK, K-man,' said Evan, 'what is this grand plan, then?'

            'This!' replied Kurt, flipping over the page of the clip board.

            For a few moments there was silence, and then the entire room filled with laugher.

            When they had finally calmed down enough, Rogue managed to speak.

            'Point's for ingenuity, Kurt,' she said, 'I mean, you certainly have a good imagination-'

            'Perhaps too good!' muttered Evan.

            '-but I don't see how we can pull this off.'

            'Don't worry,' chuckled Kurt, once again rubbing his three fingered hands together, 'I have it all planned out.'

            'And how many rules will this 'plan' break?' enquired Scott, earning various shoulder punches from the rest of the group.

            'Ah… none.'

            'Really?'

            'Ja, providing we're not caught.'

            Scott sighed, and put a hand to his head.

            'Listen,' urged Kurt, 'just think about it, think about Lance… eh? We've been messed about by the Brotherhood so much; surly we deserve some comeback, right? Besides, it's not as if we're hurting anyone. Not physically at least.'

            Scott listed his head to once side, thinking, beneath his glasses, his eyes glittered. 'OK,' he said at last, 'OK, I'll go with it.'

            'All right!' cried Kurt, jumping straight up, punching the air.

             'So, oh evil plotter, what's the plan?'

            Grinning broadly Kurt returned to the flip-chart, detailing each segment in minute detail.

            'Remind me again why you want this done?'

            Kurt sighed, trying hard to look innocent, 'it's a back up, man. I mean, what if the FHM get hold of my holographic image? I can't go round looking blue and furry, can I? So it makes sense to have a… different image, you know, a back up identity.'

            Forge sighed, and continued fiddling over the holo-watch, whilst Kurt looked over his shoulder.

            'But why a pizza boy?' asked Forge.

            'Because it means I can travel round places without causing any suspicion. No one notices a pizza boy driving around in a motor-bike; it's like, totally natural.'

            'Hummm… whatever you say. Any way, here it is, I've done.'

            Kurt strapped on the watch and turned it on; soon the image of a 14 year old, spotty, brown haired boy in a uniform had replaced his real fuzzy furred self.

            'Awesome!' he crowed, 'hay, that looked pretty simple, maybe I could experiment a little.'

            'It's not,' said Forge, 'it's really easy to mess up if you don't know what you're doing, better leave the image adjustment to me, or better yet, the Professor. Which reminds me, why didn't you ask him to do this?'

            'Because the Professor is totally busy right now, he doesn't need me bugging him with my paranoia. He has way more important things to do.'

            'And I don't?'

            'What can I say, dude, a friend in need…'

            'Yeah, whatever,' replied Forge, catching on, 'just don't involve me in this, OK? I know nothing.'

            Hank McCoy was reading a book when Kitty Pryde phased through the door of the med-lab. His back was turned to her, immersed in some scientific text or other. She worked quickly, grabbing the appropriate drug out of the medicine cabinet and, with a silent apology to the reading Beast, slipped back through the wall, with barely a breath shifting air to mark her presence.

            There was a sharp knocking on the Brotherhood's battered door. Toad, being the youngest, weakest, and most downtrodden of the Brotherhood members, got the task of opening it.

            The knocker was a teenage pizza boy, with a bored look on his acne ridden face and a huge, steaming pizza in his arms.

            'Pizza delivery for 47 Sludge Avenue,' he drawled.

            'We didn't order no pizza, yo,' said Todd.

            'Uh, well, this is the address I was told to hand it to. It's already been paid for, so unless you have any idea about where the right address could be..?

            'Uh, nah,' said Todd quickly, grabbing the hot pizza, 'that's OK, it's ours. Thanks, yo, bye!'

            He slammed the door in the boys face, and hopped back to the others, 'look guys,' he cooed, 'we got ourselves a free pizza!'

            'Did they fall for it?' asked Kurt, as Evan returned, still in his pizza-boy hologram.

            'Like fish to bait,' said Evan, turning off the hologram. He had been chosen to wear it because, unlike Kurt, he didn't have a strong accent, and, unlike Scott, he wasn't as well known by the Brotherhood, except Pietro, of course, but the Speedster rarely did anything menial, such as opening the door, when there wasn't someone else to do it for him.

            'Right,' said Scott, 'now we assume our positions and wait.'

            The X-men followed their leader's orders, Kurt taking position outside the window to the Brotherhood living room, watching them eating their Pizza.

            Lance was first to go, nodding to sleep after his second slice. Toad followed next, still half way through the third, which Fred finished off, along with his 6tth slice, before dropping of himself. Pietro, for once, was last, he'd had less than Blob, only 5 slices, but his hyper mode prevented the heavy sedative in the pizza from taking effect with its usual speed. Eventually, however, even Pietro succumbed to its effects, falling asleep besides his fellows with a full stomach and a smile on his pale face.

            Kurt made a signal to Scott that the cost was clear, and that the targets were asleep, this was the X-men's cue to enter.

            Kitty phased through the wall, with Kurt porting in after. He took the still body of Pietro and ported out again, back to the mansion. He knew that the sedatives would wear of on him the first out of all the Brotherhood, there for it was important to keep him restrained and topped up. Kitty, mean while, had heaved, and phased, the massive form of Blob out of the Brotherhood house. The repeated the motion with Lance, and with Toad, until they lay in a pile in front of the X-men.

            They each picked up a remaining Brotherhood member. Scott carried Lance, Rouge (with a cloths peg over her nose) carried Toad, and, between them, Jean and Evan hauled Blob. Kitty ran ahead, watching out for witnesses and other passers-by.

            Huffing and panting, they reached the mansion with surprisingly few problems and in a surprisingly short amount of time. Kurt was waiting for them, munching on a packet of sweets.

            'You OK for this?' asked Scott, still unsure about this part of the plan.

            'Ja,' replied Kurt, 'I think I can do it.'

            He bent down over the slumbering form of Toad; taking a deep breath (for more than one reason) he took hold of the frog-like boy, and teleported.

A few seconds later he returned, looking a little worn out, but otherwise fine.

            'Now the big one,' he said, grabbing hold of Blob.

            This time it took longer returning, and when he did he looked very tired.

            'I'm sorry, Scott,' Kurt gasped, trying to stem a small nose-bleed, 'but Blob was bigger than he looked, I don't think I can manage another one, not now, at least.'

            'Then we wait a few hours,' said Rogue, ''till you get your strength back.'

            'No,' said Scott, 'I don't want to have Lance lying around here, the longer he's out in the open like this, the more time Logan has to smell him out. We need to get him in that basement with the others as soon as possible.'

            'But how?' asked Evan.

            'The old fashioned way,' replied Scott, 'we sneak.'

            The plan was simple; Jean, Scott, and Kitty took on the duty of carrying Lance though the halls of the mansion. Jean would lead the group, watching out for the Professor or Storm, whom she would distract whilst Scott and Kitty, both carrying Lance, would phase him out of harms way. Jean was chosen for this task because, out of all of them, she had the most success in blocking Xavier's telepathy.

            Rogue and Evan, meanwhile, had the unenviable duty of keeping Logan distracted. Both of them were doused in heavy amounts of perfume and aftershave, which would hopefully screw up Logan's sense of smell enough that he wouldn't detect the lingering scent of Brotherhood on them.

            Kurt went to the med-lab, to get a check up from Dr McCoy, and to keep him occupied.

            Luck, once again, must have been smiling on them, for their plan worked without a hitch, and soon Lance was resting in the one of the lowest basements with his fellows. The only person who suspected anything was Logan, and he was unsure enough that he took no action.

            The trickiest part of Kurt's devious plot was over, but what was to follow for the fuzzy elf was something truly terrible and foul beyond words, something that demanded a will of iron, and convictions of steel.

            It was a test that he nearly lost, had it not been for Rouge, who had opted to do the dreadful deed with him. Had one listened to their conversation from outside the metal door of the basement, they would hear something like this.

            'Rogue, I've thought of a problem.'

            'What is it sugar?'

            'To do this… to do this we're going to have to…. To take off his…'

            'Yeah, ah know.'

            'Oh Gott, I forgot about this, I mean, I was so wrapped up in the rest of it-'

            'It just passed you by, right, me to. But don't worry, ah'm here.'

            'Oh, mein Gott! I'm not sure I can do this.'

            'Come on; think of all he's done to you.'

            'Ja...'

            'Think of the pink fur, Kurt,'

            'Ja.'

            'Think of the looks on their faces when they realize what's happened!'

            'Ja!'

            'We can do this, can't we Kurt?'

            'JA!'

            'That's the way to go! Now, do you want to undo Toad's fly, or shall I?'

            It was now dark, and the final stage of the plan was going ahead. In the dead of night, only an hour or so before the sunrise, six mutant teenagers and four unconscious Brotherhood members, crept out of the mansion. Kitty helped by phasing them through the walls, and as most people were asleep by this time, they did not worry too much about witnesses.

            Most people, however, were not like Logan, and he watched them from his bedroom window. At first he was going to march right on down their and have a nice, in-depth talk about institute rules, and how not to break them. Then he saw the Brotherhood members. Then he saw what the kids had done to them.

            He put a chaffed and hairy hand over his mouth to keep his chuckle from being heard by the elf's sensitive ears. OK, so this time he'd let them get away with it, now they'd gotten this far, they might as well finish, and letting them learn that breaking rules, occasionally, pays off would do them no harm. He would pass the news onto Chuck in the morning, let him deal with the situation as he saw fit. For now Wolverine thought he might as well sit back and enjoy the show.

            It was now daytime, and mere minutes before the start of school, not that the students cared, they were all gathered around the sports stadium, watching a rather unusual scene being played out.

            The kids from the Institute had ushered people in, promising them 'a neat show.' One of them, the German kid named Kurt, stood in the centre of the ground, wearing a red top-hat and tails, a sort of circus showman style get up. Behind him were four poles, covered with sheets. Those with seats towards the front and good eye-sight noticed that some of the sheets moved, but most people guessed that there were people tied to the poles.

            When the stadium was practically full of curious students, Kurt began.

            'Ladies and Gentlemen,' he announced through a borrowed microphone, 'today, and just for today, I present you a marvellous, intriguing, and educational event!'

            There were some moans at the mentioning of 'educational,' but the majority of the students were willing to let this comment slip.

            'In today's society,' continued Kurt, 'image is everything, especially for the up and coming young women! So today, from the catwalks of New York, London, Paris and Berlin are some of the up and coming fashions to display to you what you, yes you, can now wear.'

            Now he really had the crowd's attention, and confusion. The boys especially were unsure of what to do; this sounded more like a girly thing, though beautiful models were always a turn-on.

            'But first,' Kurt cried 'to know what look is IN, we must know what look is OUT, and so I present to you, as out first model for this morning, Fred Dukes with the Dowdy Housewife Look.'

            With a smooth motion, Kurt pulled the sheet off the first figure, revealing a still unconscious Blob, tied to a post and in somewhat… unusual attire.

The entire stadium burst out into laughter.

            'Note the shabby, floral, dress,' commented Kurt, 'the old carpet slippers, the rag round the head, and the feather duster. This is not a good look to be going for, mein frundes, defiantly not good. Stay away from this look at all costs. And instead, let us concentrate on the next model, which should show us one particular image for a certain kind of lady.'

            Kurt moved to the next sheet.

            'Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Pietro Maximoff, today modelling the Sex Kitten look!'

            He pulled off the sheet, revealing Pietro in all his glory, peals of hysterical mirth filled the stadium. Pietro was dressed in a black PVC miniskirt, and a red, low cut PVC sleeveless top, which left his midriff bare. His breasts had been padded to give them extra form for the top. He also wore black, fishnet stockings and black high-heeled shoes. A liberal amount of makeup had been applied to his pale face.

            Kurt went though all these little details, before finishing with, 'this is the best look for a girl wishing to pull on a night out in the town. But what if you want to be more demure in your approach? What if you want to say, "I'm sexy, but I have values, and I like to play coy." Well, we have just the image for you! Today, modelled by the ravishing Lance Alvers is… The Catholic Schoolgirl!'

            Once again the sheet came off, and laughter filled the air as the angry form of Lance was revealed. Complete with plaid skirt, white shirt, loose tie, green jersey, ankle socks and (best of all) pigtails.
            Red murder filled Lance's eyes, and an earthquake shook the stadium. No doubt he would have had some most interesting and some unladylike things to say, but, like all the other Brotherhood members, he couldn't' talk for the gag in his mouth. Never the less, with the earthquakes being a very real danger, Kurt acted quickly, injecting him with another dose of sedative, and hurriedly moving onto the last covered form.

            'We're now drawing towards the end of our exhibition, but there is one more thing I would like you to see, our best look ever, an image you will take with you until the end of your days. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the amazing, the fantastic, the memorable, Todd Tolynsky in our Boe Peep look!'  

            The final sheet fell off, and Toad could be seen, wearing a frilly pink dress, straw hat, and ankle socks. A shepherds crook under one arm added to the look, as did the curly golden wig. A liberal amount of lipstick and blusher had been applied to Toad's face, but it only served to make his skin seem all the more green.

            Toad was infuriated, he jumped up and down, trying to talk through the gag on his mouth. As he jumped his dress flew up, revealing frilly pink knickers. The laugher in the stadium was so loud and hard it sounded as if someone was about to have a hernia.

            'I think it's time we leave now,' Jean said telepathically to Kurt, and the elf nodded. Best not to outstay their welcome and push their luck.

            'Well,' the elf finished, 'it's been wonderful being here, I hope you enjoyed the show, and the beautiful models. Don't forget us, or them! Gutten Tag, mein freunds!' 

            They knew they were in trouble the moment they walked through the institute doors.

Wolverine had been waiting for them, leaning casually by one of the doors.

            'Chuck wants a word with you,' he said, and led them to Xavier's office.

            They all piled into the Professor's study, conscious of his stern gaze and fingers in their pensive, steeple position.

            'A certain event,' he began in deep, serious tones, 'has been brought to my attention. It seems that our counterparts, the Brotherhood of Mutants, have been, ah, put in a somewhat embarrassing situation. Have you heard of this?'

            The heads of six students nodded, reluctantly.

            'They were put there by a group of people wishing to play a prank on them. They, of course, succeeded, but now all the members of the Brotherhood are extremely angry. Indeed, this situation could have become extremely dangerous. Had one of them escaped at the stadium they would surly have let loose with their powers, causing mass destruction, injury, maybe even death, not to mention revealing the existence of mutants to the world at large. In short, the pranksters acted in a highly immature and thoughtless manner, risking many innocent lives for the sake of some petty amusement.'

            There was a long silence, and the X-men bit their lips and shuffled, each of them consumed with guilt, each waiting for the killing blow. It was like being stalked by a tiger, Xavier had slowly, relentlessly hounded and followed them, now he would leap and go for the jugular. They waited with bated breath for his next words.

            'On the other hands, the Brotherhood themselves have, on numerous occasions, acted in a similar manner. They have also surly done enough to warrant the trick that was played on them, and the tricksters themselves did think out their plan well and most probably carried it out excellently. However, if I had my way I would see to it that these people were punished severely for their careless and immature actions.'

            There was another silence, then Scott cottoned onto what Xavier had said, 'if you had your way?' he repeated.

            'Why yes, I have, you see, no way of knowing who these pranksters are, and as a scan of the entire population of Bayville would be a bit of an overreaction over a comparatively small event, I think we shall just let this little episode go. I just wanted to share my feelings about it with you, understand?'

            And they did, Xavier, in his own way, was saying, 'I know what you did, I don't entirely agree with it, but the Brotherhood deserved it and you executed it well, so for now let's pretend it didn't happen. But do it again and I'll come down on you like a ten tonne of bricks.'

            'So,' asked Kitty nervously, 'can we go?'

            'Of course, I have nothing left to say.'

            With that they began to file out of the room with the strange pace of people who want to exit a place as quickly as possible, but don't want to look like they're being impolite.

            'Kurt,' called the Professor, just as the elf was about to leave.

            'Ja?' was the tentative reply.

            'In your room, on you're bed you'll find a bottle. Miss Munroe now thinks that the pink dye has faded enough that it can be replaced by a more fitting colour. The blue dye in that bottle is as close to your original colour as we could find. Will it serve?'

            'Ja, Danke Professor,' whooped an elated Kurt, before following his team mates out.

            From the hall Xavier could hear the crowing and cheering of happy, relived and victorious teenagers. He smiled, feeling quite proud of them. Their actions may have been mischievous, but they were well carried out, if they performed more elicit actions in a similar manner then they would be fine students.

            Speaking of mischief…

            His smile growing, Xavier put his hands to his temples and reached out with his mind, far, far, across Bayville, into the stadium and into the thought of four teenagers. Really he shouldn't go prying into peoples thoughts, even at surface level, really he should send Logan to cut them lose, really he should have been more concerned upon discovering the prank, rather than sitting back and having a good belly-laugh.

            But everyone was aloud to be a little naughty once in a while, weren't they?

The thoughts he registered were these:

            'Zzzzzzzzzzzz'

            'OhmygodOmygod,Ican'tbelievethisishappeningtomeOhmygodOmygodO-'

            'Summers is going to get it SO bad! Damn, these pigtails hurt!'

            'I'm gonna kill you fuzzy! I'm gonna kill you!'

THE END