No one really said anything for a moment or two.

"For what?" Kurt asked suddenly.

"For the race!" Angel answered.  "Okay, your next checkpoint is in Italy.  There are no advantages.  The race starts again right…NOW!!!"

Everyone stood there in a stupefied state.

"All right!!" said Pietro.  "Let's go!!"  Then he started running back and forth anxiously.  "Come on!!  I'm over my shock!!  Hurry up!!"

It was another few moments before everyone else got over THEIR shock.

"So uh…should we FLY there…TELEPORT there…or should we just BURN our way there?!" said St. John.

Kurt and Jean stared at him.

"I thought so." Said St. John as if Kurt and Jean had said, 'Oh, burn our way there.  Definitely.'

"Just as a hint," said Angel when he noticed that no one was really doing anything to get ahead.  "There are two different modes of transportation behind my loveshack.  Whoever gets there first gets the best one!  Two teams WON'T get a mode of transportation so I would hurry!"

No sooner he had said that but Pietro was gone and returned on a motorcycle.

"Come on!!" he yelled because his Pink Team of Evan and Scott wasn't going fast enough to suit him.  But is that something new?

The Green Team of Kurt, St. John and Jean didn't bother.  They decided to just fly to Italy.

So the Blue Team of Rogue, Wanda and Lance as well as the Red Team of Kitty, Remy and Todd all raced to the back of the loveshack to find three pairs of Roller blades.  The war over the Roller Blades was pretty intense until Remy accidentally blew them all up so it turned out that NO ONE got them!  By the time they had got back to the front of the loveshack, the Green Team and the Pink Team were already long gone.

"Well, at least we're going REASONABLY fast…" Pietro sighed.  Scott was driving the motorcycle and Evan was sitting behind him while Pietro jogged on the side.  Of course, both Scott and Evan were wearing all the necessary protective gear required to ride a motorcycle but Evan already knows the importance of protective gear considering he wears it ALL THE TIME just in case the situation arises where he needs them.

"How did you end up on the least useful team?" Scott asked Pietro.  "I mean, you're the one who got this motorcycle for us."

"My team said I was annoying." Said Pietro sadly.  "Can we go any faster?"

"What about you, Scott?" asked Evan.  "I thought for sure you would be in the leader group…"

"Yeah well…" said Scott but he wasn't about to explain the reasoning of his group because he didn't really understand it either.

"Guys, I could run faster than this BACKWARDS!" Pietro declared.  "On one foot!  With my eyes closed!"

"Look man, we know you're fast and all but you don't have to gloat!" Evan said to Pietro.  "I'd like to see you shoot spikes out of your own body!"

"No thanks, I'll stick with being fast." Said Pietro coolly.

"How about we just attach Pietro to the motorcycle and have him pull it for us so we'll get to Italy extra fast?" suggested Scott.

"Guys, I know I'm super fast and all but that doesn't mean that I have the strength to pull both you slow mos AND a motorcycle." Said Pietro.

"Man, I miss having Kurt on my team." Said Evan sadly.

"Hey, am I the only one who's just noticed that we're the Pink Team?" said Pietro suddenly, stopping dead and looking at what he was wearing.

"Hey!" said Scott.  "We are!"  He looked up just in time to miss crashing into a tree and killing both him and Evan.  "Come on!  And we're the only team without any girls on it either!"

MEANWHILE!!!

"We rule." Said St. John suddenly.

Jean and Kurt looked at him momentarily.

"You know what?" said Kurt.  "We do!  I mean, I could always teleport us anywhere we want to go and if I'm feeling lazy then Jean could fly us there!  Then, just for fun, you could burn something!"

"I think I'll do just that!" said St. John, reaching for his pocket.  He noted his pocket was empty.  So he checked his other pocket.  That pocket was empty as well.  Then he checked his special lighter holder that he made sure to have specially made on his green uniform only to discover that that was empty too!!  "All right…where's my lighter?"

"Where was the last time you saw it?" Jean asked.  (they were flying just in case you didn't know)

"Well, I took it away from Scott and…" said St. John but then he gasped.  "It was Scott!!  He STOLE it!!  If he was here right now then I'd BURN him!!"

"First you'd get your lighter and THEN you'd burn him." Kurt corrected.

"There will be no burning of Scott at ANY time!" said Jean knavishly.

"I wasn't serious." Said Kurt.

"There will be no talking about burning of Scott either!" Jean continued.

"Come on, I'm PYRO." Said St. John.  "All I talk about is burning stuff.  Cause it's fun.  It's what I do.  Speaking of which, I need a lighter or else I won't be quite as useful on this little useful team we have going here."

"Why were you voted as the most useful on your team?" asked Kurt.  "You're pretty useless without your lighter."

"I know." Said St. John, hanging his head low.

"Well…" said Jean.  "We're still in Germany so let's stop at a pleasant little store and we can buy you a new one."

"NO!!" yelled St. John.  "I want MY lighter!!  We're turning around and ambushing Scott and FORCING him to return my lighter to me!!"

"But the race!" said Jean.

"I'll be right back." Said Kurt as he teleported.  Just like he said, he was right back with St. John's lighter in hand.

"Thanks!" said St. John.  "I feel as though I can call you 'mate'."

"Uh…thanks!" said Kurt.  "And I feel as though I can call you 'mein Freund'."

"Oh." Said St. John.  "Okay."

"What about me?" asked Jean.

"Well, you're not foreign." Said St. John and Kurt almost at the exact same time with their varying accents.

"So?" said Jean.  "Since I'm the designated American, I can call you both 'friend'."

"Um…no." said Kurt.  "That would ruin it."

MEANWHILE!!!

"Danke!" Kitty called to Kurt's pleasant German foster parents as they drove off in their crazy German car.  "I'm so glad that Kurt introduced me to his family and they were nice enough to let us borrow their car!"

"Yeah." Said Remy.

"I think they were just glad that blue boy had some friends that were just like him so they were willing to do whatever it took to make us like him." Todd intervened.  " Hey, I bet they were glad that he had some friends at all.  I highly doubt he's the popular one in the village."

There was a pause.

"Yeah." Said Remy.

"Are you like French?" Kitty asked, doing elaborate hand motions and speaking in a voice that was about two octaves higher than her regular voice.

"Let's just say I am." Said Remy as he stared at the road since he was the one driving and all.

"That's so cool!" sighed Kitty.  "I love the French language!  It's like, the language of love!"

Remy didn't say anything for a minute.  "Yeah." He said finally.

"Are you one of those silent loner types?" Kitty asked.

"Yes." Said Remy.  "So you should sit in the back with that kid that resembles a frog."

Kitty looked back at Todd who just so happened to be catching a fly with his tongue at that very moment.  "Ew, Todd?" Kitty said, turning back.  "Like, I would never even go near him!  Do you think you could like, say something in French?  I always liked the sound of French!  Oh, I already said that!"

"Uh…" said Remy.

"Please?" Kitty begged.

"Hola." Said Remy.

"That was Spanish!" Kitty said, putting her hands on her hips.

"I mix up my languages sometimes." Said Remy.

"You speak Spanish too?" Kitty asked, her eyes sparkling.

"No." Remy answered.

"Just say one quick thing in French!" Kitty pleaded.

Remy sighed.  "Bonjour." He said.

"I LOVE the French language!" Kitty exclaimed.

MEANWHILE!!!

The Blue Team, which consisted of Rogue, Wanda and Lance, were still standing outside of Angel's loveshack.

"I don't care about this race." Said Wanda suddenly.  "Can we just stop and go home or something?"

"No way!" yelled Lance as the world started shaking.  "There's no way I'm going to lose this race to anyone!"

"Yeah, I don't want to be kicked out of the X-Men." Said Rogue.

"I'm not really officially apart of any group." Said Wanda.

"Since when is this entirely about you anyway?" demanded Lance.

"Since NOW." Said Wanda.

"Could you guys at least walk away from my loveshack so I can leave?" Angel asked, coming out of nowhere.

"How do you plan on leaving?" asked Rogue.

"Flying of course!" Angel replied, spreading his wings out as far as they would go and chuckling warmly.

The Blue Team exchanged evil glances and then they all ambushed Angel and Rogue touched him!!  MWA HA HA HA!!  Then Rogue sprouted two angel wings!!

"Aw man!" said Rogue.  "This is deformed!"

Then Wanda and Lance each grabbed a hold of Rogue's hands and she took off.  Luckily, she was still a little fast because she had zapped Pietro that morning so they were going at a pretty good rate!!

MEANWHILE!!!

The Pink Team was all standing on the side of the road with their thumbs up.  Obviously, they were hitchhiking.  Now they're randomly going to talk about what happened so you're not left in the dark.

"I can't believe Kurt sabotaged us like that!" Scott said, raging about.

"It's not that he sabotaged us." Said Evan.  "He kind of just appeared out of nowhere on the motorcycle and then disappeared and you were so distracted that you ran off the road and ruined our motorcycle."

"It's a good thing you were both wearing your protective gear." Said Pietro.

"Why did he even do that?" Scott wondered.

"He took a lighter out of your pocket." Evan said.

They paused.

"Kurt smokes?" Pietro said suddenly.

"NO!!" Scott yelled as if such a comment offended him.  "I refuse to believe a thing like that!!  Kurt should know better!"

"Yeah." Said Evan.  "He SHOULD know better."

Then they all paused once again, waiting for another car to come driving down the road.

"Don't think that just because we're on the same team that we're buddy-buddy and that I'm going to work with you nicely, Daniels." Said Pietro.

"Ah, so I see our rivalry is randomly back on again, Pietro!" said Evan.

"And I also have something against you, Summers, just because you're not as fast as I am!" Pietro said to Scott.

"Well I have something against you, Maximoff, because you're on the Brotherhood and are my sworn enemy!" Scott said back.

"I never really liked YOU Scott." Said Evan, rolling up his sleeves.

"Let's take it outside, Evan." Said Scott, grabbing the rim of his sunglasses.

There was yet ANOTHER awkward silence.

"Let's just let bygones be bygones now that that's out of our system." Said Scott suddenly just as a car stopped for them.

MEANWHILE!!!

The Green Team landed discretely in an alleyway in Italy.

"Well, now that we're in Italy, we have to find the checkpoint." Said Jean.

"Aw man!" said Kurt as he started pounding on his image inducer and faded in and out from blue Kurt to peach Kurt.  "My image inducer is on the fritz!"

"Not now!" said Jean.  "We're in first!"

"It's okay, mate!" said St. John.  "Just put on the trench coat that you were carrying with you just in case a situation like this arose and if anyone tries to give you any grief then I'll burn them with the lighter you retrieved for me!"

"Thanks, mein Freund!" said Kurt as he applied his trench coat and the team walked out of the alleyway.

"Look guys, I hope you don't go forming a secret club without me." Said Jean.  "We're a team and we have to act that way!"

"No girls allowed!!" yelled St. John.

"What?!" demanded Jean.  "What did I JUST say?"

"What are you talking about?" St. John said, looking around.  "Did someone say something offensive?  I have half a mind to just burn everything in this town to the ground!  And I can, too!  Don't think I can't!!"

MEANWHILE!!!

"Are we almost there?" Todd asked from the backseat.

"I hope not." Said Kitty, gazing lovingly in Remy's direction.

"Oi." Said Remy, rolling his eyes.

"Can we stop and get something to eat?" Todd asked as they passed by a chain of fast food joints.

"No way!" yelled Kitty.  "We have a race to win!"

"You didn't care about the race a minute ago." Remy pointed out.

Kitty sighed dreamily.  "How do you say my name in French?"

Remy looked like he was trying to keep himself from touching Kitty and blowing her up…which is kind of funny because Remy's usually the mellow type.  Kitty was definitely not one of those lucky ladies who had the fortune of being called 'chéri'.  "'Kitty' doesn't translate into French but 'chat' is 'cat'." He answered.

"Oh…" said Kitty happily.  "That's so nice…"

Remy decided to put the pedal to the metal and drive a little OVER the speed limit.

"Hey, what are you trying to do?!" Todd demanded.  "Kill us all?!"

"Pardonnez-moi, mon ami." Said Remy but he regretted it a second later.

"Say some more stuff in French!" Kitty exclaimed.

"I'd rather not." Remy answered.

"Why?" Kitty asked sadly.  "French is the language of love!"

"Like that's not the first time I've heard that." Remy said and then he suddenly became OH SO interested in driving and simply could not speak to anyone anymore, ESPECIALLY not in French.

MEANWHILE!!!

"This is so bad." Said Rogue.

"This is definitely bad." Wanda agreed.

"I hate my life." Rogue continued.

"I hate my life too." Wanda said.

"Nothing ever goes my way." Rogue sighed.

"Wow…me too." Said Wanda, turning around and looking at Rogue.

"Girls, could you help me out a little by showing some leg?" Lance asked.  He had his thumb up and was hitchhiking while Rogue and Wanda just sat back and watched him.  "No one's gonna stop for ME."

Wanda and Rogue looked at each other and sighed.  They finally got up and put their thumbs up as well.  Within a few minutes, a car stopped for them.

"Chéri?" came the voice of Remy from inside the car.

"Remy?" Rogue said with a raised eyebrow.

"Say some more French!" said Kitty.

"Why'd YOU stop for us?!" Lance demanded.

"Because I'm a good Samaritan." Remy replied.  "Get in.  We'll all go to Italy together."

The Blue Team looked at each other and shrugged and then got in.  Lance and Wanda squeezed in the back with Todd, and Rogue sat in the middle in the front seat much to Kitty's dismay.  Then Remy started driving again and maybe even whistling too because now he had his chéri in the car.

"So…this is Kurt's parents' car!" said Kitty because she hates silence.  A few, 'Oh's and 'Is that so?'s were her reply but the conversation was pretty much killed after that.

So, after driving along for a little while longer, they spotted some more hitchhikers.

"We don't have enough room to fit anyone else." Said Rogue when she noticed that Remy was slowing down.

"Nonsense." Said Remy as he stopped the car in front of the Pink Team, Scott, Evan and Pietro.

"What a small world!" said Lance.

"Why'd you stop for us?" asked Evan.

"Because I'm a good Samaritan." Said Remy.  "Everyone get in."  Then they had four people in the front and four people in the back so that meant that Scott and Evan weren't wearing any seatbelts!!

"What about you, Pietro?" said Todd.  "This car not good enough for you?"

"Actually…YEAH." Said Pietro, crossing his arms.  "I'll run thanks."

MEANWHILE!!!

"Sapete dove ci è un punto di controllo?" Kurt asked some random Italian people.  The people sadly shook their heads as if they were dishonoring Kurt because they didn't know.  Kurt turned around and shrugged at Jean and St. John.

"Doesn't ANYONE know where a checkpoint is?!" St. John demanded.

"I do." Said a voice from behind them.  They turned around to see Samuel Guthrie AKA CANNONBALL!!!!

"Where?" asked Jean.

"You must first answer my questions three for the clue." Said Sam.

"All right…" said Jean.  "What are they?"

"What is your name?" started Sam.

"Kurt Wagner, Jean Grey and St. John Allerdyce." Said St. John proudly.  "You two remember that.  ALLERDYCE."

"Good." asked Sam.  "What is your quest?"

The group huddled up.  "To win the race, right?" said St. John.

"No!" said Jean. "Remember what the Professor said?  To build teamwork skills!"

"Good catch!" said Kurt.

"Our quest is to build teamwork skills!" said Jean to Sam.

"Good, now for the toughy." asked Sam.  "What is your favorite color?"

"Well…" said Kurt.  "Do we all have different favorite colors?"

"Let's say green to prove how our teamwork skills have been working since we're the green team!" said Jean.

"Yeah!!" said St. John.  "Our favorite color is green!"

"Very good!" said Sam.  "I will now tell you were the checkpoint is."

Then he paused.

"Well?" asked Kurt.

"It's in Palazzo Italiano Di Divertimento Del Ristorante Del Mario." Said Sam.

"And…where is that?" asked Kurt.

"Hey, my job is to tell you where it is, not how to get there!" said Sam defensively.

"Fine…" said Jean as they watched Sam walk away.

"Now we have to search around Italy for the Palazzo Italian Mario!" whined St. John.

MEANWHILE!!!

"I'm SO hungry!!" Todd said, grabbing Remy and shaking him around violently.  "I need food!"

"Très bien." Sighed Remy, pulling the car over to a small restaurant called Palazzo Italiano Di Divertimento Del Ristorante Del Mario.

Pietro came to a halt.  "What are you slow mos doing?!" he demanded.

"Todd NEEDS something to eat." Said Lance.

"What can I say?" said Todd.  "When I'm hungry, I'm hungry."

"RRRRGH!!" yelled Pietro, running around in circles at super speed.  "I DON'T WANNA COME IN LAST!!!"

"We might as well." Said Kitty.  "I mean…I'm kinda hungry too…" she paused nervously.  "Remy?  Would you mind escorting me into the restaurant?"

"Um…I don't like Italian." Said Remy, taking a step back.

"You better not say that while we're in Italy." Said Rogue.

Just then, Logan walked out of the restaurant and looked around.  "Well whaddya know?" he said, crossing his arms.  "Three teams already here."

"Wait…THIS is the checkpoint?!" said Scott. 

"Might as well cut right to the chase." Said Logan.  "I only need two representatives from each team for this challenge."