Chapter 53: What Kind of People Hate Sam! … Very Stupid Ones!
On the plane ride to their next destination, Xavier held a telepathic conference with the teachers, the planes having been set to autopilot. (AN: and, for the purposes of this story, and ones to follow, they will need autopilot.)
"What happened with Grasshopper, Chuck?" Asked Logan.
"It seems that Kyle is an empath, and a powerful one. However, it seems to be limited to receiving emotions. He does not have the ability to influence them like Gambit does."
"How do you know that?" Asked Mrs. Sefton.
"Because Gambit uses his influencing ability mostly without realizing it. When he concentrates, he can make it more effective, but it is mostly instinctive. If Kyle could influence, judging by his empathic strength, he would be so influential, he wouldn't be denied anything by any non-psychic."
"So we're all fairly lucky that he's not able to influence, is that it Chuck?"
"Yes Logan, and I believe that we have arrived at our destination."
He was proven right by the twin whoops of glee from the Guthrie children as they set down on their destination.
Walking out of the trees, they found themselves on the Guthrie farm.
"SAMMIE!!!!!!!!! PAIGEY!!!!!" nine voices shrieked, as nine blurs tackled the oldest Guthrie's.
Laughing, Paige and Sam hugged their younger siblings to them, gathering in one Guthrie mob.
"All we need in there is Rahne, and we'd have a dog pile." Said Roberto, who was promptly bopped by Betsy and Rahne. He rubbed his head where the two of them had smacked him, as the rest laughed.
"Alraight, all ya'll are looney, ya don' have ta go an' prove it." Said Sam, as Mrs. Guthrie walked up, and called her younger children to order.
"Ah'm sure tha' ya'll's brothah and sistah wan ta walk araound town a bit… Don' ya'll?"
Sam nodded, and, grabbing Rahne's arm, smiled at her, as he began to lead her to town.
Paige watched her only older sibling, and shook her head. He was so obviously stuck on Rahne, that it wasn't even funny.
"Ah'll reckon tha' a few ah Sammie's ol' frien's will 'ave fun with this."
Mrs. Guthrie nodded, as she told her younger children to show the X-Men to where they would be staying.
Sam and Rahne had just gotten out of sight of the farm when Sam picked her up.
"I don' tink tha' yer supposed tae do this til the weddin, boyo."
"Oh, so ya'll rather walk the three mile's ta town?"
"Cannonball Express, please?"
"Whatevah ya say, littl' lady."
With that, Sam launched himself towards town. All to quickly, it came into view, and, pulling the same aerial maneuver he seemed to have perfected since he started dating Rahne, he slipped onto his back, and used himself as a shield when he crashed himself into the ground.
Picking themselves up, they dusted themselves off, and, smiling at each other, walked into the town, hand in hand.
" 'Ey Sammie!" Came a male voice.
Turning around, Sam saw a group of four guys coming towards them. Rahne growled softly, but Sam squeezed her hand gently.
"Thay're friends o mahne."
She nodded, and smiled at the four guys as they stopped a good ten feet from Sam. Her eyes darkened, taking their hesitation to be based off of his being a mutant.
"Who's the little lady? A friend o yar's from ya'll mutant school?"
Rahne turned her head to Sam, shocked that the four guys knew about the school.
"Naht quite, guhys. This 'ere is Rahne Sinclair." At that, he squeezed her hand, and planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Mah girlfriend." He then brought his head down to whisper into her ear.
"This 'ere's a small town, Rahne. Ya don keep secrets 'ere, everahthang fahnds it's way around town ta fast."
" 'Ey Sam! Ya'll can whispah all lahve-dahve lahtah! Let's 'ave some fun!"
As Sam blushed, Rahne smirked. " 'Nd wha' did ye laddie's 'ave in mind?"
"Well, since ya'll's a girl, weh can play tackle… OOF!"
He was cut off when Rahne tackled him hard, knocking him on his butt, and then flipped to a crouch behind him.
"Yer were sayin?"
The four guys looked at each other, and, making a silent agreement, they nodded to Rahne.
The game was on, Sam and Rahne vs. the four guys. Sam and Rahne won handily.
"What, ya'll are so desperate ta play, ya'll are letin' a girl play?" Came a jeering voice.
Sam's eyes narrowed, as he looked at the seven guys behind Rahne.
" 'nd then ya'll let her go an whip ya."
Sam walked quickly, and placed a hand on Rahne's shoulder. Squeezing, he brought his head next to her ear again.
"They ain' worth it, wolfie."
"Ah, 'ow sweet" sneered the largest boy. "Little Sammy-Whammy got hisself a goilfriend."
Rahne growled, and, as Sam watched, horrified, her eyes transformed into a wolf's, as claws grew from her fingers. Sam once again whispered in her ear, but the four boys who had been playing could hear what he said.
"Whoa! Rahne, calm daown befare ya'll wolf out on meh!"
Rahne shook her head slightly, and, realizing that she had begun to transform, she morphed herself back into a human.
"Ya'll should let 'er fight ya battles fa' ya, Sammy-Whammy!"
Sam glared at the other boys, "Well, ya'll ain' worth the effoart."
A familiar voice spoke up from behind him.
"Sam has taken far more skilled opponents than you seven could ever hope to be. And if you think Rahne's intimidating, then don't give me a reason to start swinging."
Rahne and Sam smirked as Kyle walked up next to them, Amara, Roberto and Betsy with him.
"You mess with one of us, you get the package deal. Six for the price of one, although the fight would hardly be fare, seven on six."
"Yeah, ya'll'd need about twenty ta hope ta win."
"Nah… You'd never know what hit you if we went three on seven. Six on seven'd just be embarrassing."
The seven boys glared at Roberto, and started to move towards him, the intent to bloody him obvious in their faces.
Betsy stepped slightly in front of him, even as Kyle took a more direct approach. Bringing his cane up, he brought it to the stomach of their leader.
"Take another step, and I'll be forced to seriously hurt you."
"Yeah right, you blind wimp." He stepped forward, knocking Kyle's cane out of his hand.
"Baaaaahhhhdd idea." Said Sam, as Kyle stepped forward, and slammed his palm into the guy's solar plexus hard enough to start his gag reflex.
The guy dropped to his knees, and before his comrades could move, the other X-Men had already taken combat stances.
"You really want to dance?" Asked Roberto.
"We'd be more than willing to give you a good fight." Said Betsy with a saccharine sweetness to her voice.
The six remaining idiots took stock of the situation, helped their leader up, and retreated.
"Tha' wahs so cool!" said one of Sam's friends.
"But it was unnecessary. Had he listened, I would not have had to hit him. I would have preferred it that way." Said Kyle, "Betsy, would you mind tossing me my cane."
"No problem luv." Said Betsy, as she threw it to him.
Grabbing his cane from the air, Kyle and the others shot Sam and Rahne a smirk and began to walk away. Suddenly, Kyle remembered something.
"Sam, your mother said to be home by about 8."
Sam nodded, and, saying goodbye to his four friends, he and Rahne walked the streets of his hometown.
The week that they were staying in Kentucky passed quickly, and soon it was two evenings before the X-Men were scheduled to leave. Rahne and Sam were reclining on a hill near the farm, her head relaxing on his shoulder, while he named the various sounds echoing through the night air.
"Cricket, cricket, cricket…" Suddenly, Sam heard an unfamiliar sound, and, not knowing the animal it was associated to, guessed the first one that came to mind. "Llama"
Rahne's eyebrows rose, as she arranged herself to look at the side of her boyfriend's face. "Since when are thare llama's in Kentucky, boyo?"
"Since ah left?"
"Apparently, 'nd the rest o the world jus' didn' get told?"
"Yep."
Rahne laughed, as she slugged her boyfriend softly on the shoulder.
Paige and Mrs. Guthrie watched them from afar, and the matron of the Guthrie clan smiled.
"Ah thin' they'll get along jus' fahne." She said, as she herded her eldest daughter inside the house.
The next day, the X-Men were invited to a hoedown that the Guthrie's were throwing that evening, since they'd be leaving early in the morning. Rahne, Sam, Bobby. Kyle, and Sarah had been asked to go into town with Jean to get some things from various stores.
As Rahne walked towards where the truck was parked from the general store, a flour bag in her arms, she found that seven statues blocked her path to the truck. Oh wait, that's an insult to the intelligence of statues.
"Well looky here." Said one of the same idiots from her first trip to town with Sam. "It's Sammie's goilfriend."
One of them laughed, and pushed her into a alleyway. The other six followed.
Kyle, who was with Jean at the counter of the vegetable store, picked up on a very sudden change.
"Jean, contact the others, Rahne's in trouble." Said Kyle.
She started to ask how he knew when he just tapped his temple, and, handing her what he had been holding, ran out the door.
Guys, Rahne's got trouble. Jean told the other X-Men.
Sam, who was at the truck, watched Kyle burst out of the vegetable store, and, upon hearing Jean, began to follow Kyle.
Bobby and Sarah also came out in a rush, heading towards Rahne's location.
Upon reaching the alleyway, Sam saw that seven very stupid fools had cornered Rahne.
"We gonna mess ya up goil!"
"Maight I be askin ye why?"
"Cause Sammie don' deserve a pretty goil like ya! He too wussie."
"Actually, I would beg to differ. Sam, show him what Sensei's taught you. I will take the three on his left" Said Kyle, as the four of them moved forward.
"Are ya crazy?" Asked one of the others.
"No, he's just that good." Said Bobby, as he smacked the guy's nose with his palm, breaking it.
Sarah smirked, as one of the others rushed her. She flipped backwards, and, having positioned herself for just this maneuver, let him run straight into the wall of the building, knocking himself out while she rebounded off of it, and slammed both feet into one of Kyle's opponents.
"Thank you, Sarah." Said Kyle, even as he continued dodging the fists of the other two. Suddenly, he brought his knee into the first one's solar plexus, and followed up by bringing his other across the guy's face. Using his shoulders as leverage, he pressed him to the ground with both legs, as he launched himself into a front flip. Landing on his opponent's chest with both feet, he smashed him, his feet at about the density of a brick.
Sam was, meanwhile, dueling with the final man. As he rushed at Sam, intent on grabbing him in a wrestling hold the thinner boy ducked under his left arm. Bringing his left leg around, he slammed him in the back with his foot, and then followed the momentum through with his right foot.
The other boy staggered forward, and turned to attack Sam again. The boy ran at Sam, intending to smack him with a double closed hand. Sam watched him and, taking advantage of his longer legs, snapped one into his adversary's face. While he held his nose, Sam brought his palm into the other boy's chest with enough force to send him staggering out of the alleyway, to land at the local police officer's feet.
"Ah'd say ya'll picked a faight ya'll couldn' win." Said the officer to the attacking boys, as they sat in his office. He had known Sam for years, and knew he was a good kid. Motioning to the X-Men, he told them to go on home, and they quickly departed.
Later that evening, the X-Men changed into various hoedown approved clothes, and they went out to the barn, where a square dance was beginning to form.
Forming their own groups, the X-Men quickly got the hang of the dance, and were soon having a blast.
Soon, the Guthrie children found that the X-couples had formed their own variation to alleman, where they kissed their significant other as they passed, the subject of many cries of "EW!" and "GROSS!"
Once they had all taken their picks of the food that what had seemed like half the town had helped prepare, the X-Men settled down to eat in the traditional X-Men style, that is, semi-organized Kane.
"I've got to say," Kyle said, after his first bite. "This is good."
He received various agreements, and that was the last word spoken till the food had all vanished.
All to soon, the X-Men had found that the evening was done, and that it was time to depart from Kentucky, wondering where the Professor would take them next…
