"I'm so glad that we didn't have to ride behind Evan again!" said St. John to Kurt as they both hopped out of Jean's car.
"Oh yeah…Evan…" said Jean nervously. She told Rogue to watch all the kids as she went to go and get Evan.
"Man, why do I always get stuck with watching all the kids?" Rogue wondered even though that was really only the first time it had ever happened to her so far.
"Hey…I'm back to normal!" said Pietro suddenly.
"What'd you say?" Rogue said, turning around.
Pietro glared at her. "Nothing!" he said.
"YEAH!!" Scott cheered.
"Back so soon?" said Professor Xavier as everyone walked in the door.
Rogue looked at the clock. "Geez, we were only gone forty-five minutes?" she whined.
"What do you plan on entertaining the children with now?" asked Magneto.
"Why can't you guys watch them?" Rogue asked. "I mean, you ARE the ones who want to keep them like this, aren't you?"
Mystique, Magneto and Professor Xavier looked at each other briefly. "That was out of line Rogue." Said Mystique.
"Well AREN'T you?" Rogue persisted.
"Where are Jean and Evan?" Professor Xavier asked, changing the subject. Just as he said that, Jean and Evan strolled through the door. Evan looked a tad bit grumpy and Jean looked the same she always does. Your perspective of Jean can decide how she looked.
"I KNEW something smelled bad!" St. John said, plugging his nose.
Kurt joined in. "Evan smells!" he agreed with a laugh.
"Since when did they become such good friends?!" Evan demanded. "If we split up into groups again, someone ELSE has to take them this time because I don't want to have to deal with them saying that I smell bad!!"
Jean and Rogue looked at each other. Then they grabbed their two individual male children and ran off before Evan could complain ever so unjustly anymore.
"Aw man, we're stuck with Smelly Evan again!!" exclaimed St. John.
"PROFESSOR!!" yelled Evan.
"They're just children." Said Professor Xavier.
Evan groaned and stomped off. Kurt and St. John shrugged and frolicked after him while trying to come up with more comments about his foul smell.
"Do you suppose I should adopt St. John as well?" Mystique said suddenly.
"Why?" asked Magneto, knowing St. John's previous psychopathic history.
"Because I only want Kurt to be happy!" Mystique answered. "And Kurt is my son after all."
"They're both going to eventually turn back, you know that of course." Professor Xavier pointed out.
"But I want to at least see Kurt's face when I come up to him and tell him that he has a new big brother!" Mystique explained.
"I don't think it works that way." Said Magneto.
"Can we just pretend it does?" Mystique pleaded as if Magneto and Professor Xavier had the authority to dub that okay.
They paused.
"Say…where did Wanda and Kitty wander off to?" Professor Xavier asked.
"Let's go find them." Said Mystique as if losing small children in a huge mansion was no big deal. But then again, SHE lost her child in Germany. And then found him. And didn't do anything about it.
Meanwhile!!
"What do you guys want to do?" Jean said to Scott and Pietro.
"Play a game!!" Scott yelled.
"What game?" Jean asked.
"A FUN one!!" Scott screamed, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Well, what would YOU consider to be a fun game?" Jean continued since she didn't feel like brainstorming and coming up with a game by herself.
"One that doesn't include girls or little kids!!" Scott said with a laugh. "Right Pietro?"
"Uh…you do that." Pietro said. "Frankly, I don't even know why I'm here. This whole setting is rather awkward for me."
Jean paused. "Are…you in your right mind?" she asked.
"Yes." Pietro replied. "You weren't there when I announced that I was back to normal?"
"I guess I missed that." Jean said with a shrug. "But it's good to know that you can now take care of yourself so I won't have to worry about you. Now you can be a babysitter."
"YAY!!" cheered Scott. "TWO babysitters for me!!"
"No." said Jean. "You're probably the most well behaved one here so this is the last group that needs a second babysitters. Maybe we should let Pietro help a group that's having a little more trouble."
"Do I have to?" Pietro asked.
"Yes." Said Jean. "I've been watching you for a day so I think you owe me."
"I don't owe slow-mos anything." Pietro said, crossing his arms.
"Then I'll show everyone the pictures of you that I took while you've thought you were small all this time!" Jean threatened.
"You wouldn't!!" Pietro gasped. But then he stopped. "What does it matter? Everyone hates me anyway because I'm a jerk."
"Then I'll hang them up in school!"
"I don't go to school anymore."
"Fine…I don't have pictures…" Jean said, getting a devious grin.
"I knew you didn't." Pietro said.
"But…I'll come in the middle of the night and zap you with Forge's invention, thus making you small again!!" Jean said, feeling proud of herself that she thought up a threat that she could actually go through with.
Pietro's jaw dropped to the floor.
"I'd do it." Said Scott, nodding his head as if he had any idea what was going on.
"Fine, but I refuse to do any strenuous work." Pietro declared.
"How nice of you." Said Jean, doing a little jig on the inside. Then she led Scott and Pietro down the hallway, searching for the other groups. Finally, she came across Rogue sitting on the floor playing Solitaire.
Jean looked around. "Where are Remy and Lance?" she asked.
"Sleeping." Rogue replied, pointing at the bed to see Remy and Lance sleeping peacefully. "Ever so soundly."
"Sleeping. Right." Said Pietro.
"Yes, sleeping." Rogue answered.
"At noon?" Pietro said. "Out of nowhere? Both of them?"
"Yes." Said Rogue, eyeing Pietro.
"He's back to normal." Jean explained.
"I KNOW you were there when I announced it." Pietro said, pointing at Rogue.
"HURRAY!" said Scott happily.
"Well, it doesn't look like you need any help." Jean observed.
"Yes, considering they're both sleeping." Pietro added.
"They ARE." Rogue said. But she was clearly in Denial City.
"Let's go find the others." Jean said to Pietro and Scott. Then they continued down the hallway and couldn't seem to find Evan and his group. So Jean used her telepathic powers to locate them to finally discover that they were outside!! So they all went outside.
And when they got there, they saw a frightening sight! Evan was tied to a tree and St. John was striking two rocks together as Kurt leaned over him watching intently.
"KURT!" St. John yelled. "I said get me FLINT!! What is THIS?!"
"I don't know!" Kurt said, jumping back.
"What's going on out here?!" demanded Jean.
"They sneaked up behind me and tied me to this tree…" Evan whined.
"And now we're gonna burn him!!" St. John declared. "If we could only get even a spark…"
"Oh no you're not!" Jean said as she used her powers to take the stones out of his hand.
"HEY!!!" yelled Kurt and St. John.
"Pietro, I think Evan needs your help the most." Jean said, turning to Pietro.
"Oh yes, I agree." Pietro said. "I will help Evan out."
"Good!" said Jean as she took Scott and left.
Evan gave an exasperated sigh. "Are you back to normal?" he asked.
"Yes." Pietro answered.
"Then untie me!" Evan commanded.
"Well…" Pietro started. "As I am old enough to realize that burning you is not a good idea no matter how much I would like to see it happen, I will prevent these two from inflicting any fatal harm on you. But…that does not mean I will help you watch them."
"YAY!!" cheered St. John and Kurt.
"WHAT?!" Evan yelled. "Pietro, when I get out of here…"
"Uh huh." Said Pietro as he sat down on a lawn chair lounged back comfortably. "I could get used to this babysitting thing."
Just then, Kitty and Wanda walked around the corner.
Pietro stared at them for a minute.
Then Magneto, Professor Xavier and Mystique raced outside and sighed with relief when they saw Kitty and Wanda alive and well.
"Thank heavens you're all right!" Magneto exclaimed as he grabbed Wanda and squeezed the living daylights out of her. She finally had to zap him senseless so that he would let go.
"And what is going on over here?" Professor Xavier asked as he noticed Evan, Kurt and St. John.
"They ambushed me and tied me up!" Evan whined again. "And Pietro won't help me!"
"Pietro!" said Magneto in a disappointed tone.
"I JUST got here." Said Pietro. "And I'm making sure that he doesn't actually get burned!"
Magneto glared at Pietro. "Are you…?"
"Back to normal?" Pietro finished. "Yes, I am."
Magneto sniffled and then erupted into waterfall tears and Mystique patted him on the back saying, 'There, there.'
"SO IT'S NOT PERMANENT?!" wailed Magneto.
"Well, this is perfect now!" said Professor Xavier as he returned from untying Evan since he does, after all, have warp speed in his wheelchair. "Now you, Pietro, may watch Kitty and Wanda and WE won't have to worry about them anymore!"
Then the three of them left.
"But I don't want to!" Pietro yelled after them.
Just as he was about to pursue them…"All right, Pietro!" yelled Evan. "You and me! Right here! Right now!"
"PLEASE." Pietro sighed, waving Evan off. "Don't you have some toddlers that you have to watch?"
Evan turned around to see that Kurt and St. John were missing. He slapped his hands to his cheeks. "WHERE'D THEY GO NOW?!" Then he ran off to find them.
Just as Pietro started patting himself on the back and chuckling to himself for his recent triumph over Evan, he felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down to see Kitty and Wanda staring at him. "What?" he demanded rudely.
"We didn't get to go out to ice cream with everyone else." Said Kitty. "Can you take us?"
MEANWHILE!!!
Rogue was still sitting down on the floor playing solitaire by herself when she suddenly heard someone move. She stood up to see that Remy was now sitting up from his place on the bed looking discombobulated. Without hesitation, she reached out and touched him and then he was sleepy by again!
"I SAW THAT!!" Jean yelled from the hallway. Rogue spun around.
"Saw what?!" she said innocently. "I was merely wiping the sleep from his eyes when he decided that he was still tired!!"
"That is so very wrong!" Jean said, shaking her finger at Rogue. "They should be allowed to run about and frolic!!"
"But…they're ANNOYING…" Rogue argued.
"Oh come on, you've got the least annoying ones out of everyone!" Jean pointed out.
"What about me?" whined Scott.
"I meant BESIDES you, Scott." Said Jean. "You're on a level of your own."
"YAY!!" said Scott. "I'm precious! Right Jean?"
"Ever so much!" said Jean as she hugged Scott.
"Jean…he's like…five." Said Rogue, turning her head away.
"I'm SEVEN." Said Scott.
"Whatever." Said Rogue. "You still shouldn't be doing that, Jean."
"Hey, don't turn this around at me!" Jean said defensively. "YOU'RE the one who keeps touching them with your horrible life sucking powers! You're going to do something damaging to them that will effect them in the near future!"
"Yeah right." Said Rogue. "I think I'M the one being mostly effected by this."
"Then stop!" Jean demanded.
"Fine, YOU take them!" Rogue said. "Because I don't want to have to deal with them and since you're just SO offended by them being asleep, you can watch them from now on!!"
Then Rogue stormed down the hallway.
"FINE!!" Jean yelled to her. "You'll see that it's really not that hard if you get them to LOVE you!"
"WHATEVER!!" Rogue yelled back.
"I love you, Jean!" said Scott.
"Oh Scott!" said Jean. "I love you too!"
MEANWHILE!!!
"Come on!" whined Kitty. "Take us out to ice cream!"
"NO!" Pietro yelled.
"I COMMAND you to!" said Wanda.
"Yeah right." Said Pietro, not fearing Wanda in her small state even though she could very well fry him if she wanted to. But she'd have to catch him first!! And then he ran off faster than the speed of light only to crash into Rogue only after taking a few steps. "Watch where you're going!" yelled Pietro.
"Excuse me, I'm not the one running at the speed of light in a little yard!" Rogue reminded him. "You don't have any excuse to be stupid anymore!" They both stood up and then brushed themselves off. "What are you running away from anyway?"
"Wanda and Kitty want me to take them out to ice cream." Said Pietro.
"So take them." Said Rogue.
"I can't drive." Pietro said.
"Just run there." Rogue said. "It's not like they're heavy."
"No." said Pietro just because he could. No one could FORCE him to run if he didn't want to. And he DID. So he ran off.
Rogue gave an exasperated sigh just as Wanda and Kitty jogged around the corner searching for Pietro.
"Where did my stupid brother go?!" Wanda demanded.
"Uh…nowhere!" said Rogue. "You two want to go out to ice cream?"
"YEAH!" said Wanda and Kitty at the same time.
"I'll take you." Said Rogue. And that's exactly…what…she did.