Chapter Four: Dating Difficulties!

The characters in this fic, by and large, do not belong to me. The X-Men, and related characters, are the property of Marvel Comics. GI Joe, and related characters, belong to Hasbro. The Delgado children (Althea, Brittany, Daria, Quinn, and Claudius), Xi, Sgt Snuffles, and the Eloi belong to Red Witch.

            Pietro Maximoff snuck around the Institute. He wasn't much accustomed to sneaking- unless a practical joke was involved- but the odds were good that Lance was here, and he really didn't wanna come across Lance. It took Ace, Leatherneck, Snow Job, Wet Suit, and Dusty together to keep Lance off of him until Spirit showed up and calmed Lance down. Pietro could sort of understand Lance- that jeep was Lance's baby, but it was obviously a lemon, a strange thing considering that Cover Girl picked it out and Lance had been maintaining it, but hey- these things happen. He knew that when Lance calmed down, he'd thank him for demonstrating how dangerous the thing really was! But, until then…

            Pietro stuck his head into a room, where somebody was laying down. It wasn't Lance. It was… hey! It was Elisabeth Braddock, Psylocke, the newest X-Geek, and (in his opinion) the sexiest. She wasn't asleep; he could see her eyes were open. It was so obvious that she was related to Bree- the height, the gorgeous golden blond hair, the blue-green eyes, that amazingly fabulously constructed body… racing to a mirror, he checked himself out- perfectly perfect in every way, as always, but it never hurt to check- and zipped back to the room. He knocked on the door.

            "Come in," her voice came from inside.

            "Hello!" he said as he appeared at her bedside. He flashed his most perfect smile (and coming from him, that was saying something).

            "So, what's a girl like you doing in a joint like this?"

            "Well," she said as she sat up, "if you mean the Institute, the Professor is helping me with my telepathy, but if you mean the room, well, after last night's… incident with Scott-" she blushed, and Pietro couldn't help but wince (some things even Summers didn't deserve!), "he had me go with him earlier today… while he took Kitty driving."

            "Yikes!" Pietro shuddered. He felt his respect for Cyclops rise (well, he felt his disrespect lessen, at any rate). He didn't know that Scott had that level of cruelty in him! Although, objectively, he knew that Scooter-boy was probably letting her off easier than he would have. Still… it was terrible drivers like Kitty that put perfect drivers like him at risk on the road.

            "Quite," Elisabeth agreed. "Well, then he had Kitty take us to the mall, where I bought them both an ice cream- which was how he duped me into going with them in the first place- and I threw up in Scott's car on the way back."

            "You threw up in Summers' car?" Pietro asked. When Elisabeth nodded, he exploded with laughter. After a moment, Elisabeth joined in, her light chuckle managing to be heard through Pietro's perfect belly-laugh.

            He looked at her for a moment. Damn, but she was perfect. So far, she was the first X-Geek who was as perfect as he was- the first person period, come to think of it.

            "So, besides the mansion and the mall, what have you seen?"

            "Nothing, yet. I go to Bayville High next week, because that's when a new term begins, and I haven't seen anything else- I've been too busy with the routine here- huh. Listen to me- I've not even been here 24 hours and I'm already complaining. You must think I'm some sort of whiny beast."

            "Not at all," Pietro grinned. "You're just telling it like it is. Say- what are you doing tonight?" If I'm lucky, nothing, then I can show her the town, and then…

            "Tonight? Nothing. We've already had a Danger Room session this morning, and as I said the school is getting up to end of term, so all the students are busy with revision- at least, that's what they're supposed to be busy with. Tomorrow morning is another Danger Room session, and that's it. Would you like to show me around town?"

            "Huh?" Pietro asked. Damn- how did she know? She wasn't reading his mind, was she?

            "Well, I don't really know anybody here yet, and while I guess I'm supposed to, I'd rather not go out with somebody that might say 'This is Elisabeth! She kicked Scott in the testicles last night!' No, wait. It would be wrong of me to have you show me the town. I mean, after all, I should be able to trust my teammates. Would you like to go out on a date?"

            Pietro blinked. What the hell?

            "I know, I'm sorry, you must think I'm very forward, but I find you very sexy, and I'd like to get to know you."

            Pietro stared. And then grinned.

            "Well, let me check my schedule." He flipped through his daytime planner. "Hmm… you're in luck! I don't have anything important I have to do tonight!"

            "Great," Elisabeth smiled. "Would you like to see a movie?"

            "Sure! Which one?"

            "Hmm… to be honest, I don't know what's playing. Why don't you meet me at the movie theatre- the one in the mall- at 6:30- there should be something playing around then."

            "Great! See you then," Pietro smiled. He leaned in, and kissed her on the cheek before zipping off.

            Elisabeth stared after him dreamily. She began to search through her closet. There had to be something nice she could wear that wouldn't attract undue attention. She wasn't actively scanning her surroundings. If she had, she would have known that Jamie, who heard of Elisabeth's distress and wanted to see if she was okay, had overheard every word that she and Pietro said.

***

            Pietro Maximoff, perfect in every way, had a perfect understanding of the time differences between Bayville and the Pit. As 6:30 Bayville time approached, he searched through his wardrobe for the best thing to wear. If there was one aspect of his life (that he could control) that wasn't perfect, it was his wardrobe- in this one respect, of course. He spent all of his allowance on clothes and items designed to enhance his natural beauty, but the problem his collection caused was that choosing an outfit was so damned difficult because of all the spectacular choices.

            "Hmm… no, too formal." Change. "Nah- too casual." Change. "Too loud." Change. "Ugh- this makes me look like a geek! What was I thinking when I- oh. Silly me." Change. "This is the vest-and-tie that goes with it. Thank God- I thought I was turning into Summers. Hmm… but that's still not good enough…" He changed again. Finally, when he had been through his wardrobe ten times, he noticed that five whole minutes had passed since he started his search.

            "Oh no!" He might be late- that would be even worse than showing up in the wrong outfit at all. Pietro felt a panic attack coming on. He had so dazzled Elisabeth with his perfection that she begged him to take her to the movies, and he was obligated to do so, and do so with the absolute cutting edge of style.

            He sat down, and thought of everything he knew about her. "She's rich, and noble, and from England... how can these facts help me to pick the perfect outfit to flaunt my embarrassment of natural riches?"

            Then, the perfect idea came to him. Cover Girl! She used to be a fashion model!

            "Oh Cover Girl," he said two seconds later as he arrived at her door.

            "Yes, Pietro?" she asked him after she opened it.

            "I wonder if you could help me with one teeny-tiny favour?"

            "You're not going driving."

            "No," Pietro agreed. He had better things to do. "No, I've got a date, and-"

            "Whoa, hold on," Cover Girl stopped him. "You asked a girl on a date?" She asked, incredulously. 'And she said yes?' she mentally added.

            "No, she asked me on the date. Anyway, I need your help. I need you to help me pick an outfit to wear to the movies."

            "Okay," she said slowly. This girl asked him out? Poor girl must be desperate- Pietro's a nice kid, but hyperactive and as vain as (or vainer than) any of the supermodels she'd ever met.

            "Great!" Pietro smiled as he grabbed her arm and took her back to his room.

            "So," he said as he sat her down on his bed, "which one do you like best? This? Or this? Or this?"

            And on, and on.

            "Or this?" he finished.

            "Uh…" Cover Girl said, making a show of having to choose (actually, she barely had time to notice the difference between the outfits, but she didn't want to go through another high-speed fashion show again), "I think that… that one you're wearing right now is the best."

            Pietro checked himself out in his vanity mirror (bought courtesy of the Baroness' credit card, along with this outfit). It was a burgundy shirt with a cream vest and tie, and black leather pants.

            "Yeah, this is good," he agreed, "but don't you think it might be too nice for a movie theatre?"

            "Well, Pietro," Cover Girl began, thinking frantically because she knew he was actually right, "it's the most appropriate thing I can think of, considering I don't know who you're going out with." There- that was reasonable.

            "Oh! It's Elisabeth Braddock, you know, the new X-Gee- uh X-Man."

            "Well," Cover Girl said, relieved, "she's an English lady, isn't she? She's used to style."

            "Right!" Pietro smiled. "Well, thanks for your help, Cover Girl. I really appreciate it. And now, if you'll excuse me, there are a few other things I have to do to get ready!" He zipped off.

            Cover Girl laughed as she headed to the infirmary to tell Bree. If this girl was even half like how Bree described her, Pietro didn't know what he was getting himself into!

            Unbeknownst to either Cover Girl or Quicksilver, they were overheard.

            "Well, this is interesting," Brittany said as she got out from under Pietro's bed.

            "Very interesting," Quinn agreed.

            "Now we need to decide what to do," Daria added. "Blackmail, or torture the egomaniac?"

            "You girls are not… thinking outside the box," a voice came from beside them. Trinity yelped. Xi came back into view.

            "You are thinking of either/or, when it would be best to do both," he added as he left the room.

            "What are you doing here?" Quinn asked.

            "I suspected that Pietro took my Chips Ahoy," Xi shrugged, "but I can't find the box, so I must be mistaken."

            "Chips Ahoy? You mean the ones Freddy and Lance ate?" Daria asked. Xi's eyes widened.

            "They said that they did not… you are sure of this?"

Trinity nodded.

            "Yes," Xi said angrily. "Those Chips Ahoy. How would you like me to help you plan?"

            "Great!" the girls smiled, deciding not to tell Xi that they took the cookies and were hiding them under Pietro's bed.

            They returned to their room, where their computer was flashing.

            "You've got mail," it said. Sitting down, Brittany opened the e-mail. It was from Jamie.

            "So he knows, too?" Quinn asked. "We've got to be able to use this!"

            "I think we can," Xi said after a moment. He thought back to last night when Scott… accused him of eating all the (store-bought) chocolate chip cookies. "Yes, I'm certain we can! Write him an e-mail, and tell him this…"

***

            "Hey Elisabeth!" Jamie said as he knocked on her open door. "Whatcha doin'?"

            "I'm looking for an outfit for… going out this evening," she replied. She had long since decided not to let the other students know what she was doing, or who she was doing it with. She didn't want to start yet another fight.

            "You mean for your date with Pietro?" Jamie asked innocently.

            "What?" That got her full attention. "How did you know about that?"

            "The walls have ears," he shrugged. "Nobody's too happy about this."

            "Well, since I barely know anybody yet, I hardly see how what I do is any of their business!"

            "Yeah, but that's not gonna stop some of the older guys from following you."

            "From what?"

            "From following you. Back when the Misfits were just the Brotherhood, and Lance and Kitty tried to date, they were followed around- by the X-Men, and by the Brotherhood. Scott- he just wouldn't leave them alone if he could help it!"

            "I see," she said darkly. Just when she (mostly) evened her account with Scott, something like this happens. Well, when she got through with him…

            "And the Misfits know, too," Jamie continued. "They're gonna follow you along too."

            "Why? And how do you know?"

            "They think you're gonna end up slapping Pietro around. And the triplets e-mailed me and told me about it."

            "Wonderful," Elisabeth groaned.

            "But we were chatting, and we decided that you and Pietro should do whatever you want."

            "Oh?"

            "Well- actually we just wanna watch the older guys act like idiots. We got a plan that'll let you have your date- but it's gonna cost ya." Jamie reached into his pocket, and handed Elisabeth a folded up list.

            "What?" she asked when she was done reading it. Some of the requests were normal- but most were bizarre.

            "If we don't stop them from ruining your time, you don't hafta pay up," Jamie said with a slight grin. The little bugger was quite the mercenary.

            "And Xi's in on it, too?"

            "That's why his name's on the sheet. Oh- and Pietro's paying up, too. If you want our help, all you have to do is follow the instructions."

            His mischievous grin reminded her of her brothers.

            "Alright," she said. "I'll bring the… er, payment… but you won't get it if you don't stop them from ruining our date."

            "Deal," Jamie grinned, and they shook on it.

            On the other side of the mansion, a Jamie-clone was spilling the news of the date to the X-Men…

***

            "Ah, there you are," Xi said as he approached Pietro. "I have something to discuss with you."

            "Make it fast, willya Xi? I got a date tonight," Pietro replied as he primped for the mirror.

            "Yes, I know. Psylocke is most attractive, isn't she?"

            "What?" He looked at Xi so fast he almost snapped his neck. "How do you know about that?"

            "We all know about it. The others plan to follow you around. They say they want to see you get your ass kicked."

            "Oh, do they? Well-"

            Xi grabbed Pietro's arm before he could go tell them off.

            "Actually, I feel that you should be able to do what you want, so long as it does not affect your performance as a member of the team. In fact, Trinity and I have devised a plan to allow you to date in peace. But it will cost you." He handed Pietro a list.

            "We will be working with Multiple, as the X-Men know about the date as well. Elisabeth has already agreed to pay up."

            "Then I'm gonna pay up, too," Pietro said firmly. He would usually just take care of this himself, but he wanted to see what four ninjas-in-training and the most devious X-Geek could come up with.

            In the living room, the triplets 'accidentally' let the news of the date slip…

***

            "Ah, Mr. McCoy," Elisabeth said as she approached him. She had finally settled on a black dress (one of the nicer things in her wardrobe- at least, one of the nicer things she brought with her), complete with a large black purse. She had a change of clothes tucked in her purse if it proved too fancy.

            "Yes, Elisabeth?" he asked.

            "I hear you're going into town in a few minutes."

            "Yes, I am. There's a poetry reading over at the Legal Grounds coffeehouse, and I am a regular. And an amateur author, not that that has any bearing on this discussion." Elisabeth couldn't help but smile at his slightly defensive tone, and the way he nervously held his briefcase.

            "Hmm… this coffeehouse, is it near the mall?"

            "I pass the mall on the way. Would you like a ride?"

            "Yes, thank you. You see, I tried to arrange a taxi, but once I said where I wanted to be picked up from, all of the people I spoke to on the phone hung up on me, or laughed at me, or cursed at me."

            "Well, in that case, I'd love to give you a ride- but won't it be lonesome going on your own?"

            "Well, I won't be alone."

            "Oh? You're meeting some of the students there?"

            "Well, I am meeting someone, yes, for a movie."

            "Who?"

            Elisabeth thought frantically for a moment. If she lied and was caught, it would not look good for her at all, and she had only just arrived.

            "Pietro Maximoff," she said, deciding to tell the truth.

            "Quicksilver?" Hank was surprised.

            "Yes. Is there something wrong?"

            "Uh, no. Not at all." A Misfit? As if one cross-team romance wasn't enough. He knew that after dating Courtney for a little while, he wasn't in a position to complain, but the adults of the teams were much saner than the adolescents- well, except for Shipwreck… "Uh, will you need a ride back?"

            "No, sir. I'm sure I'll be able to arrange something."

            "And you know your curfew?"

            "The headmaster said it was midnight."

"Very well, then. Shall we go?"

            "Whenever you're ready, sir," Elisabeth smiled.

            "Please, call me Mr. McCoy, or Beast. We're not that formal around here."

            Shortly after Hank's car left, it was followed by an SUV full of suspicious, tipped-off teenagers.

            "We really should be studying, Scott," Jean reminded him as she drove.

            "What's more important? Going over something you know by heart, or taking care of our own?"

            "Remy t'inks that's a funny attitude to have for someone dat kicked you in the jewels only last night."

            "That was, like, a total accident!" Kitty protested. "Besides, Scott had her buy him ice cream this afternoon. I drove them to the mall myself!"

            The others exchanged a look. The men nodded at each other. Buying a guy an ice cream to make up for… that… wasn't enough, but going driving with Kitty was a different story.

"But Elisabeth must have had, like, bad ice cream or something because she threw up while I was driving us back in Scott's car."

            Some of the others snickered.

            "So that's vhy your car smells. Your plan backfired, didn't it?"

            "Shut up, Kurt."

            "Well that'll teach you," Rogue snickered.

            "Don't start, Rogue."

            "Da, Rogue. He feels bad enough as it is."

            "Thank you Peter."

            "Even if he did get what he deserved."

            "Shut up, Peter!"

            "I'm with Peter on that one!" a voice piped up.

            "Why are we bringing him along?" Peter whispered into Kitty's ear.

            "Because Jamie is the one that tipped Scott off to the date, because he wanted a trip to the mall."

            Back at the Mansion, Xavier used Cerebro. He set it to alert him if Emma Frost's mutant signature was detected, and left instructions that he was only to be disturbed if necessary. He had a date to monitor- just in case.

***

            "Well, it's time to go!" Pietro announced happily. Hot date with sexy British noblewoman on the port bow!

            "Have fun," Cover Girl smiled. "Now, wear your communicator in case we need you. Oh, and treat her like a lady."

            "Don't I always?" Pietro asked before teleporting away.

            Several pairs of eyes were watching them.

            "But why do we have to tag along, yo?" a voice whispered.

            "Because if those two hit it off, we'll be spending even more time over there, with them."

            "Oh. Right, Al."

            The remaining Misfits teleported to the movie theatre in the Bayville Galleria.

***

            Pietro, all dressed up and carrying a large paper bag, looked around. It was nearly 6:30, and unless he was going blind, there was no sign of Elisabeth.

            "Well, 'ello there, cutie," a Cockney voice said from behind him. The speaker was a tall young woman with purple hair, wearing a fabulous black dress that showed off every curve, and carrying a plastic shopping bag. For a split second, she reminded him of 'Risty.'

            "Lookin' for someone, dearie?" she said as she came up to him. She put a finger on his stomach, and traced it up along his chest. "Or are you here alone?"

            "I'm waiting for a date," Pietro smiled. "Sorry, sexy, but I'm the one woman type."

Part of being perfect was the ability to lie like a dog.

            "Too bad," she pouted, and without warning, kissed him on the lips.

            "Hmm," she said in a very different British accent, "nice, firm lips you have Pietro. Why don't you kiss back, and give me a better idea?"

            "Elisabeth?" he asked, stunned.

            "Uh huh," she smiled. She put a hand through her hair, and the wig came off. She put it in her purse.

            "Forgive me," she grinned wickedly. "I do so love to play."

            Pietro began to laugh.

            "What's with the wig?"

            "Well, I bought it on a lark a while back. I wear about London when I'm out on the town."

            "You're famous?"

            "Hardly," she snorted. "I do, however, have two large, annoying fraternal units who think I can't handle myself in big cities at night. The wig serves as a decoy for when they try to spy on me. I wanted to try it out in my first time in Bayville, to see the reaction I'd get."

            "And?"

            "And I'm pleased to report that most of the men I've seen have checked me out, and several had made passes at me. But I'm busy." She studied him again. Damn, but he was sexy. She had worried she might be a little overdressed, until she saw him. Completely on impulse, she leaned in and kissed him again.

            It took all of Pietro's willpower not to grin as he kissed back. She wasn't like any of the women he'd ever known. They were mostly boring and dull. None of them would ever wear a wig on a first date, or use it to sneak a kiss. And what a kiss! He hadn't even been with Elisabeth for five minutes, and this date was already much better than most of the others he'd ever been on!

            "Well," she said when they were done, "shall we?" They went off towards the entrance to the movie theatre.

            On another impulse, Elisabeth went to take Pietro's hand, only to feel his bump hers half way between them. They looked at each other, blushing. Apparently, they'd had the same thought. Elisabeth stared at Pietro's blue eyes. 'Odd, but when he's embarrassed, he looks… he looks…' She didn't know how to describe it, but she liked it. Smiling gently, she took his hand. He smiled back, shyly (as shyly as he ever got, that is). They went back to the movie theatre.

***

            "Did you see that?" Scott hissed.

            "She kissed him," Peter marvelled. "I can't believe she kissed him! Twice!"

            "It may not be Quickie that we have to worry about, hommes," Remy observed. "Psylocke- she seems more than able to handle herself, so why don't we get back to studying?"

            "Yeah- that sounds like a good idea," Rogue said.

            "Not so fast," Scott said. "If she's coming on to him, then we have to find a way to make her start coming off of him! No- wait- I didn't mean it like that!"

            "That sounded so wrong," Kitty shuddered.

            "Yeah- some of us have virgin ears!" Kurt added.

            Jean was silent. Elisabeth had been broadcasting a bit during the kiss, which revealed two things- one, she needed work on her mental shields, and two, she really enjoyed the kiss. Jean questioned what she and her friends were doing. It wasn't their place to get involved in the life of somebody that was still mostly a stranger. It was their place to console her if the date was a disaster- a likely result, given that it was with Quicksilver- but otherwise… Jean backed off to where everybody could see her, so that when she started talking, everybody would listen. But before she got to that spot, she bumped into someone, and orange slurpee spilled all over her.

            "Hey!" she gasped. She turned around to see who it was. Oh, no!

***

            (Less than five minutes earlier)

            "Did you see that?" Wanda gasped. "She kissed him! She actually willingly kissed him! Twice!"

            "I saw it, but I don't believe it," Todd marvelled. Pietro was a nice enough guy under the exterior, but Bree's cousin just planted two on him when she didn't have the time needed to see through said exterior!

            "Hussy," Daria sniffed.

            "Perhaps she likes him," Xi said quietly. "It is possible that love can occur at first sight."

            "In the movies, Xi," Wanda groaned.

            "Oh, I dunno," Althea said, misty-eyed. "I remember the first time I saw my Toddles."

            "Here it comes," Quinn groaned.

            "Yeah," Todd sighed happily, staring off into space, "I was playin' with Little C, and she knocked me to the floor and demanded to know what I was doin' with him."

            They both gave off a happy sigh.

            "Oh, brother," Brittany rolled her eyes.

            For his part, Fred just backed off so that he could follow Pietro with his eyes. His friend actually looked shy for half a second there. Xi was right- love could happen at first sight. And if Pietro actually had a chance, he had the right to see it through. Psylocke may be an X-Geek, but she's Bree's little cousin, too, so how bad could she be? Things like teams or species didn't matter if there was true love involved. Why, just look at what his Canadian Uncle Red told him about Old Man Cedric's pet sow and Stinky Peterson's Billy-goat!

            As he was backing away, he bumped into something. Half of his slush spilled out of his hand.

            "Hey!" he gasped. He turned around to see who it was. Oh, no!

            Both teams were alerted to the gasps.

            "Nice look for you, Jean," Althea snickered.

            "Oh shut up!"

            "What are you doing here?!?" Lance and Scott simultaneously demanded. "Spying on them! Don't talk at the same time I do! Cut it out! No, you cut it out!"

            Standing behind the others, Jamie caught Xi's eye and made a worried gesture. They weren't supposed to meet yet!

            "Calm down," Xi mouthed. Looking around, his eyes caught a large group of people standing in line at the movie theatre. He recognized them immediately. He planned on doing to some random person later, but their teams had met already, and nobody deserved this quite like this fellow did. Going invisible, he spotted Fred's slush where Fred had left it as the arguing began. Picking it up, he crept over to the line up, and spilled the rest of the slush over his main target's head. He ran back to the greater group, and signalled for the Triplets and Jamie to get out of the line of fire.

            "So then I was like- hey!" Duncan Matthews yelped as he was covered in orange slush. His friends and their dates just stared. Duncan turned around, looking for the wise guy. He spotted the bickering mutants.

            "Excuse me, ladies," he snarled as he went over to them. His friends quickly followed. He went up to the bickering Shades and Rockhead, and quickly grabbed their heads and bashed them together. They crumpled to the ground.

            "Hey!" Althea shouted. "What was that for?"

            "For this!" Duncan bellowed, gesturing to himself.

            "Well, it's not our fault you're that ugly, yo," Todd smirked.

            "Why you-"

            "Blob!" Jean snapped.

            "It wasn't me!" Fred replied. "I put the rest of my slush down over- hey! Where did it go?"

            "It's yours, huh?" Duncan went over and belted Fred. It didn't faze him. "Uh oh."

            "Uh oh is right!" Fred yelled as he lifted Duncan off the ground. The rest of the jocks got involved and the fight was on.

            "Wow," Jamie blinked. "I didn't know our football players were so wimpy!"

            "I didn't know cheerleaders were so vicious!" Brittany said wonderingly as the cheerleaders got into catfights with the X-Girls, Althea, and Wanda.

            "Come on," Xi said quickly, leading the children to the designated meeting place. A few minutes later, the lovebirds arrived.

            "Well, Xi, when you're right, you're right," Pietro grumbled.

            "I still can't believe they'd spy on us!" Elisabeth gasped.

            "Oh, believe it," Jamie told her.

            "Well, thank you for telling us."

            "A-hem," Daria coughed politely.

            "Oh, right, your 'thank-you' for the warning. Here you are, Xi," Elisabeth said, passing him the shopping bag. It was full of boxes of Chips Ahoy, Chunks Ahoy, and Rainbow Chips Ahoy. Reaching into her purse, she handed Jamie two extra large packages of Pixie Sticks.

            Pietro handed Xi tickets to various arcades (each of which had several Whack-A-Moles), gave Jamie more packages of Pixie Sticks, and passed the girls the paper bag. In it, in plastic Ziploc bags, was men's underwear. All the bags were labelled.

            "Scott, Remy, Peter, Ray, Bobby, Sam, Roberto, Jamie, Lance, Pietro, Todd, Fred… why are all the X-Men at the top?" Quinn asked.

            "Because we put them in the same bag as soon as we could, and I put the ones I got on top of the others," Elisabeth told her. "What do you want them for, anyway?"

            "You don't wanna know," Pietro told her.

            "Why did you want my underwear?" Jamie asked. The girls grinned wickedly.

            "It's a secret," they said in unison.

            Xi looked back at where the fight was. Mall security was escorting the brawling teenagers out of the mall.

            "It is time to rejoin the group," he told his co-conspirators. They went off back to their friends, after quickly dropping their score back at home (Jamie stuffed the Pixie Sticks in his jacket pockets).

            "I thought you said we'd get to torture the egomaniac," Brittany pointed out.

            "You are correct," Xi admitted, "but we did get to torture the others, support the development of new love, and get paid to do it. Surely that counts for something."

            "Well," Pietro said, bowing to Elisabeth, "the club awaits us. Your chariot, madam," he said as he scooped her up.

            "Thank you, kind sir," she giggled. She looked into those beautiful blue eyes again. She still didn't know what it was about them that she liked so. With a zip, they were gone.

What? I don't like to ruin dates between couples I like, and it should be obvious who one of the couples I like is! Yes, I like happy endings, especially considering what is to come. Next time, the date continues, so stay tuned to "The Mutant Massacre":

Chapter Five: Getting To Know You

P.S.- The Legal Grounds is a real place in my hometown, and it does have poetry readings called "The Poets Potpourri." 'Uncle' Red, Old Man Cedric and Stinky Peterson are characters in "The Red Green Show," owned by Red Green. Old Man Cedric and Stinky Peterson are mentioned, but never actually seen- much like their 'appearances' in this fic.