Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men.  I only own Ali, and that is because I created her in my mind and then drew out her characteristics and image using words.  There.  Wow, looks like I need a life if my disclaimer is THIS long…
I also am not, in any way, connected with Brittney Spears.  I do not own her music (CD, yes, sad to say).  But I am not her record producer.

The days at school dragged on.  Rogue, Kurt, Kitty (who was now sporting a silver necklace with a pink heart charm on it), Ali, and John were spending their free time together.  They hung out at the mall (when Logan allowed it), ran around in the forest, and plotted pranks on certain people they despised, such as Duncan, or maybe even Scott, just to get him to loosen up. 

That night, John and Kitty slipped into Scott's room when he was asleep.  The two filled his sock drawer with packing peanuts, then silly-stringed his closet after they had set the volume of his stereo on high playing the Brittney Spears song "Oops, I Did It Again" at 9:30 AM.  The last thing they did was to smear a honey-and-glue mixture on Scott's bedside table. 

John grinned evilly.  "We're good," he whispered. 

Kitty suppressed a giggle behind her hand.  "He's gonna hate us, like, so much," she replied softly. 

John nodded.  With that, Kitty grabbed his hand and pulled him through the wall and into the hallway where Rogue, Kurt, and Ali were waiting. 

"How'd it go?" Kurt asked anxiously. 

"Perfectly," John said. 

Ali grinned while Rogue cracked a smile.  "Then c'mon.  It's late and we have to get to bed," Ali replied. 

"But Ali, it's a Friday night.  We don't have school tomorrow.  What's the point of going to bed this soon?" John asked, pointing to his watch.  The black numbers read 11:42 PM.

"It's almost midnight," Ali contradicted.  "I'm tired, too."

Rogue nodded.  "Same here."

John groaned.  "You guys are no fun," he pouted.

Kitty rolled her eyes.  "Like, whatever," she replied.  "I'm going to bed.  I'll see you all, like, later."  With that, Kitty walked away towards her room.  Kurt quickly bid everyone else goodbye and ported to his room.

Ali sighed.  "We'll see you later," she said. 

"Alright," John replied.  "G'night, love."

Ali's cheeks flushed happily.  "Good night" she said.

Rogue rolled her eyes and pulled Ali down the hallway to their room before John captured any more of Ali's attention. 

Ali quickly changed into a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt then sat on her bed.  "Rogue?  How mad do you think Scott will be?"

Rogue shrugged.  "On a scale of one to ten?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'd say a twenty."

Ali smiled weakly.  "Do you think he'll know it was us?"

Rogue shrugged.  "Al, if Ah was a fortune teller, then believe meh, Ah would tell ya.  But Ah don't see the future, so Ah can't," replied the mutant. 

Ali nodded. 

"Oh, and one more thing, Al."

"What?"

"If anyone asks, Ah wasn't involved."

Ali smiled.  "Sure thing, Rogue.  No problem."

"Good, cause Ah want to stay on Logan's good side fo' now," Rogue explained as she pulled her blankets up to her chin. 

Ali nodded.  "Good night then, Rogue."

"Goodnight, Ali."

*

John, Rogue, Ali, Kurt, and Kitty were all up around nine o' clock the next morning.  They walked up the stairs at nine twenty-five to the door of Scott's room, waiting for the time when Scott would be awaken with much love in the hearts of his friends.

All of a sudden, the preppy, unbearable sound of Brittney Spears vocals was blaring through the walls.  There was a yell and a loud "thump" inside Scott's room.  Suddenly, loud swearing could be heard from the inside.  John, Ali, Rogue, Kurt, and Kitty were all laughing their heads off, ignoring Scott's cries for help.  Logan, Jean, and most of the other students of the Institute came barreling up the stairs.  Logan and Jean threw open Scott's door.  Jean's eyes widened with shock.  Logan smirked.  It was pretty funny to see Mr. Military stuck in such a predicament.

Scott had his shades on, while his left hand was glued to his bedside table.  His right hand, meanwhile, was over his ear, trying to block Brittney's horrendous music. 

Jean rushed forward to try and release Scott from the mercy of his table.  Logan, meanwhile, turned around. 

"Alright, you know the drill.  Who did it?"

Bobby grinned.  "As much as I want to take credit for this, I can't, for alas, this isn't my work," he said, sounding a bit overemotional. 

"If you didn't do it then shut up," Logan replied. 

Bobby nodded. 

"Whoever did it had better fess up now, or else everyone will be put through extra Logan Sessions for the next month," Wolverine added. 

Kurt, Kitty, John, and Ali all stepped forward, sheepish grins on their faces. 

"Only four of you, eh?" said Logan, rubbing his chin.  "Might have to make the punishment harder then."

John grinned.  "Logan, we can't forget the one who gave us the idea.  Rogue, step forward!" he cried, pulling Rogue from the crowd.  The girl glared at John.  Logan, meanwhile, grinned.  None of the students could believe that Logan was smiling.

"Alright then.  I'll let you off with a warning this time.  Next time, you'll have a lot of work to do," Logan said. 

"Alright!" Kurt cried, jumping into the air. 

"How about we go to, like, the mall now?" Kitty suggested. 

Ali groaned.  "We're all sick of the mall, Kitty," she moaned.

"Yeah, let's go someplace quiet," Rogue added. 

Kitty sighed.  "Fine," she replied, sticking her lip out in a pout. 

The five walked to the park nearby, where they say by the edge of the lake and just talked. 

"Well this is nice," John commented, looking around.  "No industry, no people.  Just us and nature."

"I didn't know you were into that," Ali replied, giving him a curious look. 

"I'm not," John said with a grin.  "I just like being away from people, sheila."

Ali smiled and shook her head.  John was really something.  He made sense one moment, but then when he elaborated, you didn't understand him at all. 

"Well, well, well.  If it isn't my old homme St. John Alderdyce and the gorgeous chere," commented a voice thick with a Creole accent. 

Rogue groaned and closed her eyes.  "Don't tell meh that he's here," she moaned.  "Don't tell meh that he's here."

"Uh, Rogue?" Ali said, watching the girl.

"Yeah?"

"He's here."

Rogue gave a loud groan fell onto the grass, her eyes still tightly shut. 

Remy chuckled.  "C'mon, chere.  Is Remy really that bad?" he asked with a smile. 

"Yes," Rogue snapped. 

Remy chuckled.  "Don't worry, chere.  Remy's not here to bother you.  He's here to bother him," he replied, pointing to John.

John seemed mildly surprised.  "Why?" he asked. 

Remy's face took on a serious look.  "Magneto's not happy wit' you," explained.  "He's not happy dat you left the Acolytes."

John shrugged.  "He'd better get used to it, because I'm not going back," he replied coolly. 

Remy sighed.  "It would make tings a lot easier, mon ami," replied the Cajun. 

John grinned.  "I'm always difficult, Remy, you know that," he said.

Remy smiled slightly.  "Yeah, Remy knows that.  But Magneto don't."

John was about to voice the question on all of their minds when suddenly the wind picked up and Magneto appeared, closely followed by the remainder of the Acolytes and one person none of them had seen before:

Mastermind. 

Kitty, unbeknownst to anyone else, pulled out her X-Men communicator and called Professor Xavier.  "Professor?" she whispered.  "We're at the park.  Magneto and the Acolytes just showed up, and I think a fight's going to start," she whispered. 

"Stay there, Kitty.  We'll be there shortly," came the Professor's reply before Kitty turned of the communicator, shifting her attention to the enemy. 

"John, come back with us.  You don't belong with the X-Men," Magneto said, holding out a hand.  "I can help you with anything, because I understand you.  Come with me."

John glared at him.  "Xavier can help me, and so can the others at the Institute," he retorted.  "I'm happy where I am.  I don't have to fight, either."

Remy's eyes widened.  He began to quickly murmur phrases in French, which loosely translated to, "My God, not fight?  Dat be heaven!" and, "Unbelievable.  John's got de good life.  But why not Remy?"

Sabertooth growled menacingly, which told Magneto that he wanted to fight. 

Eric Leinsher's face hardened.  "Very well then.  You leave me no choice, John, then to fight," he said.  The Acolytes jumped forward, ready to attack.  Ali steered far away from Piotr, so as to prevent a repeat of the mall incident.  Instead, Sabertooth headed straight for Ali. 

The large cat-man lunged towards her, his black claws outstretched.  She dodge-rolled to the side, balling her hands into fists and charging them with her electricity.  When Sabertooth turned around, her eyes were no longer green; they were neon blue.  Nonetheless, he darted forward, skillfully evading her fists and landing a large scratch on her side. 

Ali winced in pain, but ignored the burning in her side.  She shot out a beam of energy and, predicting Sabertooth's move, shot another beam, which connected with his jaw.  Energy surged through the mutant's body as he convulsed in pain.  Finally, the shock wore off, and he lay on the ground unmoving. 

Ali started to run past him to Mastermind when suddenly a hand whipped out and grabbed her ankle.  She gave a cry as she was suddenly flipped upside down and thrown into a tree.  Her back connected with the bark, creating a loud pounding noise as she fell to the ground beneath.  She groaned and tried to push herself up when suddenly Sabertooth grabbed a handful of her hair and her arm and jerked her up. 

"You're strong," he said, his brown eyes burning into hers.  "But you're not strong enough to beat me."  He pulled back a hand, preparing to permanently take away her vision when suddenly a loud yell stopped him.  

"IF YOU EVEN TOUCH HER I'LL KILL YOU!" roared Logan as he charged forward, his adamantium claws unsheathed and glinting maliciously.  Logan tackled Sabertooth to the ground and began his fight with the mutant while Ali fell to the ground like a rag doll. 

Bobby, Scott, and Jean were soon beside her.  "Are you alright?" Jean asked worried. 

Ali nodded weakly. 

"Alright.  Bobby, watch over her while Jean and I help the others," Scott ordered. 

"Yes sir," Bobby replied. 

Ali watched from afar as the X-Men slowly took the advantage over the Acolytes, pushing them farther back.  Finally, Magneto ordered the mutants to retreat.  Upon hearing this, Piotr uprooted a tree (by Magneto's order) and threw it at the X-Men.  When they had recovered from dodging, the Acolytes were gone. 

John spotted Ali and rushed over.  "Ali!  Are you alright?" he asked, worry shining in his eyes. 

Ali smiled the best she could.  "I'm fine," she managed to say. 

John shook his head.  "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you, sheila," he replied.  "I should've been there."

"It's not your fault.  I should have been more aware and stayed away from Sabertooth," she replied.  She took a deep breath, feeling unconsciousness slowly edge into her mind. 

"Ali?  Don't leave me.  Stay with me," John said. 

"I'm not leaving, John.  I'm just really tired," she replied softly, closing her eyes.

"Ali?  Ali!" yelled John.  "Professor!"

Professor Xavier wheeled himself over as fast as he could.  "Hank!  We must hurry and get her back to the Institute," Professor Xavier ordered.  Logan carried Ali back to the Institute, feeling guilt running through his body.  If only he had gotten there sooner.  Maybe, if he had, things wouldn't have turned out this way. 

***

Sorry I posted so late.  I had this ready on like, Tuesday or Wednesday, but my brother needed the computer, so yeah.  Well, what do you think?  I kinda fused together two ideas.  One from o scorched eggy and another from Ivan's Kitsune.  I couldn't make up my mind between the two. 

Reviews:

damien455: glad you liked it.  Tell me what you think about this one.

Coco Cow: no problem, I really liked your story.  Tell me when you post another chapter, because I want to read it!  And tell me what you think about this one.

Oh, and if anyone likes Brittany Spears' music, sorry.  I don't, and neither do most of my friends.  That's just the way we are.  If you do like her, again, sorry, but don't complain to me about it.

Thank you!  R&R!!!

~Jojo~