Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men, haven't you read the other chapters. I still
don't own some of the original characters, Kernl "Toad" Sandrz wouldn't
give them to me. I DO own whoever is left over, though. The characters that
Kernl and I created belong to us, so don't steal them, please. *puppy-dog
eyes* Thank you for wasting your time *ahem* I mean, giving up you time.
**********************
"Professor, what are we going to do about this kidnapping problem? Even after our mission, they still aren't backing down!" Scott said angrily.
"I'm working on it, Scott," Charles Xavier told him. "I'm trying to locate their new headquarters. I think I'm getting close."
"What about Storm?" Jean asked, anxiously, "Why hasn't she come back?"
"I don't know," Xavier said, "I can't seem to locate her with Cerebro."
"That's not a good sign," Scott stated, unnecessarily, looking out the window.
"The students are saying there's something wrong with John," Jean told the professor.
"Did they specify?" questioned Xavier.
"No, only that they wanted to know what I saw in John's mind," Jean replied.
"Did you tell them?"
"No." Jean turned away, "It's not my business, either."
"You're right, Jean," the professor told her, "but don't dwell on it. There was nothing else you could have done."
**********************
"I win, *again*," Gambit announced.
"I quit!" said Toad, throwing down his cards, "I'm tired of losing!"
The rest of them agreed with Toad, and got up to watch TV or go to bed. Slade walked into his new room. Peitro was bouncing on his bed.
"What are you doing?" Slade asked in his cheerful manner.
"Going to sleep," Peitro continued to jump up and down.
"Won't that make your nose bleed again?" Slade pointed out.
Peitro thought about this, then sat down on the bed
Slade laid down on the soft, no doubt stolen, bed. He dropped off quickly, even with Peitro's new attempt to fall asleep, talking rapidly to himself.
**********************
Slade woke up suddenly to a loud crash. He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. He decided to go and investigate the source of the noise. Looking around the room, he saw that the back door had been torn off of its hinges. He surveyed the half-circle of armchairs. No one there. Something dropped down off of the ceiling in front of him.
"Who are you?" Slade asked the mysterious figure, but received no answer.
The figure attacked him.
"Bad idea," Slade grinned, sure that this man was no threat. He blocked the man's move, and slipped behind him, "Can't catch me!" he taunted. Then, to his surprise, the man turned around in an instant. Slade was sent flying as the man threw him into the wall.
A door banged open. Gambit had heard the noise.
"Rise and shine, Brotherhood!" he shouted, "We have a guest!"
Gambit tackled the stranger, throwing him to the ground. Then, through the broken back door, came three other men. They threw themselves at Gambit, restraining him. Gambit fought to throw them off, but failed. Even with his strength, he was no match for four specially trained men. A bolt of blue light flew out from inside a door. It engulfed one of the men, who cried out, throwing him away from Gambit.
Wanda stood in the doorway, and threw another hex bolt. It hit another man, sending him painfully into the wall, where he slumped down next to Slade.
Toad, trying to impress Wanda, leapt at the third guy. He missed in his enthusiasm, and flew out the back door.
Peitro sped into the room, only to be tripped flat on his face by Lance.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" Peitro asked furiously, scrambling to his feet.
Lance ignored him, and looked over Peitro's left shoulder, "You might want to duck."
"Why would I want-"
Lance used his powers to cause the ground to lurch violently. The man who had been about to hit Peitro over the head with a lamp fell over, and slid along the floor. Peitro, too, fell onto the floor.
Peitro stared, wide-eyed at the man getting up off of the ground. Lance swung his fist into the man's face. There was a crunch, and the man's nose was smashed, blood pouring from it just as it had from Peitro's. This didn't slow the man down. If anything, it just made him angry. He lunged for Lance, who just sidestepped out of his way, and laughed. That was the last straw. The guy slammed into Lance's injured mid-section, throwing him off-balance. Lance collapsed in a heap on the floor.
Peitro kicked the man face-first into the wall, then ran around him, going so fast he wasn't even a blur. The running in circles created a whirlwind, throwing the man out of the back door, onto the re-entering Toad.
Gambit was also thrown backward by the sudden wind. He slammed into his bedroom door and smashed through it, unconscious.
Wanda shot hex bolts at the advancing men, but they dodged them. They grabbed her arms, forcing them behind her. She screamed at them, struggling. With her hands tied behind her, she was unable to do anything. A man dragged her outside with difficulty.
Toad leapt onto the back of the truck, trying to pry the door open. As the truck sped up and hit a bump in the road, Toad was thrown off, landing in a neighbor's rosebush.
"Ow!" he cried, jumping out, and pulling a thorn from his arm, "Wanda!"
Blob burst out of the house, looking around, "What'd I miss?"
Toad flicked out his long tongue, and caught a fly. He looked around at the room. Lance lay in a heap on the floor. Gambit was smashed through a door. Peitro was walking rather dizzily around the room. Everyone else had slept through the fight. And to top it all, Wanda was gone.
**********************
Rogue sat outside with Bobby, scanning the grounds for a sign of John. Nothing. She hadn't seen him in classes, either. Ruben sat down next to her.
"Guess what?" he said.
"What?" Rogue groaned.
"I know how to find John!" Ruben said proudly.
"How?" Rogue asked, more interested.
"I hired Aaron and Shawn!" he grinned.
"Wonderful, Ruben," Bobby said, "Now we have *three* lunatics on our hands, not counting John."
"What'd Rogue do to *you*?"
A squirrel jumped into Rogue's lap. It morphed into Aaron. He grinned up at Rogue, who glared at him, disgusted, and pushed him off her lap.
"We found your ex-friend, or whatever he is now!" He announced.
"Where?"
"I'll show you," he said, getting off the ground, and brushing himself off, "Shawn's keeping him busy."
Rogue sighed. John's going to be in a great mood *now*, she thought.
When they reached an unused corridor, they found a soaking wet John and Shawn, who was handing John a towel rather nervously.
"I'm sorry, really," Shawn was telling John, "I forgot about that one."
John snatched the towel from Shawn angrily. Then he turned to look at the advancing group.
"What's this, a slumber party?" he asked sarcastically.
"John, we want to talk to you," Rogue said.
"Do you?" John said, drying himself off with the towel.
"Er. we'll be going now," Aaron said, and pulled Shawn down the hall.
"What's wrong, John?" Rogue continued.
"Nothing." John said, "Everything's *peachy*."
"John," Rogue sighed, "We want to *help* you."
"Yeah, sure you do," John said, annoyed, "And I'm sure that Ray creep wants to help me, too."
"He's got a point," Ruben said loudly.
"John," Rogue began.
"No," John interrupted her, "No, you don't want to help, you just want to satisfy your suspicions that I'm a complete loser." He raised his eyebrows.
"John, please," Rogue began again.
"There's nothing wrong!" John's voice rose, "It's the same way it was before, just leave me alone!"
Bobby sighed, "John, just listen to her for a second!"
John turned to Bobby now, "Right, sure, I'll waste a couple more minutes with you," He waited.
"We want to know what's wrong," Rogue began.
"Nothing's wrong!" John said.
"No, something's wrong, John," Rogue said, going against her instincts, and telling John he was wrong.
"I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with me!" John yelled.
"John, no, listen," Rogue pleaded, "You won't talk to us! You go and hide away after something happens! Why won't you tell us what's wrong?"
John looked to her, "You wouldn't understand."
"How do you know that?" Bobby asked him.
"I know," John said quietly, "You've never had to, you never needed-" He stopped, and turned away from them, "Just leave me *alone*!" His voice had a note of desperation in it, "*Please*!"
"John." Rogue looked from Bobby to Ruben.
Ruben spoke up, "Will you at least tell us who Kerri is?"
John stiffened, and Rogue thought he would yell at them some more. To her surprise, he didn't.
John turned back around to look at them. His normally angry features were saddened.
"Kerri," he said, "Was my best friend. My only friend."
Rogue blinked. She hadn't expected this. Come to think of it, she didn't know what she had expected.
"You mean back in Australia?" Bobby asked.
"Yes," John said.
"You only had one friend?" Ruben asked, surprised.
"That's right," John said, stiffening again, as if he were afraid Ruben was going to tease him. When he didn't, John continued, "Everyone else was either afraid of me, or they made fun of me."
"Why?" Rogue asked in a whisper.
"Somehow, they knew," John said, "They knew I was different."
Bobby felt a wave of guilt. He had never had really thought about John's feelings. But John had never complained, not once, until recently.
"So what happened to Kerri?" asked Ruben.
"She left," John said bluntly, "Because of me."
"What do you mean?" Rogue inquired.
"I was a bad influence on her," John said, "I had perfected the art of pick pocketing, and stealing when some guys decided they could kick me around. So when one of them stole all of my money, I broke into his house, and got it back, no problem."
"You did that?" Bobby asked, half impressed, and half sickened at the idea.
"Yeah, I did." John smirked, and pulled a wallet from his pocket, "See this before?"
"Hey!" Bobby said, "That's mine!"
"Exactly," John tossed it to him, and laughed coldly as Bobby checked to make sure nothing was missing, "No one trusted me. As you can see, they still don't."
Bobby looked embarrassed.
"Just trying to make a point, mate," John said, coolly.
"Why did you take other people's money?" Bobby asked, covering his embarrassment.
"Couldn't get any off my parents, and people kept taking the stuff I earned," John continued, "Anyway, I found out my power one day, and worked with it. In the process I burned down a whole bunch of stuff. One time I accidentally set a field on fire. It spread, and accidentally burned down a school. I got in trouble with the cops."
"Is that when you left?" Rogue asked.
"No," John said, "My dad was a cop. I got away with a warning. Like those ever do any good."
"So you did it again," Bobby said.
"Yeah, but never on purpose," John said, "but I couldn't just go up to the cops and say, 'Oh, I'm sorry, officer, I'm a mutant, I didn't mean to, really!' Like they'd care," John laughed grimly, "Anyway, Kerri's father got all angry with her, and threatened to take her back to the U.S.. She stuck around with me, though, and her father went through with his threat and took her."
"Did Kerri do anything against the law?" asked Ruben.
"No, of course not," John said, "She wouldn't do anything like that, even if I did."
"Did she know you were a mutant?" Rogue asked.
"She knew. Somehow her father found out, and that was what must have really set him off. He was completely against mutants," John's eyes were unreadable. He had regained his normal rebellious attitude, "So they left. I never saw either of them again. Everyone rejected me. I accepted it. End of story."
"But why are you suddenly so distant?" Rogue questioned.
"When you're suddenly turned into a science experiment, you'll understand," John said.
"John, let's not go over this *again," Rogue stated, slightly irritated, "We are your *friends*, we want to *help* you."
"Where were you *before* when I actually needed you?" John asked.
"I-" Rogue began.
John interrupted her, "Exactly! You're not my friends, just people trying to prove a point. If you tell anyone, all they're going to do is make fun of me again. I don't need any help! Just back off!"
"John!" Rogue said sharply, "We-"
"Save it! Why don't I just leave? Then you won't have poor little Johnny to worry about anymore."
"John, I understand completely," Rogue said.
John raised his eyebrows, "I'm sure you do," he said sarcastically.
'No, really," Rogue told him, "I was shunned, too, remember? Everyone was afraid of me, because people got hurt around me. I stayed away from everyone."
John shrugged, "You have friends now," He waved his hand toward Ruben and Bobby.
"John, just tell us what's bugging you!" Bobby insisted.
"What, and everything will be all better?" John said, "We'll all live happily ever after? No, I know what I'm doing. I don't need anyone's help!" He pushed past them, and walked away.
**********************
"How did it go?" Amara asked them at dinner.
Rogue groaned.
"That bad?" asked Shawn through a mouthful of chocolate cake.
"Like, why do you eat that stuff for dinner?" Kitty asked him, "It's totally bad for you."
Aaron looked at her seriously, "Chocolate's good for the imagination."
"Like, whatever, Aaron," Kitty said, "Anyway, was it that terrible, Rogue?"
"I didn't think it was that bad," Ruben said.
"Shut up, you walking light bulb!" Ray said, "No one asked for *your* opinion!"
"Ray!" Amara said, and shoved Ray off his chair.
"Dude, you totally let her push you around!" Allen said, not realizing he was signing his own death sentence.
"You stupid slimeball!" Ray shouted at him, "I'll fry you!"
Allen jumped up out of his seat. Ray chased him out of the door and outside.
"Dude," they heard Allen say before he ran from the room, "What's eating you?"
"So, really, Rogue, how *did* it go?" Amara asked again.
"Well, he told us *some* stuff," Bobby said, "Which was surprising."
Out of the corner of her eye, Rogue saw John leaning against the wall, watching them with a glare.
"So, like, what did he tell you?" Kitty inquired.
"He said who Kerri was," Bobby said, "She was John's best friend when he lived back in Australia."
"He lived in Australia?" asked Shawn.
"Um, bro, haven't you ever heard the guy talk?" Aaron rapped his brother on the head with his knuckles.
"Anyway, she left because her dad hated mutants or something," Ruben said.
"I think he mentioned that his dad was a police officer," Bobby remembered.
"Um, guys," Rogue said, "Look over there," she gestured to where John was watching them, "We're being watched."
"What does *he* want?" Amara asked.
"He didn't want us to tell anyone," Rogue explained.
"Why?" asked Shawn.
Bobby shrugged.
"He said something about being made fun of," Rogue said.
John stared back at them, a malicious smile playing around his lips.
"Like, he still creeps me out," Kitty said, shivering.
"This Kerri person, was she like John?" Amara asked.
"No, not really," Rogue stated thoughtfully.
"Then why did she hang out with him, of all people?" Amara asked, bewildered.
John was giving them the impression that he heard every word they said.
"Why don't you ask him?" Ray said, popping up behind Bobby's chair
At the sight of Ray, John's eyes narrowed.
"He's, like, totally creepy, that's why!" Kitty said.
Rogue saw John looking at Ray with a irritated look on his face. He moved from his place by the wall, and left the room.
"Where's Allen?" Aaron asked.
"He's learning how to what it's like to be a fish," Ray said casually.
Shawn and Aaron cracked up.
"Huh?" said Ruben, "What do you mean?"
"I shoved him into his fish tank," Ray said, "I guess being a giant blob of goo is very educational."
**********************
Gambit held an ice pack to his head.
"You really need to learn to control your whirlwinds," he told Peitro.
"Sorry about that," Peitro said.
"Why are we just sitting around?" asked Toad angrily, "We should be rescuing Wanda!"
"Well, for one thing, Lance is still unconscious. Two, we have to wait for Magneto. And three, we'd be so outnumbered, we'd be captured, too." Peitro said rapidly.
"She's your sister, you dumbhead!" Toad shouted.
"I know that!" Peitro snapped.
"Would you guys keep it down?" Slade asked, "You're giving everyone headaches."
"I'll say," said Gambit.
"You don't count," said Toad, "You already *had* a headache!"
"If we're not doing anything at the moment, why don't we all just go back to sleep?" Nightmare suggested, from his bedroom.
Slade switched on the TV, and explained cheerfully, "I'm not tired."
"Whatever," Peitro told him, and walked into their room.
Gambit walked away, also going to his room, and shuffling a deck of cards absentmindedly.
Toad groaned, "So we're just going to sit here?" he asked the air.
"Well, that seems to be the plan," said Slade, watching Bugs Bunny outsmart Elmer Fudd.
Nightmare slipped from his room, unseen by the others. Silently, he opened the door, and slid out into the night.
**********************
That night, Bobby awoke to the smell of smoke. He opened his eyes to see flames racing around the room.
"Fire!" he yelled, "Wake up!"
Ruben sat up so quickly, he fell off the top bunk. Luckily, he missed the fire.
"What the?" Bobby heard Ray speak, but couldn't see him through the smoke. Bobby tried to freeze the flames, but they were too hot.
"Everyone get out!" he shouted.
They all escaped the room, sweating from the scorching heat.
Jessica burst through the wall, Kitty grasping her arm. She ran into the boys' bathroom, and turned on the faucets. Water poured into the sinks, and splashed into the air. Jessica held out her hands, palms up. The water continued to rush from the faucets, but it didn't enter the sinks. The hovering water flew from the bathroom, and began to douse the raging flames. The water rained heavily down into the room. The fire steamed, and went out. Jessica turned off the faucets, and left the boys' bathroom.
"Dude," said Allen appreciatively.
"How did you know there was a fire?" Bobby asked.
"I heard someone yelling, so I asked Kitty to give me a lift here." Jessica looked at the burned room, "What happened?"
"I don't know," Bobby said, then his eyes widened. He raced down the hall, and yanked a door open.
John was sitting on his bed, sweat pouring down his face, when Bobby flung open the door.
"Talk about having no privacy," he said as the small group entered the room.
Bobby grabbed him by the shoulders, "What the heck were you thinking?"
"Whoa, mate," John said, surprised, "Slow down!"
Bobby shook John, "Why would you do that?"
"Do what?" John asked.
"Don't act innocent, I know you did it!" Bobby said angrily.
"What did I do *now*?" John looked around at everyone. They stared back at him.
"John, why would you set our room on fire?" Bobby asked him.
"I didn't set-" John began.
"Don't deny it!" Bobby yelled in his face, "You're the only one who would!"
John sighed, "Now, I wouldn't say *that*."
"John," Bobby asked, "why would you do that?"
"Well, if I had done it, I know perfectly well why!"
"And why is that?"
"Like I'd tell you!" John said, "You'd use it against me, anyway. I haven't set anything on fire recently! The last thing I tried to barbecue was Slade back at the lab!"
Bobby raised his eyebrows, "Sure, whatever, John. I'm going to get the Professor!"
"Wait, Bobby!" John yelled after him, then muttered, "Oh, yeah, this definitely isn't good."
********************** Yay! I finally updated! Proud of me? *crickets* Um, yeah... Yay! I wrote a serious chapter... Well, pretty serious, anyway...Yay! New readers!
Rachillie- Wait. You're not a new reader. Ah, well, you're special anyway, since you're the first person to review TWO chapters!! YAY! Oh, and a tip just for you; Reviews are supposed to be about the story. Thanks. To everyone who hasn't noticed, Rachillie here is obsessed with Nightcrawler and Seto Kaiba. That's all... I think.
RockerChica- I'm glad you like it! Keep reading! Lucky you, you get a tip, too; I live and breathe reviews. Well, actually, maybe I'm not THAT obsessed, but pretty close. Anywho, I hope you like these chapters.
Yay! Maybe I'll break 10 reviews this chapter! Yes, I HAVE noticed that I say 'yay' alot. So... Yay! Review!
**********************
"Professor, what are we going to do about this kidnapping problem? Even after our mission, they still aren't backing down!" Scott said angrily.
"I'm working on it, Scott," Charles Xavier told him. "I'm trying to locate their new headquarters. I think I'm getting close."
"What about Storm?" Jean asked, anxiously, "Why hasn't she come back?"
"I don't know," Xavier said, "I can't seem to locate her with Cerebro."
"That's not a good sign," Scott stated, unnecessarily, looking out the window.
"The students are saying there's something wrong with John," Jean told the professor.
"Did they specify?" questioned Xavier.
"No, only that they wanted to know what I saw in John's mind," Jean replied.
"Did you tell them?"
"No." Jean turned away, "It's not my business, either."
"You're right, Jean," the professor told her, "but don't dwell on it. There was nothing else you could have done."
**********************
"I win, *again*," Gambit announced.
"I quit!" said Toad, throwing down his cards, "I'm tired of losing!"
The rest of them agreed with Toad, and got up to watch TV or go to bed. Slade walked into his new room. Peitro was bouncing on his bed.
"What are you doing?" Slade asked in his cheerful manner.
"Going to sleep," Peitro continued to jump up and down.
"Won't that make your nose bleed again?" Slade pointed out.
Peitro thought about this, then sat down on the bed
Slade laid down on the soft, no doubt stolen, bed. He dropped off quickly, even with Peitro's new attempt to fall asleep, talking rapidly to himself.
**********************
Slade woke up suddenly to a loud crash. He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. He decided to go and investigate the source of the noise. Looking around the room, he saw that the back door had been torn off of its hinges. He surveyed the half-circle of armchairs. No one there. Something dropped down off of the ceiling in front of him.
"Who are you?" Slade asked the mysterious figure, but received no answer.
The figure attacked him.
"Bad idea," Slade grinned, sure that this man was no threat. He blocked the man's move, and slipped behind him, "Can't catch me!" he taunted. Then, to his surprise, the man turned around in an instant. Slade was sent flying as the man threw him into the wall.
A door banged open. Gambit had heard the noise.
"Rise and shine, Brotherhood!" he shouted, "We have a guest!"
Gambit tackled the stranger, throwing him to the ground. Then, through the broken back door, came three other men. They threw themselves at Gambit, restraining him. Gambit fought to throw them off, but failed. Even with his strength, he was no match for four specially trained men. A bolt of blue light flew out from inside a door. It engulfed one of the men, who cried out, throwing him away from Gambit.
Wanda stood in the doorway, and threw another hex bolt. It hit another man, sending him painfully into the wall, where he slumped down next to Slade.
Toad, trying to impress Wanda, leapt at the third guy. He missed in his enthusiasm, and flew out the back door.
Peitro sped into the room, only to be tripped flat on his face by Lance.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" Peitro asked furiously, scrambling to his feet.
Lance ignored him, and looked over Peitro's left shoulder, "You might want to duck."
"Why would I want-"
Lance used his powers to cause the ground to lurch violently. The man who had been about to hit Peitro over the head with a lamp fell over, and slid along the floor. Peitro, too, fell onto the floor.
Peitro stared, wide-eyed at the man getting up off of the ground. Lance swung his fist into the man's face. There was a crunch, and the man's nose was smashed, blood pouring from it just as it had from Peitro's. This didn't slow the man down. If anything, it just made him angry. He lunged for Lance, who just sidestepped out of his way, and laughed. That was the last straw. The guy slammed into Lance's injured mid-section, throwing him off-balance. Lance collapsed in a heap on the floor.
Peitro kicked the man face-first into the wall, then ran around him, going so fast he wasn't even a blur. The running in circles created a whirlwind, throwing the man out of the back door, onto the re-entering Toad.
Gambit was also thrown backward by the sudden wind. He slammed into his bedroom door and smashed through it, unconscious.
Wanda shot hex bolts at the advancing men, but they dodged them. They grabbed her arms, forcing them behind her. She screamed at them, struggling. With her hands tied behind her, she was unable to do anything. A man dragged her outside with difficulty.
Toad leapt onto the back of the truck, trying to pry the door open. As the truck sped up and hit a bump in the road, Toad was thrown off, landing in a neighbor's rosebush.
"Ow!" he cried, jumping out, and pulling a thorn from his arm, "Wanda!"
Blob burst out of the house, looking around, "What'd I miss?"
Toad flicked out his long tongue, and caught a fly. He looked around at the room. Lance lay in a heap on the floor. Gambit was smashed through a door. Peitro was walking rather dizzily around the room. Everyone else had slept through the fight. And to top it all, Wanda was gone.
**********************
Rogue sat outside with Bobby, scanning the grounds for a sign of John. Nothing. She hadn't seen him in classes, either. Ruben sat down next to her.
"Guess what?" he said.
"What?" Rogue groaned.
"I know how to find John!" Ruben said proudly.
"How?" Rogue asked, more interested.
"I hired Aaron and Shawn!" he grinned.
"Wonderful, Ruben," Bobby said, "Now we have *three* lunatics on our hands, not counting John."
"What'd Rogue do to *you*?"
A squirrel jumped into Rogue's lap. It morphed into Aaron. He grinned up at Rogue, who glared at him, disgusted, and pushed him off her lap.
"We found your ex-friend, or whatever he is now!" He announced.
"Where?"
"I'll show you," he said, getting off the ground, and brushing himself off, "Shawn's keeping him busy."
Rogue sighed. John's going to be in a great mood *now*, she thought.
When they reached an unused corridor, they found a soaking wet John and Shawn, who was handing John a towel rather nervously.
"I'm sorry, really," Shawn was telling John, "I forgot about that one."
John snatched the towel from Shawn angrily. Then he turned to look at the advancing group.
"What's this, a slumber party?" he asked sarcastically.
"John, we want to talk to you," Rogue said.
"Do you?" John said, drying himself off with the towel.
"Er. we'll be going now," Aaron said, and pulled Shawn down the hall.
"What's wrong, John?" Rogue continued.
"Nothing." John said, "Everything's *peachy*."
"John," Rogue sighed, "We want to *help* you."
"Yeah, sure you do," John said, annoyed, "And I'm sure that Ray creep wants to help me, too."
"He's got a point," Ruben said loudly.
"John," Rogue began.
"No," John interrupted her, "No, you don't want to help, you just want to satisfy your suspicions that I'm a complete loser." He raised his eyebrows.
"John, please," Rogue began again.
"There's nothing wrong!" John's voice rose, "It's the same way it was before, just leave me alone!"
Bobby sighed, "John, just listen to her for a second!"
John turned to Bobby now, "Right, sure, I'll waste a couple more minutes with you," He waited.
"We want to know what's wrong," Rogue began.
"Nothing's wrong!" John said.
"No, something's wrong, John," Rogue said, going against her instincts, and telling John he was wrong.
"I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with me!" John yelled.
"John, no, listen," Rogue pleaded, "You won't talk to us! You go and hide away after something happens! Why won't you tell us what's wrong?"
John looked to her, "You wouldn't understand."
"How do you know that?" Bobby asked him.
"I know," John said quietly, "You've never had to, you never needed-" He stopped, and turned away from them, "Just leave me *alone*!" His voice had a note of desperation in it, "*Please*!"
"John." Rogue looked from Bobby to Ruben.
Ruben spoke up, "Will you at least tell us who Kerri is?"
John stiffened, and Rogue thought he would yell at them some more. To her surprise, he didn't.
John turned back around to look at them. His normally angry features were saddened.
"Kerri," he said, "Was my best friend. My only friend."
Rogue blinked. She hadn't expected this. Come to think of it, she didn't know what she had expected.
"You mean back in Australia?" Bobby asked.
"Yes," John said.
"You only had one friend?" Ruben asked, surprised.
"That's right," John said, stiffening again, as if he were afraid Ruben was going to tease him. When he didn't, John continued, "Everyone else was either afraid of me, or they made fun of me."
"Why?" Rogue asked in a whisper.
"Somehow, they knew," John said, "They knew I was different."
Bobby felt a wave of guilt. He had never had really thought about John's feelings. But John had never complained, not once, until recently.
"So what happened to Kerri?" asked Ruben.
"She left," John said bluntly, "Because of me."
"What do you mean?" Rogue inquired.
"I was a bad influence on her," John said, "I had perfected the art of pick pocketing, and stealing when some guys decided they could kick me around. So when one of them stole all of my money, I broke into his house, and got it back, no problem."
"You did that?" Bobby asked, half impressed, and half sickened at the idea.
"Yeah, I did." John smirked, and pulled a wallet from his pocket, "See this before?"
"Hey!" Bobby said, "That's mine!"
"Exactly," John tossed it to him, and laughed coldly as Bobby checked to make sure nothing was missing, "No one trusted me. As you can see, they still don't."
Bobby looked embarrassed.
"Just trying to make a point, mate," John said, coolly.
"Why did you take other people's money?" Bobby asked, covering his embarrassment.
"Couldn't get any off my parents, and people kept taking the stuff I earned," John continued, "Anyway, I found out my power one day, and worked with it. In the process I burned down a whole bunch of stuff. One time I accidentally set a field on fire. It spread, and accidentally burned down a school. I got in trouble with the cops."
"Is that when you left?" Rogue asked.
"No," John said, "My dad was a cop. I got away with a warning. Like those ever do any good."
"So you did it again," Bobby said.
"Yeah, but never on purpose," John said, "but I couldn't just go up to the cops and say, 'Oh, I'm sorry, officer, I'm a mutant, I didn't mean to, really!' Like they'd care," John laughed grimly, "Anyway, Kerri's father got all angry with her, and threatened to take her back to the U.S.. She stuck around with me, though, and her father went through with his threat and took her."
"Did Kerri do anything against the law?" asked Ruben.
"No, of course not," John said, "She wouldn't do anything like that, even if I did."
"Did she know you were a mutant?" Rogue asked.
"She knew. Somehow her father found out, and that was what must have really set him off. He was completely against mutants," John's eyes were unreadable. He had regained his normal rebellious attitude, "So they left. I never saw either of them again. Everyone rejected me. I accepted it. End of story."
"But why are you suddenly so distant?" Rogue questioned.
"When you're suddenly turned into a science experiment, you'll understand," John said.
"John, let's not go over this *again," Rogue stated, slightly irritated, "We are your *friends*, we want to *help* you."
"Where were you *before* when I actually needed you?" John asked.
"I-" Rogue began.
John interrupted her, "Exactly! You're not my friends, just people trying to prove a point. If you tell anyone, all they're going to do is make fun of me again. I don't need any help! Just back off!"
"John!" Rogue said sharply, "We-"
"Save it! Why don't I just leave? Then you won't have poor little Johnny to worry about anymore."
"John, I understand completely," Rogue said.
John raised his eyebrows, "I'm sure you do," he said sarcastically.
'No, really," Rogue told him, "I was shunned, too, remember? Everyone was afraid of me, because people got hurt around me. I stayed away from everyone."
John shrugged, "You have friends now," He waved his hand toward Ruben and Bobby.
"John, just tell us what's bugging you!" Bobby insisted.
"What, and everything will be all better?" John said, "We'll all live happily ever after? No, I know what I'm doing. I don't need anyone's help!" He pushed past them, and walked away.
**********************
"How did it go?" Amara asked them at dinner.
Rogue groaned.
"That bad?" asked Shawn through a mouthful of chocolate cake.
"Like, why do you eat that stuff for dinner?" Kitty asked him, "It's totally bad for you."
Aaron looked at her seriously, "Chocolate's good for the imagination."
"Like, whatever, Aaron," Kitty said, "Anyway, was it that terrible, Rogue?"
"I didn't think it was that bad," Ruben said.
"Shut up, you walking light bulb!" Ray said, "No one asked for *your* opinion!"
"Ray!" Amara said, and shoved Ray off his chair.
"Dude, you totally let her push you around!" Allen said, not realizing he was signing his own death sentence.
"You stupid slimeball!" Ray shouted at him, "I'll fry you!"
Allen jumped up out of his seat. Ray chased him out of the door and outside.
"Dude," they heard Allen say before he ran from the room, "What's eating you?"
"So, really, Rogue, how *did* it go?" Amara asked again.
"Well, he told us *some* stuff," Bobby said, "Which was surprising."
Out of the corner of her eye, Rogue saw John leaning against the wall, watching them with a glare.
"So, like, what did he tell you?" Kitty inquired.
"He said who Kerri was," Bobby said, "She was John's best friend when he lived back in Australia."
"He lived in Australia?" asked Shawn.
"Um, bro, haven't you ever heard the guy talk?" Aaron rapped his brother on the head with his knuckles.
"Anyway, she left because her dad hated mutants or something," Ruben said.
"I think he mentioned that his dad was a police officer," Bobby remembered.
"Um, guys," Rogue said, "Look over there," she gestured to where John was watching them, "We're being watched."
"What does *he* want?" Amara asked.
"He didn't want us to tell anyone," Rogue explained.
"Why?" asked Shawn.
Bobby shrugged.
"He said something about being made fun of," Rogue said.
John stared back at them, a malicious smile playing around his lips.
"Like, he still creeps me out," Kitty said, shivering.
"This Kerri person, was she like John?" Amara asked.
"No, not really," Rogue stated thoughtfully.
"Then why did she hang out with him, of all people?" Amara asked, bewildered.
John was giving them the impression that he heard every word they said.
"Why don't you ask him?" Ray said, popping up behind Bobby's chair
At the sight of Ray, John's eyes narrowed.
"He's, like, totally creepy, that's why!" Kitty said.
Rogue saw John looking at Ray with a irritated look on his face. He moved from his place by the wall, and left the room.
"Where's Allen?" Aaron asked.
"He's learning how to what it's like to be a fish," Ray said casually.
Shawn and Aaron cracked up.
"Huh?" said Ruben, "What do you mean?"
"I shoved him into his fish tank," Ray said, "I guess being a giant blob of goo is very educational."
**********************
Gambit held an ice pack to his head.
"You really need to learn to control your whirlwinds," he told Peitro.
"Sorry about that," Peitro said.
"Why are we just sitting around?" asked Toad angrily, "We should be rescuing Wanda!"
"Well, for one thing, Lance is still unconscious. Two, we have to wait for Magneto. And three, we'd be so outnumbered, we'd be captured, too." Peitro said rapidly.
"She's your sister, you dumbhead!" Toad shouted.
"I know that!" Peitro snapped.
"Would you guys keep it down?" Slade asked, "You're giving everyone headaches."
"I'll say," said Gambit.
"You don't count," said Toad, "You already *had* a headache!"
"If we're not doing anything at the moment, why don't we all just go back to sleep?" Nightmare suggested, from his bedroom.
Slade switched on the TV, and explained cheerfully, "I'm not tired."
"Whatever," Peitro told him, and walked into their room.
Gambit walked away, also going to his room, and shuffling a deck of cards absentmindedly.
Toad groaned, "So we're just going to sit here?" he asked the air.
"Well, that seems to be the plan," said Slade, watching Bugs Bunny outsmart Elmer Fudd.
Nightmare slipped from his room, unseen by the others. Silently, he opened the door, and slid out into the night.
**********************
That night, Bobby awoke to the smell of smoke. He opened his eyes to see flames racing around the room.
"Fire!" he yelled, "Wake up!"
Ruben sat up so quickly, he fell off the top bunk. Luckily, he missed the fire.
"What the?" Bobby heard Ray speak, but couldn't see him through the smoke. Bobby tried to freeze the flames, but they were too hot.
"Everyone get out!" he shouted.
They all escaped the room, sweating from the scorching heat.
Jessica burst through the wall, Kitty grasping her arm. She ran into the boys' bathroom, and turned on the faucets. Water poured into the sinks, and splashed into the air. Jessica held out her hands, palms up. The water continued to rush from the faucets, but it didn't enter the sinks. The hovering water flew from the bathroom, and began to douse the raging flames. The water rained heavily down into the room. The fire steamed, and went out. Jessica turned off the faucets, and left the boys' bathroom.
"Dude," said Allen appreciatively.
"How did you know there was a fire?" Bobby asked.
"I heard someone yelling, so I asked Kitty to give me a lift here." Jessica looked at the burned room, "What happened?"
"I don't know," Bobby said, then his eyes widened. He raced down the hall, and yanked a door open.
John was sitting on his bed, sweat pouring down his face, when Bobby flung open the door.
"Talk about having no privacy," he said as the small group entered the room.
Bobby grabbed him by the shoulders, "What the heck were you thinking?"
"Whoa, mate," John said, surprised, "Slow down!"
Bobby shook John, "Why would you do that?"
"Do what?" John asked.
"Don't act innocent, I know you did it!" Bobby said angrily.
"What did I do *now*?" John looked around at everyone. They stared back at him.
"John, why would you set our room on fire?" Bobby asked him.
"I didn't set-" John began.
"Don't deny it!" Bobby yelled in his face, "You're the only one who would!"
John sighed, "Now, I wouldn't say *that*."
"John," Bobby asked, "why would you do that?"
"Well, if I had done it, I know perfectly well why!"
"And why is that?"
"Like I'd tell you!" John said, "You'd use it against me, anyway. I haven't set anything on fire recently! The last thing I tried to barbecue was Slade back at the lab!"
Bobby raised his eyebrows, "Sure, whatever, John. I'm going to get the Professor!"
"Wait, Bobby!" John yelled after him, then muttered, "Oh, yeah, this definitely isn't good."
********************** Yay! I finally updated! Proud of me? *crickets* Um, yeah... Yay! I wrote a serious chapter... Well, pretty serious, anyway...Yay! New readers!
Rachillie- Wait. You're not a new reader. Ah, well, you're special anyway, since you're the first person to review TWO chapters!! YAY! Oh, and a tip just for you; Reviews are supposed to be about the story. Thanks. To everyone who hasn't noticed, Rachillie here is obsessed with Nightcrawler and Seto Kaiba. That's all... I think.
RockerChica- I'm glad you like it! Keep reading! Lucky you, you get a tip, too; I live and breathe reviews. Well, actually, maybe I'm not THAT obsessed, but pretty close. Anywho, I hope you like these chapters.
Yay! Maybe I'll break 10 reviews this chapter! Yes, I HAVE noticed that I say 'yay' alot. So... Yay! Review!