A Lovers Feud

A Lovers Feud

By: Alex Destine

Edited by: Galry Gabriev

Chapter 3

            The rest of the week flew by with the same boring routine: school, classes then rehearsals. Kitty didn't have a chance to practice the female lead role with Pietro anymore since Mallory made sure to always be there on time. Kitty was thankful for that, she didn't think she could stand the fast talking boy any longer.

            It was Friday now and most of the X-men were over by the school gym watching Evan practice with the basketball team. There was a big game this weekend and Evan couldn't stop talking about it. Kitty wondered why Pietro didn't join the basketball team at Bayville; he used to play at his old school, right?

~~ Like, why am I thinking about him? He is such a waste of my time. ~~

"Kitty, are you alright?" Jean asked the young girl.

"Yeah, like totally. Just watching the game!" Kitty flashed her a warm smile.

~~ Cannot think about him now! Cannot think about him now! Not with Jean here! ~~

            Jean just gave her a worried look. How she wanted to just go into her mind and see what was bothering her, but the Professor had advised against it. Jean had to respect other people's privacy. Kitty would talk to them if anything were wrong.

            Suddenly Kitty's expression changed into one of surprise and disbelief and then into one of nervousness. Jean looked in the direction Kitty was starring and saw the reason for her change in mood.

"The Brotherhood." Jean announced it to the rest of the gang.

"Why are THEY here?" Rouge crossed her arms as she saw them come in.

"Just ignore them guys, if they don't start trouble then we wont" that was Scott, always in control. Kitty just hoped the Brotherhood hadn't spotted them.

            If there was one thing Pietro did not want to be involved in at Bayville, it was basketball. He associated basketball to Evan, and Evan to a lot of other feelings he had worked very hard at keeping away. But Lance thought they were better off doing something more amusing with their Friday afternoon then watching how many hot dogs Fred could eat before Pietro snatched them away.

            Pietro was actually having fun annoying Freddy, Todd was also having a good time eating the hot dogs Pietro 'rescued' from Fat boy. But Lance said he wouldn't spend his only free afternoon from his part-time job watching them do that.

"Why are we here again?" asked a very bored Pietro.

"Because if I had to watch the three of you fight over food one more time my brain would rot away."

"Then you could've come here by yourself, huh Lance-boy?"

"Yeah, but not if I wanted to have fun…" Lance smirked at Pietro.

~~ What did he mean by that? ~~

"Explain."

"Look at all those school-spirited students watching their basketball team practice for the big game tomorrow. Pietro, do you know how much spare change those students have in their pockets?"

~~ Oh yeah! Finally some fun! Nothing like a challenge to get the juices going! ~~

"We could find out…" Pietro's evil smile was all Lance needed to know his plan was approved.

"Then lets go."

~~ Like, what are they up to? ~~

            The X-men had been watching the Brotherhood since the moment they came in. Nothing out of the ordinary so far, they had separated and right now the only one they could see was Todd. It seemed he hadn't spotted them yet. They saw Todd walk over to a group of young girls. He stood behind them for a short while and then he ran off without attracting any attention. Any attention that is, except for Scott's. He knew what the Toad was up to, Tolensky was good, but Scott wouldn't let him get away from stealing like that.

            Todd was busy stealing now from the unmistakable pocket of one Duncan Matthews. Big mistake. When he turned around he noticed all his escape routes were being blocked by none other then 'Mr. Perfect' Scott Summers and his three female teammates.

"Hey yo! Get out of my way!"

"Not so fast Todd, maybe you want to give something back before it's too late." Scott was serious now. Kitty thought Scott looked cute when he was serious.

~~ Oh wait, like that's almost all the time… oh, have to concentrate. ~~

"Hey I don't know nothing… now get out of my way before…"

"MY WALLET!!!" screamed a very angry Duncan. "You little toad! Where is it?"

            Duncan's strong hand came crashing down Todd's shoulder and once he made sure the younger boy wouldn't move he searched his pockets. Turns out Todd had visited quiet a number of different students before getting to Duncan.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who's going to enjoy pounding ya!"

"Wait Duncan! Let's just take him to the Principal's office. She can handle him."

"You know Summers, you need to learn not to butt-in on other people's business."

"Yeah, tell me about it…" said Todd as he rolled his eyes.

"SHUT UP TOAD!" Duncan's grip on his shoulder was getting harder to ignore. Todd just hoped his teammates would find him soon.

"Duncan, come on! You don't need to beat him up, he's not worth it." Jean was trying to sweet talk him into letting him go, but Duncan was not going to do that. Not even for Jean Grey.

"Sorry Jean, but this freak needs to learn to respect other people's property!"

            Duncan's fist was about to connect with Todd's unprepared face when they suddenly felt a strong gust of wind followed by one Pietro Maximoff who was now hanging from Duncan's neck.

"So Duncan, this is what you do to keep in shape, huh? Niiiice! You know, I can take you over to a few kindergarten girls next. In case you feel you need the challenge."

"GET OFF OF ME MAXIMOFF!"

            Pietro grabbed Todd away from Duncan so fast he didn't even notice he wasn't holding the little freak anymore. Duncan was angry; who did this sophomore think he was anyway? He was The Duncan Matthews, and when he wanted to beat somebody up, there was nobody that was going to stand in his way.

And his newest target: one white haired grinning sophomore.

            Duncan tried to hit Pietro in the face, but he suddenly found himself hitting air.

"You looking for someone?"

"How did you…? Oh, never mind! You're going down Maximoff!"

            Again he tried but found himself hitting nothing.

"You can't hit meeee! I'm way better then youuuu!" Pietro loved to tease, but he didn't realize he was heading toward another group of jocks until he felt them grab him from behind.

"Whaa…?" was all he said before he felt himself being pinned down on the floor.

"HEY! I CAN'T MOVE!! Get off of me! Get off NOW!"

"Nice going guys, that'll teach that punk to mess with us." Duncan was heading Pietro's way with murder on his eyes. There wasn't a thing Scott or Jean could do or say to stop the angry football player, so Kitty decided to try out her luck.

"Like, what are you doing!?" she said as she ran to catch up to Duncan.

"KITTY! Get back here!" Jean couldn't believe what she was seeing. Since when did Kitty try to stop jocks from beating up Brotherhood members?

"Get lost Freshman!" most of the jocks laughed at this, but Kitty simply placed her 'I'm annoyed' look and kept going.

"He didn't do anything you know! Why you have to pick on smaller kids anyway?"

            Pietro couldn't believe he was hearing this.

"You know Pryde, right now would be a good time for you to leave." Pietro was annoyed. He could handle himself just fine; he didn't need some girl trying to protect him.

"Like, try to do a guy a favor!" she was only helping and THIS is how he thanked her?

"No one asked you to! Yo, Summers! Put the leash back on your little Kitty over here."

"Why you! You almost sound like you WANT to be beat up!"

"I'm doing just fine, thanks!" Pietro said while being pinned down on the floor with his arms behind his back.

"Oh, I can see that…" Kitty just scoffed.

"You know, if the two of you need some time alone for this…" Duncan kept looking back and forth between the two; he found it all rather amusing. Of course, all he got was an angry look from Kitty and an "I'm going to kill you" from Pietro.

            Suddenly Duncan felt the ground beneath him move and he found himself on the floor after loosing his balance. But he had another surprise when he felt the full impact of a boot land right on his chest. After grunting in pain he looked up to see Lance Alvers foot pinning him down.

"I'll advice you guys to let go of that kid now." Lance pointed at Pietro and although the other jocks weren't afraid of starting a fight with the brown haired senior, it was the person behind him that scarred them. Surely no one wanted to start a fight with Fred J. Dukes, … that guy was just too scary.

            Pietro quickly got to his feet and pushed his way toward Lance ignoring the still angry Kitty. Why she had bothered to try to help him was something he wasn't interested in finding out, but he did want to get as far away from her as possible.

            Not too far away Todd Tolensky was watching how his friends handled the situation. He figured if anybody tried anything he could always leap to the rescue… not that he thought he'd be of much help, but he was ready should they need him.

"Eww, what is that smell?" cried a disgusted girly voice. "Oh yeah, it most be Tolensky the toad." That statement was followed by the giggles of other annoying girls.

            Todd didn't need to turn around, he knew who it was… oh yes, he knew.

~~ Cheerleaders… how anyone finds them adorable is beyond me… ~~ Todd turned regardless; it was better to get this over with. He now faced the personification of female evil: Mallory.

"Why are you here toad? … You'll scare everyone off." Her tone was sweet, almost as if she was explaining some well-known fact.

"Mallory! His stench will stick to our uniforms! And right before the big game!" said one of the girls as she made a face at Todd.

"We can't have that, now can we?" Mallory looked around for a jock, any jock. She knew they all liked to pound on the toad.

"Hey yo! Chill… I can take a hint, I'll just go find Pietro and I'm gone."

"Pietro? He's here? Where is he?"

~~ Sucker! As if it wasn't obvious you were after him. ~~

"He's right over there… seems Duncan doesn't like him right now though."

            Mallory pushed Todd aside as she moved to get closer.

"HEY!… no need to push!… stupid cheerleaders."

            Duncan was up now and starring daggers at Lance. He knew he had to back down, although he had most of the football team right there with him he knew none of them would take on Dukes. He'd have to wait until he could get that little toad alone to beat him up for stealing his wallet and he figured Pietro needed to be taught a lesson as well. Lance however wasn't backing down on anything.

"Come on Matthews! You gonna do something to me or are ya gonna keep looking?"

"Maybe he finds you cute." Said a smirking Pietro, the look he got from Lance told him not to make jokes like that again.

"Just tell that toad of yours not to be stealing from me again Alvers!"

            Pietro remembered Todd, where was he? He looked around not noticing their younger member.

"Hey Freddy, where's Todd?"

"Uh, he's fine. He's waiting back there." Fred pointed to the other side of the gym and sure it was, he saw Todd. But that wasn't the only person Pietro saw and almost with enough speed to surprise the Mighty Quicksilver he felt his arm being abducted in the, by now, familiar grip that seemed to cut his circulation.

"Hello Mallory." He said not sounding very amused at all.

"Hi Pietro…" Mallory turned and looked at Duncan. "He's not bothering you, is he?"

"His entire existence revolves around bothering others, haven't you noticed?"

"Duncan just has a tough time making friends, that's all."

"Duncan has a tough time getting his brain to function at a normal speed, what do you want me to do about that?"

"Well, you're right about that… Pietro, sweetie there's going to be a party later this afternoon, want to come?"

"Umh… sure! Love to." Finally something to do… he'd rather beat the crap out of some X-geeks, but he guessed they'd have enough time for that later.

            Lance couldn't believe it. What did Pietro think he was doing over here? Challenging Duncan Matthews and his gang of retards for his health? Now he had to find a way to get them back home before another jock finds Todd again and here Pietro was making plans with this cheerleader. Lance lost all interest in his argument with Duncan and simply turned around to leave.

"Come on Fred, let's go back home."

"HEY! Don't turn your back on me Alvers!"

"Whatever Duncan… later."

"You scared of me Alvers! I don't blame you!"

            Lance didn't answer, he simply moved his hand over the ground before him. A simply gesture that Duncan didn't notice, what he DID notice however was the ground begin to move once more and a lot of his football buddies landing flat on the floor.

            Pietro watched as Lance and Fred walked away. That was strange, usually Lance jumped at the chance to beat somebody up, specially someone that deserved it as much as that jock did.

            The rest of the X-men watched everything is silence for once. Scott and Jean were glad there was no fighting, Rogue wouldn't have minded a little action, but Kitty was deep in thought over something. She wasn't angry anymore over Pietro's lack of gratitude; she kept looking at him though. Something in his face, was it worry? The way he looked back at his friends… he was confused about something. But her thoughts were interrupted by a tug on her arm.

"Come on Kitty. Evan finished practice so we can go home now." Rogue couldn't wait to get away from this jock over-populated gym. "You ok?"

"Yeah, yeah… I'm fine. Let's just go home, you know. I'm tired." Kitty tried to smile but she knew Rogue wasn't fooled. Still the Goth girl didn't say anything as they walked over to Scott's car.

*******************************************************

            It was pretty late at night by the time Pietro got home. He hadn't meant to stay at that party for so long, but one thing lead to another and before you knew it, BOOM! It was almost 1:00am. He figured everyone most be asleep already so he was very quiet as he searched for his house keys. He wasn't worried at all about Mystique; as long as they were there when she needed them for a mission she hardly cared what else they did.

            The house was completely black inside. It was almost scary, not that he'd tell that to anyone. Pietro didn't dare turn any of the lights on, it might wake one of the guys and then he'd never heard the end of it.

            Pietro was slowly working his way toward the stairs. Moving at this speed was killing him, it was just so slow! But he figured he would trip on something on his way up to his room if he wasn't careful. He had just passed the living room when he heard a little noise.

~~ What was that? … I don't want to turn around and look, that's when the crazy psychopath strikes at his helpless victims with baseball bats! ~~

            Pietro was left frozen near the couch until he detected from the corner of his eye some movement.

~~ Oh! Screw whatever is on the floor! I'm GONE! ~~

Pietro was about to make a dead run for it when he suddenly heard a familiar voice from the couch.

"Morning Pietro."

            The white haired boy jumped at least 10 feet thanks to that scare.

"What were you THINKING!?… you don't just make people feel like they're stuck in some terribly directed horror film!" Pietro had a cold-sweat running down on him as he pressed his hand to where his heart was rapidly beating… more so then usual.

"Keep it down, Todd and Fred are still sleeping." Lance got up and walked over to the still rather terrified Pietro.

"Geez!… what you doing up anyway?"

"Where were you?" Lance was upset. Pietro had noticed that this afternoon but thought that whatever it was he would've gotten over it by now… apparently he was wrong.

"You know… over with Mallory at that stupid party. Why?"

"Must've been really stupid for you to stay there until one in the morning."

"So I lost track of time, big deal! … You were waiting for me? You stayed up until one in the morning waiting for me? Come on Lance, what do you think I am, stupid? I can find my way home and I don't need anyone checking up on me!"

"Then maybe you should've stayed with those jocks if that's where you rather be!"

"Definitely better then how it's here right now…"

"What were you thinking? I never thought you'd stay out there this late! I didn't even know where that stupid party was! I had no idea where you were or when you'd come back or if Duncan decided to finish what he started in the gym today!!"

"I can take care of myself Lance! I don't need you! So you can just cut the crap with this whole 'big brother' thing you've got! Todd might need it, but I sure as hell don't!"

            Todd was sitting on the stairs listening to the yelling that was going on below. If he knew it was going to get this loud he would've stayed in bed, he could've heard it from there. He wondered if Fred was listening to this too, the big guy was probably blissfully asleep. He envied him. He didn't have to hear the insult after insult those two were throwing at each other down there.

            He never thought things would get this complicated. He knew Lance was upset over Pietro going off to some jock party, he didn't like that either. It seemed jocks everywhere hated almost every member of the Brotherhood… and of course, it also worked the other way around. But Pietro was the exception. Although also a member of the Brotherhood, Pietro wasn't treated like 'white-trash' by most of Bayville.

Pietro had always looked different, cleaner somehow… Todd knew Pietro was just as bad as any of them; the kid had a criminal record for vandalizing school property at his old school, for crying out loud! But it didn't change the fact that Pietro belonged to a higher scale in society, close to theirs but not quite.

The fight downstairs kept going. Pietro kept saying how he was just hanging out with Mallory and how he didn't need a baby sitter. Lance kept yelling stuff about how stupid Pietro was and such. … Mallory… this was all Mallory's fault. If she hadn't invited Pietro to that party then none of this would've happened.

            The fight kept going and the insults kept getting meaner, more personal. They were practically shouting every tiny little thing that had ever annoyed them about each other since the day they met. Until finally he heard it, a PUNCH! One of them had punched the other down! Todd's eyes grew wide as he slowly made his way down the stairs, he didn't want anyone spotting him.

            He felt the eerie silence that followed. He took a glimpse toward the living room and saw Lance standing up, his mouth slightly open in shock as he looked down at Pietro. For his part, the white haired boy laid on the floor with his hand covering the side of his face that Lance had punched. His blue eyes were wide for a moment, Todd guessed Pietro had never thought Lance would hit him, after all the kid was fast enough to dodged any attacks.

"Pietro… are you…ok?" Lance was still a bit shocked at what he did. Pietro though didn't bother to answer him. With his eyes narrowed and his teeth clenched tightly together he simply got up and ran out the door faster then any of them had ever seen him go.

            The next morning wasn't exactly a lot of fun. Lance wasn't talking at all and Pietro hadn't returned home since the fight. When Fred came down he noticed the unusual quiet that had taken over the usually messy and loud kitchen.

"Where's Pietro?" Fred asked as he noticed the reason why it was all so quiet.

Todd had to wince at that question. ~~ Not a good idea to ask that now. ~~ he thought.

"He… he left early this morning… had some things to do." Lance didn't bother to look up; he seemed to find the morning paper very interesting this morning.

            Fred knew something wasn't right. Pietro didn't wake up early unless he absolutely HAD to… and Lance looked upset. Then again he had looked that way since yesterday. He decided not to ask anymore; instead he elbowed Todd for some answers.

            Todd felt the elbow almost knock him out of his chair.

"Ouch! Geez Freddy, be careful!"

"Sorry…" he always forgot he had to be careful with Todd, he wasn't as tough as his other two teammates were. "Where is Pietro?"

"I… we don't know Freddy. He'll be back when he cools off."

"Why would he need to cool off?" what did he miss exactly?

"Never mind. I'll tell ya later, 'kay?" Todd couldn't go into detail right in front of Lance of how he had been eaves dropping on their argument.

~~ That stupid Mallory! She caused this! … Those cheerleaders and jocks are always bad news for people like us. Well, I'm going to do something about it! ~~

            And with his mind set Todd headed for the door… only to be stopped by Lance.

"Where are you going?!" Lance had freaked watching Todd getting up so quickly. It was almost as if he was running away from him too.

"I have to do something… it won't take long." He figured that with Fred's lack of sensitivity, it probably wasn't a good idea to leave him alone with Lance right now.

"Hey Freddy… wanna join me? I could use the help."

"I'm eating!"

"Oh fine! I'll buy you breakfast."

"Alright!" Fred got up and headed toward Todd.

"Want us to get you anything Lance?"

"Umh?… oh no, that's alright. Just don't be too long."

~~ Pietro, where are you? ~~

*******************************************************

"This game is going to be so cool! We're SO going to win this!" Evan was very excited about the big basketball game today.

"Yeah Evan, you guys have been practicing very hard these past few day. Is the other team really that tough?" Scott was driving toward the school. The game wouldn't be until a few hours, but the players had to be there early so all the X-men decided to join Evan while he practiced.

"They might be tough, but we're tougher man!"  Evan and Kurt high-fived each other while the rest of the gang smiled.

"You know Evan, it's amazing how both you and Kitty have disappeared from the Institute this whole past week." Jean said as she looked at her friends from the rear-view mirror.

"Yeah, it's like the two of you have been abducted." Joked Kurt as he got more comfortable on the back seat.

"Aw! Did you like, miss us Kurt?" Kitty smiled at him fondly.

"Hey Blue boy, stop slouching already." That was Rogue.

Kurt poofed in the front seat between Scott and Jean so Rogue wouldn't kill him.

"Sor-ry!" he said as he got comfortable again. Yep, it was better here.

"Hey Kitty, we all know that Evan's game is today, but what about your play? When will they make the show?" Scott said as he watched the road.

"Like, don't ask me. Mallory is still trying to learn the new script."

"The 'new' script… you mean they changed the old one? Thank god." Said Rogue, now happier since she had more room.

"Like totally… it's actually, more romantic now."

"But you don't know when they give the show?"

"Like, I have no idea… besides, I'm like the understudy! It doesn't matter cause unless something terrible happens to Mallory before then I'm like never going to be in that play."

*******************************************************

            Todd Tolensky have had enough of stuck up little cheerleaders who thought they had the right to ruin other people's lives. He was going to make sure she didn't bother them for a long while.

"Why are we waiting at the parking lot again?" Fred didn't understand Todd's plan, so he asked him again… for the 10th time.

"Freddy! Be quiet! I've told you 10 times already… we're waiting to see which of those bags is Mallory's." The cheerleaders had left most of their things inside one of the jocks car, and Todd wanted to 'borrow' Mallory's for a while.

"Why again?"

            Todd was loosing his patience. How did Lance handle both Fred AND Pietro was beyond him. … Pietro… where was he? … He was the reason he was doing this. Mallory was breaking his new 'family' apart. Todd used the term loosely, but it seemed to fit.

"We're doing this to get back at the jocks."

"Then why don't we play a prank on Duncan?"

Todd simply looked at him for a while.

~~ Of course YOU'D say that Freddy, YOU could handle the entire football team! And besides, Duncan isn't making Lance and Pietro fight. ~~

"Cause Mallory deserves it more." Todd heard some giggling coming their way.

"Hide Freddy!" The two boys quickly hid behind a car and saw as the girls got their things. They saw Mallory get her bag, a disgustingly cute pink gym bag that held her cheerleader uniform and her special tennis shoes.

            Todd knew what to do now.

           

*******************************************************

           

            The basketball game was the most exiting thing ever! Everyone from Bayville came to cheer on their team as they kept dunking basket after basket! Kitty for one never thought Storm could be this loud.

"Shoot Evan! SHOOT!"

"You can do it Evan!" Kurt kept jumping like a child as if he was making those dunks himself. Everyone seemed to be caught up in the whole excitement of the game and Kitty… well, she kept herself busy looking at how everyone reacted. She found it all very funny. Even Rogue was loosing herself in the game. Kitty lost count of how many insults the Goth girl had hurled down at the referee.

            Evan had the ball now. He was running with it so fast he'd put Quicksilver to shame!

~~ Well, that's not true… but he IS fast! ~~ thought Kitty to herself.

~~ Wonder what that demented speed demon is doing now… ~~ Kitty often found herself wondering what the white haired boy did to occupy his time, she didn't know if he still played basketball.

            She was suddenly broken from her thoughts as she heard the loud cry of the crowd as Evan dunked the ball in the opposing team's net. Bayville was in the lead because of him! She could almost feel how proud Storm was of her nephew.

            The teams were now regrouping with their couches as 'half-time' began. That meant:

"Cheerleaders Heaven!" Kurt screamed loud and clear across the gym.

"Like, how embarrassing!" Kitty tried to pretend she didn't know him.

"Be quiet Blue boy. You don't have to sound so desperate." Rogue said as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Can you blame a guy for trying?" Kurt smiled that sweet smile of his and promised he would behave himself. That is, until the loud music began to play and the bouncy hyperactive cheerleaders began to jog their way down the court. Kurt lost all his senses then…

~~ Like, what's the big deal? They're like, cheerleaders… most of them like, really annoying. ~~  Spending a couple of hours with them after school really made her wonder why she thought so highly of them before.

            The girls started their dance routine, which had just about everything you'd see at the circus. The music was loud enough to put a rock concert to shame and amazingly enough the crowd's screams seemed to be almost as high. The last part of the show was amazingly high pyramid with none other then cheerleader captain Mallory at the very top. Everything was perfect! The crowd was cheering their favorite girls as the pyramid got higher and higher until Mallory stood at the top and lifted her arms up. The crowd's screams were going to tear down the gym… but then all the happy, joyful sounds stopped and were replaced instead by a loud shriek.

     

End Chapter 3

Heehee… ~.^  okay, tell me what you think so far… was it like totally evil of me to have Lance & Pietro fight? …. It probably was…. Oh well! ^_^