Ok, here you go!
Hope you all enjoy! ^_^
A Lovers Feud
By: Alex Destine
Chapter 16
~~ Oh god… a camera! ~~ he thought as he pushed Mallory away from him.
"Well Pietro… you sure get around." Said Evan has he took one more picture.
"Give me that Daniels…" getting the camera wasn't a problem; after all he could run circles around the entire school in a heartbeat. The problem was he was angry. The only person in this world he would never trust again held the most horrible blackmail imaginable to end his relationship with the only person in this world he actually cared about.
"Give me one good reason why Kitty shouldn't see these pictures." Evan was swinging the camera, daring him to take it… Pietro began to see red… then suddenly he saw… the ground.
With a loud 'THUD' Pietro went face first into the floor as he felt someone tackle him from behind. When he turned he realized it had been Summers who had taken him down.
~~ Such cheaters! Ganging up on me! ~~ Pietro began to struggle.
"Stop moving or you'll hurt yourself." said Scott as he still held the boy down.
~~ Why does he care if I'm hurt?! … I'm so going to kill that visually impaired jerk ~~ Pietro continued struggling until he heard a voice he would never admit he was glad to hear.
"HEY! GET OFF OF HIM SUMMERS!" and with that the ground began to shake.
Scott moved allowing Pietro to speed away and stand next to Lance. His blue eyes began to search around everywhere but he couldn't find either Evan or Mallory anywhere.
"You've got some nerve Summers!" Lance began to take slow measured steps toward the other mutant. He knew they had something planned for his younger friend but he had never imagined they would actually hurt him.
"Relax Alvers. He's not hurt, I made sure of that." Scott had to pin the white haired boy down in order to give Evan a chance to get away.
"What sort of crazy devils are running through your mind? I swear, when I'm finished with you you'll be…" Lance didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as Pietro began to pull his arm rather forcefully.
"ForgetabouthimLance,weneedtofindDaniels!" said the sophomore with wide pleading eyes.
"What?" he hated when Pietro got like this, he never understood a single word he said.
"WeneedtofindDaniels! Ineedthatcamera!" Kitty couldn't see those pictures!
"…. What?…" Lance held Pietro's hands in order to stop the pulling of his arm but he couldn't stop the look of nervousness on his friend's face.
Pietro took a deep breath and tried yet again to explain what needed to be done.
"Daniels has a camera and I need it back! So Forget about Summers… Freddy can kill him later. We need to get that camera before… before he gets those pictures developed!"
~~ How very original Summers… all those hours of thinking and all you could come up with is simple blackmail?… I'm very disappointed… ~~ thought Lance as he turned to look at the X-men senior, but he suddenly noticed he had disappeared.
"Alright Pietro, don't worry… I'll take care of everything…" Lance needed a calm Pietro right now.
"But you don't understand! I…" he wasn't allowed to finish as Lance placed his bigger hand on top of his mouth.
"I said I'd take care of everything. Now let's go find Todd and Freddy, they must be worried."
And with that both mutants left toward the parking lot, but neither of them felt extremely happy at the moment.
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Todd Tolensky was safely locked inside his messy room. He was grateful for the few moments of quiet he got as he looked at his reflection from the small mirror on his dresser. He thought back on all that had happened to him that day… it sure seemed like a lot.
He had to admit that while some of his day had been fun; like narrowly escaping from Mystique's office alive; the rest of his day hadn't been very productive, specially his little run-ins with the talented Mr. Matthews.
However, there was one thing that made his day worthwhile… short mental images of the feisty southern girl kept coming into his head; her short brown hair, her sharp eyes, her pretty smile… Since when had he become such a Rogue fanatic?!?
~~ Since the first moment I ever saw her… ~~ he thought as he rested on his bed while looking at the ceiling. Of course he had always thought she was kind of cute… but he had tried to think as little as possible about that, especially after she changed sides.
However, the recent changes in dating patterns that had occurred inside the Brotherhood seemed to have re-opened his interest on the southern girl.
~~ If Pietro can date little miss Kitty then surely Lance couldn't say anything about Rogue. ~~
Then again, Pietro always got away with everything. That was no surprise. But right now he didn't want to think about how unfair things always seemed to be for him. He wanted to dream that he was happy; that Rogue was at his side and that nothing else mattered in this world.
He would've pulled it off too, if it hadn't been for that infernal racket outside his door.
"TODD! I know you're in there! Open up!" yelled Pietro for no apparent reason.
"I never said I wasn't in here you spaz! And usually when a door is locked it means visitors are not welcomed." Todd shouted back as he tried to block the noise by covering his ears with the pillow.
"But Todd!… I have something you want…." Said the white-haired boy with a taunting tone in his voice as he stood outside the locked door.
"What I want is for you to go away!" there were a few moments of complete silence before the voice from the other side of the door answered.
"FINE!" and again silence followed.
~~ No way it was this easy to get rid of Pietro… ~~ Todd knew it was too good to be true but he enjoyed the quiet nonetheless.
"So Todd… what are you doing that's so private?" came a voice right beside him.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" the young freshman couldn't believe how fast his body had simply positioned itself to fit into the tiny corner of his bed. Fear will do amazing things. "How… how did you? Pietro!?!… HOW?!"
"Really Toddy…. They're called windows… and yours wasn't locked." Replied the speed demon with a smug look on his face. Nobody said 'no' to Pietro Maximoff, one way or another he always got what he wanted.
"Get out!" said Todd after he had regained his wits.
"Such a rude welcome, don't you at least wish to know what I'm going to say?" Pietro grabbed the forgotten pillow Todd had before and got more comfortable as he took a random magazine from the floor and started to look over its pages.
Todd immediately grabbed the magazine away from his extremely annoying 'friend' (he used the term loosely) and showed his 'I'm-very-angry' look.
"I will take that as a 'yes' regardless of how such a look has been read in the past." Pietro continued to hug the pillow close to his chest as he now sat cross-legged at the end of the bed.
"What part of 'Get Out' didn't you understand?" he didn't want to deal with this. Usually when Pietro wanted to talk he'd go to Lance, why didn't he go there now?
"As I take it from this morning events…" the white haired boy continued ignoring Todd's previews question. "you seem in the mood to steal my new raspberry shampoo. So, I'm gonna lend it to you if you do me a tiny favor."
That raspberry shampoo was the farthest thing from his mind right now. This is why Pietro was interrupting the only Rogue day dreaming time he had? To talk about his new raspberry shampoo?!
"I don't want it anymore, and even if I did I wouldn't be doing you any favors just for using it." Todd reached forward and grabbed his kidnapped pillow away from the sophomore's hands. "Now leave me alone."
"That's such a shame… Kitty told me that Rogue really liked that. But I guess that's something you're not very interested in." Pietro got up, ready to finally give into the younger boy's demands.
"Rouge… likes that? Really?" Todd's green eyes were huge and innocent for a few moments… Pietro would've felt a little bad about what he was doing… just a little… maybe…
"Yeah, didn't you know?… Girls usually like that sort of stuff, don't ask me why though. So, you still wish to use it?" he was now standing with his arms behind his back looking all nice and sweet.
"But you wanted a favor? What is it?" nothing with Pietro was free.
"Oh, so young and so full of malice! Honestly Toddy you need to learn to trust people more! Specially your own big brother." Pietro's sweet smile somehow seemed sweeter, his blue eyes twinkled and his long white bangs of hair were moving slowly against the soft wind coming from the opened window. He almost looked like an angel.
~~ YEAH RIGHT!…. ~~ thought Todd as he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for Pietro to finally tell him the cost of the use of his new shampoo.
"Fine! Fine, have it your way! You can use my shampoo if you stay home from school on Friday." Answered Pietro as he again dumped himself at the end of Todd's bed.
"Stay home?… stay home on a Friday?! That's the big favor?" Todd sure had weird friends. "What about Lance? You know he wont let me stay just cause you want me to."
"But that is why, my little Toddy, you're going to be very ill by then." Pietro continued to smile as if what he'd just said was completely normal.
"You don't say?…" Todd was wondering if maybe it would be easier to simply steal the money he needed to buy himself his own bottle of raspberry shampoo… or steal the shampoo.
"We make everyone believe you're sick and Lance will let you stay then you pretend to get worse and Lance will send Mystique to check up on you and then she wont be at the school for the play!… It all works out beautifully!" Pietro clapped his hands gleefully as he examined his master plan. Todd however wasn't a believer in any plan that was originated by his demented friend.
"It will never work. Now get out of my room." Todd stood up and headed toward the door to unlock it for Pietro's exit.
"I can't believe you're afraid of a little hard work!" Pietro wasn't leaving until he had his way!
"First of all, Lance would never let any of us stay home from school unless we were dying and if that ever happened Mystique wouldn't come all the way over here for me!… For you, maybe; but definitely not for me."
"You're so negative…"
"Out!"
"Fine! But you will get sick!" the white haired boy moved now toward the hallway as Todd stood ready to lock his door (and window) once more.
"No Pietro, you're sick. Goodnight." And with that the door was gracefully slammed.
"HEY! Keep it down up there! I just got back from work and the last thing I need is a mess of doors closing!" Lance was back.
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"What do you have in there?" Kurt asked as he kept teleporting around Evan who held a small brown paper bag.
"Really man, the Professor has got to get a leach for you." Evan was trying unsuccessfully to get away from his furry friend.
Ever since Scott had driven them back to the Institute Kurt had been curious as to what was this great secret Scott and Evan had planed… and why didn't they let him in on it? Evan guessed they could've acted a little more nonchalant instead of like little kids who managed to sneak into a kitchen to steal cookies, but the truth was neither of them expected the plan to work.
First of all, they weren't sure Lance would actually bring Pietro to the back of the school. They knew they'd get Mallory's help but even after that they didn't know how they were going to hold Pietro down long enough for Evan to get away.
They were so amazed at how things had turned out that they simply couldn't hold it back and thus gave way to suspicion from the others.
Rogue was trying in vain to stop the bickering noises coming from those two to reach her ears. She thought she'd get some peace and quiet in the study since Kitty and her endless talk on the phone about 'how great it is to like, have a boyfriend, you know', were currently using her room. She was dying to finish her latest vampire book but it looked as if that was not meant to happen.
"I just want to take a peek!" Kurt kept teleporting around but stopped when he noticed Rouge's narrowed eyes making holes into their souls. They looked almost as dangerous as Scott's eyes.
"What is so important that you can't let Kurt see already?! Some of us are trying to read here if you haven't noticed." Rogue stood up and walked toward the boys snatching the small bag from Evan's hands.
She looked inside the bag and then stared at the two boys; Kurt's face was full of curiosity while Evan's looked as if his world was over.
"So?! What's in there!?" kept asking the blue mutant.
"Hey, give it back Rogue! It's not such a big deal, alright!" Evan tried to take his bag back but by then Kurt had teleported around the southern girl and borrowed it for a while.
Kurt looked inside and then stared at the other two mutants in the room.
"Pictures…. of Pietro…. with, 'Cheerleader Heaven'?" or so was Kurt's nickname for Mallory.
"Those are so fake!" said Rogue as she turned toward the blonde boy.
"Are not! He was with Mallory today, they met at the back of the school. You see, Scott and I tried to warn Kitty but she didn't want to believe us." Scott had warned Evan not to show those pictures yet but he figured now that they had seen them he'd try to get them on their side.
Kurt kept looking at the pictures as if he couldn't believe what they told. Yet he noticed the way Pietro seemed to back away from the very loving girl, and the way she was holding him and not the other way around… something wasn't right.
"Pietro doesn't go to the back of the school, believe me Kitty knows where he is at all times." Indeed, and the young freshman always kept Rogue informed… whether she wanted to be or not.
"And what were you doing in there anyway?" asked Kurt as he finally took his eyes away from the pictures.
"I… I was just walking through… can't a guy do that?!" Evan was in a corner.
"With a camera?" Kurt raised an eyebrow
Now Evan was in trouble but as much as he wanted to simply grab the pictures and get out of the room he found his exit blocked as the resident red head walked in. He wished it had been Scott.
Jean had come into the study looking for the feisty brown haired girl. She just didn't understand why Rogue had been so angry with her that day; had she done something? Said something to upset the southern girl? She didn't believe she had, but she had come to find out.
The moment she walked through the door though she realized there was something else going on, and she wanted in on it.
"Guys… what's going on in here?" Jean hadn't left her spot in front of the door as she looked at the other teen's faces.
"Nothing… I was just going to find Scott." Evan quickly grabbed the pictures from Kurt and headed toward the door but was stopped as he heard Rogue's next words.
"These guys just don't quit! You'd think they would've matured a little." Rogue returned to her sitting position on the couch as she crossed her arms disapprovingly at the blond boy.
Just then, as in answer to Evan's prayers, the senior member of the team walked in fully dressed in his Cyclops costume.
"Alright guys, who's up for some Danger Room training?" four sour looking faces were his answer. "Ok… maybe not tonight."
"Scott, what is going on with those pictures?" asked Jean as she saw the reason why everyone had either an angry or confused look on their faces.
"What pictures?" Scott tried to play innocent but it was too late for that. "Evan, didn't I tell you not to show those yet."
"Yeah, but they totally ganged up on me!" Scott sighed as he took the pictures and tried to explain what was going on.
"Alright, so now you know. I was trying to spare Kitty from this, but these pictures are proof that no Brotherhood member is good news to any of us." Why couldn't the rest of his team see that he was telling them the truth?
"I don't know how you got Pietro into following you to the back of the school Scott, but those pictures are completely fake. Kitty wont believe you for a second." Rogue was very angry with her team leader right now.
"You're not going to show Kitty these pictures now, are you Scott?" Jean was worried it would upset the young girl.
"Of course not Jean, we're hoping Maximoff will do the right thing and tell the truth to Kitty himself." Which wasn't likely, but he had to give the boy a chance.
Kurt didn't like this. He knew Evan had always hated Pietro so there was no doubt why he was doing this, but Scott's stubbornness came from his unfriendly situation with Lance Alvers. It wasn't fair for them to team up against Pietro the way they were doing.
"Well, I think you boys should show a little more acceptance… you don't see Lance running around acting all crazy about those two, now do you?" Rogue had never thought that out of the two leaders hers would be the crazy one.
"Funny you should say that Rogue… but guess who was the one that told us Pietro was gonna be out there?" Evan had just had about enough of 'Lance Alvers the Great'.
The southern girl remained quiet as she tried to understand what Evan had insinuated by that. Had Lance helped them? Could he be that cruel to one of his friends?
"I don't believe you…" she said, but she didn't sound sure.
"Evan, that's enough. Now let's just forget about this and wait and see what tomorrow brings, alright?" replied Scott as he tried to bring peace into the room.
Jean had nodded away without a second thought and Kurt was willing the issue to be dropped for now but Rogue needed some time to think about this new bit of information.
~~ Lance had helped them?! ~~ she couldn't believe it…
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"LANCY!!!!" the white haired boy ran down the stairs in 1.2 seconds and was gracefully planted in front of the older mutant's face.
Lance took a couple of steps back out from both surprise and in order to regain some of his lost personal space.
"Why are you so happy? You didn't find the chocolates, did you?" Lance was weary.
"We have chocolates?" asked the young boy as he raised an eyebrow.
"Umm… no. That was just me being silly… so, then why are you so happy?" Apparently Lance had stopped at the supermarket on his way back to the Brotherhood's house and was now placing a gallon of milk inside the fridge as he waited for Pietro to respond.
For someone who was always bragging on his super speed, Pietro was sure taking his time in answering the question. The white haired boy looked down at his feet for a while and played a bit with his fingers before he felt like voicing his answer. After what seemed like forever the young sophomore looked up and smiled calmly at his older friend.
"I'm… I'm not sure. I should be worried sick. I mean, if Kitty ever saw those pictures I know she wouldn't forgive me. Even if I hadn't been the one doing the kissing by the way… still, it looks bad and I'm sure Summers and Daniels wont cut me any slack…" Pietro sighed then, Lance almost thought the young boy was done talking until he continued by adding his next words.
"After all the trash talk those guys must've given her about why Brotherhood guys are no good, if she saw those pictures I'm just not sure explaining would be enough…"
Lance felt a sudden pain run through him. It was an odd sensation, nothing physical… but it was pain nonetheless. He had caused this. Well, he had helped to cause this…
~~ Who am I kidding? I alone am responsible for this. ~~ Lance thought to himself as he continued to watch his friend's worried face. Where was the cheerful yet most of the time annoying smile? The youthful excitement that was the essence of Pietro Maximoff?
~~ I can't believe I did that… ~~ yet the brown haired senior was surprised when the younger boy smiled up at him.
"So,… then why are you happy again?" he asked as he continued to take out the small items he had brought from the market.
"Cause you said you'd take care of it. Somehow… that makes it better."
~~ OUCH! The pain! The PAIN!! ~~ Lance felt like a traitor. What had been going through his head when he agreed to Summers' crazy half-baked plan? He didn't know but he sure had to find a way to fix what he'd done… and soon.
The thoughtful and emotionally charged mood was then suddenly shattered as Pietro began to hop around the kitchen demanding to know the location of the hidden chocolate.
"Damn it! Pietro! We don't have any!" came Lance's tired reply after a while.
"LIAR! Freddy knows, don't ya Freddy?" the white haired boy looked toward the small living room where the large junior was busy watching his favorite show on TV.
"Umm?…" came the half interested reply.
"The chocolate Freddy, where is it?" asked Pietro as he continued to hop around.
"I ate it." Came the simple answer.
"WHAT?!" both Lance and Pietro gasped in horror.
"That was MY chocolate Freddy! Why you go and eat it!?" Lance was outraged.
Pietro though was busy starring at him with a look that clearly said 'knew you were lying'.
"I said we didn't have any… for you." Was Lance's only response as Pietro continued to complain. Freddy went back to his TV and Todd, who was by now listening from the staircase, simply asked Lance if he needed some sort of sleeping pill for the hyperactive sophomore.
Just another normal night at the Brotherhood's.
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The ride to school the next morning was what could be categorized as Rogue's worst nightmare.
"So like, anyway, that was like totally cool, you know. And then she said she had like totally bought that jacket and we were all like 'wow! Really?' I mean that was like the coolest thing ever, you know?"
~~ Shoot me. ~~ Rogue was now sitting next to her very happy roommate as they drove toward another awful school day on the shiny red convertible.
At least this day wasn't as cloudy as the one before, it might rain later that night but they were almost sure they would have an almost sunny day for school. They would've been completely sure if Storm had decided to use her powers on the weather, but she had explained she let nature take it's course… that was boring though.
Right now though the only thing she wanted was to have a long and serious talk with one particular brown haired senior… after which she would strangle him, it had been decided.
Scott had effortlessly parked the car on his usual space and everyone began to gather their things as they all dreaded the day before them.
"Why couldn't the Professor teach us everything at the Institute?" asked Kurt as he grabbed his blue backpack.
"Because Kurt, we don't just need the knowledge we need the social interaction." Answered Jean as she fixed her red hair on the review mirror.
Just then, it had also been decided, that after strangling Lance she would come back and strangle Jean. It was the only way she could sleep better at night. Her eyes wandered over the parking lot in search of the familiar old car that belonged to the Brotherhood, or more specifically to Lance since any other member of said team that laid their hands on it paid with sudden death.
"Like, guess the guys aren't here yet." Kitty too had been searching for their opposing mutant team, but for other reasons. It was almost time for the bell to ring and Rogue had to wonder where were those boys anyway?
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"My… what a wonderful smell that is! Say Todd, do you smell the wonderful fragrance?" asked Pietro as he sat on the back seat of Lance's car next to Freddy.
Todd was up front with Lance, which was a good thing, or else a fight would've started a long time ago.
"Shut up Pietro!" Ever since Todd had come out of the shower that morning the white haired boy had been nothing but a pest to him. So fine, he had used the famous raspberry shampoo and had actually taken great pains into using all the soap possible and even some of Lance's cologne… but not too much. He had hoped not to be so obvious but with Pietro pointing it out every five seconds it was kind of hard.
Lance tried in vain to restrain a smile. Todd's usual pale cheeks were changing into a slight crimson as Pietro laughed in the back. The brown haired boy had to remind himself that as the eldest it was his job to keep peace between the others, not to make the youngest one feel more uncomfortable. However the whole situation was just so… so….
~~ CUUUUTE!… ~~ Lance Alvers never thought he'd see the day such a word entered his vocabulary, but there was just no other way to describe it.
Lance stole a glace toward the boy and found him playing absentmindedly with his fingers. It was obvious their youngest member had developed a crush on someone; this made Lance feel proud for some reason.
He thought about how young Todd was, only 13, surely he should talk to the boy, and after all he was 17, a whole four years older. He should guide the child and make sure he didn't do the same mistakes he did… instead he would make his own new batch.
Yet what would they talk about exactly?… girls?… maybe. Lance sure wanted to know who this new girl was that had Todd so excited. Would they talk about sex? It was a possible subject yet Lance would try his hardest to avoid it. Not that he thought Todd wasn't ready, the reason was Lance wasn't ready. He had been taking a lot of fatherly attributes toward the other three members of the Brotherhood, but to have a serious talk about sex… that could wait another four years, right?
Lance parked the car in his usual spot and noticed, with a slight hint of anger, that the shiny red convertible had arrived already, however no X-geeks in sight. Lance was grateful for that. He needed to talk to Summers alone and undo the mess he had helped create for his friend.
The dark haired mutant proceeded to lock the car as everyone made their way toward another joyful day of school. Suddenly the white haired boy ran (at normal speed) toward a couple of flowers and started to smell them.
"Oh Todd! You smell divine!… oops, wrong fragrance. Guess we cannot find you out of our sense of smell alone anymore, right Toddy?" Pietro gave a wicked smile as he kept on walking.
"THAT'S IT!" Todd was about to follow his annoying housemate but was stopped by Lance's strong hand on his shoulder.
"Ignore him Todd. You know that's what he wants you to do." Replied the older mutant as they kept walking.
"I don't know why he has to be making such a big deal yo!" the young boy crossed his arms and he would've pouted too had he not been on school property.
"That's what he does Todd. He was born to be annoying, what can I tell ya?" Lance had simply come to accept that as a fact of life by now.
"But Todd, why did you use so much cologne today?" Freddy didn't get his younger friend's weird behavior.
"Umm…. No reason." Todd was getting uncomfortable.
"There has to be a reason…" the big mutant kept pushing.
"What?! I didn't need a reason to not use cologne! Why do I need a reason to use it now?! I just felt like it ok!" now he was getting all defensive.
"Todd! It's ok. We're not going to ask about it anymore." Lance gave Freddy a meaningful glance that not even the big mutant could misinterpret. "But you know, if you want to talk about it, I'm right here."
"Oh… sure, no prob." Todd nodded simply to assure Lance he had heard him but there was no way he'd talk to him about why he suddenly felt like cleaning up his act.
As the three mutants kept walking they noticed how isolated everything had become. The bell was surely about to ring and even though most of the students didn't take punctuality very seriously they at least weren't likely to get caught outside of the main building.
However, there was one lone figure standing by the door. As they kept approaching this mysterious figure they wondered why it was there. Was it Mystique, ready to distribute tardy slips and continue pilling up the detention room? No, that wasn't possible, the bell hadn't ringed yet.
Finally, as they took their final steps they knew who it was.
Todd's heart skipped a beat. She was gorgeous! Sure, she looked a little mad, but that was just part of the whole beauty that was Rogue. Her beautiful narrowed eyes, her dainty hands on her hips and the slight slouch that was somehow made to look feminine. The young mutant hoped he would be able to talk to her today… at least a little more then three words.
"Umm… morning Rogue…" why was he nervous around her now!?
"Would you guys excuse us? I need to talk to Lance. Alone." Her whole body language demanded nothing but obedience from them.
As Todd walked beside Freddy toward the door he saw Lance had this seriousness on his face. He wasn't surprised at all that Rogue suddenly wanted to scold him for something… Once inside the young mutant walked toward one of the windows and continued to stare at the girl of his dreams. At least he had said three words to her… if 'umm' counted as one.
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=^_^=
Yeah… I'm evil….
Kindly tell me what you think, I'd really appreciate it! ~_^