(An: Once more into the field must we hence! Run for the hills while you still can! ...yes I've been watching Yellow Submarine, so sue me. All right, I'm pullin' in a char from the 'mics, Moira Mc-whatever (is it McTaggert? I don't really remember). I believe I got her facts right (castle, scientist, Scottish, ect.) but if I didn't... I give you full right to flame me, but only on that subject. Oh yes, slight error: I only -just- decided to use Moira because I didn't feel like making up an OC... so the 'hes' in the last chapter are now 'shes' thank you.
Di: Ahem, I wrote it missy, it belongs to -me- but maybe if you're good and do another chapter of Culture Shock (and be a bit quicker about your chappies) I might dedicate a chappy or two to you.
HH: ...No, I just like torturing him. Seriously, it's fun!
S-O-C: It's the grudge match of the century! ...I think.. I just liked that phrase.
ME: I have two reviewers using that name now. Weirdness. Ahem, but anyway: Good guesses! But no, Logan's not related to Rogue, I just wanted to use that joke for some reason.
Ishy: Puppydemon eyes, like Remy vs. the plane, is a running joke with me. Pay enough attention and you will see most in almost all of my stories with situations where such could be used.
me: There it is, the first update poke! -pops a cork-)
"I don't suggest we try to walk," said Kurt, joining his sister in staring at the jet. "It's a good long way to- where were we going again?"
Logan snorted. "We were goin' to Scotland."
"So where are we?" asked Remy, not bothering to look at the jet.
Logan looked around, sniffed the air a few times, and frowned (well his natural scowl got deeper). "..I don't know."
"Mark it down, de great badger's lost!" crowed Remy.
"I'm not lost, I just... don't know where we are."
"Same t'ing!"
"Ah, shuddup Gumbo," muttered Logan.
Remy did shut up but he kept an infuriating smirk.
Logan muttered something like, "I still don't see why it wouldn't be a crime to gut him," and started trying to figure out where they were again.
ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES LATER
"We're, like, doomed, aren't we," said Kitty, watching the three men argue over their position.
"Yep," said Rogue, shaking her head. "Why don't we just ask for DIRECTIONS?!" she shouted at the guys.
They blinked and then said in unison, "We're not lost." They looked surprised for a second, and then went back to arguing.
"Men," said Rogue, shaking her head again.
ANOTHER TWENTY MINUTES LATER
"All right," said Logan. "We're lost."
"NOW can we ask someone for directions?!" said Rogue.
"NO!" chorused all of the men.
STILL ANOTHER TWENTY MINUTES LATER
The boredom set in.
"Hey, Rogue," said Kitty, watching the guys, "you think if I, like, said I saw something in the woods they'd go away for awhile so we could, like, ask directions?"
"Maybe," said Rogue, in the same position. "Jeez, can they evah argue."
YET ANOTHER TWENTY MINUTE INCREMENT OF TIME LATER
Rogue stood up in disgust. "That's it, Ah'm walkin'! Scotland can't be that far!"
"Rogue!" said all the guys in unison.
"Aw, come on, chere," said Remy in the best pleading "I love you" tone he could manage under such conditions, "We've almost figured it out!"
"Didn't you, like, say that an hour ago?!" said Kitty.
The guys blinked at her.
In the absence of attention, Rogue made good on her promise and began to walk off.
Nobody noticed. The guys were too busy arguing and Kitty was too busy laughing at them all.
ABOUT FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER
"...Rogue? Rogue?" said Remy, looking around.
"Uh-oh," said Kitty, looking around.
"'M really startin' t' hate uh-ohs," said Remy, sitting on a rock.
"Rogue's gone!" said Logan, stating the obvious.
"WE KNOW!" shouted Kitty and Remy.
"Rogue's gone?!" asked Kurt, looking up from the complicated map of western Europe he was drawing in the dirt.
"YES," said Logan, who looked as though he was getting a migraine. "She's gone."
"Oh, you guys didn't, like, notice? She walked off a while ago, muttering about guys," said Kitty.
"Y' mean y' KNEW?!" snapped Remy, standing up.
"Like, duh," said Kitty calmly. "She yelled at you guys and then headed down that way." She thumbed behind her.
"And you didn' tell us dis WHY?!"
"Like, don't have a heart attack, Remy," said Kitty, who was now inspecting her nails. "She can't have walked, like, that far. Maybe she found someone who, like, knows where we are."
"Y've been neglectin' her trainin', badger," said Remy, giving everyone impartial glares. "Y' have yet t' beat de optimism out've her."
"Believe me, I've tried," said Logan, shaking his head. He sniffed the air, then set off after Rogue, the others in hot pursuit.
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER
They found Rogue in avid conversation with a short woman. "Hey guys," said Rogue calmly. "These are the idiots- and Kitty- that Ah told ya about." She pointed at the people.
"Rogue makes friends everywhere she, like, goes," said Kitty, perky again.
"Okay, guys, this is Moira," said Rogue, pointing at the woman. "It's weird, but she's exactly who we're supposed ta be lookin' for."
"Hello," said Moira, looking fascinated by the three newcomers. "You're Xavier's group, then?"
"Yep," said Logan. "Can we get this over with?"
Moira led them down a path to a large, castle-ish building.
"What's up with ya?" asked Rogue as they followed her.
"I've just had to spend an afternoon with Gumbo and Elf discussin' Europe," said Logan. "Think about it, Stripes."
Rogue stifled a laugh. "Oh, Ah see," she said, knowing that both Kurt and Remy were looking grumpy for the same reason.
Moira took them into the castle and into a large lab. She held up a small watch. "This is it," she said. "I think it should block mutant powers." She held it out to Rogue, who grabbed it. "But-"
Rogue fiddled with a bit and then there was a high-pitched beep. "Weird," said Rogue, blinking.
"But there's-"
"How 'bout we test it, den?" said Remy, and kissed Rogue.
There was a thud as Remy hit the ground.
Rogue staggered back a few steps, squeaking as one of her gloves blew up. "It always seems t' be worse on de lips," she muttered, her accent mottled with Cajun. "Why didn't it work?"
"I did try to warn you," said Moira. "I wasn't positive. There's a- well, there's a piece missing."
"So y' knew it wouldn' work?" said Rogue, trying not to touch anything.
"No," said Moira, her tone patient, "I thought it might work without it but it seems not." She sighed. "This isn't good."
"Why not?" asked Kitty.
"I can't acquire the piece with the resources open to me." She gave them a crooked smile. "In other words, no funding."
"Why don't we, like, get it?" asked Kitty, who was phasing anything Rogue charged so it wouldn't explode.
"It's rather expensive," replied Moira.
"The professor could pay for it," Kurt suggested .
"You know, that's a good idea.." said Moira, looking thoughtful.
Logan handed her a cell phone. "Chuck's on speed dial," he said.
"Wh- Oh, you mean Charles," said Moira.
"That's what I said," Logan agreed.
Moira blinked but hit the button and began a fervent discussion with the professor after a minute.
A few minutes later she hung up. "It's settled then. All you have to do is collect the piece and bring it back to me," said Moira, smiling. "It'll be easy to fix."
"So, where're we going?" asked Kurt.
"Germany, to a jewelers," said Moira.
Kurt gave a loud groan. "I'm doomed," he said, looking at the ground as though begging it to swallow him.
"Ah, it's, like, not that big of a deal, fuzzy!" said Kitty, perkiness intact. "We can, like, stay with your family!"
"That's what I'm afraid of," replied Kurt.
"Did it work?" asked a voice from the floor.
"Remy, t'ink 'bout it. Y're passed out on de floor and 'm talkin' like y'," said Rogue.
"Now what?" asked Remy, standing up.
"Now we go to Germany, and end this little field trip," said Logan.
Moira gave them a benevolent smile. "Wonderful." She walked over to a file cabinet and took out a map of Germany. She pointed at a city. "The jeweler's shop is right here." She handed the map to Logan and escorted them out.
"How're we suppose to get there now?" asked Kurt, looking as though he was hoping there wasn't an answer to that.
"Private landing strip," Moira confessed. "It'll be a bit of a wait for a flight, but it's not long." She led them out back, where there were several different kind of jets parked.
"Where'd y' get those?" asked Rogue, looking impressed. She was a bit more cheerful now that she wasn't blowing up everything she touched and her accent was returning.
"I invented them," said Moira. "Lovely way to get a discount, don't you think?"
Remy looked rather green as he gazed at the jets. "More jets. Magnefique."
"Round three!" cried Rogue, Kitty, and Kurt in unison.
"SHUT UP!!!"
"What are they talking about?" whispered Moira to Logan as she passed him the keys to one of the jets.
"It's a long story, darlin'," said Logan, smirking.
(I do hope that was up to snuff. Next chapter: More of Remy's eternal battle against the plane and Kurt's adoptive parents! Oh, the fun to be had my kidlets!)