Chapter Five: Unexpected Storylines
Current Brotherhood Headquarters (Inside)
Sabretooth entered his newest set of headquarters and immediately made a point to check where everyone was. Pietro and Pyro were having a conversation between them, at the kitchen table, while playing some game; Natasha was in her room since the phone was missing and her door was shut. The others were watching tv or doing something else stupid. They'd stopped living up to their name as The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants long ago but none had bothered to move out or quit.
"Did you guys see that newest stripper?" one of the newer guys asked, taking up his seat at the table with the card players. He tossed a good third of his beer down then focused on the game again, looking around at the players.
"I thought we agreed we were gonna leave the strip joints alone, mate?" Pyro asked without looking away from his cards. "Some of those are as old as my little friends- Angel and Tara. That's just disturbing..."
"This was definetly NOT a little girl. Man, she was gorgeous. Long red and black hair, those bewitching black on red eyes, tight clothes. She can dance for me any day of the week."
"Did you happen to catch her name or did that little detail escape your gaping, drooling mouth?" Pietro questioned after putting down a card. He took another one from the large stack.
"It was an N word. Nat...Natalie? No, that's not it. Nicole...no...Nanaki..."
"I highly doubt it. That last one's Toad's wife and my neice," Saber growled in their general direction then proceeded toward the door.
The guy looked worried a moment then called to one of his buddies. "What was that stripper's name? The one with the..."
"Natasha, I think. Yeah, that girl's definetly had some practice with a pole."
Natasha.
Sabretooth was frozen for all of ten seconds then stormed down the hall and went straight through the door. She rarely used her room anymore unless something happened with her roommates or they decided to stay with the X-Men; her prescence had become almost non-exsistence. It shattered under his body weight and sent jagged splinters across the floor. He stood there, silohoutted by the other room's light, glared at his daughter and waited for an explanation.
Natasha hadn't acknowledged his prescence yet. She was completly intent upon her phone coversation with her feet propped against the wall and her head hanging off the bed. "It's not a serious thing, Ravine. I just need a way to make money and it was quick and easy," she said then noticed him, coming up with a start that a normal person would have been damaged from. She somehow managed to land on her feet. "Gotta go. Later, Ravine.." She hung up the phone with a bang. "Yeah, Dad?"
"Where were you at last night?" he demanded, glaring at her. He hadn't been this angry since Nanaki announced her engagement to Toad then again with that kid of theirs, Simon or something's, birth. The kid was a monster with too much of his mother present, way too much.
"Tormenting my apartment mates...was I supposed to be doing something else?" She stared at him in confusion with a smirk. "I wasn't aware of anything," she repeated as she had at her entrance earlier in the day. She studied one of her walls that was covered in a combination or pen and pencil writings; it was obviously notes to herself. "Nope, nothing planned."
"What were you and your little friend talking about? How are you making money, Tasha?"
"I have a job. They're common among people now days...or did you forget that I'm beyond old enough to get a job..?" She smirked, waiting for his answer.
Sabre growled. "You've been talking to Nanaki again."
"Duh. She's one of my apartment mates's sister-in-law...did you really think I could pretend she didn't exist..? Oh my gosh, you did. That is so sad," she said, almost inaudibly. She shook her head then stood. "You're really going to hate this- Angel's expecting."
"Expecting what?" he replied, stalking after her when she went into the kitchen beyond him and began making a sandwich. He waved off Pietro's interestsed look and John's sudden shift in posture; his head shot up and he looked in their direction.
"Expecting. Pregnant. Gonna have a kid...think, Dad. Angel's pregnant."
"This is absurd! The sheliah's barely twenty-three!" John came out of the chair so fast that it turned over and his cards flew across the table. He stood there a moment then went to the closet, removing his flamethrower set then proceeded to walk out of the converted warehouse. His car started up a few moments later then faded.
Natasha chuckled. "Angel's in trouble.."
"I don't give a damn about Angel! Do you or do you not have a job as a stripper, Tasha? It's a simple yes or no question!"
She considered a moment then nodded, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Yes, I do. It pays good and I make money at something I'm good at. The new guys promised not to tell you but obviously I have some castrating to do," she mumbled, saying the last part under her breathe as she ate some of the sandwich. "What's wrong, Dad?"
"NATASHA ELIZABETH CREED!"
X-Mansion (Inside the Mansion)
"Tara Toynbee, what problem do you have with white?!"
Tara counted to twenty to calm her self then gave Jean a calm, even look. "I'm. Green," she said, emphasizing each word as though speaking to a child or illiterate person. She tapped her nail's against the table's top and focused on the tv that was blaring some violent movie in the background. She watched for a few moments until Logan looked at her then mouthed 'Help Me'.
Logan shook his head and returned to the tv.
She sat there a moment then walked over to him and leaned on the back of his chair, placing her arms around his neck. "Why won't you help me, Logan? She's driving me crazy," she mumbled under her breathe without taking her eyes off the violent scene of tv. She noticed that almost every other male in the mansion was focused on the screen, even Hank's eyes were focused on it.
"Did I make you ask her to plan your wedding?" he asked after another gulp of beer. He'd drained half the bottle in one swallow.
"I was desperate!" Tara took the bottle and drank the rest before he could figure out her intention. Logan turned an irritated gaze in her direction. "Don't look at me like that. I'm of legal age now," she pointed out, setting the empty bottle down and starting back to the table.
Remy's voice stopped her. "Non, petite. If y'can drink de alcohol, y'can buy it. Here's de money now go buy de alcohol," he said, holding out a couple of bills. She shook her head.
"Angel buys beer, but I don't. I just steal it."
"Tara!"
"Wedding to plan," she called over her shoulder then resumed her seat beside Nanaki. She studied the dresses over Jean's shoulder then placed her hand in the center of the book, stopping it in mid turn. "That's it!"
"...It's not a funeral, Tara."
The dress was black. It wasn't a typical wedding gown since it was missing the usual lace and other such bows that they were typically overrun with. It wasn't tight or even skimpy like most gowns; it was long and completly black.
"I like black. What's wrong with black?" she demanded, glancing around at her gathered wedding planners and/or helpers. Their only way of helping so far had been to give her a headache, drive the male X-men and other guys into the next room, and forced her to miss a call from Angel. It had been made from hers and Juilus' plane to Canada. The grandfather announcement was about to be made.
"It's a funeral color," Jean mumbled then flipped to another white gown. "This is perfect. It's simple yet pretty. Anyway, what guy would want to a woman who wore complete black?"
Rogue smirked and looked into the next room. "What's the opinion on girls in black?" she asked, retrieving a small notebook from one of her pockets. She flipped to a clean sheet and started making notes as they spoke.
We really need to stop answering questions by polling the mansion, Tara thought with a shake of her had. She picked up a nearby GameBoy and began playing through a game of Tetris; it only took a few moments for her to reach the twelth level and lose control of the shapes. We should not solve things by polling the guys, mansion inhabitants, or anyone else that tends to participate in our polls. Note to self: never make a comment that requires more then one answer while in the mansion.
"And here are the results. Three guys said yes to girls in black, better if leather. Four admitted they had dressed in black to catch a girl's attention, including Toad. Six agreed that black is wedding inappropriate unless it's Elvira," Rogue announced upon returning to the room. She set her notebook down and allowed the others to look at it. "Don't ask who Elvira is. If you don't know, you're lucky," she mumbled.
"Why don't we just take your word for it, Rogue?" Nanaki asked, coming back into the room after a rather long abscene. She'd gone to speak with Santiago about his grades, taking one of her daggers with her; the dagger was now nowhere in sight.
"Did you kill my nephew...?" Tara stared at her with something close to real shock but bordering on amusement. Nanaki loved her son despite the many threats she made upon his life or the many ways she'd attempted to get rid of him. There was also, the fact that Toad would have disowned her if anything had happened to their son. "I hope not...he was planned to be in my wedding!"
"No. The bad children aren't allowed."
"Shut up, Jean. I didn't kill him, Tara, but I did give him a very good talking to. Do you really think I'd kill Santiago?" she asked with an attempt at a serious expression.
"Celesta might."
The change was almost instant. "I would not! Nanaki wouldn't allow it and...where's Baby Daddy and the momma-to-be?" she asked, leaning over to look at the dress. She smiled. "Now that's a dress for 'Uncle Vic's' funeral...when is that again?"
"Sabertooth isn't dead, darling," came Logan's reply from the living room.
Celesta replied in kind. "No one asked you, shrimpy. Now shut up so we can plan Tara's wedding and marry her off the people you dislike."
"Nanakins, stop calling the evil fuzzy man names," Toad called from his seat. He was drinking beer along with the rest, though he still looked somewhat uncomfrotable.
"Don't call us Nanakins!.....does anyone else smell something burning..?"
Several different heads whipped around, sniffed, then bolted out the front door. Bobby was in the lead and shot a stream of ice around the tree until the fire froze and remained in it's frozen state as the others came out to watch. John fell out of the tree a few moments later and glared at them all. His hair was sticking out in ever direction and something like the look of a crazy person had crossed his face.
"Angel. Where's Angel? We're going to have a talk...a safe sex talk....I have to have a talk with the shelia, mates," he babbled on, stumbling over several words and ending up stuttering.
Remy shook his head. "It don' work, mon ami. De chile already pregnant...de safe sex talks didn't do anyt'ing to mon ange," he said then held out one hand, helping his fallen friend up. He put one arm around John and patted his back. "We go make Tequila Sunrises for everyone."
"Good suggesstion, mate," John mumbled then walked inside with Remy. Their voices were lowered but a few words drifted back to the others. "Where's the angelic shelia?"
"...Canada..."
"Canada?!"
"It be a long story, mon ami...."
Three Hours Later
"Make it stop, please, somoene..anyone," Tara begged, pleading with the ones that were gathered around her. She had her hands pressed over her ears to block out the sound of singing in French; it was loud and off-key. Remy and John's duet had lasted for an hour now and was only getting worse with time.
"Sugah, we can't shut them up unless they decide to shut up. The last time we tried to shut them up didn't go quite so well," Rogue said without lifting her head from the book of flowers. She ate a couple more bites of her bowl of cereal then flipped to the index. "What do ya think of roses, sugah?"
"I hate 'em."
"Do you like daises?"
"Nope."
"Do you like flowers at all?" Nanaki asked around a mouthful of food. She didn't even bother to swallow but instead talked around the food that was filling her mouth. It was an unattractive trait until her husband was considered; a frog.
"Not if they're yellow or start with the letter R. I hate roses and I hate yellow roses even more," she stated with a smirk. She stood and dumped her plate into the garbage can then took up her seat, stopping to briefly yell at her 'relatives'. "Would you idiots keep that noise down? Some of us are trying to plan a wedding instead of getting drunk!"
"We're not drunk, shelia," John called after another drink of his brightly colored Tequila drink, "We're intoxicated."
The sound of arguing came then there was a raised voice that could only belong to Kurt; it was laced with German words and riddled with his accent.
"Vhat are you idiots doing? Haven't I told you vonce that ze alcohol is bad? Does anyone is zis accursed place have anything to do vith vhat I say?" Kurt's voice echoed for another few moments then something broke.
Rogue jumped up and ran to the rec room, entering and slamming the door. The house shook and several things fell off shelves, shattering or just rolling away and out of sight. The sound of arguing voices, Kurt and Rogue the loudest, came over the sound of drunk singing in French. The phone rang.
Nanaki reached over and grabbed the phone. "Hello...Angel?"
"We're on...our...way...back.." Angel's voice faded in and out of the phone. It was obvious that she either was or had been crying not that long ago. Voices could be heard behind her but Juilus' wasn't among them. "It's...uh...it's not that bad...his sister's excited and his father almost.." She stopped speaking and began to cry into the phone. There was a rustinling then Julius' voice filled the small phone.
"Things went okay. Don't ask about the cry. She's barely stopped in four hours; I haven't hurt her, but I might..."
"Don't you dare hit her while she's pregnant, Julius Augusutus Kanteon.."
"That's not fair!"
Nanaki waited a moment then added, "Angel can't hit you either..unless you really, really deserve it. That's my deal; do you two get it?" she asked with a bright smile but allowing the threat to have it's place.
"What if she hits me..?"
"...you bring the problem to Remy and he'll take care of Angel. Trust me, it won't be a good thing or even as nice as you'd expect..."
"Yes, Mother Theresa. Plane's about to take off and Angel's complaining of hunger....see you in the morning, Nanaki." The phone went dead.
Nanaki sighed, staring at the dead phone for a moment. "I love death threats."
Current Brotherhood Headquarters (Inside)
Sabretooth entered his newest set of headquarters and immediately made a point to check where everyone was. Pietro and Pyro were having a conversation between them, at the kitchen table, while playing some game; Natasha was in her room since the phone was missing and her door was shut. The others were watching tv or doing something else stupid. They'd stopped living up to their name as The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants long ago but none had bothered to move out or quit.
"Did you guys see that newest stripper?" one of the newer guys asked, taking up his seat at the table with the card players. He tossed a good third of his beer down then focused on the game again, looking around at the players.
"I thought we agreed we were gonna leave the strip joints alone, mate?" Pyro asked without looking away from his cards. "Some of those are as old as my little friends- Angel and Tara. That's just disturbing..."
"This was definetly NOT a little girl. Man, she was gorgeous. Long red and black hair, those bewitching black on red eyes, tight clothes. She can dance for me any day of the week."
"Did you happen to catch her name or did that little detail escape your gaping, drooling mouth?" Pietro questioned after putting down a card. He took another one from the large stack.
"It was an N word. Nat...Natalie? No, that's not it. Nicole...no...Nanaki..."
"I highly doubt it. That last one's Toad's wife and my neice," Saber growled in their general direction then proceeded toward the door.
The guy looked worried a moment then called to one of his buddies. "What was that stripper's name? The one with the..."
"Natasha, I think. Yeah, that girl's definetly had some practice with a pole."
Natasha.
Sabretooth was frozen for all of ten seconds then stormed down the hall and went straight through the door. She rarely used her room anymore unless something happened with her roommates or they decided to stay with the X-Men; her prescence had become almost non-exsistence. It shattered under his body weight and sent jagged splinters across the floor. He stood there, silohoutted by the other room's light, glared at his daughter and waited for an explanation.
Natasha hadn't acknowledged his prescence yet. She was completly intent upon her phone coversation with her feet propped against the wall and her head hanging off the bed. "It's not a serious thing, Ravine. I just need a way to make money and it was quick and easy," she said then noticed him, coming up with a start that a normal person would have been damaged from. She somehow managed to land on her feet. "Gotta go. Later, Ravine.." She hung up the phone with a bang. "Yeah, Dad?"
"Where were you at last night?" he demanded, glaring at her. He hadn't been this angry since Nanaki announced her engagement to Toad then again with that kid of theirs, Simon or something's, birth. The kid was a monster with too much of his mother present, way too much.
"Tormenting my apartment mates...was I supposed to be doing something else?" She stared at him in confusion with a smirk. "I wasn't aware of anything," she repeated as she had at her entrance earlier in the day. She studied one of her walls that was covered in a combination or pen and pencil writings; it was obviously notes to herself. "Nope, nothing planned."
"What were you and your little friend talking about? How are you making money, Tasha?"
"I have a job. They're common among people now days...or did you forget that I'm beyond old enough to get a job..?" She smirked, waiting for his answer.
Sabre growled. "You've been talking to Nanaki again."
"Duh. She's one of my apartment mates's sister-in-law...did you really think I could pretend she didn't exist..? Oh my gosh, you did. That is so sad," she said, almost inaudibly. She shook her head then stood. "You're really going to hate this- Angel's expecting."
"Expecting what?" he replied, stalking after her when she went into the kitchen beyond him and began making a sandwich. He waved off Pietro's interestsed look and John's sudden shift in posture; his head shot up and he looked in their direction.
"Expecting. Pregnant. Gonna have a kid...think, Dad. Angel's pregnant."
"This is absurd! The sheliah's barely twenty-three!" John came out of the chair so fast that it turned over and his cards flew across the table. He stood there a moment then went to the closet, removing his flamethrower set then proceeded to walk out of the converted warehouse. His car started up a few moments later then faded.
Natasha chuckled. "Angel's in trouble.."
"I don't give a damn about Angel! Do you or do you not have a job as a stripper, Tasha? It's a simple yes or no question!"
She considered a moment then nodded, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Yes, I do. It pays good and I make money at something I'm good at. The new guys promised not to tell you but obviously I have some castrating to do," she mumbled, saying the last part under her breathe as she ate some of the sandwich. "What's wrong, Dad?"
"NATASHA ELIZABETH CREED!"
X-Mansion (Inside the Mansion)
"Tara Toynbee, what problem do you have with white?!"
Tara counted to twenty to calm her self then gave Jean a calm, even look. "I'm. Green," she said, emphasizing each word as though speaking to a child or illiterate person. She tapped her nail's against the table's top and focused on the tv that was blaring some violent movie in the background. She watched for a few moments until Logan looked at her then mouthed 'Help Me'.
Logan shook his head and returned to the tv.
She sat there a moment then walked over to him and leaned on the back of his chair, placing her arms around his neck. "Why won't you help me, Logan? She's driving me crazy," she mumbled under her breathe without taking her eyes off the violent scene of tv. She noticed that almost every other male in the mansion was focused on the screen, even Hank's eyes were focused on it.
"Did I make you ask her to plan your wedding?" he asked after another gulp of beer. He'd drained half the bottle in one swallow.
"I was desperate!" Tara took the bottle and drank the rest before he could figure out her intention. Logan turned an irritated gaze in her direction. "Don't look at me like that. I'm of legal age now," she pointed out, setting the empty bottle down and starting back to the table.
Remy's voice stopped her. "Non, petite. If y'can drink de alcohol, y'can buy it. Here's de money now go buy de alcohol," he said, holding out a couple of bills. She shook her head.
"Angel buys beer, but I don't. I just steal it."
"Tara!"
"Wedding to plan," she called over her shoulder then resumed her seat beside Nanaki. She studied the dresses over Jean's shoulder then placed her hand in the center of the book, stopping it in mid turn. "That's it!"
"...It's not a funeral, Tara."
The dress was black. It wasn't a typical wedding gown since it was missing the usual lace and other such bows that they were typically overrun with. It wasn't tight or even skimpy like most gowns; it was long and completly black.
"I like black. What's wrong with black?" she demanded, glancing around at her gathered wedding planners and/or helpers. Their only way of helping so far had been to give her a headache, drive the male X-men and other guys into the next room, and forced her to miss a call from Angel. It had been made from hers and Juilus' plane to Canada. The grandfather announcement was about to be made.
"It's a funeral color," Jean mumbled then flipped to another white gown. "This is perfect. It's simple yet pretty. Anyway, what guy would want to a woman who wore complete black?"
Rogue smirked and looked into the next room. "What's the opinion on girls in black?" she asked, retrieving a small notebook from one of her pockets. She flipped to a clean sheet and started making notes as they spoke.
We really need to stop answering questions by polling the mansion, Tara thought with a shake of her had. She picked up a nearby GameBoy and began playing through a game of Tetris; it only took a few moments for her to reach the twelth level and lose control of the shapes. We should not solve things by polling the guys, mansion inhabitants, or anyone else that tends to participate in our polls. Note to self: never make a comment that requires more then one answer while in the mansion.
"And here are the results. Three guys said yes to girls in black, better if leather. Four admitted they had dressed in black to catch a girl's attention, including Toad. Six agreed that black is wedding inappropriate unless it's Elvira," Rogue announced upon returning to the room. She set her notebook down and allowed the others to look at it. "Don't ask who Elvira is. If you don't know, you're lucky," she mumbled.
"Why don't we just take your word for it, Rogue?" Nanaki asked, coming back into the room after a rather long abscene. She'd gone to speak with Santiago about his grades, taking one of her daggers with her; the dagger was now nowhere in sight.
"Did you kill my nephew...?" Tara stared at her with something close to real shock but bordering on amusement. Nanaki loved her son despite the many threats she made upon his life or the many ways she'd attempted to get rid of him. There was also, the fact that Toad would have disowned her if anything had happened to their son. "I hope not...he was planned to be in my wedding!"
"No. The bad children aren't allowed."
"Shut up, Jean. I didn't kill him, Tara, but I did give him a very good talking to. Do you really think I'd kill Santiago?" she asked with an attempt at a serious expression.
"Celesta might."
The change was almost instant. "I would not! Nanaki wouldn't allow it and...where's Baby Daddy and the momma-to-be?" she asked, leaning over to look at the dress. She smiled. "Now that's a dress for 'Uncle Vic's' funeral...when is that again?"
"Sabertooth isn't dead, darling," came Logan's reply from the living room.
Celesta replied in kind. "No one asked you, shrimpy. Now shut up so we can plan Tara's wedding and marry her off the people you dislike."
"Nanakins, stop calling the evil fuzzy man names," Toad called from his seat. He was drinking beer along with the rest, though he still looked somewhat uncomfrotable.
"Don't call us Nanakins!.....does anyone else smell something burning..?"
Several different heads whipped around, sniffed, then bolted out the front door. Bobby was in the lead and shot a stream of ice around the tree until the fire froze and remained in it's frozen state as the others came out to watch. John fell out of the tree a few moments later and glared at them all. His hair was sticking out in ever direction and something like the look of a crazy person had crossed his face.
"Angel. Where's Angel? We're going to have a talk...a safe sex talk....I have to have a talk with the shelia, mates," he babbled on, stumbling over several words and ending up stuttering.
Remy shook his head. "It don' work, mon ami. De chile already pregnant...de safe sex talks didn't do anyt'ing to mon ange," he said then held out one hand, helping his fallen friend up. He put one arm around John and patted his back. "We go make Tequila Sunrises for everyone."
"Good suggesstion, mate," John mumbled then walked inside with Remy. Their voices were lowered but a few words drifted back to the others. "Where's the angelic shelia?"
"...Canada..."
"Canada?!"
"It be a long story, mon ami...."
Three Hours Later
"Make it stop, please, somoene..anyone," Tara begged, pleading with the ones that were gathered around her. She had her hands pressed over her ears to block out the sound of singing in French; it was loud and off-key. Remy and John's duet had lasted for an hour now and was only getting worse with time.
"Sugah, we can't shut them up unless they decide to shut up. The last time we tried to shut them up didn't go quite so well," Rogue said without lifting her head from the book of flowers. She ate a couple more bites of her bowl of cereal then flipped to the index. "What do ya think of roses, sugah?"
"I hate 'em."
"Do you like daises?"
"Nope."
"Do you like flowers at all?" Nanaki asked around a mouthful of food. She didn't even bother to swallow but instead talked around the food that was filling her mouth. It was an unattractive trait until her husband was considered; a frog.
"Not if they're yellow or start with the letter R. I hate roses and I hate yellow roses even more," she stated with a smirk. She stood and dumped her plate into the garbage can then took up her seat, stopping to briefly yell at her 'relatives'. "Would you idiots keep that noise down? Some of us are trying to plan a wedding instead of getting drunk!"
"We're not drunk, shelia," John called after another drink of his brightly colored Tequila drink, "We're intoxicated."
The sound of arguing came then there was a raised voice that could only belong to Kurt; it was laced with German words and riddled with his accent.
"Vhat are you idiots doing? Haven't I told you vonce that ze alcohol is bad? Does anyone is zis accursed place have anything to do vith vhat I say?" Kurt's voice echoed for another few moments then something broke.
Rogue jumped up and ran to the rec room, entering and slamming the door. The house shook and several things fell off shelves, shattering or just rolling away and out of sight. The sound of arguing voices, Kurt and Rogue the loudest, came over the sound of drunk singing in French. The phone rang.
Nanaki reached over and grabbed the phone. "Hello...Angel?"
"We're on...our...way...back.." Angel's voice faded in and out of the phone. It was obvious that she either was or had been crying not that long ago. Voices could be heard behind her but Juilus' wasn't among them. "It's...uh...it's not that bad...his sister's excited and his father almost.." She stopped speaking and began to cry into the phone. There was a rustinling then Julius' voice filled the small phone.
"Things went okay. Don't ask about the cry. She's barely stopped in four hours; I haven't hurt her, but I might..."
"Don't you dare hit her while she's pregnant, Julius Augusutus Kanteon.."
"That's not fair!"
Nanaki waited a moment then added, "Angel can't hit you either..unless you really, really deserve it. That's my deal; do you two get it?" she asked with a bright smile but allowing the threat to have it's place.
"What if she hits me..?"
"...you bring the problem to Remy and he'll take care of Angel. Trust me, it won't be a good thing or even as nice as you'd expect..."
"Yes, Mother Theresa. Plane's about to take off and Angel's complaining of hunger....see you in the morning, Nanaki." The phone went dead.
Nanaki sighed, staring at the dead phone for a moment. "I love death threats."