I humbly present an idea that has been tumbling around in my mind for a while.
This idea came to me one night as I watched an old monster movie. I pondered what about a monster story with an X-Men: Evolution twist? Sounded like an intriguing development so I decided to pursue it. In the end I settled on one of my favorite stories, from novel and play, The Phantom of the Opera.
Thus I now present The Phantom of the Institute.
Thanks go out to the lovely Spiffythefaery for volunteering her time to beta reading this and many other stories that I have in my warped mind.
I don't own X-Men: Evolution or the Phantom of the Opera. I know Stan Lee owns the former and the latter was created by Mr. Gaston Leroux.
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"You must never try to fathom the mystery of the man's voice."
-Christine
"How about this one?" Kitty asked Rogue as she displayed a shirt, letting Rogue's emerald eyes scan the clothing.
"No."
Kitty tossed the shirt into the discarded pile. The incredibly large discard pile. Picking up another shirt she had selected, Kitty raised it up for Rogue to see. "This one?"
"No."
Kitty went to grab the next piece of clothing, only to find that all of her choices were gone.
"Rogue," Kitty half exclaimed half sighed, "we've gone through all this clothing and you don't want a single piece. Why don't you like this stuff?"
"Cause it's all short," Rogue replied. From under the mountain of bags that he was carrying, Lance snickered.
"It's supposed to be short! That's the style!" Kitty retorted. Rogue rolled her eyes. Obviously her friend's zeal for stylish clothing was short circuiting her common sense.
"If the clothes are short then it reveals skin," Rogue began, her tone similar to an adult lecturing a child. "And if Ah accidentally bump into someone and mah skin touches theirs…"
Kitty's eyes slightly widened as the brunette realized her foolish actions. "Oh. I get you. My bad."
"It's okay Kitty." Lance snickered again under the mountain of paper bags.
Kitty whirled around to face him, his face peaking slightly over the bags. "What's so funny?"
Lance's complexion paled considerably. He lowered his head trying to hide behind his load. However, Kitty would not be deterred.
"You aren't getting off that easily Lance Alvers. What did you find so amusing?" Kitty leered at her boyfriend.
"Um, nothing?" Lance tried. Kitty continued to glare before nodding, satisfied with Lance's answer. Turning back to the pile of discarded clothes, Kitty began to sort through the apparel as she spoke to Rogue.
"Well if you're not going to get any of this then I'm going to help myself," Kitty stated as she began to pull a few choice items from the mound.
"Help yourself," Rogue answered as Kitty's pile of clothes she wanted to purchase continued to grow in size. Lance watched the pile grow, fear in his eyes. He could barely carry what Kitty had already purchased and there was no way Kitty was going to carry her own merchandise while he was around.
"Kitty," he said meekly, not sure if this was a smart thing to do.
"Hmm," was Kitty's sole reply, her focus still on the clothes in front of her.
"Don't you think that you bought enough for today?" Kitty's gaze quickly shifted from the clothes to her beau.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"You-ah-already bought quite a bit today. Don't you have enough? I mean, is all of this," Lance did his best to gesture at the heap with his hands full, "really necessary?"
Kitty's blazing glare made him immediately regret his words. Kitty was a girl with few passions and shopping was one of them. She was damn good at it too. In her mind shopping was an art.
"Don't I have enough?" Kitty began her tone menacing. "Did Shakespeare write enough? Did Picasso paint enough? What kind of question is that!"
Lance flinched as Kitty screeched at him. Inwardly Rogue felt sorry for the boy; he merely stated his opinion, an opinion that Rogue couldn't help but agree with. Rogue wasn't about to let her sympathy prevent her from enjoying the show. Kitty continued to bellow at Lance who was shrinking away from her shouting. As Lance cowered from Kitty, the perky brunette quickly changed tactics.
"Oh Lance," Kitty sweetly called, batting her eyes at the confused teenager. Rogue silently laughed at the scenario, knowing what was coming.
"Yeah Kitty," Lance replied, trying to inject bravado into his voice. Kitty took a few steps towards the slumping boy and ran her finger along his chin, looking him squarely in the eyes. Rogue continued to laugh quietly, the boy was hooked now. He would do whatever Kitty wanted.
"I couldn't help but think that maybe you're right. I do have enough clothes." Lance brightened at the statement, his fear quickly vanishing.
"Really?" Kitty nodded in response.
"Yeah. So after we buy this batch, I'm going to give you a special treat."
"Treat?" Lance continued to brighten, unaware that he was being set up.
"A very special one. I wasn't going to do it but I think you deserve it. After this store we're going shoe shopping!"
Lance looked up at Kitty with disbelief running across his face. When he saw that the girl wasn't bluffing the disbelief vanished, only to be replaced by a look of pure terror. Rogue couldn't help but snicker.
***
Rogue watched as Lance dropped the bags to the floor of the food court with a contented sigh. He fell into a chair, rubbing his head to ease the pain. Kitty had proved to be merciless with her shoe shopping. Not only did she see fit to purchase several types of shoes, she had chosen to make sure that she had multiple pairs of each.
Add the number of shoes Kitty purchased with the amount of clothing she had already bought and Lance was swamped with bags. In fact, the total amount of bags was so great that Lance was unable to see over his load. Rogue was forced to steer him through the packed corridors of the mall. Fortunately for the burdened boy, Kitty had decided to stop for food.
Rogue seated herself next to Kitty had volunteered to get the food, letting Lance rest and giving Rogue a chance recoup from the "Kitty Pryde Shopping Experience."
"What did I do to deserve this?" Lance asked, still massaging his head.
"You stated your opinion," Rogue replied with a grin.
"Yeah," Lance answered, finally looking up at the southerner.
"Next time I go and do something dumb like that do me a favor. Shut me up," Lance said, shooting Rogue a grin.
"Can do." Lance nodded as he sank further into his chair, propping his feet up on the table. His face was showing signs of fatigue.
"Long day?" Rogue inquired of her friend.
"Oh yeah. Real long day. I had a chemistry test in the morning and a surprise quiz in history, which I bombed. Then there was that fiasco at lunch today. Took me all of fifth to calm Kitty down. Plus the Danger Room session and this," Lance gestured with open arms, indicating the mall.
"It's been a trying day," he concluded with a sigh.
"Well could be worse."
Lance's eyebrow arched as he looked over at Rogue. "How so?"
"Well," Rogue began counting off the items on her fingers. "John could be here. No scratch that. John could be here and have a lighter. Tabitha could have stolen your jeep. Logan could have kept us in the Danger Room for a lot longer. Bobby and Kurt could have seen Kitty bossing you around, they'd never let you live that down."
"Putting it mildly," Lance agreed with a sloppy grin. His gaze slowly wandered around the food court, taking in the sites. Suddenly his grin vanished only to be replaced with apprehension. He groaned in disappointment.
"Oh no! Why? Why did they have to be here?" Lance moaned as he grasped his hair in agony. Confused at Lance's action Rogue turned around to see what was bothering him.
Walking towards the duo was Kurt, Bobby, and a cackling John. Bobby clenched a small plastic bag in his fist and John's eyes were riveted on the bag. Rogue smirked at the appearance of the trio. This trip just got more interesting. The boys approached, a grin fastened onto the faces of the two troublemakers.
"Ah hoy!" Bobby called out as the three made their way to join Rogue and Lance at the table. Bobby placed the bag on the tabletop; John's eyes still riveted on it.
"What are you doing here?" Lance groaned, his eyes shooting over towards Kitty, who was still getting food, unaware of the new arrivals.
"Us? Come on Lance…" Bobby trailed off only to have Kurt finish.
"You know us. Ve never let you and Kitty get a moment alone. So ve followed you."
"What about you?" Rogue asked, her gaze fixed on John.
"They promised me a present if I came," John replied, never lifting his gaze from the bag.
"And you deserve it. So you get one now and the rest when we get back home," Bobby said as he reached into the bag, groping through its contents. Withdrawing his hand Bobby now clenched a small rectangular object, an object that should not have been around John. It was a lighter.
Tossing the lighter over to John, Bobby chuckled lightly. John snatched it out of the air and immediately flicked it open. After a few tries he succeeded in getting the lighter to work. A small flame flickered into existence, much to John's delight. His eyes were fixed upon the flame, which was rapidly changing in size.
"Flame goes up, flame goes down. Flame goes up, flame goes down," John kept saying as the flame rose and dropped in accordance with his words. Joy spread across his face as he watched the flame dance. Rogue slid her seat backwards, trying to increase the distance between her and the fire happy John.
"Is this a good idea?" Rogue hissed as the flame took the shape of a dancing Logan.
"Don't vorry about it. He knows vhat he's doing," Kurt answered, mirthfully cracking up at the now tap dancing Logan.
"Ah don't think that Logan will appreciate you getting him the lighters," Rogue replied, her eyes shooting daggers at Bobby and Kurt.
"Eh. What you gonna do?" Bobby shrugged.
"Besides if ve didn't get them for him then he would have," Kurt added, gesturing towards the giggling John.
"Fine. But Ah reserve the right to say Ah told you so when Logan finds out about this."
"Okay but its not happening. It's a game they play. Every weekend John buys lighters. Logan then tries to confiscate the lighters before anything happens. It's fun to watch."
"Still, its not a good idea for John to be around fire," Rogue replied with a blistering glare. Kurt and Bobby winced in imaginary pain.
"Maybe. But he always manages to make Creed's life miserable for a veek if he gets them. So its in our best interest to let him have the lighters," Kurt replied.
"One of these days we can only hope that John sets Creed on fire," Bobby injected a dreamy look on his face.
"One day," Kurt answered, the same look settling upon his features. Lance snorted at the thought of Creed running around; set ablaze. Rogue couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.
"Still, is it wise for him to use his powers so blatantly in public?" Rogue asked, her gaze on the now break dancing Logan and the brand new opera helmet that was attached to Professor Xavier.
Bobby considered the thought for a moment before shrugging. "Dunno."
"Look at it this way. If John can practice his skills here, then he won't burn us in the Danger Room," Kurt replied, tears running down his cheeks from laughing so hard. At this time Kitty arrived at the table, carrying several plates of food. Her gaze fell upon the three newcomers and her eyes narrowed. She had not forgotten about the earlier events in the day.
"Hello Kätzchen," Kurt said his eyes on the steaming plates filled with food. Kitty set the food down as far away from him as she could.
"Hello," Kitty replied in a cold tone. Even Bobby shivered at the lack of warmth in her voice. "What are you doing here?"
"We were in the mall and saw Lance and Rogue sitting. We'd thought we'd stop by and say hi."
"For some reason I don't believe that," Kitty replied, her gaze still making the rest of the table uncomfortable.
"You don't?" Bobby asked, paling slightly.
"Nope. In fact I'll tell you what I believe. You both knew that we were going out. Being your normal selves, you decided to come here and spy on us. Just in case an opportunity presented itself to cause more mischief."
"Don't forget blackmail!" John cheerily added with his eyes still glued to his dancing fire people. Kitty's gaze darkened as Lance joined in at glaring at the two boys. Bobby and Kurt gulped at the stares and slowly slid away from the deadly glares. Turning to look at each other they locked eyes.
"Kurt, I'm hungry," Bobby declared.
"Me too." With that the two boys scampered away, heading over towards the many restaurants. Rogue stifled a laugh at the site of the pranksters being sent their way. Kitty sighed contently as she began to dish out the food between the remaining four teens at the table.
"Serves them right," Kitty huffed as she continued doling out food.
"No argument here," Lance replied as he began to eat. As Kitty placed a plate of food in front of Rogue, the southerner found herself digging in, surprised at the signs of hunger she was exhibiting. John quickly thanked Kitty for the food before stuffing his face. The table was quiet as the four began to eat. Even the arrival of Bobby and Kurt didn't disrupt the peace that had settled over the table.
The duo sat down, not disrupting anyone (a first), and began to eat the food they had acquired. Kurt began gobbling up his food quicker than humanly possible and Bobby turned his body to protect his food from his ravenous friend.
"Please?" Kurt asked, his eyes fixed on Bobby's still fairly full plate.
"I asked if you wanted anymore, you said no. Your problem," Bobby replied as he pushed his plate further from Kurt's grasp.
"But I'm still hungry," Kurt whined, swiping at the food. Bobby frowned at his buddy.
"Go bug Kitty." Kurt's gaze immediately switched from Bobby's plate to Kitty's. To top it off, Kitty had more food than Bobby did!
"Oh Kätzchen!"
"No way Kurt," Kitty replied, never looking up from her food.
"Fine. Let me die from starvation then!" Kurt grumped as he crossed his arms and settled for looking slightly angry. Kitty giggled at Kurt's antics.
"You won't die. Besides my stuff is all vegetarian and I know you don't like that."
"Better than starving," Kurt huffed, still looking upset. Rogue stifled a laugh. She had pretty much finished with her food and there was still a good portion left.
"Here Kurt, Ah'm finished," Rogue said as she pushed her plate towards her friend. Kurt looked at her like she had just told him that Creed had quit.
"Really?" Rogue nodded. Whooping, Kurt dug in to the food, gobbling up the remains of Rogue's plate. Devouring the contents of the plate, Kurt pushed the empty dish aside. Kurt let out a sigh of contentment. Kitty began to poke at her food, her head lost in the clouds and her mouth creasing into a frown.
"What's on your mind Kitty?" Lance asked.
"Oh nothing."
Lance frowned at her response. "I know you my dear. Something is bothering you. So spill it."
"Alright. I was just thinking about Jean. She ran past me after the Danger Room session crying. I was wondering why." Rogue froze. She had seen what had happened to Jean, she still was concerned about the alleged accident.
"No idea," Lance answered as he looked down at the rest of the group, wondering if they knew the reason for Jean's fit.
"Don't look at us like that! We didn't do anything!" Bobby cried out as Lance's gaze landed on him.
"Ja, besides ve never tamper with the Danger Room. Vell, unless Creed is in it," Kurt continued, defending himself and his partner in crime. John said nothing, as he was involved with his lighter again.
"Ah saw what happened," Rogue softly said. Everyone at the table, minus John, looked over at Rogue, silently urging her to continue.
"It was weird. Everybody but Jean had left the Danger Room. Then one of the big saw shooter things came out of the wall without making any noise. The saw was gonna hit Jean. It would have cut her in two. She never knew that it was coming. Fortunately, Scott saw it and was able to deflect it. It imbedded itself halfway into the wall. Jean just stood looking at it for a moment before running out of the room sobbing."
"What did Professor Xavier say?" Lance questioned, his curiosity aroused by Rogue's tale.
"He said that it was an accident. Malfunction in the system."
"Malfunction? But the Danger Room has hundreds of security checks to prevent that," Bobby said, looking concerned.
"Ah know. But the Professor knows more about the system than we do. Ah guess we'll just have to believe him," Rogue replied. Silence fell over the table; even John had fallen silent, having heard the end of the conversation. Kitty continued to poke at her food, looking very disturbed.
"I wonder," she muttered to herself, her gaze on her food. Rogue had heard her statement and her curiosity had been awakened. It wasn't like Kitty to mutter under her breath.
"Wonder what?"
Kitty looked up and saw that Rogue was expecting an answer.
"Oh. Just some stories I heard…" Kitty was cut off by Lance irritably snapping at her.
"Don't start that again Kitty. They're just rumors. Nothing more."
"They may be rumors but I think that there might be some truth to them!" Kitty snapped back. Rogue was completely lost in the dispute.
"What rumors?"
"She wants to know."
"Fine! Tell her. But I'm telling you, and you too Rogue, that this is a bunch of bull. Nothing more." Rogue stared at Kitty with interest, as did the rest of the table.
"Well I don't know when the rumors started, long before I arrived at the Institute. Things were happening at the mansion, things that couldn't be explained. Odd noises, things vanishing, accidents happening. Strange voices calling out. No one could ever figure out what was behind the unexplained events, not even the Professor. Seems that something haunts the mansion, a ghost. It roams the house, watching us. It makes things happen, some good, some bad, all for its own amusement."
"You're telling me that the mansion has a ghost roaming around?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
"Kitty, Ah think you've flipped," Rogue scoffed as Lance snorted in agreement.
"I haven't. Ask anyone at the mansion. They'll tell you about it. There is something that lives in the Institute. How else do you explain what happened in the Danger Room today?"
"Kitty, ghosts don't exist. It's impossible."
"And its impossible for someone to control fire, and shape it to his every whim but that's what John's doing."
"Wait a second. A ghost is in the mansion?" Bobby asked frowning. Kitty nodded. "Any proof? Besides coincidence?"
"Yeah. If he's in a good mood you can get Mr. Creed to talk about it. He claims to have seen it! And little Jamie! He stays at home all day. I remember him telling me that he talked to a nice man he never saw. Who else could he have talked to?"
"You telling me that Jamie and Creed have both had interactions with this so-called ghost?" Bobby questioned, his eyebrow raised.
"Exactly."
"Kitty, that's not something you can believe. Jamie makes things up all the time, you can't trust him. Remember the time that he told us that the Professor was actually an alien in a mechanic suit?" Lance threw in.
"Of course I remember. He also accused Kurt of being a gremlin."
"He did vhat!" Kurt exclaimed. "Vhat's a gremlin?"
"My point is that there is something in the Institute and it's responsible for what happened today. And if you see anything unusual or hear anything then it's the ghost."
"Kitty, I have a question," John spoke up, the first time since Kitty began her rant.
"What John?"
"Do ghosts burn?"