UnknownSource – I'm glad you like John. I love John, my beta loves John, everyone loves John. I hope the rest of the story continues to meet your expectations.
Sage – Read and find out.
Terminatrix T-X – Will Jean pay? This chapter holds the answers to your question. Thanks for the extra points for the Jean bashing.
Winter Fire – Evil chapter, evil Phantom, evil prank, and, most importantly, evil author. Evil runs through the chapter and the story.
Crazed Maniac 02 – I agree with your opinion of the book. Definitely weird. And definitely lacks the craziness and amusement generated by Kurt, Bobby, and John.
Ishandahalf – Wouldn't you get all of the old guy's estate once he died? Wouldn't a divorce get half? I'm guessing. So the prank was hilarious and priceless but no gold star? Somehow I don't think I've achieved a great status with the joke now. I'm depressed.
Griffengoalie – Yeah, I was expecting it. Stupid bums never win. I guess there was a bright spot in the fact the Yankees got whipped by the Marlins (take that spiffy!). More pranks? I'll do my best to accommodate but the good ones are so difficult to think of. I'll see what I can do though.
Roguehobbit – You don't have a definite picture of the Phantom because you're not supposed to. The last chapter was deliberately written so that his face was not revealed to the reader, only to Rogue.
Thanks to spiffythefaery for beta reading this and many more stories that revolve around my mind. Also look out for her story coming soon that features the antics of Kurt, Bobby, and John in an attempt to wreak havoc on some romantic advances made by Remy.
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"Hold your tongue or
he will burn you with the
heat of his eyes . . ."
-Madame Giry
"Scott," Jean Grey called her boyfriend, shaking him slightly. Scott did not respond, choosing to turn over in his attempt to stay asleep.
"Scott, wake up," Jean tried again, this time shaking him more violently. Scott mumbled something into his pillow, still asleep.
"Scott, baby, I need you," Jean whispered into his ear, hoping that her word choice would be enough to wake her sleeping beau. It produced the same results as her other attempts, Scott remained asleep. Jean was stumped. She was already in a fix and she needed Scott to help her but he couldn't if he was asleep.
"Scott Summers, if you don't wake up right now then I'm going to dump you!" Jean cried out, her voice louder than she intended. Scott, however, snapped into a sitting position, attentive and focused.
"I'm up! I'm up!" Scott practically shouted in his defense, his goggled eyes turning towards Jean. Relief flowed through the red head, thankful that she could always count on Scott. Jean threw herself forward into an embrace with the still sleepy Scott.
"What's going on?" Scott asked, his comment interrupted by a yawn. Jean pulled back so she could look at Scott with unshed tears glistening in her eyes.
"Oh Scott, it's horrible. Horrible!"
"Horrible? Jean what's wrong?" Scott asked, quite confused as to what was going on.
"They took everything!" Jean sobbed into Scott's chest.
"They? Everything?" Scott repeat, still having no idea as to what was occurring. Pulling Jean away from him, Scott looked at her in the eye.
"Jean, what's going on?"
"I woke up today and I went to look at that picture of you I keep by my bed. But it wasn't there. None of my pictures with you were there! Every present you've bought for me was gone. Even our love letters! Those damn rats stole them!" Jean squealed. Scott's face darkened. There was no need to explain who the "damn rats" were.
"What do they want?"
"Money, the slimy bastards want money. And if I don't pay up then they're going to destroy everything. And if I tell Professor Xavier or any of the adults then they will destroy everything." Scott nodded in understanding, his sharp mind piercing through the shroud of sleep.
"How much do they want?"
"One thousand, two hundred seventy five dollars."
"Can you afford to pay it?" Jean pulled further back from Scott in shock.
"Pay them? Are you insane? Do you realize what will happen if I pay them? They'll keep doing it and keep getting money!"
"I know that Jean. My question is do you have enough to pay them? Do they believe that you can afford to pay them?" Jean paused for a moment, taking time to contemplate her answer.
"I think so. Why else would they steal everything and demand a ransom unless they expected for me to pay?" Scott nodded.
"Okay. They've obviously hidden everything. So in order to get the stuff back without having you pay we're going to have to steal everything. But the mansion is a big place and it will take a long time to search. Understand so far?"
"Not really."
Scott sighed into his hand. "Okay. You need to go to them and pretend that you are going to pay up. Tell them that you're going to give them cash but you can't pull that much from the bank at once. You're going to need a few days. Keep them with you at all times. While you do that I'll get Lance and Kitty to help me search the mansion for your things. They'll sympathize with you, and Kitty will be able to help us search the most difficult places. If you give us enough time we'll find everything and get it back to you. Okay?"
Jean grinned as she threw her arms around Scott, embracing him warmly.
"I knew you'd come up with something to get me out of this." Scott returned the embrace for a few moments before pulling away.
"We need to utilize every moment we have. That means I need to go wake up Lance and Kitty and start searching right now. You go distract them."
Jean nodded as she pecked Scott's cheek.
"I'm on it!"
***
"So you think she went to Scott?"
"Of course she woke him up and he is going to wake up Lance and Kitty," Bobby replied with a snort as he lay along the couch.
"They vill attempt to find Jean's goods but they von't find them." John nodded excitedly.
"Can I burn the stuff?" Kurt and Bobby exchanged glances before turning to look at John.
"Ve have been through this John…"
"No burning unless she doesn't pay or they attempt to get the stuff."
"Okay." John paused for a moment as he thought these circumstances over. "So when they go to liberate Jean's stuff then I can burn it?"
"Yes."
John nodded and rubbed his hands together in delight. "Excellent."
"That being said, I think we need to move on and set our safari for tomorrow night. Where do we stand Kurt?"
"Ve need a flashlight…"
"Flashlight instead of a lighter! No way!" John interjected. Kurt shrugged.
"Okay, no flashlight. Ve need some vater guns and some crazy glue. Other than that we're set." Bobby nodded briskly and turned to face John.
"They've probably started searching now so we had best get scarce. Be ready just in case they actually stumble upon everything." John grinned as he flicked open lighter, letting the flame bounce in the air.
"No problem mate.
***
"They did what?" Kitty shrieked at Scott, spittle flying from her mouth. Lance frowned as he contemplated about what he had just been told.
Scott had awoken both Lance and Kitty, telling them that he needed their help. Lance had been confused as to what Scott needed, and why he would only require the help of him and Kitty. Especially considering that Kitty had been a nervous wreck the night before. With Rogue's disappearance, she had spent countless hours worrying about the fate of her friend. Lance was forced to remain with her until she fell asleep at four in the morning in order to sooth her fears.
Needless to say, Lance hadn't gotten much sleep when Scott had come to him. Now that he had heard what had been done, he was wide awake. Lance knew what he would do to the pranksters if Kitty had been the target of this prank and he knew that if Jean paid then she would be next. Lance was determined to make sure that such a travesty didn't happen to his girl.
"Where do we look first?" Lance asked, shooting a glance at the steaming Kitty. Reaching out, Lance placed his hand on her shoulder, hoping to calm her down. His touch did no such thing. Kitty remained furious, her face beet red from screaming.
"We probably should split up and cover more ground. I suggest that we search their rooms first."
Lance frowned and shook his head. "They're too smart to hide anything in there. They'd find somewhere else, more hidden, for everything." Scott paused for a moment before nodding his head in agreement.
"You're right. They'd probably hide in somewhere we would never suspect like the Danger Room or Cerebro."
"No way. The professor goes in Cerebro everyday and Logan is in the Danger Room all the time. The stuff would be found quickly and they couldn't exact a ransom from Jean."
"What about hiding it with the other students?" Lance asked, running through the possibilities of where Jean's possessions may be hidden. Scott frowned at the idea of more students being in on the plan.
"Then they would have to share the ransom with whoever was hiding it. If that was the case then don't you think the person would have been present with them when they issued their demands?" Scott answered.
"Unless they didn't want us to know where they had hidden everything," Lance retorted. "If the person was present then we would know where to look. With the person absent then we have no idea who is their accomplice."
Kitty shook her head vehemently. "No, no, no. Listen to me. They don't work with others. They always do everything together and with nobody else. They wouldn't share the spoils and they wouldn't bring anyone else in on it."
"Then where else could they have hidden the stuff?" Scott replied with a small glare.
"How about the teachers' rooms?" Kitty snapped in reply, not pleased with the glare.
"Creed wouldn't let them keep anything in his room and neither would Logan. They would be able to tell if anyone had been in their room's and would find anything hidden."
"Ms. Darkholme is Kurt's mom but she would never stand for something like this. She generally tends to put a stop to his mischief when she finds out about it anyway, so she's not a good bet."
"Mr. McCoy's room is too cluttered to get in there and move anything without being able to walk on the ceiling or walls. They couldn't get into there."
"Ororo's room is pretty big and doesn't have much in it. They could have easily gotten in there and hidden everything," Lance said but Scott shook his head in disagreement.
"No. She is extremely claustrophobic and would notice anything else in her room that would take up a fair amount of space, which Jean's things would." Kitty frowned as Lance nodded.
"What about Remy?" Kitty suggested. Lance and Scott's face brightened.
"He's big on pranks and generally helps them out. If they've been planning this for a while then there is a good chance that either he was in on it or he knew about it," Scott said excitedly. It appeared that they had stumbled upon their first big break in their search for Jean's missing items.
"Let's go!" The three took off down the halls, heading towards Remy's room. They ran as fast as they could down the corridor. They skidded to a halt when they reached Remy's room.
Taped to the door was an envelope with their names sloppily slapped across the front. Their intervention had been expected by the pranksters. Frowning, Scott reached up and grabbed the envelope off the door. He hastily ripped the wrapping open and extracted a note. He took a few moments to read it to himself before reading it out loud.
"Here's what it says; 'Dear Goggle Eye, Rocky, and Valley Girl, we expected that Jean would turn to you for aid. Therefore we anticipated ways to prevent you from interfering. However, rather than cut you off completely we decided to give you a sporting chance. Of course Jean didn't listen to us when we mentioned a series of clues leading to the location of her possessions. If you want to give her a way out of paying then you had best work fast and slap on your thinking caps. The clue is: You may be anywhere in the world, near or far, but you are never more than a thought away.'" Scott looked up as he finished the clue.
"Never more than a thought away?" Kitty said out loud as she tried to think of the answer to the riddle.
A light went on in Lance's head as he contemplated the riddle. "Cerebro!"
With the answer being found, Scott and Lance grabbed on to Kitty as she sank through the floor towards the massive machine, in search for more clues.
***
Jean allowed herself a sly smile as she walked down the luxurious stairwell towards the living room. She knew that Scott would already be searching for her things by now and that it was only a matter of time before everything was back in her possession.
All she had to do was go downstairs and tell the terrible trio that she was going to get them their money as soon as she could. She would just tell them that she needed time. Time for Scott to find everything. Time until they would be in for a world of hurt. Letting herself indulge in these thoughts, Jean had her revelry interrupted by recognizable laughter coming from the living room, those belonging to the three people responsible for this.
Frowning at the sounds of their jubilation, Jean marched into the living room, forcing a look of defeat on her face. Bobby and Kurt still remained in the chairs that they had been in earlier and John was now lying on the couch, playing with a small flame. Ordinarily Jean would chastise him for such an act but she needed to be meek and docile at the moment if she was going to trick them.
Bobby looked up at her entrance, a grin gracing his features. Jean couldn't wait to wipe that smirk off of his face. She would enjoy that.
"Jean, to what do we owe this pleasure?" Bobby asked, his grin growing slightly. Jean scowled at Bobby's smug reply to her presence and sighed in defeat.
"I can't believe you stole my things," Jean said with a slight sob, hoping to play at their heart strings.
"That von't vork my dear. It would be best if you simply paid us. That is if you ever vant to see your things again."
"I know that," Jean snapped at the trio. Bobby and John chuckled lightly while Kurt leapt to his feet.
"Then vhere is the money fraulien?" Kurt asked as he approached her. The red head took a few steps backward in order to increase the distance between her and Kurt.
"I came to talk to you about that."
"We are not going to negotiate the price. We want one thousand, two hundred seventy five dollars," Bobby said from his chair. Jean shook her head.
"No negotiation. I understand that. I simply wanted to tell you that I am going to pay you; just that it's going to take me a while to get it all."
"Take a vhile?"
Jean nodded vehemently. "Yes. You see I can only withdraw so much money per day, three hundred dollars to be exact. So I need time in order to withdraw the amount you want."
"Why not go into the bank and withdraw the funds?"
"Because they are going to be suspicious if I withdraw over a thousand dollars in cash. Besides I don't think they carry that much anyway." Kurt nodded thoughtfully and turned so that he could look at Bobby. Bobby moved his head slightly.
"Why not write a check?" Bobby asked as he turned his attention back onto Jean.
"I don't have a checking account. Only a savings account." Bobby slowly rose from his seat and approached Jean.
"I see. We anticipated this problem and took the necessary measures to circumvent such a dilemma." Jean was flabbergasted. If Bobby was telling the truth then Scott wouldn't have time to search for her things.
"Wh – What do you mean?"
Kurt popped next to Jean, clutching a small slip of paper. "Ve obtained this. A transfer of funds. You simply sign it and ve do the rest."
"The rest?"
"Yes. We have kindly filled out everything on the slip besides your signature. Once you sign the paper Kurt will take it to the bank and drop it off. Then the bank takes the money from your account and places it in ours," Bobby explained as if Jean was a child. Jean looked at the slip of paper that Kurt had thrust into her hands with a horrified expression.
If she signed the paper then she would lose the money. If she didn't sign the paper then she would lose everything that Scott had given her over the past two years. Either way she was going to have to make a choice and do it soon. Time had run out for Jean Grey and she needed to make a decision.
***
"We've being following clues for half an hour already! This is ridiculous!" Kitty exclaimed as she looked down on the latest clue left by the trio.
"I agree. Can't we just beat the information out of them?" Lance chimed in, rubbing his head in frustration. Scott shook his head.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to catch and get anything from them? Things go faster this way," the red haired boy replied as he tried to think of an answer to the latest riddle.
"Come on, this one doesn't make sense," Scott said, his voice thick with frustration.
"'I am a man, a mutant, or an animal depending on your point of view.'" Lance said as he read the clue once more.
"That could be Creed or Logan."
"Or Mr. McCoy."
"Bobby likes Mr. McCoy. I doubt he would ever refer to him as an animal. But Creed and Logan definitely meet the criteria. So where do we go?"
"Maybe we go to both? You know half the answer at Logan's room and the other half at Creed's?" Kitty suggested. It wasn't much to go on but it was better than nothing. Scott and Lance locked eyes for a moment before shrugging.
"I guess so. You two go to Logan's room. I'll go to Creed's."
***
Kitty and Lance rose through the floor, passing through the wood panels as if they were ghosts. The couple melted out of the floor and looked at the canary yellow envelope slapped onto Logan's door. They exchanged glances as they reached for their target. However the door swung open, pulling the envelope from beyond their grasps. Instead of clutching the clue they were looking at Logan's small, black, beady eyes.
"Logan – uh - hi," Kitty tried as she slid forward to grab the paper. Logan's hand slammed down on the envelope as he leered at the two.
"Half-Pint. Rocky. Care to tell me what the two of you are doing up so early? And why you're causing so much noise?"
The two teens exchanged a glance and sighed simultaneously.
"We're trying to find something."
Logan said nothing, merely cocking his eyebrow as an indication for them to continue.
"Scott woke us up this morning asking for our help. Apparently Kurt, Bobby, and John had taken something from Jean..." Kitty's statement was cut off as Logan slammed the door shut. From behind the oak door Kitty heard Logan mumble that it was too early to deal with those three.
Kitty shot Lance a confused look. Lance shrugged in response. He wished he could just shut his door whenever the trio had done something. Lance snatched the envelope and tore it open. He shook the envelope and one paper fluttered out.
"'Go back to where this all began,'" Lance read. Kitty looked at him blankly.
"Where it all began? Remy's room?"
"I don't think so. Maybe the note on Creed's room will provide more answers." Fortunately the two did not have to go running to Creed's room since Scott rounded the corner at full speed.
"It said to search below and above."
"Ours said go back to where it all began. And now if we add search below and above that gives us…"
"Nothing. We're still missing a piece."
"How right you are," Raven Darkholme said as she sauntered into the hallway, clutching a small piece of paper between her long, blue fingers. "I found this hanging on Hank's door. I read it and wondered just what was going on."
"What does it say Ms. Darkholme?" Kitty asked with pleading eyes.
"It says 'I illuminate rooms without being seen. I hide above you yet let you see. Find me and that which has been taken will be yours. If you can find the right me,'" Raven recited to the blank faces of the search party. They took a few moments to think of the answer but ultimately came up with nothing.
"The chandelier. Either the one in Jean's room or the one below it. That's what they mean," Raven supplied the answer.
"Jean's room? How did you know?"
Raven shrugged. "I heard Jean bellowing about not wanting to give away money for getting her things back. It wasn't hard to put two and two together."
"Does Jean have a chandelier in her room?" Kitty asked.
"Yes," Scott answered immediately.
"Makes sense. Why would we bother to look in Jean's room? Brilliant place to hide everything actually," Lance remarked as the group began to take off towards Jean's room. When they arrived at their destination they found that they weren't alone. The door to the room was flung open and inside Jean was looking on aghast as flames rose from John's lighter, dangerously close to the chandelier.
"This is your last chance Jean! Pay up or everything goes up in smoke!" Bobby threatened. The teens rushed in as Raven settled for watching the unfolding action from the doorway. A growl behind her signified the arrival of Creed. The massive mutant made to go into the room but was stopped by Raven's arm.
"I want to see how they resolve it."
Creed growled at her but heeded her request. Inside chaos was breaking loose.
"John, put the flame down!" Scott ordered.
"No! I want to burn things!" John shouted in reply. The flames inched closer to the chandelier and the items that had been hidden within its bowl-shaped body. Lance took a few steps towards John, ready to jump him in necessary. Kurt took a few steps towards Kitty, ready to use her as a means to prevent Lance from taking John.
"This is your last chance Jean!" Bobby cried. Jean looked up at the flames horrified before turning an ice cold gaze onto Bobby.
"You wouldn't dare," she hissed. Bobby frowned.
"Your choice. John!" Bobby ordered. The command was more than enough. The fire descended onto the chandelier, the contents beginning to burn. Jean and Kitty screamed in horror as Lance leapt at John. The impact between the two knocked John off his feet and caused him to lose control of his fire.
The flames continued to burn the contents of the chandelier but also leapt on to the rope cord suspending it from the ceiling. The fire quickly consumed the rope and with nothing left to hold it up, the chandelier fell to the ground. The glass structure shattered into myriad pieces, shards flying everywhere. Jean immediately erected a shield around the group out of instinct. The contents of the broken chandelier spilled onto the carpet, still burning. The flames rubbed against the rug, eating away at the thick material. Before the carpet could actually catch fire, a beam of ice covered the floor of the room, smothering the fire and causing the conflagration to die out.
The end result was a broken chandelier, a myriad of glass shards, a burnt carpet, and many destroyed personal items of Jean's. The amount of cleaning that would be needed to rectify this incident would be immense. Creed knew this. Stalking into the room he attracted everyone's attention with a roar.
"I've had it with all of you! Always destroying things! Always making messes! I'm not going to take it anymore. We'll see how you like it when you have to clean up after yourselves!" Creed bellowed. Bobby began to speak up but Creed whirled about on him, delivering a harsh glare at the youth.
"Don't say a word brat! You've been causing mischief ever since you arrived here. Using your powers for fun! Wasting your talents. You all could do something useful but you insist on squandering your talents! And I'm not the only one who watches this and disapproves! What do you think he thinks?"
"Who Mr. Creed?" Kitty squeaked out. The noise attracted Creed's attention and he whirled around and focused on her.
"Who do you think? The ghost of the mansion! The Phantom of the Institute! He watches everything that goes on here and he doesn't like what he sees!"
"The ghost isn't real," Lance scoffed under his breath. Creed heard the comment and turned to face him.
"Oh, he's real alright. He exists."
"Then what does he look like?" Lance returned, trying to not be intimidated with the snarling face of Creed only inches from his own.
"His eyes glow in darkness, a bright spot surrounded by black. They burn down to your soul and you can do nothing but what he wants. His glare is cold and sends shivers down your spine. His…"
"Victor!" Raven snapped at Creed, shutting him up. She walked over to him and unleashed a cold glare.
"I've had enough with you trying to scare everyone. Now stop it!" Raven snarled as she turned to face the students.
"You all go downstairs and report to the Danger Room. Logan should have session for you now." One-by-one the students trudged out of the room, casting awkward glances at Creed and Raven. They ignored the glances, choosing to look at the broken chandelier. When the last student had left and gone down the stairs, Raven turned to face Creed.
"What the hell were you thinking?"
"What are you yapping about?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about Victor. Talking about him. Telling them what he looks like!"
"So what? They know the story already."
"A story is far different than a description of his person! You should know that!"
"So I told them a little bit. What's the big deal?" Raven's glare looked as if it could bore a hole through Creed's thick skull at that moment.
"If you speak of what you know, you'll find too late that silence is wise. Do you wish his wrath?"
Creed shrugged. "What's he going to do to me?"
"I don't think you want to find out," Raven replied.
As her voice fell silent a large panel in the wall across from the doorway slid open to reveal the Phantom and Rogue. The girl looked to be in a trance and walked sloppily. The Phantom guided her along with his hand, gently nudging her in the right direction. They were about to pass but the Phantom paused briefly, his burning gaze falling upon Creed. Even though his face was not seen it was apparent that he had heard what the janitor had said. He was not pleased.
The Phantom and Rogue walked off towards her room, disappearing behind the oak door. Raven shot a victorious smile in Creed's direction.
"Hold your tongue from now on."
Her piece said Raven slipped after the Phantom, disappearing behind the door to Rogue's room. Creed grumbled to himself, fear briefly sweeping across his features as he turned into Jean's room and began to clean up.
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