I'd like to say first that I'm glad Ripdos A.K.A The Bad Ash and I are on good terms again and I'm sorry we were ever not.
Secondly, I'm sorry this took so long. I have some things going on right now and it's hard to focus on this.
This chappie is dedicated to Shadow-Kitty-Cat! Thanks for all the reviews!
--
Two days later...
5AM...
TFSC HQ... which is secretly Alex's room, but forget I said that...
"Alright, everyone. The time has come." Alex announced. "We've had to lay low ever since we got caught the other day, but now it is the time for action once again!"
Tabby, Rahne, Jamie, and John cheered.
"What is the plan, Oh Great Leader?" John asked.
"My master plan is something powerful!" He answered. "It will disrupt their way of thinking, throw off their balance, and create mass chaos! We will..." Alex paused for dramatic effect.
-
Bobby groaned as he sat up, grabbing his head as a major pain shot threw it. "What happened?" he asked no one in particular. Looking around, he saw that he was in the bar that was attached to the spa.
"You four came in here a couple of days ago, passed out on the floor after drinking too much, and never woke up." The bartender explained.
"And you just left us here?" Iceman asked, shocked.
The man shrugged. "Lots of first-timers pass out after a few shots of 'the specialty'. We figured you'd come to eventually."
"I would report you to the police," Bobby started, "but I'd get in trouble, too, so I won't." He poked Jubilee, but she didn't move. "Got any more of that stuff?"
-
"Steal their sleeves!" Alex explained.
Everyone (even Stephie, Georgie, and Carl) gasped.
"That's brilliant!"
"Yes, I know!" The blonde boy replied, rubbing his hands together evilly. "X23, I'm putting you in charge of collecting the ones the other members steal."
X23 nodded.
"Move out, team!"
-
"How's that one taste?" Logan asked.
"Better than #2, but not as good as #6." Ororo answered. She and Logan had split up from the others and gone on something like a wine tasting tour, but with foo-foo drinks instead of wine.
Logan took the glass from her and drank some. "I like that one. What is it? Pineapple?"
Ororo nodded. "I think so. Let's try this one over here. It's an orange-colada."
"Okay." Wolverine followed her over to a new table.
"How do you think the children are fairing?" She asked as the attendant poured them some of the drink.
"Probably okay." He answered. "There's a chance they locked Cyke and Jeannie up and burnt the mansion down, but I think they have a pretty good handle on the situation."
Storm made a face. "Please do not share morbid thoughts like that with me, Logan. It only makes me worry more."
"You could always call them, ya know." Logan stated.
"That's true." Ororo replied. "In fact, I think I will."
-
"Hello?" Jean said, answering the phone. "Oh, hi, Ororo. How is your trip?" Pause. "That's good. No, everything's been pretty quiet these last few days."
"A little too quiet..." Scott muttered, turning the page of his newspaper.
-Oh, stop being so cynical.- Jean's voice said in his head.
"Yeah, okay. You, too. Talk to you later. Bye." The redhead hung up the phone.
-You were thinking it, too.- Scott argued through their link.
Jean sighed. –Well... It has been really quiet. Nothing has happened for two days. I can't help but be nervous.-
"What's the worst that could happen?" Scott asked, aloud.
-
Kitty giggled. "Kurt!" She laughed as she ran through the hallway after the blue elf. "Like give my brush back!"
"Give vhat back, Katzechen?" Kurt asked, turning a corner.
Kitty leaped out and tackled him to the ground.
"Give it back..." She said in a patient tone.
"You'd have to torture me first." He smirked.
"Ugh." Evan said as he stepped over them to get by. "Get a room, you two."
Kurt blushed purple and Kitty started laughing, rolling off of him.
"You're going to get me into a lot of trouble vhen Logan gets back, aren't you?" Kurt groaned.
She smiled, reached into his pocket, took her brush out, and stood up. Winking, she turned and left the still-violet elf on the floor.
-
Warren came into the living room. Scott and Jean were on the couch, talking; Remy and Rogue were watching TV; and Wanda and Todd were on the floor, playing chess.
"Betsy and I are going out to eat. Anyone else care to join us?" The blonde asked.
"Okay." Jean replied.
Rogue nodded. "Sure. That sounds good. Ah'm starving."
"I'm in." Scott added.
"Same here." Remy said.
"How about you two?" Warren asked Wanda and Toad.
Todd shook his head 'no'.
"We're staying here." Wanda stated.
"Are you sure?" Scott asked. "You two haven't left the house in days."
"We're sure." Wanda replied.
Shrugging, Angel led the others out of the room.
"When are you going to give up?" Todd asked, moving his knight.
"I won't. It's too dangerous. You just got out of the hospital. If you get hurt again while you're still weak, you could die." She moved her pawn up to his king. "Check."
"I could die sitting here, too. You never know what's going to happen." He took her pawn with his queen.
"But it's not as likely. You haven't so much as stubbed your toe since we've been here." The Scarlet Witch replied, moving her bishop. "Check."
He took her bishop. "But what's life without taking risks?"
Wanda didn't respond, but silently moved her queen to take his knight.
He moved his queen next to her now defenseless king. "Checkmate." Todd stated, standing up. "Think about it, yo." He left the room.
-
"Okay," Jamie said, coming out of Kitty and Rogue's room with a bunch of cloth and his scissors. "No more sleeves in that room."
"No more in Kurt and Evan's either." Rahne announced. "Let's go see X23."
-
"Hey, Speedy!" Tabby said, coming up behind him.
Jumping, Pietro turned around, clutching his chest. "Don't-do-that!"
She laughed and opened the hall closet. "Sorry. It was too tempting. I couldn't resist." She pulled out a coat and started to cut the sleeves off.
He rolled his eyes.
"No way!" They heard Kitty's voice say. "Then what happened?"
Giving each other panicked looks, Pietro and Tabby dove into the closet and shut the door.
They put their ears on the door, listening. When her footsteps had left the hall, they sighed in relief. Tabby looked at the door.
"Uh oh." she said.
"What-do-you-mean-uh-oh?" Pietro asked, worried.
"No door knob. Door's automatic. Only opens from the outside."
"What? Lemme-try!" Pietro said, pushing her out of the way. He pushed on it, but it didn't budge. "Well,-blast-us-out!"
"I can't." Tabby said. "It's a metal door. I could do it, but we'd get caught in the explosion."
"So-we're-stuck-here?"
"Yup." The blonde girl answered.
-
Lance looked around the mansion quietly. No one was around. Perfect. He silently stuck his false-mustache on his face and crept down the stairs. He slipped through the door and went on his way.
-
X23 took the sleeves from Jamie and Rahne.
"That's everyone." Alex announced.
"No," X23 replied. "Tabitha and Pietro aren't here."
Jamie, Rahne, X23, and Alex looked at each other, seemingly all asking the same question with their eyes.
"I don't think so, guys." Jamie answered. "Pietro wasn't there when we were spying on you girls. He wouldn't know unless one of us told him and I don't think he's particularly close to any of us."
Alex and the girls nodded. "I guess you're right, little dude."
"What are we talking about, mate? I think I got a little lost." John stated.
"Pietro and Tabby are missing." Alex responded.
"Oh my gosh!" Pyro exclaimed, starting to run around the room. "Call 9-1-1! Call 9-1-1!"
"Chill out, man!" Havok yelled. "I'm sure they're fine."
"Oh." the red headed boy stopped running. "In that case..." He turned on the TV and sat down in front of it.
Shaking her head, X23 started to count the sleeves in her hands.
-
Sam and Amanda sat in the kitchen, wondering what they should do next.
"We could play checkers?" Amanda suggested.
"Naw." Sam shook his head. "We could go swimmin'?"
"No." Amanda said. "How about volleyball?"
Sam shook his head.
The TV suddenly blared a commercial. "ARE YOU BORED? DO YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN SIT IN A KITCHEN WITH YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER? WHY NOT COME DOWN TO THE WIND CHAPEL? FOR ONLY 19.95 YOU COULD BECOME AN OFFICIAL MINISTER FOR THE CHURCH OF LOVE AND WE GAURANTEE YOU WON'T BE BORED FOR A GOOD THREE DAYS OR YOUR MONEY BACK! LOCATED IN SENIC NEW JERSEY! COME SEE US!"
Sam looked at Amanda. "Convenient."
She nodded. "Very. Wanna go? I always wanted to be able to marry people..."
"Sure. Why not?" The blonde replied. "Ah'm gonna go pack a bag."
-
"So..." Jean started as the three couples sat down at the fancy restaurant Warren had insisted on going to. "How long have you two been seeing each other?"
"About six months." The blonde man answered.
"How about you?" Betsy asked.
"Jean and I have been together for a little over a year now." Scott said.
"And you two?" The lavender-haired telepath wondered, turning toward Rogue and Remy.
"About four days." Rogue said, half-laughing.
Betsy and Jean laughed a little, too, leaving the poor boys to wonder what was so funny.
"How did you and Warren meet?" Jean asked after a moment.
"Well, I was working as a cabaret singer in New York City..." Betsy started.
"And I came in, she took one look at me, and fell instantly in love." Warren interrupted.
"Something like that..." She replied, rolling her eyes. "It was more like, he waited outside my dressing room until I came out, 'accidentally' spilled wine on my dress, then refused to let me go until he had bought me dinner to make it up to me."
He smiled and put his arm around her shoulders. "Oh yeah. That was how it went."
"That's so cute." Jean stated.
"Well, how did you guys meet?" Betsy asked.
"Oh, we met when I moved into the mansion. Prof. X had been helping with my... gifts... for a while, but we didn't meet until I moved in full time." The redhead answered. "We were ten."
"Wow. Talk about beating around the bush. That's gotta be the longest courtship in history." Warren stated. The others laughed and he turned to Remy and Rogue. "Now, you two I already know about."
"Well I don't." Betsy complained.
"It's nothing really." Rogue replied. "The first time I met him, he tried to kill me."
"Now really, cher, Gambit t'inks you're over reacting jus' a little." The Cajun stated. "He never hurt a hair on yo pretty lil' head."
"Not for lack of tryin', Gumbo." She responded.
Before it could go any further, the waiter came over to take their orders.
-
"Hey, what's this?" Kitty wondered aloud, picking up a note from the sink, where it had fallen.
"Vell? Vhat does it say? " Kurt asked from the table.
"I don't know. It's like all wet and runny." She answered, turning it right-side up. "Went to Jersey... marrying... with Amanda... Don't worry... Love, Sam." She deciphered.
Kurt and Kitty looked at each other, their eyes widening, and both ran for the phone at the same time.
-
"Phone call for Mr. Summers." The waiter said, bringing a phone to the table.
Scott took it and held it to his head. "Hello?" He flinched and pulled it away form his ear. "Whoa, calm down and talk one at a time." Pause. "What?! Are you kidding me? I'll be there in a minute. Hold on." He hung up and thanked the waiter.
"Scott, what's going on?" Jean asked, worried.
"Apparently, Sam and Amanda ran off to New Jersey to get married." Scott said, standing up and pushing his chair back in.
"What?!" Jean exclaimed, standing and following her boyfriend out the door. "I can't believe they would do that!"
"Hey! Wait for us!" Rogue said, her and Gambit coming after them.
Warren and Betsy looked around at the table.
Warren shrugged. "No use letting the food go to waste."
Laughing, Betsy agreed and they started on the chow.
-
"LET-US-OUT-OF-HERE!!" Pietro shouted, banging on the door.
"Pietro Maximoff! You've been at it for two hours! Let it go!" Tabby yelled, finally reaching her breaking point. Even she could only take so much.
Sighing, he sat down next to her.
"This-sucks."
--
Next time on Of Second Shots and Summer Plots:
"Ow!" Pietro groaned, rubbing his now sore head.
"Okay, maybe there's not enough room to do this in here..."
-
What the heck was that chapter? I'm going crazy, I just know it.
