Author's Note: Thanks so much to all the people that reviewed in the last chapter. After a little bit of down time and some thinking I've decided that I'm going to continue with the story even if there aren't any people reading it. Why? Because otherwise I'd be bored. Oh, and special thanks to Mark C.
Hell Devil: Thanks, it's because of people like you this story will continue for a good long while.
Mark C: Thanks for the info regarding the episode. And thanks for the support. I love it when my reviewers are nice and supportive. And wouldn't it be nice to see Mike gain control of his powers? I wonder if he ever will…
Anticlown-outziders: Thank you so much for the encouragement and support! I love the fact that somehow for some unknown reason I have a few diehard fans.
Chapter 17: Bullies and Respect"Hey look, the X-geeks." Todd said smugly sitting on the fence near the exit to the school as Will and Elise walked past them into the building. Lance and Pietro were standing there next to Toad leaning against the fence.
"Bug off." Will answered with a wave of his hand.
"Hey." Pietro said as he zipped in front of them. "I don't think I like your tone."
"This better?" Will asked in a girly-voice. Elise laughed.
"Hey, where's the rest of your little group?" Todd asked looking behind them. "Don't you usually travel in a pack?"
"Elise and I were… hanging out. The rest of them are probably inside waiting for you to annoy them." Will said with a smirk.
Toad's tongue came out and started to go near Elise when Will raised a hand towards it and Toad found his tongue suddenly pulled into Will's fist and he was yanked down off the fence. He landed pretty roughly on the concrete before Will let go of it and wiped his now slime covered hand on Pietro.
"Hey! This was relatively clean!" Pietro yelled shoving Will back a bit and obviously getting a little angry.
"Calm down." Elise said strongly but gently, her eyes changed from their normal blue color to a green.
Pietro's anger seemed to fade, as did Toad's. "Hey!" Will said looking over to Elise. "I don't need any help."
"Let's just get inside." Elise said calmly, going in and dragging Will with her. Once inside she smacked him across the shoulder. "You promised me no fights when we moved here."
Will shrugged. "The guy tried to put his tongue on you. You wanted me to let that happen?"
"No." Elise answered. "But I can handle myself."
"I know, but still, it's the principal of the thing." Will said shaking his head. "Where are the others anyway? We're early, is anyone else even here?"
"Well Mike's probably here, he always comes early. Lord knows with everyone else." Elise said shaking her head. "Why?"
"Well just incase those guys suddenly realized that you used your powers on them and get real angry again." Will said with a smile.
MEANWHILE
"You guys want a ride to school?" Scott asked Evan and Kurt as they came out of Xavier's Institute for gifted children. His cobra already held Megan and Jean in it, Megan in the passenger seat and Jean looking like she was ticked about something.
"Nah." Evan said holding up his skateboard.
"I'll take one." Kurt said raising a hand. He jumped into the backseat quite easily and sat next to Jean.
James came out of the institute with Joe, John, Rogue, and Amara following him. "Fine, I'll give you a ride. You're lucky Thomas brought this with him when he came for…" He paused for a second. "Or I wouldn't have a car."
The four waited as Evan rolled out of the driveway and headed towards school. Scott pulled away as James pulled up in a convertible '67 Mustang freshly painted blue. "Get in." He said impatiently.
"This is your car?" Amara asked skeptically.
"Yeah." James said with a nod as Joe sat up front, Rogue in the backseat, Amara in the middle, and John on the other end. "Nice ain't she?" He asked as he shifted gears and pulled away.
The drive to school was usually filled with silence; the only one's hair that wasn't affected by the wind was John's. He and his brother always gelled their hair back so it looked slick and was usually unaffected by such stuff. Both of them had that same hairstyle, with matching blue hair, and being identical in face and build didn't help much either.
The car pulled up in front of the school and the teens hopped out. Almost immediately they were approached by the Brotherhood. James hadn't even pulled away yet. But this time Blob and Tabitha were with them. "Yo, Will, we got a bone to pick with you." Toad said hopping forward.
John laughed. "Yo, idiot, go find my brother."
Toad looked at him for a second. "Hey, you're little girlfriend tricked us."
"Amara? She's not my-." John started but he was cut off by Lance.
"Not her. Elise. The girl you were 'hanging out' with earlier?" Lance said sarcastically.
John's face tightened. At the mention of him dating Elise he seemed to get a little upset. Which was something odd. Usually he was the calm cool collected one. His hands tightened into a fist but Joe's glove covered hand tugged on his shoulder a bit.
"Everybody just calm down." Joe said playing peacemaker.
"Everything okay here?" James said getting out of his car.
Rogue went wide-eyed a bit, James was even bigger than Blob, except that James was muscle and Blob was fat. She hadn't thought to compare the two before.
"This doesn't concern you." Pietro snapped.
"What are your powers anyway glove boy?" Toad asked before his tongue came out and snapped off one of Joe's gloves.
"Hey!" James yelled stepping between the two groups. "Get to class." He said looking to Rogue and Amara.
"But-." Rogue started.
"Just go." James said glaring down at her.
Rogue backed a way a bit and went into the school, Amara following behind. "What's your problem?" Tabitha asked looking up to James unafraid.
"John?" James asked looking over his shoulder. "A pair of driving gloves are in the glove compartment, Joe will have to use them until later."
"Or I could just get my glove back." Joe said before he started towards Toad, hand outstretched to take his glove.
"Back off." Quicksilver said before zipping in front of him and grabbing Joe's hand only to knock him down.
Joe got back up. But now he was ticked. And he wasn't Joe. Quicksilver stared at him for a second before Joe spoke. "You idiot." He said now forced to use Pietro's voice.
"So that's your power." Lance said with a slight smirk on his face.
"That's enough." James said shaking his head. "You idiots leave them alone."
"James, we can handle this on our own." John said looking up to his mentor.
"Yeah, so back off." Toad said before spitting a wad of slime onto James.
James pulled it off and flung it back at him. Before grabbing him by the neck and pulling him up to look at him face to face. Toad just smiled and spit another wad of slime right into James' face.
John winced, that was a bad move if there ever was one. James didn't just drop toad, he flung him to the side and wiped the slime off. Toad smacked into a tree and fell to the ground, more shocked than he was hurt.
"James!" Will yelled coming out of the school.
"Holy crap there is two of them." Lance said shaking his head.
"Where'd Joe go?" John asked looking around; Joe had apparently gone off using Quicksilver's super speed.
"Maybe he got scared." Quicksilver quipped.
"All of you stop it." Scott said coming out of the school. "James, go pack to the institute and help Joe. John and Will, get to class." He said giving orders.
"Who are you to order us?" Will asked arrogantly.
"Will!" Elise said slapping him from behind.
"Come on. He's right, they're not worth it. They won't even come right out and challenge us." John said with a smirk.
"Oh yeah?" Lance said spreading his feet apart. "Come on. Right here. Right now!" He yelled.
John smirked. "It'd be my pleasure." He smiled.
"Stand down." James said turning his back to the brotherhood and facing Will and John. "Both of you get to class. You want to settle something, wait until after school, and do it off of school grounds."
"That's your advice?" Scott asked raising a brow. "Fight so long as it's off school grounds?"
James just gave him a glare that shut him and everyone else up in a matter of seconds. "Go." He said looking to John.
They obeyed. And the brotherhood just shrugged it off. "Forget this." James heard Lance say as they left.
"By the end of the day their tempers will have cooled and they won't want to fight." James said looking at Scott. "Next time they don't listen to you, why don't you try listening to someone else?" He asked sarcastically. "Now get to class."
Scott nodded as if in acceptance and headed off. It obviously bothered him though that James had told him what to do. There was just something odd about it. He had always been the leader. The one everyone looked to. The commander. But not with the Warriors, they did what they wanted to do, and they didn't listen to you unless you had their respect. Scott obviously didn't, James obviously did.
"Don't worry about it Scott." Jean said as they re-entered the school. "James knows what he's doing."
Scott didn't say anything.
MEANWHILE
"Leave me alone!" Mike yelled as he ran down the outside courtyard. This time Nathan wasn't here to help him. And unlike Nathan, Mike didn't know how to be intimidating. Voices were running through his head as the football team started to catch up with him. Why did this always seem to happen to him?
"What the?" Quicksilver asked looking behind him, as a young kid, probably nine or so, ran past him, followed by the entire football team.
Unfortunately just after passing the boy tripped, and fell quite hard onto the floor.
"Hey." The blob said blocking the team's path. "Pick on somebody your own size."
"You okay?" Tabitha asked helping the boy up. "What'd a little guy like you do to tick them off so much?"
"I'm not little." Mike said standing up. A ridiculous statement really, since he was just barely five feet tall in height. "I'm fourteen."
"Oh. Sorry." Tabitha said with a slight smile. "You just look so young."
"I get that a lot." Mike said holding his forehead.
"You got a scratch?" Tabitha asked reaching forward to his hand.
Mike pulled away. "Just a headache." He said shaking his head. He looked behind him but it appeared that the football team had given up.
"Thanks." He said looking up to the big guy.
"No problem." He said with a smile.
Lance looked down at him with a smirk. "What'd you do to get them so ticked off?"
"I made a comment that they probably didn't understand." Mike answered, he tried to smile, but the smile turned into a wince. His headache was getting worse, and their thoughts were getting louder. Suddenly another one of them appeared.
"Yo, school's about to start. We stayin' or ditchin?" The little green guy asked.
"Forget school." Lance said shaking his head.
"You coming?" Tabitha said looking to Mike.
"I'm going to school. Maybe I'll see you later." Mike said with a slight smile to Tabby as she winked and ran off with the others.
The silence was nice. "I wish Tylenol would help this." He said with a slight laugh. The bell rang and he winced. "It's going to be a long day."
MEANWHILE
A man dressed in a thick coat dialed the pay phone across from the school. "You want me to go through with it?" The man asked. "I gave you the information you wanted." He said as if answering a question. "Yes, and two of them have already left. One dead, the other disappeared." He added. "I don't know where. Nobody seems to."
"Have you had any luck with the group still in New York?" He asked. "Well I'll try it, but I think this Mike kid is a little…" He started. "Yeah, he's here." He nodded. "He's been keeping his distance from the brotherhood."
"I know." He said with a sigh in his voice. "Don't worry. He won't see me." He said with a nod. "I'm still not sure this will work. I haven't seen a hide or hair of Mystique. But knowing her she could be anywhere." The man said with a smile. "Don't worry."
MEANWHILE
James came into the mansion with Joe who had been sitting outside. Logan gave them the oddest look when they came through the door, but James explained it.
"Don't worry. It's Joe." James said as he came into the foyer. "You go do whatever you want, watch T.V. or something. I've got to get ready for tonight."
"What's tonight?" Joe/Quicksilver asked.
"My and Rebecca's anniversary." He said with a smile.
"What are you going to do?" He asked again.
"Don't worry about it." James said with a smile before going into the kitchen.
"Beer?" Logan asked him as he came into the kitchen and held an extra bottle towards James.
James looked at the bottle for a moment as if considering it and then shook his head. "No." He said firmly. "Thanks anyway." He said with a smile.
"Suit yourself." Logan said with a shrug as he opened the other one and took a swig.
"You seen Rebecca?" James asked.
"Went out shopping with Ororo." Logan answered. "Hanks in the danger room working, and the Professor is in the library I think. If you're looking for either of them."
"That's okay." James said with a smile. "Hey, can you tell me something?"
"What do you want to know?" Logan asked.
"What's with that group of kids at school? That fat kid that hangs out with the green guy and the girl and the kid Joe touched and the other guy and the girl? Are they mutants?" James asked.
"Yeah." Logan answered with a nod. "It's a long story."
"Well if you want to tell it, I could use some entertainment while I start cooking for tonight." James said as he got out some pots and pans.
"Sure." Logan said with a shrug.
END
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