"She's into superstition
Black cats and voodoo dolls
I feel a premonition
That girls gonna make me fall"
Twilight Zone music Playing Welcome one and all to the thirteenth chapter of "Back in Diapers". Thirteen has long been considered a number with...unlucky properties. But we shall choose to ignore that fact as we delve into the world of Heartsyhawk....
Hey everybody! Wow! This is chapter 13 already. I know for those of you who have been waiting for each chapter it seems like forever but to me it's so hard to believe we're this far already. A few things before we get into the usual routine.
Thing Number 1: I intro'd with the first four lines of "Livin' La Vida Loca" By Ricky Martin, even though I prefer the version on the Shrek 2 Soundtrack by Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss In Boots (Antonio Banderez) (spelling?). I do not own the song. I do not own Ricky Martin. I do not own the twilight zone. I do not own Shrek 2 or Eddie Murphy or Antonio Banderez. Just wanted to clarify that.
Thing Number 2: I am not superstitious. Thirteen is not an unlucky number. Actually I feel the number 4, 368 is unlucky but that is just me. So instead of being all paranoid that this chapter will be horrible or make people lose interest, we are going to have a party of the thirteen! There is music, munchies, and more! We have a pinata (there is prolly sposta be a Spanish accent but imagine it's there cuz I do not know how to do it.) and soda all around (in special 13 ounce cans of course)!
Thing Number 3: A few people have pointed out that Lance has become my lead male and Wanda has taken the role of lead female. This is correct. However, a couple of you contacted me with the curiosity that they might end up together. I assure you that though they are lead, there is not going to be any romantic situations between the two. After all, he's over the moon for Kitty and she well...is still suppressing feelings for who she likes.
Thing Number 4: As I am sure some of you already know, I have a second story running called 24 Hours. I'd appreciate it if you check it out and leave a review. Merci tres beaucoup! (Thanks very much)
Okay and now back to the regularly scheduled program.
Well I have been having a lot of fun. My agenda has been jam packed with uber cool activities such as trips to my aunt and uncle's house, whale watching (that was cool we saw one whale about seven times and he was pretty close.), trips to the beach, swimming, visits to friends' houses, trips to see the grand parents and an uncle and cousin I see every couple years if I am lucky, shopping, and eagerly awaiting the mail man's arrival each day. Recently I purchased all four seasons of X-men Evolution on VCD on EBAY (If you think I own EBAY, I got a lovely tourist site in Blood Moon Bayou for y'-cheap!) and it finally came. Also I cannot wait for my schedule for next year. I want to know my teachers to properly do my research on which ones will clash with my personality. Just kidding. I want to be sure that I got the right classes and I need to know what to buy for school supplies. And that is enough about me.
Shout outs!!!!
xmengirlsrule- I'm glad you like it. Yeah, it does happen. The episode was from "The Turn of the Rogue". Neat power choices.
Dukect45- It's okay. Glad you still like it. Don't worry, I don't anticipate quitting the writing any time soon.
SickmindedSucker- Yeah, they do have to be the cutest li'l kids. Nope, you pretty much hit the nail on the head. Lance wants to avoid trouble as much as he can. LOL There will be no queen Jean on this author's watch. Hm, interesting theory about how Lance handles Storm. Now what could make you think that? sheepish grin You'll just have to read on to see if you are right. Congratulations on not crashing. I haven't either.
howlerdrode- Glad you liked it. Hm, I guess it did flow a bit better. Thank you for noticing. Remy's arachnophobia was cool to play with. I had to give him one childish fear. (Not that I blame him shudders at the thought of a spider) And I can't stop smugly smirking about Remy putting Pietro in his place. Thank you. I will enjoy what is left of my vacation. Oh by the way you are reviewer number 125 so you get a mini parade, a plaque with your name on it and a smilee fridge magnet. Thanks.
ishandahalf- I loved Remy lecturing Pietro too. I squealed while writing it. Hm, maybe it will; maybe it won't...
Kieran-Cool name. Irish right? Oh you caught the Alice in Wonderland allusion, huh? Glad somebody did. Chocolate chip cookies are nature's medicine! They cure it all! And its amazing how little kids can forget all about pain when presented with sugar. Yeah, Pietro in a tutu is an image that cracks me up. Glad you liked the chapter.
Lance Avalanche Alvers- (Or if you prefer to be called The Big Red machine) you have some cool power choices. Hm. I see you know your episodes. Very well. See if you can get the one at the end of this chapter.
wanda the tiger- I'm flattered that this is your favorite. Awesome power choices.
Purple Fariy- LOL glad you love it so much.
X2P3- Interesting questions. I'm glad you liked it. Yeah Pietro was a bit mean, but hey, he has a quick temper (lol get it?).
whiterose934- Laughing Yep, I'm alive. Thank you. And You're welcome. Yeah, I have a special place in my heart for Pietro too. I see we share sentiments on Scott. I am glad you love it. I love writing it. Pyro's one of my favorites so expect to see more of him. Have fun with Pyro kay? Wow. I think that was one of the longest reviews I've ever gotten. Keep on reading.
Mouse- Cute idea, wait and see. I am glad you love it.
EviltwinAlix-Okay time for a long winded sisterly speech. I understand that you have had some nasty and vicious reviews for one of your stories. Don't let that discourage you. The one-shot you did was less than sanguine and you did give that warning. The two you showed me were evil but don't stop writing, it is a good channel for emotions. Okay now to the review. I am honored to bring out that squealy side for everybody. Especially since you only really squeal for people like Bob the feral blowerfish (you know who I mean girl) when he's harassing us and pretending to hate us when God knows he loves us and would go sane without us. And on another note don't you swear at me! I'll tell mom! Who will go nuts! Oh and you can't tattle on me cuz I don't do anything that would be worth more than an eye-roll. You are the wild child sis. And I know you know where the pink sock is so hand it over! When I buy Marvel I'll give you Pietro and Nightcrawler and you can have Colossus!
Foxy-Glove- I was wondering if anybody would pick that up. I was aware of it but thank you for pointing it out. Even though it may be hard to believe, I am still a newbie at this and I made a few beginners mistakes. In all honesty that was an oops that revision didn't catch. As your prize for pointing out a plot hole, you get this nice shiny gold-plated magnifying glass because you are such a good detective. I am glad you love this enough to read it and reread it umpteen times but I am curious as to why didn't you ever review before?
roguishduck- I am glad that this is your favorite. Thank you. Hm, I could say "if I told you how I came up with this, I'd have to kill you" but that seems a bit dramatic. In all honesty...The idea came and beat me over the head one night when I was sleeping in the form of a dream and I started writing it down and low and behold here it is!
The Collector- Glad you like it. I've been wondering why nobody asked that so you get a gold-plated magnifying glass for the detective work. And they are trust worthy...well, mostly. Keep reading and find out.
lancitty92- Glad you like it and glad you like how I portray Lance. I love Lancitty too. As for the Jonda, be patient. These things take time you know. Oh and thanks for the ice cream.
cris the black cat of the black rose- (x 6) (1st) I am glad you like it and I am positive that I know who you are. (2nd) Me? Downplay the emotion of love? Never! It's my main thing. It is the first genre of the story is it not? Sorry but the love and fluffiness stays. So the sock keeps you reading huh? Well I still haven't found it. And yeah I know who you are. (3rd) What, my dear friend, do you have against the penguins? They didn't do anything to you! Why don't you like them. But you are the second person to request something new...Why does the world not like penguins? So you aren't too big on romance huh? Then why are you reading this as it is a ROMANCE/humor story? I didn't think it was overdone. I like it. And the sock is not evil. Its just a clever little being and I suspect my evil twin has abducted it... (4th) I am glad it was funny. AND FOR THE LAST TIME YES I KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!!!!! Sorry luv, but your typing and spelling style gives you away like a big sign is over your head identifying you. That and you used your name in the screen name. Leave the poor penguins alone. As to not knowing about the magic socks...Yeah I don't usually wear pink without a fight that's true, but duh! If I advertised the fact that I had magic pink socks everybody would want to use magic to solve their problems. (5th) I am glad you love it and I am glad that you are glad the penguins are no longer with me so now you can leave them alone or they will peck you! (6th) Okay hold on you lost me. I only said okey dokey smokey. That doesn't mean anything bad and its certainly not an insult. Its just something I say when I am in a silly mood. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding...
Disclaimer: Hear ye! Hear ye! Let it be known that X-men Evolution is the property of Stan Lee, Marvel, and all the other nice people who don't want to punish poor Heartsyhawk for copyright infringement. Let it also be known that any other song, product, company, or etc. is the property of its rightful owner who is not the authoress known as Heartsyhawk. Or in plain old English: It isn't mine. (At least until I find that blasted pink sock...insane laughter)
Last time in "Back in Diapers"... Remy is terrified of Rogue's spider Dere really was a giant tarampla! Pietro looks sick "This can't be happening!" "...You don't have to act like I am your sister if you don't want to..." "I get TWO sisters out of this?!" Lorna smiles " I recommend plenty of calcium...and fresh chocolate chip cookies" "Why?" "Duh! To go with the milk!" Rogue struggles in her car seat "Why not?" "Because he's a boy and boys are better" "Dat ain' true an' y' know it!" Remy is furious "Tantie Mattie says dat boys who treat filles bad be verres des terres (worms in French)!" "Polegize t' Marie!" "Get out! I don't care how you get home, Pietro!" Pietro is pushed from the jeep "Lance have you seen my brother?" "Doggie!" Kitty squeals and struggles out of Lances arms to pet Rahne the phone rings and Lance answers "Hello Lance? Its Ororo" "Its Storm..." the room falls silent
"Hello?" Lance gulped. "Lance are you still there?"
"Hi, Ms Monroe." Lance said nervously.
"Hello. How is everything at the mansion?" Lance swallowed hard and shot a panicked look at the rest of the room. Most of the others shrugged and looked nervous too. The kids lost interest and went back to their playing. It was just a phone call.
"Um...Everything's okay." Lance winced as he lied weakly.
"Are you positive Lance? The professor got a reading a while ago when Gambit used his powers." Ororo asked curiously.
"Oh...he was just showing off. You know how he is." Lance said praying she would accept it.
"True, that boy does boast a bit. And he does tend to show off." Ororo stated gently. "Are you sure everything is alright? You sound awfully tired."
"Oh its uh...been a long day."
" I can relate. So how was the party?" Storm asked amused.
Lance swallowed a laugh. She thought he was nervous because of the party? Well if he could calm down, he could work that to his advantage. "You know about that huh?" He said in what would have been a guilty voice but he grinned.
"Well, yes. A word of advice would be to tell Ray and Tabitha not to plan the itinerary for the party the night before we leave. And also, though we are older than you guys, we are not stupid enough to presume that a month of no adults won't lead to at least one party, Lance." Storm said with a smile in her voice. "So...how was it?"
"It , I guess." Lance smiled. He could tell that there was not punishment in store by the calm way Storm was addressing the issue. In fact, she seemed amused. "Definitely not one any of us will be forgetting."
"There wasn't any alcohol right?" Storm asked, suddenly stern. "And any non-mutant guests were not given free reign of the mansion right?"
"No of course not. And we didn't let anyone wander."
"Well, then if everything was okay and you kids had fun, there is no harm done. Actually, Logan says the place better be clean when we get back or he'll gut you all and put your spleens in a jar on the mantle, but don't worry, neither Xavier nor I would allow him to massacre you and your fellow students."
Lance made a mental note to make sure to tidy up since he didn't think an "accident" in the danger room really sounded like a fun ending. "Oh. Okay." Lance said, still a bit unnerved and wanting his insides to remain where they were.
"So how's Europe?" He asked trying to steer the topic away from the mansion and the party.
"Oh it is lovely, I suppose." Storm said gently. "And there is a world-wide conference on mutant's rights in Versailles in a few days. That ought to be interesting. Professor Xavier thinks it will be enlightening. And Logan says it will be a decent way to number our enemies."
Suddenly an indignant shriek penetrated the room.
"Heavens! What on Earth just happened?" Storm asked in obvious concern.
"Oh that was just Todd- I mean Toad." Lance said in nervousness again. He felt sure that this was it, Storm was going to start asking questions and find out that twelve of the team were toddlers and he was gonna be in big trouble and they might even kick him off the team and he'd have to live on his own in this mutant hating world.
But Storm didn't ask what he expected. "Oh I see." She said in her ever-understanding tone. "Is he pestering Wanda again?"
Lance sighed in relief. "Kind of. He's just demanding some attention." He said confidently. After all it was the partial truth. He gestured for Wanda to quiet the kid before he blew the whole thing. Wanda rolled her eyes in exasperation and picked up her ex-tormentor and awkwardly rocked him gently to quiet him. He giggled and smiled the precious adorable smile that can only be properly done by infants and she rolled her eyes at him, but not in exasperation, more of an amused and simultaneously annoyed gesture.
Lance mouthed a gracious thanks to her and focused back on the phone. "Anyway, you were saying, Ms Monroe?" He asked.
"Oh yes. I must inform you that we will probably head home right after the conference. We'll be taking a cruise ship home and we expect to return in about two weeks since the conference will be likely a two or three day occurrence."
"What?!" Lance blurted. "I thought you were staying for a whole month!"
"Well, we decided that that was too long to be away considering all of your ages and we do miss being home."
"But...but...we're fine. You don't have to come home so soon."
"Lance" Ororo said gently. "We appreciate the offer, but a whole month? Yes we need our down time and a vacation is nice but we don't want to be away for so long. What if, heaven forbid, Mystique or Magneto decided to cause trouble? Or somebody else? And what if new mutants manifest and need help? It is really selfish of us to take a whole month for personal time when others are in need."
Lance groaned in dismay and panic. "Okay. You really don't need to come home." He pleaded. "Everyone deserves a break at one time or another. And you really really desperately need this vacation."
"Lance, am I sensing that you do not wish us to come home? Why do you sound so desperate for the extra two weeks? Is there some reason you don't want us to come home?"
Lance started sweating and he gulped nervously. "No. Really. Just stay and have fun. Trust me. Everything is fine."
Storm tutted sternly. "Your behavior makes me curious that something is wrong. What is it? Because if there is trouble, we could be home in as little as six hours."
"Nothing's wrong." Lance said as he winced at how whiney and pathetic he sounded. "Really..."
"Why do I not believe you?"
Lance hesitated but before he could respond, a loud argument started. "Don't you dawe (dare) call Scott a baby!" Jean hollered. "Your just jealous acuz (because) he's betterer than yull (you will) eveh (ever) be!"
"Nuh uh!" Rogue snapped. "He is a baby! He tipped (tripped) an fawed (falled=fell) an' crahed! Onleh li'l babies do that! (only little babies do that)!"
"He felled cuz you pushed him you bwat! (brat)" Jean snapped.
"I wasn' cryin'!" Scott said hastily. "I got dirt in my eyes and dese (these) stupid galses (glasses) don' help nothing!"
"Ah didn' push him!" Rogue snarled. "He fawed (falled=fell)!"
"Cuz (because) Remy lefted his dumb cads (cards) on the four (floor)." Scott scowled.
"Yah should watch wah (where) yah goin' then!" Rogue growled.
"De fille's right mon ami.(the girl's right my friend)." Remy nodded.
"You alays side wiv (always side with) her!" Jean cried.
"She be Remy's amie (female friend {can also mean girl friend but it doesn't mean that here}) an' Remy can' help it if she de une who's right all de time."
"I hate you!" Jean shrieked. "And her too. She's weird and creepy and she isn't a proper gril (girl)!"
"Whass dat apposet' mean?" Remy growled. "She is not!"
"I wasn't talkin' anodder (another) langwich (language) Remy." Jean sneered. "She is weird. Kitty sayed (said) she was pwaying wiv a pider (spider) at the hopsickle (hospital) and she was gunna (gonna) keep the nasty thing as a pet! And she is creepy! She talks funny and she has that ugy (ugly) stupid white in her hair. And she is not a popper gril (proper girl)."
"She is too!" Remy said angrily. "She is fun and perty (pretty) an' smaht (smart) an' all de stuff y' ain't."
"She is not popper." Jean frowned. "Grils (girls) like pink and pupple (purple) an' lellow (yellow) and bootiful (beautiful) cowors (colors) not the icky ones she wears. And real grils (girls) pway wiv dollies and Barbies. She doesn't. So, she isn't a real gril. (girl)"
"She is too!" Remy shouted.
"You juss (just) sayimg (saying) that acuz (because) you wuv her." Scott taunted.
"Yeah, Remy an' Marie sidding (sitting) in a twee!" Jean sneered evily.
"Dat snot (that is not) too(true)." Remy said quickly.
"Take it back ya mean itch (witch not the other one)!" Rogue growled menacingly.
"Goodness sakes what is going on?" Storm asked Lance.
Lance sighed. "Jean, Scott, Remy, and Ma-Rogue are arguing again." He looked helplessly at the squabbling toddlers. "Excuse me, I better go break it up before Tabitha or Pyro start selling tickets."
"Alright Lance, I'll let you handle it then. Oh yeah say hi to Evan for me and remind him to water the plants in my room. Have fun and I'll see you in two weeks."
She hung up and Lance grumbled. He marched over to the kids and picked Rogue and Remy up and brought them over to where Rahne was still getting attention from the kids. "Could you two please not get into any more trouble?" He begged though they glanced up at him not understanding too well.
"They stahted (started) it." Rogue frowned.
Lance shook his head and sighed. "Just stay away from them. You four argue enough to drive anyone nuts. Geez how did your parents handle you little imps?" He sounded upset so the two little kids just mutely nodded and sat down playing with the "doggie".
Lance walked back over to where most of the other teens had taken refuge.
"Two weeks." He moaned. "They are coming back in two measly weeks. And we are so totally dead." He hung his head in his hands.
"Why?" Amanda asked curiously.
Lance sighed heavily. "Because they don't think it's responsible for them to take such a long personal vacation."
"Makes sense." Wanda nodded warily. "I hope Forge gets his act together and fixes this mess."
"Yeah, being a parent-ish figure is tougher than adults make it look." Jubilee frowned.
The phone suddenly rang again. "Oh great more bad news." Lance groaned and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Hello again Lance. Did you get the fight resolved?" Storm asked gently.
"Yes." Lance said warily. "Why did you call again?"
"Well, I thought it would be best to remind you to be sure that the kids who are going to camp tomorrow are packed by tonight."
"Camp?" Lance asked nervously. He had completely forgotten since arrangements had been made back in January.
"Yes. Surely you guys hadn't forgotten? Jamie and Sam were going to Boy Scout camp, Rahne and Jubilee for Girl Scout camp, Roberto and Ray to sports camp, Rogue and Remy to Poetry and Drama camp. Does this ring any bells?"
"Oh. Yeah." Lance said stupidly. "Now I remember."
"Yes and you were going to drive them to their respective camp sites. Remember now?" Storm asked gently sensing he had indeed forgotten. "Remember, they are all doing two week sessions? We can pick them all up on the way home but can you still bring them?"
"Yeah, I'll drive them. Um...thanks for reminding me." Lance said cursing his memory.
"Ok then Lance, I will let you go and see you and the others in two weeks." She hung up and Lance sat down in anguish.
"What is wrong?" Piotr asked in concern.
"I completely forgot that some of us have camp." He groaned miserably. "And Jamie, Sam, Rahne, Jubilee, Roberto, Ray, and oh sweet sugarcane! Rogue and Gambit too! They have camp. They do and this is terrible and I can't take it anymore!" Piotr looked startled as did most of the others at the fact that Lance seemed on the verge of tears.
"Woah. Calm down Lance." Wanda muttered quietly. She of anyone knew emotions and powers had to be kept in control and if you lost one, you lost both. "It will be okay."
"Wanda." Lance sighed. "If you really believe that, I have some real estate on Mars for you. Nothing is going to be okay. There are still twelve of our friends and teammates who are pre-kindergarten aged. About half of us who are taking care of them are leaving for two weeks. And on top of it, the adults are coming home and will be home in two weeks. And if that isn't bad enough...Forge has not fixed this stupid problem and I do not think I am cut out to EVER be a parent of twelve mini-mutants."
Wanda sighed. "Well, Forge is working on it. Give the guy some credit. He doesn't want this to get us in trouble anymore than you or I do. And even though you don't really know what to do, you're doing great. None of us ever really have been with too many little kids and we're all playing by ear. Just calm down. You're not the only one who is afraid here." Wanda snapped. "Panicking is not helping any of us. I for one have never had too much kid experience and they kind of scare me but what's worse is seeing you; the oldest, the leader, the one I am looking up to, freaking out." The door bell upstairs rang. "And on the top of everything, dinner has arrived." Wanda said with a small smile.
Lance took a deep breath and then headed up to greet the pizza delivery person.
"He wooks sad." Kitty commented. "Why is Wance sad?" She tilted her head up in childish concern.
"Ah dunno." Rogue shrugged. "We kin aks (ask) him when he comes back."
Kitty nodded and agreed to wait. But their wait wasn't too long. As soon as she sat down, Lance returned to the stairwell with pizza boxes in hand.
But they didn't get the chance to ask why Lance was so upset because Amanda peeked out of the danger room and herded the three kids out of the older mutants way.
Lance set down the pizza's on a little table. "Dinner time." He smiled at how those two words grabbed all twelve kidlets' attention.
He grabbed the paper plates and started putting slices on them. Pyro immediately grabbed for one but Wanda caught his hand.
"Watch it Pyro. You don't want to burn yourself do you?"
"Who's Pywo?" The kid asked in irritation. "My name is John." He spoke slowly as if talking to somebody who was mental. "C'mon an' say it wiv me. Jah-on. Moy (My) whole name's Sain' John Awerdyce (Allerdyce). Oym not Pywo." He said this while frowning indignantly.
Wanda rolled her eyes and ruffled his hair. "Quit that!" He whined and threw his hands onto his head.
The teens laughed. "She's right you know." Lance said amused. "You will get burnt if you touch that without letting it cool down first."
The small red-head rolled his eyes. "Johnny never bin burneded (burned =burnt). Not in who' (whole) wifetime (lifetime)." He said as if any idiot knew this.
"Well just wait." Lance said patiently as he continued to put pizza on plates. He looked at the other teens. "Do you guys think it would be okay to give Todd and Amara pizza?"
"They don't even have that many teeth Lance." Amanda laughed. "We do have baby food. These two are way too young. Its probably pushing it to let the two year olds have pizza."
"Alright." Lance shrugged and handed each kid a plate. "Don't touch it yet." He warned. "Who wants to deal with drinks," he asked the others hopefully.
"How many of them are able to use cups do you think?" Jamie asked hesitantly. "I mean, real cups like me and you use."
"I have honestly no clue at all." Lance said honestly. "Probably the four oldest but I wouldn't bet on that so just get them the cup things with lids."
"Sippi-cups?" Jamie asked.
"Yeah sure if that's what they're called." Lance shrugged.
"Um could somebody help me? I don't really know how to do this..." The thirteen year old admitted reluctantly. Piotr nodded and headed upstairs too.
"Okay. Now that that is taken care of." Lance smiled at the kids. "I guess you can eat now if you are really careful and blow on each bite so you don't burn yourselves."
They all grinned even though they hadn't really listened.
The kids all reached for their food.
"Owie!" Bobby cried. "Its way hot!" He whimpered and cradled his hand gingerly. "I no wike (like) hot pizza!" He scowled and picked it up again. Suddenly he yelped and dropped it. Everyone gasped and looked at the pizza that was now encased in a thin coat of ice.
"Wow. How'd yah do that?" Rogue asked incredulously. "That was cool!"
Bobby mutely shook his head and stared at the pizza. He examined it amazed. "Did I do that?" He asked in awe.
Lance groaned. "Iceman's powers are still active then. Great. Just perfect."
"Wow. Maybe I'm a awien. (alien)" He grinned. "That would be the bestest wouldn't it?" He asked his friends.
"You not a awien (alien)" Jean rolled her eyes.
"Aw what you know emmyway (anyway)" Bobby pouted. "I iced pizza! Hewo! (hello) is there anything mo' awienish than that?" He exclaimed excited. "Duh! Its wike somfing (something) from a cattoom (cartoon)!"
Jean huffed and stormed off to her corner seeing as she seemed to enjoy her own company more than the other kids. Scott awkwardly followed and she snapped at him to get lost.
Tabitha shrugged. "Who needs her? It would be weal cool if you were a awien Bobby! Jus' think you could do anything an' not get inta twouble (into trouble) an' maybery (maybe) you kin be a suber-'ero (super hero)." Her eyes lit up at the possibility. "An' you cud feez aw the ba-guys (could freeze all the bad guys)! It'd be like BOOM! You feezd! or Feez! You under a vest (your under arrest) and then you cud make 'em feez fo' weal!" She laughed at the thought as she mimed out the actions. But suddenly one of her energy balls flew from her hand and exploded at Pyro's feet.
The result was Todd starting to cry, joined shortly by Amara, and Pyro standing there with a shocked expression at his charred clothes. His eyes were wide and his hair was wilder than normal. He held the remains of his pizza with care.
"Tabby make Boom?" She asked aloud with an expression similar to the one when she had discovered Bobby's hero potential. "That is so cazy! F'get Bobby! I cud be a betterer suber-'ero anyways! Cuz efferone (everyone) knows gil suber-'eroes are betterer fen boy suber-'eroes any day. Like Wumber Woman or Seena (girl super heroes are better than boy super heroes any day like Wonder Woman or Xena." She started laughing insanely and flexing her hand to try and make another exploding ball. She did and it startled her so she dropped it and it rolled over to Jean.
KABOOM!
Jean whimpered slightly. Her eyes were wide and all of her hair was stuck on end. Lance hid a smile at the look of indignation and Wanda disguised a laugh into a cough. Rogue wasn't quite so polite as she burst out laughing hysterically.
"I wanna go home." Jean said bitterly to Lance. "I don't like it here. You are mean!" She whimpered tearfully.
Lance sighed. "Everything will be alright Jean." He said as kindly as he could to the sneering child.
"Nuh-uh! I want Mommy and Daddy!" Jean sniffled. "And Sawah! (Sarah)"
"Well...You can't go home right now, kiddo." Lance said gently. He didn't know what to really tell her. "Don't you want any pizza?"
She gave him a scathing look. "Pizza is fatting (fattening). Its not heffy (healthy). Mommy neber (never) lets me eat it."
Lance sighed in irritation. "Well Jean, its your dinner. Just do it this one time. Please?"
"Well, since you sayed peez." She took the pizza hesitantly. She meekly ate it while looking like it would bite back.
Lance slank back over to the other teens. "Aye Chihuahua! Can anything else go wrong?" He sat down on a folding chair and ate a slice of pizza.
Piotr and Jamie reentered the danger room turned play room with arms full of cups and baby bottles.
They handed each child a cup, and Todd and Amara a bottle full of milk. Wanda reluctantly held her young teammate and the bottle in separate arms and helped hold it for him as he drank greedily. Jubilee smiled knowingly at the Gothic girl as she helped Amara.
Tabitha took a cautious sip and then spat. "Yuck! Not chocit (chocolate) mik (milk). No want." She tried tipping it upside down but it had a spill proof cap. Frustrated, she sat down and tried to pry it off.
Piotr shook his head as she gave up and repeatedly slammed it against the floor.
"As if we'd let her have chocolate milk." Wanda muttered quietly so only Lance heard.
Tabitha frowned and toddled over to where Lance sat. "I fink its bwoked. (broken)." She said seriously. "It no come part (Tabby talk for it doesn't come apart.)" She shook her head in emphasis.
Lance chuckled. "Well Tabitha, it isn't supposed to let you take it apart." She frowned and threw it. It hit Fred in the back of the head and he dropped his pizza looking scandalized.
Lance sighed and picked her up so he could look her directly in the eyes. "No throwing things Tabitha." He said sternly. "Okay? Do you understand me?"
"No." She giggled and squirmed to get down. "Put me down." He sighed and let her down.
The little girl giggled and scurried off to talk about being a superhero team with Bobby.
"Some people never change." Jubilee smiled gently, setting Amara on the floor to crawl around for a little. "She always was the hyper carefree girl."
"Yeah, seems like fifteen years made no difference. in her." Lance laughed.
Wanda looked at them in surprise. "She's always been this way? How did you people live with her?"
"She's a bit irritating at first, but you get attached to her." Lance smiled. "Honestly, it was kind of cool. And she's the kind of person who could make going shopping for bread and milk an adventure more fun than most people would have on a week trip to Paris."
Wanda watched curiously as the girl strolled up to Amara and started chatting at Pietro-esque speeds. She had not really had the chance to get to know the girl since she had left the Boarding House the same day Mystique brought her to it. But she did sound like an interesting room mate.
While the other kids sat eating pizza, Wanda and Jubilee captured Toad and Amara to spoon some nasty looking baby food into the little one's mouths. Amara was less than impressed and by the end of the ordeal, Jubilee looked as if she had tipped the small jar over her own head.
Wanda had wordlessly accepted the challenge of getting Toad fed. She figured it wouldn't be too hard, the boy ate flies for crying out loud. How fussy could he be? She soon found out that he just liked playfully turning his face from the spoon as she brought it to his mouth.
"Come on you little pest." She said half agitated, half affectionate. "Fine, you want to starve to death, be my guest." He turned amused hazel eyes to her and cooed.
"No." He muttered. She nearly dropped him in shock.
"He can talk?" She sputtered.
"No." He cooed again. "No. No. No." He babbled. And she sighed.
"You had me there for a second Toad." She smirked. "But no, you're just babbling. She smiled as he gave her a look that she interpreted as a 'Duh!' look.
"Come on just eat a little bit?" She pleaded. He giggled.
"No."
She sighed and offered him the spoonful of baby food. "Its good for you." He raised an eyebrow. "No, that wouldn't have sold me either. Okay...um...it smells like what you used to eat." He clenched his mouth shut tight. "Come on!" She begged. He shook his head. "Its yummy!" She tried and he gave her a look of disbelief. "No, really it-" She mimed putting the spoon to her mouth. He watched her with wide eyes. He tilted his head to the side beginning to trust her. The scent of the stuff made her nauseas and she didn't blame him for putting up a fight. She wouldn't eat it if she was starved to death.
She lowered the spoon and pretended to chew. He raised both eyes as if he didn't believe her. She groaned and thought hard.
Suddenly a stray memory surfaced from a long time ago.
"Dinner time kids." A tall and smiling man with white hair hoisted first a baby girl with jet black hair and a red dress and then a little boy with snow white hair and a red shirt and denim shorts into their high chairs.
He sat in front of his son while a young woman with black hair and a pretty face took a seat before her daughter's highchair. Each had a bowl of freshly puréed baby food in front of them.
"Hey babies." The woman smiled gently. "Tonight you have fresh peas and spinach and carrots that Mommy grew special for her precious little angels in her garden."
"Alright Mr. and Miss fussy baby of the year. Lets try to get through one meal where your mother and I don't end up looking like we went swimming in your dinner okay?" The man asked his son and daughter. The twins exchanged an impish glance. They hadn't completely understood but they made a habit of making the biggest mess they could at meal times.
"Eric, dear, do you think they'll like it? I mean they are fussy..." The babies' mother asked anxiously.
"Magda, darling, I'm sure its fine. Its very healthy. If they eat it they'll grow up big and strong. And beautiful. That'll be good won't it? Don't you want to be happy and healthy, huh Pietro? Wanda?" Eric tickled each child under their chin and received a giggle from each in return. "That's my boy and my girl." He smiled affectionately.
He moved the spoon to his son's mouth but the little boy smirked and turned his head. The twin's mother chuckled and offered the little girl a spoonful. She locked her lips with a grin.
"Wanda sweetie...don't be so stubborn."
Eric sighed and tickled the little boy under the chin. When the baby laughed, the man took the opportunity to gently place the spoonful of baby food into his mouth.
"That's a good boy Pietro." Eric smiled. Then he grew worried as Pietro smirked. Before he knew what hit him, his face was dripping with the grayish-green food that had previously been in his son's mouth. "Ah, Pietro. What am I going to do with you?"
The little boy blinked large ice blue eyes and giggled. He shrugged his shoulders. "No Dada." That was the barely one-year-old's way of saying I don't know Dad.
"Come on it tastes good." Without thinking too much, the man put the spoon to his face and tasted what he had been encouraging his son to eat. He made a disgusted face and swallowed miserably. "Okay. I don't blame you kiddo. But you have to eat. Its yummy." The twins and their mother laughed as he strained to say this.
"Come on Princess, Open up for the choo-choo train." The woman said in a sing song voice to her daughter. The little girl gave her mother a skeptical glare and opened her mouth. Her mother gently moved some of the food and the little girl swallowed bitterly.
"Ick!" She frowned.
"Wanda, I know you don't like it, princess, but you have to eat it." The small girl stuck her tongue out. Then she grabbed a handful of the off-colored mess and threw it at her brother. He retaliated and the two had a blast turning the kitchen into a mural of their dinner.
The final result was Eric scrubbing down the kitchen and Magda scrubbing down the twins. She got Pietro into a soft blue set of pajamas and fought her daughter into a red set. About an hour later, after she had read them the story of The Frog Prince, and the twins lay sleeping in their respective cribs.
Eric came in and put an arm around his wife. "Good job, honey. Its hard to believe they are such demons when they're awake. Isn't it?"
"Yeah, they are angels when they are sleeping." The woman smiled and bent to kiss each of her children good night.
Eric gently did the same. His son and daughter fluttered their eyes open.
"Ni-ni mama" (good night mama in baby talk) They cooed.
"Ni-ni dada" (good night dada in baby talk) They said and then fell back asleep.
Wanda shook her head to clear her mind of the flashback. She smiled at the memory and looked at the baby in her arms. He was staring at her confused as she momentarily had surrendered the battle to feed him.
She grinned and forced the spoon into his mouth to his surprise. He gave her a bitter scowl and then took on the smirk of a kid about to do something that would result in trouble.
He spat it back and she grumbled. She snarled and handed him off to Lance with a low muttered. "I need a shower; YOU feed the little monster." She stormed off and left Lance incredibly confused.
Eventually the teens were finished and cleaned up and Wanda was still sulking bitterly. Lance glanced at the clock and sighed. "Okay. Time to face the music. Lets see a show of hands of who remembered the two fateful words "Summer Camp"." The teens all gasped. "I thought so. Okay, those of you who are going go get packed. You guys have your lists of supplies and you'd better know what you need because I sure as heck don't. All I know is I'm driving. And that Jamie and Sam are off to Boy Scout camp; Rahne and Jubilee, to Girl Scout camp; Roberto and Ray, sports camp for you two. And Goodness knows I don't know how to handle the situation with Rogue and Gambit and Poetry and Drama camp."
Those who needed to pack headed upstairs. Lance thought hard as to how to fix the situation with Rogue and Remy. He knew Rogue had signed up to escape the Cajun, and he had gone behind her back and signed up to spend time with her. He didn't think it would be too cool to send two toddlers to camp so he had to think of a way out of it.
He sighed and turned to the phone. He dialed information and asked for the camp director. The operator connected him and the director answered the phone on the third ring.
"Hello, Ms. Ima Thespian, director of Camp Theatre, the camp for the youth gifted with Poetic and Dramatic Talents, speaking." The person on the other end of the line answered.
"Um hi." Lance started. "I'm calling about the session of camp that starts tomorrow." He said uncertainly.
"Yes, how may I help you?"
"Well two of the teens enrolled there, Rogue and Remy LeBeau, won't be able to make their session."
"Hm, Why ever not?" The camp director asked curiously.
"Um, there's a bit of a family emergency." He said cautiously. He didn't want to lie so he stuck with a semi-truth.
"Oh dear, is everything alright?" The director asked in concern.
"Yes...no...we aren't a hundred percent sure right now. I can't give out too many details but its a long complicated story and those two won't be able to make camp at this time."
"Oh well I hope everything is alright. Do send the camp's regards to them." The director said softly. "After reading their entrance pieces we here at the camp had been looking forward to meeting them in person." She sounded vaguely disappointed. "Oh well, maybe next time...We will mail their refund home."
"Thank you." Lance said gratefully. "Bye." He hung up and released the breath he didn't know he had been holding. He had expected much more of a hassle.
He looked to the two kids whose camp session he had just terminated. They were among the last people still eating. Rogue picked up her untouched pizza and took three small bites. Then she set it down.
"Ah'm full. Yah wan' it Remy?" She tilted her head to the side with a smile and he took it with a nod.
Lance put a movie on for the kids. It wasn't one that would be his first choice but he didn't feel right letting them watch something like The Matrix or Mortal Kombat. So he settled for Cinderella. Well he didn't watch it. That would be degrading.
Apparently, Rogue had similar inhibitions to the movie. Most of the others sat down and were mesmerized by the colorful Disney movie. Rogue curled her lip.
"Guys lets pay (play) somethin' fun." She begged. She gently tapped Kitty on the shoulder. "Tag! Yah it!" She took off running and looked behind her with a playful grin, expecting the small girl to be chasing her. She frowned in disappointment. "Kitty? Wanna come an' pay (play)wiv (with) meh?"
"Nuh-uh." Kitty said without looking up. "This is my fabrite (favorite) mobie eberer (movie ever)!"
"Oh..." Rogue said confused. "Tabifa (Tabitha) yah alays ready ta pay...Ah'll hahde (hide) an' yah can seek."
"Don' wanna." Tabitha shook her blonde head.
"Yah kin hahde than (you can hide then)." Rogue said pleadingly.
"Why don't you jus' leave us nermal (normal) grils (girls) lone, Marie?" Jean sneered. "This is a good mobie. (movie). Any reglar (regular) gril (girl) likes it."
"But Ah don'." Rogue said softly. She looked hurt.
"Oh don' listen t'er (to her), Marie." Remy rolled his eyes and put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "Y' know she's lyin'. If y' gots t' like dat borin' stuff t' be a reglar fille den maybe y' don' wanna be one. Jus' be y'self. Y' special already. Y' don' need t' like dat stuff. Y' betterer den all dat. B'sides, Remy don' like Cnidrilla (Cinderella) neit'er." He smiled. "Y' don' need dem t' play wit' y' if dey gunna be meanies bout it."
Rogue smiled gratefully. "Ah don' like the dumb mobie. Iss jus' bout a dumb girl whose sad acuz she can' go ta the dumb pahty (party) ta dance with the guy. An' he's dumb acuz he on'y likes 'er acuz she's pretty and then he tries ta find her wiv a shoe. An' that's stupid cuz what if her dumb feet were the same ezact (exact) as somebody else's? An' what stupid gal would wear gwass (glass) soes (shoes) nanyway? (anyway)?"
"Remy grees wit' y'. Dat can' be tres comferble. (very {In FRENCH} comfortable). What if dey breaked? Hello! Dat would hurt!"
Rogue grinned. "Maybe Ah should git Jean a pair." She smirked impishly.
"Remy don' like blood." He shook his head gently. "B'sides, y' really wanna heah (hear) dat fille screamin'?" He raised his eyebrow.
"Nah, not really." Rogue shrugged. "Ah'll save it fo' a lastest retort (last resort)." She responded thoughtfully. "So what da ya wanna do?"
He shrugged. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "What is there ta do roun' here?"
Lance heard her and laughed. She always had hated the story of Cinderella, he remembered that from her days as the first girl member of the brotherhood. He stood up and went upstairs for a few moments. He came back down with Jamie's bucket of crayons and a whole package of computer paper.
"Hey Marie. Hey Remy. You two don't want to watch the movie?"
"Well, duh!" Rogue rolled her eyes. "An' yah can' tell meh its good cuz ya ain't watchin' it neiver. (neither)."
Lance smiled. "You're right. Never liked that story. So do you two like coloring?"
Rogue's eyes lit up when she spotted the crayons and paper. "Yes peaze!" She held her hands out expectantly.
Lance grinned and put the crayons and paper on the floor in between the two kids. "Okay draw me a really nice picture. Okay you two?" They nodded and started working. Lance retreated back to his chair. He watched with interest as the two worked diligently. Rogue flopped onto her belly and kicked her feet to a beat only she could hear. She held the crayon steady and unconsciously stuck her tongue out just a little in concentration. Remy did the same thing without realizing it, only he began humming to a tune Lance had never heard at the same time , and it was an adorable sight Lance had to take a picture of.
Lance thought it was sweet how well the two got along. Until both reached for the same crayon.
"Ah need ta use the bwack (black) Remy." She said forcefully.
"Remy on'y need it fo a secon' Marie." He said just as strongly.
"Gimme it!" Rogue pulled at the crayon with a glare in her eyes.
"Non! Remy had i' firstest!" He tugged it towards him. "Remy give it t' y' in a momen'!"
"Yah did not!" Rogue grumbled. "Ah sawed it firstest!"
"C'mon Marie!" He begged, both were so engrossed with their tug-of-war-match with the crayon that neither noticed the pinkish-orange glow surrounding it.
Lance noticed too late that it was growing brighter and he rushed towards them. "Drop the-"
BOOM
The crayon exploded and the force shot the two kids to other sides of the room. Remy ended up thrown to the side of the huge room where all the other kids were.
"Watch it Remy!" Jean snarled as she pushed him off of her.
"Kay?" Pyro asked curiously. "You neber sayed (never said) you cud fwy (fly) Remy!"
Rogue on the other hand, had been thrown over to the beds. Lance groaned and headed over to her. Wanda had already started to head to Remy.
"You okay Marie?" He gently helped her up.
"Owie." She whimpered. "What happened?" She blinked her eyes in confusion. She held up her arm which had grazed the sharp underside of a bed and was dripping a little blood.
Remy struggled out of Wanda's grasp and hurried to his best friend with a horrified expression. "NON! Marie? Y' okay? Remy di'n' mean t'..."He looked ready to cry at seeing her bleeding in Lance's arms.
"Remy?" She said pleasantly.
"Oui? (yes)" He looked into her eyes and was filled with guilt and fear.
"Shut up." She glared at him. "An' breave (breathe). Ah'm okay." She said gently.
"Let me up!" She demanded to Lance.
"I think you'll be okay." He sighed in relief. "You're gonna need a band-aid for where the bed cut you a little bit. Rogue rolled her eyes and pulled away from him. He quickly went and got the peroxide and the bandages he had just bought earlier. He returned to the room and brought Rogue to the sink in the downstairs bathroom and perched her on the edge.
"Okay this won't hurt. But I have to put some peroxide on that cut." He explained as she shrugged. Like she had any idea what peroxide was anyway. It was barely a skin scrape. But it was bleeding slightly. He gently poured a small amount of the Hydrogen Peroxide directly onto her arm.
As soon as the cool liquid touched her flesh, Rogue howled in pain and misery. "OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She gave him a disgusted glare. "Yah said it wouldn' hut!" She scowled as tears sprung to her eyes. "Yah lied!"
"I'm sorry." Lance sighed. "But you don't want it to get infected. Besides, you tell me you honestly wouldn't have freaked out if I told you it would sting a little." He eyed her.
"A li'l?" Rogue scowled. "Whah don' Ah dump some o dat on yah? Then we'll see what huts a li'l!" She snarled.
He shook his head and put a green bandage on her arm. Then he brought her back into the room with the others. She glared at him and took off to tell the others not to trust him especially if he approached them with a brown bottle.
He threw his arms in the air and groaned. "I just don't get a break. I'm almost beginning to see why her parents put her in an orphanage!" Then watching her playing with her friends he had to smile. "And I'm also seeing why Mystique fished her out."
"Careful Lance, don't get too emotional on us." Wanda joked, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Its starting to scare me."
Lance shrugged. "Okay yeah she can be a migraine waiting to happen, but can't they all just be so sweet too?"
"Okay Mr. Dad." Wanda smiled playfully. "Do you need me to call a psychiatrist or a psychologist for you? You're starting to sound really scary."
"Oh shut up." He said good naturedly. "You're one to talk, aren't you. If a stranger on the street saw you with Toad they would be convinced you were his mother. And you haven't exactly been too much of a shrinking violet when its come to dealing with the little beasts."
Wanda blushed slightly. She didn't deny it though. She knew it was all true. All of the teens who had needed to pack for camp had pretty much finished and come back into the danger room-transformed into the ideal play pen. The little kids formed into their little groups and played for a while.
It was only when Jean and Scott fell asleep using each other as pillows did Lance look at the time and decide that even if it was Summer Vacation, eleven o'clock was just not a fair time to keep toddlers up until.
"Okay. I'm about to make myself public enemy number one here, but I think we'd all better get to bed now. Little people need a lot of sleep and if we're going to be keeping up with them we need it too." He said pointedly to all the teens. "Colossus, I'd appreciate it if you could help move beds and stuff. We should probably do guys here in the danger room and girls in either the planning or the war room."
Colossus nodded and began to move the furniture with Lance's direction. The girls ended up in the planning room, with tables and chairs pushed to the side. All the older teens helped make sure that each of the de-aged mutants beds were made and secure with the guard rails. They also helped move stuff into the room the people were sleeping in. When that was all done, the teens looked at each other warily. It was time to get the kids ready for bed and they had a premonition that this would be the hardest part.
They walked back into the danger room and were greeted with a cute sight. All around the room the kids had started nodding off. Jean and Scott were still sitting fast asleep against the wall and using each other as pillows. Toad and Amara had just lay down on the floor and fallen asleep. Bobby was sitting close by the two of them, blinking drowsily. Kurt was asleep, holding the toy car he had decided was his possessively. Pyro looked at them sleepily with big weary blue eyes from where he sat scribbling on a piece of paper from the pile Lance had given Rogue and Remy with an orange crayon. Kitty was nine-tenths asleep leaning on an oversized pink stuffed bunny rabbit Tabitha was standing over Freddy and poking his arm to see if he was really asleep. She frowned and rushed over to Pyro and picked up a pink crayon and colored on the same paper as him. He didn't seem to mind too much, as he just kept on scribbling with his orange crayon. Remy was still coloring too. Only Rogue had cuddled up next to him, shivering slightly and fallen 99% asleep. He had taken off his sweat shirt and let her use it as a blanket even though he was obviously chilly himself.
Lance instantly felt pretty guilty. Even though it was a summer night, these two were used to the much warmer and more humid nights of their homes in New Orleans and Caldecott. Being from Illinois himself, Lance felt pretty warm in June in New York. But as toddlers, these two were used to it being much warmer. And it didn't help that they were in a big metal room that was air conditioned.
He headed up into the control room and looked for a thermostat. He found it and set the temperature a bit higher to be fair to the little kids. He reentered the danger room and figured that getting these little kids to bed wouldn't be too difficult. Especially considering that they were so worn out already.
"Okay this shouldn't be too hard." He said to the other teens. "Look how tired they are. This will be easy." He smiled confidently.
Sam snorted. "Famous last words." He shook his head. "Looks kin be d'cievin' (deceiving) guys."
The teens felt instantly nervous. Lance shook it off and stepped closer to the kids. "Okay kids, you all need to get to sleep. It's time for bed." He said soothingly.
The effects of those words were amazing. Bobby, Kurt, Pyro, and Tabitha jumped up as if they had been shot...or infused with Mountain Dew, Coca-Cola, and Jolt (the three most caffienated sodas Heartsyhawk knows of) simultaneously. They were instantly full of energy as if they had just had a three hour nap. They all scrambled around and hurried as far away from Lance as they could get, giggling and grinning the whole way. Even Kitty and Freddy looked energized and made hasty efforts to take off.
Lance groaned and rolled his eyes. He added the words bed and sleep to his mental list of no's with the toddlers. He looked around helplessly as six of the kids, the six hardest to control, nonetheless, ran around screaming.
He went for Freddy first, figuring he'd be the easiest to catch, being the slowest. He caught him and passed him to Roberto. The Brazilian didn't look too overly thrilled at it, but he grabbed a set of soft flannel orange pajamas with little purple alphabet letters and then took the large two-year-old to the bathroom to get him dressed and ready for bed. Then Lance scooped Amara up and gently handed her to Jubilee who retrieved a royal purple "onesie" that had gold trim on the sleeves and collar from the baby's designated baby clothes bag. Next he managed to capture Kitty and surprisingly Tabitha and passed them off to Amanda. Kitty quietly allowed her pink nightgown to be put on without too much fussing. She didn't care too much about escaping since she was tired and not in a crazy hyper mood so late at night.
Tabitha on the other hand was putting up a huge fight. She struggled and faught the whole time.
Amanda groaned in frustration. "Tabitha this isn't fair! Hold still for just a moment." The little girl refused to cooperate.
"NO!" She howled miserably. "Tabby Splody Girl! (Splody is kid talk for Exploding.) Splody Girl no gots bettime (bedtime)! Gotta save de word (world) an' over (other) suber 'ero (super hero stuffs)!"
Amanda sighed and thought for a second. Then she smiled. "Okay, but how about we design your super hero costume? You can't be a super hero without it."
"Weally?" Tabitha tilted her head to the side curiously.
"Yeah Tabby." Amanda smiled. "Just like Super Girl, and Wonder Woman, and Xena, and even the guy superheroes."
"Ok. Less do that then." Tabitha nodded. "Need you help Tabby. An' make it real good."
Amanda smirked coyly. "Okay first we have the um...Purple Nightgown of uh...niceness. It helps you to uh...turn bad guys nice." She slipped it over Tabitha's head.
"Awesome!" Tabitha grinned. "What else? What else?"
Amanda thought for a moment and picked up a set of slippers. "Here we have the slippers of super speed." She smiled and put them on the little girl's feet. "They help you go super fast to catch really fast bad guys."
Tabitha admired her outfit smiling. "Got anything else?"
Amanda nodded gently. She reached into her pocket and pulled out two pink hair ribbons. "These, are really special." She whispered as she tied the girl's blonde hair into pig tails.
"Oh." Tabitha whispered back. "What do they do?" And then as an after thought, "Why are we whipserin' (whispering)?"
"We have to be really quiet so no villians hear us. And these...um...they help protect your secret identity. Yeah that's it and now nobody will be able to tell who you are. Except your real friends."
Tabitha smiled gratefully. Then she frowned. "Hey if these cloves (clothes) are a suber ewe (super hero) custarm (costume) why didn' you tell Tabby that befowe (before)?"
"Well if I advertised the fact don't you think that everyone would want one Tabitha?"
"Oh." The two year old nodded sagely. "What's averteased? (advertised)"
Amanda laughed. "Advertised means tell everybody."
"Oh. " Tabitha smiled. "I knew that. Juss seein' if you knowed it."
Amanda shook her head in amusement. Then she remembered something important. She scooped up a pink baby blanket that had been in the bag for Tabitha's stuff. She carefully tucked it into the back of the girl's pajamas and then stepped back.
"What dis for?" Tabby asked confused.
"Its a cape silly."
"Oh!" Tabitha's eyes lit up. "Does it hep (help) Tabby fwye (fly)?" She asked hopefully.
"No." Amanda shook her head. "It just looks cool. That and it helps people know you are a super hero."
Tabitha smiled and twirled to admire her "costume". Then she launched herself at Amanda and hugged her tight. "Fank you so much fer hepping Tabby! (Thank you so much for helping Tabby)"
Amanda laughed and then led both girls back into the danger room so she could help with anybody else if need be.
Back in the danger room, Lance had caught Bobby and Ray had done close to what Amanda had done with Tabitha. He had told him the blue, one piece, zip up pajamas, with the red 'S' on a yellow diamond was his costume. (Props for anyone who knows kinda what that pajamas is based on. Give you a hint, I don't own that either.) Ray had also safety pinned a blue snowman towel onto his back. Tabitha was joyously comparing notes with him and discussing being a team. Amanda gave Ray a knowing look and both laughed.
Suddenly, Tabitha and Bobby approached Jean. "And who do you think you two are?" She sneered.
Tabitha grinned. "Me am Splody Girl. An' this is my colleash (colleague) Fosty Boy (Frosty Boy)." The blonde smirked.
"Deam on." Jean rolled her eyes in irritation. "You two neber gonna be weal superheroes."
Both two year olds looked hurt. "Leave 'em lone Jean." Rogue snapped. She stomped over with her hands on her hips. "They didn' do nuttin' ta yah."
"You're not the boss of me Marie." Jean frowned. "They look bout as dumb as you are."
Rogue frowned as if she had been slapped. "Ah'm not dumb Jean. But yah can caw me that an' it don' bover meh (bother me) acuz (because) Ah know it ain' true. But theh (they're) youngah (younger) than ya an' they don' know it ain' true. They look up ta ya, Heaben (Heaven) on'y knows why, but they do."
Remy hurried over as Jean raised her fist and looked ready to hit Rogue. "What de matter?"
"Jean's bein' mean t' Tatiba (Tabitha) an' Bobby." She frowned.
Remy surveyed the two little kids and their 'super hero' costumes. "Aw don' worry none Tabby an' Bobby. She jus' jealous cuz she ain' a super hero. An' she'll neber be one, specially since she meaner den Spot an' Marie's Tante Irene's kitty chat (cat in French) all putted t'get'er."
The red-head scowled and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I, am just smart enough to bewieve (believe) that they can't. I'm only being honest, Remy."
Before he could retort, Rahne (now in her human form for the night) came over.
"Jeannie, its a time fer ye te git ready fer bed." And Jean, being the perfect little red-head she is reached up, took Rahne's hand and allowed herself to be led away and then put on her own blue nightgown.
"Don' y' two listen t' her none." Rogue smiled. "Y'all will be cool heroes someday. Y' jus' need a li'l trainin' firstest. An' maybe git a li'l older an' bigger. But Jean's just a bully."
Tabitha and Bobby grinned at her, amazed. "You weally are the bestest keen! (queen)" Bobby smiled in appreciation.
"Ascuze (excuse) meh?" She asked him with wide eyes.
"Y' didn' tell Remy y' were loyalty! (royalty)" Remy looked at her with new found respect.
"But...Ah ain' a kreen! (Queen)" She said puzzled. "Wouldn' Ah know if Ah was?"
"Nobody tode (told) you?" Bobby asked in wonder.
"What?" She asked.
"We lectured (elected) you be the keen!" Tabitha beamed. "We didn' like Jean and Scoot or Skitty or Scotty or whatever. Jean gotted all upsetted acuz Johnny wanted burn her dumb ol' dollie as a saperfrice (sacrifice)."
Rogue's jaw dropped. "An' y'all want meh ta be the kreen? (queen)"
"Uh-huh, you good leater (leader). An' you care bout us all. An' you not mean an' bossy." Tabitha chirped. "An' one of the oldest of all of us."
"Ah never asked to be a queen." Rogue said hesitantly.
Remy grinned at her. "An' dat makes y' perfect for de job Marie. T'ink 'bout it. Dey're right Chérie. Dey really are." He said earnestly as they watched Roberto corner Kurt and fight him into a red Hot wheels pajama set.
"Yeah Ah guess..." She tilted her head to the side in amusement as Sam led a cooperating Scott out towards the bathroom while carrying a set of Bob the Builder pajamas.
"But would Ah even be a good Keen?"
"Remy t'ink y' de kind of fille who kin be anyt'in' good." He smiled gently.
"Ah don'." She said sadly. "Theh (they're) mah friends. Ah don' wanna let 'em down or disappoint them."
"Den don'." He shrugged. "They just t'ink y'd be a good leater (leader) Marie. Remy t'ink dey be mo' sad if y' don' even try."
The girl looked away deep in thought. Lance had just taken Freddy in to the bathroom to dress him in the soft orange tee shirt and shorts pajamas and had returned to scoop up his other team mate, Toad. She watched in mild fascination as Lance carried the child who was half asleep out of the room.
"Okay. Ah guess Ah'll try." She shrugged and smiled as Tabitha and Bobby cheered in happiness.
"We kin do a carnation (coronation) tomorrow." Bobby announced.
At that moment Wanda came up. "Hey Marie, you ready for bed?"
Rogue gave her a skeptical glance and Wanda knew it was a stupid question. She lifted the small girl up and brought her into the girls' room. She helped the little girl into a set of warm, long sleeved, footed pajamas. They were a nice shade of hunter green that Rogue seemed to like very much.
When she was completely dressed, Wanda noticed that the girl had been wearing her gloves all day without question. She decided to see if the reason for the gloves was not only her powers.
"Hey Marie, do you like wearing those gloves?"
The younger girl shrugged. "Theh (their) okay Ah guess. They itch an' git real hot but mah mama says Ah gots a skin curdition (condition) an' somefin' (something) bad'll happen if anyone touches mah skin."
Wanda felt sympathetic. The girl had never really had much skin to skin touch. She vaguely wondered how she accepted it so well. Especially since the other kids were so clingy and huggy.
Back in the boys room, Piotr was ready to burst into tears. He of course had to deal with possibly two of the most difficult little boys in the group. Pyro proved easy enough to capture but it was near impossible to do much else. He attempted to squirm away while shrieking. And he yelled the whole time the top half of his pajamas was pulled over his head. He twisted away and tried desperately to escape as his Piotr guided the two-year-old's arms through the holes. He kicked and wriggled to get away as the bottoms were put on until he saw the pattern.
He almost burst with delight upon seeing the soft red-orange fabric with a flame ball with a face on it. Satisfied with his work, Piotr turned to Remy. The boy would prove to be a challenge but not nearly so hyper and uncooperative as Pyro had been.
First he helped his young friend into the long navy blue sweatpants. Then while the boy whined about that, he pulled the long-sleeve tee-shirt over his head gently. Remy tried to remove it immediately but the phrase and pattern caught his red-and-black eyes. The patterns were the suits of cards (hearts, spades, diamonds, and clubs) bordering the collar, sleeves, waist line, and pant leg bottoms. The phrase was hard for the four-year-old to read at all much less upside down.
"What's it say?" He asked curiously.
"It says "A dollar won is sweeter than a dollar earned."" Piotr said with a smile at how well it fit the teenage version of this particular four-year-old. The one who was always betting and gambling.
Apparently the four-year-old understood it too for he grinned, amused. But he frowned as Piotr encased his hands in thick black gloves and forced thick socks onto his feet.
"What dis fo'?" he scowled. "It ain' dat cold!"
Piotr smiled gently. "Do you want your bed to explode as the shampoo and crayon did earlier Remy?"
The four-year-old's eyes widened. Apparently, unlike Tabitha and Bobby, Remy was not quite so thrilled with his newfound ability. It scared him, and with good reason. It seemed dangerous to be exploding things when you didn't want to. Especially when you almost hurt your very best friend in the process. So the child shook his head.
"Good. Then you must refrain from being able to touch the bed or bedding with your hands or feet lest an explosion happen."
Piotr worked on getting each of the kids into their beds. This proved to be a difficult feat even with the guard rails up.
"This is no bed!" Pyro wailed. "The walls too shot (short)!" Piotr understood that back when he was two he must have still been sleeping in a crib but not too much could be done now.
"This is a bed." He said gently. "It is a bed for boys who are not babies and therefore cannot sleep in a cradle or crib."
The boy nodded, not really understanding but if the big tall man was telling him it was a bed, he figured it must be a bed. He flopped onto the pillows and was surprised to find that they were soft and enveloped his head. The bedding was a bright blue with flame trim and he felt comfortable with it even if it wasn't what he had at home.
Piotr turned to Remy and hoisted the four-year-old into the bed next to Pyro's. He too felt oddly comfortable in black and red bedding with cards printed all over that he felt he had never seen.
On Pyro's other side, Ray had just forced Bobby into a bed with ice blue bedding and was proceeding to threaten him with the baby leash if he tried to escape one more time.
On Bobby's side was Kurt, snuggling happily into plain red and blue reversible bedding already sound asleep. A little further on, Freddy was softly snoring in his own bed with thick brown blankets. At the side of the room farthest from Remy, Scott yawned and pulled his navy blue blanket up to his chin and rolled over to fall asleep.
Lance had finished cleaning up Toad for the final time that night and wrapped the very small child, who was now sporting a pale blue t-shirt and fresh diaper, in a soft baby blanket and tucked him into bed. Then the teenage guys went to go get ready for bed themselves, as the little ones fell asleep one by one.
In with the girls, Kitty had fallen asleep already so Amanda gently woke her up and helped her into the bed with fluffy pink pillows and blankets.
"Night." She said softly and lay back on the pillows.
"Good night Kitty." Amanda said softly as the little girl closed her eyes.
Suddenly the two-year-old's sparkling blue eyes opened wide. She sat up and reached into the pillow case and pulled out a tattered, pink, stuffed, teddy bear.
"Bee (how she says bear but it happens to be the name of her teddy bear)!" She squealed in delight. "Mine!" She informed everyone else in the room as she hugged the toy tight.
"Ah don' think that's yahs Kitty." Rogue said gently. "Whoever owns it might let ya burrow (borrow) it though."
"My Bee." Kitty said crossly. She held the toy close as if to protect it. "Bee make me no ascared (scared) of the dark. Need her!"
Wanda rolled her eyes. She knew that it was Kitty's favorite stuffed bear even as a seventeen year old.
"Well, you can have it tonight Kitty," Amanda said gently. Then she helped Tabitha up into the bed that had neon purple bedding with hot pink polka dots and electric blue stripes.
"Don't wanna go bed." The girl scowled.
"Why not?" Amanda sighed.
"Cuz Tabby not eben..." She yawned. "A bit sweepy (sleepy)."
Amanda smiled and pulled the blanket up. "Don't you want to have full energy to be a super hero?"
"Hewoes (heroes) no sweep!" Tabby frowned.
"Yes they do. Or else they'd be tired and cranky and wouldn't be good heroes."
Tabitha thought about it for a moment. She tilted her head to the side and bit her lip. "Weally?"
"Really." Amanda smiled. The young blonde shrugged and closed her eyes.
Rogue climbed up into her own bed, which was on Kitty's other side, closest to the wall. After seeing Kitty and Tabitha's bedding she was slightly concerned but then she smiled and burrowed into the soft black bedding with little hunter green stars.
She popped her out of the blanket and lay it on the fluffy pillow.
"Night." She said wearily, rubbing her eyes in a display of her exhaustion.
"Good night Marie." Wanda smiled and gently tucked the blankets around the child so she wouldn't get cold.
Jubilee stood at the bed on Tabitha's other side, smiling as she pulled a dark purple baby blanket up around Amara who was already sound asleep.
"What?" Wanda asked irritably.
"Nothing." The girl smirked. "Don't worry, I was just thinking."
Wanda rolled her eyes and looked at Rahne who seemed to be having issues of her own with Jean.
"I can't go asleep!" The red-headed three-year-old wailed. "Mother always sings me asleep! An' Sarah leabs the radio on so we have music all night. An' our kitty cat Mr. Whiskers comes an' purps (purrs) an' sleeps at my feets!"
Rahne groaned. "We don't have a cat." She spat at the thought of a feline in her territory.
Jean looked sad. "No Mr. Whiskers?"
A caninish grin appeared on Rahne's face. "No Mr. Whiskers."
Jean started sniffling.
"Oh dun' cry now lass!" Rahne frowned. "Jean really, please dun' do this. Aye am sorry yer pet isn' here but there isn' too much t' be done 'bout it now."
Jean whimpered. "No moosic (music)?"
Rahne smiled. "Ah that I kin do Jean." She turned on a small portable stereo and put in a soundtrack from the movie Anastasia on quietly to play for a while.
Jean smiled and turned over in the pale lavender blankets that were on the bed for her. They reminded her very much of the bedding and carpet and curtains in her own bedroom at home.
The older girls went to get ready for bed and they turned to get the lights. Suddenly a terrified voice spoke up.
"What're you doin'?" The girl cried. "Don' turn the lights out!"
"Marie?!" Wanda asked crinkling her nose. She turned and looked at the small girl whose emerald eyes were as wide as saucers as she stood up in her bed, leaning on the guard rails. "What's wrong?"
"Don' turn the lights out." She repeated, terrified. She shook her head. "Please don'!"
"What? Why not?" Amanda asked gently.
The little girl shook her head and bit her bottom lip. "Cuz if yah do...they'll get me!"
The older girls shared a look of confusion and concern. "Who?" Wanda asked gently.
"The bad things!" Rogue said pleadingly. "Don' turn out the light! Pease don'!"
"What bad things?" Jubilee asked curiously.
"Ah can' tell yah that!" Rogue frowned. "Cuz Ah don' even really know...But Mama said they'd come if Ah was ever 'way from her or 'lone in the dark at night!"
"Poor kid." Wanda said coaxingly. "Rahne? Could you stay in here with her until we're all set please?"
The girl nodded and turned into her wolf body. She hopped onto the bed and put her head on Rogue's knee.
The other girls got ready for bed and talked a bit about the recent events. "Why is Rogue so scared of the dark?" Amanda asked. "And what do you think she thinks'll come after her?"
"What's coming after who?" Lance asked in concern as the girls entered the danger room.
"Rogue's scared of the dark Lance." Wanda explained. "Okay no she's terrified because she thinks something bad will get her."
Lance frowned in concern. "And you don't know why?" The girls shook their heads. "Poor girl. She's always had nightmares and she's always refused to answer questions about things she says in her sleep. Maybe a lamp or something would help her."
Amanda nodded. "Good idea. But I really have to get home. Since it's Saturday, curfew is 12:30 and I have a twenty minute drive home. I'll come again tomorrow after church okay?"
"Um ok I guess. Thank you so much for your help Amanda. I appreciate it. Now its 11:55 so you really better go. Just one thing...when does church get out tomorrow?"
Amanda laughed. "12:00. And really don't mention it. I don't mind helping friends baby-sit but it would be better if my boyfriend wasn't a two-year-old..." She trailed off with a sigh.
"I feel your pain girl." Lance sighed remembering he had the same predicament. "Get home, have a nice morning with your family and see you after noon." She smiled and left.
Wanda looked at Lance with a mildly worried expression. Jubilee understood she needed to talk to him and headed back into where the girls were quartered. "Lance, you said its five of midnight? My brother still hasn't graced us with his presence...I'm really getting nervous now..." Wanda frowned. "It's not like him at all to stay away so long. Usually when he's in a bad mood he makes everyone else miserable too because misery loves company or something like that."
Lance frowned. "I'm sure he's okay...To be honest I'm a bit edgy too. He's been away too long. He's probably just trying to make us get nervous so he can rub our noses into the fact that no matter what we say we do care about him." Lance smiled shakily.
"Or he's off at some girlfriend's house no doubt." Wanda snarled in disgust.
"Wanda, Pietro doesn't have girlfriends." Lance rolled his eyes. "He has dates. Many of them but they are meaningless. Just dates."
Wanda frowned at the thought of her brother's loyalty and commitment issues. "Yeah now that I think about it you are right." She yielded.
"He'll get here when he wants." Lance smiled. "He's almost a legal adult. He knows how to take care of himself for at least one night. I promise if he isn't home tomorrow we'll go look for him but it is so late now..."
Wanda nodded. "I understand. And I am probably overreacting." She smirked.
Lance nodded. "Good. Now lets get back to the issue at hand. Something, I don't know what, but something, tells me this is going to be one of the toughest nights of any of our lives."
"Lance! Johnny Gotta go potty!"
"Lance! Remy firsty (thirsty)!"
"Wanda! Tabitha frowed (throwed) a piwow (pillow) at me!"
"Jean lyin' Wanda! Tabby no do! It misseded (missed) her by a nile (mile)!"
Wanda grimaced. "Hm could it be the same thing telling me that? Or is it just the mini-mutants?"
Hilo it's me again. So what did you think? I am sure questions are burning in your heads now and before I get a hailstorm all (or at least the large majority) will be explained in chapters yet to come. The thirteen Swedish Ninja-like Swedish Monkeys that have been hand selected to take in new reviews for this chapter eagerly await your contributions.
School starts on September 1st for me so hopefully I can get back on a better writing schedule.
On a side note, if you read this I would appreciate A) a review; and B) I would love for you to check out my second and less sugary sweet attempt at fanfiction. It is going to be jam-packed with more angst than this one and it is called 24 hours. Thank you and remember to review. I honestly don't care if I get a two-word review as long as it tells me that people are reading this.