"…"- conversation
'…'- thoughts
(…)- extra facts/actions (some)
'blah…' -telepathy/what people say mentally
Chapter 6: RevengeKitchen, Xavier Institute for the Gifted, Bayville, NY, USA—June 9, 7:00 PM
Roberto and Rahne were currently sitting at the table in the kitchen, looking over some roughly drawn blueprints for their final prank.
"'Berto, are ye sure tha' this'll work?" Rahne asked doubtfully, her eyes scanning the drawings in front of her with doubt in her eyes.
Roberto looked up at his girlfriend and, grinning, replied, "Of course I'm sure, Rahne. This'll work; hell, if everything else worked then this will definitely work." Rahne tilted her head at that moment, her ears changing to their wolf form and alerting her to the approaching sounds.
"Someone's coming…" Rahne said, her ears moving back and forth. Roberto cursed under his breath and thinking quickly took the drawings and crumbled them into a small ball that he quickly hid in his pocket. Rahne changed her ears back to normal and they started talking about what they were going to do the next day.
Forge walked into the kitchen, his black eyes aimed at the coffeepot that was almost empty of the precious liquid. "Good… there's still some left…" Forge mumbled, his words catching Roberto and Rahne's attention.
Raising an eyebrow Roberto asked, "Um, Forge, are you okay?"
Forge looked up from pouring the liquid into his patented mug, which was two times the size of a regular mug and looked at the two young mutants who were watching him. "Oh, uh, Roberto, Rahne; umm, let's just say that my latest experiment needs some more… um, work. I have to go; bye!" Forge placed the coffeepot in the sink on his way out and passed Roberto and Rahne, who both watched him go with confused expressions on his face.
"What was all that about?" Roberto asked, resting his chin on his right hand as he watched Forge's back retreat behind a corner.
Rahne thought for a moment before grinning and replying, "Ay think Ay heard someone sayin' tha' Forge tossed somethin' on Storm's roses and now he has tae fix them; Ay think he's been at it for over five hours." Roberto grinned at this and both began laughing, knowing that their plans had inadvertently gotten someone else involved as well.
Roberto made a move to withdraw the plans from his pocket when both heard someone clearing their throat. Roberto froze and, turning around slowly gulped when he saw an angry looking Logan behind him.
"Well, if it ain't the two miscreants who ended up not getting' in trouble last night," Logan drawled, black eyes looking at them in suspicion. "Anything ya want to tell me?"
Roberto and Rahne looked at each other and Rahne, getting an idea, sighed and replied, "Aye, there is somethin' ye need tae know, Wolverine. Forge, he, umm, just came and took the last bit of coffee… Ay'm sorry tha' we could nae stop him." Rahne bowed her head in remorse, Roberto doing the same.
Logan growled; how dare that inventor come and steal his coffee?! Hell, he needed it more than the inventor after what had happened that morning… "Is that so? Well, guess I'll have to go and track him down, won't I?" Logan made to leave the kitchen but then turned around and, meeting two sets of eyes winked and said, "Thanks for the info." Logan then left and Roberto and Rahne thought they heard the sound of Logan's claws coming out as he went to hunt down the rogue inventor.
Roberto placed his head in his hands and mumbled, "That was way too close… Nice move, Wolfie." Rahne nodded, doing the same. They sat this way for a few minutes, not daring to try and continue their discussions at the time, afraid that they'd been caught again.
Rahne suddenly lifted her head and looked past her boyfriend's shoulders and out into the hallway, where she saw Lorna and Alex doing something. "'Berto, what are Lorna and Alex up tae?"
Roberto's head shot up and, turning in his chair his mouth dropped. "Shit… I hope that they didn't figure out that we're the ones responsible…"
Looking at each other they decided to find out just what was going on. Running out of the kitchen they nearly collided with Warren and Betsy, who were carrying what looked like barrels full of something.
"Hey! Watch where the hell you're going!" Warren exclaimed, taking to the air just in time to avoid a direct collision with Roberto. Betsy levitated her load in the air so that Rahne missed it, the werewolf skidding to a stop just before she would have hit the woman in front of her.
"Sorry," Roberto said, looking back and forth from Warren to Betsy. "Umm, if you don't mind me asking what's going on?"
Warren and Betsy looked at each other, each wondering if it was safe to let Roberto and Rahne in on their prank. Betsy turned to them and replied, "Well, let's just say that Scott and Jean are going to get what's coming to them, shall we?" Betsy then levitated her load back into her arms, Warren landing back on solid ground, and they walked towards Alex and Lorna, who were waiting for them.
Roberto and Rahne looked at each other and grinned; who knew that their plan would lead to Scott and Jean getting pranked two times in one day?
"How about we head out to the gazebo?" Roberto asked, draping an arm over Rahne's shoulders. Rahne nodded and together they headed out towards the lone gazebo on the Institute's grounds, located near the edge of the forest that surrounded the Institute.
Foyer, Xavier Institute for the Gifted, Bayville, NY, USA—June 9, 7:20 PM
While Roberto and Rahne made their way out to the gazebo Alex, Lorna, Warren, and Betsy were putting the final touches on their plan of revenge. Betsy levitated the two barrels that she and Warren had just arrived with into position while Lorna made some final minute adjustments to the metal contraption above her. Alex and Warren were both on guard duty.
"Almost there… got it," Lorna said, grinning when she saw the last piece go into place. She looked to Betsy and when she got a nod from the purple-haired woman a minute later floated up into the air, flipping a few switches and turning a few dials. She floated back to the ground and she and Betsy exchanged a high five, knowing that their plan was bound to be a success; hell, how could it not?
"We got it!" came Kitty's voice as she, Lance, Evan, Dani, Sam, and Tabby came running into the foyer, a large banner held between the six of them. "It took some rooting around but I finally found what we needed."
Warren walked over to the new arrivals and asked, "Did you blow it up?"
Tabby grinned and replied, "But of course! Now our two dear "instructors" are going to get what they deserve!"
Evan shot a thumbs-up at Alex and Lorna, saying, "This is going to be so sweet!" Betsy nodded and after explaining what they were going to do with the large banner she had Warren and Lorna take either end of it and take it up to the ceiling, one end at either side of the large doorway that led to the front lawn of the Institute. When Warren and Lorna had it in position Evan stepped up to the plate and, extracting six bone spikes shot them at the spots Betsy specified, effectively pinning the banner in place.
"You're sure that the Professor won't mind the holes in the wall?" Dani asked, doubt still in her mind about what they were going to do.
Sam looked over at her and, grinning, said, "He may not lahke what we're doin' Dani, but we sure are ready ta get our revenge; wouldn't yah say?" Dani thought for a moment then nodded, her confidence restored in the project.
Warren and Lorna flew back to the ground and the group stood still for a moment, just admiring their work, when they heard a crackling emanating from Sam's left ear. Sam put a hand up to his ear and listened, his face showing nothing. During the meeting it had been agreed that Sam, Bobby, and Remy would each have a comlink in their ears so that they communicate with each other and not have to worry about bad planning.
After a few minutes he brought his hand back to his side and, grinning said, "Plan's good ta go in about twelve minutes… are we all ready?"
Everyone nodded and Betsy broached a subject that she had been thinking about for a few minutes. "Guys, should we let Roberto and Rahne in on this? I mean, they hate Summers and Grey too, right?" Everyone thought about this for a moment, trying to decide on an answer.
"Why not? I mean, who the hell in his place doesn't hate Summers and Grey?" Lance said, his voice holding no sympathy for the two older mutants. Betsy nodded and used her telepathy to tell Roberto and Rahne to come to the foyer for the surprise of their lives.
Seven minutes later Roberto and Rahne burst into the foyer, breathless from the distance they had covered quickly. "What's… what's wrong?" Roberto panted, not having gotten a chance to recover his breath.
Sam stepped forward and said, "We thought tha' yah'll would want ta be here when Scott and Jean get what's comin' to them; yah in?"
Roberto and Rahne looked at each other and grinned, nodding their heads yes in response to Sam's question. They soon recovered their breath and admired what their friends had accomplished. They then looked over at Sam when a crackling sound was heard again and watched as Sam nodded his head while listening to what was in his left ear.
"Got it… guys, they're coming now!" Sam exclaimed and at this everyone scattered to hide to either the left or right of the stairs. No sooner had they done this then shouting could be heard from the second floor. In a matter of seconds Bobby, Jubilee, John, and Wanda came around the corner of the East Wing and Remy, Rogue, Ray, Amara, Pietro, and Lexie came careening around the corner of the West Wing, with Scott coming from the West Wing and Jean from the East.
Pietro sped ahead of everybody and down the stairs, stopping at the doors to the outside. "You-are-all-such-slowpokes!" he taunted Scott and Jean who, according to plan fell for the taunt. Taking a flying leap off of the edge of the top of the stairs they landed in the middle of the foyer, Scott's hands on his visor and Jean's arms outstretched in front of her.
"Now!" Wanda exclaimed and at this everyone who was on the staircase leaped over the sides and to the ground while Pietro sped around Scott and Jean in an ever-increasing white hurricane.
"Pietro, we got it; move!" Lorna exclaimed, getting to her feet and once Pietro had made it over to his assigned hiding place Lorna closed her eyes and ripped the metal wiring that held the trap in place, opening her eyes to guide the trap doors' opening correctly.
Scott and Jean looked up and before Jean could encase themselves in a telepathic bubble a mixture of mustard, ketchup, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, marshmallow topping, and caramel sauce fell over them, covering them head to toe. Grinning, Roberto and Rahne watched the proceedings with amused expressions and satisfied looks on their faces.
"Argh! Not again!" Jean exclaimed, clearing away the gunk from her eyes so that she could see what was going around her and on seeing the machine above her recognized it immediately. "When I get my hands on Forge I'm going to kill him!" You see, after the meeting Lorna and Alex had taken an impromptu trip to Forge's laboratory and had stolen one of his more… successful inventions. The device was designed to hold large quantities of a substance and then release it at a given time through manipulation of the metal or a button-like device. It had worked; it was just that Ororo had threatened Forge with castration if he didn't shut down the device down and never use it again as during its test run it had destroyed her prize rosebushes and petunias.
Pietro appeared in front of the soaked couple and quipped, "Hey, guys, why don't you go and find yourselves two large pieces of bread to lie between? I'm sure that some giant would enjoy you for lunch." He winked then ran up the stairs to where five bags of white feathers rested. Breaking them open he created a wind hurricane and took the feathers down to the couples, whose eyes widened in shock.
Once they were covered in the feathers head to toe Pietro sped back to his hiding place, allowing Betsy to take over. "Hey Summers, Grey; this is for what you did to us!" Using her powers she took four of Evan's spikes out of the wall, allowing the banner to open up to reveal a blown-up and much larger photograph of what Scott and Jean had found that morning in their envelopes.
"Where did you get that?" Scott asked, shock and desperation in his voice. He was holding Jean who, on seeing the photograph had fainted from embarrassment. The photograph showed them at a bar the night before, both obviously drunk. Jean was stripping on a stage while Scott was operating the microphone and collecting bills from men who were enjoying the show. Scott had a silly grin on his face as the picture had been taken when he had been leaning over the stage to get a bill and had been kissed by a woman in the audience. Jean was smirking, seemingly not caring about what Scott had just received on his cheek as she was more concentrated on getting the attention of a man who had his head over a beer, his features hidden in the shadows.
Alex, whistling, got to his feet and, stepping out from his hiding place said, "Jeez, bro., now I can see why my dear sister-in-law would faint; this is bad, especially for you." Scott glared at his brother, the gears in his head turning, trying to come up with the person who had done this to his wife and him.
"You did this, Alex?! How dare you! I'm your brother, for heaven's sake!" Scott screamed, his arms still holding an unconscious Jean. Alex smirked; he didn't look the least bit sorry for what had just happened; in fact, he looked extremely happy.
"Sorry, bro. Revenge comes with its prices and unfortunately for Jean she had to faint," he replied, the rest of his team stepping out of the shadows, followed by the senior X-Men, Brotherhood, Acolytes, and Evan, all of whom were grinning widely, their plan having been a complete and total success.
"We didn't set you up!" Scott exclaimed, laying Jean gently on the floor then marching over to his brother, staring into his eyes. "Hell, I wouldn't do that to you; families don't do that to each other!" Alex's eyes lost some of their spark as he looked into his brother's eyes, now hidden behind a ruby visor covered in the disgusting mixture.
"Yeah, well, maybe you wouldn't have done it but Jean certainly would have!" Lorna exclaimed, moving up so that she was beside her boyfriend. "Jean hates that we get along so well with the Brotherhood and Acolytes; hell, even you hate that fact, Scott! Admit it; you and Jean blackmailed us to put them in a bad light!"
Scott started; how could they think that of him? Okay, sure, he didn't like the Brotherhood or Acolytes but he'd never blackmail them; no, he preferred to beat them in battle and then humiliate them. Blackmailing just wasn't his thing and Jean hated it. "I didn't do this, guys! If I did then why would I try and blackmail Jean and myself, huh?"
This got startled looks from the group of mutants. Damn, how could they have forgotten that fact? "Umm… guys, maybe we made a mistake," Bobby muttered, cursing when Jubilee hit him on the head and shot him a look that said, "Duh."
Roberto and Rahne looked at each other—they hadn't come out of the shadows—and mentally agreed to leave the foyer and go and put the finishing touches on their last plan. Making sure that they weren't seen Roberto and Rahne managed to sneak out of the foyer. Once they had done so they took off for the back of the mansion to make sure that their plan to get Logan and Ororo was ready to go.