"So all of them?"
"All of them."
"Everywhere?"
"In our dimension anyway."
"Wow."
"Vampires aren't evil anymore?"
"Well that's really up to the Vampires now."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
NEW YORK
"No fair Kurt!"
Jubilation Lee dove to the ground just as Kurt Wagner disappeared in a puff of smoke, taking the bright red flag the young woman had been after with him.
"Proffesor! I don't get it? How are we supposed to beat teleporto-boy at capture the flag? Not exactly an even match seeing as how none of us can so much as fly, let alone outdistance him."
Kitty Pryde stood, arms folded glaring around the practice field, as though trying to atomically disassemble and reconstruct it with her mind. There had to be something… there was always something…
"Well that's the point of the exercise Ms. Lee. You three aren't junior classmen, you need to be able to handle yourself in a real challenge."
Kurt stood at the top of a hill holding his bright red flag. "C'mon! You girls aren't even trying! There's only three more flags… Here I'll give you a ten second head start!"
Kitty glared at kurt for a second then turned toward the other two members of her team.
"Lee, I've got a plan."
"My name is Jubilee… only the professor…"
"one…. two… three…"
"Trust me and listen…"
Jubilee and Amara leaned in close for a few seconds listening to Kitty speed through her plan…
"seven… eight… nine…"
"NOW!" Shouted Shadowcat.
Amara was the first to act… she closed her eyes and hit the ground with her fist…
"… TEN!" The Amazing Nightcrawler disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving behind a stench of sulfer…
Kitty Pride closed her eyes and slipped silently into the ground… phasing her body through the molecules of the earth.
BAMF Nightcrawler appeared in a puff of smoke… but Le…errr Jubilee was waiting for him.
CRACK! a dazzling flash of light exploded from the young mutants fingertips, as she concentrated her random plasmoidic bursts into a single point… the effect was a spectacular and disorienting light show that hit Kurt Wagners senses with enough intensity to make him lose track of any and all orientation he may have had to his surroundings…
Still holding the flag he had appeared at, Nightcrawler blinked feriously. He couldn't port safely without seeing where he was going, but he couldn't stay here… Kitty was smart, she'd planned this… she'd be there any second… well he could at least teleport back to his hill, as it was fresh in his mind, at least until he could see clearly…
BAMF
"Hi Kurt."
The flag in Nightcrawlers hands seemed to disappear… he blinked for a couple of seconds… Kitty Prydes image slowly came into focus in front of him… she stood a few feet away holding the red flag in her hand, smiling smugly.
That was ok, there were still two more flags, he already had two and they couldn't beet him to the others the same way, he'd be ready…
Kurt looked around frantically… preparing to teleport again. But there were no flags in sight. Kitty had already phased back into the ground.
"Vhat? Vhere?"
"Oh, you mean the flags?" asked Amara casualy leaning up against a tree... "They're still on the field… well under the field… I wouldn't suggest teleporting to them unless you want to lose a limb, but don't worry… Kitty will get them out of there for you." The young blonde smiled innocently.
And, low and behold, Kitty Pryde did appear a few moments later, carrying three red flags with her… Kurt was still gaping.
Clap Clap Clap Clap…
Professor Xavier rolled onto the field applauding as his students, an amused smile on his face. "Excellent job all of you, I've said it before and I will say it again, you are always stronger as a team… "
"Thanks Professor." Beamed the young woman.
"Your welcome Kitty." Then he turned. "Oh and congradulations Kurt.
"Vhat?" asked the german boy, taken by surprise.
"What?" echoed Ktty Pryde and her compatriots with a hint of indignance.
"There were five flags… Kurt got three… " began the Professor.
"No he didn't! We have three! Look!" exclaimed the young Jubilation. The other two girls nodded in fierce agreement.
"Actually, Kurt got three and you took one away from him after he had already gotten back to his base. By the rules of the game he captured the flag and got it back to his base first… so the flag counts as his."
Kitty hit her forhead with her hand… Jubilee did a Kurt impression and gaped.
"You all should feel proud, you showed an amazing amount of ingenuity and some very good teamwork, but as a suggestion… you should always remember what game you're playing… don't ever forget what your goal is or your strategy means nothing. Now… if you'll all run inside and wash up for dinner. I will be in shortly, I believe Logan and Miss Grey are cooking tonight."