1
Todd was nearly surprised that Nightcrawler and not that image induced version of Kurt Wagner opened the door when they arrived at the mansion. On the other hand, he was at home otherwise known as a boarding school for mutants so why not. And technically, he was not in the X-Men's combat uniform so there was an argument he could be called Kurt.
"We're here for the party, yo?", Todd offered.
"Kitty vasn't that serious.", Kurt informed, not moving aside or lowering his guard.
Until he was nudged aside by his sister. "There you are. About time you showed up, shug.", Rogue welcomed as she and X-23 took one of Todd's hand each and pulled him into the slightly dimmer lit than usual mansion.
"Hey, Blue! Where'd you get up to?", Tabitha walked around looking at the ceiling until she noticed Kurt at the door. She brushed past him. "Hey, Wanda - you here to party, girl?"
Taking her hand, while keeping her brother's in the other, Wanda replied. "Well, Pietro was getting a bit sweaty and I should let him air out every once in a while.", she said while breezing herself and her twin past Kurt.
While Fred usually stood behind everyone from the problems his size created in conversation to simple self-esteem, he was revealed to be carrying several trays of food. "I...uh, brought snacks.", he displayed.
Kurt's yellow, glowing, pupiless eyes somehow rolled as he opened the door wide enough for Fred to make his way through.
He glared at Lance standing alone in the doorway. Kurt thumbed over his shoulder. "Ack, kaztchen would kill me." Lance quickly darted inside while the welcome existed.
2
Todd asked...Rogue and X-23, he did not want to overstep and say they were his girlfriends (plural? how did that happen?) yet. "How do you guys get away with having a setup like this?" He was surrounded with activity like a school hallway between classes, only with the people he knew doing what they liked. And if the lights coming from the other side of Jubilation Lee told him anything, using their powers as they liked.
X-23 explained. "The professor is a very powerful, and therefore sensitive telepath living in a mansion full of teenagers. He sometimes needs to rest his mental shielding away from the estate. Rather than keep everyone pent up and cut that time shorter and shorter, we're allowed to apparently cut loose so it's easier on him when he returns."
Rogue continued. "But that doesn't mean he's irresponsible. We can't do anything reckless or illegal or only stupid. And Dr. McCoy, Ms. Munroe, Mr. Lensherr and Mr. Logan are here in case someone doesn't understand that."
"Oh, we should pre-emptively get him to like Todd.", X-23 suggested. "Let's go tell him we kissed."
Rogue grabbed her free hand with her free hand as Todd also pulled her back. "Let's slow that down a bit.", the two told her.
X-23 asked, "Why?". Then she tilted her head to the side. "Oh, I didn't think you could hear that through the noise."
She pulled the two just back inside the main foyer, where Logan had stopped Lance. Logan sniffed. "Hand it over, kid."
"What, Wolverine? I just came like everybody else.", Lance said. Then he shivered then shuffled as two whiskey bottles were lifted out from under his oversized shirt by their foil wrapped tops. Eric Lensherr floated an inch off the ground, just to show he could, until he came to a rest well within Lance' personal space. "Oh, those.", he said. "I was just bringing a, you know, thank you gift for inviting us. You know, like a peace warming thing."
Magneto's energy filled eyes were even hard for Lance to look directly at from the inches away that he was. And while Lance was fairly tall and lanky, he still recognized the Magneto had leaned down to put his face in his. "Why thank you, Avalanche. It was thoughtful of you to bring us such a gift, just as it was to immediately display it to Wolverine so that we would not mistake it for an attempt at underage drinking."
"It sure was.", Lance agreed. Logan growled softly. "I mean, uh - you're welcome."
"Run along.", Mr. Lensherr told him. He considered the two bottles and handed one to Logan. "Not half a bad quality either."
3
Todd was taken further into the mansion. It was actually as free spirited as described. Jaime, Sam, Rhane and Paige were all playing some video game on a large TV. Jaime was helping Fred lay out the food he had brought. Wanda and Peitro were spread out together on half a couch where Kitty and Amanda were fiddling with a stereo while Kurt hung from above them. Jaime, Evan and Roberto went racing by to somewhere.
And then there was an explosion. Followed by a bit of cursing. Followed Ms. Munroe's harsh "Language, children."
"What was that?", Todd exclaimed.
Rogue put a gloved hand on his shirt covered shoulder. "A game Jubilee made up. I think they're playing in the kitchen."
Todd followed the two girls into what appeared to be a dining hall. On the main table, a several centimeter thick steel sheet guarded the table cloth. Sat around it were Storm, Jubilee, Iceman and Magma (as their powers were quite clearly active) with Tabitha looking on curiously while Scott and Jean leaned against the wall.
"Care to explain what's happening here, Jubilee?", Rogue asked.
Jubilee quickly looked over her shoulder. "Oh, sure." She looked again. "Hey, Rogue. X-23. To..."
"Todd.", the boy identified himself.
She looked over her shoulder again. "Really?"
"No 'a', two 'd's.", he stated crestfallen.
"Oh, 'Todd'. Cool, cool.", she ascertained.
"Anyway. We got ourselves a real mutant fighting tournament. You use your powers to make a character on the plate, see. We put in a weight limit of nothing more than a several ounces and three inches on a side after Jaime tried to clone himself up here. If your character gets knocked off the plate or can't be maintained, you lose. No touching another player though. And if you hurt someone, you can't play for a month."
"Three months.", Ms. Munroe corrected.
"Three, aw come on!", Jubilee complained. "Hey, Jean! You in this round?"
A miniature Jean Grey in her X-men costume floated just above the steel plate. A chorus of boos and Iceman's complaint "Of at least use telekinesis instead of this bull...ony." went around the table while Scott laughed. "Alright, everybody else in." The teenagers around the table rubbed their hands together while Storm centered herself. With a careful waving then a very stern pointing of fingers a little man of ice and a crackling figure of fireworks sprung to life on the plate. Magma placed a rock on the plate, then lifted her hands away to show she was not cheating. The rock unpealed itself and stood in a humanoid form. Slowly a dark cloud colored tornado funnel took shape as well.
Jubilee still had two fingers pointed at her figure and her tongue between her clenched teeth. "Game on!", she bit out.
"Why is everyone coming for me?", Iceman complained as he waved frantically at his ice figure that started skating around the plate.
"Because you're tangible.", Storm stated quietly. The dark funnel cloud chased after the ice man and zapped at him with shocks on par with static electricity.
"Hey, wait a minute.", Magma exclaimed. "Jean's not on the board, she's in our heads!"
"Fine.", Jean dismissed and her image disappeared from the playing field.
"One down, three to go.", Iceman announced.
"Well, if your goal in life is to have women leave you then you're well on your way.", Jubilee told him.
"Wait, what?", Iceman said as his concentration slipped. His figurine immediately stopped, allowing the rock figurine to heat up a fist and shatter it off the board.
The funnel cloud then came for the firework figure. Jubilee leaned closer and closer to the steel plate and gestured as hard as she could to maintain her character's shape. Eventually the funnel cloud ripped it apart and blinding crackles came from the play field. Jubilee slammed her hands down on the table. "Mother/"
"Language, child.", Ms. Munroe chided.
Magma looked back and forth to her little rock guy and Ms. Munroe. Storm only smiled as the funnel cloud spun faster and people begun to notice that the room got colder. Soon, a blast of blizzard snowflakes flew out of the mini tornado into the rock man, slowing him considerably. Magma waved frantically and the rock man regained mobility, glowing brighter from a dull red to a bright yellow. Soon he was near bubbling and the steel underneath him began to glow with every foot fall. In an instant, the funnel cloud change direction and sucked the liquid rock into itself. "No!", Magma cried out. The rock cooled into a solid piece in the middle of the funnel and was ejected softly from the playing field.
Ms. Munroe raised her eyebrow. "You win again.", the teenagers chorused.
The staff member stood. "Don't mess with the mistress. And watch your language." The woman left the room.
"Alright, the ringer's not here. Who wants in?", Jubilee asked immediately.
"I'll get in.", Boom Boom announced. She pinched the steel between her fingers to measure its depth, thought a bit, then blew into her hands a little yellow and orange agent of destruction in the form of a small orb.
"You know you can't hurt anyone.", Magma told her.
"I don't live here anymore.", Boom Boom replied.
Todd sat down next to Iceman. "Can I play?"
The other boy turned to him. "Can you? I mean, sure - you may. But can you?"
Tabitha started laughing. "Oh, this is a hoot. Do it, Toad."