It was early morning at the institute, and the new mutants were doing an early training session with Logan. They stood at the edge of a cliff as Danny was flying down the edge of it, where on a platform sticking out was an unconscious Nightcrawler.

"Confirmed." Danny said over his com to the others. "He's unconscious."

"And starving." Nightcrawler said, wanting to get this exercise over quickly. "Speed up the rescue. I need my breakfast."

"Negative on the last part." Danny said over the com. "He's not unconscious. Seems to be well other than his constant whining."

"Hey!" Nightcrawler protested.

"Tabitha, you should be on your way down here with the basket." Danny said to one of the new mutants.

"Oh, man, Boom-Boom?" Nightcrawler bemoaned, fearing the idea of that girl rescuing him. "You placed my life in the hands of a maniac?"

"Scratch that, the victim seems to be under extreme stress." Danny added. "Proceed with caution as he appears to be very frail and weak." He joked.

"Oh, ha ha." Nightcrawler said sarcastically.

Up on the cliff, Logan was watching the new mutants begin lowering the basket when he saw Tabitha sitting on a rock and listening to some music over a pair of headphones.

Logan took off her headphones so she could hear him. "Hey, where's your com link, kid?"

"Huh?" Tabitha asked absentmindedly before remembering the task at hand. "Oh, grabbed the wrong earphones by mistake." She took the headphones off. "No big deal. Am I up?"

Logan sighed. "Yeah."

She smiled as she made a two-finger salute and passed by Logan while touching his chin with her finger in a teasing gesture.

Danny was waiting for the basket to arrive when he heard Tabitha's voice up above.

"Yeah!" She cried out in excitement. "Look out below! Boom Boom's bombing in!" She rode the basket down to where Nightcrawler was as he shook his head.

"I'm going to die." He said to himself.

"Look on the bright side, Kurt." Danny said. "There might be a chance you'll be able to come back as a ghost."

The basket reached its destination as Tabitha leaned over and poked her fellow mutant. "Hey cutie."

"Hi." Nightcrawler said neutrally. "I have to know. Are you insane?"

"Her codename is Boom Boom." Danny pointed out as he watched the two. "What do you think?" He turned his attention back to Tabitha. "Now, Tabitha, the victim is trapped under rocks. What do we do?"

"Well, first things first, we gotta boom apart these rocks." She summoned a small ball of energy and placed it in the rocks that were on top of Nightcrawler. "Fire in the hole!" She cried while plugging in her ears as the explosion went off. Luckily, it didn't injure Nightcrawler in the slightest. "And in the basket you go." She used her foot to push him in.

"Ow! I'm an injured victim, not a log." Nightcrawler reminded her.

"Nightcrawler, huh?" She asked as she looked him over. "That name's just not working for you. I'm sorry." She joked before she came up with an alternative name. "Whoa! How about Wild Blue Yonder Boy?" She suggested.

"Too much of a mouthful." Danny quipped.

"You are insane." Nightcrawler responded, but there was a smile tugging at his face.

"Alright, get the victim topside." Danny told Tabitha.

"Yo, Badger!" She called out to Logan. "Tug us up!"

"It's Wolverine." He replied indignantly.

The basket was slowly being brought up, and Nightcrawler decided to have some fun. Seeing that she forgot to strap him in, he rolled out of the basket and fell down below as Tabitha gasped. Just before he could be impaled on the sharp rock formations sticking out, he teleported back into the basket.

"Heh heh." He teased Tabitha. "You forgot to strap me in. Ten points off."

"This isn't good." Danny said as he saw the two start to mess around.

"Oh, yeah?" Tabitha retorted. "Well, hang on to your blue tail, Yonder Boy." She started shaking the basket as she threw more balls of energy at the cliff, setting off several mini-explosions.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Logan scolded them. "Phantom!" He called out to Danny. "Get them under control!"

"I have to do everything around here." Danny muttered under his breath. As he was about to tell them to knock it off, the basket swung toward the side of the cliff, where Nightcrawler bumped his head, causing him to fall again.

Thankfully for Nightcrawler, Danny managed to fly down and catch him before he was impaled. He then flew back up, grabbed Tabitha, and brought the two back up with the others.

"Joke's over." Danny told them.


Tabitha, Kurt, and the other new mutants were in the observatory room as Xavier was explaining the importance of following the rules.

"But we have them for many reasons." Xavier explained. "One being your safety. And the only way to enforce those rules, to ensure your obedience, to keep you all safe, is for there to be penalties." He rolled his way over to Kurt and Tabitha. "So, Tabitha, Kurt, for two weeks you're confined to the institute after school. You are prohibited from using your powers. And you will attend two training sessions a day with Logan."

He went to leave as Tabitha tried to protest her punishment.

"But-" She didn't say anymore as Kurt put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, professor." He said to Xavier. "We understand."

Tabitha had an annoyed look at the thought of not being able to use her powers along with being confined here.


At the Brotherhood's place, they were all in the dumps. Literally. Without Mystique watching them, the boys ended up tearing the house apart with their messes, either due to their sloppiness or the several times they ended up fighting with each other.

The kitchen was no exception, as the curtains on the window were torn. Cabinets were broken. There was a bit of graffiti on the wall. Dozens of pots were laid over the stove, with dishes overflowing the sink. And the trashcans were filled to their maximum capacity, with flies buzzing around.

Though Toad didn't mind the flies as he snagged some for breakfast.

"Houseflies." He said to himself as he stood on top of the stove next to the trash can and started eating the flies that were around him. "Nothing like a balanced breakfast."

Pietro came in, and using his super speed, he searched through the drawers and cabinets for something to eat but found nothing.

"Man, the cupboards are bare and falling apart." He commented as he closed one cabinet, only for the door to it to fall.

"Yeah." Blob agreed. "What's with this cheap dump anyway?"

"Yo, what we need is some serious coin." Toad suggested. "And I know where to get it." He hopped out of the kitchen and up the stairs past Lance, who was getting ready for school. The weakest of the Brotherhood tried to bang his head against the door to Mystique's room, only to bounce off and fall down the stairs.

Not deterred by this, he hopped back up to try the same thing again as the others watched.

"Oh, man." Blob said. "He's at it again!"

Toad fell down the stairs again before deciding to try it again. Only this time to bounce off and land in Blob's arms.

"That door's gotta be made out of Adamantium or something." Toad said, thinking that was the only explanation that he couldn't break through.

"Hey, knock it off, Toad." Blob said as he carried him back downstairs. "Not that I like you, but I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Yeah." Pietro said. "What'll happen when Mystique shows up and finds out you busted into her room?"

"She ain't coming back, yo." Toad replied. "So let's see if she left any cash lying around." He suggested only for Blob to throw into the wall by the door, making an imprint.

"Ow!" He muttered in pain. "Is that your final answer?" He asked weakly.

"See you, Einsteins." Lance said as he left. "I'll be at school."

"Me too." Toad added as he got to his feet. "For my own safety."


"Good morning, students." Kelly greeted over the intercom. "Tonight is the big night. The Bayville High Carnival Fundraiser. Now, folks, remember all proceeds will help rebuild our gymnasium after last month's fire. So we really hope to see you all back here tonight." He then ended the announcement before turning to one of the attendants. "Dorothy, every hour during the carnival, I'd like you to deposit the earnings here." He pulled open a painting, revealing a safe behind it.

"Yes, Mr. Kelly." Dorothy said before noticing someone behind her. "May I help you?" She asked.

"Yes." A smarmy-looking man smiled at her. "My daughter's enrolled here. Tabitha Smith. I'd like to see her."

As Kelly went back to his office and Dorothy looked through the files in the cabinet, Tabitha's father looked at the painting that hid the safe with a greedy smile before switching back to a genuine one as Dorothy turned back around.

"I'm sorry, sir." Dorothy told him. "Tabitha has a restricted visitor list. I'll refer you to the Xavier Institute."

"Well, then I'll have to check with them." He replied. "Thank you." He then left.


As the bell rang, signaling it was time for class, Tabitha was trying to pry open a locker, but it wouldn't budge. Smacking it a few times didn't help either, so she made a small ball of energy and slipped it in through the lock. The locker finally exploded, spilling the contents onto the floor. She then looked inside. "Hey, this isn't my locker." She closed the door, revealing Danny standing next to her, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Uh, sorry, Danny." Tabitha apologized.

"Don't be." Danny snorted. "It's Duncan's locker anyway. But still, Xavier told you no powers, remember?"

"Whoa. One lecture a day is my limit." Tabitha replied as she went to another locker.

Danny sighed. "Look, Tabitha, I understand wanting to cut loose sometimes, but you're at the point of not caring about anything you do."

"Please." Tabitha scoffed. "Professor X needs to loosen his necktie, Dan." She turned to smile at him when she saw that he was glaring at her.

"Don't call me Dan." Danny warned her, and even Tabitha, with all of her history of rule-breaking, knew that she should never do that again.

"Sorry." She apologized. "But still, what good is having these powers if you can't have a little fun?" She then smirked at him. "Besides, I know you're not such a rule-follower yourself." She elbowed him. "Kurt told me all about you and the others ditching that military camp once. Gotta say, pretty cool." The party girl gave him a thumbs up in approval.

"Yeah, well, the difference is that I actually think of what will happen when I do something." Danny reasoned. "I come up with backup plans and consider anything that may go wrong. You, on the other hand, act like consequences don't exist." He gave her a pleading look. "Tabitha, you can make things explode. You shouldn't wield that power like a kid playing with his father's gun."

"I won't." Tabitha reassured him. "Just chill out, Danny. I'll be good. I promise." The bell then rang. "Late bell." The mutant gave him a hopeful look. "Borrow your social studies book?"

"I don't have that class with you." Danny pointed out.

"Oh, right." She realized. "Well, see ya later." She sauntered off towards her next class as Danny shook his head.

"Man, she is crazy." He commented.

"I'll say." A voice next to him said.

"Ahh!" He jumped a bit before seeing Rogue materialize. "Rogue! Were you standing there the entire time?"

"Yep." His girlfriend smirked. It was nice being able to surprise him like this. "Gotta say, these powers are pretty neat." She raised her hand as it glowed green with energy.

"Why were you spying on us while invisible anyway?" Danny couldn't help but ask.

Rogue winked at him. "Wanted to spook you. And I also gotta keep an eye on my man to make sure he ain't fooling around with other women."

Danny was incredulous at that explanation. "Hey, I-" She cut him off with a laugh.

"I'm just kidding, Danny." She placed her arms around him. "I know you're loyal." She then started dragging him by his arm. "Now, come on, we gotta get to class."

As Tabitha was heading to class, she saw Lance at the soda machine. The mutant was using his powers to make the machine shake out a free soda for him.

"Hey, nice technique." She complimented. Creating a ball of energy in her hand, she slipped it into the machine, causing it to explode, making a small hole that the sodas were all shot out of. Naturally, they were bursting from the sudden movement.

"What do you think of mine?" Tabitha joked as she caught one cola that shot out and took a sip.

Lance looked at the destroyed vending machine in awe. "Breaking rules and appliances." He praised. "You'd fit right in at our place."

"Yeah?" Tabitha replied. She then scoffed. "Like I'd want to." She walked away as Lance looked down at the quarters that were spilled all over the floor.

While Tabitha made her way to class, Danny and Rogue were walking down the hallway when he pulled Rogue back and pointed to a middle-aged guy walking around the school.

"Why is that guy here?" Danny asked suspiciously.

Rogue simply shrugged. "I don't know, but we gotta go." She was about to lead him to class, but Danny refused.

"No, Rogue." He said. "That guy isn't a teacher, and he's wandering the halls." He narrowed his eyes. "For all we know, he could be a school shooter. We need to investigate."

"Alright." Rogue replied as the couple turned invisible. They saw Tabitha come from the other end of the hall and run into the guy.

"Dad." She said in shock, never expecting him of all people to show up.

"Morning, Tabby." He greeted.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded, not at all happy to see him here.

"It's taken me two long months, princess, but I've finally tracked you down." He grabbed her by the shoulders until he felt something pull him back.

"Leave me alone!" Tabitha shouted before she left for class.

"Wait!" Her father pleaded before he suddenly fell through the floor and landed on the next one below, causing him to black out.

"Good job with the intangibility." Danny praised Rogue as they phased down to join the unconscious man.

"Thank you."

The two then went to the office, where they notified the attendant that there was an unconscious man in the halls. Naturally, the school was put on lockdown and when the police arrived, Tabitha's father was nowhere to be found as he regained consciousness and escaped.

All the students were allowed to go home as the investigation took place.


"I wonder how bad Tabitha's relationship really is with her father." Rogue wondered as she and her boyfriend, along with Kurt and Scott, sat down at the table for lunch. "She really didn't look happy to see him."

"They're probably on par with how Vlad and I interreact, with the exception of ghost powers." Danny guessed, feeling sympathy for Tabitha's situation.

"I'm just surprised that the carnival isn't cancelled after that guy showed up at our school." Scott added. "Principal Kelly must really want those funds for the repairs to the school's gymnasium." He then noticed Kurt looking down in the dumps. "Cheer up, Kurt." Scott patted him on the back. "There'll be other carnivals. It's not like you had a date, right?"

"No." Kurt said.

"What about you, Scott?" Danny asked. "Did you have a date?"

"No." Scott said, looking away.

"Don't be so down on yourself, Scott." Rogue said to him. "I'm sure you'll find a nice gal. What about that Taryn girl? I sometimes see her looking at you."

"Wait, really?" Scott asked, shocked that Tayrn might be into him.

"Don't knock yourself down, Scott." Danny said as he pointed to his heart. "Deep down is a Casanova waiting to emerge."

Scott chuckled. "Yeah, right."

"Hey, guys!" Tabitha greeted as she entered the dining room. She stole some fries off Kurt's plate and saw the soda he was drinking. "Whoa, nectarine smash! I love these!" She went to grab it when Kurt moved his hand away.

"Soda is right inside the fridge." He pointed to the door to the kitchen.

Smiling, she placed her hand on his chin. "Stingy boy." She then left to go get herself a drink.

Danny watched the interaction between the two, and as Tabitha left, he had a question for his friend. "Kurt. Do you and Tabitha have a thing?"

Kurt spat out his soda right into Scott's face.

"Oh, come on, dude!" The glasses-wearing X-Man went into the kitchen to get some paper towels.

"What?" Kurt said in shock at Danny's question. "No! What gave you that idea?"

"I don't know." Danny replied. "She was eating your food. I heard that couples sometimes eat off their partner's plates. Some sign of affection or something."

"Like what Rogue is doing?" Kurt pointed to Rogue, who snagged a chicken nugget from her boyfriend. She then gave Kurt a glare for putting her on the spot.

"I'll stop." Kurt said to Rogue before returning his attention back to Danny. "But no, Tabitha and I aren't a thing."

"Do you want you and her to be a thing?" The hybrid asked his blue friend.

Kurt hummed in thought. "I don't know." He smiled slightly. "She is kind of funny, though."

"Yeah." A now dried-off Scott said as he came back into the room. "So funny, she almost got you killed this morning."

"He's got a point, Kurt." Danny agreed. "You might want to wait until she's, you know, less crazy."

As the group was still talking, Tabitha entered her room since there was nothing else to do. As she lied on her bed in thought, her phone rang.

"Hello." She greeted.

"Tabby." Her father's voice said over the phone. "There you are." The man smirked from the payphone he was in. It was a good thing that he got Tabitha's number from her mother.

"Leave me alone, Dad." She was about to hang up the phone when her father spoke quickly.

"I just want to talk, that's all." He begged. "Just give me a minute to explain."

Tabitha sighed; she wasn't going to fall for this trick again. "I've heard it all before."

"Look, your mom and I, we're trying to work things out." He explained. "I want to put everything right. But I can't do it without you. Please, Tabby." He pleaded. "I need you. Just hear me out."

"Hear what out?" Tabitha snapped. "The same old lie of you wanting me to come home and pretend we're a family."

"We do want you home." Her father said. "Really. Soon. But after things are settled and we get the creditors off our back."

"I knew it!" Tabitha cried. "All you want is money!"

"Just enough to help us get back on our feet, Tabby." He said calmly. "That's all."

"Well, I don't have any!" Tabitha yelled. "Nada!"

"Yeah, but you can get it." Her father pointed out.

"That's all I am to you, aren't I?" She should've known by now that's all her father saw her as. "Someone to blast through walls? What is it this time? An electronics store? The bank?" She remembered that time and how it failed. Security was tight, and they were both caught. The humiliation of being led into a police car still made her tear up whenever she thought about it.

"Tabby, this money, it's more for your mother than for me." He confessed. "She's had it pretty rough. You know that."

Tabitha stopped at that. She knew how hard it'd been for her mom. "If I do it, then you leave. And I don't ever see you again, right?"

"If that's the way you want it, dear." He said. "We'll talk more at the school carnival. I'll be looking for you."


It was evening, and Kurt was sitting on the railing on the balcony in his room, admiring the beautiful view. He was still grounded and so was confined to the institute, so this sightseeing was all that he could do to entertain himself.

It was very peaceful until Tabitha suddenly popped up in front of him.

"Hi, Blue." She greeted. "What's up?"

Kurt fell off the railing and looked up at the smirking girl.

"My heart rate, for one." Kurt quipped before wondering how Tabitha got here. "How did you get out here?"

"Oh, relax." Tabitha told him. "I climbed. Listen, I don't coop up well. So I'm sneaking out. Wanna come?" She asked.

"What?" Kurt exclaimed. "Are you crazy? Where?"

"The carnival! Where else?" Tabitha replied, wanting Kurt's help to get her there without getting into trouble with Xavier. "Come on." She urged. "You can zing us over there and back before anybody even knows."

Kurt was hesitant about this. "Uh, I don't know, Tabitha."

"Come on, Kurt." She begged. "Just for a couple of minutes. We'll just go on one ride, I promise." She flashed him a pretty smile. "Please?"

"No, no can do." Kurt responded. He wasn't going to leave the institute and possibly get in trouble.

No way. No how.


The two screamed in excitement as they were on one of those rides that spun you around. Despite his uneasiness about breaking Xavier's punishment, Kurt was having a good time.

"Wanna go faster?" Tabitha asked.

"Yeah." Kurt replied. "How?"

Tabitha held up a small ball of energy, and when they spun past the controls for the ride, she threw it over the circuit board, causing the ride to spin the kids even faster as everyone screamed in excitement before it turned to fear.

The technician was sipping his coffee when he turned around and saw what was happening. Spitting his drink out in shock, he went to put a stop to it, but the controls were destroyed, forcing him to unplug the whole thing entirely.

The ride came to a stop as everyone walked away, dizzy and clutching their stomachs to prevent themselves from puking their guts out.

Kurt and Tabitha stumbled around a bit as they giggled at their antics.

"Come on." Tabitha dragged Kurt away to have some more fun.

The two then played several pranks on the other carnival guests. One prank involved Kurt teleporting him and Tabitha behind two students playing a game as she slipped an energy ball in both of their back pockets before teleporting away as the explosion went off, making their pants fall down.

"Hey!" The boys pulled their pants up before dashing away in embarrassment.

The next couple of jokes mainly involved Tabitha throwing energy balls in random places. The first was the popcorn machine. Next was the fun house of mirrors, making the people inside run out in fear. Another one was a guy's popcorn bag, spilling it all over him as his date laughed.

"Man, I love teleporting." Tabitha said as the two appeared behind a hot dog stand. "You can just exit a bad sitch anytime you want. You are so lucky."

"Hey, tossing off those little firecrackers is nothing to groan about." Kurt commented.

The two then peeked around the corner where Blob, holding a hot dog, was standing with Lance.

As Blob was about to take a bite out of his food, a small ball of energy was tossed in, causing his snack to explode in his face.

"Hey!" Blob cried. "This ain't what I meant when I said I wanted it loaded!"

Wiping off the bits of hot dog that spilled on him, Lance looked over and saw Tabitha and Kurt before they left.

"Hey, look." Lance pointed to where the two were previously standing. "It's that girl I told you about."

The two went off after them, only to find that they had vanished. Shaking his head, Lance went to look around, with Blob following him.

While the two jokesters were having fun, Scott was sitting in the seat of a ferris wheel, waiting for it to take off, when Taryn joined him.

"Hi! Mind if I jump in?" She asked.

"No problem." Scott said as she pulled the harness over them. "I thought you were here with Jean, though?"

"Was." Taryn answered. "But, like, three's a crowd, if you know what I mean."

The ferris wheel then started as the two were lifted into the air.

Duncan and Jean were looking for Taryn when Jean spotted her on the ferris wheel.

"Ah, there she is." She then noticed she was with Scott as well. "With Scott." She added in a perplexed voice. She didn't think her friend had a crush on Scott.

While on the ferris wheel, Scott was looking down below when he saw Kurt teleport with Tabitha by his side.

"Oh, man." He muttered to himself. "Kurt, you dummy." Kurt would be in so much trouble if the professor found out about this.

The two mutants walked on, not knowing that Scott had spotted them, when Tabitha stopped in her tracks as she saw her father at the snack bar, chewing on some popcorn.

Needing a reason to explain her absence, she went up to Kurt.

"Uh, meet me inside the arcade, okay?" She said nervously. "I'll be back in a few."

"Tabitha, we have to leave!" Kurt said. He looked at his watch. "It's been two hours!"

"Just add five minutes to that, then we're gone." Tabitha told him. "Promise." She pushed him into a tent as she went to confront her dad.

Blob and Lance were walking around when Lance spotted Tabitha again.

"Hey, there she is again." He said to his teammate. "Come on." The two went off to follow her.

Tabitha, meanwhile, was talking with her father.

"Look, I figure I'll just drain a few video games, maybe some pay phones." She suggested, hoping that she wouldn't be talked into doing something too serious.

"Chump change." Her father said, dashing his daughter's hopes that this would be an easy job. "Nah, I got my sights set on something bigger. Much bigger." He gestured with his head over to Dorothy, who was walking with a security guard, holding the bag containing the carnival's proceeds. "Like tonight's proceeds."

Tabitha was now feeling very apprehensive about this.

"The vault in the office." Her father explained. "You're gonna blow it; I'm gonna clean it out."

"No, no, no." Tabitha held up her hands. "Bad plan."

"Tabby." Her father spoke in a sympathetic voice. "Just this one, big take, and I'm gone within the hour. I promise."

His daughter shook her head. "Fine. Then let's just get it over with."

"That's my girl." He praised.

Behind the bleachers next to the snack bar, Blob and Lance were listening in on their plan.

"After tonight, our cash shortage is over." Lance said, planning on stealing the cash from them.

While plans were being made, Danny was enjoying his time with Rogue.

"Here you go." He handed her a stuffed animal that he had won.

"Aw, thank you, sugar." She said sweetly as she munched on some cotton candy.

The two were having a good time when they spotted a fortune teller.

Rogue snorted. "Call me skeptical, but I'm not one to believe in people being able to tell the future." She turned to her boyfriend. "What about you?"

Danny chuckled anxiously as some unpleasant memories came to the forefront of his mind.

"Can't really say." He answered, hoping she wouldn't get suspicious. She didn't, as Rogue was looking at the fortune teller with interest.

"Still." She muttered. "It might be fun." She grabbed his hand. "Come on." Danny was dragged over to the stand as the teller gave Rogue a card. She looked it over and snorted.

"What does it say?" Danny asked interestedly.

"Says that I must tread carefully, for there will soon be a battle over my very soul." Rogue shook her head. "Yeah, right. Gotta give them points for creativity, though." She threw the card away as the couple went on their way.

If Danny had paid attention, he would've seen that on the back of the card was the logo for a familiar timekeeper.

Meanwhile, Kurt came out of the tent and saw Tabitha and an unknown man walking over to the school. Recognizing that Tabitha was in trouble, he ran to get help when he came across Danny and Rogue.

"Danny, I need your help!" Kurt said.

Danny rolled his eyes. "What did you do this time, Kurt? Other than sneaking out, of course."

"No. No, not that!" Kurt replied. "It's Tabitha. I think she's in trouble. Who else is here?"

"I think just Scott, Jean, and Evan." Rogue answered. She narrowed her eyes at Kurt, curious to see what situation he got himself into. "How much trouble are we talking about?"

"I saw Tabitha and a man walk toward the school." Kurt told them, making the couple look at each other in realization. It appeared Tabitha's father wasn't going to give up that easily.

"I think Rogue and I will be enough to help." Danny said. "Now come on." He ran off to find a place to go ghost. "Let's go!"


Using her powers, Tabitha blew open the doors to the school.

"Alarm's probably tripped." Her father said as he shined his flashlight through the darkened halls. "Let's move." They went over to the office, where Tabitha's dad opened the door leading to the safe. "Come on." He encouraged Tabitha. "Make it a big one."

Going against her better judgment, Tabitha made a ball of energy and placed it on the safe, blowing it open and revealing the bag of money.

Her father took the bag and exited the office, only to run into Toad, who hopped in front of them.

"Ha, ha." Toad laughed. "Yo, pops. I'm here to make a withdrawal." He snatched the bag and hopped away, with Tabitha and her dad chasing after him. They followed the toady mutant into the destroyed gymnasium, where Lance and Blob sat waiting.

"What do you think of my technique now, Tabby?" Lance taunted.

"Unimpressed." Tabitha said as she went to leave, when her father grabbed her arm.

"Get it back!" He ordered her. "Use your powers!"

Nightcrawler teleported in with Danny and Rogue by his side, both in ghost form.

"Anybody see a lost bag of cash?" Danny joked.

"What are you guys doing here?" Tabitha demanded. Great. Now she was totally busted.

"Looking to get hurt, that's what." Lance chimed in.

"More like we'll be doing the hurting." Rogue replied as she shot an ecto-blast at Lance.

Blob charged at Rogue to punch her, but she stopped his fist with one finger.

"Guess that's what happens when an unmovable object meets an unstoppable force." Rogue jested before she punched him in the stomach, launching him into the bleachers.

Toad tried to hop away with the money when Danny snatched it out of his hands.

"Sorry, Toad, but no withdrawals at this hour." He teased.

Seeing that this situation was getting out of hand, Tabitha's father turned to his daughter. "Tabby, you got to get the money back." But before Tabitha could respond, he was lifted off his feet and came face-to-face with an angry phantom.

"How could you do this?" Danny glared at him in contempt. "How could you exploit your own daughter for money?"

"What else is she good for?" Her father said uncaringly. "She's a freak. Might as well be one that could actually help me get ahead in life."

At this sudden confession, Tabitha widened her eyes. She knew her father was a scumbag, but she never thought that he would ever think such things about her. She knew that she shouldn't care. Shouldn't even consider thinking about his opinions about her, but despite it all, she couldn't help the tears that formed in her eyes.

Nightcrawler hugged her in support as Danny and Rogue merely glared at the man in disgust.

"You want your money?" Danny asked rhetorically. He grabbed the sack of money and threw it into his hands. "Then take it!" He flew the greedy man into the air, phased him through the roof, and dropped him in front of the entrance to the school.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, he was still alive, but his legs were broken as the police cars pulled up.

Danny could only shake his head in disgust as he saw the officers make their way over to Tabitha's father.


"So, what's gonna happen to my father?" Tabitha asked as she and Kurt sat in Xavier's office.

"Well, they're detaining him." Xavier informed her. "In addition to the charges for coercing you, he's got several outstanding warrants."

Tabitha looked down at the floor, refusing to cry again. "I'll just go pick up my stuff and be out of your way." She said as she got up to leave.

"Tabitha, you don't have to leave the institute." Kurt said, not wanting her to be gone. Sure, she was trouble, but he liked that about her. He didn't want to see her leave. Not like this.

"Yes, I do." Tabitha said sadly. "It's just not a good fit. Not right now. Goodbye, Blue."

"You know where we are if you need us." Xavier said as she left his office.


At the Brotherhood's place, Toad was trying to get some water but could only get a drop from the sink.

"Hey, what happened to the water, yo?" Toad asked.

"City just shut it off." Lance said as he grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. "Makes me thirsty just thinking about it."

There was a knock at the door. Wondering who it could be, Lance opened it and was greeted by the sight of a smirking Tabitha.

"Hey, there." Tabitha said. She then saw his water. "Ooh, dying of thirst." She grabbed it, drank it, and walked in as if she owned the place. The four boys simply stared at her. "I need a place to crash. Rooms upstairs?" She asked Blob, who nodded dumbly. She grinned and placed a finger on his chin as she went up the stairs.

"Go stop her." Pietro whispered to Blob.

"You go stop her." Blob whispered back.

"Yeah, don't she know?" Toad said. "No chicks allowed in the Brotherhood house."

"Hey, this one's locked." They heard her say as she came across the door to Mystique's room.

"Oh, no!" Blob gasped before they heard an explosion.

The four boys went upstairs, where they found Tabitha in a fancy-looking room that used to belong to Mystique.

"Hmm. Not bad." Tabitha said as she looked around. "I guess this'll do." She threw her bag on the bed and looked at the Brotherhood. "So stay out of my room!" She slammed the door shut, leaving them speechless.


Like earlier, Kurt was sitting on the railing to the balcony in his room, only this time he was filled with sorrow due to Tabitha leaving.

Danny floated down next to him. "So, what's your punishment?" He asked.

"I have to wash all our uniforms, wax the X-Jet, and clean out the Danger Room every day for a month." Kurt answered. "After Logan's sessions."

Danny shook his head in sympathy. "Wow, sucks to be you." He then looked at the night sky. "But that's not what you're really sad about, is it?"

"Nah." Kurt said. "I just..." He sighed. "I don't understand why she left."

Danny could only shrug. "Sometimes we just have to leave in order to find out who we truly are."

Kurt nodded. "You think she'll be back?"

"Hard to say." Danny said. "But something tells me she already knows what it's really like out there."