Formalities just never seem to last within the confines of the Xmansion’s briefing room. Its like cramming a cat and one monster-huge foam-mouthed rotweiler in a small box, and expecting the inevitable NOT to accur.... Y’know- the obvious....spare twitchin’ kitty parts and a few scattered, rather nasty puddy-tat stains amidst a beastly dog and a foreboding tattered box? Yeah, that. Pitch in enough Xmen to make a mean mark, a drab steel confine, a controversial debate, too much ego and way to little coffee on a mid Saturday morning, and you've pretty much got the same effect.
Welcome to hell.....
...and that was exactly the current scenario. Venomous, uneasy, and unearthly quiet. Jubilee sat on the edge of her chair, fists and quaintly bared teeth clenched. She hated ignorant people, despised them even..... “I HATE STOOPID PEEPLE”...... She’s said it often enough to bring the one-liner up to the ideal level of obnoxiousness... it was her flippin’ modoe- she had the T-shirt to prove it... and at the moment, the briefing room’s Idiot factor was way too high on ye ol’ scale. Had it not been for Logan’s careful grip on the back of her nightgown, keeping her firmly planted in her seat, Jubes would have bounded across the table and smacked the snot out of the lot of ‘them’. She knew it, Wolvie knew it... and the “anti-Kid-Lebeau” team hadn’t a clue.... they all thought she was ‘too sweet’ to commit gratuitous acts of violence. They thought.
This would, no doubt, have made an unsuspected slap-fest all the more fun.
Problem was, every time she went to bolt at her aponents, she was yanked back into place by her much larger, much calmer counterpart.
She gave him an exasperated look.
He grinned.
She grimaced. Jubilee hated it when Logan had his occasional (yet rare) ‘Mr. Morality’ stints. He did it just to irk her. She knew it. Wolvie knew it. She finally gave up hopes of her imposing assault, gave him the finger from underneath the table, and slumped into her chair with one wicked-loud smack of her bubblegum.
Chew.
Smack.
Chew, Blow, pop.
Chew, blow, pop, Grin.
The bubblegum blowing- her dear, trademark bubblegum- earned multiple dirty looks in the angst-ridden room. For the love of all things bubble, bring on the gum, she thought, grinning.
Everyone had always hated her incessant gum addiction... Probably why she’s always insued it to its furthest extent. Its was great. She loved it, everyone else despised it.... what could be better? Besides, if they didn’t like it, they could take it up with Wolvie. He’d started her on it, anyways... trying to curve the interest and inevitable addiction she’d at one time obtained in stealing and puffing away on his packs of cigarettes and his beloved secret sash of over-priced Cuban cigars. Eventually, a frustrated Wolverine presented her with one of two options: Its was the gum, or getting cuffed up along side the head. Jubes whole-heartedly took a flying leap at the gum.
....Yeah, that’s it. Blame it on the big guy.......
The tension in the room was killer, she noted. Professor Xavier was off in a separated office, contemplating the morning’s proceedings, and deciding just how to deal with Cheyenne.
He SO better let her stay, Jubilee chewed at her gum nervously, It’ll kill the poor kid if she has to leave. It’ll kill Gumbo, too... and I’ll be screwed outta yet another best friend....
Her mind drifted, inching towards an impending headache. She was emotionally shot, having been worrying chronically over the whole ‘situation’ since Chey’s arrival at the mansion.... Having been the one encouraging her and her father to actually converse upon their original, rigidly uneasy introduction to each other ((The two were spooked by each other’s presence at first... Chey’d never expected to be the female clone of anyone, and they looked so damn much alike, it was no wonder. And Remy? Shit, He just plain didn’t like the idea of having a proverbial Mini-Me.... Or having a kid for that matter)). Jubilee had even gone as far as providing a shoulder to cry on for both Chey and Remy when they’d realized the possibility of Cheyene’s removal from the mansion.... The stress, confusion and unfairness of it all had irked her for weeks on end. She was left drained, and possibly, if things took turn for the worst, with nothing to show for her heart-felt efforts...
Jubes could feel herself drifting off to sleep... exhausted.....
....and it was Kitty Pryde’s snide comment that snapped her back to present, and right back into the wicked war of words that was underway, J\just out of the Professor’s earshot. The following convened as such:
PRYDE (hands on hips): “How the hell can you all be so damn ignorant!? She’s just a child! There’s no way on Earth I’m putting MY butt on the line because SHE wants to play house!”
JUBILEE (takes a flying leap at Pryde, and is inevitably jerked back into her seat, care of Wolverine):“...’child?!’..... Pryde, you’re only three freakin’ years older then she is! If that’s the case, YOU shouldn’t be on this Team either!”
PRYDE (looks damn near in pain):“OOoohh! Don’t even get me STARTED on YOU, Jubilee!”
STORM (coldly): “lets NOT go there and say we did, clear? We’re not here to degrade each other.”
HANK (nods in agreement)
KURT (unsuccessfully tries to mask his musing):“Jubilation may have a point, though, Jah?...” (Receives multiple dirty looks.)
JUBILEE (Gives Pryde the finger from underneath the table)
ROGUE (Flippy hand gestures insue): “What Kitty means is she’s just not qualified to be an Xman. She’s a bleedin animal, ya’ll!”
PRYDE (head bob):“Exactly!”
HANK (cocks an eyebrow):“She’s no different then any of us, Rogue. She’s simply a victim of circumstance.”
JUBILEE (grinning, triumphant): “Thank you, Hank! At least one of us knows what they’re talking about! Besides, Rogue, who the hell are you to even take a stand in all if this? We all know you hate Remy anyways, so--”
ROGUE (knife, daggers and all): “You perky little shit... ah outta---”
LOGAN (With record-braking pissy glare): “ought to what, Rogue?”
WARREN (cringing): “uh-oh...”
MARROW (Rolls eyes, grumbling): “Riiight. Bring in the body guard.” (twirls index finger) “‘Whoo-hoo’.... Sick her, Tarzan.”
JUBILEE and LOGAN (offended): “Screw you!”
MARROW: “Wh... you..Ju-- I.....Screw YOU!”
JEAN (Finally speaking up): “That will be quite enough! This is ridiculous, we’re a team! What on earth happened to UNITY and Selflessness and teamwork and--”
EVERYOVE: “Shut UP!”
The banter is followed by a painful split-second bout of complete silence. Jubilee finds herself contemplating the possibility of replacing Cheyenne’s oposer’s shampoo with the oh-so-potent Nair... ‘I’ll Turn these ego-trippin’ Puppy Nazis into skinheads. True colours can do wonders for ones reputation, y’know? How’s the saying go? ‘When in Rome...”, right? Mwahahaha....’
She glances at Logan, finding herself under a scrutinizing “whatever you’re thinking, don’t you dare”-esque look.
Jubilee sighs, huffily.
‘Dammit.’
Then, it happened....
*Well, then* Professor Xavier’s abrupt, direly unexpected telepathic voice was met with dodgy glances, and audible gulps. He spoke aloud, coldly,“You all are finished, I hope?”
Jubilee Felt the same wave of panicy “dear-god-I’m-screwed” embarrassment that was momentarily shared by every Xman in the room- Pro- and Anti-activists alike. ... The type of regret a five year old would get once caught with his clammy little paw stuck in the cookie jar. However, Jubilee nervously noted, from the looks of it, she and her fellow ‘five-year-olds’ had been caught literally stuck IN the cookie jar..... Lord only knew how long the wheelchair-aided professor had been siting just six feet to their right, catching every immature, ill-sought out bit of mockery the team had managed to verbally crap.... His entire face and shinny bald head was beat-red..... his expression gaunt and fuming... Jubilee accepted the worst case scenario. He’d heard it all.... and they were, if fact, extremely screwed.
The bald man was back....and he was pissed......
.....or not? Xavier sighed, much to Jubilee’s relief, shaking his head with a rather amused look on his face. He finally broke the chilling silence, “Needless to say, the next time we manage to pick up a young LeBeau stray, her wereabouts with not be something you all are involved in, clear?”
There were relieved sighs and simultaneuos nods throughout the Briefing room. Jubilee contomplated a few unwarently loud Bubblegum-pops, but decided not to push her luck.... the lot of them had just somehow meraculously avoided hours of overtime training in the Danger room. They’d gotten off easy. Jubilee swallowed her gum.
“Allright, than, good,” The proffessor staited, rather theatrically, “I have come two the decision you have all been waiting for.”
He paused. Jubilee held her breath. The entire room tensed with anticipation.
....why was he pausing?
heelllloooo chuck! this is a yes or no question! SPIT. IT. OUT.
.... jubilee exhaled when she saw the bastard grin. He was simply egging them on.
Xavier stated indeffinately, “.....The girl stays....., “ Charles cocked an eyebrow, “On two conditions.......” |
