Part 7

"And now ladies..." The winsome Wasp, smiled brightly as she held open the door to Raoul's Boutique, one of the most exclusive women's shops in New York City, "We come to this place with but one goal in mind — to shop 'til we drop!" Laughing, Sue Richards, dressed simply, but elegantly in a blue dress with a silver necklace and matching earrings laughed as she took the lead, followed close behind by the statuesque Carol Danvers, wearing a wine-red dress, then Jubilee, surging forward, wearing a Korn t-shirt and large earrings, followed by Angel and Kitty, both in comfortable jeans and sweaters, Kitty shaking her head in amusement at the enthusiasm of her adopted sister as Angel giggled.

"Looks like Jubilee's all psyched for this." The redheaded mutant Avenger grinned as she turned towards Kitty.

"Yeah...well she's earned it." Kitty answered, her good mood temporarily dispelled as recollections of their encounter with Xavier flooded back into her mind.

The proprietor, Raoul Bergeron, seeing the two celebrities entering his store, immediately stopped haranguing a poor sales clerk, and rushing forward, greeted the women with an unctuous smile. "Welcome! It's so good to see you again, Ms. Van Dyne, Mrs. Richards! And what can we do for you today?" Then, after a calculated pause, he added in his most enticing voice, "The winter fashions from Paris have just come in — surely you would like to see them?"

"Of course, Raoul!" Jan smiled winningly as she air kissed the proprietor, "But first... I need your help in choosing business wear for myself and these two ladies..." The Avenger's leader then nodded in the direction of Kitty and Angel, "While Sue and Carol are gonna need some help getting themselves and Jubilee over here outfitted."

"But of course, Ms. Van Dyne." Raoul replied as he snapped his fingers, "Renee... come here please!" A tall, thin, well-dressed brunette came immediately in answer to his summons. "Mrs. Richards? This is Renee... my best salesperson. She'll personally see to the needs of you and your companions."

"Thanks Raoul." The matriarch of the Fantastic Four grinned as she turned to Carol and Jubilee. "Well ladies, time's a'wastin'."

"And now, Ms. Van Dyne..." The proprietor smiled a winning smile at his celebrity client and her friends, "If you and your friends will accompany me... I think I have the perfect outfits for you all."

'Nick's', the little neighborhood pub and restaurant that Vance had told Pete and Kurt about, was already filled with the late breakfast crowd when the three mutants entered. A pair of New York's finest sat at one booth, jawing over their coffees, having already finished their breakfast, while a foursome of construction workers were digging into their hefty plates of bacon and eggs, and drinking large glasses of orange juice and huge mugs of coffee. One of the workers, a burly African American man, the calluses on his hands testifying to a lifetime of hard work, on seeing Vance and his friends as they came in, called out in a gruff, friendly, voice, "Hey Vance! How goes, my man?! How's the ol' lady? It's been a while since the two o' ya been 'round — the 'Vengers keepin' you guys busy or somethin'?" Then, glancing at Pete, dressed in his usual black suit with black trenchcoat, and Kurt, thanks to his image inducer, appearing as a dashing Douglas Fairbanks Jr., the burly construction worker asked, "These guy's new 'Vengers?"

"Nah... they're friends of ours." Vance replied with a smile as he walked towards the workers, motioning for Pete and Kurt to follow him.

"Well... don't just stand there, come on an' join us." Another man, of Puerto Rican descent, with dark complexion, called out with a smile as the other workers all added their consent through hand motions and grunts of agreement.

The workers cleared space on their large table as the three mutants picking up spare chairs from other tables, joined the construction gang. After introductions were made, the African-American worker, introduced by Vance as Jack, glanced at Pete's callused hand after he had shaken it. "Workin' man too, huh?"

"I put in my time." Pete replied in his London working class accent as he sipped from the coffee mug brought to him by an attractive brown haired waitress.

"What about you?" One of the two Caucasian workers, a slender blond with a tattoo of an anchor on his right arm, and wearing a ball cap that read USS Arleigh Burke, asked, as he looked at Kurt.

"I worked in the circus and in carnivals, and I've done some roustabout work." The German leader of Excalibur replied with a smile.

"What kinda work?" The man, who introduced himself as Russ, asked, curious.

"Ach... everything from the trapeze and high wire with my partner, Jimaine..." Kurt said in a wistful voice as he remembered the many good times and the applause that he and his foster sister enjoyed while working in the Jahrmarkt, "To working with my foster brother Stefan in his knife show, to shoveling manure out of cages. Der Jahrmarkt was a small circus and everyone had to do their part." The former X-Man finished by way of explanation.

"I knew it!" The other white worker, a heavyset balding man with a thick red beard who introduced himself as Hank, grinned as he patted the wiry Englishman and the former X-Man on the back. "I knew any friends of Vance's an' the 'Vengers just had to be regular Joes like the rest o' us!"

"Yeah... not like those X-Men." The Puerto Rican, who Hank introduced as Carlos, spat out.

"Forgive a foreigner's ignorance..." Kurt smoothly lied, curious as to why this man's negative reaction to the X-Men seemed so much at odds to his acceptance of Vance as a mutant, "But why the hostility towards the X-Men. I remember that while Excalibur existed in Europe, there were three former X-Men on their team, and they were almost always well liked."

"Look..." Carlos said, hastily, "It ain't because I'm one o' those anti-mutant bigots or anything like that..."

"That's right." Jack chimed in. "None of us here go for that line o' bull Creed used ta spill out 'fore someone offed him."

"And we got no truck with that garbage put out by the Friends of Humanity either." Carlos added.

"So... what's the problem, mates?" Pete joined in, wanting to make sure of the people in the neighborhood — especially if he and Kitty were going to be moving in.

"It ain't cause they're mutants..." Jack began to explain, "Ya see... Vance here's a mutant — an' he's a good friend o' ours. His gal, Angel... she's a mutant too... an' we think she's the sweetest thing in the world..."

"Damned right!" Carlos interjected. "Anyone wanna do anything to our Angel — they gotta go through us first!"

As all the workers at the table, and the two cops, who, hearing the conversation at the other table, stopped their own jawboning to listen in, nodded their heads in agreement, Jack took over, "Yeah, an' every once in a while the Scarlet Witch'll come in with her boyfriend. Hell..." The burly construction worker chuckled as he pointed at the waitress who had taken their orders, "I remember her dancin' one time when Betty over there had her birthday party a while back!"

"That was one helluva night!" Hank laughed as he picked up the conversation. "And it ain't just them that come here. Every once in a while the tall green babe comes in, an' I've seen Cap comin' in for a Coke..." The construction worker said, his respect and awe for the Star Spangled Avenger evident in his voice, "An' he'll sit an' talk with all o' us. Now, Cap always wears his costume, an' we understand why — he's gotta protect his secret identity an' all, but all the others — they come in wearin' their normal clothes an' they buy pitchers o' beer, an' coffee an' breakfast, an' they talk an' shoot pool with us — just like regular folks." Then, grinning, he told everyone about the time that Hawkeye came in and thrilled everyone at the bar with an impromptu trick-shooting exhibition.

"Yeah!" Russ joined the conversation, "Even their leader — that classy Van Dyne lady — sometimes she'll come in here with her pals an' that boyfriend o' hers, an' she'll buy the house a round o' drinks an' laugh with us an' talk an' all."

Chuckling as he remembered Jan doing the same thing at the Crown, Pete grinned, "Yeah... that's Jannie all over."

"Damned straight." Jack said. "Ya see — we know them — they belong to the 'hood. We see the 'Vengers in the papers an' on the TV, we see 'em cleaning up after a fight an' then stickin' around ta answer some pretty tough questions from the cops an' reporters."

"Yeah — they don't cut and run like the X-Men have a habit of doin'." One of the police officers, a tall lithe white male who introduced himself as Daley added as he and his partner, a well-built African-American named Carter, joined the little group.

"That's right." Carter added. "The X-Men will get into some fight with some other group of mutants and, now I'll give it to them that they try to make sure that there ain't no innocent causalities — and if there are, they do their damnest to make sure they get help — but they don't stick around afterwards to help out with the clean up — or to answer any questions we might have about what went down."

"Ja. Ich verstehe." Kurt replied, understanding and sympathizing with the police officers' position — since his return to the X-Men, he also had expressed reservations about the Professor's hit and run strategy, "But... if I might play devil's advocate..." Inwardly, Kurt couldn't help but wonder what everyone's reaction would be to his normal appearance, "Maybe it's because the X-Men are afraid that they'll be arrested and unfairly prosecuted? Maybe — because of men like Graydon Creed and groups like the Friends of Humanity, they're afraid they won't receive a fair hearing?"

"Look... I can understand that." Jack said, a note of genuine sympathy in his voice, "My folks originally came up here from Alabama in the fifties. I still remember my grandma's stories about how black men were lynched just because someone thought that they were looking the wrong way at a white woman. But the thing is... the X-Men are the ones who gotta take the first step here. Look... one o' the big reasons we're so scared of 'em is because we don't know 'em. All we see are pictures on the tube or in the Bugle like that one of the cool lookin' black woman who causes a damned hurricane that rips out windows and tears down buildings, or of a big metal guy that picks up peoples' cars an' throws 'em, or that short guy with those wicked lookin' claws, or of some redheaded chick that just looks at someone an' they pass out! That's scary to plain old normal people like us!"

"You see... that's my problem with 'em." Carlos interjected, "Hell — Vance can pick me up an' throw me against that wall over there — an' there ain't a damned thing I can do about it; Angel can cook me just by thinkin' about it with those microwaves of hers; all the Scarlet Witch has ta do is say some mumble jumbo an' do somethin' with her hands an' weird shit happens; an all Thor's gotta do is wave that hammer o' his an' he can tear down this whole buildin', but we know they ain't gonna do that — an' that's cause we know 'em — they're our neighbors."

"That's right." Russ added. "We know that deep down, they're plain folks just like us cause they've taken the time ta get ta know us an' ta let us know them. Vance an' Angel are two kids in love; Cap's the Man..." The ex-sailor said in a reverential tone, "An' the She Hulk and Tigra are babes who love to party. We don't care how anyone looks — hey, if the Beast were ta come in here when we get off work tonight — I'd buy him the first round — cause he was a 'Venger — it don't matter that he's hangin' with those X-Men now — hell, maybe he'll get 'em ta clean up their act!"

Daley then joined the conversation. "The guys are right. Look, me an' Carter have this beat, an' everyday we go past Avengers Mansion, an' if that butler or one of the Avengers sees us, they wave to us and say 'Hi' an' ask how we and our wives and kids are doin' — they're a part of the community. Yeah — they don't go after the muggers an' the other trash, but that's ok — we'll do that. But when the chips are down, an' everything's on the line — we know we can count on 'em. But we don't know what the X-Men are really like, and that scares us. I remember that group that was here for a while — they had that spaceship they used for a headquarters — X-Factor — they were all mutants — hell, the Beast was one of 'em — an' they got along great with us — the city even gave 'em a ticker tape parade. Why?" The police officer then answered his own question, "Cause they were a part o' the community — it didn't matter that they had secret identities. Then one day — they just up and left. Damned shame they did too. If they were still around, Creed and his FOH stormtroopers woulda been laughed outta town."

As Kurt and Pete continued to talk with their new friends, the German X-man couldn't help but see the triumphant look on his English former teammate's face as the leader of the newly reformed Excalibur was forced to admit to himself that the former Black Air agent had been right all along about how disastrous Professor Xavier's hit and run tactics were and about the high cost in the form of exacerbating human-mutant distrust and hatred that those tactics had wrought.

"Oh... definitely the Dior, Raoul!" Jan smiled as she saw how good Kitty looked in the designer original suit — the sky blue skirt and matching jacket, styled so that a blouse didn't have to be worn underneath it, lending an air of authority to the younger woman that belied her years. "What do you think, Angel?" The Wasp grinned as she turned towards her fellow Avenger.

"Oh, yes, Jan." The young redhead replied, deferring to the superior judgment of her leader.

"What about you, Kitty? What do you think?" Jan asked solicitously — after all, the former X-woman would be the one wearing it.

"I don't know... don't you think a pantsuit would work better?"

"Not for you, Kitty." Jan smiled knowingly. "You've got a great pair of legs — you don't want to cover them up with pants. That's also why you should wear the heels we're going to get next when we look at shoes. Not only will they give you more height, they'll draw attention to those legs of yours. Don't forget — while you want people to see you as someone to be reckoned with, you don't want to go too far and come across as too severe — a little femininity is a powerful weapon — don't be afraid to use it when dealing with the 'Old Boys' Club' — I do it all the time. What — you didn't think ding-a-ling Jan was real now — did you?" The Wasp grinned impishly as Kitty and Angel both laughed.

"Thanks, Jan."  Kitty beamed; pleased beyond words at how she looked in the mirror.

Nodding his head approvingly, Raoul smiled. "A fine choice — as usual, Ms. Van Dyne." Then, snapping his fingers, he signaled a clerk. "Place this order on Ms. Van Dyne's account, Vincente."

Upon hearing the storeowner order the expensive outfit to be put on her host's bill, Kitty immediately spoke up, "Jan! I can't ask you to do that! I have some savings put away — I'll take care of it." Kitty knew that the cost of the designer outfit would virtually wipe out her savings, but having just recently declared her financial and personal independence from Xavier, the determined young woman wasn't about to become dependent on someone else.

Walking up to Kitty, the petite Avenger, immediately picking up on the younger woman's concerns, whispered conspiratorially in her ear. "Don't worry about it, Kitty — we'll hit up British Intelligence — after all it is work related, you know." Seeing her young companion's frown turn into an evil grin, Jan flashed a wicked grin of her own as she continued whispering, "Anyway... the Brits still owe me for that Armani suit I bought for that boyfriend of yours a while back."

Reminded once again that Pete had had a life before they'd met, Kitty fought down her rising curiosity as she regarded the woman who physically resembled her in so many uncanny ways. "Thanks, Jan. I really do appreciate it."

"Anytime, Kitty." Jan smiled back, maintaining her poise while inwardly kicking herself for bringing up her mission with Pete. Then, turning to the other young woman accompanying her, the Wasp grinned, "Ok, Angel — it's your turn now."

Remembering the rather risqué costume the Wasp had designed for her on her entry into the Avengers, Firestar fought down her growing unease as Jan eyed each of the business suits, passing on several of the more trendy and daring ones, finally settling on a stylish, yet conservative in cut, dark maroon skirt and jacket and white blouse with a red tie that perfectly accentuated the mutant Avenger's creamy white skin and red hair. "Perfect!" Jan exclaimed as she handed the outfit to the proprietor, "And ..." The leader of the Avengers smiled as she eyed a vivid bronze suit with a green silk blouse. "I'll take that Halston over there — and now, Raoul — take us to your shoes!"

"But of course Madame!" The proprietor smiled as he contemplated further purchases by his celebrity customer.

As they made their way to the shoe section, Kitty, stopping off at a drinking fountain to get a drink of water, got separated from the rest of the women, and, after casting about in a futile effort to find her friends, spied a salesclerk. "Hello... Mister?" The young brunette called out as she approached the nattily dressed middle-aged man.

"Yes." The haughty salesclerk looked down on what to him was obviously a teenage girl wearing a pair of off the rack comfortable jeans, sneakers, and a Chicago Bears sweater. Figuring that she was either here with her parents or merely browsing, he sniffed, the tone of his voice making it clear that he had better things to do than cater to an empty headed teenager, "What can I do for you, Madame?"

"I was just looking for my friends." Kitty smiled sweetly, trying to give the fastidious clerk the benefit of the doubt.

"I would suggest that you speak to Security, Madame. I'm sure that they can help you far more than I." His tone of voice making it quite obvious that he had more important things to do than supply directions.

'Jerk!' Kitty thought inwardly as she counted softly to ten. Then, just as she was about to turn away from the rude salesman, she spied Jan and Angel, both looking at a pair of dress shoes. "Jan! Angel!" Kitty called out in relief, "I've been looking all over for you!"

"I know... it's easy getting lost here with all these goodies!" Jan laughed as she waved Kitty over to where they were sitting. "C'mon over, Kitty! I think I've found the perfect shoes for you!" As the young teenager made her way to where the Wasp and Firestar were sitting, it slowly dawned on the now slack-jawed salesclerk who the chestnut haired woman's friends were. Then, straightening his tie and coat as it appeared that the wealthy heiress was about to call him over, he saw the young woman he had so recently dismissed whisper to her older companion, shaking her head vigorously. Nodding her head, the Wasp then said something to the salesman's employer who then, after apologizing profusely for his employee's rudeness, personally helped them choose a pair of navy blue pumps that both added a couple of inches of height to Kitty as well as drew attention to her well shaped legs.

Then, after directing the women to the jewelry section, telling them that he would be with them shortly, Raoul approached the hapless salesman. "I'll speak with you about your bad manners later, Richard. Now, get back to your station."

Shaking her head in disbelief at how Jan went from one piece of jewelry to the other, smiling and nodding her head at this watch, rejecting that necklace with a dismissive wave of the hand, Kitty turned to her fellow teenager. "Is she always like this, Angel?"

"Oh, yes!" The redheaded mutant grinned. "You should see her with Natasha or Jen or Sue — these women take their shopping very seriously!"

"Speaking of Sue..." Kitty smiled, "I wonder how Carol and Jubilee are doing with her?" Kitty asked as Jan, holding a gold necklace and Rolex watch in each hand, called her over.

"Knowing Sue... they're in good hands." Angel laughed as she joined her friend at the jewelry counter.

"We'll take all these, Raoul!" Jan beamed as she surveyed the watches, necklaces, and earrings on the counter — they're the perfect accessories, wouldn't you say?"

The proprietor, beaming his approval at his wealthy client's style, replied, "Oh yes, Madame. They finish each of your outfits wonderfully. Then, he signaled the jewelry attendant. "Place these on Ms. Van Dyne's account as well!"

"Were we ever that young?" Sue laughed as she and her fellow blonde looked on as an enthusiastic Jubilee tried on one outfit after another — each one progressively wilder and more expensive.

"It's been so long I can't remember." Carol Danvers laughed back as she eyed a black halter-top and white pants with gold chain belt. "What do you think, Sue?"

"Oh... yes!" The matriarch of the Fantastic Four nodded her head approvingly as she sniffed the various perfumes Renee had set out for her approval. "That'll definitely turn some heads."

"Especially a certain fuzzy blue one!" Carol laughed back as she picked up the outfit and took it into a changing room along with two other outfits she had picked out.

"Well... Jubilee..." Sue laughed as she saw the look of sheer delight on the young Amerasian mutant's face. "Did you find something you like?"

"Yeah! I think I'm gonna take this..." Jubilee grinned as she picked out a pink tank top and black short shorts. 'This ought to get Ev's attention.' The young mutant thought as she flashed a wicked grin.

As Jubilee handed over her outfit and Emma's charge card to the sales attendant, Carol came back from the changing room. "Yeah — these'll do the trick!" The blonde former Avenger grinned as she also handed her outfits and charge card to the tall salesclerk, who was smiling broadly now as she contemplated her commission. Just then, Jubilee saw something that immediately caught her attention — a young woman, in her teens, a little younger than the Amerasian mutant, approached, somewhat hesitantly, the elegant Invisible Woman who was at that moment considering a body wash that the salesclerk had recommended.

"Mrs. Richards?" The young teenager, asked, a little hesitantly, autograph book and pen in hand, "I was wondering... if it wouldn't be too much trouble... could I have your autograph... please?"

"Sure!" The matriarch of the Fantastic Four smiled broadly as she took the book and pen and signed her name. Then, spotting Jan, Angel, and Kitty approaching, the stunning blonde smiled once again, "If you wanna wait a couple of minutes, I think I can snag you a couple more autographs for your book!" "Hey gals!" The Invisible Woman waved the other women over to where she stood with the by now speechless young woman. Then, turning back to the teenager, Sue chuckled, "I thought you might like the autographs of a couple of Avengers for your collection..."

"Thanks, Ma'am." The young woman practically gushed as the Wasp and Firestar signed their names in the book.

Then, seeing Kitty, Jubilee, and Carol hanging back, Jan flashed an impish grin, "I got some more names for you if you want 'em. The blonde lady over there..." Jan pointed at Carol, "Used to be one of our best Avengers, but now she's with a new British team — Excalibur; and those other two — well, I've got it on good authority that one of these days they might end up Avengers — you might wanna be one of the first to get their autographs." Then, motioning for the other women to join them, the Wasp called out, "C'mon ladies — don't be shy!"

"Please?" The young girl asked as she held out her book.

Carol, knowing that her trial and her relationship with Nightcrawler had already sunk her secret identity, approached, somewhat reluctantly at first, but with increased confidence as she saw the hopeful look on the young girl's face, and then taking the book, signed it.

After Carol signed the book, Jan leaned over and whispered, "I hope you're not mad at me for putting you on the spot like that, but I thought that you could use it. I know we've got a lot to talk about, later... and that I've got a lot to apologize for."

"It's alright, Jan." Carol smiled back, a tear forming in her eye. "Marcus is all water under the bridge now, and as for the other stuff — you weren't there at the time and I brought that on all by myself — there's no one to blame for what happened while I was having my problems but me."

"I'm glad you're back." Jan smiled warmly as she squeezed her friend's hand in a supportive gesture.

Kitty holding back, said to Jan, "But Jan, I'm not an Avenger — I really shouldn't..."

"You mean you're not an Avenger yet." Jan replied with a mock serious look as she took the book and pen from the girl and gave it to Kitty, "Gal — you've got what it takes to be one of us — your time's coming — maybe a lot sooner than you expect!" The chestnut haired mutant then, red-faced with both embarrassment and pride, signed the book using both her code name and her real name. "Now it's your turn, Jubilee!" The Wasp smiled as the young mutant shyly approached. "And don't give me that 'I'm not an Avenger' routine either! In a couple years you'll be eighteen and eligible — it's only a matter of time for you too!"

Shyly approaching, the young Amerasian mutant took the book and signed her name, drawing a little heart over the 'i'. "Wait 'til I tell everyone at the school this!" Jubilee grinned, "That priss Monet'll be jealous for a whole month when she finds out!"

"Thanks!" The young girl beamed as she returned to her mother, proudly showing the older woman the autographs that she had collected.

After the girl had left, Jan turned towards Sue and Carol and smiled as she saw the growing pile of packages on the sales counter, "You gals find what you're looking for?"

"Yeah... I think so." Sue smiled back. "So what now, fearless leader?"

"Now... we go see what Raoul's gotten in from Paris — then it's off to Vidal's for a full beauty treatment!" Jan grinned as she led the way to the viewing room where the models were already waiting to put on their show.

"What about all these packages?" Jubilee asked dubiously, seeing the growing number of purchases the women were beginning to accumulate. "There's an awful lot of 'em for us to be draggin' around the city, ya know."

"Don't worry about it." Jan grinned as she took out her cell phone, "Hello, Jarvis? Would you please be a dear and send someone over to Raoul's to pick up some packages? Thank you... you're the best." Then, putting the phone back into her purse, she smiled, "See... all taken care of."

As she stood at the entrance to Sassoon's, Kitty once again felt her old insecurities rising to the fore as she tried to convince herself that she didn't belong here — in this place — at this time — being treated as an equal by two of the most famous superheroes in the world — the Wasp and the Invisible Woman. At any moment, the young mutant thought to herself, she was going to wake up in her old bed, in her old room at Xavier's, just in time to get ready for another Danger Room workout or the call would come in and the Professor would once again send them off to take on some evil mutant or other. But, just as Kitty began to lose herself in her insecurities, a cheerful voice brought her back, "Hey, Kitty! C'mon! I've gotten Vidal to personally do your hair!"

"You're kidding, Jan!" Kitty replied, not believing her ears, "No way!"

"Yes... way!" Jan jibed back as she took one of the chestnut haired brunette's arms, Sue taking the other, both women laughing as they all but dragged Kitty into the salon, to the amused giggles of the other women in the group.

"Ah! Jannie, darling! It's been too long!" The owner of the salon, Vidal Sassoon, one of the top stylists in the world, beamed as he saw his guests come in the door, "And Sue... how are you doing, love! And how is Mr. Richards?"

"Reed's doing just fine, Vidal." Sue smiled back at the stylist she shared with Jan.

"It has been too long, Vidal!" Jan grinned as she kissed the world-renowned stylist on the cheek. Then, practically pushing the now fully self-conscious Kitty forward, Jan smiled impishly, "And this is the woman I told you about — Kitty Pryde, meet Vidal Sassoon."

"Ah, yes." The stylist smiled and then his brow furrowed in concentration, spent several moments carefully looking Kitty over, walking around her as he examined her from all angles, not uttering a sound except for the occasional "Hmmm..." or "Yessss..." or shaking his head, "No... that wouldn't do at all." Finally, he smiled as he addressed both Kitty and Jan. "I think I have the perfect look for you Ms. Pryde. You see..." The stylist smiled warmly as he spoke to the Wasp, "She has a natural, quiet beauty that goes with what is probably a quiet personality. Her hair should reflect that beauty." Then, looking at both Jan and Kitty, Vidal nodded his head. "Although you two bear a remarkable resemblance — one would almost think you were sisters — the way you carry yourselves dictates quite different styles. You see, Ms Pryde, Jannie's personality calls for a wilder... more vivacious... hairstyle. Short hair or at most shoulder length hair works best for her. While for you... short hair would be a disaster of Biblical proportions! Long hair accentuates the quiet grace of your personality. You should never have your hair cut shorter than shoulder length." Then, a broad smile crossed the world-renowned stylist's face as he snapped his fingers, "Yes... I know just the look... a braided look should give you a few years while at the same time accentuating your natural beauty."

"Well... what do you think, Kitty?" Jan asked, a big grin on her face.

"I guess so..." The young mutant replied, somewhat nervously.

"Let's do it then!" The Wasp smiled as she led her young charge to the waiting stylist. "Don't worry, Kitty... Vidal will take very good care of you."

"That's right, my dear." The famous stylist smiled benignly as he took charge of the young, chestnut haired mutant. "All I ask is that you trust me."

"Now... as for the rest of us..." Jan smiled, "I'm definitely going to need a bikini wax and an all-over tanning session if I'm going to wear my new costume — a T-back doesn't hide a whole lot you know, and tan lines are just so... yuck!"

"I wonder what Cap'll say about that!" The Invisible Woman teased as the other women, aware of the Star-Spangled Avenger's traditional 1940s values, giggled in the background.

"Oh... Sue, dear..." Jan smiled back, "His face'll be as red as the red on his costume!" The Wasp laughed as an attendant led her away.

"And how about the rest of you ladies?" Vidal asked as he made preparations to start on Kitty.

"I think I'll settle for a facial, manicure, pedicure, and style." The matriarch of the Fantastic Four smiled.

"That sounds good to me." Angel said, nodding her head in agreement.

"I think I'm due for a waxing and tanning myself." Carol said as she contemplated both the lack of sunny days in England and also how close fitting her costume was.

"And how about you, young lady?" The world-renowned stylist asked the by now flummoxed Jubilee.

"Ummmm... I'm not sure." The young Amerasian mutant stammered. "What do you recommend?"

After giving her the same thorough appraisal that he gave Kitty, Vidal called out to one of his stylists, "Maurice? Come here, please." As the stylist approached, Vidal smiled, "She has a restless energy to her. I think short hair works best here — but not too short — understand." Seeing Maurice nod his head, Vidal smiled. "Maurice'll take care of everything, my dear... just trust him."

Seeing both Sue and Carol nod their heads, Jubilee smiled, "Ok... take me, I'm yours."

The six women standing at the entrance to Tavern on the Green attracted more than their fair share of attention, and not just for their looks, although Kitty and Jubilee with their new hairstyles, and Jan and Carol with their new tans, attracted their fair share of comments. It was also because gathered there was the leader of the Avengers, the co-leader of the Fantastic Four, and one other known Avenger. As at the store, people came up asking for autographs, and as before, Jan and Sue made sure that Carol, Kitty, and Jubilee got their fair share of attention, much to the younger women's embarrassment and delight. Finally, just as it seemed that the women would be overwhelmed, the maitre d', used to the appearance of celebrities, showed up, and with smooth and courteous professionalism, succeeded in disengaging the women from their fans. "Right this way, please, Ms. Van Dyne..." The maitre 'd, said in his usual polite voice as he escorted the Wasp and the rest of her party to their table. "Michael will be your waiter today, Ma'am, and if there's anything I can help you with, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you, Francis." Jan smiled warmly as she slipped a twenty-dollar bill into the palm of the tall, balding man, and then sat down after he had pulled out her chair for her, a ritual he then repeated for all the other ladies. "Well, ladies, I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for the chef salad."

"That sounds like a good idea to me." Kitty smiled, and then barely held in her shock as she saw the prices.

"Well... I'm for the quiche." Sue Richards decided after quickly perusing the menu.

As the other women took their time figuring out their orders, their waiter, a tall, sandy blond haired young man, appeared. "Hello... I'm Michael and I'll be your server today. Can I get you drinks and appetizers to start you off?"

"You sure can..." Jan replied in a flirtatious tone as she regarded the well-muscled waiter with an appreciative eye. "I'll have a rum and coke... how 'bout you ladies?" The Wasp asked as she reluctantly turned her attention from the waiter to her companions.

"Just sparkling water for me." Sue responded as she also eyed their handsome waiter.

"Same for me." Carol replied with a wicked grin as she also gave their waiter the once-over.

"I think I'll have a scotch and water, please." Kitty asked as she chuckled inwardly at her companions' reactions to their waiter.

"I'm afraid I'll have to ask for ID, Ma'am." The handsome waiter asked in a polite tone as Kitty took out her passport with her backdated birth date and handed it to him. As he examined the passport, and then looked down at the chestnut haired young woman, he raised his eyebrows in surprise, but finding nothing suspicious, shrugged his shoulders. "Thank you, Ma'am.

As the waiter left to fetch their orders, Jan leaned over to whisper conspiratorially to Kitty, "If you're twenty-one, Kitty... then I'm fifty."

As Jan was joking with Kitty, Sue, watching the young man walking away from them, whispered into Carol's ears, loud enough for Jubilee to hear, "Nice butt!" As the three women giggled, Carol, not wanting to see Kitty or Jan left out of the joke, whispered Sue's comment about the waiter, causing them in turn to break out in red-faced laughter.

As the two women sniggered amongst themselves, rating the various men, both heroes and villains, that they had encountered, the men finally arrived, Pete, Kurt, and Vance all engaged in a rather animated conversation about which was better — American football, soccer, or rugby.

"C'mon now! You can't tell me that American football is a wuss sport! I know I wouldn't wanna be the quarterback that got nailed by Brian Cox or Michael Strahan! And that hit that Chrebet took in the last Jet's game... I felt that all the way over in Avengers Mansion!" Vance exclaimed as he defended American football to his foreign friends.

"All American football is is a bunch o' blokes wearin' enough armor to stop a bullet crashin' into each other, an' then breakin' up to do it again!" Pete said with a sneer as Kurt applauded.

"Das ist richtig, mein freund." Nightcrawler grinned as he pretended to knee, and then head a soccer ball. "Now real football... that is a sport for men! No time outs, no pads — skill and finesse over brute strength..."

"Yer both balmy!" Pete declared. "Rugby! Now that's a man's sport. You got the physical contact of American football, but you ain't wearing any sissy pads and you ain't got no soddin' time outs — an' you gotta be able to go non-stop just like football."

"Boys!" Jan called out in a mildly amused voice, "Come on over and join us — you can talk about your silly sports later."

As the three men joined their lovers at the table, both Jan and Sue smiled warmly as they saw how these strong, sturdy men's faces lit up upon seeing their women smile at them.

"Hullo, luv." Pete smiled as he bent down to give his lover a kiss. Have fun shoppin'?"

"It was a blast." Kitty smiled back. "You should see the new outfit — it looks absolutely smashing." Then, Kitty purred, "So, Wisdom... how do you like my new hairdo?"

"I think it looks right lovely, dear." Pete smiled.

"Oh..." Kitty then looked up into the vivid blue eye of her lover, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Do you like it better than the way I used to wear my hair?"

Recognizing the trap that he'd walked into, Pete's eye quickly darted to his fellow males in search of aid, but as he saw both Kurt and Vance quickly look the other way, he realized that aid from that quarter would not be forthcoming. Thinking quickly, the former Black Air agent came up with a response that he was sure would have rivaled anything the swashbuckling leader of Excalibur could have come up with. Taking his love in his arms and kissing her, Pete said in a low voice, "Love, you're a right beauty no matter how your hair looks."

Kitty's smile, as well as the giggles of the ladies at the table told Wisdom that his plan had worked even before Kitty had spoken, "Uh Huh... right, Wisdom... well... ok... I'll let you slip outta this one..." Then, blushing slightly, she whispered into her lover's ear so that none of the others could hear, "I also picked up something else... for tonight..."

"Can't wait, luv." Pete leered as he snatched another kiss from his lover.

"Hi, Angel." Vance grinned as he gazed into the green eyes of his fiancée. "So... did you pick out a nice outfit too?"

"Oh, yeah, baby." The redheaded mutant grinned wickedly as she caressed her lover's arm. "But you're gonna have to wait 'til later to see it."

"What about you, mein vögelchen?" Kurt asked as he flashed a leer of his own.

"Just you wait, Furbie." Carol leered back as she whispered in his ear. "You get to have all the fun of taking it off when we get back."

"I can't wait, meine leibe."

Sitting down next to Kitty, Pete glanced at the menu, his face reflecting his shock, "Bloody Hell! I can't believe the prices they're chargin' for this shite! We should have met at the pub... Yeeouch!" The former Black Air agent yelped as his embarrassed lover administered an elbow to his ribs, "You didn't have to do that, love!"

"Yes, I did, Wisdom." Kitty held back a snicker as she gave her errant boyfriend a mock glare that immediately produced snickers from everyone else at the table.

"That's the way, Kitty!" Jan laughed, "You gotta train 'em right!"

"Taking notes, Angel?" Carol snickered while both Vance and Kurt tried their best to disappear into the background.

"And you people call yourselves grownups?" Jubilee managed to get out between laughs. "You guys are worse than us at the Academy!"

"I can see right now that you and Ben are gonna get along famously, Pete." Sue chuckled, and then smiled warmly as she saw the lean Englishman and his girlfriend hold hands under the table. As the group continued their conversation, Michael returned with the original drink orders, and then, after taking everyone's orders, left to return several minutes later with food and drinks. Not long afterwards, while everyone was enjoying their meal and the conversation that accompanied it, the table, and the dishes and glasses that rested on it, shook as the earth rumbled from an explosion, to be quickly followed by the unmistakable sound of sirens.

"What the bloody hell!" Wisdom growled as his scotch spilled on the table.

"Explosion." Sue immediately said in a calm voice as both she and Jan reached for their cell phones to contact their respective headquarters while Jubilee, Angel and Vance all jumped out of their seats, wanting to rush immediately towards the explosion.

Kitty, also hearing the call to action and rising from her chair, stopped when she felt a firm hand on her arm. Looking down, she saw Pete shake his head. "Wait for it, love. Let's see what's going on first."

"Pete's right." Carol added for the benefit of the others who were already on their feet. "Let's wait and see what Jan and Sue have to say before we all go rushing off."

"You got a description of 'em?" Jan asked, speaking on her phone to Jarvis, who had been monitoring the police bands.

"Yes Ma'am." The fastidious butler replied. "Apparently a group of teenagers accompanied by an older man and woman who our databases identify as X-Force are under attack in an abandoned building across from a high school. Police have been able to get a rough description of the attackers from eyewitnesses, Madam, one of whom appears to be Sabretooth." The loyal butler then proceeded to give the leader of the Avengers a rundown on the other attackers that she then relayed to her companions.

As Kitty listened to the descriptions, it didn't take long for her to recognize who the attackers were. "The Marauders!" She immediately spat out, the venom in her voice initially surprising Jan, until Sue, whispering into her ear, told her the story about how Kitty was injured during the Morlock Massacre. "I don't know about you, Kurt, but I'm ready for a little payback!"

"Ja, Katzchen, I am too, but let's do this right." Kurt replied grimly.

"Kurt's right." Jan said, immediately taking control over the situation. "What can you tell us about them, Kitty?"

"Ok, here's the rundown." Kitty said, calming down noticeably as Pete squeezed her hand. "Except for Sabretooth, they're all clones. The last we heard..." Casting a glance a Kurt and seeing an answering nod, Kitty continued, "They were working for Sinister. I'm not sure if that's still the case, or if they've gone freelance here." Taking a deep breath, she then proceeded to fill her new comrades in on the powers and personality of their enemy. "You're probably all familiar with Sabretooth — by reputation if not experience." Seeing everyone nod his or her head, Kitty went on with her impromptu briefing. "Scalphunter is capable, given time — and he doesn't need a whole lot — of crafting a weapon to take out any enemy. Vertigo does what her name implies — she can make you dizzy and disoriented. Kurt and I can both testify that it's not a pleasant experience. Riptide's sort of like Whirlwind except he pitches throwing stars at you at very high speed. Harpoon throws a charged spear at you — it's very painful, I can tell you from personal experience." Wincing at the memory, Kitty stopped for a moment as Pete squeezed her hand. Then, taking a sip of her scotch, Kitty continued, "Scrambler doesn't look like much, but he's a nasty one — if he gets close to you, he can negate your powers. I don't know what effect he might or might not have on you or Sue, Jan — seeing as you're not mutants, but it's probably best not to take chances — if you know what I mean." Seeing both the Wasp and the Invisible Woman nod their heads in agreement, Kitty finished, "And Arclight — well, she can literally make the earth move — massive concussive force is her big thing."

"Ok, here's how I see it going down." Jan said as she considered their battle plan. "We need to hit 'em hard and fast — we can't give 'em any time to react. Sue — you take out Sabretooth." Seeing Kitty about to object, Jan smiled. "I know you have your own scores to settle with that overgrown tom-cat, Kitty, but Sue, with her forcefield, can neutralize him quickly from a distance and keep him down — right Sue?"

"Not a problem, Jan." The most powerful member of the Fantastic Four smiled confidently.

Turning back towards Kitty, the Wasp grinned wickedly. "Besides, I've got someone in mind for you. I want you to take out Harpoon." Seeing Kitty's smile, Jan continued. "Angel, I want you to take out Arclight, and Pete — Riptide's yours — nail him fast before he has a chance to let fly with those thingies of his."

"Ok, Jan." The red haired mutant smiled.

"Right, Jannie." The former wet ops specialist growled as he put out his cigarette.

Kitty then cleared her throat as she thought of a couple of refinements to Jan's plan. "You know, it might be a good idea for Mrs. Richards to go in invisible and for me to come at Harpoon from the ground — it'll give us the element of surprise."

"Good idea." Jan grinned as she turned to her new friend. "You got that, Sue?" Seeing her old friend nod her head in agreement, Jan continued. "Warbird — Blockbuster's yours."

"Sure thing, Jan." Carol grinned, the prospect of action already causing the adrenaline to flow through her system.

"Justice — knock out Scrambler. Don't let that weasel get near anyone — got it?"

"Yeah, Wasp." The young psychokinetic said, already itching for action.

"Kurt — You've got Vertigo.  Scalphunter's mine." Jan finished. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, what about me?" Jubilee said petulantly.

"I want you to stay here and wait for the rest of the Avengers." Jan said in a motherly tone.

"Like hell I am!" Jubilee fired back, much to the amusement of both Kitty and Pete. "I'm going with you — Paige'll kill me if I let anything happen to her brother! And don't even think of leaving me — I'll just follow you!"

"She will, you know." Kitty said with amusement, smiling at her 'sister'. "Anyway... Jubilee can help out here."

"Ok, Kitty, I'm listening." Jan said uncertainly, not wanting to put a minor at risk.

"Why not let Jubilee soften up Vertigo for Kurt? She can stun the bitch long enough for Kurt to pop in and take her out — kinda give her a taste of her own medicine. And because Jubes' powers are ranged, she can stay out of direct combat."

"You've got a good point Kitty. Alright, Jubilee..." Jan frowned, still reluctant to risk the young mutant. "You're in. Your job will be to stun Vertigo, and then get the hell out of the way — understand?" Jan's tone at the end very quickly told the fractious teenager that the older woman would not tolerate any disagreement here.

"Yeah. I'm to take her out and then disappear."

"All right, then. Vance — you carry Pete with you, and Carol — you've got Kurt."

Flashing an impish grin, Kurt hopped into his lover's arms. "Ready when you are, leibling."

"Sue? Can Kitty and Jubilee travel with you?"

"Sure Jan — not a problem." Then, turning towards the chestnut haired mutant and her adopted sibling, the Invisible Woman smiled. "We'll just ride my forcefield like you'd ride Iceman's ice sled, ok?"

"Sound's good to me." Kitty said as she stood next to the matriarch of the Richards clan.

"Yeah — let's go!" Jubilee grinned, the thought of going into action with both the Wasp and the Invisible Woman already making the young Amerasian mutant giddy.

"Great. Pete, you mind if I hitch a ride in one of your pockets?" The Wasp said as she left enough money on the table to cover the meal and leave a handsome tip, and then, shrinking down, flew into one of the morose Englishman's trenchcoat pockets. "Peeuw! Wisdom — when are you gonna start getting your coats cleaned?"

Pete smirked as Kitty and the others began laughing, "One more crack out of you, Van Dyne, an' I'll ask that motormouth merc Wilson if he's got anymore of that bug spray he used on you the last time your lot tangled with him."

"Alright! Alright!" Jan threw up her hands in mock surrender as she rested her chin on the pocket edge, and then her voice taking on a grimmer tone, commanded, "Let's go kick some butt."

As the makeshift team arrived on the scene, they immediately heard the sirens of the police cars and looking overhead, saw right away the police and news helicopters circling. Sighing her relief that the police had already cordoned off the area, Jan shook her head at the destruction caused by the fight. The storefront windows of a sporting good's store next to the high school were shattered, a tractor-trailer had been upended, and a Camaro had been driven like a nail into the engine of a Ford pickup.  A lamppost had been knocked down, and water gushed out of a demolished hydrant. Flying out of Pete's pocket immediately after Vance had set them down, the Wasp flew over to where a plainclothes police officer was coordinating with police and emergency service personnel. Growing back to full height, she showed the officers her Avengers ID as the rest of her team set down. "Can anyone brief us on what's going on?"

"Yes, Ma'am." The police officer, introducing himself as Captain Leland Stanley, replied in a gruff voice. "According to some eyewitnesses, a bunch of kids — late teens... early twenties... were walking down the street with two older people — a man and a woman — both appeared to be in their late-thirties — early-forties. They were then ambushed by a bunch of muties... only it ended up that they were muties too." The detective then shook his head as he lit a cigarette. "Damn muties — always trashin' everything... be better for us all if they went to some deserted island and killed each other off."

"You were saying, Captain?" The Wasp prompted, adding just the slightest amount of honey to her voice in an effort to maintain her temper at the policeman's comments.

"Oh... right, Ms. Wasp." The detective coughed nervously as he saw Angel, Vance, and Kurt. "I'll give this to the young muties — they quickly took the fight into that abandoned office building. That's when we arrived and cordoned off the area. We've gotten the buildings right next to 'em evacuated, and we're starting to evacuate the high school now." Looking over the police captain's shoulders, Jan saw small groups of students being led out of the school building.

"Excellent." The leader of the Avengers looked thoughtful for a moment, and then asked, "Does that building have a basement?"

"Yes, Ma'am. It used to be a fallout shelter."

"Great." Then, calling Kitty to her, Jan repeated the police officer's information. "Kitty — here's a spare communicard. Can you get into position without being detected?"

"Not a problem, Wasp." Kitty smiled back as she slipped the card into her pocket before phasing into the ground.

Then, turning to the rest of her team, Jan ordered, "Ok, everyone — we do it just like we planned. Ready?" Seeing everyone nod their heads, the Wasp once again shrunk and flew into Pete's coat pocket. "Ok, guys — let's do it!"

"Sorry about this, Dom, but this is business." The Native-American Marauder known as Scalphunter growled as he brought his gun to bear on the unconscious figure of his former teammate in the Six Pack lying on the cold floor of the empty office building.

"Well, looks like we get to finish our dance, frail!" Sabretooth laughed, reveling in the smell of fear as he bared his fangs, easily picking up the barely conscious figure of Tabitha Smith one handed from the floor as he brandished the vicious claws of his other hand.

"Ain't all that hot when you ain't blastin', are ya kid?" Blockbuster boasted as he picked up Sam Guthrie, preparing to dash the young man's head against the wall.

"We got the old man secured and Scrambler gave him the nanoprobe injection the boss told him to give him to keep that techno-organic virus in check. Get it over with, guys, so that we can get back and get the rest of our money." Vertigo shouted out.

Flashing a sadistic grin, Riptide smirked as he pointed towards the slouching figure of Jesse Aaronson, also known as Bedlam. "Just give me a second and I'll take out that kid over there..."

"And before we leave I'll bring down the building on them all — that should take care of Proudstar over there." The muscular brunette called Arclight growled as she clutched her hands and prepared to strike the floor.

"We'll be done in just a second. Just make sure Scrambler's standing next to him — just in case he comes to." Scalphunter shouted back, and then glanced at his comrades as he placed his finger on the trigger of his gun. "All right, everyone — time to end this."

"Let's not and say we did." They all turned as they heard Warbird's voice. "Now we could make this easy and you can just give up — it'll save us all a lot of trouble."

The Marauders all turned towards where the voice came from, seeing Warbird, wearing her battle clothing, standing in the center, with her lover, Nightcrawler, to her right and Pete Wisdom, wearing his customary black suit, the Wasp riding in one of his pockets, standing on her left. Jubilee stood immediately near a counter, remembering her orders to fire and then duck for cover, while both Firestar and Justice stood together next to Wisdom. Kitty had earlier phased through the ground outside the abandoned office building, and was now waiting in the basement, the communicard that Jan had loaned her active, ready to phase up on the Wasp's orders and take out her opponent, while Sue, now invisible, was maneuvering into a good position, making every effort to stay downwind of Sabretooth.

"What's the matter, 'Bird? Ain't no bar handy?" The feral mass-murderer leered, then, turning his attention to Wisdom, smirked. "What you doin' here, Wisdom? Last I heard, you were drowin' your sorrows after your little piece o' tail dumped ya."

"Looks like we still got business to take care of." Riptide sneered as he took his attention off the slumped Bedlam and prepared to attack his team's new foes.

"Hell, ain't no problem." Sabretooth growled as he casually tossed the limp figure of Meltdown on to the ground. "We'll wrap this up quick — all we're facin's a couple o' broken down drunks, an X-wimp, the junior league Avengers, and a punk kid." The feral Marauder then sniffed and growled. "It's a trap! The Invisible Woman and the Wasp are..." But before the feral Marauder could finish his words or let out a howl of rage, he found himself encased in a force bubble, unable to speak or breathe.

"What the hell!" Vertigo managed to get out before being blinded by Jubilee's pyrotechnics.

Nightcrawler, recognizing his cue, immediately teleported only to reappear in a puff of brimstone right next to Vertigo, cleanly knocking her unconscious with a right cross to the jaw.

"They've got help!" Scalphunter shouted as he ran for cover. "Scrambler — stick with the old man — we can't let him recover." The Native American Marauder barked out commands as he dodged the Wasp's bio-stings, cursing as they got closer and closer to him. "Riptide... Harpoon — let your stuff fly — take out Firestar an' Warbird — they're the most powerful!" Sabretooth — try ta find out where that damned Invisible Woman is — you're the only one that can track her down!"

"I can't." The savage mutant gasped as he began feeling the effects of diminished oxygen. "That damned force bubble won't let me..." Unable to finish his words, the brute collapsed on the floor, passing out from oxygen starvation.

Consciousness slowly returning to her, Tabitha Smith looked up from her position on the floor to see Blockbuster preparing to dash out the brains of Sam Guthrie, the man she loved. As she tried vainly to gather her wits and charge a time bomb to save the former X-Man and now junior leader of X-Force, she saw a blast of red light impacting against the hulking brute, and then a blue, gold, and red blur wearing blonde hair flew by her as Warbird leaped at the reeling giant, pummeling him with a series of blows, not giving him any time to recover.

Staggering to her feet, Meltdown tried to make her way toward her boyfriend, accidentally jarring and knocking down the invisible Sue Richards. Losing concentration momentarily, Sue released the forcebubble restraining Sabretooth. Roaring in anger, the feral mutant, seeing the hapless Tabitha and smelling the location of the Invisible Woman, leaped at both women, his claws extended, saliva drooling from his mouth. Reacting quickly, the matriarch of the Fantastic Four threw up a forcefield around her and the young mutant. Then, quickly making herself visible, Sue yelled, "Firestar! I need you to hit Sabretooth and cover me while I take this young lady outta here!"

"Right, Sue!" The red haired Avenger shouted as she hit the vicious Sabretooth with a strong burst of microwave radiation, forcing him to his knees in pain.

"Uh Uh!" Meltdown angrily shook her head. "I'm not leaving without Sam!" She then pointed at the figure of Sam Guthrie, now lying on the floor next to the wall that Blockbuster had planned to smash his brains out against.

"It's ok!" Sue crooned as she held the slender blonde mutant and pointed. "Warbird's got him covered, and Nightcrawler's coming over to join him — see!"

As Tabitha looked up, she was treated with the vision of the former Avenger connecting with a solid uppercut, launching the hulking brute flying up towards the glass skylight. Then, she ducked her head as Sue yelled, "Incoming!"  The skylight shattering as Blockbluster flew through it, shards of glass rained down on the combatants below.

"Goddamn it, Ace! Careful where you're taking out the trash next time... right, love?!" Wisdom yelled as a shard of glass ripped his trenchcoat. Then, after quickly pushing Jubilee to cover behind the counter, he fired a spread of hot knives at some of the fragments, disintegrating them.

"Mein Gott!" Nightcrawler cried out as he picked up the unconscious Sam Guthrie, teleporting both of them to safety. "Remind me to never get her mad at me!" Kurt winced as he reappeared outside the building. Then, spotting a couple of paramedics, the German mutant called out to them, "Meinen herren? Come here, please — I need your assistance."

One of the paramedics, a blond man in his early thirties, immediately rushed forward with his kit. "Jake Olsen." The man introduced himself as he swiftly and efficiently went about examining Sam, now returning to consciousness. "He's got a concussion, but he should be ok."

"Danke, mein freund." Nightcrawler grinned. "Now I think we should set up a triage area. I have a feeling we'll be needing it soon."

"Good thinking, Mister." The paramedic, seeing that his fellow Avengers needed Jake Olsen the emergency services technician more than Thor the thunder god in this situation, smiled grimly as he called out to his partner.

"Sorry, guys!" Carol shouted as she took off after the rapidly ascending Blockbuster, disintegrating fragments of glass as she went. "I'll be back in a bit — I gotta go pick up a piece of airmail I forgot to stamp properly!"

"HOLY SHIT!" Scalphunter swore as he barely dodged another of the Wasp's bio-stings only to see a giant jagged edged shard of glass headed straight towards him. Hitting the ground and rolling, the American Indian Marauder let out a silent prayer of thanksgiving as glass hit the ground, blocking one of the Wasp's bio-blasts aimed at him even as the fragments cut into him. "Arclight!" The cold-blooded killer then called out to his teammate and lover as he tried to find cover where he could make the necessary adjustments to his pistol so that he could bring down his tiny tormentor, "We need a diversion, babe."

"Can't right now, hon." The brunette cried out as she barely dodged a burst of microwave radiation. Then, scowling, she hit the ground before her, sending out enough concussive force to knock Jubilee up against the counter, knocking her unconscious, and then travel on to the school across the street, causing the building to shake under the force of the blast, weakening several columns and support structures in the process as students and teachers scrambled out of the building.

Quickly escorting her young charge out of the building to the makeshift triage area where Nightcrawler immediately took charge of the still groggy Meltdown, the Invisible Woman returned just as Justice, taking over for his lover, had lifted the savage Sabretooth into the air with his telekinetic power. Smoothly taking over, Sue smiled as she once again encased the vicious killer's head within a suffocating forcebubble, "Thanks, guys...I  got him now!"

"Don't forget, Sue..." Vance called back, "This creep's got a healing factor — don't worry about suffocating him — he'll get better!"

"Thanks, Vance." The lovely blonde grinned back, "I'll remember that."

"Hi, tall, dark, and gruesome!" Jan grinned as she aimed another bio-blast at the dodging Scalphunter. However, his sharp reflexes saved him from the full force of the blast. Instead of being stunned, he was knocked off his feet. Twisting in an effort to avoid more blasts, the cold-blooded mercenary got off a shot, barely missing the little Wasp, but causing her to graze a wooden display counter next to the stirring Bedlam.

Barely dodging the energy blast, the Wasp gasped in shock as she looked at her newly manicured nails, noticing that one of them had been chipped. "That's not very nice! You made me chip a nail!! Just for that, you can have one of these!" Jan yelled in outraged indignation as, dodging and weaving,  she nailed the expert marksman with a bio-blast, knocking him unconscious before he could get off another shot.

James Proudstar, staggering to his feet, let out a cheer as he saw Justice telekinetically pick up the Korean Marauder, Scrambler, and then slam him up against a far wall, knocking him unconscious. "Serves the little runt right." The Apache strongman called out as he slowly made his way to his partner, Jesse. "Jesse... you ok, man?"

"Yeah... yeah... I guess so." The other X-Forcer mumbled as he staggered to his feet, assisted by his comrade. "What the hell's going on here? Last thing I remember was being thrown up against that wall."

"Looks like we got some help." Proudstar smiled as he saw Firestar releasing microwave bolts at Arclight, "Way to go, 'Star!" he shouted out to his former classmate.

"Thanks, James!" Angel shouted back with a smile and a wave. "You guys get outta here — I got you covered!"

"Thanks, Red — I owe you one!" James shouted back as he helped his injured teammate. Then, seeing out of the corner of her eyes Harpoon releasing a bolt aimed at the withdrawing X-Forcers, Angel, moving faster, let loose a burst of microwave energy, destroying the harpoon before it could reach her former teammate and his friend.

"Looks like I owe you another one, lady!" Proudstar again grinned as he looked up at the redheaded mutant.

"We'll just put 'em in accounts payable, Jimmy! Now you two get outta here you two before you really run up a tab!" Firestar grinned back and then blew James a kiss.

"You two know each other?" Jesse whispered, a note of surprise in his voice, as he and his companion staggered out.

"Yeah — we went to school together a while back." The Apache mutant smiled, a note of pride in his voice. "She's one of a kind."

Turning to see whether anyone needed help, Justice shouted a warning as he saw Riptide unleash a cluster of sharp throwing stars at Wisdom. The former Black Air agent, nodding his head in gratitude at Vance's warning, immediately fired a spread of hotknives at the throwing stars, melting most of them before they could reach their target. However, a couple of them managed to slip through his defenses, further shredding the British agent's trenchcoat. "Right then, you bloody spinning top..." Wisdom growled, "That's all for you now." Then, before the rapidly spinning mutant could unleash even more death, Pete released another volley of hotknives, striking the rapidly spinning mutant in his legs, causing him to collapse to the ground with a painful howl.

"Good shooting, Pete." Jan called out, her voice filled with both relief and pride. Relief that her former lover didn't kill the Marauder — and pride because he chose not to do so when it would have been so much easier for him to have killed the hardened assassin. 'You've come a long way since we first met, Pete.' Jan smiled warmly as she turned her attention back to the business of finishing off the rest of the Marauders.

Wisdom, after making sure that Jubilee was ok, turned towards Arclight, the scowl on his face showing his anger at the female mercenary for her attack on the young Amerasian mutant who had become an adoptive sister to Kitty. But, before he could let loose another spread of hot knives, the female Marauder found herself lifted into the air — imprisoned by a psychokinetic cage fashioned by Justice. "I got her, Pete." Vance said in a grim voice as, repeating the tactic he used against Scrambler, the psychokinetic Avenger slammed the Marauder against the far wall, knocking her unconscious next to her partner. "That way..." Vance said with a smirk, if they come to before this ends, he'll screw up her powers for a few seconds — give us time to take her out again if we have to."

"Good thinking mate." Pete smirked as he scoured the building for a new target.

Slowly regaining both his consciousness and his powers, Cable, after quickly sizing up the situation and identifying his new allies, immediately set up a telepathic link with all of his rescuers — including Shadowcat, waiting for her opportunity to strike. After being informed by the Wasp of their battle plans, the time-displaced soldier, nodding his head in approval at the younger woman's strategy, then telepathically informed Kitty as to the location of her quarry who at that very moment preparing to release another one of his bolts, targeting the now awakened Cable. But Kitty, moving faster, reached up from the floor and phased Harpoon before he could unleash his bolt. Resisting the temptation to release his feet so that they would become solid in the floor, Kitty settled for upending him. "Get up, Harpoon! I owe you big time, for what you did to the Morlocks, my friends, and me in the tunnels — and now I'm gonna pay you back with interest!"  Then, raising her voice so that the rest of her team could hear her, Kitty shouted, "The rest of you guys stay out of this! This is personal between me and this genejoke!"

"Kitty..." Jan called out, a note of caution in her voice.

"Don't worry, Jan!" Kitty flashed a cold smile as the Inuit Marauder staggered to his feet. "I'm not gonna do him any permanent damage, but I am gonna make him pay for what he did to me!"

Coming up to where Jan was hovering, Pete said in a low voice, "It's alright, Jannie. Kitty needs to get this out of her system. I'll stop her if it looks like she's going to lose control."

"If you say so, Blue Eyes..." Jan replied, reluctantly allowing the duel to continue.

Howling his rage, the angry Inuit charged a harpoon and threw it at Kitty. Remembering how it affected her — even when phased, Kitty dodged, and after rolling on the floor, came up immediately in a combat crouch. 'Well — there' goes the hair!' Kitty sighed as she eyed her opponent. "If you had any idea how long I had to sit while Vidal worked on my hair..." The chestnut haired mutant shouted as she twisted and then kicked her enemy in the midsection, "You'd understand how pissed I am at you right now!" Seeing her opponent doubled over, Kitty then followed up her kick with a karate chop to the neck, bringing the large Inuit down to his knees. Then, grabbing him by the hair, Kitty allowed herself the idle fantasy where she slipped her hand into the savage's braincase, and then, after plucking out his brain, dashed it to the ground. Instead, she settled for snarling into his ear, "You can thank whatever god or gods you worship that I'm not like you or your friends — you bastard! If I were you'd be dead now!" Having had her revenge, Kitty turned her back on the whimpering Marauder as her lover and the Wasp looked on proudly.

"Well... looks like all Vidal's hard work went for nothing." Kitty said in a soft voice as she shook her head.

"Don't worry about it, Kitty." Jan smiled back. "I'll just give him a call when we get back to the Mansion and ask him to come over to give you an emergency redo — he's used to it."

"Thanks, Jan." Kitty smiled back. "Well — I guess I've still got a ways to go before I'm Avengers material." Kitty sighed as she looked at Harpoon kneeling on the floor.

"Whatever gave you a crazy idea like that?" Jan retorted, "Listen, Kitty. We Avengers avenge! We avenge the innocent... we avenge the helpless. Looks to me like that was exactly what you did!"

"Jannie's right, love." Pete smiled down with pride at his lover as he wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders. "You didn't kill that wanker — although he deserves it. An' you avenged yourself, your mates, an' a whole lot of innocent people that arsehole an' his mates killed. You did damned good, love!"

Just then, Warbird descended down the skylight carrying the limp form of Blockbuster in her arms. Touching down on the ground, she unceremoniously dropped her load on to the floor. "That's one big sleeping baby! But don't anyone dare ask me to burp him or change him!"

As everyone laughed at Carol's joke, Jan gathered her breath to speak. The prisoners still needed to be secured and there were still injured that needed to be taken to Nightcrawler's makeshift triage area; however, before she could speak, she was interrupted by the fuzzy elf's voice on her communicard. "Wasp? We need immediate assistance — the school is near collapse and they believe that there are still students trapped inside."

The Wasp, quickly darting outside and looking with horror at the school, immediately called out orders. "Warbird... Justice! You guys get over to that school right now and start shoring up at that building."

"On our way, Jan!" Carol immediately responded as she and the young psychokinetic flew towards the school.

"Sue!" Jan called out once again. "Forget Sabretooth! I'm gonna need you over at the school too!"

"Right, Jan." The Invisible Woman, understanding that lives took priority over all else, nodded her head as she took off at a dead run for the school.

"Go ahead and take care of the school." Cable called out to his team's rescuers as he telekinetically fashioned bonds for Sabretooth and the rest of the Marauders. "I'll keep a watch on things here."

"Ok, Cable." The Avengers' leader nodded. "When the authorities get here — just tell 'em you're working with the Avengers — that should keep you outta too much trouble. Then have the ambulances take your people over to Avengers Mansion — Hank's there and we've probably got a better infirmary than any hospital."

"Right, Wasp." The Askani'son replied as he went over to where his old friend and one-time lover, Domino, was now beginning to struggle back into consciousness. Then, as Kitty passed by, Cable looked up at her, and then at Wisdom, and nodding his head sagely, said in a surprisingly soft voice, "You better go now, Kitty. I'll talk to Dom later and straighten everything out, but now's probably not a good time... if you know what I mean."

Nodding her head in agreement, Kitty then took Pete's hand. Seeing the look on his lover's face, Pete smiled warmly. "Don't worry about it, luv. Between Nate and me, we'll get Dom straightened out — but right now we got another job that needs doin' — right?"

"You're right, Pete." Kitty smiled back. "Let's get to work, babe."

"Pete!" Jan called out to her former lover as he and Kitty ran towards the dangerously unstable school. "Can you help Warbird shore up those columns with some spot welding?"

"Sure thing, Jannie." Wisdom responded as he used his hot knives as a form of welding torch — welding together the cracks and fissures while another one of his former lovers, Warbird, kept the column in place. On the other side, Justice and Firestar were using their powers in a similar manner — Justice holding the structure stable, while Firestar repaired the cracks and weaknesses.

Seeing Kitty, Jan then called out to the young mutant, "Kitty? I need you and Sue to go in and help evacuate anyone trapped inside." Then, seeing Nightcrawler and Jubilee assisting the paramedics with the wounded, the Wasp asked, "Nightcrawler? How're you doing? Do you need more supplies or anything?"

Waving at the leader of their makeshift team, Kurt smiled, "We're doing fine, Wasp. The paramedics have plenty of what we need, and no one's seriously injured."

Hearing the positive report, Jan smiled. "Great. If you need anything just holler." Then, turning her attention to Jubilee, she asked the young mutant, a note of worry in her voice, "Jubilee? How're you doing?"

"I'm ok, Wasp,"  the young pyrokinetic mutant called out. "I just got a bump on the head — that's all. I've been hurt a lot worse in snowball fights with Monet, Paige, and Angelo!"

Looking questioningly at Nightcrawler, the Wasp nodded her head curtly as she saw Kurt's nod confirming Jubilee's statement. "Ok, then. You can stay with Kurt and help him and the paramedics."

Rushing into the school building, Sue and Kitty ran into a school security officer holding a handkerchief over what looked to be a nasty gash on his forehead. Finding a first aid kit on the wall, Sue grabbed it, and, taking out the gauze, expertly bandaged the wound. "Have you gotten everyone out?"

"No, Ma'am." The guard smiled as he immediately recognized the celebrity superheroine. "The band class is trapped in the basement — and we think there's a gas leak down there."

"Kitty?" The Invisible Woman turned towards the chestnut haired former X-Woman.

"I'm on it, Sue." Kitty instantly replied, phasing into the floor.

"Who's she?" The security guard asked as she saw the slender woman vanish through the floor, "One of those New Warriors? Or is she a new Avenger?"

"She's a friend of ours." Sue smiled as she helped the man out of the building.

As Kitty dropped down to the floor of the basement, she caught an immediate whiff of propane. 'One spark and this place goes up.' The young mutant grimaced as she made her way to the band room, finding the door blocked by debris. 'Ok... looks like I'm gonna have to do this the hard way.' Kitty sighed as she phased through the debris and the door. As she came out on the other side, Kitty gasped as she saw a group of students, most of them just a year or two younger than her, clustered around someone lying on the floor. As she approached the students, Kitty called out, "Is everyone alright?"

"What?" One of the students quickly turned her head at the unexpected noise. "Where did you come from?"

"It's ok." Kitty smiled, "I'm here to help you. The Invisible Woman's upstairs and the Avengers are outside."

"Thank God!" The young girl sobbed. "It's Mrs. Johnson... we think her legs are broken."

"Let me see," the young former X-woman directed and the teenagers cleared room for her. As she looked over the injured woman, Kitty sighed. "I think you're right about the legs." Then, activating her communicard, Kitty contacted Sue Richards. "Sue?"

"Yeah, Kitty?"

"You still upstairs?"

"Yeah — we've gotten everyone else out... why? You need help?"

"Yeah, Sue." Kitty grimaced as she looked down at the injured woman. "I've got twelve students here, a badly injured teacher, and the basement's got a bad propane leak. I need you down here to cover everyone in case this place blows up, and I need to get a paramedic in here stat. I don't feel safe moving the injured woman."

"You got it, Kitty. I'll notify Jan about the paramedic."

"Thanks, Sue. I'll be up in a few secs."

Then, turning back to the students, Kitty smiled reassuringly. "Ok, guys. I'm gonna go back up and bring back help. Just stay calm, ok? Don't move around, and for heaven's sake — don't strike a match — got it?"

As she saw the students all nod their heads, Kitty smiled again. "Great! I'll be back before you know it!" Then, she airwalked back up to where Sue was waiting with a paramedic carrying his kit and a stretcher. "Kitty? This is Jake Olsen."

"Hi, Mr. Olsen." The young mutant grinned at the blond EMT. "I need you take a deep breath and relax — I promise this won't hurt a bit."

"If you say so." The paramedic nodded his head as he took one of the young brunette's hands while the Invisible Woman took the other.

As soon as Kitty had airwalked herself and her passengers to the floor, they went to work, Sue immediately throwing up a forcefield around everyone while Jake began working on his patient. "You were right not to move her, Ms. Pryde." The EMT said grimly. "She has two broken legs and internal injuries."

"Ok." Sue replied. "Kitty? Start evacuating everyone while Mr. Olsen stabilizes her."

"On it!" The young mutant responded as she once again smiled at the students. "Ok, guys. Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna take you outta here two at a time the same way you saw me bring in the Invisible Woman and the paramedic. Now, there's nothing for you to be scared about — it's just like swimming — ok? I want you take deep breaths and hold 'em and you'll all be outta here in a few — understand?" As the young band members nodded their heads, Kitty smiled, "Great! Let's do it."

After several trips, Kitty had finally taken the last of the students out of the basement. Contacting the Invisible Woman on her communicard, the young mutant asked, "Sue? Any ideas on how we're gonna get Mrs. Johnson outta there?"

"Yeah," the Invisible Woman replied. "Are Warbird and Justice free now?"

After checking quickly with Jan, Kitty replied, "Yeah. They've shored up the building all right. The city's gonna have to condemn it, but it'll hold for now."

"Great!" Sue smiled, "I need you to tell them that they need to clear out the obstructions down here. Then, we'll just have Justice telekinetically carry her out."

"Great idea, Sue." The Wasp interjected. "Warbird... Justice... you get that?"

"We got it." Carol replied as she grinned at the young telekinetic. "Well, supertights — you ready?"

"Let's do it." The young Avenger, reddening with embarrassment at the older woman's use of that nickname, replied as he and the newest member of Excalibur went to work.

It didn't take long for the superstrong Warbird and the telekinetic Justice to clear a path to the basement room where Sue and Jake knelt protectively over the injured Mrs. Johnson, now secured to a stretcher. As Justice levitated the injured woman, the paramedic admonished him, "Be careful not to jar her. Keep her going smooth and easy."

"Yes, sir." The polite Justice responded as he carefully carried the band teacher up to the surface and a waiting ambulance.

As Kitty, Sue, and Carol reached the surface, they quickly found themselves the center of attention from newspaper and television cameramen and correspondents. "You might wanna disappear, Kitty." The Invisible Woman whispered to the young mutant as the media hoard rushed to them. "Unless you feel up to blowing your cover..."

"No... I don't think so." Kitty smiled back as she smoothly phased into the ground, and literally swimming, came up a short distance away near where she had spotted her lover standing with Jubilee. As the co-leader of the Fantastic Four saw Kitty join Pete and Jubilee she smiled warmly, 'Don't worry, Kitty — your time'll come soon enough.'

"Hey, handsome!" Kitty smiled as she grasped the former Black Air agent's hand, giving him a quick kiss.

"Hey, love. The kid an' I were watchin' an' listenin' to everything you did through the communicard — you did good... I'm proud of you."

"Pete's right, sis!" Jubilee smiled, and then winced as she fingered the rather large knot on her forehead. "We saw or heard most of it." Then, as she eyed the impromptu press conference that the Wasp was holding with the others, the young Amerasian mutant remarked, somewhat petulantly, "You know — we oughtta be up there too."

"Nah." Pete smirked as he lit a cigarette. "Jannie's the pro at this shite — she'll give us as much credit as she can. She'll say that 'friends of the Avengers and Fantastic Four helped us out — or some other shite like that.' 'Sides — we've got our covers to look after. Anyway..." The former Black Air agent then said pointedly as he motioned towards the students all gathered in the triage area being looked after by paramedics, teachers, and worried parents, "There was a job that needed doing and we got it done — in the end, that's all that matters."

"Pete's right, Jubes." Kitty said as she looked up proudly at her lover, "We got the job done."

As he saw, through his vidscreen, the authorities lead away the mercenaries that he had hired to kidnap the sometime leader of X-Force called Cable; his metal clad fingers came together into a clenched fist. "Such incompetence!"

"Shall I activate the self destruct nanoprobes inside them, Sire?" The underling cringed before the figure of his dread lord.

"No... they do not know it was I who was their ultimate employer. Imprisonment is an adequate enough punishment for their ineptitude. However — find and terminate the individual who contracted them."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The servant, bowing, backed away carefully from his enraged king.

Turning away from the large viewscreen, his green cloak billowing behind him, the metal clad figure spoke to himself as he left the room, "While I do not tolerate failure, Doom is a patient man — there will be other opportunities."

End Part 7