Chapter 13: X-istential Lessons
No one had spoken much the entire trip back to the mansion. Logan had spent most of the ride half-asleep letting his system work on healing his injuries both the physical as well as the emotional ones. Storm was also a bit worn from creating and maintaining the blizzard while Cyclops was just too angry to trust himself to say anything rational at the moment.
Jubilee was still moping from her team leader’s earlier tirade. She stole a glance over at Minx and pouted further. How come no one was reading her the riot act? And how come Wolvie was all over Minx worried she might be hurt, but hadn’t said boo to poor Jubilee? Am I getting kicked to the curb now that he has a real daughter, she wondered? Only Gambit had offered a few words of comfort.
Minx, tired and shaken, only half-listened to his soft southern drawl. The rest of her focused on how she was going to hunt down her parents’ killers and deal with them. If it took the rest of her days here on earth, she was going to get revenge for what they’d done to her life. Safely home and out of the Jeep, Minx was herded into the elevator and down into the bowels of the mansion’s sub-basements to the med-lab to be checked out thoroughly. Logan had gone with her, refusing to let his daughter out of his sight in case something else bad happened to her.
Hank cleaned off her scrapes and pronounced them to be minor wounds that would heal in a day or so and also gave her a thumbs up on the bump to her head although he suggested keeping an eye out for a possible concussion. Finished with his first aid ministrations, the professor’s voice summoned Dr. McCoy and the others telepathically to meet him in the X-men’s sub-basement conference room. The professor listened quietly as the team recounted Minx’s meeting with Mystique and the ensuing car chase. His stiff posture and no-nonsense countenance clearly showed that he was not pleased.
“What were you two thinking?” Charles Xavier sternly questioned his youngest team members as they now stood sheepishly before him in the war room.
Scott, Jean, Rogue, Hank, Ororo, and Remy sat around the polished obsidian conference table watching the lecture with concerned yet sympathetic faces. Logan chose to stand at the rear of the room, arms folded across his broad chest, a black scowl directed at the back of the two girl’s heads. Xavier continued.
“As students of this school and members of this team, I expect you both to honor the rules that have been established here for the express purpose of avoiding such mishaps as occurred today. It is difficult enough to maintain a sense of order and stability for our student population without having two of my older students acting irresponsibly and without permission, especially you, Jubilation.” The professor turned to the girl who gaped up in surprise.
“Me?!” Jubilee gulped.
“You have been with us long enough, young lady, to realize that we do not act independently of the team when danger is involved.”
“That’s so not fair!” Jubilee pouted and shot Minx a stony look. “If it wasn’t for Minx getting all terminator on us, I wouldn’t have had to go after her.” She looked pleadingly at Xavier. “You can’t blame me for that!”
Charles Xavier shook his head. “I am not blaming you for helping your friend when she was in trouble, Jubilee.” he stated, “I am reproaching you for not following procedures by alerting the rest of the team instead of running off without thinking.”
Jubilee wasn’t satisfied with that answer. She cocked her head in Minx’s direction. “Hey, how come I’m the one getting an earful and Minx there is like coming off as poor little orphan Annie? What’s up with that?”
Minx finally spoke out, her voice tinged with anger. “Ya know, nobody asked you to get in the car with me, Jubes.” She turned on her friend, her dark eyes sparking. “If ya can’t take the heat, stay out of the Jag!”
“Speaking of which,” Professor Xavier interrupted the girls before they could come to blows, “just where might my Jaguar be?”
Minx was taken off guard. “Oh. Uh, well…it’s um-“
Jubilee finished for her, “It’s in the mall parking lot where Minx left it.” She shot Minx a nasty smile, “With a big ole gash running down the side of it where she ran it into the garage wall.”
“You said you weren’t gonna tell!” Minx cried pointing an accusing finger at her partner in crime. “That is so not cool, Jubilee! You said you wouldn’t-“
“I don’t care.” Jubilee hissed. “I’m not risking getting into more trouble just to save your sorry butt!”
Xavier interrupted once again, his stern voice shutting the girls up instantly. “I might choose to ignore the fact that two pupils in my care left school grounds without permission and committed a rather serious felony by taking a vehicle not belonging to them. I will not overlook, however, the fact that an inexperienced, under-aged youth drove said automobile on city streets without the security of a driver’s license!”
Scott spoke up, his voice serious and stern. “You two could have been killed on the road or killed someone else. Did that even occur to either of you?”
Two mumbled no’s came as an answer. Jubilee glared at Minx who glowered right back.
“For leaving the school grounds without notice or permission, you are both on room restriction and forbidden from using your powers for a month.” Xavier announced. “Minx, you will also forfeit all television, computer, gaming, and music privileges for that same month for the damage done to school property as well as to Logan’s motorcycle.”
He watched the girls as they fidgeted before him trading stony looks of hatred. “And as penalty for taking the Jaguar without permission and driving it unlicensed, I think it very fitting that you both spend time washing and waxing each and every vehicle in the school’s garage.”
The two youngster’s heads shot up in dismay.
“But, but…professor!” Jubilee gasped, “There must be like...a GAZILLION cars down there!”
“Thirty-two to be exact if you count the recon van and Scott’s motorcycle, which I do.” Xavier calmly replied.
“Well, this sucks,” Minx muttered, and Jubilee almost pounced on her.
“Sucks?!” Jubilee snapped at her friend, “I’ll give you sucks, miss ‘go get me a Slushee’ so I can ditch you and get myself kidnapped!”
Minx shrugged off the jibe. “Look, I just wanna get this over with so I can start tracking down those bastards that ruined my life!” she angrily spat out, “and if it means soaping up a few cars, then fine, whatever.” She rolled her eyes at Jubilee and made a face, “Don’t be such a baby, Jubes.”
“BABY?!” Jubilee pouted over the insult, but Xavier didn’t let her finish.
“That’s enough out of both of you!” he shouted and the girls fell silent. “I will not stand for in-fighting among us. You are both at fault in this, albeit for different reasons, but you will both face the consequences of your actions with a sense of accountability and decorum. Have I made myself clear?”
“Yes, sir,” came the twin reply.
Xavier turned towards Minx with arched brows. “I suggest you erase all thoughts of revenge out of your mind, young lady. The X-men will handle Magneto and the Brotherhood.” Xavier wheeled past the girls to address the rest of the team members sitting around the table. “We need to pull up the files on current Brotherhood members and –“
“Hold on there, Chuck,” Logan’s baritone voice came from the back of the room as the X-man pushed himself away from the wall he’d been nonchalantly leaning against. “You done with those two?”
He pointed in Minx’s and Jubilee’s direction as he started towards them. Charles seemed a bit miffed that Logan had interrupted but gave a curt nod.
“Yes. They are dismissed to their rooms.”
Cyclops flicked his gaze over to the young Asian teen, giving her a stony look that promised nothing good. “Jubilee, you and I are still going to be having a little talk,” he stated. “I’ll see you in your room after I finish up here. Now move!”
She knew exactly what kind of ‘talk’ her team leader had in mind and it had more to do with his hand talking and her bottom listening. Jubilee huffed in hurt annoyance and stomped out the door, her lip jutting out even further than before. Minx, who had no idea what had just transpired between the two, shook her head in amusement and started tiredly off behind her friend but was pulled up short by a burly arm latching onto the back of her sweater.
“You ain’t dismissed, Sunshine. Chuck here may be finished with ya, but I’m not!” Logan gruffly commented to Minx as he shoved her none too gently towards the open doorway, “C’mon, you and me got some conversatin’ to do.”
“Logan,” Charles called after the man, “I believe the situation is well under control. I would prefer you not take matters into your own hands.”
Logan shot the professor a grim smile over his shoulder. “Yeah? Well, where my kid is concerned, your preferences don’t count for squat. Besides, I need to handle my own kid. You all know that as well as I do,” Logan finished in a determined tone.
With that, the man and teenager disappeared down the hall leaving the Professor and the X-team to set battle plans against Magneto.
Minx paced angrily back and forth across the metal floor of the empty Danger Room, her body sore and bruised from the recent battle, her nerves still on edge. It hadn’t helped either that she had just been royally lectured in front of the entire team by the Professor. Her pride was stung by the disappointment in Xavier’s tone and by the fact that Jubilee, who was supposed to be her best friend, her comrade in arms, had suddenly decided to turn coat against her when things began to heat up. Minx hadn’t asked the girl to join her. Jubilee had gone of her own accord, but now, Jubes blamed Minx for getting into hot water with Scott and the Professor.
And then there was Mystique. Minx could barely contain her wrath as she pictured Mystique once again laughing at her while the woman morphed into her parents. Her jaw clenched, teeth grinding in utter fury and frustration at being made a pawn. Logan stood watching the girl without saying a word. He was trying to check his own anger at Minx’s stubborn refusal to accept orders. Minx pivoted and came about on Logan pointing a finger at his broad chest.
“I don’t care what anyone says, I’m gonna kill Mystique,” she snapped and began to pace again. “I’m gonna hunt her and that twisted boss of hers down and I’m gonna-“
“Can it!” Logan barked at her, and Minx stopped in her tracks somewhat taken aback by his ferocious tone.
Sniff, sniff. Logan’s bushy brows furrowed as he leaned in close to his daughter and drew in another tell-tale whiff from Minx’s sweater front. It couldn’t be, he thought. She wouldn’t dare!
“You been smokin’ my Cubans again?” he angrily questioned her watching as her expression changed from fury to anxiety.
“Wha, I...” She spluttered not able to think of a good excuse as fast as she wanted. Then the whole insane situation dawned on her and she shot her father an accusatory glare. “Wait a minute! Are you KIDDING me?? I almost get wasted by that…that shape-shifting PSYCHO-BITCH, and you’re biggest concern is that I may have lifted a couple lousy cigars from you?!”
“I told ya what I’d do if I caught ya stealin’ again…” he growled.
The girl shook her head, eager to prove him wrong. “Uh uh, no. That was if I stole any more of your stuff, ha, ha - which I didn’t – I lifted the smokes from some dude at the mall. So…there!”
Her voice trailed off at the ominous look on Logan’s face.
“Good memory, kid.” He nodded appreciatively, “But that ain’t gonna save ya from a butt-whuppin’ fer trashing my Harley…and my room, not to mention most of the second floor of this joint. And while we’re at it, you owe me fifty-two bucks.”
“What?”
“That’s how much was in my wallet the last time I checked…which was before you lightened it up a bit.”
“Oh. Yeah, that.”
Minx had forgotten about the money she had taken from his wallet before demolishing his room. She reached into her pocket and fished out the wad of crumpled bills.
“Here. There’s a fiver missing, but the rest is all there. You can count it if you don’t trust me.”
Logan’s grin turned cold as he made a grab for the money. “Don’t get smart,” he warned her stuffing the bills into his jeans pocket, “you’re in a heap o’ trouble as it is. And I’m not the one with the trust issues, remember?”
“Whatever!” Minx shouted at her father, her eyes flashing angrily. “I’m tired and I’m sore and I really don’t feel like playing head games with you, Logan, so if the lecture’s over –“
“It ain’t even begun, darlin’,” he snarled back at her. “You been runnin’ around here with a chip on your shoulder since day one, and that’s gonna end right here and right now. It’s time you realize that askin’ fer help ain’t a sign of weakness. The X-men are a team, and we cover each other’s back – whenever. Wherever. Ya don’t go runnin’ off by yourself like that into unknown situations without a plan! Not if ya want to live very long.” he said and shot her an angry look.
“You can’t face all your demons alone, Nikki. You gotta learn to trust us here. To trust me. Hell, you’d think what happened today woulda set that in that little birdbrain of yours.” He gazed at her shaking his head, not sure he was getting through to her. “You’re just a kid -”
Minx’s face grew red at this, but Logan continued.
“A wet behind the ears rookie. Mutant or no, Sunshine, ya got no trainin’, no combat experience and no idea of who you’re dealin’ with. Magneto and his bunch ain’t some little punk street gang you can scare off with a few tricks. They’re professionals.”
“I don’t care who they are. They’re dead.”
Logan gave a short laugh at the child’s false sense of ego. “Kid, you sound just like me from a few years back. Only difference is…I can take a bullet point blank and still live to talk about it. You can’t.”
Minx set her jaw in grim determination. “I don’t need you or any of the other muties here fighting my battles for me.”
Logan’s temper flared in frustration at the girl’s refusal to see reason. His voice rose in anger. “You can just forget about runnin’ off for a little cold vengeance any time soon. In fact, you can forget about takin’ off anywhere for a while ‘cause I’m siding with Chuck – you’re stayin’ put ‘til we figure out what Magneto wants with you!”
“You’re not the boss of me!” Minx snapped.
“Yeah. I am, Nicole.”
Minx blinked, stunned. A light had gone on in her head. He was right – he was the boss now. He was her father. Instead of finding the thought comforting though, Minx found herself aggravated by the sudden loss of freedom she had enjoyed for most of her short life. The rules had changed on her without her consent and that didn’t sit well with the young mutant. Logan shot her a smug look of satisfaction and she clenched her teeth in fury.
“Screw this,” she uttered and began to walk away heading for the door.
Logan’s eyes widened then quickly narrowed as he took a step toward her. “I’ll give ya to the count of three to turn back around, Nikki, or you and me are gonna throw down. I’ve had it with the attitude.”
In classic style, the girl flipped him off and continued on toward the danger room door. Logan was somewhat amused and stunned by this. He was new to the fatherhood thing, but he was pretty sure that the parent was supposed to have the final word.
“That the way you wanna do this, Sunshine?” he quietly asked her. “Fine by me, but it’ll go worse for you ‘cause I ain’t in no mood to play nice right now.”
Logan took three quick strides and shot out his muscled right arm like a bullet to snatch at Minx’s sleeve. He was rewarded with a cry of surprise as he reeled his arm back dragging a kicking and struggling child with it. Minx swore and fought Logan with all her strength of will. She clawed, she bit, she kicked and punched all to no avail.
It was like trying to beat on a solid brick wall. Logan smiled at her fierce efforts as he easily picked Minx up and in one fluid motion, swung her around and bent her over his left hip. Logan growled as he flipped up her short skirt and yanked down her little cotton panties to bare her wriggling backside.
“You been askin’ fer a good paddlin’ since the day you walked in this place, and now you’re gonna get it. I think it’s time to teach ya who’s the boss.”
“Let me go, you bastard!” Minx yelled, trying her best to squirm out of his solid grip, “Hit me and I’ll scream!”
“Go ahead, cub,” Logan chuckled, “Ain’t gonna do ya any good.”
He brought his hand down with a solid whack to her defenseless backside, and Minx screeched in painful surprise.
“OW! That hurt!”
“Yeah?” Logan’s voice dripped sarcasm as he raised his hand for another blow, “Well, it’s s’posed to, darlin’, so I must be doin’ it right, huh?”
With that, Logan administered a volley of hard smacks to the girl’s bared bottom, grinning wickedly as his daughter’s enraged howls echoed off the cool metal walls of the Danger Room.
“Logan! OW! Dammit, OW! Let me go!” Minx cried as her father laid two more stinging blows directly onto her sit spot.
His adamantium-laced hand was as solid and painful as a steel paddle as the man applied several more swats to each bare cheek in quick succession turning her butt a solid glowing pink. And to be reduced to tears over this bully’s knee was more than she could stand. She tried to reach back to cover her blazing bottom and Logan walloped her on the tender crease between her leg and butt. Minx yelled and quickly pulled her hand back.
“I warned ya, Sunshine,” Logan barked at her as he continued to spank her harder. “Now, are you ready to start behavin’ yourself and mindin’ yer manners, or do I hafta blister yer butt so bad you won’t be sittin’ fer a week?”
Minx’s breath hitched, the stinging pain unbearable. “I – I’m s-sorry!” she pleaded between sobs, “Please, s-stop!”
Logan gave the girl’s reddened bottom a few more solid smacks, and then pulled her panties up making the girl gasp in pain. He lifted her up and stood her next to him. Her hands moved behind her to rub her throbbing backside. She looked back up at Logan, her dark brown eyes glistening with tears and began to cry in earnest. Logan watched as big tears streamed from his daughter’s eyes.
“C’mere,” Logan softly commanded and opened his arms up for Loan.
She was hesitant at first, but she let Logan gently gather her up in his beefy arms. He let her sob unbidden into his flannel shirt, his own heart breaking. After a few moments of silence, Minx cleared her throat and wiped her snotty nose on her sleeve as she gently pushed herself away from his shirt.
“No more smart mouth,” Logan cautioned her and she nodded slowly. “And no more temper tantrums.” he stated. “Yer gonna start actin’ like the smart kid I know you are.”
“Yes, s-sir,” came the sniffled reply.
Logan walked with her over to the door of the Danger room. “Go on up to yer room now, kid,” he ordered. “And you can tell Ms. Jubilation Lee she’ll be gettin’ hers from Scotty soon enough.”
Although Minx wasn’t feeling particularly congenial towards Jubilee at the moment, she nevertheless felt a twinge of sympathy knowing what was in store for the other girl. At least Minx hadn’t been sent to her room to wait in dread like poor Jubes.
As she started out the door, Logan gave her sore butt a swat and the girl yelped glaring at her father over her shoulder.
“What was that for?!” she huffed.
“Just remindin’ ya that there’s plenty more where that came from in case ya decide to get any more bright ideas.”
“Gosh, thanks,” Minx muttered wincing, “but I’m pretty sure I got the message loud and clear about twenty whacks ago!”
She retreated down the dimly lit hall of the basement towards the elevators, occasionally reaching back to rub some of the lingering sting out of her bottom while Logan went to check on the team.
Mystique winced inwardly as she listened to Quicksilver’s pathetic moans of pain as he lay on the rumpled bed in their hotel room. It had been hours since he’d been injured in the fight with Wolverine, and even pain meds and alcohol hadn’t dulled his agony. The boy groaned pitiably as he tried to sit up using only one hand – the other, heavily bandaged, lay immobile on his chest.
“Would you stop that infernal whining!” Mystique finally snapped at her companion. “We can’t risk taking you to a hospital, so you just better get used to the pain!”
Quicksilver shot the woman a baleful glare, his dark grey eyes glassy from the over medication. “Eashy for you to shay, Mmysssdie,” he slurred as his head bobbled dizzily, “Wolveroon din’t tear a hand in your hole!”
“Idiot!” she hissed.
She gathered herself off the chair and stalked purposefully over to the injured boy. Without further ado, Mystique delivered a staggering right cross to Quicksilver’s jaw watching in pleasure as the mutant’s eyes slowly rolled up in his head and his body crumpled back down onto the mattress.
“Nighty, night, sweetums,” she purred, “I’ve got more important things than you to deal with right now.”
The blue-skinned mutant took one last look at her unconscious teammate before sauntering over to the polished Queen Anne’s desk near the large picture window of the room. She grabbed up the telephone receiver, stabbing angrily at the keypad while muttering under her breath. Why Magneto thought to have his insect of a son tag along on this mission was beyond her, she thought to herself as she listened to the ringing on the line. She unconsciously straightened up when a male voice came on the other end of the line.
“Yes.”
“I’ve got a job for you and the boys,” Mystique informed the other person, “one that brings an opportunity for revenge.”
“I’m listening,” the voice replied in a clipped British accent, “Go on.”
Mystique smiled, her eyes two yellow slits of evil. “I need you in New York by the end of the week.”
“No problem. What do we tell the boss?”
Mystique’s smile faltered, but she remained calm. “Tell him nothing, Toad. Magneto will receive a full report…once we’ve accomplished our mission.”
Toad chuckled humorlessly.
“Only when we’ve captured that little whelp of Logan’s will we inform Magneto. Only then. Is that clear?” Mystique’s voice rose shrilly and Toad winced slightly.
“I hear yer loud and clear, luv,” he said, “I’ll call yer from the airport when we get in.”
Mystique hung up the phone, cast a glance at the still form of Quicksilver then sighed heavily and ran a hand nervously through her short dark red hair.
“Why can’t things ever go smoothly?” she muttered under her breath as she reached for a glass and the bottle of vodka sitting on the desk by the phone.
Conversation in the war room broke off momentarily when Wolverine strode back in, his demeanor noticeably lighter than when he had left the group earlier with Minx in tow. Even Charles was somewhat nonplussed at the man’s calm and collected attitude as Logan plopped down into a nearby chair at the table. With a bemused half-smile on his lips, Logan arrogantly propped his denim-clad legs up onto the table and looked around at the bewildered faces of his companions.
“So, wha’did I miss?” he asked as he withdrew a cheroot from his jacket pocket, lit it and then took a deep drag on the smelly cigar.
Jean blinked, cleared her throat, threw the stocky mutant a wary glance and then continued on with her report. “Um, let’s see…the Professor was just about to tell us what he was able to dig up on the Darkhorse Project,” she said and looked down the long table at her mentor. “Professor?”
“Yes, well,” Charles came back to the moment at hand, trying to ignore the clouds of pale blue cigar smoke now wafting towards his head, “It would seem that our adversary has been dabbling in bio-engineered germ research as of late.”
He wheeled over to the wall directly behind him and pressed a button activating the holographic computer display. A three dimensional image of a DNA chain appeared and slowly revolved over the top of the meeting table as the professor continued.
“We all know what this is, of course.”
“The basic sequence for all living matter,” Henry McCoy gleefully ventured, “the DNA ladder.”
Charles nodded. “Thank you, Henry. You are quite correct. Now, watch carefully.”
He typed in a few commands on a keyboard and the DNA image underwent a subtle change. Certain gene sequences broke apart, rearranging themselves before linking back together within the ladder of the chain.
“What are we looking for exactly?” Storm asked as she studied the new image before her.
“What we have just viewed, my esteemed colleague,” Hank mused as he adjusted his glasses on his furry face, “is the insertion of the mutant gene into the normal DNA sequence. Correct Charles?”
“Indeed, Henry,” Charles nodded. “Now, let’s take a look at one more alteration of the sequencing.”
Once again, the three dimensional DNA ladder broke apart, but this time, the group watched with interest as small glowing particles floated into the image and began to attach themselves to the ladder, bonding with certain chromosomes, including the mutant one. The ladder reformed and the new particles began to transform and multiply. Everyone around the table remained silent, brows furrowed in puzzlement, except for Henry McCoy. Henry’s toothy grin split his face as he nodded excitedly, his eyes rapt on the holographic image.
“Fascinating!” he said like a child just given a wondrous new toy.
“Care to share with the rest of us who ain’t eggheads, Hank?” Logan barked impatiently.
“Why of course, Logan!” Henry smiled back at his comrade’s gruffness. “What Professor Xavier is showing us is an example of how a stealth virus incorporates itself into a host.”
Rogue and Gambit shared a confused look. They weren’t the only ones at the table to do this.
“How ‘bout puttin’ that into regular old English, sugah.” Rogue cracked.
Gambit nodded. “Oui - en Anglais, s’il vous plait.”
Hank McCoy chuckled and held up his large blue furred hands in submission. “In simplest terms, a stealth virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates inside cells. They are termed ‘stealth’ because the virus is hard to detect since it does not cause an immune response in the host. In other words,” he finished, “you can contract a stealth virus and never know that you have it because it may not manifest any physical symptoms until the latter stages of the disease.”
“You mean like someone being able to give you a cold but you wouldn’t get the actual stuffy nose until it’s too late to do anything about it?” Scott asked.
“Something like that, Scotty,” Hank replied, “But, unlike our common cold virus, stealth viruses are resistant to inactivation because they don’t contain nucleic acids like most regular viruses do. No amount of sinus medication or cough syrup would alleviate your stealth cold.”
“Quite right,” Charles Xavier agreed, “As a result, someone infected with such a virus would not be able stop its progress, nor would they be able to avoid spreading it via airborne particles or exchanges of bodily fluids.”
“Guess kissing be out den, huh?” Gambit joked to lighten the mood but no one laughed.
The Professor continued, “The Darkhorse Project files I was able to access contained experimental information on the development of a stealth virus using prions – DNA particles that are encoded by a chromosomal gene such as the x-factor gene. Unfortunately, I have yet not been able to determine specifically what kind of virus Magneto is playing with or for whom it is intended.” Charles looked around at the faces of his former students and uttered the final note, “Or how deadly the virus might be.”
Jubilee sat up anxiously on her rumpled bed when she heard the door to her room open. Her face fell at the sight of Scott Summer’s angry form striding into the room. It wasn’t like she wasn’t expecting him. Minx had actually stopped by, looking a tad more sullen than usual, Jubes noted, and had told the girl to be expecting a visit from Mr. “Stick-Up-His-Ass” in the very near future. Not a comforting thought, the young Asian girl reflected as she watched Scott turn to shut the door behind him glowering at her over his broad shoulder.
Trying to act nonchalant, Jubilee lay back down on the bed and crossed her arms behind her head in a casual act of defiance. “Glad ya could make it, Cyke. Ya ready to hear my side of the story now?” she wisecracked hoping to soften the man up a bit.
A hulking shadow suddenly loomed over the girl, and with a irritated growl of annoyance, Scott reached down and clamped onto Jubilee’s right earlobe. Jubilee squawked in dismay as the man, who looked ready to kill her, harshly yanked her up to her feet.
“Ow! Ow! OW!” Jubilee yelped.
Scott dragged the girl over to her desk reaching for the straight back chair next to it with his free hand. Jubilee hissed as he let go of her earlobe. She flinched and rubbed it gingerly opening her mouth to utter some protest.
“Don’t!” Scott snarled pointing a warning finger in her direction.
Jubilee’s lips clamped shut. Scott Summers took a seat on the chair and pulled Jubilee over to stand directly in front of him.
“So, let’s here it, Jubilee. You want to share your side of what happened today? I’m all ears,” Scott said, folding his arms across his button down shirtfront in tense expectation.
“Cheez and crackers, Cyke!” Jubilee huffed in a hurt tone. “It’s not like I committed armed robbery or something! What’s the big ish? I mean like I was doing like you taught me, ya know? Looking out for my team mate and covering her butt and all. Don’t be such a hard ass!”
Scott’s brow rose at her impudence. He shot Jubilee a cool look as he grabbed her arm and suddenly deposited the young teen over his lap. “Well, from one team mate to another? I’m about to cover your butt right now, Jubilation, and I can guarantee you’re not going to enjoy it.”
With that, Scott Summers proceeded to kindle a fire in Jubilee’s bottom with his hand. Jubilee wasn’t a newbie to her team leader’s disciplinary methods and so she bit her lip and remained stoic about her current plight. Her mouth had gotten her into trouble and over this very same lap more times than she cared to count, and while Scott’s hand did indeed hurt like hell, she wasn’t going to willingly let him know that.
“Why are you getting this spanking, Jubilee?” Scott demanded as he continued to swat up and down the girl’s squirming behind.
The words were out of the teen’s mouth before she could stop herself. “Because you’re totally lame and hate to be shown up.”
She felt Scott stiffen under her and instantly regretted her comment when the man began to increase the force of the swats, the sharp crack of his hand against her denim clad bottom ringing out in the otherwise quiet room.
“You just don’t know when to quit, do you?” He angrily snapped.
Jubilee couldn’t help herself. She let out a gasp of pain, the stinging warmth created by Scott’s interminable hand causing her more than just a little discomfort now.
“Ow! OKAY! Okay!” Jubilee bit out between hisses of pain. “I sorta forgot to follow normal protocol. I get it! OW! I shoulda let you and mmph! Jeannie know Minx took off!” She began to squirm harder, her legs involuntarily kicking now with each and every smack Scott applied to her burning rear end. “Holy cow, Cyke! Could ya ease up a bit? It feels like I could roast weenies off my behind!”
Scott ignored her pleas and continued to punish her sore reddened behind, paying special attention to the area just below the swell of each cheek where butt met thigh. Jubilee let out a high pitched wail.
“I’m sorry!” She bleated in misery. “Please, Scottie! I’ll follow orders from now on, I swear! No lie! PLEASE!”
Scott could tell from the contrite tone of her voice, that Jubilee was being sincere. He eased off and gave her five more swats in rapid succession and then stopped. Jubilee’s head was bent down, almost touching the floor, all the sass taken out of her for the moment. She sniffled, her breath hitching a bit and Scott, knowing she’d gotten the point, gently pulled her up from his lap and stood her once again in front of him. Jubilee glanced up at him from beneath tear-stained lashes, both of her hands snaking back to gingerly rub her hot stingy bottom.
“Jeez, harsh much?” She poutily exclaimed while wincing.
“You know, Jubilee, you’re the one that gets yourself into these messes. And you should know by now what the consequences for insubordination and backtalk are.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Follow the rules, watch my mouth and be a good little student, blah, blah, blah,” Jubilee said her nose scrunched up in distaste. “I thought they abolished corporal punishment in schools anyway!”
Scott rose from his seat quirking a smile at the girl. “This is a private school, Jubilee. The rules are a bit different.”
“Tell me about it!” Jubilee groaned and began to rub her sore bottom once again. “So how long am I stuck in prison this time, oh glorious overseer of the punishments?”
Scott tried to hide his smirk at the comment and give Jubilee a stern look instead. “That’s up to the Professor,” he stated as he made his way to the door. “So, until you hear otherwise, you are pretty much limited to this room, your classes and the dining hall, understand?”
She gave him a sullen nod. Scott opened the door to her room, but hesitated a moment before leaving. He swung around, his lips curled up into a mischievous half smile. “Oh, and by the way? I’d like extra wax on my bike when you’re cleaning and detailing it tomorrow. Thanks.”
He was out the door before Jubilee could protest. She nevertheless still stuck her tongue out at his retreating form and then smacked the door shut with a resounding slam. “Shoulda been a comedian, Summers,” Jubilee muttered under her breath, “You missed your calling, captain mcjerkwad!”