Chapter Two- Heated Rivalry
As they drove back towards the Institute in the X-Van, Betsy made certain that she
grabbed a seat next to Scott. While cruising down the avenues of Bayville, Betsy made
certain to ask Scott about every last landmark. Meanwhile, sitting in the backseat with
Peter, Jean became annoyed at the sight. She watched as Betsy would reach over Scott to
point at buildings as they passed. She didn’t really care about those buildings though.
They were just excuses for her to continue to press her body against
Scott’s.
“I don’t believe this,” thought Jean. “She has absolutely no integrity! She’s just a
cheap British skank! Yeah… the lost Spice Girl. Skanky Spice!” A thin smile began
to appear on Jean’s face, as she managed to get some sort of satisfaction.
“Oh, splendid! You actually recognized me,” said Betsy’s voice inside Jean’s head.
“Oh yeah, by the way… you’re not the only telepath, Red! It’s a pity, really. As
jealous as you are… you’re the last thing on his mind.”
Jean grunted with a sudden burst of anger, and accidentally released a telekinetic pulse.
The psychic wave pushed everyone in the van against the walls of the van. Even outside,
cars were skidded forwards and backwards and towards the sides of the road. After the
excitement wore down, everyone turned to face Jean, whose face was as red as her
hair.
“Sorry,” said Jean. “I… I uh… stubbed my toe.” Jean, knew that was a sorry excuse, but
for now, everyone seemed to accept it.
“Aw… poor little Jeannie can’t control her powers when she gets mad,” Betsy
whipped telepathically.
“Listen to me, you British bit-,” began Jean.
“Enough! Both of you!” snapped Professor Xavier. “This ends here and now! Is that
understood. Not another thought out of either of you!”
“But Professor,” Jean started.
“No, Jean,” he said. “Frankly, I expected a little more from
you….”
The Professor’s tone clearly expressed his disappointment in Jean’s actions. The burden,
now weighing heavily upon Jean, forced her to remain silent for the remainder of the trip
back. Betsy continued her innocent flaunting with Scott on the way back to the institute.
Peter noticed the pain that was etched on Jean’s face, and took it upon himself to ease the
pain. Peter’s hand began to move like lightning over a book he had carried into the
backseat with him.
The sound of scribbling constantly caught Jean’s attention. She looked up to see Peter
staring at her on several occasions. The young Russian’s glances were beginning to make
Jean uncomfortable. Jean’s concerns were put to rest as Peter ripped a page from the
book and handed it to her. After a moment of hesitation, Jean finally accepted the paper
and looked at it.
Jean stared down at the paper. The sheet was blank. However, there were a few words
scribbled on them, which read: CHEER UP! TURN OVER. Jean did as the message
instructed her. When she turned the paper over, a smile slowly began to appear on Jean’s
face as she marveled at the image that was sketched before her. It was a pencil drawing
of her. The lines captured the contours of her face perfectly. The different shades
captured the way the light touched her skin perfectly. Jean flashed a smile at
Peter.
“It’s… it’s beautiful,” she whispered to Peter. Jean turned her attention back to the
drawing. “This is really amazing.”
Peter smiled after hearing the comment. “The drawing is merely an imitation,” said
Peter. “True beauty lies with the model. I could try for an eternity and never match the
beauty of the original.” Jean blushed slightly as she heard Peter’s words. “I am sorry,”
said Peter. “I did not mean to embarrass you. Please… forgive me.”
“No, it’s all right, Peter,” said Jean. The X-Van slowly came to a stop as they reached the
X-Mansion. Everyone began to unbuckle their seatbelt and exit the van. Before exiting
the van, Jean glanced at Peter once more. “Thank you… for everything.” With the
drawing in her hand, Jean slid out of the van and made her way into the mansion
completely ignoring Betsy’s continued advances on Scott.
***
“Kitty, velcome to Europe!” exclaimed Kurt. “You’re going to love it here!” Kitty and
Rahne giggled over Kurt’s excitement as they moved through the airport. “So, Rahne,
vhere are ve supposed to meet your mother?”
“Ach, she said she’d meet us at de dock,” replied Rahne.
“The dock?” asked Kitty. “You mean she’s not picking us up here at the
airport?”
“Nay,” replied Rahne. “Trust me. We’ll be fine.” Kurt and Kitty exchanged a brief
glance. The two teens shrugged and started to follow Rahne to the exit. Suddenly, the
three young mutants’ attention was attracted to increasing disturbance caused by a large
man with a trench coat that was being surrounded by security guards. “Now wassa goin’
on? Ye’d think we were back in New York?”
Now, there were nearly a dozen security guards surrounding the man. “Come quietly with
us, please, sir,” said one of the guards. The security guard took a few steps closer to the
large man. Without any warning the man swung his arm, and swatted the security guard
several feet away, and into a column. People inside the airport suddenly started fleeing
from the scene as the guards rushed in towards the man. Still with ease, the man rid him
self of the guards as if they were nothing more than houseflies.
“Oh my! I donna believe he’s a normal human!” cried Rahne. Suddenly, the man ripped
the trench coat off as more guards came towards the standing behemoth. And as the
threads of his coat fell to the floor, the jaws of Kurt and Kitty did the same.
“Oh no! Not him! Not now!” cried Kitty.
“Wassa wrong?!” cried Rahne after hearing the panic in Kitty’s
voice.
“You’re right, Rahne. He’s not normal,” said Kurt. After swallowing
deeply, and recognizing the carnage that lay before him, Kurt finally answered. “He’s the
Juggernaut!”