"What am I going to do? What am I going to do? I can't just leave them here alone!" Scott paced furiously, hair falling off his head at an amazing rate. Iceman watched in fascination as what was left of it started to turn gray.

Jubilee smiled and batted her eyelashes. "Sure you can, Scott. We'll be good."

Cyclops didn't even pause. Finally, he came to a screeching halt, one finger in the air. Bobby reached up and turned the light bulb off. Jubilee snickered. "I'll call the Fantastic Four! They can take care of Generation X for me. Reed Richards owes the professor anyway.*"

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Not thirty minutes later the Fantastic Four showed up, their jet landing softly. The X-MEN were already geared up and waiting, Gambit grumbling about the fact that they had to wait for a baby-sitter before going to save the world.

"Good, you're here. Here's a list of things they are and aren't allowed to do, don't let Leech have chocolate after six and keep Jubilee away from household cleaning supplies." With that he threw a list at the Thing and ran into the Blackbird (which was now red with bright yellow polka-dots thanks to an unnamed individual), fired up the engine and took off.

Johnny laughed. "Wow, he's in some hurry!"

Sue shrugged and took the list, then turned and started to walk into the house.

"Hey mom!" Franklin shouted, running into her open arms.

"Hi there sweetie. Have you been good?"

"Of course." Franklin smiled sweetly and Everett rolled his eyes.

"Where is everyone?" Sue asked, holding her son at arm's length. Franklin grew very quiet.

Reed looked nervous, then spotted Everett. "Where are they?"

Everett shifted his weight from foot to foot, then smiled. "They're trying a new experiment. Out in the . . . er . . . well, what's left of the grotto."

Reed hurried to the control center, looked down at the cluster of children below. "Johnny, go take a look at what they're doing, will you?"

Everett leaped forward, moving to stop the Human Torch, but too late.

"What's up guys?" Jonathan Storm said as he flew close.

"DUCK!" Jubilee yelled, and everyone jumped out of the way as the flames from Johnny lit the alcohol fumes. The bottle flew upward, bouncing across the grass and through a tree before finally stopping when it hit a boulder. A small spark was trying to get bigger in the grass, and Jubilee quickly stomped it out.**

"WERE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?!" Jubilee screamed at the tall blonde.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know you were making bottle rockets?"

Jubilee sighed in a put-upon fashion. "Well, we'd best go inside and finish our schoolwork." She turned and flounced in, everyone following.

Reed Richards met them inside, frowning. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't make rockets without informing one of us first."

Paige smiled shyly, linking her hands in front of her. "Ah'm sorry," she said in a soft southern accent, "An' Ah'm sure ever'one else is too."

They all nodded, Monet thinking that perhaps Paige was better at manipulation then she'd thought.

Reed was satisfied and he turned to leave, letting them alone with their "studies."

They waited until he'd left, then pulled the book titled "playing with pyre" out of the fireplace and started to read.

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"Where're the scissors?" Paige asked Thing as she shuffled through the kitchen drawers.

"Oh, Susie was using 'em ta cut out some coupons. Here ya go."

Paige smiled and ran upstairs.

"Where's the glue gun?" Jubilee shouted.

Johnny looked up from his movie. These kids weren't half as bad as Scott had made them seem. They'd been holed up upstairs all day. "It's in the garage."

A pounding of footsteps said that someone came downstairs, then a minute later they pounded back up.

"Do we have any extra wood?" Everett asked Reed.

"You can use the scrap wood outside, I guess. Why?" When he turned around Everett was gone.

"Is this the wood glue?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Everett grabbed the staple gun and they fled upstairs, only Sue seeing them. She was getting nervous. Jono sauntered by, holding a hand saw and hammer.

"Excuse me, Jonothan, right?"

He nodded.

"What are you doing up there?"

*Weıre building something for our friend Herbert,* he said, then walked by. Artie ran by a minute later holding a box of nails. Sue frowned, then went upstairs after him. Outside the sun was falling and night was almost there, casting an eerie glow on the mansion and broken down grotto.

Sue knocked lightly on the door of a room. "Guys?"

"What?" They all said in unison.

"What are you doing in there?"

"Nothing," again in unison.

Now Sue was really worried. "Guys, let me in." A bolt flew over the door, locking her out. "Open this door right now!"

The lock slid back and Paige looked out at her, smiling hesitantly. "It's a surprise. We didn't want you and the others to see it."

Sue looked at the girl, then finally decided she was telling the truth. "All right. Just be careful with the little ones in there. I don't want them getting hurt."

Paige nodded and shut the door.

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"How many kids are there in this school?" Johnny asked over dinner. None of the younger ones had shown up.

"There's Jubilee, Everett, Skin and Paige, Jono and Monet, the three littleuns and the new kid, Herbert." Reed replied, looking over the roster. "I think we've seen them all except the new kid."

Johnny looked around. I wonder where he is."

"Probably upstairs with the others."

Johnny nodded and went back to eating.

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First thing on the agenda was the candle idea. Now that it was night, it could be done so it looked really cool. Then they'd deal with The Box.

Skin lit the last of the candles, dripped the wax onto the wooden cross piece and secured the candle in the wax. Just little birthday candles, they didn't need big ones.

Paige huddled in Jono's jacket, with she had appropriated from him when she realized it was freezing outside. They watched as the plastic bag filled up with the hot air the candles let off, then started to rise. Attached to the wooden cross piece, it picked that up too and the whole thing started floating, rising slowly.

"Cool." Franklin said quietly.

"Um, did someone tie it down so we could get it?" Skin asked suddenly as the bag rose out of reach.

Jubilee looked at Jono. "I thought you were."

Jono looked at Paige. I thought you were.

Paige looked at Skin. "I thought that was your job."

Skin shook his head slowly, turning to Jubilee. "You were supposed to assign it, chica."

"I did! To Ev! He said he'd tell Jono to do it since he was going to work on The Box with Monet!"

Skin slapped his head into his hands, groaning.

"It's flying away!" Paige said, looking with horror as the wind caught the plastic bag and started pushing it along. From this distance it just looked like a glowing yellow ball.

"Quick, get in the car! We have to get it!" Skin shouted, running for the jeep as he pulled the keys out of his pocket. Jono and Jubilee jumped in the back, Paige and Skin up front. Skin peeled out of the drive, racing down the road after the candle-lit bag. He turned down another street, groaning when it flew right into the middle of a tract housing development. In the black sky the floating object hesitated, then flew down another street as the wind pushed it along.

"THERE! THERE! IT'S LANDING!" Jubilee shouted from the back.

"Oh, no!" Skin screeched to a halt as the "UFO" landed in the top of a pine tree, lighting the thing on fire. "Quick, someone grab the hose!"

Jono turned the water on as Skin picked the long green hose up, aiming at the tree and watering Paige instead. She screeched and moved to hurt him badly, but Jubilee interjected and pointed out that the fire was spreading to the nearby houses.

Jono turned the water up and Skin started working on the rooftops while Paige grabbed a neighborıs hose and soaked the tree, just happening to not realize that Skin was also in the path.

By the time the fire trucks arrived the fire had been put out, and Skin and Jono were in the car, one of them soaking wet. Jubilee and Paige gave a quick interview to one of the news crews that had come to see, then got out of there as fast as they could. This was so bad. Paige was the last in the car, and as she closed the door Angelo pulled away from the curb. *Do they know we set the fire?* Jono asked quietly.

"First off," Skin said, "we didn't set the fire. A cross woods with candles burning on it started the fire and there's no way to link it to us. Now, what do they think about us?" Skin said, looking at Paige.

"They were thanking us for being heroes and putting out the fire." There was dead silence in the car. Then Skin and Jubilee erupted into laughter, Paige and Jono not far behind.

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As they pulled into the driveway and walked inside, the TV could be heard playing, and to Jubilee's horror she heard her own voice. "Omigawd. There playing that bit of info I gave them on the news." Paige grabbed her hand and hauled her upstairs before Sue started calling for them.

"First, we have to go through with the Horrible Herbert Scheme, then we can deal with the press.

They hurried into the bedroom where the littleuns, Everett and Monet sat, riveted to the TV. Everett turned to look at them. "That was one of the stupidest things you've ever done." He sighed, turning the TV off. "Come on, we need to finish the Plan."

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Jubilee drew the short stick. Which meant she had to face the Horrible Booger Monster, otherwise known as Herbert.

"Hey, Herb," she said and ducked behind her camouflage helmet.

"HHHIIIIII JUBES!"

She didn't know if there was anything more horrific then his voice. Well, maybe his mutant power.

"Herb, since we're such good . . ." she swallowed hard, "Friends, I was wondering if you would like to see my new box."

He stood up, lumbering toward her. "OKAY! AND THEN WE CAN LOOK AT MY BOOGER COLLECTION!"

Jubilee shuddered. "Yeah, sure." Even to her own ears her voice sounded weak, but Herbert didn't notice.

"LET'S GO!"

Jubilee led the way down the hall, looking back over her shoulder every few minutes to make sure he wasn't doing something gross. He usually was. "Hurry, Herbert!" She needed to get out of the hall. Johnny, Reed, Ben and Sue were looking all over for her and Paige, wanting to know why they had been out prowling the city. They'd had to change headquarters several times now.

"WHERE ARE WE GOING?"

"Uh, we're almost there." Jubilee flinched as he picked his nose. How gross. Opening the door to an office (there were many of them) she ushered him in. In the middle of the room stood a large wooden box, the one that they had put together that afternoon. "We need you to check for . . . uh. . . bugs inside that box!"

Herbert rolled forward, excited. "OH GOODY! THANKS, JUBILEE, YOU'RE A REAL PAL!" He slapped her back, leaving a green ooze behind. Jubilee shuddered. Herbert crawled into the box and Everett leaped over, slamming the lid down. "HEY!"

"Quick! Lock it!"

Monet brought over the giant padlock, slapping it onto the cage.

"Now let's get him out of here!"

Using the combined strength of both M and Everett, who synched with her powers, they hefted The Box and started down the stairs, Herbert inside. As they got to the landing the Thing stepped into view, blocking their path.

"Hey now, what are you kids doin'?"

Everett and Jubilee exchanged looks. "Uh, taking out the garbage?"

"LET ME OUT! THIS ISN'T VERY FUNNY, GUYS!" Herbert shouted. A horrible gut-wrenching noise emanated from the box, and Jubilee knew he was using his acid snot to eat away at the wood.

The Thing stood, fists on his hips and feet planted. "Let him out."

"It's a monster! You don't understand! Please, let us send him to Alberqurequie!" Jubilee begged, throwing herself at the Thing's feet.

Ben Grimm sighed and moved forward, taking the box from the two teens. With one hand he smashed the box, tearing the front off just as Herbert blew his snot at the door again. Covered in green slime, the Thing could only stand there and look down at his rock-like body in disgust.

"OOPS. SORRY!" Herbert exclaimed. Stepping out of the cage he hugged the Thing, covering what little bit of his body was clean in ooze. "YOU'RE A REAL PAL!" With that Herbert walked back upstairs, wagging his finger at Jubilee on the way. "YOU NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY GIRL!"

Jubilee cowered in fear. "I'll get you for this," she hissed at Ben, "I'll get you for this if it's the last thing I do!"

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Benjamin J. Grimm had never known fear. But he was starting to understand it. He feared the most horrible thing of all. TEENAGERS.

He could still hear Sue's voice as she talked with Jubilee and Paige, trying to figure out what they'd been doing out past curfew, and on the news at that!

Jubilee wriggled in her seat, glad that none of the FF were telepaths. It gave her a definite advantage. "We thought we saw a UFO, and went out chasing it."

Paige nodded vigorously. "Yeah, we thought maybe it was one of the Shi'ar."

Jubilee joined her in the nodding. "But when we turned the corner, the tree was on fire."

"So we had to stop and put it out."

Sue looked at them, thinking that someday her own sweet boy would be this age. "Okay, get outta here. If I find you out again after curfew though, you're dead."

Jubilee ran out of the room, Paige lingering just behind. "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

Sue smiled. "No. Now get."

Paige grinned and ran off.

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A scream came from the dining room, and the whole house erupted into elephants stampeding for various reasons. Gen X just wanted to see the action. The Fantastic Four wanted to help. Reed got there first, just in time to see Sue with her hand to her heart, face flushed. "It's okay," she said breathlessly, "I was just startled." She looked up at Reed, disgust on her face. "This house is infested with cockroaches."

"Oh," Jubilee said, shrugging and turning away with the others, "That's just Artie's pet."

Sue stopped dead and looked at her. ³Pardon?²

³Artieıs pet. You know, the cockroach? Heıs been running around loose for some days now.² She grinned wickedly at the Thing. ³Probably has had some eggs hatched by now.²

Sue fainted.

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Angelo looked at the water bottle with a bit of alcohol in it--just enough to make it go. ³You think it would go faster if we put more in there?²

Jubilee eyed it. "Letıs try."

Angelo tipped the bottle up and poured the rest of the rubbing alcohol in, then put it on the floor.

"Stand back," Jubilee said, throwing sparks at the thing. It took off in a roar of fire, flames shooting out the back as it raced down the hall, a streak of bright, glowing yellow sticking on the carpet and spreading quickly.

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"Oh. No."

Angelo nodded in agreement as it stopped at the wall, still burning.

"Quick, stomp it out!" Jubilee called as the smoke alarm went off.

Angelo opened a window, trying to get the thick, choking stuff out.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Reed Richards said as he stretched up to the upper window, after having pulled half of the team out the door.

"Nothing! Nothing at all! Itıs not a fire! And we didnıt set it!" Jubilee shouted, her voice high and squeaky.

"Johnny did it!" Ange supplied.

"Yeah! Thatıs it!

The Human Torch hovered in the window, eyebrows cocked. "Really? And here I thought I was playing pool."

"Come on, you three, we need to put this fire out," Reed said, stepping into the window and starting to cough. "What happened to the sprinklers?"

Jubilee and Skin traded looks.

"We wouldnıt know," they stated in unison.

Reed wanted to give them the 5th degree, but there was no time. The fire had to be put out.

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An hour later the fire was finally out, and Jubilee and Skin were trying to get the burn marks off the rug and walls. It wasnıt working.

Jubilee sat up on her haunches, looking at the damage. "You know, I think Iıll go on strike."

Skin rolled his eyes. "You canıt go on strike if youıre not getting paid."

Jubilee chewed her lip, then got up and went to the window. "I hate this. Itıs not like we did it on purpose! Theyıre acting totally unfair. First Herbert, now this. I say we get even."

Angelo looked up at that, eyes glowing. "How?"

Jubilee grinned.

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"AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"

"Sue!" Reed called, hearing her scream. "Whatıs wrong?!"

She stood at the end of the bed, covers pulled back to reveal worms, spiders, bugs of all shapes and sizes. "Itıs . . . itıs . . ." She shuddered, then ran out of the room.

"Eeew," Reed said, looking at it.

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"Everyone in bed?" Thing called, answered by a chorus of "yes"es.

"Good! Now I can have some food," he said quietly. Walking to the frigde he opened it up and saw . . . all the food had been taken away. "NNNOOOO!" He screamed, running to the cupboards. He slammed them open, seeing that even those were empty. And the little food that was left had A) been burned or B) had bugs in it. "REED!"

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Johnny sat downstairs, watching TV. Then it happened. The bear lumbered through the open sliding glass door, sniffing something shiny on the floor, that no doubt was placed in a direct line to the couch for a reason. He started to get up and move away, but the grizzly saw him and reared up on itıs back legs.

"Ohhhh shit," Johnny said quietly, not moving.

The bear roared, and Johnny screamed. Loudly. "HELP! HELPHELPHELPHELPHELPHELPHELPHELP!!!!!!!"

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Jubilee snickered. Ange laughed. Herbert snorted. They both stopped at looked at the *thing* they hadnıt been aware was in the room with them.

"HHHHIIIIIII, FRIENDS!" he said in his patented Geeky, Nasally, Gross Voice.

"Hi, Herbert," they said quietly.

"I FORGIVE YOU FOR LOCKING ME IN THAT CRATE! IT WAS JUST A JOKE! I KNOW THAT, NOW!"

They nodded slowly, in unison. "Riiiiiiiight. Um, we have to go. Be right back, you stay here and watch the fort."

"SUUUUUUURE!!!!"

They ran out of the room and down the hall, into Emmaıs empty room. Once there, they shut and locked the doors. There was still one trap waiting to be sprung.

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"All right, you three. Just calm down. Iım sure there's a rational explanation for all this. Obviously we were set up. Now, all we have to do is--"

"Leave," Sue said, interrupting. "All we have to do is leave. Weıll call someone else to baby-sit these guys. Someone whoıs getting paid."

"No, Sue, we canıt just leave," Reed reasoned.

"I think itıs a great idea," Johnny put in.

"Me too," Ben added, looking sadly at the cupboards that were still empty. "No! We canıt just fold because some kids--"

{Reed Richards,} the computer said loudly, {There is a fire in the main building. Your experiment will be compromised in five . . . four . . . }

Mr. Fantastic flew out of his chair, shouting helplessly as he raced down the hall, trying to get to the lab.

{One. . . }

"NNNOOO!" He rushed in, grabbing his baby and pulling it out even as the room exploded.

He walked slowly back to the kitchen where the others sat. "That's it. Let's get out of here. Anyone know of any baby-sitters?"

Johnny smiled.

Six days left...

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Write me! Gimme some feedback! I crave it! I live off it! I only *tell* my parents that my computer is my life support system. Really itıs feedback. J.B.McD.

Talk to Nony too! (He's written half of this!) djl4@pacbell.net

* I have no clue as to whether or not this is true. It was just a handy statement.

** You see? The kids can do good things sometimes. (We're not mentioning that they started the spark.)

*** Ask me about this. :::evil grin:::

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