The disclaimer telling all of you that I don't own any X-Men Evolution characters is beating up a soda vending machine. Just an odd little what if that came into my mad mind!
For Want of A Soda
Sometimes it's the simplest events that can cause the greatest changes.
In Universe 345682 it was when Fred Dukes asked Jean Grey if he could buy her a soda.
Jean's first reaction was to tell Fred that she was too busy. That she had a lot of responsibilities she had to deal with.
But isn't one of those responsibilities also to be there for mutants who need us? A nagging thought entered her mind. I mean the Professor did say to keep trying to make contact with Fred even though Mystique got to him first.
And it's only a soda. What harm could getting one soda do?
"Okay," Jean decided. "But only one soda. I have a lot of homework to do and…"
"Oh, okay…" Fred brightened, hardly believing she said yes. "I mean I get that you're smart and stuff. But just one soda. Real quick! I promise!"
"One soda," Jean nodded. "You know there's a pizza place just down the street. Might as well get it there."
"Okay," Fred nodded happily.
Jean thought to herself. It's not as if I'm behind on my homework or anything. And we don't have Danger Room practice. What's the worst that can happen?
That question answered itself as soon as Jean entered the pizza place. And saw her current boyfriend Duncan Matthews sitting at a table with a cute blond cheerleader and kissing her.
"What the…?" Jean was stunned. "What's Duncan doing with Mindy Green?"
"He's kissing her," Fred said matter of factly.
"He's supposed to be my boyfriend!" Jean snarled, feeling very angry.
"He's your boyfriend?" Fred asked. He did a double take. "Why that…HEY JERK FACE!"
"What?" Duncan turned around and found himself with a pizza on his face. "HEY!"
"Darn it, wasn't hot enough to scald him," Fred grunted. He had grabbed a half eaten pizza from a nearby table and threw it at Duncan's face.
"Why you big ape…" Duncan snarled as he wiped the pizza from his face.
"Duncan what is going on here?" Jean snapped. "I thought you were my boyfriend but I found you kissing another girl!"
"We do more than kiss Jeanie dear," Mindy said sweetly. "Since you're colder than an ice cube!"
"Mindy!" Duncan barked. "Jean, listen to me. It's not what it looks like."
"Please Duncan! How stupid do you think I am?" Jean shouted.
That's when her telepathic shields slipped and she heard Duncan's thoughts. Damn it! Of all the days for her to catch me! Just think of some excuse! She'll believe it! She always does!
"And don't even think about just making up some excuse for me to believe!" Jean shouted hotly.
"Okay fine! You want the truth? A guy has needs and since you aren't exactly helping me with 'em…" Duncan said. "So in a way this is kind of your fault."
"MY FAULT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Jean was really getting angry. "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?"
"Something's wrong with you pal!" Fred was getting angry. "If I had a girl like Jean I wouldn't even think of looking at another girl!"
"Well maybe if Jean put out a little more…" Duncan said. Then he realized he had said the worst thing he could have possibly said.
That was when Jean slugged him. Hard. "You lug head!" She shouted. "We are so through!"
"He's better off without you, you stuck up bitch!" Mindy shouted. "Go back to your freaky friends at that freak school! Duncan needs a real woman!"
"Yeah well those pom poms in your sweater aren't real!" Jean shouted letting her temper get the best of her.
"I'll show you real you…" Mindy leapt up to hit Jean.
Jean reacted instinctively, telekinetically shoving her away onto a table filled with food. "AAAAAAH!"
"What the…?" Duncan turned.
"Duncan Matthews I have had it!" Jean's temper overcame her self control. Before anyone knew it random objects began flying around. Chairs, plates, knives and forks blew all over the place. Kids started to scream and run for their lives out of the pizza parlor.
"AAAAHH! WHAT'S GOING ON? AHHH!" Duncan ran for his life away from flying forks and knives. "OW! MY BUTT!"
"Man and I thought I wrecked stuff when I got mad!" Fred tried to shield himself from the debris. "Jean, come on! Calm down! You're getting ketchup everywhere!" He grabbed Jean in order to try and calm her down. "Come on Jean! Knock it off!"
Then he was hit from behind with an optic blast. "HEY!"
"HANDS OFF HER!" Scott snapped as he tried to blast Fred again, only to get accidentally clobbered by a flying chair. "OW!"
"Jean things are really getting messy! Jean!" Fred gasped. Jean seemed to run out of steam and collapsed in his arms. "Jean? Jean?"
"Hands off the girl bub!" Logan ran in with claws out.
"MAKE ME!" Fred growled.
That is enough! An astral projection of Charles Xavier's head appeared.
"What is this? The Wizard of Oz?" Fred scoffed.
Wolverine, Cyclops! Blob is not the enemy here! Xavier told them. It appears Jean lost control of her powers due to an emotional upheaval. I will be there in a few minutes.
"You saying Jeanie did this?" Logan looked around. "What happened?"
"She found out her boyfriend was two timing her with some skanky cheerleader with fake pom poms," Fred grunted.
"Yeah that would do it," Logan sighed. Jean started to wake up. "She's waking up."
"Ohh…What did I do?" Jean woke up.
"What didn't you do?" Fred smiled. "Man you have an even worse temper than I do! And that's saying something!"
"Jean are you okay?" Scott asked.
"I…I think so…" Jean groaned. "I can't believe I lost control like that! I…I just got so angry…"
"Well whaddya know?" Rogue walked in. "Miss Perfect has a temper."
"What are you doing here?" Jean gave her a look.
"I was doing a project I got roped into with Scott here when he saw you going off with Wide Load here into the pizza shop so he had to follow to make sure you were okay," Rogue gave her a look. Then looked around at the destruction. "Yeah, you're fine!"
"Oh no…" Jean was panicked, realizing she had just blown her secret.
"Don't worry Jean," Logan said. "There weren't that many kids. Charles will do his thing and make them think this place was hit by a freak tornado or somethin'."
"Boy Jean I knew when you found out about what a creep Duncan was you'd flip but still…" Scott looked at a chair in the wall.
"Wait, you knew Duncan was cheating on me and you didn't say anything?" Jean shouted.
"Well I uh…" Scott began.
"I wanted to tell but that would have ruined the betting pool going around," Rogue folded her arms.
"WHAT?" Jean shouted.
"I had no part of that!" Scott said quickly. "That was Kurt's stupid…I think I'd better keep my mouth shut!"
"Yeah I think you'd better," Fred snickered.
"Listen you…" Scott growled. "You'd better keep your fat hands off of Jean if you know what's good for you!"
"Scott he was just helping me!" Jean shouted. "Which is more than what you did!"
"But…But…" Scott sputtered. "I thought he was trying to kidnap you!"
"What gave you that idea?" Jean shouted. "That's ridiculous!"
"It could happen…" Scott blinked.
"AAAAHH!" Jean shouted in frustration and telekinetically hit Scott with a pizza.
"Summers do us all a favor and keep your big mouth shut," Rogue rolled her eyes. "Blob I'll meet you back at the Brotherhood House."
"How do you know where I live?" Fred asked.
"Because I live there too!" Rogue snapped. "Mystique will want a full report!"
"Oh right," Fred winced. He turned to Jean. "I'd better go."
"Yeah I'm sorry about all this," Jean apologized.
"It's okay," Fred smiled. "Believe me, I've wrecked a place or two in my time when I got mad! Hey! How about next time I take you out to dinner? You know, to make up for all this. Or I could just make you dinner? I make a real good Chicken Ala Dukes!"
"I'd like that," Jean smiled.
"Yeah, right! Some other time," Scott grabbed Jean and started to pull her away. Then he muttered under his breath. "Like that will ever happen!"
Two weeks later…
"YOU'RE GOING ON ANOTHER DATE WITH THE BLOB?" Scott yelled at the top of his lungs. "THAT'S THE FIFTH TIME IN TWO WEEKS!"
"Sixth if you count that field trip to the museum," Kurt remarked casually as he read a book on the couch in the living room.
"You stay out of this!" Scott snapped. He looked at Jean. "Jean why are you spending all your time with that hood?"
"He is not a hood! He's a very sensitive person!" Jean said.
"How sensitive can you be with invulnerable skin?" Scott snapped.
"You really are being paranoid about this! You're not half as hard on Kitty when she goes to see Lance!" Jean said.
"That's because he doesn't want to date Kitty," Kurt snickered.
"You want some extra Danger Room practice pal?" Scott snapped.
"Look Scott, Fred is easy to talk to…" Jean sighed.
"Because you don't have to use words with more than two syllables," Scott added.
"Scott!" Jean snapped. "Ever since that day…Well, it's nice to have someone to talk to. Someone who you don't have to pretend to be perfect for! Someone who likes to listen to my problems and understands what it's like to lose control. Someone I don't have to worry about impressing! Someone I can relax with and have a snack!"
"By the looks of him you could have a twelve course meal with him!" Scott snapped. "Actually now that I think about you have been putting on a few pounds lately…"
WHAM!
"And people say I don't know when to keep my mouth shut," Kurt snickered as he looked at an unconscious Scott on the floor. Jean stormed out of the room. "Hey! This is a great time to draw on his face with a marker!"
Three weeks later…
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Mystique yelled.
"I said I'm blowing this dump and taking Toad with me," Fred growled at her. "And you can't stop me!"
"What makes you think I'm just gonna let you…" Mystique snapped when suddenly Fred picked her up and hung her on a hook on the wall. "PUT ME DOWN!"
"Why don't you just shape shift your way out of that?" Fred snickered.
"You fool! I know why you're really doing this!" Mystique struggled but couldn't get down. "You're hooked on that stuck up Jean Grey!"
"Look who's calling who stuck up?" Todd cackled.
"You're a fool, Blob! A girl like her would never in a million years have anything to do with a fat freak like you!" Mystique snapped.
"Well I guess there's only one way to prove you wrong is there?" Fred sneered. "You guys coming too?"
"Yeah why not?" Pietro grunted. "This place sucks anyway!"
"What about your old man?" Todd asked. "Ain't he gonna care what you do?"
"My father the great Magneto could care less what I do! I'm just tired of living in this dump!" Pietro shrugged. Secretly he thought maybe he could get some information on the X-Men if he just up and left.
"So how about it Lance?" Fred asked. "Wanna come with us?"
"I dunno," Lance scratched his head as he looked at Mystique. "Mystique did kind of help me out of a jam."
"If you move into the X-Mansion you get to see Kitty every day," Todd said.
"Let's roll!" Lance shouted. "Bye, bye boss lady!"
"First Rogue leaves me, now you?" Mystique howled. "I'LL GET YOU ALL FOR THIS IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO! ESPECIALLY YOU JEAN GREY!"
Three weeks after that…
"That was a great Danger Room practice Fred!" Jean kissed his cheek. "I swear the team is really coming together because of you!"
"Because of him?" Scott grunted in a corner. "I'm the one who does all the work! All he does is stand there and let stuff hit him! And Jean's falling for him because of that?"
"You wanna go see a movie later?" Fred asked Jean.
"Can't wait! See you later baby!" Jean grinned.
"Baby? Baby? She should be calling me that?" Scott snarled. "Ever since the Blob and the Loserhood moved in my life has been miserable!"
"You mean even more miserable," Pietro zoomed up to him. "But cheer up Summers! I know how you can get back at them."
"Knock it off Quicksilver…" Scott snarled.
"I'm just saying your talents are wasted here," Pietro remarked. "And you're underappreciated. I know how you feel…"
"I don't want to hear it Quicksilver!" Scott snapped.
"Attention X-Men," Xavier spoke on the intercom. "Due to our large numbers I've decided to change the roster of the main team. Our main team is now Blob, Shadowcat, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Avalanche, Toad, and you will be lead by Phoenix."
"That was a great idea for a code name," Jean grinned at Fred. "Thanks honey!"
"WAIT A MINUTE!" Scott shouted. "Jean's leader? What about me?"
"You're leading the secondary team as well as training the New Mutants that are arriving," Xavier said. "We need your experience."
"What about me?" Evan yelled.
"Evan considering your grades and your lack of progress I think it might be best if you stayed back a while," Xavier said.
Scott fumed. "Still not interested Summers?" Pietro purred as they were left behind by the gang. "Even Avalanche and Toad are promoted over you!"
"Whatever you're planning Pietro I want in!" Evan snapped. "I've had it with this dump!"
"Come on Summers," Pietro grinned. "Why not take a walk on the dark side? Xavier doesn't appreciate you. Jean sure as heck doesn't appreciate you…And nobody else here respects you."
"Listen Quicksilver people do respect me!" Scott snapped.
SPLAT!
Scott was soaked by a water balloon. "Good throw Nightcreeper!" Todd cackled.
"Yeah there's a lot of respect there," Pietro grinned.
"When you put it that way…" Scott growled.
A week later…
"All right! I'm not surprised that Pietro turned traitor!" Lance shouted as the battle raged. "And Spyke well that's kind of a no brainer. But you Summers?"
"I've had it with all of you!" Scott shouted. "I put my heart and soul into this team and what thanks did I get? I was stepped over!"
"You mean I chose Fred over you!" Jean raged. "Get this through your thick head, Cyclops! I WILL NEVER DATE YOU!" She threw him against the wall with her telekinesis.
"That's my girl!" Fred grinned.
Shortly after the battle…
"I know you have gone through a lot Cyclops," Magneto said. "Even though we lost the battle to get Cerebro you have still proven yourself to be worthy to lead my new improved Brotherhood!"
"So who else is on this team?" Evan folded his arms.
"I thought a little family reunion is in order," Magneto smiled. "Cyclops, I want you to meet your long lost brother, Havok."
"Alex?" Scott gasped as his brother walked into the room. "You're alive?"
"Yeah! Scott! Can't believe this!" Alex laughed and hugged his brother.
"Welcome to the Brotherhood," Magneto smiled with his team: Cyclops, Havok, Quicksilver, Spyke, Sabertooth and Mystique.
Six months later…
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE PREGNANT?" Logan shouted at Jean. "AND BLOB'S THE FATHER?"
"It's okay Logan, we're getting married!" Jean twittered.
"I need a drink…" Logan groaned.
And that is how the romance of Jean Grey and Fred Dukes changed the X-Men world.