Craig grumbled under his breath and stalked up and down the aisle of the tour bus.

"Craig, baby, cop a squat we're almost there."

He sent a look over at Frank, uh, he couldn't remember the guy's real name. He couldn't remember any of the names of the eight guys that sat on the small bus. He'd run into them at the Mall of America while trying to find someone to help him contact the school and get him home. They had been finishing up a show to promote the opening of a new store, classic memorabilia, or something. He didn't know and he didn't care. All that mattered to him was getting home. These guys were heading in the direction he needed to go and offered him a ride. But after this long on a tour bus with eight Frank Sinatra impersonators—who insisted on staying in character—he was going a little insane.

"I just want to get home. My friends need me."

Frank sighed. "Understood, we're almost there."

Craig nodded and stared out the window. He was intensely glad when the school finally came into view and he could exit the bus.

***

"I know where Ziva is!" Stevie came running into the room tripped over the edge of the area rug and fell flat on his face. He groaned and rolled over onto his back. "Oh no, my iPad!" Quickly he checked it, made a relieved sound, and held it up for everyone to see. "Dude it's fine!"

A'Cadia rolled her eyes. "Where's Ziva?"

He pulled himself off the floor and hugged his iPad. "Umm, it's a PEZ factory downtown."

"A PEZ factory? What on Earth is Lenny doing at a PEZ factory?" Skylar asked with a little giggle.

"Actually, it's an abandoned PEZ factory, I mean if you wanna get technical." Stevie shrugged.

"It's still a PEZ factory!" A'Cadia said with a snort.

Craig shook his head. "How do you know he's there?"

"Oh, I put a tracking device on Ziva before the battle started. To tell the truth, I put one on everyone. I'm sneaky that way."

Mellissa started spinning in a circle like a dog chasing its tail. "Where, where, where?"

"Idiot, I put it on your shoulder! It's not on your butt! Eww, why would I put it there?" Stevie made a face at her.

"I thought it was on my back!" She patted at her shoulder until she found it and handed it back to Stevie. "There ya go."

"Thanks." He shoved it up his nose.

"Oh gross!" Skylar shuddered.

"Let's just go find Ziva before Lenny does something to her!"

Craig became suddenly pale. "What do you think he'll do to her?"

A'Cadia shrugged. "Don't know. Brainwash her into joining his side."

Mellissa headed for the door. "A'ight. Let's do this X-Men style!"

"X-Men style?" Skylar arched an eyebrow at her.

Mellissa stopped in the doorway and sent her an exasperated look. "Duh! Yes! We can get you down to the "restricted" level and then we can take the jet to go get her!"

Angela spoke up from across the room where she was practicing her ballet. "Oh yeah, and I have outfits for everyone too!"

"Outfits? What kind of outfits?" Craig asked her.

"Dur what kind do you think? Ones just like the X-Men wear!"

"Wait, how on Earth would you get those?" Craig stared across the room at her.

"I ordered them from the lady I order my tutus from."

"How did you know our sizes?" Skylar asked in confusion.

"Oh, that was easy! I slipped into your rooms when you were asleep and took your measurements!" Angela said brightly.

A'Cadia glared at her. "I catch you in my room again, short stuff, and I'll make coleslaw out of you, is that understood?"

Angela's eyes became wide and she slowly nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I assure you that you'll love your outfit though!"

"Okay, whoo hoo, glad we've established some ground rules. Can we go now?" Mellissa asked.

Craig sighed heavily and started for the door. "Yeah fine let's do this before Storm or Logan decides to come and check on us."

Mellissa rubbed her hands together and led them down the hallway and over to a dead end. She looked around in a secretive manner and then slapped at the wall. A panel opened and she stepped inside.

Craig gaped. "This secret passage isn't on the orientation tour."

"Wait, I didn't get a tour!" Skylar said.

"Neither did I," A'Cadia added.

Craig shrugged. "That's Storm's department, not mine."

Angela skipped past him with a smile. "There's a bunch of them that aren't on the tour! We know all of them."

"Oh well that explains how you guys disappear so quickly all the time," Skylar said.

Stevie hummed as he waited for everyone to enter and then he closed the panel behind them, he lit up his iPad and held it up, so they could see better since this wasn't a regularly used passage it wasn't lit.

When they came to the end, Mellissa tapped the hidden spot that opened the panel. "Everyone through here, this is it!"

They stepped out in a sleek corridor that was nothing like the one upstairs. "Ohhhh! This is cool!" Skylar said in a hushed voice.

"Okay everyone here's your outfits," Angela called out.

A'Cadia strolled over to where Angela stood in front of a tall metal cabinet. "Hand, it over, short stuff."

"There ya go!" Angela held out the black suit with yellow piping on it.

Craig moved to stand next to A'Cadia and Angela handed him a black suit with blue piping on it. "You hid these down here and no one found them?"

Angela shrugged. "Storage cabinet no one really uses."

She pulled out Mellissa's suit, black with red piping. Stevie, black with green piping. Skylar's was black with orange piping. And Angela's was black with pink piping.

"I'll give Ziva hers when we get her back! Hers is black and purple!" Angela said cheerfully.

Mellissa had already walked off down the hallway and was waiting impatiently in front of a large doorway. "Let's go people! Time is a wasting! Stevie, get over here and hook that iPad up and open this door!"

Stevie plugged the iPad in and it unlocked the door. "I am so awesome."

"Why didn't you just have Skylar possess it?" A'Cadia asked.

"It wouldn't have been as much fun!" Stevie told her. "There is also a small possibility that would have set off an alarm."

They passed through the door, stood in awe of the large jet for a moment before they rushed forward, and clambered aboard.

"Yes, I am so driving!" Mellissa dropped into the seat for the pilot.

Skylar let Craig lift Mellissa out of the pilot's chair. "I don't think so."

A'Cadia dropped into the copilot's chair with a smirk as Craig helped the kids get strapped in. "This should be interesting. You know how to fly this thing?"

Skylar chewed her bottom lip as she stared at all the controls in front of her. "Um, not really, but it can't be that hard. Give me a moment." She vanished for a few brief moments before reappearing.

"I think I've got it."

The engine whined to life and they took off. The jet shuddered and they moved away from the school. "Yes! We are soooo awesome!" Angela gave a hysterical sounding little giggle from the back.

Throughout the ride, the curtain climbers took it upon themselves to make random and annoying comments from their spots in the back.

"Are we there yet?" Stevie yelled.

"I have to peeeeee!" Mellissa added.

"If you don't shut up, I'll turn you into confetti, am I clear?" A'Cadia snarled at them.

"I should have worn my other camo tutu, this one so doesn't go with the shade of pink on my suit!" Angela complained.

"I swear to whatever Gods are listening, I will duct tape all of your mouths shut if you don't be quiet and let me fly!" Skylar snapped loudly.

Craig had the distinct feeling he was back in the family car on a summer vacation and he was certain he had an idiotic grin on his face the entire time.

They landed near the PEZ factory and A'Cadia decided to have a little talk with the kids before they headed inside the factory.

"Listen up you three, you stay in the back, and you listen to what we tell you at all times. Stevie if you turn that stupid iPad on I'll turn it into spare parts. Is that clear?" A'Cadia told them.

The three nodded, but she wasn't sure if they would obey or not.

"Hey, claws, let's move!" Skylar called out.

A'Cadia grumbled and hurried after the group. They were already near the building.

Getting into the building wasn't an issue; Stevie seemed to have an app for everything on his iPad. The kid excelled at writing apps no one else in their right mind would ever use. They moved in silence down the dark hallways. The group kept together, moving slowly, and quietly.

As they rounded a corner, they came face-to-face with a large mutant that was the last thing they expected.

Angela gave a happy gasp and clapped her hands together. "Horsey!"

The thing gave an ugly twisted smile and a tiny growl. "I am not a horsey, you ignorant little elf!"

Angela tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Why does the horsey talk?"

A'Cadia rolled her eyes. "He's a centaur."

"Centaur! Oh, are you a Party Pony? Do you know Chiron?" Angela asked brightly.

The centaur snorted in disgust. "I hate those damn books. None of you shall pass. I'm security here."

"None shall pass," Stevie intoned with a follow-up chuckle.

A'Cadia sighed. "Too bad, I'd have preferred if you were one of Angela's Party Ponies." She sent Craig a look.

"Yeah, right I've got it." He moved forward to stand in front of the horseman. "Hey, how ya doin'. Sorry about this man." He reached out, put his hand against the centaur's chest, and put him to sleep.

Skylar poked the centaur with a toe. "You think he'll stay that way for long?"

Craig shook his head. "No way to tell. Hey, Stevie, you wanna tie him up?"

"Got it. One snot rope coming up!" He stuffed a finger up his nose and came out with a stringy booger that he used to tie the centaur up.

They left the security horse in the hall and headed for the center of the building where the main part of the warehouse was located and they assumed Ziva would be. They encountered no more security guards along the way. Lenny must have assumed his big horseman was enough to deter anyone who entered the building. Through a doorway, they found a production area and Ziva. She was being held in a makeshift cell. A'Caida slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from dissolving into fits of giggles when she saw Ziva.

"You have got to be kidding me?" Craig moved forward and stopped several feet from the cell.

Ziva stood and stared over the top of the wall at him. "Oh no, I can assure you it's very real."

Skylar moved to stand next to Craig. "It's a bunch of cardboard boxes! He made a little house out of cardboard boxes! Ziva why don't you just walk out of there?"

A slightly crazed laugh rang out and they looked around to see Lenny moving out of the shadows toward them. "Because Ziva isn't stupid enough to do that. You see those boxes are filled with PEZ!"

Angela scratched at her head. "Um, isn't PEZ candy?"

"Yes, yes, it is! But this isn't any ordinary PEZ it's coated with Compound 13!" He cackled evilly.

Mellissa leaned over close to Craig. "I thought that stuff didn't exist anymore?"

Craig wasn't surprised that the little brats knew about the Compound 13, they always seemed to know what was going on at the school at any given time. "It's not supposed to!" He glared at Lenny. "Where did you get the Compound 13, Lenny?"

Another cackle. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Mellissa wandered over to and around the little cardboard cell. Circling it a couple of times. "Guys, the door is an open space marked with a piece of duct tape, you can just walk right in."

"The duct tape is coated with Compound 13 and Tiffany is using her force field to hold the cell together," Ziva said with a good deal of sarcasm.

"No way, see!" Mellissa skipped into the cell.

Ziva slapped a hand over her eyes. "You are an idiot!"

Tiffany laughed from her spot across the room where she sat atop a pile of PEZ boxes. "She's right you are!"

Mellissa went and poked at the spot where the door was. It was now blocked by Tiffany's force field. "Guys, I'm kinda trapped now!"

A'Cadia groaned. "Mellissa, why can't you listen?"

"I don't know. I'm curious. Like a cat." She shrugged.

Lenny slashed a hand through the air. "Enough! I am in control here and you will listen to me!"

"Do we really have to? I'm not interested in listening to you." Angela did a small twirl that ended with a shrug.

"Yes, you do!" He stamped his foot, which caused his crown to slip down over his eyes.

A'Cadia snorted, he needed to adjust the crown it was too big for his tiny head.

Mellissa stared at Lenny. "You're a doofus. We don't have to listen to you. And I don't like you. And if you try anything I'm gonna come atcha like a Spider Monkey, Lenny, like a Spider Monkey! And I'm gonna kick your *Beeeep*." Mellissa turned a glare on Stevie. "Oh, wow really, Stevie, what the heck? You had to censor me?"

"Hey, come on you know you can't swear, Storm would kill you and then make you put a dollar in the swear jar! That app is specifically designed to prevent you from ticking Storm off."

Mellissa looked around frantically. "Wait is she here? She's not here is she? Lenny is Storm here?"

"Why on Earth would Storm be here?" He glared at Mellissa.

"See, Stevie, she isn't even here!"

He didn't say anything simply shrugged at her, so she stuck her tongue out at him.

Ziva groaned and sat down in the center of her little cardboard prison. "Is anyone going to get me out of here?"

Lenny reached up and straightened his crown out so that it sat perfectly straight on his head. "Right, so now we can get this all settled. I'm in control. Ziva isn't leaving, she belongs to me and she will be joining my army. A'Cadia will come back and work for me again; the rest of you can either join me or die. Your choice."

"Not much of a choice you're giving us there." Angela wrinkled her little button nose at him.

Craig eyed the PEZ infected cardboard silently.

A'Cadia moved beside him and whispered to him, "What are you thinking, American Pie?"

He scowled at her over the nickname. "If he's using straight-up Compound 13, the original formula, then we have an issue. The stuff's dangerous as hell. It could kill anyone it touches. The original formula was never perfected. If he has somehow managed to perfect it then touching it would only temporarily suppress our powers and we'd be fine in a couple of hours or so, depending on how much we get in our system. If he's somehow managed to modify it because he's a jerk." He shrugged. "Then I have no idea what we're in for."

A'Cadia stared at the boxes surrounding Ziva and Mellissa. "But the problem being is that we have no idea what he's put into those boxes."

"Exactly."

"I heal quickly, it may not affect me at all," she reasoned.

"That's crap and you know it."

She shrugged. "What choice do we have? You and plasma girl cover me."

Angela beamed a smile up at A'Cadia. "You betcha."

Craig stepped toward Lenny, Angela beside him. "Lenny, do me a favor, will you?"

Lenny stopped his dissertation on why they should all bow to him and stared at Craig with distaste. "A favor? For you?"

"Yes, shut up and die." He lifted Angela into the air and she let loose with several plasmablasts. Her aim was dismal, which meant it sent everyone, including Lenny, running for cover. Tiffany as well, she lost concentration and dropped her force field. Consequentially, A'Cadia never quite made it over to the cardboard prison before Tiffany dropped the force field.

Ziva picked up Mellissa and darted out of the cardboard prison the second she saw Tiffany duck behind the cardboard box stool that she'd been perched on. "I'm out!" Ziva shouted and she ran for the door.

Stevie lifted his iPad from the specially designed holster on his hip and poked at a button, music filled the room as they retreated. War by Sick Puppies played as Angela sent blasts at Lenny and his people from where she sat atop Craig's shoulders as he backed toward the door.

"Oh yeah that's right no one messes with Angela, especially not while I'm wearing the camo tutu. That's my mission tutu, man! I kick butt!" She sent one last blast at Lenny before Craig ducked out the door, spun around, and ran after the others.

"Great job, Angela!"

"I know it was. I'm just awesome that way!"

He burst out through the door and jogged toward the jet. Once inside he dumped Angela into her seat and got her strapped in. Then he went to his seat and quickly struggled into the seatbelt.

A'Cadia darted into the plane with a huge grin and ran to the front to drop into the copilot's seat. "Look what I managed to pilfer." She held up a small cardboard box and gave it a rattle.

"What's that?" Skylar asked as she started up the plane.

"A couple of packs of PEZ."

"All right, let's go!" Craig yelled up to Skylar.

"Roger that, we are out of here!" She sent them skyward and away from Lenny and his crew.

They cheered most of the way back to the school. Glad that they had gotten Ziva back, upset however that Lenny had found the Compound 13.

Craig stared down at his hands. "We're going to have to tell Storm about it."

Ziva reached over and squeezed his hand. "It's not your fault, Craig. It's your dad's, he didn't have it destroyed like he was supposed to."

He nodded but still, he couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible, after all, it was his family that invented the stuff.

They landed and parked the jet, took the elevator back up instead of the passage since they were already on the lower level anyway. Stepped out of the elevator and froze when they came face-to-face with Storm and Logan.

"Uh, oh, hey Storm. Uh, Logan. Hi, how are you guys?" Mellissa rushed out.

Storm glowered at the entire group. "Angry. Very, very angry. The jet, you took the jet!"

Ziva stepped forward. "They came to find me and get me back from Lenny."

"I don't care! They risked exposing us all! Ruining everything we've built here!" she screeched. "You have to be more careful!"

"We were very careful. Did you get any reports about the jet? Did anyone see us?" Skylar asked.

Storm deflated. "No. No reports."

"See! I was careful!" Skylar defended herself and her flying skills.

Storm pinched the bridge of her nose. "Rescuing Ziva was a noble thing to do. However, you are not trained in such things, you need to be careful, do you understand? You also brought Mellissa, Angela, and Stevie with you! That was very dangerous!"

"We refused to be left behind. Besides, they couldn't get the jet without us. We were the only ones who knew how to break into the hanger," Mellissa told Storm with a fat grin.

Now Storm was rubbing her temples. "Rooms. Now. All of you. I'll decide what to do with the lot of you later."

Logan grunted, his arms were crossed over his chest and his brows scrunched tightly together.

"Man, I should learn when to keep my lips sealed shut," Mellissa grouched as she headed for the stairs.

A'Cadia nudged her in the back. "Yes, that you should, short stuff. Now move it." She handed the box to Storm as she and Mellissa passed her.

Logan's lips twitched as he watched A'Cadia prod Mellissa up the stairs. Angela latched onto A'Cadia's hand and started yammering nonsense at her, the older girl rolled her eyes but didn't release the smaller girl's hand. Ziva looked exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes. Craig was towing her up the stairs by a hand. She allowed it. Actually, she didn't seem to be aware of it.

Skylar had Stevie with her, the two were arguing about music. Despite the argument, she was smiling as she mounted the stairs. Stevie waved his iPad about while making his point about whatever song he was talking about now.

Logan shook his head and turned away from the scene.

"I can't believe they did that," Storm muttered.

Logan turned back to look at her. "Would you have done any differently?"

She stared up at the group of kids until they disappeared before she turned to him and answered. "No, probably not. Don't tell them that, it would go to their heads I'm sure."

He nodded. "Yes, it would. They're good kids, Storm, try not to forget that. Insane, annoying, and all-around pains in the ass, but they're good kids. Most of the time." He turned and walked off.

She sent one last glance up at the empty staircase. Logan was right, on all counts. She hoped they didn't get themselves killed.