DISCLAIMER: All characters are Marvel's, except Sparks and P'er-kee, who are mine. The Carebears and the original Batman theme belong to whoever owns them, and I'm fairly sure that isn't me. I am not making any money here, so please don't sue me, please please please! Any comments? I love getting e-mail and try hard to respond to it, although I've been having some trouble with outward-going mail lately…anyway, enjoy.

"Wake up!"

"Jubilee, wake up! JUBILEE!!" splash.

"Aaaaauuuuggggghhhhh!!!!!" shrieked Jubilee, sitting up in bed. "What'dya do that for?"

"It's four o'clock." Paige explained, putting the now empty glass back on her bedside table. "We have an early training session, remember?"

"AT FOUR O'CLOCK? IT'S STILL DARK!! IT'S STILL YESTERDAY!!!"

"Of course not. A training session at four? Don't be silly."

"Oh. Then why-"

"The session doesn't start 'til four-forty five. We have to meet the new girl first."

"Waaaaaaaaahhhhh!"

* * *

"Well, Jubilee, 'tis nice that ye finally decided ta join us." Sean said sternly, as she staggered down the stairs a few minutes later. Everyone else was standing, fully dressed and wide awake, in a small circle in the foyer.

"Don't be too hard on her, Sean." cooed Emma sweetly. "Jubilee just isn't a morning person, are you, dear?" She patted Jubilee's shoulder kindly.

"Uhhh…no?" Jubilee whispered, staring at the friendly smile on Emma's face.

"That's okay, Jubilation." Monet offered. "I think it's wonderful that you express your individuality so openly."

"Y-ya do?" They all had the same fixed, cheerful smile, she realised. Even Jono looked happier than usual.

"Of course! Oh, but I'm being rude. Jubilation, this is Danae. She was Sabretooth's sidekick, but now that he is giving up violence and entering a Zen monastery, he thought that this would be the best place for her to learn to control her powers. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Wha…wha…" Jubilee stuttered, as she got her first look at the new student. Danae stood at exactly the same height as Jubilee, but looked just like a fairy out of an old story-book. Blonde hair, pointed ears, wings and all. She also, Jubilee noticed with some surprise, was the only other person in the room that didn't have a smug grin plastered all over her face. Instead, a worried frown creased her perfect features.

"Oookay." I'm hallucinating, I must be hallucinating… "Er, hi. Nice to meet you."

"Hi." The girl answered in a clear, chiming voice. "Umm, this is a little-"

"Awkward? Not ta worry, lass." Sean burst in, putting a companionable arm around both girl's shoulders. "There may have been some difficulty between us and yuir guardian in the past, but that's all done with now."

"Well, that's good, but-"

"Right, then. Now that that's all cleared up, it's time you showed us what you can do, Danae." beamed Emma. "Just a formality though, nothing to worry about."

"Quick!" yelled Everett. "To the Bio-sphere!" And they all charged off, humming the original Batman theme, and dragging two very confused former sidekicks behind them. When they arrived, Emma informed the students that she and Banshee had decided that the standard practice of pitting the newcomer against all the others was much too harsh, "-so Chamber and Jubilee will side with her." All the others wished her luck - it seemed that her codename was 'Sparks'.

"But FROSTY-"

"Now, now, Jubilee." twinkled Emma, "Mustn't make the new girl feel unwelcome! You may have a count of one thousand to position yourselves. Off you go!"

"FINE!" snapped Jubilee, hauling the other two into the trees. She parked Jono under a tree, where he happily started composing a sonnet to Paige's beauty, then turned to the new girl, who said -

"What the heck is going on here? Look, bypassing for a moment the fact that I'm not Sabretooth's sidekick, I'm his kid, and I've been DEAD for nearly ten years, why is everyone here except you and me acting like they've overdosed on Happy Meals?"

"You noticed that, huh?"

"It's kind of hard to miss! Is this normal around here, or should we worry? And I'd still like to know how I got here, although I suppose I could have been resurrected…"

"Yeah, that happens a lot around here. Hey, where'd Jono go?"

They followed a trail of discarded flower petals to a small clearing, where Jono sat pulling the petals off a daisy. *She loves me, she loves me not - she loves me!* Suddenly, a gigantic blue and orange Carebear appears in a puff of pink smoke. *OH, Lord P'er-kee! You startled me.* Jono says, bowing low. *How may I serve you?*

"Little remains to be done, my faithful servant. All but two of your teammates, as well as your teachers, are under my control. When I have them, I shall have succeeded where my second cousin once removed D'spayre failed. You will all be perky and upbeat forever! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" P'er-kee broke into maniacal laughter.

"Who is it that you have not yet subverted, Oh Mighty and Powerful Benefactor who has Saved Us from our Perpetual Angsting?" groveled Jono.

"The young one, Jubilee, and the new girl, Sparks. Their cheerful and hyperactive natures render them partially immune to my powers, but do not fear. Soon I shall feed off their empty headed perkiness even as I do yours. BWAHAHAHAHA!" And he's off again. The two girls looked at each other, and very quietly sneaked away.

"Who's D'Spayre?" whispered Danae, when they were a good distance from the clearing.

"He was a demon who tried to take us over a while back." whispered Jubilee. "He went around makin' everyone real depressed so he could feed on our energy. Jono defeated him eventually cos he's so depressed anyway he couldn't be controlled."

"That must be what he meant when he said we were too cheerful, then." Jubilee nodded, and Sparks' nose wrinkled. "A being who feeds on deranged chirpyness… that's gross!"

"You're tellin' me." Jubilee agreed. "We gotta do something!"

"Well, if P'er-kee's feeding off the others, shouldn't we put them out of action? So he won't be as strong?"

"Brilliant! How?"

"Errr, dunno."

"Well, they're comin' after us anyway, so we'll just have to wait 'til they show up, and improvise."

"Right."

"By th' way, what are your powers?"

"Oh, I'm an electro-magnetic…"

* * *

"Paige, help! The new girl's hurt herself!"

"Let me see-"

ZAP, bonk

"It works!"

*

."Hey, M! Yer shoe's untied!"

"It is?" looks down.

ZAP, bonk.

"Been wantin' ta do that fer ages."

*

"Yo, Ev! C'mere!"

SMOOOOOCH!

ZAP, bonk.

"Hey, that looks like fun. Can I have a go?"

*

"What'syourname! Angelo! C'mere!"

SMOOOOOOCH!

ZAP, bonk.

"Yippee!"

*

"Scuse me, Mr Casssidy? Your fly's undone."

"Whoops!"

ZAP, bonk.

"Nasty… I love it!"

*

"M-miss Frost? I have these terrible feelings of inadequacy…"

"Oh dear! Let me take a look."

ZAP, bonk.

"Now for the big one…"

"Aauuuuuuggghhh!" screamed both girls, spinning around. P'er-kee was standing behind them, with Jono beside him. He is now around the same height they are.

"You have been very clever, little morsels, but not clever enough. As you can see, my primary source of energy is still untouched!" Jono waved. "Now, look into my eyes. I will make you happy…"

Danae's eyes glazed over. "Happy…" she muttered. Jubilee kicked her hard in the shin, then had a brilliant idea.

"Hey, Jono! You've got a hole in ya the size of a pillow and yer life is ruined!" He looked at her in shock, his eyes filling with tears.

"Yeah, you're hideous!" yelled Danae, getting the idea.

"And Paige doesn't care about you at all! She just feels sorry for you!" added Jubilee. Jono looked from one to the other, and collapsed in a heap of self-pity.

"Nooooooooo!" screamed P'er-kee, shrinking down to normal Carebear size. Before he could recover, the two blasted him into ash.

"Awright!"

"Cool!"

They then found Penance and the little kids, and had a celebratory breakfast of apple fritters. Suddenly everything started to blur.

"Jubilee? JUBILEE?"

"Wha…?"

"Hey, Jubilee, wake up!"

"Whu-" she opened her eyes. Paige was standing over her and the sun was shining brightly.

"Ah told ya that you'd have nightmares if'n ya ate all that pizza."

"IT WAS A DREAM! Oh thank god it was just a dream!!!" Jubilee leaped out of bed. "What a fantastic day. It was just a -" She opened the door. A giant Carebear stood in the hall. "AAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed, and fainted dead away.

"Whut the…" said Paige, looking out into the hall. "Jono, your image inducer is malfunctioning again…"