Lyrissa's Sparkles II

“Lyrissa, c’mon get up.” Gambit sighed, trying to nudge her awake from her place on the couch, but she groaned and buried her face in the cushions, mumbling something about flying rabbits and orange mushrooms. He laughed as he tried again, but she once again refused to wake.

“Is she awake yet?” Storm asked from the doorway. She was out of uniform, and wearing her street clothes, which was kind of a rare sight lately. “Nah, she dreamin’.” He answered with a grin. “The children will be awake soon, we must leave before then.” She pushed. Gambit went to reply, but Kiera yelling at Dante from upstairs interrupted; too late, the kids were already up. “Must I do everything, Gambit?” she sighed with a playful smile before making a gentle, but cold breeze blow over Lyrissa’s entire body before leaving the room.

She shivered and quickly woke up, staring blankly at Gambit, who was still kneeling beside the couch, face to face with her. “Mornin’ Petit.” He smiled, “You gotta get dressed, you goin’ out today.” He added, standing up and pulling her with him. “Heh?” she yawned while being guided out of the living room and to a shower. “You get de day off today. Now hurry, Jean an’ Rogue already made de reservations.” He explained before pushing her into the bathroom and holding the door closed, knowing that she was too tired for the fact she could just teleport out to register. She sighed heavily, and turned the water on, before stripping down and stepping into the shower.

Ten minutes later, she got out and found her clothes folded neatly on the sink next to her toothbrush, hairbrush, and hairdryer. Fifteen minutes later, she was out of the bathroom, and headed to the kitchen to see if she could find any breakfast. By that time, she was almost wide-awake. Almost.

“Here, eat this on the way, we have to go. Don’t worry about makeup, none of us are wearing any either.” Jean smiled as she walked out of the kitchen, coming face to face with Lyrissa who nearly walked right into her. “Where are we going?” she questioned as Jean led her by the arm into the garage. “It’s a surprise.” She smiled excitedly. “A women only surprise.” Storm added from the front seat of Rogue’s car. “A grown-up women only surprise.” Rogue grinned, adding extra emphasis on the phrase “grown-up”. Lyrissa sighed and climbed into the back seat with Jean, and ate the meal bar Jean had given her as Rogue drove down the driveway and through the gates.

“Mr. Summers, where’s Sparkles?” Kiera asked as she ran up behind him, he was waiting for everyone to meet up for the day’s group Danger Room session. “She went out for the day with Jean, Rogue, and Storm.” He answered. “But, who’s gonna help us in the Danger Room then?” she almost whined. “We are.” Hank stated simply. “But, that’s no fair! It’s always her that makes the plans, and keeps us on track! We can’t do a session without her!” Max argued. “Well, she ain’t here, so deal with it.” Logan grunted as he came up behind them. “You’re kidding, Sparkles isn’t here?” Andrew asked blankly. “No, she’s gone out to have a day with Jean, Rogue, and Storm. She should return later tonight.” Hank replied. “Great.” He muttered, leaning up against the wall and brooding.

During the session they once again played teams; the goal was to take the other team out before they got you. Cyclops was the only X-Man on Andrew’s team, and refused to be leader so he could make the kids think for themselves. That alone was a challenge. They argued the entire time, and he felt like walking out of the session altogether.

There really was something wrong with Andrew; he wasn’t the same as he was when he first came to the mansion. When one of the kids would ask for help, he’d refuse. When they did something wrong, they got yelled at. When their team lost the match, he pointed out everything everyone did wrong, and stormed out of the room. Allie was on his team, and had to be calmed down many times after he made her cry, and at the end when he pointed out that more than half of the reasons they lost were because of her, every ounce of confidence she had in her five-year-old self had been crushed. Of course, the only two people who were able to calm her down were Gambit, and Wolverine. Xavier would have taken her, but he was busy with Marvin who was shorting out their computer systems. His powers were as easy for him to control as Cyclops’ or Rogue’s were for them. Unfortunately for him, they weren’t as easily compromised; a visor or pair of gloves weren’t going to make him stop shorting out the place.

Meanwhile, Lyrissa, Rogue, Storm, and Jean were at a very nice spa, relaxing in a sauna. “So this is why you told me not to wear makeup?” Lyrissa asked as she readjusted the towel to keep herself covered. “Yeah, otherwise ya’d have eyeliner and mascara runnin’ down your face.” Rogue smiled. “That is one reason, the other is that we are going for makeovers later today, while Rogue and Jean are going to buy you something to wear tonight.” Storm added. “What’s tonight?” she asked curiously as Storm created a small rain cloud to create more steam, instead of anyone having to move to add more water. “It’s a surprise. But you’re gonna love it.” Jean grinned. Lyrissa sighed, being too relaxed to argue over anything, and stretched out on the bench. Since there were four benches in the sauna, one on each wall, and they had it all to themselves, she was able to lie down and be completely at ease.

Eight hours later, Lyrissa was dressed in the clothes that Rogue and Jean had picked out for her, with her hair newly cut and styled, and her makeup done professionally. She was wearing a pair of black flair jeans, with a silver scarf tied as a belt, a black tight fitting t-shirt that had beautiful silver wispy, mystical patterns silk-screened onto it, and silver boots. Her hair was no longer just short after being singed off, but layered nicely to give it the messy, rockstar look, and had had the dead and split ends cut out so it wasn’t frizzy. Her makeup was natural, but bold on the eyes and against her protests, done with sparkling eye shadow. She looked like she was ready to walk the Red Carpet, and had no idea why. Storm, Rogue, and Jean were all equally dressed up, but were still not telling her where they were going until they got there.

“Ya ready sugar?” Rogue asked happily. “Ready for what, you guys won’t tell me what to expect!” she laughed as they got out of the car, and walked past a long line of people. As soon as they got to the velvet ropes, she realized what was going on; the girls were taking her clubbing. The bouncer at the door nodded to Jean, and let all four of them pass without saying a word. “No I didn’t persuade him Sparkles, the Professor made arrangements.” She laughed after reading Lyrissa’s thoughts as they walked into the club. She still wasn’t old enough to drink, but that wasn’t stopping them from having a great time. Rogue was nervous about being surrounded by so many people, bumping into each other, and off of each other, but even she got out on the dance floor. Her dark wash jeans, and green long sleeved turtleneck shirt, with the matching gloves she wore helped quite a lot with that part.

At some point, Lyrissa bumped into someone she’d have been just fine never seeing again, the oldest of the Michaels Brothers. “Well look who it is!” he laughed, throwing his arm around her and guiding her over to his brothers. “Check it out, she’s just as cute as ever!” one of the others grinned as she was pushed into their booth. She always felt uncomfortable around them, but now she had no one around to back her up if they tried anything, and she didn’t want to use her powers unless it was life or death, or another situation where she absolutely needed to. “Listen, you owe us a lot. I mean a lot. You’ve cost us thousands of dollars in racing sweetheart!” the oldest explained, keeping his arm around her shoulders. “I didn’t cost you anything, racing is as much of a gamble as a slot machine. You don’t know what bikes are out there, and you don’t know if yours will be the fastest.” She explained, doing a fine job at keeping her cool. “Yeah, whatever.” He replied lazily, rolling his eyes and leaning back in the booth.

“So do you have our money, or do we gotta find another way for you to make it up to us?” one of the other brothers asked suggestively. She rolled her eyes in disgust and pushed the first’s arm away from her. “My boyfriend, would cut you to bits, and feed you to goldfish if you even tried.” She threatened. “Oh, right, the mutant. Yeah… we could always just rat you freaks out.” He laughed. “Or, you could keep us quiet. You know, keep us busy for a while.” The first one whispered, once again holding his arm around her, but this time leaning over to kiss her collarbone.

“There ya are sugar, I’ve been lookin’ all over for ya!” Rogue shouted suddenly, quickly making her way over to the table where Lyrissa was still surrounded by the four brothers. The first one quickly gripped her wrist under the table, so tight it was already cutting off circulation to her hand. “So who’re your friends?” she asked, recognizing them from the mall, when they came to blows against Lyrissa, Jean, Jazz, and Jack. “Just some old friends from the races.” She answered quietly; trying not to wince from the pain he was causing her wrist.

She suddenly felt something very cold against her skin under her shirt, only taking a few seconds to realize that the second brother had a knife, and was sliding it around her side, down her leg, and onto her other wrist as a threat. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as Rogue sat down next across the table, flirting with one of the brothers. She knew something was very wrong, and wasn’t about to leave her friend alone in that situation.

“You have met with some friends I see.” Storm smiled as she and Jean joined them at the table. The brothers kept their hold on Lyrissa as they scooted over to make room for the other women, glancing nervously to each other as they tried to make a plan. “Yeah, you remember the Michaels brothers right?” Lyrissa smiled. “Of course.” Jean nodded.

“Lyrissa, are you all right. You’re nervous, and their plans are anything but innocent.” She asked telepathically.

“No, I’m not. He’s got my wrist so tight I can’t feel my fingers, and the other has a knife. He’s been rubbing it across my wrist, up my arm and leg, and under my shirt since Rogue got here.”

Jean stopped the telepathic communication and kept talking with the brothers, distracting them by flirting as much as Rogue was, until they gave up. She then announced that it was late, and that they had to get home. The brothers reluctantly let Lyrissa go, but not without the oldest running his hand up the side of her shirt as she crawled over his lap; he refused to get up and let her out of the booth, so she had no choice.

“I am surprised you did not break his arm, Lyrissa.” Storm commented as they drove, referring to her being felt up. “I was tempted.” She muttered honestly. “You’re all right though, right sugar?” Rogue asked caringly while Jean drove, worried that the brothers had hurt her before she got to their table. “I’m fine Rogue, thanks. What you saw was the worst they did. Aside from this little cut on my side from that jerk off’s knife, but that’s hardly even really bleeding though. So,” she smiled. Actually for her, the night was the most fun she’d had since racing. The close call with the brothers was just the danger-rush the night needed to put the icing on the cake. As frightening as it was at the time, and as much as she wished it was Logan’s hands on her underneath that table, it was fun after the fact, sort of.

“Ugh… there’s an accident up ahead, traffic’s stopped.” Jean announced in annoyance. “Detour.” Lyrissa suggested. “Detour where? We are not near any roads I recognize.” Storm asked. “Jean, take a left at the next road. You can cut through the warehouse areas, and end up back on the main road to the mansion, or you can just keep going through there and take the back way the whole trip.” She directed. “Ya sure know your way around.” Rogue laughed slightly. “Well I have to, I raced all these roads so I had to know what routs were fast, and what to take when the first one’s blocked.” She shrugged.

They drove through the darker, and more dangerous parts of the city in silence until Lyrissa noticed a young woman off to the side, behind a dumpster, covered in blood. “Jean, stop the car!” she gasped quickly, and teleported away. Jean slammed the breaks and shut off the car, and Rogue ran after her as soon as she seen what had gotten Lyrissa’s attention. Before long all four women were crowded around the young woman.

“Hey, hey are you all right? Wake up, come on, open your eyes.” Lyrissa said as she shook her. The woman’s eyes opened at once, and she jumped up and backed against the wall behind her, holding her fists up, ready for a fight. “Calm down, we aren’t here to hurt you. We thought you were hurt.” Jean explained. “Hurt? What the heck would I be… oh… you though this was blood, didn’t you?” the woman laughed, gesturing to the dark red substance that covered most of her clothes. “Yeah, what happened?” Rogue asked. “It’s paint. I’m a painter. I was working on a mural when I spilled some paint on myself, and ended up looking like this.” She explained cheerfully. “But why were you lying behind the dumpster like that?” Lyrissa questioned. “Because this is where I live. Well, for tonight anyway. I pretty much live wherever lie. You know the old saying ‘Home is where you hang your hat’? Yep, that’s me! Well, except for me it’s where I hang my bandana.” She laughed, stretching and popping her back before climbing up and sitting on the dumpster’s closed lid.

“You look familiar. Have we met?” she asked Lyrissa and Jean. “I don’t think so, sorry.” Lyrissa answered awkwardly, and Jean just shook her head slightly. “Oh no problem, don’t be sorry. Do you know how many people are in this city? It’s easy to mistake someone.” She shrugged. “You gals should get going though, it’s next to… oh hell I don’t know I don’t have a clock here but it’s late. You have a car, and nice clothes, so you’ve gotta live in a house somewhere, instead of wherever you find for the night. No doubt some guys are waiting up for ya too.” She laughed. This stranger was a very happy person, for a homeless woman who slept behind dumpsters. “Yeah… but what about you?” she asked, knowing how dangerous it was for a girl to sleep alone in such a dark alley, in a place like that. “I will be fine.” She shrugged.

“Come stay with us.” Jean said suddenly. “I can’t.” she replied simply. “Why not?” Storm asked. “I have to be here.” She answered. “C’mon sugar, it ain’t safe for ya to be here.” Rogue argued. “Yeah, but I have to be here. I can’t go with you.” She shrugged. “I know you’re a mutant. We’re all mutants.” Jean explained, hoping it would persuade the short, shaggy haired blonde to agree. “I’m sorry. I have to be here. I have a mission, and my mission can’t be done if I’m staying with a bunch of high-class ladies like you four.” She explained, shaking her head. “What is your mission?” Storm asked in honest curiosity. “Hah, I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” She laughed, jumping off of the dumpster, “No really though, I can’t tell you that. It’s a secret, personal choice kind of mission. Not really a mission, mission like spies and soldiers, and superheroes go on, but one of those missions where you go ‘I can make a difference’, and go off and do it.” she explained. “All right, but be careful, all right?” Jean sighed. “Of course! Now get home in one-piece okay? And don’t go picking up strangers! Mutants or not, we can still get hurt, right?” she smiled, dropping her tone to a whisper at the end. The four women nodded and walked back to the car, before driving off. Jean looked through the rear view mirror as they left, to see the stranger climb behind the dumpster, grab her bandana, and take off running.