Part 29- ‘The Prodigal Daughters…’
‘Dirty little secret
Dirty little lies
Say your prayers and comb your hair
Save your soul tonight…
Do you remember me?
And the kid I used to be?
Do you remember me?
I will not forgive…’ –Apocalyptica
She’d been too damn slow; those steel shutters hadn’t gone up fast enough. The technique, those mind blocks, the only damn thing she’d been grateful to the old bastard for teaching her hadn’t gone up fast enough. It was the shock, despite everything she’d read, all the reports she’d spent hours going over, with Toad breathing down her neck as he read over her shoulder, despite everything she thought was coming, she hadn’t been prepared for this.
She hadn’t been fast enough, and he’d gotten in. Stepping into that vault and that room, waiting as the strobe lights lit up the walls. Those cages, hung from the ceiling, suspended in a sickening green glow…there were so many; so many that they faded into the distance, stretching on endlessly, and for the longest while she could only stare.
And that’s when it happened; she felt it, the shifting in the planes of her mind, a gentle nudging. Almost instantly she saw the past few days play over, a movie reel in her mind that run on its own accord, she saw herself, laying a trap for Bishop, catching him in her net and then killing him. She saw Bishop fall down the cliff, the smile that played on her face as she watched him tumble head over ass, helpless and useless; everything she had felt those months the cure had ravaged her body.
Long months, aching miserable months where she was everything she hated, where she was one of them…human, helpless and useless. And at last she saw herself as she was now, in the guise of Bishop. She was in his skin, down to the last shreds of his DNA, using her mutant ability, Mystique had been reborn, free of that damn cure that had burned, and that had cut sharper than any sort of hell.
All of this, a singular instant, a lapsed concentration for just a few seconds had let him get in. Truth was she hadn’t really been ready, those facts and reports had said he was alive but even then she had doubted. But not any more, scrambling to push the memories away, her eyes flickered upwards and to the centre of the vault.
She saw him staring back at her, through the glass of his cage, changed in every aspect of his appearance, from the hollowness of his cheeks, the firmness of his jaw and right to the fact that he even had a full head of hair. But it was him, Professor Xavier; she knew it was him, even if the wheelchair hadn’t been a massive clue.
Only he had that sort of ability, that psychic presence to reach through sheets of glass and push aside the planes of her mind so easily, so quickly. Shock froze her to the spot, she too had heard of Xavier’s death, and like Magneto she too had mourned, briefly.
Magneto…her gaze shifted slowly, from Xavier’s cage and to the one that hung next to it. His face slightly hidden in shadow, she could make out the silver streaks of his hair, the wrinkles in his skin, and she knew it was him.
Her cold eyes hidden behind the deep brown of Bishop’s stared up at her former leader, and the sight made her stomach churn. And it was from hate more than anything else; she remembered the last time she had seen the old man, lying cold and naked on that floor, looking up at him as pain ravaged her body and aching over the coldness in his voice as he had walked away.
Mystique gritted her teeth, he had never known a loyalty like hers, she would have followed him to the end of the world because his cause had made sense, every mission, every situation she had obeyed without question. He hadn’t known a loyalty like hers, but she knew of his betrayal and soon he would know what it was to pay.
She had crawled through hell to get her revenge, now she would drag him back through it. Looking back at Xavier one last time, she smiled softly and allowed recognition to settle in on him. He knew her; he knew who she was…Mystique; the only thing he didn’t know was how she intended to play this whole thing out.
And that made her smile, even as she walked away, a grin lighting her face up, at last she was in control and that meant both Magneto and Xavier had something to be worried about.
Marie smiled quietly to herself, turned out she didn’t mind the way they stopped and stared, striding down that Academy hallway wearing a skirt cut sinfully short showing off her long legs, and a shirt buttoned up only halfway made most of the students, those who knew her and those who had only heard about her, turn to look in her direction more than once.
Her hair loose and falling about her shoulders swayed with the rhythm of her hips, she liked the way stared, the way they stopped to watch her walk past, the low wolf whistles, and the jealous stares. It all made her feel alive, like she was back at Starkey’s, back in control, showing just as much skin as she wanted and not nearly enough for some of the punters back at the bar and the teenage boys here at the Academy.
Time was she’d shrink back, before the cure almost hugging the wall as she walked past, pressed close to the sides of the corridors worried, always scared someone would brush past her, touch her skin on skin and she’d end up with a head full of someone else’s life. She hated that; she’d always had so much up there, first Cody and Magneto and then Logan, it had always been crowded.
It was crowded now, but even that was okay, because she was in control, she wasn’t scared anymore. They were a part of her, if anything they were almost like family now, a demented, slightly psychotic one, but a family all the same.
And it felt good, it gave her all the confidence she could ever need and then some. It made them stop and stare, it made her smile. She stopped in front of the recreation room, and pushing open the wide double oak doors stepped into the vast room.
The effect was almost instant, all heads turned to look, a silence fell as she stood in the doorway, it seemed the prodigal daughter really was back. There was Bobby and Kitty sat close together in the corner, Marie saw Kitty tighten her grip on Bobby’s hand and Marie laughed a little at that.
She certainly was having an effect, there was nothing like making an entrance. Her injured arm pressed close to her chest she went to sit in the deep, brown leather chair that was parked under a window, leaning back, with one long bare leg crossed over the other; she took a magazine from the table to her right and made a point of pretending to read.
Instead now and again she skimmed the room, looking for faces she recognised, and making a mental note of those she didn’t. One kid in particular stood out for her, he was a skinny, pimply faced little thing, couldn’t have been more than fourteen and Marie half wondered if the kid had been dumped here by mistake, he sure as hell didn’t look like any mutant she could guess at.
She watched as he stood at the side of the pool table, staking his money on a game, she watched as a mutant she sure as hell recognised smiled widely at him. Jesse Rivers, she knew him perfectly and as she watched him work the kid over she smiled and shook her head.
Jesse had grown up on the mean streets of Harlem, heavy built, tall, dark and very dangerous he loved to work a hustle; it had kept food in his mouth and a roof over his head. But he had been forced out, when the marks he worked over found out about his ability, the roof and the food was gone was always every time they forced him out, only the last time he had been lucky to make it to the Academy alive.
Back then she’d never given Jesse much thought, sure he’d flirted with her, but that was nothing, turned out he flirted with anything with a pulse and a skirt. Now, Marie guessed she related more to this guy then she did to most of the other Academy kids ‘cause of his rough upbringing, though that didn’t mean she liked him any more.
Jesse sure liked to work a hustle, only Marie didn’t like the mark he had picked this time, this kid looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights, he was new, he had that new mutant Academy arrival stink all over him, and for Jesse to take advantage, well that just wasn’t fair.
Marie saw Jesse clean the table up, never even letting the kid get in a shot; she’d seen Rivers work this hustle before, deliberately losing the first game and maybe a second for small money, and then pretending to be reckless and throwaway big money by gambling bigger. And that was when he usually stepped up his game, and if Jesse got lucky, he usually reeled in a sap like this kid, who just didn’t know when to quit and walk away.
‘Double or nothing…’ she heard the kid say, his voice shaking just a little. Well at least the kid had nerves; either that or he had more cash than sense. She saw Jesse snigger, ‘Hey it’s your money…’
This time he let the kid get in a few shots before he buried him, the kid sure was a fool; Jesse was playing him, his mutant ability giving him all the advantage he could ever need, as long as the kid thought he was playing a fair game he was never going to win.
She watched for as long as she could before she decided to interfere, hell if any was gonna advantage of these newbie mutants it ought to have been her. Tossing the magazine aside she made her way over to the pool table. All eyes followed, she could hear them all hold their breath waiting, watching for her next move.
Her arm still pinned dramatically to her side, Marie smiled sweetly as she stopped in front of Jesse. ‘Hey…’ she looked up at him, her shoulders drawn back, and biting her lip ever so softly.
Jesse grinned down at her, ‘Marie…heard you were back…’ his words carried over to her and just about everyone else, his clear city accent biting out behind a confident smirk. Marie kept smiling, and leant in closer, ‘oh yeah…?’
‘Yeah, turns out with shorter hair, a tighter ass and just the wrong side of crazy,’ he looked her up and down, his smirk growing wider.
‘Well, ah guess this is one time ya should believe everythin’ ya hear,’ she promised him. She reached out and grasped the pool cue he was holding, running her hand up and down the wood she pressed still closer until she was within inches of him. ‘Still tryin’ to make out ya can play?’
He flashed the money he had won under her eyes, ‘The green stuff says it all baby…’ Marie smiled, closing her eyes, her lips moistened she breathed in his scent, and even she had to admit he smelled good. Her lips barely inches from his neck she moved up along the line of his jaw, blowing a soft breath across his cheek, her lips nestled in his hair close to his ear.
Her hand gripped his over the pool cue and she squeezed gently, ‘how ‘bout playin’ with me…baby?’
Marie pressed her lips gently to his ear lobe and murmured gently, stepping back at last she saw him swallow, the grin practically plastered to his face, ‘Oh yeah, just what’re you bringing to the table Marie?’
She smiled seductively, ‘Me…’ Her words decisive and clear had everybody holding their breath wondering if they had heard just right.
‘You..?’ Jesse repeated. She nodded, ‘Ah saw the way ya used to look at me before ah left, well ah’m back now and here’s your chance to do somethin’ ‘bout it.’ Taking the cue from him she walked around to the other end of the table, and nodded towards the kid Jesse had fleeced.
‘Me against everythin’ ya won off the kid, if ah win kid gets his money back, every last cent of it…’
‘And what if I win?’ Jesse asked, his eyes lit up and his smile wide.
Marie moved close to him again, leaning forward her shirt strained and the top of her bra showing, she looked up him her voice deadly serious, ‘if ya win, ya get me…all of me. For one night only ah’ll show ya jus’ how much ah’ve changed,’ gripping his shirt she pulled him close, ‘ah’m all touchable now Jesse and trust me baby, ya won’t be disappointed, cause this is one time ya really can believe everything ya hear.’
Her lips close to his, she stared at him, her next words barely a whisper spoken for his ears alone, ‘And ah really do mean everythin’ Jesse, shorter hair, tighter ass and…’ she paused, saw his eyes bulge as her hand moved down his chest, ‘darlin’ ya can’t imagine what sort of freak in bed.’
Pushing him back she waited for the answer she always knew was coming, still she coaxed him out just a little more, ‘Come on Jesse, not scared of losin’ are ya, look at me, how good d’ya really think ah’m gonna be with this busted arm?’
‘Uh…’ he struggled to speak, ‘Ok, it’s a deal, you against everything I won from the kid.’ Nodding she chalked up her cue and set the balls, all with her injured arm held tightly to her chest. ‘Mind if ah break?’ He shrugged and she went to lean over the edge of the table.
Resting her cue on the edge, balancing it with one hand, she leaned forward her ass sticking high in the air, her shirt straining as she bent and watched out of the corner of her eye as Jesse came to stand behind her.
Smiling, an invitation for him to step just a little closer, she waited until he was practically breathing down her neck, then stepping back, she shifted her stance, pulling the cue until it balanced precariously on the edge of the table, the front of the cue just about on the felt and the rest of the wood hanging back down towards the floor. The cue see-sawed up and down gently, she smiled over her shoulder once more at Jesse, making sure he was exactly where she wanted him.
Then, without warning she slammed her hand on the front of the cue, the back end snapped upwards, flying through the air, and dumb Jesse was exactly where Marie had wanted him. The thick end of the pool cue swished through the air, right between Jesse’s legs, motion giving it all the force it needed it hit with a sharp thud and connected solidly with his crotch!
He all but screamed, a sharp wince pierced the air as every male in the room let out a collective moan and crossed their legs in sympathy. Even the pimply kid let out a short sharp whistle, ‘holy crap…that’s gotta hurt,’ he called out helpfully.
Marie nodded, smiling down at the still writhing Jesse, who by now had tears of pain streaming down his face as he clutched his crotch. She went back to the game; taking aim with her one good hand she hit the cue ball perfectly, it smacked into the set and she watched as at least four coloured balls sank into the pockets around the table.
And then she went on to call her shots out loud, every ball sinking in the pocket she chose, all with just one arm, she’d cleared the table in minutes leaving the black eight ball, sitting in the middle of the table.
Standing over a whimpering Jesse, she nodded towards the pimply kid who could only stare at her, ‘call it,’ she told him. ‘Huh?’ he stammered, before he realised she was telling him to name the winning shot she had to make, ‘r-right centre pocket.’
She screwed up her face in disgust, ‘Too damn easy, come on kid, at least make it interesting.’ He tried again, ‘Ok, how about the top left…’ Now there was a shot that was damn near impossible, Marie smiled and nodded her approval.
She took her shot, and it seemed as if the whole Academy had stopped to watch, as the black ball bounced off three cushions, rolling towards the top left pocket, stopping dramatically before it finally dropped in for the win.
Marie didn’t even bother to wait before she took the money from Jesse, who still curled up on the floor, held it up in one hand, the other still held tightly over his crotch, she plucked it right out of his hand, smiling widely, ‘nice playin’ ya Rivers,’ she clicked her tongue, ‘might wanna put some ice on that. Bobby should be able to help ya out…’
She handed the money over to the kid, he reached out for it slowly, ‘my name’s Charlie…and thanks, I guess.’
‘Here’s a tip for ya kid, wake up and realise when you’re bein’ hustled, Jesse there has a lil thin’ for kinetic energy, the balls on that table were only gonna move when and where he wanted ‘em to, ya were never gonna win, not unless ya played just as dirty as he does.’
‘But ah guess the rest of these kids ought to have told ya that before ya started throwin’ you’re money away…’ she swept her gaze across the room, accusing each of them in turn.
‘Ya better learn to start lookin’ after yourself kid, ‘cause around here they have a habit of lettin’ ya down.’ She stepped around him and walked towards the door. The prodigal daughter had returned and this time she had no intention of fading into the background.
Magneto regarded Xavier curiously; he was staring after Bishop, his face pale and his eyes wide in shock.
‘Charles…?’ He called out, ‘Charles, what’s the matter, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.’
Professor Xavier turned to look at him, shaking his head he spoke in a low whisper, ‘I’m not sure, but I think the tables might be turning at last…
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I know...I know, *write quicker*! Sorry about the long delay between posts, but am working on the next chapter as we speak I promise! :-)
Meanwhile both Mystique and Marie mark their return...
Meanwhile both Mystique and Marie mark their return...