A/N: So, I'm going to say I know that the songs are from Burlesque, and that the woman is Cher. I made this character with a singing voice and didn't take into account that the time was different, so there wouldn't be a wide range of songs. And burlesque's music seemed like it wouldn't be too odd since Burlesque is an actual type of club that is about music and humor. Song: Express by Christina Aguilera, The Burlesque Soundtrack.
One
She watched everything: the water dripping from her can of coke, the sweat moving down the crew mates already damp cheek, and even the bouncer's who stood outs by the door. This was her moment, her golden opportunity to be seen not as a freak, but a dazzling performer.
Rosalie Knight adjusted her costume; it was pretty much a black bra with white hands on the breasts, white (their pretty much underwear) with black hands on either side of her butt, a black sequined hat, fishnet stockings, and black wedge lace-up ankle boots. She didn't care what she was wearing, she just wanted to sing and earn some cash.
The other day a woman named Cherilyn Sarkisian had allowed the club sing a song she wrote that she called 'Express' and Rose was to sing the lead. Of course, she was extremely thankful for the opportunity.
"Come on, ladies!" The director yelled, "Showtime!"
Rose took a long deep breath before walking on stage and taking the chair at the foot of the stage and getting herself comfortable. She looked around the audience and smiled as the music began to blare.
"It's a cold and crazy world, that's raging outside. Well baby me and all my girls are bringing on the fire!" Everyone stared as Rose and all the other girls on the stage spun the chair around with the back against their chests, "Show a little leg, gotta shimmy your chest. It's a life, it's a style, it's a need, it's Burlesque."
Rose smiled as the girls kicked all of their chairs backstage, so that only Rose had a chair. "E…X….PRESS. Love, sex, ladies no regrets! E…X…PRESS. Love, sex, ladies no regrets!" Rose ran from her side of the stage and into her chair, using it to slide her into the waiting arms of two girls who stopped her chair as she sat down and belted out the next piece.
"I've been holding on for quite some time! And finally the moment's right! I love to make the people stare - they know I got that certain savoir faire!" She stood and began shimmying with three girls who stood with her side-by-side.
"Fasten up, can you imagine what would happen if I let you close enough to touch? Step into the fantasy, you'll never want to leave, baby let's give it to you!" ("Why?" the other girls bellowed.)
"It's a passion, and emotion, it's a fashion, burlesque! It'll move, goin' through you, so do what I do, burlesque! All ladies come put you're grown up; boys throw it up if you want it! Can you feel me, can you feel it? It's burlesque." Then they began into the, now familiar, dance routine. (A/N: Pretty much the movie scene where they dance, only a little different. I'm lazy. .)
"I tease 'em 'til they're on the edge! They screamin' more for more and more they beg. I know it's me they come to see, my pleasure brings them to their knees!"
Suddenly, Rose noticed two men sitting up front, staring at her in deep thought. Then, it felt like her head was exploding. You're very talented. "What?" She blurted aloud, making everyone on the stage freeze. We have a proposition for you. "Shut up!"
Her friend Nikki rushed to her side, gently putting her hand on her shoulder. "Rose are you okay?"
Rose blinked and realized she had curled herself up, holding her head in pain as the voice boomed in her head. "Yes…of course I am." She winced as the voice chuckled; just go backstage, we'll be waiting. "No, God, shut up I don't want to go anywhere with you!"
"Rosalie, I think it would be best if you did. I love ya like a sister, hon, so I think it'd be best if you relaxed for a moment." Nikki said with a smile, pulling Rose up.
Rose quickly looked up at Nikki, "No not you! I'm talking to someone else."
"Who else is talking to you?"
Rose was taken back. She was sure someone had been talking to her, directly to her. I am talking directly to you, Rosalie. It's me, Charles. Rose frowned and shook her head, "No, Nikki, I'm okay."
Suddenly, the north wall of the club fell down and all of the girls screamed, hiding behind Rose and Nikki for some reason. A man burst in, wearing an odd cloak of some sort, and point accusingly at Nikki.
"You slut!"
Nikki panicked and ran backstage, the other girls following, except for Rose. "H-How did you do that?" She gasped, but he lifted his arm again and suddenly the debris was flying at her like huge bullets. Rosalie, get down! The voice had come too late, but thankfully Nikki had burst out from backstage and tackled her down.
The two men jumped on stage and became a barrier between the dangerous man, and the two defenseless girls. "You can use your gifts for good, you know." The black haired one said, "There's no harm in that."
The man's eyes went wide as he pointed angrily at Nikki. "She stole my wallet! She told me she loved me!"
Nikki growled and shakily lifted her head. "No I didn't! I'm way too young for you! I don't even know you!"
The man screamed and suddenly the lights above Nikki and Rose began to tremble and were about to fall along with pieces of the roof. Rose let out a grunt and spun around; holding her hands out in front of her beams of bright red light shot from her palms and disintegrated the falling lights and pieces of the roof.
"Wow," Nikki gushed, "That was amazing!"
Rose brows furrowed. "What?"
The two men turned and smiled at Nikki and Rose. "I told you, Rose, you're talented."
Rose remained dumbfounded. "Charles?"
The man jumped up and growled, "Shut up! Shut up right now, you fools!" Rose growled, angry that he was interrupting her and Charles. She threw a beam at him, knocking him out cold.
Charles turned to Rose, "That is a very bad thing to do, Rosalie. You should use your powers for good."
Rose rolled her eyes. "That was for good. The good for my friend Nikki, and the information that I need from you,"
Nikki blinked. "I'm going to go backstage for a little while, lie down, and…" She didn't even get backstage. She just passed out on the stage right there.
"Hi, I'm Erik." The other man stuck his hand out to Rose, and she happily shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you. You seem like a very promising comrade."
"Comrade…?"
"This is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about." Charles said with a laugh.
All Rose really did was sit in the lone chair in the back room, Charles and Erik standing in front of her. "Please don't tell anyone I'm seventeen! They won't let me work here anymore if they know! I love it here, I love to sing. I don't know what I'll do if they know."
Charles blinked. "You really think that's what we're here for?"
Rosalie looked up from her hands, and nodded. "I assumed so."
"Well it's not." Erik laughed, "You're a mutant. We need you."
He said it so blatantly, as if it was easy for her to admit she was different. Rose laughed nervously and hesitantly answered. "What happened back on stage was just an accident. I don't usually do that. I just wanted to know how Charles was talking in my head like that."
Charles smiled, and walked directly in Rosalie's path of vision. "I'm what you call a telepath. You see what I want you to see, do what I want you to do, and I can read your mind. And that's just the condensed list, sweetheart."
Rose's face lit up with a smile, "That's…amazing. I thought I was the only one who could do things that were…different. I'm not saying I do it all the time, I'm just saying I didn't think there were people who were…like me."
Erik shrugged. "We all thought that, but over time we realized that was most certainly not true."
"What do you mean?"
"He means that Erik, you, and I aren't the only mutants around." Charles stated. "What if we told you that we could introduce you to more mutants, who are just like you?"
Rose thought about it. "I'd say I'd love to meet them, but of course I'd like to know why you're giving me the opportunity."
Erik quickly answered back, "That isn't important right now."
"Then I'm not committing to anything," Rose snapped, "I'll go, sure, but I refuse to commit to any cause until I know what it is." Erik looked about ready to yell directly in Rose's face but Charles stopped him.
"That's fine, that's perfectly ok. But by the end of the day we want to have your decision."
Rose nodded, "Okay then. I'll go get changed into something age appropriate and then I'll meet you guys outside."
"Wait!" Nikki screamed. "I want to go too."
Charles smiled. "Ah, yes, I saw you too. Nicole Kent, let's see your power then."
Nikki looked nervously at Rose who was starring at her, a little confused. Then Nikki was gone in a gust of air, and in the next three seconds and another breeze she was back. "I-I can run really fast."
"Wow!" Rose gawked, grabbing Nikki by the shoulders. "That was so epic. I've never seen a female speedster before!" Nikki just nodded, surprised that she was taking this well.
Erik and Charles smiled at the girls, "Go get dressed quick." Charles joked.
"Ha, very funny," Nikki scoffed as the pair went to go change and collect their bags. They exited with Rose wearing a grey beanie, a t-shirt that said 'Love' on it, a pair of blue jeans, and the shoes she had worn for the show. Nikki just wore blue jeans, a t-shirt, and some sneakers.
As they drove, Nikki and Rose we're becoming more and more anxious. They pulled up to the CIA building and hesitantly followed Charles and Erik inside. Rose sniffed the air and instantly covered her nose with her hand, groaning. "It smells clean, way too clean."
"I know what you mean."
Nikki was a little alarmed that there were so many men in suits and she hid behind Rose who seemed to be taking this much better than Nikki was.
Rose looked around, cautiously examining anything that crossed her line of vision. She could feel someone watching her, the whole group actually. Charles turned to her, calming her with his thoughts, but nonetheless she remained vigilant until they reached a door.
"Ladies," Erik announced, "Behind this door are the best mutants Charles and I have found. I'll simply add if they do not impress you, we still have more to recruit."
"Oh shut your trap and open the door!" Nikki squeaked, hopping up and down.
As soon as the door opened Nikki rushed through (being a speedster she does this) and looked around to see two perfectly normal teens. For a moment she wanted to say Charles and Erik had lied, but Charles interrupted her.
"My friends, this is Nicole Kent." Charles gestured to the stunned brunette. "And this," He gestured to Rose, "Is Rosalie Knight."
Nikki rushed to a boy with brown hair and glasses. "What are you lookin at?"
"You, of course," He answered, "I've never seen anyone run that fast! I'm Hank, Hank McCoy."
Rose covered her mouth with her hand, making sure not to let any laughs escapes. It was growing exceedingly difficult as Hank marveled at her legs, asking her how they could stand the friction.
You can look around, you know. We're not making you stay, go meet the other members, Rose smiled and jumped up.
"Wait, Rose don't leave me, you bitch," She whined. Hank and Nikki sat there, Hank starring at Nikki awkwardly.
Rose
Rose walked around, running her fingers along the slick metal walls. It was very interesting, but she wasn't looking for machines or anything. She was looking for other mutants.
Is there like a call I can do or something? She groaned and suddenly she came upon a giant vault, made out of steel. Rose smiled mischievously and turned the knob, only to find you needed a code to open it from the outside.
6974J. Thanks, Charles. Rose opened the door, using all of her strength and peeked inside. There was a shirtless blonde standing in front of some mannequins. Rose hid nervously behind the frame of the vault, starring unsure if she was allowed in or not.
As soon as he noticed the door was open, he turned on his heel and saw Rose standing there. "Hi." She mumbled.
He walked up to her and leaned against the wall. "It's dangerous to be here."
She shrugged. "It's dangerous to be around me."
"Oh, so you're dangerous?" He challenged. Rose nodded.
"If I'm angry,"
"Well, I'm Alex, and I've got something to show you." Alex walked into the middle of the room and turned to Rose. "You might need to step back." Rose shrugged and stayed where she was, getting a look from him.
He did something. Rods of red light circulated around him, until they reached his wrists and he flung them at the mannequins. There was a burst of bright light and the floor, walls, and mannequins were on fire.
Rose burst out laughing like a manic from her spot on the floor. Her face was dusted with soot and her hair was slightly singed, but she still laughed. At this, Alex marveled. He helped her up and she was still laughing.
"That…was…amazing!" She said through spasms of giggles. Alex couldn't help but smile down at her. Then, abruptly, she stopped laughing and looked up at Alex. "Now, I wanna show you what I can do!" She walked to the center of the room, put out a mannequins shoulder, and walked back.
She poised her hands in front of her and fired. Rose looked triumphantly at a decapitated mannequin, then to Alex.
"I took out three." He stated.
Rose shrugged. "I took out one, with style." With that, she turned on her heel and stood by the door. "Because that's how I do it and that's how I expect it to be done." She walked down the hall, with Alex on her heels.
"You're just going to say that and leave?"
"Well," She replied, "That's what I was planning on. I think that was a good enough line to leave on, don't you?"
Alex frowned. "I don't even know you."
"Do you have to?"
Alex groaned and walked down a separate hall, leaving Rose walking alone. She stuck her hands in her pockets and found herself face to face with a blonde woman who looked about Charles's age.
"Who are you?" She asked.
Rose smiled lightly and stuck her hand out to shake. "I'm Rosalie Knight. Erik and Charles brought me and friend over here to meet everyone. And you are?"
"My name is Raven." Raven shook Rose's hand and the two smiled at each other. "Um, do you want to go get cleaned up? Your covered in soot."
Rose's face turned a light pink under the darkness of the soot, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble…" Raven smiled and led her to a restroom where she helped her wipe the black off of her face and clothes.
When she was cleaned up, she thanked Raven and they began walking again. They talked animatedly as they were unknowingly being watched.
Nikki
Sitting talking with Hank isn't bad, Nikki thought. He was nerdy and it was actually kind of adorable how he thought she could stay interested for so long.
For some reason, as Hank noted quiet frequently, she couldn't stay still in her seat. Nikki kept fidgeting and it looked like she wanted to get up, but she was forcing herself not to. She bit her bottom lip looking pained as Hank chattered on about the space-time continuum.
"Hank," Nikki jolted, "Could you go get me some water?"
He nodded and hurried off to get her a tall glass as she shuffled over to her purse. Nikki tore a small pill-case from a pocket and popped it open, swallowing down two tablets dry before hurriedly stashing them again.
"Here's your water."
She chugged it down and smiled as she wiped her mouth. "Hank, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm supposed to go meet the other members of the team."
Hank looked at his watch. "It's only been fifteen minutes."
That's how she knew it was getting worse, it felt like seventeen hours but it had only been fifteen minutes. Nikki simply stood and used her speed to run out of the room and ran anywhere she could.
She knocked into someone soft and who smelled like flowers and soap. Nikki landed on her butt with a loud groan but was up on her feet again to help the other victim up. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!"
The man stood and rubbed his green eyes. "Wow, you're fast." He had green eyes and red hair. As soon as he examined her he smiled, "Nice to meet you! I'm Sean," He tried to say it seductively but Nikki didn't really care.
"I'm Nicole Kent."
He smiled and quietly ran his fingers through his hair. "Do you want to see something cool?"
"Is it gross or perverted?" Nikki asked.
Sean blushed and shook his head. "Of course not, just come with me!"
Nikki shrugged, "Eh, that's good enough for me." She felt him try to grab her hand, and she felt her cheeks heat up as she he unknowingly grabbed her hand and dragged her out to the yard.
"This is what I can do!" He told her to cover her ears and he screamed loudly, causing a tree to fall and another to get a hole in it.
"Wow!" Nikki whispered, "Sean that was really cool."
"Yeah, I know." He said, "Your gift is pretty cool too."
Nikki sighed and felt Sean grab her hand again as he held her inside.
"Nikki!" Rose called, seeing her outside. She ran to her, but Nikki was already by her side. "So where have you been?"
Nikki shrugged. "I talked to Hank for awhile, went running for awhile, and then I met Sean."
Rose grinned, "He's cute." To this, Nikki glared, feeling defensive.
Raven walked up and stuck a hand out to Nikki. "I'm Raven. Rose has told me all about you." Nikki smiled and nodded.
"It's nice to meet you, my name is Nicole Kent."
As everyone got acquainted, Charles walked outside to look at the girls who looked electrified with happiness to see other mutants. "So, Rose, Nicole," They turned with smiles, "What do you say?"
Nikki's nose scrunched up in thought and then she looked at Charles sternly. "I want to know what this is about first, before anything else happens."
Charles looked at Rose who just nodded in agreement. He sighed and patted their shoulders. "Fine, let's go discuss it over some hot cocoa." The girls gave one last look to all of their new friends: Erik, Raven, Darwin, Sean, Hank, Alex and then they looked at Charles with a nod.
Everyone was left to wonder if they'd ever see the girls again.