AN:

Swan Lake / The Swan Princess was requested by:

X PyrusAngel X
SuniGyrl
fergnerd
My Beautiful Ending
Mystique84
3Blue3Moon3
looneybluey (anonymous)

There were once two kingdoms; the Kingdom of Braddock and the Kingdom of Worthington.

The King and Queen of Braddock had a daughter named Betsy, and the King and Queen of Worthington a son named Warren.

"I'm going to be the Swan Princess, aren't I?" asked Warren, sounding resigned.

You don't look much like a princess to me.

Jamie giggled. "Role reversal."

"I don't know," teased Kitty. "I could see you in a tiara."

"Oh, har har har," said Warren.

"I have a better question," said Rogue. "Who's Betsy?"

Now it happened that an evil sorcerer named Scott put Princess Betsy and her companions under a spell; by day they were swans and by night they became human.

Scott sought to rule the Kingdom of Braddock, and to this end, every night he would ask Princess Betsy - as the only heir - to marry him. The Princess always turned him down.

"Is Betsy supposed to be Mystique?" asked Rogue. "Because she looked just like Risty."

"I think the proposal thing only happened in the animated movie The Swan Princess," said Kitty. "I don't think there was an explanation for Rothbart's actions in the ballet, Swan Lake."

"I just want to know why Scott's proposing to another woman," Jean said.

"Don't ask me," said Scott. "I'm not writing the script."

Back in the Kingdom of Worthington, the Queen informed Prince Warren that it was time he got married. She was going to be holding a Ball, and at that Ball, Prince Warren was to choose his future bride. Prince Warren was rather disgruntled by this, and decided to take a few friends and go hunting.

Thus it was that Prince Warren and his friends came across a wedge of swans. They followed the swans to the lake where they dwell just as night fell. Prince Warren was quite enchanted with one particular swan who wore a crown upon her head. Just as he was about to shoot, however, the swan transformed into the most beautiful woman he's ever seen; the Princess Betsy.

"I'm with Rogue," said Warren. "She looks like Risty."

"Well," said Mystique with a smirk. "It's not me."

Prince Warren approached. At first Princess Betsy was afraid, but she soon calmed down and explained about the spell.

"The only way to break the spell is for a man to make a vow of eternal love to me," the Princess explained. "If the vow is ever broken, I and my companions will remain swans forever."

"Sounds like Risty too," said Warren.

"I hope you're not disappointed," said Betsy.

Everyone looked up to see someone who looked practically identical to Risty and they all did double-checks to make sure Mystique was still in the room.

"Told you so," Mystique said smugly.

"Oh hey," said Kitty, jumping up. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kitty."

"Sorry to interrupt this tender moment," said one of Betsy's companions. "But the evil sorcerer is going to be here any minute so..."

"Right," Princess Betsy agreed. "You and your men need to leave."

"Or hide," suggested one of the other swan maidens coyly.

"Do the other swan maidens have names?" asked Tabitha. "Because I vote being that second one."

Sure, why not?

"Wait... since when did they need to hide?" asked Kitty. "I don't recall that happening..."

Well since this is a mix of ballet and animated movie, certain compromises were needed. In the cartoon Odette and Derek already knew each other, but in the ballet Odette and Siegfried fell in love overnight... literally. Of course, that means that in this story, they have to hide while Rothbart/Scott makes his nightly proposal, instead of leaving like Derek did.

While the swan maidens his Prince Warren and his men away, the edge of the lake began to shimmer and magical flowers began to bloom everywhere. Scott soon came into view, a bunch of the same flowers in his hands. He knelt before the princess and asked her to marry him.

"Every night you ask me the same question, and every night I give you the same answer," Princess Betsy said.

"Go to hell?" Rogue suggested.

"Works for me," Betsy replied with a grin.

"Hey," Scott said, objecting to the death glare Jean was giving him. "It's just a role. It was not my idea. I'm not the slightest bit attracted to Betsy."

"So, Betsy," said Gambit. "You were saying you were a telepath? That's funny, because if I recall, Emma Frost, the woman whom Scott ends up leaving Jean for in the comics is a telepath too."

"Telepath fetish maybe?" Rogue suggested.

"I'm only interested in Jean," Scott said firmly. "I'm not interested in Betsy, or this Emma person. Just Jean."

"But think about your companions," said Scott. "If not for me, or for you, why not do it for them? So that they can be free?"

"We've already discussed this, and we've all decided I can do better," Princess Betsy.

"I'm beginning to think I can do better too," Jean muttered.

"Why are you taking this so personally, Jean?" asked Rogue.

"Would you like it if people started talking about Gambit being with other women?"

"Two words: Bella Donna," Rogue said.

"She does raise a good point," said Gambit, leaning over. "And hopefully she'll raise a better one later on tonight..."

Scott left soon enough, and the swan maidens, Prince Warren and his men came out of hiding. They spent the rest of the night together, enjoying the pleasure of new company. Princess Betsy and Prince Warren danced the night away, falling deeper and deeper in love with each other. Come morning, Prince Warren made a vow to love her forever.

"You must come to the Ball tomorrow... okay tonight," Prince Warren insisted, "so I can choose you as my bride in front of everyone."

Princess Betsy agreed, and Prince Warren and his men soon departed.

"Bella Donna's different though," Jean insisted. "She was a woman from Remy's past, not someone that he hadn't met yet."

"Well, in fairness to Scott," Gambit said. "You do bring it on yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, all that dying and coming back to life stuff. Seriously Phoenix, can you blame the guy for wanting to date someone who wasn't in some eternal state of dead-not-dead?"

"I've never died!"

"Yet."

"Hey," Kitty said. "Can we get off this subject? Far more interesting things happening here."

However, Princess Betsy's plans to go to the Ball had already gone awry. Scott had overheard the entire thing, and furious at this turn of events, decided to see to it that Prince Warren broke his vow.

First, he locked Princess Betsy up to ensure that she wouldn't be able to get to the Ball that night. Then Scott transformed his daughter, Risty, to look exactly like Princess Betsy.

Mystique smirked at everyone.

"It's all falling into place now," said Rogue.

"Well all I have to say is that it's about time that Mystique's alter ego came in good for something," said Betsy. "Everyone thought she was supposed to be me when she first showed up. You can imagine how annoying that was."

That night at the Ball, just as Scott had hoped, Prince Warren took Risty for Princess Betsy. They danced together while Scott looked on, eager for the moment when the vow would be broken.

Back at the lake, the swan maidens had found a way to free Princess Betsy. She flew towards the palace as fast as she could.

"So, why is she still a swan?" asked Rogue. "If she's human at night, then unless the Ball is happening during the day, she should be a swan still."

"Better question," said Gambit. "If all it took was a vow of eternal love to break the spell, then she and her swan maidens should already be human again. They could have just left."

"The plot for Swan Lake had holes," said Kitty with a giggle. "They explained the holes away with The Swan Princess, like saying that moonlight had to hit the lake for her to transform to human again, and that Prince Derek had to prove his vow to the world before the spell would be broken."

Princess Betsy tried to get inside the palace once she arrived, but all the doors and windows remained closed to her, no matter how hard she tried to her in. And then came the moment of truth:

"I choose Princess Betsy to be my bride," said Prince Warren, gesturing to Risty.

Princess Betsy cried out in agony as Scott made his appearance on the floor.

"Yeah," said Gambit. "I think I would too. I mean, it's Scott, for goodness sake."

"Hey!" Scott objected.

"I thought you promised Princess Betsy that you'd love her forever," Scott said smugly.

"I did," Prince Warren said.

"Then why are you with Risty," Scott asked, pointing first to Risty and then to Princess Betsy through the window, "and not with Princess Betsy?"

Scott laughed as Risty was transformed back to her normal self and Prince Warren realised his mistake. He ran from the palace, racing after Princess Betsy, who was flying back to the lake.

"If you had waited, we could have gone back together," said Warren.

"Yeah, but that's not nearly dramatic enough," said Betsy.

Princess Betsy turned human one final time when she reached the lake. In her despair she attempted to throw herself into the lake and drown herself, but her companions stopped her.

Prince Warren wasn't far behind.

"I'm sorry," he declared when he got there. "I didn't know. I thought she was you. I meant it for you."

But Princess Betsy couldn't reply. Prince Warren heard laughter behind him and turned to see Scott.

"You!" Prince Warren said. "You did this!"

"No kidding," said Betsy.

"Way to state the obvious, huh?" Warren said. "Hey, Betsy, when this is all over... you want to go out for coffee or something?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Relax little prince," Scott said. "There is another way to set the swan princess and her companions free... You must defeat me!"

And on those four fatal words, Scott transformed into a great, winged beast.

"I'm glad you threw the 'winged' in there," Hank said dryly.

Well, we couldn't have Warren fighting you to the death.

"Oh, but it's okay for Warren to fight me to the death," said Scott.

"Absolument," said Gambit, grinning at him.

Prince Warren ran to the beast, his sword in hand. The swan maidens watched on as a great battle raged.

"How is it I conveniently have a sword when I just left a Ball?" asked Warren.

"What?" asked Gambit. "You don't just keep a sword on you at all times?"

"Uhh no."

"Why not? You never know when you might find a nice scabbard..." Gambit said with a grin at Rogue.

"Wouldn't you already have a scabbard if you had a sword?" Warren asked.

Gambit snickered.

"Why do I get the feeling you're being dirty-minded again?"

"Again?" Rogue said dryly. "Try 'still'."

Then at the last, Prince Warren's sword plunged into Scott. The mortal blow returned his shape back to normal and all his spells seemed to end. When the sun rose, the swan maidens found themselves still in their human forms; their curse was over.

The End.

"Yay!" cheered Kitty. "That was fun. And it took you long enough, Chellerbelle. This was one of the first stories anyone ever requested of you. It's taken you how long now?"

Umm, since September last year I think...

Kitty laughed and then snapped her fingers. "Hey I think we all need to watch the animated movie now."

"Why?" asked Rogue.

"Well, for one thing, Odette and Derek sing this awesome song in the beginning where they complain about each other," Kitty said. "And for another, there's this frog named Jean-Bob who's convinced that he's really a prince and a ladies man, and it's sooooo funny imagining Jean-Bob being played by Remy."

"Why do I get the impression that this Jean-Bob is nothing like me?" asked Gambit.

"Sounds like fun," said Rogue. "I'll get the popcorn."