Chapter Twelve
Selene sipped at what little remained of her drink and smiled at Alistor, memorising how the flickering candlelight played on his bronzed skin.
"This was nice," he said, and her smile widened.
"Yeah, it was. They serve the best food, and the discount is nice, too."
"Discount?"
Selene's smile turned into a mischievous grin and she leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice in a conspiratorial manner. "It's called free. Chal likes to be nice to us Dark Roses."
"Chal?"
"Chalice, Cathryn's codename."
A waiter appeared at her elbow and asked if they would like desert. Selene frowned, debating the question. They did serve a scrumptious strawberry cheesecake, and she was sorely tempted to treat herself, but she hadn't had a really healthy dinner, so it was with a twinge of regret that she declined. She grinned and stood up, holding her hand out to Alistor.
"Come on, time for the second half of this date!"
Alistor blinked at her, one eyebrow raised. "Date?" he repeated quietly, and Selene hesitated. Her brain did a minor short-circuit where her main coherent thought was Oops, but then the small fraction of her brain that was still functioning kicked the rest of her brain in the metaphorical ass and she smiled shyly.
"Well… yeah, I mean, we're a guy and a girl at a swanky restaurant/great night-club, I'm all dressed up and hopefully sexy, and you're all dressed up and looking handsome, and those are pretty much the required ingredients for a date."
Alistor thought about that for a moment and then smiled, "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Selene breathed a mental sigh of relief and took his hand, pulling him to his feet. They walked out of the restaurant and into the foyer. Two well-dressed bouncer-type people stood in front of two curtains made of dark red velvet, and they nodded politely to Selene as she passed them with Alistor.
The room was dark, flashing lights briefly illuminating the writhing bodies of the dancers as they twisted and turned to the pounding music. Other people were grouped around the large square bar in the centre of the room. It was made of solid wood and gleamed dully in the flashing lights. There were various tables and stools situated around the large room, as well as sofas with low tables. The stage took up most of the back wall, and a live band was playing from it, the song and the instruments amplified through an impressive set of speakers to drown out all other noise. It was a wild place of freedom, a comforting den of anonymity. You could be anyone here, forget your real self and indulge in dark fantasies. Selene loved it, because for just a few short hours, she wasn't a Dark Rose, she didn't have worries and concerns, there was just her and the music. And Alistor. Couldn't forget about him.
Laughing, Selene dragged Alistor onto the dance floor and began dancing, swaying her hips and waving her arms, twisting her slim body in time to the beat. She loved dancing, it was like exercise but not, plus it let her show off her slender body without embarrassment.
Lost in the heat of the dance, Selene was only vaguely aware of the other people surrounding them, not really noticing the gaze of many of the male dancers. She was, however, aware of Alistor's gaze, and fought not to show that she had noticed. He was dancing, too, slightly less energetically than her but still dancing, and his eyes were fixed firmly on her, drinking in the sight of her beautiful body as it moved to the music.
They danced for a short eternity, time losing all meaning in the safe confines of the club. Sweat beaded their skin, their breath burned in their lungs, their muscles started to ache, and yet they didn't stop, wouldn't stop. The music flooded over them, through them, sweeping them up into a world of wicked impulses and sweet temptation.
The music changed from a fast-beat song to more of a dark, intimate song, though that could have just been Selene's imagination. Whatever, she took the opportunity to move a little closer to Alistor, invading his personal space in a very serious way. He grinned at her as she began to bump her body against his whenever she could manage it.
The back wall behind the stage exploded inwards, showering the band and dancers with bits of rubble. Screams and confused shouting erupted, the wild dancing morphing into panicked fleeing. A small figure stood in the large hole that had previously been a wall, watching the confusion with a manic grin. Then they cupped their hands together and something began to glow, pulsating between their fingers.
Selene blinked at the figure, her mind not able to process the new situation for a moment. Then her training kicked in and she raised a hand, summoning a throwing star made of shining light. She threw it blindly, not taking the time to aim, and was pleased to see that it hit the person in the shoulder.
"Get the wounded out of here!" she snapped to Alistor, gesturing to the few people trapped under rubble. He nodded and ran to the closest, letting his gleaming black armour cover his skin as he began to push away the rubble.
Paradox forgot about him and the wounded, trusting him to take care of them. She darted forward, bringing her hands together to grip a blazing sword. The mutant was still stunned from the flying star, but wouldn't be for long.
She was young, barely in her teens, with mousy brown hair that tangled around her face in a disorganised mess. Her pain-filled eyes were a very ordinary chocolate brown. Her body wasn't too thin and wasn't too fat, no tattoos or scars that Paradox could see. She looked completely normal, except for the rage and hatred contorting her features.
Paradox reversed her grip on the sword for an overhead strike and raised her arms. Unfortunately, this left her open to attack, something she had thought the mutant was too weak to do. She was wrong.
The girl gestured at her with her left hand and a small ball of light hit her in the chest. It felt like a small, burning brick had hit her, and she bit down on a scream as she tumbled backwards, barely keeping hold of her sword.
She heard someone shout her name, probably Onix, but ignored him, focusing on just trying to breathe. God, it hurt. She summoned the energy to raise her head and found that there was a frayed hole in her corset, revealing the lacy strapless bra she was wearing underneath. What she could see of her skin was already starting to darken and she knew that if Jamie didn't heal her, she'd have one hell of a bruise. Jamie… backup, she needed backup. She needed her friends. Where were they?
The girl was standing over her, hands cupped as she began to summon that light again, her eyes fixed hungrily on Paradox. Tiny sparks of light danced around her hands, shimmering from white to silver to bronze to gold to white. Paradox's throwing star was still stuck in her shoulder.
Paradox watched her, willing her body to get up, to move, to save herself. But she couldn't. She was still just trying to breathe. It was only with an absent thought that she realised she must have at least a couple of broken ribs. Her lungs burned painfully, her breath coming in short gasps. She must have punctured a lung, and if she hadn't she would if she moved.
A ball of sizzling white energy arced over Paradox and crashed into the mutant, sending her flying through the hole behind her. Paradox frowned and twisted her head to look at Onix, who still had one hand outstretched, the same white light swirling around his armour-encased body. He was kneeling, half-supporting a blonde female who had her legs half-buried under debris.
There are a lot of energy-powers here tonight, Paradox thought dazedly, and then blinked at the thought. Damn, she was concussed. Or just crazy. Forcing herself to focus, Paradox managed to get herself more or less into a sitting position. Great, except for the dizziness and the burning pain in her chest.
"We need the others," she managed to whisper, wanting to stay more but unable to through the pain.
"I called them, they should be here right about-"
As if on cue, the Dark Roses rushed into the room, automatically spreading out into a loose semi-circle with Rogue at the front. She had her gun drawn and held at her side. Discharge's eyes were purple and Animal was in her animal form. Paradox looked at them and let herself collapse. Tempus immediately rushed forward and knelt down beside her, holding her hands over her chest.
The mutant girl was struggling up again, already recovering from Onix's attack. Zephyr threw a wave of compressed air at her, knocking her down yet again. Animal ran and pounced, clawing at the girl, biting into the tender flesh. Screams filled the air, mixed with growls from Animal as she tore muscles and snapped tendons.
The screams faded to whimpers and gasps, and then there was silence. Well, not really, Animal was still growling and they could hear her biting into the girl's flesh.
Rogue blew out a breath and holstered her gun, stepping forward and pulling off a glove. She touched Animal's shoulder, grimacing as the taste of metallic blood filled her mouth. Animal turned and tried to pounce, but she was too tired, and collapsed at Rogue's feet.
Taking several deep breaths, and firmly not looking at the body so as not to stir up the bloodlust lurking inside her, Rogue took a moment to centre herself, to push Ivy's dark thoughts out of her mind.
"That was over with quickly," Kar noted, his eyes green once again. He ran a hand through his purple hair and looked around. "Wow, this place is trashed."
"It is, isn't it?" a slightly amused voice said, and they all whirled around to find Cathryn standing before the dark red curtains. She looked around and sighed. "Well, this is a pain."
Alistor glanced at her from where he was helping a young man out from under the wreckage. "Your club gets half destroyed and that's all you have to say?" he asked in surprise, and she shrugged.
"If I had a meltdown every time something bad happened here, I'd be in the looney bin by now."
"Jamie, is she alright?" Rogue asked, and Jamie nodded, still focused on Selene's chest. Her glowing eyes were distant, seeing things that no one else could. Rogue mimicked the nod and turned to look at the mutant.
Chalice watched as Rogue studied the girl for a moment. She wondered what Rogue thought of when she looked at the bodies of those she, or her teammates, killed. She wondered what she felt, if she felt anything. A pang of guilt hit her when she thought that, and she repressed a sigh.
Rogue turned and caught Chalice's eye by accident. Cathryn almost flinched from the utterly empty look in Rogue's grey eyes. She'd never seen someone with eyes so… dead. There was no emotion in those eyes, no mercy or remorse or compassion. They were endless pools of nothing. Rogue frowned, noting the flicker of guilt in Cathryn's eyes.
"Is something wrong, Chalice?" she asked quietly, her voice nearly as empty as her eyes, and Cathryn shook her head.
"Other than the fact that I'll have to close the club for a few days, nothing. But, uh, you might want to get out of here before the cops show up. I don't want to have to bail you out of jail."
"Right. Jamie, can you get us a bubble?"
The young girl nodded, and waited until Alistor and Kar had brought the corpse and Ivy to her so that they were grouped together. Alistor was now topless, having given his shirt to Selene due to the hole in her corset.
Chalice watched as Jamie rubbed her hands together and then made a small flicking gesture. The Dark Roses vanished from sight, or rather from time, and Cathryn sighed. She turned and walked up to her office to start making some calls, but the memory of Rogue's empty, emotionless eyes haunted her thoughts.