Bright Lights
An X-men Evolution fanfic by Lavender Gaia
Editing and Assistance by Laine
Chapter Three: Party
First draft: May 21, 2005 – June 3, 2005
Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution or any of its characters. They are all property of Marvel. I also do not own Riley Egan or any of the other party guests who are all real rich kids that I went to school with and belong to themselves.
Note: I'd like to apologize for an inaccuracy in chapter 1. Rogue is 21-ish, the same as Warren, a year older than Kitty and Kurt. It doesn't make too much of a difference, but I just wanted to clear it up. Sorry for my mistake!
Warren Worthington III was a very rich man. He was born into a life of BMWs, yacht parties and summer houses in Paris. Common jokes around his friends were that he must be gay, because he never seemed to go after too many women, though he could sleep with anyone he wanted to. Warren just laughed and assured them they were wrong; he was waiting for someone he truly loved, not a gold digger that'll try to kill him in his sleep and steal all his money.
But unlike all—or at least most—of his country club pals, Warren Worthington III was a mutant. His genetics caused him to sprout wings when he hit puberty. With these wings he could fly like a bird. For a while, he used this power as a vigilante, going by the name Angel.
As Angel he had met a group of mutants called the X-men and made good friends with them. When a bunch of them moved to his great city to go to college, he didn't hesitate inviting them to his party. And while the rest of the guests were their age, they were also rich children of business tycoons and doctors.
So even though only half of his rich friends had shown up and none of the X-men, Warren had been worried sick for the last hour. How would they react to each other? Would they get into fights? Bobby and Ray were not known for keeping their tempers, and that was completely forgetting Tabitha. The rest of the girls weren't exactly against telling anyone off.
"I really hope no one hits on Amara too much," he realized. "It would be very painful to die by being frozen and melted by lava at the same time."
Of course, seeing as Amara was gorgeous and probably richer than a lot of them, this was inevitable. He would warn them when they came in. Yes, yes, that's right, he'd warn them ahead of time. Good plan, Warren.
This didn't stop him from pacing back and forth between two chairs, and one of his maids noticed. "Nervous, Master Warren?"
"Does it show?" He asked weakly. "I shouldn't worry. All of my friends are very nice and I made sure everything extremely breakable and priceless was hidden."
"Master Warren," his butler called from the doorway. "Mr. Egan and his date have arrived."
As if on cue, Riley Egan entered with a bouncy blonde on his arm. "Wow, this place is really nice," she gushed, fluttering eyelashes that were heavy with mascara.
Oh, right, this is Riley's girl of the week. What's her name again? Warren looked quickly where he was sure it was written on Riley's arm. "Thank you, Mia."
"I hear you're inviting some new people," Riley smirked. "What next? A keg?"
"Very funny. I think we just finished mixing margaritas, help yourself," Warren gestured to the bar, where a blender was going strong.
"You know me oh so well. C'mon, Mi," he and his date walked over, yearning for an alcoholic beverage. Warren was starting to want one himself. Instead, he excused himself to the bathroom where he splashed some water on his face carefully. After assuring himself once again that everything would go smoothly and all his friends would love each other, he entered back into the main room.
"Master Warren?" the butler approached him. "Your friends are here."
Indeed they were. And Warren was surprised to find that the X-men were mingling with his college pals. Of course, most of the guys had gathered around Kitty, who looked quite stunning in a lavender shirt and skirt.
Scott and Jean were talking to Alec Stoll, the son of a rich doctor. Alec was one of the more down to earth one of his friends. He planned to study graphic arts and animation, but he and the Summers had begun talking about politics, which made sense as both Alec and his girlfriend Bolan Tarkoe's parents worked in Washington. Warren wondered briefly if Scott had positioned Jean's hand just right so that the light glanced off her ring and said "I'm married, hands off!" on purpose. As much as he respected his friend, he really couldn't put it past him.
He noticed that of all of them, Amara seemed to fit in the best. It made sense, as she had grown up in an extremely pampered environment by her country's standards. In fact, if Nova Roma had all the modern conveniences she probably would seem even richer and more spoiled than he was. Unfortunately, Bobby didn't seem too happy about that until Matt Wasserman began to talk sports with him.
Suddenly, an arm wrapped around his neck, "Hey, Worthington," Tabitha grinned. "How come all I hear is lousy classical music? You can't dance to that!"
"C'mon, Warren, crank it up!" Kurt insisted, wrapping an arm around his giggling date.
He blinked at Amanda and kissed her cheek. "I didn't know you were here."
"I'm leaving for Stanford in two days, so Kurt thought it would be nice if I came to the party. Last chance for a good time before I study day and night," she explained.
"Stanford? That's a great school! Congratulations."
"And she got a full scholarship," Kurt reminded her proudly, making Amanda blush.
Tabitha gave him another push, tapping her foot lightly. "Let's go, rich boy!" He walked over to the large sound system, and fiddled with it until a radio station came on playing dance music. Tabby went "Whoo!" and dragged him into the middle of the ballroom floor.
The rest of the couples assumed their places as well and with no date of her own, Kitty just grabbed Ray's arm and dragged him with her. Warren allowed himself to be passed around by the girls until he noticed that Rogue was standing to the side of the room.
Passing Jean back to her husband, he walked over and tapped her on the shoulder. "Enjoying yourself?"
"Uh…yeah. Food's really good," she smiled at him.
"You're a horrible liar."
"Kitty says the same thing. But then, she lives with me and claims Ah talk in mah sleep," Rogue shrugged. "Apparently I have dreams about being turned into a duck after being splashed with water."
The rich boy laughed and his feathers ruffled a bit under his jacket. "That's…very interesting. If it makes you feel any better, I used to have dreams that my teddy bear grew into a giant dressed like my old nanny and tried to sit on me. I was eight though, and I switched to stuffed dogs."
She chuckled, taking another sip of her pina coloda. "Well, that makes sense at least. Ah always hated most of my teachers, and nannies gotta come to your house and stuff, so that's gotta be a billion times worse."
"Tell me about it. Hey, I have something to show you. Will you come with me for a second?"
She nodded and he led her down the hall to an elevator. A few minutes later they were approached a large room with brilliant aromas wafting out of it. "Where are we?" She asked him.
"The kitchen. Hey, Antonio! Got the stuff for me?" Warren asked, sitting down at and island stool with Rogue.
The chef hit him on the head with a wooden spoon. "You don't interrupt someone in the middle of their craft, Master Warren. Of course I have it!"
He grinned, holding up his index and middle finger. "Two bowls, please."
Rogue looked at what was set in front of her and glanced at the rich boy carefully. "This ain't what Ah think it is, is it?"
"Well, we were talking about gumbo yesterday, so I had Antonia whip some up. Try it," he urged.
She slipped a spoon into the concoction, then brought it to her lips and swallowed. "Oh. My. Fucking. God." A look of astonishment crossed over her face. "This is…Ah've never tasted anything like this. Can Ah marry your cook?"
"He's taken. And she could totally take you."
"You do remember what happens when I take off these gloves, right?"
"When you're married to someone who cooks like that, you can take anyone," he pointed out.
Rogue nodded. "Gotcha. But still…this stuff is heavenly. Just spicy enough, you can taste everything, nothing is too overpowering. How does he do it?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets," Antonia winked.
"I still think he's a god, just posing as a human on Earth to satisfy the hunger of rich mutants," he whispered to her.
"Oh, yes, because the entire universe revolves around you," she smirked.
"It's never been proven otherwise," he shot back playfully. "Do you really think my parents would lie to me about that for twenty-one years?"
"Apparently so."
"Oh, just shut up and eat your gumbo."
They talked for a while and Rogue ingested two bowls of the gumbo. "Can I ask a favor of you?" Warren asked her gently.
"Sure, what is it?"
"My parents want me to go to this party next week. Some of their clients and co-workers will be there. I'm supposed to bring a date," he grumbled. "Come with me, please?"
"Why me? Take Jean."
"Oh, Scott would love that," he rolled his eyes sarcastically.
"Well…Amara's tons better at those things than Ah am," Rogue mumbled.
"Bobby wouldn't appreciate that. Why don't you want to go?"
She twirled her spoon through the soup in her bowl. "Ah'm not really the kind of person that goes to fancy things like that. You'll want to make a good impression."
"Not particularly. I just want someone to talk to. Most of the people there are going to be in their thirties and forties, besides the obligatory arm candy," he explained. "The only reason I have to go is because my parents are in Tahiti."
"Why not bring Kitty? She's so pretty and smart, she'll blow everyone away."
"I actually thought about that. But, ya see, Kitty would put me in the spotlight. All I want is someone who will sit with me in the back of the room and hang out with me." Warren sighed. "Look, if you don't want to go, you don't have to. I can ask Kitty. I just thought we might have fun."
For a while she just stared into her bowl. Finally, she muttered, "Ah don't have anything fancy."
"I could get something for you," He offered quickly. "That does mean you'll go with me, right?"
"Fine, fine. But only because Ah owe ya."
"Fair enough."
They went back to eating in silence before Rogue glanced up at the digital numbers on the microwave's clock. "Ah, shit. It's getting' late."
He stood up and waved to Antonio, who was working across the kitchen. "Pack some of the gumbo up for Rogue, please."
"Oh, Ah don't need any," she protested.
"Nonsense!" Antonio scoffed, fetching a large Tupperware container and emptying some of the pot's contents into it. "Eat and enjoy."
"Thanks," she replied honestly. "Ah really appreciate it."
"I'll call you with the details of the party," Warren offered as they walked back to the elevator.
"Alright, alright." They went upstairs and she sighed. "Ah don't feel like driving. How bad d'ya think it'd be if Ah let Tabitha drive?"
"Depends if Kitty's sober enough to phase."
"With mah luck we'd probably fuse molecules with the Empire State Building or somethin'. Oh well…" She took the keys out of her pocket. "See ya later, rich boy. Hey, Tabs!"
Meanwhile, Kitty was having an equally fabulous time. She'd danced with all of the single men there, as well as a lot of the not-so-single ones. This earned her several glares from the dates of Warren's friends, but she didn't give a damn. It'd been quite a while since she had actually had fun.
Bobby spun her around one more time as the music ended. Kitty pushed a lock of hair behind her ears as she made her way towards the refreshment table to get a bottle of water and some spinach dip.
"And what might your name be?"
She turned quickly to see a handsome guy behind her, immediately recognizing him as Riley Egan. He ran a hand through his blond hair as green eyes ran over her form again. "Kitty Pryde."
"Kitty, huh?" He stood closer to her, leaning against the table. She could feel the heat off his body and the slightest hint of alcohol on his breath, even though he didn't look drunk. Maybe a tad intoxicated though. "Why be a kitten when you can be a tiger?"
"Well, I dunno," she purred lightly. "But I think I realized what Riley Egan would prefer I be."
He grinned, taking this as a hint to continue. "You know, Warren's place is nice, but I've got this great yacht that I think is rather cozy. I'm not sure how into boats or marine life you are, but no one has been on it that hasn't enjoyed the experience."
"Kit, c'mon!" Rogue called from across the room.
"That's a really nice offer, Riley. Unfortunately, I have to go." His face fell so dramatically, she couldn't help pulling eyeliner out of her purse and writing her number on the palm with the black pencil. "But call me sometime."
He stared at the digits for a second before grinning at her. "You bet I will, Kitty Pryde."
She returned the smile before walking towards her roommates. "Bye, Mr. Egan."
Tabitha wrapped her arm around Kitty's and they as well as Rogue, Amara and Bobby made their way down to the car Mr. and Mrs. Pryde had gotten her when she graduated and finally gotten her license. "And what was that Pretty Kitty?"
"Nothing," she replied innocently, climbing into the passenger seat.
"So, how many guys asked you out, Pryde?" Rogue grinned wolfishly.
"Why, I don't think that's any of your business. But I promise I didn't give my number out to too many…"
"Oh, you can't talk, Ms. I-Snuck-Away-With-Warren," Tabitha told her. "What were you guys doing anyway?"
"We were talking about Southern food and he asked his chef to make me some gumbo." Kitty saw her smile down at the Tupperware.
"Awwww," Kitty and Tabitha chorused from the front.
"Shut up, both of ya."
"Can you guys keep it down?" Bobby requested. "Amara just fell asleep."
"Yeah, ok, let the princess sleep," Tabitha sighed. "So, how do you guys think we're doing so far here?"
"Not bad. We haven't completely destroyed anything yet," Kitty pointed out.
"Well," Bobby joked. "It's only a matter of time." Tab and Kitty joined in with his laughter.
"Maybe Ah'm bein' pessimistic," Rogue muttered. "But Ah think this is just the calming before the storm."
A/N: Well, I'm not terribly thrilled with this chapter. I guess it just didn't come out exactly the way I wanted it to. But if you notice that certain parts are a little different, that's because I've been writing this at about 10 different times.
So, I'm sure most of you thought I'd fell off the face of the Earth. But I didn't! All my shit just hit the fan. The wound from my surgery got infected and I was very sick because of that, then I had to do all my make up work, I got a cold (still have it, actually—Thanks Bruna), and my house flooded. So now I'm staying at my grandparents and looking for a new place to live. Luckily, school's over so I don't have to put up with that shit. Anyway, updates for this and the rest of my stories will be erratic for about the next month. Hopefully it will even out after that though, so please bear with me.
Questions, comments, reactions and reviews are greatly appreciated.
Review Responses:
Jott Luver: Of course Jean and Rogue are friends! They may not be friendly 100 percent of the time, but they're always friends.
Rogue14: Thank you!
Bored247: Yeah, I'd probably be lazy with my powers too. My operation didn't go so bad though, and I just slept and watched TV all day so thankfully I wasn't too bored.
GothikStrawberry: I'm planning a lot of different pairings for everyone (except Jean and Scott, but they're already married). Yeah, I'd love to see other lawyers react to the way Rogue dresses and talks. Muahahaha…
Slickboy444: Since I'm making the X-men the so-called NYC superheros, I probably won't have Spiderman, the Fantastic Four or the Avengers in it (especially since I probably couldn't write any of them too well and some of the Avengers are part of the Brotherhood). But they won't have an easy ride either. I'm going to do a lot of stuff for Jean and Scott, I can't wait to write that. I'm glad you like it.
Agent-G: I'll probably bring Amanda back eventually, but I really haven't decided yet. Kurt and Kitty will definitely have some different pairings. I won't promise now that they'll get together, because I still haven't decided.
Elizabeth: There will certainly more Jott later on. I love writing for them. Thank you for reading!
Showstopper: Well, yes, Kurt and Kitty has been done to death. Poor Kurt and his absence of good significant others. I'll figure something out though…
Simba317: I'm not a huge Romy fan, but I don't mind writing it. It's not something totally odd like…like…Scott and Ray. But Rogue'll be with a few different people. Thanks for reading.
Realtfarraige: I don't think anyone would be brave enough to let Bobby and Ray into a science lab. I can't believe they actually passed chemistry. That'd be so much fun.
LilyEvansPotter4456: I like that Scott and Jean are married too. I'm glad you like it.
Jenskott: I know a lot of facts about Betsy (including the fact that she's apparently dead right now. Not quite sure how that happened), but I would need to know her personality in order to write her. I'm going to get some comics with her in them, so maybe I can learn.
Darkstorm5000: Sam will definitely be back and Amanda most likely will be. Thanks for reading.
Diaz F: I haven't decided who I really truly want Rogue in. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually though.
Mattb3671: Thanks for the constructive criticism for my action sequence. I'll try to put more detail next time.
Whylime: I'm so sorry it's taken me so long! I really and truly apologize! It's updated now!