Quite A Show

[Orca]

A tall girl with skin far darker than the rest stood quietly behind the curtain, a vacant stare in her eyes. The other women were chatting away, hurriedly fixing their hair and checking to see that their fake eyelashes were attached properly. She wasn't like the other performers at the Hellfire Club. She didn't bother with the accessories and lavish hair styles, all the men wanted out there was the body anyway.

Orca's hair hung completely straight, the blue streaks shining in the dark light of back stage. She had make-up on but it wasn't by choice, none of what she did here was by choice. Even now she could still feel the prescence of the man who had taken her drifting through her head, making sure she was still under control. They had to take her off the drugs at night, her customers were disappointed when she passed out.

"Let's go ladies!" The announcer called and the curtain began to part. She straightened herself and strutted on stage behind the big blonde. She went to her pole and put her hands on it, arching her back and begining to shake her hips.

Damn it all, why hadn't she just let that shark kill her?

[Kai Starshine]

While everyone were warm and snug inside, Kai was starting to feel cold and the rain would surely add to that. He'd need to go back to the Institute fast. See, Kai had only been at the Institute for a night and a day now, and while he loved his freedom, Kai didn't want to end up on the streets so soon. He saw the building and smirked. Finally, a place of warmth. He'd come here for a bit before going back to the Institute.

While the bouncer was busy and everyone was looking the other way, Kai nipped in and went to the furthest hiding point of the big room. Examining the room, Kai then realised that he shouldn't be here. It was for lusty men, who wanted a good night. This made Kai feel nervous and he quickly turned invisible. The small mutant noticed that there was a show about to go on and he watched from the relative safety of a big plant. He'd be so busted if he was caught.

He then watched.

[Orca]

Orca stared out at the crowd, listless and bored. Her movements slowed until she was nearly standing still. The men in the front row started to boo and there was a flash of pain in the black of her head. She had to grab her pole to stay standing and she scowled.

"Shake that ass, girlie!" Echoed in her head.

Her limbs started to move without her control, her knees bending and she pressed against the pole, sliding down to the floor before straightening. She turned to the crowd and raised her arms over her head before pressing back as she ripped her shirt open, leaving her in a thin, nearly see through camisole.

She wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't come, she was a puppet.

[Kai Starshine]

Kai looked away when one of the girls got struck for not dancing. He quickly examined her, noticing her dark skin and unique hair style. She was beautiful and Kai immediately wondered why she was here. This place was...well to be put it simply, a brothel. Not that Kai didn't like seeing the girls dance but his sense of morality kicked in. He sat and watched for the whole show. Hopefully it wouldn't last long.

Fourty-five minutes later....

The men were filing out and Kai waited until everyone had gone. The girls got told to go back to the changing rooms. Kai dashed behind them. Panicking that someone would see him, Kai wanted to be invisible but instead phased down. Tenten and Morgan appeared and held onto him underneath the floor boards. Morgan became transparent and waited til the last girl had gone before making sure that it was just the dark skinned girl on her own. Tenten became transparent and closed the door and locked it. Kai then appeared with Morgan and Tenten beside him.

[Orca]

Orca gave up and let Casino manipulate her, it was just easier that way. Having him essentially rape her mind hurt but it was better than the lashes he gave her if she didn't do something right.

The show went on and he forced a pretty little smile onto her face. Soon she was left in nothing but stringy lingerie and her black boots that came up to her thighs.

This happened every night, and every night she wanted to drown the place and all the men that leered at her.

At last the damn thing was over and she strutted back off stage, into the waiting room. This was even worse, the waiting for a customer. All the other girls left after a while and she was left alone. Had she lucked out?

And then suddenly she heard the door click, she whirled and there was a kid standing there, younger than her.

"Don't tell me you're paying for services?" She snapped, and cringed at the blow that was sure to come, but Casino seemed busy taking money. He wasn't paying attention.

[Kai Starshine]

Kai simply stared but a moment later, he was back on track. He gestured for Morgan to stand guard, which she did. After what he had seen on stage he wanted to take her away from this. He didn't know how long she'd be here but knew what he had to do but he didn't how he was going to do it. First, Kai had to gain her trust.

"No, I'm not. I-I saw you on stage but that's not why I'm here. I initially came here to get out of the rain but now, if you want, I can help you get out of here," said Kai. Kai knew that he wasn't very good with his abilities but the ghosts would help. They'd scare the people away. But he needed to find out if she was a mutant and what her name was. Maybe she could come to the Xavier Institute.

He waited.

[Orca]

Orca stared at him for a moment, and then she had to choke back a laugh. This kid had to be delusional, had to be. Or he'd been put up to it by one of the Hellfire managers.

She shook her head, her hair falling down over her eyes. For someone as selfconcious as she was about her body, she was fairly relaxed wearing barely nothing in front of a teenage boy. Honestly, she was suprised he wasn't drooling.

"Kid, if you snuck in here, you better run. Men will be coming in here pretty soon, and if they find you, you're dead." She muttered, turning away. "And you can't help me, I don't think there's anybody in the world who could help me at this point."

[Kai Starshine]

Kai frowned and folded his arms over his chest. He should have anticipated this. Tenten urged him forward. They didn't want him to get caught. This girl clearly had no fight left in her but if Kai could rekindle her fighting spirit then maybe they could stand a chance. Kai took a step forward.

"Hello, do you not see the ghosts?! They can scare the living daylights out of a man!" said Kai, and as if on cue, Tenten and LG appeared. LG looking the scarier of the two. "Plus I have invisibility and intangibility on my side. He sounded more confident than he actually felt. He didn't know how this was going to turn out but he wanted her to understand that there were better places than this.

Again he waited.

[Orca]

Orca shook her head again, she barely batted an eye as the ghosts appeared beside him. She was all too used to strange things happening, nothing surprised her anymore.

"Wait, you're a mutant?" She asked, then spun as sounds echoed on the other side of the customer door. She lunged forward to knock him towards the other door.

"You've gotta get out of here. They won't care who you are or what you can do, you'll end up as a slave here. No matter how strong you are, I promise you can't beat them."

Even now she could feel Casino turning his attention to her as a customer approached. She was the last girl left. His control tightened on her, painfully tight, and she paled. Casino would be able to see the kid.

"GO! NOW!" She screamed as her body moved on its own to restrain him.

[Kai Starshine]

Kai was surprised when the older girl lunged at him and shoved him towards the other door and asked him if he was a mutant. Kai made a gesture for the ghosts not to do anything and nodded in answer to the girl's question. Okay, this was so not good. There were so many questions whirling around but the main thing for him was to get out of there before anyone else saw him.

He ran.

The ghosts were on his trail and made sure that he went somewhere where he wasn't noticed. They'd help him get her out of there soon. Tenten went to spy on the girl and would tell Kai when the coast was clear. It was obvious that she didn't want to be there.

He waited outside the backdoor, covered by the shadow untouched by the street lamp.

[Orca]

Orca felt Casino's rage as the boy fled and she jerked to a stop. There was another flash and she felt pain explode in the back of her head before crumpling to the ground.

The door opened and she could see Casino's boots along with one of his lackeys'. She tried to crawl to her knees but he held her in place.

A moment later the door opened and the Black King himself stalked in. She looked up at him, fury and terror rising. What was he doing here?

"I think we've been lenient with you up until now, allowing you some sense of freedom. But your little stunts tonight have ended that, disrupting the show was bad enough but allowing a mutant to roam freely in here? Well, we can't have that now can we?" He murmured, cupping her chin in his hand and looking down into her eyes.

He stepped back and her head thudded back to the floor. The lackey came forward and scooped her up, carrying her to the club's central, private chambers. He laid her down on a an open backed couch in the middle of the room. She looked around at the large group of men and instantly wished she could cover up.

Casino came to her and raised one hand, placing the other on her forehead. Then the room went black.

---

Three nights later, Alani stood backstage like the other girls. And like all the other girls, she was hurriedly checking her make-up and hair. She was clothed in black leather tight enough it was hard to breathe. Her hair hung in spirals, bouncing as she moved.

The call came and she strutted on stage, dancing with a rhythm and splendor she'd never shown before. Her overshirt was ripped off gracefully and the catcalls started. She pushed her knees apart and slapped the insides of her thighs.

Alani smiled at the crowd, happy they seemed pleased. She was the daughter of the Black Queen after all, and the number one performer in the show and after it. She sometimes took four men a night.

She turned and her hands played up the pole, her hips swiveling side to side.

She'd started performing almost a year and a half ago, when she turned eighteen. They loved her here, the daughter of the Black Queen and sure to take her place one day. There was nothing she could not do here.

She slowly began unlacing her corset.

[Kai Starshine]

Kai looked at the building. Last time he had come he had met a girl, who he secretly hoped was still here and remembered him, although their encounter had been less than happy. She had told him to run before the men made him into a slave. He had ran away with the help from his ghosts and had told Gambit what had happened. With a little persuasion, he had agreed to help. They were here now to help a damsel in distress.

As Gambit came up to the pavement and parked it, Kai felt a sense of excitement and fear. He was starting to wonder if this was such a good idea. He swallowed the doubt aside and became determined.
"Well, this is it," said Kai. He could hear the hollering of men as they cheered on the dancers. It was sickening. They sounded like wolves howling.

Kai waited for something to happen.

[Remy LeBeau]

" 'member, first person ta alert any attention gets ta really fight me in danger room fo' a month." Killing the engine, Remy left the keys on the dash, should the students need to quickly leave. Though if they did, it would not be because of Gambit. Taking his sunglasses off, Remy left those on the dash as well, revealing his demonic eyes. Getting out of the car, Remy parked at the back of the old church for a reason, to access their rear door. Pulling a leather-bound tool kit from the inside of his coat, Remy unfolded it in his hands as he walked to the solid back door, locked obviously.

Withdrawing his preferred tool for the mission, Remy went to work on the lock, unlocking the door in less then a minute. Child's play. Returning the tool, Remy folded his kit up and put it back in his coat, silently swinging the door inward. Stepping into the back of the building, Remy closed the door behind him as he walked through a dark corridor, clearly left unused for quite a while. The old church was a labyrinth of corridors and halls, converted to a gentleman's club and living quarters for the select few.

Following his instincts, and ears, Remy headed for the sound of female voices, quickly finding himself not just backstage, but in the back of the dressing room. Now was when the Gambit charm kicked in, assuring that they would not scream and give him away. "Bonjour mon belle femmes. Seems I mus' be a little lost, anyone care t' be de one t' lead me back t' de front?" Smiling to the many women, his eyes scanned the crowd for the girl with dark skin and purple hair.

[Orca]

Orca's fingers flared gracefully as she whipped her corset off. She was left in a black bra with white lace trim. The cheers echoed off the walls.

A man in the front row stood and went to find a worker, he didn't want to wait. For the right amount of cash, the manager had been known to pull women off stage to return to the rooms in the back.

---

The girls backstage nearly squealed as a man appeared. He spoke kindly and Bianca smiled sweetly, pulling at her vest slightly to reveal more of her body. It'd be nice to have a customer who wasn't a jerk.

"Sure, I can show you the way sir. Unless you'd rather stay back here with me." She reached for his hand, leading him towards the two doors. The one on the left led to the showroom.

[Remy LeBeau]

"Sir? Ya be too formal mon ange, call me Remy." They each fell into their parts perfectly, and not a single one of the women questioned his presence in the back. "Tell me 'bout yaself, do ya enjoy bein' here?" The girl he was sent to look for wasn't there, though Remy would find her. Following the woman, Remy scanned his surroundings, memorizing the layout of thee building. "Dere anyone here who don' like bein' like here? None o' ya are forced ta be here, are ya?" odd questions to ask a dancer, but Remy knew she would answer. They always did. They would do anything to try and please the Cajun, though he didn't have time for that, he was on a mission. "Ya seem far too young t' be needin' t' work."