Every Rose Has Its Thorn *HF* Chapter 5

By LeBeau

"The problem is, I'm not sure I can tell you... I feel it's something you need to know, but it might hurt you."
"Well tell me, and we'll just find out."
"Um... how to put this... DarkWolf, I think Outburst is having an affair."
"Excuse me?"  He put down the cleaning rod in his hand and looked at her suspiciously, "I don't think--"
"Well I wasn't sure at first... I figured she was only speaking with a friend on the telephone a few days ago... but she kept talking about how much she missed him, and once or twice she said 'make sure Justin doesn't find out!', and at the end she said 'okay, I'll see you later--love ya!"
DarkWolf tried very hard not hit something.  After a moment, in a forced voice he asked, "Do you know who she was talking to?"
"Oh, his name was John something.  She also called him--oh, what was it-- Don Juan, I think?"
"DARK CLAW?!?  No way, he's one of my best friends!  They don't think of each other that way anyways.  You probably just misunderstood."
Rose put a hand on either side of DarkWolf's face.  "Justin, I'm sure there's something going on between them.  Would I lie to you?"
DarkWolf tried to look away from her.  "Uhhhhhh... no?"
"I'm sorry to tell you this... I just thought you should find out before you end up catching them in the act."
"Well, I--"
"There's more... This morning, I happened to be looking outside my window when I-- when I saw them.  This John guy got out of a taxi cab, and she all but knocked him onto the ground hugging him...  then they went inside, to Outburst's room... They haven't come out since then, and they turned up the music awfully loud.. as though they were trying to cover something up."
"Well I'm going to go confront them right now.  They can't just betray me like this and get away with it!"
Rose smiled and patted him on the back.  "You go tell them who's boss.  Want me to come with you?"
"No, I don't want you to be around in case me and John get into a fight."

*****


Outburst froze in mid-dance as the door all-but-flew off and DarkWolf entered.  She saw the look on his face and indicated for Dark Claw to turn down the volume of "Baby Got Back."  DarkClaw looked at DarkWolf strangely and put down his beer.
"Hey Justin, nice to see you alone."  Outburst muttered, "What seems to be the problem?"
"You tell me."
"Que?"
"Oh stop lying already, Rhiannon.  I know there's something going on between you two.  Rose told me."
"Who the hell is Rose?"  Dark Claw demanded.
"A better friend than you, apparently! I can't believe you--"
Outburst wanted very desperately to throw something, preferably large, and preferably at Rose.  "You've gotta be kidding me!  How can you believe her over me?  You've known me for three years, dated me for over two, and yet you believe this girl, the one you met a week ago?!?  WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?"
"Nothing is wrong with me!  I think that this is the first time I'm actually seeing clearly... I can't believe I didn't notice it before, I just figured you guys were good friends.  Does our friendship not mean anything to you, John? I mean, I know she's got that pheromone thing, but come on!  You son of a bitch."
"Excuse me?  DarkWolf, you shouldn't be makin' accusations if you can't back 'em up.  I can get any girl, why the hell would I take yours?  And how dare you accuse Rhiannon of something like that?  You know she's better than that.  From what I hear, you're the one that needs to be watched."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"  DarkWolf growled, clenching his fists in anger.
"It means you've been spending an awful lot of time with the new chick...  I gotta be honest when I say I couldn't blame Rhiannon for cheating on you if she did!  Oh, what're you gonna do, hit me?  You deserve an ass kicking for calling me a liar and treating Rhiannon like that."  Dark Claw studied DarkWolf's face, watching for anything that would betray his next move.  Obviously his fellow Texan needed to have some sense knocked into him, and he wouldn't mind being the one to do it, not when his honesty and Outburst's reputation were at stake.  He saw the muscles in DarkWolf's arm tense, and blocked an uppercut just in time.

*****


Outburst watched the two "J's" roll around on the floor for a few minutes.  Neither fighters appeared to be holding back, yet neither of them appeared to have the upper hand.  In time though, she knew DarkWolf would eventually win due to a slightly superior physiology.  Which meant she needed to end the fight, since in some twisted, incorrect way, the entire situation had been caused by her.  Or, more correctly, Rose had blamed it on her.  Either way, she didn't want them to hurt eachother (even if at that moment she would have liked to slap DarkWolf silly).
She took a deep breath and managed to wedge herself inbetween the two angry young men.  Grabbing each of their shirt collars, she slowly and carefully began filling the shirts with a dim, steady green energy charge.  The slightest mistake could kill all three of them, but if she pulled it off she'd look really tough.  Once the two fighters noticed what she was doing, they froze and looked at her expectantly.
"Just knock it off, alright?  John, thank you for defending me.  Justin, you're a dumbass.  John, please promise me that if I let you go you'll behave yourself."
"But he--"
"John..."
"I promise not to hit him.  Right now."
"Thank you."  She released the charge from DarkClaw's shirt and shoved him down onto the edge of her bed.  She expected DarkWolf would make something out of that.
"What about me?"  DarkWolf asked.
Outburst stood on the tip of her toes to look DarkWolf straight in the eyes.  "Justin, look at me.  Look at me.  Do you really think I would cheat on you?  I may have a lot of bad habits, but lying is not one of them."
"Yeah, right.  Why should I believe you?  Your father wasn't exactly known for his honesty.  Like father like daughter, right?"  DarkWolf was trying to look Outburst in the eyes.  He couldn't though.  Everytime he did, his head swam and his vision went out of focus.  He'd been feeling that way a lot, lately.  Come to think of it, the only time he thought very clearly was when he was with Rose.  Did that mean anything?  He stopped thinking when Outburst punched him.  His jaw dropped in surprise.  Despite his enhanced strength, the punch didn't hurt as much as it normally would have, but it still made his ears ring.  The emotion behind the punch was clear.  Outburst's father was a touchy subject at best.
"Don't bring my father into this!  Justin, I think you need to take a closer look at Rose.  She's lying about something, I'll tell ya that much.  And if you can't trust me, then I ain't putting up with it.  I don't want to see you until you can act like a reason'ble human being and stop accusing me of shit that I would never do."
"You can't tell me what to do, I'm the Black King!  Rose says that I have a very important j--"
"Rose can take your 'crown' and shove it up her ass for all I care."
"You shouldn't talk to me like that.  I could kick you out for treason."
"No you couldn't.  Rogue and the others wouldn't let you because they all can see that you're psycho!  Now please, get out of my room before your shirt explodes.  I can only hold onto a charge for so long."
Once DarkWolf was on the other side of her bedroom door, she finally withdrew the kinetic energy from his shirt and then slammed the door.
She turned and looked at Dark Claw, trying not to cry, and said "That bitch has got to go.  Soon."

*****


When angry, DarkWolf liked to hit things and use his muscles.  The Danger Room was in use, so he had to settle for the Weight Room.  Taking his anger and putting it into use with physical exertion normally calmed him down.  Finishing his fight with Dark Claw probably would have worked better though.  He still could not believe that Outburst and Dark Claw would betray him like that.  And nobody else seemed to believe it!  At least he had Rose on his side, even if she did make him feel weird.
He was just coming out of the weightroom, toweling off his face, when Torn Rain bumped into him.
"Hey King-type-man!  I'm glad I finally got ahold of you alone..."
"Hello, Spencer.  What can I help you with?"  DarkWolf growled.
"I just have a question."
"Okay..."
"Well, is it normal for fellow members of the Black Hellfire Club to threaten to kill each other?"
"No... why, is somebody trying to bully you?"
"No, not me... but you know the other day when Psishot pushed Rose into the pool?  Well after you left, she threw him across the room--I didn't know she could do that-- and said that if he ever made her look bad like that again she'd kill him.  I just figured that she wasn't exactly supposed to do that."
"Rose?  She would never do that!"
"I was standing right there when it happened.  I saw him fly across the pool room and get slammed into the wall, then get thrown into the pool."
"Yeah right...  Did Outburst put you up to this?  She did, didn't she?  Why am I not surprised..."
"No way!  I put myself up to this, thank you!  It's true though... you're the only one that likes her... I mean yeah, she's hot, but she's MEAN!"
"Whatever.  Don't you have some training to do?"
"I didn't want to talk to you anyways."  Torn Rain stalked away from DarkWolf with his nose upturned, somehow managing to look both regal and ridiculous.

******


DarkWolf didn't feel like dealing with anymore people at that moment, so he opted to take a shower in the locker room (Luckily, the maids actually cleaned in there, a rare luxury in any place).  He spun around as he heard somebody enter.  Rose was standing there looking at him.  Wearing a purple towel.  Wearing only a purple towel.
He gulped and stuttered, "Uh, h-h-hi Rose."
Rose grinned mischieviously.  "Hello Justin.  I thought you might like some company...  I overheard your fight with Rhiannon and her lover."
DarkWolf winced.  Even with the world's hottest chick standing in front of him, nearly naked, hearing 'Rhiannon and her lover' hurt.  "Uh, Rose, I don't think you should be in here...  Not when I'm-- Not when you're-- Oh geez."
Rose shrugged.  "What's wrong, Justin?  Don't you think I'm pretty?"
"Of course!  It's just, well, I, um...."
"If Outburst can have fun, why can't you?  Oh come on, it won't kill you!"
"I--um--hey!  Oh, wow.  Oh.  Um.  Geez."  DarkWolf wanted to cover his eyes as Rose dropped the towel.
"Whoopsies!  Silly me."  Rose smiled and took a step closer, looking DarkWolf straight in the eyes.
In a final attempt to do the right thing, DarkWolf tried as hard as he could to think of Outburst.  No, that was helping.  Weren't you supposed to think of baseball?  Oh, this was not good.  Even if Outburst had cheated on him, that didn't mean this was right.  Especially not when she was a new teammate.
"Oh, come on... you know you want to."
DarkWolf made this mistake of daring to look and found himself staring into Rose's sparkling violet eyes.  He was lost in a sea of purple as Rose pulled him in for the first kiss, and all thoughts of morality went down the drain.

***CHAPTER 6***

Rose was sitting at a table, carefully painting her nails a dark shade of purple, humming quietly, when the light changed and she noticed somebody standing in front of her.  "Do you mind, Outburst?  You're blocking my light, and I've got to get ready for dinner with Justin tonight.  You understand."
That's when Outburst dislocated Rose's jaw with a backhanded slap.  "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY TO MY BOYFRIEND, YOU LYING BITCH?!?"  She heard the light grating of bones as Rose's jaw seemingly fixed itself.
Rose then smiled and put the cap back onto the nail polish.  "Poor, confused little Outburst.  Let's talk, shall we?"
"We shall be doin' a lot more'n that in about 5 seconds!  And for God's sake, would you drop the Australian act?  It ain't workin' anymore."
"As you wish."  Rose shrugged, her accent now distinctly English.  She sighed and continued, "I tried doing this the easy way, but a certain complication arose.  A certain small, blonde, loud-mouthed complication.  Whatever will I do with you?  You have to make a choice, Rhiannon LeBeau.  Swear not to get in my way, and I can make your life very comfortable.  Well, more comfortable than it already is."  She gave Outburst's faded jeans and tshirt a meaningful, disdainful glance.
Outburst chose to ignore the insult to her clothing.  "Gee, Rose, I think I'll hold out for something better.  The next option had better involing kicking your scrawny little ass."
"Or I can remove you.  That would be easier on me, but I'm trying to be nice."
"Remove me, my ass!  I'm losing interest, so tell me-- what exactly am I 'complicating'?"
"DarkWolf can never truly be mine as long as you remain around him.  Human emotions are just too hard to erase."
"And why exactly are you so bent on 'owning' DarkWolf?  There are other, less complicated, single guys in New York."
"And you're welcome to them!  I need DarkWolf if I'm going to take over the Black Hellfire Club.  Come to think of it, you can probably have him back when I'm done, if he's still alive."
"Well I'm so sorry to disappoint you, but I don't plan on going anywhere.  Find another Club to take over.... SuperGrover can prob'ly fit you into his schedule if you ask real nice-like."
"I don't know why you're so set on DarkWolf.  I mean, is he really your type?  You seem to go for the troubled rock star/bad boy thing... and DarkWolf is far, far too nice for you."
"Right, and you're just fuckin' Mother Teresa..."
Rose smiled.  "Let me have him, and I'll give you anything... Even Heath Ledger, if you so wished."
"I've got what I want, and I'll be damned if you can take it."
"I don't know why you insist on doing this the hard way..."
"The only thing that's gonna be hard is draggin' your sorry carcass outta here!"
Outburst ducked and rolled just as a lightning bolt whizzed past her, followed by several more.  Scolding herself for not having cards with her, Outburst jumped up and grabbed Rose's bottle of nail polish, charging the bottle with energy even as she threw it in a move too fast for Rose to catch.  Rose fell over the other end of the couch as the bottle hit her forehead and exploded.
Outburst began to sigh in relief, but her breath caught in her throat as Rose stood up, staring at Outburst angrily.  "That hurt."  The look in her eyes reminded Outburst of Mel Gibson's crazy eyes in Lethal Weapon 1.  Of course, Mel was a lot cuter when he did it.
"Holy shit!  Um, Rose, you're supposed to, like, die now.  Please?"  She had no more time for sarcasm as Rose seemingly flew across the room, hands wrapped around Outburst's throat.
They'd rolled around on the floor for a few moments, Rose resorting to hair-pulling, scratching, and slapping, while Outburst stuck to good ol' fashioned punching, wishing she could stand up long enough to dropkick Rose.  As it was, she was growing concerned.  A no-powers fight with an underdeveloped, unarmed girl who probably weighed 20 lbs less than her should have taken no more than 2 minutes.  She was obviously stronger than Rose, and more trained in fighting techniques, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to get a decent blow in.
Finally Outburst managed to shove Rose away long enough to jump up, roundhousing Rose in the face.  To her dismay, instead of Rose falling unconscious (that's what usually happened, at least), Outburst was thrown across the room as though by an explosion.  She took the fact that it killed her to breathe as a sign that her ribs were either cracked or broken.  Praying that her lungs didn't get punctured, she dragged herself upward, holding onto a coffee table.  Outburst was tough, but she didn't take getting slammed against a wall very well.
Outburst was reaching towards the underside of the coffee table, where DarkWolf had affixed many of his 'emergency guns', when Rose stepped forward.  "Oh, I don't know why I'm even bothering with physical exertion.  Look, you ruined my nail polish!"  She snapped, and Outburst discovered that she could no longer move.  Smoothing her hair down with one hand, Rose looked pitifully at Outburst and said, "Well, I gave you a choice.  You chose to be removed.  Sorry, dearie."
In a brief flash of violet light, Outburst and all signs of the skirmish vanished.

***CHAPTER 7***

Okay so for one reason or another this story never actually got finished.   So this is what happened:

Everybody wondered where Outburst was, Rose told them she'd run away with Dark Claw.  Nobody but DW believed it, of course, but they didn't know where to begin looking.  In actuality Rose had transported Rhiannon to the middle of some forest.  Outburst wandered around, trying to find her way out, as Rose wormed her way even farther into DW's life.  Then Outburst comes across somebody.  A cute, Gambit-ish guy with white hair, purple eyes and pointy ears.  It's Robin Goodfellow, AKA Puck, AKA Rose's father.  Now he's not quite the mischief maker he used to be (he's matured a bit, he still enjoys a good prank but he knows it's against "The rules" to mess with the lives of mortals too much).  So he takes Outburst back to the BHC mansion and yells at Rose and tells everybody that Rose is a very ill-behaved child (El Nino was one of her temper tantrums, for example) and sends Rose back to merry old England, punishing her in some way (I don't know; maybe no leaving England for a year or something).  Rune is like "Ah-ha!  I knew she was an elf!"  Phantom had secretly seen Rose and DW in the shower (my poor kitty) and he told Outburst.  Outburst flips out, so as a favor to DW who really is a bit of a victim in this, Puck kisses Outburst and makes her forget.  So everything is all happy again. Hoo-RAY.  Only later Phantom says "screw Puck and screw DW" and tells OUtburst ONCE again what really happened, the whole story.  She decides that while DW is a great big butthead, Rose DID kinda mess with his head, so she won't kill him or break up with him.  However, from then on things are pretty tense with them and they'll never be the happy go lucky couple they once were.
*deep breath*  I think that's it.
******

*OUTBURST*
STILL The Girl You Want
Teamless, Positionless
Mufasa's #1 Fan

"Karate isn't effective unless it's accompanied by yelling." ~Catwoman (in the old 1967 Batman and Robin serials)