Foxy Lady *HF*

By LeBeau

She can wound with her eyes
She can ruin your faith with her casual lies
And she only reveals what she wants you to see
She hides like a child
But she's always a woman to me

(skip some stuff)

She can lead you to live
She can take your or leave you
She can ask for the truth
But she'll never believe you
And she'll take what you give her as long as it's free
She steals like a thief
But she's always a woman to me

*****
JULY 31, 2000

On her first full day of being 17 years old, Rhiannon LeBeau was woken up by the sound of knocking on her bedroom door.  She tried to ignore it until the knocking grew louder.

"Who izzit?" she mumbled, barely audible.

"It's Jaimy, Burst! Open up!"

"Oh, come in."  Rhiannon forced herself to sit up, not bothering to fix her disheveled hair or change from the baggy tshirt and track shorts she had slept in.

SlashR came in carrying a small stack of papers.  "Rise and shine, Headmistress!  It's almost 11!  I've got some new applications for membership I thought we should go over."

"You woke me up before noon?  I told you, that's only allowed if the mansion's on fire, or if Heath Ledger shows up."

SlashR laughed and sat on the bed next to her, getting a ballpoint pen from his pocket.  He frowned as he examined the first paper.  "Where do they get these applicants from?  I mean, I've already pulled out the ones whose powers were to imitate bird calls, but now we've got yet another mutant with super strength?  As thought we need another one of those."  SlashR inhaled deeply, then sighed.  Suddenly his head snapped towards Rhiannon's direction, and his eyes had a far-off look in them as he stared at her.  "Whoah..."

Rhiannon raised an eyebrow.  "What now?  Phantom, did you put something on my face while I was asleep again?  'Cause if you did I swear I'll... I dunno, I'll do something bad to you..."  The black telepathic cat simply looked at her and yawned.

"No, it's not that.. I just... I never realized how pretty you are... I always thought--"

SlashR was rudely interrupted as Rhiannon snorted.  "What the... Jaimy, you're nuts.... Did you eat some bad cheese or somethin'?"

"I'm dead serious!  The way the sun hits your hair... Your eyes are the color of--"

"Pondscum.  My eyes are the color of pondscum."  Rhiannon glared at SlashR.  "Did it take you all night to come up with this little prank?  You woke me up, when you know I was up all last night at my birthday party, just to play a joke?!?  Gee, thanks, pal."

"I'm not playing a prank!  I came in to talk about these applications!  Its not my fault I just suddenly saw what must have been right in front of my eyes the entire time!"

Snorting in disgust again, Rhiannon snatched the papers from his hand and said, "Whatever, Romeo... Let's just do this.  and stop sitting to close to me.  You're practically on my lap now, in case you failed t'notice.

"Heh..oops, sorry."


*****



Rhiannon looked at herself in the mirror once SlashR left.  She still looked the exact same as she had the night before.  Maybe even worse because she had been too tired to wash her make-up off, so her eyes had dark smudges under them.  Her hair looked good, but no better then normal.  The last thing she wanted was one of her best friends suddenly falling in "love" with her.  Shrugging the thought off, she washed her face and then put on her usual dose of make-up.  She remained in the baggy tshirt and shorts, and as an afterthought messily put her hair in a clip.

She was rummaging throught the massive refridgerator looking for breakfast when SuperGrover walked up behind her.  "Hey Bursty."

"Hey!  Hey, have you seen the strawberry jelly?  All I want is a freakin' peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but noooooo, there's no strawberry jelly... We've got grape, apple, peach, raspberry, orange marmalade shit, kiwi, and fruits I've never even heard of, but no freakin' strawberry!!!"

"You should eat something better than that for breakfast... Have some pancakes."

"Do I look like I know how to make pancakes?"

"Well I'll make them for you, of course!"

"Do you know how?"

"Uh.... there's a cookbook around here somewhere, I think..."

"Don't we have a cook who's supposed to do this stuff for us?"

"Not on Mondays we don't"

"Mike, really... you don't have to make pancakes.  I hardly ever eat breakfast anyways... I'll just have cereal or something"

"I insist!  Have a seat and I'll get started on these pancakes!  It's the least I can do for a pretty lady!"

Rhiannon sighed and sat down.


*****


SuperGrover refused to let Rhiannon help put out the fire he started, insisting that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if so much as a hair on her head became singed.  As much as Rhiannon wanted to be nice, there was no way in Hell she could eat the black... lumps that were supposed to be pancakes.  Fortunately SuperGrover realized this.

"Well we'll just get you something else to eat... I'll get take-out."

"I just wanted a snack, not a five course meal... Is there any birthday cake left over?  Mmm... tasty and delicious chocolate cake..."

"Here, I know a great chef downtown. Let me take you out for breakfast."

"It's past noon.. Nobody even serves breakfast anymore.  Mike, chill out, I'm not even that hungry anymore... I really appreciate your help, but I'll just wait a little and get lunch somewhere... Are you sure I can't help you clean up?  This kitchen is... messy..."

"I'll have a maid do it.  Don't even give it another thought, okay?"

"Don't worry I won't... I gotta get going though.  I uh, have to go wash my car...."

"Okay!  Seeya later!!! I hope you have a good day!  I can help you wash the car, if you want... Or, let me know if you want to go out and have lunch together this afternoon!"

"Uh... sure... no problem..."


*****



Now that she was fully awake, Rhiannon decided to be a good little headmistress and talk to Blackfire about Hellfire "issues."  Blackfire was at first surprised by Rhiannon's sudden desire to actually do something, but her initial shock didn't last long.

"Hey Blacky... I think we have a serious problem.. I've been concerned about this for a few weeks, and I just can't take it anymore."

"Really?  Why didn't you come to me sooner?"

"I didn't think it was a big deal at first... but now I realize how grave the situation is..."

"Well what is it?"

Rhiannon stepped forward, put her hands on Blackfire's desk, and leaned forward in earnest.  "Well... y'know those vending machines next to the Danger Room?  Well... the drink one doesn't have Yoo-Hoo anymore.  I ran into the guy who refills 'em, and he said they weren't gonna do it anymore... I tried to talk him out of it, but he said that overall Yoo-Hoo just wasn't a big seller anymore."

"And you're upset about this?"  Blackfire said as she rubbed her nose.

"YES!!!"

"Then I'll have it corrected immediately.  You know that your comfort and well-being is one of my first priorities, Bursty... Is there anything else you need fixed?  New furniture for your room?  I still say you should move into a suite--you are Headmistress.  More Mountain Dew?  Bigger litter box for the cats?  You can have my IHFC account credit card and buy more clothing if you want.  Nothing's too good for my favorite Cajun!"

Rhiannon's eyebrow rose for the second time that day.  "Um... you okay?  I usually have to beg and coerce if I want a new pillow...  I just want Yoo-Hoo in the snack machines.. but I'll keep those offers in mind."

"Good!  Don't hesitate if you need anything!  I'll have to look at my schedule, to see if I have to cancel anything, but anytime you want to go shopping, give me a call!"

"Uh... okay."


*****



On her way out, Rhiannon saw Khalid Hunter go by.  "Hey Lion Man!  How's it going?"

Khalid turned around.  "Rhiannon!  Hello!  How does it feel to be 17?  Not that 17 is much different from 16... did you enjoy your party last night?  You looked like you were having fun."

"Yeah!  It was great!  I can't believe I got so much stuff... Hey, check out this bracelet Rogue got me... You oughtta like it since it's got a bunch of cats on it."  {{Finally,}} Rhiannon thought, {{somebody who's acting normal.}}

Rhiannon failed to notice the change of expression on Khalid's face as he stepped nearer.  She simply held out her wrist to show off her new present.

Khalid took Rhiannon's hand, examining the bracelet from every angle.  "Very nice!  I like it."  He stopped looking at the bracelet, but he didn't let go of her hand.

Rhiannon began to pull away as she said "Yeah, Rogue likes cats too..."  She hesitated.  "Uh, Khalid, dude, I need my hand back."

"Huh?  Oh, I'm sorry!  I didn't even realized what I was doing!"  Khalid studied her for a moment, then continued, "I think I'm going to compose a piece for you... You do like piano, right?  If not, I can learn to play something else."

Rhiannon sighed.  "Piano's fine... but you already got me a present, and I don't want you to go out of your way like that... I gotta get going, though... Uh, I promised Phantom... I would... take him to... McDonalds.  Yeah, good ole' Mickey D's..."

"Want me to drive?  I know how expensive gas is, I don't mind using my car..."

"I'm perfectly capable of doing it on my own, thank you very much... Oh yeah and don't forget you have training at 3:30 today."

"Will you be there, too?"

"Uh... I guess I could show up... I'll see you later."


*****



Rhiannon sat on her bed across from Phantom.  "This is just plain freaky, Phantom... From the moment I got up this morning people have been falling all over themselves trying to please me... They're either all in on a joke, or doing this for my birthday, or I suddenly got really good-looking, or something is majorly wrong.  I know it's not a joke, because Blackfire wouldn't be able to keep a straight face.. and I seriously doubt it's for my birthday, since it was yesterday, and I look the same as usual... Something is up."

{{Is there any kind of pattern in their behavior?}}

"Nah... just whenever they got close to me they were suddenly like 'Yes your highness, no your highness'... I mean I know I'm cute and perfect and all that good stuff, but no more than usual!"  Rhiannon frowned.  "Maybe they discovered I lost the powers of The Crow so they feel bad for me.."

Phantom stepped closer to Rhiannon.  {{You know, you smell weird.}}

"Gee, thanks... All this, and then on top of it my cat says I stink."

{{Not like that... There's just an unusual smell on top of all your normal ones... It's a good smell, just different.  It's very subtle, so most people wouldn't really notice you do, but since I'm a cat I can tell.}}

"I don't know why I would smell different... I'm wearing the same deodorant, the same CK1, I've used the same dryer sheets in the laundry... I haven't done anything out of the ordinary."

{{It's not exactly like that... I can't explain it... I don't think it's perfume or something like that.... Maybe it has something to do with your being alive again, 'cause you smelled different when you were dead, too... It's as though your personal scent has changed.. You know, everybody has their own scent, even if you humans don't really smell it.. and your own scent got really good.}}

"I've been alive over a month... I doubt it would just now kick in."



"But then he'd figure out I'm alive."

{{I doubt he'd tell, especially since it's illegal for a doctor to release patient information without permission, and you wanna know why people are being crazy, don't you?  I told you this whole bunch was no good..}}


*****



Rhiannon hesitantly knocked on Dr. Angelo Torres' door.  She was greeted by a loud sneeze, followed by "Please come in, it's open!"  (Only it sounded more like "please cobe in, id's oben")

"Hey... I was wondering if you could... I don't know, run some tests on me or somethin'.  Something weird has been going on.  I guess I need to make an appointment, huh?"

"Actually I'm free for the next hour or so.  What seems to be your problem?"  He sneezed again.  "Oh, excuse me.  I've got awful sinus problems... I can barely breathe in the summer."

"Have you tried Claritin for that?  Anyways, it started when I woke up this morning.  First SlashR started going on about how beautiful I was and he kept trying to get closer to me.  Then SuperGrover obsessed about whether or not I had a perfect breakfast.... I think he woulda flown in a chef from Paris if I'd let him... Then Blackfire acted like I was the queen, instead of her, saying I could go on a shopping spree with HER credit card and I could have whatever I wanted and stuff... Then Mufasa kept trying to hold my hand and said he was gonna write a song for me... And once when I was getting into my car, I saw Darque Feonix staring out the window at me.  Phantom, my cat, says I smell different, but that's all that's unusual about me."

"I see..."

"I know this all sounds silly, but it's unsettling!  I've always either been too young, too weird, or too obnoxious for any of the guys in the IHFC... now half of 'em are acting like I'm Aphrodite... And Blackfire is too!  Hell, even one of them maids we've got followed me around a while trying to wait on me hand and foot, till I yelled at her."

"And you just turned 17, correct?"  Rhiannon nodded as Dr. Torres continued, "Well, perhaps this is a mutant power that was previously dormant.... since you're still young, it is a possiblity."

"What kind of mutant power makes your friends idiots?!?"

"Well... and this is just a guess... I'll have to run tests to know for sure... But from what I've read in the IHFC Files, your father had a similar ability.. Though I think it was just luck in his case, and not an acutal mutation."

"And that is.."

"Pheromones."

"What-o-mones?"

"They're a type of hormones that only members of your species can pick up... Except animals can smell human ones for some reason... there are different kinds of pheremones, like the type that people emit when dogs smell 'fear' on them... and the type female insects use to attract males.... I think you're using that type.  In short, people just want to be around you, and to please you at all costs.  The only reason I'm not bowing and scraping is because I can't smell anything."

"Okay, THIS bites... You're telling me I'm stuck with this, and my friends are gonna act like morons whenever I'm withing smelling distance...FOREVER?!!?"

"Like I said, I'll have to run tests first. But most likely, yes.  However, since the feelings they get when near you are so irrational, I think that if they're told it's because of your mutation, and if they stop and think about it, it won't affect them so much.  And perhaps over time you'll learn to control it... but that's not my field of expertise.  Now, if you're ready, we'll run a few tests."

"Like I've got a choice."


*****



Dr. Torres' tests confirmed his suspicions, and Rhiannon refused to come out of her room.  She buried her face in George's mane as Phantom tried to think of a way to make the situation seem better.
{{Hey, this will solve the problem you were worried about before.  Now you have something that will give you political power in the Hellfire Club.... I'll bet this is what that crazy old lady was talking about when she said you'd gain new abilities.... This is really actually a good thing, Rhi.}}

"Yeah, generally... but I can't have my friends acting all crazy whenever I walk into the room."

{{We'll just warn them about it, like the doctor said.  Plus, at least this way you can get stuff.... Go ask Blackfire for a bird sanctuary.. Then give it to me.  I've never tasted toucan.}}

Phantom was knocked off the bed by a pillow as Rhiannon stood up.  "I guess you're right... but I still haven't eaten today.... let's go see if there's any cake left."

Phantom glared at her and smoothed his fur back into place with his paws.  {{Grouch.}}

Rhiannon was walking down the hall towards the kitchens, Phantom in her arms, when she heard something behind her.  She turned around to see SuperGrover, Impossible Man, Cyclops, and Rune shoving eachother around, each trying to get close to Rhiannon, and each with that strange glazed look in their eyes.

Rhiannon screamed in frustration and walked faster.

***


*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)