The Mansion was a rainbow coalition of mutants. They had big ones, green ones, short ones, pretty ones, and dangerous ones. What they all had in common?

Mischief.


Glue, Library, 7:00pm

Only nerds hung out in the library during summer break. That's how he knew LL would be there. Glue scribbled a note and left it sticking out of the top of a book, sure that only his friend would get the clandestine implications.

Then, he slipped out of the library. No way anybody saw him and of course, he was terribly pleased that nothing had gotten stuck to him. Koga the Chameleon kid was gonna know who the real ninja was now.

Lizard Lips,
Meet in CC's room on the bottom bunk after light's out. Bring everything. It's go big or go home time.
Glue

Copy Cat, back hall of the boy's wing, 10pm

Jude smiled at his preparations. Word was being spread and for once, he didn't have to do anything about it.

He'd made sure his roommate had other accommodations for the evening, hung a sheet under his top mattress so that the bottom bunk would be veiled, and he'd even recovered his camping lantern from the last time Gemma had confiscated it. Pillows all around. And, of course, he had his stash.

Pringles, a massive plastic jar of pretzels with peanut butter inside, Oreos, a couple vouchers for a promise to do laundry or an extra KP turn, Mother's frosted animal cookies, a homemade snack mix from Ghost... the list went on. He never cared for the straight up candy others brought so he typically wagered for the good stuff, like his most prized possession, a mostly full bag of dark chocolate covered blueberries.

He had the cards and the automatic shuffler all ready. No cheating allowed. No girls either.

They started to trickle in with pillowcases full of edible or trade-able treasures. Since they'd stopped hustling money out of one another, the game had gotten a lot friendlier and the Mansion Staff tended to turn a blind eye.

"No telepathy this time?" Spike, aptly named for his extra pointy bits, wagged a finger in Jude's direction.

"My hand to Glob, I've got pyrogenesis." Jude put one hand on his heart and raised his other in a sort of swear. He lit a few fingers on fire, for proof and impressive effect.

"It's GLUE. Not Glob." He had slightly greenish, sticky skin and a bad habit of marking cards. In inadvertently, of course.

"Right."

"CC got it from his hot piano tutor, no doubt." This from a younger boy, Kitten, the white tiger shifter.

"Hard not to rub elbows while sharing a piano." Jude confirmed. "But if I kissed her, I think she'd just laugh at me. Or torch me."

"What about that girl that was in our English class last year? What is her power anyway?"

"Not sure. Not gonna take it and THEN find out, though."

"Hey, Where's Lizzy?"

"Lizard Lips?"

"Yeah. I left him a note."

"Maybe he's busy."

"He did make X-men."

"Still, he used to come." They held a brief moment of silence together for the friend they all assumed had abandoned them for a life of mutant adventure.

It is a truth universally acknowledged among the teenage population, that the best fun can only be had after "lights out." That was how Margo knew that whatever the kids down the hall were doing, it was worth it.

The Mansion was silent as she made her way down the familiar hallway on bare feet, the purple and lime colored glow sticks circling her wrist the only illumination. It was all part of the fun, part of the excitement that came from breaking the rules.

The invitation was tucked in her back pocket- well, technically it wasn't her invitation, just a note addressed to "Lizard Lips" that she'd happened upon in the library, not that it mattered- along with a dozen ice cream coupons she'd been hoarding. Also a box of chocolate-covered cherries tucked under her arm, because while the note had specified to bring everything, she had figured if it was a get-together or something, she might as well just bring foodstuff.

She was nearing the end of the boys' wing now, where she'd seen a rather spiky young man headed earlier that evening, and the girl could definitely hear them. Quiet whispers. An occasional muffled burst of laughter. She raised her glow stick adorned arm and peered at the room numbers, a rather useless endeavor seeing as she had absolutely no idea which room belong to CC. Whoever he was.

She tried the door handles of the rooms closest to where the sound seemed to be coming from; locked, locked, unlocked. She went for the unlocked one, hesitating for the briefest of moments before pushing the door open.

Snick.

Moment over.

"Well, let's get started. I don't want to wait for him all night. Pony up, boys. Let's see what you got." Spike dumped his pillowcase out next to him on the bed and the others followed his lead.

Jude whistled out his appreciation.

Dark chocolate Milky Way. Gummy worms. Crybabies. He saw lots of stuff he could gamble for.

"Is that a grilled cheese sandwich?"

Kitten's ears perked up. Literally. Those furry white triangles were one of his worst tells. "Well don't just stand by the door. Get your fat butt in here!"

Snickers all around. Koga was by no means fat, but he sometimes did watch his figure. You know. Because he was the oldest of them all, technically, and this metabolism wouldn't last forever.

Glue peeked out from behind the sheet and everyone could tell something was wrong without him having to say a word. They just knew each other too well after all these games.

"It's a-a..."

Spike peeked out over Glue's shoulder. "Dude. Who invited the girl?"

S*&#! Jude had hidden a homeless girl in his room for months without anyone noticing and she just up and disappeared on him one day. He told her she could always come back. He'd gladly hide her again, but she had the WORST timing. The Frenchman sort of fell out the side of the bunk in his mad scramble to protect Lucy.

He started to stammer out his apology before he actually caught sight of the girl. "Guys, I can explain, I-"

Blink. Jude had to take a mental second to regroup. This was no homeless girl. She was a resident. A resident with her contribution of food wagers in her hands. "Did not invite her. Nope."

He cleared his throat and got to his feet. This was his room and since he was the only one in full view now, that made him spokesperson for this little get together. He knew the girl's face. They had a few classes together if he wasn't mistaken, but he'd never actually gotten to know her.

What was her name again? Mo... something... Melanie? Margarite?

"You here to play?" May as well start with the obvious.

Margo nodded to Jude, in answer to the self-elected spokesperson's question. "Yeah," she said, glancing over with a raised eyebrow towards the bunk. "For the record, guys, I didn't know this was an invite only event."

See, the problem wasn't that she didn't know what they were playing. Or even that Jude couldn't remember her name- not that she minded, because he was cute when he frowned like that, not that she was interested either. It was the fact that they were guys, and she...was a girl. Nobody seemed to know what to do with her.

It was so hard not to feel like she didn't belong. But she would- she did- belong. Despite whatever Jude and the rest of them thought; they'd see soon enough.

"So. You all have code names in here?" Her tone was curious as she addressed the boys, but she couldn't resist a little poke at Jude. Surveying first the young Frenchman who'd apparently expected someone else- well, fine, they all had, but him in particular- then the room, she took a stab. "CC stand for your cubic centimeter's worth of coordination? sounds about right."

"They call me Margo," she added, almost as an afterthought, with an apologetic smile in Jude's direction.

"Then for the record how'd you know about it?"

"Stuff it, Spike. You never did know how to treat a lady." Jude's response was quick, almost practiced. It prompted a chorus of 'oooooh's from the other two boys. "She's got enough to ante in and this isn't a democracy."

> "CC stand for your cubic centimeter's worth of coordination? sounds about right."

Kitten let out a big HA! before he caught himself. Not supposed to laugh with the enemy.

"Copy Cat or Carbon Copy. You know, like the CC on an email." He was used to little jabs and smoothed right past hers. The way guys established dominance in a group like theirs was through these kinds of little power plays.

"If you get caught with a girl in your room..."

"Exactly. MY room. MY choice." Hmm. Were those chocolate cherries? "Can't be much worse trouble than harboring three othser knuckleheads after hours." Besides, it wasn't like they we're making out. Or would make out in front of so many witnesses. Jude assessed how very pretty Margo 's face was and downgraded his chance to make out with her to a solid 'never.' Pretty girls didn't hang out with losers like him.

He nodded. Yep. Never. Also, he'd successfully wrangled the non-vote in his favor. Glue looked nervous. Kitten was probably thinking he could scheme the girl out of all her antes. And Spike? Well, he never liked anything too much.

"After you," Jude motioned to their curtained hiding place, "though we're going to need a better call sign for you besides Margo. No offense."

"So what do you do?" That was Glue and his powers were pretty obvious. He wiped his hands on his jeans and went to open one of his Air Heads.

"You know how to play, right?" Kitten was going to be disappointed if she did.

And just like that, she was in.

Margo cast an eye over the contents of the curtained bunk, noting the cards and automatic shuffler buried halfway beneath the piles of candies and chips. Aha. So it was to be poker, then? Her own box of cherries and wad of ice cream coupons joined the lot. The note to Lizard Lips she handed to Spike for closer examination; he'd been asking for it, after all.

"Think of it as telepathic radio waves." The girl shrugged to Jude, as if to say she could care less what they called her. She didn't miss the way the boys stiffened up at the word. Cue eye-roll. "Relax. I don't cheat. Or read minds, for that matter."

Though it did make for a nice party trick, with the way they were all huddled together. A hint of eager anticipation lingered just long enough to be noticeable.

She knew how to play, right? "Vaguely," Margo frowned. Jude was a charming gentleman and all, and the others were putting up with her with varying levels of reluctance, but she doubted any of them would hesitate to take advantage of her ignorance, the cat-eared one in particular.

Well, it couldn't hurt to let them have their fun. She'd just have to learn.

This time it was Spike's turn to bark out a laugh. She'd probably handed off the one thing that would make him think better about her: something she'd nicked from someone else.

"Lizzy's not coming, alright. But probably 'cause he never got invited." Spike passed the note to Glue who turned slightly more greenish.

Telepathic radio waves that don't read minds? "Psh. What good are those kinds of waves then?" Had to be good for something. Otherwise, she would never have noticed she had any telepathic waves at all. Jude chewed over the might-be's of Margo's power while Margo and the guys were busy eyeballing each other. Did his feelings of excitement linger a moment longer than normal? So... some kind of empath maybe?

"So what do we call you?"

"Eh. Maybe she can earn a nickname tonight."

"The game," Kitten interrupted their speculation with a flourish and a Twizzler sticking out of his mouth, "is Texas Hold 'Em." Kitten took up the cards and the shuffling machine, sending the little flaps of paper through with a practiced air. "Three cards in the river that we all share, two cards all your own that you don't show anyone else."

"It's about reading people as much as knowing what beats what." Glue affirmed.

Jude opened his snack mix to munch and offered some to Margo. She probably wouldn't have enough ante to snack on AND bid with. It was full of rice crackers, those spicy little brown things, wasabi peas, and strips of seasoned seaweed. Ghost had weird taste, but despite how it looked, it was actually quite good. Just low value currency.

"Correction, telepathic radio waves that are good for nothing." Jude didn't quite seem to believe her on the mind-reading part, and she couldn't blame him; nobody quite ever expected such a pathetic telepath as herself. Margo tapped a finger on the side of her head to illustrate the point, "Broadcast. One way channel."

A thought came to her, and she turned toward Jude again. Copy Cat, Carbon Copy. Not that she had any idea how that worked, but come to think of it, it was possible... "You can take it for a spin, if you'd like."

A Twizzler dangled from Cat-ears' mouth. He was practically begging for a recreation of that scene from the Lady and the Tramp, but however amusing Margo found that thought to be, she kept it to herself. After all, he'd been nice enough to explain the game for her. Texas Hold 'Em, thank goodness. She actually sort of understood this one. It was in just about every old movie she'd ever seen. She was so qualified to play. "Cool, cool. Thanks."

Crunch. Munch. The snack mix was actually pretty good, and the girl sorta found herself wishing that she'd thought to bring more stuff. That was just too bad.

"So, we going to play?"

"Ah. No thanks. I'd rather not have an unknown power. Might throw off my mojo." Jude teased. Honestly, he just didn't want a distraction mid-game. His power was pretty satiated at the moment, having just recently processed his piano teacher's power. He wasn't yet tempted to switch.

> "So, we going to play?"

They played. Kitten dealt. Good were exchanged.

Soon it was clear that Kitten, while talented (and lucky), was impatient and would bet on whims. Spike would almost never gamble, only playing when he was certain of victory (whether that turned out to be true or not). Glue mostly bet on turns where the pot was full of things he liked (hint: he would eat anything).

And Jude? He played conservatively, watching and calculating his every bet. When he was up in snacks, he would use his lead to bully others out of being able to bet. When he was down, he payed more attention to his friends than the cards.

"Glue, if eat much more, you're not gonna be able to keep playing."

"I had to. That grilled cheese was gonna get cold. And chocolates have expiration dates too, you know."

As Nolan Bushnell once said, "All the best games are easy to learn and difficult to master." Texas Hold 'Em, as Margo soon discovered, was no exception.

She watched carefully and played boldly, guessing and second-guessing. It took the girl a few rounds to fully get the hang of the game, and she had the worst hands, like, ever... but she was learning, after all. Also, Jude was such a bully; he totally knew nobody could afford to match his bets.

She laughed with the rest of them at Glue's antics. "You know none of us wanted expired chocolates anyway." Kitten might be impatient, and Spike overly cautious when it came to betting; Glue, on the other hand, seemed more interested in gobbling up the foodstuff. Not that Margo was one to talk.

She tossed a peanut butter pretzel bite into her mouth and grinned at herself. This was fun.

It came as no surprise that Glue was out first.

"Uhhh. My stomach."

"No pity, Glue." Spike gave his pal a playful whop on the arm. Despite what he said, he made sure to pass Glue a pillow to hold.

"Hey, man. If you have to puke, could you not do it on my bed?"

"'snot that bad."

"Well, I raise you..." Kitten, by this point, was the only one still playing, "three peanutbutter cups and one of Margo's IOU's"

"Dude. You're green."

"'m always green."

"Yeah, but..." He was like REALLY green.

Now, even Kitten was interested. "He's gonna blow!"

"Grab the snacks!"

"Dive! Dive!"

Suddenly it was a mad scramble to grab what you could and get out before...

"Urp. Horlberluuuuglerksjhdfgjhsdalwedklwae."

She dived for it, and just in time too.

> "Urp. Horlberluuuuglerksjhdfgjhsdalwedklwae."

It was halfway between a disgusted sound and a groan that issued from Margo's lips as she untangled herself from Jude, who she'd somehow fallen partly on top of in their mad scramble out of the bunk. The snacks were strewn all over the floor, from where she'd scattered them with a hasty stroke of her arm, and there was no way the people in the next rooms hadn't heard her graceless collision with the carpet. Ow, her elbow. Oops, a gangly Frenchman who she'd awkwardly dived on.

Getting quickly to her feet, she surveyed the situation with a sigh. Glue was a slightly healthier shade of green. He needed the washroom, really badly. And Margo had no idea what they were going to do about the bunk.

The bright side? At least she hadn't fallen on top of Spike.

"Sorry! Sorry. Ooof. Elbow. Yeah." He could maintain his own power easily under normal circumstances. Physical contact made it harder. And this was not so not normal.

He'd lost a sock somewhere and something went squish under his knee once Jude finally extracted himself from Margo. Cue involuntary shudder. When he looked down, it was only a twinkie sans wrapper, though.

Spike was already helping his roommate up and to the restroom. Kitten was peeking in from the hall. Since his instincts and reflexes were the best of of all of them, that was probably why he'd been able to get the furthest.

"Anyone getting curious?" Jude asked Kitten as he first got to his feet and then offered a hand to Margo. He could feel his power already making the change to whatever "useless" broadcast frequency Margo used.

"I think people are used to weird sounds coming from your room."

Glue made a sad sort of moan, but water could be heard splashing from behind the slightly ajar doorway.

"That or it's 2 am and we'll hear the complaints in the morning." Spike's voice echoed out from the tiled bathroom.

"Right then. Uhm. The bed first. Kitten?"

"Me an' Margo'll sort the snacks." He counter offered.

"Uh. Yeah. Okay." Jude wiped the twinkie from his knee and rubbed the back of his head. This was... he could do this. Maybe starting with the corners so none of it dripped?

Jude sort of lead with his hands and kept his face mostly turned away. To his credit, he got the sheets off and disappeared down the hall for a short time before jogging back to his room. "Put 'em straight in the washer. I didn't want the laundry chute to hu- you know..."

"I am so sorry guys." Glue was moving under his own power now, but kept his distance from the snacks.

"We should probably go."

"Be sure to kiss your baby boy goodnight when you tuck him in." Kitten teased Spike and had to dodge a casually tossed spike for his effort.

The lot fell to Jude, thank goodness. He took the mess down to the laundry, while Margo helped Kitten sort out the snacks. It was easier said than done, what with the crazy amount of snack-less wrappers and wrapper-less snacks scattered across the room, but she much preferred their job to Jude's. It wasn't like she wanted anything to do with the puke-dripping bedding or anything, but she almost felt a little guilty for abandoning the poor boy. Almost.

Then Spike and Glue were off, presumably to their own residence. Margo waved to them and, sliding open the window, took a lungful of night air. The room stunk, but it was more than that. She frowned. No, that couldn't be.

"Oh, gosh," she muttered, face meeting palm. It was totally her fault for falling on top of him (not that she'd known this would happen, but still!) but now he was... copying her power, somehow? She could feel it, and no doubt Kitten could as well.

"Uh, Jude?" How could she explain this? "It's part of my power, and...well, let's just say your emotions are a little contagious at the moment."

Jude wanted nothing more than to flop onto the bottom bunk in true dramatic fashion, but... there was a wet spot. He flared his nostrils and instead surveyed his domain.

Margo and Kitten had done their best. At least Margo had probably done her best. Kitten's pile looked suspiciously large as he stuffed the bits into his pillow case. Spike would probably come back for his pile and, well, there wasn't any left of Glue's.

"Yeah. Your room room smells hella bad, yo. I'mma bounce."

> "Oh, gosh."

Jude wasn't sure why the female had facepalmed, but he had a guess. "Thug life, yo. Word." Kitten was about as gangsta as the young Frenchman. "To your mother."

Kitten stuck out his tongue and closed the door behind him. It didn't stink that bad. Did it?

>"Uh, Jude?"

Emotions? She'd mentioned that it was a one way street, this broadcast thing of hers.

"You make things smell bad?" She was by the window, clinging to the fresh air like it was her last hope. "I don't- uh, how do I shut it off?" He didn't really feel like he was doing anything. Jude rolled his shoulders and tried to get an internal feeling for this power. It was completely opposite of the all consuming power he got from Svetty. Was that it? He felt... something. Maybe.

"What's it feel like to you when you use your power?"