The neon-lit sign was a beacon to those looking for a night of debauchery. “Chrysalis” hung over the glass front doors, in a cursive font and back-lit in in an ever-changing spectrum of rainbows. Despite the fact that it was a weeknight, the low untz, untz, untz of the bass wafted through the walls and onto the streets, down a short line of a motley collection of patrons. Monday nights were always slow. Rather than a shoulder-to-shoulder see of undulating bodies, groups stood in loose circles, some shouting over the pulsating rhythm in conversations over drinks, others entirely lost in dancing. Jack sat to the side, lavender eyes skimming the page in spite of the low-light filtering down onto the bar. One of the perks of night vision—reading in the dark.

Jack checked her watch and hummed. Fifteen minutes. She made note of the page number and snapped the book shut. On busy nights, there was no reading-time—Jack was stationed at one fringe of the main dance floor, orbiting out of necessity. On slow nights, she merely circled the room to keep her legs from going numb. She hoisted herself out of the chair and strode from the bar, starting on her loop.

As soon as she was on to the dance floor, a young woman leaned against the wall, smirking devilishly, “’ey, Chief, buy me a drink?!”

Jack raised a hand to her chin, curling one finger beneath the surgical mask as if seriously contemplating the inquiry. The bottoms of her eyes pinched in mild humor. The woman was one of the regulars, a petite thing who was always accompanied by what appeared to be shadow-sprites. Once one got past the creepiness of her mutation, she was actually quite the charmer. To say the least, this woman had no shortness of people to buy her drinks. Chief flapped her hand dismissively, a rumbling laugh rolling from her as she stepped around the young woman.

“Aw, jefe, come on!” the woman pouted playfully, tossing a lock of ebony hair over her shoulder.

“Later, later,” Chief said, only half-serious as she continued onward. Too many female patrons, assuming the suit and tie to be an indication her gender, tried to sucker Jack into buying them drinks. On rare occasions, she yielded, but only when spontaneous benevolent spells struck her. Jack found her favorite spot on the wall and leaned her shoulder against it, gaze trailing over the dance floor, watching the dancers move.

Mirror had heard about the Chrysalis, but had never been inside before. It had a decent reputation, and was less well known than some of the others - Club Evolution, specifically, where Mirror's face was becoming too generally well-known as part of the X team. Hence, she was on the prowl for a new place to kick back and relax. She planned on bringing Evelyn too, but not before she carefully cased the place. One could never be too cautious these days.

Maya looked around the dance floor. It seemed like a slow night, with people enjoying themselves. She got her drink from the bar (strictly off duty at the time) and positioned herself as far away from the cheerful girl as the bar as possible. She seemed distracted anyway - some dude, fairy tall and wearing shades, approached her with a knowing smirk. Maya wrinkled her nose. What douche wears shades inside a club anyway?...

Jack caught her eyes un-focusing and shook her head, snapping her attention back to the dance floor. It wouldn't be good if she fell asleep during the shift. The prawn shook her head and dislodged her massive shoulders from their resting spot upon the wall. Even if it was a slow night, it wouldn't reflect well on her if she spontaneously dozed-off. Jack crossed in front of the DJ'ing booth, which stood on its own raised platform. She nodded to the DJ as she passed, and he nodded back. The bouncer continued her round.

One would think that, as a rather tall individual who was frequently supervising large crowds of individuals that were shorter than her, Jack would be more diligent about watching where she was going. This was decidedly not the case. Had she been more vigilant, she would not have bumped into the young woman who was hastily removing herself into the bar. Jack fumbled past, doing a few wobbly steps to recover, as she looked back at the woman she had tripped over.

"S-sorry," the apology hissed through the surgical mask, barely loud enough to hear. Despite the outward composure she maintained, she could feel the heat creeping into the flesh beneath her carapace. Real f---ing smooth, twinkle toes, she chided herself. Concerned lavender eyes swept over the young woman, assessing any potential damage that the prawn's careless feet might have caused.

Maya was still finding a place to stand, and glancing towards the couple at the bar, when someone in a uniform bumped into her. She lost balance of her drink, and splashed some on herself, but managed to salvage the rest of it. What the hell? The club was not even that crowded yet...

"Hey" she muttered, looking up, and finally took in the shape in front of her with a surprised blink.

Now that was a physical mutation.

Kind of awesome, though. All kinds of awesome, if she wanted to be honest about it, and Maya found herself staring curiously for long seconds before she realized it.

"Uh... sorry" she shook her head "I mean, 'tis okay. I was not looking where I was going. Um... you work here?"

>> “Hey.”

Jack chittered nervously, sinking on her haunches so that her eyes were level with the young woman’s. Spilling a drink onto a patron, real friggin’ smooth. Anxious hands adjusted a tie that was already tight enough.

>> "Uh... sorry. I mean, 'tis okay. I was not looking where I was going. Um... you work here?"

The chittering quieted and Jack gave two, quick nods of acknowledgement.

“Yeah,” she acknowledged, “I- uh-“

She could feel the mandibles shifting awkwardly, turning over words that were too difficult for her mouth to articulate. “Work” and “bouncer” and “buy another drink”.

“Uuuhhh-“ The bouncer glanced to a nearby table, fully processing that she’d caused this woman to spill her drink, and wrapped her hand around a napkin dispenser. The prawn pulled-out a half-dozen napkins, offering the mound of paper to the young woman. The dispenser was set aside, but close enough to reach.

With her other hand, the prawn pulled-out her oversized smartphone, which was dwarfed by her massive hands, and started tapping away furiously, jotting a message to the young woman.

She presented the message much in the same way that she presented the napkins, flashing the screen awkwardly towards the young woman.

<< I am a bouncer here,>> the message read, <<No need to apologize. I wasn’t watching my feet. Very sorry about the mess. Please allow me to buy you another drink?>>

And, for the love of god, Jack prayed, don’t tell my boss. She swallowed hard, lavender eyes pointedly looking everywhere but at the young woman in front of her. Perhaps her expression could be interpreted as begrudging or sulking, but in all honesty, Jack was trying to swallow the mounting embarrassment that roiled up in her throat.

The person that bumped into her seemed very apologetic and embarrassed. Maya smiled at her as she took the pile of napkins, trying to ease her nervousness. It was no big deal, people in bars bumped into each other all the time. Being larger didn't mean it was automatically your fault either.

She looked at the hurriedly typed message on the smartphone screen.

<< I am a bouncer here. No need to apologize. I wasn’t watching my feet. Very sorry about the mess. Please allow me to buy you another drink?>>

She glanced up at the mask; the mutation of the person seemed like some sort of an insect form, and while they seemed to be able to make words, typing was obviously their preferred more of communication.

"Sure" she shrugged, guessing that would make the other person feel better, even though she still had about half of her drink intact. She smiled again.

"My name is Maya, by the way. Uh... nice bumping into you?" she chuckled "I've never been to this place before, I thought I'd check it out."

>> "Sure."

A look of relief flitted through her expression. Tension that Jack hadn't known was there released from her jaw, and the corner of her eyes pinched in a faint smile. Concern still lingered in her brow. The prawn withdrew her phone This woman was handling the inconvenience of a spilled drink more casually than most. Thank God for small favors.

>> "My name is Maya, by the way. Uh... nice bumping into you? I've never been to this place before, I thought I'd check it out."

Jack bobbed her head, almost like a bow, when the woman introduced herself. Maya. Pretty name. And a someone new to the club. Jack exhaled. Spilling on a new visitor. Nice. Ten points for fantastic first
impressions.

"Sssorry," Jack chittered, shaking her head as she typed hurriedly. She finished her message, and extended the phone out again, inclining her head. Hopefully the young woman's next visit, if she returned, was less... eventful than this one.

<<Jack,>> the prawn wrote, <<Short for Jacquelyn. Some people here call me Chief, too.>> Well, everyone called her Chief, but Maya would come to realize that, if she stuck around long enough. <<Welcome to Chrysalis.>>

>>"Sssorry"... <<Jack, Short for Jacquelyn. Some people here call me Chief, too. Welcome to Chrysalis.>>

"Thanks" Maya nodded with a smile. Jacquelyn, huh. She was not the only person with a confusing gender presentation in the bar, after all. "It seems like a cool place. I was thinking of bringing my girlfriend sometime."

Evelyn deserved a night out, for all the hard work and training she had been doing, after all.

"I worked as a bouncer once" Maya smirked "It was just a side job, and they soon found out I was underage... but the mutation was useful, you know." she tilted her head "Are you from around here, or did you move to New York?"

It was always interesting to see new people around. And if they were new in town, and decent enough, Mirror would tell them about the Mansion. Just in case.

Jack nodded her head as she listened to Maya speak, eyes occasionally swinging past her to survey the club. There wasn't too much to look at, given the thin crowds, so she quickly swung her attention back to the young woman before her.

>> "It seems like a cool place. I was thinking of bringing my girlfriend sometime."

Jack hummed, and quickly typed a reply.

<< Much busier on weekends. Much louder,>> the prawn cautioned. This was putting it mildly. Chrysalis was a madhouse on the weekends, a total 180* from the casual, conversational air that lingered now.

>> "I worked as a bouncer once. It was just a side job, and they soon found out I was underage... but the mutation was useful, you know."

Jack inclined her head, as if to say "Oh really?" and then nodded knowingly. Her mutation, truthfully, was how she got the job. The Boss-man had approached her after seeing her break-up a fight (between two blatantly inebriated young men). He had made a rather convincing sales pitch-- a nightclub for mutants and mutant-lovers alike-- and besides which, the young woman had been strapped for cash, at the time. She readily accepted.

>> "Are you from around here, or did you move to New York?"

Jack shook her head, her brows stitching. She had ventured over to New York after the gang issues had arisen in California. And, even so, she wasn't truly from there-- she was from Washington. Well-- Joanna was. With a new name and a new face, it was hard to cling to old identities.

After a pregnant pause, Jack tapped out a brief reply, <<Moved here from California. I needed a change of scenery. You?>>


The prawn was beginning to feel the inclination to take a seat-- or, at the very least, offer Maya a seat. The only seat that really fit her, in this establishment, were the bar stools. Sitting on the free-standing chairs ran the risk of accidentally breaking the chair, while the prawn downright didn't fit in the booths very comfortably. With her mutation, and a--

Wait.

Did Maya say that her "mutation was useful" for being a bouncer? Jack had been so engrossed in listening (and internally agreeing) that she completely overlooked that detail. Jack gave the woman a quick once-over as if looking for some visual indication of a power, and finding none, returned her attention to the patron. It would be rude to ask. Invasive even.

<< Much busier on weekends. Much louder,>>

Maya nodded. That was to be expected. Not that she didn't enjoy partying, but she had outgrown the loud, crazy part a while ago. Stealing booze from Sam and sitting on the roof was nicer. And it required less exposure to crowds.

<<Moved here from California. I needed a change of scenery. You?>>

"California, huh" Maya smiled "Seattle, originally." she said, answering Jack's question "Made my way across continent... been here for a couple of years now. I live at Xavier's... the mutant school."

Not exactly a student, not exactly a teacher. If Jack guessed, she guessed.

There was some commotion down by the bar. The blonde and Shades seemed to be having some kind of an argument. Maya arched an eyebrow in their direction; if either started using powers, things could get tricky. Mutant clubs were unpredictable that way.

>> "California, huh. Seattle, originally. Made my way across continent... been here for a couple of years now. I live at Xavier's... the mutant school."

Jack's blood ran cold at the mention of Seattle. It was only an hour down the road from Mt. Vernon. She'd been in Seattle, a short while after fleeing from her childhood home. Just thinking about Washington left a metallic taste in the prawn's mouth. She managed a smile, though, her eyes pinching shut and maxillae twitching, as she said, "Oo! Not a lot of West Coast'ers out here!"

Her finger swiped around the screen, and she flashed the message to Maya.

<<Didn't know that there were mutant schools out here, too.>> the text read. <<I attended one just south of San Francisco. Boarding school, too.>>

That's all the prawn wrote. She didn't pick-up on the connotations of what Maya had said. Jack just assumed that Maya was some part of the staff, or maybe this school allowed college-aged students to remain living on-campus until they graduated? Jack was entirely unaware of the existense of the X-men (largely because she didn't care for vigilante groups), and so didn't bother to pry any further.

Jack's antennae twitched, picking up the sounds of an argument just behind her. Duty calls. She looked up from her conversation towards the sound of the noise, her hold slackening on the smartphone. Perhaps it was just a lover's spat, which would fade-out after a few shouts. If it got physical, however, Jack would have to intervene. The prawn stuffed her phone into her pocket, whether or not May had finished reading, and watched.

She held up a finger to Maya, as if to say "One moment please," and started to make her way across the dance floor, keeping low. Shades raised a hand to the blonde, and his open palm connected with her cheek. Escalation. Jack arose to her full height and strode towards the pair. The blonde now cradled the cheek Shades had struck, and Shades was yelling, Jack could see rivulets of blue light inching up beneath his collar, tracing lightning-like patterns as they crept towards his face. Oh great, a mutant spat. Just what I needed.

Jack approached the man from behind, lightly placing a hand on his shoulder. Blondie had tears welling in her eyes and Jack could feel a hot knot clenching in her stomach. Anyone who made a woman cry was absolute scum.

"Excuse mmm-e, sir," the prawn said placatingly, hunching down to the man's level, "I mmm-ust ask you to exit th-"

Jack could feel the wind leaving her. Clenched fist connected with her diaphragm. The prawn went sprawling. Gasps rippled from any patron that happened to be watching. The average person couldn't lay her out like that. The prawn wheezed. The man had sucker-punched her, blue electricity cackling around his arms.

"Don't f---ing touch me!" Shades screamed. His eyes and mouth were illumed, the magnitude of the electricity increasing. The bartender was fumbling for his phone, and Jack shakily grabbed her walkie, pressing the "Talk" button.

"Heat at Mmm-ain 'ar, mmm-ore water," Jack reported. She was still sucking air back into her lungs, so her voice rasped into the speaker. She was calling for back-up, "Need Null." Null was the code for their Adapted security guard, who typically watched cameras out of the range of the patrons. The enraged mutant man kicked Jack's walkie out of reach. Jack scrabbled to her feet. Once Null was summoned, no one else would intervene. Jack had to try talking the man down, in the meantime.

>>"Oo! Not a lot of West Coast'ers out here!"

Jack had a voice. Not exactly human, but not unpleasant either, and Maya chuckled at the observation. West Coast indeed. She had not claimed that for a long time.

<<Didn't know that there were mutant schools out here, too. I attended one just south of San Francisco. Boarding school, too.>>

"Oh" the mirrorwalker arched an eyebrow "Interesting. Yeah, Xavier's is kind of the big one. Both a school and a safe space for mutants."

And the X-men headquarters, but that was beside the point.

The argument between blondie and Shades escalated, and Maya observed as Jack walked across the floor towards them. She winced at the slap. Dumbass. Staring a fight in a mutant club. What did he expect would happen?

The next moment, Jack was sprawled across the floor.

Oh. That.

Maya touched the reflecting surface of the bar, and teleported over to the couple, stepping out behind the man who was not crackling with electricity. He raised a hand again, lashing out, Maya was not sure whether towards the girl or Jack, but it didn't matter. Grabbing the back of his suit, she pushed him into the bar. Instead of the sound of shattering glass surface, the man just vanished into its own reflection.

"I suggest you cool yourself down" she said, leaning against the bar to look at the man "You break the glass, you might break with it. Take ten, dude."

Maya's sudden appearance surprised the prawn-- which is to say, her eyes widened a fraction and she checked over her shoulder to make sure that the young woman really had teleported. Yup, really there. The young woman was quiet, so Jack didn't make a big deal about the teleportation.

Her hand lingered on her chest... there was a tingling, in her chest, and the raised arm wouldn't stop spasming. That was likely from the electrial shock.

"No need sore a sight, s-riend," Jack rasped. She cleared her throat. That was probably from having the wind knocked out of her, "I just need to ask you to ste' outside and take a breezer."

"It's none of your f-cking business!" Shades snarled, taking another swipe. Jack, expecting a swing this time, shifted her weight to dodge the swinging arc of electricity, but already, Maya was yanking him back.

"Care-sull!" Jack gasped, reaching out again. It was one thing if a paid employee (who was insured by the club) was injured. It was something else entirely if a patron was. Rather than bashing his head against the mirrored countertop, the guy phased into it, and Jack stared, her mouth gaping beneath the fabric mask.

>> "I suggest you cool yourself down. You break the glass, you might break with it. Take ten, dude."

The prawn sidled up next to Maya, following her gaze into the reflective countertop below. Shades peered back up, dealing a frustrated, open-palmed smack to the mirror. With that, he set to pacing like a caged animal, seeming to fume to himself.

"Can see how dat would 'e o' use," Jack remarked. Her tone waivered, from the tremors, but it bore the humored edge of someone who had to deal with this sh-t all too often. Shades saluted them with the two-handed, one-fingered salute common amongst belligerent drunks, before setting to pacing again, "T'anks sore dat."

The bartender was wathcing from a safe distnce, the uproar near his bar at least snagging his attention. Jack lifted her brow, and gave a sideways nod towards the woman who'd been attacked by shades. Touching the speaker on her bone mic, she informed the club personnel, "Duh 'atron is detained sore now, until ...sur-der instruction. Sun-one should talk to duh lady dat accon'anied hin."

"10-4."

Jack shifted her gaze towards Maya, inclining her head, "I don' usually talk to doze wiss duh trou'le-sun ones. Don' talk well e-nuss sore... hn... fast-talking. I jus'... duh... " Jack quickly fished out her phone, concluding, <<-the muscle.>>

Maya was worried for a moment that someone would recognize her for the ability; she was one of the higher profile members of the X-team, thanks to Maxine's meddling. Both Shades and Jack seemed more stunned with the power that usual, though, which meant she was safe for the moment.

>>"Can see how dat would 'e o' use. T'anks sore dat."

"No problem" Maya grinned, tapping the glass as if it was a fish bowl. Shades made a face, but seemed to be cooling his engines.

>>"I don' usually talk to doze wiss duh trou'le-sun ones. Don' talk well e-nuss sore... hn... fast-talking. I jus'... duh... <<-the muscle.>>

"Nah, this guy's an ass" Maya concluded "And that electricity thing was nasty." she noticed the twitching and the slurred words, and tilted her head at Jack. "Are you okay? Do you nee to get checked out or something? It looked like he zapped you pretty well."

Electricity was just not fair in Maya's book. Weapons, sure, projectiles, anytime, but zapping... that was mean.