It was mid-morning. The man had a crowd going for his little street game. Just a little game of gambling. Toss the dice!

He had his rules. He had his scores. He had his backup plan if someone actually started to win. He saw a pretty girl, and dragged her in to the dicing.

Lenna did not know dice. Lenna did not understand the rules. Lenna did not even try to understand the rules. She wanted to leave. She played to leave.

“It’s time to toss the dice!” The man said. He settled his big black hat on his head and threw the dice. They came up a winning throw. For her...

Well okay. He could work with this. “Bet again, little lady!”

She bet... hell. She put down a wad of cash. She wanted out. If he took the wad, maybe she could go. And then she could get another wad.

He tossed.

She tossed. Again, the improbable happened. The orange only she could see went away, and the orange dice came up a winning throw.

Did she actually understand the rules? She was sure throwing like she did.

Maybe she did.

He was annoyed. “One more time?” She couldn’t possibly win forever.

The crowd was building. As the two gamblers threw, they cheered. Cheered for Lenna and her third winning throw.

Why wouldn’t they just let her leave?! She tried to scoop up her winnings and make an exit... and he protested. “One more time,” he said. “Give me a chance to win something back!”

She sighed, heavily, and slammed down all the cash she’d won. ”You cannot do this. I just want to go...” She muttered.

Damn persuasive bastard. Damn dice. Gambling was supposed to be fun. And what the hell were pips? And “dark one’s eyes”. Or had he said snake? Maybe she’d imagined his devil worship.

He grinned at her. “That won’t be a problem. One more throw...”

They threw. The dice were orange for a second, while nothing else was. Then everything was orange again, including the dice. She’d won.

He swore.

”Hey. Do not be crude. I don’t even know my mother...” Lenna frowned. Surely, it was not her fault his dumb dice kept giving her the winning throws. It was not like she even understood the game. She didn’t really understand anything about this situation. Like how that last toss, he’d used loaded dice. And she’d still won.

He was furious. Seething. Looming. Electricity crackled on his fingertips. Um.

”What the fsck? You said one more and I can leave. So I can leave now, yes?” Lenna scooped up her winnings, and stuffed them into the pocket of her blood orange hoodie. She needed some sort of leather purse for all this coin.

“No.” He said. “You cheated. Clearly. You’re a filthy cheater. Are you a mutant?”

The crowd chittered like squirrels. “Mutant?”

“Cheater?”

“She’s a cheater?”

“Little brat!!”

It degenerated into worse things from there. Lenna glanced around, uncertain. She was NO mutant. She had just been roped into a dice game she HAD NOT wanted to play. And they had made her. This was not OK!

”No?” she said.

“Yes!” He said.

And then he was rushing at her, with lightning crackling on his hands. Who was he, the Emperor?! Where was a giant shaft when you needed one? She could really kick him into one of those!

More importantly, where had all the cowboys gone? Because she could use one right about now! Otherwise, she might have to hurt him. And that way just drew policia like moths to a flame.

Oh well. It couldn’t be helped. As the crowd ooh’d and aaah’d, her hands dropped to her sides to reach for concealed knives.

If this continued to fruition, they would be bloody. And he? He would be a dead man. Stupid power or not.

Bad luck on his part, he picked the fight when he could have let her leave with his cash.

Skye was out and about in the city, wearing a hot pink hoodie, black denim jeans, and her usual sneakers. The choker with the rainbow-skull was now a staple of her wardrobe; it gave her happy thoughts. Thoughts of that day with Emily where they hung out, and later that evening confessed their love for each other like some cheesy romcom. But it had set things in motion, and she was on track to being back to normal again. The immediate area around her was bathed in orange as she walked down the street, making her way to a nearby store to run errands for the day.

On the way, though, she saw a crowd gathered. This in itself wasn't unusual because street-side scammers were very much a thing, but this had a different vibe to it. She could hear murmurs of 'mutant' and her hair flashed to red as she grew more edgy and on alert. And someone being accused of cheating? Wasn't that what all street-side gamblers did? Unless they were accusing a player because it was only fair when they did it, apparently. Maybe it was that she was from a small town where people help people, or maybe it was her X-Men training taking the forefront, but she couldn't just keep walking. She squeezed her way through the crowd, which was made easier by some of them parting at the sight of her red mohawk and glowing lights.

What she saw made the red lights pulse even more: A grown man was picking a fight with what looked like a teenage girl. A teenage girl who's Cowboy was tied up with his own personal conundrum, but was still in need of a little backup. She pushed herself through the crowd and stood next to the girl, meeting the man's eyes with her intense brown ones. "Hey. Back off the kid," she said threateningly(as threatening as a 5'4 20 year old woman could be, anyway). "What? She discovered your dice were loaded or something?" They always were.

She looked at the young woman out of the corner of her eye. "Get outta here, I'll catch up in a minute, okay?" Skye then took on an interesting stance. Her feet were spread like a boxer's, but her elbows were bent, palms out in front of her, red light still emanating from them.

Her attack came to a sudden and unexpected halt as a woman with an orange Mohawk, orange denim jeans, hot orange hoodie, and orange skull stepped up next to her. Orange must have really made her happy. Except she was glowing red, of all things. Which was weird.

Compared to the woman’s outfit, Lenna’s own outfit of a Red Hot Chili Peppers t-shirt she’d liked the design of, leather jacket, and jeans felt restrained. Even with orange and white converse.

The knives slid back into her jacket pockets, having never fully made it out. Poor knives. They probably felt unused and unloved. It was a good thing she had not been caught with them out. Or else they would have been very happy, indeed. And well-used.

Part of her desired to reply to the comment. The kid part, most notably. She was no kid.

Part of her had, at first, thought the girl had been telling HER to back off. And she had worried the woman had seen her knives, and would need to be responded to. But then the rest of the statement had sunk in, and she had calmed down.

Someone else was going to step in for her. Again. She wondered when she would start taking care of her own problems.

Lenna rolled her eyes when the man replied to the lady’s comment about discovering loaded dice.

“Quite the opposite, in fact. She kept winning.” He sneered. “Four times in a row.”

>>”Get outta here. I’ll catch up in a minute.” The Lady said, glancing sideways at her.

Stubbornness and Lenna went hand in hand. The lady told her to leave, she wanted to stay. The only thing that stopped her was the strange position the woman adopted, and the glow.

Lenna stepped back and away, to give the woman some room. Her gut told her something was about to happen.

The man laughed at the Mohawk lady. “What? You gonna fire your laser light at me? All because the girl cheats? Well.” He dropped into a stance of his own, arms thrust forward. He began delivering a wonderful straight line. “Unlimiiiited pow—“

Lenna looked away as electrical energy built up and raced around the man’s entire body in violent arcs.

"So, you're saying you cheated, she still beat your ass, and now you're mad. Makes perfect sense," Skye said dryly, still in her defensive stance. "So cheating is only okay when you do it. You get your rocks off trying to cheat poor teens out of their money?" she said, her voice a low hiss as the light still pulsed with threatening red light.

"Trust me; you don't want to find out. This is your chance to back off. Your one chance." Aaaand then his body started arcing with electricity. Great. She guessed he wasn't going to back down, and he was delivering some cheesy line on top of that. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on him, and her mind went away from where they were.

She was back in Maine. A young teenager again. 'You're late.'
"You said be home by eleven. It's ten-thirty."
"You're a mutant. You should have known I meant ten."
"It doesn't work that way..."

"Hey look, Little miss Sparkler's sitting by herself!"

"Skye, this isn't working out...I think we should..."

Back in reality, her hands pulsed faster and faster before finally culminating in a flash of bright white light and a loud, ear shattering BANG!!!

While the man, and the crowd, were reeling from the flash-bang, Skye took off, realizing that Lenna hadn't gone very far, so she grabbed the girl's arm gently as she ran. "Let's go," she said, still groggy from using her power, but she was gonna be the hero here, dammit.

“... er.” The man grunted as he reeled back from the blast of blinding light. The electrical storm around him cracked and popped into nothing, dissipating.

Lenna, who had turned away, hadn’t been blinded by the light. But the rest of the crowd had been blinded by the light.

People were groaning and shuffling around. There was a sudden light pressure on her bicep, and she glanced down. The woman had grabbed her.

“Let’s go,” Mohawk said. She seemed a little out of it.

”One moment.” Lenna replied quickly, slipping out of the grip. Before the lady could figure out what she was doing, Lenna had run back to the man, kicked his shin, and taken his hat.

As she ran back the the woman with the Mohawk, she stuffed the hat down over her head.

She caught the woman’s hand as she passed her. ”Now lets go!” She said. And hauled the woman forward insistently, so that she could take the lead again.

It wasn’t clear where the woman would take her, but hey. She had helped her. Another person had helped her. Lenna would follow her lead. For now.

One moment? "We don't have ti--"

And she was gone. Great. From the crowd she heard a cry of pain, and ohhey she was back. With a hat. Okay...that was...odd.

For a bit, the girl was dragging her instead of the other way around. Skye took the lead, her hair and lights still red from the adrenaline as she led the girl down the street and their pace slowed to a more comfortable walk.

"That was a close one. You okay?" she asked, looking the young woman over. "You need anything? First aid? Food? Money?" She asked, a concerned look on her face as her hair turned into a concerned pink.

This woman, she was acting matronly. Like how a mother might have acted, if she had ever really had one. That she could have remembered.

Sometimes, there were flashes. Bits. But. Really, the older girls and the teachers had always been that element of influence. And doting.

Lenna was glad, and momentarily confused why she wasn’t glad, when the doting stopped.

Being kidnapped and raised by crazy people on some crazy island can mess a person up. And memories are strange, strange things.

Did she need anything? First aid? Food? Money? Maybe. Was she okay?

Lenna felt stubborn and defensive, suddenly. Typical teen.

She dusted herself off, focusing on sleeves. ”I am fine, Mohawk lady.” She said, accent slightly foreign. Like English might not have been her preferred language. Possibly Spanish. ”Did not even hurt me. No. And what I need—“

Lenna turned and looked pointedly at the lady. But then the proud, somewhat haughty look fell. And she frowned.

”What I need are answers. Why do you have red light when everything else is orange. And why is it like this? Maybe you know.” Because you are a mutant, she left unsaid. Her tone was exhausted.

”I really tried to lose. I swear it. Can good luck be bad?”

"Mohawk lady," she repeated with a light giggle, ignoring the typical teen brushoff. She understood that all too well. "I think I picked the wrong nickname," she murmured, the light staying pink, still showing her concern. "I'm Skylar. I go by Skye, but you can call me Mohawk Lady if you really want to." She smiled, trying to show this girl that she was on her side.

"Good that you're okay, but I'm just looking out for you," she said gently. "I don't know why, but I'd guess it has something to do with our powers. Some mutations mix funny," she explained. "My hair color and the lights in my hands relate to my emotions. They're pink right now because I'm concerned, though each color has multiple meanings. So....you see everything as orange, except me?"

Her tone wasn't condescending, in fact she was showing that she really did care about this teen she'd just met. Wanted to see her succeed and not get beaten up by an electric man in an alley.

"I'd say it can be, sometimes. If you need help coming to terms with your powers, I know a place," Skye said after a moment of silence. "Do you have a place to stay?"

Skylar. How did one spell that? Or Sky. Skye? Skai. Skye. Definitely easier than Mohawk Lady, although the nickname had its own charm. Like Cowboy.

The Sky was blue. So, with a silent E it was.

Lenna wasn’t sure why she thought about things like the spelling of a name. But she did.

”I am Lenna,” She said. ”Sky.”

And the light was pink. It had been red. Strange. Lenna didn’t see a correlation between light and hair, though. Still orange.

When Skye explained it and brought up mutations, well. Lenna did not know what to think. She had not been a mutant before this whole mess in New York had began. But, then the colors had been different too.

Lenna did not immediately respond. She grimaced and mulled things over.

So her hair color was pink? But it was orange! So f$&$&ed up.

After a moment, she realized she would have to answer the question.

Did she see everything orange, except Sky?

”No.” She said. She pointed at the woman’s hair. ”That is orange. You say it’s pink. Your hand lights... they are the colors you say, I guess.”

There. That was an answer. Avoided the mutant thing, too. The whole world changing was tiresome.

And could good luck be bad? She had asked. Want sure why. Maybe she had a hunch?

The answer she got was a whole lot more than yes or no. Again, Lenna grew thoughtfully silent. She watched Skye.

Lenna sighed.

”You keep using that word. Mutant. How can one know if they are that? Because I was not that. A mutant. A month ago. About a week ago I just appeared here, with no memory of how or why. Everything was orange. Does that mean i am a mutant? I could have brain damage from being shoved into the future. I could be color blind. I could be insane. Or.” She took off the blank cowboy hat, and clutched it against her chest. This last idea scared her a little, and it showed on her face. She was vulnerable. ”Um. Some woman said to me I could have had my age changed?”

Her grip on the sides of her hat tightened as she awaited Skye’s reply.

"Interesting. My hair and lights match to show my emotions, in a sense," she explained. "But you see everything except my lights in orange. But...my lights sometimes turn orange too," she mused as she scratched the side of her head that didn't have hair lying across it.

She listened to the girl explain, waiting her turn to speak. "Well, I don't know of any conditions that can make one see orange. And from what you explained, the orange may be connected to winning a game that you were rigged to lose. Mutants have abilities that other folk don't have, like my lights, or douchebag's electricity back there."

She paused, looking around as she led the way down the sidewalk. "So, again. Do you have somewhere to stay? Do you need a place? I can set you up with a room, and help you figure out your troubles with orange. Or, anything else you may need help with. If you're interested, that is." She gave a smile, looking at the girl with a motherly look.

Skye didn't know why, but she felt the urge to protect this kid; to look out for her, maybe even take her under her wing. Today didn't seem to be the girl's first brush with trouble, but there was still time to turn her around maybe. And the mansion would be a good support network. If the girl wanted to go, that is.

Hmm. The light thing. And the hair. Lenna would remember that. Someone whose emotions were visible like that, if you knew what to look for. For a moment, it piqued her interest. But then, it got replaced with other things.

Things like the orange thing and mutants. And brain damage.

Sky did not know anything. She thought that maybe, it had to do with mutation. Something like Sky’s skylights or douche bags douche zap. The girl did not even touch upon the age thing.

The woman’s focus returned, again, to the other stuff. The, the the the, “charity stuff”, if Lenna had to settle on words. Stuff she had been less concerned about than the potential mutation junk, or the age thing. Being alone and homeless didn’t scare her half as much as not having control over her life. Even if she’d never been alone and homeless before.

Part of her just wanted to wander off. She didn’t want to meet Sky’s eyes. Part of Lenna wanted to tell her she was fine, and could handle herself. But yet another part (so many parts!) remembered how nice it had been, just for a little while, to spend time with someone who she had extended some trust to, who had not betrayed her. Or left her. Or been left behind. And she had not been alone.

Lenna was sad he had not tracked down a cellular phone, and tried to get in contact with her yet. But then, it had only been several days. Hand-sized computers must cost at least as much as a car. Maybe he had not stolen enough vehicles... or had not found someone to buy them. Or he had forgot.

Lenna had half a mind to try and track him down... even if the whole sentiment made no sense.

Hopefully, no one had reversed his age... if she ran into him again, and he had no memory of her... well. She just did not know how she would react to that.

It had only been one afternoon, but she liked the man. At least, she did not hate him. And she didn’t want to hate this woman, either. Not unless she was given a valid reason to hate.

Skye asked if she had a place to say, and fast as thought all these things had raced through her head. And Lenna had squeezed the brim of her cowboy hat tightly and said ”Yes.”

After a moment, she clarified (since there had been several different questions). ”I need a place... the place I stayed the first night was not safe. And I have been fending for myself since then, for over a week.”

She did not usually do this... accepting help from strangers... Swiss Miss, not included. It went against her pride.

Her pride had gotten her into this mess, and had not done much to help her since that point. She would give this woman a chance.

For the most part, the girl was quiet, and Skye didn't know if that was good or bad. But it was obvious the kid needed help and some sort of...motherly instinct bubbled up inside her. She had to admit she was liking this protective side of her. Like maybe her training was actually paying off.

The 'shoved into the future' line went right over Skye's head, however. But she resolved to help this kid, and it seemed as though the mansion was the place for her. Hell, maybe if Skye had been sent there when she was the girl's age, maybe things would have turned out better...

Whoops. Dwelling on things like turned Skye's hair and lights blue, but she shook that off, and they turned into a happy orange as she focused on more pleasant thoughts. "Damn...well, come with me. I know people that will take good care of you. Three meals a day, a warm bed, and they can help you figure out what's going on with all the orange," she reassured as she started leading Lenna down the road in the direction of the mansion.

"So...you said something about being shoved into the future? I'm not quite sure what that means," she admitted as they walked. "If you don't wanna talk about what's going on, that's okay. But if you do wanna talk, I'm here to listen."

A warm place to stay with many meals, none of which would come from a food truck and rhyme with ‘got hog’. It almost sounded too good to be true.

She pressed the cowboy hat down over her hair as she moved to keep up with Skye.

Had blue meant sad? She had seen the light show. But then, what did orange mean, if blue were like the blues? What did the color orange mean to her, Lenna, specifically.

No comment.

She followed thoughtfully, listening. And then Sky brought you something she had mentioned earlier, and Lenna struggled to find cohesive thoughts.

”It is weird,” Lenna said, after a minute. She was frowning. ”You will think it is weird. About a week ago, I arrived in New York in the middle of a bar fight. I have no memory of how or why. My memories do not match up like a torn page. There is a giant gap. And in my memories, the year was 2008.”

She looked at Skye, watching for a reaction. Though when she’d looked up at the woman she was following, all she had seen was the woman’s back.

There were, of course, several possibilities. She had listed most of them already. Brain damage, time travel, the age thing, psychosis.

For the sake of the argument, and for clarity Lenna noted. ”I was born on April 16, in 1992 as far as I can remember. That is what I told the people who adopted me, after my parents died.”

She felt a little loosening in her stomach, as if a weight somewhere had lessened. That detail was not one she shared with people, as a rule.

"Honey, I've had an emotional breakdown and turned into a human flash-grenade in a bathroom. More than once. Weird comes with the territory nowadays," she said, looking back at the girl with a smile. "Huh. So you look like a teenager, but you're really...older than I am? That is a little odd, but I'm pretty sure we can get to the bottom of it. Stranger things have happened," she comforted, stopping to put a hand on Lenna's shoulder.

"We'll help you figure it out. Well...maybe not me, but someone will. And I'll definitely be there if you need me," she added, that motherly tone taking over again. She continued leading the way, letting Lenna walk more beside her than behind, if she chose. "So when do you remember your po--the thing with the orange first happening?" Skye asked, then volunteered her own story.

"My hair first turned colors when I was about twelve, and I realized it wouldn't hold hair dye. Later, my hands lit up, showing emotion. When I was fourteen I was picked on for it, and my emotions went into an overload and I basically blinded and deafened a chunk of the cafeteria. I only came to New York a couple of years ago to live with my uncle, and he helped me get into the mansion. Since then, I think I've learned more about my abilities than I have my entire life." As she spoke, the mansion became visible on the horizon, looming closer as the pair spoke.

If Lenna had compiled a list of all possible replies or responses the Skye woman would have given, a story about mutant power flash-grenades in the bathroom would not have been present on that list.

She had expected skepticism, or surprise. Shock. Horror. Not calm acceptance. It made it much easier for her to continue her narrative and explain about her birth year. Yet another weird thing. They could add it to the weird pile.

The woman comforted her about it and put a hand on her shoulder. Lenna was oddly okay with this. Yes. Maybe extending this trust had been a wise call.

She nodded at the comment. ”We will figure the age thing out. It is one thing or another.” Being thrust forward in time would be the most interesting of the possibilities. More and more, Lenna was thinking it was not that, however. Possibly, she had had her age reversed. Or it could have been giant stinking amnesia. Por que no los dos. Why not both? They would get to the bottom of whatever it was. And Sky would help. Or be there. In the general vicinity.

Lenna had a feeling Sky was a good listener... like Eliana. And it seemed she actually wanted to be there for her... like Eliana had.

”Thank you.” She said. Her throat was dry. She needed a glass of water. They had been walking forever. Yes. That was why.

Sky asked Lenna a question, and she looked to her. Then, the woman offered her own tale.

It was a long story. An interesting one. With the hair and the emotion. People had picked on Sky. If Lenna had been present, she would have punched them in their faces... and it surprised her that she would have wanted to do such a thing , having only just met the woman. It was that odd Eliana feeling that she was getting.

Eliana had picked her up, when she had been lost and confused on a boat. There had been... an accident. Or something. It was foggy. An old memory, covered up by years of training and unknown revisions.

The woman had taken her in, introduced her to Cortez, and given her a family after her mother and father had died at sea. Eliana had been like a big sister to her, Cortez like a father. Eliana had made certain she had learned right, ate meals with her, entertained her... the woman had been her role model. And her best friend. That woman was gone now. Either dead, or in hiding. Cortez was gone, too.

She was on her own now. Lenna was not planning to seek them out. Maybe she could be like Sky... come to New York. Learn about herself. Whatever this orange mess was. There was no uncle for her to stay with... but Lenna would figure it out. She was strong. So was Sky.

In the distance, Lenna could see a large mansion. They were approaching it at a steady pace. They had been walking forever.

Her focus snapped back to Sky. The woman had asked her earlier for a description of when the orange thing had first become apparent.

”The Orange thing,” Lenna said dramatically, Sotto voce. Then, she made a little explosion gesture with her hand, accompanied by a bloosh sound. She milked the gesture for all it was worth, with wiggling fingers and repeated blasts. ”I arrived in New York. Every person was bar room fighting. I had been fighting before that. It was the last thing I recalled. And then the orange exploded out.”

She spread her hands out for emphasis. Her words came out hard and fast, Spanish accent making some of them thicker than others. ”Everywhere. Every thing. Orange. And there were people. And someone set a fire. And fire and orange are hard to decide between and I was in a haze. I fought to my friend. She was not my friend at the time. But she was by the exit... and some times, the orange... it went away. Shrunk, to an eeety beeety point of color, and I would get lucky. Avoid attacks. People would trip. And then it would come back.”

Her hand went up to snag the hat off her head. With a flick of her wrist, she sent it spinning in the air, and caught it on the down fall. Talking to Sky was fun. She liked telling stories. Like tall tales. Like old west. Like cowboys. Eliana and her had always had such good stories to tell each other. She was so caught up in the story, she just didn’t stop.

”We made it out. The Megan girl. Me. And after we went our own separate ways, I was alone for a while... had to fight.” She shrugged one shoulder and looked Sky in the eyes. ”It is okay though. I am good at that. Kind of like you, I think.”

Lenna smiled a small smile. Uncertain. Maybe hoping for a little praise?