Chapter 3 --- Mall Mishap

“Wow,” Kitty said, “the mall is busy for

a weeknight.”

“They’ve got some kind of promotion

going,” Jean said. “A bunch of the stores are

participating.”

“I love this mall,” Tabitha said. “I was

heartbroken when you guys trashed it fighting the Brotherhood. It took

them weeks to repair it.”

Jean sighed. “We trashed the mall and Wanda trashed us. She

really caused most of the damage by making our powers go

wild.” She pointed. “That stairway over there is

the one Scott accidentally destroyed. Well, it’s the

replacement, I mean.”

“Speaking of Scott,” Kitty said, “I

thought you were going to spend time with him tonight.”

Jean grimaced. “I thought I was too, but there’s a

football game on.”

Amara looked at her in surprise. “But you like sports. You

went out for a bunch when you were at Bayville High.”

“I like playing sports myself, not watching overpaid gorillas

do it.”

“So where are we going first?” Tabitha asked.

“This is your show, X-23. Er, I mean Tiffany.”

X-23/Tiffany shrugged. “How should I know? I know as much

about fashion as a water buffalo. I’ve never even been in a

fucking mall before.” She looked at Kitty with a mildly

annoyed expression. “When you said I should go to one, I

didn’t know you meant tonight.”

“Well, then, you’re in our hands. I see a complete

makeover in your future.”

Kitty giggled. “She can’t be made over if

she was never made in the first place. We’re starting from

scratch here. All she has is what

you-know-which-organization-of-assholes made her wear.”

“Whoa,” Tabitha said. “A clean slate.

Let’s do her up right. Clothes, makeup, new hair color,

tattoos, piercings...”

“Let’s not get carried away,” Jean said.

“We sure as hell shouldn’t do anything that

can’t be undone. Let her get her bearings first, for

Christ’s sake. Then if she wants stuff like that,

she can decide for herself.”

“A new hair color wouldn’t be a bad idea,

though,” Kitty pointed out. “Y’know, with

all the people hunting for her.”

“We don’t really have time for that,”

Amara said. “We got here kind of late. As far as clothes,

let’s go in here first.”

Tiffany didn’t have a clue about what was going on, but she

let the x-girls lead her around and put clothes on her. A lot

of clothes. She completely lost track of which ones they bought and

which they discarded. Most of the outfits she didn’t even

know how to put on, as she’d never worn a dress in her life,

so somebody had to go into the dressing room with her.

The girls took turns helping Tiffany, and in the meantime tried on

clothes themselves. They were starting to exhaust the inventory of this

shop and preparing to go to the next one. Tabitha was in the dressing

room with their protege, Jean was checking out a sexy top, Amara was

trying on some shorts, and Kitty was wearing her own clothes, having

made all the purchases she planned from this store.

Kitty was admiring how Jean’s top showed off her tits when

she suddenly realized she shouldn’t be thinking about that.

Not now. Not in public. She quickly looked away and desparately thought

about something else. She had a few anxious moments, but it appeared

that her phallic friend had decided not to make an appearance. She

started breathing again.

Amara, who was still standing beside her looking at Jean’s

top, suddenly made a strangled noise and started walking away really

fast. In fact, the fast walk turned into a run. She appeared to be

heading to the bathroom as fast as she could go.

“What’s wrong with Amara?” Jean asked.

“I don’t know. You think she has diarrhea or

something?”

“Either that or throwing up. Kinda sudden, though. See if

she’s all right, okay? And get those jeans from her. She

can’t take merchandise into the bathroom. All she needs is to

be sick and get arrested.”

Kitty went into the dressing room Amara had been using and grabbed

Amara’s own jeans, then rushed toward the bathroom and pushed

open the door.

“Amara? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

That’s funny, Kitty thought. She sounds more

upset than sick. But why?

“Are you sure?”

“I’m fine, Kitty. Really.”

“Well, okay, but you need to give me those jeans or the

salespeople will be on your ass.”

“What am I supposed to wear out of here?”

“I have yours right here.” Rather than slide the

jeans under the door, Kitty just phased them through. She let go when

she felt Amara tug on them, then left her arm inside. “Just

put the new jeans in my hand.” There was a rustling sound,

indicating Amara was taking off the jeans, then Kitty felt them against

her hand and pulled them through the door.

“Thank you, Kitty,” Amara said, still not sounding

quite right. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

Kitty took the jeans back out on the floor and put them where they

belonged.

“Is she okay?” Jean asked.

“She says she is, but I don’t know.

Something’s going on.”

Jean cocked her head and looked blank for a second.

“Something is wrong. I won’t read her mind

without permission, but I can sense her emotional state. She is

really upset about something. I need to get out of this before

I go back there or I’ll get arrested.”

Kitty went back to the bathroom, despite not being told to. This time

she phased through the door instead of opening it, allowing her to

enter the bathroom soundlessly. Just as she had feared, Amara was

crying. “God damn it,” she sobbed.

Against her better judgement, Kitty called out again. “Amara,

what is it?”

There was a gasp and then “Kitty, what do you mean sneaking

up on me like that? I told you I was fine.”

“No, you’re not. What is wrong? You know I want to

help.”

“You can’t,” Amara said.

“Nobody can.”

“Well, at least let me try. I’m coming in

there.”

“What? The fuck you are.” But by the time

she finished the words Kitty was already through the door, carefully

positioning herself in the now crowded stall before dephasing.

Amara’s face was a combination of tears and rage.

“What the fuck do you think you are doing? Get out of

here!” She had not put on the jeans, was instead holding them

in her lap.

“I’m not leaving until you tell me what is

wrong,” Kitty said doggedly.

Amara glared and raised her hand palm up and Kitty was startled to see

one of her trademark palm bonfires appear, the flame rising a full foot

in the air. “Kitty, if you don’t leave right now, I

swear I will fry you where you stand.”

Kitty was shaking inside, but she stood her ground. “No you

won’t. You wouldn’t do that no matter what. Now

snuff that before you set off the fire alarm.”

The fire disappeared and Amara started crying again. Kitty squatted

beside her and tried to hold her. Finally Amara returned the embrace,

twisting slightly on the seat to cry on her shoulder. As she did so,

the jeans fell off her lap onto the floor. Kitty looked downward at the

noise and then did a double take. “Oh my fucking god, you

have one too!”

Amara jerked as if she’d been shot, slapping both hands over

the dick poking out of the top of her panties. After a second or two,

her head whipped back toward Kitty, jaw dropped. “Did you

just say ‘too’?”

“As a matter of fact I did. I have a dick too.”

Amara quickly looked at her crotch. “Well, not right now. It

comes and goes, like I’m guessing yours does.”

“The problem right now is that it won’t

go. I can’t get rid of the fucking thing.”

“Because of Jean, right? When I saw her in that top, I came

really, really close to being in the next stall.”

Amara’s voice was thick with dispair. “What am I

gonna do, Kitty?”

Kitty put her arms on Amara’s shoulders. “Close

your eyes. You’re in the Brotherhood house, being fucked by

Blob and Toad.”

“Ewwwww.”

“Exactly. Picture it. You are trying to sit on

Blob’s dick but you can’t reach it because of his

enormous gut. He’s eating a cheeseburger and getting the

grease all over you. Every five seconds he lets out a high-octane fart.

Toad is french-kissing you, and in between kisses, he catches and eats

cockroaches and flies.”

Amara made retching sounds. “Ewwwww. Ewwwww. Ewwwww. Kitty,

shut up or I’m gonna hurl.”

Kitty tapped her on the shoulder and pointed down. Amara was shocked by

the realization that the dick had gone soft. She quickly made it

disappear, then closed her eyes with relief. “Oh, god. Thank

you, Kitty. I thought I was going to have to spend the rest of my life

in this stall.”

Kitty phased through the stall door and Amara joined her after putting

on her jeans. Then she washed her face and reapplied her makeup.

Just then the girls heard the sound of a toilet flushing. They looked

at each other in alarm as a middle-aged woman emerged from a stall, a

look of disgust on her face. “Kids today,” she

snarled. “So fucked up with drugs that they can’t

remember what gender they are or what sexual organs they have. Sex

fantasies about bug-eating toads.” She pointed a finger.

“Run, don’t walk, to the nearest rehab

center.” She washed her hands and left, still glaring back at

them.

“Hey, it’s worse that that,” Kitty called

after her. “We’re, like, mutant

brain-damaged teens.”