X-Mansion

Tigress stared up at the gates, blinking slowly. She couldn’t believe she was here at the Mansion she had heard so much about. But there was one thing standing in her way… and that happened to be a heavily guarded, two foot thick brick wall surrounding the entire premises. She stood a few feet away, tapping her chin. Shrugging, she just decided to go for the first thing she could think up. She gripped her suitcase and guitar case tightly and leapt into the air, landing on the other side of the wall with a soft thump. She quickly hopped into some nearby bushes, not wanting find out first hand if their security was as good as they say it is.

All that could be heard was a faint rustling of the bushes and suddenly Tigress was at the front door. She grinned slyly, chuckling softly to herself. Amazing security my… But before she could finish her thought, she heard sounds coming from inside the building.

Tigress’ concealed ears perked on her head, pushing up the baseball cap she was wearing. She walked up to the door and was about the knock, but noticed the door was open. She shrugged and clicked it open and stepped in tentatively. It was then, a loud snarling sound could be heard as a heavy mass slammed into her, causing her to drop her things and knock her off balance.

Tigress crashed to the floor, feeling the heavy body pin her down. When her vision cleared, she saw the face of Wolverine, a hero she’d only seen in the news.

“I recommend you state your business, bub.” He said, a hint of a growl creeping into his throat. One hand was cocked back into a fist, with his knife-like claws pointing at Tigress. His other heavy hand was planted partially on her shoulder and chest, holding her to the ground.

“Well, welcome. And uh, what're you doing here anyway? Thought you had a job back in N.Y? Get kicked out, like me?”

Tigress shrugged, sighing as she picked her things up off the ground. As soon as she had her things, she scampered after Jessie who had disappeared down the hall.

“No, I did not get kicked out.” Tigress snapped somewhat. “Tony said that I could use a bit of a vacat-“ Tigress stopped mid step. Her nose twitched and her ears flicked on her head, once again moving the base-ball cap on her head.

“Hey Jessie, isn’t it time to trai-“

“KIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTYYYYY!”

“AIIIIIYYYEEEEE!”

And suddenly Tigress was no longer behind Jessie but sitting on top of Kitty, who was lying flat on her back.

“My Kitty! My Kitty! My Kitty!” Tigress grabbed her by the arms and hugged her tightly, earning a loud gasp from the latter. Tigress spun around in a large circle with the girl still trapped in her crushing grip.

“Tigress… gahh… you’re… KILLING ME!” Kitty squeaked, thrashing her legs around, trying to escape Tigress’ hold. Tigress giggled and let go of the girl and let her stand up on her own. Kitty sucked in some deep breaths before coughing dryly. “Ya… I’m glad to see you too, Tigress.”

Tigress giggled happily, clapping excitedly. “Oh, umm… about being here, Jessie.” Tigress turned and looked at Jessie. “Tony said I could use a bit of a vacation. He didn’t tell me anything else, really. At least it doesn’t seem like I was kicked out… wait… was I?” Tigress blinked slowly, thinking hard.

“Ooo! I heard you say something about training!” Tigress grinned, rocking back and forth on her heels.

'' Yep, around here we do daily training. To learn to control our gifts and not expose ourselves to the humans. If we do, well.....let's not talk about that.''

Tigress blinked slowly for the, what, fourth time that day? She tried to comprehend the true meaning of what Jessie said, but the girl proceeded to keep running her mouth.

'' So yeah, we got training in a few minutes. You might want to get settled in then. And get into your outfit, if you brought it anyway. If you didn't, I can always ask, Professor X for one.''

“Pfffft of course I have my suit. I’d be a disgrace if I forgot it.” Tigress chuckled. “As a matter of fact…” With her sly grin returning, she grabbed the bottom of her sweatshirt. In one swift motion, it was off and on the floor. She looked over her shoulder and saw the reddened faces of the little X-Men team behind her.

“Hehe… fooled ya, didn’t I?” Underneath, she had on her suit of course. “Geez, you think I’d have the audacity to do something like that? Seriously? I’m not that bad, alright?” Tigress covered her mouth a giggled, which escalated into a laugh. With a hum of happiness, she tugged her jeans off as well to reveal the entirety of her tiger-striped outfit. She shoved her excess clothes into her backpack and flashed a smile in Jessie’s direction.

Tigress raised her arms up in the air and locked her fingers together. She rocked back and forth on her toes and heels before hearing a satisfying cracking sound. Sighing, she let her hands drop as she rolled her shoulders. “This outfit… I have to ask Tony to get another one of these made for me. This one is getting a bit… tight.” Tigress bent backwards until her back was parallel to the ground.

Tigress suddenly stood up straight and blushed. “I-I-It’s not like I put on weight or anything! It’s just getting a bit… small.” Tigress puffed up her cheeks slightly in aggravation, crossing her arms.

''Right, and my accent disappeared.''

Tigress pouted slightly, like that of a five year old child.

''So, ya ready to get to some training? Because I am!''

Tigress looked up to see them walking away down a long hallway. Tigress scampered after them, only to see them turn a corner. When she followed and turned the same corner, they seemed to have disappeared. With a look of confusion, she walked in the direction she thought they went, only to find herself hopelessly lost.

"Oh, um Gottes willen!” Tigress said a bit loudly, trudging down the hallway.

“… you speak German?” Tigress whipped around defensively to face the voice that was coming from behind her, only to see it was Kurt, one of the X-Men she had been introduced to earlier.

“Oh, yes, yes I do. A long with another two dozen languages.” Tigress grinned, taking pride in her intelligence.

“Seriously? Far out! I’m Kurt. But you can call me Nightcrawler.” His smile was very warm and friendly as he stuck out a hand to shake. Tigress couldn’t help but stare at the two fingers that made up almost the entire hand. But before Kurt could notice, and take offense, from Tigress’ surprise, she shook his hand heartily, grinning ear to ear.

“Well, Kurt, my name is Carly, but you can call me Tigress.” Her tail stood tall and proud as it swayed around behind her.

Kurt’s eyes widened. “Oh, cool! You have a tail too!” Kurt’s pointed tail swung around so it was in front of him. Tigress chuckled softly.

“Yes, that and the two ears, the sharp claws and pointy fangs.”

“Well I’ve got blue fur, six fingers, four toes, pointy ears, fangs and golden eyes.”

Tigress smiled shyly, rubbing the back of her neck. “Well, I guess you win that contest."

“Für Sie sicher.” He grinned playfully again, flashing his pearly whites. “So what are you doing in this part of the mansion? Aren’t we going to training? You know this is the boy’s dormitories, right?”

Tigress then proceeded to smack the palm of her hand into her forehead and curse in German. “Gosh, I’m stupid…” She muttered. “Do you mind… er… showing me the way to the training room?” She asked, blushing a bit, feeling embarrassed because of the situation she was in. She wasn’t one to ask for help, especially not from some boy she just met.

“Well, I could, but I have a better way. Watch this…” He walked over to Tigress and placed his hands on her shoulders. With a crack sound, the two were out of the boy’s dormitories and into the training room. They had even made it before the others.

“Whooaaa! That was so cool!” She giggled happily, bouncing back and forth again. “That’s such a cool power! That must be really handy.” She smiled again, showing off her sharp canines.

“It sure is.” Kurt chuckled, smiling his warm smile again. Surely Jessie couldn’t have been right when he said Tigress was bad news, right? She seemed like such a nice person…

''Of course you'd be with Kurt! Ready to get some training done?''

Tigress shrugged, feeling awkward as Jessie smiled in her direction. Tigress was about to ask the group something before she remembered the one thing she wasn’t supposed to forget. She scampered over to Jessie and grabbed her wrist, tugging her alongside her and away from the group. Tigress looked back and made sure that the two were out of ear-shot. Tigress nervously fumbled around in her pocket before pulling out a small, clear, square-shaped box. Inside, you could see about a dozen syringes filled with thick, clear liquid.

“Those… those are… umm…” Tigress held them shakily in her hand before handing them to Jessie. Tigress shook her hand and rubbed them on her pants, as if wiping something off of them. She huffed a breath before looking up (unfortunately) at Jessie. “They’re… they’re sedatives. Tony told me to give them to you to use on me if I get… out of hand.” Tigress shifted on her feet, as if uneasy about something.

“You have to understand. This isn’t a joke. There’s enough in those needles to kill three fully grown men. You can’t use them on anyone else, and only in dire situations. You just… stick it in my shoulder, arm or thigh, and I’ll pass out within seconds, and I’ll be out for a few hours.” She once again stared down at the ground, shuffling her feet. “Thing’s have been… weird lately. Ever since you guys left New York, my behavior has changed.” Tigress spoke as if she was describing some wild animal.

“I’ve been… snapping a lot faster. Its super weird. That’s why I’ve been very perky since I got here. I’m trying to remain happy so I don’t accidently maim someone.” Tigress huffed, nervously running her fingers through her hair.

“What are you guys talkin’ about over there? Why are you being so secretive? Aren’t we supposed to be training?” Tigress growled softly and glared at Kitty who shouted at the two from across the room.

“Let’s just go train…” Tigress sighed and walked back towards the others, her tail flicking around behind her irritably.

“So what should we start with?” Tigress asked, her tail swaying behind her rhythmically.

'' So, are we ready to begin? With Level 1. that is?''

Tigress tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at Jessie. “Oi, I told you not to p me off, not treat me like some child. But if you insist, I could just go with it..” Tigress shrugged, rolling her shoulders.

“So, how does this room work exactly…” Tigress looked around, wondering what secrets this room held.

''No worries, we both can see in the dark. I'm sure we can finally beat Jessie in this round! I think it's this way. I've done this level only a few times, and it changes every now an then. So the command posts aren't always in the same place.''

Tigress looked in the direction Nightcrawler pointed and angled her ears. After a few seconds of listening she glanced back at Nightcrawler. She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I believe it’s the other way.”

Nightcrawler frowned. “Seriously? I can’t even get that right…” He sighed, frowning. He was clearly disappointed.

“Aww geez, furball. Don’t sweat it. I know you just wanna show off.” Tigress grinned in his direction before beginning to walk forward. “We should get moving.” With a simple curt nod, the blue boy followed closely behind Tigress.

The two made silent footsteps as the jogged down the hallway. Tigress was rather focused when a searing pain exploded in her lower back. Her eyes when wide and she yelped, diving and rolling forwards before hopping back to her feet.

“What the heck was that?!” She said rather nervously, still shaking from the electric shock. Nightcrawler himself was rather confused.

“I guess there are electric shocks or something… but I thought Jessie said no tasers…”

“That… that… urgh! Jessie… I swear to God…” Tigress looked at Nightcrawler with a rather stern gaze. “Come on, let’s just get outa here!” Tigress immediately began sprinting down the hall, leaving Nightcrawler stumbling behind. When he finally caught up, he was gasping for air. He bent over, panting to catch his breath.

“Geezum Tigress! What was all that about?! You scared of electricity or something!?”

“Well, considering it’s my weakness and all, yeah, I am sorta afraid of it.” She muttered, crossing her arms. She wasn’t even winded. She suddenly turned her back on Nightcrawler and lifted her shirt up slowly, exposing the soft skin of her lower back. Nightcrawler covered his mouth and blushed out of embarrassment. “Did… did it leave a mark?” She asked cautiously, trying not to blush herself.

“Well…” He got a bit closer, moving his face closer to her back. Tigress tried not to shudder as she felt his warm breath on her skin. “It left a sort of a burn mark. That’s odd… it never really leaves marks like that on any of us. After the simulation is over, we can get someone to take a look at it.”

“Ok…” Tigress muttered, rather angry that it left a mark. It hadn’t been a strong charge, but considering where it hit her, at the base of her spine, if it had been a strong charge it could have completely paralyzed her for a short period of time. The thought of that made her shudder. “Let’s just get this thing over with…” She walked over to the large iron door that sat in front of them. It was the size of a regular door, actually, but very thick, at least five inched of pure metal. If Tigress had the time, she would have sliced through the door, but this time she decided to take a more tactical approach.

“We got the super thick door this time… when I’m paired with Scott, we usually just blast it down.”

“How about we try to take this quietly..? Stealth is one of my greatest skills.” Tigress flashed another grin, making Nightcrawler smile in return. He then looked at the hybrid in great curiosity as she proceeded to do a series of very strange things.

Tigress pressed her ear to the iron door and began tapping the metal with her finger, and listened intently. “Umm… Tigress? What are you-“

“Shush! It’s a process!” Tigress muttered, still doing what she had previously been doing. Nightcrawler put his hands up defensively and waiting for Tigress to be finished.

“Alrighy! Here we go… I hope this works…” Tigress whispered to herself quietly. She stood back and, taking a large breath, began to do another set of odd things. She slammed her palm against the upper right corner of the door, then the lower left, then the center, then twice in the upper right again. There was an odd clattering sound as the lock on the door collapsed in on itself. The door clicked and swung open. “Voilà!” Tigress smiled rather proudly.

The two of them walked into the main room slowly. Tigress craned her neck to see a person wrapped in a blanket in the middle of the vast room. She could not tell who the person was because the being had no scent. It was obviously part of the simulation. Tigress looked at Nightcrawler and nodded slightly. He knew what to do. He put his hand on her shoulder and with a crack, the two were in the center of the room. They landed with a soft thump next to the person.

Tigress immediately grabbed the chains binding the persons wrists and tugged them apart, snapping them quickly. Nightcrawler was rather impressed with her sudden strength. Tigress then crouched down and turned the person over so they weren’t in a tight ball. As soon as she saw who it was, her heart seemed to thud to a stop. The dark, messy, tasseled hair didn’t seem to match the sickly pale skin, but that was him. Then, a certain scent began to shove its way into her nose. Blood. The blanket fell off of the person, exposing his bare chest and brown khakis. There was a large, jagged wound streaking across his chest. The blood was dried and caked around the wound. The smell of blood sent panic flaring in her own chest. Her eyes were wide with shock and some fear.

“Tigress? What’s wrong? Listen, we’ve got to get going! Tigress? Tigress!”

“I-Its Peter…” Her voice was barely above a whisper, and it cracked a bit at the end. She sat there, frozen.

(And now is when someone bursts in! XP)

Tigress just sat there, her gaze glued to Peter’s pale, sickly frame. Her eyes were wide, showing her oddly colored irises. She swallowed hard, her unblinking stare still fixed on Peter. Every sound around her was muffled, like there were cotton balls stuffed in her ears.

'' Tigress… He's just a hologram. Nothing… is real, it's… fake.''

Tigress remained unmoving, despite what Jessie said to try to persuade her. She stood over Peter rather protectively.

'' Alright, Tigress. This is gonna hurt you more than it'll hurt me.''

There was a jolt of pain that erupted from her shoulder blade, which made Tigress’ entire body snap into motion. She leapt to her feet, whipping around to face her assaulter. The pain from the shock seemed to pulse through her shoulder, making Tigress grit her teeth together to deal with the pain.

“Hey! What was that for!?” She snapped, a hint of a snarl edging her voice. Her stance was dominant, her tail and ears high, her feet slightly apart and her shoulders squared. She glared at Jessie somewhat, not really realizing the girl had been trying to help her.

'' Well, training is over with, what else do you guys want to do? We still have like two hours of day light left, so we can go outside or something. What do you say, Tigress?''

Tigress brushed her bangs out of her eyes and huffed out a deep breath as Jessie went and put the syringes into her pocket, as if suggesting something. Tigress sighed. “I need some first aid… electricity is my weakness, Jessie. I can’t just stroll this off.” Tigress turned so that her back was facing the others. She grabbed the collar of her outfit and unzipped it in the back, pulling it down slightly. She had a black camisole that was cut low in the back underneath her outfit. She pulled the leather of her outfit to the side, exposing her shoulder where Jessie had shocked her. There, the skin was a nasty red color, like it had been burned by fire.

Tigress sighed and looked at Nightcrawler. “Now you know why I ran. I was afraid of the electricity doing something like this.” Tigress turned to face Jessie. “Next time, could you do something less painful, like slapping me?” Tigress joked, flashing a half smile.


“But seriously, I’m gonna need some help with this. Of course both of the wounds have to be on my back, where I can’t reach.”

“I could help if you’d like.” Nightcrawler offered innocently.

“I’d gladly take you up on the offer, but it’s going to require me to take my shirt off, so I think I should have a girl helping me… but afterwards, we can do whatever you guys would like. I’m sorry for causing such trouble.” Tigress apologized, rather embarrassed, as she rubbed the back of her neck.

'' No worries Tigress. I can help you, besides me, there's Hank and I'm sure you don't want him to help you.''

Tigress tilted her head to the side in confusion. Was she talking about Ant-Man? No… he couldn’t be here, could he? This must be a different Hank.

'' Come on Tigress, I'll help you get back on your feet in no time. Then we can relax, okay?''

Tigress stared at the ground and shuffled her feet. Her cheeks were a light pink, showing how embarrassed she was. She nodded over-dramatically like that of a small child. As soon as Jessie began walking up the stairs Tigress followed quickly after, not wanting to get lost in the large mansion again.

'' Tigress, you can share a room with either Storm or Rogue, who'd you want to share a room with? I need to know so I can direct you to the right room.''

Tigress thought quietly to herself. She knew a little bit about Storm, but had never met her. But one thing she knew was that Storm was a fully grown woman, and Rogue was around her age. But Tigress know of Rogue’s strange, dangerous power.

“I think I’ll room with Rogue… I mean, I’d rather room with someone my age then someone ten or so years older than me…” Tigress muttered to herself. “Alright, lead the way.” Tigress gestured down the hall.

'' If you need me, I'm only two doors down to your left. I'll be taking a quick shower, so after that I'll be able to help you.''

Tigress nodded, sitting down on the bed for a moment. She sighed as Jessie walked out of the room. Tigress immediately went to unpacking her things and putting her clothes into drawers. Tigress quickly changed into a pain of faded jeans, a black camisole and a blue and black flannel button up. She grabbed an elastic and quickly walked out of the room, but not before shoving her smart phone into her pocket.

Tigress quickly strutted her way down the hall, her tail swishing back and forth behind her. She caught a few glances as she walked by; whether it was her tiger-tail or her looks, she will not know.

Tigress pushed the door to Jessie and Kitty’s room open, and walked in. “Hello, fellow freaks slash acquaintances.” Tigress said, snickering slightly. Tigress quickly pulled her hair into a ponytail, exposing her slender neck. She usually didn’t put her hair up because it made her seem more childish then she already is. “I’m ready for you to… help me out.” She muttered and began to unbutton her shirt so Jessie could get to her back. During this entire process, Tigress realized she was blushing madly.

'' No need to be nervous, okay? I've done this a bunch of times, and I've gotten a lot better at this since last time.''

Tigress huffed slightly and crossed her arms. “I don’t know if it’s just me, but that didn’t sound very reassuring…” Tigress shifted her weight from one foot to the other, still feeling very awkward about the whole situation.

'' Thank you, my dear.” Jessie said as Kitty came back with needed supplies. Now, can you get me a towel for Tigress, and something for her to bite on, like a belt?''

Tigress seemed to jolt from a daze. “A belt?! What would we need such a thing for?!” She questioned, though she knew she wouldn’t be answered.

'' I have to pick you up and move you onto the bed, okay? Easiest way to do this.''

“Or I could just-“ Before Tigress could suggest anything, Jessie picked her up by the waist and put her on the bed, stomach down. Tigress put the belt in her mouth and immediately buried her face in the blankets of the bed, trying to hide just how much she was blushing.

'' At first this will feel weird, but it feels better after a few minutes.'' Tigress swallowed hard and nodded, her face still hidden.

Tigress waited and braced herself, tightening up the muscles in her back and shoulder by accident. As the frigid water made contact with the burn, there was a ripping sound as Tigress’ sharp teeth tore through the thin leather of Jessie’s new belt. '' Does it feel better when I do this, or only hurt more?'' Tigress lifted her head and spat out the hunk of torn leather that was once a usable belt. Tigress’ face was scrunched up with pain.

“I-It.. still hurts a bit… but it’s starting to feel better..” Tigress muttered, her claws sheathing and unsheathing as to deal with the pain. Eventually the pain ebbed into more of a numbing pain than a piercing one. “Its feeling better… thanks for everything, ya know? I’m sorry for suddenly coming here. Charles knew I was coming, but I should have told you guys…” Tigress sighed, “Don’t forget about the one on my back, too…” She muttered, letting her chin rest on the bed.