Don't play with her, 'cause you're playing with fire...

Niki Sanders looked at the angry-looking naked brunette who was glaring at her and said, "There must be some mistake. I'm not this person you call Emma. My name is... is... er, oh, yes. Now I remember. It's Niki. Niki Sanders."

"Likely story," said the angry-looking naked brunette. "I've met Niki Sanders -- as well as her alter Jessica -- and you aren't her. But nice try, Emma. I'll be sure to mention that at your funeral -- not that's going to be anything left of you to bury except for a big pile of ashes."

Just then Niki noticed that the edges of her clothing were starting to smolder. Immediately she stripped off her two remaining pieces of clothing -- specifically, her bra and her thong -- and then stood naked in the center of the strip club while her clothing went up in smoke.

Then Niki felt her hair start to smolder.

"Oh, God!" she cried. "She's really going to do it."

Niki turned to the brunette once more and cried out, "I swear by the life of my son Micah that you have got the wrong woman, whoever you are. You are being tricked. If you go through with this, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. My God, would you want someone doing this to a member of your own family?"

The brunette paused.

Then she sneered. "How dare you bring that up, Emma? How dare you?"

Then a redheaded woman stepped between Niki and the brunette and said, "Okay, Liz. That's enough. It's bad enough you're distracting me from capturing Emma Frost but do you really need to hurt this poor woman too?"

"No, Jean," said the brunette whom the redhead had called Liz. "You don't understand. That's Emma Frost right there -- behind you. If I don't get her now, she'll kill me. And then she'll try her damnedest to kill you."

Jean sneered. "Emma Frost couldn't kill me on her luckiest day ever. She admitted as much when she tried to get Niki and her alter here to kill me."

Niki gazed at Jean and asked, "When did this happen?"

"When your alter was in charge, Niki," said Jean. "The one folks call Jessica. I heard the whole conversation play out in your head. Apparently Emma was such an idiot that she forgot that she wasn't the only one in the room who could read minds. By the way, thanks for turning her down. I would have hated to have to hurt you and Jessica."

"So that woman you're standing in front of -- isn't really the White Queen?" asked the woman called Liz.

"Of course she isn't," said Jean. "Now go and put your clothes back on, Liz. I'll start checking to see if she's still in the club."

Niki looked down at her naked body and asked, "I don't suppose you can get some clothes for me too, Liz? My old ones just burned up and well, I really would like to go home wearing more than shoes, a purse and a garter if you don't mind."

"I'll see what I can do," said Liz.

And as she departed, Niki breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about clothes that much," said a voice from behind her and Jean. "I go naked almost all the time and it never bothers me all that much."

Niki turned to see a naked blue woman with -- what was that on her skin? Scales? -- staring at her.

With yet another sigh, she said, "Okay. Who are you supposed to be?"

"Officially it's Raven Darkhölme," said the naked blue woman. "But you can call me Mystique. I'm here on behalf of the Brotherhood -- no, skip that -- the Sisterhood of Morally Challenged Mutants."