Disclaimer: I don't own x-men evolution, Marvel and the WB do. I do own my made up characters though, so please don't take them, they like it here.
This takes place in the future of x-men evolution and you probably won't be seeing the regular team for a while. But I thought I'd add the disclaimer just in case.
Jessica slinked through the shadows in the abandoned subway tunnel, keeping her right hand on the wall at all times. Specter had told her that there would be a secret entrance in this tunnel to a safe haven for people like her. Uggh, just thinking about him sent shivers down her spine. He had been extremely creepy when he had grabbed her arm in the street only the day before, his pale skin glinting in the afternoon sun and nothing but rags around him for warmth. Thinking about it she pulled her jacket closer around her and returned her right hand to the wall.
"Why did I ever listen to him," she asked herself, " I'll probably be lost in these tunnels, which could have been what he wanted all along." She suddenly fell forward as her mittened hand was caught in a crack. Now on her knees she pulled her other hand's mitten off with her teeth and maneuvered her backpack around to the front. Unzipping it she fumbled for her flashlight, which was right on top, and turned it on, watching the rats scamper from the light. She clumsily directed the light to where her hand had become wedged.
Taking a closer look she realized that the crack her hand was caught in was the door she had been looking for all along. Putting the flashlight under her right arm she began to struggle to free herself and possibly open the door in the process.
" This would be so much easier if I could blow things up," she grunted, pulling at the captive hand. After fifteen minutes she was rather exhausted and hungry. " Probably lunchtime," she told herself, letting her flashlight fall to the ground. She hadn't eaten much for breakfast, hoping to make a fast getaway. Once again she put her hand inside her bag and searched for the orange she had packed.
"Wouldn't ya know it's on the bottom," Jessica muttered pulling it out. She then placed it between her knees and with a flick of her wrist her nails became claws. She ran her index finger along the peal a couple of times and then resorted to using her teeth to pry the peel off. It tasted bitter but it was all worth it when she reached the fruit. It didn't take long for her to polish it off. Now rested and less hungry she tried again to pry the door open. Using both her hands she jerked backward and the door slowly opened to reveal even more darkness. She grabbed her backpack and brandished her flashlight as she entered.
An arm quickly snaked around her neck as her other arm was twisted behind her back causing her to drop her flashlight. " Who are you," a voice growled into her ear.
"J-Jessica," she stammered.
" So you're the new mutant." He released her and she pulled away from him and grabbed her flashlight, shining it in his eyes. 'Mutant?' she thought to herself. She had never thought of herself that way. Strange maybe, but a mutant?
" Yeah, what about it," she snapped.
Shading his eyes he replied," We've been expecting you."
"You were?"
" You didn't think Specter wouldn't have warned us that you were coming did ya?" he snickered.
"How'd he know I would even come?"
" Specter has a gift for reading people's thoughts and emotions. He tells us in advance so we can make some room for them. Enough chit-chat though, why don't I let you in? Just remember this before entering, once you enter there is no turning back, no leaving."
" I understand. It's not like there's anything out there for me," she said bitterly, " all I have is here."
" Welcome to the underground, kid," he said as he opened another secret door that Jessica hadn't known was there. Light suddenly flooded the small entryway she had been standing in and Jessica looked out into what she would one day call home.
It was nothing spectacular. It was drab to say the least and a little crowded. Mutants much like her self talked amongst themselves. Some of them Jessica noted looked very different from normal people, physical mutations, and others that could blend in with a crowd. The walls were gray cinderblock with signatures, messages, and drawings.
The man from the entrance led her past all this near a small room off to the side. " Stay here," he ordered, " I'll ask if she'll see you." He slowly opened the door and disappeared.
Jessica continued to look around and contented herself to read some of the signatures on the wall so as not to wander too far from the office area.
Ding, ding, ding, a bell rang out. The room was quickly exited as the teens left through doors on the far side of the room on opposite ends of the wall. Now alone, Jessica ventured from the safety of the wall to take a better look at the vacant room. It seemed larger without the huge crowd. She saw that besides the doors that they had all left through there were also doors to the left and to the right.
A hand clamped down on her shoulder, making her jump and spin around to face the man. " She'll see you," his head motioned to the office.
" Okay," Jessica said hesitantly and turned to walk toward the door. With a deep breath she turned the knob and walked in.
" You must be Jessica," a woman's voice told her. " You can set your things down. It's not like anyone will steal them here."
" Let me guess, Specter told you who I was," Jessica commented, setting down her bag.
" No, Specter doesn't report to me, he doesn't even work for me. He talks to my guards. I know your name because Mark mentioned it when he told me you were here.'
" If Specter doesn't work for you why did he tell me to come here?"
" Specter works for himself and his own futile mission. His mutation allows him to sense mutants, especially high concentrations of them, besides his ghostly color. When he senses a mutant he directs them to the nearest group of mutants. The mutants he helps call him Specter because he mysteriously comes from out of nowhere, offering them help, and then disappearing just as quickly," she took a sip from her water glass and caught Jessica's green eyes with her brown ones, " You thirsty," she asked. Jessica shook her head. " By the way, I'm Diane, but most of the kids here cal me 'ma' or 'siren'. Whichever you prefer is fine by me."
" So what do you do ... I mean, what do we do down here?" Jessica spoke up.
" I'm simply management, I run things here. You are here to learn to control your gifts."
" What's in it for you?" Jessica questioned.
" Nothing much, except that you're obligated to stay and help for a while once you're done training and go on to some place else. Of course," she smiled, " with the laws nowadays none of us might ever leave."
'Sounds simple enough,' Jessica thought to herself.
" Now, if there's no further questions, I'll get you a trunk, a lock, and give you the grand tour." She stood up from behind her desk and walked toward the door. On her way out she grabbed a combination lock. Jessica followed her as she walked out the door and turned right.
" These are the girls' dormitories, the boys' are on the other side," she motioned toward the far side of the room.
Siren then opened the door to the girls' room but what she saw wasn't a bedroom but a small room with many small doors. " The closet room," Siren commented. " If you want to hang something up you'll need to buy your own lock, best to get one with a combination." She opened the largest of the doors to reveal a row of bunk beds and trunks that lined the perimeter of the room. Some of the beds were piled with blankets while others were bare. Siren indicated a rather beaten trunk, " This one's empty. But your bed's another story. Don't get too comfortable anywhere just in case the bed happens to be occupied. The bathroom is over there."
Jessica opened the trunk and placed her duffel bag into it. Siren handed her the combination lock with a slip of paper. " Burn it once you have it memorized," she advised.
Jessica silently read the numbers 23-5-35 and turned the lock's dial. The lock opened with a satisfying click as she then placed it on the trunk's padlock.
The room was dead silent except for some incoherent mumblings that she hadn't noticed until now. Jessica looked around for the source until she spotted a small, frail-looking girl perched on the top of one of the bunks. A blanket was wrapped around her and a huge book rested in her lap. The girl's brown hair was put into two braids ending in baby blue bows.
" Who's she," Jessica asked.
" Oh, that's just Gracie. Don't pay any attention to her. Nobody else does, unless she wants something."
"Why's she in here by herself?"
"She doesn't really converse with others voluntarily. We've stopped trying to make her do anything she doesn't want to." Siren replied.
"But..." Jessica began.
" Don't concern yourself too much, okay? She's a lost cause and you'll just make your head hurt trying to solve her problems." Jessica knew that this was her warning to drop the subject.
Siren led her back out of the girl's dormitory and through the doors the teens had disappeared through. The next room was homier and rather well furnished in comparison to what Jessica had seen, obviously the living room. " The door to the right's the kitchen. You'll have your turn with seven others in the kitchen once in a while."
Jessica poked her head into the kitchen area to find a wide array of stoves lining one wall and a menagerie of dirty pots and pans filling the sinks. 'Probably infested with rats or cockroaches' she thought to herself and quickly pulled her head back out to take another look at the other room.
There were plenty of couches and chairs as well as tables ranging in sizes. Garbage cans lined most of the wall near the kitchen.
" What about those doors," Jessica asked, noticing doors on the remaining two walls of the room.
" Those doors lead to the training ring," Siren smiled as she opened one of the doors and lead Jessica inside.
She had never seen so many mutants in one place before, and her eyes grew wide as saucers as she watched sparks and flames erupting from all over the room, especially near the center.
" The only other rooms you need to know about are to the right and left. They're the private rooms, which go to the best of you. It's something to strive for, I hear it's rather hard to get a shower in the girl's bathroom." She smirked and told Jessica that she was free to do whatever she wanted for the rest of the day, as long as she checked the chore board for her name and group number.
She spent most of the remainder of the afternoon watching her fellow mutants. Every now and then one of them would glace her way and give her a sign of acknowledgement. Others just glared. One girl with skin so fair it was white and white hair to match gave her a such a cold stare she could feel a chill deep inside her.
After that she decided it would be better to spend the rest of the day somewhere else. Not to her room, the mumblings of the small girl would drive her nuts. The living room seemed to be her best bet at some piece and quiet for the time being. And she could have the TV to herself, and obvious bonus. However, she wasn't alone for long...
Well, what did ya think? Please let me know. This is my first time writing fanfiction so please be gentle in your reviews. Constructive criticism is okay but flaming is just mean.
This takes place in the future of x-men evolution and you probably won't be seeing the regular team for a while. But I thought I'd add the disclaimer just in case.
Jessica slinked through the shadows in the abandoned subway tunnel, keeping her right hand on the wall at all times. Specter had told her that there would be a secret entrance in this tunnel to a safe haven for people like her. Uggh, just thinking about him sent shivers down her spine. He had been extremely creepy when he had grabbed her arm in the street only the day before, his pale skin glinting in the afternoon sun and nothing but rags around him for warmth. Thinking about it she pulled her jacket closer around her and returned her right hand to the wall.
"Why did I ever listen to him," she asked herself, " I'll probably be lost in these tunnels, which could have been what he wanted all along." She suddenly fell forward as her mittened hand was caught in a crack. Now on her knees she pulled her other hand's mitten off with her teeth and maneuvered her backpack around to the front. Unzipping it she fumbled for her flashlight, which was right on top, and turned it on, watching the rats scamper from the light. She clumsily directed the light to where her hand had become wedged.
Taking a closer look she realized that the crack her hand was caught in was the door she had been looking for all along. Putting the flashlight under her right arm she began to struggle to free herself and possibly open the door in the process.
" This would be so much easier if I could blow things up," she grunted, pulling at the captive hand. After fifteen minutes she was rather exhausted and hungry. " Probably lunchtime," she told herself, letting her flashlight fall to the ground. She hadn't eaten much for breakfast, hoping to make a fast getaway. Once again she put her hand inside her bag and searched for the orange she had packed.
"Wouldn't ya know it's on the bottom," Jessica muttered pulling it out. She then placed it between her knees and with a flick of her wrist her nails became claws. She ran her index finger along the peal a couple of times and then resorted to using her teeth to pry the peel off. It tasted bitter but it was all worth it when she reached the fruit. It didn't take long for her to polish it off. Now rested and less hungry she tried again to pry the door open. Using both her hands she jerked backward and the door slowly opened to reveal even more darkness. She grabbed her backpack and brandished her flashlight as she entered.
An arm quickly snaked around her neck as her other arm was twisted behind her back causing her to drop her flashlight. " Who are you," a voice growled into her ear.
"J-Jessica," she stammered.
" So you're the new mutant." He released her and she pulled away from him and grabbed her flashlight, shining it in his eyes. 'Mutant?' she thought to herself. She had never thought of herself that way. Strange maybe, but a mutant?
" Yeah, what about it," she snapped.
Shading his eyes he replied," We've been expecting you."
"You were?"
" You didn't think Specter wouldn't have warned us that you were coming did ya?" he snickered.
"How'd he know I would even come?"
" Specter has a gift for reading people's thoughts and emotions. He tells us in advance so we can make some room for them. Enough chit-chat though, why don't I let you in? Just remember this before entering, once you enter there is no turning back, no leaving."
" I understand. It's not like there's anything out there for me," she said bitterly, " all I have is here."
" Welcome to the underground, kid," he said as he opened another secret door that Jessica hadn't known was there. Light suddenly flooded the small entryway she had been standing in and Jessica looked out into what she would one day call home.
It was nothing spectacular. It was drab to say the least and a little crowded. Mutants much like her self talked amongst themselves. Some of them Jessica noted looked very different from normal people, physical mutations, and others that could blend in with a crowd. The walls were gray cinderblock with signatures, messages, and drawings.
The man from the entrance led her past all this near a small room off to the side. " Stay here," he ordered, " I'll ask if she'll see you." He slowly opened the door and disappeared.
Jessica continued to look around and contented herself to read some of the signatures on the wall so as not to wander too far from the office area.
Ding, ding, ding, a bell rang out. The room was quickly exited as the teens left through doors on the far side of the room on opposite ends of the wall. Now alone, Jessica ventured from the safety of the wall to take a better look at the vacant room. It seemed larger without the huge crowd. She saw that besides the doors that they had all left through there were also doors to the left and to the right.
A hand clamped down on her shoulder, making her jump and spin around to face the man. " She'll see you," his head motioned to the office.
" Okay," Jessica said hesitantly and turned to walk toward the door. With a deep breath she turned the knob and walked in.
" You must be Jessica," a woman's voice told her. " You can set your things down. It's not like anyone will steal them here."
" Let me guess, Specter told you who I was," Jessica commented, setting down her bag.
" No, Specter doesn't report to me, he doesn't even work for me. He talks to my guards. I know your name because Mark mentioned it when he told me you were here.'
" If Specter doesn't work for you why did he tell me to come here?"
" Specter works for himself and his own futile mission. His mutation allows him to sense mutants, especially high concentrations of them, besides his ghostly color. When he senses a mutant he directs them to the nearest group of mutants. The mutants he helps call him Specter because he mysteriously comes from out of nowhere, offering them help, and then disappearing just as quickly," she took a sip from her water glass and caught Jessica's green eyes with her brown ones, " You thirsty," she asked. Jessica shook her head. " By the way, I'm Diane, but most of the kids here cal me 'ma' or 'siren'. Whichever you prefer is fine by me."
" So what do you do ... I mean, what do we do down here?" Jessica spoke up.
" I'm simply management, I run things here. You are here to learn to control your gifts."
" What's in it for you?" Jessica questioned.
" Nothing much, except that you're obligated to stay and help for a while once you're done training and go on to some place else. Of course," she smiled, " with the laws nowadays none of us might ever leave."
'Sounds simple enough,' Jessica thought to herself.
" Now, if there's no further questions, I'll get you a trunk, a lock, and give you the grand tour." She stood up from behind her desk and walked toward the door. On her way out she grabbed a combination lock. Jessica followed her as she walked out the door and turned right.
" These are the girls' dormitories, the boys' are on the other side," she motioned toward the far side of the room.
Siren then opened the door to the girls' room but what she saw wasn't a bedroom but a small room with many small doors. " The closet room," Siren commented. " If you want to hang something up you'll need to buy your own lock, best to get one with a combination." She opened the largest of the doors to reveal a row of bunk beds and trunks that lined the perimeter of the room. Some of the beds were piled with blankets while others were bare. Siren indicated a rather beaten trunk, " This one's empty. But your bed's another story. Don't get too comfortable anywhere just in case the bed happens to be occupied. The bathroom is over there."
Jessica opened the trunk and placed her duffel bag into it. Siren handed her the combination lock with a slip of paper. " Burn it once you have it memorized," she advised.
Jessica silently read the numbers 23-5-35 and turned the lock's dial. The lock opened with a satisfying click as she then placed it on the trunk's padlock.
The room was dead silent except for some incoherent mumblings that she hadn't noticed until now. Jessica looked around for the source until she spotted a small, frail-looking girl perched on the top of one of the bunks. A blanket was wrapped around her and a huge book rested in her lap. The girl's brown hair was put into two braids ending in baby blue bows.
" Who's she," Jessica asked.
" Oh, that's just Gracie. Don't pay any attention to her. Nobody else does, unless she wants something."
"Why's she in here by herself?"
"She doesn't really converse with others voluntarily. We've stopped trying to make her do anything she doesn't want to." Siren replied.
"But..." Jessica began.
" Don't concern yourself too much, okay? She's a lost cause and you'll just make your head hurt trying to solve her problems." Jessica knew that this was her warning to drop the subject.
Siren led her back out of the girl's dormitory and through the doors the teens had disappeared through. The next room was homier and rather well furnished in comparison to what Jessica had seen, obviously the living room. " The door to the right's the kitchen. You'll have your turn with seven others in the kitchen once in a while."
Jessica poked her head into the kitchen area to find a wide array of stoves lining one wall and a menagerie of dirty pots and pans filling the sinks. 'Probably infested with rats or cockroaches' she thought to herself and quickly pulled her head back out to take another look at the other room.
There were plenty of couches and chairs as well as tables ranging in sizes. Garbage cans lined most of the wall near the kitchen.
" What about those doors," Jessica asked, noticing doors on the remaining two walls of the room.
" Those doors lead to the training ring," Siren smiled as she opened one of the doors and lead Jessica inside.
She had never seen so many mutants in one place before, and her eyes grew wide as saucers as she watched sparks and flames erupting from all over the room, especially near the center.
" The only other rooms you need to know about are to the right and left. They're the private rooms, which go to the best of you. It's something to strive for, I hear it's rather hard to get a shower in the girl's bathroom." She smirked and told Jessica that she was free to do whatever she wanted for the rest of the day, as long as she checked the chore board for her name and group number.
She spent most of the remainder of the afternoon watching her fellow mutants. Every now and then one of them would glace her way and give her a sign of acknowledgement. Others just glared. One girl with skin so fair it was white and white hair to match gave her a such a cold stare she could feel a chill deep inside her.
After that she decided it would be better to spend the rest of the day somewhere else. Not to her room, the mumblings of the small girl would drive her nuts. The living room seemed to be her best bet at some piece and quiet for the time being. And she could have the TV to herself, and obvious bonus. However, she wasn't alone for long...
Well, what did ya think? Please let me know. This is my first time writing fanfiction so please be gentle in your reviews. Constructive criticism is okay but flaming is just mean.