I stood gaping like a fool for a good minute before joining the applause, if anything deserved my clapping, it was this. My hands began to burn from the intensity of my applauding; I stopped to observe my gloved hands, adjusting the lace around my wrists. I had the urge to run forward and greet the teens from the future, from the hungry looks in the crowd's eyes, I wasn't alone.
Jasper seemed to catch on to this as well, "Now friends, I know you all must be dying to ask them questions about the future, and perhaps use my device as well. There will be a time for this, but…Not now." A few of his servants stepped forward, and pulled the time travelling machine back into the warehouse behind them, a couple more of them dragged the brightly dressed people into the warehouse as well, much to their dismay, bags were placed onto their heads. Some thrashed out, trying to break free of his servants grasp, sadly, it was no uses, they seemed to have an iron grip.
After it was clear the show was over, the crowd dispersed. I stayed back however, this seemed shady, even for Jasper. Was no one else just mildly concerned about the bags, and how it seemed like he was bringing them into the warehouse against their will?
Maybe it was all a ruse. That Jasper had just kidnapped these children and dressed them up to prove to the world he wasn't crazy. If that was the case, I would most certainly intervene. With a huff I stomped towards the large storage place, banging loudly on the door, my perfectly white glove was tainted with dirt and dust. Disgusting. Tentatively I slipped it off and continued to bang on the door.
It slid open and one of Jasper's assistants stood before me, he was well groomed, his hair slicked back with a crisp black uniform on.
"I would like to speak with Mr. Chevalier."
"He's not in at the moment miss-" The assistant began.
"He is in, I saw him just a few moments ago." I pushed past him into the warehouse, sticking my nose in the air and eyeing the butler.
"Miss, if you would please just step back outside, I will make sure he is made aware that you would like to speak with him and I am sure that-"
"I am Evangeline Wilkes and I refuse to be told what to do by a mere butler!" I said in an icy tone, my voice rising slightly as anger swelled up within. My eyes flared, as I approached the butler, coming nose to nose with him, "Now, you will go tell Jasper that I am here, and I will speak with him."
The butler paled slightly, "Y-yes miss. My sincerest apologies, I will, I will go fetch him." He shut the door and scrambled off to the back of the warehouse.
I smiled coldly and looked around the large room. The ceiling was high, wooden beams supported the roof and sickly yellow light streamed in from the scattered skylights. The floor was dusty, scattered with spare cogs and springs. Unfinished machines filled the space, along with a work bench and walls covered in blueprints. I'd been inside several times before, each time feeling very claustrophobic in the crowded space.
I knew that Jasper had a large town house connected to the warehouse to the left, which was where the butler had gone. What I was more curious about was the time machine. Slowly weaving through the various failed inventions I found the one I was looking for. The time machine.
The velvet curtain was folded neatly beside it, and surrounding the machine were the brightly dressed teens from earlier. The future folk.
They were tied up, with gags in their mouths and rope around their hands and feet. It seemed like they were in the process of trying to free themselves, but it wasn't working out to well. The green one was out, unconscious, and the larger one with the t-shirt that had a stylized S on his chest was leaning over her with a concerned expression. They all turned when I came into view.
Muffled talking erupted from all of them except for the unconscious one; their eyes were wide and pleading. I stumbled backwards, a bit shocked. I knew Jasper was slightly mad, but…Really? Kidnapping children? My mind was racing faster than the speed of light, I couldn't think straight. What was going on, was freeing them was the right thing to do, wasn't it?
Without really thinking it through I took the gag out of the one closest from me and began to untie the ropes that bound him. He jumped to his feet, "Thanks." He said before moving to untie the others.
"We must hurry…Jasper will be returning soon. I can…Sneak you out the back, and you can come with me." I said, untying a girl with long blonde hair in a high pony tail.
It took several minutes until all of the teens were freed, just in time as well.
"Evangeline? Eva? Where are you?" Jasper called out.
I ducked behind one of the machines, pulling the others with me. I poked my head around the corner and watched as the inventor scanned the area, he moved forward, sliding back the door and looking out. Sucking in a breath I motioned for the teens to follow me through the twisting maze of machines, finding the back exit we slipped out into an alley way.
"Follow me, quickly." I hissed at them, not quite sure what I was doing. It was very unlike me to just save people, because really, no one was as important as me. But somehow, looking at the future people all tied up, knowing that I was the only one who could save them, well…It was quite empowering.
Moving as fast as I could in my attire, I led the kids through a maze of alleys, leading them deeper and deeper into the city. It took over half an hour by foot to reach my mansion at the other side of the city. If only I had taken my carriage I could have avoided all of this walking. Hopefully Jasper didn't notice they were missing yet, and he didn't suspect I was the one who took them.
M'gann could barely recall what had happened. A flashing light, muggy air, a crowd of people and then nothing. What had happened?
She blinked looking around, Superboy had just set her down on a stiff chair. They were in a large enclosed room filled with fine antique furniture and paintings. A steady stream of grey light came through a large window at the end of the room. She squinted looking at the scenery from outside, the buildings looked old, well they didn't look old old, but they weren't the type of buildings that existed in New York. They weren't in New York anymore though, were they?
In front of the house there was a small courtyard that had brick walls around the perimeter and large iron gates before a gravel path. Through the gates she could see the old buildings, and a carriage passing by on a cobblestone road. A carriage, pulled by horses.
Where was she?
Then it all came flooding back into her mind. They weren't in the present anymore, they somehow had travelled back in time…
She snapped her attention back to the girl standing near the parlor door. Her skin was snow white, her cheeks tinted pink by light touches of rouge. Her eyes were an icy blue and cold, very cold, it almost made M'gann want to shiver. She had thin pursed lips, painted a pink rose petal color. She had pale blond hair with gold highlights scattered about the mess of ringlets carefully arranged atop her head. The girl was in a rather elaborate dress with heavy skirts and a corset that fit tightly to her fragile figure. It was a dark silky violet color that hung around her shoulders in lacey finesse. A chain with a ruby the size of a baby's fist sat at the hollow of her neck. Judging by her appearance, and the parlor they were in, this girl was most definitely rich.
"So, are you really from the future?" The girl asked, narrowing her eyes and speaking in a posh British accent. She tossed back a loose curl and eyed them all with a look of mild curiosity, amusement, and arrogance.
M'gann glanced over at Artemis who was glaring daggers at the other girl.
"That depends…First of all, where are we?" Robin asked, leaning against a nearby wall with Wally who was making faces at the flowered wall paper.
"Oh silly me, you probably would like to know about that wouldn't you. " The girl gave them a coy smile and glided towards the large window, looking out of it as if she was searching for something, "the year is 1887, September 3rd. London, England."
Wally let out a low whistle, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
The girl looked over at him, arching a brow, "you were in Kansas?"
"Huh? No…It was a joke-"
Robin cut him off with a huff, "I think what Wally's trying to say in his own special way is, yes…We're from the future." He rubbed his temples with a calculating expression, "you wouldn't happen to know how we got here, would you?"
"Well," the girl began, turning back to face the team as she adjusted her skirts with crisp white gloved hands, "You came through a time traveling device."
"No, really?" Artemis deadpanned, frowning slightly and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yes," The girl continued nodding, returning Artemis's glare with one of her own, "Unfortunately, that's all I know."
Artemis scoffed, "Real helpful." She muttered, standing up and pacing the room.
"You could be a bit more grateful," the girl said, "I did free you from Jasper's warehouse."
Artemis spun to face her eye to eye, "We didn't need your help, we could've gotten out on our own."
The girl scoffed, holding back laughter, "It sure looked like you had a handle on the situation when I came to your rescue." She said, her words dripping with sarcasm.
Artemis narrowed her eyes growling, leaning in, "If I were you I'd be careful about what I say, I could snap your neck like a twig."
"Dude, cat fight!" Wally cheered, nudging Robin who shook his head quickly stepping in between them.
"Girls, stop it. We're all on edge, I think we all need to take a breath and calm down," He glanced between the two, "Please."
Artemis sighed shaking her head and walking away, pacing the room again. The girl went to sit down on a couch, carefully arranging her skirts around herself, "Well, you might as well introduce yourselves, I can't have strangers wandering around my house, it would be nice to know a little about you all. My name is Evangeline Wilkes."
The rest of the team went on to introducing themselves with their hero names, even though they were in the past, they could never be too careful.
"How peculiar, the future doesn't use normal names?" Eva said in a voice that suggested superiority, now she was even getting on M'gann's nerves.
"Well, they aren't our real names." Wally said, picking up a small porcelain statue and examining it closely, "We're heroes, you know? With powers, we fight the bad guys and have secret identities."
"Do you think it's a good idea to tell her all of this?" Artemis hissed at him.
"Oh c'mon, it's the past, what harm can it do?" Wally murmured back, setting down the statue on a shelf.
Eva was sitting with a confused expression, slowly shaking her head, "How strange…Powers? That's completely ludicrous…" She widened her icy blue eyes, "Are you…Demons?"
Wally burst out in laughter, though Evangeline's face was completely serious. "No, it must just be…A future thing right now." He said, sobering up.
"I suppose," Eva said, still considering this, "Well, it's been lovely meeting you, best of luck finding your way home. The door is through that hall, Gregory can show you out."
M'gann blinked in shock, taken back by how abrupt Eva had been. "You…Aren't going to help us?"
"Why would I? Haven't I helped you enough by rescuing you?" Eva looked out the window again, anxiously tapping her gloved fingers against the arm chair, "I have a very busy schedule and my own problems to deal with, and I can't worry myself with your problems."
This girl is so self-centered…M'gann thought, looking over her friends, they seemed as worried as she was. She supposed for some reason she had assumed that since Evangeline had helped them that she would also at least allow them to stay in her house. It did seem like a large house, and they wouldn't be a problem…They wouldn't be too long either, all they had to do was go back to the warehouse and figure out the time travelling device. "But-"
"Eva! Eva, where are you?" A female voice from somewhere else in the house called out, cutting off Miss Martian.
Evangeline flinched, "This was what I was afraid of…" She muttered, glaring at the team, "Stay here, and keep quiet…" She stood up shuffling towards the parlor door, "Yes sister! I'm coming." She called out, closing the door behind her.
Robin watched her leave before turning back to the team. "We could find another place to stay…But Evangeline's our best bet for a way home, she can take us back to the warehouse…And maybe give us some more information about the man who took us here." Robin said in a low voice, sitting down and leaning forward, "We have to try and convince her to help us."
"Oh, c'mon," Artemis sighed, rolling her eyes, though she didn't continue. Deep down, she too knew it was their best shot to get back home.
"Well, I guess we just have to wait till she gets back." Wally said with a lopsided grin, reclining back in the stiff couch .
This is a really late update! But I kind of forgot about this story and just got back into writing Fanfiction…So yeah! Thank you for all the faves, follows, and reviews!:D
I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! I'll have a new one up every Friday and maybe sooner, but I'll try for one up every week!:D
So….REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Thank you:3
