"Baby, I don't need dollar bills to have fun tonight,
(I love cheap thrills)
Baby, I don't need dollar bills to have fun tonight,
(I love cheap thrills)
Baby I don't need no money,
As long as I can feel the beat...,"
-Cheap Thrills; by Sia
"Arabella Sheridan, you can't seem to stay out of trouble, can you?"
"What can I say, Your Honor, I just love it here." Arabella sat back in her seat, a sarcastic smirk on her face. During the last year and a half, Arabella and her friend, Joanna Gurzsky, had gone on a bit of a...rampage, for lack of a better word. With Arabella's abilities and Joanna's tech savviness, they were able to cause a lot of problems in their hometown, Empire City. Millions of dollars to rebuild everything they destroyed; curfews had been put in place in case Arabella or Joanna decided to do anything reckless (though it didn't really matter, they did whatever they wanted no matter the time of day); Empire City's police department had to be specially trained to be able to handle Arabella. Considering her telepathy and telekinesis had grown in the year and a half that went by, that meant she was able to hold her own easily in a fight.
Arabella could do so much more with her telepathy than she initially thought. Before, she could cause people to have vivid hallucinations of their deepest fears; they would still be able to move around and react. After rigorous training, Arabella figured out a way to put her victims into a deep catatonic state, having them relive their fears in an endless loop. Not only that, but she didn't even need to have her victims relive their nightmares to make them catatonic. All she had to do was concentrate hard enough, and they'd be in a coma-like state until she snapped them out of it.
Another reason why her abilities have grown so much is because of their link to her emotions. Because Arabella had become so bitter and resentful in foster care and in her inability to really have a family, her powers became stronger the more resentful she became. Her telekinesis fed off her negativity, growing steadily each day. Her telepathy absorbed the negative thoughts and feelings she had, becoming even stronger, as well. But she couldn't just rely on her emotions to keep her powers satisfied, training had to be done, as well.
It had been thanks to Joanna that Arabella managed to become as powerful as she was. The young mutant's friend built a special training area in an abandoned factory outside of Empire City, one that could help Arabella concentrate her powers and figure out methods to effectively use them. In the end, the factory became Joanna's and Arabella's "lair", their base of operations. The outward appearance stayed the same, but the inside was a work in progress to say the least. Joanna worked on building effective weaponry to help Arabella terrorize the city, both of them having dreams to one day take control over everything and everyone. Whatever happened after that was up for debate.
"Ms. Sheridan, the court knows of your sentencing," the judge announced, "where you were tried as an adult for terroristic acts and the multiple deaths that were resulted from that. And because of your recklessness, your inability to respect authority, it has been decided that your sentence be extended."
A pout came on Arabella's face. Her latest breakout from prison — another one of Joanna's brilliant ideas that, unfortunately, failed — had gone with Arabella being given mail that contained a special device that would turn Arabella invisible. Once she was given the opportunity to go outside for recreational purposes, in a more heavily populated part of the prison's designated recreational zone, Arabella activated the device and turned invisible. She managed to sneak her way out of the prison and back to the factory without detection. Sadly, once the prison realized her disappearance, an immediate manhunt had been sent out for her. Arabella, on the other hand, was not one to lay low. Her and Joanna immediately started wrecking havoc. Oddly enough, though, the duo's crime sprees had come to an unexpected halt.
After the duo had robbed a bank, along with Arabella destroying countless buildings and property, a single man stood out of the crowd of screaming, terrified people. This man, who had to at least be a year older than Arabella herself, didn't look afraid. He looked...determined. It was almost as if he were challenging them. He was a mutant, just like Arabella. He had superhuman strength, agility, and was near invulnerable. He didn't have quite the control over his strength yet, but he knew how to use his somewhat clumsy movements to render Arabella incapable of fighting until law enforcement arrived. He didn't even seem fazed by Arabella's hallucinogenic telepathic powers. He wasn't even rendered catatonic. Joanna, thankfully, managed to escape, and Arabella knew that she'd figure something out.
It had been that moment when Arabella swore she'd take him down. No one had ever fought against her or Joanna. No one had the balls to do that.
"You'll be sent back to the maximum security prison you escaped from," the judge exclaimed, looking down at Arabella condescendingly. "Your associate, Joanna Gurzsky, has yet to make an appearance for herself. It saddens me to see two young, capable kids throw their lives away. But you, Ms. Sheridan, have forty-five life sentences to think about that."
O.O.O.O
"You wanted to see us, Professor?" Scott Summers stood at the entrance of Charles Xavier's office. Scott, his girlfriend Jean Gray, Kurt Wagner, and Kitty Pryde all stood in Xavier's office. The older man had a solemn look on his face, a look that genuinely made the kids uncomfortable.
"Yes," Xavier sighed. "I have been keeping track of a particular mutant for quite some time. She's a powerful psychic, her name is Arabella Sheridan."
"You want us to recruit her?" Kurt asked, tilting his head a bit to the side.
"I feel as though she would make a good addition to the institute," Xavier said, "but she's known to be quite violent. She's already facing multiple life sentences because of that."
"So, she's, like, in prison?" Kitty exclaimed.
"As of now, she has been recaptured and sent back." Using his automatic wheelchair to move himself to the side of his desk, Charles looked at his students with a heavy frown. "Arabella Sheridan is known to escape from prison, so what I know so far is that she'll eventually find a way out. What I am requesting from you four is to stop her when she does."
"You're asking a bunch of kids to stop a psychotic mutant?" Kurt asked, his voice squeaking a little at the end.
"You won't go alone, Kurt," Xavier stated calmly. "I'll be sending Logan with you. Because of his background in fighting and his healing capabilities, he should be of great help for you four."
"When do we leave?" Jean asked.
"I would recommend as soon as possible. And before you leave, I did manage to find one more mutant in the city Arabella lives in. He was the one who put her back in prison, and I feel once she escapes again, she'll be going after him."
(A/N):
This isn't my favorite chapter, but it's the best I could come up with given the circumstances. Either way, tell me what you think. If I got any of the canonical characters wrong, don't hesitate to let me know. Kurt, Jean, Kitty, Scott, and Logan will be serving a more main role in this story, with Xavier occasionally being seen from time to time.
I own nothing in this franchise.
Leave constructive criticism where you think it's needed. Like I said, I don't like this chapter, but since it was the best I could come up with... *shrugs*
Thanks.
Judith W