I'm very pleased with the way this chapter turned out.
This is the main reason why I'm changing the rating to "T".
Tell me if you liked how the story is building character--or if it's not at all.
My apologies for updating so much. I've been typing every hour of daylight practically.
Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution or any of its characters.
Claimer: I own Mneme because I made her up.
Chapter Seven
Once art class, gym, and history were over, Mneme was the last to exit the classroom. At the doorway she found herself face to face with Pietro--again. Rage filled her to the boiling point. His smug face and ignorant stance seemed to be taunting her. Jean had told her to ignore annoying people, but how was she supposed to ignore him when he showed up everywhere? Without a word, she sidestepped to get by Pietro, but he put his arm out and leaned it on the doorframe, blocking her path. "What do you want from me?!" she demanded, stomping her foot incompetently. "I don't need help with any of my books, there's only one to carry! Now out of my way!"
"Hold it, muffin," he said to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. She could see that one was bandaged, but that didn't make her have any less remorse.
"'Muffin'?" Mneme quoted. "Just who exactly do you think you're talking to?!"
"We've got our detention to do together," he reminded her. Mneme rolled her eyes.
"How could I forget?" she said with heavy sarcasm. "That doesn't mean I can't put my book away--" Pietro took her book and was gone and back within a second. "Hey! I could have done it myself!" she yelled at him. "Now I'd like you to leave me alone!"
"Your friend Rogue has cafeteria work," Pietro said, ignoring her question altogether. "And we've got the rest of the school to ourselves." Mneme stiffened and swallowed hard at his choice of words. Although she was nervous and stunned, she didn't show it in her face.
"'Ourselves'?" Mneme restated. "No, there's no 'us', 'our', or 'we' at all." Pietro raised an eyebrow.
"We're not leaving until all these chalkboards are cleaned, and that's no easy feat. Face it, you're not even tall enough to reach the top of it. I can have this whole school done within one minute, and with you it'd take hours." He said this all very calmly, as if helping her was just a simple act of kindness. Mneme knew there was something odd here, but she wasn't sure what Pietro was playing at.
Unmoved, Mneme said, "I don't need your help. I'll take this half of the school and you can have the other half." She turned and walked back over to the vast chalkboard on the wall and picked up the eraser. Pietro was at her side in an instant, leaning on the blackboard and holding out a spraybottle and papertowels.
"You're going to need these if you want to get all that chalk off." Mneme snatched them away and started cleaning. "I'm just trying to help," he told her.
"If you really wanted to help me, you'd just zoom us straight out of here." Mneme said. "Besides, I don't need your help." She pushed up her sleeves so they wouldn't get dirty and then continued. Pietro zoomed over to a desk and sat on it, blissfully watching.
"The janitors are at the exits to make sure we don't try to escape."
"They wouldn't be able to see us."
Pietro grinned. She was finally cracking, she had said "us". "I could...but I'm sure you'd get in trouble. I couldn't care less about the trouble I get in, but you're new and I'm sure, being in the Xavier Institute and all, you want to keep your goody-two-shoes record clean."
Mneme stopped and put the bottle and papertowels down. "How do you know I'm in the Xavier Institute?!" she demanded angrily. His face fell at her accusation.
"I--you see--I just--" he tried to explain, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Her icy stare seemed to pierce right through him. "Uh..." That's when he noticed something on her wrist: A key. Her sleeves had been covering it before, but now.... All he had to do was figure out what it went to. It could just be a key to a door, but the odd shape--it was short and the teeth were needle-like. It was also shiney and black--just like her collar. His eyes examined it, then he saw the keyhole: A simple thin rectangle. "That collar on your neck!" he said, standing and pointing at it. "Is that what's holding your powers in?" Mneme showed no expression at all.
"What? Are you crazy? It's just a fashion item." she lied, but luckily it sounded believable. "And so is the key, in case you were wondering," she added, seeing that he was looking at it. Pietro still had suspicion, but he believed her. He felt stressed and slightly embarrassed--he had to get away from her. Mneme's gaze just made him feel inferior, and he didn't like it. Then he was gone, out the classroom door. Mneme clenched her jaw even tighter. "Stupid boy," she muttered to herself, turning around to pick up the spraybottle and papertowels, but they were gone. "What--?"
"Looking for these?" Pietro asked, his voice not jeering as usual, but upset. Mneme turned around to look at him.
"Yes, I am." She took them from him and went to clean the board, but raised her eyebrows when she saw that it had been cleaned spotless. "And the desks, too?"
"Yeah, I cleaned those." Pietro put his hands on his hips. "I don't care if you needed my help or not, because they're clean now. I'm out of here." And then he left again. Mneme felt strangely lonesome once he was gone, but brushed the feeling aside and went to the front door of the school. Indeed, there was a janitor there, waxing the floor as he stood guard.
"They're done." Mneme told him, but he wasn't ready to believe it. "Go check the classrooms for yourself." she told him. Mneme waited for the janitor to return instead of just running off while she could, but he was back after looking in just one class. He let her go (slightly confused) and she walked out into the sunshine. With a deep breath, she started on her way back to the institute. She walked off the school grounds and along the grass, watching cars pass her by. Eventually she made it to the city, but she continued walking wherever her legs took her. In fact, she had no idea where she was going. Mneme didn't really care where she went, just as long as she could think to herself. Why was Pietro trying to help her? How did he know about her being a part of the Xavier Institute? And, more importantly, how did he know that her powers were being concealed? The fact that he had guessed her collar was the device that did it was disturbing in itself. She wanted to know what he wanted from her. "Why would he--?" she started aloud to herself, but suddenly a hand was over her mouth and she was being dragged down an alley. Mneme kicked and flailed--she even bit the person's hand--but nothing seemed to be working against he or she. Then Mneme was thrown against the door built into the brick wall of the building. When she hit it, it burst open and she started tumbling down the stone steps. When she landed on the cement floor, she was dizzy but able to take in her surroundings. That door clearly led to the basement or cellar of the building, but there was nothing in it but a wooden table with chairs around it and a dim light hanging from the ceiling. Mneme stood, a little wobbly, and tried to see what was going on. It seemed like the four people around the table were moving in on her. She realized this too late and they grabbed her. "NO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!!!" she screamed desperately, trying to break free. The four people, men she saw, held her down on the table, each holding one of her limbs.
"Took you long enough to bring one down here," one said gruffly to the man who had just closed the door. He walked down the steps, and with each step Mneme's heart pounded faster and faster. The two holding her legs grabbed the ankles of her pants and started pulling them off, and though she tried to prevent it, they came off anyways. Tears flooded her eyes because she knew what was going to happen. She started choking and sobbing, which resulted in a slap across the face.
"Quit your crying; we ain't done nothin' to you yet," the man holding her left arms said to her with a laugh. The others laughed also, and the fifth man had reached the bottom step. Mneme thrashed, trying to prevent what was coming next. She tried to muster enough strength to pull her left arm free to unlock her collar, but he was too strong. Breathing heavily, Mneme dug her nails into the men's wrists, willing to try anything to free her left arm. Without her powers, she would never be able to get away...
"LET ME GO! PLEASE, JUST LET ME GO!" she pleaded again and again, tears blurring her vision. She closed her eyes as the other man came closer.
"Let her go," a valiant voice commanded. Mneme opened her eyes to see a silouhette in the open doorway. Her hopes vanished when she saw that it was only a young boy, her age probably.
The fifth man grunted. "I ain't got time for you, punk. Just leave us be and pretend you never even came here."
"NO! DON'T--" Mneme called out to the boy, but one of the other men punched her in the face. The pain felt almost unbearable, and the blood rushing to her ears made her practically deaf to the noise around her.
"I said for you to leave her alone. Let her go now and no one gets hurt," she heard the boy say. It sounded familiar somehow, but her mind was too clouded to tell.
"What are you gonna do--?" the man challenged, but it was too late for him and the others. In only a few seconds Mneme felt their grips release and heard them tumble to the floor. Strong but gentle arms lifted her up, then she felt the breeze flying through her hair before her vision faded...
Back at the institute, Storm was just finishing painting Mneme's new room. This one was bigger, with a bright light and a closet. The furniture would come in later, as soon as the paint dried. It was a stormy gray color, very soothing. Ororo created a small gust of wind and sent it around the room, making the paint dry in just seconds. "Okay, boys! Bring in the furniture!" she called out. Kurt and Evan brought in a pretty stone dresser, sweat dripping from their foreheads, and set it down against the wall. Scott was carrying a matching vanity and Logan came in with a bedside table.
"Vhy does he get to easy stuff?" Kurt asked Evan lowly, indicating to Logan. The other boy shrugged. Pieces of a stone four-poster came floating through the doorway, Jean following. She started assembling it easily, slipping the black veil curtain through the pole and connecting everything together. Then the mattress was put on--also done by Jean--complete with cheats and a black and white blanket. Kitty fell through the ceiling and onto the bed holding a bunch of flashy clothes items.
"Here's all the stuff I decided she could have." she announced, then started sorting the folding clothes into piles--shirts, pants, etc.
"Great job, everybody! I'm sure she'll love it." Ororo told everyone happily, then the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." Storm went down a few halls until she came to the main stair. She jumped down from that and to the floor, seeing that Professor Xavier was on his way also to the door. Ororo walked beside him and opened the door, surprised to see Quicksilver decked out in his suit. But that wasn't nearly as shocking as what he was holding. "Good heavens, what's going on?!" she exclaimed in horror, a hand on her chest.
"What is it--?! You!" Scott yelled from the top of the stairs. He dashed down, followed by Evan, Jean, Logan, and Kitty. Kurt teleported next to Storm in and instant.
"Vhat did you do to her?!" he demanded.
"That's some way to treat your friend's rescuer," Pietro said. He shoved a fainted Mneme into Scott's arms. "And...uh...here are her pants," he added, handing Ororo the black cloth draped over one shoulder. His cheeks flushed a bit.
"What the heck are you doing with her pants off?!" Kitty said with disgust. "What did you do to her?"
Jean quickly interrupted. "He's telling the truth--he didn't do anything. He saved her from some thugs in a cellar."
Xavier came forward. "Thank you, Pietro. Is there something you need? Rest? Food?"
"Yeah, I need for you to keep a better eye on her," he said sternly. Then he zoomed out of the place, kicking up a long trail of dust as he went. Once outside the institute's perimeter, he sank against the stone wall. Thinking back about how he had been following her, trying to get information, he felt guilty for doing it at first. But if he hadn't, it was uncertain where Mneme could have ended up. The only problem was that he wasn't sure if he had saved her because it was part of his mission or because he simply wanted to.
