Title: Project: Rapunzel
Chapter: 4
By: Web Spinner
Notes: Yes I am a bad girl and have messed up the xmen evo timeline. Shadow Cat and Nightcrawler are already at the school.
~ Scott~
There was a scream that almost caused me to fall of my bed. I frowned and laid the book I had been reading to the side. I opened the door to find Kitty running squealing down the hall and Kurt in hot pursuit.
"Av, come on Kiitee just one kiss," the blue furred mutant begged. Kitty laughed and stopped at the end of the hall. Kurt grinned and ran toward the young brunette girl just to have her fade into the next room. Kurt slammed into the wall.
"Ovch that hurt," the German student said as he rubbed his forehead. He then disappeared. I sighed and closed the door. Xavier's school was too crazy sometimes. He was about to pick up the book when he heard Professor Xavier's voice in his mind.
"Scott I need to speak with you. I am in the study." I sighed again and closed the book. To tell you the truth, it still sort of freaked me out that the professor can communicate through minds. I quickly made my way to the study. Charles Xavier motioned for me to take a seat.
"What's up?" I asked as I sat down.
"I need you to go get another recruit. Her name is Jean Peterson," said the professor. I nodded.
"Powers?" I asked.
"Telekinetic and telepathic," he replied. Ok that wasn't too bad. She'll probably never explode things or rip things up like a certain number of students around here.
"Ok give me her address and I give it a try," I said with a smile.
"Before you decide to go, there is something you need to know," the professor said. I raised an eyebrow in question.
"She's in the hands of Friends of Humanity. They've been using that serum that detects the X gene and she was discovered and taken. You'll be going undercover as a lab assistant," said the professor as he handed me a fake ID with my picture on it.
"You're name is Joseph Clayton, a junior at Empire State University and a genetics major," the professor explained. I nodded. It really did amaze me how the professor could get illegal stuff like fake Ids.
~ Jean~
My hair is growing. No, I am serious. Its now almost to my ankles. My fingernails are growing quickly as well. Ida clips them before they can get very far above the quick though. She wants to avoid a good scratching. I was taken from my tower yesterday; at least I think it was yesterday. There's no way to judge time around really. Well anyway they cut me open yesterday. I don't think they found anything usual. I am confined to bed until the stitches have a time to heal the cut. I am not longer afraid of needles. I am getting poked and jabbed by them almost everyday. They keep injecting me with the clear amber liquid. I suppose my hair and nails are growing because of that. Maybe it's a weird allergic reaction or something. I am not sure how long I have been in here. Maybe a month or a year, I am still not sure. Boredom is a dangerous thing here. Ida dropped a pencil once. I hid it with one of my bare feet. She never knew it was missing. I proceeded to draw on the walls of my cell. It helped fade away the whiteness that blinded me day after day. I drew everything I knew. I drew my house and the two tall trees around. I drew my cat, Whisper. I didn't draw my parents though; I couldn't bring myself to do it. After I ran out of things I knew, I started making things up to draw. One wall looked like something straight out a fantasy book. But the fantasy had nothing to do with needles or a cell in a tower. In this fantasy the couple actually stays together and he doesn't reject her because she's different. Ida discovered my drawings the next day and ordered some interns to paint over it. They're still here. My drawings are still here. Maybe Ida was merciful, maybe she forgot.
~Scott~
Friends of Humanity are stupid. I figured they would take a blood sample or something. They didn't. None of them commented on my shades either. The observatory building is always cold and there is white everywhere. To my annoyance I got lost twice down the identical hallways. Another intern became my partner. He was a light brown haired guy that was in serious need of haircut. His name was Cal and looked like he'd be more comfortable in a hard metal rock band and not at a lab that tested mutants. It was not hard to find Jean Peterson. They keep her locked in a tower that you can only get to by a bridge that only can be activated by the head scientist's palm print. For once I wished I had the shape shifting abilities of Mystic. It would make this job a lot easier. I can't break into the tower from the bottom. I shifted my sunglasses after work one day and tried. Nothing, not even a dent appeared in it making me wonder if it was titanium or some metal of the short.
"…So anyway this driver feels really bad and says to the priest, "Father I know I have sinned. I ran over that mutant. The priest shakes his head and says, "Do not worry. I got him with the door!" joked Cal. I managed to crack a smile for appearance sake. Cal loved mutant jokes and it was almost pure torture having to listen to him.
"Come on Joe. I know it was lame but you are way to serious, man!" whistled Cal.
"You two!" yelled the head scientist as she pointed to me and Cal. Cal gulped. The head scientist named Ida was as mean as a starving pit bull. She looked like one too. Everyone was afraid of her. She made me uneasy, heck I think she'd make the Hulk uneasy.
"Yes ma'am," both of us said in unison. She thrust paint buckets in our hands. "Follow me!" she bellowed at us.
"We're painters now?" Cal whispered to me. The bulldog's back stiffened as she spun around.
"No you are pond scum. Interns are the lowest form of life except for mutants, understand?" she bellowed.
"Right," said Cal shaking his head. I clinched my teeth and followed. Ida touched the screen with her palm activating the bridge.
~ Jean~
I opened my eyes as the door came open. Ida came in followed by two young men with paint buckets.
"I'll be back in an hours time. Not one inch of this wall is to remain unpainted, understood?" she demanded.
"No!" I yelled at them. Ida spun around and glared at me.
"That's enough from you!" she hissed at me. I held my ground and glared back. "This is my room, get out, you spineless sadist," I screamed at her. I no longer had any normal conversations. All I did was scream and yell. It felt like I was losing my humanity a bit by bit. Ida raised her hand to hit me. I waited for the blow to come but it didn't. One of the young men grabbed Ida's arm.
"How dare you!" she roared. The young man seemed unaffected.
"Obviously the mutant is still under the drugs from the surgery, she has no idea what she's saying," he smoothly replied. I reddened at the term mutant. I still hated to be called that. Ida tore her arm away and stomped out of the room. There was the usual automatic hum that signaled the bridge being pulled away.
"Don't you dare touch those walls!" I hissed at them. The one who defended me looked a bit taken back. He didn't look any older then I was. He had dark brown hair and had shades covering his eyes. The other looked like a punk rocker in a lab coat. He kind of reminded me of Shaggy from Scooby Doo.
"We have to," Shaggy said as he picked up a paintbrush and started covering my drawing of my cat.
"Get out!" I yelled at them. The bucket floated in the air almost hitting the guy with shades.
~Scott~
She had really good aim. I had barley gotten out of the way in time. Cal looked ready to run. Paint splattered everywhere. Jean had gotten her point across. Her skin was pale and stretched over her body. She was lying on the bed looking very weak and thin. Her eyes were hallowed and haunted looking. Letters and numbers had been tattooed on her arm. A thin blanket was pulled over her. Her hair covered the blanket like a fiery fan. I had never in my life seen such long hair. It was tangled in huge knots and snarls. She never rose from her bed and still looked a bit drugged. She looked exhausted as well. She still didn't have much control of her powers and using them drained her apparently. He knew how that felt. 'I am sorry,' I thought. Her eyes glared at me as I picked up the brush and started painting.
"No your not!" she said with weariness in her voice.
"Man, she's too freaky. Tell the bulldog to let me out of here!" Cal said and pounded on the door. Jean didn't look impressed. There was the hum of the bridge and the door opened and Cal rushed out and past Ida. Ida surveyed the room and the paint everywhere.
"So you're using your powers," she commented. She looked at me.
"Are you leaving to, pound scum?" she asked. I shook my head no. She grimly nodded at me and left the tower.
~Jean~
Shaggy panicked. It was almost amusing. He thought I was dangerous. Shades stayed, much to my annoyance.
"Why don't you leave?" I demanded.
"Good question," he replied adding to my agitation.
"Well?"
"Well what?" he asked innocently.
"Leave," I demanded.
"I am actually enjoying your company," he replied and kept painting.
"Why? I am a mutant. You said that yourself," I told him. The guy shrugged. "You're human just with an extra gene," he said. My mouth dropped open. Well that was surprising. Nobody had ever said that to me since I was taken from my school. He smiled at my reaction. He had a nice warm smile.
"You're different from the others," I told him. He laughed.
"Yes I guess I am."
"You should be here."
"Why not?" he asked.
"They're corrupt you," I told him. He smiled again.
"I doubt that," he replied.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Joseph," he replied then thought "its Scott" I am beginning to tell talking ant thinking apart now.
"Which one?" I asked curiously. He raised an eyebrow in question.
"Scott or Joseph?" I asked slightly annoyed.
"Joseph here," he said and continued to paint.
"They don't know you're telepathic," he told me after a few minutes of silence. I shrugged and rolled over wincing slightly at the pain in my side.
"I don't care. You're not going to tell them, are you? They might just cut open my head next," I said gloomily.
~Scott~
I shook my head. I was going to have a good yelling to do at the professor about this. He didn't tell me she would be beautiful.
"You don't like it here, do you?" I asked. It was a stupid question.
"Are you kidding? My own spacious rooms and oh my what a view. But the health care here has a need of improving," she replied sarcastically. I was tempted just to go over to her and hug her and tell her everything. But that would be too dangerous now. She was living what every mutant feared; being captured and worked on like a lab rat. "Good point," I said trying to remain cheerful. I started on a wall that looked like a fantasy scene. I hated to remove it. This was art, real art. It wasn't crappy or abstract like much of the art I've seen. The details alone amazed me. I could almost see myself there. She's glaring at me again. I am right at the foot of her bed now. She sat up shielding one the part that was on the wall behind her bed.
"Lay down," I ordered. I knew sitting up was nearly killing her. She's growing paler as I watch.
"Bite me," she retorted back. I gave her a gentle push that made her frail body collapse on the bed once more. She looked about ready to kill me now, not that I blame her.
"Don't you dare touch this wall," she ordered me sharply and cupped her hand over a couple she had drawn. The couple had their backs turned in the picture. The woman was carrying a bunch of flowers and the man had his arms around the woman.
"I have to," I lowered my voice into a mere whisper.
"No!" she screamed at me again. She's got a good set of lungs.
"I am sorry," I told her.
"No, you're not. You her human lap dog, when she orders you jump," she yelled at me. Ouch, talk about a blow to my ego.
"You can't paint over this picture. It's something to hope for," she told me. She's about ready to cry, her eyes are getting misty. I hate it when girls cry but if she is going to, it's going to tear me up inside.
"Is it of you and your boyfriend?" I asked. She looked amazed my question and lowered her hand.
"How do you know if I have a boyfriend?" she asked.
"Well, because you're pretty," I admitted.
"When they found out I was a mutant, he ditched me. I guess I don't blame him. Who could love a mutant? I am a freak," she gloomily said. Depression was hitting her hard here. I couldn't blame her. I had some of the exact same feelings, every mutant had. But she didn't have some one like Xavier telling her how special she was and her gifts were a blessing even though it didn't seem so at the time. I laid my paintbrush down gently and sat down on the corner of her bed.
"No, you are human. Keep faith, you'll get out of here," I whispered and brought her hand up to my lips. She allowed me to paint over the drawing. I felt like a cad though. This was proving to be the most difficult mission I had even been on.
Chapter: 4
By: Web Spinner
Notes: Yes I am a bad girl and have messed up the xmen evo timeline. Shadow Cat and Nightcrawler are already at the school.
~ Scott~
There was a scream that almost caused me to fall of my bed. I frowned and laid the book I had been reading to the side. I opened the door to find Kitty running squealing down the hall and Kurt in hot pursuit.
"Av, come on Kiitee just one kiss," the blue furred mutant begged. Kitty laughed and stopped at the end of the hall. Kurt grinned and ran toward the young brunette girl just to have her fade into the next room. Kurt slammed into the wall.
"Ovch that hurt," the German student said as he rubbed his forehead. He then disappeared. I sighed and closed the door. Xavier's school was too crazy sometimes. He was about to pick up the book when he heard Professor Xavier's voice in his mind.
"Scott I need to speak with you. I am in the study." I sighed again and closed the book. To tell you the truth, it still sort of freaked me out that the professor can communicate through minds. I quickly made my way to the study. Charles Xavier motioned for me to take a seat.
"What's up?" I asked as I sat down.
"I need you to go get another recruit. Her name is Jean Peterson," said the professor. I nodded.
"Powers?" I asked.
"Telekinetic and telepathic," he replied. Ok that wasn't too bad. She'll probably never explode things or rip things up like a certain number of students around here.
"Ok give me her address and I give it a try," I said with a smile.
"Before you decide to go, there is something you need to know," the professor said. I raised an eyebrow in question.
"She's in the hands of Friends of Humanity. They've been using that serum that detects the X gene and she was discovered and taken. You'll be going undercover as a lab assistant," said the professor as he handed me a fake ID with my picture on it.
"You're name is Joseph Clayton, a junior at Empire State University and a genetics major," the professor explained. I nodded. It really did amaze me how the professor could get illegal stuff like fake Ids.
~ Jean~
My hair is growing. No, I am serious. Its now almost to my ankles. My fingernails are growing quickly as well. Ida clips them before they can get very far above the quick though. She wants to avoid a good scratching. I was taken from my tower yesterday; at least I think it was yesterday. There's no way to judge time around really. Well anyway they cut me open yesterday. I don't think they found anything usual. I am confined to bed until the stitches have a time to heal the cut. I am not longer afraid of needles. I am getting poked and jabbed by them almost everyday. They keep injecting me with the clear amber liquid. I suppose my hair and nails are growing because of that. Maybe it's a weird allergic reaction or something. I am not sure how long I have been in here. Maybe a month or a year, I am still not sure. Boredom is a dangerous thing here. Ida dropped a pencil once. I hid it with one of my bare feet. She never knew it was missing. I proceeded to draw on the walls of my cell. It helped fade away the whiteness that blinded me day after day. I drew everything I knew. I drew my house and the two tall trees around. I drew my cat, Whisper. I didn't draw my parents though; I couldn't bring myself to do it. After I ran out of things I knew, I started making things up to draw. One wall looked like something straight out a fantasy book. But the fantasy had nothing to do with needles or a cell in a tower. In this fantasy the couple actually stays together and he doesn't reject her because she's different. Ida discovered my drawings the next day and ordered some interns to paint over it. They're still here. My drawings are still here. Maybe Ida was merciful, maybe she forgot.
~Scott~
Friends of Humanity are stupid. I figured they would take a blood sample or something. They didn't. None of them commented on my shades either. The observatory building is always cold and there is white everywhere. To my annoyance I got lost twice down the identical hallways. Another intern became my partner. He was a light brown haired guy that was in serious need of haircut. His name was Cal and looked like he'd be more comfortable in a hard metal rock band and not at a lab that tested mutants. It was not hard to find Jean Peterson. They keep her locked in a tower that you can only get to by a bridge that only can be activated by the head scientist's palm print. For once I wished I had the shape shifting abilities of Mystic. It would make this job a lot easier. I can't break into the tower from the bottom. I shifted my sunglasses after work one day and tried. Nothing, not even a dent appeared in it making me wonder if it was titanium or some metal of the short.
"…So anyway this driver feels really bad and says to the priest, "Father I know I have sinned. I ran over that mutant. The priest shakes his head and says, "Do not worry. I got him with the door!" joked Cal. I managed to crack a smile for appearance sake. Cal loved mutant jokes and it was almost pure torture having to listen to him.
"Come on Joe. I know it was lame but you are way to serious, man!" whistled Cal.
"You two!" yelled the head scientist as she pointed to me and Cal. Cal gulped. The head scientist named Ida was as mean as a starving pit bull. She looked like one too. Everyone was afraid of her. She made me uneasy, heck I think she'd make the Hulk uneasy.
"Yes ma'am," both of us said in unison. She thrust paint buckets in our hands. "Follow me!" she bellowed at us.
"We're painters now?" Cal whispered to me. The bulldog's back stiffened as she spun around.
"No you are pond scum. Interns are the lowest form of life except for mutants, understand?" she bellowed.
"Right," said Cal shaking his head. I clinched my teeth and followed. Ida touched the screen with her palm activating the bridge.
~ Jean~
I opened my eyes as the door came open. Ida came in followed by two young men with paint buckets.
"I'll be back in an hours time. Not one inch of this wall is to remain unpainted, understood?" she demanded.
"No!" I yelled at them. Ida spun around and glared at me.
"That's enough from you!" she hissed at me. I held my ground and glared back. "This is my room, get out, you spineless sadist," I screamed at her. I no longer had any normal conversations. All I did was scream and yell. It felt like I was losing my humanity a bit by bit. Ida raised her hand to hit me. I waited for the blow to come but it didn't. One of the young men grabbed Ida's arm.
"How dare you!" she roared. The young man seemed unaffected.
"Obviously the mutant is still under the drugs from the surgery, she has no idea what she's saying," he smoothly replied. I reddened at the term mutant. I still hated to be called that. Ida tore her arm away and stomped out of the room. There was the usual automatic hum that signaled the bridge being pulled away.
"Don't you dare touch those walls!" I hissed at them. The one who defended me looked a bit taken back. He didn't look any older then I was. He had dark brown hair and had shades covering his eyes. The other looked like a punk rocker in a lab coat. He kind of reminded me of Shaggy from Scooby Doo.
"We have to," Shaggy said as he picked up a paintbrush and started covering my drawing of my cat.
"Get out!" I yelled at them. The bucket floated in the air almost hitting the guy with shades.
~Scott~
She had really good aim. I had barley gotten out of the way in time. Cal looked ready to run. Paint splattered everywhere. Jean had gotten her point across. Her skin was pale and stretched over her body. She was lying on the bed looking very weak and thin. Her eyes were hallowed and haunted looking. Letters and numbers had been tattooed on her arm. A thin blanket was pulled over her. Her hair covered the blanket like a fiery fan. I had never in my life seen such long hair. It was tangled in huge knots and snarls. She never rose from her bed and still looked a bit drugged. She looked exhausted as well. She still didn't have much control of her powers and using them drained her apparently. He knew how that felt. 'I am sorry,' I thought. Her eyes glared at me as I picked up the brush and started painting.
"No your not!" she said with weariness in her voice.
"Man, she's too freaky. Tell the bulldog to let me out of here!" Cal said and pounded on the door. Jean didn't look impressed. There was the hum of the bridge and the door opened and Cal rushed out and past Ida. Ida surveyed the room and the paint everywhere.
"So you're using your powers," she commented. She looked at me.
"Are you leaving to, pound scum?" she asked. I shook my head no. She grimly nodded at me and left the tower.
~Jean~
Shaggy panicked. It was almost amusing. He thought I was dangerous. Shades stayed, much to my annoyance.
"Why don't you leave?" I demanded.
"Good question," he replied adding to my agitation.
"Well?"
"Well what?" he asked innocently.
"Leave," I demanded.
"I am actually enjoying your company," he replied and kept painting.
"Why? I am a mutant. You said that yourself," I told him. The guy shrugged. "You're human just with an extra gene," he said. My mouth dropped open. Well that was surprising. Nobody had ever said that to me since I was taken from my school. He smiled at my reaction. He had a nice warm smile.
"You're different from the others," I told him. He laughed.
"Yes I guess I am."
"You should be here."
"Why not?" he asked.
"They're corrupt you," I told him. He smiled again.
"I doubt that," he replied.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Joseph," he replied then thought "its Scott" I am beginning to tell talking ant thinking apart now.
"Which one?" I asked curiously. He raised an eyebrow in question.
"Scott or Joseph?" I asked slightly annoyed.
"Joseph here," he said and continued to paint.
"They don't know you're telepathic," he told me after a few minutes of silence. I shrugged and rolled over wincing slightly at the pain in my side.
"I don't care. You're not going to tell them, are you? They might just cut open my head next," I said gloomily.
~Scott~
I shook my head. I was going to have a good yelling to do at the professor about this. He didn't tell me she would be beautiful.
"You don't like it here, do you?" I asked. It was a stupid question.
"Are you kidding? My own spacious rooms and oh my what a view. But the health care here has a need of improving," she replied sarcastically. I was tempted just to go over to her and hug her and tell her everything. But that would be too dangerous now. She was living what every mutant feared; being captured and worked on like a lab rat. "Good point," I said trying to remain cheerful. I started on a wall that looked like a fantasy scene. I hated to remove it. This was art, real art. It wasn't crappy or abstract like much of the art I've seen. The details alone amazed me. I could almost see myself there. She's glaring at me again. I am right at the foot of her bed now. She sat up shielding one the part that was on the wall behind her bed.
"Lay down," I ordered. I knew sitting up was nearly killing her. She's growing paler as I watch.
"Bite me," she retorted back. I gave her a gentle push that made her frail body collapse on the bed once more. She looked about ready to kill me now, not that I blame her.
"Don't you dare touch this wall," she ordered me sharply and cupped her hand over a couple she had drawn. The couple had their backs turned in the picture. The woman was carrying a bunch of flowers and the man had his arms around the woman.
"I have to," I lowered my voice into a mere whisper.
"No!" she screamed at me again. She's got a good set of lungs.
"I am sorry," I told her.
"No, you're not. You her human lap dog, when she orders you jump," she yelled at me. Ouch, talk about a blow to my ego.
"You can't paint over this picture. It's something to hope for," she told me. She's about ready to cry, her eyes are getting misty. I hate it when girls cry but if she is going to, it's going to tear me up inside.
"Is it of you and your boyfriend?" I asked. She looked amazed my question and lowered her hand.
"How do you know if I have a boyfriend?" she asked.
"Well, because you're pretty," I admitted.
"When they found out I was a mutant, he ditched me. I guess I don't blame him. Who could love a mutant? I am a freak," she gloomily said. Depression was hitting her hard here. I couldn't blame her. I had some of the exact same feelings, every mutant had. But she didn't have some one like Xavier telling her how special she was and her gifts were a blessing even though it didn't seem so at the time. I laid my paintbrush down gently and sat down on the corner of her bed.
"No, you are human. Keep faith, you'll get out of here," I whispered and brought her hand up to my lips. She allowed me to paint over the drawing. I felt like a cad though. This was proving to be the most difficult mission I had even been on.