Sorry I haven't updated in such a long time. School's been hectic but now it's almost over, Yay! Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: As I've stated in the past three chapters I do not own x-men evolution or any characters associated therein.
Now, on with the story!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The day flew by as far as Jessica could tell. The bell rang for them to go to the training ring and her day began. Her group consisted of Danny, the mutant who resembled a lion, called Tomas "Manx", the "Jedi boy" Two-step, a small red-haired boy called R-2, Spectra, Arachne, and the girl with the large ears.
She hadn't been able to pick out the girl's name due to the fact that during the course of the morning she had been called many things; most of them eluding to the fact that she must have come from a wealthy family. And the fact that she might have come from money resulted in nothing but malice from the others. Taking these facts into consideration, Jessica watched the girl most of the day and came to the simple conclusion that the girl didn't deserve it. She never spoke up or interacted with the others when they yelled at her, appearing to want nothing to do with them.
During the course of the day Jessica was paired up with the girl to practice a series of ducks, punches, and blocks, ending with one of them being flipped onto their back. She noted as she flipped the girl over that her shoes were worn-in, dirty and almost falling apart, unlike the rest of the girl's clothing, which was spotless. She obviously made due with old shoes if it meant her clothes were taken care of, unlike some of the other people's clothes, which were threadbare in places.
When the lunch bell rang Jessica followed the girl to an empty table. "Um, could I sit with you," she asked.
The raven-haired girl just stared at Jessica. "What's the catch," the girl finally asked.
"Nothing, I just thought, seeing how we're in the same group, we could get to know each other. I'm Jessica," she extended her hand.
" You're not gonna make fun of me?"
"No."
The girl's stony face lifted into a small smile as she took Jessica's hand. " I'm Andria or Link (as Siren calls me)."
" You've been here for a while, haven't you?"
" Three years. You must be new here."
Jessica smirked, " This is my second day."
"Figured as much. So, what do you think of the place?"
" Love the décor, and those mismatched pieces of furniture are to die for. You simply must get me the name of the decorator."
" It'll be hard," Andria joked, " he only works for the rich and famous."
Lunch, obviously the cheap meal of the day, consisted of small sandwiches and a glass of water. After they were done Jessica returned to the training room to find it completely different from the way she had left it. Groups that had earlier been separate were all gathered around the middle of the room.
Jessica looked at Andria, " What's going on?"
"Sparring matches," Andria answered, " to see how groups are progressing. We're randomly selected and fight 'til one of us gives the signal for surrender, or are rendered unconscious, whichever comes first."
" So in other words I get the crap kicked out of me."
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Great." She could hardly watch as the matches went on. She hated seeing the hurt teens exiting the ring and the victor getting pats on the back. She shook with nervousness as she awaited her own funeral.
The crowd was beginning thin out when Jessica's name was called out, along with another, Shackle. "Shackle," Jessica looked to Andria for some words of wisdom, but all she got was some whispered words of support and a small shove towards the center. 'Great,' Jessica thought to herself,' not only am I a complete rookie but this person goes by a nickname?' "I'm gonna die," she said when she reached the center to find her opponent already waiting for her.
Shackle turned out to be a girl, not exceptionally tall or threatening looking. The scariest part about her was her ghostly, almost transparent skin. Her straight sea green hair reached her shoulders and melon orange wisps of hair framed her face. She wore baggy clothing, the sleeves of her shirt long enough to completely cover her hands and a scarf hung around her neck. The girl just stood there as they were given the signal to go.
Jessica couldn't bring herself to move. 'Scared stiff' she thought to herself. While her heart was beating rapidly in her chest the other girl continued to stand perfectly still. What was she waiting for? Shouts of "Chicken" reached Jessica's ears before she suddenly felt as though she were being ripped from her skin and thrust into ice water. Looking at her hands she realized they weren't her own and glancing across the ring she saw her own body walking towards her. Jessica couldn't think straight as her senses screamed out that she was freezing, numb all over.
Then, she once again felt ripped from her skin and found herself feeling warm and looking at her attacker, Shackle. She let out a sigh before a ghostly hand came at her. Jessica quickly dodged out of the way, just missing the fist when a very solid foot collided with her face, knocking her to the ground. Shackle loomed over her. In a state of panic Jessica cried out, "I give!"
Shackle stopped where she stood and then bent down to help Jessica up, "I'm sorry," the girl whispered, before walking off.
"Oh my God! Are you okay," Andria asked, running over to her.
"Yeah, I'm fine, but this fist collided with my face...and now it's throbbing."
"We should probably get some ice," Andria told her.
"Don't you still have to go," Jessica asked. "You could get your face to match."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What happened? What'd I miss," Danny questioned, seeing them enter the common room.
Jessica glared at him before answering, " I ran into a brick wall. What do you think happened? I got my butt whooped. Nice of you not to stick around to watch."
"I...I needed to get a drink of water. Plus, watching your best friend get killed isn't the prettiest site in the world."
"Best friend," Jessica asked.
"Okay, good friend."
"Right now I'd settle for acquaintance because besides telling me what I want to know you've done absolutely nothing."
"I think I'll just go get that ice," Andria excused herself, making a quick exit.
"Well," Danny countered," to my knowledge you've made a couple of "friendly acquaintances", but I think that I should get some credit for being your first acquaintance."
"Okay, I'll upgrade you to friend but don't go looking for the title of "best" for a while, okay?"
"I guess, now let's get you a throne to sit on while we wait for Andria with that ice."
"I'm surprised you know her name."
"Huh?"
"I'm surprised you know Andria's name."
"Of course I know her name, she's been here longer than I have."
"I was just surprised because you usually call her something else."
"I'm not the only one," Danny replied. " Everyone does it, 'cause we know she's from a rich family."
"Well, she's not rich now is she?"
"No, probably not."
"Then drop the names; it's not nice."
Danny laughed, "So, now you're playing the part of my conscience, too?"
"Just 'til yours comes back from vacation."
"That may take a while, but when it comes back can yours take a vacation so I can pick on your flaws?"
"Maybe...but don't count on it."
"I got it," Andria said, handing Jessica a small bag of ice. "Put it on that eye before it starts changing colors."
"I think it already did," Jessica replied, hissing as the cold bag hit her skin.
"Someone should have warned you about Shackle," Andria told her.
Upon hearing this Jessica glared at Danny, "What, I'm not your only friend! Go glare at Andria. Sheesh, just because I already know about these things doesn't mean she can't learn through trial and error."
"What'd she do to me," Jessica asked.
"A body switch," Andria replied," It's her basic attack, and if you're not ready for it, it can be quite shocking."
"Is she always that cold? I mean, I was beginning to feel a bit hypothermic."
"She is as far as any of us can tell. I gotta go, it's probably my turn, maybe I'll be joining you in the world of black and blue," Andria joked as she got up and left.
"So, um, you hungry," Danny asked sheepishly.
"No."
"Oh, 'cause I thought maybe we could get some ice cream or something."
"It's a little cold outside for ice cream and I'm not going anywhere with a black eye," Jessica stated.
"Well, you wouldn't have to."
"What?"
"I thought we could bring Spectra along and she could work some of her magic on your eye. And since you don't want ice cream we can get some cinnamon buns, it's never too cold for them."
"Danny, you're incorrigible."
"I know," he smirked, "So is that a yes?"
"Only if Andria gets to come too."
"I'm not gonna be outnumbered three to one by girls, if she comes Manx gets to come too."
"Won't people notice he's a little, um, different?"
"Are you really that dense?"
"Oh, right; Spectra can fix that."
" Now you're catching on."
"It won't be a problem for her?"
"Nah, she'll just be a little more quiet than usual. And just in case something goes wrong he'll wear his jacket with the big hood, it's worked before."
"Well, then I guess we could," Jessica told him.
Danny smiled, "Great!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Andria later returned from the ring without a scratch on her, or so it seemed. So after a small dinner they started off, Andria with a hat pulled over her large ears, Manx with a hooded jacket, and Spectra in tow, talking the whole way.
The cinnamon buns were delicious, as could be expected, and as soon as they were consumed the mutants began to converse. Manx however remained silent. Despite this fact, her companions seemed to talk to Manx almost constantly. After a loud bout of laughter Manx looked at her and the teens became silent.
Manx looked pleadingly at her, as if begging her to answer a question that had gone unheard. He then rummaged through his coat pockets to produce a pen. Precariously taking the cap off with his paw-like hands and grabbing an unused napkin he clumsily began to scrawl a question. After forming only a few letters he threw down the pen in frustration and once again looked at her with pleading eyes.
Danny leaned over from his seat next to Jessica, "um, Jess?"
"Yeah?"
"You know those mental shields I taught you to put up?"
"Yes..."
"Well, would you mind lowering them a bit so Manx can talk to you? He can't use his vocal cords to talk anymore but his mutation's compensated for it by letting him speak telepathically. You got your shields up so high he can't get a word in edgewise."
"Oh! Of course," she said," sorry, Manx." Concentrating, she tried to lower the mental shields; tired of concentrating she let them fall all together since she wasn't around any telepaths. "That better," she asked.
"Much," Manx's deep voice replied in her head. "Now, my question was; what do you think of our little society so far?"
"Oh, it's different. I just have a couple of questions. First of all, are most of our meals like our extravagant lunch and dinner consisting of soup and bread?"
" Yeah, we put out the special stuff just for the first two meals," Danny smirked, " but every now and then we get a couple extra bucks and get to eat something better. Next question?"
"Okay, what's the main source of income? What's keeping all that stuff underground running?"
Spectra made a tsking noise, " Oh no you don't. We can't tell you that until you've been around for a while; its policy."
"And it shouldn't really matter to you for a while anyways," Andria said.
"Okay, I guess that's it, except for one that's really been nagging me. Is that your real color, Spectra?"
Spectra nearly spit out her soda at the question while everyone else just laughed. Wiping her mouth with her coat sleeve Spectra graciously replied, "That information is between me and my hair stylist."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
So what did you think of this chapter? Do I still have your attention? Let me know in a review. Hopefully I'll update soon. Bye!
Disclaimer: As I've stated in the past three chapters I do not own x-men evolution or any characters associated therein.
Now, on with the story!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The day flew by as far as Jessica could tell. The bell rang for them to go to the training ring and her day began. Her group consisted of Danny, the mutant who resembled a lion, called Tomas "Manx", the "Jedi boy" Two-step, a small red-haired boy called R-2, Spectra, Arachne, and the girl with the large ears.
She hadn't been able to pick out the girl's name due to the fact that during the course of the morning she had been called many things; most of them eluding to the fact that she must have come from a wealthy family. And the fact that she might have come from money resulted in nothing but malice from the others. Taking these facts into consideration, Jessica watched the girl most of the day and came to the simple conclusion that the girl didn't deserve it. She never spoke up or interacted with the others when they yelled at her, appearing to want nothing to do with them.
During the course of the day Jessica was paired up with the girl to practice a series of ducks, punches, and blocks, ending with one of them being flipped onto their back. She noted as she flipped the girl over that her shoes were worn-in, dirty and almost falling apart, unlike the rest of the girl's clothing, which was spotless. She obviously made due with old shoes if it meant her clothes were taken care of, unlike some of the other people's clothes, which were threadbare in places.
When the lunch bell rang Jessica followed the girl to an empty table. "Um, could I sit with you," she asked.
The raven-haired girl just stared at Jessica. "What's the catch," the girl finally asked.
"Nothing, I just thought, seeing how we're in the same group, we could get to know each other. I'm Jessica," she extended her hand.
" You're not gonna make fun of me?"
"No."
The girl's stony face lifted into a small smile as she took Jessica's hand. " I'm Andria or Link (as Siren calls me)."
" You've been here for a while, haven't you?"
" Three years. You must be new here."
Jessica smirked, " This is my second day."
"Figured as much. So, what do you think of the place?"
" Love the décor, and those mismatched pieces of furniture are to die for. You simply must get me the name of the decorator."
" It'll be hard," Andria joked, " he only works for the rich and famous."
Lunch, obviously the cheap meal of the day, consisted of small sandwiches and a glass of water. After they were done Jessica returned to the training room to find it completely different from the way she had left it. Groups that had earlier been separate were all gathered around the middle of the room.
Jessica looked at Andria, " What's going on?"
"Sparring matches," Andria answered, " to see how groups are progressing. We're randomly selected and fight 'til one of us gives the signal for surrender, or are rendered unconscious, whichever comes first."
" So in other words I get the crap kicked out of me."
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Great." She could hardly watch as the matches went on. She hated seeing the hurt teens exiting the ring and the victor getting pats on the back. She shook with nervousness as she awaited her own funeral.
The crowd was beginning thin out when Jessica's name was called out, along with another, Shackle. "Shackle," Jessica looked to Andria for some words of wisdom, but all she got was some whispered words of support and a small shove towards the center. 'Great,' Jessica thought to herself,' not only am I a complete rookie but this person goes by a nickname?' "I'm gonna die," she said when she reached the center to find her opponent already waiting for her.
Shackle turned out to be a girl, not exceptionally tall or threatening looking. The scariest part about her was her ghostly, almost transparent skin. Her straight sea green hair reached her shoulders and melon orange wisps of hair framed her face. She wore baggy clothing, the sleeves of her shirt long enough to completely cover her hands and a scarf hung around her neck. The girl just stood there as they were given the signal to go.
Jessica couldn't bring herself to move. 'Scared stiff' she thought to herself. While her heart was beating rapidly in her chest the other girl continued to stand perfectly still. What was she waiting for? Shouts of "Chicken" reached Jessica's ears before she suddenly felt as though she were being ripped from her skin and thrust into ice water. Looking at her hands she realized they weren't her own and glancing across the ring she saw her own body walking towards her. Jessica couldn't think straight as her senses screamed out that she was freezing, numb all over.
Then, she once again felt ripped from her skin and found herself feeling warm and looking at her attacker, Shackle. She let out a sigh before a ghostly hand came at her. Jessica quickly dodged out of the way, just missing the fist when a very solid foot collided with her face, knocking her to the ground. Shackle loomed over her. In a state of panic Jessica cried out, "I give!"
Shackle stopped where she stood and then bent down to help Jessica up, "I'm sorry," the girl whispered, before walking off.
"Oh my God! Are you okay," Andria asked, running over to her.
"Yeah, I'm fine, but this fist collided with my face...and now it's throbbing."
"We should probably get some ice," Andria told her.
"Don't you still have to go," Jessica asked. "You could get your face to match."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What happened? What'd I miss," Danny questioned, seeing them enter the common room.
Jessica glared at him before answering, " I ran into a brick wall. What do you think happened? I got my butt whooped. Nice of you not to stick around to watch."
"I...I needed to get a drink of water. Plus, watching your best friend get killed isn't the prettiest site in the world."
"Best friend," Jessica asked.
"Okay, good friend."
"Right now I'd settle for acquaintance because besides telling me what I want to know you've done absolutely nothing."
"I think I'll just go get that ice," Andria excused herself, making a quick exit.
"Well," Danny countered," to my knowledge you've made a couple of "friendly acquaintances", but I think that I should get some credit for being your first acquaintance."
"Okay, I'll upgrade you to friend but don't go looking for the title of "best" for a while, okay?"
"I guess, now let's get you a throne to sit on while we wait for Andria with that ice."
"I'm surprised you know her name."
"Huh?"
"I'm surprised you know Andria's name."
"Of course I know her name, she's been here longer than I have."
"I was just surprised because you usually call her something else."
"I'm not the only one," Danny replied. " Everyone does it, 'cause we know she's from a rich family."
"Well, she's not rich now is she?"
"No, probably not."
"Then drop the names; it's not nice."
Danny laughed, "So, now you're playing the part of my conscience, too?"
"Just 'til yours comes back from vacation."
"That may take a while, but when it comes back can yours take a vacation so I can pick on your flaws?"
"Maybe...but don't count on it."
"I got it," Andria said, handing Jessica a small bag of ice. "Put it on that eye before it starts changing colors."
"I think it already did," Jessica replied, hissing as the cold bag hit her skin.
"Someone should have warned you about Shackle," Andria told her.
Upon hearing this Jessica glared at Danny, "What, I'm not your only friend! Go glare at Andria. Sheesh, just because I already know about these things doesn't mean she can't learn through trial and error."
"What'd she do to me," Jessica asked.
"A body switch," Andria replied," It's her basic attack, and if you're not ready for it, it can be quite shocking."
"Is she always that cold? I mean, I was beginning to feel a bit hypothermic."
"She is as far as any of us can tell. I gotta go, it's probably my turn, maybe I'll be joining you in the world of black and blue," Andria joked as she got up and left.
"So, um, you hungry," Danny asked sheepishly.
"No."
"Oh, 'cause I thought maybe we could get some ice cream or something."
"It's a little cold outside for ice cream and I'm not going anywhere with a black eye," Jessica stated.
"Well, you wouldn't have to."
"What?"
"I thought we could bring Spectra along and she could work some of her magic on your eye. And since you don't want ice cream we can get some cinnamon buns, it's never too cold for them."
"Danny, you're incorrigible."
"I know," he smirked, "So is that a yes?"
"Only if Andria gets to come too."
"I'm not gonna be outnumbered three to one by girls, if she comes Manx gets to come too."
"Won't people notice he's a little, um, different?"
"Are you really that dense?"
"Oh, right; Spectra can fix that."
" Now you're catching on."
"It won't be a problem for her?"
"Nah, she'll just be a little more quiet than usual. And just in case something goes wrong he'll wear his jacket with the big hood, it's worked before."
"Well, then I guess we could," Jessica told him.
Danny smiled, "Great!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Andria later returned from the ring without a scratch on her, or so it seemed. So after a small dinner they started off, Andria with a hat pulled over her large ears, Manx with a hooded jacket, and Spectra in tow, talking the whole way.
The cinnamon buns were delicious, as could be expected, and as soon as they were consumed the mutants began to converse. Manx however remained silent. Despite this fact, her companions seemed to talk to Manx almost constantly. After a loud bout of laughter Manx looked at her and the teens became silent.
Manx looked pleadingly at her, as if begging her to answer a question that had gone unheard. He then rummaged through his coat pockets to produce a pen. Precariously taking the cap off with his paw-like hands and grabbing an unused napkin he clumsily began to scrawl a question. After forming only a few letters he threw down the pen in frustration and once again looked at her with pleading eyes.
Danny leaned over from his seat next to Jessica, "um, Jess?"
"Yeah?"
"You know those mental shields I taught you to put up?"
"Yes..."
"Well, would you mind lowering them a bit so Manx can talk to you? He can't use his vocal cords to talk anymore but his mutation's compensated for it by letting him speak telepathically. You got your shields up so high he can't get a word in edgewise."
"Oh! Of course," she said," sorry, Manx." Concentrating, she tried to lower the mental shields; tired of concentrating she let them fall all together since she wasn't around any telepaths. "That better," she asked.
"Much," Manx's deep voice replied in her head. "Now, my question was; what do you think of our little society so far?"
"Oh, it's different. I just have a couple of questions. First of all, are most of our meals like our extravagant lunch and dinner consisting of soup and bread?"
" Yeah, we put out the special stuff just for the first two meals," Danny smirked, " but every now and then we get a couple extra bucks and get to eat something better. Next question?"
"Okay, what's the main source of income? What's keeping all that stuff underground running?"
Spectra made a tsking noise, " Oh no you don't. We can't tell you that until you've been around for a while; its policy."
"And it shouldn't really matter to you for a while anyways," Andria said.
"Okay, I guess that's it, except for one that's really been nagging me. Is that your real color, Spectra?"
Spectra nearly spit out her soda at the question while everyone else just laughed. Wiping her mouth with her coat sleeve Spectra graciously replied, "That information is between me and my hair stylist."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
So what did you think of this chapter? Do I still have your attention? Let me know in a review. Hopefully I'll update soon. Bye!