Disclaimer: I do not own X-men evolution or X-men in any way shape, or
form. I do not own the song that this story is named after. I do not own
any of the titles of the chapters. I do own Simone Samson and any other
minor character that is made up to fill the position of a teacher, etc.
Authors note: Hello! *waves* I am sorry that I had to cut the first day in half. I am also sorry that it is taking me so long to post. I have been very busy lately and will be for awhile. I will continue to post, just not very quickly. I want to say "thank you" to all of the nice people who have reviewed so far! I am sooo glad you all like my fic! :-) Ok, get another sandwich, this ought to be yet another long one. Hey, this time, you should get some ice cream instead. I always like reading fanfics while eating ice cream, but eat it with a fork. Spoons are mean, evil, and tricky and should never be trusted. You could scoop your eye out, so be careful, Ok, on with the fic.
Chapter three: A Good Man is Hard to Find
Simone walked out through the big metal doors that lead to Bayville high's outside cafeteria. For a moment, she stood quietly, the other students rushing past her here and there. She just stood perfectly still, her eyes scanning her crowded surroundings. Her gaze fixated when she noticed a particular group of three people. They were sitting at a table near the secluded corner boundary of the cafeteria. Simone had little trouble noticing them. They're loudness and rowdiness had attracted her attention. She would have ignored them, thinking them to be troublemakers, had they not possessed the traits that Todd had described to her. These were the people he had told her to sit with.
All three were boys and they all looked to be older than her or Todd. The first one she noticed was by far the easiest to pick out. He was a very large young man, unusually tall and unusually overweight. His clothes made him look like a rogue punk and he had a mohawk. The second one that she noticed caught her attention because of his white hair. It was like silver and it looked natural, which was the strangest part. She noted his movements, how fast they were, and how calm, yet antsy they were. He was like a living oxymoron in that sense. The last piece that finished the puzzle confirmed that these were the guys. The third boy was relatively built and muscular. His dark brown hair was down to his shoulders, just about, and he looked even more like a punk than Todd.
Simone slowly made her way through the noisy maze of lunch tables and students. She felt hot and flustered in the crowd. She hated crowds, she hated people. Her mind was in anxiety. She kept it bottled, she kept it quiet, but in her head, she screamed.
When she neared her destination, the three boys at the table did not so much as notice her. She sat down on the very end of one of the table's benches, as far from the alleged "Brotherhood" boys as she could get. She could tell that this was probably going to be hostile territory. As much as unkindness made her angry, she was in no mood for a quarrel. She sighed with quiet desperation when the muscular dark haired boy made the first move.
"Hey, who are you?" His voice was very clearly hostile, as if he felt that she must be stupid to think that she could sit at their table.
"No one", Simone answered. Her voice was so quiet it was little more than a whisper. As upset as she was that she had to sit with these rude people, all she could manage was a whisper. When you're trying to keep anger inside, you can only let so much go outside. The second hit came from the big boy with the mohawk.
"We know that you're no one, that's why we don't want you sitting here". He looked angry as well. Simone couldn't stand this. She hated people messing with her.
"Todd Tolenski told me to sit here". She spoke quietly.
"Oh really?" The white haired boy spoke next. His voice was smooth but angry.
"Well", the white haired boy continued, "we're just going to have to have a little talk with him aren't we. And who are you anyway girl? You're pretty funny looking, are you gothic or something?"
"Sometimes". That was the truth after all. She dressed the part, but didn't quite feel it all the time.
"Hey", the longhaired one said with a tone of inquiry, "is your name Simone?"
Simone's eyes darted in his direction. She was confused now. It looked like the other two boys were confused too. They were staring at the longhaired one with puzzled eyes.
"Yes". She said it very slowly, wondering how he knew. Suddenly, someone walked up behind her and sat down next to her, separating her from the three boys. She realized immediately that it was Todd and she was relieved. He set his lunch tray down on the table. The tray bottom was uneven and it wobbled. Simone sensed tension between him and these boys when he didn't greet them, and they didn't greet him. But the white haired one did say something.
"Toad". His tone was very quiet but very firm. It scared Todd and he knew that Pietro was going to scold him. He hoped that it had nothing to do with the night before. He desperately wished that nothing had happened that night. He was glad that he didn't have a bruise.
"What is it yo?" He asked the question as if he had no idea what was coming. Actually he didn't. He was trying to act like he didn't know that Pietro was mad at him.
"Who's your friend?" There was clearly no friendliness in the question.
Lance really felt sorry for Todd. He hadn't forgotten the conversation they had the night before and how he stormed out of Todd's room. He felt somewhat bad now. Why did Pietro always have to be like this with Toad?
"That's not his friend, that's his girlfriend", Lance joked. He felt that it was better to tease Toad than to let Pietro start ragging on him and embarrass him in front of the girl he clearly liked. This way, Toad could retaliate if he wanted without making it look like a big fight.
Todd was relieved that Lance had cut in, even if it was just to tease him.
"Yo, she ain't my girlfriend, not yet anyway", he said clearly joking about the last part. He was relieved when he saw Simone giggle.
"But she is a mutant". Todd figured he had better tell them about the incident that morning with Scott and Jean.
"What?" Pietro looked very alert now.
"And how do you know she's a mutant?"
"Well", Todd began to explain, "I was supposed to show her around today because it's her first day here. She just moved here from Phoenix".
"Get to the point Toad". Pietro sounded very impatient. His eyes were cold and glaring. "Alright, alright. Don't get your panties in a bunch. I had to meet her early this morning by the front of the school. When I got there, Scott and Jean showed up".
"Scott and Jean, you mean from the X-men?" Pietro asked.
"Yeah", Todd went on, "They started hassling her about joining the X- men".
"You mean they wanted her?"
"Yeah, but I told them she was with us. I know she ain't, but I.". He stopped when he saw Pietro get up and start walking towards him. Pietro grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Todd struggled, but he couldn't get loose. Pietro had him in the air now. It was hard to breathe.
"She ain't with us Toad", Pietro imitated Todd's bad grammar. Anger was prominent in Pietro's eyes. His face was uncomfortably close to Todd's. The struggling boy almost thought he could see the roots of Pietro's eyebrow hairs.
**What's happening to you man, Todd thought. Why are you freaking out like this so much lately. We used to be like homies.**
"Who do you think you are to.OW!"
Todd thought he saw something come up in front of his face and hit Pietro's left hand, then Pietro dropped him. Whatever it was, it was very fast, only a blur, and very accurate. Todd took a deep breath. He had been choking from how Pietro was holding him. He looked at the other boy who was now sitting on the ground holding his left hand and cursing loudly. He wondered what had just happened, until he saw Simone. She was standing beside where Pietro had been. Her left leg was forward and her right leg was behind her and to the right. Most of her weight was on her slightly bent left leg. She was holding her hands in tight fists in front of her face. She didn't hold that position for long. She shifted to stand normally, her feet close together. She put her palms together and bowed in Pietro's direction, then she walked back to the table bench and sat down.
Todd walked over to her. She knew he was going to ask her what she had just done and she would be glad to tell him. She was very proud of the move she had just done. It was a good hit and accurate too. Sensei would be proud if he had seen.
"Wha.di.What was that you just did"? Todd asked. Simone thought his blank expression was cute.
"It was a left front snap-kick, and a very high one. I'm surprised I made it that high. It sure wasn't easy. Do you think he's ok?" She didn't really care if the white-haired boy was ok. He was being a bully and he got what was coming to him. Todd hadn't done anything wrong that deserved that kind of treatment from the other boy.
"I'm sure he's fine, probably just a little pissed. Thanks though.you know, for making him let go of me". He suddenly got the feeling he was being watched. He looked to the left and saw Freddie and Lance, sitting silently, staring at Simone. Then he saw a huge grin sweep across Lance's face.
"You'd be perfect for the Brotherhood!" Lance shouted. Simone blushed.
"Fine then!" Pietro stood up and shouted angrily.
"And I suppose I have to be the one to talk to Mystique right?"
"Yeah Pietro", Lance said with enthusiasm, "You do that."
"Why should I? I don't even want her in the group", Pietro shouted. Some other kids at the tables around them were looking now, probably hoping to see a fight. Pietro glared at the Brotherhood boys for a moment, especially Todd, and then turned around and walked off through the cafeteria and into the school. The eyes of almost all of the students in the cafeteria followed him as he stormed away. Simone heard whispers along the lines of "who's Mystique?", and, "what's his problem?".
Todd sat down next to Simone.
"Who's Mystique?" Simone whispered.
"Mystique is a mutant like us. She's in charge of the Brotherhood. If you want in, your gonna' have to go through her". He wondered what was making Pietro act that way. Pietro had never been a very pleasant person to be around, but he wasn't downright mean.all the time.
The cafeteria returned to its usually loud self. Lance and Blob continued eating what they had left to eat. Todd did not eat. For some reason, he wasn't very hungry. He could have gone for a good housefly or a barn fly. Barn flies were the best. They were big, and fat and juicy. Sometimes he would hang out in a hayloft at Bayville stables just to have some barn flies. He had never been caught or noticed by anyone but the horses, and, of course, the flies.
"So, what's your nickname gonna' be?" he asked Simone.
"Nickname?"
"Yeah, mine is Toad. Freddie over there is the Blob". He pointed to the large boy with the mohawk. "Lance is Avalanche", he pointed to the longhaired punk. "And the guy you kicked is Quicksilver. His real name is Pietro".
"Oh, ok. I think I will be Arachnid".
"Arachnid? Ain't that some kind of spider?"
"Well, you could say that. Its actually the group that the spider species is part of. It also includes scorpions, ticks, etc. Any eight legged arthropod is an arachnid".
"Oh", Todd was amazed at her vast knowledge of bugs, especially because she was a girl. Maybe they had a little more in common than just being mutants.
"Why Arachnid?" he asked.
"You'll see". She smiled, it was as if she knew she was going to be in the Brotherhood, as if she knew something he didn't. The sadness around her was the same, knowing something he didn't. It was like when Turbo died and mom and dad hadn't told him yet. He knew something bad had happened to his puppy, but they just weren't telling him. Finally, his dad sat him down one night and told him that Turbo had gone up to puppy heaven. Todd cried anyway.
He blotted out the image in his mind of himself as a crying seven-year-old, but only to unintentionally replace it with an image of himself as a crying twelve-year-old. He couldn't bear to remember the event that had caused those tears.
"Why do they call you Toad?" Simone asked. A soft breeze blew by and a strand of her grown out bangs caresses the curve of her cheekbone.
**She looks so soft. I wonder what her skin feels like.**
"You'll see", he answered, smiling. He hoped that his abilities would be enough to impress her when she saw them. Even if she didn't make the Brotherhood, they could still hang out. He had a feeling, though, that she'd make it. Mystique wasn't exactly in a position to accept only the best of the best. Xavier already had her outnumbered and out-powered. He felt bad for pulling Simone into a group where she was destined for defeat. Maybe he should let her know the previous scoreboard for the Brotherhood VS. X-Men trilogy.
The bell rang and the whole cafeteria rose collectively. While lunches were being pitched and girlfriends were saying good-bye's to boyfriends, Lance walked over to Todd and Simone with a smile on his face.
"Hey, don't worry about Pietro", Lance said. "I'll talk to Mystique. Both of you will want to show up after school at the south entrance. If me and Mystique aren't there within twenty minutes of the last bell, then just go home. I think I'll be able to convince her though. I am her favorite after all". The last part was a joke obviously, by the way Lance and Todd both laughed.
Freddie had already left for his next class when Lance walked away. Before he was out of sight in the mass of students, he turned his head and waved to Todd and Simone. **He ain't that bad. I think Pietro's the only one with a problem.**
Todd looked at Simone.
"Ok, next class is Art One", he said. "Follow me". Of course, she followed quietly. They entered the manic river of students swarming through the hallways. They both got pushed around a good deal and Simone was having trouble keeping sight of Todd. There were so many people..too many people.
Suddenly Todd felt a little tug on the fabric handle on the top of his book bag. He glanced back while he kept walking. It was Simone. She was holding on to the handle on his book bag. Anxiety replaced the constant sorrow imbedded in her eyes as they darted right and left. She looked scared. It was strange. It almost seemed as if she had never been around so many people.
"What's the problem?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing.I just, I didn't want to get.get lost. There's so many.people".
He let her keep holding on. He actually liked it. Finally, someone didn't flinch back when getting close to him. Finally, someone could stand to touch him. It was probably just because he had showered the night before. It wasn't so bad. He was thinking about taking another one tonight.
*~*~*~*~*~* The art classrooms walls were paved with projects, ranging from drawings to paintings to wall hangings to ceramic masks. The desks were like those in the science room and were really tables for two people each. The tables were arranged in rows of four with three tables in each row, except the fourth. The fourth row only had one table. That was Todd's table and he sat there alone, as in most classes. When they entered the room, Simone followed him and sat in the seat next to his. He felt a pang of despair. She probably knew by now that he most often sat alone in classes.
Shortly after the bell rang, the teacher made her appearance. The art teacher was a thin gawky woman with short springy orange hair. It had glittery doodads all in it. She wore a dress of many patches and colors. She seemed so lively, almost disgustingly lively. She pranced to her desk and informed the gathering class of their next project.
"Natural forms!", she sang enthusiastically. "You can do a seashell, a leaf, or even a nude if you want a challenge!". She danced through the aisle's and handed out blank sheets of paper, most likely to be used as the sloppy copy. She stopped when she got to Simone and Todd's table, the glittery doodads in her hair bouncing wildly.
"You must be our new student, Simone! Welcome to Bayville! I'm Ms.Oley, the art teacher", she held out her hand. Simone shook it shyly. "Tell me Simone, are you an artist?" The woman's voice was cheerfully shrill. Simone wondered if that was possible, but obviously, oxymoron wasn't a literary term for this woman, it was a way of life.
"Yes", Simone whispered. She doubted the teacher even heard her.
"Wonderful!" Ms.Oley clapped her hands once. "I have a feeling you'll like this project then. Oh, and maybe you can be of influence to Todd too! He'd be a talented artist if he tried harder".
"Come on, Ms.Oley, you know I'm just in a creative slump", Todd joked, "artists block". "For the whole quarter?" Ms.Oley teased with obnoxious gusto. She then pranced off to the front of the room to give further instructions.
"Now class, this sheet is for your sloppy copy. After you finish it, were going to put your forms on a bigger sheet and use oil pastels. As I said, you can do seashell's, flowers, nudes or any other natural form that you think of. You only have three days to work on the first copy, so get to work!" She then sat down at her desk and picked up a book. She started reading it, the title looked like it said something along the lines of, "Surrealism for Dummies".
**What should I draw?** Todd watched Simone begin her drawing. **A nude is out of the question. I ain't that good at drawing, plus everybody would think I was a pervert. There ain't no way I'm doing a flower. I guess I'll have to do a seashell, but then I gotta find one to use as a model. I guess I could steal one from a pet shop or something**. He stared at his blank paper. His pencil, being teetered in-between his index and middle finger, made a rhythmic tapping noise on the desktop. He glanced over at Simone, working hard on her first draft. Her eyes were completely focused, as if there was only her and the drawing in the whole world. Todd glanced at her drawing out of the corner of his eye.
**Whoa! It's a nude! It's good too!** The half-finished woman on the paper was perfectly proportioned with beautiful curves and contours. She hadn't lied when she told Ms.Oley she was an artist. He looked at his own blank paper disappointedly.
"What are you going to draw?" Simone's voice wasn't so shy and timid now. It was a little louder and he could make out an actual distinction in the sound.
"I don't know. I think it's gonna be a seashell".
"Those are pretty easy, but they're not something you see every day, not something one is very familiar with. People know every curve of their bodies because they see them everyday, but its funny how not everybody can draw a body, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I think so", he wasn't completely sure what she meant, but he had a good enough idea.
The rest of that class went by relatively fast, but Todd's drawing didn't. By the end of class, Simone's drawing had been finished and approved for its next draft by Ms.Oley. Todd still had a blank page.
The bell rang and Todd led Simone to the study hall room. By now, the day was growing middle-aged and the students were growing weary of it. He could tell by how long it took to get up the stairs. They were almost late for the next class.
The study hall room was a very plain room. There were no posters on the walls or words on the chalkboard. You were allowed to sit at any of the medium sized round tables in the room. There were six tables in all and each was able to accommodate up to four or five people. Simone sat with Todd at the desolate table near the back of the large room. He really had nothing to do, so he worked on his algebra homework from earlier that morning. Simone did the same. There were even a few times when she passed him a small sliver of paper with a question about the assignment scribbled on it. She seemed to have a problem with integers. He would answer her question the best he could and pass the paper back to her. They would have just spoken, but there was an aluminum sign above the blackboard that read, "No Talking Please".
Soon Simone and Todd noticed the other people in the study hall noisily packing up their things. Papers ruffled and zippers zipped loudly. They probably couldn't stand the silence anymore. He sometimes felt that way at home, when Pietro was upset. When Pietro was upset, nobody so much as sneezed.
Todd hated Health class, mostly because the teacher, Mrs.Kinble, hated him. She hated him from day one, and Todd knew why. It was all because of his hygiene problems. Mrs.Kinble found Todd Tolenski to be an abomination to the very principle's of health all together. Well, maybe she'd be nicer today because he was clean. He sat at the front of the room, according to Mrs.Kinbles seating chart. He would've sat in the back as usual, but she insisted on frequently using him as an example for bad hygiene. He was her poster boy and he hated it. He frequently skipped that class. He most often got away with it too. There was an up side to having Mystique as a principle. He had connections.
Simone ended up sitting in the back of the room and he had to go without seeing her for the entire period. Instead, he had to look at Mrs.Kinble's mean and angry face. Thankfully, she finished the class period with only giving him a few angry glares and that was it. After the bell rang, he waited for Simone and when she was packed up, they went off to History, the very class they had met in the day before. A lot had changed in the twenty four hours since he had been there last. He never would've expected that today he'd be showing up here with the new girl that he was afraid to look at yesterday. He never would have expected that the new girl would be so much more than just.a new girl.
When they got there and the bell rang, they each sat down in the same seats they had been in yesterday. Mr.Haley smiled at them when they were the first to get there. Todd always felt like teachers only cared about you when you were good, when you were their bitch. When you did everything they wanted you too, they were alright with you. He knew Mr.Haley would not have smiled at them if they had been late.
"Well Todd", Mr.Haley said cheerfully, "It seemed like your doing a nice job of showing Ms.Samson around our school. Your actually here on time for once". Mr.Haley laughed. Todd didn't. "So Simone, how do you like Bayville high?"
"I like it", she said and smiled.
"Good, good".
The seats soon began to fill and tired heads rested on desks. Restless pencils tapped Formica. Sneakers wiggled against the plastic floor tiles making annoying squeaking noises.
**Last period, thought Todd. Just have to get through this last period. I hate school. I can never concentrate. It's all so much information. My brain can't remember it all. I didn't get enough sleep last night. Like I ever get enough sleep. That's why I got these dark rings around my eyes, from not sleeping enough. Maybe they're from straining my eyes. I should just get glasses, but Mystique wouldn't pay for them. I can't wait until summer so I can just be done with this. **
The teacher started giving notes. Todd absent-mindedly copied them down, but he didn't process a single word of them. This was how he took notes most of the time. That was probably why he didn't do well on tests, and when he did study, he couldn't make sense out of his own notes. It was like trying to interpret scribbles.
**I wonder if Mystique will show after school. I'm surprised she hasn't tried to get a hold of Simone already. Man, if Simone can hit Pietro without using her powers, imagine how strong she is with them. Maybe she was using 'em. Maybe the chicks just got super-strength like Blob. I don't know but..she sure is beautiful. It looks like she don't have a boyfriend. I mean, if she does, she's doing a good job of not mentioning him. Maybe she does have one back in Phoenix. I actually hope she doesn't, but it's not as if she'd ever get with me. But why not? I ain't that bad, I mean, I can be nice when I try. I could be very nice to her if I tried and I know it. I mean, I got a lot to offer, kinda. It's not as if I'd cheat on her or lie to her. I ain't got much to lie about anyway. I'd pay tons of attention to her and buy her things..if I had money. I could be a good boyfriend if I tried. I'd be willing to try. I wonder if she'd give me a chance. I bet she would. She seems like the type of girl who would. I think she likes me as a friend already.but who knows how long that'll last.
I hope Mystique doesn't have some secret reason for not letting her join. Mystique is like that a lot. I wonder if she'd live in the Brotherhood house if Mystique let her in. That'd be great yo, even if it does mean having a chick around all the time. She's a cool chick, well so far. I guess I don't really know her that well yet. Oh well, if she gets in the Brotherhood, I guess I'll have to get to know her. Man, I can't wait to see what kind of abilities she has. I hope Mystique will let me see later., This class is so boring yo.
I wonder why I been thinking about Turbo so much today. If I should be thinking about anybody, it's my dad. I guess I still can't handle it yet. Thinking about my dead dog isn't as hard as thinking about my dad. I hope my mom is getting what she deserves. She deserves to go through hell and back for what she did to him, and to me, but mostly him. I'm not the one she.**
The bell rang. Todd was glad it rang, he couldn't handle thinking about his mom and dad for another second. It only made him miserable, but he hid it so well. He always acted as if nothing sad ever happened to him in his life. He always pretended to be so happy and content with his life now. He played the part so well that the other guys in the Brotherhood never even asked him about his past. They must have figured it didn't hold much interest. Todd thought it was funny sometimes, how wrong someone can actually be. The classroom cleared out and the desks emptied quickly. Todd put his notebook in his book bag and got up. He walked over to Simone's desk where she was stuffing her notebook into her purple book bag. That thing was so flamboyant it almost made Todd sick to him stomach. Simone, however, was barely flamboyant, all in black again with her white-as-paper complexion. When he thought of it, he realized that he was pale himself. His skin lacked a lot of pigment.
Simone stood up and pulled her bag onto her back.
"Should we go to our lockers first before we meet with Mystique?" she asked.
"I don't think that's a good idea. Mystique's not the kind of lady who likes wait at all, not for us anyway". They both walked to the door and exited, barely hearing Mr.Haley say "Have a good weekend". Oh yeah, Todd thought, today is Friday. Kick-ass.
The hallways emptied fast so they were able to make good time getting to the south exit. Simone walked beside Todd now instead of behind him. She was actually very close. He got another good whiff of her perfume when they went out the south entrance door. The autumn wind had blown the scent in his direction. It was so beautiful, and for an instant, it made him reminisce about a better time in his life, more like a better day in his life. Then it was gone.
When they had gotten a good few meters from the doors, Todd spotted Mystique. For now, she was in the inconspicuous form of the principle. She was standing in the shadow of a tree, darkness licking her spitefully happy face like flames. Her eyes shone yellow for no more than a split second. It always scared Todd when she did that.
Lance was standing in the shadow as well and Todd almost didn't notice him. He was smiling too, only not in the same way as Mystique. Lance looked excited.
Mystique turned her head left, then right, then looked over her shoulder, then past Todd and Simone who had stopped a few yards away. Her body then began to morph, her waist thinned and her clothes turned white. Her hair grew and turned a strange orange color, but the most prominent change was in her skin tone. It went from apricot to indigo, and her eyes turned yellow.
Simone starred as the now changed woman stepped out from the shadows, her eyes flashing in the sunlight, and her skin lightening in its rays. Mystique smiled a very demonic looking smile that made her pearl white fangs visible. She rested one fist on her hip.
"What's wrong little girl? Haven't you ever seen a mutant before", the blue skinned woman asked with frightening sarcasm.
"Yes, I have", Simone answered firmly.
"So", Mystique stepped towards Simone and folded her arms across her chest. She tilted her head to the side a little as if she were looking the younger female over.
"You must be Simone", the indigo skinned woman stated. Her words were clearly not friendly. They almost sounded greedy. "It's good to finally meet you, I was going to have a meeting with you myself, but Avalanche here did all the work for me". She glanced at Lance, smiling slyly. She then glared at Simone again, that smile still on her face, her snakelike eyes flashing.
"He told me about the incident earlier this afternoon", Mystique went on. "When you hit Quicksilver".
"I didn't hit him Ma'am", Simone stated. "I used a left front snap kick".
"Well, whatever you did, I'm impressed. Not everybody can hit Quicksilver. That's why he's called that. He has super human speed". Simone nodded as if this were a lesson.
"So Simone", Mystique went on, "I think that you would be a valuable member in this Brotherhood of mine. So I'm going to test you. I want you to attack me right now, at full power. I want to see what you can do".
Simone slipped her book bag off and set it on the ground beside her.
"Yes Ma'am, but what if I hurt you?" Surprisingly, Simone's words were not proud and she seemed to mean what she said. Todd crouched down and quickly hopped over to where Lance stood under the tree. Simone's eyes followed him and she felt like she now had a pretty good idea as to why he was called Toad. His legs and spine looked so flexible as he leapt and he seemed to do it with such ease.
Todd stayed crouched down next to Lance's feet and squinted his eyes to see Simone better. He had been waiting all day to see her abilities and he didn't want to miss even the tiniest thing.
Mystique just chuckled in response to Simone's question about hurting her. "Just attack me".
"Yes ma'am. Now?" Simone asked.
"Now".
Simone put her right foot out in front of her a few feet and put most of her weight on it. She held her fists up in front of her face. This was the same position Todd had seen her in earlier, after kicking Pietro, only then, her left foot had been out. Todd watched with anticipation, as did Lance. They both watched so intently, that they almost immediately noticed a change in Simone.
Two lumps suddenly began forming on the middle of her back at her waist area, clearly visible despite the black fabric of her shirt covering them. They elongated as they grew and came down to poke out from under the back of her shirt. The two boys could see the skin stretching over the elongating limbs as they bent and morphed. He saw something like fingers on the end of each one.exactly like fingers. The two limbs then stretched to go to around her waist. Simone positioned them exactly how she positioned her arms, even making two extra fists.
It took Todd a moment to realize what they were, but when he did, he was astonished. Simone had just sprouted an extra set of arms, perfectly formed, muscular arms with perfect fingers and everything.
"Is that all?" Mystique asked slyly to Todd and Lance's dismay.
"No Ma'am", the now four armed girl calmly stated. Simone suddenly shifted her weight foreword and threw two punches at the same time with her two right arms. The punches were so fast that Todd could barely see them, but Mystique saw them just fine. The indigo skinned women threw herself backwards and did a backflip away from Simone. **She thinks she's out of my striking range,** thought Simone. She watched with satisfaction as Mystique landed and the indigo skinned woman's face was painted with horror.
Simone's punches had deadly accuracy. One went to the face and one went to the middle of the chest below the breast. The one to the chest would have killed Mystique by causing her lungs to collapse, but both of the punches stopped only a millimeter from the shape shifting mutants body.
"How?" Mystique gasped with shock, "I am out of your striking range!" She looked at Simone, who had not moved an inch from where she had been standing before, her arms still extended in the punch position. It would have been impossible for the punches to have reached that far.
Todd's eyes were wide and unblinking. He was staring at Simone's punching arms. He had to turn his head to see the whole length of them.
"Your arms! They stretched!" Mystique shouted. Simone nodded and her arms shrunk back to her, all four of them held as before, the two top ones in fists in front of her face and the two bottom ones in front of her abdomen. They had indeed stretched, to over a few yards in length, just like rubber bands, only her bone seemed to have stretched with them, and she seemed to have perfect control over the limbs.
Mystiques look of horror eased into a smile of satisfaction. There was a moment of silence.
"Your in", Mystique hissed. "With powers and speed like yours, we will have no trouble beating those X-men to a pulp", she paused and scowled, "but why didn't you hit me? You should have. I told you to attack me at full power".
"I did Ma'am", Simone shifted her weight back to normal. Her feet were close side by side. Two arms hung at her sides and the other two hung behind her back. "But you were not aware of my ability to stretch my limbs, so it would have been unfair if I had hit you".
Mystique moaned. "If you are afraid of hurting your opponents or of being unfair, then this group is not for you". She folded her arms across her chest.
"I am not afraid of hurting my opponents", Simone stated, "I just felt that since you are of a higher rank than I am, it would be best if I did not hit you".
"Higher rank?"
"Yes, aren't you the teacher of this group?"
Mystique looked at the ground, "Well, I suppose you could say that. Do you fight using martial arts or something?"
"Yes".
"Well?" Mystique yelled waiting for a specific type or name of the art.
"Kung fu, Ma'am".
"Ah, well, you seem to be very good"
"Thank you".
"Is that all you do as far as mutant abilities are concerned?"
"No", Simone answered, "I can grow an extra pair of legs from my back as well, but I prefer not to, it's not a very nice sight and it hurts to use them. I can secrete a glue-like substance from my palms and the soles of my feet. I can use it to climb up walls". Todd marveled at Simones powers. This chick was amazing.
"Well", Mystique went on smiling, "I doubt you'll need that extra set of legs with the power you have in your arms alone, and, judging by the incident with Pietro, your two legs". She closed her eyes in thought. "What shall your alias be?"
Todd leapt towards Simone and crouched on the grass next to her feet.
"She said its Arachnid", he stated.
"Hmmm, Arachnid", Mystique repeated it to herself. "Yes, that sounds perfect for your abilities. You can grow eight limbs in all, you can climb up walls, and your arms can become very long, like spiders legs".
"My legs can grow too", Simone said.
"Would you parents consider letting you move into my boarding house? It's where all of the members of the Brotherhood live and I think it's only right that you live there too, since your member now".
"I'll ask them", Simone answered. "I live by myself in an apartment building. They send me the rent money from Phoenix, but I still wouldn't want to do anything without their permission".
"Alright then", Mystique smiled in a very sadistic looking manner, as if she knew that Simone would be her ticket to victory. "Toad! I want you to organize her moving in since you seem to know her so well", Mystique hissed sarcastically. She walked over to the crouching boy and grabbed him by the collar. He hated that, he hated her. She scared him because he knew that she could probably kill him, and worse, if she wanted to.
"Don't mess it up!" Mystique let go of him and then walked away, morphing back into the form of the principle while she did. Soon she was gone inside the school. Lance walked out of the shadows and went up to Todd and Simone. He smiled.
"Way to go! That was really cool. I knew you'd make it in", Lance said.
"Thank you", said Simone, blushing.
"Hey, you want a ride home Simone?"
"Oh, not if it's too much trouble".
"It won't be no trouble", Todd said. His expression was friendly and eager to help, but inside he wondered why Lance was being so nice to her. Lance never waited to give him a ride, he usually just left without him. He scolded himself for feeling that way. That was selfish.
"All right", Simone said to Lance, "But Todd and I still have to go to our lockers. We'll hurry though".
"That's cool", Lance said, "Me and Pietro and Blob will be waiting by the north entrance in my jeep, if Pietro didn't leave already".
"Blob wouldn't let him leave you stranded", Todd pointed out.
"Yeah, your probably right", Lance said. "Well, I'll be waiting". The longhaired boy smiled and walked away towards the front of the school.
For a few moments there was silence, then Simone's extra arms shrunk into her back again and were gone. Nonchalantly, she walked over to her book bag and picked it up, slipping her arms into the straps and bearing it's weight on her back. Todd stood up straight and walked over to her.
"That was really great!" he said enthusiastically.
Simone smiled as if she had just accomplished some long awaited goal.
"Thank you..Mystique isn't very nice is she?"
"Saying she's not very nice is an understatement", Todd said with a sigh. "Well, I guess we better get to our lockers before the school doors lock".
In his mind, Todd was very relieved, although, very troubled. He was glad that she had made it into the Brotherhood. This gave him an opportunity to get to know her better and to spend time with her, but it also meant that she would have to get to know him. There were some things about him that he did not want anybody knowing, especially a beautiful girl. He hoped she wouldn't be too disgusted by some of his mannerisms, well most of them actually. But his sense of anxiety was drowned out by the joy of knowing that he was going to see her everyday, not just in school, but at home as well. He was actually thankful to Mystique for letting her in, and for putting him in charge of her move. Maybe life was finally going to start looking up. Maybe he had gotten his fare share of misery, and it was time for his helping of happiness.
Authors Note: I hope you liked that chapter because I liked writing it! I am sorry that you all had to wait so long for it. I have been very busy lately, but do not give up on me! This thing will get finished no matter how long it takes, and you know why? Because of all you, beautiful people who I know are waiting with intense anticipation to see what happens! How was your ice cream? What flavor was it? Did it have chocolate? I love chocolate! Did you eat it with a fork as I told you too? I bet you did. If you did not, you are probably not reading this because your dead right now killed by a spoon. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so! Those spoons are bad! Okey-dokey, next chapter is going to be a diary entry of Simone's. Its got some very important information about her past and future so do not just skip it thinking its nothing. Read it and enjoy good-bye! (
Authors note: Hello! *waves* I am sorry that I had to cut the first day in half. I am also sorry that it is taking me so long to post. I have been very busy lately and will be for awhile. I will continue to post, just not very quickly. I want to say "thank you" to all of the nice people who have reviewed so far! I am sooo glad you all like my fic! :-) Ok, get another sandwich, this ought to be yet another long one. Hey, this time, you should get some ice cream instead. I always like reading fanfics while eating ice cream, but eat it with a fork. Spoons are mean, evil, and tricky and should never be trusted. You could scoop your eye out, so be careful, Ok, on with the fic.
Chapter three: A Good Man is Hard to Find
Simone walked out through the big metal doors that lead to Bayville high's outside cafeteria. For a moment, she stood quietly, the other students rushing past her here and there. She just stood perfectly still, her eyes scanning her crowded surroundings. Her gaze fixated when she noticed a particular group of three people. They were sitting at a table near the secluded corner boundary of the cafeteria. Simone had little trouble noticing them. They're loudness and rowdiness had attracted her attention. She would have ignored them, thinking them to be troublemakers, had they not possessed the traits that Todd had described to her. These were the people he had told her to sit with.
All three were boys and they all looked to be older than her or Todd. The first one she noticed was by far the easiest to pick out. He was a very large young man, unusually tall and unusually overweight. His clothes made him look like a rogue punk and he had a mohawk. The second one that she noticed caught her attention because of his white hair. It was like silver and it looked natural, which was the strangest part. She noted his movements, how fast they were, and how calm, yet antsy they were. He was like a living oxymoron in that sense. The last piece that finished the puzzle confirmed that these were the guys. The third boy was relatively built and muscular. His dark brown hair was down to his shoulders, just about, and he looked even more like a punk than Todd.
Simone slowly made her way through the noisy maze of lunch tables and students. She felt hot and flustered in the crowd. She hated crowds, she hated people. Her mind was in anxiety. She kept it bottled, she kept it quiet, but in her head, she screamed.
When she neared her destination, the three boys at the table did not so much as notice her. She sat down on the very end of one of the table's benches, as far from the alleged "Brotherhood" boys as she could get. She could tell that this was probably going to be hostile territory. As much as unkindness made her angry, she was in no mood for a quarrel. She sighed with quiet desperation when the muscular dark haired boy made the first move.
"Hey, who are you?" His voice was very clearly hostile, as if he felt that she must be stupid to think that she could sit at their table.
"No one", Simone answered. Her voice was so quiet it was little more than a whisper. As upset as she was that she had to sit with these rude people, all she could manage was a whisper. When you're trying to keep anger inside, you can only let so much go outside. The second hit came from the big boy with the mohawk.
"We know that you're no one, that's why we don't want you sitting here". He looked angry as well. Simone couldn't stand this. She hated people messing with her.
"Todd Tolenski told me to sit here". She spoke quietly.
"Oh really?" The white haired boy spoke next. His voice was smooth but angry.
"Well", the white haired boy continued, "we're just going to have to have a little talk with him aren't we. And who are you anyway girl? You're pretty funny looking, are you gothic or something?"
"Sometimes". That was the truth after all. She dressed the part, but didn't quite feel it all the time.
"Hey", the longhaired one said with a tone of inquiry, "is your name Simone?"
Simone's eyes darted in his direction. She was confused now. It looked like the other two boys were confused too. They were staring at the longhaired one with puzzled eyes.
"Yes". She said it very slowly, wondering how he knew. Suddenly, someone walked up behind her and sat down next to her, separating her from the three boys. She realized immediately that it was Todd and she was relieved. He set his lunch tray down on the table. The tray bottom was uneven and it wobbled. Simone sensed tension between him and these boys when he didn't greet them, and they didn't greet him. But the white haired one did say something.
"Toad". His tone was very quiet but very firm. It scared Todd and he knew that Pietro was going to scold him. He hoped that it had nothing to do with the night before. He desperately wished that nothing had happened that night. He was glad that he didn't have a bruise.
"What is it yo?" He asked the question as if he had no idea what was coming. Actually he didn't. He was trying to act like he didn't know that Pietro was mad at him.
"Who's your friend?" There was clearly no friendliness in the question.
Lance really felt sorry for Todd. He hadn't forgotten the conversation they had the night before and how he stormed out of Todd's room. He felt somewhat bad now. Why did Pietro always have to be like this with Toad?
"That's not his friend, that's his girlfriend", Lance joked. He felt that it was better to tease Toad than to let Pietro start ragging on him and embarrass him in front of the girl he clearly liked. This way, Toad could retaliate if he wanted without making it look like a big fight.
Todd was relieved that Lance had cut in, even if it was just to tease him.
"Yo, she ain't my girlfriend, not yet anyway", he said clearly joking about the last part. He was relieved when he saw Simone giggle.
"But she is a mutant". Todd figured he had better tell them about the incident that morning with Scott and Jean.
"What?" Pietro looked very alert now.
"And how do you know she's a mutant?"
"Well", Todd began to explain, "I was supposed to show her around today because it's her first day here. She just moved here from Phoenix".
"Get to the point Toad". Pietro sounded very impatient. His eyes were cold and glaring. "Alright, alright. Don't get your panties in a bunch. I had to meet her early this morning by the front of the school. When I got there, Scott and Jean showed up".
"Scott and Jean, you mean from the X-men?" Pietro asked.
"Yeah", Todd went on, "They started hassling her about joining the X- men".
"You mean they wanted her?"
"Yeah, but I told them she was with us. I know she ain't, but I.". He stopped when he saw Pietro get up and start walking towards him. Pietro grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Todd struggled, but he couldn't get loose. Pietro had him in the air now. It was hard to breathe.
"She ain't with us Toad", Pietro imitated Todd's bad grammar. Anger was prominent in Pietro's eyes. His face was uncomfortably close to Todd's. The struggling boy almost thought he could see the roots of Pietro's eyebrow hairs.
**What's happening to you man, Todd thought. Why are you freaking out like this so much lately. We used to be like homies.**
"Who do you think you are to.OW!"
Todd thought he saw something come up in front of his face and hit Pietro's left hand, then Pietro dropped him. Whatever it was, it was very fast, only a blur, and very accurate. Todd took a deep breath. He had been choking from how Pietro was holding him. He looked at the other boy who was now sitting on the ground holding his left hand and cursing loudly. He wondered what had just happened, until he saw Simone. She was standing beside where Pietro had been. Her left leg was forward and her right leg was behind her and to the right. Most of her weight was on her slightly bent left leg. She was holding her hands in tight fists in front of her face. She didn't hold that position for long. She shifted to stand normally, her feet close together. She put her palms together and bowed in Pietro's direction, then she walked back to the table bench and sat down.
Todd walked over to her. She knew he was going to ask her what she had just done and she would be glad to tell him. She was very proud of the move she had just done. It was a good hit and accurate too. Sensei would be proud if he had seen.
"Wha.di.What was that you just did"? Todd asked. Simone thought his blank expression was cute.
"It was a left front snap-kick, and a very high one. I'm surprised I made it that high. It sure wasn't easy. Do you think he's ok?" She didn't really care if the white-haired boy was ok. He was being a bully and he got what was coming to him. Todd hadn't done anything wrong that deserved that kind of treatment from the other boy.
"I'm sure he's fine, probably just a little pissed. Thanks though.you know, for making him let go of me". He suddenly got the feeling he was being watched. He looked to the left and saw Freddie and Lance, sitting silently, staring at Simone. Then he saw a huge grin sweep across Lance's face.
"You'd be perfect for the Brotherhood!" Lance shouted. Simone blushed.
"Fine then!" Pietro stood up and shouted angrily.
"And I suppose I have to be the one to talk to Mystique right?"
"Yeah Pietro", Lance said with enthusiasm, "You do that."
"Why should I? I don't even want her in the group", Pietro shouted. Some other kids at the tables around them were looking now, probably hoping to see a fight. Pietro glared at the Brotherhood boys for a moment, especially Todd, and then turned around and walked off through the cafeteria and into the school. The eyes of almost all of the students in the cafeteria followed him as he stormed away. Simone heard whispers along the lines of "who's Mystique?", and, "what's his problem?".
Todd sat down next to Simone.
"Who's Mystique?" Simone whispered.
"Mystique is a mutant like us. She's in charge of the Brotherhood. If you want in, your gonna' have to go through her". He wondered what was making Pietro act that way. Pietro had never been a very pleasant person to be around, but he wasn't downright mean.all the time.
The cafeteria returned to its usually loud self. Lance and Blob continued eating what they had left to eat. Todd did not eat. For some reason, he wasn't very hungry. He could have gone for a good housefly or a barn fly. Barn flies were the best. They were big, and fat and juicy. Sometimes he would hang out in a hayloft at Bayville stables just to have some barn flies. He had never been caught or noticed by anyone but the horses, and, of course, the flies.
"So, what's your nickname gonna' be?" he asked Simone.
"Nickname?"
"Yeah, mine is Toad. Freddie over there is the Blob". He pointed to the large boy with the mohawk. "Lance is Avalanche", he pointed to the longhaired punk. "And the guy you kicked is Quicksilver. His real name is Pietro".
"Oh, ok. I think I will be Arachnid".
"Arachnid? Ain't that some kind of spider?"
"Well, you could say that. Its actually the group that the spider species is part of. It also includes scorpions, ticks, etc. Any eight legged arthropod is an arachnid".
"Oh", Todd was amazed at her vast knowledge of bugs, especially because she was a girl. Maybe they had a little more in common than just being mutants.
"Why Arachnid?" he asked.
"You'll see". She smiled, it was as if she knew she was going to be in the Brotherhood, as if she knew something he didn't. The sadness around her was the same, knowing something he didn't. It was like when Turbo died and mom and dad hadn't told him yet. He knew something bad had happened to his puppy, but they just weren't telling him. Finally, his dad sat him down one night and told him that Turbo had gone up to puppy heaven. Todd cried anyway.
He blotted out the image in his mind of himself as a crying seven-year-old, but only to unintentionally replace it with an image of himself as a crying twelve-year-old. He couldn't bear to remember the event that had caused those tears.
"Why do they call you Toad?" Simone asked. A soft breeze blew by and a strand of her grown out bangs caresses the curve of her cheekbone.
**She looks so soft. I wonder what her skin feels like.**
"You'll see", he answered, smiling. He hoped that his abilities would be enough to impress her when she saw them. Even if she didn't make the Brotherhood, they could still hang out. He had a feeling, though, that she'd make it. Mystique wasn't exactly in a position to accept only the best of the best. Xavier already had her outnumbered and out-powered. He felt bad for pulling Simone into a group where she was destined for defeat. Maybe he should let her know the previous scoreboard for the Brotherhood VS. X-Men trilogy.
The bell rang and the whole cafeteria rose collectively. While lunches were being pitched and girlfriends were saying good-bye's to boyfriends, Lance walked over to Todd and Simone with a smile on his face.
"Hey, don't worry about Pietro", Lance said. "I'll talk to Mystique. Both of you will want to show up after school at the south entrance. If me and Mystique aren't there within twenty minutes of the last bell, then just go home. I think I'll be able to convince her though. I am her favorite after all". The last part was a joke obviously, by the way Lance and Todd both laughed.
Freddie had already left for his next class when Lance walked away. Before he was out of sight in the mass of students, he turned his head and waved to Todd and Simone. **He ain't that bad. I think Pietro's the only one with a problem.**
Todd looked at Simone.
"Ok, next class is Art One", he said. "Follow me". Of course, she followed quietly. They entered the manic river of students swarming through the hallways. They both got pushed around a good deal and Simone was having trouble keeping sight of Todd. There were so many people..too many people.
Suddenly Todd felt a little tug on the fabric handle on the top of his book bag. He glanced back while he kept walking. It was Simone. She was holding on to the handle on his book bag. Anxiety replaced the constant sorrow imbedded in her eyes as they darted right and left. She looked scared. It was strange. It almost seemed as if she had never been around so many people.
"What's the problem?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing.I just, I didn't want to get.get lost. There's so many.people".
He let her keep holding on. He actually liked it. Finally, someone didn't flinch back when getting close to him. Finally, someone could stand to touch him. It was probably just because he had showered the night before. It wasn't so bad. He was thinking about taking another one tonight.
*~*~*~*~*~* The art classrooms walls were paved with projects, ranging from drawings to paintings to wall hangings to ceramic masks. The desks were like those in the science room and were really tables for two people each. The tables were arranged in rows of four with three tables in each row, except the fourth. The fourth row only had one table. That was Todd's table and he sat there alone, as in most classes. When they entered the room, Simone followed him and sat in the seat next to his. He felt a pang of despair. She probably knew by now that he most often sat alone in classes.
Shortly after the bell rang, the teacher made her appearance. The art teacher was a thin gawky woman with short springy orange hair. It had glittery doodads all in it. She wore a dress of many patches and colors. She seemed so lively, almost disgustingly lively. She pranced to her desk and informed the gathering class of their next project.
"Natural forms!", she sang enthusiastically. "You can do a seashell, a leaf, or even a nude if you want a challenge!". She danced through the aisle's and handed out blank sheets of paper, most likely to be used as the sloppy copy. She stopped when she got to Simone and Todd's table, the glittery doodads in her hair bouncing wildly.
"You must be our new student, Simone! Welcome to Bayville! I'm Ms.Oley, the art teacher", she held out her hand. Simone shook it shyly. "Tell me Simone, are you an artist?" The woman's voice was cheerfully shrill. Simone wondered if that was possible, but obviously, oxymoron wasn't a literary term for this woman, it was a way of life.
"Yes", Simone whispered. She doubted the teacher even heard her.
"Wonderful!" Ms.Oley clapped her hands once. "I have a feeling you'll like this project then. Oh, and maybe you can be of influence to Todd too! He'd be a talented artist if he tried harder".
"Come on, Ms.Oley, you know I'm just in a creative slump", Todd joked, "artists block". "For the whole quarter?" Ms.Oley teased with obnoxious gusto. She then pranced off to the front of the room to give further instructions.
"Now class, this sheet is for your sloppy copy. After you finish it, were going to put your forms on a bigger sheet and use oil pastels. As I said, you can do seashell's, flowers, nudes or any other natural form that you think of. You only have three days to work on the first copy, so get to work!" She then sat down at her desk and picked up a book. She started reading it, the title looked like it said something along the lines of, "Surrealism for Dummies".
**What should I draw?** Todd watched Simone begin her drawing. **A nude is out of the question. I ain't that good at drawing, plus everybody would think I was a pervert. There ain't no way I'm doing a flower. I guess I'll have to do a seashell, but then I gotta find one to use as a model. I guess I could steal one from a pet shop or something**. He stared at his blank paper. His pencil, being teetered in-between his index and middle finger, made a rhythmic tapping noise on the desktop. He glanced over at Simone, working hard on her first draft. Her eyes were completely focused, as if there was only her and the drawing in the whole world. Todd glanced at her drawing out of the corner of his eye.
**Whoa! It's a nude! It's good too!** The half-finished woman on the paper was perfectly proportioned with beautiful curves and contours. She hadn't lied when she told Ms.Oley she was an artist. He looked at his own blank paper disappointedly.
"What are you going to draw?" Simone's voice wasn't so shy and timid now. It was a little louder and he could make out an actual distinction in the sound.
"I don't know. I think it's gonna be a seashell".
"Those are pretty easy, but they're not something you see every day, not something one is very familiar with. People know every curve of their bodies because they see them everyday, but its funny how not everybody can draw a body, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I think so", he wasn't completely sure what she meant, but he had a good enough idea.
The rest of that class went by relatively fast, but Todd's drawing didn't. By the end of class, Simone's drawing had been finished and approved for its next draft by Ms.Oley. Todd still had a blank page.
The bell rang and Todd led Simone to the study hall room. By now, the day was growing middle-aged and the students were growing weary of it. He could tell by how long it took to get up the stairs. They were almost late for the next class.
The study hall room was a very plain room. There were no posters on the walls or words on the chalkboard. You were allowed to sit at any of the medium sized round tables in the room. There were six tables in all and each was able to accommodate up to four or five people. Simone sat with Todd at the desolate table near the back of the large room. He really had nothing to do, so he worked on his algebra homework from earlier that morning. Simone did the same. There were even a few times when she passed him a small sliver of paper with a question about the assignment scribbled on it. She seemed to have a problem with integers. He would answer her question the best he could and pass the paper back to her. They would have just spoken, but there was an aluminum sign above the blackboard that read, "No Talking Please".
Soon Simone and Todd noticed the other people in the study hall noisily packing up their things. Papers ruffled and zippers zipped loudly. They probably couldn't stand the silence anymore. He sometimes felt that way at home, when Pietro was upset. When Pietro was upset, nobody so much as sneezed.
Todd hated Health class, mostly because the teacher, Mrs.Kinble, hated him. She hated him from day one, and Todd knew why. It was all because of his hygiene problems. Mrs.Kinble found Todd Tolenski to be an abomination to the very principle's of health all together. Well, maybe she'd be nicer today because he was clean. He sat at the front of the room, according to Mrs.Kinbles seating chart. He would've sat in the back as usual, but she insisted on frequently using him as an example for bad hygiene. He was her poster boy and he hated it. He frequently skipped that class. He most often got away with it too. There was an up side to having Mystique as a principle. He had connections.
Simone ended up sitting in the back of the room and he had to go without seeing her for the entire period. Instead, he had to look at Mrs.Kinble's mean and angry face. Thankfully, she finished the class period with only giving him a few angry glares and that was it. After the bell rang, he waited for Simone and when she was packed up, they went off to History, the very class they had met in the day before. A lot had changed in the twenty four hours since he had been there last. He never would've expected that today he'd be showing up here with the new girl that he was afraid to look at yesterday. He never would have expected that the new girl would be so much more than just.a new girl.
When they got there and the bell rang, they each sat down in the same seats they had been in yesterday. Mr.Haley smiled at them when they were the first to get there. Todd always felt like teachers only cared about you when you were good, when you were their bitch. When you did everything they wanted you too, they were alright with you. He knew Mr.Haley would not have smiled at them if they had been late.
"Well Todd", Mr.Haley said cheerfully, "It seemed like your doing a nice job of showing Ms.Samson around our school. Your actually here on time for once". Mr.Haley laughed. Todd didn't. "So Simone, how do you like Bayville high?"
"I like it", she said and smiled.
"Good, good".
The seats soon began to fill and tired heads rested on desks. Restless pencils tapped Formica. Sneakers wiggled against the plastic floor tiles making annoying squeaking noises.
**Last period, thought Todd. Just have to get through this last period. I hate school. I can never concentrate. It's all so much information. My brain can't remember it all. I didn't get enough sleep last night. Like I ever get enough sleep. That's why I got these dark rings around my eyes, from not sleeping enough. Maybe they're from straining my eyes. I should just get glasses, but Mystique wouldn't pay for them. I can't wait until summer so I can just be done with this. **
The teacher started giving notes. Todd absent-mindedly copied them down, but he didn't process a single word of them. This was how he took notes most of the time. That was probably why he didn't do well on tests, and when he did study, he couldn't make sense out of his own notes. It was like trying to interpret scribbles.
**I wonder if Mystique will show after school. I'm surprised she hasn't tried to get a hold of Simone already. Man, if Simone can hit Pietro without using her powers, imagine how strong she is with them. Maybe she was using 'em. Maybe the chicks just got super-strength like Blob. I don't know but..she sure is beautiful. It looks like she don't have a boyfriend. I mean, if she does, she's doing a good job of not mentioning him. Maybe she does have one back in Phoenix. I actually hope she doesn't, but it's not as if she'd ever get with me. But why not? I ain't that bad, I mean, I can be nice when I try. I could be very nice to her if I tried and I know it. I mean, I got a lot to offer, kinda. It's not as if I'd cheat on her or lie to her. I ain't got much to lie about anyway. I'd pay tons of attention to her and buy her things..if I had money. I could be a good boyfriend if I tried. I'd be willing to try. I wonder if she'd give me a chance. I bet she would. She seems like the type of girl who would. I think she likes me as a friend already.but who knows how long that'll last.
I hope Mystique doesn't have some secret reason for not letting her join. Mystique is like that a lot. I wonder if she'd live in the Brotherhood house if Mystique let her in. That'd be great yo, even if it does mean having a chick around all the time. She's a cool chick, well so far. I guess I don't really know her that well yet. Oh well, if she gets in the Brotherhood, I guess I'll have to get to know her. Man, I can't wait to see what kind of abilities she has. I hope Mystique will let me see later., This class is so boring yo.
I wonder why I been thinking about Turbo so much today. If I should be thinking about anybody, it's my dad. I guess I still can't handle it yet. Thinking about my dead dog isn't as hard as thinking about my dad. I hope my mom is getting what she deserves. She deserves to go through hell and back for what she did to him, and to me, but mostly him. I'm not the one she.**
The bell rang. Todd was glad it rang, he couldn't handle thinking about his mom and dad for another second. It only made him miserable, but he hid it so well. He always acted as if nothing sad ever happened to him in his life. He always pretended to be so happy and content with his life now. He played the part so well that the other guys in the Brotherhood never even asked him about his past. They must have figured it didn't hold much interest. Todd thought it was funny sometimes, how wrong someone can actually be. The classroom cleared out and the desks emptied quickly. Todd put his notebook in his book bag and got up. He walked over to Simone's desk where she was stuffing her notebook into her purple book bag. That thing was so flamboyant it almost made Todd sick to him stomach. Simone, however, was barely flamboyant, all in black again with her white-as-paper complexion. When he thought of it, he realized that he was pale himself. His skin lacked a lot of pigment.
Simone stood up and pulled her bag onto her back.
"Should we go to our lockers first before we meet with Mystique?" she asked.
"I don't think that's a good idea. Mystique's not the kind of lady who likes wait at all, not for us anyway". They both walked to the door and exited, barely hearing Mr.Haley say "Have a good weekend". Oh yeah, Todd thought, today is Friday. Kick-ass.
The hallways emptied fast so they were able to make good time getting to the south exit. Simone walked beside Todd now instead of behind him. She was actually very close. He got another good whiff of her perfume when they went out the south entrance door. The autumn wind had blown the scent in his direction. It was so beautiful, and for an instant, it made him reminisce about a better time in his life, more like a better day in his life. Then it was gone.
When they had gotten a good few meters from the doors, Todd spotted Mystique. For now, she was in the inconspicuous form of the principle. She was standing in the shadow of a tree, darkness licking her spitefully happy face like flames. Her eyes shone yellow for no more than a split second. It always scared Todd when she did that.
Lance was standing in the shadow as well and Todd almost didn't notice him. He was smiling too, only not in the same way as Mystique. Lance looked excited.
Mystique turned her head left, then right, then looked over her shoulder, then past Todd and Simone who had stopped a few yards away. Her body then began to morph, her waist thinned and her clothes turned white. Her hair grew and turned a strange orange color, but the most prominent change was in her skin tone. It went from apricot to indigo, and her eyes turned yellow.
Simone starred as the now changed woman stepped out from the shadows, her eyes flashing in the sunlight, and her skin lightening in its rays. Mystique smiled a very demonic looking smile that made her pearl white fangs visible. She rested one fist on her hip.
"What's wrong little girl? Haven't you ever seen a mutant before", the blue skinned woman asked with frightening sarcasm.
"Yes, I have", Simone answered firmly.
"So", Mystique stepped towards Simone and folded her arms across her chest. She tilted her head to the side a little as if she were looking the younger female over.
"You must be Simone", the indigo skinned woman stated. Her words were clearly not friendly. They almost sounded greedy. "It's good to finally meet you, I was going to have a meeting with you myself, but Avalanche here did all the work for me". She glanced at Lance, smiling slyly. She then glared at Simone again, that smile still on her face, her snakelike eyes flashing.
"He told me about the incident earlier this afternoon", Mystique went on. "When you hit Quicksilver".
"I didn't hit him Ma'am", Simone stated. "I used a left front snap kick".
"Well, whatever you did, I'm impressed. Not everybody can hit Quicksilver. That's why he's called that. He has super human speed". Simone nodded as if this were a lesson.
"So Simone", Mystique went on, "I think that you would be a valuable member in this Brotherhood of mine. So I'm going to test you. I want you to attack me right now, at full power. I want to see what you can do".
Simone slipped her book bag off and set it on the ground beside her.
"Yes Ma'am, but what if I hurt you?" Surprisingly, Simone's words were not proud and she seemed to mean what she said. Todd crouched down and quickly hopped over to where Lance stood under the tree. Simone's eyes followed him and she felt like she now had a pretty good idea as to why he was called Toad. His legs and spine looked so flexible as he leapt and he seemed to do it with such ease.
Todd stayed crouched down next to Lance's feet and squinted his eyes to see Simone better. He had been waiting all day to see her abilities and he didn't want to miss even the tiniest thing.
Mystique just chuckled in response to Simone's question about hurting her. "Just attack me".
"Yes ma'am. Now?" Simone asked.
"Now".
Simone put her right foot out in front of her a few feet and put most of her weight on it. She held her fists up in front of her face. This was the same position Todd had seen her in earlier, after kicking Pietro, only then, her left foot had been out. Todd watched with anticipation, as did Lance. They both watched so intently, that they almost immediately noticed a change in Simone.
Two lumps suddenly began forming on the middle of her back at her waist area, clearly visible despite the black fabric of her shirt covering them. They elongated as they grew and came down to poke out from under the back of her shirt. The two boys could see the skin stretching over the elongating limbs as they bent and morphed. He saw something like fingers on the end of each one.exactly like fingers. The two limbs then stretched to go to around her waist. Simone positioned them exactly how she positioned her arms, even making two extra fists.
It took Todd a moment to realize what they were, but when he did, he was astonished. Simone had just sprouted an extra set of arms, perfectly formed, muscular arms with perfect fingers and everything.
"Is that all?" Mystique asked slyly to Todd and Lance's dismay.
"No Ma'am", the now four armed girl calmly stated. Simone suddenly shifted her weight foreword and threw two punches at the same time with her two right arms. The punches were so fast that Todd could barely see them, but Mystique saw them just fine. The indigo skinned women threw herself backwards and did a backflip away from Simone. **She thinks she's out of my striking range,** thought Simone. She watched with satisfaction as Mystique landed and the indigo skinned woman's face was painted with horror.
Simone's punches had deadly accuracy. One went to the face and one went to the middle of the chest below the breast. The one to the chest would have killed Mystique by causing her lungs to collapse, but both of the punches stopped only a millimeter from the shape shifting mutants body.
"How?" Mystique gasped with shock, "I am out of your striking range!" She looked at Simone, who had not moved an inch from where she had been standing before, her arms still extended in the punch position. It would have been impossible for the punches to have reached that far.
Todd's eyes were wide and unblinking. He was staring at Simone's punching arms. He had to turn his head to see the whole length of them.
"Your arms! They stretched!" Mystique shouted. Simone nodded and her arms shrunk back to her, all four of them held as before, the two top ones in fists in front of her face and the two bottom ones in front of her abdomen. They had indeed stretched, to over a few yards in length, just like rubber bands, only her bone seemed to have stretched with them, and she seemed to have perfect control over the limbs.
Mystiques look of horror eased into a smile of satisfaction. There was a moment of silence.
"Your in", Mystique hissed. "With powers and speed like yours, we will have no trouble beating those X-men to a pulp", she paused and scowled, "but why didn't you hit me? You should have. I told you to attack me at full power".
"I did Ma'am", Simone shifted her weight back to normal. Her feet were close side by side. Two arms hung at her sides and the other two hung behind her back. "But you were not aware of my ability to stretch my limbs, so it would have been unfair if I had hit you".
Mystique moaned. "If you are afraid of hurting your opponents or of being unfair, then this group is not for you". She folded her arms across her chest.
"I am not afraid of hurting my opponents", Simone stated, "I just felt that since you are of a higher rank than I am, it would be best if I did not hit you".
"Higher rank?"
"Yes, aren't you the teacher of this group?"
Mystique looked at the ground, "Well, I suppose you could say that. Do you fight using martial arts or something?"
"Yes".
"Well?" Mystique yelled waiting for a specific type or name of the art.
"Kung fu, Ma'am".
"Ah, well, you seem to be very good"
"Thank you".
"Is that all you do as far as mutant abilities are concerned?"
"No", Simone answered, "I can grow an extra pair of legs from my back as well, but I prefer not to, it's not a very nice sight and it hurts to use them. I can secrete a glue-like substance from my palms and the soles of my feet. I can use it to climb up walls". Todd marveled at Simones powers. This chick was amazing.
"Well", Mystique went on smiling, "I doubt you'll need that extra set of legs with the power you have in your arms alone, and, judging by the incident with Pietro, your two legs". She closed her eyes in thought. "What shall your alias be?"
Todd leapt towards Simone and crouched on the grass next to her feet.
"She said its Arachnid", he stated.
"Hmmm, Arachnid", Mystique repeated it to herself. "Yes, that sounds perfect for your abilities. You can grow eight limbs in all, you can climb up walls, and your arms can become very long, like spiders legs".
"My legs can grow too", Simone said.
"Would you parents consider letting you move into my boarding house? It's where all of the members of the Brotherhood live and I think it's only right that you live there too, since your member now".
"I'll ask them", Simone answered. "I live by myself in an apartment building. They send me the rent money from Phoenix, but I still wouldn't want to do anything without their permission".
"Alright then", Mystique smiled in a very sadistic looking manner, as if she knew that Simone would be her ticket to victory. "Toad! I want you to organize her moving in since you seem to know her so well", Mystique hissed sarcastically. She walked over to the crouching boy and grabbed him by the collar. He hated that, he hated her. She scared him because he knew that she could probably kill him, and worse, if she wanted to.
"Don't mess it up!" Mystique let go of him and then walked away, morphing back into the form of the principle while she did. Soon she was gone inside the school. Lance walked out of the shadows and went up to Todd and Simone. He smiled.
"Way to go! That was really cool. I knew you'd make it in", Lance said.
"Thank you", said Simone, blushing.
"Hey, you want a ride home Simone?"
"Oh, not if it's too much trouble".
"It won't be no trouble", Todd said. His expression was friendly and eager to help, but inside he wondered why Lance was being so nice to her. Lance never waited to give him a ride, he usually just left without him. He scolded himself for feeling that way. That was selfish.
"All right", Simone said to Lance, "But Todd and I still have to go to our lockers. We'll hurry though".
"That's cool", Lance said, "Me and Pietro and Blob will be waiting by the north entrance in my jeep, if Pietro didn't leave already".
"Blob wouldn't let him leave you stranded", Todd pointed out.
"Yeah, your probably right", Lance said. "Well, I'll be waiting". The longhaired boy smiled and walked away towards the front of the school.
For a few moments there was silence, then Simone's extra arms shrunk into her back again and were gone. Nonchalantly, she walked over to her book bag and picked it up, slipping her arms into the straps and bearing it's weight on her back. Todd stood up straight and walked over to her.
"That was really great!" he said enthusiastically.
Simone smiled as if she had just accomplished some long awaited goal.
"Thank you..Mystique isn't very nice is she?"
"Saying she's not very nice is an understatement", Todd said with a sigh. "Well, I guess we better get to our lockers before the school doors lock".
In his mind, Todd was very relieved, although, very troubled. He was glad that she had made it into the Brotherhood. This gave him an opportunity to get to know her better and to spend time with her, but it also meant that she would have to get to know him. There were some things about him that he did not want anybody knowing, especially a beautiful girl. He hoped she wouldn't be too disgusted by some of his mannerisms, well most of them actually. But his sense of anxiety was drowned out by the joy of knowing that he was going to see her everyday, not just in school, but at home as well. He was actually thankful to Mystique for letting her in, and for putting him in charge of her move. Maybe life was finally going to start looking up. Maybe he had gotten his fare share of misery, and it was time for his helping of happiness.
Authors Note: I hope you liked that chapter because I liked writing it! I am sorry that you all had to wait so long for it. I have been very busy lately, but do not give up on me! This thing will get finished no matter how long it takes, and you know why? Because of all you, beautiful people who I know are waiting with intense anticipation to see what happens! How was your ice cream? What flavor was it? Did it have chocolate? I love chocolate! Did you eat it with a fork as I told you too? I bet you did. If you did not, you are probably not reading this because your dead right now killed by a spoon. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so! Those spoons are bad! Okey-dokey, next chapter is going to be a diary entry of Simone's. Its got some very important information about her past and future so do not just skip it thinking its nothing. Read it and enjoy good-bye! (