I've not had to change a lot so far, just a few adjustments, you'll see
more later on and hopefully it will become more streamlined! Fingers
crossed!
Anna followed her instincts. They had never let her down before. She eventually found the place Michelle had been discovered. A dirty abandoned back alley. Her body was long gone, but there were still blood stains on the ground and she could smell her perfume. Police tape cordoned the area off and a young police officer was nervously guarding the area. He eyed Anna suspiciously until she laid the flowers down against a wall.
"Friend of yours?" He asked kindly.
Anna stiffened. Like most of the people she knew, she didn't trust the police. And her anger was quickly mounting. She looked him in the eye, knowing he assumed her to be a fellow prostitute.
"My best friend." She said simply, before walking away.
Anna angrily wiped tears from her eyes. She couldn't afford to mourn just yet. She had to concentrate. She knew that it was nothing to do with JT. She hadn't smelt his aftershave, despite not being able to get close enough to the place where Michelle was found. That didn't bother her. She'd let the wanker take the fall.
Her uncanny senses shocked everyone. She could smell people for ages after they had left a location or hear things most people weren't even aware of. She had, however, been able to smell the leather seats of the Mercedes and the fat guy's aftershave. It had been him.
She walked for a couple of minutes, around the back alleys. Eventually she caught his smell again. This time stronger. Either he was nearby or had been there just minutes ago.
Anna rounded a corner and saw the car. She heard muffled screaming, and saw people thrashing around in the back seat. Anger filled her and she ran over and wrenched the door open.
A terrified girl fell out. She had defensive wounds on her hands and was crying. She looked at Anna for a split second and then ran. Anna knew she didn't have much time before her pimp arrived and looked in the car.
The fat guy's comb-over was hanging on his face and he was panting hard. In his hand was a large hunting knife. His trousers were around his ankles. Anna smirked.
"Well, was I right or what? Pee Wee."
The guy lunged for her and fell out of the car. He pulled himself up and yanked his trousers up. Anna waited for him. She was beyond anger, in a calm and controlled state. People who knew her knew how dangerous she was when in this mood.
"Didn't wanna pay? Or did you just want to make sure that no one knew how small your cock really is." She goaded him. He slashed at her with the knife. She just stepped back.
"You pathetic bastard. Is this how you get your jollies? Cutting up helpless young girls? You're sick." She could feel her anger burning inside of her.
His eyes glazed over and he smiled evilly at her, "This world is full of whores. Who's going to miss them? Just one drug-ridden AIDS case less to worry about."
"Who the hell do you think you are? Jack the fucking Ripper? You fat twat." Shouted Anna. As much as she wanted to make him suffer, this was taking far too long.
"You killed my best friend. The only person I trusted! I'm going to kill you." She stepped forwards, poised like a cat, ready to spring.
"What are you going to do? Bitch slap me to death? You haven't got anything." He smirked.
Anna, hating what she was about to do, clenched her fists and tensed her arm muscles. Immediately (and painfully) three long bone claws shot from each hand. She brought her hands up and looked at the shocked expression on his face.
"It's interesting, you know. My mother was a whore. But that's not what killed her, it was heroin. But, my father, whoever he is, was apparently a mutant. Now I wonder who I got these from?"
Seemingly scared beyond rational thought, the guy rushed at her. But Anna stood firm. He sliced her arm as she swung her fist into his stomach. She knew her claws had come out through his back. She pulled her hand away and sheathed them. The guy slumped to the floor, gasping, his eyes white with shock. Anna leaned over him, close to his ear and whispered,
"I wonder if Michelle went quickly. Or did you just slash her up and let her bleed to death in a filthy alleyway?" She paused, and watched him gasp for a few seconds. "Oh, I didn't sever anything really major, that would have killed you straight away. Now you can lie here, bleeding to death and thinking about all of the girls you killed. That's if the pimps don't find you first. Killed by the daughter of a whore. Funny, eh?"
As she went to stand, he swept the knife up and before she could react, he plunged it into her side. Anna stumbled with shock as the pain ripped though her.
The fat guy laughed quietly and said, "At least I can take one last one with me."
Anna felt her pain stopping and she knew her other power was kicking in. She lifted her shirt and very slowly the cut was healing. The fat guy looked horrified. She smiled again.
"No, Sugar, you just earn this." She said, as she placed one fist over his crotch and tensed her muscles, so her long claws shot into his groin.
"Good luck, you'll need it where you're going!" Said Anna as she walked off.
Three days later, Jean Grey stared down at the filthy London streets and jumped to avoid another abandoned kebab.
"How on earth can people live like this?" She moaned at Scott, who seemed oblivious to the dirt around him.
"It's like New York, I guess." He replied.
"If New York was a filthy, plague infected hell hole." Jean said, with a sigh, missing her own irony. The Professor had told them that a new, very strong mutant had emerged in London.
Apparently, she was also in a lot of pain and very angry. The two young X- Men, The Professor and Storm had flown to London to find her and offer help.
They rounded a corner and saw a slim girl sat on a wall. She fitted the description Cerebro had given the Professor. They started to approach, but a guy ran up and started to shout at her. Scott put his arm out in front of Jean, instinctively. She shot him a dirty look and pushed it off.
They could hear bits of what they were fighting about. Something to do with someone being arrested for some else's murder. The guy went to hit the girl, but she caught his arm and pushed him off.
Scott moved as if to run into the fray, but Jean said, "Wait, Scott. I think this is the girl."
She tried to read her mind, but all she got was a jumble of images. She was obviously mourning someone and very angry. Suddenly she knew the girl could sense her presence in her mind and she stared directly at Jean for a second.
The second was all the guy needed to punch her in the face. The girl was caught off balance and fell. The guy immediately took advantage and started to kick and punch her. He continued until Jean pulled him away telekinetically. He stared at the two Americans for second, in disbelief before running away.
They ran to Anna. She was bleeding from a gash on her forehead, and to their amazement, the cut started to heal up. Jean looked questioningly at Scott. He shook his head and picked her up.
They started to walk back to the jet.
Anna slowly opened her eyes. Her head ached slightly, but she knew that it would go in a few minutes. She looked around. She was in some sort of hospital room.
'That idiot must have really done me over.' She thought, 'I wonder who bought me here.' She stood up and climbed down from the table. She found her clothes folded on a nearby worktop and dressed quickly. She stopped and frowned, she couldn't hear anything. Even with her uncanny ability to hear what was happening three rooms away.
'OK, where are the nurses? Shouldn't a hospital be noisy?' Anna thought starting to get slightly freaked. She approached the door, and hid behind a column when it opened and a bald man in a wheel chair came in with a big guy covered in .... BLUE FUR?
Anna panicked and, like a defense mechanism, her claws shot out. Where the hell was she?
She was about to make a run for the door, when she heard, felt a voice speak her name. As if it was inside her head.
'Why are you afraid? We wont hurt you. We want to help you.' The voice was soft, and for a second, she almost trusted it.
Anna stepped out from her hiding place, and eyed them both wearily.
"Who are you? How did you get inside my head?" She asked.
The bald man looked at her claws, and as if proud of the impression she was making, Anna lifted them.
"I could kill you. Now, give me some damn answers. Where am I? Who are you?"
"My name is Professor Charles Xavier. I run this facility for gifted children. You were injured and two of my older students bought you to me for help."
"Well, Prof., in case you haven't noticed, I don't need help. How long was I out? An hour? Two?"
"Four days." Replied the Professor simply.
"That's impossible. I heal fast." Anna was furious, she was hungry, confused and she still didn't know where she was or why she was there.
"Your mind has obviously had a lot to deal with, and it shut down to allow you to heal mentally."
"How do you know?" Her claws were starting to hurt. The skin was trying to heal around them, so she sheathed them and folded her arms.
"I read your mind."
Anna felt violated, but the Professor continued.
"You have very unusual gifts and I can offer you help training. Help you control them. I can also offer you counseling for your pain."
"My pain is none of your damn business." Anna snapped. "And how did you read my mind?"
"I am a telepath, a mind reader. Dr. McCoy here is blessed with incredible strength and agility, but unfortunately, the beast in him manifested physically when he tried to supress his rage. All of the children here have powers. You will meet them later." Xavier replied.
Anna laughed, "I doubt that. I'm going home."
"How? You are in America."
"WHAT? You kidnapped me? How am I supposed to get home?" She cried, angry.
"Tell me Anna, What do you know about your father?" The Professor asked, changing the subject.
Anna realized he was leading up to something; she sat on the bed and found her cigarettes. She lit one and blew the smoke out thoughtfully. Eventually, she said,
"I know my father was a mutant. My mum never said much about him, other than that he was Canadian and that he left before I was born. I never met him and don't want to. Why?"
Xavier glanced at her cigarette for a second, and then said, "Not many mutants have the power to heal as quickly as you do. Much less possess such, shall we say, an interesting defense ability."
Anna was becoming bored. She was already thinking about getting out and contacting the local embassy, "Point, please?" She snapped.
"You're powers are an exact copy of a man I know. I confess I was curious, so I had Dr. McCoy run some tests."
The door opened again, and a tall, muscled man walked in. He looked at Anna; she held his stare until he looked away.
"This is Logan, Anna. The tests I did showed that he is your father." Said the Professor.
Anna couldn't talk. All her life she had wondered what she would say to him, if she ever met him. She stood up, ground her cigarette out on the floor and walked up to Logan.
"You're my father?" She asked softly.
"Yes." He replied in a quiet tone, "But, I had no idea ......" He started to explain.
Anna finally realised what she wanted to do and punched him in the face. Logan didn't stagger but he put his hand to his face.
"You left me, us. Do you know what my life was like? How hard it's been? You're dead to me. I have no father." She spat. She walked into the hallway and looked for an escape.
She headed quietly towards a window, when a brown haired boy, wearing red sunglasses walked around the corner.
"Hi. Are you OK?" He asked.
Anna looked at him, "I'm fine. Where the hell is the exit here?"
"Are you sure you want to leave? Have you spoken to the Professor?" Asked the boy again.
"Yes. Between that and having long, lost family members shoved at me, I think you're all fucking crazy and I want to leave." She replied.
The boy held his hand out, "I'm Scott Summers. I was one of the ones who found you in London."
Anna was in the process of reaching for his hand when, she caught his last sentence. She jerked her hand away.
"You had something to do with me being bought to this hell hole? I ought to kick your arse."
Scott looked slightly contrite, and was about to say something, when he saw Xavier and Logan walking towards them.
"Ah. I see you have met Scott. Anna, we do need to talk to you. I understand .... " Started the Professor, but Anna cut him off.
"You understand nothing. Nothing at all. I will get home, somehow." She said, spinning round and glaring at them.
"I'm afraid not. I have been in touch with my contacts in Britain, and they have informed me that as you are under eighteen, and as your mother has passed, then you become the responsibility of your father." Xavier said, and he looked at Logan.
Scott surveyed the scene with all of the dignity of one attempting catch flies with his mouth. 'Logan? A father? This is going to be interesting.' He thought.
Xavier glanced at him and he shut his mouth.
Logan looked into Anna's furious eyes, and said, "Anna, I want you to stay here. I want to help you train and I want to get to know my daughter."
"Well, tough shit. You may have over a barrel about me having to stay here at least for another two and half years, but you don't own my mind. You just donated sperm to my mother. And You!" She turned to Xavier, "Stay out of my mind or sleep with one eye open. I'm going for a ciggie."
She turned on her heel and walked down the hallway.
Scott turned to Xavier and said, "Well, she's going to liven the place up, isn't she?"
Xavier smiled, and looked at Logan, who had an unreadable expression on his face.
"Yes, Scott. I think we can be assured of that."
Anna followed her instincts. They had never let her down before. She eventually found the place Michelle had been discovered. A dirty abandoned back alley. Her body was long gone, but there were still blood stains on the ground and she could smell her perfume. Police tape cordoned the area off and a young police officer was nervously guarding the area. He eyed Anna suspiciously until she laid the flowers down against a wall.
"Friend of yours?" He asked kindly.
Anna stiffened. Like most of the people she knew, she didn't trust the police. And her anger was quickly mounting. She looked him in the eye, knowing he assumed her to be a fellow prostitute.
"My best friend." She said simply, before walking away.
Anna angrily wiped tears from her eyes. She couldn't afford to mourn just yet. She had to concentrate. She knew that it was nothing to do with JT. She hadn't smelt his aftershave, despite not being able to get close enough to the place where Michelle was found. That didn't bother her. She'd let the wanker take the fall.
Her uncanny senses shocked everyone. She could smell people for ages after they had left a location or hear things most people weren't even aware of. She had, however, been able to smell the leather seats of the Mercedes and the fat guy's aftershave. It had been him.
She walked for a couple of minutes, around the back alleys. Eventually she caught his smell again. This time stronger. Either he was nearby or had been there just minutes ago.
Anna rounded a corner and saw the car. She heard muffled screaming, and saw people thrashing around in the back seat. Anger filled her and she ran over and wrenched the door open.
A terrified girl fell out. She had defensive wounds on her hands and was crying. She looked at Anna for a split second and then ran. Anna knew she didn't have much time before her pimp arrived and looked in the car.
The fat guy's comb-over was hanging on his face and he was panting hard. In his hand was a large hunting knife. His trousers were around his ankles. Anna smirked.
"Well, was I right or what? Pee Wee."
The guy lunged for her and fell out of the car. He pulled himself up and yanked his trousers up. Anna waited for him. She was beyond anger, in a calm and controlled state. People who knew her knew how dangerous she was when in this mood.
"Didn't wanna pay? Or did you just want to make sure that no one knew how small your cock really is." She goaded him. He slashed at her with the knife. She just stepped back.
"You pathetic bastard. Is this how you get your jollies? Cutting up helpless young girls? You're sick." She could feel her anger burning inside of her.
His eyes glazed over and he smiled evilly at her, "This world is full of whores. Who's going to miss them? Just one drug-ridden AIDS case less to worry about."
"Who the hell do you think you are? Jack the fucking Ripper? You fat twat." Shouted Anna. As much as she wanted to make him suffer, this was taking far too long.
"You killed my best friend. The only person I trusted! I'm going to kill you." She stepped forwards, poised like a cat, ready to spring.
"What are you going to do? Bitch slap me to death? You haven't got anything." He smirked.
Anna, hating what she was about to do, clenched her fists and tensed her arm muscles. Immediately (and painfully) three long bone claws shot from each hand. She brought her hands up and looked at the shocked expression on his face.
"It's interesting, you know. My mother was a whore. But that's not what killed her, it was heroin. But, my father, whoever he is, was apparently a mutant. Now I wonder who I got these from?"
Seemingly scared beyond rational thought, the guy rushed at her. But Anna stood firm. He sliced her arm as she swung her fist into his stomach. She knew her claws had come out through his back. She pulled her hand away and sheathed them. The guy slumped to the floor, gasping, his eyes white with shock. Anna leaned over him, close to his ear and whispered,
"I wonder if Michelle went quickly. Or did you just slash her up and let her bleed to death in a filthy alleyway?" She paused, and watched him gasp for a few seconds. "Oh, I didn't sever anything really major, that would have killed you straight away. Now you can lie here, bleeding to death and thinking about all of the girls you killed. That's if the pimps don't find you first. Killed by the daughter of a whore. Funny, eh?"
As she went to stand, he swept the knife up and before she could react, he plunged it into her side. Anna stumbled with shock as the pain ripped though her.
The fat guy laughed quietly and said, "At least I can take one last one with me."
Anna felt her pain stopping and she knew her other power was kicking in. She lifted her shirt and very slowly the cut was healing. The fat guy looked horrified. She smiled again.
"No, Sugar, you just earn this." She said, as she placed one fist over his crotch and tensed her muscles, so her long claws shot into his groin.
"Good luck, you'll need it where you're going!" Said Anna as she walked off.
Three days later, Jean Grey stared down at the filthy London streets and jumped to avoid another abandoned kebab.
"How on earth can people live like this?" She moaned at Scott, who seemed oblivious to the dirt around him.
"It's like New York, I guess." He replied.
"If New York was a filthy, plague infected hell hole." Jean said, with a sigh, missing her own irony. The Professor had told them that a new, very strong mutant had emerged in London.
Apparently, she was also in a lot of pain and very angry. The two young X- Men, The Professor and Storm had flown to London to find her and offer help.
They rounded a corner and saw a slim girl sat on a wall. She fitted the description Cerebro had given the Professor. They started to approach, but a guy ran up and started to shout at her. Scott put his arm out in front of Jean, instinctively. She shot him a dirty look and pushed it off.
They could hear bits of what they were fighting about. Something to do with someone being arrested for some else's murder. The guy went to hit the girl, but she caught his arm and pushed him off.
Scott moved as if to run into the fray, but Jean said, "Wait, Scott. I think this is the girl."
She tried to read her mind, but all she got was a jumble of images. She was obviously mourning someone and very angry. Suddenly she knew the girl could sense her presence in her mind and she stared directly at Jean for a second.
The second was all the guy needed to punch her in the face. The girl was caught off balance and fell. The guy immediately took advantage and started to kick and punch her. He continued until Jean pulled him away telekinetically. He stared at the two Americans for second, in disbelief before running away.
They ran to Anna. She was bleeding from a gash on her forehead, and to their amazement, the cut started to heal up. Jean looked questioningly at Scott. He shook his head and picked her up.
They started to walk back to the jet.
Anna slowly opened her eyes. Her head ached slightly, but she knew that it would go in a few minutes. She looked around. She was in some sort of hospital room.
'That idiot must have really done me over.' She thought, 'I wonder who bought me here.' She stood up and climbed down from the table. She found her clothes folded on a nearby worktop and dressed quickly. She stopped and frowned, she couldn't hear anything. Even with her uncanny ability to hear what was happening three rooms away.
'OK, where are the nurses? Shouldn't a hospital be noisy?' Anna thought starting to get slightly freaked. She approached the door, and hid behind a column when it opened and a bald man in a wheel chair came in with a big guy covered in .... BLUE FUR?
Anna panicked and, like a defense mechanism, her claws shot out. Where the hell was she?
She was about to make a run for the door, when she heard, felt a voice speak her name. As if it was inside her head.
'Why are you afraid? We wont hurt you. We want to help you.' The voice was soft, and for a second, she almost trusted it.
Anna stepped out from her hiding place, and eyed them both wearily.
"Who are you? How did you get inside my head?" She asked.
The bald man looked at her claws, and as if proud of the impression she was making, Anna lifted them.
"I could kill you. Now, give me some damn answers. Where am I? Who are you?"
"My name is Professor Charles Xavier. I run this facility for gifted children. You were injured and two of my older students bought you to me for help."
"Well, Prof., in case you haven't noticed, I don't need help. How long was I out? An hour? Two?"
"Four days." Replied the Professor simply.
"That's impossible. I heal fast." Anna was furious, she was hungry, confused and she still didn't know where she was or why she was there.
"Your mind has obviously had a lot to deal with, and it shut down to allow you to heal mentally."
"How do you know?" Her claws were starting to hurt. The skin was trying to heal around them, so she sheathed them and folded her arms.
"I read your mind."
Anna felt violated, but the Professor continued.
"You have very unusual gifts and I can offer you help training. Help you control them. I can also offer you counseling for your pain."
"My pain is none of your damn business." Anna snapped. "And how did you read my mind?"
"I am a telepath, a mind reader. Dr. McCoy here is blessed with incredible strength and agility, but unfortunately, the beast in him manifested physically when he tried to supress his rage. All of the children here have powers. You will meet them later." Xavier replied.
Anna laughed, "I doubt that. I'm going home."
"How? You are in America."
"WHAT? You kidnapped me? How am I supposed to get home?" She cried, angry.
"Tell me Anna, What do you know about your father?" The Professor asked, changing the subject.
Anna realized he was leading up to something; she sat on the bed and found her cigarettes. She lit one and blew the smoke out thoughtfully. Eventually, she said,
"I know my father was a mutant. My mum never said much about him, other than that he was Canadian and that he left before I was born. I never met him and don't want to. Why?"
Xavier glanced at her cigarette for a second, and then said, "Not many mutants have the power to heal as quickly as you do. Much less possess such, shall we say, an interesting defense ability."
Anna was becoming bored. She was already thinking about getting out and contacting the local embassy, "Point, please?" She snapped.
"You're powers are an exact copy of a man I know. I confess I was curious, so I had Dr. McCoy run some tests."
The door opened again, and a tall, muscled man walked in. He looked at Anna; she held his stare until he looked away.
"This is Logan, Anna. The tests I did showed that he is your father." Said the Professor.
Anna couldn't talk. All her life she had wondered what she would say to him, if she ever met him. She stood up, ground her cigarette out on the floor and walked up to Logan.
"You're my father?" She asked softly.
"Yes." He replied in a quiet tone, "But, I had no idea ......" He started to explain.
Anna finally realised what she wanted to do and punched him in the face. Logan didn't stagger but he put his hand to his face.
"You left me, us. Do you know what my life was like? How hard it's been? You're dead to me. I have no father." She spat. She walked into the hallway and looked for an escape.
She headed quietly towards a window, when a brown haired boy, wearing red sunglasses walked around the corner.
"Hi. Are you OK?" He asked.
Anna looked at him, "I'm fine. Where the hell is the exit here?"
"Are you sure you want to leave? Have you spoken to the Professor?" Asked the boy again.
"Yes. Between that and having long, lost family members shoved at me, I think you're all fucking crazy and I want to leave." She replied.
The boy held his hand out, "I'm Scott Summers. I was one of the ones who found you in London."
Anna was in the process of reaching for his hand when, she caught his last sentence. She jerked her hand away.
"You had something to do with me being bought to this hell hole? I ought to kick your arse."
Scott looked slightly contrite, and was about to say something, when he saw Xavier and Logan walking towards them.
"Ah. I see you have met Scott. Anna, we do need to talk to you. I understand .... " Started the Professor, but Anna cut him off.
"You understand nothing. Nothing at all. I will get home, somehow." She said, spinning round and glaring at them.
"I'm afraid not. I have been in touch with my contacts in Britain, and they have informed me that as you are under eighteen, and as your mother has passed, then you become the responsibility of your father." Xavier said, and he looked at Logan.
Scott surveyed the scene with all of the dignity of one attempting catch flies with his mouth. 'Logan? A father? This is going to be interesting.' He thought.
Xavier glanced at him and he shut his mouth.
Logan looked into Anna's furious eyes, and said, "Anna, I want you to stay here. I want to help you train and I want to get to know my daughter."
"Well, tough shit. You may have over a barrel about me having to stay here at least for another two and half years, but you don't own my mind. You just donated sperm to my mother. And You!" She turned to Xavier, "Stay out of my mind or sleep with one eye open. I'm going for a ciggie."
She turned on her heel and walked down the hallway.
Scott turned to Xavier and said, "Well, she's going to liven the place up, isn't she?"
Xavier smiled, and looked at Logan, who had an unreadable expression on his face.
"Yes, Scott. I think we can be assured of that."