So. I return. I have exams but I'm getting really sick of studying for them! If these chapters aren't up to par, please forgive me! And if you see something with the plot that concerns you… tell me! AHH! I was afraid I almost lost G a while ago lol. I'm gonna run though, I have a Latin and Hermeneutics exam tomorrow! Followed by History of Modernity and literature on Tuesday, Chemistry and Advanced Algebra 2 on Wednesday, and Logic on Thursday! THEM I'M DONE! WOOOO! I'll be a junior O.O Scary. It's been a great year with y'all! Thanks for being awesome readers!
Multifan- You can see where me plot is going? Hmm . Shoosh XD. I chose Pietro for a number of logical reasons, as well as a good bit of illogical reasons as well. I'm cute like that . Dun worry though, it'll all work out. And yes… Kelly is a total jerk, although I do feel like I made him out worse than he can be… nah 8D.
Pietro does have more common sense than people give him I believe… it may be hidden under pride and maliciousness… but its there!
Agent-G- Sorry to scare you dude… but we cleared it all up in the emails. Like I said earlier, you can count on me. No Pietro/Mary. Bleeeeh.
Howlerdrode- Mary will always be in some sort of trouble with Tabitha after her lol. With Pietro after her too… gah… poor girl.
Brandy Lebeau – Yeah! I so posted a bunch of chapters lol. I can't keep my readers hanging anymore than I already do!
Bubba Hyde- Thanks for the compliments dude! I can't believe you read the original. Scary. I'm glad you like the fact that I added Tabby. I missed her when she went poof on Evo. Woo! Another Bama dude! ROLL TIDE!
God Bless y'all! And on with the story!
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Tabitha, Amara and Mary parked across the street from an enormous house and hopped out of the car. Mary stood in awe; the house resembled Xavier's mansion, but it was significantly smaller. The owners' had gone out of town for the weekend, and their sophomore son had decided to throw a party. Everyone in the grade was invited, even mutants, but it didn't seem that many people were here yet. The grand scale of the house and decorations made Mary forget that she didn't want to be here.
"…Whose house is this again?" Amara asked, her brown eyes shining in excitement.
"Travis'! He's an awesome guy. Even more so cause he's mutant friendly." Tabitha replied as she grabbed her friends' arms and dragged them across the street and into the house. They opened the door and were blasted by 'One Armed Scissor' from the speakers. Smiling, they made their way to the backyard.
"Travis!" Tabitha called over the music to a brunette chatting with another boy near the pool.
"Tabitha!" He greeted as he walked over and gave her a high five. "You made it! Sweet. I was hoping we'd have the blond bomb here tonight." He grinned before noticing Amara and Mary. "Hey Amara, glad you made it too." He waved before tilting his head at Mary. "Are you a sophomore? I thought you were a junior… your name's Rogue isn't it?" He inquired.
"Actually, Travis my boy, she's her sister." Tabitha corrected, swinging her arm around Mary, who instinctively flinched and threw the arm off. "She's pleasant." The blonde added.
"So I see." He laughed. "Well, I'm glad to have you here…" He paused seeing as he didn't know her name.
"Mary." The two-tone replied with a nervous smile.
"Mary." He finished. "Make yourself at home, and don't be afraid to get rowdy." He assured her as he nodded to all three of them and walked over to a group of boys.
"That's all I needed to hear!" Tabitha exclaimed as she grabbed her girls again and dashed onto the dance floor. It took Mary a moment, but the memories of dancing at parties with Amy flooded back to her and her body went on autopilot, performing moves she didn't know she knew.
"Where did a southerner learn those steps? I was led to believe that you all were sweet, innocent and stupid people." Amara stated matter-of-factly as she followed Mary's lead.
"Last generation maybe! You gotta remember that teenagers are teenagers wherever you go. We do keep up with the times down there." Mary laughed. After a moment, a large group of girls walked onto the dance floor, and joined in with the trio, not caring they were dancing with mutants. Mary's nerves began to disappear, and her mood was improving. She smiled as she realized the irony of it all: this was the best night she had experienced in a while, and she was surrounded by a lot of people in dangerous proximity.
Hours passed, and Mary found herself drawn away from the crowd to the balcony. From here, she could see all the happenings of the party, but not be so close to everyone that an accident might occur. She had decided to come up here for a few reasons, the main ones being that more and more people had arrived and crowded her, making her nervous. The second reason was that Tabitha was beginning to get a little tipsy on the liquor from Travis' parents' wine collection. Mary didn't trust the girl that much sober, it was safe to say she wouldn't trust her at all intoxicated.
The two-tone stared up at the full moon and cherished the solitude for the moment. She was beginning to like Bayville. So there were the ever-present mutant protestors, but overall many people were tolerant and befriended them. It wasn't anything like home though. She sighed as she remembered Greenville. Everything was different down there. Strangers could strike up a conversation with one another on the street. People were a whole lot warmer down there, and didn't care if you were a mutant or not. Or at least most people were. But those who discriminated against mutants were often discriminated against as well because of it.
Mary's attention was drawn back to commotion at the party. She looked down and saw Tabitha pointing her finger at a group of girls that had been incredibly snobby to the trio upon arrival. She heard part of Tabitha's slurred accusation, and realized it was about mutant and normal people segregation. She saw Amara come up and whisper in the blonde's ear, no doubt trying to subdue her, but it was to no avail. Tabitha's temper had been aroused, and it wouldn't calm itself until Tabitha was appeased… and Mary guessed to appease her would take a bit of violence. She debated staying where she was as to not get drawn into the skiff, but decided she may as well join the fray. She knew Amara couldn't calm Tabitha on her own… but Mary wondered how much help she would supply. Sighing, she turned and headed down the stairs and to the pool deck.
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"Seriously, you guys need to get over yourself. Just because you can't make bombs or teleport or throw fire, you for some stupid think you're better than us. My God. You're insane. We're better than YOU." Tabitha slurred angrily as she jabbed a finger into another girl's face.
The brunette glared at her angrily. "That just the attitude all of you have! Just because you think you have special deformities, you have a God complex! You're not better than us, you're just defective." The girl sneered back; a murmur of agreement came from a few girls behind her.
"Defective?" Tabitha snorted, balling her hands by her sides. Mary shoved through the ring of people that were beginning to encircle them and looked to Amara who shrugged helplessly and looked around for anyway to calm the raging blonde.
"Tabitha." Mary whispered in her ear. "Do not blow these girls up." She ordered as she saw a glow coming from her closed fists. "I'm pretty sure Kelly would have a field day with that, as would the rest of the nation." She reminded.
"Who cares about Kelly?" She raged, causing Mary to jump back and look once again to Amara. "He deserves to be blown up more than you losers do! The insane codger doesn't realize that mutants are people too… he treats us like scum!" She yelled.
"He treats you how you deserved to be treated." The girl who fueled the outburst snickered.
Mary, Amara, Tabitha, and the one or two other mutants at the party all focused on that one girl, who stared back at them defiantly. Mary almost ripped off her gloves right there, and she saw that Amara's eyes were glowing yellow. They were all trying to restrain themselves from attacking her… everyone that is, but Tabitha. The blonde opened her fist and was about to hurl the bombs as hard as she could at the group of girls, but Mary reacted first.
She didn't know what to expect, it had been a long time since she had absorbed anyone. She wished she could have left it to Amara, to anyone else, but how could they have subdued her? Tabitha would have blown them up as well. Mary ripped off her arm sock and glove in one swoop and grabbed Tabitha's arched arm. They both screamed, Tabitha in pain and Mary in shock. After mere seconds, Tabitha slumped back and Amara caught her in her arms while giving Mary an incredulous look.
Mary didn't see it. Her eyes were closed and she was clutching her head while Tabitha's psyche ravaged her mind and excited Kurt and Tommy's psyches in her mind. They were all screaming at her, and she felt as if the sound would blow out her eardrums.
"Shut up… just… SHUT UP!" She yelled at them all. They were shocked into silence, and Mary opened her eyes to find the party guests' attention on her. She felt a wave of rage wash over her, and realize it must have been Tabitha's psyche still at the surface of her mind.
"You're a mutant too? I just thought you lived with the freaks." The brunette said disgustedly.
"You shut up too… I can't blow up the voices in my head… but I can definitely blow up you if I want to." Mary threatened, opening her hand to reveal glowing explosives. The group of girls backed up a few feet, and a sadistic grin came to Mary's face as she advanced. Tabitha's psyche was quickly on her way to taking full control, and Mary didn't know if she could stop it.
"Mary." Amara's sharp voice snapped Mary out of it and allowed her to somewhat subdue the rage blinding her. The two-tone turned to see Amara still supporting an unconscious Tabitha in her arms. "Let it go. She's not worth it, and we need to get Tabitha home now." The Nova-Roma princess ordered using the same tone she used on the servants back home. Mary glared back to the girls who had started the commotion, and sighed as she put on her arm sock and glove. She walked back to Amara and helped support Tabitha's dead weight. They walked pass the girls without a word, and their looks were enough to silence them in case they decided to speak up.
They passed Travis on their way out, and he gave them a pitying look. "You know this is going to be what people talk about at school for a while." He pointed out.
"I know… but you know Tabitha, always willing to start something." Amara replied sadly.
"I actually heard it all… those girls did start it… and I'll make sure that's known at school on Monday." He corrected as he opened the door for them and followed them to the car. As he opened the door to the backseat he chuckled softly. "I told you guys to get rowdy, but I wasn't expecting this."
"None of us were." Mary replied with a cheerless smile as she snagged the keys out of Tabitha's pocket.
"Do you think you're safe to drive?" He asked hesitantly.
"I think I can suppress Tabitha's driving habits for a few minutes until we get back to the Institute, babe." Mary winked, pausing afterwards as she realized a bit of Tabitha's personality was coming out. "Yeah… we're gonna go now." She muttered as she hopped in the SUV and started the engine.
"Night you guys!" He called over the roar of the motor before turning and heading back to the house.
Mary paused before shifting into gear. "Well… tonight was interesting, wasn't it 'Mara?" She asked with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. Amara looked back to Tabitha, who was still conked out in back.
"I think she's going to kill you after she wakes up." The princess pointed out.
"It'll be too late then. Ororo and Logan are going to get to us first." Mary corrected as she shifted to drive and started back to the Institute.
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Logan knew the instant the intercom fuzzed to life that something was wrong. There was no need for it, the girls had made curfew, and from what he saw of the car from the cameras, there were no dinks in it. What then, could be the problem? "Whatcha need?" He asked gruffly.
"Umm… Mr. Logan. There was a bit of an accident at the party." Amara's voice responded hesitantly. Logan didn't wait for the rest of the explanation, but rushed to the garage to find an unconscious Tabitha in the back seat. He looked to the girls, and Mary raised her hand slightly.
"It… it was kinda my fault, Mr. Logan." Mary admitted, but Logan raised his hand.
"I don't need tah hear it here, kid. We'll talk in a few minutes, just head to Xavier's office." He responded as he opened the back door and picked up Tabitha. He was about to walk out through the door when Ororo appeared in it.
"Children, what happened?" She demanded after one look at Tabitha. Logan muttered something to her and she nodded. "Follow me." She said softly. Mary and Amara started after her, and when they caught up Ororo put an arm around Mary, who winced slightly and pulled away from it. She wasn't in any hurry to absorb anyone else anytime soon.
They entered the dark room and Ororo clicked on the lights. The two girls glanced at each other, and Mary knew that Amara played no part in this, and she shouldn't be accused of doing so. "Ms. Ororo, Amara had no part in this… she tried to dissuade me from doing what I did… but I felt there was no way around it." Mary explained quickly.
"That I believe, Mary." Xavier's voice said from behind them as he wheeled into the room. He looked as if he was just awoken from sleep, and Mary realized he must have been. It was nearly 11:30. So, she absorbed a teammate and woke the instructors… "Oh great… I'm dead." She thought nervously to herself as Xavier situated himself behind his desk. He was about to speak when Logan walked in as well.
"She's in the Med Bay… Hank said she would be fine and that he'd watch her for a while." He replied to Xavier's questioning stare. The older man smiled and returned his attention to the girls.
"So girls… why don't you tell me what exactly happened?" He asked. The two girls glanced at each other before starting into their story.
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By the time they finished, Mary was developing a headache. She surmised it was Tabitha's hangover forming in her head instead of the owner's. Xavier said a few things, but Mary wasn't listening; with her headache came the psyches again.
-Dude! That was fucking awesome! She went down like that! Yah should do that more often, its great.- Tommy's psyche cheered.
-You need to be careful swchester. You could have hurt Tabitha. You shouldn't have acted so irrationally.- Kurt chastised her for revealing her mutantcy.
-You're INSANE. You should have let me finish it! Now I'm in your head babe. I told you, I don't shutup. You shoulda listened to me! I can't believe you stopped me from taking down that bitch! She deserved it.- Tabitha yelled louder than all of them.
- Tabitha, cool it. There shouldn't have been confrontation in the first place. If you hadn't gotten drunk...- Kurt was interruped before he could go any further.
Mary popped her neck as Tommy jumped into the fray and the headache worsened. She had closed her eyes what seemed only like seconds ago, but when she opened them again Amara was gone, and the three instructors were staring at her with concern.
"Mary?" Ororo questioned as she sat down next to the tormented child.
"I'm fine… just a headache." Mary assured her. Ororo stared with concern for a moment before looking to Charles, who then nodded.
"Give me a few moments with her alone, please Ororo." He asked her telepathically. The African woman nodded in understanding and stood.
"I'll get you some water and Advil." She comforted as she walked towards the door, glancing at an oblivious Logan as she passed him. He made no move to leave, and Ororo elbowed him in the rubs.
"Oh… I'll go with ya." He grunted as he followed the woman out, leaving Xavier and Mary alone.
"Mary, I'm not going to chastise you for you doing what you think was best. You obviously saw no other way to subdue the situation, and took the proper actions. It's just a pity that Tabitha was harmed in the process… but I'm not blaming you for that. You had no other choice. From what I understand, she was prepared to use her powers on the other girls, and who knows what dilemma would be upon us then. I would like you to be honest with me with one thing though…" He trailed off and she nodded for him to continue."Amara mentioned that you had taken on many of Tabitha's mannerisms, she said you probably hadn't even noticed a few of them… like the one in which she plays with her hair." He stated as Mary twirled hers around her fingers. She quickly stopped and put her hands in her lap.
"Yes… well… I was concerned that perhaps the psyches might be overpowering you? Rogue had minor difficulty with them when they first entered her mind, and I assumed it would be the same with you but it seems your condition is worse. Please, be honest with me. Are the psyches troubling you?" He asked, his brown eyes boring holes into hers.
Mary's breath caught. What should she say? That the voices bothered her? That wasn't necessarily true… just when she was tired or she had absorbed someone new. But all the time? No. Besides, these were her powers… she was going to have to deal with them. They were with her forever. God wouldn't have given her something that would just begin to decay her body, right? She hoped so at least.
"No, Professor. I think tonight's strain is a bit too much. Tabitha's psyche is just a bit rowdy I guess… it's just giving me a headache." She assured him. He stared at her for a moment, searching her face for a lie. Finding none, his expression softened into care.
"I wouldn't imagine any less from Tabitha. You may go to bed, I'll stave Logan off from early morning training tomorrow so you might get some peace." He smiled as she stood and headed for the door. "Goodnight, Mary." He fare welled.
"Night, Professor" Mary replied, hoping she would feel better in the morning, and hopefully not have the full extent of Tabitha's hangover.