Woo! Chapter 20. Exciting! Yeah, while FFdotNET decided to be stupid and not let me upload for like, 3 days, I wrote another chapter. The plot is thickening... sorta? I dunno lol. Enjoy!
Chapter 20
Magneto was getting impatient. He knew he had ordered Pietro to take his time, but it had been about two weeks now. He glanced at his door, expecting it at any moment to be thrown open and Pietro rush in with the girl in his arms. Sighing, he sat down at his desk and watched his clock tick. He supposed he should take the spare time to tell Mastermind what he wanted done to the child, but right now he just wanted peace from the Acolytes.
He turned his attention from the clock to the wall and began to work out the minute details of his plan. Once Pietro… if Pietro ever got the girl to him, he would send her to Mastermind. He wanted Mary's memory of the X-Men to be altered, much like he altered Wanda's memories. He wanted her to believe the X-Men had lied to her, and had later betrayed her. He wanted her to believe Magneto had rescued her and nursed her back to health. He wanted her to believe she was his dedicated warrior, and would do anything he commanded. More importantly, he wanted her to forget entirely about her sister.
Once that was finally accomplished, they would begin her training. He wanted her to be able to recall her powers on impulse, and he believed a severe need of such advancement of her powers would cause it to come about. He would work her for all she was worth. For hours at a time, he would pit her against his Acolytes, who would show her little to no pity whatsoever. Her brain's natural urge for survival would develop her powers further, and she would be able to recall absorbed powers on command. She would be his most powerful fighter; possibly a strong enough addition to his team to take down Xavier's X-Men and get them out of his way forever.
That is, of course, if Pietro would actually deliver the girl to him. "Patience is a virtue." He muttered to himself as he stood suddenly, determined to take his mind off his troubles. He headed in search of Mastermind to inform him of what he was supposed to do when the time came.
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"Get up!" Jean urged Mary, who still lay in bed. It was somewhat surprising for Jean to walk into the kitchen early that morning and not find Mary sitting peacefully at the table. Figuring the girl was just taking her time, Jean set to work cooking breakfast. Before long, all the students were down… except for Mary.
The redhead had asked Tabitha where the girl was, and Tabitha informed her that Mary was still piled up in bed. Jean glanced at the clock; they all still had an hour before they had to leave. Mary needed to get up and get ready. Jean had finished her breakfast quickly and returned upstairs to check on the two-toned girl. She pushed open the door to see Mary buried under blankets and pillows.
"Mary!" She hissed as she nudged Mary.
"Go away." Mary snapped back from under the pillows.
"You need to get ready for school! Are you feeling ill?" Jean inquired.
"No. Tired. Go 'way." Mary ordered, rolling over to ignore the older girl. Jean frowned and prodded Mary once again. The two-tone's bare hand shot out in an effort to scare the girl away, but it only succeeded in make Jean retreat a few inches. She soon realized that Mary was sleeping in shorts and a t-shirt. Any other effort to jar her from her sleep could prove disastrous.
"I tried the easy way." Jean smirked as she raised Mary with her telekinesis. The younger girl didn't notice the smooth movement, and remained in her position. "Wake up!" Jean demanded louder as she dropped Mary on the floor.
"OW!" Mary yelped from the ground. "You… dropped… me." She said in disbelief. "Why?" She demanded.
"Cause you've got about 45 minutes to get ready." Jean pointed to the clock.
Mary glared, and crossed her arm before turning to her dresser and pulling out the day's outfit. "Jerk." She muttered going past, causing Jean to roll her eyes.
"Yeah, just like her sister." The redhead thought to herself as she followed Mary out of the room and returned to the kitchen.
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Mary entered the kitchen yawning, and earning a glance from Tabitha. "If you're gonna break curfew, be prepared for the consequences." The blonde whispered in Mary's ear, as she brushed past. Mary blinked and stifled another yawn, determined to ignore Tabitha's sarcastic remark this early.
She didn't know how she was going to make it through school; she was exhausted. The trip there would probably be enough to put her back to sleep. Damn her tendency towards exhaustion. She grabbed someone's Poptart from the toaster and leaned against the doorframe, not wanting to be touched at the crowded table. She spied Xavier wheel in from another door and she smiled warmly at him. She was fond of the older man, he reminded her of the father she had always wanted. He returned the smile and made his way over to Ororo, who was busy keeping order at the table. The two talked for a moment and occasionally looked to Mary during their discussion.
Mary perked a brow. "What's going on?" She thought nervously as she shifted her feet. The two-tone was known to get paranoid at times, especially when she saw that people were talking about her and didn't include her in the conversation. When they finished, the two looked to Mary again and smiled. Professor Xavier looked as if he was hiding something, and Ororo looked so happy that she might have run over and given Mary a hug if the students weren't there.
Mary narrowed her eyes and nodded in response to their stares. She exited the kitchen and was making her way to the garage when a doorbell was heard over the commotion in the kitchen. She debated getting it; it wasn't like she was expecting anyone or anything. Someone else could get it. No one made a leave for the kitchen, and Mary paused. "Mary, would you mind getting the door since we're preoccupied in here?" Xavier asked telepathically, causing Mary to shudder again. She hated that feeling. She did notice something different though this time, there seemed to be cheer in his thoughts.
Shrugging it off, she made her way over to the door and opened it partially. "Welcome to Xavier Institute… can I help…" She paused, not believing what she saw. Mary opened and closed her mouth in shock, and wasn't able to regain her senses until she was tackled and nearly dragged to the ground.
"MARY!" Amy Forest screamed as she flung herself on her best friend. If not for Mary's Danger Room sessions that trained her to steel herself for an attack, they would have both gone to the ground.
"Amy!" Mary exclaimed after a moment, returning the hug strongly. She felt a wave of comfort wash over. It had been a long time since she had seen her best friend, and upon contact, memories of home flooded her senses. Contact. Mary pulled away suddenly, afraid of the danger.
"What is it?" Amy questioned, noticing the swift gesture.
"Just… I'm not used to touch…" Mary didn't feel like explaining right now. Instead, she overcame her instincts and made sure she was fully covered before embracing her friend once again. "I've missed you." She whispered into her friend's dark hair.
"I've missed you too, baby." Amy whispered back, squeezing her friend again. She opened her eyes and through a few tears of happiness saw blurry figures. Pulling back, she wiped her eyes and stared at the group that had crowded in the doorway. "Umm…" She greeted, tucking her long hair behind her ears.
"Ms. Forest, I'm glad your plane arrived safely." Charles Xavier greeted, parting the sea of students. Mary spun around, giving Xavier and Amy a paranoid stare.
"Me too, Mr. Xavier. Thank you so sooo much for inviting me up here." Amy said gratefully. She looked to Mary and realized her friend knew nothing. "I called up here once, and he answered the phone. We chatted a bit and he offered to come up here and visit for a few days. He just said I had to get the Ok from my parents. So… here I am! Happy to see me?" She summarized quickly, not wanting to get into boring details of being heckled at school for coming to visit.
"Definitely happy, but why didn't you tell me?" Mary replied, glancing at Xavier again.
"I thought it would be a pleasant surprise." Charles explained with a wry smile. Mary didn't know what to say, she was happy. Too happy for words. "I suppose you would like to take the day to show Ms. Forest around? It should be a day for you two to catch up." He offered, plainly stating she didn't have to attend school.
"What? Just cause her friend shows up she gets to skip school? Not fair! If I had known that I woulda called tons of people up here!" Bobby complained.
"Yeah, but would they have wanted to visit?" Ray laughed, dodging a snowball from his friend. After a small introduction, the children rushed to grab their things, and headed for the door.
"See y'all!" Mary waved goodbye as they trudged out the door. Only Rogue hung back momentarily.
"It's nice seeing yah again, Amy." She said coolly.
"You too…Marie? Wasn't it?" Amy inquired. Rogue grimaced at the name.
"Yeah… call me Rogue though… Ah'm not really fond of Marie." She corrected, glancing at the clock and hoping her ride hadn't left yet. Amy nodded with a grin, and Rogue headed for the door. "Ah'll see yah later, Mary. Don't be gettin' intah any trouble." She warned playfully as she grabbed her coat and exited.
"Dude, they certainly crack down hard on you up here don't they?" Amy snorted as the room fell silent.
"It's her job, I guess you could say." Mary shrugged.
"Job?" Amy inquired. Mary stared at her pointedly, and gasped when she realized Amy knew nothing of her family. Mary didn't want to tell her over the phone, but instead wanted to explain it in person. She had kept putting if off in the conversations she had with her friend and had totally forgotten about it.
"Amy…we need to talk." Mary sighed, slinging her arm onto the other girl's shoulder and steering her towards the room she shared with Tabitha.
"O…k…" Amy replied, wondering what was about to be revealed to her. Finding out her best friend was a mutant, and being flown up here to see her was enough excitement for one lifetime. What Mary was about to tell her would shock her even further, if it were possible.
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Pietro's cold eyes scanned the parking lot, searching for Mary. He saw both cars full of X-Men pull into spaces and the children file out, but no Mary. "What the hell?" He raged. Where was she? Today was the day he was going to initial the final stage of his plan. She wasn't here. WHY WASN'T SHE HERE? His thoughts raced as he saw them file into the building. Cursing to himself, he sped back to his locker and threw Mary's jacket into it and then slammed the door. He was just going to have to wait until he could catch Rogue and Mary later. His plan wouldn't succeed without them both present. "Dammit." He muttered to himself before speeding off to Bayville. He had no reason to be at school today. His plan had been delayed, and he didn't care anymore to attend classes today.