Title: Requiems of The Past
Disclaimer: I own nothing from X-Men Evolution. It's a great show, I'd suggest for everyone to at least watch one episode…
Warning: This story is an alternate universe to the one seen in the show, which occurs after episode fourteen; Growing Pains. It will contain angst, fluff, and violence.
Rating: I'm going to up the ante on this chapter because of language and violence. If you are offended by coarse language or don't like violence, than don't continue. You have been warned.
Author's Notes: You still need to ask permission to use these characters.
Dialogue Notes: Italics- Flashbacks, Bold- Thoughts, Bold/Italics- Telepathy, ""-Regular speech
Chapter Dedication: I'm dedicating this chapter to everyone that made a character for me. You know who you are!
Chapter 7: The Darkness Inside
Michael exits the jet last and asks, a hopeful smile on his face, "So who's up for a movie?" Magnus turns to Michael, Shante on his shoulder, "The shot to her back's getting worse. I'm taking her to the Med-Lab. Rain check?"
"Sure." Michael turns to Logan and Brad, "How about you guys?"
Brad answers smugly, "We're going to train some more in the Danger Room."
Michael's smile starts to fade, "Raine?"
Raine looks down at the ground, "I've got to heal my wounds and meditate for a while. Sorry."
Michael frowns fully and says, "Oh? Ok…I'm sure someone can spend some time with me." He walks past Magnus and Shante, "Unwell." Mike enters his room, the light from the afternoon sun casting shadows in his room. Without turning on the light he sits on his bed looking at the shadows, different yet familiar. The largest shadow is hanging over him, looking over his whole room. He lays down on his bed and says, "You look kinda' strange. You feeling ok?" He pauses, as if the shadow is supposed to respond, "Yeah I'm ok. Thanks for asking. I'm talking to you so I don't find out I'm alone. But as long as you're here I'm not alone."
The shadow becomes dimmer as vast clouds cover the sunlight. Mike shoots up and shouts, "No! Don't go!" His body falls limp to the bed a mixture of boredom and loneliness making the seconds drag on and on. He thinks, "Maybe I can play with Brian and Jamie. They seem to like me. Oh wait jean and Scott took them to the zoo. There's gotta be someone here!"
Michael stands and exits his room, trying to think of someone…anyone that's willing to spend sometime with him. He finally remembers, "Hey! I know! Where's Jane?" He screams in his thoughts, "Jane! Where are you!"
"I'm in the library." She politely answers back. Jane is one of the few people in this mansion that truly understanding of Michael's condition. He makes his way to the library and sees her sitting next to the window reading a collection of Edgar Allen Poe's greatest work.
The girl is attractive on first sight; having short chestnut brown hair, bright brown eyes that seem to looks past a person's outside straight at who the person really is, and a slightly muscular body frame, which is taller than Rogue's, but not as tall as Jean's.
Her personally style of dressing is very casual choosing most of the time to wear jeans and t-shirt or a sweater. The colors she dresses in are beginning to become a standard around the institute, being red of black.
Michael also knows of her mutation. She has a form of telepathy that he has never heard of before. Being a low-level telepath she can communicate via telepathy, but can't control people or take their memories. Her given mutation is the ability to "steal" memories from her targets. Upon stealing a memory from a target she integrates the memory into her brain, this allows her to acquire a vast amount of intelligence in just a short while. The effect is permanent and the target will have to relive to memory in order to remember it. A more useful aspect of her power is the ability to integrate muscle memory into her mind and quickly learn any fighting style while simultaneously taking the memory of it from her opponent. She can also make her opponent fell immense pain or pleasure by touching their head.
Michael sits in front of her, "Good morning, Jane. How are you feeling today? How's Brian?"
Jane closes the book she was reading and says, "Good morning Michael. Brian and I are fine. Thank you for asking. How are you doing today?"
Michael blinks a few times, "I'm ok…I guess."
The corners of her mouth drop into a small sympathetic frown, "What's the matter?"
Michael sighs, "Everyone had something to do after we got back. I just don't wanna' be alone."
Jane reaches out and takes his hand in hers, "Well, I've always got time for you. What's on you mind?"
Michael smiles at her touch, "Nothing…really…I'm fine."
Jane insists, "Please, Michael, just tell me what you're thinking?"
Michael begins to pull away from her like a beaten animal refusing the touch of another, "Really I'm fine. Give me my hand."
Jane takes her hand away from Michael and says, "It's ok. Calm down. Just talk."
Michael stands suddenly, knocking the chair over, "NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! I DON'T WANNA' TALK! GET AWAY FROM ME!" He turns and runs down the hallway, turning and looking around frantically as if he doesn't know where he is. Jane follows, using her mental powers to try to calm him down, but all her attempts seem to be scaring him further.
Michael trips over his own feet, his face smashing harshly with the hardwood flooring. He crawls into a corner and pulls his knees to his chest, rocking himself. Jane catches up and sees him rocking himself fearing the worst of his mental health. She suddenly becomes aware he is saying something. She steps closer and the words become clear. "I didn't mean to…I'm a good boy…it's so dark...I'm a good boy…I'm a good boy…"
Jane sends a mental message to the professor and Hank to meet her in the infirmary. She kneels next to Michael and he cringes and tries to bury himself into the wall to avoid her. She mental knocks him unconscious and carries his body to the infirmary. She lays him on an examination table and turns to see Charles and Hank enter the room. Hank says, "What happened?"
Jane says, "I was talking to him, and something triggered his regression into mental instability."
Hank stands near his head, stroking his hand over his head like a father would his son, "You poor boy. We must let him rest."
Charles says, "I'm going to find someway to help this child."
When the three left the infirmary, the same figure from the warehouse roof appears in the corner of the infirmary. She looks at Michael's unconscious form and says, "Poor boy indeed. We'll see how they feel when you show them your true self."
She places a hand on Michael's head and closes her eyes, concentrating on the horrors Michael has experienced. She finishes her work and leans down to Michael's ear, "You're no longer here for their amusement; rage against them. They wanna' put you back in the dark place…" She kisses Michael's forehead, "…don't let them."
The doors open and the woman vanishes from sight. Hank enters and sits next to him, "I can't leave you. You're so vulnerable." He strokes Michael's head gently, hoping that he wakes up ok. People with pasts like Michael often retreat into their selves, but Michael was different. HE had made friends, but soon the situation was discovered that he was terrified of being alone and the dark. He would suffer psychotic episodes if he were alone for too long. Hank pushes the hatred for the people that did this to him down, and concentrates on hoping that Michael's ok…