DISCLAIMER: I don't own X-Men: Evolution. OCs however, are owned by their respective owners.
***There is a POLL on my profile so go vote for your favorite character thus far! I'll add characters as the story progresses. ****
Okay, I'm desperate for your feedback so please review. This chapter is slightly positive so hold in there with the rest of The Institution team. There are several new characters introduced in this chapter too. This chapter won't make the last chapters seem so bad…considering all the violence…well, just read it to find out.
X-Men: Restoration
Chapter Fourteen: Ella Chance
She opened her eyes. She felt like life was being sucked out of her. She lifted her pale hands to her face and examined them. They were lifeless. She felt the heat of the lights on her as she gazed around at the experimenters. She had travelled through time.
"Did you warn them, Specimen 322? Did you tell them what we told you?" said one of the white lab coats. They murmured among themselves as she sat there, taking in the room. What had she done? She shook her head as she stared with her good eye around the room.
"It took us so long to get her to the stage of time manipulation. This is a great feat." She clawed at her electric collar as they held down her hands. She pursed her lips together in frustration as a tear ran down her face. Her other eye saw time as ever changing and she saw hope in the future for her and the others; she couldn't see the future per say but possibilities for it. Though, there were always unseen possibilities. She saw a sliver of time that was bright. It was only a small chance but that was all the X-Men needed. She smiled to herself. She had set up an opportunity for them to reign victorious.
"You will never win." She laughed as they dragged her back to her cell. She heard them scoff at her. She wanted them to think that she was crazy so they would take her lightly. Though, she was never someone to be taken lightly. They continued discussing their plans. The Institution was a mastermind. They made things look one way but then it has a different spin to it. That was their power. They could deceive and manipulate.
Specimen 322 gazed around as she saw everything; so much white, everywhere. White was a symbol of power to The Institution since when most mutations activated they glowed a color and it was easy to spot against white. They opened the glass cell to her door as she continued to laugh hysterically. As soon as their presence was gone, she stopped and lay down against the white laminate floor.
She gazed over across the way as Specimen 324 slept. His name was Zane. Her name was Ella but their numbers were called out more and more often that they began to forget their own identities. She saw a faint reflection of herself in the glass door to her cell. She grimaced as she had become ghostly. She looked at her eyes; one purple, the other gray. Her purple eye was normal but her grey eye was fixed on time. She could see windows, pockets of time everywhere yet she could do nothing about it. Her grey eye was given to her by The Institution and they monitored it constantly. She missed her purple eye. She covered up the ugly eye as she tried to sleep on the floor. She brought her knees to her chest as she tried to ignore the electric collar that was buzzing ever so softly.
The Institution was the ultimate power. She breathed in and out as she attempted to cope with herself. They had tricked millions of people to actually think that the Brotherhood mutants had attacked them. In actuality, it was Specimen 21 who did the deceiving by playing mind tricks with the entire world. The Institution increased his mutation by 300% and it eventually killed him. His name was Wesley. He made everyone think that the world was under attack by mutants, even the mutants believed the images. The other specimens moved forward this progress. She was a part of their plan. She had to stop it but she couldn't. They had increased the energy of her mutation too much to go back, now. She would soon die like all of the others. She was only supposed to stop time, for several moments. That was all she was capable of. Like Specimen 21 was only supposed to deceive people with his illusions for a limited amount of time. Time, there it was again.
She knew what The Institution was planning. They wanted to exterminate mutants by human power. To make the humans do it, to make the humans guilty for purging the world of mutants. The Institution said "A war started without human bloodshed" They repeated those words to each mutant in this containment every day. It wouldn't end so.
A woman walked down the hall as she gazed into each cell monitoring the mutants like animals. She saw Specimen 322 and laughed.
"Ahh, little 322. You are a favorite among the lab. All of our pretty little changes work on you. I'm so sorry for your loss, 21 wasn't strong enough. I'll leave you with that for today." 322 cried as she turned away from the evil woman. The woman tormented her every day. She couldn't contain her anger. She pounded against the laminate floors. Wesley was just a child. Wesley was just a child.
She felt the memories surging back through her mind as she screamed out in pain, the electric collar activated. The experimenters were worried that if she thought of the past then she would time jump to that memory. She forced them out of her mind as she thought about the future. The future is what soothed her mind the most. A future without The Institution. A future where she could think freely.
She saw 324 staring at her as she heard Rogue's cries and insults in the next cell. There were so many famous mutants in The Institution. The famous mutants were known by name since it was their only privilege over the others. Though, they had much more responsibility for the things that made The Institution tick. Rogue was called 'The Nurse'. She unwilling walked around to every disobedient mutant and stole their mutation. They made her touch them even though she didn't want to. She didn't have control over her own body because The Institution knew that Rogue would run or fight so they had to have power over her. She heard a scream coming from the experimentation room. She winced.
324 had control over everything electronic so his cell was designed like a regular jail cell. 324 was decorated with heavy shackles. He mouthed a few words as 322 tried to read his lips. She wasn't very good at these types of things. They never wanted to talk to each other directly because The Institution thought that was rebellion and you would get shocked until you were numb from the pain.
"Was it okay? " 324 mouthed three times before he got a response. 322 attempted to mouth back.
"Yes, I warned them but I think I might have put myself in danger." Unlike her, 324 picked up the response right away. 324 looked distraught as he stared at her in disbelief. But before they could finish their conversation, he came; who everyone called 'The Reaper'. He stood in front of 322's cell as he glared right into her eyes.
She couldn't breathe for a moment; she thought those eyes were searching her soul. She closed her eyes in an attempt to get away from him but when she opened them he was still there. She began to feel a headache as she stared back at him.
"322…Ella Chance, you do not fool me. I know what was said when you went back. It was not part of the manuscript. And you did not travel where you were supposed to go. Why do you play tricks like this with me? The Institution will make the X-Men fall." The glass doors slid open as he approached her. He lifted her up by the neck with his muscular hand as she grasped at it to get a breath. The electric collar shocked her continuously as he held her there.
She was frightened. She would die. She would die. She thought about Wesley as she began to feel numb to the shocking. She thought long and hard about her past memories as she thought about the ranch, her father and those beautiful mountains. Her body started to shake. She felt the life being sucked out of her.
He then dropped her body to the white floor. She breathed in and out as she looked up at him.
"Remember, Ella this feeling. Clinging on for dear life because if you mess up one more time then you will end up dead. You might be a valuable specimen to them, but to me you will always be the enemy." He said as he scoffed. He dusted off his white lab coat and went out of her cell. She grimaced as she grasped at her neck and felt the bruises. She coughed and then stood up.
"Reaper, the future is never set in stone. It can change within a blink of the eye. Watch your kingdom fall." She said as fainted from loss of breath. She trusted that the X-Men would save them.
She woke up to darkness. Was she dead? She laid there in silence as she thought about the past. She could think now free of will. Wesley. She closed her eyes as she cried only imagining what they did to her poor baby brother. He was only five yet he had convinced the entire world that the mutants were killers. He was gifted and The Institution made him do that. She reminisced farther back into her untapped memories as she came upon some memories she had kept close. She remembered Wesley just a child who played out in his cowboy boots as she rode on her horse, Freedom. She chuckled to herself since she would never have freedom now. He was such a sweet child who developed his gift early on. He made whimsical illusions like sunsets, animals, and toys; things that innocent child dream of. He once made a castle just for her and she was the princess of it. He of course, the prince. She cried silently as the memories came rushing back to her now and without the punishment of shock therapy…it was her sweet freedom.
She felt around her neck as there was no electric collar; she dropped a sigh of relief. She now knew she wasn't dead but where was she? Suddenly, she heard a voice in the darkness. She sat up and began to look around.
"You are alright?" a teenage voice said. She had no idea where the voice was coming from. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She saw that they were in a room…a hotel room?
"This must be a trick The Institution put up. Where are you? Can we get this experiment over with?" She sighed as she got up off the bed.
"You escaped with me." He said. She still couldn't see anyone in the room.
"There is no way that I escaped. The Institution is inescapable. Everyone knows that. The Institution is..."322 said as she paced around the room.
"There have been escapes before. It was with my help. I can only get in and out when The Reaper does his rounds but if he doesn't enter a cell, I can't help them escape. Or if he kills them before I can offer assistance." He said. She was still not convinced. This has to be set up by The Institution. The Institution has more than enough money to recreate a measly hotel room, let alone a whole street…she gazed out the blinds which were shut tightly. There were millions of apartments, shops and houses lined up and down the streets for miles around. No…she couldn't believe it. It was all an illusion.
"I've fallen for these games and tricks before. There is no way that this true." 322 said confidently as she paced around the room again as she listened carefully. She stopped; she heard a shuffle in the corner. She pounced and fell on something but she was nearly five inches from the floor. Suddenly, a guy appeared beneath her. She saw his face beneath her face. She widened her eyes. She quickly slid off of him as he caught his breath.
"Well, nothing has happened quite like that before." He said quietly. His voice had lost confidence from when she couldn't see him. He dusted off his leather jacket as he sat up. She slightly cocked her head to the side and examined him. He didn't seem like he would try to kill her. Though...
"You are…" 322 said as she pointed strangely to him. This was really twisted of The Institution but she might as well go along with it. She would soon be in her boring white cell again. She didn't have a collar anymore and that was great, though her neck was still bruised from the incident earlier. The Institution wanted to see a show so she will show them a show. She would make them pay for what they did to Wesley but she had to wait patiently for the right moment.
"Invisible…yes." He said abruptly as if he didn't want to talk anymore. There was an awkward silence as they glanced at each other. He looked terrified. She had just landed on top of him. She broke the silence.
"I'm Three Twenty…" she paused as she bit her lip. "I'm Ella."
"Nice to meet you. Ready, to go off the grid?" He said, quietly as she suddenly saw him turn invisible and felt a hand tugging on her. She then realized that this wasn't The Institution anymore. She was set free. Set free to do the right thing; to stop The Institution for all of those mutants who died. This was a war where mutant blood was shed and she would do everything to stop it.
Hey, did you like it? It is longer but I had to explain The Institution in detail plus I've had several reviewers asking me for it. I hope you guys like it. :) I love Ella not because she is my character but because she is fragile in her physical form yet her spirit is strong. Nest chapter is Richard's! YAY! then the Brotherhood.
Also I would love your ideas on a new summary for Restoration because frankly my summary is very bad. Any ideas help! :)