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the school entrance hall8 [Exported view]
[RSS] 2013-09-14 18:42:24
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Penelope was in the head of the group, hoping the door she was staring at would be unlocked. This place sure looked an awful lot like some sort of psych ward or institution...
.but she didn't question it for now. She expected it full of staff and people to assist and welcome her return. After she opened the doors, she found it barren, cold and riddled with cobwebs. Penelope was frozen in the doorway for a moment, perplexed at the situation they were in. "What..." she muttered under her breath, not really able to make sense of this.
"What... is going on?" Eliza said from the crowd waiting to go in, seeing the cold rooms beyond. She tried not to panic. Spider webs. How long did they take? No one lived here after all. A couple of months? Could it have been that long?
They'd been gone more than a week that was for sure. As the twins arrived with Waya in their arms she spoke to the empty hall. "Computer, lights, set climate control to seventy five. Decrease to seventy once goal is reached." She shivered in Jayden's arms, cold from having been in the snow in the stupid little outfit Mojo had made the girls wear. The lights flickered before engaging and a moment later the scent of the furnace dialing up could be smelled in the hall. "We've been gone the equivalent of two weeks at least." She said. "After a week of inactivity the systems are set to go dormant... There are spare clothes in the upstairs hall closets... the kitchen's to your left and down the hall... For now..." She looked to Jayden. "You mind taking me to my room so I can sleep?"
"You sure Waya? Maybe we should take you down to Holo-Hank....to be sure." Jaden suggested.
Penelope saw a phone on the wall and ran to it. Lifting it off of the jack, she began dialing, eager to speak with her Mother for the first time in months. She stood there impatiently as the phone rang. When someone on the other end picked up, she exclaimed, "Mum?!" Then paused, "Oh- Jeeves! It's me! I'm back!" she exclaimed happily. "I'm at.... uhh..." she took her head off of the phone and asked anyone listening, "Where is this?"
Jayden came in just in time to hear Penelope's question. "Weschester, New York. The Xavier School." He was still carrying Maribel and moved directly for the elevator.
"I'm fine." Waya told the twins. "I just need to sleep... and maybe a shower..."
Veronica couldn't help but let out a whistle when she came back inside. "Oh...it's so nice to be home."
"Looks a little dusty though." Rhydian noted with a shrug as he looked around at the mess of webs and inch thick dust. "How long have we been gone?"
"Two weeks and four days." George said automatically with his strange mechanical voice, walking through the entrance hall "I must take the head downstairs." These words did not sound strange to him at all.
"Really?" asked Pen, then spoke into the phone, "I'm at the X-men School in New York. Yeah. Yes... no no, I'm fine. Tell her to call me when she can. Right. Just bring it all. Okay... Bye." She hung up and jumped in place a bit with excitement to see her family again.
The twins nodded, "Alright. Let's get going then." and headed up the stairs. To be honest, they were a bit surprised that Rhydian hadn't insisted on taking her from here.
Probably because he didn't notice them leave with everyone entering the hall like they were. Waya was quiet as they carried her to waya's room
Rhydian clapped Veronica on the back, "Well, since you're back...Might as well get right back into the swing of things." He grinned and the broom closet swung open, the brooms, feather dusters, and other cleaning materials waltzed out as though they were in a Disney movie.
"Looks like you've got it under control, sweetie." Veronica replied, but she knew where he was going with it. She split off into her eight forms. "Why do I always get stuck with house cleaning, when you can make the brooms sweep themselves." The eight of them grabbed a variety of dusters and brooms.
The twins came down not long after dropping off Waya in her room. "So- we were thinking about ordering pizza... not really in the mood to cook right now if that is cool with you guys."
Veronica pouted and looked at the twins sadly. "We've been deprived of your cooking all this time, and you two lovelies won't make us a little something?"
The twins sucked in their lips at that cute face. Then they looked at one another, unable to fight it. "What did you have in mind, Tulip?"
Eliza carefully took a broom as well. She was silent as she began to sweep up, looking a little worried as she began to attack the cobwebs up in the high corner by stretching her arm. He just let them work, remaining quiet.
Jeremy sniffed slightly, then groaned and held his nose "I've... I'll be right back..." He really needed the nose seen to. He thought he could live with it, let it heal, but he really needed some pills from downstairs.
The Veronicas smiled and one said, "The pizza's fine, but maybe one of your special desserts?" She walked over to them and batted her eyelashes. "Anything you make would be wonderful."
The cleaning tools that weren't taken by anyone, Rhydian made start cleaning the further parts of the hall. It was so much like a Disney movie that he could help but grin.
"Sure..." the boys smiled and blushed a bit. It was weird having someone flirty in the school that wasn't them.
Veronica smiled, then raised her broom. "Well, back to work then. Now that that's settled." She couldn't wait to eat soemthing they made....it'd been so long, they were pretty decent chefs when she'd been taken, surely they'd only gotten better.
The elevator opened and Junior came out carrying Maribel. Her arm was braced and she could walk on her own but he was still carrying her. He was looking for the twins to have them shut off their hypnosis.
"There they are." Maribel 'said' using a little speaker on her belt.
"Hey guys." Junior said, carrying Maribel towards Veronica and the twins. "Mari want's you to undo your voodoo. She's alright now."
"Voodoo? How insulting." Jaden said and snapped his fingers.
Mari grew pained and grabbed her arm with a wince.
Junior ignored him. "Are you ok?" He asked her, seeing her grab her arm. "This is why I asked if you wanted something for the pain. I bet there's something in the kitchen."
"Oh," Eliza said, looking around and blinking at Maribel as the girl suddenly spoke "You're using one of our modulators? How are you finding it?"
"It's difficult." Maribel confessed, motioning her hands as if she were intending on signing just from instinct. "It is hard to get used to."
"yeah, I had to use one once." Eliza said with a sigh "It takes a day or two to get used to..."
"It's at least good until I can have use of my other arm." Maribel said, not intending to rely on this device.
"I wish we could download a little French accent into if for you." Junior said smiling. "That'd be adorable."
Maribel looked at him and said "Vous souhaitez que feriez-vous pas? Hm....yes... the accent on this machine is awful."
There came a low musical whistle while Rhydian moved along the hallway, directing the brooms and dusters. The tune was a catchy old tune from a Disney movie, 'Whistle While You Work.'
Eliza nodded "We'll get along to it, though I have a feeling people will be quite busy for a while." She sighed, then looked around as she cleaned "How's George doing with Kale?"
Penelope didn't look happy to help sweep, "I'm.... not doing that." she said, a hand on her hip.
SEVERAL HOURS LATER</hr>
The rest of the evening was quiet. They cleaned up a bit and made small chat while waiting for the pizza to arrive. The deadly dancers were a bit more somber as they mourned the loss of their teammate and leader, Yalala. After dinner came and the kids all ate, they dispersed into rooms for the time being and would sort out clothing and proper paperwork in the morning. The dancers could stay... or go on their way back home.
Before any of that could be done, nearing 8am, the students were greeted extremely loud and continuous FWAP FWAP FWAP sound from outside. As the sound grew louder from the rooftop, many would recognize it as some sort of helicopter that was landing in the school garden.
Eliza was the first there, because she hadn't gone to her room. She'd had work to do, and as the alarms had gone off, she'd decided this was something she could not get out of. The others... she didn't know if they had alarms or not, certainly downstairs had a series of warning systems set up. She stood in the entrance hall for a bit, looking around, waiting for someone to arrive. She didn't want to face whoever it was alone.
The twins hurried into the entrance hall from the kitchen. they were both wearing aprons with bits of flour and pancake mix on it. "What is that?!" one of them shouted at Eliza over the roar of the copter. "Is it SHIELD?!" asked the other as they headed to the door.
"SHIELD doesn't usually go around with British flags painted on the side of their helicopters." Eliza pointed out with a little frown "Just... be on your guard, alright?" She rubbed her arms, looking around "Should we wait for others?"
The twins went to the window where Eliza was and peered out, "Holy crap.. that thing is huge!"
"It had better fuckin' not be SHIELD." Waya growled at the top of the stairs. She'd been asleep since the twins had put her to bed after they'd all arrived. She was wearing a baggy WHO t-shirt and presumably shorts underneath because her legs and feet were bare. She did not look happy at all about being woken up and her hair was a mess. She looked exhausted still, but at least she could walk apparently, though she was leaning on the banister. Her room was sound proof, but helicopter proof.
"Nope." Eliza said with a sigh before looking around "You should still be in bed. Let me do all the talking, you deserve a rest." Eliza didn't really want to, but it should be said. And honestly, Waya did deserve a rest.
"If it's another bad guy tell them we're not home." Junior said at the rec room door. Maribelle had been asleep on one of the couches while he played video games.
Woken up by the sound of the copter, Maribel was behind him, her arm still in a sling. She really hoped this wasn't another attack. Even in her short time at the school it would come to no surprise.
Sprinting from the hallway, Penelope leapt down onto the stairs. It was a bit surprising that she didn't fall in doing this. Narrowly missing knocking Waya over, she passed her and the group, heading for the door. The twins called for her to wait, thinking the girl was about to attack whoever was outside. Penelope didn't listen and sprinted out the door into the school garden
Eliza liked to think herself fast on the draw, and she snapped her fingers the moment Penelope left. "Her parents." she explained before turning around at once and sprinting after Penelope. She'd made the call after all.
Waya saw herself getting knocked over and over corrected a little too quickly. She dropped by the stairs. She was still exhausted, but held onto the banister as she went down the stairs. "Who's fucking parents have a fucking helicopter?" She asked, climbing down the stairs like an old woman.
"Phinagin's might." said the voicebox that had been installed on Maribel's hip.
Waya looked at her, pausing on the stairs. Her eyes traveled to the box. "That's new..." She said and felt the urge to sit down. "Junior... you mind giving me a hand?"
Junior looked up at her and saw the way she was hanging onto the railing. He knew it was hard for Waya to ask for anything other than a pencil so he went to her. He slipped his head under her left arm. "I got you." He said. "Just lean on me." He'd once been madly in love with her, but there was nothing but friendly concern as he helped her down the stairs. There was a bench by the wall and he took her to it so she could sit down.
"That's not one of my parents' helicopter." Phinagin said as he entered the room, "They don't have any dual-propeller ones. Saw it before I came down, it's British."
Strawberry wasn't far behind Penelope, but she did better at avoiding everyone. She didnt know what was going on, but she wasn't going to let her teammate go at it alone.
Rhydian came up from the lower levels with Veronica at his side. "What's with all the commotion?"
"Any off switch for the klaxons?" Veronica asked, wincing at the blare of the alarms.
"Computer, code 114." Waya said and the klaxon's disengaged. She felt foolish for having not thought to do that earlier. "Apparently the pink one's parents are here... The fuck was her name again?" She was still obviously tired. Another six hours of sleep would have done her well.
"Penelope." Jayden said, still looking out the window. "And apparently her parents are loaded...."
"Good riddance any way..." Waya said. "She's nothing but trouble."
"You're only mad she cut your legs off." Junior told her.
"Oh you think?" Waya asked sarcastically.
"And she apologized for that if I'm not mistaken. She's actually pretty cool." Jaden said, "Over pizza last night she was telling us that she put an album out last September and is pretty big over in Europe. Or was... she isn't sure how things will play out after she went on hiatus while in Mojo's world."
"Yeah and you sing too." remarked Jayden. "You two have a lot more in common than you think."
Eliza stepped inside, a smile on her lips as she brought Isabelle in with her. "Everyone," she said with a smile and a nod to the crowd inside "This is Penelope's mother, Isabelle Carrington."
The arrival was elegant looking and tall. She had sleek, black hair that was tied back into a flawless bun. At the moment, she was wearing a fur coat and tall, black boots. Her most remarkable feature was that her eyes were blind and in a dead stare forward. Despite this however, she was well aware that no one in the room was over the age of 21. Dismissing that with a smile, she bowed and said, "Hello everyone... I hope we didn't wake you."
Junior immediately perked up at the sound of Isabelle's name. He stood away from the wall and saw the same woman his father had kept a picture of by his bed. "Miss Carrington?" He asked, moving forward, not often shy, but feeling very young all of a sudden. "I... I think you knew by father, Will Relman... Or William... he kinda dropped the iam when he chilled out a little."
Penelope followed into the entrance hall shortly after and was a bit surprised to see just about everyone in the entrance hall. She hadn't paid attention when she sprinted out earlier.
Isabelle's ears tensed at that name, having not heard it in ages. She faced the lad and said, "William Relman? Why yes...we were good friends growing up. I used to attend this school when I was a teenager believe it or not. I was unaware that he had a son." she smiled sweetly and added, "I'm very pleased to meet you, dear." she said and offered her hand to shake, hoping he would tell her his name.
"Clone actually." Junior told her, shaking her hand. "Dad never had any biological children. I was grown in Genocia from DNA material from him and Aunt Lyra and Uncle Jayn." He turned to the twins. "They're Uncle Jayn and Aunt Kari's, Jayden and Jaden." And he pointed to Eliza. "And that Eliza, or Liz. She's Aunt Lyra and Uncle Tom's daughter. Um..." he looked around. "Oh and she's not related but that Waya, her mom and dad were he Smith's. That's all as far as people you might know I think..." He looked around. Phin, Berry and Jeremy were new, Veronica and Rhydian came here later and he didn't think he'd missed anyone.
"And... this is Maribel." Eliza said, indicating the mute girl. Well, the once mute girl, she had the device that helped her speak now. "Veronica..." she motioned to her "And Rhydian." She nodded to him, that was everyone here.
Isabelle looked a bit shocked to hear that Junior was a clone of all things. She hadn't had much experience in the matter herself despite her line of work. "Oh my... it's so nice to meet you all. It's wonderful to hear that my childhood friends at school had such wonderful children. Thank you so much for helping my daughter." It was indeed wonderful to meet all of these young people who had helped her daughter escape Mojo, but it saddened her that there was no staff here to instruct them. "I'm ... so very sorry about what happened to your parents and the X-men. We still have people working on it in England in hopes to find some sort of answer."
Waya who some days thought she was the only person who still cared, stood and came away from the wall. She leaned on the banister a little. "Like what?" She asked, wondering why the hell anyone in the UK would give a damn about the X-Men.
"I... don't think I should disclose any of that information." Ms. Carrington said honestly, "But trust me, the program is well funded and has made headway in trying to get your parents back."
Waya frowned. "Bullshit." She said. "They're our fucking parents, lady. I don't give a shit if you are Captain Britain, if you know anything you fucking tell us." She was in no physical condition to back up any threats, but she was sick of everyone treating them like they were kids. SHIELD, SWORD and now the British government? It was bullshit.
Isabelle looked shocked, not expecting such language only when they first met.
"OI! Step off Waya!" Penelope said, standing in front of her Mother now. She was being just plain rude. "What's your problem?!"
"Captain Britain?" the twins mimicked, looking at Penelope's Mom. After a long look... they both realized it as well. "Woah..no way."
"The same problem as the rest of us, Pinky." Rhydian snapped, jumping to Waya's defense. "Her parents are missing, nitwit. Along with the Twins', Eliza's, and Junior's as well. If your mother has any information at all, then she should tell us. It's that simple, and if you're intending to get in the way..." It wasn't just their parents that were missing, it was the rest of the X-men as well, the only family he'd ever known.
Stepping up beside him, Veronica had a wide grin on her face, "Then I'll be more than happy to beat you out of the way, Pen." She flexed her arm for emphasis. She'd not lost anyone when the X-men were taken, but she'd spent enough time here to grow attached to everyone.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Junior snapped, stepping between everyone. "Can we all just hold on a sec? Maybe Ms. Carrington can't talk about it. Maybe she doesn't even know any specifics. There's no point in arguing about it. Yeah I want my Dad back, but geez. Calm the hell down."
"Thanks Junior." Penelope said, upset at how her "friends" were acting. They were like a pack of wolves for crying out loud.
"I'm afraid he's right. I don't know specific details...but we have a team of technicians and scientists working on it. If you would like, I could request a report of their findings thus far." Capt. Britain offered, hoping that would satisfy them. She couldn't blame these kids for being upset with the loss of their parents, but she was still greatly offended by their actions.
"Oh, if it's not too much trouble..." Waya said with snarky sarcasm. A dozen different organizations had claimed to be working on finding the X-Men and every single one of them acted as if giving up the slightest bit of information was like donating bone marrow. She was tired of getting treated like a child because she was only seventeen. She was the youngest of them aside from Junior, but she was the most responsible... Bitchy, but responsible.
"Well you certainly are your mother's daughter.... and then some." Ms. Carrington said in reply.
To which, the twins chuckled a bit.
"Woah! Woah!" Eliza said suddenly, throwing her arms up in the air and acting rather dramatic for someone who was cool a moment ago "I think we're looking over the very important aspect right now!" She had a scowl on her face, and looked more than a little disgruntled "Is someone ripping off my design? Because my Hyper Sonic Cross-dimensional Chronodisplasia Matter Transporter is still patent pending and if this is why I couldn't get any GOD DAMN radiation shielding for six months then I'm going to be very cross." She was being ridiculous on purpose, trying to defuse the situation. She hoped it worked...
"What what what? No one is ripping anything off, I assure you. I... I don't even know what you are talking about." Ms. Carrington said, trying to smile. "As I said, I'll get you as detailed of a report as I can." she said. "I have no knowledge of recent progress on their project, but I am one of the primarily funders of the research. The X-men are just as important to the people of Europe as they are here. The acceptance of mutants has been stagnant since they left. It's important we get them back not only for progress, but for you all."
Eliza sighed, smiling and lowering her hands "Thank you. Really. Would you... like to have a look at what I've got?" She half shrugged, motioning towards the stairs and looking around to the others "If it can help I mean. I dunno, you've probably made more progress than I have right now."
"What exactly do you have?" Isabelle asked, not realizing she was basically a kid genius.
"I have been attempting to isolate the specific spectrum of energy necessary to rend realities and transport physical matter from one plane to the other. Honestly, creating the energy isn't the difficult part, but storing enough of it for it to be useful, and keeping it all within some kind of safe zone where it won't fluctuate wildly and form some kind of miniature black hole to another realm is the difficulty." Eliza said, eyes going blank as she divulged into techno-babble "At the current time, because I have not been able to keep it under constant surveillance, I've got a mess and machinery. If I had it at peek performance, I believe I have a way of producing the correct spectrum of energy at just the right quantity so that it decays outside of a limited area."
"A stargate." Waya groused, sitting down on the stairs. "She's building a stargate."
"It sounds more like a quantum mirror, than a stargate." Rhydian pointed out, correcting Waya ever so slightly. She had the right show, just the wrong device. Though the mirror was easy to forget, having only actually appeared the two times.
"And like they fucking know what that means..." Waya growled at him. At least the movie from the 90's gave some form of popular reference. More so than Liz' techno speak."
"So... does anyone want pancakes?" asked Jaden and his brother, Jayden. They were still wearing aprons. "We can heat up some tea."
"Pancakes sound wonderful guys." Veronica said with a smile to the two of them. "Want a couple of extra hands?"
Rhydian shrugged and smirked to her. He'd have to be sure to ask her what other shows from back then she was into...It wasn't very often he'd come across someone who had similar tastes.
"Sure!" the twins chirped like sparrows, glad to have company in the kitchen. Especially from a pretty girl like Veronica. They looked to Isabelle, wondering if she would like any.
"That would be lovely. Thank you very much. It's been an awfully long flight." Ms. Carrington said, smiling at the offspring of dear Kari and Jayn. It was remarkable that they all came to stay at the x-school. She "looked" at Eliza and said, "Perhaps after pancakes, I can see your... machine?"
Veronica smiled and placed a hand upon her hip. "How many extra do you want?" She asked as she walked to the two of them. She'd have to talk with Rhydian again... She hated monopolizing his time, especially that early in the morning, but it was the only opportunity she'd gotten so far.
"Probably just you... but some more could make things interesting." Jayden said, giving her a flirty wink. They were their father's sons...that's for sure.
Annoyed, Waya got up from the stairs and started back up them. More sleep would do her good and if she were lucky Penelope would be gone when she woke up.
Veronica's cheeks tinted darkly and she looked away from their sight. A slight panic rose up in her chest and she gasped a little while she turned away. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she looked over her shoulder at them. "Just name the amount J."
"Alright," Eliza said with a nod "I should... go sort things out..." she was making her way back down towards the stairs again, if someone didn't stop her she'd likely just vanish down there until they went to find her.
"Hey-" said Maribel's robot speaker, "Want to stay up here a bit and...as you Americans say...'hang out?'"
"I'm not American." Eliza responded at once, since both her parents were Welsh, she had never really considered herself American. Even her accent had British tints to it. Still, she wriggled back and forth, chewing her lip and pausing before she descended. "I... I really should... work on the machine..." she said weakly.
Maribel frowned when she turned away and went to the stairs. "There was just no helping you, is there?" she said accidentally as per her expression, "I meant! Let's go play video games." she siad and hooked her arm with Eliza's.
Eliza just kinda stood there, looking embarrassed as Maribel took her arm. She mumbled something under her breath, barely words really, but didn't resist Maribel's hold.
Junior saw Waya leaving and leaned over to Rhydian. "She almost fell down the stairs earlier, dude." He knew how Rhydian felt about her. He'd felt the same a while ago and it had caused friction between them. He didn't want her any more, but he didn't want her getting hurt going back to her room.
Rhydian nodded his thanks and grasped Junior's shoulder softly as he hurried up after Waya. "Hey, gimme your arm." He told her softly as he came up to her side.
"I'm fine." Waya grumbled at him as she headed up the stairs to Waya's Room
Rhydian followed after her, regardless of her grumble. If anyone were to ask, he'd simply say he was going to his own room.
The twins and Veronica left into the school kitchen which left Maribel, Penelope, Eliza, Junior and Ms. Carrington in the entrance hall.
"Well....seeing as though we have to wait for breakfast.. would you like to show me the machine you've made now?" Ms. Carrington suggested.
"Well... ummmm..." Eliza looked around at Maribel, as if checking with her if it was alright, for some reason. She supposed because Maribel was the one who had stopped her going down below "That might be an idea, yes."
Maribel smiled weakly and released Eliza's arm. "Okay... we can go look." said her voicebox.
Eliza gave her a little smile and nodded "Do you want to come with? Or will it just be myself and Mrs Carrington?"
"Oui, I could come too." Maribel said with a nod. This left Penelope and Junior to decide where to go.
"Up to you." Junior told Mari.
"Come on then." Eliza said, holding her arm and making her way down to Eliza's Lab, making sure Isabelle was following.
"I'm gonna go bug the twins." Junior said. No offense to Eliza, but he didn't care much about techno stuff. If she was building a... thing to help find their parents, that's all he needed to know. He resited the urge to kiss the top of Mari's head and went to the kitchen.
Some time later Junior stormed out of the kitchen, not bothering to use the door.
As Junior stormed out of the kitchen, he nearly ran into Penelope who was going to check on the pancakes. "Oh hey- sorry. Is breakfast done?"
Junior with his current momentum, phased right through her. He had no intention of stopping.
Penelope jumped when he just stormed through her. That was terrifying. She wasn't all too clear who and what powers in this school just yet. "O-oy!" she turned around, "What's all this then?"
"This is me storming out of the kitchen." Junior said, already half way up the stairs.
"Something happen?" Penelope asked, sounding a bit concerned.
Junior turned on the stairs. "What the fuck do you care?"
"I-I just-" Penelope stuttered insecurely, then snapped out of it. "Why wouldn't I care? I've just been trying to make some friends around here since we got back but everyone is so angry all the time."
Junior sighed. He sat down on the stairs and ran his fingers through his hair.
Penelope seized that moment and came to the stairs. She walked up a few, but stopped several short of Junior's. She leaned on the rail and asked, "What's up? You helped bust me out of Mojo's. Even if you don't think us friends, I think I still have good reason to be concerned about you. Even if it's teenage drama..."
"It's... personal." Junior said. "I get what you're trying to do but it's not something I really want to talk about..."
"And that's fine." Penelope said, "But if I can ask... and I hope this doesn't come off as rude, but- is it always like this around here?" She had been thinking about staying, but nothing had really convinced her yet.
"No..." Junior said. "Just... a lot of stuff has happened recently. Everyone's a little raw after this last one..."
"How long have you been here?" Penelope asked, hoping this didn't sound like an interview.
"I was raised here." Junior told her. "I left for Cali for about a year but I came back about a year ago..."
"California? Wow... why did you come back? If I may..." Penelope asked. "The weather is probably better out that way."
"My girlfriend cheated on me with one of my team mates." Junior told her.
"Blimey...I'm sorry Junior. That's rough." Penelope said with a frown, wrapping her arms around her torso. She kept her hip on the rail, using it for support. "Been down that road myself. My first boyfriend cheated on me with some bollywood skank when I was fifteen. Did you let her have it? Well.. or him?"
"No." Junior said. "That's... that's not my style. I just came back home..."
"Wish I had that sort of reserve." Penelope said with a slight smirk. "But anyway- I thought maybe you would have come back because this is a good place." She gave a slight shrug, "I haven't really decided if I want to stay or not. Jayden and Jaden spoke fondly of it, but that's about it."
"I thought you were going back with your mom?" Junior asked.
"I've not decided. If I go back... word will spread and I'll be expected to perform again. Interviews, talk shows, promo shoots and I just sort of...want to lay low for a while. Take it easy. I don't think I can deal with the fandom right now. Even if they are Earthlings." Penelope explained.
"We've never had a habit of turning people away." Junior said. "But... Waya... she's sort of the team captain... she..."
"She doesn't seem to like anyone, does she?" Penelope asked, sounding still a bit sour for how she treated her mother earlier. Who the hell made her a team captain anyway? That sounds like an awful idea.
"She's had a rough time lately." Junior told her. "We lost our parents, her powers started growing a few months ago... Some bad stuff happened on Asteroid-M and Rex..." he trailed off. Penelope didn't need to know about that. "It's been rough." He said again. "and she... She's in there... the girl I grew up with... She just needs some time."
"I can understand and sympathize with that, but that doesn't mean it's 'okay' for her to go off and insult my Mom like that. She was only trying to help you guys out....which is-" Pen looked around briefly at the entrance hall. It was very underkept and bare, "...more than I can say for anyone else."
"It was the subject." Junior said. "She gets defensive about our parents and it does feel like no one but us are doing anything to get them back... Hell, the twins don't even think they're alive..."
Penelope frowned and sunk down against the rails until she was sitting on a step. "It probably doesn't mean much...and don't tell anyone, but when my Mum caught word that the X-men had vanished to another dimension, she really freaked out. She found out a good two weeks after they were gone and well...I've never seen her that upset before Mum really does care for the X-men...really. I mean she is still technically one of them and she does have a laboratory back home that is working on finding a solution. Mum told me that some of the best friends she has ever made were your parents. And I guess- I was just so upset when Waya said those things.... completely unjustified."
"She didn't know..." Junior said, defending her. He did still love her, but she was more like a sister. "She just... she'll never apologize but... she won't be so bad one of these days..." He ran his fingers through his hair, wanting to change the subject a little. "Did you know they dated?" He asked. "Your mom and my dad?"
"Oh yeah- what was all that about your Dad having a picture of my Mum or something? I didn't quite catch that." Penelope asked, leaning forward a little.
"He always said she was the one who got away." Junior said. "I never remembered him dating... well... Maybe one or two dates with a girl but they never went anywhere... I think he was always in love with her..."
"That's so heartbreaking... your Dad never found anyone else?" Penelope asked, suddenly concerned as to why her mother had never mentioned him before. At least, not to her immediate memory. She never did often talk about her time at the x-school.
"He seemed happy..." Junior said. "He always told me I was enough..."
Penelope smiled, "Well that's good at least. I don't have a Dad myself. Mum says he was really something though. I have his eyes. Wanna see?"
"Sure." Junior said, waiting.
"Come on then." Penelope said and got up. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him up and down the stairs. "It's in the helicopter." She didn't care if he wanted to see a picture or not- this would at least distract him from the argument he had earlier. "So you said you were a clone- what's up with that?" she asked as they headed out onto the school garden
About ten minutes later Junior opened the door from outside and came in with Penelope. His feet were freezing and he sat down on one of the hall benches and began rubbing his paw-like feet.
"Do you want to be there for when I talk to Mum?" Penelope asked, giving him the option.
"Yes." Junior said. "I think I deserve to be there. I've had a sister for eighteen years and I had no fucking clue."
Penelope was glad to hear him riled up about the situation too. "You think they are still downstairs?"
"I don't know." Junior said, massaging his other foot. "There's a com unit on the wall over there. You can call down."
Pen turned her head and saw the speaker. "Alright then." She went to it and pressed 'talk', "Oy! Mum! You down there?" she let go and waited. No reply. "Guess not."
"Check the kitchen then." Junior suggested.
A moment later, after Junior had followed pen into the kitchen, they emerged with her mother. "Mis Carignton..." Junior said carefully. "Who is Penelope's father?"
Isabelle sighed and shook her head, "That didn't take very long, did it?"
"Don't act so coy, Mum. Why didn't you tell me the truth?!" Penelope exclaimed. "I had no idea I could have met my Father!"
Junior was surprised she hadn't even tried to hide it.
"Don't you take that tone with me." Isabelle snapped, "Don't think you two have it all figured out. It's complicated."
"How?" Junior asked. "I... Ok, I get that she's not really my sister but come on Mis C... She could have known her father. I could have grown up with a sister..."
"Listen you two..." Isabelle began. "William and I decided to split up after senior year. We met up together a few years later and decided we should keep to ourselves. We live on opposite sides of the globe. He had his life and I had mine. It was mutual and he had you to raise. Only a few months later did I found out I was pregnant. I could afford having a daughter on my own so it seemed the most logical."
"That is not fucking fair Mum!" Pen cursed again. "Did you ever think I would have liked to meet my Father at least? If only for a bloody coffee or something."
"Dad would have wanted to know." Junior said. "He would have tried. We could have been... been like a family. Maybe not stay together but at least have visits, holidays... It's like you decided to cheat us out of half our lives. Not only me and Penelope, but Dad too. Dad would have loved the hell out of Penelope."
"I've thought about it... many times." Isabelle confessed, looking sad all of a sudden. "It's.... difficult and it got more difficult as time went on. Penelope grew older and-.. how could I of said something to him after 4 years? 8 years? 16?"
"Anything would have been better than telling her her dad was dead." Junior said.
"She didn't say that. She said that he just left her and me alone... and she had no idea where he was." Penelope said before her Mother could reply. "Like he was some deadbeat."
"My father was anything but a deadbeat..." Junior said, uncharacteristically angry.
"I know he's not. I'm sorry. I was young and made a bad choice... I don't expect you to understand." Isabelle said sadly.
"You're an adult." Junior said. "You have been for a while. You could have fixed this a long time ago, but you decided to hide like some kid... Penelope isn't going back with you. She's staying here with me... I think you should go."
Penelope watched Junior as he stood up to her like that. She had just been reunited with her Mother, but this... it was heartbreaking that she kept this from her for 18 years. Looking at her Mom, she nodded and said, "I love you Mum... but this ... is awful."
"I know you are both upset... I'm upset too. I made a mistake and... I'm so sorry to your both and to William especially. When they are brought back, I will promptly explain what happened."
"Just go." Junior told her. He took Penelope's hand without thinking.
Isabelle looked a bit hurt by those words. She waited and gave attention to her daughter, "But ...Darli-"
"Mum." Penelope said firmly. "I need some time to think about this. I want to stay here with my brother."
Junior tightened his hand on hers and waited for Isabelle to answer.
"But honey... you've just got back. I can't lose you again. Please... let's talk about this some more." Isabelle pleaded. Pen had never seen her mother act this way. So weak and ashamed. She was such a powerful, business woman type of character... it was clear she knew she had done wrong.
Junior stepped in front of Pen, letting go of her hand. "She asked you for some time." He said. "She loves you, you know she does... but she needs time to figure out how she feels about this. Don't mess things up more than you already have..."
Isabelle tried not to become angry at Junior as it was clear Penelope chose what she wanted. "Fine. I'll go." But there was more she wanted to say... to explain why she did what she did. It was wrong to have lied... but she only did it to protect WIlliam. Now it was all for none and she was hated. Bidding them adieu, she took her things and left the school, leaving her pancakes to grow cold in the other room.
She wasn't hated, just... misunderstood. Penelope and Junior both needed time to process this before they could forgive her for what she had done. He didn't even know the woman, but it was going to be hard to build a relationship with her as some sort of pseudo-stepmother after the lies she'd told Penelope. He watched Isabelle go, then turned to Penelope, hoping he had done what was right for his new sister. "Tell me I wasn't completely out of line just then." He said. "Tell me that's what you needed to happen..."
Penelope sighed and nodded, "Thank you...I can't believe she did this... I'm so sorry to involve you."
He shook his head. "I've been involved since the second Dad pulled me out of that tube in Genocia." Junior said. "She was pregnant with you by then and we were already a family..."
"My Mum really is a nice person... I just... never expected her to keep something like this from me for so long. Has your Dad ever done anything like that?" she asked.
Junior shook his head. "But I can see how a person can... get caught up in the lie. She probably just thought she'd tell you when you got older and... kept putting it off and putting it off waiting for the right moment. Then it just got away from her. I know you don't hate her. I've never had a mother, but I can't imagine hating my dad if something like this happened. She just... you both need some time to work through this. A few days, a week... more..."
"I would like to learn about you and my... Dad for a while first." Penelope said, "You know...I don't even feel right calling him that now. It's strange...."
<Hr>
"Will." Junior told her. "And I've got some albums in my room if you want to see them... You're welcome to them..."
"That would be great." Penelope said with a smile, "If you don't mind?"
Junior offered her his hand. She was welcome to anything he had at this point.
Penelope smiled and took his hand. Whoever said American's weren't polite? "You know it's a shame we are siblings... you're adorable."
His cheeks flushed white a little. "Please don't." Junior said. "I really don't want to reflect on how hot I thought you were earlier."
"Aw really?" Penelope asked, "It's a shame we found out we're related so soon." She paused, "Wait... that sounds a little messed up."
He frowned. "Well... not that I'm advocating anything, but... technically we're not exactly related." Junior said. "Part of my genetic make up was taken from your father. Technically Dad isn't even my Dad, I'm more like his half brother. Less actually since I was made from two other people."
"Oh? So... you're free game?" Penelope inquired flirtatiously.
"No..." Junior said, then added, "Don't tell anyone but... I fancy Maribel..."
"Maribel... she's the one with... uhm..." Penelope didn't want to outright say 'spider face' so she instead asked, "the quiet one, right?"
"Spider-Girl-" Junior said, then realize what he had said. He let go of her hand. "I think I've just discovered something mildly disturbing about myself..."
"Huh? Just now? What...?" Pen asked.
"When I was in Cali I joined the Young Avengers." Junior said. "Spider-Girl was the one I told you about..." And now he liked Maribel... he wondered if he had some sort of fetish for spiders...
"So you... got a thing for spiders?" Penelope asked as if reading his mind.
"Apparently..." Junior said, feeling a little odd about it.
"Well to each their own. So.. since we are on topic- who's single around here anyway?" Penelope asked.
"Uh..." Junior had thought they were going to his room to look at his albums, but apparently not yet. "Phinagin... Everyone calls him Fancy Pants cause his dad is some big rich industrialist. Jeremy, the green kid, but he's gay. The twins, but they're mostly into each other." And if he had it right they had eyes on Waya even after what had happened before. "Rhydian and if you like robots, George I suppose."
"Hmm.. interesting. Thanks for the tip. So- you were leading me to your room?" Penelope asked in a modestly lady-like tone and offered her hand again.
"We could take the stairs, the elevator, or my rout." Junior told her.
"You teleport?" she asked.
Junior smiled and pulled her toward the wall. "Not quite." He said and they phased into it and up, through the walls and ceiling as if they didn't exist at all.
It had been about a month since the incident in the Mojoverse. Veronica began readjusting to being back home and Kale was still little more than a head in a jar. Penelope and Junior were gradually learning more about one another and Waya avoided Penelope at all cost. Especially since Pen had learned who her father was. Rhydian was another person Waya had been avoiding. His confession had put her off her game and she was doing her best just to keep her distance. George had managed to give himself a slightly more articulated face, at least one that could smile any way. Junior and Maribel had begun to not exactly date, but hang out quite extensively with one another. Phinagin was as aloof as always and since Jeremy's incident with Spiral, no one really knew how to act around him. Waya wasn't confident enough in her telepathy to be of much good to him.
At the moment, most of the student body was in the Food Court, decorating for Waya's birthday this evening.
The knocking on the door persisted. Waya called, "Someone get that!" From the east wing storage closet. When the knocking paused and continued a few moments later she said, "Someone get the door!" The knocking continued and she grumbled. "Motherfuck..." Then shouted, "No never mind, I'm not doing anything. I'll get it!" She growled inaudibly and headed to the front door. Getting better with her non-animal constructs, she flicked her hand and the shadow of the coat rack opened the door.
Jeremy shuffled down from upstairs. He'd been coming down as he'd heard the knocking, but wasn't very quick on his feet. He rubbed his face, walking quickly towards the door as it was opened. "Hello?" he called out as he made his way towards it, rubbing his green elbows as he felt the draft of cold air.
A short, curious looking creature stood before them, his head twitching slightly to indicate he was inquisitively studying them both. He took a moment to study and then said, "Hellooo," back before he smiled with dark purple gums. By his legs were two rolling suitcases strapped with various duffle bags.
Waya signed when she saw his suitcases. She gleaned his mind for a second and flinched when she heard the chattering of dozens of voices. "Uh... You know this really isn't a school any more right?" She asked, coming to conclusions since he had luggage.
The corners of the boy's mouth dropped so fast it was almost comical. His head dramatically drooped as he asked, "It's not?"
"It's been closed a while..." Waya said. Surely this kid had found out. Everyone knew the X-Men were gone. It had been in all the papers last year. "Do you need someplace to stay?" They had too many people as it was, but... it had never been the policy of this place to turn people away.
"Well, I-" the boy looked towards the road where his parent's car was long gone. "What do you do here if it's not a school?"
"We're educated in other ways." Waya told him. She tried scanning his mind again and all she got was the same noisy commotion. "Do you need a place to stay?" She asked again.
"They probably do need a place to stay Waya," Jeremy said, looking at her in a litle bit of a puzzled way "Come on, why don't we get them inside and bring them something to drink while we have a talk?" He understood the idea of caution, but attackers didn't usually bring a change of clothes.
The boy turned his head towards Jeremy when he spoke then shrugged playfully at Waya. Even though this wasn't what he was expecting, he could at least test it out.
Waya frowned. She didn't like how he seemed reluctant to answer her question. She deferred to Jeremy's judgement and stepped out of the way of the door. "Come in." She said. "You got a name?"
"My name is Merril Himura," he said before he reached down to grab his luggage's handles. He leaned forward to overcome the weight and they rattled in making all sorts of racket.
Waya frowned at the sound. He certainly looked as if he were intending to stay. "I'm Waya Smith and this is Jeremy Marks." She took a double take as she saw a tiny hand print seem to appear on the surface of... no, beneath the surface of his pale cheek. Waya was white, but she couldn't hold a candle to the new kid. He was nearly transparent.
And Jeremy was green, so they were a veritable salad table of colour right here. "Well, it's nice to have you here Merril." Jeremy said with a little nod "Anything I can do for you? Would you like to pick a room upstairs?"
"Hold on just a sec." Waya told Jeremy. "Considering we've been kidnapped by Mojo and Liz' half brother tried to torture us to death recently, I don't think it's a particularly good idea to just give a room to the first mutant that comes to the door..."
"That's not very nice." Strawberry said as she came down the stairs, her long red hair trailing after her, "You took me and the girls in and we all tried to kill you. He'll, one of us cut you in half. Give the little cutie a chance."
"You're still here?" Waya grumbled. She had no idea why Berry was staying around. It wasn't as if she'd been one of them like Veronica or had found a half brother like Penelope had. Berry was just... here and it annoyed Waya that she didn't seem to have a purpose.
"Of course I'm still here. Where else would I be?" Strawberry asked.
"Exactly." Waya said. "Look just... shoo." She brushed her hand in Berry's direction. "This has nothing to do with you." She'd hardly been here a month. She hardly had any say in who did or did not 'enroll' here."
Strawberry rolled her eyes before starting out of the room. She looked back over her shoulder at the new boy, "Don't worry sweetie, I'll fight for ya." And with that she left and headed to the food court.
"Not very nice..." Jeremy said, frowning slightly and looking over at Waya "Come on... we can't say guilty until proven innocent Waya. Specially when you're accusing them of being guilty of something that you have no idea what it is."
"She was pretty..." Merril said in a partial daze. Obviously the other details of the conversation had eluded him.
"We gave Rex a chance too." Waya said. "And look what happened." Jeremy had been there when the twins had pestered her into confessing what Rex's little limbo had put her through. She wasn't exactly interested in anything like that happening again.
"And we gave George a chance." Jeremy countered, nodding his head towards her carefully "Remember?" He looked up at Merril and gave a little smile "We have no reason to think he's a threat."
"I'm only a little scary," Merril said and smiled wide. "Are we getting drinks now?"
"Yeah..." Waya told him. "Jeremy will take you to the kitchen. I'll go get the others. We'll put it to a vote." Everyone was in the food court so she headed that direction, unaware that they were planning a surprise party for her.
"She's a little grim, isn't she?" Merril said quietly to Jeremy out of the corner of his mouth.
"She has reason to be." Jeremy admitted with a little sigh adn shake of his head before smiling at Merril and reaching out. He looked over at Waya, then realized where she was going to. "Ah, Waya," he called out loudly "Where are the room keys kept? Could you show me? I mean, I've never shown someone around before."
Waya stopped. "Room keys are in the bedside table drawer of whichever room you choose. All the rooms are the same on the student wing."
"Should we talk to him about the..." Jeremy tapped his head slightly, indicating the brain implant they had "I mean... I'm not exactly the best person to talk to him about that." He cast a glance towards Merril, licking his lips nervously "Sorry about this, but I've never... I mean, I'm not exactly sure how to take people around."
Waya sighed. "Would you prefer to trade Jeremy?"
"Yes..." Jeremy said with a little squeak of a voice "Sorry I'm just... I don't know, you know?"
"Yeah yeah." Waya told him, coming back towards the door where they were standing. She hardly had any reason to be aggravated with Jeremy. Jeremy was one of the few people she actively liked any more. "Come on you." She said to Merril. "Leave your stuff here. We'll go get that drink and I'll break some stuff down for you. That does not mean you can stay yet." She warned him. "But we'll talk about it." She beckoned him to follow her to the school kitchen where the Twins were fixing dinner for her birthday.
Jeremy let out a hard breath and rubbed his cheeks before waiting for the two to leave towards the kitchen. Hopefully the twins could cover the making of food... He made his way towards the food court, wanting to check up on things.
"Alright," said Merril eagerly and he let go of his bags. He scampered up by Waya and gave Jeremy a little wave before happily being led away.
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