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Post by pandora on Jan 23, 2008 13:14:35 GMT -5
It was another boring day. Pandora was feeling idle, and she needed to entertain herself or else she would dwelling in horrible memories for the rest of the day. Fortunately, the X-mansion had HDTV. Francesca Rivera, the CEO of Rivera Entriprises, had donated it to the institute before she betrayed them. Pandora was glad that the X-men decided to keep the gift despite the fact that it was handed to them by traitor. She couldn't bare losing her Law & Order in high def.
Like usual, there was really nothing on TV. She ended up watching Walker, Texas Ranger. It was a cheesy show, but there absolutely nothing better on. As she watched, somebody got shot and died on the show. Blood squirted like ketchup. It was amazing how much death was on TV. It followed you everywhere, even on simple shows like Walker, Texas Ranger. Normal people had no idea what death was really like. They constantly wanted to see it in movies and TV, but they never really went through it themselves. Pandora sighed. At least the X-men understood. They too had lost friends since Jean, Scott, and Xavier had died.
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Post by flicker on Jan 24, 2008 20:23:58 GMT -5
After finishing up an after-school session with some of the older kids, Becca headed into the Rec Room, smock-free in a simple t-shirt over a thermal. She walked around the couch, eyes flitting from the TV to the girl watching. She dropped down onto the couch.
"This another one of those cop shows?" she presumed. There were so many now, she couldn't keep them straight.
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Post by pandora on Jan 27, 2008 10:41:35 GMT -5
She nodded. "Yeah. Walker, Texas Ranger." She didn't really feel like talking much right now. God. She couldn't even watch a TV show without feeling like everything was falling apart. Everything in her life now was overwhelming her. Her parents were dead. She was the sole cause of a worldwide pandemic. And now she had to figure out a way to save the world, and she just didn't think she knew how. She was just a regular girl from Indiana, and now she didn't know who or what she was anymore.
She knew that thinking that way wasn't going to make things better. The whole reason why she couldn't control her powers because she didn't have a hold on herself. That's why the box was creating a reality based on a regressed emotional event. Or at least that's what Xavier said. She missed him.
All these things were going through her mind while Flicker was in the background. Pandora barely noticed her. She was so focused on her own problems.
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Post by flicker on Jan 27, 2008 11:56:20 GMT -5
The expressionless art teacher sat there with her in silence for a bit, staring at the TV more than watching it. After a little while, she turned her head back toward the student- well, she wasn't just any student. She was that student, the death and destruction student, practically the new Jean!
"So you're that one kid, huh? Pandora, right?" she commented conversationally. All the staff knew about her. How could they not? She was the gangster looking kid in a retail store that the employees feel bad for following, but they know they have to. This was not a child they wanted out of their sight.
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Post by pandora on Jan 27, 2008 12:29:31 GMT -5
She nodded again. "Yes." She really didn't like the idea of being recognized. She knew that a lot of the X-men pitied her. Some of the students were angry at her. It was extremely awkward meeting people who knew her reputation as the source of the world's destruction. She wondered what the art teacher thought of her.
And she knew they were watching her. It was weird. Sometimes she caught them looking her like she had three heads. People whispered that she was like Jean, the Phoenix. Well, she wasn't. Or at least not in her mind. It's not like she had a crazy evil sociopath inside of her. She was just a normal person. Sort of.
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Post by flicker on Jan 27, 2008 14:11:59 GMT -5
"I figured you'd be the talkative type," Becca told her sarcastically, smirking. She looked the girl over critically. This little twig of a girl caused so much destruction... This was the reason her father was dead, the reason countless people had lost their minds. She didn't look like she could hurt a fly.
"How long you been here, now?" she asked lightly.
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Post by pandora on Jan 27, 2008 17:14:22 GMT -5
"I've been here for about two years," she replied. She had been living in the school ever since her parents died. That was slightly before Inhumanity Syndrome had made its appearance. Xavier had taken her in after her powers manifested and created an infestation of killer bees in her town. And even after two years, she hadn't learned how to control her power. She thought she had for a brief time, when she first was able to put them into the box. She was so glad to be able to put them away. Then she heard about the cure. She thought the worst was over, but it was only beginning. She never expected that she would become a supermutant and unintentionally unleash an epidemic into the entire world. Pandora never thought she was capable of that. Like her namesake, she had brought suffering into the world. And now she would be responsible for taking it back.
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Post by flicker on Jan 27, 2008 20:49:55 GMT -5
Grunting her acknowledgment, Becca nodded and glanced back toward the TV. "Longer than I've been here, that's for sure." She tugged the coffee table closer with her toe so she could put her feet up on it, paint-spattered green converse crossing over one another casually.
"You like it here, then?" she asked conversationally, "Got friends and a boyfriend and all that?" She wasn't much older than the student, but there was an almost condescending adult-to-child air about that last inquiry.
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Post by pandora on Jan 27, 2008 22:46:14 GMT -5
"I have a few friends. No boyfriend." She felt the awkwardness in the conversation. She felt as if the woman was interrogating her. It was likely that she had a loved one infected with Inhumanity Syndrome. Even some of the teachers couldn't help treat her with contempt now. Who could blame them? Pandora knew what it was like to lose a loved one, and if she could find the source of her despair, she would be angry too.
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Post by flicker on Jan 27, 2008 23:54:38 GMT -5
She feigned interest and tugged her white knit hat down in the back. "I'd say they were pretty brave friends knowin' where you come from, but you look about as dangerous as a girl scout cookie and I doubt you go around braggin' to people," Becca told her.
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Post by pandora on Jan 28, 2008 12:58:30 GMT -5
Her face turned a scarlet red. This lady was as polite as an emaciated mountain lion and as subtle as one to boot.
"My friends are none of your business." She knew that the woman was a teacher, but the amount of rudeness she was projecting was setting even shy Pandora on edge. She didn't really know what situation the woman came from. The art teacher could just be picking on her for being the accidental cause of IS. Although even that sounded like justifiable reason, it wasn't as if Pandora wanted the Earth to be stricken with a plague. Everything was complicated, and it only worsened the situation when people teased her. After all, her powers were heavily influenced by her mental state, which wasn't doing so hot with the massive guilt and the loss of her parents.
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Post by flicker on Jan 28, 2008 16:13:53 GMT -5
Sighing, she backed off a bit. "Yeah, no problem. I got it," she assured her, pulling a hand up to her mouth and chewing on the edge of her fingernail. Time to try a different approach with this girl (and, hell, was she really that bad with people?).
"You're in my sketching class next semester, right?" she asked, recalling the forboding name on her registry, "The morning class, I think."
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Post by pandora on Jan 30, 2008 11:17:11 GMT -5
"Oh yes, I think I am." That's going to be slightly uncomfortable, she thought to herself. Her first impression of this teacher was rather negative. Maybe she could transfer to a different class before the semester began. There was still time. There was astronomy and psychology still open. Those sounded like interesting courses.
Or maybe the teacher wasn't that bad. She didn't really know her that well. She had just been talking to her for a few minutes.
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Post by flicker on Jan 31, 2008 18:59:54 GMT -5
Taking the hint from the lack of response, Flicker decided to plan an exit from the conversation. "Yeah, it's gonna be a pretty big class. Make sure you get there early and find a seat, alright?" The semester end wasn't far away and she was hoping she didn't have too many drops before then. Art tended to be a fill-in class for kids who didn't want study hall.
Becca stood up and cracked her neck. "I'll see you around." She mocked a salute and headed off toward her room.
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