Penelope hated sitting in this chair. It was all squishy and tended to nearly swallow her whole. No matter how much she squirmed and inched around, she simply could not get herself in all that comfortable a position. Then again, maybe that was just the fact that she was sitting in his woman’s office again. Penelope didn’t like it here. And Jezebel made it no small mention that she was none too happy either. The young girl could only sigh as she tapped her fingers on the arms of the large chair. Across from her, an older women with platinum white hair sat in silence while she filled out some paperwork attached to a metal clipboard.

Penelope frowned slightly. She hated it when the doctors did that. Made her feel like they were keep secrets and she didn’t like it when secrets were kept from her. But, there was little she could do except sit in silence and wait. The woman was bound to speak up eventually, right?

Slumping back, the young girl fiddled with the lining of the couch’s arm, running her dainty fingers along the length of it and pulling at the loose threads. Most therapists hated it when she did this. Simply because they didn’t like the idea that she could be so distracted. But Penelope would rather she was distracted than thinking about why she was here. She hated coming to these offices. They were all the same.

Sinking couches or chairs, strange or inspirational pictures all along the walls, statues, books (lots of books!), sometimes toys or coloring books if they specialized in children, whatever the case, whatever was in there, it all spelled out the same thing to Penelope—therapist.

Lilith was worried. She feared every time Penelope got upset or scared because she knew that Jezebel had a quick way out should it happen. So she took Penelope to therapy, doctors, anyone that could help her try to wrangle Jezebel in. But human doctors had no power over Jezebel. And she knew that.

Looking up at her, what, fourth therapist in a year, Penelope tilted her head and found the woman staring at her. Apparently she was done with her clipboard now. This caused the little shifter to sight; that could only mean one thing…

“So, Penelope,” the woman said kindly. “What would you like to talk about today?”

“Nothing,” Penelope whispered and continued to pull at the thread.

The blocks in front of her were beginning to form a shape. Thanks to her manipulations, to connect certain yellow and brown pieces together, she was almost done. Before long, she would have crafted her lego giraffe. Staring down at the white, round eye block that stared up at her, Penelope lost herself in the thoughts of her creating. She would have been happy if this had been the only thing she would have to do while here but it was not going to last. She had thwarted the therapist’s earlier advances to convince her to talk; another attempt would be coming up.

Sitting across from her, the woman jotted down a few notes, looking down at the simple cube she made of legos and glancing at Penelope’s creation. She didn’t get it, Penelope knew that. But the young girl didn’t care; it was her creation and no one else’s.

Quietly she shifted her position as she reached for another brown lego piece to finish the hooves.

“That’s a beautiful piece, Penelope,” the woman stated.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Penelope whispered as she attached the hoove.

“You always have such excellent manners.” The woman jotted down a quick note, paused for a second, then pressed on. “Did you learn that from your parents?”

“I don’t want to talk about that right now, thank you,” Penelope muttered as she attached more yellow blocks to give the giraffe a larger hump.

The therapist took a breath as she fumbled with the red block she had made. Penelope didn’t wish the woman any ill will, it was simply that her parents was not something she liked to talk about. Every time that she did, she had to remember that horrible, horrible day when they were taken away from her. And it didn’t help and thinking such thoughts also riled up Jezebel. Penelope didn’t want this woman to get hurt so it was best to avoid the subject.

But she was persistent.

“Penelope, I know about what happened to you,” she said. The words momentarily caught Penelope off guard and she paused in completely her giraffe. Seeing that her attention was grabbed, the therapist pressed on. “Lilith told me. She said that you were found in your house. Where your parents had died. You need to talk about it if you ever want to move on.”

Penelope shook her head as she stared at the legos. She could feel the memories creeping up from the back of her mind. They crawled, claw over claw across the surface of her brain until they were at the forefront of her thoughts and forced her to stare at them. It was such a horrible feeling, to feel one’s self being dragged back into a place and time that you didn’t want to remember. It was something that Penelope hated. And, try as she might, couldn’t stop it.

She remembered…

September 28, 2010 – Washington, D.C.

Penelope skipped. Down the sidewalk in her neighborhood, her mother casually walking by her side. Penelope smiled as she looked up at her, basking in the warmth of the hand that clasped onto her own. Her mother was so pretty and caring and strong, it was no wonder that Penelope wanted to be just like her when she grew up. But for now, she was simply happy just skipping at the woman’s side as they strolled down her street, watching the various people who strolled by. Many stopped and smiled at Penelope and the young girl would respond by waving her half-melted ice cream at them.

Today was a good day. Her mom picked her up early from school, they took the day to be by themselves and just travel throughout the city. Though she knew her mom was private and not prone to conversation with other people, Penelope didn’t think it at all weird. It was more time for her to spend with her mother anyways!

She grinned as she hopped over a puddle of water and flowed into the gutter, licked her ice cream and offered some up to her mother.

The woman smiled warmly.

“No, no, baby,” she soothed. “That’s all for you. Come on, we’re almost home. I’m sure daddy is waiting for you.”

“Okay mom,” Penelope responded with a toothy grin.

The woman smirked and let go of her hand the second that they had crossed the street. From there they continued on in silence, occasionally talking about school and how Penelope’s day was. Penelope had a fine day, but it was better now that she was with her mom. She loved her mother so much but it seemed as if these days she didn’t get to see a lot of her. But today more than made up for her. The park, shopping, ice cream, it was all wonderful. She hoped that her dad was okay with this.

“Mom,” she asked curiously. “Why did you get me today? You’ve never taken me out of school early before.”

Her mother, a much taller woman with earthy brown locks that hung around her sweet, mocha colored face, just smirked a little mischievously. Penelope loved her mom because she was such a free spirit. She was not like the moms her friends as school spoke about. She wasn’t uptight or overly protective or anything like that. Her mom, well, her mom was the epitome of cool. And Penelope loved that oh so much.

The woman shrugged in response.

“I just thought we could use a day together,” she beamed. “Come on, race ya home!” she said as she suddenly bolted.

“Hey! Cheater!!” Penelope giggled and raced after her much faster mother.

Her mom was fast. Even before Penelope managed to round the corner of her street, she already saw her mom smiling with a sly grin on the steps of her home. Giggling and running up to her, Penelope pounced on her mom with the labels of cheater being thrown around amidst the laughter. The pair of them managed to weave a cloud of mirth and giggles around their heads as they finally calmed down enough to sit next to one another on the steps without attempting to tickle. It was a sweet moment that Penelope just wanted to bask in the rest of the day.

But, judging by the dying light of the day it was obvious that they didn’t have much time left. They had to get inside. For whatever reason, Penelope’s mom never really liked them to be outside at night. Though the young girl thought it was odd, she never questioned it. She was a good girl and never spoke back against her parents.

Nodding that she was ready to go back inside and start her homework for the night, Penelope stood up and let her mother lead the way. A quick turn of the lock, in the door was pushed, and door was opened up for the pair of them. Penelope hummed to herself as she followed her mother back into her home.

Inside the house was exactly the same as she always remembered it—messy. That was the simplest way to put it. Though everything had its place, it was more often than not that the house was in some sort of slight disarray. Her parents were never big on keeping everything spick-and-span, so long as there was no trash piled up or food just lying on the floor.

Penelope peeled her jacket off her shoulders and tossed it up onto the coat hanger that was near the door. Her mother having already moved on, the young girl sighed as she strolled across the carpeted hall and entered the living room.

It was massive and one of her favorite rooms. The couches were cushiony and deep and the bookshelves all around the room were filled from end to end with books. There was even one small, pink shelf that was just for her, filled with her kid’s books, coloring books, and drawing supplies. The one thing that would be of note, though, is that there was absolutely no TV present. Her parents were firmly against having television in the living room. Penelope had a small one in her room to watch cartoons but it was a rarity that her parents let her indulge in only on special occasions. No, they were a well read family and they were going to make sure that their daughter shared that same love.

Stepping inside, she paused as she turned to the small table that was in the center of the room. There, sitting on a stool looking over a large map that was unfolded across its surface was a tall, deep red colored man. His yellow eyes poured over the paper, making marks with a red pen ever few inches or so and jotted notes onto a pad of paper. Quietly he slicked back his ebony colored hair, straightened up and smiled at Penelope’s passing mother. Looking past her, though, he instantly spied Penelope.

And he smiled.

Penelope giggled and ran up to him, hugging him tightly around the waist.

“Hi daddy!! Miss me?”

Chuckling the man leaned up and easily hefted Penelope up into his arms. He was always so warm, both figuratively and physically. The man casually spun the girl around as he hugged her tight.

“Oh, every second of the day, baby girl. Every second of the day,” he whispered and kissed her cheek.

Penelope giggled as her father set her down. She really did love the man. He was strong and yet gentle at the same time. She felt safe whenever he was around, exactly the same way whenever she was around her mother. The both of them were the best parents in the world and she could not have been luckier. Even at such a young age, she knew that she was in good hands and she could never thank them enough for that.

“How’s it going, baby?” Mom asked Dad as she circled around to peer down at the map on the table.

Penelope couldn’t see much of it, but from what she could see, it looked a little like Washinton, D.C. and there were several areas that were circled or crossed out with a red marker. Her father looked pleased with himself as he returned the cap to the pen and smiled lovingly at his wife.

“Well. Everything is set up, um,” he glanced to Penelope then mouthed the word “later” to his wife.

Penelope thought nothing of it and simply watched them before she looked down at the map again. But before she could get a good look at it, her father had rolled it up again. Folding it into small squares, set it aside into a small box that was situated on the table. Penelope was told to never open that box. When she was really little, they said that there was a monster in there. Now that she was grown up, she didn’t believe that, of course, but she knew better than to impose on their privacy.

Her mother, though, eyed her father before she muttered to Penelope.

“Sweetie, why don’t you go in the kitchen and fix yourself a snack?” she said, never once lifting her eyes from her father. “We’ll order Chinese tonight.”

“Okay!” Penelope said with a nod as she moved around the table and stepped into the kitchen. Silently she began to grab some white bread from the package and began to fish around in the fridge for the jelly and peanut butter.

Strangely, though, as she began to smear the peanut butter onto the stark white bread, she could hear the slightly raised voices of her parents. She couldn’t hear everything that was said but she did hear the words “She’s ready” and “No powers yet”. The words were strange but not enough to stop Penelope from making her sandwich. It was never nice to eavesdrop.

“And who is the oppressor of mutant kind?”

“Um…human government,” Penelope answered with a smile.

She twirled noodles on her fork as she carefully took a bite of them. Her father smiled brightly and nodded to her. She liked making him happy and answering his silly questions right. He had lots of these ideas but they were rarely something that Penelope allowed herself to think about too deeply. She liked her friends and though they didn’t look different like her parents, they were still good friends.

Though it was weird that her parents never allowed them in the house…

“Hah, you see?” her father asked with a grin towards her mother. “She’s a natural.”

The woman titled her head, giving her sweet daughter a smile but her eyes said something all together different to her father.

“Yes, she is a fast learner,” she said as she nodded to Penelope. “Baby, is the food okay?”

“Mmhmm! My favorite!” Penelope beamed as she took another bit of the beef and broccoli that was on her plate.

“Now, Penny,” her father said as he pulled his chair up closer. “Back to the lesson. Name three things that mutants have that make them far better at running a government than humans?”

“Oh Alexi,” her mother grumbled. “Let the girl eat. Okay?”

Alexi, her father, looked up with a bit of surprise, shrugged, and turned back to his spring rolls. “These are things that she needs to learn, Alicia. Especially if tonight goes w—“

“Alexi!” Alicia hissed. Momentarily Penelope could see the flash of predatory yellow in her eyes. Her mother seemed to reign herself in just long enough to glance to Penelope with a warm smile. “Finish your food, Penelope. No more quizzing tonight, okay?”

“O-Okay mom,” Penelope replied as she started to continue eating. In doing so, she glanced to her parents and saw them eyeing one another closely. They hoped that they weren’t mad.

Hehehehehehe…

She blinked in confusion before she shrugged the mysterious laughter away and ate her dinner in silence with her parents.

Penelope sighed. Sitting in her room, her ear near the door, she could still hear the voices of her parents drifting up from the living room. They are having a “discussion”. It wasn’t a fight, no, she knew what they sounded like when they fought. This discussion had a much more somber feeling to it than she was used to. Though she couldn’t hear anything that they were saying, she was getting the impression that part of the argument was about her. She didn’t know what she had done wrong. Maybe her dad didn’t want her to get out of school like she did? But that was her mom’s idea?

In the end she had to shrug. She really didn’t know what else to do about it. She loved her parents dearly but sometimes they talked about the strangest things. She really couldn’t understand why her father was always pressing the issue of mutant superiority. Of course she knew all the facts and answers to his questions but she figured it was just for a game, nothing truly serious.

Her parents, though, that was a topic that they loved dearly. Still, there was something weird in their discussion tonight. It was almost as if her mom was irritated that her dad was talking about all these things. But that couldn’t be it.

Hehehehe, weakling, a voice suddenly echoed in her head. Penelope jumped and spun around the room. No one. Where did she hear that? It had to be someone, right? She wouldn’t think like that about her own mother…

You are weak…

Penelope groaned and held her head. That voice was much louder. She shouldn’t be so surprised, though. She was having stray thoughts like this for awhile but…they were so small and insignificant before. They weren’t this loud.

Shaking her head she returned to her pink, fluffy bed and flopped down onto the edge. Slowly she massaged her temples as she could feel the pain easing. Maybe the Chinese food was just bad?

Human lover…

“Stop!” she gasped as she grabbed her pillow and threw it across the room.

“Penelope?”

She jumped. Looking up at her bedroom door, she watched as her mother slid inside. She was dressed in a dark black trench coat and her favorite leather boots. Penelope caught a glimpse of gold underneath the coat but she couldn’t see all of it. She caught glimpses of this outfit before but she had never seen it in its entirety. Why was her mom wearing it now?

Penelope remained quiet. Sitting at the edge of her bed, the strange voice in her head gone, she looked up as her mother moved into the room, crossed the floor and sat herself down next to her daughter. She really was a pretty woman. Even at such a young age, Penelope always adored how her mother looked and hoped that when she grew up, she would be half a pretty as her. Even just sitting in the dim light of her room, Penelope could see the soft mocha skin of her mother’s face at the bouncy, tightly curled strands of hair that hung about her face. She was a vision, a vision of a future that Penelope would have loved to possess.

Looking up at her face, she saw that her mother had some make-up on: gold around her eyes that seemed to mesh with the glimpses of costume that she saw beneath the trench coat, and deep brown lipstick that brought out the fierceness in her smile, it all just added to mother’s appearance. Penelope had to wonder, though, why she was so dressed up.

“Baby, who were you talking to?” her mother asked curiously.

Penelope shook her head. “No one, mom. Just, you now, reading out loud to myself.”

Her mother arched a brow and glanced at Penelope closely. But, seeing no reason as to why to push her further, she simply smiled and patted her daughter on the arm.

“Okay sweetheart,” she said. “Listen, me and daddy are going to go out for a bit. We have some things that we need to do. Mrs. Paige to watch you for the night.”

Penelope cringed a little. Mrs. Paige was usually the person who babysat for her. She didn’t all that much care for the woman. Not because she was a mutant and had a only one huge eye in the center of her forward (she couldn’t care less about that) but the woman always smelled of mothballs and sucked on cough drops even when she wasn’t sick. It was kind of gross scent to be around but she guessed the woman was nice enough. One time she even let her stay up until nine o’clock before going to bed! She could be cool on occasion.

Still, Penelope felt a pang of worry. Were her parents leaving for the night because of the arguing she heard earlier? She frowned slightly as she leaned over and hugged her mom tightly.

“Okay, mom,” she whispered and nestled her face into her mom’s side. “I love you.”

Quietly, her mother gently began to stroke the young girl’s hair. It was almost as if she just didn’t know how to respond to Penelope’s affections. So, instead of ruining it, the woman remained quiet and just patted her head until it was time for her to leave. With a kiss on the top of her head and gently stroke of her chin, her mother stood and left the room.

It was calm the rest of the night. After Mrs. Paige came over (of course smelling like mothballs and coughdrops), Penelope got to stay up for a bit and watch TV alongside her. The pair of them watched cartoons and enjoyed a nightly treat of cookies and milk. It was only after they had devoured these sweets that full on babysitter mood came on and Penelope was sent off to brush her teeth in preparation for bed. With homework already done for the next day, Penelope had the night to sleep freely and without worry.

Though, she did wish that her parents would come home. She liked to at least hear their voices before she fell asleep each night. But, dressed in her rainbow embossed, oversized shirt, Penelope slid into bed and curled under the blankets warmly. If she could have fought sleep, she would have. Instead, as soon as she closed her eyes, she began to drift off into sleep.

And to the nightmares that were waiting.

Penelope was never one to suffer from horrible nightmares. Of course she had them on occasion but it seemed as if these nightmares were particularly present in her mind. She struggled to keep herself from descending into them but it was to no avail. All she saw…was red. No matter where she looked, she didn’t see surreal landscapes or monsters. All she saw was the fiery shade of red that reminded her of her father, as well as the sensation of building heat.

Worst of all, though, while there was nothing in his dreamscape of discernible structure, she could hear a voice and the sensation that she was being watched.

Silent screams filled her lips as she ran off in directions for which she had no name for. They were not the usual up, down, left, or right, they seemed to go everywhere and nowhere at the same time. And all the while, there was a most diabolical cackling chasing her from behind.

Hhehehehehehahahah!!

Leave me alone!! STOP!

No Penelope. Hehehe, you’re weak. You need me.

Go away!!

The heat grew so high that Penelope could actually feel the sweat dripping down her brow in her dream. She lashed out, struck at everything and nothing at the same time but it seemed to be doing absolutely no good. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t get herself out of the red world.

Hehehahahahehea!! Where are you going?

MOM!! DAD!!! HELP!!!!

You think that they’ll waste their time to save you?[/color]

Penelope shuddered at the voice. Exhaustion overtaking her, she slumped down onto her knees and began to cry. The tears rolled down her cheeks and mingled with the sweat that was already pooling at the floor in front of her. But, in such a position, she could feel the sensation of breathing on the back of her neck. It was enough to make her shudder and dig her fingernails into her knees. Whoever this was, their very presence just exuded a malevolence that Penelope couldn’t identify.

Squeezing her eyes tight, she ground her teeth as the teasing voice pressed closer.

You? A human…loving…freak…? No…they won’t. They don’t even love you because you’re not special. I’m special. And I’ll more than be happy to take your pla—

AHHHHH!!!!!!![/color]

Screaming at the top of her lungs, Penelope spun and lashed out at the teasing force that was situated behind her. All she saw was the flash of yellow eyes before the red world melted away.

A gasp of horror filled the room as Penelope suddenly sat up in bed. Breathing heavily, she struggled to catch her breath as she clung onto the sheets that were wrapped so tightly around her legs, binding her in her spot. When she finally managed to calm enough to peel the sheets off, she took one more shaky breath before she began to sob a little. It was such a horrible dream. She had never felt so vulnerable and scared her life. Normally her parents always made her feel safe and strong but this dream just undermined absolutely every sense of safety that she thought she had.

Shakily she slipped out of bed and moved onto her weak feeling feet. Sweat drenched her pajama shirt and a feverish feeling was exuding from her skin. Trying to shake it off, Penelope found herself heading towards the bedroom door. A quiet turn of the knob and she was out in the hall. Maybe a drink of water would calm her down.

But just as she stepped out into the hall, she paused. There was a light on downstairs. Was Mrs. Paige still here? What time was it? It felt so late. Where were her parents?

“Hellfyre! What were you thinking?” came a growling voice.

Penelope jumped. Slowly she crept to the edge of the stairs. Peeking down, she saw that the front door was slightly open and familiar looking people were walking in. At least three of them were friends of her parents (all of course were mutants and a variety of powers), and bringing up the rear was her mother…dressed in a skintight, gold colored outfit and sporting claws. Penelope tilted her head. Why was her mom dressed like a superhero?

“Rocky, calm down,” her mother said as she closed and locked the door behind her. “Hellfyre knows what he is doing.”

“The hell he does!” came a sharp female voice. “Gold Fox, because he didn’t do all the research, we were spotted by security! They nearly caught us before we set off the explosives! We’ve never been seen before! Now—“

“And now they know to fear us,” her father, apparently named Hellfyre, cut in. “Bladetress, you need to relax. Okay. So what if they saw us? It isn’t as if they were have the balls to follow us. We made a great blow against human oppression today. We’re safeguarding a world in which my daughter can live and no longer fear these insects.”

Penelope licked her dry lips. From the glimpse she caught of her mother, she was bruised and bloody and while she was terrified and wanted to comfort her, she knew it was not wise to interrupt these people. Her parents friends, sometimes, they scared her a little. So, slinking back, Penelope swallowed hard and stepped back into her room.

In the morning. She would talk to them in the morning…

Penelope never got a chance to speak to her parents that morning. Though she knew that they had come home, the unfortunate thing was that they had been whisked away by errands early that morning. Penelope was left with her babysitter, Mrs. Paige again. The woman was apparently promised some extra funds should she stay the night and take Penelope to school since her parents would have to leave early. Penelope sighed at this development.

All day long at her elementary school, she couldn’t focus. Though she knew how much her parents hated the idea of her going to school with a bunch of human children, Penelope frankly didn’t care. It was just not something that bothered her, despite all the things that her parents had said about humans. There was talk to taking her out of school for home schooling but her mother seemed adamant against it. Whatever. All Penelope knew now was that she was going to have to wait absolutely all day before she could manage to talk to her parents.

Torture. She needed to know what was going on last night. She had met her parents friends before but this was somehow different. It was like they were all keeping a secret and Penelope only caught the smallest glimpse of it. And why did they look so beat up? No, something was wrong and she needed to know what. She was their daughter.

Planning on playing in the park with some friends after school was over, Penelope would give them enough time to be home. She would interrogate the both of them if she had to.

***

The day went by fast and before long, Penelope found herself skipping home after playing in the park. Two of her friends were going on and on about some book series that she just had to read but Penelope couldn’t focus. It took awhile but when enough time had passed, she excused herself from her rapid speaking, squealing friends, and made her way home. There was just something in the air, something that told her there would be a change in things.

It may have been nothing more than her imagination but she simply couldn’t help herself. It was odd, almost as if she were being watched again, just like in her nightmare last night.

But, arriving at her house, climbing the steps, and letting herself in, she resigned herself that she needed answers.

“Mom! Dad?” she called out. It seemed almost like no one was home, but how could that be? Daddy was always at his desk looking over his papers by now. And her mom was always preparing things for dinner. Things were just far too quiet for normal.

Silently she dropped her backpack and planted herself on the couch with arms crossed. She’d investigate when they got home.

Her parents were so late coming home. It was odd because Penelope had never expected this of them. They were always so punctual and on point about being home for her. This was just strange. On top of that, there were absolutely no babysitters, neighbors, friends, anyone waiting for her in the house. Instead, Penelope was left completely by her lonesome. It was strange feeling to know that she was completely alone, but also one that she really couldn’t identify. She always had the safeguard of her mother and father.

Now…she didn’t. But maybe she was just getting far too ahead of herself. After all, they were just out. Even if the situation was irregular, it didn’t mean that something bad had happened.

They abandoned you.

Penelope twitched as she spun around. There were no signs of anyone else in the house and there was definitely no one behind her, just more wall.

You’re weak. Why should they burden themselves with you?

“Stop it,” Penelope growled.

Come on, Penny. You know what they are. You know you don’t belong…

“Stop! They love me!”

Think, child. Think…you know what they are, why they don’t need you, and especially what they were up to last night…

Penelope shivered as the slithering voice that snaked in through one ear, coiled around her brain, and sank it’s fangs in. She didn’t know where this imaginary voice came from, but she didn’t like it! It argued too much with her, made assumptions that she didn’t appreciate. But try as she might, she couldn’t pinpoint where she had heard the voice before. She really couldn’t have just made it up out the blue, right? That was crazy talk. Just…crazy…

Penelope gasped as memories flooded in.

Penelope sat at the kitchen table, staring up at her parents. She was no more than five or six but she could remember well enough. Her mother was dressed in the golden costume she saw last night and her father was dressed in a black costume that looked like some sea captain. The pair of them were standing in front of the table, a table surrounded by other people, mutants! Some looked strange while others could pass for human and yet levitated objects, or made ice grow, or even turned their arms into tiger claws. They were all just like her parents.

In silence she colored in her coloring book while her parents spoke to those at the table.

“Today, brothers and sister,” her father said. “We begin the road to take away from Homo sapiens what they have so greedily held onto…power.”

A cheer rose up from the group.

“Today, we start the wheels that will run the machine which will take apart the disgusting, human seat of power! Today we begin the revolution!”

Her mother beamed proudly at her father, before she turned and nodded to her own daughter. Now she took the reins as she pointed to her.

“We fight for the future. We fight so that our children can live in a world in which they will not be called freaks, or monsters, or abominations. The human infestation has skittered and crawled across the face of the globe for far too long and now is the time to stomp them out of existence! Now is the time that we can take back what should have been ours by all rights of evolution! It is our time, our fight, and our world! No human shall ever look down upon a mutant again! Revolution!””

“YEEEEAAAAHHHH!!”

Penelope frowned at the loud noises and covered her ears. The gathering looked and began to chuckle and smile at Penelope, the hope for their future. She and those born alongside her were the purpose of their fighting. It was the meaning for beginning this revolution.

“Okay, so here is the plan,” her father muttered as he unfolded one of the many papers of the city that she always saw him with. “If we set up splinter cells here, here, and here,” he explained, circling parts of the map, “masquerade ourselves as peace loving mutants, or just plain humans if we can, we can get into the heart and bosom of the city. And, when the time is right, we can strike and not only cripple the city but topple the governing seat of power…”

It was boring talk. Penelope frowned again at the loud adults as she gathered her crayons and paper, scooted onto the floor and sought a quiet place to continue her masterpiece. All the while, her parents voices and that of their comrades echoed in the air around her, lost to the annuals of memory until—

Now.

Penelope blinked as suddenly the flood of memories began to overtake her. What the heck was all that!? She didn’t remember that! Or, err, well yeah, she did just remember all of it now but was it true? It seemed so unlikely and yet she knew a memory when she thought of one and even if it was from several years ago, she could remember it clear as a bell. She knew her parents were always talking about the inferior human race and stuff but she had never seen them that boiled up about it.

Or maybe she had.

Was she really just blocking it all out right now? Penelope had no idea what this could mean, but she did understand that something weird was going on. Why was she just remembering all of this? That wasn’t natural, was it? She shook her head as she tried to make heads or tails.

With a sigh, the young girl slumped back against the couch. There was still no sign of her parents. With all this beehive of thoughts running rampant inside of her noggin, she wished that someone were here. Someone so that she could at least talk to them or even just get a hug. She really could use a hug right now.

Because you’re weak.

She ground her teeth and held her head. Why wouldn’t that voice shut up? Why was no one here for her to talk to about this? Moving onto her feet, Penelope began to move her way towards the kitchen when—

SMASH!!! CRASH!!![/b]

“This is the police! Everyone in the house, hands up!!”

Penelope screamed.