The explosion rocked the ship as it flew its course. The sleek, black as night, spy-ware military jet ploughed through the shockwaves of the detonation. It's occupants of super-powered young adults, initially shaken, braced themselves for a bumpy landing. Setting down, the ramp opened near the rear, allowing the members to flow out single-file. First was the Leader, Cyclops, followed by his lieutenants Jean Grey and Storm. The trio fanned out to survey the bomb damage. The other members: Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Cannonball and Ice-Man followed close by, awaiting orders that came briskly and loudly over the nearing sirens.
"We're too late, the FOH hit it before we were even ready" stated a horrified Kitty Pryde. "No, wait, I can still sense the minds in there, but they are fading." replied Jean.
"Storm, take Iceman and Cannonball and put out those fires. Watch yourselves!" shouted Scott, "Shadowcat, Crawler and I will look for survivors. Rogue stay with Jean and help with medical. All right team, let's move."
'That's the nahce way o' sayin, you can't help 'cause ya got no powers' thought Rogue, who caught Jean's disapproving look. 'Jeez, ah can't imagine what it must be lahke making all these decisions, let alone making these choices in the heat of the moment', wincing slightly at her own bad pun, she turned to follow Jean.
The apartment block, blown apart by hidden bombs and slowly being devoured by flames, was home to a majority mutant population and a minority mutant sympathising human population. The fires were soon dying thanks to a well placed storm cloud and many ice pillars. Masses of burnt or coughing mutants suddenly began bamfing out of nowhere with a smell of brimstone and carbon monoxide. The most wounded were treated immediately. "Rogue, pass me some gauze" asked Jean, steadily keeping her hand on the heavily bleeding knee of an unconscious mutant.
"Sur' thang Doc". Although still preppy and stressful as hell, since her escape to college, Jean began to be relatable and hell of a lot easier to talk to. Smiling, Jean took the bandages from Rogue, muttering under her breath, "Not a Doctor Yet". "Well yall're the closest we've got so..." replied a worried looking Southerner. She knew about as much about medicine as she did Genetic Mutation, enough to follow the Professors lectures and one on one conversations about control, but a lot more to go. 'But ah kno' fer a fact ya need some kinda bedside mannah'. Catching this stray thought Jean looked up from her work to Rogue, blushing. "Sorry. I guess I still have more to learn. It would be easier if groups like the FOH, the Purifiers, and the Brotherhood would stop attacking during my classes." Jean continued to make conversation to Rogue, who was busy delicately cleaning a wound before dressing it.
'Have you considered ever being a nurse Rogue, you certainly have enough skill and you do have the caring bedside nature down, heck maybe you could be a surgeon. You're not at all squeamish around blood at all' she sent telepathically to Rogue. "Ah dunno, maybe." In fact , that was one of Rogues biggest problems. Despite finishing high school, she was uncertain of just what she wanted to do in life. Anything, beit a mechanic, engineer, teacher to full time X-Man. To her, she was still too young to know everything.
Her seeming daze wasn't noticed due to the approaching heat, which they were too distracted to notice was falling onto them by too many cannonball holes. A stray piece of wood caught Jean on the side of the head, knocking her into unconsciousness.
Looking up Rogue saw the slowly falling, still burning roof, head her way. Her own words coming back to bite her in the butt, deciding between a new psyche headache or a 'chunk of wood lodged in her brain' headache, she reached over and absorbed Jean's powers. Pushing back the psyche until later, she pushed out with her mind and held the debris in place. 'TOO...DANG...HEAVY!' The debris continued to fall and without thinking, or rather thinking 'Ahm gonna die either way', she maintaining her telekinetic hold with her hand continuously splayed out in front of her she waited for the impact as she sent an urgent call to Kurt to save as many of the injured as possible. It neared closer and closer, her mind spinning and sending out distress signals left, right and centre. That's when she felt a migraine pick up, not like when a psyche broke out, but more like a memory fighting through her membrane to the forefront of her mind. It was hurting her, really hurting her, the pain like needles being driven into each space of grey matter in her brain, before suddenly bursting free and then...she felt...Confident. Powerful. Dangerous.
When the group finally got wind of the disturbance, they rushed down with Shadowcat carrying five people through phase, each one holding for dear life and Kurt bamfing down with his hands, feet, tail wrapped around whomever he could find. What they saw...changed everything. There sat Jean, with the fire victims huddled around her in fear and awe. Not of the roof top being held up, but rather a lone, two toned hair, black and green suit clad mutant who strained with all her might and held a piece of burning wood, masonry and concrete the size of a room above her head. "Storm, help Rogue out and keep support, Ice-Man, help them. Guys let's move." Using the power of hurricane winds and ice columns to support, Optic blasts and cannon blasts reduced the debris to rubble, while phasing and teleportation removed pedestrians.
After finishing, with an amazing lack of casualties, but a high amount of damage, the building was reduced to rubble. But still, Rogue stood there, like a statue staring into the orange glow of the evening sky, her hands held out in front of her. She seemed almost in a trance, no one dared to shake her out of it or approach her. But as soon as the thought occurred that maybe something should be done, "AAAAAARGHHHH" she fell to her knee's clutching her head screaming in pain. Hearing his sister in pain, Nightcrawler ported next to her, picking her up bridal style, and bamfed back to the Blackbird.
Later
"Cyclops what was that? There were no mutants present with enhanced strength or Telekinesis that powerful." Storm looked down concerned at her teammate and student, hoping well for her recovery. "I don't know Storm, I have never seen anyone that strong, only the Juggernaut could have done something like that-" "You don't think her psyches are causing more trouble do you" asked a more nervous Kitty who paced the length of the ship. Scott noted her fearful tone and that rather than sitting next to Rogue, she was trying to maintain her distance. "No Kitty, it's more like just one, but let's get home and see what the Professor has to say", he knew where kitty was coming from though, her psyche overload more than a year ago, then her mind-control by Mesmero to absorb multiple psyches and her fight with Apocalypse, who knew what was going on in her head. Too be honest, most people kept her at an arms distance since those events and for once, it wasn't her touch that was potentially dangerous.