Chapter One: The Simulation

Welcome to the threequel, and final part, of my X-Men trilogy! Like both times before, I'm only focusing on scenes involving Rogue and/or Scott, and sometimes Jean and Logan, and any other scene I deem worth writing. Yes, I copied and pasted that sentence from the last story. It helps me a lot!

Like I said at the end of the last story, I'm not killing off Scott, nor am I having Rogue take the cure. I mean, they filmed an alternate scene where she came back having NOT gotten the cure because she accepted who she was! They had two scenes to choose to put in the final cut, and they chose to give her the cure! And don't even get me started on all the deleted/alternate scenes that deserved to be in the final cut of this movie. In the original cartoon, Rogue considered getting the cure, but ultimately decided not to, because her powers have done a lot of good for the world. I guess since she barely did anything useful in the movies (the original ones, that is), she had every right to get rid of her powers? (sigh)

If Evolution was going to feature the cure storyline, I can only hope that Rogue would decide to keep her powers in that version, too, even if she did consider it.

And just a reminder, the first movie likely took place in 2000, and it was suggested that The Last Stand did take place in 2006. Since I had decided that X2 only took place a few months after the first movie, then The Last Stand would take place six years after.

And finally, going through this, I realized that I left references and callbacks to previous parts of this saga. I wonder if y'all can find them throughout this story?

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men.

Enjoy!

"Mutants and humans. They've long struggled to coexist. While some try to unite the world, others try to dominate it. Neither strategy has prevailed. But when conflicts reach an impasse, inevitably something happens to shift the balance forever."

- Professor Charles Xavier

The city was on the brink of destruction. Buildings and vehicles were burned to the ground, and the X-Men were narrowly avoiding laser bolts fired at them. Bobby Drake, codename Iceman, and Kitty Pryde, codename Shadowcat, ran to find cover. Ororo Munroe, codename Storm, was flying around the battlefield searching for the source of the lasers. Piotr Rasputin, codename Colossus, quickly ducked behind a conveniently placed chunk of debris when a particularly big laser shot at the remains of a building, causing an explosion. As he coated his body in metal, Marie D'Ancanto, codename Rogue, flew into the air and landed a powerful punch to the metal pieces, sending them flying away. A piece of debris flew right past her and hit Logan, codename Wolverine, in the face. He groaned, his wounds healing instantly. Rogue landed on the ground as Wolverine held a cigar in his hand, not even flinching as the bridge behind him exploded.

"The whole world's goin' to hell, you're just gonna sit there?" he questioned Colossus as he slowly stood up next to Rogue. "Let's go!"

As Iceman and Shadowcat ran, they heard a missile whistling towards them. Iceman quickly held up his hands, and two large beams of frost slowed it down. He faced Shadowcat with a triumphant look on his face.

"Bobby!" she yelled. She quickly grabbed onto him as another missile headed their way. She forced their bodies intangible, and the missile flew right through them.

"Thanks, Kitty," he said gratefully, his arms still around her shoulders.

Rogue saw this from a few miles away. "Bobby! Kitty!" she called to them. "Now's not the time to act all lovey-dovey!"

Blushing, the two teens broke apart and followed her and Colossus.

Meanwhile, Logan (not Wolverine, since he didn't bother to wear his uniform) tried to light his cigar from a flame on a car. Not getting the result he wanted, he ducked behind the car as Storm dashed to his side.

"We're getting killed out here," she panted.

Logan only rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know," he said. "They're not ready, Storm."

They heard rumbling, and Storm looked up. "Logan...!"

"Oh, don't get your panties in a bunch."

Gritting her teeth, Storm grabbed onto Logan and spiraled them out of the way of a giant chunk of debris that collapsed on the car.

Panting, Logan scowled. "That was my last cigar." He got up.

"Logan!" Storm yelled, quickly following him. They regrouped with the rest of the X-Men as the rumbling grew louder.

"It's getting closer!" shouted Rogue.

"Come on!" Storm ordered. "Let's keep moving!"

But before they could make themselves scarce of the incoming threat, Logan called out to Colossus, "Hey, Tin Man! Come here!"

As the Russian mutant walked over to him, Logan asked, "How's your throwing arm?" His fist had extended his claws.

"Logan, we work as a team!" Storm reminded him, her frustration building up.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Logan retorted. He turned to Colossus, who was encased in metal again. "Throw me." When he hesitated, he yelled, "Now!"

Storm threw up her hands. "Damn it, Logan! Don't do this!"

Colossus picked Logan up, spun around, and threw him towards the fog, where their main threat was waiting. The X-Men heard him roar as he sliced up the enemy. They jumped back as a giant robot head landed in front of them, 'eyes' blinking red before shutting off. Logan walked out from behind it, retracting his claws. "Class dismissed."

Storm sighed, leading them out of the Danger Room as the apocalyptic town digitally faded away.

"Hey, Colossus," said Logan, "nice throw."

Colossus merely nodded in thanks. While an admirable student, Piotr Rasputin was a young man of few words.

"Simulation complete," said a female computer voice.

When she entered the hallway, Storm immediately asked Logan, "What the hell was that?"

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Danger Room session."

"You know what I mean."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, lighten up, Storm."

"Look, you can't just change the rules when you feel like it," she griped. "I'm trying to teach them something."

"I taught 'em something," said Logan defensively.

Storm shook her head. "It was a defensive exercise."

"Yeah. Best defense is a good offense." He frowned. "Or is that the other way around?"

The X-Men in training walked right past their instructors as they continued to bicker.

"This isn't a game, Logan."

Logan scoffed. "Well, you sure fooled me." Then he cooled off and said, "Hey, I'm just a sub. You got a problem, talk to Scott."

Hearing her boyfriend's name, Rogue stopped following her peers to look at Logan. He just brushed past her as she shared a knowing look with Storm.

It had taken the other students a while, but they had accepted Rogue's relationship with Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops. They could see that they were happy together, even in the aftermath of Jean Grey's death.

Scott sat on his bed in his room, his head low as his body shook with tears. Actually, the room now belonged to both him and his girlfriend, Rogue.

About a month after the death of his best friend, Jean, Rogue had asked Professor Xavier if she could move in to her boyfriend's room, which he allowed. They could all see how the events of Alkali Lake effected Scott, but Rogue took it upon herself to comfort him and help him move on. Of course, she had to sleep on a makeshift bed to avoid hurting him with her powers, but Scott greatly appreciated her presence in his room every night. To him, she was his protector, his angel.

However, even though he appeared to have moved on, he was still being haunted by Jean's death in the worst way possible.

Scott!

His mind kept replaying visions of Jean calling for his help as she drowned at Alkali Lake.

"Jean..." He looked up, tears falling down his unshaven face.

Scott... Scott... Her voice seemed to whisper from nowhere. Scott... Scott...

"Scott?" There was knocking on the door as another familiar voice spoke his name. "It's me."

"Come in," he said quietly.

The door opened to reveal Rogue, still in her uniform but with her beautiful two-toned hair down from her bun. She looked at him sadly.

"The nightmares again?" she asked gently, closing the door.

He just shook his head. "They're not nightmares. I know that Jean is still alive...and she's calling for my help."

Ever since Jean's sacrifice six years ago, Scott had been plagued with what appeared to be nightmares. Everyone else tried their best to help him move on like Rogue had, but he was now convinced that Jean might still be alive, and that his nightmares were actually visions, or distress signals, from her.

Kneeling in front of him, Rogue said uneasily, "The professor said –"

"That they're just dreams, Marie?" he interrupted as he stood up, her following suit. "Just a figment of my imagination? No, these are visions, I'm sure. I've been seeing the exact same thing for years now. If they were just dreams, they would've stopped by now."

Anyone else may have thought he was just having hallucinations, but Rogue knew better. Though she was still working on getting control of her own powers (currently, she could now keep them from kicking in for five minutes; she figured her grief over Jean's death was adding to her insecurities, and therefore preventing full control), she had managed to gain control of other powers she acquired over the years, particularly Professor Xavier's telepathy.

"May I?" she asked softly.

Scott knew what she was asking and nodded. It wasn't that he didn't trust the professor; he was just sick of the older man telling him that he shouldn't worry about his nightmares, that they were trying to unhinge him. But he definitely trusted Marie, his angel and true confidant, to help him and to not give up on him.

She held up her hands on either side of his head and closed her eyes, trying to find those visions. When she saw them, she pulled away, gasping.

"Scott," she began shakily, "you're right. Those aren't nightmares. They're too clear to be nightmares. But how could she have survived?"

"I don't know, Marie, but I'm done sitting here and just wondering." He began packing a bag. "I'm going to find her."

As he packed his bag, Rogue stood there, thinking about what she saw. Then she began recalling how some of the other students had blamed her for Dr. Grey's death, that because she decided to fly the X-Jet recklessly to them, apparently crashing it, Jean felt the need to sacrifice herself to save them. Though Rogue was hurt by their accusations, she had stubbornly retorted that she didn't crash the Jet, and that if it weren't for her 'recklessly flying the Jet' to them, none of them (except maybe Logan) would've survived anyway.

And besides, the professor had revealed that the Jet's faulty engines were a result of Jean's uncontrollable powers, proving Rogue's point that the students were just looking for someone to blame.

"I'm going with you," she suddenly said, just as Scott zipped up his bag.

"Marie," he started, but she interrupted him.

"No, don't try to tell me I can't or shouldn't. You know how the others unfairly blamed me for her sacrifice." She watched him frown, then remembered how frighteningly angry he was hearing about the accusations. "No matter who's fault it is, if anyone, I still feel awful. I know how much she meant to you, Scott, and she was one of my dear friends, too. And now that there's a chance she could still be alive, I want to help you bring her home."

Scott stared at her, speechless. He still felt stubbornly protective of her, as he had from the minute they met, but she was proving herself to be just as, if not more, stubborn than him. Not just that, but she showed them all over the years that she had grown from the frightened seventeen-year-old girl who distanced herself from everyone to a young woman of twenty-four who was a force to be reckoned with.

She was becoming a true X-Man. And he couldn't be prouder.

"You'd better change and pack a bag, then," he said, smiling.

She smiled back.

After a quick shower, Rogue changed and packed for a few days' trip with Scott. Both throwing on leather jackets, they headed for the garage. On the way there, they bumped into Logan.

"Hey, Scott, they were lookin' for you downstairs," he said. "You didn't show."

"Sorry, but we have something we need to do," said Scott abruptly.

"'We'?" Logan repeated, frowning. He then noticed their bags. "And just where are you two goin'? Romantic getaway?"

Rogue stopped, her arm linked with Scott's, and turned to him. "We're going to Alkali Lake. To find Jean."

Logan fought the urge to sigh. "Look, guys, I miss her, too. Actually, you have no idea –" Rogue raised an eyebrow, but chose not to say anything. "– but you need to accept the fact that she's gone and move on."

"She's not gone, Logan," Scott insisted, looking serious. "She's been sending me visions. She's still alive, and we need to save her."

"We don't care whether or not you believe us, Logan," Rogue added. "This is a personal mission for us. We will find her and bring her home."

And they turned and left. Logan just shook his head. He wanted so badly to believe that Jean could still be alive, but it had been six years. If she did survive, she would've returned by now.

And there's Chapter One! It is a shame that Cyclops was written out rather hastily, but I've come across two possibilities for his absence: one is that James Marsden (Cyclops) was filming another movie at the time, and another is that Marsden requested that Cyclops be killed off because Bryan Singer wouldn't be directing the movie. If it was the latter, then The Last Stand was doomed to disappoint from the start.

And oh boy! I learned that there were SO many different versions of this movie planned, as well as the amount of behind the scenes drama with Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde) and Brett Ratner.