This is a slightly different take on the X-Men Evolution episode Rogue Recruit. Something I wrote a while back. This story has around 40 chapters, but no real end to it. It asks the question, "What if Rogue never joined the X-Men?" So this story is all twisted around from the original cartoon, many shocking surprises and a few original characters in the mix. Hope you enjoy.
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to go out tonight," Irene said, as Rogue grabbed her black leather jacket ready to leave the house. "What if something happens?"
"Aunt Irene, stop worrin'," Rogue said as she heard a honk outside in the driveway. "Ah'll be careful, and besides it's just a party. What could happen?"
"Alright, honey, but be back by curfew," Irene said giving the girl a hug.
"See ya later," she said as she left the house.
"Hey, Rogue," a dark-haired girl in a dark blue mini skirt and metallic silver top called from the car.
"Hey, Tara," Rogue called back walking swiftly to the car. Tara opened the back seat door for her.
"Nice outfit," she said, eying Rogue's black leather mini skirt and black cotton top with string straps. "Who says Goths aren't hot."
"Cut it out, Tara," Rogue said. Tara's boyfriend Bruno was driving. His long black hair, obviously dyed and was tied back in the ponytail. "Are we gonna sit here all day admirin' Aunt Irene's daisies?"
"Hell, no," Bruno said as he slammed on the gas. Tara cranked up the volume, the song Push It by Garage was blasting through the speakers.
"Time to party," Tara yelled out the window as they sped off in the car. Rogue looked back at the house to see Irene standing on the porch, a concerned look on her face.
Rogue's expression took a more serious note, remembering all the things she and Irene had discussed over the last few years. Rogue knew she was born different, special. That's what her mother had always told her, and that one day she would have great power. To her it seemed like a mere fairytale, some story that her mother and Aunt Irene made up.
Then seeing Irene's face as she took off with her friends led her to wonder. "Earth to Rogue!" Tara practically shouted in her ear.
"What?" Rogue said startled. There she was again retreating into her own little world only to be lured out by Tara's shrieks.
"What's with you lately?" Tara asked. "It's like you're a million miles away."
"It's nothin'," Rogue said. "Ah'm fine." In truth, she wasn't. All she could think of was the look on Irene's face, like she knew something. Rogue put it out of her mind. Her only thoughts tonight were about having a good time.
"We're here," Bruno said as he parked the car. There were several teenagers outside, some drinking, some just hanging out. Rogue noticed a couple leaning up against a tree making out. She shook her head thinking they should get a room. She exited the car as Tara approached her.
"God, ah feel like a third wheel," she said, looking over at her friend.
"Not tonight," Tara said excitedly. "I heard through the grapevine that Cody Banks has a thing for you, and he only came to this party because I let it slip that you were coming."
"What?" Rogue shouted at her. When she realized how loud she was speaking she lowered her tone. "Are ya tryin' t'make me look desperate or somethin'?"
"No," Tara said, playing innocent. "Just giving you a push in the right direction, besides it's time you get a boyfriend that's outside of those crazy fantasies of yours."
Rogue just let out a grunted sigh as they reached the house. She almost wanted to turn tale and run in the other direction if it wasn't for Tara holding onto her arm. As they entered the house Rogue's ears were buzzing from the loud music. It was loud from the outside, but inside it was absolutely screaming.
"Hey, Bruno!" another boy shouted. He was wearing a letterman's jacket. He must have been one of Cody's teammates on the football team.
"Hey, Kalvin," Bruno said. "You here with Sandy?"
"Yeah, well, ah'm supposed to be," Kalvin said as he scanned the room for his elusive girlfriend. "She's probably in the bathroom primping again."
"Girlfriends," Bruno said, punching his friend playfully on the shoulder and laughing.
"Hey!" Bruno turned to see the sour look on Tara's face. Bruno jumped back seeing how angry she really was. "Can I talk to you?!" It was more of a demand I rather than a request.
Rogue just laughed. Bruno and Tara were off to have another pointless argument.
"Hey, you're Rogue, right?" Kalvin asked.
"Yeah, so," she said.
"Wanna dance?" he asked.
"Not with you," she said, starting to walk away.
"Why not?" he asked as he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him.
"Because your girlfriend is standing right over there staring at us," Rogue said as she snatched her arm back and stumped away. "The nerve," she said under her breath.
She made her way into the kitchen where she poured herself a glass of punch that was sitting on the table. She saw a turned over empty liquor bottle about a foot away from the punch bowl. She sniffed the glass getting a faint whiff of alcohol. She didn't care. She figured she could use a drink. She took a sip thinking that it didn't taste bad. It's not like she had never tasted alcohol before. She would often raid Irene's liquor cabinet, but the hardest thing Irene drank was a simple bottle of port wine.
She took her drink and walked out onto the back porch. Thankfully no one was out there. She stood out by the railing and breathed in the night air. All she wanted right now was to be alone, a wish that was not to be granted. After a minute or so of silence she heard whispers coming from behind her. She dared not look to see who it was. She figured it was that jerk Kalvin again who attempted to hit on her.
She kept her spot pretending that the male voices were not in her earshot. That was until she realized one voice was coming from right behind her. "Hey," she heard him say. She recognized that voice. It was Cody Banks, the boy she secretly had a crush on.
"Hey, what?" she said, trying to act disinterested.
"How's it goin'?" he said nervously. "Nice night, isn't it?"
She would have laughed at his pathetic attempts at a pick up line if she hadn't turned around and looked at him. God, he was adorable. With his blonde hair and bright blue eyes shining in the moonlight she felt her legs turned to Jello. She cursed herself for getting hung over a guy. She was Rogue after all. Why would she care if some dumb jock paid her any attention? Then again, it could have been the alcohol playing tricks with her head.
"Yeah, it's a nice night," was all she could think of to say.
"Would ya like t'dance?" he asked.
"Well, ah'm just kinda hangin' out here is all," she said. Then she saw a hurt look come to his face. "Okay, what's the harm in one dance." He took her hand and led her back into the house. There was a fast song playing, but it was hard to make it out since the other kids were making so much noise. They danced through two songs until Rogue suggested that they go somewhere and talk.
They went back outside to the porch after getting fresh drinks. "Some party, huh?" Cody asked not knowing what to say.
"Yeah, ah wasn't even gonna come tonight," she said, taking a sip of her drink. "Ah'm glad ah did."
"Me too," he said, coming closer to her. "Ah'd like t'kiss ya right now," he said nervously.
"Then stop askin' an' do it," she said.
He leaned towards her slightly touching her lips. Rogue liked the soft feel of his lips on hers and craved more. She put her arms around his neck deepening the kiss, but something strange happened. She felt a slight pull. Suddenly her mind flooded with images, memories not her own. Before she knew what was happening Cody lay unconscious on the ground.
"Oh, god, no!" she shouted. "Somebody, help!" The images kept pouring into her head, until she couldn't focus anymore. She saw her friend Tara run up to her. She shook her head violently trying to get the images out of her mind.
"Rogue, what happened?" Tara asked. Rogue just clutched her hands on either side of her head, feeling like she was about to explode.
Rogue looked up at her friend seeing the girl was about to touch her skin. "Don't touch me!" she shouted and rose to her feet.
"What's wrong?" Tara asked in confusion. Rogue backed up towards the railing.
"It was her!" Kalvin shouted pointing finger at Rogue.
"Yeah, that bitch just tried to kill Cody," she heard another boy say. She didn't recognize him, but he was wearing the same letterman's jacket as Kalvin and Cody.
Before she knew it three boys, all jocks and probably friends of Cody's, rushed towards her. She told herself that she had to get away. But how? She had to find a means of escape. As one of the boys grabbed her, she immediately went into defensive mode, pulling herself through the jocks blocking her way. She easily knocked one of them to the ground while the other one stumbled but retained his control to not fall.
"Shit!" Kalvin said, watching Rogue take off down the porch steps. "I thought only Cody had moves like that."
Rogue just kept running. She wanted to get away from the scene, the accusing voices, but somehow she couldn't escape the voice in her head. It was Cody's voice. She felt like she was losing herself, like she wasn't Rogue anymore. She was someone else. She was Cody. His personality had taken over, and although she was conscious of her actions she couldn't control them. All she wanted was to be home, in the safety of her room where no one could touch her. That's where she would go. Home.
She soon approached a house. At first she didn't recognize it. "Do I live here?" she asked out loud. "No, this isn't home. It can't be." Then something took over again, something she couldn't control.
She climbed the steps of the front porch and tried to open the door. "Damn, it's locked." She thought for a moment. She climbed on one the porch chairs reaching her arm up onto the sloping roof of the porch ceiling. There it was, the spare key.
She quickly unlocked the door and walked into the house. It was dark, but by some instinct she knew exactly where the light switch was. She had never been here. She knew she hadn't, but somehow she knew this place. She felt a growling in her stomach and walked into the kitchen. She went straight for the cupboard over the sink where her favorite snack bars were hidden behind some dishes. Wait, she thought to herself. I don't even like granola bars, do I?
She took one out and returned the box to its hiding place. She unwrapped the tasty snack and took a bite, then headed for the stairs. My room, she thought. She felt tired all of the sudden and wanted to lie down. She walked to the end of the hallway and opened the last door. She peeked inside first. It looked familiar, but was it? She stepped inside studying the room. It felt like her room, but it couldn't have been. This was more a boy's room, and she wasn't a boy.
There were sports posters hanging on the walls and a glass case on the far side by the closet filled with trophies. She also saw a metal wire mess basket full of different sporting balls: a basketball, a football and even a soccer ball. She noticed a basketball hoop opposite the bed which had brown and red sheets. She looked over at the dresser and noticed all the pictures sticking out at the ends of the glass mirror. It was Cody in many of the pictures. A few showed him with his teammates and friends, a few with girls. They must have been old girlfriends, she thought. One stuck out more than the others. Cody was standing next a kid, who looked to be a younger version of himself, and in the back stood two older people, a man and woman. It was a family picture. She pulled it out and studied it.
"This is me?" she questioned. "This is mine." She looked around the room again. No, it can't be. She shook her head, knowing this couldn't be true.
She then heard a noise coming from downstairs. Something wasn't right. She was about to go and investigate when someone or something came bursting through the door. Rogue was in a panicked state, but not so much so that she would have been frozen in her place. She readied herself for a fight.
The intruder unsheathed two sets of metal claws coming out of both of his hands. She backed up as much as she could, but she feared that the monster that stood before her was hell-bent on killing her.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" she asked, trying to reason with him.
The man with the claws steadily came towards her, his gruff voice sending chills up her spine. "You girly, I want you." At that moment he lunged towards Rogue, but she was quick to act, getting out of the line of fire just in time. He crashed through a wall which only made him angry. "Stand still, and I'll make it quick. You're dealing with the X-Men now, and you ain't gotta chance."
Rogue picked up a broken board ready to defend herself. "X-Men?" She was confused by the name. She had no idea what he was talking about. "I don't understand." She was becoming angry now, and shouted at him. "I just want you to leave me alone!" She smashed the board down on his head and ran out of the room and down the stairs. He ran after her, but Rogue managed to escape him.
Scared out of her mind and still feeling Cody inside of her even though his hold wasn't nearly as strong, Rogue ran. It was all she could think of to do. She didn't understand why that guy attacked her, but she wasn't about to give him a second chance.
She approached a high wooden fence. It would be much simpler to try and jump over it then go around. She didn't know if that guy was following her or not, and her trail would be harder to follow or so she thought. There was one flaw in her plan. She looked down to see a dark-skinned woman with white hair. She had thrown something at the fence that Rogue was more at the top of. Before she could act there was an explosion, and Rogue was thrown to the ground. She barely had time to recover when she looked up and saw her Aunt Irene.
Rogue was so confused that she wasn't sure if it really was Irene that she saw. "Rogue, it's me," she heard the woman say. "Aunt Irene. Try to remember."
"Who?" Rogue asked still confused. "Wait…" She hesitated for moment, trying to clear her thoughts. "Aunt Irene. Yes, but I'm so confused, strange thoughts in my head, people chasing me."
"Easy, honey," her aunt said, trying to soothe her. "The police are coming. The X-Men will not risk a confrontation."
"The X-Men?" she questioned. She heard that word before, trying to place it. Yes, the guy with the claws mentioned the X-Men. She was trembling with fear at the name.
"Yes," Irene said. "Mutant hunters." Irene helped Rogue to her feet. "I have a friend who can help you. I'll take you to her."
Rogue felt a little more relieved, but still she was apprehensive. "All this is happening so fast. Ah don't…" Rogue looked up to see three beings coming towards them. One of them was the guy with the claws. He was heading the group. There was also a girl of about fifteen with brown hair in a ponytail and a blue demonic-looking creature. Fear struck her again seeing that man. "It's him." She pointed in his direction. "The one who attacked me. Run, Irene, run!"
Rogue ran off in the opposite direction of her pursuers, but one of her gloves came off.
"That's gotta be her!" Wolverine shouted as they continued their pursuit.
"Please, leave me be," she pleaded.
She quickly climbed over a wooden fence to get away. Rogue found herself in the backyard of a local residence. She wasn't worried about getting caught trespassing, although she should have been. She was alone again. The voice of Cody inside her head had faded away, and all she could hear was the faint sounds of the night.
Rogue had the strange feeling that she wasn't alone. She looked up to see a boy not much younger than her sitting on a swing. "Guten Tag, Fräulein." He spoke in German. "Please, don't be frightened," he said in English with his German accent. He teleported from his place on the swing to the water fountain Rogue was standing next to.
"What do ya want?" she asked him in an agitated voice.
"To help you," he said, his voice was sympathetic. She was still skeptical of his intensions, but she would at least hear him out. "We're the good guys, especially me. I was like you once like you. Alone, unsure of what I was, afraid to show my face. Can you believe it?"
Rogue kept a straight face, hoping this kid was being sincere. She turned and saw a girl with brown hair standing by the tall wooden fence that she had climbed over not so long ago.
"She doesn't look so tough to me," she faintly heard the girl say. Kitty came towards them which startled Rogue.
Kurt saw the fear in her and eyes and shouted, "Kitty, no!"
Kitty grabbed onto Rogue forcing her to the ground. Rogue easily escaped Kitty's grasp as Kurt approached them. This was an ambush. Well, Rogue figured that they wouldn't get her without a fight. In an attempt to get away she hit Kurt's watch. Something strange happened after that. The image of a normal-looking human boy faded away and in its place stood a blue demon with yellow eyes and a long tail. He was the creature who was with the guy with the steel claws. This was all a ploy to get to her.
He grabbed into her, trying to stop her from getting away. In the struggle she touched his face. New images and memories invaded her mind, but there was something different this time. Rogue stepped back. All she wanted was to get away, and suddenly she disappeared into a puff of smoke.
The next thing she knew she was in a graveyard. "What just happened?" she asked herself out loud. "Where am I?" Rogue took in her surroundings. She couldn't fathom how this could have happened. The graveyard was a few miles away, so how did she wind up here? "Ich speche deutsch. I can speak German?" She thought for a moment. "The fuzzy one… Kurt, ah'm him, like ah was Cody. I think ah'm catchin' on now. But how did ah…"
Before she could finish her thought Rogue was teleporting all over the graveyard, and for the first time since the traumatic incident with Cody she was actually having fun, but the feeling of joy only lasted for a few minutes. On her last teleport she reappeared a few inches off the ground and ended up falling to the ground.
Despair took over again as she asked herself out loud. "When's this all gonna end?"
She sat huddled on the ground by one of the tombstones. She closed her eyes thinking that when she opened them she would somehow wake up in her own bed safe and sound, and this would all have been some awful dream. After a minute or so she did open her eyes, and she was still in the graveyard. She looked up to see a tall red-headed girl approach her. She rose promptly from where she was sitting, not knowing what to expect but being prepared for the worst.
"Hi," the girl simply said.
"Do ah know you?" Rogue asked, studying the girl's face. She had seen it before but didn't know where. "All these memories, ah'm so confused."
"Yeah, I know," the girl said. "I can relate to what you're going through."
A name popped into Rogue mind. She finally could place a name with the girl who stood before her. "Jean? You're Jean Gray." Jean nodded with a half-smile, but it didn't make Rogue feel any better. "You're like the others!" Rogue shouted, pointing at her accusingly.
"Relax," Jean said calmly, but Rogue's intense trembling persisted. Jean tried to calm her down by saying, "If you know who I am, then you know I won't hurt you. Look it's tough to go it solo." Rogue seemed to calm down a little, but she still couldn't bring herself to trust this girl. "Hey, zero pressure. If you want to talk more you can reach me anytime on this communicator."
Jean opened her hand, and Rogue saw the small device float through the air until it was within her reach. She hesitantly took it and held it in her hand. "Latest fashion accessory, huh?"
"We all have one." Rogue looked up to see a young man with a visor over his eyes and a dark-skinned woman with white hair. She was the one that spoke. She recognized her. She was the one that threw the grenade at her causing her to fall to the ground. Fear entered her eyes again.
"You!" Rogue shouted, pointing a finger at the woman. "No, you won't take me!" Rogue ran in the other direction seeing the boy with the visor try to chase after her, but he stumbled and fell in the mud.
She ran deeper into the graveyard until she found a mausoleum. It was as good place as any to hide. She went inside and hid herself behind a large sealed coffin. Even though she was alone now, she was still frightened, more by the deafening silence than any appending harm her pursuers could inflict.
She then heard a noise and looked up to see the boy with the visor come through an opening in the ceiling. He dropped down and landed on his feet. He was still a good distance away from her, but she was still huddled on the floor too scared to get up.
"Thought you could escape us, did you?" he shouted, slowly coming towards her. He smashed a large piece of pottery that was in his way. "The X-Men don't leave loose ends." He was still coming closer as he smashed another large vase.
Rogue backed up some more and found the strength to rise to her feet. She quickly ran out of the mausoleum, and to her surprise ran into the very person she was running from. She pushed him out of her way, which left him dazed. A bright red beam came from his eyes hitting the powers lines and causing an explosion. Rogue ran back into the mausoleum, only to run into a very angry Jean Gray.
"I tried," Jean shouted at her. "I really did, but some people just won't be helped."
Jean raised her hand ready to attack, but Rogue quickly teleported away. She reappeared in midair about a foot off the ground. Startled, she fell and hit the ground.
"Are you hurt?" Rogue heard Jean Gray's voice. Why was she being so sympathetic now? Must be a trick, Rogue thought to herself. Well, she wasn't going to fall for that act again. "Lie still. Don't try to move."
Rogue was now in a sitting position. She backed up away from Jean, but soon realized that the dark-skinned woman who attacked her earlier was right behind her.
"Child, what it is?" the woman asked. She looked genuinely confused, but Rogue was too frightened to care. "We are your friends."
The woman was close enough for Rogue to touch. The contact threw the woman back a few feet in a puddle of water. Rogue could see the boy with the visor coming towards her, but suddenly she was rising into the air. This great surge of power felt wonderful. The rain, the thunder, the lightening, they were all at her command.
"What's with the affects?" the boy with the visor asked. She shuffled through the memories. Cyclops, that's what they called him. She smiled deliciously as the power of the elements took over her body. "Oh, no… No!"
Rogue had control of Storm's powers, or more likely they had control of her. Storm, she knew that was her name, looking into the memories of the weather witch. Lightening came forth striking a tree. Chaos consumed the air as Rogue commanded the elements. Jean created a force field to protect herself and Cyclops, but the pressure pushed her power to the limit and she was growing weak.
"I can hold it off a little…" she managed to get a few words out.
"Give it up," Cyclops said. "She's got Storm's powers, but not her control." In the distance the mausoleum was hit by a stone statue and crumbled into rubble. Then a lightning bolt hit the power lines. Cyclops looked on in horror towards Storm's direction. "The power lines," he shouted turning towards Jean. "If they hit that water, Storm will be fried."
Cyclops and Jean raced towards the unconscious Storm. Cyclops reached her first, while Jean stayed a few feet behind. He lifted her unconscious body out of the water. Jean used her levitation as a means of escape, but using so much of her power was quickly weakening her.
"I can't keep this up for long," she managed to say.
Rogue was still in midair as the chaos continued. She wanted it to stop. She looked over at Jean with a lost look in her eye. "Too much power," she cried out. "Ah can't control it." With her last bit of clarity gone, Rogue screamed. She disappeared, leaving everything suddenly quiet and still.
Rogue reappeared at home, her Aunt Irene's home, but somehow she didn't feel it was home anymore. She slowing walked up to the front porch, dragging her feet as her body was completely exhausted. She was too tired to even turn the doorknob to let herself in, but the door opened after a few seconds and she was greeted by a frantic Irene.
"Oh, honey, are you alright?" Irene asked her, putting her arms around her. It was like Irene was expecting her. "We were so worried."
"We?" Rogued asked confused.
"Yes," Irene said, with her arm still around Rogue's shoulders. "Come in here." Irene led her towards the living room. "I want you to meet someone."
Rogue did as Irene asked, too tired to protest. "Hello, Rogue, it's very nice to meet you." Rogue looked up to see a woman in her late forties dressed in a business suit and with her brown hair tied in a bun. She wore glasses and had a stern look on her face.
"Hi," was all Rogue could say.
"This is the woman I was telling you about," Irene said. "She can help you. This is Miss Darkholme, the principal of Bayville High in New York."
The woman outstretched her hand as a friendly gesture. Rogue didn't take it. The things she had been through tonight were making her a little paranoid.
Rogue wanted to be hopeful, but she was so tired, and all she wanted to do was sleep. "Aunt Irene, ah'm really tired. Can we talk about this in the mornin'?"
"Sure, honey, go on up to bed," Irene said.
Rogue slowly climbed the stairs and made her way to her room. She half lay on her bed with her legs hanging off the side trying to recount the things that happened that night, but she was so confused. The X-Men, something just didn't make sense about the whole thing. She wondered why one moment they would try to kill her and then the next moment they were trying to help her. She stood up for a moment and something fell out of her pocket. She squatted down to see what it was.
Then she remembered the girl, the red-head, Jean Gray. She gave this to her. She thought for a moment of using it. She said she could reach her anytime, but then she remembered how angry she was when she spoke to her in the mausoleum. Rogue was about to throw it out her window and forget she ever had it, but something stopped her. She went over to her dresser instead. Her handbag lay there by a picture of her Aunt Irene, her mother and her. It was taken when she was little, but she could never remember when this was. She was no more than four years old, but still she thought she would have remembered.
She still had stray thoughts running through her head, thoughts that she had picked up from the people she had touched that night. She was too tired to deal with all of this and decided she would take a shower and get some sleep.
The water was so soothing to her and made her forget all of her troubles. When the water had finally turned cold she got out and put on a pair of gray sweatpants and a T-shirt. Her door was open a crack, and she could hear voices coming from downstairs. She walked into the hallway and peeked around the corner to see what was going on. That Darkholme woman was still talking to Irene. Rogue got as close as she could without being seen.
"Are you sure she doesn't know the truth about the X-Men?" Miss Darkholme asked Irene.
The X-Men? Rogue thought. They were that ones that tried to kill her, right?
"I don't think so," Irene said, 'but I can't be sure, Raven. We need to protect her. She could still be a target."
"Yes, this is a small town. When word gets out they'll be coming for her."
No, Rogue thought. This can't happen. She didn't want Irene to suffer for what she did. The best thing for her to do was get out of town. She had some money saved up, at least enough to get to the next town. She could find work, find some place where no one knew her and start over. That's what she thought anyway. She wasn't being rational, but what sixteen year old girl was rational.
She quickly packed a bag and took off out the window. She jumped off the slope of the roof landing in Irene's flower bed. She accidentally crushed a few rows of her aunt's flowers. She felt bad about it, but at least she made very little noise when she landed. She quietly took off into the night knowing she would never return here again.
This ended differently than the original episode. Rogue will be off on her own for a while, and the next chapter is mostly flashing back on her early childhood and forgotten memories. So I'll post again soon, depending on the feedback, so keep those reviews coming.