Disclaimer: I own X-men…whoops, did I say own? Silly me, I mean I don't own. Everything is property of Marvel.
Warning: Reference to self-mutilation and mild Language.
A/N: Well now, hello everyone, Well it has indeed been a while since I have written a story, so I decided to write another for you all, and this time I actually have a plot! The first chapter is kinda crap, but it'll get better as it goes along, I just need to get back into writing.
To those of you who read X-mas and were expecting a sequel, I'm real sorry but I decided against it in the end. I think I left the story on a high note, so I didn't want to ruin it. But I may still yet do a one-shot for it, later on.
Summery: This story takes place where season four left off. Apocalypse has just been defeated, the X-men, Acolytes and Brotherhood have become allies and are finally at a place of agreement. However, with the building tension between mutant and human relations growing, how long will that peace last?
X-Men : The Next Evolution
Chapter 1:
Welcome home.
At the X-Mansion, Xavier is sitting in front of Wolverine, Spyke, Storm, Sunspot, Berserker, Iceman, Cannonball, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Blob, Toad, Avalanche, Shadowcat, Beast, Jean, Magma, Cyclops, Angel, Boom-Boom, and Nick Fury.
Xavier rests his chin in his hands in deep thought as he looks over his aligned X-Men. "Thanks to you all, we have averted catastrophe. It was not without its price, however. But steel is forged through fire, and like it we have been made stronger. We are prepared for what the future brings. I know this, because I have glimpsed into the mind of Apocalypse." Inside the Professors mind there is a vision of Anti-mutant protestors bombarding the white house with signs saying 'mutants go home'.
"Many challenges still await us."
"But I have seen some who were our enemies become friends." Xavier's voice lightens as another vision runs through his mind, this time with Magneto training the new recruits.
"And with a heavy heart, I saw the dearest of friends; become the most terrible of enemies." His voice saddens as an image of Jean screaming whilst erupting into a ball of fire shaped like a phoenix.
"I saw my X-Men grow and change." A clip of a much older Beast, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, X23, Shadowcat, Rogue and Storm.
"And of course, I saw that some people never change." In a more humorous tone, Charles sees the brotherhood standing in front of a SHIELD sign.
"But one thing was clear..." hundreds of sentinels fill Xavier's mind.
"...that no matter what awaits us, terrible or wondrous... my X-Men will always be there, ready. And of that, I am proud." Charles finishes his speech in an uplifting tone, filled with pride he looks over his x-men, who each in turn smile back.
"Well I think this serves as a perfect photo opportune." Hank grins as he fiddles with his camera.
"Indeed Hank, I think this does." Charles smiled as he started to wheel himself over to where hank was setting up the camera.
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Far in the corner the Acolytes stood conversing.
"Professor Xavier has kindly offered me a position in his X-men, of which I haff agreed." Poitr announced.
"Your leaving me mate?" John asked as he flipped his lighter open and closed.
"I can no longer vork vor zis cause." Poitr stated.
"Fair 'nough. Remy be t'inkin' de same 'ting, he might go stay wit' d' X-men. De prof man offer Remy a position also." Remy shrugged.
"Oi dunno what Oi'm gunna do, be thinking bout joining that there brotherhood. I hear they just installed cable." Pyro admitted grinning from ear to ear.
"Well I tink dis be de end o' de acolytes mon ami's. Been nice knowing ya."
"Da, Ve haff had good times…" Poitr smiled in remembrance.
"Pyro! If your gunna stay with us then hurry up, we're leaving." Lance shouted as he, Fred, Todd, Pietro and Wanda began to walk back to the brotherhood boarding house.
"Well mates, I'll be seeing ya." Pyro gave Remy and Poitr a salute before running off to catch up with the brotherhood.
"Mon ami…" Remy started, but several voices cut through his words.
"Everyone, please assemble nicely on the stairs…Bobby don't ice the floor…Jamie watch out!" Hank yelled as Jamie slipped and duplicated into three.
"Aaaah Rahne.Zats mein tail." Kurt screamed as Rahne bit his tail in Wolf form.
"Opps Sorry Kurt." Rahne blushed as she transformed back.
"Everyone git your scrawny butts in place NOW!" Wolverine bellowed.
"Sheesh Badger, no need to get antsy." Tabitha teased, but quickly sat down as a familiar SNIKT sound could be heard. All the X-Men immediately organised themselves into place for the photo.
"Dis certainly will be different, non?" Remy grinned as he looked at his new team.
"Da, I think so." Poitr smiled back as they went to find a place to stand for the photo.
"Ok everyone ready?...Right now to set the timer…Ok everyone after the count of three." Hank said as he ran to his spot after he set the camera. "One…"
"Like, oh my gosh, I haven't brushed my hair!" Kitty screeched as she fiddled with her ponytail.
"Two…"
"Kitty stop fussin'. Yoah hair's fahne…Gambit git yoah paws offa meh!" Rogue moaned as Gambit put his arm around her shoulders.
"Three…CHEESE!" They all said in unison as a bright flash erupted from the camera. Seconds later chaos returned to the mansion as all the younger X-Men returned to their daily lives.
"Well at least the photo went well." Charles chuckled.
"Yes, if only they were that organised the rest of the time." Hank mused as he watched Roberto flame up a ball and throw it at Ray, who in turn shot an electric current at it, which caused it to explode.
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After the photo, Rogue wondered over to a shaded tree and sat beneath it. She watched the younger mutant's antics for a few moments before sighing and resting back against the tree. She closed her eyes for a mini second before the familiar smell of brimstone chocked her senses.
"Can ah help ya?" Rogue sounded annoyed as she slowly opened her eyes to the sight of her brother.
"Just vanted to talk."
"Bout what?"
"Apocalypse…"
"Listen…Kurt…Ah know ya'll think that ah need to talk bout it, get it outta mah system… But at tha moment all ah really wanna do is relax, forget bout it. Ya know?" Rogue replied as she rubbed her temples.
"I understand…But if you need to talk, ve are here for you."
"Who's like here for who?" Kitty asked as she walked over to the siblings.
"Nothing Katzen".
"Like ok, so like what's going on? Can you like believe that I'm like back with Lance? At first I was like 'eww no way' but then he totally like tried to save me... So Rogue, like what's going on with you and that totally boiling HOT, gorgeous Cajun?" Kitty giggled, not once stopping for breath.
"What? You mean Gambit? Nothings goin on. " Rogue blushed, fortunately for her, her makeup covered it up.
"Oh like come on, its so obvious, you two were like so flirting back there. And Hey didn't he like totally take you on a romantic gettaway to New Oleans?" Kittys eyes glistened with cheer.
"Katzen, are you out of your mind? He is ze enemy, mein schwester hates him." Kurt said acting highly protective of his sister.
"Romantic getaway? Kitty ya really need ta get yoah head outta yoah romance novels. He kidnapped meh and used meh." Rogue said through gritted teeth.
"Yeah to like save his father. Remember like when Mesmero had control of your mind, he like helped Mr.Logan look for you."
"Cause Magneto told him so." Rogue replied slightly angered..
"Hes like totally crushing on you." Kitty grinned.
"Whatevah kit. Well ahm tired, ahm gunna go sleep, see ya'll round." Rogue sighed as she rubbed her head. Kurt looked at her worriedly as she walked away.
"Ooo she so likes him." Kitty beamed.
"Just give it a rest Kitty." Kurt replied in an exhausted tone. Kitty's smile dropped as she noticed Kurt's lack of enthusiasm.
"Why? Whats wrong?"
"Rogue just defeated the most powerful mutant to ever valk zis earth."
"Like opps, i guess i sometimes forget that i'm like talking." Kitty shrugged smiling innocently.
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Rogue climbed the staircase that led to the girl's dormitories and trudged to her room. After her power serge the professor had advised her to have her own room. Rogue had not immediately moved into her own room, it wasn't until the nightmares started appearing in her sleep, did she decide to relocate. She felt it best for both her and her valley-girl room mate, who on several occasions was awoke by Rogues screams of terror and manic trembling. Ever since her power serge, Rogue had not felt quite right in the head. The psyches although quieter in the day, would torture Rogue with haunted and terrifying memories at night. Occasionally Rogue would awake and accidentally blow up her alarm clock or phase out of her covers. She would literally have to remind herself who she was to gain control of her body.
As soon as Rogue was in the confines of her room, she broke down into tears on her bed. 'Why was she crying' Rogue thought, 'what is there to cry about?' She had just defeated apocalypse, the self- proclaimed most powerful mutant ever to have graced this planet.
Rogue viciously wiped the tears from her face as she walked into her private bathroom. She placed her hands on either side of the sink and gazed at herself in the mirror in front of her.
"Look at yourself."
"You're a mess"
"Like Remy would ever like a thing like you."
"Even I can't bear to look at you."
"You're disgusting."
"Have you gained weight?"
Rogue shook her head to try and rid herself of the voices. She looked back up at the mirror, and grimaced at what she saw. Her make up was smudged and her mascara had run down her cheeks. Her eyes were red and puffy and her hair was a tangled mess. In a rage Rogue slammed her fist into the mirror, sending splinters of glass onto the floor.
She replaced her hands on the sinks edge to steady herself as more tears ran down her face. She tried to wipe them away with her hand, but noticed it felt sticky. She glanced down at it and saw her glove was wet. She pulled her glove off of her hand and saw her knuckles were seeping with blood. She glanced over to the toilet to find some toilet paper, but none was there.
"Dang it." Rogue then proceeded to rummage around her bathroom cupboard for some tissues, bandages, anything that would stop the bleeding. Nursing her sore hand, she reached into her broken mirror cabinet. All she could find were pill bottles and body lotion. Rogue turned around to further search her bathroom, when she accidentally trod on some broken glass.
"Ouch mah foot." Rogue tripped, consequently knocking several of her bathroom items flying. She pulled the lid on the toilet down and sat on top of it. She picked up the large piece of glass in which she cut her foot on and examined it.
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Downstairs Logan picked up the scent of distress coming from Rogue's room. He excused himself from the conversation he was having with Ororo to investigate what was causing Rogue's upset.
As he walked up the stairs to the girls dormitories, the smell got stronger, something was happening to Rogue, his walk turning into a run. He continued running down the hallway, until he very nearly bashed into someone.
"Like Mr. Logan be careful." Kitty moaned as she had very nearly been run over by the large feral man.
"Half-Pint… You seen stripes?" Logan asked hurriedly.
" Like a little while ago outside, she said something about being tired. That girl seriously needs to like stop being so anti-social…ya know?"
"Thanks."
"Is like something wrong?" Kitty enquired.
"Nothing now git."
"Like why is everyone being so secretive today, we are supposed to be like celebrating." Logan ignored Kitty's ramblings and ran to Rogues room. Kitty having the inquisitive nature she had, followed suit.
Logan opened Rogues door and was overpowered by the scent of pain.
"Like where is she?" Kitty asked from behind Logan as she peeked around the gothic girls room. A second later a loud crash was heard coming from the bathroom.
Logan walked over to the bathroom door and banged on it. "Stripes…you ok?"
"Erm…Yeah…yeah ah'm fahne." Came the muffled reply from Rogue.
"I'm coming in." Logan said as he pushed the door open.
"No Logan don…" Rogue shouted as she was holding the piece of glass in her hand.
"My god kid…what are you doing?" The scene in the bathroom didn't look too good from Logan and Kitty's perspectives.
"Listen ah can explain." Rogue replied throwing the piece of glass of the floor. Her hand and foot were still pouring with blood. The sink, mirror and floor were covered with splatters of it.
"You bet your ass you can…why stripes?"
"Its not what it looks lahke."
"It looks pretty self-explanatory to me. Like I knew you were depressed but…" Kitty started horrified by the sight in front of her.
"Ah ain't depressed." Kitty gave Rogue a look of disbelief, this enraged Rogue. 'They think ah'm self-harmin'.' " Ah ain't friggin' cutting mahself."
Logan looked at Rogue sadly, "Come on lets take ya ta Hank."
"Ya don't believe meh." Rogue looked at Kitty and Logan's expressions disappointed.
"Kid, I dunno what ta believe.We'll get Chuck ta come talk ta you." Logan said as he picked Rogue up in his arms, she didn't struggle as she was too shaken to do anything.
"Ya don't believe meh, ya don't trust meh." Rogue said as a tear ran down her cheek.
Logan carried Rogue downstairs to the infirmary as Kitty ran off to find whoever she could.
"Half-pint, don't tell ANYONE!" Logan yelled, knowing full well about Kitty's gossip queen reputation.