IMPORTANT TO READERS, PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY READ THE STORY!!!
This is my first Evo fic so be nice. I also haven't seen the third series of Xmen Evolution, as I live in Australia and Cartoon Network only just decided to buy the rights for season 2. ahh Living down under does have it's disadvantages. Ok now I'm getting off topic now.
This fic does have similarities to another episode from Series 3, "Self Possessed" I think it is. Think of this fic as an AU fic. It's set in the middle of season 2, before Day of Reckoning.
Anyways... on to The Story.. ***
"Rogue," Kitty nudged her southern roommate. "Rogue wake up, we have a danger room session."
'Rogue' groaned and tried to hide herself under the covers, but was given a rude shock when Kitty phased her through the covers.
"Rogue, Logan'll get mad if you're not there," she said slightly louder. Rogue groaned again and started to sit up rubbing her eyes and scratching her lower back.
"What time is it?" she mumbled swinging her legs over the side of her bed.
"4:30,"
Rogue muttered something that Kitty didn't quite catch, (but got the general gist of as) as she pulled her green battle suit over her head,
"No need to swear Rogue," Kitty smiled at her Goth friend who glared straight back at her.
Rogue slipped on her ankle height boots and her usual black gloves. She then looked back up at Kitty, "I have every right to swear. It's 4 friggan 30 in the bloody morning"
"Yeah well take it up with Logan when we get to the danger room." She placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and phased her through the floor, so they avoided walking down 2 flights of stairs and cutting down their time by about 10 minutes.
Once they reached the locker rooms, where everyone was assembled they discovered they were the last ones there. Jean and Cyclops were standing in the corner chatting, Scott with his Ruby-Quarts visor covering his eyes. Spyke and Nightcrawler were both standing in the middle blinking a lot as though they were still waking up. Nightcrawler was rubbing his eyes so hard that little clumps of blue hair was falling to the ground, leaving him with little bald spots in the facial area. Evan looked at the little clumps of hair on the ground and pointed to them and laughed. Kurt looked wide-eyed at the clumps then started laughing as well.
Kitty immediately went over to talk to Kurt, leaving Rogue by herself standing in the doorway.
Rogue sighed as a faint headache started to arise in the back of her head. She shook it off knowing that it was just because of all the early mornings they'd been having lately. Her head wasn't used to it. Her head liked to sleep in until about 12:00 in the afternoon, but while she lived in the institute, the likeliness of that happening was about the same as Logan marrying Hank.
A few minutes after they arrived, Wolverine and Storm walked through the door. Logan cracking his knuckles, something he usually did whenever he was getting ready for a training session or a battle. "Ok, off we go Xmen!" He clapped his hands together then led the way into the danger room's main chamber. Storm following silently behind him.
Everyone filed into the room, except for Rogue who casually walked in behind everyone else. She even took the time to scratcher arm before she seriously became concentrated.
"Combat Exercise 42AX3, " Logan instructed the computer. Immediately the scenery changed, from having metallic walls and floor to a long dark sandy beach. Standing at the other end of the beach (which was, as Rogue estimated, about 100 Metres away.) was the Brotherhood of Mutants, The Xmens' rivals but intermittent allies.
Avalanche, their leader sent a tremor straight at them, causing most people to lose their balance. However Logan and Rogue weren't disturbed by the shaking ground, and Storm and Jean had flown up into the sky to protect themselves.
All four advanced towards the group of six, each preparing themselves for the combat. Rogue ran towards Avalanche, who sneered at her. He sent a small tremor at her that didn't really affect her; she jumped up in the air and kicked him in the stomach. He bent over clutching his stomach, which gave her the chance to 'borrow' his powers.
She felt the familiar rush of energy rush straight into her body, while Lance/Avalanche collapsed unconscious on the ground. As he was only a simulation, she received no memories or his personality that usually was rapidly appearing in her mind. Instead she concentrated on his pseudo "powers", and his ability to control them.
She then surveyed the area around her, who was having the most trouble? Probably Jean with The Blob and Kitty and Spyke with Quicksilver. She concentrated on sending a fault in The Blob's general direction. She felt her eyes roll up into the back of her head and the ground began to rumble underneath her. In her mind she saw the layers of sedimentary rock breaking and slipping as she manipulated them to her needs.
After a few seconds, She stopped. She blinked her eyes back into place and surveyed the damage she did. Sure enough The Blob was down on the ground and Jean was flying over to help Kitty and Spyke. She turned around to help Logan with The Scarlet Witch but the headache she had had earlier hit her again 10 fold. She stumbled forward clutching her head in pain.
The pain didn't stop there, As well as the headache increasingly getting worse, little red marks popped up all over her skin. They burned and itched at the same time, both to such extremities that she rubbed and tore at her skin as though she was really on fire. The red marks soon became big lumps, with little dark red heads. They were so agonising that she screamed out in pain.
Her scream drew the attention of several of the other members of the Xmen. Scott who was closest ran over and grabbed her hands, to stop her from scratching the ugly lumps.
"Calm down!" he said sternly to her, hoping that it would work
"But they hurt so much!!" she cried struggling against his grip on her arms.
By now the Rest of the Xmen had stopped and formed a circle around Rogue and Scott who was holding her arms out. Scott looked up at Nightcrawler who was standing in front of him. "Hey Kurt, zap us to the infirmary," Scott told him quietly.
"Vatever you say Scott," He replied his voice coated in his thick German accent. He placed a hand on Rogue's shoulder and Scott's head and *BAMF*ed to the infirmary.
Hank McCoy was looking at his computer screen, where a computer game was running. It looked like some form of Space Invaders. However as soon as he heard Kurt's familiar *BAMF* he closed the game down.
"Oh my Stars and Garters," he exclaimed after he took one glance at the little red marks. " Help me lift her up onto the table," He instructed Scott who gently lifted her by her arms, (which he was still holding) while Hank grabbed her waist and hoisted her up onto the examination table.
"She says they itch, and she won't try to stop scratching them." Scott explained, continuing to hold Rogue's hands. "I had to stop her from scratching, she was getting violent"
Hank nodded showing he understood. Then he got up and took a few different things from draws around the room. Scott kept looking at the little red marks. She let out a blood-curdling scream, which made all of the men in the room wince.
Hank pulled out a large needle and a little bottle of something. He quickly filled the needle with the fluid from the jar. "Hold her as still as you can Scott,"
Scott nodded and increased his hold on her arms. She didn't seem to be looking in Hank's direction so she didn't put up much of a fight when he jabbed the needle into her arm. She kept fighting against Scott for a few seconds, then the drug kicked in and she went limp in Scott's arms. He awkwardly held her for a few seconds until Hank helped to lay her down on the hospital stretcher.
"Now she's asleep, we can take a look at that rash." Hank said, placing the used syringe in the bin. He put on some plastic disposable gloves and cut off her uniform. Scott and Kurt blushed when her underwear was exposed but Hank seemed undeterred. He gently ran his fingers over a particularly large red lump near her belly button. It was bigger and redder than the rest of the lumps. It even seemed to throb.
All of a sudden Hank said quietly yet politely, "Kurt, go and get the Professor please."
"Ok Mr. McCoy, one Professor coming up," He teleported out, leaving the familiar sulphur smell behind
Hank and Scott looked on in amazement in what they were seeing. The biggest red lump, the one near her belly button, erupted like a mini volcano, a white gooey substance pouring out over her skin. Soon after, one on her face did the same thing, then one on the back of her wrist.
All of the little red marks eventually popped, releasing the goo. The goo spread out over her skin, creating a thin layer.
"Scott get me that test tube over there," He pointed to a spare test tube sitting on the counter. Scott quickly grabbed it and handed it to Hank who held it up against Rogues skin. A small amount fell into the tube, just like Hank had planned. He quickly put a stopper in the top and placed the tube in one of the pockets of his lab coat.
Suddenly all of the muscles in her body tensed which caused her to arch her back. Her breathing became quick and harsh, as though she was gasping for air. Her voice croaked out in a half scream, until she relaxed and finally collapsed fully on the bed. Her breathing relaxed and became even and steady.
At that moment, Kurt teleported back with the Professor with him. The Professor rolled his chair forward so that he was directly next to Rogue's bed.
Hank began to explain, but the Professor cut him off. "No need to explain Hank, Kurt has told me all about it," He looked at the little red marks which were still spilling out goo. "That looks quite painful. Have you taken a sample?" He asked Hank who nodded silently in response.
Scott cleared his throat, trying not to look at Rogue, "I think Kurt and I should go have a shower now,"
The Professor nodded, "Yes that would be good, I'll keep you updated on her condition don't worry."
"Thanks Professor," Kurt said quietly, and followed Scott who was quietly walking out the door.
As soon as the two students were out of the room, Hank started setting up a Heart-rate monitor. The professor sighed "There isn't really anything we can do for her except to make sure she is comfortable, and not in any pain. Plus we should monitor her condition constantly. We don't know what'll happen so it's the safest thing we can do."
"Ok Charles. I'll be here all day, so I can keep track of any changes in her condition. Plus I'll set up a video camera so we can have 24 hour surveillance." Hank explained. "And I'll get the results of the tests I do on that substance to you as soon as I have them."
Charles nodded and wheeled over to the door, "If anything happens, tell me straight away. If her powers are really evolving we need to be careful"
Hank nodded and went about setting up the Camera.
***
All of the students who lived at the institute were preoccupied for the rest of the day. Even Jean, who couldn't stop thinking about the time that Rogue supposedly risked her life to help her, when her powers first started to evolve.
To Kitty, Kurt and Evan, they couldn't believe how slow the day went by. Scott was annoyingly restless. Out of the entire X -Men he probably knew Rogue best. He knew why she acted the way she did, and the fact that she wasn't the cold-hearted Goth girl that everybody thought she was.
So as soon as the bell rang to mark the end of school, all five students ran out of the school faster than normal. Kurt and Evan had Maths next door to each other last period so they ran into the boys toilets and teleported straight back to the institute from there.
Scott and Jean left in Scott's car. Completely forgetting that they had to give Kitty a lift home.
Kitty watched sadly as her ride drove out of the school car park and out onto the main road. "Great" she cried, throwing her arms into the air in despair. She glared at the retreating car for a little then stalked back up into the main School building so that she could call home for someone to come and pick her up.
She picked up the receiver and started to dial the number for the institute but someone behind her placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see who was there, and came face to face with Lance Alvers.
"Lance! What are you doing here?" She asked placing the receiver back down on its hook
"I wanted to talk to you. You've been distracted all day," He said concerned, his dark messy hair falling over his eyes.
"Have I?" She asked, trying to sound light-hearted, as if she didn't know what he was talking about. Lance nodded slowly.
Kitty sighed, "It's just I'm worried about Rogue." As soon as she mentioned the name Rogue, Lance's face twisted into a face of concern for his former teammate.
"Rogue? What happened to Rogue?" Lance asked hurriedly.
"The Professor says that her powers are evolving, it started this morning in the middle of our Danger Room session. And Scott and Jean have forgotten that they were giving me a ride home, so now I have to call and get Logan to come and pick me up, and I don't like riding with him he's dangerous and-" She continued to babble on until Lance cut her off.
"Tell you what, I'll give you a lift home. If you let me go and see Rogue."
"Deal," Kitty said then frowned a bit, "Just try to avoid Scott, he'll get all protective and all."
"Don't I know it." He shuddered. She smiled and then headed towards Lance's Jeep.
The car ride home with Lance made her feel a little better, but she still couldn't forget about Rogue lying on that Hospital bed, covered in that stuff, in pain.
Not long after, they reached the gate to the Institute; she hopped out and punched in a few numbers into the security keypad. A few seconds later there was a beep and the gates opened. Lance slowly drove up to the front door. Kitty phased through the door of the car, while Lance jumped over the side. The both quickly walked up the steps.
When they reached the top, Kitty grabbed Lance's hand and said "Welcome to the Kitty Express, Non-stop to Rogue" She bolted towards the infirmary, going straight through several walls and down a few levels. In 2 minutes they were outside the Infirmary door. Lance looked a bit shaken up, but Kitty looked normal. She opened the door and walked in.
The rest of the Team were all standing in there, even the Rookies. There was a quiet chatter echoing around the room. Everyone turned around to see who had came in, and when they saw Lance, a unanimous movement of hostility went around the room. Except for Hank of course, who kept typing on his computer. He hadn't seemed to have even noticed that there were about 25 students in the room.
Rogue had obviously been moved to a more secluded room, because she wasn't lying on the hospital bed in the middle of the room anymore. In fact the only sign that she had even been in the room was the fact that her ripped up uniform had been thrown haphazardly into the rubbish bin.
Lance gulped when all of the Xmen turned and looked at him in that way. Kitty scowled and went and stood in front of him "There is no way you are like, doing anything to him while I'm here. He's my guest and I invited him."
"Are you crazy Kitty? He's the enemy!" Scott cried his eyebrows narrowing in suspicion.
That statement caused Kitty to scowl even more. "He might be the enemy in your eyes Scott, he's my friend and he is also a good friend of Rogue's. He has a right to know if she's improved or not."
Lance was about to add something on the end of Kitty's statement, but Hank intervened before he had a chance to say anything. "Now children, no fighting inside, and especially not while I'm around. Anyway I'm assuming that you wish to know what Rogue's condition is?"
Everybody nodded, including Lance, who was still standing behind Kitty and keeping an eye out for Scott, who he could tell was shooting looks of painful death from behind his shades.
"She's stable. Nothing has really changed except her blood pressure level, which is justifiable."
"Thankyou Hank, we'll be going now," Jean said quietly. She ushered everybody out into the Hall, and shut the door behind them. Lance smiled at Kitty, "Thanks for telling me, can you keep me informed?" Kitty nodded and smiled back. He kissed the top of her head and walked out, "See you tomorrow at school," He waved behind him, causing a small tremor that came and went in a few seconds
As soon as Lance was out of sight Scott cornered Kitty. "Why did you invite him? He isn't welcome here?" He yelled at her.
"I invited him in after he dropped me off at home, because someone who shall remain nameless forgot that they were giving me a lift home. As one of Rogue's and my friends He had a right to know.
"Just because he is part of the Brotherhood doesn't mean that he is banned from this house. The only person who can do that is Professor X and until he does I will continue to invite my friends over whenever I please." Kitty yelled straight back, then turned around and stalked back down the hallway, mumbling an excuse about studying for a big English Essay.
Scott looked a bit taken aback, and a bit embarrassed. So once again Jean encouraged everyone else to follow Kitty's example and go study. Everyone reluctantly did as she asked, except for Scott, who Jean held back.
"Scott, I know that what's happening to Rogue is affecting us all, but you need to lay off everyone a bit. Kitty is right, Lance did have a right to know, no matter which side he is fighting for." Jean said in a calming voice. "Now go and do your Chem. Homework."
Scott still looked peeved but still did as Jean had said, and walked down the Hallway that everyone else had gone down. Jean let out a loud sigh; the tension in this house was getting so thick you could cut it with a knife.
She started to walk towards Cerebro, where she was meeting the Professor, for her daily lessons when Hank popped his head out the door, looking quite bothered. "Jean quick tell the professor to get down here quick, tell him it's important,"
Jean relayed the message mentally and received an answer almost straight away, Ok Jean tell Hank I'll be there as soon as I can.
Jean walked back into the Infirmary and through another door that led to the Private Rooms. Rogue was lying on the bed with Hank leaning over her, strapping something to her face. An Oxygen mask. Her chest was rising and falling very fast, and Jean could hear her rasping, as though she was struggling for air.
"He said he's on his way," She told him, then asked what was happening to Rogue.
"Well the goo is hardening, and her body is adjusting. Plus she isn't breathing very well," Hank said quickly, "Can you pass me that thing over there?" He pointed to a little machine sitting on the table in the corner of the room. Jean levitated it over to Hank who caught it, and attached it to Rogue's middle finger.
"Can I do anything to help?" Jean offered.
"Yes actually make sure she isn't in any pain, check her head." He said hastily.
Jean nodded and moved closer to Rogue. She placed her palms on either side of Rogue's head and entered her mind. As soon as she was inside, she was bombarded with people. All the people that Rogue had absorbed. Kitty, Logan, even her, were all standing around, looking angry, stalking towards her in the one angry mob. She pushed them away with her mind and locked them up in a mental box.
Once they were all cleared, she finally spotted Rogue. She was standing in the middle of the space, with her hands holding her head.
She didn't look like she was in pain, just as though she was exhausted and she had to hold her head up because her neck wasn't strong enough anymore. As soon as she saw Jean a look of relief came upon her face. "It's so nahce to see someone who doesn't want to kill meh" Rogue said relieved.
Jean smiled, "I'm not here for long, Hank sent me in to make sure you're not in any pain." Rogue shook her head.
"Nope not at the moment, it only hurt when those thingies were covering mah skin. But that's all gone."
"That's good," Jean nodded, "You look exhausted."
Rogue smiled sadly, "Yeah well, my body mahght be unconscious and getting rest, but mah mind is usually awake 23 hours out of 24. It sorta does wear you down after a while. Ah usually have to keep all the people in mah head at bay, or I'm dreaming someone else's nightmares, it's not the sort of lahfestyle you should have if you want sleep."
"Well, I can try and keep the nightmares away for a little while so you can get some sleep, I've already gotten rid of the people. Well temporarily at least."
"You'd really do that for meh?" Rogue asked sceptically. Jean smiled and nodded.
"Yeah sure, just point me to where they come from, and I'll block it. I don't know how long the block will last, but it should give you time to have some sleep."
"They come from ovah there, "She pointed to her left, "But there are a lot of them, and some are strongah than others."
"Ok I'll take that into account." Jean turned to the space where Rogue had pointed. Even though the landscape around them didn't really consist of any colour, just a blank space, the place that Rogue had pointed to was full of colour. It was like a spiral of paint. Every now and then a picture would form from the colours, like a green landscape or the high skyscrapers of New York City, or someone's face. Then all of a sudden a huge horrible monster appeared, making Jean jump.
Rogue laughed softly, "Don't look at the things in there, it'll just put you of it, trust me. Pretend they're not there."
Jean nodded and tried again. This time she concentrated on placing a wall up. In a few seconds the colour disappeared and was replaced by a think black wall.
"That should do it. Now you can sleep." Jean said softly. Rogue looked extremely relieved. A large bed appeared in the middle of the space, not far from Rogue, she walked over to it and lay down. She was asleep the minute her head hit the pillow.
Jean smiled and exited Rogues mind. Once she was back in her own body she stumbled a little bit. Trying to regain her balance. Hank was no longer bustling about the room doing things for Rogue. He was standing in the corner looking relieved. She looked back down at Rogue who was now sleeping soundly, with the Oxygen mask still attached to her face. There was also what looked like a layer of thick plastic covering her skin. Almost like glass, yet it held a certain sense of Rogueness about it.
Someone started clapping from behind her. She turned around and saw Professor X giving her applause. She smiled weakly and nodded.
"Don't worry about our lesson today Jean, You've done enough." The Professor said kindly. "Go upstairs and have a sleep."
Jean nodded and headed out the door.
Professor X sighed once she was gone. "We'll need to have more monitoring, I'll draw up a roster of monitoring times for us adults. We don't know what'll happen next, and I don't want to have it happen when everyone is asleep. We were lucky today, but we can't rely on luck for everything,"
"Ok Charles, I'll get Logan and Ororo down here now." Hank began to pick up the phone, but Professor X stopped him.
"They're on their way here anyway." He wheeled his chair over to Rogue. "Have you got the results of that substance yet?"
"Yes and no, it's very puzzling. It's similar to Plasma but it's not the right colour, I'm assuming it's a substance that has something to do with the X Gene. There are only so many tests you can do with something like this. The only thing I could figure out is that it's very similar. almost identical to her Blood."
"Interesting." The Professor looked intrigued, "Any more information tell me straight away."
At that moment, Logan and Ororo walked through the door. "You called Chuck?" Logan asked gruffly.
"Yes, We'll need to monitor Rogue constantly now, so I'm going to make up a Roster for the four of us. Is that Ok with you two?"
They both nodded. Ororo volunteered to take the first shift, and Logan took the next shift.
"Ok, if anything happens at all, tell me straight away." The Professor instructed. "And be careful at all times, we have no idea what might happen."
***
This is my first Evo fic so be nice. I also haven't seen the third series of Xmen Evolution, as I live in Australia and Cartoon Network only just decided to buy the rights for season 2. ahh Living down under does have it's disadvantages. Ok now I'm getting off topic now.
This fic does have similarities to another episode from Series 3, "Self Possessed" I think it is. Think of this fic as an AU fic. It's set in the middle of season 2, before Day of Reckoning.
Anyways... on to The Story.. ***
"Rogue," Kitty nudged her southern roommate. "Rogue wake up, we have a danger room session."
'Rogue' groaned and tried to hide herself under the covers, but was given a rude shock when Kitty phased her through the covers.
"Rogue, Logan'll get mad if you're not there," she said slightly louder. Rogue groaned again and started to sit up rubbing her eyes and scratching her lower back.
"What time is it?" she mumbled swinging her legs over the side of her bed.
"4:30,"
Rogue muttered something that Kitty didn't quite catch, (but got the general gist of as) as she pulled her green battle suit over her head,
"No need to swear Rogue," Kitty smiled at her Goth friend who glared straight back at her.
Rogue slipped on her ankle height boots and her usual black gloves. She then looked back up at Kitty, "I have every right to swear. It's 4 friggan 30 in the bloody morning"
"Yeah well take it up with Logan when we get to the danger room." She placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and phased her through the floor, so they avoided walking down 2 flights of stairs and cutting down their time by about 10 minutes.
Once they reached the locker rooms, where everyone was assembled they discovered they were the last ones there. Jean and Cyclops were standing in the corner chatting, Scott with his Ruby-Quarts visor covering his eyes. Spyke and Nightcrawler were both standing in the middle blinking a lot as though they were still waking up. Nightcrawler was rubbing his eyes so hard that little clumps of blue hair was falling to the ground, leaving him with little bald spots in the facial area. Evan looked at the little clumps of hair on the ground and pointed to them and laughed. Kurt looked wide-eyed at the clumps then started laughing as well.
Kitty immediately went over to talk to Kurt, leaving Rogue by herself standing in the doorway.
Rogue sighed as a faint headache started to arise in the back of her head. She shook it off knowing that it was just because of all the early mornings they'd been having lately. Her head wasn't used to it. Her head liked to sleep in until about 12:00 in the afternoon, but while she lived in the institute, the likeliness of that happening was about the same as Logan marrying Hank.
A few minutes after they arrived, Wolverine and Storm walked through the door. Logan cracking his knuckles, something he usually did whenever he was getting ready for a training session or a battle. "Ok, off we go Xmen!" He clapped his hands together then led the way into the danger room's main chamber. Storm following silently behind him.
Everyone filed into the room, except for Rogue who casually walked in behind everyone else. She even took the time to scratcher arm before she seriously became concentrated.
"Combat Exercise 42AX3, " Logan instructed the computer. Immediately the scenery changed, from having metallic walls and floor to a long dark sandy beach. Standing at the other end of the beach (which was, as Rogue estimated, about 100 Metres away.) was the Brotherhood of Mutants, The Xmens' rivals but intermittent allies.
Avalanche, their leader sent a tremor straight at them, causing most people to lose their balance. However Logan and Rogue weren't disturbed by the shaking ground, and Storm and Jean had flown up into the sky to protect themselves.
All four advanced towards the group of six, each preparing themselves for the combat. Rogue ran towards Avalanche, who sneered at her. He sent a small tremor at her that didn't really affect her; she jumped up in the air and kicked him in the stomach. He bent over clutching his stomach, which gave her the chance to 'borrow' his powers.
She felt the familiar rush of energy rush straight into her body, while Lance/Avalanche collapsed unconscious on the ground. As he was only a simulation, she received no memories or his personality that usually was rapidly appearing in her mind. Instead she concentrated on his pseudo "powers", and his ability to control them.
She then surveyed the area around her, who was having the most trouble? Probably Jean with The Blob and Kitty and Spyke with Quicksilver. She concentrated on sending a fault in The Blob's general direction. She felt her eyes roll up into the back of her head and the ground began to rumble underneath her. In her mind she saw the layers of sedimentary rock breaking and slipping as she manipulated them to her needs.
After a few seconds, She stopped. She blinked her eyes back into place and surveyed the damage she did. Sure enough The Blob was down on the ground and Jean was flying over to help Kitty and Spyke. She turned around to help Logan with The Scarlet Witch but the headache she had had earlier hit her again 10 fold. She stumbled forward clutching her head in pain.
The pain didn't stop there, As well as the headache increasingly getting worse, little red marks popped up all over her skin. They burned and itched at the same time, both to such extremities that she rubbed and tore at her skin as though she was really on fire. The red marks soon became big lumps, with little dark red heads. They were so agonising that she screamed out in pain.
Her scream drew the attention of several of the other members of the Xmen. Scott who was closest ran over and grabbed her hands, to stop her from scratching the ugly lumps.
"Calm down!" he said sternly to her, hoping that it would work
"But they hurt so much!!" she cried struggling against his grip on her arms.
By now the Rest of the Xmen had stopped and formed a circle around Rogue and Scott who was holding her arms out. Scott looked up at Nightcrawler who was standing in front of him. "Hey Kurt, zap us to the infirmary," Scott told him quietly.
"Vatever you say Scott," He replied his voice coated in his thick German accent. He placed a hand on Rogue's shoulder and Scott's head and *BAMF*ed to the infirmary.
Hank McCoy was looking at his computer screen, where a computer game was running. It looked like some form of Space Invaders. However as soon as he heard Kurt's familiar *BAMF* he closed the game down.
"Oh my Stars and Garters," he exclaimed after he took one glance at the little red marks. " Help me lift her up onto the table," He instructed Scott who gently lifted her by her arms, (which he was still holding) while Hank grabbed her waist and hoisted her up onto the examination table.
"She says they itch, and she won't try to stop scratching them." Scott explained, continuing to hold Rogue's hands. "I had to stop her from scratching, she was getting violent"
Hank nodded showing he understood. Then he got up and took a few different things from draws around the room. Scott kept looking at the little red marks. She let out a blood-curdling scream, which made all of the men in the room wince.
Hank pulled out a large needle and a little bottle of something. He quickly filled the needle with the fluid from the jar. "Hold her as still as you can Scott,"
Scott nodded and increased his hold on her arms. She didn't seem to be looking in Hank's direction so she didn't put up much of a fight when he jabbed the needle into her arm. She kept fighting against Scott for a few seconds, then the drug kicked in and she went limp in Scott's arms. He awkwardly held her for a few seconds until Hank helped to lay her down on the hospital stretcher.
"Now she's asleep, we can take a look at that rash." Hank said, placing the used syringe in the bin. He put on some plastic disposable gloves and cut off her uniform. Scott and Kurt blushed when her underwear was exposed but Hank seemed undeterred. He gently ran his fingers over a particularly large red lump near her belly button. It was bigger and redder than the rest of the lumps. It even seemed to throb.
All of a sudden Hank said quietly yet politely, "Kurt, go and get the Professor please."
"Ok Mr. McCoy, one Professor coming up," He teleported out, leaving the familiar sulphur smell behind
Hank and Scott looked on in amazement in what they were seeing. The biggest red lump, the one near her belly button, erupted like a mini volcano, a white gooey substance pouring out over her skin. Soon after, one on her face did the same thing, then one on the back of her wrist.
All of the little red marks eventually popped, releasing the goo. The goo spread out over her skin, creating a thin layer.
"Scott get me that test tube over there," He pointed to a spare test tube sitting on the counter. Scott quickly grabbed it and handed it to Hank who held it up against Rogues skin. A small amount fell into the tube, just like Hank had planned. He quickly put a stopper in the top and placed the tube in one of the pockets of his lab coat.
Suddenly all of the muscles in her body tensed which caused her to arch her back. Her breathing became quick and harsh, as though she was gasping for air. Her voice croaked out in a half scream, until she relaxed and finally collapsed fully on the bed. Her breathing relaxed and became even and steady.
At that moment, Kurt teleported back with the Professor with him. The Professor rolled his chair forward so that he was directly next to Rogue's bed.
Hank began to explain, but the Professor cut him off. "No need to explain Hank, Kurt has told me all about it," He looked at the little red marks which were still spilling out goo. "That looks quite painful. Have you taken a sample?" He asked Hank who nodded silently in response.
Scott cleared his throat, trying not to look at Rogue, "I think Kurt and I should go have a shower now,"
The Professor nodded, "Yes that would be good, I'll keep you updated on her condition don't worry."
"Thanks Professor," Kurt said quietly, and followed Scott who was quietly walking out the door.
As soon as the two students were out of the room, Hank started setting up a Heart-rate monitor. The professor sighed "There isn't really anything we can do for her except to make sure she is comfortable, and not in any pain. Plus we should monitor her condition constantly. We don't know what'll happen so it's the safest thing we can do."
"Ok Charles. I'll be here all day, so I can keep track of any changes in her condition. Plus I'll set up a video camera so we can have 24 hour surveillance." Hank explained. "And I'll get the results of the tests I do on that substance to you as soon as I have them."
Charles nodded and wheeled over to the door, "If anything happens, tell me straight away. If her powers are really evolving we need to be careful"
Hank nodded and went about setting up the Camera.
***
All of the students who lived at the institute were preoccupied for the rest of the day. Even Jean, who couldn't stop thinking about the time that Rogue supposedly risked her life to help her, when her powers first started to evolve.
To Kitty, Kurt and Evan, they couldn't believe how slow the day went by. Scott was annoyingly restless. Out of the entire X -Men he probably knew Rogue best. He knew why she acted the way she did, and the fact that she wasn't the cold-hearted Goth girl that everybody thought she was.
So as soon as the bell rang to mark the end of school, all five students ran out of the school faster than normal. Kurt and Evan had Maths next door to each other last period so they ran into the boys toilets and teleported straight back to the institute from there.
Scott and Jean left in Scott's car. Completely forgetting that they had to give Kitty a lift home.
Kitty watched sadly as her ride drove out of the school car park and out onto the main road. "Great" she cried, throwing her arms into the air in despair. She glared at the retreating car for a little then stalked back up into the main School building so that she could call home for someone to come and pick her up.
She picked up the receiver and started to dial the number for the institute but someone behind her placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see who was there, and came face to face with Lance Alvers.
"Lance! What are you doing here?" She asked placing the receiver back down on its hook
"I wanted to talk to you. You've been distracted all day," He said concerned, his dark messy hair falling over his eyes.
"Have I?" She asked, trying to sound light-hearted, as if she didn't know what he was talking about. Lance nodded slowly.
Kitty sighed, "It's just I'm worried about Rogue." As soon as she mentioned the name Rogue, Lance's face twisted into a face of concern for his former teammate.
"Rogue? What happened to Rogue?" Lance asked hurriedly.
"The Professor says that her powers are evolving, it started this morning in the middle of our Danger Room session. And Scott and Jean have forgotten that they were giving me a ride home, so now I have to call and get Logan to come and pick me up, and I don't like riding with him he's dangerous and-" She continued to babble on until Lance cut her off.
"Tell you what, I'll give you a lift home. If you let me go and see Rogue."
"Deal," Kitty said then frowned a bit, "Just try to avoid Scott, he'll get all protective and all."
"Don't I know it." He shuddered. She smiled and then headed towards Lance's Jeep.
The car ride home with Lance made her feel a little better, but she still couldn't forget about Rogue lying on that Hospital bed, covered in that stuff, in pain.
Not long after, they reached the gate to the Institute; she hopped out and punched in a few numbers into the security keypad. A few seconds later there was a beep and the gates opened. Lance slowly drove up to the front door. Kitty phased through the door of the car, while Lance jumped over the side. The both quickly walked up the steps.
When they reached the top, Kitty grabbed Lance's hand and said "Welcome to the Kitty Express, Non-stop to Rogue" She bolted towards the infirmary, going straight through several walls and down a few levels. In 2 minutes they were outside the Infirmary door. Lance looked a bit shaken up, but Kitty looked normal. She opened the door and walked in.
The rest of the Team were all standing in there, even the Rookies. There was a quiet chatter echoing around the room. Everyone turned around to see who had came in, and when they saw Lance, a unanimous movement of hostility went around the room. Except for Hank of course, who kept typing on his computer. He hadn't seemed to have even noticed that there were about 25 students in the room.
Rogue had obviously been moved to a more secluded room, because she wasn't lying on the hospital bed in the middle of the room anymore. In fact the only sign that she had even been in the room was the fact that her ripped up uniform had been thrown haphazardly into the rubbish bin.
Lance gulped when all of the Xmen turned and looked at him in that way. Kitty scowled and went and stood in front of him "There is no way you are like, doing anything to him while I'm here. He's my guest and I invited him."
"Are you crazy Kitty? He's the enemy!" Scott cried his eyebrows narrowing in suspicion.
That statement caused Kitty to scowl even more. "He might be the enemy in your eyes Scott, he's my friend and he is also a good friend of Rogue's. He has a right to know if she's improved or not."
Lance was about to add something on the end of Kitty's statement, but Hank intervened before he had a chance to say anything. "Now children, no fighting inside, and especially not while I'm around. Anyway I'm assuming that you wish to know what Rogue's condition is?"
Everybody nodded, including Lance, who was still standing behind Kitty and keeping an eye out for Scott, who he could tell was shooting looks of painful death from behind his shades.
"She's stable. Nothing has really changed except her blood pressure level, which is justifiable."
"Thankyou Hank, we'll be going now," Jean said quietly. She ushered everybody out into the Hall, and shut the door behind them. Lance smiled at Kitty, "Thanks for telling me, can you keep me informed?" Kitty nodded and smiled back. He kissed the top of her head and walked out, "See you tomorrow at school," He waved behind him, causing a small tremor that came and went in a few seconds
As soon as Lance was out of sight Scott cornered Kitty. "Why did you invite him? He isn't welcome here?" He yelled at her.
"I invited him in after he dropped me off at home, because someone who shall remain nameless forgot that they were giving me a lift home. As one of Rogue's and my friends He had a right to know.
"Just because he is part of the Brotherhood doesn't mean that he is banned from this house. The only person who can do that is Professor X and until he does I will continue to invite my friends over whenever I please." Kitty yelled straight back, then turned around and stalked back down the hallway, mumbling an excuse about studying for a big English Essay.
Scott looked a bit taken aback, and a bit embarrassed. So once again Jean encouraged everyone else to follow Kitty's example and go study. Everyone reluctantly did as she asked, except for Scott, who Jean held back.
"Scott, I know that what's happening to Rogue is affecting us all, but you need to lay off everyone a bit. Kitty is right, Lance did have a right to know, no matter which side he is fighting for." Jean said in a calming voice. "Now go and do your Chem. Homework."
Scott still looked peeved but still did as Jean had said, and walked down the Hallway that everyone else had gone down. Jean let out a loud sigh; the tension in this house was getting so thick you could cut it with a knife.
She started to walk towards Cerebro, where she was meeting the Professor, for her daily lessons when Hank popped his head out the door, looking quite bothered. "Jean quick tell the professor to get down here quick, tell him it's important,"
Jean relayed the message mentally and received an answer almost straight away, Ok Jean tell Hank I'll be there as soon as I can.
Jean walked back into the Infirmary and through another door that led to the Private Rooms. Rogue was lying on the bed with Hank leaning over her, strapping something to her face. An Oxygen mask. Her chest was rising and falling very fast, and Jean could hear her rasping, as though she was struggling for air.
"He said he's on his way," She told him, then asked what was happening to Rogue.
"Well the goo is hardening, and her body is adjusting. Plus she isn't breathing very well," Hank said quickly, "Can you pass me that thing over there?" He pointed to a little machine sitting on the table in the corner of the room. Jean levitated it over to Hank who caught it, and attached it to Rogue's middle finger.
"Can I do anything to help?" Jean offered.
"Yes actually make sure she isn't in any pain, check her head." He said hastily.
Jean nodded and moved closer to Rogue. She placed her palms on either side of Rogue's head and entered her mind. As soon as she was inside, she was bombarded with people. All the people that Rogue had absorbed. Kitty, Logan, even her, were all standing around, looking angry, stalking towards her in the one angry mob. She pushed them away with her mind and locked them up in a mental box.
Once they were all cleared, she finally spotted Rogue. She was standing in the middle of the space, with her hands holding her head.
She didn't look like she was in pain, just as though she was exhausted and she had to hold her head up because her neck wasn't strong enough anymore. As soon as she saw Jean a look of relief came upon her face. "It's so nahce to see someone who doesn't want to kill meh" Rogue said relieved.
Jean smiled, "I'm not here for long, Hank sent me in to make sure you're not in any pain." Rogue shook her head.
"Nope not at the moment, it only hurt when those thingies were covering mah skin. But that's all gone."
"That's good," Jean nodded, "You look exhausted."
Rogue smiled sadly, "Yeah well, my body mahght be unconscious and getting rest, but mah mind is usually awake 23 hours out of 24. It sorta does wear you down after a while. Ah usually have to keep all the people in mah head at bay, or I'm dreaming someone else's nightmares, it's not the sort of lahfestyle you should have if you want sleep."
"Well, I can try and keep the nightmares away for a little while so you can get some sleep, I've already gotten rid of the people. Well temporarily at least."
"You'd really do that for meh?" Rogue asked sceptically. Jean smiled and nodded.
"Yeah sure, just point me to where they come from, and I'll block it. I don't know how long the block will last, but it should give you time to have some sleep."
"They come from ovah there, "She pointed to her left, "But there are a lot of them, and some are strongah than others."
"Ok I'll take that into account." Jean turned to the space where Rogue had pointed. Even though the landscape around them didn't really consist of any colour, just a blank space, the place that Rogue had pointed to was full of colour. It was like a spiral of paint. Every now and then a picture would form from the colours, like a green landscape or the high skyscrapers of New York City, or someone's face. Then all of a sudden a huge horrible monster appeared, making Jean jump.
Rogue laughed softly, "Don't look at the things in there, it'll just put you of it, trust me. Pretend they're not there."
Jean nodded and tried again. This time she concentrated on placing a wall up. In a few seconds the colour disappeared and was replaced by a think black wall.
"That should do it. Now you can sleep." Jean said softly. Rogue looked extremely relieved. A large bed appeared in the middle of the space, not far from Rogue, she walked over to it and lay down. She was asleep the minute her head hit the pillow.
Jean smiled and exited Rogues mind. Once she was back in her own body she stumbled a little bit. Trying to regain her balance. Hank was no longer bustling about the room doing things for Rogue. He was standing in the corner looking relieved. She looked back down at Rogue who was now sleeping soundly, with the Oxygen mask still attached to her face. There was also what looked like a layer of thick plastic covering her skin. Almost like glass, yet it held a certain sense of Rogueness about it.
Someone started clapping from behind her. She turned around and saw Professor X giving her applause. She smiled weakly and nodded.
"Don't worry about our lesson today Jean, You've done enough." The Professor said kindly. "Go upstairs and have a sleep."
Jean nodded and headed out the door.
Professor X sighed once she was gone. "We'll need to have more monitoring, I'll draw up a roster of monitoring times for us adults. We don't know what'll happen next, and I don't want to have it happen when everyone is asleep. We were lucky today, but we can't rely on luck for everything,"
"Ok Charles, I'll get Logan and Ororo down here now." Hank began to pick up the phone, but Professor X stopped him.
"They're on their way here anyway." He wheeled his chair over to Rogue. "Have you got the results of that substance yet?"
"Yes and no, it's very puzzling. It's similar to Plasma but it's not the right colour, I'm assuming it's a substance that has something to do with the X Gene. There are only so many tests you can do with something like this. The only thing I could figure out is that it's very similar. almost identical to her Blood."
"Interesting." The Professor looked intrigued, "Any more information tell me straight away."
At that moment, Logan and Ororo walked through the door. "You called Chuck?" Logan asked gruffly.
"Yes, We'll need to monitor Rogue constantly now, so I'm going to make up a Roster for the four of us. Is that Ok with you two?"
They both nodded. Ororo volunteered to take the first shift, and Logan took the next shift.
"Ok, if anything happens at all, tell me straight away." The Professor instructed. "And be careful at all times, we have no idea what might happen."
***
