A/N: I love Grand Valise and I happen to be a fan of piano classics, so please excuse me if I make Rogue a piano-enthusiast too. : P

Title: Beautiful

Summary: Post Apocalypse.With Rogue's powers and psyche's becoming a nuisance, Magneto being genetically altered, Gambit's past catching up with him and a few new characters along for the ride, it spells out one thing. Trouble's brewing in Bayville.

Chapter 1

Belittled Mind

Phone Call : 5:00 am

Xavier: Hello?

MacTaggart: Charles…is that you?

Xavier: Moira?

MacTaggart: Yes, it's me.

Xavier: What's happened? You sound disturbed.

MacTaggart: Xavier, I need your help. You're not going to even believe this-!

Xavier: What are you talking about?

MacTaggart: It's about Erik.

Xavier: Is he alright? He's been missing for a couple of weeks since the Apocalypse. He told me he was going to finally make a truce and then he disappeared a few days later. His Acolytes are here but I haven't seen him since. Is he there?

MacTaggart: …Somewhat.

Xavier: What do you mean…somewhat?

MacTaggart: I really don't ant to explain this to you over the phone. I have no idea what's going on myself. I need to meet you in person. I can't leave my lab right now; I need you to come here. It's urgent.

Xavier: Of course. I'll tack the Black Bird there immediately. I'll be there in less than a day.

End of Call : 5:20 am

You can't sleep all day, Kitty was whining in her head.

A flittering hallucination of the thin and brown haired teenager flickered beneath Rogue's closed eyelids. She was chewing gum and pouting, rolling her eyes in the chaotic darkness as she scolded.

"Ah can try," Rogue replied simply without opening her eyes.

Maybe you should go to the doc, Stripes. Logan pervaded Kitty's view, his face was still harsh but softened by concern.

Yes. I do believe that you were never able of seeing us and hearing us this vividly before. And the incident with Scott's power may have been noticed. A flash of blue fur and sparkling glasses-McCoy.

Rogue groaned and opened her eyes, sighing in anger at the pain the dwelled at the base of her skull.

"Ah doubt it, Xavier would o' said something by now."

She downed the two tablets of Tylenol and drank the glass of water immediately after.

"Ah feel like shit." She cursed, the palm of her hand pressed against her forehead.

Watch your language. Scott said grimly, his voice seemed suddenly loud and boisterous.

"Could ya'll jus' shut up fo' at least a day?"

I do not believe you should carry this burden on your own child. Yesterday proved that a reoccurrence of your last…episode, might occur. Storm.

You almost blew the vwall in! Xavier probably thinks it was Scott. Kurt said joyfully.

Still, you should like, totally get some help from the Professor-!

"Shut the hell up! Ah got it under control!"

The alarm clock wrenched itself out of the wall and crashed against the opposite wall. Black specks of its insides busted forth and littered the carpet and bed.

"Goddamn it!" Rogue cursed.

Vway to go on the control, sis! Kurt squealed.

Like, can you say anger issues?

"Ah'm gonna kill you, Pryde!"

"What did I do now?" Kitty asked wearily as her body phased through the door.

Rogue gave her a furious look as she began to clean up the mess.

"Damn Jean and her damn telekinesis."

"What was that?"

"Ah ain't talkin' ta ya."

Kitty gave her a questioning look and then began to rummage through her drawers.

"Have you seen my pink baby doll shoes? I like, so need those." She said scrunching up her face and beginning to toss out clothes from her drawer.

Rogue deposited her third alarm clock into the trash can and narrowed her eyes at the chaos of Kitty's side of the room.

Ugh, you really need to clean this room up. Jean was murmuring in her head.

You make me clean up my side of the room and now you want me to clean up her side? Rogue scoffed, referring to the red head's annoying neat-freak tendencies.

Rogue spent all afternoon Friday rearranging her closet by color coding (supposedly black had different shades), putting sticky notes on her class assignments and fussing over the precise header of her English essay before then fussing over the perfect "flowing", as Jean put it, introduction.

I bet you'll get an A+ though, Jean said smugly.

Rogue sighed.

Damn psyches.

"Rogue! I swear I had them right here!" Kitty whined and pointed at the spot where the shoes were absent.

Like, I totally know where they are! Every time I lose shoes they like, always end up in the back of the closet. You so have to help me out! Kitty begged.
I so don't have to do anything.

Please, Rogue!
Damn psyches.

Rogue huffed and practically pushed Kitty out of the way before wrenching open her closet. Knowing the exact location she pulled out the hidden shoes beneath a pile of clothes and handed them to the surprised valley girl.

"Like, oh yeah! I put them there yesterday. How'd you know?"

"Telepathy." She hissed sardonically.

"Oh. Like thanks. Oh yeah! Are you going clubbing with everybody today? Xavier went somewhere this morning and we are so celebrating!"

Kitty swished her brown hair dramatically.

"Ah'll pass on the fun people-filled excursion. As much as Ah'd love to accidentally suck someone's essence away while dancing Ah think Ah'll pass."

"Oh come on, Remy's going to be there and he is so crushing on you! He was like, totally looking at you yesterday in class! And he like, told me he'd go if you'd go so you totally have to go!" Kitty pleaded.

Rogue wanted to toss herself out the window.

Like how awesome is that?

"Ah'll pass."

"Oh come on, Rogue! You so have to go out with us! He's totally into you. You can not pass on the hot French guy!"

Rogue sighed.

"Ah'd rather barf. Ah swear he just wants me to punch him o' something. Ah don' want ta be charged wit' murder while Professah's away."

You have to learn to socialize and become mature, Rogue! Remy really isn't as horrible as you think, child. Besides, I believe you might have more fun than you think. Storm said in her wholly motherly manner.

Besides, Chuck'll be out of town, if you do have to kill Gumbo you might be able to get away with it.

Logan! Storm chided.

What? I don't like him either.

"Just shut up! Goddamn it Ah'll go!" Rogue snapped at her psyches.

Kitty gave her another questioning look.

"Geez, like, no reason to be so snappy! This will be totally great! You just have to let me help you dress!"

"Ah don' need any assistance Kitty, Ah can dress m'self,"

The hell you can, Remy seen you dress.

Shut up, Cajun. No body was asking for yo' unwanted opinion.

oXxXo

Dressing with several people in your head with extremely diverse taste is harder than expected.

From Jean's formal to Kitty's outrageous pastels to Rogue's own dark blacks, purples and greens, it was becoming a problem. That and Logan kept commenting on how much skin she was showing, Remy kept trying to make her wear a thong, and McCoy was trying to make her wear a lab coat.

It adds a certain flare! McCoy protested.

No way am I letting you wear that, can you say ick-?

I like the shirt, it's very mature. Jean hissed.

Rogue scoffed at the red top with the puffed up sleeves and pink lace.

"Ah'm going ta a party, not Cinderella's ball."

No reason to get snappy about it. Isn't that mine anyway?

Yeah…I kind of like, borrowed it and never gave it back.

Rogue sighed and tossed the clothes back onto the bed.

They were driving her insane.

"Ah need a break,"

Hunger. Sabertooth growled as she walked down the steps to the kitchen.

Her nostrils flared as she smelled breakfast, she could feel Sabertooth's animal instincts beginning to kick in.

She was twenty feet from the kitchen and she could hear everything that was being said inside. Kitty was in the middle with Kurt, Rogue could smell the attached odor of brimstone lingering around him. Scott was at the table with Jean, Rogue could smell his perspiration, Logan was at the door with Storm, grumbling about Xavier's absence.

The sudden bombardment of heightened senses made her dizzy.

"Ugh, can you stop with the visions of blood, Sabertooth?" Rogue snapped.

Hot, dripping, RAW meat.

He's nuts! I'm stuck in Rogue's head with a nutter! Vogue I'm so hungry! Kurt complained.

No way are we eating animals. Have you not read The Jungle? Don't you know what they do to that stuff? What they do to the poor animals? Kitty.

If vwe weren't supposed to eat them then why do they taste so good?

That's like, such a rhetorical question Kurt!

"Shut up all of you!" Rogue snapped as she pushed the door practically off its hinges.

She should have brought down a couple pills of Tylenol.

"Morning, Stripes." Logan barked.

"I see you're finally up, child. Remy made breakfast today." Storm said sweetly.

"It vwas vreally good!" Kurt said popping up in a storm of gray and black beside her.

"Sure it wasn't poison? Cajun food can do that to ya." Rogue said with a smirk.

"Remy t'ink da belle jus' jealous 'cause Mississippi don' got quite da same excellent recipes as da Big Easy. Remy ate Mississippi food b'fore. Don' want to again." The Raging Cajun said with a leer and a wink as he handed her a plate.

Rogue received the plate with a murderous glare.

"Ah think ya mistaken, swamp rat. Ain't no food like there is in Mississippi." She drawled shoving rudely past him.

"Why, chere, ya wound me."

He's like SO hot!

I say gut 'im and tell 'im he can stuff his 'recipe' up his Cajun ass. Logan scoffed.

Logan!

Sorry Stormy. I forget-no cursing in the gal's head.

"So like, you totally have to come with us to the mall!" Kitty said grinning.

Rogue pushed down her inner-Kitty's protests about baby chic's and swallowed her eggs.

"What fo'?"

Rogue tried to shove the bacon in her mouth but felt suddenly nauseated.

Goddamn it, Kitty I have to eat meat!

RAW, dripping red mea-

Shut the hell up Sabertooth!

"To get like, the most totally awesome outfits ever!"

Kurt stuffed his mouth full of eggs and then chugged down a glass of orange juice.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he eyed Rogue's plate.

"Want those sausages?"

Rouge sighed.

"Take them."

Kitty's gonna make me starve anyway.

"Ah'd rather not. Ah'm already going. Ain't that enough fo' ya?"

"Ya going too, chere?" Remy said sitting down despite Rogue's Death Glare.

"Please tell me when you say too you meant everyone else beside ya'self."

"Why, cher, Remy don't t'ink ya like him sometimes."

"Why, Ah didn't know Remy could think. He should stop-might have a revelation an' stop speakin' in the third person."

"You sound so concerned! 'M starting to believe ya care about Remy."

"As much as Ah do a hole in the head."

"Such sweet things you say!"

Rogue narrowed her eyes.

"Ah'm about two seconds away from stabbing ya wit' dis fork, LeBeau! Don' ya got ex-Acolyte friends ta hang out wit'?"

"Much rather hang out with you, cher! Fork-stabbing be damned!"

Like, he is so in to you!
Rogue! Schesiter! 'M still hungry! Kurt wined.

Is 'I'm-so-full-of-myself' bothering you, Rogue? I say you do stab him with the fork. Just to get the message through. Pietro piped up enthusiastically.

Use my powers and you can be away and out before they even realize he's been stabbed!

Don' hurt Remy! He just havin' fun! Gambit yelled.

Shut the hell up you guys! You're giving me a fucking migraine.

Rogue groaned and put her fingers to her forehead, getting up slowly from the table.

"Somet'ing wrong, belle?" Remy asked.

"A headache, probably from looking at you." She snapped, "Fuck!"

She doubled over, clutching her temples and knocking over her chair.

"Rogue! What's wrong?"

"Rogue? Sis! You're bleeding!"

A stream of blood was dripping from her nose. Rogue felt her knees give way as she plummeted to the floor. She hard Remy yell as she blanked out.

oXxXo

…Dreaming…

"I love lilies. I love roses, I love flowers. I like being outside, I'm afraid of being stuck inside."

The child image of storm smiled brightly as she rambled, her dark, beautiful face was alight with emotions as the background behind her shifted from black to a morning blue.

Sunlight etched its way across Rogue's face as she stood up in the bed of flowers.

The white haired girl handed her a lily.

"Don't be afraid."

Rogue stretched out her hand hesitantly and grasped the flower. There was a sucking feeling from inside her chest, as if she was imploding, and she found herself wrenched backwards onto a hot, metal floor.

She could smell blood everywhere.

A thick, coppery taste was flowing from her lips.

The boy was her age, sixteen or younger, with golden brown eyes and a handsome, young face that looked strangely familiar.

Sabertooth.

His dark brown hair was plastered against his skin as he sweated. His teeth were biting at his lower lip as he looked past her, ignoring her presence.

His eyes were on the small woman, crying out in agony.

"Don't hit him! Please!"

The older man removed his straw hat and spit onto the cellar floor.

"He's got to be punished. He ain't doing God's ways. He's a demon. A demon is in my boy! You gave birth to a demon!" He shook the woman angrily until she fell in a heap to the ground.

He eyed the young Sabertooth angrily; the immense pliers were stained with blood.

"Open ya mouth boy."

The boy shook his head.

He smacked him across the face.

Blood spilled from his nose and lips but the wounds healed in seconds.

"Open your mouth!"

The boy shook his head and his father became enraged, beating him in anger. He hit him with the pliers repeatedly and Rogue winced as she heard his bones crack. His face was horribly bloody and distorted. His right leg was set at a strange and gruesome angle.

The wounds would be slow to heal this time.

"Open your mouth!"

"Please dad! Don't!"

His father raged and punched him, grabbing a fistful of hair at the back of the boy's skull.

"Don't call me that! I ain't your father demon! Satin's your father!"

He wrenched open the boy's mouth.

Apparently sharp and elongated teeth gleamed ferociously.

"I'll get it out of ya!"

The boy screamed as the old man began to wrench out his teeth, one by one. The harsh smell of blood intensified his fear as he flailed beneath him.

The worst part wasn't just the pain.

It was knowing they would grow back and his father would pull them out again and again and-

oXxXo

"What the hell's happening to her, Blue Boy?"

McCoy shook his head as he finally locked the final strap over her arms and wrists.

"I think that Apocalypse might have…to put it simply…reset her powers."

"Speak in simpler English, bub."

"She told us that she felt nothing when Apocalypse absorbed her. In fact, for a while, she did not have any problems with her psyches. But I believe he reset her powers momentarily, almost cleaning her mind of the psyches. But only temporarily. While she did not drain his psyche, his own power probably tremendously affected her own powers without her or us knowing, resulting in what I believe to be as a sort of intensified evolution."

"You mean she's rapidly…evolving?" Storm asked.

"Yes. All mutants have a gradual power augmentation, it's normal. Puberty is the one point when this gradual growth of power becomes suddenly rapid, but afterwards the growth is normal and grows accordingly. But…Apocalypse seemed to have inadvertently triggered a sudden growth spurt that would take years or even decades for us to undergo. The sheer force of it might be too much for Rogue physically as well as mentally."

"Mentally?" Logan growled, he was becoming increasingly displeased.

"Think about it. She's absorbed so many psyches. Over years her mind might learn to cope or stretch and evolve to accommodate, but now, her mind is being forced to cope with the probably increasing power of the psyches. She might not even be the same Rogue we knew before if she wakes up. She might become comatose under the strain."

"By the Goddess!" Storm gasped.

"Can't you do something Chuck?"

"We can only wait, Logan. I cannot interfere anymore than I have. If I do…there's the possibility that she could become paralyzed or mentally hindered."

"I'm calling, Xavier back right now!" Logan barked.

"There's no need for that."

Professor Charles Xavier had lived most of his life crippled after his mutation. For the first time in years he was devoid of his wheelchair and walking upright on his own two feet.

Smiling warmly he leaned against the doorway, slowly becoming accustomed to the feel of his legs and the expression of shock on the three adults' faces.

"I have another little surprise. Erik!"

The young man named Erik seemed barely sixteen.

His hair was silver white and long, his crisp, blue eyes were dark and calculating. His face was exceedingly masculine and his features were handsome and striking. His body was lean but muscular, and his shoulders were wide apart, accommodating his wide chest.

He seemed slightly confused as he eyed the surprised occupants of the room.

"Wait a damn sec! This is-"

Xavier cut Logan off before he continued.

"Meet Erik Lensharr, also known as Magneto."

oXxXo

Oui! Hope that wasn't too confusing. What I was trying to imply with the whole psyche thing was that the psyches were imposing themselves on Rogue's personality (annoyingly-also the reason for the title). Like Jean making Rogue become excessively neat, and Kitty trying to make her a vegetarian.

Which probably won't work with Logan, Sabertooth and lastly, Kurt in her head.

I'll be updating!

Ttfn! RR for cookies and licorice!