7 months later
"Roguey! Oh Roguey! Where y' hidin'?"
"Ah'm not hiding ya stupid swamp rat," Rogue complained from the front room.
Her antagonizer found her and decided to drop himself on the couch next to her and throw his arm over her shoulder. A cocky grin split his face as he looked at her and tried to pull her closer.
"Dammit Remy, get off!" she yelled as she pushed at him.
"Ah, Roguey, don' y' love Remy? Why don' y' let him have a kiss?"
"No, Ah don't love ya. Ah especially don't want ya dirty thoughts in my head."
"Don' y' need help wit' y' practice? Remy more dan willin'."
"Personally, Rogue, I say you should knock him out. It'd be quieter for the rest of us," a woman at the door stated.
"Yeah, plus why would she want you Gambit? She's got an extremely fine specimen right here to lust after. Much finer than you," the silver-haired man next to her declared.
"In fact, you should knock out both of these idiots."
"Sounds fun Wanda. Where do you want ta leave their bodies?"
"How does a gay club sound? I'm sure this pair would be very appreciated there."
Both guys paled and looked at the witch apprehensively. She just grinned and sauntered over to the armchair as Rogue laughed at the idea. Pietro stayed by the door.
"So what did ya two find out today?" Rogue asked after she regained her breath.
"The Cure is failing, starting in the stronger mutants first. Many of them are regaining a small semblance of their powers already. As far as rumor has it, Mystique can change her eyes and hair. Not much but its a start."
Lovey. So we should keep an eye out for old Brotherhood members rejoining the old bastard. Is there anything else?"
"The humans are taking about the registration act again. Its getting more popular as it sits and waits for the vote. There are also small rumors of mutants going missing, similar to when Stryker was active. If its true, there may be another person experimenting on us."
"Well, damn. Keep an eye and ear out for that. We'll try ta stop that as best we can, or at least slow it down."
"So, are you ready to work on your powers?" Wanda asked Rogue.
She nodded and the two went to the backyard which was filled with burns and torn up grass from previous practices. Rogue went to the center of the yard and closed her eyes while Wanda stayed at the edge to coach her.
"Since we finally got you to hold one power indefinitely we'll start with two powers today. I want you to pick a psyche with a weaker mutation and pull it the front like you've been practicing."
Rogue nodded and concentrated on the hallway within her mind where her psyches lived. It looked like the dorm hall back at the Institute, just endless. As she 'walked' down the hall she could hear faintly the voices of the psyches behind the doors. She stopped next to a door situated between an iced-over door and a burnt door. She opened her chosen door and puled out the psyche gently, noticing the boxes on the shelves that were it's memories. Once she shut the door she manifested the powers that the psyche possessed.
As Wanda watched it took a brief second for steel plates to flow over Rogue's skin, coating her in the organic armor. Rogue gasped as the plates finished forming before she looked down at her hand. She flexed her hands a few times to get used to the feel of it. Wanda stepped closer to check on her. She was disturbed by the cold steel-silver that had replaced her warm brown eyes.
"Rogue, do you feel alright?"
"Yeah, just surprised. Ah always thought that the steel would feel cold, but it doesn't. It's oddly warm."
"Ok. So now I want you to try to pull out another mutation without letting go of this one."
Rogue nodded and returned to her mental hallway to find another mutation to use. As Wanda watched she could see a crease form through the metal skin covering her forehead. Shortly a purple blade appeared in Rogue's hand, glimmering from the psionic energy running through it. Rogue reopened her eyes and watched the weapon as she swung it lightly. Wanda set the stopwatch and waited, keeping an eye on her friend.
Rogue began to go through several fighting forms, getting a feel for how the armor felt and how the psionic sword worked. She had pulled some of the memories for this mutation out to learn how to sword fight. Her moves weren't graceful like the original owner's would have been, but neither were they the completely clumsy attempts of a child swinging a stick.
"Can you feel any strain?" Wanda called out.
"Not much, just some pressure against my mental shields. Nothing Ah can't handle."
"Is it the psyches trying to get out? Cause if it is we have to stop."
"No, it's ya brother's thoughts. He thinks too loud and too fast. It's hard ta block almost."
"Did you call up another power? You aren't ready to handle three psyches at a time."
"Betsy, the owner of the blades, is also a telepath. Ah just wasn't expecting any of ya ta have such loud thought patterns so Ah was unprepared."
Wanda just nodded and checked the watch as Rogue went back to practicing her fighting.
"Hey, you've made it over fifteen minutes! Not too bad for the first time at two power sets. I think we should stop for today, we don't want to over work you."
Rogue gave a tense smile at her progress before a shudder shook her body. Wanda noticed and told her to hurry up and put away the psyches. Her face was concerned as she stepped closer to Rogue till a bright blue light flashed out of Rogue. It quickly turned to a blinding white and Rogue screamed.
"Rogue! Shit, hurry and block them! Dammit!" Wanda was yelling as she tried to get to her friend.
Rogue was staring in a panic, unable to concentrate on her meditation which usually helped her control the others in her head. Something had caused them all to break loose, assaulting her with dozens of other personalities. She was aware enough to grab hold of a telekinetic in her head and use their power to shove Wanda inside and put a shield around herself. She could faintly hear Wanda's yelling before there was an implosion within the shield. Rogue got a brief view of the fear in her friend's face after the implosion before she blacked out.
A/N: I bring to you the next part. If you have any questions I may be willing to answer them, to a point. Reviews are nice, cookies are nicer.
Medic