A/N: A quick thank you to PyroWhore and sarahroseserena for their reviews. Thanks to them, you get chapter three! Also, this is really a chapter where things have changed. A LOT. Hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing (if you want the full one, see chapter one)
MIND OVER MATTER
-- Only the great remain standing –
Last time:
"Risen from the ashes, the Phoenix shall soar again!"
-/\-
"Let's get her on the Jet," Storm said, turning away and heading for the Blackbird. Scott scooped up Jean and followed, while Logan shot a glance at the water.
-/\-
"What's wrong is that I can't touch my boyfriend without killing him!"
And now, let's continue…
Chapter Three:
I Want To Go Back
Xavier's School for the Gifted, Westchester, NY.
September 9th, 8:00 PM
Rogue was bored. Hell, she was beyond that! Why in this god awful world had she agreed to sitting down in the living room to watch a movie with the twins of girltown? She listened to Kitty and Jubilee whisper and giggle about the movie.
What had possessed her to put herself through such abominable torture?
"You're a guy, Bobby! Your mind's only on one thing!"
Ah yes. That. The lovely little outburst in the hallway with her boyfriend.
She looked to the screen, playing with a strand of her white steaks, trying to chase the argument out of her head. The psyche that was Bobby insisted on bringing it up, but one swift kick in the ass from Logan's psyche and that was settled.
She tuned back into the movie then, against her better judgment. A young woman walked along the halls of her new school, completely nervous. A pile of books in her arms, she stopped by a water fountain to get a drink, only to send some papers cascading to the floor by the feet of two boys.
"O-oh no!" she exclaimed worriedly, bending over to pick up most of the papers. She reached for her class list, but a hand got to it first. She stood, looking at the two boys. One had brown hair, the other as well, although blonde highlights were woven through.
"Heh, look, man, she's in all our classes," he stated, reading the list.
"H-hey!" she cried a little weakly. "That's mine."
"Are you new?" the brunet inquired, much more sincere then his friend.
"U-um…yeah," she nodded, shy. "What gave me away?"
"Looked a little lost," he shrugged. "But don't worry, we all go through it at some point. If you want, I could give you the tour."
"Hey, you forgettin' about me, pal?" his friend laughed. "Ying to your Yang, can't go without me. 'Specially not if there's a hot chick involved."
He handed her back her class list, making her smile as she wondered how two such opposite people could seem to be such best friends. "You can both give me the tour," she stated.
"What in God's name are ya two watchin'?" Rogue scoffed.
"Shh!" the two girls hissed, continuing to watch. Lord, they were a sad bunch.
And yet, seeing this couldn't stop a certain memory from coming to mind.
Rogue sat in class, after being taken in by Xavier and the school. It was weird for her, being accepted so easily despite what she could do. Her fingers itched beneath her long gloves, but she knew she had to keep them on. She couldn't go through that again. She couldn't.
Storm was at the front, writing on the board, and Rogue looked up to copy the notes. It was then she noticed the brunet sitting in front of her, who reached back. He held a Zippo lighter in one hand, one with a shark design, and flicked it open.
She wondered if he should really be doing that, and noticed the two girls beside her, a petite one with brown hair and a love pink and the word "like" as well as the energetic one who constantly popped her gum, did not take notice to the boy with the lighter.
Must be usual, then, she thought, frowning.
She watched in awe as the fire from the lighter grew, settling into a ball of fire in his empty hand, not needing the fuel of the lighter as he shut it off. It was breathtaking, and it brought a smile to her lips.
The guy looked over his shoulder and noticed her smile, sending her a satisfied smirk, and a wink. His face changed however when the boy seated at the next table over from Rogue reached out, a thing spray of ice shooting towards the fireball.
It iced-over, temperature rocketing downwards and becoming something he couldn't control. He dropped it and it hit the ground, shattering and causing him to gasp. He looked away from Rogue and sat up straight as Storm turned.
"John," she said in a disapproving tone.
"Sorry," he apologized, even if it sounded fake. The boy who had iced-over his creation turned to Rogue, smiling.
"I'm Bobby, and that's my friend John," he whispered. "What's your name?"
She had been about to say "Marie" but suddenly remembered she wanted that past behind her, tucked away. So she answered: "Rogue."
"Welcome to Mutant High," he told her, reaching over to place a ball of ice on her desk in the shape of a flower. His friend looked back, smirking, and combined with Bobby's smile, it made Rogue grin.
Maybe this place wasn't so bad after all.
"Kit and Jubes boring you with a chick flick again?" a voice broke Rogue from her memories, and she looked over her shoulder to see a blonde girl with several ear piercings and rings leaning on the back of the sofa.
"Huh?"
"Wow, so bored you're spacing out," Tabitha Smith, otherwise known as Boom-Boom, laughed, grabbing the stripe-haired girl's arm. "C'mon, let's get you outta here before your brain turns to mush like theirs."
Rogue gladly let herself be pulled away from the girls who were so engrossed in their movie that they didn't even offer a protest to Tabitha's insult. The two girls started off down the hallway, arm-in-arm.
No sooner had they begun happily teasing the absent Kitty and Jubilee had Rogue fallen silent as they passed Bobby and Kurt in the hallway, the former of which exchanged an odd glance with Rogue.
"Whoa!" Tabitha exclaimed once the boys were out of earshot. "What was that?"
"What?"
"The whole long-lost looks," she prodded. "It was like a full-on Romeo and Juliet torn lovers thing!"
Of all the girls in the mansion, Rogue was closest with Kitty and Tabitha, the latter of which had only arrived the previous year, shortly before the school's invasion. Both girls had energy, and a love of talking.
But where Kitty-Land was filled with love songs, posters of hot boys, and a sea of gossip that could drown an elephant, Tabitha-Land held rock n' roll, parties and a sincere love of helping her friends, along with the occasional drop of colorful expressions and language.
Hence, Rogue got along better with Tabitha, allowing her to open up a lot more to the blonde than the petite brunette.
"We're…we're just going through a rough patch," Rogue answered.
"I know. I heard you two in the hall earlier," Tabitha confirmed, and Rogue wondered if the whole school had heard. "What happened in the Danger Room session that made you so tweaked?"
"You mean the session you missed?"
"Ehe…yeah…"
"Nothing. Him and Kitty had each other's backs, and me and Colossus had ours."
"Ah," Tabitha nodded, and Rogue was eternally grateful that Tabitha was one of the very few to ever understand the cryptic and dodgy answers she could provide. The others were Bobby, on occasion Logan and…John.
"This is a classic case of the green eye, is it?"
"What?" Rogue broke from her thoughts again, shaking her head. "No!"
"Then what is it?" the blonde questioned as they headed upstairs.
"I…I'm not sure. I just…I'm tired of this…curse," Rogue breathed, defeated. "I'm tired of not being able to touch, without a fear of sucking the life right outta Bobby. I don't want to hurt him, but…I don't want things to be like this anymore. I just feel like he's slipping away from me because of these stupid powers!"
"Guess you're not a fan of the Prof's great "they are great gifts" speech, huh?"
"Hell no," Rogue exclaimed as they went off down the hall.
X-Jet – same time.
The Jet was flying smoothly, and slowly, to keep from disturbing the unconscious Jean, who was on a med-lab bed in the back of the Blackbird. Scott sat beside her, head in his hands, and Logan and Storm were at the front, the former reading a newspaper with the headline "Sasquatch Seen Traveling South" and the latter piloting.
"Why…," Scott was muttering. "Why did you leave us like that? Why did you leave me like that?"
He looked up at the prone form of the redhead, his voice coming out as no more than a whisper now. "Didn't you have any love left for me?"
Suddenly, one of the small suit racks tipped over, followed by a rocking motion of the Jet. Logan sat up, frowning as he looked to the radar screen.
"Storm, I think the X-Jet's computer has a virus."
She frowned as well, putting the plane on Auto-Pilot and walking over to the computer, Scott watching her intently. Her eyes widened and a small gasp escaped her lips.
"What is it?"
"The electrical systems are losing it," Storm replied, looking his way and her eyes widened more. "Everything is going – Oh God!"
Like something out of a horror movie, his head slowly turned to find the redhead hovering a full two feet off the bed, her hair flowing in a non-existent wind and a soft, yet slightly pulsating red glow around her.
"Jean?" he inquired, never taking his eyes off of her floating form. Her eyes were closed, and she still seemed unconscious, but that didn't mean…
I am not Jean! I have risen from the ashes of hell. I am not the weakling you once knew!
They all clutched their heads as the hissing and rushed whispering attacked their minds, delivering the message of whatever was causing the woman's strange behavior. Two of them had heard this voice before – a lot, recently – as a whisper in the night, or a scream in a far-off dream.
"Jean, listen to me," Storm pleaded. "Whatever is wrong, the Professor will fix it."
You're with him?! He's the one who took me away! He took me away from home, and destroyed what I was! What I had!
"What the hell is she talking about?" Logan growled.
Take me back! I want to go back!
"Alkali Lake?"
Where Xavier first took me from. Twenty years past.
"Storm," Scott began, looking up at her. "Contact the Professor."
She nodded, disappearing into the back of the Jet, watching Jean's floating form with a wary eye as she passed.
You aren't listening. You aren't LISTENING!
AngerFuryRage. All of these emotions were present with the ominous voice in their heads, and she screamed so loud that Storm was forced to her knees in the back, clutching the com-link in her hand.
"Jean, please…stop," Scott begged, crawling to her side and reaching for her hand.
"Holy shit, Cyke, take a look at this!" Logan yelled, drawing Scott away from the woman. He turned to the front, and spotted rocks rising around them outside, big and small. He looked back to Jean and saw her face change – tense, concentration, angered.
"Logan, can you pilot this thing?" he questioned, never taking his eyes off her for fear she might get worse, change in the blink of an eye.
"What do you have in mind?"
"Follow my lead," Scott answered, getting out his visor from a compartment and then pulling down the ladder attached to the ceiling of the Jet. He climbed to the top and looked at Wolverine, one hand on the handle of the hatch. "Flip that green switch, and leave about eight feet from the rocks at all times.
The Canadian nodded, understanding the plan. "Just don't blink while you're shooting, bub," he warned, flicking the auto-pilot off and trying his hand at it.
Scott unlocked the hatch and pushed it open; climbing the rest of the way until his upper half was outside, precariously leaning against the roof of the Blackbird. He was met with a welcoming from a large rock, which he ducked at the last second, cursing.
He rose again, his hand on his visor, ready for action. He spotted the nearest rock on its way towards the X-Jet and let free an optic blast, shattering it. Quickly he fell into the repetitive motion of firing at anything that looked remotely dangerous for the Jet, and ducking anything that came at him that he didn't get.
Fire. Duck. Fire. Duck. Fire. Duck. Fire – oh crap, that was close.
The last one had created a large cloud of dirt and dust that flew at the windshield of the Jet, caking it with dirt. Logan swore loudly, making sure Scott could hear him from up there, and pressed a tiny button to remove the dirt with wipers.
"Easy, monocle, if I pilot blind, you'll die too!" he barked.
Scott frowned angrily, leaning his head back inside and letting off a small blast that struck Logan on the shoulder, splitting skin. It healed quickly, and Logan turned to glare at the infuriatingly smirking face of Scott Summers.
"Don't flame the shades," he retorted, before Logan growled, slammed the acceleration, and Scott rammed face-first into a rock, swearing.
"Don't get too cocky."
"What's going on?" Storm asked as she came back to the cockpit, frowning at the childish attitude of the two men. And, what the hell? Logan was piloting?
Oh dear God in heaven—doomdoomDOOM!
"My first flying lesson," Logan smirked. "How'm I doin'?"
"For starters, look where you're freaking going," Scott barked, his voice drifting down from the hatch. Storm looked up, confused as to what he was doing up there. As if reading her mind, he stated simply: "Jean's trying to bring us down."
The weather goddess approached the front, staring in awe at the rocks coming for them as Scott blasted them from above. She turned away quickly, pressing a few buttons on a wall panel and causing it to slide away to reveal a helmet.
She took it from the shelf and walked over to Jean, carefully placing it on her head. She turned back to see Logan's questioning glance.
"Looks a lot like Magneto's helmet," he commented.
"One – watch where you're going," she reminded him sternly, and he turned to pilot again, hearing her slide into the co-pilot seat rather than see. "And Two – I think it's the opposite. Where Magneto's helmet strengthens the mind and mental blocks, this one weakens it, allowing it to be more vulnerable."
"Why's she need it?"
"The Professor told me she would," Storm answered. "He's going to handle what he can from the mansion, using Cerebro."
They heard a curse from above – my, Scott was full of those today – and heard the metallic plunk as his visor landed inside the Jet. Looking out the windshield, they noticed any optic blasts destroying the rocks were considerably thicker.
"Scott, Logan, I'll take it from here," Storm stated, pressing enough buttons to change the manual piloting to her seat, and Logan relaxed. Scott made his way back inside, feeling his way down the ladder and to his visor.
"The Professor had better hurry," he muttered, rubbing his eyes before he put his visor back into the compartment he'd taken it from and put on his glasses.
Whether Storm heard him or not, she gave no answer as her eyes turned white, and the wind outside picked up. Her hands shook at the controls as she manipulated the wind to push away the rocks.
However, one particularly large rock was heading for the Jet. Her hands shook violently as she tried to summon enough power.
"Storm?" Logan inquired, worried.
"I can't use any more power without taking us down with it," she replied, straining. She tried to steer away, but it followed, increasing it's speed.
"Storm," Scott urged.
"Hold on," she whispered, her eyes glowing fierce white.
Suddenly, the rock dropped out of the sky, as did all the others, and the wind went silent. Storm relaxed, and those not driving turned to look at Jean. She was back on the bed, no ethereal glow about her, a somewhat peaceful look on her face.
Logan was the one to break the silence.
"I need a cigar."
A/N: Alrighty then. The Tabitha Smith to envision here is the one from X-Men Evolution. Although a small secondary character in that series, I've turned her into a supporting one here, and a good friend of Rogue's. So now you guys know what I borrowed from X-Men Evolution :)
Next:
Chapter 4: A Game Of Memory
"This isn't diplomacy. This is supremacy."
"And even if you are stuck with draining energy, there has to be another mutant who can let off energy."